The village streets were cleared in a matter of hours. The town’s militia worked diligently and swiftly to round up each and every villager and inform them of the unfolding situation while still maintaining order. Everyone was crowded within a small group of houses and told to stay still and silent, including the village apothecary’s residence where all the villagers who’d drunk water from the poisoned well were gathered and given beds to rest in while Serra worked to cure them one by one and the apothecary prepared antitoxins. Twilight accompanied the apothecary, named Fordwin peppering him with questions about this world’s various medicines to his slight annoyance.
Fluttershy stood near one of the windows, Rusty curled asleep on her back, by the only bed occupied by someone who wasn’t poisoned. Canas lay peacefully on his back, sickly-looking but smiling serenely. A small sneeze escaped his mouth as he opened his eyes after a bout of sleep.
“How are you feeling?” Fluttershy asked him.
Canas waved off her concern. “The price for knowledge is minuscule. Worry more about the villagers than me.”
“Oh, I am, but Serra and Fordwin are doing a great job helping everyone. Common colds can’t be cured, though.”
“That is true, but are you sure your true worries don’t stem more from the coming brigands?”
Fluttershy’s eyes bulged and her ears perked up. “Well, I-I mean...” She trailed off, her expression melting.
“There’s no need to worry,” Canas assured her. “Lord Hector, Lady Florina, her sister, and everyone under their command will be enough to protect the village without the help of a single shaman.”
Fluttershy shuffled her hooves. “I guess you’re right.”
Canas regarded her for a moment before speaking again. “I haven’t told you this yet, but I think your pacifist nature is very admirable.”
Fluttershy perked up a little. “Really?”
Canas nodded. “Lord Eliwood was much the same way; he was never fond of fighting to solve problems, in stark contrast to Hector who has no qualms taking up arms. Unfortunately, the harsh realities of the world care little for the wishes of men.”
“That makes sense, I guess.” The differences between their worlds were apparent, but the similarities were just as obvious. Fluttershy had never witnessed bloody conflict, but then again, her world extended very little beyond her cottage in Ponyville. Even so, warfare wasn’t a part of the reality ponykind often found itself saddled with. She wondered what the ultimate reason for this discrepancy between their worlds was.
Fluttershy came out of her musings, shaking her head. Such questions were well beyond her area of expertise. Right now, she needed to focus on the unfolding situation.
“Well, I hope you feel better soon, Canas,” she said. “My friends and I will protect everyone here. We promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that promise,” Canas said, laughing weakly before another, louder sneeze racked his body. “Oh, gods above…”
Hoofsteps ascending the stairs brought their attention over to see that Applejack had arrived. The earth pony was red in the face and her mane was matted with sweat, with a couple of nails held between her teeth that she promptly spat out before sighing heavily with exhaustion.
Twilight left Fordwin’s side to greet her friend along with Fluttershy. “Everything looking good, AJ?” she asked.
Applejack nodded her head. “Eeyup, them varmints’ll be hard pressed to break through the barricade.”
“What about everyone outside?” Fluttershy asked.
“They’re ready for battle,” Applejack confirmed. “Mighty big army, too. Things are gonna get real messy soon, I reckon.”
Twilight nodded. “We should be prepared in case they do manage to break through, though.” She turned toward the stairs. “Let’s keep guard of the staircase.”
“I’ll just wait up here,” Fluttershy said shakily. “I mean, we have to keep guard in case they come in through a window or something.” Only after she said it did she realize her argument wasn’t the least bit convincing.
To her relief, her friends only smiled. “Sure thing, Fluttershy,” Applejack said.
Waving her off, they both descended the stairs. Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief and turned to continue keeping the bedridden villagers warm company.
Hector would never claim to be an expert on politics, but when it came to organizing a military resistance there were few, if any, Lycian lords who could claim superior talent.
The village’s militia and Fiora’s mercenaries were clustered in between buildings near every entrance to the village, weapons gripped firmly in one hand and shields in the other, hidden yet ready to strike at a moment’s notice. A pair of scouts lay atop the roofs on both sides of them, scouting the land around the village. A glance up showed the clear blue sky from that morning was replaced by the telltale gray clouds of a forming thunderstorm; Rainbow Dash had stayed true to her word in getting the storm ready fast.
