Chapter 1: The Empire of Ashes
Ashes
Ash, it rained down on them all in that dark night, the night that the soldiers came. The light of the blaze engulfing her home glinted off the shined spears and halberds of the knights standing in formation and lining the barrier to keep the crowd from getting too rowdy. She shivered, tears in her eyes, streaking down her cheeks as the warrior priest held her back from the pyre. He was forceful, but he needed to be as she wailed and struggled trying to reach for her father.
They had come in the night, the slightest rumor which sparked the investigation, drawing the eyes of the whole town as the soldiers marched and the inquisitors entered the home. It took them mere moments to find her father's library and set it ablaze. One scroll was all they needed to see, one single rubbing of ancient stone and every last page was condemned to the flame, and when he could not give them a satisfying reason, her father too was condemned for his crimes.
"Cyan Dart... with the power invested in me by the Holy Temple of the Sun, under the Grand Patriarch Iron Stud of the Ecclesiarchy, and with the authority of Holy Inquisition, You are found guilty of Heresy. Without a permit, you have not only lead unsanctioned expeditions into the holy ruins upon mount Helios, but you retrieved heretical texts which expressly denounce the God of the sun. You are sentenced to death. But as we are a righteous faith, we give you the chance to confess, find peace within and perhaps Helios will forgive you for your transgressions, your works have been numerous and your service true. You faltered but once, the Divine is sure to be forgiving. What say you?"
The Earth pony stood firm, his beaked mask peeled back to let the red stripe between his eyes show. His saddlebags full with holy books and scrolls, overflowing with trinkets and holy tools. The pony glared with cold righteous eyes directly into the waiting gaze of her father despite the blood pooling up in his left eye from his severed horn. He struggled slightly and finally sputtered. "Her... her name... was Celestia..."
The slightest gesture from the priest made the knight introduce the shaft of his weapon into the tied pony's gut. The Unicorn grunted but he had already been beaten, it was painful but he was already resigned to his death. The priest leaned in without a single touch of emotion. He did not enjoy this, but he was not going to stop. "Dart, please... for your soul. I already had to go this far... You've done so much for us, for the inquisition. Is it not enough that you make me take your life mine friend?"
The beaten and torn unicorn coughed and the blood dribbled down his chin. Looking up to meet the Priest's eyes he shook his head. "Mercury... you know the level of my faith, I am a truth seeker. I will never go back on the truths I have seen, the truths I have known. And yes... I will even die for it... I am as strong in my faith as you are in yours, you know this will only end one way... ,At no point have I ever, nor shall I ever deny our most holy of gods, I have only found more truth than you old friend... I renounce nothing."
Mercury frowned and slowly came to a nod before stepping back from the pyre. Emotion touched his voice ever so slightly as he stood firm and raised his head high. "The heretic has chosen to die without repentance! It is with great sadness that we condemn his soul to Tartarus." He bowed his head holding the holy symbol of the sun to his lips before looking to the Unicorn mare in pure blood red robes. "Caveat..."
The robed Unicorn nodded, a spark flared up from her horn and the all consuming fire began to spread, tearing through the air as if it were a flood that was only just barely being held back, a flood that now pounded into the beaten pony and tore into his flesh.
As the fire engulfed the pyre the little Unicorn filly screamed and broke free of the warrior priest as she dashed up to her burning father wailing, watching his body consumed by the executing flames as she struggled to get closer. But Mercury's hooves scooped her and held her back. Wedging her head over his shoulder, she screamed and desperately reached for him watching his lips move despite the fire, showing no pain but reciting the mantra he lived by slowly and deliberately wording to her the simple message, what he always said to her. 'seek the truth, and nothing but the truth.'
The tears flooded in her vision as the light of her father's pyre blotted out her vision. Overwhelmed, she let out a scream and thrashed free of Mercury's grip, a terrible pained scream which ended only when the Warrior priest reached her.
She woke, covered from snout to tail in sweat, her heart thundering in the dark cold room. a single light made its way in. Her heaving chest and wide eyes nearly scared the old maid half to death. "Ah! forgive me young one, I thought I could retrieve your dinner dishes silently."
She shook her head forcing her hooves to stop shaking from the nightmare. "It's fine... I should be up anyways. I was supposed to study the next three chapters but I probably won't be able to finish it before the celebration."
