Endgame

Chapters

Prologue: Cold Open
Part 1: In the Blood
Part 2: Hell on the Horizon
Part 3: The Board is Set
Part 5: Snow and Shadows
Part 6: Valley of the Shadow
Part 7: In Blackest Night
Part 8: The Harrowing of Hell
Part 9: Burning Cold, Burning Heat
Part 10: Check
Part 11: Crown of the Black King
Epilogue: The End
Chapter notes
Part 4: Darkness Descends

Prologue: Cold Open

Flash Sentry’s reflection stared back at him in the mirror, and he barely recognized the other pony in the glass. The electric blue eyes seemed to be filled with a pale gray sheen, as though fog had seeped into the orbs. He had combed his mane, which limply clung to his skull. Looking closer, he saw a thin, premature streak of gray running over the crown of his head.

Sighing, he brushed off the front of his dress uniform. The formal suit of crimson red fit perfectly around his form, with holes for his wings. A white sash crossed his torso, which was decorated with a row of colored ribbons. His eyes went towards the white and golden square on the far right of the row, then dropped to study a small black box that sat on the dresser before him. Inside the box, he knew, was a silver star-shaped medal, attached to a blue ribbon, designed to be worn around the neck.

He should have been honored. The Celestia Star was only awarded for acts of the highest valor; it was rare indeed for a pony to be awarded one while they were still alive. But he did not wish to wear the medal; it weighed far too much with all the blood and lives it was drenched in. Sighing, he lifted it up and draped it over his head. It felt like an iron collar around his neck.

There was a knocking at the door and Twilight entered. He could see her face reflected in the mirror. She looked just as tired as he did, and nervously clutched her pale blue coat about her. “Flash?” she called quietly. “It’s time.”

Flash swallowed and nodded. Turning, he followed Twilight out of the room and down the grand hallways of the Canterlot Castle. Neither of them spoke. The only sound was the echo of their hoofsteps off the tile floor.

Finally, they exited the castle into the bright sunlight, their breath frosting before their eyes in the winter chill as a light snow fell from the partly cloudy sky. Flash looked up towards the great yellow sphere hanging above them. What a wondrous thing, the sun! A gift from the heavens, providing the planet with heat and light. Life simply would not be possible without it.

Suddenly, the sky turned completely dark before his eyes: the sun vanished, and blackness covered everything, crushing him, choking the air from his lungs…

“Flash?”

Twilight’s voice pulled him out of the memory, and he shook his head to clear it. "Yeah. I'm okay," he mumbled.

“Come on,” she said, taking his hoof. The warmth of her touch revived Flash a bit and he managed to smile as she guided him towards a motorized carriage gilded in gold and white, where a uniformed chauffeur waited. They climbed into the safety of the carriage, behind the bulletproof glass and magic-resistant structure, and the chauffeur closed the door behind them before climbing into the driver's seat.

With a grumble, the engine started up and the driver pulled away from the castle, guiding them down the cobbled streets of Canterlot. Out the window, they could see ponies walking about the sidewalks, tending to shops, greeting neighbors with smiles, or simply pausing to admire the world going by. The sight of the city returning to a semblance of normality brought warmth to their hearts.

But that warmth was extinguished as they reached their destination. A set of black iron wrought gates opened before them. Above them was an arch that declared in great, swirling letters, “Celestia Park Cemetery.” Lines of ponies snaked out of the gates and into the sidewalk outside, murmuring quietly. Two columns of Royal Guards—the sunshine yellow of the Canterlot City Guard, the golden-white of the Solar House Guard, and the dark blues and purples of the Lunar House Guard—formed a clear pathway into the cemetery proper.

Flash instinctively reached for Twilight’s hoof. She took it without looking and squeezed. The carriage stopped and Flash and Twilight dismounted. Every pony’s head turned to observe their progress as they passed beneath the arch and into the column. As they passed between the columns, the Guards snapped to attention and saluted. Flash barely noticed. Twilight kept holding his hoof.

The park cemetery was a great, sprawling land of green grass lovingly smothered in pure white snow, decorated with rose bushes and great oak trees that provided shade. A crowd of ponies stood in the center of a clear patch of land that had been cleared of snow for the ceremony. Most of these ponies, which included several Guards in formal uniform, sat in plastic chairs that faced a makeshift stand that was already set up with a podium and microphone system. A large, shapeless object stood behind the stand, covered in a tarp.

Princesses Celestia and Luna sat on this stand, both of them with their heads bowed as their manes flowed around them. Shining Armor sat to Celestia’s right, adorned in his own formal uniform with its blue officer’s sash and double row of ribbons. He managed to smile at Twilight as the two of them approached the stand.

Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie sat in chairs to Luna’s left. Flash’s stomach lurched slightly as he noticed that each of them was wearing their own Celestia Stars, the medals gleaming faintly like distant stars. Each of the mares briefly smiled encouragingly at them as they walked up onto the stand, and Pinkie waved. Twilight waved back.

“Now, just remember what you practiced,” Twilight whispered urgently into Flash’s ear. “Take deep breaths, only check your notes if you need to, speak slowly and clearly from your chest and not your throat...did you bring lozenges? I have some in my pocket if you need them.”

Ordinarily, Flash would’ve shook his head and chuckled at his fiancee’s regular fretting, but all it summoned from him now was a ghost of a smile. She reluctantly let go of his hoof and took her seat next to Shining, who draped an arm around her.

Flash stepped up to the podium and cleared his throat. The speakers magnified the sound over the crowd, disrupting the relative peace of the park. Every head turned toward him, faces expectant. Flash struggled to swallow, glancing back at Twilight. She nodded encouragingly. He took a deep breath, faced the crowd and their bated breath, and began to speak.

“I know why you’re all here,” he said, his voice resounding through the park. “I know what you’re all thinking. You’re all wondering why this happened, what was the cause of this. You all want to know why our neighbors, our friends, our family members were killed a month ago.” He swallowed again, glanced down at his notes, then continued.

“The truth...is a hard, painful thing. But I think that it is something that needs to be told, if we are to understand and move on.”

Something ached deep inside his chest. Something tried to hold his tongue, protested his speech, but he took a deep breath and continued.

“It all started back in Ponyville...with my father. Phillip Finder.”

Forty days prior…

Ponyville was known as a peaceful place; how could the hometown of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony and the Princess of Friendship be anything else? And tonight, the citizens of Ponyville slept peacefully beneath a clear dark blue sky that was painted with twinkling white stars and a bright crescent moon. Their pale white light reflected off of the fresh snowfall that blanketed the ground.

A pegasus sprinted across the grounds of Ponyville Park, kicking up clouds of snow with every step. He circled around the duck pond and paused next to a bench to catch his frosty breath. The flickering light of the lantern over him cast him into stark relief. His ivory coat and golden hair were damp and sprinkled with snow, his chest heaving with breath and his wingtips fluttering. His brown eyes darted rapidly back and forth, searching the shadows for any sign of his pursuers. His cutie mark was an envelope with a red seal and a pair of golden wings.

He scanned the darkness, listening for any sign, but all was quiet and still. He allowed himself to sigh in relief. He’d lost them! His mission was complete! All he needed to do was find the fastest way out of town and—

Something snatched his hind legs and yanked hard, and he tumbled facefirst to the ground, grunting as he impacted against the snow. Looking back, he was shocked to see a lasso tangled around his legs. An orange mare wearing a Stetson hat and a green scarf was rushing towards him, the other end of the lasso clutched in her mouth.

“I got him!” Applejack shouted, rushing forward. “I got him, over here!”

The pegasus snapped his left wing towards her. The throwing knife concealed in his feathers flew towards her, the spinning blade glimmering in the moonlight. Applejack ducked to the side, but even as she did, a purple shield of magic appeared between her and the knife. The weapon bounced off the shield and fell harmlessly to the snow.

Twilight Sparkle, Flash Sentry, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy descended from the sky, landing around the pegasus to surround him as Rarity and Pinkie Pie ran up to join them. The trapped prey desperately looked from pony to pony, still laying on his back, searching for a way out that did not exist.

“Don’t even think about it,” Rainbow Dash snarled, spreading her wings threateningly. The pegasus quailed.

There was the sound of hoofsteps crunching in the snow. Applejack and Fluttershy stepped aside to allow a stallion to enter the circle. The captive’s eyes widened in horror as he recognized the green vest and the gray trilby.

“Winged Letter,” Phillip Finder growled, stepping closer and fixing his prey with a glare as cold as winter itself. “You’ve gone down in the world.”

Letter’s shivering no longer had anything to do with the cold.

“You delivered a package,” Phillip continued, his voice quiet and hard. “Who did you deliver it to?”

Winged shook his head. “You know what he’ll do to me if I tell you!”

“Do you know what was in that package?” Flash cut in. “Dozens of ponies could be killed because of it.”

“I know you’re scared of him,” Fluttershy added. “But he is just one pony. We are eight. We can protect you, and anypony else that he might threaten.”

“But you need to help us first,” Phillip stated, leaning in closer. His gaze bored into Letter’s, filling up his view. “Where did you deliver the package?”

Winged Letter stared at him for a few moments, still shaking. Finally, he swallowed and nodded. “If I tell you...can you keep me safe?”

“We promise,” Twilight reassured him.

Winged Letter looked around at his captor’s faces, then refocused on Phillip. He slowly nodded. Phillip helped him up as Applejack coiled up the lasso.

“Now, let’s get us inside,” Rarity declared. “It is far too cold and far too late for this.”

“I can make us some hot chocolate!” Pinkie chirped up, bouncing alongside the group as they started to walk towards the park exit. “With some whipped cream and marshmallows! Or maybe you just like whipped cream. It doesn’t matter! I personally think that anything is better with some hot choc—”

While the others were distracted, Winged Letter glanced around, his face slowly setting from fear into determination. He knew what was expected of him, knew what he was to do now that this eventuality had come true. He rummaged around in his mouth with his tongue, freeing the false tooth from its setting, and bit down hard. A bitter taste of almonds filled his mouth and the breath was stolen from him.

“No! Spit it out! Spit it out!” Flash shouted, rushing to his side as Winged collapsed to the ground, coughing and choking.

“What happened?” Fluttershy cried, rushing over.

White foam spewed from Winged’s mouth as he gagged on his last breaths, his shoulders heaving. He turned his head to look up at Phillip, who watched with a look of horrified concern. With a sudden lunge, the dying pony seized Phillip’s vest and pulled himself up into his face. Through the cloud of foam clogging his throat, he gurgled out two hate-filled words as his eyes blazed with the fury of a zealot:

“Hail Zugzwang.”

And with a final cough, he dropped into the snow, his body giving one last spasm as his life left him. The gathered ponies all looked down at the corpse, then at each other, their breath frosting in the winter night air.

Author's Note

This is it.

Just under two years and twenty stories later, this is the beginning of the end.

Welcome to Endgame, the final story of the Phillip Finder series. We hope you are prepared for it.

Part 1: In the Blood

It was a somber group that gathered in the throne room of the Rainbow Castle the next morning. The six mares sat in their crystal thrones, yawning and avoiding one another’s gazes as they ran through the events of the last night. Flash stood stiffly at attention next to Twilight’s throne, blinking his shadowed eyes as he studied the crystal map that they surrounded.

Finally, the doors opened and Phillip trotted in, shaking the disheveled strands of his mane out of his eyes. “Sorry I’m late,” he grumbled, shaking off the last vestiges of sleep. “Dr. Breeze showed up this morning and wanted to speak to me. It went on longer than I thought it would.” He walked up to the table and rubbed his eyes with a sigh.

“All right,” Twilight declared. “I think it’s best that we all go over what we know already.” She lit up her horn and the map began to move, zooming in on the Crystal Empire.

“Several months ago, a sample of a rare infectious disease called the Blood Plague was brought to the Princess Amore University in the Crystal Empire for study. Two weeks ago, that sample and all the compiled research was stolen from the laboratory.

“The Crystal City Guards tracked the stolen biological sample outside the city and across Equestria.” A red line began to trace its way across the map, from the Crystal Empire traveling south across Equestria, ricocheting off of several cities before eventually coming to a stop in Ponyville. “Eventually, it made its way to Ponyville, at which point this case was handed to us. We found that the sample had been given to Winged Letter.”

“Who handed off the package to somepony else before we could catch him,” Flash added. “And as we learned last night, he was working for Zugzwang.”

A shudder ran across the room at the dreaded name. Flash paused for a moment before nodding for Phillip to continue.

“I did some checking with the post office last night,” he reported. “Winged sent a package to Canterlot five days ago. I managed to get the address he sent it to. We need to investigate.”

“Agreed,” Twilight stated, tapping her hooves together nervously. “This is from Princess Celestia herself; she wants us all working on this. If Zugzwang has a sample of the Blood Plague, he could potentially weaponize it and…” She swallowed. “That could be a very, very, very bad thing!”

“Is it really that bad?” Fluttershy asked in concern.

Twilight nodded as she pulled a book off a nearby shelf: a great tome titled Magical Maladies and Diseases. She flipped it open and began to read from a chapter. “Sanguis plaga, the Blood Plague, is a rare, highly infectious cursed disease that can be air or waterborne. It was created in the six hundredth and sixty-sixth year of Luna’s Banishment by a wicked wizard as a curse; with the aid of several mages versed in healing magic, Princess Celestia managed to contain and control it, though it could not be completely destroyed. Initial signs of an infection include: weakness, chills, nausea, and cramps, followed by profuse bleeding from the pores, nostrils and eyes. The victim eventually exsanguinates and dies in horrible pain. Ugh, there’s a color illustration, that’s disgusting…” She grimaced, then looked up. “There is no vaccine, no cure, and the disease has a fatality rating of 92 percent. So, yes, this is bad.”

“I’ve sent a telegraph to Daring,” Phillip reported. “She’ll meet us in Canterlot to help.”

“Awesome!” Rainbow cheered.

“And Captain Polaris has contacted us, he’ll be there to help us with the investigation,” Flash added. “I mean, assuming that you all are going.”

“Of course we’re going,” Applejack stated as though pointing out an obvious fact. “Ain’t that right, gals?” There was a chorus of assent from the other four mares.

“All right, everypony,” Phillip stated. “The train to Canterlot leaves soon, we need to hurry.” He turned and bustled out of the room. The five mares followed after him to return to their homes and retrieve whatever necessities they would need for this journey.

Twilight exited the throne room, already thinking up a checklist of things that she would need to bring on this journey. So absorbed was she in her own thoughts that she almost bumped into Spike, who had been loitering outside the door.

“Hey, Twilight,” he said, twiddling his claws together. “So, uh, we’re going to be going to Canterlot, huh?”

“Yes, Spike,” Twilight reported, trotting into her bedroom and quickly tossing some necessities into her saddlebags; said necessities being mostly books.

“Twilight, I was thinking,” Spike said, selecting some scarves and earmuffs and placing them in the bags. “You know that somepony was...was watching us, right?”

Twilight shivered at the thought. “Yes, Spike.”

“What if it was Zugzwang?” Spike asked. “And what if he was the one who stole Starlight’s research and the crystals?”

Twilight paused, a nervous swallow passing down her throat. “I had thought of that, Spike,” she said. “But if it is him, I don’t know what he’s planning to do with it...nor do I want to imagine it,” she added.

Spike sighed. “I wish Starlight was still here. I hope she comes back from her village soon.”

“Me too, Spike,” Twilight agreed. She lifted her saddlebags onto her shoulders. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah,” Spike nodded, swinging his awaiting backpack onto his shoulders. Both of them exited the room to find the Flash waiting for them, adorned in full kit and his face grim. He escorted them out of the castle, into the snowy air of early winter Ponyville. A fresh, pure white snowfall was descending from the sky, alighting on the faces of the ponies wandering beneath. The smiles upon the faces of their neighbors seemed to mock the friends as they traipsed down the frost-covered streets, headed for the train station.

“Guys?” Spike commented, riding atop Twilight’s shoulders. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

Nopony said anything, but they all had the same feeling deep in their guts.

Steam billowed from the creaking locomotive as it pulled into the Canterlot station. The eight ponies and the dragon emerged from the carriage and stepped onto the icy platform. Proceeding through the station, they emerged onto the snow-dusted cobblestones of Carriage Street. A rapid, multi-colored river of carriages and ponies stretched out before them, as if trying to deny them entry.

Phillip paused at the edge of the sidewalk and nodded to an alleyway across the street. A mare adorned in a long, hooded gray winter parka was waiting in the shadows in between two buildings, her face muffled by a light green scarf. Upon sighting them, the mare disappeared further into the narrow alley. The group of friends managed to wade across the river of ponies to the other side and entered the alleyway after her.

The mare was waiting around the corner, leaning against the wall. As the group approached her, she lifted up her hood and tugged her scarf down, revealing her smiling face and greyscale mane.

“Hey, Phil,” Daring Do greeted him, allowing him to kiss her briefly upon the lips. “Good to see you all again,” she said to the others, tussling Rainbow’s mane affectionately.

“Wow,” Spike breathed softly, his eyes widening as his pupils focused upon the literary hero that appeared to have leapt right from the pages of her own books.

“No autographs,” Daring deadpanned to Spike. His face fell. She gave him a quick smile and a wink before turning back to Phillip, her expression becoming more serious.

“I checked that address you sent me,” she reported. “It’s a PO Box registered to one Alkaline Block. He’s a graduate student who lives at a mansion in the countryside with a Dr. Pyrophoric Mix. Neither of them have any criminal record or anything suspicious that I could find. I already got their address.”

“Thanks, Daring,” Phillip nodded. “We—”

Before he could finish that thought, he gasped as a jolt of harsh, penetrating cold rushed through his body. His blood froze in his veins, and a sheet of ice covered his bones. He couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, the cold was killing him, and the entire nation was covered in frost…

“Phillip! Phillip!”

The voices of his friends pulled him back to reality, and he realized that he was laying against the brick wall, his body trembling.

“Where? Where is it?” Daring asked urgently.

Phil fought to speak through his chattering teeth as the crime sense warning faded away. “I...I don’t know. It felt like...everywhere.”

The friends all exchanged looks of concern. “We need to get to that address, now,” Rainbow declared.

“Right,” Flash nodded, grasping Phillip underneath his forelegs. The pegasi picked up the flightless members of the group and they took to the cloud-streaked skies. Daring guided them towards the northwest of Canterlot. They passed over the gilded houses of the rich elite of Equestria, then the smaller condos of the lower classes, then finally the grassy mountainous regions on the borders of the capital where the richer members of society that valued their privacy built their mansions.

Daring signaled to the others behind her and pointed down. A medium-sized estate lay far beneath them, its bright red brick and and trim brown rooftop standing in stark contrast against the greens and whites of the snowy woods. A small pond, not yet frozen over, sat on the house’s northern wall. A smooth pathway led up to the front of the house. Parked in the cul-de-sac were two black and white motorized carriages, the red and blue lights atop their roofs switched off.

“Uh-oh,” Phillip muttered as Flash banked downwards, carrying him towards the ground. The others swooped down to the land on the thin snow. The City Guard who was standing sentinel in on top of the stone steps jumped as they appeared in front of him. Snow clung to his bright yellow armor.

“Your Highness!” he cried, recognizing Twilight and instinctively kneeling. “I’m afraid that you can’t come in here, this is an investigation.”

“It’s all right, private. I know them,” a voice called through the opening door. A dark blue unicorn with a gold-white mane adorned in the armor of a City Guard stepped out of the door. He wore two chevrons upon the collar of his armor, and his shoulders were marked with the silver bars of an Investigator.

“Prowl!” Flash cried, instantly brightening at the sight of his friend.

“Your Highness, Flash, nice to see you again,” Prowl nodded, his black eyes passing over the rest of the group before settling on Pinkie Pie. She gave him a tense, embarrassed smile and waved briefly.

“How did you get here so quickly?” Prowl asked, turning back to Flash. “We just got the call half an hour ago.”

“What call?” Twilight asked. “We’re here because of something else.”

“Ah,” Prowl stated. “I assumed you were here to assist with the murder of Dr. Mix.”

“Murder?” Twilight cried.

Prowl nodded. “We arrived here ten minutes ago after a call from Alkaline Block, the student who lives here. He had found Dr. Mix dead in his bedroom and called us immediately. We arrived at the same time as his wife, and we are questioning both of them now.” Prowl considered the group for a moment, then nodded to Flash and Phillip. “Perhaps it’s best if you two take a look at this.” He walked back inside and held the door open for them.

Phil and Flash looked at the others. “Too many cooks spoil the soup,” Phillip commented.

“Soup? What kind of soup? Some tomato soup would be good!” Pinkie put in.

“Are you coming?” Prowl called impatiently. “We’re letting in a draft.”

“We’ll wait out here,” Twilight said, despite the looks of disappointment on the other ponies faces. Flash and Phillip nodded and entered the house after Prowl.

They passed through a hallway and entered a great living room with maplewood flooring and a blazing fireplace in the corner. The wall in the back was dominated by an abstract portrait of subdued blues and blacks. Sitting on the sofa was a young unicorn stallion with a mop of blue and yellow hair, a ceramic white coat and baleful blue eyes, slowly rubbing his front hooves together. His cutie mark was a pair of steaming test tubes filled with blue liquid.

An earth pony City Guard with a golden coat and black and yellow hair was sitting before him, taking notes in a notebook. He looked around at the other ponies’ entrance. “Flash? Detective Finder?” he asked in surprise before remembering that he was supposed to salute.

“Hey Bumblebee,” Flash smiled, returning the salute.

Bumblebee started to grin, but quickly returned himself to seriousness. “All right, Mr. Block, let’s go over your story one more time.”

Alkaline Block looked up at the strangers with an exhausted look splashed across his face. “I woke up late this morning and after a quick breakfast, went straight downstairs to the laboratory to finish up last night’s experiment on binding of healing thaumaturgic formulas into cellular delivery systems. I recorded the results and brought them up to the doctor’s bedroom.”

“He didn’t do the experiments with you?” Flash cut in.

“No, he uh...he let me do a lot of the work myself while he worked mainly on theory.” Alkaline paused, his eyes drifting to face directly in front of him and no longer focusing on anything. “I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. The door was unlocked, so I walked in. He was…” The student hesitated, swallowing and rubbing his foreleg with one hoof. “He was dead. I ran out and used the phone to call the City Guard. That was about thirty minutes ago.”

“Did you ever have any disagreements with the doctor?” Bumblebee asked him, turning back to his notebook.

“No, never,” Alkaline shook his head. “He treated me as well as a member of the family while I was working for him.”

“And what were you working on?” Phillip asked.

Alkaline blinked in surprise. “We...we were working on new methods of medicine delivery through aerosol. Dr. Mix thought he could use it to treat ponies with respiratory problems.”

“Did you pick up a package a few days ago?” Phillip pressed.

“Yes,” Alkaline answered slowly. “It was supplies for the doctor. I gave them to him. Why are you asking me this?”

“It may pertain to why Dr. Mix was killed,” Phillip answered, turning to Bumblebee. “Can we have a look at the scene?”

“Uh…” Bumblebee muttered, turning to Flash. “Well, if you’re here on Princess Twilight’s instructions, I guess. It’s upstairs. Just be careful, we want to keep it fresh for the CSIs.”

“Thanks,” Flash nodded, turning around and heading down a hallway, Phillip following. As they passed by a different room, they saw a plump unicorn mare with a pristine golden coat, burnt orange locks, and the cutie mark of an open journal with a bright blue quill resting on the pages. She was speaking to a pale blue mare City Guard.

“That’s his wife, Swirling Ink,” Bumblebee told them, noticing their pausing. “She says that she hasn’t seen Dr. Mix since she left for market early this morning. Arrived here at the same time we did.”

“Do I remember anything unusual?” Ink was musing in response to the Guard’s question. “Well, aside from the usual unusualness...yes, I heard him on the phone yesterday morning. He was saying, ‘No, I can put it there while it’s being painted.’ He did order another one of his ridiculous paintings, so I assumed that’s what he was talking about.” Even with her back turned, the eye roll was obvious.

The two stallions continued down the hallway, past walls decorated with more abstract paintings, and up a set of stairs into a small bedroom on the second floor. The door was blocked off with the familiar yellow tape with its bold message: “CRIME SCENE: DO NOT ENTER.” The Guard posted sentry before the door saluted Flash and lifted up the tape to allow them entry.

The bedroom inside was decorated with more abstract paintings on the walls; the most prominent one was simply a canvas painted different shades of white placed over the head of the twin bed. A bookshelf sat against the opposite wall, next to a closet door. Opposite the door into the room was a simple but elegant writing desk. Slumped in the chair before this desk was a middle-aged pegasus with a pale golden coat and silvery blue tufts of hair, which faintly stirred in the chill draft that entered the room through the slightly open window in front of him. His cutie mark was a beaker full of red liquid sitting atop a burner flame. His head sagged onto his right shoulder, revealing the bloodstained, stippled bullet hole on the left side of his head, just below his ear.

“Dr. Mix, I presume,” Phillip commented as they carefully approached the body. The doctor’s face had fallen into an almost solemn expression, his emerald eyes half-closed. Phillip carefully examined the gunshot wound. “Point-blank range to the head. Could’ve been self-inflicted.”

“Look here though,” Flash said, examining the desk. “His pencil case and the telephone set are on his right. Suggests that he was right-hoofed.” He slowly looked around the room. “And where’s the gun?” He walked back to the door. “Was a gun removed from this room?” he asked the sentry.

“No, sir,” the Guard reported. “The room is exactly how it was found. Mrs. Ink stated that the victim owned a pair of pistols, but we haven’t found either of them yet.”

Flash shivered as another northern breeze blew through the window. “I see,” he nodded, turning back into the room. Phillip was studying a shelf up on the wall. Sitting upon it were a number of golfing trophies and awards, and a photograph of Dr. Mix with a group of other ponies. The now deceased scientist was grinning broadly at the camera, holding up a set of expensive-looking golf clubs that were engraved with his cutie marks.

“So Ink claimed to be out to market, but I didn’t see any bags or anything on her,” Flash stated to Phillip. “And Alkaline says that he didn’t hear the sound of a gunshot while in the same house. This is fishy.”

“Agreed,” Phillip nodded. He looked out the open window, running his hoof over a long chip in the otherwise smooth ledge. His gaze turned down to the desk. An open book of poetry sat on the table in front of the dead pony, revealing a short sonnet:

“I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Four vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hoof that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozycoltias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.””

“We should check to see if there’s anything that got missed,” Flash suggested. He turned to the closet and opened the door wide. There wasn’t anything of interest in the closet: merely some suits hanging up on hangers and a few empty suitcases.

“Odd,” Flash commented. “None of the wife’s clothes are in here.”

“You didn’t notice the sheets and pillow next to the couch in the living room?” Phillip said.

“I thought they were for him,” Flash admitted sheepishly.

Phillip chastisement was cut short by shouting from downstairs. The two hurried back downstairs to see Alkaline struggling with two Guards that were trying to place shackles around his hooves. Swirling Ink watched from the doorway, looking aghast.

“I didn’t do anything wrong!” he was protesting desperately as Bumblebee pinned him down. “I’ve never seen it before in my life!”

“Bit odd how this ended up in your locked footlocker, then,” Prowl commented, holding up a silver-handled percussion cap dueling pistol with a long, engraved barrel. “You will be held for questioning at the local precinct until we find out what happened here.”

Alkaline was led out of the house, still protesting his innocence, as Flash and Phillip watched. Prowl turned to them both. “With respect, sirs, the crime scene team will be here momentarily. It’d be best that they not have anypony interfering with them.”

“I understand,” Flash nodded. He and Phillip exited the house, steeling themselves against the cold wind outside.

“There you are,” Daring said, approaching. “What’s going on in there?”

Phillip looked around at the others, chewing on his lower lip. “I think things just got more complicated.”

The fresco of the Last Judgement seemed to have become clearer in the past few weeks, the terrified faces of the damned and the victorious sneers upon the demons’ countenances turning sharper with each passing day. Zugzwang sat with his back turned to the painting, his hooves idly dancing over the keys of the pipe organ as he summoned a low, murmuring tune from the instrument.

Footsteps sounded from behind him, but he did not turn around, nor pause in his playing. The pony approached quickly, then paused a few feet behind him.

“Master,” Star Watcher reported. “We’ve just received word: Finder and his friends are all here. Shall we order the attack now?”

Zugzwang paused, slowly reaching underneath his shirt. From beneath his clothing, he extracted a small red drawstring pouch, hanging from around his neck.

“Not yet,” he declared. “There is still one thing that needs to be done.” He turned to his apprentice. “Summon Dr. Nevermore, Coin Toss, and Scarlet.”

Author's Note

None of this bodes well for anypony.

A lot is going to happen in this story, so I'm going to try to move pretty quickly, at least at first. I hope you're looking forward to the next chapter! Comments and criticisms are appreciated.

Avid and attentive mystery readers may have noticed some small details that may point them towards the murderer of Dr. Mix. Did you find them?

Part 2: Hell on the Horizon

Precinct 3 of the Canterlot City Guard was situated in a tall brick and mortar building nestled next to a bakery: had the frosted windows of the building been open, the evening winter wind would’ve carried delectable scents of fresh loaves into the busy offices within. The City Guards had been most accommodating of the group of consultants, setting aside an unused office for them to use during their investigation.

“All right, let’s go over what we know,” Twilight declared, hovering a marker over a whiteboard that had been sectioned off into six categories: Who, What, Where, When, Why, How.

“We know that at some point in the past few days, Alkaline Block received the package containing the Blood Plague,” Flash said. “What he did with it is unknown.”

“We also know that Dr. Mix died sometime early this morning from a gunshot wound to the head,” a disguised Daring added, dropping the autopsy report onto the table that they were all sitting around. “Whether or not that was self-inflicted remains to be seen.”

“Yes, but it was on the left side of his head, and there’s nothing to indicate that Mix was left-hooved,” Flash pointed out. “If anything, the evidence seems to indicate that he was right-hooved.”

“Furthermore, one of Mix’s dueling pistols was found in Alkaline’s locker,” Phillip added. “Forensic tests confirmed that it had been fired recently.”

“I gotta say that it’s not looking good for Alk,” Applejack stated.

“Alk?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow, pausing in her note-taking.

“Pinkie’s idea,” Applejack replied.

“What? It’s a great nickname!” Pinkie said, looking up from the stacks of photographs that she was using as a deck of cards.

“I’m not sure,” Rainbow Dash cut in. “Swirling Ink seems kind of suspicious to me. She said she was out at market, but nopony else can account for that.”

“That is true,” Rarity nodded. “But most of the evidence does weigh heavily against Alkaline.”

Twilight turned back to the board, which was now littered with notes. “But that doesn’t explain what happened to the Blood Plague sample.”

“What’s clear is that somepony in that house was working for Zugzwang,” Phillip declared. “In all likelihood, Dr. Mix was working to refine the Plague, weaponize it.”

“But did he do it willingly or not?” Twilight wondered.

“Oh, I hope he didn’t,” Fluttershy whimpered. “I can’t imagine why anypony would want to do such a thing!”

A knock sounded at the door and Prowl and Bumblebee strode inside. “We just wanted to let you guys know, we’re holding Alkaline Block for further questioning,” Bumblebee reported. “We’re also going to be keeping an eye on Swirling Ink.”

“And we’re interviewing Dr. Mix’s coworkers and students at St. Megan’s University,” Prowl reported. “So far, none of them have reported anything suspicious, but we’ll keep investigating.”

“Good,” Phil nodded.

“We still need to figure out who was working for Zugzwang, and who killed Dr. Mix,” Flash pointed out, bending over the table of amassed photographs and reports. “There has to be something here that tells us where to look.”

“Captain on deck!” Prowl suddenly barked as he and Bumblebee snapped to attention. Both Flash and Phillip also quickly stood and saluted as well as a stallion adorned in golden armor entered the room with a confident stride. This tall black unicorn had a long white mane tied back in a ponytail, and kind blue eyes. His cutie marks were of the Big and Little Dippers, shimmering bright against his coat.

“At ease,” Captain Polaris said with a dismissive wave of his hoof, allowing the stallions to relax. The captain bowed to Twilight. “Your Highness. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances. It seems that every time we meet, there is some crisis.”

“Nopony wishes that it were different more than I do, Captain,” Twilight said ruefully. “We appreciate the City Guard’s cooperation. We hope that you don’t think that we’re intruding or doing your job for you.”

“Not at all,” Polaris said with a small smile. “There’s nopony jealous of you here at the department; on the contrary, we’re all quite proud of you, and thankful for what you’ve done.” He locked each of the ponies with an appraising look, his eyes lingering particularly long on Phillip and Flash.

“Thank you, sir,” Flash replied with a rather embarrassed color tinging his cheeks.

“Hey, why would somepony have just one dumbbell?” Pinkie asked.

“Huh?” everypony else asked.

Pinkie held up a photograph taken of Alkaline’s room, displaying the open hooflocker on the floor amidst the rest of the clutter. “See? He’s got only one small dumbbell! Think of all the problems that’d cause! Unilateral development, a spinal curvature!”

Prowl and Bumblebee both looked at Pinkie, then at each other, then turned to Twilight, the same question on both of their eyes. “Yes, she’s like that,” Twilight sighed.

“No, wait,” Phil muttered, taking the photograph that Pinkie was looking at. He shifted through the other pictures, picking out a wide shot of Dr. Mix’s room.

“What are you thinking, dad?” Flash asked.

Phil set the photograph down and yanked out a length of parchment and started writing furiously. “I’ve told you before, Flash: sometimes what isn’t at a crime scene is just as important as what is.” He tore the parchment into several sections and handed one section to each of the mares. Each of them looked at the paper before them with varying levels of incredulity.

“You sure about this?” Rainbow asked.

“It’s something I need to find out,” Phillip stated.

“Perhaps the City Guard could assist,” Polaris suggested with a small note of indignation.

“No offense, captain, but I think my sheilas could do this a bit faster than the Guards could, and you have other things to worry about,” Phillip said in a conciliatory tone. “There is something else I need checked on, though.” He whispered a set of instructions to Polaris, who frowned in thought for a moment, then nodded.

“I’ll get an Investigator on it,” he stated, turning and exiting the room.

“We shall get to work on this, as well,” Rarity nodded, swinging her intricately patterned scarf over her neck as she began to follow the captain out.

“And I’d like to see my parents as long as I’m here,” Twilight added as Spike climbed up onto her shoulders. Flash escorted her out as the rest of the mares followed.

“So, what do you think?” Bumblebee asked Prowl, turning to his partner with an eager grin. “Pizza?”

“Nah, Chineighse,” Prowl replied, following him outside. "Good night, detective Finder, detective Alibi," he nodded to the two remaining ponies as he left.

Only Phillip and Daring were left in the room. Phil groaned quietly and rubbed the back of his neck, his shoulders sagging slightly.

“You hungry?” Daring asked, standing up from her chair.

“Yeah,” Phil admitted.

“Let’s get something to eat,” Daring offered. “It’s been a while since we did something together.”

Phil tried to smile, but didn’t quite make it. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

Both of them exited the Precinct out into the streets of Canterlot. “Get a cab?” Daring suggested, drawing up the collar of her coat to shield her face against the wind.

“Nah,” Phil said. “Let’s just walk.”

