Once per Day

Sash nervously glanced from the gathered cultists to the guardsponies Turnip was relaying his story to and then up at the sky, where changelings, pegasi, and a few griffins were still doing battle. He anxiously bit his hoof but said nothing. The cultists for their part sat in a loose semi-circle behind Turnip as he paced and explained what had happened to Sugarplum once he left home. One of the mares had a hoof gently upon his sister's back, as she hid her face under her own hooves and quietly wept.

"Good gracious," Honeysuckle finally gasped, shaking her head. "I-I'm so sorry." Turnip grunted and sat on the ground.

"Not your fault," he murmured with an angry scowl. Honeysuckle frowned and glanced at her two other companions. Violence had removed his helmet and held it to his chest with a reverent glare aimed off to the side, while Snowpea stood with a hoof to her mouth and her eyes clenched shut.

"'Bad Teeth,' hm? I've heard that name before," the lieutenant hummed before turning back to Turnip. "Well, I might not have had anything to do with it, but I think I can come up with a few things we can do in response." The stallion shook his head.

"We already have a plan, Lieutenant," he replied, standing and fixing her with a steely glare. "We're going to bust Goober out of the dungeon, and get him back to the fort in the badlands." Honeysuckle's lip twitched at his words.

"Once we're there, Pseudo will guide our next steps. He swears things will be better for us both then," he added with a firm nod. Honeysuckle took a sharp breath and clenched her teeth for a moment before sighing.

"I," she screwed up her face and grunted. "I offer my sincerest condolences, but when it comes to that foul creature, I just can't-"

"The heck's going on here?" The entire gathering jumped and looked up to see a trio of armed guardsponies approaching from further up the path Turnip had been guiding the cult. At their head, in purple plate armor with golden fringes was a severe-looking pale yellow pegasus mare, who sneered at the gathering, and especially Turnip. "I thought you went AWOL, Corporal?" Turnip shivered under her gaze, while Snowpea, Violence, and Honeysuckle stood at attention. The mare stepped away from her two companions and fixed Honeysuckle with a firm glare.

"And you have some explaining to do, Lieutenant," she declared. Honeysuckle swallowed and saluted.

"Captain Stern, Ma'am!" She lowered her hoof and resumed her stiff posture. "Corporal Turnip was just explaining himself, Ma'am. His uncle was-"

"I could've guessed as much. But who cares about that?" Stern groused and rolled her eyes. "What I want to know is, what the heck are you doing up here?" Honeysuckle's mouth opened and closed as she processed the question.

"Quoi?" She finally replied.

"Quoi?" Stern repeated in a high-pitched voice to the amusement of her companions. Snowpea and Violence shared a look but maintained their posture. "You heard me, Lieutenant. You're supposed to be nannying that thing in the dungeon until further notice." Honeysuckle furrowed her brow and turned her head slightly.

"The city is under attack, Ma'am," she explained in a perplexed tone. Stern snorted and rolled her eyes.

"And you think that excuses you for abandoning your post?" She huffed before smirking at her companions who smirked in response. "Boy oh boy, wait till Goldflame hears this." Honeysuckle swallowed and murmured.

"Wh-what does my father have to do with this?" She asked with a barely restrained quaver. Stern offered a purse-lipped smile and tilted her head.

"Not much, just figure he'll be thrilled to hear I'm putting forward the request to have your contract terminated and a dishonorable discharge slapped on your record is all," she explained, causing Honeysuckle to blanch, Violence to wilt, and Snowpea and Turnip to gasp. Sash meanwhile scowled and adopted a firmer posture. "He was pretty danged opposed to keeping you in this long anyway, but hey! Princess was adamant about giving you a second chance." Stern shrugged while Honeysuckle stammered.

"Great job spoiling that, Moneybags," one of the other guardsponies chortled. Honeysuckle snarled and glared at him.

"I told you not to call me that," she hissed, stepping toward him before relaxing and turning to Stern with a frown. "Captain, you aren't serious? I don't-" She squeaked when Stern jabbed her in the chest with a hoof.

