“Halt, barbarians!”

Celestia and Luna stopped in front of the castle gates, staring at the half-dozen spearpoints leveled by the half-dozen castle guards barring the way.

“Barbarians?” Celestia looked to her sister. “Do we look like barbarians?”

“You do.” Luna shrugged. “Like from some isolated tribe that hasn't invented trousers yet.”

“Feh.” Celestia stuck her tongue out Luna. “Better those than some savages who haven't discovered humor.”

“In any case--” Luna turned her attention to the guards, almost as an afterthought. “We have come to see Clover the Clever. Please, take us to him.”

The mention of Clover's name set the guardsponies to murmuring amongst themselves. Finally, a guard with a white crest on his helmet to distinguish him from his blue-crested fellows cleared his throat. “You can't see Clover the Clever. So leave. Now.”

“And if we don't?” Celestia fanned her wings out and stepped forward. The guardsponies stepped back, mail clinking softly with the movement.

“It won't go well for you.” The officer drew himself up taller, and the horn jutting up through his plumed helmet began to glow faintly.

“Is that so?” Celestia cracked her knuckles.

“Sister.” Luna warned.

“What?”

“Remember why we came here.” Luna fell into step behind her sister, throwing back her cloak for easier movement. “So don't kill any of them. They're just doing their jobs.”

“Got it. No steel, then.” Celestia rolled her neck, then began to bounce on her hooves, readying herself. “Bet I take down more of them than you do!” And with that, she launched herself into battle, mane and wings billowing out behind her. Celestia caught a different spear-haft in each hand and pulled, otherworldly strength more than enough to unbalance the guardsponies on the opposite end. As they lurched forward, Celestia beat her wings and took to the air. The hem of her tunic fluttered as she lashed out with a pair of lightning-quick kicks, giving the two guards a scandalous view of pale flesh beneath before Celestia's hooves blotted out their field of vision. The two guards slammed into the closed castle gates, unconscious.

Celestia landed, then spun to face a third guard. He jabbed his spear at her, trying to make Celestia keep her distance, but the warrior-woman struck his spear-haft with the edge of her hand, snapping the oak like so much dry kindling. The guard stared at his broken polearm for a shocked moment before Celestia grabbed him by the breastplate, one armed, and flung him into another of his fellows. The two guards went down in a tangle of armored limbs, and Celestia laughed, triumphant.

“Ha! That's four! I win!”

Luna shook her head, dusting her hands off as the white-plumed officer and the last of his men crumpled to the ground at her hooves. “It's not a competition, sister. Especially since this one would have blasted you in the back with a binding spell, had I not intervened. Now, we'd better get moving before reinforcements come. The more skulls we crack, the less inclined Clover will be to help us.”

“Unless Platinum's holding him prisoner-- you heard what the guard said. We 'can't' see him. Bet he's in some dungeon.”

“Possibly. But there's only one way to find out.”

Princess Platinum's throne room primarily served as an extension of her ego. Where some rulers made it a point to project their wealth or martial prowess, Princess Platinum prided herself on her air of genteel elegance and beauty. The stone columns and vaulted ceilings were carefully designed to direct the eye to one point: Princess Platinum herself. She sat upon a wagon-sized heap of red silk cushions, draped in a velvet robe of royal purple. The robe was loosely tied, revealing a narrow 'v' of her delicate, alabaster coat. A simple circlet of her namesake adorned Princess Platinum's brow, matched with ornate bracelets around both of her thin wrists.

The rest of the throne room was just as opulent, fortunes worth of silk and jewels used to decorate every available surface. The opulence was denser the closer one got to Princess Platinum's dais, gradually growing less and less ornate, 'til the stretch of floor directly in front of the throne room's main doors was plain, unadorned marble.

Various courtiers in silken finery lounged along the sides of the room-- the most lavishly dressed (and thus most important) naturally seated closer to the princess. They passed the time in idle luxury, plinking away at master-carved instruments, or composing improvised poetry. There were guards in gilded mail, better suited for parades than battles. Then again, they never expected to draw their ceremonial blades. The throne room, more than any other place in the castle, was an oasis, a refuge from the inelegant chaos of the outside world.

Until Celestia kicked the door open.

