Gilda stepped into the warm air, her bone-clad talons scraping against the cobbled ground of the castle courtyard. She gripped her halberd at her side, using the shaft to balance herself on three legs, and searched for the pegasi that she would be leading. The group had all gathered just inside the castle gates, their dark blue armor shining in the moonlight. This is going to be totally awesome. These dweebs have to practically kiss my ass! She strode towards the group, making as much noise as possible as she drew nearer, and stood before them.

With a quick strike of the butt of her halberd on the stone, she drew their attention to herself. “All right! You mules are going to be following me cause Captain Stick-up-her-ass said so. Don’t like it? Tough.” She snickered quietly, but swiftly resumed her serious demeanor. “We’re going to be flying in a typical flock formation. I’ll fly lead and we’ll take up a V shape with a small group keeping watch on the underside of the airship. If you see any movement that looks out of place, send word through the line to me and I’ll break off with a small unit to check it out. Questions?”

A young stallion with a tan coat towards the front snickered amongst his peers and raised his hoof. “Yeah, I’ve got one! Why the buck do you think we’ll do what you sa-”

Gilda dropped her halberd and clenched one of her talons into a fist. In a swift strike, the barbed gauntlet landed firmly in the center of his breastplate. The small spikes pierced through, gouging his skin as he yelled in pain from the surprise. “Because if you don’t, I’ll remind you that I’m bigger than you are, again.” She flicked the small traces of blood from her talon and retrieved her polearm, smiling triumphantly all-the-while. “Seriously, though. I’ve been in more brawls than most of you have seen in a lifetime combined. Any more smart-ass remarks? Good. Let’s go. I’m itching to find some action!”

The tawny griffon padded through the open gates, her path set directly for the two middle-aged stallions conversing meters away, the squad of pegasi reluctantly following close behind. “Ahhh, the chick has returned. Finally ready to embark?” Silver Lining grinned at his remark as Gilda scowled.

“I’m not a chick! Just because you’re an old mule doesn’t mean I’m a child.” She gave a short huff and rolled her eyes. “We are, however, ready to go. Just had to teach a fool who’s boss.” She motioned with her head to the pegasus with holes dotting his breastplate. “So, ready when you are.”

“Well, good luck, Silver. I’m sure you won’t have too much trouble with the trip. I doubt anyone would be foolish enough to attack that work of art.” Fancy Pants smiled and bowed his head. “Fly safe, Private Gilda and everypony else as well.” He turned back towards the castle, his hoofsteps fading as he slowly moved out of sight.

“All right, Gilda. I’m going to go in there and get her running. The Aerburg will be flying vanguard with the Helmare following behind.” Gilda glanced at the airship that had moored beside the Aerburg, its silvery finish the only thing distinguishing it from the ship she had toured. “As soon as we are moving, your troops should fall into formation, or whatever it is you’ll be doing, alongside it. I’ll only be about ten minutes.”

“Whatever. Just hurry up. I don’t have time for you to drag your old bones across the ground.” Gilda smirked as the airship pilot shook his head. She turned back to the group behind her. “Get yourselves ready. I don’t want to have to wait on you dweebs either. Especially not you dweebs.”

The group checked their gear, making sure their weapons would be simple to draw and that their armor wouldn’t pinch or shift during flight. Gilda stretched her wings, extending them to their full six foot span, and preened her feathers to optimize them for flight. Satisfied, she turned her attention to the pegasi and smirked. Slowpokes. Couldn’t get ready fast enough even if their lives depended on it. Goes to show that griffons are far superior to these mules. The sound of rotors cutting through the air and engines roaring into higher performance drew the young griffon back from her thoughts. She looked towards the Aerburg as it withdrew its anchors and flight stair back into resting position. The Helmare followed suit and, soon, the pair of craft lifted from the ground and began to rise higher into the sky.

