//------------------------------// // The Grandmaster // Story: Dawn Of The Silver Sun // by Nameless Narrator //------------------------------// Straw, Connie, Walter, and Fortune were currently standing at attention while watching the bronze alicorn uncomfortably. It wasn't helping that they had been doing so for past five minutes without any result, and by now their nerves could be used to restring a guitar. After they had returned to the mansion from the semi-successful rescue of Leo and Straw, the afflicted unicorn had been carried away somewhere by Cromach, and the rest of the group had marched right up into Blaze's office where the alicorn had been waiting already. At last, whatever had Blaze been doing with the papers on his desk was done, and he looked up at them. It was obvious he had something unpleasant to say, but that he didn't really want to. "So," he said quietly. Contradiction, of all ponies, twitched, gritting her teeth, "What should I do with you?" They stayed quiet, barely breathing. "First of all, what were you and mister Goldhorn thinking? Especially when you knew what the Vigil was capable of." It wasn't just a rhetorical question masking an insult, Blaze was actually waiting for Straw's answer. Straw pondered making up something which would make the alicorn blow up less, but he wasn't a liar, and from all he'd managed to gather about Blaze, it felt as if he valued truth and honesty above everything. "Leo... we thought that if we just followed the Vigil member, said we got cold hooves, and went home, then we would return with the information about their new base. You said they went to hiding after sir Cromach raided their last base. At worst, we believed we would be able to cause a distraction and run away if they somehow knew about us. To be honest, we didn't think too much about what they had done to your... first group. It sounded like something blown out of proportions to scare us so we didn't involve ourselves with them. On top of that, we were a bit drunk. I'm... sorry." "Out... of... proportions?" There was only one being who could grab Straw's mane and pull so hard he hissed in pain. "Calm down, Fortune," Blaze's words stopped the satyr from ripping parts of it out, "Words rarely convey their meaning to the hard-headed. I suppose this was Leo's idea, am I right?" "Do I have to answer that?" Straw looked aside nervously. It was true, but he didn't want to cause his friend trouble, especially after what Leo had said at the bar. The silence went on and on. "-Yes. I wanted to leave, but Leo presented some good arguments. It didn't look that dangerous, honestly." "What did you want out of it? Fame, thanks, some reward?" "We- we just wanted to help, to be useful. After the training... it was stupid, but neither of us did anything. Leo just got stabbed, and the only thing I did without Nightmare's help was stare like an idiot as the rest of us... died one by one. If we couldn't be of any use in real fight, then we could at least bring some information. We don't have fancy tools like Fortune has, we don't have telekinesis able to raze a building like Connie, and neither of us went through a life-threatening training like Walter. All that, and none of it mattered anyway. We wanted to be useful in the only way we thought possible." Looking at the floor, Straw just heard Blaze sigh. "Well, at least I messed you up less than I thought, but what's done is done. Next time just remember that all the others have been training far longer than both of you. You need each other, because none of you can go against these enemies solo. Not even Crom could anymore, which brings us to the next thing, the scary one. Since last time, Vigils have adapted to a certain level of physical damage, which means that they can communicate and share knowledge without words. So, now they know about all of you, AND are highly resistant to physical damage someone as strong as Crom can cause. Do you realize what MY presence there might have caused?" "That can't be..." Connie put two and two together. "Unfortunately, I don't know how likely it is. However, if they can really figure out a way to resist my abilites, then may heavens help us all. That means one important thing - we might only have one more chance at dealing with them before I have to reveal all I can do. That also means that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES you are to repeat what you did tonight. Unless we can figure out how they can adapt, then we have to show as little as possible." "OH!" Straw's eyes shot open. He quickly grasped for his saddlebag, "Would this help?" Presenting a grey, swirling cloud, Straw couldn't help but smile. They HAD brought something useful. "What is that?" Blaze furrowed his brows. "Why is that water levitating?" asked Connie at the same time. "Hm? Water?" Blaze looked at her, not understanding. "Right, Nightmare said we'd see it differently, and Leo saw it only as some sort of drink. To me it looks like-" "A grey, shifting mist?" Blaze finished to Straw's quick nodding, "I see. This is divine power, an indestructible substance forming gods and, to a lesser degree, alicorns. Something about it feels off, though. I wonder..." Forming two small puddles, he put one on his hoof, and one on his twisted arm. "Now, I should be the only being capable of doing this," immediately, one of the puddles' greyness seeped into Blaze's hoof, and the rest trickled down as water. Blaze's eyes went wide for a second, "That can't be right. What would be... the... point...?" "Sir?" Straw carefully broke the deepening silence. "No... it makes perfect sense! Just like Discord, just like Nightmare... Harmony is EXACTLY the same! We're just their parts! Creation, destruction, and the existence inbetween, but too much of each breaks the system. Too much power for Discord means boundless creation, dead ends of all evolution branches, beings which live for a second because they can't survive longer. They HAVE to die in agony, because their bodies just don't work. Discord is the force of BLIND creation. If Nightmare becomes too powerful then the cycle is too short, existence too unbearable, the life drains away faster than it can return. However, BLIND destruction leaves nothing in the end, not even the god itself, because it dies last, but still dies. What is Harmony then, blind Harmony? Perfect 'existence inbetween'... adaptation... evolution." Blaze's eyes glowed, turning into large, blue spheres. "Siiiiir?" Connie prodded the motionless alicorn. "Screw this," Fortune aimed her rifle at him. "Wait, what?!" *BLAM!* "YOU CAN'T SOLVE EVERYTHING WITH FIREPOWER!" Connie yelled, her magic bending the gun's barrel. Too late. In the microsecond of the gunpowder explosion, something like a black unicorn shadow stepped 'out' of Blaze and caught the bullet mid-air. As its darkness regained color, the blue mane and pink eyes revealed the appearing unicorn as Mistake, the magic teacher accompanying Starlight. "Okay, what the hay is going on here, and why are you shooting at us?" Straw just pointed at Blaze locked in his trance, mumbling incoherently to himself. "Oh buck me!" Mistake disappeared. A moment later, Blaze snapped out of it, sweat pouring off him and breathing heavily. "Note to self," he wiped his forehead, "Infinite knowledge is still a bit too much for normal minds to handle. Thank heavens Mistake noticed-" His gaze fell on Fortune's still smoking gun. "-did you trigger my emergency safeguard spell?" "Errrrm," Fortune took a step towards the door, "What answer is less likely to corpsify me?" Blaze's eye twitched. Fortune's back scraped against the door. "In my defense, you looked like Straw when he was possessed back in Canterlot pleasedon'tmakemyeverythingblowup!" "Just that... no remaining resentment for making you relive your entire unit dying again," Blaze said, surprisingly calmly. "Maybe... just a little?" *Thump!* Blaze slammed his face into his desk. *ThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThump!* "Should we... do something?" Straw asked. *ThumpThumpThump!* "I've still got a shotgun." *ThumpThump!* "NO MORE SHOOTING!" Connie smacked Fortune over the head with her oversized sword. Luckily for the satyr, it was still sheathed. "But it WORKED!" *Smack* *ThumpThumpThumpThump!* "Don't be jealous just because my leadership decisions are better than yours!" Fortune sneered. "What did you say?!" "Ummm, Walter? Perhaps we should get out of the blast radius," Straw commented uncertainly. To credit the griffon, he only hesitated for a moment, then firmly shook his head. Straw sighed. "I said that if Straw obeyed YOUR decision back at the warehouse, Cromach and Three would have been dead now!" "Umm, I wasn't really THAT useful-" Well, at least, when all this was over and they dug through the rubble of the mansion, Straw could honestly say he'd tried to stop it. "I didn't see YOU disagreeing when it was time to turn tail and run. For having only two legs, you sure outran me, coward! After seeing how you acted tonight with my own eyes, I'm REALLY SURE that your reason for deserting your team last time was to 'at least return with information'. The brown streak you left behind you could have fooled anypony." The hoof quotes were too much. Quite obviously, because before Contradiction could react, she started, lived through, and happily ended, an intimate relationship with Fortune's fist. "Assaulting a superior. Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this!" Connie sucked a bit of blood out of the corner of her mouth, and slowly grew a smile. *ThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThump!* "Ladies, we're not in a military, technically speaking-" "SHUT UP!" "QUIET!" "Oooooh-kaaaay..." With how bright the glow of Connie's horn was, Straw had no doubt she could rip Fortune in two with a thought. Some little semblance of self-control must have remained, because the satyr still had all four limbs- "Enjoy? The only thing you enjoy is humping your collection of griffon dildos while gagged and smacking your ass with a book of Order rules!" -nevermind. Walter blushed. Connie looked at him. Everything would have been fine if she just looked him in the face. Unfortunately, the very clear mental image Fortune had presented made the poor black and white mare look... elsewhere. Walter looked away and shifted nervously. Tears welled up in Connie's eyes. "DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!" she screeched. Chaos. When the grey cloud of crumbling walls settled down, Straw breathed out. The entire wall of Blaze's office was gone, and there were cracks in the hallway behind it. They were standing in the wreckage of bookshelves and papers strewn everywhere, BUT, one big but, all of them were still standing, although probably not of their own volition. In front of Fortune, there hovered a blackfrost shield which melted when there was no threat of a second strike. Both Connie and Fortune were trembling. Fortune fell on her butt. Connie ran away. Walter's gaze alternated between Blaze and the empty hall echoing with hoofsteps. A single set running away at first, but gradually more and more coming towards the ruined office. *Thump!