Dragon Age: Equestria

by OkemosBrony

Chapter 13: Towers Forever Stain'd

Author's Note:

I worked hard to ensure I could get this out a day early, and I did! Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans, don't forget to set your scale back 10 pounds!

Mahanon’s eyes shot open to see a bright blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds instead of the usual dark ceiling of his cottage. Looking around, he saw grass growing all around him, with a few small trees in the distance.

Confused, he stood up and looked around him again. He did not remember falling asleep in a field, let alone going to one. He did not even remember falling asleep.

“Don’t suppose you’d know anything about this?” he heard a voice ask from his left side. When he turned around, he saw Dorian walking up towards him.

“You don’t remember coming here either?” Mahanon asked skeptically.

“Not at all,” he shook his head.

“Certainly a strange circumstance,” he heard Vivienne coming from his other.

“Both of you?” Mahanon asked. They both nodded.

“I remember being at home, and then I was here,” Dorian said, to which the others nodded.

“This feels like a dream,” Mahanon said, looking around. “Solas brought me to a shared dream once. Perhaps we’re in one together?”

“Solas was a hedge mage,” Vivienne pointed out. “I doubt any of us possess the abilites to do what he did.”

“Perhaps it’s elven,” Dorian suggested.

“If it’s me, I’m not trying to do it,” Mahanon defended.

“Well, you’re wearing a shirt,” Dorian pointed out. “So it certainly can’t be my dream.”

“And the Dalish camp in the distance probably means it’s yours, Inquisitor,” Vivnenne said as she pointed behind them.

Turning around, Mahanon saw the distinct triangular sails of a Dalish camp in the distance, as well as a few elves and Halla.

“Clan Lavellan, I presume?” Dorian asked as he crossed his arms.

“I do recognize some of the aravels,” he said in mild shock.

“So we’re going to a family reunion, then?” Vivienne asked. “Do you really miss home so much you pulled us in with you?”

“Perhaps I did miss it more than I realized,” he admitted.

“Well, if this is anything like those trite holiday tales, you need to learn a lesson or face your fears to escape a dream,” Dorian said. “Well? What are we waiting for?”

“I suppose it’s better than doing nothing,” he shrugged as they walked towards the Dalish camp. When they got closer, they saw a few elves going about their duties; some were picking herbs, some were carrying boxes, and others were hammering away on aravels to fix them.

“Recognize anybody?” Dorian asked. “Any family members you may need to have a teary reconciliation with?”

“No family, but…” he looked at one of the elves picking herbs for a few minutes.

Vivienne and Dorian looked at each other, then back to Mahanon. “Is something the matter, dear?” she asked.

“She’s been picking herbs for a few minutes now,” he noted. “Yet not a single herb has been removed from the ground.”

They looked at the elf he was watching, and as he had said, the elf was going through the motions of picking herbs, though nothing was being done.

“She’s probably not important enough for your mind to actually have her interact with the environment,” Vivienne scoffed.

“You’re probably right,” Mahanon said, trying to shake an uneasy feeling off him.

“Go find someone important and see if the tears start flowing,” Dorian said.

Looking into the center of the camp, Mahanon walked up an older woman, who was facing away from them and had her face in a book.

“Keeper Istimaethoriel?” he asked, tapping her shoulder. When she did not respond, he walked around to her front, where she was reading intently. “Keeper, is everything alright?”

When she looked up at him, she immediately dropped the book and grabbed his neck, forcing him to his knees.

“Inquisitor!” Dorian yelled, but before he and Vivienne could react, dark tendrils of magic shot out of her back and grabbed them, then suspended them in the air.

“What...are you?” Mahanon managed to choke out.

The Keeper’s face grew angrier and started emitting magic like the tendrils grabbing his companions, but before she could finish choking him, a bright blast of magic shot out from behind him and changed the Keeper into a swirling mass of magic, which dropped him and his companions.

“What on earth is that?” Dorian exclaimed as he stood up and pulled his staff out.

As the magic moved to strike Mahanon, another blast of magic came from out behind him, stopping it in its tracks.

“It is the Tantabus!” a voice proclaimed behind them. Suddenly, a pony with a dark blue coat and a flowing mane similar to the thing she called the Tantabus jumped in between Mahanon and the magic, staring it down.

“And who is she?” Vivienne asked, more confused than before.

The mare did not respond, instead shooting a continuous beam of magic at the Tantabus, which recoiled and shot away, seemingly causing a rip in the sky itself as it escaped.

“It has escaped,” the mare said angrily.

“Who are you?” Mahanon asked, dumbfounded.

“I am Princess Luna,” she said with a tone that was regal, but hid a hint of pain. “Sister of Princess Celestia.”

“You’re one of the other Princesses?” Mahanon asked. “Twilight and Cadence are with us, and Celestia has been helping us all she can.”

“I am aware,” she stated. “And I have, too. These creatures of the dream world targeted you as soon as the Breach opened in Thedas; I have spent many a night keeping them from possessing you.”

“You’ve been watching me since the Conclave?” he asked. “So you’ve known about me for all that time?”

She gave him a small, sly smile. “Indeed, Inquisitor; it is my duty to protect my little ponies from nightmares. I figured guarding the Herald of Andraste from demons would also be a worthy cause.”

“So you know...everything?” he asked in shock. “About the demons, the Fade, what we’ve done in Equestria?”

She nodded. “I regret to say that letting the Dread Wolf in was a mistake, though; the demons tried much harder to get in after that. He attracts many spirits and demons in his dreams, and spending time in the dream version of Haven with him alerted them to your presence.”

“So we don’t need to fill her in on anything?” Dorian asked. “Good thing, if I had to explain Thedas to another pony I may have lost it!”

“We cannot lose time,” she said, looking at the rip in the sky. “It has likely spread to another dream, and we need to stop it.” She looked up at them. “I have seen you relive your fights in your dreams, Inquisitor; you are capable enough to stop this creature.”

“We’ll do whatever we need to,” he said confidently as he walked up to the rip. “What do we do?”

