Nebula's War

The smell of rotten garbage burned in Suri’s nose and her heartbeat pounded in her ears, but she would not stop running. Suri Polomare, Coco Pommel and Coloratura knew the penalty for workers who left their posts, but when a door was left ajar, they ran out into the street and didn’t look back. They didn’t know where they were going, but anywhere was better than where they had been.

“Come on, you two!” Suri cried. “If the gargoyles catch us, we’re as good as dead!” They ducked into an alleyway, and Suri was relieved to see an abandoned diner on the other end of the street. “We can hide in there! Come on, just a little bit farther!”

“I’m running as fast as I can, Suri!” Rara cried. “I think the whip marks on my back opened up again!” Sure enough, hot blood was streaming down her back and soaking into her aquamarine fur.

“It’s okay, Rara, I’ll help you.” Coco fell back and lifted Rara’s hoof over her neck. “Don’t stop, we’re almost there!” All of a sudden, a black shadow fell over the mares and they stopped in their tracks.

“It’s the gargoyles!” Coco squeaked. “They’ve found us, I’m sure of it! Oh Suri, I don’t want to die!”

“Shh, it’s okay, Coco, they’re gone.” Suri cooed and patted her friends’ hoof. “See? They just flew over the alley, it doesn’t mean they-!” But at that moment, four hooded creatures with leathery wings landed in the alleyway, surrounding the mares on either side. Coco gave a terrified whimper, but Suri pawed at the ground, ready to charge.

“Stay back! Just stay away from us!” Suri warned, but the figure standing in front of her shook its head.

“We mean you no harm, miss.” The figure said, and threw back the hood of her cloak. “I am Captain Vesper of Noctis, these are my associates, Eclipse, Night Shade and Nox, and we are here to assist you.” Suri, Coco and Rara exchanged confused looks for several seconds before turning back to Vesper.

“Well, um… thank you.” Suri said, and shook Vesper’s hoof. “Do you know of a place we can hide from Nebula?”

“Not just hide from him, but live outside his influence.” Vesper confirmed. “We have eluded his prying eyes for almost three years… but it is not safe to say more in our current setting. First, we must rejoin our group.”

“Your group?” Coco gasped. “There are more of you?”

“Twelve soldiers, including us.” Eclipse said, and stepped closer. “In fact, we’re meeting them in a few minutes. If you don’t mind, ma’am, we’ll carry you there.” Again, the mares exchanged nervous looks, but agreed that the bat ponies did not seem to pose any threat.

“… Okay.” Suri announced. “Just please, be careful with my friend. She’s hurt badly.”

“Don’t worry, Ma’am,” Night Shade said as he scooped Rara into a large sheet. “We have experience with this sort of thing.”

A minute later, they landed safely in Saddle Row, where fashion designers and seamstresses once created the most beautiful garments in Manehattan. Now, the buildings were dilapidated, their color drained away, and every seamstress in the city was forced into slavery.

“Psst, over here!” A shadowy figure whispered, and gestured the bat ponies into an alleyway between Passion for Fashion and Fabrics R Us. The alley was pitch black, but the bat ponies clearly recognized the bright orange stallion clad in plate armor.

“You’re back!” The stallion cheered as the bat ponies entered the alley. “Thank goodness, I was worried that you’d been caught.”

“Fear not, Flash Sentry, we were in no danger.” Vesper announced. “We caught sight of these ponies running through an alley, and offered our assistance.”

“That’s very noble of you.” Flash noted, and offered his hoof to Suri. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss…?”

“Suri Polomare.” Suri said. “And these are my friends, Coco Pommel and Coloratura.”

“Coloratura?” Flash gasped. “As in Countess Coloratura, the world-famous singer?”

“Y-yes, that’s me.” Rara gasped. “I’m sorry, I would shake your hoof, but I’m in terrible pain.” Sure enough, her fur was soaked with streaks of dark red blood. Before Flash could say anything, two pegasi holding jars of green liquid leapt out of the darkness.

“Oh you poor dears, you’re in a terrible state!” Chiarascura gasped.

“It’s okay, we’ll take care of you.” Melody added, and applied some of the green liquid to Coloratura’s wounds; in seconds, the bleeding stopped and new skin began to grow over the exposed musculature. Flash smiled warmly as the mares regained some of their color, but nearly jumped out of his skin as Silver Lining cried out in surprise.

“Silver, what’s wrong? What is it?” Flash gasped. Silver was standing transfixed in front of a poster bearing his likeness.