* The alicorn performed a well-practiced ten out of ten facedesk, and then just waved Walter off. "Just go after her and don't let go until she calms down," he looked at the mess of papers and destroyed books, "Heavy will kill me. As for you two..." Straw nudged Fortune, who just leaned against him. "Contradiction's decision was technically correct. The overall plan for dealing with Vigil was to not involve me until a decisive confrontation can be arranged." Straw hung his head low. Fortune bit her lip. "I am sorry," he whispered. "Three's orders were to sacrifice herself for Crom, and she knows how important he is to me. However, I know the idiot well enough to realize he would have never followed such a plan and fought until the end. Straw," Blaze smiled. It was the happiest he'd ever seen the alicorn be. Granted, he'd seen Blaze only several times before, but it had to count for something, "you prevented that. I cannot thank you enough. If something happened to him... the world could rot for all I care." "Huh?" "I said you and Fortune were going to help me with the damn accounting! Contradiction and Walter will join you as soon as I'm sure THIS won't happen again, or at least not in the office." "Why meeeee?" Straw wailed, but it was mostly for show. He didn't mind learning something new. "Do you want to leave your teammates just to save yourself?" Straw nudged Fortune. "Where and when?" The next week was a blur. Between training, helping Blaze with paperwork, and spending a ton of time bedridden from wounds and aching muscles, Straw didn't have time to enjoy Manehattan. Unfortunately, when his body got used to going through a wringer and when he became proficient enough NOT to get seriously hurt during every combat practice, he realized one very important thing. He had no money. Aside from what little bit he'd saved from his recruit pay when he'd been at Canterlot, he had nothing. The Order took care of food, clothes, and a roof over his head, but unlike Canterlot, they didn't pay him anything. So, here he was, on this early winter afternoon, still aching but bored, watching Blaze and Cromach go against each other on the training grounds. It was better than lying on the bed in his room, but not by much. At least this spectacle had some really nice special effects. However, he was doubtful, just like many times since the Vigil thing, anything he could see here would be helpful during real practice, but there was always a chance. Blaze wasn't attacking much, just dodged and blocked the blows of Cromach's double-headed battleaxe as well as he could. Straw had asked about it the first time he'd watched them, and the answer was simply that Blaze's attacks were too deadly to use for practice. Having gone through the 'death' scenario, Straw had to agree. Apparently, the arena in which the Hoof of Fate got completely and utterly crushed had been created with the help of Starlight and Shadowstep, and it was a too draining procedure to be used for casual sparring. As Cromach's axe cleaved through both Blaze's ice wings, scattering shards everywhere, Straw pondered the meaning of 'casual'. Once again, his mind returned to Canterlot, the place he'd ran from in fear of the Observers. "Do you think I could return there and be able to take care of myself?" "You? Of course not. With my help? Probably. You gaining strength allows me to use more power while inside you." "I'm flattered and worried at the same time." "Unfortunately, it seems we're in this together until the bitter end. I've been thinking about it a lot, and I believe it might be time to share some of my knowledge, although the damn betrayer knows all of it anyway. By the way, don't lie to yourself and say you're here for your protection anymore, you're a prisoner." Straw just smiled sadly, but nodded. "I know, but they are just scared of me... well, you. They are truly nice ponies, although sometimes it takes a good eye to see it." He looked at Blaze, who had just tripped Cromach, and was taunting him by flaunting seductive poses. Straw wasn't sure how to feel about their relationship, but despite some of the normal recruits complaining about their gender or species, he just liked how open both of them were about it. Eventually, he'd simply come to a conclusion that requited love was love, no matter between whom, and hoped fate had something good in store for him as well one day. Alright, Blaze shaking his rump and Cromach saying that now he had both axe and a spear at his disposal was a little too much. Grinning, he yelled: "Get a room, you two! I mean, get a room, sir- sirs!" His talons hit his face as their only answer was: "Later! And you better use heavy duty earplugs tonight." At least they didn't act as if he was just some immature colt. Granted, from what he'd heard they weren't that much older, but still. During his jobs back home in Wild Bastion he'd recieved his fair share of patronizing, and he'd never felt anything like that during his stay here. "WOOOOOW!" he couldn't help himself when Cromach, dual-wielding one-handed axes in his talons, swung the one held in his mechanical arm so hard it gave him lift, spun around mid-air, hit Blaze's blocking wing with the other one, and still had enough time floating with spread wings to tear the double-sided axe from the straps on his back, and use the rotation to shatter Blaze's defense completely. It had to be pure skill and muscles of steel, but to Straw it may as well have been magic. What WAS magic, was the bolt of lightning from the grey, but clear, sky striking Blaze right after the blow broke his wings. The faintly smoldering alicorn shook his head, and shakily stood up. "W-w-w-w-w-whaaa?" Blaze squealed loudly. Blue, crackling sparks danced in Cromach's fur and feathers before fading. The duo then turned to poking and prodding each other to see what had just happened. "What was THAT?" "Heh, the thief felled by his own gift, what an irony." "Could you, you know, stop talking in riddles, or is this just another thing you can't share yet?" "This one is history. When me and the betrayer last clashed, he tried to siphon the divine power out of my last host, so I gave him all I had at the time in order to burn him alive. It was a good plan, and it SHOULD have worked. It would have worked, no mortal or even alicorn should survive bearing that much of my power without my control." Straw raised an eyebrow at Nightmare's tone. Was the deity sulking? "What happened?" "The damn griffon happened! He chucked himself right into the flow of power between us without thinking, and the betrayer poured part of it into him. The amount of my power wasn't great enough to burn both of them in time, and my host got killed by somepony else while I was distracted. By all means the griffon should have died anyway, but it appears my possessing him for a short while before, coupled with his body's resilience and his willpower, allowed him to keep a little bit of me inside him. Now he's apparently grown enough to make it manifest, although still unintentionally." "Can you control him, then?" "With just that? No... too much willpower, too much dedication, too much drive. As long as the alicorn exists, the griffon's mind is like an untouchable fortress." "So, Cromach used to be your host?" "No, only the betrayer, but before he broke and gave in completely, he was saved by your blue-maned baron. My influence over the griffon was minor in comparison." "Baron Heavy Hoof?" The Nightmare just grumbled something in a language Straw didn't understand, but before he could ask anything more, a hoof landed on his shoulder. "Hey! Watching the firefly and the ball lightning?" Leo's voice cut through the darkness. It seemed that Straw's internal conversation had taken more time on the outside. Either that, or the night had just come in one fell swoop. Curious at the comment, Straw looked at the clanking of steel, and realized Blaze had switched into his phoenix form while Cromach's axe now slowly pulsed with blue sparks. Apparently, Blaze's fire wings had no defensive potential, but he moved much faster with them, so the two specks of colored light kept dancing in the night. Leo had recovered quickly from the Watcher's Gift, but now he had to take the same classes as Connie to control his increased telekinetic power and NOT crush anything he tried to levitate. "Hi, Leo. How was the 'special' magic training?" Starlight had apparently offered Leo even more magic classes. Being a curious, and fairly horny, unicorn in his early twenties, he'd agreed. Their third lesson was supposed to be today. "Don't YOU start as well! I get enough of it from the others." "Even Walter?" "Especially him! If he gives me the 'knowing look' one more time I'm gonna feed him to the damn changeling instead of me." Straw couldn't help himself. Flustered Leo was just too precious. "So... there was feeding..." "I've never felt more like a piece of meat in my entire life," Leo sighed in defeat. "Oh? Come on, you can tell me." "No." "Pleeeeeeeease!" "Why? I didn't think you were into this stuff so much." "I'm not! I'm just sooooooooo boooooooooored!" "How come? This is Manehattan. The only ponies who are bored in Manehattan are those who live here." "Or those who don't have two bits to rub together to have them make a third one." "PLEASE... no more innuendos... ever." "Starlight giving you a hard time?" "That counts as one." "THAT bad?" "Okay, we've been here a week, and I've seen her 'accidentally' spill oil over herself eleven times, drop semi-explosive substances in front of me far too many times for me not to duck and cover when a leaf falls off a tree just so she could wave her rump in front of my face, and she's groped me under the guise of checking the progress of my physical training to report in case of health problems so much that if she does it one more time I get a free sandwich. Seriously... the damn changeling is a gold digger without the gold part. She would sleep with a three-legged crossbred colt who's been played basketball with after birth if he had some sort of a title. Every time she offers to make me a drink I have to watch her so she doesn't slip something in it!" "So... THAT bad. Why don't you tell anypony?" "Well," Leo blushed, "she's really good. I mean, she could easily teach other mages even in the most prestigious orders of Canterlot. She has centuries of experience, damn lucky changelings, and... okay, what do you want to hear? She's damn hot!" "So, not THAT bad." "Stop that! It's just frustrating to come back from the practice unable to think about anything other than a big, white flank until... ehm." "Note to self - go for a walk before returing back to our room after training. You unicorns have it easy.-" "Said the guy with the talons." "Point taken. So... what's stopping you from saying yes to Starlight? I mean, if she's not in it for the money." "Sure, a four centuries old changeling with apparently insatiable libido SOUND awesome, but-" "Fortune," Straw interrupted. "I will murder your entire family!" "Go for it," the orphan shrugged. "Damn leftovers and their immunity to threats against blood relatives! Please don't tell Fortune I said that. I'll give you money, everypony wants money, right?" "Let me rephrase then, why don't you ask FORTUNE out then, if you're not comfortable with a free romp?" "Don't be an idiot, she hates me." "EVERYPONY hates you-" Leo's eyes bulged. "-until they get to know you." "I'll, erm, think about it." "Come on, follow your dreams, reach for the stars!" Straw wiggled his cutie mark. "Stop shoving your rump into my face, I get enough of that as it is." "Just try! What's the worst that can happen?" "Face plus shotgun equals hole." "Don't muddy the issue with your fancy mathematics! At least with the holes you'd be more attractive to any changeling." "I hate you..." Leo admitted defeat, "Well, if you're so bored, why don't you ask for some guard shifts like the normal recruits do? Better than nothing, right? Or you could just do what the poor guys do - look for the statues." "Statues?" "Yeah, the hidden statues of Order members. I've got four already. Some are crazy hard to find, and are only easy to get for unicorns. Some, apparently, you need wings to get to." "Let me start ya off," said a deep, sultry, and seductive voice out of nowhere. Something grabbed Straw's and Leo's heads, pushed them together, and then a pair of black legs appeared, each sporting a horseshoe with a blade pressed to their neck, "To get to mine, ya need to have the eyes of a Nightguard. Now, good night, and don't let the Observers bite." Both of them froze, at least until the mare quickly kissed both of them, and the blades on her horseshoes slid back inside. Red mane, black coat, red eyes with slit pupils, and several Nightguard insignia - it was