If the lhaksharut was intimidated by Mihr’s sudden appearance, it didn’t show it.
“Secondary target recognized,” came its emotionless voice. “Running multi-spectrum analysis. Analysis complete. Entity class: six. Meta-type: para-mortal. Numinous mode confirmed: sacred gradient. Magnitude: category four. Classification: aasimon, mercurian, first rank.” It withdrew its spear then, but only to pull the weapon back into a ready position, its other arms adopting similarly aggressive positions. “Conclusion: containment pending dispossession.”
“Stand down,” repeated Mihr, his sword still floating in front of him. The weapon’s tip had been pointing upward when it caught the lhaksharut’s attack before, but now it turned to point menacingly at the metal-and-stone creature. “Your actions are in violation of the provisional codicil that our representatives agreed to regarding this world.”
“Negative.” The lhaksharut’s unchanging face and uninflected voice gave nothing away, but the fact that it responded to the charge at all was proof enough that the angel’s words had struck home. “Corpus Juris Universalis section one-zero-six part two states that interim annotations to its canon shall not interfere with the enforcement of extant regulations.”
“That,” replied Mihr without hesitation, “is only in the event that a conflict occurs between existing statutes and temporary agreements. But the only conflict I see here is you slaughtering people who are helpless to fight back.”
“Designation: primary target has created multiple non-volatile planar apertures in violation of Corpus Juris Universalis section one-six part four. Destination planes are under no interim annotations regarding non-interference for evaluation purposes. Termination of designation: primary target thus takes priority. Designation: secondary targets are to be terminated to eliminate interference with prior directive.” The metal spheres in the lhaksharut’s lower arms flared to life at that, glowing with flames and crackling with electricity again.
“Someone was creating permanent planar gateways?” Mihr’s brow furrowed at the news, but he shook his head a moment later. “That’s no excuse for this savagery. These people aren’t even aware of the laws you’re enforcing!” He looked around the wreckage again, his expression darkening. “To execute them all goes against the spirit of our agreeing to observe and evaluate this world in the first place! A simple promise from the offending party to cease creating those gateways could have avoided this!”
“Negative. Designation: primary target identified as class five para-mortal entity with magnitude four anarchic numinous mode. As per Corpus Juris Universalis section eight-five-six part seven, agreements with such entities are void without category six or higher thaumaturgical enforcement. Part eight specifies that such enforcement is insufficient if the entity has access to category nine thaumaturgical abilities. Termination directive is therefore given priority status.”
The sigh Mihr gave then was a sad one, but his features didn’t lose their resolve. “I have no wish to destroy you, enforcer, but I cannot allow you to do this. This world is an unsullied garden, one you would mar with the blood of its protectors. Such a thing must not happen.” Mihr’s horn glowed then, and seemingly from nowhere he produced a bow almost as large as he was, though no arrows accompanied it. “This is your final warning: disengage your assault and vacate this world immediately. I will see to it that no further gates are created.”
“Insufficient. Primary and secondary targets must be terminated.”
“Then be prepared to defend yourself, for I will not fail to defend them.” With that final declaration, Mihr slowly flapped his wings, rising into the air until he was level with the lhaksharut’s face. His sword followed of its own accord, and within the grip of his telekinetic aura he pulled back the string of his bow, an arrow appearing from out of nowhere, nocked and aimed at his foe threateningly.
The lhaksharut needed no further prompting, weapons raised as it rushed forward. But it didn’t swing any of them as it moved to close the gap between itself and the angel. Nor did it raise the spheres held in its lower hands. Instead it curled its metal wings around – the damaged one having had time to repair itself during their conversation – in an attempt to make contact with the angel.
But Mihr was faster. In an instant, the angel’s sword had multiplied a hundredfold, scores of blades now hovering in the air where a single one had been only a second ago, forming a barrier of glistening steel as they immediately set to whirling. The swords flew through the air as they moved into position around the charging inevitable, encircling it on all sides.
The lhaksharut seemed not to care. Without hesitation, it plunged through the curtain of swords, the blades slicing it from every direction. But although the attack left deep cuts all over its body, it wasn’t enough to stop the thing, and it closed the gap between itself and Mihr a heartbeat later. Lashing out with the speed of a cobra, one metallic wing struck the angel’s armor. A hideous scraping sound could be heard as razor-sharp feathers tore across Mihr’s protective ensemble, but when the lhaksharut withdrew its wing a second later, all it had to show for its efforts was a shallow cut across the armor, not having cut deep enough to penetrate.
But piercing the angel’s armor had never been the creature’s goal.