Gilda had to shout over the noise, but gained the attention of her squad nonetheless. “All right! Everyone fall in behind me! Let’s get this party started!” After a quick rustling of feathers, Gilda jumped into the air, using her large wings to lift herself higher and higher. She was soon joined by the flight of pegasi as they flew in behind her. She led them to the bow of the airship and, after shouting orders for them to fall into formation, took her place at the head of the V. “Aww yeah! This is gonna be awesome!” She focused on the horizon and picked up her pace to make up for the speed the ship was gaining behind her. “Bring it on, dad! I’ll show you!”

Rainbow Dash danced on her hooves, antsy at having stood still for so long. Those huge ships are taking forever to get here. By the time they arrive we’ll all have died of starvation or some-. She noticed a movement up in the clouds, but by the time she focused on the spot, nothing was there. Well.... That was weird.

“Hey, Raindrops! Do you see anything up there?” She motioned with her hoof towards the mass of clouds just above them. From the questioning look the yellow pegasus gave her, Rainbow could tell that she hadn’t. “Never mind. I guess I’m just imagining things. Why are those things so slow!? Totally not as cool as I thought.” She crossed her hooves on her chest, using her wings to steady herself.

Raindrops laughed and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Look at how big they are. It’s no surprise they’re kinda slow. Besides, nothing can match your speed.”

Rainbow beamed and puffed out her chest. “That’s right! I’m the fastest in Equestria! There’s no way some flying boat can outrace me!” She came down from her ego boost and stretched her wings. “It’s so boring just sitting here. I’m gonna fly around a bit. Cover for me while I’m gone!”

Before Raindrops could utter any refusal, Rainbow took off into the sky, flying in loops and circles in an attempt to stave off her boredom. The yellow mare smiled warmly up at the rainbow maned pegasus, eagerly watching her perform aerial acrobatics. A slight nudge from beside her drew her back from her reverie. She looked to her side and saw a caramel colored earth pony snickering beside her. “What’s so funny Caramel? Do I have something on my face?”

The stallion chuckled harder, but managed to speak through the snorts. “Ohh, yes. Yes, you do. I’m sure that if you got any more red, we could use you to replace the sun.”

Raindrops flushed harder, finally noticing the light blush she had acquired during her Rainbow-gazing. “Th-that’s not funny! Besides! I’ve seen how you look at Big Mac!” The tables turned and now it was Caramel’s turn to glow in the dark. “Hah! See? I’m not the only one that can light a fire!”

“Sh-shut up!” He turned his gaze to the ground. “He wouldn’t fall for me anyways. He isn’t looking for a relationship, let alone a stallion. Apple Family tradition and all of that. I think the only pony that could ever learn to change in that family is Applebloom.”

“Speaking of Applebloom.... Does she know about her brother going off to war? I wasn’t the pony sent to tell them, so I’m kind of curious. I sure hope not.” She gazed over to the large, read stallion and shook her head. “I hope we never have to worry about anything like this again. After this is over, I plan on finally telling Rainbow how I feel. You should try with Big Mac, too. I’m sure he’d at least listen to you.”

“No. I’ll keep it to myself. I don’t want to suffer through rejection. It’s better this way. For both of us.” He cast his gaze back towards the distance and noticed the airships coming in closer. The dull hum of their rotors carried through the still night air as they drew nearer and nearer. “Seems our rides are almost here. I’m going to talk to Big Mac. See how he’s taking recruitment and all.”

Raindrops giggled. “Yeah, sure. Go ‘see how he’s doing’. I’ll be here eyeing up Rainbow and admitting it.” Caramel rolled his eyes and walked off, much to the delight of the yellow pegasus. The airships were drawing ever nearer and so she returned her sight to the mare of her desires, wanting to make sure that she’d remain a safe distance from the incoming vessels. Her eyes followed the swift and graceful stunts of the cyan pegasus flying high in the sky. A broad smile drew across her muzzle and, as the airship began its landing procedures, thoughts of her possible future with the rainbow maned mare danced in her mind.

