This is a monumental occasion. You have the chance to map out a continuum previously unknown. However, you must be prepared for every possibility, no matter how unlikely. We cannot let our guard down, even for the most simple of creatures. So be careful. Into the dark.
-Transmission from Captain Deucalion to Cohort 8 strike teams
It was a beautiful morning in Ponyville. The weather ponies were clearing the skies, foals were on their way to school, and several Apple family members were arguing with Grand Pear over the ethics of pineapple on pizza. It was a fairly normal day, all things considered, if one ignored the time-traveling assassin.
Starlight Glimmer didn’t even have time to react before she was already on the ground, a sword pointed at her face.
Starlight instinctively put up a shield to stop her enemy’s attack. Her attacker flipped a switch on her sword. The moment Starlight saw the sword passing through the shield like it wasn’t there, she teleported away.
Starlight appeared atop the Castle of Friendship. Weren’t humans supposed to transform into ponies when they came to Equestria? Her eyes shot towards the spot she was standing earlier. The masked swordswoman was gone.
The Castle began to shift. Starlight saw that a clean cut had been run through the entire Castle. As it fell down towards the School of Friendship, Starlight lifted herself into the air and held the Castle in place.
She risked a glance back and saw her attacker running up the side of the Castle. Starlight dodged the first attack then flew underneath the falling Castle. Her attacker landed just below her. Starlight risked a blast to deter her attacker, which briefly loosened her grip on the Castle. She strained to return the Castle back to its rightful position, but it seemed every time she made one inch of progress, her attacker forced her to lose two.
She needed a distraction.
She created illusory copies of herself. Each copy flew out in a different direction, and some stayed behind to hide Starlight. She saw that her attacker had left to follow some of the copies.
With much effort, the Castle of Friendship was restored. Starlight flew around the perimeter of the Castle, repairing the damage as she went.
As she circled back around to the front, a beam of red light pierced the sky. The beam fragmented into several more. Pegasi fell out of the sky as the light made contact with them. The shield Starlight put up to protect herself decayed into nothing upon contact with the beams. She quickly stopped herself in the air before touching one of the beams.
A burst of red energy tore through the sky towards Starlight. She quickly deflected the blast to the ground. The blast tore through the ground like Pinkie Pie through wrapping paper on Hearth’s Warming Morning.
Before the swordswoman could attack her again, she focused her magic and teleported inside the castle.
Immediately upon Starlight appearing within Trixie’s room, Trixie dove behind a potted plant and screamed, “The fireworks were not Trixie’s fault!”
“Trixie! It’s me!” Starlight quickly said. Trixie poked her head out from behind the plant.
“Oh, phew, I thought–” Trixie was interrupted by the wall exploding.
Starlight teleported out of the room before any of the wall could hit her. She would have to check in on Trixie later, but she couldn’t do that if she died herself.
Trixie’s room exploded. Starlight had made her way down the hall. She cast her invisibility spell on herself and ducked behind a column.
She breathed a sigh of relief. She opened her eyes slightly and glanced down the hall towards where Trixie was. The masked swordswoman there. The strange device on her arm pulsed red.
“Signs of life detected.” The masked swordswoman turned towards Starlight’s hiding spot.
“Aw, crapbaskets,” she muttered.
A red ball of energy tore through the hallway towards Starlight. She ducked underneath and rushed to Trixie. Starlight swore she had cast Accelero on herself, but the swordswoman was still faster.
Starlight Glimmer crashed through the wall into one of the three libraries in the castle.
The Lunar Silver chandelier hanging from the ceiling dropped. Starlight just barely managed to catch the chandelier before it hit the floor. Starlight glanced behind her.
The masked swordswoman had fired a burst at the chandelier. As her sword was lowering to Starlight’s level, Starlight instinctively teleported out.
Searing pain shot through her leg. She glanced at her leg. It was slightly burned, but otherwise usable. She had been hit just before she got away.
A desk sat in the center of the room, covered in various papers from the last thing Twilight was researching. Even though she had moved back to Canterlot about a month ago, Twilight hadn’t brought her research equipment with her yet.
The mirror portal to the human world sat on the back wall, covered in cloth. It gave off a faint pulsating magic signal, revealing that it was open.
