Chapter 6 Rainbow Dash’s Split

Ten miles from Horizon Fields air space, a few minutes before:

Wind rushed across Rainbow Dash's pale, freckled face; little strands of multicolored hair getting caught in the corner of her mouth. She scrunched up her slender nose, slowing her body’s propulsion to a gentle float. Reaching back to re-tie her hair in a solid knot, she scratched at the engraved rock lodged uncomfortably in her right ear.

“Guys. It’s Dash. Sun’s down. Check in.” Rainbow Dash said in irritable snips to the Whisper Rune. Her eyebrows furrowed as she glared at the route in the dimming sunlight that she’d flown down what felt like a million times. After three weeks on graveyard patrol, she was done putting on a friendly voice.

“Sunburst here,” an ethereal message vibrated through the stone. “Nothing new to report.”

“Trick question. I saw rustling in the trees. Go check it out.” Rainbow Dash snapped. There was an audible groan in her ear followed by a quick whooshing-sound as Sunburst reluctantly followed his commander’s orders.

“That was a bit unnecessary, Commander.” A female voice said in her ear. Rainbow Dash turned her head to see her scout, Flitter, in the distance, coming into the Whisper Rune’s audible range.

“Just keeping everyone sharp.” Rainbow Dash countered, crossing her arms impatiently.

“We’re all frustrated, Commander. Please try and relax.” Flitter offered.

Rainbow Dash stayed silent. Flitter was right, although she hated to admit it. She was getting antsy and starting to take it out on her squad. Skyborn, though largely indifferent to the politics of the ground-bound Earthborn and Magicborn, were still aware of the growing outbreak of murders on the surface. Only recently was any serious action taken by their people, when contact was lost completely with one of Cumula’s supply farms. A Skyborn patrol squad arrived to find the farm of nearly two hundred years completely abandoned with the animals still standing. Salvaging what they could from the disaster, they had to carry the surviving crops in quartets of wagons.

When the Skyborn council called for patrols of the surrounding areas to prevent any more economic crises, Rainbow Dash volunteered for patrol commander, eager to catch the attention of the elusive Thunder Blades who are rumored to recruit on a referral-only basis. What she got instead was three months of a whole lotta nothing as she patrolled the empty night skies between Cumula and the eastern mountains of Chantalot.

“It was a rabid werewolf, complete with big, snarling jaws.” said Sunburst sarcastically into Dash’s earpiece as he returned from his patrol. “Don’t worry. I handled it.”

“Sunburst.” Dash growled.

“It was a deer, Commander.” Sunburst responded flatly.

“Cut the sarcasm or I’ll make sure your duties cut into fun time with your girlfriend.” Dash hinted about her engineer’s rumored relationship with the Avatar of Kindness.

“Ms. Fluttershy? I didn’t know you two were having sexual relations.” Observed Flitter academically.

“We’re not. Can’t we get personal Whisper Runes?” Sunburst complained.

“I’m not having the team stone in one ear and another one just for you because you’re a big baby when it comes to dealing with the Thunder and Flits.”

“No. Just Thunderlane. He’s merciless.” Said Flitter with no sense of tact.

“Speaking of the big guy, Thunderlane, report in.” said Dash, curious to the whereabouts of the fourth member of her squad.

There was silence across the Whisper Runes as Thunderlane didn’t respond.

“Thunder, where the hell are you?!” Dash yelled.

“He’s behind me, Commander.” Reported Flitter.

“Damnit Flits, either get him to put his rock in his ear, or chuck it at his head.”

“It’s in, Commander, he’s just out of range.”

“Well, then tell him to get his ass in range.”

“He said to tell you to go play hide and seek, then go f-“ Rainbow yanked the rune out of her ear and whipped around, rocketing across the sky at breakneck velocity until she met face to face with 6 feet of muscle. She growled at Thunderlane, perched aggressively above him though he was nearly twice her size and could probably snap her in half with one of his brawny hands.

“What the hell are you doing?” Dash yelled furiously as she gave a swift kick to Thunderlane’s dark leg.

“Pacing myself.” Thunderlane brushed off.

“There’s only one pace you go at. Mine. I’m sick of telling you to stay in formation. If I have to tell you one more time, it’s back to flight school with your feet in a lead box.”

“You know the best part of going back to flight school? It means I’ve been…and passed.” He replied with a straight face, though his dark brown eyes hinted amusement.

“You wanna get fired from another squad? Keep comin’.” Dash threatened. She wasn’t entirely serious, she was just sick of dealing with his crap.

Flitter interrupted nervously. “Speaking of fire, Commander, isn’t it a bit early for dawn?” She pointed to a soft glow in the distance.

