"C'mon, Rarity, you've gotta eat something." A tall, pale-coated mare levitated a spoonful of some sort of food up to the white unicorn's mouth. Rarity batted the spoon away.
"I'm not hungry..."
"Rarity, don't be difficult. You have to keep strong."
"Allie," Rarity, lying on a hospital bed, an IV strapped to her left foreleg, weakly turned. "If you know what I've been through, you'd know why I can't be strong."
"I heard what happened, and all I can say is that you emerged alive. That's quite strong, if you ask me."
Rarity turned her head the other way. "Have you ever thought of splitting the Order of the Flask from the Temple?"
Allie placed the spoon back on the plate nearby. "I have, and I decided against it."
"Why?"
"As well as running scientific experiments the Flask is the Temple's medical wing." Allie stood up. "We keep the ponies alive."
The double doors swung open, their leader having just pushed them open. "Scholar Rarity, Scholar Way. I have bad news."
Rarity groaned.
"Hey, I'm telling you because you're the head of the Quill and the Flask, respectively." Twilight trotted up. "According to some recon, the Clan, Order and Peacemakers have allied."
Allie gasped. Rarity sighed, almost in relief. Twilight though she heard the white unicorn mutter something about sense prevailing, but ignored it.
"Allie, hold all in-progress projects except the Gift Elixir."
"Yes ma'am."
"Rarity?"
Rarity looked at Twilight pathetically. Underneath the frown on the mare's face, Twilight noticed a spark of compassion.
"I need you ready to move in ten hours or less."
"Twilight, your brutish bodyguard broke my skull and my legs. Thankfully Allie knows regeneration magic."
"But-"
"I won't be able to move for a whole month."
Twilight growled at herself.
"By the way, what is this new faction called anyway?"
Twilight looked up, and saw hope in Rarity's eyes. Hope that this new faction could 'save the town', or more like ruin her worship of the Goddesses. It sickened her.
"The Ponyville Alliance."
Cadence looked over the machine in front of her. "So, let me get this straight, Spike..."
Spike leaned on Cadence's back, running his claw through Sweetie Belle's mane.
"You want me..." She pointed at the Loader, mostly silver with a few random pieces replacing damaged parts. "To pilot one of these."
"Actually, Dash asked you to."
"Ok, so Rainbow Dash wants me to pilot this thing." She looked over the behemoth. "Why?"
"Dunno. Maybe she trusts your skill. Maybe she needs somepony she can trust driving this beastie. Or, and this is just a theory, maybe she wants to see you in a tight bodysuit."
Cadence blushed, wings bursting out. "W-what?!"
"I was joking, calm down." Spike replied, chuckling. "But seriously, she does want you to drive this thing."
Cadence took a wary step on the climbing plate. "I've never done this before. How long do I have to get ready?"
"About ten hours."
Cadence climbed cautiously into the cabin. "It's a bit small..."
"Well, Big McIntosh is already using his, which has a cabin that fits you well. Unfortunately, you've got Rose's. Or what's left of it, fixed up."
"Yeah, it smells kinda funny." Cadence shut the cabin, her vision limited to a small viewport. "Um... How do I start this thing?"
"The big button." Sweetie Belle called.
"This one?" The cannon fired, a shell streaming straight towards Ponyville. An explosion was heard in the distance.
"Wrong one." Sweetie Belle turned to Spike. "Is that why she's facing Ponyville, and her gun's upright?"
"Pretty much." Spike clanged on the cockpit's front. "It's the one by your left hoof!"
"This one?" The claw slammed shut, before opening.
"Back hoof!"
The machine's engine kicked to life. "Hah! I did it!"
"Good, now take a step forwards."
Silence.
"How?"
Sweetie Belle facehoofed. "Press your right hoof- back right hoof into the pedal behind it, then the left."
Cadence managed half-a-step before the engine cut out, and she crashed the walker face-first.
"Whoops..."
"I think," Sweetie Belle walked up and opened a side hatch designed specifically for this sort of fall. "You'd be better off on hoof."
