Pain flared across Steady's entire body. For a moment, the world ceased to exist, replaced by paralyzing pain as his back impacted one of the mansion's walls. He fell to the floor, his body going limp and his ears ringing, forgetting where he was at that moment. Then, as Steady instinctively groaned in pain, the memories came flooding back. He had been captured by the Crescent Pact. He tried to escape. He was stopped by a hulking behemoth of a pony smashing him against a wall. And yet, as Steady gritted his teeth and slowly began standing back up, his eyes still closed because of the pain, he knew he forgot another important detail. Something that happened right before he was hit. His hearing slowly coming back to him, the world was filled with battle sounds. Other ponies were fighting... Alongside him? Against him? Who were they, again?
Then, it finally came back. Sandstorm. Somehow, the yellow mare had found her way in the manor, meaning Misty was sure to be near as well. Opening his eyes, he saw Sandstorm dodging Poison Dart's frenzied strikes while another earth pony was swinging a flail around her, striking the manor's guards. Steady attempted to step forward, but his knees buckled under the pain. He fell to the floor and took a moment to catch his breath, the pain in his body still debilitating. As he did so, he focused on the second mare fighting alongside Sandstorm. Steady thought he recognized her but couldn't quite pinpoint where he knew her from. Still, the unknown pony managed to keep the guards at a distance with her flail despite not managing to really harm them. Now that Steady was looking at her more clearly, he saw that the flail was actually a grappling hook, which only raised more questions in his mind.
Biting down on the inside of his cheeks, Steady forced himself to stand back up. He reached for the heavy crossbow that had landed on the side after he impacted the wall, the crossbow having thankfully withstood the shock. Then, slowly flapping his wings and doing his best to ignore the pain, Steady took up air once again with a determined look on his face. He simply refused to let himself be saved by a criminal, especially by Sandstorm. He also didn't want to appear weak to these young ponies: he would show to these young'uns he still had some fight left in him. But, above all else, he refused to let anypony die under his watch, for that was the promise he made so many years ago.
Loading the crossbow, Steady was ready to fight.
The massive hooves of the monstrous Poison Dart fell down hard, instantly shattering the tiled floor as Sandstorm barely managed to dodge out of the way. In her anger, she got a lot closer than intended to the transformed Poison Dart, who could now very easily break every bone in her body with a simple strike. Taking a few steps back, Sandstorm quickly scanned the area around her. There were still a few guards engaged in their fight, but Glaze was managing to keep them at a distance. Sandstorm was surprised to see the maid-turned-adventurer handle a battle so well, causing her to wonder how Glaze ended up working in Canterlot. Her thoughts were cut short by the heavy breathing of the beast in front of her, rearing up to strike again.
Thankfully, while Poison Dart was incredibly strong, he was also much slower than during their prior encounter due to the massive armor and his new hulking body. Sandstorm easily managed to dodge the strike, going to his left side this time and turning back. Then, putting all her strength in her hind legs just as Dart's forehooves hit the ground in front of him, Sandstorm bucked as hard as she could right into Dart's side. To Sandstorm's horror, the creature barely even flinched at her strike. There wasn't even a dent in the armor.
"...Oh, we're so bucked," Sandstorm muttered while Dart turned back to her, hitting her with a sweeping strike from his forehoof. The hit was enough to instantly throw Sandstorm away, her body violently impacting a statue, breaking it on impact. Adrenaline running high, she quickly got back up to her hooves as she ignored the pain radiating from her back. But just as she was standing back up, Sandstorm saw Dart's massive frame charging right at her, leaving her with no time left to dodge. She instinctively put her hooves up in a vain attempt to defend herself and closed her eyes, expecting the impact at any moment, but the sound of glass breaking and a pained growl were the only things Sandstorm noticed before a massive crashing sound erupted right next to her. Opening her eyes, Sandstorm saw the wall right next to her completely destroyed and leading outside, Dart no longer in the main lobby room.
