They called him Hermes.

It was a term of affection, a nickname, one given to him early on in his military career. As a young griffin in the military academy; he was the fastest in his class. His natural skill shone through, his speed in the air was unmatched in all of the empire, he was easily a favorite for fastest creature alive, or he would have been if not for Rainbow taking that title. It was a joke name, one given to him in jest at his insane speed. As with all such names, it fit, it defined him so nicely that it stuck. They called him Hermes and so, to anyone who spoke to him, that is what his name became.

He flew as fast as his wings could take him. This message was to be delivered directly into the hooves of only a select few individuals. He had to give it directly to a member of Equestria royalty or to one of their close friends. He was told to take it directly to Ponyville, as it was the closest town where one of those individuals could be found, preferably the one known as Spike. If he could find him, the message would deliver itself at that point.

He was given sixty minutes to fly a distance it would take a normal griffin two days to fly. For anyone else it would have been impossible, a task that could not be completed in the time given. However, they called him Hermes for a reason.

Yet even for Hermes, it would be taxing. He would not be able to fly again for some time after this if at all. It would stretch him to the limit, tearing several muscles in his wings and back as such that flight would be impossible for several days, perhaps longer, perhaps forever. Yet this message demanded such action, it was too important, it carried too much weight for anything less.

Orion Knight was dead, he died before he took his first breath. Emperor Icarus was in intensive care. Princess Aurora Flash had yet to speak to anyone ever since the event happened; it seemed as if she just gave up, like everything that made her who she was simply died inside. Former Emperor Siros was cold, aloof, thinking… he had only spoke once after dropping off Aurora and Icarus to the hospital. He did it himself, not letting anyone help. Afterward, he wrote this message and gave it directly to Hermes, with the instruction that it would be delivered to Equestria in sixty minutes.

Hermes had never seen Siros like that, it seemed as if the old griffin was dead inside, he did what he had to do, what the situation called for, but it was almost like he was on autopilot, like he was not really there, not in any sense of the word other than the literal one. That was not the part that made Hermes’s fur crawl. It was the last words, the caveat to the instructions that accompanied his task. As Siros handed off the message, he grabbed Hermes’s claw and pulled him face to face, as to look him directly in the eyes.

“Sixty minutes, or your head goes on a pike.”

Siros had never threatened anyone before. He was not the type. He was calm, cool, collected, never one to use his position in such a way. Never before had he executed someone. However, Hermes also knew that Siros was not one for idle threats, if this was not delivered in sixty minutes, Hermes had no doubt he would lose his head over this. So he flew, he flew as fast and as far as he could and then beyond it. He pushed himself to the breaking point, beyond the point of simple fatigue. Part of him knew he was done after this, he would be lucky to ever fly again, he would never fly at full speed again. He'd be lucky to fly again at all. However, the message was worth it.

He would make it in fifty-nine minutes.

After all, they called him Hermes for a reason.

……………………………………………………………

Siros walked, he did not know where his destination would be, he did not even know where he was at this moment, his only thoughts were on that creature, that thing, it was all he could think of, and it was all he could do to put one claw in front of the other. Each step seemed to be leading him somewhere, somewhere he wanted to go. Somewhere away from where he was.

The blood trail followed him.

Every step he took left the blood of the… the children that creature hurt, the baby that creature killed. That alone was enough to cause him to hate it more than he ever hated anything in his entire life. Yet it was worse, much, much worse. That creature… that thing, hurt and killed the children under his care. His son… Icarus was in intensive care, one wing cut off, several broken bones, a punctured lung and kidney. Aurora… the foal of the mare he loved. She had been run through, like a fish with a pike…. Her son, Siros’s grandchild, he was killed by this creature, before he even took his first breath.

It did not just kill Orion Knight; it killed Aurora’s will to live. The mare was alive, but only because she was still breathing, she had not said a word to anyone since… since her son died. Rainbow Dash trusted him with Aurora’s safety. It was not said, it was implied… Siros betrayed that trust and she got hurt. According to the doctors, it was permanent, her womb, what was left of it anyway, had to be removed. The doctors were doing it now, the condition this creature left it in… it was nothing more than shredded meat inside of her body.

Part of him remembered being focused on something, a cool calm collective he had after it was over. That was before he was covered in the blood of the young, the blood of the innocent. The blood of his family.

Tears joined the blood trail behind him.

Siros almost stumbled into the next room he walked in. tripping over several boxes of treasure in the process. He looked around; somehow, he ended up in the treasury. He managed to unlock the doors and walk in without even consciously being aware of it.

It was the room he wanted to be in. However, he also knew that it was also the last room he would ever see in the palace. They kept the Oathkeeper Armor in this room.

Siros shook off the melancholy of the events. He had accomplished every item of his checklist. The kids were safe; neither of them would die from their injuries of the night's events, even if his grandchild was beyond saving. He sent the letter off to Equestria, knowing without a doubt that Hermes would get the letter to Rainbow Dash; when that happened, the world itself would know her wrath; although, if the next part of his plan worked, there would not be anyone left for her to vent it on.

That brought him to the last item on the checklist; the one he knew would see him dead. The one item on the checklist he would sell his soul to accomplish. He would kill this creature that dared to hurt his family, the one that dared to call him worm food.

The Oathkeeper Armor would see to that.

They kept it in the back, hidden beyond the normal treasure of the empire. He hoped, he wished that he would never have to look at it again. It was a disgusting reminder of the old ways, the way in which things used to be done in the empire. An archaic system which demanded an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, and blood for blood. In some ways, the last part was more fitting than even Siros knew at that moment.

Only two griffins even knew it existed; although, with the death of Midnight, only one knew now, and he would be buried with it soon enough. Siros’s mind refocused on the last item to the checklist. The one he knew would cost him his life.

It was a price worth paying.

A new found strength coursed through the old griffin at that thought. He would do this. It would be his final act, but he could go out with his head held high, he would die knowing he fought against the impossible, even if he failed, it would be known that he stood up. After all, that is what truly matters.

You do not have to win, you simply have to stand up for what is right.

At the back of the treasury room, hidden behind several secret panels he would find the object he desired, the one that would give him the power to try to fulfill his oath. Fulfill his wish for vengeance on this… this thing. After all, that is how it got its name. The Oathkeeper Armor was waiting for him.

The passwords and codes came back to him like second nature. They seemed to want to come out, almost as if the armor knew that its time had come, his claw ran though the keys and ancient spell rituals without fail. He was possessed to this end. Several times the security challenged him. Age-old spells that were meant to protect the armor from anyone who might have nefarious uses for it. Each time the correct word, phrase, or code deactivated the system before anything happened. Walls slid back with each successful barrier that he removed, until, at last, he was standing before the armor itself, the most powerful relic in all of the Empire.

The final seal was not like the others, this one required two things; two objects to deactivate before the final barrier would remove itself to allow him access to the armor. The first object he had in his bag. The medallion that was still covered in his son’s blood, Siros was not even sure when he pulled it off his son’s body, but sometime when he took his son to the hospital he picked it off his neck, even on a subconscious level he knew what would happen. He knew that this was his fate. Oddly, he was strangely ok with it.

