//------------------------------//
// Act IV - Ch. 37 Traitor's Blood 
// Story: Justice Itself 
// by Autocharth 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 37 Traitor's Blood


***


“What, in all the Hells and the Heavens, were you thinking?!”

Fluttershy winced, lowering her head. She just watched Paladin’s hooves, unable to look on his face as he paced in front of her. At least, despite his furious tone, he wasn’t shouting. She sat silently in Twilight’s room, leaning on her bed, as Paladin powered on. So far, the reception she had gotten was about what she expected; anger, shock, anger, hurt feelings and a little bit more anger.

Rainbow Dash’s guilty feelings still resounded strongly from below them. From the sound of it before Paladin had escorted her into some privacy, Applejack had started on her already. Fluttershy was rather relieved Shining Armour had left for Canterlot by the time they got back. It was one less pony to be angry and concerned.

“Did you take leave of your senses? Did madness strike you?” Paladin thundered, his deep voice filling the room with equal parts fury and fear. His emotions were wild, burning like a wildfire with each word he spoke. “What possessed you to go there, alone? No, I know what- who it was.”

His growling, furious tone made her look up, glancing past her mane. His anger kept on building, and she feared for a moment that he would descend into a vicious cycle of his anger feeding upon itself and growing onward.

“Rainbow Dash!” snarled Paladin. “This is her fault! Why did you let her talk you into going on your own? You should have known better than to listen to her.”

The haze of fury laid over him was pierced, when their eyes met, by an arrow of recrimination. She shook her head, finding the bravery to straighten and stand tall. Paladin’s anger, born of fear for her, hurt but she couldn’t let it control her.

“Rainbow Dash helped me, but it was my idea.” Sincerity laced her words, both tone and through their bond. “I went to her. I convinced her to help me. If you’re angry, be angry at me.”

His eyes narrowed. “Fine,” Paladin hissed. The sharp tone stole Fluttershy’s courage, the weight of his disappointment growing ever heavier. “Fine. It’s your fault then. Why?”

“I’m….I’m sorry…” Fluttershy mumbled. The pain radiating from him was unbearable. Anger she had unhappily expected. Disappointment, just as much. But...guilt? Pain? “I…”

“Sorry?!” He looked away, and tried to control himself. Every breathing exercise he had found in Twilight’s library came to mind, and absolutely none were of use. Despite his best efforts, his heart beat and burned and hurt. “Do you know what could have happened? You were alone! You were so far that even when I felt your distress, I could do nothing! Why did you go?”

The room was too small. If only there were more space, Fluttershy could imagine she would have felt less trapped. The confines made it impossible to avoid seeing the rigid, pained tension in Paladin’s body, or the chaotic mix of emotions in his eyes.

“I h-had to go. It was stupid, I know, but I had to go…” she whispered. Fluttershy closed her eyes, expecting a verbal lashing. His anger built like a red tide, and she prepared for it to burst from the dam of his will. It built, and built, and then….

“Was it...was it something I did?”

She stared, eyes snapping open to stare at him in bewilderment. The mighty pegasus stood before her, the tension gone, his wings hanging limply down his sides and his head hung. His hoarse, hurt whisper filled her ears as much as if it had been bellowed.

“Did I do something wrong?” Paladin looked up, his eyes tormented, before the crushing, overwhelming sense of failure sent his gaze back to the ground.

Fluttershy blinked. “...wrong?” Her brow furrowed in confusion.

Paladin took a ragged breath. “I must have. I must have failed in some way. Done something wrong. Why else did you not come to me? Why did you go alone, without allowing me to join you? Did I fail in some function, did I miss some cue that I was expected to know of this?”

“What?” she gasped, her mouth falling open. Everything snapped into place, every piece of the puzzle. Fluttershy took a step towards him, reaching out and shaking her head. “No, no, it’s not that.”

Paladin refused to turn his face to her, but unlike her he had no long mane to hide his pained expression. “I must have. You went into danger, at a time when we know there is a force that means you harm, and you went without me. I should have been there, but I wasn’t.”

The surge of emotions from her hit him at the same time as she did, the delicate mare throwing herself at him. Her hooves wrapped around his neck. He felt her softly feathered wings settle against his side, and her nose rub against his neck in a loving nuzzle to match the warmth filling his mind.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I thought you would try to stop me. Because you want me to be safe, I knew you wouldn’t let me go.”

His reply was faint and oddly plaintive. “You deceived me. You knew you were going anyway, despite Captain Armour’s threat.”

She nodded, fur rubbing on fur. “I did, and I’m sorry.” His forelegs curled around her neck, holding her close as she whispered into his ear.

“I..I would have tried to talk you out of it. I would have done everything I could to keep you safe...but I wouldn’t have abandoned you.” His voice caught in his his throat. “I...I feel such things for you. You mean so much to me.”

Pain, love, they rose from him in equal parts as they embraced. Fluttershy resisted none of it; she welcomed everything she felt. Months were not enough for him to be so familiar with every aspect of his existence, and none were so difficult to control as such powerful feelings. So she took all he felt, and she gave unto him all that she felt.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” she promised as much in word as in feeling. “And you’re not feeling anything wrong. I should be sorry, and I am, that I hurt you. I should have trusted you, but I didn’t.”

He said nothing, just holding onto her. Nothing could have broken his grip at the moment. He would hold on even as the world itself shattered beneath them.

“I can’t...control you, or...make you stay where I can see you at all times.” Finally, he spoke again, his voice whisper soft. “I know I should, but I don’t want to let you go. I don’t want to think about what might happen whenever you’re out of my sight. It...hurt, so much, to feel so helpless, to know you were in danger and to be able to do nothing, and to know you had gone without me. I would have fought with you, argued to keep you here, but I would have gone and protected you, no matter the danger, regardless of the consequences.”

Paladin pressed her close, burying his nose in her mane. 

“Knowing you didn’t trust me enough, it hurt even more, and it made me think. It made me realise...Shining Armour gave me charge of protecting this town, and commanding the soldiers he left here.” He drew back, looking down at her. “If it took abandoning that duty to save you, I would have. I...I’m not sure if I’m worthy of you, for that.”

“I...I don’t think I understand. Because you wanted to save me, you don’t deserve to be with me?” Fluttershy ran a hoof along his side, rubbing soothingly. “You do, Paladin.”

He snorted, shaking his head slightly. “I do not.” Paladin pulled back. “I should have the strength to control myself. To see beyond my own desires and emotions. What good am I in command, if I cannot judge without bias?”

“I...I don’t know what to say…” She struggled to understand him, to see why he saw love as such a weakness. “But I...I don’t want you to feel this way. I’m so sorry for what I did, for making you think you did something wrong.”

Paladin said nothing. He just clutched her once more, holding to the mare that made his world so uncertain, yet so wonderful. Beauty was order, so he had once believed, but there was no order to the feelings that gripped his heart. It was maddening, confusing, and it threatened to swallow him whole, but he couldn’t give it up. He could never let this go.

That, more than anything, scared him


***


Gilda scowled. It didn’t do anything to change her current circumstances, but at least she felt a little better now. Sitting in silent protest was much more stress-relieving when doing so with a foul expression. This effect lasted a few seconds before the mountain of snoring minotaur got past her scant nerves.

“Is everypony in this town into cruel and unusual punishments or something?” She demanded, groaning and collapsing from her sitting position. Her wings twitched under her weight, but she ignored it as she glared at the ceiling. “Or is do they all just want to piss me off?”

Iron Will continued to snore. Tempted as she was to give him a kick, Gilda thought better of it at a loud knock on the door.

“What is it?” The irate griffon’s glare softened, despite her best efforts, when it came to rest on the little purple-maned filly peeking in. “Oh. You.”

“Yeah, me.” Scootaloo looked back. “Can I come in?”

Gilda nodded, diverting her eyes. “Sure. Come in.” She glanced back, wondering at the oddly downplayed arrival. Scootaloo seemed as fond of copying Rainbow Dash’s dynamic entries, at least from her limited exposure to the filly. 

Scootaloo gave Iron Will a curious look, but she didn’t appear too bothered by the sight of a towering minotaur curled up on the other side of the room. The spare stool groaned across the floor until it was next to Gilda, where the filly climbed atop it. She sat, and went on to say...nothing.

“...what’s up?” The question sounded lame even to Gilda. She winced, rubbing the back of her neck. “I mean, I know something is up, or I wouldn’t have a big ugly room mate.” Her scathing glare did little to disturb Iron Will’s sleep. He turned over, smiling at whatever dream he frolicked in. 

“Applejack was shouting at Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo answered after a few seconds. She sighed. “She’s really angry. I think Rainbow Dash helped Fluttershy do something bad, and everypony is blaming her.”

“Huh.” Gilda tapped her beak thoughtfully. “That still happens? Weird, thought her ‘friends’ wouldn’t do that. So, Klutz-” she cleared her throat. “I mean, Fluttershy did something bad, and everyone just assumes Dash convinced her to do it or something?”

Nodding, Scootaloo frowned and shook her head. “I think so. Maybe. I’m not sure, I was kinda listening at the window and didn’t want to be around for more shouting,” she admitted guiltily.

To her surprise, Gilda laughed. “Nice. Nothing like a bit of eavesdropping. Every time someone didn’t want me to know something, I had to know it. Bit of a thrill, right?”

“Not today…” Scootaloo scratched the back of her neck, sighing.

Gilda looked at her uncertainly. “Guess not….why’d you come to me, kid? I’m not exactly the best at this kinda thing. Not that I mind,” she added hastily. “I just don’t think that I can help. I mean, look at me!”

Scootaloo looked, and kept on looking, frowning as she tried to work out what it was. The filly even jumped from stool to bed for a closer look. She nosed around, poking Gilda in the ribs as she strived to find what was wrong with Gilda.