They proceeded down the sidewalk, passing by several buildings of brick and mortar and modern apartments and condos of wood and glass. Snow continued to lightly fall upon their heads and shoulders as they traversed the neighborhood in comfortable silence. The pair eventually entered the Ancient District, near the center of Canterlot. This purlieu of granite blocks, sandstone structures, and uneven brick roads was as old as the city itself, built long before Luna’s fall as Nightmare Moon. Grandiose temples, theaters, and galleries loomed over smaller, newer homes and businesses that struggled to coexist with these relics of the past.

“I know of a good place near here,” Phil said, turning a corner past an old, grand temple with a relief of an alicorn embossed into the stone arch over the door. He pointed to a wide, low building up ahead, a royal purple canopy over the brightly lit front. The words Three Tribes Eatery were spelled out in golden script above the door.

“Looks nice, Phil,” Daring said as she bumped him with her shoulder, “Come on, let’s go.” With that, she stepped up to the curb and began to cross the street. Phillip followed closely after her, not looking around.

Phillip and Daring pushed open the front glass doors and entered a dim, quiet tavern. The aromas of the scented candles that provided illumination mingled with the odors of cooked food from the kitchen. A small band positioned atop a raised stage towards the back played a haunting tune of strings and flutes that seemed to be carried by the tides of time, each mellow note intermingling with the murmurs of conversation.

“Table for two, please,” Phil said to the uniformed maitre d’, who smiled, escorted them to a small corner table, and bowed them into their seats as he handed them two menus. “Your waiter will be along soon to take your orders, and with a dish of our friendship bread,” he declared before departing.

Daring examined the menu and discovered that the selection was composed mostly of traditional dishes that had been served since before even Faust had taken the throne, intermixed with some modern cuisine. “That fish muddle looks good,” she commented.

“Mm-hmm,” Phil nodded without looking up.

Daring frowned and set her menu down. “All right, what is it?”

“What’s what?” Phil answered bluntly.

“Whatever’s eating you,” Daring pushed. “You’re even quieter than usual.”

Phil studied her for a moment, then set the menu down with a sigh. He rubbed his eyes with a hoof and began to speak.

“I’m scared,” he admitted quietly. “Of Zugzwang. Of what he’s going to do. Of how far he’s going to go.”

“He’s just another criminal, isn’t he?” Daring asked.

Phillip shook his head. “I’ve dealt with sociopaths before. But Zugzwang...he’s not a criminal, he’s a bloody monster. I’ve told you about the night when he came back, right?”

“He trapped your friends in an abandoned building and forced you to solve a bunch of riddles to save them, right?” Daring said.

“It’s not just that,” Phil admitted. “Those were to slow me down, try to keep me from reaching Flash in time.” He swallowed and stared down at his front hooves. “He technically died that night. When I dragged Flash out and he wasn’t breathing...that was the scariest moment of my life.

“But the thing that’s always terrified me…” Phil blinked. “He could’ve killed all of us easily, and he let us live, just so he could play with us some more. He forces me to follow along with his sick, twisted games, and if I make a blue, ponies die.” He licked his lips slowly. “The worst of it is, I’m never sure what he’s going to do, while he always seems to know what I’m going to do. What we’re all going to do. I just…” He lowered his head onto his hoof and slowly rubbed his haggard, gray-streaked mane.

“I’d do anything to protect the ones I love,” he whispered. “And he knows that.”

Daring sat in silence for several seconds, allowing the continuing music to wash over them both. Then she reached out and took Phil’s hoof, gently squeezing it. His flesh was cold to the touch. He looked up at her, his expression not unlike that of a lost foal.

“I learned long ago,” she told him gently, “that you can sit here and let the what-ifs take over, or you can take a deep breath, figure out what needs to get done, and do it.”

Phillip stared at her for a moment, then straightened up in his seat as he inhaled deeply through his nostrils, then exhaled slowly out of his mouth. “Right,” he nodded.

“And what needs to be done right now,” Daring concluded, turning back to her menu. “Is that we need to get some food.”

A bubbly waitress in an old-fashioned dress bounced up to their table to give them a warm loaf of friendship bread, and to take their orders for black coffee and two bowls of fish muddle with a side of baked mushrooms. For the next fifteen minutes, neither of them spoke of the case, or of the threats that loomed over them: the only words they shared were of past adventures and current joys. They laughed over past mishaps, recollected previous escapades, and spoke of future endeavors such as Twilight and Flash's engagement, and Daring's plans for her next book. It wasn’t until they were sharing dessert that the topic turned to more serious subjects.

“Because you wanked every time we got back from a treasure hunt, that’s why,” Phil stated seriously.

Daring shrugged nonchalantly. “I needed to blow off steam. Besides, I always thought of you while I was doing it,” she smirked, leaning forward with a wide smirk and waggling her eyebrows. Phillip flushed to the tips of his folded ears and, in an attempt to cover for his inability to think of something to say, reached for another chocolate-dipped strawberry from the plate in front of them.

“You never could resist those,” Daring commented as he inserted the fruit into his mouth.

Phil swallowed and licked the remnants of the chocolate off his lips with a satisfied murmur. “Good stuff,” he nodded approvingly.

Daring sampled one of the desserts and found it to be sweet and tangy, with a hint of nuts lingering at the end. “That is good,” she agreed.

"It's our own brand of chocolate," their waitress explained cheerily as she collected their plates. "We make it right here in the Eatery." She winked conspiratorially. "It's a secret recipe," she added in a whisper. "Only the chocolatier knows it."

The two of them finished off the dessert in a few minutes and left a generous tip for their waitress before they left. The snow had mostly ceased falling, although a two-inch deep dusting still laid on the ground. Ponies walked past, their snow-dusted coats brightly lit by the street lamps. Daring pulled Phil close to her side with a wing for warmth, grinning at the way he flushed. A bell from the Abbey that they'd passed rang out for the evening service.

“We should get back to the precinct,” she suggested.

“Right,” Phil nodded. “Still got one or two things I want to check on—”

His sentence was interrupted by screams of terror coming from inside the restaurant. He and Daring whirled around as the doors burst open and a pony staggered out. Both of them pulled back in horror at the sight in front of them.

The stallion’s skin seemed to be shrinking, shriveling up against his bones. His entire body was convulsed with shivers, and his breathing was ragged and interspersed with wet, heavy coughs. But most horrific of all was the blood: it oozed from his pores, and streamed from his nostrils and tear ducts. His mouth gaped open as he stared at them with wide, terrified eyes; his body was covered in a thick, oily red liquid that left a spotted crimson trail behind him.

“Help me!” he pleaded, stumbling towards them. “Please, help me!” He collapsed to his knees, coughing thick streams of tar-colored blood and mucus onto the ground.

Daring and Phillip hesitated, caught between their desire to help and their repulsion of the symptoms. Other pedestrians stared in a mixture of panic.

“Get back! Get away from him!” a voice barked, clear and strong and piercing the panic. A stallion adorned in bright purple armor raced up to the retching pony, surrounding him with a purple field of magic and lifting him off the ground.

“Keep away! You!” the savior barked, pointing at the restaurant manager, who was standing in the doorway. “Get on the phone and call an ambulance! Now!” The manager stammered, nodded, and hurried back inside. The armored stallion carried the blood-covered pony into the alleyway next to the restaurant, and gently set him down on the snowy ground. Phillip and Daring followed him, watching in silence.

“I’m sorry,” the armored stallion whispered, lighting his horn and touching it to the trembling pony’s temple. The infected pony shuddered, his eyes rolling. A few seconds later, his body relaxed and his eyes closed slowly as a deep, almost relieved sigh. The armored pony rose slowly, his shoulders slumped beneath the weight of his act, and turned around.

“Captain Armor,” Phillip greeted him quietly.

“Detective,” Shining Armor sighed with a nod. “I think you know what this is about.”

Phillip looked down at the body, studying the crimson liquids that still cascaded down its form and stained the white snow. “The Blood Plague.”

Zugzwang carved out an intricate matrix of swirls and runes on the wooden floor of the room with a piece of chalk, then carefully placed one of the carved crystals at key points on the matrix.

“These are truly from the Friendship Castle?” Scarlet Letter asked, studying the blue-purple shards on the floor. She, Laurier de Montaigne, Coin Toss, Doctor Nevermore, and Star Watcher watched as Zugzwang completed setting up the magical symbol.

“Indeed,” Zugzwang confirmed. “Frau Glimmer was most eager in her research; her reports have made a fascinating read.”

“This magic thing is a bit over my head, but I’ve no interest in acting the maggot, Zugzwang,” Coin Toss said gruffly, tossing a bit to himself. “What’s the point of this?”

“The key to our revenge,” Zugzwang replied, a wide smile crossing his face as he reached underneath his suit with his magic and extracting the drawstring pouch. “Damen und Herren...behold.” With a flourish, he opened up the pouch and pulled out several small fragments of what appeared to be blood red stones, smooth and curved like bone. One of the pieces ended in a sharp, curved point like the tip of a saber. Recognition, then disbelief shone in the face of each of the guests.

“That’s...that’s fragments of Sombra’s horn!” Laurier declared, voicing the thought on everypony’s mind.

“But how?” Star Watcher asked, staring at the deadly artifact in awe. “It was destroyed at Clovenworth Island months ago!”

“It was,” Zugzwang explained, placing the horn fragments in the center circle of the chalk symbol. “I would have preferred to have the entire, single piece for use, but Shining Armor prevented that." He gritted his teeth and growled. "Fortunately, I managed to escape with some of the pieces.

“For months, I have been trying to unlock the remnants of the power inside, trying to take it as mine. And now, the instrument of our revenge is at hoof.”

“But how do we help? Not all of us are unicorns,” Nevermore stated, indicating himself and Star Watcher.

“I do not need your magic,” Zugzwang explained, lighting up his horn. “I need your hatred. The crystals act as a lens that focuses and strengthens magic, including the magic of emotions. Right now, they are filled with positive emotions: love, hope, friendship. By focusing my magic, bolstered by your anger and hatred, through the crystals, I should be able to fill them up with our emotions, which will focus the magic into the fragments, then back into me.”

He looked each of his guests in the eye. “This is the instrument of our vengeance. Because of this, when all this is over and Canterlot lays in ashes, they will all remember us. They will fear our names: the Scarlets, the Mareish Mob, and the Pawns. And we will finally taste the blood of the ones that wronged us.”

Scarlet grinned. “Then let us begin.”

Zugzwang took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. Pale golden magic filtered along his horn, then into the crystal in front of him. Like a prism, the crystal bent the ray of energy into the next crystal, then the next, until it formed an intricate web of magic that focused onto the broken horn in the center.

“Summon your feelings of anger, of vengeance,” Zugzwang stated. “Imagine those that you hate in your power.”

The other villains all summoned their deepest emotions of vengefulness, entertaining delightful, tantalizing images of their enemies at their mercy, suffering in the most delicious ways they could think of.

The beams of energy became intermixed with streaks of scarlet, glowing brighter and brighter until the room seemed to grow dark by comparison. Zugzwang grunted, his face tight with concentration as he struggled to keep the spell going. The crystals shook as though in fear as their royal purple coloring was slowly replaced with black. The fragments quivered and shook in the center, and a deep growling noise filled the air.

“Master—?” Star Watcher called out uncertainly.

“Name him,” Zugzwang growled through his teeth, his eyes wild and his voice like the snarl of a manticore. “Name the one who represents everything we stand against. Name the one who tried to take everything from us!”

There was a moment of confusion, then five voices spoke the name as one, their tones conveying the kind of hatred that only souls as dark as theirs could carry: “Phillip Finder.”

The extra ounce of emotion was enough. With a great clap like thunder, the scarlet red fragments suddenly shattered, then reformed at once as a ball of swirling, blood red energy. The energy rushed along the streams of golden energy, overwhelming them and surging back through the crystals and into Zugzwang’s horn. The unicorn let out a terrible screech of agony as the dark magic infused his body, lifting him up off the ground in a cloud of gold and red lightning.

“Master!” Star Watcher shouted, racing forward to help, only to be stopped by Nevermore’s wing.

The ponies backed a safe distance away and watched in horror as Zugzwang continued to writhe and scream in pain, the magic coursing around him and into his horn, eyes, mouth and chest. It took almost a full minute for the terrible spectacle to finally end as the last of the magic entered Zugzwang’s body. He collapsed to the floor, trembling and panting.

“Zugzwang!” Scarlet cried, rushing to his side. She gently shook his shoulder. “Zugzwang, can you hear me?”

Zugzwang opened his eyes slowly, blinking up at the group with his abyssal gaze. He slowly sat up, breathing deeply as he regained control of himself, then looked up at his horn. A faint swirl of smoke wafted from the tip of his organ. He tentatively began to channel magic up his horn. It glowed with a yellow-red aura, and thicker smoke, as dark and black as though they were tangible shadows, wafted into the air. The smoke coalesced towards the floor into small clouds. Then, with a great rumbling, black, jagged crystals suddenly erupted from the clouds, crackling horribly as they solidified.

An elated smile crossed Zugzwang’s face and something horrible flickered in his black irides. “Ha,” he breathed in a rapturous tone. “Ha ha ha ha ha.”

Even Nevermore had to fight the urge to back away.

Author's Note

Fear. Death. Power. All of that is coming, and very soon, because now you know what was in that drawstring pouch.

Like, comment and favorite if you enjoyed!

Part 3: The Board is Set

The sky the next morning was painted crimson red by the light of the rising sun, as if the heavens were demonstrating a twisted sense of irony in response to the wailing of sirens that had pierced the entire night. The scarlet color was reflected by the fresh snowfall on the ground, making it look as though the very earth was bleeding.

Precinct 3 was unnaturally quiet, even as the Guards busily rushed back and forth across offices and hallways, moving as silently as specters, their jaws tight and their eyes hard as stone. Every armored stallion and mare hurled themselves into whatever task was raised up to them, all in a desperate bid to hide the fact that they had no idea how to respond to what had happened last night.

“Captain on deck!” a voice barked. Every Guard immediately stopped where they were and snapped to attention, saluting as Shining Armor walked past. The Prince-Captain’s mane and coat were in disarray and dark bags hung beneath his haggard eyes, but he still marched forward with all the urgency and bearing that his purple armor carried.

Shining trotted past the main offices towards the door near the back, where Captain Polaris stood at attention. The Captain saluted his predecessor as he approached. Shining Armor returned the salute before they both entered the office room. The Element Bearers, Spike, Phillip, Flash, and a disguised Daring Do sat inside, none of them looking at one another. A newspaper sat on the center table, the headline declaring in bold text: “BLOOD PLAGUE RETURNS.”

“Hey, Twily,” Shining said, briefly dropping his professionalism to nuzzle his sister on the head. She embraced him, smiling softly despite the situation.

“Good to see you, BBBFF,” Twilight managed to smile.

“You too. All of you,” Shining nodded to everypony before his expression turned serious again.

“What’s been happening?” Phillip asked.

Shining glanced down at the newspaper headline. “As you’re all aware, last night there were several isolated incidents of the Blood Plague across Canterlot. Nine ponies were afflicted with the plague, and managed to infect seventeen others by touching them. Every one of those victims died within hours.”

The heads of the ponies around the room bowed in grief. Polaris touched both his shoulders with his right hoof, then kissed the tip of his left hoof and placed it over his heart, briefly whispering the Requiem Aeternam to himself.

“Blood samples were taken from the victims and studied by specialists at the Canterlot General Hospital,” Shining Armor continued. “They confirmed that it was a variant of the Plague that had been altered to develop at an accelerated rate, and it was likely designed to be absorbed through the skin.”

“I was right,” Twilight concluded, her wings spreading open in agitation and starting to flap, lifting her off her seat slightly. “Dr. Mix did refine the plague. How infectious is it? Is there more of it? Can we evacuate the city?!”

“Twilight, calm down,” Shining ordered her gently, laying a hoof on her shoulder. “Panicking isn’t going to help. If you don’t touch the contaminant, you should be fine. In fact, that’s partly why I’m here.” He lowered his head and lit up his horn. “I need you all to gather around.”

The ponies and dragon gathered close to Shining, who closed his eye in concentration, mumbling an incantation. Pale purple bubbles of magic blossomed from his horn, growing larger and briefly enclosing each of the others before vanishing.

“A variant of the health shield bubble,” Shining explained, panting slightly, a droplet of sweat running down his brow. “The scientists at Amore University can’t create a cure without their research, but Sunburst, Cadance and I created this spell. It should provide you a buffer against the Plague if you come into contact with it.”

“Sir, if you could teach my mage specialists and I the spell, we could provide it to the City Guards,” Polaris suggested.

“That was the idea, captain,” Shining nodded, wiping off his brow with his foreleg as he recovered from the exertion. “I also need to meet with the Princesses later to give them a status report, and with the doctors at Canterlot General about finding a cure.”

“We’ll keep investigating into Dr. Mix’s involvement,” Flash reported.

“Good,” Shining nodded. “I trust you all to find a way out of this mess.” He grinned wryly. “Maybe you’ll need to pull my flank out of the fryer again.”

“Hopefully not,” Twilight replied in an equally wry tone.

Shining placed a heavy hoof on Flash’s shoulder. “Take care of her, Flash,” he said softly.

“I will, Shining,” Flash promised, crossing his heart.

Shining nodded, accepting a farewell embrace from Spike. “Take care of yourselves, everypony.” With a final nod, he turned and departed from the room. Polaris followed after him.

“We need to get back to work, everypony,” Phillip declared. “Did any of you find what I asked?”

“I did,” Rarity declared through a stifled yawn, running a quick spell through her mane to restore it to its normal pristine state. “It took most of last night and this morning, and a great amount of charm, but I found them.”

She briefly left the room and returned with a bag of golf clubs. Each club in the the expensive set had a unique symbol etched into the head: a beaker full of liquid sitting atop a burner flame.

“You were correct, Phillip,” Rarity reported, setting the bag down on the floor. “Dr. Mix sold his golf clubs to a pawnshop in town the day before he was killed. But I can’t understand why, nor what importance they bear upon this case.”

Instead of answering, Phillip lifted a nine iron out of the bag and examined it. Something close to a smile flickered across his face. “I was right. This is for a left-hooved pony.” He demonstrated this fact by grasping the club.

“What does that mean?” Flash asked, bewildered. “The scene suggested that he was right-hooved.”

“The scene was set up,” Phillip stated, returning the club to the bag. His ear cocked towards the door. “And if I’m not mistaken, that’s the other clue.”

The door opened and Prowl and Bumblebee entered. “Good morning, everypony,” Prowl greeted them. “Detective Finder, as your request, we had the pond outside Dr. Mix’s home dragged, and we found this.” He held up a large, clear plastic evidence bag. Inside was a percussion-cap dueling pistol with a long, intricately carved barrel. A long, waterlogged rope was tied around the barrel and lay in coils in the bottom of the bag; the other end of the bag was tied around a small two-pound dumbbell.

“That’s the other dueling pistol,” Daring said.

“And that’s the other dumbbell!” Pinkie excitedly shouted.

“Indeed, and we found a spent cartridge inside the barrel,” Prowl nodded.

“Also, Swirling Ink cracked under questioning,” Bumblebee added. “She admitted that she’d been having an affair with their neighbor and had gone out to see him. However, Alkaline Block is still adamantly refusing to change his story.”

“He doesn’t need to,” Phillip replied. “He’s telling the truth. He didn’t kill Dr. Mix. Dr. Mix killed himself.”

Everypony looked up at Phillip in surprise. “Are you sure about that?” Flash asked.

“It’s fair dinkum,” Phillip nodded. “It’s the only way to explain all of this.

“I first became suspicious when I noticed that the golf clubs in the photograph weren’t in Mix’s room. That struck me as odd; he was obviously attached to them. So why get rid of them? And then I came up with the theory that he had deliberately removed them to avoid incriminating himself; revealing that he was actually left-hooved.

“Then the missing pistol and the dumbbell. When there’s a missing weight near to a body of water, it’s not hard to imagine that something must be at the bottom of that water. The chip on the window ledge gave me a clearer picture.”

“I think I get it,” Flash mused. “Dr. Mix got rid of his golf clubs, altered his room to make it look like he was right-hooved, then rigged up the pistol with the weight, weaving the rope through the trees so that the weight would drag it into the pond. He shot himself, and the gun fell out the window and into the pond, leaving behind a crack in the ledge.”

“We conducted an experiment,” Bumblebee added. “We had Prowl stomp his hooves loudly in the bedroom while I stood in the basement laboratory. I didn’t hear him from down there; Block wouldn’t have heard the gunshot while he was working.”

Phillip nodded. “That settles it, then.”

Twilight quickly turned to the whiteboard and quickly updated the information on it, jotting down notes and information under the appropriate headings. However, the Why section was left blank. “None of this explains motive, though,” she commented.

“Maybe he did something to anger Zugzwang and decided he’d rather die by his own hoof than a hit squad’s?” Daring suggested.

“Then why the elaborate setup?” Flash shook his head. “No, I think he doctored the scene on purpose to throw us off the trail. Make us waste time trying to solve his ‘murder.’”

“But that means that whatever Zugzwang’s got planned, he’s not finished,” Phil concluded. “And he needed more time to get ready.”

“I think what we need to do now is interview Dr. Mix’s associates, including his colleagues at St. Megan’s University,” Flash suggested. “Perhaps one of them can give us some information on his recent activities.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Twilight nodded.

“Let’s get moving then,” Daring declared.

Spike swung his pack onto his back and climbed onto Twilight’s shoulders. Escorted by Prowl and Bumblebee, the group exited the Precinct out into the snowy streets, joining the streams of other ponies that were bustling across the pavements, coats and scarves bundled up against the cold.

“Hold up a second,” Polaris called from the doorway. “If you’re going to St. Megan’s, I want you to send a message to my wife, Professor Cintamani Stone, and my daughters, Talitha and Carina. Tell them that I’ll probably be staying late tonight, but not to panic; we’ll be all right.”

“We will, sir,” Prowl saluted.

“Thank you, and good luck to you all,” Polaris said, retreating back into the building. The group turned and continued up the street. Celestia’s sun rose above the rooftops and backlit the white walls of the Palace, casting them in its warm glow, filtered through a thin layer of gray clouds; however, its warmth was not enough to totally dispel the chill of the air, nor the icy weight that each of them carried upon their shoulders.

St. Megan’s University was a small, but picturesque campus set in the middle of Canterlot’s modern district. The streets quartered the campus into several sections, each one dominated by one of the university’s major colleges or dormitories. Rivers of students and teachers flowed across the campus, occasionally pausing to gather beneath one of the evergreen trees or on a bench.

“All right, everypony,” Twilight declared. “Let’s split up and start questioning Dr. Mix’s colleagues. Somepony here must know something.”

The group split off into teams, each heading off in a different direction in search of answers.

No matter what was happening on the outside world, there were some necessities that had to be maintained. And one of those necessities is the daily Royal Court. Each day, the palace was opened up to the public for ponies to bring up their concerns before the Princesses and seek their wisdom and council.

Wishing to maintain the closeness to her citizens that she prided herself upon, Celestia had always insisted upon her courts being a relatively informal affair, though that did not mean the Solar House Guard took their responsibilities any less seriously once the doors were opened.

A small stream of ponies was currently trickling down the pristine royal hallways towards the throne room where court was being kept. The stream was restricted by a metal gate that glowed with a faint blue energy attended by several Guards in golden armor, their breastplates adorned with an image of the sun. One by one, each visitor was allowed to pass through the blue gate, which would erase any concealment or illusory magic that a pony carried with them. Two Guards waited on the other side of the gate. One would pass a glowing red metal wand over the visitor to check for any concealed weapons, while the other quickly patted them down and checked their bags for forbidden items that the wand did not detect. Once they were allowed through, visitors were made to wait in the attending room for their turn, under the watchful gaze of no less than four more Guards who waited, lances in hoof, for any sign of trouble.

A prim unicorn stallion in a cream-colored suit and golden locks with a carved shard of black crystal hanging from his necklace passed through the gate. The Guard on the other side passed the red wand over his body as her partner carefully examined the stallion’s briefcase, finding nothing but some papers covered with financial information that the sentinel likely would not have understood if he had bothered to read it.

“All right, sir, you’re clear to go,” the mare Guard stated, having found no hidden weapons. The noble nodded and proceeded to take a cushioned seat beneath a great portrait of the four Princesses, taking up a small novel to pass the time until he was called.

He took no notice of the other ponies in the lobby waiting with him, nor of the pegasus that was following him in line. This pegasus had a pale gold mane, an indigo coat, and the cutie mark of a golden telescope imposed upon the Big Dipper. He wore a simple sleeved green tunic with black trim. A cheery smile danced upon the pegasus’ face as he passed through the gate without any harassment.

“Watch this,” he declared to the waiting Guards, rolling up his sleeves to reveal his bare forelegs. “Nothing up my sleeves!”

The unamused mare swept the wand over the visitor’s body. As it passed over his pocket, the wand glowed and let out a loud buzzing sound. “Empty your pockets,” she ordered.

The pegasus’ smile never faded as he emptied his pockets, revealing the lighter that had set off the wand, a drawstring purse of bits and jewels, a pack of cigarettes, and a pair of torn theater ticket stubs. The stallion Guard took a flask that the visitor had hanging around his shoulder and opened it up to examine the amber, honey-scented liquid that was inside.

“The wife’s tea,” the visitor informed him. “Take a sip, it’s good.”

“No, thanks,” the Guard replied, screwing the cap back on and returning the flask to him. “Take a seat, court will be officially opened in ten minutes.”

“Thanks,” the pegasus nodded, strolling over to the bench and taking a seat next to the prim stallion in the suit. The unicorn did not look up at his companion, keeping his eyes focused upon his novel.

“Ah, feels good to finally get that dye out. Natural colors are always best,” Star Watcher sighed to himself. He turned to his companion. “Hey, don’t look so nervous, friend,” he whispered.

“You sure that this will work?” the unicorn asked without looking up, his voice carrying a trace of his natural Mareish accent.

Star smirked. “You know, we have no real assurance that the sun will rise every morning, but we never really think too much about it. It’s all a matter of faith; just do what you can and leave the rest in his hooves, savvy?”

The unicorn nodded curtly, turning a page of his novel.

Outside, far below on the streets, a rusty, battered truck sat idle on the curb. Inside the dim cab, an orange earth mare with fiery red and yellow hair billowing from her head sat slumped in the passenger seat. Her smokey gray eyes were focused on the lighter that she held in her left hoof. A small, bright yellow flame danced upon the lighter’s wick, flickering and shimmering as if to deliberately delight its audience of one. The mare’s right hoof was in between her hind legs, diligently at work.

“Getting kind of antsy here, boss,” the bearded, burly unicorn next to her grumbled, his hooves tight on the steering wheel.

“Just wait for the signal,” Tinderspark muttered and licked her lips, not looking up from her small delight. The raspiness of her southern twang gave a clue as to the devastation that years of tobacco and smoke had done to her lungs and throat. “We’ll all get ours soon.”

Zugzwang sat in the midst of a chalk rune, his eyes shut in meditation. The black, now misshapen crystal fragments were placed at specific points amongst the intricate linework, glowing faintly with dark energy. The wind rustled his mane as it passed over the rooftops.

Scarlet Letter approached, scuffing her hooves against the floor to announce her presence. “Everything is in place,” she said.

Zugzwang opened his eyes and nodded. “Then we shall begin.”

He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as Scarlet backed out of the circle. Zugzwang’s horn lit up with gold and red energy. The crystals trembled on the ground, then channeled arcs of energy into Zugzwang’s horn. He grunted beneath the strain of the magic, then, with a great roar, tossed his head up into the air. A column of black smoke spiralled up into the air, rising up far above the rooftops of Canterlot. With a rumbling like thunder, the smoke rippled downwards, forming a dome that slowly descended upon the city, blotting out the sky.

“Pyrophoric Mix was fairly popular amongst the staff,” Professor Cintamani explained to Phillip and Daring as she walked along the hallways of Seaspray Hall, home to the college of biological magic. She was a tall unicorn mare with a pale sky blue coat and wavy blonde and lime green locks, her indigo eyes magnified by the glasses perched upon her snout. Her cutie mark was a molecular model settled in the middle of a multi-faceted green jewel. “We were very saddened to learn of his death.”

“Yes, that’s why we’re here,” Daring said, pushing through a small cluster of students as she followed the head of the biology department. “Did Dr. Mix have any unusual habits?”

Cintamani frowned in thought for a moment. “Well, he was a bit of an oddball, to be honest, but he did have some regular habits,” she said. “For example, he always used up all of his sabbatical time. Which is why it was a surprise to see him come back early two days ago.”

“What do you mean?” Phillip asked as they diverted around a roped-off hallway that smelled faintly of fresh paint.

“I saw here in this building late afternoon,” Cintamani explained. “We chatted for a bit. He said that he had forgotten something in his office, which I thought was odd; he’s never forgetful.”

Phil and Daring glanced at each other, both of them mentally noting this detail.

“Detective Finder, Detective Alibi, what is this about?” Cintamani asked. “Does this have any bearing upon finding out who killed him?”

“It is,” Phillip stated. “We—”

He was interrupted by a loud rumble of thunder from outside that made everypony jump, heads whirling. Phil and Daring rushed outside, followed by Cintamani and several students. A group was gathering in the center of the campus, ponies staring upwards with wide eyes at the column of smoke that was spilling upwards into the sky. Murmurs of confusion spread throughout the crowd, the first notes of fear starting to bubble up from amidst the voices.

“What in the hay is that?” Applejack asked, pointing upwards at the black dome.

“I don’t know,” Twilight admitted. Spike clung tightly to her back, trembling in fright.

Staring upwards, Daring’s attention was caught by several groups of pegasi, flying in formation over the city. A trio of pegasi soared towards the campus. Daring’s keen eyes spotted distinctive round shapes hanging from the pegasi’s belts.

“Cover!” she shouted, grabbing Cintamani’s arm and pushing her to the ground. The other ponies hit the deck as the attacking pegasi rocketed over the dormitories. With a high-pitched whistling, the bombs they were carrying fell from their payload belts and detonated within the apartments, sending great columns of flames shooting upwards into the sky.

“Run! Everypony get out of here!” Twilight shouted, sparking a mass of screaming ponies running in all directions, headed for the nearest cover.

“They’re coming back!” Pinkie warned. The pegasi raced over the campus again, dropping several more of their bombs on the university buildings and sending more flames erupting upwards against the darkening sky.

“Dispatch, this is Charley Eight!” Prowl shouted into his walkie-talkie. “We are under attack at St. Megan’s, require—” He stopped suddenly, his eyes widening as the reply came in several overlapping voices.

“It’s...it’s all over the city,” he stammered, his face the very picture of shock. “The entire city’s under attack!”

As if to confirm this statement, more explosions could be heard from the rest of the city, along with the rising screams of warning klaxons.

“Talitha! Carina!” Cintamani shrieked into the panicking crowd.

At her call, two dark blue unicorn mares extricated themselves from the other ponies and hurried to their mother’s side. The sisters were almost identical save for a few details: Talitha had two toned yellow and purple hair and the cutie mark of a leaping gazelle, while Carina had sea green and blue hair and the cutie mark of a three-masted sailboat.

“We’re here, mom!” Carina panted, a glimmer of panic in her violet eyes.

“Stay close to me, girls,” Cintamani ordered.

“We need to get back to the precinct!” Flash declared.

“Follow us!” Bumblebee declared, grasping Rarity’s arm and running back towards the precinct. The rest of the group, along with Cintamani and her daughters and several nearby civilians, rushed after him, racing towards the hope of safety.

Author's Note

The pieces are all in place...

Continued in next chapter.

Part 5: Snow and Shadows

The thunderous booms of distant explosions rumbled throughout the city for several hours, the black and empty sky lit only by flickering flames in the distance. With the weather no longer controlled, thick sheets of snow began to fall from unseen clouds above, covering the ground and windows in frost. Inside Precinct Three, the rescued ponies sat in the control room as a team of medics tended to the wounded.

Nearby, a pair of dispatchers, a pale blue thestral and an olive pegasus mare, huddled over the radio set in the corner, trying to filter through the stew of overlapping, crackling voices.

“Setting up a barricade at Sixth and North—”

“—Victor Three, got fires raging out of control here. Requesting backup to support fire crews—”

“Precinct Six...come in Precinct Six…”

“Where the hell is this snow coming from?! I can’t see!”

“—combat ineffective! Need evac for multiple wounded civvies—”

“Say again, Lunar One-One…”

“It’s hell out there,” Polaris commented, listening to the voices.

“Who are these guys? And what’s with that smoke?” Rainbow demanded, pacing around in a circle and shaking off the medic who was trying to examine her.

“That smoke…” Twilight murmured, her brow creased in thought. “That magic looked like…” She gasped in shock, the memory clicking. “Sombra!”

“That...that’s not possible,” Flash protested. “The horn was destroyed!”

“Maybe not,” Phil said, looking up. “With Zugzwang—”

“Captain!” the thestral cried, standing up completely. The young batpony’s face was rapidly losing color.

“What is it?” Polaris asked, bracing himself for the answer.

The dispatcher swallowed a couple of times as if struggling to form the words, then spoke. “T- there was an attack on the Palace. The Princesses have been abducted.”

Everything stopped. Nopony moved. Few dared breathe.

“By who?” Polaris asked slowly.

“A group of gunponies that infiltrated the castle,” the dispatcher reported. “They broke through the safe room and teleported out. They were aided by the Scorchers.”

“Scorchers?” Applejack asked.

Phillip swallowed. “They’re a band of pyromaniacs for hire,” he explained. “Their leader is a mare named Tinderspark. Burned down her family house when she was nine years old after locking her parents and three siblings inside. She’s been setting fires across the country ever since. At last count, she’s killed at least forty-seven ponies, likely more.”

“Well, we’ve gotta go save them!” Rainbow declared, starting to fly towards the door.

Twilight seized Rainbow’s tail in her magic, holding her back. “No, Rainbow, we’re staying here,” she declared.

“Let go!” Rainbow cried, struggling to free herself. “We can’t just sit here and do nothing!”

“Rainbow, in case you haven’t noticed, there’s an army out there,” Applejack stated. “And even if there weren’t, you have no idea where the Princesses are, do you?”

Rainbow opened her mouth to protest, but could not come up with anything to say. Defeated, she lowered herself back down to the ground, glaring in fury.

Polaris took a slow, shaky breath and ran a hoof through his mane. “All right. Give me a status report,” he declared to the dispatchers, turning to a large map of Canterlot set on a table in the corner.

“Sir,” the thestral nodded. “Precinct One, Five, and Seven are setting up barricades and holding the line. Precinct Two is currently taking heavy fire. Precinct Four has been overrun: the remaining Guards are trying to set up new positions at Zacherle Stadium. The Palace is currently under siege from heavily-armed attackers who have blocked off the streets and the air: they can’t get into the castle, but the ponies inside can’t get out.”

“What about the escape tunnels?” Polaris asked.

“All of the exits have been booby-trapped and blocked off,” the thestral replied. “Canterlot Jail has been broken into and the inmates have escaped. And several mages have tried to break through the dome, but nothing is working.”

“Excuse me,” Twilight cut in. “Have any of you heard from my brother?”

The dispatchers both shook their heads. “I’m sorry, Your Highness,” the olive mare reported solemnly. “Captain Armor is in the wind. Nopony’s seen or heard from him since the attack.”

“Shining is tough and one of the smartest Guards I’ve ever worked with,” Polaris reassured Twilight, laying a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “I’m sure he’s fine.”

