Falx trotted quickly along an overgrown gravel path, closely followed by a subordinate unicorn. A sudden sense of trepidation washed over the the old stallion like a cold wave as they approached the site that had been described in Arcana’s notes. The smell of ozone and smoke hung in the air above the charred grass and glassy rock surfaces. The soldier knew a battlefield when he saw one.

“Lieutenant!” Falx barked as he came to a stop near the center of the disturbed landscape.

“S-sir?”

“How long since the last activity here?” the general asked as he began to wander around the scene, looking over as many details as he could take in.

The aqua-blue unicorn’s eyes closed and his horn began to glow softly in the late-morning sunlight. A moment later, the spell faded, and the lieutenant’s eyes opened. “About six hours, sir. Eight at the most.”

Falx looked up from a small area of unburned grass in the middle of the massive scorch mark. “Shouldn’t push your luck like that, Arcana,” he mumbled to himself, turning his head in the direction the blast had been aimed.

Through the strands of grass that had been shielded from the fiery attack, the old stallion spotted a pastel pink hue that stood out from the surroundings of green, brown, and black. He cantered in that direction until he was standing mere inches from the source of the bright color.

“Lieutenant, come here; I found a body!” Falx’s voice bellowed up the path.

Seconds later, the blue unicorn came to a stop next to the general, slightly winded. “A third combatant?”

Without looking up, the old stallion thought back to the dossier on the situation provided by Arcana. “No… Look at her, she’s cut up, beaten, and covered in blood, but there’s nothing on the ground around the body. Someone brought her here in this condition.”

Falx lifted his head to its full, intimidating height and looked to the lieutenant with an iron gaze. “You wait here; an investigation team will join you shortly.”

“Now then... Send me back to the castle,” Falx ordered as he took several steps back from the lieutenant.

“Sir? T-that’s quite a distance; are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Can you do it?”

“Well... Yes, sir. It’s just—”

“I’m well aware of the risks of long-distance teleportation, Lieutenant.”

With a defeated sigh, the lieutenant responded. “Very well, sir. I’m going to try to put you outside the castle, in an open area.”

“Do what you need to do, Lieutenant. Just get me there,” Falx answered back with a hint of annoyance tainting his words.

A dark-blue aura enveloped General Falx, and the teleportation spell took hold, pulling him through the fabric of reality. Even before he fully materialized, he realized there was no ground beneath his hooves. Just as the world finished falling into place around him, the old stallion felt the sudden effect of gravity pulling him to the ground below.

Falx landed hard on his side at the farthest end of the castle gardens. The general quickly reacquainted himself with his surroundings as he pulled himself back onto his hooves. “Close enough, I suppose,” he grumbled and set off at a sprint towards the nearest entrance to the castle.

Celestia looked incredulously towards her sister seated upon the throne to her right. “I am certain I told you that dream-walking into Twilight’s subconscious was absolutely forbidden.”

A huff of air escaped through Luna’s nostrils as she continued to glare daggers towards the pristine, white alicorn beside her. “Yes, I believe you may have. I also believe that I told you I was going to do it anyway.”

“Perhaps, but I do not recall your words being quite so delicate, Sister,” Celestia calmly replied with a smirk. “Now then, since you’re so adamant about blatantly going against my wishes, was it the beginning of a nightmare as you had believed?”

Luna’s posture deflated and her head hung as she mumbled her answer. “No.”

“So, Twilight is fine, then. This is wonderful news.” Celestia squinted an eye towards her sister. “Why do you sound so melancholy about it?”

The dark alicorn slowly lifted her head to look directly at her sister, but paused. Luna’s lip quivered and tears began to pool along the lower edges of her eyes.

Slightly turning her head and raising an eyebrow, Celestia spoke slowly, “What is it Luna? If there’s no nightmare, Twilight should be fine.”

“No. She is far from fine. There is something there. I’m sure of it! The monster hides itself well and claims to be Twilight Sparkle, but that... that thing I saw in the dreamworld was so far removed from the Twilight that I know. It didn’t even speak like Twilight... or look like a pony, for that matter.” Luna's voice drifted off into silence as though she were still trying to comprehend what she had seen.

“What was it, then?”