"Dead serious, Rich Girl. You upper-class types are all the same. It ain't bad enough that you're trashing civil society, you all think you're hot stuff and gotta roll into my military and gunk up the works," Stern said with a tone of thorough contempt before donning a bitter smile. "I'll grant you this! You're smarter than most of the dregs we get." And then her smile was gone.

"But a pampered brat is a pampered brat," she punctuated her words by jabbing Honeysuckle again. "Brat." The lieutenant slowly shook her head in disbelief.

"I-"

"It's a dang shame I'm not in Captain Armor's office," Stern mused turning away from her before casting a glare back over her shoulder. "If it was up to me, we'd've barred you from ever taking the exams once we saw how inept that cousin of yours is." Honeysuckle shuddered with a growl.

"Do not compare me to that imbécile," she hissed, stomping toward the captain and jabbing a hoof at her. "I am a warrior like my mother." Stern raised an eyebrow and the two glared at each other for a few moments.

"Yeah? Well, unless you're eager to take up mercenary work or banditry," she finally replied, leaning forward with an even, annoyed expression. "Not anymore, you're not." Honeysuckle maintained her glare for a few seconds more before whimpering quietly and withdrawing with her ears back.

"Please. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," she pleaded, turning her head away. "Do not do this. Please." Stern raised and tilted her head with a smirk.

"You can beg better than that," she declared. Honeysuckle grimaced, and clenched her eyes shut. When she opened them after a moment, she found herself looking directly at her shocked subordinates. Snowpea's eyes darted between her and the captain while Violence held his even stare on Honeysuckle. She grimaced again and looked at Stern, who wore an expectant smirk.

Honeysuckle whimpered and then hugged the ground, pressing her horn to the street.

"Please," she begged quietly. "Please, don't. Please." A heavy silence gripped the street for what felt to her like an eternity. She clenched her eyes firmly and braced to plead once more.

"Yeesh, what kind of warrior debases themselves like that?" One of the captain's companions chortled. Honeysuckle's eyes shot open and her head snapped up in shock. Stern was looking down at her with a wide, cat-like grin.

"Well, she did say she took after her mom," she said, looking back at her companions with a snort. "Maybe that's what Flame saw in her." Honeysuckle's eyes widened and her jaw hung slightly. Stern hummed and rocked her head back and forth.

"Anyhoo, I recommend you find someplace to scurry off to. This is an active warzone, and while I don't have time to arrest you, I'd hate for you to get hurt, Princess," Stern said with a mirthful laugh. Then she gasped in realization. "Oh-hoh! Speaking of~, daddy dearest told me what he'd rather you be doing right now instead of taking up space in my battalion." She bent down beside Honeysuckle's head.

"Wanna hear it?" She quietly asked before inching closer and whispering into Honeysuckle's ear. The unicorn's eyes widened at her words and the captain withdrew to her full height. "Ain't that a treat? Guess you can look forward to that, huh?" She laughed before fixing the cultists with a sharp glare, causing all but Turnip and Sash to shudder.

"As for all of you, I recognize those dumb robes," she suddenly snapped to a low stance with her wings spread, revealing them to be equipped with vicious-looking razor blades. "So, if you're looking for a fight, step on up." The group wilted at the sight and whimpered as she scanned them.

"No? Well," she relaxed her wings and turned away. "Count yourselves lucky we've got orders to hold the road further up." She and her followers began trotting away back the way the three had come.

"So if any of you are keen to get hurt, you know where to find us!" She called as they slipped further and further away. Sash took a few steps forward, tracking the trio as they left with a firm glare, while Turnip, Snowpea, and Violence shared a look and moved to Honeysuckle's side. The unicorn lay on the ground with her head raised and a tight, tiny frown on her face.

"Lieutenant?" Turnip said.

"Que dois-je faire?" She desperately croaked. She heaved a breath and looked up at him. "What do I do?" Turnip flinched and his eyes darted around as he searched for a reply.

Then the entire group jumped again, as a resounded boom roared from the castle. Casting their attention upward, they all watched in abject shock as one of the upper turrets fell free as if it had been blasted off from the rest of the building.

Chrysalis hummed in delight at the encased and dazed form of Celestia her changelings were currently adhering to the wall high above the stage where Cadance and Shining Armor were set to take their vows. Now, the pink alicorn and Spike stood glaring with her hooves glued to the floor by green slime and her fiance just beside her with a dazed, hypnotic light in his eyes. The largest drone buzzed away from the rest and tilted its head to and fro before looking down at the queen.

