"To arms, stallions! To arms!" Fleet Admiral Pisces shouted as The Red Koi halted near the banks of Crosis Swamp, where the water hugged the hill that Mystwood sat atop. Every miriad and Equestrian marine gathered their loaded muskets and readied their cannons for battle. "Daisy!"

"Yes, Gramps?" Daisy replied as she trotted over to the bow deck, unintentionally shaking the whole boat with her giant hooves as she made her was over to Pisces.

"See that shell of ice where the wall was shattered?" Pisces directed her attention to the gaping hole filled in with Sven's red ice a few hundred meters away. "I need you to shatter it from a distance. My Dragon Shatter cannot reach that length in time so that the debris will not harm the troops."

"Yes, sir! Should I go get the big guy?" Daisy asked her commanding officer as she turned away.

"Yes, please do so," Pisces answered her back as she retreated to where the cannons were below the main deck through a door just before the stairs to the bow deck.

"Excuse me but, who is this so called 'big guy'?" Luna inquired as she hurried up the steps to join Pisces on the bow deck. "Is it another member of your crew?"

"No, you'll see..." Pisces grinned as he heard a slamming noise from below, rocking the shop back and forth. "You'll see..."

Luna turned back as the noise grew softer and less intimidating, almost to the point where it was as quiet as a feather wafting in a light breeze. Daisy emerged from the floor below with a massive cannonball one and a half meters in diameter, large enough to be called a boulder. As she held it high with one giant hand, she tossed it in the air, up to the bow deck where Luna was. Luna's eyes widened as she braced for impact, however, she felt no impact whatsoever. The hunk of raw iron simply stopped as it touched her nose and fell to the bow deck; it was as light as a grain of sand. She saw no difference in size, shape, or texture, and it appeared to be iron; yet for some reason, this sphere of metal didn't seem to have any weight at all.

"Zounds! What is this witchcraft?!" Luna's eyes were glued wide open as she held the whole cannonball on her fingertips.

"Daisy here can control the weight of any object with her Scale Brand, remember? That means she can make a ship float in the air, or sink it my making it weigh as much as a mountain," Pisces reminded Luna as he watched her stare on in awe as Daisy effortlessly grabbed it with one hand and stood on the outer railing of the ship. "Ready, Daisy? I'll give you a boost."

"Uh huh!" Daisy beamed as she cocked her legs in for a jump. She then hopped off the railing and into the swamp. "Go!"

With the thrust of his hand into the air, a column of water rose from the murky depths of the swamp and rocketed Daisy into the air. Daisy spun rapidly with the cannonball in hand, and as she reached an optimal altitude, she released the mass of iron from her grasp. The ball whizzed straight towards the sheet of ice at blinding speeds as if it were a fastball.

"If that ball is so light, won't it just bounce off the ice?" Spike asked Rummy as he poked his head outside the railing of the main deck to watch the cannonball strike its target.

"Well, Daisy may seem a little ditzy at times, but she is the most experienced with her Brand out of all of us," Rummy answered Spike as he watched with him. "Watch. She'll keep the cannonball at the weight of a small rock until the last second... then..."

The cannonball impacted the wall with brutal force, smashing the shield of ice to tiny pieces that shot up into the air. Not only that, but the cannonball began to roll, crushing any vampire soldier who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"She'll increase its weight to be as heavy as a hundred battleship anchors!" Rummy laughed as he watched the wall of ice practically disintegrate from the sheer force of the impact. "Nice one, love!"

"Thanks, Rum-Rum!" Daisy giggled as she gave him a peace-sign gesture and curtsey as she skipped down to the main deck, wiping the gunk off her hooves. The miriad soldiers hunkered down in the neighbouring ships could do nothing but stare on in awe at the restored hole in the wall. "Let's go get em'!"

"Aye, Daisy!" Pisces shouted as he grabbed the trident off of his back. "Field Marshal Durand! Prepare your troops for the assault!"

"But, Pisces...!" The field marshal exclaimed as he drew his saber. "The hill is far too steep and the swamp is far too shallow. We won't be able to dock!"

"Leave that to me..." Pisces grunted as he outstretched his hand towards the hill on which Mystwood sat. He then clenched this hand into a fist and slowly dragged it back into his body, like he was pulling on some invisible chain.

The murky waters began to flow backwards until the water level sank to the very bottom of the swamp— a layer of pebbles coating thick, grey sand. Surprisingly, the force of the water didn't seem to drag The Red Koi and the rest of the neighbouring convoy backwards; instead, some of the water from the swamp congealed at the bottom of each ship, supporting it so that it stayed upright. Draven scratched his head at this; he had never witnessed such magnitude or precision of any manipulation like Pisces' before. Perhaps his skill came with his age combined with the fact that he himself descended from the first water dragon.

"Lower the land bridges!" The field marshal ordered his convoy as he watched vampires begin to gather at the hole. "They're building strength. We must hurry!"

