Sergeant Wind Shear, of Her Harmonious Majesties' Royal Guard, was the first to catch sight of the Even Chance, as it came towards the city.
"Raise her," he bellowed to the hapless corporal assigned to message duty in his squad. Her horn flashed twice brightly, and she waited for the acknowledgement signal from the airship.
After almost a minute, she turned to him. "Nothing, sergeant," she said, stating the obvious as she seemed to do almost constantly.
"Yes, I can see that. Raise them again. Don't stop until you've got them. Do you understand?" he said, turning back to the airship without waiting for a response. Something was strange about it. It should have been slowing down, and it was, but far too slowly. It was almost as if whoever was piloting it was waiting for it to slow down by itself.
Worse, it was too low. It would not make it over the wall at that altitude. Slowly, a hideous idea began to occur to him, and he turned to his communications unicorn. "Have you raised them yet?" he barked, trying not to let the sudden fear into his voice. When she shook her head, he turned back to look at the airship. It was too close to bring it down in time. "Evacuate the wall!" he yelled, and grabbing the unicorn, he dove down from the wall, his wings straining to carry them both.
Across the wall, there was pandemonium as the Guards grabbed their kit and ran to get out of the way of the oncoming airship. Wind Shear looked around for his squad. "Evacuate the buildings," he ordered, and turning to the corporal he had rescued, he stopped her from moving off.
"Signal the Palace. Tell them we're under attack, and the wall will be breached. And quickly. They'll be on us any second now," he said. She nodded, and scrambled off to find a place that they could see from the Palace. Wind Shear took a deep breath, and forcing himself to calm, he began to go and help his squad and the other Royal Guards who had joined them in clearing the houses.
When the impact happened, it was quieter than it should have been. Wind Shear did not know how it should have been louder. Sirens, perhaps, or something else. Something to signify that something was happening that should not have been. Instead, there was nothing other than the snapping of wood into splinters, the groan as the stones of the walls, already weakened by the quakes which had only just ceased, began to shift, the sound of rock falling to the pavement, which itself began to split under the force of the impromptu battering ram, and the mournful ringing of the airship's bell eight times.
He had only just left the last house when it came to a rest. It was an unvarnished disaster, the ship forever grounded by the damage done to it. The cloud-pocket that had held the ship aloft had broken free, and dragged the chains that had held it down across the streets as it slowly rose. Attached to the chains were the heads of ponies, and Wind Shear had to force back the contents of his stomach. Around him, he could hear the sounds of ponies less successful in that task.
"Stand firm!" he could hear a voice yelling, and he realised to his surprise it was his own. The moment felt curiously false. This was not the first time he had seen death, but such barbarity was unnatural. Who, or what, could have done this?
He did not have to wait long for the answer. There was a cruel laughter from the ship. "Did you think we had forgotten, or forgiven you? Did you think we had abandoned our ancestral lands for all time? Did you think the murder of our foals had been ignored, left unanswered? Did you think we were so ignorant as to let you manipulate us? Now your arrogance will be answered. The Zebras will have our revenge!"
As if on cue, from the scuttled airship burst forth, like rats, zebras with blood turning their faces into a crude death-mask. They held the cruel tulwars common to their kind, and Wind Shear swore, fear worming its way into his mind. Around him, some of the other guardsponies broke and ran. What could they do to such a swarm?
He took a deep breath, and forced himself to calm. "Stand fast, or I'll kill you myself!" he bellowed, and drew his spear. "For Canterlot, and for the Princesses!"
Dizzy looked on the scene of violence with a small smile of satisfaction on her face. Her zebras were over-running the 'civilised' ponies, and she turned to the one who had tried to challenge her. By all that was sacred, he had been a good match. It was a pity to have to kill him, in a way. He would have made a good consort. That was not important, though. She was here for one reason, and one reason only. The Princess who had tried to deceive and betray her was here. With the chaos her zebras would cause, she would be lured out, and then Dizzy could take her revenge.
