1056 AD, January 11th

Celestia’s tea time was sadly interrupted when the library’s front door burst open and allowed a well-dressed stallion in a tophat to saunter in, his coattails billowing behind him.

“Sun Goddess Celestia, it is I!” He proclaimed with a twirl of his red-haired pencil moustache. “Back from my perilous mission, and it was successful to boot!”

Celestia smiled in amusement and carefully placed her cup down on the table. “It’s good to see you, Mirage. Come – sit with me.”

“Ha ha! I came, I saw, I listened, and then I came back here again so that I may grace you with this latest infiltration’s messages,” Mirage strolled forwards, beaming with pride, and sat down at the table, continuing to boast even as Celestia prepared him a cup. “As always, the enemy was oblivious to my presence, for who would suspect a common maid to secretly bunk with the Sun and Moon Goddesses and their loyal followers? Not them, that much is certain.”

“And we’re all very grateful for what you do, Mirage,” Celestia levitated the cup over. She set it down, frowned, and cleared her throat. “Hr-ehm.”

Mirage blinked owlishly before grinning and tapping his hat. “Ah! Where are my manners?”

He concentrated for a moment, and he was swallowed by a plume of green flame that consumed his clothes, fur, and skin.

Celestia nodded in satisfaction as the changeling picked up his cup and took a sip. “Honestly, there’s no need to keep up your disguise around us, you know.”

“You are all very kind and accepting, but I’m afraid old habits die hard,” Mirage sighed woefully, his posh accent thick even with the newfound scratch of his tone and the echo that came with it. “I am at maximum comfort within another persona, so forgive me if I switch later on, Sun Goddess,” He took another sip before shrugging, and his fangs showed as he grinned. “But enough about me – at least for now – let’s talk about what I have discovered during my shadowy escapades!”

Celestia nodded, very much eager to hear about their enemy’s plans as well as how Twilight was getting along. “And what have you discovered?”

“The mystery of where the elusive Right Hoof has been solved. Captain Ebony’s loyalty was so strong that she thought it necessary to steal herself away inside a coffin so that she may be reborn and live her life without life.”

“…” As was the case with mostly everything Mirage decreed – decreed, for he never simply ‘spoke’ – Celestia took a few moments to puzzle out his words. This one left her gaping in surprise and disgust. “You don’t mean…? A lich?”

Mirage nodded, solid teal eyes sparkling with some strange emotion as he sighed again. “What drive and devotion must she possess to do such a thing? Oh, it’s so incredibly barbaric and heroically evil! It makes me shudder and tremble!”

“A lich…” Celestia shook her head. The Mortal Recoil spell had been forbidden for a reason, and now Nightmare Moon had a lich under her command; this could only be bad for them, worse so if Ebony went on to be as deadly as Marrow View.

‘But Marrow View didn’t have nefarious intentions in mind; I can’t even imagine what sort of things Ebony can do with those sorts of spells…’

No. She could, and that was more frightening than not knowing.

“Ah, but now for news that will surely make your heart soar,” Mirage’s grin grew broader, so wide that it showed each and every fang. “I have managed to deliver your and the others’ messages to Twilight the Ascended, and she has responded in turn.”

Immediately, Celestia’s mood lifted. These little snippets of how her former student was faring, they were one of the things that kept her going.

“She says that, as always, she is doing fine and that she misses each and every one of you. She also mentions that, last week, she hid a measuring tape that Usurper Nightmare Moon had been using when they working in the laboratory, and wasted three minutes and forty-two seconds of the Usurper’s life searching for it.”

Celestia laughed at that.

Twilight couldn’t do much and what she did do may not have been particularly spectacular, but the small acts of rebellion were tremendous feats of bravery in Celestia’s eyes, and she knew that many others agreed.

Mirage shared her mirth for a moment before continuing. “Twilight the Ascended also says that Usurper Nightmare Moon is still largely focusing on the Rouge Knights, and that, to her knowledge, she doesn’t have any immediate plans on dealing with us. Surely, our enemy is wary of our potential for friendship and love, wouldn’t you agree?”

‘More like she’s afraid to get hit by a Sun Strike again.’