Smiling, Luna bowed her head and powered up her horn, then engulfed them all in a magic barrier. They felt themselves lifted up off the ground and shot forward, straight into the split in the sky.

---

Armored Ward looked around. He was definitely back in his room in Manehattan. As well as he remembered it, anyways. His posters of the Power Ponies still hung, and his autographed photo of Soarin still proudly framed and on his nightstand.

“Armored Ward, get down here right this moment!” he heard his mother scream from downstairs. He groaned; that was not a good tone of voice for her to have. It guaranteed that he had really messed up and she just found out.

Taking a deep breath, he got out of bed and walked downstairs to the kitchen, where his parents were glaring at him and each of his younger sisters were looking down, trying not to make eye contact.

“The Royal Guard?” she screamed at him, trying to hold back angry tears. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“Wait, what?” he asked in shock. “Am I not back on leave?”

“No, this letter came saying you leave tomorrow for basic training!” she yelled as she held up a piece of paper with the Royal Guard seal stamped on it.

Looking at all his family members, he began thinking. He had clear memories of this; it was they day his family found about his enlistment. He hadn’t told them in fear of how they would react, but all that came undone when he forgot that he would receive his summons in the mail.

So why was he reliving it?

“Am I having a nightmare?” he wondered out loud.

“You?” his mother yelled, slamming her hoof down on the table. “I’m the one who figured out in a letter that my son has just signed his death sentence!”

Out of nowhere, a bright flash appeared in the middle of the room, and the Inquisitor, Vivienne, Dorian, and Princess Luna crashed out of it. Vivienne and Dorian landed on the table, startling his whole family; the Inquisitor slammed into the fridge; and Princess Luna used her wings to gently float in the kitchen and not crash into anything.

“Is it over?” Dorian moaned.

“What are you guys doing here?” Ward asked as his whole family was motionless, their mouths agape.

“We followed the Tantabus here,” Princess Luna said, landing on the ground. She quickly turned her head to Ward. “This is your dream. What are you dreaming about?”

“The day my family found out I enlisted,” he said painfully.

Quickly turning her head back to his mother, she shot a beam of magic at her, but the magic simply washed over her like it was nothing.

“I do not understand,” she said with a tilt of her head. “She was yelling at you; the Tantabus feeds off regret. What greater regret is there than not telling your mother of your enlistment in a war?”

“It’s...probably my sisters,” he admitted.

Turning her head to the three fillies sitting at the table whose ages ranged from young adults to blank flanks, she powered up her horn again and shot the same spell at them. Instead of moving over them, the spell went into their bodies and changed them from ponies to swirling masses of magic.

The three masses of magic combined together, then flew away, ripping a hole in the wall in the process.

“You’re the oldest, are you not?” Princess Luna asked compassionately. “And their only brother; you view yourself as somepony to protect them, to guide them. You don’t feel like you let your parents down; you let your sisters down.” She walked up to him and looked him in the eye. “Correct?”

Slowly, he nodded his head. “They’re young. I mean, Orchard Blossom’s still afraid of the dark, how was I supposed to tell her her brother was going to go fight a losing war against demons?”

“You’ll let your actions speak for you,” she said with a smile as she put a hoof on his shoulder. “Show her anything can be done.”

“Yes yes, all touchy-feely, lovely,” Dorian chided. “Can we go after that crazy dream-hopping monstrosity now?”

“I was helping one of my subjects recover from his regret,” she said, almost insulted.

“An admirable goal yes, but I’m afraid we have bigger problems,” Vivienne joined in.

“Now’s hardly the time for arguing,” Mahanon scolded them all.

---

Trixie stared at the fire in front of her intently. Its quivering was hypnotic, an unpredictable yet expected variation.

Trixie lifted her head and looked around; she was in a dark forest, with only the fire and her magician’s trailer with her. She stared at the trailer confusedly; she was not a traveling magician anymore, she was a Spymaster. So why were her things with her?

“Anypony here?” she asked, but she got no response.

Going over to her trailer, she walked into the cramped interior and looked at her things; capes, hats, various props, everything she could need. Yet something seemed wrong, like it didn’t belong. But to her, everything seemed normal and in its place.

After quickly looking over everything, she shrugged and walked back out. When she stepped out into the cool night air, a stabbing feeling went through her heart, drawing some tears from her eyes.

“No!” she yelled stubbornly. “The Great and Powerful Trixie does not cry over...over…” She could not figure out why she felt the way she did; she just did.

She quickly turned around and stomped into the trailer again, then grabbed her worn-out copy of Advanced Magic Volume XIII, Version XXIV and flipped through the pages hastily.

“It has to be…” she forced out through tears that were growing in intensity, despite her best efforts. When she got a page titled Emotional Inhibitor Spells, she smiled as best she could as she worked through step one.

In her concentration, she did not even realize the bright flash of light that came from outside.

As she quickly moved through the steps, she felt the tears begin to recede. It was working; she was removing all emotions from herself. Soon, she would be able to think clearly.

“Trixie, no!” a voice behind her cried as a bolt of magic hit her horn, disrupting her magic and removing any effects she had already gained.

“No!” she cried. She tried to power up her horn again, but the magic that had hit it had disabled her own.

She felt a hoof touch her gently and turn her around, where she came face-to-face with Princess Luna.

“Princess Luna?” she asked, trying to make out the pony in front of her through the pool of tears in her eyes.

“Yes,” she said gently. “I am here to help you.”

“I don’t know what’s happening!” she cried. “All of a sudden, I just...just…” She devolved into complete bawling, completely incapable of speaking.

“What’s happening here?” Mahanon asked as he walked through the small doorway of Trixie’s trailer.

“Something is afflicting her,” Luna said, sitting down and bowing her head. She touched her horn to Trixie’s chest and powered it up, which revealed a faint trail of magic leading out of her body and into one of the numerous chests inside.

“You go find out what is causing her this affliction,” she said. “I will try and reverse whatever it has done to her.”

