Ghost Squad

by Sollace

chapter 13: The Voice of Evil

Twilight’s eyes flickered green, the sickening glow spreading out across her irises, overtaking the kind deep purple with a menacing yellow, piercing pure yellow light. With it, came a pulse of magic. Her body shuddered and then slowly relaxed, letting out her breath as wisps of magic spread from the corners of her eyes.

“...Ah...” Sombra sighed, breathing in with his new form. He looked down at Twilight’s hooves, his hooves, and gently flexed them, stretching out the new tendons, and spreading Twilight’s wings—the wings or a Princess—behind him.

Red magic pulsed along the coils of her horn, turning it black and tainted, and a manic grin twisted her face. “Raise the bars,” said he.

There was a loud crack, a rumble and clunk as the metal bars shuddered to life around him. The gears trundled in the darkness and, inch by inch, the cage began to rise as Sombra looked over his left over ‘guests’.

Fluttershy whimpered and Rainbow stepped forward, flaring her wings to take up a defensive position. She frowned at Sombra, locked eyes with him. A tremble ran up her spine but she forced it down with a gulp. “Y-You got what you want,” she stammered, “N-now l-let us go.”

“Let you go?” He almost laughed. Twilight’s voice was broken, garbled somewhere between her old self and the new. “You think I would go soft that easily? Just because I’m the ‘Element of Friendship’?”

“It’s the Element of M—” Dash’s quip died short in her throat, replaced by a yelp as Twilight threw herself at the cage, snarling as she leered.

Her teeth were jagged, almost razor-like as she snapped, “No speaking back to me.” The bars shuddered to a sudden halt, resting barely an inch above her head. There was a distant clamour and the gears changed tune, slowly retracting the cage further into the darkness above as Sombra looked around himself in glee.

He glance, first—Rainbow following Twilight’s gaze—to Ditzy Doo, the rogue ghost and her foal, and then to Rainbow herself. Sombra looked in her eyes as he said, “Rehabilitate the slime.”

There was a scream. Rainbow jolted. Her mane prickled, and her gaze snapped back to Ditzy.

Translucent hooves had appeared through the floor, grasping at Ditzy and pulling her away from Dinky. She was fighting hoof and claw, but was finding it difficult to hold form as more hooves appeared to drag her through the floor.

Rainbow grit her teeth, turning back to Sombra ready, all but ready to rip his throat out.

“...and kill the rest.”

Another screamed, this time much closer. Rainbow felt her stomach drop, her blood run cold as a pair of hooves—claws—something—clasped her around the barrel. She looked up at Sombra to see Twilight, still grinning maniacally, a single eye twitch as tears rolled down her cheeks. “H-hey!” Rainbow coughed, pulling back against her captors. She struggled against them, pulling her way almost up into Sombra’s face as she screamed. “You can’t do this!”

Fluttershy and Pinkie’s screams were like daggers. Dash didn’t dare look back, instead focusing every ounce of her hatred towards this monster in front of her. “You promised Twilight we could go free and—”

“I promised?” asked Sombra. He leered over Rainbow, Twilight’s face growing wide with a grin.

Rainbow jolted back, a slight whimpers escaping her lips. “I—” she squeaked. Her ears flicked down, then quickly perked back as she founder her voice. “Y-You gave her your word!” She pushed forward, hers and Twilight’s noses pressing together. There was a snarl, and Rainbow kicked back, pushing the Minotaurs off of her for a moment longer. She could feel herself screaming as spat, “What happened to a King’s Loyalty?”

“Loyalty!?” Sombra laughed, for once a proper, deep, bellowing howl. The very sound shook Rainbow to her core. “You think I care about Loyalty?” Sombra howled. His voice was shaky, broken as it rattled with Twilight’s old. “I am King! The King, Your King!”

