The ponies present in the room except the two strangers looked at them with bafflement. That story, grotesque and dark as it is, couldn't get even more bizarre. When Zade asked to Granite Hail about his real identity, he wasn't expecting that response.
Starlight and Thorax looked even more confused than before. Chrysalis, being stuck in the form of an average dark-green maned gray earth-pony, looked slightly curious and silently watched the scene as it goes. The four ponies, mostly Jace, were taken aback from what they heard from him.
"That's not possible..." Jace said incredulous. "Are you telling me that you are Kamahl? That Kamahl, Fist of Krosa!?"
"Former Fist of Krosa. I died in the effort to defeat Karona." Kamahl said sternly. "It looks like you know this part very well."
Jace took a moment to mentally recover and then looked at Silver Will. "Which means..."
"I'm Jeska, her sister." Silver replied. "But I'm sure that is not the only thing that you know already, right?"
"...... Yeah, I know what you mean," Jace said dumbfounded. "But... Are you this for real?!"
"Great, now we have other persons who came from another world in pony form." Sera said calmly, not knowing what to believe.
"Trust me," Chris assured her. "We have the same thought.
"Chris, I don't think that certainty is going to cure my mental headache," Sera sighed in resignation. "So, if they know anything about this Mirari, that means they have something to do with it."
"And how." Jace confirmed. "They are the heroes who saved Dominaria, their own world."
"Keep the praises for other people who isn't me, fire demon," Kamahl retorted.
"What!?" Jace exclaimed before glaring at him, irritated. "That statement wasn't necessary at all! What hell!?"
"Now that is an interesting development." Chrysalis commented. "Any other plot twist?"
Kamahl glared at her in tranquil fury. "You and your ego are equally responsible of this cataclysm. You better remain dead silent at this point. And be grateful that I won't take advantage of your powerless form to kill you, disgusting demon."
Chrysalis felt insulted and yet intimidated by Kamahl's imposing figure and aura, due to herself being powerless as she is. She looked away with a nervous scowl, feeling uncomfortable. Jace observed the scene with glee.
"You didn't told us anything since we met." Thorax pointed out, sternly.
"If you knew something the Mirari, you should had told me that," Starlight muttered. "Why keeping that a secret?"
"Because you would had gone looking for it and tried to use it to save your friends," Jeska responded bluntly. "Your intentions are noble, but we know very well about the corrupting influence that the Mirari would have on you."
"It happened to Twilight and your friends," Kamahl added crudely. "And something similar will happen to you if you lost yourself to its influence, with all the unpredictable disasters that will came from that, along with your possible death. We couldn't allow that happen."
Starlight was about to retort but then recalled Jace's explanation regarding the artifact itself and shuddered upon imagining the implication of herself loosing her control to it, due to her being so desperate to save Twilight and the others from that twisted shell of a alicorn. Starlight never had considered that. Her desire to see her friends again being turned into a double-edged sword was something that
"You are right," Starlight admitted. "That would be committing the same mistake as Twilight's. Even if that was in a good faith. You know that I was so desperate... I guess that you were worried about my actions."
"Starlight, if Twilight ended up like this is because the Mirari gave her what she wanted," Jace explained. "Not what she needed."
"Such is one of the many tragedy of that cursed artifact," Kamahl said as he approached Starlight. "Putting that asied, I heard your plan, but that won't be enough to stop your former friend."
"What?" Starlight said confused
"Which is why I had my own backup plan," Kamahl explained. "Just in the case the situation will go for the worst scenario. And those demonic beings will give me a hand."
"Again with this story?" Jace asked, fed-up being called like that.
"Look, I know our appearances are not the apex of normality," Sera muttered. "But we are not demons!"
"Well, let me at least ask you something that you didn't told us already." Zade said distrustful.
"And what could possibly be?" Kamahl demanded.
"Who or what sent you there?" Zade asked.
