"I understand the desire to be early darling, but don't you think being three hours early is a bit of an overkill?" asked Rarity.

Rolling my eyes, I picked up my knight and took her pawn. "Please, there are spies in our ranks and clearing them out has taken a while. There is no doubt in my mind that if you needed to be moved from one location to another they'd know exactly when and the route taken to intercept. But stashing you in the athletes' rooms downstairs means no messy escort to deal with."

"Ah, so it was a tactical decision." She immediately moved her bishop to E7 using her mouth. "How nice of you to be so forth coming with such details."

Shrugging, I contemplated the chessboard before us. "I see no point in trying to hide such details considering any semi-competent tactician would be able to figure it out."

"Of course darling." She eyed the chess pieces before us. "Normally I'm all for flattery, but modeling these pieces after us is rather morbid if you ask me."

"Really?" I levitated the Rainbow Dash castle, examining it in the moonlight before taking it with a piece modeled after General Sunset Horizons. "I rather like the thematic element behind it. Me representing Nightmare Moon and you representing Celestia. At this very moment I have no doubt Dawn are moving their pieces in an attempt to rescue you much as we are playing a chess game right now."

"And yet you're sitting here playing chess with me rather than organizing a defense," she remarked.

Leaning back in my seat, I gazed out over at the ponies arrayed around us before looking up at the night sky. "The defense has already been organized. I've got forces outside the coliseum that'll immediately flank any assaults whether it's land and air. Also got unicorns hidden all throughout Las Pegasus to shoot down their aerial unit and scouts positioned to follow any pegasus messengers. As far as I'm concerned, the ball is in their court."

"I suppose that explains where your silent companion is at."

"Silent Spell? Yeah..." A sigh escaped as I gazed at my friend, though I doubt she'd still consider me the same. As much as I wished to consider Nightwish and Silent to be friends, I knew we'd never be that close if I could help it.

"Queen to D5," whispered a voice by my ear.

"Huh?" I looked to my right, but there was no pony there except faceless guards. "Did someone say something?"

Both Rarity and Nightwish gave me quizzical expressions, but shook their heads. Funny, I could have sworn I hear-

"Queen to D5 my faithful student."

My body froze as fear seeped through every pore of my body. Very slowly, I turned my head to the left even as my entire body shook and as a cold sweat coated my body. There beside me with a loving smile on her face was phantom Celestia.

"Queen to D5, trust me."

"You alright?" asked Rarity with a concerned frown on her face.

"Yes!" I cleared my throat and gave her a weak smile. "I mean, yes, perfectly fine, n-"

"You haven't been getting enough sleep have you?" accused Nightwish. "I keep telling you that you should sleep more, but nooooooo, you insist on staying up until you practically collapse from exhaustion."

I rolled my eyes and ignored Rarity's concerned look. "You are not my mother."

Before the conversation could get anywhere more random, a massive fireball blossomed in the night sky. Very calmly and deliberately, I moved my queen to D5 without even glancing up. "Looks like your friends are here. This will be interesting."

"You're just going to sit here and let them get killed?"

"Of course not. They know what they need to do and I trust them. Loyalty also means trusting others to do what needs to be done after all."

There was suddenly a large explosion from behind me followed by ponies screaming and crying out in pain.

"Twilight Sparkle! The Great and Powerful Trixie demands a rematch!" With her magically enhanced voice, it carried easily through the air.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I believe I have a certain mare to stomp into a pulp." Channeling magic into my horn, I teleported off the stage I was on.

Time to see if you deserve the Element of Magic. Show me what you've got.

The group of pegasi and gryphons lay in wait under the heavy blanket of an invisibility spell. With the clear night sky, they were forced to hide out on rooftops rather than clouds. For once, Rainbow Dash was actually glad of eternal night – it meant they were actually decently well hidden and for once, they had the initiative. Off in the distance, pegasi drifted backwards and forwards on their little clouds, keeping a close eye on the sky. As far as the scouts and spies could tell, every single last angle had been covered by Twilight. So much for her helping Dawn.

"You ready Captain Spitfire?" asked Dash. Not once did she move from her position at the front of the pack.

"Ready and waiting General."

"Soarin?"

"On your mark General."

"Do it."

Even though they were a good block away from the outer perimeter of the defense, they could feel the temperature drop and when they breathed, it misted the air before them. Dash glanced behind her and gave the assembled group a warm smile and they immediately perked up, shrugging off the chill as though it was nothing. Before them, a fog descended over the area, blotting out the sky and providing a perfect cover for their team. Even now, Gilda would be leading a group through the opaque sky. After ten seconds, Soarin's entire body slumped to the ground and Spitfire was immediately by his side, easing him to the ground.

"Go back to camp and get some rest Soarin," ordered Dash. "Spitfire, you're up. The rest of you, on my mark and do try to keep up."

Kicking lazy off the building, she spiraled in up into the air where she hovered, eyes looking out into sky before nodding down to Dash. Taking out a vial of red dragon fire, Dash threw it into the air with all her might and off went Spitfire, rocketing after it. Halfway into the night sky and just beyond Dash's vision, Spitfire smashed headfirst into the vial letting the trapped flames free. Now completely engulfed in a flaming tornado, she shot through the enemy line. Then once she was at the heart, she flared her wings sending a wave of fire in all directions.