Mahanon obliged, going to the chest and opening it up. He started rooting through the many items it contained; some books, a few bags of coins, a framed diploma from somewhere called ‘Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns’, and a few personal effects such as long-forgotten boxes of soap and a dusty brush.

Even when the chest was completely empty, the trail of magic continued down into it. After studying it for a few moments, he moved it off to the side until he saw what looked like a small piece of paper under it. When he pulled out, he looked at it; it was a photograph of a family of unicorns, with one that looked like Trixie. They were all smiling and hugging each other in a warm embrace of love.

He picked it up, and the trail of magic followed it. Moving it around to confirm his suspicions, the trail of magic followed the photograph still, confirming it as the source of the magic.

“I think I’ve found it,” Mahanon called to Luna.

Without a word, the photograph he was holding was snatched up by Luna in her magic and brought over to her, where she was still sitting with Trixie, who had been reduced to minor sobbing.

“Is this your family?” Luna asked after looking at the photo herself.

“Yes,” Trixie admitted.

Luna quickly shot a short burst of magic at the photo, which transformed into the Tantabus. Before any of them could react, it bolted away out the trailer’s open door and created a split in the sky right above the fire.

“Why do you think that thing chose to torment you in the form it did?” Luna asked, putting a hoof on Trixie’s shoulder.

“The Great and...I haven’t seen my family in a long time,” she said, starting to break down again. “I just left them one day, told them I would back.” She sighed. “I don’t even know how my father’s wheelmaking business is going. I promised I’d share some of the money I got from being a magician, but I haven’t given him anything.”

“It’s not too late to fulfill your promise,” Luna said with a small smile. “Your family will always welcome you back; that’s why they’re family.”

Trixie looked off to the side. “I...suppose you’re right,” she said uneasily.

Luna smiled, then stood up and looked at Mahanon. “Ready to continue our chase, Inquisitor?”

“Lead the way,” he said, gesturing towards the door. He walked out behind her, and she bowed her head to begin engulfing them in magic to travel through the tear.

“Where are Dorian and Vivienne?” he asked, looking around.

“They are not strong enough to travel through dreams as effectively as you are,” she said, somehow without even moving her lips. “Your willpower is truly something to behold. You are adapting to Dreamstriding well. Perhaps I could teach you a thing or two later on?” He heard a little laugh, and when he looked to Luna, she had a small smile on her face.

---

“You heard the Captain!” a voice called from outside Blackwall’s tent. Shooting his eyes open, he thought furiously; why was he in a tent, instead of the Inquisition’s barracks in Neighven?

Getting out of his bed, he walked outside and noticed that there were no longer any ponies or Changelings or any of the strange creatures he found in Equestria; there were just humans, all wearing Orlesian armor.

“What’s going on here?” he asked, walking up to one of the soldiers.

“We are preparing to leave, Captain Rainier!” the soldier said, moving to attention.

“‘Captain Rainier’?” he repeated. “Just what did I order you to do, soldier?”

“We are to take out one of Empress Celene’s allies, as per your orders, Captain.”

“This ally I mentioned...it’s not Lord Callier, is it?” he asked, afraid of the answer.

“Yes, Captain. Orders from Grand Duke Gaspard himself, you said.”

“Disregard those orders, soldier,” he demanded.

“Captain, we cannot simply disregard orders from the Grand Duke,” he said with a slight chuckle.

“I’m your Captain, so you’ll listen to my orders,” he said sternly.

“Captain, just what is the issue with these orders?” a man asked. When he turned his head, Blackwall saw Mornay walking up to them.

“Those orders are wrong,” he said firmly.

“They are orders to eliminate one of the Empress’ close allies.” He walked up to the soldier and put his hand on his shoulder. “I will have a talk with the Captain. You continue preparing.”

“If we carry those orders out, something terrible will happen,” Blackwall said morbidly.

“That is a risk we take as soldiers,” Mornay chuckled. “What is it, then? Do you know of a trap the Lord has placed for us?”

“No, but-”

“Then what is the worry?” he asked.

Before he could respond, a glowing rift opened behind Mornay, and the Inquisitor and a pony jumped out of it.

“Inquisitor?” Blackwall asked, walking up to him and pushing Mornay out of the way in the process.

“Blackwall, you have to listen,” he replied urgently. He then looked to the pony next to him, who was studying Blackwall.

“Who’s she?” he asked, pointing at the pony, who he just realized had both a horn and wings, something he had only seen on Twilight before.

“I am Princess Luna,” she said regally. “We have no time to waste. This is a nightmare: you are being haunted by a demon of regret. Is there anything here you regret deeply?”

“I regret everything,” he said coldly. “This entire day is a nightmare.”

“But we must pinpoint exactly what is haunting you,” she pleaded. “The demon can take any form. Is there something here you especially regret? Something that always stands out when you think of this moment?”

“No,” he replied quietly. “There’s not.”

“Tell us what’s happening,” Mahanon begged. “Maybe we could figure out what it is from that.”

He paused for a moment, then sighed. “This is the morning we murdered Lord Callier.”

“It’ll probably be the soldiers,” Mahanon said to Luna.

Powering up her horn, Luna shot quick bursts of magic all over the camp, hitting nearly every soldier she could find. None of them seemed to feel anything, but when it hit Mornay, his body began dissolving into the Tantabus.

“No!” Mornay yelled defiantly as he was melting into magic. He clenched his fists and grimaced, and the body of Mornay slowed its decay. He turned to face them, and they saw not a human or the Tantabus, but rather a mixture, a body containing the magic of the Tantabus and the Tantabus warping the body into a monstrosity.

“It’s resisting!” Mahanon called out. “Hit it again!”

As Luna bowed her head and began charging a more powerful spell, the Tantabus glared at her and raised its hand, from which tendrils of magic shot out and engulfed her.

“Princess, no!” Mahanon cried out.

“It looks weak!” Blackwall noted, grabbing a nearby sword and shield. “Inquisitor, she may be trapped by it, but it’s still part human; we can defeat it!”

“I just hope you’re right,” Mahanon said as he pulled out his staff and turned back towards the crumbling body of Mornay.

