4th day of Moon's Rising
454 Years after the Defeat of Discord by the Sisters

“How much longer?” Chinook asked, running a talon along the grip of his sheathed sword. The hippogriff was sitting on a box, looking out at the castle as if he could see the ponies within. His poorly-fitted Night Guard armor had mostly been discarded, leaving his chest and left talon bare.

“The teleportation circle will be charged in two minutes,” Abrolhos said, glancing down at the runes as they slowly lit up around the purple-green magical circle. “I don’t think anypony else is going to make it out.”

“Mm. Probably not. The Moon Dragon was somewhat more energetic than we were told to expect.” Chinook shrugged. “Most impressive, really.”

“The dragon or that mare that was fighting it?” Abrolhos leaned back, aiming down the length of her massive crossbow. It was made of pitch-black wood and iron, a steel bolt as long as a javelin ready to fire.

“Both,” Chinook replied, smiling back at the sniper. “You know, I think you’re getting rusty. First you fail to kill your targets in the low city and this time you missed a mare as big as a house in the open sky. Maybe you should consider retiring and becoming a farmer? Maybe you could find that mare you spared and settle down with her.”

“Farmers,” Abrolhos spat. “I’d die first. And I didn’t miss her! I just… winged her. It worked well enough. The crystal flare just threw off my aim.”

“Mm. If you say so, little archer.” Chinook looked up. “But I think we’re about to have company.”

A dark form dropped out of the sky, emerging from a bank of smoke. Abrolhos swore and moved, adjusting her aim and firing. The bolt lanced through the air towards Pallas, too close for her to dodge.

An arrow hit it from the side, the bolt snapping in half. Abrolhos stood up, baring her teeth. Two blocks away, a pegasus waved with a free hoof, the other three busy with her hoofbow.

“Oho!” Chinook laughed. “It seems I’m not the only one who brought some help.”

“She’s just lucky!” Abrolhos said. “No pony is that good!”

Pallas landed heavily on the roof, dripping with a mix of red and white blood, a few of the dragon’s spines stuck in her armor and the flesh beneath. She stank like burning hair and boiling blood.

Chinook cracked his neck and stood up. “So we meet again, little miss monster. That was quite a fight! I am duly impressed. It lacked a certain elegance and skill, but you certainly had your heart in it.”

“I’ll have your heart too, in a minute,” Pallas said, pulling her wings to her sides. “Surrender and you might live long enough to get a trial and spend the rest of your life in the dungeon.”

“Mm. No. I think I’m the one who should be making you an offer.” Chinook rubbed his talons together. “Walk away. I’d ask you to join us, but I’ve already got one partner who would kill me if she could get away with it.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Pallas said. She walked slowly to the side, not taking her eyes off of Chinook. One talon gripped the sheath of his blade, the other tapping against and just barely touching the handle. Somehow, he seemed even more dangerous than the dragon, despite the sheathed weapon and relaxed stance.

“Your funeral,” Chinook sighed.

Pallas stopped, her wing twitching as she considered the hippogriff. She wasn’t sure why she was suddenly afraid of him. He couldn’t be as strong as the dragon. He couldn’t even be as strong as she was. He’d already removed most of his armor. His weapon was sheathed. He was vulnerable, yet somehow dangerously ready, and her instincts screamed at her to take him seriously.

She took half a step, and the hippogriff’s hoof twisted as he shifted his weight. Pallas stopped, freezing up. The tiny hole in his defenses had slammed shut like a fortress gate.

“What’s wrong?” Chinook asked, smirking.

Pallas roared and charged, shaking off the fear. Her blade swung freely towards his neck, the hippogriff totally exposed.

There was a flare of sparks as steel met steel. In less than the blink of an eye, like some kind of magic trick, the hippogriff’s sword was out and had intercepted hers, holding back the same amount of force that had smashed through dragonscale.

“You’re not bad,” Chinook said, amused. “You don’t have the patience of a duelist, though. You fight like a wild animal.”

“I’m going to tear you in half!” Pallas screamed, striking from the side with her other wing. Chinook blurred with motion, and the hilt of his sword hit her chest with the force of a cannon, sending her flying back, spurs tearing up the roof as she fought to slow down.

“Will you?” Chinook asked. “I’d like to see that.”

“Stop playing with her!” Abrolhos yelled, as she fired another bolt towards the distant shape of Wind Dancer, the pegasus using the distance and her own motion to her advantage.

“Come now, this is the most fun I’ve had all day,” Chinook grinned. He lowered his stance, keeping his sword parallel to the ground. “It’s too bad you’re already exhausted. I’d have liked to fight you at your best.”

