Hayden had once struggled to fly. When she was new to Equestria and still adjusting to the body Luna had imagined for her, she had tripped on her own hooves and tumbled from the air if she thought too much about her flight.
Princess Luna did not have any of those weaknesses. The princess had the magic of all the tribes, and more experience than ponies got in their long lifetimes.
Hayden borrowed all of that experience now, tearing through the air so fast it seemed like the world around her was stretched and slowed down. The princess of the moon had destroyed ships larger than the one baring down on her unit without apparent effort. But how could Hayden do the same? She could reach out, and take Luna’s magical knowledge for herself with relative ease.
But once she did… then what? She didn’t have a horn, and there was no way to borrow that. Only Achelois itself seemed to act like she had a horn.
She flew so quickly that a crack of air rumbled over her city. So quickly that she had to spread her wings and soar in a wide arc down on the deck of the Stonebeak destroyer.
It was perhaps a hundred feet long, with dozens of birds gathered on the deck. They wore their makeshift armor and carried typical griffon weapons—mostly blades and cudgels, though there were a few stolen pony crossbows in there as well.
She smacked onto the deck before the birds aboard had taken off to attack the Blackwings.
Now they turned, all the birds like a single organism, staring at her in disbelief.
A towering, hulking griffon was the first to speak, his body so bulky that it looked like he might be able to crush stone between his talons. “What is… you are her, aren’t you? Pony… inventor. First bat.”
“First bat,” Hayden repeated, drawing Achelois high over her head. She imagined a pair of arms there, and the sword obeyed as though her vision were the truth.
Yes, said the sword into her mind. It knew what was coming. There is so much pain here for us to end.
“Turn your ship around,” she ordered, letting the glowing sword catch the sun. Or rather, holding it where it should have. Achelois seemed to rest in perpetual shadow, though, and even held right out in front of her it didn’t glow in sunlight. “I will not allow you to attack those ponies.”
The huge bird laughed from behind several ranks of other griffons. “Maybe you are strong, strange new pony. Maybe you are braver than some. Maybe a better fighter. But you cannot fight all of us.”
Laughter spread through the crowd, and weapons were raised all around the circle. Hayden ignored their certainty, and smacked her helmet’s visor down with one hoof. “Let’s find out.”
Princess Luna knew more about combat than anypony else alive. She had been leading Equestria’s armies for centuries—in wars that made this Stonebeak invasion look like a schoolyard tussle.
The air moved behind her—a bird charging with an axe. Hayden waited until the last possible instant, then twisted her whole body into the movement. She swung up with her sword, then dropped into a roll that took her into the ranks of the enemy when the first barrage of crossbow bolts rained down.
The sword sighed contently in her mind as the first corpse dropped to the ground, cut into two pieces. It was soon joined by others—hit by bird arrows. First the bows. Her armor wasn’t impervious. A hit from too close, or in the wrong place might end this brave stand before it began.
But I don’t have to fight them all, only draw their attention. And Lodestone had been right about how much the birds hated her. Not one she could see had flown off to fight the Blackwings. Her elites were flying slowly under their heavy burden, but they were getting away.
I just have to stay alive for one more minute. I can do that.
We can, Achelois whispered again. We can do so much in that long. These creatures cause suffering wherever they go. We can end it.
Hayden went about ending suffering.
Practically every stroke was a kill. There were no swings that didn’t parry straight through an enemy weapon, or through armor that might as well be made of plastic.
Princess Luna knew how to fight more than one enemy—she knew how to fight when constantly surrounded. How to frighten and intimidate the crowd, baiting individuals and targeting those who looked like they might be raising an organized resistance. She kept close to their reach, staying inside the easy swing of their cudgels but backing away again when they tried to use claws.
The sun itself seemed to darken aboard the deck of that destroyer, and dark clouds billowed around Hayden’s hooves.
That wasn’t to say she fought perfectly. Her armor caught a few blows she hadn’t expected, mostly from claws or beaks before she could get close enough to swing the sword. A crossbow bolt shot straight through it and into one of her hind legs, biting right into the muscle there. It felt almost like a bullet.
Hayden kept fighting. Through the blood, through the death, through the fear. She kept fighting until she felt like she could barely concentrate enough to swing the sword.
“Luna,” the birds whispered, backing away from her at last. Many of them actually took flight, abandoning the deck of the destroyer filled with the dead and dying.
“She was the Alicorn all along,” said other voices, pointing.
The officers were all dead at her hooves, along with most of the birds with the initiative to attack her directly. Those who remained were the cowards, or at least the cautious. Hayden hadn’t left a functional crossbow among them. A bird tossed a dagger at her, and she batted it out of the air with her sword without even thinking.
Princess Luna could’ve stood against far mightier monsters than these and not taken a blow. But Hayden’s connection was imperfect, and the knowledge wasn’t really hers. I’m losing blood. I need to get out of here.
“I choose to let you live, today,” Hayden said, lifting into the air on drooping wings. “Turn this ship around. Return to your fleet and bury your dead.”
