The sounds of battle fade away as I rush down the stairs, flickering torches lighting my way through the cold darkness that surrounds me.
There’s a blast further down, followed by the sound of machinery coming to life. When I reach the bottom of the stairwell I find two dead guards before an empty elevator shaft and a rapidly-descending cable. Forcing the gates open, I grab the cable and slide down, landing hard on the elevator as it stops.
Smashing my way inside, I land as Mangus flees into a familiar lobby and through a set of ornate double doors. They slam shut as I rush over and try to kick my way through. Concentrating my magic into a single, powerful beam, I slice through the locks and push through, the hallway of golden crystals. Running forward, I cut through the second set of hastily-welded doors, ignoring the pain in my head. I can take it.
A kick shatters the broken weld, and I emerge into the Alicorn Sanctuary.
There’s no sign of Mangus.
The doors close behind me as I look over the towering chamber, my gaze darting to and fro, listening for the slightest sound. There’s nothing on the ground floor; Mangus isn’t on the second and its many shelves, books, scrolls, and massive alicorn statues perched beside the railings. Even with the light from the enormous chandeliers, I can’t see Mangus.
Where is he?
A flash of green light. I hurl myself to the floor without thinking.
“Has anyone ever told you how stubborn you are?!”
I have a brief glimpse of Mangus darting behind a pillar before another spell comes my way, forcing me to roll behind a pillar of my own. Charging my horn, I fire at the two alicorn statues above the doors and blow them apart. The debris collapses, blocking the only way out with several hundred pounds of white marble. It’s not enough to stop Mangus from blasting his way through, but he’d be vulnerable for a few precious seconds, and that’s all the time I need to take him out.
“There’s nowhere left to run, Mangus!” I call out. “You're not getting out of here!”
Blasts slam into the pillar.
“Wrong, Silverspeak! It's you who's not getting out!”
The blasts stop.
“You can’t win, Silverspeak! No matter how hard you try, you’re going to lose!”
He’s trying to throw me off balance. Mangus is like the cornered fox who knows that death is close at hand and wants to delay it as long as possible.
“You know something? I’m feeling merciful today! Why don't we make a deal? You let me go, and I promise I won't come after you or your family. I swear on my family name that you’ll never hear from me again! Or we could fight, if that’s what you want. But we both know who’s going to win!”
Buck it, he’s right. I can’t beat Mangus in a magic duel, not with his experience and talent.
“So, what'll it be, Silversqueak? Let me go, or fight a battle you can't win?”
I leap out, get a split-second glimpse of Mangus atop the second floor balcony, and fire a blast.
Mangus dodges it with a laugh. He thrusts his scepter at me, the crystal glowing like an imprisoned sun.
“Have it your way, then!”
The air explodes with a barrage of blasts; I leap away as my pillar is blown apart, my wings shooting me to the second floor as I return fire. Deflecting my blasts with his shield, Mangus hurls one of the enormous bookcases at me. Ancient books and priceless scrolls fly into the air as I’m forced to blast the case apart, and then another as more shelves fly towards me.
When the rain of wood and shredded paper dies down, I spot Mangus rushing up the stairs to the third floor. My wings send me up and onto a balcony as Mangus gets off the stairs, his staff already firing blast after blast. A lucky shot clips my side and knocks me into a statue, gears whining as a tube rips and splashes blue liquid onto the floor.
Mangus' magic rips the statue free and smashes into the floor as I roll to the side and blow it apart with my own magic. Magically grabbing a statue, I hurl it into Mangus’ shield, and then another.
The fourth statue finally breaks the shield, throwing Mangus into the wall, but I can’t see it; I’ve squeezed my eye shut against the horrific pain hammering against my skull. Lifting all those statues was so much harder than I thought! Come on, Silverspeak, fight! Don’t give in! You-
Magic forces me into the air. I open my eyes to find Mangus’ scepter holding me up as its owner looks me over. This is the first chance Mangus’ gotten to see me up close and take in my new body, but he’s not impressed.
“I don't know what happened to you,” he says, “but it won’t do you any good.”
I’ve got to fire! Got to hit him when there’s no way he could dodge or conjure a shield in time, but I’ve got to wait a few seconds for the pain to dissipate...
“Tired, Silversqueak? I thought you'd have learned that you’ll never get what you want.”
Keep talking... keep gloating...
“Once again you’re become an abomination upon Celestia’s earth. Guess I’ll do everyone a favor and remove you from it.”
I fire, and Mangus is forced to drop me. The pain returns, but I ignore it, firing again as Mangus leaps aside. I fire into the window beside him, blowing shards of glass through the air. Mangus howls, spinning away as his armor is sliced up, his cheek and neck littered with streaks of blood. He’s trying to yank shards out as I leap forward and smash him into the wall and then swing him over my head and down the stairs, where he rolls, bounces, and finally slams into the floor three stories below.
