6: Examination
Longinus Archway Military Training Facility (Long Arch)
Cranagan, Mid-Childa
Second Week of Training
The sun had yet to cross the horizon, but Caro was already awake.
She was always very quiet in the morning. She didn’t want to disturb Erio or Friedrich; the former was always grumpy when he first got up, while the latter was finally sleeping soundly, so he could wake when he pleased. She carefully slipped out from the sheets of her bed, dragging her pillow along with her. Her bare feet were muffled by the carpet as she went to the window and carefully opened the drapes.
She paused for a moment as she heard Erio and Friedrich stir as the drapes rustled. When nothing came of it, she relaxed and went about her work. She plumped the pillow between her hands, then leaned down and dropped it on the floor. Then she slowly knelt, knees resting on the cottony surface, spine ram-rod straight. She closed her eyes, her hands reaching up to her face and touching her middle and index fingers to either side of her nose. With a practiced motion, she drew her fingers along the underside of each eye, then drew a pair of tear-tracks down her cheeks, not stopping until she touched her jaw-bone. She then crossed her arms before her, hands resting on either bicep and her forearms resting just below her ribcage.
Such an act would have been odd to anybody unfamiliar with Caro or the Lu Lushe tribe, but those who did know were all too aware of the significance of her actions. And so, Caro knelt there, her breathing slow and meditative as she mirrored the stance of the Guardian Dragon of Alzas.
Her eyes slowly opened, and she watched the sun slowly creep over the horizon. She quietly mouthed the prayer that her mother had taught her, whispering it in her mind as dawn broke.
Voltaire, Whose Roar Shakes the Heavens, I pray to you as your flame lights the sky. I pray to you to protect me. Watch over me, your humble servant…
Caro felt a faint stirring and a rising heat inside herself as she recited the words, like a campfire’s ashes being blown away to reveal banked coals. She swallowed nervously, a few beads of sweat trickling down the back of her neck as she fought the urge to quake with fear.
She had drawn the dragon’s attention. He was listening.
He always listened.
She quietly finished the prayer, holding herself steady until she felt Voltaire’s attention turn away from her. Then her shoulders slumped, her breath rushing out as she relaxed. She wiped the sweat from her brow, then quickly ran her fingers through her hair before getting back to her feet. She returned her pillow to its original position on the bed, glancing over at Friedrich’s makeshift nest on the desk before padding out of the room.
Caro blinked at the hallway’s lights, wincing as she made her way down the hall to the bathroom. A small yawn escaped her lips as she pressed the door button, the door sliding open with a hiss as she stepped through.
“Oh, hey. Morning.”
“Eek!” Caro almost jumped out of her skin as she heard the voice, spinning to face whoever was talking. A familiar purple dragon stepped out of the showers, plumes of steam drifting behind him as he rubbed a towel against his cheek.
“O-oh… Spike… Good morning.” Caro exhaled, trying to will her heartbeat to slow down. “What’re you doing up so early?”
“Got tired of ending up with the last of the hot water in the showers, so I figured I’d get up early.” Spike slung the towel across his shoulders as he walked over to the sinks, his toe-claws click-clacking on the floor. “You?”
“Uh…this…this is when I usually wake up.”
“Early riser, eh? That’s cool.” He paused, then looked back at her. “Uh… you okay, Caro?”
Caro blinked. “Wh-why do you ask?”
“You just look pale and sweaty… did you have a bad dream or something?”
Caro shook her head. “No… no bad dreams or anything like that.” She then gestured to the showers. “Um… do you mind-”
“Oh! Sure. Eyes closed, no peeking.” The little dragon turned around and covered his eyes.
“Thank you.” Caro quickly disrobed and stepped into the shower. After the heat she felt from Voltaire, the hot water from the shower was almost tepid.
Her shower didn’t take too long. She quickly stepped out, drying her hair before wrapping the towel around her. The fluffy towel was almost big enough she could’ve used it for a bathrobe.
“Uh,” Spike began uncertainly, his eyes still covered, “are you decent now, Caro?”
“Yes…” Caro walked over to the sinks, picking up her hair brush and running it through her still-damp hair.
Spike dropped his hands, then quickly glanced around. “So, uh… where’s Friedrich? He’s usually with you all the time.”
“He’s still asleep.” Caro tugged the brush, wincing as it caught on her thick pink hair. “I guess he’s finally comfortable with this place.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah… Fried is always super-vigilant whenever we sleep someplace unfamiliar. It usually takes him a while to get settled in.”
“Huh.” Spike frowned, leaning against the sink. “Maybe now he’ll chill out a bit around the rest of us.”
Caro glanced away nervously, causing Spike to straighten up, raising his hands defensively. “I-it’s not like I’m blaming you or anything. I mean, it’s just…”
“It’s alright. Fried’s just… protective, that’s all. I mean, his insulting you aside.” Caro sighed, quickly shaking her head before ruffling a towel through her hair.
“Is it because you’re a ward of the Bureau, whatever that means?”
Caro paused, then looked down, letting the towel hide her face.
“I-I mean,” Spike quickly scrambled, picking up on her expression. “Oh Celestia, I didn’t mean to upset you or anything. Please don’t cry or-”
“It’s okay. And yes, it probably is.” She slipped the towel around her shoulders. “We had to stay at a special Bureau facility on Alzas. It wasn’t fun. We were always separated, and the staff there… they didn’t really trust me. Or my powers.”
“Why? I mean, Friedrich’s kinda powerful, but he’s not exactly terrifying. What, did they think you’d call up something else?”
“Yes.” Caro replied, turning to look directly at Spike.
“Oh…” Spike scratched at one of his ear-fins. “Wow… I’m just being all kinds of insensitive, aren’t I? I’m sorry…”
“It’s okay.” Caro reached over and gently patted Spike on the head. “I have my new family now, and they’re really nice and caring. And now I’m here with all of you, so I can make new friends…”
“So…” Spike smiled at her from under her hand, “are we friends?”
