Blurring Realities

"Are you sure this is safe, Break?" Shining asked again, his hands fiddled with the helmet he had pulled off, unsure of what to do with himself at that moment. Sweat slicked his mane to his neck, and removing the cover had been a way to hopefully help cool his heated fur, at least on his head, if nothing else.

They had taken refuge inside what might have once been a warehouse. The broken and ancient timber sat in piles that might have once been storage boxes, though whatever might have been held inside was long since rotted and turned to dust.

He felt exhausted. Despite the years of training, he had never been able to go all day in the field like the ponies of old supposedly could.

The adrenaline that had coursed through him since the battle began was now taking its price in the form of shaky limbs and sluggish thought processes as he tried to think of an alternative solution to their problem while catching his breath.

While he struggled to relax, the rest of his team had taken their ease. Spitfire had somehow managed to fall asleep! She had propped herself up against a wall once they moved in there and was now snoring like she was back in the barracks.

He snorted in dry amusement. Truly, Second Lieutenant Spitfire was the prime example of his country's training.

“Then again, I have seen a pony fall asleep standing at post…”

Shaking his head, he returned to the matter at hand. Reaching out, he touched Pestle’s feverishly working shoulder.

"Your body, your mind too, has already gone through a fair amount of strain. I'm not so sure this is wise." He gestured weakly to the FRPK sitting before the Specialist, a worried frown creasing his face as she watched the mare return to hunch over her work.

The Field Ration Potion Kit was designed specifically for emergency use when on a mission and away from a main support like an FOB, or Forward Operating Base. Its primary use was to provide all manner of medical concoctions should the need arise.

Its use now was not the issue, as many teams often had to rely on its various ingredients to keep their troops fully ready.

No, it was Earnest Hearts' plan—a plan that she had cooked up that involved a very risky tactic that really bothered Shining Armor. That and Pestle Break's willingness to jeopardize her health for it without any complaints whatsoever unnerved him a fair bit more.

It was dangerous, and it would completely remove a member of their team from combat effectiveness for the duration of the mission. Pestle could still fight, even in her weakened condition. However, ingesting what she was about to produce would only last so long and leave her body weakened even worse than before.

It would have also served as an additional strain on his team to protect her if Val Shadow-wing, who had spread his team out into the various structures around them, had not stepped up to offer cover for the mage mare. Removing her from the conflict zone once her task was completed.

"Sir, I assure you," she sounded a bit peeved at him as she vigorously stirred in black crushed crystal, causing the potion to turn red and then blue. “I can handle this much. I've worked with these options before. I know how much my body can take." That was accompanied by a snort of irritation. Clearly, she was not appreciating his efforts to keep her from overdoing it or getting in the way at all.

The lone stallion threw up his hands, helmet nearly slipping from his grasp, his own exasperation clear on his face. He did not like the feeling of losing control of the operation.

The entire mission had turned into one massive mess. Too much was left to on-the-fly planning. He had been too hasty in his hope of a quick and decisive capture of the griffon bandits’ pony support and was forced to consider options that were bad even had things gone well.

The issue was, he could not think of a single better alternative, even at this very moment. He was simply too tired, and the night looked to be shaping up to be longer still.

The plan, if anypony could call it as such, called on Pestle Break's talent itself to save them and yank her from the front lines. While she had donned many roles during her turbulent time in service to the Throne and Equestria, her ultimate talent at healing, and her skill at alchemical concoctions specifically, were the linchpin of the next stage in this snafu.

The mare possessed a rare talent of being able to get the most out of ingredients and an instinct to naturally know what she needed to do to get the result she wanted. In this case, a mana potion.

Mana potions were invaluable, especially in situations that required an extreme need for power and magical dexterity. Those effects were most common when anypony ingested one of the rare philters.

However, there are drawbacks.

First and foremost, the half-life of a mana potion is extremely short. No more than a couple of hours at best from the moment of its creation. There was as of yet, no known way to prolong the effects.

In the past, Crystalmancy had been thought to be the solution, considering that gems worked properly and could make most food goods last months instead of weeks.

Instead, it had the opposite effect, accelerating the product's decay. Reports stated that the crystals would be completely drained in minutes. The why had left them puzzled.

A common malady of the concoction was the unstable ingredients. When separated, they had a long shelf life. However, once mixed, they began to decompose quickly. The reasoning had never been truly explained to him, though his sister had tried to make him understand again and again to no avail.

Due to this short timespan, any force using mage artillery would send a small contingent of alchemists with them so that they would be able to provide fresh potions in a relatively short amount of time. That way, the troops could pound away at a target without the need for as many breaks.

However, that does bring up the second drawback.

A pony ingesting these tinctures could only take one, at best, two a day if they were fresh. The physical and mental stress placed on the body would be too much for more. Even so, there had been accidental deaths in both training and combat when certain ponies took them. Their bodies simply could not handle the burdens, or they had pushed themselves too hard to begin with.

Whether or not to administer the mixtures in the field was a judgment call, and most commanders opted for another idea if one was available.

He himself had to be tested in order to understand how much he could handle and what those under his leadership would experience when he inevitably asked.

