Night Patrol 2: Awakening

by Foxgear


Twilight of the Gods Part 1

Night Patrol 2: Awakening Chapter 70

By Foxgear


The Clover and its escort fleet steamed across the hostile red sky. The Night Patrol Airships have seen better days since escaping the chaos of Europona.

They left the Prench Fleet in tatters, blown countless monsters out of the sky and sea. All in a herculean effort to get home as fast as possible. The Mana Gems in their engines were cracking. Every dial was redlining! It didn’t matter! They’d run the ships to the ground and fly if they had to.

Beyond merely keeping their ships afloat, the crew endured wave after wave of monster attacks—the barrels of the cannons discoloring as they fended off the tenth wave of the day.

On the deck Commander Trifecta and Topaz, both sporting beard stubbles, watched the long necks of the Nesses rise out of the sea. The Sea dragons screamed and fired beams of blue lightning and boiling seawater at the convoy.

Meanwhile, their triple-barreled 152mm cannons replied thunderously.

“FIRE!”

The Cannons roared, shaking the battered Cruiser, yet she held firm while her attackers exploded into red mist. Topaz wiped his brow, his eyes bloodshot from little rest. He wasn’t the only one. Everypony aboard was pushed past the brink.

“More harpies!”

Nothing more needed to be said. The nerve shot and psychotic gunners unleashed a screen of Anti-flyer fire gleefully, putting all his frustrations into his work. One guzzled his coffee while he fired, having not moved from his position for a day and a half, with little chance of being relieved.

One harpy managed to actually touch the deck. It lost both its wings, but it was here. Topaz and Trifecta didn’t even bother turning around for it. A loud thud followed by the sound of bones breaking broadcast the harpy’s demise.

“I always wondered what made Sixes go bloodthirsty, and now we have a whole ship of mad ponies.”

Topaz was in agreement. Sixes went insane for a time after Luna’s banishment. It was an open secret. He hadn’t been all there for some time. Constantly fighting for weeks and months on end, with minimal R and R between missions for nearly ten years. The orange rinin wondered how long an average pony would last in such outrageous conditions.

Turns out three days at best.

He was regarded as the most intelligent pony in Night Patrol. Topaz prided himself on that and strived to live up to that expectation. He didn’t want to make excuses, but he hadn’t been his most stable when organizing the return trip.

Between dealing with Trifecta’s mishaps, then the Shaka incident, followed by Fury running off, the fucking Prench! He was tired and stressed himself, but Topaz thought he accounted for everything possible when asked to plan a rotation schedule for the return trip.

He was wrong.

He couldn’t have predicted the constant monster attacks from air and sea, the com channels getting scrambled, so they had to comminate ship to ship via flags. No pony could sleep, even the ones off duty. The noise of the cannons and fighting was too much to ignore.

When the on-duty crew was overwhelmed, the off-duty team rose to help, and that was the last time any pony slept.

“Harpies can fly fifty miles at best, right?” Trifecta asked him dully, the triplet dog dead tired.

“Twenty-five to thirty from land at best. We’re close.” Topaz answered with a bit of hope in his voice. That was a mistake.

For the moment land appeared on the horizon, a bright blinding white light scraped across the sky. Followed by what was probably supersonic shock waves and so many mushroom clouds.

“Luna’s fucking teats, what was that?” Trifecta so helpfully asked in place of everypony still awe shocked by the phenomenon. He was, of course, looking to him, the smart one, for an answer.

His response was, “Fuck if I fucking know.” Topaz already knew he needed sleep, but he needed a week’s worth if he was cursing like this.

And if Topaz thought shit hadn’t hit the fan already, then he didn’t know what shit was because what appeared to be a rainbow of meteors streaked across the sky. Some of them plummeting into the ocean.

He looked over the railing, spotting a huge glowing light quickly rising to the surface. A giant sea pony emerged from the depths. Reminding everypony of the lava pony they faced in the Frozen North, Vulcan.

It was another deranged Alicorn.

This time there were three of them.

Topaz quickly came up with a plan of action. “All ships open fire! Keep moving to land! Anypony that can fly, get ready to take off! Break for shore! GO, GO, GO!”

He’d leave the ships to deal with the giants and take the land units to shore to find out what the hell was going on!

“This doesn’t seem well thought out!” Trifecta voiced his worries? Concerns? They didn’t matter. Topaz was the senior officer.

“Let the Navy ponies handle the Naval battle. We’re going to cut straight through the forest, through Night Academy, and go straight for Haven! Everypony ready?”

“Ready, sir!” Ruby nervously called out. She was in charge of Squad four.

“Let’s do it!” Trifecta howled with vigor, leading Squad 3.

“Aye!” Shamrock roared hardily, leading Squad 2.

With Topaz at the helm with the first squad, the four Night Commanders traveled with a wing of twenty-five ponies each. The vast majority of the rinin flying this night were the originals. They were the elite. One hundred and four strong.

Ahead of them, the lights of falling alicorn amulets illuminated the sky and soon the forest floor. More of the ancient creatures spontaneously returned to life.

To the Rinins’ benefit, the alicorns happen to be too busy killing each other to bother with them. Most of them, at least. A small group of five from either faction formed and approached.

“Whatever manner of creature you be, identify your allegiance!” A fancy talking Goldish Alicorn Stallion demanded. “Be you with Gaia or Minerva?”

Topaz snorted hot plasma from his nostrils. “Cut through them! For Luna!”

“For Luna!”

Ruby burst into flames, her body growing to nearly the size of an adult dragon. Then, with her massive claw, she swiped the offending Alicorns aside, shooting concentrated fire like a laser from her mouth.

A flash of orange cut through the sky as Topaz sliced his way through the Alicorns while Shamrock slammed his spiked knuckles into any stragglers. Covering them was Trifecta, now fused as Triple Thunder with Shock and Jockey.

The tri-headed pony spewed raging arcs of lightning and fire across the starry red sky.

The commanders were showing their stuff, but their units weren’t about to be shown up. So four Squads of battle-hardened Rinin filled the gap made by the four commanders. Taking lives by talon, fang, and fire.

To the newly awakened Alicorns, the band of Rinin seemed to be a horde of demons escaped from Tartarus. Yes, they were the pinnacle of Pony kind, but even these ancient creatures once revered as gods; fell like any other mortal without their fabled weapons and armor.

And so, many who had awakened to the new dawn were unceremoniously and brutally shoved back into the cold black void.

