The Crystal Empire
Luna and Cadance glued their eyes to the north sky. Each of them was scanning the horizon looking for any physical sign of Ataxia’s return. Luna had felt it first, of course she had. The princess of the Night was always impressive when it came to her magical skill, as such it did not surprise Cadance that she would sense the coming of Ataxia long before she had.
Although, it was not long until Cadance could feel her too, just in a different way, a very different way. Whereas Luna could feel the coming of a strong magical force, Cadance felt the hurt of someone who loved and had that love rejected. She could feel the anguish, the pain, the sadness, and the hate. The pure hate, hate so pure… only when you open your heart to someone fully, only when you trust someone so explicitly, only when you love them that much, can you ever grow to hate them like this. Only a deep betrayal could ever cause someone to hate so much.
‘How had this happened? What happened to you Ataxia?’ Cadance thought to herself. She could not imagine that this was the work of Shimmering Night. Night might be inept when it comes to love but she would never cause this much hatred in anyone, much less her friend, Ataxia. Cadance could never believe that. Something else had occurred, something… dark.
It was painful for the alicorn, to say the least. She cursed herself for the thousandth time for not taking more of a hooves-on approach with the two mares. Her magic could have guided them past their defenses; it could have let Night truly know how she felt. However, because of that, she had a bad reputation with some of the less informed ponies. Cadance had taken to using it only to boost the love of ponies that were already together, as to not aggravate the situation any farther, and give any credence to the rumors.
This situation was the price of that decision; this and the hatred and bigotry that Night had let into her heart. It was something that had taken root and grown without anypony noticing. Cadance did not have to be told that was what had happened. She had seen this situation played out between ponies too many times in her life that she knew the cause without having to confirm it.
The bigotry of others can poison even the noblest of hearts.
“She’s almost here.” Luna said, her eyes scanning the horizon. The feeling of power increased as Ataxia flew ever closer.
Princess Cadance did one last look back to her empire. The plan was simple: Keep Ataxia away from the buildings, engage her a mile north of the empire as to keep her occupied, and try to stay alive fifteen minutes until Twilight and Rainbow arrive. It was a simple plan… on paper anyway. They had a few tricks in store to try to help. However, the odds were still not good.
Of course, when Rainbow and Twilight got here she did not have a clue what would happen. Shimmering Night was their trump card but no pony expected Night to come back anytime soon. At their best estimate, Night would have been in the Dragon Kingdom for a day now. With a three-day trip back up here.
So, with Twilight’s new foal blocking her true power, Rainbow was still their best bet. Although she could not cut the mare anymore, Cadance knew Rainbow well enough to know that she had more than one trick up her hoof. As long as she did not get overconfident, Rainbow should be able to hold off Ataxia for quite some time. So yeah, to say the least, they were in trouble.
Would it be enough? Only time would tell.
They had a contingency if things got bad, if Ataxia did make it to the city the unicorn guards were on standby with her son’s special formation. One that Firestar named the tri-blast. It counted on three sets of nine unicorns each channeling their power to one of three focus unicorns, who would amplify that power and channel it to a central magic user, in this case Luna. Luna, depending on how long she held it for, could reach a level of power impossible for anypony. She could then use it to achieve a blast of exponential power.
The tri-blast formation was notoriously tricky and very dangerous if done incorrectly. Radiant had mastered it, but he would be unable to serve as the central focus again, as he was too busy maintaining the shield covering the hospital. The very one that housed his wife pregnant with their unborn foals.
He had wanted to do it, but he was outvoted, by everyone.
“I hope you’re ready for this, Cadance.” Luna said, her face stopped looking around, it was glued to one spot in the sky. Cadance turned to look in that direction, she saw it too. Not as well as the Princess of the Night had; Luna’s eyes were far more adept at being able to see in the dark, but Cadance could not miss it if she tried.
About two miles out, the largest dragon that Cadance had ever seen in her life was making all haste directly to them. No… that was the wrong word to use, this was no dragon, as this was a dragacorn. Even with the darkness, it was hard to miss something that massive… something that colossal flying at you.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m ready or not. One way or another, she’s here.” Cadance said, trying to sound more confident than she really was.
Luna smiled. “I’m more than happy to fight her on my own.” Luna had argued for just such a plan. Her natural tendency was to face any such foe head on, just as she had wanted to do with the Titan all those months ago. For Luna it was an insult to her honor to ask for help.
However, just like back then, others had insisted that she have help. While the prospect of having to have help always got under her fur, she could not deny that against a foe like Ataxia, it was probably a good idea. She had been on several hunts with the mare over the last few months and knew Ataxia’s power first-hoof. As much as she hated to admit it, Ataxia was stronger than her.
Still, if Cadance was not ready for this, well, better to not have her at all than to have a liability. If there were one thing Luna did not need at that moment, it would be someone weighing her down. If she had to concern herself with Cadance’s safety, than it would be better if she were not there at all.
Cadance just laughed, “What, and let you have all the glory?” She said with no small amount of sarcasm in her voice. She knew her aunt well enough to know when she would run off and do something stupid, like facing a rampaging dragacorn all on her own. Cadance would never let that happen, not if it meant something really bad could happen to Luna. “No Luna, we will face her together. I won’t sit by while Ataxia threatens everyone I love. I am the Princess of the Crystal Empire; I won’t simply let others fight for me. I faced down the God Tartarus, I can face Ataxia.”
Memories of that battle came back to Cadance’s mind, memories of how she felt when she saw Twilight lying in the ground, dead, with a sickle sticking out of her neck. Memories of Rainbow Dash, lying on the ground, her wife’s blood covering her face. Memories of the rage Cadance had felt. She channeled those memories now.
Luna smiled as she saw the change in Cadance. “You found your resolve. Good, we’re going to need it.”
For Ataxia had arrived.
…..
The dragacorn flew at top speed towards the Crystal Empire. Every shred of her being wanted her to come here. She could feel it, feel the pull, the desire, and the hatred. She hated those who left her for dead, those who said they loved her and simply abandoned her to that cave. She hated those who left her for dead. Mostly, she just hated. It became something more to her, a physical thing that took over her body. She welcomed it and lost herself to the hate.
It was all she could think, all she could feel anymore. To Ataxia, nothing else mattered in the world, nothing other than the hate she felt.
Discord had said it was her destiny to kill every single alicorn on the planet, her hatred would make it so. She no longer felt anything else. Her mind would not process any rational thought. She could only feel hate, and act on that feeling. She wanted… needed to kill those she hated. She did not know how, but something told her she would find some of those that needed to die here. In this town, at this place, she needed to kill someone here… somepony here.
That was more than enough.
……
As planned, Cadance flew up in the air to meet their foe. That alone felt wrong in every sense of the term to the alicorn. Ataxia was not a foe; she was the daughter of Spike and Rarity for Luna’s sake, and a friend. Of course, that did not change the fact that she was indeed their enemy. If given the chance, Ataxia would kill every one of them tonight. That much Cadance could feel in her heart. A simple look at her face was enough to know that Ataxia would be beyond her ability to reach.
