Dash had been shot out of the sky. Edge had gotten her right on the wings, numbing them with a blast. Gilda had managed to catch her when she fell, only to then get shot herself, paralysing one of her wings and her right foreleg, which in turn caused her to lose her grip on Dash. Fortunately a fall from this height was much better than a full speed crash from higher up. Even so, her Pegasus friend was effectively out for the count, recovering from the fall. That left Gilda against Edge when he came at them.
Hobbling on three legs, she managed to close the distance. She thrust her spear, but he caught it on his leg and broke it in two. Not deterred, Gilda hit him in the head with the part she still had. It struck the fleshy half of his face, but he barely reacted to it. He retaliated by punching her in the face and kicking her when she reeled back.
Gilda's vision swam. She tried to focus and could see a grey mass approaching her. Snarling, she swiped with her good claw but he blocked it and pinned it. He forced her to the ground, pinning his other leg against her throat. She choked, gasping for air and struggling with all her might but he didn't let go.
Her struggles started to lessen. The world around the edge of her eyes was darkening. She could see the glare of his single, robotic eye glaring down at her. She wanted nothing more than to tear it from his head, but she could barely even do that.
"Gilda!" Rainbow struggled to her hooves, beginning to charge. "Get your hooves off-!"
Her yell was cut off when Edge blasted her, raising the leg he used to pin Gilda's arm. Dash took the shot to the chest and fell.
"Dash…!" she managed to cry in a croaky voice. "You… you…!"
Anger flared in Gilda again and she managed to get her claw grasped around the robot side of his head while he wasn't pinning it. He tried to shake her off him, but she wasn't letting go.
"Stay the hell…" Gilda gripped around his eye and began to pull. "Away from my friend!"
She dug her claw in as far as it would go and yanked on the eye. With a rending of metal and sparks, she pulled it right out of his head. Edge's mouth opened in a mangled scream, buzzing like electricity as he juddered and shook on the spot. Then, all of a sudden, he stopped. For a moment, he stood completely frozen before he collapsed like a sack of bricks.
Her breathing raspy, Gilda rubbed her throat and threw a middle claw at Edge's prone form. She gave it a kick as she passed. He didn't move or get up.
"Cyborg jerk," she spat. She hurried to where Dash had fallen. "Dash? Dash, you there? If you're dead, I swear I'm gonna kill you!"
"Nice… that you care…" Rainbow managed a smirk from the ground. The chest piece of her armour was smoking and she coughed. "Edge… is he…?"
Gilda held up his eye in response. "Seemed to go down pretty quick when he lost this. Don't know if he's dead, don't care. So long as he doesn't get back up for a bit."
"Guess so…" If Rainbow had something to say, she kept it to herself. "Mind giving me a claw here?"
"Why not? It's my only good one currently." She hefted Rainbow up, propping her on the side where Gilda had been paralysed. "You good?"
"Better than you," she retorted. "Come on, let's find Fluttershy or Zecora. They can-"
She broke off when they heard a horrendous shriek that pierced the whole forest. Like a million claws scratching on a million chalkboards and the claws all belonged to a bunch of seriously angry cats. The sound even made Gilda cringe. From what they could tell, it was coming from inside the castle.
They both picked up the pace, supporting one another towards the door. They hurried a little quicker when the shriek was answered by a ferocious roar. Snarls and screeches intensified the closer they got. What they found inside was sheer chaos.
Spike was one of the fighters. His face was an expression of sheer rage, teeth gritted and claws bared. It was directed at… Gilda wasn't completely sure. It walked on four legs and had leathery wings, along with matted silvery hair and fangs stained with blood. In fact, their whole mouth was stained with it.
He wasn't the only one at the scene. The two masked twins were watching from a distance, warily ready to act. Pinkie was aiming her cannon at the monstrosity, but seemed afraid to fire for fear of hitting Spike. Gilda's keen eyes spotted Zecora near the branching stairs, crouching over something.
Coming to a silent agreement, Gilda managed to put Rainbow on her back and ran over the battlefield to where Zecora was. She was tending to Rarity, pressing a blood-stained fabric to her neck while also applying a potion. Or trying to at least.
"Gilda, quickly, help me with this!" she said at once. "Open the bottle, just give it a twist!"
"Got it!" She gently set Dash down, grasped the bottle and pulled open the cork with her beak. "What the hay happened here?"