He stomped forward, pushing Rainbow back. She stumbled over her hooves, sidestepping to the left as she was squeezed between the guards and their master. “D-Do you think ‘my word’ means anything to me?” His voice stuttered, as it broken by a sob. Rainbow caught tears trailing down Twilight’s cheeks as she said. “My word is law. I make the law. I have the power. I will stop at nothing to free this world from your pitiful Princess Celestia’s reign.”

Another step, another snarl, and Sombra shoved Rainbow back, pushing her against the Minotaur who, all this while, snarled and licked his lips over her back. “The new light will come, no matter what, even if it means...”

At this, Sombra leaned over Rainbow, licking his lips. She pulled back but found herself trapped, unable to move between Twilight and the Minotaur's wall-like legs. They both held her steady, and she could only manage to turn her head, squinting and shaking ready for the inevitable.

His breath tickled against the fur of her ear and, in a moment of silence.

“...getting rid of you,” he whispered.

Rainbow’s heart stopped. A chill ran up her back, and she felt the tension suddenly go. All she could muster to say was a whisper, as she watched, dumbstruck, as Sombra trotted calmly away from her. “Wait—“

“Take them away,” he said.

With one last glimpse, Rainbow saw Twilight’s face, the real Twilight, staring at her from beneath Sombra’s grin. Her cheeks were wet and her eyes were red, glowing red, but also red from crying. Twilight’s ears flicked left, a motion mirrored by a jerk of her head, and one missed as Dash watched Sombra turn away from them.

The Minotaur’s claws dug into her fur, sending a sharp stab of pain through Rainbow’s side. She snapped out of her stupor, and bucked back, doing a double-take and rebuilding her defences. “No!” she screamed. “You can’t! This is wrong, Twilight, you can’t have—“

Her vision blurred and something flickered out of the corner of Rainbow’s eye, something white, almost like a sparkle. She did a double take, glancing quickly to confirm her suspicions. Simultaneously, Rainbow’s ears twitched to a dim hum, almost impossible to hear, bow gradually growing higher and louder. With it came Twilight’s words, flashing through Rainbow’s mind.

You have to promise me.

I do not want you to interfere.

Drop your pack.

Do as I do.

It all dawned on Rainbow at once and, all of a sudden, she felt like slapping herself in the face it was so obvious. How could she have not seen it? She groaned then threw her head back to give Fluttershy a shout. “Shy!” –a half grunt answered, and she took that as an affirmative—“I know what we have to do, but you’re not going to like it!” There was s second grunt, and a squeak.

She heard Pinkie’s head break out from her captor’s hold and shout something, but it was lost in the commotion as Rainbow jumped into action. She rounded on her own guard and bit down hard.

GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH

The minotaur wailed in pain. His hold loosened for a moment, just long enough for Rainbow to put her plans into action. She pushed forward, kicking back against the guard’s legs, and splayed her wings as she took flight.

There were more howls, a crash and a thud, and a clamouring of hooves. The entire room burst into chaos as Rainbow bolted across the floor, half-flying, half-running. She ducked just as another arm swept over her head, then rolled the final distance, grabbing Twilight’s pack in her jaw and flipping the device over her back.

Sombra had barely a moment’s notice. As her turned back, their eyes met for a second—stark realisation on the former, and a determined glint in Rainbow’s—before the lever on Twilight’s pack flicked.

In his last moments, Rainbow managed out her last words: “Eat friendship, b—!”

The pack’s whining turned into a growl, a roar, and then the literal apocalypse as light exploded forth from all sides. The nozzle bucked and Rainbow felt herself thrown back, winded by the force as the room exploded into a whirlwind of noise, explosions, blinding light’s and pained howls.

AAAAAHHHH

The ground whipped past under her, scrabbling against Rainbow’s hooves, and a there was a deafening scream blaring in both her ears. Another jolt, a buckle, an involuntary flap of her wings, and she finally gained purchase.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH

Her ears flicked forwards, and she dared open her eyes, met by an ocean of twisting rainbow beams. They raced across each other, ricocheting off the room and burning paths in everything they touched, at the same time threatening to push her back through the wall. Her mouth was dry and her throat was sore.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH

Thus, licking her lips, Rainbow took a quick stock of the situation and stopped screaming.