Troops lowered the wide ramps made of interlocking planks of wood onto the side of each ship, lodging them into the muck covered ground below. They all deployed at lightning speeds, grabbing their muskets and sabers once more and running off the ramps in pairs. Then, they all gathered around Pisces and their field marshal at the bottom, along with the Equestrian marines that made up the fighting force of Pisces' crew. They met together right in front of The Red Koi, and the last soldiers to get off each ship carried the ramps for scaling the steep drop-off at the hill.

"To the gates, my soldiers! To the gates!" Luna raised her saber as she rallied her forces. "Let us go forth and free Ccrondil from Alptraum's tyranny!"

"Aye!" The troops replied as they thrust their weapons into the air.

"Winslow..." In the midst of Luna's speech, Fluttershy tugged on the paladin's shoulder to get his attention.

"Do not fret, Fluttershy. I'm here for you..." Winslow tried to reassure his companion, but it didn't seem to help the anguished young mare. "Fluttershy, I-."

"Winslow, it's not that," Fluttershy shook her head as she opened her eyes to look at Winslow; they were demonic , pure red with orange rings for irises. "I can feel the tension in the air, the violence brewing... I can't hold back my other side. I-..." Fluttershy held her head and closed her eyes, turning away from the rest of her friends. "I'm afraid for all of you... I don't want to kill anypony..."

"You won't, Fluttershy. You're stronger than this," Winslow insisted as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Fluttershy?"

"Then why do you insist on protecting me...?" Fluttershy clenched her teeth as she held back the horns that were sprouting from her forehead and curling back behind her ears. "You just want to protect everypony else from me, don't you?! You're afraid that that beast will come out, aren't you?!"

"Fluttershy, it already is...!" Winslow whispered frantically to her as he looked back; some of the troops were beginning to notice her amidst the shouting and cheering of the crowd. "You must calm down or your friends will see you-!"

"Then let them see me! I'm tired of hiding!" Fluttershy snarled in a delirious rage and grimaced as her feathers fell out and muscle began to fill out her form, making her appear taller. Then, her eyes went to the normal green, and in a moment of sanity, Fluttershy looked to Winslow with desperate eyes. "Help me..."

"Fluttershy?!" Twilight turned to see her friend kneeling on the mud and moaning in agony, and she quickly ran to her, leaving Dross' side. "Fluttershy, what's-? Oh my... Spike, Draven, get over here!"

Fluttershy was in her full demon form; fangs, bat wings, dragon claws and feet, goat horns, and a serpent's tail. Twilight wanted to think that her form was just an illusion or a strange spell gone wrong, but it was all too real. She quickly tried to analyze the situation, try to find a solution, but there was none in sight. Her only idea was to let Fluttershy go through the motions of the transformation— see if she could come to grips with her form and dominate her inner demon.

"Twilight, what's-... oh sweet Celestia..." Spike's eyes widened as he looked down at Fluttershy, who was now larger than Draven. "What's going on?!"

"Bloody hell!" Draven gasped as he watched Fluttershy snarl at him and dig her claws into the ground. "What happened?"

"I'm sorry, but-... I need you both to carry her to the rear of The Red Koi. I don't want anypony else to see her in this state. We need to let her power through her rage and hatred. It's the only way she'll be able to break the chains that are dragging her mind into Infernum." Winslow quickly explained as he motioned to the two dragons to grab her. "Please, try to restrain her."

Draven put Fluttershy into a double arm lock, and Spike wrapped his arms around Fluttershy's ankles to prevent her from kicking. They both found their jobs exceedingly difficult, as Fluttershy's strength was far greater than they anticipated. She almost completely broke Draven's advanced submission with her raw power alone, but Draven kept her tightly locked in his grasp as they carried her behind Pisces' vessel. They set her down gently, and she convulsed again as soon as they did so. So they pinned her arms and legs down to the ground so that Twilight and Winslow to tend to her.

"Fluttershy, can you hear me? It's Twilight." Twilight tried talking to her, but Fluttershy just gnashed her sharp teeth together and groaned in pain. "Will she be alright, Winslow?"

"I'm not sure. We just have to wait and see... she hasn't transformed since our fight with Nick." Winslow replied bluntly as he held Fluttershy's head. "Fight, Fluttershy! You can do it!"

Fluttershy winced as she cocked her head back from a sudden jolt of intense pain that shot up her spine, and with a wheeze, she clenched her fists tightly. Then, she felt her right arm loosen as the tension suddenly left. Then, she felt her left arm do this as well. She was gaining back control. She wasn't going to let that beast hurt anypony else like it did to Nick. She couldn't. That demon wasn't who she was, she was her own pony. With one roar, she loosened up her legs and slowly got off the ground.

"You aren't... my master..." Fluttershy grimaced as the stiffness left her torso, and she bowed her head, fighting against the beast that still desperately tried to take control over her. "I won't let you hurt... anypony else!" Fluttershy roared as she fell to her knees, her body returning to normal.

"Fluttershy!" Spike caught his friend before she fell face-first into the rocky muck, and he shook her gently to quickly reawaken her. "Fluttershy, can you hear me?"

"I'm..." Fluttershy's eyes fluttered for a moment as she came to. "I'm alright, everypony..."

