//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Demons Who Would Be Gods // Story: Dragon Age: Equestria // by OkemosBrony //------------------------------// Mahanon walked out of Neighven’s command center, and a cool mountain breeze passed over him. The sky was dotted with the black bodies of Changelings flying around, though a few pegasi were also flying in small clusters and eyeing the Changelings suspiciously. Walking down through the town, Mahanon walked up the fortress’ walls, where Bzkdlina was sitting, her back legs hanging over the side. “Enjoying the view?” he asked. “Yeah,” she nodded. “It’s just so...green up here. I didn’t expect it.” “Don’t leave the Badlands much?” She shook her head. “I don’t like that word, ‘Badlands’. It’s what the ponies call our homeland to make us sound like uncivilized barbarians. And no, I don’t leave the Aynytsup very often. Nobody does.” “‘Aynytsup’?” he repeated. “Is that what you call the area?” She nodded. “It’s what we call the desert around the city. Most Changelings don’t even leave the city that they’re in; we all stay in the same area that all our ancestors lived in. As far as we can remember, my family has stayed in the Capital.” “Interesting,” he said to himself. “I suppose I can see why Changelings are said to have a lot of loyalty, then; when you spend so much time in one area, you tend to get attached to it.” “It’s also for safety; the Aynytsup has lots of creatures that prey on us. The walls keep them out.” “You’re prey?” he asked. “That must not make life easy.” “I remember reading something in school that said some scientists thought it explained why we live a lot shorter compared to other species; we need to have fast lives so we can fend for ourselves quickly.” “About how short of a life, exactly?” “Twenty five years is the average.” “And how old are you?” “Six. About the equivalent of twenty for a pony, or so I’m told.” “Pretty young,” he replied in shock. “Yeah,” she said quietly. “It’s one of the things I don’t like about being a Changeling. By the time they’re twenty five, most ponies are barely into their adult lives. By that time, we’re all dying. It’s just not fair!” “It just reminds you to enjoy life more. Most people back in Thedas have hardly done anything with their lives at age twenty five; they think time is just unlimited for them. At least with a short life, you’re reminded to make the best of it while you can.” She sighed. “I guess you’re right. I don’t really remember the last time a Changeling was welcome this far north, and I had a part in making us welcome here. I guess there’s that.” Mahanon smiled. “Do you have any ideas of what you’ll do once we close the Breach?” She thought about it for a few seconds. “No idea. I might help the Inquisition, because you saved all the Changelings and welcomed us. Nobody here would ever have thought of doing those two things. I owe you a debt for your kindness.” “Fighting for us will be enough,” he replied. “But if you want to stay, we’d be happy to have you. Just don’t think we expect you to because of what we did.” “Inquisitor!” a pony called from behind them. “You are requested in the town square.” “I guess I should go,” Mahanon said, turning around. “I’ll see you later.” She turned around and smiled at him. “I’ll be looking forward to it.” Mahanon walked off the fortress walls to the town center, where Queen Chrysalis was standing there, a Changeling right next to her. “Was it you who called for me?” he asked. “Yes,” she responded. “We are leaving soon, and I wanted to thank you again for helping my kind.” Twilight walked up to them, looking at the two. “Oh good, you’re both here,” she said happily. Chrysalis looked down at her Changeling and gave a nod. The Changeling returned the nod, then walked away. “What is it?” she asked. “We’ll be leaving soon. Can you get your Changelings ready to fly there?” she asked. “Already on it,” Chrysalis said triumphantly. “That Changeling is alerting the others that we are heading out soon.” “And are all your Changelings ready?” Mahanon asked. Chrysalis gave a quick laugh. “Changelings are always ready.” “Perfect!” Twilight beamed, walking towards the doors of Neighven. “The chariot’s waiting outside. Come down and meet me when you’re ready.” “And I will meet you in Canterlot,” Chrysalis said, taking flight. “Myself and the four Changelings you rescued from captivity will be helping you close the Breach, as well as many more of my subjects.” “I’ll meet you there, then.” Chrysalis nodded, then flew away. “Wait, Inquisitor!” Ward called as Mahanon started to walk up to the command center to get his equipment for the battle. “Please, can I go with you on this?” “I suppose,” Mahanon