Angel of Justice: Blood Moon

Time slowed to a crawl among the ponies watching on the snow-speckled roof of Castle Bloodwing as their dear friend Twilight Sparkle stumbled back and fell, a mortal injury staining her lavender fur crimson. They scarcely had time to call out before she was gone.

Despite their own injuries, despite their exhaustion and pain, Blue Bolt, Luna, Celestia, and Rainbow Dash forgot all else in the world for a second, even the vampiric alicorn that had struck the unicorn down.

“TWILIGHT!”

Rainbow was the first to scream. She ignored her aching body and shot forward, wings beating hard. They almost gave out as she reached the edge just in time to hear a solid thud.

Looking down, the cyan mare just barely caught sight of her unicorn friend bouncing off of the stone overhang below before crashing down into the courtyard with another final thud, where she settled motionless and limp. A myriad of shocked gasps and yells came from below as the others rushed to gather around the purple figure lying on the cold stone.

Blue Bolt stared ahead in stunned shock as Rainbow Dash’s body began to tremble. He could see tears beginning to fall beneath her, and he could hear a few broken sobs and stammers before she finally arched her head back and produced a mournful wail before collapsing to the ground and punching the stone beside her.

Meanwhile, Luna broke away from her own mortified stare to look over at Celestia. The white alicorn was petrified and unmoving, not even blinking as she stared ahead where her student just was.

Tears began welling up in her eyes, but she didn’t react at first. She tried to stop her lips from trembling until finally, she clenched her eyes shut and wailed. “NO!”

Dusk laughed at her miserable cries of grief. “Oh, Celestia… It looks like you failed her as a teacher as well.” He said, causing her to lift her head up to look his way. “You failed to teach her the most important lesson you taught me… You can only rely on yourself.”

Celestia felt her jaw vibrating with anger. Despite the frigid air around her, her core burned intensely with the rage of a thousand suns. She pushed herself up on one hoof, and then another, actually managing to hold her own weight.

However, before she could act on her anger, someone beat her to it.

Rainbow Dash whirled around suddenly. Her face had tears streaming down freely, but it was also contorted with a mixture of grief and fury as she stared daggers into the pale pony.

“You… you…” The pegasus vibrated from the sheer force of her anger, her jaw clenching so hard it was a wonder her teeth didn’t break. “YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT!” She darted forward, clearly lacking any sort of plan or weapon as she charged the alicorn.

“Rainbow Dash, no!” Luna shouted down to no avail. She tried to struggle and break free of the tendril still holding her aloft so she could help the cyan mare, but Dusk had her at his mercy.

Seeing his friend about to rush headlong into danger, Blue Bolt strained and pulled at the crimson lash around his neck. Finding no success, he summoned his blades and tried to cut it off. However, before he could, he felt the tendril further wrapping around his body, pinning his forelegs to his chest in an instant and squeezing hard. “Gah!”

Undeterred by the few tendrils wriggling around in Dusk’s general vicinity, Rainbow Dash flew forward with murder in her eyes.

A sharp whipping sound to her right led her to dodge out of the way of a swinging lash of blood without even slowing down. She curved to the right as two streams fired out of the alicorn’s neck and nearly clipped her until finally, she reeled back and prepared to kick him as hard as she could.

Dusk smirked and stepped around the pegasus’ attack in an instant. While she was still turning her head to face him, he lifted a hoof and two more spindly tendrils zipped out of his wrist before snaking up to her and wrapping around her waist.

“Ack!” Rainbow Dash croaked in pain as she was released from the tendrils and flung to the ground like a point-blank slingshot. She squinted an eye open, only to flinch as she saw the two tendrils forming spear-like tips and arcing down toward her at rapid speeds.

Then, just before disaster struck, a yellow barrier flashed above Rainbow’s body, blocking the twin skewers from piercing her. Rainbow slowly uncovered her face, only to look up in surprise at the shield around her before shifting to look back toward Celestia.

“No,” Celestia stated, her voice low and intense. She shakily got to all fours and stood somewhat tall. Her horn was sparking and fitting, but holding steady as she focused every ounce of willpower she had into her barrier and glared at Dusk. “You will not take another from me.”

Dusk’s expression fell into an almost sad sort of pitiful look as he sighed. “Oh, Celestia… You have not even begun to pay for what you took from me.”

Then, the two tendrils still halting at the surface of Celestia’s forcefield shook and vibrated slightly. Rainbow Dash didn’t quite realize what was going on until a single crack formed.

Celestia winced and made a sharp noise of pain as her magic was tested by a great force. She clutched a hoof to the side of her head before looking up, a glint of desperation returning to her eyes. “No… stop!”

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash watched with a building sense of unease as the shield continued to crack and strain. She tried to move out of the way, but the barrier meant to protect her was also serving to limit her movement.

“Rainbow Dash!” Blue Bolt yelled as he kicked and struggled against his bonds. He couldn’t move his wings, his fore or hind legs, and the bloody rope showed no signs of breaking.

Up above, Luna tried to light her horn and focus on a spell to save the cyan mare when the bonds around her form suddenly squeezed tight once more. She croaked out a pained yell, and despite her best efforts to keep concentration, her horn fizzled out.

Celestia’s mind raced to try and think of something to do. She couldn’t move fast enough to reach the pegasus or the alicorn in time to do anything meaningful, and even if she could, she was fighting just to hold her spell this long.

She also couldn’t do anything else with her magic. If she stopped focusing for even an instant, the barrier would drop and the tendrils would impale Rainbow Dash before any attack she could make would hit.

“Dusk!” Celestia panted, sweat pouring off her face and sticking to her fur in the frigid air as the aura around her horn fluctuated. “Do not do this! I…” She strained to get the words out. She didn’t mean them, but it was the only thing she could think to do. “I… I’m sorry! I’m sorry for everything I did! Taking your magic… banishing you! Please! Punish me, not her!”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She looked to the white alicorn with a saddened and shocked expression. Was the thought of watching her die really enough to get the princess to say such things, even if they were hollow words? Perhaps witnessing Twilight being struck down was too much, even for the alicorn.

