In Canterlot, in the deepest and most secretive of all the castle’s dungeons, the two royal sisters were hard at work. They had already had Equestria’s most sensitive artifacts – Discord’s statue, the Elements of Harmony, the dimensional mirror, etc. – moved to a cell hidden in the darkest parts of their dungeon when the nature of the catastrophe had become clear. Powerful magic already enveloped the hidden room, blocking almost all known forms of scrying, teleportation, and telekinesis. Now Celestia and Luna, motivated by the enemy’s troubling new teleportation capabilities, were warding them as best they knew how.
Luna’s horn scraped along the rough stone floor, carving an intricate trail of glowing blue runes behind it. Soon her trail would completely encircle the precious relics hidden within, as five of her others already did. Celestia was carving deep glyphs into the walls with her own horn, muttering softly in languages most ponies didn’t know had ever existed. Alicorns didn’t need the luxury of light to see with, and so the dank room was illuminated only by the soft blue and gold light coming from the siblings’ magic. The distance drip of moisture from the ceiling and the grating of supernatural bone on ancient rock served as the background noise. No prisoners had been held here for decades.
With a satisfied grunt, Luna carved the final rune of her sixth circle into the ground, then raised her head high. Closing her eyes, she muttered in an obscure dialect of the ancient dragons’ tongue, invoking the spirits of earth and sky to protect her treasures from all who would plunder them, as the oldest wyrms once had. When the chant was finished, Luna breathed a sight of relief and relaxed slightly. Sweat trickled down her back and neck, and her breathing was heavy. Fighting for almost a solid day, flying across half a continent in mere hours, and then immediately performing powerful magic, all the while regulating the moon, was not an easy task even for an alicorn of her age and pedigree.
Looking up at her sister, Luna saw that Celestia wasn’t in much better shape. Oh yes, she put on a brave face as she always had, but Luna knew her sibling too well to be fooled. Her wings were drooping slightly, her heartbeat was too fast, her breathing irregular. She looked strong, but in a serious engagement would likely crumple in minutes. They could finish their task in the dungeon in perhaps another hour, but they would need a period of recuperation before they could think of taking to the field again. Luna just hoped nothing would happen before they could get to Manehatten to assist.
…
Twilight Sparkle soared hundreds of feet above the ground, feeling little beyond pain. She was exhausted, sweat pouring all over her. At the same time, she was freezing. The air was unseasonably cold and the wind, while strong and in a helpful direction, was incredibly dry and bitter. Her jaw was swollen and sensitive from its dislocation. Her back muscles were strained with the unnatural need to hold herself to an aerodynamic shape. And to top it all off, all the magic she had used had given her a pounding headache.
Twilight was reasonably certain she was heading in the right direction. She wasn’t exactly sure where she was, but she knew enough astronomy to point herself east with the stars. It was just a matter of reaching Equestria’s central mountain range or the some other identifiable landmark. From there, getting to Canterlot would be a simple task. Twilight tried to keep her mind on that, and not the gnawing guilt that was eating at her each moment.
“Why are you running, coward?” her own voice taunted her. “You abandoned your friends, your family, your fellow ponies. You left Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and who knows how many other ponies back in Manehatten to die! They’re probably being tortured or dissected or some horrible thing because you couldn’t save them! You let Cadence get slaughtered in front of you, and you couldn’t even avenge her! What kind of horrible desecration has her body gone through because you couldn’t even be bothered to retrieve it?! Weren’t you supposed to be the brilliant magician? Why didn’t you see what was coming, why didn’t you warn anypony? You failed your friends, you failed your family, you failed Celestia! What in the infernal pits of Tartarus are you doing fleeing back to Canterlot?! What use would Celestia have for you?! You’re a worthless failure, Twilight Sparkle, and you should have died!”
Tears were swept away by the wind almost before they could leave the unicorn’s eyes. Shame burned deep within Twilight, clashing with her inborn instinct to live. She wanted nothing more than to give up and fall to her death, but found she couldn’t.