Cadance drew in her magical power and made herself as bright as she could. The pink energy of love began radiating off the alicorn. In the darkness of the night, it made her stick out worse than a sore hoof. A pony would go blind if they stared at her for too long.
That was the game plan after all. She needed to get Ataxia’s attention.
It worked.
Ataxia saw it and adjusted course accordingly. Cadance, for the first time since she heard what happened, saw the threat for what it truly was. Ataxia was huge, no, bigger than huge. Ataxia was colossal. Her wingspan was longer than any building she had ever seen. Her bulk could cover a small city. One thing stood out to Cadance; as much as she did not want to look at it, Cadance could not help but see Ataxia’s teeth… her teeth looked like they could crush steel without issue.
Cadance felt fear worse than she had all those years ago when they fought Tartarus. She tried to shake it off. Regardless how scary Ataxia looked; Cadance had stood her own against a God. That gave the alicorn some of her courage back. Now, if only she did not have to keep reminding herself of that fact. A loud voice in her mind said it was an apple to orange comparison. That time had been against intelligence, against someone sentient. There had been some reason and logic in Tartarus’s actions. Now, now, it was like facing a rabid animal, something with no desire other than to see you dead.
Cadance saw Ataxia open her mouth, she knew what Ataxia was about to do, breath her dragon fire. From the reports that Twilight had left them with, Ataxia’s fire had changed. Her fire burned so hot that it no longer caught anything on fire as it simply incinerated everything it touched.
“Well, if Luna mistimes this, at least it will be over quickly.” Cadance said, half-joking and half-serious. She did not doubt that Luna would time it correctly, Cadance had full faith in her aunt.
Luna’s timing was right on the bits. As Ataxia was just about to let loose, Luna conjured a magical mussel and shut Ataxia’s mouth a half second before the fire came. It was too late for Ataxia to stop the fire, only this time it had no easy vent, no easy out. The fire forced its way out between the gaps in Ataxia’s teeth and gums. The dragon fire burned holes in the side of her mouth, its pressure and temperature easily overcoming the natural resistances to magic shared by all dragons.
Ataxia roared in pain, the ropes broke as portions of them had been in the path of the very fire they stopped. The pain the dragacorn was in almost caused Cadance to feel sorry for the mare, had it not been for the fact she was still the enemy, still dangerous, and still more than ever wanted to kill them. That last part caused Cadance to get over it rather quickly.
Luna capitalized on the momentary distraction. They knew from Twilight’s reports that Ataxia would heal quickly. She had regrown a tail in record time, a few missing teeth and a burned mouth would not stop her for long. The Princess of the Night flew straight up and socked Ataxia in her stomach with a huge magical hoof.
It was a simple plan, Cadance would draw Ataxia to her, and she would distract her as Luna did all the heavy lifting. Its simplicity was the key to its success. Luna’s magical hoof struck true, it bowled over the dragacorn, causing her to grasp at her stomach as several ribs broke from the impact.
Luna was not done; she created another directly over Ataxia’s body and slammed it down on her as hard as she could. The dragacorn was set sprawling towards the ground at incredible speeds. She crashed in the dirt, sending a dust cloud up from where she lay.
Cadance flew over to her aunt. “Well, that was easy.”
“That was just the opening round. Ready yourself niece, she’s getting up.” True to Luna’s statement, Ataxia stood back up on her hind legs and roared. Dragon fire spit out at the two princesses, easily avoided but a clear sign that they had used up the advantage of surprise.
Now would come the hard part, they had to fight her head to head.
Ataxia reared back and let loose another flame breath against the Princess of the Night. Luna flew around with the fire following her. Her goal was two part: Avoid getting hit, and turn Ataxia away from Cadance.
Cadance was never the greatest fighter. She was the Princess of Love, not of war. That being said, she had not been idle these past few days. Twilight had given them all a detailed sketch of what the dragacorn had looked like. She even pinpointed several areas that might be weak to a more… conventional attack. Cadance had laughed when she first saw it. They were the same weakness that all creatures shared.
Cadance lashed out at one such area now, she built up a magical blast and shot Ataxia in the back of the neck, directly below her skull. The sweet spot.
Ataxia’s head snapped around as she glared angrily at the alicorn. It was obvious the blast had stung, but other than that there was no obvious damage to Ataxia.
“Bucking hell!” Cadance cursed aloud.
Ataxia lashed out with her tail, a maneuver that Cadance ducked, but only just. She felt a small gash across her back as the spikes on Ataxia’s tail made themselves known to the pink alicorn. She had heard how fast Ataxia was, but that attack had come at such speed that it was unreal to the princess.
“Agh!” Cadance cried out, as the pain from the wound made itself known. It caused the mare to slow down, just a little, but more than enough for Ataxia to capitalize on the attack. The large dragacorn swirled around and lashed out with its claws. Ataxia aimed to slice the alicorn into ribbons with her razor sharp talons.
Luna let loose a magical blast, which hit Ataxia's claw directly in the center of her palm. The speed of Ataxia’s attack worked against her, it increased the impact of the magic and caused the energy to hit with far more force than normal.
The magical blast tore open a hole in Ataxia’s claw. The magic passed right through the tough skin. Ataxia roared yet again as more pain joined the rest. Ataxia turned her head and glared at the pony that had dared hurt her so. The pink one could wait until later.
“ATAXIA, YOU WANT TO KILL AN ALICORN, START WITH THIS ONE!” Luna yelled in her Royal Canterlot Voice. She turned around and took flight high in the air. Luna sought to buy as much time as she could by getting Ataxia to chase her through the clouds.
Unfortunately for Luna, that trick had already been used by Rainbow Dash. Ataxia powered up her magic and cast a teleportation spell. Luna slammed directly into Ataxia’s Dragon Steel Armor. The sudden impact jarred the princess as Ataxia grabbed Luna in her good claw and started squeezing the Princess of the Night to death.
Before Ataxia could do any real damage, Cadance flew up and blasted the dragacorn in her left eye. The pain forced Ataxia to drop her prey as she brought up her only good claw to clutch at her wounded eye. Luna dropped several hooves before she spread her wings and caught herself. She flew over to her niece, regrouping with Cadance.
“Luna, what happened?” Cadance asked.
“A reminder of what the stakes are, fair Cadance. We play a high-risk game. Never forget that and never let your guard down.”
Cadance just laughed, no pony needed to tell her that. The pain down her flank was her own reminder.
Ataxia recovered quickly, she glared at the two alicorns with her one good eye and flew straight ahead. Her speed took another jump as she practically appeared right in front of the two.
Cadance and Luna were ready, In a maneuver they had practiced at some length, Cadance teleported directly above and Luna below. They both charged up their attacks and shot at the rather large target. The energy of the Alicorn of Love struck Ataxia’s head; the energy of the Alicorn of the Night struck her flank. Together they sought to overwhelm her with dual blasts coming from different directions.