“It was only a dragon,” Pallas said, trying to make it sound like it was nothing. In truth she felt like she was going to collapse even if the hippogriff didn’t attack her. That hilt strike to her chest had shaken her. One of her ribs felt like it had cracked, even through the thick plates of enchanted metal.

“True. A warrior is far more dangerous.” Chinook took a firm step, raising his free talon along the back side of his curved blade as if to steady or guide it. Pallas’ eyes flickered to where his single step had put the other hoof forwards, putting his sword talon to the back and less able to strike.

Pallas charged again, hoping to take him with even a fraction of his guard lowered. She didn’t even see him move. His sword was simply in front of her, the blade twisting and deflecting her attack, the edge of her wingblade hitting the ground and sticking, leaving her vulnerable and completely open on that side.

The back of Chinook’s sword hit her helmet, making it ring like a bell as she staggered back.

“Come now, little monster. You can’t just fight like a beast and expect to win.” Chinook returned to his stance. “If you don’t draw blood with this next attack, I will.”

Pallas shivered and spread her wings. This was the complete opposite of fighting the dragon. It had been slow and obvious, powerful but relatively easy to avoid, even if one mistake could have meant death. The hippogriff was impossibly fast, like trying to hit a ghost. She was going to have to be clever.

Even if he was faster, he’d been blocking her blows instead of dodging them. Pallas charged, making a big obvious swing with her right wing. He blocked it, but instead of holding her stance to put real force behind the blow, she kept going, trying to trample him.

It was a mistake.

He was suddenly above her, getting into the air with the lightest flap of his wings. She felt weight on her back, and then she was falling forwards, a sharp pain in her back. She gasped and collapsed, coughing up blood. She felt like she was drowning.

“That’s the problem with fighting an animal,” Chinook sighed. “Your technique lacks a certain something. You’re all raw edges and talent, and you forget your training when you need it the most. How disappointing.”

He stepped over her, sheathing his blade.

“I was hoping for a longer fight. I suppose you weren’t as tough as you looked.”

Pallas grit her teeth, feeling a burning rage inside her. With her muscles torn, lung punctured, and her skin badly burned, she shouldn’t even have been conscious, much less moving. It didn’t matter. It was like she could just keep going through will alone, despite the burning in her chest.

Chinook turned, surprised. Pallas lept into the air, screaming a warcry through the blood filling her throat. Chinook grabbed for his sheathed weapon and swung, the metal sheath hitting her across the chest. She fell back, something twisting hard inside her, like a talon ripping at her guts.

She took a wild swing, and the wingblade was deflected easily, casually, with no more effort than batting away a stray leaf, Chinook still not unsheathing his weapon. Pallas spun with the motion, turning completely around, her hind leg kicking out to try and catch him by surprise.

There was a flash of light as the edge of the hippogriff’s blade caught a sunbeam. Her leg suddenly went ice-cold, like she’d fallen into a frozen lake. There was a terrible sense of wrongness even before the pain hit, and everything went blank as she started dry heaving from the agony and shock.

Pallas looked back. Her right back leg ended in a stump just below the knee. Dark blood poured from the wound, spurting with every beat of her heart.

Chinook pushed her, almost gently, and she fell over in a heap, her own blood pooling around her.

“I warned you,” Chinook shrugged. He stepped away, flicking his blade to remove the blood. Pallas gasped for breath, twitching and trying not to throw up.

A vision, somewhere between a dream and a memory, took over her consciousness. That last terrible day in her birthplace. The soldiers holding her down. The pain and helplessness she’d felt.

And the way that Luna had helped her escape her nightmares.

Pallas roared, her helm’s fanged maw moving with hers as she struggled to her hooves, spurs fighting to keep her stable with only three shaky legs on the roof, the surface wet with her own blood.

“What’s this?” Chinook asked, whispering.

Pallas was beyond reason, not even hearing his words. She charged, flapping her wings to keep her balance as she half-ran, half-hopped at him. The hippogriff was slowed by surprise, and instead of cutting her down instantly, grabbed her by the helm and threw her over his head, sending her crashing into a low wall.

Pallas slid to the ground, her hooves slipping on the roof as she tried to get back up.

“You’re more like a wild animal than a pony,” Chinook said, raising his sword. “And rabid animals get put down.”

“Chinook! We’ve got incoming!” Abrolhos yelled.

The hippogriff smiled and shook his head. “Lucky devil,” he said, running to the rune circle. Abrolhos joined him, and the circle flared with magic as they vanished.