“Too much of a selfish coward to even get rid of yourself properly, Twilight? You cling to life by condemning your own “friends” to a horrible fate! If you had a shred of honor or decency you’d turn right around and head back to Manehatten! You’d die before you let them hurt your friends!”
“I-I-I can’t… I j-just… can’t. There’s too m-many, they’re t-t-too powerful, t-they…”
“Bah, excuses for your own failure! You’re a whining hypocrite to every promise of friendship you every made! You disgust me!”
“I… know.”
Head as low as it could go, Twilight flew onward into the night, sobbing.
…
A Canterlot hospital ward wasn’t a pleasant place to be in those times. With so many refugees still crammed into the city and tempers running high, it was hardly surprising that injuries were both worse and more numerous than they had been not a few months ago. Doctors and nurses worked long hours trying to deal with more patients than most could remember ever having before. Despite the best efforts of the city’s medical staff to be conservative in their use, medical supplies were starting to reach critically low levels. Almost all imports to the city had ceased, and much of what remained had to be allocated to the Royal Guard. Those unicorns who could perform healing magic were forced to use it more and more often on critically injured patients. In turn, those with lighter injuries that did not necessitate immediate treatment were often simply left to heal on their own, without even painkillers. With a combination of overworked staff, few supplies, and agonized patients, it was little wonder that the wards of Canterlot had become sour, surly places full of barely-contained discontent and simmering rage.
“What?” demanded an older grey mare seated at the reception desk. “You look fine to me.”
The panting brown soldier was leaning on his spear to support his own weight. “It’s…” he paused to greedily suck in air, “It’s Lady Rarity.”
“Who? Never heard of her.”
“One of the mares-” he took another large breath, “With Twilight Sparkle. Helped save Equestria.”
The tired mare considered for a moment, then vaguely recalled reading something like that in the Equestria Daily. “And what about her?”
“She’s hurt. Badly. Not saying much. We need a doctor.”
“So where is she?”
“The palace. The captain ordered as soon as he found out.”
“So, don’t you have doctors there?”
He nodded, his breath finally slowing down, “Yeah, but they’re all busy. So many guards hurt. Don’t you have anyone you could spare?”
“I’ll see what we can do. No promises.”
He nodded, then collapsed on a waiting room chair, grateful for the chance to rest.
…
A long way from Canterlot, in what was once Manehatten, chaos reigned. Discipline, shaky at best before the recent battle, had simply disappeared in its wake. The daemons, though vanished back to their home, had stirred the passions of the worshipers of Chaos like nothing else could. Units broke down into so many petty gangs and roving psychopaths, killing, drinking looting, feasting, burning, and generally acting according to whatever whims guided them. Only the elite of the army retained unit cohesion throughout the revelry. Slaanesh would be pleased.
So, naturally, Fluttershy was angry. She was angered by many things these days. She was angry at the witch, Trixie, for sabotaging her elimination of Twilight Sparkle out of petty jealousy. She was angry at Lord Qesh for letting that witch scum live and for allowing this disgusting sideshow to continue. She was angry at the Lord Sorcerer for his cowardly magic. She was angry at the pathetic individuals that stumbled throughout the city in various states of drunkenness and debauchery. Because of their indiscipline, their urge to revel in victory rather than finish off the enemy, many of the Royal Guard who should have been dead had survived and escaped. How many? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? Fluttershy didn’t know.
Most of all, she was angry at the two drunken fool stallions who were blocking her way. The two mutant cultists were locked in a passionate embrace and consumed in what looked in the dull starlight to be lovemaking, and so they paid the armored warrior no attention. This, of course, merely infuriated her all the more. At least she could do something about this right now.
Fluttershy’s axe swung once, twice, faster than most would think possible. Two heads rolled from their necks, blood gushing everywhere. The yellow pegasus didn’t even give them a second glance as she stepped over their corpses and continued on her way down the hall.
“And these are supposed to be warriors of the gods? Useless weaklings.”