Oswin stood near the door to the apothecary’s residence— not too close as to alert the coming brigands that anything of value was inside, but close enough to guard the door in case they got the idea anyway. Fiora’s pegasus stood a few paces next to Hector on his right while Florina’s stood on his left, the younger sister softly biting her lip with trepidation. None of them had seen a large scale battle since the campaign on the Dread Isle two years ago, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t afraid something might happen to the girls when his back was turned.
“Florina?” he said.
“Hmm?”
“Where’s your Delphi shield?”
Florina blinked. Then realization dawned in her eyes. “Oh, of course!” She bent down and reached into Huey’s saddlebag and pulled out the same blue amulet she’d used the other day. She slipped it over Huey’s head and took his reins again. Her eyes flashed with anxiety, no doubt horrified to have made such a potentially fatal oversight.
He walked over and patted her thigh. “Stay close to me during the fight. Okay?”
Florina nodded, her composure straightening. “Of course.”
Time passed quietly yet tensely after that. A few gusts of wind blew through the village square, adding to the foreboding atmosphere. Hector gripped his axe tighter with every minute, his eyebrows furrowing with anticipation and heart pounding with excitement. This is how he always got right before a battle, infinitely better than all the stress he had to endure while fulfilling his duties as Marquess.
It wasn’t until mid-afternoon that one of the scouts shouted, “Unknown group approaching from the south!”
Everyone turned to the southern entrance of the village. A group of figures could be seen emerging from a cluster of trees. Hector addressed the army hidden all around him.
“Remember everyone, we are to give Rainbow Dash a chance to scare off the bandits before we take any action ourselves. If she fails, only then do we fight. Am I clear?”
Everyone snapped a salute.
Hector led Florina and Fiora to the southern entrance. His heartbeat intensified as more details filled themselves in about the approaching group: tattered clothes, grizzled features, cheap iron axes— the brigands’ group was about as big as his own, around forty or so people in total. Towards the back of the group was a purple-cloaked figure, the top half of their face obscured and a sinister smile splitting their mouth. A sinking feeling settled in his stomach— if a shaman was among the brigands’ ranks, defending the village would be that much more complicated.
The brigand group continued onward toward the village entrance, marching without any militaristic formation befitting their unorganized culture. They stopped upon noticing the trio waiting for them, taking a moment to size them up before resuming their march with arrogant, crooked grins. They passed through the village entrance and stopped about twenty feet from the trio, crowding around in a semi-circle, allowing Hector to count exactly how many there were: thirty-seven, two shy of his own group. The shaman stood towards the back, which was good because it meant Hector wouldn’t have to worry about a sudden attack if they didn’t want to harm their own allies.
Hector heard Florina breathe heavily beside him and he spared a brief glance to see his wife tightly gripping Huey’s reins, her eyebrows furrowed in determination. Fiora looked much the same but kept up a more professional demeanor.
One brigand stepped to the front of the group, his axe casually hung over his shoulder. “Seems y’all were expecting us,” he said in a rough voice.
Hector shifted his own axe a little; he needed a good position in order to give Rainbow Dash the signal. “Are you the leader of these curs?” he ground out.
The brigand snorted. “Might you watch the way ya speak to me,” he retorted and pointed his axe at Hector. “Three against thirty ain’t so favorable for your side, is it? I’m guessin’ you just got here if you aren’t poisoned?”
Fiora stepped forward. “So you admit to poisoning the water well for this village, then?”
The brigand leader shrugged. “That stuff ain’t lethal. We’re just here for loot, not to kill anyone.” A hard expression crossed his features. “Not that we won’t get our hands dirty if y’all mean ta get in our way.”
“You won’t have your way!”
Hector’s eyes widened and he turned to Florina. She was still breathing heavily, but looking more red in the face, as if she’d been holding in that exclamation since the start of the conversation. Hector smiled at his wife’s display of assertion; he truly was a good influence on the timid little girl from years’ past.
The brigand leader laughed. “You’d better run along now, lass, if you know what’s good for you. Wouldn’t want to mess up that pretty little face of yours, now would we?” He playfully twirled his axe.
“That’s my wife you’re talking to,” Hector said through gritted teeth. It took everything he had not to charge the group.