The guards in the roome all looked dazed, putting their hooves to their eyes, while Glaze looked at Sandstorm with a semi-confident grin. "I... I blinded them!" Glaze yelled before grabbing back her improvised flail with her mouth and striking at the guards at random. With a slightly confused look, Sandstorm stepped forward and rushed the nearest guard, taking him down with one fell spinning roundhouse kick. Now back at the center of the room, Sandstorm looked at the hole in the wall and watched in horror as Dart slowly stumbled toward the manor, visibly unharmed by the violent impact with the manor's wall. Thankfully, the large best of a pony had charged all the way to the edge of the manor's garden, giving her a short period of time where Sandstorm could focus on assisting Glaze instead. Turning away from the hole, Sandstorm focused her gaze on the mansion's guards scattered across the room.
"Good, Glaze, now let's take care of the small fries!"
Glaze felt completely out of her depth. While she could technically hold some of the guards at a reasonable distance thanks to her trusty grappling hook, she had little to no fighting experience. What she was good at, however, was planning and quick thinking. Her saddle bags were filled with miscellaneous trinkets, trinkets and baubles that would be helpful whenever she'd get in a tough situation. Having already used her bag of beads to disturb the guards' position as well as the Lumineth firefly vial to blind the charging Poison Dart and throw him off course, Glaze was starting to run with increasingly more limited options. Still, she had to buy time for Misty and Aphelion while protecting Steady and Sandstorm.
Swinging her grappling hook around, she kept hitting the guards in multiple areas, but her improvised flail rarely drew blood. The tool not being made to be used as a weapon, the repeated smashing against plate armor made the hook less and less useful with each hit, limiting her options even more. Glaze kept swinging the hook around her, desperately trying to come up with another idea, when one of the guards sliced the rope with a short sword, sending the improvised weapon flying to the side. She watched in horror as the mansion's guards rushed her, weapons drawn. Sandstorm immediately went to take care of those nearest to her, taking them down with a few well-placed strikes, but Glaze was still left to defend herself against three guards coming at her from different directions. Doing her best to dodge the frenzied strikes, Glaze felt multiple blades and spear tips slashing her skin, barely deep enough to draw blood but more than enough to send her into a panic.
She yelped in pain as swords and spears drew blood as she tried to get away, awkwardly stepping back while her mind searched for a way out of this mess. Then, a new idea came to her just as the guard closest to her plunged his spear straight toward her, aiming for her throat. Glaze was too late to dodge, seeing the spear tip getting closer as the world around her seemed to move in slow-motion. She blinked, terrified and opened her mouth, about to beg for mercy when a crimson blur overtook her vision, Glaze's body being impacted on the side by something heavy... Or rather, somepony heavy. She watched in confusion as Steady, barely managing to stand on his own, had thrown himself at her to get her out of the way. The two crashed to the side, their bodies covered in bruises and in pain but otherwise still alive. Steady quickly rolled away from her and stood up to her side, groaning.
"Get up," he said while gritting his teeth. "We ain't done yet."
Glaze nodded, then quickly got back on her feet. She saw Steady standing on three legs, one of his hind legs raised up as the spear aimed at her neck seemed to have instead struck Steady's back legs, tearing off a large chunk of flesh and muscle. Glaze stared at Steady's wound for a moment, before shaking her head and turning back toward the rest of the guards. Sandstorm had seemingly moved on to them, dispatching them in brutal fashion as legs, bones, jaws and ribs were broken in quick succession following the yellow earth pony's fury. Glaze then noticed Steady's gaze, not fixed on the guard but rather on the large hole in the mansion's wall from which a monstrously large pony in black armor stepped back inside.
Aiming his crossbow at Dart, Steady flew a few meters in the air before speaking up. "Alright, girls. Hope you two still got some tricks left in you."
After knocking down the last guard in the room, Sandstorm turned her head toward the hole. "...Yeah, I can still tango. You good, Glaze?"
"I... Yes. I also have a plan..."
"Whaddya got in mind?" Sandstorm inquired, getting closer to the other two ponies.
"Well... We can't really hurt him because of how tough he is, but," Glaze reached into her saddle bags once again, pulling out a large pouch filled with a dark powder. The mere sight of this powder caused Steady's eyes to go wide. "...The problem's his outer resilience, right? But he's gotta be, well, squishy on the inside. So, if we can get this into his mouth..."
"...Then we get one heck of a firework show," Sandstorm smirked.
