Rainbow Dash, Spitfire and Soarin skidded to a halt on the floor of the throne room, nearly stumbling over each other. Twilight stood well clear of the window, and was on hand to help them up.
"Rainbow Dash! What happened? I saw-"
"Captain!" Spitfire pushed past Twilight, looking for one of the guards still milling around. Rarity was churning out uniforms from curtains around the room. Fluttershy went straight for Rainbow Dash to inspect and bandage her wounds. "Captain, get the city guard ready, the gryphon horde is about to attack!"
"There's no way we can defend the city! We've never trained for anything like this!"
"Then hold them off while we evacuate!" She barked. The guard nodded, and rushed off to spread the word.
"Is that it? That all we can do?" Applejack folded her arms.
"'Fraid so." Rainbow Dash stepped in. "There's too many of them to take down here. We tried to cut a deal, but they double-crossed us."
"Why am I not surprised." Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Alright, what evacuation plans do we have?"
"Storm drains." Applejack replied quickly.
"The horde's in the forest, we'll be serving 'em dinner on a plate." Dash sighed. Fluttershy finished bandaging her arms, and started on her thigh.
"So, the city gates are probably the same story..." Twilight mused, frowning.
"There's a cave system in the mountain the city's built into. If we can get one of the entrances open, we can hide the ponies in there." Spitfire chimed in.
"The caves, of course! We just need to get out and spread the word. We'll need to split up to cover the most ground. There's ten of us, so we can do five groups of two." Twilight started to pace as she planned.
"Uh... ten?" Spitfire tilted her head, and made a quick headcount, not counting the guards scurrying around. "I can only see nine."
"Huh?" Nine? That's not right. Let's see, me, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Derpy, the two Wonderbolts... "Where's Trixie?"
"Hah! Coward probably ran away!" Dash chuckled.
"She did more than just run away, darling..." Rarity added, tapping Twilight on the shoulder. "... she made off with something of yours." When Twilight looked around, she saw Rarity looking at the miscellany on the floor from her bag. Luna's regalia was still there, along with two books: Diaries of a Planeswalker, and Luna's blank volume.
"Where's..." The Birth of Celestia was still in her hand. Magic of the Body, however... "... oh no."
"What?" Applejack tilted her head.
"Trixie might be about to do something very stupid."
"Aw, horsefeathers, not again!"
"Okay, change of plan. Rarity, you come with me, we're going to track down Trixie and stop her before it's too late. The rest of you, go out into the city and start directing ponies to the caves. You'll probably need to help the defenders while you're out there, so stay sharp." Twilight let out a worried sigh. "Guys... welcome to the real world."
Four young fillies hurried through the streets uneasily.
"My scooter has to be around somewh-it's coming back!" Scootaloo squealed. All four of them dived for a crevice between two buildings, barely squeezing into the narrow space. A gryphon swooped through the spot where they had been standing, the accompanying wind covering them in a faint sprinkling of snow.
"What is that thing!" Dinky Hooves gawped.
"I think it's one o' them gryphon things from Twilight's storybook!" Applebloom blinked, shaking her head to clear the snow.
"Cool..." Scootaloo quickly received a bop on the head from Sweetie Belle.
"Now it's extra dangerous! We gotta keep movin'!" Applebloom shoved her way out of the crack, and stumbled into the clearing. Hesitantly, the others followed.
"Applebloom, look out!" Sweetie Belle dived over to tackle her to the ground. Another whoosh of cold air and particulate snow washed over them.
"Look! It's Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo pointed at the multicoloured trail that had just passed overhead. "They're here!" With Dinky, she helped the other two up.
"Alright!" They squealed together. Their celebrations were interrupted, however, when they noticed a third object making a pass at them - another gryphon. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo dove one way, Dinky the other. The gryphon thudded to a halt between them. It looked one way, at Dinky, and then the other, at the other three. Following its stomach, it turned to face the pile of three fillies, and they started scrambling away to the nearest building.
"Dinky, run! Don't worry about us, save yerself!" Applebloom screamed as they tumbled in the door and threw it shut. Dinky made herself scarce before the gryphon went back for her.