She reached out and pulled the dishes by hoof to her before holding them out for the old mare. It was a short exchange and the maid was gone just as quickly, and just as quickly she took up her texts. The Grand Patriarch would be cross with her if she was late. Thankfully she had just over 4 hours of sleep, much better than she thought she would have. She had just two hours to wash up and dress before the ceremony, plenty of time. “I wonder if…” She gnawed at her lip looking at her texts. She knew she couldn’t finish, but progress was progress.
She lay back down, opening the text and reading through. “Magic… the power of the Gods. Taken from it’s rightful grasp of the God of the Sun Helios by the sinful Goddess of the Moon Selene and spread to her vile creations… Unicorns. Like serpents, they are dangerous, but also they play a vital role in the world. If controlled, if restricted, the Unicorn can use their magic to seek out and destroy the heretic, the blasphemer, the mutant…. It is this natural balance we seek to uphold…”
She cleared her throat and pawed at the bowl of water for a drink, before taking up her quill attached to her foreleg. Quickly she jotted down her notes before reading the poetic original scriptures then her older notes. She needed to find something truly unique for the Grand Patriarch, and that was something a whole new level of difficult. She gnawed her lip and double checked for any hidden meaning not translated from the original scriptures. She wished she could see the original stone carvings so she could see how this message was translated from the ancient ruined cities before Unicorns caused the cataclysm.
She grumbled and looked up at her horn before clumsily hoofing her drinking bowl back up to whet her throat once more. “The ancient civilization of our peoples when the Gods walked among us…. One can only imagine…”
She looked over the illustrations, the Sun God, the Goddess of the Moon, and the lesser known Knowledge and Fertility Goddesses. But she didn’t want to touch on those two, the political climate was so extreme, any day the knowledge could shift in popularity and anything she had written could be declared heresy.
Her quill tapped firmly on her hoof as she sat in thought before jotting down something more broad. ‘Epona and Minerva respectively aside from knowledge and reproduction of Ponies seemed to heavily promote kinship together. This may be a reflection of their own personal relationship or perhaps…’
She slammed the cover shut. Her ideas might have some value, but without the original texts and a team of priests and the oversight of a high priest, exploring such a thought was heretical, especially for a unicorn.
Pushing her texts to one side remembering what happened to her father when he did such research. She could still smell his burning flesh in that terrible night. She shook her head and moved out of the cold dorms carved from stone beneath the temple. It felt like ages since her last bath. And on a cold night like this, it wasn’t really her preferred action. If only the Acolytes were treasured enough to have more than the absolute bare minimum. Her teeth clenched like usual at the cold sting of the icy water as she lathered herself and washed quickly.
The bath was needed, but feel refreshed she did not. Warming herself in her robes she strolled along getting the occasional nasty glare from her fellow acolytes. Teachers pet, they occasionally called her. If only they knew what it took to please the ridiculous standards of the Grand Patriarch. The world rejoiced when he took the position and cleansed the ranks of the Ecclesiarchy, turning the inquisition upon itself to achieve higher levels of purity. But she learned just as fast as those who at first rejoiced, those relentless standards were levied against everything that existed.
Walking back to her quarters, her bathing supplies and even some of her books in her basket, she froze feeling the odd tingle in the base of her horn just before the warming presence that made her tense up. The presence was warming literally and not metaphorically. She never really felt comfortable around him, but he did good work for the nation and he seemed to be all but incorruptible, a very necessary part of her world.
She turned and kneeled, closing her eyes and facing the ground. “Grand Patriarch Mercury… you honor these ancient halls with your presence.”
The old Earth Pony smiled calmly. The odd red stripe down his snout between his eyes always looked painted on, it was unclear if it was natural or not, but much like his presence, he really did seem too odd to exist. “Rise child… it is a big day, a day I truly hoped with all my heart I would see.” He smiled as she stood, raising a hoof as if to tell her to calm down as it wasn’t often that the Grand Patriarch himself would visit an acolyte. “I am just seeing if you are doing well, we have precious few hours before the ceremony. You’ve done more than pass your trials, and your father would have been proud…”
He seemed to pause looking back at the man he had personally sentenced to a heretic’s death. But she nodded and wore a smile. “Despite his tragic end within the depths of heretical deceit, I am certain my father would be righteously pleased with my progress. I thank you Grand Patriarch.”
He chuckled softly gesturing to her basket and the books within. “Still busy with your studies? You’re graduating...”
She smiled. “Yes, Idol hooves is something the wise avoid… the righteous never stops study of the sacred scriptures….”
