Chains and Ladders

Melek woke up to the sun streaming into his unfamiliar room. The ornate furnishings reminded him of the embassy, but they just felt wrong to him. Rather than the comforting Arabian colors, he was greeted by Equestrian symbols. He remembered last night only in a blur; after he had been freed, the princesses had given over to some servants to wash and show him to his room. He wasn’t really sure what the difference between slavery and the servitude that the employed workers endured, but figured that pointing it out wasn’t wise.

Melek rolled out of the bed and grimaced. He wasn’t used to such a soft mattress, and now he had a terrible pain in his back. So far, freedom was proving to be a negative. As he limped over toward the door, he realized that in the confusion he had left his books at the embassy. They didn’t belong to him, he realized, so he had lost them forever. Freedom was overrated he decided.

As he pushed his door open gently, Melek peered out into the hallway. He was surprised to see that there were no guards or other ponies anywhere to be found. He cautiously stepped out and looked around before trotting toward what he thought was the main hall.

After wandering around for several minutes, Melek realized he was lost. Even worse, he hadn’t seen a single pony in his meandering, so he had no one to ask for directions. This day just kept getting better.

Rounding a corner, Melek almost ran into a patrolling guard. The armor clad pony looked at him suspiciously. “What are you doing here?” the guard queried.

“I ah, I got lost” Melek looked away sheepishly, color rising in his face “could you show me to the main hall?” The guard sighed.

“Of course. Just keep going past me and you’ll run into it.” the guard gestured back behind him. Nodding, Melek dashed off as the guard continued his rounds.

He soon realized where all the ponies had gone. Apparently some big event was taking place in the hallway. Guards and nobles of all sorts were crowded in front of the throne where Melek was surprised to see Twilight and another, blue, alicorn handing over a golden necklace to none other than the Sultana.

The golden portions of the necklace shone in the sunshine, but the centerpiece was a dull grey rock. Melek snuck forward carefully from his hidden doorway behind the thrones to where he was able the better see what he now realized was the Panoptes Madstone. It really didn’t look that special to him; certainly the Sultana had better jewelry in her little box.

The Sultana looked at the medallion before nodding to her opposite numbers. The ceremony seemed to close with that as the nobles scurried off. The Sultana stalked off with the jewelry before Melek could talk to her. Melek’s stomach rumbled, since he hadn’t had breakfast, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.

The Princesses walked toward the exit Melek had used to enter before Twilight noticed him standing awkwardly nearby. She trotted up to the bewildered looking unicorn with a smile. She was wearing a simple purple saddlebag, while the older alicorn wore a black crown.

“Glad to see you’re awake!” Twilight intoned cheerily as Melek looked at her blankly. The blue one came up and regarded him with a critical eye.

“So you are the one they call Melek? I am Princess Luna.” Luna spoke dismissively. The former slave certainly didn’t seem worth the fuss Twilight had stirred up. In truth, she was rather disappointed not to be allowed to face Melek Taus on the field since the agreement robbed her of her casus belli. Taus, in her opinion, needed to be taken down a notch. Or two.

Luna walked off while Twilight and Melek stayed behind. Melek followed Twilight idly while she kept talking about plans for his future and other things that Melek tuned out. He didn’t want to ignore Twilight, far from it, but things were moving rather fast for him. He felt like an observer rather than an active participant in his own future.

“Does that sound nice?” Twilight’s question startled Melek, who responded with a curt nod. If Twilight noticed his lack of attention, she didn’t show it. She seemed rather pleased, really.

“So you can have the room on the ground floor, and I’ll make sure to get a firmer mattress for you.” Twilight continued.

“How did you know I wanted a firmer mattress?” Melek blinked rapidly. He hadn’t mentioned his discomfort.

“Oh! The Sultana told me, of course!” Twilight smiled. Melek brightened at the mention of his former mistress.

“I, um, thank you.” Melek looked down in embarrassment. Any progress he had made in talking to mares seemed to have vanished, much to Twilight’s exasperation.