“Don’t linger! Cut through! Get to the Academy and then the castle! Let’s go! Go! GO!” Where this fire was coming from, Topaz didn’t know. This wasn’t his usual style of leadership. He was acting a bit like Fury at the moment, but that’s because this was what was needed.

Topaz didn’t need a complicated plan, just unabashed violence!

So, like bats out of hell, the rinin broke through the Alicorn lines. The ancient ponies giving them a wide breadth as over fifteen of their number were slain in the breakthrough.


In modern times, losing fifteen ponies was nullable. Most countries depending on the type of unit would call that a good day.

For the Alicorns, it was no short of a massacre.

When the Rinin disappeared from view, the fierceness of the Alicorn’s fighting softened between the two factions. Perhaps they were unnerved and were reconsidering what they were doing.

“What uncouth savages.” The de facto leader of the Gaia supporters said snidely at the Rinin’s disappearing forms.

“Yes, what uncivilized times we seem to be living in, now.” Minerva’s supporter agreed, appalled by the brutality. “What do you say, we, for the sake of not wiping ourselves out? Have a good old proxy battle? One Champion each.”

“Agreed!”

And so, in the swamps of the Everfree Forest, the two warring Alicorn factions would elect two champions to fight to the death while the others watched. Like civilized ponies.


“Does any pony else find it strange they’re not following us?” Ruby asked, reverting back to normal. Craning her neck to try and spot any pursuers. There were none, strange. She expected an angry mob.

Not to say they were out of the woods yet. Both literally and figuratively. The Alicorns were rising like the undead. Some of them even flew like it. One white-eyed Alicorn just flew past them and into a swamp. So, they were probably dead again.

“Night Academy is insight. We should check it out, Topaz.” Trifecta suggested as two balls of lightning floated on his wings. “We need more info.”

At the risk of losing time, Topaz agreed, hoping they’d find any pony who could tell them what happened. They descended to the campus. The buildings were untouched. Spotless really.

Since Night Academy was the nation’s only college and hosted students from Evernight, Equestria, and beyond, it was heavily guarded. It was practically a military base in of itself. Powerful magic barriers encased the school. Identification was needed to pass through.

Naturally, all Night Patrol members were registered, so getting through wasn’t a hassle for them.

“The barrier still intact,” Topaz said as they landed.

They were in the heart of the campus. It was nice to see everything not destroyed. Yet, Topaz was uneasy. Something didn’t smell right, to put it simply. The big question on everyponies mind was where all the students were? The teachers? Hell, where were the guards?

“Trifecta, you know this place pretty well, right?”

The triplet nodded, “Yeah. I’ve had to track down Twilight a few times here.”

“Alright, you stay and investigate. Be sure to check thoroughly, don’t forget to check the basement. I’ll leave you a team as a backup. The rest of your squad will divide up and continue with us. Try to catch up ASAP.”

Trifecta saluted the orange commander as the rest of the group took to the sky once more. Shock and Jockey retook their pony forms, heads cocked to the side in confusion.

“Why we getting left behind, bro?”

“Yeah, bro? We want more actions!”

“This won’t take long. There’s only one place we need to check,” Trifecta informed his team while leading the way into the main building.

The Night Academy campus was five castles. He described the buildings as castles because that’s about what they were. They were huge! The main building was the largest, holding the cafeteria, library, and lecture halls.

On the south side were the colts and filly dorms, separated, of course, with the research labs and giant telescope on the north side. Trifecta still thought the telescope was just Luna’s own personal thing. But apparently, students did use it.

Opening the main entrance, Trifecta made a beeline for the descending stairs. What Topaz wanted him to check was the emergency shelters deep under the school. There was enough space for the school and a good chunk of the entire country’s population. Enough for the mares and children at least. Stallions were expected to fight.

How did they evacuate the town ponies? By tunnels? Some secret underground rail system? No, just some magic teleporters in every town. Once again, only those registered could use the rune circle, so attackers couldn’t follow the civilians.

‘splash’

Trifecta froze, feeling something cold and slimy on his foot. Clicking on his helm light, he found blood on his claws. He shined the light down the dim corridor of the basement, finding more blood pools on the stairs.

“Let’s hurry!” He said tensely.

He and the others quickly descended to the bottom floor, gliding down the stairs as fast as they could.

At the bottom, they entered the basement. This wasn’t the shelter. It was merely a front and also a storage room. Mostly food stores and other odds and ends. The things schools need, extra chairs, desks, and tons of paper.

“This way,” The blood trail continued, going to the one place Trifecta desperately hoped it wouldn’t but did. A part of the wall protruded inwards—the secret entrance to the shelters.

Forming up on either side, Trifecta and the thunder brothers on the right, and the others on the left, the triplet gave the signal to breach. Flinging the door open and piling into the small room. Inside, propped up against the other secret door, was Goodnight.

The Bat pony was pointing a hoof blaster at them, with a grenade dangling between his fangs, ready to pull. He was a mess and looked like hell. Covered in blood from head to toe, his left hindleg missing below the knee, he’d put up a hell of a fight.

“Tri…” Goodnight rasped.

“Goody! Put the grenade down!” And he did, or it fell from his grasp, perhaps so shocked to see friendlies, he forgot about the bomb in his mouth. Luckily, Trifecta was on the ball and grabbed the grenade before it could hit the floor. The pin thankfully still intact, but you can never be too careful. “There you go, you okay, buddy?”

It took a bit for Goody to calm down. But, unfortunately, Trifecta wasn’t a field medic, and neither was Shock and Jockey. Thankfully, one of the other Rinin, Serben, was a trained medic and swiftly went about stabilizing Goodnight.

While he waited, Trifecta peeked into the other secret room. It was the same cement gray as the rest of the basement. It was very utilitarian, but it was shelter. Luxury wasn’t in mind when it was built. Safety was. The walls of this place were designed to withstand a barrage of a battleship. The fact it was several levels underground only served to strengthen its defenses.

The next room was larger by far, with many passageways leading deeper into the earth where the shelters were located. When this place was built, it was supposed to be like a minotaur’s labyrinth. Safe for allies, hazardous to intruders.

Taking stock of the room, Trifecta found it clean. Seems the fighting hadn’t reached here, so that was a comfort.

“Hello!” He shouted down one of the tunnels. “I’m Night Patroller 301, Commander Trifecta! Is any pony down here?”

His voice echoed down the tunnels, sounding a lot louder than he expected. Perhaps he jumped the gun, exposing his location, but he had to know if ponies were alive down here.

Eventually, a slow uneasy trot came from one of the halls. Trifecta squinted into the darkness, his night vision hindered by the lights in the room.

