Moondust

by Parallel Black

17 - The Son of the Smith

It was certain now, about the colour of madness.

More than the bright blue of Nightmare’s eager eyes or the sparkling purple of its reflection, the colour was more of a grey; a middling nothingness that provided no information of its own. It gave no clues or dots to connect and forced the observer to walk with their eyes closed, but it still asked to be filled in, and what could one do with that information other than throw a paint bucket against the wall and see if it matched?

A pair of sparkling eyes opened in the void, each one framed by a big, garish, six-pointed star. They blinked, realization slowly coming to the Shade that it was aware. It wasn’t meant to have a consciousness when it was asleep, but it quickly reminded itself that it had come here with its eyes glaring wide in desperation. The grey immaterial shifted far above, the Shade’s destination entering its sight beyond the dips and hills of the flow. With a spiral of amethyst energy leading the way, the speed of the world rose, and the purple silhouette flew through the discoloured sea at a faster and faster pace.

Dreamwalking was something its reflection had tried before, but this was different. The Spirit Layer tended to guide one's thoughts to an extent as the individual explored their own little world. Having one's body join the rest of themselves in this place was not natural. The Shade moved without pause, however; its legs galloping across nonexistent ground and its wings beating in empty space as it tried to escape this tremendously hostile place, leaving its reflection far behind.

-=-=-

A patch of the world moved, the white-grey mess of almost-somethings peeling away to reveal a body—a physical one—willingly snatched from the Material Layer to join all the parts that weren’t meant to be together.

Twilight Sparkle’s eyelids froze as they opened, and she realised she was dying.

The world around her was slowing back down, the feeling of pressure trying to pull her body apart fading as her pale reflection galloped toward their shared destination, leaving her alone in the white-grey sea. She tried to call after it, but the saliva in her mouth had turned to ice. She tried to blink, but her eyes had turned into a pair of glassy spheres in her head. At first she wondered if her physical body had even made it into the Spirit Layer—she’d never cast Teleportation on purpose before, after all—but her joints had merely stiffened, her limbs frozen in place.

Of course they were frozen. Her bag of coins must have been here somewhere and it fared no better. Why was she here? Why was she still here? It had only felt like a few horrifying seconds last time. Her mind raced through the possibilities, but the lack of potential answers only reinforced the fact that she had no idea what she was doing.

She wasn’t some kind of expert on the Spirit Layer; no one was. No pony even knew how it worked, and even after hundreds of years of study the manner in which it connected to the Material Plane was still up for debate. The most anyone knew was that it was where dreams took place, and was therefore, presumably, where one's consciousness took “physical” form.

Her frozen eyes reminded her that she couldn’t look down at herself to check.

The trail her rogue shadow had left was beginning to fade. She considered casting a fire spell to thaw herself and chase after it, only to realise there was a great, gaping hole within her. It wasn’t in her stomach or her head; it was more like her entire body was missing some vital component that made it feel like she was little more than a walking suit. Her magic was gone.

Petrified, she slowly tipped over in the flow like a statue in the mud, panic rampaging through her mind. She raised a hoof to feel for her horn and felt her very existence buckle. Though her eyes couldn’t move, her face was now dipping beneath the surface of the sea, allowing her to watch as the entire limb plummeted into the rushing darkness below. A few shards of crumbling ice followed it down into a yet deeper layer of the world.

Twilight was somewhat used to seeing a strange, imprecise representation of her dorm room whenever she dreamwalked. She was used to being able to step outside and feel the gut-churning vertigo as a pale reflection of Canterlot’s roads and staircases waved and fluctuated beneath her hooves, and the soft warmth of a faint, golden glow from where the royal castle should have been. She’d never seen anything like this. Did the Spirit Layer appear differently when it was being viewed by her physical eyes rather than her mind’s? Was this something integral to Blackwood Close, given its history?

Her thoughts were interrupted as the sea moved around her, with purpose this time. With each shift she felt a tiny tickle against her side, as if a thousand tiny hooves were helping her along. She tried to gasp as she felt something wrap around her front, but as she was hefted upright only a coarse whine emerged from her open mouth. It felt like a pair of forelimbs, their owner standing out of view. Another pair steadied her, and yet another pointed her in the direction of her fading magic trail. The rolling current ahead appeared to writhe and smooth, and it was now when Twilight saw her new companions.

They were as pitch black as the void below, each misshapen in their own unique ways, with stretching legs and irregular heads and bodies. None of them looked at her, their eyes closed with only a pair of glowing, bright blue slits to suggest they even had any. Twilight felt herself being pushed, then carried, then hurried as more and more of the strange shadows joined in. Her remaining hooves rose from the turbulent living sea, but as she finally caught sight of her destination, her heart sank.

It was a hole. A hole as dark as her new friends, like a lake of oil spilling out of the blackness onto the upper layers of reality, eager to claim her. She wanted to struggle, but a warning creak from her limbs convinced her otherwise.

