//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Power Over Heaven // Story: Dragon Age: Equestria // by OkemosBrony //------------------------------// Mahanon stood upon Neighven’s battlements, surveying the land before him. A gentle breeze rustled the trees, making them all move in unison. When he looked closer to the walls of the fortress, he saw the camps that had grown larger with each passing day as new members of all species flocked to the Inquisition in greater numbers. “Inquisitor?” Twilight asked from behind him. When he turned his head, he saw her with expertly polished purple and gold armor around her breast. “They need you now.” He smiled at her. “New armor?” he asked. “Yeah,” she said, adjusting it a little. “I’ve got to admit, I’ve never really worn armor before.” “It looks good on you,” he said sincerely. “You look ready for war.” “Yeah,” she blushed. “I’ll be with you when we get to Canterlot. I have to say, I’m kind of nervous.” “We’ve worked well before. I’m sure we can make it through Canterlot together.” “Oh!” she said, suddenly remembering something. “They wanted me to show you something.” “Lead the way,” he said, stepping beside her. As Twilight began walking away, he followed her down the battlements and through Neighven, where everyone they passed was preparing for battle in one way or another, ranging from putting on armor to packing provisions. When they reached the small cottage Twilight had been living in, she opened the door with her magic and stepped aside. “It’s inside,” she said giddily. When he walked inside her house, Mahanon looked at the mannequin in the center of the room, which was wearing a triangular purple poncho draped over soft blue robes. The poncho was embroidered on the sides, with patterns of tiny yellow diamonds woven in throughout it. “Well?” Twilight asked excitedly. “What do you think?” “It’s impressive,” he said, walking up to it and putting a hand on its soft fabric. “It’s yours!” she beamed. “We contacted Rarity and have her make it for you. It’s based off the armor Battlemages used to wear in the Unicorn Tribe, long ago.” “Looks like we’re all getting some new armor,” he chuckled. “Guess there’s only one way to prove its effectiveness?” “Unfortunately,” Twilight laughed back. “But with all our new allies, I’m sure we’ll be able to save Equestria!” After putting the new armor on and moving around a little to test how well it fit, Mahanon gave an approving smile and looked to Twilight. “Fits well.” “You look powerful,” she said, a little awe in her voice. “You look ready to lead us. Battlemages were few in number, and they’ve always been heavily respected. Just wearing that into battle will give the ponies some optimism because of what it means.” “Speaking of battle, we should be heading out soon,” he said as he looked out her window to some Griffons, Changelings, and Pegasi beginning to take flight in preparation for battle. “Looks like everybody’s almost ready.” “You should go address them,” Twilight suggested. “What you’ve done here and back in your homeland give us all hope.” “That sounds like a good idea,” he agreed, walking outside her cottage. “Would you come with me?” Happily, Twilight followed him through Neighven and back up to the battlements, where he looked down at her and then stood on the edge, overlooking the enormous Inquisition camp. “I just want to have your attention,” he proclaimed loudly, causing everyone below to stop and turn to him in silence. As he saw the hundreds, if not thousands, of faces all looking up at him, he clenched his fist and tried to fight back a victorious smile. “The Inquisition has come a long way, and it’s in no small part to all of you today. In our short time here in Equestria, we’ve saved countless lives, stopped wars, and weeded out corruption.” He pointed towards the Breach, and every pair of eyes turned to look at it. “And today, we take on our final challenge: sealing the Breach.” A soft cheer rose from the crowd. “It will not be easy!” he rallied. “But we will prevail. The Breach has destroyed thousands of lives and undoubtedly taken even more. The Crystal Ponies think they can defend it. Today, we will test that assumption.” The cheering grew louder. “Today, we all have a chance to change the future of this land! To march into Canterlot and strike down those who bring ruin to our world and our lives!” Growing even louder, the cheering seemed to shake the very walls Mahanon stood on as he smiled slightly, embracing the enthusiasm rolling through the Inquisition. “Wow,” Twilight whispered to herself, walking up next to him and looking down at the Inquisition’s soldiers, most of whom had raised their weapons and pointed them towards the Inquisitor in a demonstration of solidarity. “They said you were good at that, but...wow.” “I try,” he said slightly cockily, stepping off the edge. “Anything else before we head out?” “Shining Armor just wants to see you,” she informed him. “He’ll tell you the general plan.” “Thank you,” he said, walking to the stairs leading back down the wall. “Do you need to do something?” he asked when he noticed she wasn’t following him. “He said I should go and try to talk to some of the soldiers to improve morale,” she said, blushing while she rubbed the back of her neck in nervousness. “I guess I should go do that.” “See you in Canterlot,” he said, starting to walk down the stairs. “Same,” she said uneasily. As Mahanon walked through Neighven, nearly every pony he passed saluted him. He tried to smile and acknowledge every pony that did so, but the sheer number of them proved it was difficult to interact with them all. When he reached the front doors of Neighven, he opened them and stepped into the middle of the the Inquisition’s camp, where the soldiers were still buzzing with excitement from his speech. He walked to a tent with a table in it, where Shining Armor was standing and looking over a map. “Twilight said you needed me,” he said as he walked up. “Yeah, just a sec,” Shining Armor said, turning around and walking to a chest at the back of the tent. Now that he had turned around, Mahanon was able to see the apparatus Shining Armor’s back legs were in, two wheels strapped to his legs so he could walk despite the broken leg. “You won’t be joining us, right?” Mahanon asked. “Unfortunately not,” he said, slightly disappointed. He powered up his horn and opened the chest, then stuck his head in. “What do you plan to do after this is all done?” he asked. “It doesn’t sound like there’s much of a Crystal Empire to go back to.” “Yeah,” he said, his voice heavy. “We’re not sure. Plus, with a foal on the way, that really limits our options. If there’s still a need for the Inquisition after this I guess we could stay here, but a military camp isn’t really the best place to raise a foal.” “I wish you both luck whichever you choose.” “Thanks,” Shining Armor said, removing his head from the chest with numerous little figurines in his magical grasp. When he placed them on the map and walked back, Mahanon walked to the same side as him and studied it. “Is this a map of Canterlot?” he asked. “Yeah,” Shining Armor said, placing the figurines at different points across the map. “This one’s you, by the way,” he said, pointing to a little figurine of a unicorn mare wearing a wizard hat. “I’m a pony now?” he asked. “They’re from my—uh, a soldier’s confiscated game of Perils and Ponies. It’s the best we have.” He pointed to a small cluster of Minotaur figurines clustered together. “Those are the Minotaurs.” “And the spoon?” Mahanon asked, picking the cutlery up from the Minotaur cluster and looking at it. “The spoon,” Shining Armor said, yanking