the batpony mare who had saved Straw from being killed by Blaze back in Canterlot. Ruffling their manes, she laughed, pushed them away, and walked towards Blaze and Cromach with tempting swaying of her hips. "Darky!" "Chokey!" She hugged the duo doubtlessly sweating rivers without care. With the commander of the Nightguard and princess Luna's bodyguard here in Manehattan, Straw knew the show was over for tonight. Two days later, Straw broke and started his search. Unfortunately, walking aimlessly through the mansion apparently wasn't the way to go. With Leo 'suffering' during another magic lesson, Fortune doing something in the Order armory, Walter and Connie being nowhere to find, and the normal recruits going about their guard duties, Straw turned to his only company. "Okay, the eyes of a Nightguard, what does that mean?" "Go to the kitchen, grab the biggest spoon you can find, and slip a sleeping pill into Choking Darkness' drink." "Anything LESS likely to lead to horrible pain for the rest of my shockingly short life?" "Fine, I can see several weak traces of illusion magic all over the mansion. That must be the statues your unicorn friend, currently feeding the changeling whorse, meant." "Are they really-?" "Don't know, don't care in the slightest. Not worth wasting power watching." "So, magic... damn." "The spells are weak, probably meant to only work under certain conditions." "Oh? So it might be possible for non-unicorns to find the statues." "Quite likely." The Nightmare sounded completely uninterested. Granted, Straw was doing this only out of crushing boredom, but a spark of curiosity was slowly growing as well. The statues were supposed to have uplifting and important insights written on them, so there was a chance for Straw to find a hidden meaning which would help him with his current predicament. After all, Nightmare knew all the Order members, perhaps they knew something about it as well. He pulled out a small notepad with Darky's clue written inside. "Nightguard eyes... perhaps I need to see well in the darkness. I've been taking a walk through the mansion every evening, though. Perhaps the building itself has to be dark? No, they wouldn't have a game interfere with security. So... outside." He smiled. "What do batponies do? Fly, patrol the night sky!" With the course of action in front of him, he scribbled a note 'the roof at night?', and... ...what? He still had to wait, which meant returning to staring at the city into which he couldn't go anyway. Perhaps it wasn't possible to find the statues without a clue, or it was too dependent on an accident. Recalling something, he trotted to the mansion entrance. In the main hall, there was a large pinboard filled with notes offering guard shift switching and other trades. Indeed, some were the locations of Order statues or clues to them. Indeed, all of them required either bits, more clues, or services Straw wasn't really willing to perform. Strangely enough, most of the ponies asking were missing Blaze's statue. "Damn it!" Something came to him. Where was it said the clues were secret? Commander Darkness had given him hers without a care, so... perhaps he should just ask? "That can't be right," he muttered to himself, "Somepony would have finished it if it was THAT easy." He looked around at the empty mansion- "Meh, better than this." -and walked upstairs into baron Hoof's office. "Ah, Straw! Blaze told me you're helping put my paperwork back together. Thank you," the white earthpony smiled from behind his desk, "Do you need anything?" "Actually, it's a bit silly, but... can you give me a clue to where your statue is?" Covering his muzzle with a hoof, Heavy snickered. "Of course, of course. The clue is - right next to the mansion's main entrance." "What? There's no statue there!" "You heard me. Anything else?" Heavy added with a shifty smile. "Erm... do you actually give these clues to anypony?" "Yes," Heavy nodded. "And nopony has found all of them yet?" "The game is not THAT interesting, but no, we still have the free sandwich coupons in the vault. You'd be surprised how few ponies find the courage to come up to me and just ask." "Oh..." "Good luck, Straw! Don't let me detain you further." As soon as Heavy returned to examining the ledgers in front of him, the hippogriff knew his audience was over. Writing the clue down while walking, he left the mansion... ...and there it was, the life-sized statue of a large white, blue-maned earthpony, down to the long blue fur around his fetlocks. No, it hadn't been there yesterday or any day before. On the short pedestal holding it, there was a metal plaque with something written on it. [It takes a lot of courage to admit your weakness and ask for help.] Had Heavy Hoof ever been in a position where he was unable to deal with something around him? Who had helped make him into a great teacher, open pony, and a member of nobility? Straw didn't know, but his next steps were clear now. With new vigor and interest, he talked to every Order member he could find, and wrote down what they said. Surprisingly, none of them seemed bothered by his questions. Despite that, it wasn't as simple as it looked. He looked over his notes. --- Choking Darkness - "Eyes of a Nightguard." Heavy Hoof - "Mansion entrance." Blaze - "No idea. Somepony stole it." Mistake - "Together we are one." Cromach - "I can't be everywhere, but to protect all those I love, I try to." Shadowstep - "Ask me later." Starlight - "Bring your unicorn friend and I'll tell you." Cross - "In solitude, you are the only one you have to beat." Antares - "Where your regret is the strongest." Three - "I am your worst fear. You don't know what I can bring, but you need me." --- The night fell during his search, but he ticked Heavy's statue off the list and noted the saying on his plaque. Now he could go for the Nightguard one. It was fairly easy, but he had to admit that without the clue he would have never noticed. On the roof, there was a statue which was clearly visible, but disappeared whenever a cloud eclipsed the moon. The attention to detail on the Nightguard mare's statue was astonishing, but Straw was there for the plaque. "Now, what sort of secret can the mare to whom I owe my life show me?" [I don't know, just write something inspiring there or whateve- hey, are ya writing THIS?! Meh, just leave it there, I'm not asking Luna for fifty more bits because ya screwed up- STOP WRITING IT DOWN!] "Yes, that suits her about right," Nightmare laughed on the inside of his skull. Perhaps he'd overestimated the value of the heroes' experience. His next chance came in two days, as he believed Starlight's clue was fairly simple, but he didn't want to trick Leo into working with the changeling obviously worrying him. So, he just came during their scheduled training. It was supposed to be happening in a tent, which seemed far too small for just two ponies. He opened a tent flap, and stepped into a room about the size of the Order mansion's main floor. His face tomato'd. Starlight, coat sleek with liquid, was draped over Leo in a manner befitting an exotic dancer, and openly grinding herself on his muzzle. Strangely enough, the real unicorn was just sitting there with eyes closed. "I'll... I'll come later." "Oh, hi!" Leo's eyes opened, "WHAT THE BUUUUUUUUUUCK?" "You said it, not me, honey," Starlight licked her lips and slowly drew her nipples over Leo's nose before jumping off him, "We're just steadying your friend's concentration. Smell and touch are the first steps." "I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A SCENTED DUSTER IN FRONT OF ME!" "Well, it was-" Straw grinned. "NOW I SURE AS HAY KNOW WHAT IT WAS!" "You seem upset, my noble master," the purple-maned, white unicorn facade of the changeling female said coyly, "Perhaps a full-body massage would relieve some of the tension. If not, I know how to to easily get rid of the rest." "Noooooooooooope!" "Miss Starlight, Leo has a crush on somepo- someone, and your ministrations make him feel 'unfaithful' before even asking the mar- girl." Apparently, their 'magic' sessions hadn't led Leo to learning shooting beams of pure death out of his eyes, because he certainly tried. Starlight, however, took it in stride. "Oh, somepony I know?" "Not saying anything. Don't want her to wake up transformed into a chicken," Straw said firmly. "Ah, I believe you misuderstood my position on the subject," Starlight smiled, making both of them look at her in confusion, "Your 'romantic' interest cannot possibly measure up to me in certain areas, of that I'm sure. I can fill those easily, and if your relationship was to fail, then I offer taking her place in due time. I might not be immortal, but time is not my concern. Coming from the Griffon Empire, I am well-versed in the management of concubines. Now, what can I help you with, since you've made my student fail his assignment." "There was an ass in there somewhere, sure," Leo muttered, "WHA-MMMRF?" Without flinching, Starlight shoved the unicorn on the floor and unceremoniously sat down on his face. "Punishment for wasting my time," she said clearly. "You said you'd give me the clue to your statue when Leo was here." "I told you to BRING him here so I could enjoy some extra time with him, but let's not dwell on the details, or your friend is going to suffocate in quite the enjoyable manner. You will see my statue after you've unlocked both Shadowstep's and Cross'. It is in this camp, but since it was me putting the illusion magic in place, it is much stronger than on the other ones, so you can't stumble on it on accident." "Oh, thank you, miss." "Right, and... if by any chance you earn a title and land, feel free to visit me. Hippogriffs are VERY rare, even in my book." "No insult intended, but buck that." "Yes, exactly. What do you think I was talking about? Oooooh," she smiled pleasantly as choking Leo thrashed underneath her, "I guess it's time for you to go. Or, you could stay a while, I like my new cushion. So... energetic." "Sorry, Leo," Straw rushed out of the tent. "-ILL YOU!" he heard the cry of the released unicorn. At least Leo was having fun. Straw spent most of the weekend wandering through Manehattan, because he had no luck in finding more statues, no matter the clues. He knew where at least two of them had to be, he just wasn't able to see them. Frustrated, he let it go for now, and slowly circled above the metropolis, enjoying the view. He wasn't alone. A black dot kept following him, changing directions whenever he moved towards it, but it was clumsy and slow in the air. He couldn't believe his eyes when, as he finally gathered the courage to approach, he saw Three wobbling unsteadily in the air, trying to look anywhere but down. The terror of the night wasn't as good in the air as she was on the ground. "Still following me?" he pushed himself not to laugh, as her fly-like wings buzzed and her legs waved in tandem with them, air whistling through the holes. "Orders -WHOAH- are orders. You are -EEP!- a threat." "You know, considering it was me from a different reality who created them, I'm starting to believe my defeats here may have been at least a little substantiated." "A changeling who has trouble flying, how come?" "Dreamling! Nonononono don't come too fast!" she flailed her forelegs at Straw, "It's genetics. Some of us take it harder than others." "You don't look hurt or anything, if you just calmed down you'd be fine." "Crazy vertigo, if I ever look down, my wings just lock up and- great, now I'm giving the enemy vital information.