“Lost track of time, Flits?” Thunderlane chided.

Flitter gave him a look, her light blue eyes glaring daggers. “I’m pointing west.”

Rainbow Dash sped over towards where her hawk-eyed lookout was pointing and saw that there was indeed a large black cloud rising from a soft glow in the fields.

“Flits, put on your good eyes and tell us who we’ve gotta kill in ten minutes.” With that, Rainbow Dash sped off, as always expecting her squad to keep up.

Rainbow Dash’s grey leather skirt napped against her thighs as she rocketed towards the suspicious fire. After three minutes of silence, Dash decided that was long enough. “Flits. What’s the word?” There was no response. Dash rolled her eyes and slowed down a bit, waiting for Flitter to catch up. Silence eventually gave way to static and the first clear thing she heard out of the Whisper Rune was a conversation between the three of them complaining about how she’d probably sped out of range. Again.

“Flits. Report.” Dash spat, hoping they wouldn’t give her slop about ignoring the rest of the squad.

“Multiple squadrons of what looks like...” Flitter trailed off.

The stone in Dash’s ear grew silent and she slowed up even more. “Did I lose you again, Flits?”

“I’m still here, Commander. I’m sorry, but the only thing I can say is that those things look like umbramancers.” The puzzled voice stated in Dash’s ear.

“The hell is an umbramancer?” Thunderlane’s deep voice echoed.

“Shadow Blades...” Said Sunburst, his voice frozen.

“Black magic, eh?” Thunderlane sounded more interested.

“Ancient, extinct, supposedly indestructible.” Flitter counted off adjectives.

“And you’re sayin’ there’s tons of ‘em?” Dash’s voice cracked.

“There are a good number of dark units fading in and out of the ground, producing some kind of weapons and- that’s Twilight Sparkle and Apple Jack.”

“What?!” Dash skidded to a full stop.

“Sparks using shadow magic? Hot.” Thunderlane leered for a split second before Rainbow Dash came speeding by and smacked him on the back of his head on her way towards Flitter.

She halted inches away from Flitter’s nose, her pupils piercing into Flitter’s wide and started eyes. “You better not be messin’ with me, Flits.”

Straight-faced, Flitter simply peered over Dash’s shoulder back to the horizon behind her.

“Sister Apple Jack’s sword is one of a kind in Mystika, correct?” Flitter was halfway through her question when Rainbow Dash sped back in the direction of the burning field.

Dash yanked her stone out of her ear and shouted into her hand. “Anyone caught out of range gets ground duty for a week!”

The rest of the squad quickly followed, struggling to keep up with her rocketing speed.

“It seems the light affects the umbramancers largely as legend indicates,” observed Flitter from their formation’s flank, her silvery hair flapping in the wind. “Direct exposure to it solidifies them, and that is the only thing keeping Twilight and Apple Jack alive.”

“Paint me a picture, Flits.” Dash raced across the sky at full speed.

“Approximately three umbramancers attacking Ms. Sparkle on the eastern side with Sister Apple Jack fighting six at close range. Two others seem to be,” Flitter paused, “worshipping Sister Apple Jack’s sword?”

“Like bowing and chanting and shit?” Asked Rainbow Dash.

“That was poetic.” Sunburst said offhandedly.

“Regardless of the vernacular, the commander’s correct.” Flitter chimed.

“Nothin’ good has ever come from demons bowin’ and chantin’ and shit.” Said Thunderlane, serious for the first time tonight.

Dash smirked. “Smartest thing you’ve ever said, Thunder.”

“I can talk real pretty if I try.” Thunder bounced back sarcastically.

“Flits, take gryphon eye. As far as we know, there’s a unit doin’ bad stuff to my friends and her sword. Anything else starts moving, you let me know yesterday.”

“Commander.” Flitter confirmed and took off towards the stars, bearing west.

“Burst, I’m gonna need four cloudtraps.”

“Four!?” Sunburst objected. His cloudtraps were mystical clouds infused with energy that channel strong bolts of lightning, frying anything within a radius of 5 yards. This was a talent specific to Sunburst, one that required him to gather and condense a lot of energy. He wasn’t lazy, it was just a pain in the ass to make four. Rainbow Dash knew this, but didn’t care.

“The only reason I didn’t ask for six was because I want something to kill, so stop whining. The first one I want is right on top of those demons.”

“Prayin’ and shit.” Thunderlane added.

“But…” Sunburst started to complain.

“And I know if Ms. Flutters smiled and batted her little blue eyes, you’d make eight because it would be so cute to see a puppy drawn in the sky. You might even make ten to show off.” There was silence on the other end of Dash’s Whisper Rune, so she continued, “So the next one 50 yards in the opposite direction. Then do the same on the perpendicular axis.”

