The ponies - and others - in the room barely had time to react before the hooded figure pounced, his shamshir at his side as he rushed towards To’Achuu.

Seeing who he was after was all it took to motivate Shining to action. In an instant, he opened fire with magical beams streaking from his horn, but his target elegantly avoided them with stunning grace. Some shots struck his cloak and were eradicated, as if they never existed at all. Others were merely dodged with jumps and side lunges.

In less than a minute, he had crossed the room and arrived at the object of his obsession. With a powerful slash, the figure attempted to bring his blade downwards to the crown of To’Achuu’s head. The zebra chieftain let out a cry of fear and closed his eyes but… there was no impact.

Shakingly, he opened his eyes to see the sword held at bay by a barrier of purple energy, cracks running through it. Slowly he and the assassin both turned to see Shining Armor’s horn glowing. A hiss escaped the masked stallion’s mouth as Shining stepped towards him.

In that moment of silence, the shock in the room dissipated. Guards quickly mobilized, rushing into the room with spears at the ready. Twilight took to the air, her horn glowing as her nostrils flared. No one threatened her subjects while she was around!

The zebras, however, had very different reactions. Hajaa wasted no time in rushing towards his jala. He practically tackled him as he threw the stunned ‘ling over his shoulder and rushed out of the room, seemingly abandoning the rest. Dansaar meanwhile could only curl up in a ball against the wall, hoping the assassin didn’t see him. Spike wasted no time in stepping in between his Irra and the figure, arms raised in a rather meek action pose.

The moment of silence ended when the unicorn guards started hammering the stallion with spells. However, due to his positioning, almost all of those spells merely struck the shield or his cloak. The stallion hissed once more as he pulled his shamshir back and sheathed it. A massive purple beam of magic fired from Twilight prompted the assassin to backflip away from his target, narrowly dodging a shot that disintegrated a not insignificant part of the ground where he had been standing.

He sailed in an arch towards the middle of the room. While in the air he drew his bow and reached for an arrow on his quiver, this one tipped with a glass vial full of a dark grey liquid instead of a sharp tip. The micro second he landed, he spun on his heel and loaded the arrow. He spun around quickly and aimed the arrow at the ground in front of the guard squad rushing him.

A massive blast of magic, once again fired by Twilight, struck him in the back. His cloak blocked it enough that all he received was a blast of kinetic force, but it was enough to make him stumble and throw off his aim for a moment. The arrow sailed away from its intended target, and instead went towards the chest of a unicorn, who raised a magical barrier to defend himself.

The arrow tip shattered the moment it touched the shield into an explosion of grey smoke that instantly downed the guard’s shield. Those caught in it started to sputter and cough before a more insidious effect took hold.

The moment they breathed the gas in, the horns of unicorns sputtered out and went numb, arcane electricity coursing through the veins of their owners. Pegasi suddenly collapsed from the air as their wings became useless, their bodies suddenly too heavy for them to carry. Earth Ponies suddenly felt a crippling burden as the weight of their armor and spears seemingly increased exponentially, their strength being sapped right out of them. It didn’t take long for the last of the crystal defenders to collapse to the ground, too weak to even move.

The figure then whipped back around, aiming another glass-tipped arrow at Twilight. He didn’t have time to release it before another bolt of magic shot from Shining Armor, piercing the wood of the bow like a hot knife through butter, cutting the rope, before striking him in the shoulder, sparking a cry of pain.

Spike, Shining, and Twilight’s eyes all widened at once as the assassin collapsed to one knee, shaking slightly. His voice… was weak and girlish, not fitting the extremely capable appearance he was giving off. He took a second to breathe before he looked down at his now useless bow, and the arrow he was still holding. With a growl, he smashed it to the ground. There was another explosion of smoke, masking him in a cloud of darkness. All was quiet for a moment, before he suddenly pounced from the smoke again, his wound not even bothering him as he charged at Shining Armor, shamshir and dagger drawn.

“Where are we going?!” Thorax cried out from Hajaa’s shoulder.

