52. Medusa

BARDO, THE UNDERWORLD

Medusa, Euryale, and Stheno had been given roomy quarters in Hades' palace. Medusa was still in wonder that everything and everyone in Hades' realm seemed to be Gorgon-proofed; not only had she not petrified anyone by gaze alone, but her room actually contained mirrors in which she could see herself. She was a little surprised, actually. She hadn't expected herself to be beautiful.

Stheno obviously had; from her room, at almost hourly increments, cries of "Wow, I am HOT!" and "Ooooh, bea-U-tiful!" were heard. After this had gone on for a while, Euryale had eventually pounded on the wall loudly and yelled, "SHUT UP!"

That day, Medusa awoke to find a note attached to the mirror. It was written on grayish parchment that seemed to be actively smoking at the edges, and when Medusa took the parchment in her hand, it smelled faintly of brimstone.

"See you in the throne room! –H." the notice read simply.

Medusa left her room to find Euryale and Stheno exiting at the same time. "All RIGHT!" Stheno cried, nearly leaping with joy. "Hades wants US for a real mission!"

"You are way too happy about this," Euryale grumped.

The trio made their way into the throne room to find Hades there, standing over the table that served as his world map, moving pieces around. "Ladies!" he greeted, spreading his arms to welcome the sisters. "So who's ready for the first day out on the job?"

"I AM!" Stheno cried.

"Way, WAY too happy," Euryale scoffed.

"Now that the golden apples have had some time to, how to put it, fester," Hades explained, "the timing is PERFECT for you to swoop in and destroy something. NOBODY is going to be prepared for you. Well, almost nobody. I'll brief you on the details in a minute. First things first, let's take a look at the basic assignment. C'mere. Check out the map."

The sisters gingerly strode toward the map table. They noticed that three small figurines, the size of chess pieces, had been placed over Thrace. Each bore the miniature likeness of one of the sisters.

"Thrace," Hades said. "Lovely port kingdom. Infamously insufferable royal family. And home to a brand-new tree of golden apples! The perfect target for you ladies to wreak some HAVOC."

"I always wanted a little seaside vacation," Stheno mused.

"We live on an ISLAND!" Euryale snapped.

"We're in," Stheno told Hades.

"Now, Fury, I knew I could count on you!" Hades replied happily. "Euryale? Medusa?"

"I guess," Euryale huffed.

Medusa just nodded.

"Perfect," Hades said. "Now, there's bad news and good news. For the sake of ripping off the proverbial bandage, I'm gonna give you the bad news first. Take a look around the area of Sparta."

There, several chess-piece-like sculptures were set up, depicting five humans (or at least humanoids), one satyr, one winged humanoid, six Kentaurides, and one winged horse. "Over at Olympus, there's been some gossip. Ares has been blowing his top over the fact that some hero wannabes have come into town. Turns out, three of these wannabes ain't wannabes. Observe: the old thorn in my side known as Jerk-ules, one of Palutena's court, and one of the Hesperides. The others are mostly just companions of theirs. Civilians. No big deal. BUT."

Medusa had flinched upon hearing that Hercules was also on the playing field. Then it occurred to her just who the member of Palutena's court might be.

"These Kentaurides," Hades went on. "They might pose a little bit of a problem for us, if you know what I'm saying. They got near tree number one, and BOOM, suddenly, the apples of discord stop, well, discord-ing. Now, you're probably thinking, 'Hey, that's impossible by most of the laws of physics and magic.' And you'd be right. Which leads me to think we are unfortunately dealing with something I thought the universe had gotten RID of. There is a small chance that these six have a certain unexplainable magical power called the Elements of Harmony. If they do, your job is to get them and get them SOON, or we're going to be losing all our trees. Get the picture?"

"You seem to be taking this incredibly well," Euryale pointed out.

"Yeah, well," Hades admitted, "I learned about this a few hours ago when I had the room to myself. I had time to work out my feelings." His eyes flicked up to the wall behind the Gorgons. The sisters turned to look at the direction from which they'd come. The entire wall was scorched and still smoking.

"Anyway," Hades continued, "the GOOD news is, I'm giving you ladies an upgrade. That stone vision of yours is really useful, but it's kind of messy, don't ya think? You can't even look in mirrors aboveground. And there's NO control over the range you can get with it. To counter this problem, I've come up with some handy and fashionable devices. PAIN! PANIC! BRING 'EM IN!"

"You got it, boss!" Pain said, entering the room along with Panic; each imp held up a side of a pillow upon which three bronze bracelets forged in the shape of snakes lay.

"Now, I'm no Hephaestus," Hades went on, "but I was able to put these together on fairly short notice, and I don't think they look half bad. They're one of a kind designer pieces straight from the Underworld! You three are gonna make all the other girls jealous! But that's not even getting into what they're going to allow you to do on the magical side of things. Go on. Put 'em on."

Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa reached out, each taking a bracelet and sliding it onto her upper arm. The bracelets glowed briefly as they settled into place.

"Those bracelets give your stone vision an on/off switch," Hades explained. "Pick your target, take aim, and fire. Nothing else gets turned to stone unless you want it. No more of those pesky accidental petrifications from mirrors! That is, unless somebody puts one in your way while you're activating the stone power, but the odds of that are pretty low. You can also do a little more with the snakes. Fury. Give us a demo."

"Hmm…" Stheno discovered that she could extend the snakes upon her head at will; they spaced themselves out to prop their mistress up, holding her aloft in the air. "YES!" Stheno cried.

"And finally, there's a mind control enchantment installed so you can make your own mortal army, but that's one you'll have to test in the field. Now go kick some hero butt!" Hades commanded.

"WOO HOO!" Fury dropped to the floor and took off running. Euryale rolled her eyes and followed.

"Hey, Medusa," Hades said, "is it just me, or are you feeling less than stoked about this mission?"

"It's complicated," Medusa admitted.

"Ohhh, that's right," Hades went on. "You and Hercules were buddies back in the day. And you're technically only doing what I say because of our contract. I get it. Your heart's not in it. Fine. Perfectly fine. Oh, but there is that thing…you ever seen the Aegis?"

"Athena's shield?" Medusa asked.

"That's the one!" Hades confirmed. "You ever get up close and personal with it, you look into it and tell me what you see. In the meantime, I'm gonna leave you with some words of wisdom. History repeats itself. You really think you're the first Gorgon named Medusa to deal with the Olympians? Of course you do. You're a sheltered kid. It would take me WAY too long to explain how this works, but this isn't the first time you've done something like this. And the other time, you ended up not so much as alive as you happen to be now. That bracelet won't go nearly as well with your eyes if you don't have a head! So if you want to take your chances and get to your inevitable doom faster, be my guest."

"I don't understand a word you're saying!" Medusa snapped.

"What I'm saying," Hades threatened, "is that if you make me angry, you get a one-way trip back here on Charon's boat." He made a slicing motion across his throat. "Get the picture?"

"Yes," Medusa said with a nod. She then turned and left the throne room, following Stheno and Euryale's footsteps.

"Follow 'em," Hades commanded Pain and Panic as soon as she was gone. "Make sure Medusa in particular doesn't let me down. Bring me back a report. And pay attention to those Kentaurides."

"Right!" Pain said, saluting.

"YES!" Panic added enthusiastically. "Of course, your royal morbidness! Well, Pain, time's a-wasting!" He grabbed the arm of his partner in crime and practically dragged him after Medusa.

"Are you just excited to get up to the mortal world so you can find Cassandra again?" Pain accused once they were out of Hades' earshot.

"Well, after the outcome of Thrace, we don't have to come back RIGHT away…" Panic pointed out.

"Man, if you get us in trouble, I am so not covering for you," Pain sighed.


