Camaraderie is Sorcery

by FireOfTheNorth

Chapter 2:27.2 - The Siege

Author's Note:

Translations

Chapter 2:27.2 – The Siege

Twilight Sparkle scowled at Castle Garland from behind the earthen bulwark and lines of sharpened stakes that surrounded Prince Braid’s camp that encircled the castle. Braid hadn’t wasted a moment after his army was gathered in setting out to crush Vasil’s rebellion. After two days of marching, they’d encountered some of the force that had defected to Vasil. A short battle had ensued that left the rightful prince victorious and the rebels scattered or retreated to Vasil’s keep. Another short battle had been fought upon reaching Castle Garland, and the majority of the rebels had retreated inside the castle’s walls. There were some that had escaped the encirclement and either fled to their homes or roved the countryside, launching attacks on Braid’s army whenever the opportunity arose. Once the hordes joined Braid’s army, the latter had been mostly curtailed, the barbarians quickly hunting them down.

Castle Garland was now the last site of the rebellion that mattered, and it had been put under siege. That siege had begun nearly a month ago, and it still continued as the attackers tried to undermine the defenses and starve the defenders out. Sometimes assaults on the walls were attempted, but none so far had succeeded. Castle Garland didn’t hold a candle to Stalliongrad or any of its fortresses, but the Stalliongraders certainly knew how to create a castle that could outlast a siege. Archers constantly stalked the walls of the castle, driving back anypony who tried to approach the walls directly. One landed several paces from the earthworks that Twilight was behind, both a test shot to gauge the wind and a warning to the sorceress to stay where she was.

The siege itself was an annoyance that kept her from her goal, but her scorn was mostly focused on one of the towers that poked up above the castle’s protective walls. It tipped back and forth at several points and the stonework was crumbling, yet still it stood resolute, propped up by an ancient enchantment. Once, long ago, that tower had been the home of Yliiena the First, the very first sorceress to achieve alicornhood. Understandably, many sorceresses of the time had longed to learn her secrets and had swarmed her tower in droves to request or demand the enchantments she’d used or the chance to be her apprentice. Yliiena was not fond of unannounced visitors and had enchanted her tower and its surroundings so that portals could not be opened here, an enchantment that persisted to this day. If only Twilight Sparkle could have stepped into the keep and located the pony possessed by Discord’s soul … but that would not be possible. Is this what Celestia meant when she said I should not rely too wholly on portals? It was not the first time during the siege that such a thought had occurred to her.

Scowling at Yliiena’s tower would not change anything, so Twilight trotted away from the castle and into Prince Braid’s camp. If she got far enough away, to a spot outside the ring of tents, she could create portals at least. That had been essential as the siege wore on. Her friends had duties in Ponieville and couldn’t stay here indefinitely, so she had devised a schedule for transporting them back and forth as needed. She couldn’t ask them to stay here in the camp forever, but neither could she let them leave entirely. Their Elements of Harmony might yet be required here.

As if to prove the point, picks and shovels suddenly broke up through the ground near Twilight. A trio of sappers poked their heads out before cursing colorfully. They’d expected to be beneath the walls of Castle Garland, not within the camp, and there was nothing wrong with their maps or their tunnel. It simply emerged where it shouldn’t have. This was not the first time this had happened. There was chaos magic afoot, though so subtle or so well hidden that neither Twilight Sparkle nor any of the sorceresses in camp could detect it. She was certain, though, that chaos magic was to blame for the strange occurrences during the siege and it wasn’t the work of an unwise sorceress. Somepony within Castle Garland was possessed by Discord. All the more reason to keep the Elements of Harmony and their bearers close. The first six shards of Discord’s soul that the Brave Companions had found were the opposite of their Elements and had been weakened by the presence of their corresponding Element. There was no telling what the seventh shard could be or what might weaken it. Perhaps one of the Elements of Harmony or perhaps none, but better to work with what one had than dive headlong into a confrontation wholly unprepared.

Twilight Sparkle met Rainbow Dash as she returned to the camp. Unlike some of the others, the Hunter could take her work with her wherever she went in Equestria. She’d only returned to Ponieville once, to pick up some additional equipment and drop off some of the coin she’d earned from monster bounties. Ahead and behind the pegasus’s saddlebags hung grotesque stone heads fully resembling neither pony nor beast, with jagged breaks at the necks. Rainbow waved at her and Twilight trotted over to join her friend as she made her way to the quartermaster, who had begun to handle most bounties now that the camp was a semi-permanent fixture.

“More gargoyles?” Twilight asked rhetorically.

“Yeah, there’re plenty of them around here,” Rainbow said as she trotted along, and Twilight noticed she was favoring her right hindleg, no doubt due to some wound sustained in fighting that she wouldn’t allow to fully heal until the job was done, “I’m amazed they haven’t all been cleared out already. Most of them aren’t even guarding anything.”

Once upon a time, it had been popular among sorceresses to create gargoyles to guard their homes and secrets from overcurious or downright hostile peasants. The practice had never totally died out, but it hadn’t been the norm for a long time. Most of these gargoyles had likely been created by the sorceresses who’d swarmed to the area because of Yliiena, which made them truly ancient. The first alicorn had lived during the Age of Uncertainty, the aftermath of the Conjunction, when magic and monsters had entered the world. Records going back to any time before the Long Winter were shaky on dates, but based on available data, Yliiena had lived between eight and nine thousand years ago. That made these gargoyles only slightly younger, if not equally as old. No wonder they had nothing to guard; those mages’ laboratories would have been demolished and worn away simply by natural forces over time. Like Yliiena’s tower within Castle Garland, the gargoyles had survived only because they were enchanted to resist the decay of time. Judging by the state of some of the heads strapped to Rainbow Dash, they were showing their age as much as the tower was.

“I do not like just sitting here, not knowing if we might suddenly be attacked by whoever Discord is possessing,” Twilight complained to her friend.

I’d be just as worried about arrows or enemy sorceresses,” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

At least a few sorceresses had joined Vasil in his rebellion, though it wasn’t entirely known who had done so and who just couldn’t be bothered to reply to the urgent missive from their sovereign demanding they declare where their loyalties lay. The Principality of Stalliongrad was not like Cant’r Laht, where one’s sovereign was also the leader of sorceresses, nor like Balte-Maer or Los Pegasus, where mages congregated in and answered to independent organizations like the College of Eyes or Applewood Tower. Every sorceress was on her own, and found support for her work wherever she could. They could be a prickly bunch when it came to loyalty, more likely to stand outside politics (or claim to do so while deftly manipulating things) or to follow whatever local lord they most trusted would provide for them (or whomever they could control the most easily). Twilight considered the number of mages actually within Castle Garland to be considerably less than the estimated figures.