The wall behind Starlight exploded.
She turned around. She couldn’t even react. She was pinned to the wall.
Starlight shined a bright light from her horn, temporarily blinding her attacker. She wriggled out of her grip and dashed for the mirror portal.
A bookshelf fell down in front of her. She just barely stopped herself. The masked swordswoman suddenly appeared in front of her.
Thinking quickly, Starlight levitated several books out of the fallen shelf and tore them, scattering the pages in the air. She silently prayed that Twilight wouldn’t kill her for that later.
The pages stopped in the air, blocking her attacker’s field of vision just long enough for Starlight to enter the portal.
Seeing Starlight Glimmer tumbling out of the portal was ranked among the most normal things to happen that school year. The sword-wielding assassin in a black mask who came out a few seconds later, on the other hand, did not.
At first, Sunset Shimmer thought it was some sort of game. She wouldn’t put it past Starlight or Trixie to pull something like this. But when the swordswoman started shooting bursts of red energy, she instantly knew it wasn’t.
Starlight’s arm had a sizable burn on it. It was clear the only reason the pain wasn’t bothering her was the adrenaline.
By now, students were panicking and running away. Some, like Flash, were calmly panicking and guiding others to run away.
A large ring formed around the school. A blue grid appeared inside the ring as the ring passed through the area. Sunset watched as the ring passed harmlessly through her own body. She swore she heard an automated female voice say something along the lines of “Restore state saved”.
“What’s happening?” Pinkie Pie asked, suddenly popping up . The pink-haired girl had a habit of sneaking up on unsuspecting people, but Sunset didn’t have time to be surprised at the moment.
“Dangerous sword lady,” Sunset simply replied while pointing at said dangerous sword lady.
Pinkie nodded in understanding. She pulled a cupcake out of her hair and tossed it at Starlight's attacker.
As the cupcake sailed through the air, a rainbow blur raced past Pinkie and Sunset.
The cupcake exploded harmlessly in the air. A red static field had caught it before it collided with the mysterious swordswoman.
While her vision was obscured by the sugary explosion, Rainbow Dash attacked. No one was fast enough to stop Rainbow Dash, right?
Wrong.
Sunset didn’t even see the masked swordswoman move. Rainbow Dash was already on the ground, unmoving, a gray static in the shape of a stab wound in her abdomen.
By now, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight were all ready for a fight. They had been evacuating students earlier, but now they stood around the swordswoman, fully prepared to strike.
“You big mean–” was all Fluttershy managed to get out before she flew into the stairs leading up to school.
By now, thanks to the distraction, Starlight was already there by the stairs. Sunset knelt down and touched Fluttershy’s forehead. When her hand pulled back, there was blood on her fingers.
Pinkie Pie had thrown volley after volley of sugary sweets. Every sprinkle, cupcake, and cookie exploded harmlessly in the same red static field.
The swordswoman slashed her sword at Applejack. Rarity jumped in front of Applejack and put up a diamond shield to defend her.
The sword passed through like it wasn’t there. Momentary panic shot through Sunset. She could tell Rarity and Applejack were feeling the same thing.
When the sword was pointed towards Rarity’s chest, the swordswoman pulled some sort of trigger on the handle, sending a burst of red energy that passed through Rarity and hit Applejack. The area where the burst passed through turned a dull gray. Both collapsed to the ground.
The masked swordswoman turned her attention to Twilight. Sunset shared a glance with Pinkie.
By the time Sunset looked back at the swordswoman, Twilight’s body had been cast aside, and the swordswoman was staring right at Pinkie Pie. Sunset didn’t even manage to blink before Pinkie fell.
The masked swordswoman turned to face Sunset and Starlight. Sunset pushed Starlight into the school.
“This isn’t your fight, Shimmer,” the masked swordswoman said. “I am willing to spare you if you give me Starlight Glimmer.”
“Like you spared my friends?” Sunset spat. She had no hope of winning, and she had no idea what was happening, but she would never give any of her friends to someone like her. “I’ll never give her to you.”
“Very well.” The masked swordswoman pointed her sword at Sunset. The next thing she knew, the entire world went blue.