What did she most want revenge for? Was it for her absent father, for the attempt at betrayal? Was it the old grudges nursed well? She decided it was none of those. All of those. It did not matter any more which particular cause she would serve. All of them bowed beneath her drive. It was enough that she simply desired it. The ponies could not keep it from her, so she would have it. She looked on the city, on its soft curves and beautiful buildings, and laughed again. Let it all fall. Let it all burn!
Lorg crept through the Palace as the last dying rays of sunlight fell, and licked his lips. That last sneaking pony had almost been a challenge to him and his boys. She had taken time to break, but she was unused to physical pain, and had soon talked when he started cutting on her. She weren't even scarred proper. But she had told them about her boss, and he was gonna be fun.
The seven diamond dogs slunk through the palace, as quiet as an elephant wasn't. None of these ponies even thought of a diamond dog as sneaky. They just thought they were violent brutes, almost unthinking. Lorg didn't mind that at all, though. That made the work a lot easier. They weren't even alert yet!
Slowly, they made their way through the corridor, counting the rooms. He did not have to count to find out their mark's room. It had two guardsponies outside, slouching, and Lorg grinned. He drew his knife from his side, and turned back to his pack. You, he signalled to Durg, who came up and took out his skewer. Together, they came up towards the inattentive guards, and almost a metre away, they jumped. Durg skewered the one through the eye, and Lorg took the other down, his knife across his throat.
"You're gonna die, pony. Only question is how much it's gonna hurt. Does your boss have any guards inside?" Lorg asked, and the guard shook his head. "Good. Youse can go easy." With a quick slash, he slit the pony's throat, before signalling to the other dogs. They circled around the door, before Lorg gently eased it open. The room was gaudy in its extravagance, and Lorg sneered. The single occupant of the room was in his bed. Oh, this was going to be easy.
He sent his boys through the room, when the pony woke up. He was a white unicorn, with a blonde mane that looked like it was his most precious possession in his entire life. The unicorn pushed himself up, and then froze, dragging his bedsheets around him in his magic. "Who-who are you?" he asked, his voice quavering.
"We's here to kill you, your highness," said Lorg, treasuring the fact that he knew his identity. "Or would you rather your codename?"
The prince did not react well to the knowledge that he had been discovered. "Did you hurt her? Did you hurt Starlight Charmer?" he asked, his voice getting angry and upset.
"Yeah, we did. Only a little for the moment, though," answered Lorg, as the dogs began to close on the bed, their cutting bits out. "Why do you care?"
"Well, if you had not, this would be less painful for you," said the prince, and Lorg frowned. With a whirring sound, four of his dogs were on the ground. Dropping the bedsheets, the prince sent a pair of daggers flying through an eye each of two other diamond dogs still standing. Lorg did not hesitate, but jumped up and pounced at the pony. He stood still till the last instant, and then stepped aside. Before Lorg could get up, he felt a deep pain in his back, and his body refused to move.
"What- what have you done?" he forced out through his mouth. The Prince came back into his vision, and shook his head sadly.
"Made sure you cannot hurt anypony anymore after I question you. No doubt you have killed enough ponies to deserve this," the pony said. "Although you are skilled, you allowed me to delay you, which meant that I had the upper hoof. Now, how many dogs are invading the city?"
Lorg shut his mouth. Damned if he would give in like the ponies had. He felt another sharp pain course through his body, and he bit his lip.
"I already know you will not answer me, but that was for Starlight Charmer. You will be unable to move, so you have a choice. Do you want to go easy, or hard?" asked the pony from somewhere behind him. Lorg shook his head. "Ah, well. Goodbye, then. I do hope you die before I come back." There was the sound of hoofsteps, and then the closing of the door.
Luna was still sitting in her chamber when the bells began to ring in the high tower of the Palace. She stood up, and opened the door. Hoofsteps and yells were coming from the corridor beyond, and then the sound of metal on metal. Intruders! Something was in the Palace, and beyond that she knew nothing. If something was attacking, though, she needed to do something. She walked into the corridors, and a guardspony ran over to her.