Running down, I knock his scepter away and throw Mangus into another pillar, where he drops, moaning in agony.
“It’s over, Mangus.”
Mangus grins through his bleeding face. “And what are you going to do, Silversqueak? Kill me?”
I don't give him the satisfaction of an answer.
“That’s pretty bloodthirsty for someone like you.”
A kick to the face wipes his grin away. “You tried to kill my family!”
“But what if I wanted to change? To better myself?”
“You won’t.”
“And how do you know that?
“Because I know you, Mangus. You’ll never change. Psychopaths never do.”
Mangus coughs, fouling the carpet with his blood. “And I know you, Silversqueak. You can talk all you want about vengeance and protecting your puny little family, but you don’t have it in you. You don’t have the guts to take a life.”
“I’ve killed changelings.”
“Who cares about a bunch of parasites?” Mangus manages to stand, biting down to keep from giving voice to his considerable pain. “Go ahead. Prove me wrong and kill me, here and now. You’re clearly stronger than me. You have magic. I don’t.”
He wants to die? Fine.
I rear back.
“But before you do, tell me this: What would your beloved Princess Celestia do?”
He raises his hooves.
“Would your beloved princess murder an unarmed prisoner?”
I almost do it. I almost throw the punch that would take Mangus' head off his shoulders... but Celestia would never kill an unarmed prisoner. Defeat them, yes. Banish them, strip them of their magic and powers, yes, but she wouldn't end their life.
Mangus waits with that accursed grin upon his face.
Confound it all... even if I throw Mangus into the Canterlot dungeons myself, he'll still be alive. And if he's alive, he’ll never stop hunting me and my loved ones. But I can stop him here. Just one blow to the head, and he'll never hurt anyone ever again.
After all he's done, would anyone blame me for killing him?
My legs shake.
I want to do it. I want nothing more than to see this... this monster bleeding out at my hooves... but I can’t. This isn't what Celestia would do. She wouldn't give in to hatred or revenge. That's not our way.
That's not her way.
I lower my hooves.
I'll take Mangus prisoner. I'll knock him out and drag his limp body back-
Pain, unbearable pain as my vision goes red, lights flashing before me as something hits me. I crumble, crying out. My eyes!
Mangus punched me in the eyes!
Hooves hit me in the neck and I fly onto my back. Scrambling, I blink, my vision coming back as Mangus grabs his scepter and blasts me into a pillar. I collapse, sparks flying from my side.
“You could have done it, Silverspeak!” Mangus laughs. “You really are pathetic!”
I scream and fire a spell. So does Mangus. Our blasts hit, filling the room with light. I force myself to my hooves, keeping up the pressure as I try to power through Mangus’ spell, but he holds strong, refusing to budge.
The light grows, filling the sanctuary as our spells roar, tendrils of energy lashing into pillars and walls, leaving deep gouge marks as I struggle onwards.
Mangus sweats as he shoves his magic against my own.
The pain in my head spreads like a spider’s web, reaching deep into me, slashing, tearing, stabbing as I try to keep my spell going. I can’t fail! Not now! But Mangus’ red magic is overpowering my own. I can’t give in! I can’t! I force myself to try, ignoring the blood pouring from my nose and eyes-
An explosion of light.
I’m flying. I hit something and slam into the floor with a crunch.
Everything goes silent.
“I warned you.”
I turn as Mangus emerges from the darkness.
“I told you what would happen if you fought me, but you didn't listen.”
I’m about to get up when red magic forces me to the ground. I can’t even kick or lash out as Mangus comes to me, amused at seeing his foe so helpless.
“You were always going to lose, Silversqueak. Even if you beat me, and Chrysalis was defeated, your parents are dying. There’s nothing you can do to save them. Any dreams you had of your big happy family are never going to come true.”
I try to make my legs move, to lash out with all the strength they have, but they remain as still as stone.
Mangus leans in close. “I want to share a little revelation I’ve had,” he says, “something I learned when I was back in the dungeons. It was there that I realized that life loves to take everything you care about. Family, friends, dreams... it takes them all, laughing and mocking you as you try to fight against the inevitable. No matter how good things get, it’s all going to come crashing down.”
I hiss as the scepter is pointed at my eye.
“I’m always going to win. I’m the one who’s always going to be there to stop you. You’ll never get rid of me as long as you live.”
I try to force a spell out, but the pain is too great. I can’t focus, can’t concentrate, can’t–
“You said something when we first met down in Genesis’ dungeons. What was it again? Something about how you had ponies who cared about you?” Mangus grins. “Tell me, Silversqueak, if these ponies care about you so much, where are they?”