Twilight swallowed and nodded, but could not bring herself to meet anypony’s eye. She slowly trudged back over to the group. Flash and Spike both embraced her gently, but she did not respond.

“Well, if we’re not going to go out there and kick ass,” Rainbow snapped. “What the hell are we going to do?!”

“The only thing we can do,” Daring said. “Survive.”

With no light in the sky, the only indication that any time passed was the motion of the clocks...what few that were still maintained. The wind and snow continued to intermittently assail the windows and streets, the icy gales howling outside like flocks of banshees. The lamps outside flickered as they struggled against the suffocating blanket of constant night, while the occasional explosion or echoing gunshot seemed muffled. Inside the Precinct, most of the lights had been dimmed to avoid straining the backup generators, and chill drafts hung in every room.

The stream of information and speculation that had flooded the station at the beginning of the crisis had now slowed down to less than a trickle. Messages over the radio were infrequent, and carried little information beyond current status of surviving Guards and civilians, and what little intelligence on enemy movements was available.

“On the plus side,” Pinkie commented, juggling several warm baguettes taken from the bread factory next door. “We won’t run out of bread anytime soon!”

Rainbow managed a half-smile as she watched the show. The Mane Six and Flash were sitting around a second-floor lobby, all in silent contemplation. Twilight was hunched over a desk with several books on magical theory surrounding her, muttering to herself as she scribbled down notes on a roll of parchment that was trailing down onto the floor.

“...if Zugzwang is channeling magic through the crystal fragments that he stole, what effect would destroying the crystals have?” she wondered, tapping her temple in thought. “The crystals are supposed to strengthen and focus magic...of course, he might not need the crystals to maintain the shield…”

“Twilight, would you give it a rest?” Rainbow burst out. Pinkie yelped in surprise and dropped the loaves to the floor.

“Rainbow, I’m trying to figure out a way out of this!” Twilight snapped.

“All your theories aren’t going to do us squat unless we actually get out there to do something about it!” Rainbow shouted, pacing around in a circle. "We've been sitting here, on our tails, doing nothing, for an entire day!"

“And as I’ve told you several times, running out without a plan is going to get us all killed!” Twilight shouted in reply.

“Twi, I hate to speak against you, but Rainbow’s got a point,” Applejack stated. “We just don’t have enough info for you to really—”

“Do you expect me to just sit here and do nothing?!” Twilight shouted, rising from the table.

“Darlings, please, let’s not do this—” Rarity started to say.

“That is what you’ve been doing!” Rainbow shouted. “Sitting here with your books while the city freezes and Zugzwang does who-knows-what!”

“It’s the who-knows-what that I’m worried about!” Twilight screamed, stomping her hoof and glaring at Dash. “We stopped dealing with a petty criminal a long time ago! Zugzwang wants to bring Equestria to its knees, and we don’t know how he’s doing it or why!”

Silence fell over the room as Twilight panted. Flash slowly walked up to her and touched her shoulder. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. “I know you want to go out there and help, but going in guns blazing is the worst thing we could possibly do right now,” she said to Rainbow.

Rainbow Dash slowly nodded, looking crestfallen. “I’m sorry, Twi. It’s just...I’m scared.”

“We’re all scared,” Fluttershy announced, picking up one of the loaves from the floor. “That’s all the more reason why we shouldn’t be arguing.” She broke the bread in half and gave one piece to each of the mares. “There. Better now, right?”

“Better,” Twilight nodded with a faint smile. “Thank you.”

“Look alive, team!” Prowl’s voice shouted from the floor below. “We’ve got another group of civilians coming in, east wall!”

Attracted by the shout, the friends hurried downstairs, tossing heavy coats over themselves as they exited the Precinct. Fortunately, the winds had ceased for the moment, though the air was still bitterly cold to the taste. Several City Guards hurried out with them as they rushed towards the eastern gates that separated what little territory they had claimed from Zugzwang’s army.

A squadron of Guards, all of them clutching white winter parkas over their armor, stood ready at the gate, a pair of burly earth ponies manning the gatling gun. The gate opened up and a scouting team hustled through, escorting a group of rescued civilians inside and bringing in carts of recovered food and supplies taken from outside.

“Got a wounded pony here!” a mare unicorn Guard called, supporting a limping stallion. Fluttershy and a medic hurried forward to help carry the injured civilian onto a stretcher and rush him back to the precinct.

A middle-aged couple passed through the gate. The mare was a white unicorn with two-toned light purple and silver hair and the cutie mark of three purple five-pointed stars; the stallion was a blue unicorn with dark blue hair and the cutie mark of a pair of crescent moons. Both of them gasped upon spotting Twilight.

“Mom! Dad!” Twilight cried, rushing forward to hug her parents. Both of them embraced her tightly.

“We were so worried!” Twilight Velvet said, squeezing her daughter into her chest.

“I was worried about you!” Twilight said.

Night Light kissed his daughter on the forehead, then looked up and noticed Flash. In a couple of strides, he crossed over and wrapped Flash up in a hug, much to the Guard’s surprise.

“Flash,” the elder stallion whispered throatily. “Thank you for keeping my daughter safe.”

“I...it wasn’t…” Flash stammered before eventually relaxing and accepting the hug.

Behind them, a tall, thin, pink-coated unicorn mare slowly trotted through the gate, which closed behind them. Her normally flawless mane hung haggard and pale over her face and her posture bore none of her normal proud bearing, but her famous face was still recognizable.

“Fleur?” Rarity asked, starting forward to face her friend. “Are you alright?”

Fleur de Lis barely acknowledged Rarity’s question, nodding slowly without raising her downcast eyes.

“Where’s Fancy?” Rarity asked, looking around.

Fleur swallowed, a tremor passing through her body. “Zhe looters came for our house,” she said in a thick, heavy voice, her Prench accent penetrating every word. “He...told me to run.”

“Oh, no,” Rarity breathed, leaning in close to support Fleur. “Come with me, darling. Let’s get you inside where it’s warm.”

The rescued civilians and the exhausted scouts trudged back to the Precinct, and it was a great relief to all when the doors closed behind them. Spike, who had awoken from his nap, was already busy brewing batches of hot chocolate and coffee, which were distributed amongst the shivering ponies as the lead sergeant made her report to Captain Polaris, detailing the movements of any patrols they encountered.

“Thank you, Spike,” Night Light nodded, accepting a paper cup from the little drake and taking a grateful sip of the amber liquid.

“Good to see you safe, dear,” Twilight Velvet sighed, hugging Spike.

“We're running low on cots,” Polaris instructed one of the Guards as they escorted the rescued civilians out of the foyer. “You’re going to have to make room in the holding cells." The Guard nodded and signalled for the civilians to follow him.

Phillip and Daring appeared from the radio room and both walked over to Flash. “Any news?” Flash asked, doffing his coat.

“No,” Phillip shook his head. "It's been quiet, like always."

“I hate just sitting here,” Daring grumbled. “You know what this feels like?”

“Like they’re out there, waiting for something,” Phil nodded.

“Captain Polaris! Princess Twilight!” a dispatcher called, clutching a set of headphones to his head as he rose. “It’s Shining Armor!”

Everypony rushed over to the radio as the dispatcher twiddled the dials and unhooked the headphones. “Say again, Captain Armor...come in, Captain Armor…”

“Are you reading me?” The voice was muffled and distorted through a thick filter of static, but Twilight would’ve recognized it from the bottom of a well.

“Shiny!” she cried into the microphone.

“Twilight?” Shining replied, a definitive note of joy in his voice.

“Where are you?” Twilight asked.

“I’m at some place called the Tasty Treat,” Shining’s voice answered. “This is the first I’ve been able to get to a radio. I’m surrounded by multiple hostiles, but I think I found out where the enemy headquarters is. I’m going to need some assistance here, ASAP, over.”

“Understood, Captain,” the dispatcher replied. “We’ll send a team to your location. Stay where you are. Over.”

“Understood. I’ll keep out of sight. Good luck. Out.”

“Prowl! Bumblebee! Gold Dust! Ruby Eye! Screecher! Feathered Flight! Front and center!” Polaris barked.

At his command, Prowl and Bumblebee rushed up to Polaris, along with a small golden unicorn mare, a tall crimson pegasus, a bulky gray thestral, and a lean emerald pegasus mare. All of them stood at attention in front of Polaris.

“Ponies, we have work to do,” Polaris declared, looking each member of his selected team in the eye. “Shining Armor is in danger and requires immediate assistance. He may have intelligence on the location of enemy forces. Are you each up to the task?”

“Yes, sir!” the Guards shouted as one.

Polaris grunted his approval. “We shall—”

“Captain!” Princess Twilight cut in. “I’m going with you.”

“Your Highness, we cannot risk you—” Polaris started to protest.

“He’s my brother,” Twilight snapped. “And I am not unfamiliar to danger. Try and stop me.”

There was a moment of pause where nopony in the room spoke. Then Flash stepped forward. “I want to go on record as you’re crazy,” he said, his eyes on Twilight. “But if you’re going out there, then I’m going out with you.”

“So are we!” Rainbow Dash declared without hesitation. She, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity all stepped forward, gathering around Twilight.

Phillip joined the group without a word. Daring looked about the room, then slowly nodded and unzipped her parka. “What the hell,” she muttered. “I’m getting too old for this anyway.” She shrugged off the long coat, and the false identity of Irene Alibi with it, revealing her olive green long-sleeved shirt and compass rose cutie mark. A ripple of surprised gasps and disbelieving murmurs passed through the assembled ponies as Daring extracted her folding pith helmet and trademark whip from her saddlebags.

Polaris blinked a couple of times, then slowly nodded. “Very well. But you will follow our instructions, and you will not put yourselves in danger.”

Twilight nodded. Polaris turned back to his assembled team. “Get whatever you need. We move out in ten.”

The team nodded and split up to gather any equipment that they needed. Polaris exited the room and made his way to the precinct armory, a basement room with wall-to-wall shelving of armor, swords, spears, crossbows, and guns, with boxes of bolts, bullets and various types of grenades.

Moving along the wall of weapons, he selected a short staff with a lacquered wooden body and an iron barbed tip, slightly longer than he was tall. He tested the weight, thrusting the head into a well-used hanging target at the end of the room. The blade pierced the thick rubber easily, just as it would the flesh of an enemy. Nodding in satisfaction, Polaris placed the spear through a holster across his back. It clanked softly against his metal armor. He then selected an assortment of flash and tear gas grenades, a group of knives, a gas mask, and a set of goggles that were enchanted with a night-vision spell, and placed them in his saddlebags, nestling them amidst his other gear.

Satisfied with his selection, he walked back upstairs and turned down the hallway into a meeting room. Most of the tables and chairs had been pushed aside, and the whiteboard at the front of the room was now littered with doodles and other drawings. Cintamani Stone and their two daughters were sitting in the middle of the floor, playing a game of dice and cards with some other foals. All three mares looked up when Polaris entered, and their faces fell as they recognized the bearing about his form.

“Do you have to go, dad?” Carina whispered.

“Yes, dear,” Polaris nodded. “Shining is in trouble, and he needs me out there.”

Cintamani did not speak. She simply stood up, strode up to her husband, and pressed her lips against his. He kissed her back and slowly reached up to tenderly stroke her mane, holding the embrace as if trying to commit the taste of her skin and the scent of her hair to his memory.

The couple slowly broke off, regretfully. Polaris turned to his two daughters. “Girls, I want you to take care of your mother, and to help look after the civilians here. I need you to help keep order.”

“Yes, sir,” Talitha and Carina both nodded grimly.

Polaris embraced them both, and they clung to him for a moment as if to keep him there, but he had to slide out of their grip. “Goodbye,” he declared softly, then turned on his heels and marched out of the room. Cintamani did not weep until he had disappeared around the corner.

Polaris returned to the foyer, where his team of rescuers was waiting, all of them fully geared up for the adventure...except for Pinkie Pie, who was still trying to stuff snacks into her saddlebags. “Are we ready?” he called.

“Wait!” Spike called, huffing and puffing as he ran up to Twilight. He reached inside his pack and handed her something. It was a small, carved fragment of purple crystal, shaped into a shield with a sun and crescent moon in the center. A length of string ran through the crystal, allowing it to be worn around the neck.

“I made this after Starlight left,” Spike said. “I want you to have it.” He reached up on his tiptoes and placed the necklace around her head so that it dangled from her neck, bouncing against her chest.

“Thank you, Spike,” Twilight nodded. She pulled the little dragon into a hug.

“Are you sure I can’t come?” Spike whimpered.

“No, Spike. You’re staying here,” Twilight said firmly.

Spike shuffled his feet, looking both concerned and upset.

“We’ll be back soon,” Twilight reassured him, planting a kiss upon his forehead.

Polaris turned to a lieutenant pegasus with a white coat, flaming red hair, and a fiery shield and helmet on his flanks. “Lieutenant Strider, I’m trusting you to have command until I return.”

“Yes, sir,” Strider saluted. “We’ll be waiting for you to come back.” He sounded as though he was trying to convince himself of his own words.

“All right, let’s move out!” Polaris declared, taking up a map that had a route traced across it. The team exited the precinct into the darkened streets. A fresh snowfall was descending from the black and empty sky as Polaris led them forwards, sweeping the empty, white-coated streets for any sign of enemies.

Spike stood at the window, his breath frosting the glass as his friends disappeared into the swirling whiteness.

Their breath swirled and fogged before their faces as they sprinted across the street, the snow crunching beneath their hooves. Polaris and Phillip led the group, eyes and ears open wide for any enemies.

The stallions signaled a pause as they neared a corner, pressing their backs up against a brick wall. The ponies behind them ducked into a dark alleyway, waiting, breath held, for the all-clear sign.

“I don’t see anything,” Phillip muttered.

“Hold it,” Corporal Ruby Eye hissed. His golden, eagle-like eyes scanned the rooftops of the building around them, peering through the lenses of his night-vision-enhanced goggles.

“Sniper, 2 o’clock, D7,” he whispered, pointing. A faint, twinkling light like a small red star could be seen dancing in a window of a hotel in front of them, the seventh window from the left on the fourth floor.

“Take him out,” Polaris nodded.

PFC Feathered Flight grinned and unshouldered a long crossbow from her back. The emerald mare knelt and cuddled the stock to her shoulder, unfolding the telescoping arms and sliding her hoof into the lever action. With the faintest of clicks, the string drew back and a bolt slid out of the magazine and into place. Feathered placed her chocolate brown eye to the scope, extending her left wing slightly to check for wind and correcting her aim.

“Bye-bye,” she whispered and squeezed the trigger. The crossbow let out the quietest of twangs and the bolt sped through the air, disappearing into the target window. The red star dropped out of sight.

“Kill confirmed,” Ruby Eye stated flatly.

“We keep moving,” Polaris declared. The team moved on, passing by rows of dark, empty buildings. As they penetrated deeper into the city, the shadows pressed colder and harder upon them, and the air grew more and more bitter, stinging at their tongues and nostrils. The ponies attached flashlights to their shoulders, but the tiny beams did little to penetrate the darkness.

Fluttershy stumbled over something in the dark and fell into the snow with a grunt. She turned to look at the obstacle she had stumbled over and shrieked. Splashed across the sidewalk, partially buried in the snow, was the body of a ochre earth pony with pale blue hair. Her dark green eyes were open wide and stared at Fluttershy with an openmouthed, glazed-over gaze. The mare’s back had been ripped open from shoulder to shoulder by a close-range shotgun blast, but the cold had delayed decomposition, so the body and the blood pool around her were still almost as fresh as the moment she had fallen.

Fluttershy screamed again, scrambling to get away from the body. Daring pounced on her and covered her mouth with her hoof to muffle her screams. “Quiet!” she hissed.

“Too late,” Corporal Screecher hissed, his tufted ears turning in every direction. His bat-like wings, a rare sight in Equestria, were spread open wide and his yellow eyes seemed to glow faintly in the dark.

“Patrol coming,” he reported. “At least three of them.”

“We can take them!” Rainbow protested.

“We’re not here to pick fights,” Polaris cut her off. “Getting into a battle we don’t need could only get us into trouble.”

“This way!” Sergeant Gold Dust called, gesturing into an alleyway. The ponies clicked off their flashlights and hurried into the dark alley as a squadron of four snowmobiles rumbled up the street, their powerful headlamps piercing the darkness. Twilight quickly cast a wind spell over the snow to erase their hoofprints as the vehicles halted and their armed riders dismounted.

“You sure you heard something?” one of the invaders called, sweeping the ground with the flashlight mounted to his shotgun. The ponies inched around a corner, sticking to the shadows.

“Back here!” Gold Dust hissed, beckoning everypony over to a low wooden wall. Flash quickly flew up to the top of the wall and swept the area.

“All clear,” he called, dropping down on the other side. The other winged ponies followed him while Phillip, Polaris and Applejack boosted the others up and over the wall before climbing over themselves. The enemy patrol was left far behind, none the wiser.

“Quick thinking, Sergeant,” Polaris commended as he studied the map by the glow of his horn. “Let’s keep moving. The Tasty Treat isn’t far.”

They continued on their way, clinging to the shadows and diverting around roving patrols and sniper nests. More bodies lay stretched pathetically across the white sheets of snow, some of them laying partly in the flickering light of streetlamps, some hidden in the shadows. Looted buildings stood with their windows shattered and their doors kicked in. The stillness and silence was suffocating.

Finally, they reached the Tasty Treat. The tiny little restaurant sat nestled in the alleyway, the windows dark. The door had been kicked in and determinedly clung to the frame by one hinge. An ominous red stain was splashed across the threshold.

The ponies hurried forward. Bumblebee carefully pushed the door open and cast his flashlight inside. “Captain Armor?” he called quietly.

There was no reply from inside. Bumblebee stepped aside and allowed the other ponies to enter. The Tasty Treat lay in disarray, the tables and chairs reduced to splinters and the colorful decorations along the walls and ceiling scorched by magic spells. More than a dozen ponies lay all over the floor, all of them bearing a variety of lethal wounds, many missing limbs. Swords, lances, and guns were scattered amidst the corpses. The scent of cordite hung heavy in the air, having usurped the normal odors of cooking foods and spices.

“Oh, I hope Saffron and Coriander are okay,” Pinkie whimpered, skirting a still-wet bloodstain on the floor.

“Bodies are still fresh,” Daring observed. “This fight was recent.”

“These two have Mareish Mob tattoos,” Phillip noted. “And I recognize this one: she was one of Scarlet Letter’s goons.”

“Shiny?” Twilight called out. Again, there was no answer.

“I think that these ponies were sent to capture or kill Armor,” Phillip stated.

“So where’s Shining?” Twilight asked, a note of desperation in her voice.

“Over here,” Prowl called from the back of the room. He held up a map of Canterlot that had been heavily marked with red pen. Streets had been traced over in color and various buildings had been circled. “Looks like he was monitoring enemy movements. If he—”

“What was that?” Rarity suddenly gasped, looking around.

“What was wha—?” Rainbow’s question was cut off by a shocked cry as she stumbled back in disbelief. The corpse of a blue unicorn with a vicious slice across his chest was rising up off the floor, his glossed-over eyes focusing on Rainbow with a baleful glare.

One by one, each of the bodies lifted themselves up off the ground, turning to stare at the intruders with their dead gazes. With shuffling steps, they advanced upon them, silently staring them down.

“Nopony panic!” Twilight shouted. “It’s just an illusion! None of it is real!”

But her words fell on deaf ears, because the air was suddenly pierced with the shivering screech of a raven, and each of the ponies instantly decided one thing: they must get out, get away, for if they stayed any longer they would die. Abandoning pretense of bravery, they pushed past the walking corpses and fled from the restaurant of death, spilling out into the snowy streets. In their panicked flight, Twilight failed to notice the necklace around her neck slipping loose and tumbling to the floor.

But then the deafening sound of shuffling hooves and crunching snow came echoing up the streets. They looked up and stared in horror as more and more bodies came marching up the streets towards them, the blood of their wounds still fresh and glowing upon their stiff flesh. Their faces were accusatory, blame held in every decaying eye: the so-called guardians had failed to protect them, and now they were here to drag their fallen heroes down with them.

“They’re not real,” Fluttershy whimpered, backing away from a towering, shambling pegasus with snarling, yellowed teeth. “They’re not real, they’re not real—”

The pegasus raised his foreleg and struck her across the jaw, causing her to stumble backwards into the snow. “They’re real! They’re real! They’re real!” she gasped, scrambling to get away from her undead aggressor. Spreading her wings, she took to the sky, disappearing into the swirling snow with a flap of her wings with a scream.

Her retreat was quickly followed by the others, as many of her friends fled with her, racing off in different directions in a desperate bid for escape. Flash took off and flapped away, not caring where he was going, only that he was getting away. Glancing beneath momentarily, he watched as Polaris gave an animalistic bellow and plunged his lance into an advancing corpse, only to be swarmed from all sides and dragged out of sight with a terrified cry.

He flew through the icy winds until he could fly no more, until his wings were covered in frost and his heart hammered in his chest. Dropping to the snowy ground, he panted for breath, his knees trembling. Turning his head from side to side, he scanned for enemies, only to find that, to both his relief and his horror, he was completely alone.

“Ring around the rosy…” a raspy voice suddenly sang from the distance. Remembering his sword, Flash drew his weapon from his sheath and held it up in a shaking hoof, feigning a bid at defense as he searched for his unseen attacker.

“Pocket full of posy…”

Something was coming, something he could not see in the dark. With no light or cover available, Flash instinctively began to back into an alleyway.

“Ashes...ashes…”

His rear impacted against the unforgiving brick of the dead end wall, and he had to halt, tightening his grip on the sword. He squinted into the darkness before him, gasping for air as he struggled to remember his training.

All was quiet. The only sound was his breathing and the wind. And then he felt something move next to him. He forced himself to turn around.

A pair of eyes, red as glowing coals and full of hate, bore into him from the darkness. Flash was not aware of the sword dropping from his grasp; he did not hear his own scream rising into the sky, because those eyes were all he knew, the eyes and the voice…

“WE ALL FALL DOWN.”

Author's Note

The situation is normal: getting worse with every passing moment, and more of the same on the way. Hopefully, the same doesn't apply for my writing.

Please leave a like and a comment if you enjoyed, and I hope you're looking forward to the next chapter!

Part 6: Valley of the Shadow

The grand stone hallway was filled with dozens of voices, baying and cheering as the prisoners were brought in. The victorious strike team dragged Phillip, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Flash across the tiled floor behind them. Each of their captured prey was securely bound, blindfolded, and muzzled; they struggled futilely, still shaking with fright as the remnants of the fear toxin raced through their veins.

“Not so tough now, are ya?!” a thestral mare taunted.

“Gonna skin you alive, Finder!” a bulky earth pony snarled, twirling a pair of butterfly knives as he spoke.

“—right up her butthole!” a Scarlet member shouted, pointing at Pinkie. “Make her pay for what she did!”

“—see how long a royalty can last,” a unicorn with wolf-like features hissed, licking his chops as he focused on Twilight.

“Silence!” a voice barked from above. The ponies all fell quiet and drew away from the bound prisoners and looked up at the two figures standing atop the sweeping staircase, leaning over the parapet.

Zugzwang and Scarlet Letter smirked down at their captives. “Well done, doctor,” Zugzwang declared as they both started to descend down the stairs onto the main floor.

A pegasus in a tattered cloak with a flat, wide-brimmed hat emerged from the rear of the group, grinning up at Zugzwang. The henchponies around him drew back as one. “I promised you nothing but the best, Zugzwang,” he hissed in reply.

Zugzwang’s eyes flicked over the prisoners as he walked in front of their line. Each of them was shaking in their ropes with slow, shivering breath. “Where are Daring Do and their escorts?” Zugzwang asked calmly.

The strike team looked at one another with fearful eyes. “They...got away,” one of them admitted slowly, punctuating his confession with a nervous swallow.

The look Zugzwang fixed his underlings with could’ve turned magma into ice. “Then get back out there, find them, and kill them,” he instructed with no change in tone. “They are still a threat, and I will not tolerate any interference. Am I understood?”

“Y-yes, master!” the pony stammered, kneeling. He and the other ponies raced back outside into the snowy streets to resume their search.

“That goes to all of you,” Zugzwang added, raising his voice to address the ensemble of killers, thieves, and worse before him. “We remain on guard. We have not yet won this battle.”

“Yes, sir!” dozens of voices barked back at once.

“Dear, let me have the pink one,” Scarlet Letter cooed into Zugzwang’s ear, her eyes on Pinkie Pie. “I want her to suffer for what she did to me, did to all of us.”

“In time, mein Geliebte,” Zugzwang responded, not looking at her. “There are things we must attend to.” He lit up his horn, summoning clouds of smoke that slithered through the air towards Rarity, Twilight, Flash, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. The clouds snaked around the bound ponies’ wings and horns. A moment later, the unicorns, pegasi and alicorn start writhing in their bonds, their cries of pain muffled by their muzzles. Black, jagged crystals tore through their flesh, bursting from their horns and wings. They collapsed to the floor, panting in shock.

Zugzwang looked down at Flash, tucking a hoof under his chin and lifting his head up to meet his blindfolded gaze. “You should have died in that coffin, flachwichser,” he spoke calmly, striking Flash across the face with his hoof.

He paused in front of Phillip. A smile spread across the sociopath’s face as he tenderly stroked Phillip’s cheek with the back of his hoof, receiving a muffled snarl in reply.

“Hello, liebling,” he cooed softly. “Bring him up to my dining hall. The rest, bring them with me. Fret not,” he added in answer to faint groans of disappointment from the audience. “You will have your turn when we are done.”

The ponies cheered again and started dragging their struggling prizes away. Zugzwang followed Scarlet out of the room, a new spring in his step.

The cell was six paces long and eight paces wide. Celestia knew because she had paced it over a hundred times in her captivity, memorizing every crevice and irregularity in the stone walls and floor. There were no windows or lights, and the door was always sealed shut, denying her any light to see. However, she could still smell the bucket in the corner that had been provided for her to use to relieve herself, as well as the plate of undercooked straw and small glass of icy water that was her only meal for the day.

Right now, she was huddled up against the corner, focusing on keeping her breathing even. Her normally multicolored, luminescent mane hung dull and limp, fading into a washed out pink color. Her entire body ached from repeated beatings, her throat was raw with thirst, and her stomach rumbled with hunger. Most of all, the crystal shards that were growing from her horn and wing bones burned like a terrible case of frostbite.

And then there was the ache in her foreleg. Several red marks dotted the inner part of the appendage, permanent reminders of her “appointments.” As if the nightmarish visions that came and went on an irregular tide weren’t enough.

The door suddenly crashed open, blinding her with light. She grunted and raised a hoof to shield her eyes, but the incoming sentries were already pouncing on her, binding her hooves and placing a blindfold over her eyes. She tried to fight back, but heavy blows assailed her head and back, bringing her down to her knees and making her aching head ring with fresh pain. Her captors dragged her back to her hooves and started to carry her down the hallway. Her mind blurred with pain, she struggled to keep track of every turn—left, forward, right, left again—but there were too many turns.

Finally, they stopped and she was dropped down onto the stone floor. The blindfold was removed and she blinked in the sudden light. A blue shape dropped down on her left side and she turned to focus upon it. “Luna?” she gasped.

Her little sister looked every bit as terrible as she felt: her limpid pale blue mane clung to her bruised and battered frame, and her bloodshot eyes were wide and terrified. She shivered as she looked up at Celestia, her hooves bound and her horn and wings pierced with crystal shards.

A heavy weight dropped down on Celestia’s right side, and she looked up to see Shining Armor, a prisoner like them. His face was adorned with fresh bruises and cuts and his breathing, drawn through clenched teeth, was marked with an injured hissing. He looked up at the Princesses with his left eye: his right eye was swollen shut. He too had shards protruding from his horn.

“Your Highnesses, I—”

“Shut up!” one of their captors barked, striking Shining in the stomach with a cudgel. He doubled over, coughing and wheezing.

Celestia took the opportunity to observe their surroundings. They were in a long room with a grand chandelier dangling from the ceiling, casting the room in flickering golden light. They knelt in front of a grand pipe organ, the huge golden pipes seeming to tower over them. Celestia looked up and her eyes fell upon the large fresco painted across the opposing wall, which she immediately recognized: The Last Judgement. She studied the horrific, abstract imagery of the twisted, grotesque demons dragging the shrieking damned into pastures dark flames with a chill. Her gaze went up to the top of the painting and she observed the large, haloed figure hovering in the midst of the darkened sky, observing the fate of those beneath with a cold, impassionate expression. The deity’s eyes were black, black as an abyss.

The door opposite them opened and the royalty looked up. Their eyes widened as they recognized the ponies being dragged in. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Flash were thrown down in front of a group of abductors and their blindfolds were removed to reveal their terrified eyes. Zugzwang appeared, calmly lighting a cigarette as he walked up to the royalty.

“You bastards!” Shining Armor bellowed, thrashing against his bonds. “Let them go!”

Zugzwang smirked at Shining, then turned to the bound prisoners. His horn glowed with energy. A moment later, all seven captured ponies starting writhing in pain, their muffled screeches and howls filling the room.

“No! Stop it!” Celestia cried in panic.

Zugzwang turned off the torture spell, leaving the captives shaking and panting. He turned to the royal ponies, his expression as cold as ice.

“Bow to me,” he ordered.

“I swear I’m going to kill you,” Shining snarled.

Zugzwang lit up his horn again and the captives started writhing once more, shrieking into their gags.

“Bow to me,” he spoke again, with no change in tone or voice.

Luna looked over at the tortured ponies, then glared up at Zugzwang. “No,” she spat.

Zugzwang’s horn grew brighter. The muffled shrieks grew louder as tears ran from the ponies’ eyes.

“I can make it worse. I can also make it stop.” Zugzwang stared imperiously down at the royals, the golden-reddish glow of his magic reflected in his abyssal black eyes. “Bow to me.”

Celestia looked over at Twilight and her friends. Her pupil was laying on the floor, convulsing in agony. She forced her tear-streaked eyes open and looked up at Celestia, silently pleading with her from across the room.

“Stop,” Celestia spoke softly. Zugzwang turned to her, extinguishing his horn. The seven ponies stopped thrashing and laid on the floor, whimpering.

Celestia looked up at Zugzwang, then slowly placed her bound hooves on the floor in front of her. With a long exhalation, hating herself for every inch she moved, she lowered her forehead to the floor in a bow. She felt and heard Luna, then Shining mimicking her movement, bowing to their captor.

Zugzwang let out a long sigh of satisfaction that smelled of Saddle Arabian tobacco and spices and placed his hoof on Celestia’s head, softly stroking her mane.

“And now the gods bend to my will,” he spoke. “Now, let us continue.”

Celestia was roughly seized from behind and the blindfold was fastened over her eyes once more. “No!” she cried out, but received a heavy blow to the back of the head that dazed her.

“Not him,” she heard Zugzwang saying. “The doctor wanted to start with him. Take the others to their cells.”

She heard a chorus of muffled shouts and struggling as she was dragged away, fighting every step. Another blow crashed into the back of her skull, knocking her out.

Her head spun as she came to. She tried to sit up, but found it impossible to move: something was holding her limbs and neck down, and her vision was obscured by something covering her face. It took her a few minutes to realize that she was strapped to a table, her head lower than her legs. She could hear a muffled, regular beeping noise: after a moment, she realized that it was her heartbeat, linked to an EKG.

“I’ve spent many months wondering why my first session with you didn’t take,” a familiar voice hissed in her ear. “I broke you, I know I did, but your friends still put you back together again.”

Celestia struggled to keep her breathing even.

“I suspect that the reason was because I rushed it,” Doctor Nevermore continued, circling around her. “Admittedly, I was under time constraints. But now, I intend to make sure that this time, you stay broken.”

Celestia swallowed.

“I have to focus on another patient right now, but I’ll be back soon,” Nevermore’s voice said, retreating from the room. “Treatment nine. One hour.”

It was at this moment that Celestia suddenly realized what was covering her face: a towel. A trickle of cold water began to pour down onto her covered face: she could feel its icy weight through the towel, teasing her, warning her of what would come.

She thrashed against her bonds, but there was nothing she could do. The trickle became a deluge, soaking the towel and smothering it to her face. Her body betrayed her by instinctively trying to inhale, which sucked the cloth over her face, making it feel as though the air itself was crushing her mouth and nose. Her coughs and chokes were all caught in her throat, and she flailed helplessly in panic. Just when she was on the verge of blacking out, the deluge ceased and she was allowed to breathe again. Celestia only had a moment to catch her breath before the water came back, crushing the air from her face.

The banquet table was loaded with a variety of foods, all of them steaming and fresh from the oven: crispy latkes, potato salad, hay steaks, thick slices of buttered bread. Bottles of chilled beerenauslese and ice water stood ready next to a pair of crystalline glasses. The flickering lights of the candelabras on the table and the crackling flames in the brick fireplace next to him cast the stone room into harsh relief.

The mouthwatering scents made Phillip’s stomach rumble. Shoving his hunger aside, he studied the ropes tying him to his chair at the end of the table: the thick ropes kept him secured to the heavy oak chair, but his hooves were bound in front of him, allowing him to access the plate and cutlery in front of him. His coat, vest, shirt, and trilby had been removed, and now lay in a pile on the floor next to him. No less than four ponies were watching him silently, all of them armed with electric prods to keep him in line if he tried to escape. He offered no resistance, sitting still and silent, not looking at his captors.

The door behind him opened and quick footsteps approached. “Phillip!” Zugzwang sang out joyfully, appearing to his left with a bright smile on his face, wearing a prim black tuxedo. “I apologize for keeping you waiting, liebling, but I had some other business that needed taking care of.”

Phillip just glared at him. He had already made up his mind that whatever Zugzwang’s game was, he wasn’t going to play along.

“First of all, these,” Zugzwang continued, turning to the pile of clothing. “You won’t be needing them anymore.” Casually, he lifted up the entire pile and tossed them all into the fireplace.

Phil’s eyes narrowed and he grit his teeth in rage as he watched his trusty vest and his father’s hat become consumed by the hungry flames, turning into charred husks of cloth in mere moments. He focused on the burning sensation, internalized it and set it aside, and forced himself to meet Zugzwang’s gaze, unflinching as he gazed into the black abyss.

“You may leave us,” Zugzwang bid his bodyguards.

“Are you sure, master?” one of them asked.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for nine years,” Zugzwang said, fixing Phillip with a hungry gaze. “I am in control. You may leave us.”

The bodyguards bowed and exited, closing the door behind them. Zugzwang smiled and began to pour the wine into the two glasses.

“I hope you appreciate the effort I went to for this,” he said to Phillip, placing a glass in front of his guest. “After all, this is all for you.”

Phillip ignored the glass, and continued to display no reaction when his host began piling food onto his plate. “You should eat, liebling, you look famished,” Zugzwang chastised gently with a smile. “I suspect it’s been a while since you’ve had a warm meal.”

“No thanks to you,” Phil grunted. The scent of the foods in front of him made his mouth water, but he swallowed it back.

Zugzwang raised his eyebrows and smirked. “That does not mean that I am not capable of generosity,” he said, placing an extra scoop of potato salad onto Phil’s plate. “Eat, bitte.”

He took up his own cutlery, cut himself a slice of hay steak, and lifted it up to his mouth, swallowing it down with a hum of satisfaction.