Just behind her, was Gilda and battalion who had used the thermals created to get a height advantage. A greater height meant a greater speed and in aerial ambush, speed was everything. They slammed into the enemy line, completely cutting through it and in the blink of an eye; the eastern aerial defense was crushed.

Ponies rained down from the sky.

Fireballs were tossed up from the ground in a vain attempt to salvage what they could, but that merely gave more ammunition to Spitfire. Again and again, she cut through the enemy line while Gilda used the thermals to their advantage. Off in the distance, she could see a section of the coliseum wall collapse as Trixie joined the fray.

"Squad Two and Three mark the enemy unicorn positions and take them out."

With a nod, the two groups of pegasi jumped off the edge of the building and began making their way through the night sky. Within the minute, the unicorns had been silenced. Although Dash couldn't see them, she knew they had immediately dispersed and taken on a scouting role. It was imperative that they cleared out an escape route for Trixie's group.

Rainbow Dash hated this. All these ponies dying for no apparent reason. Reaching up, she touched the dog tag she wore around her neck and gave a silent prayer to Gaia and Celestia. As long as she regretted this, as long as she didn't try to justify these deaths then maybe, just maybe, she could sleep at night.

Off on the other side of the coliseum, above Trixie's entry point, lightning flare up – no doubt it was Echo or one of the other Wonderbolts. Another minute passed in silence before a large group of pegasi could be seen coming in from the distance behind Gilda and Spitfire.

"If one of you manages to beat me, I'll pay for all the drinks tonight." Flaring open her wings, Dash looked back with a cocky grin on her face. "On my mark."

Cocky, arrogant, confident. There was no question about whether they would win tonight – to Dash it was already an assured thing. Concentrating her magic, she waited patiently for the pegasi to get into range while Gilda reformed her ranks to protect her exposed flank. Then, as they drifted over the moon, Dash kicked off with so much raw power it shattered windows, cracked the tiles underhoof, and left concentric circles in the air behind her.

To those watching the night sky, they would have seen a single prismatic lance pierce the night sky.

She cut straight through the centre, battering them aside with the turbulence left in her wake. Then at the top of her flight arc, she bought her back hooves around and bucked the thin air. Bright white light filled the night sky, and bolts of lightning flashed out in all directions, stunning everything it touched. In that split second, the Dawn Brigade pushed forward with a deafening roar and for the second time that night, the defensive line collapsed. With an almost lazy loop, she folded her wings, blasted past her own squad aiming straight towards the upper coliseum entrance.

A pegasus with a blue and a green eye appeared before Dash and before she could react, a powerful buck sent her spiraling through the air. A quick twist and flip, she righted herself just in time to flip over a second attack. Folding her wings, she dropped down on top of her attacker only to miss as he weaved around the blow. The countering buck slammed into Dash with the force of a train. Grabbing onto the outstretched hoof, she ignore the pain and tossed him off. Closing the distance, all that speed was transferred into a bone-crunching buck.

But it missed.

Wings snapped shut and she dropped down, the counterblow missing her head by mere inches. Before Dash could reply with her own attack though, Spitfire tackled the pegasus. Gilda suddenly appeared behind him and though none of her spear thrusts hit, each of them drew blood.

"Nightwish," hissed Spitfire.

"Dash, get out of here! Stick to the plan."

No. Not again. Please, no. It was like the night Nightmare Moon returned all over again. There was Twilight, yelling at them to get away, creating barriers in an attempt to slow the alicorn down before finally engaging her in single combat and teleporting them away. This couldn't be happening again, this wouldn't happen again and yet here she was.

"Get going!" yelled Gilda as she intercepted Nightwish. "For Equestria remember?"

Those final three words snapped into perspective. For Equestria. For Celestia. For the new dawn. Loyalty also meant trusting other ponies and to not fret over them every single minute of every single day. Newfound energy surged through her, she blasted away from the three dueling ponies, leaving behind a rainbow streak, and a shrill whistle as her squad tried to keep up.

The original plan was to go through the upper entrance and take out the guards sneakily before rescuing Rarity in the chaos. Considering the number of holes in roof through, they just blasted straight through. Hovering the air above the chaos, she could make out Trixie and Twilight dueling off to one side. Considering every pony stayed as far away from them as possible, it wasn't hard to miss. By the entrance was Silvia being pressured by a squad of unicorns and Fleetfoot was busy protecting a crippled Rapidfire by the seats. In the center of the entire coliseum was Rarity, surrounded by a ring of pegasi and unicorns.

"Sunny, take Rainfall and Velocity to help Silvia. Eclipse, System, Sparks – help the Wonderbolts. Rest of you wit-"

A massive explosion shook the area, blasting them back and up as all the grounded ponies tumbled to the ground. Expertly twisting and spinning in midair, Dash managed to keep her eyes trained on Rarity as she wobbled around on the stage. Then, just as the shaking stopped, a magenta aura surrounded the chair behind the white unicorn and slammed into her back throwing her off the platform and into the empty sky.

"Rarity!"