said suspiciously. “But why so much enthusiasm, and why for this?” “I’m just...never mind why,” he said with a wave of his hoof. “Just please, take me with you!” “This all seems a little odd. Ward, is there something you’re not telling me?” Ward groaned, then put a hoof on his forehead. “Fine. I’m trying to impress somepony, and I figured going on this with you and being a big hero and whatnot would work.” “Trying to impress somepony?” Mahanon asked slyly. “Who is it?” “It doesn’t matter,” he replied. “You’d laugh, anyways.” “Maybe I don’t say yes to letting you come along unless you tell me who you’re trying to show off to,” Mahanon smiled, crossing his arms. “Ugh,” Ward moaned. “Fine. I’m trying to impress Bzkdlina.” “Bzkdlina?” Mahanon asked in shock. “Yeah. Got a problem with it?” “No, I just...it’s not exactly who I expected.” “I just...I think she’s cute, okay?” he confessed while blushing heavily. “Well, I don’t see any reason you can’t come along. You’ve proven yourself to be a good fighter before. Go tell Cassandra and Varric that they’re coming along too, okay?” “You got it, Inquisitor!” he quickly saluted before running down to fetch the others. The Inquisition’s chariot landed on a small plateau on Mount Canter, and the Inquisition jumped out as Chrysalis landed next to them. “Are you ready to help close the Breach once and for all?” Mahanon asked Chrysalis. Chrysalis half growled and half laughed. “Yes, Inquisitor. I and the whole might of the Changeling Race stand behind you.” He smiled. “Let’s go, then.” Mahanon lead the way up the mountain, with his companions following behind. Chrysalis took flight, flying up to the top with her Changelings. “You know,” Varric spoke up, “Even when the Breach is closed, we’re still going to have all this red lyrium to perform cleanup duty on.” “One problem at a time,” Cassandra responded. “So long as we don’t have to deal with demons again,” Ward muttered under his breath. “We might be able to do some good research on this,” Varric mused. “Lots of it, and I bet there are a lot of ponies not really doing a lot right now. We could have near-continuous research of it.” “Princess Celestia probably has ponies she could lend you for that,” Twilight suggested. “So it sounds like you’re staying then, Varric?” Mahanon asked. “Who knows? Could probably get some good research done here, especially with a royal grant.” When they reached the peak of the mountain, Chrysalis was standing there with a few of her Changelings, including the four that had exorcised her. “We are ready whenever you are,” she said. Mahanon took point, standing right in front of the Breach. “Everybody ready?” he asked. His response was a loud and intimidating rallying cry from the Changelings. “Everybody!” he yelled. “Now” He held his hand up to the Breach, and the Anchor connected with it. The Changelings all powered up their horns and shot light at the Breach, just like the Anchor. The Breach began wobbling, then it began shrinking in size. “We’re almost there!” When the Breach was about half the size it had been, a huge force came over Mahanon, knocking him down to the ground. From there, he could see the other beams of light slowly die out, one by one. He scrambled to his feet, then looked around the summit. There was no one else to be seen. “What was that?” Twilight asked. Her response was shards of red lyrium coming out of the ground, impaling many of the Changelings gathered there. “Ah, shit!” Varric yelled, reaching for Bianca. “Inquisitor…” a deep voice echoed all around them. “Who are you?” Chrysalis demanded, stomping a hoof on the ground. “Show yourself! Only those afraid of their enemies’ might hide in the shadows!” The Inquisition could see a faint red glow start to come out from one of the dark corners, and eventually, a glowing red pony, body made entirely of crystal, stepped out. “You!” Chrysalis called to him. “You killed my subjects!” She leaped closer to him, then powered up her horn. “And now you will feel my wrath!” The pony grinned, then stomped a hoof on the ground. More shards of red lyrium shot up out of the ground, impaling Chrysalis and sending green blood spattering all across the dirt. “Queen Chrysalis!” Mahanon called out. “Inquisitor!” she said, pain clear in her voice. She growled. “Wipe their pitiful lives off this earth!” “We have to go!” Cassandra yelled. “Everybody, fall back!” Mahanon ordered. The Inquisition, along with the few Changelings that remained, fled back down the mountain. The red pony laughed. “You can run, Inquisitor…” He stomped a hoof on the ground, causing red lyrium to spring up all over Canterlot, including covering the one city gate out. “...But you’ll only die