Shining Armor Twinkleshine Sparkle was a soldier at heart. As with any other guard in the Solar and Lunar Divisions. Ever since he had gotten his cutie mark, he always knew that he was destined to become a member of the guard. He just didn’t expect that he’d be a part of the most powerful guard in Equis, that being the royal guard, led by Queen Celestia Daybringer herself. Alas, that was what he found himself going into when he enlisted in her solar division. Even more so as he trained, grew in rank, and eventually became captain. Or vice-captain next to Bardock. From then on, he went on a multitude of missions that constantly tested is physical and mental strength in countless ways. Shining had had plenty of close calls, a few of them that almost got him killed, but they served to him in his experience. Through them, he grew the belief that he would be prepared for just about anything.

As the solar vice-captain and his army tore through the beast filled streets of Ponyville, he found himself feeling foolish for being so naïve. For nothing could have prepared him for something as dark and as brutal as this.

As they ran through the streets, Shining could see that things had gotten worse for the residents of Ponyville. In ways that neither he nor them could have imagined coming to fruition. Ponies were running away from the folkloric army, screaming as they prowled all throughout the town. All of them trying to get at anypony that they were able to catch off guard or chase down and devour. Young foals were clinging and to their mothers as the mares held and stood over them protectively. Each were doing their best to keep the beasts and monstrous ponies at bay, despite the odds being staged against them.

Said monstrosities were all currently prowling all throughout town, each looking for their own quarry to prey upon. Werewolves and lycans could be seen bounding and leaping across houses in buildings, howling into the sky under the crimson moon. Zombies and waheelas could be seen rubbing across the streets, looking for anypony weak or helpless to attack and devour. Up above, vampires, raven winged cats, succubi and thralls could be seen up in the air, looking for victims to snatch from below. They flew across the air like a flock of vultures scouting atop the carcass of a wildebeest, eagerly looking for something to destroy. Theirs glowed menacingly, like the stars twinkling in the sky above them, watching for anypony that may come within their range.

The ponies that weren’t being pursued by the ethereal creatures were either trying to escape the ones they were surrounded by or protect the ones that were cornered by them. The sounds of magical blasts, electrical shots of magic, and the shaking of the ground could be heard all around town. It filled the ears of ponies that were either running or fighting for the lives, letting them know that things were indeed looking bleak, and it’d only get bleaker from here. For Shining Armor and his own troop, the bloodbath was only beginning.

Shining Armor’s blue mane and golden armor shone with black and red blood as he and his soldiers tore through the town. From either side of them, werewolves, zombies could be seen pursuing them, eager to feast on their flesh. From above them, Raven Moon and her lunar troops were flying above them, trying to keep the airborne beasts at bay. He could hear the cries and roars of both sides as they lunged and tore at one another, and it made him shiver. It didn’t shake him, for he couldn’t let it. The lives of the citizens were at stake, and if he let his nerves get the better of him, coming her would’ve been for nothing. Because of this, he could not allow himself to fall. He had to survive to the very end.

With this thought in mind, Shining gave a powerful roar cry as he lunged at the closest, folkloric beast, a lycan who was barreling at him. Leaping in the air, he dove his sword down and let it puncture the back of the best. It fell to the ground, but got right back up, throwing Shining off of him as he skidded across the dirt. It leapt at the stallion and tried to slash at him, but Shining’s sword met its swords in a clash. Pushing it back, Shining Armor slashed at its chest before cutting at its arms, slicing one off at the shoulder. The beast roared and lashed out with its powerful tail, but Shining ducked under it and stabbed the beast in it side.

Blood spewed out as it slashed upward, before Shining pulled his sword out. The red liquid blew form the beast’s mouth as it shrieked in angered agony, and it leapt at Shining, pinning him to the ground. He grunted from the force of the attack, before crying out when the lycan bit him in his armored shoulder, almost piercing through it. Igniting his horn, he levitated his sword and pierced it right into the lycan’s neck. It choked even more on its blood as Shining kicked it off, jumping at it and swinging his blade across his neck, right through the jugular. With a bolt of magic, he blasted the lycan away from him, letting it fall to the ground.

“That was too damn close.” Shining muttered lowly to himself with a headshake, getting up and rejoining his troops in the foray. Once he did, he looked up to Raven Moon and shouted, “Raven Moon, how many of these things are down here?!”