Lyra flicked her greatcoat unnecessarily as she turned away from the hospital room, feeling a mix of joy and despair. Rainbow Dash emerged from a room along the way, and joined her walking.
"'Ponyville Alliance', eh? Catchy." Lyra said, still moving briskly.
"Flutters thought of it." Dash took to flight to keep pace. "So, how's Bon Bon?"
"She's healing fine, but she's still unconscious." Lyra kept walking, not once breaking stride except to push a set of doors out of her path. "Redheart says it'll be a while before she wakes, so I'm not that worried."
Rainbow grinned that cocky grin. "Well, soon you'll be wrapping everything you can around each other."
"As in?"
"Hooves, body, tongues, your priv-"
"Don't go there." Lyra said with a chuckle. "My sex life is none of your concern."
"True."
"So, any plans for attack?"
"We'll be heading to the town square in nine and a bit hours, and try and negotiate an alliance. If not, I guess it's a fight."
Pinkie, mane still flat, turned the corner, stopping them. Her body and eyes, however, were bright, her mouth in an enormous smile. "Hi Dashie! Hi Lyra!"
"Hey Pinks. What's got you so happy?"
"I saw the Cakes and they were like 'Hi Pinkie' and I was like 'Hi guys!' and then they showed me some photos that I hadn't seen because of the three years since I saw them and..."
"She's sure got a motormouth..." Lyra whispered to Dash, who nodded in agreement.
"But she's good company."
"... wondered why the colour blue is primary but I'm getting off topic anyway they made me a cake and I ate half of it-" She pulled out two random slices of cake from behind her. "-but I saved a few slices for you guys!"
A second of silence.
"Pinkie?"
"Yeah?"
"I don't understand how your mane's still flat."
"No, Cadence! The other hoof!"
The walker stumbled around, nearly falling on its back, before it was straightened by the Princess's magic. It took a few awkward steps before the engine kicked off for the seventh time this session. The cabin door flew open, and Cadence fell flat on her chest.
"It's too small... Get somepony else to drive it..."
The walker leant precariously forwards. Cadence looked back and gasped.
Sweetie Belle lunged forwards, slamming herself in the cockpit. She kicked the engine on, and straightened it with ease. She pulled a lever with magic as she leapt out.
"Don't forget to lock it when you're not driving it."
Cadence rose to her hooves and dusted herself off. "I'm not going to pilot this thing."
Spike faceclawed. "Says the pony who wanted to drive for another five hours after we started."
"I was seeing if I could." Cadence ran a hoof through her mane, and caught it against a large knot. "Um... I think I need a shower."
"How long has it been since you had one?"
"Since I left Canterlot."
"Yeah, I can smell that." Sweetie Belle covered her nose.
"A whole week without a shower? Jeez, what have you been doing?"
"Following you, being kidnapped or otherwise busy."
Spike stood for a moment. "Oh yeah."
Sweetie Belle cleared her throat. "Well, I'll let Dash know you can't pilot this thing."
"I kinda saw that."
The two ponies and dragon turned to the source of the voice. Rainbow Dash, wearing her fur-trimmed cape, was resting on the tree nearby.
"For how long?"
"The last five minutes." Dash leapt down, wings outstretched. "Have fun, Cadence?"
"No..."
"Sorry, I'd given you a larger one, but we were all out." She glanced at the others. "Ok, go clean up and stuff. Especially you, Cadence. You smell like a cat died on you."
"There seems to be a lot of metaphors involving cats around me..."
"Maybe, maybe not." Dash chuckled. "Meet me at the barn in four hours, and make sure to be fully awake. Yes, I'm ordering you to take a nap." She pushed herself skywards, hovering for a moment before taking off in a trail of rainbows.
"That's something Twilight's never done..." Spike muttered to himself.
"Rarity."
Rarity cracked open her eyes, and looked straight up at a slightly-crazy Twilight. Her mane was in shambles.
"What?"
"You're not ready."