"There is no time to explain, Rarity is in great pain!" She took the bottle and poured it over the press she was using. "This should stem the blood's flow, though if she'll pull through… I just don't know."
"We need Fluttershy!" cried Rainbow. "Fluttershy! Fluttershy?!"
"I'm here, I'm here!" She came hurrying from one of the passages, looking frantic. "I-I heard that horrible sound, what's… oh no, Rarity!"
She was with Zecora in an instant, firing a healing beam from her bracelet. Rarity stirred while in its aura, murmuring feebly. Zecora lifted the press to see the wound was closing and breathed a sigh of relief.
"This wound should no longer upset her. Fluttershy, your timing could not have been better," she said.
Fluttershy looked very shaken. "She's still… o-oh my, she's lost so much blood."
"Do not worry, I can handle that." Zecora took a few more potions out. "For now, we need to handle our wayward bat."
"Bat? Wait yeah, that thing looks a little like the bat pony they have with them," said Rainbow. "Geeze, what happened to her?"
Zecora frowned. "It was really most strange. After failing to drink a potion she had, she underwent this drastic change. Her body and mind are no longer her own, though her bloodlust and savagery have certainly grown."
"Then we'd better get in there," said Rainbow. "Spike looks like he could use a hoof."
She wasn't wrong. Though Spike was indeed battling fiercely, the creature that was Selena moved with a strength and speed that only his armour and scales protected him from. Even then, she landed nasty cuts with her claws and lapped eagerly at the blood that stained them. Not only that but with every bit she ingested, her changes seemed to worsen. Her claws got longer and her size increased.
Gilda nodded. "Then let's help him out. Hey Fluttershy, give us a little zap!"
She used her healing beam on both of them. The instant she did, Gilda got feeling back in her wing and leg. A flexing of her wings and a grin told her Dash did too. It sucked she didn't have her spear anymore, but she could work without it.
By the time they soared towards the fight, Spike had been knocked down. Selena had him pinned, her fangs snapping at his throat. But before Gilda could land a hit, somepony else did. One of the weird twins, leaving a shallow cut on Selena's back. The other did the same with one of her legs. It made the creature flinch and turn her attention to the twins.
The happy twin jumped towards Selena again, but crashed into Rainbow who flew across her path. The frowning one ended up barging into Gilda, causing them both to stumble and fall.
"Hey, watch where you're going, dweeb!" she snapped at the twin. Her response was to swipe her knife at Gilda's neck. "Oh, now you're gonna get it!"
But just as the two of them started to clash, Selena rammed into them both. She went for the twin, perhaps seeing her as the scrawniest and weakest of the pair. She lashed at Selena's face with her knives, but the mutated bat knocked them aside and pinned down the leg. The twin desperately kicked at her face while her sister was fighting Rainbow, not seeing her plight.
Gilda was a little tempted to let the creature finish the twin off. But annoyingly, her conscience won out and she lunged for Selena. She swiped at her face, leaving three claw marks before flying back and kicking her off.
The twin stared at Selena, now caught between the other twin and Dash, then at Gilda. She tilted her head in apparent confusion.
"Don't take it the wrong way, you're still a dweeb," said Gilda. "Now are you gonna help me take this thing down or what? 'Cause it really isn't being picky about its food right now."
The twin looked back in silence. Then, she shook her head.
Gilda snarled. "No? Do you not see what's going on right now?! You seemed pretty ready to kill us! What makes this thing different?"
The twin pointed at Selena, then at herself and her sister. She raised her hooves, then joined them together.
"You're not serious." Gilda groaned when the twin nodded. "Ugh, you ponies and your friendships. Even the psycho ones! Fine, but we gotta hold her down somehow."
The twin pulled something out. A hook on the end of a length of rope. She mimed tying the rope to the ground, then pointed at her twin.
"Alright, we'll do it your way. Dash, keep this thing's attention on us! These two are gonna try to tie it down!"
"So we have to get right in there while they hang back?" asked Rainbow, recovering from Selena's charge while the other twin backed up from the mutated pony. "Sure, that might as well happen."
Gilda rounded on Selena, noticing the mark she'd made earlier. Except that it was already healing, right before her eyes.
"You've got to be kidding me," she remarked, rolling her eyes and baring her claws again. "Guess I'll have to make sure it sticks!"
As they charged towards the rampaging creature, Pinkie was heaving Spike back towards Zecora and Fluttershy. Even though he was struggling every step of the way.