She bore down on the handle of Twilight’s pack. It responded with a sudden jolt, almost knocking free Rainbow’s teeth as she lurched, dragging it across the room to round on the guards.

She squeezed her eyes shut, and kept turning, gritting her teeth and pushing with every ounce of her strength until she heard the familiar “Gag—!” and then a ‘Patoosh’ several ghostly forms being sequentially scorched, burned, charred, and the occasional liquidation—all overplayed by the same guttural howls of Minotorian curses.

All of this passed in a matter of seconds, leaving Rainbow Dash huffing, out of breath, and tired to the bone. Her legs buckled and she dropped to her haunches in the wreckage of, well, everything. When she opened her eyes, she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie stood, relatively speaking, unharmed. They were still rather singed but had avoided the bulk of the debris, cloistered together in the open, surrounded by clear mist and withering skeletons.

Looking further around, there were no signs of ghosts, haunted cupboards, hooves—well, maybe some of those—or even a sinister field mouse. Not even Ditzy was—Rainbow’s breath caught in her throat.

“I’m okay!”

A shaky voice called out from the corner, and Ditzy crawled out from under the collapsed roof. She held a wet hoof over Dinky, and was gradually melting, though smiling, as she pulled them both out into the open.

“Oh, thank Celestia...” Rainbow sighed, relaxing.

Fluttershy and Pinkie blinked, visibly stunned. “Uh...” The former said, smoke billowing from her frizzled mane. Her eyes refocused and she frowned, looking over the room.

Rainbow Dash leaned back, putting her weight on the spent pack. “It’s okay, ‘Shy, we—”

“Oh” Fluttershy gasped suddenly, starling everypony, “Twili—”

“Oh my Celestia!” Pinkie bounced in front of her, throwing her blackened hooves into the air as she screamed. “That was bucking amazing!” Her mane—or what was left of it—bounced and flapped, finally giving up the charred bats and bowling balls as she patted out the remaining flames. “Can’t believe you did that, I wouldn’t thought the final boss fight would at least last another couple of chapters!”

“Yes, well...” Trailing off, Rainbow Dash pushed out her chest fur. She tilted her head back with a smug grin, blowing on a hoof and scuffing it on her chest. “It was nothing,” she said, rolling her eyes, “After all, I am the Element of A—”

A deep rumble shook through the castle, quacking through Dash’s hooves and pushing her off balance, She jolted back, setting eyes on the crumbling remains of the old pyramid as the earlier voices returned, howling, screaming, above her as the castle shook.

A deep, revolting, growl emanated from the Twilight-shaped hold, causing Dash to take a pause. She gulped, starting backwards as a deep, purple—almost black—glow began to bubble from the depths. She felt her wings spreading on instinct, a chill running back up her neck as the growl turned into an infuriated roar.

RRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEE

It grew until the only thing anypony could hear was one, constant, Tartarus-damned screamed.

“Uh...” Dash swallowed. Her throat was dry and she couldn’t quite form any words as she slowly backed away, eyes glued to the mounting glow in front of them. “Girls...” she eventually croaked out. A glance to ‘Shy confirmed her suspicions and a quick nod sent the pegasus off to grab her pack from the ground.

Rainbow waved Ditzy to get behind her, and she reared up, spreading her wings to shield the rest. She widened her stance, ears forwards. A flick of her tail and she narrowed her gaze, focusing in on the movements deep within the pyramid.

Twilight’s pack squealed to life, adding it own tiny rumble to the ear-shattering din. Her voice cracked an octave as she squealed. “... I don’t think it’s over yet.”