“There are more immediate threats, of course, but I would very much like to know who our enemy is,” Twilight said.

“Funny; I thought it was that castle over there,” Rainbow Dash said glibly.

They had arrived at the quartermaster’s tent during their discussion and Twilight’s long silences as she mulled things over. The quartermaster stuck his head out questioningly, and Rainbow motioned that she’d be in in a minute.

“This rebellion is not our fight. Our true enemy is whoever in that castle is possessed by Discord. Likely it is Vasil, but there is not enough proof to be sure. I do not want to be taken unaware,” Twilight said.

“I know that, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash replied, “Why don’t you see if any of the prisoners know anything? Maybe they noticed something when they were around Vasil that could tell us who we’re looking for. I’m sure they’d be willing to talk in exchange for some leniency in their punishments.”

“A leniency I am in no position to offer,” Twilight said.

“They don’t need to know that,” Rainbow Dash said before laughing, “I think you’ve spent too much time in the company of decent, hardworking ponies, Miss Cant’r Laht sorceress, if you’ve forgotten the ability to manipulate adversaries.”

“You may be right,” Twilight Sparkle admitted, “No, you are right. There is nothing to lose by talking to them. Thank you, Rainbow.”

“Any time,” the Hunter said, and she responded at last to the quartermaster’s increasingly loud throat clearing.

While Rainbow Dash collected her bounty on the gargoyles, Twilight Sparkle headed off to a different part of the camp. Checking the sun’s height, she altered her course and proceeded away from Castle Garland. Prince Braid’s camp was arranged in a giant ring around the besieged fortress, with the militancy of the camp decreasing as one got farther from the enemy. The middle of the ring was earthworks, sappers’ posts, and under-construction siege engines. Beyond that was the camp proper, with the tents of soldiers, professional and conscripted intermixed, with the pockets of professionals denser on the inside of the ring. Toward the outer edge of the soldiers’ tents were the tents of the various lords and ladies who’d come along to command their troops, colorful banners erected over equally colorful pavilions calling out which house they belonged to. None had erected their tents without being surrounded by their grunts on all sides, of course, both for protection and to put some distance between them and the outer ring of the camp.

Ranged around the army’s camp, though within a second, less impressive set of earthworks facing outwards, were the camp followers. An army this size couldn’t fail to attract a large following of ponies both asked for and not, wanted and unwanted, and the distinction often depended upon who you asked. There were those vital to the army’s continuation as well as many others; washermares and smugglers, cooks and prostitutes, they all lived in a poorly ordered camp that surrounded the main body of troops, paths through the tents changing from day to day even when the army was standing still.

At least Prince Braid’s troops were devoted to keeping some avenues clear through the outer camp, and Twilight trotted along one of these to leave. On her way out, she met ponies returning from patrol, couriers with pouches clasped with Prince Braid’s seal in silver, and members of the Sage Horde with their round, fur-covered helms, all heading in the opposite direction as the sorceress. One of the guards at the camp’s exit looked to the sky as he noticed Twilight leaving the camp, confirming for himself that she was on time. There was a hill a little way outside the lines where an open-sided pavilion stood, the canvas roof flapping audibly in the breeze even from a distance. Twilight Sparkle was tempted to take an exact measurement of the time but restrained herself. It was near enough to noon, and her friends certainly wouldn’t expect such precision.

Twilight felt relief as she managed to cast her spell properly, a portal materializing in front of her beneath the pavilion. A thin, shining line cut the air before expanding outward with edges that seemed to spread like flames burning apart the threads of reality. It was a question sorceresses had asked since the Conjunction, whether the mechanics of portals were harmful to the fabric of existence; such debates inevitably turned philosophical, however, and there was no consensus even after eight thousand years of argument. There had been no obvious ill effects in all that time, so that was enough to settle the question in most minds, including Twilight’s. As the portal stabilized into a doorway, Pinkamena waved at Twilight from the other side, where she stood many leagues away in Golden Oak’s laboratory.

“Will it just be the two of you?” Twilight Sparkle asked as Pinkamena bounded through the portal, the top few hairs of her poofy mane sliced off by the portal’s upper edge, and Fluttershy meekly followed her, carefully watching the edges of the portal as if it were likely to collapse on her.

“Yes, Applejack and Rarity won’t be returning until tonight,” Fluttershy explained quietly, pulling her tail in as Twilight closed the portal behind the druidess.

“I did not expect you to return so soon, Pinkamena,” Twilight commented.

Normally, her friend would do the same as Rarity and Applejack, returning to Ponieville for the day in order to do whatever work was needed. For Applejack, that meant helping her brother and sister with the spring planting, for Rarity, it meant working in her smithy, and for Pinkamena, that meant baking at Sugar Cube Corner.

“I asked Master and Mistress Cake to let me leave early,” Pinkamena explained as she hopped up and down, “I want to get some extra practice in with Lilian before the performance tonight!”

Shortly after the siege began, Pinkamena had found that her friend was among the uninvited ponies following after the army. Lilian was a talented troubadour, but not so talented that a stallion of his age and health should have avoided being pressed into service as a common soldier. Given the tales Pinkamena had told Twilight about the bard, it made the sorceress wonder whose bed he’d managed to find himself in to avoid that fate. Whatever Lilian was doing in his spare time, Pinkamena certainly enjoyed his company, and he seemed to return a completely platonic friendship with her. The two of them got on well, and their voices and skills on the lute complemented each other beautifully when they performed ballads and songs. There was supposed to be some great performance tonight that the two of them had been working on for a week or more. Pinkamena was in a rush, and immediately took off for the camp to seek out Lilian.

“Well, Fluttershy, I do not suppose you would want to accompany me in questioning the captured rebels about Discord’s soul?” Twilight asked as she glanced sidelong at the druidess.

“Oh, no,” Fluttershy said, “I think I’m going to find Eudos.”