Caro blinked, then giggled. “Sure! I mean… if you want to be.”
“Of course! I mean, it makes sense, right? I’m a dragon. You’re a dragon summoner. It should fit, right? Well… just as long as Friedrich doesn’t get all snooty at me.”
“Well…” Caro pulled her hand back and blushed. “I’ve been talking to him about that…”
Caro paused as the bathroom door hissed open behind her.
“So help me, Subaru,” Teana said as she stepped through, her orange hair a fluffy mess, “if you wake me up like that one more time, I’m…”
Teana stopped mid-sentence and mid-stride, causing Subaru bump into her from behind. “Spike! What in the heck are you doing in here?!”
“Uh…” Spike waved weakly, “morning?”
“What is wrong with you?!” Teana marched toward him intently, circling around Caro. “Being in here with Caro? Alone? Don‘t you have any manners?!”
“Hey!” Spike flailed as Teana pushed him along towards the door. “What’re you doing?! Leggo! I still need to brush my teeth!”
“Then do it later! Boys shouldn’t be in the bathroom with girls! Out, out, OUT!”
“We’re not even the same species!”
“Doesn’t matter! Now get going!”
“Oof! Fine! I’ll just go and meditate or something! See you later Caro!”
Caro just stared as Teana pushed Spike out the door, then pointedly stabbed the door button and hit the lock.
---
“Good morning everyone!”
Twilight smiled as her trainees quickly responded. Despite the rough start, her students were actually starting to work together properly. True, there were still problems she had to iron out, like Teana’s issues and the hostility between Spike and Friedrich. However, all-in-all, she was more than hopeful for their chances.
“First of all,” she announced, “I’d like to congratulate everyone for their work up to this point. Both Stars and Lightning Squads are more than meeting my expectations.”
“However,” she continued, pausing to make sure she had their full attention, “last week was the warm-up. From here on out, things will only get tougher. Consider the kid gloves off, so to speak. There’s no time for personal drama.” She glanced over at Spike and Friedrich. “Nor can you afford to mistrust your teammates.” She then shot a pointed glance at Scootaloo and Teana. “Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” the six replied quickly.
“Good. Now, let’s get to work. Jackets on, everyone!”
There was a flash of light as the trainees engaged their Barrier Jackets, shimmering auras in six different colors lighting up in front of her, then quickly dissolving away to reveal their Barrier Jackets. Erio’s and Caro’s were much like Subaru’s and Teana’s; regular clothing with a simple white coat over it, though Caro’s was closer to a hooded cape than a coat.
“Now, as we covered in the briefing, all six of you will be working together as a whole squad. We’ll be undergoing a mock battle scenario in an urban environment. Consider this to be your first exam, to test all the skills we’ve worked on last week. Now, for safety purposes we‘ll be working under standard one hit, zero lethality guidelines. When you‘re hit, your Devices will deactivate, your telepathy will be jammed and you‘ll be counted as ‘shot down’ until the round is over. This exercise…“ She paused, nodding to Teana. “Yes, Private Lanster?”
“Um… you didn‘t mention who we‘d be fighting, Special Instructor. Who‘re our opponents? More drones?”
“Actually, no.” Twilight replied, her horn glowing as she levitated Raising Heart off her chest. “I wanted that to be a surprise. And it’d be more appropriate to say ‘opponent.’ Singular, not plural.”
The other trainees glanced at each other nervously, while Teana’s expression changed from curiosity to fear. “You mean…”
“Indeed. Raising Heart!”
“STANDBY, READY!”
“Set Up!”
There was a blaze of magenta light as Raising Heart initiated its transformation sequence, forming a barrier around Twilight as it did its work. Chunks of orichalcum and white-enameled metal sprang into being from the ether, rapidly forming into the familiar C-shaped ring and shaft of Raising Heart’s Corona Form. A deep purple body suit spread along Twilight’s skin, covering her from the neck down before segments of light-weight white armor sprang into existence. Feather-like motes of mana spilled out as the plates connected to the undersuit, forming the outer layer of her protective Barrier Jacket. This was followed by gleaming golden boots on each hoof, and a short white skirt with a pink-and-white star pattern around the hem.
“CORONA FORM, READY,” Raising Heart announced as the barrier dissolved away. “BARRIER JACKET ‘RADIANT FORM.’”
“Your opponent for today‘s mock battle,” Twilight said as Raising Heart floated to her side under its own power, “will be me.”
She quirked an eyebrow as she watched a wave of dread wash over the six of them. “Oh relax,” Twilight assured them, “I’m not planning on blasting you into unconsciousness or something like that.”
“Whew,” Spike let out a breath, though Teana and Subaru still looked terrified. Scootaloo looked like she was about to wet herself, while Caro was scooting closer to Erio.
“Now, as I was saying,” Twilight continued as Raising Heart projected a small holographic screen into the air above her, “this exercise consists of a series of nine rounds. Each round will last a total of ten minutes, with a ten minute interval for you six to regroup and recover. In order to pass the round, you’ll need to successfully land an attack on my Barrier Jacket, or survive the duration. If you’re all shot down before then, you fail. Five rounds is the bare minimum I expect if you want to pass, understood?”
“Yes, ma’am.” The six of them seemed much less enthusiastic now.
“Don’t sound so glum. Just remember to rely on each other, and use every resource you can think of. Now, I‘ll give you ten minutes to plan out an initial strategy. Good luck, and I‘ll be seeing you soon!”
And with a cheerful smile, Twilight winked away, reappearing atop a nearby skyscraper where Yuuno and Fate were waiting.
“Well, I see you’re not wasting time,” Yuuno said sardonically from his seat. He peeked over the railing, looking down at the scurrying trainees below. “Throwing them headfirst into the deep end of the pool, eh?”