The relative silence gave way to the quiet murmurings of the beings around her. They didn’t sound like words; more like feelings given a voice. Judgements and loose thoughts. “..., .!.., ..?.,” they spoke. “…, …, …!,” said others.

They had reached the cusp of the hole now. The flowing shapes in the sea curled away and around it, taking on a slight tinge of blue in place of their usual pallid sheen. Twilight’s Lunar Shade seemed to have gone this way, too, though unassisted. The trail of magic was nowhere to be seen, leaving only the bottomless void beyond…

Wait…

There was a light down there; like a circular window. Into what, Twilight couldn’t tell. “…!, .!.., …!,” the shadows spoke as a dull blue hoof pushed her in.

-=-=-

The passageways of Blackwood Close blitzed by. Most were new, made up of jagged edges and tight crevices he could barely fit through. The rest were bordered by those few structures that remained untouched, lit by the light of the Moon as it shone through the gap overhead. Within those rooms were the few shadows that remained unaware of what was happening. The rest swarmed after him as he flew, growing to a tidal wave of indistinct figures, reaching with long limbs and inequine faces like rats drawn to the scent of rotting meat.

Reaching back as he flew, a bright bolt travelled along his chain-and-scythe and, with a twist of his wings, he lit the dark alleys with a flash of lightning. The shadows receded, taking their unspoken murmurs and their unwanted attention with them. He’d always avoided this part of Canterlot for the thick feeling of dread that hung in the air, and the Unscheduled Night had only worsened the sensation. The shops bordering the close were abandoned before the riots even began, as dark figures started appearing in the windows. His dear Brothers couldn’t even perceive them, and for that, Black Thunder was grateful.

“I can’t freaking believe it!” came a familiar voice from a little ways off, the haughtiness audible through the other stallion’s normally dullard tone.

A few beats of his wings brought Thunder to a clearing hidden amongst the destruction, surrounded by three intact walls with its top covered by the collapsed tower that once served as its fourth. The upturned lid of a coffin was just visible past the ledge of the upper window, but a pale shadow joined the darker resident in staring down at Thunder as he neared.

Snow Drop’s face was bruised but he looked no worse for wear. His pride, however; the giant earth-pony ran a hoof over the surface of his chestplate, scuffing against the deep cuts the golden monster had carved into its surface. “There’s way more demand for it in the Prancelands, and these scars aren’t going to fix cheaply!”

“Enough of this, Snow Drop,” Dredge responded, his big, black-coated face creasing into a frown. The exhaustion in his voice only emphasized his strong Dvautian accent. He sat with his forelegs folded in what would have been his thinking pose had the earth-pony not been there, his own Lunar Shade sitting beneath him where it belonged. “Manehatten’s houses of gods are expanding from the increased attendance. It isn’t just the Smith ponies rely on in times such as these.”

Snow Drop looked like he was about to take issue with the very concept of other faiths, the tuft of white hair on his head almost shaking by itself. “Sir Dredge! Sir Drop!” Black Thunder exclaimed with a firm stomp, emitting the thundering echo of Sleipnir’s Bray. Both stallions jolted to attention and Thunder took a few steps forward, flaring his wings to help get the feeling across. “Twilight Sparkle is here and she needs our help! What’re you two doing?”

Thunder had long since learned to use his bellow sparingly, considering it tended to cause the lesser recruits to loosen their bowels in terror. Dredge recovered first. He looked frustrated, but his pale eyebrows soon rose, his silver eyes glinting. “The one who bears Sleipnir’s Table?” he asked. Black Thunder nodded and a grin spread across his friend’s face. “That is unbelievable for us! Where is she? Does she wield the Elements of Harmony as the seers say?”

“I don’t know,” Thunder responded. “She is not a fighter, of that I am sure. We need to subdue that monster without killing or permanently harming it, if at all possible.”

Snow Drop’s face grew confused as he came back into the moment, though his pale brown eyes darted to look at something else. “Did you just say what I think you said?”

“Do I need to repeat it?” Thunder asked.

“How are we supposed to kill the Horse Hacker when you can’t even land a hit?”

Thunder resisted scowling at him. “It is Twilight Sparkle’s wish,” he responded. “She will give us a plan, and from there it’ll be up to us to make it happen.”

The frown wavered. Though Snow Drop was emotional, he was a genuine believer if there ever was one. From the moment the seers uttered Twilight Sparkle’s name in the wake of the Unscheduled Night, he had been the one speaking about her the most. “Alright. I didn’t realise,” Snow Drop said, giving a hesitant nod, followed by a shrug. “Then why’re you looking at me?”

Because I’m expecting you to contribute something, you overgrown oaf, the pegasus’ thoughts snarled.

