It had been about six weeks now since I first arrived here, and, at first, the Wardens urged me to leave, but I refused. I was fascinated by them, and wanted to join them. Of course, there was the initial craziness that occurred after finding a number of ponies milling about the camp, ones I didn't remember seeing my first time coming in, but in time I got used to it. Sorta.

Anyways, I still wanted to join the Wardens, even though I knew what it would entail. The bodies I had seen when I was running for my life six weeks ago, the sheer destruction the Darkspawn had wrought... I wanted to pay them back tenfold. I couldn't just stand by and let these things destroy my new home.

Yes, I said new home. Why? Because, according to the mages, breaching the Veil was not something anyone should try to do. So, in short, I was stuck here. And I would hate to see this world be consumed by the Blight. According to Warden-Commander Shining Armor, the Wardens were losing ground fast, both above ground, and below, with the above ground having practically no Wardens at all. I didn't really need to have an explanation as to why, because I already knew. Regardless, I refused to just stand by and let my new home be destroyed. It took me most of my time here to realize that.

Of course, I still hadn't given up on going back to my real home, but this still counted as a home to me. Even if it was temporary. The kindness of the Wardens probably helped with that.

Initially, I was scared to death. I couldn't imagine facing those monsters again. But seeing all the bodies rolling in every day, and the dwindling numbers of the Wardens... I realized that I wouldn't have a home if these things won, temporary as it was. So, I asked for training.

It took a long time for me to get used to fighting. Much more for me to get to the level of even the most standard of Wardens. But I improved. My movements got better, my reaction time got greater, and I was gaining ground.

Albeit, despite all my effort, I still wasn't anywhere near the level of the Wardens. But I could still hold my ground in a fight better than a civilian.

Today was the day that they sent me out to gather supplies for my Joining. Sullivan accompanied me, along with two more Ponies, as I had learned they were called. Apparently, this world was mixed with that weird show My Little Pony. I never watched it, but I'd seen pictures on the web. Still, just knowing that there are things like Pegasi and Unicorns and even damn Alicorns continues to make me question my sanity, no matter how much I tried to get used to it all.

Anyways, both Ponies were Initiates as well, straight from their country, called Equestria. One was a white Pegasus mare with a golden mane by the name of Blitz Fritz, and the other was an Earth Pony mare called Quake Stomp with earthy brown fur and a mahogany colored mane. Quake was wearing splint-mail, whilst Blitz was wearing simple leather armor.

As for myself, I had been given a set of robes with steel pauldrons, greaves, and gauntlets. The robes themselves were made of fur and silk, and thankfully didn't reveal my cleavage nearly as much as the robe I was given when I first came here. The silk made up the majority of it, and was dyed a deep red, whilst the fur lining my neck was just pure white. The pauldron covered the majority of my right arm, but it didn't impede my movement all that much.

"So, Initiate, you ready for this?" Sullivan queried. I nodded.

"I am," I confirmed.

"Good. Let's go," he urged, and we began our mission into Darkspawn territory.

We walked out of the camp, me holding my weapon of choice, a staff. I looked over my weapon once more. It wasn't much, being made out of Grey Iron, and didn't have much decoration, but it was mine. It had basically the same blade on the bottom as a Magister's Staff Blade from Inquisition, having a serrated blade at the bottom of the staff, the only part made with steel, and the top was almost exactly like a mace, but with blades and an amethyst in the middle of it all. The shaft was notched, and made of Grey Iron as well.

We walked a long time, the other two Initiates talking among themselves about what The Joining would entail, and why they wanted us to grab vials and fill them with Darkspawn blood. Sullivan didn't say much of anything, seeming too focused on the journey ahead. Thus, I was left with only my thoughts right now. I gazed around the dwarven tunnels we were treading through, the sound of boots and clip-clopping hooves echoing throughout.

The tunnels were pretty much exactly the same as in the first game, with lots of angular designs instead of circular like human or elven architecture. I can't remember the games saying if they used a specific type of stone exclusively, only that they hinted at the idea with the Awakening DLC expansion to the first game.

My mind drifted to other subjects as we walked. How my family was taking the news of my disappearance, how I would get back home... I sighed. Well, one upside is that I can use magic now. That's pretty cool, I guess. And I'm on my way towards the Arcane Warrior specialization, my favorite one, so that's also a plus. I'm just glad that there was an accomplished Arcane Warrior at the camp who was able to teach me. Of course, I still have a long way to go, but the point still stands.

I was torn from my thoughts when Sullivan stopped us.