Having made contact with its enemy, the lhaksharut’s spell immediately discharged. In an instant, space seemed to fold in around Mihr. A refraction formed around him, as though he was surrounded by glass so clear that it couldn’t be seen, and the angel visibly struggled as the warped area seemed to tighten, compressing him even as it suddenly shot downward, passing through the floor seamlessly.
“Containment complete,” announced the lhaksharut once the angel was gone, before turning to the remaining ponies. “Commencing termination of secondary ta-”
It wasn’t able to finish as Mihr suddenly burst up from the spot where he’d disappeared into the ground, reemerging as suddenly as he’d vanished. Wasting no time with words, the angel immediately unleashed the arrow he’d nocked, the shaft striking the lhaksharut directly in the chest with enough force to make the inevitable jerk backward. A second one slammed home as well, but by the time the third and fourth arrows struck the creature, it had regained its equilibrium, swatting them out of the air with its melee weapons. “Warning,” it blared suddenly. “Necrotic damage sustained. Countermeasures failing. Cause unknown.”
“It’s not my slaying arrows that you should fear, enforcer,” answered Mihr coolly. “It’s my blade.”
The words had no sooner left his lips than his sword – the original one, still hovering by his side while the others remained where they’d originally appeared as a wall of whirling blades – flew upward. The lhaksharut moved its weapons into a defensive position, but the sword danced around them nimbly, rushing in to cleave a deep gash along the lhaksharut’s side, then a second cut along its middle arm, and a third across its chest. It was only the fourth blow, aimed at the creature’s face, that missed, and even then only by a fraction of an inch as the inevitable jerked backward. “Warning,” it announced again. “Anarchic-gradient numinous damage sustained. Structural defenses insufficient to withstand. Self-repair systems failing.”
“Indeed.” Mihr’s wings flapped as he took to the air again, circling the lhaksharut. “Although I serve the will of Heaven, I’ve maintained my friendships with those among the Hosts of Virtue who champion freedom and individuality. Thus, all it took was a simple prayer for them to anoint my sword with the energies of chaos once I realized that I would be facing one of your kind.” The angel’s sword flew back over to him then, hovering in front of him once again. “You, however, have no connections beyond your axiomatic brethren, and so lack the profane magic necessary to truly harm me. Your only hope was to imprison me within that container of sealed time, and you failed.” Slowly, the angel drew the string on his bow again, another arrow appearing as he leveled it at the inevitable. “This battle was decided before it ever began. The only question now is if you’ll continue to pursue this foolishness and force me to destroy you.”
The lhaksharut didn’t stand down, but neither did it rush to resume the battle. “Calculating alternative tactical options,” it announced a moment later. But unlike the last time it said that, it didn’t immediately proclaim that its calculations were complete. Instead, several seconds went by before it finally spoke again. “Alternative options not found. Current projected status of fulfilling primary directive: eighteen-point-five-three percent plus/minus fourteen-point-four-two percent.”
“Poor odds by any measure.” Despite his casual tone of voice, Mihr didn’t lower his weapons, keeping his arrow trained on the lhaksharut as his sword held its ready position. “But if you find them preferable to abandoning your current course of action, allow me to try one last time to convince you otherwise: if you cease attacking, I will personally guarantee that whoever opened those planar gateways will refrain from doing so again until the provisional codicil regarding this world’s disposition under planar law is decided upon.”
Again, silence fell as the lhaksharut seemed to consider its options. In the time that it did, the damage that it had sustained began to fade once again, with the deep gouges that Mihr’s sword had placed on it slowly starting to close. “Self-repair systems rebooted,” it noted.
Mihr drew his arrow further back. “A development that can be rectified in a moment if you feel that my word is insufficient.”
“…negative.” At last the lhaksharut lowered its arms, abandoning its attack posture. “Alternative option deemed sufficient.”
Mihr sighed with relief. “Thank you.” He lowered his bow then, the arrow that he’d nocked disappearing the same way it had reappeared. His sword likewise moved to sheathe itself. A moment later, the wall of whirling blades that he’d conjured was gone as well.
The lhaksharut had no visible reaction to Mihr’s gesture of goodwill. “This concordance will be immediately reported as an amendment to the interim annotation regarding this world’s provisional disposition.”
Mihr nodded. “I understand. Please convey to your superiors my hope that this incident will not prevent us from working together to ensure the prosperity of this place and its people.”
The lhaksharut made no acknowledgment of Mihr’s statement, instead silently invoking its magic. A moment later it was gone, having vanished without any further statements or fanfare.
Just like that, the fight was over.