On the railing above the main lobby room, as the battle between Sandstorm, Glaze, Steady and the manor's defenses went on, two stallions stared at each other in silence. The older one, an indigo unicorn, stood wide-eyed and mouth agape, in complete shock at the sudden sight of his son. The younger one simply kept his eyes on his father, a resolute look on his face. They stared at each other, Aphelion remaining silent as he hoped to buy every single possible second for his allies spread across the mansion. Eventually, Apogée blinked and shook his head.
"...Aphelion? Is that... Is that you?!"
The young unicorn took a deep breath, closing his eyes a moment to gather his thoughts. This was it. The reason he came back to the manor. "Yes, father. I'm back."
"Then, you... You've escaped. Good. I never should've sent you on that mission. Now, then, we have some intruders to—"
"No, father. You are not going to do anything to them. You're dealing with me, right now."
Apogée's brow furrowed. "What is the meaning of this nonsense, son?"
"They... No, we are here to stop you and whatever you're doing."
A long silence followed. Apogée stared at his son, expressionless, as countless thoughts went through his head. Aphelion simply stood there, waiting to see what would come next. He knew he was no match for his father, especially given the fact that he was still recovering from the previous days' magical exhaustion. And yet, Aphelion stood firm, his entire being entirely dedicated to standing up to his father. Sweat began slowly pouring from his face.
"Aphelion... What did they do to you? Did they brainwash you? Torture you? You don't have to pretend to be with them anymore..." Apogée's voice was surprisingly soft, which shocked Aphelion to his core.
"I'm sorry?!"
"I understand you must have done and said things to get out of their grasp, and I cannot fault you for this. If anything, I am the one responsible for getting fooled this easily by a simple letter. But you're back, now. You are safe, son. Let us take care of these foolhardy intruders before I bring you upstairs."
"...What's going on in the observatory, exactly?"
With a long sigh, Apogée looked at the floor. "...I was wrong, son. You were right. Everything about this... Nightmare Moon tale you tried to tell me about... I should have listened to you. She is coming back to Equestria, Aphelion. She is about to be freed from her lunar prison. And though we know she will betray the Pact, the cosmic energy released from the moon will fuel the Alicorn Catalyst for Lord Comet... We need you to use the catalyst for us. It is your creation, after all," Apogée took a few steps toward his son, extending a hoof. A faint smile adorned his face, a mixture of shame for his own actions and decisions as well as pride for his son's unrecognized genius.
Aphelion remained motionless, staring at his father's extended hoof. "Wait, so... I was right all along?"
"Yes. I am sorry for not trusting you, but we can make things right. All we need is to get rid of those worms before finishing our glorious task. We... No, you can reach great heights, son. This is your moment to shine."
Countless thoughts echoed in Aphelion's mind. Not only was he reconsidering everything he had been studying until this point, but his father's attitude was completely unexpected. There was legitimate shame and regret in Apogée's voice, which Aphelion had never heard before in his father's personality. And now, not only was he apologizing, but his father was also offering him a chance for the thing he sought out the most: validation. This was everything Aphelion ever wanted and all he needed to do was to simply reach for his father's hoof. His eyes kept jumping from the extended hoof in front of him to his father's face, before Aphelion took a deep breath.
"Father... No. This is going too far."
Apogée's hoof faltered ever so slightly. "...What?" He asked, his voice breaking a little.
"I've seen the world for what it truly is. I am no longer a tool for you to control. Your lies end here," Aphelion said as his body tensed up, his expression getting more intense. His father simply stood in front of him, unable to process what Aphelion was saying. "I've spent... My entire life obeying every single order, acting out your every whim, being... Being bucking miserable, locked up in this damned mansion for years while you kept feeding me falsehoods about the world!"
"Son..." Apogée lowered his hoof and regained a neutral expression. However, Aphelion knew what this pretended neutral expression meant, having seen it too many times. Refusing to let his father speak, Aphelion spoke up again, his voice getting increasingly louder as his own anger began to boil.