tired.” The Inquisition ran down the mountainside, but when they got to where they landed, the chariot and the Guards pulling it were impaled with red lyrium spikes from the ground. “We’re trapped!” Bzkdlina cried. “No!” Twilight said, running to the front of the group. “I know a way into Canterlot, we can figure it out from there! There’s an old mine shaft that was used to mine crystals here we can take into Canterlot!” “Less talking, more running, Princess!” Varric yelled. “Shiny!” Cadence called down from the air. “Behind you!” Shining Armor quickly turned around, then hit one of the Crystal Ponies across the muzzle, stunning him. A shot of blue magic came down from above, hitting the Crystal Pony and shattering him in an explosion of crystals. “Nice shot, sweetie!” he called back up with a smile. Suddenly, his mood turned more serious. “To your left!” Cadence looked left, then used her magic to grab the Changeling flying near her and throw it to the ground. “Why are there Changelings here?” she called down to him worriedly. Shining Armor simply shook his head and sighed. “They’re probably working with them. Because we didn’t have enough troubles already.” In his frustration, he hardly noticed the magic flowing through the earth, about to hit him. Acting quickly, Cadence swooped down and picked him up, then flew into the sky. “Hey, role reversal, right?” he laughed. “Now you’re the one throwing me!” “Hardly the time for jokes, darling!” she grunted, struggling to keep airborne under his weight. She flew over to the Crystal Pony that had attacked him, then dropped him. Shining Armor enveloped himself in magic, coming down to the ground and creating a shockwave which knocked the Crystal Pony over. Another shot of blue magic came down, which shattered the Crystal Pony just as before. Confident that all their enemies were dead, Cadence flew down and leaned on Shining Armor. “I wish we could’ve gotten here earlier and warned them,” she panted. “It’ll be okay,” he comforted, putting a hoof around her middle. “We got out of the Crystal Empire, we can think of a way to get out of this.” “Yeah,” she replied, not fully convinced. “In case this all goes wrong...I love you,” she said, kissing him on the cheek. Shining Armor turned his head and kissed her on the mouth. “I love you, too.” The boards covering a hole in the mountain near them began moving, as if somepony was banging against them. Exiting the hug and looking at the hole, they both powered up their horns. “I love you,” Cadence said, tears in her eyes. “I love you too,” he replied, focusing on the boards instead of the tears struggling to get out. “One more!” Mahanon rallied. Cassandra grunted, then kicked once more with all her might, breaking the boards covering the exit and letting light flow in. Almost immediately, a shot of blue light flew past them and hit the ground behind them. “Dammit!” they heard a mare curse from the distance. The Inquisition quickly scrambled out of the tunnel, weapons ready for fighting. Standing in front of them were two ponies; one unicorn in elaborate armor, and one alicorn wearing nothing. Both looked weak and had their horns ready for battle, and their faces were a mixture of anger, fear, and determination. “Drop your weapons!” the unicorn demanded. “Who are you?” the alicorn asked. “And why is that with you?” she asked, pointing at Bzkdlina. “We’re the Inquisition,” Mahanon responded, not putting his weapon down. “We came here to close the Breach but got attacked. Who are you?” “Shining Armor!” Twilight called from behind Mahanon as she stepped out of the tunnel. “Cadence!” “Twily?” the unicorn asked with a slight tilt of his head. Twilight ran up to him, and as soon as he saw her, he smiled broadly and ran up to bring her in for a big hug, which the alicorn joined in on. “I think I missed something…” Varric said. “That’s Prince Shining Armor and his wife, Princess Cadence,” Ward explained, slightly giddy. “He’s Princess Twilight’s brother.” “I guess that explains a lot,” Mahanon said, putting his staff away and walking up to the group hug. “So you’re Prince Shining Armor?” he asked The unicorn looked up at him with a quizzical look, then nodded. “Yeah. Why?” “Princess Celestia told us that you might join us as our general.” “And ‘us’ would be…?” “The Inquisition.” “And the Inquisition is…?” “It’s a long story,” Twilight butted in. “But he came here to help Equestria, and we need your help if we’re going to stop the Breach once and for all.” “And the Breach is that big green hole in the sky, I assume.” “That’s correct,” Mahanon confirmed. “It’s a rip between our world and the Fade.” “‘The Fade’?” Shining Armor echoed. “Twily, why do you always find