“I don’t get it. What am I looking at again?” asked the frustrated filly.

Shoving her back as gently as she could, Gilda was again visited by the notion of how bizarrely cruel the ponies here were. Why else would they keep trapping her with Scootaloo?

“Listen, kid, I meant I’m not a good griffon to be around. I’m not friendly, I’m not nice, and you shouldn’t waste your time hanging around with me.” Her own words made Gilda wince. She had never imagined describing herself would make her do that. “I don’t have friends, and I don’t deserve them.”

“And that’s the problem!” The bellow took them both by surprise. Iron Will rose, sitting up right and his eyes boring into Gilda. “When you’re feeling down, take that frown and punch it! Punch it!”

He began to sway, and slammed back down. His bed rattled, and so too did his snores a moment later.

“...that was…” Gilda scratched her head.

“Really weird,” finished Scootaloo.

Gilda nodded. “Yeah, I blame the painkillers.”

They sat there in silence, stretching it awkwardly over a whole minute. Hunching up, Gilda turned over. Her hopes that Scootaloo would take the hint, and her deeply buried worry that she would, came to fruit when the filly jumped off. Her bitter musings came to an abrupt, screeching halt a second later.

“I think you deserve friends. I’m gonna be yours, even if you don’t want me to, and I bet Rainbow Dash is your friend too,” Scootaloo said, looking back with a smile. “I know griffons don’t get cutie marks, but maybe you can come crusading some time! It’ll be fun!”

She slipped from the room before Gilda could answer, leaving the perplexed griffon staring at the door with a lost, confused expression. Iron Will’s snoring grew louder, as if to highlight that the only conversation she got had just run off.

“...they must be doing this on purpose!”


***


Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria for a thousand peaceful years, a mare of unearthly grace and ageless refinement, sighed loudly and took a loud slurp of her tea. She slumped beautifully, rubbing her forehead tiredly as she glanced at the clock with eyes that had bewitched countless artists with their mischievous twinkle or motherly glow, but right now just sort of looked vaguely annoyed.

“Did I forget to budget properly for public transportation?”

Kibitz ‘hmm’d, his attention fixed on the list before him. His hoof gently traced each line with unwavering focus. “I beg your pardon, your highness?”

“Captain Armour is very rarely late, and I was just wondering if there had been some problem with his train. We’ve had rather a lot lately, it seems,” she observed. The Princess tapped her hoof impatiently. “Maybe the inspection held him up…”

“The delays and interruptions have hardly been their fault, your highness. Given the nationwide emergency winter, I would say they have done rather well.” Kibitz ran a hoof through his mane, frowning slightly.

Celestia sighed again. “Yes, of course, you’re right. Everypony has. Captain Armour himself has done excellent work, which normally involves timeliness.”

Her advisor could only shrug. “Your scheduled time for meeting him is nearly over, Princess. Your sister has another check up prepared for you, and we wouldn’t want you to be late.”

“Of course not.” Her eye twitched. ‘Perhaps giving Luna access to the one pony I trust with my schedule was not the best of ideas...’ Celestia cleared her throat. “This matter is rather important, however, so we may have to cancel the appointment.”

“Cancel? But, your highness, Princess Luna has finally seen how effective scheduling is! Why, it seems she has scheduled such checks every day!” Kibitz protested. The elderly stallion gave her a pleading look. “Your health is just as important as anything else.”

‘Not quite.’ “I’m doing quite well now, despite everypony’s concern. Young Octavia’s unfortunate possession only drained me a tad. I’m quite functional.”

He looked as convinced as Luna had only this morning, but unlike the younger alicorn, Kibitz wrangled up the tact to keep any smart comments to himself. Celestia found herself in need of some wrangling at minute later, when the very sister occupying her thoughts arrived.

“I have arrived,” declared Luna, rather redundantly. She frowned, and her eyes wandered around the room. “Have you concluded your meeting with Captain Armour already?”

Celestia wore a weary smile. “You don’t have to announce yourself anymore, Lulu, you know that.”

“Sister, please! Not in front of the advisory staff!” Flushing in embarrassment, Luna gave Kibitz a sharp glare.

“Oh, my mistake, Princess Lulu.”

Striving to ignore her sister’s foalishness, Luna took the seat next to her and claimed a drink. “So, before we go to your appointment, what was the report? Is Ponyville protected?”

Celestia’s playful look faded. She sighed. “Shining Armour isn’t here yet. Have you seen Cadance? She might have distracted him. It was her fault the last time he was late.”

“Yes, I have heard the story. Fortunately, the chambermaids appear to have learned their lesson. ‘Tis impressive, how intimidating a jealous alicorn can be.” Enjoying a mouthful of tea for a moment, Luna shook the cobwebs from her skull. “I cannot recall seeing her since leaving her to deal with the aftermath at the orchestra.”

“Hmm...I see…” Celestia continued to tap, the pace growing faster. “I’m worried. Kibitz, send a runner to the station, please. I want to know the status on the train from Ponyville. Then…” She hesitated. “Then...send somepony to check the hospital. I just want to be certain our charge is safe,” she added at Luna’s quirked eyebrow.

“Now is not the time to assume more bad luck. Perhaps I should ensure the guard are prepared, just in case. This may be nothing more than an unfortunate delay…” Luna stood once more, her gait tense as she trotted to the door. Of course, she took her tea with her.

“But it could be more, and now is not the time to take chances. Thank you, Luna.” The sisters shared a small, quick smile. It was good to work together.


***


Rainbow Dash groaned, dropping her head to the table with a thud. “Are you done?” she whined.

“No.” Applejack paused, frowning. “Actually, yes, Ah am.”

“And it only took you half an hour!” Dash threw her hooves up, groaning again. “Half an hour of being told I did something stupid. I know I did something stupid, come on, you didn’t have to do that.”

Rarity gave a lady-like ‘ahem’. “True, perhaps half an hour was a tad on the long side, but can you really blame Applejack? We were all so worried when Paladin came storming in to tell us.”

“And then you turn up with Fluttershy, Iron Will and Photo Finish,” added Twilight. Her attention remained fixed on half a dozen books before her, the sound of turning pages her only contribution until now.

“Yeah, I know, I was there! Does everypony think I just forgot? I get it, it was stupid to help Fluttershy go off on her own while we’re in danger! It worked out, but it was still dangerous and blah blah blah, I get it! Stop telling me things I know, because I know them and oh bucking hell, these things are driving me crazy!” They watched Rainbow Dash tugging at her braids frantically. Magenta light formed around her hooves, gently pulling them away. “Hey! I can tear my mane out if I want.”

“We don’t have time to clean up if you start bleeding.” Her tone matter-of-fact, Twilight continued her calm studying. “I have new results, and they’re fascinating. Each time we’ve found another pony - and Tank - there appears to a shift in their Resonance. Relative proximity seems to have an affect on them and...why are you all looking at me like that?”

The other three mares exchanged awkward looks. “Er, like what?” asked Dash, her innocence so forced it was nearly criminal. “I’m not looking at you like anything.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Really? Because it looked awfully like you were looking at me like I’m acting strange- oh!” She gasped. “I’m using my power right now.”

“Angel magic?” Applejack glanced around. “Nothin’ fancy’s happenin’.”

“Not that one. I would probably be having some sort of panic attack or become extremely worried and overreact to all of this, so I’m using the ability to elevate myself above such things. It makes this much easier, and my research goes much faster, when I don’t have to worry about my emotions getting out of control.” Twilight beamed. “It’s perfect!”

Rarity glanced again at her friends to make sure she wasn’t the only one finding this a bit odd. Applejack just shrugged, and Rainbow Dash was tugging her braids again. “If you say so, darling.” ‘Anything to avoid a potential freak out, I suppose.’ “So, you’re making progress on how to get that dreadful magic out of Sweetie Belle?”

“Let me show you.” Books rising with her,Twilight got up, her smile now placid and calm. She gestured at the cellar door. The sound of fillies giggling, one oddly off-cadance, met their ears as they followed Twilight down.

“-and that’s how the Grinch learned to fight the power of capitalism, and brought about a new era of socialism!” Pinkie giggled, waving a puppet-covered hoof in front of her young charges. She waved her other hoof, also puppeted, at the descending mares. “Hi everypony!”

Twilight’s horn flashed, removing the Discord-puppet being waved at her. “Hello, Pinkie. How is everypony?” 

“Pinkie was telling us stories! It made sitting around in an evil science lair less boring!” Sweetie Belle jumped at her sister, claiming a hug. “A lot less boring.”

Rarity ruffled her mane, then quickly corrected it. “Lovely to hear, Sweetie, although I don’t think you should call it that around Twilight.”

“Oh, sorry!” Sweetie blushed.

“I’m keeping everypony happy! Except Photo Finish, but that’s because she’s napping. I was worried I’d wake her, but nope!” Bounding across the room, and over Twilight’s precious arcane devices, Pinkie landed next to the cot Photo Finish lay on. “She’s been sleeping a lot!”

Twilight nodded absently. Tubes, wires and crystals spun about the room, collecting and connecting into increasing complex shapes. At the heart of the controlled chaos lay Ardleon’s blades. A faint cadance hummed from them, one the newcomers were sure had been lacking before.

“She’ll probably wake up soon. I would prefer to begin the first tests before then,” said the unicorn.

Rainbow Dash put down the beaker she had been sniffing at. “Tests? I thought you said this stuff wasn’t ready just a couple hours ago.”

“I did, but something clicked. It just hit me, when the swords began to react. You can all hear it, faintly, just at the edge of your hearing? I think it’s a fragment of Ardleon’s Lightsong; the purest expression of an angel’s identity and purpose. Paladin told me about them, how the chorus of the Heavens forms an angel’s soul, and connects all things. It’s the key to extracting just the essence, and leaving the carrier’s soul unhurt.” The customary magenta glow changed as Twilight spoke, a core of pure white springing into being within her horn. “The spell works, we know that from Tank, but with the Lightsong to guide it, I can direct it safely.”

