The Didact, Event Horizon, Crescent Star and Celestia were thrown violently onto the floor. Had he not been wearing magically infused cuffs, the Didact would have murdered the guards responsible, but it was irrelevant. As he slowly got up to his knees, Twyla and Dr. Aurel (whom he didn’t recognize as an ally- only a casualty of war) were being lead away to the stronger and faster stronghold, Abinadi Ckes. Were he alive, Kysos Moroni would be proud of such a ship, christened in the name of his long time friend, but for the Didact, it meant serious problems. He had to think fast, flexibly; make broad calculations.
Celestia swiped at her mouth and looked around at their surroundings. The room around them was larger than the bridge, though not at roomy. Crates of varying sizes compacted together into large towers of wood and metal. The only room to move was through the small passageways that zigzagged through the formations and out of sight. The three of them (plus the two MPs that brought them there) were in a well sized opening; perhaps the only one in the whole room.
Event Horizon got up to his feet, only stepping an inch closer towards the guards. “Please, you need to listen to me; you don’t know what you are stepping into! If you unlock the Marker, then everything we know will end!”
“Horizon!” It was the Didact who spoke. “Horizon, of course they know what they’re doing. They’ve tasted what power and domination was like during the Anacreonian War and now they can’t get it out of their minds. As Inferi (and as Unitologists, he was keen to state as well), they themselves are immune to the effects of the Marker, but they know that most others aren’t. They’re plan isn’t a religious one: it’s a total extermination of every single sentient life form that isn’t Inferi.”
“Stop your ranting,” one of the guards snarled. “Or don’t. It will not matter either way in a couple minutes.”
The door behind the two guards hissed open and even more guards walked in, each carrying a prisoner with them. The Elements of Harmony and the remaining royals were half-dragged, half-lead into the room, the guards jeering and insulting each of them as they walked in and threw them with the four of them. Fluttershy instantly lunged at the Didact’s chest, frantically sobbing into his coat. Rainbow Dash and Applejack immediately got to their feet and took a stance against the guards, who all laughed at their attempt. From his distance, the smell of alcohol was only faint to the Didact, but their jerking movements and incessant laughter made it clear that they were nearly drunk.
Were this the Constellation, or the George Washington- were this one of his ship- each of these guards would be jettisoned. The Didact doubted that would happen here, with the Inferi; especially since the guards were only dealing with them as prisoners. Their commander would probably scold them, and reprimand them, but in the end would still invite them for a drink to talk of the details.
After their several minutes of incoherent laughter, the guards recollected themselves long enough for them to start talking again. “The officers have their keys,” one of them jeered, “and now they get to go down to the surface and get all the glory. We non. coms. need some entertainment as well, so let’s see how long you last inside the Games...”
They stumbled out and the door shut rapidly behind them, the clicking of the lock echoing; the cuffs on the Didact’s arms beeped and unlocked, clattering onto the floor. Now, he was perturbed.
“Everyone; everyone get close around me.” The large group did so just before the lights in the cargo hold dimmed to where it was almost too dark to see. Almost. The metal crates scattered to and fro in the multiple towers glistened with the dull light left; the floor was dim with the emergency lights that shined close to the ground.
Celestia glanced around at the top of each of the towers, trying her best to never blink. “Didact, what are these ‘games’ those Inferi were talking about?”
“Nothing good I suppose...” There was a roar, muffled by distance and by towers of crates. A couple seconds after, a second roar was heard. It was impossible to find out where they were coming from; the crates creating echoes that rang in every direction.
Fluttershy cowered further into the Didact’s coat, much to his dissatisfaction. “What’s going on?” she whimpered.
Something lunged out at them from the towers of crates. The girls screamed and everyone jumped back. Instinctively, the Didact kicked out and it was gone again; disappearing in the shadows of the dark room.
“What was that?”
The Didact moved around, trying to get sense of the surroundings. “It’s survival... they place us in here, lock us in and have us try and survive against whatever beasts or mutations they decided...”
“Mutations?” Crescent Star asked.
“Did I ever mention that the Inferi are excellent bioengineers...”
There was a snarling sound close by, and everyone jumped around to see what it was. Emerging from one of the passageways in between the crates was a creature. It walked on two legs, with giant blades for hands and a twisted, grotesque form. Shining on its back, like a large porcupine, were numerous arm-thick spikes that increased its threatening look.
Without warning, it charged violently towards them. Instinctively, the Didact shot out his hand and released a magical bolt at the creature. From his aiming, the bolt cut in half and sliced through the creature’s bladed arms. It paused, stunned, but eventually, a sickening sound of flesh and bone twisting and tearing came from its arms, and a new pair was rapidly regenerated to take the place of the cut off ones; no doubt the effects of the Inferi bioengineering.