"A little to the left!" She ordered.

"You're not going to get away with this!" Cadance cried, at which Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Twilight and her friends will-"

"Will what?" The queen purred, fluttering up to the alicorn with a tilted head. "According to my changelings, whoever those annoying robed cretins are, a few of them have actually targeted little Twilight Sparkle and company."

"They're attacking Twilight?" Spike whimpered, clutching his claws together. "Why?"

"Who knows? Who cares," Chrysalis tittered, bending forward and raising Spike's chin with a hoof. "Because in the end they will all be destroyed!" She cackled and swept her foreleg out at the changelings above.

"Go forth! Feed! Destroy!" She commanded. The bug-like creatures hissed and chittered before zooming through the open windows and into the city below. Chrysalis took a deep breath as a warm smile graced her features. Cadance recoiled with disgust as a melody began to drift through the room.

The changeling queen rested a hoof on the window sill and smiled down at the city, where her changelings were busy terrorizing the locals.

"~This day has been just perfect~" She began.

And then the door to the hall was kicked open, causing the melody to halt with a single, sharp discordant thunk. All eyes snapped to the doorway where three creatures stepped in. One was a pony, another was a robed figure like those attacking the city, and the third.

The third was something huge, hairy, and dreadful.

"Now that is a charming assessment to which I offer but a single amendment," the larger creature chirped as he led the other two in. Once he reached the center of the room, he wagged one of his great, tanned claws at the encased alicorn high above. "That one and I have some unfinished business." Chrysalis hissed and stepped away from the window.

"What in the world are you supposed to be?" She demanded. The creature smirked and brushed his knuckles on his chest.

"Amicable for first impressions, I suppose. But you keep talking and we'll see how quickly that changes," he replied, a toothy smile spreading across his face. "But as for who I am, that would be Blackbeard." He suddenly bent sideways at the hip and beamed down at the pony.

"Right, Bluuueleaf?" He chortled. The pony wilted and swallowed.

"Y-yessir!" Blueleaf whimpered. Chrysalis narrowed her eyes at the two and then glanced at the robed figure, who said nothing and simply stared back.

"Blackbeard, hm?" The queen hummed before fixing Blackbeard with a sharp glare. "You clearly don't realize the peril you are in."

"Likewise," he laughed. Chrysalis snarled and stomped her hoof.

"Any other clever quips before I find myself with slightly less annoyances?" She hissed, tilting her head as a fang-filled smile spread across her face. The creature stared evenly at her for a moment.

"Fewer," he finally replied. Chrysalis' eye twitched and her expression transformed all at once to a twisted, snarling hateful glare as she leaped toward Blackbeard. Blueleaf cried out and dove away, while the robed figure took a few steps to the side.

The creature held his hands out to either side as the queen thrust her horn at him and unleashed a massive blast of magic that screamed forward and completely consumed the creature before rolling back to the throneroom doors. The air was charged and crackled in the attack's wake and thick black smoke filled the air.

Chrysalis landed just before where Blackbeard had been and stuck her nose up with a humph, before shifting her attention between the robed one and Blueleaf, the latter of whom hugged the ground in fear, drawing laughter from the queen. Cadance clenched her eyes and turned her head away while Spike nervously chewed his claws.

Then another laugh drew all their attention forward, where Blackbeard stood unphased, with his thumbs in his belt, as the smoke dissipated, revealing a scorched trail along the floor as though the beam had split on contact with the creature.

"How?" Chrysalis gasped. His response came in the form of his hand clenching around her face and then wrenching her from the ground. With one mighty tug, he swept her back and hurled her away. The changeling queen plunged through an open like a bolt and sailed on for a period after that, leaving behind three faint rings of disrupted air in her wake. Seconds later, the room rattled with an ear-splitting kaboom which shattered all the window panes.

While everyone else hit the ground, clutching their ears, he smirked and leered through the hole he'd made at the sight of a tower the queen had smashed into being snapped off from the impact. Then, his attention slowly drifted to the cocooned alicorn hanging above.