“Is that really you, Commander Trifecta?” Sweet Dreams, Goodnight’s wife, asked, emerging from the darkness with her foal in tow. Behind her, two more mares appeared, Fleetfoot, Glove’s wife, still very much pregnant, and Spitfire. Fury’s marefriend? Lover? He wasn’t sure.

“Who else would it be? It’s not like my brothers are still around.” He joked, trying to lighten the mood, but it did little. “Right, what’s the situation? What happened to Goodnight?”

He directed the mare’s attention to the bat pony, who was now in this room. The secret door sealed behind the team as they continued to work on him. Goody must be worse off than he initially thought. The poor guy was unconscious and barely breathing.

Sweet Dreams made a move to go to him but held back, not wanting to crowd him. Sweet dreams settled for sitting silently to the side, letting the medic do his work.

“Do you have…” Fleetfoot gulped, “Any word of Gloves?”

“Haven’t seen him yet,” Trifecta said, shaking his head.

“Oh, okay…” Fleetfoot, perhaps to comfort herself or Sweet Dreams, sat down next to the bat mare. But, in their present condition, it was about all they could do. Which left Spitfire to explain things.

“So, here’s what happened, Commander….”

Spitfire recounted a haunting tale, only it wasn’t a horror story but reality. She had been at Evernight Castle three or maybe it was four days ago. It was hard to keep track of time underground. The sky turning red coordinated with the rest of the world going to shit, so it was no surprise it happened here.

First came the monsters. Scores of them. Hordes of sixty or more charged like waves across the land. They hit everywhere. Every town, and even Castle Evernight itself, the smaller cities evacuated and abandoned. The refugees were placed at the Academy while Night Patrol and the militia fought off the waves of monsters

That was only the first day.

The second day was even harsher, with more monsters coming, but now it was no longer a surprise. Night Patrol launched a massive counter-attack, reclaiming Night Haven, Night Hallow, and Night Port. With this foothold, they were set to reclaim the rest of the country and go aid, Canterlot, and the rest of Equestria, but then another ambush on the third day had them on the back foot.

Weird Alicorn-like creatures filled the sky. Spitfire described them as Alicorn-like because they were really just Unicorns with wings. At first, they mistook them as reinforcements from Canterlot, given they were wearing Celestia’s armor.

Only when they saw the eight-pointed star on their chest and magic bullets rained down on them did they know they were the enemy.

The lesser Alicorns used the most straightforward and brutal tactic they could perform with their sheer numbers.

They swarmed like locus, overrunning every position. Then, using only magic bullet and mana blade, engaged the more skilled Night Patrol at close and long-range. Those providing support didn’t worry about friendly fire. Instead, shooting through their own allies, if it meant taking down a patroller.

It was the kind of fighting. Pony kind hadn’t seen since ancient days before Celestia and Luna.

Nevertheless, Night Patrol, with grit and determination, pushed the Lesser Alicorns back. In the shadow of this small victory, four mysterious beings appeared. They were like Alicorns, yet they were also similar to rinin.

The four declared themselves Alirin, there was an inky black one, a blackish Bicorn one, a banana Oni, and a green one that Spitfire reported had many of the older rinin in shock. These four plus more Lesser Alicorn reinforcements forced Night Patrol into a retreat.

Ponies like Gloves, Smokey Haze, and Bulwark stayed behind to cover their retreat. Along with other brave souls. Spitfire hadn’t wanted to, but Gloves convinced her to retreat, so the refugees had somepony to rally around. Goody, and the other stallions volunteered to guard the outside. Carefully waiting for enemy movements.

“Was it one of those… Alirins that did that to Goody?” Trifecta could barely contain his anger, but he was the highest rank here, so he had to have some decorum.

Spitfire looked away, “No… it was Twilight Sparkle.”

Trifecta had been expecting an awkward reunion with his possible romantic partner. Since he promised to look after Wiess, Trifecta dreaded what he’d say to the bookworm he shared some chemistry with. All that was tossed aside as he looked at his comrade lying on the floor.

“She did… fucking… what?”

“All the unicorns went insane. There were no exceptions. Even Scarlet wasn’t immune, so it’s no surprise whatever happened affected Twilight too. I left to relieve one of the others when she arrived and just started… killing them. Goody covered my retreat, so I could warn the others. I’m not sure why she didn’t come down here.” Spitfire looked downward, clearly ashamed of herself. “I thought he was dead; I should have checked on him.”

Trifecta patted Spitfire on the head, still staring at the bat pony. “You did your best. Keep on guarding everypony hiding down here. I’ll go deal with Twilight.” He stalked towards the door, the thunder brothers turning into orbs and flying at his side.

Spitfire called out to him, “What are you going to do to her?”

Those words made him pause, and it earned him looks from everypony here. “You five stay here and sure up the defenses. Make sure Goody pulls through.” That was all he said.

Trifecta didn’t know what he was going to do. He’d probably just do it when he found her. “I assume she’s in the library.” He asked almost jokingly, but he had guessed right.

“Where else would she fucking be?” Spitfire bitterly confirmed.

There were gem monitors everywhere on the campus, and they could all be viewed from the underground. It must have been frustrating, following Twilight’s every move and not being able to do a thing about it.

Trifecta closed both secret doors behind him. He wasn’t sure it mattered. Twilight was a Vice Commander; she should know about the bunker. Scratch that, she had to know about it. She had the power to kill everypony down here, yet she didn’t? Why?

Was it her resisting whatever was influencing her? He could almost buy that, but somehow that didn’t seem right. If she could do that to Goody, then hurting mere strangers was well within the cards. No, it had to be something else.

Whatever that something else was didn’t matter, Trifecta thought, flying up the building. The main campus building was massive. Built in a spiral shape with classrooms on the first three floors and the library taking up the remaining four. He quickly flew up to the very top. The glass ceiling showing off the ugly red/purple sky. When it was intended to show off the starry sky.

Shock and Jockey as electoral orbs at his side, Trifecta opened the door to the library’s top floor. It was a sparsely filled room with a limited number of rare books within. Its real purpose was to give students a relaxed place to read. He would know since it was all Twilight could gush about after it was built.

And he found her once more. Sitting in the glass doorway to the outside patio, levitating a book in front of her. Twilight gave little external reaction to his presence. Which would be expected if she wasn’t mind-controlled. So easily lost in the pages, Twilight tended to block out everything.

Still, he felt the need to prod, so he spoke to her like usual, “What are you reading today?”