Unless Twilight was very much mistaken, that would be Lord Khosar’s daughter Eudos, not his sister. She and Fluttershy had never met in Stalliongrad, but they were both druidesses, and when Fluttershy hadn’t been tending to her duties for the Ponieville Druid Circle, she had mostly spent her time meeting with the local druids, Eudos at her side. Eudos wasn’t the only Stalanokov present here outside of the royal family; all of Braid’s relatives were staying in the camp or kept nearby. He couldn’t let them remain in Stalliongrad while he was here, not with the threat of them seizing the city in his absence. Stalliongrad had never fallen to siege, but to a coup from within … well, that was another story. Understandably, with Braid living in a tent now instead of the Royal Stronghold, the members of the House Stalanokov came to him with their complaints more boldly and more frequently. Sephas was the most vocal, though she probably had the most right to be as seething mad as she was. Her position at court was much-diminished since the hordes now answered to Grigor instead of her. There were rumors that the former prince’s widow was trying to bribe the hordes back to her side, but they simply seized the shipments of gold and jewels as booty, which she couldn’t dispute without admitting her attempts to undermine Prince Braid.

Twilight and Fluttershy parted ways as they neared the outer perimeter of the camp, Fluttershy skirting the edge to avoid going among the mass of ponies for as long as possible. The guards nodded to Twilight Sparkle as she entered and made her way back along the path she’d trod only recently. She knew where the rebel prisoners were kept, but had never had much reason to go there before. The prisoner tents were located as equally as they could be between the inner earthworks and the outer edge of the army camp, so that any rebels would have to pass as many soldiers as possible if they tried to escape. The canvas of the tents was thick and securely fastened to the ground to keep the prisoners from cutting their way out or sneaking under, and guards were posted all around, showing a remarkable level of discipline. Understandable, since they were pulled from Prince Braid’s personal guard and not from the mass of unwashed conscripts.

The guards didn’t much impede Twilight after she explained why she was here, and one of them set about untying the lines that kept the flaps on one of the tents shut. Before they pulled the heavy flaps back, one of the guards yelled inside for the prisoners to get back from the flap before prodding a ranseur through. When nopony cried out in pain at being impaled, the guards pulled back the flaps and let Twilight Sparkle inside.

Within, three ponies stood back from the flap: two stallions and a mare. They were all wearing fine clothes, though any jewelry or ornamentation had been taken from them. On one of the stallions’ tunics, there was a spot where it was clear a family crest had once been sewn on, but it had been removed on his capture. Naturally, all the prisoners here were noble vassals of Prince Braid. It wouldn’t make sense to imprison common soldiers, and all of these that had been captured had been disarmed and sent away. They’d be escorted back to their farms or businesses in town by governors that Braid had appointed to manage the land of their rebellious lords until he could make permanent appointments of loyal subjects to take their places. The rebellion was still ongoing, but the peasant levies would be of better use tending their fields than helping besiege Garland Castle; Braid had a large enough numerical advantage to be sure of this. Nobles, on the other hoof, could stir up trouble if left unattended before they were formally stripped of any titles and punished. It was possible that the vassals who’d raised their flags in rebellion against their liege would be allowed to return to their positions, if they weren’t a serious threat and their relatives could pay a large enough ransom to make the trouble of their continued existence worthwhile, but most of them would be condemned to execution, exile, or forced to take monastic vows. Until Braid could securely enact judgement on these rebel lords and ladies, however, they waited here.

The prisoner tent was rough on the outside, but the inside was nicer than most of the other tents in the camp. Trunks filled with fine clothing were lined up by one wall, along with a table and chairs. The rest of the tent was partitioned off by hanging canvas, with a cot supporting an actual mattress within each of the “rooms.” Most of the soldiers in the camp slept on the ground within a tent that barely held them, but here these noble prisoners had more open space in their tent than even Twilight did. From a peasant’s perspective, it wouldn’t seem fair, but it was the way of things.

“Feodor Istrykov, Ellis Nacellin, Ander Prekiro,” Twilight Sparkle addressed them in turn. She’d been present when they’d been captured, and remembered their names and houses.

“It’s erich-Istrykov now,” Feodor corrected the sorceress.

For some Stalliongrader families, their house and their holdings were inextricably linked. Feodor was Boyar of Istryar, and thus his family was House Istrykov. It was much the same with House Stalanokov (whose proper name was Stalangrod), which ruled Stalliongrad. Stalanokovs had always ruled Stalliongrad, but they were not all related to the current Stalanokovs. Feodor had had the “erich-” prefix added to his house name due to his rebellion, which placed his relatives in a precarious position. If another member of House Istrykov loyal to Prince Braid could rightfully inherit Feodor’s titles, then the current Istrykovs would continue to rule Istryar and only the traitors would be punished. If, however, that was not doable or not Braid’s will, then another loyal family would be raised up to become House Istrykov, and the current members of the house would be forced to abandon the name and find a new one.

“What do you want, witch?” Ander asked.

Ander Prekiro was Count of Prut Pass, which sat on the border between the Principality of Stalliongrad and the Kingdom of Manehattan. He did not mean witch as a respectful form of address like the hordes’ hetstalans, but as an insult, for he had converted to the True Faith. There was no doubt what sentence Braid would pass down on Ander and his family, since he’d been searching for a way to remove the heathen from the crucial border defenses for years. The only reason it hadn’t been accomplished immediately on Ander’s capture was that Braid wasn’t willing to risk war with King Hadish while the rebellion was still ongoing. Ander wore an amulet of dimeritium around his neck, which he doubtlessly and incorrectly believed would protect him from any spell Twilight could wish to cast.

“I wish to ask you if you witnessed any strange occurrences while you were with Vasil. Anything that you would find difficult to explain. I believe that either he or a member of his entourage is possessed by Discord. Proof would manifest as chaos magic,” Twilight Sparkle said, not rising to Ander’s taunt. It wouldn’t do any good to argue with him that sorcery was not an abomination.

“Why should we tell you anything?” Contessa Ellis of Sleeping Crag asked haughtily, “Your very presence here is suspicious. Even if Prince Braid is who he claims to be, consorting with foreigners to put down a rebellion of his own subjects is unworthy of a Stalliongrader prince.”

“I came only to provide an outsider’s perspective and aid where needed,” Twilight Sparkle said, “I am not here to aid in putting down the rebellion, only in discovering the truth. I am sure that Prince Braid will be more lenient toward you if you help me in determining what is to blame for this rebellion.”

