Dragon Age: Equestria

Chapters

Chapter 1: The Lights In The Shadow
Chapter 2: Blessed Are The Peacekeepers
Chapter 3: Heart Of All Creation
Chapter 4: Cross'd My Heart With Shame
Chapter 5: Few Against The Wind
Chapter 6: See What Can Be Gained
Chapter 7: In Blackest Envy
Chapter 9: No Rest In This World
Chapter 10: Unshaken By The Darkness
Chapter 11: Field And Forest Shall Burn
Chapter 12: Banners Which Flew Without Wind
Chapter 13: Towers Forever Stain'd
Chapter 14: Power Over Heaven
Epilogue: Let Chaos Be Undone
Prologue: From These Emerald Waters
Chapter 8: Demons Who Would Be Gods

Chapter 1: The Lights In The Shadow

***Equestria***

Twilight looked out over the world of Equestria flying by her below her chariot, the wind blowing through her mane. The further she got from Canterlot, the less ravaged the land got; when she first took off, fires burned all over the land and Royal Guard camps had cropped up around nearly all the monster-spewing holes, but they were spreading too fast for the Guard to keep up.

For the rest of the flight, Twilight rested her face in her hooves. She was unsure about what Princess Celestia had told her, but the fear that loomed over all of Equestria made her desperate for anything that would work.

When she landed, she hopped out in the middle of a small camp with a few tents. There was a small fire going in the middle of the camp, with a few tall, light-skinned creatures sitting around it. One of them, wearing a dull red coat and with a long stick on his back, got up and walked over to her.

“Princess Twilight, I presume?” he asked. Looking up at him, Twilight got slightly intimidated; he was tall and thin, with intricate brown tattoos all over his face.

“Yes,” she replied shakily.

“I am the Inquisitor, leader of the Inquisition,” he introduced himself. Looking behind her, he studied the hole in the sky. “And how long has that been there?”

“About a few months,” she replied, turning around and looking at it. “It started small, but it’s growing.” She turned back and looked at him. “You said you knew about it?”

“It’s a Breach,” he explained. “A massive rip between the Fade and our world. If not stopped, it will swallow up our world, and the demons of the Fade will overrun us.”

Twilight’s heart sank in her stomach. “Can you stop it?”

He smiled lightly. “It will be difficult. But it’s possible. We’ll need all the allies we can get.”

***Equestria***
One day earlier

“Inquisitor!” Mahanon heard Scout Harding call while knocking on his door. “Our scouts have finished their report of the area.”

Getting up from his desk, he opened the door from his private cabin on the ship and looked down at Scout Harding. “What have they found?”

“It’s...complicated,” she said, starting to walk out of the boat.

“How so?” he asked, following her.

“It turns out there are some animals here capable of speech,” she said. “We tried to ask them about the Breach, but they got confused and really angry at us, demanding we come with them and all that. We’ve got them tied up outside.”

“Tied up?” he asked. “Hardly seems an appropriate way to meet a new people.”

“They didn’t give us much of a choice. We asked them to come peacefully, but they resisted. Don’t worry; none of them are hurt. Embarrassed probably, but otherwise fine.”

As they walked out onto the deck of the ship, Mahanon looked down to the camp they had started to set up. Sitting by the fire were a few colorful horses, tied up and looking angry. As he and Harding walked down to them, one of them scowled at them.

“What do you want now?” one of them growled at them.

“I just have a few questions,” he said, crossing his arms. “My scouts tell me you’re angry at them. Whatever for?”

“Tying us up, for starters,” he replied.

“She said you were mad at her before they tied you up, and that you’re now tied up because you were angry at them.”

“None of them would answer our questions.”

“And those are…?”

“We just asked them who they were and what they were doing!” he said defensively. “So we followed them. Figured they were maybe some of those monsters.”

“The ones coming from the hole in the sky?”

“Yeah.”

“Untie them,” Mahanon ordered to Harding, and she moved to them and started to untie the rope binding them. “Those are demons. We’re not.” He pointed to the boat behind him. “We came from Theads, in the west. We had a Breach of our own there, and we managed to close it.”

As the rope fell off around them, the main horse stood up quickly and entered a formal stance. “Commander Lawful Shield, Equestrian Royal Guard,” he said proudly.

“Inquisitor Lavellan, Inquisition leader,” Mahanon replied. “I have to admit, I’ve never seen any horses capable of speaking to me. Or as colorful as you are.”

“‘Horse’?” Lawful Shield replied confusedly. “I, Inquisitor Lavellan, am a pony. I know not of these ‘horses’ you speak of.”

“I...alright,” Mahanon replied, sharing a confused glance with Scout Harding.

“And what is it you are?”

“I am an elf.” He pointed at Harding. “Scout Harding here is a dwarf. Are there none of us in your lands?”

“Never seen any of your kind in my life,” he shook his head. “You sailed over the ocean to get here, you said?”

“Some sailors reported back that there was a Breach over this land, just as there was one over ours. The Inquisition was the one to close the Breach, so we were told to come here.”

“You’re going to need a bigger boat,” he remarked, looking at the single boat the Inquisition had taken. “There are a lot of those...what did you call them? Demons?”

“Yes. And not all of us came. Our homeland of Thedas now looks to us for guidance, so we were not able to send everyone we had across the ocean. Many of our allies are also afraid, and do not want to pledge anything to us yet.”

“So...it’s just the few of you against a hole in the sky spewing demons?”

“You make it sound harder than it will be,” he laughed. “But we’ll need help. Do you have a general or an emperor we could get help from? If we’re going to close the Breach, we’ll need all the manpower we can get.”

“Private Pauldron!” the Commander yelled to one of the ponies behind him, who snapped to attention quickly. “Write a letter to Princess Celestia. Tell her what’s happened.” The Private nodded, then started to run, but stopped dead in his tracks.

“Commander?” he said meekly. “We have nothing to write to her with.”

“I’ll help you with that,” Scout Harding said, beckoning the Private over. He followed her, then the two disappeared into the Head Scout’s tent.

Chapter 2: Blessed Are The Peacekeepers

Twilight surveyed the Breach from the Inquisition camp, a few small tears starting to pool in her eyes. Its sickening green glow lit up the sky, even in the dark of night. She heard footsteps behind her. “You’re up late,” the Inquisitor said.

“I know,” she sighed.

“Worried about the Breach?” he asked, sitting down next to her. She nodded silently in response. “It’s understandable. I know it can seem hopeless, but you can’t lose hope. The night is long and the path is dark, but the dawn will come.” He laughed softly to himself. “Someone back in Thedas sang that to the Inquisition after we were attacked in our home of Haven. I suppose it’s better sung than spoken, but I can’t sing to save my life.” He looked at Twilight. “All you need is something to hold onto to give you hope. An idea, a person, a place, anything.”

Twilight remembered her friends back in Ponyville. “Did you have anything like that?” He nodded. “Which one of those?”

“People,” he said hollowly. “I had my clan back home, but I haven’t seen them since I left.” He paused and looked intently at the fire. “And I had someone that I loved. But...we can’t now.”

“You can’t?” she repeated. “Why not?”

“It’s complicated. We’re still friends, but we can no longer see each other.”

“That sounds difficult.”

“It is. But I still have my friends, and at least the problem is solved in Thedas.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes, just looking at the Breach. “It’ll be alright,” he reassured Twilight. “I promise.” He stood up, then started walking towards his tent. “We’ll leave in the morning. I don’t think we can close the Breach just yet, but we can at least stop it from expanding.”

Twilight stood by her chariot, anxiously awaiting the Inquisitor’s arrival. He walked up wearing the same dull red coat as yesterday, and three others were with him. “Are you ready to go?” she asked the group.

“As much as we will be. These are my companions, by the way,” he said, pointing to the others with him. “Vivienne, Cassandra, and Iron Bull.”

“Is he a minotaur?” Twilight asked, pointing to Iron Bull.

“Minotaur? I wish!” he said excitedly. “Nope, just qunari. All the horns, none of the ugliness of being half-goat.”

“You keep telling yourself that,” Vivienne muttered under her breath.

“We should leave now,” Cassandra said, walking up to the chariot. “The sooner we can close the Breach, the better.”

The companions piled into Twilight’s chariot, their large size almost giving Twilight no room to sit down. The pegasi pulling it grunted at the additional weight, but managed to take flight eventually.

“Pretty cool,” Iron Bull remarked, looking out the side of the chariot. “Hey boss, how much you think these cost?”

“We don’t have flying horses where we are,” Cassandra pointed out.

“Ponies,” the Inquisitor corrected.

“There a difference?” Iron Bull asked.

“These ones can talk.”

“How much do you think it would cost to hire these guys?”

“They’re Royal Guards,” Twilight spoke up. “They can’t really be bought like that.”

“Damn,” he muttered under his breath. “How much for guys like this?”

“What would you even do with a flying chariot?” Vivienne asked.

“I dunno,” he laughed. “But come on, the possibilities are endless! Imagine just flying into battle in a golden chariot pulled by flying horses, then jumping out and making as dramatic an entrance as possible. That would be awesome!”

“Not to mention incredibly impractical.”

“I had no idea mages didn’t know how to have fun.”

“It’s not mages,” Cassandra corrected. “I think that would be a ridiculous action.”

“Come on, boss,” Iron Bull pleaded to the Inquisitor. “Help me out, won’t you?”

“You’d probably hurt yourself jumping out that high up,” the Inquisitor pointed out. “Then you’d just be a pile of broken bones on the ground.”

“Bah!” Iron Bull vented in frustration. “You’re all no fun.”

“So I take it you’re all friends?” Twilight asked with a small smile.

“Friends?” Vivienne echoed. “Dear, I hope not.”

“Don’t lie, Viv,” Iron bull said. “Deep down, you care for me.”

“If I say yes, will you go away?”

“Yes.”

“Then yes.”

“All I needed,” he chuckled, leaning back in his seat.

The party continued the rest of the flight in silence, all of them looking out over the land below them.

“We’re getting close, Princess!” one of the pegasi wheezed as they got close to Canterlot.

“Where are you dropping us?” the Inquisitor asked Twilight.

“Mount Canter,” Twilight replied. “The Breach is at the summit.”

“Sounds good,” he said, picking up his staff. The rest of the Inquisition members picked up their weapons, as well. The pegasi brought the chariot down, and after a rough landing on the rocky surface, the five all jumped out.

“Up ahead!” the Inquisitor pointed out. “There’s one of the Rifts!”

“This is going to get good,” Iron Bull said excitedly to himself as they all pulled out their weapons.

Private Armored Ward pulled his lance out of the big red fire-spitting creature that had spilled out of the hole in the sky. It threw its arms up into the air and dissolved back into the hole, no doubt to come out again later.

Taking a moment to breathe, he did not even notice the green circle appear around his hooves. One of the green creatures jumped out and knocked him on his back, throwing his lance far to the side. As the beast raised its claws in preparation to strike him, he put his hooves over his face. He didn’t want to die. Not all alone. Not by some hideous creature.

All of a sudden, he felt a wave of cold rush over him. When he didn’t feel the creature bring its claws down on him, he slowly moved his hooves and looked at the creature, which was now frozen solid.

“How…?”

Before he could finish his thought, another creature that looked different than anything that came out of the holes in the sky ran by and ran into the frozen creature, shattering it and knocking it onto the ground. The creature dissolved into the hole, and a beam of light shot out of it to something behind him. Turning around, he saw a tall and thin creature holding up its left arm, where the light was going towards. It swiped its arm to the side, and then he could hear a massive explosion. When he looked back to where the hole had been, it was simply gone; no light, no monsters pouring out of it.

“That was awesome!” the pony on the ground yelled, hopping up to his hooves. Upon seeing Twilight, a look of fear immediately spread on his face as he snapped to salute. “P-Princess Twilight!” he stuttered.

“It’s fine. You don’t need to do...that,” she said, pointing at the overly stiff salute he was doing.

“Right,” he uttered to himself, stopping the salute. “And...who are they?” he asked, pointing at the Inquisitor.

“I am the Inquisitor,” Mahanon replied. “And with me are Vivienne, Cassandra, and Iron Bull.”

“‘Sup,” Iron Bull said with a slight nod of his head.

“I...damn, I’ve got so many questions for you,” the pony said to himself. “Anyways, I’m Private Armored Ward. We were patrolling here when that hole in the sky appeared and started spewing monsters.” He glanced over at some of the dead bodies around them. “I’m the only one that survived.”

“How do we get up there?” Twilight asked, pointing up at the Breach.

“That path over there.” The Private pointed to a small path winding up Mount Canter. As they started to walk towards the path, the Private ran in front of them. “Inquisitor, wait!” he called out. “Please, let me join you. Those things killed all my friends, I have to be with you when you close the hole in the sky!”

“So long as you can hold yourself in a fight,” Mahanon replied.

“Yeah! Wait…” Armored Ward stood there for a moment with a quizzical expression on his face, then ran back and picked up his lance. “Knew I forgot something. Anyways, onward!”

As the party walked up the steep and narrow mountain path, they would occasionally look off to the side to see the land below them. Fade Rifts had opened up all around the mountain, and the ponies were fighting off wave after wave of demons in a futile attempt to stop them from spilling out into the world.

“Look,” Cassandra said, pointing down the base of the mountain. “There’s red lyrium here, just like at the Temple of Sacred Ashes.”

“Oh, those crystals?” Armored Ward spoke up. “Yeah, that stuff’s been growing ever since the hole opened. We’ve been trying to take some and see what we can do with it, but obviously, getting near it and removing it is hard with all those holes opening up.”

“Wait,” Mahanon said, stopping the party. “You’re taking red lyrium and using it?”

“Are we not supposed to?” he asked innocently.

“Red lyrium does real crazy shit to you,” Iron Bull added. “Makes you go crazy, and over time, it fuses with your body until you’re nothing but some red lyrium abomination in constant agony.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Twilight said morbidly.

“Neither of you have touched it, right? Or spent lots of time near it?” Cassandra asked worriedly, her hand moving discreetly to her sword.

“I haven’t,” Armored Ward said. “I’m just a soldier. Go and fight where I’m told to. It’s mostly the scientists that handle that stuff.”

“I haven’t gotten any of it either,” Twilight said. “Though I remember reading some letters from Princess Celestia about it. I don’t think she’s been handling it, either, though.”

“We’ll warn them after we seal the Breach,” Vivienne spoke up. “Right now, we have to stop the Fade from collapsing onto this world.”

The party continued climbing the mountain path until eventually, they reached a large, flat area near the top where another Fade Rift was located. More ponies were fighting there than at the one where Armored Ward was, but judging by the bodies piled around, it was a fraction of the force that had ascended the mountain.

“Ready!” Mahanon yelled, pulling out his staff. The rest of the party pulled out their weapons as well, and he felt Vivienne’s barrier engulf him.

The battle began with Mahanon’s favorite spell: Static Cage. He cast it around a despair demon that had opened its hood and was too busy shooting beams of ice at a pony struggling to hold up her shield to notice the ring of electricity surrounding it.

The rest of his companions except for Twilight, who was slowly backing her way down the mountain path in fear, had chosen their own targets and were helping the ponies fight off the demons. While he used his ice staff on the demon while waiting for his mana to regenerate enough to cast Spirit Mark, Mahanon silently cursed how seemingly everything he encountered resisted ice spells. Or at least, he always ran into enemies that resisted his specific staff’s element.

By the time he was able to cast Spirit Mark, Iron Bull and the few ponies he was helping had killed their rage demon and focused on the despair demon. When it died, its body turned instead to a glowing blue spirit which turned on its former demon allies. When all the demons were defeated, Mahanon dismissed the spirit. Its energy went into the Rift, which opened up in preparation for a new wave of demons to spill out.

“Twilight!” Mahanon called, startling the Princess. “Come join us!”

“I don’t really know how to fight!” she yelled back, afraid.

“Don’t worry, Princess!” one of the ponies called to her. “We’ll protect you! It’s our duty!”

Nervously, she walked up next to Mahanon and looked up at him. “You sure about this?” she asked worriedly.

“We’ll be fine,” he reassured her.

When the Rift spit out the next wave of demons, it spit out shades. Mahanon again felt Vivienne’s barrier around him, and while most of the shades attacked other members of the fight, two of the honed in on Mahanon and Twilight and started moving towards them.

“They’re coming straight at us!” Twilight panicked, her horn lighting up.

“Not yet,” Mahanon said confidently. He spread his arms and legs wide, lowered his head to the ground, and channeled energy through his arms in preparation for casting a Horror spell.

“What are you doing?” Twilight yelled at him.

Not even responding, Mahanon focused on where he was going to cast the spell and when the shades would get there. When they did, he thrust his staff into the ground, causing the image of a great black skull to jump out of the ground and making Twilight’s wings to pop up in startlement.

“What was that?” she yelled.

The shades stopped dead in their tracks before scurrying away like bugs whose rock they were hiding under was suddenly lifted. “That one, on the right!” Mahanon ordered, starting to cast spells from his staff at it.

Twilight did as he ordered, shooting a few beams of magic from her horn at the fleeing shade. The two quickly defeated it, then focused on the second shade, which was still fleeing.

Mahanon quickly launched a Walking Bomb spell at it, causing a purple light to appear in the shade’s test. The two launched spells at it, and when it died, it exploded in a sound Mahanon found disturbingly satisfying.

“The Rift is open!” Cassandra shouted to Mahanon. He put his staff on his back and put up his left hand, using the Anchor to seal the rift. When he did, he threw his hand to the left, causing an explosion.

The ponies all cheered before realizing, just as Armored Ward had, that Twilight was with them. They all saluted towards her, although much less shakily than he had.

“At ease, all of you,” Twilight said.

“We’re glad to see you’re okay, Princess,” one of the ponies said, walking up to her. “But really, what are you doing here?”

“We’re here to close the Breach,” she said, pointing up towards it.

“And...who are they?” he asked, pointing at the Inquisition.

“They’re the Inquisition, and they claim they know how to close it.” The pony looked at Twilight strangely, and she just shook her head and held up a hoof. “Long story.”

“Whatever they are, we owe them a debt of gratitude. How was it you were able to close that thing?”

“The Rift?” Mahanon held up his left hand, which sputtered with magic. “With this.”

“With a hand?” the pony asked. “Or that thing on it?”

“The thing on it is the Anchor,” he explained. “It’s connected to the Fade, which is where the Rifts are a connection to. I don’t much understand it either, but it works, and that’s all that matters.”

“Fascinating,” he muttered under his breath. “And you don’t look like anything we’ve ever seen around here. What are you?”

“I am an elf,” he said, pointing at himself. “Cassandra and Vivienne over there are humans, and Iron Bull is-”

“Minotaur, right?”

“Shit, are minotaurs real here?” Iron Bull proclaimed. “Because I’d sure like to meet one. I always thought they were real ugly, so I really hope the ones here aren’t. I’d hate to find out being called a minotaur is actually a kick in the pants here.”

“...He’s qunari.”

“Ah.” The pony pawed at the ground nervously. “Don’t really know what that is, but...well, I suppose now I do.”

“What’s the fastest way up to the Breach?” Twilight asked.

“The Breach?” he repeated. “Oh right, the big hole in the sky. Over there.” He pointed to another path going up the mountain, which was less steep and wider.

“We’ll go up first,” Mahanon said. “You trail behind us and be ready for whatever is there.”

“Right.” He turned to the rest of the ponies, who saluted him. “Guards, in formation!” They quickly moved into formation, and he turned back around. “Whenever you’re ready, uhh…?”

“‘Inquisitor’ is fine.” He turned to his companions, who were now standing with Armored Ward. “Come on. We need to get to the summit.” The group started walking up the next mountain path.

“None of you have touched any of the red crystals growing out of this mountain, right?” Cassandra asked the ponies.

“No ma’am,” the captain replied. “Been too busy fighting those things to be able to go around touching everything.”

“Good,” she replied. “It’s red lyrium.”

After a few seconds of silence, the captain spoke up again. “Is that supposed to mean anything to me?”

“I’ll explain later. But red lyrium is never good.”

The group continued the rest of the climb in silence, everyone focused on their objective. When they reached the summit, there was a closed Fade Rift larger than all the others hanging high in the sky.

“That’s it?” Twilight asked. “Perfect! You can just close it like you did the others.”

“It’s not that simple,” he said, moving up to it. “This one is much larger. We’re going to need lots more power to close it completely. All we can do for now is stop its spread.” As we walked closer to the Rift, the Anchor suddenly caused an overload of pain to go shooting through his body, causing him to fall to his knees.

“Inquisitor!” Cassandra yelled worriedly, and the whole group ran up to him. Fighting through the pain, he held his hand up and aimed the Anchor at the Rift, which eventually split open. Instead of demons spilling out, the image of Coryphaeus manifested instead.

“Coryphaeus?” Vivienne asked to make sure she was seeing correctly. “Didn’t we kill him?”

“This is in the past,” Cassandra replied. “It happened when we stopped the Breach when we first met the Inquisitor.”

In the image, Coryphaeus walked up to a blank rock face, then studied it intently. Putting up his hand, a few small beams of light shot out of it, and the rock wall disappeared to reveal the Orb of Destruction on a pedestal surrounded by glowing fire. He held up his hand again, which dispersed the fire. Picking up the Orb, he smiled deviously, then walked away.

“What was that?” Twilight asked.

“Perhaps the Orb was not supposed to be taken from this spot,” Vivienne suggested. “And Coryphaeus taking it disrupted some natural order that ultimately caused the Breach.”

“But you said the Breach was only here for a few months,” Mahanon said, still weak from pain. “Maybe it opened after the Orb was destroyed?”

“Whatever caused the Breach, we must close it,” Cassandra said firmly. She helped Mahanon up, who then put an arm around her to keep from falling.

“Ready, everyone?” he asked.

Iron Bull and all the Royal Guards roared in agreement, Cassandra and Vivienne shot him confident looks, and Twilight just stood there looking nervous. He held his hand up to the Rift, and the link between it and Anchor was created. When the Rift split open, the form of a pride demon came out.

“It’s one of the big ones!” the Guard captain yelled. “Guards, get ready!” They all let out a rallying cry, but Mahanon simply held his hand up again and used the Anchor to cast the Mark of the Rift on the demon, swallowing it up and banishing it back to the Fade.

“...Success…?” one of the Guards asked. The Guards all remained quiet for a few seconds before erupting in cheering.

“Well that was anticlimactic,” Iron Bull said, a little sad he wasn’t able to fight another demon.

Holding up the Anchor again, Mahanon aimed once again at the Rift. The connection was established again, and the Rift exploded with force so massive that they were all knocked back. Just like at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, the force with which the Rift had fought back knocked Mahanon unconscious.

Chapter 3: Heart Of All Creation

Mahanon woke up in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar house. He smiled lightly; at least he had known to expect being knocked unconscious and waking up in a strange place this time. Saving the world was easy once you knew what to expect.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he looked around where he was. The ceiling was short and the whole space was cramped, so he figured it was built for ponies, not anything full-sized. Shakily making his way to the front door, he opened it and had the full force of the sun meet his eyes.

Shielding himself from the blinding rays, he walked out, then put his arm down to get a better look at the camp. It still had the camps the Inquisition used on the coast, but with a few houses, some in better shape than others. A great stone wall rose around the city, which Mahanon took comfort in.

“Inquisitor!” Twilight called out, walking up to him and smiling. “I’m so glad you’re up! I thought you were going to die!” she cried out worriedly.

“I was going to be fine,” he laughed. “Happened to me once before, I knew what to expect.” He looked around once again, then settled his view on Twilight. “Where are we?”

“We’re at the Inquisition’s Equestrian forward camp!” she said excitedly. “It was an old Royal Guard outpost that was abandoned, so we took it over since it has places to stay and is pretty safe out here. Welcome to Neighven!”

“Neighven?” the Inquisitor asked.

“Yeah,” Twilight responded. “Neighven.”

“Did you choose that name, or did someone else?”

“It was always named Neighven,” she replied, not sure why he was confused. “Why?”

“I...you know what? It’s not important.”

“Okay…” Twilight said, somewhat weirded out by the conversation. “Anyways, we need to see you in the command center.”

“There’s not anyone trying to get me imprisoned, is there?” he asked, walking with Twilight towards the large building overlooking the rest of the fortress.

“Why would they do that?” Twilight asked, even more confused than before. “You saved lots of Royal Guards, closed some Rifts, and stopped the Breach from expanding. Why would we want you imprisoned?”

Mahanon simply laughed. “I suppose in Thedas, we have other ways of showing our appreciation for things like that.”

“By...throwing people who save you in jail?”

“People were just worried,” he said dismissively. “They thought I had killed the Divine, the leader of the Chantry, which oversees religion in Thedas. So naturally, they weren’t too fond of me at the start.”

“Why did they think that?”

“Wrong place, wrong time. She died when the Breach opened, and I was the only one alive. You have to admit it didn’t look good for me.”

“Did they not ask you what happened?”

“If only it were like that,” he said warmly. “The Inquisition believed me. But the Chantry wanted nothing to do with me, partly because people believed the Anchor was given to me by the goddess Andraste. So they started calling me the Herald of Andraste, which the Chantry took as a threat against them. They thought I wanted to undermine their authority.”

“Wouldn’t they be excited if Andraste sent down a Herald in their time of need?”

“Wondered that myself for a while.” They reached the command center and opened the large wooden doors, which opened into a large hallway with numerous smaller hallways spitting off in every direction. “It’s so big,” Mahanon noted when they walked in.

“The room they’ve set up as the war room should be through here,” Twilight said, turning down one of the numerous hallways. They walked through a maze of cramped and musty hallways, which he figured hadn’t been used for ages.

They finally reached a smaller door, which Twilight opened and walked into. Being built for ponies, Mahanon had to duck down when he entered, but once inside, the ceiling rose high into the sky, giving him plenty of room.

There was one wooden table in the center of the room, which looked as though it had been there since the fortress had abandoned. Scout Harding stood at it studying a map, while Cassandra stood off to the side, leaning up against one of the walls.

“Good to see you’re up, Inquisitor,” Cassandra said as she noticed his entrance.

“Come here and I’ll show you what we’ve done so far,” Scout Harding said, beckoning him over. He walked to the other side of the table where she was, then leaned far down to be level with the table.

“Is this a map of this continent?” Mahanon asked, looking at the unrecognizable shape on the map.

“Indeed.” Scout Harding pointed to a red X on the map in an area called the Unicorn Range. “That’s where we are.” She pointed to a green X on a mountain near a city named Canterlot. “That’s where the Breach is.” Finally, she pointed to another red X north of a city named Los Pegasus. “And that’s where we landed. They have these crazy motorized carriages here called ‘trains’, and we were able to use them to take some of our things up here. But they only got us so far, and we still have a lot of gear out in the wilderness being transported here. We all came here first because we wanted to get everything settled.”

“Princess,” Cassandra spoke up, “Didn’t you say you were going to ask another Princess to send us aid?”

“I did,” Twilight responded, defeated. “She says she’ll send what she can, but it’s not a lot since most of Equestria’s resources are going to closing the Rifts.”

“Have we contacted the Inquisition back at Skyhold?” Mahanon asked.

“We can’t just yet,” Harding said, a little disappointment in her voice. “We only took one ship here, and we haven’t unloaded everything. And then once we do, sending the ship back to Thedas means we’re stuck here for another two months while it sails there and back.”

“We can’t operate with this few people,” he proclaimed. “We need advisors, soldiers, anyone we can get out hands on.”

“I already thought of all the people we’ll need,” Cassandra said, pulling a crumpled-up sheet of paper out of one of her pockets and passing it to him.

“Let’s see...military advisor and/or general, spymaster, diplomat, informants, soldiers, an apothecary, a blacksmith, a researcher...I’m not going to read these all.”

“I can send this to Celestia,” Twilight said, taking it in her magic. Looking at the paper intently, there was a bright purple flash, and all of a sudden, the paper was gone.

“What was that?” Cassandra jumped.

“Saw one of the Guards do that a few days ago in camp,” Harding said with a smile. “Something about instantly sending letters to others. Surprised no one in Thedas has managed to find a way to do that yet.”

“It’s not the best system,” Twilight said. “Dragon fire is a much more efficient way to send messages, but we don’t have one with us here now.”

“Last dragon fire I encountered burned my eyebrows off,” Cassandra said.

“I promise you won’t have to deal with that again,” Twilight giggled.

“If everything’s done here, I plan to go check out the camp,” Mahanon announced.

“I’ll show you around,” Twilight said happily.

“You know where to find us, Inquisitor,” Harding said, returning to her map.

Twilight lead him through the maze of the command center before re-emerging into the cool spring air. Around the fortress was a thick forest, which seemed to block almost all light trying to escape down to the ground. As the fortress was on a hill, Mahanon could look out over the mountains, where the forest seemed to go on forever, blanketing the entire world in green. Peeking over the also densely forested mountain in the distance was the Breach, a grim reminder of why he was no longer in Thedas.

“Inquisitor!” an eager voice called out. Mahanon turned to the source of the voice to see Armored Ward running up to him.

“Good to see you, Private Ward,” he said with a smile.

“Just call me Ward,” he said, waving his hoof. “All my friends do.”

“Well, Ward, I would’ve thought you’d be reassigned to another squadron since your old one was all killed.”

“Princess Twilight got me to be transferred here,” he said proudly. “I’m a part of the Inquisition now!”

“We’re happy to have you, Ward.”

Ward shot a quick salute his way, then turned around and ran back to wherever it was he came from.

“Anybody else I should know that’s moved in?” Mahanon asked.

“Not really,” Twilight replied. “The rest of your companions arrived, but some of your scouts and foot soldiers are still bringing things up, as Scout Harding said.”

“Do you have any ideas on what our next move is going to be?”

“No,” Twilight said sadly. “I don’t even know why I’m here. I’ve never really done anything like this before, so I feel like I’m not adding much.”

“I felt the same way when I found out I was the Herald. You’ll find your way, I’m sure of it.”

Twilight smiled, then her horn lit up. “Quick!” she said, panicked. “Get me some paper!”

“Some...paper?” he asked.

“Yes! And quick!”

“I...suppose maybe there’s some inside the command center, but I-”

Twilight screamed, then a mass of black light shot out of her horn as she aimed it towards the ground.

“...What was that…?”

“Princess Celestia’s response to our letter,” Twilight panted. “The words just come out. If you don’t put them on paper, they just spill wherever you point your horn at.”

Mahanon grimaced. “Doesn’t sound like the best form of communication.”

“It’s not,” she admitted. “That’s why I said why dragonfire is better.”

“I suppose we shouldn’t let this go to waste, then,” he said, moving next to Twilight and reading the message now etched into the dirt.

Dear Twilight Sparkle and the Inquisition,

Many of the things you requested cannot be provided at the time. I will try and relocate ponies to help you, though there are a few ponies I know of that you could go and get yourselves:

For a chief diplomat, I suggest Fancypants, the Canterlot elite. I do not know exactly where he is hiding, although I believe he may be hiding in his cabin near Neighagra Falls. He is very well connected, and if you go to him, he will likely help you.

Twilight, I know you will not be happy to hear this, but the pony I believe is best suited for role as a spymaster is Trixie Lulamoon. She may be arrogant and you two may have a bad history, but she has traveled far and wide and is a master of overhearing secrets and using them to her advantage. She was last seen in Baltimare, though she may have moved on since then.

However, I do know of a general you would like: Prince Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire. He is still in the Crystal Empire, so he is unavailable for the time being, but I expect him and Princess Cadence will be joining you shortly, without need for a rescue.

Good luck to both you and the Inquisition.

-Princess Celestia

“I suppose that’s a better lead than anything,” Mahanon said. “I seem to understand you don’t enjoy the Princess’ choice of spymaster, however?”

“Just make sure to keep an eye on her,” Twilight said with annoyance in her voice. “She just likes everypony to be looking at her.”

“Doesn’t sound like the best choice for a spymaster, then,” he pointed out.

“I trust Princess Celestia. And she does have a lot of ponies that follow her, they’d be willing to work for the Inquisition if she asked them to. Two colts in Ponyville even once released an ursa minor just to see her vanquish it like she claimed she had.”

“An ursa minor? I have never heard of that.”

“Nopony’s ever mentioned them since it happened,” Twilight pointed out. “A lot of things seem to happen like that.”

“Odd. And do you know the Prince she suggested?”

“He’s my brother!” Twilight said happily. “He’ll help us, for sure.”

“Sounds good.” He looked down at Twilight and smiled. “Sounds like we should start rounding up the advisors, then. Do you have any suggestions on which one to go after first?”

“Not really,” she shook her head. “Fancypants sounds like he’ll be easier to find, since we know where he is. But Trixie is easier to get to. It’s up to you, really.”

“Guess this tour of camp will have to wait.” He looked down at the letters in the dirt. “Are those permanent, or…?”

“I think?” Twilight said, trying to recall some long-forgotten knowledge. “Yes, yes they are.”

“Well then.” The two just stared at the letter for a while. “Well, on the bright side, I suppose Neighven has its first decorations.”

Chapter 4: Cross'd My Heart With Shame

***Baltimare***

“The Great And Powerful Trixie demands another drink!”

The bartender sighed and reached below the bar for the ingredients for what the mare called the ‘Trixie’: vodka, gin, whiskey, and rum. How her liver and taste buds were still intact was completely beyond him, but she came nightly and always tipped, so he couldn’t care about her eccentric tastes. He mixed a Trixie and passed it over to her, which she took and gulped quickly.

“The Great And Powerful Trixie demands another drink!” she said again.

“You’ve had enough,” the bartender protested.

“I have not!” she yelled. “I’m hardly even buzzed!”

“Yeah, which...honestly, is the part that freaks me out the most.” He shook his head. “Look, I don’t even know if this stuff's legal, and I have no idea how much alcohol is in it, but it can’t be good for you.”

Angrily, she jumped down from the bar, then walked out of the bar while muttering angrily to herself. When she walked out into the streets of Baltimare, the cool night breeze swept past her. It reminded her of home, when she was a filly; the leaves would turn, her mother would start making hot chocolate, and she would sit and admire the leaves turning.

But that was long ago, far away. Now, she just had a seemingly endless concrete jungle, constantly illuminated by the sickening glow of the giant hole in the sky. It had stopped growing, which was good; ponies were gossiping about strange, two-legged creatures sailing across the ocean and commanding the rips in the sky, but she shook it all off as hopeful rumors. Nothing ever was that easy.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” a warm, smooth voice asked from behind her. She jumped, not expecting anypony to be near her this late. When she turned around, she saw a pony wearing a dark cloak with a hood that covered most of his face.

“I think it’s hideous,” she said with disgust.

“No need to be like that,” he laughed, walking up next to her. “Just look at it; all those beautiful colors, spilling out and lighting up our sky. Reminds me of the lights you can see in the Crystal Empire.”

“I still think it’s hideous.”

“There’s just so much beauty to it that most ponies can’t see,” he said happily. “Come, I know of an observatory where I can show you it.”

“So remind me how we’re going to find a single pony in this massive city,” Mahanon asked Twilight as they flew over the Horseshoe Bay.

“Trixie usually makes herself known when she goes somewhere,” Twilight said with a distasteful emotion Mahanon couldn’t quite put his finger on. “She’s a traveling magician, so she needs ponies to pay attention to her.”

“And remind me again why you’re only letting me come with you,” he asked, looking at the mostly empty carriage.

“Two reasons. One, the Guards wouldn’t be able to handle this long-distance a flight with all of you. Two, you’re not from here. You’ll draw a lot of attention as it is, and bringing more of you just will make it harder to be undetected.”

“And we need to be undetected why? Ponies know we’re in Equestria.”

“She’s scared,” Cole said from next to Twilight. “She misses her friends, and is scared at all of yours.”

“Aah!” Twilight jumped across the carriage and hugged Mahanon tight out of fear. “W-what’s that?”

“That’s Cole,” Mahanon said calmly. “He’s a spirit of compassion. He can make people forget or not notice him, and I guess he wanted to come along.”

“She’s worried,” he said, sorrow in his voice. “She sees the Breach and is worried nothing can be done.”

“No I’m not!” Twilight said defensively, exiting the fear hug and sitting next to Mahanon. “I saw him stop it from expanding, and I believe he can close it!”

“Not you,” Cole said, shaking his head. “The pony in the city. She’s scared. She has always kept running, but can run no longer. She just waits for death to come.”

“So you’re...a spirit?” Twilight asked.

“Yes.”

“How come you look like a human?”

“It’s complicated,” Mahanon interjected. “But he’s proven himself to us, and he just wants to help.”

“I guess,” Twilight said uneasily.

“Just don’t make her forget you, Cole,” Mahanon ordered. “We don’t need to scare her anymore.”

“I remind you of Fluttershy, don’t I?” he asked. Twilight’s mouth opened, not even able to find words to express her shock. “I like that. You like her; you think she’s nice. I want to be nice.”

“You get used to it, I promise,” Mahanon chuckled.

The Royal Guards started bringing the carriage down, then landed on a wide cobblestone street in the middle of one of Baltimare’s rich coastal districts. The Inquisition jumped out of the carriage.

“Where do you think we should start?” Mahanon asked.

“I’m not really sure,” Twilight admitted. “But Trixie usually makes herself seen when she goes somewhere, so maybe one of the townsponies has seen her.”

It was late at night, so the Inquisition wandered the streets of Baltimare, looking for anypony to ask about the missing magician. The Breach illuminated the streets, making everywhere they went an eerie pale green.

“There’s a lot of suffering in this city,” Cole announced as they turned down yet another back alley. “I can feel it. The ponies are scared.”

“Even I’m a little wary,” Mahanon admitted. “I don’t really know what’s going to happen; when we closed the Breach back in Thedas, we thought it was over. But Corypheus just rose and gave us something much bigger to worry about.”

“He’s dead now,” Cole said with a little hope in his voice. “He can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

“Tell me exactly who this ‘Corypheus’ is,” Twilight spoke up. “Whenever I bring it up around Neighven, everyone usually just groans or says ‘It was just a hot mess’ or just 'Ah, shit', or something like that.”

“He was a Magister from Tevinter, one of the lands in Thedas” Mahanon explained. “He ventured through the Fade and opened the doors to the Golden City, but when he saw the Throne of the Gods, it was empty and covered in the Blight.”

“‘The Blight’?” Twilight repeated. “I think one of the people at Neighven was saying something like that. Varric, maybe? I’m still learning all of them.”