“...For only in death does the duty of the righteous end…” He finished with a grin. “Well said child… heh… odd, in a few hours, I won’t be able to call you that anymore…” He looked at her with an almost sorrowful look. It was more than odd for her, he had sentenced her father to death but watched over her endlessly, pushing her relentlessly in her studies. With her father gone, his killer was the closest thing she had to a parent for most this would have been soul shattering, but she learned all her life that heresy grew in the minds of those who foolishly sought it out unprepared. She didn't like it, but her father had done just that, and when he was held to task, Mercury was kind and selfless enough to not only spare her but bring her in and allow her to follow her father's previously righteous hoofsteps.
“I’ll let you prepare, it’s more than just a big night. Ready yourself…” He smiled and turned about, figures in the shadows shifted and tailed him as he returned to the stairs. It made her shiver, he had been there all her life, and there was a day that despite how bad it hurt to see him, he was all she had left. Blood over his hooves, blood enough to drown in, but it was righteously shed.
It had been over 10 years, and in that time Mercury had gained and lost so very much. But the nation needed him more than ever, he had cleansed the corruption from the Ecclesiarchy putting dozens of so called holy ponies to the pyre, but his ambition made a great many enemies and pushed many more deep underground. But with his help, the Holy Inquisition was slowly dragging them into the light. She remembered this more than ever as she watched him leave, she was doing her part. It would never be easy, the pain would never leave her. But she would never back down.
She wet her lips with her tongue and looked back to her chambers. She needed to get ready.
The hushed crowds gathered and listened to the sermon. She was there, cloaked in the pure white robes dusted with the soft blue dust to represent the night by the priestesses of Selene. The censer bearers walked through the ranks wafting the soft scents of blessed herbs and incense from their thrumbles as Mercury stood at the podium muttering in the old tongues. The holy language of the long past when the Gods walked amongst mortal souls.
She shivered, looking up at him and his mastery over the ancient tongue. The holy artifacts amongst him and the altar. They had brought out the moonstone for the ritual. Selene's stone, Selene, the goddess of the night, goddess of sinners and ill gotten magic. It made sense that she would be connected so firmly to the Inquisition. Unicorns trained and lead by the gods to hunt and kill other unicorns who used their magic for evil and heretical goals.
She followed the silky words of the old tongue and stood firm when he spoke out to the acolytes.
"Silver Dart... please take the stand..." She shifted, slowly and steadily making her way to the altar. And there he waited for her with a sad smile. "My child... your father would have been proud... and even if you do one tenth as good as him, you'll be a legend all on your own...."
She nodded and kneeled as he brought his personal silver and gold Thrumble over each of her shoulders and spoke in the ancient tongue issuing his blessings under the eyes of the gods. Raising a hoof he raised his voice. "To the eyes of the night and the coming eyes of the sun, we ask for the blessing of the night and day that this soul do the work of the gods, that she seek out heresy with her every breath and with every last ounce of strength, put it to the flame..."
She swallowed and leaned forward to the altar placing her lips upon the moon stone. She could feel the shimmering power from within, there was no doubt in her heart that this stone truly held the spirit of the moon, truly dragged it across the sky in the absence of the Moon Goddess.
Mercury watched the exchange and as the stone did not reject her, he turned to the ritual fires and removed the guard. "They are here child... take them... and mark yourself a dedicated chosen member of the Inquisition under the eyes of the Divine."
She pushed away her fear and hesitation, for what felt like the first time in years, her magic reached out and pulled the red glowing studs from the coals and slowly she brought them to her face. Forcefully calming herself, she drove the studs into her flesh at the base of her horn digging the barbs into her flesh and bones. The smell of burning pony flesh brought horrible memories boiling to the surface, but she pushed them away and focused on the pain as if it were a physical object, observation and deep study would block out all else.
Opening her eyes she smiled and bowed to Mercury once more. He returned the smile and spoke, finishing the ceremony. "As it has been witnessed! The Moon has blessed and the fires did not consume! Witness the true soul before us..."
She smiled and whispered her thanks to the heavens. She had been given more studs than almost any other acolyte had ever earned out of the temple. Now permitted to use standard basic magic, research and use healing and advanced magics, and permitted to learn and use offensive magics. She would some day earn more studs to let her start researching offensive magic and possibly even earn her ritual magic stud. She was so very close already. Her father had earned all of those and a few more right out of the temple, even if she had twice and almost three times as many as any other graduating acolyte, she still felt lost in the seemingly endless shadow of her father's accomplishments, even if he died far before his time, shamed and abandoned. But she knew and was proud of his relentless faith, that even at the pyre he did not so much as let a single breath of pain escape him. The absolutism of his faith was something she aspired to.