it from his hand and placing it back onto the map, “Is the battering ram the Minotaurs sent. Scouts say there’s a thick wall of red lyrium covering the main entrance to Canterlot, so we’re going to need to break through it if we want to get regular infantry in.” “And I assume that’s how I’m getting in?” “Correct,” he nodded. “These are the Griffons,” he said, pointing to a few small figurines of Griffons in heavy armor. “They’re going to fly into Canterlot ahead of the Minotaurs and focus on taking out some of the Crystal Ponies to give the Minotaurs some breathing room, as well as a foothold as soon as they break through.” “So will the Minotaurs be protecting me?” Mahanon asked. “The ponies will,” he said as he pointed to a figurine of an earth pony holding a lance, a unicorn with his horn powered up, and a pegasus flying in the air. “The earth ponies will be standard infantry, the unicorns will provide special support, and the pegasi will provide aerial help.” “And what about the Changelings?” he asked, pointing to a figurine of a pouncing Changeling. “I...don’t really know,” Shining Armor admitted. “When I went to talk about plans with them, they all just kind of hissed at me. Bzkdlina said they just do whatever is needed and don’t like planning, so I think they took offense to my asking them to plan. I wish I could tell you what to expect from them, but I’m not even sure they know.” “So what’s the best route through Canterlot to get to the summit?” “Through here,” he said, tracing a path through the map with his hoof. “As I said, we’ll be sending some ponies with you to help get you there.” He moved his hoof to the center of town, where seemingly every road converged. “The Minotaurs, Griffons, and some ponies will be going here to try and take out as many Crystal Ponies as they can. And with any luck, the Crystal Ponies will focus on the massive force in the center of Canterlot and not the smaller one sneaking through back roads.” “Will Twilight be navigating us through Canterlot? I know she knows the city well.” “She’s the first one who’ll be doing that,” he said, slightly suspiciously. “Don’t tell her, but I told a few of the other ponies with you the route I want you to take.” “Why would I not tell her that?” Mahanon asked, suspecting something. “Because of what it implies,” he responded in a low voice. “I’m afraid I don’t follow.” “Having just one navigator with you is a terrible plan,” he said. “If they die, you’re lost in a huge, unfamiliar city.” “And what exactly are you implying?” Shining Armor sighed. “I love Twily, but she’s not the fighting type. She needs me to believe in her, and if she found out I have backups in case she dies, she might think I don’t have any faith in her, and she might be scared by the prospect of dying. We’re military, Inquisitor, death is just a possibility. To be honest, I’d be a little offended if you said you didn’t have a replacement for me if I died.” “I definitely do,” Mahanon replied, trying to hide his sudden realization that he had not chosen any successors for any role in the Inquisition. “But Twilight’s just not in that world. And so she needs to think I believe in her.” “Do you not?” “I do!” he defended, almost taking offense. “But this is standard procedure. I’m just worried she’d take it the wrong way.” “I think maybe you underestimate your sister,” Mahanon said as he moved to the entrance of the tent. “I’ve heard of what she’s done, and she’s certainly grown since I first met her.” “Maybe I do,” he admitted. “Maybe it’s just me being overprotective of her. I just know the first time that I was told they had a backup for me in case I died, it hit me pretty hard. They said it so nonchalantly, like I was just some asset and not a pony.” “Well, hopefully we can make sure everyone in the Inquisition knows their value,” he said as he opened walked out from under the tent. “I should go get ready, myself.” “I won’t keep you,” he said as he returned to the map with the figurines, positioning them and moving them around. “Just being told the plan?” Twilight asked as Mahanon walked out of the tent. “Sounds like he’s thought everything through,” he responded as he turned around. “I just came back from talking with the other ponies he told the route through Canterlot to,” she said, walking next to him. “Made sure they all know it.” “You know he told other ponies?” She smiled. “Shining Armor’s never been as good at hiding things as he’d like to believe he is. It’s why whenever he has to tell me something, he almost never does it in person. Always through some letter or scavenger hunt.” “He said it might upset you that he has plans for your death.” “Upset no, kind of scare me yeah,” she admitted. “I’ve really never been in a situation like this before. Sure I’ve done some pretty crazy stuff, but nopony ever had told me that I was in danger. I was just more focused on the task at hoof.” Slowing down, she looked up at the red glow still being emitted from Canterlot. “It’s the anticipation that’s hard. Knowing there’s so much at stake but sitting around and letting your thoughts get the better of you...that’s the hard part.” “Go blow off a little steam,” he suggested, pointing to a small squadron of unicorns shooting spells at a practice dummy. “It’ll help you clear your head, and hopefully seeing the Princess train with them will give the soldiers some hope.” Twilight looked at the training dummy, then to Mahanon, then back to the dummy. A sly smile grew on her face. “I’ve got a better idea.” “Inquisitor!” a voice called behind Mahanon, who had been standing and watching the Minotaurs attempt to break into Canterlot for a long while. Turning around, he saw a tall and threatening-looking Minotaur wearing battle-worn platelegs and a brassard standing near him. “What is it, General?” he asked. “We have small clusters troops in the city currently, holding down some key areas,” he said, standing next to him and looking at Canterlot. “And I’ve just been told that the red lyrium blocking the entrance to Canterlot has almost crumbled. There have been plenty of casualties, but not enough to be considered disastrous. About as many have died as we anticipated.” “That’s good news. How long do you expect before the lyrium is gone?” “Maybe a few more minutes.” He turned his scar-riddled face to Mahanon and smiled. “It’s all up to you now, Inquisitor.” Mahanon smiled back and turned towards the path leading away from the forward camp. When he entered the camp of the Inquisition’s soldier, he walked up next to Cassandra, who was looking at the battle to get inside of Canterlot. “Nervous?” he asked, noticing her facial expression. “A little,” she admitted. “But it is as I always am; I have faith in the Inquisition. It’s just that there’s a lot depending on our success, and I hope we can deliver.” “I’m sure we’ll succeed,” he said comfortingly. “I’m sure we will, too. I just don’t want to celebrate just yet.” “We’ll be able to go soon,” he said as he began to walk away. “I’ll meet you on the path to Canterlot.” Cassandra nodded in recognition, then started walking through the camp and to Canterlot. After fruitlessly looking around the Inquisition camp for Varric, Mahanon continued down to the Equestrian camp, looking all around for the dwarf. “Betcha can’t hit it at this distance!” a voice exclaimed, calling his attention. Following it over a small hill, he found Varric surrounded by a small group of soldiers looking at him in awe as he shot Bianca towards a target far in the distance, piercing its cushion head. “That was awesome!” a young pegasus mare in poorly-fitting armor squeed, leaping into the air. “Found some new people to show