She didn’t glance over her shoulder to see if they were actually obeying her, but pretended as though she didn’t doubt it. She soared away, listening to see if any of the birds followed her. They weren’t.
She sheathed Achelois on her back, and felt the relief sweep through her as the terrible weapon left her alone. Its hunger to soothe suffering seemed to be sated for the moment.
Hayden felt the warm blood seeping out from her wound, and she felt the muscle tear a little more every time she moved her leg too quickly.
The Blackwings were most of the way to the keep—they’d been smart enough not to fly straight for the tower. Hayden slowed a little in the air, both to rest her tired muscles and to take in what had happened while she fought.
The city was on fire again. Another few towers had collapsed on the wall, no doubt destroyed by ignited powder. Griffons and ponies surged through the air, with ponies retreating from increasingly numerous waves of the enemy. It looked like the southern tip of the wall was completely overwhelmed. The marshaled ranks of reserve units were nowhere to be seen—which meant they were all already deployed.
I can’t fight the whole war myself. I need a surgeon. Hayden couldn’t fly in a blur anymore, so she didn’t beat the Blackwings to the keep. By the time she landed, the last ranks were making their way inside, surrounded by the watching eyes of the keep’s full complement. Nearly a thousand ponies were back here, and from the look of their armor they’d seen action today.
A few of them stared at her in shock as she came down behind the Blackwings. She ignored their confusion, raising a hoof to silence all questions. “Get me a doctor,” she said, twisting to reveal her injured flank. Now that the adrenaline of battle had faded, she could feel the injury throbbing, sending little pulses of pain into her leg with every heartbeat.
Could’ve been worse. That could have been my eye.
As soon as they were inside, ponies rushed behind her to push the massive stone doors closed. They passed under a raised metal grate, then into the lowest floor of the keep.
This was already a triage center. The stench of blood and antiseptic was strong, and the moans of the dying were almost as loud. Several of her Blackwings limped off to find a doctor—Hayden delayed. Obviously she hadn’t struck an artery or she would’ve bled to death already. She could wait a little while longer.
She didn’t walk to the chariot, not when it hurt so badly—she flew instead, settling onto three of her four legs beside the robed figure. “Avalon. You made it.”
Hayden’s own arrival had attracted as much surprise. Blackwings pointed and whispered. Slipstream was beside her in seconds, eyes narrowing as he looked her over. Armor battered, flank seeping blood. “I thought you weren’t going to accompany us, sir,” he whispered.
“Didn’t plan on it,” she agreed. “You saw the destroyer, didn’t you? Their troops didn’t stop because they forgot about you.”
She didn’t dignify his objections with more of a response, instead forcing her way past him beside Avalon.
Avalon removed the robe from his head, revealing the comical headpiece of fake fur underneath. He was wearing furred gloves too—and there was a fake tail emerging from the bottom of the cloak.
Do ponies honestly fall for this? It really did look worse than most fursuits.
“Hayden,” Avalon said. As he continued, it was in heavily accented English. “Your team could not have arrived at a better time. The Argante was not built to repel boarders.”
She nodded, and used the pony language when she replied. “They’re the best warriors I have. The best in all of Equestria.”
Even if the bats were too beleaguered to cheer, she could feel them preening in response. Though there were also too few. She would get a casualty report when this was over—and once she’d gotten treatment for herself.
It wasn’t going to be good, though. A glance suggested at least ten bats who ought to be here weren’t.
“Best I’ve ever seen,” Avalon said. “But we’re distracted. My equipment is here—I’ve brought machines. We will need to deploy them in order to enact your cure. Princess Luna told me that nearly every bat in Equestria is here, is that still true?”
Hayden nodded. Slipstream emerged from the crowd not far away, trailed by two ponies. She recognized one of them as Turmeric, the castle doctor and probably the one in charge of this triage center. Of course Slipstream would’ve brought the best doctor in the place.
“My wound isn’t life-threatening,” Hayden said, retreating a step from the doctor. “I’ll be fine. It’s just pain.”
“You won’t,” Turmeric snapped. “Stonebeak arrows are serrated. Every time you move you’re working it in deeper. Eventually you’re going to cut something that shouldn’t be cut and bleed out on my floor. Lift yourself up onto this cot and don’t move that leg.”
He levitated a surgeon’s blade in the air, waving it threateningly towards her. “Object and I’ll have you restrained. Don’t think I won’t.”
“Very well, doctor.” Hayden lifted into the air to obey, settling down on the cot and holding her leg as still as she could. “Avalon, the princess is drained from her night shielding the city.” Hayden turned to Slipstream, who looked bloodied but entirely intact. “Slipstream, take Avalon and his gear up to the tower. See that he’s given somewhere safe, and bring Lady Nightbreeze to him. If she asks, you can tell her I’m fine. But her orders are to assist Avalon in deploying his magic. She’ll know what that is. And she’ll know it’s our highest priority.”
Slipstream saluted, then turned to Avalon. “Come with me, dog. Are you strong enough to climb stairs?”
They retreated from the hall, followed by several more intact Blackwings carrying wrapped bundles of gear. Only when they were gone did Hayden finally collapse.