Blight Squad

The Pegasus spoke true, for it was about an hour that the trees broke, and we entered onto a vast snow-covered plain. I could see small dwellings in the distance to the west; to the east was flatland; to the south we could see a shimmering line that spanned a small portion of the horizon.

Luna glared toward the shimmering line and said, "Look well troops, for before us stands our foe: the Dark Ones. Show no mercy, for thou shall receive none! Forward march!"

We marched across the plain, approaching the row of cultists slowly but surely.

Fifteen minutes we marched, our troop expanding until it was but three lines of ponies, each about a quarter mile long, until both armies were half a mile away from each other. Then, we stopped.

A voice from our enemy reached our ears: "Luna! Why don't you run along home to Canterlot to your sniveling disgrace of a sister?"

Luna shouted back, "Why would we do that when we could easily send thee in our stead in chains, Kekra?"

"Is that a challenge?!"

"No, that was an acceptance of thine surrender!"

Kekra roared in fury and charged, her army following behind her.

Luna brought her sword forward and yelled, "Soldiers of the Night! Charge!" and we galloped across the plains toward Armageddon. Time seemed to slow down as both armies got closer to each other. I brought my sword forward. Kwill and I exchanged glances. A great roar sounded in my ears, and we clashed.

I ran into a cultist who tried to slash at me with a dagger tied to hos hoof. I dodged the attach and hit him in the head with my shield sending him sprawling, unconscious, onto the snow only to be trampled by other ponies, Kekra's and Luna's alike. I slashed at another cultist, but my blade bounced off of him with a clang. He tried to go for a chest jab during my rebound, but I parried with my sword and sent my own blade so far through his hooded head that the tip protruded through the other side of his hood.

One, I though to myself. My blade was pinched inside the pony's head; I had a little trouble getting it out, during which time two cultist tried to descend upon me from behind.

Idiots, I though as I bucked one of them in the face, feeling a crunch as his muzzle caved in. Two. The other stepped to my right to take advantage of my stuck sword predicament. I was powerless to stop his blade from coming down, but before he could touch me, Kwill rammed into his side, sending him crashing to the ground. I let out a sigh of relief when he sent his sword through the cultist's armpit.

I gave him a wide-eyed nod. "Thanks."

He looked at me and trod over to me. He started hacking away at the corpse's head to help free my sword.

After, we turned and we were able to spy Luna and Kekra dueling each other with both arms and magic. We tried to make our way toward them to give Luna a hoof, but we were quickly blocked by three more cultists. We charged at each other.

Kwill sustained a cut on the left of his face. We dispatched the cultists and continued making our way to Luna and Kekra. I quickly ran through my body count through my head. Four.

We were finally able to reach Luna and Kekra. Before we could attack Kekra, though, Round Shield bounded forward and tried to charge Kekra's flank, but she quickly turned and sent a bolt of cold, white lightning toward Round Shield which struck him in the chest. I heard Kwill shout, "No! Round Shield!" and went to catch our sergeant's scorched body. I just stopped and stared, my eyes wide, my brain not being able to comprehend what had just happened.

It was only when I felt pain in my back-left leg that I snapped from my reverie. I turned my head and saw that a cultist had sneaked up on me and stuck me with a dagger. I turned the rest of my body, yanking the blade from my leg, and brought my shield across the cultist's face, snapping his neck from the force of the blow. Five.

Luna and Kekra were still locked in combat. I ran toward Kekra, blade put away. I barely heard Kwill shout, "Midnight! Wait!" I ignored him. Kekra turned toward me and things happened in slow motion.

Kekra's horn glowed white. Lightning shot from the tip. I melted into the shadow, narrowly missing the deadly electricity. I reappeared in her shadow. I brought my sword forward and across, severing Kekra's horn from her head. Luna shot a bolt of blue energy toward Kekra's stump of a horn. Kekra fell to the ground, her head a smoking mass.

Suddenly, everypony stopped. We knew the battle was over. The cultists laid down their weapons and lowered their heads in surrender. We lined them up in single file and presented them before Luna. She exhaled, inhaled and said, "All of thee who wish to join our ranks, step forward! We promise no harm will fall upon thee!" Fourteen of the twenty-one survivors stepped forward. The others remained motionless. "Very well. The rest of thee shall be tried for treason! You are now at the mercy of Princess Celestia!" With that, Luna cast a spell and the seven cultists who did not step forward disappeared. "It would seem that our sister will find that she is missing room in her dungeons."

Luna approached the body of Round Shield whom Silver Hooves was cradling. He laid out his body in front of Luna.

Luna asked, "Would anypony like to say any words?"

Silver Hooves stepped forward. "Round Shield," he began, "you were the best leader we could ever have. You always got us into the stickiest situations, but you would always gut us back out. You were our mentor and taught us...well, you didn't really teach us anything besides discipline, and you were really good at that. In the end you got what you wanted: a glorious death in battle. I hope it was glorious enough."

Silver Hooves stepped backward. Luna cast a spell and Round Shield's body turned into stardust and floated up to the sky.