Dredge’s satchel of magical stones clinked against his front as he stood. “She may have a way of purification, just as with Nightmare Moon,” he mused, “but now is not a good time for theory. We should move as we talk.”

They started back toward the center of the destruction. “Apparently Skycroft is here,” Black Thunder continued, “but I don’t know if he got caught up in the fall. Away is currently with Twilight Sparkle, and Seldom was captured.”

Dredge’s eyebrows rose again. “Captured?”

“I don’t know his status.”

“Captured how?” came Snow Drop’s voice from behind them.

“Does it matter?” Thunder responded with aggravation entering his tone. “I am only assuming he is still with us.”

“She’s strong enough to crush someone with her claws as well as her hair,” the earth-pony offered. Referring to the monster as a “she” felt odd, in Thunder’s view.

“That is troublesome,” said Dredge, “though not as much as the blades themselves. They seem very… ‘adaptable’, I think is the word.”

Thunder nodded. “Give me enough time and I’ll be able to break through, but I expect I’ll be left with half a sword, so it would need to be decisive.”

They eyed the scabbard on his back. “I suppose this is that manner of time,” Dredge commented.

Thunder only nodded. There were plenty of ways to subdue a large foe without slaying them, even with only a single strike. One could cause enough pain to drive even the strongest of combatants to beg for surrender. One could cut the tendon within a minotaur’s leg and force it onto its hands and knees, or even take a limb or their eyes if it came to it. The tall creature’s mane was unlike anything he’d fought, however; like living steel with none of the physical restraints of the material.

Perhaps steel was too soft a comparison. To be able to cause so much destruction, the golden blades were much closer to the octite that formed his scythe-and-chain. The creature was truly worthy of being the follower of a being like Nightmare Moon.

Black Thunder felt his hooves tense against the ground as he walked, his limbs and wing joints beginning to build up strength, readying themselves to spring into battle at any moment. He took a silent breath and calmed himself down. Not yet. His mind needed more sorting before he could properly commit to the life-or-death fight it would take to make it to the surface of the creature’s skin.

He thought of his first attempt, then his second, then his third. He’d gotten closer each time, the scythe weaving deeper between the living swords while the chain swung heavily behind, unable to restrain anything and rendered useless as a result. After the fourth round it had learned to guard its weak points more readily, and it had begun to ignore Snow Drop’s efforts entirely. Dredge’s fire looked like it hurt, but by the fifth the creature was focusing its fury on Thunder alone.

The creature was clearly intelligent and knew how to prioritise its targets, even as it experienced pain from other sources. If he was going to land a cut anywhere on its body, it would need to be by surprise. No fire, no shouts to challenge it, just the blade upon its skin.

Thunder frowned. He needed an incredible amount of speed and precision just to make it through, so to ask him to leave “nothing permanent, if possible” on top of that was starting to feel like an impossible request. He didn’t know Sparkle’s reasoning behind sparing the creature. Hopefully she could elaborate before he had to take matters into his own hooves…

“An idea for my Brothers,” Dredge began as he led them through an open wall and up the internal staircase. “If Twilight Sparkle has access to the Elements of Harmony, then it is a simple thing to lead the monster out of Blackwood Close. That will let Firebright strengthen our weapons and, assuming the Newlyweds do not need protecting any longer, he and Lockson will aid us to hold her in place while Lady Velvet does her duty.”

The feeling of being watched returned and Black Thunder fluffed his wings as they passed the resident coffin. Beyond it, the wall of the first floor was missing, granting them a good view of the rest of the district. The fight was still going on a ways off, Twilight Sparkle flitting to and fro against the creature’s attacks. Looking to the edges of the district, it seemed they were no longer the only group coming to deal with the situation. As far as Thunder could see, there were Royal Guard and members of the City Vigil flying in a loose formation around the perimeter of Blackwood Close, the civilians having been cleared away. They wouldn’t enter unless it became necessary, of course. Sleipnir’s Hammers were seen as heroes in this city.

Black Thunder scoffed at the thought. He had settled in well enough when he arrived; becoming part of Equestria’s Octenist herd was a natural choice, and the temple was full of fellow blacksmiths from whom he had gained knowledge and admiration, but rising so quickly into the lofty position of Hammer hadn’t exactly been on his to-do list. The respect was appreciated, but he hadn’t intended on being depended upon for much beyond metalworking commissions to support himself. He hadn’t really wanted to be a hero again.

Odd. Why was he feeling sentimental at a time like this?

The little purple alicorn had the wrong colour adorning its horn, Thunder realised. The reality of the situation only came to him as he watched his disguised friend being pulled from the sky by a rope of golden threads.

Dredge watched on with an unmoving face, taking the change into consideration like only a true leader could. Snow Drop pushed to the front, his demeanour deflating as dramatically as the pegasus’ intensified.

“If she does not have them, then we may need help from the Goddess of Canterlot before this is over.”

“Dredge, give me the order,” Thunder asked, though it emerged as a command.