Luna shook her head. “I do not know. I attempted to exorcise it, but even my most powerful magic was ineffective. The thing felt angry... vengeful, even. There was no other emotion to be felt.”

“But what was it?” Celestia stood and turned to face Luna directly. “This is disturbing news, Luna, but we must know what is wrong with Twilight before we are able to do anything about it.”

“We could...” Luna started, then averted her eyes to the floor, unwilling to continue her thought.

Her sister stood before her, waiting patiently for a scant moment before prodding. “We could what, Luna?”

The princess of the moon hesitated, hoping for a reprieve to which she wouldn’t have to suggest the obvious course of action. Taking the grand magus into custody no more than two days after her appointment would not do well for the images of Twilight, Celestia, or herself.

“We. Could. What?” Celestia repeated forcefully.

Luna sighed deeply and looked up to her sister. “We could have Twili—”

Her words were cut off by the main doors of the throne room slamming against the wall as they were thrown open, and both princesses looked to the source of the disruption.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Luna muttered under her breath.

A pair of stallions, standing guard at the throne room entrance, crisply saluted the approaching silver-armored general. Noting his hasty gait and stone-cold expression, the guards shared a nervous glance between themselves. Holding out a hoof each, the guards reluctantly stopped his advance.

“The princess is currently in council, and is not to be—”

“I am well aware. However, my business far exceeds the petty bitchin’ of a minor lord,” Falx interjected, pushing through the pair and reaching out for the door.

“S-sir! Y-you can’t just go in there!” one of the stallions called out hesitantly, grabbing the older stallion’s shoulder.

Falx looked to the hoof on his shoulder, and then to the guard it belonged to disinterestedly. “Yes. I can.”

“But, Sir! I-i-it’s not wha—”

Throwing the offending appendage off, General Falx threw open the large doors and entered the throne room. The pair of guards, confused as to how they should respond to this sudden development, decided to simply watch as the imposing earth pony walked away from them.

The aging soldier took two steps into the room before coming to a halt. Eyes open wide and a look of utter horror on his face as he felt the blood rushing to his face, General Falx struggled to maintain his composure in light of his obvious breach of protocol. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “P-Princesses, excuse me. I was not expecting you both to be here at this time of day... I-I was—”

“It is quite alright, General Falx,” Luna interrupted with a strong air of relief . “Please, come forward.”

Celestia eyed her sister knowingly as she took her seat once again.

The general’s highly polished, silver armor rattled as he made his way before the dais. He bowed quickly as a matter of formality before addressing the deities seated before him. “Pardon my rude interruption, Princesses, but I have dire news concerning Head Mage Arcana and Grand Magus Twilight Sparkle.” Falx removed Arcana’s envelope from his armor and held it out to Celestia.

Eyeing the package he extended out to her, she hesitated for a moment before taking it in her magic. “What is this?” she asked curiously. “And what’s this business regarding Grand Magus Twilight Sparkle that could not wait?”

“As you know I’m not one to mince words, so I’ll put things bluntly. It would appear the grand magus has gone rogue, delving into illegal research as well as committing a number of other crimes.” He pointed to the envelope in her magic. “Arcana left this for me to deliver to you, in the event that something should happen to him. I think it’s best you look over its contents before we continue this conversation.”

Celestia shook her head in denial. “No. No that can’t be right. Something’s—”

“Please review the contents, Princess,” Falx interjected. “You requested Arcana present evidence should he bring this matter to your attention again. Seeing as he is currently missing, I am doing so for him.”

The princess was at a loss for words in this unexpected situation. She knew the jealously Arcana harbored towards Twilight Sparkle was motive to explain his actions. However, it was another matter entirely seeing the same issue presented by the stallion that stood before her. It had been more than a millennium since the princess felt the weight of foreboding sink this heavily into her soul. Part of her was terrified to open the package she held—terrified of the possibility that the crimes her former student was being accused of might actually be true.

Despite her fears and reluctance, Celestia took her time in opening the envelope and reading the evidence within. A lengthy period of time passed before the princess closed her eyes tight, shaking her head and handing the papers to her sister. Luna eagerly began reading the reports of Head Mage Arcana.