A gryphon shrieked in agony as a spear lodged itself in its back. Not a second later, the spear's owner grabbed it and slammed two hooves into the gryphon's back, removing it and sending the injured raider spiralling to the ground. Another pegasus drifted by.
"Don't get too distracted Dash. Heroics could get you killed." Spitfire warned. Dash just snorted. A short way below them, Soarin was circling the place he left the Cutie Mark Crusaders earlier, with an anxious Derpy Hooves hovering nearby.
"I was sure I left them right here..."
"Knowing them, they've probably gone looking for trouble." A squawk and a squeal caught their attention. I recognise that voice... "Dinky!" In the time it took Soarin to turn around, Derpy was already bolting for the source of the noise.
"Wait... where did she..."
She rounded a street corner to see a gryphon raider rearing up and baring its claws, a malevolent grin on its beak. On the ground below it, backed up to a wall, was a little grey unicorn filly, screaming for help. Instinct gripped her. She didn't stop to think - her body just moved by itself. Three long strides closed the gap. She was leaning forward almost horizontally, only her speed and the beating of her wings keeping her from falling in the snow. On the last step, she put her hands out in front of herself, slightly to the left, and tucked her knees in. The rest of her body kept travelling, and she swivelled clockwise on her hands. After nearly a half turn, she struck her legs out forcefully.
Crack.
Two hooves connected with the gryphon's head at a ludicrous speed. Its neck snapped ninety degrees, and it crumpled to the floor instantly. She lost balance after the impact, and fell ungraciously on her stomach. Dinky blinked incredulously.
"M... mom?"
"Dinky!" Derpy perked up, pushing herself from the floor to sit on her legs.
"Mom!" Dinky stumbled forward, and the two embraced.
"Oh, Dinky..." Tears streamed from Derpy's eyes as she held her daughter tight. Even though they were both covered in snow, it still felt warm. Even though chaos raged around them, it still felt peaceful. She planted a firm kiss on her head, and whispered, "Don't ever scare me like that again..."
Smash.
A woodcutting axe twirled out of a window, shattering the window, followed by two earth ponies. Applejack held firmly on to her hat, and Pinkie Pie flailed wildly. Behind them, the room they had just hurriedly vacated lit up with an almighty bang. Pinkie looked back, watching her firework detonate inside, and a raider perish with it. Applejack looked down to the ground, noting that it was much longer down than they had anticipated. Rather than the street rushing forward to meet them, it was the ground off the side of the cliffs. Before they could fall much further, they both felt a sharp yanking on the necks of their tops.
"Hnnng... I gotcha!" Fluttershy had grabbed them, and while she wasn't able to carry them back up, she could slow their descent to a safe speed. They dropped the last three yards, and stumbled on landing.
"Wheee! That was fun! Can we do it again?" Pinkie giggled, pulling the hood of her pink, white and cyan-striped hoodie out of her face. Applejack just glared at her and dusted off her jacket. Fluttershy drifted down after them, panting and rubbing her arms.
"Thanks for the save, Fluttershy, good work!" Applejack smiled, getting up and patting Fluttershy on the back. She nodded in acknowledgement, but was too exhausted to respond with words. Pinkie stood up and sniffed the air.
"Pee-yew, what is that smell?" She clutched her nose and screwed up her face.
"It's..." Applejack looked around and saw a gaping hole in the cliff-face ten yards downhill from them. She thought back, scenes from the storm drains two nights ago playing back in her mind. Sewer gasses are highly flammable... blow all of Canterlot sky-high... "... sewer gas..." Inspiration struck. "Pinkie! Think ya can wire a fuse to go up to the sewers?"
"It wouldn't be hard, don't know why you'd want to, but... okie dokie lokie, I guess!"
"Ah think we just found ourselves a way to fight back." Applejack smirked. Charred gryphon feathers drifted down around them.
Twilight Sparkle and Rarity sprinted through the corridors of the palace, following minute traces of arcane energy. They stopped at a junction of hallways, three of them converging on a set of double doors.
"Augh! There's too many signatures here, I'm losing the trail!" Twilight groaned, trying desperately to focus.