He wanted this fate, he chose this fate.

Siros cleaned the blood off the medallion before placing it on the pedestal in front of him. It would not do to confuse the magic spells in the next part. As Siros placed the medallion on the pedestal, the golden edges on the medallion popped open, revealing the last seal. This one called for the blood verification of the user. Something that had to be programed to open, something he had never done with his son’s blood.

Siros held a claw out and cut it open with his beak, he let the blood drip out of his open palm onto the medallion. Old spells came down, the magic reading the blood as they fell. The final seal was removed; the Oathkeeper Armor was his to wear at last, for the first time in over two thousand years it would find a bearer.

Siros immediately hated it.

The armor itself was nothing special to look at. Several centuries of dust coated its gray surface. It sat upon a griffin mannequin, unmoving, unadorned, and unwanted. However, it was needed, there were no decorations on it, as every surface of it was plain, as if the one who made it was simply satisfied with its look and did not require it to stand out in the crowd.

Form over function this was not.

Siros saw the plain decoration and lack of ornamentation for the lie it was, this armor screamed death incarnate, its very presence left a telling impression on his old bones. The weight of its history, the weight of the crimes it committed permeated the air. As if the armor itself should never have existed and its very being was an anathema to reality itself. As if the universe itself was trying to reject the existence of this armor.

Siros hated it, he hated every inch of it, but he needed it. As such, Siros did the only thing he could, the only option left open to him. He began removing each piece of the armor one by one from the mannequin and placed them on himself. He started with the back piece.

It was not heavy, per se. However, the presence of it on his fur made Siros’s bones ache. Piece by piece he equipped the armor, until, at last, he stood fully clothed in it. Siros was now armored in the terrible secret of the Griffin Empire. After all, Equestria was not the only land with its share of relics. Although he wished that was the case.

Siros flapped his wings and took off in the air; he was not surprised to find that the weight of the armor barely affected his flight, when the time came, when he said the words that would all change. His abilities would be magnified a hundredfold, this creature, this shadow, the one who dared hurt his family. He would feel what an old fool could do. He would pay for hurting Siros’s family. It was the final oath Siros made, and now, at last, he had the tools to keep it.

For now, he flew out of the treasury room and then out the nearest window; he knew his destination without even looking. Every griffin knew where the tallest mountain was; after all, one had only to look out the window towards the east to see Skyclaw Mountain.

……………………………………………………………

Prince Radiant Star flew on a crystal chariot to the sight of Ataxia’s latest ‘mess up’. The late night letter still irked him, even if he did understand the importance of getting it to them as quickly as possible. Ataxia’s fire… if it could even be called that, they had yet to find a way to extinguish it. The magical properties made it burn hotter and brighter than anything else burned in the world. It was a small blessing from Luna herself that the fire did not consume the entire planet.

It seemed to be on a time limit, only lasting for a set amount of time before dissipating into nothing. During that time, it required no fuel or oxygen to keep going. Of course, its dissipation would only occur if it did not spread, if it did not duplicate itself.

That was what Firestar left to go do. Radiant went to join her of course, but even in the chariot, he was no match for her raw speed. As the former Captain of the Wonderbolts, Firestar was easily one of the five fastest flyers in all of Equestria. Therefore, Radiant had no choice but to play catch up as his wife fought to keep magical fire from spreading to populated areas.

He could already see the blaze. It burned in magical green energy, releasing smoke up in to the air as it did so. As they flew closer, Radiant knew exactly where Firestar would be. He did not even need to be told; he simply directed the pegasi pulling the chariot to where the fire was at its worst. To the last place any pony should ever be. That is where he would find her.

As the chariot banked to the right, following his instructions, his target came into view. Sure enough, a soot-covered pegasus was standing on top of a hill, directing the others around her to where they were the most needed to end this quickly. It was just part of who she was, to be at the absolute worst spot imaginable in the hope to turn the tide. Stupidly, so far, it always worked too. Radiant sighed to himself; it was a fight not worth having, as she would never listen anyway. It was just a part of who the mare was, while he would never try to change her, that did not mean he had to like it.

As the chariot landed, Firestar wasted no time in commanding the pegasi pulling it to where she could use the reinforcements.

“You two, clear the brush over there and then help with the firewall in the west.”

To their credit, the pegasi did not even stop to question her orders. They sharply saluted and then left in a haste to follow through with the princess’s commands.

“Keeping busy I see.” Radiant said to his wife with a smile on his face. One that quickly turned into shock when she bowled him over and kissed him on the lips. An action he was more than happy to return.

“What took you.” She said seductively when their lips parted. Soon, full-on laughter replaced her stoic expression when she saw the soot stains she left on her stallion.

Radiant looked confused at first, he then noticed what she was laughing at and could not help but chuckle a few times himself. “What can I say, not all of us can fly you know.”

“Oh I know. Besides, I like having a husband who is grounded.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I can always leave you in the dust if you smart off to me.”

Radiant was taken aback by that. “Oh, sorry. What’s the sitrep here anyway?”

“Nice way to change the subject.” She smiled and rubbed flanks with him, causing a small shiver of delight to come from Radiant and cleaning off some of the build up from her own coat. ‘All’s fair in love and war’ Firestar thought to herself, ‘Although, I'll still need a dozen showers when I get back.’

“The fire is mostly controlled on all sides, we had a small re-burn on this area, but quick action got that under control.” Radiant could see by the looks of her what sort of quick action that took.

“I still can’t believe that she is going to get away with this.” Firestar added. Her own frustration evident on her face.

He looked confused at that, “Who?”

“Ataxia, this is her fault after all.”

Radiant sighed, this was not their first discussion about her and he doubted it would be their last. “Firestar, you know she didn’t mean it.”

“So, how much of Equestria will we let her burn to the ground as long as she doesn’t mean it?”

“Firestar…”

“No, I'm sick of this, Radiant. You know how many troops I've lost due to that mare, how many Wonderbolts have died accompanying her on her hunts?”

“Firestar…”

“Why do you do this? Why do you always defend her? Why are you taking her side?”

“First off, I’m not taking her side, I’m on your side, nopony else’s. I do trust her, because Twilight trusts her, so does my mom, and that is good enough for me.”

“Blind trust leads to a dark road.” Firestar pointed a hoof around to the fire that was still burning in the background. “This is what happens when she doesn’t mean it, what would happen if she ever did?”

“Firestar!” Radiant yelled. “You don’t mean that.”

“That’s just it, Radiant. I think I do. That mare is strong, her magic alone is easily on par with any I have ever seen before, and her transformation puts her on a whole other level. I wouldn’t ever want to be on the wrong end of her on a good day. However, if she ever had a bad day… If that ever happened, we would all suffer.” Radiant could not help but notice the perspiration on his wife’s face as she said that.