As he cast a Static Cage over the Tantabus, Blackwall blew into his Horn of Valor, then rushed ahead to take on the creature head-on.

As the creature slowly lift one of its arms and powered it up with magic, Blackwall raised his shield in anticipation for the strike. When his mana restored enough, Mahanon cast Winter’s Grasp on it, though it did not freeze.

The Tantabus brought its arm down, though the strike was blocked by Blackwall’s shield. Instead of fighting, it instead turned its eyes to the Inquisitor and lifted its other hand in the air, powering it up with magic.

Realizing it was no longer targeting him, Blackwall taunted the Tantabus with To The Death, and it turned back to him. He began swinging his sword at it, but it soon clenched its fist, wrapping him up in binding magic.

The creature began walking slowly towards Mahanon, but as he cast Flashfire on it, it fell to its knees. Blackwall and Luna were freed, and after quickly shaking her head, Luna began powering up her spell again.

After a few seconds, a massive beam of magic shot out of Luna’s horn and straight into the creature. The decaying process rapidly advanced, and Mornay’s body quickly dissolved into nothing, From the shell it had been hiding in, the Tantabus in the form they had previously known it emerged.

“You’re not going to get away!” Blackwall said triumphantly, but it fled before he could even begin running up to it, ripping a hole in the sky as it went.

“It has escaped again,” Luna said, slightly disappointed.

“What was that?” Blackwall asked in awe, walking up to the rip. He tried to put his hand through it, but it simply passed through as if there was nothing there.

“It is the Tantabus,” Luna explained as she walked up to him. “It seems to be attacking members of the Inquisition.”

“Well, it should know better than to come here next time,” he proclaimed confidently.

“I sense pain in you,” she said enigmatically, looking him over from head to toe. “And it all ties back to here, this moment. Who was that man?”

“Someone who had to hide for years because of me,” he said angrily. “Someone who didn’t deserve what I did to him.”

“We all make mistakes,” she said warmly. “And I can feel that you tried to fix yours by creating good in this world.”

“We can’t fix the past,” he said weakly. “We can only make the future better.”

She smiled at him. “Yes, and the work you’ve done for the Inquisition has certainly made the future brighter.” She turned back to Mahanon, then lit her horn up. “Right, we have no time to waste.”

“Wait!” Blackwall called, running up to her. “Take me with you.”

“You are not strong enough, I am sorry,” she said sorrowfully. “This is a task the Inquisitor and I must perform alone.”

“I see,” Blackwall conceded. “Good luck, then. Both of you."

---

Sera heard knocking from the doors to her chambers. “Lady Sera?” a frail, meek voice asked.

“What is it?” she angrily demanded.

“The reading of Lady Emmald’s will is going to begin shortly,” the voice responded, even more scared after her outburst.

“Lady Emmald?” she repeated. “She’s been dead for years! Who are you?”

“Lady Sera, she died just a few days ago,” the voice replied, now filled with legitimate terror.

“It’s just Sera!” she yelled, walking up to the door and swinging it open to reveal a human servant woman cowering in fear in front of her. “And no, that old tit’s been dead for years, ya hear?”

A flash of light came from behind her, eliciting a frightened squeal from the servant as she turned and bolted. When she looked behind her, she saw the Inquisitor and a dark pony standing in her chambers.

“Andraste’s tits!” she exclaimed, pointing to the pony. “Now what in the hell are you and that one doing here?”

“I am Princess Luna,” the pony answered, pointing a hoof at herself. “What is happening here?”

“None of your business, that’s what!” she defended. “How’d you even get here, anyways? Why are we in Denerim, and why was that servant telling me Lady Emmald’s just died? That old bag died years ago!”

“We are in a nightmare of yours,” Luna explained calmly.

“Nightmares?” she responded. “As if! Never had a nightmare in my life, why do you think I’d be starting now?”

“A regret demon is plaguing the Inquisition,” Mahanon explained. “It’s targeted you next.”

“Aw shite, more demons?” she said grumpily. “Regardless, I don’t have any big things from my past haunting me, so you must be confused, yeah?”

“It’s here,” Luna said, unwavering. “There must be something you regret about this time.”

“Nope.” She crossed her arms and looked at them. “Well, then? Go on, go chasing demons or whatever it is you’re doing!”

“Something is haunting you,” Luna said, starting to lose her patience. “The demon would not have chased you here if there was no regret to feed off of.”

“God, you’re annoying!” she shouted. “Fine, let’s just go to this stupid will-reading thing the servant talked about, and then you’ll see there’s nothing!”

“Thank you,” Luna said, her anger melting away.

“Whatever,” Sera grumbled beneath her breath as she exited her chambers, Mahanon and Luna following close behind.

“I guess Lady Emmald really was quite wealthy,” Mahanon noted as they walked through the mansion.

“I told you that!” she snapped at him.

“Just an observation,” he said defensively.

Sera moaned, then they continued the rest of their walk in silence. Whey they walked down a grand staircase into a massive foyer, many eyes turned to them and stared at them the whole way down the stairs.

“Starting to remember why I hate this place,” Sera muttered.

Whey they reached the bottom, Sera turned to the right and lead them to a small door, which she opened. When they stepped through, they found themselves in a small office with bookshelves lining the back wall and a human man sitting at a desk, holding a few sheets of paper.

“Good day, Lady Sera,” he said humbly.

“Just get on with it,” she demanded, pulling out a chair and sitting in it. Mahanon did the same, and Luna stood next to them, carefully observing everything in the office.

“Lady Emmald has left you a large portion of her estate,” he said with a little bit of hope in his voice.

“You don’t think I know that?” she yelled. “Of course she did! What else is new?”

“That’s...it, really,” he said weakly. “I can go through everything she left for you piece by piece, if you’d wish?”

“No!” she yelled, bolting up from her chair. “I don’t care!”

Quickly, Luna snapped her head back to the desk and shot a bolt of magic from her horn to the will, which dissolved into the dark magic of the Tantabus and flew through the cleric, ripping a hole in the bookshelves as it went.