“Annoying,” a pony said, as she jumped to the roof. “They saw us coming. Intrepid, try to trace that teleportation. It was a predetermined point-to-point jump, so it can’t be that hard to track.”

Pallas opened her eyes, everything blurry and tinged with red. A light brown earth pony was looking down at her. There was an intense weight to that gaze, like it was taking her apart. Not that she hadn’t already been partly disassembled.

“Sirocco,” a voice said from behind. A silver pegasus flew over with something in his hooves. Pallas’ eyes widened at what he was holding. Her hoof. It twitched and writhed, as if struggling with the same will that was keeping her going.

“Necromancy,” the earth pony spat. “I’m not surprised. I’ve suspected Luna to have been dabbling in the darker arts.”

“She still seems alive,” the pegasus said, nodding towards Pallas.

“Yes. It is odd. However, it is also one of Luna’s servants.” Sirocco stepped closer. “A foul creature of darkness that doesn’t belong in this world. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was our foal killer, and ultimately responsible for all of this destruction.”

“We’ll need to give her medical attention before taking her into custody,” the pegasus said.

Sirocco shook her head and grabbed the twitching hoof he held, her own hoof glowing gold as she chanted, whispering words that Pallas couldn’t quite make out. The severed limb burst into flame, almost instantly turning to ash.

“We do not take creatures of darkness prisoner,” Sirocco said. She turned to Pallas. “Elements of Harmony, forgive me for this violence I am about to inflict.” She chanted softly, her forehoof glowing as she approached Pallas.

“Sirocco Mandala! I order you to stand down!” The earth pony froze in place and turned.

There, on the edge of the roof, was Princess Luna.

“You have no authority over me,” Sirocco said. “And as I explained, any attempt to escape would mean I could not guarantee the life of your student.”

“She has as much authority over you as I do,” another voice boomed. Sirocco fell to her knees in supplication as Celestia landed next to her sister. She looked like she’d been through a lot, and wasn’t the picture-perfect princess Pallas had come to expect. Her mane was ragged, her coat filthy from mud and water, and she looked angry.

“Sol Invictus, I was not informed you had been freed,” Sirocco said evenly.

“I freed her myself,” Luna said. “After my Dragoons freed my student from the guards you set on her.”

“And those guards?” Sirocco asked, already knowing the answer but wanting Luna to say it herself in front of Celestia.

“They are dead,” Luna replied. “I dislike ordering ponies to be killed, but they were well aware of the danger.”

“Were they?” Sirocco tilted her head.

“Yes,” Luna said, her voice low and eyes narrow. “They willingly followed orders that would have resulted in the death of innocents. Their duty was to challenge and refuse those orders, and they failed. Just as you failed when you used her as a hostage just to keep me from taking the field.”

“You have abused the trust I placed in you,” Celestia said. “You’ve allowed paranoia and distrust to rule you, and as a result, thousands of ponies are dead.”

“I was doing what needed to be done for Equestria,” Sirocco replied. “From initial reports it was more than likely that Princess Luna was staging a coup. Surviving guards reported being attacked by ponies in Night Guard uniforms. The beast that did this damage was one of Luna’s creations.”

Celestia turned to Luna, her expression frustrated and puzzled.

“It was a Moon Dragon,” Luna said. “Just because it comes from the moon does not make it one of my creations, no more than a tree can be said to create caterpillars.”

“And how did it get here from the moon?” Sirocco challenged.

“I don’t know,” Luna said. “I am not omniscient. I intend to find out, as I intend to find out everything else about this incident. However, what I do know for sure is that you prevented my Night Guard from assisting civilians or trying to defeat this monster, and that despite your interference, it was one of my finest soldiers who killed the dragon.” Luna stepped closer, looming over Sirocco. “And when we arrived, you were attempting to kill that soldier.”

“I-” Sirocco started.

“Silence,” Celestia sighed. Sirocco stopped mid-word. “Arguing and pointing hooves is what caused this! All of you need to learn to work together. I’d make it an order if anypony would actually listen to it.”

“Stay and bicker with your Solar Circle,” Luna said, lifting Pallas up with her magic. “And look well upon this before I leave. This is a true hero. Where your soldiers did everything they could to make the situation worse, Black Wind was forced to fight alone. She will live, and I will see all of you bow before her and thank her.”

“Luna…” Celestia rubbed her temple, but just shook her head and didn’t bother completing the thought as her sister vanished in a flash of shadows and light.

“Princess, I apologize,” Sirocco said. “It was not my intent to allow others to come to harm. I was trying to do what was best for Equestria as a whole.”

“I know,” Celestia said. “I know. I just wish everypony had the same idea about what was best for Equestria…”