//------------------------------// // To Fight Alicorns // Story: Upheaval: Reckoning // by Visiden Visidane //------------------------------// Upheaval: Reckoning Chapter 48: To Fight Alicorns “You don’t like that I’m going, do you?” Luna asked the question knowing full well what her older sister’s answer was. “No,” Celestia said. She looked at Luna. “It’s not that I don’t want you around. It’s because Lexarius will be a dangerous foe, and that is not counting what else we may encounter in that world.” “Mother said that I had to go,” Luna said with a tilt of her chin. “I know what Mother said,” Celestia replied. Her words escaped her lips with a sigh. “I just...don’t understand bringing my youngest sibling to a dangerous battle.” Terrato's muscular, barded foreleg, draped across Luna's shoulders and pulled her closer to him. “She’s had plenty of training,” he said. Her chest swelled at his confident tone. “And we’ll protect her when she gets into trouble.” The pride quickly started draining. “Besides, we need her for these ‘Elements of Harmony’ we’re supposed to bring along.” It was Terrato’s turn to show some reluctance. “Personally, I don’t see what’s wrong with just stabbing him with our regalia and bringing him back here.” Celestia let out another sigh. “Her majesty has spoken,” she said. “I’m opening the gate.” Luna clenched her jaw as both soldiers of the Eternal Herd charged. Direct physical combat was not exactly her forte. She had hundreds of sparring sessions with Animus Arcem and her siblings back in the Eternal Herd. She also had a plethora of spells to fall back on when threatened. The number of actual fights she had been in, however, was shamefully low. In those battles, she had her siblings at their full strength, her regalia, and the Elements of Harmony. Now, she found herself as the most capable in a group fighting against two experienced soldiers from the Herd. “Watch out for Fulmen,” Celestia said before darting to the side. Luna’s eyes strayed briefly towards her sister. Celestia wasn't scared. She didn't even sound worried. Her older sister, who had but a fraction of her power, who had spent centuries avoiding fighting, looked perfectly at home in the battlefield. A loud bang to the front grabbed her attention. That enormous hammer had struck the ground and tore it up as its wielder charged, sending clumps of earth and shards of stone flying as it went along. ‘Wait,’ she thought, ‘that’s Ridentem. Fulmen is-!” “Luna!” Celestia’s warning cry jolted Luna into action. Instinctively, she jumped to one side. She heard something whistle past her body, the draft from its passage ruffling some feathers on her left wing. Fulmen had just charged from behind her, his spear crackling with lightning. He raised his weapon and the tip exploded with electricity. Luna looked away from the brilliant flash. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him jump back. The ground, however, told of a more immediate concern. She was standing on a quickly expanding shadow. She flapped her wings and jumped to the side once more. Something heavy crashed on where she was standing a second ago. The force of the impact sent her flying for a good distance, but she managed to right herself in mid-air. Celestia was already by her side when some of dust from the crash started to settle. “I said watch out for Fulmen!” The cloud cleared, revealing Ridentem sitting in the middle of a small crater. Luna’s eyes widened. “Did he just try to sit on me?” she asked. “Focus!” Celestia was hovering above Ridentem in an instant, her blade of light slashing at the larger alicorn while he was still in a vulnerable position. Ridentem’s hammer whirled in front of him. Its sheer bulk made it seem like a thick wall of metal was blocking Celestia. Suddenly embarrassed and angry, Luna shook her head. Her sister and her friends needed her at fighting form and all these little niggling doubts only weighed her down. She concentrated on a spell. When she brought down Discord with her siblings, she wielded her regalia alongside theirs. Though it was taken away when they defied their father a long time ago, she still remembered the feel and sight of it. She concentrated on those sensations now, slowly willing her magic to form its shape. A crescent-shaped blade made of shadowy strands and silvery flames materialized by Luna’s side. She inspected the thing briefly. She got the shape and size right and it would be functional. Comparing it to her actual regalia would be like comparing a