"Whoa-hoh-ho," I hummed, leaning through the window to get a better view of the huge chunk of castle that just got blown off somewhere higher up. A drawn frown came to my face as I watched the huge hunk of masonry fall to the city below and smash a couple of houses in before I whistled and turned away. "Crazy how not my problem that is. Where was I?"

I paced back to the center of the kitchen, where all the, and I hate to admit it, cute little pony maids and butlers were sleeping in a cute little pile after I nailed them with my spell. The weird-ass bug horses were.. An acquired taste as far as looks went, but they had some aesthetic value, I guess.

I sat with a grunt on the big, food-laden table they'd been scrambling around when I barged in and scooped up a handful of the huge ass cake beside me.

"Lesh shee," I hummed with my mouthful. I might not have had my notes anymore, but I still remembered roughly how the math worked out for each spell.

So, I knew my Strength spell would keep me buff for a staggering eight full hours. Solid as all hell and more than made up for the fact I'd already blown my only second-level spell for today. After blasting this group with Sleep, I still had two more first-level spell uses today. For safety's sake, I doubled up on Sleep, but I'd yet to choose my last spell.

"Missile or shield. Missile. Or shield," I hummed. One of the maids nearest to me stretched her legs with a demure little squeak before curling up again. I jabbed my finger at her with a hiss in my wizard voice. "Don't distract me, Wench." She furrowed her brow and sat up with a grunt.

"Wha'dju call me?" She groggily demanded before slowly blinking her eyes open. I choked and bent forward, carefully caressing the top of her scalp and drawing a happy hum from her as she leaned into my hand.

"Shh, back to sleep," I whispered. "Back to sleep." She hummed again and slowly curled up on the floor before snoring after a few seconds. I withdrew and blew a puff of air in relief. Then I blinked when I saw one of the weird bug horses hovering in front of me with my books in its teeth. I narrowed my eyes and slowly pointed at it.

"Where'd you come from?" I demanded in my wizard voice. The thing pointed its leg at the window I'd been leaning out of and left open. I hummed and nodded slowly. "I see." We stared at each other for a moment.

"Relinquish my tomes," I demanded. It shook its head and grabbed them with its hooves.

"Heard from the guards while I was disguised and spying on everybuggy that these are the source of your power," it chirped in a feminine voice before fixing me with a smirk. "I've been looking for you all morning so I could get them to the queen." I raised an eyebrow and tilted my head as I prepared to huck my sleep spell.

"The queen? Who-" And then I sprung up and thrust my hand at her. To my immense surprise, she managed to shoot toward the window faster than my spell and then darted upward once she was outside. I screamed through my teeth and rushed for the window, noting that the little magic sheep the spell took the form of bounced back to meet me and wrapped back around my hand. "Oh, thank God."

I stuck my head out the window and peered up to see the bug scurry into a window two floors up. I grimaced and ran for the door, grabbing the spear beside it that I'd stolen from Clipper. Casting aside my natural, warlock instincts, I embraced my inner cave-man and stomped down the corridor with both hands on my spear, pointing it straight ahead.

"Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!" I grunted, rounding a corner where three little unicorns with flowers in their hair looked up at me in shock. I raised the spear above my head. "WAAAGH!" All three screamed and then bolted back down the hall, where I spied a wide staircase. Thus, I chased after them, screaming all the while until I reached the stairs. Once there, I moved to ascend to the next floor, but the three also turned and stampeded upstairs.

I groaned and took a breath before resuming the chase, finding to my simultaneous relief and annoyance that not only did the stairs wrap back around and continue up for a few more floors, but the three ponies also wrapped around and continued up.

Once we reached the floor I was pretty certain the bug had slipped into, the three slid to a halt and their heads darted left and right, seemingly without realizing I'd caught up to them.

"Which way?!" The minty green one cried. I leaned forward and peeked to the right, where I saw the bug dip through a large double door. I pointed to the right.

"That way," I offered. The three paused and looked at me, before looking right and humming in response.

"Good idea!" The minty one chirped.

"No problem," I chirped back. Then the three wilted, shared a look and took off screaming again. I rolled my eyes and braced to follow at a much more casual pace until the door the bug zipped through exploded outward. The three ponies slid to a halt again with looks of horror.