Kamahl stared at him with a glare, which made Zade nervous. Shortly after, the marine-green taller stallion's face became a calmer one, like he decided to concede him that. He was about to talk when a sudden crushing sound startled them.
They turned toward the stained-glass windows that depicted the sun, being shattered. A thing similar to a quartz was lying on the ground in front of it. Then, a awfully familiar voice echoed from the outside.
"And I thought I would had never see you again!"
All of the ponies except Kamahl and Jeska flinched upon recognizing that voice. The four ponies heard that before, and knew that was seriously bad news for them.
"Julius." Zade said with a grim tone.
"That voice..." Starlight murmured in awe. "Is the stranger who gave Twilight the Mirari."
"That damn arrogant PRICK!!" Jace said angered. "How did he found us!?"
"That guy may not be alone." Zade affirmed. "We better check the outside."
"Right," Jace agreed.
The ponies headed toward the shattered window and peered outside. They paled to see what was waiting for them, except Kamahl and Jeska, who seemed to expect that.
Beneath their eyes, there was an entire legion of alicorn Royal Guards and bronze armored unicorns gathering nearby she castle, surrounding it. But that wasn't the only thing. Among them, there are few earth-ponies who were twice the size of a alicorn, with their bodies being fused with their platinum armor. There are also pegasi in obsidian armor, with electricity engulfing their wings, flying above their companions.
And at the head of the whole army, there was Julius, standing two legged and looking at the broken window with arrogant confident and crossed hooves.
"Holy shit, man." Jace said in shocked disbelieve. "I thought this guy would bring some of those alicorn Royal Guards, But I wasn't expecting him to lead a freaking legion of them that includes pony-like juggernauts and electric pegasi!"
"And we should take care of him and all those monsters that he had brought with him?" Sera said baffled. "This is insane!"
"None of us is going to face them directly," Zade informed, looking nervous but trying to remain calm despite that. "Still, Julius brought one hell of a army."
"I have lived a situation like this before," Kamahl replied. "Although this one is different."
"This is not good," Starlight murmured, almost trembling. "Is like Julius is going to demolish this castle. I have to evacuate my groups and the refugees."
Starlight scanned the whole upsetting scenario that is presented in front of her eyes. As she looked beyond the myriads of alicorn Royal Guards and other altered ponies, she noticed the bridge leading to the Everfree Forest being destroyed by some of them. As she stepped back from the broken stain-glass window, Julius yelled again.
"I know you are there, demons! It was a mistake not having killed you when I had the chance! I'm just here to fix it!"
"They severed the path to the forest," Starlight murmured, ignoring him. "Not that we can use it anyway."
The pink unicorn glowed her horn and took a platinum orb from the book case. She put the object in front of the broken window. It started to glow in a blue light.
"What are you doing?" Chris asked perplexed.
"This orb has the power to prevent any sound to came out of this room," Starlight explained.
"I guess that they won't hear our voices," Sera commented. "Not that will improve our situation."
"Right now, I have to evacuate the others," Starlight replied with a serious tone. "I have to resort to the other method."
"You mean the collective mass teleport?" Thorax inquired."
"Collective what?" Zade asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Is a method consisting into channeling my magic with that of other unicorns," Starlight explained. "That was done in order to amplify my teleport's radius,"
"With that, you can teleport the entire population that you had brought in the castle." Zade assumed.
"That's right," Starlight responded. "With that, we can bring them into a hidden safe place that we had originally decided to looking for prior our arrival in the castle.
"Speaking of that," Zade turned to Starlight. "I think we should take our leave and try to resolve your current situation in another way."
"Wait, are you leaving us on our own?" Starlight asked alarmed.
"We have no intention to abandon you but our presence here is a problem," Jace said. "You had to consider what your changeling buddy said regarding your companions' malcontent about you keeping us on your side. They won't listen to any of us. Not after what I had 'kidnapped' you."
"Not to mention, They are probably looking for you in this moment." Sera pointed out.