"No! For once in your Celestia-damned life, you're going to listen to me!" He slammed his hoof on the floor. "You've kept me locked up, made me paranoid about the outside world and turned me into a mindless tool... Actually, no. Even tools get treated with more respect. I was a bucking slave! Me, your own damn son! You robbed me of a life, and you tried to turn me into a perfect copy of yourself. Somepony angry, paranoid, self-centered, deceitful... Somepony miserable. But guess what? You failed. You failed, and now that I've got a second chance at life, I'll make sure you and the Pact disappear for good."
"You've betrayed us," his father's words were almost spat out, Apogée's disdain for his son reaching new heights. His whole body trembled with anger, rage... And sorrow. "You've turned your coat against us and became a pawn of the tyrant."
Aphelion scoffed. "Maybe. Maybe I've gone mad when I was in Celestia's prison. Maybe they brainwashed me. Used magic to shift my entire perspective of the world. But even if that was the case... I'd still side with them knowing that. For once in my life, I feel like I've actually got a chance to be free."
Sparking his horn with cackling energy, Apogée's eyes twitched. "...You insolent child. As you've said it so eloquently, I've failed. I've failed your education, and I must correct it."
"Go to Tartarus."
"Aphelion... I will only say this once. If you do not obey, I will not hesitate to break every single part of you to rebuild you into somepony fit to be my son."
"Let me guess, co—"
"Cower and beg," Apogée's voice was booming, amplified by magic which caused it to reverberate in every part of the manor. Feeling sweat dripping down his face, Aphelion stood firm, his eyes locked on his father's. He knew he was facing an overwhelming gap in magical power, his father able to destroy him completely with just one spell.
"...Shove that order up your ass."
A heavy silence fell between the two of them, as the battle raged on in the main lobby.
Rushing through the mansion's many doors, Misty felt her heartbeat loudly in her chest. She had very little time left before it would be too late, and her friends were risking their lives just to make sure she could reach the observatory. She couldn't afford to fail. Passing in front of numerous doors, Misty noticed the strange lack of guards in the manor's upper floor. The only guards she saw were either in the cellar or the main lobby. Did the Pact really not expect anypony to challenge them?
Eventually, Misty saw a large double set of doors with the word 'Observatory' engraved on it. Not wasting a single second, she used her magic to fling the doors open, rushing inside a large circular room. Immediately, Misty saw a large crowd of what appeared to be researchers and staff members, all turning toward her with shock and surprise. More worryingly, Misty saw around fifteen guards scattered across the observatory, all quickly drawing their weapons upon seeing an intruder barge in. At least, she knew where most guards were holed up. What caught her attention, however, was the fact that none of these guards were wearing the magic-dispelling armors that those outside wore.
"Stop!" One of them yelled, holding a spear in Misty's direction. "Surrender yourself now!"
Of course, Misty expected some form of resistance as she rushed to the observatory. She didn't expect so many ponies crammed in a single room, however. Quickly scanning the rest of the room, she noticed the many strange contraptions and machines all around her, as well as the large dome-shaped ceiling that was partially opened, revealing a clear night sky. The moon was fully visible, a gigantic telescope pointed toward it. Misty could see strange attachments to the telescope, as well as a large floating sphere right next to it. She had no idea what it was, but Misty knew she was supposed to get rid of that sphere. This also explained the guards' lack of null-enchanted armors, as these types of runes would certainly damage the equipment spread all across the observatory.
Her lack of response caused multiple guards to lunge at her, but Misty casted two spells in quick succession. First, she summoned a thick fog on her location, which quickly spread through the entire room, greatly hindering vision. Then, just as the guards were about to reach her, she teleported above the telescope to get a better vantage point. Her maneuver caused chaos in the observatory, the guards blindly swinging at each other as the other ponies in the room began to yell and flee in many directions, most of them hitting walls or machines as they desperately tried to run.
Misty knew she had a few moments before anypony would notice her standing at the top of the telescope, near the ceiling. Turning her gaze toward the floating orb that peaked above the fog cloud, Misty attempted to figure out its true nature. Unable to inspect the artifact more carefully, she was only able to understand that this orb was supposed to be a receptacle for a large quantity of magic, though she couldn't tell how much energy it was supposed to hold. Looking down at the telescope, Misty saw runes carved all along its sides which, with a quick glance, seemed to serve as a funnel.