However, more crackling noises drew her attention upwards, where the glowing barrier keeping her alive was slowly breaking more and more.

Dusk merely narrowed his eyes at his former mentor. “So sorry, my dearest teacher… You are about a millennium too late for apologies.” He said, bringing his hoof up and clenching it.

All eyes descended on the two tendrils piercing into the surface of the barrier. Rainbow Dash flinched her eyes shut and turned away as best she could while the forcefield cracked even more.

Celestia collapsed to the ground as she tried to move forward. She reached out in defiance, but somehow she couldn’t tear her watery eyes away. “NO!”

Then, two zaps rang out as magenta bolts of magic crashed into Dusk’s form, punching small holes through him and pushing him off balance slightly.

“Ow!” Dusk yipped, losing concentration over some of his tendrils, including the ones pressing down on Rainbow Dash. The twin spears collapsed into liquid and scattered out across Celestia’s remaining shield.

All eyes shifted toward the source of the cyan mare’s miraculous rescue, only to widen in disbelief.

Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped open, and a slight gasp escaped. The shield above her faded, allowing her to raise up and get a better look at what she was sure could only be a trick of her grief and adrenaline-addled brain.

Celestia blinked, half-convinced her vision was failing her. She stared ahead, her jaw stammering as she tried to vocalize. “Twilight…?”

Sure enough, standing there at the opposite side of the roof near where she initially fell, was a certain purple unicorn with her horn alight and a determined smirk on her face. Her chest was still stained red slightly, but it seemed to be devoid of any injury.

“Nobody hurts my friends and interrupts one of my friendship speeches!” Twilight declared.

Dusk brought a hoof to the wounds on his side as they closed up. A growl simmered in his throat as he looked up to the unicorn. “How are you still breathing?! You… should… be… DEAD!” He lashed a foreleg out at her, a stream of blood following his motion.

However, before the stream even got halfway to the unicorn, it collapsed into liquid as well as a sharp series of pops rang out and a few thinner green projectiles burned into Dusk’s form from above.

Rainbow and the others looked up, only to widen their eyes in surprise yet again as they spotted a familiar orange pegasus clad in a disheveled black flight suit. “Sunspot?!”

Sunspot chuckled as she blew the gathered steam off the tip of her popper. “You think a little love tap like that is going to keep us down?” She patted her side, where a hole in her suit still sat from her injury, which was now gone much like Twilight’s.

“Don’t get too cocky, carrot head.” Another voice and the flapping of wings preluded a gray pegasus flying up from the courtyard. Raincloud smirked and held out a hoof, allowing some shadow energy to pulse out of its tip. “Both of you would still be sweet-talking the reaper if it wasn't for me.”

A few moments later, more flapping noises came as Cadence hovered up beside Raincloud. The alicorn was holding Glitterball aloft by her hooves. She gently set her passenger down before landing herself. Soon after, a flash of magenta magic appeared beside the group, leaving Shining Armor standing there.

“Sorry we’re late…” Glitter said.

“Did someone call for backup?” Shining added with a determined grin.

Raincloud gave the stallion a flat look. “Really? That’s what you’re going with?”

Shining sighed. “Can’t you just let me have one thing?”

Meanwhile, Dusk looked around at the new arrivals with a growing scowl. His muscles tensed, and a feral noise clawed out of his gnashed fangs. “I’ve had enough of this! DIE!” He yelled, flinging both forelegs open.

In an instant, the two tendrils still holding Luna and Blue Bolt broke apart into dozens upon dozens of individual points of blood, dropping both of them. Blue was already on the ground, so he didn’t have far to fall. Luna, however, plummeted a few feet before managing to slow her descent with her battered wings.

Then, Dusk brought his forelegs forward, and his blood followed his motion. All of the blood droplets lengthened and thinned into needle-sized points before zipping forward, setting everyone on edge.

“AH!” Rainbow Dash scrambled to get away, but she fell back in her panic and shielded herself as best she could with her forelegs.

Seeing her defenseless friend about to be skewered, Twilight gasped and teleported beside the pegasus before putting up a magical bubble around them.

The hail of flying needles surged toward the rest of the group, leaving Luna, Celestia, and Blue Bolt behind and relatively safe. The magic users quickly sprang into action.

Cadence lit her horn and cast a shield around herself and Glitterball. The unicorn was just starting to get alarmed at the sight of so many projectiles heading for her, so she was glad to have the alicorn by her side.

Shining Armor shielded himself, gritting his teeth from the sheer number of things striking his magical barrier. It sounded like the worst hail storm ever to exist, and he could barely hear his own thoughts over the constant clamor.

Sunspot widened her eyes and started to try and evade when she noticed Raincloud flying up next to her. The gray mare stuck out her hoof and gave a hearty yell as she projected her shadow magic outwards. The dark flames spread out in front of them and thinned out into a circular dome, which quickly evaporated any of the blood bullets that struck it.

Raincloud smirked at her fellow pegasus behind the crackling barrier. “I got even for breaking your nose when I healed you. We’ll just call this one a professional courtesy, ‘kay?”

“Yeah… sounds good.” Sunspot chuckled nervously as she listened to the many projectiles impacting the barrier of shadows.

Back on the ground, as the projectiles all struck uselessly against stone or various sources of magic, Twilight turned to her cyan friend.

“Need a hoof?” She smiled as she helped the pegasus back to all fours.

Rainbow Dash briefly hugged the unicorn before lightly punching her on the shoulder. “I thought we agreed no more dying, egghead?” She asked, to which Twilight could only give a sheepish chuckle in response. However, they couldn’t focus on their reunion for long in the midst of battle.