yourself in really weird situations with weird…” He looked at Mahanon. “What are you, anyways?” “Elf, dwarf, human,” he replied, pointing to himself, Varric, and Cassandra. “I know it probably seems pretty insane, but yes, your sister is working with us, and she’s helped a lot.” “The Changeling, too?” he asked, looking at Bzkdlina, who shied away and hid behind Cassandra. “Her too. All the Changelings except her and a few others were possessed by demons, and we exorcised them and allied with them.” “Allied with Changelings?” he asked. “Seems risky.” “Queen Chrysalis died defending the Inquisition,” Twilight said softly, almost insulted. “Regardless of what they’ve been to ponies before, they’re our allies now.” “What even are the creatures here?” Mahanon asked, looking at the crystals scattered around. “Are they some form of red lyrium creature?” “‘Red lyrium’?” Shining Armor repeated. “I’m not sure.” He exited the hug, then pointed at one of the spears of red lyrium shooting out from the ground. “Is that it?” “Yes,” Mahanon confirmed. “Then yes,” Shining Armor nodded. “That stuff started growing in the Crystal Empire, and it started driving some of the Crystal Ponies to madness. When it got to the Crystal Heart, they all seemed to fall to it.” “It got to the Crystal Heart?” Twilight asked, suddenly jumping up. “Unfortunately, yes,” Cadence said, still sitting on the ground. “I take it that’s a bad thing?” Mahanon asked. “The Crystal Heart is connected to the lifeblood of every Crystal Pony,” Twilight said quietly. “If it’s infected with red lyrium...then they all are.” “We can deal with that later,” Mahanon said. “Right now, we need to get out of Canterlot.” “Our best bet might be to go into the city,” Shining Armor said, putting a hoof under his chin. “Lots of ways to get out. Train, sewer, old mine shafts, things like that, though I don’t know how all of our options would work. Still, it’s best to have options. We should be small enough that we can move quickly, and if the Changelings are with us, they can provide support from the air and hopefully create some confusion amongst all the Crystal Ponies. If there’s one thing Changelings are good for, it’s attacking without a pattern or standard style, so you can never learn to predict them.” “Let’s hope they buy us a little time,” Varric said, walking up to the group. “Well? What are we waiting for?” “Follow me,” Shining Armor said, taking point. He started walking towards the city, the rest of them following close behind. “So, Prince?” Varric asked. “How long has red lyrium been in the Crystal Empire?” “A few weeks,” he said after thinking for a short while. “We dispatched some researchers to study it, but eventually, the ones spending the most time near it seemed to go crazy. Hearing voices, withdrawing socially, it was all very odd. We tried to get them to come back to us, but the damage was already done. When the red lyrium reached the Crystal Heart, we tried to cleanse it, but nothing worked.” “We left when we started hearing the voices,” Cadence added sadly. “Who knows how bad it is there now?” “The pony that attacked us on the summit seemed to be far along in the process of being consumed by it,” Cassandra said. “Are they all like that?” “It was probably Dihiryn,” Shining Armor said softly. “He was the main researcher. He spent the most time out of all of them with it, and some of his assistants began to mysteriously disappear. I never suspected he was behind it until he tried to assassinate Cadence and I.” “He what?!” Twilight yelled. “He will not get away with that!” “Relax, Twilight,” Cadence said soothingly. “We’ll get him eventually.” “We’ll think of something, right Inquisitor?” Ward asked worriedly. “We’ll be able to pull something together,” he assured him. “But right now, our biggest worry is getting out of Canterlot alive.” The Inquisition walked up a small hill, then looked down to see three Crystal Ponies patrolling the area. “Ready to show us how your people fight, Inquisitor?” Shining Armor asked, powering up his horn. As Mahanon pulled his staff out, he gave a small smile. “Get ready to be amazed.” “Ponies ready!” Shining Armor yelled, drawing the Crystal Ponies’ attention. “Ponies engage!” Shining Armor, Cassandra, and Ward all ran up to the Crystal Ponies. Twilight, Cadence, and Bzkdlina took off into the air. Mahanon and Varric remained right where they were, getting ready to fight from a distance. Mahanon lead off using Walking Bomb to curse one of the Crystal Ponies, and Varric’s Long Shot ripped through the three. “Focus on the cursed one!” Mahanon yelled to the rest of the Inquisition, who turned their attention to it. Cassandra was holding her shield up