~ ~ ~

RRRRREEEEEEEEEUUUUUUU

The sirens blared out over the darkened landscape. Panting and huffing filled the night; the splatter of hooves through mud and the chink of metal chains as dogs barked off somewhere in the distance.

“Applejack, wait up!” Granny Smith hollered, her voice—somehow—more horse than it had ever been. She huffed. “Ah can’t—“ She wheezed.. “My hip ain’t g—” And she tripping over a loose stone. “—going to take much more ‘a this.”

Applejack growled. She ducked past a low bow. Her ears cocked back, checking for any signs of guards. There was the flicker of torchlight in the distance, signalling they were still far behind, which meant they had a minute—maybe two, to get out of these wood. She wheezed. “Well”—glancing over her shoulder, past Big Mac, and giving Granny Smith the stink-eye. “Ya should’ve thought about that before you went an’ got us into this mess.”

“It ain’t my fault.” Granny huffed. The loose ends of her prison uniform flopped freely, far too long for her stubby legs. The ends were matted and brown, stained after being dragged through hell and high water. “Big Mac’s the one that didn’t have t’ fit through that damn air duct!”

Applejack stopped cold. The other two barely had time to catch themselves, and all three skidded to a halt in the middle of the swamp, their leader glaring at each of them. “Grand-mama,” she said flatly, grinding her teeth. “If it weren’t for you and your—ye-yer—”

The darkness was broken by a soft blue glow, highlighting Applejack’s pale complexion. She continued to stutter, shaking as she raised a hoof to point. “B-B- B-Big Mac, since when has there been two of ya?”

Big Mac’s eye widened. The iron ball dropped an inch in his grasp, and he quickly shot a glare to his side, mouth open, as he gaped in the face of another—oddly translucent—stallion exactly his same size.

“Uh...” he swallowed, squinted, waved a hoof through the figure then, finally, forming the only words he could, uttered in disbelief. “...P-Pa?”

The ghost nodded, “Eeyup,” and he flashed a row of black, shark-like teeth.

~ ~ ~

Lightning cracked and thunder roared. The sky split and electricity surged through the air. It was as if the very heavens themselves had opened up, torn asunder to exact its revenge on whomever lay below.

To Rainbow Dash, that had might as well be the case. Rain lashed at her coat. Wind buffeted her sides, and rocks and debris, stone pillars rend loose and bright lights swirled around her as the world was torn to shreds.

She was vaguely aware of other ponies below, somewhere in the distant darkness. Their shouts carried on the wind, backed by the twisting beams of energy from their packs. Multispectral beams arced around her, twisting and contorting, flexing as they snapped to chase their target—the very same Rainbow had glued beneath her merciless glare.

Her scowl deepened as she wrung the handle of her pack between whitened hooves. “Twilight!” she screamed, her voice hoarse, strained and filled with desperation. Tears streaked her cheeks, the bright blue stark contrast to pink and slush. ”Please...” She could barely hear herself over the overwhelming din, but still, Rainbow persisted. She screamed louder. “Please, Twilight, I know you can hear me! I know you’re—” A flash of light, and Rainbow swerved, moving fully on instinct as a crack of lightning tore past her—“I know you’re in there!”

A darkened figure stirred ahead, the silhouette of an alicorn gliding aimlessly towards Rainbow. Its eyes shone with a deep yellow, shimmering in and out of focus as the distance between them shortened—a purpled veil hanging between them, trembling under the force of the wind.

“Please...” She was smiling. Sombra cocked his head, his grind spreading to show his teeth—pointed and deadly. “You think that she will hear you? That by the ‘magic of friendship’ I’ll fail and everything will magically go back to normal?” He laughed—deep and melodious, the tune cut light steel.

In the flash of light, Twilight’s features became clear. But for a second, Rainbow saw her, staring eye-to eye, Twilight’s manic glare, tears long since dried but still as begging as ever before. That, hanging attached to Sombra’s grin—it was haunting—and then it was gone.