A large group of pegasi landed in the distance at the sound of two pairs of anchors dropping into the earth. They looked about as a griffon took its place at the front of the group and started barking orders at them. Raindrops tilted her head in confusion. Aren’t we supposed to be enemies with the griffons? Why are they taking orders from one? She shrugged and looked up to Rainbow Dash. “Hey, Rainbow! They’re about to start letting us-!” A shadow moved above the oblivious pegasus followed by several more. What the.... A feathered head came into view just above where Rainbow was practicing followed by a gleaming spear. “RAINBOW, LOOK OUT!”

Rainbow looked down at Raindrops and waved happily before motioning the yellow mare to watch. The griffon locked its eyes on the unsuspecting pegasus and slowly moved into a position to attack. Raindrops bit her lip, looking about for anypony to help her, but they were all focused on her, startled at her sudden outburst. Her eyes grew wide as Rainbow started flying closer to the clouds and, with a surge of adrenaline-fueled speed, Raindrops shot into the air, beating her wings as hard and fast as she could. The griffon moved from the cloud cover and, as silently as it could, began descending upon the cyan mare.

Raindrops squinted against the wind rushing against her face, pushing herself as fast as she could in an attempt to save Rainbow. Come on! Just a little more! She caught up to the rainbow maned pegasus and, with a slight adjustment to her trajectory, sped past, startling Rainbow out of the barrel roll she had begun. The griffon loomed closer, unsuspecting. “Oh no you don’t!”

Raindrops crashed into the griffon and sent them both flying above the layer of clouds. During her ascent, she cast a quick glance around and almost stopped in fear. All about her, griffons were beginning to pierce through the clouds and descend upon the town below. A pained grunt from in front of her brought her attention back to the griffon she had tackled mid-air. She was finally recovering and was now scowling fiercely at the yellow pegasus. “You fucked with the wrong griffon, pony.”

Raindrops gasped for air as a fist collided with her stomach, knocking the oxygen from her lungs. She plummeted towards the ground as she struggled to breathe, the griffon following her closely. She couldn’t catch her breath in the thin air above the ground and, instead of struggling to aim concentrated kicks, flailed her legs about in an attempt to stave off the griffon’s assault. Several hits landed on the griffon as they quickly fell to the ground until both stopped their free fall with a cautious flaring of their wings. Raindrops glared at the griffon, hate in her eyes. “I won’t let you hurt Rainbow!” She shot through the air, faster than the griffon had expected, and landed a swift kick to the griffon’s chest. She squawked in pain just as screams began to ring out from the ponies below.

Raindrops tore her attention from the griffon threat and chanced a glance to the town. The others in the assault group were now killing any pony they could get their talons on. She saw the ponies fight back as well as they could, but nopony in this town was trained for combat, let alone against attacks from above. A scream of agony sounded in the night followed by another of dismay. “NO! BON BON!” Lyra’s exclamation brought Raindrops’ attention back to her own situation just in time to see the griffon rushing at her, lance aimed directly at her chest.

She shifted her body as quickly as she could, catching a glimpse of Rainbow Dash flying straight towards her, but couldn’t move fast enough. The griffon smirked, pride dominating her features as she shoved the lance through Raindrops’ stomach, the shaft piercing through till it lodged itself inside her, the tip nearly three feet past the exit wound. Her eyes widened in shock, the pain keeping her from moving, and she plummeted once more to the ground. She caught sight of the flight of pegasi in the distance skirmishing with the griffon assailants and, after looking back towards her killer, saw Rainbow Dash buck the griffon in the face, the force of her near sonic speed kick audibly snapping the griffon’s head against its back.