“Don’t be afraid. You’re gonna like Ponyville.” Twilight reassured Melek, who just seemed even more ill at ease. “You’ll be with other ponies like you, unicorns.”

“Being a unicorn doesn’t mean they’re like me.” Melek muttered. Twilight didn’t seem to hear his comment as she opened the doors to step out into the courtyard in front of the palace. Melek winced slightly as the sunlight intensified.

“The Sultana also gave me this.” Twilight smiled as she levitated a small bundle out of her saddlebag and giving it to him with her magic, but  he caught in his hoof.  Twilight made a mental note to try and teach him how to use his magic more effectively while Melek regarded the gift. Melek didn’t even need to open the bag to know what was inside: it was his copy of the Hadith. Melek almost cried as regarded the package.

“I can hold onto it for you, since you don’t really have anywhere to put it.” Twilight took the package from Melek and placed it back in her saddlebag. Melek smiled at Twilight. Maybe freedom wouldn’t be so bad.

The guards didn’t even notice the shadow slipping in through the open window. They didn’t see him sneak right behind him before he slit their throats with his small knife held in his magic. As the griffon’s blood spilled out, the shadow smiled wickedly.

Aquila’s palace was poorly policed, but she had always been so confident in her own power that he figured she didn’t think anyone would be stupid enough to sneak in, especially since she was currently residing just a floor above where the shadow had broken in.

The shadow moved amidst the marble columns in the sparse moonlight of the waning crescent, dodging the odd guard patrol as he made his way toward Aquila’s personal library. Without a sound, he slipped inside to find the concentric bookshelves lit by only a small lamp. Not that it mattered to the shadow, since he could see quite well in the dark. As he maneuvered toward the center, he allowed himself a quiet chuckle. So far, so good.

In the center of the library sat a small display case. Inside was a thick tome, bound in heavy leather. That book was why the shadow had come. The grimoire belonged to a scholarly, though insane, daeva, and the shadow hoped to use the knowledge inside. Why Aquila would display such an atrocity against nature was beyond the shadow’s comprehension. Perhaps it had something to do with her violent murder of the author during the war.

She also didn’t seem to expect anyone to steal it. The book just sat there as the shadow strode up and opened the case with his magic. No alarm sounded as he picked up the book and worked his way back to the main hall.

As soon as he closed the library’s great door behind him, however, the hall brightened considerably. The torches that sat on the columns he had scuttled past blazed brightly as the shadow was confronted by Aquila, demigod of the Griffon Empire. Her plumage was impeccably maintained, and her claws were as sharp as ever. Her violet eyes gazed at the shadow in a manner that made a shiver run down his spine as her tail flicked back and forth in irritation.

The shadow strode forward without hesitation to face her, the black cloak he wore concealing his defining features minus his wicked smile, with the two canines prominent.

“It’s been a while, Aquila.” the shadow chuckled in his raspy voice.

“Wish it had been longer.” the griffon replied coolly. Her stance changed slightly to portray a more aggressive stance as the shadow’s smile managed to become even wider. “Did you think you had gone unnoticed?”

“I had hoped so.” the shadow admitted as his eyes locked with Aquila’s. The grimoire floated carefully behind him. He couldn’t risk losing it, especially since he was so close to escape. In his current state, he couldn’t defeat Aquila alone. His mind buzzed as he pondered his options.

As if sensing his plotting, Aquila snorted. “Put the book down. You can’t get away from me.” The shadow just sighed.

“I must ask how you managed to catch me.” the shadow tried to stall. If Aquila attacked his plan would all be for naught. He’d be handed over to Melek Taus, he imagined, so that the peacock angel could finish what he had started. Unless…

“Do you take me for a fool?” Aquila snarled. She advanced several steps as the shadow retreated.

“I take you for a warrior.” the shadow replied smoothly “And you happen to be a warrior with an axe to grind.”

