"Ma'am, I need you to calm down and speak clearly." The guard sucked in a deep breath to give the older mare an example, then let it out nice and slow. "Just tell me what the matter is."
Ma was jittering on her hooves as she stared around at all the confused ponies crowding her and the guard, begging for answers. "We just want to know what happened! What was with that quake?!" Her question was joined by dozens of others, some asking for assistance, some asking for information, some asking for compensation...
"Alright alright, everypony calm down. Listen." He took another deep breath, and the crowd swelled as they followed the action, and they all let it out at once. "We're investigating right now. To'Ao'Coltriella has the answer but word is just getting around. We will all known within the hour."
The noise picked up again as more questions poured out, but the simple guard listened, nodded, and answered with short, prompt answers.
"Can we expect any help replacing our lost goods?" Ma asked, and the guard bobbed his head.
"Supplies will be rerouted to help the outer districts get back on their hooves first." There was a buzz of acceptance and thanks, but a flick of his tail quieted them. "I'm sure there's little need for the military to get involved, so everypony feel free to stay out of your homes until we can get clean up crews and-"
"Esiva!" A voice shouted from down the street. Everypony quickly looked to see who was shouting, and Sabine came thundering towards them, wearing heavy guard's armor. "Esiva!" Sabine panted, readjusting the princess on her back.
Esiva, the guard, glanced left and right quickly, then straight at Sabine. The dozens of seventh ring ponies, most of whom at least knew Sabine's name, stared as Sadi clutched to the mare's neck and looked around at all the curious faces. Well, Sabine didn't seem too bothered about blowing her cover. "What's going on, ma'am?" He tried to keep his voice level.
"Sadi and I were attacked while investigating the mountain that emerged by the city, the Equestrian royals we were accompanying can all be presumed to be abducted or dead; I need you to get all of the guards on high alert," she said breathlessly, their eyes locking. Esiva stared in uncertain disbelief, and he lifted a hoof as if about to move. Every pony around them stared at Sabine with wide eyes. "This isn't a damned joke Esiva! Get to the seventh wall guard tower, sound the horns. Golding is attacking!" She snarled, and the princess finally turned to face the guard.
"Do as she says, or I'm reinstating To'Sivo's inaction policy," she said firmly, making Esiva twitch.
"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" The guard spun on his hooves and charged away, Sabine hot on his heels, but she ducked through the nearest gate as soon as she could.
Ma managed to close her jaw after a few seconds of contemplation. "Was that Sabine?" She finally asked aloud.
"What should we do?" another pony asked. Now every eye was on Ma. The old mare looked to all the confused, frightened eyes, and gulped heavily.
"Panic?" She finally offered.
The comply was swift and admirable.
----------
The cue was given. The flags were raised. The hovering crystals hummed with intensity while the cannons were readjusted.
Bundles of rope lined each deck of the ship, and when the main ship of the fleet returned to its position, the awaiting captains let loose a proud war cry, and the deckhands, the soldiers, the mages, everypony aboard answered.
The call to war was heard across the sand for miles in every direction, and the ships dipped forward as they accelerated quickly towards the city. Coltriella was still in the confused aftermath of the earthquake, giving the ships ample time to close the distance.
----------
"Rarity!" Applejack cried hoarsely, coughing through the cloud of dust and hay as she pushed Hayseed's wing out of the way. "Rarity, c'mon girl, where'd ya go?" Applejack fought her instinct to go sprinting out the door.
"Here!" Came a muffled voice in one of the stalls. Applejack stumbled over loose piles of hay towards the stall. Inside, Rattler lay against the far wall. The whip-tailed dragon was curled up, eyes focused on Applejack. "Applejack, call her off me!" Rarity's voice was tight with panic from the middle of the dragon.
Applejack walked towards Rattler, and pressed her hooves against the dragon's wing. "C'mon Rattler, c'mon girl, let her out. We're safe, c'mon girl... c'mon girl..." Applejack whispered repeatedly until the dragon finally grunted and lifted her wing. Rarity pushed her head out, gasping, her mane askew, but her quick breaths were cut short when Applejack tugged her into a comforting kiss.
It was brief, but it did wonders for Rarity's disposition. "Applejack..." She whispered while water gathered in her eyes.
"Shh, it's okay Rare, whatever it was, it passed." Applejack grabbed Rarity by the nape of her neck and helped her climb over Rattler's tail. Rarity was unsteady on her hooves, but walked out of the stable. She collapsed on her rear, right onto her own tail, and let out a dry cough while Applejack wrapped a hoof around her back. "See?"
"This is positively awful." Rarity sniffed, but blinked the water out of her eyes. "What was that?"
"Call me crazy, but felt like a quake t'me. Worse than anything back in Equestria though." Applejack nuzzled against Rarity's neck, motivating her to stand up. The two walked outside the stables, Hayseed right behind them. Out in the courtyard, Dick was pushing himself up off the ground, letting the stable ponies get to their hooves.
"Y'all know what happened?" Applejack called to the wobbly group of Coltriellans. Each of them looked shaken, but remarkably calm. One sprinted off out of the stable gate to gather up the loose animals while a second rounded up those in the courtyard. The third shook his head.
"No ma'am. We've never had a quake before," the colt answered. He looked around slowly, watching Dick walk over to settle in next to Applejack, Rarity, and Hayseed. "Perhaps you two should go ahead and take—"
There was a loud bang in the distance, carrying across Coltriella, and another rumble. Applejack and Rarity both looked up, scanning the distant walls. Several large figures shot past overhead, leaving the three mares briefly stunned. Then another shot over head, a white-hot bolt streaking from it to collide with a raised tower on top of one of the nearest wall, turning it into little more than dust and rubble.
"What..." Applejack's eyes widened. Rarity had gone completely rigid by her side, and was panting heavily while the stable mare stared up in horror. "What in tarnation..." Applejack finished weakly.
Another boom brought Applejack back to her senses, and from far off, from the furthest wall of Coltriella, a lone horn sounded a long, brash note, followed by another, then another, and an explosion cut it short.
The coltriellan stable colt took a few steps back, his entire body shaking. Applejack and Rarity both walked up next to him to stare into the air. The damned walls kept them from seeing too far, but ships were constantly sailing overhead, and more explosions hit, and screams started...
The colt's eyes were watering, and his jaw was slack as he shook. "G-Golding. Golding is attacking," he whispered to them both.
Applejack and Rarity looked to each other. Fear flashed across both of their faces. "Applejack, what do we do?" Rarity finally asked, horn glowing weakly as she looked towards the gate expectantly.
Applejack grimaced in thought. "I dun' have my sword, I dropped it off at the house."
"I'm not talking about fighting, Applejack," Rarity spoke in a high, tight voice as they heard hooves thundering across the city, citizens and soldiers yelling and screaming as more of the ships shrieked overhead, swarming like wasps as they fired repeated blasts. "We should get somewhere safe, neither of us are fighters!"
"Like hay we ain't! We were brought along to this city to protect Twil—" Applejack suddenly smashed her forehead against her hoof. "Aw, consarnit! Rarity, we need to find the others!" Applejack's voice picked up in alarm, and Rarity gulped loudly.
"This city is gigantic! They could be anywhere!" Rarity retorted, but was already heading for the gates out of the pens. "And with Golding attacking from above-"
"Above!" Applejack turned her head and looked to Dick and Hayseed. She gave a sharp whistle, and immediately both the dragons were within a hair's breadth of her, their protective instincts bearing their wings to shield her from above. The entrance to the stables themselves were torn open as Rattler threw herself into the courtyard, and quickly stood over Rarity. "Rare, we can use the dragons to get outta here and find the girls!"
Rarity walked forward to the hay-haired mare quickly, and pressed her hoof to her chin. Rarity was deathly pale, even compared to her pristine white coat. "Applejack, please listen. I am not suggesting anything about you or your ideas, but if we go up there on dragons we're going to be targets for those things. There's two of us, three dragons, and who knows how many of them. I agree we need to find our friends, but please Applejack, think about this with me!" she pleaded.
Given eight months ago before Applejack truly began to get to know Rarity, when her only connection with her was through friends and the Elements, she would have given it no thought and went ahead without her. In the here and now, where she spent an entire morning helpfully scrubbing the sand out of her coat and picking up on how to create the unicorn's luxurious mane, she seriously considered her words. "I- I don't think I could live with losin' ya up there..."