It was a good plan but it did not work. When the smoke cleared, Ataxia simply glared at Cadance. She saw it coming, Ataxia shot out with her flame breath directly at Cadance, who teleported away, but only barely.
Cadance placed all four hooves on the ground as she realized that most of her tail was gone. Burned off in that last attack, it was impossible to believe, but Ataxia was getting even faster, or more precisely, Ataxia was starting to take this fight more seriously than before.
Part of Cadance told her to be proud of that fact. However, she was far too scared for something like that.
“I really, really should have paid more attention when Twilight offered to give teleportation lessons.” Cadance said to herself. Years ago, Twilight gave lessons to her foals on how to teleport, Cadance was there, but only to watch. She had started to pay more attention when Twilight got going, than Aurora started to ask her about stallions. After that, it was game over for the lessons. Cadance had found a far more interesting subject.
That was a regret she was now having. Looking up Cadance saw Ataxia flying after Luna, several times; she seemed like she almost had the black alicorn in her grasp when Luna would pull up last second or dodge to the left just in the nick of time. It was a high stakes game to say the least.
Needless to say, it was a losing strategy. Cadance and Luna had to be one hundred percent on their game the entire time; the two could not mess up once. While Ataxia only had to get lucky one time, for, if that happened, they would both be dead.
“I’m not missing the birth of my grandfoals!” Cadance said. Her course was clear, she charged up her magic and shot straight up at the dragacorn, right at the underbelly where the armor ended and the scales begun. Yet again, Cadance had to psych herself up before she attacked, but against a foe like Ataxia, nopony could blame her.
Ataxia saw it last minute and rolled on her y-axis, the blow was close, but close in the game they were playing was simply another word for having missed. Cadance struck scales with her blast, not the flesh she was aiming for. The shot did absolutely nothing to the powerful dragacorn.
Ataxia did not stop rolling, her massive wingspan struck Cadance square in the side, sending her careening to the dirt. Cadance crash-landed into the ground hard enough to blur her vision. She could feel the damage she took with every breath, as her breathing became painful. It was obvious to Cadance that there were several broken ribs.
Fortunately, there did not seem to be anything else wrong with her. A quick scan confirmed that nothing else had been broken or punctured. Testing it a few times, Cadance soon found herself able to stand back up.
“WATCH OUT!”
On instinct alone, Cadance teleported several hundred hooves up in the air, with her head pointed down, she had a front row view of what would have been her death. The land she had seconds before been standing on was incinerated by dragon fire.
Cadance’s natural pegasus instincts took over as she spread her wings to take flight. Cadance flew straight up, she needed time… time to get her bearings again before this fight cost her everything. Luna flew up to her. “Good timing.” Luna said with a smile, proud that her niece had reacted immediately to the threat.
“This time…” Cadance looked back at her missing tail. “But considering everything, I think we’ve gotten off lucky so far.”
“Just think, only fourteen more minutes before Twilight and Rainbow get here.”
Cadance’s heart sunk. “It’s only been a minute?!” She could not believe it. Cadance could not believe so little time had passed.
“I know; we haven’t felt this alive in ages! Come, let’s get back into the fight!” Luna dive-bombed straight at the dragacorn, who even now was coming up at the two mares. For Luna could hardly believe that so much time had passed.
Cadance simply stared on in shock, her mind trying to process everything that had happened. It already felt like a lifetime and it had only been a minute of real time. How was that possible? Cadance’s thoughts were cut short as her vision saw something that required action, not words. Instinct took over and Cadance soon joined Luna back into the fight. With a blast from her horn, she struck Ataxia’s horn seconds before she almost finished casting whatever spell she was about to use on Luna.
The blow struck true, Ataxia paused for a second as her spell failed. Where she had been expecting to teleport Luna directly in front of her mouth, nothing appeared instead. It was only a moment’s hesitation, but that was enough for the Princess of the Night to get away.
Ataxia looked up at the one responsible and growled. The pink princess was trying to fly away. She was not a threat per se, but she was more than an annoyance that prevented Ataxia from dealing with the black one.
Ataxia flapped her wings as hard as she could to fly straight up at the pink one. She channeled her magic energy into her wings for a burst of speed. The extra energy caused her to form a sonic rainboom directly behind her. One so large it knocked Luna out of the sky with its power.
The Princess of the Night tumbled and fell; she spread her wings wide as she sought to catch herself before she hit the dirt. It was a fool’s hope, Luna did manage to slow her fall before she plastered against the ground, yet that did not stop her from suffering several bruises when she inevitably collided with the ground.
She was quick to recover, it was not the first time she had been knocked out of the sky and she highly doubted it would be the last. However, this time had been a precursor to something else, something bad. Ataxia had done that to get to Cadance. That realization caused Luna to start panicking, as she desperately scanned the skies for the pink alicorn.
Cadance was not hard to spot; Ataxia had her in her clutches and sought to bite her head off.
…….
Cadance flew as fast as she could; she poured her magic into her wings in a desperate bid to gain more distance between her and the rapidly approaching dragacorn.
It did not help. Regardless how fast Cadance made herself, she was nowhere near as fast as Ataxia.
Cadance had forgotten that Ataxia was able to perform the legendary sonic rainboom. A feat she achieved thanks to the Dragon Steel Armor her mother had given her. It was a parting gift to keep them safe when they went to Warclaw all those months ago. When Ataxia transformed, it became a part of her, almost like a second skin, or scales as the case may be. Of course, none of that knowledge would help Cadance now.
Ataxia easily caught up to the mare, Cadance teleported away, the trick had worked earlier, Cadance hopped it would do the same now.
Except Ataxia was more than ready for it this time, she had enough of trying to catch these annoying ponies and wanted this game to end. With no pony to blast her horn and stop her from casting the spell, Ataxia channeled her magic into her horn and reversed Cadance’s teleport. Something once thought to be impossible. However, with chaos magic, the only thing that is impossible is ironically, for something to be impossible.
Cadance’s eyes went wide with horror as she reappeared directly in front of Ataxia. Ataxia was easily able to reach out and grab the pink alicorn who was too stunned for any quick maneuvering. Cadance could only watch in dismay as Ataxia opened her impossibly large mouth to devour her.
Luna teleported herself directly below Ataxia’s mouth and conjured a large magical pole. She forced it up with all her power directly at Ataxia’s throat, seeking once again to use Ataxia’s own speed against her.
The pole collided with enough physical force to break several scales around her throat. Luna had no hope of actually penetrating those scales, but she did not have too. The strongest armor would not protect against blunt force, especially where it failed to protect you in the first place.
The neck was one such area. It was a small target, one would have to get directly under your head to strike it, but that was precisely what Luna had done.
Ataxia gagged as the jarring impact of pole to throat crushed her windpipe. She dropped the alicorn and wrapped her claws around her throat, seeking to protect it from any further harm. Cadance flew away as quickly as she could. She sought to put some distance between her and the thing that almost ended her life.