"Let go… let go of me!" he yelled. "She hurt Rarity! She needs to… needs to pay!"
"And she's hurt you too, Spike!" argued Pinkie. "There's enough blood making a mess without adding more!"
"I'll give her blood!" he snarled. "I'll give her what she deserves!"
"Spike, stop!" She gripped both sides of his face, looking him in the eye. "Let the others handle it for now. This isn't going to help anypony, especially not you. I'm not letting another friend get hurt. Not if I can help it."
Even with anger clouding almost every thought, Spike couldn't relent from the genuine heartache in Pinkie's voice. He stopped struggling and let her support him to the medics. Fluttershy was on him at once, but Spike barely acknowledged her healing energy, his eyes fixed on Rarity.
"Please, tell me she's okay," he begged Zecora.
"She will need to rest, but she'll pull through," she answered. "Now, let me see if we can do the same for you."
Relief swept through Spike at her words. He didn't resist while they began treating him. His stomach turned when he saw where Rarity's neck had been bitten into. The flesh had healed over, though it left a nasty looking scar outline.
"Guess we're even," he murmured, touching the ones on his stomach. "Rarity… I'm sorry…"
"It isn't your fault, Spike," said Fluttershy at once. "We all know that and no doubt she does too."
He smiled gratefully at her, squeezing the hoof she placed on his shoulder. The sound of more hooves approaching met their ears.
"What in the world is goin' on?" Applejack came sprinting along one of the branching paths, followed closely by Strongheart and Osteo. "Rarity! Don't tell me she's-!"
"She'll be alright, AJ," replied Pinkie. She'd propped her cannon on the bannister overlooking the hall. "But we've got a pretty big problem right now."
"Like that's anythin'…" She trailed off when she saw the mutated Selena. "Crab apples on a stick, what is that?!"
"O-Oh no!" Fluttershy tensed at the sight of Osteo. "D-Don't hurt my friends, please!"
"Don't worry, Fluttershy," said Strongheart. "A temporary truce has been called while we came to discover the source of the noise."
"It sounded like a chance for an even greater fight," said Osteo. "Though now I see who it is, I almost feel reluctant to engage her."
"Do ya know what's happened?" asked Applejack.
"I have some idea. Dr. Test Tube performed some kind of experiment on Selena, one that enhanced her natural gifts. Though he also spoke of changes that would come to her, if not kept in check by inhibitors he gave her."
Strongheart frowned. "Inhibitors?"
"Those potions," Osteo said, pointing to where they'd landed. "The doctor created them to counter the changes that could be brought on by the science he used to make her faster and stronger. She must have waited too long between doses."
"A-And now…?" Fluttershy dared to ask.
"Now, it seems she will tear us all apart in a feeding frenzy." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I had hoped to spar against her, but… not like this. She doesn't deserve this."
Spike stared at Selena, shrieking and screeching for more and more blood. He remembered what his own greed had done to him, how it had made him act. And yet his friends had never given up on him. Nor had Selena's. She didn't know what she was doing, she couldn't control herself and he'd still tried to…
Shame welled up within him. He looked at Rarity, breathing gently with her eyes closed, Zecora tending to her. She had saved him because she knew who he truly was inside. Selena had seemed so desperate to stop herself turning into this. This couldn't be what she wanted. He knew what he had to do.
"We need to get those potions," Spike said, managing to stand. "It's her only chance. If you can keep her held down, I'll make sure she gets them. I'll give them to her all at once."
"Why would you help her?" asked Osteo. "She is your enemy."
"Maybe, but she's your friend," replied Spike. "We have to try, at least."
"Come on, Osteo," said Applejack. "Ya want a fight worth fightin'? I'd say this sounds like a pretty good one."
"A chance to preserve and to save, not simply to destroy," added Strongheart.
"Yes…" Osteo stared at Selena, a grim smile setting on his face. "Yes, I agree. Very well then. Let us go now, to battle!"
"Pinkie, cover us from up here," ordered Spike. "Keep Zecora, Fluttershy and Rarity safe. Everypony else? Let's go!"
They vaulted over the bannister and charged towards the fight. Selena had taken off into the air, chasing down Rainbow and Gilda. The latter had a nasty looking cut on her rear leg and the former was clutching her side. The twins had their grapples ready, but their target was too high for them to reach.
"Guys, tag out!" called Spike. "Go see Zecora and Fluttershy! We'll handle this!"