“Wh-what was that?” the cleric cowered.

“Yeah, what he said!” Sera exclaimed.

As the cleric ran out of the room frightened, Luna walked up to Sera. “That is a regret demon; it was feeding off the regret you feel towards this time in your life.”

“Well, it wasn’t getting much, ‘cause I’m not teary-eyed and all ‘woe is me’!” she yelled back.

“You should not hide how you really cared for Lady Emmald,” Luna gently scolded. “It is my job to help dreamers through their issues.”

“Well, then you should keep going, because that thing don’t look too friendly!” she proclaimed, pointing at the rip.

Luna sighed slightly. “Very well; Inquisitor, our chase continues.” Her horn started glowing, and before long, she and Mahanon were completely enveloped in magic as the moved closer to where the Tantabus had fled.

---

“Vivienne, no!” Arouet pleaded, putting his hands up in surrender.

“I made it quite clear, darling,” she said coldly, taking a few steps towards him. “I told you the punishment for rebellion.”

“I will come back!” he begged, getting on his knees. “I will come back to the Circle, whatever you ask! Make me Tranquil, anything! Just please, spare me!”

“I warned you,” she said, charging her Spirit Blade and raising it over her head as a flash of light came from behind her.

“Vivienne, wait!” an unfamiliar voice called out. When she dismissed her blade and turned around, she saw the Inquisitor and Luna running up to her.

“Inquisitor?” she asked confusedly. “And...I swear I recognize that pony, but from where?”

“Why does she not remember you?” Mahanon asked Luna. “And does she not recognize this is a dream?”

“A dream?” Vivienne asked. “I never took you as a dream mage, Inquisitor.”

“I am the Dreamstrider,” Luna said. “And she does not remember us because she is in her own dream; she only knows what happens to her. She was in your dream and Armored Ward’s, so she does not remember those times.”

“I remember what happened,” Mahanon pointed out.

“You have strong willpower,” she said with a small smile. “And the Anchor gives you a greater connection to the Fade than most; as I mentioned previously, you could become a Dreamstrider with much less effort than most need to put in.”

“So then how come is it you’re invading my dreams, now?” Vivienne asked, crossing her arms. Arouet stood up and tried running away from them, but without even looking back at him, she held out a hand and stopped him. “Impolite, dear; I’m not done with you just yet.”

“We’re chasing a regret demon,” Mahanon said urgently. “It’s been moving through the Inquisition, feeding off all our regret.”

“Well, I doubt you’ll find it here,” she replied with a small chuckle. “I do not regret this time, and I am better than letting a demon possess me.”

“It is not possession,” Luna explained. “It hides, it feeds, it grows stronger. Even the most powerful of mages cannot stop it. It is a parasite, not a hunter.”

“Regardless, I do not have any deep regrets anywhere, now that I think of it.”

“You’re going to kill him, aren’t you?” Luna asked, looking beyond her to Arouet, who was frozen mid-stride.

“Indeed,” she replied emotionlessly.

Luna powered up her horn and released Vivienne’s hold on him, and he fell to the ground. “Go see if you can move on from your regret,” she pleaded.

Without a word, Vivienne turned around and walked up to him. He looked up at her hopefully, but instead of helping him, she instead powered up her Spirit Blade and plunged it into his chest.

“Vivienne!” Mahanon called out.

“That was not what you were supposed to do,” Luna said, heavily irritated.

“I had warned him,” she said, walking back to them.

Sighing, Luna shot a beam of magic at Arouet’s corpse, which turned into the Tantabus and bolted away, tearing a hole in the air in the process.

“You seem remarkably unfazed by this regret,” Luna pointed out.

“Of course I regret killing him,” Vivienne said, crossing her arms again. “He was a good man, and a fine mage. A friend, if I do say so.”

“Then why kill him?” Luna asked.

“He rebelled,” she said plainly. “I regret that I had to kill him, but I do not regret taking out another Apostate. I told him not to, and I told him I would hunt him down if he did, yet he went and did so anyways. I regret that it was him that I had to kill, but I do not regret my actions.”

“I don’t see the difference,” Mahanon chimed in.

“Well, I do,” Vivienne said. “And that, dear, is the difference between us.”

“We must chase it further,” Luna said as she powered up her horn.

“I wish you two the best of luck then,” Vivienne said. “If you would, I’ll continue dreaming about Apostates I stopped.”

---

Fancypants looked at himself in the mirror, then tilted his head. How did he get there?

Shaking it off, he turned around and looked at the dressing room he was in. It was rather small, with just a couch up against one wall and a small closet off to the side.

“Sir!” an excited voice said while knocking at the door. “It’s time!”

“Time for what?” he asked as he walked up to the door and opened it to see an excited-looking unicorn stallion with a massive grin.

“You’re a riot!” he said in a seemingly fake laugh. “Now come on you comedian, let’s go!”

“Alright, I suppose,” he conceded, then started following the pony. They walked through narrow, cramped hallways until reaching an entrance area all decorated with flowers and banners.

They stood there for a moment, until the other unicorn pointed at the door. “Well?” he asked with enthusiasm. “Go on!”

“Go on...for what?” he asked in legitimate confusion.

“Okay, you goof,” the other unicorn said with a playful eyeroll. “Now come on, get serious! It’s your big day!”

“My...big day?” he repeated. “My wedding, correct.”

“Well, duh!” he laughed. “What else would today be?”

Sighing, Fancypants turned to the doors and walked towards them, and they opened without him doing anything. As he started walking into the ceremony itself, all eyes darted to him as he walked down the aisle.

Gritting his teeth, he walked to the head of the ceremony and turned around just in time to see Fleur de Lis enter and start walking down the same aisle. She smiled and waved to some of the ponies, but he could see right through it. Her smile was fake, just like his.

When she got up next to him, the old pony standing in front of them cleared his throat, but as he opened his mouth to speak, a flash of light illuminated the ceremony as Princess Luna and the Inquisitor landed right in front of them.

“Princess?” Fancypants asked. “Inquisitor?”