Celestia nodded instead; shooting down Mirage was akin to denying Pinkie a wagon full of confetti after all, even if it went over his head. “Indeed. Was there anything else you found out?”

“Hmm… Ah, and it seems as though there are rumours concerning the Crystal Empire spreading around the city like a fire of sounds and words.”

“Rumours?”

Mirage lowered his voice…

Well… Celestia got the feeling like he meant to lower his voice by the way he leaned forwards and cupped a hoof to the side of his mouth, but as it was…

“They say that Crystal Rulers Cadance and Shining Armor have found something quite nefarious within the old crystal mines, and have sealed it off until they deduce exactly what it is.”

Celestia’s brow furrowed in concern. “They found something? Do you know?”

“Alas…” Mirage sighed sadly and leaned back, one hoof touching his brow. “The rumours are not as juicy as one wishes; ‘tis all that I could garner without drawing suspicion to myself.”

“Hmm…” Celestia’s lips pressed together worriedly. They hadn’t been able to communicate with the Crystal Empire since their escape; it was simply too far and too risky. She hoped they were alright. “I see. Nevertheless, you did well, Mirage; thank you for doing this.”

Mirage gobbled up the praise – perhaps literally – and stood up to snap off a military salute so fast it jostled the table. “Think nothing of it, Sun Goddess! Your dashing, rogue-like soldier is always happy to lend his skills in this fight for victory! I’m talking about myself, by the way – Mirage!”

“Y-yes, I figured as much,” Celestia cautiously held her cup before the table could be dirtied for the twelfth time that week. “Thank you again for your help. Now, I assume you’d want a moment to relax?”

Mirage’s proud grin waned and he tilted his head like a curious dog. “Rest?”

Celestia corrected herself. “I mean, I assume you’d want to, erm… enthral anypony and… perhaps anything with the capability of listening with your glorious tales?”

“Of course! That will surely raise our fighting spirits even higher! Forgive my sudden departure, Sun Goddess Celestia, but I must take my leave!”

Mirage snatched up his tea and drained it in one big gulp before slamming it down on the table – amazingly, without breaking the fragile cup – and turning to make a dash for the door.

“Aha! You seem as though you wish to spend some confidence-building time with me, sir!”

“Oh Faust, not you again! Help! Somepony help!”

Celestia stifled a chuckle as she saw a stallion run past one of the library’s windows, closely followed by a black and charismatic blur.

Perhaps she shouldn’t have done that; if the stallion’s shouts were loud enough, then-

Tap-tap-tap-tap

Celestia winced and sighed to herself. “Oh dear…”

“What?! Who is attacking us?!” Luna missed the last step, rolled forwards, and recovered without breaking pace. “Where are they?!”

Impressive, even with the fuzzy night cap deducting points.

“It’s alright, Luna,” Celestia chuckled. “It’s just Mirage on the warpath again.”

“… Oh… I see,” Luna’s body relaxed and she gave an exhale of relief before reaching up to tug the night cap off. “Sister, you really must stop doing that.”

“Why? He’s perfectly harmless, and more often than not he actually receives a lot of attention and adoration.” Celestia shrugged, watching as her sibling trudged over to sit down next to her.

“Sister, you may be alert and fully aware at noon, but there are some of us that prefer a more… nocturnal schedule,” Luna paused to crack a big yawn. “Waking to the sounds of somepony crying for help tends to put one on edge.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Lu-Lu; I had no idea. I have a handle on things, so you can go back to sleep.”

Luna yawned again and rubbed at her eyes. “Mmm… Thank you, but I’m wide awake now.”

“Tea?”

“Coffee.”

Celestia chuckled as Luna stood to trudge into the kitchen. Personally, she couldn’t stand coffee, not even as a stimulant to help her wake up, but Luna had grown a craving for the stuff.

Fortunately, Twilight had been similar in taste, and kept a steady supply of coffee in her pantry which, so far, was keeping both Luna and Sunset calm and ready for action.

‘Twilight…’

She shook the thought from her head. “Oh, by the way, Luna! There’s… Are you listening?”

“Yes, go on!” Luna called, and then murmured a curse that was barely audible beneath a clatter of pots and pans.

“Aldo wanted to speak with you about something.”