Raindrops jolted as her body hit the ground, the spear sliding a foot out of her body after having the rest shoved into the dirt. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t see straight. She could feel the bones that had been broken in the fall, but it was all dulled by the cold embrace of oncoming death. The cyan blur landed beside her and lifted her head in a tight embrace. She saw the mare’s mouth moving, but couldn’t hear anything. “Rain... bow....” Her own came out gargled and hoarse, the blood in her mouth making it difficult to speak at all. Tears streamed down Rainbow Dash’s face, landing on Raindrops. “Please.... be safe..... for... me....”

Rainbow nodded furiously, her words catching in her mouth. A gust of wind drew her attention as another griffon swooped down for a kill. Rainbow Dash screamed in fury and jumped at him, using the surprise to tackle the would-be attacker to the ground. She stomped on the griffon’s fore legs, crushing them in her rage. He screeched in agony until, after grabbing his sword in her mouth, Rainbow Dash shoved his blade through his face. Blood pooled from the griffon’s corpse, but Rainbow didn’t care. She returned to Raindrops’ side, watching her friend slowly fade from life. “I’m.... so sorry.... I wasn’t fast enough! I should have been faster....”

The yellow mare shook her head as much as her body would allow, the pain of movement making her grimace. “Just... help us... win....” She smiled weakly, an act that, before, would have been simple, but now brought only more agony. “I’m... sorry....” I can’t tell you.... Not now.... It’d only make this... so much worse....

Rainbow Dash nodded numbly, her emotions running high, until the light of life in Raindrops’ eyes faded away. She clutched her friend closer, but, once again, the sounds of fighting around her stole her focus. The pegasus team was quickly dispatching the few griffons that had attacked. The ponies severely outnumbered them, but they had also taken heavy casualties. Rainbow focused on the one griffon that wasn’t killing ponies, her eyes drawing across the familiar features. Her despair turned to excitement as recognition settled in. Gilda!

Gilda laughed as she flew circles around the her slower kin. Her halberd pierced and hacked away at any that got too close and, for those that got any closer, a swift punch to the face or chest dropped them as well. Her mad cackles filled the air. This is what I was born to do! I’m not some priestess! I was born to be a warrior! She dashed off towards Ponyville, her eyes focused on her next kill. The griffon loomed up ahead of her and, with a swift thrust of her pole arm, felled her target before it could strike at the ponies below it.

She glanced to the ponies below, the mob, for the most part, screaming and running from their assailants. Cowards. They better learn to fight or else they’ll just die faster in a real battle. Movement caught her eye and she spun in mid-air, deftly using her years of flight school, and smashed the butt of her halberd across her face. The griffon, stunned, fell to the ground where the ponies that were fighting waited. She watched them stomp the griffon to death before looking to a large red earth pony fending off two griffons on his own. Gilda flew over the crowd, smashing griffons with her polearm as she went, and tore into the griffon assaulting the earth pony from behind. Her talons ripped through the griffon’s face leaving it to twitch helplessly on the ground. The griffons were thinned down to a small handful and soon, even those were dispatched as her squad surrounded and routed them.

Gilda beamed, blood covering her body, before flying back towards the airship. “You guys stay here and watch the ponies! I’m going to find the mayor and have her help count the dead!” She sped off towards the town hall before taking notice of a lone white figure in the distance. Curious, she flew closer and landed beside it. Her eyes widened in surprise and she had to cover her mouth with one of her talons. She squeezed her eyes shut, her body lurching, but she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

Gilda burst out laughing. Her guffaws rang through the night, driving out the silence. “Oh! Oh buck! I’ve never seen anything this funny in my life!” She turned away from the scene and tried to calm herself, but it was too much. She couldn’t help but to sneak peeks. Behind her, taunting her with its obscenity, was the corpse of a white stallion. The blonde unicorn, taller than most, was face down in the dirt, his compass rose cutie mark standing proudly in the air upon his flank. From just below his tail, straight through his body and into the ground, stood a spear, holding the stallion in this position. “Hehe.... His luck must suck.”