“Firestar, she's Shimmering Night’s best friend in the world, she's a friend of the family, she would never, never do something like that.”

“How do you know? She is the Avatar of Chaos after all.” Firestar said with a slur in her voice, as her steps became a little more wobbly.

“Because, she has friends, we will all be there for her every step of the way. Yes, things like this may happen from time to time, but it changes nothing. She is still our friend, mine and yours, it’s our duty to try and forgive her.”

“Some things cannot be forgiven, Radiant.” Firestar looked a little off to Radiant as she said that last part, there was something there, something he did not yet know. However, what concerned him more than that cryptic comment was the sweat pouring from her as she paced back and forth. Yes it was hot, but she should not be sweating that much.

“That may be, but we haven’t seen that bridge yet, much less crossed it. Let’s not invite such trouble ourselves. Are… are you alight?”

“You might be r-“ Firestar fell over, collapsing on her side as her stomach began convulsing where she lay.

Before Radiant could reach her, she began vomiting and passed out. “MEDIC!!!” Radiant yelled at the top of his lungs as he ran forward and slid next to her.

“Firestar! Firestar! Wake up!”

He shot a magical pulse of energy up in the air; the force of it dispersed the clouds of ash and cleared the sky for a mile in every direction. Several teams of pegasi saw it and immediately headed to its origin as Radiant desperately tried to revive his wife, but nothing he did would wake her up.

……………………………………………………

Blood Dawn watched as the city of Warclaw went into panic mode. He could see it clear as day, even from these hundreds of miles away, even at this late hour. Every single sense the pegasus had was heightened to levels that he did not even know were possible. It truly fascinated him to no end.

“Is this how you see the world, Rainbow Dash?”

He was impressed, very impressed. It made sense, to move as fast as she does one must have the reflexes to match. To fly at speeds unseen before, you must be able to turn on a bit, you have to see thousands of hooves ahead and plan accordingly. A split second wrong decision would spell disaster.

He had been trying to get used to it. Needless to say, it was starting to look like he would need more practice. Yes, he could grow his wings out to any size he wanted, however, when you fly at fifty times the speed of sound, clipping your wing on a random tree would send you into a nosedive, one you would not be prepared for.

He was beginning to think that he should have waited before challenging Rainbow Dash.

‘No, the damage was already done; she would find me now anyway.’ He thought. It was true, with what he did, that mare would search the entire planet for him. There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to run. He had backed himself into the corner and now he had to pay the piper. Not that it mattered, even if he were not used to these new abilities, he would still put her in the ground. That thought made him smile.

An object approaching from the city interrupted his thoughts. It was a griffin, an old one at that, wearing some form of dull gray armor. Blood recognized the former emperor less than a second after spotting him.

“Someone wants to die. Well, I guess I do have some time to kill.” He smiled at that, who knew that the empire provided its guests with entertainment?

As he waited for the griffin to arrive, Blood Dawn gave serious thought to simply picking him up and carrying him the rest of the way to the mountain. He laughed at his own impatience; it was never easy to wait. However, it would make the act all that much more enjoyable when its time came. That he knew from experience. Still, that knowledge did not change the wait though…

“Oh well, I will have to make flaying him alive all the more fun when he does get here.” Blood Dawn said to himself with a smile on his face and a spring in his step.

…

Siros was not afraid, he was not scared, and he was most assuredly not frightened about what awaited him on the top of this mountain. He knew he would die up here, but he knew this was his best opportunity to kill this… this thing. His mission in life was simply to end it… the thing that had killed his grandson before he was even born, before he had even taken his first breath.

Siros was not afraid at all.

Siros was pissed.

When he landed at the top of the mountain, it did not surprise him at all to find the shadow creature immediately spoke to him, and unsurprisingly, it was taunting him.

“Come to die, old one?”

‘Young ones, always so impatient.’ Siros thought.

He simply sat back on his flank. “Show yourself.”

Blood smiled as he gave Siros that one little request, he flexed his wings, imitating the act of a demon as he flew down from the opposite side of the mountain. He could feel the chill in the air; however, he was surprised about one thing. He could not see any fear in the old griffin. It seemed as if the old one was a bigger fool than Blood took him for. As only a fool would not be afraid of Blood Dawn.

“You want to start digging your own grave? I’ll be glad to put you in it.”

Siros glared at him. “Before we began, tell me what your name is.”

“I have had so many over the years, but the one I go by right now is Blood Dawn.” He smiled a toothy smile as he spoke.

“Blood Dawn… a fitting name for one the likes of you. Tell me Blood Dawn, why did you kill my grandson?”

“Two reasons, first and foremost, it was fun. The second was to draw her out.”

“Her?”

“Rainbow Dash, the mare who dares to take my title, I'm the fastest. ME, not her.”

“So you want to challenge her to reclaim your title?”

“I'll kill her and wear her skin as a trophy.” Blood laughed. “That much was already decided when I tasted the blood of your grandchild. I must say, it had a sweetness to it I have never known before.”

“I see… there is just one small problem with your plan.”

“What’s that?”

“You won’t be alive when she gets here.”

Blood laughed, he laughed long and hard, his laughter echoed throughout the mountain. It cascaded down the hills to the point where if you listened well enough, you could actually hear it in Warclaw. “You… you're going to challenge me? An old fool like you? With what army?”

Siros waited for Blood Dawn to calm down before he spoke, the stoic expression never left his face. “Tell me, have you ever heard of the Oathkeeper Armor?”

“No. Should I have?"

“Really? That surprises me. Tell me, how long have you existed, creature?”

“About five thousand years.” Blood responded coolly. It was a rough estimate, truly, he could not remember that far back, but it changed nothing.

“Ah, that explains it, it was only recently renamed in the past two thousand years. Before then, it was called something else. It was called the Blood Oath Armor.”

Blood’s face immediately went into a grimace. “No…”

Siros looked at him. “Yes, the armor of the blood, the armor that kills its bearer, the one that drains its bearer’s blood to fulfill at all costs the one oath he swears.” Siros bit his claw and splashed his blood across the breastplate of the armor.

“Blood Dawn. I. Siros. Former Emperor of the Griffin Empire, swear a blood oath to see you dead, at the cost of my own life. I willingly pay this price.”

As Siros said the words and his blood touched the armor, Red light encompassed the griffin, blinding all those who looked in his direction for miles around. Blood Dawn was speechless, his mind replaying the legends he heard of this armor over the years. There was a time long ago when he sought the armor himself, but he never found it. That this griffin had it on, and was using it against him, that defied all logic.

When Blood’s vision finally returned, the first thing he noticed was a blood red barrier surrounding the mountain; no one would enter or exit. He could tell what it was made of simply by looking at it, blood. The old fool had trapped them both in a sphere of blood.