to block its attacks, and the rest of the Inquisition was launching their various spells, arrows, and melee attacks at it. With a cast of Winter’s Grasp, the Crystal Pony died, exploding in a mass of crystals and spreading the curse to the other two. Mahanon turned his attention to one of the other Ponies, which Cassandra, Cadence, and Varric were focusing on as well. He quickly powered up Horror and slammed his staff into the ground, causing the Crystal Pony to run away in fear. With a long, continuous stream of magic from Cadence, the Pony eventually exploded as well, leaving just one left. Within seconds of the previous Crystal Pony dying, the last one did. The curse was up, so Princess Cadence shot a beam of magic at it to shatter it, its crystal shards joining with the others. “Not bad,” Shining Armor laughed to Mahanon as he walked up. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the type of magic that you use. Is it common where you come from?” “Some of those spells yes, some of them no,” he responded, putting his staff away. “Maybe when this is done, I could try and teach you, and you could teach me any unicorn magic we could benefit from.” “Good, now we have something to look forward to,” he smiled, turning back towards the city. “Not too far into the city itself. Then it won’t be as open, and since Twilight, Cadence, and I are all pretty familiar with the layout, we’ll know the best way to get around when the Crystal Ponies won’t. That should give us an advantage.” They climbed up another hill, and at the top, they looked out over the whole city of Canterlot, which had spikes of red lyrium popping out of the ground nearly everywhere. Numerous glowing Crystal Ponies were in the city, trying to take on the citizens of Canterlot or the Changelings coming down from the sky. “That’s...more than I anticipated,” Shining Armor admitted. “We’re screwed, aren’t we?” Varric asked bluntly. “Not yet,” Mahanon replied, stepping up and sliding down the steep dirt hill onto the ground below. Twilight, Cadence, and Bzkdlina flew down next to him, while the rest of the Inquisition slid down after him. “Shining Armor, do you have any ideas yet?” He rubbed a hoof under his chin, deep in thought. “We might be able to take the waterfall out of the city…” “The waterfall?” Cadence asked, landing on the ground. “Shiny, are you insane?” “We wouldn’t take the natural one,” he replied. “We’d take the Golden Discs. They’ll be easier to get down through.” “Honey, I love you, but your planning can be really horrendous sometimes. Remember your mom’s birthday? And that was just a party; this is escaping crazy Crystal Ponies that want us dead.” “It’s the best option we have now,” Mahanon intervened. “And even a slim chance of survival is better than trying to fight off every Crystal Pony here in Canterlot.” “You could fly down,” Shining Armor comforted her, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “You, Twily, and, uh…” He looked at Bzkdlina. “Bzkdlina,” she said meekly. “...and Bzkdlina will get out for sure.” He looked to the rest of the Inquisition. “You’re all okay with this, right?” They all nodded in response. “Okay,” Cadence conceded. “Time to kick some Crystal Pony ass, then?” Varric asked. Mahanon turned towards the city and saw that they were in a small backyard, a tall building standing between them and the city. He walked to the door and opened it, and the Inquisition all funneled inside. The house was empty, and it looked as though the ponies living there had abandoned it halfway through their normal lives: there were dishes both in a drying rack and in the sink, a book was resting face-down on the couch, and there was a rotting bowl of half-eaten mush at the table. When they got to the front door, they all gathered around it. “Ready?” Mahanon asked, putting his hand on the knob. The rest of his party answered by powering up their horns and pulling out their weapons. He gave a quick nod, then opened the door and ran out. Immediately, a small group of five Crystal Ponies all darted their heads towards them. The battle started as before; Varric and Mahanon stayed behind while the rest of them either ran into battle or took flight. Mahanon cast a Static Cage over two of the Crystal Ponies in the distance, while Varric threw a cluster of Elemental Mines in front of them. Two of the Crystal Ponies ran after Mahanon and Varric, but when they got close, the mines exploded, putting them on the verge of death. Mahanon quickly responded by casting Horror, which sent them fleeing. Combining his spells with Varric’s bolts from Bianca, Mahanon managed to take both of the Crystal Ponies down with ease. Turning their attention to the other