“The Blood Plague,” Phil asked. “What did you do with it?”

Zugzwang dabbed at his lips with a napkin before answering. “The late Dr. Mix refined the sample with the assistance of myself and Dr. Nevermore,” he stated. “He has placed it into a bomb of our combined design, and hid it in this city. As to where the bomb is..." He smirked. "That is a puzzle, isn't it?" He turned back to his plate. “But let us not dwell on such unpleasantries. Tonight, right now, this is all about you.”

He paused to consume more food, eating slowly and delicately. Phil’s stomach grumbled louder and his mouth was watering constantly, but he refused to eat, satisfying himself with only a few quick sips of the wine.

“I remember quite clearly the day I first saw you, liebling,” Zugzwang finally said. “Coming in like a thunderbolt and crashing into my life. Changing everything. When I first saw you, I felt a great exhilaration, one that I not felt in many years. You, Phillip, made me feel...alive again, because at last, you gave me what I was missing: a pony to play with.

“So I set myself to learning as much as I could about you, about your origins,” Zugzwang continued, pausing briefly to take a bite of a latke. “Imagine my delight when I realized that the two of us were very similar.”

Phil’s jaw clenched. “We are nothing alike,” he snarled.

Zugzwang’s smirk grew like the Cheshire Cat’s. “Aren’t we?” he asked. “We are both highly intelligent loners, among the elite of our respective fields. We willingly work outside the law; we achieve our goals through whatever means necessary, including force. And if we need to get blood on our hooves to get what we want? So be it.”

Phil scowl deepened, but he could not think up a suitable reply.

“The only true difference between us is that you still clung to a semblance of morality,” Zugzwang continued. “But I maintained hope that you could come to see thing my way. After all, you already had an inkling of the truth.”

“What truth?” Phil snapped.

Zugzwang paused to take a long sip from his wine before answering. “One bad day,” he stated. “That’s the only difference between where we are and where the rest of the world is. Just one bad day. Like the one you had when you were thirteen.”

Phillip’s heartbeat slowed and he felt his blood chilling in his veins.

“You had a bad day, and it changed everything,” Zugzwang continued, unabated. “You caught a glimpse of how the world really was, and once you saw that, you couldn’t look away, even if you spent the rest of your life pretending that you did.” He leaned forward and set his elbows on the table, resting his chin on his hooves. The light from the candles should’ve reflected in his eyes, but the black holes remained empty, fixated on Phillip’s stormcloud gray irides.

“The truth is, the only pony that anypony is truly interested in serving is themselves,” Zugzwang spoke, his voice quiet and intense. “The pony who murdered your father did it because he wanted to find something to sell on the street to get a five-minute high. You chose to become what you are not to avenge your father or to dispense justice, but as an outlet for your rage and guilt. The Princesses sit on the thrones to further their own egos, while the peasants beneath them obey the law out of fear of punishment, not out of love for others.”

“You’re wrong,” Phil said, but his voice sounded weak even to himself. “Ponies do care about others. Friendship, love, hope…”

Zugzwang scoffed and waved a hoof dismissively. “A temporary cure for loneliness, a biological imperative to breed, and a foolish attempt to convince themselves that life has a point.” Zugzwang leaned forward a little more, and Phillip had to force himself not to retreat.

“Phillip, a hundred years after you die, will anything you have done really matter?” Zugzwang asked. “Will ponies even remember your name? We are born, we live for a brief while, and we die. That is all there is to life, and in a morally blank mire such as this, ponies will only be as good as circumstances allow them.

“You’ll see: those ‘civilized ponies’ that you fight so hard to protect from the ‘criminal element?’ When you tear down the veils they put up around themselves so they may participate in society, you’ll see that there is no difference between the two.” He blinked once at Phillip. “You will see,” he repeated with an ominous finality.

A silence extended between the two stallions, punctuated only by the continuing snaps and pops of the fire next to them. The glare they shared across the table was as cold as the winds outside.

“Well?” Zugzwang finally prompted. “Don’t you have anything to say?”

Phillip’s response was to spit at Zugzwang, hocking a loogie directly into the unicorn’s face. Zugzwang merely blinked slowly, and levitated over a napkin, wiping off the gob of saliva.

The next moment, his face twisted into an image of pure rage and he fired off a blast of golden-reddish magic, sending Phillip flying backwards several feet, still bound to the chair. He teleported over to Phillip and began kicking him repeatedly, his hooves pounding into Phillip’s chest and head. All he could do was raise his forelegs and try to absorb the blows as best as possible.

The beating lasted for almost a full minute and ended when Zugzwang finally backed away from his now-bloodied captive, panting. Phillip lay still, groaning faintly as red lines trickled down his forelegs and face.

Zugzwang cleared his throat, adjusted his tie, and turned back to Phillip, a soft smile gracing his face once more. “I apologize, liebling,” he whispered softly. “I lost control of myself for a moment.” He bent down and stroked Phillip’s cheek with his hoof. “Perhaps I can make it up to you.”

He lit up his magic and undid the ropes binding Phillip to the chair, but kept his hooves bound together. Coiling the rope into a short leash, he tied it around Phillip’s neck and lifted him up to his hooves. Still in pain from his beating, Phillip had no choice but to allow himself to be half-dragged, half-marched out of the room and down the hallway. A pair of guards with shotguns stood sentry outside a pair of grand doors carved with a pair of swooping alicorns with long manes. Both of them smirked at the sight of the bound and helpless Phillip Finder as Zugzwang opened the doors and pulled him inside.

They entered a great round bedroom with black and white checkered carpeting on the floor. A four-poster bed with scarlet sheets and black curtains sat in the center. A record player and a glass harmonica stood in a corner next to another door.

Zugzwang hummed happily as he carried Phillip over to the bed and gently lifted him up, setting him down onto the soft silk sheets. He then undid the leash and used the rope he had carried with him to tightly bind all four of Phillip’s hooves to the bedposts, leaving him spread-eagled across the mattress. Turning away for a moment, he used his magic to remove his own clothes, neatly folding them and tucking them on top of a dresser in the corner. His smile widened as he turned on the record player, filling the room with a familiar love song as he crawled up onto the mattress.

Suddenly, what should have been obvious all along became real, thrust directly into Phillip’s face. His heartbeat seemed to stop for a moment, then began to race, as if trying to jump out of his chest. He struggled against his bonds, panting through his teeth. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he registered a strange, bitter aftertaste in the wine, and realized that it had been more than fermented grapes that he had swallowed.

“Shhh,” Zugzwang hushed, pressing his hoof against Phillip’s lips. “Haben Sie keine Angst, liebling. It won’t hurt.” He set himself down over Phillip’s body, pressing his chest against his prisoner’s heaving torso. “Let me warn you now, Phillip; if you do anything untowards to me, your friends will get ten times worse than what you do to me.”

Phillip swallowed and forced himself to go still. A blanket of ice was crawling up his body. Zugzwang smiled and kissed him on the lips, first gently, then more forcefully as his hooves massaged his ribs.

Moments later, long, desperate cries of pain filled the room, mixing with the love song still crooning out of the record player.

“I used to think that fear was purely biological,” Nevermore admitted, troweling another brick and setting it on top of the wall. “I thought that the properly-aligned chemicals and the perfect marriages of the arcane and the physical could unlock the demons in a pony’s mind, bend them to my will.” He paused in his work for a moment, looking up at his latest patient. “You and your friends proved me wrong.”

Flash Sentry did not reply; his rapid, trembling breath prevented all speech. He was standing in a small alcove, his hooves chained to the wall, forced to watch helplessly as Nevermore built a brick wall in front of him. Already, the stone enclosure was up to his waist, and getting higher with each passing minute.

“Fear is more than just an instinct, more than evolution’s response to danger,” Nevermore continued, taking up another brick and dipping his trowel into the mortar bucket. “Nopony can ever know true fear as long as they have hope. And hope, I have learned, is the sun in the day and the moon at night. It is the shining, polished armor of the Royal Guard, or the spread wings of an alicorn princess and her virtuous, incorruptible friends rushing in to save the day. Hope is the stallion in the green vest and the gray hat who comes to right wrongs.”

“HELP!” Flash shrieked, his voice echoing endlessly against the moisture-licked walls. “SOMEPONY, PLEASE! HELP ME!”

Nevermore sat back and watched in silence as Flash continued to scream out for help that would not come, struggling futilely against his chains. Eventually, his voice gave out into rasps and half-choked sobs and he fell, defeated, against his bonds.

With a sigh, Nevermore took up his tool and continued his work, bricking Flash into the wall. The Guard’s pants and whimpers became increasingly more rapid and desperate as the wall reached up to his chest, then his head, then enveloped him, completely blocking him inside.

Finally, there was only one small gap left in the enclosure, through which Nevermore observed his patient. Tears were running from his shining blue eyes and his every exhalation was a faint bleat of panic. He stared up at Nevermore with an expression of pleading: “For the love of God, doctor!”

“Goodbye, Sergeant,” Nevermore said, and turned and walked away as Flash’s terrified wails began anew.

Author's Note

...and now you know why I gave this story a mature rating.

Let's talk about this.

Part 7: In Blackest Night

The icy wind bit into Daring Do as she trudged through the street, her hooves leaving deep imprints in the snow. She glanced back in irritation at her wings; the tips were covered in frost and the cold had numbed them so much that if she couldn’t see them, she wouldn’t know they were still attached to her. Her legs protested having to carry her weight across the snow.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Whatever toxin she’d been hit with, it had messed her up badly. Even hours after the initial exposure, she could still feel the chills dancing up and down her spine, and could not shake the feeling that something was following her every hoofstep.

“Not now,” she hissed to herself, pausing to take in her surroundings. Clenching her jaw together to silence her chattering teeth, she looked up at the street signs. Thirteenth and Moonglaive…she nodded. Right. The Tasty Treat wasn’t that far from here. She'd have to go back and try to find a clue as to where they went.

The sound of grumbling engines approaching forced her to duck into a dead-end alleyway, taking cover behind an overflowing dumpster. Peeking over the top, she watched as a pair of snowmobiles slowly passed by, their bundled-up riders sweeping the streets with powerful searchlights. She ducked back behind cover as the lights passed over her, holding her breath. The patrol evidently didn’t see her, because the lights moved past without incident.

She peeked out again, and saw that there was a third pony with the patrol. A tall, bulky figure dressed in a fire-retardant coat and boots, with a fuel tank across their back attached to fuel lines running to a gauntlet on their right foreleg, and an old-fashioned gas mask covering their head. They walked slowly up the streets behind the two snowmobiles, their head swiveling back and forth.

The Scorcher paused at the head of the alley where Daring was hiding, looking down towards her hiding position. In the dim light of a nearby streetlamp, Daring could see that his gas mask was painted white, with a red, garish, clown-like smile running up the “cheeks.” The two eyeholes were like round tears in the white, a pair of empty holes staring in her direction. The Scorcher stepped forward, his head tilting a little to the side as if in curiosity, and raised his right foreleg. With a click, a small blue pilot light ignited on the weapon, the tiny flame dancing tauntingly as he advanced.

Daring hissed out a curse and tensed her body, grabbing her whip from beneath her coat. She tried to stretch her wing out a bit, but the frostbitten muscles refused to respond. Backed into a dead-end street and exhausted with three armed ponies facing her, she didn’t stand much of a chance.

“There’s nothing here, dude!” one of the other ponies called back. “Let’s keep going, I wanna get out of the cold.”

“I still can’t believe we lost them,” his partner grumbled. “Who knew that ponies wearing full armor could run that fast?”

“At least we got Finder and his friends. That’s something,” the first pony answered.

The Scorcher paused, then turned and continued after them, disappearing down the street. Daring sighed in relief and replaced her weapon. As soon as the sound of the engines disappeared, she broke from her hiding place and started hurrying towards the Tasty Treat.

There were still a few roving patrols and sentries between her and her destination, but she avoided all of them. It took her twenty minutes to finally reach the Tasty Treat. The little restaurant loomed silently in the snow, a silent witness to the bleak state of the city.

Checking around one last time to make sure that the patrols had moved on, Daring stepped forward and pushed the door open.

Suddenly, something seized her around the throat and yanked her inside the darkened interior of the restaurant. Hooves wrapped around her body and covered her mouth, and a blade was pressed against her neck.

“Hold it!” a voice hissed from the shadows. “It’s Daring.”

Her captors released her and she leapt out of reach, looking around. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she recognized the Guard team that had escorted them. Captain Polaris, Prowl, Bumblebee, Screecher, Gold Dust, Ruby Eye, and Feathered Flight, all of them clutching their dripping wet parkas to themselves.

“What’re you all doing here?” Daring hissed, half in relief and half in irritation.

“We’re waiting for the patrols to move on,” Sergeant Gold Dust replied. “Then we’re getting out of here.”

“Wha-you’re leaving?!” Daring snapped. She glared at the group of armored ponies. “You call yourself Guards?! Our friends have been captured, and you’re running away?! You all—”

“Daring,” Polaris cut in. “We’re not running away. We’re chasing after them. We just need to wait for the patrols to move on.”

“...oh,” Daring stammered, her ears flattening against her head. “Right.”

She sat down amidst the City Guards and they waited in silence for several minutes. Ruby Eye stood post next to the curtained window, carefully peeking out with one eye to watch the movements of the enemies outside. Polaris and Prowl both watched the closed door, ready for any intruders. The low winds from outside the Tasty Treat sang softly.

"Are you okay?" Bumblebee whispered to Daring. "You're not hurt, are you?"

She blinked in surprise at being addressed. "I'm fine," she responded. "You?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're all okay." Daring saw the shadow that she assigned Bumblebee's voice nodding. "That was really close, though."

"It was," Screecher replied. "We're lucky they didn't grab us all."

"And that you regrouped here," Daring commended them.

Gold Dust chuckled once. "They wouldn't think to look here. Not when we just ran away."

Daring appraised her and nodded. "Smart."

"We're Canterlot City Guards," Gold Dust told her. Even in the dark, Daring could see her winking at her. "We're professionals."

“Sir, they’re clearing out,” Ruby Eye called, watching from the curtained window. “Hold on...yeah, they’re gone.”

“Let’s move out, then,” Polaris ordered. The team exited the restaurant, checking around for any stragglers, but the streets were fortunately deserted. As Daring turned to follow them, a faint glimmer caught her eye. Glancing down, she saw the carved crystal that Twilight had been wearing, forgotten on the ground. She bent down and picked it up, placing it around her own neck. She’d give that back to Twilight when she found them. Having acquired her gear, she followed the others outside.

“Sergeant Dust, tracking spell,” Polaris instructed.

Gold Dust bent her head close to the ground and sent out several pulses of pale yellow magic that traveled through the air. Faintly glowing hoofprints appeared in the snow, more than a dozen of them overlapping each other.

“Those are our tracks, as we ran out of the restaurant,” she said, following a trail with her hoof. “We stopped here...some of us flew away. This trail here…” she wondered, following a pair of trails leading down the road.

“That’s Pinkie Pie and Rarity,” Daring stated. “I recognize their horseshoes.”

The team followed the mares’ trail. Before long, they were intercepted by other sets of hoofprints.

“These must be the abductors,” she concluded. She sent out more pulses of magic, revealing more of the hoofprints. There was a mass of tangled prints where there’d been a struggle, then the abductor’s trail walked away, dragging two lines in the snow behind them. The trail disappeared soon after, intercepting a pair of long parallel lines.

“They dropped them into a truck,” Gold Dust stated, focusing her magic on the truck’s tracks.

“Hey, I just remembered,” Prowl said, rummaging around in his saddlebag. He extracted the marked-up map that Shining Armor had left behind. “We could use this to avoid our enemies."

“Wait,” Bumblebee protested. “There’s got to be at least a hundred of them between us and them, and we can’t get backup this far into enemy territory.” He looked around at the group. “Are you sure we can—?”

“Don’t say that, private,” Polaris interrupted with the measured tone of a teacher disciplining a student. “We are the Royal Guard. We are still alive, which means we are still capable of kicking ass. And our friends need us.” He looked each of his team in the eye. “Are we gonna back down now?”

“Hell no, sir,” Daring grunted in reply.

“Hell no, sir!” the others barked after her.

Polaris nodded and grinned. “Then let’s move out!”

Gold Dust refreshed the tracking spell to highlight the truck’s tire tracks and the team hurried after their quarry.

Had it been hours or days? Phillip could no longer tell. All he knew was that he was still tied down to the bed of silk sheets that were now stained with his liquids, his body aching and his eyes burning from tears, and his rapist was curled up next to him, dozing contentedly like nothing else mattered.

The memories of the event played over and over again in the forefront of Phillip’s mind, like a film reel stuck on replay. He had vomited after the first round, as if trying to expel Zugzwang’s vile seed from his body, but Zugzwang had only laughed and continued as if this wasn’t wrong, as if this was normal. After the third time, he forced himself to go numb just to remain intact. He’d passed out soon after, and now was only coming to again.

He tested the ropes binding him down and found that they did not yield. He couldn’t have fought back. He couldn’t have done anything.

But he still should have! He could have kicked or screamed or bit! He could have struggled and roared! But instead, he just lay there and took it! He let it happen! He could have...he should have…

Oh God.

Oh, dear God.

A feeble groan escaped from his throat before he could stifle it. Zugzwang stirred, humming softly as he opened his eyes and smiled. “Allo, liebling,” he cooed, kissing Phillip on the cheek. “Ack, we made quite a mess, didn’t we?” he laughed, undoing the bonds that held Phil down to the bed. “Come, let us go clean off.”

Phillip felt himself being lifted up, his hooves still hobbled to keep him under control. Now! Fight back! Do something!

But his limbs were numb and his head remained low. He followed the cheerily humming Zugzwang into an adjoining bathroom. He obediently allowed himself to be placed in a large bathtub which was quickly filled up with warm, soapy water that smelled of citruses and daisies. Zugzwang climbed in with him and began to almost lovingly scrub them both down with soap, singing a Gerwhin folk song as he cleaned him. Phillip had to force himself not to flinch every time his captor’s hooves stroked his coat. And when the bar of soap gently stroked his throbbing sheathed regions, he had to bite back a whimper of pain.

“There. All better now,” Zugzwang finally declared, rinsing them both off with cold water. He helped Phillip climb out of the bathtub and levitated over a pair of towels, drying them both off. Still Phillip did not resist. Something broken was rattling around inside him.

Zugzwang finished drying them both off and led them back into the bedroom, having Phil sit down next to the bed. There was a knock at the door and a mare henchpony entered, holding a box covered with a red ribbon.

“The stuff you asked for, master,” she said, giving Phil a brief sneer over Zugzwang’s shoulder. “I got it from the place down the road.”

“Dankeschoen,” Zugzwang nodded, taking the box from her and closing the door. He carried the box over to a desk and set it down. “I’m sure you’re hungry, liebling,” he commented casually, pulling a carafe of ice water and two glasses out of a cupboard and pouring them both a drink. Phil’s stomach twisted in hunger and he was suddenly aware of how much his dry throat ached.

“I suppose I could give you something to refresh yourself,” Zugzwang said, walking back over to Phillip and sitting down on the bed in front of him. “If you made it worth my while.” He smirked at his captive, who looked up at him, slowly realizing what he was meant to do.

A spark of fight danced in Phil’s chest, and he thought of all the ways there are to hurt a pony, to bring about vengeance for all the mistreatment that he had wrought upon him, upon his friends, upon this city…

“Remember our agreement, Phillip,” Zugzwang cut in, his eyes suddenly hard and cold even as the smirk still played about his face.

The spark died instantly, and Phil allowed himself to lean forward. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and did not open them again until it was all over.

“Guter Junge,” Zugzwang praised, stroking Phillip’s mane and ears as he coughed. “And you even swallowed. You’ve earned a small reward.”

He carried the little meal over to Phillip, who was now laying on the floor, not looking at anything.

Smirking, Zugzwang placed one of the glasses and the little box on the floor in front of Phil, who stirred faintly as the scent of the dessert reached his nostrils. The box contained several chocolate covered strawberries, arranged in little rows.

Moaning softly in relief, Phil took the glass in his hobbled hooves and drank down several gulps of the ice water. The cold drink went a way towards relieving his throat, but did not remove the bitter, salty taste that hovered on the back of his tongue. In an attempt to remove it, he turned to the strawberries. Popping two into his mouth, he quickly chewed and swallowed them, though they did little to satisfy his hunger or remove the filthy taste. He took a third strawberry and began to chew it more slowly, trying to savor the taste. Light, milky chocolate intermingling beautifully with the juiciness of the fruit, with a hint of nuts at the end…

A spark of memory danced in the back of his mind. Oak wooden tables, dim, scented candles...slow, flowing music on flutes and strings...fish muddle...Daring…

The Three Tribes Eatery! And the henchpony had said that it was down the road!

He kept his face neutral as the gears began to turn in his head, taking another strawberry. He went over his mental map of Canterlot’s Historical District, retracing his tracks from the tavern. He cast his eyes over the stone walls of the room and spotted a small carving in the top corner of the room: a swirling, backwards S—a mason’s mark—and in miniscule writing, “312 RA.”

This building had been built in the 312th year of the Reign of the Alicorns, thirty years before Luna’s fall and banishment. And then he remembered the carved alicorns on the door to this room. Just like the carved alicorns on the door of an ancient abbey that he had passed on the way, dedicated to the worship of the alicorns.

And if memory served, there was a bell in the northern corner of the temple, hanging from an open steeple; he had heard its peals as he left the Eatery with Daring, calling parishioners to evening service. If he could reach the tower, he could signal for help.

“Do you think we should go visit your friends, liebling?” Zugzwang taunted, forming some of the spare rope into a leash and tightening it around Phillip’s neck, hard enough to choke him. Phil stood up and allowed Zugzwang to drag him out of the room, past the sneering guards, and down the hallway.

They passed a window and Phil glanced up. The sky was still dark and empty, and the streets bare and blanketed in snow, but in the distance he could see the faint lights of the towers of the Royal Palace against the black backdrop. Quickly reorienting his mental map of Canterlot, he realized that he was fortuitously walking north, towards his target.

But then Zugzwang tugged on his leash and started pulling him down a thin staircase. Phil stumbled, then suddenly lunged forward, ramming the top of his head into Zugzwang’s jaw. Surprised by the action, Zugzwang grunted in pain and stumbled back. His hoof slipped on the step, and he began tumbling down the staircase, dropping the leash.

Released, Phil quickly bit off the ropes that tied his front hooves together, then snapped the ropes on his hind legs with a quick buck backwards, simultaneously knocking out a guard that was trying to rush him from behind. He sprinted up the hallway, kicking off the wall to avoid another pair of enemies that was trying to block him, forcing himself to run through the pain that covered his body.

A sign over his head pointed to the belltower. Mere feet ahead of his pursuers, he made a tight turn to the right, ducked beneath a cudgel swinging at his head and counterattacked with an elbow strike to the ribs, and kept running, barging through a door. A circular flight of upward stairs stretched before him.

He felt a cold wind behind him and turned, his heart momentarily stopping at the sight. A mass of black smoke was rushing towards him up the hallway, so thick it looked like a solid wall. He turned and raced up the stairs, leaping up onto the banister and climbing up the flight like it was a ladder. The smoke swirled up beneath him and began to pursue him. Ignoring the fact that his aching forelegs could barely hold up his weight, he climbed faster.

He reached the top, where a long rope dangled from a hatch in the ceiling, but so did the smoke, which coalesced between him and the rope and turned into Zugzwang. He glared at Phillip with an expression not unlike a disapproving parent regarding a disobedient child.

“Phillip, what do you think you’re doing?” he asked, his horn sparking dangerously. “You’re only hurting yourself, and your friends.”

Phillip hesitated, assessing his enemy. He heard hoofsteps from below and glanced down momentarily, spotting a unicorn mare leaning over the railing of the steps beneath him, aiming a pepperbox revolver up at him. He recognized her as Laurier de Montaigne, Scarlet Letter’s maid and bodyguard.

The momentary distraction was all Zugzwang needed. A stream of magic burst from his horn, directed at Phillip. Having anticipated the attack, Phillip dodged to the side, feeling the heat of the spell as it passed over his shoulder as he seized Zugzwang’s hoof, pulling him towards him and placing his enemy in between himself and Laurier. Momentarily caught off-guard, Zugzwang countered by grounding himself, then grabbing Phillip’s foreleg and trying to pull him into a joint lock. Allowing himself to be pulled towards Zugzwang, Phillip jumped, pushing down on Zugzwang’s head as he climbed up onto his back, then jumped off. His hooves wrapped around the rope and he pulled with everything he had.

With a great tolling that shook the entire tower, the bell above him rang, again and again, sending out its desperate cry into the still city air.

Not far away, Daring Do and the City Guards looked up at the noise. “What’s that?” Screecher asked.

“Faust Abbey!” Polaris declared, sprinting ahead. The others followed behind, invigorated by the cry for help.

With a snarl, Zugzwang struck Phillip across the jaw, sending him spinning to the floor, unconscious. He stood over his captive’s form, breathing heavily through gritted teeth. Stupid idiot he was, to let his guard down like that, to think that he could be broken that easily.

Laurier raced up the stairs and held up her weapon, aiming at Phil’s head. “Should I kill him, monsieur?” she asked in a tone that clearly indicated that she had every intention of doing so and that it was only his presence that stopped her from pulling the trigger.

“No,” Zugzwang answered. “He and his friends will still make valuable hostages. Tell everypony to get ready for an attack; we may have friends visiting us soon.”

“Oui, monsieur,” Laurier nodded, rushing off to warn the others. Zugzwang lifted the still unconscious Phillip up onto his back, conjuring more rope and binding his hooves and strapping a muzzle over his mouth. He carried him back down the stairs into his room, dropped him down onto the bed, and retied him to the posts.

“I need more guards up here,” he reported into an intercom on the wall. At his summons, four more guards soon appeared in the room, all of them armed.

“I want you to keep him in sight at all times,” he instructed them calmly. “Do not let him escape. If he tries to fight back, do not be afraid to hurt him.”

“Yes, master,” all of them saluted as Zugzwang exited the room. The unicorn took a slow breath to invigorate himself for the battle before him.

Author's Note

Even when it's dark, there are still the stars.

Things are starting to turn around, slowly. Got about five more chapters to go for this. Hang tight, readers.

Part 8: The Harrowing of Hell

The cells had once been quarters for the monks that had long ago abandoned the Abbey, allowing it to fall into disrepair until Zugzwang’s contacts had purchased and reopened the temple for “renovation” and to allow for worshipers. It had been an excellent hiding place for Zugzwang after his fall nine years prior, and for his trusted lieutenants ever since. Not to mention the donations provided ample funds.

Nevermore and two of his assistants walked down the narrow hallway, checking the one-way windows in each of the reinforced oak doors as they passed. Each of the prisoners was right in their cells where they were supposed to be. Luna and Celestia were both huddled up in the corner, having received their respective treatments for the day. Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy were also cowering from the doors, no doubt wondering what was in store for them. Shining Armor was pacing his narrow cell, while Rainbow Dash and Applejack were futilely trying to kick their doors down.

“Going to have to do something about those two,” Nevermore commented as they passed. “But I’ve been planning this one for a long time.”

They paused outside the last cell and beheld its sole occupant. Twilight Sparkle was sitting in the center of the tiny room, staring at the door. Nevermore could smell her fear, her anticipation through the door, and it was delicious.

Extracting the cell key from his belt, he inserted it into the lock and opened the door. Twilight looked up at the sound, instinctively flinching from the light as it invaded her darkness. “Take her,” he ordered. The two assistants moved in and seized Twilight, efficiently binding her hooves and placing a blindfold over her eyes.

“No! Let me go!” she cried, struggling as they dragged her from the cell.

“Anesthesia,” Nevermore instructed nonchalantly. One of his assistants grinned and brought a club down onto Twilight’s skull, knocking her out. They carried her down the hallway to the room that they had set aside for the doctor’s use. A large table was set in the middle of the room, surrounded by tables of medical equipment, shelves of tubes and flasks, and other sinister tools. The assistants strapped the unconscious Twilight down onto the table, then exited at a signal from the doctor.

Lenore fluttered down onto a perch to watch, cawing softly. “Indeed, Lenore, this is long overdue,” Nevermore agreed, turning on a switch. The microphone system over Twilight’s head whined to life, as did the connected speakers in each of the captive’s cells. He wanted them to hear him breaking their beloved princess.

Twilight groaned as she started to stir. Nevermore switched on the heart monitor next to the table and placed the electrodes on her chest. Twilight gasped in surprise at the sudden icy touch as the monitor beeped to life, marking her steadily increasing heartbeat.

“You are of excellent health, Your Highness,” he hissed, leaning in close enough so that she could smell his reeking breath. She flinched instinctively, testing her bonds. “It should allow you to last a little longer than most.”

He turned to peruse the various chemicals waiting before him. All the different colors of the rainbow, offering a wide sampling of terrors. Perhaps he’d start with good old agoraphobia? Or maybe the classics, arachnophobia, entomophobia, and ophidiophobia? It’d be fun to watch the little pony squirm…

“Is this supposed to scare me?” Twilight asked.

Nevermore paused. Her voice held no trace of fear or hesitation, none of the usual trepidation that he was used to hearing in his patients’ tones. It was strong and forceful, penetrating like a drill.

“What did you say?” he asked, slowly turning around. Twilight’s face was turned towards him, and he could feel her glare even through the blindfold. She was no longer shaking, and the heart monitor let out a steady, rhythmic beep to measure her calmness.

“You kidnap me and my friends, all just so you can play with us like this?” she taunted, her jaw clenched. “Inject us with your chemicals to make us afraid? Well, you know what I think of you and your toxin? I think you’re a joke!”

She hurled the word at him with such force, with such anger, that Nevermore actually flinched. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he dimly remembered that her voice was now being broadcast into the ears of her friends, rejuvenating them, inspiring them; foolish courage had the annoying tendency to be highly contagious.

“Your pathetic costumes, your elaborate haunted house attractions, trying to scare us like we’re little fillies,” Twilight continued unabated. “And you have to use drugs to cover up a fact that should have been blatantly obvious to us all from the start!” She sneered at him, baring her teeth at her captor. “You’re not even scary! The truth is, underneath all this facade, you’re just a foalish colt, messing around with a chemistry set his father gave him to screw with others. You're bucking pathetic!” She lifted herself up as much as the restraints would allow her. “So if you think you’re going to make me cry, make me beg, well you can kiss my ass!”

“Shut up!” Nevermore roared, swinging his hoof into Twilight’s stomach with a mighty blow. Twilight doubled over, coughing and sputtering, but her exhalations quickly turned into mocking laughter.

“Are you really so big a coward…” she snorted, “that you can’t even take on...a filly like me...without tying her down first?” She sneered at him. “C’mon. Fight me fair. Prove you’re a stallion!”

Rationally, Nevermore knew that he should not rise to her bait. He should just calm down and continue with the experiment, perhaps see how this new variable went into the testing.

But emotionally, he did not care. She had humiliated him, emasculated him. He would show them! He would prove to them all that he was to be feared!

And so, huffing and snorting in fury, he unbuckled her restraints and threw her to the floor. She tumbled into a pile on the floor, then slowly began to pick herself up, undoing her blindfold and facing him with a gleam in her eyes.

“Well? I’m waiting, colt,” she said, raising her foreleg into a guarding position.

Nevermore launched forward, giving her no time to prepare, and sent his hoof flying at Twilight’s head. She bobbed beneath the blow and countered with a basic punch at his ribs, but he redirected his punch into a grab, seizing her foreleg and pulling her past him, causing her to crash into the examination table. She stumbled, then leapt at him, clinging desperately to his cloak as she scrabbled for balance.

He wrapped her in a bear hug and repeatedly rammed his knees into her gut and ribs, relishing the feeling of her soft flesh yielding beneath his blows as she tried desperately to fight back in panic. Seizing her mane, he slammed her face down onto a table, then threw her to the floor. She curled up into a ball, trying to shield herself.

“No, please! I’m sorry!” she begged.

Nevermore gave her one more kick for good measure, then backed away, panting. Twilight lay still, whimpering.

The doctor growled. He couldn’t proceed with his planned experiments now, not when he’d confounded the data like this. And certainly not when he had gotten so emotionally invested.

“Get back in here,” he called out through the door. His two assistants appeared at his call and took Twilight by the forelegs. She did not struggle as they carried her out of the laboratory, not even bothering to bind her again. Nevermore remained in the lab, bent over the table.

“I have to give them credit,” Bumblebee commented as the team watched the ancient stone structure from the abandoned cottage across the street. “No one would’ve ever thought to look for the great criminal mastermind in an active church.”

“I worship here,” Gold Dust seethed quietly. “I always wondered why most of it was always under renovation. They blaspheme this sacred place!”

“I see snipers on the rooftop, at least three,” Ruby Eye reported, scanning the building through his goggles. “That, and there’s the obvious reinforcements on the front.”

The reinforcements in question included a dozen more ponies, all bundled up against the cold and armed with rifles, and two gatling guns, each facing in opposite directions up the street.

“And like all alicorn temples that were built during the Alicornistic Genocides, this building’s surrounded by protective enchantments,” Polaris added. “Between that and the guards, I don’t think we’re going to be able to sneak in there.”

“Except there’s an obvious weak spot,” Daring said with a grin. She pointed at the front door. “It’s the best way in.”

“And how exactly do you propose we get past those guards?” Gold Dust asked dryly.

Daring thought for a moment, then turned to Gold Dust. “Think you can follow the trail to the truck?”

Gold Dust blinked at her. “...you can’t be serious.”

The black crystals in the chalk rune glowed brightly as the dark magic coursed through them, recharging the dome that kept the city and all of its citizens under his control. Zugzwang tried to focus on the spell, but his thoughts kept wandering back to earlier. He shouldn’t have been so arrogant, shouldn’t have lowered his guard around Phillip; he had allowed his desire to see his adversary broken blind him to the fact that he might have been simply acting.

“You, like anypony, saw only what you wanted to see.”

He gritted his teeth. His own taunt had come back to haunt him.

A jolt of pain suddenly ran through his head and he grimaced, clutching his temples. Damn these headaches! Ever since he had absorbed Sombra’s horn, the insufferable migraines had come and gone, and nothing he had done was enough to prevent them. Growling to himself, he stood and exited the bare room, locking the chamber door behind him.

He walked down the hallway, his head bent beneath the weight of his thoughts. As he turned the corner, he looked up to see Scarlet Letter standing in front of him, her brow creased in concern. Crimson Prince was held in her magical grasp, fussing and whimpering as she nestled him against her breast.

“Zugzwang, I—” she started to say.

“Not now,” he snapped at her, brushing past without a second look. She stared after him in stunned silence.

“Madame, you should get back in your room,” Laurier instructed, opening up her pepperbox to ensure that all eight chambers were loaded. “We may have trouble soon.”

Crimson began to whine loudly, demanding his nightly feeding. Scarlet nodded solemnly, lightly bouncing her son as she retreated into her chambers.

“Monsieur, are you certain that Daring Do and the others will attempt something?” Laurier asked.

Even without turning, Zugzwang could see the derisive snarl on her face. For a moment, he wanted very much to kill her for her insolence; what could a servant like her know of his machinations, of the plans that he had spent years constructing? But no, such pleasures would have to wait; he still needed Scarlet Letter on his side.