“Look at this!” He said, and showed the poster around for everypony to see. “‘Silver Lining, Wanted for Treason! Reward: 20,000 Bits Dead, 200,000 Bits Alive!’ It’s horrible!” Anamir trotted over and patted Silver on the back.

“I know, Silver, it’s terrifying to live as a wanted criminal, but-!”

“No, it’s not that!” Silver insisted. “Only 200 grand? Azure has a 500 grand bounty on HIS head!” Silver sighed and shook his head. “And I try so hard to be a menace to dystopian society.” Trixie rolled her eyes.

“And Trixie thought SHE had a large ego.” she sighed.

“Please, we need to focus!” EagleHeart announced, and turned to address Flash. “Where do we begin, Flash? How are we going to save those innocent ponies in the sweatshop?” Jacob, already in his hulking werewolf form bounded around like an excited puppy.

“Yeah, come on, Flash!" He cheered. "I want to get in there and save the day!”

“I like your enthusiasm, Jacob, but we can’t just burst in there without knowing what we’re up against.” Flash explained. “I’m waiting on reconnaissance.” Jacob’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“Reconnaissance?” Jacob asked. “What recon-!” But at that moment, there was a loud squawk, and a nighthawk landed gracefully on Flash’s outstretched hoof.

“Hello, Jericho.” Flash said, and fed a fat, juicy cricket to the bird. “Status report.” Jericho chirped, squawked and clicked his beak. Flash had some difficulty translating the noises, but eventually announced,

“Forty goblins, fifteen gargoyles and ten minotaurs inside, and five more gargoyles on the roof.” He paced back and forth, considering the situation. “Okay, here’s the plan: Anamir and Aaron, neutralize the guards on the roof. Once the guards are gone, Jacob will break down the door so the rest of us can get inside. Eclipse, Night Shade, Nox and Vesper, fly around the rafters and kill the gargoyles. Jacob, you subdue the minotaurs while EagleHeart, Trixie, Silver and I kill the goblins. While we distract the monsters, Melody and Chiarascura will gather the workers and lead them to Manehattan Park. Are we all in agreement?” Everypony nodded, and as Anamir and Aaron went to shoot the gargoyles, Flash added,

“There’s a slight chance that the monsters will be ready for us, even if the guards don’t raise an alarm. Silver, can I count on you to cause a distraction?” Silver nodded and lifted the edge of his own cloak, to reveal a belt that was covered in grey, white and blue orbs.

“You know it, boss.” Silver chuckled.

Inside the warehouse, one hundred ponies were hard at work, sewing uniforms and tapestries for Nebula’s army. Their hooves were sore and bloody, the hot, stale air burned their lungs and their brains were hardly able to function from dehydration, hunger and sleep deprivation. To make matters worse, their every action was carefully monitored by dozens of unholy creatures, who would torture and/or kill any pony who did not behave. Nothing escaped the beasts’ attention, especially not a small grey orb that sailed through a window, bounced along the ground and rolled to a stop in the middle of the room. Before anyone could say ‘what the-?’ the orb broke open and released a cloud of thick fog that filled the sweatshop. An instant later, the air was rent with the sound of twisting metal, and a square of sunshine broke out where the front door had once been.

“Hey, what’s going on?” A minotaur shouted, and galloped over to the entrance. “Who’s there?” As he approached, a massive furry fist broke through the fog and collided with his muzzle. The minotaur flew fifty feet through the air and landed in a pile of neatly folded uniforms.

“What was that?” hissed a gargoyle. He leapt from the rafters and flew low over the workers, when all of a sudden a flying orange blob drew a silver short sword and sliced the gargoyle in half. Several goblins charged into the fray, but Flash swooped down and bisected them in a single slice.

“Come and get me, you cowards!” Flash shouted, and a minotaur charged in and grabbed Flash around the neck.

“So YOU’RE the intruder!” The minotaur laughed as Flash choked and writhed in his grasp. “Trying to free your little friends, eh? Well, now THEY’LL need to rescue YOU!” Flash knew he couldn’t overpower the beast, so he decided to outsmart it instead: he gave one mighty spasm and went limp in the minotaur’s fist. The minotaur grinned triumphantly and let Flash fall to the floor in a heap.

“It’s okay, guys, I got him!” The minotaur called into the fog. “The freedom fighter is d-ACK!” The last thing the minotaur saw was a shining silver blade that had sprouted from his chest.