pointy stick to a master-forged sword, but it would function. Luna turned her attention towards Fulmen and worked her magic. As she expected of Herd soldiers sent to execute her, his mind was shielded. Her phantasms and most of her enchantments were out of the picture until they could dispel his protections. She smiled despite herself. Her brother was not here to “protect” her, her sister needed her help, and Nightmare Moon was not around to share in her actions. For this occasion, she was free to fight as herself and as hard as she liked. The rush was...exhilarating. Her horn crackled with magical energy as she started her attack. Celestia cursed silently and flew back just in time to avoid a hammer swing so wide and powerful that her mane and tail blew back from the draft. For all his bulk and weight, Ridentem Malleorum moved and reacted with great speed. Even while sitting, he had whirled his hammer with expertise, catching each of her slashes with its head. He took to the air, keeping his weapon close and in front of him. Celestia remembered her own advice and tried to locate Fulmen without removing Ridentem from her field of vision. The smaller alicorn was several feet away, already crouching for another dashing thrust. She tensed. Dodging two attacks from different directions in mid-air would be a strain. “Hold on there, speedy!” Applejack’s chain lasso encircled Fulmen’s neck with links of metal and force. She gave a hard tug just as he started to charge. Though his face couldn't be seen, Celestia relished the thought of his surprise when a pony smaller than him tugged so hard that he had to veer off course. His surprise didn't last long, though. A great bolt of golden electricity flew towards Applejack. Applejack hadn't expected such a quick and deadly reaction. She stood there, her chain still in her mouth. Celestia flew towards her, knowing it was likely too late. The lightning struck a translucent globe of purple magic, much to Celestia’s relief and pride. Twilight Sparkle stood next to Applejack, her eyes narrow as she focused on deflecting the powerful magic. The shield wavered, but it held until the bolt fizzled. Celestia turned her attention back to Ridentem, only to find him gone. “HOO! HOO! HOO!” Ridentem’s hammer shattered Twilight's shield like glass. An explosion of rock shards and dust followed, cutting Twilight's cry short. “Twilight!” Celestia shouted. She charged Ridentem, determined to leave her sunlight blade buried in him this time. The dust cleared, but there was no horrible splatter of blood and gore under Ridentem’s hammer. A short distance away, Twilight Sparkle and Applejack were flat on their backs. Rainbow Dash lay on her belly between them, her front hooves on their chests. The trail on the snow behind her showed just how far she had pushed them to safety. Rainbow quickly rolled on her back, her crossbow having miraculously stayed loaded. A bolt flew towards Ridentem, but he easily swatted it aside. Celestia turned towards Fulmen. Following their pattern, he was going to attack again, with Ridentem following up. He was caught in a predicament of his own, however. Fulmen Lancea was busy dodging the slashing blades of a shadowy figure that vaguely resembled her younger sister. A second shadow appeared behind him, its crescent blade gliding gracefully through the air and spinning around it. Fulmen's spear whirled around him, catching strikes and making thrusts at every spare opportunity. A third shadow suddenly dropped down on him, its blade cutting into his bronze barding. The plates around his neck had a deep gash, but no blood flowed through the damaged metal. Still, Celestia dove in. The longer this fight went, the more it would swing towards Ridentem and Fulmen. She did not believe for a moment that she could keep up this frantic pace without her full strength. Twilight Sparkle and her friends were strong and determined, but they lacked they sheer physical endurance and experience these two possessed. The more attacks these two used, the more they would tire just keeping each other alive. She took a few seconds to observe the patterns of attack. Fulmen was surrounded by a veritable storm of silvery lights and dancing shadows. From a distance, Luna hovered and concentrated on maintaining the spell. Celestia spotted her opening and joined the fray. The thrust of her blade cut through the myriad of feints and slashes. Fulmen’s spear came up at the last moment, its haft deflecting what should have been a lethal strike to