“Away. Now.” Hajaa growled as he turned a corner, sprinting past several crystal guards rapidly making their way towards the throne room.

“Why? Who was that!?” Thorax yelled down at his

“A Yanissary of Qwarhe. Elite slave soldiers trained from the Inkosi’s own harem.” Hajaa said, his voice hollow. “And after he is done with To’Achuu he is likely going to be coming for me, and I am not sticking around to let that happen.”

Hajaa let out a sudden snarl. “I told that idiot this was a bad idea. All of it!” He roared as he started rushing down a set of stairs towards one of the castle's entrances. “Not only could that entire plan of his ended up blowing up in our faces, but it also left us in one place for too long. I should have known that settling down would make it easier for them to track us!”

Thorax wrinkled his snout before, with a flash of cold fire, he disappeared and a garden snake replaced him. In a single movement, it slithered out of Hajaa’s grasp, landing on the stairs behind them and burst into fire again.

Hajaa froze, turning around to see Thorax standing over him, his arms crossed over his chest.

“You’re afraid. I get that.” Thorax sternly - or as sternly as his squeaky voice could manage - said, brow furrowing slightly. “But we can’t just abandon everyone else!”

“You don’t get it-” Hajaa started, sagging over slightly.

“Don’t I?” Thorax said his lips arching into a frown. “I’m an exile too, you know. From a kingdom that’s probably just as bad, if not worse than this Qwarhe place. If they ever found where I was, they would probably torture me for months before publically executing me. Does that mean I would ever abandon my friends if they wanted to hurt them? No!”

Hajaa’s hands balled into fists as he looked away, breathing becoming uneven.

“I know you’re scared, but you are strong. I know you are.” Thorax said quietly. “You aren’t a coward Hajaa. You told me yourself. You are a warrior. So why are you-”

“I’m not frightened of what happens to myself.” Hajaa suddenly said, looking down towards his hooves. “But… I know what Qwarhe does. I know what they are. After they were done with me, they’d come for you next.”

“W-what?” Thorax said, taking a step back.

“If the Inkosi found out that I had a jala… he wouldn’t rest until he had gotten his hands on you. He would drag you in chains to Qwarhe and break you into his obedient pet, if only to spite me.” Hajaa said, how gaze growing numb.

“B-but why would they want to spite you? You’re just To’Achuu’s second in command.” Thorax replied, brows furrowing in concern.

“I was from Qwarhe… not only that, I was rather high ranked in their Hierarchy. High enough that my running away personally upset the Inkosi. And now he wants me dead just as much as he wants To’Achuu dead.” He said silently. “And he wants to make sure I suffer.”

Thorax went quiet.

“I was selfish to take a jala… especially because I know what will be done to you when I fall… and I forced myself upon you, and I am sorry for that… in truth, I am no better than-” Hajaa started. Thorax silenced him with a growl.

“Stop it,” he said, causing Hajaa to raise his brow. “I know I’m n-not the most assertive ‘ling around, but I wanted you too. Even if I knew the risks at the time, I would have still wanted to be with you.”

“You say that now,” Hajaa sighed, shaking his head. He turned his head towards Thorax. “You really want me to fight?”

“Not fight. I want you to help keep our friends safe. It’s the right thing to do.” He said arms crossed over his chest.

Hajaa steeled himself, his gaze going through Thorax. “Fine. Then we need to get to my room. I have some things that will help there.”

And then the two took off, Thorax leading the way up the stairs.

The Yannisary narrowly avoided another bolt of magic from Shining Armor as he brought his arm back and slammed the hilt of his sword directly into the unicorn’s nose. The prince stumbled back grabbing his nose as he felt liquid pouring from it. He barely had time to do anything else before he was kicked in the chest and sent sprawling to the ground.

“Shining!” To’Achuu cried. He tried to rush to his fallen lover’s side but was stopped when the Yannisary threw the dagger in his off-hand at him. He narrowly dodged, but the blade caught his shirt, yanking him back as it stabbed deep into the wall, pinning him in place.

