Valey stared up the incline of the lift tunnel and groaned, the mechanical rattling of the contraption clearly audible in the distance above. She could make it out rising in the distance, close enough to see yet far out of reach, and silently kicked herself for doing more running than thinking: the slope was too steep to run up, flying the distance was at the very bottom of her bucket list, and even though she had managed to go without pegasus encounters since acquiring the missile launcher, backtracking was a sure way to change that. She had no good options.
That meant she'd have to settle for a bad one.
Leaving herself no time for second-guessing, Valey shoved some loose debris into a small ramp facing up the incline, then mounted the missile launcher atop it. She squinted alongside the firing mechanism, trying to get the trajectory to fly as perfectly up the tunnel as possible, the last piece of ammunition sitting primed and ready along open-air guidance rails. Good enough. She shoved it to ensure it wouldn't fall down too easily.
As satisfied as she was going to get, Valey mounted the launcher, wrapping her forelegs and hind legs around the gigantic ammunition. It was an awkward fit, her being thrice the missile's size, but she made it work with just a hefty tingle of danger. Her tail flicked toward the trigger, but didn't pull it.
She felt a harsher spike. Her cutie mark continued to complain as she flirted with the trigger, but never to the level of impending death that suggested pulling it would instantly blow her to goo. She her her teeth. Was she really about to-?
"Look, there she is!" a voice crowed from the tunnel behind, accompanied by thundering hooves and flapping wings. "Woah! What's she doing?"
"Something awesome," Valey shot back, transferring her hat to her mouth to ensure it didn't blow away and lashing the trigger. No reservations.
Fwooooooooosh! The thrust from the self-powered missile nearly punched a hole in her chest as she doubled over, wings spread in a futile effort to control their trajectory, tail dodging complete incineration by millimeters and becoming heavily blackened instead. Together, they shot forward, Valey leaning her head straight into the wind, a single degree of variance in either direction setting off her cutie mark in preparation for pitching and slamming into the roof or floor. Pairs of floodlights shot by at two per second... three per second... They were still accelerating! Valey gripped tighter as the missile began to vibrate beneath her and the elevator platform grew nearer...
Time stopped. That was it, the missile was about to explode. Pitching forward with all her might, Valey swung around the thing like a pivot, legs screaming from the strain as she reversed the rocket's course, flinging it back the way they had came and vaulting forward with her momentum intact. The tunnel floor rushed up to meet her, and she angled to hit the very edge, far enough out of the floodlights' direct illumination that she could shadow sneak. Below, the tunnel filled with a fiery roar as the missile detonated, making all the lights flicker as one.
She hit the ground, diving in like it was water and skidding along like it was ice. The shadows liquefied before her, letting her ride her momentum like she was belly-sliding on a bar of soap, and another pair of lights flashed past... another...
Just as she felt herself beginning to slow, the lift platform shot past. Valey jumped out, kicking off the wall and trying not to tumble as she ran along the sheer slope to the middle, putting the last of her strength into a final leap... and crashing onto the target, rolling and nearly falling off the far edge before a generous griffon pounced, pinning her down so close that the rim bit into her cheek.
"I say," Gerardo remarked, standing over her, "you've certainly seen better days."
With a flick of her neck, Valey tossed her hat from her mouth to the platform, and then she was spent.
"Valey!" Suddenly, Maple was hugging her unabashedly. "You're alive!"
"For a given definition, Ironflanks..." she croaked, legs rebelling against the thought of being moved. Then her green eyes focused, staring down the incline at what was flapping up to meet them. "And maybe not for long, either."
Maple stood up, chest constricting as she saw the wall of pegasi soaring toward them. The assailants had formed rank, and she counted thirteen in all, grim, bruised and determined as they swiftly drew nearer. They had less than a minute before the pegasi would be on them.
"Ugh... Guess I..." Valey tried to struggle to her hooves. "Gotta keep going a little more..."
Gerardo grasped at his empty sheathe, a thunderous look playing over his face. Howe and Neon Nova looked on with piteous frowns. Starlight was...
Flash!
A narrow jet of magic flew straight and true, impacting the centermost pegasus and turning him into a crystal boulder. His momentum carried him for less than a second before he met the tunnel floor, bouncing and rolling down the incline as long as the crystal could keep itself up. Starlight watched from the railing, horn glowing fiercely and a fiery look on her face as he fell.
Flash! Starlight freed him and shot again, encasing a mare. The mercenaries instantly broke rank, surging and swirling like a pegasus tornado in an impressive show of evasive action, some darting ahead and others slipping behind as they flapped and rose and fell and swerved left and right. With each crack of the tumbling crystal against the floor, Starlight winced, the blows only visible in her bared teeth and slightly greater straining of her lips.
"Don't touch my friends..." she whispered between shots, a bead of sweat forming on her brow. "Don't touch my friends..." Flash! "Don't touch my friends...!"