“What is it?”

“I didn’t ask,” Celestia turned her head sharply at another clatter, and frowned in concern. “Er, he said that he’d be at town hall for most of the afternoon, so you can find him there.”

Clank

Clunk

“… Very well, thank you for telling me!” Luna sounded oddly strained, as if she was lifting something heavy. Considering her strength, the only thing in the kitchen that could possibly be heavy enough to-

CLANG

Celestia jolted as the vibrations resonated through the floor and into her rump. Her tea rippled and a little bit sloshed over the cup’s rim.

…

“Luna, what on earth are you doing in there?!”

“… Perhaps I’ll see what Aldo wants now!”

“What?”

Luna hurried out of the kitchen, smiling falsely and sweating a little as she looked straight ahead. “Yes, perhaps I shall see him now. You don’t mind cleaning up, do you?”

“What?”

“Thank you, ‘Tia; you are simply the best sister!”

“Wait, what are you talking about? A-and you still have your nightcap on! Luna?”

Celestia ended up talking to the front door.

Completely and utterly confused, she stood up and headed towards the kitchen.

“… Why?! Why would the coffee be underneath there, Luna?! Why?!”

Spinning low, Rainbow Dash swept out her stick and harshly smacked it against her opponent’s ankles, and used the split second he was distracted by the pain to launch forwards with the use of her wings and kick him onto his back before neatly landing and lightly pressing the blunt end of her weapon to his throat.

Knowing he had been defeated, the griffon smirked and chuckled in approval. “Nice move.”

“Heh, thanks,” Removing the stick, Rainbow Dash returned the grin and offered her free hoof. He accepted it, and she grunted as she pulled him back up. “Seriously thought that was the end when you knocked the stick clean out of my hooves.”

“Always forget how nimble you pegasi are.” Alessio said and bowed respectfully.

Rainbow Dash returned the bow and flipped her weapon confidently as he walked off the designated ‘battle-cloud’ and joined the rest of his buddies on the spectator-cloud.

“So, who else wants to have a round? Any takers? Luigi? Still haven’t stepped up.”

“I’m content sitting by and observing your form until I have enough weaknesses to exploit.” Luigi shook his head.

“Ah, you’re a coward.”

“Future champion, too.”

“Pssh, dream on,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes playfully and twirled her weapon again. “Seriously, I’m game for another match. Does no one want to take up that offer?”

Much to Rainbow Dash’s disappointment, the griffons seemed battled out; it sucked because it always happened just as she was at the top of her game and feeling like she could take on the world.

‘S’pose I can’t blame ‘em; they were already sparring by the time I woke up. Bummer…’

Huffing and resting her stick against her shoulder, Rainbow Dash glanced over the side of the battle-cloud. They weren’t that high above Ponyville, so she was able to make out various shapes moving below without much squinting.

She saw one shape in particular, more defined than the rest due to being perched on top of the storey-high barricade that surrounded Ponyville.

A wicked grin spread across her face.

“Hey, you think the Marquees will be sore if I challenge his daughter to a fight?”

Rainbow Dash looked back to the griffons, half-expecting a negative response, but instead received a range of expressions that were both amused and uncertain.

“The Marquees doesn’t like his daughter getting into that stuff, but if it’s just sparring…” Luigi shrugged. “Although, you should expect a much more intense match.”

“Why?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously. “Is she that good?”

“She is adequate, but more importantly, she is gifted with magic,” Alessio answered. The rest of his friends nodded in agreement. “She would have a significant advantage.”

“So? We can just get her to not use magic, right?”

Rainbow Dash’s query was met with puzzled looks.

“Why would one not use all of their abilities in a match?” Luigi asked. “That would be an insult to the other opponent.”

“Eh? Well… you know, fair play and…?” Rainbow Dash trailed off and shook her head. “Never mind. Still, can’t be too exciting just perched up there watching a bunch of grazers mill about, right?”

Luigi shrugged. “Do as you wish, but don’t involve us. The Marquess’ daughter can be… err, vindictive at times.”

“Pssh…” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she balanced on the edge of the cloud and spread her wings. “Tell me about it.”