the neck. Instead, Celestia pulled about a couple of inches of her weapon from Fulmen’s shoulder. Some blood sizzled briefly on the tip of the blade. With Fulmen’s barding, at least, an inch thick, she doubted that she did more than make him angrier. Fulmen had turned his gaze towards Luna. “I expected such cowardice from you, lastborn,” he said. He spun his spear, still avoiding the attacks coming at him from nearly all directions. A surge of electricity burst from him, forcing Celestia and the shadows back for a few seconds. That brief window of time was all he needed to point his spear at Luna and fire another bolt of lightning, this one even bigger than the last. Luna’s horn stopped glowing. She flapped her wings hard to move, but the bolt struck true. Lightning slammed into her so hard that it flung her high into the air before dissipating. Feathers and cinders flew forlornly from her smoldering body as she fell. When she struck the ground, her body crumbled to ash. “Luna!” Celestia cried out. “Objective accomplished,” Fulmen muttered. He turned towards Celestia, his spear floating by his side. “Coward?” Luna suddenly asked. Celestia smiled. None of the shadows had dissipated. One of them shimmered, revealing her younger sister. “I’ve been slashing at you from the start!” Luna lunged, but Fulmen reacted swiftly. His spear found a home deep into her chest. Luna’s only answer was a smile followed by an explosion of shadowy energy. Another shadow struck from behind. This time, the blade bit deeply. Blood spattered across Luna’s side as she flew by. Her remaining shadow construct covered her back while she circled for another attack. His wounds did not seem to concern Fulmen. Larger arcs of electricity surged from his horn. Celestia could hear the humming buzz of gathering magic. “Hiding recklessness with excessive caution, hiding a feint with another feint; impressive,” he said. “This is good. The changelings had been too boring.” “HOO! HOO! HOO!” Ridentem Malleorum’s constant, belly-shaking laughter proved a disturbing counterpoint to the sound of his hammer tearing up the ground, the cries of warning from the ponies around him. He telekinetically swung his weapon with careless ease. If that wasn’t infuriating enough for Twilight Sparkle, he displayed the same ease in swatting away bolts, chain strikes, mage blades, and spells. Ridentem couldn't even be bothered to fly. He trotted around like a filly chasing butterflies. Maybe he simply scorned the idea of mortal ponies harming him or he actually approached every battle like this. She didn't have the luxury to ponder it either. She spread her efforts between aiming bolts of lightning and fire at Ridentem and raising force shields around her friends. His powerful swings shattered her protections with only two blows, but the time those swings took was enough for his target to scramble out of the way. Twilight was already breathing hard. More from frustration than exertion. Nothing was fazing their enemy. All six of them milled around, circling him and keeping out of reach. The laughing served as a dark reminder, that none of them had been reduced to a bloodstain because Ridentem was having too much fun. Twilight grit her teeth, desperately going through her repertoire of spells one more time, hoping that she had overlooked something that could put a dent in Ridentem’s defenses. This was just one alicorn soldier! Equestria would soon face the coming of a fallen prince and his followers! What could they do against that when this one alicorn soldier stopped them cold? “Twilight!” Applejack called out. Twilight looked up to find Ridentem trotting towards her. His hammer was high above him for an overhead smash. A quick teleportation spell came to mind. In a blink, she was several feet behind Ridentem while his hammer pounded another crater into the soil. Another blink passed, however, and he also vanished. “You unicorns are certainly much more amusing to solve than changelings,” Ridentem said from behind Twilight. Panicked, Twilight began to cast another teleportation spell, but a ray of magic struck her first. A brief glow of green around her hooves told her everything: Dimensional Anchor. A shadow appeared beneath her, signaling what was coming next. She galloped forward, already fearing that it was too late. The hammer didn't crash on Twilight, however. At the sound of chain links clinking together, she looked to Ridentem. A silver chain had looped around both the hammer and the alicorn himself, tying