“Hold,” came Dredge’s calm response.

Snow Drop pawed at the edge, looking for a way down to join the fight. “We need to do something,” he said. “He’ll be killed!”

“I said hold,” Dredge repeated. His ears twisted in place for a few moments before they settled on where Black Thunder stood. He turned and gave him a smile. “We have company.”

Black Thunder could only frown in confusion at that as another shadow breathed down his neck. None of the other Hammers knew of his extra senses, so why was Dredge…

“What’s the situation?” came the voice of a mare behind him.

Black Thunder turned to see Twilight Sparkle staring back. His legs bucked and sent him a dozen and a half paces into the open air, his breath going still even as his heart thumped in his chest. Where did that come from?! his mind reeled as he hovered. The mare’s appearance reminded him that this was a “she” and not a “that”. The realisation calmed him, but the look on her face—that strange smile, those eyes like dinner plates—gave him the distinct sense that this was not who it seemed to be.

Furthermore… How? When? She had just ‘appeared’ without a sound. Even the air had remained still until the moment he turned to face her. If there was an assassin in the world capable of such things he would have been dead several times over.

Her face was still staring at him. “Wh-what’s- th-“ she said. Her mouth seemed to struggle before her facial muscles finally moved, and then her whole body followed. Her legs buckled beneath her and she slumped into Dredge’s grasp, her eyes fluttering erratically as a sphere of white-grey magic bloomed into existence from her horn, along with a swarm of tiny, white, butterflies that left faint trails as they orbited their host. The aura grew and grew until it encapsulated the mare’s whole body, and then a little further until it reached the open air.

Thunder felt the field wash over him as he reentered the room, the distinctive chill of the Spirit Layer gracing his body with each butterfly that came near. That was already an odd thing, well before one took into account the aura’s size. The three of them looked upon the unicorn. She was just a young girl, yet she must have been more powerful than Dredge to be able to cling to life with such a great toll attached to her horn.

The elder unicorn stared with nothing short of childlike wonder on his chiselled face. Like Snow Drop, Dredge followed the ways and rites of Octenism more strictly than most, and to him, the words of the seers were gospel. “By Sunflare’s grace, she’s here,” he spoke with revere. Had he not been holding her he would have raised his hoof for a momentary prayer.

Thunder brought himself into view and did it for him, receiving a quick smile as thanks.

“How is she?” Snow Drop asked, glancing between the mare and the butterflies that surrounded her.

“She is awake, but fading.” Dredge repositioned her so that her dimming eyes faced the ceiling. “I do not know how she got here, but I don’t think she will be here for long if I do not act.” His horn lit with a dark grey aura and he placed a number of colourless stones upon the mare’s chest. He closed his eyes and placed his hooves upon either side of her face, and his breath went silent. In a matter of moments his whole body relaxed, a faint glow coming from underneath his hooves as the magic of the world around him began to follow his will.

The other two watched with curiosity. Dredge served as the Hammers’ Nature Magic specialist, but that role didn’t quite do his mark of purpose justice. His true talents lay in his keen powers of magical manipulation and his strategic mindset. While he preferred the slow, methodical approach to combat, he was capable of dissipating magical constructs and of swiping the aura straight from a unicorn’s horn. The dark grey glow slowly spread up his big, black hooves. Though Dredge had no aptitude for Spirit Magic, sure enough, the giant aura began to shrink. Quickly and erratically at first, the energy flowed into the stones upon Twilight Sparkle’s chest, granting them a pale-lavender sheen, the butterflies slowing their flight as their wispy forms shrank in kind.

Once the edge of the field had passed the tie of his ponytail, Dredge slowly opened his eyes and swayed in place. Snow Drop held him steady as he came to, the voices in the unicorn’s head separating from those of the world around him, and he looked upon the little mare. She seemed unharmed by whatever she’d been through, but the ends of her dark-blue mane had paled as if greying with age. Dredge nodded, satisfied. “Good.”

The aura was still more than twice Dredge’s size, but they couldn’t ask more of him, given the bubble of pale magic that was starting to bloom around his own horn. Black Thunder frowned at the sight. Dredge was only as strong as the gap in his magical stores, into which the magic of the world flowed. What little resting mana he possessed was still enough to push him above the average unicorn, but it wasn’t a healthy amount to handle a Spirit Magic debt with. If he’d been born with any less, he would have spent his life on a hospital bed rather than up here at the top of Octenism’s lofty hierarchy.

Twilight Sparkle looked more peaceful now, and as Dredge retrieved the stones, she closed her eyes tight and raised a hoof to rub her face. “Wh-what’s… where am I?” she asked. “Am I back?”

“Yes, leyling, you are,” Dredge replied.