"Then imagine how I'd feel if you went up there." Rarity was nearly begging, and Applejack finally let her eyes fall. Rarity let out a relieved sigh as Applejack nodded.
"Then... then what do we do?" Applejack's chest felt tense. She was a strong mare with practical ideas, but she was never truly at a loss with what to do. Rarity took a deep breath through her nostrils, but gave her a reassuring smile.
"Let's go to Sul. She probably knows how to find them, and if not, we'll be with somepony strong and safe. Okay?"
Applejack thought about it, then nodded.
----------
"The towers have been destroyed!" One of the soldiers shouted as the ship turned sharply to head for the palace tower in the middle of the city. "Their anti-air defenses have been crippled, let Golding's victory be sung early on this—" A crossbow bolt pierced the back of his neck, severing the spine, and the soldier fell lifeless.
The captain of the boat, Korvo, ground his teeth as he spied several specks rising high in the distance. "Their Pegasus Division is on the move! All ponies prepare for an assault!" he shouted as the pony steering the vessel turned the boat sharply, exposing the broad side briefly, just long enough to catch a volley of bolts as a team of thirty pegasi flew high overhead.
"Thirty degrees southwest! No! Twenty, twenty, Sallodo's ship incoming!" The navigator roared over the confusion as soldiers ground themselves and grabbed ropes, tying them hastily to the rails.
Another ship roared by, nearly brushing sides with Korvo's ship as one of the cannons on its side angled up and fired a quick bolt into the air. The pegasi flying above scattered before it could detonate, and Korvo pulled himself to his hooves once the rocking was over. "Everypony prepare to drop into the palace! The princess is the first priority, To'Ao'Coltriella is second!" He tossed his rope around the rail of the ship and hooked himself to it. "For the glory of Lord Galio!"
"For the Lord!" his soldiers resounded as they followed his lead. The ship stopped briefly, hovering over the palace roof as the other ships swarmed above them, distracting the pegasi guards as the ropes were tossed over the side. Korvo leapt over, grabbing the rope quickly to steady his fall as he slid down towards the roof.
"Do not engage To'Ao by yourself!" he roared as some four dozen soldiers shimmied down the ropes. "The last thing we need is—" he held his hoof out at that moment and cringed as sharp pain entered his foreleg. He stared at the bolt that sunk deep into his lower leg, just above the hoof, and turned his head.
To'Ao'Coltriella met his gaze, and reloaded his crossbow. "Is to engage me alone? What a smart boy."
Korvo's eyes widened and he grabbed the bolt with his teeth and tugged it out, ignoring his screaming senses as he slid down the rope as fast as he could without breaking his legs on the roof below. Ten feet above the roof he suddenly fell, slamming into the solid stone with a grunt, his punctured hoof just barely holding him. The soldiers that had been following him down the rope slammed into the roof seconds later, shouting in pain as To'Ao's blade glowed in the evening sun, hacking ropes apart and deftly avoiding spears and swords alike.
Around half of his troops made it to the roof of the palace without breaking bones, and To'Ao was off. He flew into the palace tower's window, and Korvo grit his teeth. "He's getting the princess, somepony stop-"
He heard the rapid, swift twangs of crossbows firing, and he fired up his horn with a growl. A transparent shield held back the assault as a dozen pegasi broke their dive to fly past Korvo and his soldiers, and Korvo held up his shield. "For those of you who can stand, get up, and prepare to return fire!"
----------
"You bastards!" Ha'Jin'Vega screamed at the ships dotting the air. She ground her teeth and turned to give Pinkie Pie a wild-eyed look. "Pinks! On my tail!" Vega shouted, and gouged out lines in the sand as she sprinted towards the gate.
Pinkie followed her thoughtlessly, her mind still trying to puzzle out what just happened. Were they actually under attack? Vega seemed very unhappy, so Pinkie could only assume things had gone very very bad.
Vega slid around the corner, bowling through the bewildered gate guards using nothing more than her own bulk as Pinkie skid after her, kicking sand all around her. Vega was roaring ahead, going to the next gate. "Of all the fucking times I forget my weapons! Look at what you fucking did, Pinkie!" Vega shouted. Pinkie felt her stomach pit at the accusation, but she never lost her footing.
"I didn't know!" Pinkie shouted back as she did her best to keep up with the much larger mare.
"Shut the fuck up!" Vega growled and barreled through the city guard forming ahead. Pinkie skipped over them, squeaking as they groaned and pulled themselves up. No time to apologize, no time to think — no, she always had to be thinking, that's what Vega said.
They were under attack, flying ships were shooting fireballs from above, there were bound to be soldiers everywhere, likely places to attack were the palace, the tower, the Stronghold, their most likely defense would be the pegasi, but on the ground they'd need to rely on weapons and—
Pinkie threw herself onto her stomach and slid underneath a wagon that ran wildly in front of her, shooting out the other side to get back onto her hooves and chase Vega.
—their weapons were still in the stronghold.
"Vega!" Pinkie ran faster, running alongside the older mare who merely grunted confirmation. "I need to find my friends!"
"Then get on it! I have more important things to be worrying about, Pinks!" Vega slid into the fourth ring with Pinkie hot on her hooves. Several of the flying ships hovered low to the ground, directly above the Bladehold, ropes thrown over the sides as soldiers slid down them. "Oh no you do not YOU BASTARDS!" Vega's teeth ground as she sped up, leaving Pinkie behind easily. "Not my city! Not my base! NOT MY BLADES!"
She sprung through the entrance in time to see her own warriors engaging the Golding army in their own grounds. Swords unsheathed and met in anger while the clanking of armor filled the air, and the brief fight was interrupted immediately by a deep, bellowing roar.
Heads turned as, completely bereft of weaponry and armor, Ha'Jin'Vega sent a Golding colt flying through the air with powerful kick. Other Golding soldiers swarmed her, going straight for Coltriella's general and learning swiftly what earned her the title.
Vega brought a hoof down, shoving a thrusting blade beneath her while head-butting the armored mare hard enough to send her sprawling several feet away, then swiftly raising a back leg and crushing the snout of another soldier who dared to charge her. She turned, a sword lancing through the air where she once was while she slammed her great bulk into another soldier's side.
Pinkie rounded the corner in time to see her rear back to dodge a wide slash and lunge forward, teeth clamping down on the offender's neck straps and fling him into the waiting hooves of her soldiers. "Byuan!" She shouted, and her second was by her side in an instant.
"We have the situation under control now, ma'am. We're getting reports of dozens-"
"I can fucking guess Byuan! Get me in my suit and let's end this!" Vega charged towards the door, and Byuan and Pinkie ran after her.
Inside, Vega slid into the armory and held still as she and Byuan worked together to fit large, solid pieces of armor along her torso and legs, while Pinkie stared after her in worry. While Byuan locked the armor with straps and buckles, Vega was tugging weapons off the wall and hanging them off her body. "Pinkie, go find your damn friends!" Vega ordered.
"B-but I'm not sure what to do!" Pinkie whimpered. She had to think, even under stress. What was there to do? She had to find her friends, but how would she accomplish that? Return to the house? That was an option but it left a lot of uncertainty, who knew where they could have gone.
Her eyes widened and she lunged as Vega flung something at her, snatching the odd sword she'd been given by the hilt. "You want something to do? Stick by my side; we're going to beat back these assholes, return them to their pretty shiny little kingdom, and then raze them to the ground!" Vega shouted, taking a heavy step forward.
Byuan lowered a face-concealing helmet over her head. Unlike the expression-less, undecorated helmets most of the soldiers wore, Vega's was carved and gilded to be shaped like a snarling lioness. She worked her jaw, and the lion's chin slid smoothly with it. Vega twisted her head and pulled a sword off the wall, and put it directly on her right fore-haunch. "Byuan, get her in some armor." Vega ordered, marching heavily towards the exit.
Pinkie watched, her eyes following Vega nervously, but was interrupted when armor was laid on her back.
----------
Around a dozen and a half guards and soldiers lay strewn across the Sanctum's courtyard, the tiny decorative bird fountain smashed to pieces as Sallodo smiled to himself comfortably. His eight guards surrounded him, watching all angles as they approached the simple, knobless wooden door of the only home the Coltriellan unicorns had.
"Hello~oo," he called in the Coltriellans' language, then lowered his head as his horn glowed. A ram of kinetic force punched through the wood, throwing splinters all over while his personal guard, sun-helmeted Horn-Breakers hurried past him and ran inside.