“You’re delusional,” he continued, “Just another pathetic little pony that doesn’t know what’s good for them. That is why you need a proper leader, a true kind. Not this pathetic—” he spat “Princess. Even you have to see what’s plain in front of your eyes.”

“I—“ She faltered. Pulling away from Sombra, Rainbow kept him trained in her gaze as she backed away. She caught an upwind and used it to pull her above him, not by much, but just enough that she could look down on her friend. “I—I know what I see, Twilight. You know, too. This isn’t right.”

“Look around you!” He gestured to the ruined castle, broken windows, pillars, walls—everything. Beams of harmony arced around the pair, reflecting harmlessly off of Twilight’s shield. “Your friends are failing. Miss Sparkle made her choice and now it’s time for you. Join the winning team..”

A pang shot through Rainbow’s stomach and she wince. ‘The winning team.’ “No.” She backed away slightly, moving upwind as Sombra glided closer between them. “Y-You’re just trying to—”

“Join us,” Twilight said. Rainbow’s ears perked forwards. She almost dropped right there, and it took all of her strength to keep in flight. “It’s the right thing, Rainbow.” Her voice rang out clear, but distant. There was something hollow about it.

“No.” She grit her teeth and turned away. “I won’t.”

“Your friend is gone, Rainbow Dash,” Sombra continued, returning to his own voice. “But you can be with her. All you have to do is join us.”

“N-No.” Rainbow screwed her eyes shut. She could feel Sombra’s eyes burrowing into her, as if reading her very soul. If she opened her eyes know, there was no doubt what she’d see. “Twilight...” Pulling the nozzle to her chest, Rainbow tightened her grip and readier herself. She took a deep breath, and pushed out.

“No!” Rainbow screamed. Kicking back against Twilight, she pushed them apart then caught a gust, angling her wings back to carry them further apart. Simultaneously her hooves went to the handle of her pack. She flipped the switch. The pack spluttered to life, emitting a loud, drawn-out whine, and Rainbow took aim.

Twilight responded in like, and their beams of magic truck mid-way, writhing against each other as they fought for dominance. Just as before, the knockback send Rainbow flying backwards, the wind knocked from her lungs.

Their beams broke. Light flickered in the corners of her vision, and Rainbow jumped to the side, just barely getting past as Twilight’s beam surged inches from her side. Moments later, the energy was gone, and Rainbow was faced by Twilight herself—a half-ton of alicorn muscle barrelling towards her.

She braced herself for impact, and was ready to take her full force, when Twilight’s ram was disrupted by another two blasts from below. “Whoop!” Pinkie shouted from somewhere out of view, and Twilight was forced back, taking a long arc to avoid their blasts as they trailed after her.

Rainbow took chase, darting across the empty sky. She held Twilight in her aim, her Harmony Pack at the ready as she zeroed in on the alicorn. Sombra was still fighting back against Pinkie and Flutters’, her horn aglow as she put all of her excess energy into maintaining Twilight’s shield. Her wings were spread and her back was turned.

There was no way she could miss. As she glided ever closer, Rainbow could hear more shouts from below. Twilight let off another shot into the dark. A rumble followed, and rocks tumbled unseen. She was too busy fighting them to pay Rainbow as much as a second thought. It was too easy. She could end it right here, right now.

She licked her lips. The handle hung heavy in her hooves. A chime sounded behind her and the pack’s rumble turned into a soft, contented hum. With some slight adjustments, Rainbow saw Twilight’s back come into full view, clearly visible just a few feet away. The shield was thinned there. All it would take was one shot.

She swallowed. The world seemed to slow.

One shot: right in the back.

Her eyes blurred then crossed. She blinked to clear her vision, and became aware of water running down her face. The rain had returned in full force, seemingly, and had her drenched. She faltered, slowing her approach, and wiped a fetlock across her face to clear the rain.