She stared at the butterflies for a few moments before sitting up. She rubbed her face again, her other hoof making it partway up before settling back at her side. She leaned upon it and nearly tipped over, but Snow Drop held her with a hoof that was half the size of her head. “Are you ok, Twilight?” he asked.

“Huh?” she glanced at him, then down at her left forehoof. “Y-yeah, I think so.” She raised it again and frowned. For a third time the limb rose before it began to quiver, and it was lowered back to her side as if exhausted. “I’m ok,” she added, mostly to herself. “I’m ok.”

Snow Drop and Dredge helped her up. The aura gained a hint of purple for a moment as the foolish mare cast a spell on the affected hoof and shoulder, helping herself to stand. She looked at him. “Is… your friend ok?” she asked the room. “How long was I gone?”

Black Thunder hadn’t seen what happened to Seldom, but the chances were… “I don’t know,” he replied. “You haven’t been gone long. We still have time.”

She gave a nod. “Oh, good.”

He frowned. Twilight Sparkle’s entire demeanour was different compared to when he’d first seen her. The sense of hope she’d proposed her idea with was gone. The look on her face was not one of fear, however; whatever had happened had brought her well beyond that point, to a mental state Black Thunder had seen far too much of in his time. “Are you alright?” he asked, knowing the answer—both the truth beneath the surface and the lie he was going to recieve.

“I’m ok,” she repeated, looking at her leg again with a pair of exhausted eyes. “I don’t think I want to talk about it,” she added, brushing away her greyed ends.

At least she was making it clear something was wrong, so perhaps she wouldn’t wallow. She turned to the hole, looked to where the sounds of battle were coming from, and levitated herself out and down to the ground, the giant bubble of magic lagging behind as she moved. Black Thunder wrapped his hooves around Snow Drop’s generous carriage and hefted him down, soon followed by Dredge, who stepped onto solid ground from a quartet of glowing platforms.

Looking ahead, a set of black tendrils now clashed against the golden ones atop the ridge. It seemed Seldom was ok after all, but there were very few things that could drive him to take on such a horrid form… He glanced to the side, and caught a glimpse of his Lunar Shade wandering over the ruins, several streets away from its owner. “The plan is still to subdue rather than kill, yes?” Thunder asked.

Another nod.

That wouldn’t do. Not at this stage.

“Lady Velvet,” Dredge began, taking the lead by her side. “Do you still command the Elements of Harmony?”

Twilight Sparkle slowed before shaking her head, her supported leg limping as she went. The tiny butterflies occasionally perched against it before continuing their slow dance. “I can probably deal with Peace’s mane, but I can’t defend and attack at the same time,” she answered. She cast her eyes down. “I’m not skilled enough for that yet.”

“That is enough for us, Lady Velvet. If you handle the creature’s hair then that is a big problem off the list.” He held a hoof to his chest as he walked, a smile on his face. “I am Dredge. It is an honour to meet you.”

The mare didn’t respond for a few moments, her hobbled pace consistent as her eyes switched between staring at the ground and the scene of the fight. “I’m happy to meet you,” she responded, sounding anything but.

“If you wish, I can throw the beast off balance with fire, then you handle the hair, and my Brothers will restrain its body?” Dredge suggested.

“I don’t want her hurt.”

His smile wavered at her tone. “It is fine, I think. The creature was not hurt by it, only disarmed.”

Twilight stopped and looked at him, the emptiness in her eyes filling with frustration. Her eyebrows rose and the greyed ends of her mane seemed to curl as if there was a breeze. “I don’t want her hurt, Sir.”

He showed no offense this time, and said no more.

Snow Drop brushed against Thunder’s side as they continued. “She’s different from what I expected,” he commented under hush.

“She’s different from how she was mere minutes ago,” Thunder replied, dropping back a few paces. Seldom came to mind. The first time he’d met him the changeling had taken the most normal form he was capable of. Thunder had responded to the greeting with attempted murder, believing him to be a Tartarian Beast. Twilight had shown little more than mild unease when he crawled out of the dark in full centipede form, and for that she must have been a saint at heart. “Whatever she saw, it wasn’t enough to change her mind about sparing the monster, so I’m going to assume the brothers are both alive.”

“Oh. Good point,” Snow Drop mused.

“I was willing to give her a chance given who she is, but if she’s going to run herself to ruin trying to force that outcome,” Thunder added, a glint in his yellow eyes, “then I will make sure she understands what kind of inequine creature she’s dealing with.”

The earth-pony frowned at him. “You think the leader of the Elements of Harmony hasn’t already thought about that?”

Black Thunder’s sword weighed heavily upon his back. “Twilight Sparkle may be powerful, but she is naive. I don’t know what her motivation is, but it seems clear she hasn’t heard about the Horse Hacker, considering she is still willing to forgive this ‘Peace’, as she calls it.”

“If Twilight says to do it, then we should anyway.”

Blind fool. “I disagree. I am not merciful enough to spare her that knowledge if it keeps us all alive.”