Twilight sighed softly, replacing her bookmark and closing the book with a ‘thump.’ It was a big heavy old book. Well beyond his comprehension.

“Myths and Legends of Equestria, A comprehensive guide to the Alicorns of Lore, Author unknown. Most scholars thought this book irrelevant given the only two Alicorns alive were Celestia and Luna. I wonder what they think now that the gods of old are returning.”

Trifecta snorted, “Gods? Is that what they are to you? We killed fifteen of them on the way here! What does that make us, then?”

“I suppose devils, but fear not, for Minerva, Mother of Unicorns and Magic, has enough room in her heart for all of you.” Twilight sent the book back to the shelf, turning to face him with conflicting emotions. Her eyes were glazed over, her voice monotone, but her fear was evident.

“Twilight…” Trifecta looked at the filly with pity. “If there’s a chance you can break whatever is controlling you, do it now. This will be my only mercy as your friend.”

“Will you kill me? Do you think you can?” Twilight began gathering magic around her horn. “I’m ordered to spare some and slay others. But I’m allowed to defend myself. So I will kill you if I must.”

“Is that why you spared, Goodnight?”

“He was no longer a threat. I backed off so he wouldn’t hurt himself.”

There was once a time, Trifecta thought maybe he and Twilight could be something more. They kind of were. Somewhere beyond friends, but not lovers. He cared for her was the simple answer.

“Twilight back down, and seal your magic, do that, and we can end this here with no bloodshed.”

“I cannot.”

Trifecta lunged, baring fang and claw as Shock and Jockey twirled around him. He knew how powerful the unicorn was. He wasn’t going to hold back. He became Triple Thunder, becoming bulkier and gaining two extra heads made of blue lightning.

Twilight vanished via teleport. Jockey’s head swiveled left, finding her right away and shooting a beam of lightning at her. She disappeared again, this time outside. He followed suit by breaking through the glass ceiling.

While Twilight employed a spell to gain wings of magic to stay aloft.

He recalled the spell she showed him before, the ones that made butterfly wings. These were not that. The wings were longer, still, vaguely insect-like. A fairy came to mind as Twilight zipped through the sky. Unleashing a barrage of magic bullets on him.

Twisting and turning, he dodged the onslaught unleashing a triple breath attack that filled the sky with fire and lightning.

His right head, Shock, swiveled to fire a follow-up attack as Twilight glided along, still laying down suppressive fire. Unfortunately, one of the spells hit him in the shoulder, causing intense burning. Thankfully it was a weak attack. If it had been a piercing magic bullet, it would have shot through his entire body. Heart and lungs included.

Pumping his wings, Triple Thunder coiled his body and spun, using flame burst, to accelerate even faster. Then, rocketed towards Twilight, who, in a panic, made the mistake of making a shield rather than dodge.

Now Twilight was no slouch when it came to shields or any magic, really. Her brother was a shield specialist. She was good but was only considered the fourth-best shield caster. Below, Shining, Scarlet, and Cobalt.

Triple thunder raked through the hasty barrier with lightning-enhanced claws, catching hold of Twilight’s floundering leg. Blood filled the air. Even he paused by the amount spilling out. Twilight’s right foreleg was hanging on by scraps!

“Shit…” He cursed softly.

That moment of pause was a mistake. Twilight, mana blade charged, swung her head like a sword, and burrowed deep into his shoulder. The blue lightning head on his left sputtered and faded away. Then, an unpleasant shift happened in his body as one of the thunder brothers fell towards the ground.

“Jockey!” Shock’s scream was so loud in his head, Trifecta couldn’t process a thought. So, he couldn’t stop the living twin from sinking his teeth into Twilight’s neck for vengeance.

The whole scene felt surreal to him as he caught Twilight’s fidgeting, convulsing body. But he’s seen it enough times to know what it meant.

Twilight was dying.

Grabbing Twilight with his uninjured leg. Trifecta performed a controlled crash landing. Shock separated the moment they touched dirt, running to his slain brother. Leaving him to hold Twilight close with tears swelling in his eyes.

“I’m… sorry… I… didn’t….” She was crying too, her body growing cold.

“Just… shut up…” Trifecta pressed his face against her hair. “You’ll be fine. We’re going to get you help, so just… hang on.”

A small shadow fell over Trifecta. It was Shock, shell shocked. It was apparent why he was like this. “Bro… she killed bro….”

“Shock… don’t….”

“She killed…” He stepped closer, his horn sparking wildly.

“SHOCK!” Trifecta could only shield his eyes as the sound of electricity buzzing filled his ears. The bright light of lightning too harsh to look at. The smell of smoldering flesh reached his nose, and he feared the worse.

When Trifecta’s vision returned, Shock was gone, so was Jockey’s body, and Twilight’s wounds were cauterized. A nasty scar in the shape of her veins was on her neck, and her leg was smoldering. She was by no means healed, but he would take it.

“Thanks, bro,” Trifecta muttered to the wind, hefting Twilight into the nook of his arm as he stood bipedal. “Hey! Somepony, get out here!” He screamed, running towards the main building.


Topaz and the others reached Evernight castle, finding it in a state of disaster. Bringing back memories of the Griffon War like a bad dream. He landed on the roof, finding bodies, bodies, and more bodies.

He wasn’t known for being the most emotionally available pony, yet even Topaz felt a tear in his eye when he saw Smokey Haze on the ground.

Ruby could be forgiven for her outburst as she ran to her fellow monster pony, cradling his head while wailing.

It was a scene so heartbreaking he and the others couldn’t stand to watch. They’d all gone through this before—some more than others.

“Hey, kid, you can’t do this now.” Were Shamrock’s words. They were gentle, which was something from one of the most callus ponies in Night Patrol. “Come on, up you go. It’s not proper to fiddle with the dead like that.”

Shamrock took Ruby aside, letting Topaz regain order over the group of smoldering Rinin. “Look for survivors. Let’s find out what happened here.”

As a final peace to Smokey Haze, Topaz closed the young stallion’s eyes and positioned his body in a more respectable pose. Just so he wasn’t sprawled out like roadkill. As he brushed the young rinin’s mane, he was reminded of the days he spent training Smokey and the others.

In a brief moment of solace and respect, he patted the Monster Pony’s neck one last time, “You did good, kid, rest well.”

“Find any pony?” Topaz barked out to the others after twenty minutes. Wanting there to be someone, anyone, still alive here.

His com popped in and out with static and some hoarse words. “Repeat that. Okay, I’ll be down in a minute.” Topaz looked to Shamrock, still comforting Ruby. “We got survivors on the first floor. Let’s go.”