“Not quite.” Flash whispered as the minotaur dissolved around his sword. Sensing the disturbance, more gargoyles dropped from the rafters and kept their eyes peeled for intruders. Unfortunately, they fog was so thick that they were unable to see anything, not even the bat ponies who dismembered the gargoyles as they flew by.

“Well done, my friends!” Vesper cheered and brandished her silver dagger. “Come, we shall strike them all down and return them to Tartarus!”

“Intruders!” croaked a goblin. “Cut them, gut them, crush their bones!” A dozen goblins drew their swords, but before they could stab anypony a volley of silver-tipped arrows skewered them through their chests and turned them to ash. The workers wanted to run for safety, but fearing that they would be caught by one of the monsters they hid under their desks instead. One stallion chanced a peek at the battle, and screamed in terror as two big brown eyes stared back at him.

“No, please, calm down!” The silhouette begged; its voice was gentle and calm, like a consoling hug. The stallion looked closer and saw that the shape was not a gargoyle, goblin or minotaur, but an armor-clad pegasus with sky blue fur and long brown hair.

“… Who are you?” The stallion asked.

“I’m Chiarascura, and we’re here to rescue you.” She held out her hoof in greeting, and the stallion shook it.

“Rescue us?” The stallion gasped. “But how?”

“Sorry, but we don’t have time to talk!” Chiarascura interrupted. “Follow us!” The workers didn’t need to be asked twice: they followed Melody and Chiarascura out of the sweatshop and down the street as quickly and quietly as possible. Of course, even in the dense fog, the monsters could not mistake the sound of one hundred hooves galloping down the hall and out the door.

“The slaves are escaping!” A minotaur bellowed. “Hunt them down before they get too-OOF!” Jacob punched the minotaur in the chest, but it was too late; the remaining gargoyles opened the windows and beat their wings vigorously, siphoning the fog out of the building. As the room cleared, the monsters looked to the entrance, where eighty ponies were still pushing and jostling to get outside.

“There they are! Get them!” A gargoyle hissed, and swooped down on the crowd. A mare screamed as the gargoyle’s talons dug into her flesh, and she was lifted into the air high above the crowd. She thrashed and screamed, trying to break free, but the gargoyle was too strong.

“Help! Somepony help me!” The mare screamed, and right on cue, Nox flew in and decapitated the gargoyle with his silver dagger.

“Tell ‘em Nox sent you!” Vesper growled as the gargoyle disintegrated. As the gargoyle disappeared, his would-be victim fell like a stone, but Eclipse and Night Shade caught her and lowered her safely to the ground. Half a dozen goblins ran forward, waving their swords and cackling madly, but before they could strike a wave of pink energy blasted them off their feet. EagleHeart and Trixie were standing between the monsters and the fleeing crowd, ready to kill any demon that approached.

“The door is blocked!” Trixie cried as she knocked a gargoyle out of the air. “The ponies can’t flee fast enough! We need a bigger door!”

“I’m on it!” EagleHeart said, and blasted the entire wall to pieces; the ponies ran away en masse, following Melody and Chiarascura to safety.

“Good thinking, EagleHeart!” Trixie cheered, and continued to knock back any demons who approached the crowd. “But it looks like Jacob is having some difficulty with the minotaurs.” Indeed, Jacob was fighting bravely, but as he was a demon himself, he could not touch, much less wield a silver dagger for killing his foes.

“Jacob, duck!” EagleHeart shouted, and gave his horn a tiny flick. His silver dagger flew toward Jacob, who ducked out of the way as the dagger embedded itself in the chest of a minotaur. The minotaur gasped and stared down at his chest, but before he could pull the dagger out he dissolved into a pile of ash, and the dagger fell to the floor.

“Thanks for the assist.” Jacob gasped. “But I don’t know how I’ll be of any help. I can claw and bite and punch all I want, but they’ll just get back up and attack me again.” EagleHeart smiled and patted Jacob on the shoulder.

“Well, you’re stronger than me, and I can use silver without getting hurt.” EagleHeart said as he picked up his dagger. “Why don’t you knock them down, and I’ll finish them off?” Jacob thought about it for a moment, and then smiled.

“Sounds good to me.” He chuckled, and sank his fangs into an advancing minotaur. Meanwhile, high above the battle, Silver dipped and dove around the scaffolding, trying to evade a pursuing gargoyle.

“You can’t run forever, pony!” The gargoyle cackled. “Eventually you’ll crash, and I’ll feast on your tender flesh!”