“Is that so?” The brigand leader looked Hector up and down. “Real fancy armor you gots there. I reckon you’re a royal.” He turned to address his group. “Lookie here, guys; we gots ourselves a royal couple.”
Murmurs of excitement rose from the brigand group. The shaman lifted a hand to rub his chin contemplatively.
Fiora stepped forward. “Your crime of poisoning this village’s water well is heinous but has ultimately resulted in no loss of life. Turn back and never return, and you will live to see another day.”
A haughty round of laughter rose from the brigands. The leader fixed his twisted gaze on Fiora. “Is that so, lass? And how do you three expect to beat all of my men by yourselves?”
Hector seized the moment and raised his axe.
A moment passed with nothing happening while all the brigands stared confused. Then a distant rumble of thunder sounded and a flash of white light filled everyone’s vision. A bolt of lightning arced through the air, striking the ground and spraying dirt all over everyone while leaving a small crater in the ground. Many of the brigands cried out in surprise and alarm, falling backward and tripping over themselves, ending up in tangled heaps. Hector took amusement at the scene, committing it to memory. The shaman remained unfazed by the lightning strike but cast a disappointed frown at his comrades.
The brigands untangled themselves and got up, frantically looking around in a panic. The leader’s cocksure demeanor was gone, replaced with annoyance.
“So you got yourselves an anima mage hiding somewhere, do ya?” he snarled.
Hector lowered his axe, pointing it at him. “You stand no chance of victory. As my comrade said, leave now and you’ll live. Stay, and we will see to it that you do not live to see tomorrow.”
The brigand leader snarled. “We didn’t come all this way to lose to a couple of pampered nobles. No, we came prepared in case the poison wasn’t enough.” He turned to his comrades. “Malo, get to work!”
The shaman stepped to the front of the crowd, coming between them and the leader. He held a staff tipped with a red gem inside a loop in his hands which he raised above his head. He muttered something under his breath, smiling loftily all the while. A shimmering blue light enveloped all the brigands, the telltale sparkles of staff magic swirling in the air around them as they regained their cocksure countenances. As the light faded, the brigands shifted into combat-ready positions, tightly gripping their axes and eyeing Hector with an almost manic gleam in their eyes.
“Hope you’ve got a backup plan now that magic’s useless to you,” the brigand leader said haughtily.
Hector tsked, glancing up at the sky. Rainbow Dash was probably confused right now about what was going on. Unfortunately for her, her plan to scare the brigands away was now moot because they thought her lightning bolts were merely anima lightning spells and they had a staff ready to protect them from such magic. A part of him thought their Barrier staff might not be sufficient protection against actual lightning, but Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to suddenly change her mind and rain down lightning with the intention to kill. Another part of him felt bad thinking about how dejected she’d be feeling once she learned what happened.
He returned his gaze to the brigand group and adopted his own battle stance. “Indeed, we came prepared as well. CHARGE!”
The brigands’ eyes bulged as Hector’s army charged from between the houses, screaming with unbridled fervor with their weapons raised and pointed at the brigands.
Malo frowned and rushed away from the action. The brigand leader growled and shouted, “Spill their blood, boys!”
The brigands rushed with the same fervor as Hector’s army. Axes and lances and swords met head-on, clashing in a sea of swinging metal. The air quickly filled with the sounds of metallic clinks and flesh being torn into with accompanying screams of agony. Splashes of blood littered the ground and people’s clothes. One of the bandits staggered away from the fight, clutching a gaping wound in his stomach bleeding profusely, eventually falling face down into the dirt, groaning in pain.
Hector rushed to join the thick of the fighting while Florina and Fiora took to the skies, ready to dive strike any stragglers. Oswin remained by the apothecary’s front door, watching the unfolding fight with tension. His duty was to safeguard the ponies and the villagers, and he would remain staunch in upholding that duty.
He heard a soft footstep behind him over the din of battle. Instinctively, he swung his lance around. He was too late, though, as a blast of magic struck him, cracking his armor and sending him sprawling forward. A sharp pain shot through his jaw as he landed on his chin but he kept the resulting hiss enclosed behind gritted teeth.
He hoisted himself to his knees, having to put in extra effort with his heavy armor. He glanced up to see the shaman Malo standing before the door, a purple tome in hand and readying a dark spell to bust it down.