Knowing that the inevitable was incapable of breaking its word once it had been given, Mihr was at last able to turn his full attention to his surroundings. What he saw made him grimace. The surviving ponies – and one small dragon – had gathered the fallen figures of their companions, now located behind a nearby pile of rubble that offered some makeshift cover. Tears and soft words of comfort were being shared as the larger one was praying for the salvation of her fallen fellows, while the others glanced between her and himself.
Intent on rectifying the situation immediately, Mihr touched down, folding his wings to his sides as he reached within his armor, withdrawing a small silken pouch. Even as he started to open it, one of the ponies crept forward cautiously. “Um, Mihr, is it?” she began, her voice thick with nervousness. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, and I wanted to thank you for saving us-”
“Forgive me, Twilight Sparkle, but I have not yet earned your gratitude,” interrupted Mihr, opening the pouch and pouring its contents – sparkling diamond dust – onto one of his hooves. “Not until I have undone the wrongs that have been allowed to transpire this day.”
Wasting no further time, Mihr knelt down, ignoring Twilight’s awkward look as he lowered his head. Slowly gesturing, he began to chant in a soft, lyrical language, the words flowing and elegant as he allowed the powdered gemstones to spill from his hooves and onto the ground. It was only after his prayer was finished that he switched back to recognizable speech, making no move to rise. “Lords of Compassion,” he intoned softly, “Patrons of Mercy, I beseech you: alleviate the harms that have been inflicted on these innocents today. Assuage their suffering. Tend to their wounds. Renew them and let them suffer not under your gentle ministrations. In your name, this I pray.”
His supplication was answered almost immediately.
All around them, the wreckage began to move of its own accord, rising into the air and floating at a gentle pace, each piece of debris going out of its way to avoid striking anyone. Slowly, each stone and splinter joined together with those around them, reforming the ruined castle. Walls erected themselves as though they’d never fallen. The craters on the floor filled in without leaving so much as a crack to show that they’d been there. The ceiling reconstituted itself, as solid as it had ever been. And outside, seen through the windows where even now the glass was restoring itself, the fallen tower could be seen rising up into the air, pulling itself together as it stood up again.
Nor was the castle the only thing restored by the angel’s prayer. Nearby, groans erupted as wounded bodies suddenly found themselves restored. Rainbow Dash jumped up instantly, looking around until she found where Applejack was slowly blinking her eyes and pulling her into a fierce hug. One that was joined a moment later by Pinkie, looking no worse for wear, and Fluttershy and Spike a second after that. Princess Celestia was similarly sitting up, checking herself for damage before being hugged by Cadance and Shining Armor, the latter already restored by his wife’s magic but still looking refreshed by the angel’s prayer.
Smiling as he saw that the tears of sadness had been replaced by ones of joy, Mihr turned back to the pony in front of him. But she had already rushed over to rejoin her friends and family, throwing herself around them in a warm embrace. The sight was enough to make the angel smile.
Seeing that was the only thanks he needed.
Okay...I get that Mihr is a high ranking angel and a powerful one at that but the display of power pretty much blows everything Twilight and her party did out of the water. Makes me glad he's on the side of good... though I do wonder if it would be enough to give aid in the princesses desire to defeat Lex.
Though given the apparent accord between Mihr's people and other beings from outside of Equestria's plane of existence, I highly doubt it. While stopping the Inevitable was due to extenuating circumstances, directly intervening on native affairs is probably out of Mihr's jurisdiction. At the very least, the angel could inform the princesses of Severance's departure from Equestria. And maybe remove Lex's curse as a parting gift or maybe it was already lifted when Mihr restored everything?
Angelic kindness
Lawful order
Both individuals, each an upholder.
But kindness won
At least for this time
Now I sadly must
End this day's rhyme.
Glad this guy has Phoenix Wright on his book list, though given teh class levels, no idea what type of spell it was except maybe a relation to Time Reversal?
I always have problem with Time Freeze spells, after all, a proper Freeze, means zero time occurs inside relative to teh duration of the universe outside, so unless the spell fails at the end of time and gives the occupant the chance to time shift back, or it works by rotating the internal time axis relative to local space and so you need a temporal planar shift capabilitiy, you aint getting out of it, because with a point time, you no longer exist to be able to carry out an action to escape?
Sorry, minor niggle.
How is Twilight going to communicate or get a pass in order to reopen even just one mirror, never mind all the other intersections and connections around the world. What happens if like Excession, the Tree of Harmony has even more power available because its using dimentional gradients and temporal spanning to keep an eye on teh world and how to influence it?