"Your Highness, you need to get clear. There are assassins in the palace," he said, breathing hard. She could see the blood on his hooves, and she recoiled, caught off-guard by its aroma. She saw something behind him, and yelled something, but it was too late, and he fell down, choking on blood.
It was a diamond dog who had brought him down, driving a dagger-like thing into his neck, between the two pieces of armour. It licked the wound, and then looked up at the princess. It sneered at her, and pulled out its weapon from the dead guardspony. Luna steeled herself, channelling magic through her horn. It leapt at her, and she bowed down, thrusting her horn through its chest and then expelling the magic to send it flying off. It yelped as it hit the ceiling and then fell back onto the floor, not moving.
Luna breathed in and out, in and out. She had just killed somebody. Not a pony, but still a person. A being, with goals, dreams, wishes, hopes. She shook her head. She could not think about that right now. There were people trying to kill her. As the thought ran through her head, a terrible tangent occurred to her. What about her sister? If they were coming for her, they would be coming for Celestia too. She had to warn her, and now. She looked down the corridors. To her left, the quickest way to her sister's chambers, the guards were fighting the other diamond dogs. How much longer they could hold out, she did not know, but if her sister was in danger she needed to help her first.
To her right, the corridor was clear, except of more guards hoofing their way towards her. Behind them was a familiar unicorn. "Twilight!" she called out, and though the three guards continued running to help their comrades, Twilight Sparkle came to a halt.
"Princess?" she called. "Are you alright?" Luna nodded.
"Yes, for the moment," she answered. "But we must go now, and rescue my sister. She will be their first target. Let us go!" Luna started running down the corridor Twilight had come through, and though Twilight joined her, she had a confused expression on her face.
"But I thought the quickest route was that way," she shouted over the hoofsteps and sounds of fighting.
"It is, but there are more diamond dogs that way. They'll slow us down. This way should go around," Luna called back, turning down the next corridor. What the diamond dogs were doing went against everything she had ever heard about their behaviour. That they had managed to sneak into the palace was unlikely, that they were fighting so ferociously and fearlessly was almost impossible. What could they be hoping to get from this? Was it revenge against Celestia? Just pure blind bloodlust? The first would have ruled her out. The second did not match the facts she had seen. It was something more than either of those, and that was not a good thing. If they were trying to kill the Princesses, then they were aiming for more than mere murder. Practicalities of the Sun and Moon aside, they were hunting the leaders of ponykind, and the sort of harm they were planning for the ponies of Equestria she could not allow.
As she hurried down the last corridor, she could see the bodies of Guardsponies and diamond dogs on the floor, and her heart leapt to her throat. If they had made it this far... She didn't want to think about what that might mean. She ran faster, if that were possible, when Twilight Sparkle called to her from behind. "These diamond dogs," she said, "They weren't killed by the guards."
Luna slowed down to a halt. "What do you mean?" she asked, turning to face her.
"They've been killed by a crossbow, but one with smaller bolts. Maybe poisoned? Maybe just a smaller crossbow. Whoever did it was very... precise, though," she said, looking at one of the dogs, which had a bolt almost invisible, so deep had it penetrated the eye socket.
"We have a third player?" Luna asked, biting her lip.
"Possibly," said Twilight, looking over the bodies critically. "But I think not."
Luna cast her eye over the bodies when it hit her. The ones who had been killed by these small quarrels were all facing away from the guards. Almost as if they had been attacked by someone coming from the same way they had come.
"I see. Then let us leave our mystery friend for now. Come on, we must still find Celestia," she said, dismissing the problem for the moment. She walked through the corridor, carefully stepping over bodies to make her way to Celestia's door, which had been broken open. She took a deep breath, and then entered.