“Getting cocky old fo-“

He never finished the sentence, a glance at his opponent confirmed all his fears to be true, the armor transformed upon activation. Gone was the old, crippled griffin that stood before him in raggedy old armor. In his place stood a proud griffin, one with a look of resolve, one who knew his purpose in life and was armed to fulfill it. The armor itself had changed too. Where before the plates were unadorned, old and grey. Now it was emanating red energy, the pauldrons transformed, each side taking on an emblem of a blood filled chalice, The color changed also, before it was a simple grey, now it was fully red. A resemblance to its namesake.

The breastplate had a thousand names scribbled on it. He could see his own written on the bottom. “So it’s true then, the armor adds to it each name of the one it kills. Although, this time it made a small mistake, I‘m not dead yet.”

“Oh no, you are, you’re just too stupid to realize it.” At that, Siros flicked his claw out, sending droplets of his own blood in every direction. Blood Dawn watched as not a single drop fell to the ground, each one hovered in place. His fascination turned to fear as the blood drops began changing in midair, they transformed… becoming something else before his very eyes. They became something very, very dangerous.

Each droplet formed a molecular spear in the air. He could only just make them out. No one needed to tell Blood Dawn what would happen next, on instinct he extended his wings and wrapped himself up in a cocoon of black feathers.

The spears attacked. The thousands of spears flew at the black cocoon, embedding themselves into his wings. Blood’s eyes grew wide in disbelief as several of the blood spears managed to penetrate his wing barrier. The tip of one spear was barely stopped less than an inch from his eye. He opened his wings and brushed off the blood.

“So, this will be interesting after all.” Blood said coolly.

“Only if you find your death interesting. Personally, the world will be better off once you’re gone.” Siros added as he cut his other claw. He flicked out both claws, tripling the amount of blood in the sky.

“Keep that up old one and you will do my job for me.”

“That is the price I'm willing to pay, as long as you die too.” Siros glared at him as the new blood he spilt into the sky began transforming into spears themselves. Blood’s eyes grew wide as several droplets merged together into one huge spear, thousands of times bigger than the other ones.

Blood knew he could not stop these like the last ones, there were too many. He had two choices, attack or run.

“Let’s do this.”

…………………………………………………………….

Hermes did not land in Ponyville, not by any definition of the word. He crashed in Ponyville. Flying beyond the point of muscle exhaustion, Hermes left a crater in the street where he fell. In any other town, in any other city, this would have been unusual. For Ponyville, it was simply another night. However, what was unusual was that it was a griffin who left the crater in the ground this time, an event normally associated with a certain cyan pegasus. That, and the late hour it occurred; fortunately a stallion was walking to a friend’s house at the time and quickly ran to the griffins assistance.

“Are you ok?” A voice spoke as it ran to the edge of the hole. Hermes looked up into the kind eyes of an orange earth pony. The concern over the griffin’s well being was evident on his face as he looked at him.

“Is… is this Ponyville?” He did his best to avoid coughing up blood as he spoke.

“Sir, do you need a doctor?”

“I need to find Ponyville. I have a letter to deliver to Princess Rainbow Dash. I was told that Spike lived here and he could send it the rest of the way.”

“Actually, Rainbow arrived in town this morning, in much the same way as you did. If you want I can take it to her for you.”

“NO. Thank you, but I have specific instructions to deliver this to only a select few ponies.” Hermes tried to climb out of the hole, much to his chagrin, it was easier said than done, as on crashing in this town he sprained his back leg. He did not even want to look at his wings, but judging by this ponies expression, they were in bad shape.

“Can I at least help you?” The pony asked.

“If you would be so kind, what do they call you anyway?”

“Applesauce. And what about you?”

“They call me Hermes.”

“Why do they call you that?”

“Because you will not see anyone faster than me.”

“Oh, I might have seen one faster than you.”

“Who?”

“We're going to meet her now.”

……

Rainbow was dreaming, she knew she was dreaming because she could smell the scent of lilacs in the air. That was the scent of Twilight’s favorite shampoo. That meant that she was right next to Twilight in her dreams, she did not want to rush this moment, she knew that Twilight was only there for her, only truly there in her dreams.

She moaned softly as she blinked her eyes open, it was then she knew something was off. Rainbow had dreamed of her wife many, many times in the past few months but none of those dreams had been like this. Twilight was indeed right next to her, but the mare was sleeping peacefully at her side, with a content smile on her face as she slumbered softly. While they had done quite a lot in Rainbow’s dreams before, she had never dreamed of the mare simply sleeping.

That is when it came back to Rainbow, she now knew it was not a dream, it was real. The events of earlier that day replayed in her mind. Twilight was back, she knew it all and somehow, someway, she even forgave Rainbow for lying the way she had. Twilight remembered it all or at least the most important parts. She remembered her kids, and she remembered their life together. It was… it was better than a dream, because it was real.

Rainbow felt a few tears leave her eyes, she could hardly believe it. She wanted this moment more than anything else in the world. Her friend, her wife, her Twilight… she was back. She was hers once more. Rainbow had dreamed of this moment for the past six months, but even she could never actually get her hopes up enough to consider that it might one day come true.

She nuzzled her nose into Twilight’s mane and inhaled deeply, wanting to savor every waking moment of this… this miracle. Despite herself, more tears started to fall, but these were tears of joy. She did not care, she had her Twilight, the rest of the world could jump off the tallest bridge.

Rainbow lay like that for seconds, hours, days… time had no meaning, as long as she could lay next to her wife, she was content. As such, it came as a surprise when a lavender hoof began stroking her mane.

“Hey, Rainbow.”

“Hey, Twi.”

Rainbow looked to the side to see a warm face smile back at her. She knew that face; it was the one in all her dreams. It was the face of the nerdy bookworm that chose her over everyone else, the one that gave up Godhood to save her. The one that gave her three beautiful children, the one that somehow, someway, loved her more than any other on the planet. The one she loved more than any other on the planet.

Those eyes, she would die a happy mare if as long as she got to see those eyes every day until then. It was rare enough to find someone you love, someone who you would do anything for, someone who just by being happy made you happy, but for them to love you too? That was a blessing.

“Twi…”

“Yes, Rainbow?”

“I-“

A loud knock came from the door down stairs, it carried enough force to identify its urgency to both ponies in the house. “I'm going to kill whoever that is.”

“Hush you.” Twilight smiled as she rolled over and got out of bed.

“It’s gotta be after midnight, who could that possibly be?” Rainbow asked, annoyed at whoever would come over this late at night.

“It’s gotta be important if they would come so late.” Twilight added as the knocking intensified.

“We’re coming!” Rainbow yelled as she followed her wife down the stairs. She could not help but steal some glances at Twilight’s marehood as she walked ahead. A fact Twilight quickly caught on to and began to tease her a little with. Twilight put a little more bounce in her step, an action that caused her tail to bounce to each side a little more than normal as she walked in front.

When they reached the front door, Twilight smiled as she saw the look of wanton desire on her wife’s face. She used her magic to shut Rainbow’s mouth for her. “Later, let’s deal with this first.”

“Is that a promise?”

Twilight smiled and kissed Rainbow on the cheek. “What do you think?” she said seductively.