“How did you…?” he wheezed.
“Save your breath,” Malo said, flashing Oswin a condescending smile. “That is if you want to live.”
Oswin growled. He forced himself to stand and reeled his arm back to throw his spear. A flash of metal whizzed through his field of vision and he dropped the spear as a torrent of pain enveloped his hand. He cried out in agony and fell to his knees again. He brought his hand up to his face to see a dagger had pierced through his palm, oozing blood.
Malo’s spell went off, blasting the door in a shower of splinters. The last thing Oswin heard from him before he stepped inside was, “You would have been better off joining your comrades in battle.”
Applejack’s barricade was instantly shattered as the front door burst open, spraying wood splinters all throughout the room and making Twilight and Applejack yelp while cries of alarm sounded from upstairs. They watched as a man wearing a dark purple cloak with a hood obscuring the top half of his face entered the house. He held a purple tome in his hand which he quickly stuffed into a pocket in his cloak before surveying the room.
“What might be hidden away here, I wonder?” he murmured. His hidden gaze fell on the ponies and he smirked. “Well, hello there girls.”
Twilight’s legs quaked and heart hammered in her chest; Applejack looked similarly shaken but was trying her best to put on a brave facade. The fact that the man was seeing them as humans was completely forgotten to Twilight as she tried to hurriedly piece together a plan of defense. Knowing that the man had so effortlessly torn apart the barricade didn’t help make that task the least bit easier.
The man took a step forward and Twilight and Applejack instinctively took a step back towards the staircase. He knelt down and placed a hand on his chest. “My name is Malo.” He gestured to them. “What are your names?”
Twilight was taken aback by how cordial he was being. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the illusion spell made them look like very young humans rather than someone closer to his own age.
Applejack stepped between them, dipping her head as if ready to charge. “Y’all ain’t gonna lay a finger on our friends!”
Malo tilted his head. “Your dialect is quite strange, as is your hat.” He stared at them for a few more seconds before saying, “Mayhaps you’d care to tell me what valuables are hidden here that are worth safeguarding?”
“There ain’t nothin’ here but our friends an’ all the innocent villagers your bunch poisoned,” she snarled.
Malo snorted. “Don’t misconstrue me as belonging in the same caste as those barbarians.”
Twilight managed to regain her composure as the beginnings of a plan formed in her head. It all depended on the extent of Malo’s suspicion, but she decided it was worth trying.
“Mind if I wear your hat for a moment?” she asked to Applejack.
Applejack cast a flabbergasted glance at her, but a glimmer of realization flashed in her eyes at the subtle smile Twilight gave in return. “Well, if we’re about to die, I s’pose it can’t hurt.”
She lifted her stetson off her head and passed it to Twilight who took it and placed it on her head, covering everything. Malo watched the exchange with no noticeable change in demeanor.
“You say you don’t consider yourself on par with the brigands,” Twilight said, hoping she could keep Malo distracted for now. “Why did you join them, then?”
Malo stood back up. “Brigands tend to lack much in intellect but have muscle to spare. It’s a simple matter to keep them under my thumb and reap the rewards of such a partnership.”
“So you’re the real leader of the group, then?” Applejack asked, disgusted.
“More than Gervas has the mental capacity to realize.” Malo gave a sharp, haughty laugh.
Twilight felt a bead of sweat form on her brow. Her plan was working; she couldn’t mess it up now.
Malo returned to his calm demeanor. “But enough about me. I know there’s something of value being held in this building, otherwise one wouldn’t go through the extra effort to erect a barricade.” He cast his gaze up the staircase.
In a split second, Malo pulled a dagger from the sleeve of his cloak and turned around. He slashed at the wooden splinter hurtling at him, knocking it harmlessly to the ground. More wooden splinters came hurtling towards him, each one about the size of a human hand and enveloped in a lavender nimbus. With each swipe of his dagger, he knocked away a collection of them aimed for his head, sending them careening into the walls where they clattered to the ground, leaving a sizable pile after less than a few seconds.
Malo sheathed his dagger once he was done and turned back to the ponies. Twilight laughed nervously. Applejack resumed her battle ready stance.