Inside the room, the backlight of the setting sun silhouetted a single pony in the room, an alicorn. Relief flooding through her, Luna walked up to them. "Celestia," she said, "I'm so glad you are al-" She stopped as she got closer, and the alicorn turned his head.
"Surprised?" asked Prince Terrus, her long-lost brother, as he began to walk towards her. Luna was shocked still, unmoving. It seemed almost a life-time ago that she had last seen his dark-green form, and now he had returned.
"Princess Luna?" asked Twilight, who had come up behind her. "Is this...?"
"Yes. I am Prince Terrus, returned. And not a second too soon." He walked down and knelt before the Princess. "I was mistaken, my beloved sister. Both long ago and now. I blamed myself for the Nightmare, and cut myself off from Celestia. Now I was blind to the knife that readied itself to stab through her side." He bowed his head. "I have put a blade in our enemies' grasp. And now we must all work to see that it goes unbloodied."
Luna shook her head. "I don't understand what you mean. I know that we must stop the dogs. But surely that was not your fault."
He looked up to her, and his eyes were sorrowful. "Perhaps, but I had believed they posed no threat. Worse, I told you that."
She frowned, not understanding, until the bit dropped. "That. That was you." He nodded. "Always?" she asked, and he nodded again. She stared at him, her eyes wet with tears. "I had always thought... Thought you had abandoned me."
"Of course not," he said. "But I thought I had found my place, at last. Celestia to watch over the sun, you to watch over the moon and stars, and myself to watch over Equestria. I was blinded by my arrogance, however, and we must stop these dogs before they cannot be stopped."
"Yes," said Luna. "But... What about Celestia?"
He shook his head. "I have no idea where she is. But neither do the dogs. And that gives us the advantage."
Johann felt the adrenaline die off as the long ride continued. Though they were still surrounded by the beasts, fewer and fewer of them seemed willing to come close, only being driven on by their taskmasters with whips and yells. Another group came at them from the left flank, the whips cracking and driving them on. Johann lifted his sword again, and swung out as one of them leapt at him. He struck true, and the beast dropped to the ground, and was trampled by the other Templars as they dealt with their own attackers, until the ones that remained broke and rejoined the others.
The beasts still gave no sign of leaving them, though, and Johann was reminded of the habits of carrion birds. If the Templars were distracted, or showed sign of weakness, they would try again. Their masters showed no sign of stopping with their attempts to herd them at the Templars, either. Even so, they were not a direct threat yet. Those spirits kept passing through, without rhyme or reason. Each time, though, Frederick would raise the cross high, and they would turn and flee, scattering the beasts around them. Even so, their screeching was enough to chill Johann's blood.
He could see one ahead of them in the tunnel. Not the spirit itself, but the wall of beasts fleeing before it. As they got closer, they curved around, caught between the anvil of the Templars and the hammer of the spirit. They eventually split off to the side as the two collided, and the spirit went screaming off over the Templars' heads, though some were unable to escape in time. Johann dispatched one with a swing, and the others tried as best they could to evade the blades of other Templars, with limited success.
As their ride continued, Johann could see another one of the overlords whipping a group of the beasts towards them. He was about to call it out to the brothers when a streak of yellow hit the one with the whip. It went down, and the group dispersed back into the crowd. He kept looking for a second, and there was another streak and another of the whippers went down.
He frowned. Whatever was doing that, it was helping them, but that did not make him any more comfortable. Favours curried in secret typically wilted in God's light. "Keep on going!" he yelled, as the yellow streak struck again. This time, though, the other enforcers seemed to have spotted the trend. As the yellow streaked through again, the others directed the beasts to close in on it. Whoever it was at least shared a common foe, and Johann felt ill at ease to abandon someone willing to help them to these barbarians.
"Turn! Turn, and ride these beasts down!" he called, and pulling his reins to the left, he swung his mount around. Some of the foe looked up, and began to run as the Templars closed in. Johann struck out at one as he rode past, scattering the beasts. As they dispersed or were slain, he brought his mount to a halt, and looked down at the being responsible. It was one of the young foals who had led him to the mine, who looked up at him with what seemed to be embarrassment.