The exposure had left him decidedly uncomfortable with the process, but he could not outright dismiss the merits of having such an option on the battlefield. He had become stronger, faster, and capable of casting spells with much greater ease than before.

Even so, the twisting nausea and fatigue left behind once the potion had run its course was something nopony wanted to experience more than once.

Finally, there was the last issue. More logistical in nature than anything else.

While he was unsure of what exactly went into each potion, he knew of one primary ingredient that was the reason for both the unstable nature of the creation and the reason for the extreme taxation on the body and mind. With his limited knowledge, he also suspected it was the reason Crystalmancy was useless at preserving it.

Coral Davhiseed was a rare type of crystal that was currently only found in the extreme north. Past the griffon lands and into the fabled land of the once mighty Crystal Empire that existed so long ago.

According to reports, the mines, small in operation due to the limits of resources, were dangerous. The Coral, so named because of its similarities in looks to the undersea animal that bonded to reefs and other rocky formations in the deep, seemed to drain the surrounding stone of certain minerals and magical force. Due to this, the ground was crumbly and prone to collapse during extractions at the mineral's location. That's why most mines were shallow, exposed to the harsh elements of the snowy Tartaruscape, and multiple crews were constantly rotated every six hours. Some to dig, most to keep the snow clear.

Even then, it was only a trickle that would make it into Equestrian hands. Such was the difficulty of mining such material.

Shining could not help but think that there was something wrong with that. Something seemed wrong with the vital ingredient itself though he could never explain his feelings on why.

"I've experienced these potions, Pestle." He said sourly. "It is not exactly a pleasant feeling, and the after-effects…are nothing I would like to indulge again unless the situation is truly dire."

"Um, Sir." Earnest pointed toward the tower in which the hostile and yet unknown group of ponies had holed themselves up in. Her position by the door gave a clear view of the structure and the surrounding buildings. "At this point, we kinda have no choice."

Grinding his teeth, he nodded, frustrated that this was truly the only option available to them in the limited time they had. The warp he and Pestle had created was already starting to lessen, slowly, bit by bit. However, as time progressed, the waves would lessen faster and faster.

The tower itself had been like every other structure in the ancient keep, though now it looked to have been built just recently.

Magical signatures detected from scans he had employed while Earnest had given a rough outline of her plan showed a progressive use of the Mend All cantrip in almost every bit of the building's material structure.

That wasn't really a bother, more an annoyance that the tower was in better shape than the walls it was attached to.

However, the brightly colored shield that wrapped around it was an obstacle. At least four different magic patterns could be seen flowing about the upper three floors of the spire, an obvious attempt at denial. One, he was not sure they could break easily if they stormed up the traditional way.

And forget teleportation. Their meddling with local ley-fields had, of course, limited their capabilities as well.

The Sergeant's plan actually ignored those unhappy circumstances. If they could not ascend to their enemies’ hideout, they would simply bring the hideout to them.

“This…,” he sighed heavily, “is really BUBAR’d.” The white stallion said wearily, turning to watch as Pestle finished, the vial now a sickly green and quickly disappearing down her throat.

“Ergh!” She shuddered. “That is an unforgettable flavor.” She shook again, and from where he stood, he could feel the sudden pulsing through her active horn. He wasn't like his sister. His ability to sense power in others was practically nil. But even a severed pony could feel that. “I think…yes. I think I am ready, Sir.”

Breathing deep, he nodded.

“Begin at your earliest convenience.” Shining paused. “But Pestle, please try to not overdo it this time?”

Inside the tallest room in the magically refurbished tower, seven mares nervously doubled, and tripled, checked in some cases, everything they were taking with them. Only two, whose horns were not steadily alight, intermittently used their magic to sort through the left over supplies.

Whatever items couldn't be brought along were tossed in a massive fire pit in the center of the room. An already raging inferno built high to burn the refuse as much as possible blazed heatedly, turning the stuffy air into a hot box that left them all sweating profusely.

Items of all types went in, from notes to knick-knacks. All went into the burning blaze.

“No notes and documentation of any kind should be left behind.” Reminded their defacto leader, eerily calm despite the increasing tension in the room. They had all noticed the lack of battle noise that had not long ago been going on. Now, nothing but an eerie silence greeted their ears.

It seemed that the stallion and his team had been more than capable of dispatching over two hundred bandits with what appeared to be relative ease. Onyx's report on that only increased the haste in their movements. All while wondering just how strong Shining Armor really was.

It was an ill omen, for sure.

Though if Terra were to judge, the white mare's contribution to their fight against the invaders was token at best, a fact that Shadowed Dawn thoroughly chewed her out for.

Yet, she couldn't see the point in dressing down the pony like that. The way she viewed it, what could the mare have really done in the short amount of time she had? Blessing the weapons had been a quick and effective way to add to the collective damage of the mercenaries.

If Onyx Light had stayed and launched a more concentrated assault, she might have exhausted herself, leaving the linked shield she was helping to maintain weaker than it now was.

It was clear their leader, despite her level-headedness, was feeling the pressure like everypony else. The not-quite hate-fueled rebuke had done little more than waste energy.

Dumping the last of what amounted to scrap papers and trash out of her satchel, she eyed the single-strap bag and, with a shrug, tossed that into the inferno as well. The silver-furred mare could always get another.