The Yannissary quickly attempted to rush at the chief, blade at the ready, but he was tripped up when Shining reached up from the floor, grabbing him by the leg. The Yannissary collapsed to the ground as Twilight swooped down at him and fired a massive beam of energy from her horn down directly at him.

He barely had time to spin around and cover himself with his cloak before the beam struck. There was a blast of energy before it dimmed down, showing the barely scathed stallion at the bottom of a crater in the crystal. He tried to shakingly stand up, but barely had enough time to get one hoof off the ground before Twilight hit him with another beam, causing him to sink even deeper into the ground as the crater widened.

“Your magic isn’t going to do much good!” To’achuu cried as Twilight kept the beam going, pushing him further and further into the ground, risking sending him crashing down to the floor below. “His cloak, it is made from the silk of a Haftvad Worm!”

“And what does that mean?” Twilight cried her horn only increasing its power.

“They feed off the herbs of the Zir plant of my homeland, which is notorious for canceling out all magic, alchemical or arcane!” To’Achuu grunted as he tried his hardest to pull the knife from the crystal. “Its properties are carried over to the silk of the worm!”

Twilight grunted. Of course… She had read about that particular plant at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. She should have realized sooner that that was what lead to the stallion’s near immunity to magic. Fortunately, she also knew the Zir plant only had an effect on direct magic.

Instantly, she stopped her beam and instead used a levitation spell to start ripping chunks of crystal out of the walls around her. Dragging them through the air towards her.

The Yannissary slowly crawled his way out of the crater, his arms shaking and his shoulders huffing with every breath. It was clear he was running out of steam. He let out a guttural growl as he pulled himself over the rim and turned to charge at Twilight.

He barely had time to get within a meter of her before a solid chunk of crystal the size of a toaster struck him in the chest bringing him to a stop and almost knocking him over. Then two more rocks came flying at him, one striking him in the cheek and the other in the stomach, causing him to keel over as the wind was knocked out of him. He collapsed onto his knees desperately trying to breathe as Twilight towered over him, a much larger rock, almost the size of a cart held over her head with no issue.

“I don’t want to hurt you any more than I have to to make you stop. Surrender and no more harm will come to you.” She said quietly, her frown deepening as she crossed her arms over her chest. The Yannissary slowly raised his head scanning the room for a second. More guards were pouring in over the squad he had already incapacitated, both zebra and pony alike. Then his eyes settled on Dansaar and Spike.

The Yannissary’s brow furrowed under his mask as he slowly stood up, clenching his shamshir. He panted a couple of times as he raised his sword, pointing the tip at Twilight’s throat as the rock she was holding slowly passed over him, casting a massive shadow on the ground around him.

The alicorn hesitated, the rock raising for a second… It was just what the stallion needed.

“Very well.” She said with a sad frown, and then she dropped it.

She was expecting a bang, and things to be over. What she wasn’t expecting, however, was for the Yannissary to dodge out of the way in a blinding burst of speed and rush towards Spike and Dansaar.

The dragon’s eyes widened as he saw him approach. Spike tried to throw a punch, but the Yannissary easily avoided it and spun around to Spike’s rear. With a strength that was ill-suited to someone of his size, he wrapped one arm around the drake’s throat, which forced him to have to bend down to not be choked out. In another quick movement, the cloaked stallion repositioned his grip, holding one of Spike’s arms painfully behind his back while bringing the blade of his Shamshir to the dragon’s throat.

Yet again, all eyes were on the Yannissary.

“Spike!” Twilight cried, her horn going numb and her magic instantly cutting out.

“Let him go, right now!” Shining hissed as he wiped the blood away from his nose, grabbing an extra spear from one of his guards. He and the other guards started to rapidly surround him, forming a half-circle with them on one side, and the wall of the throne room on the other. “I swear, if any harm comes to him at all, you are going to spend the rest of your days in a stockade, you hear me!?”

The Yannissary didn’t hesitate or flinch as he started slowly walking towards To’Achuu, his back to the wall and Spike in front of him. Of course, in so doing, he had made two fatal mistakes. He had underestimated a certain tiny zebra, and he had threatened his jala.