This was not good. He looked around, and the beasts were gathering around. They could not delay for long. To go back would waste time, and allow them to get ready for the Templars' return. He could not just leave the foal, either. The only choice was to take the foal with them. He raised his hand, and beckoned to it, trying to communicate without words that command. It looked at him for a second, and then nodded. Hoping that it had understood what he had been trying to convey, he gave the signal to move out. Turning once more to the path deeper into these beasts' lair, he kicked his mount back into a canter.
For the Princess of Equestria, walking the streets of Canterlot unannounced was a luxury she could rarely afford. Celestia's position had plenty of work that required her full attention. Even when she did have spare time, she would usually have her guard with her, the streets would be cleared, her travel would be pre-planned and limited. It was only on these jaunts, unknown to anypony except herself, that she could go where she wanted, do what she wanted, and stay as long as she wanted.
Now, what she wanted was to talk to somepony. But if wandering the streets unannounced was difficult to arrange, that was even more so. To all too many ponies, she was royalty, special, above them. Beyond them, even. When she entered a store, the owners would almost always stammer their way through welcoming her and telling her to feel welcome to anything. On the streets, ponies bowed and stayed out of her way. She had tried a glamour spell before, but since the changeling invasion, ponies were far too wary for that to work as she wanted it to. It was not what she wanted.
But what she wanted rarely mattered any more. Only what she had to do. As the Princess, she was responsible for everypony in Equestria. When a single oversight would be unchanged by ponies who should know better, you learned to double and triple-check every thing you ordered. The only pony who would challenge her was Luna, and even she bowed to Celestia's suggestions more often than not. Sometimes that was merely embarrassing, as it had been on her first Nightmare Night. Other times it worried her. So much of what she could know about Equestria was what she was told by those who seemed to fear her. How could she know that they were telling the truth?
Although she had not said it, she had been glad when Luna had stood up to her with regard to the Templars. Although Celestia believed her sister was wrong, it was at least a reassurance that ponies did not merely tell her what they thought she wanted to hear. More than that, it allowed her to be advised, and to release some of the chains of the responsibility that had bound her for one thousand years. That the Templars had now escaped and were at large did not change that. They had left Canterlot, and that was not a terrible result. And no ponies had died in their escape.
The escape was what had troubled her the most. They had not been stopped by her magic. That was something she had not imagined possible. No foe of Equestria had been able to... To ignore that spell like they had. Not even the queen of the changelings had been able to ignore it. She had to use all her powers to fight against it, and had only just been successful, until it had stolen Shining Armour's energy. If they could ignore that, what else could they do? And how could she protect her little ponies?
Celestia shook her head. That was why she had come out, to forget that for now. To help more directly in the aftermath of those earthquakes that had hit Canterlot. She looked once more at the ruin of the shop in front of her. She could feel the despair of three of the ponies trapped inside. She could actually feel it. It came with being the sole pony attuned to the Elements of Harmony for so long. She could feel when there were ponies who were distressed, and unless she made a deliberate effort to shut it out, it could pervade her mind. It had began to fade now that Twilight Sparkle and her friends had claimed them, but when she was close by to ponies, she could still feel any distress start to seep through.
She walked over, through the onlookers and those who had gathered to help. Some of them turned and bowed low, but she shook her head and raised them up, one by one. "I do not desire your worship, my little ponies," she said gently. "I desire you to be safe and free. Now come, let us work together, and save those trapped within." She breathed deep, focusing her energies, and drawing on the magic deep within her, she began to lift up the rubble. Though she could still feel the despair of the ponies within gnawing at her, it was shrinking as she worked.