Now that he was free, Blue Bolt rushed back into the fray. With his blades still around his wrists, he flapped hard and took off in a beeline toward the pale alicorn.

Dusk sent a small cluster of blood streams out of his neck toward the stallion. Blue deftly managed to dodge them, his ears twitching as they whizzed past. The last one clipped his cheek, leaving a shallow cut barely worthy of a cringe that he didn’t even bother to heal as he closed the distance between himself and his target.

The pegasus shot out a foreleg in a powerful slash. Dusk ducked under the strike mere inches away from his face, the blade around Blue’s wrist slicing off a few strands of the alicorn’s silvery mane on the way past.

Blue immediately swung again, aiming the tip of his blade in a stabbing motion toward Dusk’s back. While it didn’t bury itself into the alicorn’s form, it did leave a bloody path down his shoulder and neck as Dusk managed to back out of the way a little too late.

With the stinging pain reminding him of just how agonizing the pegasus’ spirit weapon could be, Dusk let out a frustrated yell and lit his horn, expelling a concussive blast that sent Blue Bolt flying away.

Almost immediately after, a ball of pink magical energy exploded into Dusk’s side, making him flinch with pain and whirl around. The alicorn was met with an assault of various projectiles from multiple angles. Enraged, he sent a myriad of tendrils and free-floating streams loose, which spread out and attacked near everyone present.

While Rainbow Dash scattered, Twilight cringed tensely and jumped out of the way as a tendril cracked toward her. She ducked under another as it swung overhead, only for the first to swing back and nearly hit her, forcing her to put up a small shield to block it.

Cadence and Glitterball quickly dodged to either side as a tendril whipped between them, leaving an inch deep cut in the stones beneath. While the unicorn kept running as more streams impacted near her, the alicorn took flight to dodge the incoming projectiles.

Shining Armor ran and jumped, ducked, or dodged out of the way of a few tendrils and blood bullets. He fired a few potshot spells at the vampiric pony before diving into a roll as a particularly fast tendril nearly took his head off. He too was forced to put a shield around himself, just in time to stop a hail of blood streams from piercing into him.

Luna strained to push her battered body into a full gallop toward her sister. She practically collapsed to her knees and nearly ran into her older sibling before clenching her teeth and lifting her head, horn sparking to life.

A markedly paler-looking blue forcefield sprang up around them, lacking the sparkle and sheen usually associated with healthy magic use. The instant one tendril whipped down into it, it nearly shattered as Luna let out a slight yelp.

A different shade of magic pulsed around the barrier, reinforcing it with hints of yellow and orange and allowing it to weather the few more attacks heading their way. Luna squinted one eye open and looked down to see Celestia struggling to keep her horn lit as well.

“Sister… I do not know how long I can keep this up.” Luna admitted. Her whole body was trembling merely trying to stand. She had been exhausted before, but nearly being crushed hadn’t helped her at all.

Celestia cringed as she attempted to lift herself back up to at least a sitting position. She had to use Luna as a support, and even then they both struggled to get her off the ground. “Ngh… I-I… am spent as w-well…” She trailed her eyes down to the battle still taking place around them, and to the ponies risking their lives with them. “I’m afraid… that we must rely upon our friends to finish this fight… if it can even be finished.”

She looked down as she felt a hoof clasping her own, and then back up to her sister.

“Whatever is to come… we face it together,” Luna said, flashing a small smile.

Celestia smiled as well. However, her warm expression was swiftly shattered alongside their shield as a tendril broke through, causing both alicorns to yell in pain.

Amidst the fading flecks of blue and orange energy, Celestia opened her eyes to find a spindly crimson lash wriggling on the ground between her and Luna. Much to her horror, the tendril suddenly moved to wrap around the younger alicorn’s waist before yanking hard.

Luna produced a fearful cry as she was flung off her hooves. Celestia reached a useless hoof out, her face paling as she watched the blue mare getting tossed violently toward the other side of the roof. “Sister!”

The tendril carried Luna for several feet before letting her go, whipping her at high speeds. She impacted the harsh stone of the roof with her hip first, sending her bouncing and rolling in a painful display.

She started an attempt at halting her momentum with her hooves, but her orientation was changing so often that it was hard for her to even find which direction to grab.

Then, Luna suddenly felt the ground disappearing beneath her as she careened off the edge of the roof between some crumbled crenellations.

Alarm took her. Could she orient herself to spread her wings in time? Would the battered appendages even hold her weight anymore?

Thankfully, she didn’t need to find out, as her momentum came to an abrupt halt. She felt something pressing into her back, and something pulling on her hooves. Looking down, she discovered Sunspot holding onto her forelimbs and beating wings to counteract her momentum.

“Push harder, Rainbow!” Sunspot said urgently. The alicorn was mostly off the edge, with only her tail end making contact with the crumbled stones.

A soft grunt came from behind Luna as the pony-shaped lump pushed back against her. Judging from the mane brushing against her, she figured the cyan mare was back to back with her, using her wingpower to keep her from plummeting below.

“Don’t worry, Princess! We’ve… ngh… got you!” Rainbow assured. However, her eyes widened abruptly as she looked over and saw a few pointed streams of blood heading their way.

“Look out!” Sunspot cried, trying her best to pull Luna out of the way. Instead, Luna dove forward and covered the suited mare’s form with her body as best she could, cringing in preparation for the impact.

Then, just before the trio were expecting to be skewered, a fiery whoosh of air sounded out, followed sharply by a yelp of pain from Dusk. Rainbow Dash looked up, only to flinch as she saw the many crimson spears halted in midair mere inches away. A moment later, they melted into scattered liquid.

Up ahead, a flash of dark purple energy split the frigid air as Raincloud swooped down toward Dusk, sending a fiery bolt of shadow magic into his form. It pierced his body a bit before exploding outwards, leaving behind blackened and discolored craters in his form that appeared to be steaming, but were actually misting from the sheer cold.