Starlight didn't took much time to realize what they meant with that. After Jace hijacked her body and teleported her, Thorax and Chrysalis in the reading room, the ponies and changeling of her Insurgence that saw her disappear were obviously panicking. Without her guide, they didn't know what to do and were going through the castle to find her and Zade's group, being her accidental kidnappers.
"I have forgot about your situation." Starlight said.
"We are villains in the eyes of your resistance, remember?" Zade reminded.
"I guess I have to act very carefully at this point," Starlight replied before sighing. "Alright, you can go away. But try to not get caught by my subordinates. I don't want have to make a seal for you. Got it?"
"Well, that's easy," Jace said confidently. "We are going to use my met-"
"NO!" Sera interrupted abruptly. "You are not going to use that massive fire teleport again. Sure, you saved us from Twilegion's wrath with that, but did you had considered that you would had put this whole castle on fire in doing so!?"
"Her reasoning Isn't wrong at all," Starlight agreed with a glare. "I saw in your memories what that flaming teleport can do."
"Alright, I had forgot that," Jace said, almost apologetically. "But then what are we going to do now?"
"I have a idea of my own," Kamahl turned to Starlight. "I need to ask you something."
"What is it?" Starlight asked.
The marine-green stallion approached Starlight and leaned toward her ear. He whispered something as if he was giving her a simple instruction. Starlight became surprised for a moment but then calmed down and nodded.
"Is guess that would be the right choice." Starlight inquired.
"Brother, what you are up to?" Jeska asked.
"Starlight will teleport me," Kamahl turned to Zade's group. "And those creatures out of there."
The other ponies looked at him with a bewildered expression, minus Jeska and Starlight, who seemed to grasp his plan.
"... Starlight, you can't be serious." Thorax said with a serious tone, hoping that what she said isn't real.
"Is just a quick travel," Starlight assured. "Thorax, I'm not going to fight Julius' forces if that is what you ask. I will just teleport Zade and his companions out of there. In the meantime, you have to return to the group and inform them that I'm fine."
"But your comrades will ask me about you," Thorax pointed out. "And what about Chrysalis? We have to keep her in check."
"Jeska will remain here to take temporarily Starlight's place, just in case one of them came here," Kamahl replied.
"You are going to the battlefield with them?" Jeska asked perplexed.
"Not directly," Kamahl responded. "But I will need their collaboration... If they are willing to do so."
Upon hearing that, the four demonic ponies have their own different reaction. Zade completely expected to hear something like that from him. Jace, fed-up to runaway, can't wait to put his power to practice and have a payback against Julius. Chris and Sera, however, didn't liked that, not even in the slightest.
"No, hold on. Hoooold on." Sera halted, looking shocked. "You are really sending us against them?"
"I can understand if you are not ready," Starlight said calmly. "I won't hold any grudge if you are leaving us on our own. You were dragged in this situation against your will after all, so is your cho-"
"That's bullshit," Jace protested and then turned to Sera and Chris. "What the hell, guys!? Did you had forgot about the powers that we had discovered so far!?"
"You had forgot one detail, you stupid," Sera pointed out. "We didn't had the time to learn to control our powers properly to begin with. More importantly, you saw what Julius is capable of and how organized those alicorns are. We are not ready."
"And most important," Chris added. "I didn't even know what my powers are."
"What do you mean with that? You have the ones of Nightmare from Soul Calibur," Jace said. "That must be still something."
"I don't have his sword," Chris retorted. "And more or-"
"HEY!!" Zade shouted loudly.
Startled by that shout, Starlight, Thorax and the other three demonic ponies turned their head toward Zade, who looked pretty much frustrated by his companions' behavior. Kamahl and Jeska maintained their calm and observed the scene. And Chrysalis was just a little irritated by that whole ruckus.
"I know how you feel, guys," Zade started. "I'm nervous and, honest to you, distressed about our current situation. But Julius and his subordinates won't gives us the chance to be ready. And making some punk-ass complain train doesn't help our case. The only thing that we can do now is get along with Kamahl and at least listen his plan, whatever it is."