“I owe you one.” Cadance said with a smile as Luna flew up to join her.
“Consider us even.” Luna replied, the look on her face told the story in ways that words never would. Luna had panicked at that turn of events. While Cadance had simply been Celestia’s adopted niece, Luna had taken to her in much the same way as her sister had. She would do anything to help Cadance. She owed her sister that much at the least.
They both watched as Ataxia struggled for breath, it took a minute but the dragacorn natural healing ability kicked in and she was finally able to start breathing again. That relieved Cadance, the game plan was only to delay Ataxia, not to kill her. They both knew that every time Ataxia dies, she would simply come back that much stronger. If they killed her too many times, they would all be doomed.
‘Perhaps it’s already too late for that?’ Cadance thought as she watched the dragacorn from the distance. The wounds on Ataxia’s hand and neck were almost fully healed. She was regenerating too fast to hurt, her bulk to massive to stop, and her power too great to deny. Any way Cadance looked at it, the answer was the same.
She turned her head to Luna. “Are we doomed?” Cadance asked, yes they had a plan; they had an idea of what to do… yet, at that moment, having fought and almost died to this thing… Cadance knew what it was to know true fear. To know what it was like to truly be afraid. All at the claws of somepony… somepony she had considered a friend.
Luna smiled, she had expected this question earlier, and already knew what to say. She had a response waiting in the wing. “Cadance, look over to the south and tell me what you see.”
Cadance looked at Luna strangely and shrugged, glancing over to the south she spoke the first thing that came to mind. “The Crystal Empire?”
“And the hospital?” Luna asked.
“Yes, it’s easy enough to see, my son’s shield spell is lighting it up, even in this darkness.”
“Do you want to see them again? Do you want to see your grandfoals?”
“Of course.”
“Then answer your own question. Are we doomed?”
Cadance smiled as she realized what Luna was getting at. Cadance mentally facehoofed for losing hope like that, again. Yes, they are facing a very powerful foe; yes, they have no real hope of winning, or even surviving if she was being honest with herself. However, she had something worth fighting for, something worth protecting. That was all the incentive Cadance needed.
“No, we’re not doomed.” Cadance said, the conviction in her voice said it all. For however long it lasted this time, she would give it her all. The situation may be dire, but she still had hope. After all, hope was the one thing that nopony could kill.
Luna smiled, “Good, because she’s coming back.”
Cadance looked up and saw the dragacorn approaching quickly. The rage in her eyes, the hate in her heart. Cadance saw it all; she saw it all and pitied Ataxia for it. Rage and hate were reactionary emotions; they could not last, as they were not true, only love was true.
“I pity you, Ataxia.” Cadance said aloud. “We shall help you past this, regardless if you want us to or not.” Luna smiled at that comment.
“Let’s go!” Luna shouted.
Cadance and Luna both flew at the dragacorn. Each of them channeled their magic into beams, seeking to anger her into having to pick one or the other. The magic energy lashed out on either side of her, momentarily confusing Ataxia on to which threat to deal with first.
She kept to her original plan; kill the pink one first. Ataxia went after Cadance.
Cadance flew under and over several swipes of her claws. Seeking to escape any real damage to herself while she kept Ataxia’s attention on her. That gave Luna her opportunity. Luna flew up and over Ataxia’s head and shot her once again in the left eye with her magic.
The blow landed true, striking the unprotected eye, causing the mare to once more be temporarily blinded on her left side. Cadance, now in Ataxia’s blind spot, turned around and flew under her limbs. She struck out at the gap between where Ataxia’s scales ended, and where the Dragon Steel Armor began.
Ataxia screamed in pain as a fresh wound was torn open in her underbelly. The bleeding began in earnest from the cut Cadance’s magic made in her skin. Cadance teleported away, just in time to avoid a reactionary decapitation from Ataxia’s claw.
Luna flew off too, seeking to put as much room between them and the wounded Ataxia. She caught up with her niece easy enough.
“Do you think we might actually be able to win this?” Cadance asked between deep breaths.
Luna wanted to laugh at that. With the speed they had to keep up and the magic they were expending fighting Ataxia, winning was not really on the menu. “No dear niece.” Cadance shrunk at that, her head downcast. “Winning is not our goal here anyway. We are simply trying to buy as much time as we can.”
Cadance could feel for Luna, even in the worst of times Luna was always more of an ‘I’ll do it myself’ sort of mare. For her to all but admit she could not deal with this on her own… that alone was a mark of the situation they were in. One that did not fare well for their chances.
“Please tell me it’s been more than a minute this time.” Cadance looked at her, pleading that more time had passed this time around.
Luna did laugh at that question. “Yes Cadance, it’s been two minutes since you last asked.”
“Horseapples.” Cadance did not know how long she could keep this up, but some part of her new that however long she had, it would not be twelve minutes… twelve minutes was simply too long.
Not that Ataxia was going to give them a choice; the large dragacorn reopened its wounded eye. The damage done was already healed. She glared at them, anger written upon her face. A magical shield appeared around her eyes, as the chaos magic that healed her adapted to that tactic.
“MOVE!” Cadance yelled, she already knew what was coming, and sure enough, Ataxia’s flame arrived seconds after the two princesses left their spot. The fire burned hot and bright, singing several hairs off both princesses as they sought to escaped with their lives.
Lives that Ataxia was more than eager to take away. Lives her every instinct told her to snuff out.
She went back to hunting Cadance, she might have been the weaker of the two, but the utility she provided made her a priority to take out. Ataxia teleported directly in front of the fleeing alicorn. It had disturbed Cadance to no end that something that large could just appear out of nowhere, that something so large could even use magic. It was the equivalent of a mountain simply jumping out in front of you. However, she had gotten used to this trick and responded with one of her own.
Ataxia had learned though, Cadance almost always teleported directly above. It was safer that way, less risk of something being where you wanted to end up. Unfortunately, it was also something Cadance was not aware she had been doing. It was more reactionary for the mare than anything else at this point.
Ataxia lashed out above her with her tail, the impact hit Cadance with the force of a mac truck. It sent the alicorn plummeting to the ground at the speed of a meteorite.
Luna saw it all; she had no choice but to give up her attack run and teleport directly in Cadance’s path. Luna conjured up a magical net and caught Cadance in it, arresting her fall and softening the blow. A quick scan confirmed that Cadance had gotten off lucky, beyond a nasty looking bruise across her back, Cadance suffered no new injures, only a few broken ribs, nothing major that would not heal on their own in time. Although, Luna knew that Cadance would be quite sore in the morning.
That was operating under the assumption that they were still alive in the morning. Something that Ataxia had no intention of letting happen.
Luna and Cadance were together, right where Ataxia wanted them to be. A quick teleport later and Ataxia lashed out with her tail one more time, flashing out in blazing speed as it struck both alicorns at the same time.