“He probably was talking about red lyrium when he said it. Red lyrium has been corrupted by the Blight, and he has researchers working to study it.”

“I thought you said it was dangerous?”

“He keeps them safe. He has it stored properly, and makes sure they aren’t exposed to it enough to warp their minds.”

The three exited the alley onto a main street, where two mares were sitting on the curb and talking loudly, hardly getting any words out between giggles.

“Let’s see if they know anything about Trixie,” Mahanon suggested.

When the three walked up to the two mares, the one on the right, a unicorn with a pale yellow coat and a turquoise mane, pointed at Mahanon. “Look!” she exclaimed. “It’s that...what are they saying it is? Inquacker? Interrogator?”

“...Inquisitor…?” Mahanon suggested.

“Yeah!” the one next to her, an earth pony with a minty coat and mane yelled. “You lead that Inquisition, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do, and I was wondering if-”

“Inquisition is such a funny word!” the unicorn interrupted. “And look, it’s Princess Sparkle, too!”

“Nice to meet you two,” Twilight said awkwardly.

“Would you sign my butt?” the earth pony asked, getting up and turning around, putting her rear end high in the air.

“We don’t have a pen,” the unicorn pointed out.

“Damn!” She turned around and looked Mahanon in the eye. “Do you have a pen?”

“A marker would probably be better,” the unicorn suggested.

“Or a marker? It would probably be better?”

“I, umm…” He looked at Twilight, whose eyes grew wide as she shrugged. “No, no I don’t. I was actually looking for somepony and was wondering if you could help me.”

“I’ve seen lots of ponies!” the earth pony proclaimed, falling back down onto the ground. “Go on, just try me. Why, just the other night, I saw Princess Twilight on this very street!”

“Still here,” Twilight said meekly.

“Whoa,” the unicorn said, grabbing her head. “Freaky.”

“Have you seen a mare named Trixie Lulamoon?” Twilight asked. “Or heard of her being here, maybe?”

“Does she have a drink named after her?” the earth pony asked.

Mahanon looked at Twilight for guidance, who shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe?”

“There’s a bar down that way that serves something called a ‘Trixie’,” she said, pointing down the road. “Or maybe it was the other way? Or did I dream it, like I did when Princess Luna showed up at Nightmare Night?”

“No, that one was real,” the unicorn said.

“It was?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh right, I dreamed the roller disco where my skates were just coleslaw.”

“No, you got drunk and stepped in coleslaw at your brother’s birthday, remember?”

“Did I dream the war where I was King Sombra and I declared war on Equestria, and the Royal Guards attacked me but their swords were just licorice?”

“I think so.”

“So, down that way?” Mahanon asked, pointing in the direction she had pointed earlier, trying to get somewhere in the conversation.

“Yeah,” the earth pony said, snapping back into reality. “Makes a drink called the ‘Trixie’ and claims he named it after a mare that comes in there every night and drinks a ton of them. They taste like chugging hoof sanitizer and then getting bucked in the gut, though. Would not recommend.”

“Didn’t stop you from having four shots of them,” the unicorn muttered under her breath.

“You had five,” she quipped back. “And that was just there. You requested they make you three more at that place with that bartender with the mullet.”

“And you made him make you five there.”

“So, uhh...we’ll be going, then,” Mahanon said, awkwardly stepping in the direction of where she had pointed. “Thank you for your help.”

“Hey, come back when you find a marker!” she called as they walked down the street. “My butt isn’t going to sign itself!”

“But what if it did?” they could hear the unicorn ask.

“Those mares were strange,” Cole said once they got further down the street.

“Tell me about it,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes.

“No,” he asserted. “They acted happy, but they weren’t. There was pain inside of them. They hated what they were putting in their bodies, but it made them forget.”

“A lot of ponies just want to forget,” Twilight said sadly. “They want to go back to a time where they didn’t have to worry about the future.”

“That mare never mentioned which bar made the Trixie, did she?” Mahanon realized as they were walking down the street.

Twilight stopped in the middle of the road and thought for a moment. “No, no she did not.”

“Well, I’m not going back there. I’d just get the runaround again. And probably asked to sign more inappropriate places, no doubt.”

When they reached the first bar on the road, they stopped and looked at each other. “Should we go in and ask?” Mahanon suggested.

“Maybe?” Twilight replied. “I mean, you’re an elf and I’m a Princess; if we just walk in, we’d probably be roped into staying for some promotion or something so they can pull more ponies in.”

“We still need to ask,” he pointed out. “Come on, it won’t be that much lost time.”

“The Prancing Pony makes the Trixie,” Cole said, interrupting their conversation.

“How do you know?” Mahanon asked.

“I went in and asked,” he said plainly. “Then made them forget me.”

“I suppose that’s better than anything.” Mahanon pointed down the street. “I think I can see the sign for it. Come on, let’s go.”

When they reached The Prancing Pony, Twilight entered first. Mahanon and Cole had to hunch over to get in, and once inside, they both had to watch their heads to not hit one of the lamps hanging from the ceiling.

“Princess Twilight!” the bartender exclaimed as he turned his head to the entrance. “And...is that the Inquisitor I’ve been hearing so much about?”

“Yes,” he replied, walking up to the bar. “Listen, we don’t have much time to waste. Is it true you invented the drink ‘the Trixie’?”

“Yeah,” he said, suspiciously of his intent. “Wait, don’t tell me you want one, too. I swear, everypony is just clamoring for that garbage. Just had two really promiscuous mares come through here and drink a ton of them, and I’ve been having ponies coming from all around the city to try them. If these ponies weren't willing to pay 20 bits a shot, I wouldn't even serve them.”

“We need to find the mare it’s named after,” Twilight spoke up.

“I don’t really know much about her,” he responded. “She’s not from here, and I think she said she’s staying nearby. But other than that I can’t tell you.”

“Thank you anyways,” Twilight said, slightly defeated. The three walked out of the bar onto the street, then all looked at each other.

“Do you have any idea where to start?” Mahanon asked Twilight.

“No,” she said, hopeless. “Baltimare is huge, and we’re in one of the largest tourist destinations. Even if we limit our search to this area, it could take a long time.”

“Cool fall breeze,” Cole muttered beneath his breath. “Hot chocolate, a loving mother. She was here.”

“Can you feel her?” Twilight asked.

“Yes.” He started walking down the street, and Twilight and Mahanon walked quickly to keep up with him. He turned down streets and alleys without even thinking, driven to following what he was feeling.

The trio walked for quite a distance, out of the city proper and up one of the hills surrounding Baltimare. On the top of the hill was an observatory which looked like it hadn’t been used in years.

“There,” Cole said, pointing at the observatory.

“Why would she be in there?” Twilight asked herself.

“It seems abandoned,” Mahanon pointed out. “Could she be living in it?”

“I guess,” Twilight said.

“Only one way to find out.” Mahanon walked up to the observatory and tried to open the door, but it would not budge. Determined, he walked back a few steps, then ran into the door, knocking it down.

“Who are you?” a frightened voice called from the darkness. Looking into a dark corner, the Inquisition could see a blue unicorn tied to a radiator.

“We’re the Inquisition,” Mahanon explained. “Twilight, is this the mare?”

“Yes,” Twilight said, trying to hold back some anger.

“Good to see you, Princess,” Trixie spat.

“I get you two don’t like each other, but right now, we need cooperation,” Mahanon said. “Trixie, why are you tied up?”

“He did it to me!” she exclaimed. “Some really strange pony lured me here, then tied me up! Me, the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

“Cut her loose,” Mahanon ordered Cole, who pulled out one of his daggers and walked towards her. When he did, she walked over to the Inquisition.

Before the four could leave the observatory, a strange beam of red light shot out and knocked Mahanon down on the ground.

“Inquisitor!” Twilight called out in fear, before being struck herself.

“Stand back, I’m warning you!” Trixie announced confidently, but not without a bit of fear in her voice. Her response was a beam of red light, just as Twilight and Mahanon had received.

“You’re not going anywhere!” a deep voice boomed around the observatory, shaking its weak walls. A pony wearing a cloak and hood stepped out of the shadows, then flipped his hood down to reveal a bright red glow spreading from his eyes all over his face.

“You’ve been using red lyrium, haven’t you?” Mahanon asked.

“Silence!” he demanded. “You will not take her!”

“Don’t hurt my friends!” Cole yelled, grabbing the pony by the neck and shoving him up against the wall.

“How did...where did you come from?” he demanded.

“You hurt them!” Cole placed a dagger on the pony’s neck and leaving it there for a few moments.

“Cole, why are you hesitating?” Mahanon asked, getting up and walking over.

“I...I can’t…” Cole said weakly. “He doesn’t want to hurt, but the red lyrium has taken control of him. He can still think, but he cannot act. The lyrium makes him do bad things he doesn't want to. He knows what he's doing is wrong, but he can't stop doing it.”

“Then end his misery,” Mahanon said sympathetically, placing a hand on Cole’s back.

Cole looked at him, then slit the pony’s throat and let him fall to the ground. “He won’t be hurt anymore.”

“Somepony needs to update Trixie,” Trixie said as she got up.

“We’re the Inquisition,” Mahanon said, walking over to her. “I’m the Inquisitor, and that over there is Cole. And I’ve been told you know Princess Sparkle…?”

“Long story,” both mares said in unison.

“Regardless, we’re trying to form an army, and we need your help. Princess Celestia suggested you might serve us well as a spymaster.”

“Princess Celestia herself said that?” she asked, seemingly humbled by the news.

“Yes,” Twilight said, walking next to Trixie. “Trixie, I know we don’t get along, but you really are the best choice for this.”

Trixie stood there for a moment, contemplating. “Sure,” she agreed.

“It’s great to have you on board, Spymaster Lulamoon,” Mahanon smiled.

Chapter 5: Few Against The Wind

***Neighagra Falls***

Fancypants pushed aside the curtains blocking his front windows, then moved his head into an awkward position to peer out the boards hastily nailed to the door.

“It’s still going to be there,” his wife Fleur de Lis said from behind him.

“I know,” he sighed, putting the curtain back. “How did it end up like this? We came here to be safe, and now one of those things has opened right outside our house? Is there no escaping it?”

“It’s stayed closed,” she said in a mix of annoyance and comfort. “Nothing’s come out yet. We should consider ourselves lucky for that.”

“It’s just a matter of time,” he said quietly. “Those creatures won’t wait for much longer before coming for us."

Twilight paced back and forth next to the chariot. Where were they? Fancypants couldn’t wait long to be rescued.

“There you are!” she yelled when Mahanon walked up, followed by Cassandra, Sera, and Blackwall.

“Ugh,” Sera moaned. “Not so loud, yeah? Got a wicked hangover.”

“I told you not to try the Trixie,” Mahanon scolded. “You know Trixie said her family used to use it as cleaning solution, right?”

“Long as it cleans this world of demons,” she said, clutching her head.

“Why are you late?” Twilight asked in a quieter but no less hasty tone.

“Late night,” Mahanon said, stepping into the chariot. “Only got a little bit of sleep, and then we had to drag Sera here out of bed.”

“Most people usually try to drag me into it,” she laughed as she stepped into the chariot after him. When all the companions were in, Twilight hopped in, and the chariot took off into the sky.

“So Princess,” Blackwall said, leaning his elbows on his knees. “What’s the state of your people? How are they holding against the demons?”

“I don’t know much,” she admitted. “Only what Princess Celestia tells me. She says that stopping the Breach from expanding helped, but that it’s still more than we can handle.”

“They’re too scattered,” he replied. “You need to unite them, under one banner. A million little scraps of metal are useless, but together, they make a sword or armour.”

“She’s doing all she can!” Twilight defended. “But there’s still so much that needs done, and uniting all them would be catastrophic!”

“I agree,” Sera moaned. “Ugh, bloody alcohol. But yeah, uniting all of ‘em at once would put all those little ponies at danger, yeah? Can’t have that.”

“Neither solution is a good one,” Cassandra joined in. “We cannot let all the innocent ponies die, but we also cannot let ourselves spread too thin. Sacrifices will have to be made on both sides.”

“We’ll get everyone we can,” Mahanon said. “I’m sure there are plenty of ponies throughout Equestria that would like to help and just can’t right now.”

The flight continued in silence for a few more minutes, the Inquisition members all looking out over the Equestrian countryside passing beneath them. “Say, Inquisitor,” Blackwall spoke up after a while. “You thought of what we’re going to do once we’re done here?”

All eyes in the carriage turned to Mahanon, who sat there and thought. “I suppose I’m not quite sure,” he admitted. “We’re still needed in Thedas, so I suppose we’ll return there. As for the rest of you, I guess it’s up to you.”

“I will need to go back to Thedas,” Cassandra said. “The Chantry is not very pleased with me being away for as long as I have been.”

“I’ll probably move here,” Sera said a little hopefully. “Red Jenny needs some new Friends, and what better place than a whole new continent with colourful ponies?”

“I suppose I don’t really know where I’ll go,” Blackwall thought. “I’ll go wherever the Inquisition needs me. Don’t really have ties in Thedas besides the Inquisition, and this land will need protecting.”

“The Inquisition’s going to stay?” Twilight asked hopefully.

“I see no reason for it not to,” Mahanon replied. “With everything we’re going to need to do to close the Breach, no doubt we’ll be looked to for guidance just as we are back in Thedas.”

As the chariot passed by Canterlot, everyone inside turned their heads to see the Breach as long as possible. It was still a swirling vortex looming over the mountain, but it seemed calm. The dull green light emitted from it washed over the chariot, bathing it in its sickly grow.

“The sooner we get that thing closed, the better,” Sera proclaimed. “Andraste’s tits, I hate demons.”

Blackwall chuckled. “Don’t we all?”

Not long after the chariot passed by the Breach, two ponies in blue spandex suits flew up next to the Royal Guards pulling the chariot and started talking to them. The Inquisition could not hear, but the pony on the right, a yellow mare with a fiery orange mane, started getting angry and raising her voice at the chariot. She held up her hoof and pointed it down commandingly, then flew away.

“What was that about?” Mahanon asked, trying to see where the ponies flew off to.

“I don’t know,” Twilight said, legitimately surprised.

The chariot began angling itself downwards, and soon landed on a long paved road next to a small town with an enormous crowd of ponies in it.

“Why have we landed?” Twilight called to the Royal Guards. “Fancypants isn’t here, he’s outside the town!”

“They ordered us to,” one of the Guards wheezed back, clearly exhausted from the flight.

As the Inquisition jumped out of the chariot, the same two ponies as before came up to them.

“Spitfire?” Twilight asked the yellow mare with the bright mane. “Is that you?”

“You bet it is, Princess Twilight,” she responded, moving her goggles up to the top of her head.

“You made us land?” Sera asked from the chariot. “We’ve got a freaking princess with us! That mean nothing here?”

“I’m sorry, but it’s standard protocol,” she apologized, legitimate sorrow in her voice. “I wish I could make an exception, but I can’t.”

“You can’t make an exception for your own Princess?” Blackwall asked, slightly annoyed.

“Look, I hate the rule as much as you do, but I was told that no chariots were allowed to fly here. Otherwise air traffic would get congested, and we unfortunately need clear skies for everypony that’s going to be coming in.”

“‘Coming in’?” Twilight repeated. “Who’s coming in?”

“Refugees,” Spitfire responded, pointing to the crowded town. “The town of Neighagra was, until recently, one of the few places in Equestria without one of those Rifts nearby, so ponies have been flocking here. But one opened up a couple of days ago, so we’re just sitting here and trying to keep the town contained while we wait for backup.”

“How long do you think that will be?” Twilight asked worriedly.

“I dunno,” she shrugged. “Two, three? Maybe four?”

“Four what?” Twilight asked. “Days, weeks, months?”

“All of the above. Could be years until we see help. We may never see it. Until now, we’re all just sitting on our hooves and waiting for somepony to swoop in and save us all.”

“We may not be somepony, but we may be able to help,” Mahanon suggested. “We could get out there and close the Rift, and that would make the town safe again.”

“If only things were as simple as that,” Spitfire shook her head. “I’d love to let you guys out there to do your crazy magic thing, but it’s a bureaucratic nightmare here.” Mahanon’s eyes shot to Twilight’s, as he swore he could see a twinkle in them at those last few words. “The ponies in charge of refugee efforts have been scared witless, and so they’re not letting us do anything. One of my Wonderbolts was taken in the other day for leaving his patrol route to help a little filly who got lost and couldn’t find her mom.”

“Really?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah. It was Soarin’, no surprise there. That guy never makes trouble, but he always manages to find himself in it.”

“So there’s nothing we can do?” Mahanon asked.

Spitfire laughed. “Well, nothing by the books. Of course there’s always something that can be done.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

Spitfire looked around to make sure nopony was eavesdropping, then leaned in close to the Inquisition. “There are some old mining tunnels from when this place used to mine coal. The coal ran out, but the tunnels are still pretty stable since they’re a popular tourist attraction. They got locked up when this place became a refugee town, but since I lead the Wonderbolts, I got a key. The other side opens up not too far from the Rift, so by the time you got there you’d be far out of range of our sights. And I’ll tell the rest of the Wonderbolts the plan is so none of them catch you thinking you shouldn’t be there.”

“Even though we technically shouldn’t,” Mahanon clarified.

“Yeah, but it’s fine,” she said with a wave of her hoof. “The ponies in charge rely on us to report things to them, so long as it doesn’t get reported, they’ll never know. And even if we get caught, they can’t discipline all of us. We can’t be court martialed since we’re not military, and even if they report us to Celestia, she’d probably just scold them for not letting you guys through.”

“If they rely on you to report, how come one of your Wonderbolts got in trouble for helping the filly?”

“He forgot to tell them he wasn’t supposed to,” she said, rolling her eyes. “They went to them to commend him, but they instead pulled him from rotation and are taking ‘disciplinary action’ against him, which really isn’t anything. Still, it takes one of us out of rotation.”

“Will they stop being so strict if we can go and close the Rift?”

“We can only hope,” she sighed. “Still, even if they don’t change, the ponies here will be safer. Or at least, they’ll feel safer.”

“I guess we shouldn’t waste any time, then,” Mahanon said. “I’ll let you lead the way.”

Spitfire turned her head to the pony behind her and nodded, to which the other Wonderbolt saluted and shot into the air. “Good, now just follow me.” She turned towards the town and started walking, and the Inquisition followed.

“Ugh, just look at that,” Sera scoffed while they passed through town. “This place isn’t built for this many ponies! Who told them all to come here?”

“It’s one of the few places that’s far from a Rift,” Spitfire said sadly. “They figured that since a lot of tourists came by here, they could handle a lot of temporary residents, but they underestimated. Within days, all the rooms, apartments, and houses they set aside were filled to the brim. We’ve tried to get word out for ponies coming here to plan on staying outside, but most of them don’t get the message, so they’re sleeping outside without any tents or blankets. We’re running out of food, too. And our supply chains are a mess, so we can’t get anything when or where we need it.”

“There’ve got to be ponies with all that stuff lying around, right?” Sera asked deviously. “Not sharing it with the rest of us? Not going to miss it?”

“Maybe somewhere,” Spitfire said with a shrug. “But even if we were to take it, it’d be hard to divide it up everywhere it needs to go. Supplies are short, but ways of transporting it aren’t great, either. The trains aren’t very reliable anymore, by land would take too long, and nearly every pegasus in Equestria is working on transporting what we already have or they joined the military.”

“I’m sure there’s a way,” Sera said, ideas starting to pool in her head.

When they got to a large wooden door cut into the hills, they stopped. “This is where you get off,” Spitfire said, reaching for a ring of keys. “Just keep going straight; take a wrong turn somewhere and we end up having to fish your dead bodies out of there.”

“Or they get infested by demons and turn on you,” Blackwall added.

“Yeah, and neither of those are my idea of fun.” Spitfire shoved a key into the lock on the doors, then shoved them open.

“Thank you, Spitfire,” Mahanon said as his companions funneled into the caves.

“Just kill one of those demons for me, okay?”

“I’ll try and remember to,” he smiled.

“Oh, and Twilight,” Spitfire spoke up. “Rainbow Dash is all right.”

“Is she here?” Twilight asked excitedly.

“No,” she replied, distraught with having to break her enthusiasm. “She got shuffled somewhere, I don’t know. But I get casualty reports every couple days or so, and her name hasn’t appeared yet.”

Twilight smiled. “Thank you, Spitfire.”

“It’s nothing,” she replied.

As Mahanon and Twilight walked into the cave, they heard the door close behind them and the sound of a lock relocking.

“How long do these caves go on for?” Mahanon asked as they began walking through them.

“Not very long,” Twilight answered. “They’re more deep than they are long.”

“And who is Rainbow Dash?”

Twilight paused for a moment. “She’s one of my friends,” she replied sadly. “She got drafted since she’s in the Wonderbolts Reserves, and she was one of the first ones called after the Breach opened. I haven’t seen her since.”

“Bleh, I hate talking about feelings,” Sera said, nearly gagging on the last word. “Anything I can’t solve with arrows is something not worth solving at all, that’s what I say.”

“I’m glad you’re not the one in charge of the Inquisition, then,” Cassandra remarked.

Sera laughed. “Heh, Coryphy-shit would’a been dead soon as I met him. Arrow in the face! Arrow in the face! Bam, dead!”

“You know it wasn’t that simple when we did have to fight him, right?” Mahanon asked.

“Should’a been,” she said under her breath. “Regardless, he’s dead now, so who gives a shit about him?”

“I think he’s the one who opened the Breach here, so I think we probably should,” Mahanon pointed out.

“Why is nothing ever simple with you lot?” Sera groaned. “Why can’t he be dead and over with?”

“It’d be nice,” Twilight joined in. “For starters, we wouldn’t have this crisis to deal with.”

“We’ve done it once, we can do it again,” Blackwall added confidently. “And hopefully, no Corypheus to deal with this time.”

“That’s what we thought last time,” Sera said angrily. “Look where that got us.”

“I think I can see a light up there,” Mahanon said, looking straight ahead.

“Fancypants’ house shouldn’t be too far, then,” Twilight said.

The Inquisition stepped out of the cave and onto a cliff overlooking the Falls. “Astounding,” Mahanon whispered to himself as he looked around.

“We can admire the scenery later, yeah?” Sera said. “Right now we gotta save some stuffy noble.”

“Right,” Mahanon said, coming back to reality. “Twilight, do you know how to get to his house?”

“It’s that one, right next to the Rift,” Twilight said, pointing at a Rift straight ahead of them. They walked up to it, and Twilight cocked her head at it. “What’s up with it?”

“It’s closed,” Mahanon said, taking a few steps back. “Everybody ready?”

“Let’s do this!” Sera exclaimed.

Mahanon raised his left hand towards the Rift, and the Anchor connected to it, ripping the Rift open. “Get ready!” he called to all of them.

When the demons manifested themselves, they all took the shape of wraiths. They all took out their weapons, preparing for battle. Cassandra rushed ahead into a group of wraiths, Sera used one of her Flasks of Lightning and sheathed herself in electricity, Blackwall blew into his Horn of Valor to rally them all, and Twilight’s horn powered up.

Blackwall ran to Cassandra, who had used her Wrath of Heaven to weaken some of the demons. Mahanon trapped a few wraiths with his Static Cage, and Sera launched an Explosive Shot into them to kill all of them. He then turned his attention to the few remaining wraiths and cast Walking Bomb. The wraith, facing the constant damage from the curse and the mixture of Mahanon’s spells and Sera’s arrows, died quickly and exploded, spreading its curse to the rest of the wraiths, who also quickly fell.

When the energy from the last of the wraiths went into the Rift, it opened again. Cassandra and Blackwall ran back to the rest of the Inquisition, waiting for the next wave of enemies.

When the next wave did come, it was a far greater mix of demons; there were a couple rage demons, a few shades, and a fear demon.

Smiling, Mahanon launched Spirit Mark at the fear demon. “Focus on this one!” he called to his companions, and they all turned and began attacking it. The fear demon, nearing death, turned invisible and moved closer to him to sneak attack; however, the curse killed it, and the form of a blue fear demon appeared in its place.

Blackwall and Cassandra moved their attention to the shades next to them. Blackwall used Line in the Sand to stop the shades from progressing any further, and Cassandra used Blessed Blades to give them both a boost for damaging the demons.

Meanwhile, the two rage demons focused themselves on Mahanon. He cast Winter’s Grasp on one of them to stop it dead in its tracks, then launched regular spells at it until it died.

When the demon died, he turned to the final rage demon, which was attacking Sera. However, she had used her Flask of Fire and had taken the opportunity to litter the field with Caltroops and a Toxic Cloud before using her Throwing Blades at it to take it down. When it died, all the members of the Inquisition focused their attention on the last shade, which was being blocked by Blackwall’s shield. With all five attacking it, the demon died quickly.

The Rift opened up, and Mahanon seized the opportunity to throw his left arm into the air and connect the Anchor to it. It went away in an explosion of green light.

“The ponies of the town should be safe now,” Mahanon proclaimed. “We should go and make sure Fancypants is okay.”

The Inquisition walked up to the house, which they could see was hastily and sloppily boarded up, no doubt against the Rift. “Do you think he’s even here?” Twilight asked.

Mahanon knocked on the door, and the two stood there for a few moments with no response. “Do we maybe have the wrong house?” he wondered out loud.

“Who is it?” a scared voice came from inside.

“It’s Princess Twilight,” Twilight answered. “I’m here with the Inquisition. We want to talk to you.”

“Princess Twilight?” the voice responded in shock. The door opened, revealing a white unicorn with a blue mane on the other side. “What is it, my Princess?”

“Princess Celestia said you might be able to help us,” Twilight explained.

“I’m the leader of the Inquisition,” Mahanon said. “We’re here to try and close the Breach, and we need a head diplomat. We asked Princess Celestia, and she said you’d be a good fit for the job.”

Fancypants stood in the doorway for a few moments, mulling it over. “I suppose it would be good to do some good...and if you can close it like you closed that thing outside, there’s hope after all.”

“So you’ll do it?” Twilight asked excitedly.

“I will accept,” Fancypants said happily. “Now, I boarded up the door just in case any of those things tried to get in. I’ll go grab a hammer, and we can work on getting them off.”

“No need,” Mahanon said slyly. “Blackwall!” he called to his companion. “Could you help us?”

Blackwall walked up to the door, then pulled out his shield. “You may want to step away.”

Worriedly, Fancypants stepped to the side, out of the main foyer. Blackwall ran forward with Charging Bull, smashing the boards and sending splinters everywhere.

“Suppose that’s one way,” Fancypants said to himself.

“We’ll bring you to Neighven right away,” Twilight said.

“We’ll have to tell Spitfire we closed the Rift,” Mahanon suggested. “She’d be pleased to hear that.”

“Fleur!” Fancypants called into the house. “We’re going to help Princess Twilight, we need to leave!”

“The Princess only mentioned one pony coming with us,” Mahanon said, confused with the addition of another.

“We can take another,” Twilight said. “The Guards flying us might not like it, but they could handle it.”

Another unicorn with a white coat and a pink mane emerged, then started striking poses on Fancypants. “I suppose we’re all ready to go, then,” he said.

“Sounds perfect,” Mahanon replied. “Fancypants, welcome to the Inquisition.”

Chapter 6: See What Can Be Gained

***Neighven***

Mahanon looked down from Neighven’s battlements at the makeshift training camp that had sprung up just outside the fortress’ walls; a small, rickety wooden fence created a dueling circle where ponies and a few of the Inquisition members were sparring, testing themselves against styles and techniques never encountered on their home continents.

The Inquisitor smiled; more and more ponies were coming each day to Neighven, flocking to a chance to do some good. It was no army, but it was still a force to be reckoned with. Trixie and Fancypants’ connections were helping, being able to pull in things such as craftsponies or smugglers. The Equestrian Inquisition was rapidly becoming a respectful force.

“Inquisitor?” he heard a voice come from behind him.

Mahanon turned around to see Armored Ward looking up at him. “It’s good to see you, Private Ward.”

“You can drop the ‘Private’ as well, Inquisitor,” he said, moving up next to him and looking out over the forested mountain. “What brings you up here, by the way?”

“Just adoring our new headquarters. I could ask you the same question, you know.”

“Pretty much the same response,” he said nostalgically. “I like it up here. I came from Manehattan, so the only trees I got to see were in the park. Weird not being near the ocean, too.”

“How long have you been with the Royal Guard?”

“Not very long,” he shrugged. “Joined pretty much after the Breach opened up, haven’t been home since.” He turned around and looked at Mahanon. “What about you?”

“My clan travelled all around the Free Marches,” he explained. “We stayed mostly in the north, but went all over. This place reminds me of the land south of the Vimmark Mountains, near the Planasene Forest. Ferelden too, but not as much.”

“I have no idea where any of those places are,” Ward said bluntly.

“It’s all right,” Mahanon chuckled. “I’m still trying to learn the land here, and everything I know is second-hand. I learn it from Scout Harding, who learns it from Twilight.”

“I’m glad she’s here,” he said, slightly optimistic. “We all look up to her, everypony in Equestria does. She’s an inspiration to all of us. Having her with us gives me hope that we can be victorious.”

“How come? Every time I try and ask her about her status, she just blushes and says she’s no more important than anyone else.”

“She just likes being modest,” he smiled. “She’s saved Equestria multiple times, all the while teaching us about the Magic of Friendship.”

“So that’s why a lot of the ponies keep calling her the ‘Princess of Friendship’,” Mahanon concluded.

“I think everypony in Equestria could tell you everything about her life,” he laughed. “I’ll let you ask her about it, though. There are a lot of rumors about her that I’m not sure are real. Ask her if the one about her breaking into the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the Canterlot Archives to travel back in time and warn herself not to worry about her traveling back in time to warn herself about something she couldn’t finish because she kept talking over herself. I’ve got 10 bits with one of the Guards here that that one’s fake. I mean, come on; why would she break into a place she’s allowed free access to?”

“I’ll...try and remember all that,” he replied, trying to grasp exactly what it was Ward had just told him. “What do you think of the Inquisition as a whole, so far?”

“I like it,” he said eagerly. “Princess Celestia is keeping us all safe while the Inquisition can work without having to worry about being bogged down by protection. It’s a perfect combination!”

“We still need to protect all the ponies, though,” he pointed out. “And I imagine Princess Celestia would appreciate the help. And any help we give her is more she can give us.”

“I guess,” he said, not fully convinced. “Still, everypony’s worried because we don’t have the resources to fight back. Equestria has enough to just fend all the demons off, and even then we’re barely scraping by. Wouldn’t be hard to argue that even then we’re not.”

“I’m glad we got here when we did. It sounded like Equestria was getting desperate.”

“Yeah,” he replied somberly. “Mail service is terrible, but I still get letters from my family sometimes. They say Manehattan’s practically a ghost town now, and it’s hard to survive because they have to go all the way across the city just to get supplies sometimes, and when they get there, it’s not guaranteed that they won’t be out. But my mom always loved gardening, so they’re at least generating a little food and sharing what they don’t need with our neighbors.”

“Awfully generous of them to share their food instead of saving it for the future.”

“Yeah,” he said warmly. “My parents always said making a sacrifice and going out of your way to help somepony who needs it was the best thing you could do, because then they’d remember your kindness in the future and help somepony in need, and then your small action would help hundreds of ponies after that. Suppose that’s why I joined the the Guards, and now the Inquisition; I just want to help ponies who need it.”

“Definitely a good mentality to have. If everyone thought like you and your family did, a lot of our problems would be solved.”

“Yeah,” he said with a small laugh. “It’s naive to think that something like sharing a few tomatoes with your neighbors could solve huge problems, but it’s better than doing nothing.” He walked to the Inquisitor’s side, then turned to go back to the interior of Neighven. “Good talking with you, by the way. Nice to know the Inquisitor may tower over me and be able to manipulate tears in reality with his hand, but at the end of the day, he’s still a pony like the rest of us.”

“Elf,” Mahanon smiled.

“It’s an expression,” Ward replied with a wave of his hoof. “I have no idea what to call the rest of you when saying we’re similar. Either way, it’s nice to know you’re just one of us. Anyways, I have to go; I have no idea what an ‘imekari’ is, but Iron Bull said he’d stop calling me it if I could beat him in a battle.”

Mahanon smiled. “Good luck, you’ll need it. Bull doesn’t go down easily.”

“He will soon!” he proclaimed triumphantly before running away, presumably to the armory to get his weapon and armor. Mahanon smiled at his enthusiasm, then walked to a bonfire in the center of town where Twilight was sitting.

“Mind if I join you?” he asked her.

Twilight turned her head to him, then smiled at him. ”Sure, go ahead.”

Mahanon sat down next to her on one of the log benches hastily made for the Inquisition. “You know, I don’t think we’ve really had a chance to talk in all this chaos. First we had to stop the Breach, then rescue Trixie and Fancypants.”

“It’s a lot in a short time,” she agreed.

“So I suppose I should ask; why would Princess Celestia send you? Not to sound offensive or anything. I’m just curious.”

“Sometimes I wonder that myself,” she blushed. “I don’t really have any experience with military. I guess I was just the only pony free.”

“Ward said you’re an inspiration to Equestria. Could that have something to do with it?”

Twilight blushed even more, turning to a bright shade of red. “I guess, but charisma alone wouldn’t help.”

“Well, we’ve certainly done a lot in a short time, you even said so yourself. Maybe you weren’t the last choice after all.”

“Most of that was you guys,” she admitted.

“Who else would you have sent ahead of you?”

Twilight looked at the fire, mulling the question over for a bit. “I don’t know. Any of the three other princesses, but they’re all busy.”

“Three princess?” Mahanon echoed. “I know of Princess Celestia, who are the other two?”

“There’s Princess Luna, Princess Celestia’s younger sister. She’s trying to understand the Breach since she’s more in touch with magic of that sort, and since you said we visit the Fade in our dreams, she will probably be the best at understanding it since she can walk around in and manipulate other ponies’ dreams.”

“Impressive,” he said under his breath. “What about the other one?”

“That would be Princess Cadence.” A small smile grew on Twilight’s face. “She’s in the Crystal Empire with her husband and my brother, Shining Armor. They should be down here soon.”

“So she’s your sister-in-law?” Mahanon chuckled. “Your parents must’ve been happy to have two children and a daughter-in-law be royalty.”

She laughed lightly. “Yeah, they’re both really proud of us.” She sighed, releasing a lot of pain and becoming sadder. “They’re trapped in Canterlot right now. I just hope they’re still okay.”

“I’m sure they are,” he comforted her, putting an arm around her back. “And also, might I ask how you became a princess in the first place?”

“I didn’t really do much,” she replied, going back to blushing. “Just showed everypony how powerful friendship could be.”

“Some of the ponies claim you once defeated a creature who physically altered the world into one of chaos by reminding your friends of what it meant to be friends.”

“Well...yeah,” she admitted.

“Sounds worthy of becoming a princess,” he pointed out.

“I guess,” she said uneasily. “But it wasn’t just me; I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for my friends.”

“Are they all back home, as well?”

“No,” she said sadly. “Rainbow Dash, the pony Spitfire told me about, was one of my closest friends, and you know where she is.”

“But are the rest of them?”

She shook her head. “Some of them. My friend Pinkie Pie moves around, boosting spirits of Guards that have been fighting the longest so they don’t completely lose hope. My friends Applejack and Rarity stayed in Ponyville; Applejack is working on her family’s apple orchard like she always does to provide the Guards with food, and Rarity is making clothes for the Guards and using any leftovers to make clothes to donate to refugees who ended up in places with bad weather. And one of my friends, Fluttershy, left town and moved back in with her parents almost as soon as the Breach opened.”

“We’ll fight for them, then. Fight to bring them all home.”

“Yeah,” Twilight said softly, hope starting to build in her voice. “Anyways,” she said, getting up, “Scout Harding said she had something she wanted to go over with me in the war room.”

“I won’t keep you waiting,” Mahanon replied, getting up as well. “I should go meet with our new advisors and see what they have to bring to the Inquisition.”

Twilight shot him a quick smile, then walked up to the command center. Mahanon walked to the small center of town, where he found Trixie glaring at a cart, almost as if she didn’t want to take her eyes off it.

“Is there something wrong with the cart?” he asked worriedly.

Trixie emitted a low growl. “Trixie just doesn’t trust wheels.”

Not entirely sure how to respond, Mahanon simply stood there for a moment, hoping Trixie would change the conversation. She didn’t, causing him to change it for her. “So, I was hoping to talk a little about what you can bring to the Inquisition.”

“Sure,” she replied, turning around, but not before shooting the wheels of the cart another dirty look.

“I was just wondering what will make you a good spymaster.”

Trixie laughed, then became serious when she looked at his face. “Oh. You’re not joking, are you?”

“I don’t really know you, I was just hoping to learn a little about what skills you’ll be bringing to the Inquisition.”

“Secrets are everything,” Trixie said, bringing a hoof to her chest. “And I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, know lots of them.”

“What about contacts?” Mahanon asked. “Networks? Espionage?”

“A magician never reveals her tricks,” she said slyly. “I have ponies who are willing to do anything for Trixie.” She raised her eyebrows. “Anything…”

“So you do have ponies who can work without being noticed?” he reaffirmed.

“Oh, of course,” she scoffed. “What do you think I am, somepony who feeds off attention?”

Mahanon remembered everything Twilight had said about Trixie, which made him unsure how to respond.

“...Wrong answer.”

The two stood there in awkward silence, until Trixie started walking past him. “Anyways, The Great and Powerful Trixie has an appointment in the command center,” she said.

“I guess I’ll see you around, then?” Mahanon asked awkwardly.

“Sounds like it.” She walked through Neighven to the command center, and Mahanon walked to the residential area of the fortress to Fancypants’ house.

Going up to the house, he knocked on the door. “Hello?” he asked.

The door opened, revealing Fleur on the other side. “Are you here for Fancypants?” she asked.

“Yes, I am,” he confirmed. “And how are you, Fleur?”

“I am fine,” she replied emotionlessly, turning into the house. “Fancypants, the Inquisitor is here,” she called out.

After a few seconds, Fancypants emerged from the depths of the house and smiled at Mahanon. “Good to see you, Inquisitor.”

“And you as well,” he responded.

“Come with me, we will walk to the command center together,” he said, exiting the house, but not before giving Fleur a kiss goodbye.

“'The command center together'?” he asked. “Was there a meeting I wasn’t informed of? Twilight and Trixie both said they had to go there.”