The scepter’s crystal glows.
“I guess they don’t love you after-”
An explosion fills the room.
Oh Celestia, am I dead?! Is this the final seconds before I fall away forever and... no, no I’m not dead! That explosion came from near the sanctuary’s doors. I can’t see them through the smoke and ash... wait. There’s something moving towards us.
Mangus spins, furious at the intrusion.
A form emerges from the smoke, a gun in hoof. It’s... Beakbreaker?! But, but... what is she doing here?!
Mangus grins. “Beakbreaker. How nice to see you again.”
Beakbreaker stands her ground, unafraid of the scepter pointed her way.
“You're pretty bold coming down here all alone.”
“Who says I came alone?”
A blast of magic shoots through the air.
Mangus only just leaps aside as two more forms emerge from the ash and smoke. They're not the Princesses, two of the Bearers, or even royal guards... they're my parents.
I've never seen them angrier than they are now.
Mangus' scepter fills my vision. “Come any closer, and he-”
A blast of Mom's magic sends Mangus into a pillar with a loud crunch.
“Get away from my son!”
Free of the spell, I stand as Mom, Dad, and Beakbreaker rush over. “Mom?! Dad?! Beakbreaker?! How-”
“You really think you were going to face this ruffian alone?” Mom says.
I shake my head. “No, no, you have to get out of here!”
“We're not leaving you,” Beakbreaker says.
Mangus struggles to his hooves, casting a spell on himself and on his back that stops his pain.
“Besides,” Dad says. “Three horns are better than one.”
Yelling in fury, Mangus fires a magical blast.
So do I.
So do Mom and Dad.
Our spells collide, annihilating Mangus’ single blast. Mangus conjures a shield as I leap forward, firing again and again, my parents beside me, Beakbreaker firing her rifle. Our attack forces Mangus back as he hurls a blast our way. We fire back, the impact unleashing a shockwave that throws Beakbreaker back. I magically catch and set her down.
Mangus fires again. Dad brings up a shield as Mom and I flank Mangus, forcing him to retreat, howling in fury as he struggles to hold us off.
He’s failing.
“Together!” I yell.
We all fire at once. Another shockwave rips through the air, blowing out the windows and balconies and throwing Mangus back.
With speed born of desperation, Mangus slams his scepter into the floor. A searingly bright light forces me to turn away. Bangs and thunderous cracks fill the air as the tiles beneath my hooves tear themselves apart, fractures racing up the walls and to the ceiling high above. Stone and marble scream as the back half of the sanctuary breaks away, taking a chandelier with it.
I only have time to shove Beakbreaker to safety before I’m falling with my parents and Mangus, all of us plunging inside the falling chunk of the sanctuary, riding it as it races down a slope, cracking and breaking apart as we hit crystals and boulders.
“Mom! Dad!”
The sanctuary slams into an outcropping of crystals. We’re right on the edge of an underground cliff perched between two towering waterfalls, the roar of water almost deafening as I struggle to my hooves.
Mom and Dad groan as they try to stand, both knocked senseless from the impact.
“Mom! Dad! Get up!”
A crack; the sanctuary’s biggest window now serves as our floor, and it’s breaking apart.
“Now!”
Mangus leaps onto me, stabbing me again and again with his scepter. I shout and buck, trying to throw Mangus off as the staff shreds machinery and tubes. He aims for my neck, but falls as a bullet hits him.
High above, Beakbreaker scrambles to reload her rifle.
I stagger to my parents, my legs struggling to respond as my mechanical body bleeds out. I'll have to fly them out of-
Dad's eyes bulge, and he throws me to the side as the chandelier slams into the window. I turn as Mangus spins the chandelier like a giant flail, and only a desperate leap over it keeps me from being crushed. I'm forced to roll as the massive thing sails over me and smashes a ruined wall into dust.
The sanctuary shudders, crumbling against the crystals holding it up.
Swinging the chandelier up, Mangus brings it down with an overhead slam, trying to smash me into paste. He’s crazed, his face contorted as he swings again and again until he’s like a feral animal, all rational thought replaced with insatiable bloodlust.
“Mangus, stop!”
He doesn’t, forcing me to roll beneath the chandelier as he swings it again. My parents narrowly dodge it as the chandelier sails overhead, but Mom’s nicked in the legs. She cries out as blood splashes onto the glass.
Forgetting about me, Mangus hurls the chandelier overhead to crush my parents. I magically grab hold and yank it back, hurling the heavy thing over the edge and into the abyss. Mangus tries to grab it again, giving me an opening to rush forward and kick his snout. A second almost takes Mangus’ head off, and history repeats itself as I throw a third blow and shatter Mangus’ jaw beneath my steel hoof.
