• Published 19th May 2020
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Rekindled Embers - applezombi



Hundreds of years after the death of Twilight Sparkle, a brutal theocracy rules over ponies with an iron hoof. A young pegasus mare slowly learns the truth about her world, and the lies her faith is built on.

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Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Emberglow’s Dream Journal, Entry #13

I remember that night being one of the worst in my life so far. I barely slept. When I did, there were nightmares.

Of course there was worse to come, but I had no idea yet.

Things were so insane at the time that I didn’t even have time to make a journal entry, so this was penned down months after the fact. So much has happened since then. I hope it’s not cheating to make a journal entry about a dream that happened months ago.

Anyways, to the dream: I don’t always see symbolism in my dreams, but this time it was pretty unsubtle. I was chasing after a flame, a darting, dancing orange lick of fire that flitted about the dark clouds around me. I wanted to grasp it, to catch it and hold its warmth close to my chest.

Finally I did, and it burned. It was agony, but I held on. It was so warm, even if I felt my fur singing and flesh blistering. It was killing me, but I didn’t want to let go.

Finally I tried to release the flame, but I couldn’t. I was stuck. I began to scream, to roll around on the floor. I could feel the fire in my bones. It was then I started to hear the bells.

They always ring when She shows up in my dreams.

I felt Her wings first, and suddenly the flames cooled. I felt like I’d been wrapped in a cool blanket of feathers. It was like-

It feels silly to write like this, but it was as if my mother had been a pegasus, and wrapped me in her wings. The pain went away immediately, as did the fear.

“Oh Emberglow,” Her voice cooed in the soft silvery light that suddenly shone from above me. “It’s so close. So soon. But you’re strong enough. You will make it through.”

That was all I got, before waking up again. Soon enough, any comfort I felt was washed away by the anxiety of what had happened.

1112 AF, Ruins of Manehattan

“Lady Emberglow, wake up. Sir Brightblade is looking for you,” Sea Star called to her from the mouth of her tent.

Emberglow wasn’t asleep. She hadn’t been able to fall asleep for more than a few minutes, really. She wasn’t quite sure she would ever be able to sleep peacefully again.

If that was kissing, she wanted more. And she never wanted to do it again. What was wrong with her?

Whatever it was, she was sure she’d remember the feel of Gadget’s lips on hers for the rest of her life.

“I’m awake. I’ll be there in a moment,” she replied, trying not to let the sound of her distress and turmoil seep into her voice. Sea Star didn’t say anything further, so apparently it worked.

Emberglow tried to gather her spinning thoughts, twirling behind a fog of exhaustion. Why did Brightblade need to see her? Did he know?

The thought sent a chill through Emberglow’s fur. What would she do if he knew? What if everypony knew? Was this it? Insubordination was one thing, but homosexual behavior? She was sure that was over the line. If he’d somehow found out what she’d done with Gadget, it would be a firing squad for sure. Brightblade hated her enough not to wait for an official trial back in New Canterlot City.

She could barely breathe as she did her best to tame her bedhead red mane back into some sort of rational shape. Briefly she considered a braid, but eventually settled on her usual ponytail. When she stepped out of her tent, the entire camp didn’t seem any more on edge than before she’d retired to her tent. That was probably a good sign; she was sure if somepony had found out about her and Gadget it would have left the entire camp in a furor. Emberglow didn’t see Gadget anywhere, though. Hopefully the mare was getting some rest, though she doubted it.

The sense of fear, of anxiety, that had kept Emberglow up most of the night twisted into a cold, hard lump of pain in her stomach. Every time she looked at another pony, she felt another stab of worry force itself deep into her gut. A billion what ifs and maybes assailed her, trapping her mind in a spiral of guilt, worry, and hidden shame. She felt like every single eye in camp was on her as she slunk into the command tent, trying to ignore the pain and nausea in her stomach.

The remaining Knights were gathered in the command tent. A pair of lanterns provided a flickering light within the dark confines of the tent. In the pale lantern light, all of the Knights appeared exhausted and drawn, though was a determined steel in Brightblade’s eyes.

“We’re in a bad spot,” he began, addressing the other four. Silverfeather nodded, and Gem looked fiercely defiant. Joy simply stared. The tension in Emberglow’s chest released just a hair; it didn’t seem like he knew yet. “I’ve spent the last few hours trying to come up with a plan of action. I wanted to get your input.”