"Uhm, Twilight..." Rarity blinked at the floor. "Darling, I don't think you need to follow her magic trail anymore..."
"Wait, what?" Twilight looked over to Rarity, and then down at the floor. A pool of blood stained the carpet, and a trail led through the closed doors. Twilight's heart sank. "Oh, no... this is bad... this is very bad!" She rushed to try and open the door. Darn! Locked. She took a few steps back, and lunged at the door with a hoof outstretched. The doors just rocked together. "Ugh! Where's Applejack when you need her?" She took a few more steps back and got a bit of a run-up. This time, the lock gave way, and the doors swung open.
A horrific sight greeted them when the barged in. This was another one of the palace's drawing rooms; bookshelves lined the walls to either side, and the back wall was all windows. The trail of blood under the door led to the body of a guard, large parts of his white coat stained red. A large circle had been drawn around him in his blood, with several other shapes traced inside. Behind him, sitting on the room's desk with bloodstained hands and leafing through a copy of Magic of the Body floated in front of her, was Trixie. Her blue jacket lay in a heap on the floor, and her white vest was stained with splatters of blood.
"Trixie, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Twilight barked. Trixie raised an eyebrow and snapped the book shut.
"Saving us all, what do you think?" She replied casually.
"You're insane!"
"And to think I wasted a perfectly good outfit on you!" Rarity added. Twilight elbowed her.
"Priorities, Rarity."
"I'm not insane, you're the ones that are insane!" She threw the book aside. "You're the ones who set those... those beasts on us, and I'm going to do something about it!" Twilight was having none of the spiel, and pulled her sword from her back to charge. Rarity pulled out her dagger and followed. About a foot in front of the patterns on the floor, she collided with a translucent blue wall, stunning her. Rarity skidded to a halt just short. Trixie just chuckled. "Today will be remembered as the day the Great and Powerful Trixie saved Canterlot from the ravenous gryphon horde, and the madpony Twilight Sparkle who brought them here, and there isn't a thing you can do about it." Oh, for the love of...
Derpy Hooves kept Dinky close to her as she went about her business. When they saw gryphons, they hid. When they saw ponies, they directed them to the caves. When they saw the two together, Derpy did her best to get the gryphon's attention (Dinky even helped with this, advertising herself as a 'juicy, succulent foal'), and then made themselves scarce. They weren't always successful with this, but they tried.
"Alright love, I think we can stop for a breather now..." Derpy panted, and they took shelter in a building.
"Finally..." Dinky sighed. Derpy couldn't help but smile, and they pushed open the door. Once open, she gasped. Three gryphons were lounging around inside. The remains of a pony lay on the floor in the middle of the room, and one of them was licking blood off its claws. The one nearest the door scrambled, and grabbed its spear. Instinct took over again, and she yanked Dinky back, tossing her behind her. The spear was thrust into the empty space Dinky left behind. This only served to aggravate the gryphon, and it took another jab at Derpy as she hunkered down to turn and flee.
Crack.
The point drove itself into her left eye about an inch, and she stopped in her tracks. The gryphon, with a smirk, let the embedded spear go, waiting for the fountain to start.
"Mom!" Dinky screamed in horror.
Derpy wasn't quite sure what to make of this. She stood there, contemplating just what to do next for a moment. When she did, the three gryphons' beaks dropped in awe. She calmly put one hand up to her left eye, holding in place with two fingers, one either side of the blade. With the other, she gently pulled on the spear shaft, pulling it free of her prosthetic eye. A few shards of broken glass fell from the hole, and she blinked a couple of times. She winced, and kept her left eye closed. She held the spear behind her, copying the way she had seen some gryphons carrying them earlier, and responded coolly and calmly;
"Now, that wasn't very nice." The three gryphons panicked, and scrambled for an exit. Dinky laughed as they fled in terror. Derpy smiled a little to herself.
The three remaining Cutie Mark Crusaders huddled behind a low wall, slowly moving along it, keeping out of view of a pair of gryphon raiders in the street. Scootaloo sneaked a peek over the wall, silently edging her head up as far as the nose. The two gryphons were idly lounging around, possibly sharing a joke in a language she didn't understand. Behind them, however, was the real point of interest; a little blue plank of wood, with handlebars sticking out of the front, and four wheels attached to the bottom.