“Too many to count Shining Armor! They’re just too many of the damn things!” Raven Moon shouted from up above. “They keep trying to get at us from all sides! Their group is as big as our own army! Shit!”

“Tch! As if these things hadn’t made it so vividly clear!” Shining grunted as he joined his own group through their gallop. “I don’t know how I’m going to get to the Town Square at this rate! I just hope that whoever is there is alright!” He looked up into the red sky as he added a little afterthought. ‘I hope that you’re doing okay too Twily. You, your friends and Crescent Shield.’

“Captain! Look out!” The mellow voice of another stallion shouted, causing Shining to look down to see a somewhat armored zombie charging at him. Out of instinct, he fired with his horn, but missed his target, which was the zombie’s head. Luckily, he was saved from having his face torn out when he saw a spear sink its way into the creature’s neck. He watched as the zombie was pulled away and thrown into the air. The tangelo orange stallion holding the spear flew through the air and stabbed his spear into the zombie’s skull.

As he drove it into the ground, be pulled his weapon out before shooting it back into its chest. Lightning burst out of the weapon and coursed through the zombie’s veins, making it burst in a shower of lighting and blood. Getting up, he saw a few more surrounding him and preparing to lunge at him. When they did, he spared his wings, which were covered by blades, allowing him to slice at their heads with efficient ease. He then sent bolts of lightning through his wings and the blades, letting them strike the injured zombies and char then into ash, blood and flesh.

“Geez Shining! What’s with you tonight?” The stallion asked as he set his spear on his shoulder, still suspended into the air. “I’ve never seen you looking so spaced out before. Is this who monster group really fuckin’ with your head that much.”

Shining grunted and shook his head violently, his face going back to its hardened guard fashion. “I’m sorry Spearhead. I just lost focus there for a second. I’m still just trying to comprehend the fac that I’m seeing a bunch of werewolves and zombies running around town!”

“What about the lycans, waheelas, succubus and thralls?! Don’t forget about those too!” Raven said as she lowered herself to Shining and Spearhead. “They’re not the only ones here other than the giant dogs leaping all throughout the town!”

“I think he can see that Raven Moon. And I can too, clearly.” Spearhead murmured, spinning his spear around as he flung the blood off of it. “Queen Celestia told us to expect something like this before we got on the Ponyville Express. I knew that it was going to be bad, but I didn’t think that it was going to be this bad.”

Raven nodded in agreement. “Neither did I sweetie.” She said as she looked around her at the carnage slowly being built. “This shit is on a whole other level entirely. More than even me and by brother and sister, Starchaser and Gine ever faced since we became part of the Lunar Division. I’m not sure if even we will be able to get these guys out of here before somepony gets eaten or turned.”

“I’m not entirely sure about that either. But we can’t worry about that any of that right now guys.” Shining admitted, throwing his sword forward to clean it of the blood. “We were sent here to protect the towns ponies from these things. Not worry about whether or not we’ll be able to extinguish all of them. Let’s just focus on getting as many ponies to safety as we can! Then focus on killing as many of these beasts as possible!”

“Don’t need to tell me twice dude!” Spearhead grinned as he raised his. “Let’s show them how the E.U.P guard deals with bastards like them!”

Raven nodded as she flicked open the twin blades in her hooves. “Right, let’s get in here and-”

An explosive leonine roar suddenly broke out, and Raven turned around just in time to have three hundred pounds of fur and teeth slam into her. They tumbled across the ground as the beast tried to bite at Raven’s face. Luckily, her armored head managed to keep the most vital parts of her head form being crushed into brainy much. As relieving as that was, that did not stop Raven from screaming into age as she tried to get the beast off of her.

“Get off of me you damn furball!” She roared back, baring her fags up at the creature, which she could now see was a dark-furred lion. With a hiss, she plunged her armored knives into its stomach as it pulsed with electricity that traveled all through the lion’s body. As she kicked the creature away from her, she was at first confused as to why a lion was inside Ponyville. That confusion soon turned to horrified clarification when she saw the massive crow wings flared out from both its sides.

‘Oh Luna! Sweet Queen Luna Nightwalker above! It’s a crow-winged lion!’ She backed away a bit as the feline slowly stalked towards her. ‘No, not just that! It’s a fallen angel lion!’

