//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 - Crashing the Ritual of the Night // Story: (Re)Birth Through Fire // by Spacecowboy //------------------------------// Celestia and Shining Armor sat in front of a smaller version of the war table that was down in The Caves. Its projection was showing numerous threads running from Gilded Gleam to known associates and members of the Nocti Lunarum, and they simply stared at the chart. "This is... bad. How were we deceived to this degree?" Celestia quietly asked, examining some of the ponies listed. Gleam was the only noble connected so far, but there were numerous individuals who wielded some influence in other areas, such as the performing arts. Even a few Royal Guard members were tagged and clearly identified as cultists. Shining shook his head. "Actually... this makes sense." he paced around, looking at some of the members. "When I took over from the last captain, recall how poorly things were? It's not a far cry to believe that during that period, other areas of the military were affected, making it much easier for these cultists to infiltrate the ranks." She frowned, clearly unhappy with the state of things. "Still, this is far worse than any intell we had on them, and to have hidden from Blend and her scrying for so long..." Celestia used her magic to mess with a control crystal on the table, and the image shifted to a list of assets shared between the cultists. "Just looking at these numbers, they have enough funds to take control of one of the border towns, easily. What's of a higher concern is the large amount of bits that have been transferred out of their accounts in recent weeks. Even two assassins wouldn't cost nearly that much..." He put a hoof up to his chin, thinking. "Princess, can you bring it back up to the connections again?" he asked, and once she did so he closely looked at everypony listed. "Hmm, yes. These guards here just took leave. Gilded had the items purchased delivered to his mansion in the Whitetail Woods near Ponyville." he continued to look through the list, slowly connecting them all to the noble's house. "Whatever it is, it's going to happen soon, and take place at Gilded's manion. There's no other explanation for this many coincidences." Shining confidently stated, taking a seat on one of the sofas in the room. Celestia sighed, joining him a moment later. "It would seem so. From what Blend showed of their supposed intentions, it bodes ill for us. It would appear they nearly have every element required to do the ritual, and if that happened we would be hard pressed to take back the day." "Do you want the guard mobilized and prepared to move out on your word, Princess?" Shining asked, pointing towards the door. He looked at her expectantly as she appeared to be considering her options. "Captain, I'd like for you to carefully select a small contingent to accompany us to the mansion. I believe that Luna and myself will be taking care of this directly, so I don't think we'll need too many guards. Plus, we need the element of surprise, best not to tip anypony off if it can be helped." she paused, humming a moment. "Consider it an exercise of small scale mobility." Shining smirked, nodding. "I love it. I'll pick out a select few and get things ready. I'd say that I'll have them ready to move out within no more than twelve hours from now." she nodded, and he left the room, leaving Celestia to her thoughts. Using her magic, she levitated the cloth wrapped bundle she had removed from her personal vault. It had been a long time since it had seen the light of day, but something deep within told her that it was time for it to come out once more. Not only that, but she had the perfect pony, or in this instance person, in mind as for who should wield it. Celestia grabbed the bundle, bringing it with her as she left the room. "Just a few more hours..." she muttered underneath her breath as she quickly cast a spell that would locate Jason. Once completed, she took off at a brisk pace, making it clear to any who saw her that she had a specific destination in mind. It only took her a few minutes to come to his bedroom door, upon which she firmly knocked. "Come on in, it's open" he called out, his voice slightly muffled through the door. Celestia entered the room and took in Jason, who was currently on the floor of his room, doing wing-ups with a precision that spoke volumes of his quick progression in such a short time. "Most impressive." Celestia spoke, startling Jason who was in the process of coming up. Losing his focus, his left wing folded and he fell a few inches to the floor. She simply laughed, Philomena joining in, as she offered a hoof to help him up. "Hey now, that's