“Were you not informed?” Fancypants asked. When he shook his head as a reply, Fancypants got a look of shock on his face. “Odd. Somepony was supposed to tell you. I think. Did we not tell somepony to tell you?”

“I guess not.”

“Hmm,” Fancypants said in thought. “Anyways, we have not had much time to know each other. Is there anything you wish to ask me?”

“Not really,” Mahanon said. “You experience is fairly self-explanatory, at least; somepony with your standing must have a lot of connections all over the place and be well-versed in politics.”

“Yes indeed,” he confirmed. “I have friends in high places all over Equestria, and many of them owe me favors. Some of them give me information, some of them are skilled diplomats, and some control powerful businesses and can donate us materials or money.”

“That will certainly be helpful down the road,” Mahanon said. “And what about Fleur? Or do you two mostly have the same connections?”

“She has connections, but I doubt the kinds that will help us,” he laughed lightly. “She is a model, and I don’t think knowing the best photographers or fashion journalists will be an incredible asset to the Inquisition.”

“I suppose you never know when we need to write a hard-hitting piece on new fashions,” Mahanon joked. “One thing you’ll learn about traveling with the Inquisition is that not all the things we need to deal with are ordinary. You never know when contacting somepony with a fashion critic might play to our advantage.”

When they reached the command center, Mahanon opened the door and let Fancypants walk in ahead of him. The two walked through the corridors until they reached the war room, where Trixie, Twilight, Scout Harding, and Cassandra were all standing around a table.

“Good to see you made it, Inquisitor,” Cassandra said, looking up from the table.

“We have a bit of a conundrum,” Harding said, getting straight to business.

“Oh?” he asked.

“As you know, we need to start recruiting for the Inquisition,” Twilight said with a mixture of sorrow and regret in her voice.

“...And we need you to make a decision about our allies,” Cassandra finished.

“What about them?” he asked.

The room stood silent for a few moments before Scout Harding spoke up. “We need you to choose who they’ll be.”

“Sounds simple enough,” he replied, walking up to the table. “Who do we have?”

“He have two choices,” Twilight said. “The Crystal Ponies, and...the Changelings.” A little bit of spite came through in her last word.

“I don’t know who either of those are, so I suppose I should be filled in on the ups and downs of both of them.”

“The Crystal Ponies are fewer in number, but they’re very strong,” Twilight explained. “The Changelings have more of them, but they’re weaker individually..”

“So it’s a question of quantity versus quality?” Mahanon asked, leaning his hands on the table.

“It’s more complicated than that,” Fancypants spoke up. “Equestria has a history with both of them, which puts a lot into our decision.”

“So neither of them are very fond of us?” he asked.

“The Changelings aren’t,” Fancypants corrected. “The Crystal Ponies are.”

“Sounds like it’s an easy decision,” Mahanon said, ready to end the meeting.

“Again, not really,” Trixie joined in. “The Changelings have never liked Equestria, but some of my ponies have overheard that they’re talking about inviting us into their homeland to discuss teaming up to close the Breach.”

“And I imagine it’s more complicated than that, too?”

“The Crystal Ponies have not returned any of our contacts,” Fancypants said. “Any messengers we send there simply haven’t come back.”

“So our enemies want to meet with us, and our friends want nothing to do with us,” Mahanon said. “Neither of those sound good. What are all of your thoughts?”

“I say we go after the Crystal Ponies,” Fancypants asserted. “There’s probably just something between us that’s preventing communication.”

“The tracks that lead to the Crystal Empire have been torn up,” Trixie said. “That means they don’t want us, or anypony else for that matter, there. The Changelings at least want us there.”

“To lead us into a trap, no doubt,” Fancypants said back.

“I want to go after the Crystal Ponies,” Twilight asserted. “My brother is in the Crystal Empire; he wouldn’t let them completely cut off all ties with Equestria. There must be a simpler solution.”

“Who can say if he’s even still in charge?” Trixie pointed out.

“What about you?” Mahanon asked, looking at Cassandra and Harding.

“I don’t really know,” Cassandra admitted. “You are right; neither of those sound like good options. But if I had to pick one, I would choose the Changelings; it may be a trap, but if we go in expecting one, we may be able to thwart it.”

“Which is why we should go to the Crystal Empire!” Twilight protested. “If it’s a trap, then they won’t want to side with us!”

“The Breach threatens us all,” Cassandra rebuttled. “They’d be foolish not to help at least a little bit.”

“Harding?” Mahanon asked the dwarf, who had not said a single word the whole exchange.

“I don’t really know,” she said. “I’ll let you pick. You are the Inquisitor, after all; these types of decisions are better suited for someone of your position.”

“Well then?” Cassandra asked. “You’ve heard all we have to say. What is your decision, Inquisitor?”

Chapter 7: In Blackest Envy

Mahanon pondered the situation in front of him; half his advisors suggested he seek out the Changelings, historical enemies of Equestria who began reaching out to them, and half of them suggested he seek out the Crystal Empire, longtime allies of Equestria who suddenly and mysteriously cut off contact.

“Well, Inquisitor?” Cassandra asked as all the advisors waited in complete silence. “Which should we pursue?”

Mahanon ran through his decision in his head, making sure he was comfortable with it. He wasn’t, but it was the lesser of two evils.

“We should seek out the aid of the Changelings,” he proclaimed, which was met with a dissatisfied hmmph from Fancypants and a look of horror on Twilight’s face.

“What?” Twilight exclaimed. “We have to go after the Crystal Ponies!”

“The decision is finalized,” Cassandra said firmly.

“I understand your objections, Twilight,” Mahanon said sympathetically. “But if the Crystal Ponies are actively trying to distance themselves from us, they would only attack us when we do show up.”

“But my brother’s there!” she said, becoming emotional. “We have to help him!”

“I’m sure he’ll be alright,” he said comfortingly. “If what you and the Princess have said about him is true, he’s capable of fending for himself. And it sounds like Princess Cadence is, too.” Seeing that she was still upset, he smiled at her. “Don’t worry; if we get back and he still hasn’t contacted Equestria, we’ll send everything we have to find him.”

“I will look over the forces for the time being,” Cassandra volunteered.

“Sounds good. How long until we will be able to get to the Changelings?”

“I can send messengers and have them be there and back with a response in about two days,” Fancypants spoke up.

“There’s no time!” Cassandra objected. “We should go ourselves. Show the Changelings we are devoted to an alliance and thwart any traps they have waiting for us.”

“We could probably have the Royal Guards fly you there fairly quickly,” Harding said, looking at the map of Equestria. She pointed to an area marked ‘Badlands’ on the lower edge of the map. “Not too far. Maybe as far away as Baltimare was, maybe shorter.” She pulled out a few instruments, then started doing calculations on the side of the map.

“Is there anything we should know about the Changelings before going there?” Mahanon asked. All three ponies gave a collective groan as his answer.

“Changelings can transform into other creatures at will,” Twilight said.

“They’re incredibly manipulative,” Trixie added.

“And their Queen controls them,” Fancypants finished.

Mahanon and Cassandra looked at each other, then back at the ponies. “So then why did you suggest them as an option?” he asked.

“Changelings are fiercely loyal to the Queen,” Trixie said. “And they’re good fighters, nonetheless. Just get on her good side and you’ll be fine.”

“It shouldn’t take very long to get to their city,” Harding proclaimed, looking up from the map. “Shorter than Baltimare, so you’ll probably be able to take a regular-sized party there.”

“Sounds good,” Mahanon said happily, looking at everyone in the room. “Everyone prepared for this?”

“As much as we’ll ever be,” Twilight said below her breath.

“I am ready, Inquisitor,” Cassandra said confidently.

“Spymaster Lulamoon and I look after the Inquisition while you’re out,” Fancypants said.

“Well then,” Mahanon said with the slight excitement he got from preparing to embark on a momentous journey. “Let’s go recruit the Changelings.”

“This wind is not helping my hair at all,” Dorian said with a little bit of disgust as he ran his fingers through it.

“This is what you’re worried about?” Cassandra asked him.

“He cares about the Inquisition,” Cole spoke up.

“See? I can care for things beyond my own grooming. Just maybe not as much, you see.”

Mahanon looked out over the side of the chariot flying through the sky; the ground below had turned from a lush green to a sickly yellow, and it was starting to turn to a desolate brown of dirt and rock. “Are we getting close?” he asked Twilight.

“Soon, I think,” she confirmed. “It’s hard to tell in a place with no landmarks.” As the chariot started pulling down, she shrugged. “I guess we are close.”

The chariot continued its downward descent for a few minutes until landing on the hard and rocky earth, shaking the chariot and causing all its riders to grab onto something to avoid falling out of their seat.

“We’re here!” one of the Guards coughed. “Lots of dust here, so be careful.”

Mahanon jumped out of the chariot, which confirmed the Guard’s warning; a cloud of sand and dust shot up to his face as he hit the ground, sending him in a coughing fit. The other members of the Inquisition did the same, except for Twilight, who flew out of the chariot and landed softly.

“That’s it over there,” she said, pointing to a dirty marble gate with worn-out engravings that they could tell were expertly crafted at some point long ago. They walked through the gate to see a similar gate further up the path they were, and as they continued following the gates, they became cleaner, better maintained, and the area as a whole became less dusty. When they came to the last gate which was the only way through the city’s walls, two black insect-like ponies were standing in front of it and holding their spears over the entrance.

“So this is the Changeling capital city,” Mahanon said out loud. “The city of…” He looked at the name ‘Ilihseronntreppziktkaastiikkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkzkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkklkkkkzuuka’, which was etched in marble.

“Good lord, did the alphabet vomit?” Dorian asked, which elicited glares from the two ponies guarding the gate.

“...I’m not even going to try that one,” Mahanon said.

“Are you the Inquisition?” the guard on the right asked.

“Yes, and I am the Inquisitor,” Mahanon said, stepping up and pointing to himself. “We are here to see your Queen about an alliance.”

The two guards moved their spears. “Her palace is on the top of the hill in the center of town. Take in the glory of the Changeling Empire, but make haste to her palace.”

The Inquisition walked into the city, and the guards immediately moved their spears back as soon as they passed through.

“Were those Changelings?” Mahanon asked.

“Yes,” Twilight confirmed.

“And that...thing, is that the name of the city?”

She nodded. “Its name is seventeen syllables and takes hours of practice to pronounce correctly.”

“Which one of the thirty k’s is silent?” Dorian asked.

“Thirty eight k's, and seven of them of them are,” Twilight responded seriously, which got a laugh from Dorian.

“It’s a nice city,” Mahanon noticed as they walked through. The city, unlike the outside area, was very clean, with very liberal use of marble in all the buildings and all the ornate fountains, which depicted everything from battle scenes to abstract art.

When they reached another wall, the Changelings guarding the gate opened their spears and let the Inquisition into a large palace grounds, where a small crowd of Changelings was gathered and a closed Fade Rift was far off in the distance. The palace, constructed of dark stone, loomed over the courtyard, giving a stark change from the otherwise bright and clean city.

“...Is that a Rift?” Dorian asked upon seeing it.

“I wonder if they’re struggling with demons down here as well,” Cassandra spoke up. “Perhaps that is why they invited us here.”

“We should see why they’re gathered,” Mahanon suggested. The Inquisition walked up to the crowd, which seemed to sense their presence and quickly dispersed, glaring at them in the process. Upon their dispersal, a cage with a Changeling in it was revealed hanging from a pole.

“Who’re you?” the Changeling inside asked fearfully.

“We’re the Inquisition,” Mahanon said calmly, stepping up to the cage. “Why are you all caged up?”

“I don’t know,” she replied sadly. “I can’t transform, that’s why.”

“You just said you don’t know...then provided us with an explanation,” Dorian said, suspicious of her response.

“I’ve never been able to,” she said. “But normally, the worst thing they’d do would be point and whisper.” She pointed to the Breach, which was still visible despite the city being very far south of it. “When that thing appeared, they became a lot more hostile towards me. Throwing rocks, calling me names, vandalizing my home.” She tried to point behind her, but being caged prevented her from fully doing so. “Then that thing appeared by the palace. That’s when they got really hostile, taking me and locking me in here.”

“They started acting strangely when it showed up?” Cassandra asked, stepping up to the cage. “How so?”

“Yeah,” the Changeling confirmed. “They seem to be drawn to it. They’ll just come here and stare at it for hours, like they’re in some sort of trance. And then they go and do weird things, like locking me up for being a freak.”

“You’re not a freak,” Cole said, coming up to the cage. He put his hand through, and while she recoiled, he eventually put his fingers on her chest. “You’re not hurting like they are.”

“I’m in this cage,” she moped. “I hurt a lot.”

“I think Cole means she is not possessed by a demon,” Cassandra suggested.

“Possessed by a demon?” Dorian echoed. “I doubt that’s the issue here.”

“No, she’s right,” Cole confirmed.

“Princess Twilight?” Cassandra asked. “You said Changelings can change their form. Why do they do so?”

“They feed on love,” she explained. “They take the form of somepony else and pretend to be them so they can feed off love.”

Cassandra gritted her teeth together. “They’re jealousy demons.”

“Jealousy demons?” Mahanon asked. “You mean envy demons?”

“No,” Cassandra shook her head. “Jealousy demons are less sophisticated than envy demons. The feeling of jealousy leads to rage; you want something, so you take it. Envy is more complicated; it is an all-consuming feeling. You want it badly. A jealousy demon sees something it wants and takes it; an envy demon sees something it wants and wants to become it, to live it. ”

“Queen Chrysalis once took over Princess Cadence!” Twilight exclaimed. “She didn’t pretend to be her very well; I saw right through her.”

“That’s the difference,” Cassandra said. “A jealousy demon sees someone it wants to have the life of, then forcefully takes it without thinking. An envy demon is more careful. It studies its target for weeks, maybe even months at a time, then quietly disposes of it and lives its life so well that not even those closest to it can tell the difference.”

“So the entire Changeling population except for her are possessed by jealousy demons?” Mahanon asked, trying to get a grasp of the situation.

“Not just me,” she said. “There are three others. I knew one of them, Kardalaan, before I was imprisoned. He learned about me when I was really young and sought me out so he could help me through it. I don’t know the other two, though. They keep us all in the palace dungeons and rotate us throughout the day so the Changelings don’t get bored with just one.” She sighed, tears pooling in her eyes. “They all have their favorite one to hate. Some of them have started making games about pelting me with things.”

“We might be able to cure all the Changelings if we can free all the non-possessed ones,” Twilight mused.

“Oh?” both Mahanon and the Changeling asked together.

“Changelings are predominantly insect in nature, so they have a hive mind,” Twilight thought out loud. “The Queen must’ve been possessed, which let all the others become possessed. For some reason, the demons ignored her and the other ones. If we free her and all the others, they would be able to perform an exorcism on the Queen, and then she could act as a channel between them and the rest of the Changelings to exorcise them all at the same time.”

“I suppose that’s the best option we have as of now,” Mahanon said. “Don’t worry, we’ll rescue your friends and then you.”

“Thank you,” she smiled back at the Inquisition.

“What’s your name, by the way?”

“Bzkdlina,” she said happily. “Though they told me I wasn’t allowed to have a name after they locked me in here.”

“Don’t worry,” he smiled at her. “We’ll be back soon. Do you know where in the palace they’re keeping the others?”

“Somewhere in the dungeons, I assume,” she shrugged. “It’s where they keep me, but I’m all alone down there. I assume they do the same thing for all the others, as well.”

"We'll be out soon with the rest of them."

“Thank you,” she said, starting to cry.

“Come on,” Mahanon said, starting to walk to the palace. “We might be able to free the other Changelings without raising any alarms.”

“But just how do you propose we all go to the dungeon without arousing suspicion?” Dorian asked. “I doubt they’ll believe we’re all dungeon aficionados, but only when we’re together and not followed.”

“The Changelings might not have a lot of security inside,” Twilight said. “They put great faith in themselves, and they probably think we haven’t even considered this could be a trap, so they won’t try and follow us.”

“Seems a little foolhardy,” Dorian replied.

“It is,” Twilight agreed. “I just hope I’m right.”

The Inquisition walked up the massive staircase leading up to the palace. When they reached the top, Mahanon turned around and looked over the massive, sprawling city below them. In the distance, beyond the city walls, the landscape changed drastically from the clean and carefully planned city to a vast and seemingly endless desert with mountains cropping up in the far reaches of the horizon.

He could hear the doors behind him open, and he turned around to see two guards using the magic to hold them open. “Go straight ahead into the Queen’s throne room,” one of the demanded.

“Thank you,” he replied, walking through the doors. When they got in, the doors slammed shut, sealing them inside the palace. In contrast to the hot and bright city outside, the inside of the palace was dark and cold, and its size made all the Inquisition’s members feel insignificant.

“Certainly not what I expected after the city,” Dorian muttered. "I swear I can see my breath in here."

“Come on, we should see if we can find a way into the dungeons,” Mahanon said, walking through the grand hall. Each side passage they passed, he looked down; most of them lead to stairs going up or other rooms, but when he came upon one with a Changeling guarding a door, he turned down it.

“Wrong way, imbecile,” the Changeling hissed.

Without hesitation, Mahanon pulled out his staff and cast Winter’s Grasp on the guard, freezing him solid. Cole followed up by hurling Hidden Blades at him, shattering him and eventually succumbing to the numerous attacks.

“Let’s see where the door leads,” Mahanon said, walking up to the door. He opened it to find a staircase leading down, with a few torches illuminating the darkness. “I suppose this is as good a place to start as any.”

The Inquisition all stepped over the dead guard and down the staircase, emerging in a cell block that was completely empty. “I wonder if this is where Bzkdlina is held,” Cassandra thought out loud. “Only one guard guarding it, and all the cells are completely empty.”

“It could be,” Mahanon responded. “Come on, we should see if there’s a way to get to some of the other blocks from here.” He walked up to a small wooden door at the end of the block and tried to open it, but it was locked. “Cole?”

Without responding, Cole walked up to the door, got down, and started picking the lock. “Are you sure this is where they’ll be keeping the other Changelings?” Twilight asked.

Cole stood up as the door unlocked and swung open. “I’m not,” Mahanon replied, “But this is the best place to start looking.”

The Inquisition walked through a dark and damp hallway until coming upon another door, which Cole unlocked as well. When they stepped through, a Changeling guard turned to them. “You’re not supposed to be here!” he growled as his horn lit up.

The Inquisition responded by pulling out their weapons, preparing for a fight. Cassandra and Cole ran up to him, while Twilight and Mahanon stayed back as Dorian used Barrier on them.

Cassandra and Cole began attacking the Guard with their blades, and Mahanon cast Incinerate as Dorian cast Energy Barrage, sending a flurry of spells at the Guard. As Cassandra used Lunge and Slash to sink her sword into the guard, the light on his horn pulsed three times before falling over dead.

“...Whoa,” a voice said from inside the room. The Inquisition looked into one of the cells to see a Changeling inside a cage, just like Bzkdlina.

“Are you here because you can’t transform?” Mahanon asked him.

“Yeah,” he replied, suspicious of their knowledge. “Okay, what are you? And isn’t that one of the pony Princesses? And who told you that’s why I was here?”

“We’re the Inquisition,” he explained. “This is Princess Twilight, who is working with us. And we met another Changeling like you, Bzkdlina, outside. She told us you’d be in here.”

“Don’t know why she’d save me,” he laughed. “Doubt she even knows me. I only knew there were others like me because some of the Changelings talk about it while throwing things at me.”

“Well, not you specifically,” Dorian clarified. “She told us to save all of you.”

“So long as I get saved,” he chuckled. “My name’s Zoixia, by the way. And all of you are…?”

“The Inquisitor, Cassandra, Cole, and Dorian,” Twilight said, pointing at all the non-ponies. “I’ll try and explain everything later. It’s complicated.”

Mahanon opened the door to the cell, then Cole walked in and started picking the lock on the cage. “So how come you’re rescuing us?” Zoixia asked. “Just because?”

“The rest of the Changelings, the ones that can transform, are all possessed by demons,” Mahanon explained. “We need your help to exorcise them.”

“‘Demons’?” he echoed. “Man, I guess this is what I get for never believing any of that religious stuff.”

“Demons and religion are different things,” Cassandra said, slightly offended. “Demons are a very real thing in our world; religion just tells us how they came to be.”

As the cage unlocked, Cole opened the door to let him out. He crawled out of the cage and tried to stand, but quickly fell over.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked worriedly.

“Yeah,” he moaned. He flapped his thin wings, but they did not pick him up off the ground. “Ugh, I can practically feel the atrophy. I’m fine, just give me a few.” He forced himself up, then used a hoof to balance himself on Cole. He stood there shakily for a few moments, then put his last hoof down and started taking tiny steps.

“Better?” Mahanon asked.

He flapped his wings, which brought him a few inches above ground but could not keep him in the air. “So long as I’m not needed to do any of the fighting later, yeah. Just have been in there for too long and need to get used to walking and flying again. Being nearly starved to death can’t help, either.”

“Just stay back and let us do everything,” Mahanon said. They walked to the locked door at the back of the block, and Cole unlocked it, just as he had the last one. The Inquisition walked down a nearly identical hallway to the last one, then opened the door into an empty block.

“Watch out!” a panicked voice called out.

Before he could consciously process the warning, a creature jumped at Mahanon from behind, but his instincts kicked in as he grabbed it and threw it in front of him. While the creature was not slammed onto the floor, it used its wings to turn around in midair and land on the ground, where the could see it was another Changeling guard.

Just as before, Cassandra and Cole ran towards the Changeling as Mahanon, Dorian, and Twilight stayed behind.

Mahanon quickly cast Immolate on the Changeling, while Dorian cast Lightning Bolt to stun it. Cole used Twin Fangs on the stunned guard to Rupture it, while Cassandra used Shield Bash to finish it off. The Changeling’s horn pulsed three times, just as the last one’s had, before its head fell on the ground dead.

“Who’s there?” the same panicked voice from earlier asked. The Inquisition walked up to the cell where the voice came from, and the Changeling inside the cage inside recoiled a little bit. “That’s not really what I expected,” she said after a few seconds of shock.

“They’re the Inquisition,” Zoixia said, hobbling up. “Long story short, they’re saving all of us that can’t transform so we can exorcise demons from all the other Changelings.”

“Oh.” She bit her lower lip. “Okay.”

Mahanon opened the cell door, and Cole went in to unlock the cage. “What’s your name?” Mahanon asked.

“Kaldiina,” she responded, scooting to the back of the cage in fear of Cole. “They’ll be expecting us in the next room, by the way. Just like how they were in here.”

“How did they know we were here?” Twilight asked.

The cage door opened, but Kaldiina only scooted up to the door and did not exit the cage itself. “The guards set off alarms,” she said, pointing to the dead Changeling.

“Alarms?” Mahanon asked, looking at the Changeling. “I didn’t hear anything.”

“They’re magical. That pulsing light on her horn when she died set off an alarm.” She blushed a little. “My older brother’s a guard. He once told me this. They’re supposed to do that when they die after being ambushed.”

“How come the first Changeling wasn’t expecting us?” he wondered.

“We must’ve killed him too quickly,” Dorian concluded. “He would’ve been dead before he knew what hit him.”

Kaldiina moved out of the cage and tried to stand on her hooves, but like Zoixia, fell down. He ran over and helped her up, then put one of her hooves around his own shoulder. “I’ll help you walk,” he told her.

“I suppose now we know what to expect in the next room, at least” Mahanon said, looking at the door. “Cole, could you get that?” Without a word, Cole went over and worked the lock, eventually opening it. When he opened it, the Inquisition walked down another hallway identical to the previous ones.

“Everybody ready?” Mahanon asked, to which the rest of the Inquisition responded by pulling out their weapons.

Mahanon felt Dorian’s Barrier around him as he opened the door and walked in, expecting a surprise attack. But as he walked to the center of the room, nothing happened.

“Perhaps the Changelings are waiting for us outside?” Cassandra proposed.

“They’re still here!” an old, tired voice called out. When Mahanon looked to its source, he saw another Changeling in a cage, but he was older and thinner than any of the others they came upon.

“What do you mean?” Mahanon asked, putting his staff away and walking up to the cell he was in.

“They transformed into really tiny things,” he said worriedly. “I think I saw one of them transform into a spider. The others transformed into other things, but I didn’t see exactly what. They were out of my sight.”

Mahanon pulled his staff out again. “Everybody be on alert. Cole, can you try and break him out while we watch for them?” Cole nodded, then walked into the cell and started picking the lock on the cage.

“Aah!” Cole yelled as he was thrown to the side by a Changeling becoming full-sized right under him. Mahanon suddenly felt himself pulled down by a heavy weight on his back, and from the ground, he saw another Changeling become full-sized on top of Kaldiina.

“Inquisitor!” Kaldiina cried out. “Help!”

He scrambled to his feet, but not before the Changeling had bitten into her shoulder, generating cries of pain from her. A flash of purple light shot by him, hitting the Changeling onto the ground. “Finish him now!” Twilight called out.

Mahanon tried to attack the Changeling attacking her, but as he put his arm up to cast Winter’s Grasp, he felt a shooting pain in his arm as the other Changeling bit down hard on it.

Cassandra came up and used Shield Bash on the Changeling dangling from his arm, knocking it to the ground. “Go help her!” Cassandra demanded. “I’ll take this one!”

Mahanon took a deep breath; the pain was strong, but bearable. He cast Winter’s Grasp on the Changeling, freezing it and preventing it from attacking her again.

“Go!” he called to the two. “We’ll handle this!”

Zoixia nodded, then hobbled away with Kaldiina. Twilight ran up next to Mahanon and started casting spells with him, while Dorian started helping Cole with his Changeling.

When his mana regenerated, he cast Spirit Mark on the Changeling. He and Twilight gradually hurt it with their magic, and when his mana regenerated again, he case Immolate on it to kill it. Instead of setting off an alarm, the Changeling’s body simply disappeared and turned into a blue spirit.

Mahanon turned around and saw Cassandra with her shield up, blocking the Changeling’s attacks while Cole and Dorian attacked it with regular attacks. Eventually, she lowered her shield and hit it with Payback Strike, knocking it on the ground. Its horn flashed three times, then its body went still. Mahanon dismissed his spirit, which simply dissipated into the air.

“Dorian, Cole, did your Changeling set off an alarm?” Mahanon asked.

“It did,” Dorian confirmed. “But with that trickery of yours, only two got set off. Hopefully they’ll take that to mean we’re dead and the last one finished us off.”

“Now all we need is Bzkdlina and we’ll be able to exorcise the Changelings,” Mahanon said happily.

“Bzkdlina?” the Changeling in the cage asked as Cole started unlocking his cage again. “She’s still alive.”

“She’s outside,” Twilight confirmed. “You must be Kardalaan, then.”

The door opened, and he walked out of it as shakily as Zoixia and Kaldiina had. “Yes, yes I am. I’ve known Bzkdlina since she was just a young child; her parents had heard of me and reached out to me when they found out she couldn’t transform. I’ve helped her cope with it.”

“We just need to rescue her, and then we can save the Changelings,” Mahanon said. “She should still be in the courtyard.”

They Inquisition moved to the back door of the block and opened it, as it was not locked. Instead of a damp hallway, they encountered stairs like the ones they took down. They walked up them, and when at the top, Mahanon slowly and quietly opened the door to see if there was another Changeling guard on the other side. There wasn’t, so he opened the door further and stepped into the small hallway it led into. He walked to the end of it and discreetly peeked around the corners, checking to see if there were any guards waiting for them. When he was satisfied there weren’t, he beckoned the rest of the Inquisition over.

“I don’t like this,” Dorian admitted. “It’s too quiet. The guard posted to this door is probably waiting in the form of a spider to ambush us again.”

“Or he came to the dungeon and tried to help the guards there,” Cassandra suggested.

“I don’t feel any pain here,” Cole said. “They’re not here right now. But I do feel a stronger pain. It’s coming from outside.”

“We’ll need to be alert,” Cassandra said, moving her hand to her sword.

“Agreed,” Mahanon replied. The Inquisition walked into the grand hall of the palace and walked to the entrance, then opened it to the blinding sun of the Changeling capital.

There were no guards at the palace doors, nor were there any Changelings congregated around Bzkdlina’s cage. The Inquisition walked down into the courtyard. “Bzkdlina!” Kardalaan called out.

She turned around in her cage, then smiled at seeing him. “You’re safe!”

Kardalaan started running towards her, but a tall, thin Changeling dropped from the sky in front of her cage.

“Hello, my subjects,” she said slyly as four more Changelings dropped down next to her. “Who told you you could go free?”

“Q-Queen Chrysalis!” Kardalaan stuttered, backing up from her and into the Inquisition.

“So this is the ‘Inquisition’ I’ve been hearing so much about,” she said, eyeing them all. “I’ll admit, I expected more. And is that...Princess Twilight I see?” Twilight simply grimaced at her. “What was it? ‘Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake’?”

Twilight didn’t respond, instead just glaring at her. “I assume she’s the Queen, then?” Dorian asked.

Chrysalis glared at them all. “I don’t recall asking you to break into my palace and let out convicted criminals. This is not a healthy start to our alliance, which I so graciously reached out to you to offer!”

“She’s lying!” Bzkdlina called out. “We did nothing wrong! She’s possessed!”

Mahanon and the rest of the Inquisition pulled out their weapons. “Queen Chrysalis, we cannot let you do this!” he called to her. “If there’s any part of you that hasn’t been possessed, stop yourself and let us cleanse you!”

Chrysalis responded by growling, and then in a flash of green light, transformed into an exact replica of Mahanon. “You’re going to have to stop me first!” she called out.

The four Changelings around her transformed into copies of the other members of the Inquisition. The one that turned into Cassandra pulled out her sword and put up her shield, the one that turned Cole spun his daggers around, the one that became Dorian straightened a few loose hairs in his mustache, and Twilight’s copy powered up her horn.

The liberated Changelings backed up behind the Inquisition, and when they did, Chrysalis held out her staff, then cast a Wall of Fire in a ring around the Inquisition and Chrysalis and her Changelings, trapping them in an arena. “When we defeat you, we’ll take over the Inquisition and put an end to your influence!”

Mahanon looked at his companions, who all were clearly eager for a battle. “Leave Chrysalis alive!” he yelled to them. “We need her to cure the Changelings!”

His companions took that as their cue to engage in battle. Cassandra and Cole ran to the Changelings while Dorian cast a Barrier on all of them. Cole and Cassandra focused in on ‘Cole’ while 'Cassandra' attacked them from the side. ‘Twilight’ and ‘Dorian’ focused on Mahanon, Twilight, and Dorian, and Chrysalis stood back and watched her Changelings fight.

Mahanon began the battle by engulfing the two Changelings in a Static Cage and quickly using Immolate to hit both of them with fire and electricity at once. Dorian cast Horror on them, causing them to flee but ultimately being pulled back to the center by the cage.

When his mana was high enough, Mahanon cast Walking Bomb on ‘Twilight’. “Focus on the one that looks like Twilight!” he ordered Dorian and Twilight.

While the Changelings were not as powerful as their real counterparts, ‘Twilight’ was still capable of interrupting Mahanon’s spells by hitting him with a concentrated bolt of magic, and ‘Dorian’ was able to cast a few spells, such as Energy Barrage and Incinerate, though not as effectively as the real Dorian.

Eventually, a cast of Chain Lightning by Dorian killed ‘Twilight’, who exploded and passed on the Walking Bomb curse to ‘Dorian’. While the curse was almost over, it chipped away at his health a little while still under its influence. When ‘Dorian’ reached low health, Mahanon cast a Spirit Mark curse on him, and when he died, he turned into a blue spirit that turned on his former Changeling allies.

“Unacceptable!” Chrysalis called out, pulling out her staff. “You cannot best my Changelings!”

As Cole used Shadow Strike on ‘Cole’ to kill him, Mahanon turned to Chrysalis. “It looks like we are!”

Furious, Chrysalis raised her fist and then brought it down, casting Veilstrike and knocking Mahanon, Dorian, and Twilight down. She then turned to Cassandra and used Stonefist on her, which knocked her down and took out some of her guard.

When Mahanon stood back up with the others, Dorian cast another Barrier on them. He cast Winter’s Grasp on ‘Cassandra’, then called for the rest of the Inquisition to target her. Cassandra used Payback Strike on her, which delivered the final blow.

The whole Inquisition then focused on Chrysalis, who had cast Wall of Ice in front of her to make Cole and Cassandra have to go around to fight her. Mahanon used Static Cage, then Dorian used Energy Barrage to assault her with a flurry of electricity damage.

When Cole and Cassandra grew close, Chrysalis cast Mind Blast, knocking them back. When they got back up, Cassandra used Blessed Blades while Cole threw Mark of Death at her.

Mahanon used Winter’s Grasp on her to freeze her solid, and Cassandra quickly followed with a Shield Bash to Shatter her and deal massive damage.

When Chrysalis thawed out, she cast Fade Step to fly through Cassandra and Cole and chill them and up to Mahanon. She then cast Mind Blast, knocking them down as well.

“It’s not over!” she cried, using a Wall of Flame to make Cole and Cassandra burn as they went after her.

When he got back up, Mahanon cast Horror on her, causing her to run away while taking constant spirit damage. He, Dorian, and Twilight continued casting spells on her until she fell to her knees, using her staff to keep her from completely falling onto the ground. There was another flash of green light, and she turned back into her Changeling form as she fell to the ground and the Wall of Flame separating the Inquisition from the Changelings died down.

“You did it!” Bzkdlina exclaimed. “You did it! You defeated her!”

Mahanon walked up to the pole her cage hung from, and with the help of Cassandra lowered it. Cole picked the lock and opened the door, letting her walk out shakily. Kardalaan walked up and put a hoof around her, helping her walk.

“How are we supposed to exorcise her?” Zoixia asked. “I’ve never really done something like this before.”

“The demons are relatively weak ones,” Cassandra pondered. “They have to fight a constant struggle to keep the host possessed. Maybe if you thought pure thoughts, you could somehow channel them towards the Queen?”

“‘Pure thoughts’?” Bzkdlina asked. “Like what?”

“They’re jealousy demons,” Twilight said. “Maybe think of times you could’ve taken something for yourself but didn’t because it was wrong?”

The Changelings all closed their eyes, and eventually, a small blue orb appeared over Bzkdlina’s horn.

“There it is!” Twilight said excitedly. “Just like that!”

Eventually, the other Changelings got orbs as well, and they all grew to a large size. The orbs then shot light out, focusing in on Chrysalis’ horn. She cried out in agony, and eventually, a green wisp flew out of her horn and to the Rift, which opened and let it in.

The Changelings stopped, and Mahanon and Twilight walked slowly up to Chrysalis, who was stirring and moaning on the ground. “Are you okay?” Mahanon asked.

Chrysalis got up shakily, then rubbed her head. “I feel...different. It is not a feeling I have ever experienced.” She thought for a few moments. “I no longer crave love, yet I feel my magic is diminished.” She closed her eyes and concentrated, then opened them when nothing happened. “I cannot transform anymore. What did you do to me?”

“You were possessed by a demon,” he replied. “We exorcised it from you. You might not be able to transform, but you will be able to think for yourself now.”

“We need you to help exorcise all the Changelings,” Twilight said. “The same Changelings that cured you will need you to use your hive mind to act as a channel to affect all the Changelings at once.”

Chrysalis looked over to the four Changelings, who were looking at her worriedly. “...I see. Very well!” She held her head up high. “My subjects, help me take control of every Changeling by taking it from the demons that think they can use us!”

The Changelings’ horns glowed blue again, and when their orbs shot to Chrysalis’ horn, it spread out in thousands of little streams of light, flying out everywhere in the city. After a few seconds, thousands of green wisps flew up out of the city to the courtyard, and they all entered the opened Rift. Eventually, the streams of light from Chrysalis’ horn ended, and the Rift sputtered a little.

“Inquisitor, now!” Cassandra called to him. “Close the Rift!”

Mahanon held up his hand, and the Anchor connected with the Rift, shooting out a beam of green light. A second beam of light came out from the corner of his eye, and when he turned his head, he could see Chrysalis using her magic to help him close it. When it was sufficiently closed, he moved his hand and she swung her head, causing the Rift to go away in an explosion.

“I didn’t know you were able to close Rifts,” Mahanon said, turning to Chrysalis.

“The demons taught me a lot about the Rifts and the Fade,” she said, slightly angrily. “They have been a part of my kind for thousands of years; eventually, we were bound to learn some of their secrets.”

“We did it!” Twilight exclaimed, jumping up and down.

“Yes,” Chrysalis said hollowly, hanging her head. “Inquisitor, I would pledge the Changelings to you, if you would have us. The demons infested my people and dictated our every move, and destroying them would avenge every Changeling ever lost to the pursuit of love to feed on.” She sighed. “Though I would understand if our actions are unforgivable and you do not want us.”

Mahanon looked at the other members of the Inquisition, who had walked up to him. “Thoughts?” he asked.

“The Changelings seem to be formidable foes,” Dorian said. “They would help us greatly.”

“They’re angry,” Cole said. “They hate the demons who possessed them.”

“I’m not sure,” Cassandra said skeptically. “They would be good allies, but they could still be prone to possession. Still, we are hardly in a place to be turning away allies.”

Mahanon looked down at Twilight. “And what about you, Princess? They would likely still be your allies even after we leave.”

Twilight thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. “I don’t know. They’ve done terrible things to Equestria, and I know that it was because of the demons, but it’s still caused lots of harm to us.” She took a deep breath of confidence. “No, ally with them. We need to show them forgiveness.”

He smiled and looked at Chrysalis. “Well then, Queen Chrysalis; the Inquisition will ally with your people.”

Chrysalis smiled broadly. “You will not regret this, Inquisitor.”

Chapter 9: No Rest In This World

“Just a little more!” Cadence encouraged Mahanon and Cassandra, who were struggling to hold Shining Armor after a long day’s hike.

“We better be getting close,” Cassandra muttered to herself.

Cadence’s horn powered up, enveloping Shining Armor and pulling the burden off the two somewhat. “I promise, we’re almost there.”

“Canterlot’s pretty far away,” Varric noted, looking back at the city on the mountain, which was glowing a faint red. “And it’s dark now. How far away is this place exactly?”

“It’s right there!” Cadence said, pointing to a farmhouse not far away from where the Inquisition was. They passed through an arch and walked up to the door, which Cadence knocked on.

