“Hey. Are you awake?”
Twilight groaned and blinked, flopping over on a cloud. All around her was a vortex of silent wind, with stars above and land far below. “I'm guessing no, since I'm here.”
Aurora giggled. “More or less. You’re still getting rest, so don’t worry about that.”
“Okay then.” Twilight turned over and stood with a yawn. “What's up?”
An image of Farriér appeared over them, frozen in the moment he fired an electrical attack at them. “I wanted to talk to you about Farriér’s bonded blade.”
“Bonded? I suspected as much. You have proof?”
“I just… know. From the moment we clashed, I could tell. It was definitely a bonded blade. But…” Aurora put her forelegs behind her and blushed like a lamb. “This isn't… What I have to say isn't very nice.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow and laid down next to her. “You can tell me. I Pinkie Promise I won't tell anypony else what you said.”
“Well… I think…” Aurora blushed even harder. “I think his blade might be… Mentally deficient.”
Twilight sorted back a laugh. “Wait, you're saying that his bonded blade is stupid?”
“‘Stupid’ doesn't quite begin to cover it.” Aurora scratched her head. “I really think there's some kind of handicap involved here. I'm not sure how, but I think it's intelligence is… probably around that of a moderately stupid dog.”
There was a pause.
“Wait, are you saying that the weapon he has is defective? With that much power?”
“’Defective’ is probably not the right word. In all likelihood, it was simply not created to the same standard as I was. Fortunately, this offers us an advantage.” Aurora waved her hoof, changing the floating image to a partial magic circle. “Both of the attacks used against us had this base formula. I also detected it at seventeen cycles per second within its core, which is unusual. I have a theory as to why, though.”
“Way ahead of you.” Twilight pulled up dozens of circles, each powerless but detailed, and all bearing the same base formula. “It just knows dog tricks. Sure, a dog could master dozens of commands, but they’re all just little things based on a limited mind. It’s a poor pony’s bonded blade. All of its abilities probably stem from this one core idea, matched to an oversized power source. All brute force, no finesse.” She smiled at her partner. “And I’m guessing that since I already have some ideas on how to counter it, you probably do, too.”
“I do. Although, adapting my damage enchantments is relatively difficult. My thaumic profile is the same as yours, and changing resistances requires a whole new outer shell of runes. I think that by the time I am done, the mission will be long since over. It would be easier to adapt your combat barriers.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Twilight brought up the spells Shining had taught her and put them each overhead. “My BBBFF gave me a good start. His barriers are the best, bar none. But, I still have a lot of work to do if I'm going to get my matrix to his level. He was right; his own matrix is far too customized to his own profile for me to use.”
“I wouldn't think that adding specific resistances would be very difficult. Especially when all the spells we're looking at share the same base.”
“No, it's not. But I want to cast a wider net than that. Other ponies aren't the only threats in San Palomino, or Equestria. For now, let's try to add fire resistance in addition to lightning. Given where we are, that seems most appropriate.”
Aurora fidgeted with her hooves. “Um, there was something else I wanted to ask.”
“Hmm?” Twilight tilted her head and chewed on the pen that had suddenly appeared in her mouth.
“The gas mask you received from the Crown Agents? I think I can integrate it into myself. I've been thinking about doing something completely sealed, but that's really hard. A filter would be much easier.”
Twilight nodded. “Great idea! First thing tomorrow, I'll ‘feed’ it to you. Then I won't have to worry about the dust storms and pollution anymore!”
“Yep!” Aurora held her forelegs out wide, and Twilight pulled her into a hug.
“AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!”
The two shared a look.
“Wasn't me,” Aurora said with a shrug.
“And it wasn't me…” Twilight paused for an instant before she and Aurora both finished with “Rose!”
Aurora clenched her eyes shut. “I don't detect hostile magic, but still. Better wake up. I'll deploy, just in case.”
“You got it.” Twilight stared up into the starry sky, willing herself awake.
“AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!”
Twilight flung off her blanket while Aurora covered her in metal. In one swift move, she was up, armoured, blade drawn, and ready to face whatever. The only problem was that ‘whatever’ was just a screaming Rose. Her wards were all intact, as was her shield she had placed over them last night.
“Rose?” Twilight put her blade away. Rose was writhing in agony in her sleeping bag, but it wasn't from wounds. As much as Twilight tried to find something wrong, there was only screaming. “Must be one incredible nightmare.”
She walked around the still-glowing rocks that made up their pseudo-campfire and grabbed Rose by her shoulders. “Hey! Wake up! It's just a nightmare!” Twilight gave her a single, hard shake.
“AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!”
“Okay, plan B.” Twilight lit her horn and grabbed the piece of wood she had brought with her, then pointed it straight up. “Sender's Shower!”
The water rocketed into the heavens, then fell straight down.
In just a couple seconds, they were soaked to the bone, surrounded by fog, and very much awake.
“Huh? Whuh? Ack!” Rose coughed at the last of the deluge that found its way down her throat and possibly her nostrils. “What… What was…”
“You are having a nightmare.” Twilight laid down on the hot desert floor, basking in the warmth of the clay and sand. “Sounded like a bad one. Do you want to talk about it?”
Rose clenched her eyes shut, her breath nearly at a panting stage. She didn’t speak until it had calmed down. “Talking won't do any good. Where's my medicine?” Rose tossed off her blanket with a wet flop and dashed to her bag. “Where is it?”
“What kind of medicine is it?”
Rose pulled out a bottle and downed three pills without so much as a drop to drink. “Evaneir. Helps me sleep. Keeps the nightmares away.”
“Never heard of it.” Aurora pinged Twilight with a nonverbal confirmation; neither of them knew of it. “And it doesn't look like it works very well,” Twilight continued. “Even Rarity doesn't scream like that for a nightmare, and she can make anything dramatic.”
“Look, all I know is that if I don't take it, things get even worse, okay?” Rose snarled and rung out her tail. “Everypony needs to butt out of this. I'm doing what I can!”
“Whoa, okay!” Twilight held up her hooves. “We're friends here. Just trying to help.”