not much sport. Let's all laugh at the poor guy who got caught off guard by Celestia simply walking into his room, yeah. Such a wonderful thing to do. Bleh." he scrunched his face in mock disgust, simply eliciting more laughter from the other two occupants in the room. "Sorry to intrude, Jason, but I wanted a moment of your time," she began, before turning to face Philomena. "And you, how have you been? I swear, you seem to be spending almost all of your time with Jason now, I'd appreciate it if you spent time with me other than stealing my cakes, dear friend." Philomena let out a squawk, and Jason couldn't help but chuckle. "As if anypony would be dumb enough to mess with Celestia's cake, her infamous love of them is widely know, birdbrain." Jason endearingly said to her before turning to Celestia. "It's no problem, always a pleasure to see my friend. Has anyone caught you up on Twilight yet? he inquired. Celestia shook her head. "Nay, last I heard she was on a rampage in the Royal Archives. I've learned that coming between her and books is a surefire way to accidentally trigger a spell in your direction." she let out a short laugh. "but, that's not what's brought me by. I wanted to borrow you for a... friendly activity." Jason's eyebrows raised at her. "Well, I know I'm going to sound dumb asking this, but after having to deal with Twilight, I just want to make sure. you're not implying anything, are you? Cause you know, you're a great friend and all, but it's only that." he quickly stated, inwardly praying that he was right. A booming laugh reached his ears. "Oh, Jason, never change dear friend. No, what brings me by is an entirely different matter. I've heard that Ironblood has been giving you official training in the art of the sword, and I was wondering if you might humor me with a spar. I'm most curious to see how you are performing, as Ironblood is no slouch." He looked at her in confusion. "You... want to spar? With me? Wouldn't you get more out of sparring with Ironblood? I mean, from what he's told me, even with all the time he spends researching history he's still considered one of the top hundred or so warriors within the Gryphon Empire. I think you'd get more out of sparring him, not me." he stammered out, somewhat caught off guard by Celestia's request. She shook her head. "While that may be true, sparring Ironblood gives me no indication of where you stand in your capabilities. We are soon to storm this cult, and if you want to be of any assistance as more than a shield, it would be best for me to test you now." she simply stated, a calm and calculating look in her eyes. Jason slowly nodded, looking around for his shirt to put it back on. "I see. That does make sense, and I would love to repay the group that tried killing two of my closest friends." he tossed up his hands in frustration after a quick look refused to have his shirt come up. "Count me in. I'm guessing you decided that now would be a good time to head there?" Celestia nodded, already heading for the door as Philomena settled on her back. "Yes, I'm truly curious as to see what you've managed to retain from his teachings, plus," she stared at his wings for a moment, "the wings add a new depth to fighting that I'm certain he has already begun teaching you." Jason, after being unable to find his shirt, simply shrugged and followed Celestia out of his room. "Yeah, he's already shown me that. We haven't really done much with flight, but I've got well over a dozen exercises dedicated solely to my wings now. It's pretty brutal stuff, to be honest, but will be worth it." he grinned as he thought of his first accidental use of them. "Managed to get a good hit in on old Iron when I accidentally used them when I jumped, he tried blocking a blow that had all of my weight behind it." They both chuckled as they continued navigating the corridors. "Very nice. It's very fortunate that we have such capable gryphons here on permanent post as diplomats. Your wing structure is too different from ours to properly teach you; the only other possible teacher would be Philomena, and well... there wouldn't be much hope for you then." she laughed at the thought, causing Philomena to let out a string of sounds that caused Jason to laugh. "And I thought that I had my moments of profanity, Philo. I'll have to remember that one for later, I think it's the first time I've really heard you go off like that." she sounded a few more times, causing Jason to laugh even harder. "Oh, no. I'm not promising to never repeat that again, who knows when I might have use of it?" Celestia, now ignored, simply walked alongside Jason as she inwardly groaned. "Phoenixes..." she muttered underneath her breath, drawing