"You had guessed my intention before I could say anything." Kamahl said, impressed.
"You won't had ask our help without a valid reason." Zade replied.
"I guess that cannot be avoided," Chris said, resigned but tranquil. "Alright, let's give him a chance,"
"I hope that Kamahl came up with a good plan," Sera said calmly. "Because dealing with a legion like this is no joke."
"Relax," Jace said confidently. "Since he once guided an army of his own, I'm sure that he has something in his mind."
"Alright, gather around," Starlight asked. "We have to hurry."
"I hope you haven't forgot our deal, Starlight Glimmer," Chrysalis remarked. "After all, you need me to find the pieces of the nullifying artifacts for the seal."
Jace went wide-eyed upon hearing that. "What deal?"
"We should put that aside for later," Zade gave a quick look to Chrysalis, who nonchalantly rolled her eyes as eyed response. "Not yet..."
At this point, the demonic ponies and Kamahl gathered around Starlight, who proceeded to glow her horn and disappeared with the others in a flash of light.
In a flesh of a white light, Starlight reappeared with Zade's group and Kamahl, in an familiar arboreal place. They looked around and realized to be in the Everfree Forest, much to their confusion. Zade spotted the castle being in the distance, with a few of winged ponies flying above it, alicorns Royal Guards and electric pegasi alike.
"In what point of the forest we are, exactly?" Zade asked.
"In the path leading to the castle," Kamahl responded. "Right behind the enemy line."
"So, what is your plan?" Sera asked.
"That is what I want to know," Starlight replied. "Granite Hal- I mean...- Kamahl, can you explain what you have in mind?"
"Is obvious that we have to help you to gain enough time for the evacuation." Kamahl turned toward the demonic party. "However, mere distractions won't be enough. We have incapacitate them."
"But how?" Zade asked.
Jace pondered about that until he came up with a idea. "Sera, you can summon spectral ghosts, right?"
"Hey, I know what you are thinking, but I'm not sure if I can summon a legion of them." Sera responded.
"That won't be necessary," Kamahl assured.
"What?" Sera looked perplexed.
"We have no time to waste here," Kamahl said with a slightly menacing tone, startling the demonic party. "Just follow me."
Guided by Kamahl, the other five ponies followed him until they reached the edge of the forest nearby the cliff that divided them from the Castle of the Two Sisters. They stopped and remained hidden in the middle of the vegetation. In front of their sight, there was the destroyed bridge. On the other side, there was the infamous legion leaded by Julius, who were facing toward the castle, waiting for his order and eager to make their first move.
"At this point I have to leave," Starlight sighed. "I have to prepare the escape for the my group and the refugees."
"Be careful," Chris said worried.
"I had lived many situations like this since the beginning of this insanity," Starlight assured. "We will survive even this."
True to her words, Starlight glowed her horn and disappeared in a white light, leaving the remaining ponies to follow the rest of the plan. While Kamahl observed the situation, the four ponies just waited for his instruction. Sera was having the impression that something doesn't add up.
"Zade, can I talk to you for a moment?" Sera asked.
"About what?" Zade asked.
"Back to the castle," Sera explained. "I saved Jace's life by summoning the skeletal ghosts."
"We all saw it," Zade reminded. "So?"
"Jace suggested that to incapacitated the altered ponies of the army. To be fair, that wasn't a bad Idea. Is just that I don't think I would be able to do a summoning of a large scale... At least not yet. But that's not the point."
"Are you talking about what Kamahl said before?"
"He said that won't be necessary," Sera said, perplexed. "Which is pretty strange."
"Maybe because he will use his powers regarding the nature to pull out some trick," Jace said, unconvinced. "But seriously, even I found that suspicious. Especially for a hero like him."
"He said that we have to help Starlight to gain time for the evacuation," Chris pointed out. "But he didn't had said how."