The world blurred as Rainbow Dash took off at break neck speeds chasing after the falling unicorn. She ignored the pegasi chasing after her; she ignored the searing pain in her side from a wayward arrow. She ignored everything except the tiny white speck before her. All she knew was that she was going to catch her friend before she became a stain on the ground. Rainbow Dash was not about to give up, she was never going to give up.

After all, she'd never leave a friend hanging.

Four hundred ponies. Over four hundred to be exact and at one point, there were four hundred and fifty six ponies. Trixie knew each of them by face, by name and by cutie mark. They had all looked up to her, all those foals who wanted to grow up to be like her and in the end, she had let them all down. Every single last one of them. A few had escaped, she knew Nightingale had managed to make his way to Dawn, but the few times their eyes met, he always immediately looked away. Turns out his entire family had died when Reinsville fell. Personally, Trixie was surprised he hadn't smacked her already considering that's what she'd do. Except with magic. Lots and lots of magic.

"Ow!"

Shoving her depression to one side, Trixie fixed the two Wonderbolt's before her with a glare. "What did you do this time?"

"Don't look at me!" said Rapidfire. "I was just chatting-"

"You mean flirting," muttered Fleetfoot under her breath.

"-with Silvia here and this crazy mare decided to hit me! She's insane, grade A insane." A smug grin suddenly appeared as he leaned close to saw in an exaggerated whisper, "Just between you and me Trixie, I think it's because she's jealous I didn't hit o- Ow!"

This time it was Trixie who smacked the flirtatious pegasus. "Keep your mind on the job. Trixie swears Spitfire made you join this team to punish Trixie."

Glancing over her shoulder, the showmare let her eyes wander of the assault group arrayed behind her. Each face was cemented into her mind. There were a hundred and ten ponies as well as an additional thirty gryphons, and she was in charge of each and every single one of them. This time though, she was not going to let any harm to come to any of them. It didn't matter if that meant diving in front of a fire ball or taking an arrow to the eye or even sacrificing herself so they could all escape, she was going to make sure every single one of them got out of this battle alive and with all their limbs. Four hundred dead ponies were four hundred too many and she was not about to add more. She would ensure every single last one of them survived.

"Hey! Stop hitting me, I said I was sorry," whined Rapidfire as he hid under a wing from Fleetfoot's furious attacks.

"Silvia, please get them to stop," sighed Trixie.

Clearing her throat, the gryphoness gave Trixie a sly wink before saying in a louder than necessary voice, "Hey Trixie, those two sure fight like a married couple don't they? You'd almost think that all this fighting was their way of flirting with each other."

Identical looks of horror appeared on the Wonderbolts' faces as they scrambled away from each other faster than a pony could blink.

"Thanks..." The blue unicorn glanced over at Silvia who had an innocent smile on her face. "Though Trixie was hoping they'd still be willing to talk to each other."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a gryphon, not an alicorn and most certainly not a miracle worker." Fire suddenly bloomed in the sky and together, they watched as the two groups of pegasi slammed into each other. "Well there's our signal, Trixie, time to do your thing."

"That's the Great and Powerful Trixie to you," snapped the unicorn.

Gathering her magic, she grabbed a mere hoof full, focused it, and unleashed a bolt of pure magic. It flew through the window and slammed into the coliseum wall. The resulting explosion sent every pony to the ground and it broke more than one window. With cape and hat firmly in place, Trixie trotted through the dust. Diving through the wall, she unleashed a telekinetic wave that enlarged the hole even further while breaking the bones of those unfortunate enough to be within five pony lengths of her.

"Twilight Sparkle! The Great and Powerful Trixie demands a rematch!" With her magically enhanced voice, it carried easily through the air.

A wave of fire rolled outward, consuming everything in her path as she shot down pegasi after pegasi with blue bolts of magic. Blocking a fireball, the white lance she conjured easily cut through the unicorn's shield and then with a bit more magic, it exploded engulfing all those within ten feet. A second wave of fire pushed those attempting to get close back. Just as more white lances rained down from the sky, a purple bolt of electricity arced between each one overloading them with magic. Exploding in a shower of white, Trixie quickly sent out a wave of telekinesis. The grunt from Twilight as she was thrown into the nearby wall was music to her ears.

Turning invisible, Trixie rolled to the side just as Twilight teleported and came down on her original location. A blast of magic erupted from Trixie's horn, but a simple shield spell deflected it. The counter slice from Twilight's sword sliced through a lock of white mane and drew a bit of blood. Throwing out a wave of fire, a blast of air countered the spell sending the wave back towards Trixie. The blue unicorn had no choice, but to reveal her location with a shielding spell.

A barrage of spell slammed into the barrier sending Trixie to her knees even as she pumped more and more magic into it. All around her, she could see ponies dying in the skirmish. Gruesome injuries splattered the ground with gore as ponies suddenly found limbs missing or parts on fire. This wasn't supposed to happen, she was supposed to save them all, she was meant to keep them safe. There was Fleetfoot and Rapidfire fighting for their lives, there was Silvia sheltering a group from a bombardment of spells. Everywhere she looked ponies were in trouble.

No.

She would not let this happen. She was not going to lose a single more pony. Trixie was going to live up to her title, she was going to be great and powerful, and she was going to kick some serious flank. She was going to make her mother proud. Most importantly though, she was going to make Twilight Sparkle pay.