As she lifted the last of the rubble, Celestia could feel the despair cease to be, and although she felt like she should have felt drained by this use of her magic, she felt more energised and rested than she had in a long time. One of the rescuers started to move, but hesitated, looking to Celestia. She nodded, and they hurried into the ruins of the shop, calling out to the ponies within. For her part, the Princess relaxed, letting go of the tension that had held her body tight. It was a panacea to what was ailing her. To act directly was to loosen the chains of command, and to do so like this was an opportunity to be truly free.
The ponies began to be taken out of the shop, and she looked over the three that she had rescued. To anypony, they might look like normal ponies. None of them had done anything spectacular to remember them by. None of them were born to nobility. None of them had great wealth to their names. Even so, to Princess Celestia, they were not merely normal. Each pony had the potential for greatness. It lay buried within them, and some ponies would never uncover it. Some ponies would try to kill it or hide it, afraid of what they could be. What she found the most satisfying thing to do was to bring a pony's talent to light, and to foster its growth.
One of the rescuers had been an earth pony foal, and he did not seem to pay much attention to the Princess, trying to wake the unconscious pony he had dragged from the building. "Who is he?" asked the Princess as she leaned in close to the foal, who did not even look up to face her.
"I don't know," he said, "Somepony who needed my help." Celestia looked at him, just a young colt trying to help somepony he had never met before that day, and loved him.
"How can I help?" she asked, and he shook his head.
"I don't know what to do," he said. "But I couldn't stand by and do nothing, could I?"
"I suppose not, no. What do you know about what's wrong?" asked the Princess, casting a critical eye over the unconscious stallion herself. He was breathing, the gentle rise and fall of his barrel proving that. There were no serious injuries as she could see. Perhaps it was something she could not see, but it seemed to her that he had been knocked unconscious.
"Not much," said the colt. "There are no broken bones. But shouldn't he wake up?"
"Not always, my little pony. He may have been knocked unconscious. If so, he will wake up on his own, and to try to wake him up may hurt him." Celestia smiled at the colt. "I think you have done all you can do. A worthy achievement."
The colt looked up at her. "Do you really think so?" he asked, his eyes open wide. Celestia was a little surprised at the change in his reaction to her, but tried to hide it.
"Yes, I really think so. Why do you seem so surprised?" she asked.
"Because... Well, because anypony could have done it," he said.
Celestia shook her head. "That may be true, but it does not matter. Anypony could have done it, but you were the pony who did do it. That is what matters, far more than any abilities or talents. Doing what anypony could do to help another, when other ponies don't." She smiled at him again. "What is your name, my little pony?"
"Curve Ball," he said, but she was not paying much attention any more. A spike of anguish had hit her, and she fell to her knees. Summoning all her will to seal off her empathy for now, she gasped and rose up. The world had gone black, such was the force of the impulse. Now Curve Ball was looking at her with concern. "What's wrong?" he asked, and she wished for a second that she had a more comforting answer than she had.
"Somepony has died. Violently, and painfully. Somepony has been murdered. Get behind me, Curve Ball," she said, and she could sense the brushes of new pains behind the wall in her mind. More deaths. More killing. Something was seriously wrong. There were screams in the streets, and she began to tense. If it was... Maybe she had been too optimistic regarding those Templars and their escape.
A pony ran from a cross-street ahead, and spotting the Princess, turned and began to run to her, when a blade struck the pony in the head, sending her sprawling. Princess Celestia crouched down, feeling her anger begin to burn through her veins. That was not a Templar weapon. That was a cruder blade, a diamond dog weapon. "No!" she screamed, half anger and half anguish. Another life she had failed to protect.
When the murderer poked its head around the corner, though, she was ready. A streak of rainbow light blazed out from her horn, and struck the rather surprised diamond dog in the head. It cried out, and, falling to the ground, it died.
However, it was not the only diamond dog, and at its cry, Celestia could hear howls being raised. She needed to call out the guards, and of the two barracks, the palace was closer. The Princess turned to Curve Ball, who had watched the violence with wide eyes. "Come on, little one. We must seek aid for the ponies still out there. Come with me, and I will keep you safe. I promise." The foal nodded, and re-orienting herself, Celestia turned back to the Palace, her outing now cut short.