Dusk snapped his head up toward the brazen pegasus. He dodged the next blast she sent and then swiped a tendril up at her.

Raincloud saw the crimson whip approaching from the side. She quickly funneled shadow energy down her foreleg, forming it into a protective covering before using the limb to block the tendril. As she expected, it exploded on contact, sending droplets scattering onto her fur and the ground below.

“A form of magic usable by pegasi?” Dusk mused, a hint of intrigue to his voice before he narrowed his eyes at the annoying sensation of his wounds closing up. “I shall have to extract the information on it from you once I sire your still twitching corpse.”

“Not even going to buy me dinner first? I thought you were supposed to be classy!” Raincloud aggressively shoved her foreleg forward, expelling the energy gathered on it. With an invisible shockwave of air, Dusk was suddenly flung off his hooves and sent back several feet before he managed to break his momentum with his wings.

Before the pale alicorn could even formulate a plan of retaliation, a searing pain tore a pained cry from his throat and drew his attention down to a silver dagger sticking out of his side, enveloped in a magenta aura.

Then, a magenta magical blast exploded into his other side, followed swiftly by a blue blast, and a different shade of magenta. Green bolts of light zipped down from above, preceded by loud pops.

Dusk shifted his eyes all around him to see Twilight and the other able-bodied magic users laying into him with everything they had. Up above, Rainbow Dash and Sunspot were strafing by and firing down with tiny vials.

As expected, the many wounds across his body started to heal. However, unbeknownst to those observing, Dusk could feel his regenerative abilities starting to struggle under the immense punishment he had endured thus far.

“Blasted elements of harmony…” He muttered through grit teeth. How could he let so much of his stamina be wasted? He should have been able to beat them ten times over with how much blood he had consumed.

And yet, despite how hopeless it seemed for them, even though many of them had suffered brutal injuries and near-fatal wounds, the ponies were still fighting back with a glint of determination in their eyes. The fear he could feel coming off of them didn’t seem to be a fear for their own well-being, but those of their friends, and it was this fear of losing everything that seemed to be driving them forward despite the odds stacked against them.

It was sickening to him.

Dusk’s jaw vibrated tensely as the agitated growl in his throat built and spilled over into a frustrated yell. “How dare you think to stand against me?! Compared to you, I am a GOD!” He stamped his hooves down hard, cracking the stone beneath them.

Twilight and the others tensed and prepared themselves for the expected outburst. They were expecting to have to dodge a vigorous volley of blood bullets, or perhaps some fast-moving tendrils, but strangely, nothing came.

That is, until Twilight furrowed her expression suspiciously and peered closer at the alicorn. She looked down to his forelimbs, only to notice a hint of movement near their bottoms. She could see red streams flowing out of Dusk’s wrist wounds, but they weren’t flowing along the ground. Rather, they were flowing into freshly created holes in the floor just behind his hooves.

The revelation of what he was doing made Twilight widen her eyes. She had seen this tactic before, and it nearly killed Rainbow Dash last time.

“Everypony! Watch out below y-”

The unicorn barely got the words out before a sharp rumble came from below her, swiftly followed by a thin red geyser shooting up and piercing through her shoulder. She immediately cried in agonizing pain and collapsed to the side just in time to miss two more bursts coming up that would have impaled her center mass.

“Twilight!” Cadence gasped and reached out to the unicorn, only to freeze as she heard a slight rumbling underneath her, like something tunneling up through solid stone.

Rapidly approaching hoofsteps came from behind her as Shining Armor raced toward her.

“Cadence, get back!” He yelled, tackling her away, but not before a series of blood bullets pierced up between them. In the time it took for them to hit the ground, both of them felt burning pains as around three or four shots hit each of them.

A few feet away near another edge of the roof, Glitterball’s face paled as she watched the married couple yell and clutch at various wounds as they writhed on the ground. However, she could only express her horror as a startled gulp of air before she too noticed a rumbling noise.

With panicked instinct fueling her, the unicorn darted to the side just in time for a pressurized stream of blood to shoot up and whiz by her ear. She yelped, flattening her ears to her head and continuing to run.

More miniature explosions erupted behind her as a line of crimson spouts shot from the ground like a macabre water feature. She could feel the wind on her tail as a particularly close call bristled the hairs on the fluffy extremity.

Then, Glitter skidded to a halt as a spout popped up right in front of her, causing a fearful yip. Even as she slowed down, she realized her error. She felt the ground breaking beneath her and cringed in preparation for the end.

The end never came. What came in its place was a rough shove by a set of forelegs as a pegasus stallion zoomed up to her.

Glitterball hit the ground and rolled slightly from the force of the stallion pushing her. Almost immediately, she could hear the sound of flesh being pierced, followed sharply by a pained yell. She darted her wide eyes up to see Blue Bolt sprawled on the ground, a cluster of bloody streams shooting up through his body and out the other side.

“Blue Bolt!” Glitter reached out for him, only to look skywards and flinch as she saw the crimson needles halting in the air and descending back toward her. She raced to her hooves and kept running. As much as she wanted to help the stallion, she couldn’t waste the opportunity he gave her.

Up in the air, Rainbow Dash and Sunspot watched their friends being assaulted with horrified expressions of shock.

“Oh my gosh… no!” Sunspot softened her eyes with worry.

Then, a faint crack from below made Rainbow Dash look down, only to gasp as she saw a tendril whipping up, already fully stretched to where it could reach them. “Sunspot, move!” She yelled, but it was far too late.

Sunspot barely got to register her friend’s warning before a hint of red entered her vision from the side. She didn’t even get to turn her head before the tendril whipped across her midsection, clipping her wing, ripping open her suit, and leaving a bloody swath behind.

“AGH!” The orange mare rocked her head back in agony as she was swatted out of the air from the sheer momentum the tendril had. She clutched her now burning stomach and hugged her injured wing tight to her side without even folding it.