It tasted... salty, almost like—

Her vision cleared, and Rainbow’s eye widened as they met with Twilight’s—the other mare just beginning to turn back. Her own eyes widened, her grin changing as realisation washed over both of their faces, and deep scowl contorting Twilight’s features.

“Dashie, look out!” Somepony screamed moments before the world exploded around her. The air tore apart, and Rainbow felt the air leaving her lungs as something rammed into her chest. Then came the pain, and the burning, a searing hot stove thrust down her throat.

Her right shoulder ached, and a pink blur flickered out of the corner of her vision as somepony flew past. “Pinkie...” Her voice failed, and Rainbow’s felt herself flip back and drop. It was like the air had been pulled out from under her, or if she were on a carpet and somepony had just pulled it out. She wing spread on instinct, sending more pain and a searing heat through her back as the wind air twisted around her.

The ends of Pinkie Pie—dressed in her Harmony Pack and covered head to hoof in straps and harnesses as she powered her copter—disappeared into the distance as she fell away.

The world flipped, turned upside-down—backwards and inside out as Rainbow felt herself tumbling head over hooves. Air buffeted around her, pushing Rainbow’s limp body every which way as she plummeted—twisted head over hooves. She felt her tail flick past her chin, a flurry of confused motions as her instincts kicked back in and her wings spread—everything fighting against each other.

Her first instinct was to level out—spread her wings and slow her descent—but when she did, a sharp pain through her right primaries triggered the second—to retract and protect her wings at all costs. She was fighting against her body and finally found herself—by some miracle—right-way up.

She was going to crash. That was inevitable. It’s not like anything she’d done before. All she had to do was brace for impact, pulling her wings and anything else that could be broken.

The ground flipped past her once more, swirling around in circles along with everything else: tiles, shrapnel, the castle, tiles, shrapnel, the castle, tiles, shrapnel, Pinkie Pie. “Hold on!” Pinkie shouted, and grabbed onto Rainbow, pulling her back against the copter as she cycled with all of her might. Two started a slow fall.

“Pinkie Pie!?” Relief, shock and relief, washed through Rainbow’s body and she jumped at Pinkie’s hoof, grabbing on tight as the two continued their descent. The copter whined and strained under the weight. “Pinkie Pie,” she glanced to the helicopter, and then to Pinkie covered in straps and a hard-hat. She was sweating with strain, and still holding onto her Harmony Pack as she struggled to keep all of them aloft. “I—what—how did you?”

“I’m Pinkie, don’t question it!” she shouted back, “Brace for impact!”

The copter whined one last cry in its dying breath then broke apart beneath them. There was a loud thud, a screaming crash of buckling metal, and the stone floor collided with them, throwing what was left into a shower of broken pieces.

“Rainbow Dash!” Somepony screamed. Dash whipped her head back to see from where it had come, but she only caught a flash of yellow and pink before body crumpled against the hard stone tiles.

“Rainb—w –oh dear—” The world was spinning, whirling around her, turning black and red with the pulsing of her heart in her ears. A dull thud ached in Rainbow’s back, and as she blinked and squinted, several blurred images coalesced in the form of a pony leaning over her—hooves cupped around them like a mother and a foal—whilst the world continued to cascade around them.

She was heaving with breath, her Harmony Pack lugged over her shoulder, and tears rolling down her eyes. A loose braid of pink hair rolled across her vision and, squinting to force her eyes to focus, Rainbow hazarded a guess. “Fl-Fluttershy?” she squeaked.

“Oh my Celestia—” ‘Shy’s features softened, relief washing over her as she pulled Rainbow into a tight hug, pinning her against her chest as they rocked together. “You’re okay, I can’t—I don’t know what we’d do if you were—”

She interrupted herself with a sniff, and Rainbow Dash felt trickles of tears dripping across her forehead as Fluttershy peppered her with kisses. “It’s—okay,” she said, grunting as she pulled away slightly. “I’m fine, Fluttershy. You don’t have to—”

“We have to stop.”