Luna could only watch in horror as Ataxia’s speed picked up yet again. It would hit them both, of that she was in no doubt, there was not even enough time to respond to a teleport. She did her best to protect herself and her stricken niece, but it was to no real avail. Her shield did not hold… it could not hold against a blow that powerful.
The shield popped as soon as it made contact with Ataxia’s tail. Luna and Cadance were both sent flying into the Crystal Empire. Luna landed in much the same fashion that Rainbow Dash had trademarked over the years. She hit the streets and carved a giant ditch into it, as the ground did its best to arrest her momentum. Luna’s magic saved her from any real injures, on instinct alone it wrapped the princess in a blue cocoon, absorbing the cuts and scrapes one would normally get with such treatment.
Cadance did not get off so lucky; her body impacted against the side of the Crystal Palace, spine first. Cadance fell to the ground. When she came too, Cadance was unable to move her back legs. Looking back at them, she could tell they should have been quite painful just from the scrapes and gashes alone, but she could not feel it. She could not feel anything at all from her flank down.
Ataxia had managed to get her lucky shot in after all, with it she paralyzed Cadance from the flank down. Cadance tried to stretch her wings, if she could not walk at least she would be able to fly. She could stay in the fight.
Pain shot out from her left wing, looking over Cadance saw a bone sticking out of place, the bridge of her wing had broken.
“No.” Cadance said, horrified. With one blow, Ataxia had taken her out of the fight. It would all be on Luna now. Fortunately, they did have a contingency plan for this scenario. Although, there was no guarantee that it would even work.
The training she had watched had not left her optimistic about their chances, but they were out of options.
Cadance shot a pink bolt of magic up into the sky, a clear indication of where she was and what situation she was in. She had no doubt Luna would see it and know exactly what to do next. She also did not doubt that Ataxia would see it as well; she could only hope that Luna was quicker.
It was not a message that went unheeded, by anyone.
The unicorn guard, stationed by Luna and Cadance in safe zones around the Crystal Empire were the first ones to respond. Spotters sent word to their commanders. Thirty in total, they ran out, seeking to form up in their pre-established gathering point. They all knew what was at stake and not one of them would shrink from this duty.
Luna saw it soon after, she knew that it meant two very different things: The first being that Cadance was out of the fight. She would no longer be able to assist with the battle with Ataxia. That was bad, they had no choice now but to use the fallback plan. Luna closed her eyes and sought out the magical marker, it was small but steady. A magical beacon she placed at the center of the ritual Radiant had designed and left for them. It was not strong enough to sense from any real distance, but Luna was not that far away.
While he could not assist in the fight, as his skills were needed to protect the hospital, Radiant had left them with the tools to deal with Ataxia if the worst should happen. If one of them were beaten or worse… killed. It was his tri-blast attack.
He had briefed them all on how to use it and the dangers that came with it. He drilled in his soldiers time and time again on what to do and when to do it. However, after the Titan attack, not all of his guard was available, that meant they had to train up some of Luna’s unicorn guard. That alone increased the overall risk of its use, especially as one of the three focal ponies of the attack was missing. One of the three sergeants that had to transfer the magic to the center pony, the Titan had injured him in the battle and he was forced to retire from service.
All of that led to them having to trust one of Luna’s unicorn guards in one of the three most important positions in the formation. It was not an ideal situation, not in any sense of the term. As such, the entire formation was only meant to be a fall back maneuver. Something they should only use if all other hope was lost. Only if they could no longer keep Ataxia contained by themselves and had to buy some time.
Or in other words, the exact same situation they were in now. Needless to say, for Cadance to signal that they needed to use it, it was a mark of just how bad things were. She knew the dangers of it better than anypony as she had to take care of her son a few times while he was working the kinks out of it. She still owed Dayspring a debt for that one. As the co-creator of this attack, he was partly responsible.
It was a debt she was never able to repay; it was hard to stay mad at somepony that had given his life for his sister.
Of course that led to the other issue that Luna knew about the beacon, she knew that Ataxia would have seen it too. That meant she would be coming straight for the downed alicorn. Which meant Luna had very little time to save her niece’s life.
Therefore, Luna could not think, she could not take the time to assess the situation and act on any new information that might lead to. She could already see Ataxia heading straight for them, or more precisely, heading straight for Cadance. The magical energy gave away her location for miles around.
Luna teleported to the beacon, it did not surprise her to find the other unicorns already in position. They knew their role; it was what they had been training for all the last few days. The only difference now was that their princesses life was on the line. When you do something for real, with something at stake, it provides a whole different motivation than simply doing it for training.
“We do this to save Cadance, and Equestria!” Luna shouted.
“For the princess, and Equestria!” they yelled.
Three sets of nine. Each group evenly spaced one hundred and twenty degrees away from the next. They all lined up perfectly, their formations forming a block of unicorns three wide and three deep. Markers on the ground indicated exactly where each pony needed to place each of their hooves. It may have been a cheat, but after a few accidents in training, Luna did not give a buck anymore. Their sergeants, the three ponies who would be forced to channel and amplify their power stood in front, exactly three hooves away from the pony in the center ranks.
It was perfect; they had all had lined up exactly where they needed to be. Luna took one last look at the approaching dragacorn and where she was obviously heading. Luna glanced over to the newest member of the formation. She had hoofed picked him for his natural talent in controlling magic. Of all her guard, he was the best she had for the formation.
It was easy to tell he was nervous. His unicorns behind him were already gathering their magical power, focusing it on the tip of their horn. Luna nodded at him, in that one gesture Luna gave the stallion all the courage he would need.
He stopped shaking and smiled back. It was a warm greeting, one that said ‘thank you for believing in me.’ The unicorns in each group finished channeling their power and as one, sent it to their leaders.
The twenty-seven unicorns that made up the blocks were chosen for their raw power, control was not needed from them. On the other hoof, the three in front were chosen for their control. Those unicorns had the hardest part, they were not there to add their own magic to the formation, rather they had to hold the magic of the others and amplify it with their own. If they lost that control the entire formation would crumble, if they failed to amplify it correctly, or did not time the delivery correctly… well, it was best not to think of what would happen then.
It worked, as one; all three ponies aimed their horn and directed their magic power at the very tip of Luna’s horn. She got it, all of it at the exact same time.
Luna felt a little of what it must be like for Twilight. This power… three sets of nine unicorns amplified three times over. It was… unreal. She could not focus on it though. Now it was all on her.
Luna felt the power at the tip of her horn, and amplified it even farther. Every second she held it was another times the power would grow. She had to stop herself from smiling. It would be so easy to be carried away by this… this power. Memories of what it felt like when she first transformed into Nightmare Moon came back, the power, and the feeling of invincibility.
Luna shook it off. ‘No… that path leads only to damnation.’ She thought to herself.
Luna reacquired her target. Ataxia was just about at the edge of the city. Luna knew, as Radiant emphasized it several times to her over the last few days, if she held it long enough she could kill the dragacorn. If she held it too long, she would kill herself. Yet that was not the goal. The plan was to save Ataxia, to save them all.