Despite the mercenaries' evasion, her shots stayed true, seeking out whoever was foremost in the pack and setting them tumbling back to the depths. Already, though, Maple could see the first crystalled pegasus fighting to catch up with the others, and she knew from experience Starlight wouldn't be able to keep her stalling up for long.
"Urf... Go for the second-closest," Valey instructed, dragging herself into a sitting position next to Starlight. "If they reach the platform one at a time, I can still beat them. We can tie them up as they come in, or something." She shot an evil eye at Howe and Neon Nova. "Why do I get the feeling you two are going to be trouble?"
Howe curtsied, a wing across his chest. "I assure you, our motives are pure!" Then Neon Nova kicked him. "Ow, what was that for?" Howe glared at him, then coughed. "Uhh... I mean, nope. We've worked out our allegiance. We're on your side 'til the very end!"
Starlight was shaking, the cumulative effect of the blows from the floor to her crystals taking its toll on her horn. Maple sat down beside her, putting a hoof around her and holding her even as she fired another blast, taking Valey's advice to heart. "You're doing fine," she murmured, not knowing what else to say. "Starlight..."
Swoosh! The first pegasus made it on board. Instantly, Valey was upon them, desperation powering her swings as she slipped beneath them and broke their guard, pummeling until they groaned and lost consciousness. The batpony staggered as Starlight's horn flashed again, wiping back her mane. "See? Easy. Now we just do that a bajillion more times..."
Starlight whimpered, then snarled, firing an even brighter laser that managed to catch two pegasi at once. Maple could feel the heat burning off her horn as the gem bounced, sending sparks crackling from the tip of her horn and even the occasional plasmatic arc. Despite her efforts, the pegasi were closing in, and this time two made it past, landing as one. Valey blanched as she faced them, falling onto the defensive and staggering to keep from falling flat on her face. Gerardo shot to her side, steadfast even while unarmed. Howe and Neon Nova just blinked.
"This would be a really great time to help us!" Maple pleaded as Starlight fired again, Gerardo managing to occupy one mercenary long enough for Valey to take the other down with another desperation attack. But the two stallions looked just as stupefied as they had in the elevator room, lifting a hoof neither to help nor to flee.
Flash! Another pegasus got crystalled, and Starlight's steely expression started to melt into nausea. She launched yet another beam, scrunching her eyes shut and doubling over.
"Howe, do something!" Maple screamed, lacking even a brick in her cutie mark she could use to make her punches heavier. If she tried to fight, she'd be bested instantly, and if she left Starlight's side, she feared the filly would simply pass out and fall over the edge. But Starlight opened her eyes and managed another attack, impacting a pegasus a second away from slugging both her and Maple with a hoof.
More pegasi shot past. One focused down on Gerardo, landing a hit that snagged and tore his uniform... sending a glowing, fiery pink orb rolling out along the lift floor. That spurred Howe to action.
A frowning mercenary tried to approach it, and Howe tackled him with a flying kick. "You shall not touch our sacred treasure and legendary inheritance!" he boomed, Neon Nova joining the fight with a fairly useless light-based attack from his horn. "That belongs to us and us alone!"
Maple pinned the orb with a hoof as Starlight gave a final shot. Then, the toll of her attacks proved too much for her, and she pitched forward, only being saved from falling by Maple's strong grip. Starlight shuddered, trembled, and fell still save for shallow breathing, her pupils mere pinpricks in her eyes. Her horn still sparked angrily, and her body was uncomfortably warm.
"Starlight..." Maple held the filly, watching uselessly as the pegasus Howe had attacked quickly bested him, then used him as a ram to take Neon off his hooves. Gerardo toppled, losing his duel with the one who had torn his uniform. Valey somehow fought on, dueling four opponents without a weapon, but they were too coordinated, exploiting her heavy limp and managing to pin her down. She snarled and thrashed, still not finished until one held something to her face, and then she was still.
Somehow, none of them came for Maple, sitting there and shaking and holding the fainted Starlight while keeping the windigo heart out of sight beneath her. Let them figure it rolled off the edge, if they cared about it at all. Did they think she wasn't a threat? Did they know she wasn't? The unarmed little earth pony from a downriver town who traveled with adventurers and survivors and possibly-ex-mercenaries and sometimes thought she could do things to help ponies who deserved it while they were getting trampled by Ironridge and its politics? She shook. They ignored her for it, focusing on binding Valey, trying and failing to remove the golden pendant clasped around her neck.
"Why?" Maple sniffed, barely able to keep her head up to watch.
One of the mares who wasn't busy binding Valey actually gave her a glance, clearly agreeing that she wasn't a threat. "Why?" The tired pegasus tilted her head. "Because Kero said this was what we were being paid to do. And when you're a mercenary, you do your job, even if it's taking down a mare with a reputation for being invincible and the odds are against you living to see your friends at the end of the day."
"Kero!?" Maple flinched. She knew that name. That was... She dug through her memories... That was the one who had given White Chocolate the moon glass! The boss of the father of her unborn foal, who had constantly been sending ponies to check up on her! "Kero is the leader of a band of mercenaries?"