three, Mahanon cast a Walking Bomb curse to eventually take out the group. Varric followed up with a Long Shot, hurting two of the Crystal Ponies. When Cassandra used her Wrath of Heaven to hit all three Crystal Ponies, the one cursed by Walking Bomb exploded, passing it on to the other two. Ward swung his lance broadly, knocking both Crystal Ponies on their backs. With a cast of Immolate on them, both Crystal Ponies died and exploded as well. “Down that way!” Shining Armor called, pointing down the street to their left. The whole Inquisition put their weapons away and began sprinting or flying down the street, dodging the Crystal Ponies’ red lyrium magic being hurled at them. Many of the Crystal Ponies got swarmed by Changelings from above, and many of them chased after scared-looking unicorns who would hit them from a distance and then run into an alley. “Next right!” Shining Armor called after passing a small back alley between two rows of shops. Taking a sharp right, the Inquisition turned down another street and immediately stopped in their tracks as they saw a cluster of Crystal Ponies waiting for them. One of the Crystal Ponies slammed its hoof down, catching Shining Armor by surprise and knocking him on his back before he could get ready for battle. “Shining Armor!” Cadence called, flying straight for him and landing in front of him. She cast a shield around them, narrowly blocking a barrage of red lyrium crystals shot at them. The rest of the Inquisition pulled out their weapons, getting ready for a battle. Seeing that they were all in close proximity, Mahanon cast a Static Cage over all of the Crystal Ponies to keep them in place. Cassandra and Ward ran up to the Crystal Ponies, Mahanon stayed behind with Varric and Twilight, and Bzkdlina flew up out of sight. Varric launched an Explosive Shot into the crowd of Crystal Ponies, assaulting them all with fire and electricity damage. Shining Armor slowly turned over, then got up to his hooves and powered his horn, shooting a few spells from behind Cadence’s shield. Mahanon followed up with a Walking Bomb curse on one of the Crystal Ponies. One of the other Crystal Ponies slammed his own hoof down on the ground, sending a shockwave through the earth that knocked the entire Inquisition down onto their backs. As Mahanon started to get up on all fours, he felt a heavy weight land on him, shoving him back to the ground. “It’s over,” the Crystal Pony on his back hissed. Immediately, he felt the weight on his back lifted, and he quickly scrambled to his feet to see Bzkdlina on the back of the cursed Crystal Pony, trying to bite into his tough crystal body. “You fool!” he said, falling onto his back and crushing her. “Our perfect forms are no match for your primitive bite!” Picking up his staff, Mahanon launched an Incinerate spell at the Crystal Pony, killing him and causing him to explode, spreading the curse and quickly exploding the others as well. “Everybody okay?” he asked. A small chorus of ‘yes’ was his response. The whole Inquisition stood up, though Bzkdlina and Shining Armor did so more shakily than the others. “Are you two alright?” he asked, looking at then struggle to stay on their hooves. Cadence ran to Shining Armor to keep him up, and Ward did the same to Bzkdlina. “I’m fine,” Shining Armor moaned. “It’s only pain,” Bzkdlina responded through gritted fangs. “We’re almost there,” Shining Armor said, pointing straight ahead. He exited Cadence’s hold, then took a few small steps forward. “That’s the castle,” Twilight said, looking at the large building straight ahead of them. “I wonder if Princess Celestia and Princess Luna got out in time.” “They’ll be okay,” Cadence said, coming over and putting a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “They’ve dealt with things like this before. They can handle themselves.” The earth rumbled, and they could all hear Shining Armor yelling. Turning towards the palace, they saw large spikes of red lyrium rising from the ground right where he had been standing, blocking the street. “Shining Armor!” Cadence cried, taking flight and going over the red lyrium. “Princess Cadence, no!” Mahanon ordered, but she did not come back. “Shining Armor! Cadence!” Twilight spread her wings and took flight, going over the lyrium as well. “What part of ‘no’ don’t you guys understand?” Varric yelled to them. “Great, now the only three ponies that know where we’re going are all over there!” “We should be able to go around this building,” Cassandra said, pointing to their left. “Bzkdlina, go up top and help us navigate.” She nodded, then flew straight up. “Yes, go around the building!” she called from above. “They’re here on the other side!” She swooped