“So you’re in the mood to ask the impossible today?”

“I’m in the mood to save my friends. And if I have to come up there and push you it’s TWO weeks of ground duty. Clear?”

“…Commander.” Sunburst grumbled as he banked right, hopefully staying out of the enemy’s sight.

“Thunder, I’ll fly ahead and take out the first wave.” Dash volunteered. “Burst is gonna need some time to set up the hurts.” Said Dash, swallowing her worry into the pit of her stomach.

“So then swoop in, you grab one, I’ll get the other and we fly ‘em back home,” offered Thunderlane. “One of the perks of flyin’, ain’t it?”

“You heard Flits. They’re umbramancers and there’s nothin’ but dark around. The middle of the fire’s gonna be the safest place for miles. Besides, we leave these things around, who knows what they’re gonna do tomorrow night.”

Thunderlane huffed into the Whisper Rune. “You’re lucky this looks like fun.”

“Not for Twi and AJ it’s not.” Dash said seriously.

“So let’s go kill shit?” Thunderlane ask rhetorically.

“Hell yes. See ya there.” Dash tensed her legs and kicked out, willing herself to fly even faster. She looked up to see Flitter take her spot just within speaking distance with the rest of the squad. Between the darting stars, Flitter was a hovering speck, Dash’s eye in the sky.

“Flits, how we lookin?” Dash asked, almost scared to know the answer.

“Sunburst is almost in position, Commander. He should have the small group down in just a se- you need to get down there, right now.” Flitter said quickly as she pulled a tactical one-eighty.

“The hell happened?”

“Ms. Sparkle’s defending herself and Sister Apple Jack with a weak barrier and with the amount of abuse it’s taking, they’re not going to last lo-“

Flitter was cut off by a sudden burst of speed that rocketed Rainbow Dash towards her old trench mates, the rush of the wind making it impossible for her to hear.

“You heard Flits. We’ve got no time.” Dash barked as she almost doubled her speed.

Channeling all the energy from the air around her into her ankle wings, she spiralled through the air in a perilous descent. Her crimson eyes squinted as the blur of light and smoke below her gradually gave way to moving shapes. Reaching back to ready the ivory bow strapped to her back, she willed electricity into her gauntlets, causing her fingers to tense and twitch. Breaking out of her spiral as she neared the field below, she kicked upright and pulled back on the stringless bow, loading it with a crackling bolt of lightning. Below her, the slender figure of Twilight Sparkle stood projecting a misty-sail of a barrier from the staff given to her by the Archmage. Three shadows danced around her, slashing down on the wall with thin pointed blades.

“Where’s that boomer, Burst?” Dash whispered, holding her aim steady while her fingers tapped impatiently on her bow.

“Almost there, Commander.” Sunburst’s voice responded with chilled trepidation as he concentrated.

There was a sudden flash and crackle as the chanting Shadow Blades around Apple Jack’s sword were electrocuted. Sunburst’s trap was sprung and they were flattened. Above, Dash could see his bright orange hair in the light of the fires as he darted off to the other end of the field to set up his second trap, and she took her cue to let her arrow fly. Halfway to her targets, Dash fired a second arrow directly at the first one, causing it to split into three smaller bolts aimed at the Shadow Blade’s heads. Each one met with a solid thunk as they hit their targets, and the middle shade shrieked and staggered backwards as it’s eye was pierced. Dash frowned as she made a dead dive towards the ground thinking, Dammit, only one eye socket? Rusty.

Dash stopped mere inches from the ground, hiding the euphoria she felt at seeing both her friends alive and safe. The Skyborn wings on her heels disappeared as she landed with her back to Twilight. She yelled at her over her shoulder, but was unable to keep from smiling.

“Good to see you too, Dash. What took you so long?” Twilight said with a weak smile before falling to the ground.

Rainbow Dash closed the distance between them and dropped to her knees, shaking Twilight’s shoulder. It was no use, Twilight was absolutely drained. Another Shadow Blade lunged towards them and Rainbow Dash opened her palm and gripped the air, willing another lightning bolt into existence as she punched it into the Blade’s head. Before the body had dropped she was already notching a second arrow, aiming for the advancing shade swimming towards her. As soon as it’s shadowy head reared from the ground in the light of the fire, she let her arrow fly. Scanning the area quickly, she knelt back down.

“Jack, you up?” Rainbow Dash tried to stir her other downed friend.

“They’re everywhere. Killed mah cousins. Twi…Me…gotta get to Rarity.” Said Apple Jack, half delirious.