She shook her head and took to the skies again in search of the mayor. She scanned the ground, taking in the carnage wrought by the griffon attack. There were nearly one hundred ponies dead, a number that was much too high for having fought so few griffons. “Buck.... Cloudy’s gonna be so pissed....” Gilda’s body sagged, fear of whatever punishment the pegasus could cook up running through her thoughts. “This is gonna suck so hard....” Pushing the possible punishments from her mind, Gilda resumed her flight to the city hall, or what she believed to be the city hall, judging by its size compared to most buildings.

Fluttershy watched Spike as he sat in her living room, a book in his hands with a small cup of tea at his side. She smiled fondly at the baby dragon, her blue eyes sparkling in the light of her firefly lanterns. “I’m so glad they let me stay behind to watch you. I would have felt just awful if I had to leave you all alone.”

“I can take care of myself, Fluttershy.” His tone was as cold as usual since the night Twilight had sent them away, but it no longer held the anger from before. Fluttershy cowered back, still not used to Spike’s quick retorts even after all the time they’ve spent together. “I’m sorry.... It’s just.... I don’t want to be treated like a kid. I was doing most of Twilight’s cooking and cleaning back at the castle.”

The timid pegasus nodded with a slight smile. “I know.... But I still can’t just leave. I’m sure Twilight wouldn’t want you to be alone either.”

“Yeah.... Right.” He perked up his head, his acute hearing something Fluttershy’s could not. “Do you hear something?”

Fluttershy tilted her head and looked around. “No, Spike. I can’t hear anything. Why? Is something outside?” She huddled down into a ball, shivering. “Oh dear.... I sure hope it isn’t something scary.”

“Shhhh! It... sounds like yelling. No wait! Screaming! Somebody’s screaming!” Spike jumped to his feet and ran over to the window. “Fluttershy! Something’s attacking Ponyville! I... can’t see what it is, but ponies are getting hurt! We.... We have to help them!”

Fluttershy didn’t move. She could finally hear the screams coming from town, their volume finally reaching her cottage at the edge of the Everfree Forest. She was too terrified to move. “I.... I can’t....” She squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to block out the horrible noise, but nothing could shut out their agony.

“Fluttershy! FLUTTERSHY!” The yellow pegasus jumped, her pink mane falling over her face to completely shroud it. “We have to go help! Ponies are getting hurt!”

The thought of her friends being hurt by anything snapped her out her fear. “Oh no! Rainbow Dash is out there! We have to go make sure she’s okay!” Fluttershy jumped to her hooves and bolted out the door, but stopped just on her doorstep. “I should get some medical supplies! Ohh, I hope I don’t need them.” She dashed upstairs, moving faster than Spike had ever seen the normally slow pegasus run, and rummaged through her belongings until she pulled out a set of saddlebags filled with bandages and salves. “Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!”

Spike followed her out the door, making sure to shut it behind him and, his small legs carrying him as fast as they could, sprinted off after Fluttershy. The noise was dying down ahead of them and neither of the two could see what had been attacking the town. Wails of sorrow and anger still carried in the night air as they drew nearer and, after passing the first row of buildings, they stopped dead in their tracks. Fluttershy took in a deep breath of air, almost choking on the sobs that were fighting their way out of her throat, before averting her gaze.

Spike stared blankly at the scene of horror before him, unable to wrench his eyes from the display. The bodies of ponies and griffons alike littered the ground, blood gathering in great pools around them. He just stood there, eyes locked forward, until his breakfast forced its way out of his throat. He retched, hurling the morning’s food onto the ground, over and over until he no longer had anything to vomit. Yet, still the retching continued. His stomach heaved at each glance that his eyes made despite his yearning for them to stay shut. It was too horrific. He couldn’t look away.