Another roar from the lion snapped Raven out of her daze as it flapped its wings, hovering above her. A stream of deep orange and red flames erupted form his mouth like dragon breathing fire as it headed towards the bat mare. Snapping back to attention, Raven shot the knives on her armored hooves out and sent out large bolts of lightning. It clashed with the fire of the lion as a brief tense power struggle came to fruition. The two elements soon exploded to produce a cloud of dust that Raven immediately used to her advantage. As the fallen angel lion tried to ambush her from within the smoke, it found itself roaring as something stabbed into its side. Its left wing as the next thing to go as Raven sliced at it with her wings, leaving it unable to keep itself in the air.

“Raven, where are you?!” Shining asked form afar. “I can’t see you in all of this smoke!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine!” She shouted from within the dust. “Just leave this cat to me!”

Spearhead frowned in worry. “Are you sure? That cat looks pretty strong-”

“I said leave it to me!” Raven yelled, shooting a glare at where she thought Shining and Spearhead were. When she got no response, she focused back on the fallen angel lion, ducking and dodging its lunges and swipes. ‘Of all the things that had to be added in this army, it had to be fallen angels! I’m just glad they’re in their lion forms and acting more like cats too! Otherwise this would be a lot more fucking harder!’

As the smoke slowly began to clear, Raven delivered a slice with her metal knives up into the fallen angel lion’s stomach and chest. Spinning around, she delivered a hard kick that sent the feline flying and out of the smoke. As she spread her wings and flew, the fallen angel lion rolled across the ground and onto its back, glaring at Raven. It opened its mouth and fired off a few more bolts of fire, but the mare either deflected it or blocked it with her wings. She shot another bolt of lightning down at the beast, sending another electrical course through its body as with the first time. This allowed her to land on top of it before driving both of her knife covered hooves into its chest. Before she could finish it off, the fallen angel lion suddenly rolled over and pinned her to the ground, its claws aimed at her neck.

“Raven!” Shining and Spearhead cried, instinctively rushing over to the fallen mare.

Rather than feeling scared, Raven merely smirked at the cat before shouting, “Too slow!”

The next thing the fallen angel lion knew, a large bolt of lightning was coursing through its chest and out of its back in a flash. It roared out in agony as it shook violently while standing upright its feathers flowing falling off its wings like leaves form a tree. As it was slowly charred from the inside, Spearhead and Shining came from either side of it, driving their own blades into the beast’s sides. With a final gurgled growl, the fallen angelic lion slowly fell to its side, just after Raven gave it a swift slice across its neck, finally ending its misery.

“Whew, that was a close one.” Raven sighed, swiping the blood of her knives. She looked up at Shining and Spearhead and pouted. “What was that last move for guys? I told you I could handle it on my own.”

“Sorry, we kind of moved in without thinking.” Spearhead chuckled apologetically. “By the time we realized you already had it covered, it was too late. We just went ahead and done it.”

“And besides, isn’t it a guard’s duty to protect their fellow soldiers?” Shining asked with a raised eyebrow. “I think the same rule applies to your division Raven Moon.”

The dark grey thestral sighed defeatedly. “Okay, you got me there. Thanks for the help boys, even if it wasn’t really needed.” She coughed in her hoof as she glared at the two. “But next time, when I say I have it covered, believe me okay? I don’t want to be treated like some damsel in distress. No matter how well indented your actions were in keeping me safe.”

“Duly noted.” Spearhead grinned as he swung his spear around. “Now, shall we proceed in showing these monsters how we rock it?”

Shining smiled back, his dark blue eyes glowing as held his sword in front of him. “I thought you’d never ask!”

Amethyst had to give credit where credit was due, which was something that didn’t happen very often. Spike was far more efficient in organizing and planning that she would ever be. Something that she saw countless times in the last four years. That was saying a lot, since she Ponyville’s best organizer before Twilight came to town, and she became her assistant librarian. Over the time that she got to know the teen drake, she bore witness to his organization and memorization skills. To how he seemed to remember where specific books, scrolls and tools were in the biggest library she saw in the town she was born in. Despite being more than a little weary of Spike, she couldn’t help but be amazed by how intelligent and intellect that he was. How he seemed to be a draconic male version of Twilight, even though he was only four years younger than her.