“This is all just circumstantial,” Celestia protested. “This could all be explained by—”

“There was a body, Celestia,” Falx interrupted, taking a seat and folding his forelegs. “I personally investigated the location indicated in his report. What I found was a fresh battlefield, as well as the remains of a young mare. I sent a team to recover the body and continue collecting evidence of exactly what happened there.”

Celestia opened her mouth to argue, but couldn’t form words in light of the information given. Before she could collect herself, the general continued.

“The area had been burned by immensely powerful fire magic. Magic far greater than any single mage could produce, yet each spell was clearly shown to only have one source of origin.” Falx frowned. “There is only one known unicorn capable of pyromantic display of this magnitude.”

“Fireshade...” the princess whispered under her breath, staring to the floor in front of her.

Luna spoke up, setting the stack of papers to the side. “This is much worse than we had anticipated, Sister. Things are already far out of hoof.”

Flax recoiled slightly. “Anticipated? You already knew something was going on?”

“Not exactly, General,” Luna responded. She glanced towards Celestia, hoping that she would take over, but the look of abject shock covering her face told her otherwise. “We had suspected something was amiss with the grand magus, but did not realize to what extent. In fact, we were just about to discuss bringing her in to ask her about it directly.”

Celestia remained silent and still, contemplating what could possibly have gone so wrong.

“Here’s what I think happened,” the gray stallion began. “During his stake out last night, Arcana caught Fireshade in the act of disposing—”

“Stop! Just... stop,” Celestia cried out, almost begging.

Falx narrowed his eyes into a stern gaze. “Open your eyes, Celestia,” he persisted boldly. “The possibility of Arcana’s accusations are very real—too real, even you can see that, and your biased negligence in refusing to investigate the matter in an appropriately swift manner could very well have cost him his life, not to mention that poor mare that I discovered.”

Disheartened, Celestia could only weakly nod at the heavy truth of the general’s words.

“This cannot be ignored any longer. Grand Magus Twilight Sparkle has much to answer for.”

“Bring her directly to me,” Celestia stated quietly, looking up from the floor and directly to Falx. “I want to be the first to speak with her.”

“And if she resists?”

Celestia closed her eyes and let out a slow sigh.

Devoid of any emotion, Luna chose this time to speak up. “Use whatever means are necessary to apprehend her and ensure the safety of your soldiers, but do not harm her. If you are unable to satisfactorily keep within either of these restraints, contact Celestia or myself and we will capture Twilight Sparkle ourselves.”

Falx stood stock still, looking to the princess expectantly.

“Oh yes... Arrest Fireshade, and bring her to us for questioning, as well.”

The stallion needed no more. With a final brisk nod, Falx turned and swiftly made his exit.

A guttural scream resounded off the stone walls of the dungeon labyrinth as the suggestion placed in Arcana’s mind took effect. Unaware of where he was or what he was doing, he proceeded to saw vigorously at his horn with the hacksaw held in hoof.

“Look at him go!” Fireshade beamed in absolute excitement. “It’s like the pain doesn’t even matter to him at all!”

Twilight, however, didn’t share the same enthusiasm as the pyromancer. Instead, cringing at the thought of how much it must hurt to have your horn sawed off. Despite the discomfort caused by watching the display, she now knew for certain that subjugation caused by GL-7685b would not falter even under the most extreme of pain.

“Almost there, buddy! You can do it!” Fireshade laughed, cheering on Arcana as he continued to saw. “Just a little bit more!”

Even under the influence of the drug, it became too much for him to take as he fell backwards, blacking out from the pain.

Fireshade clicked her tongue in obvious disappointment. “Well he almost made it...” Walking up to Arcana’s unconscious figure, she unceremoniously tapped his horn with a forehoof, snapping it off from the remainder of the base. “Well, at least we know this stuff works no matter what happens to the pony.”

Staring blankly at the gruesome scene before her, Twilight slowly nodded in agreement. “Y-yeah, I’ll go make note of it.” She walked out of the cell and into the lab. “More importantly, we need to get ready to leave. With Arcana missing it’s only a matter of time before they start looking for him, and for us.”

Fireshade trotted out after her. “Yeah, you do have a point. I sort of left a bit of a mess back on the mountain, which probably doesn’t help much.”