“Run!” Everyone of them turned and ran away from the creature, who in turn began to chase them. They moved through the corridors between the crates and made as many turns as they could to try and shake it, but to no avail. As they ran, the sound of more creatures filled their ears. The Didact looked up to see creatures with long muscular tails crawling on the sides. Several; uncharacterized creatures ran at the very top of the crate towers, the shadows of the lack of lighting hiding them from sight.
These were the Games: survival of the best as long as possible against an unstoppable and uncountable enemy that will eventually hunt you down and kill you anyways, even if you survive. The number of them reached a point where the thin passageway split into several different directions. The grown diversity of the pursuing creatures made it so sticking together would be the death of all of them, so they split up into smaller groups. The Didact, Fluttershy and Celestia took the middle path, with the first creature and several others still chasing them. It was then that the Didact realized that this cargo hold was designed specifically for these Games, they were “participating” in. The towers of crates were ordered in such a way as to turn the whole room into a winding labyrinth of danger. They turned with the passageways and made decisions when it was necessary to choose one corridor over another. For an eternity, they ran; the snarling of the beasts behind them keeping them from slowing down. The only comfort the Didact knew was that there were no screams yet; so everyone was still alive...
They ran as fast and as far as they could, but it wasn’t enough. Eventually, they reached a dead end and they ran into the wall of the cargo hold, the snarling of monsters close behind. Fluttershy cried into her hands as she crumpled onto her knees in sobs. Celestia did her best to not show how much she too wanted to just shut down and cry.
“What do we do now, Didact?”
The snarling got noticeably louder, and the Didact found himself stumbling on his words for the first time in a very long time. “What I did... I did without choice.”
Celestia slid her arms around his own, and buried her face into his sleeve. “I’m know...”
“It was all in the name of peace and sanity...” he stated absentmindedly, never once breaking his stare away from the open passageway. Celestia felt the tears rolling down her eyes as she closed her eyes, prepared for the end. “I believe you...”
The Didact gulped with anticipation. “I’m sorry master... but I must break the Taboo...”
Celestia’s eyes shot open as a powerful magic formed around her. The energy was unlike anything she had ever seen from any unicorn she had even known of. It was incomparable; it was unmatched; it was transcendent. The Didact was ablaze with a fire of the deepest ultramarine, the energy exploding around him in a gargantuan amount. Celestia had never known that one individual could hold so much energy and magic. Even in the physical world, she could feel the vehemence and potency of his aura: the likes of which none on the planet have ever felt or known.
“My dear Princess.” His voice was filled with energy, as if lighting was crackling in his throat. Celestia took a step closer, her tears soaking her cheeks. “My dear Princess... who made you cry?”
She froze, feelings inside of her swirling like a tempest of thought and fascination and wonder. Celestia couldn’t guess why he had asked her that, but when he did, the tears could only stop, as she was unable to weep in fear anymore. She looked down at Fluttershy, who was similarly staring up at the Didact with awe at what he was doing. The girl wiped away the tears on her face with her yellow dress and glanced back at Celestia, then back to the Didact as the creatures chasing them rounded the final corner. At the sight of them, Fluttershy and Celestia would have been back in tears, were it not for the Didact growling with a vicious tone.
“Who DARES to make you CRY!” At his words, his energy cascaded outward in a titanic explosion of anger and emotion. The Didact opened his mouth as wide as he could, drawing air in a rapid amount as he built his voice, and roared. It was a colossal roar; a roar that echoed across all of time and space with his power. The creatures stopped and reeled back a distance. Celestia and Fluttershy themselves cowered at the mighty sound, but at the same time, for the first time in three days, truly felt safe.
In his realm, he is known by many names; the Didact, Lord of Admirals and Master of Generals; the Valeyard, Inquisitor of the Paradox; the Quietus Star, He who watched a Hundred Worlds burn. To Celestia, he is only the Didact, even when she knows of the many other titles. Even so, at the moment, he had become something beyond the Didact. Since he had been in Equestria, he had never once used his full power. This was his most powerful; his Chronomancy reaching its highest level. Here, he revealed his undeniable strength and ability as perhaps the strongest magician to have ever stepped foot in Equestria. He was a Dragon: the highest level mancer that ever existed. In his realm, there were no stronger mancers than Dragons. Among their ranks, the most powerful weren’t the ones with the most magic- at their level, the amount of magic was irrelevant- but the ones with skill and ability. The Didact was the first to master the advanced Chronomancer art called Mobius, but that wasn’t what made him powerful; that wasn’t what earned him the title of Dialga, the Paradox Dragon. He was beyond the conventional magic of what the modern galaxy knew. What made him powerful was the secret magical art that was long ago forgotten since the time of the Precursors before him: Dragon Slayer- a magic so powerful and old that it was said to have been used in the mystical age before the Precursors.