“What are you saying?” Aquila stepped even closer, as the shadow found himself out of room to back away. She had a feeling she knew what was about to follow.

“You want to hurt Taus, I want to hurt Taus.” the shadow suggested, trying to weave a little of his manipulative magic. It would be difficult with the subject aware of his presence, but he had little other choice “Why not work together?”

“What are you planning?” Aquila eventually replied after several moments of silence. Her hatred for Taus had only grown since they had last battled. She was willing to give a lot to see him go down, but not her subjects. She had no doubt that if anyone could bring Melek Taus down, it was the being standing before her.

“I will destroy Melek Taus” the shadow struggled to contain his elation. He had Aquila listening, now he just needed to seal the deal “but leave you and yours alone. I have no quarrel with you.” Aquila struggled with her decision for a minute before she turned away.

“Why the book?” she asked cautiously. The book was mostly rambling and positively incoherent. She had perused it several times, but hadn’t found anything of any interest. It didn’t help that much of the book had been written in daevish script that no being outside the Void could understand. Not even the shadow should be able to do much with it.

“And spoil the surprise?” the shadow teased. Aquila decided that she didn’t really want to know what he had planned. He would crush Taus, and that was what she wanted more than anything else. If he tried to betray her, he’d find out that he wasn’t the only one who could plot and play games.

“Get out of my lands and never come back.” she muttered as the shadow slipped away. Once she was sure he was gone, she conjured up a small piece of parchment and a quill, then wrote a single sentence on it. With a flash, the parchment was sent on to Canterlot, where it would be received by Celestia. Aquila decided it was best to have a fallback plan should her new ally prove deceptive. And Celestia had always been a friend to her.

Best that she should know exactly who was running around loose.

“So you have a book.” Gulbahar stated flatly as the shadow hummed to himself.

“Yes, I have a very old book.” the shadow smiled. “And the madstone, Baphomet’s Horns, and a bronze machine.” he continued.

“Where did you take them?” the Sultana’s eyes narrowed. The shadow just kept grinning.

“Somewhere safe.” he replied pompously. “Though I fear our enemies might be alerted to my presence.”

“Sloppy.” Gulbahar hissed. The shadow shrugged.

“It was only a matter of time.” He reminded her. He hadn’t planned on revealing himself just yet, but Aquila’s benevolent neutrality should serve him well.

“What now?” Gulbahar inquired.

“Now, I’ll take you somewhere safe and we begin the plan, but first” the shadow turned his head toward the entrance “you have a guest.” It seemed Aquila hadn’t been a neutral as she had promised. Not that it mattered; the shadow had already left, with only an illusory form behind to speak with the Sultana. He was a busy demigod, after all, and translating Daevish was no easy feat.

Celestia stared at the paper for several minutes before burning it in a flash of yellow fire. She had been played. He had taken advantage of her distraction to sneak into her mind and convince her to trade the madstone. As she rushed down to the Saddle Arabian embassy, leaving confused guards in her wake, Celestia hoped she wasn’t too late.

Bursting in through the large oak door, her horn shone brightly as the Arabian guards cowered. The Sultana sat at the small table, sipping her tea calmly as Celestia approached. The necklace that usually contained the madstone was sitting around her neck, but the centerpiece had been replaced by a small emerald. Gulbahar smiled as Celestia stalked forward menacingly.

“Where is it?” Celestia snarled in Arabic.

“Where is what?” Gulbahar grinned innocently.

“I know who you’re working for” Celestia flung the Sultana’s teacup against the far wall “now give me back the madstone if you want to live.”

“I work for nopony. And Taus would certainly not approve…” the Sultana began. She stopped as she felt sudden pressure at her throat.

“You care nothing for Taus!” Celestia interrupted “And I care nothing for our deal! You will return the madstone or I will show you the power I wield!” The grip tightened as Gulbahar realized that Celestia was pulling on the gold necklace. Undoing the clasp, the Sultana looked at Celestia with a wicked smirk.