"So, they're going to funnel magic into that orb," she thought. "But where is that energy going to come from?"
"She's up there, on the telescope!" A voice cried out from the fog, which had begun to dissipate as pegasi guards flapped their wings to improve visibility in the room. Turning her head back toward the ponies underneath, Misty focused on another spell. She couldn't afford to fight these guards for long and a direct physical confrontation would result in her capture almost instantly. Her only advantage over them was the element of surprise... As well as a series of odd spells nopony would expect her to use.
Releasing the energy that was accumulating in her horn, Misty turned into a formless spirit made of fog before quickly jumping down. Though this spell usually made her more difficult to notice, stealth wasn't her objective as all eyes were on her. Multiple guards quickly rushed her and struck her strange form with no effect, their weapons passing through the mist. While it looked like their weapons were ineffective against her, Misty still felt intense pain as the blades sliced her. This form would allow her to greatly reduce the effectiveness of regular weapons, but it still felt as if her body was being covered in shallow cuts... Because it was exactly the case.
Thanks to years of experience, Misty remained stoic as to not show that the guards' weapons still worked on her, leading them to believe they were unable to harm her. This would give Misty another few moments to act as her enemies would try and figure out another way to attack her. Focusing intensely, she followed with another painful spell which caused her mist form to quickly spread out through the room, covering every single pony inside. This process was extremely painful as Misty felt her body pulled in every single direction at once. Her consciousness also began to slowly fade, being stretched out over an increasingly larger area... Misty knew that if she were to spread herself too thin, she would no longer possess the mental faculties required to focus on a spell, or even to think at all. This was risky, but she had to take this chance.
Doing her best to remain focused as she spread through the room while the guards and research ponies all seemed confused, Misty having simply disappeared in front of their eyes, she focused on the last part of her plan. The last defense mechanism against her potential loss of consciousness in her current state. With a simple spark, the entire room was instantly covered in a blinding light for a single moment, followed by the sound of thunder booming in the room, loud enough to burst eardrums. Every single guard and research pony fell to the ground as they were all struck with a room-wide lightning strike hitting their entire bodies.
Misty felt the pain as well, the lightning coursing through her entire spread-out form, though the sudden burst of pain helped her to remain focused. Whenever she felt herself spread too thin with this technique, a sudden jolt of pain usually helped her to remain focused as her consciousness screamed in pain, helping her locate herself. Thankfully, most of the brunt of the lightning was absorbed by the other ponies in the room, but Misty knew she was now working with limited time before her body would give out and fall unconscious as well. Quickly reforming herself into a regular unicorn, Misty reappeared in the middle of the room, panting heavily, her pink coat singed and turning brown at multiple spots. Spitting blood, she stumbled toward the floating orb, aiming to inspect it.
While she had been taking care of the ponies in the room, the orb had begun spinning along its axis, slowly gaining more speed as time went on. Misty glanced at the telescope which, sure enough, had begun to whirr as well, something having activated the contraptions. She knew she had almost no time left: one last push was all she needed. As Misty got closer to the sphere, something strange caught her attention in the corner of her eyes. In the night sky, spread around the moon, four stars started to shine brightly, scintillating in the blackness of the cosmos. And then, suddenly, Misty saw something that terrified her.
In just the blink of an eye, the Mare-In-The-Moon had disappeared, leaving a simple blank surface on the moon.
As soon as this strange event occurred, the runes on the telescope glowed in a strange dark blue hue. Ethereal specs of light appeared and congregated near the top of the telescope, still pointed at the moon, before entering inside the large tube, funneled by the runes carved along its surface. Then, linking the telescope to the spinning copper sphere, otherworldly blue filaments of energy were slowly being drawn into the orb. Misty understood what she was seeing.
What had happened to the moon, also appeared to have released a large amount of very powerful energy. The Crescent Pact was now trying to harness this cosmic energy, powerful enough to accomplish terrible things. And Misty was the only one able to stop that from happening.
"Crap... Can't pierce through!" Steady yelled as he reloaded his crossbow, keeping his eyes trained on the enraged Poison Dart. Steady's bolt had, like the previous four he had fired, harmlessly bounced off Dart's armor despite the crimson pegasus' best efforts of aiming at weak spots.
