In crystal wings, a group of golems flew in formation, their diamantine eyes registering the ground below and searching for targets. There were several gunpowder weapons hanging from articulated limbs under the long oval shape of their main bodies, the magics that kept them in the air too delicate to be disturbed by any kind of offensive spells.
And the guns didn't help much when several griffons, all wearing sweatbands, fell upon them with great warhammers.
-º-
Twilight's shield formed around the orchestrators, then divided in several individual fragments that each trapped one of the golems. She flew to the closest and examined it carefully for a few minutes, dismantling it quietly.
"This," she crushed all the other golems by making their shields smaller "This is a preliminar design at best. Not fit for field use in any way" she crushed the one she had been designing, and turned to the orchestrators "Didn't you tell me Hlaoo was a schemer?"
"A snake" nodded one "Even when being helpful"
"Are you implying that...?" started Reddo.
"A manipulator dislikes being controlled" nodded Twilight. The shields evaporated, letting the remains fall "Even when they go mad, it's be strange for them to just comply. Doubly so for someone who is used to have direct control, like kings do"
"I can only hope he did enough" sighed Reddo.
"We'll have to see" said a pegasus near her.
-º-
The statues outside the outer temple, which Mariela had called the Big Church, were even more eerie under sunlight. Not that Applejack had time to notice, however, being surrounded by foes as she was.
There were several ideas, vague at best, of were Spike and Quibra had gotten themselves to, but at this time her mind's state could've been described as
[ crouch ]
[ jump up->hit foe in chin with head ]
[ twist thorax to avoid spear->grab spear with forehooves->twist spear out of foe's grasp ]
[ jump back out of the sword's reach->whack new foe with spear in the head->whack second new foe with spear in the ribs ]
[ use spear to block sword, holding it vertically->grab sword blade with mouth and yank it out of foe's grasp->pass sword to hooves->hit foe with sword's pommel, grabbing edge between hooves->breath in respite when Spike appears out of nowhere, takes remaining foes by their chests, and throws them away like toys ]
"You fine?" he asked, using the momentary stillness in mid of the battle.
"Could be worse" she showed him several wounds she had gotten, the biggest a deep cut in her left arm "You?"
"I'll probably die healty" he smirked, then cringed at his own joke "Anyway, Quibra and Mariela are going inside the Church, and this is mostly done with. Come," he gestured with his head for her to follow.
-º-
"Lad-" Guntha stopped for a moment, short of breath "Lady Reddo," he did the closest thing one can to a reverence while hovering several hundred meters over the ground.
"You were supposed to report to me this morning" Reddo shot him a look "Did you find any worthwhile information?"
"I may," he gave her a small bag that hung from his neck "Hlaoo seems to have contacted several groups for low quality golems-"
"We already noticed that" Reddo was shifting through the papers that had been in the bag "Anything else?"
Guntha looked at her in surprise for a moment before catching up to himself, "Rubicon, who seems to have been possesed by some entity, plans to-"
"Couple this place and Oneiros?" interrupted Twilight.
Guntha paused for a moment "No, but that's what I'd think at first too. Hlaoo seemed to suspect that the entity planned to use it as part of a bait and switch, but I don't know what for"
-º-
"wOULD YOU BELIEVE-" The wasted body pushed against one of the levers that were around the base of the crystal tube "wOULD YOU BELIEVE THAT IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT i DO HERE?" he pulled from the same lever "iTS ALL A MATTER OF MENTAL CONSTRUCTS. i AM PUSHING BUTTONS AND ADJUSTING KNOBS, SO THE MAIN CONSTRUCT IS STABLE AS LONG AS THE PROCESS IS CONTINUED" he pulled from the first lever, ripping it off from its base, and used it to break a panel, eliciting a spark shower "sEE? i JUST GOTTA BELIEVE AND THE THING'S GONNA WORK" he said between dry heaves.
Hlaoo didn't answer.
"wHAT'S WRONG, THE CAT ATE YOUR TONGUE?" a cat popped up on top of the body's head, and immediately ran away upon noticing what was under his feet "gET IT?" the body grinned for a moment, waiting for an answer "wAIT WAIT WAIT, YOU WAITING FOR A VALIANT RESCUE OR FOR YOUR SERVANT TO BREAK THE TEETH i HAVE LEFT? oR PLOTTING A GRAND REVENGE?" it laughed, using the lever to break another panel "nAH, i DON'T SEE IT HAPPENING. nOW, i JUST HAVE TO..." the body trailed off, managing several panels "sAY, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW ONEIROS, THE REAL WORLD, AND THIS CITY INTERACT AT META-MEMETIC AND ARCANE LEVELS, DON'T YOU?"
Hlaoo didn't make a sound, instead watching at the floor.
"aH, TOO BAD. i REALLY FELT LIKE MONOLOGUING RIGHT NOW"