Rarity sighed. "I told you, it'll be a whole month until I can move properly."
Twilight growled in frustration and kicked herself off the bead. "Goddess-damnit, Rarity. Why did you have to resist my command?"
"Because you were acting in a most unbecoming manner for one such as yourself." Rarity couldn't care if Twilight jabbed a bolt in her throat anymore. Fortunately for her, she didn't.
"Rarity..." Twilight turned to Rarity, looking... sorrowful. "Do you think I'm a bad pony?"
"No no, Twilight... Well... Ok, you are acting pretty badly, but I know you're better than this."
Twilight's pinpricked eyes grew large and wet. "But... I've hurt so many! I hurt you!"
"You know, you do have a chance to stop this." Rarity looked out the window. "When you head in, bring a message of peace, not war."
Twilight, looking far saner than she had for the past week, looked out the window as well. Celestia's sun was falling behind the horizon, the silhouette of the Town Hall backlit in a red and orange gradient. "But... What if they don't except?" She turned back to Rarity. "What if they try and kill me?"
"Darling, that's not very likely..."
"But possible!" Twilight's eyes returned to their pinprick state. "I can't take any chances... I'll bring everypony. Everypony! They'll feel the full wrath of the Celestians!" Twilight started laughing maniacally. "Oh Goddesses, why didn't I think of this sooner?"
"Think of what?"
Twilight turned, a manic grin fused with absolute worry fused with pure insanity. "Kill them all! Then I won't have to deal with them ever again. It's foalproof."
"What if they're peaceful?"
"Why would Rainbow Dash be peaceful? I'd rather kill her than ally with her- Ooh, that's a great idea. Kill Rainbow Dash, and the Clan will fall! No more problems! Hah!"
"Twi-"
"I need more Gifted. Genome won't do, he's too dumb." She turned to the door, opening it wide. "This is perfect! I am going. To win. After three bucking years, I am going to WIN!" She slammed the door shut and her maniacal laughs could still be heard.
Rarity gulped, and spoke with a shaky voice.
"What the hell did I just do?"
"Alright, everypony gather round!" Rainbow called to the small group, who took places around the table. Cadence was feeling refreshed, having had a nice long shower and a slightly-broken nap.
Around the table was her and Rainbow wearing her cloak, Spike, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie, Derpy wearing some heavy, motorised armour, and Lyra. A map was spread out on the table, showing the entirety of Ponyville, three sections of blue, red and green coloured over with a pink crayon, the other half of the town a solid yellow.
Dash hadn't noticed the modification to the map before. Pinkie was beaming.
"Anyway, from what our sources have said, the Temple is likely to strike here-" She pointed a hoof at the Town Hall. "-because that's actually our weakest point."
Applejack pointed at a section further up, in the direction of Canterlot. "But if she's smart she'll take a side path. One we're not likely to know she's going."
"Which would be the entirety of the border." Dash replied flatly.
"Um, maybe she would attack through the Square..." Fluttershy added. "It is the closest to us."
"I fear she may be trying to have a one-on-one duel with you, Rainbow." Derpy said, voice tinted with concern.
Rainbow grinned. "And I'd welcome it. Well, sorta." She reared up and placed her hooves on the table. "I don't actually want to fight her, but if it comes down to it I will."
"I know Twilight. If I'm right, she's likely to be going mad with worry, and won't be thinking straight." He lifted a talon. "On one hoof, this means she's predicable, and she will hit the Square."
"On the other hoof?" Lyra asked with concern.
"She's probably going to send everything. And I mean everything."
Dash looked over the map. "We'll need every able-bodied fighter ready to go in a half-hour."
A fluttering of wings and a forceful opening of the door drew their attention. A tired looking muscular pegasus with the most ridiculously tiny wings known to ponykind stood there, breathing heavily.
"The Temple... Entire army... Town Square..."
"Thank you, Snowflake."
The huge pegasus closed the door as he left. The group returned to the table.