“Hope we’re not interrupting anything important,” Mahanon said, trying to hide a smile.

“Fancypants, you must listen,” Luna said urgently, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “This is a nightmare, and you are being plagued by a regret demon; you must tell us, is there anything you regret about this moment?”

“What?” he asked innocently as a wave of whispers rolled over the crowd. “No, this is my wedding day! What would there be to regret?”

“A guest here maybe,” Mahanon pleaded. “Someone you didn’t want here but invited?”

“Preposterous!” he said, sweating nervously. “Why, I am glad for each and everypony being here!”

“Fancypants,” Luna scolded in a motherly tone, taking a few steps towards him and staring him down.

“I don’t suppose there’s a way to do this in private, is there?” he asked.

“Fancypants,” she scolded again, her horn lighting up.

“Fine, it’s-” He darted his head back and forth before leaning in close. “It’s Fleur,” he whispered.

Without even questioning his answer, Luna turned her head to Fleur and zapped it with her magic. She quickly turned into the swirling mass of magic that was the Tantabus, then fled back down the aisle and tore a hole in the sky when it reached the entrance to the lobby.

“Interesting choice of form for the Tantabus,” Mahanon said, looking at the the hole it escaped through.

“You regret marrying your wife?” Luna asked calmly.

“I...I don’t know,” he admitted. “She is a nice mare, but there’s not much we share.” He sighed. “We married for status, unfortunately. There’s little legitimate connection between us.”

“It may have started for status, but it doesn’t have to continue that way,” Luna said comfortingly. “You still have a wife; perhaps you two could find common interests and start to see if you fall in love?”

“I do suppose it’s worth a try,” he admitted.

Luna smiled, then walked up to the rip as Mahanon followed close behind.

“We’ve visited a lot of dreams,” he pointed out as she began powering up her magic. “Will the Tantabus ever get tired?”

“It will eventually,” Luna replied, again without moving her lips. “It will continue hiding until we give it no more places to hide.”

“That may take a while,” he pointed out.

He heard a small chuckle. “A Dreamstrider’s work is never easy, Inquisitor.”

---

“I am Divine now,” Cassandra explained. “I do not believe we should continue our relationship.”

“Are you sure?” Mahanon asked. “There isn’t something that could work?”

“The Divine should not be devoting time to a lover,” she said sorrowfully. “And I imagine the Inquisitor must also do the same.”

A flash of light blinded Cassandra, forcing her to cover her eyes. When the pain wore off, she looked at the light’s source to see another Inquisitor standing next to a dark blue pony.

“What is the meaning of this?” she demanded.

“I might ask you the same question,” Mahanon asked, looking at the dream version of himself. “Luna?”

Luna powered up her horn and launched a spell at the dream Mahanon, who turned into the Tantabus and fled, ripping a hole in the wall of the Herald’s Rest tavern as it did so.

“What is going on here?” she demanded again, walking up to Mahanon.

“That was a regret demon manifesting as me,” he explained. “It’s been hiding in the dreams of the Inquisition’s members; Princess Luna and I have been chasing it.”

“A regret demon?” Cassandra asked worriedly. “Are you sure? They are very rare.”

“I am certain,” Luna said confidently. “One plagued me for years until it grew strong enough to engulf an entire town.”

“They are very hard to get rid of, I am told.”

“Yes, they are,” Luna said with a little pain. “It must be growing weak, however; we have already chased it through many dreams, and it requires a lot of energy to leap from one dream to another. There is regret in the Inquisition, but I can sense that it has only recently found it.”

“How come we’re back in Skyhold?” Mahanon asked, looking around them. “And why was I here?”

“It was...nothing,” Cassandra said.

“Cassandra,” he said firmly, walking up to her. “The demon would not chase us for nothing.”

“I had to tell you again that we must end our relationship,” she admitted weakly.

“That’s what you regret?” he asked softly, walking even closer to her.

“It had to be done,” she said, unwavering. “There is no time to waste; go defeat the demon.”

“Are you sure?” he asked. “You don’t want to talk?”

“Go,” she demanded. “Talking will not change what has been done.”

“Alright,” he gave in, walking back to Luna. She looked at him empathetically, then powered up her horn in preparation for traveling again.

---

“Do not do this, Dorian!” Halward Pavus pleaded to his son, who was storming down the road out of Qarinus.

Dorian turned around, then looked at his father strangely. “How did you get here?” he demanded.

“I have been begging you ever since you left the house,” he responded confusedly. “And you have been yelling at me this whole time.”

“Well, then how did I get here?” he asked, looking at his surroundings.

“You must have had something come over you,” Halward comforted, walking up to him and gingerly putting an arm around him. “Come home; we fill cure whatever afflicts you.”

“I am perfectly fine, father,” he spat back. “And this ‘cure’ you speak of, does it too involve blood magic?”

“I am only doing what is best for you,” he defended. “Dorian, imagine what you could do! Don’t throw all that away; let us figure out a way to fix this.”

“There’s nothing that needs fixing,” he said sternly.

As his father tried to rebuttal, a flash of light shone from behind him, and the Inquisitor and a pony dropped out and onto the ground.

“Inquisitor?” Dorian asked, shoving his father out of the way and walking up to him. “And who’s your little friend, here?”

“I am Princess Luna,” she said. “This is all just a dream; you have a demon in your mind, feeding off your emotions.”

“A demon?” he asked, shocked. “Well, I doubt that. I think I’d know if I were being controlled by someone besides myself.”

“It’s not a demon that possesses,” Mahanon explained. “It feeds off regret.”

“Regret?” he echoed. “Well there’s not much regret to be had here, I can tell you that.”

“That’s your father, isn’t it?” Mahanon asked, looking over his shoulder. “Is this when you’re leaving Tevinter?”

“Yes, and although I was admittedly not a fan of the time, I would not say it was something I regretted.”

Without a word, Luna powered up her horn and shot it at Halward, who began disintegrating into magic.

“You regret leaving on such poor terms, do you not?” Luna asked comfortingly. “You wish it hadn’t come to what it did, and you wish you hadn’t left it in such a poor state.”