To Twilight’s surprise, all three ponies laughed at this.

“You do not know nearly as much about the prince as you might think,” Feodor said, “Nor have you considered the alternative. Vasil could still succeed in overthrowing Braid. Better to be rewarded by Prince Vasil IV Stalanokov than to plead for mercy from Prince Braid III Stalanokov.”

“This is about more than just the rebellion or Stalliongrad,” Twilight Sparkle pulled out her trump card, “If Discord is allowed to return, he could wreak havoc on not just your realm, but every realm in Equestria, every realm on Equus!”

“Bah! Discord,” Ander scoffed, “Do you still persist in that story? Everypony in Equestria knows the truth. The Old Witch is weakening. Celestia has lost control of the sun twice now, and on the summer solstice no less in both cases. No stories about evil twins or old gods can cover up that fact.”

Twilight Sparkle continued to try to get them to tell her anything about chaos magic while in Vasil’s service, but it was useless. She tried the other prisoner tents, but her questioning there was equally unfruitful. It seemed that once these Stalliongrader lords had openly betrayed their sovereign, they were determined to persist in their rebellion up to the end and nothing could sway them. Perhaps less savory methods would be able to loosen their tongues or Twilight could read their minds, but neither were possible. Prince Braid would never allow the former, and the latter would have to be done against the subjects’ wills, something that was strongly frowned upon by the sorceresses of Cant’r Laht. By sunset, when she headed back to the hill outside the camp to open a portal for Rarity and Appleajck, she was back where she started, ignorant of what was going on inside Castle Garland and unable to get inside herself.

***

Twilight Sparkle awoke suddenly in the night to the sound of screams. Spike also arose as she threw a cloak on over her nightgown and ventured out into the night. The sorceress conjured up a globe of light and affixed it to the end of her horn as others also left their tents to seek out the commotion, some carrying weapons. The other Brave Companions emerged from their tents sporadically and followed Twilight as she traced the yells and curses coming from nearby. Several rows of tents down, sappers were dragging themselves out of a hole as quickly as they could. Each and every one of them was covered from crest to hoof in blood, which shone queerly in the light of torches and Twilight’s sorcery. Some ponies tried to help the sappers out, mostly guards for the nobles that were either also gathered around or had sent their servants to investigate for them.

“I want t’ know what in th’ Abyss is goin’ on!” a lead sapper cursed as he pulled himself free of the hole and coughed up blood, “Th’ tunnels goin’ awry, an’ now th’ bloody walls start bleedin’!”

The tunnel had partially consumed a tent as it had emerged in the camp, like so many others that had gone wacky, and now it was filling up with blood so that the sappers still trapped were swimming to the edges now. Suddenly, the blood burst into flame, the poor ponies still paddling in it and one who tumbled in at the flash while helping another out were all consumed by the fire. The other onlookers all stepped back as the massive bonfire went up, muttering fearfully. Some touched hooves to foreheads and pulled them up and away as a sign to ward off evil.

Twilight Sparkle squinted and looked away from the fire. There was no doubt in her mind that this was some manifestation of Discord’s chaos magic, but she hadn’t been able to detect its casting at all; that made her even more uneasy than a tunnel of blood suddenly lighting on fire. With the light from the flaming pit of blood, Twilight Sparkle was able to see what otherwise would have gone unnoticed by any in the night other than Rainbow Dash. Shadowy figures were moving through the camp away from the fire with a purpose. They were zigging and zagging, but undoubtedly were headed toward the royal tents. Possibly assassins, though whether the tunnel of blood had been meant as a distraction or was a convenient coincidence, Twilight was unsure.

“Assassins! They are headed for the prince!” Twilight Sparkle yelled to alert everypony present before taking off after them.

Why am I doing this? Placing herself in danger in order to protect the sovereign of a realm that had a history of hostile intentions toward her home—it didn’t seem rational to the Cant’r Laht sorceress. It occurred to her that assassins sent by Vasil might be more likely to talk than the prisoners she’d spoken to today, since they’d have less to lose, but she knew that wasn’t why she was doing this. She couldn’t just stand by and let somepony be murdered in their sleep like it wasn’t her problem if she could do something to prevent it. Rainbow Dash had been correct that she was no longer who she was: a Cant’r Laht sorceress. She was more a Ponieville sorceress now, whatever that identifier meant or would come to mean, and a Ponieville sorceress would step up, even risking her own life, if it meant she could save a life from being taken unjustly.

Rainbow Dash quickly outpaced Twilight as she too spotted the assassins, and Applejack caught up with her. There was no time to check, but she was sure the others were following as well. As soon as she spotted one of the assassins, she teleported into their path. From how they’d appeared and moved at a distance, she’d assumed the assassins were felii, the bipedal cat people that were even more rarely seen in Equestria than satyrs and minotaurs, but now that she was up close, she saw that this had been an inaccurate analysis. They were bipedal and moved with all the grace of the felii, but their faces were more canine than feline. That was only the first thing she noticed, as it was the easiest to grasp. The assassin before the sorceress was unlike any creature she’d ever seen. Black fur covered its entire body, though the hairs moved more like shadows than actual fibers. There were no eyes on its jackal-like face at all, or else it had them closed, a possibility that Twilight only considered when its mouth suddenly opened where there’d been no hint of a seam before, revealing rows of glistening white teeth and a lolling blood-red tongue.

The assassin paid Twilight no mind and jumped over her, rolling briefly before returning to its feet as if it had never deviated from its course to avoid her. Twilight had a hard time keeping her eyes on it while it moved, as it appeared to rapidly flicker through multiple locations. She teleported out ahead of it again as it kept doggedly on toward the royal tents.

“Ye seni cavan’r doros’i!^[1]” Twilight incanted, and glowing chains wrapped around the assassin.

The sorceress stepped forward to examine the creature, but quickly jumped back as her spell suddenly unraveled. It wasn’t like when she tried to create a portal within range of Yliiena’s Tower; this unraveling was … different … strange … chaotic. The chains of pure magic were turned into snakes in the blink of an eye and slithered away. The assassin rose from the ground and turned its eyeless face toward Twilight.

“Eren’r oxelle’i soretta Ye’r mathis!^[2]” Twilight Sparkle shouted, and spears of earth jumped out of the earth and impaled the assassin in several places.