Besides, she and Ataxia were friends, of sorts. At the very least, she considered herself to be a good friend of Shimmering Night. She would not be the one to kill her friend.
Therefore, Luna let it go after three seconds. The beam of pure concentrated amplified magical energy, lashed out like a lance. It struck true, cutting off Ataxia’s left wing.
……
Radiant Star watched from the window as Luna prepped the spell. He watched as each unicorn that was in it stood exactly into his or her assigned spot. He watched with pride as all three of the sergeants gathered their magic and focused it on Luna. He had been worried about that part. It was the most dangerous portion of the attack. He watched as Luna took the shot.
It was easy to see everything despite the darkness. The battle was a light show like no other, one that was helped along by the fire the HUGE dragacorn spewed out every now and again. Yet none of that was as bright as the lance of magical energy Luna struck Ataxia with.
They all knew that killing Ataxia would only make it worse; it would only cause the mare to come back stronger than before. In effect, it was a reset button. As if to say, ‘Press this button to restart the fight on a higher difficulty.’ Therefore, that was not the Princess of the Night’s goal. Not unless they had no other choice.
Given, with his mom injured as she was, (something Radiant had a front row seat too) he would have done it. Sure, it would have made the fight harder, but it would have given him time to save his mom. Looking out the window, through the shield spell, and down at his crippled mother… Radiant wished for the thousandth time it had been him and not Luna. That he could be out there to fight as well.
When the beam lashed out, it effortlessly cut off Ataxia’s wing. The large appendage fell to the ground, crushing the few buildings it did fall on. The dragacorn screamed, she screamed in pain, and rage about being wounded like that. Her hatred only increased with the damage done to her body.
Radiant knew Luna would not leave it like that. The Princess of the Night took flight and started lashing out with her own spells at Ataxia’s wounded stump of a wing. The tender flesh would be the most exposed there; the scales that held back all but the most powerful attacks could not protect re-growing flesh.
That was impressive to Radiant, not that Luna knew how to capitalize, but that she could fight after using that attack. When he used it against the Titan, it had all but drained him of every scrap of magic he had. Only his worry for the mare he loved had given him enough strength to move again.
“How’s it going?”
Speak of the devil.
Well, it had not drained him of every scrap of magic. His natural magic still came to him in order to protect the mare he loved when it counted. Maybe that is how Luna was able to keep fighting. Was she pushing her body past the breaking point to save those under her care? Radiant did not know the answer to that question.
“It’s not good. They already had to use the tri-blast formation. My mom… she’s… she’s down.”
“Is she…” Firestar did not finish that question, but there was no need. Radiant would know what she was trying to ask.
Radiant took his eyes off the battle and focused where his mom lay. He saw her trying to crawl to the safety of the shield. Every instinct in his body told him to run to her side. “No… but she is injured. I… I…”
“I know… I know you want to go to her…”
“I do… Luna help me, I do.”
“Then go, save your mom.”
Radiant turned around and looked at his wife. She was lying in bed, her expression one of sympathy, and love.
“No.”
“…” That left Firestar speechless.
“I will not leave you.” There was a finality in his voice, one that Firestar found hard to argue with.
“But Radiant…”
“No buts Firestar, we all knew the risks; I will not leave you alone… too much can happen if I’m gone.” As much as he wanted to save his mom, his immediate family, his wife had to come first.
“I love you.” Firestar said with a tear in her eye.
“I love you too.” Radiant said, he turned around and stared out the window. What he saw next sent shivers down his spine. “No! Don’t try it again!”
…………….
Luna put up a good fight. Her blows were landing on all the right spots on the large dragacorn, but even she had her limits. Something she was quickly approaching.
Ataxia was pissed, the dragacorn lashed out with flame and tail, attempting to claw, bite, and burn the black alicorn every time she got within range. Her rage made her lash out a few times Luna was not in range. Luna kept striking at the re-growing flesh of her left wing. She sought to keep it from fully healing, always setting it back ever so much. However, even Luna was forced to acknowledge that her attacks were getting weaker. Every time Luna shot it she was able to set it back one step, but it was re-growing at the pace of three.
She needed a new plan, this might work for a little bit but her magic was quickly draining and Ataxia would soon take wing again. With Cadance out of the fight and Luna growing so weak, that flying would soon be an issue. It was bad news for everyone.
Worse yet, by her most generous calculations, they had only kept Ataxia busy for seven minutes. That meant she still had another eight before Twilight and Rainbow would get here.
She was growing desperate for some way to stop this, some way to set Ataxia back. Well, really, she just wanted to stay in the air. As much as she tried, she could not gain altitude anymore.
Her next attack did not even phase the dragacorn. Ataxia responded with a blast from her fire, one that singed off part of Luna’s mane. Luna retreated and tried to fly up, it was a fool’s errand, as her strength was gone.
That was something Ataxia was quick to take advantage of as she leaped up with her hind legs and swatted Luna out of the sky. The blow from her claw put a smile on her face. It would soon be over.
Unlike before, Luna’s reactions were not swift enough to save her this time. Her magic was spent. She felt several bones break with the impact. The force of the blow, the pain of impact, and the feel of her fur and skin being ripped off when she landed on the dirt. It was unreal and painful, very, very painful.
Luna was surprised that she maintained consciousness through it all, any other situation she was sure it would have knocked her out like a light. She gave thanks for that small favor, if she had fallen unconscious now, it would have all been over.
“Princess Luna!” Several guards ran up to help their stricken princess. Luna looked around, Ataxia had knocked her several hoofs away from where she had last used the tri-blast attack.
That gave her an idea. It was stupid, dumb, and risky; but there were no more options left. It was the only attack she had that might keep the dragacorn at bay, and as Ataxia was approaching even now, she saw little other choice in the matter.
“Form up.” Luna coughed up blood as she said the words. They were out of options now, it might set them back in the long run, but what would be the point of holding off if Ataxia killed them all first?
“Princess, I…”
“Form up.” Luna said again. She knew what he was going to say, that this was a really, really, bad idea, but it was this or die. Luna would never go down without at least trying. Between a long shot and certain death, she would take the long shot any day of the week.
“Yes princess.” The guard looked defeated; he did not want to do it, every fiber of his being told him not to do it, but his training overrode all his natural instincts. Therefore, he turned around and gave the order anyway. There was nothing more to say, they all knew this would not go well, but no one had any better ideas.
Luna tried to stand; she failed. As she suspected the blow had broken her left two legs. She used her last remaining reserves of magic and wrapped her legs in a magical strap. The straps would bear the weight of her body and allow her to stand. Luna slowly, ever so slowly got to her hooves and walked to her position.
It was as much as show for herself as it was for the other unicorns in the attack. It would not due to see your commander in such a sorry state right before you tried something stupid and dangerous.
“Begin.” Luna stated the words; her eyes glued on the approaching dragacorn, who even now was beginning to walk towards her, a look of murder and hatred in her eyes. Whatever had happened to the mare, Luna was once again taken aback to how such hatred could fill someone like Ataxia. It was unreal to think that this was the same mare that she had gone on so many hunts with. That she had spent so long talking to.