off to?” Mahanon teased. “These ones aren’t tired of me besting them in archery contests,” Varric replied smugly, putting Bianca on his back. “By that look on your face and the stuff about not being serious the Seeker muttered as she walked by, I’d say we’re ready to go into Canterlot.” “Cassandra is waiting down by the path,” he said as he pointed towards Canterlot. “Sorry to take him from you, girls,” he said to the two mares who had been watching Varric. “He just spoke to us!” the pegasus said to the earth pony mare, who was equally ill-equipped when it came to armor. They both giggled. Trying to leave as non-awkwardly as possible, Mahanon walked into the Equestrian camp proper, where he found Ward standing around a fire, talking to a unicorn mare wearing dull blue robes. She pointed at Mahanon, and Ward responded by turning around and smiling up to him. “All ready to go?” Mahanon asked. “Yeah,” he nodded, then looked at the unicorn, who took the hint and walked to the small cluster of ponies on the other side of the fire. “Who’s she?” he asked, looking over Ward towards her. “Requires a bit of explanation,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “The Royal Guard has no Captain as of now, and Princess Twilight said she’d put in a good word after this is all over and see if I can get promoted to that.” He looked at the group of ponies at the other end of the camp. “They’re my first regiment. You know; a practice one. See if I’m capable of leading in less-than-ideal situations.” “Would certainly explain the new armor,” Mahanon noted, just now noticing the purple and gold armor he wore, similar in color to Twilight’s. “But it seems like a bit of a big promotion for someone so young and new to the Guard.” “Stranger things have happened,” he shrugged. “The Royal Guard in general has a long history of rumors and confusion around it, and it’s not even unheard of for someone this young to be promoted. By this point, most ponies just kind of accept whatever crazy antics the Guard is up to.” “‘Rumors and confusion’?” he echoed. “Yeah, ponies are kind of dumbfounded by us for some reason,” he said confusedly. “Like, there’s this persistent rumor always floating around that our armor or our badges makes us change what we look like to be more uniform. Just Princess Celestia’s Guards are like that: all just white or brown stallions designed to look like a uniform, soulless, imposing force. The rest of us usually get crap assignments.” He thought about it for a moment. “Then again, I’ve only been a part of the Guard during wartime, so I guess every position is a crap one now.” “Would you mind introducing me to some of the ponies that will be with us?” he asked. “Sure.” He turned to the other ponies, then waved a hoof. Three ponies, one of each race, came over and bowed in front of the Inquisitor. “He just wants to meet you,” Ward said. “You don’t need to bow or anything.” “I’m Doctor Astral Star,” the pink-coated and gray-maned unicorn mare from earlier proclaimed. “While I myself am no combat magician, I can assure you that the unicorns traveling with us are quite proficient in it. I specialize in defensive magics, and have recently formulated a new barrier spell that has not had combat tests yet.” “Maybe hold off on the experimental magic since we have the Inquisitor himself traveling with us,” the orange-coated earth pony, parting his fiery red mane out of his face. “Sergeant First Class Molten Steel, by the way. The earth ponies with us have been hoof-picked as some of the best soldiers in Equestria, and they can handle anything you throw at them.” “Master Sergeant Gale Force,” the green-coated pegasus with a purple mane said, extending a hoof. “We pegasi will be in charge of keeping watch over all you, alerting you to any dangers and making any last-minute adjustments to the route we’re taking.” “Only thing standing between us and peace for Equestria is a city full of mutated Crystal Ponies driven to insanity,” Ward said, trying to hold back his obvious nervousness. “The Inquisition’s done crazier,” Mahanon said as he started to the edge of the camp, where he saw Twilight looking over the battle. “I’ll meet you down the path. Cassandra and Varric should already be there.” “Sounds good.” Ward turned to the other ponies, who went back to their respective races and started gathering them. “It never gets easy, does it?” Twilight asked as Mahanon walked up to her. “What do you mean?” “This.” She pointed a hoof out over the battle. “Fighting. Killing. Deciding whether others get to live or die, on both your side and the enemy’s.” She sighed. “I can feel it here. Everybody’s weak and weary, they want it to be over. But...it’s like they don’t even recognize it. They’re just so preoccupied with fighting that they don’t even realize they’ve grown tired of it.” “Quite impressive you’ve managed to figure all that out from just standing in a camp,” he noted. “I took your advice and spent some time with the soldiers, of all the different races here. That’s the only thing I found was the same, no matter what the soldier I was talking to was. The Inquisition is tired because they finished one fight only to cross an ocean and enter another. The ponies have grown weary fighting, because we’re the only ones that have to. This is our land, our home. Everyone else is away from home, and many of them left their own fights just to enter another in an unfamiliar land. They all miss home, and the ponies have no home to go back to. Both of those are really hurting the spirits of the soldiers.” “It’s just one more fight,” Mahanon said optimistically. “I’m sure we can all breathe easy after the Breach is closed and the Crystal Ponies are defeated.” “I really hope so,” she moped. “I haven’t seen some of my friends in so long because of the war. It’ll be nice to just get back to Ponyville and go back to our normal lives.” She smiled lightly. “Well, what qualifies as normal for us.” “Whatever keeps you fighting. Speaking of, are you ready to head out?” Twilight nodded, an uneasy smile on her face. “As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.” “Any big plans for when this is all over?” Mahanon asked as they walked towards Canterlot. “I know you said you would reconnect with your friends, but any other plans?” “I had been thinking of coming back with you all to Thedas,” she admitted. “It sounds fascinating, and you know so much about us, but we don’t really know much about your homeland. Maybe bring my friends along with me, help spread friendship there.” “Going to need a lot more than just friendship to solve some of the problems we face. But I’m sure they’d welcome you; if you’re half as popular there as you are here, you’ll be adored.” When they finished walking through the camps and to a bend in the road where their companions were waiting, they all looked at each other. “Everybody ready?” Mahanon asked. “Canterlot needs us!” Ward said proudly, stepping up. “Pretty much what he said,” Varric said, close behind. “We should get going,” Cassandra said as she pointed towards the entrance to Canterlot. “It looks like they are almost through.” Turning around, the Inquisition made its way up to the battering ram, where a group of heavily-armored Minotaurs were pulling it back and ramming into the wall of red lyrium repeatedly. “Inquisitor!” one of them called, taking his hands off the battering ram and walking up to them. “We’re almost through.” “Do you know what it’s going to be like inside Canterlot?” he asked. “Not really,” he shook his head. “The Griffons say it’s pretty crowded, but nothing bad.” Twilight tilted her head as she studied the minotaur. “Aren’t you Iron