Emberglow tried not to let her surprise show. Up to this point, Brightblade had always acted mostly on his own, sometimes against the wishes of the rest of the team. He’d only ever sought Delver as an advisor.

With a stab of grief, she realized why he must be now coming to all of them for advice.

“We’ve been outmaneuvered by the heretics and badly beaten. They took our best from us, and I think they know it. Our best chance for survival now is to take them by surprise. Take the fight to them. We need to find and destroy their mortar.”

The Knights stared silently at him, digesting the idea. It was clear from Gem’s expression that she was in favor, but Silverfeather looked skeptical. Emberglow listened silently.

“With their artillery, they can keep us pinned in this camp indefinitely. As long as they’ve got that hanging over us, we can’t even consider exploring the ruins to look for the energy source. We can’t complete our mission. And they have all the time in the world to get to it before us.”

“Do we even know where to look for their camp?” Silverfeather asked. Brightblade nodded to Joyful Noise, who looked proud.

“I’ve had Joyful Noise here switch her efforts from tracking our objective to tracking other sources of magic. Of course there’s a few unicorns out there, and no motic seismograph is strong enough to detect simple magics from small sources. But their artillery is magically powered, not mechanically. Whatever they’re lobbing at us is powered by unicorn magic. We can’t get an exact location, but they’re to our south east, about a half mile or so.”

“Could be a trap. Some kind of a deception,” Silverfeather chimed in. Brightblade opened his mouth to respond, but Joyful Noise’s quiet response cut him off.

“It is possible,” she said simply. “My equipment only picks up magical emissions above a certain range. A single unicorn, casting large-scale illusions or otherwise useless spells, could give off enough motic energy to be detected by my machinery.”

“So somepony needs to do a flyover to make sure,” Silverfeather said confidently. “I’ll go. No offense, Emberglow, but I’m a stronger flyer.” Emberglow nodded her head. Of course she wasn’t offended; it was a fact.

“You’ll have to get close. There’s enough cloud coverage to block out most of the moonlight tonight. That means as much magical protection as we can afford.” Brightblade said. “Stealth spells, shielding spells, speed spells, the entire spread. Joy, how are we on spell batteries?”

“Low. Three full, plus whatever bits you all have left in yours,” Joyful Noise said. “Spare batteries were in one of the crates that got shot down on the way in, and we’ve been using what did make it down to power the shield. We can provide Silverfeather with some spells, but we’ll need to prioritize.”

“Chameleon spells,” Silverfeather stated. “Silence spells too. I’d rather not be seen than have extra layers of protection.”

“I need you leaving as soon as possible,” Brightblade said. “We need to get rid of that artillery spot.”

“Yes, sir,” Silverfeather said fearlessly. “I’m ready whenever you need me to be.”

Joyful Noise took a moment to determine the most useful combination of spells, and she, Gem, and Silverfeather all cast a quick combination of runes that would color her fur and armor the same as the darkened night clouds, make her wing flaps a silent as an owl’s, and increase her flight speed and endurance. Emberglow watched, fascinated despite the circumstances. She knew all the spells they were casting, of course, but she also knew that if she were the one casting, they would be far less effective.

After the spells were cast, Silverfeather wasted no time dashing out of the command tent and launching herself into the air. As soon as she got moving, she was nearly impossible to see, a dark blur against the night sky.

“Lady Rainbow keep you safe,” Emberglow prayed, and the others around her nodded. There was a collective flinch from all the ponies when yet another mortar round crashed into the shield, illuminating the night with the shields pink glow and the flash of white and yellow from the explosion.

“Did she get far enough away to be out of that blast?” Brightblade asked, and Emberglow nodded.

“She was moving pretty fast. She should have been far outside the shrapnel radius,” Emberglow said. The four remaining Knights, with nothing else to do, stood outside the command tent and waited.

They’d only been standing outside for a few minutes when the sound of shots firing echoed in the distance, and Emberglow's heart sank. First one, then four more rifle shots fired off in the direction Silverfeather had just flown in.

“There’s nothing we can do, is there?” Gem said softly. Brightblade shook his head.

“I could…” Emberglow began, but Brightblade glared at her.