down to avoid a shard of red lyrium flying at her. “I can’t stay up here, it’s too dangerous!” As the Inquisition rounded the corner, they saw a massive Crystal Pony, glowing bright red and seemingly further along in the corruption process than the others, shooting a steady beam of magic at Cadence and Twilight, who were combining their magic to form one shield around Shining Armor, who was lying on the ground. The Crystal Pony turned around to eye the rest of the Inquisition, who all backed up a few steps out of intimidation. “Now that’s a big one,” Varric noted, reaching for Bianca. Ward grimaced at it. “The bigger they are, they harder they’ll fall.” “Get ready!” Mahanon called, the Inquisition all pulling out their weapons. The Crystal Pony slammed his hoof on the ground, sending an earthquake that knocked them all on the ground. A bright red ball of magic appeared in front of the Crystal Pony, and he fired it straight at them. Mahanon saw a bright purple flash of light out of the corner of his eye, and when he was not crushed by the Crystal Pony’s magic, he turned to see why. In front of him stood Twilight, her horn bright with magic, holding up a shield to block the attack. “Get away, quick!” she ordered. “I can’t hold it off much longer!” The Inquisition quickly scattered, and in one smooth motion, Twilight dropped the shield and launched into the air, allowing the magic to create a crater in the ground. “He looks weak!” Cassandra noted, as the Crystal Pony began panting. “Kill him before he can do that again!” Mahanon quickly launched a Walking Bomb curse and Spirit Mark curse in rapid succession, causing the Crystal Pony to take massive damage over time. Varric threw out a cluster of Elemental Mines which quickly exploded, while Ward and Cassandra ran up to attack the Crystal Pony head on. Bzkdlina closed her eyes and started muttering something under her breath. “What’s she doing?” Varric asked, taking a quick glance back at her before continuing to fire Bianca. “We can find out later!” Twilight called from above. “Right now, focus on him!” Mahanon continued to fire spell after spell at the Crystal Pony, and when his mana restored enough, he trapped it in a Static Cage to let every attack add lightning damage. The Crystal Pony slammed his hoof down, knocking Ward and Cassandra over, then raised his hoof again to crush them. With another flash of light, Twilight appeared next to them, using her magic to hold his hoof still in the air. “Quick, go!” Twilight ordered, and they both quickly scrambled out of the hoof’s shadow. Twilight jumped back with the aid of her wings right as she let her shield down, narrowly escaping the full weight of the Crystal Pony crushing her. “Inquisitor, move!” Mahanon heard Bzkdlina call from behind him. When he turned around, he saw Bzkdlina, her hooves planted firmly in the ground and a massive ball of green magic over her horn. “How did-” “I can barely keep it back!” she yelled at him. “Move now!” He and Varric quickly jumped out of the way, and the ball of magic flew towards the Crystal Pony, exploding in a green flash. The Crystal Pony roared, and all the green light rushed into his body and turned his glow from bright red to bright green. “Finish him now, Princess Cadence!” Bzkdlina yelled to her. Startled, Cadence dropped her barrier and launched a bolt of blue magic at the Crystal Pony, who shattered in an explosion of crystals and light. Mahanon stood up, using his staff to prop himself up. “Good work, everyone.” Cadence turned back to Shining Armor, then ran up to him and crouched down to him. “Are you okay?” she asked worriedly. He only moaned in response. Mahanon ran up, then squatted down to him. “Can you get up?” He tried to get up, but fell back down on the ground and moaned. “I can’t...go on without me.” “No!” Cadence protested, tears starting to flow down her cheek. “Cassandra!” Mahanon ordered. “We’re taking him with us.” “No!” Shining Armor protested as Mahanon and Cassandra picked him up between them. “No one left behind,” Mahanon said. “Where to now?” “That river right in front of the castle,” he said weakly. “There should be a few small boats on the shore we can take down.” The Inquisition started walking down to the shore. “Gah!” Shining Armor yelped as they were almost there. “My leg!” Looking down at it, Mahanon saw a small shard of red lyrium poking out of one of his hind legs. He looked back to see two Crystal Ponies walking towards them, evil smiles spread over their faces. “No!” Cadence yelled at them, leaping over Mahanon and confronting the Crystal Ponies head on. “Princess…” one of the Crystal Ponies hissed. Without a word, Cadence’s horn started emitting purple