“I’ve never seen power such as that before.” Malo looked between the two ponies. “Could it be that you two are the precious treasure being guarded here?” The corner of his mouth lifted. “Well now, this is certainly interesting.”
“That’s it!”
Applejack charged forward, stopping just in front of Malo and turning around to deliver a buck to his legs, only to miss when Malo jumped back out of reach.
“Such an unusual fighting style…”
Twilight trotted up to Applejack and whispered just low enough so that Malo couldn’t hear, “What are you doing, AJ!?”
“We’re not gonna get out of this if we don’t fight back, Twi!” she whispered back. “Use your magic, ya hear?”
Twilight thought it over for a moment, quickly realizing Applejack was right. Malo wasn’t going down if they didn’t get serious. She lit her horn again under Applejack’s hat, but she didn’t care anymore about maintaining the illusion. Malo’s body was enveloped in a lavender nimbus.
“What—?” Malo was lifted into the air. His hands shot to his side and his entire body went rigid. He grunted with effort as he struggled to break free of Twilight’s telekinesis, but to no avail.
Twilight and Applejack breathed sighs of relief. Twilight gave Malo a stern glare. “You’re going to pay for your crimes once this battle is over, Malo. You and the rest of the bandits.”
“It’ll take more than this strange power to beat a spellcaster of my talent,” Malo snarled.
The dagger fell into his hand from his sleeve. Twilight realized, to her horror, that her telekinesis didn’t extend to his fingers. Malo twirled the dagger in his hand before launching it at her face in an underhand throw. She dived out of the way, causing Applejack’s hat to fly off while the dagger grazed the end of her mane. Malo landed on his feet as her spell cut off. He looked back just as Twilight got up and turned to face him.
“What are you?” he asked, his tone a mix of apprehension and confusion.
Twilight didn’t answer his question. Instead, she lit up her horn and launched a magic beam at Malo’s legs. He sidestepped out of the way, his face never leaving the ponies. The illusion spell was broken now, but Twilight didn’t care. Malo stared at the now-revealed ponies standing before him, his jaw dropping. Applejack took advantage of his distraction and charged at him, bucking him square in the stomach. He let out a pained grunt while being sent careening across the room, crashing into the wall and falling to the floor.
A dozen terrified shouts sounded from upstairs. Twilight looked up the staircase with a frown; she couldn’t imagine how terrifying it was for all the bedridden villagers, knowing they’d be defenseless if Twilight and Applejack were incapacitated.
Malo shakily brought himself to his knees. His hood slid down, revealing his face for the first time. His hair was a dull gray and surprisingly well-kempt while his nose was long and crooked and a short beard adorned his chin. His eyes were green and gleamed with subtle insanity that somewhat reminded Twilight of Discord, which only made her feel uncomfortable meeting his gaze.
“Well well, this has gotten especially interesting,” he said in a playful voice. He retrieved his purple tome from his cloak pocket. “You two’ll fetch some hefty coin on the black market.”
Twilight recognized the book in his hand as a dark magic tome similar to Canas’ own. He began reciting a strange chant with unfamiliar words, his hand glowing with a purple aura. A ball of swirling purple magic took shape in his palm after a couple of seconds, a strange whooshing sound filling the air.
Twilight quickly lit her horn and fired another beam at Malo’s hand, but he swept out of the way. Applejack charged again, but Malo released his magic— it dropped to the floor and raced across at breakneck speed towards her. She skidded to a stop, eyes going wide with panic. The magic rose and exploded in her face, sending her crashing into the staircase.
“Applejack!” Twilight cried.
Applejack fell to the floor in a tangled heap. Blood trickled from her mouth and bruises covered her body. She cracked an eye open, flashing Twilight a weak grin.
“It’ll take more’n that ta… put me… down…” She went limp.
Twilight sat rooted to the spot, her mind blank as she stared at her friend’s limp body.
Malo laughed. “Dead or alive, I’ll get rich off of you two!”
Hearing that sparked Twilight’s brain back into action. She rushed over to Applejack and pressed her ear against her friend’s chest, letting out a huge sigh of relief upon realizing she was still breathing.
The same whooshing noise from before sounded. Twilight looked to see Malo preparing another magic spell. Grabbing Applejack with her telekinesis, Twilight pulled them both out of the blast’s range just in time.