“Rarity’s here too?!” Dash jumped up. “Flits, do a sweep for Rarity, she’s a Magicborn, about my height, tiara focuser-”

She was cut short by Apple Jack’s leather glove patting her ankle. “…at the castle, Dash,” Apple Jack said half smiling, “do I look as bad as I feel?”

“Worse. Stay up, Jack.”

“Nah, you’ve got this. ‘Bout time you pulled your weight around here anyway.” Apple Jack then joined Twilight as she succumbed to exhaustion.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened with the realization that her friends were ambushed. As she turned to regroup, she was met with a ebony blade lunging for her eye. Before she had time to react, Thunderlane dropped from the sky, flattening the demon into the ground. Dash smirked as she watched Thunderlane, still not satisfied, intercept another leaping Shadow Blade by the arm and throw it into a third. The inertia sent them bowling over each other into the distant fire, burning and screaming.

“Flits, what did you say about them being indestructible?” Thunderlane said into his Whisper Rune, cocking a blonde eyebrow at Dash.

“I said the Shadow Blades from legend were supposedly indestructible. These seem different.” Flitter’s voice echoed in Dash’s ear.

“Different how?” Dash asked.

“They’re not indestructible.”

“You sure know a lot about these things.” Thunderlane replied, eyeing Flitter’s tiny silhouette in the sky.

“People didn’t like me growing up. I read a lot.” Flitter said matter-of-factly, “Left, Thunder.”

Thunderlane whipped around and kept a Shadow Blade from ripping into his throat.

“Hold it still!” yelled Dash as she notched another arrow. Thunderlane held its head in the air and Dash let an electric arrow fly, breaking through its skull and dissipating after a couple feet.

“I was just about to break its neck.” Thunderlane joked.

“Cool. Next time I’ll let you die,” Dash replied before she darted upward a few feet into the air. “How’re the other traps, Burst?”

“That sounded fun down there. Way to leave me bored.”

“If you’re bored, that means there’s six up, right?” Dash chided.

“Love you too, Commander. Two up already, working on the one near the woods.” Sunburst answered.

“Flits, I’m comin’ to hang out with ya for a bit. Thunder,” Dash said smiling to Thunderlane, “These are our princesses.” Thunderlane rolled his eyes.

“I hate escort missions.”

“What happens when pain comes to the princesses?” Dash teased. Thunderlane stayed silent.

“Getting a lot of movement near you, Commander.” Flitter relayed.

“Can’t hear ya Thunder.” Dash continued.

“…the pain of the innocent translates to my balls.” Thunderlane dictated like he was reciting rhetoric.

“Textbook answer, soldier. Get some exercise, I’m goin’ to visit Flits.” Dash said as she corkscrewed up into the night sky to meet Flitter halfway between the scout’s current position and the ground.

Dash notched another arrow as she watched Sunburst set up another cloud trap. When the other traps occasionally popped back a Shadow Blade or two, Dash darted towards them and put them down with an arrow before they could sink down into the grass again.

“Two to your five o’clock, Thunder.” said Flitter from her invisible perch.

Dash saw Thunderlane take a quick leap in the air, fists raised. When he brought them down, a shockwave blasted the two shades into Sunburst’s eastern trap and the combined force broke them in half.

“They’re still moving.” Relayed Flitter.

“Copy.” Thunderlane’s voice vibrated through her Whisper Rune followed by the boom of his heavy steps as he ran towards his injured targets. Dash spotted a lone Blade quickly closing in on him from behind, swimming through his massive shadow. Before Flitter could warn him, there was a loud SHINK followed by crackling thunder as Rainbow Dash let loose an arrow. The arrow sunk into the puddle of shadow indicated by the piercing shriek of its victim, and frantic bony claws rose from the ground, trying to tear itself free. Thunderlane turned and finished the shade off with a well-placed stomp, crushing its skull.

“It’s a good thing we’re not keeping score, Thunder. You’d be buyin’ me breakfast by now.” Dash teased.

“If points are based on how many times your ass has been saved, then yeah. I’m sure it would.” Thunder shot back.

“Perimeter almost complete, commander.” Sunburst’s labored voice rattled through Dash’s rune.

“Good work, Burst. I know I give you a hard time, but it’s only ‘cuz I know you can do it.” Dash said as she notched another arrow scanning the ground. As she surveyed the field for new targets, it suddenly dawned on her that Apple Jack’s sword was missing.

“Flits! Where’s Jack’s sword!?” Dash cried, swooping down for a better look.

The whoosh of Flitter moving towards the stars was her reply as she broadened her scan for Eri.

“There’s movement about half a click into the woods, Commander. Your ten o’clock.”