She put the stick between her teeth before diving off the cloud. There wasn’t much distance between her and Gilda, so no fancy stunts unfortunately, but she enjoyed the wind rushing through her mane nonetheless. She pulled up sharply when she was close enough and gently hovered in place.

If Gilda heard her, she didn’t make any sign of movement and continued staring out at the Everfree Forest that was beyond the fields.

She pulled the pole from her mouth. “… Hey.”

“… Hm?” Gilda swivelled her head to face her, made a face, and turned back. “Ugh, hello…”

Rainbow Dash awkwardly scratched the back of her neck. “So, uh, me and the other griffons are having this spar thing up in the clouds. Wanna join us? Show us some moves? I know you gotta have some sweet tricks up your sleeves.”

“Not wearing sleeves.”

“It’s a figure of speech!” Rainbow Dash grumbled with an eye-roll. “Jeez, it’s been, what? Almost two months? You’ve barely said anything to me!”

“Why should I?” Gilda questioned, turning her entire body this time, slender talons gripping the narrow edge of the barricade and making Rainbow Dash wish she had claws like that. “Don’t you wanna be talking with your friends. I mean, from what I gathered, I’m no longer part of that circle. Pfft – not that I even want to be; you and those other ponies are wimpy losers.”

“And you’re still a jerk! Faust, what the heck happened to you, Gilda? Seriously? You were super-cool back at flight camp, but then the next time I see you, you’re going ‘round town bullying everypony. Pinkie told me about what you did. You made Fluttershy cry, for Faust’s sake! Fluttershy!”

“Oh, what? Because she’s too much of a doormat to stand up for herself she gets special treatment? Screw you – go back to playing with sticks.”

“No, screw you!”

Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to grab Gilda by the shoulder when she made to turn away, but Rainbow Dash was hardly one for planning out her actions. Regardless, she was angry and ready to let Gilda know it.

“You made a total idiot out of yourself at that party and it’s nobody else’s fault but yours!”

Gilda snarled and slapped her hoof away, spitting back, “You’re the one that did those stupid pranks!”

“Yeah, because back in flight camp, you loved dumb shit like that!”

“Well, maybe if you actually hung out with me instead of those stupid mares, then I wouldn’t have been so pissed!”

“Why the hell can’t I have other friends I want to hang out with?! You’re not the only one, ya know!”

“I used to be! We used to do everything together; I came back so it could be like old times again, but noooooo! You just had to include your new buddies, didn’t you?”

“What’s so wrong with that?”

“It was supposed to be just us! We were…” Gilda stopped, her eyes wide in realization.

“What?” Rainbow Dash pressed, still fuming. “What?!”

“Tch, forget it.”

“No, no – you were about to say something. What do you mean ‘supposed to be just us’?”

“… I just wanted to hang out with you, not anyone else. I just… Like, you know? Do all the stuff we used to do, catch up on what we’ve been up to – I wanted that, but all you cared about was introducing me to your new pony friends.”

“Well, yeah, but I thought-”

“I didn’t want to meet them! At least… at least not yet. I wanted to catch up first, but that pink airhead just kept bugging us. I felt… I felt like…”

Gilda trailed off again, but Rainbow Dash didn’t press immediately; she saw the way Gilda bristled and how she avoided eye contact. She did that when she felt uncomfortable.

“Why was she more important than me? I’m your oldest friend!”

“What?” Rainbow Dash recoiled, hovered back a few inches. “Gilda, there’s… I care about all my friends equally, there’s no-”

“Yeah, right,” Gilda snaps and turns away. “Why don’t you go find your friends? Your new favourite ones?”

Snarling in aggravation, Rainbow Dash flitted to hover in front of Gilda. The griffon grimaced and turned her head to the side, pointedly ignoring her, but Rainbow Dash ranted on anyway.

“Okay, no offense, but you’re being a total bitch, and if you don’t stop acting like one, then Marquess’ daughter or not, I’m gonna land one right in your eye!” Rainbow Dash moved closer and growled, “I love all my friends!”

“…”

“They can be the most annoying ponies on the planet – and I’m friends with Pinkie so that’s a possibility – but come hell or high water, I got their backs no matter what. That means I got your back, too, even if I wanna strangle you because you’re such a…! Nnngh!”

