The other Queensford Unicorns were already waiting for us. They were already in their armor and were standing in a line, with space for Tia and myself between them.

“Come on Tia! Luna!” Torchwood exclaimed. “I’m certain they’re about to start! I can feel it in my bones!”

“What took so long?” Breeze asked.

“The Mayor probably wanted my help in dealing with their messenger.” Tia replied, stopping and turning into her center position. “Whole lot I did though. Okay, the column is positioning themselves Northeast; Lu and Firelight, you’re our strongest so both of you take the Northeast edge, keep the center shield strong.” The two of us nodded silently.

“Torchwood, you take the North. They came from that direction so if they try to flank its more likely they’ll come from that direction.” Tia continued.

“I can do that.” Torchwood grunted with a nod.

“Breeze, you take the East edge. I’m not sure if any surprises will come from that side, so be prepared for anything.”

“Makes sense.” the stallion agreed.

“Violet, you’re our weakest caster, so I want you to watch the other directions, but focus on assisting the others.”

“R-right.” Violet nodded nervously.

“Light, you want the North Northeast or East Northeast?” I asked as Tia started to charge her horn.

“I’ll take North Northeast. If the old stallion starts to falter he’ll be much more willing to accept help from me.” Firelight snarked.

”'Ey!” Torchwood exclaimed, letting his voice slip into the Ùllahdmaiden accent. I heard a few snorts and chuckles, but all I did was roll my eyes.

Tia’s yellow magic began to bloom from her horn, spreading a shimmering transparent dome over the village. Soon, orange, dark orange, seafoam green, lilac, and my own cobalt joined, turning the purely yellow dome into a shifting sea of colors as the shield fully formed. The column didn’t start their attack yet, so I took a few seconds to familiarize myself with the portion of the matrix Tia had assigned me.

Yeah… Yeah! I could do this! I could-

The attack began without fanfare, a barrage of spellfire nearly every shade of the rainbow struck the shield, a good portion landing on the part I was responsible for.

A splitting headache bloomed in my skull, my only consolation was that the other Queensford Unicorns also groaned in pain.

Ow.

And then there was no nuance. All there was was the pounding of magic on the shield, it was all I could do to keep my section intact. If anypony had tried to get my attention, I would never have heard them, I could barely hear myself in my own head.

That leyline is disrupted.

This pattern isn’t getting enough mana.

That rune is suffering from feedback.

Tia’s concentration needs reinforcing here.

This leyline is almost gone.

This rune- Oh Violet got it.

That-

I don’t know how much time had passed. It felt like eternity. But it could’ve been hours. It could’ve been weeks. It could’ve been months. It could’ve been years. Tartarus, it could’ve been only seconds for all I knew.

Violet was the first to faint. While initially a good idea to have the weakest of our number simply assist rather than bear the brunt of the attacks, what really happened was that everypony needed help, splitting her attention over all of us. That meant she was essentially copying what Tia was doing, but without the mana.

Torchwood was the second one to faint. He had kept his section intact admirably, but eventually his age caught up with him. Firelight rushed to take over his part of the matrix even as he fell. I tried to ease her burden by taking over half her original area.

Breeze was the third. If he was caught off guard or if the headache finally caught up to the stallion I didn’t know. All I knew is that he quietly slumped over, I stretched myself more to take over.

From there it was a cascade.

It was too much for me and I had to drop out as the fourth.

A silver mare in a black shawl and dress smiled in approval.

“Owowowowow!” I fell to the dirt and clutched my head, feeling my brain pulse painfully with every heartbeat.

Firelight fell down beside me a few seconds later, clutching her own head in pain as she attempted to keep my section up.

It was a miracle to me that Tia kept up the shield for a few more seconds, in which several barrages impacted the shield, but did not break through.

Ultimately however, it was a rather gray crackling bolt of power that finally pushed Tia over the edge, joining us on the ground almost ten seconds after I finally could take no more.

“Awww… Buck…” she groaned, her own head in her hooves.

Somepony started pulling me along the ground.

I couldn’t see who they were so I started to thrash.

“G’off me!” I exclaimed, getting ready to throw punches.

“Calm yerself lass!” a familiar voice shouted. “We gotta get outta here!”

I looked up to see the familiar face of Master Brickwork.