“I’m going to my room to collect some things before we go,” Twilight declared, turning back to face her companion as she began disconnecting the interface device from her head to place it on the bench and recharge the battery. “I suggest you do the same. We’ll meet back here shortly.”

Fireshade nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

8th year of the Second Diarchy, Day 8, Southern Solstice

Personal Journal, entry 15

I’ve decided it’s time. We need to leave.

With the disappearance of Head Mage Arcana, it’s become far too dangerous to stay in Canterlot any longer. It is only a matter of time before the Royal Guard begins looking for him, and this will undoubtedly lead to a search of the entirety of the castle—and dungeon—for him.

We will be relocating to the Remote Everfree Location, or REL as I’ve come to call it, as of the completion of this entry. It is an extreme distance, but with practice, I have significantly advanced my abilities to use untethered arrays. I believe the equipment, Fireshade, and myself will make it without any problems.

Despite the impending evacuation, today has been quite fruitful in other endeavors. Most notably in the progress of the mechanobiological energy interface device. It turns out Fireshade’s theory was correct. In addition to the severe inefficiency of the dermal contacts, previous test subjects simply didn’t have the mental or magical capacity to handle the interface device. I took a gamble on this and thankfully It proved true.

I’d like to not think about what may have happened if it hadn't.

In addition, I need to make note that the dermal contacts should be looked at. It would appear that they are currently bottlenecking the transfer of energy from device to host, causing severe overheating and burns. In order for the technology to be accessible to ponies that do not desire to go through such intrusive procedures as I did, it is imperative for the dermal transfer mechanism of this device to work. I am afraid that although I have the device working through myself, any further research into improving accessibility to others will have to wait.

More good news: GL-7658b may have reached, dare I say, perfection. The test on Arcana proved true that a pony will push past even enough pain to blackout to uphold the implanted suggestion. This will prove invaluable should we need an individual to take action against their will.

Speaking of will. I am greatly concerned on the progress of GL-7658c. It has proven to be highly addictive in contrast to the other formulas, so much that I worry if the subject can even survive without it. Furthermore, I am unsure if the subjugation will work after a prolonged lapse in treatments. I can only hope that it does, in which case Apple Slice could very well prove to be our greatest success, and asset to date. So in hopes for the best, I plan to leave her behind. Only time will tell if this is successful.

Studies of long-term health and psychological effects of the various GL compounds will be suspended until such a time that we can continue research in a non-clandestine environment.

—If such a time comes.

Fastening the straps on the saddlebag full of valuables, Twilight took one last look about her room to be sure she didn’t forget anything important. A small part of her was sad in having to leave. This room had been her home since she first came to Canterlot almost a year ago.

“Well... I guess that’s everything.” She sighed. “I kinda wish Spike were here, though. I’d like to say goodbye.”

While this is unfortunate, we do not have time to wait nor look for him.

I’m going to leave a note for him.

You seem to forget that we are working under a very tight time restraint.

Crossing the room to her desk, Twilight levitated a pen and paper and began scribing her final farewell to her dragon companion. However before she could put her thoughts to paper, the door to the room suddenly crashed open, startling the mare. Turning to the entry, Twilight found a visibly-winded Spike slamming the door behind him and hastily turning the lock. The young Dragon took a deep breath, locking the door before adjusting the loosened blue sash of the white robe he wore.

“Spike!” Twilight called out him excitedly.

The dragon immediately turned to her, letting out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness you’re here. The whole castle up in arms looking for... you.” Spike paused for a moment, examining Twilight’s face. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Please, Spike, not right now,” Twilight replied curtly before craning her neck back. “Wait, what!? Looking for me?”

Spike nodded. “Yeah. I asked a bunch of the guards, but they wouldn’t give me any details.”

Twilight’s complexion paled at what the dragon’s words entailed.

They already know.

“I thought we had more time,” she murmured.

Spike walked up to her, giving the unicorn a look of concern. “Twilight... just what is going on?”

We need to leave.

Twilight rapidly shook her head. “I don’t have time to explain right now, but... I’m going to have to say goodbye. It’s not safe for me to be here any longer.”

We don’t have time for this. We need to leave, now.