Gilda pulled back a little when Rainbow Dash wrung her hooves against the long sparring stick like it contained the last few drops of cider in the world. Maybe it would have even been threatening if that infuriated expression she was making didn’t look so ridiculous.

“… Hah…” Rainbow Dash sighed and stopped assaulting the poor stick, her body relaxing, not completely but somewhat. “Jeez, how did it come to this?”

“Well, to be honest…” Gilda started, a laugh coming to her, unbidden. “It’s sort of like old times, ain’t it? Us threatening to strangle each other? Can’t really do that with others because they’re so serious about it.”

“Heh, right?” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “I remember when we kept saying that at flight camp and the other students got super-nervous around us. Good times.”

“Sure were…” Gilda nodded solemnly. She blinked a few times, looked down as her talons idly scratched at the wall, and then looked back up again. “So, uh…”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“… You can’t treat ponies like you did before, Gilda. Especially not my other friends. I really, really don’t want to lose you, but if it comes down to it…”

Rainbow Dash trailed off uneasily. There was a bad taste in her mouth at the thought of cutting off Gilda from her social circle, but it just wasn’t fair to the others if she kept Gilda on despite the griffon on harassing. She hadn’t been doing it much lately – not counting the usual ‘Gilda-ness’ – and Rainbow Dash didn’t want that peace to come to an end.

Faust, why was friendship so damn complicated? At least with bad guys, you could always just hit them with a big rainbow and make everything better. Couldn’t really do that with the ponies/griffons you cared about.

But… but at least it seemed as though Gilda was considering her words. Or at least, she didn’t immediately scoff at her and call her a ‘testa d’asino’, which was a phrase not in Rainbow Dash’s vocabulary of Gryphans but could only be an insult of some sort.

“… Hn…” Gilda grunted with a look like she was about to cough up a gizzard stone. It was never a pretty sight. “Pssh… gods, you’re infecting me with your sissy… bah!”

Gilda was glaring, but Rainbow Dash started grinning; she had a good feeling this would have a positive outcome if she knew Gilda’s mannerisms.

And she was confident she did.

“Alright, now look here…” Gilda pointed one claw at her, eyes narrowing. “I may not be a… Duck!”

“Uh, okay? I mean, you look more like an eagle, but-”

“Duck, dumbass!!”

Rainbow Dash briefly heard a faint whistle from behind, like the one she often heard when Pinkie’s tail twitched and everypony scrambled for cover as a random object inexplicably fell from the sky, and then Gilda grabbed her and pulled her back as part of the barricade blew apart in a shower of sawdust and splinters.

Several nicked her in the back before Gilda managed to stabilize in the air and felt it safe to let her go to fly on her own. Rainbow Dash did so and clutched her weapon tightly, turning to face the barricade and the section that had been broken off.

“What the hell?!”

She could hear sounds coming from the other side: the high-pitched cries of the gentle, otherworldly grazers and the deep, resonating bellows of the lion-things with three eyes – the griffon guards called them ‘tri-prowlers’, which was pretty lame in Rainbow Dash’s opinion but she couldn’t think of a better name and-

Oh right – what the hell?!

“Did you see what hit us?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Gilda looked over her shoulder and nodded weakly. “Yep.”

Rainbow Dash turned around to see a very messed up black bear lying in a pool of dark purple blood in the streets below. It was facing away from them, but there was no missing the extra set of legs and scorpion-like tail.

Many of Ponyville’s residents approached the bear cautiously while the rest wisely ran inside their homes and locked up.

“What are you doing?!” Rainbow Dash cried, making the curious citizens jump and look up. “You guys will run from bunnies, but get all up in that thing’s business!” She made a shooing motion with her stick and a few ponies slinked away in shame. “Get! Go do something not dangerous!”

“I think it’s dead.” Gilda murmured.

“GRRAAAAAGGH!!”

“But that’s not.”

The flapping of wings signalled the arrival of the griffon guards as they hastily leapt off their cloud. Alessio ordered Natale to go for their weapons while he, Vittorino, and Luigi surrounded Rainbow Dash and Gilda, bearing their wooden poles and watching the barricade closely as the roars from behind it grew closer.