This only seemed to be added by his sweetness, adorableness, and respect and care towards her and others. Especially they were given the impression that most dragons were mean and scary, not to mention greedy and power hungry. Which was, in general, very true for the most part for the eastern dragons in the Dragon Lands. Spike, though, happened to be an exception, due to the fact that he was raised by ponies instead of his own kind. Since, form what Twilight told her, he was raised by ponies, mainly by the Queen and Twilight’s only family. Even this knowledge, Amethyst knew that from the sparring sessions she had with Spike, that he was trained to fight like a dragon would. She didn’t know by who, but something always told her that both that and Spike himself would serve to help save her someday. If not just her, then those she cared about, that being her family. Something that she found herself seeing happening right in front of her while they all sat in Twilight’s Magical Combat Chamber.

It didn’t take very long for Spike to have the Hooves Family be firmly equipped with the weapons in the chamber. He didn’t just pick the weapons randomly either, or just threw whatever was presented in the area to them. Spike made sure to pick the weapons that were not only the sharpest and most efficient, but the ones that were the safest. Mainly for little Dinky, since she was more or less going to be fighting herself. He made sure to give her ones that weren’t too sharp, but still dangerous enough to where they’d be threats to the monsters outside. To Derpy’s credit, she didn’t protest against Spike giving Dinky any weaponry. Perhaps knowing that there was no other option at the moment, wanting her filly to be as prepared as possible.

Only Spike himself didn’t take any weapons at all, but that wasn’t all too surprising. After all, he was a dragon, and they could defend themselves against just about anything. Save for one of their own kind or anything that could harm them. Still, even he knew that he was going to be thrown around more than a few times on the battlefield. If not by the vampires, zombies, dark angelic lions, werewolves and their other canine brethren, then definitely by the thralls. They were practically dragons themselves, ones that were unlike that of the dragons of the east. So, he could hardly be blamed for feeling more than a little scared to face them.

Even after they made a break from the library, Spike was still apprehensive about the thralls, but he knew it had to be done if Blossomforth was to be saved. Otherwise, the young mare would meet the fate that Nightmare Moon had bestowed upon them. With that in mind, none of them could pack out, nor could they fall. Not until Blossomforth was saved and brought back with them safe and unharmed. Until then, they would all have to get themselves and their blades painted red.

“Alright everypony, do you remember the plan?!” Spike asked as he flew above Derpy, Amethyst, and Dinky, with Cloud Kicker flying right beside him. “Do you know which specific monsters that we need to fend off?!”

“Yes Spike! We all do!” Derpy replied as she galloped in front of her daughters. Her whole body was covered in a black latex suit that covered everything save for her mane, tail, eyes and her wings. They were still covered in bandages, they were also covered in weaponry, this being two vicious wing blades attached to a ring around Derpy’s neck. “Me, Amethyst, and Dinky will handle the succubus, vampires, and zombies! Other than the succubus, the vampires and werewolves won’t be able to use their magic outwardly! So Amethyst and Dinky shouldn’t have too much of a problem incinerating them!”

“That’s right, little sis! My nieces are definitely going to lay the smackdown on those bastards!” Cloud Kicker nodded, grinning down confidently at her younger sister. Her own wings adorned a set of blades as well, as well as a latex suit that was deep purple in color. On her back was a large sword that had no sheath, the metallic blade giving a red shine in the scarlet sky. “You can leave the werewolves, lycans and the waheelas down to me! Don’t worry, big sis will keep those overgrown dogs save from making you their dog chow!”

“Don’t worry! We believe you there, Aunt Cloud!” Amethyst yelled from below while carrying her sister on her back. A solid gleam came from her yellowish-brown latex suit, along with her long yellow cloak as she ran through the homes and streets. On her hindlegs and forelegs, were combat knives tied to them just below the knee, the handles glowing a bright magenta color. She also had a sword that was tucked under the saddle her sister was on, with reins sticking from the corners of her muzzle. “I’m just worried that you’re going to go out of control if you decide to go into your Kiba Lycona forms! I’m all for you getting the larger dogs, but I really don’t want you to hit any of us!”

“Oh, come on big sis! Have more faith in Auntie Cloud!” Dinky pouted, holding tightly to the reins in her sister’s mouth with her magic. As with her sister, aunt and mother, she was in a latex battle suit of her own, her’s being a deep blue. A large set of combat knives were strapped to her back, while her weapons were obscured by an even darker blue cloak. “She has perfect control over her doggy form! She’s not gonna bury us into the ground! Most likely Auntie Cloud is going to be all dizzy after she stops drilling herself into the ground!”