The device that stood before them now dominated the centre of the room. From the mad jumble of flying bits and pieces, a cohesive whole formed before their eyes. Now the blades were not alone; between them sat the woolen figure that held Ardleon’s image. Against the weapons forged of Equestrian and Heavenly metals, it should have looked mundane, if impressively made. Yet it drew their eyes to it, imposing itself as there. It was more real than the swords, than the device, with only a single infusion of essence.

“Woo! Twilight Sparkle, super genius!” cheered Pinkie. She wrapped a hoof around Twilight, squeezing her tight. “So you can fix everypony.”

Apple Bloom pouted at the machine, even her bow drooping. “Aww, but Ah like havin’ magic. If only y’all’d let me make something…”

“None o’ that grumblin’, Apple Bloom,” Applejack warned her. “We told ya, it ain’t gonna do ya any good. It’ll feel real fun now, but just wait till yer goin’ crazy with it.”

“Still unfair.” Unconvinced, Apple Bloom scowled. “Y’all get to keep yer super-powers!”

“So!” Twilight cut in. She gestured at a pad of woven crystal-grass. “Who wants to help with the Resonance trial?”

Silence greeted her. It welcomed itself into her lair, and spread itself out like it was at home. Silence made itself comfortable for a long minute, though the ponies stuck in it were much less comfortable.

“No one,” Dash finally said, kicking silence out the door.

“Why not? I need to test the Resonance, or I won’t be able to narrow it down. Nothing bad could happen.” Despite her authoritative, eager tone, Twilight noticed neither Applejack nor Rarity volunteering her sister. “I bet Tank would have agreed,” she muttered sourly.

“Tank can’t talk,” retorted Rainbow Dash.

“Then he couldn’t say no. I promise, there’s nothing dangerous about this test, I promise. The odds of something bad happening are as near to non-existent as I can make them. We need to do this. Somepony has to volunteer.” Twilight’s eyes went over the fillies, to their sisters. “I know you don’t want them to get hurt, but if we don’t try, I can’t be certain of how to fix this.”

Silence returned uncomfortably between Applejack and Rarity. They looked at each other, hoping they would give permission, and plagued by guilt for thinking such a thing. Between them, Sweetie and Apple Bloom shared a single glance that said, quite clearly, ‘sisters!’ and nodded.

“Cutie Mark Crusader Test Subjects!” They belted out, jumping together onto the pad. Orange and white hooves reached out to pull them off, but they resisted mightily.

“Sweetie, come off there immediately!”

“‘Bloom, ya don’t even want Twilight to do this, why the heck are ya jumpin’ on now?!”

Twilight cleared her throat, and gestured from Rainbow Dash to the older pair of sisters. By the way the beautified pegasus jumped up eagerly, she caught Twilight’s meaning. Moments later, Rainbow Dash had moved them across the room.

“Both of you, please, stop fighting. I Pinkie Promise-”

Pinkie placed a cupcake in front of Twilight with a significant look.

“-that nothing will happen to them,” Twilight went on, her tone suddenly uneasy at the continued, soul-drilling stare she was receiving. “In fact, with two of them it becomes even safer.”

Applejack hemmed and hawed for a few seconds longer. “Ah dunno....”

“Oh, come on, I let Twilight blast Tank and go hoofing about in his soul. You can let her do some weird magic thing with your sisters as weird magic music or whatever,” reasoned Rainbow Dash. She ignored the sour looks she got for her part in diverting them. “If Twilight says it’ll be fine, it’ll be fine.”

“She Pinkie Promised. Nopony- nearly nopony,” Pinkie corrected herself with an intense moment of staring at Applejack that made the farm-mare wince. “Breaks Pinkie Promises.”

Sighing, Rarity gave an unhappy nod. “You’re right. I do trust you, Twilight, more than anypony else when it comes to magic, but...this is my sister,” she said, giving a helpless shrug.

“She means me,” Sweetie whispered proudly, chest puffing out.

“Well, duh!” shot back Apple Bloom. “She don’t mean Rainbow Dash.”

As the discussion ranged back and forth, Twilight had continued her work on the machine. Her mind raced, pulsing with new ideas and inspiration. ‘Of course the crystal-fiber matches! This is the perfect array, how did I miss this before?’

“I’m just about ready. I need the two of you to relax, and don’t react to anything that happens. You’ll be totally safe. I Pinkie Promised.” Twilight closed her eyes before she could see the shaky, no-longer certain smiles from the fillies. Magic burned through her, building at her horn. The unfamiliar spell-matrix of Angelic magic adapted for her use sprang to the fore, meshing before her mind’s eye with her own spell work. 

The Lightsong didn’t change, but as Twilight fell into her casting, her perception of it did. A spark of white lightning flared, connecting her horn to the machine for a split-second of blinding intensity.

There it is, whispered a voice, so quiet and feeble Twilight couldn’t consciously register it. Hear it. Hear the Resonance of the Arch in all things.

The hum from the blades and the infused figure matched, and under her patient guidance they began to sing as one. Her device spared her the efforts of another spell to add to the process. The magenta was all but gone from her hornlight, impossibly pure white brilliance shining about.

‘I have it!’ The triumphant thought blazed through Twilight, nearly upsetting all her careful work. From the swords and the figure the Resonance touched upon the essene within the fillies. Energies sung together, for a moment four tunes played along before joining as one. Fragments of a whole, they melded for a perfect note that rung out.

Photo Finish gasped, her eyes opening and her mind roaring from sleep to full operations in an instant. She thudded to the floor, the result of a rushed attempt to leap to her hooves, and lay there, stunned. 


***


Octavia paused, looking up from the plate of unappealing blackened material of so-called waffle. She glanced about Vinyl’s kitchen, ignoring the smoke rising from the stove in front of Vinyl. ‘I could have sworn...’


***


“Whoa! Trixie, dear, what’s wrong?”

The slither of sheets torn from the bed were the only answer Trixie gave. She cowered, wadding up the sheets and pressing against her ears.

“Something is changing, something is getting bad, Trixie knows it, and she knows it too,” shrieked the mare, sniffling. “Hurry hurry hurry, make it happen, make it all go away!”

The nurse tried her best to look understanding even as the words passed over her head. Pity laced her thoughts, and she couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her poor charge. Normally Trixie was fine in the early evenings, only getting difficult when night proper was upon them.

“It’s alright, dear, calm down, you’re going to be fine.” Her soft, warm tone did nothing to soothe the frantic mare, but the nurse stayed positive.

“No,”murmured Trixie, shaking her head, her eyes peering at the shadow under her bed. “No, Trixie won’t be fine, because she won’t let her, and neither will he.”

It was gibberish to the nurse, but a knock at the door drew her reluctantly away before she could try to understand. She looked back as her horn lit up and the lock clicked open a moment she reached it.

“Yes? Oh! Is there a problem, ma’am?” She stepped back, surprised, but kept the door mostly shut.

The guardsmare outside peered past her suspiciously. “I’m here to check on Trixie Lulamoon.” Her stern gaze probed the room past the nurse. “Is she still here? Has anything unusual happened?”

“What? Unusual?” The nurse gave her an unamused stare. “If you mean unusual for her current state, then no. She’s right here, and not in the mood for a visitor, much less such an imposing one.”

“Hrm.” Undeterred, the guard craned her neck enough to see in and make out the mare huddled in the corner. Trixie whimpered, immediately covering her face with the covers, only her broken horn left unhidden.

“Trixie’s sorry, so sorry, please punish Trixie for it, and punish her too, punish him, stop them so Trixie can rest and think, please.” Whining, Trixie pushed further into the corner, words muffled by her sheets.

“Oh, now look what you’ve done! Please, leave, it’s going to take me the better part of an hour to get her calm enough to eat now,” said the incensed nurse. She closed the door in the guard’s face, the undignified yelp that came through it bringing some small warmth to her heart. The warmth fizzled out at the sight of her poor charge, but that didn’t stop the nurse from getting right back to her job.


***


Twilight shook her head. “Well,” she said, hoping the ringing was just the crystals in her machine, not her ears punishing her. “That was enlightening!”

The glares she got in answer did nothing to diminish her enthusiasm, though it did temper it. She smiled nervously, her magic reaching out to stabilise the wobbling fillies. This proved unnecessary, given their sisters quickly coddling them and checking them over for any sign of injury.

“It was,” Twilight added defensively. A note book began to float next to her, captured in her aura. “I know exactly what next step I need to work on. Now I’ve been able to trace the Lightsong between them, I can refine the process to completely filter out all other forces-”

“Twi’, that’s real interestin’ an’ all, but Ah’m more concerned about Apple Bloom. Yer sure nothin’ has happened? Look! She’s gone all limp!” Applejack held up one of Apple Bloom’s hooves, waving it, and Apple Bloom, about.

“It wasn’t that big of a bang,” Rainbow remarked, rolling her eyes. “It was a bit of a flash and a weird hum, get over it. Besides, don’t you trust her?”

Applejack hesitated, long enough for her sister to reclaim control of her hoof and yank it away. “Ah do. Sorry ‘bout that, sugarcube, for gettin’ a mite overprotective there.”

With a smile to show her forgiveness, Twilight passed Applejack by to aid Photo Finish. The photographer was muttering words that were probably swear words, given her tone. She blinked rapidly, searching for her sunglasses.

“Vere are my glasses, and vere am I?!” She squinted, looking past Twilight to see…”You! Vat, Miss Rarity, am I doing in this...dank little lair?” She sniffed. “It smells of science and madness!”