“I will not, for I no longer possess it.” Gulbahar snorted lightly, as Celestia ripped the necklace away from her. She carefully inspected it for any sign of the stone, but was disappointed.

“Where is it?” Celestia simmered with rage, tossing the shiny jewelry aside. The Sultana didn’t answer, but simply laughed. Her focus fell to something behind Celestia.

“It’s beyond your reach.” a raspy voice came from behind Celestia. As she whirled around, the Sultana vanished in a flash of light. Celestia now confronted the shadowy figure Aquila had warned her about. How he had escaped from the martially inclined griffon was beyond her knowledge.

“What are you planning?” Celestia hissed as the shadow dodged her magical attack with a casual wave of his hoof and a quick little hop. Several more blasts were dodged in a similar fashion with a contemptuous snort from her target.

“Nothing less than full and just revenge.” the shadow mockingly smiled. Celestia thought herself so clever, but she hadn’t seen through his illusion yet.

“Why do you want the madstone?” Celestia replied as she maneuvered closer to the shadow. She was theoretically more powerful, but he wouldn’t  have shown himself without a plan. While he wasn’t technically a member of the Children, he certainly boasted some strength of his own.

Aware of her movements, the shadow stepped forward from the dark corner and into the light. Removing his cloak, he revealed his dark grey coat and jet black mane. He was lean and lithe, and his coat was fairly well maintained. He was not quite as tall as Celestia, but still taller than the average pony. His Arabian-like snout showed a pair of wicked fangs, and his flank bore a black whirlpool-like marking. The guards decided that now would be a good time to vacate the premises, and they fled in disgrace leaving the two powers alone.

“I want to hurt Taus, and the Sultana wants power.” the fanged pony replied. Celestia launched several more light attacks, but her opposite number was able to easily evade them. The two circled around the central table, locking eyes.

“You will fall here.” Celestia bared her teeth. She felt his tendrils trying to prise into her mind, but aware of his intrusion she was able to force them away. With a cry, she sprang forward and attempted to gore her opponent. The shadow pony scuttled out of the way before jumping to the far side of the room.

“I am not fighting you. In fact, I’m not even here.” the shadow responded. He turned away as Celestia launched another attack. The shadow vanished before it could connect, and it only struck harmlessly against the thick wood door. Celestia could hear his mocking laughter as she slumped to the floor.

“Just an illusion.” she muttered. He had never been in danger; his physical form had been far away. How hadn’t she seen it? Was age catching up to her? She closed her eyes and struggled to hold back her emotions. She needed to let Taus know. Thanks to the Sultana, she could stop him if she had to, but she had nothing on the shadow.

The shimmering image of Taus snarled wildly as Celestia and Luna explained the situation. His old enemy had returned despite his supposed exile.

“Seems we have to work together.” Taus conceded reluctantly as Luna kept glaring at him. He now had a culprit for the theft of the Horns, at least.

“It seems so.” Celestia intoned softly. Luna simply kept her attention on Taus. She had wanted to stay neutral, and let the shadow fight Taus, but Celestia knew that the shadow’s ambition wouldn’t be sated by just revenge no matter what he said.

“Keep me informed,” Taus smiled “I have to prepare to welcome some old family.” Taus knew the next move would be against him. He was the one the shadow and Gulbahar would want. Gulbahar blamed him for her… circumstances since he had done nothing to help her despite her prayers, while the shadow had a credible reason. Tossing his twin sister Lilith into space while she was locked in a wooden box would make him quite mad. Taus thought he had captured the shadow as well, but even demigods make mistakes.

The combined form of the Children of Light licked his lips. If Daemon wanted a fight, let him come. But what was with the stealing of magical items? As far as he could remember, there was no reason to take the Horns and madstone together. The stone could show him weaknesses, he supposed, but Taus was still more powerful than Daemon even with that knowledge, and the Sultana knew it anyway.