The sounds of fighting had grown quiet. This was roughly the middle of the district, where the slope of the city met a sudden ridge. The spot itself was hidden behind the curve of the hill, beyond which the spires of the Octenic Hall rose tall and proud. The changeling brothers were nowhere to be seen but the Royal Guard was starting to make their way into the outer streets. A few pegasi stood atop the intact buildings that made up the district’s edges, relaying the progress of the fight to those on the ground. If the Hammers fell then the guard would swarm in, and the battle would become a slaughter. The City Vigil would come next, assuming they upheld their duties in the face of such a horrid situation. Black Thunder felt his muscles tensing up. He gave his wings a testing flap to get them into gear as well, and his lightning-yellow tail flished a few times to dispel the lingering heat in the air. It was almost time.

“Are you able to perform Deon’s Pin?” Dredge asked.

“Yes,” Twilight responded.

“And what about Amorphous Bolt?”

“Something similar.”

Dredge’s face brightened again. “Then we have a plan! I am adept with the latter,” he stated, a little glowing cube of solidified magic appearing beside his horn. “I will create as many anchor points as you need, and you tie the creature’s hairs to them one by one.”

“I can only use one instance of Deon’s Pin at a time.”

“There are other ways, I am sure,” Dredge replied with a nod, not missing a beat this time. “Tie its head to a surface; that will make its mane into an easy thing to deal with.”

“I don’t think you understand what Peace is capable of.”

“With due respect, Lady Velvet, you have not told me what you are capable of.”

She paused. “I don’t know what I can do when I’ve got this…” She waved her good hoof around, motioning to the bubble that surrounded her. “... this thing here. I’ve never done this much before.”

Thunder trotted to her side. “Do you have enough information to make a plan, at least, Ms. Magic?”

Another pause. Twilight Sparkle glanced between the fight and the ground again, a look of frustration breaking through the exhaustion. “I can’t think straight right now. I can’t… come up with anything that isn’t either completely illegal or deadly. I don’t know how much more I can do…”

“If legality is a concern, then fear not,” Dredge offered. “I’m certain the Princess would make the necessary exceptions for this night.”

“M-maybe, but I wasn’t strong enough in the first place. That’s the whole reason- w-well, part of the reason I wanted to talk her out of this.”

Snow Drop’s large face appeared between them. “So you don’t have the Elements of Harmony with you?” he asked, making certain what had already been established.

“I only have one of them and it's at home. I don’t even know if they work without the others here.”

No plan whatsoever, then, Thunder thought. The group came to a brief stop, the only thing separating them from whatever had become of the battle being a sheer wall of intact tombs that served as the foundation for a street that ran along their tops. “We don’t have the luxury of getting there and back,” he stated, frowning up at the edge, past which no sounds of fighting could be heard, “and we’re well and truly past the point of negotiations.” He looked back to the lavender unicorn and received the expected look of panic. Twilight Sparkle opened her mouth to protest, but Thunder held up a hoof to stop her. “You’re too young for this, both in strength and experience. You have to let us do our duty, for the sake of everyone in Canterlot.”

“I don’t want her hurt,” Twilight whined. “She’s already suffered enough because of me!”

“Has she?” Thunder asked, raising a lightning-yellow eyebrow. “Two of my Brothers are in grave danger, and you expect me to show mercy toward someone who puts such little value in life?”

“I-it’s not that I’m excusing her, I just need her to understand what she- wh-what I-”

The brow came back down into a frown. “Look around you!” he exclaimed, motioning with his wings. “I accept that she’s sentient, and I suspect she has her reasons for being here and targeting you, but this is beyond the pale. I was willing to try your idea, provided you had some way—any way—of achieving it. Without the Elements you are just a mare with her whole life ahead of her. If you want to be a hero, then don’t throw it away on a vain exercise like this.”

She struggled with that, her exhaustion giving way to frustration. She stomped her bad hoof and nearly collapsed, letting a curse slip past her lips before glaring back at him, as if he was responsible. “I don’t want to be a hero!” she yelled. “I just want to make things right, and then go back to my normal life without having to worry about other ponies’ stupid feelings! I’m sick of this! All I ever do is bring misery to people, even when I’m trying to make things right!”

His brow wavered. He hadn’t expected that. His initial impression of Twilight Sparkle matched the pony the seers had spoken of; a little mare who bore a great responsibility on her back, but who would rise to meet the challenge. Sure enough, Nightmare Moon had lost. From day one he’d assumed she was a very determined kind of person, someone suitable of being Equestria’s next great hero. The suggestion of sparing Peace had been a surprise, but one that was more than interesting enough to entertain, and once again, it mirrored the image in his head. Sparing an enemy was always more difficult and heroic than killing them, after all. He had assumed she was a hero on the inside even if she wasn’t strong enough on the outside, but she was breaking down far too early…

He had the sense not to add on the silly label of “chosen one” like certain other Hammers, but of their number, Dredge was by far the most reasonable. A big, black hoof rose between them, and the giant unicorn stepped in, a look of concern on his face. “Mr. Thunder is right, leyling; you are too young for this place.”