“You don’t want me, I’m mostly feathers!” Silver replied. “Why don’t you snack on this?” He unhooked a white orb from his belt and tossed it over his shoulder.

“A smoke bomb?” The gargoyle laughed. “What will that-?” However, instead of producing fog, the orb released a concentrated dose of lightning that made the gargoyle seize up and fall to the floor in a heap.

“Well, there’s a shocker.” Silver muttered as he watched a minotaur approach the fallen gargoyle.

“Risu! What have you done to him?” The minotaur roared and threw a sewing machine at Silver. “Come down here and fight like a man, you cowardly mule!”

“Well, if you insist.” Silver pulled out his staff and dove upon the minotaur, who punched Silver out of the air and took his staff. Silver was badly bruised, but he stood up and pawed the ground, ready to fight.

“A stick? Is that really the best you can do?” The minotaur laughed as he twirled the staff in his hand. “Pathetic.” He took the staff in both hands and tried to break it, but although his muscles strained and sweat beaded upon his forehead the staff did not bend, break or move in the slightest.

“It’s Everfree Oak, cud for brains! Nigh indestructible!” Silver shouted. “Now hand it over before you poke your eye out.” The minotaur looked down at the staff, then smiled at Silver.

“You want it? Come and get it.” Silver charged at the minotaur, but was forced to leap out of the way as the minotaur jabbed the staff at him. Silver spread his wings and leapt into the air, delivering a roundhouse kick to the minotaur’s jaw. The minotaur gave a pained grunt, but regained his focus and swung the staff at Silver in an attempt to knock his head off. Silver just barely dodged the staff and grabbed it in his left hoof.

“Here’s a little trick I learned from Azure.” He brought his right hoof down hard upon the minotaur’s wrist, forcing the beast to release the staff.

“Ow!” The minotaur cried, and rubbed his sore wrist. “Why you flying rat, I’ll tear you apart!” As the minotaur reached out, Silver jabbed him in the snout, eliciting a howl of pain from the monster.

“A flying rat? How dare you, sir!” Silver gasped in mock surprise. “I shall thrash you soundly!” He jabbed the minotaur in the ribs, then struck it in the jaw as it doubled over. “Take this! And that! And some of-!”

“Silver, stop fooling around and kill him!” Flash shouted as he kicked a screaming goblin into the furnace.

“Okay, okay.” Silver sighed, and swung his staff around so that it knocked the minotaur’s legs out from under him. The ground shook as the minotaur fell to the floor, but before he could get up Silver leapt onto the beast’s chest, pulled a silver dagger from his belt and plunged it into the minotaur’s chest. The minotaur gave a bloodcurdling cry and dissolved into a pile of ash as a team of goblins watched in horror. Silver, sensing the goblins’ arrival turned and smiled at them.

“Who’s next?” The goblins dropped their weapons and ran for their lives, with Silver in hot pursuit. However, before Silver could strike them down, a hail of silver arrows rained from the sky and skewered the goblins, turning them to ash.

“Hey, what the-?” Silver looked up and saw Aaron and Anamir, who were shooting monsters from the catwalk.

“Come on, Aaron, we can do it!” Anamir cheered. “Just a few more, and then we can-!” At that moment, the catwalk began to shake; a gargoyle and a minotaur were approaching the duo from either side.

“The game ends here, ponies!” The gargoyle hissed. “Throw down your weapons and surrender!”

“I don’t think so.” Anamir growled. She and Aaron reached into their quivers, but their hooves fell upon empty air.

“Aw, too bad, the little heroes are out of arrows.” The minotaur taunted as he cracked his knuckles. “This is going to hurt.”

“Stand your ground, Aaron!” Anamir said. “It’s okay, I won’t let them hurt you!”

“Likewise!” Aaron replied as the hulking minotaur bore down on him. Aaron gave a yelp and flew into the air as the minotaur’s meaty fists came down upon him. In desperation, Anamir kicked the minotaur in the snout. The minotaur recoiled, and blood squirted from its snout.

“You’ll pay for that!” The minotaur roared and lifted Anamir in a crushing bear hug. However, before he could squeeze the life out of her, Aaron flew down and bit the minotaur on the neck. The minotaur dropped Anamir before turning his attention to Aaron, who flew just out of reach.

“Hold on, Aaron, I’ll-!” Anamir tried to approach, but the gargoyle sank his claws into her flank and dragged her away.