THRACE, OLYMPIC GREECE

The wagon had ridden all night, and its passengers had slept there. In the daytime, as it progressed to the beautiful seaside kingdom of Thrace, Hercules regaled his companions with stories of Adonis' shortcomings and slightly evil deeds.

"Then he moved the volcano project just enough off center that the lava melted my world map!" Hercules concluded. "I got an incomplete for the day, and Adonis just laughed it off!"

"Please tell me this guy got payback," Rainbow Dash groaned.

"Well, when he cheated on Helen with Circe, she did turn him into a peacock and give us the power to change him back when we wanted," Hercules recalled. "And we didn't want to for a LONG time."

"Meg, are you quite all right?" Rarity asked.

"Yeah," Meg said quickly, clearing her throat. "Just…Circe, y'know. Pretty infamous maneater. Probably deserved Adonis, actually."

"I'd agree to that," Hercules mused. "She REALLY knew how to hold a grudge!"

The wagon finally pulled up to the gates of Thrace. "Now, everyone be careful," Phil said. "The Gorgons might already be running mad in there, so don't be off your guard."

"I shall not." Zoë removed her bronze hair clip; in her hand, it glowed, then lengthened into the shape of a broadsword.

"WHOA!" Rainbow Dash was taken aback. "Awesome!"

Pegasus let out a whinny, signaling to the other two horses that the wagon stop until the gates – gilded double doors set in a great wall – were opened. After patient waiting, the passengers realized the gates weren't moving.

"Helloooooo!" Phil called out. "Anybody there!"

"Um…" Fluttershy squeaked, "I…found the guards…"

She pointed to either side of the gate. Two statues of fully armored Thracian soldiers stood there. It was rather clear they hadn't been carved.

"MEDUSA!" Pit cried, drawing his golden blades. "Let's get this over with!"

He leapt out of the wagon, and all the others followed him, weapons drawn. Hercules shoved the gates open, and they walked as one into Thrace, where a cacophony awaited them. Civilians ran screaming through the streets, knocking over white statues left and right.

"They're here, all right," Cassandra pointed out.

"But where ARE they?" Twilight asked.

"Up here, idiots!" a female voice called.

"DON'T LOOK!" Phil cried. Hercules, Pit, Zoë, Meg, Cassandra, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pegasus all quickly turned their heads away from the sound of the voice. Icarus instinctively swiveled to look at who'd spoken, but Pinkie Pie grabbed his head and turned his gaze away.

"Awww, that's cute," the voice continued. "Too bad we don't work that way anymore! LADIES! FIRE!"

Stheno pointed downward, and she, Medusa, and Euryale aimed their gazes. Their power channeled from their eyes as beams of golden light, striking three targets.

Fluttershy shrieked; the sound echoed against the sky. Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie had all been hit by the beams, and their bodies changed from warm, living flesh to cold stone then and there.

"How'd they DO that?" Pit yelled, forgetting for a moment how he was supposed to face Gorgons and turning to literally face them. "Hey. Wait. I'm not stone."

"That's because we got an upgrade from Hades!" Stheno replied. "Now, we don't turn people into stone by eye contact!"

By this time, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Icarus, Cassandra, Pegasus, Zoë, Meg, and eventually Phil and Hercules looked up to see if it was true. They faced the trio of sisters, who stood upon a nearby rooftop, and beheld them in all their glory.

"We can turn people into stone whenever we want now," Stheno went on. "Like THIS!"

There was another blaze of light, and Cassandra was petrified before she could even say "Shoulda seen that one coming."

Stheno laughed raucously. "Now get 'em, girls!"

"RUN!" Twilight yelled, and the group hastened, running down the street into downtown Thrace. All but one.

When he realized who was missing, Hercules glanced backward and yelled, "ICARUS, NO!"

"HOW DARE YOU ATTACK MY POOR, DEFENSELESS CASSANDRA!" Icarus screamed, charging toward the Gorgons. "I SWEAR, I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT IF IT'S THE LAST THING I – "

A flash. Frozen in midstep, the marble statue of Icarus clattered to the ground.

"Too easy," Stheno remarked. She watched the others run into the streets, getting themselves lost out of sight among the buildings.

"Well, we got rid of three of the Kentaurides," Euryale pointed out.

"So let's go get the rest of them!" Stheno urged.

"Why?" Euryale asked. "We already saved the tree. Hercules is the only other important one."

"But imagine Hades' face when we present the complete set to him!" Stheno argued. "Besides, I haven't tried out the full powers of this new bracelet yet!"

Euryale rolled her eyes, and it was safe to say every snake on her head did the same. "Fine. We'll go after them."

"We should split up," Medusa suggested, not wanting to be completely silent in making decisions. She knew Hades would have eyes in the city. "Should we take a sledgehammer to the others first?"

"And have only unrecognizable stone chunks to prove to Hades what we did?" Stheno stuck her tongue out. "No way!" She reached out with the tendrils that were the snakes on her head, making them into stilts, leaping to the next rooftop. "I'm going up the center! Euryale, to the East, and Medusa, to the West!"

Euryale and Medusa met eyes. They shrugged. Then they too elongated their snakes into stilts, following Stheno's orders.

As soon as they were gone, Pain and Panic, donning the guises of humans, tread out into the deserted street from a side alley. "Can you BELIEVE her?" Panic fumed. "She didn't have to go and DO that!"

"Please tell me you're not – " Pain began.

But Panic had already grasped the Cassandra statue around the waist, lifting her. "Will you just help me get her somewhere safe?"

"Oh, fine…" Pain crouched to pick up Cassandra's feet. Panic took her shoulders, and the two moved her inside a nearby house. When she was set up safely in the kitchen, Panic began to shove furniture in front of the door.

"Let's see Medusa get at you with a sledgehammer through THIS…" he muttered.

"Now can we just go and watch 'em?" Pain asked.

"Yes," Panic agreed. "We will go WATCH the Gorgons finish the others off."

They separated, having agreed to survey different parts of Thrace.


Around a corner, in a side street, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Hercules, Phil, Pit, Zoë, Meg, and Pegasus gathered.

"I can't believe it," Hercules said, staring straight ahead at nothing. "Icarus…"

"I TOLD you Medusa was evil!" Pit insisted.

"But why…" Hercules murmured.

"Okay, obviously, the regular approach is not gonna work here," Phil stated.

"There's a 'regular approach'?" Meg replied.

"Team strategist," Phil said, pointing at Twilight. "Whatcha got?"

"EXCUSE ME?" Twilight shouted. "I CAN'T JUST COME UP WITH A PLAN ON COMMAND, YOU KNOW! I NEED TIME TO THINK ABOUT IT!" She took a moment, breathed in, breathed out, collected her thoughts. "However…I did come up with a contingency plan on the ride up here just in case. I was hoping we'd have…more people…but anyway. I knew the Gorgons would be petrifying people, and we'd need a cure for that. Luckily, back in Potions class, I read ahead. Please, PLEASE tell me there are Mandrakes on this world."

"Oy…" Phil rubbed his temples. "Don't know what Demeter was thinking when she came up with THAT one…"

"So they do!" Twilight cried. "Perfect! All I need is to get ahold of some, and I can make a counterspell for the petrification!"

"I thought that draught took a lot of time to make," Rainbow Dash broke in. "What? I heard Hermione complaining about memorizing it for the N.E.W.T.!"

"I can speed it up," Twilight said, tapping her amulet meaningfully. Before Rainbow Dash could protest, Twilight went on. "We need to split into four groups. That gives us the best chance so that multiple people can take on each Gorgon sister, but at any given time, only three groups can be occupied by Gorgons and one can reach…wherever Mandrakes are kept and the potion can be made. Where's the safest place in Thrace?"