“I did not get where I am by being optimistic,” he replied, looking out the window onto the street below, observing the sentries at their post in front of the door. “Their escape is an annoyance, but it should be corrected—”

He paused as a faint, strange noise reached his ears: a low rumbling that seemed to be coming from the street.

“Quel est ce bruit?” Laurier asked, joining him at the window as they both searched for the source of the sound as it steadily grew louder.

There was a sudden clamor from the sentries below, and they all started pointing up the road. Zugzwang and Laurier followed their gazes and quickly spotted the source of alarm.

“Oh,” Zugzwang groaned, a bitter taste rushing up to his mouth. “This could be a problem.”

Leaning back in the seat so she could still see out of the windshield without exposing herself to enemy fire, Daring pressed the accelerator of the truck all the way to the floor, steering the great behemoth right towards the Abbey’s doors. They had been lucky that the truck was parked nearby, lucky that one of the few, inattentive guards had the keys with him. And luck would only take them so far.

The teams manning the gatling guns swiveled the great cannons to face her, but a volley of four bolts sped through the air, dropping all of the gunners where they stood. Feathered Flight, flying alongside the truck, grinned as she opened fire on the other sentries, who dived out of the vehicle’s way as it sped towards the doors.

“Hang on!” Daring shouted, bracing herself for impact. For a brief moment before the crash, she reflected on the irony; this was the same truck that the Scorchers had used to invade the castle.

Then with a tremendous crash that shook the foundations of the holy house, the truck burst through the doors and tore into the foyer, swinging around with a screech of brakes and coming to a halt at the foot of the sweeping staircases. The few enemy soldiers that weren’t crushed by the truck quickly recovered and opened fire.

One of the truck’s back doors swung open and three silver balls were tossed up into the air, catching the lamplight as they flew upwards. Every eye instinctively tracked the movement, which quickly turned to be the undoing of the defending force. The flashbang grenades detonated like three brilliant white fireworks, blinding the observers.

The doors burst open at the detonations and Polaris, Prowl, Bumblebee, Gold Dust, Ruby Eye, and Screecher burst out, unleashing a devastating counterattack. One after another, their enemies fell, brought down by crossbow bolts, bullets, offensive spells, and calculated thrusts with spear and sword.

“Team two, into the sanctuary!” Polaris barked, removing his lance from the body of a thestral stallion. “Team one, follow me!”

Feathered Flight, Daring, and Screecher flew after Polaris as he raced up the stairs to clear the second floor. Prowl, Bumblebee, Gold Dust and Ruby Eye stacked up behind a set of double doors that led into the sanctuary. Gold Dust and Prowl both lit up their horns and nodded to each other.

“Go!” Gold Dust shouted. Bumblebee and Ruby Eye bucked the doors open, then jumped aside as the unicorns dashed in, projecting a shield of crackling blue energy in front of them.

The sanctuary was a grandiose room with a wide, arcing ceiling, from which multicolored chandeliers dangled. Great, stained glass reliefs on the walls depicted the great alicorns—Faust, Amore, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Twilight Sparkle and Flurry Heart—staring down benevolently upon the visitors. A gilded gold altar stood at the head of the room, beneath a great banner of the Equestrian coat of arms; an intricately carved tabernacle was placed into the wall near the door. The pews were stacked up as barricades, and more than a dozen enemy soldiers hid behind their cover, weapons at the ready.

They opened fire immediately, assaulting the shield with bullets, arrows, and magical spells. Prowl and Gold Dust both grunted as the impact struck their shared barrier, but maintained the shield spell. Streams of energy ran from the shield into the horns, which began to glow and crackle as the kinetic force of the impacts were translated into raw power.

“Ready!” Prowl reported, straining to contain the energy.

Gold Dust grinned. “Our turn,” she grunted. As one, both unicorns dropped the shield and with a great shout, fired a wave of crimson energy back at their adversaries. The pews flew backwards and the windows shattered as their enemies screamed in pain, falling backwards to the floor. A sudden silence dropped down over the room. The twisted forms of their adversaries lay still amidst the mess, smoke faintly rising upwards from their scorched skin.

“Let’s keep moving!” Gold Dust ordered, shaking off the momentary fatigue. The team moved forward, pushing through the sanctuary and into another door.

Twilight allowed herself to be dragged down the hallway back to the cells by the two stallions who were tightly gripping her forelegs.

“Doc was really messed up,” the one on her left commented.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen him lose control like that,” the other agreed.

Suddenly, the entire building was shaken by a great crashing from above and the ponies stumbled. “What was that?” the one on her right cried, looking up.

This was the chance that Twilight needed. Grounding herself, she thrusted her elbows back, ramming both of her captors in the chest and doubling them over. Pushing the one on her left aside for the moment, she hit the one on the right with a backhoof punch to the groin and a twisting elbow strike to the jaw, then kicked the other one in the stomach, knocking him down and leaving him vulnerable to a finishing kick to the jaw.

She stood there, panting as she ensured that the guards were properly unconscious. With a smile, she raised a hoof to her mouth and spat. The key that she had stolen from Nevermore dropped into her hoof. Hurrying over to the cell next to hers, she started to insert the key into the lock. She was aware of the sound of distant explosions and shouts of combat from above.

A sudden caw and a woosh of feathers was all the warning she got. She ducked just in time as Lenore flew inches over her head, her razor-tipped talons slashing through her mane. Looking up, she saw Nevermore approaching, his face twisted into a hideous icon of rage beneath the wide-brimmed hat. The knife blade in his hoof gleamed menacingly as stalked towards her, his tattered cloak swirling as he moved to make himself appear larger than he actually was.

Twisting the key in the lock, she threw the door open, pushing it into Lenore’s path. Rainbow Dash jumped out of the cell, her furious eyes taking in the situation at a glance.

“You!” she bellowed, charging at Nevermore. He tried to sidestep and slash at her head, but she ducked beneath the blade and bucked backwards, striking him in the side. He turned to engage her, making calculated cuts with the blade. Rainbow dodged and ducked, unable to hit back.

Lenore swooped around, aiming to attack Twilight with sharpened talons and beak. Twilight placed herself in front of the open cell door, her eyes on the bird. At the very last second, she dodged to the side, causing Lenore to fly into the cell. Twilight quickly slammed the door shut on her and removed the key, then turned to help Rainbow. Spotting a cudgel hanging off of one of the belt of one of the assistants, she snatched it up and swung it at Nevermore.

Hearing her approach, Nevermore feinted a low back kick at her knee, then snapped his wing at her face, striking her across the jaw. At the same moment, he staved off Rainbow’s punch with an upwards cut to her chin, drawing blood. Rainbow grunted in pain and flinched, giving Nevermore time to use his wings to pass the knife to his other hoof, cutting at Twilight’s neck and forcing her to duck.

Rainbow reengaged Nevermore, but he used his wing to bat aside her punches and lashed out at her, forcing her to retreat. He simultaneously engaged both Twilight and Rainbow, easily switching the knife from hoof to hoof, holding them both at bay.

Dropping to a crouch to avoid a whirling kick at his head, Nevermore cut a deep gash into Twilight’s leg, causing her to fall over with a yell of pain. With one opponent momentarily out of the picture, Nevermore focused entirely on Rainbow Dash. He knocked aside her kick, forced her away with a slice at her ribs, then charged forward and rammed her against the wall with his shoulder. Grinning, he gripped the blade in an ice pick grip, preparing to bring it down in a finishing stab.

And then Rainbow lunged up and grabbed the brim of his hat, yanking it down over his eyes. Momentarily blinded, he roared in fury as he felt her slip out from his grasp. Her wing slapped against his hoof, knocking the knife from his grasp. Lifting the hat off his face, he beheld Rainbow’s cold expression, her eyes as hard as stone, inches away from his own face.

And then he felt something cold penetrate his chest. He drew in a gasp and found it hard to breathe, his body going numb. Looking down, he saw his own knife hilt-deep in his chest, his blood trickling out of the wound and staining his cloak.

“Not so scary now, are you?” Rainbow Dash hissed, releasing her hold on him. He fell back onto the floor, the light slowly fading from his eyes as an expression of bewilderment and fear melted onto his face.

Rainbow Dash tore off a large piece of Nevermore’s cloak and hurried over to Twilight, using it to bandage her wound. “I’m all right,” Twilight insisted. “Go get the others out.”

Within a few moments, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Shining Armor, Celestia and Luna had been freed from their cells. Shining immediately hurried to his little sister’s side and helped her stand.

“We have to find Flash and Phillip, and then we have to get out of here,” Twilight said, leaning against Shining and limping on her wounded leg.

“Then let us move!” Celestia declared, standing up straight and proud for the first time in days. The group exited the hallway and started moving upwards, heading for the sound of battle above.

The carved crystal necklace bounced off of Daring’s chest as she ran after Polaris, Feathered Flight and Screecher. The thestral was regularly opening his mouth and letting out a soft click-click-click sound, always waggling his ears after every click as the sound waves echoed back to him.

“Nopony down here,” he reported, moving past another hallway. They continued down their pathway, searching for any hostages. Several roving enemies attempted to stop them, but were quickly cut down, barely even slowing their momentum.

Suddenly, Screecher signalled a halt at a corner. “There’s a big group waiting for us around the corner,” he reported. “At least a dozen. Shields and rifles.”

“Private Flight, flash bolt,” Polaris ordered calmly.

Feathered Flight grinned and loaded a bolt with a white crystal embedded into the shaft into her crossbow. Peeking around the corner, she saw more than a dozen ponies standing in the hallway, crouching behind a set of riot shields and aiming their weapons in preparation for attackers.

A pale green unicorn with a sandy brown mane and mustache and glaring blue eyes spotted her. “There!” he shouted, his rumbling voice carrying a trace of a Mareish accent. The soldiers under his command turned to aim at her.

Holding her crossbow out from around the wall, Feathered fired the bolt into the floor at their enemies hooves, causing it to detonate with a blinding flash, stunning the gunponies. The Guards charged around the corner. Screecher took in a deep breath and let out a loud, piercing, high-pitched screech that deafened their adversaries. Polaris’ spear swept the legs out from under three of them in one strike while Screecher’s, Feathered’s, and Daring’s swords struck down the rest.

“I’m guessing they didn’t want us to go this way,” Daring commented, retrieving her sword from a the body of a pegasus mare.

“That means that we go—” Feathered’s suggestion was cut short by a clicking sound. Looking around, she saw that the green unicorn was still alive, glaring up at them. Her eyes darted down to his cutie mark of a suitcase full of bits, then to the silver metal sphere that he was extracting from his belt. The sound of a pin being pulled was the only warning she received as the live explosive clattered to the floor.

“Grenade!” she screamed, diving on top of the bomb. The other three sprinted two steps away and dropped to the ground, covering their ears.

The explosion came a split second after, the shockwave rippling through the ponies. When the smoke finally cleared, all that remained of Coin Toss, his comrades, and PFC Feathered Flight was a red stain spread over the walls and floor.

Polaris gritted his teeth in fury. “C’mon, let’s keep moving.” They continued down the hallway, pausing in front of a set of double doors with carved alicorns on them.

Screecher’s ears waggled. “There’s five ponies in there,” he hissed. “Four hostiles, and one hostage on the bed.”

“If you motherbuckers try to come in here, Finder’s getting a hole through his head!” one of the hostiles taunted through the door. “You hear me?!”

The trio stacked up on the doors, Daring on the right and the Guards on the left. “Two on the left side, one on the right with a gun on Finder, one to the right of the door,” Screecher reported, taking his sidearm out of his wing holster.

Daring slid a stolen revolver out of her pocket. “All I needed to know.”

Polaris’ horn lit up with magic. “On three,” he commanded. “One. Two. Three!” He sent out a blast of magic, immediately reducing the doors to splinters.

Almost before the doors had crashed open, Daring was moving, raising her pistol and aiming down the sights. The first thing she saw was Phil, bound and muzzled, lying on the bed. The four sentries inside had been momentarily stunned by the crash, covering their faces from the hail of splinters. Daring immediately spotted the unicorn next to the bed, his weapon flying from his hoof. Calmly, she squeezed the trigger and sent a bullet flying into her target’s skull. The two Guards were right on her tail, already taking down the other three enemies before they had a chance to fight back.

Rushing over to the bed, Daring quickly cut Phillip loose and removed his muzzle. “You came,” he smiled weakly.

“Of course I did,” she replied, allowing him to lean against her for support.

“Let’s go!” Polaris shouted, already heading out the door. The group exited the room and turned to make their way back.

But as they turned the corner, they suddenly found a wall of smoke facing them. “Move!” Phil barked, pulling Daring to the side. Polaris dived in opposite direction as the smoke surged forward, enveloping Screecher. His howl of pain was cut off after only a moment; when the smoke moved past him, his body collapsed to the floor in a red puddle, his flesh flayed off his bones.

The smoke surged upwards and raced towards Phil and Daring. They turned to try to run, but Phil stumbled and fell to the floor. Knowing that they couldn’t outrun the cloud, Daring dived on top of Phil in a futile attempt to protect him, closing her eyes as she prepared for the end.

A golden light suddenly pierced through her eyelids. Opening her eyes, she looked down in surprise at the crystal necklace, which was suddenly glowing like a small star. A golden shield of energy projected around her body and golden wings blossomed from her shoulders, enveloping Phil in their protection. The smoke tried to wrap around them, but the golden energy flared and the smoke withdrew with a grunt of pain. The cloud descended to the floor and reformed into Zugzwang, who was staggering and shaking his head. With a snarl, he lit up his horn and prepared to hurl a deadly hex at Daring and Phillip.

Suddenly, a shield of white energy descended between Zugzwang and his would-be victims. “No, Zugzwang,” Polaris said calmly, approaching Zugzwang as he unhooked his spear from his back. “If you want to hurt anypony else, you’ll have to get through me first.” He created another barrier behind him, trapping him inside the shields with Zugzwang, and then fired a pulse of magic into the spear, which began to glow and hum with energy.

Zugzwang frowned and adjusted his tie. “I admire your courage, Captain, but not your intelligence,” he declared. A column of smoke swirled out of his horn, which quickly formed into a saber made of black and red crystal. He snapped the blade up, then down in a sharp salute.

“Run,” Polaris ordered, not taking his eyes off Zugzwang. “Get downstairs and regroup with the others.”

“Captain, we—” Phillip started to protest.

“Run!” Polaris shouted as he launched himself at Zugzwang. Their enchanted blades collided with a great ringing of metal.

Daring pulled Phillip to his hooves and they ran down the hallway, leaving the two dueling stallions behind.

Gold Dust, Prowl, Bumblebee, and Ruby Eye hurried down a narrow brick hallway. “Where is everypony?” Ruby Eye wondered, his head swiveling from side to side as he took up the rear of the group.

“Shh!” Prowl suddenly hissed, stopping. “I hear something!”

A faint, sobbing voice could be heard from a wall next to them, coming out through a small hole in the fresh brickwork. “Somepony...please...let me out!”

“Flash?” Prowl shouted. “Hold on!” His horn glowed with power and fired at the wall, causing the bricks to tumble down with a clattering to reveal Flash, still chained to the wall.

“Oh, thank God,” he gasped, his eyes streaked with tears. “Get me out, get me out!”

“Hold still, old friend,” Prowl instructed, using his magic to unlock the chains. Flash collapsed into Bumblebee’s forelegs.

“Can you stand?” Bumblebee asked.

“I...yeah, I think so,” Flash nodded, standing up. “We need to find the others.”

“Flash!” a voice shouted from up ahead. The Element Bearers, Shining Armor, and the Princesses rushed up to the group. Twilight pulled Flash into a relieved hug. “You’re okay!”

“We’re not gonna be okay if we stay here for much longer!” Gold Dust barked. “Get back to the truck!”

The group started to hurry back the way they came, racing up a set of stairs. A solid oak door was the only thing that stood between them and the sanctuary.

“Ruby, the door!” Gold Dust called.

Ruby Eye raced up, pushed the door, and immediately halted at the threshold. “Oh, fu—!”

His curse was cut short by a volley of gatling fire that ripped through his body, sending his corpse tumbling down the stairs. The mass of the enemy forces had gathered in the sanctuary, cutting off their avenue of escape.

“Back! Back!” Prowl shouted as the ponies turned and started to head back. The sound of pursuing hoofsteps clattered after them.

The three City Guards paused, turning back. Each of them took position in the hallway, weapons up in a guarding position.

“What are you doing?” Luna called after them.

“Fulfilling our oaths,” Gold Dust replied, grim determination in her voice. “Keep going. We’ll hold them off!”

“No! We’re not leaving you!” Rainbow Dash insisted, trying to pull Bumblebee after her.

“Our job is to keep you safe!” Bumblee barked, shaking her off. “Get out of here!”

The pounding hoofsteps cut off all argument. With a final look back, the ponies hurried onwards.

Wordlessly, without looking around, Prowl held out his hoof to his longtime partner and friend. Bumblebee instinctively took it and shook firmly. “It has been an honor, my friend,” Prowl said.

“Likewise,” Bumblebee nodded, tightening his grip on his sword as the first enemies rounded the stairwell.

The former hostages ran for all they were worth, leaving the sounds of battle behind them. “Where do we go now?” Rarity cried.

“I know a way out! This way!” Celestia ordered, leading them down another subterranean hallway. “This temple was meant to be a place of safety for citizens,” she explained, studying the carvings on the dimly-lit brick walls. “When it was first built, I ensured that it had a way out, one that only the priests knew about.”

“Sister, here!” Luna called, pointing to a faint relief of a star in a discolored brick. Celestia rushed over to the wall and began to press the bricks in a certain pattern, muttering clearly in ancient Equestrian.

After a moment, the wall behind them shifted, then slid aside to reveal an underground tunnel.

“Wait!” Rainbow Dash called. “Where’s Phil and Daring?”

There was the sound of hoofsteps clambering down a nearby set of staircase, and Daring and Phil appeared.

“C’mon! Time to boogie!” Pinkie called to them, gesturing frantically. Not even pausing to question their good fortune, both of them hurried forward and into the tunnel.

But Flash was backing away from the exit, his knees trembling. “No! N-no way!” he protested, shaking his head.

“Flash, look at me!” Applejack shouted, gripping his shoulders. “I promise, if you stay with us, you will be okay!”

Flash locked eyes with her. “You sure?”

“Would I lie to you?” Applejack asked, her voice gentle in spite of the urgentness of the situation.

Flash swallowed and nodded. Applejack took him by the hoof and guided him into the tunnel.

“You keep going!” Celestia ordered Rarity and Pinkie Pie, pushing them into the tunnel. She could hear the sound of approaching hoofsteps: too close to shut the door in time. She ducked into the tunnel last, pausing partway inside. The stone walls pressed close on her sides, ensuring that she would only have to face one.

A large earth pony wielding a broadsword, with more weapons dangling from his belt, appeared before her, his girth blocking off the tunnel. With a roar, he thrusted his blade at her. Celestia almost smirked: the attack was sloppy, the blade too large to be of much use inside these close quarters.

She easily sidestepped the attack and punched her attacker in the foreleg, striking a nerve cluster and causing his arm to spasm, dropping the sword. She followed up with a double punch to the solar plexus to wind him, then seized him by the throat. He gagged and choked, writhing pathetically in her grasp.

“This is for my city,” she hissed, then kicked him away, knocking him down across the threshold. Instantly, she reared around and started to run. The earth pony scrambled back to his hooves to give chase.

Too late, he noticed that she had taken something from him. The pin to the grenade on his belt.

The explosion tore through the tunnel, shaking the walls and the ancient foundations. Rocks tumbled down behind Celestia as she ran to catch up with her friends, blocking off the tunnel behind her and ensuring their escape.

Zugzwang deflected the spear thrust at his chest and ducked beneath a swipe at his head, but his calculated riposte was interrupted by the blunt end of Polaris’ lance ramming him in the knee. He grunted and fell back, dropping his saber, then quickly rolled out of the way of what would have been the finishing thrust, the spear head ramming into the stone floor instead.

Polaris snarled in frustration and thrust again, sending a jolt of magical lightning towards Zugzwang. Zugzwang screamed in pain as the lightning enveloped him, causing him to fall back to the floor. With a victorious shout, Polaris pinned Zugzwang beneath his hoof and aimed the tip of his spear towards his throat.

Suddenly, a great pain pierced his chest, causing him to jolt back in shock. Looking down, he was shocked to see the crimson blade of crystal piercing his armored chest, Zugzwang’s saber having pierced his cuirass as easily as if it were made of paper.

Pushing his hoof off, Zugzwang stood up, panting heavily as the magical walls entrapping them fell. “You fought valiantly, captain,” he commended his dying opponent as Polaris dropped to his knees. Calmly, he reached out and extracted his saber, snapping the blade down to flick the blade off.

Polaris coughed heavily, black blood bubbling from his lips as he dropped to all fours. “You...won’t win…” he wheezed, glaring up at Zugzwang. With a final choke, he collapsed to the floor and did not move again.

Zugzwang looked up as Laurier ran up. Blood stained her normally pristine coat and smoke still wafted from the barrels of her pepperbox.

“Monsieur,” she reported. “The six City Guards are all dead, but almost a third of our soldiers are dead or wounded...including Doctor Nevermore. And the hostages escaped.”

Zugzwang’s face did not change as his saber unraveled back into smoke. “Then we need to get out there, find them, and kill them before they prove to be more of a problem. Call in the Scorchers. Now!”

Laurier grinned darkly. “Oui, monsieur.”

Zugzwang nodded and turned to face out the window into the dark, snow-blanketed city as Laurier rushed away. “As of this moment, Phillip Finder,” he spoke, knowing that his adversary could hear him. “You have my permission to die.”

Author's Note

RIP Captain Polaris, Sergeant Gold Dust, Corporal Screecher, Corporal Ruby Eye, Corporal Prowl, PFC Feathered Flight, PFC Bumblebee. Your sacrifice was not in vain.

Part 9: Burning Cold, Burning Heat

The snow had started up again, blanketing the city in streaks of white. A round maintenance hole cover in the midst of a wide, empty street in the Fashion District shifted, then moved aside to allow a blue mane to emerge from the street.

“All clear,” Shining called down, climbing out of the sewer. The others clambered out after him, all of them shivering in the cold.

“We w-w-won’t last long out h-here l-l-like this,” Twilight said, clutching herself for warmth as her teeth chattered.

“N-n-not to worry,” Rarity said, trying to force a smile. “My b-b-boutique is n-not far. We c-c-can freshen up and f-find some c-c-coats th-there.”

She lead them through the alleyways to her shop. The little store had fortunately been mostly overlooked: the purple awning over the splintered door had been torn and was flapping freely in the wind, and much of the merchandise was torn and strewn haphazardly around the floor. Rarity winced at the sight of her beloved, hoof-crafted clothing treated so harshly, but quickly decided that they had more important things to worry about. She gathered everypony inside, muttering a silent prayer for Sassy Saddles’ safety, and shut the door behind them.

Shining Armor walked into the little break room in the back and turned on the sink, sighing in relief as water started to run from the faucet. “Everypony drink up,” he called. Everypony lined up to take a long drink to soothe their parched throats.

After taking his drink, Flash, who had been silent ever since their escape, wandered slowly into the corner of the room and sat down, looking at his hooves.

“Flash, are you okay?” Shining asked, walking over to his side.

Flash shuddered and let out a choked gasp. “Oh, God...Prowl...Bumblebee…” He choked and began sobbing quietly.

Shining paused and then put a hoof around Flash, supporting him as he cried. He allowed the younger stallion to weep for a minute, then said, “I know you’re hurting right now, but you need to pull yourself together.”

Flash sniffled and blinked up at his superior, receiving a steady, sympathetic look in reply. “I know we’ve been through a lot, but we still have a long way to go,” Shining continued. “For Twilight’s sake, you need to stay focused. We’ll have time to grieve our friends later.”

Flash swallowed and nodded, wiping his face on his foreleg. “Thanks, Captain,” he croaked, walking over to Twilight. As soon as Flash’s back was turned, Shining hid a small sob as a cough and wiped his face off.

“Let’s get that properly bandaged,” Daring declared, noticing Twilight limping on her injured leg. She extracted a first aid kit from her jacket and pulled out a bottle of antiseptic and a roll of gauze, tending to Twilight’s wound.

Phil sat down in a corner of the dark showroom, facing the wall. Despite the cold and the water that soaked his naked coat, he did not shiver. He just lay still, not moving and not looking at anything. A gust of wind from underneath the door rustled some fabric next to him and he nearly leapt out of his skin, suddenly gasping.

“Be still...just try to relax…”

NO! GET IT OUT! GET IT OUT! IT BURNS!

“It’ll go in easier if you just...ahh....relax…”

A creak of bedframe, rustle of fabric. The ropes rubbed his wrists raw. IT BURNS! IT BURNS! OH GOD MAKE IT STOP PLEASE STOP…!

“Phillip?”

The touch on his shoulder triggered him into action: he whirled about, seizing his attacker’s limb and compressing it into a lock as he prepared a lethal counterstrike, only to halt as a familiar voice let out a cry of pain and fear.

“It’s me! It’s me!” Fluttershy shrieked, cowering.

Phillip hesitated for a moment, then slowly released her and backed away, panting. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“What was that for?” she whimpered, the shadow of fear in her eyes as she massaged her foreleg.

“You...you startled me,” Phillip said, unable to look at her.

Fluttershy looked up at him. “Phillip…” she spoke quietly. “What did he do to you?”

Phil closed his eyes and shook his head. “No. I...no,” he replied.

Fluttershy hesitated, looking as though she wanted to try to comfort him, but unable to think of what to say. She eventually tried to reach a wing around him in a comforting hug, but Phillip recoiled from her. She flinched and retreated.

"Y-you know you can talk to me about anything," she offered awkwardly. Phillip did not respond, retreating further into the shell that he was building around himself.

Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—a distraction was provided in the form of Rarity reentering the room. “Now, for the coats!” she declared, her voice slightly higher pitched than normal. She trotted over to a closet and opened it up wide to reveal a wide selection of winter coats, all different sizes and colors, each of them partly decorated with some gems and intricate patterns and designs.

“Thankfully, the ruffians missed these,” Rarity sighed, pulling out one of the coats—a creamy white layered jacket with a faux fur collar and dark blue swirls running up and down the sleeves—and bringing it over to Fluttershy. “This one should fit you, and it goes with your eyes, dear,” Rarity commented with a wane smile, adding a white scarf to the ensemble.

“Thank you, Rarity,” Fluttershy smiled, putting the coat on. True to Rarity’s word, it fit snugly.

Rarity extracted the rest of the coats and handed them out to her friends, including a pair of extra large coats for the alicorns. Each of them fit comfortably, and provided a welcome layer of warmth.

“Rarity, you’re a lifesaver,” Rainbow Dash sighed, zipping up her new silver and dark gold coat and tugging up her hood.

“We have to get back to the precinct,” Twilight stated. “The closest gate is—”

“Everypony down!” Daring suddenly shouted, pressing her back against the wall and peeking out the bay windows. Everypony immediately dropped to the floor and remained as still as they could. Outside, distant lights could be seen sweeping across the streets. A trio of ponies sprinted across the sidewalk, weapons bouncing against their backs.

“They haven’t found us yet, but they’re gonna be looking for us,” Daring hissed. “We have no magic, no weapons, and I’m the only one who can fly. Getting past those patrols is going to be tricky.”

“We’ll be caught for sure if we stay here,” Luna declared. “We had best make haste; staying on the move is our only chance now.”

“Then let’s roll out!” Pinkie declared, striking a dramatic pose. Everypony stared at her for a moment.

“Uh...what?” Shining asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Pinkie simpered with an embarrassed grin. “Wrong franchise.”

They exited out the back, slipping into an alleyway and crunching down to the narrow, shadowed intersection. Daring checked both ways, then darted across the street. She paused once more, then beckoned the others over. The friends crossed over quickly, heads constantly darting from side to side.

“This way,” Twilight hissed, pointing down the alley. They continued through the maze of Canterlot’s back streets, weaving through the snowy shadows and dodging patrols.

They paused by the dark, empty husk of Donut Joe’s shop, crouching in an alleyway as a pair of snowmobiles purred past them. As soon as the sound of the purring engines disappeared into the distance, Flash poked his head out and squinted about. “Looks clear,” he reported, leading them out of their hiding place.

“We’re almost there,” Twilight said in an encouraging tone, raising a foreleg to shield her face from the barbs of the frosty wind. “The gate’s just past—”

She was interrupted by a low, rumbling roar, like the growl of an awakening beast. Beams of light violently pierced the darkness, blinding the ponies. Everypony froze in their tracks and looked up, squinting up at the intruders. A pickup truck rumbled towards them from the whiteness. Sitting in the cab behind the wheel was a mare dressed in a fire-retardant jacket with wild, red hair and a face with a single, piercing eye on her forehead.

“Scorchers!” Phillip shouted, his face blanching.

“Run!” Celestia ordered, and they turned and fled as the truck roared towards them.

“This way!” Twilight shouted, ducking into an alley too small for the truck to follow. Everypony followed after, slipping and skidding on the ice and snow. Fluttershy rounded the corner just as the Scorcher’s truck reached them, screeching to a halt with a hiss of brakes. Vaulting over a low wall, the ponies kept running into a round culvert of industrial warehouses and mechanical shops.

“We need a place to hide!” Applejack shouted.

Rainbow Dash cast her gaze around and spotted a nearby warehouse, a wide, low building, with its bay door tantalizingly open. “Over there!” she pointed.

The ponies raced for their hiding place, darting through the open door. Rainbow quickly shut the bay door behind them, plunging them all into darkness. They remained still for a full minute, the only sound in the cold shadows their heavy breathing.

“Do you… think we lost them?” Fluttershy whispered, clutching a stitch in her side.

At that moment, something crashed through a window and with a tremendous roar, the air itself caught fire. Orange and red flames rushed up the walls and across the tall shelves that were stacked with crates of merchandise, spreading across the rafters that supported the rickety ceiling.

Rainbow Dash grabbed the chain to open the bay doors, but they refused to budge. “It’s jammed!” she shouted, pounding on the unyielding metal of the door, which was already growing hot.

“Then we’ll have to find another way out!” Celestia declared.

Phillip had frozen up, his eyes wide as he stared at the flames that were licking at the walls around him. Shaking, he slowly tried to back away, flattening his ears against his head and taking short, shallow gasps.

“Phil, c’mon!” Applejack called, grabbing his hoof. He turned and stared at her, his eyes unfocused. Applejack grasped his shoulders. “Hey, pull yourself together, partner!” she shouted, grasping his hoof tightly and pulling him after the others. He stumbled after them, all of them staying low to try to avoid inhaling the smoke as much as possible.

“There’s gotta be a back door somewhere!” Daring shouted, coughing on the fumes. “We—”

Something moved between one of the aisles. Something too fluid and solid to be flame.

She rolled out of the way just in time to avoid a jet of napalm that roared at her. Tinderspark lumbered toward them in her full apparatus, her heavy hoofbeats sounding like a death knell. The constantly twisting shadows cast upon her face made her painted gas mask seem even more horrific than usual; the pilot light upon her flamethrower danced as if in joy. More Scorchers emerged from their hiding places, readying their own weapons.

“Split up!” Shining shouted, diving out of the way of another jet of flame. The others raced off in different directions, pursued by the Scorchers.

Celestia instinctively grabbed Luna’s hoof and pulled her little sister after her, dodging in between two tall metal shelves that were stacked high with crates. A Scorcher with a gas mask decorated to look like a snake’s face with bright yellow pupils chased after them, raising his flamethrower. Celestia kicked over a ladder as they ran past, forcing the Scorcher to clamber over it as they rounded a corner.

The sisters both hid behind a pair of large crates on the ground, huffing as the snake-faced Scorcher rounded the corner after them. He paused, slowly turning around in a circle. “Where are you~?” he sang, his weapon at the ready.

Luna squinted through the sheets of smoke and spotted a length of chain on the floor. She caught Celestia’s eye and nodded towards it. Celestia nodded, and they both prepared themselves as the Scorcher approached.

As the attacker turned his back, Celestia broke from cover, running past him towards a low stone wall. The Scorcher instinctively turned and fired at her, the flames narrowly missing their target as she dashed past.

While he was distracted, Luna sprinted towards the chain and seized it in her mouth, swinging the improvised weapon at the Scorcher’s head. Hearing the noise, he turned and raised his foreleg into the chain’s path, allowing it to wrap around his limb. Luna tugged hard, but the Scorcher grounded himself and resisted her pull as he aimed his weapon arm at her.

Celestia vaulted over the low wall and bucked the Scorcher in the back, causing him to stagger. Luna turned about and stepped on the chain with her hind leg, the added force and weight causing the Scorcher to fall flat on his face. Luna instantly pounced on him, slamming his head into the stone floor. The Scorcher grunted and blood began to leak out of his head onto the ground, the flames reflecting against the dark red pool.

“Murderer!” Luna screeched, slamming his head against the ground again, and again. There was a wet cracking sound and more blood began to pour from his broken cranium. “Piece of filth!” Luna continued, her voice rising to a hysterical pitch as she continued to beat his head against the floor, even as his body became still and his skull started to fall to pieces in her hooves. “I hope you all rot! You all deserve this, bastards and killers, you—!”

“Luna, stop!” Celestia cried, prying her sister off the corpse. Luna’s body trembled in Celestia’s grasp, soft sobs mixing with her chokes and coughs.

“I hate them…” Luna whimpered. “I hate them all…”

“It’s all right, Luna,” Celestia breathed, lifting her little sister up onto her back. “We’re going to get out of here.” She carried Luna away from the body, still searching for a way out.

Hobbling down another hallway of shelves, Twilight grimaced and clutched her wounded leg. Without missing a beat, Shining Armor ducked beneath her and lifted her up onto his back.

“Look out!” Twilight shouted, looking up. Shining glanced up, then dived out of the way as a flaming beam collapsed from the rafters above them, tumbling down on top of where they were just standing with an explosion of cinders.

“We’ve gotta find a way out of here, and fast,” Shining declared, coughing on the smoke.

He turned a corner, and froze. Tinderspark was standing mere feet in front of him, seeming to glare at him with her single painted eye. Immediately, Shining threw himself to the ground, diving behind a crate on the floor just as the Scorcher’s leader fired at him. The roaring jet of flame missed by inches. Twilight screamed in fright.

“We ain’t playing hide and seek, Your Highness,” Tinderspark taunted, advancing calmly.

Shining adjusted his grip on Twilight and broke cover, sprinting away from Tinderspark. She sent another burst of napalm at him, the heat licking at his tail as he turned a corner. Shining glanced back to make sure that she wasn’t behind him, then looked up, only to see that he had run into a dead end. A stone wall blocked his path in front of him, while two tall shelves enclosed him on either side.

Turning around, he watched as Tinderspark calmly walked around the corner. She pointed her flamethrower at the floor in front of her, then swept her weapon from side to side, generating a wall of flames that boxed the two ponies in. Without rushing, she pointed her weapon at Shining Armor.

Shining slowly shifted, lowering Twilight to the ground and stepping forward, spreading his forelegs out defensively and glaring at the pyromaniac. Twilight tried to get up, but Shining firmly pushed her back to the ground with his hind leg, squinting at Tinderspark even as his eyes burned.

Tinderspark snickered, the delighted smile almost visible through her mask. “So you want to go first? Far be it from me to refuse royalty.” She paused for one moment longer to take aim and fired.