She squinted an eye open to see the cold hard stone roof rapidly approaching. There wasn't anything she could do to break her fall, so she braced herself for impact as best she could. Then, just as she was about to strike ground, Rainbow Dash swooped in and caught her.

However, due to her own exhaustion, Rainbow wasn't able to halt all of their momentum. The pair roughly bounced along the ground and rolled together until they separated and came to a stop back to back.

“Ngh…” Rainbow winced as she lifted herself up on one foreleg. She looked over, her expression shifting to concern as she saw the suited pegasus still clutching some nasty-looking injuries. They didn’t look as bad as the previous injury Sunspot had, but they had certainly taken her wing out of commission at the very least.

The cyan mare started to ask if her friend was ok when she paused abruptly at another whipping sound. She froze as she noticed the tendril from before arcing back down toward them. She could probably dodge in time, but Sunspot definitely couldn’t.

However, just as Rainbow was flinching and bracing for the strike, she saw a battered-looking white alicorn rushing in front of them and standing tall in defiance of the approaching whip.

“Princess!” Rainbow Dash gasped before averting her eyes. She was prepared to take the hit for Sunspot, but she never expected Celestia to do the same for her, especially in her condition.

Both pegasi expected to hear the sound of flesh being rent asunder, but strangely it never came. They slowly looked up, only to find Celestia wincing in expectation of a strike that didn’t arrive, along with a tendril floating mere inches from the top of her head.

Celestia opened her eyes and startled slightly as she noticed the tendril frozen in place. Nothing was blocking it from hitting her, and nothing had distracted Dusk enough to lose concentration over it. Rather, it seemed to have stopped of its own accord.

Up ahead, she spotted her former student staring at her with an unimpressed glare.

“Did you know I would stop?” Dusk asked, narrowing his eyes. “Or did you even care…?”

Celestia managed a weak smirk amidst her strained breathing. “If you insist on keeping me alive, it’s your own fault, Dusk. I will not simply stand by and watch you harm my friends.”

Dusk wrinkled his mouth and snorted at this. “You are only making it worse on them, Celestia. If you keep interfering, I will only kill them slower!”

Celestia and the two pegasi behind her darted their eyes up to the tendril, which was now curving and coiling in midair. It formed a sharpened point at its end and maneuvered itself to where it could strike the two mares.

Rainbow Dash tried her best to rush Sunspot to her hooves, but they both knew that they were helpless to dodge this close. Celestia struggled to light her horn and cast a shield around them, but this only resulted in a slight spark that quickly fizzled out.

The tendril shot forward, and Rainbow Dash felt her heart skipping a beat as she watched it head straight for Sunspot’s neck. The orange mare barely even had time to flinch.

Just as the crimson spear was about to contact fur, it suddenly lost all of its power and cohesion, instead spraying into Sunspot’s neck and splashing her like someone had just fired a squirt gun. Around that time, the trio heard something crash to the ground and explode. They looked over just in time to see the aftermath of a band of shadowy energy slicing through the tendril from above before impacting stone.

Dusk brought the stubby remains of the tendril down to his face. Its tip was still misting slightly. He and even the others cast their eyes upwards, only to spot a familiar gray pegasus flying down toward them.

“You dare interrupt me?!” Dusk growled. He pointed his foreleg skyward, sending the rest of the streams and tendrils he had scattered around shooting up toward the bold interloper.

Rainbow Dash watched as Raincloud’s wings suddenly adopted the familiar purple aura of shadow magic. The gray mare seemed to gain a good amount of speed, allowing her to zip between two crossing tendrils trying to pierce her. It was a surreal experience for Rainbow to actually be rooting for the same pony that had tried to kill her and her friends mere months ago, but she didn’t care.

“Go, Raincloud!” She cheered, equal parts nervous and eager as she watched her former foe using shadow magic for good for once.

Amid the crimson snakes rising up to meet her like hungry predators, and the smaller projectiles whizzing by, Raincloud was too occupied with her flying to pay much notice to the cyan mare’s words of encouragement.

She banked to the right, and then the left, narrowly dodging certain death piercing up mere inches away from her with each movement.

A slew of blood bullets came curving from the side to meet her. Raincloud drew air between her teeth and tensed her jaw as she waited for the last possible moment before giving a mighty flap with her magically empowered wings, reversing her downward momentum and lifting her just out of the barrage’s path as it whizzed past.

Dusk narrowed his eyes at the annoying pegasus’ evasive skills. Whatever form of magic she commanded allowed her enough utility to counter his blood attacks given enough time to react. So, he would have to catch her before she could react.

As the gray mare flipped backward into another nose dive with another flap of her wings speeding her on her way, Dusk produced two more tendrils from his wrists and bade them to shoot up toward her.

Raincloud near effortlessly dodged the twin spears. She aimed to land a few feet away from the alicorn, not wanting to be too close so she had time to counter whatever attack he would send her way before attacking herself.

However, the attack she was expecting didn’t come from below.

The two tendrils she just dodged suddenly broke apart into a dozen floating projectiles, which wasted no time with shooting down toward her.

Raincloud looked up and froze. Her instincts cried for her to react and do something to save herself, but there wasn't anything she could do in time.

The crimson needles zipped forward on their path to the ground, uncaring of what got in their way as they struck.

And strike they did, splattering uselessly against a magenta barrier.

Raincloud landed on the roof just as the last of the projectiles finished hitting the forcefield. Both she and Dusk looked over, only to find Twilight still lying on the ground, one eye squinted open with her head lifted and her horn aglow as she clutched her still bleeding injury.

Normally, a wave of conflicted thoughts would be welling up in Raincloud’s mind, but she didn’t waste any time reflecting on being saved by Twilight Sparkle of all ponies, and instead darted her gaze back to meet Dusk’s.