-" Sadly for her, she hung her head low in defeat. Doing that in mid-air, it meant she had a nice, long look at the tiny ponies far, faaaaaaaaaar down. "-Shit." Before gravity could claim her, two sets of talons grabbed her under her forelegs and no fall came. Straw couldn't let her go, even despite what she'd meant to his freedom. Nopony could ever blame him for her failure, but... ...but he would get out of this with clean slate, eventually. That's what he had to believe. Three wasn't doing this because she hated him, she was doing this because she was terrified of him, and on Blaze's orders no less. Would he be able to stalk his greatest fear day after day AND stop himself from getting rid of it, given the chance? The trembling dreamling in his embrace didn't say a word as they descended long way on the pavement, and Straw held her until she could walk again. Biting her lip, Three stared repeatedly at him and at the road under her hooves. She took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and shut it again. In the next moment, green sparks rushed through her chitin, which turned completely see-through, and she was gone. Well, Straw knew she was still watching him, only invisible, so he decided to walk for the rest of the day, and not torture her further. The day drew to a close, and he returned to the mansion, frustrated to no end with not being able to 'partake' in anything the city had to offer, but still happy he got to see a lot of the bustle. The official way of entering the headquarters was through the main gate, despite him being able to fly. One time, Straw had slammed his face into an invisible, one-way dome protecting the air space after accidentally passing through it on the way out. He wanted that to be the only time, ever. "Straw Basket?" asked the guard. "Yes." "You are to report immediately to sir Cromach's office when you get back." "Wow, what's wrong?" "No idea." "Okay, thanks!" "No problem." There didn't seem to be a clear reason for somepony needing exactly him. "Perhaps they found a way to purge you out of me?" "Don't sound so excited, they've probably just decided that I'm too deadly and dangerous to let you fly around, and now they want to kill you." He slowed down. "Ummm..." "THEN you'll learn to appreciate my power!" "The power which didn't do anything against either Blaze or Vigils, and is just the reason for me being stalked twenty-four seven by a deadly, and shockingly cute when embarrased, dreamling?" "Such insolence!" "Hey! You are threatening and scary, but you aren't the most useful when push comes to shove. You aren't even willing to share knowledge even now that you've revealed yourself." "You have no idea what I am capable of, slave! You are just a lowly thing I am using to fulfill goals beyond your understanding! I still... I can still do this. I can outsmart him... possibly... maybe. I CAN WIN... or at least not lose." Straw just shook his head and entered the mansion. There was only him and the griffon himself in Cromach's office. "Finally!" Cromach stood up from his desk, "The others have already gone through the briefing and are getting ready, so it's just you left." "What's going on, sir?" "Shadowstep's unit, with the cooperation of Manehattan police force, have located what seems to be the Vigil's headuarters." "What? Already? But didn't they hide so well last time?" "Exactly, that's why we believe it's a trap, and so does the police. That's why they're leaving the action to us at the moment. Speaking of the police, I know you had nothing to do with it, but they are sort of suspicious about us killing ponies at the last warehouse. Blaze said he left no traces, but I'm sure there are some witnesses who spotted us either coming in or running away." "Why are they letting us do this then?" "As I said, they, thankfully, have no evidence. Plus, they lost a squad to the Vigils before we sent Forutne's team in. So, law is telling them to keep us under inspection, common sense wants them to have us deal with the Vigil first." "Honestly, compared to the ponies who don't get hurt by a battleaxe, AND Nightmare haunting me, the police is sort of low on my danger list." Cromach chuckled. "I agree. Now, there's going to be me, Darky, Heavy, Blaze, Three, and your squad involved in this operation." "With all due respect-" "EHM!" Cromach coughed. "Sorry, sir. If this is a trap, why don't we grab whoever we can get and just overpower them? I mean no insult to sargeant Cross and the changelings, but if the Vigils can deal with you, then they'll be able to deal with anypony who remains here anyway." "You've been here a while, and you still think me and Heavy are the best combat force we can muster?" the griffon grinned, "Shadowstep's unit will be protecting the mansion while we go in. If... we don't return, then they are to tell the royal sisters what little scraps of information and suspicions we have. If we return and this place is demolished, they are to leave some kind of message about what happened." "Sorry, sir." "What for?" "For doubting your judgement while I have no clue about strategy and stuff." "Input is important. You might have brought up something we overlooked. Don't worry about that, at least not here. If you ever get into the military, then you'll learn the hard way how things should NOT be. Now, let's finish this off quickly. In short, your group will be carrying portal stones like we used last time. Connie will be in charge of deciding when to use them, because calling Blaze might be exactly what the one behind all this wants." "Wouldn't your judgement be more accurate, since you've fought them already?" "It would, but me and Heavy will be going through the main entrance, Three and Darky will watch us in case something goes horribly wrong. Your group will sneak behind the enemy and look for their leader. If it turns out he's not there, Fortune will shoot a flare, signalling us to retreat. That is the only time the police will attempt to help - our extraction. If you engage whoever their head is, you'll open a portal for Blaze, and do anything he tells you." "What if... what if they're... more prepared," Straw bit his lip. "Then it's been nice knowing you. Your openness and honesty are your greatest strengths. I wish Blaze was more like you in that respect. Now, go grab whatever you think you might need for the mission. Dismissed!" "Good luck, sir!" "Good luck, Straw!" Armed with a pistol and sword, and wearing light leather armor, Straw grouped up with the others outside the mansion. In the darkness of the night, the only clues to their location were few flickers of light, as each one of them carried a small lantern in addition to Leo and Connie's magic. With him being present, Contradiction sat them all down on the lawn. "Okay, guys, here's what we know. Their hideout is an another warehouse in the industrial part of the city. Commander Choking Darkness of Canterlot Nightguard and Three are already there, watching the area with the police. Baron Hoof and sir Cromach will be going the fastest route there, while we should arrive about five minutes later from behind the building. Once sir Cromach signals us that he's leaving, we're going as well. We are to avoid confrontation as much as possible. Firstly, because we have no idea whether we can actually take anypony on, and secondly, to have the elephant of surprise." "Terrible. Go on," Leo nudged her. "Not shaking anymore, spoiled brat?" "I'm barely able to keep my horseshoes from clanking, but if you yell out a target, I'll make sure they don't mess up your lovely manecut," Leo snickered. "The rest you know. Shoot a flare if we don't encounter anything. Lay down the portal stones if we do, and watch the fireworks. Any questions?" "How do we fire a flare INSIDE a building?" Straw scratched his head. "Either me or Leo will conjure a magical light which can pass through walls, or Fortune has a little surprise in store." "Duck and cover surprise?" he looked at the satyr. "Duck and cover surprise," Fortune nodded, smirking. "One last thing," Connie looked hard at Fortune, "Heavy Hoof and Cromach are acting as a bait. Our orders are to retreat and leave them to their own devices if things go FUBAR-" "Eeeeerm," Straw lowered his head, "Sorry?" "Fucked up beyond all recognition. A griffon military saying," Fortune explained. Connie didn't bat an eyelid. "-Exactly. BUT... aside from Walt, I don't like any of you. MY order is to do everything we can to save them. If any of US gets into a position where their extraction would endanger said goal, they will be on their own. No matter what your little, or big in case of Fortune and Leo, egos might tell you, we are expendable, Cromach and Heavy Hoof aren't." Only crickets wearing mittens and sweaters could be heard after Connie's order. "How... how are we supposed to obey a leader who would throw us to the wolves?" Straw muttered. Connie looked ashamed for a second, but then her expression hardened. "That is the best course of action. You will obey, or I will cut you down personally and deal with the fallout later myself." They sat in silence until a crackling noise and a blue spark above the mansion shot out into the city. "Move out!" Connie ordered. The front door of the warehouse crumbled inside, and the white earthpony and even whiter griffon carefully walked inside. Or maybe, just maybe, they might have charged in, right into the ranks of waiting Vigils. Straw had no idea, because the Hoof of Fate was currently poised by the side entrance, hidden in shadows from the street lamps' light. All standard warehouses had the same layout, same wide front entrance made for large containers of shipments, same side entrance for others to use and not disrupt the working ponies, and the same office space containing ledgers and shipment manifests the clerks worked with. Which was exactly why Straw tapped on Connie's shoulder before she could order Walter to open the door. "There has to be somepony stationed here. That's how we got in last time." "We don't really have time to look for another entrance," Connie hissed at him. "Even if we got in this way, we would end up in the back of the main storage area where the action is. Somepony is bound to notice us if we do that." "Alright, got a better idea?" "Actually, the back of the warehouse is office space. I'm not sure how it looks inside, but if we make a hole in the back wall, we can get inside without upsetting any patrol. You could do the same thing you did in Blaze's office." To her defense, Contradiction actually blushed. "Opinions?" she asked. Walter just shrugged. "Gotta go with Straw here. I'm not too keen on either having to fight a newer Vigil member or getting my legs tied up behind my back by the unkillable ones," Leo said his two bits. "Fortune?" "Meh, pick something, and don't chicken out or blame somepony else later." "Fortune!" Straw nudged her hard, "She's actually TRYING to do this right!" "Fiiiine," she rolled her eyes, "I'm not really good in enclosed spaces, so I'd mostly just get in the way if there's a trap set on the other side of the door. Plus, if you and the idiot work together on ripping a chunk of wall out, it might not even be that loud." Nodding, Connie led the group behind a corner, and looked up at the blank wall with a row of small windows on the top. The office space had to have at least two stories, but only the top one let outside light in for some reason, possibly due to the risk of somepony breaking in? Only one window was lit from the inside. Walter, going first, raised his talons, pointing towards the windows and spreading his wings. "Hmmm," Connie rubbed her chin, "Okay, Walt, grab me, and let's check the first window." Holding her breath, Fortune steadied the rifle in her arms, and aimed it at the glass, ready to snipe anything going out. The glass pane slowly slid open, and Connie crept inside while Walter held steady in the air. The rest of them had to get inside now. With Leo on Straw's back, and Fortune riding Walter, they heard a sharp groan which made them rush. Connie was lying on her back, punching a large earthpony, who was standing above her, hooves at her neck. Unfortunately, they couldn't get inside quickly enough without making too much noise, and as Leo, being the first one to go inside, was halfway through the window, Connie's horn flashed, and the earthpony's head turned far too many degrees in far too little time. The crack shook