As the tradition went, she was brushed clean of the twilight dust and splashed with golden and orange colors. Two others graduated with her, five years older and a few studs less, but there they were. The celebration began with the sun rising. The moonstone hidden away from the holy touch of the suns grace as was tradition.
"Free of servitude to the night child?" Silver almost flinched at the soft almost quiet voice. It belonged to one she was never used to seeing.
"Ah... Holy Mother of Night... It was a phase of my life as the moon's place in the sky is a phase of it's own." She put on her best smile for the mare who represented the Moon Goddess, just as Mercury spoke for and represented the Sun God. Drastically different positions, the Holy Mother was still a very high ranking individual, but the position itself reflected the punishment that Selene faced for bringing magic to the ponies before they were ready and creating the Unicorn. A sin that took millennia to come full circle and end the world.
"True... true..." Her soft voice cooed almost with an eerie touch. If Silver was going to be honest, the mare was disturbing as hell, and not just because of her position and duties. "I did not come to stay, forgive me, but I just wanted to see you reach the heights your father did. He would have been so proud..."
Silver smiled, she recalled that the Holy Mother knew her father back when they were all acolytes following Mercury around on his healing quests. She always wanted to know more about those days, but not even her father spoke of them. She doubted asking those who held exponentially stronger opinions and dedication would answer if her own father refused. "Well then, I thank you for coming, The moonstone judged me and found me worthy... would I be correct to assume you are here to bring it back to the temple?"
The Holy Mother smiled and nodded her head softly with a weak smile. "Yes and no... I am needed back at the temple of weeping, a new batch of Flagellants have come to be blessed... but yes, I will be traveling back with the Holy Moonstone, but I am here to deliver a message to the Grand Patriarch... the news... is not good."
Silver visibly flinched, the Holy Mother was being kind mentioning she was here to see her or to travel with the Moonstone. Had she been here for the stone, she would have came with it instead of showing up after the ceremony. She had been so in the moment that she didn't make the connection until the Holy Mother's words touched her ears. Not many things could make this mare leave the temple and go to find the Grand Patriarch when he was only going to be at the temple for a single ceremony. Something important had happened.
"He's just up there at the altar Revered Mother..." Silver gnawed at her lip, the intensity of the implications. It had to be big for her not to just leave it on his desk or wait for him to return. She above all should know how much he disliked something as important as a ceremony to be interrupted, even if it was mostly done with anyway.
The Holy Mother walked slowly and methodically. She always seemed more than a little eerie and menacing. It didn't help that her ceremonial robes were decorated with the bones of the Lone Guard. The body found with the Moonstone back in the age of rediscovery. Every sway of her hips mid gait would sound with a soft clack of the bone on bone.
She watched and noticed a touch of concern and the slightest twitch in Mercury's lip at seeing the Mare close the distance. "Revered Mother Flere... Is there a reason you interrupt?"
She smiled, but it was clear there was a sense of urgency she managed to hide but slowly her demeanor was starting to change fueled by powerful emotions. She held out the letter and drew in a breath which caught in her throat. "It was delivered to your doorstep an hour ago..." Her voice fell to a whisper but Silver stayed close, her fear of what this could be fueling the mildly impolite behavior. But she had a job to do, the Grand Patriarch would understand. "... Delivered with the heads of no less than 4 warrior priests, 10 of your hunters, and 50 of my flagellants... Caveat has returned..."
The strain was noticeable in Mercury's eyes, but he was far better at masking his emotions. He flipped the letter open and peered into it. He took a deep breath and closed it. before tossing it into the flames at the altar. "If this is her intention... we will be ready..." He looked to Silver and nodded. "My child... come... you have your first assignment as a fully fledged member of the Holy Inquisition..."
Silver did not want to be here. Even with years of training and calming meditations, learning every trick in the book. Quite literally the book on staying calm with religious mantras and meditation that she kept under her bed, this still had her on edge. It had only been three days since she graduated from the lowly ranks of the Temple's acolytes and became a member of the Inquisition. She knew her duties, but being made to stand in for an interrogation, She was happy her robes were red, it hid the bloodstains when her fellow inquisitors started hacking body parts off the poor Unicorn they had picked up.
She was always worried about if ever she was assigned to kill or harm somepony innocent, but as the Grand Patriarch constantly reminded her. 'There is no such thing as innocence, just varying degrees of guilt.' And to her knowledge, he was right. They only got up to the middle of his foreleg before he screamed out a name. Crushing the bones, cutting the limb, and cauterizing the limb so he wouldn't bleed out, her part was to hold him down so the other inquisitors could work and to watch carefully to learn. The name was traced to a small town and the ambush was set, but a chill ran through her when she was selected to be on the assault team. She should have been ready for all of this, but it sent chills down her spine, she had been hoping for something a little more along the lines of research and study rather than a full mission of field work.