Needless to say, Rainbow was not paying much attention to anything at that moment, her mind running along everything she wanted to do to that mare right now. Therefore, it came as a shock when Twilight opened the door and a griffin ran inside directly to her.

“Princess Rainbow Dash, I have flown here from Warclaw to deliver this message straight to you!” The griffin spit the words out as fast as he could. Exhaustion and relief both evident in his voice as he spoke.

“You want to run that by me one more time.” Rainbow said, taken aback by this new development, as she looked at the dark blue griffin in shock that he was even here.

“I think he has a message for you.” Applesauce added.

“Oh, that’s all?” Rainbow took the message and opened it up. She began reading aloud.

“Princess Rainbow Dash.

It is my solemn regret to inform you that the capital city of Warclaw was attacked tonight; we came under threat by a hostile force. It took the appearance of a pegasus clouded in black magic; when I engaged it, the shadow shared in your abilities to grow and shrink its wings at will. Its ultimate intention seemed to be drawing you out, as it left most of us alive to carry that message to you.

However, most of us did not include Aurora’s foal.... The creature stabbed her in the stomach after cutting my son’s wing off. The doctors say she will survive, but nothing can be done for the baby. As far as my son’s fate, I do not know. They gave him a fifty-fifty chance to pull through.”

As Rainbow read on, the tone of her voice grew dark. She did not stop reading, but her appearance began a subtle shift. Her anger was taking hold.

“While its intention may have been you, I can promise you that it will never live to see the fruits of its labors. I have left to engage this creature in combat, and although it will cost me my life, I vow to see it dead before I go.

You left your daughter in our care, she was hurt, and her son was lost. For that, I cannot apologize enough, but with its death, and mine, I will start to make amends.

Siros”

Rainbow did not read the next part aloud. It was marked specifically for her.

“PS. I never told you this, but I have always loved you. As this is my final letter, I have no qualms about saying this now. However, your happiness has always been what I wanted most, and I know in my heart that Twilight can give you that in ways I never could. I would not want to come between such love. May you forgive an old fool his ways, and live long Rainbow Dash; make your life an inspiration to all of those who come next, in the same way you have already inspired me with mine.”

Rainbow placed the letter down, ripping off the part that was just meant for her; she slowly rolled the rest back up and gave it to Applesauce, with one set of instructions.

“Take this to Spike, tell him to send it to Princess Night, She deserves to know what happened to her sister.” Applesauce took the letter with a nod.

“What do they call you?” Rainbow asked the griffin.

“Hermes.”

“Hermes, how long ago was this written?” the calmness in Rainbow’s voice was unnerving to all of those who heard the contents of that letter. It did not match the expression in her eyes, or the twitching of her wings. Anypony who knew her, knew that she wanted to take flight, she wanted to find this… this shadow and take out her vengeance. How she had held back so far was a mystery for another day.

“An hour ago, princess.”

“And where is Siros now?”

“He left to engage the shadow creature himself. At the top of the tallest mountain in the Griffin Empire: Skyclaw Mountain.”

Rainbow nodded her understanding; she knew that mountain all too well. She turned and looked at her wife, Twilight was crying… Rainbow reached up a hoof and wiped the tears away. “I know… I know it hurts, but now is not the time. I need you to go to her; I need you to make sure Aurora is ok. Can you do that?”

Twilight looked up at her wife; she could not speak, not yet anyway. Therefore, she simply nodded in response.

“I'd go with you, but I have someone to see. If that old fool thinks I'll let him do this on his own, he has another thing coming.”

Twilight reached up and wrapped Rainbow in a hug; she put all her strength into it. It was an action that squeezed a lone tear out of Rainbow’s eye.

“Do what you have to do, but know that I'm waiting for you to get back. Promise me; promise me you won’t keep me waiting long.”

“I promise, and Rainbow Dash always keeps her promises.”

With that, Rainbow was gone, none of the souls in the house saw her go; it was as quick as the blink of the eye. Not even the wind gave away her position. However, the loud boom heard to the south was evident enough of her destination.

Hermes looked scared, he had never seen such speed before, such power come from one pony… it was almost too much to take. However, what he felt from her was nothing compared to what happened next. He turned to the alicorn.

“Is it wise to let her go alone?” Hermes asked.

“This creature… this shadow, he attacked Warclaw, maimed Emperor Icarus, and killed our grandson to draw her out. There was just one flaw in his little plan.”

“What’s that?”

“It worked.”

With that, Twilight cast an enhancement ritual on the ground, she knew her destination but it would still take a lot of magic to accomplish over such a distance. She began drawing up the old spells in her memory, summoning as much magic energy as she could. To her surprise, it came back as easy as walking. It seemed some things once learned could never be forgotten.

“What are you doing?” Applesauce asked.

“I need to see my daughter. You have your tasks, what are you still doing here?”

Applesauce nodded and took off, running straight for the Carousel Boutique, straight for Spike and Rarity.

Hermes took two steps back. “How are you going to get there?”

“Like this.” in a flash of light, she was gone, he shook his head at the implications, that a pony could teleport such a long way, with such little preparation was astounding. Truly, if Equestria had ponies this powerful, he did not know why anyone would ever risk getting on their bad side.

………………………………………

Blood found himself in a situation he did not believe possible. He was losing and badly. The red sphere began closing in on the two of them, serving to limit his options of dodging. He attempted to break out of it, but to no avail, like it or not, he was stuck. So he had to dodge.

Every fiber in his body refused to call it for what it was; he was fleeing for his life.

Just because you will not admit to something, does not make it any less real.

It was only his speed and the reflexes that came with it that saved him. Every time he would dodge, the griffin would simply create more spears and the sphere would close inward ever so much more. At a rough estimate, he guessed there were about a hundred thousand after him. He was quickly running out of room, and options. This needed to end soon or he really would die.

Blood flew around the sphere at breakneck speeds, while he ran into a few spears as he did so, he shook off those wounds as simply a cost of war. He dodged several large groups, causing them to chase him at odd angles, until, at last, he had them where he wanted them, or should he say, he cleared them out from where he did not want them.

Blood cleared a flight path straight to the griffin. The opening was only a hair’s breadth wide, and for someone, anyone else, it would have been impossible. Blood made it look easy; he pulled into the opening and sliced out with his left wing at the old griffin.

Siros bowled over from the impact. The armor prevented him from being cut in half, but the exposed gashes along his flesh told the tale all too well. He was bleeding from several more places.

“Careless.”

“Yes, you were.” Blood smiled as he taunted the old fool.

“I wasn’t talking about me.” Siros added as blood began pouring out of his new wounds. The flow began forming millions of new spears as the blood sphere shrunk in size by half.

“Horseapples.” Too late did Blood realize he just made this fight a whole lot harder for himself. As he looked at the sheer number of spears now facing him, he could only wrap himself up tightly in his wings.

His final thought before he became swiss cheese was, ‘This is going to hurt.’