Spike let out an exasperated sigh. “You and Fireshade have been—”

“Oh no...” A sinking feeling welled up in Twilight's stomach as her eyes widened at a sudden realization. “I have to warn Fireshade!”

As Twilight began to prepare a teleportation spell, the walls, ceiling and floor of the room suddenly began to illuminate in a soft glow. Disregarding the changes of the room, Twilight released her magic, only to find she hadn’t moved from the location where she prior stood. Furrowing her brow, she tried the same spell, once again, with more force behind it, only to receive the same result.

We’re in a barrier, teleportation isn’t going to work. We need to punch a hole through it first.

Leaning down and touching her horn to the floor, her complexion only paled further as she probed the barrier. The intricately weaved magical wall was the most complex she had seen since breaking into Section 5. “This is bad! This is really bad!” she said, glancing about the glowing walls of the room.

“What’s going on, Twilight?” Spike asked, trying to open the door several times and failing. “I can’t open the door.”

“It’s a barrier spell, Spike... A very powerful one,” she replied, biting her lip. “It was set to go off the moment I tried to leave this room.”

I don’t know if I can get through this, even if I had the device with me.

We can, it will just take some time. Now get started, we don’t have any time to waste.

A sudden thunderous slam against the room's door followed by frantic yelling caught the pair’s attention.

Spike furrowed his brow before looking to Twilight. “That door isn’t going to hold them for long.”

“I know, I know!” Twilight immediately began to channel her focus on a single point in the barrier. “This isn’t exactly easy.“

“Why not use one of your arrays?” Spike suggested as he ran for the door, bracing against it for the next impending impact. “They can get around barriers, right?”

Twilight’s blood ran cold at his words. “H-How... How do you know about that?”

Spike shrugged. “I was curious about what you’ve been up to these past months, so when you came home late the other night I pretended to be asleep when you hid your journal,” Spike admitted before raising a claw. “Nice hiding spot by the way. Nopony would have ever thought to look there.”

Twilight stumbled to find the right words to say.

It doesn’t matter that he knows right now. He is right, however. A sigil array would be our best option.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Get started!” Spike shouted, bouncing off the door slightly as the door rocked on its hinges once more.

Twilight’s eyes softened. “Why are you helping me, Spike? You’ve read what I’ve been doing, right?”

Spike shook his head. “Look, I have a lot of questions, but those can wait. Right now, we gotta get out of here.”

Twilight nodded as she began to frantically search the room’s desks, tables and cabinets. “I can’t find any chalk!”

“So use something else!” Spike called out, gritting his teeth as he braced against another crash to the door. “You can do that, can't you?”

Twilight nodded. “Y-yeah, I think so.”

Think. Think. Think... What else can I use... Ink!

Running across the room, she rummaged through her desk’s contents once more, managing to collect two half-empty vials of ink. The she bit at her lip as she analyzed the limited contents within.

That’s not going to be nearly enough for a full array. We need something else.

The entirety of the array has to be drawn from the same substance, or it won’t work.

Tossing the ink to the side, Twilight glanced about the room for ideas before cursing under her breath for not keeping her room better stocked with supplies. “We don’t have anything else! At least not enough of any one thing anyway!”

We have no choice then, we have to use ourself.

Use ourself?

Blood. It’s the only substance we have in abundance that’s readily available.

I can’t use blood for something like this!

Why not? What other choices do we have?

Twilight cringed. She was right. There really were no other options at this point. She’d have to trust in herself once again. Frantically trying to think of what she needed to make this idea work, Twilight pranced in place momentarily.

A knife... and something to collect the blood in.

Right.

She hurriedly ran to the kitchen, and pulled open a drawer so fast in her panic that it flew out of it’s place in the cabinet, scattering the contents across the floor. She looked over the mess of scattered utensils, trying to find what she knew to be the sharpest knife she owned. The mage spotted the thin filleting knife amongst the clutter and lifted it in her magic as she turned and pulled open a cabinet.

Spike continued leaning heavily into the heavy wooden door, the pounding still coming at a regular interval. It would only be a matter of time before the guards shattered the thing and came charging into the apartment.

The stress of the situation caused her to sweat, creating a stinging sensation in the back of her neck where her new technology had been implanted. Twilight reached a hoof into the cabinet and produced a small mixing bowl, just the right size to collect the ‘ink’.