A pony in thick robes entered the inn, the intelligence gathered was thin, but smothering robes like that just screamed 'leave me alone' which was exactly what Inquisitors were trained to look for. From the corner of her eye, she watched the figure approach the innkeeper and calmly speak in a hushed tone. Silver's teeth nearly broke the skin on her lip as the innkeeper's features clearly did not hide his worry that there was multiple squads of inquisitors here.
A hoof landed on her shoulder. "Calm down..." The Stallion was the lead inquisitor to the squad she was thrown into. It had all been put together so quickly, she was pretty sure his name was Iron Tongs. He was older and very experienced, she had taken note that he hadn't even flinched while he was breaking bones and slicing up the Stallion they picked up for interrogation. "...You only do harm to the mission and to yourself by worrying. Your doubt is an insult to your skill and a distraction from our holy duty."
She took a deep breath and slouched in her chair listening to both Iron and the mysterious robed pony. Wordlessly, she nodded and Iron smiled, picking up mid sentence as if they had been talking about something else the whole time. No change in tone or volume. They were just under 20 feet away, no point in risking the mission so easily. But as the time ticked away, she could feel her fear returning, it only amplified when she felt the sudden heat build up in the studs at the base of her horn. Magic was being used nearby.
She looked to Iron who gave her the slightest nod and kept talking about the weather and recent events. As the robed pony took off at a slightly more than leisurely pace, he made his way down the darkened halls and she looked to Iron who seemed to be counting the seconds. Each felt like an eternity before he finally stood up and waved her to join him as well as three more inquisitors sitting over the room. "If he doesn't know something's up, he's a fool. Expect resistance and traps... trickery and heretical magics..."
Silver nodded and fell in behind Iron and the other Inquisitors. Quickly starting down the halls her studs quite suddenly flared with heat and the hoof falls ahead of them vanished. Iron seemed to notice and grow concerned as he rounded the corner early. He slowed and a low growl escaped his throat. "Interesting..."
Silver moved to his side and quickly she took notice of everything within the hall. A sudden minor temperature change, a soft draft, the almost too soft settling of the floorboards. Quickly she closed her eyes and felt out, listening carefully and she got her answer in one last tiny noise. The sound of sloshing water, and just like that she knew what happened. "There's a secret passage, it drops down into water. Find the trigger, it's going to be silent and likely hidden in plain sight."
Iron smile watching her carefully inspect the halls looking for any seem or sign of hidden passages. "I'll be sure to have a LONG talk with that innkeeper... he was so absolutely certain that if heretics did come here he had no idea... kinda makes trash of his word when the hidden cults have literal secret passages built into his very own tavern..."
"Found it!" Silver tugged at the frame of a poorly painted field and lake. Instantly, a silent door opened wide in the floor.
"Good... I'm impressed, well.. let's go." He darted down the hole practically dragging Silver with him. She was just worried about traps in case she pulled the wrong lever or the heretic set spikes or something to deter them. She nearly broke into thankful prayer when they hit water.
Light shot out from her horn and just as quickly Iron's as well, it felt so odd to use magic now that she had her license. But she had proved herself well beyond worthy to wield the evil power that untamed in in the hooves of evil ponies had once nearly unmade the world. "A little more of a warning next time please..." She strained at him in a hushed voice.
"Our lives are expendable, the cause is not! As the scriptures say, the life ended in duty to the gods is not a life wasted..." He smiled and took up his best priestly impression. "...No pony who died in service died in vain..." He swam to the muddy crudely hewn stone shores of the little underground body of water. She quickly followed and found evidence of their heretic having made his or her way down the path ahead of them.
They followed quickly, spreading their magic across the ground to give the hoof prints a soft glowing outline making the tracking easy. There were very few forks in the path but Iron seemed very confident. Despite her nervousness while they were waiting for their target, her first mission was going rather well. She just hoped it would keep going well.
She nearly flinched when Iron wordlessly signaled for them to halt. Slowly and silently they all came to a stop. There was half an army on the surface above them, but down here it was just her, Iron and two other members of Iron's team. She couldn't remember their names, they hadn't introduced themselves, but she heard them addressing each other. It was an older scarred up Mare, and a chubby balding Stallion who was slightly out of breath and getting chided silently by the Mare. It was an small reminder that not all ponies were as young as her and she was quite a rare case. Not all in the order were meant for field work, even if their zealotry would never allow them to turn it down. She could likely work with the team for years before discovering that this fat pony was utterly indispensable to their efforts, the Inquisition was interesting like that.