smoke. She blinked, and her eyes turned bright green. Clenching her teeth together in anger, the two Crystal Ponies fell to the ground, clenching their heads in pain. Small cracks started spreading all over them, and bits of crystal began to fall out of their bodies. “Princess Cadence!” Mahanon called to her. She did not respond, rather intensifying the look of unbridled fury on her face and causing the Crystal Ponies to cry out in agony. “Princess Cadence!” he yelled louder. The smoke from her horn and her eyes subsided, and she shook her head quickly. “Coming!” she responded, turning around and taking flight. Mahanon looked back at the Crystal Ponies; one of them was lying motionless on the ground, and the other put up a hoof, which crumbled into dust. “In this one!” Twilight called to Mahanon and Cassandra while standing next to a small boat. Gently, they lowered Shining Armor, then got in and each picked up a paddle. “Have you ever rowed, Inquisitor?” Cassandra asked, putting her paddle in the water. “Unfortunately, I have not,” he responded. “First time for everything, Seeker!” Varric called as he got into a boat behind them with Ward. “We’ll try and slow you down going down the Discs,” Twilight said from above, where she was flying with Cadence and Bzkdlina. “That should make it less dangerous for you.” “Sounds good,” Mahanon said, pushing away from the shore. “Everyone, hold on!” Mahanon and Cassandra paddled down the river, trying to avoid the few rocks in it as they did so. “We’re coming to the first drop!” Twilight called from above. “Hold on to something!” Mahanon yelled, grabbing the side of the boat with one hand and keeping Shining Armor down with the other. Cassandra did the same as their boat tipped over the ledge. They felt magic embrace them, and while they still splashed down hard into the pool of water below them, they were not hurt. “Just a few more!” Cadence called down to them. Mahanon began paddling towards the edge of the golden Disc they were on, and when they reached the edge, they felt magic envelop them again as they dropped down to another Disc. “Why are these even here?” Varric asked from behind them. “Design purposes,” Ward said. “Supposed to look cool, or something. All of Canterlot was designed to look cool.” “All that matters is they’re helping us,” Cassandra said, grabbing the side of the boat in preparation for another drop. The two boats went through another few similar drops before ending up in a small lake on the ground. Mahanon and Cassandra paddled to the shore, and when they landed, Cadence flew into their boat and looked down at Shining Armor. “Are you okay?” she asked, panicked. Shining Armor gave a small smile and nodded. “Still alive.” She hugged him tight, then started sobbing into his armor. Mahanon and Cassandra stepped out of the boat, then helped pull Ward and Varric’s boat to shore. When they got out, Mahanon went back to Shining Armor and looked down at him. “Are you alright?” he asked. Shining Armor shook his head. “I’ll live, but no, I’m pretty badly hurt. My back is killing me, and I’m pretty sure I broke at least something.” Mahanon waved Cassandra over, and the two picked up Shining Armor between them again. “So what do we do now?” Mahanon asked. “We have to get him to somepony,” Cadence said worriedly. “I could probably teleport him and I back to Neighven!” Twilight said, powering her horn up. “I’m too hurt for that,” Shining Armor replied. “Teleportation might really ruin me. Twily, you have to go ahead of us and warn them.” “What?” Twilight protested. “No, I’m staying here with you!” “Somebody has to go to the Inquisition and warn them,” Mahanon agreed. “But why me?” Twilight asked. “You’re the only one who can teleport that far,” Cadence said, not liking the answer. “I’m sorry Twilight, but you have to leave this one up to the rest of us.” “I’ll go back with you, Princess,” Ward said, stepping up to her. “Me too,” Bzkdlina also said. Twilight looked at the two of them, then back to Cadence. “But I don’t want to…” she said, choking back tears. “You have to,” Cadence said with a comforting smile. “If you don’t, then they’ll never know what happened here, and they’ll probably be caught off guard.” Twilight opened her mouth to fight back, but instead closed it. "Okay," she said, defeated. "We're not very from Ponyville," Cadence noted, looking at a tiny town far in the distance. "We'll go there and get help. Twilight, make sure you don't send a big party towards us; we need to lay low." Twilight nodded. Hanging her head, she caused an explosion of light. When the light settled, she, Ward, and Bzkdlina were nowhere to be seen. "Well then," Varric said. "Lead the way, Princess."