Power flooded her body and she pushed with her shield, forcing it to expand. Then with just a bit more magic, it exploded sending shards in all directions that tore her enemies to shreds. Leaning to the left, Twilight's blade missed by mere millimeters and raising a magical shield no larger than her head, Trixie deflected the next blow. And the next. And the next.

Each attack was expertly parried or dodged. Sure, she couldn't get a single hit in, but neither could Twilight. Deflecting a particularly viscous thrust, Trixie bucked with all her might before sending out a pair of ethereal shackles. With a sweep of her horn, they were dispelled by Twilight and she was suddenly in Trixie's face. Pain exploded as warm blood splashed over her face, soaking her mane and fur. But instead of stumbling back, Trixie focused all her magic into a single point and blasted Twilight across the room. With a hoof over her right eye, trying to stem the flow of blood, magic danced over the wound, but even she knew there was no use. Damaged tissue and broken bones were one thing, nerves and complex organs like the eye were another.

Stepping out from the rubble, Trixie afforded herself a small smile as magic flowed over Twilight, fixing up whatever damage had been done. Grasping the metal pipe with her magic, the lavender mare ripped it out of her shoulder without even wincing. Then, she went about systematically picking out the shards of glass and metal embedded in her body.

The two unicorns gazed at each other silently from across the room. All around them ponies cried out in pain and pegasi dropped from the sky, leaving holes in the roof and craters on the ground.

Illusion popped up all around Trixie – each one a perfect replica of herself and then with a burst of smoke, she turned herself invisible and immediately began moving towards Silvia. Hopefully, the illusions would keep the mare occupied long enough for her to rescue the gryphon. Scanning the room for those responsible, Trixie followed the spell trajectories and brought the wall down on top of them.

Behind her, a couple of her illusions exploded.

Turning her attention to the Wonderbolts, a sigh of relief escaped as they had managed to out of the situation they were in. Nonetheless, she still collapsed a section of the seating, sending the group of archers to the ground. Wiping the blood from her single open eye, Trixie turned back to Twilight Sparkle just in time to have her shoulder sliced open.

Stumbling back, she narrowly missed falling through the hole in the floor. Sending out a kinetic wave, Twilight countered with one of her own. The resulting explosion threw everypony within thirty feet to the ground.

The white unicorn with purple mane and three diamonds for a cutie mark was no longer on the stage.

Before Trixie could grab a hold of the Bearer of Generosity, Twilight sent a bolt of lightning at her. Erecting a hasty shield, it shattered under the impact blowing Trixie back. Beside her, the Element of Magic hit the cloud and rolled just out of reach. Scrambling after it, black claws rose from the ground, wrapping themselves around the blue mare as Twilight slowly approached with swords drawn.

"Rarity!"

The yell made Twilight's head whip across just in time to see a rainbow streak blast after Rarity with enough force the send the tiara further away. Sending a lightning bolt towards the purple mare, Trixie quickly shattered the shadow claws and scrambled after it. Diving forwards, she scooped it up, slipped it onto her head, and then proceeded to create over a dozen white lances around Twilight. For the first time since meeting her, Trixie saw actual fear in those violet eyes of hers. Then, she vanished in the familiar flash of teleportation and just as the sword descended on Trixie's unprotected back, a massive explosion threw everypony off their hooves and the sky was lit up all the colors of the rainbow. For a split second, everyone forgot that they were fighting, that they were enemies in a senseless war. Instead, they all gazed up at the sky in wonder.

Applejack paced nervously in the basement of the club. The entire room vibrated thanks to the music being pumped out upstairs by Vinyl, but nopony could complain – after all, it muffled the sounds of their activity downstairs. So far, no injuries had come in; then again, the battle had just begun so it was to be expected. Nonetheless, Applejack found herself hiding away in the makeshift conference room with the door closed to the world and the blinds drawn.

It was for everyone's protection.

She wasn't sure what changed or when it had changed, and it didn't matter, all that mattered was that something had changed. Here, in the almost complete silence of the room, Applejack could think for once. There wasn't the constant buzzing in her mind, that constant voice that whispered in her ear, telling her to seek the truth to reveal it to the world. The fog was gone and for once since this whole nightmare began, Applejack could think for herself.

And that's when she heard voices. Indistinct and too far away for her to make out what was being said, but that didn't matter to Truth. At the first tendrils of words, Truth began singing and to Applejack, it was like the voice of sirens. So alluring and sweet, she felt found herself being dragged towards and with each second that passed the voices got louder and with each minute increase in volume the stronger the pull. Truth was screaming at her to bust out that door and yell at the pony. Yell at them and say how the pony was lying, that she was actually jealous and depressed and stole that cookie last week.

It was a good thing the blinds were closed and the music upstairs locked away all sounds for without it, Applejack would have already lost the fight. She wasn't sure what had changed or when it had happened, all she knew was that Truth sung to her in the darkest depths of her mind. As long as she couldn't hear any pony, as long as she couldn't see any pony, they'd all remain safe.

Then the voices began fading again as they moved away and Applejack let out a sigh of relief as the voice of Truth finally left her mind yet again. It was so hard to think with it whispering in her ear, it was like moving through knee high mud.