She grumbled quietly as Iron slowly moved up signaling them to inch along with him. But none of this felt right to Silver, it was too easy, they had made too much noise following the target. There was no way he or she didn't know that they were here. Not to mention the hunters in the town itself, and outside. There was a whole army set up in the woods just outside the little town. She figured that the heretics would at the very least know something was up and only remain active if they were truly desperate on something relatively time sensitive. She truly hoped the heretic was either desperate or stupid, but she couldn't shake the extreme likeliness that they were simply jumping head first into a trap.
"Stay low... we listen then figure out who's head to take..." Iron forcefully controlled his breathing and lay with his back to a heavy outcropping of rock in the near absolute pitch black of the cave system. Together they all sat and listened. The older mare with them seemed to take a moment and focus to amplify the words being whispered just beyond their cover exclusively for the team to hear.
"...Good... just make sure you get one or two of them alive... we need converts just as much as we need sacrifices..." The voice was eerily familiar, bringing in a touch a pain deep inside when she heard it. But she pushed her feeling to the side and took mental notes. It was female, older, and very authoritative. But the thing she noticed most was the very clear and concise pronunciation of each syllable in her speech. Whoever she was, she was very well educated and spoke with immense finesse.
Silver looked to Iron with a questionable face. It was clear that the enemy knew Iron's team was here, there was little to no reason to stay hidden, but it was Iron's team and his operation. But thankfully, Iron seemed to agree.
Hopping up out of the shadows Iron's horn flared as his team hopped up beside him. The chubby hunter holding out a heavy crossbow with his magic, runes of magic quickly etching over the heavy metal bolt. He was up and ready despite his heavy short breaths. The older mare simply stood further into the back with a glowing horn.
Iron stepped forward with a wrathful voice. "You all are under arrest, come peacefully and you will have a trial!"
The only answer was a dark green flash of what could only be described as a dozen rapid teleportation. She had heard of the ability before, for those who didn't have the technique, a pony could pop off a strain of pseudo teleportations which ended up just making them move very quickly. But as ready as the team was, the bolt from the crossbow missed, arcing fire and heated metal fragments missed just barely. She heard Iron's scream as the pony passed him by, a magical shield popping up just a fraction of a second too late. The attacking pony soared forward through the air with flailing hooves and a grin on its lips.
She barely had time to throw herself back as her magic pulsed with as much energy as she could muster in that split second. Her cloak flared out as she launched backwards, silver darts loosed from her belts and bandoleers and weaved into the pony pouncing at her.
A flash of pain and a terrible ache shot through her, she recognized the sensation and desperately struggled to fight off the disorientation of the blow to the head. She could feel her darts with her magic, but she could also see the pony looming over her, somepony else was stirring in the room. Quickly she struggled to stand but the pony's limb stamped on her head, but it did not feel like a hoof. Opening her eyes, fear shot through the depths of her soul, this wasn't a pony, at least it wasn't anymore.
She could see the blood pooling under it from her darts, but it hadn't even slowed. But these were all things she only barely noticed as all five of its eyes glared at her, grasping her face with it's mutated hoof having sprouted abominable appendages. Writhing tendrils from the bottom of this creatures, hoof appeared to be trying to burrow into her flesh as it pushed her down. The terror in her heart fueled her magic, exploding in intensity with her alongside her adrenaline. Her magical grip on her darts increased and she rapidly darted them back and forth. A small part of her was surprised to see them tearing through the creature, exiting out and reentering this thing's back, weaving back and forth, yet horrified to see and feel a complete lack of a reaction as she turned this thing's flesh into hamburger.
She could feel the tendrils worming around against her fur, just barley starting to break her skin, she didn't want to know what they would do once inside her face. Instantly she brought her darts back and focused on the limb pinning her. The creature made no sound other than it's horrifying heavy breathing which had been brought to a gurgling mess as she was certain she had shredded its lungs with her darts. Her silvered missiles repetitively struck and forced through its knee joint until she could feel it wobble. Rolling hard, she popped free and forced her limbs under her as the thing fell forward. It's entrails billowing out. She shuddered and staggered back seeing Iron writhing as he slowly staggered upright. She couldn't see the other two but her eyes swept the room to pick out the mare from before who had given the orders.