“Not worth the risk. She’s probably fine, even if she did get spotted,” Brightblade declared.

Emberglow counted the seconds, waiting for Silverfeather to return. She wasn’t all that close with the Adamant pegasus, but they were on friendly terms, and Emberglow didn’t think the camp’s morale could take many more Knight deaths. She felt like things had been moving too quickly, too chaotically, for her to even have the time to sit down and properly mourn Bitterroot and Delver.

Emberglow jumped in surprise when Silverfeather suddenly appeared beside them. The stealth spells were still in place, so she’d not even noticed Silverfeather’s approach. Except for a small start, Brightblade seemed unphased.

“I saw their artillery spot, but they spotted me. Their lookouts were using some kind of spell, or something. I got near their camp, and they all started firing at me,” Silverfeather panted. “They’re moving their camp. If we’re going to take it out, we have to move quick.”

“Are you wounded?” Emberglow asked quickly. Silverfeather shook her head.

“Nah, just a little winded,”

“Emberglow, Silverfeather, get in the air,” Brightblade ordered. “Get behind their lines if you can, harry and delay them. I’ll send you more pegasi as soon as I can. We Earth ponies will assault directly. Draw their fire if you can. Saints protect you two.”

“Yes sir,” Silverfeather said without hesitation. She turned to Emberglow, and dragged her rune gauntlet through the air. “I’m giving you the same speed enhancement I’ve got. You still won’t be as fast as me, but you’ll be able to keep up.” Emberglow nodded her thanks as she felt the magic slip into her wing muscles and feathers. Then, without any further delay, the two of them launched into the air, Emberglow trailing behind the other pegasus.

“You okay with all of this?” Silverfeather called back. Emberglow shrugged. She knew what the other mare meant. They were going, practically alone, behind enemy lines, against an unknown number of heretic Knights and other creatures. Brightblade very likely might have been ordering them to their deaths.

“We fight for the glory of the Saints,” Emberglow said back. Silverfeather’s smile was grim. Emberglow returned it, mustering her courage. If this was to be their last day, she wished to make it a significant one. She beat her wings hard to try and keep up with the stronger flyer.

“Keep your eyes on the ground,” Silverfeather called. “Watch for unicorn horns lit up. Guns won’t bother us with our shield spells, but blasts of magic might.”

“Got it,” Emberglow said. The ground below was a mass of dark green foliage, lit only by what bits of moonlight that was able to seep through the clouds. Up ahead was a clearing in the tree coverage. Emberglow couldn’t make out individual figures, but there was clear motion. It seemed the heretics were using as little light as possible. As they approached, however, shouts of alarm went up from the heretic camp, and the shots began. Emberglow didn’t feel any of the telltale pings of bullets impacting her armor just yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time and probability. She kept her eyes fixed on the camp, watching for the glow of a unicorn’s horn or the advancing beam of baleful magic.

“Land there,” Silverfeather pointed. Emberglow couldn’t see what she was pointing at, but followed the other pegasus to the ground regardless. Once they landed, Silverfeather crouched down, lifting her gauntlet in preparation. “Cover me, I’m going to light up the camp.”

Emberglow stepped up beside Silverfeather, holding her spear in front of both of them. With a sudden flash, Silverfeather’s gauntlet glowed bright white in the night, and she began to draw runes in the air.

Immediately, dozens of gunshots rang out, spattering against their protective armor. Two earth ponies leaped out of the darkness, snarling as they charged for Emberglow and Silverfeather. Emberglow smelled sweat and blood and gunpowder as she pushed her spear forward horizontally. She connected with both earth ponies and shoved, hoping that neither one was a Knight. It was enough to make the two of them stumble backwards, giving Silverfeather enough time to finish her spell.

Above them, at the height of about five ponies, a miniature sun appeared above the clearing that the camp was in. It was about the size of a hoofball, and it glowed with bright yellow light, spilling shadows of ponies and equipment throughout the camp. There were shouts of anger and panic as the heretics’ gazes were drawn away for a few precious seconds.

One of the two earth ponies who’d tried to stop them glanced back at the light, and Emberglow used that moment of distraction to ram him with her spear. He yelped and dodged at the last second, and her spear slid into his shoulder joint rather than delivering a lethal strike at his neck. He fell back as his fellow struck Emberglow’s spear with a hoof, dislodging it from his friend’s flesh and knocking the point to the side. He stepped over, putting himself between Emberglow and his wounded friend.