"Applejack!" Jumping at the sound of her name, the buzzing in her ear grew a fevered pitch as she stared at Gilda through the blue portal. "There's a group of ponies approaching Trixie from the rear, send someone there to keep them busy."

Ducking, Gilda grabbed the outstretched hoof and threw the poor pegasus into the pony effectively cutting off the communication and badly burning him in the process. Applejack allowed herself only three seconds to stare at the previously occupied space in a mixture of wonderment and confusion before scrambling over to the table. Grabbing a vial of blue dragon flames, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves before slamming it on the table while focusing on Pinkamina.

Congealing into a circular mass above the spot, it seemed to liquefy then freeze over into a mirror. As soon as the pink pony came into view, it took every ounce of Applejack's will to not let the Truth take over. "Pinkamina, there's a group of ponies advancing on Trixie's rear, take them out."

"Finally! There's only this awesome party going on and nopony invited me! Come on everypony, it's time to paaaaaaarty!"

As the portal closed, Applejack slumped to the ground. Before she had a time to rest though, the door slammed open and a random unicorn stumbled in. "General Applejack, the first wounded are in, we need all the helping hooves we can get."

Nodding, the farmer put on her stetson and stumbled out the door. As she brushed past the doctor though, she commented under her breath, "You might want to tell your wife you're into guys."

She was tired so very tired and all she wanted to do was close her eyes and sleep. Before she was thinking about something, something important? It was so hard to recall. Music... there was music from somewhere, a lovely melodious sound like an angelic voice. Closing her eyes, a small smile tugged at her lips as she gave herself away to the beat of the song.

Pinkamina blasted through the urban jungle as though it was a confectionary. She leapt from roof to roof, sliding down pipes and skipping up walls as though it was nothing. Sure, she was meant to have three squads with her, but where was the fun in sharing? She had been alive for less than a month and she wanted to live every single last moment to the fullest. There was still so much more to life like ice skating and DJ'ing and composing music and... and... Hugs and smiles and kisses and being loved. Oh how she wished to be loved and to actually get a hug from Vinyl when she wasn't scared out of her mind.

Ponies only live once and for Pinkamina, every single second could be her last. At any point Pinkie could wake up and she'd be back to being locked away in her mind with nothing, but repressed memories and the few sorta happy ones she had made herself. She didn't want to return to that state of non-existence. She'd fight it tooth and hoof, but if she did end up back there, she'd treasure every single last memory she had ever made. A few semi-happy thoughts full of self-discovery and experience were better than a bunch of memories not created by her and nightmares.

Leaping over the gap, Pinkamina grinned at the sight of the pegasi hovering above the street below. Already she could feel the adrenaline flowing through her veins and licking her lips, she would have sworn she could taste blood already. Nothing made her feel more alive than the possibility of death – then again it's not like she'd had sex before and from everything she'd heard on that subject, it should be pretty damn close.

Jumping off the edge, Pinkamina flicked both wrists and blades popped out of her gauntlets. Dropping through the air, she sliced downward easily cutting through the wing of one pegasus. Flipping over thanks to the momentum, her hind legs slammed into the pegasi below her and kicking off, she flew back into the sky. Two quick slices and another two pegasi joined the first. Once more, she flicked her wrists, retracting the blades before she landed back on the roof on all fours.

Licking her lips, a shudder passed through her body followed by a moan. No matter how many times she tasted blood, it always felt like the first time. That metallic zing certainly helped things – maybe it'd work well in cooking?

A low rumbling shook the pink mare out of her musing. Looking down, her eyes widened in surprise as the building began tipping backwards. There might be ponies inside! Scrambling up to the edge, she began running down the side as it as the building slowly collapsed taking out those behind it. Lunging towards the nearest pony, both blades snapped out.

Ducking under a buck, she countered with a truth through the chest. Stepping forward, the next slice caught him completely off guard and she quickly spun to the side. Blade placed low, it cut through a leg, and the following kick to the face broke his neck. A quick parry, she turned to the left and sidestepped the punch. Grabbing hold of the extended hoof, she pulled the pegasus close, using his body to shield herself from the sword thrust. The look of horror as the guard killed his friend was priceless.

Left ear flopping once, Pinkamina immediately dropped onto all fours and bucked straight backwards. Bones crunched underhoof and before anypony could take advantage of her stance, she was already back on two hooves, her blades a blur in the moonlight. Again and again, sparks lit the night sky as metal clashed on metal. Sure, the unicorn had more training, but Pinkamina was faster.

Much, much, much, faster.

For every blow the unicorn attempted, the pink pony landed five and out of those five, at least one would snake through the guard. Shuffling past a slice, her kneed slammed into the exposed underbelly of the unicorn forcing him back. Pivoting on her right hoof, she blocked a blow from behind and countered with a slice to the neck. Left ear flopping, she swept back around in time to parry yet another slice before suddenly stepping forward. Ramming with her shoulder, the guard pony stumbled back and Pinkamina lunged in. Her blade punctured the armor and came out the other side of his torso.