Twilight didn’t respond. She sat, one foreleg folding before the other managed to join it, and pouted like a child.

“The Elements would have been the key, but without them there is no way to find a bloodless solution, and if there is no way, then there is no way.”

“Maybe I’m just being dramatic and there wasn’t any hope in the first place,” Twilight muttered to herself.

“There’s always a way,” spoke the least reasonable among them. Snow Drop had turned his frown to the floor, quietly listening to everything that was said.

Thunder took a step forward. “Even if we succeed, do you think she’ll show you mercy afterward?”

The mare eyed him. “I hope she’ll appreciate the fact that nopony died during the Unscheduled Night, and what a bucking miracle that was.”

Ah, so she really doesn’t know. Thunder found himself hesitating. This was the hard part. He wanted Twilight Sparkle to flee, not to crush her positive nature under the cruelty of reality. The idea of Peace in her head must have been very, very different to the one he and his fellow Hammers had entered this fight with.

Still, it needed to be said. “Even if you spare Peace, she will be tried and executed for the ponies she slaughtered throughout the Rabbles,” he stated, calmly.

“That’s enough!” Snow Drop suddenly shouted, his face reddening with anger. “If Twilight wants us to do it then we find a way to do it!”

Thunder’s frustration rose to meet him, a hoof stomping and his wings flaring. “If this were any other enemy then I could! If this were any other monster then perhaps I’d hesitate to cut its throat!”

“You’ll be hurting Twilight if you do that!”

“Calm down! If she can’t do it then she shouldn’t. Protecting the people is our job, not a child’s!”

“And who’s gonna stop her?! You? She’s the chosen one!”

“Snow Drop, be calm!” Dredge demanded.

“No she isn’t! She’s just a child, you fat-headed fool!”

Something struck the side of Thunder’s face, the force almost knocking him off his hooves and the subtle wave of magical manipulation stealing the strength from his tongue.

“That is enough,” came Dredge’s command, the whites of his eyes shining as brightly as the Moon. It wasn’t a bellow, rather it seared through the air like an expanding plume of smoke, choking the will out of whoever heard it. Snow Drop flinched before the heat on his face faded to a stubborn annoyance, while Thunder felt more aggravated from the strike than from the horrid sensation trying to push into his thoughts. “Calm yourself, Black, or you will lose Sleipnir’s grace in its entirety,” Dredge ordered. “I am sorry for that, Lady Velvet.”

The pegasus shook his head and felt the bray disappear faster than it had arrived. That punch could have dislodged his jaw had Dredge meant it, so he counted himself lucky. He recollected himself, fluffing his wings and looking to Twilight to see the results of his argument.

He was expecting a look of horror or hopelessness, but she looked… pensive. It was as if she was trying to find a way to ‘make it work’, to fit the new information into whatever her excuse for a plan was. A few different emotions crossed her face; worry, anger, a quiet panic, and then finally, solemnity. She looked back to him and Dredge. “Do you have any idea where you’re going to send Peace if you kill her?” she asked.

“I’m… sorry?” Dredge responded.

“I saw… I think I saw something I wasn’t meant to see,” she began, her eyes darting to her weakened forelimb. Another butterfly perched upon it. “When I tried to teleport to Mr. Thunder I got stuck halfway, in the Spirit Layer, and…” The calm broke, her pupils dilating as her leg shivered with cold. “... I think I almost died. Th-there was this great big void underneath everything, and I was going to fall in…”

“Leyling… this is all reason for you to rest. If there is a way, then I shall try it, but if-“

“If there is no way, then there is no way,” Twilight finished for him, her experience finally showing in her eyes, though their sparkling nature returned for the briefest of moments. “I’ll fight her. I’ll take her other arm if I really need to, but I won’t let anyone kill her. I don’t want anyone to end up where I almost did.”

Perhaps I misjudged you, Thunder considered. “Capture and subdue, then.” The monster deserved the void far more than Twilight, but for now, he would relent. The goal set, he turned back to the wall and steeled himself for the figure standing atop it.

Once again, the tall mare loomed over them, the bright Moon reflecting off her bare skin, but her mane did not follow. “Are you all done?” she asked, her golden eyes betraying the intensity that lay beneath her calm tone. The grotesquely realistic mimicry of a pony's coat still hung from her waist, burned and ruined from Dredge's efforts.

“Yes,” Twilight responded. She rubbed the tiny cut on her cheek. “I’m ready to accept your challenge.”

“Finally.” Her mane began to unfold itself behind her. “We can finally make use of this arena properly.”