Shamrock and Ruby followed him down the hole in the roof, through the broken, blood-stained floors, to the castle’s ground floor. Along the way, Topaz analyzed the damage.

It must have been a hell of a fight, he concluded. A sword battle of some sorts took place. A lot of the bodies were hacked up, but there were even more slash marks everywhere. Two sets to be precise.

There were shallower cuts in line with a Nippon sword. Duel wielded. And then there were the massive claymore-like gashes. He presumed the latter to be made from the enemy’s weapon.

On the first floor, in one of the minister offices, stood the Rinin that found the survivors. Their intel was a bit off, as they had to burrow into the floor down into the basement. But there were ponies alive down here, two, in fact.

Kiri, Kira’s grandson, and maybe his wife, Kaki? Topaz couldn’t tell the Sakura sisters apart, and one of them was lying dead on the floor. The third missing or not present.

Shooing all but the medic away, Topaz took stock of Kira’s spawn. It wasn’t good. A bloody bandage covered Kiri’s eyes, with a large cauterized scar running from his shoulder to his thigh.

“You’re alive,” Topaz stated.

“I’m alive,” Kiri replied, pawing around with his claw. Kaki grabbed it but otherwise remained silent. “How’s Sakura? Is she alright?”

The way ‘Kaki’s’ ears twitched caught Topaz’s attention. “Sakura… didn’t make it…” Kiri gripped his wife’s claw harder, but if he could hear the hesitation in her words, he didn’t show it.

“I see. Sakura saved our lives then.”

“Yes, she did… can I… I mean, I’m sure Commander Topaz wants to hear what happened. So I’ll get out of the medics’ way and make a report.”

In a very awkward fashion, ‘Kaki’ broke away from Kiri and all but pushed Topaz out the door. It wasn’t hard to figure out why, but Topaz played along until they were far enough away to speak.

“Why are you lying to him, Sakura?” The shock and way she froze when he called her out said it all. Kaki was dead, not Sakura. It didn’t take a detective, yet Kiri couldn’t tell the difference.

Then again, he was just recently blinded. So it would take a while for his other senses to adapt. And Kaki and Sakura were triplets, so it’s not a stretch they might have switched places while growing up.

Trifecta and his brothers certainly loved to play that game.

“Kind of obvious, huh?” Sakura sighed, wiping her tears away. They just kept coming, yet she carried herself well. “Can you not say anything? Kaki… she had so much more going for her. She SAVED me, even though I’m not the one with a husband. As her sister, I have to take her place.”

“How long are you going to pretend? Just asking. There are more important things afoot, but I just don’t see this going well.”

“Until Kiri realizes it himself. If he doesn’t want me, I will stop, but please. For his and my sister’s sake, just accept Sakura was the one that died today. I know I’m not putting on the best performance right now, but I can play Kaki pretty well. I bet only Momo can actually tell.”

Topaz sighed, “Fine. Do what you will. Now tell me what happened, who is the enemy, and whatever else you know.”

Sakura now acting as Kaki. Told him of Kira coming to help at the behest of Cadence. How they have a fleet in Night Port, and how they were ambushed by two Alirins. Ibaraki and Hassan.

Hazel Thunder and High Octane stayed in the forest to fight Ibaraki, while Kiri, Kaki, and Sakura fought Hassan in the castle. She didn’t know the results of the Ibaraki fight but stated it was unlikely Hazel and Octane won.

Apparently, Kiri managed to kill Hassan over twelve times. Yet, the Alirin Bicorn wouldn’t stay down. Regenerating similarly to Fierce Fury.

“That’s going to be a problem,” Topaz said aloud when a pony called for his attention. Something was going on out front. Racing to the castle’s main gate, Topaz was greeted by the sight of an all-out battle breaking out across the red sky.

An all-encompassing light show of magic played in the sky above, with Alicorns falling like rain.

One crashed into the statue in the front plaza, disoriented by the blow. Topaz gave the order to put it down. Burning the unknown pony in a pillar of fire.

“Kaki, take Kiri back to Night Port and report back to your fleet. Have them keep a beachhead, but send for more reinforcements. Make sure Kiri gets back to Nippon. He’s the prince; after all, we can’t risk the future of the country. I’ll send a detachment with you.”

“What will you do?” Kaki (Sakura) inquired, watching the same war-torn sky and seeing only death and chaos. “What can you do?”

Topaz smiled, “Oh, I can do a lot with this. In fact, this situation is perfect.”

His plan was simple. After sending Kaki off with Kiri, Topaz regrouped his forces into a massive wedge formation. Aiming his 90 rinin at the heart of the enemy.

The objective was Canterlot. Where the fiercest fighting was. The city wasn’t obscured from view by some sort of thick fog or haze. Neither the less, he planned to secure both Princess Cadence and Luna and make a hasty withdraw. Once he regrouped with the Nippon Fleet, he’d figure out the rest. But retreating to Nippon was the most likely choice in the end.

“Make ready!” Every pony raised their wings at his command. “Let’s fly! Take out only those that get in our way, don’t stray into pointless battles! We fly to save our Duchess!”

With a resounding ‘hurrah!’ Topaz once more led his wing into the thick of battle. They flew straight and fast like an arrow. Nimbly weaving through the alicorns. Their numbers were impressive for their race, but really there were only a few hundred Alicorns. So, their battles were very spread out.

However, when they passed Ponyville, the alicorns grew thicker, avoiding battle became less of a possibility and more of a certainty. That was expected. What Topaz didn’t expect was the massive newly dug canyon just outside of Ponyville.

He didn’t know what to think of it at first until the fog cleared, and they were all slack-jawed. Mount Canterlot was gone!

“Topaz!” Shamrock shouted with concern.

“I know! I see it! There’s no turning back out! We commit to the attack!” But, unfortunately, it was already too late. Some of the Alicorns spotted them and were repositioning themselves. He activated his plasma blades, making the crystals on his joints glow an azure blue. “Don’t waver!”

They smashed into the fractured Alicorn lines. Diving deep into the fray. It was near suicide. No, it was suicide. Topaz knew that.

But what choice did he have? Canterlot was gone! He could only assume Cadence, Luna, and everypony else was as well. So instead of regrouping with Sixes, he thought it best to take out as many of the enemy as possible.

“Get out of my way!” He barked, cutting a blue alicorn in twain. Hot blood splattered across his face; Topaz quickly followed up by biting out another’s neck. He was so engrossed that he was blindsided!