"Ok, so our scouts just proved our current hypothesis. Lyra, take a squadron of walkers to the Square. Fluttershy, prepare our field medics. Spike, Derpy, Pinkie, you help the ground troops. Cadence, you help them as well, but I have an extra plan for you. I'll explain later. I'll wait for Twilight on the Hall's roof."
"That ain't exactly the most watertight plan, Rainbow."
"It's the best we can do. Now, let's get ready!"
As the group prepared to leave, Derpy called out to them.
"Before everyone goes, I have something to give you." She pulled out a tray of what looked like some of the best muffins in Equestria. "Have a Luck Muffin."
"A... what?" Rainbow grabbed one.
"A Luck Muffin. It's a muffin that always makes the day luckier. I made a batch this morning." She saw the slight worry on Cadence's face. "I don't make them that often."
"Then why don't you just make loads and keep eating them?"
"One, they don't work like that. Two, they're darn hard to make. Three, if I made enough to feed me for ages I'd become dependent on them. It's like drugs, only tastier."
Cadence grabbed a muffin. "When do we have to eat them?"
"Whenever you want."
Cadence took a bite. "Huh. Banana."
"Yep. Enjoy them."
"Actually," Lyra raised a mechanical hand. "I'm allergic to bananas."
"Oh, well, I have a blueberry one."
Lyra grabbed it in a field of magic. "Thanks, Derpy."
"My pleasure." She tossed the tray onto the table once everypony had grabbed one. "Now, let's save Equestria!"
Pinkie sat on one of the barricades, perfectly balanced. Not even a kick from Cadence budged her. Of course, Pinkie suggested the kick.
Derpy had her ridiculously big machine gun mounted on her armour like a battle saddle, and had donned a helmet with reflective orange lenses.
Ten Walkers, a mish-mash of the twelve originals, trudged up. The centre one waved one of its four arms as it passed Cadence.
Spike was behind a barricade, the same one as Pinkie and Cadence, which was right up the front. He checked his gun's magazine briefly.
Rainbow Dash stood in an awesome pose, on top of the damaged roof of the Hall. She could see the advancing army before her, lit up by the setting sun. This also meant that her army had the sun behind her. This not only looked cool, but was utterly practical.
A building in front of her vision was enveloped in a violet aura, and almost literally thrown aside like it was a candy wrapper. It crashed into Sugar Cube Corner, breaking both apart and proving that SCC was in fact made of wood and not gingerbread. She heard Pinkie gasp, then growl.
Whoever fought Pinkie was sure to have a bad day.
A huge voice echoed out across the town. "Today is the day, Non-believers! Today is the day you die!"
"What the hell is she on about?" Dash muttered to herself.
"I have the power of the Goddesses behind me! You can never hope to win!" A maniacal laugh.
The laugh really worried Dash.
A bright flash appeared right before Rainbow Dash. A lavender mare dressed in parchment-coloured robes looked at the pegasus, eyes tiny, mane an absolute wreck and a manic grin.
"Hello again, Dashie."
Dash kept her coolness, despite being in front of literally the scariest thing she had ever seen. "'Sup, Twi?"
"You know why I'm here, right?"
"Please," Dash replied, keeping her bravado in check. "By all means, tell me. I'd hate to embarrass you." The last sentence was said with a cocky smirk.
Twilight's grin grew. "I am going to finish this war."
"Huh." Dash casually brushed her mane out of her eye. "And I thought you were going to ask me out." She stifled a laugh.
"Oh no, I'm not going to do that."
Wrong reaction. What's up with-
Twilight's eyes grew as small as possible, and her grin as wide and as scary as possible. "I'm going to kill you."
...
Fuck.
Pinkie statued in the same place as the army just came into view. Suddenly, her tail vibrated violently.
"Twitchy Tail, and a lot of it!"
The advancing army disappeared in a flash of lavender.
"Pinkie, I-" Spike started.
A blaze of lavender energy flashed before them, and suddenly hundreds of ponies materialised. Some were armoured and armed to the teeth, others were charging spells. But two creatures stood out
One was a Celestia-sized azure mare, slashing the air as she approached with a large blade. Her flowing mane was a light-blue and radiated power.