Spinning around, she used his body as a shield against the volley of arrows before tossing it at the annoying pegasus. Forced to duck out of the way, that opening was all she needed. Dashing forward, the first hit drew his guard out and the second went straight for the neck. Blood splattered over the mare, turning her pink coat red.

Giggling, she turned around to face the unicorns and archers. Dead bodies littered the ground around her. With slow, calm, deliberate steps, she began making her way towards them. It didn't matter if they threw arrows or boulders or fireballs or dropped icicles from the sky, each and every single time her Pinkamina Sense gave her plenty of warning. Each and every time they missed, the fear in the air got just a bit thicker. She could taste it and it was delicious.

Could do with a bit of cinnamon though.

Tilting her head to the side, an arrow breezed past. Then from the midst of the ponies, a single earth pony stepped out. Moving onto his hind hooves, he flicked his right wrist and a blade popped out then he flicked his left wrist and a circle shield snapped into place. On each of his hind hooves was a pair of mechanical contraptions.

"Hey, that was my invention," growled Pinkamina.

The earth pony did not say a single word.

"Oh, the strong and silent type huh? I just loooove those types," whispered Pinkamina seductively causing the other ponies to back away. "Especially when I try to make them scream my name!"

Lunging for his throat, he quickly stepped back just out of reach and slammed Pinkamina with his shield. Stumbling back, she parried the trust and followed with a slice before trusting with her left hoof. Spinning the side, his counter shorted her hair by an inch. Two quick slices later, the third clashed together. Ducking under the shield bash, Pinkamina rammed the pony.

Instead of being knocked off balance though, he managed to stand his ground. The resulting shield to the face sent Pinkamina flying down the street. Rolling back onto her hooves, both blades came up just in time to block the downward thrust. Kicking out with her back hoof, the wind was temporarily knocked out of him. Stumbling back, his shield arm clutched his stomach, but his blade was at the ready.

"I see now, those mechanical things on your hind hooves lets you balance and stand up right." Pinkamina brushed a lock of mane out of her eyes. "No doubt it also has increased traction to prevent you from being knocked about too easily. Not bad, not bad at all. So what's your name cutie?"

With a cocked eyebrow, he made a series of gestures towards his throat and muzzle.

"Ah, a mute. Wait, so you must be Silent Spell. A pleasure to meet you. Do you think our babies would be geniuses?"

At his wide-eyed look of shock, Pinkamina darted in and both blades came down on the contraption on his legs. Electricity travelled through her blade and her legs locked up for a split second, but thankfully Silent was still in a state of shock. Rolling away, the pink mare stood up with a grin on her face as he was forced onto all four legs.

And that's when the explosion of light happened. The sky was filled with endless light and pure unadulterated joy shone through Pinkamina when she gazed up at it. At the same time, though she could feel something within her stirring for a long slumber. With a resigned sigh, Pinkamina waited for the inevitable. Sure, she didn't want it to happen, but out of the few-shared memories they had, this was one of them. Already she could feel her hair curling up.

This was it then. Goodbye cruel world, till next time.

"What in the hay was that!"

Fluttershy ignored the ponies crowding around the window and instead went on with her duties as a doctor. Most of the injuries weren't bad, they surprise attack, and tactics ensured that they were mostly fine. That been said though, there had been a couple really gruesome injuries and while she might have usually slit their throats, there were more than enough doctors to take care of the injured. For once, she actually had the opportunity to save a poor soul.

"Is it... you know... a Sonic Rainboom?"

"That's impossible! It's meant to be a myth."

"But doesn't it look just like it though? Like how it's described?"

"Well..."

Flutter sighed and shook her head. This wasn't the time for such frivolous activities. There was a war going on outside and they all had their own duties to attend to. Sure, they weren't in the heat of battle, but that didn't mean their work was useless or not as important. It was that sort of thinking that had lost her a wing. Just thinking about it made her look back over her shoulder self-consciously at the scar that was there.

Glancing over at Applejack, a slight frown creased her brow. There was something going on with that pony, but whatever it was, Flutter couldn't tell. With a sigh, she went back to the patient she was working on. Tying up the final stitch, she stepped back and admired her work. Considering the pressure, time constraints and the lack of the sedatives, it was a decent enough job. Not perfect, but at least it wasn't too tight or anything like that. Wiping the seat from her forehead, she looked around the room and gave a single satisfied nod. Patients were moving in and out at a quick enough rate and a scan of the potions told her there was enough to last the entire battle if things continued as is. For once, she wouldn't have to make any decisions regarding who lived and who died.

"We've got a problem!" Immediately Flutter and Applejack was by the panting earth pony. "Somehow they managed to find our entrance and they're making their way here."

"Ah'll take care of it."

"No." Flutter trotted past. "I'll deal with this. Applejack, you stay here and make sure everything is running smoothly."

"But-"

"But nothing. Your leg was healed by magic, which means that it's still very weak. Any strenuous activity and you could rip the muscle. I will take care of this. Amato, Ilarias, Sichelle with me."

"Yes General," the three gryphons replied as one.

The only good thing that happened when she lost a wing was that the gryphons all looked at her like a General. As far as they were concerned, she gave up a wing the same way a seer gives up some body part and that meant respect. They respected her and it felt nice. It felt powerful. For once she wasn't being looked down upon or being shoved to one side. For once when she spoke, she was listened to.