Turning, Terra adjusted the straps to her holstered pair of daggers and threw the blue overcoat she had left sitting on the back of a high-backed chair about her shoulders.

“I'm all set here.” She said calmly. Her horn was illuminated with the same brilliance as her red eyes.

“Me too,” Onyx confirmed. She had packed light to begin with, only taking along a few light novels that now sat burning in the flames.

“I got the rope ready!”

Terra groaned and heard their leader do the same.

Standing there, in a pile of torn and rewoven bedsheets, was Crystal Halter. The silly mare had actually ripped apart their bedsheets, good Saddle Arabian silk no less, to make a makeshift rope to escape with.

Shadowed Dawn gave her a hard look, causing the hefty pony to wilt a little bit, then snorted derisively and turned to the rest of them.

“Ladies.” She began, taking a step forward. “It goes without saying we are in a precarious situation. None of us are aware of just how Shining Armor, or the Princess herself, learned of our involvement here. Nor do we have a way of figuring that issue out.”

Most of them nodded solemnly.

“Once the ripples drop to a manageable level, Onyx will have full control of the circle.” Again, everypony nodded. They all knew the best of them at teleportation was the white-furred mare, it was the logical and really only choice for them.

Because they were forced to destroy and abandon the original teleportation circle, two other mares had to be linked to her to provide enough mana to charge the spell quickly.

“We each have a copy of the summary of our activities in this festering, twice blighted, Sun-cursed kingdom.” She spat, the usual calm reserve slipping though not to the surprise of the others. This had truly been a trying night for them all.

Terra had been taking note of her increased frustration. Little moments in which vexation or anger bled through. Like with her tirade at Onyx. That would most certainly go into her own personal report with the Council.

This whole exercise, from convincing Rosebreast to hire them to deal with the mercenaries they had been shoved together with, had worn away the immense patience their leader had prided herself on. While that did worry her, she could not help but see opportunity in the other mare's crack of control. Terra has spent far too long as a subordinate.

Her brow furrowed in thought.

“Um,” She said, attempting to piece together an issue that suddenly rushed to the forefront of her mind. “What if we can't escape?” Her voice trailed off toward the end at the resigned expression on the dark mare's face.

“Then, we do as the Sun commands.” Was her even response. A thrill of fear shot up the silver-furred mare's spine. “Onyx? Are you certain you can produce a reasonable defense against our enemies?” Her weary gaze hardened as she regarded their chief magical specialist.

Onyx Light nodded her head slowly, picking up speed.

“Yes…yes. It's a very tricky spell, most types like this are considering their design and purpose, but I can confidently state that the spell structures and-”

“Can you cast immediately?” Shadowed interrupted.

“As long as there are at least two others to link with me, yes.” The white-furred mare scowled at being interrupted. Terra did her best not to chuckle. The pony would have been better suited to staying in a lab, or school, rather than scampering across a broken nation with the rest of them.

“Excellent. Now, let us ensure….” There was a sudden massive pressure, a magical force that seemed to press in upon all of them like a heavy stone being placed upon their chests.

“What-” began Crystal. She never got to finish her question as a loud boom like thunder blasted through the air, the force of which sent them tumbling off their hooves. Dust and moonlight sprouted like fireworks from every crack and crevice inside their chosen headquarters. The windows smashed outward, and it felt like the sky was attempting to suck them right out of the tower.

Before anypony could even pull themselves from the floor, the entire stumpy spire listed, slowly at first, the picking up speed as the tilt grew worse.

Terra looked out the window and got a sickening view of castle bulwarks suddenly going upward. “No.” She shook her head. “That's not right!”

With a sinking feeling, she realized that the sturdy ancient walls weren't flying up suddenly. It was that the tower they had taken refuge in was going down.

Shadowed Dawn must have realized what was happening as well, if not yet how. “ONYX! PULL THE SHIELD IN!” She roared over the sounds of snapping timber and shattering stones.

The glimmering, multicolored shield rushed into surround them just as the red-maned mare saw the ground swiftly coming up to meet them.

“Buck me.” Whispered Storming Wind.

Shining Armor could only nod as his gaze swung from the complete destruction of the tower to a now unconscious mare in his arms.

Pestle Break had not hesitated the moment she drank the concoction other than to stick her tongue out and grimace at the obvious terrible flavor.

Her horn burst to light, and the spell she had generated barely half an hour before, blossomed to life before them once again.

At the time, he could not help but note the power behind that casting. It was far greater than her previous attempt. Far larger. Just standing near it had made him feel as if his armor were suddenly squeezing him. It felt as if his blade were about to slip from his hand or his shield were to pull him down forward.

By the time he had somewhat adjusted to the uncomfortable power surge, the blast of the spell being activated washed over him and the others. The effect was less noise, and more the pressure and vibration threatening to hurl him and the others back had they not thought ahead to anchor themselves among the heavier rubble of the ancient fortress.

“Is she okay?” Called Earnest, who was now quickly dashing to him and Pestle, scrambling over broken pieces of wall and roadway. A haze swirled about them.