“Babysit Thunder, Flits. Back in ten seconds flat.” Dash said as she tore off towards the tree line looking between the brush for Eri.

“That’s highly unlikely, Commander.” said Flitter.

Dash smirked, but only for a moment as she realized that she was having a very hard time spotting the shades between the trees.

“Flits, I’m gonna need a more specific beat on that sword.”

“I had to take up air support, commander. Would you rather I go back to perch position?”

“Don’t worry about it Flits. I’ll figure something out.” Dash said diving below the treeline.

“Wh- -at, com-nder.. Y-ur ..cei-ng.” Flitter’s broken voice piping through the rune was irritating enough that Dash yanked it out and stuffed it into a small pouch at her side. She was on her own. As fast as she was, there was only so much ground she could cover before the shades got away. “Thirty seconds ago they were half a click to my ten.” She wracked her brain for a way to flush out the shades that had made off with Apple Jack’s sword. “Even if they branched off they could only be a few meters in any direc-”

Dash’s eyes focused and without another minute to spare she went into a dead dive into the trees, readying a large arrow of energy into her stringless bow. She hit the ground with a thud, right foot and left knee connecting with the soft grass. She brought her bow up, aiming dead ahead into the trees and let loose a giant arrow that split into a blossom of bolts, temporarily illuminating ten meters in her field of vision.

In the burst of light, two shadows flickered in and out of the treeline. Dash burst into a run, focusing down the closest shade. The solid shadow had dropped down to pick up Apple Jack’s sword, struggling with its immense weight. The other shade wasted no time in throwing a barrage of obsidian daggers at Dash, following it up with two bigger swords blooming from its palms.

Dash made a figure-eight with her bow, knocking the thrown weapons out of the air. She readied another arrow, this time holding it like a javelin. She lobbed it towards the Shadow Blade’s chest, hitting home as she then took off into the air to avoid the incoming wave of blades. She zigzagged through the trees, using them as cover as she prepared another arrow, letting it fly as she circled the thief.

A carefully placed shot would have normally hit the shade in the head, but a sudden gust of wind hit her like a wall, knocking Dash’s bow off-center, causing this shot to nick the Blade’s leg. It wasn’t a kill shot, but it slowed it down enough for Dash to catch up to it. With one swift movement, she used the edge of her ivory tipped bow to slice into the Blade’s neck, cutting its head free so easily that it caught Dash by surprise. She landed next to the headless corpse, kicking it away from Apple Jack’s ancient sword.

As she reached for the sword a strange gust of wind tore past her again. In the pitch black, something had caught her off guard and knocked her stringless bow from her grasp. Weaponless, Dash channeled her energy to her scaled gauntlets, blanketing them with her trademark lightning and crossing her arms over her face, intercepting a second blow from the assailant. The heavy crack against Dash’s arms almost drove the gauntlets into her face, but she turned the inertia against her attacker, connecting her boot with the assailant’s chest and flipping it into the tree behind her. Her winged boots carried her into the air as she whipped around, waiting for the sound of her foe’s collision with the tree, but there was silence.

Dash gathered more energy from the air, channeling lightning into her gauntlets and turned them over, electricity sparkling across their serrated points. She felt vulnerable without her bow, but her wrist blades would have to do.

“Come on out, ya pussy!” Dash taunted, hiding her fears. The wind obliged, forcing Dash to parry another set of strikes to her head with both of her pointed, electrically charged gauntlets. Her arms met with something solid in each impossibly fast strike, sending what should have been crippling volts into her attacker. Dash heard a quiet hum of what seemed to be amusement.

The soft sound of nimble feet connecting with the ground followed, and a hunched silhouette, still nearly six feet tall stood in front of her. Dash almost jumped when she heard it speak, as if it was speaking in two voices.



“We have no quarrels with the Avatars. We only wish the return of the relic.” The thing vibrated in a calm tone.

“That sword’s been in Jack’s family longer than dirt. That means longer than you, so fuck off.”

“It was ours, along with the rest. Return it and be spared.”

“The rest of your army seems pretty dead back there, tiny. The way I see it, the only ‘we’ you’re talking about is you and me.”



“Does the Avatar of Loyalty wish to make war with the Shadow Blades?”

“No, I wish to kick your ass and save my friends. In that order.” Dash threatened, her hands shaking a bit.

“As you wish.”

The figure vanished. Dash scanned her perimeter to feel where whatever this thing was coming from, her gauntlets still charged, still ready and waiting.

Out of nowhere, a heavy blow throttled her from behind, sending her crashing into the grass. She knelt on her hands and knees, the wind knocked out of her, as she felt the agonizing sting of a wide cut across her back, blood seeping through her clothes.