“Perhaps,” he admitted. “Though if you expect me to take responsibility, you are clearly mistaken about when happened.”

“I don’t expect you to take responsibility,” she replied. “You do. Otherwise, the demon would not be haunting you the way it is.”

“You will stop!” Halward cried out, sending a massive ball of magic towards them. They all jumped out of the way, and when they looked back, Halward’s body had stopped decaying and was instead a monstrosity, half human and half Tantabus.

“What’s happening?” Dorian asked, scared.

“It’s resisting again!” Mahanon said, pulling his staff out. “Dorian, help us!”

Dorian pulled his staff out as well and turned to the Tantabus. “I’ll admit Inquisitor, fighting a demon form of my father in my dreams was never high on my list of things I’d thought I’d do.”

When Mahanon cast Static Cage over the Tantabus, Dorian let out an Energy Barrage, assaulting it electricity. The demon raised its staff, which gathered dark magic and swirled it in the air.

When their mana regenerated, Mahanon cast a Walking Bomb curse as Dorian used Spirit Mark on it. The Tantabus slammed its staff into the ground, causing dark magic to erupt from the ground and grab their ankles, gradually pulling them into the earth.

Before they could be fully swallowed by the ground, Luna enveloped their legs in magic, pulling them out of the ground and freeing them from the binding magic the Tantabus had cast on them.

After scrambling back to their feet, Mahanon cast Winter’s Grasp as Dorian cast Lightning Bolt, but neither of the spells had any effect at immobilizing the Tantabus.

After gathering more dark magic around its staff, the Tantabus shot a beam of magic at Mahanon, which engulfed him.

“Inquisitor!” Dorian called out, his voice seeming to fade. Mahanon felt his senses dull and his heart ache, though whenever he tried to fight back, he seemed only to be further trapped.

Just before his vision turned pitch black, a wave of magic came from behind and washed over him, dispelling the magic and continuing on to strike the Tantabus, which changed from the form of Halward Pavus back into the form it had previously taken.

“Not so tough now, are you?” Dorian taunted as he swaggered towards it. Instead of responding, the Tantabus simply turned around and fled, ripping a hole in the sky in the process. “Not quite what I was hoping for,” Dorian mumbled beneath his breath.

“It is growing weak,” Luna proclaimed, walking up to the hole in the sky and studying it.

“I’ve got enough energy in me to keep chasing all night long,” Mahanon said smugly, walking up next to her. “Shall we?”

“I wish you luck, Inquisitor,” Dorian said to them. “Demons are not exactly my idea of a good time, so one fewer in this world is always something to look forward to.”

---

Bzkdlina could hear the throbbing of her heart. It was driving her mad, the only thing she had to listen to.

She looked around. She was sitting in her childhood room back in her parents’ house in Ilihseronntreppziktkaastiikkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkzkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkklkkkkzuuka.

“How did I get here?” she whispered to herself. Had she not gotten her own place when the Changelings started acting suspicious around her?

“Was it all just a nightmare?” she wondered aloud. “Demons...it can’t be. They’re not real.” She looked out the window to see the Breach far in the distance, its sickly green light reflecting off the perfectly polished marble of the city.

Shaking it off as a bad dream, she got off her bed and exited her room, then walked downstairs. “Mother?” she called out. “Father?”

When they did not respond, she looked through the different rooms of her parents’ house until she found them sitting at the kitchen table, both simply grimacing for the sake of grimacing.

“Is everything okay?” she asked worriedly, walking up to them. They simply turned to her and started glaring at her.

“I guess I’ll leave you alone,” she whimpered, but as she tried to take a few steps back, they stood up and followed her, keeping an exact distance between them.

“You’re impure,” her father said angrily.

“Impure?” she repeated. “I’m your daughter, how could you say that?”

“You’re not a true Changeling,” her mother responded, closing the distance between them.

“What does that mean?” she begged as she backed away from them. “Is it true? Were those dreams supposed to be messages? Are you infested by demons?”

Malicious hissing was the only response they gave her. When a flash of light appeared right in the middle of the room, they backed away from it but kept hissing in a show of dominance as Bzkdlina turned away and waited for her eyes to readjust.

Looking back to where the flash happened, she saw the Inquisitor and a dark pony staring her parents down.

“Wait!” she pleaded, running between the Inquisitor and her parents. “What’s happening?”

“You are having a nightmare, Bzkdlina,” Luna said, not taking her eyes off her father. “A regret demon is feeding off of you.”

“Wait, so demons are real?” she asked, whipping around to look at her parents. “So they're possessed?”

“They are demons,” Mahanon clarified.

“Then...what does that make me?” she asked, falling down on her rear in despair.

“Your real parents are not demons,” Luna explained. “These are reconstructions of them. The demon has identified what you regret most and is replaying it to you to feed off your emotions.”

“Just like Changelings,” she said sadly.

As Luna powered up her horn, Bzkdlina’s parents did as well. Curious, Luna powered down her horn, which her parents mirrored.

“The Tantabus cannot even think for itself anymore,” Luna said in a mix of confusion and excitement.

“Why’s it doing everything you do?” Bzkdlina asked, turning to her parents. “Why not do what I do? It’s my dream, after all.”

“We’re both invaders,” Luna said, raising a hoof as the Changelings did the same. “It’s copying what we’re doing since it knows it couldn’t copy you and get away with it.”

“How are we going to do this?” Mahanon asked. He tried reaching for his staff, but the Changelings powered up their magic in response.

“We need to confuse them,” Luna said. “You will need to act, and then while they are focused on you, I shall turn them back.”

Mahanon reached for his staff as Bzkdlina ran away and her parents powered up their magic. As he pulled out his staff and began firing spells at them, they shot a burst of magic for each spell and neutralized it in the air. When Luna shot a beam of magic at them, one of them neutralized her magic while the other focused on neutralizing Mahanon’s spells.

“Bzkdlina!” Luna called out. “We need you to stun them.”

“Me?” she asked weakly, walking between Luna and Mahanon. “I...I don’t know if I can.”