their attention. "are most wondrous creatures!" she lamely finished, this time all three of them laughing together as they entered the training field. Philomena flew off to perch on a wooden post next to the circle that Celestia and Jason entered. Using her magic, Celestia conjured two practice swords made entirely of mana, causing them to have a slightly transparent golden color to them. She levitated one over to Jason, who accepted it and experimentally swung it around a few times. "I'm guessing these simply stun on a hit?" he asked, bringing the sword to a stop after being satisfied with its balance. "Yes, no physical injuries will result, just like other enchanted practice weapons. These won't even leave bruises like the other swords would. I figured you might appreciate that." she laughed, at which Jason simply grimaced slightly. As Celestia swung her sword within magic a few times, Jason's expression fell. "Oh man, I'm so totally screwed..." he muttered, another peal of laughter ringing out from Celestia as Philomena simply warbled an affirmative. "Well, no time like the present." Jason stated, raising his sword into a basic guard. "Very well. We'll go until the first strike. To warn you now, I'll be starting off very basic, and then slowly ramping things up from there. It's the best way for me to judge your skill level." she stated, raising her sword up into a guard as well. They both walked to the center of the ring, touching swords. After they took three paces back, they began by slowly circling each other. Unlike the first session with Ironblood after gaining wings, Jason felt confident on his feet now, his former hindrance now an aid. Celestia made the first move, bringing her sword in for a quick chop to his midsection. True to sparring rules, she kept the sword closely in front of her and moved with it, so that Jason had a chance to strike her should he slip past her guard. He replied by simply moving his sword, which caused sparks to fly as the two blades of magic met. Pushing back, Jason resumed his guard for a moment before going on the offense, launching into a series of sweeping strikes. The first one was aimed low in an attempt to force her guard to drop. Celestia's blade dropped down, causing his sword to glance off. Without losing any of the momentum from the first strike, he brought it around into a strike aimed at her head. Like before, Celestia made it look so easy and simply moved her sword just enough to deflect the blow. Jason finished his series of strikes with a jab to her torso, and found his blade in the dirt moments later when Celestia forcefully dropped hers. He barely had time to lift hop back as she took the offensive, a quick strike to his calf scoring, causing his left leg to go numb. "Not bad..." she began, looking him up and down as she evaluated him. "Your form is solid, you're already used to the new center of gravity your wings provide... there's a surprisingly large amount of force behind your strikes as well." Celestia stepped back, raising her sword back to a guard position as the last bit of feeling returned to Jason's leg. "I swear, Celestia, sometimes you have odd ways of showing your friendliness." Jason joked, bringing his sword back up. Without a word, he launched into a thrust, aiming for the center of Celestia's chestplate. With a quick flap of her wings, she hopped to the side, causing him to strike at air. He quickly recovered, pulling his sword back and blocked an overhead strike from her, causing her blade to drop to the ground to his left. Jason crouched for a moment before releasing as much energy as he could from his bent knees, a flap of his wings adding the the height climbed. Now well over four feet in the air, he made a downward strike aimed for Celestia's horn. She recognized his target at the last second, a subtle twist of her head removing it from the sword's path as she brought her sword in its place. He landed heavily on his feet, nearly stumbling. Celestia took advantage of this and hit him in the side, the numbing sensation shocking him. "I thought Ironblood was one tough nut to crack, but you..." Jason muttered, looking up to Celestia. "How long have you been training with a sword, Celestia? It's not what one thinks of when they think of, well, you know." he stated, curiosity deep within his tone. Celestia laughed, fully understanding what he had referred to. "Indeed. Ask my little ponies what they think of their oh-so beloved Princess, and they all think poise, grace, kindness..." she laughed, a hint of sadness hidden within. "Luna and I used to get into quite a bit of trouble when we were helping to make Equestria safe. I became very proficient with the sword, while Luna's