“Ye-” Shining coughed. Dust older than his family line made his throat dry and constricted. He tried again. “Yes. Just… just passed out.” He had the presence of mind to force the mixed air away with his magic while they waited for the cloud of soot itself to dissipate, an activity sped along by Val Shadow-wing and his team using their wings to batter the air in an effort to move it faster. He had scanned Pestle Break to ensure nothing was wrong with her. “It's just magical exhaustion. Extreme exhaustion.” He sighed heavily.

Placing her down, he waved at the cohort of griffons still with them to come pick her up. Their purpose was to simply spirit her way back to camp as soon as it was safe. Their initial goal was to simply hide her away for the time being. The earth pony Sergeant made that slightly difficult as she fussed over her fallen comrade with undue painstaking effort.

Pushing her aside, much to the mare’s obvious displeasure as they were not gentle about it, two drakes with medical bands around their forearms picked the stricken unicorn up and took to the air quickly. A squad of five others followed, providing an escort.

That left Val’s forces thin.

“Lieutenant,” said Spitfire, who had landed right behind him. “Did you see what happened as it fell over?” Her voice was concerned.

“Yes,” Shining said, stepping up next to the yellow Pegasus. “They are not as panicky as we would have liked.”

“What happened?” Earnest asked. She had turned away from watching her friend being carried away by the griffons. Her hand rested on one of her axes, a thumb tracing the spike edge.

“The shield pulled in at the last possible moment. If I were a betting stallion, I would bet that more than one is still awake and likely unharmed other than some possible bumps and bruises.”

“Buck.” Spat Spitfire. “It looks like we are in for a fight after all.”

He nodded.

With the disruption in the magic field still warping and twisting as the force of life tried to sort itself out, the enemy unicorns would be unable to form a proper mass teleportation. Which left them with two options.

Try to run. Or fight to the last.

With so many aerial forces arrayed against them, it was really only the one option. To fight.

Shining surveyed the destruction. The tower had come down at an angle, the middle half smashing into a warehouse as it did so. Without proper support, much of the structure had collapsed in on itself, leaving both the inner and outer material in a jumbled mess.

“Damn. The top of the tower must have fallen on the other side of this building. Spitfire, Storming. Get ahead of us and buy time for us so they do not escape.” Lurching into a run, Shining Armor, followed by Earnest Hearts, hoofed it down a crumbled side street as both pegasi took to the air.

With her help, Onyx Light managed to heave the mass of timber and stone that had piled atop the shield off by expanding the framework of the spell. The method was simple if a bit mana-draining, but if Shining Armor could do it, so could the mare she trusted to hold that barrier.

Standing up, Shadowed Dawn ignored the dirt and filth that had collected on her clothes during the collapse and quickly assessed their situation.

“They really did it.” She thought bitterly. Around them was the ruin of their hideaway, now nothing more than a simple collection of useless ancient debris.

“Anypony alive? Sound out!”” She called, helping Onyx to her hooves. The mare’s eyes were a little dazed, but otherwise, she stood mostly firm.

“I'm here!” Came Crystal Halter’s gasping shout as rubble that had buried a cabinet heaved out in a blue glow. The mare must have fallen out of the protective shield somehow. Yet, the Sun's Luck favored her.

The others soon followed in giving their own confirmation, save for one.

Terra Burn had not responded.

Frowning, she cast a quick scan, looking for her signature, failing that, her corpse. Neither was anywhere near her and the other's location at the base of a steep wall that jutted up at an angle away from the downed fortification.

“Where has she gone? Was she thrown out like Crystal had been?” That couldn't be the case. While her field of influence wasn't as big as Onyx’s, she should have at least detected something. “Wait. What is that?” There was a disruption in the air. But with the leylines still being so chaotic, there was no way for her to tell what it was.

Shadowed shook her head. There was nothing to be done. Now was the time to flee. Looking about them, she looked for a place to run to.

There were no stairs within the vicinity to facilitate an escape and no gate leading outside, or at least deeper into the forgotten fortress. They stood in what looked like the end of a servicing road back when the keep was still active, providing a quick and clear route for supplies to be loaded into the various warehouses to her right, one of which had now become crushed.

“Onyx, did you-”

Her question died as she was struck at by a blade thrown from above. The leader barely had time to erect a shield to divert the course of the weapon from her chest.

“TO ARMS!” She cried, jumping back to give her more distance and to see who had thrown the weapon.

There, on top of one of the warehouses, was a mare in silvered colored chainmail with small plate pieces of armor set strategically about her person. The mane that sprouted from the top of her helm was two tones of orange. The wings on her back named her for what she was.

A pegasus. A filthy sky rat that wore a supreme look of confidence down at them.

“Well, what a shame. I thought I could at least catch one of you off guard, and you looked important enough.” She called out, lazily floating to the ground. Just as two others burst in from a side passage that Shadowed could only just now see.

There, before her, was First Lieutenant Shining Armor. Despite the dings in his armor and shield, he looked no worse for wear than somepony who came in from a brief exercise in the field.

“Excellent work, Spitfire.” He said with a huff, stepping up next to the pegasus.

“So it is true, the Wonderbolts Second Lieutenant really is here.” The idea that what amounted to a Military Parade Ponyquin of no actual militant worth had managed to effectively corner them was galling. Everypony knew that her unit was more show than actual strength.