Rose facehooved. “Sorry, I… Sorry. You live out here, you learn to manage on your own. I have a doctor. He's the best I can afford. Yes, the nightmares are bad and happen every night, but they get a lot worse if I stop taking it. No, I can't afford to go to the capital. Yes, I'm managing, so stop yelling!”
Twilight blinked.
“Wait, you weren't…” Rose groaned. “Sorry again. I'm used to idiots telling me what to do right about there.”
“I won't tell you what to do. It's your health, your business.”
Rose opened her mouth, but only stuttered. “A-b, ni, buh… Huh. That's new. Most try to get me to try some crazy remedy or something.”
Twilight shook her head. “What you're experiencing is something that should be evaluated, monitored, and treated by a medical professional. That's one thing I am not.
“That being said, I also think you should get a second opinion to compare against your current one. But that's just my recommendation. Whether you follow it or not is your business.”
“Nope.” Rose folded her forelegs. “Can't afford to.”
“I'll pay for your ticket.”
Rose took in a breath, then stopped to raise her eyebrow. “‘Ticket’?”
“My father is a somnologist, which is a doctor specializing in sleep disorders. One of the best alive. I can convince him to waive his out-of-Duchy fee, so you just need a train ticket to Ponyville. Really, given the circumstances and the severity of your condition, you might be a case study.” Twilight mentally thought at Aurora, Not tomention his most stubborn patient since me.
“Wait.” Rose pointed a sneakily suspicious hoof at Twilight. “Isn't your father supposed to be some high-muckity-muck noble with like three mistresses?”
Twilight snorted back a laugh. “Yeah, right. He's a good doctor, but nopony in our family was nobility until my brother managed to marry Cadence. My mom wishes he was a noble. And he's as romantically dense as my brother. Even if a mare tried to get him into an affair, he wouldn't realize it.
“In short, don't pay too much attention to the tabloids. Their accuracy is, at best, woefully lacking.”
“Ah.” Rose pursed her lips. “Well, crap. Guess I'm out of excuses. I'll… think about it. I hate going to new doctors.”
“You've got nothing to worry about, trust me. Worst case scenario, you have to listen to some of his puns.” Twilight shuddered. “Or he goes to work in one of his tourist T-shirts.”
“Sounds like I'm not the only mare with at least one ‘character’ for a father.”
“Yeah.” Twilight yawned and walked back to her sleeping bag. “Stallions are weird.”
“So are mares, really.” Rose pulled her blanket over her. “We're just more interesting about it.”
“Ow.” Spike flopped onto the bare dirt. The afternoon sky was pretty and peaceful, with far fewer pegasi than one would expect. The warm dirt was a nice contrast to the cool breeze, and there was a nice touch of smoke in the air as the minotaurs were starting up the cooking fires. All in all, this was a nice place to be.
“Come on, Spike. I think you're done for the day.”
It was certainly better than getting his scaly behind handed to him time and again. Why aren't we hiring these guys into the Royal Guard? Spike wondered. They can seriously fight.
“Spike?” Valley asked. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” he said. At least he thought he said it. It might have been a string of garbled groans and grumbles.
“Okay, you. No more today, and no more tomorrow.” Valley grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. “Celestia will blow this place to smithereens if we let you get too hurt.”
Spike’s world wobbled like pudding. His legs were giving the world a good run for its money —not that he would be doing any real running anytime soon. “Mrglefrgle.” And he was quoting Twilight's grumbles now. Psychiatrists the world over would have a field day with that.
“Come on, let's get some water in you. Dragons can get dehydrated, right?” Valley was nice enough to let him lean on her while he did something vaguely resembling walking.
“No idea.” Spike said. “Hasn't been an issue before. But water and food sounds nice.”
Another minute or so went by until they arrived at a picnic table which was already set for dinner. Valley had left to deal with something or other. Spike wasn't quite awake enough to pay attention. Yeah, he thought. Definitely overdid it.
He flexed his arm and felt the muscles under his scales. They weren't any bigger, not that he expected them to be. Some of the minotaurs had biceps the size of watermelons, and powerful though they were, he didn't quite want to be that bulked out. At least, not until he was the size of a small house.
The more important thing was what he had learned. Twilight was right: knowledge was power, and practice made perfect. He'd learned simple things. Stances, better ways to punch, ways to block a pony's kick… and how ridiculously strong minotaurs were. He was also exhausted, and soundly lost his last bout, but there was something else, too.
He'd managed to block Valley a couple times, and even landed a blow on her. When he started, he couldn't have done that even with a miracle on his side. Less than two days, and he'd already gone that far.
I need to stay here. Spike drank from a mug that had appeared next to him, probably from Valley or one of the other minotaurs. I was right. Luna may be crazy strong, but she doesn't know how to be a biped. How to fight like one. They do. I need to learn more. I don't have long until Twilight is powerful enough that it might not matter, but even a little while longer could mean a lot.
And, even alicorns can't be in two places at once. Maybe one day she'll need me to be able to fight someplace she can't be.
“Mmmmmphle!” Spike coughed out water from his lungs that was trying to sneak down and have a party by his diaphragm. A second later, he pulled the mug off his face and swatted away Valley’s hand, which was pushing his glass on his face.
“Paying attention yet, scale-butt?” Valley gave him a wink. “I was calling your name and you weren't responding.”
“Sorry.” Spike yawned through a cough of steam. “Kinda out of it.”
“Like I said, no fighting tomorrow. Right now, though, Weaponsmaster Forge wants to see you in the Core Smithy.”
Spike raised an eyebrow. “Me? What about?”
Valley shrugged. “Nothing strenuous, I'm sure. But what Weaponsmaster wants…”
“Weaponsmaster gets. I know that feel.” Spike stood up, this time under his own power, and his legs had a slightly lower pudding content than before.
The village wasn't any larger than Ponyville had been when he and Twilight had first moved there, and it didn't take him long to wobble his way over to the building in question. Like the others, it was round with an exposed, red-painted wooden frame, and thick, dense stone walls draped in a tough cloth.
Inside, it was completely open, with various workstations. Weaponsmaster Forge was at a firepit in the center, which was filled with dark flame. Crash after crash hit from his hammer, each enough for Spike to feel through the ground. How the core hadn't exploded or broken yet, Spike had no idea.