"What is it?" Blitz asked.

"Enemies?" Quake queried. He nodded.

"Darkspawn," he said in a grave tone. "About ten." He placed his hand on his scabbard. "On my mark, we ambush them. Mera, you provide cover for us and if need be, jump in. Quake, Blitz, you're with me, be quick and efficient, don't give them a chance to retaliate. And all of you remember, don't leave your mouths open when fighting them, or you could risk getting blood inside and die a very slow death." We all nodded. "Alright... one," I readied my weapon, Quake and Blitz doing the same, Blitz showing off her wing blades and Quake her sword, which she held in her mouth. "Two," we tensed up, bodies ready to spring at any given moment. "Three!"

With that, we all charged in, me staying just behind them. I saw Sullivan, Quake, and Blitz engage a number of Darkspawn, who tried to overwhelm them with numbers.

Seeing this, I called upon the energies of the Fade and my Mana, and lobbed a fist of stone at one of the Darkspawn, then twirled my staff, slammed it down, and unleashed three bolts of electricity at a few more Darkspawn. I grinned as I saw the one that got hit with the Stonefist fall over, allowing Quake to jump on it and stab it in the heart, ending it's life. The ones hit with my bolts of electricity staggered and spasmed, allowing Blitz the time to swoop in and cut their unprotected hamstrings with her wingblades, causing all three to fall flat to the ground with brief cries of pain, unable to do much else now but crawl.

Sullivan lopped off the head of a Hurlock, blocked a hammer swing from a Hurlock Alpha and kneed it in the gut, then stabbed it in the heart as it staggered. I went on to pop the heads of the three Blitz had downed by tossing Stonefists at them, pulvering their unprotected skulls.

The remaining four Darkspawn, which consisted of Genlocks, two of which were archers, loosed their arrows towards me. I managed to dodge most of them, but one got me in the side, and I cried out in pain, clutching it. They all laughed, until Sullivan rushed over to them with a roar and speared one through the gut with his sword, lifting it up before slamming it back down and twisting, quickly ending it's life.

The remaining three Genlocks rounded on him, the archer knocking an arrow that he blocked with his shield, while the other two Genlocks just bumrushed him.

Blitz took flight and sped over, swooping through the gap between the two and cutting them deeply in the sides, then landed in front of them and pawed the ground in challenge. The Genlocks, not to be deterred despite their wounds, charged her instead, but both Blitz and Sullivan quickly turned them into cadavers on the ground. Quake Stomp had rushed over to the archer and split it's head in two, and it fell to the ground with a wet thud, it's brains splattering the ground.

I grunted as I kept pressure on my wound, Sullivan quickly rushing over to me while the others just walked. "You really need to learn to dodge," Sullivan chided.

"Well, I did tell you I've never fought a day in my life, much less trained to until you guys took me in," I replied back with a small grin. He sighed, shaking his head with a smile. He produced a small poultice with red liquid in it, then poured it liberally over my wound, making me grit my teeth from the sting, before he took a small bandage and wrapped it around the wound tightly. Already the pain was fading away.

"Geez, do we really have to carry this horn head throughout the mission?" Blitz complained as the two mares made it over. I glared at her, but she didn't seem to care.

"I seem to recall that she was the one who killed three of them, not you," Quake pointed out. Thank you, Quake. Blitz growled.

"So? I totally had those three, she just stole the kills!" Blitz argued.

"The point still stands," Quake replied easily, her amber eyes looking at Blitz with indifference.

"Buck you!" Blitz cried, her own silver eyes ablaze with anger.

"Both of you, shut it," Sullivan said firmly. Blitz grit her teeth, but slowly conceded.

"Yes sir," they both chorused.

"Good. Now, let's get that blood from those corpses," he said, walking over to said corpses. We all followed, and pretty quickly we had filled all of our vials.

"Well, that was a pretty damn quick mission," I noted, placing my vial in my satchel. The other two did much the same.

"Yeah, it was. Which sucks, because I was hoping for some more action," Blitz concurred. Wow. I think that's the first time she's agreed on something with me since we met back at camp during my training a few weeks ago.

"One should not ask for more trouble then they can handle," Quake said stoically.

"How uncharacteristically poetic of you, Quake. Did you steal that from a book?" Blitz teased.

"No. Made it up on the fly," Quake said simply as we began our walk back to the camp.

"She has a point though. You don't wanna jinx things," I added.

"Pfft, that's just superstition," Blitz said, waving it off. Then, the ground started to shake. "Umm... What is that?"