“I know Dinky. That’s exactly what I’m worried about. I just wish that Midnight and Snowflake came with us too instead of deciding to split up across the town.” Amethyst sweat dropped, fiddling with the metal appendage in her mouth. “Speaking of which, do you think you could ease up on the reins there? I get that your trying to hold on to me, but I really can’t afford to lose focus on slicing these zombies and werewolves heads off!”

Dinky gave her sister a sweet smile. “Oh, don’t worry Ame! I’ll try not to tug onto your head too much! I can’t make any promises though, cause you and I both know that I’m always having too much fun riding you!”

“Now that I literally have a saddle on me, I know that’s only going to be amplified.” Amethyst grumbled with a flick of her ear. A tick mark appeared on her neck as she shot a comically white-eyed glare at her sister. “And I thought I told you not to call me that in public!”

“Uh girls, why don’t you save the nickname timing for later!” Spike shouted, snapping both girls back to attention. “It looks like we’re about to have some guests!”

The snarling of a beast followed by something landing on the ground hard caused the rest of the group to look ahead of them. They found themselves running towards s hungry gleaming of a group of oversized canines, all of them bearing dark fur and bulging physics. At first, they thought it was either werewolves or lycans, but upon seeing their saber-like fangs, they realized they were waheelas. From all around them, they could see groups of zombies, either running around the town or making a beeline towards them. Finally, flocks of vampires shot down from the sky like eagles diving after rabbits, fangs jetting out in preparation for throat tearing.

“Mother Moka Almighty…” Derpy said softly, taken completely off guard for a moment. “It looks like we have some young pups eager to play with us.”

“Uh-huh, t-they look really scary.” Dinky squeaked, shuddering as if she was caught in the rain. “And it’s not the good kind of scary either.”

“You’re telling me sis.” Amethyst grunted, planting her forelegs wide. “It’s not like we can do anything about it now. Except for one thing…”

“Yeah, and that’s to show them guys who’s the boss!” Cloud shout gleefully, diving down and flying past Amethyst and Derpy. “By the time we’re done with them, they’re gonna wish they never messed with us!”

“Here we go everypony!” Spike shouted, his eyes glowing green as he bared his teeth. “Attack!”

With a war cry, Spike bashed his clenched claws together, letting his beautiful emerald fire coat them in their flames. Rearing one back, he slammed it into the face if a vampire that was coming at him front the front. The beast screeched in agony as the fire burnt at its face, before Spike stabbed his other fiery claw into its stomach. Flames began to spread around the creature’s body as both it and Spike spun through the air, wings flapping wildly. At some point Spike bit the vampire on its neck and ripped out its throat, before grabbing its head with his right claw and burning it clean off. After tearing the rest of its body in half, he let if fall to the ground before meeting another one who tried coming at him from behind. He let it land on him, before reaching back and grabbing it by one of its arms and throwing it forward. It screeched angrily, trying to swipe at it with its razor-sharp hooves, but they barely managed to even bruise Spike.

The vampire tried to do the same thing with its wings, but Spike’s own razor-edged wings and claws clashed with the vampire’s wings instead. It was like they were using two swords that were in the form of wings instead of actual wings, thanks to the sparks emanating from them. At some point, the vampire tried to kick at him with its clawed legs, and it actually managed to get it in its grasp. The vampire soon realized how stupid that was when Spike unleashed the flames from his mouth, letting it travel down the beast’s leg and onto its body. Pulling his head away, he slashed at the vampire’s wings, nearly ripping them off as he stabbed is right claw straight through its chest, where its heart was. The bat like equine let out one final screech, before a firebolt to the face silenced it. Spike watched as it fell to the ground, crashing with a meaty thump as his fire burned it away, though he did take a moment to look at his claw.

“That’s strange. I didn’t feel any heart from inside of that vampire’s chest.” He said to himself, clenching his blood covered paw. “No, wait. I did feel a heart down there somewhere, but it felt…harder and colder for some reason.”

“Alright Spike!” Cloud cheered with a hoof pump. “That’s the way we do things! That’s how we ponyvillians show others why we shouldn’t be messed with!” She looked down to a waheela that was rushing towards her. “Now it’s time to show how I do things around here!”