The whole place reeked of smoke, though that didn't bother Spike any. It was the darkness that unnerved him. A skylight was letting in plenty of sunlight, but it was so bright the rest of the room was too dim for him to make out any great detail. Even the dark flames didn't provide more than a faint violet glow. If the dirt floor wasn't clear, he could trip and fall into something unfortunate.
“Come on in, boy.” Forge doused the gem in a vat of oil, then set it on a stone table and took off his mask. “We have a decision to make.”
“What kind of decision?” Spike went to lean on the table, but stopped as he thought better of getting too close to the core. “I don't have the same legal powers as Twilight does, so don't ask for anything... governmental. Not my call.”
“It's not that. It's this core.” Forge reached out with a fireproof-glove-covered hand and held the gem up to the light. It had taken on a diluted purple hue. “It's tasted your master’s power, but… The spark of light it needs to be a bonded blade isn't forming. I can still try, but I only have a one in twenty chance of pulling this off. Even I have limits. If I fail, the core will break.”
Spike folded his arms and scratched his chin. “What's the alternative?”
“I stop trying to make it a bonded blade, and make it into an oversized cored blade instead. It wouldn't be on par with a well-made bonded artifact, but it would easily be able to match any cored equipment she came across.” He tapped the gem in the table. “At least, it would be for anything I've come across.”
“Hmmm…” Spike narrowed his eyes on the core. What would Twilight want? The threats we’re going up against aren't getting any weaker. And she was supposed to have a bonded blade from the get go.
But a broken core is useless. At that point, it might as well be food… His stomach growled, and he had to pull back on his instinct to give it a punch. Quiet, you.
He sucked in a breath and sighed. Plus, while we take big risks in our missions, this seems like an unnecessary roll of the dice. We can always make do until we get a new core, which could be any day now, since Mipaka blew himself to kingdom come. So…
“Make the cored blade. We can try again for a bonded blade later. If our improbable travels don't bring us face to face with a new high-powered core, I'd be shocked.”
Weaponsmaster Forge nodded and grunted in approval. “I'll get started right away. Since the process is simpler, I should finish tonight.”
“Sounds awesome.” Spike yawned. “I'm going to take a nap. And find some aspirin.”
“Rest well. From what Celestia had told me, you never know when you'll next get to.”
“Ain't that the truth…”
They flew on through the day, staying just high enough to keep out of the worst of the heat. The ground never stopped being desolate, but that didn't stop Twilight from writing and drawing everything she could. Below their little cart was a land unspoiled by development, much like the Everfree, and in many ways even more dangerous.
Just like in the fabled forest, creatures roamed everywhere. So much so, in fact, that it was a wonder she hadn't seen more before this stage of her journey. Many were tiny, so much so that she needed her binoculars to see them from so far up. Some, however, were the size of hydras, such as the sand crabs, which were made of the desert itself.
The ground shifted over time, too. Some places had dunes as red as blood, while others had bare brown rock. For the first part of their flight, only a few dotted buttes marred the landscape, but that soon gave way to sand, which gave way to the canyons and peaks they now found themselves over. As Twilight looked up from one interesting formation to find another, she found one canyon in particular that caught her eye. Primarily, it was due to the smoke coming from it.
Twilight sighed. “Please tell me that isn't the compound that we’re looking for. Please tell me that it isn't on fire.” The ripping sound of anti-aircraft fire tore through the desert. “Ugh. It is, isn't it? It's on fire. Why are half my destinations always on fire?”
“Actually…” Rose squinted. “The compound is beyond that canyon. I mean, I was about to land anyway, because Diamond Reign is a crazy, out of her mind, banana-balls ‘I’m-going-to-shoot-anything-that-flies-and-gets-near-my-home’ kind of mare. But I don't think that it's the compound making that smoke. It's too close.”
“Then land us. Last thing I want is to get shot before we even get there.”
“Going down!” Rose dove for the desert floor, levelling out inches over the sand and rock. The cart nearly shook itself apart as they skidded towards the edge of the canyon. With one last stomp, the vehicle swung left, halting in the perfect position to get a wonderful view of the valley below—and the creature in it.
Twilight swallowed. “Rose? Wh-what is that?”
“Th-th-tha—” Rose's eyes twitched as if she was being electrocuted. “Th-th-th-th-th-th-th—”
“RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAWWWWWWWGGGGGHHHHHRRRRRR!” The monster, whatever it was, bellowed like nothing Twilight had ever heard. A tower of stone next to it crumbled just from the force of sound. A huge, turtle-like shell covered its back, easily twelve stories high. The monster's ten stump legs lumbered forward one at a time. Instead of a tail, there was only a second head.
What Twilight saw most, though, was that it didn't have skin. The entire thing was nothing more than bleached bone, oozing miasma, and a choking, living darkness.
Wait… Twilight’s teeth chattered along with the guns of the ponies in the valley and the bolts harmlessly bouncing off the thing’s shell. The miasma… I can see it! But I'm not using my thaumic sight! Which means, it's so thick, I don't need it! And worse… She looked to Rose, who was still frozen in fear. They can see it, too.
“Twilight! Heavy artillery!”
Twilight shot her gaze down to a new group of ponies running in, each pulling a single heavy cannon behind them. The guns weren't the anti-aircraft, anti-personnel kind worn on the back. These were so heavy they were being dragged on wheels, and looked like they were pulled off of light airships at some point.
Maybe those will do some damage, at least. Twilight pushed at her torc with magic, deploying into its new form after having absorbed a gas mask. The new functionality wasn’t complete, but Aurora had already made significant changes. Twilight’s entire body was now sealed off from the outside, save for her mouth, nose, and horn, the latter of which had to be completely uncovered to use magic. Even her eyes were covered with something that looked like glass, but was actually more metal enchanted to be transparent. Shields up! She twisted her magic around her horn, putting up layer after layer of shielding, each with its own job to do.
Boom! BOOM!
The force of the artillery knocked Twilight out of the chariot. Gravity took hold. She was a third of the way down the canyon before it all caught up to her. The heavy cannon shell had ricocheted off the monstrosity and hit the rocks underneath them, crumbling the cliff they were standing on into nothing. Rose was upside down, flailing about uselessly.