The assassin looked slightly concerned, but otherwise the pillars of earth that had pierced straight through it seemed to have caused no serious harm. Twisting its body unnaturally, the assassin pulled itself free, and its wounds healed themselves rapidly, with dark, wavy fur filling in the gaps. A strangled growl escaped from its throat as it turned its attention to Twilight, annoyed at her inconveniences. The fur on its hands drew back to reveal six sharp claws at the end of each arm.

The assassin lunged for Twilight, and she barely managed to get back in time. She teleported away to get some distance and cast another spell, but the assassin anticipated her somehow and was nearly upon her when she reappeared, forcing her to dodge again. As she fell to the ground, she spotted Rainbow Dash by the light of bobbing torches, slashing at another of the creatures. The Hunter managed to chop off an arm, but it quickly regrew, and claws closed around her sword. Over Twilight, the assassin she’d been facing raised a claw and prepared to strike down at her.

Suddenly, something small and shiny struck the assassin in the face before it could do so. Really, the object didn’t strike the assassin so much as go straight through it, flying out the opposite cheek just as swiftly as it had entered the other. At first Twilight assumed it to be a crossbow bolt, until the string trailing behind it caught in the assassin’s shadowy fur and pulled it up short. Radiating out from where it had been struck, the assassin turned to black dust, some of which drifted away, and the rest of which settled into a pile on the ground before Twilight. The weapon that had killed the thing landed atop the sooty heap, a golden amulet containing a pink gem shaped like a butterfly. Twilight turned her head and spotted Fluttershy standing nearby, a look of shock on her face.

“What did you do?” Twilight asked as she picked herself up off the ground and hastily readjusted her cloak.

“I … I just threw the Element of Compassion to … to distract it,” Fluttershy said, looking at the pile of dust with disbelief.

“They are creatures of chaos,” Twilight said with certainty before yelling out for all to hear, “The Elements of Harmony can defeat them!”

Rainbow Dash understood and swung the Element of Allegiance by its cord toward the assassin in front of her. As the amulet sailed through the shadow creature’s face, it turned into dust. Unfortunately, it looked like only Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had brought their Elements with them from their tents. Concentrating intensely, Twilight Sparkle located the remaining four Elements with her mind. Her magic warped around the Elements as she reached out to them, as it always did, but didn’t fail her like it did when she tried to make portals. With a bright flash and flying sparks, the Elements of Trustworthiness, Mirth, Charity, and Sorcery appeared in front of her. She’d never gone through with trying to teleport the Elements of Harmony before, and a slightly burnt smell reached her nostrils as she caught them in her magic. She hoped that she hadn’t just set their tents on fire, but that would have to wait until later.

Adjusting her sorcery around the warping effects the Elements had, she propelled them through the air to her friends. The Element of Trustworthiness cut through the assassin that Applejack was trying to hold off with a piece of firewood, reducing it to ash. Pinkamena jumped up into the air to catch the Element of Mirth and landed on the back of one of the assassins. When its arms twisted backwards to impale her, she buried the Element it its fur, and she landed heavily on the pile of dust left over. When Rarity caught the Element of Charity, she rushed over to help out a struggling guard who was poking holes into an assassin that kept on coming toward him. Twilight Sparkle settled the Element of Sorcery on her head for safekeeping and teleported to the royal tents.

“What’s the meaning of this!?” Aleksi, Prince Braid’s court wizard, demanded as Twilight Sparkle apparated among the prince’s tents, jabbing a wizened staff at her.

“Assassins sent by the Discord-possessed. Prince Braid is in danger,” Twilight explained quickly as she looked around for any sign of them.

Aleksi didn’t look like he believed her tale, though he didn’t stop the guards who’d been roused by the commotion from running to protect their prince. One of the assassins sprinted around the tents and into view, and the court wizard’s eyes widened.

“Eren uptury!^[3]” he incanted as he leveled his staff at the creature and a geyser of earth flew up from under its feet, shredding it to pieces.

It didn’t take the assassin long to recover, however, shadows stitching it back together. Before it got much farther, though, Rainbow Dash swooped down and sliced it neatly in the middle with her sword. While it started pulling itself back together, she swung her element through it, turning it to dust. Aleksi’s eyes had gotten even wider in the meantime.

“How …” he asked breathlessly.

“Rainbow, you have the best chance of stopping these things. Help secure the prince,” Twilight ordered, and the Hunter hopped to it, escorting the stammering Aleksi toward Braid’s tent and whistling for the guards who were standing around unsure of what to do to follow her.

Twilight wasn’t sure exactly how many of the assassins there were, so she kept watch in case more showed up. She also tried to experiment with possible ways to detect them but wasn’t successful, unless they’d all been defeated already. It wasn’t surprising, given that she couldn’t defect the other chaos magic of the Possessed either.

The sound of breaking wood grabbed her attention, and Twilight dashed in the direction it had come from. The canvas side of one of the tents in the royal camp bowed unnaturally, and the sorceress teleported herself within. Inside stood Braid’s son Grigor, trying to hold off an assassin with a longsword. The heir to the throne was wearing nothing but his nightclothes, and they had been torn and stained by blood from the assassin’s cruel swipes. He brought the sword down through the creature’s shoulder to its waist, but it quickly pulled itself together and held the blade in place.

Twilight Sparkle removed the circlet from her head and threw it at the assassin, the golden band catching around the wrist of its upraised hand. Instantly, the creature crumbled into dust, and Grigor’s sword tip dropped to the ground. Grigor breathed heavily as he stepped back, nearly dripping over the broken washstand that had drawn Twilight’s attention to the commotion going on inside the tent.

“Thanks,” Grigor told her before he collapsed in a pool of his own blood.

***

The last of the assassins were dealt with while Twilight Sparkle was saving Grigor’s life, all still out in the camp. Not one of them seemed to have been trying to reach Prince Braid; Grigor had been the target. If they’d succeeded, would they have then gone after the reigning prince, paving Vasil’s way to the throne without anypony to legitimately stop him? The only way to know now would be to ask whoever had sent them, who was safely locked up within Castle Garland somewhere, out of the reach of soldiers and sorceresses alike.

Grigor entertained the Brave Companions at breakfast the morning after the attack, not allowing the wounds he’d sustained to impede his duties. He’d lost a substantial amount of blood, but he’d been bandaged up in time and would heal so long as he didn’t have to fight in the near future. It irked him that he likely wouldn’t be allowed to participate in the upcoming assault on Castle Garland, but a pony in his position as well as his weakened condition couldn’t risk it.