“Commander Topaz!” Ruby’s high-pitched scream pierced his ears. He struggled to see past the greenish-black silhouette that held him. The red Rinin was coming in hot, growing in size to reach him, until she too was caught by surprise by a blue and orangish blur.

Knowing he was on his own, Topaz charged up his plasma blades and, with a bit of wiggle room, managed to break his attacker’s hold just in time. He spread his wings wide to break, skidding across the ruined earth to finally get a good glance at his opponent.

What he saw made him freeze.

“Emerald…” He stuttered, stunned to see his sister’s form up and moving again. Blinking hard, he tried to shake off what must be a trick. Yet what he saw persisted. It was his sister. “Emerald, is that you?”

Topaz took a step forward, his sister smiling sweetly at him, reaching out her claw. He mimicked the gesture but pulled back when a flash of red energy whizzed by. Startled, Topaz looked in the direction of the blast, spotting a heavily wounded Gloves.

With the last of his strength, Gloves shouted, “Commander… she’s… an impostor.” Gloves collapsed. His body still.

Emerald’s sweet smile turned to a frown, “Jeez, this is what I get for not killing him? What’s the point of having this face if I can’t use it to my advantage? So, were you another friend of this one? Emerald, her name was, I think? I couldn’t ask for a better body, really.”

“Her body…” Topaz muttered darkly, his eyes snapping wide open. “You dare defile my sister’s body!”

“Oh, she’s your….” Viride didn’t get a chance to finish. Once more using all her wit and skill to dodge the orange blur that was Topaz. But, even that proved not to be enough, as evidence by the gash on her leg. “Haste, huh. I can match that.”

Harnessing the wind in her wings, Viride cast the Swift Gale spell. A sub-group of the Speed enhancement category. Like Haste, it gave her a boost in speed. Not as great as the Haste series, which shot its user forward like an arrow.

No Swift Gale gave her better dodging agility. The perfect counter for the straightforward Haste. Or so she hoped. It was really the only speed spell she knew.

Topaz skidded to a stop, working fast to change his trajectory for his next attack. Blue steam was rising from his scales as his plasma blades burned even brighter. “Hastega!” With ground tearing speed, Topaz closed the distance between him and Viride.

The Green Alirin sidestepped using bursts of wind to quickly spin sideways, but Topaz was a master of his craft. With precise movements of his tail and wings, he altered his trajectory. He couldn’t make sharp ninety-degree turns, but moving a few degrees wasn’t anything complicated. Thus, allowing him to continuously pursue Viride.

“Damn you!” Viride cursed, shooting off magic blasts and air shots. She was constantly on the move, unable to properly form a game-changing attack. Every dodge was within a hairsbreadth, and Topaz kept extending the reach of his plasma blades, every swing cutting closer.

Sliding to a halt, Viride whipped around to block Topaz’s strike, losing two talons for the effort. Then, with her stubby claw, she bashed him in the face. Stunning the orange Rinin. She took the opening and jumped on him, grappling with him on the ground.

Tussling on the ground was equally painful for both ponies, as their crystal spikes stabbed each other as they rolled. Topaz managed to punch Viride in the heart twice, getting some breathing room to run his elbow spike deep below her left shoulder. Blue fire shot out Viride’s back when he activated his plasma.

“ARGH!” Viride screamed, the intense burning overloading her brain. “Dammit! Somepony, help me!”

Her plea was answered by two Alicorn stallions she remembered had been on her side back in the war. Abu and Damu, both alicorns of vegetation. Not really top-tier warriors. Or warriors at all. They did make a fine distraction. Tackling Topaz off her to give her some breathing room.

Viride barely managed to create a small vortex by the time Topaz handily defeated the two alicorns. Dicing them up with his many glowing blades.

He continued to shine even brighter, blue mana blades projecting from his crystal spikes like swords. This was a finishing attack. Viride hastily loaded her Vortex cannon, the electrified tornadoes ready to launch.

“Sieben…” Topaz’s entire form began to vibrate. Viride couldn’t make out the next word over the boom of the sound barrier-breaking. She fired her Vortex Rail Cannon almost blindly, shooting out a scattershot of hypercharged projectiles.

It would come down to luck, and Viride feared hers was out.

Even as she dodged, she knew it was pointless. Topaz was going so fast she completely lost track of him. An overwhelming amount of pain overloaded her brain as she collapsed to the ground.

She didn’t want to look but couldn’t stop herself. It was worse than she imagined. Her left legs were cut off above the knee, her wing was gone as well, even bits of her tail. Searing the wounds closed, Viride scrambled to resist to the end. Wanting to meet her slayer head on to the last.

The orange Rinin stood proud, yet, he did not escape unscathed. His movements were clunky like he was barely holding himself together. Some of her shots had hit. Blowing hoof-sized holes into the orange rinin’s body. He was definitely missing a lung, his right foreleg was attached by only a strip of flesh, and the webbing of his wings fluttered like tattered sails.

Even with all that, he tried to hobble towards her.

“Get away from me, you bastard!” Viride screamed hysterically. Self-preservation overriding her momentary bravery. She did not want to die again! Who would? “Stay back! You bloodthirsty beast! You savage! Do you love to kill so much? Have you no honor?”

Topaz stood over her, wobbly but still standing. “Honor…” He wheezed through the hole in his chest. “Is for fools…” Something wet hit Viride’s face. She thought it was blood at first but found it was salty tears. The orange rinin was crying.

“I wish… I would have told you… you were my sister when I was freed from Rainbow Factory… But I was too scared. You didn’t remember me… I saw how it ended with the others… I didn’t want that… I just wanted… to… be… near… you….”

He collapsed to the ground in a heap. Viride reached out, pressing her talons to his jugular.

“I guess… he couldn’t do it….” Viride’s entire body relaxed, relief flooding her whole system. “I’m just going to shut my eyes… for a bit….”

On a strange impulse, she crawled over to Topaz’s body, hugging him around the neck. “What am I doing… I feel… sorry for him….”

Viride thought she’d sleep for just a bit. That was okay, right? It was the one thing she hasn’t gotten to do since coming back to life.

Perhaps she would be able to dream this time.


In the sky, Ruby Blaze struggled against Permaflame. But, unfortunately, the red monster pony found herself outmatched by the Alirin. Even transformed Ruby’s increased size hardly filled the gap between them. In fact, it made it larger.

When transformed into her complete dragon form, Ruby was ruffly the same size as a miniature adult dragon. This granted her greater strength, greater reach, extended breath range, and higher durability.

It also came with some downsides: lower agility, larger target area, reduced depth perception, and sense of scale.