After a few moments of no response, she went up and knocked again. “Applejack!” she called to the door. “It’s me, Princess Cadence! I need you to let me in!”

“Applejack…” Mahanon whispered to himself. “That’s one of Twilight’s friends, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Cadence confirmed. She knocked on the door faster and louder. “Applejack, please! We need help!”

Mahanon looked at Cassandra, who took the hint and kicked down the door, sending it onto the ground with a loud thud.

“We could have waited!” Cadence yelled.

Mahanon and Cassandra walked in, then looked around. “There’s a table in there we can put him on!” Cassandra said, pointing to a small wooden table in the kitchen. They walked in and laid Shining Armor on the table.

“What in tarnation’s goin’ on here?” they heard a voice cry from behind them. Turning around, they could see an orange pony with a blonde mane looking at them with a mix of confusion and anger.

“Applejack!” Cadence said, relieved. “I’m so glad you’re here!”

“Cadence?” the pony asked, looking at her and then the Inquisition. “What in the hay is goin’ on?”

“Shining Armor’s been hurt,” Cadence said sadly.

“And who exactly are they?” she asked, pointing at Mahanon.

“We’re the Inquisition,” Mahanon said quickly. “We’ll explain later. Right now, we need to help him.”

“And why’d you kick my door down?” Applejack said angrily, looking at the door on the ground. “Do you not just knock wherever it is you come from?”

“I’ll help you fix it,” Varric said, stepping forward. “I was never good at playing doctor anyways.”

“I’ll explain everything I can later,” Cadence said, noticing Applejack’s confusion. “But they’re friends of Twilight, and they’re helping Equestria fight against all the monsters.”

“Why didn’t you just take him to the guard camp? Why’d you have to come here?”

“We need to hide,” Cadence said worriedly. “The Crystal Ponies have been driven to madness, and they’re trying to kill us. We can’t risk word getting out that we’re here, so you need to be quiet about this, alright?”

“Alright,” Applejack nodded. “Though how should I explain to everypony else that our door got kicked down in the middle of the night?”

“You won’t need to once we fix it,” Varric said, slightly impatient.

“Fine,” she conceded. “Come help me get my tools, uh…”

“Varric.”

“Right. Varric, come help me get my tools.” She shot another look at him. “And maybe tell me what in the hay you’re supposed to be in the process.”

Applejack and Varric walked away, and the rest of the Inquisition turned their focus to Shining Armor on the table. Cadence ran up and put a hoof around one of his, then started stroking his mane.

“We’ll be okay,” she said comfortingly.

“I’m usually the one who needs to convince you of that,” he laughed weakly.

Cadence smiled. “At least your sense of humor isn’t hurt.”

Cassandra laid her sword and shield against the wall, then began running her hands up and down Shining Armor’s body. “Does anything feel broken?”

“Back left,” he responded. When Cassandra moved her hands down to his back left leg, he clenched his teeth together to stifle cries of pain. “Yup. Definitely broken.”

Cassandra felt the rest of his extremities, then took her hands off him. “Everything else seems to be fine.” She turned to Mahanon. “I need you to go get me some wood for a splint.”

Nodding, Mahanon left the kitchen to the family room, where Applejack was walking in, holding a small toolbox in her mouth. “Applejack, I need to get some wood to splint Shining Armor’s leg.”

Putting down the toolbox, she scratched her head. “Wood? We might have some out back, but it probably ain’t in very good shape. We donated most of our good lumber to the Guards once the fighting started.”

Mahanon ran out the hole where the door had been, then around the back of the farmhouse to see a small pile of wood piled up. After he grabbed a few pieces, he looked at the city of Canterlot, far in the distance; the eerie red glow of the red lyrium no doubt plaguing the city clashed with the sickly green of the Breach, giving it an ominous hue, like a beacon of hopelessness across all of Equestria. After glaring at it for a few seconds, he ran back inside, where Varric was crouched down and helping Applejack work on the door.

He placed the wood down in the kitchen, where Cassandra came over and examined it. She picked two pieces, then placed them on the table. “Rope?” she asked Applejack.

“Yeah, just a sec,” she responded, walking up the stairs. A minute later, she came down, carrying a lasso in her mouth which she put on the table before going back to the door.

Picking up the length of rope up, Cassandra grimaced at the pony slobber on the rope where Applejack’s mouth had been. “I always took hands for granted until now,” she whispered to Mahanon before working on untying it.

When the rope was untied, she picked up the wood and tied the pieces together, making a makeshift splint for Shining Armor. “Everything else should be fine on its own,” she said.

“Do you have any rubbing alcohol or bandages?” Cadence called to Applejack.

“Under the sink, on the left,” she replied, hammer in mouth.

Cadence moved to the sink and started rooting around, while Cassandra picked up her weapons and walked to the family room with Mahanon. “Is there anything else we can help with?”

Picking up a screwdriver, she handed it to him. “Just screw those hinges in when we put the door up.” She looked at Varric and nodded, and the two raised the door up.

Looking down at his now wet hand, Mahanon understood Cassandra’s disgust at the rope she was given. Trying to touch as little of the screwdriver as possible, he screwed in the hinges on the top of the door while Applejack screwed in the bottom ones. “Good as new” Applejack said happily. “Nopony will be able to kell you three kicked it down, now.”

“Technically, it was just the Seeker,” Varric corrected, which got him a disapproving glare from Cassandra.

“I can show y’all where you can stay if you want to lay low,” Applejack said, opening the door and walking out. The three followed her, and she turned left. “Hope you don’t mind the barn. Not exactly the best place, but y’all insist on staying hidden.”

“We just need to wait here until Twilight gets back,” Mahanon said.

Applejack unlocked the door to the big red barn next to the farmhouse, and Varric and Cassandra walked in. “That’s what I’ve been meaning to ask. What’s goin’ on, and what’s Twi got to do with it?”

Mahanon walked a few steps away from the barn and looked at the sky, and Applejack followed him. “It’s...a long story.”

“I got time,” she replied, looking up at him.

He looked down at her, and she cocked her head slightly. “It started about a month and a half ago, back in Thedas.”

“‘Thedas’?” she repeated.

“A continent far to the west, where we came from. Some people sailed along the shores of this continent and saw the Breach here, and contacted us since we closed the Breach over our home continent.”

Applejack pointed towards Canterlot. “That thing the Breach?”

“The green part, yes. The red part came earlier today.”

“And what is the red part?”

“It fits in with the story, I promise,” he said dismissively. “When we got here, there were a few ponies that found us, and they contacted Princess Celestia, who sent Twilight to meet us.”

“So that’s why she disappeared mysteriously,” Applejack said, rubbing her chin. “Spike said it was important, but he said he didn’t know what it was.”

“She’s helping us get the Inquisition started here, and she’s been a big help. Saved our lives a few times in Canterlot.”

“And she’s probably being super modest and sayin' it was nothin',” Applejack laughed. “So why were you in Canterlot?”

“We ventured south to recruit the Changelings for our cause. They were helping us close the Breach, but we were attacked by Crystal Ponies who had become infected with red lyrium, the substance Princess Cadence said drove the Crystal Ponies to madness.”

“And where’s Twi now?” she asked hopefully.

“She went back to our fortress in Neighven ahead of us, along with a few others that were with us. She’s warning them.”

Mahanon saw some enthusiasm leave Applejack’s face. “So...she ain’t here with you?”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”

Sadly, Applejack sighed. “Was hoping she was. Everypony’s been leaving one by one, and now it’s just me and Rarity left here in Ponyville.”

“She’ll be back soon,” he said, squatting to her eye level to comfort her. “We’re making progress.”

“Ain’t what it looks like to me,” she replied, looking at Canterlot behind him. “So that ‘red lyrium’ stuff, that what making Canterlot glow like that?”

He nodded as he stood up. “Yes. It has a connection to the Fade, the world on the other side of the Breach. That’s why it started appearing on this continent, and it’s why the Crystal Ponies are trying to stop us from closing the Breach.”

Applejack shook her head and laughed. “I can’t remember the last day that was normal since meeting Twilight. Y’all can stay here as long as you need; any friends of Twilight’s are always welcome here.”

He smiled back at her. “I suppose I should let you get back to bed; it’s getting late.”

“Just no more kicking down the door, okay? You know what knocking is?”

“I promise.” She shot another smile at him, then turned around and walked back to the house.

“Do you have a moment?” he heard Cassandra ask from his side. When he turned to look at her, she was holding her hands nervously.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I just hoped to talk…” She walked to closer to him. “...About us.”

“What about?”

“We stopped seeing each other because of my election as Divine.” She looked him in the eyes. “But now we’re here. And though it hasn’t been long, I am wondering if we made the right choice.”

Mahanon grabbed her hands and looked into her eyes. “I don’t suppose we’ll ever know if we made the right decision. But you’re the Divine now, you need to devote your time there.”

“The Chantry’s not here now, which got me thinking. Do we have to go back?”

“What do you mean?” he asked skeptically.

“We could stay here,” she suggested. “I’m not saying we should right now, but we always have the option.”

“What about the Chantry?”

“They could choose someone else. There are plenty of people out there who wanted the Sunburst Throne more than I, and many I would not mind leading the Chantry.”

“But they chose you, over all of them. They want you to be their leader.”

Cassandra sighed, then pulled her hands away. “You’re right. It was foolish of me to consider leaving, especially when Thedas needs both of us more than ever.”

“I wish we could stay together too,” he admitted. “But we can’t.”

“I suppose we should get some rest,” she said, looking at the barn. “It has been a long day.”

”You guys, I don’t know about this. Didn’t Applejack tell us to stay out?”

“She’s always saying stuff like that! What could possibly happen?”

“Yeah Sweetie Belle, come on.”

“But there has to be a reason she told us to stay out, right? She’s never done that before!”

“It’s a barn! Stop being so chicken!”

Grumbling, Mahanon turned onto his side, hoping to shut out the voices coming from outside the barn.

After another few exchanges from outside, the door opened, pouring light in. He turned over on his side and opened his eyes to three small ponies, staring at him in shock.

The ponies all screamed, then ran out of the barn as quick as they could. As Mahanon jumped off the hay bale he was sleeping on, Cassandra and Varric jumped off their makeshift beds and quickly grabbed their weapons.

“What was that?” Cassandra said, clutching her sword.

“I think our cover might be blown,” Mahanon said worriedly. “Some ponies just saw us.”

“Guess it’s time to pack up and leave before the Crystal Ponies hear, then?” Varric suggested.

“If they’re in the barn, maybe they know Applejack,” Mahanon wondered. “Maybe she can talk them into being quiet.”

“Let’s hope,” Varric muttered under his breath. “Barns aren’t really my kind of place to sleep, but they’re better than nothing.”

As Mahanon looked out of the barn and towards the farmhouse, he saw the three ponies funnel inside quickly while pointing panickedly at the barn. A few moments later, they walked out with Applejack, who looked less than pleased with the issue.

“Put the weapons away,” he ordered back into the barn. When he looked back out, the three ponies were standing behind Applejack, who was walking up to the barn.

“Only you come out,” she said to him through her teeth. “And play along.”

Looking back into the barn, he saw Varric shrug and Cassandra motioning for him to leave. When he walked out, Applejack closed the door behind them and walked back to the ponies.

“First off,” Applejack in a very commanding voice to the three ponies, “What did I tell you about going into the barn this morning?”

The three ponies all looked at each other, then at the ground. “Not to?” the Unicorn answered.

“Exactly,” Applejack responded in a disappointed voice. “And where did y’all go this morning?”

The ponies looked at each other again. “The barn?” the Pegasus answered.

“That’s right,” Applejack said, nodding her head. “Did you ever think there could be a reason I told you not to go in there?”

“We didn’t think you were serious!” the Earth Pony protested. “You’ve always let us in there!”

“I had no reason to keep you out before!”

“What even is that thing?” the Pegasus asked, pointing at Mahanon.

“He’s a friend of Twilight’s,” Applejack answered before Mahanon could. “He came here all alone last night, and he needs to hide. Which is why I didn’t let you in the barn.” She turned around to face him. “Isn’t that right?” she asked, clearly trying to get him to go along with the lie.

“Yes,” he responded confidently.

“Who do you need to hide from?” the Unicorn asked.

As he was about to answer, he saw Applejack mouthing a silent ‘no’ his way. “I...I can’t say,” he responded.

“Why not?” the Earth Pony asked.

“He said he can’t, and that’s final,” Applejack asserted. “Any you’re not allowed to tell anypony about this, alright? Apple Bloom, that includes Big Mac and Granny.” She looked to the Unicorn. “Sweetie Belle, Rarity too. You can’t tell her.” As the two opened their mouths to protest, Applejack put a hoof up. “I don’t want to hear nothing from any of you. No telling anypony, and that’s final. You understand?”

“Yes,” all three ponies mumbled at once.

“Alright,” Applejack said. “You can go.”

As the three ponies dispersed, Applejack turned to Mahanon and sighed. “Sorry about that. That was my sister and her friends, and they ain’t exactly known for following directions.”

“It’s fine,” he reassured her. “How come you told them I came here alone, though?”

She sighed. “I hate to lie, but telling them the truth would’ve made it worse. You gotta stay hidden, and if word does get out, the rest of them will be safe since they don’t know they’re here.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” he said to himself. “So where are Princess Cadence and Shining Armor?”

“I gave them my room. I’m the first to get up anyways for chores, so nopony noticed me sleeping on a couch.” She shook her head. “I hate having to do all this sneaking around. Whatever you do, you close that Breach, you hear? I want my friends back, and I want everypony to be happy again.”

“We’ll try our best,” he smiled. “You know, the Inquisition can use all the help we can get; you’d be a great addition.”

After thinking it over a little, she shook her head. “Nah. I’m needed in Ponyville, and my family needs me more; Apple Bloom’s still too little to help with everything, and Granny Smith ain’t exactly strong enough. And Big Mac can’t do everything himself.”

“The offer’s always open,” he said happily. “I...guess we’ll just wait in the barn for Twilight, then?”

“I guess,” Applejack replied. “I’ll try and sneak y’all some food so you don’t get hungry. You have apples where you come from, right?”

Mahanon stared at the palm of his hand intently. He knew the Anchor wasn’t visible since they weren’t near a Rift, but he kept wondering whether or not it was still there.

When he looked up, he could see Varric and Cassandra suffering through similar boredom; hiding from demons in a defenseless barn on a completely new continent wasn’t fun for any of them.

“The Princess can teleport, right?” Varric asked to break the awkward silence. “Why’s it taking her so long, then?”

“I don’t know,” Cassandra responded, slightly irritated.

“Hey Inquisitor, why can’t you do that?”

“I guess I’ll have to have her teach me.”

Varric groaned. “Man, this is mind-numbing. Gotta admit, I’ll have a lot more respect for the Legion of the Dead after this. Imagine this, but every day.”

The Inquisition went back to silence. When the barn door opened, they all turned towards it and reached for their weapons, anticipating whatever came through the door.

“It’s just me,” Cadence said, walking in and closing the door behind her. “I figured I’d make sure you’re all okay.”

“Bored out of our minds, but otherwise fine,” Varric said, sitting back down and putting his back to a pillar.

“I’m sorry you have to stay out here like this,” she said sorrowfully. “You all deserve much more. You saved us all back in Canterlot.”

“Everybody did their part,” Mahanon said humbly. “Including you.”

“What was that weird shit you did to those Crystal Ponies near the end?” Varric asked. “Should teach that to the Inquisitor.”

“I’d...rather not talk about it,” she replied, almost ashamed of the fact.

“How’s Shining Armor?” Mahanon asked comfortingly.

“He’s doing better,” she said with a small smile. “I just can’t wait until Twilight gets here and can bring us to safety.” She looked up at him. “And I hope you can make something work.”

“We’re doing all we can,” Cassandra reassured her.

The door opened again, and when they all turned to look, they saw Applejack standing next to Twilight, who was smiling broadly and could hardly keep still.

“Hey Twilight,” Cadence laughed. She stretched out her forelegs. “Come on, I know you want to.”

With a joyful squeal, Twilight ran over and embraced the hug tightly. “I’m so glad you’re safe!” she exclaimed.

“Me too,” Cadence laughed back.

“So have you brought a way out?” Mahanon asked, walking up to the hug.

“Yeah,” Twilight beamed, looking up at him. “There are chariots outside.”

Mahanon looked back at Cassandra and Varric, who took the cue and grabbed their weapons. “We’ll wait outside for you, okay?”

“We’ll get Shining Armor,” Cadence said, still locked in the hug with Twilight. “Meet you outside.”

As they got to the door, Mahanon looked down at Applejack. “Thank you for keeping us here.”

“It was nothing,” she said.

Mahanon walked with Cassandra and Varric to one of the two chariots outside the barn and climbed in one, while he saw Twilight and Cadence go into the farmhouse with Applejack. After a few moments, they emerged, carrying Shining Armor in their magic.

“Hey, Inquisitor!” Shining Armor called up to them as he was being carried. “Thanks for what you did.”

“I’m sure you would’ve done the same,” he smiled back.

When Shining Armor was loaded into the other chariot, the Royal Guards looked at each other, then both took off into the sky.

Chapter 10: Unshaken By The Darkness

As the Inquisition’s chariots set down in Neighven, a crowd of ponies, Changelings, and various Inquisition soldiers all gathered around, watching Mahanon jump out of the chariot and land on the ground.

“You’re alive!” Fancypants exclaimed, walking up to them.

“Did you ever doubt us?” Varric smirked as he jumped onto the ground.

“Princess Twilight told us everything that happened, but…” He looked at them in awe. “It’s hard to believe. And to survive in the open, walking all the way to Ponyville with a wounded Prince while escaping the Crystal Ponies?”

“You make it sound harder than it was,” Varric chuckled.

“Either way, we’re glad you’re back,” he said, a weight lifted from his chest.

“We’ve still got a long ways to go,” Mahanon said, turning around and pointing at Canterlot in the distance. “The Crystal Ponies have a firm grip on Canterlot; we’re powerful, but not powerful enough to stand up to them.”

“Right into business,” Shining Armor laughed from the stretcher he was being laid onto. “I like it.”

“We’ll need more allies if we wish to stop the Breach for good,” Cassandra pointed out.

“The Spymaster and I were discussing a few options earlier,” Fancypants added. “She is in the war room; I will go there and meet her. Come meet us whenever it is you’re ready.”

When Fancypants left, the rest of the Inquisition dispersed except for Mahanon, who walked to his small cottage and entered it.

As he laid his staff against the wall and began to take off his armor, a few soft knocks came from his door. When he went to open it, he saw Cadence looking up at him with a small smile.

“Good to see you, Princess Cadence,” he said, moving to the side. “Would you come in?”

“I just came to say thank you for everything again,” she said happily as she walked into his cottage.

“We all did our parts,” he said dismissively, taking his armor off and placing it down on the bed. “Not just me.”

“The way you lead the Inquisition though…” Her eyes grew large as her sentence trailed off. “I’ve never seen anything like it. The way they follow you, the way they respect you...they’d follow you into death and back.”

“Depending on your interpretation, some of them actually did,” he replied. “I’m just a leader; I do what I must.”

“Are you going to stay here after you’re all done?” she asked meekly. “Even if Shining Armor and I don’t need one, Princess Celestia could use a general like you.”

“Trying to get me into your ranks?” he smiled. “I knew there was an ulterior motive here.”

“Not like that!” she defended. “I mean, if you want to, we’d have you, but I’m not here to try and convince you; I understand the Inquisition needs you.”

“It’s fine,” he laughed. “Just come to share your admiration, then?”

She sighed. “I know we can’t ever repay you.”

“I don’t do what I do because I want repayment, Princess.”

“We really thought it was the end,” she said softly. “It’s a miracle we got out of the Crystal Empire alive; when an entire city of ponies all turns against you, all hope seems lost. To get out of there alive, and then to meet you when we did...we got a second chance at life.”

“It’s what I’m here for.”

“We’re having a foal, too,” she laughed nervously. “Of all the times for the sky to start ripping itself open, of course it had to be now!” She took a deep breath. “Oh well. I guess I’ve never had a big event without some catastrophe happening, so it’s just like that, right? Queen Chrysalis kidnapped me and trapped me underground during my wedding, so it makes sense the fabric of the world would rip open during my pregnancy, right?”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” he joked.

“What you said about Queen Chrysalis though, about the demon infestation...is it true?”

“It is,” he confirmed.

Cadence simply stood there for a few moments, staring into the distance. “I don’t really even know what I think of her anymore. Sure she kidnapped me and leeched off my fiancee, but it was a demon, so was it really her? Should I be angry? Can I even be angry?” She groaned and shook her head. “I should probably go check on Shining Armor.”

“I won’t keep you.”

“Again, thank you for everything,” she said, moving to the door.

When she exited, Mahanon soon followed, then walked up to the command center at the head of Neighven. Walking through the maze of corridors to the the war room, he saw Fancypants and Trixie standing alone on the opposite end of the table, each holding a small stack of papers in their magic and showing them to each other.

“You wanted to see me?” Mahanon asked.

“Oh good, you’re here!” Fancypants said, putting his papers on the table.

Walking up to the table, he picked up the papers Fancypants laid down and started leafing through them. “What do you have here?”

“Just a few avenues we’re looking into,” he said, looking at Trixie, who put her papers down as well.

When he got to a piece of paper with a small map on it, Mahanon placed the rest of the papers down and studied the map. “So we’re traveling, I take it?”

“That’s the one about the Griffons,” Trixie said, then pointed at the papers she just set down. “Those are for the Minotaurs.”

“What can you tell me about them?” he asked, putting the map down on the table on top of the map of Equestria.”

“The Griffons have been embroiled in a civil war as of late, and fighting’s gotten worse after the Breach opened,” Trixie explained. “Trixie’s spies say that the rebels are wanting to cease fighting and ally with us to close the Breach, but the establishment doesn’t want to support any organization that allies with Equestria.”

“So the Griffons don’t like Equestria, then?” he asked to clarify.

“Many don’t,” she replied. “But the rebels do.”

“I hear their leader is an old friend of Rainbow Dash, one of Princess Twilight’s good friends,” Fancypants said, turning to Trixie. “Is it true?”

“I don’t really look into Twilight’s personal life enough to know,” she said with a little bit of disgust.

“And the Minotaurs?” Mahanon asked.

“Their Emperor is calling a summit to discuss the Breach and the Inquisition,” Fancypants said. “The Kings will be meeting soon, and they’ll be making a decision.”

“Kings and an Emperor?” Mahanon asked.

“The Emperor is their lead King,” he explained. “He rules over their capital, and there are four Kings for the rest of the empire, each having their own area to rule over.”

“Who do we try and get on our side if we go there?”

“They all have an equal say, though the Emperor might be able to convince the other Kings if we can get him on our side.”

“We’ll go help the Griffon resistance first,” Mahanon proclaimed. “Maybe if we can get some more allies, the Minotaurs will be more inclined to side with us.” He started moving to the door.

“Back only a few minutes and already diving into action,” Fancypants chuckled.

“The Breach and the Crystal Ponies wait for no one,” he said as he opened the door and exited into the hallway.

Chapter 11: Field And Forest Shall Burn

“Inquisitor!” Mahanon heard a voice say as he got poked on the shoulder. Forcing his eyes open, he was met with the glare of the early morning sun off the polished gold of the Inquisition’s chariot, blinding him and forcing his eyes shut again.

“Are we close?” he asked groggily, sitting up and covering his eyes with his hand to shield some of the sunlight from assaulting him again.

“Griffonstone isn’t very far,” Twilight said, peering over the edge of the chariot. Moving next to her, he looked down at the rocky coastline soaring beneath them. Pillars of smoke arose all across the landscape, some in small fires and others in huge infernos.

“Those are from the war, I take it?” he asked, pointing at one as they went by it.

Twilight nodded slowly. “The Rebels are losing. Their soldiers were eager, but they weren’t trained well. They started out winning, but as it went on, they got tired and have started losing.”

“Anything else you can tell me about the Rebels?”

“Nothing” she replied, slightly distraught. “They’re not formal; they have no official organization or central authority, so it’s just a lot of local groups fighting sporadically.”

“How will recruiting the Rebels from Griffonstone help, then? Are they larger or stronger than any of the others?”

“They are. Their leader also apparently is the figurehead of them, so she’ll be able to organize them and get their support.”

“Why hasn’t she yet?”

Twilight shrugged. “Probably too busy fighting a war of her own to go around recruiting others for a different one.”

When their chariot began its descent down to the ground, Mahanon grabbed his staff and looked over to the other chariot carrying their companions, which soon followed them down. As his chariot landed, he jumped out onto the dusty, gravel-covered earth as Twilight gently flew down next to him.

“Greetings, Inquisition!” a rough voice proclaimed from behind them. When they turned around, they saw a Griffon standing at attention in rusty, poorly-fitting armor. “We have been tracking you since you first entered the Griffon Empire. What brings you to our great nation?”

“Are you with the Rebels?” Mahanon asked, ready for a fight. “Or are you fighting them?”

“Rebel until I die!” he said powerfully.

“We’re here to talk to the Rebel leader of Griffonstone,” Twilight said to him.

“Yes, Princess!” he saluted, then turned around. “Follow me!”

As the Inquisition’s companions landed and caught up to Mahanon and Twilight, they all started walking towards the city in the distance. “He’s...a little much,” Dorian said quietly to the group.

Sera giggled. “Can practically see the stick up his arse from here.”

“I think he’s just enthusiastic,” Twilight said with a small smile.

“Hey, birdbrain!” Sera called out. “What’s your big plan for killing all these stuck-up Griffons you’re fighting?”

“That is why I am taking you to the Leader,” he replied, annoyed. “She will tell you what the Rebel plans are.”

When they got to a makeshift fence surrounding a crumbling town, the Griffon leading them gave a nod to the guards as they walked through. When they started walking through the run-down main avenue of town, many of the Griffons stopped in their tracks to marvel at the Inquisition.

“And just what is the meaning of this?” another rough voice called out to their right. When they turned, they saw an old, balding Griffon wearing an old and worn fez walking up to them.

“They claim they are the Inquisition, Leader Gruff!” the Griffon replied, snapping to attention. “They have come to speak with Leader Gilda!”

“The ‘Inquisition’, eh?” he asked suspiciously, surveying them as he walked in a circle around them. “Never heard of you before.”

“The came from across the sea,” Twilight said, trying to plead with him. “They’ve tried to close the Breach, but they need more allies to take down the Crystal Ponies who guard it.”

“Coming all the way across the ocean, just to solve our problems?” he asked, studying Mahanon. “Seems too altruistic.”

“The Breach threatens us all,” Cassandra said. “It doesn’t matter where it opens; if it’s open, the entire world is at risk.”

“Give us a chance to prove ourselves to the Rebel cause,” Mahanon pleaded.

“There’s a Katharos camp not far from here,” he said. “Go burn it to the ground. Maybe then we can discuss an alliance.”

“Katharos?” Mahanon asked.

“The establishment,” Twilight spoke up.

“They want to control us like tyrants,” Gruff scoffed. “Tell us how to live our lives, but Griffons should be free!”

“We’ll take out their camp if it proves the Inquisition’s intentions,” Dorian stated.

“I’ll be watching you,” Gruff said, taking a few steps back. “Rebel, take them to Gaston. He knows where it is.”

“Yes sir!” the Griffon barked. When Gruff walked away, the other Griffon turned towards the town. “Follow me,” he ordered.

“How come we aren’t meeting with the Leader?” Cassandra asked.

“Leader Gilda is very busy right now,” he replied, growing increasingly impatient at their questions. “We need to prove your loyalty to us before we are willing to begin talks of an alliance. We can’t risk any Katharos spies infiltrating our ranks.”

“Just run the silly little errand and we’ll get new allies?” Dorian asked. “Easier than some of our previous adventures, I suppose. How hard could it be?”

“Scout Gaston!” the Griffon called out when they reached a small circle of tents around a poorly-crafted wooden table. The Griffon at the table looked up, then took flight and landed right in front of the Inquisition.

“Who are they?” he asked, less angry and suspicious of the Inquisition than the others.

“We’re the Inquisition,” Twilight explained. “And these three came across the ocean to seal the Breach in the sky, and we need allies to help with that.”

“Leader Gruff has tasked them with destroying the Katharos camp outside of Griffonstone,” the Griffon said, glaring at Twilight for interrupting him. “Perhaps you could show them the way so they could prove themselves to us?”

“I shall take it from here then, thank you very much,” he said with a wave of one of his talons. “You may go.”

The other Griffon saluted, then started walking away. “He didn’t give you too much trouble, did he?” Gaston asked.

“Not really,” Mahanon replied. “Why?”

“He can be a bit of a jerk,” he replied with a slightly bitter tone. “We’re fighting to get more involved in the outside world and make ties with everyone else in this world, but I think some of them only like it in theory.” Turning to Twilight, he bowed slightly. “And forgive me, Princess; you may not remember me, but I participated in the Equestria Games. I apologize for not properly introducing myself.”

“It’s fine,” she blushed.

“Come with me,” he ordered, beckoning them in the direction he started walking. “I can’t take you all the way there, but I can show you the start.”

“So what exactly is all this fighting about?” Sera asked.

“The Katharos want Griffons to remain ‘pure’ and remain isolated from the rest of the world,” he said with slight disgust. “The Rebels fight against the idea of Griffon supremacy. We are citizens of this world; we cannot sit around and believe we are the greatest simply of what we look like.”

“Always nice to see those racist asshats take a beating,” Sera said happily.

“Well, you’ll be able to give one soon enough,” he laughed. “By the way, is it true? The stories of the Inquisition?”

“You’ll have to be a little more specific,” Mahanon said.

“They say you can command the skies and even demons themselves,” he said in awe. “They say you not only defeated Queen Chrysalis, but then showed her mercy and forced her to fight for you.”

“That’s a little distorted,” he replied. “I let the Changelings join of their own free will; they wanted to. And I can’t control the skies or demons, just the Rifts. Do you have any of them up here?”

“Not yet,” he said, shaking his head. “But when word of their appearance got out, fighting just got worse. Now we not only have to worry about our war, but what might happen if one of them opens up right in the middle of us.”

“In Thedas, we say ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’,” Dorian added. “Perhaps you’d put aside your little scuffle and both work with us?”

“I don’t see that happening,” he said bluntly. “The war’s been going on for a while, and both sides hate each other a lot. It would take a lot to get both of them to work together.”

“Because the freaking sky ripping open isn’t enough for you?” Sera questioned angrily. “Not important enough to stop stabbing each other for a few minutes?”

“I never said I agreed with it,” Gaston defended. He sighed. “It’s just what the rest of the Griffons are like. Unfortunately, the Katharos wouldn’t side with you if we were as well. And if Princess Twilight is with you, they’d have another reason to.”

“Why me?” Twilight asked, almost offended by his statement.

“They’re fighting to keep Griffons out of the rest of the world. That includes Equestria.”

“They’re so pig-headed they won’t even side with someone because of some magical pony princess they travel with?” Sera asked.

“It’s just a mess,” he groaned. “Even some of the Rebels aren’t totally on board. But if any of us want to guarantee living to see the sunrise, we have to change our ways of thinking.” He looked back to Twilight. “It was your friends coming here that first started this. Gilda started saying we needed to stop being so distrustful and work together. The Katharos are the ones that are fighting against the progress she's advocating for.”

“I started this war?” Twilight asked weakly.

“It had to happen,” he said confidently. “You saw Griffonstone; that’s not even from the war. It looked like that before.”

“If a couple bad guys need to get what’s coming to them, I’ll join in on that,” Sera proclaimed.

“You helped the Griffons change their ways, Princess,” Cassandra comforted.

Twilight emitted a painful sigh. “It’s just hard knowing you can’t save everypony.”

“Don’t beat yourself up, Princess,” Gaston said happily. “You’ll save lots more Griffons by making us change than will be lost to this war.”

When the got to the top of the hill they were climbing, they looked over the vast, empty valley ahead of them, with more hills far in the distance. “It’s just over those hills there,” Gaston said, pointing to the hills ahead of them.

“That’ll take ages!” Sera moaned. “Why can’t we just get back in those chariots and fly over there?”

“They’d see you coming from miles away,” Gaston laughed. “I’ll be waiting back in Griffonstone,” he said as he took flight. “Come find me when it’s done, and I’ll bring you to Gilda.” He flew back towards Griffonstone.

“So…” Dorian said, looking at the valley ahead of them. “Who knows any good games to pass the time?”

When Twilight landed, the rest of the Inqiusition was sitting on the rocky ground in a circle, trying to keep from falling asleep.

“Ugh, tell us something good,” Sera moaned. “I didn’t come here to sit around and not shoot some baddies in the face.”

“I think I saw something over there,” Twilight replied, pointing in a direction over the hill. “It looks empty everywhere else, so I think that’s the Katharos camp.”

“Finally!” Sera exclaimed, shooting up. “Let’s go do something, yeah? Quit sitting around?”

“Just follow me,” Twilight said tiredly, leading them down the hill. “I’ll be glad when we can get back.”

“It’s cold out here,” Dorian grumbled, rubbing his hands together. “Tell me they’ve got fire there.”

“It looks like they put it out for the night.” Twilight shivered. “I’m cold, too.”

“I’ll keep ya warm, Princess,” Sera said suggestively.

“How?” Twilight asked innocently.

Sera laughed. “You’re a riot, Princess!”

“Why?” Twilight asked. “What is it?” She looked up at Mahanon, who was smiling lightly. “What does she mean?”

“I’ll tell you later,” he said, holding back some laughter.

“Anyways...it was near here,” Twilight said to change the conversation. “Maybe we should’ve waited until morning…”

“There’s not enough time,” Cassandra asserted. “And they won’t see us coming this way.”

When they got to a small ridge, they all looked over the edge to see small pile of embers in the center of what looked like a makeshift camp.

“What’s our plan?” Dorian asked.

“You kidding?” Sera asked excitedly. “Burn ‘em in their sleep, of course!”

“Be quiet,” Cassandra hissed. “But yes, that is the best plan of attack.”

“Burn them in their sleep?” Twilight asked, horrified. “That’s awful!”

“That’s war,” Dorian said dismissively.

“We need to light the ones closer to us and run,” Cassandra said, pointing at the tents up against the ridge. “The wind will carry the flames to the others.”

“I don’t like this,” Twilight said uneasily.

“We should plan while we’re up here so we can be silent in the camp,” Mahanon continued, ignoring Twilight’s uncomfortableness.

“I could get the fire started,” Dorian volunteered. “They might notice the light, so we need to be quick.”

“The rest of us could light them on fire,” Mahanon suggested. “They’re bound to have logs lying around for the fire; we’ll find some before you light the fire so we can burn and go.”

“I’ll get that one,” Cassandra said, pointing to the furthest left of the tents. “The rest of you get those three.”

“Me?” Twilight asked, pointing a hoof at herself.

“Someone’s got to,” Dorian said. “Four tents, four of you. And I’ve got to be starting the fire. No time wasted.”

“Okay,” Twilight said shakily. “I think I’m ready.”

“No talking once we get down there, alright?” Mahanon confirmed.

His companions nodded in understanding. Standing up, Cassandra beckoned them towards her as she started walking down a narrow and steep path towards the camp. Twilight flew next to them as they all struggled to keep their balance moving downwards.

“Aw, shite!” Sera cursed as quietly as she could as her footing slipped. “Comin’ in, Tevinter!”

Before he could react, Dorian was knocked down by Sera, and their fall knocked into Mahanon, who continued the chain down to Cassandra.

“Ssh!” Twilight hissed, putting a hoof over her mouth. “Try to...fall quietly, I guess?”

The Inquisition’s members all moaned, quietly getting out of the dogpile they landed in. “Anybody who’s hurt, speak up,” Mahanon whispered. When nobody answered, he gave a quick nod. “Right. Silence starts now.”

Dorian pulled out his staff and used it to hobble over to the fire pit, where he stood and waited for the signal to go. Mahanon pointed to different corners of the camp, signifying where the others should look. They nodded in agreement, then walked away to their designated location.

Going to the one part he hadn’t assigned someone to, Mahanon began looking around the tents for firewood. He moved slowly, with his hands stretched out to avoid running into anything in the darkness. When he felt he sufficiently searched his area, he returned to the firepit, where Twilight was standing with Dorian. When they locked eyes, she shook her head.

After a few moments, Cassandra came out, carrying a few pieces of wood and handed one to Mahanon and Twilight. When Sera came back empty-handed, she handed one to her.

They all looked to Dorian, who took a few steps back and raised his staff. He quickly cast Flashfire on the embers, starting a small fire. He turned, looking around to watch for Griffons while the rest of them tried to get their torches lit.

When all four of them had their logs on fire, they walked to their respective tents and looked to Mahanon for guidance. When he nodded, they all lit the tents on fire, dropped their logs, and ran away.

After they ran for a few minutes, they all turned back and looked at the camp, which now was fully ablaze. “I’d say that works,” Mahanon panted.

“We should go tell the Griffons we burnt the camp,” Cassandra suggested.

“Right, because we didn’t just spend nearly a whole day walking here to burn that camp, and walk probably a whole day back,” Dorian butted in. “I suppose nobody said ending a war would be easy.”

“Ugh,” Sera moaned. “How much longer?”

“I think it’s close,” Twilight panted, using her wings to cool herself off. “Or not. I thought we were close a long time ago.”

“I regret complaining about the cold,” Dorian grumbled. “It’s summer in Qarinus all over again. Only now I can’t snap my fingers and have some serving boy bring me a drink while enjoying the breeze through my hair.”

“We’re almost there,” Cassandra grunted, trying to power through her pain. “The hills are approaching quickly.”

Suddenly, three Griffons in shining, overly-polished armor landed in front of them, chins held up high.

“Who are you?” Mahanon managed to ask through his exhaustion.

“We are the Katharos,” the Griffon in the center proclaimed, putting a talon over his chest proudly. “True leaders of the Griffon Empire. You are the Inquisition, are you not?”

“Yes, we are,” he replied, suspicious of their sudden appearance. “Why?”

“We have a little proposition for you,” the Griffon replied slyly, looking at Twilight. “And we would like to discuss it with you…alone.”

“How come?” he asked as the others discreetly reached for their weapons.

“I promise you will not regret it,” he said with an unconvincing smile.

