Ophelia felt nerves tingle down her spine, her cooler breath at the advent of Orangemoon chilling her bones. The bright sky overhead glittered, and she was invisible, using the magic of her rank to ensure that she did not glow with the lights that adorned her pale frame. Side by side with Torleik, leaning against his black, muscular form, she remained grounded, heart beating hard in her chest. Born for war and raised by a warlord, she was excited, but her experience was still limited compared to the demon-horned stallion at her side. Everything had been prepared, no stone left unturned, and she briefly removed her invisibility so that her herd could see her as she turned. The pale princess smirked, the very hairs on her head vibrating with the passion of her future.

“Come. We will flank them through another entrance. Stay quiet and alert as we move from the south. There will be a contact inside who will show us the way.”

She gave the instruction to the others before turning, shifting invisible once more. Ophelia stayed close to Torleik, making sure that he knew the way to follow. Together, she and her troops shifted across the tree-lined border, looking in to the roaring falls and humid land of the God of the Earth. Once, she had ruled these grassy hills that had tumbled into water, and she was grateful for the din of the water tumbling on rocks that masked the footfalls of their steps.

Something shifted in the distance, and she inhaled sharply, gaze narrowed. “Wait here,” she whispered, trotting easily toward the source of the falling tree while invisible. There, she saw OXY based on Hotaru’s description, and Ophelia grinned widely. The pale princess returned to her troops and dropped her invisibility. “Come – our guide is here!” she said, loping easily forward and introducing her and her troops to the unicorn there.

Together, they followed, her cloven hooves depressing the watery ground as she ambled her way into the thick of the herd. Tinek stayed closed, not wanting his silver body to alert anyone to his presence; he was a very distinct dragon. Archibald’s voice echoed over the crashing falls, and she perked, ears tipping forward. “Go, guide us, Tinek,” she murmured, watching her dragon ascend into the sky. The main force was already at the swell of the entrance, and they moved from the back.

Ophelia was comforted knowing that Midas was trapped back home, but this herd was foreign to her. She stuck close to Torleik and waited for Deimos, Aviya and the others make a unified force. The pale princess took a deep breath, allowing all the rage and anger she felt toward Midas and his kin fill her to the brim. As if it was raining, crimson droplets marked her coat, red sliding down the ethereal, pale hairs of her body. The color matched her bloody, red eye, and she smirked.

“This is for their ignorance and prejudice,” she said. “This is for our friends in the Edge. This is for our pride. This is to let the world know that the Aurora Basin is not going to silently suffer fools.” Ophelia lifted her neck, her entire body nearly drenched in bloody red. The silver armor on her body protected her, and the bright light of the Sun God danced upon her brow.

The pale princess turned and took a deep breath, seeing the herd in the distance, and she nodded to Oxy, thanking him for his assistance. “For my family,” she whispered beneath her breath. Then, like a berserker, she lunged, jaws wide open from a mousy, crimson maw. A Valkyrie of power and beauty, she raced forward, throwing her body into the fray without hindrance. Ophelia crashed through the water, invisibility guarding her body for the moment. She wanted to make sure that her first attack was unnoticed, and what better way than to be invisible?

“Be safe, Torleik,” she murmured in his mind as the narrowed her two-toned gaze on ELSA. Ophelia had fought her before and won. Today, hopefully, she would experience the same. The pale princess, still invisible, lowered her neck and aimed to smash her entire right shoulder into ELSA, hoping to force the pegasus down and possibly injure a wing in the process. Seconds later, she released her invisibility magic, attempting to assault ELSA’s mind and remove as many memories as possible. She wanted her to forget even the ground on which she stood.

And the sun was setting in the west, to their back left.