While she kept the two heretics at bay with the dancing, jerking motion of the tip of her spear, Emberglow took a second for a quick tactical analysis. There were three tents, covered with camouflaging. In the center of the camp, there were two long-barreled mortars, pointed in the direction of the Knights’ camp. Around the camp were a dozen ponies, including the griffon she had fought against alongside Delver. Three of the ponies were armored, wearing the yellow armor of the Knights Discordant. Two were unicorns. There was no sign of the leader unicorn, the stallion with the mismatched eyes. She could also see no signs of the younger unicorn, the one she had fought, or even of Gearsmith, who was supposedly captive.

“Oh dear,” Silverfeather said. “We appear to be woefully outnumbered.” She stepped up beside Emberglow with her spear at the ready. The heretic Knights were advancing slowly, and the two unicorn Knights already had glowing horns. Several of the ponies not wearing armor were clustering around the mortars. One was already being disassembled by a frightened-looking unicorn stallion, his magic glowing as he levitated pieces into a crate for transport.

One of the unicorn Knights, a stallion, stepped forward and thrust his horn, glowing with bright green light, towards the night sky. A solid ball of magic shot into the air, trailed by bright green sparks. After a second it detonated, illuminating the sky with bits of green and blue flame. Emberglow remembered the fireworks that had assaulted them while parachuting. They must have come from this pony. She felt a flash of anger as she remembered the pain and mayhem he had personally caused. She made sure to mark him out specifically, noting the way his short blue mane stood out against the yellow of his armor and the black of his fur. If she had the chance, she’d make sure he couldn’t hurt any other ponies with his fireworks. The thought was uncharacteristically vicious, and she felt tainted for thinking it.

“And they’re signaling for reinforcements,” Silverfeather muttered. “Back away into the woods. We were only ordered to harry.” They began to back away just as the heretics began to circle around to their flanks, and the heretic Knights began to approach and engage. The unarmoured heretics were keeping their distance, occasionally thrusting with long spears while the unicorn Knights advanced.

The first blast of magic struck Emberglow’s peytral without warning, throwing Emberglow back towards the tree line. She grunted as she hit the forest floor with a thud, and Silverfeather dashed over towards her. The second whizzed just between them. Silverfeather quickly pulled Emberglow to her feet, and the two of them backed away between the trees, keeping their distance from the heretics’ thrusting spears. More bolts of magic smashed into the trees all around them.

“Stay close,” Silverfeather called out. The two of them stood barrel to barrel, facing opposite directions, as they tried to keep the others from surrounding them.

“Regretting your poorly planned attack, little Knights?” the blue-maned heretic unicorn taunted. “You’re outnumbered! Fly away now, before you regret it!” More bolts followed, slicing through wood and undergrowth alike. Trees cracked and splintered as the two unicorn Knights fired blindly into the trees. Shards of wood and burning leaves rained down on Emberglow and Silverfeather.

“Pincer attack! Keep an eye on the western tree line!” Emberglow heard someone shout from inside the heretic camp. She tried to listen, and heard more gunfire; their own allies must have reached the camp. She was impressed; Brightblade had to have assembled a strike force in seconds.

“You hear that?” Emberglow asked Silverfeather over the sounds of battle.

“Yeah. Let’s take advantage,” Silverfeather called out. With the unicorns in the camp distracted by the fighting in the west, the heretic soldiers were now outmatched.

Silverfeather fell into them with a quick spring of her hooves, and Emberglow followed close behind. Silverfeather’s lunge carried her shoulder first into one of the soldiers, bowling him to the ground. She followed up with a quick jab with her spear, spraying blood as she thrust into his barrel. Another soldier tried to thrust towards her other side, but Emberglow was there, knocking the heretic’s spear away with the haft of her own, then following up with a kick to his chest. He tumbled into a tree, and the two Knights continued on, staying parallel to the tree line.

“Can we regroup with Brightblade?” Emberglow asked. They’d done their job by distracting the heretics long enough for the rest of their allies to engage, stopping the heretics from moving the camp.

“Good plan. There’s only the griffon, if you can dodge unicorn bolts.” There was no further warning as Silverfeather launched herself into the air, shoving past the small branches and leaves that made up the larger canopy. Emberglow was hot on her tail, leaving the earth pony heretics on the ground looking stunned.