Sallodo entered and glanced to his left and right, when spears of ice began to rain from the floor above, dozens of icicles showering the crowd of Golding soldiers below. The heavy, resistant armor of the anti-unicorn squad easily withstood the attack, but the Belezians that lined the upper walkways continued to rain down their attack, not watching the single unicorn captain at the entrance.
"Amateurs." Sallodo hummed as his horn began to glow. From the tip, a ball of white light appeared, and began to expand as he poured power into it, and with a sudden burst of his magic it split. He pointed his horn, and tiny glowing bombs fired from its tip and began to hammer the walkways, pulping them into clouds of dust and debris while the Belezians shrieked and countered with shields and levitation spells.
The Golding unicorn ignited his horn again as a new spell coursed its way through his veins, and the Belezians began to scream as their magic was silenced. They hit the ground one by one, and the Horn-Breakers closed in, drawing swords.
Sallodo glanced to the ceiling. He knew where his target was, he was pondering how she intended to counter-attack. She must have been furious, knowing her students were so easily taken down by two spells from a single unicorn! He briefly enjoyed the irony of turning the Archmage's own creation against her when he felt the cold, silent field he'd laid with his spell suddenly grow warm... and heavy.
He fought the bubble of panic in his stomach as he shouted. "Get back! Get back now!" He ordered loudly, his soldiers freezing in their execution attempts at his orders. "I said get back—"
Sul appeared in a flash, hooves raised above a Horn-Breaker's head before she bore down on him with wild eyes. Her horn glowed as she brought her hooves down onto the soldier's helmet, pushing the soldier's head into the floor, forcing the armor into the colt's head, splitting his skull open to squeeze it dry while the building shook around them from the force of the blow, then teleported away.
Sallodo blinked, then watched as his guards backed away from the fallen unicorns and looked around nervously. Pieces of the floor they were standing on suddenly shifted, breaking off from the ground and flying into the air at rapid speeds, smashing two of them into the ceiling, crushing them against the crumbling stone above and throwing them out of the building.
Sallodo prepared a spell, and Sul appeared again. She stood in the far back, the stone tables that were strewn across the Sanctum floor flying upwards, then thrown down at the Horn-Breakers with crushing speed. Sallodo snagged the tables out of the air with his own magic, a bead of sweat appearing on his brow from the immense power he had to stop, then threw the tables back at the Archmage.
The tables whirled through the air, Sul watching with deathly silence before the tables touched her, and then the tables disappeared. The guards only had a moment to blink in horror before the tables reappeared, flying at them, crashing into them, grinding them against the floor.
The old mare turned her head sharply when a Horn-Breaker's war cry caught her ear. The soldier had snuck upon her from the side, and was charging her with his head lowered, the spike adorning his helmet aimed for her side.
He was met, head first, with a particularly heavy encyclopedia, and when he regained his senses, a dozen other books began to assail him, beating him through his armor until he laid still on the floor.
Sul snorted through her nostrils and turned her head to face the enemy unicorn, whose hooves clopped along the debris-riddled tiled floor as if he was applauding. "Well now, that was quite the show, Archmage Sul'o'Amnitanus," Sallodo complemented with an amused glint in his eye. Sul only snorted again, flicking her head to get her mane out of her eyes.
"If this is a show to you, then I think I'd find myself insulted at what really entertains you." Sul spoke in a low voice. Even as Sallodo approached, Sul picked up the mostly unconscious bodies of her students and slid them to the walls. Sallodo's horn glowed as well, and the broken tables, scattered books, and bodies of his own men all swept away, leaving the middle clear.
Sallodo chuckled as they stood across from each other. "You know, I haven't had a proper duel in a while. I can tell you haven't either." The stallion watched Sul carefully as she straightened herself up and glared into his eyes.
"You speak far too strongly in the presence of an archmage," Sul snarled as her horn flickered, creating a wall between herself and her Belezians. "Even Ballah could not match me. What hope do you—" She was stopped when Sallodo let out a barking laugh, losing his composure briefly before looking Sul in the eye.
"Oh, dear, Sul!" Sallodo sighed as his horn stirred the air behind him into a blowing wind. "You best not speak of Lady Ballah like that. She's picked up quite a bit more since she left her studies with you. Enough to make even your fancy moves only worthy of a mule."
Sul took a calming breath through her nose, and allowed herself a smirk. "Then I suppose you'll be my mule?" She mused out loud, drawing a sudden growl from her opponent.
"Me? A mule? You're not on Ballah's level anymore, Sul, she's far outstripped you by now! You? You're not even on my level, I have gained power that would make your precious Belezians simper like children—"
"Because that's all you can fight, isn't it?" Sul's eyes narrowed, and Sallodo grit his teeth. "Simpering children and the elderly? Lord Galio would be so proud."
"Don't. You. Dare. Lord Galio has granted me this power for my honor in the name of Golding! I will not have you disparage me, Lady Ballah, and Lord Galio in—"
"Your Archmage is a fool and your Lord is an egotistical coward."
She only partially meant what she said, but the look on the stallion's face was well worth the lie.
The wind whipping up behind Sallodo ended abruptly, and the air distorted in a line as it coalesced into a speeding whip. Sul teleported to her left as the attack crushed the spot she'd just been in into a crater, and Sallodo roared, "You will pay for your insults you powerless bit—!"
Sul appeared right in his screaming face, stunning the unicorn. "Language," Sul warned, just before a sphere of ice crashed into the floor where Sallodo had just been standing. Sul's eyes quickly shot to the left to see Sallodo had slid out of the way, and lunged at her, an armored hoof aiming for her knee. Sul rose just before the colt could connect, but watched with surprise as he unleashed a spell.
Sul reappeared across the room, wincing at the heat of the fireball, looking up in time to watch it melt through the roof of the Sanctum and fill the sky above before dissipating. She glanced back to Sallodo, who snarled. "I've been trained to deal with other unicorns," he warned, his snout crinkled aggressively. "Not even the greatest Belezian could hope to match the likes of me."
Walls of compacted sand shot up around him suddenly, and grew sandstone spikes. In that moment, the walls closed in, smashing into each other like an iron maiden, but stopping as they hit a bubble. Sul teleported again to the side as a bolt of electricity broke through the sphere and crashed into the wall Sul had built behind herself.
She glanced, seeing the bright electricity had hidden a sparking crystal, and snagged it in a safe sphere before it exploded. She quickly hurled the fragments of the unstable crystal at Sallodo, but the stallion leapt out of the way and made a small ball of white light appear on the tip of his horn.
Sul's eyes widened, and she hid a gasp as she suddenly teleported forward, narrowly dodging a number of white-hot explosives hammering the area where she'd just been. She hardened her eyes as she looked to the unicorn across from her. "Your spellwork is loud and fancy, but it's no substitute for thought, foal."
Sallodo stared at her, his eyes shaking in anger, before a low rumble escaped his throat. Sul teleported the instant he let out his roar, moving behind the wave of sound before it could throw her back. Her horn discharged and the floor beneath Sallodo turned to ice, and his hooves slid out from underneath him.
He banged his chin against the ground with a pained shout, but his eyes widened when he felt something prick his stomach. He threw himself forwards as the icicle shot up behind him, then looked up as the air distorted. He squealed in pain as a blade of wind tore his ear off his head, then teleported behind the icicle as the rest of the blades slashed the frozen spear. He panted heavily, his sliced ear ringing, his head pounding with pain as his body constricted like a giant muscle; his leylines were displeased with the sudden, random discharge, and voicing it painfully.
"I can tell." He heard Sul's voice from across the building. "That one teleportation taxed you considerably, didn't it?" The ringing began to go away, but now he was just more aware of how hard he was panting. "What good is an emergency escape," Sul began to ponder, "If it only traps you further?" Sallodo's eyes bugged out of his head as a pair of hooves appeared above him. He leapt to the side, sliding along the ice as Sul turned the ground beneath her into pebbles, then turned to face him.
He scrambled to his hooves and grit his teeth as a fireball suddenly shot towards Sul, but the lady Archmage merely teleported past it as she moved closer to the Golding unicorn. "You're spent," she accused him.