Just as Twilight finished collecting the objects needed, a crash echoed from room’s door, followed by a loud splintering sound. She cursed under her breath, running to the bathroom at the far end of the apartment.

We have to begin right away. Open an incision on our foreleg and let the blood collect in the bowl.

Twilight bit her lip, eyeing the knife nervously as she lifted it with her magic. The blade was sharp, but hardly to the level of the preferred surgical instrument. She grit her teeth as she pressed into her left foreleg, letting out a loud hiss of pain as the blade bore into her flesh.

Deeper. That’s not going to produce enough blood fast enough.

Twilight released a pained whine before cutting deeper into the wound and letting out a cry of pain at the burning sensation that quickly followed. Adrenaline began to surge as the warm, viscous liquid seeped out of the mare’s leg. She quickly positioned herself, allowing the blood to flow freely into the bright metal bowl. As soon as she felt that the bowl was sufficiently filled, Twilight pulled down a towel with her magic and wrapped it tightly around her injured limb.

Now focus. Remember the runes and draw them clearly. We don’t know for certain if using blood as a catalyst will effect the spell, so we cannot afford to make any mistakes.

Twilight nodded to herself, levitating a toothbrush from the bathroom vanity and dipping it into the pooling red liquid in the mixing bowl, before beginning her task.

A final crash echoed through the room. Spike stumbled away from the entrance as the remains of the shattered door came crashing down into the room. Two earth ponies and three unicorns, all heavily armored, flooded into the room, lining themselves across the doorway as he positioned himself between the crowd and the bathroom.

A single, aged, silver-armored stallion stepped through the door and moved through the line of guards, stopping several yards before Spike. His voice barked in a commanding tone. “Grand Magus Twilight Sparkle, I hereby place you under arrest for illegal research activities, murder, and conspiracy to commit treason against the crowns,” he stated. “I, General Falx, am to bring you before Celestia immediately.”

Spike let out a condescending laugh. “Yeah right, buddy. Twilight isn’t going anywhere with you.”

Falx huffed. “I see you are behind this conspiracy as well, Sir Spike?”

The dragon shrugged. “I am now,” he answered disinterestedly. “Twilight is my big sister, after all. I trust and support her choices, no matter how questionable they might seem.” He glanced back to the lavender unicorn with a smile. “Because that’s what family does. They stick together.”

Twilight briefly glanced up from her writing as felt her chest tighten and eyes begin to water. “Oh, Spike...”

Falx raised a curious eyebrow. “Even if those choices equate to treason?”

Spike moved to position himself between Twilight and the guards. “I know Twilight. She wouldn’t do something this big without a very good reason. I trust her judgement.”

Falx let out a disappointed huff. “Very well, then. I suppose I have no choice.” He glanced back to the regiment of guards behind him and motioned his head towards Spike. “Seize them, by order of the Royal Equestrian Court.”

The guards responded to the order with silence, exchanging nervous glances between each other and the dragon standing before them. After some time, a single stallion spoke up. “B-but, sir... h-he’s a dragon.”

“And?” the general answered annoyedly, dismissing the soldier’s concern.

“We’ve come prepared to combat a mage, not a dragon, sir,” another answered crisply.

Falx chuckled. “Well, maybe if you colts ask really nicely, the kind dragon will just step aside so that you may battle the mage you came prepared for instead.”

Spike let out a boisterous laugh. “As if.”

“There’s your answer!” Falx shouted, shooting the guards a stern glare. “You are Canterlot’s elite! You’re not going to let one measly dragon come between you and your goal are you? Now, no more excuses!” He turned, unsheathing his sword and levelling it towards Spike.

The guards glanced between one another before nodding, turning to face their opponent and slowly advancing with newfound resolves. Spike smirked at the stallions approaching as he rolled his shoulders, allowing his robe to fall to the floor, revealing biceps almost as thick as the stallions’ heads. Twilight glanced up to the dragon as he popped his neck, her eyes widening.

Taking a clearly-practiced defensive stance, Spike chuckled. “I’ve been waiting for months for an opportunity to really go all out... Sparring only goes so far.”

“Spike!” Twilight called out in worry as the guards drew closer to the dragon.