As soon as the flames started racing towards him, Shining sprinted to the side, snatching up a bundled tarp that was laying against one of the shelves, holding it up in front of him like a shield. He charged at Tinderspark, who momentarily faltered as though in disbelief, then fired again. The flames enveloped the tarp, but could not penetrate the fireproof fabric; but the heat still transferred through, and Shining grunted in pain as he felt the skin on his forelegs burning. A moment later, he tossed the tarp over her, covering her head and foreleg. She yelled in fury and tried to disentangle herself from the tarp, but Shining tackled her to the ground, punching every inch of her that he could reach.

Tinderspark kicked Shining off of her. With one movement, she tossed the tarp off herself and unbuckled her fuel tank, allowing her to get up quickly. Snarling, she reached back and unhooked a short-handled fire axe that was strapped to her back, swinging it at Shining’s head. He ducked beneath it.

“Hold still!” she snarled, swinging at him again. Shining Armor rolled beneath the attack and kicked her in the back, causing her to stumble into a wall and knocking her gas mask askew. Grunting furiously, she tore the mask off, revealing her grimy, sweaty face, and threw it at Shining. He instinctively ducked and she advanced, swinging at his stomach. He blocked the attack with both forelegs, but she countered by swinging the blunt end into his jaw and viciously kicking him to the ground. Shining skidded backwards a few feet from the force of the kick and cried out in pain as his hoof fell into a pile of burning rubbish.

With a yell, the leader of the Scorchers rushed forward and brought the axe down on Shining’s prone form. Shining reacted instantly, grabbing the shaft of her axe and pulling her in close, yanking her off balance as he placed his hind hooves on her torso. She fell forward onto him, and he kicked her up over his head. She flew up over him and landed heavily on her back, stunned. Shining pulled himself up to his hooves, still holding her axe, and swung it into Tinderspark’s face. The bright red blade pierced her skull with a sickening thwack and she fell heavily to the ground.

Panting and coughing from the smoke, Shining stumbled back to Twilight, who had remained where she was throughout the fight. Heaving her up onto his back again, he hurried away in search of an exit.

A shelf toppled over, casting flaming debris over Applejack and Phillip and blocking their path. Applejack grunted as she raised her foreleg to shield her face, then turned and started running in a different direction. Phillip followed close behind, panting and coughing as he clung to her tail.

“I think I see a window over there,” Applejack called, squinting at a distant glimmer of light through the smoke. Phillip nodded and followed after her.

Suddenly, a burst of fire cut off their route. Applejack gasped and stepped back as no less than three Scorchers stepped forward: one with a face like a tiger, another resembling a timberwolf, and a third one with their mask decorated like a hyena, giggling in a high-pitched voice. All of them advanced on the two ponies, who were pinned by walls of flames. Phillip crouched, shaking as he stared at their soon-to-be killers.

Applejack cast her smoke-streaked eyes about, looking for something, anything they could use to escape. She spotted a wooden support column, creaking and groaning as it struggled to support the trembling roof. Instinctively, she turned around and bucked at the column, smashing through it effortlessly. The three Scorchers looked up just in time to see a great mass of debris toppling down on their heads. Their screams were cut off short as the ceiling crushed them into the ground.

Applejack stared at her handiwork for a moment, then grunted and shook her head. “C’mon, Phil!” she shouted.

But Phillip refused to move. He remained stock still, staring straight ahead, not focusing on anything. The flames continued to surround them, crackling and roaring as if in joy, taunting their captured prey.

“Phil, we need to move!” Applejack shouted, grasping his hooves and looking into his eyes. “We’re going to have to go through the fire to get out!”

“I can’t…” Phillip said in a soft, strained voice that was almost a whimper, shaking his head.

“Yes, you can,” Applejack replied, squeezing his hoof gently. “Phillip, you need to trust me; I can get you out of here, but this is the only way.”

Phillip focused on her eyes and slowly nodded. “Close your eyes,” Applejack said, gripping his hoof. He took a slow breath out and closed his eyes. Applejack turned and faced the flames, and with a brave leap, raced forward, clutching Phillip’s hoof. For a moment, the heat wrapped around them like invisible hands, trying to smother the air from around them and boil their skin; then they burst free from the flames and were standing in front of a large window, set a few feet off the ground.

Applejack picked up a discarded metal box and threw it through the window. “Guys! Over here!” she shouted. She crouched down and allowed Phillip to climb up on her back. He knocked out more of the glass and climbed out, collapsing into the snowdrift outside with a spasm of coughing.

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash emerged from the smoke, followed by Celestia, Luna, and Flash. Applejack helped carry each of them out of the window into safety as the fire, as if sensing that its prey was escaping, closed in on them.

Rarity and Fluttershy appeared, then Daring, Shining, and Twilight. “Them first!” Shining insisted through his coughs. Applejack helped Rarity and Fluttershy over as Daring dropped her empty revolver, lifted Twilight off of Shining’s shoulders, and started to fly towards the window.

Daring grunted, sweat running off her face as she strained to carry Twilight’s weight. “I’ll help her out and come back for—”

Her sentence was cut off by the sudden bark of a gunshot. A crimson plume erupted from Daring’s chest and she fell out of the sky with a scream, landing on the ground.

A final Scorcher emerged from the flames like a nightmarish beast, staggering towards them even as blood ran from the bullet wound in their chest. They raised their pistol in one last act of defiance, then collapsed to the ground, dead.

Everypony rushed to Daring’s side. She was laying on the ground, gasping in pain as she clutched her chest, trying to contain the frothy, dark red blood that was trickling from her body. Shining lifted her up and climbed up onto Applejack’s back, who grunted beneath the strain, then handed her out the window to Fluttershy and Rarity, who set her gently down on the snow.

“Daring?” Phil called, rushing to her side as Shining and Twilight climbed out of the window. Daring was struggling to breathe, her body shaking from a mixture of shock and cold. Her eyes darted around constantly, not focusing on anything.

“Keep back!” Fluttershy snapped through chattering teeth, tugging her scarf off her neck and wrapping it tightly around Daring’s wound. The white fabric was quickly stained red with the blood. Daring cried out feebly and began mumbling incoherently.

“Guys?” Pinkie called, pointing. Through the sheets of snow that were descending upon their heads, they could see a group of ponies rushing towards them, the distinctive shapes of weapons on their shoulders and at their hips.

“Great,” Shining muttered, wearily rising to his hooves. Their backs against the flaming structure, the friends prepared for their last stand. Phillip crouched next to Daring.

“Your Highnesses!”

The familiar voice made everypony pause, then relief broke through their shock and flooded their veins. Sergeant Barker and a squad of City Guards raced up, quickly forming a perimeter around the ponies and draping parkas over the princesses. A unicorn medic dropped down next to Daring, quickly scanning her with a diagnosis spell, then covering her in her parka as she worked to seal her bleeding wound.

“I’m...I’m…” Daring murmured, a faint gurgle in her voice. “Phil...I’m sorry…”

“Shhh,” Phillip whispered, squeezing her hoof. For a moment, her rosy eyes focused on him and her mouth spasmed as she tried to speak, then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell back, still.

“Daring?” Phil cried out again.

“She’s breathing,” the medic reassured him. “But blood is leaking into her lung. We need to get her back to the precinct.” With Phillip’s help, she gently lifted the unconscious Daring up onto her back, being careful to keep her wound elevated

“Let’s move, before more of them come!” Sergeant Barker shouted, using his magic to cast a crude but effective heat spell over them. They raced back towards the hope of shelter, fighting both time and the elements in the last leg of their journey.

Author's Note

That was close. But what of Daring Do, and the army that still controls the streets?

Three more chapters to go...

Part 10: Check

“And by the time we got there, they were long gone.”

Zugzwang slowly walked in a circle across the bedroom floor, intently studying the black and white chessboard pattern beneath him as Star Watcher continued delivering his report over the radio set. He chewed intently on the cigarette in his mouth.

Damn them all, damn them all! Failures and cowards, all of them! Unable to finish as simple a task as this!

“Master, with respect, I think you need to get everypony out of there,” his apprentice continued, a tone of concern in his voice. “The Abbey’s compromised now, and you’re not up for another attack.”

“We’re already evacuating, Star,” Zugzwang snapped. “We’re teleporting everypony to the safehouses and to the crystal caverns.”

“Oh, good.” There was a long pause. “Master...if you’ll forgive my asking...why didn’t we just kill them?”

“A fair question,” Zugzwang admitted, pausing. “The answer is because if I had merely killed them, they would’ve become martyrs, dying for a cause. But were I to break them and show them to the world, to prove to the citizens that the heroes that they rely upon could be shattered as easily as they, that would kill their hope and resistance, the true targets of our campaign.”

“I see,” Star replied slowly. “But once we regroup, what then?”

Zugzwang closed his eyes and took a long breath, steadying himself. He looked over to the four-poster bed. The memory of his conquest surfaced in his mind, and his mouth watered as he remembered Phillip writhing beneath him.

The game had changed drastically from his original plans, the few pieces that remained now spread out across the board. He imagined the white queen, now safely surrounded by their pawns, with the white knight out in the vanguard. And he imagined himself, the black king, waiting on the opposite side of the board. With Nevermore and many of his most zealous followers dead, he had lost a number of his more valuable pieces.

But the situation was not hopeless; in truth, little had changed. He still had his two bishops: the plague to keep the citizens in fear, and the dome to prevent any escape or outside interference. His army still controlled the streets. And though his captives had escaped, the damage had been done, particularly to Phillip.

All this really called for was an advancement of the timetable.

"Prepare the escape tunnels, just in case this goes wrong," Zugzwang instructed. "Should I fall, I will need you to take up my reins.”

“Understood. And Master…”

“Ja?”

“...good luck.”

Zugzwang adjusted his tie. “Luck will have nothing to do with it, Star. Dismissed.”

The radio clicked off. Zugzwang stood still for a moment, then turned to the cabinet on the wall and extracted a bottle of beerenauslese. Pouring himself a glass, he took a long, final drink of the chilled liquid, closing his eyes to enhance the flavor of the grapes as it washed down his throat.

“Zugzwang?”

He looked up at the familiar voice. Scarlet Letter was standing on the threshold of his room. She was still wearing the mask of the quietly composed, dignified noblemare that she had constructed for herself long ago, but there were already cracks in the porcelain; her emerald green eyes were dulled with exhaustion and fear and she frequently licked her dry, cracking lips. A sleeping Crimson Prince was huddled up to her chest, held in a pale red blanket.

“What is it, Scarlet?” he growled. He didn't have time for her.

“Are you sure of this?” Scarlet asked in a soft voice. “This plan…”

“I have been planning this for well over a year,” Zugzwang replied curtly. "You have never questioned me before; why should you know?"

Scarlet cowered, clutching her son to her chest. "Th-that's not what I—"

"Silence!" Zugzwang barked, whirling on her. She flinched and took two paces back, trembling as she clutched her stirring and whimpering son to her chest. "All that matters now is that I get Phillip Finder to come to me so that I may finally dispatch him! I must end this game on my terms, do you understand?!"

Scarlet nodded rapidly, closing her eyes tight rather than look at him. Zugzwang turned away and took a slow breath to calm himself.

“You need not fear," he added in a softer voice, stepping forward and looking at her intently. "Whatever happens, you and our son will be taken care of.”

Scarlet blinked, then leaned forward and kissed him gently. He kissed her back, but the embrace had none of the sweetness that it used to carry, and she let go very quickly.

“Madame, it is time to go,” Laurier called, approaching. She was laden with a number of saddlebags and was carrying a teleportation crystal in her magic.

“Are we the last ones?” Scarlet asked.

“Oui, madame,” Laurier nodded. “Everypony else has already teleported out.” She turned to Zugzwang. “I checked the traps. All of them are working. Any Guards that attempt to raid the Abbey are in for a very rude awakening.” A smirk spread across her face; the surprise in question involved several tons of explosives planted at key points in the ancient stone structure.

“Gut,” Zugzwang nodded. “Now, you must get to the safehouse. And remember: remain in hiding until I tell you it is safe to come out, but be prepared to take the escape tunnel.”

“Yes, my love,” Scarlet nodded, her voice quivering for one brief moment. She gave him one last kiss, then stood close to Laurier. Her loyal maid took the glowing blue teleportation crystal out of its protective shielding and tossed it up into the air. There was a hum and a crackling of blue lightning, then the mares and the colt vanished from sight.

Zugzwang stared at the empty spot where they had been standing for a moment, then turned and picked up the black shards of crystal and white chalk that had been sitting patiently on the desk, sweeping them into the drawstring pouch that he wore around his neck. He tucked the pouch beneath his suit and plucked his own teleportation crystal out of his pocket. He was about to throw it up into the air when he noticed the radio set out of the corner of his eye.

He should probably say something to his soldiers. They would be concerned and afraid; he’d need to keep them on his side. He strode over to the radio and clicked it on, tuning the channel so that all of his soldiers would hear him. He paused for a moment, summoning up the words that he would need, and then spoke.

“Mein freunds,” he began, knowing that the ear of every of his surviving underlings would be turned towards him, looking for guidance. “I know it looks dark now. I know it seems that we have failed.

“But I promise you, this is not over. We still control the streets. We still control this city. We are the power here!” He conjured up the false emotion, adding the proper inflections to his voice to mimic passion and vigor. “I promised that we would see the citizens of this city, those prim and proper ponies who look down on and misalign us cower at our hooves, and we will! I promised that we would wreak our vengeance upon the so-called heroes who denied us what was ours, and we will! Stick by me, my soldiers; remember your orders, and we will see victory!”

He paused here, deliberately enhancing the drama of his performance, taking a breath even as every listening ear held theirs. And then he spoke again, biting into every syllable with all of his hate, all of his fury. “Soon, we will avenge our fallen brothers and sisters, and we will avenge every injustice that they inflicted upon us! Soon, there shall be a great cry in all Equestria, such as never has been and never will be again!”

He exhaled, allowing the persona he had adopted to evaporate following his performance, then clicked the radio off. Taking out his teleportation crystal, he tossed it up into the air. As the blue energy swirled and crackled around him, he took one final look at the four-poster bed, noting the pale white stains on the crimson sheets.

It’s time, mein liebling.

Daring lay completely still on the white sheets of the infirmary bed, a breathing tube inserted down her throat and her chest wrapped tight in bandages. The only indication that she still lived was the slow, feeble beeping of the heart monitor and the occasional gurgling inhalation. The carved crystal necklace that she had recovered lay on the table next to her.

Phillip stared silently at her still form from the bed to her left, barely moving even as Carina gently wrapped bandages soaked in curative salves around the burns on his skin. Talitha and a team of medics were tending to the other ponies, who were each sprawled on one of the various infirmary beds. The same medic that had treating Daring was now properly curing the slash on Twilight’s leg with a healing spell. Spike, who had thrown himself into Twilight’s hooves as soon as she arrived, was currently curled up in her embrace. Twilight was gently stroking his head, trying to comfort him.

Unfortunately, nothing that any of the medics or mages could summon had any effect on the crystals that were piercing their horns and wings. “I’m sorry, Your Highness,” a mage reported, hanging his head. “But it looks like for now, you and your friends won’t be able to fly or use magic.”

“We shall cope,” Celestia nodded numbly, her hollow-sounding words echoing dully in the infirmary. Luna was huddled up against her on the bed, held gently in her elder sister’s embrace, deep asleep.

The sound of running hoofsteps announced the entrance of Twilight Velvet and Night Light, who immediately raced over to Shining Armor.

“I’m—ow! I’m okay, mom!” Shining protested as his mother flung her arms around him, embracing him with an iron-like grip. Night Light hugged his son more gently, and then his daughter.

There was a shuffle of motion at the door and Celestia looked up to see Cintamani Stone entering the infirmary. Her roving eyes paused to examine her daughters, then continued scanning the room, instinctively searching for the stallion that she knew was not there.

“Cintamani,” Celestia said, raising her head. “I’m so sorry—”

Cintamani raised a hoof and closed her eyes, taking a moment to compose herself. “Just tell me,” she asked in a quiet voice, as if afraid that she would break if she spoke too loudly. “Did he die doing his duty?”

Celestia paused for a moment, then closed her eyes and slowly nodded. “He saved our lives,” she replied. “If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t be here.”

Cintamani swallowed and opened her eyes. “Then...then he…” She blinked several times and fell silent. Talitha and Carina finished their tasks and walked over to their mother. The mares slowly exited the room, but the heavy atmosphere they had created lingered behind them.

Spike slowly looked up. “What do we do now?”

Before anypony could answer his question, Lieutenant Strider entered the room and saluted Shining Armor. The pegasus looked as though he had aged about ten years since they had left; deep bags were carved beneath his eyes and a thick beard was growing on his jaw. “Your Highness, we’re picking up a signal over the radio. I...I think it’s Zugzwang,” he reported.

Shining managed to wiggle out of his mother’s embrace and followed Strider out of the room. Phillip and Celestia followed after him. As they approached the communications room, they passed by the lobby, where several rescued civilians were resting. As the Princess passed by, every head turned to follow her. Murmurs chased after her like the hissing of dozens of snakes, soft and suspicious. Celestia seemed to deflate a little bit as they passed, her head lowering slightly.

They reached the communication room, where Sergeant Barker was busily tuning the radio set. A voice could be heard through the speakers, quietly singing:

"Du, du liegst mir im Herzen
du, du liegst mir im Sinn.
Du, du machst mir viel Schmerzen…"

“That’s Zugzwang,” Phillip confirmed dully.

“His voice is echoing a bit,” Shining observed.

“Might be interference,” Barker muttered as he twisted a dial on the set. “I’ve almost got the signal.”

"Hear me, Canterlot. My name is Zugzwang.”

The voice boomed in the ears of every pony in the city, no longer coming from just the radio’s speakers, but from the air itself. Every mare, stallion, and foal in Canterlot stopped where they were and looked up. The Precinct fell silent as their captor continued his address.

“As some of you may remember, before the sky fell, I arranged for several of your citizens to be infected with the Blood Plague. I have a weapon that will spread the plague throughout this city. Many of you will die in great pain and fear, and the few of you that survive will be hunted down and executed by my army. And once this city has been purged of every mare, stallion, and foal, we will move on to the rest of Equestria.

“There is only one thing that will prevent this destruction. If Princess Celestia and Princess Luna die by your hooves by midnight, this city will live.”

Every pony in the precinct drew breath as one. The Guards all turned to Celestia. The Princess refused to react to this news. The clock over their heads revealed that they had just under an hour and a half to make their decision.

“You have until midnight to decide,” Zugzwang repeated. “And now, I turn to you, Phillip Finder.”

Every head now turned to face Phillip. He stared at the radio set, unmoving and silent.

“Here we are at last. The ending of our Immortal Game; the black king sits waiting, while the white queen and the two bishops are surrounded by their pawns, and the white knight out in front. But this is where it ends for all of us.

“For too long, you have allowed innocent ponies to die in your name. For too long, you’ve hid behind better ponies than you and sacrificed them so that our game could continue. Consider this: the only reason your friends are here is because of you, because you dragged them along with you so they could die. The truth is, if you truly wanted to end this game, you could have hunted me down any time you liked. But you found it preferable to thrust your pawns out in front of you, sacrificing themselves so that you could keep pretending that you’re a hero.”

Phillip did not move, did not react. He forced himself to go numb, even as the words washed into his ears and down into his gut.

“So if you really want to end this, come and face me, alone. I’m waiting at the sixth prime, where earth ponies can fly,” Zugzwang dared. “But remember...don't be late.” And with that, he signed off, leaving a cold silence in his wake.

Phillip, Shining Armor, and Celestia all looked at one another, then turned and headed back to the infirmary, with Sergeant Barker following behind.

The others looked up at their entrance. “You heard?” Celestia asked.

“We did,” Flash confirmed, getting up off the bed despite the medic’s protests. “We need to find out where the bomb is, now.” He turned to Phillip. “Did Zugzwang tell you anything about where it was?” Phillip shook his head. “He did say that Pyrophoric was the one who placed the bomb.”

“Which means he had to have placed it before we got here. Probably the day before,” Flash said, pacing in a circle. “But where?”

“A bomb large enough to infect the entire city would have to be big,” Twilight commented.

“And Alk said that they were working on methods of aerosol delivery,” Flash continued. “He’d have to place it somewhere where it wouldn’t draw attention, where it wouldn’t be noticed for a while...someplace that he wouldn’t draw attention to himself…”

A spark suddenly flashed in the back of Phillip’s mind. “Professor Cintamani said that he showed up at the university the day before he was killed, even though he was on tenure.”

“And remember what his wife overheard him saying on the phone?” Flash cut in, suddenly excited. “‘I can put it there while it’s being painted!’ He was talking about the bomb!”

“And there’s a section of Seaspray Hall in the university that was closed off for painting,” Phillip added, his face brightening slightly.

“That’s it!” Flash cried, a genuine smile crossing his face for the first time in days. “We need to get over there and disarm it!” He immediately sprang up and started to rush out of the room.

“Hold it,” Shining Armor said, reaching out a foreleg and stopping Flash in his tracks.

“Shining, we need to go!” Flash protested.

“We do,” Shining nodded. “But not alone. Let’s put together a team of Guards to escort us there.” He half-grinned and tussled Flash’s mane. “Like I’m going to let you and Twilight die before you can give Flurry some cousins to play with.”

“I’ll gather up volunteers!” Sergeant Barker said, snapping off a salute as he ran out of the infirmary.

Twilight sprang up from her bed. “Who else is coming?”

"No, wait!" Fluttershy cried out. "It's too dangerous out there! Why can't we just let the Guards do it?"

"Sorry, Fluttershy, but I can't just sit here and wait," Rainbow Dash declared, jumping up and facing Twilight. "I'm going with you."

"I'm with you," Applejack added.

"But...but you almost died out there!" Fluttershy cried, grasping Applejack's tail to try to stop her from leaving. Frightened tears shimmered in her eyes. "What if you don't come back? I don't want to lose any of you!"

Applejack laid a reassuring hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder, trying to smile at her. "Don't you worry none. I promise we'll all come back safe and sound, sugarcube," she said. "And you can trust me to keep my promises, right?"

Fluttershy whimpered, but slowly let go of Applejack's tail. She abruptly flung her arms around Applejack's shoulders and hugged her tightly. Applejack hugged her back, gently patting her on the back, but then gently released her.

"Just be careful," Fluttershy whimpered.

"We will," Applejack promised.

Phillip didn’t look around, his eyes on Daring. Flash stepped up and placed a hoof on his shoulder.

“Be careful, Flash,” Phillip muttered.

“I will,” Flash said, hugging his father gently. Phillip did not respond, as though he had been replaced with a paper-mache version of himself. Flash let go reluctantly.

Sergeant Barker poked his head back into the infirmary. “Sir, I’ve got a team all set to go.”

Twilight gave Spike one last hug and kiss. “We’ll be back soon,” she promised, her words sounding hollow.

“Good luck, all of you,” Celestia called as Twilight, Flash, Shining Armor, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash exited, following Barker. The silence after they left was palatable in the air; it tasted bitter and cold, like recently-stirred dust. Phillip settled on the bed next to Daring, continuing to watch her still form. He slowly reached out a hoof and squeezed hers. She did not respond.

"Don't look so glum, Fluttershy," Pinkie declared, trying to cheer her up. "They'll be back, you know it!"

Fluttershy sighed despondently and laid her head between her hooves. "I hope they do." She shuffled the sheets between her hooves. "Maybe...maybe I should've gone with them. Maybe..."

"There is no shame in staying behind, Fluttershy," Celestia reassured her. "We have all gone through a great deal. Nopony can blame you for deciding that you've had enough."

Luna moaned and began to stir in her sister's embrace. Celestia gently stroked her mane, humming quietly into her ear, and Luna fell still once more.

Celestia sighed. "I wish to apologize to all of you," she declared. "I should not have asked you to come. The only reason that you are here is because I asked you to."

"You asked us to," Rarity cut in. "We could have said no if we wished. We came here because we wanted to help."

"And look where that got you," Celestia said bitterly.

"Hey, enough with that kind of talk," Pinkie answered. "It's not your fault that we were captured, maimed, and nearly killed." Fluttershy and Celestia both flinched. "It's Zugzwang's fault," Pinkie continued, an uncharacteristically bitter tone in her voice. "He's the one who did all of this. Blame him, not yourselves."

Celestia nodded. "Yes. I suppose that's true."

Spike looked up and turned to Phillip, who had remained still and silent throughout this. “But what about Zugzwang?” he asked quietly.

“What about him?” Phillip replied dully.

“Don’t you know where he is?” Rarity asked, raising an eyebrow. “You once told me that Zugzwang simply cannot resist being clever and testing you. Surely, he must have left you some clue as to where he is.”

Phillip was silent for a few moments, then slowly nodded. “Yes. He told me where he is.”

“Then why aren’t you going to him?” Rarity asked.

“Because…” Phil’s voice caught in his throat. He slowly turned to see Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Celestia, and Spike looking evenly back at him. The concern in their eyes burned into him, and he was unable to meet their gaze.

“Because I…” he started to say again.

And then something plunged deep into his core. Something hot and hard was ripping into him, tearing him apart from the inside out. He couldn’t move: his hooves were bound. He couldn’t breathe: something was covering his mouth, sucking out his breath, sucking out his life. Hooves stroked his chest and sides, the icy touch freezing his bones and his blood. He was laughing at him, mocking his inability, as he tore a hole in his soul and drained him of everything.

He couldn’t. He couldn’t. Oh, God, he couldn’t. He clutched the sheets of the bed, struggling for air. Tears burned at his eyes and flowed freely down his face.

He heard hoofsteps rush over to him. “Phillip?”

The voice was like a lifeline cast into the sea that he was drowning in, and he struggled towards it. A figure dropped down next to him, and a wing was gently draped over his shoulders.

“It’s all right, Phillip,” Fluttershy whispered, nestling against him. “You’re okay.”

He looked up and met her blue eyes through his tears. “Just take deep breaths,” she instructed gently, taking his hoof in both of her own. Her warm touch revived him a little, and her voice became clearer in his ears. “Count with me,” she instructed, taking in a slow breath. “One...two...three…” He followed her rhythm, breathing in slow and deep, focusing on nothing but her gentle gaze, the softness of her wing blanketed over him, and the warmth of her hooves. The scents of cotton candy and lavender perfume breezed into his senses, then a pair of short, scaly arms wrapped around him. Bit by bit, his friends pulled him out of the nightmare, and he softly fell back into the present.

“It’s all right to be scared,” Fluttershy reassured him, gently wiping away his tears. “It’s all right to cry. You can still be brave.” He wept more, but his tears were gradually slowing.

“Hey,” Pinkie suddenly spoke, perking up a little. “You know what we’re going to do when we get back to Ponyville?”

“A party?” Spike asked with a knowing smile.

“A party,” Pinkie confirmed with a nod. “And there’ll be cake and ice cream, and apples from Sweet Apple Acres...Rainbow will do a show where she’ll show of all kinds of new tricks, and maybe we can get Fluttershy and Rarity and the the Ponytones to sing for us…”

She continued on for a while, and Phillip allowed her words to wash over him, like a river carrying him downstream to a more pleasant place than this. Images danced before his eyes: a chess game in the park with Time Turner. A long night in the castle library, talking over theories on science or discussing past cases with Twilight and Flash. Laying on Rain Breeze’s comfortable couch during a weekly appointment, then joining Zipline and Flash for a late night cider at the Midnight Oil. Sparring in the fields of Sweet Apple Acres with Rainbow Dash and Applejack, then helping bring in the fall harvest. Waking up to Daring’s voice, gently shaking him back from pleasant dreams.

These and dozens of other memories flowed before him, and he soaked them in. A warmth trickled into him, filling up the void that Zugzwang had carved into him. Hope. Friendship. Love. They burned away the chill of his fear, of his pain. Slowly, he was able to feel again. The strength that had left him returned to his bones.

“Better now?” Fluttershy asked with a small smile.

Phillip took a final slow, shuddering breath and allowed himself to relax as the last of his tears fell. He looked up at the opposite bed and saw Celestia smiling supportingly at him. "Thank you," he breathed. The friends remained in the embrace for a minute of silence, then Phillip spoke once more.

“I have to go to him.”

“You don’t have to,” Celestia replied softly. “You could choose to stay here.”

He looked back at her evenly. “We all know that’s not a choice.”

Celestia sighed and nodded as Phillip rose off the bed. “Phillip?”

He paused. “Yes, Your Highness?”

“Please, there is no need for that now,” Celestia said. “I just wanted to say...thank you. For all you’ve done.”

“You don’t have to,” Phillip mumbled.

Celestia sighed and looked around for a moment. “There are many things in my life that I wish I could forget. And one of those things is a group of refugees who had just lost everything in a fire.”

“You were kind, Celestia,” Phillip said hoarsely.

She looked back at him. “Be strong, Phillip. You are not alone. You never were.”

He swallowed and looked over at Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Spike, the faith shining in their eyes. He looked at Daring, still fighting for life.

“Thank you,” he said, holding all of their gazes. “For everything.”

"Wait," Spike suddenly called. He picked up the carved crystal pendant from the table, and walked over to Phillip, handing it to him. "Take this with you," he insisted quietly.

Phillip took the crystal and lifted it over his head, dropping it onto his shoulders. It was fairly heavy, but not too heavy, its touch surprisingly warm as it bounced against his chest.

"Thanks, Spike," he whispered, briefly draping a foreleg over Spike.

"Do you want us to come with you?" Spike offered.

"No," Phillip replied. "You'll be safe here." He paused again. "I'm...I'm sorry for leaving like this. I know you're all frightened—"

"Don't," Rarity interrupted, raising a hoof. "This is who you are, Phillip; you fight the bad guys. And you do it for us." She smiled at him.

He nodded. There was nothing more to say. “Goodbye,” he said, and turned and walked out, grateful that he had no more tears to cry.

He walked past the hallways and lobbies of Guards and citizens, through a sea of fearful whispers and murmurs, and descended the stairs into the armory. Striding to the walls of armor, he selected a large golden chestpiece for himself. It had been many years since he had donned a set of Royal Guard armor, but it felt wonderful upon his skin, like the embrace of an old friend. He then selected a broadsword from the wall and pulled it down to test its weight. It was a well-crafted weapon: perfectly balanced, heavy enough to cut through bone and flesh with ease, but light enough for agile usage. He stored it in the sheath and holstered it at his side, adding a thrusting dagger, a .38 revolver and three speedloaders to his belt.

He glanced down at his watch. Already thirty minutes had passed. He would need to hurry if he were to reach Zugzwang’s hiding place. Sprinting up the stairs, he turned to a nearby exit door and pushed it open, exiting out into the snowy streets. The storms had fortunately subsided, but the air was just as cold as normal. Turning to face west, he began to run through the streets, the armor and his weapons clanging along with him as he ran.

He reached a gate blocking the road, manned by a squad of Guards that looked up at his approach. “Let me out,” he ordered them quietly.

The Guards hesitated for a moment, then one of them pushed the gate open enough for him to exit. He exited into the empty, dark street, and the gate shut behind him. Without pausing to catch breath, he kept running, his mind racing as fast as his hooves.

The reference to earth ponies flying, and the loud echoes of his voice during the transmission, had suggested that he was waiting at the airship docks on the borders of Canterlot. And the clue “sixth prime” could only refer to the sixth prime number, 13. Zugzwang was waiting for him at Warehouse 13, where Nevermore had abducted Celestia many months ago. The former doctor has subjected the Princess to a variety of chemical tortures in an attempt to drive her mad.

And now Zugzwang was there, waiting to kill him.

He took another breath and thought of his family, feeling the weight of the crystal necklace against his chest. He thought of home. He thought of all that he fought for, that he loved and was loved by in return. He carried them with him as he ran, his heart beating in his own ears.

The team reached the dark and empty campus of St. Megan’s. Even days after the initial bombing, smoke still wafted from the shells of the buildings, the acrid taste lingering in the air.

The Guards moved up to the doors of Seaspray Hall, which were still hanging open. The hallway inside was dark and silent. Clicking on their flashlights, the ponies entered the hall, filtering past the receptionist desk and into the halls of classrooms.

“This way,” Shining Armor called, following a sign that read “Wet Paint.” They ducked beneath a rope stretched across a hallway and continued, checking every room they passed.

“What exactly are we looking for?” a mare Guard asked, sweeping an empty classroom.

“It’d have to be something big and out of place,” Flash said.

“Guys? I think I found it!” Applejack called, looking behind a tarp that was stretched over a set of scaffolding. The cold wind blowing in through the large, broken windows made the tarp flutter and Applejack shiver slightly.

Sergeant Barker pulled the tarp down to reveal a section of an interior wall that had been broken open. A metal black box about the size of a large duffel bag was sitting on the ground, with several tools lying discarded beside it. It had several vents on the sides, and what looked like a large, deflated balloon attached to it. A trio of glass vials filled with a bubbling pale green liquid were set into the box.

“What is that?” Shining Armor asked.

“It’s an artificial cloud machine,” Rainbow Dash said. “I’ve seen a few of them at the Cloudsdale Weather Factory; they use them to stop droughts or wildfires. The balloon inflates and carries the machine up into the air, then it uses the chemicals to create several rain clouds.”

“Looks like Mix hid the parts inside the wall, then broke it open to build it,” Sergeant Barker commented.

“The Blood Plague,” Twilight breathed, staring at the tubes, then turning to look out the window. “Remade to be absorbed through the skin, and turned into a low cloud that covers Canterlot, coming in through every door, every window, every gap…” She gulped.

“Then let’s get them out of there,” Applejack declared. She reached forward and tried to pull one of the tubes out.

“Applejack, no!” Flash and Twilight both shouted, but it was too late. As soon as Applejack touched the vials, they glowed with a golden magical energy and Applejack drew away with a shout of pain.

A ball of golden energy burst from the box and landed on the floor, where it blossomed into a chessboard of solid golden light. The light and dark pieces stood in rows, waiting for somepony to take command.

The ponies all stared at the board for a moment, then Twilight sighed. “Of course. He just can’t resist being clever.” She walked forward and sat down behind the rows of light pieces.

“Twilight,” Flash asked slowly. “Are you sure?”

“What choice do we have?” Twilight replied, her eyes on the board. She raised her hoof, hesitated for a moment longer, then boldly thrust one of her pawns out. The opposing dark pawn shifted forward to meet her.

“Let’s play.”

“Dammit, Polaris,” Lieutenant Strider whispered, bending over the map of Canterlot in the communication room. “Why’d you have to go?” Wiping his eyes with his wing, he exited the room. The gazes of the Guards under his command followed him.

He passed by the lobby, where several citizens were sitting and talking. A burst of angry chatter tore into his ears and he paused to listen.

“Zhere is no reason we all must die!” Fleur de Lis was saying, pacing the room in great agitation. Her thin, sickly build and her disarrayed mane and tail spoke of the torment she had gone under.

“Ms. de Lis, think of what you’re saying!” Twilight Velvet protested.

“I am thinking of what I am saying!” Fleur snapped back. “I am thinking of us all not dying!”

Murmurs of both agreement and dissent rose up amidst the other ponies. It didn’t take a detective for Strider to figure out what they were talking about.

He pulled aside two passing Guards. “We need to protect the Princesses. Put a rotating shift of Guards in front of the infirmary.” Both of the Guards nodded and followed him to the infirmary, where Celestia and Luna were both waiting.