“I wish I could thank you more for what you did,” Grigor said as he unconsciously ran his hoof along the ear with seven rings in it, a habit he’d picked up, “Let it be known at least that the Brave Companions will always be welcome in Frosthorn and Begen Rock.”

Though Grigor spent most of his time in Stalliongrad as heir to the throne, he also had duties as lord of two territories within the principality. As Count of Frosthorn and Lord of Begen Rock, these invitations were not empty. Not that the Brave Companions were likely to visit those places, unless their participation in this rebellion stretched on much longer than expected. They had already been here longer than anticipated, and it had taken some talking to convince Applejack not to leave by portal this morning instead of staying at Grigor’s invitation. Though they were all devoted to capturing the last shard of Discord’s soul, Twilight did hope that they would all be able to return to Ponieville soon.

“I’ll be honest. I wasn’t sure about my father’s plan to involve you at first, but I’m glad he did,” Grigor complimented the Brave Companions, “Thank you all.”

Grigor winced as he stood to bid them farewell at the end of their meal, clutching at the wound in his side.

“Oh my. Should you be up and moving around?” Fluttershy asked him, and Rainbow Dash smiled knowingly; the Hunter having been in the same position as Grigor on multiple occasions and had often been rebuked for moving too much by Fluttershy as well.

“I must,” Grigor said stoically, “I still have duties to attend to today, the chief of which will require travel over a fair distance.”

“I could shorten your journey, as with the hordes,” Twilight Sparkle suggested, eager to create portals for more than just ferrying her friends to Ponieville and back.

“That is very kind, but I do not wish to take advantage of your abilities, madam sorceress,” Grigor said, “Besides, I will be speaking with the bison, and I doubt anything productive will come of it.”

“Hey! We actually have some experience dealing with bison!” Pinkamena exclaimed, far too loud for anypony’s comfort.

“Well, if y’ mean getting’ in th’ middle o’ a fight an’ piecin’ things back t’gether afterward, then I s’pose,” Applejack said.

“Wait, do you mean to say that the rumors about Celestia bringing the South Equestrian Bison Herd under her control are true?” Grigor asked, “I thought it was all posturing to improve her claim on the south Equestry Valley.”

“Of course it’s true,” Rainbow Dash said, “Twilight here wrote up the treaty herself.”

“Well,” Grigor said, “In that case, I would be pleased to accept your offer and extend the invitation to all of the Brave Companions.”

***

For Twilight, the journey to meet with the North Equestrian Bison Herd wasn’t just a chance to practice her portal-making; it was also an escape from the monotony of her days in camp. Other than Rainbow Dash, her friends frequently returned to Ponieville while Twilight had mostly stayed put. Most of what she’d done in camp had been trying to think of ways to determine who was possessed by Discord, learn about the politics of the Principality of Stalliongrad, and study her normal large variety of subjects related to history and sorcery. The first and last tasks she could have done just as well in Ponieville (especially since she’d sent Spike through to Golden Oak’s laboratory to get the books she was using), and the other wasn’t exactly necessary, but she wanted to be near to the action. Though her mind was often on her portals and she was fully aware that she could travel anywhere in the blink of an eye, she still wanted to maintain proximity to Castle Garland in case the Discord-possessed pony tried something. The bison herd was near enough that she didn’t feel too distant to help if the need arose.

The bison were currently encamped to the south of Castle Garland, in the woods near the town of Prezya, half a day’s trip away on hoof. Twilight Sparkle located them with the reluctant help of Bane Prezakov, the Baron of Prezya, and opened a portal for everypony to pass through. The court that Grigor had gathered around himself looked dubiously at the Brave Companions as the princely heir’s guards passed through the portal first to secure the area. Even after a month of their presence, they still hadn’t gotten used to the idea of these foreigners advising their royals. Twilight knew there had been petitions to Prince Braid to send the Cant’r Laht embassy away, especially with Cadence visiting him to plead Lord Khosar’s case on a daily basis, but so far Braid had seen fit not to grant them. After the Discord-possessed pony was captured, however, things might change.

Grigor’s followers marched through the portal after the heir, and the Brave Companions brought up the rear, Twilight closing the portal behind them once they were all through. Twilight had not wanted to startle the bison, so she’d brought them to the outskirts of Prezya, the residents of which were beginning to gather at a safe distance to investigate what was going on. One peasant yelled about the fence Twilight Sparkle had sliced in half with her portal, but she ignored the shouting as it faded away on their way to the woods. Nopony followed them once it became clear where they were headed.

There were no signs of the bison at first, but before long their yurts came into view, erected among the trees. A pair of young bison lookouts slid down from trees that had had their branches lopped off, using leather strips stretched between their forehooves to slow their descent. The bison in the camp stopped whatever they were doing when they saw the newcomers, some loosening swords in their sheathes or reaching for spears.

“I am Grigor, son of Prince Braid,” Grigor announced himself, to the chagrin of the translator they’d brought along who was supposed to have done so, “I am here to speak to your leader.”

“Ámanti ladde Khan Blaenarratate^[4],” one of the young bison said to an elder, who inclined her head in a motion for the ponies to follow.

They followed along deeper into the camp, Grigor’s guards wary of the bison around them. Baron Bane also looked nervous, which was understandable since he’d apparently tried once to speak to the bison and been run off, and also because his town would be the first to be ransacked if things didn’t go well. The ponies were led to a circle of yurts that looked little different from all the others, except for the rather large fire that had burned down in the center of them. Several bulls sat around the dying embers, sharpening weapons ominously. Their guide spoke to one of the warriors, and he returned a few seconds later with an older bull from one of the yurts.

The bison chief held himself boldly, despite his age and how weathered he appeared. His horns were chipped and gouged from battles past and a scar ran over his left eye, which was milky white. The portions of his hide that were visible were patchily covered in hair that had faded and dulled with age, and his face was swathed in a great tangled beard. He snorted as he approached the pony delegation, but still raised his head, exposing his neck and indicating respect and trust. Something about the way he did it seemed mocking, though, as if he didn’t really mean it.

“Chief Bleached Skulls,” Grigor greeted him as he inclined his head, returning the chief’s gesture in the pony fashion.