The other emerged from the dust-cloud behind her. A giant, muscular, beige alicorn trudged behind the demigoddess, dimly aware of its surroundings. The front of the beast was built like a brick wall, the rest of its body only slightly smaller than it should be. It emitted a low growl as it stomped forwards.
The demigoddess spoke in a loud voice, magically enhanced. "Prepare to witness the amazing abilities of the Great and Powerful Trixie!"
Pinkie snapped her head back, eyes full of panic. "What do we do? We can't fight a Goddess!"
"She's not a Goddess!" Cadence yelled over the starting barrage of rifle fire on their side. "She's been merely enchanted!"
Pinkie blinked, then her pupils dilated, and she wielded a cocky grin. "Great, I'll take her on! Everypony else, deal with that big lug there!" With that, she turned back to Trixie.
"So, you think you can take on the Great and Powerful Trixie, little hayseed?" Trixie laughed condescendingly. "Please. I could eat you for breakfast."
"But I'm a snackfood!" Pinkie yelled, and leapt forward. In a direct line. Across twenty meters. In a split-second. Right in front of the demigoddess.
The randomness of the battlecry confused Trixie enough for Pinkie to take a slash with her huge blade, wielded in her forehooves as if she had arms. The blade bounced harmlessly off Trixie.
"What...?" Pinkie stared at her target point, stunned beyond belief.
Trixie laughed evilly, and slammed her hoof into the pink pony's bewildered face. "I am impervious to any damage you deal me!"
Pinkie rose up slowly, gripping the blade with an invisible force at the ends of her hooves. "Oh really?" She pointed the blade at Trixie. "Let's see if you can withstand this!"
And like that, Pinkie was at Trixie's hooves, slashing her multiple times with blows that hardly cut more than a hair. Trixie scoffed.
"Seriously? Is that all?" She gripped Pinkie's blade in a field of magic, yanking it out of the pony's hooves. "Let me show you how to use this."
Trixie stabbed downwards. Pinkie rolled out of the way and back into a crouch. Another jab, another roll. Trixie slashed diagonally, and Pinkie leapt behind the alicorn, hooves ready to strike.
"What are you-?"
"Pinkie Pie Shockwave Striker!" Pinkie slammed her hooves into the back of the alicorn. All time stood for a second as a shockwave tore between them, and the contact area sparked violently. Then physics took hold, and the alicorn was catapulted straight into a barricade at a speed that would put Rainbow Dash to shame. A wet snap followed the twisting of metal, and Trixie cried out in pain.
Pinkie leapt back to her place on the now-mangled barricade, overlooking the demigoddess, who was writhing in pain, back twisted in a way that backs shouldn't twist.
"Oops... I kinda broke your spine..."
Trixie glared at the pony with a mix of unbridled rage and absolute pain.
"I know a way to fix it though!" Pinkie leapt down, narrowly avoiding being hit by an unexpected missile aimed at her, and leant to speak to Trixie. "You have to use most of your magic to heal yourself."
Trixie paused as much as her tortured body would. Either live as a crippled alicorn or a mobile unicorn...
She charged up her magic.
The behemoth of Genome, once a feeble, tortured stallion, trudged slowly. Sharpshooters were taking shots at its head, which bounced off harmlessly. Derpy raised her huge weapon, a low-pitch whine in the air.
"What's that gun supposed to do, anyway?" Spike asked, ripping the question directly out of Cadence's head.
"It's a Worldblaster." Derpy kicked a switch on the weapon, and the whine increased. "It basically focusses the world's latent magic into a beam for a split-second. And mine's a full-auto version."
"You're full of surprises, Derpy."
The pegasus grinned, and then screamed as a huge, azure goddess nearly hit her. "What the buck was that?"
Cadence felt a gust of wind as a pink-and-black blur sped past her. "Probably Pinkie."