Fluttershy crushed broken glass, bits of ceiling, and various bits of debris and corpses littering the floor beneath her steel boots. Once, this had been Manehatten’s largest jail, used to contain its worst criminals. After the city’s takeover, parts of it had been turned into a makeshift prison for what captured enemies hadn’t been murdered, eaten, enslaved, sacrificed, or otherwise made unavailable. Those inmates who hadn’t been willing to join the forces of Chaos had simply been killed. Post-battle, almost three dozen of the princesses’ soldiers and their support personnel had joined the preexisting unfortunates left here to rot. Under the guard of the Blackfire Swords, a special armored unit distinguished for its harsh warrior’s code and unyielding discipline, some two hundred ponies all told languished miserably within its walls. The building had had a name, but Fluttershy had never cared to find out what it was. It didn’t matter to a champion of the Blood God. She was only here for two very special prisoners.
The two black-orange armored warriors guarding the entrance to the inhabited section of the prison recognized her as she stepped into their torchlight, parting their halberds to allow her access. This section of the prison thankfully showed some warrior pride, something Fluttershy could respect. Torches were placed in even intervals throughout the halls to allow for maximum visibility. Patrols of two marched up and down the corridors, eyes alert and ever vigilant for attempts to break in or out. No weakness, debauchery, or sloth was evident here. The Blackfire Swords might not have worshiped Khorne exclusively, but Fluttershy still thought well of them. It would be quite pleasing to do battle with them once the war with the princesses had been won.
After a minute or so of navigating the hallways, Fluttershy finally reached her destination. She nodded meaningfully at the guards, who wisely backed away to give her some space. Two adjacent cells contained the two ponies she knew would be her key to slaying Twilight and proving her supremacy. She’d thought someone might have given orders regarding them, but no one had. That meant they were hers to do with as she pleased.
“Applejack. Rainbow Dash. So good to see you again.”
…
A young unicron by the name of Serene Patience gently rolled Rarity’s limp form around with telekinesis. The white unicorn’s back injuries were even worse than she had thought. Gashes and welts crisscrossed at random of ruin her beautiful coat. Some were red, others the disgusting yellow of infection. From the looks of things, Rarity had been whipped or beaten with sharp objects multiple times over the course of days. Thankfully, though awful to look at, none went very deep. The greatest danger was clearly from the infection.
Sighing wistfully at her almost-empty medical bag, Serene did what she could. With an energy-efficient heating spell, she sterilized a small knife, then proceeded to cut away at the infected areas. Rotten flesh and pus she magically flung into a small bucket to be burned. She rubbed the opened areas with alcoholic disinfectant, and then lightly cauterized the smaller wounds on Rarity’s back. A cruder solution than was desirable, but medical wraps had to be saved for the more threatening injuries. The largest she bandaged with the smallest amount of material necessary.
Finally finished, Serene Patience stepped back to look at her work. Rarity was covered in small cauterized injuries and bandages, one of her hooves bound together and treated with specialized adhesive to seal the cracks. What remained of her mane and tail had been shaved away to allow for better care. Rarity was magically sedated and far from her beautiful image at Celestia’s ceremony, but she should live. Serene was content.
…
In the distance, Twilight finally spotted somewhere to land: the edge of the Great Western Forest. Hurting badly within and without, she wanted nothing more than a long rest to ease her pain. Descending far more rapidly than any experienced flyer would try in such a state, she tumbled badly on impact, rolling several yards and gaining a nasty set of bruises in the process. With a flick of her horn, she dismissed the wings from her back, glad to finally be on solid ground again. On her last legs, she limped into a nearby patch of ivy growth, snuggling herself deep within before falling asleep almost immediately.
…
Applejack rolled over in her cot to face Fluttershy. “What do y’all want?” she hissed.
Rainbow Dash was far less restrained. “You motherbucking traitor!” she screamed, throwing herself at the bars of her cell and reaching out as far as she could. “You evil piece of princessdamned bucking horsecrap! How dare you show your face here?! After what you’ve done!”
Fluttershy laughed at the ineffectual display of bravado. “You’re hardly a position to make threats, Dashie.”