"Thank goodness..." Winslow sighed deeply as he looked into Fluttershy's eyes; they were still red, though, they were not as intense and bloodthirsty as before, and her horns were still present on her head. "You've controlled the demon. Although, you still retain your horns and red eyes, Fluttershy."

"Oh no..." Fluttershy shook her head in disappointment as she got back on her hooves. "W-will they go away?"

"I'm not sure, but you have control for now, and that's all that matters," Winslow placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"And... all of you... you saw that thing..." Fluttershy turned away from Twilight and the rest of her friends who had helped her. "I'm so sorry..."

Twilight was overwhelmed with a current of different emotions and found it hard at first to come to grips with the situation. She thought back to Fluttershy's vampire fruit bat incident. Could this be her fault? "No, it's okay, Fluttershy... I can understand why you wouldn't want to tell anypony. But, was this my doing? That debacle with the vampire fruit bats, did it-?"

"N-no, it wasn't your fault Twilight. You didn't know." Fluttershy reassured her good friend. "It may have unlocked whatever I am... but there was no way any of us could've known..."

"What now...?" Draven asked Winslow, a little more relieved knowing that Fluttershy could control that form of hers with enough focus. "I don't think Fluttershy should join in on his fight. It's too dangerous for her in this-."

"No, I have to go to the town square. Yes... I have to go there. Something is pulling me towards it. It must be that demon," Fluttershy said as she turned to Draven. "I need answers... and I think that demon we faced can give me some if he is as high-ranking as Winslow says he is. He must know who I am, he must..."

"If you insist, Fluttershy," Draven accepted Fluttershy's wish. She was right, if anypony would know what exactly Fluttershy was, it was a Lord of Infernum. "But you need to stay hidden from the others if you don't want to be found out. You and Winslow need to tag back until the troops have made their way through the opening, okay?"

"Understood, Draven," Winslow said as he looked back at Fluttershy, who had a doubtful scowl on her face. "We'll be fine."

"What if we just take a different route...?" Fluttershy suggested as her wings unfurled, still bat-like. "What if I carry you over the wall? I'm strong enough in this form to aid in the fight as well."

"Fluttershy, I'm not sure if that is a good idea," Winslow attempted to discourage her, but he knew how steadfast she was. She may have appeared timid at times, but when it came down to it, she was the most determined pony Winslow had ever met. "But if you insist that we must fight Amon, I cannot ignore your request..."

"How do you know he's in the town square, Fluttershy? Won't he try to stop the charge to the gates with his friends?" Spike wondered.

"No, he'll stay. He's waiting for me. I can just feel it..." Fluttershy felt her heart beat as one with Amon, who she could tell was kneeling at the fountain in Mystwood Square.

"Seems awful sketchy if you ask me, Fluttershy..." Draven added as he fastened his feathered hat, hearing the roar of the troops intensify; their assault was going to begin. Draven tapped Twilight and Spike on the shoulder. "But it looks like there's no time to debate! C'mon! We got to get back to the others!"

"Fluttershy and I shall stay here until we see you storm the town," Winslow said as he drew his saber. "Fluttershy, are you certain you can carry me in your current state?"

"Yes," Fluttershy outstretched her wings, readying them for the flight.

"Farewell then, you two. We'll see you after the bout," Draven waved goodbye as he took Spike and Twilight back to the hillside.

"Good luck, Fluttershy!" Twilight shouted back to her friend as she waved with Spike and Draven.

"Good luck, Twilight..." Fluttershy muttered under her breath. "I hope you find what you're looking for as well."

Draven, Spike, and Twilight butted through the hundreds of troops that gathered around Luna and Pisces until they reached the front, where the other main members of the fighting force were. Dross nudged Twilight as she stood beside him.

"Hey, what happened there?" Dross asked his partner.

"Nothing, I was just tending to a Fluttershy is all. She's... just a little scared," Twilight half-lied.

"Well, I hope she gets better..." Dross said as she crossed his arms. "We're about to take off."

Around twelve ramps were propped up against the hillside to allow troops to easily climb the steep drop-off. The army grew eager as vampires poured out of the hole in the wall, and Luna raised her hand high to give the signal. Pisces twirled his trident once and coated it with a layer of blue Dragon Skin, strengthening the weapon to be almost unbreakable; it had certainly been a long time since Pisces had been in a real bout with his marines, and a spark was rekindled in his eyes once more as he turned to face the enemy atop the hill. Luna's hand suddenly dropped, and the troops all lined up behind each ramp in an orderly fashion. She hovered in the air for a moment as the first wave of vampires were approaching fast, then she thrust her saber forward, and the troops began to run up the hillside and onto the battlefield.

"Charge!" Luna bellowed as she and Pisces led the assault.

"Um, 'charge'! I guess!" Spike shouted in confusion as he sprinted after Draven with blazing fists. "I think I was being a bit of a whiner when I said I didn't like my old job! I didn't ask for this!"

Author's Notes:

Well, looks like the battle is a' startin'! As always, I hope you enjoyed! See you in the next chapter!