The pegasus flinched, seeming to realize she was heading for dangerous waters. "Look," she said crossly, "we didn't kill any of you. You all just hurt yourselves fighting so much. We didn't even kill her, even though the job didn't specify dead or alive. Be grateful, okay? And then take a professional's advice and get as far away from this city as you can. This is our last job here and then we're out. If it wasn't..." She sighed. "Well, we might have just said no. Even though being a deserter will ruin your reputation for life." She glanced at Howe and Neon Nova. "If you really hired them out from under our noses, they should have stuck with it and helped you."
Maple grinned feebly. "I don't suppose there's any way I could hire you out of this?"
"Nope." The pegasus shook her head. "Can't accept competing contracts."
Another strode over and joined in, having nothing better to do. "The only reason they were allowed to help you was because we didn't have a job to take you down. They should have stuck with it. Now we're not going to take them, and I bet they're in too hot of water with you to get whatever payment you offered them."
"Whatever payment..." Maple gulped, her thoughts drawn back to the fiery orb she was sitting on and hiding from view. In front of her, the pegasi had finished trussing up Valey, having bound her with ropes containing light-emitting gemstones that would stop her from shadow sneaking her way out.
"Yeah?" The first pegasus looked at her strangely.
It was a ball filled with magic. She had no idea what the magic was, but it hadn't seemed cold or brutal. In fact, in the center of the tree, once the moon glass apparatus had been destroyed, it had been warm and comforting, like drying off by a hearth after racing across Riverfall in a rainstorm. What could magic like that do? Help ponies? Heal ponies? Keep them safe?
A memory flashed across her mind of trying to block a magical cannonshot to keep Starlight safe, of absorbing the energy and immediately firing it back as an attack, and suddenly, Maple had a plan.
"Please let her go," she said, feeling her voice strengthen and the waver leave her limbs. "You said you hoped you would still be here to see your friends at the end of the day, and they to see you? She's my friend, and I don't want to lose her either. Please let her go."
The pegasi just shook their heads. "Sorry," one said, "but orders are orders. We don't pick the jobs we do, just see them through to completion. We are grateful she spared us, and will be as kind as we can, but letting her go just isn't possible."
"...All right, then." Sucking in a final breath, Maple set Starlight aside and stood up, keeping a back hoof on the windigo heart, feeling her mane begin to blow in an invisible breeze. "Then I'll just have to make my own possible."
She stomped down, pocketing the orb.
FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Everyone but Maple and Starlight were knocked back by the pink shockwave, stumbling several paces before halting, paralyzed. But the spell was just getting started. Maple's cutie mark burst into pink flame, gouts and spires of energy twirling upward as her eyes were flooded with platinum, turning her vision bright silver as the platform lit up with the intensity of the noonday sun. It felt like a hurricane had been sealed in her heart, the force of a city-leveling storm surging through her veins so powerfully that her soul itself strained to keep her from exploding. Arcs of energy surged all across her coat, and when they didn't make contact with the floor, she realized she was hovering a foot in the air. Had the platform stopped? Or time itself? Did it even matter? The hairs of her mane and tail liquefied under the magical pressure, then vaporized, flowing together into a solid cloud, and cracks began to appear on her cutie mark, shining with the same light as her eyes as every fiber of her being fought to keep from being torn apart under the magic's power. The heart fell to her hooves, empty and useless. And still, it grew.
Then, as Maple hung in the air like a pink star, efforts to divest the energy futile and terror giving way to wonder giving way to the realization that she was going to die, the buildup finished. For half an instant, she blinked; it was as if something snapped and she was looking at herself from outside her body. The light began to concentrate at a point on her chest... and then a soft voice whispered in her ear.
"Targeting. Intents have been judged. No harmonic purification needed. Use a peaceful option?"
Yes! Maple thought back as hard as she dared, feeling as though a single heartbeat could kill her in an explosion of magic.
"Enemies will be teleported. Is this location okay?"
An image burned pink like a memory in Maple's mind, overlooking the far nothwestern corner of Ironridge. That was fine! That was perfectly fine! Anything to get her body back and not be consumed by the pink flame...
Affirmation whispered itself in her ear, and the glow on her chest discharged.
Maple found herself back in her body as a laser thicker than she was poured into the lift platform, undulating in every shade of pink imaginable and washing everything in oceans of flame. The roar was too great to hear anything but; if the mercenaries screamed, it was on deaf ears. The energy bled out of her into the inferno, until her mane stilled and her coat stopped crackling and her eyesight returned to normal and she was lowered back onto hooves that she could feel and move and immediately collapsed out from under her. Her cutie mark throbbed dully as she crawled to Starlight, feeling as if her entire body was a pipe that had just carried millions of gallons of water over the course of a second, barely noticing that there was no trace of the attacking pegasi. She reached the feverish filly, yet somehow touching her felt like a cool salve to her flank... and then she joined her in unconsciousness, the grinding of mechanical rails the last thing that rang in her ears.