She swore she saw something moving in the darkness, but the second horror of her life interrupted. Still dragging its entrails behind it, the thing she had just put down struggled with it's one foreleg to pull itself forward, its mouth opened showing deformed teeth. What should have been incisors and molars belonging to a normal pony, this creature's teeth had elongated, sharpened, even grown in odd directions. This creature might have been a pony before, but the nightmarish deformities clearly had become something else, its mutations were so severe Silver guessed it would have been actually painful for it to so much as move or walk. Then again, this thing hadn't even flinched when fully disemboweled.
She staggered back, raising her darts. But that was when the old crossbow floated in and pressed against the side of its head. A quick clack and a silver runed bolt puntured through its head silencing the abomination forever. She looked to Iron who's face was twisted in pain as he brought his own magical grasp of fire to a long brutal laceration that ran from his right eye to his shoulder, cauterizing the whole length of the wound so he would not die.
"The righteous feel no pain..." The shudder in his voice somehow made her not believe him, but as she looked about, the fat hunter couldn't be seen, and the magic that held his crossbow up puffed out just as she located the thin mare as she faded from the world. Her single injury was a hole burned through her throat. Iron regarded her for just a moment with a soft nod as she passed, what miniscule signs of life fading fast finally left her motionless features. He looked to the thing on the floor and then to Silver showing very little sign of his own injuries. "Where are the other heretics?"
She took a moment to respond, her first instance of combat had been utterly brutal and unforgiving. She would need time to deal with the trauma, but sadly she did not have time. Swallowing and blocking it out, she stood tall and shook her head. "I don't know, but these things are beyond heretics, this kind of mutations are not possible without direct influence from the Chaos rifts, no mere witch or heretic can achieve this..." She looked back to where she saw the shadows move before the mutant had come back at her, but she saw nothing.
"It could not have teleported out..." Iron stalked the room bringing light to every corner.
"I'm not so sure, did you hear her speak?" Silver's words brought Iron's one remaining eye. She felt very small under his unblinking bloodied glare. She reiterated as calmly as she could as she took a few steps discovering a painful sting she only then noticed was a severe abrasion and some stab wounds on her barrel and legs. "Her words were far too concise and structured for her to be some maniac from the wastes... and she lacks the accented drawl those of the far north have. She speaks like us... like..." She paused, half for the pain as she discovered slowly that she was far more injured than she thought, and partially as she struggled, not wanting her forming assumptions to be true. "... like us..."
Iron lowered himself to inspect her injuries and much to her displeasure began to cauterize her body as he continued. "Like us? As in our nationality?" He spoke to her as if he didn't even realize how painful the treatment was.
Gritting her teeth, she mentally forced the pain down. "Yes and no... she has our national accent, but the way she speaks, she's extremely well educated. You can tell by the sharpness of her pronunciation, she is certainly no peasant or barbarian. It's not a stretch to assume she knows magic, and therefore, perhaps a corrupted member of the inquisition..."
He paused in his treatment, looking into her eyes as if just saying such a thing was in itself a heresy. But he continued and was quickly standing again as he finished. "I find it hard to believe, but it's not impossible, the problem is that teleportation magic is STRICTLY monitored, only the highest members of the Inquisition are permitted to know it, and you don't get to that level without dedication to a level that makes even ponies like me look like a filthy degenerate."
She nodded, but inside she cringed. This pony didn't even flinch as he lost an eye and his whole team died, she found it very hard to believe anything out there could be more dedicated and pious than him. "Regardless, she's not here and... well we are missing a pony. Corpses don't just walk away... How many enemies did you count, I only saw this thing and the mare..."
He grumbled. "I saw them and two others, but they were very well hidden, slinking around in the shadows behind the mare." He paused looking down at his fallen comrade. Closing her eyes and rolling her to her side he whispered so softly that she almost didn't hear him. "You can finally rest... rest well..."
He stood again and started along the paths, checking for hidden exists and checking the tracks. But sure enough, every last trail simply vanished off to the right of where she had stood before the fight. She was uncertain, but judging by the silver bolt in the wall, it was likely where Iron's chubby companion had been standing. The only logical conclusion was that they had magically changed locations. Whether it was through teleportation or some other means, the only other pony who could have gotten a good look at the event was dead with a hole burned through her throat.
Iron gave a sigh and called it. "It's time to go, we have nothing further here. But we can confirm a lot from this, the grand patriarch will be pleased that we made at least some progress... but likely displeased at our lack of heretics in chains."