Will?” “I…” The Minotaur played with his hands nervously. “Well…” Before he could think of a response, a shard of red lyrium shot into his arm and embedded there. They all turned to where it came from and saw a Crystal Pony on the walls, grinning maliciously at them. Two more joined it, and they all jumped onto the ground. “We’ll have to talk later!” the Minotaur said as he pulled the shard out of his arm and took a halberd off his back. Taking their weapons out, Mahanon and his companions turned to the Crystal Ponies. “This is a perfect time to test my barrier!” Astral Star said giddily as she powered her horn up. “No!” Ward quickly called. “Something bad could happen!” Grumbling under her breath, Astral Star’s horn emitted a green pulse, which covered the Inquisition and gave them all a Barrier. Mahanon quickly cast a Static Cage over the Crystal Ponies, locking them in place. The rest of his companions and the ponies under Ward’s command quickly started attacking, and within seconds, they were all defeated. A loud shattering noise came from behind them, and Mahanon turned around to see shards of the red lyrium covering the entrance to Canterlot falling to the ground as the way was opened. “Everybody, with the Inquisitor!” Iron Will called, which elicited a cheer from the Minotaurs. They all pulled out their own halberds and stood to the side, letting the Inquisition go through. “Good luck,” Iron Will said, slapping Mahanon on the back so hard he almost fell over. “Kill a couple for us, okay?” Mahanon nodded in acknowledgement, then stepped over the pile of crystal shards and into Canterlot. A small group of Griffons were fighting off a few Crystal Ponies, shards of their former comrades’ bodies littered around the entrance. “Inquisitor!” Gilda called out as she shattered a Crystal Pony’s head with a mace. “Keep going! We’ll keep them off you!” He nodded, then looked to Twilight. “Where do we go?” “This way!” she said, taking point and starting to run down an alley passing between two buildings. When they emerged from the alley, they encountered a market square where the Minotaurs were on one side, hiding behind turned-up stalls and attacking from a range. “Come here!” a familiar voice called as most of the Inquisition’s members started ducking behind stalls to avoid the shards of red lyrium flying through the air. When he slid down next to the voice, Mahanon looked to see the East-King of Minos holding a crossbow. “You’re fighting, too?” he asked confusedly. The East-King laughed. “Kings in Minos aren’t pansies; we know how to fight.” He quickly got up and shot a bolt straight into a Crystal Pony’s temple, causing it to shake in pain before sliding back behind the stall. “What’s the plan?” Mahanon asked. “Hell if I know,” he shrugged. “Was told to protect here at all costs. Was told you’d know where to go from here.” Looking to Twilight, Mahanon beckoned her over. Twilight crawled along the ground to them, being careful to not let one hair in her mane poke above the overturned stalls. “What is it?” she yelled. “Where do we need to go?” he asked. “Across the way,” Twilight said, pointing at the wood of the market stall. “But we can’t really right now!” Grabbing the bag right next to him, the East-King started rummaging through it. After a few moments of Mahanon and Twilight watching him, he removed a bolt of red metal with a thick tip and a small string on it and showed it to Twilight. “Kiss for good luck?” Looking to Mahanon and then back to the bolt, Twilight reluctantly kissed it before it was loaded into the crossbow. The East-King removed a box of matches from his bag, lit one, the lit the string and stood up. After aiming for a few seconds, he launched it, and it flew above the Crystal Ponies and into the alley they were coming from. It exploded, toppling both buildings around it and causing them to fall on the Crystal Ponies and seal the exit. “It won’t be long before they start coming again,” the East-King said as he lowered his crossbow. “Go now.” “Inquisition!” Mahanon called. “On Twilight!” Twilight hopped over the overturned stall and started running towards one of the empty alleys, and the rest of them did the same. After running down the alley for a little while, Twilight stopped dead in her tracks and started looking around. “What’s wrong?” Mahanon asked. “There are Crystal Ponies up there!” she panicked. “And we can’t really fight in this tight alley!” She paced up and down the alley until looking at one of the rickety doors and pointing at it. “I think we can go through here!” Mahanon tried the knob, but when it didn’t budge, he slammed his shoulder into the door and knocked it down. “He really need to stop having that be Plan A,” Twilight whispered to herself as the rest of the Inquisition funneled in. As he walked inside, a gentle purple beam of magic shot at Mahanon’s feet. “I’d suggest you get out!” a mare called, stepping out of the shadows and glaring at him. “Sorry, Twinkleshine!” Twilight called as she walked in. “I’ll pay for the door!” “Twilight?” the mare asked, looking at her. “What’s-” “Really not the time!” Twilight moaned, walking to the stairs. “Follow me!” Trying to ignore the confused mare calling to him for answers, Mahanon followed Twilight up the stairs and through the door to a rooftop garden, where he could see the cityscape of Canterlot. Walking to the edge and looking over the streets, Twilight bit her lip. “This doesn’t look good!” she said worriedly. “A lot of the places we’re supposed to go through are covered with Crystal Ponies!” Mahanon walked next to her and saw the fighting, and Gale Force walked to Mahanon’s other side. “We could take some of the side roads,” he said, tracing a hoof over the winding backroads and alleyways of Canterlot. “Those look pretty empty.” “We might need to help the soldiers,” Twilight said, pointing back to the main roads. “It’d be slower,” Gale Force asserted. “But we’ll save some ponies!” Twilight protested. “We’ll try and take some main roads,” Mahanon said. “We’ll help who we can, but we can’t clear the whole city of Crystal Ponies.” “Thank you,” Twilight said. She turned and pointed down the rooftops. “We can go down here a little bit and probably get past some of the Crystal Ponies, then drop back down onto the streets.” The Inquisition started running down the rooftops, but when they were nearing the end, shards of red lyrium shot out of the ground and destroyed the buildings they were on, knocking them onto the ground. Mahanon landed on the street and rolled into a wall. Turning onto his back, he gritted his teeth; he was fine, but was in pain. As he lay there, a Crystal Pony jumped on top of him, which he instinctively grabbed with both hands and threw to the side. He scrambled to his feet as the Crystal Pony recovered and began to charge him. He quickly grabbed his staff off the ground where it lay and smacked its face with it, then used its flinch to run back a few feet and get ready for battle. He cast Winter’s Grasp on it, freezing it in place and buying him more time to run back. By the time the Crystal Pony thawed out, Mahanon had fallen back several meters, which allow him to cast a Static Cage over it and keep it away from him. When the Cage lifted and it ran towards him again, he quickly slam his staff into the ground and cast a Horror spell on it, causing it to stop in its tracks and flee. After launching a few spells from his staff at it, the Crystal Pony turned around and started walking towards him. All his disabling spells were cooling down, so he quickly cast Immolate on it to bring its health down further. Right as it prepared to pounce, a rainbow shot between