"Never!" he shouted back, and his horn flared. Sul's eyes narrowed, looking for whatever projectile he'd be throwing at her, but she realized her mistake. She felt the world rise up against her as a bubble of force threw her up into the air, away from her foe. She was spiralling fast, and she knew landing wrong would cost her dearly. She focused, watching the world spin, then teleported.
She reappeared a foot above the ground planning to land with all four hooves. She hit the floor hard, feeling an explosion of pain as the her back left hip ripped out of its socket. She tightened with pain immediately as her leg slid out from under her, and she landed on her side hard. She screamed as she hit her dislocated hip against the floor, her eyes welling with tears as her mind completely blanked.
Suddenly, there was no battle, no opponent, no Coltriella or Golding, the pain blindfolded her as she let out another agonized cry. She couldn't see through the forming tears, and her other legs kicked out uselessly as her back left lay limp. She barely made out the dark figure approaching her, and looked up pitifully as Sallodo glared down, his eyes wide and reassured.
"Look at this." He hissed as he grabbed the discarded sword of one of his dead soldiers. "A foalish old mare, trying to be a war hero." He panted, and spat to the side. "You're just an incompetent, stupid mule." He kicked her neck, causing her to cough painfully. Then he raised himself high. "Your death is just the beginning!" he roared, stomping down on her ribs. The sound of her bones snapping filled her ears, but her screams soon replaced it. "Coltriella will fall under our hooves!" He kicked her stomach, making Sul gag as bile ran up her throat. "And you shall be nothing more than a footnote in the rise of Golding!" He lifted the sword high, and Sul watched with big eyes as smirked down at her.
Then, a tiny orange spark caught her eyes as it appeared right in front of Sallodo's helmet. Sallodo had a brief moment of curiosity, barely recognizing what it was, until heat, flames, and a deafening BANG causing him to rear back and winnie in terror.
"Sul!" Rarity called from the entrance, charging forward with an orange mare by her side.
"Another?!" Sallodo roared indignantly. Another spark appeared in front of his face, but he charged around the explosion. The orange mare sped ahead, head lowered to catch the soldier, but he skipped to her right and slammed into her, knocking her down.
"Applejack, no!" Rarity cried out, then gasped and reared back as Sallodo charged in close, slamming his head into her exposed stomach and throwing her to the ground. He raised one hoof and crushed the unicorn's chest, making Rarity scream in pain.
"I will break, kill, and bury every single unicorn in this Galio-damned city before I allow myself to fall!" he shouted, raising his hoof again to slam it into Rarity's windpipe.
The hoof flew uselessly to the side, as did Sallodo as he threw himself down, off balance, onto his side next to the mare. Rarity had covered her eyes, and her horn lost its glow. Blood appeared along Sallodo's chest, in a perfectly straight line where his leg had been sliced off by the razor wind. He gagged loudly, eyes wide with pain, but he focused on Rarity. "Useless... stupid!" He dragged himself forward, horn glowing. "Whore!" he shouted.
Rarity screamed in distress and tightened her legs around her eyes, but whatever punishment the Golding unicorn had planned to deliver never came. She waited a few seconds, heart pounding in her chest before she dared to look. She hesitantly turned to face the colt. His bugged-eyes were locked in a state of shock, his jaw hanging lifelessly just below.
Applejack narrowed her eyes in anger, and tugged the Horn-Breaker's sword out of the unicorn's neck, letting the colt's head flop to the ground with a sickening thud. "Don't you..." Applejack snorted loudly. "Don't you ever say that 'bout my mare again!" she shouted, and kicked the colt's back as hard as she could.
Rarity watched her marefriend take her anger out on the corpse for a few seconds, before she pulled herself out of her own shock and got up, squeezing her eyes shut at the pain in her chest. "Applejack," Rarity called with her eyes closed. She heard the crunch of Applejack's kicks, and forced her eyelids to open. "Applejack!" Rarity called again, louder.
Applejack stopped, brow furrowed. She turned to face Rarity, and tried to slow down her breathing. "You ain'—" Applejack gasped for air. "You ain't a whore!" Applejack shouted, nearly kicking the body again.
"Applejack, it doesn't matter." Rarity strode forward, ignoring the pangs in her chest. She stared down at the corpse in brief terror, but willed herself through it.
"It does too!" Applejack insisted, then kicked the corpse again. Rarity winced as she saw blood squirt out of the dead colt's neck wounds. "You ain't a whore!"
"It doesn't matter!" Rarity insisted hastily, and tried to walk around Applejack to inspect her side for damage. "Are you okay?" She asked, her breathing starting to return to normal, until she spotted the corpse again.
"It don't matter!" Applejack shouted. Rarity reeled back and whimper, making the hayseed bite her lip in regret. She strode forward, her anger turning into mute horror and sorrow. "I'm fine. You..." Applejack checked Rarity's chest. "You ain't a whore." Applejack insisted, delicately pressing a hoof to her marefriend's chest. Rarity flinched from the touch, but then relaxed and let Applejack feel. Applejack was quiet, then mumbled, "It's a bruise."
"Then I'm okay." Rarity nodded, then pointed towards the back of the Sanctum. "Come with me, quickly." She ordered, and Applejack followed her to Sul.
Sul laid on the ground, barely looking more alive than her deceased opponent. Her breaths were ragged, she was bruised and bleeding, her leg stuck out at a painful angle, and her eyes were barely open. "R-Rarity..." Sul whispered as she heard hooves close by.
"I'm here Sul," Rarity whispered as she leaned in, then recoiled at the sight of the elder's leg. "Goodness Sul..."
"It hurts," Sul muttered pathetically as she closed her eyes. "I-I need help," she whispered, her front legs twitching.
"Pardon?" Applejack asked, walking behind Sul and investigating her bruised and broken body.
"A-Applejack..." Sul murmured and pressed a forehoof against the ground. "Rar-rity." She took a deep breath. "H-help me." She tried to lift herself up, but her chest stung. "Please..."
Rarity looked to Applejack. The blonde mare leaned down and pushed Sul up a bit, and Rarity carefully picked up Sul with levitation, being easy on her hurt leg. Sul got to her hooves awkwardly, gritting her teeth the whole way before settling her on her healthy legs. Her back left dragged along the ground as Sul turned her head, lowering the wall protecting her Belezians.
The unicorns behind it were stirring, some already up and checking the others, but paused when the saw their mentor. "Archmage Sul!" screamed one mare as she ran forward, followed by her fellows. Sul managed to hide a grimace as they all stood around her, staring at her back leg. "Archmage Sul, are you okay?"
"I'm alright," Sul said in a low voice, taking small, shallow breaths before she spoke up again. "My old age is just catching up with me. Were it not for Rarity and Applejack, I would be much worse off." She gave the group of unicorns a warm smile. Almost as one, the Belezians turned to face Rarity and Applejack with awed looks, and immediately fell into a bow. Sul rolled her eyes.
"Thank you so much for protecting Sul!" One of them said, his muzzle nearly buried in the floor as the others gave praise the two for their deed.
Rarity brushed the compliments off, whereas Applejack blushed and stepped behind Rarity to avoid the praise. "You're all very welcome, but I'm afraid I came here with some bad news." The Belezians sat up immediately in attention, and Sul turned herself around with Rarity's help.
"You need help finding Twilight." Sul stated plainly, drawing a nod from Rarity.
"Yes, see, she's gone missing—"
"During the quake and the attack. I can figure that much out." The Belezians each joined in to help lift Sul and carry her forward, so she could move without straining herself. "And you want my help."
"Yes!" Rarity bobbed her head rapidly. "But not just for Twilight, for Pinkie Pie, for Rainbow Dash, for Fluttershy, we need to find all of them."
Sul calmly turned her head, and her horn and eyes took on a magical glow as she cast a spell. Rarity waited with baited breath, and Applejack took a few nervous steps forward for the answer.
Sul came out of her trance with a quick blink and turned to face the two. "Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy are outside the city. I don't know how far, but they're not in city-limits." The two mares gasped, and Sul shook her head. "They're not dead, I'd be able to see their bodies. Pinkie Pie is in the fourth ring with Ha'Jin'Vega and her soldiers." Sul pursed her lips grimly, then formed a plan. "I need to be taken to the palace healers so I can keep an eye on the city and rest. My little ones need to make their way through the city and help with the fight. Rarity, Applejack, can I count on you to escort two of them? They can take you straight to Pinkie Pie and Vega. From there, the high general will be able to make the best use of them." Sul used her horn to take over her own levitation, and began to float towards the door. "Biena, Mallor, follow Applejack and Rarity, take them to Ha'Jin'Vega. The rest of you, spread out in groups of twos and threes. Help any Coltriellan you can, avoid getting into a fight with the Golding army without help," Sul called back, and the thirteen unicorns, plus Rarity and Applejack, nodded.