As Rainbow Dash mouthed ‘how are those smells?’ to a perplexed Applejack, their more fashionable friend hastened to answer.

“I am terribly sorry, so very sorry, but there was a teeny, tiny incident in Shelbyseed, and we thought it best to bring you here.” Rarity wore her most charming smile. “This is the laboratory of my good friend, Twilight Sparkle. She’s the Princess’s protege, and the very best when it comes to this kind of thing.”

Photo Finish peered around suspiciously. “Vat kind of thing? Vat happened? I vas supposed to be taking pictures for Iron Vill, but…” She teetered on her hooves, stumbling for a moment. “But...something is not right. I...I do not remember…”

Twilight caught Photo Finish in her aura before the older mare could fall, and helped her to sit down. Rarity’s suggestion that perhaps something to ease a headache might help was met with a nod from Twilight. Fortunately, Twilight had something that she prepared earlier and out it came, a few tablets and a bottle of water.

“Can you explain it to her, please?” Twilight hurried past Rarity as she asked. “I need to talk to Paladin. I’m sure it won’t take long.”

Paladin’s familiar voice intruded, and the pegasus followed, coming down the stairs. “That won’t be needed,” he said. The anger, they were all relieved to see, was gone from his expression. Rainbow Dash went so far as to sigh in relief, though the sharp look that earned her made it clear he hadn’t forgotten her role in today’s events.

Fluttershy came down at his side. She made no move to pretend she wasn’t right at his side, or shy away from such contact even in such limited ‘public’ as her friends. With her came a rush of warmth and compassion, soothing unsettled nerves and bringing Photo Finish back to what passed for her usual sense.

“Ah ha! I remember you, oh yes!” declared the mare as she stood. To her surprise, the hoof Rarity laid on her shoulder wasn’t a gentle gesture suggesting she sit; it was a firm touch, telling her to.

“Please, hold on for just a minute while I explain. I really do think you want to know everything.” Insistent, Rarity managed to herd the impatient photographer into a secluded corner. The whisper-wind touch of gratitude that came to Rarity was entirely for her, and Fluttershy made no efforts to pretend she wasn’t relieved to escape Photo Finish’s attention, even for a short while.

“You’ve tested the Resonance of the Lightsong.” Paladin looked at the device and it’s celestial treasures for only as moment before diverting his gaze, a second of pain all he wanted to endure at the sight of them. “We’ve made progress, then. The next step should be clear. Soon, we can free them of Ardleon’s essence.”

A cold wind ran down Paladin’s spine, and he fought the urge to shiver. Irritably, he ignored the sensation. There were far more important things afoot. Or ahoof. He wasn’t really sure which to use, an uncertainty he banished when he realised how inane it was.

“Do we need to be here for that?” Apple Bloom looked between the grown ups. “No offense Twilight, but it’s gettin’ really boring. Can’t we go play with Scootaloo again?”

“Yeah! She’s probably feeling really lonely without us,” whined Sweetie Belle.

Pinkie, oddly silent until now, spoke up with a bright, loudly too loud declaration. “I can look after them, so nopony needs to worry. Come on, I can take my new friend-”

“Yer guard,” Applejack added.

“- Critty, and we can go have loads of fun! Come on, don’t make them stay for more boooooooooooring science,” Pinkie pleaded, throwing her hooves out, eyes wide and pouting deeply. Apple Bloom and Sweetie leaned in on either side, adding their considerable pout-power to the begging.

“It’s not….oh, alright, you can go. Just keep close, keep your guard with you at all times, and don’t make him dress like a clown again. I don’t care if it is fun for everypony, it was very distracting and I think you embarrassed him,” instructed Twilight sternly. She looked to Paladin for backup, and he nodded at Pinkie.

“Now is the most important time to be careful. The time between these attacks is dropping. We must all be on our guard, always.” He raised his voice, his warning ringing out as the two fillies and one overgrown filly bolted up the stairs.

“Don’t worry! Alright girls!” They heard Pinkie shouting. “Everypony on your guard! Which is my guard! Ponypile on Critty!”

“Ah!”

Thud!

“...Whoops,” muttered Paladin, grimacing guiltily. “Was that my fault?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Eh. A bit. So...see ya!”

Paladin’s hoof slammed against the wall, Dash’s tail trapped between hoof and wall in her bid for escape. She yelped at the sharp tug, her momentum wasted, and looked back with watering eyes.

“Dude! Not cool!”

His grim, foreboding stare killed her outrage. “Later,” he said, calm, collected and utterly without mercy. “We shall discuss how ‘cool’ it is to aid others in going into danger. For now, however…” His lips curled back in a sinister smirk. “I believe you have an appointment to finish with Aloe and Lotus. I’m certain you’ll go. Perhaps they can convince me not to pursue matters with you further.”

She gulped. Dash’s mane bounced as she nodded frantically. “Uh, yeah, sure, totally,” she agreed, laughing nervous. She raised an ear. “Hey, that sounds like, uh...Octavia, that’s the mare. Sounds like she’s come looking, somepony better go say hi!”

Paladin stared at her for a moment longer until, at last, he removed his hoof and she bolted from the room. His sinister smirk faded into a slightly smug one, and he chuckled to himself. Fluttershy’s reproving stare was waiting for him when he turned.

“She needed something for helping you.” Paladin shrugged. “She’ll be fine, just a bit embarrassed.”

“I guess so…”

Twilight coughed loudly. “I think we better focus now. It’s time for science!”

“Actually, I believe it is time for philosophy.” Paladin sat down, getting comfortable.

“But...but…science!” protested Twilight, her expression falling. Fluttershy came to her side, but it did little to comfort her. “Arcane science is what we need here.”

Paladin shook his head. “Not this time.” His eyes slowly closed, his shoulders and wings relaxing. “Summoning forth the essence from them will require more than just the magic you needed to do so with Tank. There is an order of magnitude difference between that, and what you must do.”

“Yes, which is why I need to do more research!” Stressing her need for science with each word, Twilight sat across from him. Note books and the very tome of soul magic Celestia provided, the basis of so much of her work, were summoned to her side. She had the bearing of a mare ready to go to war, a war over books. “I need to know exactly what to do.”

“And that is why you will fail. Because you cannot know, for certain, exactly what you will face. You will be drawing forth the essence of an angel. The core of a being steeped in order and unity. It will be driven to unite and return to itself, yes, but without a mind guiding it, the essence will need to be controlled.” It troubled Paladin to explain this, to put his thoughts into words. The task seemed impossible. “The bond between his shattered essence guided you in, but to ‘refine’ it, you must use the idea of Ardleon. The concept of an angel. You have to...guide it...seek what within them is Ardleon...argh…”

He struck the ground, his hoof lancing with pain and his head aching with frustration. No words could convey what he wanted to share. The Lightsong would act to pull the essence free cleanly, but to do it perfectly required more knowledge of Ardleon than she had. She had to be able to tell what was his being, and what was not, and he struggled for the words.

A warm presence against him made Paladin look up. Fluttershy’s muzzle brushed his, and her wing slid under his.

“Just take your time. I have trouble knowing what to say, sometimes. I’m just shy, I know, but you’re not.” She smiled, sincere, warm, loving, and the frustrated chaos within him grew still.

Across the room, Rarity let out a cry of alarm. Photo Finish flopped to the ground, clutching her chest. She came back up a moment later, shaking Rarity. 

“Ze moe is too strong! Vere is my camera?! I must take pictures of zem! I can see it now! Oh, ze lights, ze magicks!”

Ignoring the oddly accented commotion, Paladin nuzzled Fluttershy. The wounds of fear and worry he had taken from her solo adventure were raw, barely healed but on their way, yet he still found her oddly calming. Calming, yet at the same time so confusing. The perils of a mortal heart, able to rock with such contradictory conflict.

‘Perhaps a mortal heart isn’t such a bad thing, after all.’

Strengthened, Paladin began to speak, each word born from that mortal heart of his, eons of ancient lore tempered by mere months of life, as he sought to bridge concepts from one world to another.


***


Nothing was so unnerving to a pony of Equestria as the prospect of failing one of their rulers, To the royal guards, the very idea was anathema. It was little wonder, then, that being stared at like you’d just declared a national holiday in the name of banning cake was the sort of thing to give a guard nightmares.

“...Lieutenant, please repeat what you just said.” Celestia’s voice was entirely too calm. She just stared at the guard until he nervously repeated himself.

“The express train from Ponyville never arrived. They can’t find any trace of it. The station manager was going to send some pegasi down the tracks to look for it. Captain Armour is presumed missing, your highness.”

Her mane swirled in an unseen wind as she nodded. “I see. I had hoped I was mishearing. It seems I was not.” She turned to her sister, the smaller alicorn seated next to her. “Even sooner than we expected. Scorpan is wasting no time.”

Luna scowled, her expression foul. “It astounds me that such a rat was able to steal enough of his master’s power, even with that loathsome artifact. We should have destroyed it, long ago.”

“You know just as well as I that the price of destroying it was too high,” Celestia pointed out. “Dangerous it may be, but the risk was worth the hope they could be saved. Even now, I’m not willing to concede on that point.”

Luna just crushed the fruit she had been about to eat, imagining in its place the head of their old enemy. “Even with that most despicable traitor...I must agree. At the very least, Scorpan will still be less of a threat than Tirek, even if he performs his tainted work on Captain Armour. It will take him days, I should think.”

A flicker of doubt passed through Celestia’s eyes. Her only answer was a noncommittal ‘hrm’. Her hoof tapped a staccato beat on the table before she returned her gaze to the nervous Lieutenant.