them, knocking the Crystal Pony over and causing Mahanon to stutter back a few steps. He looked around, but could see nothing indicating the source of the rainbow. A whizzing noise came from right above him, and he dove out of the way as a rainbow-ensheathed projectile raced down at him from the sky. Instead of targeting him, the rainbow landed on the Crystal Pony, shattering it. When he looked back, he saw a pegasus sporting a bright rainbow mane with her back hooves on a pile of crystals where the Crystal Pony’s head previously was and her front hooves brushing some crystal dust off her Wonderbolt uniform. “Thanks,” Mahanon said to her. “No problem,” she saluted. “Tell Twilight I say hey!” Before he could ask who she was, she shot off into the sky, the same rainbow as before trailing her. After standing in confusion for a few moments, Mahanon put his staff on his back and ran down the alley, looking for any sign of his companions. After quickly looking down one of the alleyways he ran past, he saw an earth pony holding a lance up against two Crystal Ponies, who were advancing towards him. Running down the alley, he recognized the pony as Ward when he got closer. “I’ve got your back!” he yelled to him as he launched a Walking Bomb curse towards the Crystal Pony on the right. “Got it!” Ward called back as he swept low, knocking both Crystal Ponies onto the ground. He grabbed his lance with both front hooves as he stood on his hind legs, then brought it down on the cursed one, causing it to explode in a shower of crystals and spread the curse to the other one. With a quick cast of Immolate, the other Crystal Pony died, exploding just like the first one. “Good to see you survived,” Ward said as he turned around, relieved. “Same with you,” Mahanon responded, putting his staff on his back. “We’re not the only two, are we?” “Don’t know,” he shrugged. He pointed to a pony up against a wall, which Mahanon recognized as Molten Steel. “We landed together. He landed on his lance, then got attacked by the Crystal Ponies. Nopony else landed with us.” “Did you see where any else of them landed?” “Unfortunately not,” he shook his head. “Probably isn’t too far, though.” “We can’t waste any time,” he proclaimed as he moved past Ward. “They can’t have gone far.” “Lead the way,” Ward said as he fell in behind him. “These new lances are working out pretty well, if I say so myself.” “New lances?” Mahanon asked, turning around and examining Ward’s weapon. “Looks the same to me.” Ward tilted his weapon towards Mahanon, causing him to back up a little. “Yeah. See how the head’s heavier and not as sharp? More of a blunt object now, better for fighting Crystal Ponies. You can’t cut through crystal like you do flesh, so you have to make a weapon that shatters instead.” “I still don’t really see a difference, but I’ll trust you on it.” “I’ve got lances, you’ve got magic,” he chuckled. “We can each have something the other doesn’t get.” Mahanon smiled, then turned back around. “Do you know Canterlot well?” he asked hopefully. “This is my second time here,” he replied. “The first was when we first got attacked. I hear it’s lovely when it’s not the middle of a war zone, though.” As Mahanon stepped out of the alley and into a small courtyard, a bolt flew past his face, narrowly missing him. “Inquisitor!” Varric called in a mixture of surprise and anger. “Don’t surprise me like that!” Looking to the source of the voice and bolt, Mahanon saw Varric pointing Bianca at him, with Twilight standing behind him. There were crystals on the ground, and a few half-shattered Crystal Ponies lay about. “I take it you don’t need any help here?” “Not unless you want to help by providing some victory drinks,” Varric joked as he put Bianca on his back. “The Princess and I took ‘em out easy enough.” “It’s good to see you’re both alive,” Twilight said happily. “Have you met anybody else?” “Molten Steel’s dead,” Ward said, stepping up. “But other than that, haven’t seen any others.” “What’s the plan, Twilight?” Mahanon asked. “Do you know where we are?” “Yeah,” she nodded. “This is one of the courtyards in Princess Celestia’s College for Gifted Unicorns. They’re probably all still within the grounds.” “We should split up to search faster,” Ward suggested. “You and Varric stay here,” Mahanon said. “Keep this area safe. Twilight and I will go searching, and we’ll send anybody we find back here.” “Sounds good,” he said, planting his lance into the ground. “We’ll be back soon,” Mahanon said as he walked next to Twilight. “We should start down here,” Twilight said, leading him to a narrow alley between two buildings. “How big is this place?” Mahanon asked. “Not too big,” she answered. “It won’t take too too long to search.” They emerged from the alley into another small courtyard like the first, where Cassandra was holding her shield up as a Crystal Pony lunged at it. Without speaking, Mahanon launched Flashfire as Twilight cast a spell from her horn, both hitting the Crystal Pony and causing it to drop to the ground. Cassandra turned around, then put her sword and shield away when she saw Mahanon and Twilight. “Have you found the others?” she asked. “Varric and Ward are through that alley, in a courtyard,” Mahanon said, pointing to where he and Twilight came from. “Twilight and I are searching for survivors.” “A couple of the pegasi landed here,” she said, pointing to a small pile of pegasus corpses piled up in the courtyard. “I came here and saw the Crystal Ponies piling them up.” She walked past them and entered the alley. “There should just be one more we have to check,” Twilight said, moving to another alley. “After that, they would’ve landed outside.” “We won’t be able to spare the time to look for them if they did,” Mahanon said bluntly. “I know,” Twilight sighed. “It hurts knowing we can’t save everypony.” When they walked into the next courtyard, they immediately felt magic engulf them and pull them towards one of the walls. “What just happened?” Mahanon asked, quickly pulling out his staff. “Look where you just were,” a weak voice said from below him. He did as it said, and saw a large Crystal Pony stamping its hoof into the ground, causing spears of red lyrium to shoot out of the ground where they had just been standing. He looked to the source of the voice and saw Astral Star leaned up against a wall, clutching a wound on her stomach and smiling faintly at him. “He hit me pretty bad. The rest of the unicorns, too. Up to you now, I guess.” As her head rolled to the side, the Crystal Pony growled at the lack of death and turned to look at Twilight and Mahanon. As Mahanon powered up his staff and Twilight her horn, two beams of magic from atop the walls shot down at the Crystal Pony; one light pink, the other light blue, both stunning it. Mahanon looked up to see a white unicorn mare with an alternating white-and-purple mane on one side and a unicorn stallion with a dark blue mane and coat on the other. “Mom?” Twilight asked. “Dad!” “Your parents?” Mahanon asked, turning to look at her. “Twily, focus!” the stallion called in a distinctively parental way. They looked back at the Crystal Pony, who seemed to be deciding which to attack first. When it looked down at Mahanon and Twilight, it raised its front two hooves. Running in opposite directions, they barely avoided being crushed by the massive blow. Now on opposite sides of the Crystal Pony, Mahanon and Twilight started attacking it, with Mahanon leading with a Spirit Mark curse quickly followed by a Walking Bomb one. After attacking for a few moments, the Crystal Pony got its hooves unstuck from the earth and raised them again, this time focusing just on