Straw to his bones. The second crack made him whimper, because despite him seeing the earthpony's head snap back, accompanied by creaking of regrowing tendons, he still had to go inside and deal with the clearly dead pony growing sharp, long teeth, and aiming for Connie's jugular. Golgen glow flashed through the room. *Crack* *Thud* *Thud* The earthpony's body dropped on Connie once again, neck spewing blood all over her black coat. Leo breathed heavily, eyes locked on the head his telekinesis had ripped away from the body a moment ago. "It seems," Connie grinned sheepishly while cleaning the mess from her muzzle and trying not to throw up, "we had the same idea." Leo, on the other hoof, was going green. "I... killed... a pony." "Hey, you did the same thing last time when you shot the Vigils away from me. Thanks again, by the way," Straw carefully patted him on the back. "Yeah, I know... I just wanted them away from you at the time. Now... I wanted him dead, more dead, I mean. I... sick," he ended in a whisper. His shock faded the moment when Contradiction stood back up, put her hoof under his chin, looked the slightly taller unicorn in the eyes, and smiled briefly. "Thank you." Despite the attention of everypony, the body stayed down this time. Heavy Hoof's metal staff sent a crunch through a brown unicorn's ribcage, making him collapse on the warehouse floor and throw up. "This is FAR too easy," the baron furrowed his brows, dodging to the side to avoid an earthpony lunging at him like a wolf, teeth bared, "These guys are like wild animals, no organization or training to speak of." Cromach was being far less gentle, instantly breaking the muzzle of yet another unarmed attacker in front of him. "They ARE faster and stronger than normal ponies, but not by much. Even our recruits would easily deal with this after few weeks of training," he groaned, simply punching out several of new pony's teeth with his metal arm, "Yeah, this is a trap for sure. So, are they just trying to tire us out?" Standing back to back, both the griffon and the earthpony cleared a half-circle around them with a single wide swing. The attacking Vigils now had serious respect for their weapons. Fortunately for Heavy and Cromach, there was enough space in the main warehouse storage room to move around when necessary. Slightly less fortunately for the Vigils, the amount of sheer endurance the two warriors gained during their 'misadventures' in the past was far beyond their own, no matter what divine drugs they had taken. "I see no other reason," Heavy nodded, tripping a pony with the bottom of his staff, "They can't win, and yet they keep on getting up. Somepony must be controlling them." "Soooo, what do we do about it?" "Wait." "Your plan sucks!" "I had only few HOURS and almost no information to go on. Just be happy we're not sending wave after wave of recruits through the main door." "Don't hate on my idea!" They both chuckled, and returned to smashing the attackers with renewed vigor. Finally, with too many of them too wounded to do more than just drop on the floor and pray, the tide of enhanced civilians stopped, giving the defending duo time to take a breath. The Vigils still able to move tried to walk, limp, or crawl into the nearest corner. Due to the amount of restraint on Heavy and Crom's side, none of them were dead or dying. The lights went out. "Soooo, is this it?" Cromach asked, strangely undisturbed by the turn of events. "Probably," Heavy took a deep breath, and twirled his staff in a circle in front of him. They heard muffled hoofsteps from around, and random whimpering coming presumably from one of the previous victims. The hoofsteps were resolute, definitely not from somepony limping. A new threat was coming. Luckily, all villains had the tendency to gloat. "We are perfect," a hissing voice started, "We are one. We are invincible. We are the pinnacle of evolution. We can see in the dark, but can you? You-" "Talk too much," said Heavy dryly, and yelled, "POTATO!" A bang. A flash. Screaming. Cromach, still shielding his eyes and holding a gun in his talons, shot several flares around the warehouse to see what's going on after the blinding flashbang. Once he recognized the pony, or the type of pony standing unpleasantly close to him, he didn't hesitate for a second, and hacked for the first time. *Clink* The battleaxe almost flew out of his talons as it hit something with hardness between a rock and steel - the pony's skin. Struck in his back, the elder Vigil's confusion was quickly fading. "So, yeah, Heavy? The indestructible guys? What now?" "Oh yeah, I was curious about those," Heavy's blue mane swirled as he spun on his hind legs, and hit the nearest Vigil to the side of his head. The pony just shrugged it off, and finally focused on the white earthpony in front of him. "What now, mudpony filth? The Grandmaster will have your hea-" *Click* "-grawrhhgh!" The elder Vigil was stunned by Heavy pushing his staff into his mouth mid-word. Speaking of status effects, he was momentarily shocked when Heavy pushed a small spot on his staff, resulting in curved blades coming out of both ends, effectively turning Heavy's weapon into a double scythe. In the end, the elder Vigil just decided to not question the blade coming through his brain from inside his mouth, and died. Swinging the corpse off his bladed staff, Heavy smiled at the elder Vigils stunned by the fast end of one of them. "You still need soft bits to exist, otherwise you wouldn't be able to move, AND you need concentration to maintain your endurance," Heavy's smile turned sadistic, "Crom! Mouth, ears, joints." One of the elder's mouth dropped open at Heavy's instant analysis. Before he could react, the top of his head flew off in a shower of sparks. "Hey," Cromach raised an eyebrow, "it really works. What if it turns out that their magic doesn't have to obey biology though?" "Don't ruin the moment." And thus, they attacked the ten remaining elder Vigils first. Covering the back, Straw saw the light show coming through one of the windows, but his attention was on anything that could be moving in the vicinity, getting ready to jump the Hoof of Fate from behind. They had finished checking all the rooms on this floor aside from one. As planned, it was the only one with the lights still on. There had been nothing of note between the documents in the past ones, only ledgers and invoices. "Inside!" Connie hissed from the front. The room was just another office full of bookshelves, some crates, and a desk with a lamp casting light on a small, open book. Connie rushed to it immediately. "Straw, watch the entrance! Walt, you get the window. Fortune and Leo, have a look around! I'll check this thing out. Here! There isn't too much, but..." Connie took a deep breath, and started reading: "My home is destroyed, my wife is dead, both my sons are dead, and their murderer roams free, even rewarded by the false princess while I am being hunted for high treason. How could princess Celestia allow that to happen? How could she not see the snake she calls her sister coiling around her? The Nightmare's slave and her agents ruined princess Celestia's influence, and even allowed the return of the bat filth. Mudponies and nocturnals are everywhere these days. Thank heavens that Brazen Stones' loyalty is far beyond slander and lies about me. I at least still have quite the sum of money, so staying here, in Brazen's small apartment, isn't as unbearable as it otherwise would be for two quite large ponies." She flips few pages. "Every time I'm alone I hear their voices, but none of them are here anymore. A new one started coming recently, calling itself the Watcher. I must be finally going insane, and my mind is taking its own path to happiness. I want to be with them again, and so does it. That, or I'm just going senile in my early sixties. The Watcher keeps showing me things about my family's murderer I cannot possibly know. Are they illusions, or is some force truly interested in me having justice?" More scratching of paper. "I know who the Watcher is! My princess must have been sheltering me from the false one's judgement. I saw the murderer again. The white and blue mudpony who dared touch me betrayed the princess, and worked together with minotaurs, DAMN SAVAGES, against her alongside the murderer. Still, despite their efforts, my princess succeeded in driving the Zebrican army out of Equestria and crushing their leader. I mean, the details are not open to public, but she herself incinerated most of the enemy army." "How old can this be?" Leo interrupted, "The invasion happened about a year ago. I had no idea that minotaurs were involved in any way." "Shush!" said Connie, and continued after flipping to the next entry, "The Watcher really must be princess Celestia herself! She offered me her power and a chance to avenge my family. The amulet which appeared in the apartment one morning must have been delivered by one of her agents. It gave me so much power! I feel young again, stronger, faster, and I can think clearly. No more depression, no more empty thoughts of blind revenge. I now know I can do it, all I need are ponies who want to purify this land as well." "Sooo... simply crazy- OUCH!" Connie smacked Leo's head with the journal, and moved to the next entry. "The damn mudpony was awarded MY ESTATE, MY LAND, AND MY TITLE! Does the false princess' treachery know no bounds? But my princess knows about it, and the Vigil grows. The amulet allows me to share her gift with others. Now there can be no subponies, only aspirants. The new ponies will thrive in her Majesty's light, and the fakes who still dare to call themselves Silver Sun and tarnish the name by their mere existence will fuel our change. We are the Vigil, and we will watch over new Equestria." This piqued Straw's attention. "I thought baron Hoof founded the Order?" Connie shook her head. "The Order is an ancient organization pre-dating princess Luna's banishment. Baron Hoof is just the last of their leaders. I'm not sure who was in charge before, but I heard he died in the explosion which destroyed the original Order mansion. Oh damn!" she muttered when skimming through the next entry, "Finally, at least a part of my revenge is finished. One of the murderer's offspring is dead, so is one of his minotaur minions, and one mudpony loyal to him. Unfortunately, the unholy abomination of minotaur and pony escaped. No matter, if more of his minions come, they will see the bright tomorrow the Vigil brings. With the Watcher's eyes spreading over Canterlot, the false princess will soon be unable to move." "Fortune...?" Leo asked quietly. His reward was a steel gaze of the brown-haired, clothed, leg-coated, and generally brown-everythinged satyr. "Whoever is behind this is clearly insane. There is no way princess Celestia would have anything to do with this," she said in a very measured and careful tone discouraging any more questions. "They might be connected to Blaze. The Nightmare always calls him a traitor, a thief, or a murderer," commented Straw. "EHM!" Connie coughed meaningfully, "The murderer's minions are becoming smarter, and managed to raid one of our bases. We lost three of our loyal brethren, but they managed to show us their experiences before... somehow disappearing. Through that, we now know what the murderer and his new cohorts are capable of. Unfortunately, only I will be able to stand up to him if he engages us directly. Still, the Watcher understands my plight, and gave his amulet something which should help me finally get my revenge. We have spotted one of the traitor's abominable minions trailing our members, and decided to make this our stand. He will not survive our encounter, and my family will finally rest in peace." "Uh oh." "Soooo, at which point of this operation were we thinking this would be a good idea?" groaned Cromach, as the handle of his axe creaked under a swing of one of the elder Vigil's leg. "I may have misjudged them," Heavy