"One place you're gonna find Mandrakes in storage AND safe haven," Phil said, pointing up towards the shore.

All eyes looked up to see the Thracian palace, glittering white in the early morning sun, situated on its hill so it was visible above all rooftops.

"If Pinkie Pie were here," Rainbow Dash lamented, "she'd have come up with some weird adjective that isn't even a real word to describe it by now."

"Does 'glitterlicious' work?" Fluttershy offered. "I know it isn't the same, coming from me…"

"It's fine," Twilight assured her. "Okay, so we break into four and head for the palace. I'm thinking…well…" She shrugged. "Who wants to pair up?"

"I'm takin' Dash," Phil said. "Kid, I'm countin' on ya to pull through on this mission."

"Oh, you can count on me, all right," Rainbow Dash insisted.

"I say Herc comes with me," Pit stated. "So he doesn't go soft on Medusa."

"Or I can prove to you she isn't what you think," Hercules retorted. "Pegasus, you're with me."

Pegasus nodded dutifully, glaring daggers at Pit.

"I will defend Fluttershy," Zoë volunteered.

"Thank you," Fluttershy replied. "I'll try my best to protect you too."

"Leaves you and me," Meg told Twilight.

"Good," Twilight said. She began pointing. "Phil, Rainbow Dash, you take that direction. Fluttershy, Zoë, try and get in from that direction. Pit, Hercules, go in from the air that way. And Meg, you come with me this way. Everypony clear?"

"CLEAR!" was the cry that rang from the entire group.

"Then let's GO!" Twilight cried.

They split up and began to run.


"If we run into a Gorgon," Zoë said to Fluttershy as they ran up the east road, "leave her to me. I can defeat her with no trouble."

"Oh, really?" Euryale appeared as though she had teleported, leaping down onto the road in front of the pair. Fluttershy shrieked in terror.

"DO NOT TEST ME!" Zoë cried, drawing her bronze sword and lashing out at Euryale with it.

Euryale ducked the sword, eyes glowing threateningly. Fluttershy stepped back, trying to shrink into the shadows, as she watched Zoë strike again and again. Euryale danced around the blade each time, her eyes bursting with light that Zoë found herself having to leap away to dodge.

"You know what?" Euryale said, grasping her bracelet. "You're good. Too good for stone." The light in her eyes took on an entirely new color; Fluttershy couldn't put a name on it – it still seemed like white light – but it was different all the same.

They kept dancing – Zoë slashing out, Euryale sending out burst after burst of light – until Zoë's left ankle hit the ground just wrong and she faltered, one knee hitting the ground. Euryale's light engulfed her.

Fluttershy screamed.

Slowly, Zoë got to her feet, rubbing her eyes with her hands. "Zoë!" Fluttershy cried. "You're okay – "

Zoë turned to face Fluttershy. It was instantly apparent that her eyes – iris, white, and pupil blended together – had changed to a bright red glow. "DIE," she growled, raising her blade and charging Fluttershy.

"MUCH better than stone," Euryale remarked.

With a scream, Fluttershy summoned her katana, and its blade clashed with Zoë's. Zoë kept pushing against the metal, hoping to overcome Fluttershy or her weapon, growling ferally.

"Please, Zoë, no!" Fluttershy begged. "This isn't you!"

"She can't hear you," Euryale taunted.

Fluttershy steeled herself for what she was about to do, then, with much force and great regret, she kicked Zoë in the stomach with her front hooves. Zoë was pushed away, stumbling before she regained balance. Fluttershy rushed forward, and the two blades clashed again. With a sidestep, Fluttershy caused Zoë to stumble yet again, and this time she lashed out with the katana, passing its energy drain over Zoë. Zoë turned to strike again, but Fluttershy was ready, hitting the ground and striking from below. When Fluttershy stood, Zoë had staggered forward, allowing a clear shot at her back. After the third strike, Zoë was sufficiently weak to the point of being unable to lift the bronze sword.

Fluttershy then stormed towards Euryale. "Change her back!" she demanded. "NOW!"

Euryale opened her mouth to protest.

Fluttershy STARED.

"Oh my gods," Euryale cried, "that's terrifying!"

As Euryale was temporarily stymied, Fluttershy, taking a guess based on her observation and holding her breath that she was right, sliced the bracelet in half with her katana. The bronze clattered to the ground.

"NO!" Euryale quickly covered her face with her hands.

Zoë blinked. "Fluttershy! What did you do?"

"I think I destroyed her power source," Fluttershy said, a little stunned herself.

"Then she can be destroyed by her reflection!" Zoë held her blade up before her eyes, and Fluttershy did the same.

"I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING! I'M NOT GOING TO LOOK! AAAAGH!" Euryale scooped up the broken bracelet pieces from the ground, then ran away in a rage. "YOU BLINDED ME! YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT!"

"I'm sorry I had to fight you," Fluttershy told Zoë. "You'll feel better if you wait it out. You can lean on me. I'll help you get to the palace."

She approached Zoë, putting her arm around the Hesperide; Zoë slung an arm over Fluttershy's shoulder and the two walked. "Thou wert brave," Zoë admitted. "I do not fault thee for fighting me."

"It still felt wrong to fight a friend."

"But I was under Euryale's control! That is a remarkable weapon, come to think of it. How does it work?"

"Well, I got it from a strange place. It's connected to my soul, in a way," Fluttershy explained.

"I want to thank thee," Zoë said, "for breaking Euryale's hold. And I apologize for assuming thou needed protection. Thou art quite strong when the time comes. And was I mistaken, or didst thou cause Euryale to hesitate by staring at her?"

"It's kind of a talent I have," Fluttershy said. "I once made a cockatrice stop by giving it the stare. And cockatrices and Gorgons both turn things to stone, so I figured it couldn't be too different!"

Euryale staggered around a corner until she heard a male voice address her: "Wow, Euryale, you're not lookin' so good!"

"Pain," Euryale groaned. She held out the bracelet fragments. "Can you fix this?"

"Yeah, but it'll take me a day."

"Then take me back to the Underworld!"

"Sorry, Euryale. No can do. I've gotta watch your sisters and make sure they do their best for Hades."

"Fine!" Euryale contemplated opening her eyes and petrifying Pain, but she ultimately decided it wasn't worth it. She pushed past him, relying on her memory of the streets and her sense of direction to get her to the center. Who she needed was Stheno.

Pain shrugged and went on his way.


A throng of people with red eyes crowded in front of the palace gates. Each bore a knife or bared fists. "DIE IN THE NAME OF STHENO!" they shouted as a collective.

Meg turned to Twilight. "Well?" she asked. "You got anything?"

"Yeah…" Twilight murmured, "I got this." She drew her wand. "STUPEFY! STUPEFY!"

The people dropped, unconscious. When a few of their number was down, the rest charged as a collective; Twilight traded her wand for her staff and summoned a wall of flame between them and herself and Meg. "RUN!" she cried, darting straight toward the flames.

"Right at the FIRE?" Meg replied.

"TRUST ME!" Twilight called back, and Meg followed.

Twilight arranged the flames so that they encircled the pair, following them as they ran. The red-eyed minions backed away from the flames, unable to touch the two. Twilight and Meg reached the gates, a semicircle of flame protecting them as they pounded on the closed doors.

"LET US IN!" Twilight yelled. "WE'RE INNOCENTS!"

"WE CAN STOP THIS!" Meg added.

A Thracian guard peered over the top of the palace wall. "Why should I let you in?" he said. "The palace is on lockdown!"

"I can save everyone that turned into stone!" Twilight insisted.

"No one is allowed inside this palace by decree of the king, and that is final!" the guard said before disappearing.