“I want no news of this to escape. Not even to the Captain’s sister. This is to be kept under wraps, but I want Bulwark’s best fliers out there immediately. Dark caves, isolated thickets, anywhere dark magic could be concealed from sight, I want them searching for sign of Captain Armour or the creature you have already been warned about. They are to report back, immediately, and make no attempt to save the Captain or interfere with the creature on their own.” Celestia rose from her chair, the plush furniture of her private office casting a cheery contrast to her troubled expression. “Trixie Lulamoon, the report said she appears troubled?”

“No more than is usual for her, sister, is what the guard reported,” Luna supplied. Her mouth twisted in distaste. “She has yet to regain her senses, it seems. Such a thing to do…”

The hint of guilt in her eyes didn’t go unnoticed, but Celestia knew now was hardly the time. She brushed Luna’s chin with her wing, sharing an understanding smile with her before turning back to the business at hoof.

“I want the guards on duty there doubled. Commander Blind Fight is being reassigned there, and is to have her most potent detection spells active. Something is coming.” A slip of paper, her orders traced by a glowing quill, rolled itself tight in front of him, marked with the royal seal. Another, a letter, began to take shape on the desk. Luna watched the letter with interest, using her own magic to interject once or twice.

“Sir Paladin will not appreciate going uninformed of this,” she noted absently. She eyed some of the all too prevalent paperwork before her, sourly noticing a fresh request for cold iron dust from the Academy for Gifted Unicorns, dated only this afternoon. Given she had okayed some only a week ago, it was not a request she was pleased to see.

Celestia sighed. “I rather expect not,” she agreed. “But I will ensure he is fully prepared. If we have not found Shining Armour by sundown tomorrow, we can share the full details with him. Right how, Twilight needs to be able to focus on what is right in front of her. Besides, we have a far more immediate concern ourselves.”

A third letter, far shorter, vanished in a wink of golden light. The Royal Sisters looked at the clock, counting down under their breath. The Lieutenant had barely closed the door behind him when the clock struck the fifth second of the minute, and a teal flash announced the arrival of another Princess.

“What do you mean, Shining’s been kidnapped?!”


***


The sun had fallen, and the moon rose majestically. Across Canterlot, the royal guards hunted for one of their own, taken from them by a sinister force, with the fervour of family seeking a loved one. Pegasi scouted the well-known countryside, and the places they barely knew. From within the palace, spells spread like webs over the land in search of the wayward Captain. 

In Ponyville, eventually, sleep claimed its tired heroes. They gathered together, unwilling to part and heeding the most ancient of advice their most learned member could espouse.

“Don’t split the party,” Twilight explained, and then spent the next half an hour explaining to Pinkie she didn’t mean a literal party. What began as six mares, a baby dragon and one stallion grew with the insistence of three fillies that this was clearly a slumber party, and if Spike was allowed to be there, so were they.

Paladin didn’t explain what the letter that Spike spat out for him said, only ordering more guards into position around the library-turned-hostel.

“We must be alert,” he stressed, his gaze troubled as he eyed the dark street through the window. “Now more than ever.”


***


“Master.”

Shadows shifted as Tirek turned. His baleful gaze sent his minion cowering, the infernal light from between the demon’s horns penetrating only the darkness that created Scorpan’s image before him.

“I begin to tire of these interruptions,” warned the demon lord, his voice grating sharply with anger. His face wrinkled, snorting in disgust at the fear and barely concealed anger in Scorpan’s eyes.

“I wished merely to inform you that everything is proceeding as you predicted, my lord. I shall be ready to act on the morrow. The caves were a master stroke, master.” Scorpan found the courage to raise his voice in inquiry. “If I may, how did you learn of them? I had no idea of their presence.”

Tirek snorted again. “Of course you didn’t.” He gestured lazily at a tree. A putrid smell rose from it, and a number of limbs lay scattered about it, their hard, black carapace cracked. “Even insects may provide useful information, if care is taken to extract it.”

His attention returned to the pool of living pitch before him. Liquid darkness lapped at the edge of the well, staining the dirt with foulness each time the pony within flailed. The stream of magic from his precious sack twisted wildly, bending at each twitch of his fingers and wave of his hands, winding its way into the pool.

Scorpan watched for a moment, his gaze drawn in by the futile struggle. It was a shame he wouldn’t be able to watch the warrior pony broken, but such things were of little importance. His attention returned to Tirek, boring into the elder demon’s back. His image began to fade, the last thing to go his hateful eyes that burned with old, old malice.

Shining Armour cried out, but it achieved nothing save to echo fruitlessly among the trees of the Everfree, and to bring a dark smile to Tirek’s face. A cold wind blew across his bare, devil-red skin, yet it meant nothing to him.

“Your sister and her ‘friends’ prevailed against a nightmare once before. Let us see how they fare this time.”


***


Golden Oaks Library was never quite silent. Even in the dead of night, the delicate snores of one of it’s occupants could always be heard, and sometimes even Twilight snored as well. Now, the faint noises that came with hosting just over a dozen sleeping ponies, and twice as many guards, kept a constant level going.

A chill wind swept through the library. It passed over Rarity, her mane disturbed for a moment before she fell back to sleep. Curled up between Applejack and Rarity, Rainbow Dash made a plaintive whine in her sleep and snuggled closer to the farm-mare. Applejack felt nothing of the chill, her friend providing all the warmth she needed. One by one, the frosty breeze passed them by until it passed over the dark fur of the lone stallion who slept soundly next to Fluttershy.

Paladin shifted,a faint ‘mmh’ slipping from his lips. A shiver ran through him, yet he didn’t stir. He just slept, and in his sleep, he dreamed. Whatever dreams entertained the former-angel’s mind in his slumber began to change, a shift overtaking them. 

Weapons flashed in the world locked away inside him. He saw, he heard, the cries of despairing angels as the pincer closed. Rocks fell, blackened, red-veined boulders pulsing with hellish energies raining from the sky with no warning. He saw Izual, his friend, his ally, his brother, leaping into combat only to vanish into the darkness. Paladin reached out, calling, and Izual appeared, his armour blackened, his blades burning as they were turned upon his own people.

‘The end comes!’ came Izual’s roar. He advanced relentlessly, though something appeared to be dragging him back and slowed his charge. ‘The end!’

“Hrn!” Paladin lurched up, his breath catching. He coughed, pressing a hoof to his chest until his coughing faded to panting. He stared past the misty cloud that followed each breath, his mind whirling. Already the dream was slipping from his grasp, and….

Paladin froze. Slowly, he sucked in a long, deep lungful of fresh early morning air. It escaped as steam, the mist undeniable even in the semi-light of morning twilight. A bone-deep chill had settled on Paladin, yet it took only a moment’s thought to look over to the sleeping bags, cots and mattresses that lined the main room of the library to see no sign of chill on any other. There was no sign of anything being amiss.

There lay Applejack, her little sister cuddling on one side and Rainbow snuggled against her on the other, with Scootaloo equally adorably settled against Rainbow Dash. Rarity, her dignity impossible to maintain in her sleep, instead made a delightful image of sisterly love, Sweetie Belle asleep within her sister’s forelegs. Pinkie was at ease in her sleeping bag, the only sour note being the somewhat large plush toys that occupied it with her that had oddly unsettling fake eyes. Twilight and Spike were not in sight, sleeping in their own beds despite Twilight’s protest that she couldn’t afford to sleep when they were this close. At the base of the stairs were Vinyl Scratch and Octavia, neither willing to part and Octavia unable to resist the draw summoning her to the library.

Even Photo Finish was here, albeit in the spare room, and only willing to relent on her demand for a proper hotel with the promise of just one teeny-tiny picture of her new obsession. He personally found it rather vexing, but if one or two photos of ‘the essence of mare and stallion, side by side, brimming with ze magicks!’ was what it took, he would pay the price. So would Fluttershy, sleeping with only an infinitesimal distance between their sleeping bags, and so she had agreed.

It was, Paladin decided as he dropped his head back onto his pillow, far too early to deal with strange dreams. 


***


Even with the sun only peeking over the horizon, the hospital was nonetheless active, as ever it was. Nurses and doctors worked, patients complained, and on one floor guards kept their eyes trained for any sign of attack. Commander Blind Fight kept her arcane vigilance constantly alert, traversing the floor again and again with spells of detection and sight. From the privacy of a doctor’s office, she maintained her spells.

Six a.m., and all is well, she noted down, quill scribbling along her report. She knew that her writing was reflected to another book within the palace garrison. No changes. Nothing detec-

The quill dropped from her magic, her focus shifting to her sword. Her aura wrapped around the hilt, filling the oval gap in the middle of the long, hiltless blade as it slid free of its sheath. The weapon hovered by her side, twitching in time with her suspicious glances. Her vigilance wards returned negative results, nothing detected, nothing seen, yet she didn’t go back to her report.

Commander? The words formed on the paper, written by an invisible quill.

She picked hers up again, but though she pressed it against the book once again, Blind Fight didn’t start writing. She ignored it for another minute until, at last, she began to write again.

False alarm. Everything remains-

“Ah ha!” She spun, and her blade mirrored, becoming a gleaming buzzsaw. It sliced through the air, burying one of its tips in the wall. The blade shuddered there, a faint ringing rising from it. Blind Fight blinked, frowning at the lack of bisected intruder.

She tugged her blade free, just in time for the perception baffling curse laid over her spells to falter. The alarm jolted her, her aura’s grip disturbed.

Scorpan rose, physical form shaped from beneath her desk. Swift as he was, she reacted instantly. The mare dived away, pulling her blade back towards her so fast and close that it sliced a few stray hairs from her cheek. She turned in time to see his hand dissolve and reform, claws neatly inserted in the hole.

“Aler-”

Shadows surged with a gesture of his free hand, slapping over her mouth. It became sticky and physical, gagging her. Her mouth closed, teeth snapping shut a second too slow to keep the invasive substance from racing down her throat. It spread over her nostrils, cutting off all air flow.