them together. Applejack was several feet behind Ridentem, pulling as hard as she could. “You think you can bind me, silly mortal?” Ridentem asked with a chuckle. “Looks like you’re missing more than a horn and wings!” He took a step forward. The links stretched taut. Beads of sweat trickled down Applejack’s face as she strained to hold him back. Instinct told Twilight to run while her friend could maintain the hold. A different opportunity showed itself, however. She concentrated, forming as powerful a telekinetic grip on Ridentem as she could. A nimbus of purple magical energy surrounded the alicorn and held him in place. “Oho, what’s this? A little contest of strength? Sounds fun!” Now it was Twilight’s turn to sweat despite the winter air. Ridentem was strong. So strong that he was still pushing forward despite her and Applejack’s combined bindings. The links strained even more and the telekinesis began to crackle. Suddenly, the ground directly under Ridentem’s hooves began to glow. When he lifted his hooves, multicolored arcs of energy crackled as if pulling them back down. Twilight recognized magic, but she didn't know what sort, or who was casting the spell. “Earthen bindings! Earthen bindings! Earthen bindings!” That was Pinkie Pie. From afar, Pinkie Pie was holding her stone tablet towards Ridentem. The gems on the thing were glowing brightly. She shook while chanting as loudly as she could. “Earthen bindings! Earthen bindings! Earthen bindings!” Whatever bizarre magic Pinkie Pie was somehow accomplishing, Twilight doubted that shouting its name out was an actual part of casting it. Young unicorns would sometimes resort to it when first learning spells more complicated than telekinesis. The shouting didn't help the magic itself, but it did help them focus. What was important right now, however, was that Pinkie’s “earthen bindings” added to Twilight and Applejack’s efforts with telling effect. Ridentem was barely moving now. The shaking in his armored form revealed true exertion. More importantly, he had stopped that increasingly annoying laugh. He flapped his wings, but the magic around his hooves pulled him down. When Twilight saw his horn begin to glow, she quickly shifted to another spell. A green ray struck his chest. “I know Dimensional Anchor too,” she said with a grin. She quickly returned to holding him down with raw telekinesis. Underneath the smile, she was still racing to find some form of effective attack. They couldn't hold this alicorn down much longer. Her magical strength wasn't endless, neither was Applejack’s stamina. Who knew how reliable Pinkie’s newly displayed magic was? She could see four mage blades circling Ridentem, diving in and out like mosquitoes from time to time as Rarity looked for gaps in his armor. As for Fluttershy... The powerful push against Twilight's telekinesis subsided. The surprise nearly made her cancel the spell. Ridentem was motionless and it seemed as if he was looking past her. Was there somepony behind her? She could still hear the clash of blades coming from the princesses and the distant explosions from Prince Terrato and Black Rose. That left only two possible ponies. “Fluttershy!” Rainbow shouted. She flew in from behind Applejack. “What are you doing? Get out of there!” Ridentem was shaking a great deal now, but not against Twilight's magic. Something else was keeping him rooted to the spot. “S-stop, staring at me...” Twilight's jaw dropped at he sound of fear, of blood-curdling, crippling fear, in Ridentem’s voice. Here was a chance. She knew what Fluttershy was doing and she wasn't wasting this moment. An idea came to mind as well. “Rainbow!” she shouted. “Ram into him! As hard as you can!” “Are you crazy?” Rainbow shouted back. “That barding looks strong enough to crack my skull open!” “Trust me!” Twilight let the telekinesis go. As expected, Ridentem still didn't move. The chain around him slackened. Applejack had noticed the same and was conserving her strength. Rainbow Dash flew high and looped once for momentum. Rainbow screamed as she picked up speed. It wasn't exertion or pain. She was terrified of running headlong into a heavily-armored alicorn, but she still did it because her friend had asked it of her. Twilight concentrated a force field around Rainbow Dash. This one would have two purposes. The first was to protect her friend from being smashed to bits by her own velocity and Ridentem’s barding. The second was to create an attack with more force than her magic alone could generate. The