All but two of the Belezians sprinted out the door, sticking close together until they reached the far gate, then they split into groups. Rarity and Applejack were left with a small, sandy-maned mare and a male whose black mane was cut short. "It will be an honor to fight with you, Lady Rarity, Lady Applejack," the mare spoke up. "I am Biena."
"Mallor." The colt nodded. He was quite a bit bigger than Biena, but was also very skinny.
Rarity smiled at the both. "It'll be a pleasure to travel with you as well."
"Same," Applejack grunted. "But let's not waste time. C'mon everypony." She turned around and head for the door, Rarity and the two Belezians hot on her hooves.
----------
"Get her!"
Sabine slid across the sand as she aimed herself towards the third ring gate, Sadi nearly choking her as she hung on with all her might. Heavy hoofsteps from behind drove her to kick off the ground and leap through the gate, pushing her body to the limit as she turned right and headed for the nearest gate. She had to get to the palace. The safest place would be the throne room but she had to steer clear—
She nearly ran into one of the hovering boats Golding used. She spotted openings to get around it, but soldiers started leaping off the deck and pulling out blades, staring her down while the soldiers that were following them closed in from behind. They moved in slowly, watching her carefully.
The invisibility spell wouldn't work, it was personal only. She couldn't teleport Sadi to safety, personal only. Any attack she made would be met with an immediate response from elsewhere. She was so tired she could barely keep herself running. This was bad. This was so very bad. "Sadi?" Sabine whispered to her princess, but the only response she got was a tight hug.
"Take the princess aboard and bind her, kill the other one!" A mare on the ship ordered, her crew standing on the edge to watch as Sabine took a step back, only to get nudged forward by the tip of a sword. Sadi lifted herself a little, teeth grit, eyes blazing as her horn flickered feebly. "Actually..." The mare captaining the ship jumped onto the ground, landing gracefully as she walked through her ranks to meet Sabine face-to-face. The Coltriellan growled loudly as the captain snorted. "I'll tell you what, I feel generous." The mare cooed, one hoof raising up to caress Sabine's jaw line. Sabine jerked her head away, but felt a blade against her back leg that kept her still. "Give us the princess willingly," the captain ordered, raising a hoof to silence any retort Sabine had. "Give us the princess willingly, and we won't kill you. Hay, I'll take you aboard the ship; you can be with your precious princess a little while longer as my bed warmer."
Only a single pony out of the circle of Golding soldiers chuckled, and Sabine's glare bore into the captain's as the latter just smiled. Sabine grit her teeth, and carefully shifted downwards. The captain watched with immense satisfaction as Sabine slid Sadi to the ground, the sick princess hitting with a small cough from the stirred sand, but then the smile turned dark as Sabine positioned herself on top of Sadi. "How 'bout I put you in a grave, you bitch," Sabine grunted, lowering herself to protect her charge as swords raised again.
"Very well." The captain turned and started walking back towards the ship. "I'll make due without some foreign delight. Kill her." She ordered with an almost disappointed tone. She stopped, then smiled to herself as she heard the whoosh of blades strike. Then she froze when she heard no cries of pain. She whirled quickly, and her eyes widened as she saw the lioness standing over the two mares.
Through the lioness headpiece she could see two furious eyes lock straight onto hers, and the mare underneath cocked her jaw with pin-point determination. The number of swords laying against her didn't seem to bother her in the slightest.
"Oh fuck," the captain whimpered as she backed up as quickly as she could into one of the crystal's of the hovership. "It's her." She spoke in a whisper.
"Oh fuck!" Vega answered in a mocking giggle. "It's me!" She spun, throwing the swords and their wielders back, before she turned her head and grabbed the hilt from her right forehaunch. She ripped the blade out, and flashed the war cleaver over her head threateningly while the soldiers quickly closed in.
The captain leapt up onto her ship by her crew, and immediately shoved one of the unicorns towards a cannon. "Don't just stand there, idiot! Shoot her!" the captain cried hysterically as she quickly glanced in the direction of the general.
Sabine laid on top of Sadi, protecting her with her body as best she could, both of their eyes squeezed shut as Vega stomped a soldier into the ground with her forehooves, and turned sharply to bring the cleaver into another soldier's neck. Blood spilled as she turned, her ears flickered as she sensed a soldier charging in. She avoided his sword and floored him with a powerful headbutt, then leaned towards three soldiers bringing their swords down. Her armor deflected the attacks, then she took a step towards them and shoved, throwing them off their hooves.
"You have her freakin' surrounded!" the captain shouted nervously as her soldiers began to drop, and winced as Vega deflected a blow, then brought her cleaver down to sever the spine of one of her attackers. "G-go for the legs! Wait, the rear! Attack her rear!" She shouted, and felt the cannon by her side charge as the unicorn's magical attack was amplified within.
She heard it erupt with a thunder crack, and instinctively felt a vicious smile cross her face, but she noticed that Vega was not only still in one piece, but was quite alive. She swiftly turned, and saw a pink mare in full body armor, back legs pressed against the bottom of the cannon, pointing it into the sky.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see another hovership, smoking, burning, its lower deck destroyed, crash into one of the walls.
The pink mare then turned towards her with a serious expression, and tugged out the strangest sword she'd ever seen. "You are not a very nice mare!" The small pink pony said in a high-pitched voice. All the captain could focus on was the colors.
"Semala'to'guala," she muttered, her eye twitching. "There's two of her." The little pink mare seemed to hesitate to strike, so the captain cried out, "Kill her! Kill the little one, kill her now! Get her off my ship!" The captain shrieked as she ran towards her quarters.
The ship's crew, though barely armored, started tugging out short swords and short-handled axes, slowly surrounding Pinkie. Some glared, some looked positively terrified as Pinkie reassured her grip on the strange weapon.
Pinkie took a step back, her tail brushing against the ship's guard rail, then felt it. Her tail twitched. She skipped to the left as a Golding soldier flew screaming onto the deck, narrowly missing Pinkie, and crashed into the closing circle of sailors. In the moment of confusion as the sailors stared aghast, Pinkie threw herself forward.
'Always be thinking,' she reminded herself as she punched one of the Golding crew in the nose. She winced at the wet crunch, her armored hoof easily snapping the soft bones on his nose and making him cry out. She'd never done that before. Oh Celestia it felt so disgusting. The look of pain on his face made her stomach clench, but then her tail twitched.
She slid underneath an axe-wielding sailor as he tried to tackle her, and he crashed directly into another. 'Five down,' she told herself as she swiftly turned. She caught the sword of one sailor in the waved ridges of her blade, one of the sharp points at the top locking his blade in place rather than slide down to her snout. The sailor stared in surprise, and Pinkie swiftly turned, bucking him with all her might.
She felt his nose break, bones shatter under the blow and she felt a flash of pity. This went against everything she was. She was born to make ponies happy, this wasn't—
She suddenly ducked and rolled, kicking her hooves up quickly into the stomach of a sailor who intended to stomp her, making him cough and gag as her metal hoofcovers dug in, their sharp edges drawing blood.
The red droplets seemed to hang in the air for a moment before they sailed down towards her, and she felt her stomach completely drop. She rolled away before the blood could splatter her, sucked in a deep breath through her nose, and felt her tail twitch.
'Behind, underneath. Leap, land on them,' her mind quickly told her. She jumped, the axe missing her by an inch as she landed, hooves extended on the ponies back. He hit the deck with a crunch and a wail of pain, and Pinkie felt herself shudder. This was wrong. This was very wrong.
'They're trying to kill you!' a voice in her head told her. She remembered Vega's stern growl, then it spoke again. 'It's you or them, it's do or die! Forget all about whatever little fear you might have of violence and blood, because if you want to survive a war, you're going to see a lot of both!'
Pinkie took a deep breath and cleared her head. This was wrong, but she had no other choice.
She ducked again and twisted beneath the mare trying to tackle her. Her sword flew upwards, its tip digging into the sailor's soft underbelly. She heard a cry of pain and forced her nausea down as she opened the mare's stomach, and heard her crash into the ground. It was wrong, but she had no other choice.