"WHAT?" Twilight cried. "This is NOT happening!"

"Starting to believe in the power of Adonis yet?" Meg asked.

"Yeah," Twilight groaned.


Pegasus flew Hercules gracefully over the West part of town, while Pit kept pace. "She's probably going to try a sneak attack," he said, loading an arrow of light into his bow.

"Medusa wouldn't," Hercules said, shaking his head. "She – "

A blast of light hit Pegasus. The stone horse began to plummet.

"NO!" Hercules quickly leapt to the ground, hitting the street first – dislodging a few of the stones with his feet – and catching Pegasus so that he did not shatter. Pit fluttered down next to him.

"Is he okay?" Pit asked worriedly.

"Besides being petrified," Hercules breathed, setting Pegasus down, "he's all right." He looked up, trying to find who had dealt the blow. "MEDUSA! IS THAT YOU? COME OUT WHERE I CAN SEE YOU!"

Faint footsteps were audible then; she slid out of the shadows of the alley like a spectre. She made no move against either warrior. Pit raised his bow, but Hercules put a hand on Pit's arm, forcing him to lower it.

"Medusa," Hercules said, almost pleading.

"Hercules," Medusa replied.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry."

"Why? You're not like this! I know you, Medusa! We were friends! You never wanted to hurt anyone!"

"Things changed," Medusa said sorrowfully.

"WHAT changed?" Hercules begged.

"I told you!" Pit growled. "She's just evil!"

"I'm doing Hades' work now," Medusa said. "It's my only choice, Hercules."

The realization pierced like an arrow. "The contract…" Hercules realized. "You were never freed from it…"

"Your friend knows what I am now," Medusa said. "I tried to attack Palutena. He stopped me and Orcos. And now, with Hades' help, I'm going to destroy Thrace."

"Isn't there another way?" Hercules asked.

Medusa shook her head. "You know what happens when you break a deal with Hades. I…I'm really sorry, but…"

"I know," Hercules said. "I know what happens. I just wish there was a way that…Medusa…Medusa, what are you looking at?"

Her eyes were turned up to the rooftops. Pain watched her from above. He glared. There was no way to escape. She would have to do what she'd been asked or be punished.

Her eyes glowed.

"NO!" Pit leapt between Hercules and Medusa, loosing the arrow from his bow. The light struck him, and when he hit ground, he was stone. Medusa quickly ducked, and the arrow of light grazed her right shoulder.

Hercules drew his sword, and Medusa, hissing, utilized her snakes to propel her upward and onto the rooftops, darting out of sight.

Hercules looked around, feeling wary. He knew she wasn't done with him. "I get it," he said. "I know why you have to do this. I don't blame you, okay? I just want you to know that."

Medusa crept to the edge of the rooftop, looking down at him; he faced away from her. She sprang, eyes glowing.

He heard the sound. He was ready. He spun to meet her, raising his sword to the level of her eyes. The blast was repelled.

Her statue clattered to the ground next to Pit and Pegasus.

"I'm sorry," Hercules told her, his eyes welling up with water. "I'm so sorry."

Then he ran toward the palace.

"Eh," Pain remarked, "she tried." In his mind, she hadn't held back. She obviously felt guilt, but she hadn't let that influence her actions, and Hades would be pleased.

The only one whose performance he hadn't seen was Stheno.


"Okay," Twilight said through gritted teeth. "We're going to have to go up the hard way."

"And what's the hard way?" Meg asked.

"It's not going to be hard for you." Twilight waved her staff, creating a crude stairway out of purple energy. "Go quickly! It won't hold long!"

Meg rushed up the stairs, and Twilight followed. The flames dissipated, and by the time Twilight reached the top of the wall, so had the stairs, forcing her to leap the rest of the way. Wooden ladders for the guards led down the other side of the wall; Meg and Twilight used these to reach ground.

"HEY!" a guard yelled. "The palace is on – "

"Lockdown, yeah, yeah, we know!" Meg grumbled. She and Twilight rushed to the palace doors, forcing them open, running into the atrium.

Servants were in the process of carrying food down the hallway, and Twilight and Meg passed them hurriedly, heading in their direction and knocking more than one bowl of fruit out of their hands. They passed through an archway into an enormous and elaborate throne room, white-walled with golden edging and tapestries on every wall. A golden throne encrusted with jewels of every color glimmered at the far end. Before it, a man paced.

He was tall, well-built, with golden brown skin and hair like sunshine. The tales of his beauty were no lies. He wore robes of pure white with gold embroidery. "Now, I'll just need about thirty pounds more of rations and then I can go underground into the bunker until this whole Gorgon thing blows over." He turned to Twilight and Meg, looking them dead on. "You two! Why aren't you working? Thrace is in a state of emergency, you know!" He then realized he had never employed either of them. "Wait a minute. You're not my servants!"

"Going somewhere, Adonis?" Meg asked.

"Like underground, while the rest of your citizens get petrified or hypnotized by Gorgons?" Twilight added.

"It's not what it looks like!" Adonis said hurriedly, putting up his hands. "I swear! The people depend on me, you see! Without me, there is no Thrace!"

"And there's no Thrace without THE REST OF THRACE!" Twilight growled. "Then again, maybe you're just acting under the influence of those apples…"

"Oh, the apples!" Adonis perked up. "I had almost forgotten. Servant number 23, would you please remember to gather a few of the golden apples of discord for me?"

"AAAAUUUUUGH!" Twilight moaned.

"I feel sorry for whoever got stuck with marrying you," Meg sighed.

"Actually, strangely enough, I'm single," Adonis mused. "I'm not quite sure why. And speaking of which, it's Megara, right?"

"How did you know that?" Meg snapped.

"Oh, don't tell me you've forgotten," Adonis replied. It almost sounded like he was taunting her. "We had our day in the sun when we were younger. But you threw me away. I believe you said I was a 'jerk.' Such harsh words, Meg."

"You DON'T get to call me Meg!" Meg snapped. "Only. My friends. Call me that."

"And we're not friends?" Adonis replied. "Oh, right. You have no friends. You're incapable."

"STOP IT!" Twilight snapped. "Okay, Adonis, I've had just about enough. Whatever your problem is with Meg, stop TORMENTING her about it!" She bit her lip. She wondered if she should ask. She realized it would be wrong. She also realized she needed to do it anyway. "Meg…was he the one who…"

"I don't have any idea what he's talking about," Meg stated sharply. "I've never met him before in my life."

Twilight got a suspicion Meg was lying. But she didn't want to press it. "Okay. Adonis. Give us enough time, and we'll fix it so you don't even have to hide. But you have to help us save your subjects. All we need is any Mandrakes you have in store and enough time to make a potion from them."

"Mandrakes!" Adonis was taken aback. "But I need all those! What if I'm petrified?"

"It only takes a small dose to undo," Twilight explained. "There will be enough for EVERYPONY, including you!"

"I still refuse to give up my precious stores!" Adonis crossed his arms. "And that is final!"

"Well, team strategist?" Meg asked. "Got a plan for this one?"

"Admittedly, I didn't expect this," Twilight moaned.


In the center of the kingdom, the tree sprouted, its golden apples glittering. "Well, now we know where this thing is," Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"And I know where YOU are!" Stheno emerged from her hiding place among the leaves, propping herself up by her snakes.

"Watch out, kid!" Phil cried.

"Already on it!" Rainbow Dash summoned her sword. Anticipating Stheno's blows, she swung it to deflect the light from the Gorgon's eyes; Stheno sidestepped it and tried again. Rainbow Dash deflected the light once more, and Stheno leapt in the other direction, barely missing being hit and petrified.