“What the hell is this thing...” She thought as she caught her breath, and waited.

Whatever is was, it wanted to be quick. And Dash wouldn’t let it. She hunched her body into a crouch, waiting for her opponent’s next move. Then Dash had a split second realization. “It’s playing with me.” Her mind raced with thoughts of what would happen if she died here, what would become of Apple Jack without her life-bonded sword, what this thing would do to the rest of her friends if it could best her so easily. She shut her eyes tightly for a moment, and willed herself to focus on the battle at hand. With a deep breath, she charged energy into her wrist blades, but the dark energy the thing gave off mixed with the pure energy Dash pulled into her. The pain from the dark energy chilled her to the bone and she winced as she waited. But not for too long. The thing charged her head on and she caught it between them.

Dash threw herself backwards into the grass, taking whatever it was with her as she let her natural flight carry her into a lightning quick backflip. When her feet met the ground, she shot forward, bringing her weight down on her attacker. When she connected, however, she only felt her wrist blades dig into the forest soil. Before she could right herself, she felt the weight of that thing pressing down on her back as the stench of rotting flesh invaded her sinuses.

It pulled her head up and pressed a blade to her neck.

“Send a message to the Nightwatcher.”

Dash threw her head to the side and and spat into the thing’s face, sending a bladed elbow into its chest. The monster’s solid form melted as her arm met flesh and reformed beneath her with the blade still at her throat.

“Again, Hornet.” It said as Dash formed a bolt of lightning in her fist. “Tell the Nightwatcher that her children are waiting.”

Dash flipped her right arm up and stabbed the thing in what she hoped was its eye. It recoiled long enough for her to wriggle free, kicking away from the shadow and rolling into a lift-off position.

“Tell her yourself.”

She screamed as claws dug into her leg before she could take off.



“We are done being civil, Avatar. You chose to ignore our request, you are nothing but a detriment to our cause. You will die a warrior’s death. Farewell.”

Dash’s brain kicked into overdrive, scrambling for survival but her thoughts were cut short by a sudden flash of light to her left, followed by a deafening BOOM. The shadow screamed and fell back, letting Dash free. Dash took this opportunity to push herself up into a faltering run, giving herself some distance as she sucked up as much energy as she could into her gauntlets. Her foot connected with her bow, still lying on the forest floor, and she scrambled to recollect it without falling. She turned back to the shadow. She cautiously limped backwards as her shaking hands tried to keep an arrow mixed with the painful dark energy trained on its eye.

The tall thing that called itself a Shadow Blade shrank as it looked to the sky. Flitter hovered below the tree-line, staring down the both of them as the two Skyborn readied their offensive.

“Two against one, bitch! What now?!” Dash said with false bravado.

The thing straightened its back to its full size and stared down Flitter.

“Little termite,” It said, completely ignoring Rainbow Dash, “the Avatar refuses our message. Will you?”

Flitter cocked her head the the side, her keen eyes flickering between Rainbow Dash and the shadow below her.

“Don’t let it talk Flits. It’ll get in your head.” Dash raised her bow to fire another arrow but Flitter held her hand up.

“Continue.” She said.

“The Avatars of the Archmage are poison. They taint the very weapons and powers they possess. They belong back in the hands of the pure and ju-”

Fitter had obviously heard enough. She unloaded the energy charges she had in her palms at the shadow below her. The burst of light illuminated the shade completely, revealing its supernatural movements that blurred it from one tree to another in mere seconds. As Dash’s eyes readjusted to the darkness, a dark shadow was visible behind a cluster of trees nearly 10 yards from where it had just stood.



“But we’ve just met...” The thing said to Flitter, almost sounding disappointed.

Flitter stared down the shade as her hands regained their glow. “If you return to our territory, our army will kill you, cut you into pieces and burn them.” For once, Dash had nothing to say. She had never seen Flitter so aggressive before, it was almost scary.

“So it’s war...” The thing called from the distance, the humming voice growing further off.

Flitter’s icy blue eyes scanned the forest for a moment before she descended to assist Rainbow Dash, but Dash shrugged her off.

“I’m good, Flits.”

“No you’re not. That’s why I came.” She said earnestly.

“How’d you know?”

“You’re loud enough that I can hear your rune in your pocket.” Flitter said matter of factly, pointing to Dash’s pouch.