heaved, standing on his hind legs with a Vigil hanging by his teeth on his staff, and slammed him into the floor. Both blades on Heavy's weapon had been broken. Apparently the elder Vigils were much tougher than expected, "But we still have to hold!" "I know," grunted Cromach, ramming one of his steel talons into the eye of a lunging Vigil. The lights had returned after the Vigils had realized that the darkness just made them vulnerable to more flashbangs. Crom and Heavy had managed to kill four of them, but the ferocity, unending endurance, and the threat of imminent death if they messed up even once were taking their toll on the duo. Cromach could do nothing more than block the next hoof swing aimed at him, despite knowing the risk to his axe, and the polished wooden handle finally gave in and broke. "Shit!" the griffon immediately reached for the two axes hanging on the belt around his waist, "I sure hope this doesn't take much longer. I've never thought I'd need a steel handle as well." Two Vigils focused on Heavy, while the remaining four, sensing victory draw near, prepared to overwhelm Cromach. Normally, Crom could deal with a one on four situation, even with the enhanced resistance and endurance. It would be difficult, of course, but he could manage. The Vigils, though, felt as if they shared a mind, and were able to attack and block each other's weak spots despite not having any real style or skill, so he had very little opportunity to counterattack. On top of that, he wasn't really used to wielding two weapons at once, and while he had the strength to do so fairly easily, he didn't have the coordination. It wasn't long before he got tripped up, and a Vigil jumped on top of him, teeth bared. He quickly realized he was repeating a mistake one of his brethren had done before, and died with a mouth full of talons. Unfortunately, third time wasn't the charm, and spikes grew from the hooves of the remaining three, ready to disembowel the griffon. Cromach cursed, and could only watch... ...as the Vigils around him stopped, their chests contracted far too much, and they coughed blood and bits of their lungs out. Behind them, Three, breathing heavily, appeared. "Whatever is controlling them isn't used to it, and their mental defenses aren't that strong if they have you to deal with as well, sir!" The two Vigils fighting Heavy stopped abruptly, and retreated a short distance. "What did you do?" Cromach gathered himself and his axes from the floor. "I planted a suggestion in them to change into something that can't live under this sky, namely breathe the air properly, sir. Well, at least parts of them." "Can you do it to the other two?" "Not if they know about me AND aren't distracted." The door leading to the office space opened. Whoever was behind this must have been hiding there, waiting for the right moment to come out. Unfortunately, it was after his minions were dead or defeated. "Final boss?" Cromach grinned. "About time," Heavy matched the grin and raised him a smirk, "Sadly, if he's better than those guys I think we should beeline for the exit." Hoofsteps followed the tall, white unicorn with golden mane and scars running through his coat as he entered the large room. On a chain on his neck, there hanged a silver disc with an emerald in the middle. Three and Cromach only tilted their heads. Heavy lost grip on his staff. He had seen this pony only once before, but the memory still burned him with its injustice. "Blinding Light..." he croaked. Straw walked out of the room when he heard the sounds of fighting from below stop, and looked carefully through the window into the main storage area. "Guys? We might have a problem," he said, loudly enough for the rest of the group to hear him, but not too much in case somepony on the lower floor of the office space was still present. Connie was still skimming through the journal, but the urgency in Straw's voice made her come over and watch. Down in the main room, Cromach, Heavy, and Three were desperately trying to dodge and inch themselves back to the entrance without exposing a weak spot to the new white unicorn with a greatsword levitating in front of him. "Damn, we're out of time! We know it's a trap though, so we can just send the signal and leave. Give me a second," she ran back inside, "Did anypony notice toilets on this floor? Yeah? Good. Get there, and bring me a roll of toilet paper." Straw heard few confused objections from inside, but a second later Walter and Leo rushed past him towards one of the other rooms. "Ummm, the retreat might not be an option anymore. Contradiction?" "Oh Celestia, what now?" she ran back. She saw what Straw meant. The two remaining elder Vigils stood motionlessly by the front entrance, their forelegs fused into the heavy metal door. Cromach's one attempt at moving them forcibly just ended with his axe showering the floor with sparks. The Vigils obviously couldn't move, but escape really wasn't an option anymore. Fortune walked over. Unfortunately, just in time to see flanking Three getting carelessly kicked away by the white unicorns's hind leg at the same time as Heavy blocked a wide swing of the flying blade, grunting under the force. Cromach, closing the triangle formation surrounding the unicorn had been thrown away like a ragdoll a moment ago, and was getting back up. "So, what's the pla-oh crap! We're calling Blaze now!" "No, we're not," Connie said sternly, "Now that we know it's a trap, we have to ensure the extraction." The unicorn showed his skill and experience when Cromach got disarmed by several quick punches, and had to block a sword swing with his metal arm. Three took the opportunity to assault the unicorn from behind, but got simply plucked out of the air with telekinesis, and slammed into the floor without the enemy even looking. Blocking another swing, Heavy Hoof didn't manage to hold his staff in his hooves, mostly because the unicorn's blade turned it into two smaller parts. Heavy breathed heavily, taking one of the halves into his mouth and returning back on all fours. That was all Fortune needed to see, and pulled out a pistol, aiming at Connie's head. "We're doing the summoning, now." "No," Connie refuted calmly, but Straw could see little strings of magic circling Fortune's trigger finger and her neck. "I'm not letting them die because you can't see past printed mission objectives." "I'm not sacrificing our only chance of winning when it counts to save few, albeit extremely important, pieces of the plan. We will signal the extraction, and go there to help. We're NOT calling Blaze." "Yeah? What do you think we can do? That guy is effortlessly beating much better fighters than we are." "We do what we can. This is what the damn squad trainings were for, and you need to listen for once, not just go for some solo action that might or might not work. This is where it counts!" It was clear neither of them would back off. "Can I say something?" Straw asked. Two heads, one pony and one satyr, turned to him. "I don't know how much you know or care about Blaze, but I know for sure he wouldn't willingly let Cromach get hurt. Blaze even cares about Fortune's silly little dream of loving him. Sorry, you screamed it before passing out during the training. That's why it was HIM who went through with the 'death' practice, not Cromach. He doesn't care what we think of him, but he was fine with Crom being sort of your hero. If it wasn't absolutely necessary for Blaze to keep hiding, he would be down there with them, taking every blow for them. I'm with Connie this time." "Hey, what's going on?" Leo and Walter came, carrying several packs of toilet paper. "I just needed one," Connie facehoofed, "Now, Fortune, will you put all of us in risk, or will you swallow your damn ego and follow a plan prepared by somepony other than you?" "If ANYTHING goes wrong, we're making the portal," Fortune lowered her gun. Nodding, Connie ran back into the office, and came out with a glowing roll of toilet paper. "Hide this," she said to Walter, "I'm not taking the journal, but I put a linking spell on it, so we'll know about anything new written in it. Now, Fortune, stay here and look for a chance to shoot. Walt, Straw, Leo, we're going down there." "I'd prefer staying up here," Leo objected, "First, Fortune will need somepony to protect her in case there are Vigils hiding up here. Second, I can use shield spells from here just fine." "I'll be fine," Fortune rolled her eyes. "No, I'm staying!" "Coward, you're just scared of getting your hooves dirty." "Sure, call me what you want, but I'm watching your back." "My ass." "That too." "We don't have time for this!" Connie interrupted them, and after biting her lip, she gave Leo the bag with portal stones, "You two stay up here and cover us. It might be useful anyway, as we probably won't have the time to prep the teleport. If you use it prematurely, I'll beat both of you to pulp, understand? Let's move!" "This... is... bad..." muttered Heavy, trying to breathe heavily with a piece of steel in his teeth. "Stating the obvious here, Heavy," Cromach got past the flying sword, and hacked at Blinding Light, knowing full well it would be pointless like many times before. The unicorn was fast, immensely strong, much more experienced than both of them put together, and, most of all, even tougher than the elder Vigils. Crackling in the air and the sharp smell of ozone followed the strike. The desperate attack made Blinding back off and examine the blue sparks harmlessly fading into nothingness. "Catbirds thinking divine power is for them, how silly. All you are good for is to be unleashed like dogs and caged when not needed anymore." "That's pretty racist," Crom commented, jumping away. Only Three had been somewhat successful in attacking. Successful in this case meaning that she had landed more hits than anypony else, revealing Blinding wasn't used to fighting wild animals, but rather pony and griffon opponents. Unfortunately, her hits did about as much damage as anything else. "SIR! WE'RE HERE!" Cromach heard Connie's voice, and saw her, Straw, and Walter rush into the main storage area out of the small door leading to the offices. "More pests?" Blinding raised an eyebrow. *Blam!* *Tink!