A moment later, another pony plowed into the street, a short earth pony bearing two axes and weighed down by a heavy plate kit that nearly looked comical upon the mare.

“Sir!” She bellowed as she altered course to come up beside the other two ponies. “You need to wait up. I got little legs!”

Shining Armor flashed a quick grin at the short mare.

“Sorry about that, Earnest.” He chuckled at the weak glare she gave back at him. “Where's Storming?” He turned back to the Pegasus.

“I have her on overwatch, Sir. I figured if any of these buckers somehow managed to escape, she could spot them and knock them out.” He nodded.

“Good thinking.” Glancing around, the First Lieutenant fixed Shadowed Dawn in his sights and marched two steps forward. “I am First Lieutenant Shining Armor of Her Highness’s Third Infantry Expeditionary Force. In the name of Princess Celestia, and by her authority and the authority of King Bloodbeak, through his son Prince Gerhard, I am ordering you to lay down your arms and surrender.” He paused and took a breath before continuing on. “Peacefully. You have been found operating illegally in a sovereign nation against the best wishes of its people and governing body and will be taken into custody to answer for the crimes against them.” He raised his weapon, a large broadsword, levely at her chest. “If you resist, expect the appropriate amount of force to either detain you or remove your being outright.”

That was as cold a declaration of intent of purpose if she had ever heard one. It surprised Shadowed a bit to see a stallion act with such a hard edge as he was. Even Spitfire's eyes widened as she gave him an unreadable look.

Had Terra's report on him not backed up his demanding statement, she might have laughed outright.

Instead, she swung her head behind her and simply said, “Do it,” before turning back and launching a string of fire bolts from her horn in hot succession, keeping it going for as long as she was able. Gesturing with an arm, she waved Crystal forward to assist her.

To her utter lack of surprise, Shining’s shield came up and slammed between both parties. But that was part of the plan after all, forcing the enemy to react rather than make their own strategy.

Behind her, she felt the link being re-established and the low mummers of chanting beginning.

“Well, this is going about as well as what I was expecting,” Spitfire commented dryly while bolts of fire exploded in muffled blasts of Shining Armor’s shield. “Did you really think they were going to surrender with that little speech?”

With a look of annoyance, the stallion snorted. “No, I did not. However, we both know it had to be at least attempted. Pestle’s destruction of their tower had to rattle them enough, and I would be in error if I did not attempt to at least try.”

The orange-yellow pegasus simply chuckled and turned back toward the enemy.

“What do you think they are doing?” She asked after a moment.

“I…I am not really certain if I am honest.” Shining responded hesitantly. “I lack my sister's talent to feel the breath and scope of magic or Pestle's ability to scan with any efficiency. I can only get a gist of what I'm looking at. I think they are linked for…something. It can't be teleportation. The waves are still too strong for something like that just yet.”

“Well, uh, what if it's an artillery spell?” Asked Earnest, who was now edging back little by little.

“Wouldn't matter.” The stallion dismissed curtly. “While linking does add a significant amount of mana to any spell performed, simply combining magic doesn't increase the amount of damage a pony can do with the added pool. Spells don't work that way.”

“Huh, what do ya mean?” The mare asked.

“What I mean is one cannot increase the potential damage of a spell for themselves by adding another’s mana.” He explained, mildly impressed with the extent and duration of the lead unicorn's barrage. “Depending on the unicorn, the amount of magic used at once is restricted. It is believed that the horn, and its root system inside the skull, limit the amount one can readily use. Even if they had more magic, they could not get past that bottleneck.”

“Then what's the bucking point?” Chimed in Spitfire. “Why link at all if you can't get more power out of it?”

“Because more magic allows for more complicated spells to be performed. While there's a limit to how much one can perform on their own, the other party members in the link can also work their own mana, following along with directions…” He trailed off. “But that is the question, what directions are they receiving…” He paused again and squinted. “Spitfire…are they…chanting?” He said, alarm in his voice.

“Um, I don't know. I can't hear nothing. They seem to be speaking, though.”

“Are they speaking in unison?”

“Uh…yeah. I think they are. Why?” She looked at him, her eyes widening in surprise at the horrified expression on his face. “What?!”

“Dark Magic!” He shouted, and the shield suddenly pushed forward as he lurched into a staggered charge. His hope had been to have them tire themselves out trying to break through his shield. But now he knew why the lead pony was acting the way she was. It was a delay tactic, and why the mares battering his bulwark was working so hard to keep them pinned. “We have to stop them! Now! Now! NO-”

Two of the three mares, linked with the third in the middle, shrieked, their voices overpowering the sound of the fire bolts impacting his shield. Their bodies burst into black flames that sprouted from their mouths, eyes, ears, and horns in a conflagration of horror across their bodies.

A shockwave roiled off them, knocking over the mare that had been distracting them and slamming into his shield. The bulwark buckled and cracked, shattering and tossing him off his hooves and back to collapse on the street.

Shining managed to look up and gape from his prone position.

The third, a white mare in a crimson robe, scooted back in fear but kept up the chant and her magic as what was left of her companions slowly melted to the ground and pooled together.

“What have they done?!”