“Quite the clever girl,” Malo remarked hollowly. “Mind helping me out? What are you really?”
Twilight set her friend against the wall and turned to Malo with a hard stare. “We’re ponies,” she said simply; anything more would be saying too much.
Malo tilted his head, a spark of interest flashing in his eyes. “Ponies, huh?” He began walking toward a point against the wall perpendicular to them. He knelt down and Twilight realized he was reaching for his dagger. She quickly wrapped it in her telekinesis just as he clasped his fingers around the handle. “Not the kind humans keep as pets or as mounts. Where did you come from?”
“I’m not telling you,” she replied with conviction. She tried to yank the dagger out of his grip, but he held tight.
“Not that it matters anyway.” Malo opened his tome again and chanted the same incantation as before— Twilight sidestepped the resulting spell, grunting with frustration. He smirked. “So your power has some limits after all.” He gave a hard yank on the dagger, forcing Twilight to exert more magical stamina to keep a hold on it. He launched another spell and Twilight only dodged by a hair’s length this time. “But I have yet to unleash my most powerful magic.”
He began chanting another, differently worded spell. Twilight quickly ran through her list of options but realized to her horror that she was stuck. If she switched her telekinesis to his tome, he’d be free to use his dagger, but she couldn’t keep dodging his spells forever either.
Then an idea came to her which she felt horrified to have thought up. Her friends would be horrified if they knew she was considering it, let alone put it into practice. She especially felt sick in her stomach thinking what Celestia’s reaction would be if she found out. It wasn’t even a foolproof plan, and if it failed, it very possibly could get her killed.
She cast a glance down to Applejack’s unconscious form, then to Malo as purple balls of fire appeared in the air around him. His eyes betrayed a clear belief that the fight was his, that she had no chance of winning.
A spark of resolve lit in her heart. Whether her plan was moral didn’t matter; it was either do or die. She’d been brought down to the point where there wasn’t any peaceful solution to this fight. She had no choice but to fight violence with violence.
Malo released his spell. Twilight dashed forward as fast as her legs could possibly carry her. She dodged each fireball as they shot at her, each one missing her head by mere inches and one even scorching the top of her mane, but she didn’t care. Malo’s eyes shot wide as she closed the distance between them, keeping her telekinetic hold on the dagger. She turned around and, mustering every last bit of physical strength her body contained, launched her hooves at Malo’s kneecap.
A sickening crunch sounded under the force of her buck. For a brief moment, Malo was as still as a statue, eyes staring dead ahead and grip on the dagger loosening, allowing Twilight to yank it free. Then he let loose an ear-splitting howl of agony and fell backward. His leg stayed at a fixed angle and his attempts to straighten it were each met with further cries of anguish. He lifted his cloak and Twilight winced upon seeing that the spot of his pants where she’d hit was heavily bloodstained.
Malo shot Twilight a glare as intense as a thousand burning suns. She had no doubt that he would’ve throttled her if she was within arm’s reach of him.
“You…! You…!” he growled.
Twilight steeled her own gaze. “It’s over, Malo. Give up and turn yourself in. We’ll get you healed up then.”
“I didn’t throw my lot in with a bunch of dalcops to surrender when fortune is within my grasp!”
Malo raised his hand and chanted again, only to stop when Twilight lifted the dagger to his neck. She gently eased the point to his neck, soft enough not to draw blood but firm enough that any sudden moves would cut into him. A big part of her was glad that none of her friends could see what she was doing.
A noticeable bead of sweat dripped from Malo’s brow as he glanced warily at the dagger. All his rage seemed to have melted away in the face of her threat. She had no intention of ever actually slitting his throat, but as long as he didn’t know that, she could hold this position of power.
“Will you come quietly?” she asked.
They locked gazes for a moment, silently judging each other, trying to determine their next course of action. Twilight felt a bead of sweat drip down her own brow and her heart pounded against her chest. The air was so thick with tension she would’ve thought it possible to cut up and serve on a plate.
Finally, Malo’s features relaxed. “You’ve never found yourself in this kind of situation before, have you?” he asked.
Twilight blinked, surprised by the question. “What do you mean?”