“Delicious ponies!” The gargoyle hissed. “Juicy, succulent flesh, so tender and warm! I’m going to eat you alive!”

“Not today!” Anamir growled, and twisted around to deliver a painful blow to the gargoyle’s chin. The gargoyle soared through the air and landed in an unconscious heap on the catwalk.

“And THIS is for grabbing my flank!” Anamir shouted as she plunged her silver dagger into the gargoyle’s chest: as always, the gargoyle dissolved, and his ashes slid through the grating of the catwalk. Anamir gave a sigh of relief before turning to face the minotaur, who was attempting to swat Aaron out of the air. Aaron, meanwhile was continuously biting and scratching the minotaur, and then flying away before the minotaur got a chance to attack.

“Hold on, Aaron, I’m coming!” Anamir shouted, and kicked the minotaur in the chest, causing the beast to fall backward onto the catwalk.

“Is he… dead?” Aaron asked.

“No, not yet.” Anamir replied as the minotaur began to stand up. “We can’t kill him without silver, and we used up the last of our arrows!” Aaron looked over the catwalk for a moment, and then dove over the edge.

“Aaron!” Anamir gasped, and then turned to face the enraged minotaur, who growled angrily and pawed the ground.

“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Anamir whispered, and charged at the minotaur, who charged at her. However, just as they collided, the minotaur dissolved, and his ashes slipped through the catwalk grating.

“What in the world?” Anamir asked, and a silver-tipped arrow clattered to the floor where the minotaur had been standing.

“Are you okay?” Aaron asked as he flew up and landed on the catwalk, his bow clutched tight in his paw.

“Yes, thank you.” Anamir said. “How’s the situation on the ground?”

“Flash just killed a goblin that crawled out of the furnace, so once we gather up our arrows we can get out of here.” Two minutes later, the team left the ravaged sweatshop and met with Melody and Chiarascura, who were waiting with the refugees at the end of the street.

“Good job, team!.” Flash cheered. “Now let’s get out of here before anypony else shows up.”

“Too late.” said a familiar, but very unfriendly voice. Everypony turned to see Nebula’s lieutenants strolling down the street, being led by the fearsome white wolf that was Malum.

“Well well well, what have we here?” Malum chuckled. “Sorry we’re late, but the news only just arrived in Canterlot. I mean, I knew you guys were still out there, but I didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to show your faces in Manehattan! After all news travels fast in a big city.” As the demons approached, everypony drew their silver daggers.

“Stay back.” Flash growled. The demons flinched, Cornu and Ignis took a few steps back, but Malum just smiled.

“You should be careful where you point that.” Malum said. “Somepony could get hurt.”

“I said stay back!” Flash shouted, and pointed the dagger straight at Malum’s heart. All of a sudden, a terrified scream rent the air: a gargoyle had flown over the crowd and grabbed a stallion, which he dropped in front of Lacerta. The reptilian demon purred and licked his lips, and when the stallion tried to escape Lacerta brought his hoof down on his back, and the stallion collapsed. Lacerta sniffed the whimpering stallion, even tasted his flesh, but for some reason he did not attack.

“Lacerta is well-trained, you know: he won’t eat anything unless I give him permission.” The stallion whimpered as he felt Lacerta’s hot breath on his face. “No matter how much he wants something, he won’t eat it unless I say it’s okay.” Malum paced back and forth in front of the crowd. “But I’d be willing to deny Lacerta his treat if someone answered one teeny, tiny question for me: where is Azure Night?” Everypony’s blood ran cold, even the refugees: they had heard tales of Azure, how he had risked life and limb to reveal Nebula’s true identity before disappearing without a trace, but they had been certain that he was dead. After all, there were still tales of slaves being rescued from the demons’ evil clutches, but nopony had seen Azure in years! But if the demons were willing to travel all the way from Canterlot on the assumption that Azure had been spotted, then…

“Azure Night is dead.” Flash announced, and the crowd gave a collective gasp of horror. “He was devoured by a tatzlwurm in The Badlands during a training exercise.” Everypony was silent for a moment, then Malum began to laugh hysterically.

“A tatzlwurm in The Badlands? You expect me to believe that?” He smiled at Flash and shook his head. “You’ve got nerve, kid, I’ll give you that.” Malum turned to Lacerta and nodded; the ravenous reptile growled happily and leaned down to tear out the stallion’s throat. All of a sudden, Eclipse, Night Shade and Nox leapt out of the crowd and onto the demons.