* His head jerked sideways. "OH COME THE HECK ON!" Fortune's annoyed scream from above followed the ineffective shot, "WHY IS EVERYPONY IMMORTAL?!" "Well, it seems that the murderous trash is sitting in his fortress, hiding and using others to do his dirty work for him. Perhaps your deaths will send a clearer message." In the same moment, several things happened. Fortune was pulled through the upper floor window, and left falling towards the concrete floor. A shockwave of force knocked everypony off their hooves, paws, and other appendages. Three got pulled upwards by her neck, and all the mental force previously unleashed on the others squeezed. The dreamling's corpse dropped to the floor with a soft thump. Seeing all that from above, Leo conjured a small barrier to prevent Fortune from breaking something, mustered all his self-control and shakily assembled the white and black circles of small stones. The burst of light was instant, and Leo felt himself dragged down to the main room and laid carefully on the floor. "There you are," growled Blinding Light, maniacal smile growing on his muzzle, "Finally I can-" When he gathered himself, unhurt but surprised, from pieces of wood and metal from shattered crates on the other side of the room, he only saw the bronze alicorn rubbing his muzzle against Three's. "For killing my family, I will destroy everything you hold dear," Blinding advanced on Blaze again, "This is only the beginning." When Blaze acknowledged Blinding's existence for the first time, and looked at him, all everypony could see in his eyes was raw annoyance. "You know?" Blaze said, unprecedented exhaustion in his voice, "After everything that has happened to me since I ran away from home... I assumed the universe just exists to piss me off, and now... now I know I was right. Everything, EVERYTHING I try to do is marred by YOU! You were a worthless father, an ungrateful husband, and a selfish prick ever since I was born. Now, now you're just insane, trying to destroy the land which gave so much to somepony so undeserving." "I AM NOT YOUR FATHER, AND I ONLY WANT JUSTICE!" "Justice?! Do you have any idea what actually went down when our mansion was destroyed? I was there, HEAVY was there, CROM was there, MY MOM was there, only you RAN AWAY INSTEAD OF TRYING TO STOP YOUR INSANE SON!" "STOP SLANDERING MY FAMILY WITH YOUR FILTHY MOUTH, YOU MURDERER!" "Out of what little remnants of mercy I still feel for you I will at least explain things to you before I end your miserable existence. Perhaps for once in my life I will hear you say 'I was wrong', and I might even consider turning you to the authorities instead of ripping you slowly to pieces for killing my... daughter, or however this thing works with changelings and similar races. Crom knows part of it from my journals and stories, Heavy knows the most of what happened, because was almost at the start of all this." Blinding froze mid-step, hooves locked in black ice. No amount of struggling helped him, so he had to listen, spitting on the floor and snarling. "My name is Blazing Light." "NO IT ISN'T!" roared Blinding. "SHUT! UP!" Blazing's outburst left everypony shaking. The alicorn took a deep breath, "My name is Blazing Light. I ran away from home because I thought I failed my parents far too many times to rely on their support anymore, and I wanted to find out what I could do on my own - either make something out of myself and return home as a stallion, not a worthless parasite, or die away from home where there would be nopony to identify my corpse. I managed to find a simple job in Canterlot, and even made few friends who stayed with me despite my insufferably 'positive' outlook on everything." He looked at Heavy Hoof. "A lot of things happened, but shit hit the fan during one Nightmare Night when a unicorn doppleganger of princess Sparkle attacked her and princess Luna in Ponyville. I jumped in front of a spell which would have killed Sharp Biscuit, princess Luna's bodyguard, and the side-effect of the spell was that it locked a being called Void, a prisoner in Tartarus at the time, inside me. A day or two later, due to shocking selfishness of one low-ranked Nightguard called Choking Darkness, I got hanged in Canterlot gardens, and Void was released out of my body. Not long after, I got resurrected by an alicorn called Scream, who later told me that the fake Twilight Sparkle was from somewhere called the mirror world. Long story short, I eventually ended up there, found out that there was an invasion into our Equestria being planned by their king Sombra, and stopped him by causing a huge explosion which killed Scream, me, and Sombra." Blaze shook his head. "Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, who knows, the spell Scream used to revive me was the legacy of the alicorn of Life, which gave me an incredibly resilient body. Due to that, after the explosion I still existed... my soul did, and Void, who turned out to be the alicorn of Death and Scream's lover, gave me an option to travel into a different reality to seek a result where he and Scream would once again be together, and I could have another chance at finding happiness for myself. I agreed, and after some unpleasant events resulting in the creation of dreamlings I ended up here. Here is where Blinding Light is sort of right. To stay in this reality, I had to kill the original Blazing Light by throwing him into the dimensional portal which brougth me here. With my knowledge, I managed to stop the invasion again and stay alive at the same time." For some reason he looked nervously at Heavy again. "I did a lot of things I regret after that, but those are not important to what's going on now. As it turned out, part of my resilience was me, and the original Blazing returned after somehow survivng between dimensions, insane from pain and suffering, and took over the Silver Sun in order to get his revenge on me. He sent his/mine - take your pick - brother to get a weapon able to kill me forever, but Cromach was there to stop him. Unfortunately, said weapon is deadly to unicorns wielding it if their magic is powerful enough, which is why I am one of the few able to use it effectively, because I cannot use standard magic at all. Blazing didn't tell that to his brother, and it killed him. In the end, I fought against Blazing in our mansion, and defeated him. Before dying, he wanted to wipe all of us out in a big explosion. I protected Heavy, Crom, and Chokey, but everypony else - servants, my mother, the mansion itself... evaporated." He looked sadly at Blinding. "And that's how it was. Got anything to say... not-father? I don't know how you got here, I don't know why you are a member of the Vigil, and I just want to hear something-" "Shut your shithole full of lies..." Blinding growled, and finally broke out of the ice. "You are irredeemable, and you can't think clearly when your emotions get hold of you," Blaze stepped between Cromach and Blinding, smiled at the griffon briefly, and shattered what fantasy Fortune might have still held about her and the ambassador, "I guess that runs in the family." Without any warning, Blaze's wings turned to ice, and black shards peppered Blinding... ...shattering on impact. "You think I'm not ready for you, scum?" Blinding's amulet glowed green, and then everything went dark. Leo, Cromach, Straw, Fortune, and Connie felt their legs touch something cold, and then reality presented itself to them. They were standing in a stone room filled with rows and rows of ceiling-high, filled wine racks. Quiet mumbling was coming from the distance. Carefully, they approached the source of the noise. It was a bronze unicorn who couldn't be more than sixteen, saying something incoherent to a bottle of wine in his hooves. "Is that...?" Straw started. Cromach tried not to laugh, not to make a sound, but the gurgling noises from him clearly betrayed he was failing miserably. "Blaze?" he snickered, approaching. "Wuzza? Kittybird!" the unicorn looked at the bottle suspiciously, then back at Cromach, and then poked the bottle, "Toomush? Toomush!" "Why are we here, where is here, what are we supposed to do, and where are Walter and baron Hoof?" Connie asked loudly with nopony particular in mind. "Juuuust let me get my crystal ball," Fortune facepalmed, "Oh wait, I left it back at the mansion!" "I meant," Connie hissed at her, "Any ideas?" "This looks like one of the mansion cellars, only not wrecked. Plus, him," Cromach poked the young version of Blaze, "Possibly a memory? If I had to guess, then we're somehow locked in a memory while Blinding Light is savaging us in the real world. Heavy is naturally drastically resistant to magic, so the reason we are alive might be him defending us. I'm not sure about Walter. We have to get out fast." "Dad's upshtairs if yoo wanna shee him." "We might have to deal with Blinding in the memory first..." Fortune took a guess. "I'm not so sure," Cromach sat down to the tiny unicorn, at least compared to him, and asked softly, "What are you doing here?" "Waiting for t'morrow..." "Why?" "I messhed up today too mush... t'morrow might be lessh... bad." "Come on, it couldn't be that bad. You're a nice guy." "Thanksh! Ye'r a naish hal-halush-halushinashun!" he hugged the griffon's leg. Cromach really tried, but the grin on his face threatened the top of his head to fall off, "It's jusht... nothining I do ish good 'nuff, ya know? All I hear ish - why aren't you the besht, what did you messh up thish time? I shuck... they desherve a better son." "I feel you!" Leo sat down as well, "It's like - you're gonna inherit all of this one day, you must be the best there is, you must do this, that, be this tall, this wide, have this long horn. It's stupid! I used to hear it over and over and over, dumb stuff." "Yer right!" Blaze shoved his bottle to Leo, "It's dumb... but shomepony better would do it, jusht not me." "Yes, you can't," Leo agreed, "But the thing is that they just want you to be better. They're doing a shit job of it, but that's what they want. I'm pretty sure that at your age they were as dumb as you think you are. You are at least smart enough to realize it while they live in their fantasy about them being perfect." "Thanksh," Blaze stood up on his wobbly legs, "I... I'm gonna jusht... go to bed, and try to suck less 'morrow." Cromach scratched Blaze's chin, making the unicorn giggle surprisedly, "Never give up, one day you'll make it all right." The cellar disappeared. "-will you go out with me?" they heard Blaze's voice. In a familiar hall of a standard Canterlot apartment building, there stood Blaze. Not as unicorn though, but a being similar to changeling, only with bronze chitinous plates instead of black ones, a red corset-like belly plate of a changeling queen, and a normal pony mane. Suddenly, all of them realized the similarity between Three and him. "I'm sorry, Blaze," said Choking Darkness, and closed the door, leaving him standing in the hallway. "It's fine. I... I just had to try at least once," he whispered to himself, and looked at the group, "Sorry, I was just visiting a friend. I'll be going now." "She refused you, eh?" Fortune stepped up. "Yeah," Blaze smiled inwardly, "It was pointless, but after years of waiting I had to at least try while I still had the chance." "Well, at least you found the courage eventually," the satyr ruffled Blaze's mane, "In my case, there was no hope as well, but I couldn't open my mouth even before I knew." "For me, she was the only hope at finding happiness. Nopony else has ever even looked at me in that way, but she's apparently found somepony better, which... to be honest... can't have been THAT difficult." "You never know who cares or will care for you in the future. It might be nopony, but what's the point of thinking only about that option since you can't do anything about it." "You're right. I have... important things to do, and I might never see her again. I knew I would fail, I just wanted to see her one last time and say goodbye in the dumbest way possible." "So, what now?" "Head-first into danger, miss. I have no unfinished business left," he replied with the most determined look Fortune had ever seen, "I wish your heart gets a better end than mine." "I'll just have to take what I can get," Fortune smiled, and for a moment looked... elsewhere. "Beam me up, Scream," said Blaze, and disappeared in a flash. The Crystal Empire castle was a beautiful sight from both outside and inside. The throne room, where a bronze changeling/unicorn faced off against a tall, grey unicorn with red, curved horn and long, black, flowing mane, was absolutely stunning. The flow of time slowed when the group appeared, and Blaze turned to them. He looked utterly exhausted, barely able to stand or even see. "That's king Sombra!" Cromach's eyes went wide, "This must be the end of the second invasion. Nopony knows what really happened, just that Sombra suddenly disappeared and his army went to disarray." "What are you doing here? Nopony should be here, Twilight is guarding the entrance!" Blaze frowned. "We're friends," Cromach raised his talons, "So, the big final boss. What's the plan?" "Plan?" Blaze laughed crazily, "Everypony hates me, because that guy mind-controlled me and made me lead the attack on Canterlot! I have nowhere to return to, and nopony who wouldn't want me dead if I somehow survived. I'll just have to wing it, throw everything I have at him, and hope. He's so much better at magic than anypony else in this world, my spellbreaking doesn't even work properly against him, and I haven't slept in almost two weeks. Honestly, I just don't care anymore, if it weren't for Chokey who worked out what happened, I would let the world just burn." "Sir," Connie