Fluttershy snapped out of her stupor, forcing her own bile to stay down, and drew the baby dragon up into her embrace. She cooed soothing words in an attempt to calm him down, but she knew, despite all of her attempts, this moment would stay with him forever. Ohh, Spike.... I’m so sorry.... She flew over the buildings, ignoring the terrible display below her, and raced as quickly as her weak wings could carry her to Sweet Apple Acres. It took much longer than she’d have liked, despite knowing exactly where the farm was, but she arrived nonetheless, Spike now sleeping fitfully in her embrace. With a near-silent landing, Fluttershy knocked almost as quietly upon the door to Applejack’s barn house. “Ummm.... Applejack.... Uhhh.... Could you.... If you want to, that is.... Come out here?”

Her voice was barely audible over the noise of the crickets, but the door was answered by the orange mare. “Oh, hey there Fluttershy! Almost didn’t hear ya knockin’! What ya doin’ all the way out here?”

“Ummm.... Could you.... Could you watch Spike for me? I.... I need to go back to Ponyville.... And I don’t want him to....” She dropped her words, incapable of explaining what she had seen to her friend.

“Well, sure! I don’t mind at all. He looks plain tuckered out. Ah’ll go get ‘im into a spare bed.”

“Oh, ummm.... Thank you, Applejack.” The orange mare turned to walk back into the house, but was stopped by a butter-yellow hoof on her side. Fluttershy motioned the farmer to lean in closely before whispering into the mare’s ear. “I don’t think I’ll be coming back.... Something... terrible happened in town and.... I’m going to join the other ponies.”

“Now ya can’t go and do that! What do ya think-!?”

“Shhhh! I don’t want Spike to know.” She frowned and cast her gaze to her hooves. “I feel so awful for leaving like this. I know that he says he can take care of himself, but.... I just can’t let everypony go.... I’m going to see if I can be a medic. I know a lot about treating injuries from all my time helping the forest critters. I’m sure they’ll need my help. Could you.... Could you tell the others...? I don’t think I’d be able to....”

Applejack smiled warmly at the kind pegasus before nuzzling up against her neck. “Sure, Sugarcube. Now ya better be careful out there. I don’t want to get a letter saying ya went and got hurt.”

Fluttershy nodded and turned away, casting one final glance at her friend before taking off towards Ponyville. She arrived faster than it had taken her to fly to Sweet Apple Acres, the loss of Spike’s added weight boosting her speed. The death once again hit her hard, but, this time, she was more prepared for the assault on her emotions. She shut out the images of the dead as best as she could and, instead, focused her attention to seeking out the injured. The wind stung her eyes, but she soon spotted a small group of ponies gathered into one area with a team of nurses and doctors tending to them as best as they could.

She landed, fighting against the vomit building in her throat as her hooves squished in the bloodied ground, and slowly walked towards the makeshift medical station. She stopped a white pony with a soft pink mane running between patients with a nearly inaudible squeak. “Oh, ummm, yes? Do you need help too, dear?”

Fluttershy could hear the urgency in her strained voice, and, after working up her courage, spoke. “I was.... I was wondering if you needed any.... Ummm.... Help.... Miss Redheart....”

“Oh, bless you, Fluttershy!” She hugged the butter pegasus tightly before motioning to the moaning ponies about her. “Please, just do whatever you can. We don’t have enough medical supplies to deal with a situation like this so we’ve been using anything we could find that was clean.” The nurse gave Fluttershy a wan smile before dashing off once more, rushing to her next patient.

Fluttershy looked about nervously before putting on the bravest face she could muster. “Okay, Fluttershy. This is the time to help. Now, get working.”

Gilda landed once more beside the airship, having just left the mayor to revise her list, and strode towards the silver maned captain. “Yo! Geezer! You know if they took any damage?” She motioned to the aircraft with a talon.

“They weren’t attacked at all. The griffons must have known that they wouldn’t be able to hurt this baby with their sticks and knives.” He laughed before sobering his attitude. “Now, we did have some casualties, however. Lost a couple of the kitchen staff that were down here helping us moor the ship. Also lost an engineer and some ex-noble. Blueblood, I think his name was. Chicken ran off right as the griffons started attacking. Big white baby! I hope they got him.”