“Hey! What’s going on?” Malum shouted. Eclipse leapt upon Lacerta and stabbed him in the shoulder, which distracted the beast long enough for his would-be victim to crawl back to the crowd. Atramento raised his dagger, but Night Shade opened a gash on his chest and the tattooed terror dropped his weapon. Nox, meanwhile leapt upon Malum and drove his silver dagger into the wolf’s back.

“ARRGH! You little bastard!” Malum howled and thrashed around, trying to knock Nox off, but the bat pony held fast.

“Nox! What are you doing?” Flash cried.

“Go! Get out of here! We’ll hold them off!” Nox shouted.

“No, I can’t! I won’t leave you-!”

“GO!” Eclipse, Night Shade and Nox shouted in unison.

“Everypony follow us!” Melody shouted, and led the crowd to Manehattan Park with Chiarascura. Aaron, EagleHeart, Silver and Trixie helped to guide the crowd while Anamir and Vesper grabbed Flash and carried him away from the fight.

“No! We can’t leave them behind!” Flash shouted. “Let me go, Anamir, I need to save them!”

“No, we need to get out of here!” Anamir replied. “I don’t want to leave either, but the refugees are counting on us! We need to get them to safety.”

“I don’t care!” Flash growled. “Azure trusted me for this mission, he trusted me with his best friends and I won’t let him down!”

“Please, Flash, calm yourself!” Vesper pleaded. “Eclipse, Night Shade and Nox knew the risks when they went on this mission, they knew that they might not make it back alive, but they joined us so that ponies could know freedom again.”

“But we can still save them!” Flash cried. “If we all work together, we might be able to kill the demons!”

“And then what?” Anamir snapped. “If we kill Malum and the others, more demons will show up and try to kill us. If we kill those demons, even more will show up. Eventually, Nebula will show up, find out that we’ve killed his lieutenants and turn us to ash before we can say ‘oops’!” She sighed and looked into Flash’s eyes. “One of the harshest truths of war is that you can’t save everypony, and sometimes that means saving yourself so that you can save others tomorrow. Right now, we need to get out of here and get the refugees to safety.” Pearly white tears streamed down Flash’s cheeks as he looked from Anamir to Vesper.

“… You’re right.” He sighed. “I hate to say it, but we can’t save them. We need to get out of here while we still can.”

“It’ll be okay, Flash. We’ll set things right.” Anamir said. “Now let’s get out of here.” As they looked up, a series of bushes and boulders turned into ten unicorns, who galloped over to greet the team.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re safe!” cheered a female unicorn with minty green fur and a harp-shaped cutie mark. “We were starting to worry that something had gone wrong.”

“It’s okay, Lyra, we’re all safe.” EagleHeart assured her. “Is the team ready for transport?”

“Yeah, we just-!” Lyra frowned as she noticed the team. “Wait, where’s Nox? And Eclipse? And Night Shade?” EagleHeart sighed and hung his head.

“We got ambushed by Malum and his friends.” EagleHeart admitted. “Nox, Night Shade and Eclipse fought them off so we could escape.” Lyra gasped and covered her mouth.

“No!” She cried. “No, we can’t leave without them! We need to-!”

“We need to get these ponies back to camp before the demons find us.” EagleHeart interrupted. “Lyra, I promise that we’ll rescue them, but right now these ponies need our help.” Lyra closed her eyes and sighed.

“… Okay, let’s go.” She said. EagleHeart walked among the refugees and sent groups of ten to each unicorn; an instant later, the groups vanished in a flash of light, and reappeared at the camp. Finally, the only ones remaining were Aaron, Anamir, Chiarascura, EagleHeart, Melody, Silver, Trixie, Vesper and Flash. They huddled together, and with a fleeting glance at the ruined city, they disappeared.

Back in Saddle Row, Eclipse, Night Shade and Nox lay unconscious in the street, covered in lacerations, bruises and bite marks.

“You boys have guts, I’ll give you that.” Malum groaned as the wounds on his back turned his fur red. “There aren’t many ponies brave enough to stand up to us, much less fight us, but you boys have gone above and beyond the call of duty.” Atramento leapt forward, slashing his dagger at the air.

“Skin ‘em, slash ‘em, drink their blood!” He hissed, but Malum held him back.

“No no, Atramento, we’re not going to kill them. Not yet, at least.” Malum said, and smiled down at the bat ponies’ semi-conscious bodies. “Let’s get these losers back to Canterlot. We have a lot to discuss.”