The whine of the Worldblaster held at a steady, ear-hurting whine. She turned to Genome, who had just crushed a barricade underhoof and knocked over a building with a massive wing.
A flicker of white energy struck the behemoth in the head, doing absolutely nothing. A hundred more beams hit it as well, often scattering to other parts of the body or not even hitting the thing.
Derpy snapped a chamber off the weapon, and picked up a similar one with her wing.
"What?" Spike cried out. "Why didn't it die?"
"I just don't know what went wrong." Derpy slammed the chamber into the gun.
Cadence paused. The dream... The flickering body. The large dark spot on it's... "Derpy!"
"Ya?"
"Aim for the base of its neck!"
"Why?"
"Just do it!"
Derpy glanced at Spike, who shrugged. She spun around and prepared to focus the world onto this beastie.
Another searing lance struck Genome, hitting it in the neck. It roared, rearing and slamming its hooves into the ground, and prepared to charge. A large scorch mark was left where Derpy shot.
"I think I made it mad..."
"Just keep shooting!" Cadence and Spike yelled in unison.
Another blast struck Genome's neck, followed by a scatter of beams that peppered the general area. Just as Genome was almost within charge range, a bolt tore through his neck, hitting the weakest point. It fell muzzle-first and slid forwards, just bumping into Derpy's barricade. Derpy squee'd loudly.
"I killed the monster! I killed the monster!" She dropped her gun and bounced around in circles excitedly, until a hail of fire (literally fire) narrowly missed her. She hit the ground hard, and under her helm she looked terrified.
"Ok, celebrate later!"
Rainbow slid behind a barricade, just as a home she recognised as Colgate's flew right past her. It crashed into Cloudchaser's home, tearing both apart.
"Rainbow~?" Twilight cooed from somewhere, her voice amplified. "Where are you~?"
Rainbow saw a tinge of lavender enter her vision. The barricade was torn out of the ground from behind her, the aura moving with it. Dash snapped back to see a very, very manic Twilight behind her.
"There you are, my little friend!"
Dash took off at full speeds. Years of practice taught her to reach zero to awesome in half-a-second, and adrenalin reduced it by at least twenty percent. Short story, Dash could be in the sky before Twilight could drop the block of metal on her. She turned sharply, drawing her dagger with her mouth.
She flew straight past Twilight, blade scratching the unicorn deeply in the cheek. She arched back for another hit, only to be forced to dodge the barricade as it was thrown at ridiculous speeds.
Derpy brushed herself off. "That was a hard fight..."
"Tell me about it." Spike replied, before a huge slab of metal fell on his toe. Despite the speeds it was thrown at, it didn't cut them off.
That didn't stop them from hurting.
Spike roared in pain, as you would if a ton of metal slammed into your toe at a hundred km/h and didn't cut them off.
Dash spiralled into the ground. Her dagger fell somewhere away from her. She heard hoofsteps and magic, and a disturbingly quiet laugh.
"At last, you're not moving."
"Think again-" Dash took off, grabbing her knife and arcing to her next resting point.
Her home.
Cadence had taken off a short while before Derpy and co were attacked. Away from the battlelines and the town being torn apart in a lavender storm, it was surprisingly calm.
Before her was a large cloud building. The door was open, the clouds slightly wrecked from lack of maintenance. A rainbow had decayed; it's once vibrant colours now dark and tinged green.
Apparently, rainbows go mouldy...
She pushed the door open and found it completely empty. Not just of ponies, but everything. No beds, no lights, no furniture. Dash must've cleared it out before she abandoned it.
She heard a slight roar of pegasus magic. She quickly ducked into an open room, making a very tiny scorch on the non-cloud carpet.
Rainbow Dash crashed inside, and fell face-first onto the carpet. She sniffed, and looked at the scorch with a grin.
A bright flash of lavender, with a dishevelled, insane unicorn emerging. Despite looking like a feral beast, Twilight was standing upright, eyes locked on Dash.
"Finally, I've trapped you."
"You know, Twi," Dash started. "I can fly through clouds."