force field around Rainbow Dash wasn't the usual sphere of purple abjuration magic she used. She formed a sharp wedge around Rainbow, like an enormous spear head, and waited grimly from the riotous explosion of colors that was the Sonic Rainboom. The bright lights that followed Rainbow Dash’s signature move forced Twilight to squint. Her spell shook violently when Rainbow struck Ridentem from the side. She concentrated harder, desperately making sure that the force field was hard enough. If it shattered now, Rainbow would die. Ridentem flew for a great distance towards Sky Mirror Lake, repeatedly bouncing and rolling on the frozen ground. Shards of his armor flew up and clattered noisily all over the place. His hammer crashed dozens of feet away from him. To Twilight's relief, Rainbow flew up after the impact. She dismissed her spell, then galloped with her friends to see how much damage they had wrought. The walls that Gravitas had raised around Sky Mirror Lake loomed before them by the time they got to where Ridentem was. To their dismay, he was already up. Twilight focused on the rent portion of barding around Ridentem’s left side. This was good. Even if they hadn't beaten him completely, the sight of him like this proved that they could penetrate his defenses if they tried hard enough. “Ohoho...well, I think I played around a little too much,” Ridentem said. He pawed the ground and shook his head. His hammer floated to his side. “That was quite the strike. The General’s right, you are dangerous.” He looked to his side and brushed against the exposed flesh with a foreleg. Blood, a stark red stain against the white background, trickled down his hoof. “Wait, is this...blood? My blood?” Ridentem stomped both front hooves so hard that the ground beneath them cracked and trembled. The change was so palpable that Twilight felt a twinge of regret about her attack. Had she made things a lot worse? “You filthy, flesh-bag mortals!” Ridentem screamed. His voice rose to an ear-grinding screech. “I’m going grind your bones into feed!” He took to the air and flung himself towards Fluttershy. From the side, Applejack hurled her lasso again. The looped end landed on point, catching Ridentem around the neck. He snatched the chain in his mouth and hurled Applejack through the air. When she crashed violently to the ground, he dragged her through rocks and hard earth for a good distance before she wisely decided to let go. The chain, bereft of a wielder, unknotted itself and shrank into its short length. Rarity’s mage blades flew towards the opening in Ridentem’s barding. A vicious swat from his hammer sent them flying back. Rarity cried out and clutched a foreleg in agony. Three of her mage blades had struck the ground around her while the fourth had buried itself deep into her flesh. “Fluttershy, get out of there!” Rainbow Dash charged, going so far as trying to meet Ridentem head on. Fluttershy was rooted to the spot. Ridentem’s horn flashed and Twilight’s shield began to crackle violently. She struggled to maintain it, but tendrils of powerful dispelling magic cut through her abjuration and ripped it apart at the seams. The force field dissipated with Rainbow just an inch from Ridentem. A loud clang accompanied the impact of flesh and bone meeting cold, hard metal. Rainbow fell limp to the side and tumbled on the ground. “EARTHEN BINDINGS! EARTHEN BINDINGS! EARTHEN BINDINGS!” Pinkie Pie yelled. Nothing stopped Ridentem, or even slowed him down. She put the tablet away and galloped, but there was no way she was going to make it. Twilight had few options left. Her telekinesis wasn't slowing the alicorn down. She focused on a short teleportation spell aimed at Fluttershy, but a green ray from Ridentem struck Fluttershy first. '‘No!' she thought. 'He’s a brute! How is he keeping one step ahead of me?” Fluttershy remained motionless. In the face of danger, she often forgot what the fluttering feathery things attached to her back were called, or what they were for. Ridentem was only a few feet away from Fluttershy when Twilight also galloped. As her mind raced for some way to save her friend, a brief grim thought occurred to her. Ridentem didn't need to keep one step ahead of her. He was an alicorn soldier. Of course he was trained to fight other alicorns who would try to teleport away if somepony charged at them with a giant hammer. Her tactics were simply falling in line with standard procedure. ‘And there’s an army of them. An army of alicorns led by their fallen prince just waiting beneath the waves.’ “Fluttershy, please!” Twilight cried out. “Move!” At the last few seconds of that charge, Fluttershy finally flapped her wings. The hammer swung down so violently that the impact lifted Twilight, who was still several feet away, off her hooves and flung her back. There was loud cry of pain: Fluttershy’s. Twilight was glad for that. It proved that her friend was not underneath that hammer’s head. Rock shards flew at all directions. She grit her teeth when several sliced past her legs and torso. One even cut a shallow but dangerously close wound on her neck. The dust settled and a great sense of relief flooded Twilight when Fluttershy emerged several feet away from the resulting crater. That relief turned to panicked concern at the sight of Fluttershy pressing a hoof over her right eye. Several trails of bright red blood trickled down her hoof and dripped on the ground. “I’m okay...” she whimpered between pants. “I’m okay...” Twilight galloped forward again. She had a healing spell in mind. A rudimentary one she had been working on in her spare time. It would have to do. After only a few steps forward, she froze. A flash of white magic burst from behind Fluttershy, revealing Ridentem Malleourum. His hammer was rose for a sweeping strike. “Is that so?” he asked. Twilight Sparkle didn't see any impact: just a blur of colors and Fluttershy disappearing. But there was a sound: a horrible unforgettable sound. It was as if an enormous anvil had been lifted overhead by somepony, then hurled into a puddle of mud. Something flew past her. She turned and looked up just in time to catch some distant shape, already too far to identify, sailing past the walls that blocked off Sky Mirror Lake. The gentle hum of magic drew Twilight Sparkle’s attention towards her front. Ridentem Malleorum stood at the ready. The red stain on the surface of his weapon served as a gristly reminder of his terrible crime. “One down,” he growled. Rarity winced as her telekinesis slowly pulled her weapon from her foreleg. The metal had dug all the way to the bone. She was hesitant at first to remove the thing, fearing the fountain of blood that would follow and her strength failing her before she bled to death. She went on with it anyway. As soon as the blade was out, she quickly tore off a portion of her mage coat to serve as a crude bandage. She now had a very strict time limit when it came to defeating this alicorn. As if she didn't have enough problems with him to start with. She turned her gaze back to the fight. She was lucky that Ridentem hadn't come after her. She heard the powerful bang of hammer striking rock and soil once again. Ridentem must have missed something. Fluttershy’s cry snapped her alert. Something bad was going on here. If only she could... That sound reached her ears. It was horrible, disgusting sound. An unfeeling, hard thing colliding with something soft and warm. A shadow briefly flew overhead. That didn't matter at the moment. She couldn't find Fluttershy, who should be just in front of Ridentem. She saw Twilight Sparkle, saw the horrified expression on the other unicorn’s face, then the red stain on the hammer. “No...” Rarity set all four hooves on the ground. Pain lanced up her injured foreleg. “You didn’t! You...you...” There were no words: Beast, monster, abomination, wretch...nothing fit. Nothing could describe this alicorn and the thing it just did. Rarity’s blades flew in front of her and she found herself despising them just as she was starting to despise herself. They were so small, so puny and inadequate. What was the point of having them, of having the ability to use them, when she could only stand by and watch a friend die? “Lost something precious again, have we?” Rarity’s eyes widened. ‘Lion Court?’ she thought. “Oh, my dear Rarity. You didn't think fresh cuts were the only things I left on you when you were unconscious, did you? I’m an enchanter, my dear, we work best when the lady can’t say no. You looked so pretty lying there bleeding that I couldn't help myself so I left this little nugget to bounce around quietly in your mind.” ‘I don’t need this right now!” Rarity thought. She blinked tears away and galloped towards Ridentem. “This one should be triggered by a great sense of loss. I know your type. The question is always who, not what. So who did you lose, my dear Rarity? My guess is that it’s one of the weaker ones: Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy. I hope it’s Pinkie Pie. Sable performs at her best when she can’t control the rage.” Rarity grit her teeth. ‘SHUT UP!’ “It’s such a shame isn't it? Generosity is a virtue that pre-requires greatness. How sad to discover time and time again that you’re not great enough.” Rarity’s steps slowed. Not great enough. She thought of Applejack being sliced open while she was nowhere to be found, Princess Celestia being drained with her help, Rainbow Dash being captured and tormented while her methods barely helped. Now Fluttershy... Greatness. It had always eluded her since the beginning. Eluded and tantalized her. From being born in the rural outskirts of Equestria’s fashion capital to this very moment. She had felt the frustration before, but she had never, ever wanted it as she did this moment. She struck the ground again. The pain that shot through her leg felt deserved. Necessary even. Another tear dropped, mingling with the blood-soaked bandage. Ahead, Twilight Sparkle was galloping towards her. Behind Twilight, their alicorn foe was closing in, hammer raised for another sweeping strike. “No...” she whispered. “Not again!” She willed her weapons to move desperately, wishing that, just once, she could do something. One of the blades flew. The next moment, Ridentem crashed to the ground. Rarity gasped at the unexpected impact. Was she the one who did that? She looked towards Twilight Sparkle. A powerful enough move to bring the alicorn down would make more sense coming from the unicorn with the strongest magic. Yet, Twilight Sparkle was staring at their fallen foe agape. A closer look at their enemy revealed what had happened. An enormous, scintillating shard of blue-white crystal had pierced one of Ridentem's forelegs. The shard curved gracefully, like the fang of a great beast. Its facets looked like they were cut by a master gemcrafter. The beauty of the thing left Rarity breathless, even more so when she saw that, at the center of the translucent shard was her mage-blade. The crystalline form wavered slightly, revealing its nature as a magical construct. Instinctively, Rarity knew that her blade was not going to stay like that for very long. Ridentem struggled to lift his foreleg from the ground, but the barbed portions of the crystal shard held him fast. Three more blades flew in rapid succession. He cried out in rage and pain as they pinned the rest of his legs to the ground. “Filthy mortal!” he shouted. His hammer flew towards Rarity, the air rippling around it as it spun towards her. Surprised, Rarity closed her eyes. A deafening clang snapped Rarity’s eyes open. That she was not reduced to a bloody pulp was both a relief and a shock. The hammer’s head flew back and crashed a good distance away. The broken haft landed on the ground. Applejack stood in front of her with a great, golden disc of light in front of both of them. Tears were also running down her face. “I am not losing another one!” she shouted at the alicorn. Their enemy was pinned in place. They just needed one more powerful move. Rainbow was still face-first on the ground. Twilight Sparkle was exhausted. Pinkie Pie was fiddling with that stone tablet again. She looked as unsure of what she could do as Rarity was. What could they hit Ridentem with? Rarity’s frantic searching halted when a chilling wave of fear slammed into her from behind. She looked behind her, her heart in her throat. Something had flown above the walls that blocked Sky Mirror Lake. It looked like a great, tangled mess of smoky, black wisps at first, but a bright green point of light drew Rarity’s eyes to its center. There was a familiar shape there. It looked like… It looked like a pegasus. All her life, Rarity had always had an eye for detail. Even with the distracting wisps and the blast of cold, she could make out the pony. The malevolent, bright green thing that shone from the shadowy wisps was an eye. The light seeping from it nearly made the other eye indistinguishable, given that it looked more like a dimly glowing crack. Once she figured that out, she could trace the outlines of a snout, a long flowing mane, the legs and the tail. She knew those features, but she couldn't even say the name in her mind, as if that would be enough to confirm something she wasn't sure she wanted to. The thing from the lake flew towards them, moving with such grace it seemed to be swimming through the air instead of flying. Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie, also stared with their mouths hanging open. The lone glowing eye held them fixed. The thing began to hover in front of Ridentem. It lowered its head slightly, gazing directly into his face. There was a moment of silence, as if all the sound had been sucked away along with their breaths. The thing reared back, then thrust its face forward. Green light exploded from its eye, catching Ridentem in a cone of brilliance. Rarity grit her teeth as a horrible, agonizing screech followed the burst. It didn't come from the thing. No, it was a terrified scream from their enemy. The light vanished in an instant. In its place was a triangular field of black ice on the ground. The shadowy wisps from the flying thing withdrew, like a startled spider drawing up its legs. The flying pony at the center fell to the ground and lay still, the blackness fading from it like smoke. Now, Rarity could see the flowing pink mane and the yellow coat. She galloped over to see if Fluttershy was alright. As for Ridentem, he stood perfectly still, black icicles hanging from his enormous bulk while dark vapor rose from him. “Land’s sakes…” Applejack breathed as she trotted beside Rarity. “Did we do it? Is that varmint dead?” The sound of ice cracking answered Applejack’s question more loudly than anything Rarity had to say. All of them looked towards Ridentem and saw some movement from his neck. “There’s no way!” Rarity hissed. “We've thrown so much at him!” “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight Sparkle called out. Rainbow was already on her hooves, but she was still shaking a daze off. Her eyes widened in confusion when she saw what had happened to their foe. Twilight’s horn glowed as she shouted again. “Once more!” Rainbow Dash flew gamely upward. Rarity recognized the tactic. Their enemy was still helpless, but she doubted that this would last forever. It would be unbelievable for even an alicorn to fully recover, but he was so strong and they were so exhausted that even the smallest possibility that he could still fight filled her with dread. Rainbow flew high for momentum and began a near vertical descent. The different approach was understandable. Rainbow was exhausted and needed all the help she could get, including gravity’s. She picked up speed midway and her form was subsumed by the streak of colors she was producing. It was a prismatic comet that struck Ridentem. The blast of scintillating light the great cloud of debris forced Rarity to turn away. The shockwave pushed her against the ground, forcing her to leave a short trail on the snow. Bits of glassy material -the black ice- struck her back. Metal banged and dragged across ground. Hopefully, they were shreds of the alicorn’s armor. The searing light eventually faded and the noise came to a halt. Rarity finally managed to get herself to look towards their enemy. A large, shallow crater had replaced the field of black ice. At its center, Rainbow Dash lay still. A quick look was enough to reveal the rise and fall of her chest. As for the Ridentem: Rainbow must have struck him from the side, the same side where his armor was already torn. The top half had flown clear off to the distance while the bottom half must have been pushed to the ground by the blast. There was no blood anywhere. “Rainbow!” Applejack shouted. She choked a bit on the clouds of dust. “Fluttershy! Pinkie! Twilight! Rarity!” “I’m right here!” Rarity said. She sneezed when some dust entered her nose. “Good,” Applejack replied. “What about the others? Can you see them?” Rarity looked around. Fluttershy must have been rolled over for a short distance by the shockwave. She decided to head there first. By rights, Fluttershy should be dead. But something had happened. The pain in Rarity’s foreleg was starting to catch up now. Blood soaked through the makeshift bandage and ran down her leg. She limped towards Fluttershy, unable to force herself to go any faster. Applejack galloped towards Rainbow Dash, with Twilight Sparkle coming over to join her. Pinkie Pie also headed for Fluttershy. “Ridentem!” The anguished cry nearly made Rarity’s heart stop. She recognized the voice and remembered that the fight was not yet over. The smaller alicorn flew to where the top half had landed with the two princesses in hot pursuit. It was hard to make out the details from the distance, but it looked like both of them were fine. The smaller alicorn landed next to his -now dead- comrade. Arcs of white magic emerged from the corpse and into the still living enemy. Rarity had no idea what was going on, but she braced herself. The battle was still on.