"Buffalo, a boost!" barked Osteo.
Strongheart caught his meaning and flipped towards him. She landed on his back and he bucked her into the air. The two flyers split apart while she vaulted past, striking Selena with full force. It made her descend from the hit. Applejack skidded underneath to catch Strongheart as Osteo leapt for Selena. He struck her in the face, then hauled himself onto her back whilst kicking her flank.
"Down to earth!" he commanded. "Fall, Selena, fall!"
The mutated pony screeched in annoyance, trying to shake him off. She turned upside down, but he stubbornly hung on.
"Bring her closer!" called Pinkie. "I got this!"
Osteo tugged on Selena's neck, forcing her to change course towards Pinkie. He let go the moment Pinkie fired, sticky taffy zooming from the barrel. It splattered onto Selena's wings, sticking them together. She crashed to the floor, straining to pull them free.
The twins moved in, whirling their hooks and throwing them over their ally. They fixed them into the ground, holding on for dear life against her struggles. Applejack and Strongheart leant their strength to their efforts too while Selena thrashed and shrieked. Osteo vaulted onto her back again, doing his best to pin her down.
Meanwhile, Spike made a beeline for the fallen potions. He swiped them up, making sure there were still plenty left in their bottles and made for Selena. Even with all of them working to hold her down, they were still struggling. He'd have to be quick about this.
"Selena!" He forced open her jaw while Osteo held onto her head. "Hold still! We're trying to-!"
She managed to wrench her head free and her jaws clamped on Spike's hand. He yelled as the fangs pierced his scales and she threw her head to the side, hurling him away. The force was so great that he let go of the potions. They flew from his hand, arcing up to land on the hard ground.
Spike clutched his bleeding claw, rushing forward to catch them. But he could tell it would be too late. They'd smash open before he even reached them. Still he kept going. He had to do this. Had to save Selena, his friends.
But just before the potions hit the ground, they stopped. Suspended by a magical aura. But not like one he'd ever seen. The aura was connected to a steadily flowing stream of energy, which trailed through the air across the room until it reached the outstretched leg of a pony standing in one of the doorways. It looked like…
"What are you waiting for?!" Edge was firing a levitation beam from one of his modified legs, glaring at Spike with his remaining eye. "Move it, kid!"
Spike snapped out of his shock and grabbed the potions from the aura. Edge jetted over him, firing his beam at Selena now. It did a lot to lessen her movements, but Spike didn't hang around. Gritting his teeth, he used his bitten hand to hold open her mouth again, ripped the corks off with his teeth and shoved the whole thing down her throat.
Selena's screeches gurgled as the potion splashed into her mouth. Spike kept it there until they were empty before withdrawing his claw. The others kept up their efforts to hold her down, but Edge's levitation aura gave out. With another shriek, she pulled against one of the ropes and unbalanced those holding it. The other rope wasn't enough to keep her down and she bit into Osteo's leg, the stallion yelling from the pain.
But she didn't get any bigger. In fact, Spike could see her getting smaller. The bones were cracking back into place, her wings diminishing in size and her claws shrank back into her hooves. The horrendous shrieking gave way to yells of a mare in distress and the feral gleam faded from her eyes. With Osteo still holding on, even with his bleeding leg, Selena returned to her normal shape and size.
Osteo lessened his grip and lowered her gently down. The twins were there in seconds, peering down at Selena in evident concern. She took long, exhausted breaths and her eyes wandered blearily around.
"What… what happened…?" she murmured. "I… I don't…"
"Fret not, my friend," said Osteo. "You are in good hooves. The dragon gave you the potion to reverse your changes."
"Spike? How… how sweet of…" Her eyes fluttered shut.
Osteo pressed an ear to her chest and nodded. "She breathes. I believe she's merely exhausted."
The twins seemed to visibly relax at the news. Then Slash nudged her sister and gestured around them. Applejack, Strongheart and Spike were watching them warily. Rainbow and Gilda had been treated for their injuries and had landed nearby. Pinkie still had her cannon trained on them from the bannister. Snick readied her knives, but froze when a mechanical whirring sounded off. The sound of a magical blaster being prepped to fire.
"Don't even think about it," rasped Edge in his electronic voice, aiming his weapon at them.
"Edge?" Rainbow stared in amazement. "Is that you in there? You back with us?"
