Xenith struck me with her forehooves, driving them into my wounded side.  I heard and felt as my cracked rib broke and punctured into one of my lungs.  I collapsed, sliding backwards from the force of the blow.  The world swam as I struggled for air.

It was like she’d known just where to strike to cause the most injury.  (As opposed to Daff, who had just known where to cause the most pain.)

I looked into the sky, a red fog seeping into the edges of my vision.  I saw the griffins flying above, their talons holding rifles.  I could hear the pounding of over two hundred hooves as the ponies in the bleachers called for my death.

A shadow fell over me.  I turned to see Xenith rearing up, her hooves raising above my face for a swift final blow.

I gasped, my horn flaring, and kicked against the ground.  My levitation blanket wrapped around me, making me nearly weightless, and I surged up off the ground like a kicked balloon.  The zebra’s hooves slammed into dirt that still bore the imprint of my head.

“Wait!” I gasped again, feeling the strain of levitating myself while I was struggling for proper breath.  “We… we don’t have to do this…”

Fallout: Equestria Chapter 26