"A Darkspawn, get ready," Sullivan warned. We did so, readying ourselves for a fight and drawing our weapons once more.

Suddenly, a massive form broke through one of the walls in a shower of rocks and pebbles, and when the dust cleared, my heart stopped. I knew what it was.

"OGRE!" Sullivan cried. He was right. It was unmistakable. Large horns, hulking body of pure muscle and power, and filled with blood lust. The thing was even taller than me, likely by two feet, and about the same amount wider. It roared at us.

"You just had to jinx it, didn't you Blitz?!" I cried.

"This is a completely random occurence, don't blame me for your failings!" Blitz shot back, and had to jump up to avoid being impaled by the Ogre's horns.

"Can we focus on the fight at hand, please?!" Quake yelled, rolling out of the way of a swipe from the Ogre's claws, managing to cut it in the leg as she did. It cried out in pain briefly, but recovered even quicker and grabbed her.

"Quake!" Sullivan cried, rushing over to save her. He was back handed into a wall, and the Ogre brought it's attention back to Quake, squeezing the life out of her easily even as she struggled.

"Let go of her!" Blitz demanded as she dive bombed the Ogre, only to be snatched out of the air and squeezed tightly. Both her and Quake cried out in pain as they were slowly crushed.

I watched on in horror. What do I do? What can I do? I looked to Sullivan, but he looked to have been knocked out. We're gonna die. We're all gonna die, or worse, that thing will drag me and the mares to it's nest, and we'll be forced to eat each other and their vomit and be raped and then turned into Broodmothers or...!

Time slowed to a crawl. No. No! I could do something! That training wasn't for nothing! I was stronger than this! I gripped my staff tightly. Only one course of action was left to me.

I took my staff in both hands and rushed the Ogre. I roared a battle cry, and jumped onto it, thrusting the bladed bottom of my staff into it's blackened heart, causing it to let out a roar of pain and drop the mares as it fell back. I twisted the blade as it tried to wrench me from it's chest, but I responded by pulling my blade out and then thrusting it straight through it's mouth. It gurgled and coughed up blood, whining and thrashing about, but I held firm.

With a final roar of rage, I pulled up on the blade, slowly starting to split it's skull from the mouth up. It thrashed more, but evenetually stopped as I succeeded and split it's head wide open. I panted heavily as I sat on it's chest, covered in blood as it's own life-giving liquid pooled out of it.

I slowly got off of the Ogre, looking to the others. "Everyone okay?" I asked, still panting a bit.

"Uuugh..." Blitz groaned, slowly standing to her hooves and wincing. "Ugh... Yeah, I'm good. Might have..." she winced again as she took in a sharp breath. "...a few broken or cracked ribs though."

"Same..." Quake grunted, pushing herself up onto her hooves. "Buck... Think I might be bleeding as well..." I looked to her armor, which looked to have been crushed a bit and was squeezing against her form. She was definitely bleeding a bit if the red liquid dripping from some of the cracks in her splintmail was any indication.

I looked to Sullivan. "Sullivan's out cold, too..." I grunted. "Alright, guess I'll have to carry him. Blitz, think you can walk well enough to help Quake?"

"Yeah... Should be able to," Blitz nodded. I walked over and hefted Sullivan over my shoulder. He had a gash on his head, but it wasn't too bad. Blitz trotted over to Quake and the two supported each other as we all walked slowly back to the camp.

This was going to be an even longer walk than it had been the first time.

It had been at least two weeks since our mission to get those vials, all of it spent waiting for the others to recover from their injuries. I spent it all by myself, practicing my skills and magic.

It was while I was doing so that Sullivan came to fetch me. Seeing as his wound was considerably more minor compared to those of the other two, he recovered more quickly.

I noticed him approach from the corner of my eye, and I stopped the spell I was about to cast at a training dummy. I turned to him to see his unkempt mop of blonde hair, tan skin and emerald eyes. He was in his armor, as always, save for his helmet.

"What's up?" I asked as he stopped by me.

"It's time for your Joining. The other two have healed enough and are already waiting at the designated site," he explained. I nodded. He motioned for me to follow and started walking, and I obliged, following.

We walked through the camp in relative silence, and as we did, I took note once more of how few ponies there were around. We honestly had more dwarves and elves and humans than we did ponies, and more dwarves and elves than we did humans.

I knew why there were so few humans, since I knew about Loghain's betrayal, and I was still surprised that there were pockets of Wardens like us left over from it.

