Chains and Ladders

Daemon whirled around, his eyes ablaze with fury. Discord contorted his body to avoid a hefty punch to the gut before snapping his fingers to teleport next to Luna.

“Discord.” Daemon spat as he glared at the smiling draconequus. Luna regarded her new partner warily.

“Did you have to put me through that as well? And didn’t you say you were staying out of it?” Luna demanded. Discord tapped his chin thoughtfully.

“Not really” Discord confessed “but they did always say that you should face your fears. And I lied.” Discord grinned sadistically at Luna as she lobbed a half-hearted magical blast at him. Twisting into a coil, the blast passed harmlessly to strike the dune behind him.

“I will not be ignored.” Daemon simmered. He jumped forward, trying to strike both of his opponents with his hooves, but they jumped sideways to avoid his strike. Releasing a black bolt of lightning, Daemon struck Luna right on her helmet, causing her to be thrown a few feet. As she lay on the ground, cursing at him, Daemon then had to avoid a random anvil that appeared overhead, nearly crushing him. Discord’s lion arm swiped at Daemon’s face and left a thin red mark across his nose.

“You won’t win against both of us.” Discord bounced around Daemon like a spring as Luna got back on her hooves. Daemon smiled softly and resumed his attack.

Grinding its hoof into the sand, Halos would have smiled if it could. Suddenly, it felt a disturbance in the sand beneath it. As Halos stepped back, it suddenly fell into a sinkhole as Taus emerged from under the ground.

“You thought you’d won?” Taus taunted the machine as it scrambled back to the surface. He had narrowly avoided being crushed by burrowing under the sand, before moving around enough to try and swallow Halos again.

Halos vented steam, as if trying to answer, before lumbering forward. Taus focused his sensory probe, and was surprised to see that Halos now had three separate power readings. One stood before him, one was buried underground, and another was now flying above him. As he dodged the ponderous attack, he chanced a glance skyward. No other Halos appeared there, but he still sensed the presence. Shaking his head, Taus launched several probing magical attacks that Halos absorbed easily. Suddenly, he felt dizzy and was forced to land as the world around him seemed to spin. Halos lumbered toward him as he tried to lurch away. Inside his head, Taus heard the voices arguing again. His own was absent.

Twilight Sparkle couldn’t let her mentor fight alone. Not noticing Melek standing behind her, she launched herself from the dune to fly alongside Celestia.

“Twilight? What are you doing here?” Celestia kept her eyes on Aquila as Twilight joined her.

“I’m here to help.” Twilight explained “And I’m not leaving.” Celestia didn’t have time to answer as Aquila launched her attack, aiming at Twilight. To Aquila’s surprise, Twilight was no longer there, but instead was able to strike the griffin with a bolt of magical lightning that nearly sent her to the ground. Wobbling, she flew back to level with her adversaries, who hovered opposite her.

“My brother’s taught me a little something about fighting.” Twilight gloated, answering Celestia’s unspoken question. “After the changeling invasion, he felt it would be better if I could defend myself.” Twilight explained as Aquila sneered.

“You should still leave.” Celestia insisted. Twilight’s response was to shake her head. Celestia recognized the look in her former student’s eyes. Rather than continuing to argue, Celestia turned her attention back to Aquila.

“It doesn’t have to be this way.” Celestia pleaded to Aquila.

“You didn’t watch him murder thousands of your citizens at Tarsos!” Aquila screamed. “You didn’t have your chicks crushed beneath tons of dirt!” With a primal scream, Aquila launched herself back into the fray.

“It’s over Daemon. You’ve lost.” Luna watched her adversary chuckle. Celestia and Aquila were evenly matched, but with Twilight’s help they should prevail. Daemon had an advantage over Discord, but Luna’s presence nullified that. She wasn’t sure why Taus was struggling so much, but he was still holding his own. They could help him after they finished here… or not.

“It’s only just begun, little princess.” Daemon licked his lips. Darting forward, he didn’t aim for either opponent but instead came to stand between them. Luna’s magical attacks were nullified as he turned toward her and raced over. Rather than attack, however, Daemon came right up to Luna, face to face. Luna could smell the decay on his breath as he grinned madly before he suddenly vanished. A massive bolt of chaotic energy then plowed into Luna, overwhelming her defenses. The last thing she remembered was Discord standing over her.

Taus crawled away as hundreds of Halos energy copies seemed to surround him. Inside his head, he heard the thundering cries of his siblings as they tried to drag his energy to themselves. Laughing and crying, Taus collapsed as Halos bent down and picked up his body with its mouth.

“You betrayed me!” Baphomet’s voice sounded.

“I will not rest till you are destroyed!” Michael shouted.

“Can we take a nap?” Azazel inquired.

“Why don’t I get magic armor?” Toyol grumbled.

Thankfully, Halos’ jaw slammed shut on his body before the rest of the voices could be understood. As Melek Taus fell to the sand, his golden blood staining it, he saw  Halos spit out his lower half. Grinning madly, Taus closed his eyes.

The explosion startled Celestia and Twilight, who had dealt several hard blows to Aquila. The griffin suddenly began shaking, as if possessed.

“He’s dead.” Aquila didn’t believe it. Daemon’s mad machine had worked. Melek Taus was gone. In the explosion, she sensed a few of his sibling’s spirits escape, but Iblis, who drove Melek Taus, did not. Aquila did not know what came after death, but she wished only the worst upon her enemy. The sudden release of energy seemed to have stunned Halos, who reeled away. Several smoking craters on its armor spoke to the sheer power of Taus’ death. Even anti-magic armor had limits.

Hearing a sudden cry, Celestia snapped her attention toward where her sister fought Daemon. She saw Luna laying wounded and unconscious, with Discord kneeling before her. Before she could turn her attention back to Aquila, she sensed the griffin fleeing. Celestia and Twilight flew down to stand by Discord as Daemon cackled.

“My little clockwork monster did it!” Daemon gloated as Celestia glared at him. Behind her, Twilight was administering aid to Luna, whose breathing had become ragged. Discord just kept muttering about how it was an accident, and how Fluttershy would never forgive him.

Lumbering over, Halos almost seemed to be grinning as it came to stand by its master. Celestia’s eyes flicked between her opponents. They had been so close to victory, only to have it snatched away at the last moment.

On the ridge of the dune, Melek watched in horror as the monsters moved toward Celestia.

Do you want to do something about it?

Melek flinched at the voice in his head. It had been a long time since he had heard it. It always offered him help, but Melek never accepted. He figured it was a demon.

But now the voice was offering to go against a real demon. Melek hesitated as he watched Celestia being swatted down by a massive hoof.

“I do.” Melek spoke aloud. He felt the voice smile.

Good.