"That's it!" Stheno leapt at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash sent out a rainbow shockwave, which Stheno vaulted over. Coming down for a landing, Stheno's foot connected with Rainbow Dash's wrist, causing the sword to clatter to the street, away from her reach.

"KID!" Phil cried.

Stheno stood on her own two feet, sending her snakes to wrap around Rainbow Dash, binding her arms and her wings. "Say bye-bye!" Her eyes glowed brightly.

A rock hurtled at her from behind and smacked into the back of her head.

"OW!" Stheno flinched, closing her eyes.

Rainbow Dash took that moment to roll over, causing Stheno to reflexively let go of her. She grabbed her sword from the street, but instead of using it right away, she began to fly circles around Stheno, faster and faster, creating a cyclone of rainbows.

"WHAT?" Stheno screeched. "Stop that!"

Round and round Rainbow Dash went until Stheno saw nothing but spinning colors. Then she broke away from the circular pattern, leaving Stheno's head spinning. It was then that Rainbow Dash swung the sword, and a massive shockwave emitted from its wake.

Stheno was slammed into a nearby wall. She then collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Rainbow Dash bowed.

"NICE!" Phil cheered. "What do we do with her now?"

"She'll be out for a while," Rainbow Dash assured him. "This sword is strong stuff. But we better take her as a prisoner anyway, just in case."

Phil helped Rainbow Dash hoist Stheno onto her back, and the two began walking toward the palace. "Oh, and by the way, thanks for throwing that rock," Rainbow Dash said. "I probably would have been petrified if you hadn't done that."

"Kid, I didn't do that," Phil told her.

"WHAT?"

"I have no idea where that rock came from. I was on the other side of the Gorgon the whole time. It just kinda came flying outta nowhere."

Rainbow Dash looked left, then right. "Huh. Who threw it?"

"Maybe we'll never know."

Panic watched Rainbow Dash and Phil carry their hostage toward the palace. He threw a rock into the air, catching it. "Oh, don't worry, Fury," he muttered maliciously, "I'll still give you a good report to Hades. It wasn't your fault someone threw a rock at you. But this is what happens when we pick on poor defenseless seers…"


"Okay," Twilight said, drawing her wand. "Adonis, I didn't want it to come to this, but you're either going to give me the Mandrakes or I'm going to do something drastic."

"Oh, what are you going to do to me?" Adonis mocked.

Twilight turned to the nearest tapestry. "DIFFINDO!" She flicked her wand, and the tapestry was slashed, rolling to the floor. She turned back to Adonis. "As you can see, I know a spell that cuts things."

"Twilight," Meg hissed, "he isn't worth it."

"I'm not going to hurt him," Twilight reassured her. "Though he probably thinks what I have in mind is worse. Adonis, you have to the count of five to agree with us, or…" She tugged at her hair with her free hand. "I'm going to cut your mane off."

"NO!" Adonis wailed as Meg chuckled. "NOT MY BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL HAIR! ANYTHING BUT THAT!"

"One!" Twilight said, pointing her wand at Adonis' head. "Two!"

"ALL RIGHT! ALL RIGHT!" Adonis broke down. "You're a monster! An absolute monster! I'll help you! Just please! Don't cut my hair!"

Twilight put away her wand. "Very good," she said with a smirk. Then she realized with a shock who she was reminding herself of, and the smirk faded.


When Hercules got to the palace gates, he saw Rainbow Dash and Phil arrive with the captive Stheno from one direction and Fluttershy propping up Zoë arriving from another, incidentally at the same time.

"Where's Pit?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Medusa petrified him," Hercules answered – it was still hard to think about, much less say – "but I reflected her gaze back at her and now she's petrified too. Is that…is that Stheno?"

"Yup!" Rainbow Dash bragged.

"And what happened to you?" Hercules asked Zoë in concern.

"We ran into Euryale," Zoë answered, "but we bested her. It was…a challenge."

"Um," Fluttershy said softly, "you're going to want to…"

"HEY!" Rainbow Dash pounded on the gates. "Let us in! We just got rid of the Gorgon problem!"

Fluttershy tried again: "You might want to listen to…"

The gates were pried open. "You know what?" the guard cried in frustration. "The other Kentauride and the brunette just ran right on in. Why don't we just let EVERYONE ELSE in? Obviously, this job is moot anyway." He glared at Rainbow Dash. "But LEAVE. THE GORGON. OUTSIDE."

"I'm just not sure that's the best – " Fluttershy tried, but Rainbow Dash dumped Stheno onto the ground. Everyone in the area recoiled from her body, making haste to get away from the palace gates, to leave them deserted but for the unconscious Stheno. The guests were then welcomed into the palace walls, the gate shut behind them.

"So what were you trying to say, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"That Euryale's powers came from a bracelet she was wearing," Fluttershy said. "Stheno was wearing the same one. Maybe we should have taken it off her…"

"We have to go back!" Hercules insisted, but by now, more guards thronged them, pointing spears to urge them into the palace.

They were guided this way all the way to the throne room, where a great fire had been lit in the room's center. Meg stirred a green liquid boiling inside a cauldron suspended over it while Twilight barked orders at servants: "And under NO circumstances are you going to go outside and pick those apples for Adonis! When we get our three friends unpetrified, we'll take care of the tree." Twilight then noticed the entrance of Hercules, Rainbow Dash, Phil, Fluttershy, and Zoë. "Hey! How'd you do?"

"The Gorgon threat is pretty much under control," Hercules stated.

"Really?" Adonis asked. He'd been standing in the corner, out of sight, while Twilight and Meg had in a fashion he considered most insane corrupted his throne room into a kitchen for this potion. However, out of protection for his golden hair, he hadn't attempted to stop them. "Well, that's good to know, I suppose."

"I don't even want to deal with you," Hercules sighed.

"We found him trying to sneak into some bunker and hide out until the Gorgons had destroyed everything," Twilight explained.

"That is the cure thou art making?" Zoë asked.

"Yeah," Twilight replied, "but it usually takes a couple days to stew. Luckily, I think I can speed it up."

"Hang on." Rainbow Dash pointed at her. "You're in your Mahou Shoujo clothes."

It was true. She'd changed outfits. "Well," Twilight said, "that's how I plan to fix this. Meg, can I take over?"

"Be my guest." Meg stepped away from the cauldron.

Twilight approached the bubbling green substance, summoning her staff. She plunged the star-tipped end into the liquid, forcing energy through it. The liquid began to boil at twice the speed, and a green glow emanated from it.

"But that's dangerous!" Fluttershy argued.

"Do we have a choice?" Twilight asked. "Just trust me, okay? And in the meantime…how did you defeat the Gorgon sisters anyway?"

"Well…" Hercules began. "It turns out the situation with Medusa is more complicated than I thought…"

Adonis tuned them all out. He didn't want to hear their excruciatingly boring stories. However, he did still want those apples. Perhaps he didn't need to send a servant, now that the Gorgons were out of the way. Of course, that would mean he would have to leave the palace and do something close to manual labor. But at the same time, the mental vision of his own hand plucking the apple from the tree was far too enticing. He couldn't just hand that over to one of his servants!

So he slipped from the throne room. None of the invading "heroes" saw him leave. None of his servants questioned him, and the guards opened the gates wide for him.


"Ugh," Stheno murmured, sitting up and pressing a hand to the side of her head.

"THERE you are!" Euryale's voice called out. "I think, anyway. That's you, right?"

"Yeah," Stheno replied, getting to her feet and facing in the direction from which Euryale's voice came. "Holy Hades, what happened to you?"

"They BROKE my BRACELET!" Euryale seethed, eyes shut tight. "What happened to YOU? It took me FOREVER to find you!"

"Some jerk hit me in the back of the head with a rock when I was about to petrify the rainbow one," Stheno answered. "Then the rainbow one used her weird magic sword on me and now I guess I'm here!"