Dash smiled a bit, springing up into the air with a labored grunt. The ethereal wing on her lame leg glowed weakly as she hovered across the clearing to retrieve Apple Jack’s sword. She grasped its large pommel with both hands, tugging on it with all of her strength as the sword’s weight resisted her efforts. Flitter floated behind her, looping her arms under Dash’s as she helped pull the sword further into the air. It was awkward, carrying the sword across the treetops like a strange game of piggyback. Rainbow Dash would have been humiliated if it’d not been for the distraction of fifty pounds of steel dangling from her haphazard grip.

---

Dash and Flitter approached the field to see the silhouette of Thunderlane moving around the remaining smouldering fires. Dash started to call out to him but she was interrupted by a panicked voice coming from the sky.

“Wait!”

Dash looked up to see Sunburst speed over them and start to dismantle a remaining cloud trap they’d nearly flown under. “Sorry,” he said as the soft but deadly trap dissipated. “They’re not exactly choosy about the bodies that get in the way.”

“So it flunked obedience school. Take it back.” Dash joked as she struggled to keep a grip on Apple Jack’s sword.

“If I can find out what kind of treats they like, I’ll letcha know commander.” Sunburst joked. He eyed them quizzically, noticing the awkward stance. “What are you doing?”

“Baking cupcakes, what the fuck does it look like?” Dash grunted as she finally lost her grip, letting the sword plummet. The blade’s tip sunk into the ground with a shunk as Dash panted heavily, the palms of her hands red. Flitter released her, revealing the blood smeared across her shirt. Sunburst’s eyes grew wide. “Flitter, what happened?!”

Dash rolled her shoulder and winced. “It’s mine and I'm fine, Burst.” Burst circled her slowly, eyeing her wounds. He stopped in front of her, his dark brown eyes serious. “We're getting you back to Cumula, that looks awful.”

“We’ve got bigger issues right now than replacing my uniform. What’s Thunder up to?” She said, looking down at his bulky form moving across the field.

Sunburst turned his attention as well. “Uh, he’s pretty shaken up I think. Maybe you should talk to him.”

Dash descended towards the field, leaving Sunburst and Flitter in the sky. Thunderlane was hunched down in the tall grass, directing Spike to burn the black patches of ash that used to be Shadow Blades.

Dash knelt down as well and called out to Spike. The little dragon responded by bounding up to her, nuzzling up against her face growling inaudibly. Dash smiled, feeling the familiar scales on her face.

“Wish I could understand you, pal, but it’s good to see ya too.”

Spike trotted off as Dash turned her attention to Thunderlane.

“I’m pretty sure they’re past dead, Thunder.” said Dash as Thunder continued to examine patches of decaying ground.

“You burn trolls to make sure, don’tcha?” Thunderlane said not looking back. “Never thought I’d say I’d prefer trolls, but if these things are worse, I’m not taking chances.”

“Good enough for me.” Dash nodded.

“Never complain about a route being boring again. You jinxed it.” Thunderlane said very seriously.

“We complained about it all week. It was just bad luck.”

“Then all the bad luck just stacked up and flattened us today.”

“That’s kind of a stretch, Thunder.”

“The field catches on fire when we just so happen to see it and then we nearly get killed by ancient friggin’ demons?”

“Twi knows my route. Definitely sent a signal.” Spike made a small growling noise and nodded his head to signal that she was right. “See?”

“Thought you said she didn’t answer any of your letters.”

“Looks like she reads ‘em though, doesn’t it.”

“I still don’t like it. Now we’ve got two knocked out Avatars to deal with, an army of god-knows-how-many demons, and we’re the lucky ones that get to tell the brass.”

“I don’t like it either, Thunder, but it comes with the job. And dealing with Twi and AJ means we’re takin’ them to the Senate. Jack said they have to get there to take care of some stuff and that’s what we’re gonna do.”

Thunderlane’s fist pounded the patch of dirt he was examining sending a ripple through the ground and up through Dash’s spine. “They call you the Avatar of Loyalty and the first thing you do is abandon your duties to the Cumula Corps to go a hide behind the Archmage?”

“Watch yourself, Sergeant. You know our duties to the Archmage comes first.”

“The Archmage that lets the Magicborn walk around like they own the realm and leave us to fend for ourselves! You’re gonna abandon your post to enable that?”

“I’m not gonna abandon my friends.”

“So what happens when we make a detour then come back tomorrow night to an empty patch in the sky where my city used to be.”

“That’s exactly what’s gonna happen if they don’t get to the castle!”

Thunderlane’s expression grew cold. “Can’t believe you’re really gonna ditch us like this.”

“We’re all doing this, that means you too! It’s your job to follow the orders of your commanding officer, sergeant!” Dash barked.

“Not when my commanding officer is being an idiot!” Thunder’s voice raised, echoing across the empty field.