Zade narrowed his eyes. "I don't think the distraction thing was his only plan."
In the meantime, at the Castle of the Two Sisters.
Starlight reappeared in the middle of the secret reading room, where Thorax and Jeska were talking with a Night Guard and a worried looking female pegasus, while Chrysalis just watched the situation with Julius from the glass shattered window. Noticing her, the guard and the pegasus trotted toward her.
"Starlight, thank goodness!" The Night Guard exclaimed, relieved. "We started to worry about you. Panic had spread since your kidnapping. I had even took your place to stabilize the situation."
"Well, thanks..." Starlight said with a half smile.
"I thought they brought you in some place far away from there." The Night Guard explained. "But instead they brought you here... Which is kinda strange for evil creatures like these."
"Trust me, I don't know that either." Starlight said with half honesty.
"Thorax explained that the fire demon released you. Are you alright?" The Night Guard asked.
"Yes, Lunar Riptide. Although I don't know his real motivations," Starlight lied. "I'm sorry."
"We have no time to waste," Jeska warned.
"Silver Will told us that Fortem Virtu brought an army of alicorn soldiers along with other monstrosities," The pegasus said worried, referring to Jeska. "Is that true?"
"Unfortunately that is what it is, Silk Nimbus," Starlight responded.
"What about these four demons?" Riptide said with scorn. "Were are they? And most important, are those ones really on the dreadful side of Twilegion?"
"Forget about them," Starlight deflected the questions. "We have to evacuate our comrades and the refugees."
"But there is no other safe exit." Riptide pointed out. "Besides, you can't teleport hundreds of ponies by yourself. That will need other unicorns and more time for something like that."
"Are we seriously being cornered by them?" Nimbus asked alarmed. "After the excruciating journey that I and my brother had gone through?"
"Calm down. We can get through this," Jeska reassured her and then turned to Starlight. "I have a plan for that, but I need a grand number of unicorns,"
"We need to hurry," Starlight reminded.
"Thorax, just keep Chrysalis in check," Jeska ordered.
Starlight, Jeska and the other two ponies went out the room and galloped downstairs. They navigated for a handful of seconds in the maze of halls until they had reached the ruined library. Stepping forward, they saw a stone trapdoor and opened it, revealing being a secret staircase leading to the underground. As they continued forward, Starlight could hear some mumbling coming from there, belonging to a few diffident refugees and guard ponies of the Insurgence.
"Can our situation be even worse?"
"Don't make me think about that."
"Who else has to die for this!?"
"Harmony has became nothing more than a horrid simulacrum."
"We have survived multiple times, I can't doubt that. But I am sick and tired to escape!"
"I can't believe that Starlight is still keeping that cursed Chrysalis instead of killing her."
Starlight looked down, regretfully. "So these are their real thoughts... Is Harmony even salvageable?"
"Don't worry about that," Riptide said optimistic. "Soon or later, everything will be fixed."
"I hope so," Starlight whispered.
With no more delay, they resumed their walk. Once they reached the bottom, they arrived into a enormous camp with dozens of ponies, guards and refugees alike, who were relieved to see her again. A few of them, on other hands, noticed Starlight's distressed visage.
"Starlight, you are fine!" A elder mare said.
"Wait, what is that hurry? What's going on?" A stallion asked.
"The Order of Harmony's forces." Starlight informed with a grim tone. "They found us."
"WHAT!?" Almost everypony of the camp exclaimed in disbelieve.
"That can't be real!" A young mare yelled.
"Don't worry." Starlight said. "Right now, we are going to make a mass teleport for the evacuation. We will take you to a hidden safe zone, the original place that we had intended to use as our hideout. Everything will be fine."
Most of them calmed down, but unfortunately for Starlight, her words didn't convince the rest of them. As a few of them were even panicking. Seeing the panic and the tension steadily increasing, Starlight can only hope that the situation didn't get worse.
"Is not the first time that I had witnessed something like this, but is still unbearable."