There was no time for such thoughts. The formation had begun.
The twenty-seven unicorns that made up the base of the attack begun channeling their power, they let it build up over three seconds before sending it, as one, to their sergeants.
If it was rough before, now it was almost impossible. Every pony in the formation had drained themselves from using the attack earlier, still, they all knew their duty and would not slouch when given an order from a Princess of Equestria. Orders were orders, regardless of how you feel about them. You can be ordered to die for a cause; and you do it because you have faith that your commander would not spend your life recklessly. This was good, because that was precisely what would happen, to some of them at least.
The twenty-seven fell as one, each one drained past the point of exhaustion. While, given time, most could recover. Several would not; their deaths would be recorded as the sacrifice of heroes.
Assuming there was anyone left to make such a recording.
It all fell on the three sergeants now, the three focal points of the tri-blast formation. They had to take the magic given to them by their troops and amplify it. It was a difficult task at the best of times, which this was not.
Yet, against the odds, they did it. All three of them successfully held the magic given to them by their troops and amplified it, they multiplied the magic several times over, allowing it to increase in power as they did so. As one, they lowered their horns and transformed the magic to Luna. All at the exact same time.
Well, almost at the same time.
The new one, the sergeant brought in to replace the one taken out of the fight by the Titan attack. He was a little slower to regain control of the magic he held. He compensated well, but because of that, it took him a split second longer to send his power to Luna. A split second was all it took for things to go bad.
As Radiant said, in this formation timing is key. The reason for the formation and the timing is for the force of the energy to cancel each other out. To do otherwise is to court disaster. As Luna would soon learn.
She cried out as the magical energy from two squads struck her horn; it forced her head back and threw off her balance. The magic holding her up failed, causing the mare to almost fall back on her side. Almost, if it were not for the third set of magic.
The third group sent their energy at the princess, the magical energy of the third caused her neck to snap back the other way, almost breaking it. Luna felt the energy coalesce in her horn, it joined with the other three but it was out of balance. The energy began cascading dangerously. Until, at last, it forced a way out. A way to relieve the pressure that had been building.
As with all such pressure, it took the path of least resistance. Directly out of Luna’s horn.
Luna’s horn exploded from the out of control energy. Shards of it flew off like a frag from a grenade. They imbedded themselves into several unicorns, causing a few deaths as the pieces struck vital spots that went unprotected by the armor they wore.
When it was over, and the energy had fully dispersed from the area; every unicorn guard and princess lay on the ground. They lay as still as the dead of night.
…………………..
Ataxia paused in her pursuit of the one that had been hurting her. She felt something… or rather, she felt the lack of anything in that direction. The force that had driven her to the location she had sent the alicorn, it was gone. She could feel that there was no longer any reason to go there, or rather, she no longer felt any need to head in that direction.
However, there was still something in the city that required her attention, something that a large part of her wanted to see dead. Without the draw of the other one, she could focus one hundred percent on this one. It was simply to the right of her. Still a little off, but that did not matter. She could feel it all the same, the other one, the other bug she had to swat.
Ataxia stood up on her back legs and turned her head to see if she could see it. She could, the pink one, she was crawling away. That made her smile, bugs deserved to crawl in the dirt, not that it would stop her from crushing them underfoot.
Her stomach growled, that made her smile, she had a much better idea in store for this one. She would not crush it at all. She would eat it.
…………..
Cadance both saw and felt the magical explosion. She could feel… feel that something was lost, that something important was gone. She did not need to see it to know that Luna was more than likely dead. Whatever she had tried, it failed, and in the worst possible way.
“Auntie… no.” Cadance cried out. She had never expected Luna to be the one to die. If someone was going to die… Cadance thought it would be her. She was not the fighter or combatant that Luna was.
A glance to her right made her regret ever thinking that thought. She saw the shield spell surrounding the hospital. Luna’s death… it changed nothing; she still had a reason to live on. There were ponies who were counting on her to live.
That was what mattered.
Cadance continued crawling to the hospital. She was half way there, only fifty more hooves to go.
Against Ataxia, that might as well be on the other side of the city. The dragacorn arrived and placed a claw directly in front of Cadance’s path; effectively cutting off her only means of escape with the ease of stealing candy from a foal.
Cadance rolled over and blasted Ataxia with all the magic she could muster. If she was going to die, she would not do so without a fight.
The blasts did nothing. Ataxia just looked at her with the glare one reserves for a bug that proved to be a slight annoyance. Cadance smiled at that; if she could prove to be a slight annoyance to a creature this powerful, then… then that was a victory in its own right.
“Ataxia… know that I don’t blame you for this. Whatever happens… I know your true heart, and I forgive you.”
Ataxia lowered her head and opened her mouth. As Ataxia chomped down, Cadance’s last sight before she closed her eyes was of roll upon roll of teeth closing in, and clock in the distance that stated they had only lasted eight minutes.
………………………………………………….
Ponyville
On a normal night, Ponyville was a quiet, peaceful town. Most of its citizens would have bunkered down for a good night's rest, though a few of them would still be up. Most noticeably there would always be a group of foals running around trying to come up with new and exciting ways to get their cutie marks, much to the dismay of their parents and everypony in their vicinity.
Yes, on most nights Ponyville had a relaxed quiet atmosphere, and despite its growth in population, ponies could enjoy a good night sleep. Of course, on those nights Ponyville was not hosting an entire battalion of griffins.
True to the promise he made his wife, Icarus did indeed come up from the Griffin Empire three days after she left. They had arrived in Ponyville late in the evening and Icarus decided to hunker down here for the night after talking with Twilight.
His troops took to their small break without issue, they went around and did all the things troops do when given downtime. They got into trouble.
Something Twilight was rather pissed off about. However, with the grilling Icarus was receiving from Rainbow, she decided to let him off the hook, for now.
“So… explain to me one more time, why did you let my daughter, your pregnant wife, fly off with Night to the Dragon Kingdom? I’m just trying to wrap my head around it. So… go slow this time.” Rainbow said with a snarl. She knew that Night would stop by and inform Aurora about everything that had happened. However, she never imagined Aurora would go with her, or that Icarus would let her.
Especially after Orion….
“She… she wanted to go…” Icarus said sheepishly. He looked down at the floor, not able to look his mother-in-law in the eye. It was hard to explain how Aurora had convinced him to let her go. He spent many a sleepless night since then on how she had managed to convince him.
In the end, she just got what she wanted. Something she always got. Although, saying it out loud only managed to make him realize how bad an idea it had been.
“Rainbow, ease up.” Twilight said while brushing up against her wife’s coat.
“No Twi, this idiot let Aurora go into danger all on her own… well, not really on her own, but that’s beside the point!”