“You are not Prince Braid,” was all that the chief said in reply, his bushy brow bent in a frown.

“No, my royal father is needed at Castle Garland, but I have come in his place,” Grigor said, “I am Grigor, heir to the throne.”

“Ha! I did not ask for this foal, but his sire,” Bleached Skulls said as he looked accusatorially at Bane.

“In matters that I can, I speak for my father, and can advise him in others,” Grigor said, keeping a level head.

“I did not ask for an errand-colt. That is what he was for,” Bleached Skulls said as he pointed a hoof at Bane, who visibly recoiled.

This is bad. The bison that the Brave Companions had dealt with had been difficult (though no more difficult than the Appleoosans), but they hadn’t dared demand to go straight to the top. What would I have done had they demanded to speak to Celestia? If things didn’t settle down soon, these bison could prove to be a particularly prickly thorn in Prince Braid’s side. He was already dealing with one rebellion; could he afford to take on another? Not that it would be seen as a rebellion. The Equestrian bison were subjects of nopony, which is probably why the chief demanded to speak to somepony else who also had nopony above them to answer to.

“You will speak to me or nopony,” Grigor said firmly as he stared the chief down, “Now, shall we take a seat and discuss this like civilized beings?”

“My hooves can support me, but if you ponies are so weak, then be my guest. I don’t expect this will last long,” Chief Bleached Skulls snorted, “Your cities refuse to trade with us, but then harass us when we take what we need from the land. They must stop this immediately.”

“Who the villages of the realm decide to trade with is up to them,” said a mayor from a town that the bison had terrorized on their way here, “You cannot force us to trade.”

“A royal proclamation could implement a fine if you do not at least provide access to markets,” Grigor told the mayor thoughtfully.

“Ponies talk and quibble over coin to no outcome,” the bison chief snorted, apparently unimpressed by Grigor’s idea, “If you do not trade with us, then we will return to the way things were before the Peace was agreed. We have honored our agreement for twenty years, but the agreement was made with Prince Bann, not this weak prince, or you, a weak prince-to-be.”

“If you resume raiding villages, then you will know that Braid III Stalanokov is no weak prince,” Grigor said passionately, “The full might of Stalliongrad will be brought to bear on you, and you will be crushed.”

“More talk,” Bleached Skulls said derisively, “We will burn every city from Galloping Gorge to Rainbow Falls to the ground, and no ponies will stop us.”

“That will not be necessary,” Twilight Sparkle interceded, “I am sure that a peaceful solution can be achieved. Your counterparts in the south agreed to come under the protection of Celestia and become her Warden of the South. Perhaps something similar could be achieved here.”

“We have no need of ‘protection’ by a pony prince or take a meaningless title and become subservient to a pony, I’d rather see my entire herd wiped out,” Bleached Skulls said, and Twilight backed off, “That is your wish, to control us as you do the hordes, but you will find a bison much more difficult to yoke than a pony. They may have borrowed and stolen our ways, but they are a shadow compared to us. The greatest mistake our herd ever made was helping those pony settlers and teaching them our ways instead of running them off or slaughtering them. Now they are prized by you, so much so that the heir to the throne makes vows in their way.”

Grigor nearly reached for the rings in his ear but stopped himself.

“We will not be subjugated or cowed. We will not become your subjects,” Bleached Skulls continued, “You will command your cities to open their gates and trade with us, or we will raze your lands and turn your rivers red with blood!”

“If you want a war so badly, then so be it,” Grigor said coldly.

“Go then, and tell your people to flee if they wish to live,” Bleached Skulls said before turning his back on the delegation and tramping off back to his yurt.

The warriors sitting nearby stood and began motioning with their spears for the ponies to leave. Back they went through the camp, an even tenser march now that battle lines had been drawn. Twilight itched to create a portal to get them out of there, but she had no idea how the bison would react, so she restrained herself.

“This is just what we need right now,” Grigor grumbled as they crossed the expanse between the woods and Prezya.

“I apologize if I antagonized him,” Twilight Sparkle said. Much to the ire of the Stalliongraders, she’d found herself marching at the front of the procession with Grigor.

“It wasn’t anything you said,” Grigor replied, “I think that even if I’d promised to grant all his requests, that old fool would have attacked anyway. Either that, or he’d demand more and more ridiculous things that Stalliongrad would undo itself in granting them.”

“Will you be able to deal with the bison?” Twilight Sparkle asked.

“We will lose some villages. Prezya, for one,” Grigor said as he gestured to the collection of cottages ahead, and Bane looked uncomfortable, “We will get by, though. Until Vasil’s rebellion is done and Castle Garland falls, though, it’ll be like fighting with our hooves all tied together. The siege must end.”

***

Three days later, Castle Garland was assaulted. The bison were true to their word and began to scythe a bloody path through the Principality of Stalliongrad. The residents of Prezya and a few other towns were spared as Twilight lent her portals to help them evacuate, but many villages were razed with their villagers still present. Prince Braid could not tolerate this, but he also couldn’t abandon the siege of Castle Garland. His patience with his son and the rebels who’d banded around him was up. Siege engines were hurried to completion, and in the pre-dawn twilight, they began to move toward Castle Garland’s walls.

Three towers had been constructed to assist with the scaling of the outer walls. Castle Garland’s outer defenses were shaped like a trapezoid with one corner sheared off for a gatehouse, up to which ran a long earthen ramp. One siege tower rolled toward the shorter of the parallel sides and two others advanced on an adjacent side, oxen pushing them from within. The defenders, upon realizing they were under attack, rushed to the walls to fire on the siege engines and advancing troops trying to use them for cover. This action also exposed them to the catapults Braid’s engineers had built, and many rebels fell screaming from the walls as flaming casks set them alight. Meanwhile, others advanced on the gate of the castle, protecting a ram to help break down the heavy doors. Braid was going all-out in his assault. If it failed and his siege equipment was destroyed, it could mean another month of waiting before they were ready to attack again. Still, it would be quicker than waiting for the castle to starve.

An hour after the attack began, a segment of the wall suddenly collapsed. The sappers, it seemed, had finally managed to reach their destination without their tunnels diverting off to the middle of camp. Twilight did worry about what this might mean as Prince Braid’s army stormed the gap. If the Discord-possessed pony was no longer sending things awry, then that might mean they were no longer here. The sorceress wasn’t sure how they could’ve escaped, since portals wouldn’t work here and even teleportation close to Yliiena’s tower was a bit dicey, but chaos magic didn’t follow any known rules.