Twilight, meanwhile, was calm, focused, and ready. She took in a breath, choking just a little on the dusty air. Aurora hadn't finished her filters yet. Hopefully, she wouldn't need them. Her shields weren't quite ready, either, but some were up. It would have to do. She lit her horn and fired her first spell, rocketing herself forward through teleportation.
Rose hit the ground, and hard. The crash of wood on rock was a symphony of splinters and cracks playing a concerto of worry into Twilight’s ears.
Stay focused. Rose is a heavy pegasus. It'll take way more than that to hurt her. Twilight teleported again, launching upwards and pulling out her telekinetic blade. Down she slashed, cutting into bone and carving a line several stories tall down clear to its belly.
The only problem was, the cut wasn't there.
I know I connected… No matter how hard she looked, there was nothing. No gash, no blood, not even a trace of her attack.
“Look out!”
Twilight tore through reality once more, sliding backwards on all four hooves upon exit. A heavy, flat, bony foot crunched down into the sand where she had been just a moment ago.
Twilight sneered. “Okay, plan B.”
The thing lifted up one of its heads, and everypony braced themselves. A roar second only to the explosion in Zebrica blasted through the valley and the skulls of anypony unlucky enough to be too close. Black miasma bellowed into the air like smoke from a chimney, but only for a few seconds. As everypony’s ears rang and squealed, the vaporious evil congealed into a rain of hatred. That the monster's attackers had already fled the danger zone was either a minor miracle, or it meant something Twilight didn't want to contemplate.
“Hey, big, dumb, and ugly!” Twilight pulled out a second blade while her words rang bells inside her brain case. “Eat this!” She swung both blades out, flinging them at the monster. They twirled like fireworks as black lightning arced along their form, ready to explode like she was still in training.
They hit true, landing in between two plates of bone. The miasma reached out to greet them with tendrils, embracing both like old friends. Space itself oozed around the blades, farting out some obscene noise as the swords disappeared into the monster without the slightest complaint.
“It…” Twilight's eye twitched. “It ate them!”
“Look!”
Twilight switched to her magic sight, and as always, everything was laid bare. The magic in the creature was as solid as any shield, with no visible core or center, and without leylines. Instead, there was a seemingly solid mass of magic, or at least an opaque shell of one.
Worse, though, was the thaumic profile. “Astral, darkness… Pure, unreal darkness.”
“If you can't help, leave!”
Twilight didn’t know which stallion said it, and she didn't care. She teleported backwards, leaping into the air. Below was Rose, stunned and scared, but unharmed.
Her armoured hooves hit canyon wall, and gravity took over to help her slide down the rocks to her hired help and new friend. “Rose! Rose, are you okay?!”
“Hammab… Hammanubulid…” Rose sat, shaking and staring at the abomination.
“Rose, snap out if it!” Twilight jumped over some rocks and landed next to her. She grabbed Rose by the shoulders and gave her a great big shake. “I need you awake to help me fight this thing!”
“Fight? Fight?!” Rose shrieked as she scrambled to her hooves, slipping in the sand. “I'm going to run! I've never seen anything like that, and even I can tell that nopony can stand up to something like that, much less hurt it!”
Twilight narrowed her eyes to slits. “I can. All I need you to do is help distract it!”
“Distract it? Distract it?! How in Tartarus are you supposed to distract a demon?!”
“Shoot at it, make it mad, and dodge!”
“Look out below, boys!”
Twilight and Rose both turned to the sky, watching as a mare fell out of the blue. A pegasus stallion had obviously been carrying her, and had dropped the earth pony like a bomb.
Rose shook her head in disbelief. “Wait…”
Twilight continued the thought. “She's not really about to… Is she?”
“Open wide, dinner’s coming to give you the world's worst ulcer!” The mare dove straight for one of the creature's mouths. In particular, she was aimed at the one looking at her with its maw wide open. “Welcome to pain!”
One chomp later, there was nothing.
If not for the raging battle, complete with both mounted and heavy cannons firing and ricocheting shells everywhere, Twilight and Rose would have been sitting in stunned silence.
“Okay, that… That's what not to do.” Twilight stood up and charged her horn. “But I do need you to fight. Trust me, I have a plan.”
“... You’re insane. You’re absolutely insane!”
“That’s what we keep telling ourselves. Hasn’t changed anything yet. Now, get flying and distract it!” Twilight charged her horn and licked her lips. “I’m going to blow this thing to kingdom come!”
If Rose said anything in reply, it was too late. Twilight had already teleported and sent herself into the air, earning her a blast of sand up her nose for her lack of consideration. Despite that, the spell went off without a hitch, and she was back on top of the canyon.
“Are you going to use… you know… even when they’re looking?”
Yeah. They’ve never seen this power before, and it’s mostly still unicorn magic. Which means that my horn will still be lit, so they shouldn’t know the difference. Besides...
Twilight stomped her hoof, spawning a magic circle of pure darkness.
I’m an alicorn. It’s about time I started using Our magic.
She ducked her head to the side, and a medium shell whizzed by. Her mane and tail flapped in the wind it dragged behind it. On second thought, I need more data. What is that thing made of?
Twilight switched to her sight, looking for every detail she could gather to help her pick what spell to use. Yet, it looked exactly the same, even in her sight. Magic. It’s made out of magic…
A second stomp put up another circle, this one a blank slate of white light. She grabbed both with her magic and tossed them above her, with the dark one below the light one. A blast from her horn carved another ring above both, this one of purest gold.
Boom!
Twilight covered her eyes from the explosion while bits of shrapnel plinked off her armor. She blinked and wiped her eyes free of the dust. Chaos reigned in the canyon just as surely as if Discord himself were present. Not here. Not in Equestria. I won’t let monsters like this roam free!
Magic flowed from not just her horn, but her whole body. The torrent enveloped her wholly, forming a column of black light shooting into the bottom circle. What few symbols that were in the bottom two circles lit up along with her, though only the bottom filled up. An orb of her magic coalesced into a miniature planet of power.
Twilight sucked in a breath. “Convert!”