Johann had to admit it, the foal who had followed them showed quite some martial talent. Even so, she still had a habit of over-extending herself, and that was beginning to bother him. Not because he had to keep rescuing her - no, she had never done it that far again - but because she reminded him of himself. He saw the same habits of over-confidence as he had seen in her present in himself. They were far into the beasts' lair, and with no idea when they would emerge.
He could recite all the psalms by memory now, and could remember a good portion of the book in all. It was no matter to quote of different heroes in Israel who had stood against an impossible foe and triumphed. The sly voice of doubt continued to whisper in his mind, though. They had the Lord on their side, and had succeeded, until they had done what was displeasing to God, and had failed. Even though he knew all the answers to that doubt, provided him by well-meaning men and women, they seemed to fade in the depths of the earth that he was in, and were cast into shadow.
His body was more attuned to reality, and the slash of his sword blade across another one of the beasts brought him back from the depths of his mind. Almost as if a veil had lifted, he felt the doubts leave him, and he shook his head in amusement. How dangerous the temptation - and yet, how obvious in hindsight! It would be easy to give in to despair, but he had a light within him untouched by any worldly darkness, and that light brought hope. "Psalm one hundred and twenty three," he called, and began to sing. "Nisi Dominus fuisset in nobis dicat nunc Israhel."
As they sung, he could see the beasts begin to draw back, even the cracking of whips across their backs not enough to keep them attacking the so-far unmarked Templars. Johann felt pleasantly surprised for a second, and then turning back ahead, he saw the reason. There was a wall of them, though facing away from the Templars. Beyond them was the real reason - an open chamber, filled with the spirits.
He nodded to Frederick, who drew out his cross again. It was almost as if a signal had been sent to the spirits ahead, and the wall of beasts broke apart as the spirits started flying down the tunnel screaming. Johann's breath caught in his throat. What had done this unspeakable thing? This was worse than he had imagined at the start. He looked once more to Frederick, who was shaking his head as he stared at the horde of spirits. The priest raised the cross up high, and his eyes seemed to light up, burning with a great strength from beyond.
Johann turned to the front again. If the force behind these spirits was trying to stop the Templars reaching the chamber, he wanted to do it more than ever. So, rather than slowing at the terrible sight, he instead kicked his mount into a gallop, as his brothers did soon after. "Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory!" he bellowed out over the thunder of hooves.
The spirits came at them like a wave, and Frederick rode up beside Johann. His cross held aloft, he began to speak. "Vade retro, satana!" he shouted, and as the priest spoke those words, the spirits began to part, like water around a boat. One of the spirits stretched a misshaped arm to swipe at the priest, but as it did so, its arm turned to a great light, as if it was burning. Screaming worse than before, the spirit went flying off, and the others avoided its mistake. Johann could not but help thinking of sharks following a ship of war. As long as they remained within this protection, the spirits could not harm them. If they were to step out, though, the spirits would have no mercy or fear of them.
As that thought occurred to him, another one less pleasant came to him. What about the foal? She had not seemed keen on these spirits before, and now there were spirits beyond counting. He turned to look and found her keeping pace, and staring straight at Frederick. Her lips were moving, but whatever she was saying, Johann could not hear it. Whatever it was, it was keeping her with them, and keeping her safe. He could ask her later if he needed to do so.
Eventually, they broke through the horde of spirits, and despite the occasional testing by one of the spirits after another, their protection held. When they reached the chamber, though, Johann felt another hint of trepidation as he slowed to a halt and looked around. It was a massive chamber, about the same size - or bigger - as the one they had first entered by. Like it, it was lighted up by torches placed on the walls of the chamber, as well as almost at random on the floor. There was a large circle in the middle of the room where no torches were placed, and a tunnel on the other side of the chamber also had no torches. What had brought these spirits here must be through there somewhere.