Looking back at his companions, Mahanon held up a hand, to which they responded by slowly inching their own hands away from their weapons. “Lead on.”

“If you will follow me,” the Griffon said, breaking away from the other two. They walked for a few minutes, then reached a large boulder, which Mahanon sat down on.

“Why do you only want to speak to me?” he asked.

“We’re not entirely trusting of your company,” he replied, looking back at the Inquisition. “Princess Twilight is up to no good; I can tell.”

“She’s proven herself to us before,” he defended.

“Regardless, we have heard of your exploits,” the Griffon said, dismissing the defense of Twilight. “And you have caught the attention of the Katharos. We are willing to ally with you and support you, should you accept us.”

“I take it this alliance isn’t free?”

“Smart,” the Griffon smiled. “As you may know, we are fighting Rebels who wish to undermine the Griffon Empire and plunge us into a state of anarchy. Their leader is nearby, in the town of Griffonstone; we were going to take her out, but those damned Rebels burned our camp last night, ruining any chances we have of destroying them.”

“You don’t say,” Mahanon replied suspiciously.

“We still have a considerable force in the area,” he explained. “Near the back of Griffonstone is an old tunnel that leads to the base of the gorge, but it’s closed off from inside. If you can get there and open it up for us, we will launch a surprise attack on them, stamping them out and killing their leader. The rest of them will lose all hope, and once we wipe them out of the Empire, we will pledge ourselves to the Inquisition.”

“You don’t have a problem with us traveling with Princess Twilight?”

He growled. “There are...sacrifices we must make. But if our two armies allied together, we could do great things, Inquisitor. What do you say?”

Putting his hands together, Mahanon pondered the question in front of him on who to ally with. After a few moments, he looked up at the Griffon. “We’ll open the tunnel for you.”

“An hour after sundown we’ll be there,” the Griffon said. “Meet us there.”

Mahanon got up from his rock and walked back to his companions with the Griffon.

“I thank you for your time, revered Inquisition,” the Griffon said with a bow, then took off with the other two.

“Well?” Twilight asked eagerly. “What did he say?”

“He wants us to let his troops into a secret back tunnel into Griffonstone so they can launch a surprise attack,” he explained.

“And you said no, right?” Twilight asked.

“Hear me out,” he said, putting a hand up. “I said yes, and that’s how we’ll destroy them.”

“I...wait, what?” Twilight asked, initially with rage but then changing to confusion as she processed what he said.

“We’ll tell the Rebels their plan,” he explained. “They don’t think the Rebels will know, so that will be a perfect time to let them launch a counterattack.”

“It’s dirty. I like it,” Dorian proclaimed.

“Me too,” Sera added. “Those guys seem like a buncha pissants, anyways.” She giggled. “Gonna love their faces when we turn coat on them. They’ll be all ‘On no!’ and ‘You traitor!’ and shit, gonna be great!”

“I guess we just need to tell the Rebels the plan,” Cassandra said. “Come on; we’ll need all the time we can get to set up traps, so we can’t lose any more time.”

When the Inquisition made their way back to Griffonstone, the whole town fell into a hushed silence as they walked to where Gaston had been the previous day.

As they got up to the Rebels’ scouting camp, a grizzly-looking Griffon was with Gaston, studying the Inquisition intently while they walked up to them.

“Gaston said his scouts have reported the Katharos camp burned to the ground sometime last night,” she said. She gave them a small smile. “Well done.”

“You must be Leader Gilda, then,” Mahanon assumed.

“Yup.” She looked at Twilight. “Hey, Twilight. Was told you were here, too.”

“Hey Gilda,” Twilight said, seemingly trying to avoid something.

“You two know each other, too?” Mahanon asked.

“I’ll fill you in later,” Gilda said dismissively. “Anyways, now that their camp burned down, they should be all clear from the area. We can start reaching out to the Rebels in other places, and once we stop the Katharos, we’ll send whatever we can your way.”

“Wait,” Mahanon said, trying to get her attention back. “The Katharos found us while we were walking back; they want us to open some secret back tunnel into the gorge. I told them I would, so they think they’re going to have the element of surprise on you. You can strike them as they’re making their way there.”

Gilda rubbed her chin for a few seconds. “Open the tunnel anyways,” she declared.

“What?” Twilight exclaimed. “Didn’t you hear what he said?”

“They’ll be on guard marching to the tunnels,” she explained. “They’ll be in the open, so they’ll be expecting a fight. Once they get in, they’ll think they’re in the clear. That’s when we’ll strike.”

“A smart plan,” Cassandra noted.

“We’ll get our troops in position,” Gilda said confidently. “You just make sure that you open the tunnel when you need to.”

Mahanon looked at the hourglass right beside him; it was almost empty, meaning the time that the Katharos told him was approaching quickly.

He looked once again at the doors in front of him which he was to open; they were massive, made completely of iron. He figured they were incredibly thick, so they could not be forced open. A bar had been slid over them, preventing any entrance from the outside.

When the last few grains dropped to the bottom, he put his torch back in its holder and grabbed the bar. He struggled to move it, and once he did, he grabbed onto one of the handles and pulled with all his might to drag the heavy door across the ground.

Once the door was open, he stepped outside to see a force of Griffons, all in formation, waiting on the other side.

“I am glad to see you,” the head Griffon said, walking up to Mahanon and putting a talon on his shoulder. “What of your companions?”

“They don’t know the plan,” he lied. “They want to side with the Rebels.”

“Typical,” the Griffon spat. “I am glad someone in the Inquisition can see reason. Now, come; we will assault these Rebels together, and remove them from our mighty Empire.”

As Mahanon walked into the tunnel, he looked to a small hole cut into the side of the rock, where Gilda was hiding in the shadows. He gave a small nod, which she returned.

“Hey, featherbrain!” Gilda yelled, emerging from the hole.

“Rebel scum!” the Griffon yelled back. Changing from anger to smugness, he laughed. “I am glad you are here. You will get to see your betrayal in person!”

“Damn!” Gilda laughed. “I was just about to say that to you!”

When she finished her sentence, the sound of sudden explosions came from outside. While the Griffon turned around to see his forces being attacked from above, Mahanon took the opportunity to start running further into the tunnels.

“What?” the Griffon cried. “Kill him! Kill the traitor! Kill them all!”

“Just keep running!” Gilda called down to Mahanon from the air as she flew away. “I’ll meet up with you later! Good luck!”

Coming to a rocky slope, Mahanon scrambled up it as fast as he could. When he looked down, more Griffons began funneling in through the doors. He turned to the wooden structure next to him holding a few large boulders and kicked away the piece of wood keeping them secure, sending them rolling down and straight into the Griffon offensive.

When he saw more soldiers begin funneling in to replace their lost comrades, Mahanon again turned and ran further into the tunnels.

After making his way up another slope and into a large cavern, he looked ahead to the cavern’s exit to see Sera, bow out and ready for attack.

“Go now, Sera!” he called to her as he got close.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I can see the baddies, you know.” She drew her bow and launched an Explosive Shot at one of the stalactites hanging over the cavern, which fell down and crushed some of the Griffons pouring through.

Mahanon and Sera started running once the dust had cleared and they could see more soldiers coming after them. After a few minutes, they came to a downward hill, where they slid down and met Twilight on the bottom.

Once they landed next to her, Twilight cast a spell on the narrow passageway the slope was in while Mahanon and Sera grabbed a fence with spears sticking out from it, designed to impale anyone trying to get through and placed it at the bottom of the slope.

Shortly, a few Griffons flew down the passageway but hit an invisible wall partway down, blocking their progress. More Griffons soon followed, only to meet the same fate and cause a backup on the other end of Twilight’s invisible wall.

“Let’s go!” Mahanon called, and they started running as Twilight removed her spell, sending the pileup of Griffons straight into the spears and impaling many of them.

They soon emerged in a large cavern, where the rest of the Griffons were all waiting for the Katharos to emerge.

“Good work out there,” Gilda said proudly as she walked up to Mahanon.

“Between the ambush outside and all those traps inside, their numbers should be very small,” Mahanon said.

“Just be ready for everything,” she said as she walked away. “Who’s ready to make our own destiny?” she cried to the Griffons gathered there. They all cheered in response.

When the first Griffon made his way through into the cavern, he nearly stopped in his tracks in shock. Dorian launched a Walking Bomb as Mahanon cast Static Cage over him, trapping him in the narrow archway. Within seconds of the combined fire of all the Inquisition and all the Rebels, he died and exploded.

“Rebels, after them!” Gilda rallied, sending the rest of the Griffons back down the tunnels. She walked over to Mahanon, then bowed. “Thank you, Inquisition. We can take it from here.”

“You sure you don’t need any more help?” he asked. “You know we can provide it.”

“You’re right; most of them are probably dead already. And besides, the ones that aren’t dead weren’t expecting to fight here. This is our home, Inquisitor. Nobody can fight better here than we can.”

“I’m just glad we could help.”

Gilda extended a talon, which Mahanon took and shook. “We’ll stand with you, Inquisitor,” she said triumphantly. “Whatever you need, we’ll stand with you.”

Chapter 12: Banners Which Flew Without Wind

Mahanon heard knocking from the door to his cottage, shocking him out of sleep. Sitting up in bed, he rubbed his temple; he had not gotten a good night’s sleep since escaping Canterlot, and the work of an Inquisitor was starting to catch up to him.

Groggily, he slid out of bed and hobbled to the door, where he opened it and found Twilight on the other side. “Good morning!” she beamed a little too excitedly for him.

“Good morning,” he moaned, pushing a few stray hairs out of his eyes. “You’re eager today.”

“No more than normal,” she said, looking up at him worriedly. “Everything okay?”

“Just tired,” he replied, stretching. “What’s on the agenda for today?”

“The Rebels have just started arriving,” she said, turning back to the town. “And now that they’re here, Fancypants said we can start preparing for the Minotaurs.”

“Lead the way, then,” he said, walking out behind her and closing the door. She lead him through Neighven and into the command center, then straight ahead through the main hall into a large room with a large, circular wooden table in the center, with all the Inquisition’s advisors as well as Cadence, Gilda, Bzkdlina, Cassandra and Iron Bull seated at it.

“Good, you’re here,” Fancypants said, looking up from the papers he was reading. “Inquisitor, if you would, please sit between me and Spymaster Lulamoon.”

Following his orders, Mahanon moved to the other side of the table and sat down between them, while Twilight took the only other open seat between Shining Armor and Cadence.

“How come you’re all here?” Mahanon asked, looking at everyone seated. “It’s a bit of a diverse group.”

“We’re all your allies,” Fancypants said proudly. “We’ll all be marching with you into the Minotaur summit, to show the Inquisition’s strength.”

“But why all of you, in particular?”

“Minotaurs value allies,” he explained. “Only Spymaster Lulamoon and I will be with you to represent the Inquisition.”

“I would be going, but I can’t make it that far,” Shining Armor interjected.

“Cassandra, or Divine Victoria, will be representing the Andrastan Chantry, whatever that is,” Fancypants said, moving down the table. “Iron Bull will be representing the…?”

“For the last time, Qunari,” he replied impatiently.

“Iron Bull will be representing the Qunari, Bzkdlina will be representing the Changelings-”

“Are you sure?” she asked meekly, putting a hoof up. “One of the Generals would be better for this than me.”

“The Changelings have decided to let you represent them at the summit,” he said comfortingly. “And then Gilda will be representing the Griffon Rebels, Princess Cadence the Crystal Empire, and Twilight will be there for Equestria.”

“And so they’re all going because it will show the Minotaurs we already have significant political power?” Mahanon asked to confirm his thoughts.

“Indeed,” Fancypants nodded. “You’ll want to appease the Emperor himself; they all have an equal say in the summit, but being the head ruler, he’ll be able to sway his compatriots easier than one of them.”

“How do you propose getting him on our side?”

“I don’t really know that,” he admitted. “He’ll probably want the Inquisition to do something for him in return. Do whatever you think is right, but obviously nothing too bad. You could consult with any one of us if you’re unsure of what to do.”

“Anything else?”

“There is one thing,” he said, becoming more somber. “The politics of the Minotaurs is run by the Paichnidi, but none of them would ever admit it.”

“‘Paichnidi’?” Mahanon echoed.

“Yes, some of your companions say it is similar to the Game of Orlais. The Minotaurs have a deeply-rooted tradition of spying and covert operations against each other, but unlike what your companions described of the Game, it is not public. Being accused of partaking in the Paichnidi is very bad; being found guilty of it is political suicide, if not actual.”

“So I should be on the lookout for aspects of it?”

“You should partake in it,” Fancypants said painfully. “Believe me; nopony would ever suggest taking part of the Paichnidi if there were better options. One wrong move, and the entire court turns against you. That being said, they all are a part of it, but publicly, they deny it and say they’re the only ones that don’t. You will try to be pulled into it, and you should try and use it to your advantage.”

“You played the Game well in Halamshiral,” Cassandra joined in. “Even Josephine praised your performance. I was the one who suggested you play this game with the Minotaurs.”

“Deep down, they’ll like to see an Inquisitor who can fight enemies and work a system to get his way,” Fancypants said. “Even if they won’t admit it to the public.”

“We’ll keep all the Minotaurs busy while you can go off and play politics,” Gilda said.

“Anything else?” Mahanon asked.

“Don’t die?” Iron Bull suggested.

As the Inquisition walked through the streets of the Minotaur capital of Minos, individuals of all species, from ponies to Minotaurs to what looked like sentient dragons, watched on from the outside of the gated area created specifically for dignitaries going to the summit. Some of them were cheering and pointing excitedly, some were glaring, and others seemed to be studying the Inquisition and its allies.

“Certainly a lot more than just Minotaurs here,” Mahanon noted as he walked down to the street and waved back to a cheering pony, who fainted at his acknowledgement of her.

“Minos is home to more than just Minotaurs,” Twilight said. “And a lot of others travel just for these. Especially for a cause as important as this one, ponies and all other creatures from all over travel for the festivities and to hear the news right as it breaks.”

“Plus, some of them are probably spies trying to decide which ones of us to go after,” Trixie said, glaring at everyone they passed.

“They don’t look that tough,” Iron Bull laughed. “Except that one,” he said, pointing to a massive white pegasus with tiny wings and pronounced veins all over his body. “He looks like he’d be fun to fight.”

“Maybe not the best attitude to have at a diplomatic summit,” Cassandra pointed out.

“Come on,” Bull laughed. “When was the last time we went out with the Inquisitor and didn’t have a ton of shit trying to kill us?”

“Doesn’t mean you have to invite it to,” she quipped back.

When they got to the courtyard of the enormous palace towering over the rest of Minos, the party stopped as a Minotaur holding a scroll came over, followed by numerous pairs of Minotaurs, each pair holding a folded banner.

“You’re the Inquisition and all its allies, right?” the Minotaur asked, looking down at his scroll.

“We are,” Mahanon confirmed.

“Alright, uhh…” He looked down at his scroll. “You’re going in this order: Chantry, Qu...Koo...Koo-nary I guess, Griffons, Changelings, Crystal Empire, Equestria, Inquisition.” He looked up at them. “Got all that?”

“Means you first,” Bull said, gesturing for Cassandra to lead them. “And it’s Qunari,” Bull corrected, slightly angry. “Maybe I should just starting a nametag around everything here.”

“Right,” the Minotaur said, equally as bitter. He turned to the pairs holding the banners, then pointed at one of them. “You guys are up first. You ready?” They both nodded, then walked to Cassandra and stood on opposite sides of her.

“Looks like it’s your turn,” he said, looking ahead at the palace entrance. Looking back to his scroll, he cleared his throat. “Tonight, the Inquisition and all her allies will be represented,” he proclaimed loudly.

“Representing the Chantry, Divine Victoria.” When he announced her, the Minotaurs flanking Cassandra raised their banner high, revealing a perfect rendition of the Chantry emblem and started walking forward towards the place with Cassandra.

“Representing the Qunari, Iron Bull.” The Minotaurs that had appeared besides Bull lifted their banner, again with a perfect replica of the Qun’s emblem.

“Representing the Griffons, Rebel Leader Gilda.

“Representing the Changelings, Bzkdlina.

“Representing the Crystal Empire, Princess Cadence.

“Representing Equestria, Princess Twilight Sparkle.

“And representing the Inquisition itself, Inquisitor Lavellan and his advisors, Diplomat Fancypants and Spymaster Lulamoon.”

Cheering erupted as Mahanon walked towards the palace, where the rest of his companions had arrived and were waiting for him.

“Sounds like you’re quite popular,” Bull joked.

“Everyone’s looking up you now,” Twilight said happily, trying to downplay her smile. “You stopped the Breach, cured the Changelings and showed them mercy, and stopped the war between the Griffons, all in a short time; you’re bringing hope to us all.”

“Inquisitor!” they heard a voice from behind them call out. When they turned around, they saw a tall Minotaur, wearing off-white battle robes, walking towards them.

“You must be the Emperor,” Mahanon replied with a bow.

“Indeed I am,” he said, returning the bow. “I am pleased that you have come to our summit; no better to advise us on what to do about the Breach than the one who stopped it.”

“Unfortunately, it is not stopped yet,” he reminded him.

“Alas, we know,” he said with a pained smile. “Otherwise would not be having this meeting.” After looking off to both sides, he looked back to Mahanon. “May I speak with you in private?”

Looking back to his companions for advice, he saw Fancypants gesture his hoof towards the Emperor. “I suppose that will be alright,” he said, looking back to the Emperor.

“Excellent,” the Emperor said happily, stepping to Mahanon’s side and putting an arm around his shoulder.

“Are the other Kings here yet?” Mahanon asked.

“Not yet,” he shook his head. “They arrive last; for now, it is the other parties arriving.”

“I find it odd you involve so many other outside parties in your summits,” Mahanon admitted.

“We are citizens of this world!” he said powerfully, raising a fist. “We cannot sit around and discuss something as momentous as the Breach without making sure every voice is heard.”

“An admirable quality,” he praised.

“We like to think so.” As they got to a large set of wooden doors overlooking the grand foyer, the two Minotaurs guarding them opened them, letting the Emperor and Mahanon walk into a throne room with multiple braziers lit along the carpet leading up to the throne, which had two large bonfires roaring next to it.

When the doors closed, the Emperor looked back down at Mahanon and took his arm off him. “You must forgive the secrecy; many of the visiting parties send spies. You never know who is listening.”

“I was warned about that,” he replied. “Don’t worry; our homeland is much like that, and I know a thing or two about navigating my way through such a game.”

“That is good,” he said somberly. “You may need to. I will be blunt with you; I have a few spies running around, making sure everything is running smoothly. I do not have as many as the other Kings and do not use them maliciously, but I must stoop to their level if I am to keep them in check.” Mahanon nodded, skeptical to how truthful the Emperor’s claims were.

“I take it your spies have uncovered something?” he asked.

“Indeed,” he replied hauntingly. “One of the Kings is not who he appears to be; he is a servant of the Breach.”

“Do you know which one?”

“I do not,” he admitted. “My spies report that one of them has started worshipping the Breach and intends to sabotage this summit tonight. I do not know which one, when they will strike, or even what they plan to do, but be wary of them.”

“I will try to keep my eyes open.”

The Emperor bowed. “Thank you, Inquisitor. I alerted my guards beforehand about this, and have told them to give you access to the Royal Wing of my palace. I believe there is something there that will give you an idea of what to do. The Kings stay in that Wing during these summits, so look diligently; one of their own spies has likely placed something at a dead drop there.”

“Thank you for this information, Emperor,” Mahanon said with a bow.

“Go forth with vigilance,” he said, holding his hand up.

Mahanon turned back around to the doors, and when he opened them to the grand foyer, he saw that everyone he came with had split up, each of them in their own small groups.

Seeing that Iron Bull and Cassandra were talking to the same mare, he walked up to them.

“Mon dieu!” the mare cried out when she saw Mahanon approach. “You are the Inquisitor, no?” she asked, with an accent that reminded him of the Orlesian accent.

“Indeed I am,” he confirmed. “And where are you from?”

“We are from the Regal city of Mareis,” she said with her head up high. “We have long allied ourselves with the Emperor; we strongly suggest you do the same tonight and for the future.”

“Perhaps we can discuss that later,” he said, pointing to Bull and Cassandra. “I need my companions for a little while.”

“Au revoir, Inquisitor,” she said with a curtsey. As she walked away, Bull and Cassandra turned to him.

“What did the Emperor say?” Iron Bull asked.

“He said nothing important,” he said, avoiding the issue in public. “We need to go to the Royal Wing, however.”

“You’re the boss,” he shrugged in response.

“I’ll meet you there,” he said as he saw Bzkdlina standing next to Cadence and talking to a dragon.

When he walked up to them, the dragon beat his chest with his claw. “So you are the Inquisitor, then?” he asked.

“Indeed,” he replied. “I wish I could stay and talk, but I need Bzkdlina for the time being.”

“You will have to come back and tell me of the dragons in your homeland,” he said with some curiosity. “These two here were telling me you mentioned you were a dragonslayer; I should hope defeating a dragon in combat is as much an accomplishment there as it is here.”

“I’ll tell you all about them later, I promise,” he said, trying to break away from the conversation.

“What is it?” Bzkdlina asked worriedly, looking up at him.

“I’ll explain later,” he dismissed again.

When he walked up to the entrance to the Royal Wing, he found Iron Bull and Cassandra waiting there for him. Without a word, the guard opened up the door he was guarding, then stepped aside to let the party through.

Once they walked through the doorway, they found themselves in a large hallway, seemingly going forever in both directions and with nearly hundreds of individual doors along both sides of the hallway.

“So why are we here?” Bull asked, looking down one direction.

“The Emperor says that one of the other Kings has started worshipping the Breach and plans to sabotage this summit,” he informed them. “I’m afraid that’s all he knows.”

“Or all he told you,” Bzkdlina suggested.

“So we’re suppose to search everywhere?” Cassandra asked, looking at the hallway they were in. “That would take hours, if not days!”

While the others debated the best place to start, Iron Bull walked up to the statue in front of them, depicting a Minotaur with one hoof on a rock, and a sword in one hand with a scroll in the other, both triumphantly raised. Reaching inside the statue’s scroll, he pulled out a real scroll. “Guess this is as good a place to start as any,” he said, tossing the scroll to Mahanon.

As he broke the stampless seal and unrolled the scroll, the rest of his companions gathered around him as he read the note aloud to them.

”To the one who wears Vallaslin,”

“‘Vallaslin’?” Bzkdlina repeated.

“The name for my tattoos,” Mahanon said in shock, running a finger slowly across one of the tattoos on his face. “It’s odd he would know that. I don’t think I’ve ever discussed them with anyone since getting here.”

“Keep reading,” Bull said impatiently.

”I am sorry for the secrecy, but as I have probably informed you, we can never be sure of who is watching, reading, or listening. You are here, and I hope it is you who is reading this. If so, make your way to the thirteenth door on the left, down to your right as you face the statue you found this in. This is a common dead drop for one of the Kings, and I would be shocked if he did not have something there tonight.”

Sincerely,

Who am I kidding? You know who I am.

“Why couldn’t he have just told you that when he met with you?” Bull asked. “Guy seems to going through a lot of hoops.”

“It’s understandable,” Cassandra said. “Never tell someone everything in one place if you are not sure of its security.”

“Why didn’t he just address you by name?” Bzkdlina asked, still wondering about the opening of the letter.

“So nobody knows it’s me if it got intercepted,” Mahanon replied, putting the letter in his jacket. “I’m surprised even he knew what Vallaslin was. It’s unlikely that any normal spy would know of it, so they wouldn’t know it was incriminating against me.”

“I guess,” she said, starting to walk down the hallway. “Well, what are we waiting for?”

The rest of the Inquisition followed her down the hallway until they got to the mentioned door. When the door would not open, Mahanon looked at Iron Bull, who took the hint as he walked up and kicked it in.

“We’ve really got to stop using kicking doors down as our first plan,” Cassandra noted as she walked into the room.

“But where’s the fun in that?” Mahanon joked as he followed her into the room, which had many crates stacked up high, as well as many shattered and splintered across the floor.

“Could be in any of these,” Bzkdlina noted as she looked at some of the stacks.

Looking at the wall, Mahanon walked over to a loose brick and removed it, revealing a small bottle in an expertly-chiseled alcove behind it. “Not that hard,” he noted as he opened the bottle and took out the letter inside.

“What’s this one say?” Cassandra asked intently.

”Dear-” He stopped reading and made a confused face at the letter. ”Dear Cutebutt…”

Iron Bull laughed, Cassandra groaned, and Bzkdlina simply blushed. “What are you waiting for?” Bull asked, laughing. “See if it gets good!”

”Dear Cutebutt,

“Card Sharp here. So in case you weren’t briefed, watch out for that Inquisitor; we have no idea what he could do. He probably doesn’t even know about Minos politics, so he’ll mess everything up we know about the other Kings if he sides with them since we don’t know how he works.

“Anyways, look for a way into the Emperor’s study. Rumor has it he’s got a key stashed away in his meditation garden somewhere. It’s under something that never moves at all and has a mighty roaring call, but no lungs or throat. You’re smart; you can figure that one out.

“After that, meet me in the East Reading Room when the clock strikes eleven. You know the one; you get there through the tunnels, where we-”

Mahanon cut himself off and grimaced at the rest of the letter. “I’m...not finishing that,” he said with a twinge of disgust.

“And I will be trying a few of those out as soon as I find someone adventurous enough,” Iron Bull said, taking the letter and putting it in his pocket.

“We have no time to waste,” Cassandra said urgently. “We must first find the garden, then figure out what that’s supposed to mean.”

“It’s under a waterfall,” Bzkdlina proclaimed. When they looked at her, she smiled meekly and blushed slightly. “I...always liked riddles.”

“Good enough,” Bull shrugged.

As they exited the storage room, they all looked down both ends of the hallway to try and figure out where they were supposed to head. “Any ideas?” Mahanon asked.

“Besides splitting up and searching them all individually?” Iron Bull asked.

“This one says ‘Storage Room’,” Cassandra noted, pointing to a plaque by the room they just exited. “Hopefully, we can jut read those and not have to actually search every room.”

“I guess that’s our best option,” Mahanon said. “I’ll take this side of the hallway, from the statue down. The rest of you can divide the other quarters up however you want.”

When they agreed on a search pattern, they all split up and began making their way down the hallway, reading each plaque as they went by. Mahanon passed many different rooms: numerous storage rooms, a bathing room, an armory or two, but none that lead to a garden. When he got to the end, he saw a large set of doors with the sign ‘Garden’ hanging above them.

When he opened the doors, he walked into a room as dark as the outside, but he could make out the shapes of many trees and stones, as well as see the night sky through the numerous windows that created the ceiling of the garden.

“Fascinating,” he whispered to himself. When he noticed the waterfall, he began walking towards it, taking in the smells as he did; it smelled exactly like the wild outdoors, right down to every perfect detail.

As he got up to the waterfall and put his boots in, he took his staff off and looked at the bottom of the small pool, but could not see anything due to the darkness and the rush of water churning everything. Taking a deep breath, he stuck his head underwater, looking at and feeling everything he could, but not finding anything resembling a key. After a few more tries, he gave up, pulling his sopping head out of the water and trying to squeeze some water out of it.

“You look ridiculous,” he heard Iron Bull laugh.

“I can’t find any key down there,” he panted, exhausted from being battered by the waterfall.

“Could be the wrong one,” Bull suggested. “Or maybe we’re looking in the wrong place. They’re spies; they probably have some secret meaning to everything in that letter.”

“What do you suggest, then?”

“I say we stake out the entrance to that Reading Room. Whoever got that letter has to go there eventually, and it’s not eleven yet; we can try and run around and catch up to this spy, or we can jump in front of them.”

“I guess it’s as good an idea as any,” he said, squeezing some water out of his coat. “Come on, we should go get the others.”

“How do you think one of the Kings is even going to sabotage the summit?” Bull wondered. “Not like he can just take the others out, people would get suspicious. Maybe he plans to get the others possessed? But still, you’d think someone would notice.”

“That’s what we said about the Lord Seeker, remember?” Mahanon reminded him. “Servants of the Breach can be pretty good at hiding themselves when they need to.”

“I suppose,” he agreed, opening the door for Mahanon. When they exited into the hallway, they walked down the long stretch of doors to the statue, then continued walking again for a few minutes before coming across Cassandra, who was reading a plaque intently.

“We’re skipping the searching,” Bull announced to her.

“What do you mean?” she asked, confused.

“We’re going to try and intercept this spy,” Mahanon explained. “They’re probably ahead of us already; if we try and follow them, they’ll just get further and further ahead.”

“We need to find the tunnels then, don’t we?” she asked, trying to recall the letter from before.

“Probably somewhere near here,” he said, looking at some of the plaques. Finding one that said Dungeon Access nearby, he shrugged. “Convenient.”

“I’ll go find Bzkdlina,” Cassandra said as she walked away from them. Mahanon tried the door, and unlike the previous one, it was unlocked. They waited at the top, and when Cassandra returned with Bzkdlina, the four all walked down into the dungeon.

When they stepped down into the sewer-like tunnel, Mahanon grabbed a torch and looked around. “Anybody see anything about where we’d need to go?”

“Over here,” Cassandra said, calling him over. “Looks like a maintenance map.”

When he walked over, Mahanon shone the torch on the plaque on the wall, which had the entire tunnel map etched into the metal. “Looks like we just have to take this main one,” he said, putting his finger on the map and tracing a route across the map.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Iron Bull asked eagerly.

Putting the torch back, Mahanon took point in front of them. “It didn’t look like it was very far from here.”

“Do you think we’ll be able to close the Breach soon?” Bzkdlina asked optimistically as they made their way through the tunnels.

“I should hope so,” Mahanon responded. “With the Griffons and hopefully the Minotaurs, we should be able to push through the Crystal Ponies and get back up to the Breach.”

“Which King do you suspect is behind this?” Bull asked.

“I don’t know any of them,” Mahanon replied. “I don’t really know what they stand for or believe in, and since I’ve never met any of them, I wouldn’t be able to tell you if they were acting oddly.”

“Didn’t know if the Emperor told you if he had a hunch or anything, that’s all.”

They walked a few more minutes in silence until they got to a dead end with a ladder at the end, with Grand Library written in a small plaque near it.

“So...what now?” Bull asked, looking around.

“We wait,” Cassandra said. Turning to the tunnel they just came from, she turned her head to position her ears to better hear the faint sound coming from far down the tunnel. “Everybody hide,” she whispered, disappearing into an alcove in the wall.

The rest of the Inquisition did the same, and when the clopping of hooves got louder, Mahanon exited his alcove and came face-to-face with an earth pony wearing a cloak and a hood pulled over her forehead so her eyes were barely visible.

“Oh, ponyfeathers!” she cursed under her breath, immediately turning around and trying to run but instead seeing Cassandra and Iron Bull waiting for her. She turned back around to Mahanon, but he had crossed his arms and Bzkdlina had moved next to him.

Clearly nervous, the pony turned again and ran, only to be grabbed by Iron Bull as she tried to run by him. He moved a hand to her neck, then held her up off the ground.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

“You should probably be telling us that,” Bull pointed out. “We’re not the ones who just got caught.”

She struggled to move his hand from her throat, but was unsuccessful. “I’m not telling you anything!”

“The note in the storage room was meant for you, wasn’t it?” Mahanon questioned her.

“No!” she quickly snapped, quickly turning a deep crimson. “...Why? Did you read it?”

“Only the first part. The last part got a little too…”

“Erotic?” Bull suggested.

“I guess that’s a good way of describing it.”

“Well, I’m not telling you anything!” she said sternly.

Noticing something, Bull started rooting around in her bushy tail. “Not even what you hope to uncover?” Mahanon asked.

“Nothing!” She stayed silent for a few moments before yelping and clenching her back legs up into her chest. “H-hey, watch where you’re rooting around back there!”

“We don’t work for anyone,” Mahanon lied. “We’re not here to incriminate anybody; we’re just here to make sure none of the Kings are trying to sabotage this summit for the benefit of the Breach.”

“That’s ridiculous!” she scoffed. “My King certainly doesn’t want that.”

“Who is your King, anyways?”

“Like I’ll tell.”

“Do we really need to know?” Bzkdlina asked.

“Ow!” she screamed as Iron Bull pulled a key out of her tail, taking a few hairs with it.

“Found what we’re looking for,” he said happily.

“You could’ve been gentle!” she yelled down to him.

“Please,” he laughed. “If I wanted this to hurt, you’d be hurting a lot worse right now.”

“Speaking of such, what should we do with her?” Cassandra asked. “We can’t let her run around and let her know what we’re up to.”

“They’ll have you kicked out of Minos in a heartbeat!” she laughed.

“Keep talking and you won’t have a heartbeat to measure that with,” Bull scolded.

“Would you consider joining the Inquisition?” Mahanon asked.

She laughed again. “What, and play errand filly for your Spymaster, an egotistical traveling magician past her prime? I’d rather die.”

“That can be arranged,” Cassandra said coldly.

“Do it, then!” she dared. “Bet you’re too weak to.”

“Put her down,” Cassandra said emotionlessly, pulling out her sword. Bull shrugged, then placed her on the ground and used a hand to expose her neck.

“Wait, what?” she asked as Cassandra placed the tip of her sword on her neck. “Fine, you’ve proven yourselves, now let me go! That’s what you do, right? You spared the Changelings, now spare me!”

Cassandra looked to Mahanon for guidance. He thought the situation before him over.

“The Changelings wanted to change,” he said calmly. “This is not the same situation.” He looked at Cassandra, who took the hint and plunged her sword into the mare’s throat.

“Guess we really are into cutthroat politics,” Bull smirked.

“How long have you been waiting to say that?” Cassandra asked.

He laughed. “Bit longer than I’d like to admit.”

“We should search her for anything important,” Mahanon said, walking over to the corpse.

“There’s still that other spy in the Reading Room,” Bull pointed out. “We’ll have to see what he knows.”

Without saying a word, the rest of them all looked to Bzkdlina, who flinched and pointed at herself. “Me?” she asked.

“Clearly, not just Minotaurs are spies,” Cassandra said, gesturing the the pony corpse in front of them. “You could act as one and see what the spy up there knows.”

“I guess,” she said uneasily. “What would I do?”

“Just see if he knows anything about who’s planning on sabotaging the summit.”

Taking a deep breath of confidence, she stood tall. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“I’ll listen in to the conversation and jump in should anything go wrong,” Mahanon said as he stood up. “Cassandra, Bull, you two can search her for anything that may be of use.”

“Let’s do this, then,” Bzkdlina said confidently. She flew up next to the ladder to the trapdoor and waited at the top for Mahanon to climb up. When he did, she opened the door and walked into the room above them while Mahanon pressed his ear against the door.

He heard nothing but Bzkdlina nervously pacing for a few minutes until he heard a door open in the distance and Bzkdlina stop seemingly mid-step.

“Cutebutt?” a male voice called into the Reading Room.

“Just me,” Bzkdlina said, clearly trying to remain strong.

“What?” the other voice yelled. “What did you do to her?”

“I didn’t do anything to anypony!” she defended. “Was she an earth pony, bright red coat and white mane?”

“So you do know her!”

“No!” she said, seemingly taking a few steps back. “I saw her dead as I came here. Someone cut her throat.”

“What?” the other voice asked, quivering from sadness. “...No, it can’t be.”

“I’m sorry,” she said sympathetically.

“Why did you kill her?” he yelled, suddenly turning back to anger.

“I didn’t do it, I swear! I think she was hunted down!”

“Well, of course she was, then slaughtered!”

“No! I think one of the Kings is here to sabotage the summit, and I think he sent someone to hunt her down!”

There was silence. “...Go on,” the other voice said after a brief pause.

“One of the Kings is trying to sabotage the summit,” she pleaded. “I think he’s taking all the other spies out one by one so we can’t undermine him.”

“I see,” the voice said softly. “Did you happen to see a key on her, by any chance?”

“No,” she lied as convincingly as she could.

“He must’ve intercepted our message,” he mused.

“Well...I did, too. You didn’t hide it very well. That’s how I knew to meet you here.”

“Oh.” There was a pause. “I don’t suppose you’d be up for-”

“I’m seeing somepony,” she quickly cut him off.

“Well, I don’t think he’s seeing you right now, so who would know?” There was another pause. “Fine. Offer’s still open, though.”

“Do you have any information you could share?” she asked.

There was another break in the conversation. “I have to admit, I’m a little skeptical of all of this.”

“I don’t serve any of the Kings,” she said. “I just want to make sure none of them try and take over this summit. You don’t have to disclose anything incriminating about your King, and you don’t have to share anything about other Kings that you think your King should know but nobody else should.”

“I sense sincerity in you,” he said. “Fine. My...friend, she was supposed to get a key and give it to me, then we’d spy on the Emperor. He’s apparently meeting someone before the summit, but that’s all I know. We didn’t get assigned to many high-profile tasks, just ones like this to gather information and relay it to our King so he could use it as leverage.”

“That all?” she asked.

“That you’re getting from me.”

“So you know nothing about the Breach?”

“This is the first I’m hearing of it. And believe me, I’d tell you if I knew one of them was working for it; I’ve still got family in Canterlot. I’d serve no King that supported their captors.”

“Thank you,” she said warmly, backing up over the trapdoor and hitting it loudly with her hoof a few times. “Yup, I should be going,” she said loudly, obviously trying to make Mahanon move from right below the door.

He took the hints and climbed down a few rungs, and the door soon opened as she flew down next to him.

“You heard all that, right?” she asked.

“I did,” he said, sliding down the ladder onto the ground. “Cassandra, Bull, find anything?”

“Nothing,” Iron Bull responded. “Looks like this key was the only thing on her.”

“It’s as good a lead as anything,” Mahanon said, walking up and grabbing it.

“You’re telling us to spy on the Emperor?” Cassandra asked in shock. “He is the one who is telling us to go spy on the others!”

“If the other Kings think it’s important, it might be important enough for us to listen in on,” Bzkdlina said. “And there might be other spies there with the same idea, we could see what they know.”

“It’s the best idea we have,” Bull agreed.

“Do you know how to get to his chambers?” Cassandra asked.

“The dragon I was talking to was bragging about his fire making all the glass in his chamber’s skylights,” Bzkdlina spoke up. “That probably means we can get onto the roof and listen from there.”