“Who dares!?” Princess Platinum cried, teary eyes wide with shock. The rest of her courtiers cringed away from the sudden noise, hiding wherever they could.

“I dare!” Celestia shot a warning glance at Princess Platinum's guards, who wisely kept their distance. Luna slipped in behind her sister, calm and silent in contrast to Celestia's shouting-- and was all the more intimidating for it. “My name is Celestia, and I have come to speak with Clover the Clever. Release him, and we'll be on our way.”

“Release him?” Princess Platinum blinked, then sat up straighter on her pile of cushions. “What are you talking about?”

“Your guards said we couldn't talk to Clover. We disagreed. Now hand him over.” Celestia tossed back her voluminous mane.

“You fools.” Princess Platinum snapped. “I should have expected as much from a pair of uncouth barbarians. The reason you can't talk to Clover is because he isn't here.”

Celestia paused mid knuckle-crack. “Wait, what?”

“I shall try to use small words to get the meaning through your thick skull.” Princess Platinum huffed. “The stone-trolls have demanded a tribute of ponies, to sacrifice to their volcano-god, the Efreet.”

“And you just gave them to them?” Celestia said, aghast. “Why didn't you fight?”

“How? The stone-trolls are immune to unicorn magic, and Efreet can burn a pony to cinders with but a touch. Even if we called on Commander Hurricane's legion for aid, we'd be massacred.”

“So you send your subjects out to die?” Celestia clenched her calloused hands into fists.

“Clover volunteered!” Princess Platinum's voice cracked. She sniffed, and dabbed at the corner of her eye with the sleeve of her robe. “Clover said he had a plan. He wouldn't tell me what, only that he could fix things ... and that he wouldn't be coming back.”

“The hell with that!” Celestia pointed an accusatory finger at the princess. “You may be content to let ponies die needlessly, but I'm not. Tell us where Clover went, and we'll bring him back. We'll bring all the ponies back, and deal with your troll problem while we're at it.”

“If you so badly wish to throw your lives away, I shan't stop you. The stone-trolls dwell in the depths of Spiteskull Mountain-- an ugly, hideous place. What makes you think you can survive a journey there, where countless other ponies have perished?”

Celestia smirked. “Because we're not other ponies.”

“There they are.” Luna waved Celestia over, and the two of them peered over the edge of the boulder they took refuge behind. It had been a hard day's flight to Spiteskull Mountain, and harder work still to prowl through its labyrinthine tunnels unnoticed. By the time they made it to the craterlike central cavern, both of their swords dripped with troll-blood from the sentries they'd ambushed unawares.

Celestia followed Luna's gaze to the line of shackled unicorns on the other side of the cavern. They were naked but for their chains-- either stripped by their captors, or having undressed for some relief from the hellish heat bubbling up from the great red rift at the center of the cavern. Aside from a couple of bored-looking guards, the rest of the stone trolls paid the prisoners no heed. Most of the brutish, lumpen creatures were arrayed in a loose mob, chanting in some dark, forgotten tongue. After each blasphemous verse, a fresh rumble echoed from deep within the crevasse as Efreet woke from his slumber.

“Which one's Clover?” Celestia murmured.

“I can't tell at this distance.”

“Fine then. That just means we'll have to rescue all of them.” Luna tightened her grip around her sword. “You go for the captives while I distract the trolls.”

“Right.” Luna nodded. “But be careful, sister.”

“Not making any promises.” Celestia winked, then beat her wings, taking to the air. She flew a lazy circle around the chamber, then finally came to a hover directly above the red-glowing crevasse. The stone trolls stopped their chanting, staring dumbly up at the avenging angel that had seemingly arrived from nowhere.

“Ho there!” Celestia said, cheery. She landed upon a stone altar in front of the crevasse, noting the scorched-red stains upon the granite. “Can any of you louts point me at the beer? It's damned hot in here. Makes a girl thirsty, you know.”

The trolls stared at her for a long moment, until one of them shook himself from his shocked stupor. With a snarl, he lunged for the winged mare, throttling claws extended. Celestia slashed the troll's head from his shoulders in a single stroke, then fell upon the rest of the howling, bestial mob. The lumbering trolls were even taller than she was, though Celestia had no problem in matching, overpowering their strength. Her blade danced in deadly patterns: hewing limbs, piercing bellies, cleaving skulls.