"Aim better, you old buck!" Sandstorm yelled while dodging another strike, the tiled floor shattering on Dart's violent impact. She was starting to feel exhausted, her wounds getting more and more numerous as the fight dragged on. With every passing second, Sandstorm felt her movements becoming increasingly more sluggish causing too many close calls as the hulking Dart tirelessly attacked her with unrestrained savagery. Sandstorm knew she had to remain close to Poison Dart, however, as neither Glaze nor Steady would have a chance against him otherwise. Without turning back, Sandstorm yelled. "Glaze, how long 'til we're ready?"
"Just a moment! I'm almost there," the maid-turned-adventurer yelled back as she fiddled with her saddle bags, trying to improvise a weapon to take down Poison Dart. While she had enough black powder to cause a lot of damage to their opponent, Glaze still had to find a way to deliver it to the only place where it would have a real effect: inside Dart's body. Unfortunately, with the beast's strength, it was simply impossible to force his mouth open and to dump the powder into his mouth. So, Glaze had to get creative... All she needed was time. Time that Steady and Sandstorm were risking their lives trying to get.
The crimson pegasus flew across the room, ignoring the pain in his back leg as he searched for a better angle to shoot Dart at. There had to be a weak spot his bolt could pierce. He knew that no armor was impenetrable and that he simply had to be patient, to wait for the perfect shot... But Steady also knew he wouldn't be able to fight for much longer due to his wounds, his fatigue and the severe blood loss caused by the massive hole in his back leg. Raising his crossbow once more, Steady aimed for Dart's neck after noticing a small gap in the armor... Before the bolt bounced off on the armor as Poison Dart moved to the side to attempt once more to strike Sandstorm.
Barely dodging in time, she saw the massive hooves of the creature in front of her smash a statue to dust. As soon as Dart struck the statue, however, gears began to turn inside the mansion's walls, unseen to all those fighting. In the middle of the room, the large pillar connecting the main lobby to the hidden underground complex began to lower, accidentally activated by Poison Dart.
The sudden change in the room caused Sandstorm to lose focus for a single moment, glancing toward the middle of the room to see if the guards had sent reinforcements. That single moment was all it took for Sandstorm to miss Poison Dart's rearing strike, violently impacting her with his back legs as he bucked her with enough strength to shatter stone. Sandstorm's body was flung to the other side of the room, hitting the wall and falling limply to the ground.
"Shit! Sandstorm!" Steady yelled, causing Poison Dart to turn toward him. Pointing his crossbow at him, Steady noticed a change in Poison Dart's attitude. Though it was impossible to see his face due to the large helmet covering his entire head, a strange, growling sound emanated from inside.
Poison Dart was trying to speak, but only a monstrous gargle came out of his throat. Without actually understanding his words, Steady knew what Poison Dart was saying. He was chuckling, and telling Steady that he was next. Flying higher, Steady aimed at one of the eye openings in the helmet, doing his best to remain calm despite the situation, before a painful surge of energy struck him from behind. He yelled as he fell to the floor, almost every muscle in his body tensing up. Impacting the ground, Steady groaned in pain while observing a gray mass fall to the floor next to him. It took Steady a moment to understand what it was, but the revelation sent a chill down his spine.
Next to him, a bloodied Aphelion was knocked out, multiple mana burns marks across his body. Aphelion's muscles were twitching in an unnatural manner, similar to the way Steady's own body was suffering. Above them, Steady saw Apogée slowly step down the large staircase, an uncontrolled fury on his face. The manor's patriarch looked around the room before turning to Poison Dart.
"You. Take care of the mare. Do whatever you want with her. The pegasus is mine."
Steady tried to move, but his entire body was paralyzed by the pain. Fear seeped into his mind as Apogée stepped toward him and Aphelion while Poison Dart gleefully approached Sandstorm's unconscious body. And yet, a small flicker of hope persisted in Steady's heart: Glaze had slipped away, unseen by Apogée and Poison Dart. He didn't know what the mare had in mind, but at that moment, Steady desperately hoped she had a plan.
"...Shit, by Celestia, I'd do anything for a smoke break," Steady thought before the pain caused him to fall under as well.