Stepping through the hole in the wall, they began making their way through the maintenance halls under the sprawling cloud city. Walking in total silence, not even the sound of hoofbeats could be heard as they slipped through the narrow halls. Off in the distance they could hear somepony fast approaching, the lack of fighting though indicated they hadn't yet arrived at the first set of guards protecting their little base. Or maybe the fighting had already finished. Whatever the case, it didn't make that much difference to Flutter.

Flickering her wing nervously, she took a left turn and slipped through the door. There spread out in front of her was a pile of dead bodies and a group of ponies standing over them. Flaring open her wing, Flutter turned The Stare on the enemy group, immediately freezing them in place. Something must have told her companions not to move for they stood there nervously shuffling from side to side.

"If you do not wish to work for Nightmare Moon and desire the return to day and Princess Celestia, lie down on the ground," whispered Flutter.

None of them moved.

"Why? Why do you work under her so willingly? Actually, don't answer that." Taking a deep breath, she spoke in a voice that echoed with magic, "Sleep."

The ten ponies immediately hit the floor.

"Ilarias, your dagger please."

Grasping the hilt in her mouth, she stepped forward and began systematically cutting their throats. It wasn't difficult, it wasn't even particularly messy, – after all, she has had a lot of practice. Making sure to wipe the blade clean, she even took the time to clean up her face and hooves before handing the dagger back.

"Hopefully that's all of them. Sichelle, I want you to go back to grab some more guards to replace the ones we've lost as well as a couple more ponies so we can take these dead bodies back and give them a proper funeral. Since this is the only route in I shall stay here and keep an eye on things."

"Yes General."

"You know, you can stop screaming now!" Rarity shut her mouth and slowly cracked open an eye. There above her was a certain cocky blue pegasus with rainbow mane. "Come on Rare, you should know I never leave my friends hanging."

Although it was difficult to make out the words, Rarity gave her friend a heartwarming smile and wrapped her arms around her savior's neck. "Thank you Dash, I shouldn't have doubted you for a second. But we've got no time to talk, Twilight has planned ambus-"

"We guessed as much. Don't worry; we've got an escape plan and contingencies. Pinkamina and Applejack were held back as well in case of ambushes."

Nodding, Rarity kept her eyes trained on Dash's because she just knew that if she looked away and realized how far from the ground they were and how fast they were travelling, she'd end up screaming her head off again. Even now, it was all she could do to not scream her head off.

"Hey Spike, I've got her." Rarity glanced up and offered a shaky smile to the dragon on the other side of the portal. "Tell everyone to fall back."

"Already on it. I suggest landing behind Trixie's entrance and grabbing Pinkamina as she was headed out there to stop a back attack." Spike offered a Pinkie style grin at Rarity. "And you look as gorgeous as always Rarity!"

"Alright lover boy, enough of that. Just tell the others okay?"

Giving a grateful smile to Spike as the portal closed, a yelp was sudden torn from her throat as they went into a steep dive. Back winging easily, Dash landed on the stable ground and Rarity immediately slipped off and stood on shaking hooves. Tilting her head forward, Dash gave the magic inhibitor a tug. When it didn't come loose, she gave it a harder tug. Still nothing.

"Okay, I'm going to blast the thing off."

"What!?" Rarity backed up hastily. "You are going to do no such thing you... you... you ruffian! What happens if you break my precious horn?"

"Come on Rare, trust me. I know what I'm doing. We have to get that off you, plus think of how badly it clashes with your mane."

"Well I suppose you d-" A lightning bolt suddenly jumped out and hit the ring, neatly removing it from her horn. "Rainbow Dash! How could you do that? What if you had missed?"

"Well I didn't, did I?" Kicking off, she soared into the air. "It looks like Pinkamina is just two buildings down. Go grab her and send a flare into the air. I'll go help Trixie and Silvia with the retreat."

"Be careful!"

"You too. And please don't try anything insane like taking on Nightmare Moon by yourself."

Chuckling, Rarity began galloping down the road, making sure to ready a teleport and some kinetic waves just in case she stumbled upon any trouble. As she got closer, the amount of debris increased as the number of dead bodies. A part of her was relieved that all of them were working for Nightmare Moon, but that didn't stop the bile from rising in her throat. There was no beauty in this.

Stopping in mid step, she looked down at the full quiver on the dead unicorn's back. Sure, she needed a weapon, but to take it from a dead pony? It seemed so wrong and yet... With a sigh, she levitated the quiver up and after a quick clean fastened it down on her back. Ignoring the shudder than ran through her body, she began running down the street once more. This time though, she could clearly make out a pink pony at the end of the street and a pony standing above her, readying to kill her with a blade of some sort.

Without breaking step, she readied an arrow and fired. Even as the first arced through the air, another five were thrown up. Then teleporting over, she blasted the stallion back with a telekinetic wave right into the arrows she had fired a second before. Leaning down, Rarity wrapped both hooves around Pinkamina and teleported away. Appearing on the nearby roof, she laid down some covering fire before vanishing once again. This time she arrived in a dark alley out of sight and bent down to check on her friend.