The pale alicorn lifted a hoof as she lifted hers, but she was faster. Raincloud quickly shot a spout of writhing shadows forward. The black and purple cloud impacted Dusk and wrapped around his form, enclosing him within and sending him flying from the sheer force.

A muffled yell could be heard as the amorphous lump sailed over the side of the castle walls and plummeted down. If the ponies were straining their hearing, they could have noticed a faint thud as the alicorn doubtlessly impacted solid ground once more.

While Rainbow Dash, Celestia, and Sunspot were staring at open-air where the pale stallion just was, Raincloud let out a stressed huff and deflated slightly in relief.

“Ok, that probably isn’t going to hold him long. Who’s about to die?” Raincloud asked somewhat urgently as she turned to survey the area.

Twilight whined softly in pain as she struggled to stand up with Luna’s help. It was hard for her to move with her injury, but she was more concerned about her friends, particularly her brother and former foalsitter. She darted her eyes around to find them, only to gasp as she came across their forms.

“Shining! Cadence!” She tried to rush forward, only to fall to one knee again and nearly face plant into the ground.

“Raincloud-” Celestia started, only to pause as the gray mare rushed past and over to the couple lying in a bloody heap.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m on it!” Raincloud stated. She ran up to the pair, only to slow to a stop and cringe uneasily as she saw them up close.

Shining Armor wasn't moving, and Cadence was barely conscious. They were both covered in puncture wounds, mostly on their underbellies. Judging from the lack of any exit wounds, the streams that pierced them must not have been as strong as they could have been, but the growing pool of blood was a concerning sight.

“Oh, man…” Raincloud muttered before shaking her head and continuing forward. She came around to the front, where Cadence was whining faintly and tensing her muscles in an attempt at moving. “Hey, talk to me, crayon head. Are you as bad as you look?”

Cadence opened her eyes halfway and looked up to the pegasus, but she could only take a sharp breath before falling into a coughing fit.

Raincloud looked down to the gruesome injuries the pair had, and then to one of her hooves hesitantly. She allowed some faint shadow energy to pulse out of its tip, wincing slightly as she did. “Hey… listen, I’m pretty close to being tapped out. I don’t know if I can heal you both all the way, but I’ll try my best.” She said, starting to kneel down and hover her hoof over the alicorn’s largest wound until she was stopped by a pink hoof grabbing her foreleg.

“Ngh… hh… h-heal him… first…” Cadence instructed, her voice barely audible.

Raincloud softened her expression slightly as she glanced at the unmoving unicorn. He seemed to still be breathing, luckily, but he was in far worse shape. “Are you sure?” She asked, not wanting to say out loud if the alicorn wanted her to waste energy on a potential lost cause.

“Yh…” Cadence panted heavily, not finding the strength to vocalize. Instead, she shakily nodded before letting her head thud back against the ground.

Raincloud sighed and shook her head. “I’ll never understand you.” She said before shifting her attention to the stallion and lowering her hoof to his wounds. With a bit of strain on her part, a stream of glowing purple energy flowed outward and covered the bloody marks.

Off to the side, Twilight, Celestia, and Luna all drew closer while Rainbow Dash stayed further back with Sunspot.

“Shining…” Twilight watched her brother’s motionless form with teary eyes as the pegasus tried everything in her power to save him. She wasn't sure how powerful shadow magic healing was in comparison to slayer healing, but she didn’t care at this point as long as he was safe. “Please wake up.”

Amidst the low wind-like rumble of her power ebbing out of her hoof and into the unicorn, Raincloud took a steady breath and fought to keep her foreleg from shaking. She wasn't used to getting to the point where she had to push her abilities this far.

Why was she trying so hard? She should have been saving her remaining strength to fight off Dusk when he inevitably returned. The others had brought her here to help, but they had to know that they couldn’t rely on her this much.

Then again, she felt something stir within her as she watched Cadence stare at Shining Armor’s frail body. Through all the pain, suffering, and exhaustion, there was a certain look of heartbreak and desperate hope in her eyes that the pegasus was familiar with. It reminded her of when she watched her brother die, and how she desperately wished for someone to be able to save him. If only she knew how to heal back then...

“Alright… Come on, you big lug. Quit lazing around and wake up already!” Raincloud said, giving her head a reinvigorating shake and putting more effort into focusing on her waning power.

All of Shining’s wounds had mostly sealed up, but still, he remained unconscious. All eyes watching started to feel a sense of despair nagging at the backs of their minds.

Until...

Shining Armor flexed his limbs and jerked his head slightly as a gasp of air filled his lungs. He coughed once or twice before creaking his eyes open, though he decided to remain on the floor and just breathe.

Twilight felt a crushing weight lift off her shoulders. She smiled and looked to the gray mare with genuine gratitude and joy in her eyes.

Cadence smiled as well, though hers was far weaker. Still, she could deal with her injuries as long as her love was alive and well.

Raincloud sat back and huffed as she let her flow of magic cease. She wanted to take a moment to rest, but she knew that time was not a luxury they had access to. “Ok… I can’t promise you’ll feel like a million bits, but I can at least make sure you don’t bleed out. Just hold still for me, would ya?” She said, turning to Cadence and starting the process of healing her.

Meanwhile, while the gray mare was straining to keep her power going long enough to heal the alicorn, the others shifted their attention off to the side, where Dusk had fallen over the edge.

“Princess…” Twilight started, turning toward her mentor uneasily. “I don’t know how much longer I can fight.” She winced briefly at the hole through her shoulder and her exhaustion. The boost of energy she got from Raincloud healing her was starting to wear off.

Celestia frowned as she noted the unicorn’s exhausted state, as well as her own. “I know, Twilight… Just try to hold out as long as you can.”

“There has to be something we can do!” Sunspot chimed in, yelping slightly as Rainbow Dash helped her stand again. “He can’t… ngh… he can’t have that much strength left!”