Mahanon. Before he could run away, however, a flash of blue from Twilight’s father hit the Crystal Pony, staggering it and allowing Mahanon to run away to safety, where he cast Winter’s Grasp on the creature. Mahaon and Twilight kept casting spells at the Crystal Pony, having it be stunned by one of Twilight’s parents whenever it raised its hooves to attack. “Enough!” it yelled, bowing its head and starting to glow. “It’s about to make more red lyrium spears!” Twilight exclaimed, quickly taking flight and hovering a few inches off the ground. “Be careful!” When the Crystal Pony roared and unleashed its power, the spears came up not in the courtyard, but through the buildings her parents were standing on, prompting them both to run. A spear shot up near Twilight’s father, ripping him from the building and sending him barreling through the air. “Night Light!” Twilight’s mother called, leaping into the air and quickly teleporting next to him, catching him and causing them both to fall out of sight. Mahanon detonated his Walking Bomb curse, causing the Crystal Pony to shatter. “Mom!” Twilight screamed, tears filling her eyes. “Dad!” “We have to go!” Mahanon yelled at her, grabbing her hoof and pulling her back towards the courtyard where Varric, Ward, and Cassandra were waiting. As they ran into the courtyard, their companions all turned to look at them worriedly. “What happened?” Cassandra asked, noticing Twilight on the verge of tears. “Nothing,” she spat, trying to hold back her fury. “The rest of them are dead; it’s just us now.” Mahanon’s companions all looked at each other, then back to him. “What do we do now?” Ward asked. “Twilight, do you still know a way where we could try and help out some of the ponies in need?” he asked. “Yeah,” she said while wiping her eyes with her hoof. “Follow me.” As Twilight took point and started walking slowly out of the College, Mahanon walked up next to her. “Are you alright?” he asked worriedly. “It’s fine,” she said heavily, clearly trying to hold back more emotion. “I guess I had to know this could happen.” “We don’t know what happened to them,” he comforted. “I guess you’re right,” she sighed. “I suppose them dying is about as likely as them surviving, so I should focus on the positives. Still, the fact that there’s even a chance…” “Try not to focus on that. Keep reminding yourself that they could be alive.” “Okay,” she said, then started whispering to herself. As they walked into the courtyard where the others were waiting, they all turned and looked at them. “What happened?” Ward asked, looking at Twilight. “Sounds like it was getting pretty intense there.” “We were attacked,” Twilight said hollowly, walking past him and towards the exit. “We were too,” he said, pointing to the shattered crystals around them. “Managed to hold them off, though.” He turned around and looked at Twilight, who was still walking. “Are we...heading out?” “We need to get to the summit,” she said, trying to hold back some of the ferocity in her voice. “The sooner we can close the Breach and rid Canterlot of the Crystal Ponies, the better.” “We can all agree on that,” he responded, starting to follow her. “What’s the plan?” Twilight stopped and thought for a moment, then turned around to the rest of the Inquisition. “Inquisitor, you said earlier we should take the main roads and try to help those fighting them off?” “Within reason,” he said. “I want to help people, but we do need to make our way to the summit as quickly as we can.” “I know the way,” she said, shaking all emotion off herself and turning around. “Let’s go!” The Inquisition quickly ran out of the College and into the roads of Canterlot, where Crystal Ponies were trying to shoot spikes of red lyrium at the Griffons, Changelings, and pegasi flying overhead, who would swoop down and shatter them, then fly back into the sky. “You sure we don’t want to help them?” Mahanon asked as he ducked to avoid a shard of red lyrium launched at a Griffon flying overhead. “Those ones look like they’re handling themselves!” she shouted back, taking a sharp turn down another street. “We’ll only help those who really need it!” “They look like they need help, two o’clock!” Ward called as they ran down the street. Looking where he was referencing, Mahanon saw three Crystal Ponies converging on two earth ponies hugging each other, a colt cowering between them. “I see them!” Twilight called back, starting to run towards them. She she got close, she opened her wings and used them to propel herself off the ground, then brought her right wing close to her body, causing her to turn in mid-air and face the Crystal Ponies. Quickly powering up her horn, she shot three beams of magic at once at them, shattering all of them quickly. Mahanon and the rest of the Inquisition stopped, watching Twilight turn to the ponies and telling them where to run. “...Damn, the Prince trained her well,” Varric said. “Those weren’t the moves of a pony who’s afraid of war.” As the Inquisition walked towards Twilight, the ponies she had been talking to scattered. “Where’d you learn that?” Mahanon asked. “Shining Armor taught me some maneuvers,” she said, looking around. “Down there,” she said, pointing down another alley and running towards it. When they were halfway down the alley and could see there was no immediate danger, Twilight slowed to a brisk walking pace, allowing Mahanon to catch up to her. “Is everything alright?” he panted. “I don’t want to think about it,” she said quickly. “The more I can get my mind off it, the better. There’s nothing I can do right now, and allowing myself to think about it will just make me lose focus.” “Whatever works,” he said, catching his breath. When they reached the end of the alley and emerged into a small market square, the Changelings there sauted them. “What can you tell us?” Twilight asked, walking up to the only one wearing armor. “There are going to be more coming from down there,” he said, turning and pointing down an alley that the rest of Changelings were swarming around the entrance to. “How many more?” she asked worriedly. “A lot.” He shrugged. “They’ve been coming from there for a while.” Stamping a hoof, Twilight looked at the other roads spreading out from the square. “Something wrong?” Mahanon asked. “That’s where we’re supposed to go!” she said, pacing around. “And I don’t really know this part of Canterlot well.” “Do you have any idea where we can go?” She moved to the center of the square, then stared down both the roads running adjacent to the main one. “One of those, but I’m not sure which will lead us where we need to go.” “So we’re guessing?” he confirmed. “Basically,” she sighed. “Let’s just go down the right one,” he said as he pointed at it. “It looks like it’ll bring us closer to the mountain.” “We can only hope,” she said to herself as she started walking towards it. As the Inquisition walked down the alley, they kept watch for any signs of the Crystal Ponies. They continued walking for a few minutes, no sign of them anywhere. “Is it a little too quiet for anyone else?” Varric asked, looking in a house they were passing with a kicked-in door. “I agree,” Cassandra added. “There are sounds of fighting all throughout Canterlot, yet none have come down here yet.” “We could just be lucky,” Mahanon said hopefully, but not without a hint of caution. “But stay alert anyways.” When they came to a wall of red lyrium spikes blocking their progress, Twilight looked at them. “Hm. We’ll turn around and see if we-” Her words were cut off by the sound of crystals shooting through the earth, breaking the cobblestone street they were on. When they turned around, the Inquisition saw