"Pretty much," he replied. "When that griffin tore out my robot eye, it was like I could think more clearly again. Thanks for that."
Gilda let out a laugh. "I just wanted to break something off you. Guess it worked out then. We don't need to be worried about it happening again though, do we?"
"Believe me, I'm doing a lot better," replied Edge.
"Please, no more of this." Fluttershy had approached them too. "We've already caught Commander Sting, you're outnumbered and Selena still needs help, to make sure she's okay. Just let us help her and stop all of this. Please."
The three henchponies exchanged looks with each other, all silently conferring. In the end, they all nodded at the same time. Snick and Slash set down their hoof blades, while Osteo hefted Selena onto his back.
"We accept your terms. For now, there is nothing more to be gained from this fight and while I would relish it, perhaps this kind of victory will suffice for the moment." He glanced at Strongheart and Applejack, then back at Fluttershy. "Please, tend to her as best you can."
"Bring her over here," said Fluttershy. "Zecora and I will take a look at her."
She took a moment to give some healing energy to Spike's hand and he flexed his fingers with a grateful smile. She returned it and led the henchponies towards the stairs.
"I'll watch them," said Edge, following at a distance when they moved off. "Just in case."
"And we'll come along and watch you," replied Gilda, motioning to Strongheart.
He glared at her. "Come on! I'm on your side."
"Now ya are, but we haven't forgotten it was you and Tube that brought Fallen back in the firs' place," countered Applejack. "Ya seemed pretty down fer what he had in mind."
"Yeah, until Tube turned me into this!" He gestured to one of his legs. "Do you know what it's been like for me? To want to smack that smug look off his face, but not even being able to move my own body do it? Plus, what he wants now, I never wanted that. I just wanted a chance for some real glory, not to doom the whole world."
Rainbow flew up to him. "Suck it up, Edge. At the end of the day, you sold us all out and brought that maniac out of Tartarus. It sucks what he did to you, but as far as I'm concerned? This is the bed you've made. Lie in it."
The cyborg was far from happy about this, but he offered no other argument. He simply stalked off after the others, followed by Gilda and Strongheart. Spike, Rainbow, Applejack and Pinkie watched them go, then came together to confer.
"Guess they're dealt with," said Spike. "Now what?"
"I guess we just stay here, keep watch," replied Rainbow. "Even if they've given up for now, they might try again. Who knows? Fallen could show up for Samore, if he beats the princesses."
"Come on, Dashie," said Pinkie. "Four princesses against one nasty alicorn? Even I don't have to do the math for that."
"We ain't sayin' they'll lose, Pinkie," said Applejack. "But we gotta be ready, just in case. After Discord, all bets're off."
"And that'll be the same for us, if he does show up here. If four princesses can't stop him, what chance do we have?" added Rainbow.
None of them dared to answer that, but Pinkie managed to perk up a smile.
"Let's not worry about that for now. Look at us! We beat the bad guys, worked together to help somepony who needed it, Rarity's gonna be okay and Samore's still safe. That's a lot to be happy about!"
"Yeah, we did pretty good." Spike looked ashamed. "I'm… I'm sorry about when… I mean, what I…"
"Spike, don't even fret about it," said Applejack. "No wonder ya got all mad about what happened ta Rarity. Nopony's blamin' ya, sugar."
"Not a bit," put in Pinkie, her smile falling. "Really, I should be saying sorry. I mean, I'm the reason Selena dropped the potion and if she hadn't-"
"Uh-uh, you don't get to start that either," interrupted Rainbow. "We didn't know what was gonna happen if she didn't drink it. That's a rule, starting now: no blaming ourselves for anything that's gone down. That's all on them, not us."
Pinkie giggled. "Good rule, Dashie. Thanks." She looked towards the henchponies. "But maybe they're not all so bad. I mean, they all worked together to help save a friend."
"Or ta help save their own skins," countered Applejack. "Selena wasn't exactly bein' fussy."
"But then they could have just tried to kill her," argued Spike. "They didn't though and they even gave up once she was safe. Pinkie might actually be right."
"Don't let your guard down though," said Rainbow. "All it takes is a second we're not looking and then-"
She was interrupted by something outside. A massive flare of light, the sounds of energy being dispersed. A really similar and much bigger sound of something being teleported. Prepping their weapons again and ordering the others to stay put, they hurried towards its source.