“I think there were stairs at the end of the hallway we were in before the tunnels,” Cassandra said, trying to recall. “Yes, there were. We could see how far up we can go with those.”

“Let’s go, then,” Mahanon said, walking back the way they came, stepping over the dead mare in the process.

When they got to the stairs, they went up into the long hallway, then turned left and went up the second set of stairs. The hallway they entered was much shorter, with a pair of Minotaur guards stationed at a ladder on the opposite end of the hallway from them.

“Hello there,” Mahanon said, trying to pass them and go the ladder, but the Minotaurs crossed their spears in front of him as he attempted to pass.

“You do not have permission to go up there,” one of them said.

“The Emperor let me into the Royal Wing,” Mahanon said.

“Well, this ladder is not part of the Royal Wing,” the other Minotaur said curtly.

Scowling at them, Mahanon quickly grabbed his staff and slammed it into the ground, casting Horror on them and causing them to flee.

Cassandra and Iron Bull pulled out their weapons, as Bzkdlina jumped on one of the guards and began biting into his neck. Mahanon saw Bull run with Charging Bull towards the guard that Cassandra was slashing with Lunge and Slash, so he turned to the guard Bzkdlina was biting and cast Winter’s Grasp on him, freezing him solid.

When his mana regenerated, he cast Spirit Mark on the guard, who soon thawed out. He reached back to try and grab Bzkdlina, but she exploded in a burst of green magic which knocked him on the ground, then reappeared next to him and sunk her fangs into the arm he was holding his spear in.

After launching a few regular spells from his staff, the guard turned into a blue spirit and stood up. Seeing that the other guard was dead, Mahanon dismissed the spirit, then turned back towards the ladder and started climbing up it.

When he got to the top of the ladder, he opened the hatch above him and walked out onto the roof of the palace, where he could see the whole city of Minos, brightly illuminated for the festivities of the night.

“Crouch down!” Cassandra whispered as she neared the top of the ladder. “Someone might see you!”

Following her orders, Mahanon crouched down and waited for the rest of his companions to join him on the roof. When they all had, they slowly and quietly made their way across the roof to the other end of the palace, where the could see a roof made of windows.

“Be very careful,” Cassandra warned as they reached the skylights over the grand foyer. Mahanon crouched even further down, trying to stay out of sight of anyone peeking up from below. He caught a glimpse of the foyer, where all the ponies and other assorted creatures seemed to be laughing and enjoying the party.

When they reached the other side, Mahanon put a finger over his lips as he pointed to the pony lying next to an open window over the Emperor’s private chambers. Tiptoeing, Mahanon snuck up behind the pony and sat on top of her, pushing her into the ground.

“Celestia!” the mare cried out. “Who are you?” She struggled to turn her head, but she could not get a good glimpse of Mahanon.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“What’s it look like?” she rudely replied.

As the door to the Emperor’s private chambers opened, Mahanon instinctively put a hand over her mouth to silence her.

“Just stay quiet,” he whispered to her. “And stop licking my hand!”

The mare rolled her eyes, then they both looked down into the Emperor’s chambers.

“Dihiryn?” the Emperor called to the empty room.

“Dihiryn?” Mahanon whispered to himself. “Where have I heard that before?”

“Yessss…” a voice hissed from inside the room. Out of the shadows in one of the room’s dark corners, a Crystal Pony stepped out, which Mahanon instantly recognized as the one who attacked them on the summit when they were attempting to close the Breach.

“I have dispatched the Inquisitor,” the Emperor said proudly. “He should be wreaking havoc amongst the other Kings’ spies; they will not be able to uncover our plan.”

“Eeeeexcellent,” Dihiryn hissed with a malicious smile.

“He’ll find me enough secrets to blackmail them into siding against the Inquisition,” he chuckled. “The Inquisition will be its own downfall.”

“Peeeerfect,” he replied.

“I must go greet the other Kings now,” he said. “Do not worry; these summits may take all night, but the reward will be worth it.”

The two laughed, then the Emperor walked away as Dihiryn retreated to the shadows again. Shocked, Mahanon let his hand fall off the mare’s mouth.

“You talk a lot for someone who tries to shut others up,” she chided.

“I apologize,” he said, getting off her. “Which King do you work for?”

“None,” she said, turning over. When she saw Mahanon, her eyes opened wide as her jaw dropped. “You’re the Inquisitor!” she said in shock.

“And don’t tell anyone I was here,” he threatened.

“No, I’m on your side!” she said. “Special Agent Sweetie Drops, Equestrian Special Tasks. I used to be on the Anti-Monster division, but when the Breach opened, I got reassigned as an Equestrian spy here.”

“How come I was never informed of your presence?” he asked suspiciously.

“Hey, don’t blame me,” she said defensively. “I just do what Princess Celestia tells me to. She probably didn’t tell Princess Twilight, that’s why you don’t know.”

“From the Lands to the East, the East-King!” Mahanon heard the Minotaur in the courtyard announce powerfully, which was soon followed by an enormous round of cheering.

“The Kings are arriving,” Mahanon noted. Suddenly, he turned back towards the ladder they used to get on the roof. “We need to go warn them before the Emperor can do anything!” he said before sprinting away from them.

Not even bothering to sneak past the windows overlooking the grand foyer, Mahanon ran to the ladder and quickly slid down it, then continued running down the stairs and through the Royal Wing of the palace.

When he got to the statue that had contained the scroll, he quickly opened the door and burst through to see the East-King walk up to the Emperor, who was surrounded by three more Minotaurs who looked equally as important as the Emperor.

“I would like to thank each and every one of you to coming to our summit tonight,” the Emperor proclaimed with a big smile. “This will truly be a turning point in the fight for the safety of our world, and I am confident that by morning, we will have soldiers in Canterlot,” he said, gesturing towards Twilight, who smiled and waved.

Panting, Mahanon walked up towards them, and when he was closer to the Kings than any of the other visitors, the Emperor looked over to him. “Is something the matter, Inquisitor?” he asked.

“I found the King responsible for the sabotage of the summit tonight,” he announced.

“Perhaps this is not the best place to discuss rumors,” he replied, seemingly ignorant of Mahanon’s knowledge.

“They’re rumors no longer,” he said, pointing a finger at the Emperor. “I overheard the conversation you had with Dihiryn; you’re planning to blackmail the other Kings into doing nothing about the Breach.”

“Preposterous!” he yelled as a wave of whispers rolled through all the visitors.

“Is it?” one of the Kings asked, turning and looking at him.

“You are honestly suggesting I would sabotage a summit that I called for?” he yelled back, stepping up and staring the other King down.

“These are serious accusations nonetheless,” one of the other Kings announced. “You are accused of sabotage, blackmailing, and bringing that abomination Dihiryn into our city; that is nothing short of treason.”

“Why would I alert you of a traitor if I myself was one?” the Emperor asked, turning back to Mahanon.

“You were in on this?” one of the Kings asked angrily.

Remembering what he had been taught about the Game in Orlais, Mahanon tried to hide a smile. “It seems foolish, yes,” he said, putting his hands behind his back and taking slow steps up to the Emperor. “Which is the perfect disguise; I’ll admit, I never suspected you since you were the one to alert me to the plot. You decided to hide in plain sight by telling me your plans, assuming that I would think that you were on my side.” He broke out into a devious smile. “Have you ever heard what we say in Thedas as to why you should never assume?” He turned to the King who accused him, who seemed now to be deciding whether to be angry or confused. “And yes, I was a part of it. Because I want the Breach to close, and anyone who stands in the way of that must be exposed.”

“The city of Mareis officially denounces the Emperor of Minos!” the Maresian mare called out from the crowd.

“The Dragon Confederacy does, as well!”

One by one, all the visitors at the summit began yelling out their denouncements, until the interior of the palace became a gentle roar.

Mahanon smiled. “It was a good plan, if that’s any consolation.”

Two guards came up and grabbed the Emperor and dragged him away, but before he could celebrate, two guards came and grabbed Mahanon, forcing him onto the ground. “Why me?” he cried out.

“I’m sorry,” the King he recognized as the East-King said with legitimate sorrow. “But we have to confirm these accusations before we can officially do anything.” He gave him a comforting smile. “But I believe you; I never liked the Emperor, anyways. Like a snake in the grass, he was.” The East-King gestured away, and the guards started dragging him across the floor. They brought him to a door that lead down into another part of the dungeons he had not visited, then walked to a jail cell, walked him in, then walked out and locked the door.

Still excited, Mahanon sat down on the rickety stool that was provided for him and smiled. Within a few minutes, Twilight came to his cell and ran up to the bars, looking worried.

“Are you okay?” she exclaimed.

“They’re just confirming what I told them,” he smiled back at her.

“Is it true?” she asked worriedly.

“Every word of it.”

She sighed and shook her head before putting a hoof on her forehead. “Why is nothing ever easy?”

“This is just the start,” Mahanon laughed.

After a few minutes, the East-King came back down and looked in the cell.

“Well?” Mahanon asked.

The East-King smiled. “Let him go; everything he said is true.”

“Really?” Twilight beamed as one of the guards began unlocking the cage.

“We found a few plans of his, and they may potentially still be battle plans the Crystal Ponies are using, as well as some of that ‘red lyrium’ stuff,” he confirmed. “Unfortunately, no signs of Dihiryn; he probably fled knowing that his cover was blown.”

“We’ll be visiting him soon enough,” Mahanon said triumphantly.

“I imagine we will,” the East-King laughed. “Now, there is still a party to be had, Inquisitor, and you’ve worked hard tonight. I advise you to enjoy yourself while I and the other Kings confer with each other on what to do.”

Mahanon smiled as he watched the sun rise over the tall buildings of Minos. He hadn’t realized it in the darkness of the night, but everything in Minos was dull gray, from the roads to the buildings to even the plants somehow. Even the tree he had his back up against was a dull, stony gray.

“So this is where you’ve been,” Twilight smiled as she walked up to him.

“Just needed some fresh air,” he smiled back. “Not that the party wasn’t enjoyable.”

“I don’t know if you heard, but pretty much everyone in there has agreed to support you,” she said, pointing back towards the palace. “They’re all really scared of the Breach, and they want to get behind something that can stop it.”

“I just hope we can succeed,” he sighed. “Last time we thought we had won, the Crystal Ponies showed up.”

“Pretty much every nation we know of is accounted for,” she said optimistically.

“Inquisitor!” a voice called from the entrance to the palace. When they looked over, they could see all four Kings walking towards them, each with a smile of varying intensity on their face.

“Have you decided on something?” he asked hopefully.

“We have,” the East-King confirmed. “All of us have decided unanimously to pledge whatever it is you need to the Inquisition.”

“I’m glad you made the right choice,” he said, relieved. “Welcome to the Inquisition.”

“There’s more,” he said, putting a hand up. “Our Emperor was found guilty of treason; needless to say, we will be needing a new one. We spent a lot of time, and we all agree we would like that Emperor to be you.”

“Me?” he asked in shock, making sure he heard correctly. “I’m not even a Minotaur.”

“As you can see, races other than Minotaurs have a place in our politics.” He raised an eyebrow at him. “Well?”

After thinking for a few moments, Mahanon shook his head. “No, I’m sorry. I cannot accept this position.”

“But you could help lead the Minotaurs in a good direction!” he protested.

“The Inquisition needs me more,” he replied firmly.

“I see,” the King replied. “Even if I do not like your answer, I respect it; you know who your people are, and you’ll stand by them until you die.” He extended a hand. “I’m glad you came, Inquisitor.”

Mahanon walked up and shook his hand. “And I’m glad that we’ll be fighting alongside you.”

Chapter 13: Towers Forever Stain'd

Author's Note

I worked hard to ensure I could get this out a day early, and I did! Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans, don't forget to set your scale back 10 pounds! :raritywink:

Chapter 13: Towers Forever Stain'd

Mahanon’s eyes shot open to see a bright blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds instead of the usual dark ceiling of his cottage. Looking around, he saw grass growing all around him, with a few small trees in the distance.

Confused, he stood up and looked around him again. He did not remember falling asleep in a field, let alone going to one. He did not even remember falling asleep.

“Don’t suppose you’d know anything about this?” he heard a voice ask from his left side. When he turned around, he saw Dorian walking up towards him.

“You don’t remember coming here either?” Mahanon asked skeptically.

“Not at all,” he shook his head.

“Certainly a strange circumstance,” he heard Vivienne coming from his other.

“Both of you?” Mahanon asked. They both nodded.

“I remember being at home, and then I was here,” Dorian said, to which the others nodded.

“This feels like a dream,” Mahanon said, looking around. “Solas brought me to a shared dream once. Perhaps we’re in one together?”

“Solas was a hedge mage,” Vivienne pointed out. “I doubt any of us possess the abilites to do what he did.”

“Perhaps it’s elven,” Dorian suggested.

“If it’s me, I’m not trying to do it,” Mahanon defended.

“Well, you’re wearing a shirt,” Dorian pointed out. “So it certainly can’t be my dream.”

“And the Dalish camp in the distance probably means it’s yours, Inquisitor,” Vivnenne said as she pointed behind them.

Turning around, Mahanon saw the distinct triangular sails of a Dalish camp in the distance, as well as a few elves and Halla.

“Clan Lavellan, I presume?” Dorian asked as he crossed his arms.

“I do recognize some of the aravels,” he said in mild shock.

“So we’re going to a family reunion, then?” Vivienne asked. “Do you really miss home so much you pulled us in with you?”

“Perhaps I did miss it more than I realized,” he admitted.

“Well, if this is anything like those trite holiday tales, you need to learn a lesson or face your fears to escape a dream,” Dorian said. “Well? What are we waiting for?”

“I suppose it’s better than doing nothing,” he shrugged as they walked towards the Dalish camp. When they got closer, they saw a few elves going about their duties; some were picking herbs, some were carrying boxes, and others were hammering away on aravels to fix them.

“Recognize anybody?” Dorian asked. “Any family members you may need to have a teary reconciliation with?”

“No family, but…” he looked at one of the elves picking herbs for a few minutes.

Vivienne and Dorian looked at each other, then back to Mahanon. “Is something the matter, dear?” she asked.

“She’s been picking herbs for a few minutes now,” he noted. “Yet not a single herb has been removed from the ground.”

They looked at the elf he was watching, and as he had said, the elf was going through the motions of picking herbs, though nothing was being done.

“She’s probably not important enough for your mind to actually have her interact with the environment,” Vivienne scoffed.

“You’re probably right,” Mahanon said, trying to shake an uneasy feeling off him.

“Go find someone important and see if the tears start flowing,” Dorian said.

Looking into the center of the camp, Mahanon walked up an older woman, who was facing away from them and had her face in a book.

“Keeper Istimaethoriel?” he asked, tapping her shoulder. When she did not respond, he walked around to her front, where she was reading intently. “Keeper, is everything alright?”

When she looked up at him, she immediately dropped the book and grabbed his neck, forcing him to his knees.

“Inquisitor!” Dorian yelled, but before he and Vivienne could react, dark tendrils of magic shot out of her back and grabbed them, then suspended them in the air.

“What...are you?” Mahanon managed to choke out.

The Keeper’s face grew angrier and started emitting magic like the tendrils grabbing his companions, but before she could finish choking him, a bright blast of magic shot out from behind him and changed the Keeper into a swirling mass of magic, which dropped him and his companions.

“What on earth is that?” Dorian exclaimed as he stood up and pulled his staff out.

As the magic moved to strike Mahanon, another blast of magic came from out behind him, stopping it in its tracks.

“It is the Tantabus!” a voice proclaimed behind them. Suddenly, a pony with a dark blue coat and a flowing mane similar to the thing she called the Tantabus jumped in between Mahanon and the magic, staring it down.

“And who is she?” Vivienne asked, more confused than before.

The mare did not respond, instead shooting a continuous beam of magic at the Tantabus, which recoiled and shot away, seemingly causing a rip in the sky itself as it escaped.

“It has escaped,” the mare said angrily.

“Who are you?” Mahanon asked, dumbfounded.

“I am Princess Luna,” she said with a tone that was regal, but hid a hint of pain. “Sister of Princess Celestia.”

“You’re one of the other Princesses?” Mahanon asked. “Twilight and Cadence are with us, and Celestia has been helping us all she can.”

“I am aware,” she stated. “And I have, too. These creatures of the dream world targeted you as soon as the Breach opened in Thedas; I have spent many a night keeping them from possessing you.”

“You’ve been watching me since the Conclave?” he asked. “So you’ve known about me for all that time?”

She gave him a small, sly smile. “Indeed, Inquisitor; it is my duty to protect my little ponies from nightmares. I figured guarding the Herald of Andraste from demons would also be a worthy cause.”

“So you know...everything?” he asked in shock. “About the demons, the Fade, what we’ve done in Equestria?”

She nodded. “I regret to say that letting the Dread Wolf in was a mistake, though; the demons tried much harder to get in after that. He attracts many spirits and demons in his dreams, and spending time in the dream version of Haven with him alerted them to your presence.”

“So we don’t need to fill her in on anything?” Dorian asked. “Good thing, if I had to explain Thedas to another pony I may have lost it!”

“We cannot lose time,” she said, looking at the rip in the sky. “It has likely spread to another dream, and we need to stop it.” She looked up at them. “I have seen you relive your fights in your dreams, Inquisitor; you are capable enough to stop this creature.”

“We’ll do whatever we need to,” he said confidently as he walked up to the rip. “What do we do?”

Smiling, Luna bowed her head and powered up her horn, then engulfed them all in a magic barrier. They felt themselves lifted up off the ground and shot forward, straight into the split in the sky.

Armored Ward looked around. He was definitely back in his room in Manehattan. As well as he remembered it, anyways. His posters of the Power Ponies still hung, and his autographed photo of Soarin still proudly framed and on his nightstand.

“Armored Ward, get down here right this moment!” he heard his mother scream from downstairs. He groaned; that was not a good tone of voice for her to have. It guaranteed that he had really messed up and she just found out.

Taking a deep breath, he got out of bed and walked downstairs to the kitchen, where his parents were glaring at him and each of his younger sisters were looking down, trying not to make eye contact.

“The Royal Guard?” she screamed at him, trying to hold back angry tears. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“Wait, what?” he asked in shock. “Am I not back on leave?”

“No, this letter came saying you leave tomorrow for basic training!” she yelled as she held up a piece of paper with the Royal Guard seal stamped on it.

Looking at all his family members, he began thinking. He had clear memories of this; it was they day his family found about his enlistment. He hadn’t told them in fear of how they would react, but all that came undone when he forgot that he would receive his summons in the mail.

So why was he reliving it?

“Am I having a nightmare?” he wondered out loud.

“You?” his mother yelled, slamming her hoof down on the table. “I’m the one who figured out in a letter that my son has just signed his death sentence!”

Out of nowhere, a bright flash appeared in the middle of the room, and the Inquisitor, Vivienne, Dorian, and Princess Luna crashed out of it. Vivienne and Dorian landed on the table, startling his whole family; the Inquisitor slammed into the fridge; and Princess Luna used her wings to gently float in the kitchen and not crash into anything.

“Is it over?” Dorian moaned.

“What are you guys doing here?” Ward asked as his whole family was motionless, their mouths agape.

“We followed the Tantabus here,” Princess Luna said, landing on the ground. She quickly turned her head to Ward. “This is your dream. What are you dreaming about?”

“The day my family found out I enlisted,” he said painfully.

Quickly turning her head back to his mother, she shot a beam of magic at her, but the magic simply washed over her like it was nothing.

“I do not understand,” she said with a tilt of her head. “She was yelling at you; the Tantabus feeds off regret. What greater regret is there than not telling your mother of your enlistment in a war?”

“It’s...probably my sisters,” he admitted.

Turning her head to the three fillies sitting at the table whose ages ranged from young adults to blank flanks, she powered up her horn again and shot the same spell at them. Instead of moving over them, the spell went into their bodies and changed them from ponies to swirling masses of magic.

The three masses of magic combined together, then flew away, ripping a hole in the wall in the process.

“You’re the oldest, are you not?” Princess Luna asked compassionately. “And their only brother; you view yourself as somepony to protect them, to guide them. You don’t feel like you let your parents down; you let your sisters down.” She walked up to him and looked him in the eye. “Correct?”

Slowly, he nodded his head. “They’re young. I mean, Orchard Blossom’s still afraid of the dark, how was I supposed to tell her her brother was going to go fight a losing war against demons?”

“You’ll let your actions speak for you,” she said with a smile as she put a hoof on his shoulder. “Show her anything can be done.”

“Yes yes, all touchy-feely, lovely,” Dorian chided. “Can we go after that crazy dream-hopping monstrosity now?”

“I was helping one of my subjects recover from his regret,” she said, almost insulted.

“An admirable goal yes, but I’m afraid we have bigger problems,” Vivienne joined in.

“Now’s hardly the time for arguing,” Mahanon scolded them all.

Trixie stared at the fire in front of her intently. Its quivering was hypnotic, an unpredictable yet expected variation.

Trixie lifted her head and looked around; she was in a dark forest, with only the fire and her magician’s trailer with her. She stared at the trailer confusedly; she was not a traveling magician anymore, she was a Spymaster. So why were her things with her?

“Anypony here?” she asked, but she got no response.

Going over to her trailer, she walked into the cramped interior and looked at her things; capes, hats, various props, everything she could need. Yet something seemed wrong, like it didn’t belong. But to her, everything seemed normal and in its place.

After quickly looking over everything, she shrugged and walked back out. When she stepped out into the cool night air, a stabbing feeling went through her heart, drawing some tears from her eyes.

“No!” she yelled stubbornly. “The Great and Powerful Trixie does not cry over...over…” She could not figure out why she felt the way she did; she just did.

She quickly turned around and stomped into the trailer again, then grabbed her worn-out copy of Advanced Magic Volume XIII, Version XXIV and flipped through the pages hastily.

“It has to be…” she forced out through tears that were growing in intensity, despite her best efforts. When she got a page titled Emotional Inhibitor Spells, she smiled as best she could as she worked through step one.

In her concentration, she did not even realize the bright flash of light that came from outside.

As she quickly moved through the steps, she felt the tears begin to recede. It was working; she was removing all emotions from herself. Soon, she would be able to think clearly.

“Trixie, no!” a voice behind her cried as a bolt of magic hit her horn, disrupting her magic and removing any effects she had already gained.

“No!” she cried. She tried to power up her horn again, but the magic that had hit it had disabled her own.

She felt a hoof touch her gently and turn her around, where she came face-to-face with Princess Luna.

“Princess Luna?” she asked, trying to make out the pony in front of her through the pool of tears in her eyes.

“Yes,” she said gently. “I am here to help you.”

“I don’t know what’s happening!” she cried. “All of a sudden, I just...just…” She devolved into complete bawling, completely incapable of speaking.

“What’s happening here?” Mahanon asked as he walked through the small doorway of Trixie’s trailer.

“Something is afflicting her,” Luna said, sitting down and bowing her head. She touched her horn to Trixie’s chest and powered it up, which revealed a faint trail of magic leading out of her body and into one of the numerous chests inside.

“You go find out what is causing her this affliction,” she said. “I will try and reverse whatever it has done to her.”

Mahanon obliged, going to the chest and opening it up. He started rooting through the many items it contained; some books, a few bags of coins, a framed diploma from somewhere called ‘Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns’, and a few personal effects such as long-forgotten boxes of soap and a dusty brush.

Even when the chest was completely empty, the trail of magic continued down into it. After studying it for a few moments, he moved it off to the side until he saw what looked like a small piece of paper under it. When he pulled out, he looked at it; it was a photograph of a family of unicorns, with one that looked like Trixie. They were all smiling and hugging each other in a warm embrace of love.

He picked it up, and the trail of magic followed it. Moving it around to confirm his suspicions, the trail of magic followed the photograph still, confirming it as the source of the magic.

“I think I’ve found it,” Mahanon called to Luna.

Without a word, the photograph he was holding was snatched up by Luna in her magic and brought over to her, where she was still sitting with Trixie, who had been reduced to minor sobbing.

“Is this your family?” Luna asked after looking at the photo herself.

“Yes,” Trixie admitted.

Luna quickly shot a short burst of magic at the photo, which transformed into the Tantabus. Before any of them could react, it bolted away out the trailer’s open door and created a split in the sky right above the fire.

“Why do you think that thing chose to torment you in the form it did?” Luna asked, putting a hoof on Trixie’s shoulder.

“The Great and...I haven’t seen my family in a long time,” she said, starting to break down again. “I just left them one day, told them I would back.” She sighed. “I don’t even know how my father’s wheelmaking business is going. I promised I’d share some of the money I got from being a magician, but I haven’t given him anything.”

“It’s not too late to fulfill your promise,” Luna said with a small smile. “Your family will always welcome you back; that’s why they’re family.”

Trixie looked off to the side. “I...suppose you’re right,” she said uneasily.

Luna smiled, then stood up and looked at Mahanon. “Ready to continue our chase, Inquisitor?”

“Lead the way,” he said, gesturing towards the door. He walked out behind her, and she bowed her head to begin engulfing them in magic to travel through the tear.

“Where are Dorian and Vivienne?” he asked, looking around.

“They are not strong enough to travel through dreams as effectively as you are,” she said, somehow without even moving her lips. “Your willpower is truly something to behold. You are adapting to Dreamstriding well. Perhaps I could teach you a thing or two later on?” He heard a little laugh, and when he looked to Luna, she had a small smile on her face.

“You heard the Captain!” a voice called from outside Blackwall’s tent. Shooting his eyes open, he thought furiously; why was he in a tent, instead of the Inquisition’s barracks in Neighven?

Getting out of his bed, he walked outside and noticed that there were no longer any ponies or Changelings or any of the strange creatures he found in Equestria; there were just humans, all wearing Orlesian armor.

“What’s going on here?” he asked, walking up to one of the soldiers.

“We are preparing to leave, Captain Rainier!” the soldier said, moving to attention.

“‘Captain Rainier’?” he repeated. “Just what did I order you to do, soldier?”

“We are to take out one of Empress Celene’s allies, as per your orders, Captain.”

“This ally I mentioned...it’s not Lord Callier, is it?” he asked, afraid of the answer.

“Yes, Captain. Orders from Grand Duke Gaspard himself, you said.”

“Disregard those orders, soldier,” he demanded.

“Captain, we cannot simply disregard orders from the Grand Duke,” he said with a slight chuckle.

“I’m your Captain, so you’ll listen to my orders,” he said sternly.

“Captain, just what is the issue with these orders?” a man asked. When he turned his head, Blackwall saw Mornay walking up to them.

“Those orders are wrong,” he said firmly.

“They are orders to eliminate one of the Empress’ close allies.” He walked up to the soldier and put his hand on his shoulder. “I will have a talk with the Captain. You continue preparing.”

“If we carry those orders out, something terrible will happen,” Blackwall said morbidly.

“That is a risk we take as soldiers,” Mornay chuckled. “What is it, then? Do you know of a trap the Lord has placed for us?”

“No, but-”

“Then what is the worry?” he asked.

Before he could respond, a glowing rift opened behind Mornay, and the Inquisitor and a pony jumped out of it.

“Inquisitor?” Blackwall asked, walking up to him and pushing Mornay out of the way in the process.

“Blackwall, you have to listen,” he replied urgently. He then looked to the pony next to him, who was studying Blackwall.

“Who’s she?” he asked, pointing at the pony, who he just realized had both a horn and wings, something he had only seen on Twilight before.

“I am Princess Luna,” she said regally. “We have no time to waste. This is a nightmare: you are being haunted by a demon of regret. Is there anything here you regret deeply?”

“I regret everything,” he said coldly. “This entire day is a nightmare.”

“But we must pinpoint exactly what is haunting you,” she pleaded. “The demon can take any form. Is there something here you especially regret? Something that always stands out when you think of this moment?”

“No,” he replied quietly. “There’s not.”

“Tell us what’s happening,” Mahanon begged. “Maybe we could figure out what it is from that.”

He paused for a moment, then sighed. “This is the morning we murdered Lord Callier.”

“It’ll probably be the soldiers,” Mahanon said to Luna.

Powering up her horn, Luna shot quick bursts of magic all over the camp, hitting nearly every soldier she could find. None of them seemed to feel anything, but when it hit Mornay, his body began dissolving into the Tantabus.

“No!” Mornay yelled defiantly as he was melting into magic. He clenched his fists and grimaced, and the body of Mornay slowed its decay. He turned to face them, and they saw not a human or the Tantabus, but rather a mixture, a body containing the magic of the Tantabus and the Tantabus warping the body into a monstrosity.

“It’s resisting!” Mahanon called out. “Hit it again!”

As Luna bowed her head and began charging a more powerful spell, the Tantabus glared at her and raised its hand, from which tendrils of magic shot out and engulfed her.

“Princess, no!” Mahanon cried out.

“It looks weak!” Blackwall noted, grabbing a nearby sword and shield. “Inquisitor, she may be trapped by it, but it’s still part human; we can defeat it!”

“I just hope you’re right,” Mahanon said as he pulled out his staff and turned back towards the crumbling body of Mornay.

As he cast a Static Cage over the Tantabus, Blackwall blew into his Horn of Valor, then rushed ahead to take on the creature head-on.

As the creature slowly lift one of its arms and powered it up with magic, Blackwall raised his shield in anticipation for the strike. When his mana restored enough, Mahanon cast Winter’s Grasp on it, though it did not freeze.

The Tantabus brought its arm down, though the strike was blocked by Blackwall’s shield. Instead of fighting, it instead turned its eyes to the Inquisitor and lifted its other hand in the air, powering it up with magic.

Realizing it was no longer targeting him, Blackwall taunted the Tantabus with To The Death, and it turned back to him. He began swinging his sword at it, but it soon clenched its fist, wrapping him up in binding magic.

The creature began walking slowly towards Mahanon, but as he cast Flashfire on it, it fell to its knees. Blackwall and Luna were freed, and after quickly shaking her head, Luna began powering up her spell again.

After a few seconds, a massive beam of magic shot out of Luna’s horn and straight into the creature. The decaying process rapidly advanced, and Mornay’s body quickly dissolved into nothing, From the shell it had been hiding in, the Tantabus in the form they had previously known it emerged.

“You’re not going to get away!” Blackwall said triumphantly, but it fled before he could even begin running up to it, ripping a hole in the sky as it went.

“It has escaped again,” Luna said, slightly disappointed.

“What was that?” Blackwall asked in awe, walking up to the rip. He tried to put his hand through it, but it simply passed through as if there was nothing there.

“It is the Tantabus,” Luna explained as she walked up to him. “It seems to be attacking members of the Inquisition.”

“Well, it should know better than to come here next time,” he proclaimed confidently.

“I sense pain in you,” she said enigmatically, looking him over from head to toe. “And it all ties back to here, this moment. Who was that man?”

“Someone who had to hide for years because of me,” he said angrily. “Someone who didn’t deserve what I did to him.”

“We all make mistakes,” she said warmly. “And I can feel that you tried to fix yours by creating good in this world.”

“We can’t fix the past,” he said weakly. “We can only make the future better.”

She smiled at him. “Yes, and the work you’ve done for the Inquisition has certainly made the future brighter.” She turned back to Mahanon, then lit her horn up. “Right, we have no time to waste.”

“Wait!” Blackwall called, running up to her. “Take me with you.”

“You are not strong enough, I am sorry,” she said sorrowfully. “This is a task the Inquisitor and I must perform alone.”

“I see,” Blackwall conceded. “Good luck, then. Both of you."

Sera heard knocking from the doors to her chambers. “Lady Sera?” a frail, meek voice asked.

“What is it?” she angrily demanded.

“The reading of Lady Emmald’s will is going to begin shortly,” the voice responded, even more scared after her outburst.

“Lady Emmald?” she repeated. “She’s been dead for years! Who are you?”

“Lady Sera, she died just a few days ago,” the voice replied, now filled with legitimate terror.

“It’s just Sera!” she yelled, walking up to the door and swinging it open to reveal a human servant woman cowering in fear in front of her. “And no, that old tit’s been dead for years, ya hear?”

A flash of light came from behind her, eliciting a frightened squeal from the servant as she turned and bolted. When she looked behind her, she saw the Inquisitor and a dark pony standing in her chambers.

“Andraste’s tits!” she exclaimed, pointing to the pony. “Now what in the hell are you and that one doing here?”

“I am Princess Luna,” the pony answered, pointing a hoof at herself. “What is happening here?”

“None of your business, that’s what!” she defended. “How’d you even get here, anyways? Why are we in Denerim, and why was that servant telling me Lady Emmald’s just died? That old bag died years ago!”

“We are in a nightmare of yours,” Luna explained calmly.

“Nightmares?” she responded. “As if! Never had a nightmare in my life, why do you think I’d be starting now?”

“A regret demon is plaguing the Inquisition,” Mahanon explained. “It’s targeted you next.”

“Aw shite, more demons?” she said grumpily. “Regardless, I don’t have any big things from my past haunting me, so you must be confused, yeah?”

“It’s here,” Luna said, unwavering. “There must be something you regret about this time.”

“Nope.” She crossed her arms and looked at them. “Well, then? Go on, go chasing demons or whatever it is you’re doing!”

“Something is haunting you,” Luna said, starting to lose her patience. “The demon would not have chased you here if there was no regret to feed off of.”

“God, you’re annoying!” she shouted. “Fine, let’s just go to this stupid will-reading thing the servant talked about, and then you’ll see there’s nothing!”

“Thank you,” Luna said, her anger melting away.

“Whatever,” Sera grumbled beneath her breath as she exited her chambers, Mahanon and Luna following close behind.

“I guess Lady Emmald really was quite wealthy,” Mahanon noted as they walked through the mansion.

“I told you that!” she snapped at him.

“Just an observation,” he said defensively.

Sera moaned, then they continued the rest of their walk in silence. Whey they walked down a grand staircase into a massive foyer, many eyes turned to them and stared at them the whole way down the stairs.

“Starting to remember why I hate this place,” Sera muttered.

Whey they reached the bottom, Sera turned to the right and lead them to a small door, which she opened. When they stepped through, they found themselves in a small office with bookshelves lining the back wall and a human man sitting at a desk, holding a few sheets of paper.

“Good day, Lady Sera,” he said humbly.

“Just get on with it,” she demanded, pulling out a chair and sitting in it. Mahanon did the same, and Luna stood next to them, carefully observing everything in the office.

“Lady Emmald has left you a large portion of her estate,” he said with a little bit of hope in his voice.

“You don’t think I know that?” she yelled. “Of course she did! What else is new?”

“That’s...it, really,” he said weakly. “I can go through everything she left for you piece by piece, if you’d wish?”

“No!” she yelled, bolting up from her chair. “I don’t care!”

Quickly, Luna snapped her head back to the desk and shot a bolt of magic from her horn to the will, which dissolved into the dark magic of the Tantabus and flew through the cleric, ripping a hole in the bookshelves as it went.

“Wh-what was that?” the cleric cowered.

“Yeah, what he said!” Sera exclaimed.

As the cleric ran out of the room frightened, Luna walked up to Sera. “That is a regret demon; it was feeding off the regret you feel towards this time in your life.”

“Well, it wasn’t getting much, ‘cause I’m not teary-eyed and all ‘woe is me’!” she yelled back.

“You should not hide how you really cared for Lady Emmald,” Luna gently scolded. “It is my job to help dreamers through their issues.”

“Well, then you should keep going, because that thing don’t look too friendly!” she proclaimed, pointing at the rip.

Luna sighed slightly. “Very well; Inquisitor, our chase continues.” Her horn started glowing, and before long, she and Mahanon were completely enveloped in magic as the moved closer to where the Tantabus had fled.

“Vivienne, no!” Arouet pleaded, putting his hands up in surrender.

“I made it quite clear, darling,” she said coldly, taking a few steps towards him. “I told you the punishment for rebellion.”

“I will come back!” he begged, getting on his knees. “I will come back to the Circle, whatever you ask! Make me Tranquil, anything! Just please, spare me!”

“I warned you,” she said, charging her Spirit Blade and raising it over her head as a flash of light came from behind her.

“Vivienne, wait!” an unfamiliar voice called out. When she dismissed her blade and turned around, she saw the Inquisitor and Luna running up to her.

“Inquisitor?” she asked confusedly. “And...I swear I recognize that pony, but from where?”

“Why does she not remember you?” Mahanon asked Luna. “And does she not recognize this is a dream?”

“A dream?” Vivienne asked. “I never took you as a dream mage, Inquisitor.”

“I am the Dreamstrider,” Luna said. “And she does not remember us because she is in her own dream; she only knows what happens to her. She was in your dream and Armored Ward’s, so she does not remember those times.”

“I remember what happened,” Mahanon pointed out.

“You have strong willpower,” she said with a small smile. “And the Anchor gives you a greater connection to the Fade than most; as I mentioned previously, you could become a Dreamstrider with much less effort than most need to put in.”

“So then how come is it you’re invading my dreams, now?” Vivienne asked, crossing her arms. Arouet stood up and tried running away from them, but without even looking back at him, she held out a hand and stopped him. “Impolite, dear; I’m not done with you just yet.”

“We’re chasing a regret demon,” Mahanon said urgently. “It’s been moving through the Inquisition, feeding off all our regret.”

“Well, I doubt you’ll find it here,” she replied with a small chuckle. “I do not regret this time, and I am better than letting a demon possess me.”

“It is not possession,” Luna explained. “It hides, it feeds, it grows stronger. Even the most powerful of mages cannot stop it. It is a parasite, not a hunter.”

“Regardless, I do not have any deep regrets anywhere, now that I think of it.”

“You’re going to kill him, aren’t you?” Luna asked, looking beyond her to Arouet, who was frozen mid-stride.

“Indeed,” she replied emotionlessly.

Luna powered up her horn and released Vivienne’s hold on him, and he fell to the ground. “Go see if you can move on from your regret,” she pleaded.

Without a word, Vivienne turned around and walked up to him. He looked up at her hopefully, but instead of helping him, she instead powered up her Spirit Blade and plunged it into his chest.

“Vivienne!” Mahanon called out.

“That was not what you were supposed to do,” Luna said, heavily irritated.

“I had warned him,” she said, walking back to them.

Sighing, Luna shot a beam of magic at Arouet’s corpse, which turned into the Tantabus and bolted away, tearing a hole in the air in the process.

“You seem remarkably unfazed by this regret,” Luna pointed out.

“Of course I regret killing him,” Vivienne said, crossing her arms again. “He was a good man, and a fine mage. A friend, if I do say so.”