Above the trees, Emberglow could see that the battle was as fierce in the skies as it was on the ground. The griffon that had probably killed Delver was dashing about, savagely attacking the few pegasus scouts who had joined the attack. They were not faring well; several were already bleeding from claw wounds.

“I’ll see to him, you get on the ground and connect with Brightblade,” Silverfeather said with a glance to Emberglow. She nodded, scanning the warring forces on the ground and looking for Sir Brightblade. She saw normal soldiers on both sides, most equipped with firearms, crouching or cowering behind cover as they exchanged volleys of deadly rain. The sounds of rifle fire filled the clearing, and gunsmoke drifted up into the skies, clouding the air about them.

The Knights on both sides were engaging each other. Brightblade was exchanging blows with one of the unicorn knights. The heretic wielded a sword, the hilt of the blade encased in a black glow. It floated, point down, menacingly above his head and occasionally darted towards Brightblade, stabbing towards whatever narrow gaps in his armor it could hope to find. Brightblade, meanwhile, was skillfully fending off the blade while keeping the unicorn off balance with his own spear thrusts.

The heretic Knight’s attention was on Brightblade, not on the skies above him. Emberglow spotted an opportunity, and dove down from above, her spear pointed towards the heretic’s flanks.

“Blackward, behind you!” one of the heretic soldiers screamed, and the unicorn turned at the last second, spinning away from Emberglow’s spear thrust. The point of her weapon ground into the dirt where the heretic had been standing just seconds before, and she yanked it up before coming to a landing on Brightblade’s right.

“Well done,” Brightblade said reluctantly, and Emberglow nodded. “We can take him together.” But it wasn’t to be. The other unicorn Knight, the blue maned one with black fur, dashed up to join his friend. He was also levitating a sword in his magic.

“That’s the one. The black unicorn there. He was the one casting fireworks at us while we were parachuting. I think.” Emberglow whispered. Brightblade nodded. The two heretics advanced cautiously, their weapons flitting about in the air menacingly.

“We have many lives to avenge,” Brightblade snarled. “Split them up so they can’t help each other. Gem will flank one of them as soon as she manages to destroy the mortars.”

“How should I…” Emberglow started to ask, before remembering the shoulder tackle maneuver that Silverfeather had just tried a few minutes ago. She rammed into the black-furred unicorn who had been advancing towards her, shoving him to the side with her shoulder while his blade skittered off her armor. Both ponies tumbled to the ground, towards the line of heretic soldiers. The unicorn grunted, blasting at her with his horn even as he rushed to get on his hooves. She dodged too late to avoid the green light that slammed into her armor and reflected off, burning a line through the trees.

She heard cries of alarm as the reflected beam hit some of the marines taking cover there. Her eyes widened as she saw the splintered shards of wood rain down on the marines. Emberglow jerked to her hooves, dancing back and away from the unicorn so she could put herself between him and the marines taking cover behind her.

“Lady Emberglow!” she heard a familiar voice call out from behind her. It was Gadget.

“Everything all right, Gadget?” she called back, as the unicorn in front of her waved his sword this way and that, looking for an opening.

“Never better!” the mare called out. “Any sign of my dad?”

“No. I looked. I’ll ask, though. Heretic, where is the prisoner you took from our last fight?”

“I owe you nothing, sheep,” the unicorn snarled. “He’s safe for now, and he’ll be returned when you leave Manehatten!”

The heretic punctuated his statement with a series of brutal, overhead slashes that Emberglow had to block with her spear. Each slash pushed her further and further towards the marines. She tried to keep an eye on whatever else was going on in the battlefield, but all her attention was absorbed with turning away the vicious blade that sought her life. She stumbled when her rump backed into a large rock behind her, and the heretic grinned with triumph. His sword came down hard on her spear, shoving it to the side and grinding the point into the dirt. One armored hoof quickly stepped on the tip, trapping her weapon while his sword darted in towards her.

Something dark and fast slammed into the heretic from the side, knocking him away and freeing Emberglow’s spear. It was Gadget. She stood by Emberglow’s side, sparing the Knight a glance and a smile.