“I’ll be fine. Just concentrate on finishing the array,” he calmly declared, reaching back and closing the bathroom door behind him.

Moments later, the sounds of combat erupted from the main room, causing the magus to bite to her lip in concern.

We don’t have time to worry about Spike right now. The sooner we finish the array, the sooner we can help him. Now hurry.

Twilight nodded hesitantly to herself before going back to the painstaking process of scribing the runes of the array. Her foreleg stung and felt chill, however she would just have to endure until she could stitch the wound closed back in the lab. Seconds felt like hours as Twilight tried her best to focus on her task and ignore the sounds coming from the other room. She wanted nothing more than to leave the bathroom and assist her little brother. However, it would accomplish nothing if it lead to her to being caught after all she has already been through.

I’ve come too far to be caught now.

Telling that to herself, Twilight intricately etched the final rune into place before scrambling to her hooves. “Spike! I’m finished!” she called out, throwing open the bathroom door with her magic.

She let out an involuntary gasp at what the open door gave witness to. Her once clean, organized room was now a ransacked, bloody scene of absolute chaos. Stallions lay strewn about the floor, unconscious or otherwise, with dented armor and visible wounds littering their bodies. Spatters of blood covered much of the still glowing floor and lower walls of the room.

Across from her, Spike stood defiantly, engaging in combat with the one earth pony guard still standing and General Falx. Covered in cuts and bloody bruises, Spike sneered at the two soldiers and let a loud growl echo from his throat.

“Spike!” Twilight shrieked at the top of her lungs, catching the dragon’s attention.

Falx grit his teeth into a predatory grin at the opening the magus presented in his opponent. Advancing on the dragon with an almost unnatural speed, Falx dashed forward with a wide sweep of his curved blade, connecting cleanly with the dragon’s side.

Spike roared out in pain and arrant rage, taking in a deep breath and exhaling a green inferno onto the aged stallion before him. The remaining guard cried out and jumped back from the magical flames, barely escaping the blaze with his mane and fur on the right side of his head heavily singed.

As the flames died out, Falx stood undeterred in a defensive stance. His sword shined with glowing green runes down the length of the blade for a brief moment, highlighting the general’s crazed smile before the light in the etchings faded. Spike grit his teeth, jumping back before being forced to take a knee from the pain in his side.

Giving his foe no time to recover, the general pushed the advantage over the dragon, advancing once more and jumping into the air to deliver a fatal blow. Twilight’s eyes went wide in sheer horror, a bright magenta glow enveloping her irises. In one swift act, Twilight levitated a sofa from across the room, batting the general out of the air with tremendous force and shattering the piece of furniture in the process.

Falx crashed into the wall on the far side of the room with a hard groan and a clatter of his sword before falling to the floor and slowly rising to his hooves.

He chuckled to himself, wiping a smear of blood from his muzzle. “It’s going to take a helluva’ lot more than a couch to stop me, Magus.”

Turning her attention to her dragon friend, Twilight teleported Spike to her. The weight of the young dragon on her back was overbearing, but the unicorn’s adrenaline-fueled strength allowed her to press on. Returning the bathroom, she immediately closed and locked the door behind her before slowly making for her makeshift sigil array.

Reaching the center of the ring, she turned around to position herself, only to find Falx’s blade cut clean through the thin bathroom door, severing it clear in half. Kicking in the remainder of the obstacle, he proceeded to charge the short distance to the mare.

Falx swung down for a disabling strike. Just as the blow met it’s target, the ring’s radius cascaded into a pillar of blinding light. The overwhelming intensity forced the general to halt his follow-through and shield his eyes from the luminance.

As the light cleared and Falx regained his senses, he found himself now inexplicably alone in the bathroom. Only a black smoldering ring remained where the grand magus stood just moments ago. Along with her sudden disappearance, he noted the top half of his blade had mysteriously vanished as well, the clean cut at the end glowing red hot.

Baffled, the aged stallion critically examined the remainder of his sword and the markings on the floor. “This... can’t be possible...” he murmured to himself before spinning to face the room full of groaning and injured guards slowly pulling themselves up from the floor. “See to the wounded and summon Celestia here at once!” Turning back to the ring, he narrowed his eyes at the remains burnt into the floor. “She has some explaining to do...”