"Let's hope Medusa did better than us…"

"Sorry, ladies." Pain approached them. "She kinda got turned to stone."

"Did she at least put up a good fight," Stheno asked, "or did she go soft?"

"It's kinda funny," Pain mused, "that you say that, 'cause if she's stone, she can't be soft…"

"NO PUNS," Euryale growled.

"She took out the winged guy and the flying horse," Pain answered. "And Hercules just got lucky."

"Well, at least her mind's finally in the right place," Stheno sighed. "So what do we do now?"

"Get revenge!" Euryale snarled.

"I would," Stheno said, "but my head feels all light." She pointed to the snakes atop her scalp. "And THEIR heads feel all light too. I am NOT up for another rampage right now."

"Then we cut our losses, collect Medusa, return to the Underworld, and have Hades repair us," Euryale decided.

It was then that Adonis rushed out of the palace gates that had been opened for him. He stopped short when he saw the two Gorgons. "No, no, no, this can't be right!" he babbled. "They said you were taken care of!"

"Not quite," Stheno remarked. "Say. You look strong. Think you can escort three defenseless ladies back to the Underworld?"

Before Adonis could answer, he was blasted by light. His eyes filmed over red. "Anything for you, my lieges," he stated.

"Okay, minion," Stheno ordered. "Prop me up on one arm. Euryale, you take my other hand and follow us. Minion, find Medusa and pick her up with your other arm, then carry us back. NOW."

"Right away, my lieges!" Adonis said with a bow. He linked an arm with Stheno, who grasped Euryale's hand, and the three set out. "You coming?" Stheno yelled back at Pain.

"Yeah," he grumbled, traipsing after them. "I guess I am."

"Where's the other one?" Euryale asked. "Has he just been with you this whole time and not said anything? I HATE this blindness!"

"He's…kinda not here," Pain muttered. "He'll catch up."


The potion changed shades, lightening considerably to a rather pleasant light green, before Twilight removed her staff and reverted to her Greek style clothing. "There," she announced. "Done!"

"All right!" Hercules cheered.

"Okay," Twilight said, "I'm going to need everypony's help in taking this around town and putting it on the skin of everyone who was petrified. That will bring them all back to normal."

"You hear that?" Meg grinned. "You're all field medics now!"

"Everypony get a flask or a drinking glass or something," Twilight ordered, "and take some out there!"

She took a goblet from one of the trays the servants had brought in for rations, scooping a good amount of the liquid out of the cauldron. Meg did the same. The others divided up to find carrying containers of the same ilk.

"So you really don't remember anything about Adonis?" Twilight asked.

"As far as I know, I never met him," Meg confirmed.

"And…just out of curiosity, when you were betrayed…"

"I don't talk about that, Sparkle. Nothing against you. Just a personal policy."

"Okay," Twilight resigned, not entirely sure Meg was telling the truth about Adonis.

The others slowly returned, as did most of the servants, also carrying containers. They seemed, Twilight thought, strangely willing to take orders from her. Hercules knew this was because taking orders from anyone but Adonis seemed like a pleasure after enduring his ridiculous demands.

One of the guards rushed into the throne room, out of breath. "Everyone!" he cried. "I have heard word that Adonis left the palace walls, and the Gorgon sisters took control of him and led him away from Thrace, toward the Underworld! He may be as good as dead!"

There was a stunned silence. Then every single servant broke out into raucous cheering.

"Are they that much more glad to be rid of the Gorgons than they are dismayed that their leader has been taken?" Zoë asked.

"No…not exactly," Hercules replied. "I'm pretty sure they haven't even latched onto the fact that the Gorgons are gone."

"But what are we to do with Thrace?" a servant asked. "Adonis had no heir!"

"And he named no regent!" another pointed out.

"Well," a third brought up, "Pericles is doing pretty well with that 'democracy' he's founded in Athens…what if we put the throne to a vote?"

This was met with a chorus of replies.

"I know a teacher in town who could run this kingdom better than Adonis!"

"I know a farmer from the market who's actually a lot smarter than everyone thinks!"

"I want to give it a try!"

"Let's spread the idea and put a voting system in place!"

"Um…" Rainbow Dash stared at the scene unfolding before her. "I guess all's well that…ends well?"

"HEY!" Phil snapped. "You can all get on with your democracy whenever you want, but can we focus on reviving the petrified first?"

"Of course!" One blonde manservant rushed forward, filling a flask with the potion and running out of the room.

"Now that's what I call enthusiasm!" Phil cried. "Now let's go, go, go!"

The others followed the suit of the first volunteer. "Hang on," Meg said to Hercules. "That first servant. Did he look familiar to you?"

"Yeah," Hercules admitted, "but I have no idea where I've seen him before. Or why we would even know a Thracian servant."

"Huh."

On his way out of the palace, carrying the flask, Panic was actually amazed that he'd been able to pass in front of so many without them guessing at his identity. He was practically invisible. That would work in his favor.


BARDO, THE UNDERWORLD

The panther was thinking.

As it turned out, while finding the Beast Within needed to be initiated with a wiping of the mind and a reversion to animal instinct, a successful caster of the spell could slowly bring his or her thoughts back into focus until he or she retained full mental capacity while holding a strong animal form.

"You've done well," Hecate congratulated.

"Thank you," the panther said with a slight bow. Hecate nearly lost it when he smirked. It seemed no matter what body he was in, Mozenrath would always be capable of that.

"Eventually, you're going to be able to cast magic while in that form, or whatever form your true Beast Inside turns out to be," Hecate explained as Mozenrath reverted to humanity. "But we're going to save that for a little later. I wouldn't want you to quit out of boredom, you know."

"It's good to know you have SOME concern in you," Mozenrath sighed.

"Right now, you're not carrying enough weaponry," Hecate pointed out. "Unfortunately, because you need that gauntlet to access greater Hammerspace, teaching you to use it won't be useful enough to give you a backup weapon when you find yourself without that thing."

"I am NEVER without this 'thing,'" Mozenrath snapped.

"And I suppose it was your plan to give it away to the sprites so they could bury it and you could dig it up for a year?" Hecate retorted.

"Mozenrath burned," Xerxes commented.

"I KNOW," Mozenrath hissed.

"Still, when you're in a magic duel, you're going to want to have something extra on hand," Hecate pointed out. "Do I have to explain the concept of Hammerspace to you?"

"No."

"Good. Now, currently, the most powerful darkness wielder in all the multiverse is using her Hammerspace to store the best torture devices known to humanity, iron maiden included."

"Maleficent has all that?"

"Maleficent is NOT the most powerful darkness wielder in all the universe," Hecate pointed out. "Trust me, I've heard about her reaction when you bring that fact up. It's hilarious. Do you see yourself needing to pull an iron maiden in the middle of battle?"

"At the moment, no," Mozenrath admitted, "though I'm sure you're going to force me to take one."

"Actually, we should start simple," Hecate stated. "Guns and swords. And actually, in a multiverse filled with magic, swords are technically more effective than guns, believe it or not."

"I believe it," Mozenrath stated. "Cannon fire can be manipulated by every spell in the book."

"Cannon fire…" Hecate almost laughed. "Your world doesn't know the first thing about guns. But no matter what, you're right. Ballistics are more vulnerable than blades, and blades are more easily enchanted."

"So what are you recommending I carry?"

Hecate clapped her hands twice. A long table covered in cloth appeared. She whipped the white cloth away, revealing the shimmering array upon the table. A gladius. A shamshir. An acinaces. At least seven more varieties of blade, all gleaming bronze with cobalt blue hilts.

"SHINY!" Xerxes cried.