Currently, Ruby thrashed about, limbs failing to swat the buzzing bug that was Perma. She tried to grab the Alirin in her grasp, missing her like a fly. Inhaling, Ruby’s chest budged comically before spewing a beam of fire. The sky lit up bright orange, followed by a burst of steam as chunks of ice rained down.

“I take you down!” Perma shouted in her childish tone. However, her skills were anything but. Ruby found it increasingly hard to counter the flaming ice user. Every breath left artistic flame-shaped ice sculptures in its wake. Even worse, if the breath happened to hit a cloud, it would remain in the air. Creating hazardous obstacles.

More than two Alicorns fighting nearby them fell prey to this trap. Or they were tossed into them.

The ice in the clouds also affected the weather, the strange mixture, creating bone-chilling snow.

Steam rose from her body, indicating Ruby was having trouble staying warm. Reluctantly she returned to her original size. Instantly feeling warmer. Yet, now she must fight without her unique ability.

Daring the frozen flames, Ruby could only trust in her training to overtake the monster before her. Diving through the cold mist, she tackled Perma, instantly taking damage as merely touching the frozen pony, causing frost creeping across her coat and scales.

That would not be enough to shake her though, gritting her teeth, Ruby engulfed her body in flames, transforming once more. Then, with Perma in claw, she arced back like a pitcher and flung the Alirin with all her might!

Perma spun like she was launched from the Dizzy-Tron, only there would be no recovery from this toss. So Ruby laid on the heat by shooting flames at her. Hoping that would be enough to at least disable the Alirin.

All those hopes were dashed instantly.

Ice exploded in every direction, a literal mountain forming in near seconds, its peak rising towards Ruby at alerting speeds. On top stood a flaming blue skeleton. To which Ruby could only laugh humorlessly.

“Not even Overheat’s kids could do that. Why can you?” She didn’t get an answer. Instead, Ruby found herself slapped to earth, half of her body covered in frost. Slowly she shrank to her original size in the newly made crater. Bitter and disappointed in herself. “I knew I wasn’t Commander material… not yet. Maybe never…”

It was her opinion that Twilight Sparkle deserved the title of Night Commander over her. She suspected Sixes’ distaste for the unicorn was the only reason she was promoted over Twilight. He assured her that wasn’t the case, but deep down, her doubts were never quelled.

“Don’t be given’ up now!” Came Shamrock’s scrappy tone. He appeared like an angel, decking Perma in the face while holding an alicorn by the throat. “Night Commanders, don’t have the right nor the will to give up! So, stand back up, Ruby! And if you can’t, then I order you too!”

Shamrock tossed the defeated Alicorn aside, another tackling him. Ruby watched as they grappled in the dirt.

Wiping the dirt and tears from her face, Ruby melted the ice from her body, standing to face Perma once more.

“Sir, yes, sir!” She yipped, raising her dukes.

Ruby realized she was overthinking things. Night Commander’s weren’t chosen for petty reasons; Sixes would never tolerate such thinking from any pony, let alone himself. So even if she doubted her own ability, she had a duty to her title. “I’m Night Commander Ruby Blaze! Come and get me!”

Ruby covered her entire body in flames but didn’t transform. Instead, she focused all that excess power and compressed it. Her muscles bulged slightly, but even that compressed, making her body denser and denser until she became even more slender.

Steam wafted off her from the heat, it felt like her blood was boiling beneath her skin, but Ruby never felt lighter. When Perma got in range, she moved faster and hit harder than ever before. Clocking the blazing skeleton right in the skull!

“OVERHEAT!”

She let loose a barrage of blows. Proud of the name for her new technique. It fitted that it be named after the original red Monster Pony. She laid into Perma, each punch producing a sonic boom.

Perma let out pained cries after each hit, sobbing tears of blue fire. “STOP IT! THAT HURTS!”

Ruby, in perhaps a moment of cruelty, did not heed these cries. How could she? How could she restrain this pony? In what meaningful way could she ensure Perma wouldn’t just take advantage of her mercy? She couldn’t. So that’s why she laid on the hurt harder. Ruby’s only mercy was killing Perma as quickly as possible.

“You don’t have the right to be this pathetic after you tried to kill me! This is the battlefield!” Then, rearing back for some extra leverage, Ruby hit Perma with a bone-cracking blow. The crack in the skeleton pony’s skull was oddly satisfying.

Perma dropped to the ground, turning back to normal, and it was here Ruby hesitated.

It was only for a moment.

She couldn’t bring herself to attack an unconscious pony, and she even wondered if an Anti-magic ring would be effective when a shot from nowhere blasted through her body.

Ruby fell on the ground beside her enemy, pressing her claw against the bleeding hole in her body. Idly she looked around for one that shot her, but no pony came to finish the job. So, she laid there, staring up at the whizzing magic bolts crossing overhead. And concluded in a dry and perhaps unironic way, she had been shot by a stray spell.

“It’s more impressive it took this long, actually….” She mumbled, cauterizing the wound close. Ruby’s limbs fell limp to her side. The fight was taken out of her. It was likely the results of using OVERHEAT. She had magic exhaustion.

Hearing dirt shifting behind her, Ruby craned her neck to see Perma stand back up. The blue Alirin looked at her with a burning hatred. Which was understandable. Ruby didn’t try to beg for her life. This was what was expected.

Perma raised her leg, perhaps to crush Ruby’s head, and then froze.

Ruby watched bewildered as Perma fell to her side, a huge gaping hold in her chest. It had hit her square in the heart, giving Ruby a clear view through the Alirin, which about made her puke. She quickly looked away from the gorefest and caught the faint traces of yellow lightning in the corner of her eye.

“Hazel…”


“Topaz! Ruby! Any pony!” Shamrock screamed into his gemcom while frantically fighting off a fifth bloody Alicorn! “You fuckers are like locus! You’re nothing but a plague!”

Shamrock wasn’t the flashiest Night Commander. He had little to his name beside the spikes on his knuckles. What he lacked in overwhelming firepower, regeneration, and lightning-fast speed, was pure fucking tenacity. Also, being a tough SOB helped. You did not gain the respect of a dragonlord by being soft!

Legendary Alicorns that were revered as gods? Who cares? What did that matter? He could punch a dragon so hard its knees buckled! So, what was a fancy Alicorn skull? Was it thicker than a dragon? Denser?

According to his kill count, they were neither. He might as well be boxing clay.