Howling, Mangus lashes out with an incoherent scream, his pain-fueled strength knocking me back as he tries to fire, but two blasts stun him and knock the scepter from his grasp.
“Silverspeak!” Dad shouts. “Now!”
Mangus, eyes wild as he races towards my parents, doesn't see me rearing my leg back, servos and gears tightening as I ram my hoof into his chest, knocking him into the wall with the thunderous crack of shattered bones and breaking stone.
Mangus stares at me. He tries to speak, but all that comes out is a groan and a torrent of blood.
Mangus collapses at my hooves. The wall follows a moment later, crashing down with a cloud of smoke. When it fades, what remains of Mangus is partially buried under stones as big as he is.
Mom and Dad come up beside me, panting and drenched in sweat.
“Is he dead?” Dad asks.
Blood seeps out from beneath the stones and Mangus' limp mouth. No breath or wheeze of a dying pony makes the liquid ripple, nor is there any movement under his eyelids. After so many years of wishing that my bully, my tormentor, and the worst, most despicable pony I've ever met would die, my pleas have been answered.
Mangus Bluehorn is dead.
Everything I've read, all the lessons I was taught throughout my life say I should feel deep, soul-crushing guilt for taking the life of another pony. But I don't. In fact, I catch myself smiling. Mangus will never threaten my family again.
"Yes," I tell my father. "He is."
Dad kicks Mangus' leg. "Good riddance."
Beakbreaker's voice drifts down from above. "Are you all okay down there?!”
“Yes!” Mom calls up. “We'll be right up!”
Dad bumps my shoulder as he catches his breath. “Hey. You were pretty impressive, there.” He eyes my horn, beaming with pride. And though she’s trying to hide it, I can see Mom doing the same. They always wanted a unicorn child of their very own. And now, in a way they never expected, they finally got him.
“You were good, too,” I say. “I never thought you or Mom could fight.”
“When your child's life is threatened, you will do anything to protect them,” Mom says, relief overcoming her fatigue. “Their lives become more important than your own.”
Before I can reply or offer another compliment, she reaches out and embraces me, ignoring steel pressing against her. And before I know it, Dad’s embracing me as well.
With a robotic body, I can’t feel their touch as I once could. There’s no warmth or softness, just the sensation of pressure... but that doesn’t make their embrace any less reassuring.
Reaching out, I embrace my parents with mechanical legs and close my eyes, letting the moment last as long as it can.
The three of us stand there, together.
A part of a wall crumbles away.
I don’t want to let go, but I finally do. “We’d better get moving.” I say, spreading my wings. "Now, get on. We need to get the two of you to a hospital.”
“We’re fine, really,” Mom assures me, using her magic to stop the bleeding from the slice on her flank.
“All the same, the sooner we get you there, the better.”
Dad laughs. “Silverspeak, we’re fine!”
“Maybe, but we won’t know for sure until we get you to the hospital.”
Grinning, Dad puts a hoof on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Silverspeak. I got a feeling everything’s going to work out oka-”
A thunderclap. Something wet splashes across my face as Dad's thrown to the floor, blood spraying from giant holes in his side.
Mom screams.
I spin to see Mangus trying to pull himself from the rubble, the suit's leg-mounted blasters raised towards us, one already smoking.
He's taking aim with the other.
Mom roars as she charges Mangus.
The blaster fires.
Mom's blood drenches me as she's thrown to the floor.
Mangus struggles to his hooves, grinning as he reaches for his scepter.
I charge, my vision going red as Mangus tries to pull himself out from the stones atop him. His grin vanishes as I throw the hardest blow I can, my hoof carving through Mangus’ face and leaving a gaping, bloody hole where his eyes were.
Mangus screams as he frantically claws at his face, blood coating his hooves. Those fluids drench me as I rip Mangus from the stones, tearing skin and snapping a leg in two before I hurl him over the walls.
Screams fill the air as Mangus plunges into the abyss, vanishing into the darkness.
I spin to my parents and... Oh Celestia, they’re not moving, they’re not moving, they’re not moving! I grab them and leap into the air as the rest of the sanctuary breaks apart and falls into the abyss.
I fly up to Beakbreaker, not stopping as I land and dash for the exit. Beakbreaker’s shouting something; I can’t hear her as I reach the gates, blood pouring onto the tile as I rush for the surface.
A sound behind me. A yell. I don’t hear it. I hear nothing but the pounding of my heart, and feel only the limp bodies of my parents upon my back as I run.
Hold on, please, hold on!