Cloud dove down and let one of the horseshoes on her hooves slam into the muzzle of a waheela, sending its head shooting to the side. She then swung one of her wings forward and let the blades slice down its neck and chest, before letting the other go down his chest. The waheela snarled and swiped its claws at her, but Cloud grabbed it and swung it at one of its other packmates that were lunging at her. It tried to pin her to the ground and rip at her throat, but Cloud it in its gut before sliding out from under it, slicing it in its side. She went to grab for the waheelas tail, but found her own being grabbed instead before she was thrown across the air. The waheela let Cloud collide with her younger sister, who managed to catch her just in time as it leapt at her again. It was just a second away from sinking its teeth in her barrel before she kicked it in its chest. Spreading one of her wings, Cloud sent a wave of wind into its stomach, causing blood and guts to spew as it as nearly sliced in half.

“Whoa, close one there!” Cloud panted as she pulled herself off of Derpy. “He thought he could get me while I was down huh? Too bad for him I’m a real good as kicker.”

“Are you okay Cloud?” Derpy asked worriedly. “That was a bad hit back there.”

“Don’t worry sis, I’m okay. I was able to keep myself from being eaten and that’s all that really matters.” Cloud said as she turned to the younger grey mare. Her ears perked we she noticed something from behind Derpy. “But it looks like you’re about to be eaten in just a second!”

Derpy whirled around to see a few zombies rushing towards her at speeds that would’ve made even the greatest athletes red with envy. The next thing she knew, the wind was being knocked right out of her as one of the zombies punched her in her stomach. She tumbled across the ground like a pebble going down a slope, before stopping on her back. As she looked up, she looked to see an earth zombie hovering over her, mouth agape to reveal black teeth that looked to be as sharp as her wing blades. As it lunged for her, Derpy swung one of her wings, letting the blade it wore slice the zombie across its face.

Doing her best to keep the blood off of her, Derpy kicked the zombie off of her and tried to get at is neck. To her shock, it got back to its feet and kicked her in her face, sending her spinning into the ground. This time though, she got back up as fast as she could, just in time to avoid the stab from a unicorn zombie. With as much agility as her injured wings would allow, she swung them forward as hard as she could, large slashes of wind bursting out. They cut into the zombies like an axe going through wood, into their limbs and even their necks, decapitating one and leaving another unable to walk.

Derpy watched silently as black blood flowed from their wounds like a hose left running, but her relief was short lived when she noticed something above her. A gasp escaped her when she saw a pegasus zombie flying towards her on wings that were mostly covered in red. She screamed ass she was slammed into the ground, one of the zombie’s hooves driving deep into her legs to keep her in place. Her mouth opened as she leaned in to pit out the jugular vein in her neck, but its own neck was soon stabbed into by a very pissed off unicorn duo.

“Don’t touch my mother you bastard!” Amethyst screamed, throwing one of her combat knives through the air like an arrow. Reaching with one of her hooves, she threw another combat knife that landed into the pegasus zombie’s shoulder, causing it to stumble. Wasting no time Amethyst charged the zombie with a blazing horn. A horn that blasted out a burst of magic that slammed into the zombie sent it flying. She fired off again at the cannibalistic beast, but it used its wings to fly out of the line of fire. Even though it was now in the air, it was not out of Amethyst’s sight, and Dinky made sure it knew it.

“This is for hurting my Momma!” The filly yelled out, using her own less than control magic to blast the zombie right out of the sky. As it fell, Dinky snapped at the reins around her sister’s head, while kicking at her flanks. Out of instinct, like a jockey on a horse, Amethyst whinnied and went on a full-on sprint. When they were within range, Dink reached from within her cloak and pulled out her combat knives, throwing them with surprising precision. Just as they were going to hit, the zombie used its fleshy red wings to block the knives, before swinging them forward to let the knives fly at them.

Amethyst grabbed them with her magic, before giving them back to Dinky as she leapt into the air, aiming her horn at the zombie. She blasted her magic out again and drove the zombie into the ground, letting it tumble. As it got back up, it suddenly found itself being repeatedly slashed and cut by the sword that Amethyst had. It tried using the sharp edges its wings to defend itself, but Amethyst’s rageful agility proved to become too much for it. Dinky sat upon her back, cheering her sister on as black blood splattered the ground. Behind them, the zombies that Derpy took down were suddenly back up, their libs reattached as they went at the sisters from behind.

“I don’t think so!” Spike shouted as he flew into the scene. “Fire Dragon: Roar!”

A huge blast of green flames erupted from Spike’s mouth like lava and spoke erupting from the top of a volcano. The zombies stood no chance against it as it slowly and painfully at them, the red patches on them bubbling and popping. Their screeches of agony drew the attention of their winged comrade, leaving it open for its inevitable doom.