“Wha-” I started to ask, but then I began to notice that we were surrounded by ponies. Ponies who bustled to and fro, ponies who lay on the ground in neat orderly rows…

Ponies that were far too still.

At some point, somepony had moved the village’s carts to the center of the town. As I watched, several ponies who I wasn’t sure I recognised helped a mare, who had blood red bandages wrapped around her barrel, into one of the carts. Slightly to the North sounds of fighting could be heard.

“How-?” I tried to ask, pushing my splitting headache to the wayside.

“No time lass!” Brickwork exclaimed “Ùllahdmaiden is lost!”

The words hit me like a runaway cart.

I glanced around again.

Everypony was wounded in some way. It wasn’t obvious at first glance, but now that I knew, I could see bandages made from every scrap of fabric that the Earth Ponies could find. Already, a few carts were full with severally wounded and heading South. Not so much abandoning the ponies who were clearly dead, but having no choice but to leave.

I glanced to my sides, wondering what condition my fellow Unicorns were in. Violet was missing. I could only hope she had already been packed into a cart. Breeze lay were he fell, his chest unnaturally still. Torchwood I could see, helping somepony now missing a leg get into a cart, although he was breathing too heavily for somepony his age. Firelight was being helped to her hooves, her eyes screwed shut as she continued to wrestle with her pounding head. Tia was still on the ground, but several ponies had noticed she had finally fallen and were rushing to help her up as well.

“I can walk.” I stated, letting more irritation slip into my voice than I intended. “Go help somepony who needs it more.” I shrugged my way out of Brickworks hooves, picking myself up and standing under my own power.

“Ye sure lass? Ye’ve been-”

“I’m fine.” I insisted. I could still move, I wouldn’t like it, but I didn’t need help. “It’s just a headache, go help somepony who’s actually injured.”

“I- Aye lass.” Brickwork nodded before letting me go to help somepony else.

I didn’t pay attention to where he went, but I limped to the nearest pony I could help.

Tia.

Tia groaned as I pulled her up with my hooves, my horn hurt too much for me to even think about using magic.

“Come on Tia, we gotta go.” I grunted in her ear as I pulled, trying to drag her towards the nearest cart in case she was about to pass out.

“Lu?” she slurred.

“You gotta get up Tia.” I grunted again, pulling Tia by her armpits.

“Strangest dream Lu…” Tia murmured again. “You… You were fighting me… And you were so dark and angry…”

Tia must’ve hit her head or something when she collapsed.

“I’ll never fight you Tia.” I reassured her. “But I need you to work with me here…” I grunted again, pulling her larger weight as hard as I could. Out of the corner of my eye, flashes of spell fire began to illuminate the area from around a corner.

“I-I’m so sorry Lu…” the pink haired Unicorn mumbled out.

Ponies began to run by, including Torchwood and Firelight, who limped past, holding each other for support.

“I need help!” I called out, trying to get any of the fleeing ponies to help me.

Thankfully there were a few who took notice and helped me by picking up Tia on their shoulders.

“I love you so much…” Tia slurred again as three of us lifted her to the last cart, pushing her into the back.

“Anypony else?!” I called out, glancing around. A few ponies ran up to us, more light flashed on the building behind them.

“They’re covering our escape! Go go go!” one of them, a mare, called.

The pony pulling the cart wasted no time and began to run down the road South.

A few of us still relatively unhurt galloped behind the now speeding cart. I could see a pony in the cart still trying to apply bandages and compresses to the ponies who listlessly lay inside. The flash of spellfire faded away and stopped completely.

I briefly worried about how we were going to get over the ditch, but as we turned the final corner I realized I hadn’t seen this part of the modified village yet, and that a small gate had been constructed in the Southwest palisade. Only Two Earth ponies remained to guard the gate, which had been lowered and left open.

“We’re the last ones!” A pony in our fleeing group exclaimed. The two guards nodded and joined us as the cart ran across the makeshift bridge, not even bothering to close the gate behind them.

I realized night had fallen as we fled into the dark woods just beyond the field of stumps that had been cut just that morning. Hard packed dirt worn from a full day of hard labor seemed to turn to mud beneath my hooves as I ran. At first I was confused, because all of this area should’ve been hard packed. But then a snowflake landed on my nose.

Ùllahdmaiden had fallen.

Next Chapter: Chapter 76 The Memories Part 35 Estimated time remaining: 9 Hours, 26 Minutes