“Yeah. We’ve been beating him almost as much as he’s been beating us…” Rainbow noted. “Can’t you raise the sun or something and just fry him?” She looked at the white alicorn hopefully.

Celestia cringed as she steadied herself on her hooves. “I’m afraid not… Even if we could manage to move the sun and moon, this blizzard would protect Dusk from the light of day.” She looked up at the dreary black and gray mess above them.

“And I doubt very seriously if he would give us enough time to clear it, if we could even get up there in our state,” Luna added.

Rainbow Dash shared a look with Sunspot before her expression filled with determination. “Me, Blue, and Raincloud could get it done, isn’t that right, Blue?” She asked, only to receive no response. “Blue Bolt...?”

Confused, the pegasus shifted her attention over to where her friend was, only to pause and soften her eyes.

Off to the side, far away from the main group, Glitterball was supporting the weight of a bloodied and battered-looking blue stallion as he tried to stand up. His form was covered in bleeding wounds that went clear through to the other side.

The sight would be far more fitting of a dead body, but on its own, it wouldn’t be too concerning with his powers. What was concerning, however, was the distant look in his eyes and the tremble of his frail form.

Blue Bolt panted heavily as Glitterball rested a hoof on his side. He cringed as his wounds began to heal, sparking to life with fire and ember before vanishing and leaving behind unspoiled flesh and fur. However, the heavy breathing and slight tremble remained, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it.

“Oh my gosh… I can’t believe you saved me like that.” Glitterball said, equal parts grateful and worried. “Are you ok?”

Blue nodded as he struggled to catch his breath. “Yeah…”

“Blue?”

The stallion looked up to see Rainbow Dash walking over to him, a concerned expression on her face. He grit his teeth and stood tall, leaning away from Glitterball’s help despite how hard it was.

“I’m fine…” Blue huffed once more before getting his breathing somewhat under control.

“Are you sure?” Rainbow asked, though she seemed unconvinced as she walked over and rested a hoof on his side, either as comfort or to help take some weight off of him.

“I just needed to catch my breath,” Blue explained before his expression shifted to one of concern as he looked around the area. “Where’s Dusk?”

Rainbow Dash glanced behind her toward the outer edge of the castle before adopting a more serious expression. “Raincloud bought us some time. Listen, we need to get up there and move all these clouds out of the way so the princesses can-”

A faint sound like ripping cloth and dispersing air came, sharply followed by a familiar whipping sound as something struck the side of the castle below hard enough to crack stone.

All eyes shifted toward the open air where the pale alicorn was flung. A sense of chilling dread swiftly worked its way into their cores as they heard the flapping of wings.

And then, they spotted him, a dark shape floating up among the whipping wind and snow. His glowing red eyes burned through the wintery haze as they stared at the group, full of malice and anger.

Twilight lowered herself into a shaky fighting stance, more so out of unease than exhaustion, though she felt that too. She stood in front of Shining Armor and Cadence, who were still recovering on the ground.

Raincloud stopped her healing session with Cadence and stood up so she could face the enemy with everyone else. Did she have enough strength left to counter whatever attack he would doubtlessly send their way?

Everyone else tensely stood and watched, their hearts beating a mile a minute as they prepared for the worst. They had all fought and bled for so long that they weren’t sure if their bodies could take any more running or other strenuous activities.

Dusk, however, looked no worse for wear, save for the seething anger in his eyes telling of how many times he had been frustrated and repelled before.

“Do you pitiful ants... have the slightest IDEA, how pointless this all is?!” Dusk shouted. “You cannot hope to kill me! I have conquered the sands of time, and the very clutches of death!” He drew a hoof across the glaring scar on his neck, a testament to his unnatural existence. “And when I am done draining every last one of you of your blood, you can rest assured that I will personally make sure that each and every one of you kills all of your beloved friends and family!”

The thought of failure and what would happen after left a chill to run down the ponies’ backs as they defiantly faced death incarnate. Everything they’d done, every life they’d strived to save, it would all be rendered pointless if they were killed and brought back as bloodthirsty monsters.

“Stop this, Dusk,” Celestia said as she slowly stepped forward, struggling to stand without faltering. “It is not too late for you to change your ways. I saw a bright future for you once, full of academic prosperity and grand magical discovery… You can still have that if you let your hate go.”

“Oh… do not worry, Celestia,” Dusk said, an icy smile forming as he allowed two tendrils to snake out of his wrists and float beside him. “When all is said and done, I will pursue my studies anew… with you by my side as my devoted assistant. And maybe, just maybe, I will someday give in when you throw yourself at my hooves and grovel for forgiveness.”

Off to the side, Blue Bolt watched tensely as the alicorn hovered there. He could feel the sadistic intent in Dusk’s eyes. If given the opportunity, he would torture everypony for days before finally killing them, only to bring them back and use them as twisted instruments to torture those that remained.

And his bloodlust wouldn’t stop at Celestia, Luna, Twilight, or any of their friends either. He was going to rule Equestria and perhaps even the world, bleeding every poor soul under the moon to sate his desire for food and pleasure for time immemorial.

He couldn’t let that happen. No matter how weak he felt, or how many injuries he suffered. Blue Bolt had been brought back from the jaws of oblivion, back to his friends. He didn’t know anything about being a slayer, but he knew that he wasn't going to waste this second chance to protect those he loved, even if he had to press forward on bloodied hooves and broken bones.

Amid Dusk’s psychotic theatrics, Rainbow Dash looked to the side, only to see her friend stepping away and spreading his wings. He stopped, seemingly in deep, strenuous focus for a moment.

“Blue...?” She asked, soft at first, but growing with alarm as she noticed his eyes starting to glow orange, and a fiery energy slowly building over his wings. “Wait… what are you doing?!”

The stallion turned to her, his teeth grit and his breathing ragged, but a certain look of intense determination in his luminous gaze, even as his form trembled and shook. “Don’t worry… I’ve got this.”