“They’ll be fine,” Twilight replied. “If they keep their wits about them and work together they should have no problem.”
“Mmm…” Fate grunted under her breath as she eyed the readouts.
Twilight paused, glancing over at the yellow mare. “Something the matter, Fate?”
“I’m not sure I like this, Twilight,” Fate replied. “It‘s worries me.”
“You think there‘s something wrong with the scenario?” Twilight trotted over to her.
“The scenario itself is fine. I’m just concerned that it might be too early to drop the six of them into a pressure-cooker test like this one.” Fate frowned, a bit of sunlight catching on her golden mane as she glanced over at Twilight. “They’ve been working as separate units or in mixed pairs thus far. Putting them up against an opponent like you at this point is… well, to put it likely, I‘m not sure they can handle it..”
“I’m not planning on going all-out on them, Fate,” Twilight objected. “Besides, they need the practice. This should give them a chance to stretch their muscles, so to speak. Besides, if something does go awry we’ve got plenty of safety precautions.”
“It’s not the safety precautions I’m worried about.”
Twilight quirked an eyebrow as Fate turned to face her. “You can’t just fix a friendship problem by just putting their feet to the fire like this. It‘s not going to turn out well.”
“This has nothing to do with a friendship problem, Fate. This is just a training exercise. Need I remind you that this scenario is something you put the Shadowbolts through?”
“And most of my Shadowbolts are career military ponies, some of whom are nearly twice as old as these kids,” Fate replied calmly. “And by the time I put them through something like this, they’ve already been working together for a while.”
“Unfortunately, we don’t have a while, Fate.” Twilight grimaced, her ears folding back. “Look… I know what I’m doing, okay? I know you’re better at this than I am. That’s why you’re here advising me. But please, at least trust me…”
Fate closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, then trotted close and gently nuzzled her cheek “I do trust you, sis. I’m not mad at you… it’s just…” She tossed her head, her braided tail swishing in irritation. “Never mind. We can talk later…”
“If you say so.” Twilight raised her head and rested Raising Heart against her side, “But right now, I need to get ready.”
“Just don’t overdo it, Twilight,” Fate warned. “And pay special attention to Erio and Caro…”
“I know, I know. And Yuuno? Make sure to keep those communication lines open, alright?”
“Right… though do you think they’ll figure it out?”
“I certainly hope so. Otherwise, this’ll be a very unpleasant exercise.”
---
“Okay,” Teana tried desperately to sound calm and ignore the feeling of absolute dread creeping up in her belly as she looked around at her teammates. “Show of hands. Who thinks we can last ten minutes against Twilight Sparkle?”
No hands were raised. Nor were any claws or hooves, for that matter. Erio was fidgeting with his staff, while Caro was gently hugging Friedrich to her chest. Spike was seated cross-legged on the ground, while Scootaloo rolled back and forth on her skates. Subaru was leaning against a nearby concrete pillar, her eyes flicking between Teana and the open airspace.
Morale was low in the parking garage they‘d holed up in, that was for certain.
“Right. Good to know.” Teana began pacing, the sound of her footsteps echoing against the concrete. “Okay. Capabilities. What do we know about our opponent’s capabilities? Spike, Subaru, you two are the resident Twilight Sparkle experts. What can we expect?”
Spike shrugged. “A quick and thorough beat-down is my guess.”
“Not. Helping.” Teana glanced over at Subaru. “So, what can we expect?”
“Uh…” Subaru scratched her head. She looked calm, but Teana could see the tell-tale sheen of sweat on her skin. Subaru was nervous. That was a bad sign. “She probably won’t hit us with Bombardment spells or wreck the area. But aside from that… well.” She began ticking off on her fingers. “She can fly, teleport, use telekinesis, and hit us with a wide variety of attack and binding spells. Plus, she knows more magic than all six of us combined.”
“So, our opponent has superior capabilities compared to ours, greater mobility and range of fire. Right. Okay. We can deal with this.”
“Uh… Tea… your eye’s kinda twitching…”
“Hush, Subaru.” Teana snapped, before taking a seat and rubbing her temples with both hands. She only had a few minutes to formulate a workable strategy to fight their instructor.
Thankfully, she worked well under pressure.
“Okay.” Teana took a deep breath. “We can do this. We can do this…”
“Who’re you trying to convince; us, or yourself?” Scootaloo quirked an eyebrow as Teana glared at her. “What?”
“How about you provide something useful aside from snide remarks, featherhead?”
Scootaloo began to snap back, but paused when Subaru looked at her and quickly shook her head. Scootaloo puffed out her cheeks then hung her head and exhaled. “What’s the plan?”
Teana stamped down on the twinge of jealousy and took a deep breath. “Okay… everyone listen up. There‘s no way I can come up with a proper plan right now, so we‘re going to have to go for general strategies. It‘s pretty clear we won‘t be able to outlast her, so we need to go on the offensive.”
“Erio, Subaru, Scootaloo,” she pointed to each person in turn, “you’re our most mobile fighters. You’re on intercept squad. Keep Twilight busy and hit her from as many angles as you can.”
“Right,” Subaru nodded.
“Roger,” Erio hefted his staff.
“Sure, whatever,” Scootaloo flexed her wings.
“Caro, Spike, you two are with me.” Teana looked at the other two members of Lightning Squad. “Caro, you and Friedrich will provide enhancement and fire support, respectively. Spike, you’re our sentinel. Anything she shoots at us, you block.”
“Right. Just be ready to dodge, though,” Spike replied as he flexed his claws. “Twilight can shoot through defense spells.”
“S-she can?!” Caro squeaked.
“You let me handle that,” Teana drew her Anchor Gun and quickly loaded two cartridges. Including the two she had loaded, she had… twelve shots. Not nearly enough. “Subaru, cartridge count?”