He didn’t see Dansaar quickly rise to his hooves until it was too late. His eyes widened under his mask as he was tackled from the side by the smaller stallion. He wasn’t prepared for it, losing grip of his shamshir and the dragon as they both sailed to the ground. The two landed in a crumpled pile, with Dansaar ontop.

“Nobody hurts my jala!” Dansaar growled as he desperately tried to hold the Yannissary down, but weak as he was, he couldn’t manage for long.

With a bestial hiss, the Yannissary freed a hand and brought it back, punching Dansaar in the face. The smaller zebra was sent to the ground. Quickly, the other stallion rolled on top of him and raised another fist, preparing a punch that would knock him out for sure.

He didn’t have time to bring it down before his wrist was grabbed by a massive purple claw. There were a couple of fearful gasps around the room as the Yannissary was lifted into the air by one arm by Spike, another claw grabbing him by the throat. The zebra’s eyes filled with fear as he watched as the dragon rapidly started gaining muscle mass and height, the Yannissary being gradually lifted higher and higher off the ground.

There was a ripping noise as the small loincloth Spike had been wearing was destroyed by his increased growth before it was drowned out by a roar only a dragon could make.

“HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY DANSAAR!?” Spike screamed, his eyes going white with rage. In a single movement, Spike reared back and threw the Yannissary like a ragdoll. He went sailing until he was stopped by the wall on the far side of the room, close to the throne room’s only entrance. There was a massive thud as he hit the wall with enough force to crack it, a cry of pure pain escaping his lips before he collapsed to the ground.

The guards in the room wasted no time in charging toward his crumpled body, all while Spike shrunk down to his original size as he leaned down and pulled Dansaar into a hug. The small zebra looked stunned.

“Are you ok?” The dragon asked, a couple of tears forming in his eyes.

Dansaar, could barely feel the bruise on his cheek as he looked up at him with a gaze of awe and bewilderment… he could only nod up at him, a small smile coming to his face.

It took every fiber of the Yannissary’s being to stand up, every movement was agony as he struggled to keep himself steady, bracing himself on the wall to stand up. His head movements were quick and panicked as he saw the crystal guards quickly rushing towards him spears at the ready.

“Come on men! There’s no way he can escape again! We got him!” One of the pony guards roared spears at the ready.

“Death to Qwarhe!” Another, a zebra, cried as they started to rush him.

He snarled, fishing into his quiver and pulling out one last glass-tipped arrow. He was quick to raise it into the air and smash it on the ground, creating another smoke screen of toxic air, harmless to zebras, but it would shield him from vision and keep the ponies at bay.

He shakingly started to limp towards where he thought the room’s exit was as zebra charged into the smoke. He narrowly managed to avoid them as he reached the door. An all-encompassing message, one that had been forcibly drilled into his head, was screaming that he had to make it back to his master. His master would make it all better. That thought process came to an end when he saw who was waiting for him in the arch of the opened doorway.

A massive giant of a stallion, wearing a suit of bronze plate armor. Intricately carved spirals danced across the armor, alongside several symbols of a lion with bullhorns and wings, the sigil of Qwarhe, though they all looked to have been hastily scratched out by a knife or a dagger. The helmet covered the wearer’s face with a chainmail veil, but he could make out the color of the eyes on the other side. They were both a deep amber. He recognized who they belonged to just before he felt a solid bronze spear get shoved into his chest, nearly coming out the other side.

“H… Hajaa…” The Yannissary said, gazing up at him as tears formed under his mask.

The stallion gazed down at him sympathetically as he ripped the spear out. Nodding down to him as if to say… It was time to stop.

He stumbled back for a second. Turning around and taking a few shaky steps into the room. Slowly, he reached a hand out towards To’Achuu, before he collapsed to the ground, unmoving.

Author's Note

Damn, that was a fight and a half eh?

Hope I did everyone justice, yeah?

The vote is still in effect. If you have any last-minute additions, vote for them here. The winners will be in next chapter lol
https://strawpoll.com/polls/GeZANk6bEyV