“Thanks,” Emberglow breathed, and before she could talk herself out of it, gave the marine a quick nuzzle. “I wasn’t sure I could dodge in time.”

“No problem. You’re…” Gadget trailed off. Emberglow saw a flash of green light and looked up. Several blades shot through the air, levitated by their unicorn foe. Emberglow frantically began the runes for a shield spell she knew she wouldn’t have time to finish.

“Look out!” Gadget shrieked, and shoved Emberglow at the last second. Emberglow heard the impact of blades on flesh, and a low gargle, and then something warm was pouring on her, dripping over her face. She blankly finished the spell, completing the runes and raising a shield above the two of them, a pale, smaller imitation of the one embracing their camp.

Then, she gently shifted Gadget off from on top of her.

Gadget’s mouth, dripping blood, opened and a single rasp squeezed out. Then, silence. Two green eyes blinked once, twice, then froze, open. Once sparkling as emeralds, they were now dull and lifeless as they stared up at the sky. One of the long blades was lodged in her barrel. A second had carved a gaping gash right across her throat.

Emberglow stared, breathless, horrified, at the lifeless corpse she now held.

Blood. It was blood.

Gadget’s blood, sprayed all over her armor, staining white red.

It was dripping from her helmet into her eyes.

It was in her mane.

She tried to wipe it out of her eyes, but it was on her hoof. She lowered the corpse to the ground, her eyes frozen on Gadget’s horrified, pained death stare. She felt her heart pumping faster, her ears ringing as her breath came out in gasps—

Distantly, she heard the galloping of frenzied hooves. Her instincts screamed at her, and, numbly, she looked up.

The heretic was charging, rushing back towards them. He’d found a spear of his own and was bracing it in front of him as he charged towards Emberglow. A beam of emerald light from his horn slammed against her shield, and she felt it slowly start to give under the onslaught.

Shield spells had never been her forte; she could make them powerful, but was not the best at sustaining them long. Still, she kept her shield up as the unicorn rapidly got closer. One hoof tightened on her spear, still on the ground, and pulled it against the rock behind her. She made sure it was loose and free of entanglements. Distantly, her mind recalled a similar scenario from years ago, while training at the Ivy Seminary. She had watched Lofty Tale use this very same maneuver in a sparring match against their martial arts trainer, Lady Amaranth.

An instant before the heretic slammed into the shield, Emberglow dropped it completely, jerking her spear up. The heretic was unprepared, and the full momentum of the charging unicorn slammed into Emberglow’s spear, held steady by the rock. The spear screeched against his armor for a split second before finding a seam between the heretic’s criniere and his peytral, plunging sickeningly into flesh.

The heretic’s eyes went from fury to shock to pain in a flash, and he opened his mouth. There was no cry of pain, only a thin trail of blood. Emberglow looked down. Her spear was inserted past its blade, well into the unicorn’s lungs. He coughed, blood spattering out of his open maw, and his legs collapsed out from under him as his spear clattered to the side.

Emberglow caught the falling pony by instinct, sitting back on her rump as she held the heretic in her forehooves. He looked up at the sky, his eyes darting around, searching for something. They found Emberglow’s, delirious and glazing over.

“Mother?” the heretic called out, whimpering in fear. “Mother, are you there? Mother, please!” Emberglow gaped at him in horror. “Mother, is that you?” He pawed at her weakly, and she numbly held his questing hoof. “Mother, it hurts. I’m afraid. Please...” His eyes finished glazing over, and his hoof slipped out of hers. She felt dazed as she glanced up towards the battlefield.

Most of the heretics were gone. Brightblade’s opponent had fled, and the last few retreating heretic soldiers were melting into the opposite tree line. Their leader stood astride the battlefield, overseeing the retreat of his soldiers. His eyes locked with Emberglow’s, then darted to the heretic she was cradling. His mouth moved with words. He was saying something to her, she realized, but she was far too far away to hear. With that, he followed after his soldiers, disappearing into the trees. Brightblade trotted over.

“You killed yours? Good,” Brightblade said, eyeing the heretic with distaste. Emberglow wanted to shriek at the way he seemed to ignore Gadget’s body. She laid the heretic down on the ground and reached over, gently closing Gadget’s eyes. Her insides felt cold.