Something had manifested in the gorge surrounding the castle. Six large somethings, that looked like crystals, each one a different solid colour.. That wasn't the only thing. Five others were gathered around them, shaking off the effects of being teleported. Five very familiar others. The volcano team.
"Oh my gosh, they did it!" cheered Rainbow. "I'll go tell the others!"
Applejack, Pinkie and Spike were already thundering down the stairs into the gorge to meet them. Trixie was the first to meet them, throwing herself into the waiting hug.
"Please, please don't tell me you're all that's left!" she cried.
"It's okay, Trix, it's okay," Pinkie said, hugging her tightly. "Everypony else is fine. I mean, the princesses are still busy with the big bad but our group is A-Okay!"
"That's such a relief!" A tall, green creature that sounded like Thorax neared them. "I really hope the princesses will be okay."
"Whoa nelly, Thorax." Applejack looked up at him, letting out an impressed whistle. "That's a hay of a glow-up, sugar cube. How'd that happen?"
"I shared my love with Ember and I got bigger and stronger!" he told them excitedly.
"Which is not as weird as it sounds," put in the princess. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Spike. "What happened? Whose blood is this? If they've hurt you, I swear-!"
"Ember, it's alright, it's fine," said Spike quickly. "This isn't my blood. I mean, maybe a little of it is but it's fine. We beat Fallen's guys and Samore is still safe."
"Yeah, you should have seen it, Ember!" Pinkie reached up and rapped Spike on the shoulder excitedly. "One of them turned into a really hungry bat monster, but we all worked together to stop her and Spike got right in there to use a potion to turn her back to normal. He was so brave!"
"Aw, come on…" Spike blushed and chuckled. "It's not that big of a deal."
"I don't know about that." Ember kissed his cheek and punched his arm. "I'd say that sounds like a pretty big deal to me."
"I quite agree," came a deeper version of another familiar voice. "You've outdone yourself, little brother."
"Huh? Doom? Wait, no…" Spike stared in amazement. "Dusk? Is… is that you?"
"Yes, though I'm still having trouble believing it myself." Dusk looked down at his altered form. "I mean, it does still feel like me but… also not."
"Well, fer what it's worth, Dusk, ya still look like you ta me," said Applejack. "Just a lil' bigger. I mean, maybe more'n a lil'."
"I'll say!" Pinkie wolf-whistled and prodded one of his forelegs. "Check out the guns on this bad boy! Ooh and your eyes look really funky! In a good way though."
"I appreciate that, Pinkie. Though it came at a cost," he said. "Doom is… he's gone. Grace killed him and… well I don't really know how to say it…"
"He's gone back where he belongs," said Trixie, giving a sad sort of smile. "Only this time, he was welcomed back and I think you're both better off for it."
Dusk returned her smile. "I couldn't have put it better myself."
"My apologies for being curt, but there will be time for reunions later," said Sombra. "Right now, I must concentrate."
He stood before a crystal that contained Ray. Dusk had to silently tell them all to wait and stay back while the former king did his work. He pressed his horn to the crystal Ray was trapped inside and it glowed intensely. A thin layer of new crystal spread from where Sombra's horn touched, all the way across its surface. Sombra's teeth were gritted and beads of sweat trickled down his face, but he kept it up.
Before long, the whole crystal was covered in a layer of dark-grey crystal rather than the vibrant red. Redness still simmered inside it, but it was muted against the grey. Sombra stepped away and shook his head to clear it.
"There," he said. "That should prevent him from harnessing Wrath's power and keep the Beast contained inside it until Celestia can perform the proper spell. That was… more difficult than I anticipated."
"Will you be alright?" asked Trixie.
"I only need a moment. I must press on," said Sombra. "Now, I'm torn between Gluttony or Sloth as the next option. Being intangible and draining magic are traits Fallen certainly shouldn't possess, but which is worse?"
Trixie rolled her eyes. "Well, make a decision quickly. There's no doubt he didn't somehow feel that. It probably won't be long before-"
Pinkie's eyes suddenly widened when her whole body started to vibrate violently.
"Uh-oh. That was a really big one," she said. "I've never felt one as bad as that!"
All of them exchanged fearful looks. Their eyes started shifting around, looking for any sign of what could be coming. It was Dusk who looked up to the sky and pointed.
"I think that might be why."
They all looked. Something was flying towards them at great speed. Something with armour, purple cloak flared out behind him and sword poised to strike.
"I hate it when I'm right," squeaked Trixie.