“Revolver Knuckle’s fully loaded, and I have two fast loaders,” Subaru replied quickly. “Eighteen shots total.”
“Right. Try to conserve your cartridges.” Teana clicked her Anchor Gun back into position. “Anyone have anything they’d like to add?”
The other five glanced amongst themselves, then shook their heads.
“Duly noted,” Teana raised her Anchor Gun into position, the barrel pointed upwards and the grip in both hands. The weight of the metal was at least somewhat comforting. “Keep your telepathy lines open at all times. If you have problems, shout. I’ll do my best to keep tabs on everyone. And most importantly, remain aware of your surroundings.”
It was just then that a loud klaxon echoed off the buildings. The six trainees quickly readied their weapons, turning to look out the open sides of the parking garage.
A telepathic message sounded in Teana’s mind. This is Twilight Sparkle to all points. Now commencing round one. Time limit, ten minutes.
Teana slowly stepped backwards, her eyes scanning nervously as her index finger rested on her Anchor Gun’s trigger. She could hear the others shuffling backwards, mixed with the sound of Friedrich’s wing flaps and Subaru and Scootaloo’s grinding skate wheels.
“Everybody ready?” Teana tried not to sound nervous. She wasn’t sure she succeeded.
“No,” Scootaloo answered. “Any idea where she’ll attack from?”
“No clue,” Erio replied. “Shout if you see something…”
They’re right, Teana thought, her grip tightening on her gun. Way too much open space. She could attack from any angle. Dammit…
“Stay calm everyone,” Teana replied, trying to quash her inner monologue. “Stay calm and stay alert… we can do this.”
“R-right… come on everyone, we can do this!” Subaru did her best to sound confident, though Teana could almost hear the grinding of metal as Subaru’s fingers tightened.
And for a few seconds, nothing happened… until Caro let out a shout.
“What‘s that?!”
Teana spun, the paused as she saw a softball-sized ball of pinkish light hovering just outside of the garage. “What the…”
“Area Search Beacon!” Spike’s shout broke through Teana’s confusion. “She’s found us!”
There was a loud crack as Teana took aim and fired. The beacon vanished in a puff of mana as Teana‘s spell-shot hit. “Then let’s move! We-”
And then several dozen magenta spheres of light winked in where the beacon used to be.
“Incoming!“ Teana went down on one knee and started firing as the spheres shot towards her squad. For once, she was glad she‘d been practicing interception shots with Twilight. The others were following suit; Scootaloo volleyed several blasts, her crescent shots mixing with Friedrich’s blasts of orange flame. There was a loud whine as Subaru’s Revolver Knuckle spun up to speed, right before she launched a Revolver Shoot into the mix. Those projectiles that made it through quickly splashed up against Spike and Caro’s raised Barriers, purple and green light swirling together.
Of course, a few projectiles winked out, then reappeared past Caro and Spike’s combined defenses. Erio quickly leapt up and swatted the shots out of the air, the blasts exploding into smoke and sparks of magenta mana.
“We need to move,” Teana snapped as she swept her gun about, checking the area. “If we stay here, she’ll just pin us down…”
“And you’d be correct, Private Lanster.”
Teana bit back a curse as she turned to face the voice. Twilight was hovering just outside the garage, a pair of energy wings flowing outwards from her withers and her Device leveled in their direction.
“Everyone scatter!” Teana took aim and fired at Twilight. The orange blasts quickly slammed against an upraised Shield. Twilight swung her staff, several magenta projectiles winking in around her before they launched towards Teana.
Teana rolled to the side, the blasts exploding around her. She quickly scrambled to her feet and hid behind a pillar as Subaru shot towards Twilight with a shout, followed close behind by Scootaloo. Erio, meanwhile, scooped Caro up in his arms and darted towards cover, while Spike ran over to Teana’s position.
Twilight swerved back and shot upwards and out of sight, but that didn’t stop Subaru.
“Wing! ROAD!”
There was a loud roar as a ribbon of blue light sprang up before Subaru. Subaru leapt on, soon joined by her pegasus companion.
“Great,” Teana groaned. “They’re taking it to the air. Last thing we need is an aerial battle…”
“We need to follow them,” Spike quickly noted. “We should head to the roof…”
“If we get on the roof, we’ll be sitting ducks,” Teana replied. “It’s completely open. We’ll have no cover…”
“I can handle cover,” Spike replied brusquely, holding up his arm with his bracelet-shaped Device. “But Scoots and Subaru are gonna need support, and fast.”
Teana grunted. She couldn’t disagree with that logic. “Ramp’s over there. Let’s move, Spike.”
---
“You know, it still seems a bit unfair.”
“Hmm?’ Fate glanced at Yuuno as the two of them monitored the fight. The S4’s sensor readouts let them see every angle of the fight, including the locations of all the trainees. Twilight corkscrewed upwards into the air, quickly gaining altitude as her Flier Fin wings flapped. Twin contrails of magenta light spilled from the tips of her wings, tracing her path through the air as a blue ribbon of light shot upwards in pursuit.
“This whole fight. The six of them against Twilight.” Yuuno crossed his arms as he looked over the readouts. “Even with her limiters on, they‘re pretty clearly outmatched.”
Fate nodded in agreement as she watched the fight. Subaru and Scootaloo charged up towards Twilight, the pair riding Subaru’s Wing Road. Twilight dodged out of the way of the former’s charge, then quickly turned as the latter leapt towards her, claw-like blades of purple light and hardened air forming from her skates. Twilight quickly raised a Corona Wall, the Shield intercepting Scootaloo’s slashes and sending sparks of mana in all directions.