Vega threw the last of her attackers to the ground, then kicked sand onto the fresh corpse with a snort. She turned towards Sabine and Sadi, and nudged them both. "We need to get you both to the palace, get up," Vega ordered. Sabine complied quietly, and helpfully lifted the princess onto her back.
"Thanks Vega," Sabine whispered, sucking in several deep breaths.
"Don't thank me kid." Vega nodded, then looked to the deck of the ship. "Wait here, shout if you need me." She jumped, and landed on the deck of the ship hard, but she shook herself quietly and took a few steps forward.
Bodies littered the deck. Some of them were merely unconscious, a few were too hurt to move, nursing their broken body parts, but some of them were very clearly dead. She looked up to the only other pony standing on the deck, and watched Pinkie wheeze. Her sword laid to the side, and a fresh puddle of vomit baked just a foot away.
Several things mixed in Vega. Her little trainee had just taken on a boat of enemies and won without a scratch, but she was also traumatized. Vega fought every urge in her body to shout at the mare and tell her to buck up. She squeezed her eyes shut and walked over to her little body-double. "Pinks."
Pinkie whipped towards her quickly, one hoof on her hilt. Pinkie looked her in the eye, and then shuddered and settled down. Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks, and Vega let out a low sigh. Pinkie lifted her leg and began wiping the wet trails away, trying to keep her jaw from quivering. She felt a leg touch her shoulder and she glanced up quickly at the lion-armored mare.
"... You did good," Vega said in a low voice, staring back at the bodies. Pinkie, remarkably, didn't have a drop of blood on her. Vega chalked it up to luck, but wouldn't have been surprised if the little mare did everything in her power to avoid it.
"I killed them," Pinkie spoke back, her voice thick from the nausea clawing at her throat. "I-I hurt them," she continued, and sniffled. "I don't like hurting ponies." Her voice finally cracked, and she had to wipe away another tear trying to crawl down her cheek.
"Look, Pinks." Vega strode forward and walked around the younger mare, trying to find the proper words for this sort of situation. "It's not a good business. I like to fight, but I don't like to kill. I am... impressed you did this on your own, but trust me when I say that I understand. If you hadn't—"
"Then they would have killed you, and me." Pinkie finished with a sniffle, and Vega nodded.
"It doesn't make you a bad pony." Vega felt her jaw clench. "I think you're a great young mare, but you had to defend yourself. There's nothing wrong with that."
"I-I just wish there was something else I could have—"
"There are lots of could haves." Vega interrupted, remembering the exact same speech her father gave to her when she'd ended her first life. "But in the heat of the moment, there's only 'can do's. What you did wasn't... bad. It was defense. Attacking another pony because you wanted to is bad, this was to keep me, the princess, and yourself safe."
Pinkie remained silent. She leaned down and lifted her blade, mutely sheathing it. She wiped her face again and stared down at the wooden deck. Both mares turned as they heard a grunt. Sabine pulled herself over the rail, and landed on the deck. Sadi shifted to lay more smoothly on her back, and the two watched the High General and Pinkie Pie with curious eyes. Pinkie sniffled. "Hi Sabine," she mumbled, trying to sound a little more lively. "You have a horn."
"I— heh, yeah, nothing gets by you, huh?" Sabine sounded weak as she stared at all the bodies. She calmly walked towards Pinkie, and touched her side. "Look, Pinks, I have a lot I need to tell you, but right now," Sabine nudged Sadi, who sighed tiredly, "Thanks. From me and the princess."
Pinkie nodded, slightly confused, but smiled. Then her tail twitched. Vega's ear flickered. Pinkie shot underneath Vega as the larger mare jumped. The sharpened edges of Pinkie's sword cut into the knees of the ship's captain before her sword could land a blow, dropping her to the ground. In the next instant, Vega's cleaver sliced clean through the mare's neck guard, killing her instantly. The two pink mares glanced to each other in surprise, before Pinkie back-pedalled away from the body.
Vega threw her foreleg around Pinkie's neck to catch her, then gave a small, complementary pat. "You did good Pinkie. Never forget that you saved some lives. No matter what anypony says, you only hurt somepony to save more ponies. Nopony can refute that."
Pinkie looked back at Vega, and forced herself to her hooves. She didn't care what anypony thought about that. Maybe her friends, she cared what they thought, but they would understand too. No, she cared that she hurt these ponies. It wasn't funny, it wasn't fun, but she had to. She could... she could live with this if it meant others were safe. She forced herself forward.
She stood next to Vega as Sabine spoke up. “So we managed to commandeer one of their ships.” Sabine inspected the hull and the deck as she paced along the guardrail. “It’s in good condition, too.”
“If you’re thinking about taking it up there, you can begin step two by taking your head out of your ass and keeping a little something called ‘air superiority’ in mind.” Vega rumbled as she watched the battle in the sky. Pinkie looked up with her, and both simultaneously moved away from each other as a stray crossbow bolt thunked into the wooden deck between them.
“Not what I was thinking.” Sabine grunted. “We could use the ship as a temporary hiding place for Sadi.” Sabine began to carefully toss the bodies of the defeated ponies off the deck. Pinkie threw herself forward as Sabine picked up one of the ones still alive.
“Put him down!” Pinkie cried out, wrapping a hoof around the pony’s middle. “He’s still alive!”
She felt a pair of teeth grab her tail and tug her back. She tried vainly to hang onto the colt, but her leg gave out. Sabine seemed to hesitate at Pinkie’s insistence, but Vega spared her no second thought. “Pinkie, stop it.” Vega stomped the deck, jerking the little mare’s attention towards her.
“But, Vega—”
“That is ma’am to you, Pinkie.”
“I don’t care!” Pinkie shouted, drawing a surprised flinch from the general, followed by a low growl. “He’s alive, we can’t just throw him with the rest!” Sabine watched with slowly widening eyes as she sensed the coming argument, whereas Sadi sidled up to get a better view.
“Oh, and what would you have us do with him? He’ll either rot on the deck of the ship or rot on the ground.” Vega took a step forward and stared down into Pinkie’s eyes. Pinkie took a meek step back, but then pushed herself forward.
“We can get him help! And then, I-I don’t know, imprison him!” Pinkie got nose to nose with Vega, bringing their eyes closer.
“We don’t have the fucking time for that! The bastard’s good as dead anyways—”
“Enough!” Sadi’s voice grabbed both of their attention. She fixed a scowl on the two mares, then the colt in question. “Lock him in the cargo hold, along with any other survivors. The dead go over the side of the ship.” Sadi cast a look back to the barely conscious colt. “Lock them in with whatever you can find.”
Vega pulled herself up to her full height, her lion-like armor gleaming in the sunlight, and her jaw tensed as she suppressed the urge to refute her princess. She let out a thick, aggravated breath, and and shook her head. “Whatever. You heard her.” Vega grabbed one of them and tossed the beaten pony onto her back, followed by another, and then marched heavily towards the door leading below.
Pinkie gave Sadi a relieved smile, and started dragging ponies with her, most of them moaning in pain along the way while Sabine followed. “This one is Pinkie Pie?” Sadi murmured to her bodyguard. Sabine nodded as several broken ponies floated through the door ahead of her. “She’s different than how you described her.” Sadi muttered.
Private conversations of the six “invaders” came to mind. Sabine could only shake her head. “I haven’t seen her serious, I guess.” What few Golding ponies that were still alive were locked into the cargo hold. Vega’s hoof scraped along the wood in agitation as the four of them stayed out of sight on the stairs, where they could see through the door but remain hidden. “So as I was saying, this is the perfect place to keep Sadi hidden away while all of this is going down.”
“No,” Vega, Pinkie, and Sadi chimed at once. Sabine looked between the three in worry.
“No offense to any of you, but we need to keep Sadi safe—”
“And in a down, intact enemy ship lying in the middle of nowhere in a deserted city is the abso-fuckin’-lutely perfect place to put a sick, defenseless princess,” Vega pointed out, making Sabine cock her jaw.
“Okay, maybe so, but we can choose a building at random and—” Sabine paused when Sadi held up a hoof. “Yes, Sadi?”
“I should be at the palace.” Sadi spoke up. “I know what I saw in my vision. If we have any hope of turning around what happens to the palace, then I need to be there to apply preventative measures. My father will no doubt be very busy there.”