more red lyrium blocking their progress back. “Where are they?” Ward cried as he pulled out his lance. When a shard landed mere inches from his hooves, he looked up to the rooftops to see a small cluster of Crystal Ponies staring down at them and laughing. “They’re up there!” Varric called out as he prepped Bianca for battle. Twilight powered up her horn and teleported up to the rooftop, and when she did, a few of the Crystal Ponies jumped down, into the alleyway where the rest of the Inquisition remained. “I’ll take out the ones up here!” Twilight called down to them. “You deal with those!” As Mahanon pulled out his staff, he saw a cluster of Elemental Mines fly out of Varric’s hands, which quickly exploded and killed all but two of the oncoming Crystal Ponies. Mahanon powered up his staff, ready to cast a Horror spell as the Crystal Ponies congregated around Cassandra, who was ready to block them with her shield. When they both were glaring her down, he thrust his staff into the ground, casting the spell and panicking them. Varric quickly shot a Long Shot at one of the fleeing Crystal Ponies, killing it and knocking it onto the ground. When his mana restored, Mahanon cast Flashfire on the other fleeing one, also causing it to fall down. “Are you okay up there?” Ward asked, running up to the wall of the building Twilight was on. His answer was a flash of purple light, teleporting the Inquisition from the street to the rooftop. After quickly surveying their surroundings, Ward lowered his lance. “So you took them all out, then?” “Yes,” Twilight nodded. “And I brought you up here because I think I’ve found the best way to the summit.” “Really?” Mahanon asked, walking up next to her. “Where is it?” Turning around, Twilight pointed at a hole cut into the mountain not far from where they were. “If we can make our way there, we should be able to get to the summit pretty quickly.” “That’s our plan, then,” he said, putting his staff on his back. “Ground or rooftops?” “Ground will be faster,” she said, walking up to the edge and looking down. She spread her wings and flew down, and the rest of them jumped off the roof and onto the street after her. “Almost there,” she said to herself to psych herself up. “I’m nervous.” “You’re doing fine, Princess,” Ward comforted as he walked up to her. Twilight took a deep breath as she nodded once. “How do you do it?” she asked. “You signed up for the Royal Guard, knowing what it meant. You ran towards the danger.” “Somepony’s gotta do it,” he said, shrugging the question off. “If none of us stand up and do the hard stuff that has to be done, then we all suffer.” “Thanks.” She smiled and turned back to him. “I hope you get the role of Captain. Equestria will need somepony like you to look to, somepony to remind us of what we can do.” “They have that. They’ve got you, Princess.” Blushing, Twilight turned back front and continued walking. When they got to the shoddily-made wooden covering blocking the entrance to the tunnel cut into Mount Canter, Twilight enveloped it in her magic and shoved it aside, dust falling on her mane. “It’s just beyond here,” she said, walking into the tunnel. “Everyone ready?” “Let’s do this,” Mahanon said as he walked into the tunnel with her. Their companions followed, and before long, they were in the consuming darkness of Mount Canter’s innards. “Can hardly see my own hands in front of my face,” Varric remarked after nearly tripping on a stray stone. Twilight responded by lighting up her horn, illuminating the whole cavern with a soft pink glow. “Better?” she asked. “Yeah,” Varric said, avoiding another stone in his way. “We got a long walk?” “Just a little more,” she said. “Most of the Crystal Ponies are down in the city.” “Dihiryn might be up there,” Ward said cautiously. “Dihiryn?” Varric asked. “That’s the big one, right?” “He was the one assigned in the Crystal Empire to research the red lyrium,” Twilight confirmed. “He leads them now.” “We can take him!” Ward said optimistically. “Might get a little roughed up, but otherwise fine.” The Inquisition kept climbing up the steep slopes of the tunnels, and when they reached the top, Twilight moved the wooden barricade out of the way to shower them in light. “We don’t know what’s beyond here.” “Only one way to find out,” Varric sauntered past Twilight and into the open. “Just be careful,” Cassandra chided as she followed him out. “You don’t know what’s out there.” When Mahanon walked out behind them, he saw the shards of red lyrium sticking out of the ground and impaling the pegasi that had brought them the previous time they were in Canterlot. He walked up to one and put his hand on his cold body, fur ravaged by the weather. “Don’t worry,” Twilight said after walking up to him. “We’ll make sure he didn’t die for nothing.” The ground started shaking unexpectedly, causing Mahanon to fall down. When he scrambled to his feet, he saw his companions with their weapons out and ready. “What was that?” he asked, pulling out his own staff. “I don’t know,” Twilight said, looking around them. “Just be careful.” The ground shook again, and more shards of red lyrium shot out of the ground on their left. Looking in the distance, Mahanon could see a large red Crystal Pony walking down the slope to the top of the summit. When the Crystal Pony drew closer, he cast Winter’s Grasp on it while Ward and Cassandra ran up to it. When they were within attacking range of it, however, it swept its front hoof, knocking them both into the wall. In a flash of light, Twilight teleported across the field to Cassandra and Ward, who were struggling to get to their feet, then teleported them back. “Stay behind us!” Twilight demanded, pointing towards the path back down the summit. “We can handle this!” “No, Princess!” Ward refused, taking a few shaky steps back towards the Crystal Pony. “It’s my duty to protect you!” Using her sword to help her get to the ground, Cassandra followed him. “We will not surrender!” After giving them an annoyed sigh, Twilight powered up her horn and closed her eyes, pointing her head to the sky. When the Crystal Pony knocked aside Cassandra and Ward for a second time, Mahanon took a few steps back. “He’s too much!” he yelled. “We can’t risk it!” Quickly grabbing his lance, Ward hit the Crystal Pony on its leg, cracking the crystal and causing it to drop to a knee. It turned to him, but when it moved to bring its other hoof down on top of him, he was quickly yanked away by Cassandra. “We have to do something!” Varric exclaimed, shooting a Long Shot at the crack in its leg to spread it further. The light coming from Twilight’s horn reached a maximum, and moving her head down, bright purple light spread from the creature’s cracked leg all throughout its body, cracking the crystal that composed it. “It should be a lot weaker now!” Twilight panted. “Now’s our chance!” While Cassandra and Ward hobbled away in retreat, Mahanon cast a Walking Bomb curse at the Crystal Pony. After his mana restored, he launched a Spirit Mark at it, quickly draining its health. With an Explosive Shot from Bianca, the entire front legs of the creature shattered, toppling it and causing the rest of its body to crumble from the force of the impact. “Are you alright?” Twilight asked, running up to Ward, who was clutching his head. He moaned. “I think I hit my head pretty hard back there.” “Let me see,” Cassandra ordered, crouching down to his level and grabbing his chin. “How do you feel?” she asked, studying his head. “Kinda dizzy,” he admitted. “Feel like I might fall down.” “Any bright lights, or trouble seeing, perhaps?” “It is kind of fuzzy, and I don’t see any bright lights, but the