“Take this!” Dinky shouted, grabbing at one of her combat knives again and pulling her right foreleg back. With as much a strength as her little body would let her, she threw the knife right at the zombie’s head, watching as it struck the beast in its eye. The pain from the wound in its white eye allow amethyst to deal a final blow herself with her sword. With speed and precision that would’ve made samurai proud, she swung her blade forward and sliced off the zombie’s head, making its exposed neck shower with blood like a park fountain.

Before it could even attempt to recover, a bolt of green fire zoomed towards it, colliding with it before exploding in a haze of blood, greying flesh, and white bone. The Hooves Family watched as the bodies slowly burned, along with the vampires and waheelas Spike set on fire. Soon enough, all that remained was charred ash, just like with the werewolf in the library.

“Well, that was fun~!” Spike chirped, giving a satisfied sigh as he slowly hovered down to the pegasi and unicorns. “Is that all of them?”

“Yep, it looks like that’s it for us kiddo.” Cloud said as she looked around the area that they were in. “Well, at least for this part of the town anyway. There is still plenty more of them around town. So we’re not out of the woods just yet.”

“You’re telling me.” Derpy said as she flexed her wings, wincing at the soreness she felt form them. “Jeez…that was barely five minutes of us fighting and I’m already feeling sore. I am not looking forward to facing the rest of these things.”

“Neither am I, but it’s gotta be done. Amethyst sighed, setting her sword back in her sheath from under her saddle. “The sole reason we came out here is to get Blossomforth and get her back to the library. So until we accomplish that, we’ll be constantly watching our hides, stomachs, and our necks.” She shot a look at spike as he shook the blood off him. “Even you Spike, because of the thralls up around.”

“Don’t remind me.” Spike whined childishly with a cute pout. It soon turned into a look of concentration as his ears perked. His nostrils flared as he began to sniff to air, dipping his head down towards the ground.

“Spike, what’re you doing?” Dinky asked curiously. “Why are you smelling the ground?”

“…I sense somepony nearby, and their hoofprints are still fresh.” Spike said, not looking up as he continued to sniff at the ground like a hound on a rabbit’s trail. A few moments later, he gasped and whirled around to face Cloud and the Hooves Family. “It’s Blossomforth! I can smell Blossomforth’s scent here!”

The filly and mare’s eyes all bulged. “WHAT?!”

“You smell Blossomforth?!” Cloud yelled, rushing over to Spike and shaking him violently his shoulders. “Where is she?! Where did she go off to?!”

“Whoa, calm down Cloud! Let me talk!” The drake shouted, ripping himself away from her. “Her scent is just down the trail that’s behind me. They’re still fresh, so I can still track where she went too!”

“Really?! Oh, thank Faust and Mother Moka!” Derpy sighed, nearly collapsing from relief. “I thought it would take forever to find her!”

“Well, it looks like we’ll be saved a lot of time and energy fighting now.” Spike said, smiling warmly at the grey mare. “That is, if we can get to her before we’re attacked again.” He shivered as his tail began to curl between his legs. “Hopefully not by a thrall.”

“Well then, what’re we waiting for?!” Dinky cried, snapping down hard on her sister’s reins. “Let’s get going! Hiya!”

None of the mares, nor the young drake needed to be told another time. With a sharp salute, Spike spread his wings and flew off, leading the ponies down the path where he believed Blossomforth would be.

I had a little too much fun writing this chapter out, though I did have some trouble in trying to figure out how to right the part with Shining Armor, Spearhead and Raven Moon. Since I was not entirely sure if I should continue that part or not. I suppose after a few minutes of relooking over it, I decided that I was going to leave it there while focusing on Spike, Amethyst, Derpy, Cloud and little Dinky's role in this chapter. Now, I was a little lost on how I was going to end this chapter, but after remembering the plan that I had them do, I decided to add the scene of Spike managing to pick up Blossomforth's scent. Now I know some of you may think it's impossible that he was able to smell a pony's scent mixed with that of a bunch of folkloric beasts, but, remember, he's a dragon! And no one smell, or any other smell, can get passed if they put their minds to it!

Anyway, that's all for this chapter! If you think this smackdown was thrilling to read, than you're going to think the next one is just as, if not more, thrilling than this one!

Next time: Zephyr and the girls make the fur fly with the Timberwolves!!!