Moments passed as Shining continued to push himself to his knees and then his hooves. Exhaustion and pain warring for equal priority, and he was forced to ignore both. He needed to rest up, but there was no time. Whatever they were creating would be terrible, and he could deal with pain.

The liquid remains, still somehow spouting black fire intermittently, began to fluctuate and pulse, the puddle of blood and muck twisting and growing larger with each of his steps. What horror had they unleashed?

Onyx backed away, desperately keeping up her mantra as her former companions became the abominable birth for the creature's entry into their world.

Slowly and with sluggishness, the shapeless black mass began to expand, the surface undulating. Bones of unknown things, and not quite unknown, rose and fell within its surface.

“Mnirta zegren sorfa…” She continued, hoping that the requirements had been met correctly and that this thing would not require more from her.

It shouldn't, but when dealing with spells from the Dark Magic Discipline, not just dark but black as night itself, it was best not to take too many chances.

When she had first mentioned the rite, a nameless ritual of a mostly unknown and lowly Tartarus-borne creature, she had been vague about the conditions needed for summoning what she had learned was an Uratoth. A low-level fiend that was more scavenger than predator. At least, that was what the book described it as. The creature was supposedly powerful in its own right, but only compared to the Fen, or mortals that live in this reality.

Truly, it had merely been a curiosity to even learn the spell that summoned this monstrosity. When Shadowed Dawn told them of their chances of escape, she suddenly remembered this rite. A quick conference away from others, and her leader agreed to allow her to perform it if they saw no other way out of their situation.

Now she took small steps back on slightly shaky hooves, the tips of which kept narrowly avoiding the ever-expanding puddle of ichor.

She wanted to run, to flee this cursed spell that she had invoked, not just stand at the cusp of what was likely death and agony should she misstep and fall in.

But she could not. For to run would mean this creature would be unbound, to wreak havoc on its environment and most certainly seek her out. Without sealing the bond, they were all doomed.

Supposedly, the ancient tome spoke of the beast's incompatible nature in their world. It said the beast would die after a time and only lasted as long as it did because of the sacrifice. Eventually, the Fiend would decompose at an increasingly rapid rate, its mana running out as it did.

She shook her head and focused.

“Nashur ram. Kordaval, inoteck abreati no gressuate.” She said loudly. She had to establish the link now before it began to form its body from the flesh and bone offered to it. “Nor kadasing dasu rokasa.”

The mass roiled in protest, a wail coming from so far away as almost not to be heard. At the same time, it made her own bones reverberate with the echoes of a thousand roars of rage.

Onyx Light felt her ears drain of color. The book had said nothing of this. The white mare pressed on, her voice getting louder. Shriller.

“EKRON DO FARESS SU KO DEH NO MOK SU! HARUQU SHA NEESEK KOMAS!”

With a massive shudder, the pool of black stilled. With bated breath, she waited. Seconds ticked by, and suddenly, a crooked arm of red and black flesh rose from the endless darkness. With a wet splat sound, it slammed down, hauling whatever it was attached to from the dark abyss.

In her mind, she could sense uncertainty, rage, and, oddly enough, amusement. But it was enough of a confirmation that the link had been forged—now, to enforce her will.

“Well then, that's not a good sign, is it?” Earnest Hearts said quietly.

Shining had risen and ducked behind a pile of rubble. Charging now without knowing what it could be was suicide at this point. His team and he all watched as a skeletal hand of red veins and pulsing exposed black muscle rose from the ground and smacked rather hard into the broken cobblestone beneath it.

Whatever incantation the white mare had been speaking had obviously reached its climax. The words shouted had been unintelligible to him, but they couldn't be good. Her uncertain smile of triumph had replaced the barely contained fear in her eyes moments before.

“Shit.”

Arms exploded from the pit in the ground, all sharing that same peeled horror the first had. Each taking up a similar position as the one that came before.

“I count six!” Spitfire called out, the tips of her mane smoking from a near miss of spell fire from earlier. The pegasus had made a dozen attempts to shoot over his barrier, but the two mares, the leader and an obese one that joined late, had been bombarding his defense, managed to spare some shots for her. “We can easily handle six little hands!” She crowed with confidence.

Shining Armor snorted derisively at that. Six hands and arms roughly the size of a pony’s torso was not little. Not that what they may be attached to was nothing to ignore in any case.

“By Faust, please let it not be as terrible as I think it is…”

He considered kicking himself. As if summoning the beast, the arms heaved as one and pulled something from the depths of the darkness below.

It was misshapen but oblong in nature. Where the limbs attached were exposed skeletal bones in shapes he had never seen before in the classroom or the battlefield.

“What the buck is that?” Came Storming’s call from above.

Shining did not get a chance to answer. As if in reaction to the noise, the mass roiled, a whip-crack sound snapped in the air, and Storming Wind cried out in pain.

“Spitfire!” He shouted, getting another snap and something hard smacked the shield wall he quickly erected in response.

“Buck me, that was hard!”

“ON IT!” She called, with yet another strike at his barrier as she took to the skies behind them.

Nodding, he looked to where he had felt the impacts of those two strikes. Extending his shield to cover Spitfire and Storming from more injuries, he studied where the projectiles had fallen after hitting.