“Everyone get to safety!” Vittorino ordered, though it was the roars that stirred the citizens into activity. Panicked shouts and cries for the alarm to be signalled filled the air as Alessio turned back around. “Mistress Gilda, you must get to town hall with the Marquees. You too, Miss Dash.”

“What?!”
“What?!”

Gilda shook her head. “No way. That’s one of those Wisp Knights, right? I totally handled myself back at the treehouse, so I’m staying to help.”

“Me too! I’m a Wonderbolt in training, and you guys have seen me fight anyway. Not to brag, but I’m pretty good.”

The griffon guards looked conflicted: Alessio looked to Natale for support, but he merely shrugged helplessly. Vittorino was no help either and since neither guard seemed willing to physically force Gilda to safety…

“Ah, per amore degli…!” Alessio slapped his hand across his face with a frustrated sigh. “I hope Luigi brings enough spears.”

“HRRAAAAH!!”

Rainbow Dash felt chills go down her spine as she spun in place, clutching the stick tight and swallowing hard. “Y-yeah, you’re not the only one…”

She had only seen a dead – were they even alive in the first place? – Wisp Knight before, but from the description of those that witnessed one first-hoof, they sounded like trouble. Big trouble, not just regular old trouble, too.

Another roar shook her down to the bones and with building dread she realized she could now hear footsteps.

Great, heavy footsteps of something very fucking angry.

Rainbow Dash swallowed and steeled herself for when the knight would bust down the barricade. Maybe her stick wouldn’t do much, but she had her speed; she’d take the majority of the knight’s attention, it made sense since she could out-fly it. Hell, they couldn’t even fly, right? At least she hoped not. That would be bullshit. Great, heavy piles of-

“Hey, quit shaking…”

Gilda nudged her from the side and when Rainbow Dash turned her head, she saw the griffon smirking cheekily.

“Seriously, you’re making me look bad.”

“…” Rainbow Dash laughed. “Screw you.”

“Screw y-”

A shadow fell over them as an immense figure in ashen-grey armor leapt clear over the barricade, swinging a misshapen object on what appeared to be a length of chain.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes bugged. “Oh shit.” She muttered in an oddly even tone that didn’t quite fit the frantic way she darted to the side.

Neither did the voice-cracking yelp she gave when the misshapen object snagged a few hairs from her tail when it smashed a hole in the street.

Well, losing a few awesome-points was worth being able to keep her insides where they belonged, right?

“DIE!!” The knight roared and quickly yanked on the thick, white chain so the club at the end could-

“That’s a fucking skull!” Rainbow Dash cried as she dodged away from the swing.

Her mind was working fast and had more important things to focus on than the ‘how’ and ‘what’ concerning the knight’s weapon, but as was expected of any pegasus worth their wings, her keen eyes picked up the skull’s details as it skipped across the street and reduced the Flower Trio’s kiosk to rubble.

The skull was definitely draconic; Twilight had shoved enough biology books in her face to hardwire some snippets of information into her brain. Rainbow Dash didn’t know enough to determine if it belonged to a dragon or a drake or a wyvern, but she knew that the owner must have recently ‘parted’ with it because the bone was bloodstained and still covered in chunks of flesh.

‘Poor bastard.’

The knight yanked on the skull’s spine that conveniently served as a makeshift chain and whipped it out again, this time at Alessio. He went low, ducking beneath the skull as it cracked the side of a building and charging forth to crack the knight upside the head with one end of his stick.

It did little besides make the monster bristle in rage and spit smoke, plated armor vibrating in place as it pulled the skull back and heft it up by using an empty eye socket as a hold.

“Look for holes!” Alessio shouted. “Try and get the smoke to filter out!”

‘Holes?’ Rainbow Dash carefully searched the knight as it whipped back and forth, growling at anyone who came in close. “I don’t see anything!”

“She’s right!” Natale cried. “The cursed creature’s barely scratched!”

“I’ll put in some dents!” Gilda said, flying in closer.

The knight saw her advance and hefted the skull up higher before bringing it down. Gilda flew fast, and went under the skull before it could crush her into the road and spun around to extend her glowing talons.