Not that this stopped her, and Scorpan had to admit a grudging if frustrated respect for the guardsmare. She threw herself bodily at a cabinet, hooves aimed at the pictures and lovingly framed photographs the doctor who owned this office had placed. They fell towards the floor, only to land on a cushioning dark flood.

“Valiant,” Scorpan admitted, watching her struggle to make a sound. “But futile.”

She glared, right up until she lost consciousness. Blind Fight slumped, finally going limp. Leaving her on the floor, Scorpan withdrew the shadow matter tendrils from across the room. Already, her spells were fading from the hospital. He paid singular attention to the tracer spell, ensuring the motes of clinging energy were gone. What good was it to take your prize if you left a trail of magical bread crumbs?

Not so far away, the nurse who held watch over Trixie restrained a yawn. She had to fight from glancing at the clock, knowing that whatever time it showed, it would still be too early. Her gaze lingered on Trixie, and she considered making a break for the door.

‘Oh no, don’t worry, I can keep her company until she feels safe.’ Sometimes, she regretted being this nice. Other times…

“Trixie….Trixie is feeling tired now…” The damaged mare yawned, rubbing her eyes.

‘Oh thank the Sisters!’ The nurse began to pack away the game board. “See? I told you it would help. Alright, let’s get you into bed.”

Pausing as she was guided out, Trixie stared at the door. The exhaustion didn’t fade from her expression, if anything she was more alert, and for the first time since her descent into madness had begun, the nurse saw a spark of awareness.

“...no...p-please, don’t…” She rubbed the tears from her ears, ignoring the nurse’s attempt to soothe her in favour of staring at nothing. “D-don’t hurt her, she’s been so nice...please…”

Thud!

Scorpan removed his hand from the back of the nurse’s head. “Fascinating. Such conflict ripping your psyche apart, and you still have it in you to care for others. I would have thought your little guest would have destroyed that long ago.”

He advanced, baring his fangs in a savage grin. Trixie cowered against the side of her bed. Sparks erupted from her shattered horn, showering him. A quick backhand sent her barrelling into the wall.

“We can’t go just yet.” Scorpan tapped his claw on the bed post impatiently. Trixie’s whimpers grated on his nerves, and he considered kicking her when she crawled past him to the nurse. “Perhaps I should give them a hint- ah, there we go.”

Shouts filled the hall outside, bringing a smile back to Scorpan’s face. Trixie whined in pain, his sudden grasp on her neck making her thrash. He waited just long enough for the guards to see him holding the fighting mare before his magic took him away, enjoying that momentary image of their shocked expressions.


***


“Who wants pancakes?”

Pancakes filled the mind of everypony in hearing, driven straight into their heads by divine agency. Paladin groaned, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. All round him, the others were roused by the spike of angelic imagery that bespoke of perfect pancakes.

“Pinkie,” he mumbled. “I need to talk to you about this, but right now...right now I just want pancakes. After that, we need to talk about your voice.”

She looked at him quizzically. “Huh? What’s wrong with it?” Her tone was utterly clueless, but far more grating was her simple cheer at seven in the morning.

“Pancakes!” interrupted Rainbow Dash. She sat so fast she pulled Applejack with her, and the pair went down in a tumble that took Apple Bloom and Scootaloo with them. From beneath the ponypile, Dash’s cry sounded out again; “Pancakes!”

Paladin’s attempt to grunt his reasons were lost amid the cry for pancakes, most loudly by the fillies, such as Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Vinyl Scratch and Rainbow Dash. He settled for a displeased, tired scowl. Pinkie bounced away, ready and willing to cook pancakes for over a dozen ponies all at once. It was a task he doubted even she was up to.

Which made him rather confused when, half an hour later, he was but one of a dozen ponies with a plate of pancakes in front of him.

“I didn’t think we had this many plates,” Spike remarked between mouthfuls of emerald-laced pancakes.

“We don’t.” Twilight stared sourly at Pinkie for a moment, mulling over that particular mystery one more time.

There were no complaints to be had, despite this, as they all indulged in a delicious breakfast.

This made the first scream of terror something of a mood kill.

Photo Finish glared at the window. “Is this normal? Why is there screaming zis early? Ach! Go make it stop!” she commanded Rarity.

Already Paladin was charging outside, moving side by side with his friends. Twilight winked out, arriving outside with a speed only magic could bring.

“Dash, come on!”

“But ‘m shtill eatin’!”

Not that everypony who could teleport actually was, that is.

“Guards, with me,” Paladin commanded, voice booming. The patrolling guards were already moving towards the disturbance, and now those standing vigil over the library joined him. “You, you, you.” He caught the gaze of one after another. “Remain here, guard those who stay within. Only the Bearers will deal with this.”

“Hey!” Vinyl’s protest was ignored.

“Sorry!” Apologised Fluttershy. She barely kept pace with the others, slowly falling behind until Twilight simply saved them all time by scooping her into her magic. “T-thank you.” 

“Ain’t nothin’ to be thankful for, headin’ to that thing! Look at it, Ah can see the mess from here!” Applejack narrowed her eyes as they galloped through the town. “Is that a...horse?”

There was nothing subtle about this attack, and it only got more apparent the closer they got. Hellish howls filled the once quiet morning. The creature rampaged at the very edge of town, as tall as a cottage, and was visible to them long before they arrived. Not that they could make out the details.

The air in front of Twilight shimmered, twisting into a lense. “What’s it doing? Rainbow Dash, fly ahead and-”

“Get beaten up again?” Dash snorted. “Let’s do this as a group this time so I don’t end up in the hospital for like the fifth time.”

“I like that plan,” admitted Fluttershy.

“See?! Let’s go with the plan Fluttershy agrees with. She’s all reasonable and stuff, you know, mostly.” She quickly added the last part, moving her flight path slightly further from Paladin, wary of the annoyed look he sent her way at the reminder.

Whatever reprimand he might have added, Paladin abandoned in favour of dodging a cloud of debris that came raining towards them. Splinters of wood, a cauldron and a...mask?

“That’s Zecora’s!” Rarity grasped the voodoo mask in her magic, pulling it away from the shattered debris. “How did it get up there?”

“I think...look out, more incoming!” They parted, everypony diving away from the vicious rain. Bloody red energy hung broken remains of the zebra’s makeshift home, making it remarkably more sinister.

The source at last came into sight moments later. Rising from the earth in a sudden burst, bloody red magic erupted upwards. It took earth and grass with it, and very nearly Zecora. She weaved between the exploding ground, dodging the vertical torrents of magic. Every step she took was one ahead of them. Her striped coat and the flaring red made the display oddly fascinating, scintillating colours and patterns that shifted with every movement.

“Zecora!”

The zebra glanced over. The dirt beneath her hoof dissolved, bubbling with magic for an instant as she tumbled. She got an eyeful, an instant of it exploding towards her lasting for what felt like hours. A faint cry reached her ears, yet the words escaped her.

Zecora hit the ground, remarkably alive, and didn’t realise what had happened until she felt the lingering magic on her, and Twilight began to check her for injuries.

“My thanks to you, Twilight my friend,” Zecora gasped out, pointing into the smoking battlefield. “But prepare for battle, lest we all meet our end!”

Paladin galloped past, casting a glare around for their enemy. “Guards, prepare to…”

Smoke parted, billowing from the creature. Saliva that sizzled and popped like liquid fire, tainted with the same bloody magic, dripped from its fiery maw. It threw its head back, a dastardly neigh howling out as it strode on cloven hooves of dark iron. 

“Fire!” the former angel roared. 

Half a dozen arcane bolts rattled off blackened steel, bouncing off the vicious spikes adorning the devilish equine. It snorted, twin jets of fire pulsing out in contempt. Half a dozen red bolts fired back in return, each born from it’s ebony horn. They splashed against Twilight’s shield, the magenta barrier rising over the group before lives could be claimed.

“We need to hold it here, before it can get further into town.” Twilight returned the monstrous creature’s fixated stare. “Girls, this time, I think we should just go straight to the Elements-”

There was no warning. The nightmare cast in steel and fire gave no hint of its attack until a spike of bloody magic struck her shield. For an instant, it held and Twilight smirked confidently. The moment passed as quickly as her shield. The twisting threads of magic were ripped from her grasp. Twilight stared, the breath stolen from her lungs as her shield spell just dissolved and the spike continued right at her.

“Oh.”

“Dr-op!” Pinkie shouted, her voice breaking the paralysis that gripped Twilight but nothing more. “Dro-”

Rainbow Dash’s wings burst into light. Applejack threw herself, armour shining into being around her. Rarity’s eyes and horn glowed. Everypony jumped to Twilight’s aid, yet only Pinkie’s voice was fast enough.

Which made it something of a surprise when the bloody spike exploded. It surged over Twilight, energy seething, crackling, in a magenta whirlwind that fired back the way it came. She stared after it.

“What…”

The nightmare screamed, hooves lashing out in fury. Magic seeped around it, pushed back for a moment by each attempt but creeping closer every second.

“What the hay is going on?” Rainbow Dash demanded. She glanced down, giving Pinkie a shake. “Pinkie, get your hoof out of your mouth! Twilight, did you do that? What’s it doing?”

Twilight shook her head, brow furrowed. “I don’t- that wasn’t- I don’t understand!” She pointed, hoof shaking, at the creature’s now blazing horn - blazing, that is, with no hint of red to its glow. “That’s the colour of my magic, but I didn’t cast anything!”

“Everypony, get down, something is about to happen.” Rarity held a hoof up, glancing away from the beast. “It’s...oh, Twilight…”

“Look, it’s a ponyball!” Nopony would have paid attention to Pinkie’s shout, if not for the fact she was correct. Half a foot off the ground, their foe hovered encased in a perfect globe. It snorted and howled, flailing and kickings, and achieved nothing whatsoever.