“Yeah, when was the last time you were able to tell Aurora not to do something?” Twilight asked with a playful expression on her face. This was almost comically funny. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
“I’ve told her no lots of times! Like that one time where she did… she did… she did the thing… with the… with… with the thing!” Rainbow managed to get out, her memory failing her at that moment.
“Oh, that time she did the thing with the thing, I remember that time! It happened right after that time with the thing!” Twilight could not help but break out into laughter at that. Icarus wanted to join her but he was a little scared at that moment. He knew from their training that Rainbow was his superior in every way. Still, that did not stop him from chuckling.
Rainbow glared at him. Silencing any further part on Icarus. “I know I’ve told her no before!” Rainbow yelled.
Twilight just shook her head. “Rainbow, you have said the word no to her, I’ll give you that one, but there has not been one time in your life you kept to it. Face it, Aurora has had you wrapped around her hoof since the day she was born. How can you blame Icarus for being in the same boat?”
“What, are you defending him now? You know she’s your daughter too.”
“Yes Rainbow, I’m well aware who my children are, and no, I’m not defending him. It was dumb to let a pregnant mare go to the Dragon Kingdom.” Icarus’s heart sank at that, he had foolishly believed that maybe Twilight was on his side. “However, I understand why he let her go, and deep down, so do you. Had you been in his horseshoes, you would have done the same thing.”
“Griffins don’t wear horseshoes.” Rainbow commented with a pout. She hated logic most of the times, simply because it always seemed to side with Twilight.
“No need to be petty, Rainbow.” Twilight’s stern look caused Rainbow to shrink back.
“Sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?” Twilight said, more on instinct than anything else.
Rainbow glanced up, part of her very surprised that Twilight still had that automatic reply to somepony apologizing. “Sorry I was petty with my words… and I’m sorry I yelled at you, Icarus. Even if you were stupid for letting your wife risk her life like that.” Rainbow wanted to add the last part, but she kept it to herself.
“Thanks…” Icarus said.
“Don’t think tha-“
Knock, knock.
A knock at the door interrupted Twilight’s words. She looked over and opened it with her magic. Pound Cake was on the other side, looking bewildered to all hades.
“Twilight… Rainbow…” Pound said between deep breaths. “The griffins… they’re… they’re trashing Sugarcube Corner. Come… help… quick….”
After Pinkie’s death, the cake twins took over running Sugarcube Corner full time. Many considered it a waste of their skills, but Twilight saw it for what it was; it was an expression of their love for the pink mare that they did not want her shop to close. Therefore, needless to say, Twilight was not happy to hear news. She had known the griffins were causing trouble, but she did not know it was this bad.
And neither was Rainbow, but before either of them could say a word, Icarus stood up to his full height and held out a claw to stop them. “I got this.” He stated. Icarus grabbed Siros’s Vengeance and sheathed it on his back.
Rainbow was impressed, in the blink of an eye the griffin put on his command appearance and went to deal with the issue. Perhaps, just maybe, there was something more to him.
‘Well, there would have to be for him to win Aurora’s heart the way he had.’ Rainbow thought with a smile.
They watched as Icarus and Pound left to go deal with the problem alone. Twilight turned to Rainbow. “So you think we should go with them? Just as a show of unity?”
Rainbow just laughed. “Don’t get me wrong Twi, I’m sure we could instill proper fear into the troublemakers, but trust me when I say, NOTHING causes a solder more fear than when their commander walks in and sees them doing something stupid, something they know they should not be doing. Icarus will be more than capable of dealing with this all on his own.”
Twilight just smiled, she had not thought of that. Although, she did have one small thing she wanted to ask Rainbow. “You know, we do still have a few days until Ataxia is due back, if you wanted to go and check up on Aurora, I would understand.”
Rainbow thought about that, she reached a decision rather quickly. “No, I trust Night to take care of her big sister. Besides, I wouldn’t want to leave my favorite egghead alone.”
“Thanks Rainbow.”
“Hey, I did promise after all.” Rainbow let out a yawn, one in which Twilight soon reciprocated. “Shall we call it a night? Or do you want to pull another all nighter in the lab?” Of the last three nights, they had slept in a bed one of them. Twilight was going off of coffee and Rainbow yelling at her to go to bed. She did not have the heart to tell Rainbow it was that instance that helped her stay up.
“You know what, that sounds lovely.” They had been interrupted by the arrival of the griffins, but she was at a good stopping point anyway. Twilight turned with a smile and started walking up the stairs. Rainbow watched her flank bounce a little, a clear indication that she was in the mood. Something Rainbow was more than happy to assist her with.
Sadly, Twilight did not make it more than three steps before another loud bang was heard from the door. Someone else was at the door and they wanted in desperately. Rainbow turned around. “Who could that be?”
“I don’t know…” Twilight reopened the door. Much to their surprise, Spitfire was on the other side.
“Spitfire? What are you doing here?”
“Twilight… Rainbow… It’s… It’s Ataxia! She’s back! Cadance… Luna… they’re keeping her at bay, but they need help, now!”
Rainbow turned to look at Twilight. They should have had another three days before she was due back. Could she have healed that quickly? Did the spell wear off?
They did not know. Nor did they know how a mare that was supposed to be in retirement flew down here, from the looks of Spitfire she really went all out to get here. That alone spoke volumes of the sort of trouble they were all in.
“Rainbow, go. Tell Radiant in five minutes to ready a reverse portal conjectural micosentex portal.”
“A what now?”
“A teleportation beacon. They don’t last long so tell him to have one ready in five minutes. I’ll get Icarus and gather everyone up for teleport.”
“Can you even do that? I mean… with your power the way it is?”
“Not without the beacon. I’ll need it in place to teleport this may griffins.” Twilight glanced out the window. The sight of so many griffins in Ponyville made her reconsider. “I may have him limit it to only a select few….”
“You sure?”
“What are you still doing here? Go! Now!”
“I’m going, I’m going!” Rainbow ran out the door and shot off into the sky. Every head in Ponyville turned to look up as several sonic rainbooms appeared in her wake.
Running the math in her head, Twilight knew it would take Rainbow about a minute to reach the Crystal Empire. Well… maybe not that long, she had no doubt that Rainbow would exceed what was considered a ‘relatively safe’ speed. Relatively safe being in relation to how fast she could travel if she really wanted to. When it came to Rainbow, you could only compare her to Rainbow. Anything else would be an apple to orange comparison. Her best guess estimate was that Rainbow would arrive in the Crystal Empire in thirty seconds.
Twilight turned to Spitfire, “Stay here. I've got to go get Icarus and let him know.” With a flash of purple magic Twilight teleported to Sugarcube Corner, she was sure that Icarus would be none too pleased about this turn of events.
Spitfire looked around the room. She was not sure what the protocol was for this situation. Sighing, she gave up as soon as she spotted something that looked comfortable. She walked over and collapsed on the couch. She glanced up at the clock before her strength finally left her. What she saw put a smile on her face. “I made it from the Crystal Empire to Ponyville in thirty-nine minutes, a new personal best.” She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.