“We got one of the mortars. They got away with the other. Their reinforcements got here, so I’d like to get back to the shelter of the shield as quickly as possible. Soldiers! Gather up the wounded and dead and begin the retreat!” He glanced at the bodies of the heretics as well, pointing at the unicorn corpse. “Bring that, too.”

“What? Why?” Emberglow spurted.

“Don’t question my orders, Knight,” Brightblade spat. “Just do it.” It made no sense to her. She glanced from the unicorn body to the corpse lying next to

Don’t think about it.

“I’ll see to the wounded,” Emberglow said. “Make sure everypony is able to retreat.”

“Mundane healing only. We need to save as much magic as we can.”

“I’ll do my best, but I’m going to cast if I need to save a life,” Emberglow said. She tried and failed to keep the challenge out of her voice. Brightblade glared daggers at her, but said nothing. Emberglow quickly summoned the marines with a loud shout. It took only a few minutes to check them over; everypony was wounded, but nopony was wounded enough to require magical healing. She applied a few bandages where they were needed, promising a more thorough healing back at camp. There were only two dead marines, including

Don’t think about it don’t think about it.

“Knights of the Diarchy!” a spell-amplified voice hammered over the group. Everypony cringed, some even dropping to the dirt. “Don’t be afraid, nopony is going to attack just yet.” It was the same creature as before, the one with the mismatched eyes. Emberglow recognized his voice. “Is your leader listening? The white earth pony with silver hair and purple armor.”

“I’m here, heretic,” Brightblade shouted, not bothering to amplify his voice. He had been picking through the remains of the mortar that Gem had managed to destroy while Emberglow had been distracted with the unicorn and

Don’t think about it!

“We left in a bit of a hurry, and unfortunately failed to collect the remains of one of our fallen,” the voice boomed back. “I was hoping, since we extended you the courtesy before, you would be so kind as to bring the remains of our friend to the eastern edge of the tree line so we may see him back to his family.”

“Denied, heretic,” Brightblade shouted, then went back to what he was doing.

“You can’t be serious,” somepony shrieked at Brightblade. “You’re making no sense.” Somepony was standing up to Brightblade. Everypony was staring at Emberglow. She had shouted the words. She felt a sinking sensation as Brightblade rounded on her.

“Go ahead, faithless traitor. Reveal your true stripes.”

“Say what you will,” Emberglow muttered. “They were true when they let us collect our own fallen. We owe them…”

“We owe them nothing!” Brightblade screamed back at her. Tensely the two stared at each other, then Emberglow felt her rage and confusion swept away by a wave of cold, numb tiredness. Silently, she turned, and trotted back to where the heretic corpse was cooling. “Emberglow, get back here! Don’t you dare!” This would destroy morale. This would break the chain of command.

She had a hard time caring anymore. The heretic lay, still on the ground next to

Don’t think about it don’t think about it DON’T THINK ABOUT IT ABOUT HER!

Wordlessly she lifted the body onto her back and began trotting to the eastern edge of the clearing. Brightblade was vibrating with fury.

“I want to keep it,” he muttered, his voice biting. Emberglow shook her head. “At least cut off the horn before you return the corpse.”

“I don’t know why, and I don’t care. I will not consent to violating the remains of a pony, even a unicorn. It’s cruel and unnecessary, and violates my oaths as a healer.”

“What about your oaths as a Knight?” Brightblade spat back. “Your oath to obey?”

“You’ll have to take that up with the Council of Five, or with my court martial inquiry when we get back, if anypony survives this.” Emberglow wasn’t sure anypony would. She pushed past him, trotting to the eastern edge the heretic had mentioned. She looked into the tree line, spotting the glinting eyes of a predator. The griffon was there, hiding among the foliage. He nodded to Emberglow as she approached, and the heretic leader, the one with the mismatched eyes, stepped out of the tree line. Without a word, he trotted over to where Emberglow waited.

The heretic looked down at the dead unicorn, his eyes brimming with regret and pity. He nodded silently at Emberglow, and this time his look was one of grudging respect. Hefting the body, he returned to the treeline.

“Your honor is noted, Knights of the Diarchy,” the booming voice called out. “Take time to make peace with your Saints. Our attack will resume the moment you leave to return to your camp.”

Once again, Emberglow was the focus of all attention. Silverfeather nodded her approval. Gem eyed her silently. Emberglow refused to meet Brightblade’s eyes, instead arranging for marines who could carry the casualties back to camp.