“Then why kill him?” Luna asked.

“He rebelled,” she said plainly. “I regret that I had to kill him, but I do not regret taking out another Apostate. I told him not to, and I told him I would hunt him down if he did, yet he went and did so anyways. I regret that it was him that I had to kill, but I do not regret my actions.”

“I don’t see the difference,” Mahanon chimed in.

“Well, I do,” Vivienne said. “And that, dear, is the difference between us.”

“We must chase it further,” Luna said as she powered up her horn.

“I wish you two the best of luck then,” Vivienne said. “If you would, I’ll continue dreaming about Apostates I stopped.”

Fancypants looked at himself in the mirror, then tilted his head. How did he get there?

Shaking it off, he turned around and looked at the dressing room he was in. It was rather small, with just a couch up against one wall and a small closet off to the side.

“Sir!” an excited voice said while knocking at the door. “It’s time!”

“Time for what?” he asked as he walked up to the door and opened it to see an excited-looking unicorn stallion with a massive grin.

“You’re a riot!” he said in a seemingly fake laugh. “Now come on you comedian, let’s go!”

“Alright, I suppose,” he conceded, then started following the pony. They walked through narrow, cramped hallways until reaching an entrance area all decorated with flowers and banners.

They stood there for a moment, until the other unicorn pointed at the door. “Well?” he asked with enthusiasm. “Go on!”

“Go on...for what?” he asked in legitimate confusion.

“Okay, you goof,” the other unicorn said with a playful eyeroll. “Now come on, get serious! It’s your big day!”

“My...big day?” he repeated. “My wedding, correct.”

“Well, duh!” he laughed. “What else would today be?”

Sighing, Fancypants turned to the doors and walked towards them, and they opened without him doing anything. As he started walking into the ceremony itself, all eyes darted to him as he walked down the aisle.

Gritting his teeth, he walked to the head of the ceremony and turned around just in time to see Fleur de Lis enter and start walking down the same aisle. She smiled and waved to some of the ponies, but he could see right through it. Her smile was fake, just like his.

When she got up next to him, the old pony standing in front of them cleared his throat, but as he opened his mouth to speak, a flash of light illuminated the ceremony as Princess Luna and the Inquisitor landed right in front of them.

“Princess?” Fancypants asked. “Inquisitor?”

“Hope we’re not interrupting anything important,” Mahanon said, trying to hide a smile.

“Fancypants, you must listen,” Luna said urgently, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “This is a nightmare, and you are being plagued by a regret demon; you must tell us, is there anything you regret about this moment?”

“What?” he asked innocently as a wave of whispers rolled over the crowd. “No, this is my wedding day! What would there be to regret?”

“A guest here maybe,” Mahanon pleaded. “Someone you didn’t want here but invited?”

“Preposterous!” he said, sweating nervously. “Why, I am glad for each and everypony being here!”

“Fancypants,” Luna scolded in a motherly tone, taking a few steps towards him and staring him down.

“I don’t suppose there’s a way to do this in private, is there?” he asked.

“Fancypants,” she scolded again, her horn lighting up.

“Fine, it’s-” He darted his head back and forth before leaning in close. “It’s Fleur,” he whispered.

Without even questioning his answer, Luna turned her head to Fleur and zapped it with her magic. She quickly turned into the swirling mass of magic that was the Tantabus, then fled back down the aisle and tore a hole in the sky when it reached the entrance to the lobby.

“Interesting choice of form for the Tantabus,” Mahanon said, looking at the the hole it escaped through.

“You regret marrying your wife?” Luna asked calmly.

“I...I don’t know,” he admitted. “She is a nice mare, but there’s not much we share.” He sighed. “We married for status, unfortunately. There’s little legitimate connection between us.”

“It may have started for status, but it doesn’t have to continue that way,” Luna said comfortingly. “You still have a wife; perhaps you two could find common interests and start to see if you fall in love?”

“I do suppose it’s worth a try,” he admitted.

Luna smiled, then walked up to the rip as Mahanon followed close behind.

“We’ve visited a lot of dreams,” he pointed out as she began powering up her magic. “Will the Tantabus ever get tired?”

“It will eventually,” Luna replied, again without moving her lips. “It will continue hiding until we give it no more places to hide.”

“That may take a while,” he pointed out.

He heard a small chuckle. “A Dreamstrider’s work is never easy, Inquisitor.”

“I am Divine now,” Cassandra explained. “I do not believe we should continue our relationship.”

“Are you sure?” Mahanon asked. “There isn’t something that could work?”

“The Divine should not be devoting time to a lover,” she said sorrowfully. “And I imagine the Inquisitor must also do the same.”

A flash of light blinded Cassandra, forcing her to cover her eyes. When the pain wore off, she looked at the light’s source to see another Inquisitor standing next to a dark blue pony.

“What is the meaning of this?” she demanded.

“I might ask you the same question,” Mahanon asked, looking at the dream version of himself. “Luna?”

Luna powered up her horn and launched a spell at the dream Mahanon, who turned into the Tantabus and fled, ripping a hole in the wall of the Herald’s Rest tavern as it did so.

“What is going on here?” she demanded again, walking up to Mahanon.

“That was a regret demon manifesting as me,” he explained. “It’s been hiding in the dreams of the Inquisition’s members; Princess Luna and I have been chasing it.”

“A regret demon?” Cassandra asked worriedly. “Are you sure? They are very rare.”

“I am certain,” Luna said confidently. “One plagued me for years until it grew strong enough to engulf an entire town.”

“They are very hard to get rid of, I am told.”

“Yes, they are,” Luna said with a little pain. “It must be growing weak, however; we have already chased it through many dreams, and it requires a lot of energy to leap from one dream to another. There is regret in the Inquisition, but I can sense that it has only recently found it.”

“How come we’re back in Skyhold?” Mahanon asked, looking around them. “And why was I here?”

“It was...nothing,” Cassandra said.

“Cassandra,” he said firmly, walking up to her. “The demon would not chase us for nothing.”

“I had to tell you again that we must end our relationship,” she admitted weakly.

“That’s what you regret?” he asked softly, walking even closer to her.

“It had to be done,” she said, unwavering. “There is no time to waste; go defeat the demon.”

“Are you sure?” he asked. “You don’t want to talk?”

“Go,” she demanded. “Talking will not change what has been done.”

“Alright,” he gave in, walking back to Luna. She looked at him empathetically, then powered up her horn in preparation for traveling again.

“Do not do this, Dorian!” Halward Pavus pleaded to his son, who was storming down the road out of Qarinus.

Dorian turned around, then looked at his father strangely. “How did you get here?” he demanded.

“I have been begging you ever since you left the house,” he responded confusedly. “And you have been yelling at me this whole time.”

“Well, then how did I get here?” he asked, looking at his surroundings.

“You must have had something come over you,” Halward comforted, walking up to him and gingerly putting an arm around him. “Come home; we fill cure whatever afflicts you.”

“I am perfectly fine, father,” he spat back. “And this ‘cure’ you speak of, does it too involve blood magic?”

“I am only doing what is best for you,” he defended. “Dorian, imagine what you could do! Don’t throw all that away; let us figure out a way to fix this.”

“There’s nothing that needs fixing,” he said sternly.

As his father tried to rebuttal, a flash of light shone from behind him, and the Inquisitor and a pony dropped out and onto the ground.

“Inquisitor?” Dorian asked, shoving his father out of the way and walking up to him. “And who’s your little friend, here?”

“I am Princess Luna,” she said. “This is all just a dream; you have a demon in your mind, feeding off your emotions.”

“A demon?” he asked, shocked. “Well, I doubt that. I think I’d know if I were being controlled by someone besides myself.”

“It’s not a demon that possesses,” Mahanon explained. “It feeds off regret.”

“Regret?” he echoed. “Well there’s not much regret to be had here, I can tell you that.”

“That’s your father, isn’t it?” Mahanon asked, looking over his shoulder. “Is this when you’re leaving Tevinter?”

“Yes, and although I was admittedly not a fan of the time, I would not say it was something I regretted.”

Without a word, Luna powered up her horn and shot it at Halward, who began disintegrating into magic.

“You regret leaving on such poor terms, do you not?” Luna asked comfortingly. “You wish it hadn’t come to what it did, and you wish you hadn’t left it in such a poor state.”

“Perhaps,” he admitted. “Though if you expect me to take responsibility, you are clearly mistaken about when happened.”

“I don’t expect you to take responsibility,” she replied. “You do. Otherwise, the demon would not be haunting you the way it is.”

“You will stop!” Halward cried out, sending a massive ball of magic towards them. They all jumped out of the way, and when they looked back, Halward’s body had stopped decaying and was instead a monstrosity, half human and half Tantabus.

“What’s happening?” Dorian asked, scared.

“It’s resisting again!” Mahanon said, pulling his staff out. “Dorian, help us!”

Dorian pulled his staff out as well and turned to the Tantabus. “I’ll admit Inquisitor, fighting a demon form of my father in my dreams was never high on my list of things I’d thought I’d do.”

When Mahanon cast Static Cage over the Tantabus, Dorian let out an Energy Barrage, assaulting it electricity. The demon raised its staff, which gathered dark magic and swirled it in the air.

When their mana regenerated, Mahanon cast a Walking Bomb curse as Dorian used Spirit Mark on it. The Tantabus slammed its staff into the ground, causing dark magic to erupt from the ground and grab their ankles, gradually pulling them into the earth.

Before they could be fully swallowed by the ground, Luna enveloped their legs in magic, pulling them out of the ground and freeing them from the binding magic the Tantabus had cast on them.

After scrambling back to their feet, Mahanon cast Winter’s Grasp as Dorian cast Lightning Bolt, but neither of the spells had any effect at immobilizing the Tantabus.

After gathering more dark magic around its staff, the Tantabus shot a beam of magic at Mahanon, which engulfed him.

“Inquisitor!” Dorian called out, his voice seeming to fade. Mahanon felt his senses dull and his heart ache, though whenever he tried to fight back, he seemed only to be further trapped.

Just before his vision turned pitch black, a wave of magic came from behind and washed over him, dispelling the magic and continuing on to strike the Tantabus, which changed from the form of Halward Pavus back into the form it had previously taken.

“Not so tough now, are you?” Dorian taunted as he swaggered towards it. Instead of responding, the Tantabus simply turned around and fled, ripping a hole in the sky in the process. “Not quite what I was hoping for,” Dorian mumbled beneath his breath.

“It is growing weak,” Luna proclaimed, walking up to the hole in the sky and studying it.

“I’ve got enough energy in me to keep chasing all night long,” Mahanon said smugly, walking up next to her. “Shall we?”

“I wish you luck, Inquisitor,” Dorian said to them. “Demons are not exactly my idea of a good time, so one fewer in this world is always something to look forward to.”

Bzkdlina could hear the throbbing of her heart. It was driving her mad, the only thing she had to listen to.

She looked around. She was sitting in her childhood room back in her parents’ house in Ilihseronntreppziktkaastiikkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkzkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkklkkkkzuuka.

“How did I get here?” she whispered to herself. Had she not gotten her own place when the Changelings started acting suspicious around her?

“Was it all just a nightmare?” she wondered aloud. “Demons...it can’t be. They’re not real.” She looked out the window to see the Breach far in the distance, its sickly green light reflecting off the perfectly polished marble of the city.

Shaking it off as a bad dream, she got off her bed and exited her room, then walked downstairs. “Mother?” she called out. “Father?”

When they did not respond, she looked through the different rooms of her parents’ house until she found them sitting at the kitchen table, both simply grimacing for the sake of grimacing.

“Is everything okay?” she asked worriedly, walking up to them. They simply turned to her and started glaring at her.

“I guess I’ll leave you alone,” she whimpered, but as she tried to take a few steps back, they stood up and followed her, keeping an exact distance between them.

“You’re impure,” her father said angrily.

“Impure?” she repeated. “I’m your daughter, how could you say that?”

“You’re not a true Changeling,” her mother responded, closing the distance between them.

“What does that mean?” she begged as she backed away from them. “Is it true? Were those dreams supposed to be messages? Are you infested by demons?”

Malicious hissing was the only response they gave her. When a flash of light appeared right in the middle of the room, they backed away from it but kept hissing in a show of dominance as Bzkdlina turned away and waited for her eyes to readjust.

Looking back to where the flash happened, she saw the Inquisitor and a dark pony staring her parents down.

“Wait!” she pleaded, running between the Inquisitor and her parents. “What’s happening?”

“You are having a nightmare, Bzkdlina,” Luna said, not taking her eyes off her father. “A regret demon is feeding off of you.”

“Wait, so demons are real?” she asked, whipping around to look at her parents. “So they're possessed?”

“They are demons,” Mahanon clarified.

“Then...what does that make me?” she asked, falling down on her rear in despair.

“Your real parents are not demons,” Luna explained. “These are reconstructions of them. The demon has identified what you regret most and is replaying it to you to feed off your emotions.”

“Just like Changelings,” she said sadly.

As Luna powered up her horn, Bzkdlina’s parents did as well. Curious, Luna powered down her horn, which her parents mirrored.

“The Tantabus cannot even think for itself anymore,” Luna said in a mix of confusion and excitement.

“Why’s it doing everything you do?” Bzkdlina asked, turning to her parents. “Why not do what I do? It’s my dream, after all.”

“We’re both invaders,” Luna said, raising a hoof as the Changelings did the same. “It’s copying what we’re doing since it knows it couldn’t copy you and get away with it.”

“How are we going to do this?” Mahanon asked. He tried reaching for his staff, but the Changelings powered up their magic in response.

“We need to confuse them,” Luna said. “You will need to act, and then while they are focused on you, I shall turn them back.”

Mahanon reached for his staff as Bzkdlina ran away and her parents powered up their magic. As he pulled out his staff and began firing spells at them, they shot a burst of magic for each spell and neutralized it in the air. When Luna shot a beam of magic at them, one of them neutralized her magic while the other focused on neutralizing Mahanon’s spells.

“Bzkdlina!” Luna called out. “We need you to stun them.”

“Me?” she asked weakly, walking between Luna and Mahanon. “I...I don’t know if I can.”

“They’re not real,” she said comfortingly. “You won’t really be attacking your parents.”

Taking a deep breath, she powered up her horn with the bright green glow of her magic. While Luna and Mahanon were distracting them, she shot two quick bursts of magic, immobilizing them. Taking the opportunity, Luna quickly used her magic to turn Bzkdlina’s parents into the Tantabus.

Instead of quickly fleeing, the Tantabus hovered in place for a few moments before slowly moving away from them and lazily ripping a hole in the sky as it went.

“That’s the regret demon?” Bzkdlina asked, scared.

“Indeed,” Luna said, moving up to Bzkdlina and putting a hoof on her shoulder. “It was an interesting form for it to take.”

“Oh.” She looked off to the side. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Are you sure?” Luna asked. “It is a terrible thing to regret something you did to your family members.”

“I just…” She sighed. “I guess after all those years of other Changelings saying I wasn’t a ‘pure Changeling’, I started to believe it.”

“And you feel you let them down because of what you were?” She nodded, which Luna replied to with a smile. “Your existence is not something to be regretted; now that the demons are gone, none of the Changelings can transform. You had free will all along, while they just now are discovering it.”

“I guess,” she admitted. “So what are you going to do with that demon now?”

Luna looked at the rift it escaped through. “It has likely tired itself out.” She turned to Mahanon. “Are you ready?”

“I’m ready,” he said confidently, walking up next to her.

With a look of determination on her face, Luna powered up her horn.

Twilight looked around her. She recognized the Golden Oak Library, but why? It had been destroyed by Tirek, why was she in it again?

She heard books falling from downstairs, and she decided to go investigate. When she was far enough down the stairs to see the main entrance to the library, she stopped when she saw the Tantabus.

Quickly, she retreated back upstairs. Hadn’t Luna defeated the Tantabus? And what was it doing in her dreams?

When she saw a flash of light out of the corner of her eye, she quickly turned her head to see Luna and the Inquisitor in her study.

“Princess Luna!” she exclaimed, running up to her. “Thank goodness you’re here. The Tantabus is downstairs!”

“I know,” she said, walking to the stairs. “We have been chasing it through the dreams of the rest of the Inquisition.”

Twilight looked to the stairs, then back to them. “How do we defeat it?”

“We have defeated it in every dream thus far,” Luna said powerfully, stepping onto the first stair. “Inquisitor, Twilight, would you mind?”

As Luna walked down the stairs, Mahanon and Twilight followed her. When they reached the ground floor, she smugly smiled as she walked up to the Tantabus, which was stationary in the middle of the room.

“It appears you have run out of places to hide,” Luna said, powering her horn up. She lowered her head and concentrated hard, and before long, numerous flashes of light appeared all throughout the room, each one dropping off one of the Inquisition’s members which the Tantabus had haunted.

While they all looked at each other confusedly, Luna brought her head back up and smiled at the Tantabus again. “You should not have run so much; you exposed yourself to all of these dreamers.”

“And just what is going on here?” Cassandra asked, looking around at all the Inquisition members who were dragged into Twilight’s dream.

“You exposed their regrets,” Luna said, backing up and powering up her horn with a bright blue orb. “The perfect way to vanquish you back to the Fade.”

One by one, every member of the Inquisition became engulfed in the same blue magic, which all centered on Luna’s horn. The orb grew bigger with each new member adding to it.

When Mahanon felt the magic surround him, the orb atop Luna’s horn grew even more, and she launched it towards the Tantabus. After spasming for a few moments, it dissolved into nothing.

“Can anybody explain what just happened?” Dorian asked.

With a smile, Luna turned to Mahanon. “Thank you for helping me, Inquisitor.”

Mahanon’s eyes shot open to see the dark ceiling of his cottage. Sitting up in bed, he put his hands on his forehead and tried to make sense of what had just happened to him.

“It was real, in case you were wondering,” a mysterious voice said. When he turned his head to the source, he saw Luna smiling smugly at him.

“How did you get here?” he asked in bewilderment.

“I have my ways,” she smirked.

“So that regret demon really was haunting all of us?” he asked.

She nodded. “It first started when you noticed you were getting less sleep than normal; that was it ravaging your innermost thoughts while you slept.”

“And it happened to all of us?”

“You the most. Since you are the Inquisitor, the demon fed off you not only for sustenance, but also to hopefully cripple the man trying to banish all demons to the Fade.”

Mahanon sat in silence for a moment. “How come Vivienne and Dorian were in my dream to begin with?”

“You three have a greater connection to the Fade,” she explained. “Being mages and all.”

“Will they remember anything?” he asked. “I know none of them seemed to remember anything when you didn’t bring them through with you.”

“They will not remember anything that happened last night,” she said while shaking her head. “You will, however.”

“So I know all their deepest regrets?” he asked.

“As well as how they act around them.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just think,” she said plainly. “Armored Ward was simply confused, Trixie got emotional, Blackwall tried to change what he did, Sera denied it, Vivienne rationalized it, Fancypants tried to hide it, Cassandra deflected it, Dorian got angry, and Bzkdlina let herself believe it.” She smiled at him again. “How one acts when confronted with their deepest regret gives great insight to who they are.”

“What was the Tantabus trying to get me to feel?” he asked. “And how did I react?”

“You were my favorite reaction,” she said happily. “You were the only one who confronted your regret and attempted to figure out what was happening. And I think we both know what it was trying to get you to feel.”

Mahanon and Luna stayed there in silence for a short period. “So what will you do now?” he asked.

“I shall continue protecting the citizens of the world from demons,” she said proudly. “Should you ever need me, I shall know, and I will seek you out in your dreams. I have spent much time in the realm of dreams, and as such have acquired a good knowledge of the Fade.”

“It seemed like nobody here knew anything about the Fade when we came here,” he pointed out.

Luna smiled. “The first rule of war: never let your foes know what you know.”

“It’s good to have you on our side,” he said happily.

Luna chuckled lightly. “I have always been on your side, Inquisitor.”

Chapter 14: Power Over Heaven

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Epilogue: Let Chaos Be Undone

***Neighven***
Two months later

“What do you think?” Mahanon asked as he walked up to Cullen, who was touching one of Neighven’s outside walls and inspecting it.

“I don’t know how old it is, but it looks like whoever made it knew what they were doing,” he said, taking his hand off it. “It’s a strong fort; hopefully there are more like it.”

“Inquisitor!” Mahanon heard being called from behind him. He and Cullen turned to the source of the voice and saw Ward trotting up to them in the same purple and gold armor he wore in Canterlot.

“General Shining Armor, I presume?” Cullen asked, looking down at him.

“Armored Ward, Captain of the Royal Guard,” he bowed. “General Shining Armor is near all those tents.”

“We’ll speak later, Captain,” Cullen said, walking past him. “I need to speak to the General and see where this Inquisition is at.”

Ward shook his head while smiling. “Oh well. I’m sure he’s a nice guy and doesn’t mean to blow me off like that.”

“He’s just a little straightforward,” Mahanon replied. “So you did become the Captain, then?”

“Correct!” he beamed. “Princess Twilight and General Shining Armor put in some good words, and Princess Celestia decided to take a chance.”

“How have they acted, having such a young and inexperienced soldier become Captain?”

“They’re cool with it, for the most part,” he shrugged. “Couple aren’t and say it should be somepony who’s been in the Guard for longer, but no matter who becomes Captain, ponies won’t like them, so I don’t worry too much about it. I may not have been in the Guard very long, but I’ve seen my fair share of fighting. War provides more experience than any guard duty ever could.”

“How’s your head?”

“Good,” he said, putting a hoof on his temple. “Cassandra was right; head trauma. But it wasn’t anything serious. Didn’t stop my family from worrying I would die, though.”

“So they’re doing well, I take it?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Manehattan wasn’t hit incredibly hard, thankfully. My dad’s joined Celestia’s Volunteers, which is the militia. They’re mostly helping ponies get reacclimated, and the Guard itself is doing all the policing and protecting. Don’t want volunteers protecting an entire city, you know? We’re overseeing the Volunteers, but for the most part letting them run themselves.”

“Is that everywhere, or just in Manehattan?”

“In most big cities,” he replied, putting a hoof on his chin. “Come to think of it, some of them really are overstaffed. I know Ponyville’s got more than they need, I bet I could shuffle them about. A lot of small towns are in similar situations, so we could help reduce the strain on the big cities.”

“How’s Canterlot?” Mahanon asked, looking toward the city. “Sounds like it still hasn’t entirely calmed down there yet.”

“Still a mess,” he sighed. “They were in there pretty good. And then there’s all that red lyrium, bodies, crystal fragments…” He shook his head. “Gonna be a while before Canterlot is what it used to be. We’re making progress, it’s just that there’s a lot of work that needs to be done. At least it hasn’t been a war zone in a few weeks.”

“I bet the Volunteers would be eager to help in Canterlot.”

“Maybe,” he said, thinking. “They’d be eager alright, but I’m just thinking if it would be viable. The great part of a militia is you don’t need to find them accommodations or provisions, since they’re just private citizens at the end of the way. Moving them to a city would be difficult, but Canterlot especially so. Might not be a war zone now, but it’s still a shell of a city. Lot of places we could use to house them got destroyed in the fighting, and I’m not sure we have all the supplies to keep them there.”

“The Inquisition might be able to help get resources there.”

Ward thought it over for a moment. “That could work, if you’re willing to help acquire the supplies and then work on the logistics.”

Mahanon looked to the tent with Shining Armor, who was pointing in their direction. Cullen nodded, then walked over to them. “You said you were the Captain of the Royal Guard, correct?” he asked when he approached.

“Yeah,” Ward confirmed.

“I’ll leave you two to it,” Mahanon said as he started walking away.

“Hey, Inquisitor!” Ward called before he got too far away. “Thanks for everything you’ve done for us.”

After smiling back at him, he walked to Shining Armor’s tent, where the General was positioning a few figurines on a map of Equestria.

“What’s this?” Mahanon asked, studying the map.

“Trying to figure out where we should establish fortresses,” he replied, resting a hoof on his chin. “I’m not really good at this type of strategy, I’ll admit. Sounds like Commander Cullen is, though, so I’ll need to make sure to get his advice before you leave.”

“Have you decided what you and Princess Cadence are doing personally?”

“Yeah,” he said, pointing a hoof at Canterlot on the map. “We’re going to move the Inquisition’s official headquarters to Canterlot, so we’ll move there. We’re going to end up sending some soldiers to the Crystal Empire once we get everything cleared up here, and if it’s viable, we’ll want to move back there.”

“What’s going to become of Neighven?”

“Just another outpost, though we’ll probably end up using Neighven as an administrative center. A lot of the Inquisition is already moved in, so there’s no sense in relocating everyone. Probably just myself, Fancypants, and Trixie. We’ll make sure someone capable stays behind to watch over everything.”

“Any ideas who?”

“A few.” He looked at the map intently. “Could your own troops from Thedas survive the cold?”

“They might complain, but we can survive. How come?”

Shining Armor pushed a figurine from the Foal Mountains to the plains north of Neighagra Falls. “There’s a good castle in that area that I think is in good condition. Gets pretty cold, but it’s pretty defensible. And then it gives us a closer foothold to the Crystal Empire for when we want to go campaigning there.”

“I’ll leave you be,” he said, grabbing the figurine of a unicorn mare wearing a hat. “Since she represented me, can I keep her for the memory?”

“After I’m done with her,” he said firmly, grabbing it out of his grasp with his magic.

“Is there a spoon this time?”

“If you want a spoon, go to the mess hall,” he said, slightly impatient.

Chuckling, he walked away and to the gates of Neighven, where Josephine was talking with Fancypants, who was pointing in the distance at Canterlot.

“Inquisitor!” Josephine said excitedly as he walked up. “Your Diplomat was just telling me some of the tales of what you have accomplished here. You truly were able to ally with longtime enemies of Equestria, despite traveling with one of their Princesses?”

“To be fair, they were possessed by demons for most of their history,” he said modestly.

“But the ponies were still uncomfortable with them,” Fancypants pointed out. “I will admit, I was wary at first. But I’m glad you chose the Changelings over the Crystal Ponies; going to the Crystal Empire surely would have been a suicide mission.”

“I’ve survived suicide missions before, what makes you think that would've been any different?”

“Regardless, it sounds as if the Inquisition has plenty of allies here,” Josephine added. “Fancypants, what industries are strong here? Perhaps if we can make Equestria sound lucrative to traders in Thedas, we will be able to pull some more allies in.”

“Good question,” he said, deep in thought. “Canterlot is the epitome of fashion, and perhaps if what I have heard of Orlais is true, we could pull some of them in that way.”

“I know just the people!” she proclaimed. “I know a few Antivans in Jader who would be excited to begin importing. Then they could to Val Chevin and Val Royeaux, and they have a few contacts in Ferelden, as well. And I may still know someone in the Shipping Guild in Antiva City…”

“I have some contacts in Los Pegasus who could transport to the coasts,” Fancypants spoke up.

“I’ll let you two solve this,” Mahanon said, though he got no response from the diplomats, who were deep in a discussion on trans-ocean trade.

Upon walking into the town, he found Leliana and Trixie standing around a fire, both studying the other intently. When he walked up to them, neither acknowledged him; both continued staring the other down.

“Is everything alright?” Mahanon asked.

“Trixie is just trying to get a good read on the human,” Trixie said, not averting her gaze.

“And I am just wondering why a Spymaster has rumors of her boastfulness and showmanship floating about. Perhaps a Spymaster should be more subtle?”

“I’m plenty subtle,” she laughed.

“Oh?” Leliana and Mahanon asked together, both raising an eyebrow.

“You too?” Trixie asked, turning her glare from Leliana to Mahanon.

“You’re good at your job, but you do have to admit you are a little...out there with what it is you’re doing.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m not good at my job and subtle,” she said, pointing a hoof at herself. “If I weren’t subtle, how would I know Schmooples II has come down with the sniffles?”

“Subtle indeed,” Leliana ceded. “But perhaps you are not as good as keeping your own actions subtle. Why exactly have you ordered a crate of Zebrican doorstops and a sledgehammer?”

Turning back to Leliana, Trixie narrowed her eyes. “Perhaps the Great and Powerful Trixie underestimated you.”

“And perhaps the Great and Powerful Trixie overestimated herself, too.”

“I like you. Don’t push your luck, sister.”

Leliana laughed. “I foresee a wonderful relationship between us.”

Trixie smirked. “Perhaps I see it, too.”

“I won’t keep you two,” Mahanon chuckled. “Go do whatever it is Spymasters are supposed to do for fun.”

“Like swap secrets on our Inquisitor?” Leliana suggested.

Smiling and shaking his head, Mahanon walked away from them and further up the hill into Neighven. When he came to Bzkdlina sitting on a log and reading a book, he sat down next to her.

“Good to see you,” she said before going back to the book.

“What are you reading?” he asked, looking over her shoulder.

“A pony etiquette guide,” she blushed, slamming the covers together. “Just want to make sure I don’t offend anyone here. Now that the Changelings are for the most part going back south, I kind of have to force myself to integrate. There’s already enough tension following me because I’m a Changeling; I don’t want to set anything off by misstepping. I already got into some hot water by baring my fangs at a visitor, even though I told them it's a compliment!”

“I think most of them would understand if you do make a mistake.”

“If they fought with us. Then they’ve met Changelings and know we’re not bad, just different. A lot of ponies still have preconceived notions about us, and they might get really offended by me doing something wrong.”

“Planning on staying with the Inquisition?” He pointed at the book. “If you’re learning how to live with ponies, sounds like you don’t plan to go back to the Changelings.”

“Yeah,” she nodded, setting the book aside. “I was always alienated anyways, so it’s not like I feel like I belong there and have some obligation to go back.”

“What are the Changelings going to do, now that your Queen’s gone?”

“Another reason I want to be far away from the Aynytsup,” she laughed nervously. “We’ve always had a Queen or King, as long as we can remember. I’m kind of worried about what they plan to do. I’ve heard talks of a new monarchy, a republic, a military state...and it sounds like none of them are really open to compromise. We’re going to solve this somehow, but it sounds like we’re all expecting the sands to run green as a result.”

“And you don’t want to be a part of that fight?”

“Let them fight it out,” she shook her head. “I know I probably shouldn’t be, but I’m still kind of mad because of what they did to me. I won’t lie, looking back at our history, there are times I’m not proud to call myself Changeling. I am proud of what I am in the end, but there’s no denying we haven’t always been model citizens of this world.”

“You could go back and try and steer them in the right direction. Make up for lost time.”

“I may have been looked up to during the war because I helped cure the Queen, but now it’s over, and I’ve gone back to being just one voice of many thousands. I wish we could solve our disputes peacefully, but we’ve never had to. When confronted with something we don’t like, our first instinct is always to pounce on it.”

“Do you know what you’ll do up here?”

“Shining Armor said there might be a position for me leading Neighven once he moves away,” she said in an uneasy giggle. “I’m not sure if I’d take it if it came to me. I’ll have to think about it.”

“What about you and Ward?”

Bzkdlina smiled, then blushed again. “It’s...going well. I don’t really know where we’re headed, and I’m too nervous to ask. I don’t know where I’m ending up, and now that he’s Captain of the Royal Guard, he’s going to have to move to Canterlot. And I’m not sure it would look so great if the new Captain was seeing someone that would’ve been arrested on sight a few short months ago. I haven’t really talked to him about it yet.” She gestured towards the book. “And don’t tell anyone I’ve been intently studying the Talking to a Romantic Partner section of the etiquette book for clues.”

When he felt a hoof tapping on his shoulder, Mahanon turned around to see Twilight looking down at him. “Can I borrow you for a moment?”

“Lead the way,” he said as he stood up.

“Sorry for stealing you away,” she said, a little embarrassed. “It’s just been a while since we were able to last talk.”

“How was Ponyville?”

“It was good,” she said. “Everypony’s coming back, little by little. I was able to get into Canterlot and see Princess Celestia, as well as the city.” She paused for a moment. “It’s kind of hard seeing the city like that. Everywhere I knew as a filly was ravaged.”

“Are your parents fine?” he asked worriedly.

“They are,” she sighed, a weight clearly coming off her chest. “You were right not to go after them; they saw some other ponies in need and went to help them. Said I was more than capable of fending for myself, so they didn't stick around.”

“They’re not wrong,” he pointed out.

Twilight blushed slightly. “I guess not.”

“What are your plans for the future?”

“I’m not really sure,” she admitted. She laughed. “But whenever I plan, it never works out. I will try and get to Thedas and stay in Ponyville, but something else will come up.”

When they stepped up to Neighven’s battlements, she took a deep breath. “I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but at least this is another thing we’ve overcome.”

“I’m glad we were able to help,” he said happily, walking up next to her. “It was a long fight, but it’s all worth it when we get done.”

Twilight smiled, then turned to him. “I know you promised me you’d teach me a few spells before you’d leave.”

“Okay,” he said, playfully shaking his head. “Let’s head down to the training area.”

Author's Note

I'm sorry for the very long delay, but thank you for waiting! And have a wonderful day, all you fabulous readers you. :raritywink:

Prologue: From These Emerald Waters

Author's Note

Basic information about the Inquisitor you'll be reading about:

Name: Mahanon Lavellan
Race: Elf
Sex: Male
Class: Mage
Specialization: Necromancer
Not faithful

Story information:
Recruited all companions
Allied with the templars
Left Stroud in the Fade
Exiled the Grey Wardens, did not exile Blackwall
Confronted Duchess Florianne in front of the court, killed her
Celene remains in power
Completed the elven rituals
Allied with the Sentinels
Fought and killed Calpurnia
Let Morrigan use the Well of Sorrows
Cassandra becomes Divine
Convinced Cassandra to stay with the Inquisition

Companion information:
Completed Blackwall’s personal quest using Josephine and pardons him
Completed Cassandra’s personal quest
Completed Cole’s personal quest and makes him more spirit-like
Completed Dorian’s personal quest and makes him confront his father
Completed Iron Bull’s personal quest and sacrifices the Chargers
Completed Sera’s personal quest
Completed Solas’ personal quest and does not kill the spirit
Completed Varric’s personal quest
Completed Vivienne’s personal quest and gives her the real heart
Encouraged Cullen to stop using lyrium
Completed Josephine’s personal quest by destroying the contract
Completed Leliana’s personal quest
Romanced Cassandra
Convinced Cassandra to remain with the Inquisition for the time being

Judgements:
Knight-Captain Denem - Given to the Templars to be punished
Magister Livius Erimond - Execution
Ser Ruth - Exiled like the rest of the Wardens
Grand Duchess Florianne’s remains - Put her remains to “use”
Thom Rainier - Pardon
Chief Movran the Under - Arm and exile to Tevinter
Mayor Gregory Dedrick - Exile
Crassius Servis - Recruited as an informant
Mistress Poulin - Help to rebuild Sahrnia

Personality:

Mahanon is not religious, and as such, is sometimes wary of his title as Herald (but does not mind the title of Inquisitor). He is proud of his Dalish heritage, but does not consider it an essential part of himself and associates more with the Inquisition than he does with Clan Lavellan.

He is friendly and open to new ideas. While he believes in forgiveness, he does believe there are points when the chance to be forgiven can be lost (such as with the Grey Wardens and Grand Duchess Florianne). Although apt at The Game, he dislikes politics and prefers a more direct approach. He does not like sacrificing the lives of soldiers when unnecessary, but believes results to be more important than saving lives.

Miscellaneous information:
Captured all 3 keeps
Opened the Solasan temple fully
Killed all 10 high dragons
Established every Inquisition camp
Closed every Fade Rift

Spells used (on the ability wheel):
Flashfire
Immolate
Winter’s Grasp*
Mark of the Rift
Horror*
Walking Bomb*
Spirit Mark*
Static Cage*

*=upgraded

Prologue: From These Emerald Waters

***Equestria***

Twilight Sparkle looked out over the massive glowing hole in the sky over Canterlot. It seemed to grow by the hour, slowly engulfing the whole sky. From it, terrifying creatures of all hideous forms spilled out, infesting everywhere the could reach. Smaller holes had started to appear close to the larger one, but they were mostly in and around Canterlot. None had yet reached Ponyville, but everypony in the town lived on edge knowing that they were next.

To say fear hung over Ponyville was an understatement; numerous houses had been boarded up, anticipating the creatures’ arrivals. Many other ponies bought weapons or trained themselves in combat, and others left the town completely. The Royal Guards patrolled the street regularly, looking for any signs of invasion. Some of the more worried ponies said that the creatures could take over ponies and that unicorns were especially susceptible, but those claims were mostly dismissed as crazy ramblings. Still, what few ponies stayed in the town were put through rigorous psychological evaluations daily, just in case they were not crazy ramblings.

“Twilight!” Spike called out from the ground floor of the castle. “Where are you?”

“I’m up in my room!” she called back down. “I’ll come down to you.” After worriedly looking at the hole again, she walked out of her bedroom and down the the ground floor of the castle, where Spike was sitting in her throne and looking bored while holding a scroll in his claw.

“Letter came for you,” he said, holding it up. “It’s from Princess Celestia.”

“Princess Celestia?” Twilight repeated with excitement. Princess Celestia had been dealing with the hole in the sky for so long that she had not written a letter in months, so Twilight quickly snatched it up with her magic and tore it open.

”My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,” the letter started. ”As you are aware, the hole in the sky over Canterlot has continued to grow and shows no sign of stopping. Every Royal Guard has been tasked with fighting the creatures, but no matter how many they defeat, more and more spill out of the holes. Our most distinguished scholars have been studying the creatures and the holes, but have not yet figured out what they are.

“However, we may have hope. Recently, on the western shore of Equestria, a few small ships landed, carrying creatures never seen before. They claim they know of the holes in the sky and the creatures that spill out of them, but they will only speak to one of the leaders.

“I entrust the task of meeting these creatures to you and you alone. You may be tempted to bring your friends with you, but this is unfortunately a matter that must be taken up only by a Princess. Reports say that most of the creatures that have sailed here are friendly, so you should try and make friends with them and see what they can help Equestria with.”

Princess Celestia

After slowly rereading the letter, Twilight lowered it onto the Friendship Map in the center of the throne room.

“Well?” Spike asked. “What did she say?”

“Princess Celestia has entrusted me to help her!” she replied with enthusiasm. “And I won’t let her down!”

***Skyhold***
One month earlier

The sun pouring into Mahanon’s private quarters woke him from another night of restful sleep. Before getting out of bed, he smiled; ever since Coryphaeus had been killed, he always enjoyed being able to wake up and not have to worry whether or not he’d be able to go to bed that night.