“Not to mention the enemy,” Sabine spoke out sourly. “I’m all for taking the initiative in keeping the palace intact, but my duty, first and foremost, is to keep you safe under any and all circumstances.”
“Up to, and including, protecting her when she wants to risk her life better controlling the city. When she’s with her father, he’ll stop worrying his ass off and take better hold of the Pegasus Division. They can keep the skies busy while I take my crew to clean up the ground.”
“Look.” Sabine stomped her hoof defiantly. The rest of the mares stayed quiet. “It is my duty to keep the princess safe. Her father can keep his peace of mind as long as I’m around. I’m taking her to a safe place.”
“Sabine, this isn’t really your decision. I am required, as the Princess of Coltriella, to take charge during a time of crisis, whether or not it’s the safest choice. They expect me as a leader—”
“They expect your father as a leader! They expect you to be a princess!” Sabine interrupted urgently. The two glared at each other, a heated snort coming from Sadi’s nostrils.
“Now hold on,” Pinkie spoke up. The new voice contributing grabbed each of their attentions, and Pinkie swallowed thickly as she found herself on the center stage. “Where I come from, in Equestria, the Princesses are the most powerful and respected ponies in the land.”
“The Princesses of Equestria are thousands of years old!” Sabine retorted aggressively, but Pinkie did not waiver.
“In Coltriella, you ponies respect titles. To’Ao’Coltriella isn’t even a real name, it’s just what he is! Ha’Jin’Vega, Sadi’o’farr—so on and so on are all titles to represent what you do. Sadi is the princess of Coltriella, and she’s expected to be a leader to the ponies living here. She gave up the courtesy of a common life to study on how to lead everypony here. Sick, young, or in danger, she knows what she needs to do, and if she says she needs to be at the palace, it’s not our place to question the pony who bears the title of Princess!”
Pinkie’s statement was met with a thoughtful silence. Even Vega seemed intrigued by the sudden wisdom the mare displayed. Sabine’s nostrils flared and her lips pulled back, and she barely resisted some biting, childish counter. She finally let out a defeated groan, and looked back to Sadi. “I’m just worried!”
Sadi quietly stroked the side of Sabine’s neck. “I know you are, but I trust you to keep me safe despite the circumstances.” There was a moment of quiet brooding before Sabine took the first step outside. As Pinkie and Vega followed, the latter nudged her tiny look-alike.
“Heck of a statement, Pinks. Where the hell did you pull that from?” Vega raised an eyebrow, and Pinkie rolled her shoulders.
“Well, I didn’t have anything to contribute in the first place. I just knew everypony else was going to say ‘no’ too!” Pinkie answered, as friendly as she could be. Vega rolled her eyes and mumbled something resembling ‘hate you’ as they stepped onto the deck. The two of them stopped behind Sabine when they saw what greeted them.
Sabine stood still, watching wide-eyed as Sadi gently brought a hoof to her mouth. Red eyes turned to face the three, and narrowed with a tiny frown. “Sadi,” Dash spoke up, her voice little more than a choked growl, “Sabine, how do I fly this?”
“Dashie!” Pinkie called, her voice somewhere between exhilarated and terrified. Most of Rainbow Dash’s mane on her right side was burnt to blackened stubs, leaving patches of burnt skin exposed. Her chromatic hair was also mixed and askew, burnt nearly to the scalp from the back, leaving her brighter bangs the most prominent. She was covered in blood, around her hooves and muzzle, and along both sides, but none of it seemed to be hers. Finally, her wings stood out as little more than extra, mutant limbs, all but a few feathers around the base completely blown off. Despite being stumps, they still stood tall, proud, and agitated as Dash nearly went muzzle to muzzle with Sabine, eyes sharp and furious.
“How,” she spoke slowly and loudly, bringing Sabine back to reality, “Do I fly this?”
“Rainbow Dash.” Sabine whispered breathlessly, staring over the mare’s charred hide. A few meager wounds were placed elsewhere, but it was hard to see through the blood covering her. “You survived!” She sputtered in disbelief.
“Answer me!” Dash shouted into Sabine’s face, making the mare rise up quickly to take a few steps back.
Pinkie scraped her hoof against the wood nervously, and took a step closer. “Dashie!” Pinkie took a few more steps, and finally caught her friend’s eye. “Dashie, are you okay? What happened to you?”
This was all happening too fast. The fight, the argument, now this. She’d never seen Rainbow Dash like this. There was something cold about her. Then Dash stepped forward and lightly butt her forehead against Sabine’s snout, making the unicorn rear again.
“Blue, calm down.” Vega ordered as she took to Sabine’s side and stared down at the blue mare. Dash grit her teeth and her wing-stubs flared violently. “What the hell’s going on?” The large mare demanded. Dash’s wings fluttered, and she started to pant like a bull through her nose.
“I got blown off the damn platform by that fireball, fought my way into the city, and now I’m here arguing with you when I need to save Twilight!” Dash shouted. All but Vega flinched at the volume as Dash’s entire chest heaved angrily.
“Save Twilight?” Pinkie asked in alarm, her big blue eyes going wide as she stared up at the sky. “Th-they got her?!” Dash nodded once, and Pinkie turned to Sabine. “How do you make this thing fly?!” Pinkie demanded now.
“Pinkie, no.” Sadi spoke up suddenly, swivelling her head between the two Equestrians while they stared her down. “This is valuable enemy technology and—”
“You shut up!” Dash shouted over Sadi, making the Princess’s voice die off from the sudden interruption.
“Hey!” Sabine tried to interject, but flinched backwards as Dash stomped forward, eyes focused on Sadi.
“This is out of your hooves! I’m taking this ship whether you like it or not!” Dash stomped the deck hard. When she lifted her hoof, a deep burn mark was left.
“Out of my hooves?! I am the princess of this city, that means—”
“Nothing.” Dash dared to interrupt again with a deep growl, her throat sounding more like a building furnace than an angered mare as she nearly came face to face with the princess. Vega stepped forward, having enough of this and grabbed onto the back of Dash’s neck, but recoiled as a sudden flare-up of heat made her gasp in pain. “That is my queen, my friend, and my mare up there!” The three other mares took a step back as a sudden wave of heat rolled off of Dash’s body, her mane starting to flow and glow as it changed. “You either show me how to work this thing or give me something else that can fly! I am her guardian, I will save her no matter who or what I have to go through!” Dash was screaming, tears starting to bud in her eyes as her coat began to flow, her entire body suddenly blazing white as her patchy coat became whole, and the darker colors of her mane suddenly reappeared, curling like a multi-colored flame as her hoofsteps left dark black marks on the wood.
“Dashie!” Pinkie gasped, covering her face as Sabine abruptly bucked Sadi off her back, behind her, and her horn began to glow. Dash’s teeth ground together as the colors of her body glowed with violent intensity, rising up as the heat around her grew stronger and stronger, the tears in her eyes turned to steam as the wood beneath her hooves started to warp.
Mighty hooves suddenly crashed down in front of Dash, causing the mare to rear in shock, the heat intensifying until she looked into the blue eyes of the lion-armored captain. Vega bore the heat and suddenly lunged at Dash, making the mare leap backwards to try and avoid her, but Vega’s sudden movement just as quickly stopped. “Cool it.” Dash’s eyes narrowed, but Vega stuck her ground. “I said ‘cool it’.” Vega whispered, deathly low.
Dash met her eyes for a moment, then her hair stopped rising. Still glowing with flame, Dash’s anger-wrinkled face softened, her jaw untensing enough for her frown to show. Her eyes fell to the deck of the wooden ship, and she stared at her own front hooves as tears tried to flow down her cheeks, but evaporated the moment they contacted her body. “... Damnit...” She whispered hoarsely.
Vega observed her for a moment, then laid a hoof across her back. “I know.”
“No you don’t.” Dash hissed obstinately, most of her inner fire gone. Pinkie took a careful step closer, and Sabine risked retrieving Sadi.
“I do. I really do. Trust me. We’ll get your Queen back.” Vega whispered, then steeled herself again and stood up straight. “It’s our duty.”
“Shut up,” Dash mumbled and pulled herself to her hooves, her knees shaking as she made herself look up at Vega. “It’s my duty, and I failed...”
“Not yet.” Vega stared down at her, almost thoughtfully. “Getting angry at us isn’t going to help you. None of us even have the spell that would lift this ship up, much less keep it airborne. We aren’t out of options though, Dash.”