The only thing that reassured him was that the chamber here was empty, both of the beasts, and of the spirits. Even so, they had no time to rest, and pointing to the tunnel out, he kicked his horse back into a gentle trot. "Keep going. This is no place to rest," he called, and he slid his sword back into its scabbard. If it was no place to rest, it was also no place to fight, and his arm was beginning to tire after the long ride so far.
They made their way through the chamber, winding around the torches. Aside from the stepping of hooves, it was silent, and Johann was not sure how he felt about that. It reminded him of home, as much as any Knight of the Temple had a home, and brought with it a slight feeling of melancholy. He remembered the brothers he had shared his time in the Temple with, and wondered how they fared now. Were they imprisoned? Had the Holy Father acted? Had their brothers and rivals of the Hospital gone to aid them? Even the Kaiser would have been welcome aid to what they were facing.
It was a question that had weighed on him since they had decided to stay within this land. Once again, he tried to put it from his mind. Wherever this land was, it had been untouched by Christendom, and that was a worthwhile cause if anything was. Then they had discovered these spirits, and that was another reason. Nevertheless, he could feel doubt trying to worm its way inside his mind. That was one thing Friedrich Bach had said that the chaplains of the Temple had agreed with, that the mind was like a fortress, and had to be defended as such. To slacken off in your mental defences was to allow the evil one victory. That was something that Johann refused to allow.
As they reached the other side, Johann lifted up one of the torches from a wall-socket. It was crude, but effective. He held it aloft as they began to enter the tunnel, and was surprised as he noticed that the tunnel was ramping upward. More than that, this looked like old work. It was so smooth and well-made that it could not have been other than an ancient high-way, maintained well over the years of its existence. Yet the beasts living in the cave before showed no sign of caring about maintenance. Moreover, they seemed to prefer living in the deeps. Who else could have done this?
The question remained with him, even as the group was swallowed by the darkness of the tunnel, the only light being the torch he held aloft, and a small faint light at the end.
Him-Enthroned idly stroked the prisoner as He waited, mildly enjoying her flinching. Every pony was the same. Stiff, controlled, but so easy to horrify once they were caught. Almost as if they actually believed His minions' tales of eating pony-flesh. That He was holding a blade across her throat did not help her.
It was a skill, to know how to break a being. Ponies were almost boring now, and other dogs were simple beyond compare. Even so, He still enjoyed the task of breaking a stubborn pony until it would willingly cut its own throat at His command.
Even so, such pleasures were nothing compared to His pride in His self-control, and He would wait. As He saw a dog running down through the formation of His dogs, encamped at the entrance to Canterlot, He smiled, knowing the message it would carry. Leaning close to the pony's ear, He whispered, "Time to go home, sweet," and licked her neck roughly, laughing as she stiffened at the touch.
The dog continued running until he dropped on his chest in front of His litter. "Oh Great One," he said, "The palace is in chaos and confusion. Your loyal servants continue to stir up the ponies."
"Are the Princesses alive? As I ordered?" He asked, rubbing the flat of the dagger along the pony's neck. The dog nodded enthusiastically, and Him-Enthroned laughed again. "Then now the time has come. Go, My minions," He bellowed, "Destroy the ponies and despoil their homes!" He howled aloud, and was joined by the voices of His army, drowning out the sound of their feet as they started bounding off into the city. Let them go first. He and His loyal guardians would go up and claim what was rightfully His, while they would die for Him. Everything was proceeding according to His designs!
He leaned back into the pony's ear. "I am afraid," He said, licking His lips, "that your friends will be quite dead by the time you arrive." She shivered, and He lifted His head as His bearers lifted up His litter. "Let Us go onward, to victory and My new throne. And let ponykind tremble at My footsteps." He was borne aloft by them as they began to walk into the light of the sun, and into the city of Canterlot. Both would soon be His possession. No longer would He be Keeper of the Torches, but Ruler of the Light!