Shards of red bone shattered in pieces lay on the ground. A lump of the same black oily tar that seemed to compose the creature before them, pulsed sluggishly at their ends.

“Buck.” He swore quietly. Surprisingly, he did not get the expected attack. That was an important detail he would need to remember.

A soft thump landed next to him, and he side-eyed Spitfire, who carried Storming Wind in her arms.

The young mare’s face was pained, a large red bone jutting from her shoulder. He had anticipated that. What he hadn't counted on was the mass of pulsing black goo having lodged itself firmly into her arm. The armor that normally covered that location had been ripped away, likely from the force of the impact, and he could see spiderweb veins of the invasive ooze running down the exposed limb.

“What in Tartarus is that?!” He hissed.

“Just that,” came a familiar haggard voice, “a weapon borne of the underworld.” Pestle Break suddenly lurched into the huddled group of ponies, her fingers probing around the infection the moment her knees hit stone.

“Specialist, what the buck are you doing here?! You were ordered to remain with the contingent of griffons when you woke up. Buck, you weren't even awake to receive that order.” The mare spared him a glance.

“I apologize, Sir.” She looked away shamefully, but her horn was now glowing softly as she slowly removed the protrusion from the downed private. “Something woke me, I felt…something vile.” With a quiet squelching sound, the bone fragment popped free and fell to the ground. “Dear Sweet Celestia, this is bad.”

“You took another one.” He accused quietly.

“Yes.” She confirmed. “A much lesser dose, but I saw no choice.”

“Specialist, you run the risk of Scouring yourself.” He wanted to shout, to yell at her for her recklessness, but with that creature launching an attack at anything that was too loud, he couldn't risk it.

Glancing over his shoulder, he could feel blood leaving his face.

The creature was no longer just an oblong shape. It now bore two heads on long thin necks, and some type of liquid-like protrusion hung limply from its chest.

“I'll yell at you later.” He muttered. “What is that thing?”

“That,” Pestle huffed as she swung around her small potion bag, “is a Fiend. More specifically, a Lesser Fiend. We studied about it when I went to school. My town…has, or at least had a history with practitioners of dark magic.” As she said this, she dug into a pouch and dug out a small bag, pouring the green powdered contents into a small cup. “I'm not sure what the name of this creature is, but I do remember one very important thing. In every summoned denizen of Tartarus, is a core. Its makeup depends on what catalysts were used to summon it, but will rest somewhere inside the body. Each location is different. Some researchers suspected that more powerful ones can move theirs.” She then poured a blue liquid she had yanked with a grunt from a pouch under her armor into the powder, causing the concoction to boil and turn clear. “But I suspect this one is not that powerful.” She grimaced. “I took what I could from the kit, couldn't carry the whole thing.”

As she worked, Shining took stock of her. It was clear that the potion she had once again used gave her pep, but where her fur peeled out from under the armor, the once vibrant color was now dull, faded. His worry was that if she continued, she would eventually burn the ability to cast completely out of her. Scouring, it was called.

“Not that powerful?” Muttered Earnest, who had been keeping watch on the three surviving members of the enemy.

“Yes. If it was,” she poured part of the mixture on the black writhing mass on Storming's arm. The thing squealed and shriveled, turning to gray powder before them and falling away. “I fear the Lieutenant's shield would not be enough.” Not finished, she poured the rest of the mixture into the mare’s mouth.

Almost immediately, the blackened veins in her arm and shoulder started to recede.

“She should be past the critical stage. However, there is a chance she may never use that arm properly again.”

“What do you mean?” Spitfire asked, a spike of fear clear in her voice.

Pestle shook her head in worry. Storming Wind was now asleep and out of the fight for good if what was feared came true.

“Wounds created directly by Fiends are necrotic in nature. I'm not sure I got to her in time to stop it.” She paused from putting her equipment back into her satchel, a sigh escaping her lips.

“I never learned any of this in school.” Shining began.

“I wouldn't expect you to, Sir. It was an elective class. I have…a personal history with things like this.” Everypony stared in shock at her. “What I said before was true. During my foalhood, a cult took over the local church in my town. They…t-they sacrificed a number of families in order to make these things. There is one other piece of information. Good news, actually.” Standing she waved a couple of griffons forward, who had until that time been hiding in the shadows of the alleyway they had come through earlier. “Get her out of here. Back to camp if you can manage it. Keep her warm and dry. Water every hour once she wakes, even if she protests.” They nodded and quickly hauled the unconscious mare up, moving back the way they had come slowly. “These creatures can't seem to last long in our world. The core I mentioned before,” she turned and pointed at the beast, “is the link in which it is allowed to stay. Once that is either broken or used up, the creature decays quickly and dies.”

“How long will that take?” Earnest said, her hands gripping the pair of axes tightly.

“Minutes? Hours? Possibly a full day. It depends on the strength of the user. However, judging by the fact that it seems to be completely reactive, I don't believe that monster is under complete control. So perhaps hours is a more likely scenario.” They all looked at the surviving summoner. The mare stood licking her lips nervously and snapping at her compatriots. “Yes, she is being fought by it. Likely this is her first summoning, and she does not know what to expect. That's likely why she hasn't tried to goad it into attacking us yet. She is waiting, or at this stage more likely hoping, for complete control.”