"Celestial bronze," Hecate stated. "A divine standard. Sends most monsters reeling, and you can customize it magically however you want."

"And which one do I get?" Mozenrath asked, trying to keep from looking too happy. Or drooling.

"All of them," Hecate replied.


THRACE, OLYMPIC GREECE

A finger ran across Cassandra's forehead, leaving a trail of green liquid. The potion sank into the marble skin, and slowly, the seer reanimated, shifting from stone into flesh.

"Okay, who moved my statue?" she grumped as soon as she had vocal capacities. Then she turned to face the person who had revived her.

"Uh…hi," Panic said, putting up one hand.

"Hey, I know you," Cassandra stated. "You're that one guy from Delphi. Thanatocrates, right?"

"Yup! That's my name! Don't know why it would be anything else!"

"Did you just unpetrify me?"

"Well…I might've…"

"That's cool." Cassandra nodded. "Got any news on the whole Gorgon situation?"

"Well, I may not know exactly ALL of the details, but everyone on the street is saying that the Gorgons retreated. Say what you want about them, but they do good work…"

"Eh, mass petrification is pretty standard as far as doom goes," Cassandra agreed.

"And also, Thrace MAY have set up a democracy in the absence of Adonis, sho might have gone with them."

"Figures."

"So now we're in the process of healing everyone that was petrified. And, well, I saw you – "

"From outside the house?"

" – through the window, and I remembered you from Delphi, so…here we are."

"Thanks," Cassandra replied. "For, y'know. Unpetrifying me."

"Oh, it was nothing. I mean, I wasn't just going to leave you to a horrible fate."

"What, are you some kind of compulsive do-gooder?"

"Believe me, I'm in no way as much of a…do-gooder…as you're probably thinking right now. Why don't we go outside? See if there's anyone else who needs to be rescued or anything?"

"Sure," Cassandra agreed.

She led the way out of the house. Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Icarus still all stood directly outside it.

"I notice you didn't stop to save the four obvious statues first," Cassandra pointed out.

"Well…I have a perfectly good reason for that…" Panic babbled.

Cassandra raised a hand. "Say no more. Even I'M not looking forward to reanimating him."

"Icarus really is an annoying little brat, isn't he?" Panic snapped.

"You just preached to the Greek chorus," Cassandra agreed. "Let's get this over with. Gimme the potion."

She dripped a little of it on each statue, and soon, all four were back to life. "CASSANDRA!" Icarus cried, jumping on his rescuer and embracing her tightly. "I knew my precious flower would be back to rescue me!"

"Ugh!" Cassandra groaned. "Will you give it a rest?"

"You heard her," Panic growled. "GET. OFF."

"Whoa!" Icarus let go of Cassandra, backing up. "Who's Mr. Cranky?"

"The guy who actually managed to save me while you, I'm assuming, went charging at the Gorgons like an idiot," Cassandra answered. "Actually, name's Thanatocrates. He was one of my last clients at Delphi before this whole road trip."

"Pleased to meet ya," Applejack said with a nod.

"EXCUSE me!" Rarity interrupted. "Haven't we got more important things to focus on? Like the Gorgons, for example!"

"Oh, they're gone," Cassandra informed the others. "Thanatocrates said so."

"The others must have come through and saved us!" Pinkie Pie cried, hopping up and down. She and Icarus then grabbed each other's hands, dancing around in a circle, chanting, "They saved us, they saved us!"

"Thanks again," Cassandra murmured towards Panic. "For telling Icky there to back off."

"No problem. He's really that annoying," Panic replied, voice steely.

"Guess I owe you two now."

"Oh, you don't owe me anything…"

"I'm sorry," Rarity said teasingly, "but am I detecting certain vibes between you and your new friend, Cassandra?"

Icarus dropped Pinkie Pie's hands. "Wait a minute…" He pointed at Panic. "ARE YOU TRYING TO STEAL MY WOMAN?"

"Oh, and I'm assuming she COMPLETELY agreed to be known as your property of her own free will," Panic retorted.

"I'M WATCHING YOU, MISTER!" Icarus roared. "NO FUNNY BUSINESS, OR I'LL – "

"Maaaaybe we should put this discussion aside and go find the others," Applejack suggested.

"LET'S GO!" Pinkie Pie led the group, bounding ahead.

"You should probably come with us," Cassandra told Panic. "Since you have the magic green stuff and all."

"Well…if you insist." By now, Panic was absolutely certain that no one would catch on to his illusion. He walked alongside the others. "So, how'd you end up down here anyway?"

"Long story," Cassandra said.

"Eh, I've got some time…"

"Well, if you wanna know, it started right after you left," Cassandra began.

She didn't mind relating her tale to "Thanatocrates." In fact, she didn't want to let on to the others, but she found him rather cute.


Hercules personally saw to the healing of Pegasus and Pit. Pegasus was still a little shaken, at first; the horse paced back and forth to make sure he still had motor skills. Then, when Pit reached consciousness, Hercules told him, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Pit asked.

"For letting that happen to you, first of all," Hercules said. "I'm supposed to be a hero. I protect people, not let them take the hit for me. I already had that happen to me once, with the worst possible person I could have lost."

"Yeah, well, I'm a hero too," Pit replied, grinning. "Taking the hit for other people is something I do."

"And second, I'm sorry I doubted what you said about Medusa," Hercules continued, his tone growing mournful. "I guess she's – "

"No," Pit insisted. "Don't. I'M the one who should be sorry for doubting your friend. If she had a contract with Hades this entire time, that explains EVERYTHING. Hades is a tough customer. It doesn't matter if you want to be a hero or a villain. He makes you do what he wants you to do. There's probably a lot more to ol' Medusa than I thought!"

Hercules couldn't deny that. "There is."

"I kinda feel bad for her. I mean, I'm still gonna fight her, but, y'know…who knows if her attack on Palutena was something she even wanted to do?" Pit shrugged. "Anyway, just 'cause I have a grudge with her doesn't mean you should hate her. I could tell stuff happened between you two."

"Thanks," Hercules replied. "I know that deep down, she's a good person. She practically said so. I'm not gonna give up on her just yet."

As they made their way back to the group, Pit brought up a different topic: "So what's up with Icarus? I always heard he was smart, but so far, all he's done is suggest…cake catapults…and launch himself at Gorgons. Is he playing or something?"

"Icarus isn't dumb," Hercules defended immediately. "But he is a little…spacey."

"Huh." Pit thought that over.


"Hey!" Twilight called out, rushing toward Icarus, Cassandra, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, and…someone whose name she didn't know, though Icarus seemed to be glaring at him with murder in his eyes. Somewhat growling, too.

"And basically, that's why Sisyphus has my favorite Tartarus punishment," Cassandra had been saying.

"What, you don't like Ixion?" Panic retorted. "He's tied to a giant wheel of fire! How can you not love the wheel of fire?"

"It's just unnecessarily flashy," Cassandra argued. "Pyrotechnics does not a good punishment make. Sisyphus actually has to see his own victory crushed again and again. Makes you wonder why he doesn't just stop rolling the rock in the first place, actually."

"Well, the lesser demons do whip him with barbed wire if he stops. I mean, that's…that's always been my theory."

"New friend?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, I wouldn't say friend yet," Panic said hurriedly. "More just a casual acquaintance who happened to be in the right place at the right time completely coincidentally…"

"Name's Thanatocrates," Cassandra introduced. "He's pretty cool, even if he doesn't know the difference between a good eternal punishment and a flashy one."

"Heyyyy!" Panic whined.

"Don't I know you?" Twilight asked him. "You seem familiar."

"I…do?" Panic didn't even know that Twilight had ever seen him or Pain.