“Come out, ye black and tans! Let me show you how we rumble in Clydesdale!” With spittle flying from his mouth, Shamrock smashed in another skull. Then grabbed the dazed Alicorn by the head and shot green fire down its broken jaw.

“Enough of you potters and gardeners! Let a real warrior take the field!” A big red Alicorn declared. “Trembled before the Alicorn of War, MARS!”

Shamrock met the red Alicorn head-on, jabbing his talons into Mar’s chest like a lance. The Alicorn’s own momentum ran him through the entire length of the Rinin’s arm. Snapping ribs and tearing organs Shamrock dislodged himself from Mars, letting the Alicorn fall to the ground.

He took a moment to catch his breath and noticed something fly from the dead Alicorn. And it wasn’t just Mars. Now that his tunnel vision cleared, Shamrock saw many things flying in one direction.

They were orbs of all different colors and shades. All of them flew towards the giant hole that had been Mount Canterlot.

If he didn’t know better, and Shamrock really didn’t, but he could guess. They looked like souls.

“What in the hell….” It was beyond his pay grade, so he ignored the souls in favor of searching for his comrades.

Right off the bat, he found very few. Of the nearly hundred Rinin they started with, he counted maybe twenty? If even that.

A sudden familiar cry caught his attention. Shamrock looked towards the gaping maul and saw an orange flash, surrounded by four others of varying colors. Then there was the truffle of blonde hair.

“Applejack? The fuck?” Rather than ponder, Shamrock bolted to the aid of the farmer. He didn’t notice her new appendages in his rush, but that changed when he landed at her side.

Applejack sported a pair of wings, a horn, and ethereal blonde hair, Alicorn stuff. She was fighting off two raspberry ponies, a yellow one and a black one. All of them were Rinin like with Alicorn traits.

Alirins.

“Applejack!” he shouted, slamming his spiked fist into the banana-colored pony. It felt like he was punching a mountain! She barely budged!

“Another fun one!” Ibaraki cheered, swinging with her club and Spear banner.

Shamrock was quick to dodge knocking the offending weapons back with his fist alone, yet now he found his attack underpowered.

Feeling a presence behind him, Shamrock spun nimbly, avoiding the black Alirin’s great sword.

“Hassan, that one’s mine!” Ibaraki whined, interfering with Hassan’s follow-up strike.

“Foolish child!”

Shamrock spat fire, creating a wall between him and the two Alirins, and skidded to Applejack’s side. “Hey, Applejack Ninth! We have to get out of here!”

“The fight is not done yet!” Applejack barked in a two-tone voice like two ponies were speaking at once. Then, smashed her hooves into the ground, summoning up a godly amount of earth spikes. Spikes wasn’t even the right word. She was making mountains!

“Gaia!” The one of the purple Alirin screamed while barreling in from above. Wand and Gladius aloft in magic.

“Minerva!” Applejack, or rather Gaia, created a war hammer from ore in the earth. It made Bulwark’s hammer look small because it was about the size of Bulwark himself.

Hammer and Gladius struck, and physics was pushed aside because that small sword should not have stopped that mass of steel. Magic had to have its limits, right? The resulting shock wave sent him flying, making Shamrock feel like a mortal stuck between two goddesses.

Only the god on his side was losing. As so helpfully named by Minerva, Gaia was pushed back, not by much, but she was still losing ground.

“You never had this much strength before! Did you finally pull a plow or something, you dainty mage!” Gaia sounded strangely happy while exchanging barbs with the Alirin.

“I’m not a mud roller like you! But I do respect your principles slightly more, only slightly. I’ve deemed your children worthy. It’s only the Pegasus that must die, so just get out of my way!”

“Sweet talk coming from the pony that condoned the enslavement of my children!”

“Well, I no longer do! I just want the traitors dead! And now I got this mess!” The mess being to the all-out war going on around them.

“Traitors, huh? Then why is Morrigan still alive?”

Minerva grimaced, “Not my choice, but do you expect me to kill my own sister?”

“She’s my sister too, and she’s a backstabbing bitch! She slept with your husband, remember!”

“Which is why Rex isn’t here. He’s as bad as Zeus!”

The two godly ponies continued to bicker, making Shamrock stare in wonder at how petty they were. However, there was no time to comment on this as Hassan and Ibaraki broke through his flaming barricade, making him take the two on. Luckily, he received some help.

“Ares! Hep!” Gaia cheered at the arrival of her allies, suddenly lightning fell upon them all as Zeus, Odin, and Jupiter joined the fray. The three were of Tempest’s faction.

The three Alicorns of Lightning, Sky, and Rain stood between both factions, each side uncertain of where they would place their allegiance with Tempest absent. Tempest had been on Minerva’s side until, in a strange change of heart, switched to Gaia’s side before Solaris wiped them all out.

Ibaraki and Hassan flanked Minerva, who was joined by two more, Mercury and Venus. Morrigan was absent.

The remaining Rinin regrouped around Shamrock as all sides of the conflict seemly took a moment to regroup, causing a lull in the battle.

Besides the screams of the dying, all was quiet. So quiet that all parties present could hear a far-off noise in the distance. Only those of modern times would recognize it.

It was the hum of Airships.

An earth-shaking call to arms filled the air. Shamrock turned toward Evernight, spying an entire Nippon fleet, combined with the Taskforce they’d left at sea. All ships were positioning for a broadside bombardment, with the army gathering for an attack.

Yet, there was something else. A higher-pitched squeal that even Shamrock didn’t recognize. It was coming from far up above, where a jet stream trailed across the red sky. Some object or craft was flying at speeds beyond what ponies could reach.

From that black speck came seven dots that quickly grew in size the closer they got. They all braked hard, kicking up dust and ash.

“Sorry, we’re late, brother,” said a familiar gruff voice.

The dust settled to reveal seven ponies, Sixes, Fierce Fury, Essex, Titania, Zeppelin, Kaiser Hades, and Princess Celestia herself.

All seven were decked out in platinum armor, inscribed with runes, and looking like heroes from a fairy tale. It was the item Celestia carried that held everyponies attention, though. First, of course, she had her l Axe of Apollo. The golden ax glittered with radiance, but it was the spear Celestia now carried that made every pony over a thousand subconsciously gulp.

It was the legendary weapon that ended all their lives thousands of years ago, the Spear of Solaris.

Celestia, her hair a blazing fiery gold, pointed the spear at the ancient ponies before her, “I’ve come to finish my mother’s work. I am Celestia Solaris! Alicorn of the Sun and Ruler of Equestria! Expect no mercy or quarter for your transgression against my ponies! Your time of twilight hath come!”