Everypony just stared.

“That wasn’t me…” Weaving between the rings of shattered earth, Twilight couldn’t hold back a shiver from running down her spine when its eyes met hers. There was something bizarrely familiar… “Oh no…no, no, it can’t be...”

Rarity was there at her side, and caught Twilight in a hug as her friend recoiled. To her, there was no armour or fire hiding the soul within the beast. She nuzzled Twilight.

“It’s alright, dear, we’ll get him out.” She smiled, quickly smoothing Twilight’s frazzled mane. “Rainbow Dash is already going back to the library, dear. We’ll have the Elements-”

“Right now!” Pinkie swung a hoof out, swiping through the air above her. Her hoof came back with the Element of Laughter. Rainbow Dash paused, loaded with magical knickknacks, and looked down.

The pegasus scowled. “Where did..oh, never mind.” She threw the Elements of Harmony, divine artefacts of unfathomable powers, without a second thought. They sailed through the air to their owners. “Alright everypony, form up!”

Paladin watched, looking between the mares as they formed a circle. “Wait, wait, we need to find whoever holds Ardleon’s essence. Every time before now, they have been key to freeing the corrupted. We don't know where the essence is now.”

His words fell on deaf ears. Twilight’s eyes burned, her tiara sparking. “No,” she whispered, voice shaking the air. “No. I won’t wait. I won’t leave my brother like this!”

One by one, the Bearers of the Elements rose. Paladin looked on, watching the creature that had been Shining Armour thrashing within a shield of its own apparent making. ‘Did he cast the spell despite the corruption?’

The Elements unleashed their power. So close to it, Paladin could feel it down to his bones. He beheld it, brilliant colours swirling about into the sky before the celestial magic came falling down. 

“Beautiful…”

Even so stunted and mortal, Paladin’s senses were set alight by the fury of the Elements. It washed over him, and he didn’t realise he had closed his eyes to bask in the energies until they began to fade. Already he could feel the grass beneath his hooves were filled with life. Renewal came in the presence of the power of Harmony, flooding his body with a surge of new energy.

By the time he opened his eyes, it was all over. Twilight held her brother as he lay on the ground, slumped and weak. Little purple claws were busy scouring the guardstallion for any sign of injury, and Spike couldn’t keep from looking up worriedly every few seconds.

“Shiny, please, are you alright?” A hint of the otherworldly echo remained in her voice, and her eyes still glowed with residual energy. “Tell me you’re alright! How did this happen? Oh, this is my fault, somehow, I should have realised that somepony close to me was next!”

He leaned up, nuzzling her before gravity proved its mettle and dragged him back down. “It’s fine,” he mumbled with a dismissive wave of his hoof. “R-really...’s all good. Not your fault, but...a letter. Need to send a letter.”

Spike held up his empty hands. “I don’t have anything to write on or send!”

Swaying as he was, Shining Armour nonetheless pushed himself up. “We need...to alert the Princesses,” he wheezed. “I...I can remember...ngh…I can remember it, damn it. That monster!”

“Scorpan?” Spike shuddered. “I...I can’t remember much, now.”

“Not that! Scorpan is just a lackey. M-mind magic, since the changelings, I’ve been learning how to guard my mind and I can remember their plan!” Shining Armour pushed back guilt for snapping. Later, he could apologise to Spike

“None of the other victims retain much memory,” Paladin observed. He stood apart, and around them the guards were already at work searching through the damage. His gaze bored into Shining Armour. “But none were able to use a spell to disable their possessed form.”

A proud grin stretched across Shining’s muzzle for a moment. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Wasn’t gonna win, so I had to let him. Planned it, kinda.”

Twilight gaped, eyes nearly popping out of her head. “What?! You let this happen? How could you be so irresponsible?”

“Well, let’s be fair darling, it did work. It came very close to not working out for Zecora, of course, but your dear brother did keep from hurting you.” Rarity laid a hoof on her shoulder. “Perhaps not the most...considerate of plans, but it seems to have worked out. We’ve been blind this entire time, waiting for each attack. This could be just what we need.”

“Aw yeah, counterattack!” Pumping her hoof, Rainbow Dash cheered. “We’re going on the offensive!”

“Which we can only do if I can send a letter to Canterlot. I know where Scorpan is hiding, and I know what he’s planned with his master.” Hoof pressed against his forehead, Shining looked around urgently. “If somepony could please get me some paper! I know where he’s taken her.”

Glances exchanged around him, their quizzical looks meeting his own.

“Her? Her who?” Pinkie frowned. “I don’t know anypony called ‘Her’, and I’m super-certain nopony would ever let that big Creepy McCreeper take them anywhere!”

“Please,” Shining groaned. “The Princesses are in danger! I need to let them know, now!”

Silence stretched out, stunned stares greeting his tone and news it held. Only a shaking pink tail moved in those few seconds, until its owner emerged from a pile of rubble.

“Found some! I hope they don’t mind getting warnings against imminent attacks on a shopping list. Egg, milk, bread and evil monster attack, check check and check!” Pinkie dropped the paper in front of Shining. Rainbow Dash, who had ventured too close, yelped. A single blue feather and a pot of pink ink were added to the pile. “There you go!”

“Thanks...is this ink sparkling? Whatever.” He shook off the oddity of Pinkie’s ink, scrawling down a message. “I know their plan, some of it, and they have to stop the spell.”

“Shining, what’s going on? What spell? Who did Scorpan take? What is going on?!” demanded Twilight. “How could Scorpan threaten the Princesses? They’re alicorns!”

“Scorpan is meant to cast a spell - Spike, send this straight to Celestia - from the bowels of the crystal caves. Hiding with Trixie-” Shining flinched back, more from the shouts of alarm then Spike’s fire whisking the paper away. 

“Trixie? What’s she got to do with this?”

“Why would he take her?”

“Oh no, is she okay? I hope she doesn’t get hurt.”

Shining Armour held a hoof up, trying to calm them, and shot Paladin an urgent look. The pegasus was far too busy, staring hard into the distance as he tried to decipher what their foe’s plan was.

“We need to go,” he said at last, deep voice cutting through the chatter. Paladin stretched his wings. “If the battle has been taken to Canterlot, we need to go there, now!”

Twilight’s aura had already swept over them, and she nodded. “I think...the wards are up?” Her brow creased. “Somepony has activated the wards. Nopony can teleport in or out of Canterlot. I mean, I could breach them, just give me a few minutes to work out the current spell keys to bring them down remotely…”

No!

“No!” 

Paladin felt their stares on him, and growing curiosity and concern emanating from Fluttershy, but he shook his head. The wind caressed his feathers, a moment of chill that nonetheless strengthened him.

“No? But, how else will we get there?” Confusion lit up Twilight’s eyes.

“No,” he repeated. “We can’t go.”

Applejack’s ears flicked in annoyance. “Ya just told us we need to go.”

“Well, I changed my mind. We need to trust them. As you said, Twilight, they are alicorns. The Princesses are old and powerful. We need to focus on removing the essence.” Paladin took a deep breath, the cold air filling his lungs and rejuvenating him. “If Twilight removes the wards, we don’t know what could happen. They’ve been raised for a reason.”

Twilight frowned in thought. The cool, soothing clarity rose up, her emotions parting way for judgement unhindered by such chaos. Desperate as she was to go to her mentor’s side, the logic behind Paladin’s argument was undeniable. Scorpan might be a threat, but he posed nowhere near that of Nightmare Moon or Discord.

“He’s right,” she admitted, reluctance clear in her voice. “Paladin is right. I need to focus on my research. Even when the Princesses defeat Scorpan, we’ll need to extract the angelic essence safely for this crisis to truly be over.”

“So...what do we do?” Fluttershy looked away from Paladin for a moment, her worry over his twisting emotions forced down briefly.

“We trust Celestia and Luna.” Twilight gazed at distant Canterlot, trying to pick out any sign of what was occurring. Whatever happened, she was confident that it was safe in the hooves of the Royal Sisters.


***


“Nnnrk!”

Scorpan paused mid-stroke. He glanced up, a little smirk on his lips as he watched his captive struggle. Patiently, he returned to his work, filling the chamber with each stroke of his claw. The loud, grating sounds echoed into the tunnels and sparks caught in the reflecting edges all around them, bouncing light back and forth from every direction.

“Ragh!”

“Oh, be quiet.” His other hand followed, a constant stream of grains pouring along into the groove he was carving. His tail snapped out.

“Ow! How dare you?” Shrieks erupted from the middle of the room, offset by the rattling of chains. “Release me this instant, servant! Why have you bound me?”

He ignored her just long enough to get another shriek of anger. “I have released you,” answered Scorpan smugly. “Notice you can move your little host body now. It must be refreshing, after being stuck in her head.”

Her reply was an infuriated shriek. Again, his tail snapped out, followed this time by the crack of it slapping against his captive.The sound she made was rather pleasing, and he nearly spilled his dust with the shake of his laughter.

“Wretched creature! When Lord Tirek hears you have treated me like this, he will not be pleased!”

“Wretched?” Sorpan stopped. He gave her an incredulous look. “You are calling me wretched? You, the tiniest sliver, a shard of a fragment?” His long legs carried him past the chain-patterned rings, and gave his kick quite the force when it slammed into her side. “You?! Trapped in a mortal, sealed so far into her to escape your enemies that you would have remained dormant were it not for mere fortune?”

Blows rained down for a few seconds until, at last, she stopped moving. Scorpan panted, glaring down at the unicorn chained beneath them, his rage expended in a few moments of fury. Down he reached, and up she came, her neck grasped in his talon.

“Do not call me wretched. Do not call me servant.” He let go, a snap of his fingers shortening the chains once more. They pulled her to the ground, slamming into the rock with a pained yelp. “I may be Tirek’s servant, but at least I am more than a tool.”