Thunder had heard the quiet crunkle of pebbles underfoot and the ever so slight whistle the tall mare’s mane produced as it moved in place, but her gaze had been what tipped him off to her presence. He’d been a fool to assume she was a mindless beast, given the overwhelming feeling flooding from every fibre of her being. He wasn’t sure what emotion it carried, but her gaze, at least, left a mark with enough deadly intent to singe the hairs on the back of one’s neck.

Snow Drop looked like he’d been taken by surprise. He was the only one. You need to leave, you fool, Thunder thought. For as little as he got along with the earth-pony, and for as wide the gap was between their abilities, Snow Drop had a family to go back to at the end of this. He needed to consider his son’s future instead of throwing his life away in a fight to which he could not contribute.

Thunder looked back to Peace, and noted the lack of blood anywhere on the lengths. Dredge seemed to have the same thoughts on mind, the unicorn eyeing her for clues and any signs of aggression. “What has become of our changeling Brothers?” the unicorn asked, as calmly as ever.

“One of them is dead,” Peace responded dully, her eyes flicking between them.

Thunder had expected that, so his hooves didn’t move and his jaw didn’t tense. “May I see them?” he asked, unfurling his wings.

The creature didn’t respond this time, merely closing her eyes and taking a few steps to the side, resettling her gaze on Twilight. With a quick glance of approval from Dredge, Thunder took the opportunity and flew past to see what had become of his friends.

The ruins up here had been further reduced to rubble, the hard, dark rock laying in piles along with a number of coffins whose occupants sat staring with their bright blue slits as he approached, his own eyeless Shade staring back from amongst them. Before them came Seldom, his powerful, chitin-covered tentacles laying in butchered pieces across the road, separated from his body. The changeling himself lay on his side, one eye barely open, with his wound-covered chest moving ever so gently. One of Seldom’s remaining limbs drew Thunder’s gaze onward, and the bright amethyst flash that signalled the beginning of the fight highlighted the other figure present.

Away was sat upright against a broken wall, one of his limp limbs wrapped by Seldom’s. He was surrounded by lavender feathers and covered in injuries, but he was awake, in a sense. Another flash, this time of both amethyst and dark-grey as Peace’s lengths were finally outnumbered by a cascade of Amorphous Bolts. The sound they made wouldn’t come close to whatever chaos was happening in Away’s mind. His eyes cycled through a myriad of colours, staring up at where his horn should have been. Faint, misshapen fields of magic traveled down his body and crackled beneath his pale chitin as it tried to take on a different form. Something to escape the pain, most likely.

Thank Sunflare the monster had been mistaken. Away was only irreversibly injured.

Black Thunder cast his chain-and-scythe to the floor and drew his sword, the blade curving as it left its scabbard for the first time in years, the lightning design shimmering in the moonlight as it went. He spread his wings and felt the cobbles quake beneath his hooves. He felt his trusty cloak upon his back, though it was laying unused in his smithy, and his ears boomed with the drums of war, though he had left them far behind in Roamia. With his mane crackling with energy, the shades scattered out of sight, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished.

The fight had been going on for a few minutes now. The patch of stone Peace had been defending was on its way into the neighbouring alley, leaving a trail of magic in its wake, and the air crackled with power as Snow Drop used his strength to press a giant, amethyst shield against her, forcing her back into the broken mess she’d created. Dredge’s fire followed close behind, funnelled underneath by another of Twilight Sparkle’s magical constructs. The monster screamed and her remaining hand cleaved through the shield to throw Snow Drop back to the lower street. Another shield appeared alongside Twilight, and with another gout of flame she galloped into the air with Peace following close behind.

And behind her, came a black blitz. Nothing reached Thunder’s senses other than the glinting of the target’s golden mane as it rose off the ground. Not the heat of Dredge’s flames, or Snow Drop’s safe landing, or the look of despair mixed with rage on Twilight’s face, or the sound of Peace’s furious screams in response. The fire parted to Thunder’s blade and so did the remains of Twilight’s shields as he rose, each one filling with electricity before bursting into flickering shards. His wings turned and his legs twitched as if he were still on solid ground, ready to dart and spin in response to any threat, and his teeth clenched around the hilt of his sword hard enough to bite into the metal.

With a second flap he reached her, the edge of his blade finally making it past her lengths, its golden steel outshining hers for the briefest of moments…

… and he felt those tendril-like blades coil around him, and their grip dug cold and deep.

His senses caught up with him as he fell, but his wings did not follow.

Comments

[Comickook]

Again, an excellent job on this latest chapter. VERY certainly well done on the exchanges, characterizations, action references and future chapter set-up. REALLY liked Twilight's reflection on what Peace likely did to her as well as the dialogue with the knights before they got back to the action and Twilight being pragmatic enough that, although she would prefer to save violence as a last resort, still keeping it as a resort (while still drawing the line at lethal force).

Very certainly looking forward to more of this.