The orb rose, floating slowly to the top of the rings. The black void inside shifted from the destructive hardness of her native magic, to a neutral grey, to finally a golden light as it reached the top.
Thunder ripped into the final ring from an exploded shell, but it wasn’t enough to break such an overwhelmingly dense structure, even with the powder’s magical enhancements. At this rate, the attack on this thing is more dangerous than the actual monster! The battle was raging with hundreds of smaller rounds being fired every minute, and a dozen heavy stallion-drawn cannons raging as fast as they could. Even Rose was fighting, though she was keeping a distance as she had the weakest guns on her back out of all the skirmishers.
Let’s do this. Twilight locked her gaze on it with her sight, and a roar of power threatened to give her a bleeding ulcer then and there. It was a lion’s head the size of an observatory, ready to form from nothing and swallow the monster whole. There. That’s what I need.
She lifted her hoof to the sky, and the ground cracked under her. “O mighty light of the world beyond this, assemble and be guided by my will! O power written of in the hearts of life, fill my soul to pour unto an unending river!”
The upper circle blossomed out into something far grander, yet it too was but a pale imitation of what appeared over the body of the monstrosity below. Golden light brighter than the sun swirled over it and grew a set of seven fangs larger than any dragon’s.
“Thou who dwellest in the land forever unknown, bear witness unto the clarion and ready to strike! Purity be thy sustenance, virtue thy ambrosia! Look thee hither at the evil that tries mares’ souls!”
The tiny stones below her hooves rose to the heavens from just the wind at her face, created solely by the power seeping from the magic circles. The monster looked up at her and howled, either knowing what was to come or already being burned by the opposing magic already bearing down on its form. The golden fangs over it broke free of the plane of the circle, now pointing at an angle towards its body.
Cover your eyes, ponies. This is going to be bright. “O Trident of the Sun! Strike down and wipe clean the stain of Tartarus! Ain Soph Aur!”
The fangs dropped, singeing into the being of the monster and setting it alight. The light that fell from within the circle, though, made that all but invisible as it struck straight down from the center of the spell. Blazing, scorching light etched shadows permanently into the desert floor, yet would not burn the flesh of ponies. This spell was incapable of that. It was exclusively meant for one kind of thing: monstrosities born of darkness.
Even the roar of the beast as it wailed in pain was muted to near incomprehensibility by the sheer force of the magic being brought down upon it. It was the single brightest thing Twilight had ever witnessed, even beyond that of the explosion in Zebrica.
That had been the point.
White magic, along with silver, was anathema to miasma. Thus it stood to reason that the best course of action was to drown the demon in it… while ramming a lance of the stuff through its heart.
As the light died down, so too did the burbling sob of the monster. The magic circles faded from existence, and the smell of ozone permeated the air.
Twilight lost count of how many times she had to blink to clear the bloom of the spell from her eyes. The spots would likely be there for several minutes. Well, that was exciting. I wonder what’s left of the–
The monster was still there. Her ponies were all behind rocks for cover and rubbing their eyes, but the monster was still there, and moving. It inhaled air, and roared out miasma, pain, and hatred. Some of its attackers screamed and ran from the hot miasma burning their skin, and pegasi wobbled to the sky to get away or help those caught.
“No… That’s impossible. It should have all been burned away! Nothing made of miasma should have survived that!”
“Hey!”
Twilight’s ear flapped from the powerful voice coming from somewhere down below.
“Hey! Over here!” came the voice again. Ain Soph Aur had managed to put a hole in the monster, and now a pony was sticking its head out of the hole It was waving and shouting. “Whoever you are, do that again! I almost got this thing!” The mare’s head dropped back down, out of sight.
“Again?!” Twilight’s eye twitched. “But I— But it— It should have—”
“That’s the mare that was ‘eaten.’ How is she still alive?” Aurora’s head would have tilted if she had one. “Scratch that. Don’t care. Monster is getting up again!”
One giant foot thomped on the canyon floor and pushed the giant up. One leg after the other followed suit in a grotesque wave. It lumbered to the side, placed a foot on the canyon wall, and climbed.
“That doesn’t seem physically pos–”
The monster roared and spewed bilious miasma up the canyon and over the side.
Twilight jumped back with her pegasus magic giving her a boost, and slid on all four hooves to a stop. The thaumic black tar dripped and hissed on the ground, and burned through at least a centimeter of dirt. “Okay, round two!” She broke through spacetime and teleported into the air, rocketing along faster than any of the pegasi in the air.
Half a kilometer into the air, she realized that her relatively safe domain of the sky had one key issue: no clouds. There were technically a few, but they were thin, icy, and so high up no pegasus could hope to reach them. Even if they could, and were able to breathe the insanely thin air, the obscenely fierce winds would knock them clear off.
The ground still wasn’t an option. The creature was still climbing straight up the side of the canyon, defying all decency to logic and physics. Worse, it was speeding up, going far faster than before now that it had a legitimate threat to face. The closest Twilight could describe it was “an elephantine tortoise of a centipede straight from Tartarus.”
With no clouds, no safety on the ground, and no other spells she could turn to, she had only one option left.
Again and again she teleported straight up, gaining speed with each burst. Wind tried to drive its stingers into her eyes, and would have succeeded if not for Aurora’s new visor. When she gave in to the thinning atmosphere by finally halting her ascent, the ponies below her were so small they couldn’t be seen. The monster couldn't be, either, even though it should have still been visible. She'd have to adjust her targeting literally on the fly.
She’d just have to hope she had enough time.
Twilight clopped her forehooves together and flung three magic circles behind her as she started her fall. She snaked a tendril of magic through all three, grabbing hold so they would follow behind her. Now I just need…
A huge black splotch of miasma spilled out from the monster, suddenly visible from nothing. Those were her ponies down there, including Rose, fighting utterly impossible odds. At least, impossible without her.
“Convert!”
Twilight started the process early, but with such a single started stage, she could afford it. A trail of dark magic blossomed behind her, like a burst of ink in the sea being blasted by an ocean current. Each iota was gathered up for the first magic circle, converted by the second, and held by the third.