Putting on one of the numerous identical beige outfits from his wardrobe, he opened his windows and walked out onto the balcony which overlooked the Frostback Mountains in all their splendor. Taking in a deep breath of the cold, clean mountain air, he smiled again. It was a good day in Skyhold.

After taking in the view for a few moments, he descended into Skyhold’s great hall, where Inquisition agents and soldiers were talking and enjoying themselves. “Inquisitor!” he heard call from the crowd. Looking out on the great hall, he saw Josephine, the Inquisition diplomat, come running up to him.

“You seem eager this morning,” he joked. “Did Varric beat Cullen in another game of Strip Wicked Grace again? Are we going to watch another one of his walks of shame?”

“Unfortunately, no,” she laughed. “Come, perhaps we will be able to brief you in the war room.” Gesturing towards the door, the two walked through Josephine’s office and into the war room, where Commander Cullen and Leliana were pointing at a small chart laid on top of the map of Thedas and talking.

“Inquisitor!” Cullen perked up as soon as he saw the two enter the room. “I’m glad you’re here. We have something of dire importance to discuss with you.”

“Oh?” Mahanon asked.

“Some traders from Antiva tried to sail straight east around the world to land on the west coast of Theads,” Leliana said, turning the chart around. “However, it seems they were wrong about the size of the world.” She pointed to the right side of the chart. “They discovered a new land, one where the Fade is still torn open. They say there is another Breach further inland, and that there are rifts starting to appear.”

“How are we even sure that they’re right?” Cullen objected. “For all we know, they landed in Orlais and just saw the Breach before we were able to close it.”

“They mapped out some of the coastline,” Leliana replied, running her finger up and down one of the lines on the right side of the chart. “It doesn’t match anything on Thedas.”

“How soon could we get there?” Mahanon asked.

“Within the month,” Josephine chimed in. “Though unfortunately, we are not able to send a whole army just yet. We do not have the ships to do so, and our allies are wary of these claims of a new continent; until we send scouting parties and validate them, they will not pledge anything to our cause.”

“How soon can we head out?”

“The Inquisition should be able to procure a few ships and a crew in Denerim,” Josephine thought out loud. “It will not be enough to bring an army, but it should be able to bring the Inquisitor and a few small scouting parties.”

“Bring the Inquisitor across the ocean to chase a lead about a brand new continent?” Cullen objected. “Are you mad?”

“Our allies trust the Inquisitor,” Josephine said. “If he goes and sees first-hand the new Breach, they will support him over the reports of a few scouts.”

“I’ll make sure to be careful while I’m there,” Mahanon assured Cullen.

“Excellent!” Josephine said happily. “I’ll start arranging the funds to be brought to Denerim for the ships.”

“I’ll go and notify my best scouts to accompany you,” Leliana said.

“And I’ll get supplies and some men for protection,” Cullen said as he picked up the chart. “Here, you’ll need this; it’s the map the Antivans made to get back to where they landed. And Inquisitor...good luck.”

Mahanon stood in Skyhold’s courtyard in front of his closest companions. “I suppose you’re all wondering why you’re here,” he started.

“Oh, of course not!” Vivienne quipped. “We’re always happy to drop everything to help you.”

“We’ve discovered something big,” he said, ignoring the First Enchanter’s cutting sarcasm. “Far to the east, there’s a whole unexplored continent. And there’s another Breach there. And we need to stop it.”

“Another Breach?” Sera spoke up. “Oh, don’t tell me Coryphy-shit is back. He was a pain in the arse enough the first time, y’know?”

“We’re not sure,” he replied. “But we’re going to set sail soon. I need you all to get prepared and meet here at dawn tomorrow morning. If there is another Breach, we need to act quickly, or it could spread over here. Or worse, it could open up so much that it completely tears open the barrier between this world and the Fade.”

“Getting to kill more shit?” Iron Bull asked excitedly. “This is going to be great! Demons scare the hell out of me though...so not the greatest time I’ll have, but still.”

“Glad to see you’re enthusiastic, Bull,” Mahanon laughed. “I’ll give you all the rest of the day to prepare. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

All of the companions left except for Cassandra, who stayed behind and approached Mahanon nervously. “Inquisitor,” she asked, “Do you want me to join you?”

“I would be delighted if you did,” he replied with a small smile.

“I don’t know if I should, though,” she replied. “I already feel guilty staying here for as long as I have, but the Chantry has not needed me as much as they said they did. If I am an ocean away, I fear that I will be turning my back on them.”

“They’ll run perfectly fine in your absence,” he reassured her. “Besides, Leliana will be in Skyhold and is your Left Hand; she will be able to keep things from falling apart.”

“I hope you are right,” she said, slightly worried. “But I know that I will be able to make a greater difference fighting alongside the Inquisition than deciding the moves the Chantry will take to rebuild.”

Mahanon’s smile grew larger. “I know you will. And if the rumors are to be believed, we’ll need everything we can to stop the Breach.”

Chapter 8: Demons Who Would Be Gods

Mahanon walked out of Neighven’s command center, and a cool mountain breeze passed over him. The sky was dotted with the black bodies of Changelings flying around, though a few pegasi were also flying in small clusters and eyeing the Changelings suspiciously.

Walking down through the town, Mahanon walked up the fortress’ walls, where Bzkdlina was sitting, her back legs hanging over the side. “Enjoying the view?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “It’s just so...green up here. I didn’t expect it.”

“Don’t leave the Badlands much?”

She shook her head. “I don’t like that word, ‘Badlands’. It’s what the ponies call our homeland to make us sound like uncivilized barbarians. And no, I don’t leave the Aynytsup very often. Nobody does.”

“‘Aynytsup’?” he repeated. “Is that what you call the area?”

She nodded. “It’s what we call the desert around the city. Most Changelings don’t even leave the city that they’re in; we all stay in the same area that all our ancestors lived in. As far as we can remember, my family has stayed in the Capital.”

“Interesting,” he said to himself. “I suppose I can see why Changelings are said to have a lot of loyalty, then; when you spend so much time in one area, you tend to get attached to it.”

“It’s also for safety; the Aynytsup has lots of creatures that prey on us. The walls keep them out.”

“You’re prey?” he asked. “That must not make life easy.”

“I remember reading something in school that said some scientists thought it explained why we live a lot shorter compared to other species; we need to have fast lives so we can fend for ourselves quickly.”

“About how short of a life, exactly?”

“Twenty five years is the average.”

“And how old are you?”

“Six. About the equivalent of twenty for a pony, or so I’m told.”

“Pretty young,” he replied in shock.

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “It’s one of the things I don’t like about being a Changeling. By the time they’re twenty five, most ponies are barely into their adult lives. By that time, we’re all dying. It’s just not fair!”

“It just reminds you to enjoy life more. Most people back in Thedas have hardly done anything with their lives at age twenty five; they think time is just unlimited for them. At least with a short life, you’re reminded to make the best of it while you can.”

She sighed. “I guess you’re right. I don’t really remember the last time a Changeling was welcome this far north, and I had a part in making us welcome here. I guess there’s that.”

Mahanon smiled. “Do you have any ideas of what you’ll do once we close the Breach?”

She thought about it for a few seconds. “No idea. I might help the Inquisition, because you saved all the Changelings and welcomed us. Nobody here would ever have thought of doing those two things. I owe you a debt for your kindness.”

“Fighting for us will be enough,” he replied. “But if you want to stay, we’d be happy to have you. Just don’t think we expect you to because of what we did.”

“Inquisitor!” a pony called from behind them. “You are requested in the town square.”

“I guess I should go,” Mahanon said, turning around. “I’ll see you later.”

She turned around and smiled at him. “I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Mahanon walked off the fortress walls to the town center, where Queen Chrysalis was standing there, a Changeling right next to her. “Was it you who called for me?” he asked.

“Yes,” she responded. “We are leaving soon, and I wanted to thank you again for helping my kind.”

Twilight walked up to them, looking at the two. “Oh good, you’re both here,” she said happily.

Chrysalis looked down at her Changeling and gave a nod. The Changeling returned the nod, then walked away. “What is it?” she asked.

“We’ll be leaving soon. Can you get your Changelings ready to fly there?” she asked.

“Already on it,” Chrysalis said triumphantly. “That Changeling is alerting the others that we are heading out soon.”

“And are all your Changelings ready?” Mahanon asked.

Chrysalis gave a quick laugh. “Changelings are always ready.”

“Perfect!” Twilight beamed, walking towards the doors of Neighven. “The chariot’s waiting outside. Come down and meet me when you’re ready.”

“And I will meet you in Canterlot,” Chrysalis said, taking flight. “Myself and the four Changelings you rescued from captivity will be helping you close the Breach, as well as many more of my subjects.”

“I’ll meet you there, then.” Chrysalis nodded, then flew away.

“Wait, Inquisitor!” Ward called as Mahanon started to walk up to the command center to get his equipment for the battle. “Please, can I go with you on this?”

“I suppose,” Mahanon said suspiciously. “But why so much enthusiasm, and why for this?”

“I’m just...never mind why,” he said with a wave of his hoof. “Just please, take me with you!”

“This all seems a little odd. Ward, is there something you’re not telling me?”

Ward groaned, then put a hoof on his forehead. “Fine. I’m trying to impress somepony, and I figured going on this with you and being a big hero and whatnot would work.”

“Trying to impress somepony?” Mahanon asked slyly. “Who is it?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he replied. “You’d laugh, anyways.”

“Maybe I don’t say yes to letting you come along unless you tell me who you’re trying to show off to,” Mahanon smiled, crossing his arms.

“Ugh,” Ward moaned. “Fine. I’m trying to impress Bzkdlina.”

“Bzkdlina?” Mahanon asked in shock.

“Yeah. Got a problem with it?”

“No, I just...it’s not exactly who I expected.”

“I just...I think she’s cute, okay?” he confessed while blushing heavily.

“Well, I don’t see any reason you can’t come along. You’ve proven yourself to be a good fighter before. Go tell Cassandra and Varric that they’re coming along too, okay?”

“You got it, Inquisitor!” he quickly saluted before running down to fetch the others.

The Inquisition’s chariot landed on a small plateau on Mount Canter, and the Inquisition jumped out as Chrysalis landed next to them.

“Are you ready to help close the Breach once and for all?” Mahanon asked Chrysalis.

Chrysalis half growled and half laughed. “Yes, Inquisitor. I and the whole might of the Changeling Race stand behind you.”

He smiled. “Let’s go, then.”

Mahanon lead the way up the mountain, with his companions following behind. Chrysalis took flight, flying up to the top with her Changelings.

“You know,” Varric spoke up, “Even when the Breach is closed, we’re still going to have all this red lyrium to perform cleanup duty on.”

“One problem at a time,” Cassandra responded.

“So long as we don’t have to deal with demons again,” Ward muttered under his breath.

“We might be able to do some good research on this,” Varric mused. “Lots of it, and I bet there are a lot of ponies not really doing a lot right now. We could have near-continuous research of it.”

“Princess Celestia probably has ponies she could lend you for that,” Twilight suggested.

“So it sounds like you’re staying then, Varric?” Mahanon asked.

“Who knows? Could probably get some good research done here, especially with a royal grant.”

When they reached the peak of the mountain, Chrysalis was standing there with a few of her Changelings, including the four that had exorcised her. “We are ready whenever you are,” she said.

Mahanon took point, standing right in front of the Breach. “Everybody ready?” he asked. His response was a loud and intimidating rallying cry from the Changelings.

“Everybody!” he yelled. “Now” He held his hand up to the Breach, and the Anchor connected with it. The Changelings all powered up their horns and shot light at the Breach, just like the Anchor. The Breach began wobbling, then it began shrinking in size. “We’re almost there!”

When the Breach was about half the size it had been, a huge force came over Mahanon, knocking him down to the ground. From there, he could see the other beams of light slowly die out, one by one.

He scrambled to his feet, then looked around the summit. There was no one else to be seen.

“What was that?” Twilight asked.

Her response was shards of red lyrium coming out of the ground, impaling many of the Changelings gathered there.

“Ah, shit!” Varric yelled, reaching for Bianca.

“Inquisitor…” a deep voice echoed all around them.

“Who are you?” Chrysalis demanded, stomping a hoof on the ground. “Show yourself! Only those afraid of their enemies’ might hide in the shadows!”

The Inquisition could see a faint red glow start to come out from one of the dark corners, and eventually, a glowing red pony, body made entirely of crystal, stepped out.

“You!” Chrysalis called to him. “You killed my subjects!” She leaped closer to him, then powered up her horn. “And now you will feel my wrath!”

The pony grinned, then stomped a hoof on the ground. More shards of red lyrium shot up out of the ground, impaling Chrysalis and sending green blood spattering all across the dirt.

“Queen Chrysalis!” Mahanon called out.

“Inquisitor!” she said, pain clear in her voice. She growled. “Wipe their pitiful lives off this earth!”

“We have to go!” Cassandra yelled.

“Everybody, fall back!” Mahanon ordered. The Inquisition, along with the few Changelings that remained, fled back down the mountain.

The red pony laughed. “You can run, Inquisitor…” He stomped a hoof on the ground, causing red lyrium to spring up all over Canterlot, including covering the one city gate out. “...But you’ll only die tired.”

The Inquisition ran down the mountainside, but when they got to where they landed, the chariot and the Guards pulling it were impaled with red lyrium spikes from the ground. “We’re trapped!” Bzkdlina cried.

“No!” Twilight said, running to the front of the group. “I know a way into Canterlot, we can figure it out from there! There’s an old mine shaft that was used to mine crystals here we can take into Canterlot!”

“Less talking, more running, Princess!” Varric yelled.

“Shiny!” Cadence called down from the air. “Behind you!”

Shining Armor quickly turned around, then hit one of the Crystal Ponies across the muzzle, stunning him. A shot of blue magic came down from above, hitting the Crystal Pony and shattering him in an explosion of crystals. “Nice shot, sweetie!” he called back up with a smile. Suddenly, his mood turned more serious. “To your left!”

Cadence looked left, then used her magic to grab the Changeling flying near her and throw it to the ground. “Why are there Changelings here?” she called down to him worriedly.

Shining Armor simply shook his head and sighed. “They’re probably working with them. Because we didn’t have enough troubles already.”

In his frustration, he hardly noticed the magic flowing through the earth, about to hit him. Acting quickly, Cadence swooped down and picked him up, then flew into the sky.

“Hey, role reversal, right?” he laughed. “Now you’re the one throwing me!”

“Hardly the time for jokes, darling!” she grunted, struggling to keep airborne under his weight. She flew over to the Crystal Pony that had attacked him, then dropped him. Shining Armor enveloped himself in magic, coming down to the ground and creating a shockwave which knocked the Crystal Pony over. Another shot of blue magic came down, which shattered the Crystal Pony just as before.

Confident that all their enemies were dead, Cadence flew down and leaned on Shining Armor. “I wish we could’ve gotten here earlier and warned them,” she panted.

“It’ll be okay,” he comforted, putting a hoof around her middle. “We got out of the Crystal Empire, we can think of a way to get out of this.”

“Yeah,” she replied, not fully convinced. “In case this all goes wrong...I love you,” she said, kissing him on the cheek.

Shining Armor turned his head and kissed her on the mouth. “I love you, too.”

The boards covering a hole in the mountain near them began moving, as if somepony was banging against them. Exiting the hug and looking at the hole, they both powered up their horns.

“I love you,” Cadence said, tears in her eyes.

“I love you too,” he replied, focusing on the boards instead of the tears struggling to get out.

“One more!” Mahanon rallied.

Cassandra grunted, then kicked once more with all her might, breaking the boards covering the exit and letting light flow in. Almost immediately, a shot of blue light flew past them and hit the ground behind them.

“Dammit!” they heard a mare curse from the distance.

The Inquisition quickly scrambled out of the tunnel, weapons ready for fighting. Standing in front of them were two ponies; one unicorn in elaborate armor, and one alicorn wearing nothing. Both looked weak and had their horns ready for battle, and their faces were a mixture of anger, fear, and determination.

“Drop your weapons!” the unicorn demanded.

“Who are you?” the alicorn asked. “And why is that with you?” she asked, pointing at Bzkdlina.

“We’re the Inquisition,” Mahanon responded, not putting his weapon down. “We came here to close the Breach but got attacked. Who are you?”

“Shining Armor!” Twilight called from behind Mahanon as she stepped out of the tunnel. “Cadence!”

“Twily?” the unicorn asked with a slight tilt of his head. Twilight ran up to him, and as soon as he saw her, he smiled broadly and ran up to bring her in for a big hug, which the alicorn joined in on.

“I think I missed something…” Varric said.

“That’s Prince Shining Armor and his wife, Princess Cadence,” Ward explained, slightly giddy. “He’s Princess Twilight’s brother.”

“I guess that explains a lot,” Mahanon said, putting his staff away and walking up to the group hug. “So you’re Prince Shining Armor?” he asked

The unicorn looked up at him with a quizzical look, then nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

“Princess Celestia told us that you might join us as our general.”

“And ‘us’ would be…?”

“The Inquisition.”

“And the Inquisition is…?”

“It’s a long story,” Twilight butted in. “But he came here to help Equestria, and we need your help if we’re going to stop the Breach once and for all.”

“And the Breach is that big green hole in the sky, I assume.”

“That’s correct,” Mahanon confirmed. “It’s a rip between our world and the Fade.”

“‘The Fade’?” Shining Armor echoed. “Twily, why do you always find yourself in really weird situations with weird…” He looked at Mahanon. “What are you, anyways?”

“Elf, dwarf, human,” he replied, pointing to himself, Varric, and Cassandra. “I know it probably seems pretty insane, but yes, your sister is working with us, and she’s helped a lot.”

“The Changeling, too?” he asked, looking at Bzkdlina, who shied away and hid behind Cassandra.

“Her too. All the Changelings except her and a few others were possessed by demons, and we exorcised them and allied with them.”

“Allied with Changelings?” he asked. “Seems risky.”

“Queen Chrysalis died defending the Inquisition,” Twilight said softly, almost insulted. “Regardless of what they’ve been to ponies before, they’re our allies now.”

“What even are the creatures here?” Mahanon asked, looking at the crystals scattered around. “Are they some form of red lyrium creature?”

“‘Red lyrium’?” Shining Armor repeated. “I’m not sure.” He exited the hug, then pointed at one of the spears of red lyrium shooting out from the ground. “Is that it?”

“Yes,” Mahanon confirmed.

“Then yes,” Shining Armor nodded. “That stuff started growing in the Crystal Empire, and it started driving some of the Crystal Ponies to madness. When it got to the Crystal Heart, they all seemed to fall to it.”

“It got to the Crystal Heart?” Twilight asked, suddenly jumping up.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Cadence said, still sitting on the ground.

“I take it that’s a bad thing?” Mahanon asked.

“The Crystal Heart is connected to the lifeblood of every Crystal Pony,” Twilight said quietly. “If it’s infected with red lyrium...then they all are.”

“We can deal with that later,” Mahanon said. “Right now, we need to get out of Canterlot.”

“Our best bet might be to go into the city,” Shining Armor said, putting a hoof under his chin. “Lots of ways to get out. Train, sewer, old mine shafts, things like that, though I don’t know how all of our options would work. Still, it’s best to have options. We should be small enough that we can move quickly, and if the Changelings are with us, they can provide support from the air and hopefully create some confusion amongst all the Crystal Ponies. If there’s one thing Changelings are good for, it’s attacking without a pattern or standard style, so you can never learn to predict them.”

“Let’s hope they buy us a little time,” Varric said, walking up to the group. “Well? What are we waiting for?”

“Follow me,” Shining Armor said, taking point. He started walking towards the city, the rest of them following close behind.

“So, Prince?” Varric asked. “How long has red lyrium been in the Crystal Empire?”

“A few weeks,” he said after thinking for a short while. “We dispatched some researchers to study it, but eventually, the ones spending the most time near it seemed to go crazy. Hearing voices, withdrawing socially, it was all very odd. We tried to get them to come back to us, but the damage was already done. When the red lyrium reached the Crystal Heart, we tried to cleanse it, but nothing worked.”

“We left when we started hearing the voices,” Cadence added sadly. “Who knows how bad it is there now?”

“The pony that attacked us on the summit seemed to be far along in the process of being consumed by it,” Cassandra said. “Are they all like that?”

“It was probably Dihiryn,” Shining Armor said softly. “He was the main researcher. He spent the most time out of all of them with it, and some of his assistants began to mysteriously disappear. I never suspected he was behind it until he tried to assassinate Cadence and I.”

“He what?!” Twilight yelled. “He will not get away with that!”

“Relax, Twilight,” Cadence said soothingly. “We’ll get him eventually.”

“We’ll think of something, right Inquisitor?” Ward asked worriedly.

“We’ll be able to pull something together,” he assured him. “But right now, our biggest worry is getting out of Canterlot alive.”

The Inquisition walked up a small hill, then looked down to see three Crystal Ponies patrolling the area. “Ready to show us how your people fight, Inquisitor?” Shining Armor asked, powering up his horn.

As Mahanon pulled his staff out, he gave a small smile. “Get ready to be amazed.”

“Ponies ready!” Shining Armor yelled, drawing the Crystal Ponies’ attention. “Ponies engage!”

Shining Armor, Cassandra, and Ward all ran up to the Crystal Ponies. Twilight, Cadence, and Bzkdlina took off into the air. Mahanon and Varric remained right where they were, getting ready to fight from a distance.

Mahanon lead off using Walking Bomb to curse one of the Crystal Ponies, and Varric’s Long Shot ripped through the three. “Focus on the cursed one!” Mahanon yelled to the rest of the Inquisition, who turned their attention to it. Cassandra was holding her shield up to block its attacks, and the rest of the Inquisition was launching their various spells, arrows, and melee attacks at it. With a cast of Winter’s Grasp, the Crystal Pony died, exploding in a mass of crystals and spreading the curse to the other two.

Mahanon turned his attention to one of the other Ponies, which Cassandra, Cadence, and Varric were focusing on as well. He quickly powered up Horror and slammed his staff into the ground, causing the Crystal Pony to run away in fear. With a long, continuous stream of magic from Cadence, the Pony eventually exploded as well, leaving just one left.

Within seconds of the previous Crystal Pony dying, the last one did. The curse was up, so Princess Cadence shot a beam of magic at it to shatter it, its crystal shards joining with the others.

“Not bad,” Shining Armor laughed to Mahanon as he walked up. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the type of magic that you use. Is it common where you come from?”

“Some of those spells yes, some of them no,” he responded, putting his staff away. “Maybe when this is done, I could try and teach you, and you could teach me any unicorn magic we could benefit from.”

“Good, now we have something to look forward to,” he smiled, turning back towards the city. “Not too far into the city itself. Then it won’t be as open, and since Twilight, Cadence, and I are all pretty familiar with the layout, we’ll know the best way to get around when the Crystal Ponies won’t. That should give us an advantage.”

They climbed up another hill, and at the top, they looked out over the whole city of Canterlot, which had spikes of red lyrium popping out of the ground nearly everywhere. Numerous glowing Crystal Ponies were in the city, trying to take on the citizens of Canterlot or the Changelings coming down from the sky.

“That’s...more than I anticipated,” Shining Armor admitted.

“We’re screwed, aren’t we?” Varric asked bluntly.

“Not yet,” Mahanon replied, stepping up and sliding down the steep dirt hill onto the ground below. Twilight, Cadence, and Bzkdlina flew down next to him, while the rest of the Inquisition slid down after him. “Shining Armor, do you have any ideas yet?”

He rubbed a hoof under his chin, deep in thought. “We might be able to take the waterfall out of the city…”

“The waterfall?” Cadence asked, landing on the ground. “Shiny, are you insane?”

“We wouldn’t take the natural one,” he replied. “We’d take the Golden Discs. They’ll be easier to get down through.”

“Honey, I love you, but your planning can be really horrendous sometimes. Remember your mom’s birthday? And that was just a party; this is escaping crazy Crystal Ponies that want us dead.”

“It’s the best option we have now,” Mahanon intervened. “And even a slim chance of survival is better than trying to fight off every Crystal Pony here in Canterlot.”

“You could fly down,” Shining Armor comforted her, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “You, Twily, and, uh…” He looked at Bzkdlina.

“Bzkdlina,” she said meekly.

“...and Bzkdlina will get out for sure.” He looked to the rest of the Inquisition. “You’re all okay with this, right?” They all nodded in response.

“Okay,” Cadence conceded.

“Time to kick some Crystal Pony ass, then?” Varric asked.

Mahanon turned towards the city and saw that they were in a small backyard, a tall building standing between them and the city. He walked to the door and opened it, and the Inquisition all funneled inside. The house was empty, and it looked as though the ponies living there had abandoned it halfway through their normal lives: there were dishes both in a drying rack and in the sink, a book was resting face-down on the couch, and there was a rotting bowl of half-eaten mush at the table. When they got to the front door, they all gathered around it.

“Ready?” Mahanon asked, putting his hand on the knob. The rest of his party answered by powering up their horns and pulling out their weapons. He gave a quick nod, then opened the door and ran out.

Immediately, a small group of five Crystal Ponies all darted their heads towards them. The battle started as before; Varric and Mahanon stayed behind while the rest of them either ran into battle or took flight.

Mahanon cast a Static Cage over two of the Crystal Ponies in the distance, while Varric threw a cluster of Elemental Mines in front of them. Two of the Crystal Ponies ran after Mahanon and Varric, but when they got close, the mines exploded, putting them on the verge of death. Mahanon quickly responded by casting Horror, which sent them fleeing. Combining his spells with Varric’s bolts from Bianca, Mahanon managed to take both of the Crystal Ponies down with ease.

Turning their attention to the other three, Mahanon cast a Walking Bomb curse to eventually take out the group. Varric followed up with a Long Shot, hurting two of the Crystal Ponies. When Cassandra used her Wrath of Heaven to hit all three Crystal Ponies, the one cursed by Walking Bomb exploded, passing it on to the other two.

Ward swung his lance broadly, knocking both Crystal Ponies on their backs. With a cast of Immolate on them, both Crystal Ponies died and exploded as well.

“Down that way!” Shining Armor called, pointing down the street to their left. The whole Inquisition put their weapons away and began sprinting or flying down the street, dodging the Crystal Ponies’ red lyrium magic being hurled at them. Many of the Crystal Ponies got swarmed by Changelings from above, and many of them chased after scared-looking unicorns who would hit them from a distance and then run into an alley.

“Next right!” Shining Armor called after passing a small back alley between two rows of shops. Taking a sharp right, the Inquisition turned down another street and immediately stopped in their tracks as they saw a cluster of Crystal Ponies waiting for them.

One of the Crystal Ponies slammed its hoof down, catching Shining Armor by surprise and knocking him on his back before he could get ready for battle.

“Shining Armor!” Cadence called, flying straight for him and landing in front of him. She cast a shield around them, narrowly blocking a barrage of red lyrium crystals shot at them. The rest of the Inquisition pulled out their weapons, getting ready for a battle.

Seeing that they were all in close proximity, Mahanon cast a Static Cage over all of the Crystal Ponies to keep them in place. Cassandra and Ward ran up to the Crystal Ponies, Mahanon stayed behind with Varric and Twilight, and Bzkdlina flew up out of sight.

Varric launched an Explosive Shot into the crowd of Crystal Ponies, assaulting them all with fire and electricity damage. Shining Armor slowly turned over, then got up to his hooves and powered his horn, shooting a few spells from behind Cadence’s shield.

Mahanon followed up with a Walking Bomb curse on one of the Crystal Ponies. One of the other Crystal Ponies slammed his own hoof down on the ground, sending a shockwave through the earth that knocked the entire Inquisition down onto their backs.

As Mahanon started to get up on all fours, he felt a heavy weight land on him, shoving him back to the ground. “It’s over,” the Crystal Pony on his back hissed.

Immediately, he felt the weight on his back lifted, and he quickly scrambled to his feet to see Bzkdlina on the back of the cursed Crystal Pony, trying to bite into his tough crystal body.

“You fool!” he said, falling onto his back and crushing her. “Our perfect forms are no match for your primitive bite!”

Picking up his staff, Mahanon launched an Incinerate spell at the Crystal Pony, killing him and causing him to explode, spreading the curse and quickly exploding the others as well. “Everybody okay?” he asked.

A small chorus of ‘yes’ was his response. The whole Inquisition stood up, though Bzkdlina and Shining Armor did so more shakily than the others. “Are you two alright?” he asked, looking at then struggle to stay on their hooves.

Cadence ran to Shining Armor to keep him up, and Ward did the same to Bzkdlina. “I’m fine,” Shining Armor moaned.

“It’s only pain,” Bzkdlina responded through gritted fangs.

“We’re almost there,” Shining Armor said, pointing straight ahead. He exited Cadence’s hold, then took a few small steps forward.

“That’s the castle,” Twilight said, looking at the large building straight ahead of them. “I wonder if Princess Celestia and Princess Luna got out in time.”

“They’ll be okay,” Cadence said, coming over and putting a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “They’ve dealt with things like this before. They can handle themselves.”

The earth rumbled, and they could all hear Shining Armor yelling. Turning towards the palace, they saw large spikes of red lyrium rising from the ground right where he had been standing, blocking the street.

“Shining Armor!” Cadence cried, taking flight and going over the red lyrium.

“Princess Cadence, no!” Mahanon ordered, but she did not come back.

“Shining Armor! Cadence!” Twilight spread her wings and took flight, going over the lyrium as well.

“What part of ‘no’ don’t you guys understand?” Varric yelled to them. “Great, now the only three ponies that know where we’re going are all over there!”

“We should be able to go around this building,” Cassandra said, pointing to their left. “Bzkdlina, go up top and help us navigate.” She nodded, then flew straight up.

“Yes, go around the building!” she called from above. “They’re here on the other side!” She swooped down to avoid a shard of red lyrium flying at her. “I can’t stay up here, it’s too dangerous!”

As the Inquisition rounded the corner, they saw a massive Crystal Pony, glowing bright red and seemingly further along in the corruption process than the others, shooting a steady beam of magic at Cadence and Twilight, who were combining their magic to form one shield around Shining Armor, who was lying on the ground. The Crystal Pony turned around to eye the rest of the Inquisition, who all backed up a few steps out of intimidation.

“Now that’s a big one,” Varric noted, reaching for Bianca.

Ward grimaced at it. “The bigger they are, they harder they’ll fall.”

“Get ready!” Mahanon called, the Inquisition all pulling out their weapons.

The Crystal Pony slammed his hoof on the ground, sending an earthquake that knocked them all on the ground. A bright red ball of magic appeared in front of the Crystal Pony, and he fired it straight at them. Mahanon saw a bright purple flash of light out of the corner of his eye, and when he was not crushed by the Crystal Pony’s magic, he turned to see why.

In front of him stood Twilight, her horn bright with magic, holding up a shield to block the attack.

“Get away, quick!” she ordered. “I can’t hold it off much longer!”

The Inquisition quickly scattered, and in one smooth motion, Twilight dropped the shield and launched into the air, allowing the magic to create a crater in the ground.

“He looks weak!” Cassandra noted, as the Crystal Pony began panting. “Kill him before he can do that again!”

Mahanon quickly launched a Walking Bomb curse and Spirit Mark curse in rapid succession, causing the Crystal Pony to take massive damage over time. Varric threw out a cluster of Elemental Mines which quickly exploded, while Ward and Cassandra ran up to attack the Crystal Pony head on. Bzkdlina closed her eyes and started muttering something under her breath.

“What’s she doing?” Varric asked, taking a quick glance back at her before continuing to fire Bianca.

“We can find out later!” Twilight called from above. “Right now, focus on him!”

Mahanon continued to fire spell after spell at the Crystal Pony, and when his mana restored enough, he trapped it in a Static Cage to let every attack add lightning damage. The Crystal Pony slammed his hoof down, knocking Ward and Cassandra over, then raised his hoof again to crush them.

With another flash of light, Twilight appeared next to them, using her magic to hold his hoof still in the air. “Quick, go!” Twilight ordered, and they both quickly scrambled out of the hoof’s shadow.

Twilight jumped back with the aid of her wings right as she let her shield down, narrowly escaping the full weight of the Crystal Pony crushing her.

“Inquisitor, move!” Mahanon heard Bzkdlina call from behind him. When he turned around, he saw Bzkdlina, her hooves planted firmly in the ground and a massive ball of green magic over her horn.

“How did-”

“I can barely keep it back!” she yelled at him. “Move now!”

He and Varric quickly jumped out of the way, and the ball of magic flew towards the Crystal Pony, exploding in a green flash. The Crystal Pony roared, and all the green light rushed into his body and turned his glow from bright red to bright green.

“Finish him now, Princess Cadence!” Bzkdlina yelled to her.

Startled, Cadence dropped her barrier and launched a bolt of blue magic at the Crystal Pony, who shattered in an explosion of crystals and light.

Mahanon stood up, using his staff to prop himself up. “Good work, everyone.”

Cadence turned back to Shining Armor, then ran up to him and crouched down to him. “Are you okay?” she asked worriedly.

He only moaned in response. Mahanon ran up, then squatted down to him. “Can you get up?”

He tried to get up, but fell back down on the ground and moaned. “I can’t...go on without me.”

“No!” Cadence protested, tears starting to flow down her cheek.

“Cassandra!” Mahanon ordered. “We’re taking him with us.”

“No!” Shining Armor protested as Mahanon and Cassandra picked him up between them.

“No one left behind,” Mahanon said. “Where to now?”

“That river right in front of the castle,” he said weakly. “There should be a few small boats on the shore we can take down.”

The Inquisition started walking down to the shore. “Gah!” Shining Armor yelped as they were almost there. “My leg!”

Looking down at it, Mahanon saw a small shard of red lyrium poking out of one of his hind legs. He looked back to see two Crystal Ponies walking towards them, evil smiles spread over their faces.

“No!” Cadence yelled at them, leaping over Mahanon and confronting the Crystal Ponies head on.

“Princess…” one of the Crystal Ponies hissed.

Without a word, Cadence’s horn started emitting purple smoke. She blinked, and her eyes turned bright green. Clenching her teeth together in anger, the two Crystal Ponies fell to the ground, clenching their heads in pain. Small cracks started spreading all over them, and bits of crystal began to fall out of their bodies.

“Princess Cadence!” Mahanon called to her. She did not respond, rather intensifying the look of unbridled fury on her face and causing the Crystal Ponies to cry out in agony.

“Princess Cadence!” he yelled louder. The smoke from her horn and her eyes subsided, and she shook her head quickly.

“Coming!” she responded, turning around and taking flight. Mahanon looked back at the Crystal Ponies; one of them was lying motionless on the ground, and the other put up a hoof, which crumbled into dust.

“In this one!” Twilight called to Mahanon and Cassandra while standing next to a small boat. Gently, they lowered Shining Armor, then got in and each picked up a paddle.

“Have you ever rowed, Inquisitor?” Cassandra asked, putting her paddle in the water.

“Unfortunately, I have not,” he responded.

“First time for everything, Seeker!” Varric called as he got into a boat behind them with Ward.

“We’ll try and slow you down going down the Discs,” Twilight said from above, where she was flying with Cadence and Bzkdlina. “That should make it less dangerous for you.”

“Sounds good,” Mahanon said, pushing away from the shore. “Everyone, hold on!”

Mahanon and Cassandra paddled down the river, trying to avoid the few rocks in it as they did so. “We’re coming to the first drop!” Twilight called from above.

“Hold on to something!” Mahanon yelled, grabbing the side of the boat with one hand and keeping Shining Armor down with the other. Cassandra did the same as their boat tipped over the ledge. They felt magic embrace them, and while they still splashed down hard into the pool of water below them, they were not hurt.

“Just a few more!” Cadence called down to them.

Mahanon began paddling towards the edge of the golden Disc they were on, and when they reached the edge, they felt magic envelop them again as they dropped down to another Disc.

“Why are these even here?” Varric asked from behind them.

“Design purposes,” Ward said. “Supposed to look cool, or something. All of Canterlot was designed to look cool.”

“All that matters is they’re helping us,” Cassandra said, grabbing the side of the boat in preparation for another drop.

The two boats went through another few similar drops before ending up in a small lake on the ground. Mahanon and Cassandra paddled to the shore, and when they landed, Cadence flew into their boat and looked down at Shining Armor. “Are you okay?” she asked, panicked.

Shining Armor gave a small smile and nodded. “Still alive.” She hugged him tight, then started sobbing into his armor.

Mahanon and Cassandra stepped out of the boat, then helped pull Ward and Varric’s boat to shore. When they got out, Mahanon went back to Shining Armor and looked down at him. “Are you alright?” he asked.

Shining Armor shook his head. “I’ll live, but no, I’m pretty badly hurt. My back is killing me, and I’m pretty sure I broke at least something.”

Mahanon waved Cassandra over, and the two picked up Shining Armor between them again. “So what do we do now?” Mahanon asked.

“We have to get him to somepony,” Cadence said worriedly.

“I could probably teleport him and I back to Neighven!” Twilight said, powering her horn up.

“I’m too hurt for that,” Shining Armor replied. “Teleportation might really ruin me. Twily, you have to go ahead of us and warn them.”

“What?” Twilight protested. “No, I’m staying here with you!”

“Somebody has to go to the Inquisition and warn them,” Mahanon agreed.

“But why me?” Twilight asked.

“You’re the only one who can teleport that far,” Cadence said, not liking the answer. “I’m sorry Twilight, but you have to leave this one up to the rest of us.”

“I’ll go back with you, Princess,” Ward said, stepping up to her.

“Me too,” Bzkdlina also said.

Twilight looked at the two of them, then back to Cadence. “But I don’t want to…” she said, choking back tears.

“You have to,” Cadence said with a comforting smile. “If you don’t, then they’ll never know what happened here, and they’ll probably be caught off guard.”

Twilight opened her mouth to fight back, but instead closed it. "Okay," she said, defeated.

"We're not very from Ponyville," Cadence noted, looking at a tiny town far in the distance. "We'll go there and get help. Twilight, make sure you don't send a big party towards us; we need to lay low."

Twilight nodded. Hanging her head, she caused an explosion of light. When the light settled, she, Ward, and Bzkdlina were nowhere to be seen.

"Well then," Varric said. "Lead the way, Princess."