Luna, who had woken up, looked around at their entry. “What is happening?”

“Nothing, Your Highness,” Strider said, hoping that his voice was reassuring enough. “You just...you need to stay here for now.”

He looked up at the clock on the wall, mercilessly ticking away towards midnight, and tried to remember how to pray.

Author's Note

The game is finally coming to an end.

To the last pony standing.

Part 11: Crown of the Black King

Phillip slowed as he reached the airship docks, his breath condensing before his face as he panted. A great flagpole, the silver metal coated in frost, greeted him as he entered through the two wide metal gates. The Equestrian flag waved feebly as he approached, the bright sky blue seeming despondent and pathetic against the pitch black sky.

Several airships of varying sizes, their colors dulled by the darkness, were tied to the docks that jutted out over the cliffside into the empty air, languidly bobbing up and down in the air. Shivering in the howling wind, Phillip walked along the docks, passing the large warehouses that were used for storage and maintenance of the ships.

Finally, he reached number 13. The great doors with the peeling, painted letters loomed over him, like the entrance to Hell. Death beckoned to him.

He swallowed and closed his eyes for a moment, reaching up to place his hoof over the crystal beneath his cuirass. His heart was pounding frantically in his ears, as if trying to defy his fate. He took a slow, deep breath, centering himself. For a moment, the scent of Daring’s mane intruded on his senses, brought to him by the icy wind—her scent, and the taste of her lips on his…

And then the moment passed. Opening his eyes, Phillip pushed the door open and entered, switching on the built-in flashlight on his spaulder.

The warehouse was dark and cold. His hoofsteps against the concrete floor echoed against the few drywall sections that remained standing. He glanced up at the catwalks that spanned above him, walking around a discarded crate and a metal support column.

SLAM!

The sudden sound behind him made him whirl around, instinctively reaching for the sword at his side. The door had slammed shut behind him and black crystals were sprouting from the ground, blocking his exit. He turned around and continued forward.

Passing around a section of drywall, he spotted an indistinct shape lying on the ground. Curious, he stepped forward to examine it in the light of his flash.

As he drew closer, he felt his stomach recoil as he recognized the object. A pile of scarlet sheets laying in a tangled heap. He could still smell his scent upon them. His scent, and Zugzwang’s.

“One bad day,” a voice spoke from the darkness, echoing off the walls. Phil fully drew his sword from its scabbard and looked around, but his adversary was nowhere to be seen.

“Show yourself!” he demanded.

“I think not,” Zugzwang replied from his unseen position. “There are still things that need to be done.”

Phil slowly lowered his guard slightly and began walking forward, still looking around. “Just tell me one thing,” he called out. “Why?”

Zugzwang sighed deeply. “I thought I made that obvious.

“As I told you, I realized long ago that nopony truly cares about anypony else except themselves. And why should they?” Zugzwang asked. “What is life? A brief candle flickering in the endless darkness, nothing more. We are born, we struggle to survive, we create foals to inherit our damnation if we are lucky, and we return to the ashes. There is nothing to live for, nor to die for.”

“So you turned to crime out of sheer boredom,” Phillip answered.

“And why not? It’s not like there’s anything else to do. Until you came along, that is.” Zugzwang paused his speech for a moment, collecting himself.

“I told you long ago that I would burn you, that I would destroy everything you cared about and stood for,” he finally continued in a vindictive tone. “Any other victory would be hollow, after all: we are not just two minds battling each other. We are the champions of our respective philosophies. You, the white knight of law, order, and justice, and I, the black king of crime, anarchy, and chaos. Killing you would never be sufficient; killing the things you represented, killing the lies and illusions that I hated, is what I was always after.”

Phillip reached a large, clear area in the middle of the warehouse and paused, looking around for any sign of his adversary.

“You know as well as I do how hard it is to be the smartest pony in the room,” Zugzwang continued, his voice seeming to be close by. “We both see things that are so blatantly obvious, and all we can wonder is, ‘Why can’t anypony else see it?’” He snorted disdainfully. “God, ordinary ponies are just so stupid.”

“And how does that tie into this?” Phillip asked.

“Because I want everypony to see it!” Zugzwang snapped, his voice suddenly reaching a manic fervor. “I’m out for myself; I acknowledge that my life is meaningless! I freely admit the truth that I had always known, deep down! Why can’t anypony else?” He stopped, taking several deep breaths to calm himself.

“So I decided that I would make them all see. I would tear them down from their pretend thrones and shove the truth of life into their idiotic faces if that’s what it took to make them see, and to finally break you.”

There was a flash of light above Phillip, momentarily blinding him. When he looked up, he saw an image spread before him like a banner: a view of the lobby of Precinct Three. Several Guards and civilian ponies were inside, their gestures animated, their faces contorted in fear and anger as they shouted at each other. Phillip recognized Fleur de Lis at the center of the argument. Looking up, he saw a clock on the wall, reading five minutes to midnight.

“Please, everypony, calm down!” Night Light shouted over the arguing. “My two kids and their friends are out there already! They can—”

“We would know if they had solved zhis already!” Fleur de Lis cried out.

“They’ve been taken down before!” an earth pony stallion pointed out.

“Never for long!” a younger mare replied.

“What if they failed?” a pegasus mare asked, her eyes wandering and lost. “What if they didn’t find the bomb?”

“We can’t take that chance!” the earth pony stallion cried. There were a number of shouts of agreement from others, the number and volume drowning out the cries of dissent.

“We should at least put it to a vote,” an older unicorn stallion declared. A ripple of agreement passed through the other ponies.

“No!” Night Light disagreed. “This is not something we can discuss!”

“Why shouldn’t we?” a mare answered. “It’s our lives at stake here!”

“There is nothing to discuss!” Night Light shouted back.

“No, there isn’t,” Fleur de Lis answered. “This isn’t something that can be discussed.” She slowly turned in place, looking into every desperate, fearful eye. “Two lives for an entire city is a fair trade, n’est-ce pas? I have already lost my husband; I know that many of you have lost parents, siblings, husbands and wives, even our children. I do not wish for anypony else to die!” She paused and took a slow breath, raising her head with an expression of cold, detached determination.

“For the sakes of our loved ones, we must do this.”

Several of the other ponies nodded in silent assent. There was no cheering, no shouting, only a single-minded, grim movement forward. As one, the civilians began to advance towards the infirmary.

“No, wait!” Twilight Velvet pleaded, trying to block the oncoming flood. “This isn’t the answer!”

“Enough!”

Every voice was silenced and every head turned at Strider’s cry. He and a line of City Guards spread out in front of the ponies, drawing their swords and forming a defensive line.

“All of you will stand down!” Strider declared, drawing his own broadsword. The desperate civilians hesitated at the sight of the sharp blades, but did not fall back. For a desperate moment that stretched out into eternity, nopony and nothing moved save the second hand of the clock over the wall. They had less than an hour until midnight, less than an hour to die.

“Drop your weapons!”

Everypony looked up in shock to see Celestia and Luna walking towards them. Despite their bandaged forms and the exhaustion deeply set in their eyes, they carried themselves with all the regality and strength that their titles held. Fluttershy and Rarity followed behind them.

“All of you will drop your weapons!” Luna repeated. “Not one more drop of innocent blood will be spilled tonight! Not here!”

The Guards hesitated for a moment, then dropped their swords on the ground with a great clattering.

“My friends, we cannot let fear rule us,” Celestia announced gently, turning to the frightened ponies who had, moments before, been baying for her blood. “I realize that you all are frightened right now, and it seems as though there is no hope.”

“Believe us, if we believed that it were the best option, we would gladly lay down our lives for you all,” Luna declared. “But that is not how we solve our problems. We resolve nothing by letting fear or hatred divide us.

“We are better than this,” Celestia concluded, looking each of her frightened ponies in the eye. “I believe that you all are better than this.”

The civilians looked down at the floor and at each other, shame slowly spreading across their faces and their postures relaxing. The Guards breathed sighs of relief.

Suddenly, one of the swords was surrounded by a pink aura and flew through the air to Fleur de Lis’ hoof. “Hope will not keep us alive!” she cried, tears running down her eyes as she advanced forward.

“Fleur, no!” Rarity shouted, springing forward and placing herself between Fleur and the Guards.

Fleur blinked at her friend. “Get out of my way, Rarity,” she demanded softly. “This needs to be done.”

“You know this is wrong,” Rarity replied quietly.

The sword trembled in Fleur’s hoof, but she remained steadfast. “I don’t want to die, Rarity; it’s as simple as zhat!”

Rarity took in a slow breath and stood up tall. “Then you will have to kill me first,” she declared calmly.

“Rarity, no!” Celestia cried in horror. “I won’t allow you to—”

“This is my decision, not yours, Your Highness,” Rarity continued, her gaze never wavering from Fleur.

Fleur stared at her friend in shock. “Get out of my way,” she repeated.

“I do not want to fight you,” Rarity said plainly. “But I am not moving.”

Fluttershy looked at the scene with an expression of horror, then took in a deep breath and proceeded forward, placing herself next to Rarity.

“Fluttershy, what are you—?” Rarity asked.

“And me, too,” Fluttershy declared calmly, her eyes on Fleur. She reached out and grasped Rarity’s hoof. “This is the right thing to do,” she added quietly to her friend.

Fleur stared, then with a sudden movement, lifted the blade and pressed it against Rarity’s neck. Every eye fell upon the two mares in their silent standoff, Rarity calmly looking up at Fleur even as the sword pressed against her flesh.

And above them all, the clock continued ticking forward.

Despite the chill of the room, sweat trickled down Twilight’s brow. She had taken Zugzwang’s queen and one of his bishops and rook, but his enchanted pieces were merciless, seizing two of her pieces for every one she captured.

“Your Highness, time’s running out,” Sergeant Barker reported, looking down at his watch and licking his lips.

“Shh!” Twilight snapped, not looking up from the board.

Right now, her queen was in danger from Zugzwang’s knight, but her bishop was threatened by his rook. She glanced back at his king, which was resting on the far end of the board, as if taunting her.

Licking her lips, Twilight looked over her end of the board. All she had left were a few pawns, both her rooks—one of whom was guarding her king—her queen, one bishop, and one knight. She hovered her hoof over the board. Should she get her queen out of danger? Or her bishop, which was in line to attack the black king’s enforcement?

She could feel the gazes of her friends on her, waiting for her to move. The big black box sat next to her, silent and unmoving.

“You can do it, Twilight,” Applejack quietly encouraged her.

She nodded and swallowed. And with a final breath, she brought her hoof down, grasped her selected piece, and made her move.

“I really should thank you,” Zugzwang spoke softly. “You were the one that inspired me to become better. Before, I was content to be a king. Now, thanks to you, I have become a god. And my will shall be done.”

“You’re forgetting something, Zugzwang,” Phillip interrupted, tearing his eyes away from the image and slowly walking in a circle.

“Am I?” Zugzwang asked.

“Yes,” Phillip replied, turning about. “Those cigarettes you’re so fond of? Goldleaf, Saddle Arabian tobacco? There are a number of side effects to smoking: lung cancer, rotting teeth, increased risk of stroke…”

He suddenly whirled around and drew his revolver in a fluid motion, firing three shots. There was a cry of pain and Zugzwang shimmered into view, his invisibility spell broken by the shock of pain. Blood dribbled down his suit.

A gray remote fell from Zugzwang’s grasp and skidded across the floor. Immediately, Phillip dived for the remote, snatching it up as he tucked and rolled.

“Halitosis,” he finished, pocketing the detonator and aiming his revolver.

Snarling, Zugzwang fired a stream of golden-red magic at Phillip’s weapon, causing it to grow hot in his hoof. He tossed it aside as it melted into a misshapen mass of metal on the ground.

“If you love these ponies so much, Phillip Finder...” Zugzwang declared coldly, grimacing as he rose to his hooves. Hissing in pain, he magically sealed his bullet injuries. A column of smoke swirled in the air next to him, forming into a black, crystalline saber. “Then you can die for them,” he growled.

Phillip calmly drew his sword from its sheath and stepped into a low guard stance, his grey stormclouds looking directly into Zugzwang’s blackened voids as the two circled each other.

Zugzwang lit up his horn, the scarlet light swirling around it. Phillip immediately darted in and slashed at his head, forcing him to duck and lose his focus before moving to riposte. A shower of sparks danced along Phil’s armor as he deflected it with his spaulder, slamming the pommel of his blade into Zugzwang’s gut, sending the unicorn stumbling back.

“Guard training manual for dealing with unicorns,” Phil said calmly, sinking back into his guard stance and edging closer to the winded unicorn. “Rule one, never let them cast.”

Zugzwang snarled, a crimson glint in his eyes as he rushed Phil, forcing him to keep on the defensive with quick, precise cuts. The sound of ringing metal filled the air as Phil met each strike with his own, using the longer reach and weight of his own blade to force a stalemate between the two combatants.

“Rule two, their swordplay will most likely be sloppy,” Phil intoned, shoulder charging Zugzwang after one of his cuts, sending the unicorn stumbling back before settling back into his guard stance. His horn glowed dangerously and Phillip paused.

“This fight is pointless,” Zugzwang said, panting a little as he regained his composure and began circling again. He pointed to the projection, where Fleur still held her sword to Rarity’s neck. “All she needs to do is make one simple cut, and I’ll have won.”

“She won’t do it,” Phil replied.

“And what proof do you have of that, Phillip? I planted the seeds for this long before the barrier was cast. You know as well as I do that there’s no reason for her not to do so.”

“This is one time where I don’t need proof, Zugzwang. I have this on faith,” Phil replied, his eyes narrowing.

Zugzwang stared at Phillip with a dumbfounded expression, the corner of his mouth twitching as he began to laugh. It started as a low rumble, then a giggle, but soon the unicorn’s mad cackle began to echo from the rafters as he clutched his sides, shaking with mirth. “Y-you have this on faith?! The great Phillip Finder, relying on something as abstract as faith to guide him?!”

Phillip remained silent, watching as Zugzwang covered his face with a hoof and kept laughing, arching his back an uncanny angle until he was bent upwards. Then, all of a sudden, as though a switch had been thrown, the laughter stopped.

“It would appear that I was wrong about you, liebling.” His voice was suddenly soft and every syllable bit like frostbite. “You are just like all the others.” Zugzwang’s hoof dropped from his face, the foreleg going limp at his side as he hunched over and turned his head towards the stormy-eyed earth pony who had entertained him for so long. All his research, all his theorizing, the entire profile that was Phillip Finder, meaningless.

“Very well then. One last gambit,” Zugzwang spat, lowering his blade a little and jerking his chin towards the projection. “Let’s see if your faith brings you anything.”

Rarity and Fluttershy’s eyes showed no fear; instead they were filled with a calmness, a peace that seemed to stretch out in front of Fleur. The trembling widow looked up from Rarity to the Princesses. Both of the alicorns looked back at her evenly, showing no judgement, no anger. They looked at her as though they pitied her. The crowd of ponies around them stared, unable to look away.

Fleur looked back at Rarity, her breathing fast as she magically pressed the blade against her throat. With a breath, she pulled the blade back…

And dropped it onto the floor with a clatter. Sobbing bitterly, she drew back and collapsed to the floor.

Rarity and Fluttershy both stepped forward and gently hugged Fleur. The ponies around them slowly stood down, many of them quietly embracing. None of them watched as the hands on the clock reached midnight, then passed it.

Zugzwang’s jaw clenched in disbelief as he stared at the floating image.

“You know what that tells me?” Phillip said, lowering into his guard stance again. “It tells me that ordinary ponies don’t always give up when the chips are down. It tells me that ponies are better than fear or hatred.” He glared at Zugzwang. “It tells me that this whole time, it was you. Only you.”

Zugzwang snarled as the projection dissolved into smoke. “I suppose it’s true what they say,” he said. “If you want something done, you have to do it yourself. So if you would be so kind…”

His body glowed scarlet and he rushed forward, his speed greatly enhanced by his enchantment. Phillip had to perform two backwards hoofsprings to avoid being impaled.

“Give. Me. That. Detonator,” Zugzwang hissed, emphasizing each word with a strike.

Phil met his strikes with his own blade, staggering back as he struggled to fend off the relentless assault from Zugzwang, who now had a mad grin splitting his face. “What’s wrong, Finder? You were doing so well before!” he crowed, rearing back and kicking the earth pony in the chest, causing him to stagger into a stairwell.

Zugzwang rushed him again, black crystals beginning to jut out of the saber as he raised it over his head. Phil’s eyes widened as he quickly scrambled up the stairs, narrowly avoiding the corrupted blade as it crashed through the stairs with a pure ringing sound, leaving behind a pile of twisted metal.

“Running away now? I thought you were made of sterner stuff, liebling!” Zugzwang snarled as he charged up the steps toward Phil, who ducked under another sword swipe and slammed his hoof into Zugzwang’s stomach, forcing his opponent back as he fled to the catwalks above the warehouse floor.

“Oh Phillip~” Zugzwang crooned as he calmly made his way up the stairs after him, his voice sounding heavily distorted as the crystal saber began to grow viciously jagged. “You should know you cannot run from me~”

“Go to hell,” Phil snarled, dropping into a low guard stance as he stood ready on the narrow walkway. Zugzwang reached the top of the stairs before turning to Phillip, who paused to examine his opponent in growing horror.

It was as though something inside the unicorn was trying to break out, as evidenced by the more pronounced curve of his horn and the small shards of crystal that had begun to grow out of his skin. The most telling sign however, were his eyes. No longer were they pitch black voids. They now looked like a portal to Hell; a crimson light shone from behind the blackness, faint wisps of dark power beginning to pour out of his eyes. The figure that was Zugzwang, and yet not Zugzwang raised the now jagged shard of crystal, pointing it directly at Phillip’s chest.

“But my dear liebling, we are already there,” Zugzwang said as he dashed forward, rushing into a lunge with a mad glint in his eyes. Phil barely managed to twist away as the blade sang right past his ear, the blackened crystal seemingly hissing with glee as a small cut opened on his cheek. Bringing his own blade up, Phil batted the lighter weapon out of the way before bringing it down in a diagonal slash, forcing this thing to jump back.

The impact however, caused the catwalk to shake as the chains supporting it shook with the sudden jolt. Phillip braced himself with his sword, regaining his footing as Zugzwang staggered back, gripping onto the railing for balance. “I see, so this is why you fled up here, liebling,” Zugzwang nodded.

Phil grunted as he raised his blade again, holding it in front of him as Zugzwang advanced on him and swung his blade overhead. Their blades locked together.

“I don't understand,” Zugzwang asked, straining against him. “All it would have taken is one bad day, just one and you would be like me. I’ve given you that bad day, and you still fight for these ponies! WHY?!” He flicked his left foreleg, unsheathing his hidden blade before stabbing for Phil’s neck.

“You want to know why?” Phil said calmly as he maneuvered his sword to let the crystal shard slide off. Slipping past as he ducked under the stab, he kicked Zugzwang in the flank, causing the stallion to fall to the floor of the catwalk, shaking it again. “Because I’ve already had my bad day! Twice!”

Zugzwang snarled and leaped back to his hooves, swinging wildly at Phillip who met each of his strikes with a matching cut from his own sword. “When I lost my father! And when I lost my home in the fire!” He reared back and slammed a hoof into Zugzwang’s muzzle, breaking his nose with a solid crack.

“I was lost and alone!” Phil followed up with a vicious back-hoofed strike across Zugzwang’s cheek, sending the demonic stallion staggering back. “I was scared and hurting!” He brought his blade up into a two-hooved strike that whistled toward Zugzwang’s head. The unicorn raised his hidden blade to block it, only for the heavy steel blade to snap the much smaller one in two, leaving a deep cut on Zugzwang’s hoof. He snarled as black crystal began to grow from the wound, sealing it shut.

“Yeah, I might have ended up like you, that’s for damn sure,” he continued, whipping the blade of his sword around to parry another thrust from Zugzwang. “But then somepony reached out to me. They showed me that I wasn’t alone!” He slammed the pommel into the side of Zugzwang’s head, dazing him.

“That’s when I learned that ponies, even ponies like me, can be far better than a sociopathic bastard like you could ever imagine!” Phil roared, rearing back and kicking the unicorn in the stomach, sending him sprawling. “That’s why, Zugzwang. Because as bad as you are, I’ve already fallen as far as you. Because I’ve looked into the same abyss as you did, and I crawled out of it! Because I am stronger than you could ever hope to be!”

Zugzwang shrieked in fury at being defied, his voice distorting into an unholy hiss as he sprung back up and ignited his horn. A spiraling plume of scarlet hellfire tore across the catwalk, melting through the chains and causing the whole structure to collapse onto the warehouse floor. Phillip dived away from the crashing metal and landed heavily, the impact winding him.

Then he heard a soft clatter.

Phil looked up, still dazed from his fall, only to see that the detonator had landed several feet away. Groaning, Phil pulled himself to his hooves and began to stagger over to it, his sword dragging limply in one hoof, only to get knocked back as a wave of force slammed into him.

“I think not, schweinhund,” Zugzwang, or what had once been Zugzwang, snarled as he stood from under the scrap metal he’d been pinned under. “I still have one last move to make.” Most of the stallion’s body was now covered in blackened crystal, seemingly holding him together as he shambled over to the detonator, scooping it up. His eyes blazed brightly with unsuppressed rage, the iris’ now a bright scarlet that matched his curving horn.

Phillip stared helplessly as the thing that was once Zugzwang raised the detonator in triumph.

Twilight moved her pawn forward, placing it in range of the rook guarding the black king. After a moment of hesitation, the dark gold rook moved forward and took the pawn, allowing Twilight to move her queen within striking range of the king. “Check,” she whispered.

The black king moved forward, out of the queen’s range. Twilight advanced with her rook, forcing the king into check again. The black knight took her rook away, but she pressed forward with one of her pawns. The king retreated again, and she swooped in with her queen. “Check…”

Out of nowhere, the black rook rushed in and enveloped the white queen, removing it from the board. Twilight hissed out a breath of frustration and retreated to think.

“This is not good,” she muttered, gnawing on her hoof in fear as her eyes darted over the board. “What happens if I get checkmated? Will the bomb go off? Will I have to start over?”

Flash stepped forward and gripped her hoof, squeezing it gently until she stopped babbling. “Calm down,” he said. “You can do this.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash agreed. “You’re the biggest egghead this size of Vanhoover! A chess game should be no problem for you!”

A phantom of a smile dancing about her lips, Twilight took a deep breath and nodded. She looked over the board once more, observing the position of every piece, determining every possible move. Then her eyes widened in joy.

She reached out, grasped her knight, and in one move, avenged her queen’s capture by taking the rook and placing the king in check once more.

The king stepped back, out of range, but there was nowhere to run to. The pawn that she had kept in reserve, the pawn that the artificial intelligence had underestimated, took two bold strides forward and pinned the king in place. “Checkmate!” Twilight declared proudly, releasing a cheer from her friends.

The golden chessboard faded away and a panel on the box opened up, revealing a set of combination dials with letters instead of numbers.

“Ten slots,” Flash observed.

“Any ideas?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Working on it,” Flash muttered, licking his lips. He stared at the dials for a few moments, then looked up at Twilight. “What was that you said about Zugzwang?”

“He can’t resist being clever,” Twilight replied, looking confused at his question.

Flash thought for a moment more, then bent over the dials again. “That’s right, he can’t,” he muttered, working quickly.

“Beg me,” Zugzwang snarled, the smoke swirling about his eyes.

“Don’t,” Phillip whispered, his eyes darting from the detonator to Zugzwang. The distance was too great, his exhaustion too much.

“Beg me!” Zugzwang demanded, his voice horribly distorted with glee. “Say that their lives matter! Say that this is wrong! Offer to trade your life for their pathetic existences!”

“Please,” Phillip begged, raising a hoof. “Zugzwang, please…”

A horrible, victorious grin spread across Zugzwang’s face. And with a flourish, he pressed the detonator.

Phillip flinched, expecting to hear a distant rumble of thunder that announced death, the death of a thousand innocent ponies coming on swift, icy winds, anticipating the taste of the Blood Plague in the air at any moment…

But nothing happened. All was silent.

Zugzwang’s face turned from a sneer to a grimace of disbelief as he pressed the detonator again and again, but all with the same result.

“Nein! Nein!” he shrieked, throwing the remote aside.

Flash Sentry panted in relief, clutching the two vials of Blood Plague that he had removed from the cloud machine. The fateful name “OZYCOLTIAS” was spelt out before him.

“Nothing beside remains,” he declared.

With a howl of pure rage, Zugzwang fired a stream of magic at Phillip, forcing him to dive out of the way.

“This ends here for you! For you all!” Zugzwang shouted, advancing slowly. “Imagine what it will do to your son when he finds out that daddy’s dead! And I’ll make sure he knows it’s his fault before I kill him! Him, and all of your friends!” A flurry of black crystal daggers ejected themselves from his body and flew at Phillip. They drilled into the concrete floor as he rolled, dived, and cartwheeled to dodge them.

Zugzwang advancing mercilessly, blade ready to part Phillip’s head from his shoulders. Phillip lifted his own broadsword to parry, but the crystal saber knocked his weapon aside and sent it skittering across the floor. Zugzwang followed up with a vicious punch that knocked him down. Growling, he raised his weapon for the final blow.

“Hey!”

Zugzwang whirled around just in time to see a pink blur racing right at him. He grunted in pain as the shape slammed into him, sending him flying across the room.

Phillip blinked in surprise. “Pinkie? ”

“Hi!” Pinkie Pie chirped, helping him up. “Sorry I’m late, but I lost track of you near the docks and it took me a while to find you, and then the doors and windows were all blocked off, so I climbed in through the chimney! That’s really hard, by the way; how does Santa Hooves do it every year?”

“But...why’d you follow me?” Phillip asked, collecting his sword.

“Duh,” Pinkie replied with a small smile. “Because you’re my friend.”

Phillip paused and looked at Pinkie's warm, calm expression. For just a moment, his heart fluttered.

Growling, Zugzwang summoned more crystal fragments and threw them at Pinkie, who had to cartwheel out of the way. “You shouldn’t be here, hure!” Zugzwang shouted, but his advance was halted by a hard double buck to the side.

“Leave her alone!” Phillip snapped, whirling around and making a calculated cut at his head. Zugzwang ducked and parried with his saber, but received a kick in the side from Pinkie. Pinkie leapt up, wrapped her hind legs around Zugzwang’s neck, and twisted powerfully, slamming him into the floor. Dissolving into smoke, he retreated a short distance and reformed, blade up in a guarding stance.

Phillip thrusted low, then Pinkie kicked high, forcing Zugzwang to block sloppily. He dodged around Pinkie and tried to swing at her head from behind, but she ducked, then did a backflip and kicked him in the face. He fell, then rolled back to his hooves just in time to parry a downward cut from Phillip. He fought back to a standing position, barely fending off Pinkie and Phillip’s combined assault.

Pinkie darted to the side and tried to sweep his legs out from underneath him, but received a kick in the face. Zugzwang turned to Phillip and sent him flying backwards with a blast of telekinetic magic. Phillip slammed into a support column and collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

“ENOUGH!” Zugzwang bellowed, seizing Pinkie by the throat in a magical grasp and lifting her off the ground. She kicked helplessly, choking as he tightened his grip. “First you die, then Finder,” he snarled. Pinkie gagged and slowly slumped as she began to pass out.

Panting, Phillip looked up and saw Pinkie struggling in midair. He tried to get up, but his limbs refused to take his weight. His breath burned in his ragged lungs and his heart throbbed. It was over. They were dead.

No.

He took a deep breath, pulling deep into his reserves of willpower, and stood up. He took a step for Pinkie. Then a step for Flash and Twilight. Then a step for all of his friends. Daring. The Princesses. The Royal Guards who had laid down their lives for him. The city of Canterlot. Equestria. One step after another, for every name and face that pulled out from the darkness.

The crystal necklace grew warm, and then a golden-white aura burst from his body. Blinded by the sudden light, Zugzwang dropped Pinkie and turned around. When he saw the thing before him, his jaw dropped in disbelief.

Phillip strode forward, his posture strong and confident. His entire body was encompassed with an aureate shield of energy that shimmered with every step, making him seem larger than he actually was. Three pairs of great, rainbow-colored wings extended from his shoulders. The sword in his hoof seemed to burn as if the blade were made of flame, and his eyes were as cold and dark as storm clouds.

The pony who worshipped himself as a deity stared up at this glowing apparition, and for the first time in his life, felt true fear. With a desperate growl, he fired his magic at Phillip, concentrating every ounce of mana he had left in his body into the attack, but the beam failed to penetrate the shield. He continued to advance, unstoppable.

“Nein! Fernbleiben!” Zugzwang shrieked in panic, backing away as he continued to fire his magic at Phillip, all to no effect.

Phillip clutched the sword in his hoof. He felt the heat of Zugzwang’s spell, but no pain. His love for Equestria, his love for his friends, his hope and determination burnt out every other sensation, every thought except one: he would protect his family. He looked down at Zugzwang, and felt pity for him; he hated love because he could not understand it, could not feel it. How small he was, in the end.

Zugzwang backed up against a wall; he had nowhere else to go, and his magic was draining by the second. With one final step, Phillip advanced into range and ended the battle with one slice.

Zugzwang cried out in pain and horror as his broken horn fell from his head, clattering to the floor, and he collapsed to the ground in a trembling heap. Immediately, Phillip crushed the severed horn into dust beneath his hoof; a wave of black energy flew from the shards with a sound like a scream and quickly dissipated. Panting, Phillip pointed his sword down at Zugzwang as the golden glow faded from his body.

Pinkie groaned as she came to and looked up to see Phillip standing over his conquered foe. “Is it...is it over?” Pinkie asked, coughing.

Phillip smiled at her. “It’s over.”

Outside, the black dome that covered the city cracked and trembled, then shattered, the pieces dissolving into dust as they fell from the sky. A brilliant yellow light washed over the city, embracing it and its citizens in warmth. Every head turned upwards in startlement, raising their forelegs to shield their eyes.

“What’s happening?” Fluttershy asked, squinting out the window.

Twilight Velvet stepped forward, slowly lowering her hoof as she studied the great golden sphere in the suddenly blue sky above them.

“It...it’s the sun,” she whispered, then began to laugh. “It’s the sun!”

A great cheer erupted from the ponies; they sang, they danced and embraced each other, many laughing or crying in relief. The same cheers could soon be heard across the city as civilians and Guards celebrated.

As they exited Seaspray Hall, Twilight, Flash, Rainbow Dash, and Shining Armor cheered as the black crystals that had been piercing their wings and horns dissolved into dust. Rainbow Dash immediately celebrated by flapping up into the air and performing several tight loops through the slowly warming air. Looking up, the friends saw troops of Royal Guards from other cities flying in on airships, helicopters, and pegasi-drawn air chariots, ready to aid in retaking the city.

“We did it! We did it!” Twilight sang, hugging Flash and Shining Armor, joyful tears running down her face. Applejack let out a loud whoop, rising up onto her hind legs and kicking with her front hooves.

Back in Precinct Three, Celestia and Luna both smiled as they stretched their wings. Their horns glowed with energy, and the next moment, both of them were clad in bright gold and dark blue armor, respectively. Celestia’s flowing mane shone like the morning sky and the stars in Luna’s indigo mane twinkled beautifully.

“I think it is long past time we took our home back,” Luna declared.

Lieutenant Strider grinned. “TO ARMS!” he shouted, drawing enthusiastic shouts from the other Guards as they recollected their weapons and prepared to march out into their streets once more.

In a small cottage in the middle of the city, Scarlet Letter looked up in disbelief at the sun in the sky, its dazzling light seeming to mock her. The impossible had happened: Zugzwang had failed. They had failed.

“Madame, we need to go,” Laurier urged, tugging her foreleg.

Scarlet looked down at her son, still asleep and pressed against her chest. “This isn’t over,” she promised him.

Following her bodyguard to a false bookshelf, she pulled out a false book, causing the bookshelf to slide aside and reveal a hidden elevator that would lead down into the extensive crystal caverns beneath the city, created long ago for just such an emergency. Stepping inside with Laurier, Scarlet Letter scowled as she pressed the button to lead them down.

Zugzwang slowly looked up at Phillip, his eyes returning to their normal black. He regarded the blade held to his throat. “What are you waiting for?” he snarled, glaring. “You’ve been wanting this for years!”

Phillip did not move. His face did not change from its infuriatingly stoic expression.

“I tortured your friends!” Zugzwang shouted, his voice rising to a furious, desperate tone. “I raped you! I held this city hostage! I tried to murder everypony you loved! Kill me! Kill me!”

“No,” Phillip answered, his voice devoid of any emotion. “I’m not afraid of you anymore, Zugzwang.”

The words were spoken plainly, but cut deeper than any blade. Zugzwang’s face creased into an expression of complete and abject defeat, and he hung his head in shame. His body seemed to crumple into itself, all of his former hubris and confidence evaporating instantaneously.

“Get up,” Phillip ordered. “You’re going to face justice for what you did.”

Slowly, Zugzwang started to rise to his hooves. Then suddenly, his face twisted in rage and he lunged forward, grabbing Phillip’s sword and pulling himself up. Phillip tried to pull away, but it was too late: the blade pierced Zugzwang’s chest like paper, but he ignored the fatal injury as he rose to his hooves. A second hidden blade sprung from Zugzwang’s sleeve and he stabbed it into Phillip’s chest through a gap in his armor.

Pinkie shrieked. Phillip gasped, his eyes going wide with shock and pain.

“Auf wiedersehen...liebling,” Zugzwang hissed with his final breath, blood bubbling from his lips. He coughed, then fell backwards to the ground. A pool of blood began to spread from his body. His abyssal black eyes stared upwards, as dark and empty as before.

Phillip collapsed, wincing with every breath as he clutched his wound. Bright red blood dripped onto the ground.

“Phillip!” Pinkie Pie cried, rushing to his side. She heaved him up onto her shoulder and began to carry him towards the door.

“C’mon, Phil,” she said, puffing as she struggled to support his weight. “We made it this far!”

Phillip’s vision blurred; darkness faded in and out of his gaze. He tried to say something, but his lungs were no longer working properly; it was taking all of his effort just to breathe. An icy coldness was spreading across his veins, all sound seemed muffled, and he tasted the familiar coppery flavor of blood on his tongue.

Pinkie kicked the now unblocked door open and they staggered out into the sunlight and snow. “You feel that, Phil?” Pinkie asked as she continued to carry him out. “Just hold onto that. You’re going to be all right, okay? We’re all gonna go home and everything’s gonna be okay!”

She heard a noise overhead and looked up. A sky chariot of Royal Guards was flying low over the city. She waved desperately up at them. “Hey! Hey! Down here!”

One of the pegasi drawing the chariot looked down and pointed towards them. The chariot banked and swooped in to land.

“Here they come, Phil!” Pinkie said, turning to him. “You’re gonna be—”

At that moment, Phillip’s weight slipped from her grasp and he collapsed into the red-stained snow, gasping for air. “Phil!” Pinkie cried, dropping down beside him. “No, no!”

He squinted up at her, struggling to focus on her face. She fell silent for a moment, a sudden realization shaking her body, then slowly reached down and grasped his hoof in both of hers, gently rubbing it for warmth. Her lips trembled, then slowly parted into a small, sad, but genuine smile even as tears began to shine in her eyes.