weapon of choice was the lance." Jason brushed the dirt from his sides, and Celestia aided him with a quick spell that, after its passing, caused him to look as if he'd just came from the shower. Philomena flew over to land on his shoulder, pecking at a lock of his hair. "That's pretty interesting. We've never really talked much about the older times, but after things calm down with this cult, I think I'd like to learn as much as you'd be willing to share." She smiled, motioning with a wing to follow her back inside. "Indeed, and the same applies to you. Now that I know just how old you are, I would love to hear everything to remember," at the pain that entered his expression, Celestia simply smiled at him. "Even the bad, should you decide to share. After all, it'll also go a long way to helping you heal." As they walked inside, they bumped into Shining Armor. "Oh, Princess, Jason..." he started, giving each of them a quick nod. "I've already got the thirty guardsponies that'll be going with us, managed to run into my old group and they hopped on board before I even told them what the mission was. Also, I just received word from Blend. It's done, and we've got intel that scared her, badly. I'm gathering everypony up right now and having them all meet us in the room with the war table." Celestia nodded, thinking. "Thank you, Captain. Please, round everypony up. Jason and I will be there shortly ourselves, I just have one thing I'd like to talk to him about first." she stated, and Shining left in a hurry to gather everyone else. "Something to talk to me about?" Jason asked, an eyebrow raised questioningly. Celestia simply motioned for him to follow her, and they took off, winding through corridors. After three or four minutes, they came to a room out of the way of everything. Celestia looked around before quickly ducking inside, Jason quick on her hooves. Sunlight filtered into the slightly dusty room as he turned to face her. "Okay, so what's up, Celestia? I don't recall this area of the castle..." he trailed off, looking around the room. "No, you wouldn't. This is a very infrequently used section of it, so it sees very little traffic. Now, a to why I brought you here," Celestia summoned the cloth-wrapped bundle from earlier, "I have something that I would like to let you use. Consider it a gift for saving my life, Jason." she slowly began to undo the straps holding the cloth in place. "Over time, as you might imagine, my sister and I have found numerous artefacts and other objects. Some we locked away, others we repurposed and used... quite a number of them have passed through our hooves." The ties were discarded, and the cloth fell to the ground. Jason's breath caught in his throat as he looked at the sword, eyes wide as could be. A sword within a scabbard lay in the air, which Celestia slowly levitated over to him. "A blade made of starmetal, which comes from Luna's dead stars. A real pain to forge, but Philomena here helped in its forging." Jason slowly removed the blade from its scabbard, the entire construct of the blade a gleaming polished silver streaked with black. "It's... warm." he commented, carefully looking at the blade. A small ruby was inset in the hilt, and as he looked at it he noticed a fire swirling around within it. "Yes, it's warm. It's due to the properties of Philomena's flames. She helped me forge it, oh..." she trailed off, her eyes picking up a far-off look as she sifted through her memories, "seven hundred years ago or so? The ruby is what provides the warmth, and the edges never require sharpening. Because of the material and how it was forged, nothing short of something as powerful as Luna or myself could even dare to scratch the blade, let alone break the sword." Jason simply looked at it in awe, slowly waving it around effortlessly. "Wow, that's... amazing. And the balance, weight... everything about it is perfect." his expression filled with resolve. "Now I have a proper weapon to protect my friends with... thank you, Celestia." Jason hugged her tightly around the neck after sheathing the sword. She returned the embrace, lightly nuzzling his cheek. "It's no problem at all, Jason. You saved my life, and something tells me you'll put it to a good use." she paused as they broke their hug, a slight blush on her face. "It's name, although it wasn't my first choice, is Flame Seeker." she pointed her hoof at Philomena. "Blame her for the name, all her fault, I swear." Jason laughed, scooping Philomena off of Celestia's back and hugging her tightly to his chest. "Oh, relax, Philomena, you know I wouldn't hurt you, ever. I don't know if you had a hand in this, but thank you regardless. It really is a nice piece of work." He laughed as, when he let her go, she flew up and decided to settle on his head, making a point to lightly scratch at his scalp with her claws. "Oh, Celestia," he began after a thought entered his mind. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but what about you? Isn't this something you'd use?" Celestia wryly smiled, a mischievous look in her eyes. "Oh, I have my own weapon. A sword forged from sunbeams." "Sunbeams?" Jason asked incredulously with both eyebrows raised in disbelief. "Yes, sunbeams. It involves my connection to the sun, and from there I can create solid, permanent constructs from that. It took quite some time, but I crafted a sword that I am most proud of, even if all that it has done for the last half millennia is collect dust." she closed her eyes for a moment before opening them once more. "Now, let us get going, I'm certain by now Shining has gathered everypony. And oh, here." Celestia summoned a belt for Jason to fasten the sheath to. The two of them hurried to the room where everyone else was indeed already gathered. Even Blend was present, and the especially grim look on her face worried Celestia. "Princess," Blend began, "we have intel that says the ritual is going down tonight..." "Everypony." Celestia began, her mood thoroughly ruined by Blend's new intel. "As you all may be aware, we recently had a breakthrough in regards to the Nocti Lunarum. For those who are unaware, Blend here," she pointed with a hoof, "is in charge of gathering and verifying intel and other credible threats to Equestria. Thanks to her, we finally have our network." Celestia activated the table, the network of associates coming up into view. "Through their work, they discovered that the noble, Golden Gleam, was a member. From there, this is the network of associates that are all members as well. Tonight, they plan to go through with what was referred to as The Ritual of the Night." At these words, Luna loudly gasped, her anger surging forth in an instant. "THEY DARE?!" her voice boomed out, shaking everyone in the room as they cringed. Luna noticed the effect her voice had and immediately apologized. "I'm sorry, everyone, however... this ritual is what brought forth Nightmare Moon. The Nightmare, that's her name. The ritual is designed to invoke her presence, pulling her from whatever plane of existence she calls home. The Elements of Harmony banished her back there, but she can cross back over if summoned..." "Indeed, it's exactly as Luna said. Although I attempted to remove all traces of the ritual, it would seem that some did manage to slip through the cracks. So, we leave for Gleam's mansion within the next half hour." she turned to Shining. "Captain, you and your men's roles will be to secure the perimeter and exterior of the mansion. Additionally, you'll be keeping your sister and her friends safe. In case the worst does come to pass, we'll need them together in order to immediately respond to The Nightmare's presence." "But–" Twilight began before being cut off by Celestia. "Twilight, I would spare you fighting as much as possible..." her face dropped, sadness evident within the faintest hint of a smile. "As such, I'd rather you stay with your brother at the perimeter. If they should summon The Nightmare, you and your friends will play a crucial role once more." she turned to Jason. "And you... my friend, I ask that you keep Twilight safe." "Princess," Blend interjected, walking up to her. "I have four Archmages and myself ready for deployment." Celestia nodded. "Good, thank you. Here's the rest of the plan. Luna and I, along with Blend and her associates, will enter the mansion as Shining and his guards set up a perimeter to ensure nopony escapes." she looked to Shining, "As much as it may pain me to say, I authorize you to use lethal force should they decide to resist rather than surrender. Your and your guard's lives come before theirs. I don't want anypony risking harm to themselves because they're trying to subdue any of these heinous traitors." "We'll assemble in the Eastern Courtyard. That is out of the way enough so as to not arouse suspicion. We'll fly to our destination, flying just over the treetops as to avoid attention. We'll be setting down roughly two miles away from the mansion, going the rest of the way on hoof. I'll see everypony in thirty minutes at the courtyard. Please ensure you have everything ready." The carriages all flew low, skirting over the tips of the trees. Their destination loomed closer, and the mood in the air was so thick that one could touch it. Jason sighed again, fidgeting with the sword at his side. The warmth of it was a feeling he welcomed, it resonated with something deep within him that