“White? Is he a unicorn with a blonde mane and tail?”

“Yeah, that’s him. Why, you seen him?”

Gilda could hardly contain her mirth. “Oh, yes.... You should see him, too. In fact, everyone should go and get a good look at him.”

The stallion could see the amusement in the young griffon’s eyes and just shook his head. “You are just....” He gave a heavy sigh before turning away. “We’ll be ready to leave shortly. I assume it’ll take a while to round up the ponies after this, but try and make it quick. I don’t want to get bucked for being late.”

The griffon nodded and jumped into the air, flying back towards the town. She reached the edge before being intercepted by a rainbow blur. Startled, the griffon squawked, but quickly regained her composure only to be surprised once more. “Dash!”

“Gilda! I knew it was you! What are you doing all the way out here!?” Rainbow Dash beamed at her old friend, reminiscing about all of their past memories.

“I’m part of the Lunar Army! One of the Queen’s personal guard! Betcha couldn’t join!” The griffon smirked proudly, but faltered at the glare from the pegasus. “Yo! What’s with the look Dash? Aren’t you supposed to fanfilly all over the place now that I’m back?”

“I can’t believe that you’d join her army before you came to see me! She kidnapped and brainwashed my friend, you know!”

“Yo, Dash! Chill. I would have come to see you, but it’s not easy being a griffon here right now!” The pegasus’ glare softened. “Besides, you know I’m your best pal ever, right? Nothing is gonna keep me from hanging out with the second fastest flier in the world.”

“Second!? More like fastest ever! You couldn’t beat me in a race if I had both wings tied behind my back!” The cyan mare smirked before being grasped in a headlock. “Ack! What the hay!? Let me go!”

“Not a chance, dweeb! Admit that I’m number one and I’ll let you go!” She held onto Rainbow Dash’s neck, holding the mare in place, until the situation at hand snuck up on her. “Oh, buck! I have to go Dash! I’m supposed to be watching this squad of losers. Who knows what they’ll do without me there to tell them what to do. We’re going to have to catch up sometime! Come to the castle when you get done with your training!” Before the cyan mare could utter a single word, Gilda dashed off towards Ponyville, leaving Rainbow to fly alone in that spot.

The rainbow maned pegasus watched her fly away, her eyes never leaving her friend’s form. “But.... I can’t go back to the castle.”

Author’s Notes: What? Cliffhanger? So what? Nothing new lol. Dealwithit.jpg. Welp, here is the next chapter of awesome awesomeness made 20% awesomer by my awesometastic awesomeditors. Could this gain any more awesome? Probably, but we’ll leave that up to fate to decide. No Nightmare or Twi this time, but, honestly, I don’t think it’ll hurt too bad. Maybe a little. Hope you enjoyed the Ponyville scene because I had a heck of a time writing it. Kekekeke.... You gaiz still don’t know who all died and who didn’t. I’m so evil. Finally: LOL BLUEBLOOD Y SO FAIL!? Kasa, Jekyll, and I have been wanting this to happen for a looooooooooooooooooooong time and, so, I have finally found a place for it to be accomplished. EAT DIRT AND YOUR OWN SPEARED POOP BLUEBLOOD! Nuff’ said. Welp, Peppy out!

Editor’s Notes #1: Wooooooo..., Blueblood finally dies... and in the most embarrassing way Peppy and I could come up with, a spear up the bum as he cowered in fear. Don’t give me that look, you all know it’s funny as all hell. Don’t have much else to say ‘cept.... HUZZAH for live editing (thank you g-doc). Till next time everypony..., Tah-Tah.

Editor’s Notes #2: I don’t much care about Blueblood... But I had to laugh at the mental image. And, more character development! There is so much I want to say and so little I can think to say. Here’s to the next chapter!...

...Oh, and did his pages match the cover?