saluted him, "Can I say something?" "I am no sir, miss. Say what you want." "My family is low nobility, but they kicked me out of my home because I was physically weak. Everywhere I went they saw just a frail, worthless unicorn who couldn't control her magic. Day after day, I wanted everything to end, but I didn't have the strength to do it myself. I spent two years on the streets of Manehattan selling myself in the back alleys for few bits so I could get some food. Not that the 'customers' had to pay, some of them just did it out of pity. I couldn't defend myself against anypony trying to take what I earned." "More reason to just let the world deal with this guy without me. I've been through too much to care to continue." "I wouldn't, because one day a griffon found me on the streets, saying he was looking for somepony with nothing to lose to go on a dangerous assignment. Honestly, I said yes just to get a free meal and to run away in few days before they sold me to some brothel as a punching bag for some more violent customers. Then I found out the griffon wasn't lying, and really needed somepony to go somewhere with very little chance of returning. I believed I found my way out, that I would either die, but be useful for the first time in my life, or succeed and prove, at least to myself, that I can make it. And then, I failed." "Hmm?" Blaze raised an eyebrow, apparently not expecting the ending. "I was too weak to join the mission without being more a burden than an asset. I failed everypony again, but I wasn't kicked out back no the street. A pony told me the reason my body and magic were failing was because my telekinesis was abnormally strong, and I just needed to learn to control that before focusing on the rest." "Indeed," Blaze nodded, "Your horn is particularly long for your size. Any unicorn with a shred of brain could see it." Connie smiled. "Well, some can see it, most apparently can't. The reason I'm saying that is because sometimes, when all seems lost and pointless, you just have to throw everything out there and see what sticks. Now, after all that, I have a place I can call home, a good purpose, somepony I can hate and compete with to avoid boredom, and someone who likes me with all my... flaws and unique tastes. What I mean is... I don't even know... I'm just happy, and if I got here, than anypony can, no matter how bleak things are." "That was far too trite," Blaze said dryly. "Well, sorry for trying!" Connie rolled her eyes. "I'm not saying it was bad... only too storylike. Good endings... sometimes they just don't happen. Thanks for taking my mind off things for a moment though." The flow of time returned, and Blaze went towards the throne and the waiting Shadow King. "Sir, calm down! I think you knocked on the wrong door," Choking Darkness pushed the bronze unicorn away and closed the now familiar door to her apartment. He just stared in utter disbelief. "Oh," Discord appeared in the grey world, "I forgot to tell you your friend Void wiped her memories of you." "Why would he do that?" "Well, she couldn't deal with losing you so he gave her the choice of giving her new wings and allow her to forget you completely. She agreed." "She... did that... willingly?" "Of course. After all, the only thing you brought her was pain." "Why didn't you tell me?" "And spoil the surprise? Don't be silly." The god disappeared with an echoing laughter. "You should have seen the look on your face." The laughter continued. "Priceless!" The bronze unicorn slowly sat down. Bit by bit, his coat lost its colour, turning ashen grey, blonde mane darkened into shades of midnight blue, and sapphire blue eyes, crying tears of blood, became pink. When Straw touched what he believed to be the form of Mistake, the magic teacher, the unicorn crumbled into dust. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!" Straw jerked away, and panically looked around. Cromach just patted his head. "I... I don't think there was anything anypony could do here." The memory ended. The small, grey apartment was a place Cromach knew like the back of his talons. Blaze, in the grey form of Mistake, was scribbling something into a small book, which he slammed shut when he saw the group appear. "Crom, what are you doing here? You should be at the castle." The griffon thought for a moment, then his eyes narrowed. "This is before you went to Manehattan to fight real Blazing, isn't it?" "Wo- wa- we- what, how?" "This isn't real, just a memory or something. By the way, do you have any idea how much you pissed me off with that? I was so damn scared I'd never see you again!" "Well, I couldn't... can't... whatever the terminology for what has already happened but not really yet... put you in danger like that. On the other hoof, since you're here, I guess it turned out fine?" "Sort of, your father is trying to kill all of us, and is the leader of a cult threating to destroy the world or something, we're not really sure, but we expect the worst. I'm only telling you all of this because I think it will have no effect on the real world." Blaze facehoofed. "I know that's cheating, but can you tell me what's really going on in Manehattan?" "I could, but we really need to hurry, I think. You only need to know one thing." "Yes?" "I will get there in time." With the duo smiling at each other, the reality faded once more. There was no scenery this time, only blackness. One by one, the group materialized, standing in a circle. A tall alicorn stood in front of them, bronze coat reflecting light and making him look like a living flame, blonde mane with clear strands of silver in it, and sapphire-blue eyes cooling the entire visage down. Blaze curiously looked at his new, real wings, and, as typical for him, sighed. "Too bad those don't exist on the outside." "That's a pretty cool look," Cromach looked him from eye to eye, examining them being the same height, "Can you make yourself look that way?" "Nope, back there I'm just a shabby, featherless, decrepit, sort-of-alicorn whose coat is falling out. Now, we need to break the spell." "How?" "I thought you might know... I just saw a green flash and appeared here a while ago. It seems the spell is tailored for me, so I can't break it myself. Wait, where are Heavy and Walter?" "They didn't get pulled in with us. My guess is that Heavy resisted the spell somehow, and is protecting our bodies out there from Blinding. No clue about Walt." "Damn... they can't fight him. There's way too much divine power in him. I can go against him because I can drain him, but they sure as hay can't!" "Well, all the memories revolved around you, sir," Connie explained, "Perhaps this is the same?" "What memories?" "We went through some of your memories where you almost lost hope, sir, and we had a talk. Is something bothering you now?" "Aside from my father trying to kill all of you because of me? No, not really..." "Blaze!" said Crom firmly. "Alright, I'll leave out the usual stuff about me not being good enough for you or Chokey, because... that will not change. The thing is, I've gone through most of my adventures on my own, with only me on the line. Now I have the responsibility for the recruits, the Order's future and reputation, and all of you. Last time I made a choice like that, three of my friends died. That's why I don't want this to continue, I don't want to put anypony else in danger. I want it just to be me and the bad guy..." "Sir, with all due respect-" Connie started. "Damn it, I know what that phrase means!" "Sorry, but that's stupid beyond belief. Without your intervention, Leo and Straw would have been eaten by observers, or controlled by Nightmare in Straw's case. I would have still been blowing ponies just so I had something warm in my stomach that day. Fortune would still work at the cart repair shop, which, granted, wouldn't be a bad fate, but..." "Boring as hay," Fortune shrugged, "I don't want to work somewhere for ten years before the ponies around me stop looking at me with suspicion or barely contained disdain. Here, as long as I cover somepony's back, they will like me. I know getting attached is bad, because what we do is dangerous, but it is dangerous because it's a good thing. I messed up... very badly, and I might never forgive myself, but after seeing the half-immortal bastards I'm pretty sure things would have been worse if my unit didn't go there." "Sir?" Straw raised his talons, "May I say something?" "Why not? Everypony else is." "The general theme feels to me like you want things to be perfect, peaceful, and solved, but it's not your fault problems keep cropping up-" "Should I remind you that MY father is trying to kill us right now." "It's HIS fault that he can't understand what happened, not yours. What I mean is that without you, things would have been worse. You had nothing to do with me becoming Nightmare's host, you just wanted to deal with it in the only way you knew how. It was the wrong way, but you got the hint in time, and now I'm here, alive, and actually cooperating with the dark god from time to time, because it doesn't want to die as well." "Enough of this!" Nightmare's voice left Straw's mouth, making everypony jump, and Blaze and Cromach assume combat stance, "Harmony is our enemy now, betrayer! Your actions limited the influence of me and Discord, so the least you can do is balance the power again!" "Harmony resurrected me, made me an alicorn, and gave me the opportunity to see my loved ones again, Nightmare," Blaze said calmly, "I feel something is off about the situation, but you are still on a different level." "The only reason Harmony would do something like that is to have you as a willing pawn." "Like you wanted to?" "Exactly. This time, for once, I simply ask one thing of you - do the same you have been doing until now. That way, we might have a chance. What do you think is the right thing to do at the moment?" Blaze closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "Not overthink things. Right now, we have to get out and stop Blinding Light." "Huh?" Straw shook his head, feeling Nightmare fade away, "I hate when that happe-" The reality exploded into million shards. The first thing Blaze said resonated with everyone waking up from the spell. "No mercy, go for the kill." The idea was there, but... ...the time on the outside hadn't been kind to the defenders. Two heaps of rust-colored fur lay on the floor nearby alongside a split shield, and the drying blood on Blinding's greatsword told a clear tale of how the griffon had died. Heavy Hoof was panting, holding the battered remains of his staff in his bleeding mouth. "WALTER!" Connie's reslution broke the instant she saw Walter's corpse, and she ran towards him. "Huh? Thank heavens," Heavy turned his head, just to see Blinding's sword fly towards the running unicorn, "CONNIE, GET AWAY!" The blade hit, cutting deep into her chest, but not enough to slice her in two. She collapsed in shock immediately. "Huh?" Heavy mumbled weakly, and blood splattered from his mouth. Everything felt suddenly slowed down and distant. "No no no no no no no no no no NO NO!" Blaze screamed, but it was too late. Tentacles had erupted from Blinding's hoof, and pierced Heavy Hoof's broad chest. Then they heaved and shrunk back, bringing a piece of red mess with them. For the three seconds he remained conscious, Heavy Hoof looked at his heart in Blinding's tendrils, and knew that while he'd seen this story begin, he wouldn't be there to see its end. Blaze jumped at Blinding, only to be faced with a wall of green flames coming from Blinding's amulet. When he landed, the white unicorn was nowhere around, only the slowly fading sea of green flames latching onto him remained. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The alicorn collapsed, rolling on the floor, covered in flames. Scorched and smoldering, Blaze crawled over to Heavy's body, and hugged it tightly. He didn't let go until the extracting police squad carried both of them back to the mansion.