he could not explain. Philomena had even come along, and was currently resting on his shoulder as usual. "I can't believe I'm having to stay at the perimeter..." Twilight grumbled from her spot next to Jason. "I should be able to go in and repay them for trying to kill me." Jason gently rested a hand on her shoulder, offering an encouraging smile. "Twilight, I can understand where you're coming from, but Celestia made a very good point. Should they succeed, our friends and you need to be together and ready to use your elements. Can't do that very well if you're engaged in combat, right?" he said, attempting to console her anger. He muttered much lower underneath his breath next, "Besides, fighting is the last thing you need to worry about." The carriages descended through a hole in the canopy some three miles out from the mansion. Everypony quickly disembarked, the pegasi quickly concealing their rides with branches and foliage. No magic was used, as it was possible that a unicorn could pick up the feel of anything cast within this distance. It was highly unlikely, but it was a chance nopony was willing to take. Stretching his cramped limbs, Jason quickly got ready for the upcoming fight. Although he was not a fan of it, something inside of him looked forward to the next encounter, a part of himself that had not been awake in years opening its eyes. Grinning, he took off after Shining and the guards, easily keeping pace with them. The somber mood was untarnished, not a single pony spoke during the march towards the mansion. Every expression was that of grim determination, everypony worked towards steeling themselves for what was to come. Blend and her four companions took up the rear, each one a unicorn and highly skilled archmages. The total cultist count that they had uncovered was somewhere in the thirties, but Luna and Celestia along with the archmages easily outweighed that. Add to that Shining and his guards that would be waiting outside, and it was nearly a guarantee that it would be a short event. The mansion became visible in the distance, and Celestia called for a halt. Pulling out her weapon, Jason couldn't help but be amazed by its beauty and grace. It was a yellow the color of the sun, and every bit as radiant. His eyes caught Luna's weapon, and it too was as equally impressive, if for different reasons. A lance, black as the night, hung in the air next to her, its surface dotted with markings that looked to be stars. It was an impressive weapon, and Jason had to remember to keep his jaw from dropping to the ground. "Okay, everypony. You all have your instructions." she turned to Luna. "What sort of entry do you think, sister?" As they got closer, a manic grin came to Luna's face. "I say, sister, for their attempt at bring that back, we got with my method... brute force." she held back a laugh, but kept the massive grin that managed to scare one or two of the newer guards in the ground. Celestia sadly shook her head. "Very well then. On mark, we begin." she raised her head, focused on the doors now just a few hundred feet away, the last of the sunlight streaming through the clearing. "Three." The guards began spreading out to circle the mansion. Jason flexed his muscles, ready to go inside and cut down any who stood in his way, if he could have his way. "Two." Luna's horn began to faintly flicker. Twilight and her friends all took up a spot with Shining Armor, their location for the duration of this fight. "One." The very forest itself seemed to go silent for a moment, as if it understood what was about to come. Not even a breath could be heard. "Mark." One moment the doors to the mansion stood, secured and hinged. The next, they blasted open as Luna cast her spell, her sister, Blend and the mages and her all disappearing insides within moments as they breached the mansion. Jason let out a whistle at the display of magic, thoroughly impressed at Luna's approach. "Oh, why can't I be doing anything!" Twilight exclaimed after only a minute, itching to dash inside and assist in any way she could. Spike was atop her back, and he buried his face in his claws at her anxiousness. "Twilight, I'm sure that they've got everything under control. There's no need to–" Jason spoke, turning to see a rapidly diminishing purple pony. "Crap." he turned to Shining Armor even as he began running towards the mansion. "I'll keep her safe, you keep the rest of them here!" Philomena flew alongside him as he quickly chased Twilight, and Spike, inside the mansion. He caught a flash of purple turning into a room as he entered into a massive foyer and quickly took off after it. Skidding to a halt, he nearly collided with a barrier that Twilight had erected. "This