………………………………………………

Twilight teleported dead center in the Warclaw's Palace Throne Room, several guards rushed out, all of them on high alert after the events of earlier that night.

“Identify yourself!” The lead griffin shouted.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, I'm here to see my daughter, Aurora Flash.” Twilight replied matter-of-factly.

“How do we know you're telling the truth?”

Twilight stared at him, her eyes glowing white as she contemplated all the different ways she could prove it, she levitated a little off the ground, spreading her wings wide as she did so. “Trust me commander, if I wanted to do damage, there is not a single soul in the empire that could stop me. Now if I were you, I would take me to see my daughter before I get really upset.”

The commander had been through a lot in his time, but this is the first time he had ever known what true power was, and as a result, it was the first time he ever experienced true fear. He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that this mare’s threat was no boast. She could tear apart the palace brick by brick with a simple thought.

“As you say, princess. Please, follow me.”

Twilight landed back on the ground, her eyes resuming their normal purple hue. “Thank you commander. Please, tell me, is she ok?” Twilight asked as they started walking down the hall.

“I don’t know, princess. The rumors are that they are both in intensive care, we are simply waiting for the doctors to finish before we have any more information.”

They walked in silence after that, neither willing to say another word to the other. During the journey, Twilight’s mind went over the layout of the palace, or what she could remember of it. Most of her memories were back, but while there were still a few that seemed to elude her, she knew they would come back in time. Her mind was still putting together all the pieces.

When they finally arrived at the infirmary, Twilight saw a griffin dressed in scrubs with a surgical mask on. He was leaning against the wall, with his head in his claws.

“Doctor, what’s going on?”

The doctor looked up as Twilight ran the rest of the way. “Princess Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight nodded.

“You’re here to see Aurora I take it.”

Again, Twilight nodded.

“She just got done with surgery, you can relax, she pulled through without issue. Although there was nothing that could be done for the baby.”

“What are you not telling me?” Twilight asked, she knew something was up, something was off about his stance, he was hiding something.

“I suppose you will find out eventually. The injury, it destroyed her womb, there was nothing we could do. She will never have another foal.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide at that. “It was that bad?”

It was his turn to nod.

“Where is she?”

“She’s resting; it can wait until the morning.”

Twilight turned and walked into the room on the side.

“Princess Twilight, I must insi-“A magical spell locked his beak in place.

“No, I must insist. This is my daughter and I will see her now.” Twilight opened the door and shut it behind her. She was amazed when she walked in; both Icarus and Aurora were in the same room. Their beds placed right next to each other. She could see the damage done… the bandages they were wrapped in. it looked as if Icarus had given everything he could to save her… judging by his wounds, he had almost given his life.

What really shocked her was that Icarus was still awake and watching Aurora. Somehow, the griffin would not shut his eyes, almost as if to do so would cause him to lose her.

The doctor came in after Twilight. “Fine, if you insist on being here I want to make sure nothing happens.”

“Doctor, why is he still awake?”

“Oh, that… he refused any sort of anesthesia, threatening to behead anyone who dared put him out. I think he blames himself for this… this travesty.”

Twilight was touched; she never knew that Aurora found someone who loved her like that, someone who would put himself through so much just for another hour to see her. “Is… is he still in pain?”

“Yes, how he is managing to hold it in this long I will never know.”

“I can fix it.” Twilight said with no amount of sarcasm in her voice.

“What?”

“I can fix them both.” She began concentrating, summing up the power of life, the power of magic. This was her daughter, this was her future son-in-law, she could do this for them. If she could not save them from the attack, she could at least repair the damage done.

Magical power began emanating from the mare, Twilight’s wings turned golden, their light emanated from each wing tip as beams of energy. Carefully, she aimed a wing at Icarus, and the other at Aurora, Twilight channeled her own energy to the tip of her horn. Using it as a focusing rod, she shot out two beams of magic to the tip of each wing. The energy continued to the two lying in bed. Surrounding them both in a golden magical light.

Icarus looked shocked as he levitated out of bed from the magical power. His wounds began to close under the bandages, the broken bones in his claw reset themselves, reforming stronger than ever. His wing began regrowing, first the bridge, then each feather sprouted along the way. However, through it all, he never took his eyes off Aurora.

Aurora’s wounds closed too, but the real healing for the mare took place inside. Her womb regrew itself, every muscle and fiber reforming into a new, fully functional organ.

When it was over, when the light faded from the two of them, Twilight wiped the sweat from her brow. The doctor’s lower jaw was stuck on the floor at the event he had just witnessed. “How did yo-“

“Shhh, she's waking up.” Twilight stopped his question dead in its tracks as she walked over to her daughter. Aurora’s eyes were coming open, her vision slowly returning.

“Twilight…” She spoke.

“Please, call me mom.” Tears began falling from Twilight’s eyes.

They did not match the ones that poured from Aurora at that proclamation. “MOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!” she yelled at the top of her lungs as she reached up and hugged her mother for all her worth. Twilight returned the hug with one of her own. She held it forever, letting her daughter cry out on her shoulder.

When it was over, when she was ready, Twilight let her go. Aurora stared down at her hooves, it was then she noticed that the scars on her side were gone. “Mom, what did you do?” Aurora asked, there was no judgment in her voice, it was a simple question.

“When you got wounded, it destroyed your womb, I used my magic and rebuilt it by harnessing the ambient energy in the air and creating a temporal magical inversion to turn back space time and reestablish what should have been there. From that point it was a simple matter to have your body make a copy of it while fueling it with exocentric magical energy from my own personal reserves.”

Aurora just looked at her. “What?”

“I healed the damage you two sustained with my magic.”

“Why didn’t you just say that?”

“I thought I did.”

“Yeah, well not really, besides I was talking about my old scars.”

“Oh, yeah, that's a side effect of the spell, it doesn’t discriminate wounds.” Twilight did not understand why Aurora was upset, she knew, on some level, those scars were important to her, but she could not place her hoof on why.”

“She was saving those, as a reminder of her brother.”

Twilight turned around and stared at Icarus, the griffin was pulling the bandages off himself as he sat up in bed.

The memories came back, “Oh, yeah, sorry about that.”

“It’s fine… I think I’m alright now… thanks.” Aurora looked herself over once more. It had only been a few months since she got those scars, but she had gotten so used to seeing them she could barely recognize herself anymore. “I think they served their purpose.” She held a hoof to her stomach as a thought occurred to her. “The baby?”

Twilight shook her head. “I’m sorry; there was nothing I could do about him. Even my magic is not that powerful.”

Aurora looked at her, her mind replaying the events. She knew, deep down, she should be grateful that her mom healed everything she could, but all she could feel was sadness and loss. The tears began again.

“This is… this is my fault.” She cried.

“What? Don’t ever think that!” Icarus walked over and hugged her.

“It’s true, had I left, had I gotten out of there when you said to, I never would have lost him.” She sobbed into his chest. “I’m a terrible mother, I should never have kids.”