“Of course, it doesn’t help that Twilight already knows their basic strategies,” Yuuno noted. Twilight raised her hoof as Subaru came in for another pass, the blue-haired mage’s fist slamming into a second Corona Wall. Twilight flicked her head, Raising Heart’s core glowing as the two Shields launched outwards, sending Scootaloo and Subaru flying. Subaru sprawled out on the Wing Road, while Scootaloo twisted in mid-air, kicking off a nearby building and landing on the Wing Road again.
“’Better the practice field than the battlefield,’ as Teacher would put it.” Fate replied, glancing at another monitor as Teana and Spike reached the roof. Teana took up her position, quickly firing on Twilight. Her sister swerved and swept through the air, dodging Teana’s shots before returning fire with her own Corona Shooter bolts. Magenta spheres of light darted down, only to collide with Teana’s shots or Spike’s quickly raised Panzerhindernis Barrier. Subaru and Scootaloo quickly gave chase, though the airborne unicorn easily dodged their attacks.
“Oh?”
Fate nodded, though her eyes never left the screens. “Those kids are going to eventually run into someone better, stronger or tougher than them. When that happens, they need to figure out how to respond, and quickly.“ She winced as one of the Twilight’s shots phased back in inside Spike’s barrier, striking the dragon and knocking him back. His scales flashed pink for a few moments, indicating he’d been defeated. “Of course, that won’t always be enough.”
“Mhmm.” Yuuno replied, his eyes locked on Fate instead of the fight.
Fate glanced over at him, her ears folding back slowly. “What?”
“You want to be down there, don’t you?”
Fate grimaced, then glanced back to the screens. She winced as Teana went down beneath a hail of pink projectiles, her body glowing pink as she was ’shot down.’ “Is it that obvious?”
“A bit. I guess Princess Luna rubbed off on you in more ways than one.”
“Maybe,” Fate replied as Twilight landed, soon joined on the ground by Scootaloo and Subaru. The pair charged straight at Twilight, clearly aiming to break through her defenses.
They didn’t succeed.
“It’s just… I can’t help but feel like I should be the one down there instead of Twilight. She’s good at teaching theory and she’s a skilled mage, but she’s not exactly what you’d call a military instructor, no matter how many sessions she’s taught at ATIC.”
“You’ve got a point,” Yuuno replied. “But I’m sure Chrono has his reasons. And besides, it’s not like you’re completely out of the loop…”
“Yeah,” Fate replied with a grunt.
“Have you tried asking him?”
Fate glanced over at Yuuno. The human quirked an eyebrow as Fate nervously turned back to the screen. “I’ll take that as a ‘no.’”
“As my superior officer…”
“He’s not just your superior, Fate. He’s also your friend,” Yuuno replied. “I’m pretty sure he’d tell you if you just asked.”
“I suppose,” Fate replied distractedly. “Hmm… looks like Twilight’s on the hunt…”
---
Caro tried not to look too scared as she, Erio and Friedrich crouched behind a concrete pillar. The sounds of fighting several floors above them had stopped, which probably wasn’t a good sign.
“C-can you raise anyone telepathically?” Caro whispered quickly to Erio.
Erio shook his head. “No… looks like we’re all that’s left.”
“Erio…” Caro squirmed as Friedrich climbed out of her arms and took wing. “Erio, I’m scared…”
“Of Twilight?” Erio peeked out from cover, then looked back to her as she shook her head.
“N-no. I mean.. yes… b-but what if there’s an accident like what happened with Spike? This isn’t like fighting drones, or accidentally hitting Spike. Twilight‘s not fireproof. What if-”
Erio shook his head and knelt down beside her. “Caro, listen to me… it’ll be alright. Special Instructor Sparkle probably has countermeasures for this sort of thing. I mean, she already covers everything else during our training. I’m pretty sure she’d remember Friedrich’s fire breath.”
“But…”
Friedrich hissed softly, landing on Caro’s shoulder and nuzzling her ear.
She comes, the dragon whispered to her, the silver dragon’s telepathic voice echoing in a language only Caro was familiar with.
Caro quickly put a finger to her lips and tugged on Erio’s sleeve. The boy quickly nodded and crouched down, his breathing quiet and his hand tightening on the shaft of his staff. Caro could hear the tell-tale clip-clop of hoof steps coming from the direction of the ramp.
Okay, Erio whispered mentally to Caro as he peeked around the edge of the large pillar. I don‘t think she‘s seen us yet… I might be able to get a sneak attack on her when she passes by.
Is… that a good idea? Caro swallowed nervously. I mean… maybe we should wait it out…
It’s risky, but I think I’m fast enough to avoid her shots. Erio slowly got to his feet, his breathing quiet and steady. At least… I hope I am. Can you give me a boost?
I-I’ll try.
Caro slowly stood up, then reached over and touched Erio’s staff. Her Device glowed gently, but her eyes shut tight as she focused, doing her best to contain the distinctive display that most magic produced. It was harder than it looked.
“What I ask for,” she whispered, her voice tiny and soft, “is a swift wind to carry this knight’s footsteps. Boost Up, Acceleration…”
Pink light shimmered along Erio’s body, then slowly suffused his Barrier Jacket. He nodded quickly, risking another glance around the pillar before pulling back again. Okay… she’s nearly at the other ramp. I’ve got a straight shot at her. Now or never…
Caro nodded, then stepped back. Erio crouched, a soft crackle of static running up his body as he initiated his Sonic Move spell.
Caro paused. There was something off about the sound of Twilight’s hoof steps. They sounded… like a recording. Eri-
There was a crack as Erio set off, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Oh no… Caro quickly peeked around the opposite edge of the pillar. Twilight was facing away from Erio, seemingly unaware of his approach. Not that it mattered, because Erio was right on top of her. He flickered into sight, the tuning-fork tines of his staff thrusting in to score a blow.
The blow hit.
And then Special Instructor Twilight vanished in a flash of magenta light, leaving a small hovering sphere of magenta mana in its place. There was a loud snap as several rings of light locked around Erio, yanking him out of Sonic Move and causing him to land on the ground with a loud ‘oof.’