10077436 When you compare their stats, it's not surprising that a lhaksharut can't compare to a solar angel. For instance, all inevitables are immune to death effects, but the slaying arrows that a solar creates bypass that immunity (although it still had to roll a natural 1 to fail the saving throw and take the extra damage, so that was some bad luck there). Likewise, align weapon is one of the spells that solars typically prepare, which lets its sword bypass the lhaksharut's damage reduction and regeneration. The lhaksharut, in turn, had no evil-based spells or effects to use on Mihr in turn. It might have had some luck attacking him with fire and electrical attacks, since Mihr only had resistance 10 against those (the normal damage they deal is an average of 35 points), but with his regeneration still active, and Mihr's incredibly high Armor Class (44), that wasn't a winning prospect either. Especially after the lhaksharut took a lot of damage from Mihr's blade barrier. Once its imprisonment failed (it got through Mihr's spell resistance, but his Will save was too high to easily be trapped by that), the fight was basically over. Fortunately the lhaksharut wasn't so foolish as to pursue a failing strategy by trying to force a conflict.
...ahem. Things like this are why I use existing stats, since they help establish a baseline for how this sort of conflict would go.
As for exactly what agreement the angels and other planar societies have apparently reached with regard to Equestria, my guess is that we'll find out more rather soon. Hopefully he'll be able to help out Luna, though; after all, he repaired the castle and healed everyone, so maybe that'll be a bit of lagniappe?
10077655 I liked the part about "at least this time." We have a pretty good idea about how strong Twilight and her friends have grown, and they were overpowered by the lhaksharut, which was itself overpowered by Mihr. So what would happen if a threat showed up that the angel found too difficult to easily defeat?
It's frightening to think about, certainly.
10077727 Mihr overcame the lhaksharut's imprisonment spell with his saving throw, after it initially got past his spell resistance. It should be noted that this was a bit hard to write in a descriptive manner, since it's basically "the spell seals you deep underground in a sphere while keeping you in a state of suspended animation," and a successful saving throw means that you essentially shake it off before it can get ahold of you. Or in other words, "you make your save, but there's no real visual indicator of what happened." To that end, it seemed more dramatic to have him actually fight it off while it was trying to enact itself. The mechanical part was the same, but it made for a better narrative passage.
As for more gates to other worlds, note the obvious loophole here: the issue was with permanent gates to other worlds. After all, the lhaksharut didn't seem to have a problem with any of the plane-hopping that's gone on up until now, you'll notice.
10078411
Given its stated it already dealt with several other instances, and so the Mirror, at this point the mirror would be rebuildable, but only because using the removable book makes it temporary, even if the book is left in place for an arbitary length of time? A gate that opens only to let one person through at a time, if it cycles rapidly, has the same effect as a permanent link?
10078463 Well that depends on who'd be trying to do the rebuilding. There are rules for repairing a destroyed magic item, but they're fairly stringent. Make whole can do it if your caster level is at least twice that of the item, and greater make whole can do it if your caster level is equal to that of the item, but that might be a tall order for a magic item that was utilizing an equivalent to the gate spell, which has a minimum caster level of 17, which is extremely high. So that one seems out of reach for the moment. Making a new one would actually be harder, since Twilight would need to supply the requisite spell(s) and expend the necessary costs, even if we overlooked the in-character issue of knowing how to actually build it (which, interestingly enough, Twilight's Pathfinder stats say she should, at least in theory, since she has the Craft Wondrous Item feat).
Now, there's still a link between the journal that Sunset Shimmer has and the one Twilight has (interestingly, Twilight apparently makes another in Mirror Magic, though that might just be that she made a new set and was already in possession of hers). But that's not the same as a portal per se; a lot of spell effects can reach between planes, but lhaksharuts don't hunt those down, the same way they don't hunt down temporary portals.
What happened to the doods trapped in the other side? How will they get back without piissing off the ihaksharut
Not often we get to see a conflict between such high-ranking extraplanar beings. I very much enjoyed that.
10078819 Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon still being on Everglow is a problem to be sure. But there's a ray of hope in that the lhaksharut and its ilk only seem to care about permanent portals between the planes. Temporary gates and plane-shifting spells seem to be okay, since so far no such uses of them have provoked its ire.
10079295 Thanks! I was initially worried that it was too brief, and didn't have enough intensity (e.g. collateral damage) for such powerful beings, but this is the scene that felt most natural; namely, that they'd very quickly determine who had the upper hand, and the losing side wouldn't press a conflict that they knew they couldn't win when there were alternatives available (less palatable alternatives, but still better than dying to pursue a losing course of action).
10079754
Neither is an unintelligent automaton. Their convictions are pure, but reason still exists.