Octavia stood in a ready position, breathing hard and trying to ignoring the stabbing pain in her rib. She did her best to hide her trembling from the ninja cultist ponies encroaching toward her, but to no avail. Two or three of them snickered, enjoying watching Octavia’s pathetic attempt at defiance. Much as Octavia didn’t like to admit, things looked pretty grim at about this moment. Again. With Lyra and Derpy bound by ropes and Octavia barely able to keep on her hooves, the odds of successfully fighting off a dozen moon cultists dropped low.

One colt took a step forward, and Octavia flinched – she would call it readying herself – causing the stabbing sensation in her ribs to twist even more. She collapsed on her forelegs, groaning in a mix of pain and frustration. The cultists laughed again.

Laughing. A switch flipped in Octavia’s head as she pondered the word. Laughing….at her. Nope. She would have none of that.

A cultist approached Octavia and bent his head down toward her, arrogantly assuming she was defeated. She responded with a sharp buck upward with the back of her head, bashing him in the muzzle and knocking him unconscious. Another colt grabbed her from behind, lifting her up. She managed to get ahold of the colt’s foreleg in her teeth and clamped down violently. She let the cultist’s blood spill down her chin as he howled in pain and released her. She didn’t return the favor, and opted for biting down harder and eliciting more anguished cries from the pony.

Octavia finally released her grip when a third cultist rushed over and gave her a hard buck in the head, causing Octavia to see stars. She stumbled and collapsed once more. She heard a few shouts of annoyance and panic among the cultists. One grabbed her hair in his teeth to pull her head back while the one with the bleeding foreleg looked her hard in the eyes.

“You’ll pay for that” he said threateningly. His threats were soon unfulfilled however, as one of the cultists cried out in pain and toppled over. A knife sticking from his back. The ninja ponies mumbled in confusion. Another fell over, then another – each with knives protruding in the same spot.

“Oh good,” Octavia groaned, “she came back.” The ninja ponies finally located the source of their grief, spotting a cream colored pony amongst the tree tops.

“Bon Bon!” Lyra cheered with relief and a hint of glee.

“YAY” chimed Derpy.

The moon cultists struggled to deal with their new adversary, their only option being to dodge the projectiles that Bon Bon was so expertly hurling.  More ponies collapsed in yelps of pain with sharp throwing daggers protruding from their flanks.

Octavia dragged herself to Lyra and Derpy, wrenching a knife from a limp colt along the way. She severed the bonds holding Derpy still, who took the knife and freed her aquamarine companion. The two launched out toward the ninja ponies. With only a half dozen remaining, the combined force of Lyra’s blazing fast strikes and takedowns, Derpy’s brutal hammer blows, and Bon Bon’s expertly aimed throwing daggers made quick work of the moon cultists.

Octavia remained collapsed on the soil. Despite her burning desire to teach the cultists just which pony not to mess with, she would let the other three have all the fun for now. Her injuries would permit no more fighting for now.

At last Octavia’s three teammates returned to her triumphant, all of the cultist ponies laying limp in the clearing. Octavia struggled to get to her hooves.

“Here, lemme help you with that.” Said Lyra, who bent her head down, turning her horn to Octavia’s rib. A glow emanated from the horn and Octavia felt a soft warmth in her side. When the warmth faded, she felt almost good as new, and got to her hooves triumphantly.

“Thank you, Lyra. That was quite good timing Bon Bon. We appreciate the assistance.”

“Yea! Saved our flanks!” chirped Lyra who, after realizing she was giving praise to her mortal enemy, continued, “I mean…I was pretty worried when you ditched us like that. Knowing your history and all. Might’ve been able to take out that unicorn had you stuck around instead of bookin’ it…”

“I apologize for the appearance, girls” said Bon Bon with a sheepish smile. “I knew we weren’t going to get anywhere, not with all those cultists and that unicorn around. I figured it to be best to retreat temporarily until I might gain the upper hand. Either I would get a chance to help you out, or I would be the only one left to finish the mission. Thankfully it was the former.”

“No need for apologies, Bon Bon. Your decision was spot-on. If we were to have fallen then, at least somepony would be able to continue the mission. The key here is not us, nor the Princess. But those ponies back at Ponyville.” Octavia reassured the cream colored pony.

“Precisely”

“We better get back to Ponyville and gear up. I suspect the elements are gathering soon, if they haven’t already. Move out ponies.” Octavia said, before turning toward Ponyville and setting off at a gallop. Derpy glided behind her.

Bon Bon gave Lyra a devious smile. “What?” Lyra demanded.

“Bon Bon!” cheered the earth pony dramatically and clapped her hooves together, mocking Lyra’s tone from before.

“Oh shut up. I was just glad I wasn’t dead.” Lyra said grumpily. A sharp whistle echoed from ahead, signaling Octavia’s impatience. The two ponies galloped off, with Bon Bon playfully sticking her tongue out at Lyra.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lyra, Bon Bon, and Derpy Hooves waited anxiously outside, while Octavia approached the crate hidden behind the stage inside the town hall. The building had long been vacated since the dramatic return of the moon princess. The others had already gathered their weapons just before they chased after the white unicorn into the forest. Octavia on the other hoof, had been fighting unarmed.

The gray earth pony pulled up the lid to the crate and beheld one of the most joy inducing sights she had ever seen. Few things caused her heart to give the light flutter it was currently experiencing. Some ponies would think it to be wrong, or mad, or sick even. But Octavia’s mind raced at the potential, the possibilities, and the inevitable victory that would be achieved. There at the bottom of the crate, was a single sheathed katana. Her beautiful tool of victory. Her beloved carnage-maker. With a care she rarely visited upon anything, she picked up the weapon and gently tied the strap around her midsection.

She whipped the blade from its holder to test its balance and become familiar with its weight once again. She admired the inscription in the blade.

“Let my enemies come, and let my enemies run. They won’t get far”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At last Octavia exited the building, her dignified expression taking the place of the excitement just before.

“Took ya long enough. Have a nice nap?” Lyra said. A split-second glance from Octavia’s deadly eyes quickly silenced the unicorn.

Bon Bon gasped suddenly, and shoved the other ponies into a set of bushes next to the building.

“Ow! What’re you doing?” Lyra protested.

“It’s the element-bearers! They’re heading to the forest!” Bon Bon replied. The four peeked out from the bush and observed the six bearers of the elements of harmony galloping toward the Everfree.

“Ah, they must be getting ready to head to the old castle” whispered Octavia.

“Why there?” Bon Bon asked quietly.

“According to most sources, that’s where the Elements were last placed. As we know of course, the Elements themselves are in fact manifested inside those six. Fortunately for them, Nightmare Moon doesn’t realize that yet.”

“Hold on, hold on. The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters? Isn’t that where Nightmare and the rest of those cultists are going?” Lyra asked anxiously. Sending their only hope toward the most dangerous ponies in Equestria struck her as a tad bit insane.

Octavia stayed silent for several moments, thinking hard. After a worrying minute from her comrades, the gray pony finally said, “The only way those ponies are going to realize the power of their friendship is through struggle. Time isn’t on our side so it looks like the quickest way for that friendship to develop naturally is for them to work together under stress. So it looks like that’s our only option.”

“That sounds pretty risky, Octavia…” Bon Bon said.

“Too late” Derpy chimed in. The other three turned to see the Element-bearers galloping into the forest.

“Well, looks like there’s our answer, girls” said Octavia as she leapt out of the bush and pursued the six. Her comrades followed.