Icarus placed a claw on her chin and lifted her head to his. Even through her tear stained face, he had never seen a more beautiful mare in all his life. “You listen to me right now; listen like your life depends on it. You will be a wonderful mother and any child would be lucky to call you so. Believe me when I say I would not want anyone else to be the mother of my children and there is no one else I would ever want to call my wife.”

Aurora and Twilight both looked shocked at that statement. Icarus reached down and removed a metal box he had hidden on his body. The griffin had not let anyone see it. He held onto it through everything that had happened.

Icarus bent down on one knee and opened the box. Inside was beautiful diamond ring, layered in rich sapphires. “I wanted to do this with my father present, but this is the right time. This ring was made from the bones of the first emperor, ever since then it has only been worn by the truly worthy. Those who have everything it takes to be the greatest of leaders. Aurora Flash, I want you to be by my side. I want you to be with me throughout everything, I cannot imagine anyone more suited to wear this ring. Time and time again, you have proven worthy of the crown, I may have been born to it, but you are the natural leader. The one the empire needs. Not me, I could never do this without you. So I ask you, Princess Aurora Flash, would you be my wife, my empress?”

She looked at the ring, then at him. Her tears began again. “Why would you want a wife that cannot protect her child?”

“Auror-“Twilight’s sentence was cut off by a claw raised up from Icarus.

“Aurora, what happened was not your fault. It was mine, I was the one too weak to protect you, I was the one who let that happen. That is my shame to bear, but I promise you that it will never happen again. I will get stronger to protect you. This I vow.”

“But you told me to run and I didn’t. How do you not hate me?”

“I know, but that is simply who you are. I could never hate you for being you. I love everything about you, not in spite of who you are, but because of it. I could not imagine a life lived without you, nor would I ever want to try. Please, say yes. Let me carry your burden with you, let us live our lives for the other.”

In his eyes, Aurora saw only her reflection. Not the reflection of her physical self, but the reflection of her soul. They were not the perfect couple, they would fight, they would argue, and of course, she would win. However, he had eyes only for her. He loved only her. His happiness came simply by seeing a smile on her face.

“Yes.” It was the easiest word she ever said. The syllables flowing from her mouth as natural as water flows down a creek.

“Yes?”

“Yes.” She smiled again. Icarus swooped her up in his claws. Hugging the mare for all his worth. Before either of them was aware of it, Twilight joined in; tears were falling from her eyes as she celebrated the new addition to her family.

“Rainbow is going to be so happy!” Twilight shouted.

“Speaking of her, where is she?”

“Oh, yeah, she went after Siros.”

“What did my dad do now?”

“He has a plan to kill the creature that attacked you. I don’t know the details but Rainbow went to stop him before he got himself killed.”

A sinking feeling overtook Icarus. “Where…where did they go?”

“Skyclaw Mountain.” Twilight said.

Reluctantly, Icarus let his fiancée go and walked over to the window. He glanced around the corner and saw the tip of the mountain covered in a red circle. Even from this distance, he could see the bright blood red circle contrast against the night sky.

“You old fool, what did you do?”

…………………………………………………

Ataxia found Princess Luna right where she expected to find her. She was at the top of Celestia’s Palace examining her night in great detail. It did not surprise Luna in the slightest to find Ataxia coming up to talk to her. Although, she had expected this conversation a little earlier.

“Ataxia, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?”

“Still using the royal we?”

Luna shrugged, “What can we say, it’s… fitting.”

“If you say so.” She looked worried about something to Luna.

“Something on your mind?”

“You mean besides the fire I started.”

Luna chuckled a little, “Yes, besides that.”

“I… I think… I don’t know how to say this Luna, but I'll lose my mind if I don’t tell someone.”

“Why don’t you talk to Princess Night about it?”

“It’s about her, actually.”

“We know.”

Ataxia looked shocked at that, ‘Princess Luna knew?’ she thought. Some part of her expected the princess of the night to judge her; however, all she saw in the old mare was patience. Patience and understanding, both in equal measures.

“Ataxia, we are the Princess of the Night. We have walked in many, many dreams of ponies in love. We know what you have been dreaming of; we know what your fantasies are. We know how much you love Shimmering Night, how much you have always loved her.”

“I… I… why didn’t you say anything?”

“It’s not our place; we do not go blabbing the secrets of the ponies whom we walk in dreams with. It would be, unseemly to do so.”

“However, we stand by what we said; you should talk to her about it.” Luna added as an afterthought.

“I… I cannot. What if she rejects me? What if she doesn’t like me like that? What if she doesn’t want to be my friend anymore? I... I couldn’t take all that.” Ataxia almost broke down into tears talking with Luna. The pain of just saying those possibilities was enough to make her cry.

Luna walked up and raised a hoof up to Ataxia’s head; she lifted the mare’s face to look her in the eyes. “What if she says yes?”

“You…. She does love me like that?” Ataxia’s frown turned upside down at the thought that Luna had all the answers already. That she might know how Night felt about her.

Luna simply shrugged. “Truthfully, we don't know, Princess Night is an alicorn, as such we do not walk in her dreams unless they call for me. Even if we did, we would never reveal the secrets of one pony to somepony else. It would not be right for us to do so.”

Ataxia looked downcast at that news. “Then why did you say that?”

“Because, you attribute too much of your own imagination to your friend, you've already built up the worst case scenario in your mind to such an extent that you cannot bear to ask the simple question. The only one who can tell you how Princess Night feels about you is Princess Night. Yet you act as if you already know the answer before she has even heard the question.”

“But… but… but…”

“Trust in your friendship, Ataxia. Believe in her, as she believes in you. Don't assume you know what is in her heart. She deserves to know how you feel, you deserve to not have to live with such a burden in your heart. It is… unfair to both of you to keep it locked inside. Tell her, even if she does not feel the same way, even if she rejects you, trust that your friendship is strong enough to see you through. Trust that she would never simply leave you like that.”

“You think so?”

“I know so, after all, she is the daughter of Princess Twilight.” Luna smiled as she spoke.

Ataxia wanted to reply, but at that time, they both heard a shout coming from the staircase as a pony was coming up. “Princess Luna! Ataxia!” Night flew up the stairs as fast as her wings would carry her. In her magic she carried a letter.

“What’s wrong?” Ataxia asked, more than a little concerned for her friend.

“It’s Aurora, she’s been attacked.” Night said the words, her face streaming with tears as she did so. “The attacker killed her foal.”

Ataxia and Luna’s mouth dropped at that.

“I… I have to go see her. I have to make sure that she's alright.”

“Go.” Luna spoke aloud. “We will hold down the fort while you are away.”

“Thank you.” Night cried.

“I’ll give you a lift.” Ataxia transformed, her bulk almost causing the others to have to take flight. She was easily the size of a fully-fledged adult dragon now.

Night climbed on as Ataxia began to beat her wings. She took flight from the top of the palace, the building itself seemed to relax when her weight left it.