“Percorso di fuoco – alzati e consumare!”

The golden light surrounding her claws shot forth and solidified into bright red and orange flames. The flames scorched the knight’s back for little more than a second before it wrenched the skull free from the ground and used the broad cranium to block the flames.

Seeing her chance, Rainbow Dash sped towards the knight’s unprotected back and used her stick like a jousting lance. “Grrah!”

Clunk

Her stick bounced out of her hooves and she awkwardly slammed into the monster. She felt her bottom lip bust open and blood dribble down her chin as she flew away.

‘Faust, I’m a dumbass! Why’d I think that would work?’

If her opponent was flesh and blood, then the stick might have pierced their flesh at the speed she was travelling, but this knight was all metal and smoke – no dice.

But she had to try something instead of hovering on the sidelines, watching as the others risked their lives trying to put down this thing.

“You alright?” Alessio was suddenly at her side, concerned. “That was a pretty hard smash.”

She waved him off. “M’fine…” One hoof nursed her bleeding lip as she glared down at the knight; it had successfully fended off Gilda’s flames and was now trying to catch her as she flew around in circles. “We really need those spears.”

“Luigi’s a fast flyer…” Alessio said, looking in the direction of the treehouse. “He should be back any-”

A large, white mass pushed between them with a sound like, “Pardon me!”

“What?” Rainbow Dash’s eyes watered as she followed the blur, cooing in awe as it tackled the knight and lifted it into the air just long and high enough to punt it back over the barricade where it could cause no further damage to the town. “Whoa…”

She made for the barricade as well, clearing the top and flying out over the fields beyond. She was just in time to see Celestia, soaring high above the Wisp Knight, cast down a barrage of fireballs, each the size of her head.

The monster held up the skull to fend off the flames as it climbed out of the dirt crater it made on impact.

“Luigi has gone to warn my sister,” Celestia said without taking her eyes and magic off the knight. There were spears and halberds floating close to her, wreathed in a golden aura. “We need ice to weaken its armor, so right now, we’re just focusing on keeping it distracted and away from the village!”

One of the floating spears moved towards Rainbow Dash when she was a few feet away as if she were some living magnet. She wrapped her hooves around the hilt, grateful and feeling much more confident with its weight. When Gilda and the griffon guards arrived, the spears were levitated into their grasps, too.

Below, the Wisp Knight lunged out of the radius of Celestia’s fireballs like a pouncing cat. It dug its sharp gauntlets into the ground and gouged several inches of soil before it came to a stop. The faceless helm looked up at them, and it really was impressive how it could radiate so much rage without any form of expression.

“We should form a ring,” Alessio suggested. “Keep its attention split. There are more of us after all.”

The Wisp Knight’s left arm started trembling violently and the tips of its claws started emitting white light.

Alessio stuttered. “U-um…”

Screaming and emitting an explosion of smoke from the tiny crevices in its armor, the knight swiped at empty air… and promptly clawed it open into a long, glowing white tear that hummed with a headache-inducing drone.

Rainbow Dash squinted against the painful rays of otherworldly light and sighed, “You just had to say it, didn’t you?”

Author's Notes:

Note 1: Bone Flail - the ghastly remains of a creature that’s life was abruptly cut short by a rampaging Wisp Knight.

It appears to be the skull and spine of a dragon at first glance, but the size and possession of a second row of teeth mark it as a wyvern, distant non-sentient cousins to the dragons, known for their smaller and more agile body structure and poisonous spit. Wyverns can be found almost anywhere in the world, but prefer places with warmer climates and an abundance of greenery.

The Wisp Knight that wields this unusual weapon was the first of its kind, and recalls the name 'Caed' with a resonance of nostalgia.

Note 2: Changeling culture is an enigma, and little is known about their hives and caste systems. Some measure of individuality and free thinking must exist however, seeing as there are changelings in Equestria who have long left their hives and 'assigned duties' of their own volition. They live as free Equestrians who are prone to work involving positive emotions such as bakers, teachers, and escorts - the latter is particularly popular amongst changelings.

Mirage moved to Equestria in 1051 AD and has since travelled all over, capturing the hearts of many ponies with his charm and charisma, or so he says.