With a burning passion, eyes aglow with magic (his left with bright white, his right with red), he swung his arm out in front of him and the air exploded forward and struck the creatures with such force that regeneration was irrelevant. They all crashed into the wall of crates, which buckled under the force and shot outward to destroy the labyrinth that they were chased through. The creatures who were not killed scampered away in the deepest and most primal of fears. The raw force of the Didact’s magic began to die down, but Celestia could feel that he was no longer suppressing it, the energy still noticeable radiating out. She could feel the extent of his aura and it was larger than the cargo hold itself. He was a force to be reckoned with, and none should ever be so moronic or courageous to ever face him at his full power.
The others were quick to rejoin their group, and they were all huddled around in a circle in silence. Fluttershy, while still afraid, was silent and, for the first time, didn’t feel like crying to help her fears. She didn’t need to do that anymore; she was brave.
“Canon 42 is irrelevant.” Here, the Didact spoke with the most commanding and authoritative tone he had yet. He was completely confident, never once thinking against his words. “As such, this is now a total war to stop the officers of the Ioseph Kaleir and the Abinadi Ckes from gaining access to the Marker Chamber and activating it. In the Paradox, this would be classified as a Code White.” He beamed with excitement. “Anyone want to guess what that means?”
“What does it mean?” Rainbow Dash asked.
With a smile, the Didact swung his arm across in front of him as magic swiped across the air and clung to certain spots. “Use any and all necessary force.”
The arsenal that manifested in front of him was perhaps the most impressive sight any of them had seen. Several rows of swords and guns they had never seen before were displayed in front of them all. “Weapons on the left side are stunning, while the ones on the right are lethal: choose wisely.”
The Elements of Harmony immediately turned to the left. Rainbow Dash smiled excitedly as she picked up a metal staff. When she touched it, the ends crackled with the pulsing of electricity, dancing across the tips where it came from. Pinkie Pie picked up a snare shooter, while Rarity a tranquilizer gun. Applejack’s chosen tool was a lasso: made of specialized mercury that expanded and contracted better than any rope could.
The others, primarily Jovian, Vulcan, Luna and Crescent Star, leaned more to the weapons on the right. Jovian was instantly attracted to a bolt action rifle: armor piercing, naturally. Luna herself picked up a large gauntlet, similar to that of a sword’s, and discovered that a great blade of plasma came to life at the push of a button. Vulcan and Crescent Star both went for pistols, both priming and loading their weapons instinctively, without any thought to what they were doing as if it was second nature.
Only Celestia, Fluttershy, Event Horizon and the Didact did not pick from the selection. Fluttershy was adamant to remain a non-combatant, while Celestia and Event Horizon were confident in their magic alone, no longer being held by a magical prison cell. The Didact let a magnificent and beautiful saber materialize in his hand: the blade made of the clearest steel and the hilt of what many of them believed to be the purest gold they had ever seen. When everyone had selected their tool, the Didact let the arsenal evaporate into the air magically, and he made his way to the door with the others close behind.
His ears flickered with sound; the creatures that were hunting them were still inside the cargo hold, but they were now keen to keep as much distance from the Didact as possible, too afraid to move towards anyone. He mentally declared this survival game to be over, and for this mission to begin.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said as he approached the door, “We are taking control of this ship.”
With a powerful magical burst, he kicked out in front of him and the door buckled with such force that it shot several meters out into the hallway. The force that met them were not Inferi, but was in fact a squad of changelings. Their humanoid bodies gleamed in the hall light with green and black reflections. Sharp teeth hissed and gnashed at them, each of them ready to fight. One jumped before the rest, and straight towards the Didact in front. Even with all the magical energy ready at his fingertips- as his disposal- he didn’t use much to finish off the poor, unwise minion. He merely sidestepped and with little movement positioned the saber blade up into the changeling’s neck. The poor bastard had to only let gravity slit his throat for him as green blood splattered over the tail of the Didact’s coat. Behind him, Jovian cracked off a shot from his rifle, which hit one of the waiting ones in the shoulder. Rarity, with much better and more accurate eyes, fired her tranquilizer after Jovian and it hit its mark of the targeted changeling’s arm. The insectoid armor wasn’t enough to stop the needle from piercing and he was instantly knocked out. Both reloaded like experts. The Didact walked forward and with a slash of saber hit the remaining Changeling in the face and killed him, without even looking down or aiming. His eyes were straight ahead, never peeling away from what might be down the hallway.