"It's a trap! He tricked us!" The minty one cried. I ignored her as I watched the bug go sailing out through the window, leaving behind my books which fluttered and then settled on the ground.

"Oh, nice," I hummed, raising my spear and slowly approaching the door. The three ponies looked at me in horror, hugging each other and sinking to the ground as I approached before clenching their eyes shut as I passed them by. I raised an eyebrow and paused as I heard heavy footfalls coming from around the corner.

Then he appeared.

A really big fucking guy.

"Holy shit," I gasped. He paused and turned to look at me in bewilderment.

"Aye?" He hummed in a pirate accent. "Who's this now?" Another drawn frown worked its way across my face as memories of my talk with Luna suddenly popped up. Specifically about the other human she'd encountered once upon a time.
Pseudo stepping out just beside the guy just confirmed it all.

"You must be the other avatar, huh?" I huffed, keeping my spear level. The guy recoiled slightly and something slumped off his shoulder and hit the ground with a thud. Glancing down, I saw it was a dazed and weary-looking Selma.

"Other avatar?" He hummed turning to Pseudo with an annoyed leer. A little white pony creeped out and peeked at me from behind the big guy.

"Is it so surprising that Discord would seek to replace you once you were sealed in stone, O Avatar?" Pseudo replied with a slight bow aimed at the big guy.

"I suppose not," he hummed, turning back and looking me up and down. "And what do you intend to do with that?" I frowned and glanced down at my spear before relaxing and holding it upright.

"I uh," I cleared my throat and gestured to the ground beside him. "I just want my books, man."

"'Man?'" He snorted, bringing his hands to his hips. "Do you know who you're speaking to, Lad?"

"Uh," I huffed and glanced over my shoulder at the three cowering ponies behind me before back at him. "No?" He offered me a dark smile and leaned forward.

"Does the name Edward Teach mean anything to ye?" He asked, and I jumped.

"What, like Blackbeard?" I gasped.

"Precisely," he hummed, raising an eyebrow. And suddenly, the hair, the voice, the alleged robbery and torture, it all clicked.

"No shit!" I cried, grabbing the side of my head in surprise. "How- When- Holy shit!"

"So you have heard of me!" He replied, throwing his head back with a laugh. Pseudo and the pony shared a look but said nothing.

"You're the pirate! Oh my GOD," I shook my head in shock and held my hands out. "You're supposed to be dead!" A sour glare fell over his face.

"Says who?" He spat.

"I, uh, I mean, history!" I gasped, still reeling it all. He recoiled in surprise and then furrowed his brow.

"History? What do you mean?"

"History! Like, eighteenth-century books and shit!" I cried, throwing my hands up and then scrambling to catch my spear as it rolled from my grip. His eyes darted about as he processed my words.

"Eighteenth, eh? What year are you from then?" He finally asked, scratching his chest. I huffed and shrugged.

"Twenty-twenty-three," I replied. His jaw dropped slightly and he stared at me in wonder for a moment before beaming and holding his chin.

"Two-thousand and twenty-three?" He gasped. "That's a few hundred years off. How's that possible?"

"The Spirit works in strange ways exclusively," Pseudo replied.

"I'll say!" Blackbeard chortled, shaking his head. "And you're saying I'm in the history books?"

"Yeah," I huffed, looking him up and down. By God, it's really him. "Bro, you're the Blackbeard."

"The Blackbeard!" He laughed and slapped his knee before shoving Pseudo. "The Blackbeard!" He took a deep breath and then fell into a roaring fit of laughter. I couldn't help but just look at him in wonder. Discord had plucked a literal and famous pirate out of history just for kicks. The pirate. The guy all pirates are modeled after. Discord grabbed him and set him loose in Ponyland.

And then he settled for me.

A weird, hollow feeling washed over me, and I found myself leaning on my spear as Blackbeard laughed. After a moment, he sighed and shook his head before leering at me.

"Blueleaf. Fetch the lad his books," he said, shooting me a warm smile. I flinched and furrowed my brow, while the pony beside Blackbeard looked up at him in confusion.

"Uh, please to repeat?" He said in an Italian accent. I narrowed my eyes.