“O mighty light of the world beyond this, assemble and be guided by my will! O power written of in the hearts of life, fill my soul to pour unto an unending river! Thou who dwellest in the land forever unknown, bear witness unto the clarion and ready to strike! Purity be thy sustenance, virtue thy ambrosia! Look thee hither at the evil that tries mares’ souls!”
The practical upshot of repeating the same spell twice in a row was that it was easier to cast the second time. There was no hesitant worry of precision or correctness. She had already done it once; she could do it again.
The pain cutting through her cheek in a beam of purplish-black was far more worrisome.
She dodged left and right with what pegasus magic she could bring to bear while casting an alicorn spell, stopping and starting as needed. She could see the monster again, and it wasn't sitting still this time. An entire hail of small, stinging beams zipped passed her and through the air, emanating from the hole she had blasted in it. One hit her square in the chest, and a small sliver pierced her shield and phased through her armor. Pain ran along her insides, though faded into heartburn in a second.
“I’ve never heard of this magic before. Adapting, but it will take a while.”
“Better idea: don’t get hit!” Twilight could see the final circle form over the monster, and the desert heat had come back in force. Ponies were clearly visible now, and ricocheting rounds joined the magic beams in their swarm. Time for take two!
Twilight slammed under her with pegasus magic and raised her hoof. “O Trident of the Sun! Strike down and wipe clean the stain of Tartarus! Ain Soph Aur!”
Light swallowed the desert and her vision, bearing down on the monster with a purity and ferocity even greater than the previous spell. The only way Twilight even knew which way was “up” so she could teleport out of an unceremonious meeting with the ground was gravity itself.
Even when she did land, she didn’t know where she was or if she had succeeded. There was only the rough, sandy embrace of the desert, and boundless light. When her vision finally returned, she found herself on the other side of the canyon from where she had started, and only inches from the edge. Ponies were once again taking cover, blinking and stumbling around from the sheer volume of light they’d been exposed to. The canyon floor had dozens of shadows permanently bleached into the ground, and much of the spilled miasma had been burned away.
The monster was getting back up.
“No! That’s not possible! A blast like that should’ve left nothing but ash! I could have leveled several city blocks with that much power!” Twilight spooled up another spell, this time something a bit more conventional, though it wouldn’t be easy to use. She’d have to clear out all the stallions fighting, or they’d never survive.
Then, the monster froze stiff, and Twilight followed suit.
“What is…”
It howled and roared, spewing miasma from both heads. Seconds passed, and still it came, each tick of the clock flooding the canyon faster than before. Even when it should have, by all logic and decency, stopped, the miasma started flowing from the joints of its bones. Shell plating sloughed off like dandruff, leaving a pile of goo to splash down and bubble on the desert floor.
Bone after bone saw its joints explode with black, tar-like magic and fall off. Even its heads weren’t spared. They simply fell off like they hadn’t really been attached in the first place, eventually collapsing into a shape only vaguely reminiscent of what it had once been.
“How?” Twilight sat. “Nothing about this makes even the slightest bit of sense. I mean, I’m glad it’s dead, but it shouldn’t have even survived a single use of Ain Soph Aur, let alone two. And I kind of doubt either one was what really killed it.”
A large, biological mass flew out of the hole in the top of the monster and splattered on the tainted desert floor with a sickening squish. It was a black heart, or perhaps several hearts merged into one, the mass beaten and burst on the side.
“Wow!” A miasma-coated pony jumped out of the hole and shook herself off, although most of the goop stuck to her like molasses. “That was the toughest one yet! Great job, boys!”
“Hurrah! Hurrah!” The stallions all cheered and crowded around the mare as she slid down the side of the remains, and that was when Twilight noticed that the entire crowd wasn’t just stallion heavy. Literally every single pony other than herself, Rose, and the mad mare climbing out of the monster was male.
“Diamond Reign…” Twilight swallowed and finally realized how thirsty she was. She pulled out her canteen and downed a swig of cold, icy water before making her way to the canyon floor. Each one of her steps squished like something from the bowels of Tartarus, and she could feel Aurora’s ethereal form shudder.
As she approached the crowd, the stallions all parted, or perhaps bolted out of her way. None would make eye contact with her, nor get within a few meters of her. They either trotted away when they saw her coming, or leapt if they were late picking up on the cues. Another common trait was the white or red lines painted on their bodies. Each only had one or two, and in different places, but all went all the way around whatever body part they were on.
At the center of it all was a mare standing just outside the miasma plastered on the ground, getting ‘cleaned’ by a unicorn stallion burning away the taint with a spell. The caster was obviously a medic of some type given the medical supplies jam-packed onto his back, and he was also the only stallion that didn’t avoid Twilight as she approached. The rest avoided her as if she were covered in bubonic plague, and Rose got a similar treatment as she approached.
The lead mare clopped her hooves together, and another stallion approached to dump a bucket of water on her. It was likely enchanted, given how it dissolved the miasma in her coat and mane. There was still plenty left, but she was now more pony than blob of goo. At least, enough that she could wring her streaky pink mane out. She had a few straps with enchanted items strapped to her navy-blue coat, which Twilight surmised included something to amplify her voice.
I feel like I’m making first contact with an alien culture. Twilight sucked up what resolve was left after blasting an abomination of unspeakable terror with one of her most powerful spells – twice – and looked the mare in the eyes. “Diamond Reign, I presume?”
The stallions all snapped to her with a unified look that screamed “How dare she?”
“Stand down, boys, I think she’s earned a little courtesy after lending a hoof back there.” She blew them a kiss. “And yes, I am Diamond Reign. What can I do for you, Lady Sparkle?”
“Well, for starters…” Twilight’s mind played a game of chess against itself to decide whether to ask about the monster or Farriér’s base. The side playing for Farriér gave up immediately and said she was insane for not asking about the monster. “Just what in Tartarus was that thing we just fought?”
“‘What in Tartarus’ is right.” Reign spat out a bit of miasma. “They’ve been showing up for the past few years. Or maybe they’ve always been here, I don’t know. Huge as they are, you can’t see them until you get close, and by the time you see the faint shimmer, they’re ready to attack.”