Malo laughed, a sickening sound that sent a chill down Twilight’s spine by how manic it came off as. “You’re not at all experienced in the art of assassination, it seems. If you truly wanted to kill me, you would’ve done so right now when you had the chance.” His eyes took on a menacing glint. “Perhaps because you wish to resolve this peacefully?”
Twilight felt her heart skip a beat.
“That will be your last mistake.”
Malo pulled his body backward. In one swift motion, he used his good leg to kick the dagger, breaking it free of Twilight’s telekinesis. The action was so sudden that Twilight barely had time to register what was happening before she heard the whooshing again.
Malo launched another dark spell straight at her, which she successfully dodged, but a glint of metal caught her eye and she felt a searing pain rip through her fetlock. She fell to the floor, wailing in agony with tears streaming from her eyes. She looked to see that Malo’s dagger had pierced her flesh, the wound oozing blood and puddling around her hoof.
She turned, horrified, to see Malo preparing another spell. She tried to stand up on three legs, but her attempt failed and she fell forward.
Malo smirked. “You put up a good fight, lass, but this is the end.”
Twilight turned her head away from him, more sorrowful tears streaking her face as she braced herself for death. Her life flashed before her eyes, all the wonderful memories she had of Celestia, her family, her friends, and even some of her enemies. But if she was going to die right here, she was proud to have gone down fighting.
The whooshing noise from Malo’s magic began building up. It had reached a feverish pitch when it suddenly cut off, accompanied by the sound of ripping flesh.
Twilight blinked. She lifted her head and felt ready to puke by what she saw. Malo was stock still, the life half faded from his eyes, with a gaping wound in his torso from the sharp end of a spear. The tome fell from his hand and his body hunched forward, limp.
Oswin knelt behind Malo just next to the open doorway, holding the spear length in one hand, while the other, to Twilight’s confusion and horror, was bleeding profusely much like her hoof. His armor was cracked — practically ripped in half — and the position he was in suggested his back was seriously injured.
He let go of the spear and turned to Twilight, examining her with a grimace.
Twilight snapped from her stupor. “Are you okay, Oswin?” she asked, trying to suppress her rising panic.
He grunted. “We need to… get to… Serra…” He fell flat on the floor.
Alarmed at first, Twilight relaxed when she saw him pull himself forward a couple of inches.
“Serra! Fluttershy! We need help, now!”
Their friends descended the stairs quickly. Fluttershy let out a shocked gasp at Applejack’s unconscious body while Serra seemed more horrified by Oswin’s condition.
“Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy said, noticing Twilight’s injury.
“Oswin, dear!” Serra rushed over to him.
“That wound, oh my word!” Fluttershy looked to be on the verge of crying.
Twilight chuckled weakly. “Come on, Fluttershy, you’re the closest to a doctor among our friends; you should know this is perfectly treatable.” She lifted her injured hoof only to cry out in pain.
Fluttershy rested her hoof on Twilight’s withers. “Don’t move, Twilight,” she instructed, easing her into a relaxed position on the floor. “We’ll get that treated right away.” She glanced over to Applejack’s unconscious form, wincing at the sight of the blood trickling from her mouth. “Both of you, as quickly as possible.”
“My future husband comes first!” Serra proclaimed, to which Oswin audibly groaned, muffled by the floorboards.
She raised her healing staff and pointed it at Oswin, muttering under her breath. The gem at the tip glowed and Oswin’s entire body was enveloped in a swirling blue light. Before everyone’s naked eyes, his hand wound began closing itself up at a gradual pace. Several minutes passed before it closed up completely and Oswin was able to hoist himself to a kneeling position.
“Thank you, Serra,” he said weakly.
“It was my pleasure,” Serra said with a broad smile. She turned to Twilight. “Now to fix up you two.”
“Do Applejack first, please,” Twilight said.
Serra nodded and moved to stand over the unconscious earth pony.
“How’s the battle going, Oswin?” Twilight asked while waiting for her turn to be healed. “Is everyone okay?”
Oswin smiled. “Don’t worry; Lord Hector is a very capable fighter, and Fiora and Lady Florina are quite skilled in their own right as well. We encountered much worse opposition battling against Nergal’s forces; a small army of bandits is no worry.”
Twilight sighed, tracking her gaze to the walls and the unfolding battle beyond. "I hope you’re right."