Rainbow’s face became, if anything, more enraged. “Don’t you ever called me that again, you sick, twisted… monster!”
“And if I do?”
Rainbow snarled, head pressed up to the bars. “Let me out of here. Face me, pony-to-pony. I’ll show you what happens to scum like you.”
“Don’t worry, I’m going to let you out. But you’re going to be doing a little work for me.”
“And just why in tarnation would she do that?” Applejack butted in.
“Because if she doesn’t, I’m afraid you’ll suffer for it.”
“Threatening your own friend to blackmail another?! After all we did for you?! That’s low, even for you.” Rainbow spat at Fluttershy’s feet.
The yellow pegasus continued as if she had never been interrupted. “You see, Dashie dear, you’re going to carry a message for me.”
“Never!”
“You will find Twilight Sparkle. You will tell her to meet me in the old western grove in the Everfree, by the second stream. She’ll know where I mean.”
“I’m not doing it!”
“You’ll tell her that if she doesn’t show up on time, I’ll just have to make do with Applejack’s head instead.”
“You… you psycho!”
“Don’t do it, Rainbow! I ain’t worth it!”
“She has two weeks, starting at sunrise tomorrow. After that, I’ll leave dear Applejack’s headless corpse in the grove to prove I did it.”
“You… wouldn’t!”
Fluttershy held the severed head of Princess Cadence mere feet from Rainbow Dash’s face. “Try me.”
Rainbow slowly looked down at her own hooves. “Murderer…” she whispered.
“Oh, and if I see anypony that’s not you or her in or near the area and any time, the deal’s off and Applejack dies on the spot. So don’t even think of trying to call the princesses in on this.” Fluttershy looked at her trophy again and laughed. “Not that it helped last time.”
“Y’all are a… Y’all are a…” Applejack stumbled, trying to find words low enough to describe her former friend.
“I’m many things. But that doesn’t concern you. Rainbow, do we have an agreement?”
Rainbow kept her eyes on her feet. “I… Yes.”
…
Fluttershy returned after a short while with a set of keys. She reached for the lock and began fiddling with it. “Excellent, now to- argh!”
The instance the door was unbolted, Rainbow Dash moved. With all the speed she was known for, she delivered a flying roundhouse kick directly to Fluttershy’s chin. She followed up with a hard smack to Fluttershy’s axe sheath, sending the deadly weapon clattering across the stone floor. The third blow was delivered to her forehead, sending the yellow pegasus stumbling to the ground.
“Yehaw! Get ‘er, Rainbow!” Applejack cheered.
Dash raised her right hoof and brought it down, trying to finish the fight with another blow to the head. Fluttershy rolled aside at the last second. Dash flapped her wings, fighting to retain her balance. Fluttershy spun on the ground, armored hooves smashing Rainbow’s legs out from under her. She hit the ground, chin first. Fluttershy kicked her hard on the flank, sending her skidding along the floor.
Dash shook her head to refocus her vision as she regained her feet. She saw Fluttershy standing herself up as well. The blue pegasus panicked when she saw that the axe was much closer to Fluttershy than herself, but her opponent ignored it. Rainbow Dash flapped as hard as she could, flinging herself hooves-first against her enemy with amazing speed. Fluttershy stood her ground, bracing.
Rainbow screamed in agony when she impacted on Fluttershy’s heavy chest armor. It was stronger than it looked, and it looked pretty strong. She felt like her bones had been driven right out of her legs. Fluttershy barely moved backwards at all.
Wasting no time, the yellow pegasus headbutted Rainbow Dash. Dash staggered, blinded, then felt a blow connect with her neck. She hit the wall headfirst. Her head swam, but she wasn’t given a chance to recover. She was lifted off her feet, then slammed hard into the dirt rock floor. A hoof came down on top of her neck, stopping just short of crushing it.
“I…win…” came a soft hiss into her ear. “Do my bidding, or your friend dies here and now.”
“Don’t!” came Applejack’s voice.
“Al-alright.. Just… just don’t kill her.”
The only answer she got was a satisfied laugh.