“We will retreat immediately. Gem, Silverfeather, take the van. Emberglow and I will form the rearguard,” Brightblade ordered. His voice was oddly calm, but then he glanced at Emberglow, and she swore she felt the seething rage beaming from his eyes. “Maybe you’ll have the decency to die and save us all the expense of an insubordination court martial when we get back home.” There were murmurs around the marines and Knights, but Brightblade continued. “I assume the heretic will keep his word and attack. Be ready. Set out!” Emberglow did as he said, retrieving her bloody spear from where she’d abandoned it.

The heretic leader was indeed true to his word. A contingent of soldiers ambushed them as soon as they set off into the woods. Emberglow and Brightblade weren’t even out of the clearing before they were set upon by the heretic leader himself. His mismatched eyes burned with anger as he suddenly appeared between the two of them with a pop of teleportation. A kick of one hoof shoved Emberglow to the side, and the heretic lunged at Brightblade, his spear clashing against Brightblade’s.

“Keep moving!” Brightblade shouted. The marines turned and began a fighting retreat, moving slowly backwards as they tried to take cover from the bullets spattering among them.

“This doesn’t have to be this way, you know,” the brown furred heretic muttered at Brightblade as the hafts of their spears ground against each other. His face was inches from Brightblade’s.

“’Beware the heretic’s bite; his teeth are hidden behind a sweet smile, but drip with lies and venom,’” Brightblade quoted with a snarl, and the heretic laughed.

“You know, Twilight never said that. I don’t even think she ever uttered the word ‘heretic’ in her entire life,” the heretic tittered as he shoved Brightblade. The Knight Mystic stumbled backwards with the sheer force of the blow, and Emberglow watched in horror as the unicorn heretic’s horn lit up, glowing yellow.

He didn’t levitate anything, only summoned a glowing orb of hard force right behind Brightblade’s hooves. A stumble turned into a trip, and Brightblade fell onto his rump. A hard swing of the heretic’s spear knocked Brightblade’s weapon aside. Emberglow leapt to action, diving at the heretic with her own weapon. She was just a hair too slow; the heretic managed to score a deep hit on one of Brightblade’s thighs before he had to dodge Emberglow’s thrust. He danced backwards just enough for her to get between the two of them. The unicorn darted at her like a snake, though he was clearly trying to get to Brightblade behind her.

He was so much faster than she was. Emberglow was barely able to fend off the thrusts of his spear while Brightblade stumbled to his hooves and retrieved his own weapon. She somehow managed to keep herself between the two stallions, shifting with her back hooves

“Your comrade’s loyalty does you credit, Mystic. But if I kill you, something tells me your minions will retreat. So do me a favor and just die, okay?” the heretic snarled. His magic levitated a trio of large rocks, each one the size of a pony’s head, and fired them at Brightblade. Emberglow did her best to put herself between the missiles and Brightblade; the first struck her armor with enough force to leave bruises and bounced away, and the second missed. The third zipped past her, and she shouted with alarm, stretching her wing out. It caught the stone and deflected it, but wrenched the limb backwards at an unnatural angle. Emberglow cried out in pain, and glanced back at Brightblade, who had a surprised expression plastered on his face.

“Run, sir,” Emberglow hissed through the pain. “I won’t let this heretic through.”

Finally, something in her voice convinced Brightblade of her integrity. He nodded and limped away, and when the heretic tried to follow Emberglow stood squarely in front of him, her spear at the ready.

“I could just teleport past you, you know,” he challenged, and Emberglow shook her head.

“You’re nearly as exhausted as we are,” she muttered. “Either your spell fails, or it takes so much out of you that you can’t fight afterwards.”

“Oh, so you know a bit about a unicorn's magical reserves. Cute. But I think I’ll risk it,” he said.

“You’re risking a misfire, heretic. Especially in a place as magically irradiated as Manehatten, even a single miscast could result in…”

The heretic grinned wickedly as he lit his horn, the yellow glow surrounding the appendage as he charged a spell. Suddenly his face twisted in strain, then in shock, and Emberglow barely had time to cover her eyes before the explosion blasted her into unconsciousness. The last sensation she felt was of falling, air flowing past her fur and wings as she tumbled into darkness.

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