Looking down both directions of the hallway to ensure nopony was watching, Fireshade swiftly exited the dungeon, closing the door behind her. With a cheerful whistle, she set out towards her room. However within minutes she took notice of numerous guards dashing about the corridors of the castle, one group in particular almost bowling her over in their haste.

“Hey! Where’s the damn fire!?” Fireshade yelled back to the stallions before they disappeared around a corner. With an annoyed huff, she resumed her trot home. “Stupid guards and their stupid drills. You’d think that there’d really be an actual emergency with how serious they take their exercises.”

With a shrug, she pushed the thought aside for now. Several minutes later, she turned another corner into the hallway her room resided in. However upon spotting her door, she found three guards standing outside of it talking amongst themselves.

“What’s up?” she called out to the trio, looking to each of them as she approached.

Upon noticing the mare, they quickly glanced between each other before one nodded. “J-just, uhm... taking a break while w-waiting for our next drill to begin,” the same stallion answered nervously.

Fireshade frowned. “Well, could you move? You’re kind of in my way, ya know,” she informed them, gesturing her head to her door.

Another stallion cleared his throat as the group moved aside. “Of course. Sorry about that.”

Fireshade beamed them a tired smile before making her way inside. As soon as the door rattled shut, the guards huddled close together.

“What are we going to do? The mages still aren’t back yet,” the first whispered, glancing to the door. “Should we stop her if she tries to leave?”

The third rapidly shook his head. “Are you insane?” he hissed, grabbing the former’s chestplate. “You’ve both heard the stories, right? That mare’s terrifying! We don’t stand a snowball's chance in Tartarus against her without magic support. She’ll burn us to a crisp!”

The first scratched his chin. “Well, we can’t just let her leave. Falx would kill us himself if he found out we just let her get away.”

The trio paused for a moment before the second spoke up. “So we delay her as much as we can until—” Before he could finish, the door beside them opened, Fireshade stepping out.

Before she could take another step, the three circled around her, the first stallion holding out a hoof. “Sorry, but we’re going to have to ask you to stay inside for a bit.”

Fireshade raised an eyebrow. “How come?”

“An invasion combat drill is about to begin, it’s not safe for civilians to be walking the hallways for the next hour or so,” the third answered, nodding. “It’s a safety precaution.”

The pyromancer flashed the three a smug smile. “Well, then it’s a good thing I am technically military, huh?” She cleared her throat, waving a hoof dismissively. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m kinda in a hurry.”

The third guard bit his lip, matching the mare's side step to pass. “I’m going to have to insist you stay inside. Only those participating in the drill are to be within the hallways.”

Fireshade paused for a moment before a sudden realization clicked in her mind, and her smile quickly faded. “I’m going to have to insist that you three move aside,” she growled, punctuating her demand with an orange glow illuminating from her horn. “Right. Now.”

One guard began trembling and slowly stepping back. The others glanced towards their comrade between them before following his lead. The trio had nearly reached the wall across the hallway before one began yelling. “The Pyromancer is escaping! We need backup now!”

A dark smile lit across Fireshade’s features as she summoned three small orbs of orange flame in front of her. “Nopony’s coming to save you...”

Just as the pyromancer prepared to unleash her attack, numerous shouts directed her attention up the hallway. A large contingent of guards accompanied by a number of mages were rapidly approaching.

Fireshade’s eyes widened as she allowed the fireballs to dissipate. She turned and nearly lost her footing as she took off galloping down the hallway, away from the reinforcements.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!“ she cursed under her breath, glancing back at the slowly gaining mob of ponies behind her as she rounded a corner. “Twilight’s going to kill me!”

Author's Notes:

Fuck yeah. Getting back on track in a big way. Thank you to everyone for sticking it out through the shittiness. Hopefully, we can get this psychosis rolling hard again!

Special shout-outs for this chapter go out to:
Azu, god of story making and author of almost all of this chapter.
Mystery Alabaster... thank you for changing your profile pic back.
Key Tapper... Fun hater, and killer of jokes.
Last, but not least: Alcatraz... I'm so sorry that I'm turning Luna into a crybaby bitch in this story. We'll be sure to fix that later down the road.