“They’re not real,” she said comfortingly. “You won’t really be attacking your parents.”

Taking a deep breath, she powered up her horn with the bright green glow of her magic. While Luna and Mahanon were distracting them, she shot two quick bursts of magic, immobilizing them. Taking the opportunity, Luna quickly used her magic to turn Bzkdlina’s parents into the Tantabus.

Instead of quickly fleeing, the Tantabus hovered in place for a few moments before slowly moving away from them and lazily ripping a hole in the sky as it went.

“That’s the regret demon?” Bzkdlina asked, scared.

“Indeed,” Luna said, moving up to Bzkdlina and putting a hoof on her shoulder. “It was an interesting form for it to take.”

“Oh.” She looked off to the side. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Are you sure?” Luna asked. “It is a terrible thing to regret something you did to your family members.”

“I just…” She sighed. “I guess after all those years of other Changelings saying I wasn’t a ‘pure Changeling’, I started to believe it.”

“And you feel you let them down because of what you were?” She nodded, which Luna replied to with a smile. “Your existence is not something to be regretted; now that the demons are gone, none of the Changelings can transform. You had free will all along, while they just now are discovering it.”

“I guess,” she admitted. “So what are you going to do with that demon now?”

Luna looked at the rift it escaped through. “It has likely tired itself out.” She turned to Mahanon. “Are you ready?”

“I’m ready,” he said confidently, walking up next to her.

With a look of determination on her face, Luna powered up her horn.

---

Twilight looked around her. She recognized the Golden Oak Library, but why? It had been destroyed by Tirek, why was she in it again?

She heard books falling from downstairs, and she decided to go investigate. When she was far enough down the stairs to see the main entrance to the library, she stopped when she saw the Tantabus.

Quickly, she retreated back upstairs. Hadn’t Luna defeated the Tantabus? And what was it doing in her dreams?

When she saw a flash of light out of the corner of her eye, she quickly turned her head to see Luna and the Inquisitor in her study.

“Princess Luna!” she exclaimed, running up to her. “Thank goodness you’re here. The Tantabus is downstairs!”

“I know,” she said, walking to the stairs. “We have been chasing it through the dreams of the rest of the Inquisition.”

Twilight looked to the stairs, then back to them. “How do we defeat it?”

“We have defeated it in every dream thus far,” Luna said powerfully, stepping onto the first stair. “Inquisitor, Twilight, would you mind?”

As Luna walked down the stairs, Mahanon and Twilight followed her. When they reached the ground floor, she smugly smiled as she walked up to the Tantabus, which was stationary in the middle of the room.

“It appears you have run out of places to hide,” Luna said, powering her horn up. She lowered her head and concentrated hard, and before long, numerous flashes of light appeared all throughout the room, each one dropping off one of the Inquisition’s members which the Tantabus had haunted.

While they all looked at each other confusedly, Luna brought her head back up and smiled at the Tantabus again. “You should not have run so much; you exposed yourself to all of these dreamers.”

“And just what is going on here?” Cassandra asked, looking around at all the Inquisition members who were dragged into Twilight’s dream.

“You exposed their regrets,” Luna said, backing up and powering up her horn with a bright blue orb. “The perfect way to vanquish you back to the Fade.”

One by one, every member of the Inquisition became engulfed in the same blue magic, which all centered on Luna’s horn. The orb grew bigger with each new member adding to it.

When Mahanon felt the magic surround him, the orb atop Luna’s horn grew even more, and she launched it towards the Tantabus. After spasming for a few moments, it dissolved into nothing.

“Can anybody explain what just happened?” Dorian asked.

With a smile, Luna turned to Mahanon. “Thank you for helping me, Inquisitor.”

---

Mahanon’s eyes shot open to see the dark ceiling of his cottage. Sitting up in bed, he put his hands on his forehead and tried to make sense of what had just happened to him.

“It was real, in case you were wondering,” a mysterious voice said. When he turned his head to the source, he saw Luna smiling smugly at him.

“How did you get here?” he asked in bewilderment.

“I have my ways,” she smirked.

“So that regret demon really was haunting all of us?” he asked.

She nodded. “It first started when you noticed you were getting less sleep than normal; that was it ravaging your innermost thoughts while you slept.”

“And it happened to all of us?”

“You the most. Since you are the Inquisitor, the demon fed off you not only for sustenance, but also to hopefully cripple the man trying to banish all demons to the Fade.”

Mahanon sat in silence for a moment. “How come Vivienne and Dorian were in my dream to begin with?”

“You three have a greater connection to the Fade,” she explained. “Being mages and all.”

“Will they remember anything?” he asked. “I know none of them seemed to remember anything when you didn’t bring them through with you.”

“They will not remember anything that happened last night,” she said while shaking her head. “You will, however.”

“So I know all their deepest regrets?” he asked.

“As well as how they act around them.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just think,” she said plainly. “Armored Ward was simply confused, Trixie got emotional, Blackwall tried to change what he did, Sera denied it, Vivienne rationalized it, Fancypants tried to hide it, Cassandra deflected it, Dorian got angry, and Bzkdlina let herself believe it.” She smiled at him again. “How one acts when confronted with their deepest regret gives great insight to who they are.”

“What was the Tantabus trying to get me to feel?” he asked. “And how did I react?”

“You were my favorite reaction,” she said happily. “You were the only one who confronted your regret and attempted to figure out what was happening. And I think we both know what it was trying to get you to feel.”

Mahanon and Luna stayed there in silence for a short period. “So what will you do now?” he asked.

“I shall continue protecting the citizens of the world from demons,” she said proudly. “Should you ever need me, I shall know, and I will seek you out in your dreams. I have spent much time in the realm of dreams, and as such have acquired a good knowledge of the Fade.”

“It seemed like nobody here knew anything about the Fade when we came here,” he pointed out.

Luna smiled. “The first rule of war: never let your foes know what you know.”

“It’s good to have you on our side,” he said happily.

Luna chuckled lightly. “I have always been on your side, Inquisitor.”