"My scooter!" She whispered. She inadvertently caught the attention of the gryphons, and Applebloom yanked her back into cover, clamping her hand over her mouth.
Crunch.
The three fillies blinked, and looked back over the wall, again, covertly. The two gryphons were spasming on the ground, and over them stood Rainbow Dash and Soarin. Down the street, Spitfire jumped out of cover.
"Alright, this way to the caves, everypony! There'll be time for autographs later." They ducked back into cover.
"Caves?" Scootaloo quirked a brow.
"I just hope we can actually get into them, nopony's used those catwalks for years." Soarin muttered to Dash.
"Pff. Like the ones in the storm drains then?" She replied. The plan clicked with Applebloom.
"They must be movin' people into the caves to get away from the gryphons!" She blurted, still keeping her voice down. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle gasped.
"So that's what they're doing..."
"An' did you hear what they said there? If those catwalks are broken, they're doomed!"
"So what do we do?"
"We fix 'em." Applebloom thumped her fist against her open palm. The three fillies leaped over the wall and rushed across the street.
"Wh- Applebloom? Scootaloo? Sweetie Belle?" Dash blinked as they pushed past her, and jumped on to the scooter and wagon.
"No time!" Applebloom yelled, and Scootaloo took off down the street.
Twilight groaned as she peeled herself off the magical barrier. She picked up her sword, and leaned her head down to focus.
"Trixie, we are not going through this again."
"Oh? Just try and stop me, then." Trixie tittered, adding the finishing touches to the ritual she was preparing. Twilight glared, and another barrier sprung up around her and Rarity. She calmly walked forward, and the barrier merged with Trixie's, allowing the two unicorns access. Trixie rolled her eyes. "Oh, please..."
The original barrier dissipated, and Trixie drew her sword from her back. Twilight lunged forward, telegraphing a sweeping slash attack, while Rarity phased out of view. Trixie blocked Twilight's swipe with ease, and had enough time to change the sword to her left hand, and pull her fist back to prepare a punch. Twilight braced for an impact that never came - Trixie's body jerked forward suddenly, allowing Twilight to pull back. However, Trixie had a wry smile hidden behind her forelock. Twilight looked over Trixie's shoulder to see a very confused Rarity floating in the air helplessly.
"What?"
"That trick didn't work the first time, why should it work again?" Trixie turned and started guiding the befuddled unicorn around.
"Where did you learn about snares?" Twilight barked.
"Well, you said it yourself! We were the only ponies with memories to get back after a thousand years. I guess I must have picked this one up before we left!" Trixie giggled, before tossing Rarity through the back window and releasing her. Oh n- wait... Twilight started sprinting to the window. "Now, as you can see, history is about to repeat itself!" Trixie continued to monologue, oblivious to Twilight leaping out after Rarity.
"Twilight, are you crazy?" Rarity screamed when she saw Twilight emerge. The window was high up, and they had at least five seconds of airtime before they would meet the street.
"Maybe!" She grinned. This didn't exactly comfort Rarity; nevertheless, she had to go along with it. Twilight streamlined her body, accelerating to meet Rarity. "Head down!" She grabbed her by the waist, and a split second before impact, winked out with her. Up above, Trixie was still pontificating to thin air.
"You've got the same choice again, Twilight, stall me a few more seconds, or save your friend. What'll it be?" She pointed at the space where she expected her to be. "... huh?"
Fwsh.
A flash of light erupted by the doors. Two unicorns appeared out of nowhere, flying at high speed straight towards her. She had barely registered this by the time they closed the gap with her. Twilight and Rarity braced for impact, clinging on to each other for dear life.
Crunch.
Both their heads thumped into Trixie's torso, shattering her ribs. They were both dazed by the impact, but Trixie was knocked flying. The two of them crumpled on the desk and rolled off it to a stop, bruised, winded and concussed, but alive. Trixie, on the other hand, sailed through the air and out the window, screaming. Twilight pushed herself up from the floor in time to hear a sickening thud from outside.
"Not so great and powerful now, are you?"