Twilight Sparkle and the Stupid Original Pony

Ponies were going to die here today.

Chaos had erupted before Gloam’s words faded from the air. Not fun chaos like Discord brings, this would be ugly.

“Hail Twilight!” called some voices. My own was included among them, but I am partial to Twilight and was caught up in the moment.

“The tyrant escapes!” called a voice I did not know. I traced it to a scruffy pony in faded finery well in the back of the throne room. Lord Jeris, to judge by his colours. A traitor it seemed, at least he had shown his true colour now. “Cut down her fellow oppressors!”

“Celestia, don’t leave us!” some of the excitable ponies called.

“Order! Order!” Luna demanded, but nopony could hear her over the uproar.

Just as she was ready to repeat the command using the infamous Royal Canterlot Voice, two ponies, traitors in the castle staff, lunged at the Princesses Luna and Twilight. I drew steel and cut down a sub-butler who attacked Twilight. He lay before me, neck half bisected, but he had been successful: a magic suppression ring was jammed onto Twilight’s horn. At least the he did not have an actual weapon – she was not injured. Other, armed, attackers rushed at us, swords drawn, before I could help Twilight with the suppressor; she’d have to free her horn on her own. I turned to face the attackers, hoping for some covering fire from Luna. When none came I could only assume she had been ringed, or worse.

As I traded blows with an attacker I heard the sound of a crossbow ratcheting. “’Ware archers!” A voice called as a volley was loosed. I heard Luna curse extensively and very creatively after they struck somewhere behind me. At least she must be alive to be voicing such anatomically improbable opinions about the launchers of the bolts.

Twilight tried to break free of the suppression ring - her horn crackled with rose sparks but the ring held. She staggered and fell from the effort, but kept trying as she lay on the floor. If I could protect her long enough there was no question that she would free herself it was just a matter of making a stand until then – the fight would end very quickly when she was free. Flashes of coloured light from her efforts threw strange shadows around the hooves of the combatants.

As I fought, Luna descended the steps precipitously and took a position to my left. She slashed a rebel with her horn. The stray magic from her efforts to dislodge the suppression ring toasted him from the inside, acrid smoke joined the smell of blood. I was facing a pale pink whose grim intent clashed terribly with his gentle colour. I feinted to the left; when he tried to sneak an attack simple around the right, I was ready and parried it. With a twist I was inside his guard and lunged closer, swinging my hilts about, to drive a close stab home. My opponent fell and a royal guard moved to my side even as the rebel line was re-enforced to come against the three of us.

Luna, the guard, and I held our position just beyond the foot of the dais. Behind us were Twilight and Gloam as well as some few mares in waiting and foals.

One more enemy fell, speared by Luna’s horn as I blocked his blade, preventing it from reaching her neck. Two more took his place, their blades already raised and swinging down at me and Luna. I narrowly dodged one sword blow as I stabbed the other fighter while she engaged his blade to protect me.

The attacker whom I had dodged recovered and wheeled to rear and lunge again. I parried, quinte, and Luna crossed her horn with my blade, putting our opponent in locks. Almost eye to eye with him as he fought downward to overpower the two of us, she produce a thin, translucent, stiletto from somewhere upon her person. In a flash, the wicked blade was under his chin and driven upward into his brain. He joined his fellow on the floor.

Without speaking a word, we seemed to make good team and I knew that I would follow her highness into battle against any odds.

If we three could hold our line another minute the castle guards would surely be reinforced or Twilight would be free and settle the conflict in a heartbeat. But another minute was beginning to seem doubtful. In a chain reaction everything fell apart – had I been playing a chess game I would have called the sacrifice of my opponents pawns masterful. The guard at my right took down his opponent, but in doing so left himself wide open on his left. We were now too widely spaced for me to cover him effectively and a wiry roan was able to stab the guard between the metal bands of his armor. Before the roan could drive the blade further I had notched his spine just above his shoulders – he went down like a bag of sand. In the mean time I had been forced to leave myself unguarded on my left, now out of Lunaś protection just as the guard had stepped beyond mine seconds before. I whirled around almost full circle rightward while stepping left. I focused all my strength on my sword to counter an attack I could only assume would come from that direction. As I expected I was threatened from that side; but again Leon’s teaching served me well. I was halfstep from where my next foe, a shaggy orange and green paint, expected me to be and he was swinging the wrong direction. Instead of easily parrying me he found himself to have swung at empty air and I lunged, sinking my blade deep into his chest. His eyes went wide for an instant and he dropped his sword, clattering across the floor.

Oh, holy one, there is no joy in killing fellow ponies.

The dead pony collapsed, pulling my sword with him and I was now unarmed.

I could hear the hooves of soldiers running in the halls, but I did not have the luxury of waiting for them. My sword was stuck in the dead rebel’s corpse and Jeris was charging us, his blade raised and three scarcely-equine brutes backing him up. Whether he knew the day was lost and hoped to strike down the princesses with his dying blow or if he sought hostages, he must be stopped. Desperately I fought to free my weapon, but it wasn’t budging and I could see no sign of the sword my latest foe had dropped. The guard beside me was injured, Twilight still fought the anti-magic ring on her horn, and to my left Luna now parried a mad rain sword blows with her own magic-blocked horn. Gloam’s untested power was our last chance.

“Gloam, honey, I need you to do this. Push them away with the magic of your horn.”

I could only pray that instinct and need would be enough to trigger her raw abilities. Stepping aside, I left nothing between my precious daughter and the coming assault.

She lowered her horn to attack position – there was a faint crackle of grey magic along its length.

“Just push them,” I said, “that’s all.”

Magic sparked and pulsed; Gloam reached for her full power, a limit that nopony could even guess. Would it be enough?

“Just buy me some time,” I said, still tugging to free my sword as death approached.

The grey glow grew around her horn, finally flickering and failing.

It went out.