Shining Armor nodded at that. It made sense, considering he wasn't being pressed. The unicorn that had initially attacked to keep them away, was now bickering with the other two.

He smiled.

“This was likely a last-minute idea. A desperate attempt to give them a chance to flee.”

“Uh-huh. I suspected as much, Sir.” Pestle stepped up next to him, grimacing. “Sir…I don't think I'll be able to contribute much to this fight.”

“Specialist, you should not even be here, but you've done more than enough. Thank you.” Shining gestured for her to get back. “Take up a defensive position. If you see an opportunity to act that will not endanger you or the mission, do so.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Hauptleute Val Shadow-wing, and he frowned. For most of the engagement, the griffon and his team have taken a largely supportive role. Then again, he had not directly tasked the group with any specific orders. That was in part due to the fact that Val technically outranked him if anypony were to compare such things. His ingrained military dogma made him uncomfortably aware of the fact that he was giving orders to what amounted to a Captain in the EAF.

“Hauptleute, is there any chance you and your team could help in this?”

The solemn griffin nodded thoughtfully for a moment. “You have something in mind, Lieutenant?”

Shining paused. “Do I?” He thought furiously, aware that they did not have long before either the warp in the magic field settled enough for teleportation or they finally got the fiend under control enough to attack outright. The only things they had to go by were that it had a core inside that needed to be destroyed and its reaction to noise. “Wait…noise.”

“I think,” he began slowly, ”I might have an idea.”

“This is taking too long!” Shouted Shadowed. “Why are you not attacking?!”

“Yeah! With this thing, we should be able to wipe them out easily! Why won't it move?!” Crystal Halter mirrored their leader in her anger.

“Will you two shut the buck up!” Onyx hissed angrily, shocking both. “Every time you fools shout, I have to restrain the Uratoth from lashing out at you.” She gestured with a shaky hand. “It has no eyes. It does not recognize you as allies.”

She kept quiet about the fact that it did not even recognize her as its mistress either. The beastly thing resisted her, fought for every piece of mental ground she took within its being.

“You said you could control it.” Came their leader’s heated reply, though thankfully, she was being far more quiet. She had been far more supportive mere minutes ago when the creature had managed to snipe down one of the filthy pegasi flitting about in the sky. Now she shot glares at her and urged her to do something, anything, to aid in their escape.

“I said I might be able to.” Sighing, she wiped her brow. “I am slowly gaining ground, but I have never done something like this before. I do not believe you fully understand the strength this creature has.”

She also kept to herself the fact that it was far smarter than what the book had implied. This Fiend she had summoned from the depths of Tartarus did not speak to her. Did not even seem to acknowledge her for the most part. Instead, much to her dismay, once she had established a mental link, it had immediately sought to overwhelm her own mind.

That had been a shock!

Onyx Light was in very real danger of losing herself, possibly even her soul. She swallowed back the bile in her throat with a sickly expression.

“I understand you are under an immense amount of pressure, Onyx.” The obvious observation from Shadowed only made her internally roll her eyes. “But while you've been struggling, Shining Armor and his band of interferers are likely coming up with a plan of their own.”

“I know that, Shadowed. I know that very well. However, if you-”

“Um, ladies…?” Crystal Halter’s voice squealed in alarm.

“What?!” Hissed their leader in clear exasperation.

The pudgy mare didn't need to tell them anything. She simply pointed.

In the air, between the two groups of ponies, was a myriad of small round blue disks. Onyx glanced ahead and locked eyes with the group’s only stallion.

Even from here, she could see the strain on his face as it screwed up tighter as more and more appeared.

“What are they doing?” Shadowed was alarmed but not hysterical like Crystal.

“I'm not sure…” Muttered the white-furred mare. If those were shields, they were too small to be of much use, and creating that many was obviously taxing to the pony across from them. Yet, still more appeared at random locations about the ancient roadway.

Onyx frowned.

“Where are the griffons that were with them?” She asked aloud.

“What?” Crystal Halter had responded first, stepping up next to her with a water bottle in hand. “Griffons? I thought they had gone with the rest of their ilk and were attacking the fortress walls.”

“No, there is a small contingent that yet remains. In fact, they were just here…” Muttered Onyx as she gazed about the battleground.

Suddenly, a sharp ping sound echoed into the stillness. Before she could respond with much more than surprise, the Uratoth lurched around and struck out. The head swung back and whipped forth violently, hurling its deadly payload at the source of the noise, causing one of the blue disks to shatter. It earned a grunt from Shining Armor, but the stallion smiled.

“Well, that's unsettling.” She thought to herself as she wrestled the Fiend back into some semblance of control. Another ping peeled out and she physically staggered this time as the beast reacted again, straining her tenuous hold to the breaking point.

“Oh, shit.” She whispered in shock.

It had become clear to her what the disks were actually meant to do. What the griffons were up to. She could now see them perched behind walls to shoot crossbow quarrels at the mini shields creating that metal-like sound and drawing her summoned’s attention.

“What is it?” Shadowed said quietly.

“I think the Shining Armor has figured out a strategy.”

“And? Is it working?”

“Un-unfortunately…” Onyx stammered out as she prepared herself.

“Buck.”