“It’s actually our job to report the incident to the authorities, wherever they may be.” Flitter spoke up from behind them. “The embassy as well as our people in Chantalot need to know of these events. Thunderlane, I know I’d want to know about the danger in my backyard so I could have the option to return home.”

“So what are you gonna do? Carry them on your back?” Thunderlane scoffed.

Flitter held up her hand, showing him a rolled piece of paper. “Yes, actually. As an arcane mage, Ms. Sparkle carries a wide variety of spells. This levity spell I found in her bag should at least make them light enough to carry. With the levity, at 75 percent speed, we should reach Chantalot by dawn.”

“Well shit. If you've got everything figured out, what do you even need me for?” Thunderlane spat, sprouting his ankle wings starting off into the air.

“Thunderlane,” Dash murmured firmly causing him to pause, hovering in the air with his back turned on her. “As my second-in-command, I’m trusting you to have my back on this. I know we give each other a hard time, but I wouldn’t let you go if I didn’t trust you.”

“I’m not responsible for what they do to you when you get back.”

“I’d say this counts as a situation that isn’t exactly in the manual and we can play the ‘shit went down and I did the best I could’ card.”

“You’re runnin’ out of ‘em, boss lady.” Thunderlane replied in a flat tone.

“Take Sunburst and rally the troops. They’re lucky to have you.” Dash said honestly.

Thunderlane slowly descended again, landing next to her. After a moment, he held out his hand. Dash extended her own and clasped his.

“Good luck, Commander. Send word as soon as you have any.”

“Back attcha. Fly straight, Thunder.”

“And stay above the rain, Dash.” Thunderlane added, releasing his commander’s hand. He joined Sunburst in the sky and headed back to their home in the clouds.

Dash, successfully diplomatic for probably the first time in her life, breathed a heavy sigh and patted Flitter on the back as they walked toward their unconscious friends. “That was some hefty bullshitting Flits. How’d you think of that?”

“It was true. Probably against regulations, but there’s nothing that says anything against it.”

“Better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission?”

“Not usually. But this case qualifies.” Flitter unrolled the scroll in her hand and placed it on the ground, willing herself to draw energy from the air into the unconscious girls’ bodies. Her silvery hair flowed behind her by a light breeze, a byproduct of the aerial magic. After a few seconds, Twilight and Apple Jack’s bodies glowed a light hue, which faded slowly.

“Well, I owe ya one. Thinkin’ on the fly is usually Twi’s job.” Dash said as she finished up the spell.

“Full disclosure, Commander, I acted selfishly. My cousin Scootaloo didn’t come home tonight and Sister Apple Jack’s temple was the last place she said she was going.”

“I’m sure she just slept over or something,” Dash said consolingly as she slid Apple Jack’s limp arm over her shoulder, unbuckling the straps on her belt, intending to borrow Eri’s sheath.

“My aunt still wants answers. And your friends have them. We’ll get them to where they need to be, then I’ll speak with them. However, alterior motives aside, I was serious about informing the embassy.”

“Me too, Flits. Let’s hope we’re just bein’ paranoid here,” said Dash. She turned to Spike and motioned her head to the left, summoning him up to her shoulder. “Wagon’s leaving Spike. Hop up.”

Spike used the unconscious Apple Jack as a ladder, nimbly crawling up to his perch on Dash’s shoulder. She took to the air, Flitter soon joining her as she situated Twilight across her back. She held Twilight’s staff with a certain reverence, her wide eyes studying it as the two Skyborn approached the matter of Apple Jack’s sword, still waiting patiently in the ground. No levity spell would help with the ancient relic, it seemed to be immune to any kind of persuasion other than being carried by Apple Jack herself. After a few minutes, they’d managed to fashion a makeshift sling out of the leather straps on Eri’s sheath and some sections of rope from AJ’s bag. Moving across the sky like a team of horses pulling their cargo, they slowly made their way towards the mountains of Chantalot.

After a while, Flitter interrupted the silence.

“Commander, I’m about ninety-five percent sure what you fought was a legitimate Shadow Blade and the rest of them were not.” Flitter said, unsolicited.

“Where’s the other five percent?”

“Denial.”

“So, what, the other things are ‘baby-blades’ or something?”

“I don’t know. But if that thing was a Shadow Blade, the others are definitely something else.”

“I still don’t get what you mean, Flits.”

“That means there’s probably something else involved. And until we determine what, we don’t know how many variables we're dealing with.”

“Our fearless leaders better have some answers.” Dash grumbled, shouldering Apple Jack up higher on her back to keep her from slipping.

“And if they don’t?”

“Luna made them. It asked for her by name. If she doesn’t know what to do, we’re seven shades of boned.”