"Yeah!" Twilight realized. "You were the first one of Adonis' servants to grab the potion! You've been a big help to us! Thanks for that!"

"Oh, it was…it was nothing," Panic replied.

"You didn't tell me you worked for Adonis," Cassandra broke in.

"Well…" Panic answered, "you see, the thing is, as much as my boss had me running absolutely RAGGED, I could always find time to get away from him and have time to myself. And believe me, with a boss like mine, I deserve it. He's vain, short-tempered, and just plain scary sometimes! So I get away for as long as I can."

He hadn't lied.

"Actually, I was hoping I could ask Cassandra and Icarus about something," Twilight said. She held out the goblet. "Anyone wanna take this and run ahead to heal the other petrification victims?"

"OOH! OOH! I WILL!" Pinkie grabbed the goblet and hopped excitedly away.

"Careful!" Rarity cried, rushing after her. "Don't spill it!"

Applejack followed suit, and Panic gingerly increased his pace, ready to look for someone to pawn his flask and therefore his healing duty on.

"Is this about that creep that's hanging on Cassandra all the time now?" Icarus began.

"Yeah," Cassandra added, with a glare at Icarus. "Somebody should really do something about the creep that's stalking me."

"This is NOT about that," Twilight insisted. "You guys knew Hercules and Meg when you were younger, right?"

"Well, we knew Hercules," Icarus clarified.

"We only ever saw that Meg chick once," Cassandra added.

"So…" Twilight went on, "was she with Adonis? I know this is completely not my place, but I think he might have been the one that she had the…well, the incident with."

"There was an incident?" Icarus asked.

Twilight realized neither of them knew about the one who'd shattered Meg's trust and heart. "It was no big deal. And please don't tell Meg about any of this. I basically just want to know if they were together. She said she didn't remember him, but he seemed to think something happened between them."

"Actually, they were probably both right," Cassandra pointed out. "Word on the street was Meg was a little con woman back then, and she recruited Hercules in some mission to steal a jar of Lethe water."

"That's the water from the river in the Underworld that makes you forget everything!" Icarus explained.

"I know what Lethe water is," Twilight sighed.

"Anyway," Cassandra finished, "the two of them went running off, and when Hercules came back, it was like he had no idea who we were even talking about when we brought her up. Pretty sure they managed to pull off the Lethe water scheme, then both got drenched in it and lost a bunch of memories. Meg was probably with Adonis back then, and the Lethe made her forget. Whether this was before or after any incident you're talking about, I don't know."

"She does remember the incident," Twilight mused, "but maybe…maybe she doesn't remember WHO that person was! And that's why she won't talk about it! That MUST be it! Thanks, you two!"

"No problem!" Icarus cried. "Always happy to help!"

"You did nothing…" Cassandra sighed.

"You did listen," Twilight told him. "Anyway, we've got to finish up with the statues and get to the tree."


Once rumor reported that there were few statues left, the group reconvened, "Thanatocrates" included, and Rainbow Dash led them all to the tree.

The six Kentaurides cast upon it the power of the Elements, bathing it in rainbow light, transforming its apples. Panic didn't know exactly what had been done to the apples; he just knew it was unsettling.

"Well, I guess this is the part where we move on to the next city," Hercules stated.

"Cassandra?" Twilight asked.

"Already on it." Cassandra inhaled from the mists of Delphi. "A great monster attacks Corinth. He's almost as tall as the sky." When she reverted from her trance, she said, "That's all I got."

"But we know it's Corinth next," Twilight said. "So to Corinth we go!"

"You coming, Thanatocrates?" Cassandra asked Panic.

"Huh? Oh, right, me," Panic replied. "Actually, I'm thinking of taking a personal vacation. You know, I need time for myself and everything…plus, I'm not really the 'hero' type…but maybe I'll see you somewhere around Greece. I mean, Corinth is nice this time of year, and who am I to turn down witnessing a good monster attack? We'll just have to see if it's in the Tapestry of Fate."

"Well…see you around then, maybe," Cassandra told him.

"Bye, Thana…Thora…new friend!" Pinkie cried, waving. Panic took that as his cue to slip away quickly before anyone else on the enemy team could call him "friend."

"Does that guy seem shifty to anyone else?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Something is a little…unsettling about him," Rarity admitted. "But I suppose that's not a crime."

"And there's a monster that's definitely shifty over in Corinth," Applejack pointed out. "I say we get movin'."


BARDO, THE UNDERWORLD

Facilier calculated the numbers for the day. The tally of souls in the Underworld was delivered to him by a variety of magical devices: crystals, spinning rings, self-propelled abacuses connected to quills that wrote on parchment. He relied on them to do his job.

He gathered the records, entering them into a ledger. His eyes skimmed the page.

Something wasn't right.

He checked a device that recorded new arrivals. It had been giving him the same number for days. There was no way the exact same amount of people could be dying every day. A device recording transfers had reported moves from Niflheim to Tartarus increasing by the same integer daily, and moves from the Styx to Valhalla had been decreasing by the same integer daily. That was too much of a coincidence.

Once he noticed the obvious ones, Facilier picked out more and more figures that just couldn't have been right. He glanced around the room at the devices, all humming away. "How long have they not been working…?"

He left in a haste to find the sources that could get him a manual count.


Chapter 52:

· Yeah, I denied you the actual scene of Hades freaking out over the Elements of Harmony. Just couldn't pull it off as well as I could retroactively. Don't worry. You'll get a HUGE tantrum later.

· The bracelets are inspired by American Dragon: Jake Long. Episode "Furious Jealousy." At the time, my memories of the ep were fuzzy, so these aren't exact matches. By the storylet's end, they get bracelets that jive more with ADJL canon. I used this to explain why the stone-sight goes from "anything they look at" to more controlled, and also give them the minion mind control power.

· I imported Mandrakes for the sake of plot device. There seemed to be no un-petrification in any of the canons I'm using for Olympic Greece in general.

· Zoë's sword CAN send the Gorgons to the Underworld immediately. Hence I had to take her out of play.

· I apologize, but Medusa has to play a tragic villain a while longer. She can't really ditch the chains of villainy until post-Kid Icarus: Uprising. (But given how much I love Monster High, you can make a bet that her good side is going to show through eventually…y'know, because Deuce is the son of Medusa and he's a good guy…)

· Referencing the HTAS ep "Aetolian Amphora" here. Meg enlisted Hercules on a mission to help her steal a jar of Lethe water so she could forget she ever went on a date with Adonis, but the jar broke over both of them and they forgot meeting each other. Meg would also have forgotten Adonis. Which, I'm just saying, would leave her susceptible to committing the same mistake twice…

· I SWEAR, THE ADONIS PLOT CAME OUT OF FREAKING NOWHERE. He was just going to be a cameo, and Stheno was going to call up some innocent civilians as minions to take her back to the Underworld, but then I thought…why not spare innocents and get Adonis, in some sense or another, on Team Hades? Because that's where he's going. And in the HTAS ep "Big Show," Hades did mention that Adonis had evil potential…

· That is probably the fastest a government has ever been established. But it not only allows me to reinforce that Adonis is a jerk; it allows me to reference the Age of Pericles and make my choice of having one democratic polis among a bunch of monarchies relevant.

· Beast Within needs to be able to have complete mental faculties, not a blank mind, because I'm using it later to…do a thing. Anyway, now we've indirectly referenced Bayonetta herself. Yes, in canon, Bayonetta can pull iron maidens (and that's not even the most painful torture device she has) out of Hammerspace and throw enemies into them.

· The shamshir is a Persian sword used most commonly in the Mamluk empire. Translation: it's a Mozenrath sword. Now, I realize celestial bronze can't hurt mortals, but most of the enemies Mozenrath would face wouldn't be mortals at all.