“Thought so,” came Twilight’s voice.
Caro quickly jerked back behind the pillar as she heard a soft rush of wind, followed by a clicking of hooves as Twilight landed. “I thought you’d try something like that, Erio. I’ll give you points for bravery though. Had that actually been me instead of a decoy, you probably would’ve gotten me.”
A decoy! Caro clenched her eyes shut. No wonder the sound seemed off to her.
“Are you okay, Erio? You did land pretty hard from that Sonic Move.” Twilight definitely sounded concerned.
“Fine… My Barrier Jacket took the hit… I guess I’m out?”
“Mhmm.”
“Shoot.”
“Don’t worry. You did fine.” Caro heard Twilight pause. “Caro? Are you here?”
Caro quickly covered her mouth and tried not to breathe. Friedrich landed on her shoulder, looking at her curiously.
“You‘re probably close by. Even with you boosting Erio’s Sonic Move, he can only go so far. And considering the direction he attacked from, you have to be somewhere… over there, I’m guessing.”
Caro didn’t move. She heard Twilight take a few steps.
“You did a very good job on the enchantment, by the way,” Twilight continued. “Especially since you managed to do it without generating a circle. Very nice. Now, why don’t you come out and face me properly?”
Mistress, Friedrich’s voice hissed. We fight? Teacher desires fight. We fight her, yes?
Caro shook her head quickly.
Friedrich let out a soft, displeased hiss into her ear. Why? Teacher desires fight! We must fight her! Show her power of dragon-kind! Not like stupid common lizard.
“I can hear Friedrich, Caro,” Twilight noted. “You can’t hide forever. If you’re not going to-”
“OKAY!” Caro’s voice came out in a strangled shout. Her hands were trembling. “Okay… I-I’ll come out! Just… just stay there, okay?”
“Alright.”
Caro swallowed, then slowly stepped out from around the pillar. Friedrich took to the air, letting out a loud trill as smoke drifted from his nostrils. She could feel Friedrich’s eagerness tickle at her senses like a warm breeze.
Twilight stood away from Erio, Raising Heart floating beside her. She took one look at Caro, then frowned. “Caro? Are you okay?”
“Y-yes,” Caro lied.
Give command, Mistress, Friedrich hissed eagerly. Give command!
Caro shook her head nervously, her arms hugging about her waist.
“Caro, what’s wrong?” Twilight lowered her staff, looking concerned.
“I…I surrender…”
“Huh?” Twilight tilted her head to one side in confusion. Erio closed his eyes from his position on the ground and looked away. Friedrich let out a loud, puzzled trill.
“I surrender.” Caro looked down at the ground. “I… I don’t want to fight…”
Twilight nodded, then walked closer and gently touched a hoof to her shoulder. “It’s okay Caro. Really, it’s fine.”
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry.” Caro slumped down and sat on the ground, her head hanging as Friedrich let out an irritated hiss. “I just… I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“That’s alright, Caro.” Twilight crouched down, doing her best to get to eye level with Caro. “Really, I understand. And that’s okay.”
“R-really?” Caro peeked at Twilight through her pink bangs.
Twilight nodded firmly. “Absolutely. It’s okay to be scared. And it’s okay to be cautious, especially with Friedrich.”
Caro sniffed softly, causing Twilight to gently touch her cheek with a hoof. “Do you need some extra time?”
Caro nodded.
“Alright.” Twilight closed her eyes. Attention everyone, she announced telepathically, round one is over. All Trainees have been defeated. However, given current circumstances, there will be a twenty minute break before the second round. I’m releasing the bonds and telepathy locks now.
Raising Heart’s core glowed gently, the gem flickering magenta as Erio’s bindings dissolved.
“Thank you,” Caro whispered.
“No problem. This might be something you’d need to tell the others though. I’ll leave you to it.”
Caro nodded as Twilight winked out in a flash of purple light. Erio quickly moved to her side, pulling her into a gentle hug.
Caro shivered and leaned into the hug, though she could feel Friedrich’s displeasure. The little dragon snorted and landed, pointedly turning away from her.
For the time being, however, Caro ignored him.
---
There was one thing Chrono disliked about having only one functional arm; it made paperwork a pain in the ass. Even if he could telepathically dictate text to his terminal via S4U, he still had forms to fill out and sign by hand. He still wasn’t used to using his left hand to write with.
“That should be everything.” Chrono quickly scratched the last letters of his name onto the dotted line of the form on his desk, then slid it over to Griffith. “This week’s itemized budget’s approved and signed. I swear, you’d think the Bureau runs on paperwork…”
“Such is bureaucracy, sir.” Griffith adjusted his glasses as he picked up the paperwork. “Besides, it’s better we be ahead of the game, don’t you think?”
“Yeah.” Chrono leaned back in his chair, shrugging his shoulder as he sighed. “Last thing we need is Gais pouncing on some discrepancy in our paperwork.”
“True…” Griffith shuffled the sheets of paper, then tucked them neatly into his folder. “I’ll submit these to the Main Office, then?”
“Go right ahead. And make sure to keep hard copies. We’ll drop them off at the Base Command Authority while we’re in Cranagan.”
“Yes, sir.”
Chrono exhaled. “That’ll be all Griffith. Call me if something comes up.”
“Of course, sir.” Griffith nodded, then turned and walked out of his office.
Chrono closed his eye for a moment, then sat up as he heard the soft chiming of an incoming call.
No rest for the wicked, I suppose. “S4U, open channel on my terminal screen.”
There was a soft hum as a communications window opened up. Fate looked at him through the screen. “Captain,” she said firmly and calmly.
“Captain Testarossa-Sparkle,” Chrono replied in kind. “Something the matter?”