“Remember what we talked about, Ataxia!” Luna shouted up to the mare. Ataxia just nodded to the princess as she flew off. It was a considerable mark of restraint that she waited until they were outside of Canterlot’s airspace before creating her first sonic rainboom, the two mares headed in the direction of Warclaw.

Ataxia heard Princess Shimmering Night crying out on her back, her words poured from her mouth as she did so. “Please… please… please be ok.”

Her pain became Ataxia’s pain. Ataxia put on an extra burst of speed, in the hopes that maybe; possibly, getting Night there quicker would help. It was not likely, but it was all Ataxia could do for her friend, for the mare she loved more than anything else in the world.

“Hold on Aurora, we're coming,” Ataxia said to herself as she created a second sonic rainboom, breaking her own speed record in the process. Not that she cared about that right now. Her only thoughts were of the mare on her back and the tears she felt fall from her eyes.

...........................................................

Blood was in pain.

Part of him could not believe he was still alive; he could not count the number of times he had been struck, as those damn molecular spears pierced every single inch of his body. His new wings did their job, they deflected and blocked over ninety-five percent of all the spears Siros hit him with, but that still left five percent that got through, five percent that either went straight through his wings or found the smallest of cracks in his defense.

Five percent of five million.

Blood was in a lot of pain.

He could no longer open his wings, they were stuck closed by the spears that pierced him. Every bit of the magic energy that coursed through his body was working overtime to keep him alive. That armor, it was the real deal. He knew of the legend surrounding it, the damage it had caused in the past. The sheer amount of death it caused. Never did he expect to be on the receiving end of the Blood Oath Armor.

“Are you still alive, creature?”

Blood Dawn was beginning to hate that voice. This griffin, he should have killed him when he had the chance, he should have done it back in the palace. It would have been easy, like snapping a newborn’s neck.

Should'a, would'a, could'a, but he did not; it was too late for that anyway. As soon as Siros found out he was still alive the old griffin would end him. There was nothing Blood could do to change that fate.

Much to his chagrin, the extra magic he got from Grim Night was working overtime. Thousands of needles popped out of him all at once, causing his wings to flap open and his eyesight to return. The griffin was lording over him. At that moment, he looked like a vengeful angel, a creature sent down to end Blood once and for all.

In ways that Blood did not fully understand, he was content with this. His existence was a fun one, of that there was no doubt, but it was one of death, one of murder. You cannot be around that for as long as he was without wondering what it would be like to be on the receiving end one day. So what if he was going to die here? It would simply be one more death. Besides, the look of peace on the eyes of some of his victims as he killed them, he could not help but wonder if he would experience the same when he died.

“You got the balls to finish me, old man?” Blood taunted the griffin, already he could feel his strength beginning to return. While there was nothing he could do to save himself right now, if Siros took long enough, he would be back to normal in minutes. “Or, are you as worthless as I said you are?”

Siros did not reply to the taunt, he did not even blink an eye. His only response was to hover the huge spear from earlier right above Blood’s chest. It was the largest one he created, the one that would end the reign of Blood Dawn forever in this world.

“Do it, you fucking pussy.” Blood spit the words out.

“For my grandson, die monster.”

The spear slammed down. On reflex alone, Blood shut his wings before it hit. Dark magical energy met blood magic. The spear was winning. It cut right through the wings, leaving a gaping hole as it did so. The tip of it met Blood’s chest, first impacting against the black magical barrier that surrounded the pegasus. Again, the blood magic met dark magic, but the Blood Oath Armor was the strongest. While Blood Dawn had spilt thousands of gallons of blood in his life, it was nothing more than a drop in the bucket compared to the oceans of blood the armor was responsible for.

The spear pierced the shadow creature’s chest. The pain of it caused Blood to scream out in pure unadulterated agony as every cell in his body lit up in pain. It went down slowly, inch by inch directly into his body. Siros was dragging out every second of this execution.

That was his mistake.

The spear collapsed in a pool of blood. The component drops no longer able to hold their form. Blood Dawn looked up in shock at this new development. His opponent, this old griffin he made the mistake of letting live, fell down on his back. No longer able to stand, no longer able to continue the attack. The sphere surrounding them collapsed in the background. No longer supported by the magic in the armor.

Blood lay on his back for a few minutes. Laughing as his body finished healing the wounds that had been inflicted on him. “And you were so close too, you almost had me! Tell me, how does it feel to be two times the failure?”

“Shut up.” The words were weak, the last words of a dying griffin.

Blood just laughed, he laughed as the final needles popped out of him. He laughed as he stretched his wings and took flight; he stopped laughing as blood proceeded to flow from his chest when he flew. His hoof pressed against the wound, only to find it forcefully pushed away. The wound from the spear, it would not heal. It rejected all the magic in his body. The dark magic could not close over it. His body could not heal it. “What?”

Siros looked up at him and grinned.

“What did you do to me?” Blood asked the old griffin. Frustrated beyond belief that there was still one more trick the old fool might have played on him.

“I won.”

“You did no such thing, you failed old one, and you are nothing more than worm food now. I won.”

Siros started to laugh; the very action seemed to piss off Blood more than he could explain, for he knew that laughter was directed at him, it was the condescending tone that he would often use on others, for the very same reason. “What!” Blood shouted.

“I knew I would not be able to kill you, not in this body. Twenty years ago, hell even ten years ago, I would have done it. You’re right about one thing, I am old, and I have lived a life full of love and happiness. Full of family and friends. No you dumb shit, I won. Because I was able to injure you, I stood up to fight you, I stood against you. That's what truly matters, not that you win, but that you stand for something.”

“Pretty words, they won’t mean much with you in the ground.”

“Let me ask you a question, Blood Dawn. Do you think I put up the sphere to keep you in?”

“Of course you did!”

“You’re wrong; I put it up to keep someone out. The fact it was shrinking was because I could no longer maintain it at the level it was.”

“Just die you old fool.” Blood transformed his hoof and hovered over Siros. He raised it up and went to deliver the killing blow to the old griffin.

The blow never landed.

A cyan blur hammered into the revenant with the force of a meteorite. It sent the pegasus through every mountain in his path, slamming him with enough force to cause several avalanches. Blood felt the impacts break every bone in his body, every organ turned to mush. His body went through the crust of the planet, impacting the mantle, and finally came to a stop in a magma pocket. The pocket exploded outward in a huge gust of lava. Flying half a mile in the air as the built up pressure finally found release.

Siros’s last sight was of a cyan mare with golden wings hovering above him. In a transformation that had not been seen since the death of Applejack, she had somehow accessed her rainbow power. Her mane was several times normal size, lighting bolts in the shape of her cutie mark covered her hooves.

Rainbow Dash looked down at the damage she had created with a smile on her face. She knew that would not end him and waited for the creature to dare show its face again.

“My angel of death.” Siros spoke with his last breath. He died with a smile on his face. He never had any real chance of winning, but at least his death had a purpose, it helped the mare he so loved.

Author's Notes:

Icarus's proposal is dedicated to Somepony Unstable 3224 and his successful proposal!! Gratz man!