"I said, fetch him his books," Blackbeard said, still with a smile. "He-" His smile vanished and he leaned over to look past me.

"Ah," he sighed. I looked back just in time to see a huge bug horse with crazy, weblike hair smash through a window at the end of the hall and come screaming toward us. I stumbled over in surprise as it screeched past me toward Blackbeard.

And I swear to God, the man reached out, caught it out of the air, and then SUPLEXED the thing into the fucking ground.

Which then caved in, taking him, the pony, the bug, and Selma down with it. Pseudo just stood and leaned over the hole Blackbeard had made as the pony screamed.

"Interesting," he hummed, snapping his hand out and sweeping my books out of the air as they had been kicked up by the impact. While I stood in shock, Pseudo approached me and held the books out to me. "I was under the impression from our discussion that these would magically return to you?" I blinked and looked at the stack.

"God damn it," I huffed before snatching them. Several lasers suddenly erupted up out of the hole, followed by Blackbeard's laughter and the pony's screams. "What, uh, what's the plan with him?"

"For now, he is set on dragging Celestia into the city center and cutting her head off," he explained, leering over his shoulder at the pit. "After that, we shall see."

"Huh," I muttered, before looking up and realizing Pseudo was walking away. "Hey-"

"Farewell, Mr. Fremont," he said before hopping over the pit and carrying on down the hall. I watched him walk for a moment until another boom rumbled from below and I felt the ground beneath me crack.

"Shit," I huffed, glancing back to see the ponies had long since fled. "Gotta get outta here."

"Watch your heads!" Turnip yelled as the group scurried along the alley after him. He paused and studied the air above them. "I don't even see any changelings or anything. What happened at the castle?"

"I don't know, but let's just focus on avoiding being squished, yes?" Honeysuckle at his side replied. She kept her attention forward as the group neared the end of the alleyway.

"I wonder if Stern got caught in the rubble," Turnip idly mused as he and Honeysuckle poked their heads out, scanning the street. "It came down right on where she was marching." Honeysuckle grunted in response before looking toward the castle.

While the plaza was still full of changelings and guards, they all seemed to have paused in shock at the sight of the turret's collapse. The changelings especially seemed taken aback, and many were sharing anxious looks while a few others were flying toward the castle.

Then the moose came flying down. Plural. Orgnar and Yendrek both suddenly fell into the center of the plaza, the former taking the fall much worse than the latter, though Yendrek was noticeably cut, bruised, and burned. As he stood to his full height, he was suddenly slammed all the way to the ground by a multicolored streak of light.

"And stay down!" Rainbow Dash panted as she bounced off and hovered above the pair. A flash of purple light went off just beside the group, revealing the other Element bearers, all of whom, like Rainbow, seemed worn out. The changelings and guards all recoiled at the sight, though a few of the former snarled and prepared to charge them.

"They beat Yendrek?" Sash gasped.

"This is a shock?" Honeysuckle replied, continuing to scan the area. "He should not have challenged them all at once. Regardless, look there." She pointed toward the far end of the city and over the rooftops at the elongated shape of an airship's balloon.

"If you intend to flee the city, that might be your best bet," she declared, turning to the cult. Sash furrowed his brow and hummed, while Turnip turned to Honeysuckle.

"Sure, but what about you?" He asked. The unicorn hesitated and frowned at his question, turning her gaze to her two remaining underlings who responded with looks of concern. Before she could even think of a response, however, another boom shook the city. Then, another.

And another.

And then, something exploded out of the side of the castle and came sailing toward the street the Element bearers were on. All eyes turned skyward as a scream, a roar of frustration, and a bellowing laugh filled the air just before the thing revealed itself to be the peculiar shape of a human with a pony clinging to his back, an alicorn in his right hand, and a changeling queen in his left. These last two he had outstretched toward the ground as all four fell.

And so when they hit the ground, the alicorn and changeling took the worst of the impact.

"The queen!" Several changelings screamed.

"Princess Celestia!" Several guards and the Elements screamed.

"Blueleaf! It's time!" The human roared, rising to his full height, dragging a coughing and cringing Celestia up by the mane. "Get an axe!"