“It is not him,” Twilight Sparkle announced, and another rebel soldier was led away.

Lightning crackled overhead in a cloudless sky as sorceresses clashed, but Braid had forbidden Twilight Sparkle to get involved in the fighting. That was perfectly fine with her, since the embassy from Cant’r Laht was already more involved in this rebellion than they should have been. However, it did keep her away from any chance to identify the possessed pony before they were hacked to pieces. From their experience in finding the anti-Element of Treachery in Grunstead, the possessed pony’s death wouldn’t be the end. Discord’s soul shard would just find another host, quite possibly whoever had killed the previous host. Discord could be loose within Prince Braid’s army, and there was little Twilight Sparkle could do about it. She’d voiced her concerns to the prince, and he’d allowed her to examine every prisoner that was taken, but he wasn’t willing to go further than that.

“Not him,” Twilight said after examining another.

The shadows were beginning to lengthen as the battle passed into its ninth hour. It wouldn’t be long now before Castle Garland fell. The inner castle was composed of two parts, a square keep with a triangular courtyard abutting it. Through the courtyard was the only way into the keep, and Prince Braid’s forces had already breached it. The battering ram was now hammering on the keep’s gates, Braid’s soldiers massed outside and waiting to rush through as soon as they collapsed.

“No,” Twilight Sparkle dismissed another soldier.

Whatever forces weren’t involved with the final assault were busy mopping up throughout the rest of the castle. Within the space between the inner and outer walls were several buildings, including Yliiena’s tower. That was where some of the sorceresses who’d defected to Vasil were making their last stand against Braid’s own mages. There were a couple other stone structures like Yliiena’s tower (though not standing as precariously), but most of the buildings were made of wood, and Braid’s soldiers set them ablaze to flush the rebels out. Twilight Sparkle could see all of this going on from the gatehouse, where she’d managed to move the Brave Companions in order to be close in case the Discord-possessed pony revealed themselves.

“This is not the one,” Twilight said, and another soldier was led off.

She no longer doubted that the pony possessed by Discord’s last soul fragment was here somewhere. Too many strange and inexplicable things had happened today. As if to reinforce that line of thought, a squid the size of an ox fell from the sky outside the gatehouse. Unless one of the battling sorceresses had decided to summon sea-life, this had to be the work of Discord’s chaos magic. Twilight wondered if they’d run out of prisoners when another wasn’t brought to her immediately, but there were plenty still lined up when she looked around. Guards and prisoners alike were staring outside as more sea-life fell from the sky like rain. Fish and turtles and crabs rained down, as well as a whale that crushed one of the now-abandoned siege towers. There was also freshwater life, like frogs and kelpies. All fell to the ground with wet sounds of death, and Braid’s soldiers sought shelter to avoid being crushed as some of their comrades had been.

Twilight Sparkle stood as she dimly felt the presence of chaos magic. If the Discord-possessed pony had managed to mask it all this time, then they were either very close now or using their magic very strongly. She looked around the gatehouse but couldn’t pinpoint if it was coming from any of the guards or prisoners. The sorceress experimentally reached out for the source of the chaos, and it drew her toward the inner gate. She stared out at the keep as aquatic animals continued to pelt down outside.

The world all seemed to ripple for a moment, radiating out from the keep, and the shower of marine life stopped. The chaos magic, however, did not. The ground under Castle Garland’s western walls bucked up, throwing stone and the bodies of ponies everywhere. The ground continued to rise to a hill and then a mountain as the base spread up to the keep, continuing to crush or launch soldiers, rebel and loyalist alike. Braid’s soldiers fled as a mountain towered up against the keep, whose walls and towers were now beginning to collapse. Several figures leapt from the keep to the slope of the new mountain and ran up its side faster than they should have been able to.

Rainbow Dash took off into the air to get a better look with her Hunter eyes. The ground shook again, and towers crumpled as another mountain rose up on the other side of the first as the fleeing figures crested it and began to ascend. A line of mountains in decreasing height rose up as they fled, hopping from peak to peak with agility far beyond the ability of even mountain goats. Rainbow Dash followed as long as she could, but even she couldn’t keep up with the fleeing ponies. She thought she caught the sight of light glittering off the head of one, however. Vasil, who’d had himself crowned prince prematurely.

One of them turned back to face her momentarily, though at this point she couldn’t see any details. Dark clouds suddenly blocked her path, appearing from nowhere, and they didn’t act like clouds when she tried to fly through them. She became stuck in them, as if they were made of the same substance as a spider web. They were also heavy, or became so as soon as she was entrapped, and began to fall. She barely managed to free herself before hitting the ground. When she broke free, she could no longer see the fleeing ponies from Castle Garland. She had to tell Twilight about this. Vasil had escaped, as had the Discord-possessed pony—perhaps one and the same.

Comments

[hamster wizard]

Falling marine life? I don't suppose anyone spotted a bowl of petunias as well?

[TasermonsPartner]

Another exciting chapter with lots of action and detail! The Northern Bison were something of an unexpected twist. I wonder why the cities refused to trade with them? Bias? Racial/Speciesest behavior?

It was possible that the vassals who’d raised their flags in rebellion against their liege would be allowed to return to their positions, if they weren’t a serious threat and their relatives could pay a large enough ransom to make the trouble of their continued existence worthwhile, but most of them would be condemned to execution, exile, or forced to take monastic vows [LS5] .

Um, this link doesn't go anywhere except back to the start of the chapter?

“Feodor Istrykov, Ellis Nacellin, Ander Prekiro,” Twilight Sparkle addressed them in turn. She’d been present when they’d been captured, and remembered their names and houses. Twilight Sparkle addressed them in turn. She’d been present when they’d been captured and remembered their names and houses.

There had been no obvious ill effects in all that time, so that was enough to settle the question in most minds, including Twilight’s. As the portal stabilized into a doorway, Pinkamena waved at Twilight from the other side, where she stood many leagues away in Golden Oak’s laboratory. There had been no obvious ill effects in all that time, so that was enough to settle the question in most minds, including Twilight’s. As the portal stabilized into a doorway, Pinkamena waved at Twilight from the other side, where she stood many leagues away in Golden Oak’s laboratory.

Accidental line repeats.