is why you listen to the ponies who know what they're doing!" Jason hollered out as three magical bolts impacted the shield. Lowering it, Twilight used the spell that she had hesitated with less than a week ago, summoning a ring of magic and sending it flying towards the closest of the three unicorns. Jason rapidly closed the distance, drawing Flame Seeker as he did so. With a swing, it cleaved straight through the unicorn's horn, a small amount of magic spurting from the severed appendage. He simply stared at the sword for a moment, as he had not felt any resistance during the swing. He was brought out of the moment as he saw a red blur overhead, flames spewing from it as it struck the last of the three casters. Jason stared as Philomena made short work of the unicorn, now having a new level of respect for the small phoenix. He turned to the side and saw the last caster down. Out of the three unicorns, only one was left alive, and from what Jason knew, the one left wouldn't be able to do anything. Twilight rapidly dashed away, causing Jason to curse as he took off after her once more. Luna blasted another set of doors, entering the room to reveal a massive open area underneath the mansion. In the center of this underground area was a massive circle carved into the rock, which made Luna's eyes go wide with alarm as she took it in. "This is it!" Oddly, not a single pony was within their sights. During their descent, the group of seven had made short work of nearly twenty ponies, but that left quite a few still unaccounted for. As Celestia walked closer to the circle, she let out a massive sigh of relief. "They haven't even started it from the look of things." she turned to Luna, "The honors are all yours." Celestia erected a barrier around herself and the mages as Luna charged a spell. Seconds later, the entire subterranean area become an inferno, the rock melting and settling, erasing every trace of the carving that had been present before. Everything else was consumed in the heat, turned to ashes within moments. Cutting the power to her spell, she finished it off by summoning water and flooding the area. A loud hiss rang out as she did so, steam rising into the air. "It's done." Luna said, turning to Celestia. "Good. Now, let's finish clearing the mansion. Hopefully we come across Gilded soon." Jason turned the corner and once more nearly put his face into one of Twilight's shields. She had managed to run into a large group of cultists, and among them Gilded's face clearly stuck out. "You impertinent pups, you've ruined everything! How dare you?!" he huffed out, his golden face nearly turning purple. He turned to Twilight and quietly whispered, letting Golden's ensuing rant drown out his voice to all but them. "Twilight... I'll take care of Golden. Spike, open up with your breath the moment Twilight drops her shields... Twilight, you do your magic thing." Jason waited for Twilight to find the right moment to drop the shield. As she did so, Spike immediately called upon his dragonfyre, setting two of the cultists aflame, their screams mingled with the sickening popping and crackling sounds that came with intense heat. Jason rushed for Golden, who immediately called up a spell and sent it at him. He had no chance to dodge, as it was released at a nearly point blank range. The fireball impacted him square in the chest, causing him to stumble. His shirt was immediately consumed in fire, but he was otherwise unharmed. "You're that phoenix bastard I heard about!" Gilded cried out in anger. Bringing his word up, Jason blocked a block that came at him from the back, forcing him to expose his back to Gilded for the time. The two blades met, and he deflected the sword to the side. While he had cleanly severed the unicorn's horn without resistance, it seemed that metal held up much better, as he did nothing more than possibly chip his opponent's blade. Spike wheezed, tired from using his dragonfyre. He groaned before setting off after one of the gathered ponies, his claws at the ready. A stray bolt of magic hit his scales, which subsequently deflected to the side. He let out an internal sigh of relief for being a dragon once more before jumping onto an earth pony, pressing his claws to their neck as he cried for them to submit. Twilight charged up another chakra, preparing to send it at the closest moving target to her. She cried in rage, a feral, primal sound, and unleashed the magic disk. It met with a shield, the two objects shattering at the same time, both casters staggering slightly. Twilight growled, sending another two constructs at the caster, who was still recovering and stood no chance. Jason did his best to remove himself from in between Gilded and the other unicorn, but their continued assault had him doing everything he could to keep from being overwhelmed. "Philomena!" he cried, hoping for her intervention. Moments later he got his reprise as she came streaking in, immolated in her fire, landing on the back of the pony at his back. Within seconds he was screaming and Jason was able to focus solely on Gilded. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Twilight standing over the body of cultist, launching bolt after bolt of magic into its still form as she screamed in rage. He also saw the pony coming up on her back with a weapon, and he called to her. "Twilight!" Blinded by her rage, she did not hear Jason calling for her, and with a curse he rushed across the room, once more leaving his back turned to Gilded. "Let's see you recover from this, you bastard," Gilded muttered, launching a very unique spell. Multiple things occurred within the next moment. Twilight, still blinded by rage, had yet to see the pony about to stab her in the side. Jason ran at full speed into the path of the blade destined for Twilight. A spell left Gilded's horn, a smirk on his face. Philomena was in a dive, putting herself between Jason and the spell. Spike had the earth pony unconscious and was now running for the pony attacking Twilight, about to leap onto their back. The other door to the room blasted open in a shower of splinters. Jason felt something thrusted into his side as he took the blow meant for Twilight, who looked up as he called her name once more. "Twilight!" she took in his injured state as the screams of the pony who had stabbed Jason reached her ears. Spike, now on their back, dug his claws deeply into the pony who had just impaled his friend. A bright flash went off as Philomena collided with the spell meant for Jason, causing her to drop to the floor as if dead weight. Through the now splintered door, Luna charged in, rage on her face as she took in Gilded. Within a second, she cast another spell which resulted in him dropping to the floor unconscious. The turmoil died within seconds after that. The first sound was Jason weakly coughing as he fought to remain standing. Stumbling, he tripped over something on the floor and fell to the ground. Forcing himself to a seated position, he saw that it had been Philomena's still body that had tripped him, and he picked her body up and held her in his arms. Luna looked at Twilight, shocked. The lavender mare was splattered with red, a great sadness in her eyes as the last of the rage fled from them. Twilight simply stood there even as Spike hopped down from the unconscious pony and walked to her side. Luna took in the sight of Jason on the ground, and Philomena in his grasp. "Luna, what is–" Celestia began, before the carnage of the room met her eyes. "Twilight! Jason!" she cried out, rushing into the room as the mages filed in behind her. She took in Twilight's state and used her magic to clean her coat, leaving it spotless within moments, then turned her attention towards her phoenix friends. "She's... cold?" Jason asked, even as his vision began to blur from the pain mixed with blood loss. he held on to Philomena, staring at her body in confusion. "Isn't she supposed to, well, go up in flames?" he asked, and Celestia walked over. With a quick spell, she shivered. "How could they..." tears began to fall from her eyes. "Jason. Whatever she was hit with, it completely drained her internal magic." He looked at her confused. "But, didn't you say, t-that..." she nodded, and anger filled his eyes, blotting out the pain. "I refuse to believe that!" he coughed, blood coming from his mouth. "How c-can I give her s-some of mine?" Celestia's eyes widened in shock as something so obvious had escaped her mind. She thought, quickly, before coming up with a solution. "Jason... when you reincarnate... make sure she's as close to you as possible. That'll make it work." she muttered, speaking the next part so softly sound barely escaped past her lips, "I hope..." Luna was busy attempting to get through to Twilight, who was currently in shock. The bright flash of fire pulled everyone's attention to it, even breaking Twilight out of her stupor. Jason's body was rapidly consumed by flames, and Celestia erected a barrier around him to keep the flames from spreading inside the house. As the ash settled to the ground, Celestia used a quick spell to remove it and reveal who lay underneath it. Laying on the floor, a young woman was curled up. Her hair and wings were the color of fire, a mix of bright reds and deep oranges. She was curled protectively around a larger than normal phoenix, who lay tucked into her chest, both of her arms tightly around it. "Oh my..."