“Yes. One of my trainees just had a bit of a meltdown.”
Chrono paused. “Who?”
“Caro.”
Chrono sat up, quickly leaning forward to get closer to the terminal. “Is she okay? Please tell me she‘s okay. Did something-”
“She’s a bit shaken up, but she’s fine. She’s with the others right now, and I’m keeping an eye on things via the S4‘s sensors.”
Chrono sighed in relief, slumping back against his chair. “That’s good. Sorry, I just expected something worse since you called me directly…”
“Like what?”
Like something huge, black and scaly preparing to burn down the entire base, Chrono thought to himself. Would that be considered ‘worse?’
“Captain?”
“Still here. Sorry.” Chrono shook his head. “Let me guess… she didn’t want to fight?”
Fate nodded. “She surrendered almost immediately when confronted. For what it’s worth, Twilight handled her quite well. I‘m not sure she‘ll be ready to direct combat any time soon, but at least she didn‘t break down completely.”
“Good… that’s good.” He exhaled in relief. “That’s a step in the right direction, at least.”
“Did you really expect a repeat of what happened on Alzas?”
Chrono shrugged. “Maybe. I trust Caro, but still…”
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about, sir,” Fate replied. “From what little I worked with her, Caro doesn’t seem the type to do something like that in a safe space like the training field.” She briefly paused. “At least, that’s my assessment, sir. Twilight may have a different opinion. I‘ll submit my own observations to the post-training report later this evening.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Chrono replied. He started to disconnect the call, but paused as he saw Fate bite her lip. “Was there something else, Captain Testarossa-Sparkle?”
Fate paused, then cleared her throat. “Actually, sir… there is something else I’d like to ask… but this probably isn‘t the time or place.”
“If there’s an issue, Captain, then I‘d like to hear about it.” Chrono replied.
“Sir, I-”
“Fate,” Chrono interrupted. “Please. If something’s bugging you enough to bring it up, then it needs to be covered. You have my permission to speak freely.”
“Very well, sir.” Fate closed her eyes as she took a deep breath.
“Why did you put Twilight Sparkle in charge of the training operations?”
“Ah…” Chrono grunted softly.
“I’m not questioning your decisions, sir,” Fate continued quickly. “I’m sure you have a logical basis behind them. Nor am I suggesting that Twilight is a poor instructor. It’s just…”
“It’s alright Fate,” Chrono interrupted, holding up his good hand. “I understand your concerns. Really, I’m surprised you didn’t bring them up before.”
“I’m not particularly fond of questioning the decisions of my superiors, sir,” Fate replied stiffly.
“I suppose so.” Chrono sighed, then leaned back in his chair. “And honestly, I’m not sure you’ll like my answer.”
“I think I can cope, sir.”
“Very well.” Chrono pinched the bridge of his nose, then slowly slid his hand up and ran it through his hair. “Like most things, it comes down to politics.”
“Bureau, or Equestrian?”
“A little of both, but mostly the Bureau,” Chrono replied glumly. “Normally, a training outfit like this one would have more than a few instructors from the likes of ATIC, the Ground Defense Drill Corps, and others… but we don’t. Care to guess why?”
“My guess is that there are people in the Bureau that don’t feel like playing ball.”
“Partially. The rest has to deal with… certain other things.”
Fate grimaced. “Director Gracia’s…”
“Other things,” Chrono quickly interrupted, “which I’d rather we didn’t discuss over this connection.”
“Very well. However, my question still stands…”
“I’m getting to that.” Chrono grumbled. “Despite certain… setbacks, I managed to pull together a rather… eclectic faculty, as you’ve noticed. And thankfully, all of you have either Special Instructor licenses like you, Twilight and Yuuno, or are already vetted like the Altenritter. The reason Twilight’s in charge is… well, she’s popular.”
Fate nodded. “I see…”
Chrono nodded. “Officially, Twilight Sparkle is in charge of overseeing RIOT Force’s day-to-day training regimen. After all, she’s a licensed Special Instructor, she’s taught at ATIC, and for all her quirks she does have a good reputation amongst the higher ups. Better someone who’s worked for the Bureau’s military than someone from a foreign military, a civilian contractor, or three former members of the Wolkenritter, don’t you agree?”
“I concede your point, Chrono,” Fate sighed. “I’m just… disappointed, I suppose.”
“Patience, Captain Testarossa-Sparkle,” Chrono replied. “Once things have settled down a bit more, I’ll have Twilight step back and put you in the driver’s seat, so to speak.”
“Good. Sorry to have bothered you.”
“That’s fine. No problem at all. Anything else, Captain?”
“No, sir. Testarossa-Sparkle, out.”
Chrono nodded as the window winked out, then grimaced as he swiveled his chair back and forth slowly. For a brief moment, his eyes landed on the framed photo of himself, Amy, Erio and Caro, causing him to pause.
Maybe Twilight was right, he thought to himself, picking up the photo and looking at the pink-haired girl shyly hugging his side. Was it the right call to pull Caro into this? I hope so…because I’d hate to see the alternative.
---
Caro was sitting apart from Stars Squad, leaning against one of the parking garage’s pillars. Erio was seated with her, gently holding her hand as she shivered. Her chin rested against her chest as she breathed slowly and deeply.
Spike approached cautiously, glancing around to see if Friedrich was nearby. The last thing he needed was the silver-scaled chicken snarling at him while this was going on. He spotted Friedrich perched on one of the outer walls, staring pointedly out into the city.
Yeah… that’s not good. Spike thought to himself. Friedrich always hovered over Caro. Things must be pretty serious if he was giving Caro space.
He paused for a moment in front of the two kids. Erio glanced up at him curiously as Spike shifted, then coughed loudly into one hand.
“Uh…hey.”
Caro slowly looked up as Spike addressed her. The purple dragon stood there awkwardly, shuffling his feet with his hands behind his back. “You okay?”