"But you're not." Her horn flashed, and the clouds briefly shimmered with energy before returning to their normal state.
"Solidification magic..." Dash poked a cloud, finding it tougher than before. "I expected that."
Twilight closed her eyes. "You're smarter than you look. You must have something planned."
"I do." Dash gripped her knife and slashed at Twilight. When she opened her eyes, Twilight was standing, unharmed.
"Buh... Wha...?"
Twilight lifted the broken blade up to Rainbow's face. "A noble attempt." She casually tossed it out the window.
"How did...?"
Twilight grinned, and tore her robes in two. Nothing except bare fur.
"A very advanced shield spell." She turned to Rainbow. "Who knew that making the shield invisible actually reduced the output of the spell? But," She gripped Dash by the neck. "I digress."
"Twilight-!" Rainbow called out, tossing a glance to Cadence. "W-wait..."
"I've waited for three bucking years. No more." She squeezed harder. "You had to denounce our Goddesses, didn't you?" Tighter.
"Twi... Ple..."
"Was it to annoy me? Or to try to show the Princesses are normal like us? Or was it so that you could die a martyr?" Harder. "Well, it's not going to work."
Rainbow fought back the growing blackness and tears. Cadence silently gasped, seeing Dash's eyes start rolling upwards.
"You see, I'm just going to kill every single leader that pops up, starting with you. Next, will be your dear Fluttershy."
Dash gripped the aura, trying to untighten it. "No..."
"Oh, I can imagine it now. She'd hardly resist. She wouldn't even squeak as I wring the very life from her. It'll be so-"
Dash managed to slip a hoof under the otherwise intangible ring, pulling it out with sparks darting between them. "You won't have the chance! I won't stop until you're dead!"
Twilight grinned. "I think you used the wrong word."
The ring tightened up, trapping Dash's hooves under it, making the choking even tighter. Oh, the irony... Dash managed to think.
"It's 'I won't stop until I'm dead."
Dash tried to speak, but accidentally emptied her lungs without a sound. She tried breathing in, only to have her breath caught. She gagged, flailing around, trying to get air.
"Why am I enjoying this?" Twilight asked herself sarcastically. "Oh, that's right; you've been driving me crazy for four years. Your pathetic existence is why I can't let you live!"
"No!"
Twilight turned, still choking the flailing Pegasus. Cadence stood bravely, horn glowing brightly.
"What do you mean, 'no'?"
"You two are Elements of Harmony!" Cadence pointed to Dash, who was slowly weakening her flailing. "She's remained loyal to you through thick and thin, and this is how you thank her?"
"But- But she insulted our Goddesses! The ones that sent you!" Twilight started panicking, dropping Rainbow Dash like a ragdoll.
"They may be immortal and incredibly powerful," Cadence looked at Twilight with fury. "But they can die."
"Lies!" Twilight pointed a hoof accusingly. "Celestia has been alive for thousands of years!"
"Because she hasn't been killed yet." Cadence took a step forwards. "Twilight, think about this. Would Princess Celestia want you to do this?"
"Of course, because our Godde-"
"No, Twilight." Cadence dropped her rage, showing compassion. "Would Princess Celestia want this?"
Twilight started roaring in anger. "You're just like Rainbow Dash, and by Celestia you'll die like her!"
Cadence felt a sharp pain as a spike of cloud jabbed into her side. And another, as it exited. Another set, then another, then a fourth one. Cadence barely flinched.
"W-what? Why didn't you die?!"
Cadence's horn grew even brighter. "You missed. And I won't."
A bright light erupted from her horn-tip, striking the panicking unicorn square in the head. Twilight stumbled around and hit the wall, as the beam pushed her into the wall.
Cadence barely felt more cloudblades pierce her flesh, Twilight's insanity fighting to its last. Finally, she ran out of magic. Her vision slowly darkened.
The last thing she saw was Twilight waking, her eyes normal before shrinking.
"Cadence?"
Cadence's vision blacked out entirely, and barely registered one last voice.
"CADENCE!"