Her mane was curly once more, but her entire body was covered in blood. Summoning some water, Rarity washed it away revealing cuts that crisscrossed over her entire body from head to toe and from the imprints on her chest, she had been bucked hard. Checking for a pulse, Rarity felt her blood turn to ice. Sure, she didn't know much about medicine, but it felt weak. Far too weak. Casting the most basic stabilizing spell all unicorns were taught, she levitated the pink mare up and quickly teleported away.

"Come on Pinkie, hang on. Don't slip away on me now. I won't let you slip away, not after you've all done so much to rescue me. Come on, stay with me."

Tears slowly made their way down pure white cheeks.

Slamming through the cloud roof, Rainbow Dash took in the battlefield in a split second. Silvia and their group had managed to get back to the entrance and were readying a teleport. Trixie was trying her hardest to keep Twilight off her, but considering the sluggish movements and her cut up face, Trixie was on the losing side of the battle.

No, wait. Twilight wasn't much better. She was no longer bouncing about; instead, she stood her ground and only teleported when absolutely necessary. Nonetheless, it was obvious that with the amount of pressure being put on Trixie, she couldn't lend any magic to Silvia to power the teleport. That left only one option.

Hitting the ground right next to Twilight, Dash threw her wings open sending gale force winds in all directions. Closing the gap between herself and the purple mare, Dash tackled Twilight through the cloud wall and into the night sky before letting her fall. A beam of magenta shot out, barely missing Dash by inches, and looking down; there was Twilight with a pair of leathery wings. Eyes wide in shock, the pegasus immediately dropped down low and began weaving through the buildings. No matter how fast she went though, Twilight was there raining spears down upon her. Even worse, she had gone invisible making it impossible for Dash to counter.

A cry of pain escaped as one managed to cut her thigh open. Dropping down, she almost hit the ground before managing to recover. Even then, though, it felt like her stamina was slowly being drained away. Each flap of the wing was harder than the last, but she pushed on. There was one and only one way to win this fight.

As a particularly nasty bolt flashed pass, she gave out a cry of pain and tucked her wings. Dropping down as though hit, she sent out a bolt of lightning just before she hit the roof. Quickly opening her wings, she winds blew out in all directions knocking over vats of chemicals and tipping over various devices. Moving quickly, Dash grabbed up a bucket and scooped up some liquid rainbow before zooming back to the entrance she had made.

As Twilight came in and landed, her magic surrounded her wings and they morphed back into her cape. Suddenly stopping, Dash threw the liquid rainbow all over her face before bucking her into the nearest solid surface. Then very calmly and very deliberately, she landed on the ground.

"Come on Twi, why are you doing this? I know a thing about loyalty and this isn't loyal in any sense of the word."

"You know nothing," she snarled. Her horn lit up for a split second before a cry of pain echoed through the room. "Liquid rainbow. Clever. Considering it short circuits magic, it's the perfect way to neutralize my advantage, but you forgot two things."

Her horn suddenly lit up and this time Dash was thrown back and pinned against the way by a pair of shackles. "First, I've been tortured by Nightmare Moon, a little bit of pain isn't going to stop me. And secondly, you landed in the liquid rainbow yourself which means you can't use your magic."

"Why though? Why?"

"Because I'm doing this for Equestria. Because Nightmare Moon is better than no ruler at all."

Dash stared at the purple mare before her. She had hoped, wished and dreamed that Twilight was secretly working for them, but just then Twilight spoke with such conviction and authority that it left no doubt in her mind. Twilight Sparkle, previous bearer of the Element of Magic was officially the enemy. In that case, no mercy.

"Wrong!" A pair of lightning bolts shot out, throwing Twilight back before Dash destroyed the shackles. "You work through your pain and I'll work through mine."

Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to not show a single sign of weakness. Though her vision swam and her muscles ached, she sent out a wave of frigid wind freezing everything it touched including the chemicals. Even some of the metal in the room cracked under the supreme cold. The wave of fire that met it held for a couple of seconds before it faltered and died. Once again, Twilight was thrown backwards, hitting a table with a sickening crack.

Not showing any mercy, Dash followed up with icicles. Rolling out of the way just in time, each one pierced the metal vat just behind Twilight. Once more lightning flashed out. This time though, a wave of water appeared before Twilight and with a flick of her horn, the electrified water was sent back. Diving out of the way, Dash leapt forward for a tackle, but with her fuzzy vision, she missed by a mile and went tumbling off the edge. Hitting the ground below with a sickly groan, Dash looked up at the glowing orb that powered the entire factory.

Suddenly a laugh rang out through the empty factory.

"What's so funny?" demanded Twilight.

"I... I understand now," whispered Dash in a hoarse voice.

"Understand what?"

"I understand Loyalty." Her element outshone the moon as she struggled onto her feet. "I understand... why my mother did what she did."

"What?"

"Sometimes being loyal means..." She swayed a bit, but otherwise stayed upright. "Means giving up everything to protect those that you love."

"No..." whispered Twilight as realization dawned. "No!"

But it was already too late. Lightning arced out and cut through the protection to slam into the massive battery. The effect was immediate. It started an irreversible reaction, one that took less than a second to complete. One that would produce an explosion large enough to completely destroy the weather factory.

And the two ponies within it.