“This is…” Twilight pulled out her notebook and scribbled a quick sketch of what it looked like. “We’re going to need to mount an organized response. And airships. A lot more airships.”
“Won’t work.” Reign pointed to the creature’s heart. “You can’t kill them from the outside. Believe me, we’ve tried. It’s best to just run. If you have to fight, you have to do what I did: Dive in, find the heart, and crush it with your bare hooves. I’m pretty sure the heart is immune to magic.
“Credit where due, though. I’m impressed you managed to blast a hole in it. I mean, it wasn’t enough to kill it, but that’s still one crazy awesome achievement. Way more than we’ve ever managed. What kind of spell what that?”
“Ain Soph Aur. Translated, it means ‘Light Without Limit.’” Twilight rubbed her chest, wishing she had an antacid. “It’s a powerful white magic spell Celestia and Luna gave me access to. Given that the… thing appeared to be sustaining itself on, and in fact be made of, miasma, it seemed appropriate to use a spell of an opposite quality.”
“Miasma?” Reign raised an eyebrow. “So that’s what that stuff is called. We named it ‘tar,’ for obvious reasons. Speaking of, I could really use a bath, and I bet you two could use a washing off as well. Follow us; I’ll let you borrow my compound.”
Every single stallion there gasped.
“Easy, boys, don’t get excited. This is a one-time deal, and trust me.” Reign chuckled as she took a towel from her medic pony. “Pissing off the Grand Mage is heat that we don’t need here in the desert.”
Bones cracked in Rainbow’s death grip, and she silently increased her count while the unfortunate pony who saw her dropped limp to the ground.
Ten. Ten ponies. Rainbow grabbed the body and hauled it to a closet. Ugh. I've already used this one. She put it on top of the other body. Both of their heads hung limp and disconnected from their spines.
I'm running out of time. They have to know their guys are vanishing—or gone, if they found the bodies. She swallowed a burp of bile, and closed the door behind her.
The exit was just around the corner. She sat on the metal grid floor and stared at it. It stared back.
The rest of everything in the base was bog-standard equipment. This, however, was not. It was thicker than the armour plating on the Bellerophon, and the hatch wheel refused to even budge. The only way she knew it was an exit was because of the tiny, barred window in the door. To its right was a small, stone slab made of some kind of obsidian with green streaks in it.
Nothing she could do would open the hatch, not even a flying kick. She'd already explored most of the base, and learned the codes they used for getting around. They were basically the same idea as the section codes in the Bellerophon, but they were scrawled in with marker.
Even after all that, the only other way out she could find were the doors the pirate ship used, and that meant flying through a swarm of hostiles, opening them enough to fly out, and trying to leave without getting shot.
Rainbow sighed. Just another day at the office.
A soft banging made her ear twitch. It was coming closer.
Time to vanish. She started a trot — not a run, or gallop, but a trot — away from the hoofsteps. Can't sound out of the ordinary.
The whole time, she was completely normal. The hoofsteps, however, were not. They were starting to bang, rather than clop, and they were getting closer.
Rainbow put on some speed, but the pony behind her did the same.
I'm made. No point in trying to fit in. She broke into a gallop, and raced around a corner. Gotta hide, gotta hide. Her heart raced and pounded harder than her hooves on the metal. She tried every door on the way, and none were open.
One more corner, and she could see the door grip to the base's control room in front of her. Damn! Out of— She looked around one last time. There was another door to her right, with the word “Bathroom” scrawled over it. Good enough!
She grabbed the handle and pulled it open, then flung herself into the door and slammed it behind her in one fell swoop.
“Oh, horseapples…” Rainbow’s heart dropped out of her chest.
“Well now, what have we here?” Captain Farriér smiled and stroked his beard in a conference room that very much was not a bathroom. Twenty tough looking ponies surrounded him. “Seems we found our little spy!”
There was the sound of something metal opening, then pain.
Then, only darkness.
Twilight followed behind the group a fair distance behind, mainly because the crowd of stallions would scatter if she got too close. With a small look to Rose, she swallowed back her attempts to question just what in Tartarus kind of group they were. I have to say, though: Rose's information was dead on. Diamond Reign is nuts.
They had ascended the canyon, and were making their way around the side of a small mesa. Before long, a flimsy compound made of old, scrap wood came into view. Either tin or aluminum was the name of the game for the roofs, and though it had a smattering of wards here and there, they were all about keeping the elements out and the insides comfortable. The only structure taller than one floor was a barn, which was utterly devoid of paint. In fact, there wasn't a drop of paint anywhere, nor sign indicating what was what.
The anti-air guns scattered throughout, at least, needed no such clarification.
The other stallions that had stayed at the compound during the battle rushed out to greet their lead mare, cheering and laughing. Diamond returned their adoration with love and enthusiasm, then let them carry her inside. Only a wave of her hoof was given for an indication as for what Twilight should do.
The males all regarded the visiting mares with caution, suspicion, scepticism, indignation, or some combination of the above. They still poked their heads in from the doorways in the narrow hallways the two mares passed through, either to steal a look or to silently express that the newcomers shouldn't be here.
A stallion, the one with three lines on his body, signalled them to follow him to a throne room of sorts. The floor was just dirt, and there was a grungy mattress off in the corner, but the ornate and large chair could only be serving as a throne.
“Huh.” Rose scratched her lip and sat down. “Never thought I'd be—” She stuttered and cringed like something hit her in the back of her head. “Sorry. As I was saying, never thought I'd actually ever get to be here. It's kind of exciting. Normally only stallions are allowed in.”
A door at the back of the room swung open via a stallion’s magic. “Presenting the most holy, most wonderful, most divine mare in the world: Herd Leader Diamond Reign!”
Seriously? In the name of diplomacy, Twilight bit back the words banging on her lips to get out. Why am I running into cults left and right lately?
The stallion shuffled out of the way of a precession of other stallions, all six moving in slow, synchronized steps while carrying a big plywood board. On said board was Diamond Reign.
Wow. They're really into this. Twilight stood up, and tapped Rose to do so as well. She wouldn't normally entertain this… craziness, but diplomacy was important if she ever wanted to find Dash.
The board was set down in front of the throne, after which the stallions lifted their leader onto her perch. They left with the same, slow, perfectly-in-step movements that they'd entered with.