Rainbow stopped cold. “I—what?” She almost did a double-take, swivelling back to look Fluttershy in the face. She almost felt like rubbing her ears, she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. “Stop!?” She almost screamed, almost. It came out in a hoarse whisper—too loud—she thought she’d hurt Fluttershy any other way. “Are you serious!? We can’t give up!”

A quick glance up, and a growl cut between them as Twilight swooped overhead, just missing their heads as they ducked.

She continued, pointing after the alicorn. “That’s our friend up there! We can’t just leave her like that! What if it gets worse!?”

“That’s not what I—”

“No,” Rainbow shouted. She pushed back, shoving Fluttershy away from her as she stumbled to her own hooves, grimacing at the pain. Her wings ached and protested. Every muscle burned as she spread her wings free. “We have to stop her!” She stomped a hind leg. “I don’t care what it takes.”

“But we can’t defeat her like this, Rainbow!” Fluttershy screamed, her voice just above a whisper. Rainbow felt herself being pushed back as Fluttershy trotted up against her, wings flared as she pressed their muzzles together. “There’s no way! She’s too powerful, and Sombra’s—”

“Twilight,” Rainbow spat.

“She’s right, Dashie.” Pinkie Pie leaned in between them, she, Ditzy, and Dinky forming a circle around them as they fought off the surrounding storm—and losing. The clouds slowly inched closer by the second, revealing glowing eyes as ghastly forms lurked in the shadows. She swallowed and wiped her brow. “We can’t keep up like this. Our only hope is to fall back an—”

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

A distant roat cut through the air, blaring in Dash’s ears. She felt a hoof shiver her back down, and they both ducked low as Pinkie Pie fired her Harmony Pack over their shoulders, deflecting a purple blast from the west.

Even as she watched, Rainbow caught glimpsed of green and red mixing through the beam as it cut across the edge of their circle.

“—and regroup.” Pinkie continued. Huffing with breath, her mane began to lose its volume and the occasional—now slightly rotten—orange and dead bat tumbled from its curls as she slumped against the shaft of her weapon.

Rainbow shuddered. She felt the chill running through her spine as she looked around her, at her spent friends and Ditzy doing—what was Ditzy doing? The mare seemed to have shape-shifted into some kind of shield, or something. Either way, the look of the green sheet with a smiling pony’s face was easily the most terrifying thing she’d ever seen that day.

She let out a shudder, stronger this time, and turned her back, rather facing the—admittedly now less scary—evil menace about to destroy them.

“N—” she sucked in a deep breath. “No.” She pushed herself to her hooves, her bones cracking as they popped back into her place.

With a quick glance, Rainbow trotted—limped—over to Twilight’s Harmony Pack and slung it over her back, wheezing as her body crimped under the weight. “There has to be a way. Something that we can use to take her down.” She eyed the extra-heavy gem at the end of Twilight’s staff. It was different, heavier, but most definitely more powerful than the rest—a fact she’d experienced firsthand.

“What are you thinking?” Pinkie was the first to speak.

Rainbow Dash glanced up, giving a look to Pinkie, and then to Fluttershy—the latter watching with earnest. “I don’t know...” she said. “But I think I have a plan.”

“You’re hurt.”

Fluttershy’s words stung, doubly so as the aching in her limbs returned with a vengeance. “N-N-No, I’m fine.” She winced.

Shy’s face levelled. She seemed unconvinced, but made no other moves to advance, instead watching Rainbow Dash with a kind of... almost sad resignation.

“Just trust me, okay?” was all Dash could say. She cleared her throat, swallowing hard and then turned her back away from her friends. This was her last chance. Their last chance. A final squeak happened behind her as Fluttershy whispered, but it was lost in the winds as Rainbow, teeth gritted, spread her wings and took flight.

Back into the fray.