She raised her head, slowly and painfully, watching him continue his work. “I…” She tried to wet her lips with a dry tongue. “I released you. I freed you from Tartarus. You would still be bound there, without me, both of you.”

“Yes, you were very useful. But then, you hardly had any choice. Lord Tirek made you. You belong to him. Had you defeated Luna and merged, you would still have come crawling back to him.” The scraping ended, and the sparks ceased their rise. “Nearly done now.”

“You need me! How can you defeat Luna without me? I want my body back!” Her chains rattled again, the futile gestures feeble. “I...argh, s-stop! I am in control! Be quiet! Be quiet!”

He laughed. The sound of his mirth filled the tunnels, echoing ever outwards, and filled the cave again and again. She would have shrunk from it, had she no dignity, or been physically able to, as it dominated the chamber.

“You can barely control your host! You can only claw your way into life because of the angelic power within her! I knew you were mad - after all, you were made from madness - but I didn’t realise you were stupid as well.” Still chuckling, Scorpan spread his arms, talons reaching inward for a moment to prick his skin. From the wounds on his palms spilled pitch-black liquid that consumed all light that touched it. There was no reflection, no shine to give it even the weakest comparison to oil. Drip by drip, an impossible flow began that fell into the intersecting rings he had carved.

She turned and twisted as much as she could, trying to track it. “What...what are you doing? I demand you stop! I am the queen of this land! I am its true ruler, and I command you tell me what you are doing!”

“From my blood comes the power of the spirits. Spirits of soul and spirits of form. Born of earth, and born of fire. Spawned from water, spawn from air. Risen from shadow, and risen from light” intoned the demon, his voice thick with power. He shuddered, his ragged fur dancing in the gusts of searing winds and buffets of blackened air. Voices howled, pleas whispered in tongues old and dead and yet to be. “From this power I spread the end. Spirits of far and near, I command you. I consume you. In chains of cold and null, I seal you to my will. Cold of iron, dark of blood, I bind thee to this purpose. I am Scorpan, first and last Prince of Spirits.”

The cold iron dust dissolved as it was overtaken in the carvings, sending the black blood racing through the rings. Scorpan advanced, closing his hands and cutting off the flow. With a simple gesture the circles began to thrum with power. His words echoed in the sibilant whispers of mad spirits, voices reaching up from his corrupted blood.

“No! No no no!” Pain radiated through her, her host’s shattered horn returning her magic back to her as agony. “Stop! Traitor! I’m on your side!”

He smiled down at her. “Of course you are. This wouldn’t work if you weren’t. The blood of a traitor to power the ritual.” His fangs came out, and he chuckled. “A treacherous death, to unleash that power. You are the key to victory. Enjoy your triumph.”

A jagged dagger, vicious serration stealing the elegance from its form, appeared in one hand. The other gestured as if to call her closer. From Trixie’s body poured Nightmare Moon, a writhing shadow fighting to break free, a single thread leading back to Trixie’s ruin of a horn. The dagger rose, but, for the moment, it was still.

“Before you die, let me share something with you.” He leaned in, delight rushing through him at the terror on the mad spirit’s ephemeral face. “You aren’t Luna. You never were.”

“What?” She struggled, her wispy form shifting and twitching, trapped by his will. “I-I am Luna! I am Nightmare Moon, the true alicorn of the night!”

He shook his head, making no effort to hide glee. “No, you’re not. I told you; Tirek made you. He took a single sliver of Luna’s mind, a fragment of being, and drove it mad. He made it insane, and then, he made it you.” His arm tensed. “Die in torment, you weak, filthy little nameless thing.”

The dagger slashed. The spirit screamed.

Trixie vanished.

Spirit essence parted, cut in a ragged slice, yet his dagger found flesh to dig into. Scorpan stared at the empty ground, unable to understand why the unicorn was no longer there. His shock became pain, a blazing inferno of agony that seared through his wings and knocked the dagger from his hold. Where once his laughter had echoed, now his howls of agony filled the crystal caves.

“Two thousand years, and we find this one still stops to gloat.” A loud snort of contempt followed the words, Hooves clopping on the hard floor, their horns blazing, the Royal Pony Sisters trotted into the room. Luna scowled. “We had hoped for a higher quality of foe, yet we are disappointed!”

“It is something of a bad habit, I agree, but it is quite lucky for us. Had Shining Armour’s message come a few seconds later, we would have been too late anyway,” Celestia pointed out. She met Scorpan’s hateful glare with a warm smile. “Please, Scorpan, don’t feel too bad. I have to admit, it was a lovely plan, using the properties of the crystals here to obscure yourself and Trixie from our scrying. You should feel proud about that, even if you did have to steal the idea from the Changeling Queen.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “And yet he hath failed in his attempt, because of course he stopped to gloat. They always stop to gloat. I stopped to gloat.”

“You...no, this is impossible. You could not have- no! I refuse to accept this! The mortal is bound, corrupted, he cannot be free already!” Scorpan took a step back. The ritual had not failed. The power remained, yet he could not unleash it now. “You think you have won the day? Do you even begin to understand the power I now wield?”

“Trixie Lulamoon has been sent to Ponyville. My sister’s student and her friends will surely help her. The angel’s essence is beyond your reach now, liar-prince,” spat Luna. Her glare was a vicious contrast to Celestia’s eternal smile of patience and warmth.

Again, he backed up. “No,” Scorpan roared, spreading his wings. Pain nearly overwhelmed him, the ruin of his right wing sending agony lancing through him. “No! I will not die here! I have not planned and prepared for my ascension, only to have it stolen from me!”

“You have no allies, Scorpan.” The warmth faded from Celestia’s voice. Her eyes lost their kindness. “You are alone. You betrayed your father for the power of a demon. You betrayed your master, to take that power from him. And now, the pony you sought to enslave has been the key to your undoing. I will ask only once, for the sake of your father; surrender. Give up.”

His refusal died on his lips. Scorpan stood stock still, and for a moment, perhaps, he considered it.

“Not quite right, Celestia.”

He appeared, his shape a shimmering image that towered over his minion. Hooves that should have cracked the stone drifted silently above the floor. His voice echoed, not within the caverns, but in a manner that went beyond physical presence. Ancient malice drove it into their minds, bypassing feeble organic ears altogether, ears that went flat.

“No…” The word gasped out, any more stolen from Celestia along with her breath. Her eyes widened, straining to take in the shadowy image before them. “Please, no.”

Luna took a step back, her own shock just as plan. Magic stuttered around her horn, lost for a moment as her will faltered. She said nothing, giving a silent shake of denial.

“Yes, sisters, it is I.” Amusement to match the malice layered Tirek’s voice. “Surprised? Stunned? I should hope so. I’m not sure why. All you had to do was check. Just have a look. A little peek at my satchel. Go to gaze upon the souls you failed to save, and you would have known of my return. How very irresponsible of you.”

Celestia forced herself to breath, made her body move again. “I...Tirek, you-”

“Too afraid? Did it make you shiver, to think of gazing upon it and seeing your failure play out again?” His image cackled. “Come now, speak up, it has been far too long-”

She struck, a spear of solar fire hurtling across the chamber. Tirek continued, his projection simply smirking.

“-since I had proper conversation. I hope it wasn’t too boring. I did my best to provide a little entertainment for you. Was it fun, Luna? Having a part of your own mind rebel against you, going mad? Do you remember what it was like to be so insane you couldn’t tell one thought from another?”

“Be silent!” Moonlight became solid blades that cut through the air, but they found as much success as Celestia’s attack had. Luna ground her teeth in frustration. “If you wish to spit such words upon me, cowardly demon, come before us yourself!”

“As much as I would enjoy such an occasion, I think I shall attend upon you both later, I have a world to conquer first.”

Celestia recovered the step she had taken back, advancing to the edge of Scorpan’s ritual. “I think not. Your minion has failed, Tirek. Whatever ritual you sought to unleash upon the world will not come to be.”

“They took her, master! I could do nothing!” Scorpan fell to his knees, hands held up beseechingly. “Take me from here, master, please!”

Tirek studied Scorpan as though he was a particularly puzzling work of art. “Now why would I do that? You’re exactly where I need you to be.”

“What?” Scorpan’s eyes clouded with confusion. The affable tone had alarm bells ringing, and terror gripped his heart at what it might entail.

“You know what the ritual needs, Scorpan.” Tirek wore an amused smile. “You should have considered, in the course of your plotting, the idea of contingency plans.”

Slowly, agonisingly, Tirek’s image raised it’s hand. He simply crooked one of his fingers. A short, pained gasp filled the silence. Scorpan looked down, his gaze stopping on the dagger buried in his chest. Celestia and Luna watched, hesitation halting them, as they paused to wonder at this act of treachery.

“...a treacherous death..” whispered Scorpan, his tone one of wonder. “To die in betrayal…”

“Thank you, Scorpan, for your final act of service.” 

The thud of Scorpan’s body hitting the ground was lost to the gushing of ethereal energies, and the alicorns soon lost sight of it as power exploded all around them. Their defensive magics buckled and failed, rent asunder. For an instant, everything vanished. They saw nothing. They felt nothing. They heard but a single sound, one voice that filled their worlds for a moment.

“Farewell, Sisters. Your time is done. Now comes the age of Tirek.” 

From his distant lair, Tirek let the projection fade. There was no rush to his pace as he rose and trotted outside. There was only his smirk, his triumphant expression lit by sun and moon as he emerged.

“Now,” boomed Tirek, arms raised in exaltation. “comes the age of the Lord of Betrayal!”

His cry rang out, and his body swelled with power. From one side, the moon framed him in dim silver elegance. From the other, the sun bathed him in a feeble glow. On both, a mare’s shadow was cast, her profile frozen in an open-mouthed instant of torment.


***