“Please, sit and be welcome!” Diamond said while fluttering her eyelashes. “It is rare to have mare visitors. Mostly because we tend to shoot at them. Your actions today, however, have earned an audience. Tell me, what brings you so far afield?”
Twilight folded her forelegs. “Farriér. I’m going to crush him. I need your help to do so.”
Reign raised her eyebrow. “That’s a… surprising reason. Also, specious. You are the Grand Mage. I have little doubt you could command enough of the Equestrian military to crush his little operation.”
“Normally, you’d be right. But to get him, I need to know where he hides when he’s not killing and enslaving innocents. I was hoping that you might have some information along those lines.”
One corner of Reign’s mouth curled into a smirk. “And what do I get in return? Information like that isn’t just valuable. Revealing it could earn me backlash.”
“I’m willing to pay handsomely for it.” Twilight tore a page out of her notebook. “Also, I have intel that he’s hit your… ‘organization’ in the past. With him gone, you’d be under less pressure. The entire area will see improved and more reliable trade, as well.”
“Tempting…” Reign looked off in the distance.
“The same intel shows your group engaging in less-than-legal activities. Seeing as they aren’t remotely as heinous as Farriér’s, I’ll see that any efforts to stop or arrest you have… an unusually low priority in the Crown Agencies, if you cooperate.”
“That’s the carrot, but it sounds like a stick is coming.”
“The ‘stick’ is that if you don’t, you jump up the priorities list. I might even send a Night Guard squad to break up and suppress your little cult.”
“Cult!?” Diamond Reign laughed. “Is that what you think this is, Lady Sparkle? Oh, don’t be so close-minded!”
Twilight shared a look with Rose. “After an introduction like the one I just got, I can’t accept this as anything less. Otherwise, why shoot at mares? Or keep a few dozen stallions captive?”
“Captive? Is that what you believe?” Reign called out to the door, “Maroon? Could you come here, please?”
The stallion with three lines stepped through the door with a curious look on his face. A “come hither” look from Reign melted that into a suave confidence instantly, and he stepped up to her. He shuddered with pleasure as she stroked his muzzle and drew him into the deepest, hardest, most passionate kiss Twilight had ever seen from anypony outside of Cadence. Their tongues tangled together, and he pressed her back across the rests of her chair as they struggled to breathe through their noses.
“Ahem!” Twilight coughed before it turned x-rated.
The two broke their embrace, leaving Maroon with a goofy, satisfied look on his face.
Reign licked a bit of spittle off his lip, then waved him to leave. After he did so, she sighed deeply and wistfully. “I love my stallions, Lady Sparkle, and they love me back. I don’t force them to stay. They are free to leave anytime. Some have, and I wish them well.
“This isn’t a cult. This is a marriage. A herd! I would never trap my boys here. I love them too much. Not to mention that it would make our ‘activities,’ as you describe them, impossible.”
Rose raised her hoof. “Then why don’t you let mares near them?”
“So they aren’t led astray, of course!” Reign lowered her eyes. “After all, no mare other than myself would treat them as well as they deserve.”
That’s a matter of opinion. I better not let Cadence find out what’s going on here. Twilight tapped her notebook. “For now, I’m willing to accept all that. It’s honestly pretty far down on the list of my concerns. Farriér tops my list.”
“How come?” Reign asked.
Twilight blinked. “I should think that obvious.”
“Pfft. Please.” Reign leaned back in her seat and waggled her hind hooves. “He’s been operating in Palomino for years. It’s only now you’re showing up to deal with him. Sure, he’s stepped up his attacks lately, but even that’s been going on for months. Something had to have changed. So, why now? What brought him to the attention of the Grand Mage at long last?”
Twilight chewed up a grimace. “He destroyed the train I was on, took prisoners, and killed innocents.”
“And?” Reign fluttered her eyelashes. “I can tell you're holding back.”
Twilight folded her forelegs. “I am. There is more. But, I’m afraid that those elements aren’t something I’m at liberty to divulge. Suffice it to say, if I had known how bad things were, I would have acted much sooner. Normally I simply follow whatever orders and missions Celestia gives me; though I admit, it's becoming apparent I need to be more proactive.
“Look, in the end, I'm going to nail Farriér to the wall, one way or another, with or without your help. How I approach things afterwards is dependent on your acceptance of my offer.”
Reign sucked in a breath and slowly let it out. “I’m not sure I believe you, Lady Sparkle. I think you’re hiding something big. But, as herd leader, I must balance costs and threats to our home. Here, the cost-benefit analysis for me is simple. I’ll help you out. Where have you been searching so far?”
Twilight flipped her the hasty sketch of a map in her notebook. “Here. East of Sierra Madre.”
Reign shook her head. “That is where he operates, but not his home base. We’ve tracked him trying to sneak around Sierra Mardre by passing north of it. He’s based somewhere in the west.”
“Are you sure about that?” Twilight flipped pages to something more detailed. “That would put him close to Fort Earthborne. Or at least, closer than if he was hiding in the east.”
“Positive. I don’t know where exactly he’s hiding, but it’s something we’ve been trying to find out so we can blackmail him into leaving us alone. We know that he has to have[ a base somewhere. The old engines he's using need a lot of maintenance, so he needs a place to have them worked on. He can’t be going much farther than that.”
Twilight sighed. “It’s still an enormous area to search, but now I have a clue. I was searching in the wrong spot before. Thank you for your help, Diamond Reign. I'll make sure the Royal Police are aware of your assistance.” She pulled out some of her bits and tossed them on the floor in front of Diamond Reign.
“Your consideration is much appreciated, Lady Sparkle.” Diamond Reign clopped her hooves, and a stallion came out and put a veil on her head, while another collected the bits. “You are welcome to stay and bathe here in our oasis, but you may not try to tempt my stallions.”
Twilight shuddered. “I assure you, it's the last thing on my mind. Again, thank you.” She got up, curtsied, and left the room.
Rose finished chugging her canteen down to empty. “So what’s next, Lady Sparkle?”
“Next, we start narrowing things down. Oh, and you can call me ‘Twilight.’”