Melek Taus regarded his main weakness as a minor annoyance. His instability was a difficult thing to exploit, after all. The little voices in his head could be inclined to try and take over, but Iblis had millennia of experience suppressing them. The Sultana’s little secret made it harder, but it was still within his power provided it wasn’t somepony as powerful as him…

Had she told Celestia and Luna? That could be troublesome.

Turning to the exit of his chamber, the Peacock angel spread his wings and released a maniacal laugh. He hadn’t had this much fun in a long time.

As soon as he arrived, Melek decided that he didn’t like Ponyville. The architecture was alien to him; he couldn’t even see a single minaret or mosque. The other ponies all seemed to regard him as an object of curiosity, and harassed him incessantly with questions. When he thought he had finally waded through the worst, the pink one had shown up.

Melek was convinced that she was a djinn. Her ability to defy logic was astounding, and he couldn’t escape no matter what he tried. She had, against Twilight’s advice, dragged him down to Sugarcube Corner for a welcoming party, and Melek (who had been dubbed ‘Mel’ by the ponies) endured several hours of horrible social interactions. Having survived the ordeal, he slumped onto his bed with a groan.

“Mel?” a soft voice called from the doorway. Melek turned around to see that Twilight had followed him to his room and was addressing him with an apologetic look. “I’m sorry about… all that. I could tell you didn’t enjoy it.” Twilight looked down and pawed at the floor with her hoof.

“It’s okay.” Melek replied with a forced smile. Now he felt guilty for troubling his host. He wondered why he could never do anything right.

Twilight seemed a little reassured by his words, and she opened the curtains covering the room’s only window to allow the last rays of the sun enter. Melek stood up and walked over to watch the sunset as well.

“The orange hues remind me of home.” Melek sighed.

“This can be your home.” Twilight replied with almost a pleading tone.

“We will see.” Melek wanted to reach out and comfort Twilight, but he wasn’t sure that was the right thing to do. Instead, they stood in awkward silence for several moments before a small sound behind them interrupted.

Melek turned to see a baby dragon holding a scroll. Twilight walked over to the purple and green juvenile and took the scroll with her magic. Melek now remembered the dragon’s name as Spike, Twilight’s assistant. As Melek recalled, Spike had threatened to set him on fire should he ‘try anything’. Melek wasn’t sure what Spike was talking about, but he wasn’t eager to be lit on fire so he elected to nod and agree.

Twilight unfurled the scroll and perused the contents. Again, Melek was surprised by her quick reading. Her previously neutral expression dropped as she finished reading, and Melek found himself with a strange feeling as he watched her horror.

“Mel.” Twilight spoke flatly “What do you know about the Sultana’s plan?”

“I-I don’t know anything!” Melek objected. He didn’t know what she was talking about; the Sultana hadn’t told him anything other than to report to her.

“You’re a spy, aren’t you.” Twilight sighed sadly. She turned and advanced on Melek with her horning glowing threateningly.

“I don’t know!” Melek flinched and tried to hide behind the curtain, causing Twilight to stop her advance “I was told to tell her everything, but now I’m free, but I don’t like being free so far, and I just want to go home!” Melek slumped to the ground as Twilight’s horn stopped glowing.

“I’m sorry Mel.” Twilight whispered “I thought I was helping you, but all I’ve done is rip you away from everything you know and tossed you into a new world.”

“It’s not your fault, I just, I guess I need some time.” Melek tried to cheer her up. He did actually like Twilight, and even if the pink djinn had bothered him she had good intentions. All of them did. “I promise I’ll try harder.”

“You don’t have to. You’re free, even if that means you want to leave.” Twilight swallowed nervously and trotted over to the doorway. Spike had long scuttled off. “And I believe you when you say you didn’t know anything.”

“What’s going on?” Melek asked.

“The Sultana…” Twilight began before a pair of Royal Guards burst into the room behind her. In a flash, they had grabbed Melek with their powerful hooves and hoofcuffed him.