He understood: she wanted the last thing she saw to be something beautiful, something pure. He forced his own face into a smile of his own and slowly reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes. Her face, outlined against the gloriously blue sky, was a wonderful thing to behold, a reflection of the heart behind it. A good thing to live for, and to die for.

He coughed wetly; the pain that had been spreading across his chest suddenly seemed far away, and he forgot that he needed to breathe. His hoof dropped to the ground, no longer able to carry its own weight.

With a last sigh, he closed his eyes and let go of the world.

Author's Note

This is how it happened.

This is how Phillip Finder died.

Huge thanks to The Villain in the Glasses for writing the big swordfight scenes! I hope you're ready for the final chapter soon!

Epilogue: The End

“And that’s the story,” Flash finished. Pausing to take a breath, he wiped his face and swallowed with difficulty; all this talking had made his throat parched. He looked around at the faces looking back at him from the crowd. He recognized Fleur de Lis, her face obscured by a black veil that matched the rest of her ensemble. Cintamani Stone and her daughters sat nearby in a row, stiff at attention in their plastic chairs. Dozens of others who had lost loved ones in those terrible days were spread out before him, waiting for him to continue.

Towards the back of the attendants, Flash spotted Princess Cadance, flanked by two Crystal House Guards and slumped in exhaustion. A sleeping Flurry Heart was in a baby sling, held against her chest. In the fallout of Zugzwang’s death and the liberation of Canterlot, it had turned out that she had taken it upon herself to take control of the sun and the moon for the rest of the world, even as she waited outside the dome with a battalion of Crystal Guards. She blinked up at him wearily.

He swallowed again and glanced over at Twilight, who was still nestled up against her brother’s side. She nodded softly. Flash took a breath and slowly turned back to the microphone.

“After Zugzwang died, his army was scattered,” Flash continued, his voice magnified over the crowd. “Although some of them escaped, with the aid of Royal Guards from other battalions, we were able to capture most of them and liberated the city. If it hadn’t been for my father, many of us wouldn’t be here.”

He paused. A great pressure was building up inside his chest, which felt like it was threatening to burst open at any moment. Taking a shaky breath, he tried to continue.

“But...but we still lost so many,” he stammered, blinking several times. “We lost friends...comrades...family...we…”

He choked on his words, the pressure now so great that he couldn’t speak. His head drooped beneath its own weight, his breath trembling.

Shining stood up and walked over to Flash, wrapping a foreleg around him and pulling the shivering pegasus into his embrace as his knees gave out.

“I can’t,” Flash sobbed into Shining’s chest. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right,” Shining whispered, gently stroking his back as he guided him away from the podium and had him sit down next to himself and Twilight. Twilight extended a wing over him and held him comfortingly as his sobs subsided. Sympathetic murmurs arose from the crowd, and many of them began weeping quietly themselves. Through his tears, Flash observed Cintamani leaning onto Talitha’s shoulder as the family embraced each other.

Princess Celestia stepped up to the podium and waited patiently for the audience to return their attention to her. “What happened during those days was undeniably tragic,” she said, the weight of the deaths evident in her posture, expression, and voice. Her soft tone was projected over the crowd. “We lost far too many good ponies.”

She looked around at the crowd. “But we survived. And we rebuilt. And though we have lost much, and we still have far to go, there is still much to be thankful for. Were it not for the bravery, generosity, kindness, and loyalty of good friends and family, of all of those who survived, many of us would not be here today. And this memorial is for all of us.”

Celestia lit up her horn and tore the tarp off the structure behind them, revealing the memorial. In the center of the structure stood a pair of statues cast in black granite; a Royal Guard in full armor and a young mare, both of them huddled together as if for warmth. Their faces were grim, but equally determined and alert, looking up towards the horizon. Three torches burst into light around them, the enchanted flames—peaceful azure, sunshine yellow, and brilliant emerald—flickering steadily. Behind the monument was a wall curved about in a semicircle. Dozens of names were carved into the black stone, the starlight white lettering seeming to shine against the backdrop.

“This memorial of the Days of Darkness will stand as a testament to the bravery of those we lost, and those who fought against the darkness,” Celestia declared. “Even as we honor their lives, we remember that even in the darkest, coldest times, there will always be the lights of faith, hope, and kindness, so long as we remember our inherent goodness.” She looked around at the crowd. “So long as we remember that we are not alone, we need not be lost in the dark forever.” She bowed her head in silence for several long moments, blinking repeatedly, then wiped her face with a wing and raised her head once more. “May…” she croaked out, then cleared her throat and began again. “May you all be blessed, and may Equestria be blessed. Thank you.”

She stepped down, signalling the end of the memorial service. The crowd stood and began to slowly file out of the park as the first strains of Amazing Grace rose from a trio of bagpipes wielded by Royal Guards. Some other ponies walked up to the monument, slowly parading before the wall of names to make their final farewells.

Shining walked over to his wife and embraced her gently. Flurry Heart woke up and cooed happily. “Dada!” she squealed, reaching up towards him. Shining smiled softly and kissed his daughter’s forehead.

Twilight observed this exchange with a ghost of a smile as her friends all gathered close to her. They watched as both Celestia and Luna slowly walked over the monument and stood in front of the statues, silently watching the parade of mourners.

Fluttershy hesitantly walked up to the Princesses. “Um...will you be okay?”

Celestia merely nodded, her eyes closed. Luna looked up and managed to smile. “We will be all right, given time,” she replied. “It may be a bit glib to say this, but this is not the first time we have been through a...difficult encounter.” She looked around at the friends and sighed.

“I realize that it will be a hard path before you...before us all,” she said. “But this is not a path that anypony should have to walk alone. I encourage you all to seek help. And to hold together. In the end, we are all we have.”

Celestia turned and looked up at them. She managed to smile, and for a moment, she looked almost like the kind, maternal Princess that the world knew and loved.

“Whatever happens from now on, however difficult it may be, do not be too hard on yourselves,” she advised them. “Even after everything that happened, you can still go home.”

Fluttershy walked up and hugged both of the Princesses. The others gathered in and joined in the embrace as the alicorns draped their wings around them all. They remained in the cemetery for several moments longer, simply holding each other until the alicorns slowly withdrew.

“You should get going,” Celestia said quietly. “Your train will be leaving soon.”

Twilight opened her mouth as if to protest without quite knowing why. After a moment of hesitation, she nodded, and led the friends back down the path and out of the park. Teams of unicorns were walking up and down the streets, clearing away the snow with their magic; Celestia had instructed them to hold off on Winter Wrap Up until after the ceremony.

“Come on, y’all,” Applejack urged, adjusting her stetson upon her head. “Let’s go home.”

The train rattled beneath their seats as it chugged down the rails, the countryside rushing past them. Much of the snow had melted over the past few days, leaving behind patches of white here and there, like fallen clouds amidst the fields of green. The leaves in the trees were just beginning to bud, and they waved at the train and its occupants as they passed. The sun was beginning to dip towards the western horizon, the first shades of pale red splashing across the sky.

The six mares and Flash watched the view in silence, sitting in a clustered group on a pair of benches inside the very last train car. The Celestia Star medals around their necks shone dully in the sunlight filtering in through the windows. The other occupants of the car kept their distance from them; whether either out of respect or uncertainty, they neither knew nor cared.

Rainbow Dash tapped the medal a couple times, bouncing it against her chest. “You know,” she admitted. “I don’t really feel like a hero.”

“Why not?” Twilight asked.

“I didn’t do anything special,” Rainbow Dash said. “None of us did, really. We just…” She shrugged. “I don’t know. We did what we had to.” She tapped the medal again. “And it...it just feels wrong. To be honored over this.”

Flash looked down at his own medal. The bright white star stared impassively back at him, cold and heavy against his heart. “Twilight, could you open the window a little, please?” he asked softly, not raising his eyes.

“Sure,” Twilight answered. She opened up the window a crack, allowing the wind that rushed past to enter the carriage.

With a sudden jerk, Flash yanked the medal off, snapping the ribbon in half, and flung the damned thing out the window. It disappeared into the thick, waving grass that grew alongside the tracks.

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Why did you do that?”

“Because every time I looked at it, I was going to be reminded of everything that happened,” Flash answered hotly. “And I don’t want to be carrying that around every day.”

The mares all looked at one another, then Fluttershy pulled her medal off and threw it out the window as well. One by one, each of the other Celestia Stars were flung out the window, like a small cascade of shooting stars bursting from the train carriage. Almost immediately, the air in the carriage felt clearer and cleaner, and the silence between the friends became more comfortable. Twilight curled up to Flash’s side and was received by a wing draped over her shoulders, Applejack tilted her Stetson down over her eyes and relaxed into her chair, and Pinkie Pie began to hum a slow but cheery tune.

“We should do something when we get back,” Rainbow Dash suggested.

“Yes, something normal,” Rarity added. “Something to lift the spirits.”

“A party?” Pinkie Pie asked, perking up. “Just for us?”

“Just for us,” Rarity agreed.

Finally, the train pulled into the station with a hiss of steam and brakes. The friends disembarked from the carriage and exited onto the platform. Two familiar figures were waiting for them.

“Welcome home,” Starlight Glimmer greeted them as Spike hugged Twilight and Flash in turn. “Come on, let’s get back to the castle. Have you guys eaten? We can make something quick for you if you want.”

They descended the platform and started walking down the familiar road through the center of town, drinking in the comforting sights, sounds, and smells. Fresh spring flowers were already beginning to sprout from the vivid green fields. Ditzy flew low overhead, carrying Dinky in a small basket in her mouth. The odor of fresh bread from Sugarcube Corner signalled to all that the Cakes were just pulling a fresh set of baked goods from the oven. Lyra waved cheerily from outside Bon Bon’s Bonbons, plucking merrily at her lyre. Caramel and a visibly pregnant Sassaflash sat on the porch of their cottage, nuzzling contentedly; their brand new engagement rings shining in the setting sun, similar to the ones that Flash and Twilight wore on their wings.

“How have they been doing?” Flash asked Starlight as they continued walking.

“They’ve been improving,” Starlight reported. “They still won’t go out in public much, but he’s been talking to me more, and they both went participated in Winter Wrap Up. She still doesn’t talk much, but I can tell that they’ve both been looking forward to seeing you again.”

Flash nodded and nestled Twilight up against him. “It’s good to be home,” he sighed.

The setting sun cast the sky in amber and crimson. A soft wind rustled through the trees in the open field to the north of Ponyville, causing the leaves in the trees to rustle musically. Two ponies lay beneath.

“How you feeling?” asked the stallion in the gray, short-sleeved shirt.

“Chest still hurts,” the mare with the grayscale rainbow mane replied, curled up next to him. “But not as much anymore.” She paused for a moment, observing the leaves fluttering in the trees. “And I didn’t have any nightmares last night, either.”

Phillip Finder smiled and nuzzled Daring’s mane; the warm, sea-like scent of her mane soothed him. She let out a soft purr and pressed herself against him.

It was a miracle that both of them were still alive. It was only due to the quick intervention of a Crystal House Guard medic that Phillip survived his stab wound; he had awoken hours later in the Canterlot General Hospital, surrounded by his deeply relieved friends. Daring had come around not long after, and been moved to the hospital herself for further treatment. Both of them had recovered within two weeks and left for Ponyville with the others before the memorial ceremony, hoping to duck out of the public limelight before it could fully focus on them.

“Have you thought about what’s next for you?” Phillip asked.

Daring blinked. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“Daring…” Phil said slowly, his voice soft and uncertain, his shoulders slumped. “Too many ponies saw you. Too many ponies know you’re real.”

Daring nodded grimly. “And it won’t be long until they make the connection between me and A.K. Yearling. My home, my publisher, they won’t be safe anymore.”

“So what now?” Phillip offered, his voice going up slightly.

Daring raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Is there an offer in there?”

Phil swallowed. “Um…” He took a deep breath and began to speak slowly. “You could...maybe...stay here with me? W-with us?”

Daring paused for almost a full minute, then smiled and leaned up to kiss him on the lips. He kissed her back sweetly; their embrace tasted of cold apple cider and crisp air.

“I’d like that,” she admitted. “This town, our friends, you...they’ve been good for me. I’ve changed quite a bit since...since you knew me.”

“Yeah, you have,” Phillip admitted. “We both have.”

“And this is a quiet place,” Daring added. “I could imagine staying here.” She chuckled once, very softly. “And besides, neither of us are getting any younger.”

Phillip smiled and let out a low laugh. “You’re right. Neither of us is getting any younger.”

There was something in his tone, something hidden behind the veil of his words, that made Daring pause, her curiosity piqued. “What is it, Phil?” she asked, looking up.

Phil swallowed, staring up at the sky above them. A pair of songbirds were perched on a branch over his head, their peaceful twittering the only sound in the field. He took a slow, deep breath, and continued.

“Daring...I’ve realized something recently,” he said, slowly taking both her hooves in his own and staring down at them instead of at her. “I’ve realized that I’ve been dying since I was thirteen years old. It’s time for me to start living...and the rest of my life, what I’ve got left...I want to spend it with you.”

He reached into a pocket on the back of shirt and pulled out two small black boxes. He passed one of these boxes to Daring. She opened it up and gasped at what lay inside.

Daring Do was no stranger to gold jewelry: many of the treasures she had uncovered and collected would put the crown jewels to shame with their magnificence. But the simple piece laying atop the white cloth inside the little box was the piece that took her breath away. Before her eyes was a small but elegant golden ring, affixed to a golden chain. It glowed in the light of the setting sun.

“Daring Do,” Phillip Finder whispered, his heart throbbing in his chest. “Will you marry me?”

For a moment, Daring could only stare at the gift in overwhelmed silence, then with a choked noise that was half a laugh and half a joyful sob, she took the necklace out of the box and draped it over her shoulders. The little ring made her feel light and free, like she was floating on a cloud.

“Yes,” she answered, and hugged him tight. He kissed her deeply, salty tears stinging at both of their eyes. When they finally separated, he took his own engagement ring out of its box and placed it around his own shoulders.

“We should be heading back,” he sighed, slowly rising back to his hooves. “The others will be here by now.”

“Pinkie’s gonna go ballistic over this,” Daring chuckled, getting to her hooves as well.

Phil laughed. “Yeah, she is.”

They walked back to Ponyville, nestled up against one another as the first stars began to appear amidst the growing purple backdrop of the eastern sky. The softening zephyrs kissed their skin. Below them, the first streetlamps were beginning to illuminate the town of Ponyville as its inhabitants prepared to end their day.

“It’s good to be home,” Phillip sighed, wrapping his tail around Daring’s. His partner nodded in agreement.

Life doesn't discriminate
Between the sinners and the saints
It takes
And it takes
And it takes
And we keep living anyway.
We rise
And we fall
And we break
And we make our mistakes
And if there's a reason
We're still alive
When so many have died...
Then we're willing to wait for it...

Author's Note

Special thanks to Arexander for proofreading this chapter for me!

And with that, it is the official ending of the Phillip Finder series. It's not quite a happy ending, but it's as close as we could have gotten. I hope that you enjoyed these stories as much as I enjoyed writing them! Leave a like and comment if you enjoyed, and thanks for all the views and support!

Oh, and happy St. Patrick's Day.

Bye for now,

Josiah

Chapter notes

Prologue
—Using a nonlinear narrative like this, starting the story with the ending, was a tough call for me, but I decided that it would work on the balance of the whole story.
—I have used "Hail Zugzwang" before, in Siege of Clovenworth. Despite the obvious parallel, it has nothing to do with "Hail Hydra," nor would it be accurate to compare Zugzwang to a Nazi.

Part 1
—In a previous story, Trifle Not With Monsters, Phillip began seeing Dr. Breeze for psychiatric help. He has continued his appointments off-screen up to this point. I had thought about having a scene with him speaking to her, but that would take up too much time and wouldn't amount to anything useful.
—Sanguis plaga: Latin, literally "blood plague." The Blood Plague is inspired in part by the Red Death from Edgar Allan Poe's Masque of the Red Death and the Weeper plague from Dishonored.
—six hundredth and sixty-sixth year: Biblical reference. According to the Revelations of St. John, the number 666 is associated with the Antichrist.
—“And what if he was the one who stole Starlight’s research and the crystals?”: Starlight was doing research on the crystals of the Rainbow Castle, which was stolen. See previous story, The Sydneigh Ritual.
—Alkaline Block: reference to the alkaline block of the periodic table.
—Pyrophoric: liable to ignite spontaneously on exposure to air.
—Phil gets the worst crime sense warning in the series, which can only mean bad news.
—Prowl and Bumblebee appeared in a previous story, The Grilled Cheese and the Muletese Falcon, where they ran afoul of Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich.
—“Dr. Mix, I presume,”: a reference to the famous line "Doctor Livingstone, I presume," said by explorer Henry Morton Stanley upon discovering Dr. David Livingstone living in Africa.
—The poem is based off of Percy Bysshe Shelley's sonnet Ozymandias, with some slight alterations. The poem is fitting for Zugzwang, representative of both his inflated ego and his nihilistic philosophy.
—The villains that Zugzwang names have all appeared in previous stories and now work for him.

Part 2
—Requiem Aeternam: A traditional Catholic prayer for the dead, meaning "Eternal Rest" in Latin.
—St. Megan: a reference to the character Megan from the first generation of My Little Pony.
—"Unilateral development, a spinal curvature!”: Pinkie's line, as well as the clue itself, are both references to the Sherlock Holmes story, The Valley of Fear, which the murder scene was loosely inspired by, in tandem with an episode of the Poirot TV series, Murder in the Mews.
—Remember: Daring's go-to cover identity for public appearances like this is Irene Alibi, a private detective who works with Phillip.
—Music: Wolfstack Lights by Mickymar Productions, from the soundtrack for Sunless Sea.
—Headcanon note: ponies can eat meat, and some do. The Eatery appeals to all types of ponies.
—Phillip's conversation about Zugzwang will play an important role later in the story. His referencing Flash being buried alive harkens back to previous story Checkmate.
—Friendship bread is an Amish dish, a sourdough bread that is often shared like a chain letter.
—"Besides, I always thought of you while I was doing it:” picture something like this.
—"acting the maggot": Irish slang, "behave foolishly."
—This revelation, along with the ones in the coming chapters, mean that in both Siege of Clovenworth and its sequel, The Silent Fugitive, Zugzwang actually won.

Part 3
—The health shield bubble was used by Princess Cadance in the MLP episode Three's a Crowd.
—"fair dinkum": Australian slang, "the truth, the genuine article."
—The Cintamani Stone is a mythic stone in Hindu and Buddhist cultures, said to have the power to grant wishes. Talitha is a star in the front leg of Ursa Major. The name means "the third leap" in Arabic, and the star is related to a gazelle leaping in Arabic cultures. Carina is a constellation in the southern hemisphere. Its name means "keel" in Latin, and it represents the keel of the mythic ship the Argo.

Part 4
—The Scorchers are loosely inspired by the Cleaner faction from Tom Clancy's The Division, but several times more sadistic.
—Tandem Check was a spy for Zugzwang and the antagonist of The Silent Fugitive.
—Silent Knight is an OC belonging to Anzel and used with his permission. He has appeared in two other previous stories, a cameo in The Sun Falls and a co-protagonist role in The Silent Fugitive.
—The hoof-cranked gatling gun: I believe TV Tropes would call this "More Dakka."

Part 5
—Flame Strider belongs to my friend Dovah Vahlok, used with permission. Strider is the protagonist/narrator of his story Strider.
—Doctor Nevermore's recitation of "Ring Around the Rosy" is of course symbolic. There is a popular urban legend that the childish nursery rhyme is actually based off of the Black Death, with the final line "we all fall down" meaning "Fall down dead."

Part 6
—For the reason why Scarlet Letter and her gang hate Pinkie Pie, refer to previous story The Grilled Cheese and the Muletese Falcon.
—"flachwichser:" German sexual insult, literally translates to "flat wanker." I picked it because it kind of resembled Flash's name.
—For Nevermore's "first session" with Celestia, see The Sun Falls.
—I've read testimonies of people who were willingly waterboarded. If waterboarding doesn't count as torture, nothing does.
—Beerenauslese: a German category of wine, usually made from handpicked Riesling white grapes.
—Latkes are a thin potato pancake.
—For Phillip and Zugzwang's first meeting, see First Meeting, First Smile in Phillip Finder: Short Stories.
—Zugzwang's "one bad day" speech is similar to the one that Joker gives Batman in Alan Moore's The Killing Joke, and Joker's interrogation in The Dark Knight.
—Music: Can't Smile Without You by Barry Manilow, somewhat fitting to how Zugzwang sees Phillip.
—"Haben Sie keine Angst:" German, "Don't be afraid."
—Flash Sentry's current predicament is of course inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado.

Part 7
—The chapter title is taken from a line in the Green Lantern Corps oath.

Part 8
—Agoraphobia, arachnophobia, entomophobia, and ophidiophobia are the fears of open spaces, spiders, insects, and snakes respectively.
—History note: the Alicornistic Genocides took place in the early years of Celestia and Luna's rule. It was a period of violence between followers of the dominant pagan religions and the Alicornistics, who worshipped the alicorns as gods.
—“You, like anypony, saw only what you wanted to see.”: Zugzwang's taunt to Phillip back in Checkmate, regarding how he managed to fake his own death and fool Phillip.
—“Quel est ce bruit?”: French, "What's that noise?"
—Headcanon notes: according to the comics, Princess Amore was the ruler of the Crystal Empire before Sombra. While she is merely a unicorn in the comics, she was an alicorn in the Phillipverse, and she was killed by Sombra during his uprising.
—“You have my permission to die.”: also harkening back to Checkmate.

Part 9
—"Let's roll out!": a catchphrase from Transformers, another franchise by Hasbro.

Part 10
—"there shall be a great cry in all Equestria...": paraphrasing Exodus 11:6, part of Moses' warning to Pharaoh about the Tenth Plague.
—“Du, du liegst mir im Herzen...": a German folk song. The lyrics translate to: "You, you are in my heart/You, you are in my mind/You, you cause me much pain..."
—Zugzwang's final gambit is based off of The Dark Knight.
—The Immortal Game was a chess match between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky during a break of the first international chess tournament in London, June 21, 1851. It became famous amongst chess scholars for Anderssen's bold sacrifices in order to achieve victory.

Part 11
—"A brief candle...": From Shakespeare's Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5: "Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow..."
—"If you love these ponies so much...": based off of Zod's last lines to Superman in Man of Steel.
—Most of the swordfight choreography and dialogue was written by my friend The Villain in Glasses, to whom I am deeply grateful.
—The placement of the Ozycoltias poem was deliberate, because Zugzwang, in fact, simply cannot resist being clever.
—"hure": "whore."
—The three pairs of wings that Phillip gains are meant to be reminiscent of the description of seraphim. According to Abrahamic mythology, seraphim are the highest choir of angels, responsible for guarding the throne of God. They are described in the visions of Ezekiel as having three pairs of wings.
—"Fernbleiben!": "Stay away!"

Epilogue
—The colors of the flames in the memorial are intended to correspond to the three theological virtues: faith (blue), hope (yellow), and charity (green).
—“Even after everything that happened, you can still go home.”: paraphrasing a line from the video game Spec Ops: The Line, though the context is very different.
—The picture was a commission I requested by Cinnamon-scroll, who did a fantastic job!
—Lyrics based off of Wait for It from the musical Hamilton, composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Author's Note

Chapter notes from the story.

Part 4: Darkness Descends

The rumbling of thunder continued to echo throughout the city as the column of smoke billowed up into the sky, forming a wider dark blot. Beneath them, Zugzwang’s soldiers continued their advance, indiscriminately firing on the terrified civilians as they ran for cover. Completely taken unawares, the City Guard scrambled to form lines of defense and escort what civilians they could to safety.

“I think that’s the signal,” Tinderspark commented, looking up at the descending dome.

The driver nodded, then rapped on the back wall of the cab. “Get ready back there!” he shouted. With a great grinding, he shifted the truck into gear and floored the accelerator. The truck roared forward, headed for the Palace wall. Guards and civilians dived out of the way as the vehicle plowed through over the gate and through the solid wall with a tremendous crash, its reinforced bumper pushing right through the wall. The truck came to a stop inside the main hall, ponies still running away in panic as Solar and Lunar House Guards advanced.

The back doors of the truck burst open and six ponies climbed out. Each of them was wearing fire-retardant clothing, jackets and boots torn and adorned with various symbols and emblems. Strapped upon each of their backs was a large fuel tank, with a hose running down to a gauntlet-mounted gun strapped to their forelegs; other weapons—knives, hatchets, sawn-off guns, crude grenades—hung from their belts. Gas masks adorned the intruders’ faces, the masks decorated to resemble twisted, monstrous faces that glared out at their frightened prey.

Every approaching Guard froze in their tracks, faces blanching at the sight of the intruders. One Lunar House Guard stared, jaw slack in horror. “SCORCHERS!” he screamed.

One of the intruders raised his foreleg at the Guards, sending a jet of flame roaring at them from his weapon. The Guards turned and retreated from the attack as the other Scorchers began setting anything that moved aflame. Smoke alarms began to blare out their warnings and sprinklers set in the ceiling dumped streams of water, futilely trying to battle back the flames.

Tinderspark climbed down out of the cab, snapping her gas mask down over her face. The mask had been painted to resemble a white cyclopean monster with a gaping mouth like a jagged rip with needle-like teeth. Her ripped fire-retardant jacket, stolen from a firefighter in Vanhoover that she had tortured for three days straight, was decorated with a painting of her cutie mark: a burning match.

“Okay, everypony knows the plan,” Tinderspark declared.

“Set fires and raise hell, then get the hell out!” a mare with a mask decorated to resemble a timberwolf’s face shouted, sending a jet of flame at a pair of Guards who were trying to peek out from behind cover.

“Yes, but don’t forget the most important part,” Tinderspark said, calmly unhooking a bottle of cider with a cloth wick from her belt. Igniting the wick with her lighter, she tossed the bottle into another hallway. The bottle shattered, sending burning liquid spreading throughout the hallway, licking at the tapestries on the walls.

“Have fun,” Tinderspark added, the smile evident even through the mask.

Floors above them, the ponies in the lobby looked up as the alarms began to ring. After a moment of hesitation, the mare Guard with the red wand stepped up. “All right, everypony, I need you to move calmly and quickly towards the exits,” she declared, gesturing with her wand. The frightened visitors began following her command, filing towards the glowing red “EXIT” sign with fearful murmurs.

“What’s happening?” a mare with a golden beehive manedo asked in panic.

“Ma’am, please remain calm,” a Guard told her. “We need to get you out of here.”

While the Guards were distracted, Star Watcher looked up at the other four ponies who were loitering behind with him and nodded. The others nodded back. The novel-reading unicorn tossed Star a small white packet. Star tore the packet open with his teeth and poured the white powder inside into his flask. Instantly, pale yellow gas began to billow from the flask, filling the room and leaking out into the hallways. Star and his band were unaffected, but the other ponies who were caught in the cloud began coughing and choking on the fumes.

A few seconds later, the screaming started. The affected ponies faces turned to expressions of terror as they screeched and wailed at things that only they could see. A howling civilian leapt upon the mare Guard and started flailing violently at her face as she writhed beneath him; two of the other Guards turned and fled in panic.

“Wouldn’t you know it,” Star Watcher said airily, with the tone of one commenting on the weather. “The good doctor’s formula and his vaccine both work.” With a grunt, he signalled for his four teammates to follow him down a separate hallway. The cloud of fear toxin followed with them, leaving behind a trail of screaming ponies as they rushed into the inner sanctums of the palace.

They paused before a set of white tiles on the wall. One of the intruders pulled aside a small tile, revealing a keyhole. Extracting a key ring from inside his coat pocket, he inserted a small, stubby key into the hole and turned it. An alarm began ringing, but nopony responded. A hidden door opened, revealing a small armory within the walls: swords, knives, shotguns, carbines, boxes of ammunition, tear gas and flashbang grenades, all placed here in preparation for an emergency.

“You were right!” the golden-maned unicorn cried in delight.

“You can thank Tandem Check for this little tidbit,” Star Watcher smiled, taking a shotgun for himself. “Except you can’t, because we arranged for him to ousted and killed.” He looked each of his teammates in the eye. “A lesson about what happens to those who don’t obey.”

“Yes, sir,” the other four nodded.

Star grinned and racked a round into his weapon. “Let’s move out.”

Quickly and quietly, they rushed unopposed down the hallways of the palace.

“Sister, do you recognize that magic?” Luna asked, staring out the window of the Royal Study at the column of dark magic.

“Yes, I do,” Celestia nodded, a note of fear evident in her normally-tranquil voice. “That is Sombra’s magic.”

“But that should not be possible!” Luna protested. “The horn—”

But her sentence was abruptly interrupted by the blaring of alarms. “What is—?” she cried in shock.

“Your Highnesses!” A troupe of Solar and Lunar House Guards rushed into the study, led by Lieutenant Silent Knight.

“The palace is under attack,” Silent reported, no panic showing on his face. “You need to get into the safe room, now.”

Celestia and Luna froze in disbelief for a moment at his words, but quickly recovered themselves. “Yes, of course,” Celestia nodded as she and Luna rose.

The Guards quickly formed a protective bubble around the Princesses and escorted them out of the study and down the hallway, towards an open doorway where a trio of Guards crouched behind ballistic shields. A recent addition to the castle, the safe room for the Princesses was constructed of six inches of magic-reinforced steel, proof against fire, bullets, and magic, and contained its own oxygen system and food and water supply.

The distant barks of gunfire echoed through the hallway, causing every head to turn. Celestia and Luna hurried inside the safe room and closed the door behind them, locking it shut with a clang.

“Form up!” Silent ordered. The shield-bearing Guards dropped their shields in front of the group, crouching behind the protective ceramic and raising their revolvers. The other Guards dropped behind them, raising their own weapons. Silent drew his own service revolver from his wing holster and aimed it down the hallway, ready to fire at any hostile movement.

“Lunar One-One reporting, Artemis and Apollo are on Olympus,” he reported into his radio. “Give me a sitrep, over.”

“Lunar One-One, this is Lunar Two-Four,” a mare’s voice reported, her voice backed by the crackling of flames and the pops of gunfire. “The Scorchers are retreating out the front, but they’re keeping us pinned down. We cannot pursue! Multiple wounded!”

“Solar Three-Seven reporting, we have gunponies inside the castle!” a stallion’s voice cut in. “They’re barricading themselves inside the music room!”

Silent Knight paused, mentally studying his map of the palace. It was at this point that he suddenly realized something concerning: the music room was right over the safe room.

The shield enchantment over the door to the music room held strong, resisting the barrage of spells and bullets that the Guards assaulted it with while allowing the invaders to safely return fire. The yellow cloud of fear toxin continued to swarm around them, keeping their enemies at bay.

“Keep firing!” a Solar sergeant barked, reloading his revolver with his magic. “They can’t stay in there forever!”

The golden-haired unicorn grunted, sweat trickling down his brow as he struggled to keep the spell up. “Whatever you’re doing, boss, do it fast!” he shouted.

Star Watcher crouched at the center of the floor, grinning as he pulled the lighter out of his pocket and flicked it open. With a click, he hit the flint, but no flame sparked.

The steel safe room had been implemented at the suggestion of several officers from the Solar and Lunar House Guards, and the current design was the brainchild of Tandem Check. But unknown to all, the traitor had included a specific design within the walls that were designed for safety.

Bundles of thermite charges that had laid dormant within the ceiling of the safe room for over a year now came to life, activated by the radio signal in the disguised lighter. With a hissing like dozens of angry serpents, a wide circle of bright yellow sparks carved through the floor of the music hall. Star Watcher and a dark green pegasus mare crouched by the circle, waiting. The mare held a canteen of her own in her hooves.

With a crash, the charges finished burning through the steel wall and the hole dropped into the safe room beneath. Immediately, the pegasus dropped the canteen into the safe room, which shattered into a cloud of white gas. Coughing and choking could be heard from within the room, which gradually dissolved into silence as the cloud dissipated.

Star and his partner dropped through the hole. Celestia and Luna lay on the floor, unconscious. Heaving the alicorns up onto their backs with grunts of efforts, they flapped upwards back through the hole and into the music room.

The sergeant’s blue eyes widened in shock as he recognized the shapes. “Cease fire! They’ve got the Princesses!” he shrieked, lowering his weapon.

“Get close!” Star called. The other intruders gathered close to him. The unicorn dropped the barrier shield and tugged a black crystal shard out from his pocket, firing a stream of his magic through the prism. With a burst of pale blue energy, the group and their captured prey disappeared from sight, much to the horror of the Guards.

The sergeant stared in shock for several seconds before slowly reaching for his radio. “This is Solar Two-One. We...we lost the Princesses. They captured the Princesses.”

Bumblebee sprinted ahead of the group, the sheen of his golden armor providing a beacon for the other ponies to follow as they raced towards the precinct. The shrieks of falling bombs pierced the air, punctuated by distant explosions and flashes of flames against the darkening sky.

They turned a corner and saw a wall of black iron plates set up across the street, the plates assembled by magic. A sergeant City Guard, a dark brown, shaggy-maned unicorn, stood in the open doorway, beckoning them forwards. Encouraged by the sight of the promised safety, the ponies pushed themselves forward, a panicked stream racing through the gate.

A sudden crack of thunder pierced the air. A unicorn stallion behind Fluttershy screamed and fell to the ground, a crimson plume blossoming from his chest.

“Sniper!” Prowl shouted.

Fluttershy skidded to a halt and tried to turn around and pick up the stallion, but Daring seized her tail and yanked her through the gates. “No! Let me help him!” Fluttershy protested, scrabbling against her.

“He’s dead!” Daring shouted, trying not to look at the unmoving heap of flesh.

“Look out!” Applejack called, pointing up the street. Barely visible against the descending darkness, a trio of ponies on motorcycles could be seen screeching towards them, firearms at the ready.

“Get in here!” Prowl ordered as Twilight grabbed the straggling ponies in her magic and pulled them through the gate.

“Out of the way!” a voice ordered. Everypony looked up, then dived aside as an earth pony Guard with a mountain-like build and a gray coat raced up, dragging a large metal carriage behind him. Reaching the gate, he performed a tight J-turn, swinging the Gatling gun he was carrying into position. The two Guards following behind him immediately manned the gun, one of them seizing the hoof crank and furiously working at it. With a great roaring, mixed with the singing of brass cartridges against the pavement and blinding flashes of flame, the gun burst to life, sending a volley of hot lead at the would-be pursuers. The enemies all collapsed to the street as the sergeant shut the iron gates, sealing the street off.

The ponies collapsed against each other, panting. Captain Polaris sprinted up. “Sergeant Barker, I want these gates manned 24/7! We are not letting this army take another inch from us!”

“Yes, sir!” Barker saluted as the gunners rushed to reload the gun. Panting, Polaris embraced his wife and two daughters.

“Twilight?” Flash asked. “What do we do now?”

Twilight looked up at the sky, which was now completely swallowed by the black dome that descended down over the city, completely enveloping it in a dark bubble.

“I...I don’t know,” she stammered.

Author's Note

Canterlot Has Fallen.

I originally planned to release this and the previous chapter as one chapter, but I realized that it'd be over 6000 words, and decide to split it into two just to break it up a little and hopefully make it a little easier to read.

But what chance do our friends stand against an entire army? More coming soon.