And then, before she could even respond, Blue turned back ahead and grunted softly as he put more effort into his power, allowing the orange glow to fully extend to his wingtips. Then, he took off, leaving behind a shockwave of warm air that blew Rainbow and Glitterball’s hair back.

“BLUE!” Rainbow Dash reached out for him, but he was already well on his way.

The ponies and even Dusk all turned and noticed the orange streak zooming through the air on a beeline for the pale alicorn. Dusk widened his eyes and started to move to retaliate or dodge, but Blue collided with him and tackled him through the air before he could do anything.

With the awesome momentum and force granted by Blue’s slayer power, he barely even slowed down as he struck the alicorn and kept going, taking both himself and Dusk on a mostly straight path away from the castle that gradually started to curve downward until they both sailed toward the ground and out of sight.

“Oh my gosh… what is he thinking?!” Twilight said as she rushed over to the edge with Sunspot, Rainbow Dash, Glitterball, and Raincloud, or at least as fast as she could with her injury.

“It looks like he isn’t thinking, the suicidal featherbrain,” Raincloud commented.

A soft groan drew the four mares’ attention behind them, where Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and even Shining Armor were slowly making their way over. The pink alicorn seemed to be the source of the distressing noises, as she was struggling just to walk.

“There’s... gotta be something we can do to help him,” Shining said in between cringing. His injuries were mostly gone, but he was still feeling their effects, much like his wife.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I think I’m pretty much grounded.” Sunspot said, glancing down to her wing and ignoring a twinge of pain from it. “Unless you think you can muster up some healing?” She looked to Raincloud.

“If you gave me a minute to rest, yeah… But no offense, I don’t think I’d want to waste my energy on you with that dinky injury right now.” Raincloud said.

Sunspot instinctively furrowed her expression, before giving it some thought and nodding. “Yeah, that’s fair.”

Meanwhile, Luna took a sharp breath as she fought against her injuries. Her body still felt brittle and battered, but she pushed through the pain to walk up to the edge of the wall and lift her forehooves onto one of the crenelations. “I will go aid him…” She said, starting to unfold her wings before another wave of pain made her hesitate and hug a hoof to her ribs.

“Sister, you can’t do that in your condition,” Celestia said, slowly walking up and helping the frail alicorn back to a more stable position.

Luna clenched her eyes shut and panted heavily. She tried to fight her sister off, but she merely managed a slight tug in the opposite direction that barely went noticed. “But… I cannot simply do… n-nothing!”

“Princess, neither of you are in any shape to fly, let alone fight.” Twilight fretted as she looked between the two royal sisters.

The purple mare’s expression only fell further as she looked out to the frozen lands surrounding the castle, where one of her friends was now doing battle alone against a daunting foe. She lit her horn, briefly entertaining the idea of teleporting down after the pegasus, only to wince from exertion and let it dim again.

“I… I’m not sure if there’s anything any of us can do, even if we could reach them.”

However, while the others were just standing by and talking about how hopeless things were, Rainbow Dash stared out at the cliff and the clearing below with growing determination in her eyes.

Twilight turned at the sound of wings unfurling, only to see her cyan friend hopping up and jumping over the side of the castle. She gasped and widened her eyes, rushing over onto the crenelations where the pegasus just was. “Rainbow Dash, wait!”

If the cyan mare heard her, she didn’t seem to care as she continued on her flight as fast as she could in her fatigued state.

“Dangit, Dash… what the hay are you doing?!” Sunspot fretted.

“She can’t go down there alone...” Cadence reasoned. “Dusk will rip her apart!”

“Blast it all…” Celestia stamped a hoof angrily, mostly because that was all she could do. “How can this be happening?! We were supposed to do this together!”

Shining Armor groaned in exasperation, “We have to go get her before she gets herself killed! Can anyone still fly?!”

“What about Fluttershy?!” Glitterball suggested, glancing back toward the side of the castle overlooking the courtyard.

“No… she hurt her wing too,” Twilight said, on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She couldn’t believe that there was really no alternative to just sitting back and hoping that her friends would be ok.

Off to the side of the group, Raincloud found herself wearing a conflicted expression as she watched Rainbow Dash vanishing from sight. There was no way that the cyan mare thought she was coming back from this, and yet she was going anyway, all to help a friend.

She had helped Raincloud too, when the gray pegasus thought she was dead to rights, more than once in fact. There were only a few ponies in the world Raincloud could see herself risking life and limb to save despite the odds, and they were all dead.

Why was the cyan pony so frustrating to her? Rainbow Dash had barely even lashed out at her for all she had done, and even when she had, it was well deserved. For all the ponies that had ridiculed, shunned, and bullied her unprovoked, this one pegasus and her friends were shockingly forgiving when Raincloud had betrayed and nearly killed them at every turn.

Finally, the gray mare sighed and let all of her frustrated thoughts go as her shoulders sank. She looked down to her hoof, managing to get some shadow magic to pulse from it, and then leveled her gaze at the frozen clearing below.

“Oh, well… In for a bit, in for a bunch.” She reasoned, popping her neck before turning to the white unicorn beside her. She suddenly reached out, grabbing Glitter’s dagger off her vest and pulling it free of its holster before spreading her wings and taking off after the two pegasi.

Glitterball reached a surprised hoof to her now empty sheath before turning and widening her eyes. “Raincloud!” She shouted after her to no avail. She couldn’t believe that Raincloud of all ponies was risking her life to help their friends.

The others all turned to see the gray mare departing, stunned expressions on their faces. Was the pegasus just trying to do everything she could to kill Dusk before he tortured and killed her and everyone else? Or was there something more altruistic behind her motivations?

Either way, all the ponies could do was helplessly stay behind and watch as the fate of Equestria was wrested from their hooves and placed on the shoulders of three brave pegasi.