light’s hurting my eyes.” “I think he’s suffered head trauma,” she proclaimed, standing up. “He is in no condition to continue with us.” “I can still fight!” he protested. “Head trauma isn’t the end of the world.” “But you really shouldn’t be rushing into the belly of the beast if you can’t see straight, kid,” Varric warned. “You’d only get yourself killed, and probably put us at risk too.” “I’m fine!” He looked up at Mahanon. “Let me stay with you! We’re almost there!” “They’re right,” he said. “You’re not able enough to fight.” “One of us should stay here with him,” Cassandra suggested. “We can’t leave him alone when we don’t know how bad it is yet.” “I’ll be fine!” Ward proclaimed, pointing to the chariot. “I’ll just sit by there and wait for you guys to come down. What harm could I possibly do to myself just by sitting?” “It could still be worse than we see,” Cassandra pointed out. “You might wander off and hurt yourself.” “I won’t do that!” “You might lose some memory and not remember why you’re here. You need someone to make sure you don’t get hurt any more.” “I’ll stay with the kid,” Varric volunteered. “Seen a couple nasty blows to the head in my day. I know how to handle this.” “I know how to deal with it, too,” she replied. “It is a common battle injury.” “Cassandra should stay with him,” Mahanon decided. “You looked like you got kind of beat up in that fight, too; I don’t want you being put into anything you can’t handle.” “Alright,” she said with a little bite, almost as if she were offended at his implication of her being hurt. “Looks like it’s just us,” Varric announced as he walked up to Mahanon. “Let’s just go get this over with so all this shit can be done with.” Nodding, Mahanon walked towards the path spiraling up the side of Mount Canter, Twilight and Varric close behind. When he could, he looked out over the city of Canterlot, which was glowing red when seen from such a high altitude. Though he could barely make out the ground between the swarm of Changelings, Pegasi, and Griffons in the air, he could see the numerous small fights spread throughout the city in addition to the few large ones, such as in front of the palace. Upon reaching the summit, he looked up at the Breach, which was still as large as he remembered it. Turning his gaze back downward, he saw the body of Queen Chrysalis still impaled, her dark green blood having dried all over the dirt long ago. “Ready?” Twilight asked, powering her horn up the same color as the Breach. Looking at his left hand, Mahanon flexed it a little bit. “Ready.” He thrust his hand upwards, connecting with the Breach and slowly making it shrink. Twilight tried to recreate the magic, though her horn was not able to connect with it. When it shrunk to a tiny glowing wisp in the air, Mahanon thrust his arm to the side, sealing it and sending out a shockwave of green light that knocked him and all his companions over. “That it?” Varric asked. When he got to his feet, Mahanon looked around; the Breach was nowhere to be found, and there was nothing trying to stop them. “We did it!” Twilight squealed, jumping up and down. “FOOLS!” a deep voice rang out, echoing off the stone where they were. “YOU THINK THAT IS THE END OF IT?” “Who’s there?” Twilight called out, lowering her head in preparation for attack. Laughing, a Crystal Pony stepped out from behind a stone pillar and looked at them. “Do you not recognize me?” he hissed. “Dihiryn,” Twilight said softly. “What’s your plan? Why didn’t you stop us?” “The Breach no longer serves us,” he said with a shake of his head. “Red lyrium is attracted to the Fade, and now that we have plenty of it growing all across Equestria, we do not need it any more.” He looked up at the now-blue sky, where the Breach had been. “I always did think it was an eyesore. Now that’s one thing I don’t have to do myself.” “Call off the Crystal Ponies,” Mahanon demanded. “We’re taking Canterlot whether you surrender or not: now is your chance to save your life and the lives of your kind.” “So sure of yourself!” he laughed. Stomping a hoof into the ground, enormous spears of red lyrium shot out of the ground all around them, trapping them in the summit. “Perhaps I present to you the same offer?” “We’re not scared of you!” Twilight proclaimed, taking a few steps towards him. He laughed again. “Maybe you should be.” Dihiryn stomped his hoof to the ground again, but before she could be impaled, Twilight jumped into the air and flew away, going behind him and assaulting him with a continuous beam of magic. “You’ll have to tire eventually!” he yelled, turning around and trying to shoot a crystal shard at her but Varric’s Explosive Shot staggered him and stopped it. “Three of us and one of you, pal!” Varric announced. “I don’t know if they teach you math where you come from, but it isn’t looking good for you!” Seeing an opportunity, Mahanon quickly pulled out his staff and cast a Spirit Mark on him, then started attacking him with his staff. “I could take you all on, and more!” Dihiryn announced, turning to Mahanon and hitting him with a crystal shard. “You’re weak, and you are nothing!” Mahanon quickly cast Immolate as Varric threw out his Elemental Mines, assaulting him with all types of damage. When the explosions were over, he grimaced at Mahanon and stomped his hoof again. Instead of being impaled, however, the red lyrium gathered around his foot, locking him in place. “I’ll finish you first!” Dihiryn announced, a ball of red energy massing around his forehead. “Do like I showed you!” Twilight called to him from above. Closing his eyes, Mahanon tried to remember what Twilight had taught him. He emptied his mind, shutting out all distractions, then focused. He focused hard, and when he felt the magic inside of him swell up, he used it to disappear in a flash of light. When Mahanon opened his eyes again, he was behind Dihiryn; his teleport worked. Ignoring Twilight quickly clapping her hooves together, he threw his hand up and cast Mark of the Rift. Quickly launching a Walking Bomb, the sustained damage quickly proved too much for Dihiryn, who collapsed on the dirt. He tried to get up, but only fell back down again. When Twilight landed next to him, she raised a hoof and smacked him across the face. “That’s for trying to kill Shining Armor and Cadence!” “Relax,” Mahanon said, walking up to them and pulling Twilight’s hoof away. “Now the question is, what do we do with him?” “You don’t have the guts to kill me,” he spat. “I’m too valuable. I hear what the red lyrium says to me; you want to understand it, no? I am the perfect specimen of red lyrium and its effects on living creatures; to kill me is foolish.” “To me, that sounds more like a man trying to beg his way out of death than an offer to defect,” Varric said, walking up to them. “We can’t let him live, he’s too dangerous! What if he gets out, or sweet talks somebody into freeing him? There’s too much risk.” “I don’t really know,” Twilight said, shaking her head. “I want the fighting to be over, but what he did was terrible. And there’s no saying the red lyrium can’t be reversed. It’s up to you to decide.” Looking down at him, Mahanon thrust his staff blade down at his head, shattering it and killing him. “You made the right choice,” Varric said approvingly. The red lyrium surrounding them slowly retreated into the ground, and Mahanon walked to the edge of the summit and looked down. The red glow seemed to fade, and he could see the Crystal Ponies losing ground in the city. “We did it,” Twilight said in disbelief as she walked next to him. “I can’t believe we did it.” Smiling, he looked down at her. “Perhaps now is a good time to celebrate?”