Dash stared at the deck of the ship. “Damnit,” She muttered. Then she stomped her hoof, heat exploding off the limb. “Damnit!” She stomped again, and again, speeding up with each strike. “Damnit damnit damnit damnit damnit DAMNIT!” she screamed, her smoking hoof splintering the wood as fresh embers filled the hole she’d created. “Why can’t anything I do work?!”
Pinkie stared at her friend. Vega looked back down to the mare, seemingly at a loss for words, and Sabine was standing far away from Dash. The pink mare cocked her jaw quietly, thinking. This was all too much. Twilight was gone, but Dash seemed absolutely determined to get her. Yet Dash was so down... Pinkie strode forward, and quietly brushed her cheek along Dash’s. The heat was intense. She could feel her cheek redden just from the close proximity to the blazing mare, but she shrugged it off. “Dashie, please.”
“I lost her, Pinkie,” Dash whispered, eyes half-lidded. “I lost the mare of my dreams, the mare who was going to save Equestria, I lost her because I wasn’t paying attention. I lost her and Fluttershy because I’m an idiot,” she said low, somber, the heat around her slowly dissipating. “I shouldn’t have been her guardian.”
“Dashie, please.” Pinkie took a step back to look her friend in the eye. It hurt seeing her like this. Everypony like this. Dash had nearly exploded on them. They barely seemed to recognize each other like this. They’d been friends for a year and Dash had nearly done something drastic. “Dashie, you haven’t failed. We can still get them.”
“How?!” Dash stomped again, raising her leg up quickly as the wood creaked ominously beneath her. “They have her in one of those ships, who knows where, doing who knows what! I couldn’t even find Fluttershy after I fell off the mountain! The two of them could be dead for all we—”
Vega didn’t know what was more surprising, the sound of the slap, or that Pinkie had actually carried through with it. Dash stared off in the direction she’d been slapped in with wide eyes. “Don’t you dare talk like that Dash! We can’t give up on them!” Pinkie lowered her hoof, and Dash’s snout lowered towards the ground. “They’re still alive. They have to be! They want Twilight because of her soul or whatever, they can’t get that from her if she’s—” Pinkie gulped. “We can—... You can find them, Dash. I know you can. You can bring them back safe and sound. J-just,” Pinkie’s jaw trembled as she tried to think of something reassuring, “Just ask yourself, what would Twilight do?”
Dash laid her ears flat against her head as she thought. She worked her jaw quietly for a few moments, then gulped. “They would have taken her out of the battle,” Dash muttered. This earned a small nod from Pinkie. “Probably somewhere safe. Maybe even back to Golding?” Dash’s ears shot up in alarm.
“Maybe, but I doubt it.” Sabine interrupted suddenly, making Dash and Pinkie look up to her. The Coltriellan had approached silently, and watched with a small frown. “Golding doesn’t retreat when they feel victory is within their grasp. She would be on their flagship, where their cells are and where their captain is. The captain is there to observe and give orders; any Golding leader worth their salt isn’t going to suddenly cut and run this early in a fight, no matter what they’re carrying. We still don’t know the situation well enough, if they’re winning — and for your sake I hope they are — then the captain wouldn’t have left.”
“She’s correct.” Vega nodded sternly, then glanced to the skies. “They wouldn’t be on the ground though. They’d be high in the sky, far out, watching from the deck of the ship. That means we still need to get airborne.” Dash’s head lowered, when Pinkie suddenly sprung up.
“The dragons?!” She gasped, and Dash’s head swivelled towards the mare.
“The dragons.” Dash repeated, then glanced to her hooves. “The dragons! Yeah! I can take the dragons up there!” Her mane began to curl and wave again as determination returned to her eyes.
Pinkie looked ready to say something, pointing in a direction, when Vega cut her off. “You would be a target for all those assholes in the sky. Golding and Coltriella out of paranoia.”
Rainbow Dash merely shook her head as Pinkie pointed. Sabine and Sadi both looked curiously. “It doesn’t matter to me, I can get up there, do what I need to do, and get back. I’ll brave anything for Twilight and Fluttershy.” The princess and her bodyguard both stared.
Vega nodded quietly, and then her ear flickered. She turned quickly, and nearly fell over as she found herself eye to eye with Hayseed. The mare was glad the lion’s head hid her stunned features as the dragon blew air through his nostrils. “Pinkie, Dash!” Applejack’s voice suddenly came from the back of the dragon. The farm mare ran up Hayseed’s neck and leapt onto the ship.
“Applejack!” Sabine and Pinkie breathed in relief.
Dash suddenly found herself in the blonde’s one-legged embrace. “Shoot, when Sul said you weren’t in Coltriella, Rarity and I nearly had a heart-attack. Now here ya are and ya even got that fire-thingy back!” Applejack chuckled. Hayseed turned at the gentle tug of his reins, showing Rarity still sitting on his back. She smiled quietly down at her friends, but then frowned.
“Dearies, I hate to interrupt, but where’re Twilight and Fluttershy?” The prim mare called urgently. Dick and Rattler approached alongside Hayseed, an unfamiliar unicorn in each saddle, watching curiously.
Applejack quickly looked around the ship, doing a quick headcount, then gulped. “Dash, is everythin’ alright?” She asked, but the pegasus hung her head. “Don’ tell me—”
“Twilight is captured and,” Dash pulled herself to all four hooves. “I don’t know where Fluttershy is.” Applejack’s face fell, and Rarity put a hoof to her mouth.
“But it’s okay, we have a plan, kind of!” Pinkie called, sensing the tenseness returning quickly. “We think they’re still around here somewhere! Dash was going to go looking for them.” This brought a more relaxed stance to Applejack, but she still chewed her lower lip.
“Well what’s the plan, then?” Applejack asked, meeting Dash’s eyes. The burning mare’s stare hardened, and she pointed to the dragons.
“I want to take all three dragons out.” Dash answered. Applejack opened her mouth, but then Dash flashed. Six of her stood side-by-side, looking at the dragons. “We can cover more ground that way, find Fluttershy and Twilight, and get back quickly,” Red Dash finished.
Applejack and Rarity shared a silent moment where they looked to each other, then the two unicorns they were with, and nodded. Rarity set the reins down and carefully leapt from Hayseed’s back onto the deck of the ship. The two unicorns seemed unsure, but then leapt from their own dragons to join everypony else.
“Alright Dash.” Applejack bobbed her head, swallowing a lump in her throat as she gave her one last fearful hug. “Jus’ be quick ‘n be safe, I want all three of ya back in one piece, we clear?” Applejack looked into Dash’s eyes, and Dash stared back. The red-maned mare nodded in understanding, and the six Dashes ran towards the guardrails. They leapt off the ship, two climbing onto a different dragon.
With one final nod, the Dashes turned the dragons away, and snapped the reins. Only Hayseed hesitated, staying a moment longer to look back at Applejack with a cautious eye, then flew upwards, joining Dick and Rattler as they rose towards the battle above.
Applejack sucked in a deep breath, and turned her head to face the rest of the ponies. “Alright. Ha’Jin’Vega, Rarity ‘n I were asked to come find you so we could bring these two to yer command.” Applejack nodded her head towards Biena and Mallor. Each gave a small ‘it’s a pleasure’ before falling silent.
“Finally Sul delivers.” Vega showed some of her teeth as she strode forward, giving the two a big smirk. “Alright, two wet-behind-the-ears unicorns. I think I can make a mess with this.” Both the unicorns gave a small cough.
“More importantly.” Rarity rounded on Sabine, eyes locking with the mare’s horn. “I think you have a little explaining to do.” Sabine gave a small sigh, but did as she was asked.
----------
The wind whipped by her, heat pouring off of her body. The great blue beyond opened itself up to Dash as she took control in three different bodies. She whipped the reins again, and the dragons sped up.
She grit her teeth and dared to look towards the horizon as the walls of Coltriella shrank down to nothing below. She saw the sun falling in the distance. She saw the dunes of sand rising and falling as a bitter wind swept across the desert. She saw dozens of ships and hundreds of pegasi flying about, several coming within a hundred feet of her.
Dash narrowed her eyes as the dragons levelled out, and each one shared a single thought: something special had been taken from her, yet she was back in her domain. She dared to allow a little confidence into her limbs as she fearlessly snapped the reins, urging the dragons forward.
They had Twilight, but she had her skies.
They were going to pay.