But the ponies were a different story altogether. I knew for a fact they weren't present in the Dragon Age games, and I had learned from the Greenskin Brothers that they were the main contributors to the Wardens throughout Thedas, but it confused me that they weren't nearly as present as they should be if they were indeed the main contributors.

All I knew was some rumors among the few ponies here stating that they had some political problems that were in need of being sorted out.

That, and the fact that the Commander was also a Prince of some Empire and married to a Princess of Love. Honestly sounded pretty fucking surreal to me.

I shook my head of those thoughts as we reached an old dwarven ritual site, where I saw a stone table, four crumbling pillars surrounding it, and Shining Armor, Quake, and Blitz all standing there waiting for us. A decorated chalice, exactly like the one in the first game was sitting on the table.

I already knew what was in it.

"Ah, Sullivan, Mera, good, you're here," Shining Armor greeted. He was wearing his signature purple, plated armor lined with gold, a Spartan-like helmet adorning his head. A blue gem in the shape of a star was set into the part of the plates on his chest. Quake and Blitz wore their usual armor sets, and I was much the same.

"Took you long enough," Blitz said.

"Hello to you too, Blitz," I replied dryly.

"Mera," Quake greeted with a nod.

"Quake," I returned with my own nod.

"Is everyone done with pleasantries?" Shining Armor queried. At receiving no response, he smiled lightly. "Good. Now, the Grey Wardens were founded during the First Blight, when the races of the world faced what could have been certain annihilation." He picked up the silver chalice with his magic, his horn lighting up the same color as the chalice, within which swirled the crimson fluid we would ingest. "So it was that the first Wardens drank of Darkspawn blood... And mastered their taint."

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoah, back the buck up, we're drinking that stuff? What the hay happened to don't ingest it or you'll die a slow and painful death!?" Blitz cried, backing up a step, a look of shock on her muzzle.

Shining Armor nodded. "As our predecessors did before us, and as we did before you. It is the source of our power."

"If you survive the Joining, you'll become immune to the taint, and will be able to sense Darkspawn as well as use it to slay the Archdemon," Sullivan added.

"If we survive? Why the buck didn't you plotholes say we would be risking our lives to become Wardens?!" Blitz yelled, wings flared out, their attached blades sharp and gleaming in the dim lighting.

"You cannot turn back, Blitz," Shining Armor said firmly, yet solemnly. I watched on with sadness yet resignation as he approached her, and she prepared for a fight. Shining Armor sighed.

"Sullivan?" He prompted. Sullivan nodded.

"Join us, brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be forsworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten. And that one day, we, shall join you," Sullivan recited.

"Shut up! I didn't join this Order to face all of you, I joined to face the bucking Darkspawn! Can't you just let me do that?!" Blitz shouted, though it almost sounded like a plea.

"You can't turn your back on this. You either drink, or die," Shining Armor intoned. Blitz growled.

"Fine! Bring it!" She said, dashing forth, aiming to cut off Shining's head. But he swiftly deflected the blow with a barrier, even while still holding the chalice, and retaliated by unsheathing his longsword and thrusting it into her heart. Blitz gasped and coughed up blood, and I had to avert my eyes from the grisly scene.

"I am sorry," Shining said solemnly, before yanking his blade out, Blitz falling to the ground in a heap, blood seeping from her. Shining Armor approached Quake. "Quake, step forth." Quake glanced at Blitz's body for a long moment, then to the chalice, and, keeping up her stoic expression, slowly stepped forth.

Shining passed her the chalice and she took it, a brief look of doubt crossing her face, before she took a big gulp of the blood and handed it back. Instantly, her eyes turned milky white, and she gasped, hoof reaching to her throat, as if she was choking. She reached for me of all people, and once more I averted my gaze, trying to not lose composure completely.

She gasped and wheezed in pain, then collapsed to the stone floor. Shining turned to me. "Mera, step forth." I slowly brought my gaze back to him and the chalice offered to me.

This was it. No turning back now. Slowly, I took the chalice, lifted it to my lips, and took a gulp of the blood. I coughed a bit as it burned its way down my throat, Shining taking the chalice back. I cried out in pain as I felt something in me change and twist painfully, my veins feeling like they were on fire, and then I saw it. A vision of a twisted dragon, roaring in my face with it's thorny, spiked maw.

I blacked out.

Author's Note

This chapter honestly sat on the shelf for a good long while, and I only took it off and started on it a week or two ago. Then, it went through multiple rewrites like the previous one. Again, hopefully it's got enough polish now to get you all interested. Thanks for reading, dear readers.

-Timeless Celestial