"Heuough," Blueleaf moaned as he fell from the giant's back. The cultists all stared in shock as nearly every creature outside the alley converged on the human at once.

"What the heck?" Turnip gasped.

"Is that Goober?" Snowpea squeaked.

"I don't think so," Sash murmured.

"The princess," Honeysuckle fumed, drawing their eyes to her just before she took off. "The princess is in danger!"

"Hey! Wait!" Turnip cried. The unicorn ignored him and bolted toward the human who began laughing as the ponies and changelings closed in. To her horror, he yanked Celestia up and swept her around himself, smashing several of his attackers out of the air at once, including Twilight and two of the Elements. All of these were sent careening away from him, a sight which caused the rest to cry out and freeze in place.

Except for Honeysuckle.

She clenched her teeth and lowered her head, spying a sword lying on the street as she charged. She swept it up in her magic and leveled it at the villain, who noticed her and smiled. Then, once she was in range, he swung the princess back at her.

Honeysuckle sprung over the princess and snapped her sword down onto the human's hand, only for it to spring back off. Her eyes widened at the sight, but then as the human snapped his other hand forward, she dragged her sword back and across his palm. Rather than blood, sparks erupted from the point of contact and he closed his fist around the blade, causing her to gasp.

"Well now!" He chirped, releasing Celestia and snapping the sword in half. "This one seems to have her wits about her!" He bared his teeth in a dark smile and brought his other hand down in a fist. As Honeysuckle ducked to the side, she gasped again and hit the ground, narrowly dodging his leg which swept back like a cobra. The human giggled and slammed his fist into the ground where Honeysuckle had rolled away from. Rolling onto her hooves she brought her half-broken sword up and shook her mane out of her eyes before tying it in a hasty braid with her magic.

The monster in human shape chortled and adopted a low stance. All the creatures who had previously tried to attack the monster looked on in shock as the two circled each other, allowing the changelings to pull their queen away and the guards to do likewise.

Honeysuckle narrowed her eyes as she scanned the villain, before locking eyes with him. He kept his smile and tilted his head. Snorting, she sprang forward and sliced her sword at the monster's chest.

Or so it seemed.

As he swung his hand out to snatch the sword, she sprang upward and whipped the sword back, safely out of his grip. Then, twisting her head so hard she turned in the air, she plunged the broken sword into his eye.

"HAAHG!" The monster cried out, stumbling back with the sword stuck in place.

"She did it!" A guard cried. Then the monster laughed again. As Honeysuckle landed she whirled around in shock to see the creature grinning at her.

"Damned clever, girly," he purred, tilting his head to present the closed eye she'd stabbed. "If I was wearing armor going for soft spots would be the thing to do." He opened his eye and the sword fell free, revealing it had no effect.

"But I'm not wearing armor, am I?" He laughed.

"Quoi?" Honeysuckle gasped. Then she flinched as the monster was immediately upon her. He brought his leg back and hurled it forward, and Honeysuckle stuck her hooves out in response. She managed to catch his leg, cushioning the blow.

And then she was gone. The creatures around the human scanned the street in shock.

"What happened?" A guard squeaked.

"Lieutenant?" Another whined.

"Did he teleport her?" Someone asked.

"And here I thought only pegasi flew," the human purred, drawing everyone's attention to him. He was leaning back with one hand cupped over his eyes and was scanning the sky. When they all followed suit, a chill ran over them.

For Honeysuckle's part, she stared blankly with her legs out stretched, unsure what she was seeing. It certainly looked like she was spinning slowly through the clouds, and it certainly looked like Canterlot was far, far below. But that all had very unfortunate implications for what came next.

"Quoi?" She squeaked as she began falling. Falling fast. A deep shudder rocked her whole body and she found herself unable to act. "Mother."

After falling for far too long, the city came racing up to meet her. She clenched her teary eyes shut and then..

She felt the wind get punched out of her as her entire body was engulfed in warm, springy cloth. After sinking into whatever she'd landed in, it snapped and bounced her out at an awkward angle and she sailed sideways through a second-story window, where she tumbled, rolled, and finally crashed painfully into a wardrobe.

Reeling from the entire thing, she held her head up and saw the airship balloon she'd spied just minutes earlier through the window. Then with a grunt, she blacked out.