“W-What’s going on?! Why?!” Melek shrieked, terror evident in his voice. As he was dragged off, he saw a tear drop from Twilight’s eye.

The massive machine’s bronze plating shone in the light provided by the magma. Daemon regarded his masterpiece with pride. He was standing on a small ledge that was part of a large cave in the mantle the planet of Equus, beneath the volcano that once served as Mazda’s Forge. Before him was one of the last creations of Mazda before it left Equus. Daemon had found it half-finished years ago, and had set to finishing the beautiful device. It had taken so long, but with the Horns to channel the power provided by the Madstone, the machine would soon be working. All he needed was to control it, but of course he wasn’t going to be the one inhabiting it. That duty fell to his ally, the Sultana.

He still remembered when he met her. She was covered in her foal’s blood, and swearing all sorts of foul oaths. When Daemon came to her, and offered her revenge, she accepted almost instantly. In truth, she wasn’t the queen she fancied herself to be, but just another pawn. Daemon smiled wickedly.

No, the queen position was already taken, even if she had been captured. But of course, you could always sacrifice a pawn for a queen. Daemon was only half of a full being without his queen, with a hole in his heart. He would sacrifice the world for her.

As the bronze machine began to power up, Daemon allowed himself a cackle. Once the Sultana had smashed Taus, he would turn her against all the nations one by one. Then he could get his sister back, and they would rule.

As they should.

“And why can’t you capture him? You could have captured Tirek, had you been faithful.” Princess Luna inquired as Discord shrugged. The two were seated at a round table in the heart of the castle, with Celestia taking a third seat by the window. They had called Discord here to discuss strategy now that Daemon was loose.

“Daemon is a completely different case.” Discord defended himself “He’s one of Lucifer’s little…”

“Enough.” Princess Celestia cut off Discord’s explanation. “If you won’t capture him, then we need another plan.” Not that there were many she could think of.

“It’s not that I won’t, but that I can’t!” Discord protested as he pulled his eyes out, turned them into dice, and rolled them across the table to get a pair of ones. “Unlike you or the others, the Children of Light specialize in resisting me!”

“Daemon isn’t a Child of Light.” Luna protested.

“He’s cut from the same cloth.” Celestia sighed. She had suspected as much. Mazda had lifted Lucifer specifically to oppose Mainyu and Ahriman, so those that spawned from his sundering were powerful against a chaotic being like Discord, who had been born of Ahriman.

“If anything, you two are the ones who should stand against him.” Discord suggested as his seat decided to ignore gravity and float away, with him still sitting in it. “Your parent was the one designed to keep Lucifer in check.” Mazda hadn’t been happy with some of Lucifer’s indiscretions, and so had raised several others to keep him contained along with creating the Peacekeeper to jail any misbehaving gods.

“Only with the help of her siblings.” Celestia grumbled. So far, Aquila had ignored all of her missives, leading Celestia to wonder if she had made a deal with Daemon. Goliath, or rather his regents, had at least answered her. She hadn’t been surprised to hear that the infant demigod wasn’t able to participate since he had only been reborn recently. As for Chiron, he hadn’t been seen in millennia (and his children, Scorpan and Tirek, weren’t available either) and Borealis had been tossed into the only place worse than Tartarus, the Void of Mainyu. Celestia and Luna faced the prospect of facing Daemon with only Cadance and Twilight providing support. Even the Elements of Harmony and Crystal Heart, weapons that were so potent against Mainyuan forces like Discord or Sombra, provided no help against a Mazdan demigod such as Daemon.

“Tia, what do we do?” Luna looked at Celestia, hoping her older sister would come up with a plan.

“We will fight.” Celestia replied firmly. As the Princesses stood up, Discord noted the fire in Celestia’s eyes. It had been a long time since he had seen her like this, and it almost scared the chaotic being. Even against the Changeling queen, Celestia had held back. Now though, she was preparing for not just a battle, but a war.