After a few more corridors, the changelings were swapped out for the actually Inferi, and the sound of gunfire began to echo across every hallway. Jovian and Rarity, with their rifles, and Pinkie Pie, with her snare shooter (which the Didact was surprised to see her pick up so fast) dealt with the marksmen, while Luna, Rainbow Dash and Applejack dealt with the sword wielders and unarmed attackers. Any who came from behind was quickly dispatched by either Vulcan or Crescent Star. Event Horizon and Celestia offered support when needed, but overall left it to the others, who were doing fine on their own with the occasional skirmishes that had happened.
Eventually, the group reached a point where the Didact made them stop. The intersection was relatively clear, and he took the time to look up and read the directions painted on the walls. He finally found the one he was looking for.
“This is where we split up,” he said. “I need to get to the hangar and take a shuttle to either the Abinadi Ckes or down to the surface if necessary to save Twyla and possibly even Dr. Aurel. Crescent Star, I presume you still remember how to get to the bridge?”
Crescent nodded: photographic memory was a useful thing to possess. “I won’t forget it.”
“Excellent. All of you need to get there and commandeer the ship, they you are to control it until we get back.”
Celestia spoke up. “Didact, I hope you realize that none of us are qualified to even be close to being able to pilot this vessel.”
“You’d be wrong, you are.”
“Didact, what on earth could you me- hmmpp...” Before she could finish, he pulled her in and gave her a kiss. It was a long, passionate kiss, and she honestly didn’t want it to end. She found herself grabbing his arms gently, and kissing back. He was the one who pulled away first, at which he then smiled and tapped his head. With some magic known to him, he had transferred the necessary knowledge to her thoughts: the process and skills needed now seared into her brain.
“No matter what happens,” he said, “I will always consider you my closest friend here, Tia.”
With that, he turned and hurried down the adjacent corridor, quickly disappearing. For a couple seconds, Celestia stood there dumbfoundedly. She absentmindedly reached her fingers up to her lips... longing the feeling that was there. For the first time in a long time, feelings tugged at her heart, not her head.
“Sorry to ruin the moment for you sis,” it was her sister, Luna, who snapped her out of her stupor, “but we have a bloody tight schedule to keep.”
She was right, and they went along. Celestia figured, if they were lucky, that there would be more time to ponder on it later.
***************
The route to the hanger was relatively clear; never once did he have to slow down to fight and when he did fight, the situation was quickly handled without the use of strenuous magic. The Didact was dead set on his goal: rescue Twilight Sparkle from the Inferi. She may have made the ultimate promise to one’s self- the promise and vow of the name- but that didn’t mean the Inferi would care. Twyla was his friend and mentorship; he could not let her be harmed at the claws of the swine and parasite that justifies itself in the name of faith and “goodwill.”
Twyla Spark may have made the Vow to Life, but the Didact would enjoy every one of his enemies deaths. Nemo me impune lacessit.
With a violent kick, he smashed open the door to the hangar. The room was large; it extended out several hundred meters in length and completely hugged the outside hull of the Ioseph Kaleir. In space, an electromagnetic field would have been carefully maintained across the openings that lined the far wall of the hanger; here, in atmosphere, there was no need, and the openings serves as gigantic open-air windows to the outside. Dominating the view was the Abinadi Ckes, its own hangar lazily positioned higher than the Ioseph Kaleir’s. Gleaming in the bright sunlight, only just docking with the sister ship, was the distinct shape of a shuttle: the very shuttle that the Didact presumed was carrying Twyla and Dr. Aurel.
“If you want to get there dear, you’re gonna have to get through me...”
The sound of mad laughter filled his ears. Looking down into the hangar, he saw a pale woman standing at an unusual angle. The Didact instantly recognized the cackling voice and the pale complexion, and frowned. “So that’s how it’s going to be...”
He could feel Chrysalis’ energy. While she was nowhere close to the level of a Dragon, as he was, but the Didact realized that using his full power against her own could and would be able to severely damage the ship. Because of this, in a logical sense, she was his equal. It was irrelevant either way, however; the Didact would still defeat her and continue his objective.
“You think you can handle me, lover boy?” Chrysalis laughed.
“A month ago, you came into her house and attacked her little ponies. You decided to come and attack a friend of mine: that is not a safe thing to do!”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
“I’m going to teach you and those like you what happens when you attack my friends.”