Silver nodded, still badly shaken and desperate to get to a proper healer. The cauterization would solely keep her from loosing too much blood. She could heal herself, but not nearly as well as she could heal somepony else. And while she had a healing stud, she had only just gotten it. She was a practitioner, not a master, what she needed was to find a dedicated healer. She was still just barely riding the tail end of her adrenaline, she would likely need something else to dull the pain or she could simply pass out. As they progressed back along the path, she rehearsed her mantras and focused what healing she could into her finding several injuries she hadn't in her first inspection. She even took the time to offer to heal Iron, she couldn't restore his eye, but she could at least help with the pain. And somehow she was not surprised when he refused.
The path was slightly different getting out of the caves as it was getting in, but eventually they came up out of the hidden cave system and were quickly found by several soldiers. Things at least felt better then, they were both ordered to be inspected by inquisitors and to be treated for their injuries. Iron was quick to proclaim he had been healed enough and he needed to give his report. She had forgotten about the army on the surface, it felt a lot better feeling heavily armored and trained veterans of the Ecclesiarchy's main warrior priests and holy orders. It was a lot different than being surrounded by mutated witches and heretics speaking of sacrifices and kidnapping Inquisitors for Helios knows what.
"I take it you've got some good experience?" The voice nearly made her squeak as she bolted upright stammering. But hooves on her shoulders guided her back down so that the healer could continue his job. She just didn't expect the Grand Patriarch himself to approach her in the field. "Iron... your report?"
Silver nearly went into a daze listening to the two ponies speak, she loosely followed but in the depths of her heart, she dreaded all of this that her life had become in such a short time. She also sat in awe, looking at how relaxed Iron seemed in the presence of the Patriarch. He seemed too at ease, and it hit her finally. The Patriarch had been guiding her for so long, she was something like his own pet project as he guided her through the harshest of standards, Iron was likely one of his favorite operatives. She had been teamed with him solely to giver her experience and to keep her safe.
"And Silver?" She snapped to hearing the Patriarch speak her name.
"Some hesitation, she's much MUCH younger than the usual you send me, but she's sharp. She's got a good future ahead of her, but only if she can toughen up. But I don't see that being much of a problem. She did outperform my own team, even if I'm pretty sure that was a bit of a fluke."
"Very good, I am pleased with this, but still... this town. Unfortunate...." He looked around them all. Silver badly wanted to stand with them, but he had seated her fairly firmly. She looked to his eyes as he surveyed the surroundings, it was an odd feeling trying to guess his thoughts. He was praised as a true saint when he took power, he had killed dozens upon dozens of members of the Ecclesiarchy, cleansing the corruption from the order, he even pushed the Imperial family into line, his famous words 'a simple bloodline does not make one immune to the ravages and corruption of sins' had been inscribed in the history book. He was a hero to the peasantry, focusing so very much on the corruption within. Like an all consuming blaze that sought out only the most vile of evils. But even this fell from her mind as his lips parted.
"Very unfortunate.... raze it to the ground..."
Silver nearly leaped from her spot. "Wait! There are so many who call this home.."
Iron glared as if to order her to be silent, but he was waved down by Mercury who seemed to expect this reaction from her. "Don't worry about that, they will burn with it." His noble tone and honed etiquette seemed almost haunting with what he was saying.
Her eyes widened, looking around she saw the dozens of houses and buildings, at least four hundred ponies lived here. It was distant from the capital, but it was still a large town, bordering on a city. "No... there are so many innocent here... They can't ALL be heretics.."
Mercury shook his head, placing a calm hoof on her shoulder. "Point..."
She blinked as he looked into her eyes with a powerful yet disturbingly calm demeanor. "W...what?"
"... point..." He repeated. "Show me... point at the innocent ones... prove they are innocent and I will spare them..."
She fell silent, she didn't know which ones, even if she could guess there had been several recorded events of even young children protecting and sharing heretical teachings. It felt so dark, but she couldn't answer.
"You can't... nopony can... I know your young heart is in pain, but it is what must be done... but fear not, the Lord of the Sun knows who is his...." He raised his head and looked to his attendants. "Kill them all... let God sort them out..."
Author's Note
Thank you for reading, this is the first chapter of something I've been wanting to do for a very long time. My two favorite high fantasy series is Warhammer fantasy and MLP. It's only natural that I find a good spot to do both.
There's a touch of art and a LOT of references. This one is likely to be updated very slowly. It took me forever just to get the first chapter up, and these chapters are gonna be pretty damned long.
So yeah, I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you stay tuned for when I make chapter two.