As Celestia worked her deadly trade, Luna kept to the shadows, circling around until she came to the prisoners. She silently, efficiently dispatched the few stone trolls left guarding them, then hacked through the main lead-chain with a single stroke of her sword.

A slim unicorn with a purplish streak in his mane stepped forward. “What are you doing?”

“Rescuing you.” Luna noted, and cut through another length of chain. “Clover the Clever, I presume?”

“You're ruining everything! They've already woken Efreet-- and without a sacrifice waiting for him, he'll be angry-- unstoppable! You've got to throw me in the rift.” Clover said.

“Are you really so eager to throw your life--” Luna trailed off as she saw the charm hanging around Clover's neck, the humble item being the only thing he wore. “That's a windigo call, isn't it? You're going to try to freeze the Efreet.”

Clover blinked. “How did you know?”

“You're not the only one who studied under Starswirl the Bearded.” Luna unfurled her wings from beneath her cloak.

“That means--” Clover sputtered, eyes flitting from Luna's horn, to her wings, then back to her face. “That means you're--”

“Uniquely qualified to handle this.” Luna allowed herself a wry grin. “In a manner that doesn't involve throwing yourself down the mouth of an angry volcano god.”

As Luna spoke, the cavern rumbled once again. A clawed hand, the size of a house and wrought from smoke and fire, reached over the edge of the rift, fingers clutching the rim. A second hand appeared, and soon the Efreet pulled itself fully into the chamber. The enormous creature glowed hellishly, fire leaking out from cracks in its blazing red skin. The Efreet's bull-like horns were wide enough to scrape the sides of the cavern as it turned its head, and molten slag dripped from its fanged jaws.

“Get behind me.” Luna pushed Clover towards the way she'd come in. “We need to get all these ponies out of here.”

“But the Efreet--”

“Is no match for my sister. Trust me.”

By the time the Efreet had clawed its way out of the crevasse, the stone trolls were in full rout, with the braver laying dead at Celestia's hooves, and the more prudent already escaping into side-tunnels. Celestia herself turned to face the enormous fire-beast, holding her sword in both hands in a ready stance.

The Efreet flicked a finger, and engulfed her in a pillar of fire.

“No!” Clover lunged forward, only to be caught by Luna's strong arm. “Let me go, damn you! There's still time-- I might still be able to--”

“Watch.” Luna said.

The smoke cleared.

Celestia laughed.

The Efreet's fire had burned her clothing to ashes, but the woman underneath was unharmed. Smoke wafted away from the last remnants of her tunic, revealing soft curves and hard muscle alike. Celestia's sword, notably, remained intact.

“Hah!” Celestia strode forward, uncaring about her nudity-- or the Efreet's power, for that matter. “Your fires pale in comparison to those of the sun, little salamander. But!” She swung her sword up to point at the Efreet's heart. “I shall show you mercy. If you and your trolls swear never to harm a pony ever again, then I shall let you live.”

The Efreet roared in reply, and swung a massive fist at the winged woman.

“I thought you'd say that.” Celestia sprung to the air, nimbly dodging the clumsy swipe. More blinding light poured off of her as she streaked forward, sword-first. Fast as sunlight, she plunged into the Efreet's chest, then burst out of his back in an explosion of molten gore. The fire-beast looked down at the alicorn-sized hole in his chest, then glanced up just in time to see Celestia glide in front of him again, sword in one hand, a melon-sized ruby in the other: the Efreet's heart.

“You had your chance.” Celestia made it a point to meet the Efreet's eyes, watching the hellish fire within dim. Moments later, the Efreet crumpled in on itself, its massive body imploding to nothing more than wispy ash.

With the Efreet ended, Celestia glided gently down to the cavern floor once more, and her aura of power faded away. Clover and the other unicorns gawked at the nude demigoddess, while Luna just rolled her eyes as she sheathed her own sword.

“Right!” Celestia sank the point of her longsword into the floor of the cavern and leaned against the crossbars of the hilt. “Which one of you is Clover the Clever?”