“I…” Caro swallowed. ”I dunno…”
“You… uh… wanna talk?”
Caro glanced at Erio. Erio looked back at her, then nodded. He gently patted her hand, then stood up. “I’ll go see how the others are doing. Teana’s probably busy planning right now…”
“Uh… right. You do that, dude.” Spike offered him a thumbs up, then walked over and took a seat beside Caro, opposite of where Erio had sat.
For a while, neither of them spoke. Spike waited for her to make the first move.
It didn’t take long.
“I… I didn’t want to hurt her.”
“Huh?” Spike looked over at Caro. The girl’s hands were balled into fists in her lap.
“I didn’t want to hurt Special Instructor Sparkle. That’s why I surrendered.”
“Oh.” Spike nodded. “I… guess that makes sense. Though really, it’d take a lot to hurt Twilight. I doubt even Friedrich could put a dent in her defenses.”
“I… I couldn’t take that chance.” Caro shivered. “Not with Friedrich. What if we’d got a lucky shot? What if he’d missed and hit Erio? What if… what if I hurt someone…”
“Uh…” Spike paused as Caro shot him a look. The girl seemed close to tears.
“I… I don’t want to hurt people. Dragon fire isn’t like a spell… you can’t just set it to non-lethal and attack. Eventually, someone‘s going to get burned…”
Spike swallowed. An uncomfortable memory trickled into the back of his mind.
---
Spike! Run!
I’m not leaving! Let her go, you jerks! Let her g- ooof!
That’s the ticket Hold ‘em just like that fellas.
Spike!
What’s the matter, ‘Spikey-wikey?’ Did I hit ya too hard?
Garble… let… her go…
Look at you. You’d think I’d stole a prize diamond from his hoard instead of some dumb white nag!
Don’t… you dare… touch her…
Or what? What if I did… this?
AHHH!
LET HER GO!
Sheesh, look at you. Getting all torn up over a pointy-headed little pony. What is she, your girlfriend or something?
She… she…
Wow, I always joked about you being part pony, but I didn’t think you’d actually abandon your own species like that. You really are pathetic! Maybe I should do you a favor and roast me up some fresh unicorn. Bring’er over here, fellas!
NO!
Poor little Spikey-wikey. All alone with no purple unicorn to save you this time! What’re you going to do, runt? Cry on me?
RrrrRRRAAAAAA!
Tiamat’s five heads, he’s huge! Run! AIIIE!
Spike! Spike please, it’s me! SPIKE!
---
“Yeah… I know.”
Caro blinked as Spike clenched his eyes shut. He took a deep breath and, just like Zafira taught him, sought out his focus.
“Trust me Caro… I know how that is. I know what it’s like to accidentally hurt someone.”
“Y-you do?”
Spike nodded. “Yeah.”
“H-how do you… handle it?”
Spike sighed softly. “I do what I can. I’ve been training, meditating… focusing myself so I never, ever do something like that again…”
“But… what if it does?”
Spike looked at Caro as the girl stared down at the ground. “What if… after all that, you do hurt someone. Or… or worse?”
Spike let out a huff of breath, a thin stream of smoke curling out from his lips. “If that happens, then it happens. I’ll face the consequences of my actions.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
Spike shrugged, then raised one hand. “There’s always the possibility of an accident. Maybe I’ll lose control. Maybe I’ll hit someone with a stray blast of my breath. Maybe I’ll throw a bad punch and hit too hard. Maybe my claws might nick an artery or vein or something.”
He clenched his hand into a fist, his claws pressing into his palm. “But I can’t just sit there and let myself get swallowed up by maybes. Not when I can do something. Not if I can use my power to stop bad guys. That’s why I’m going to be a knight. A knight that protects the innocent. A knight that shields the weak. A knight that rescues the damsel….“
“I wish I could do that…”
Spike paused. “What?”
“I wish I could be brave like everyone else.” Caro shuffled in her seat, pulling her knees against her chest and hugging her legs. “Subaru and Erio and the others are so willing to run headlong into danger. All I can do is just sit on the sidelines, hoping I don‘t mess up…”
Spike watched her, then reached out and offered his hand to her. Caro looked at his hand, then slowly rested her own in it, seemingly unmindful of the very sharp claws just a few inches from her soft skin.
Spike chuckled, causing Caro to blink. “What’s so funny?”
“First time I offered my hand to Erio like that, he wouldn’t even touch it. And yet you don’t have a problem with it.”
Caro let out a squeak, then blushed as Spike chuckled some more.
“Caro, trust me. You’re brave. You just haven’t found the right circumstances to be brave in. Heck, one of the bravest ponies I know spends most of her time getting bossed around by a rabbit. And yet she’s done some of the craziest things I’ve ever heard of. So trust me; sooner or later, it’ll come to you.”
“But…”
“But nothing,” Spike replied firmly. “If something happens, then it’ll happen. But being scared of that won’t help you in the here and now. If you’re really that scared, then me and Erio’ll keep an eye on you until you‘re not.”
“Really?”
“Well, yeah. We’re your teammates, right? Lightning Squad and all that.”
Caro seemed to mull that over for a few moments, then nodded. “Y-yeah… I guess so.”
“Feel better?” Spike gave her his best smile.
“A little,” Caro replied, before she pulled herself up and dusted off her cloak. “I should… probably go talk to Friedrich. He’s a little unhappy with me right now.”
“I get the feeling that’s how he usually is,” Spike replied dryly, causing Caro to shake her head.
“He’ll calm down once I talk to him. Trust me, I know how to handle Fried.”
Spike nodded and watched her walk off. He then let out a grunt as he hopped to his feet, then walked over to the others.
Erio looked over at him as he approached. “Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks… for that, I mean. I’m not real good with the whole… you know…”
“No worries, dude.” Spike replied, waving a hand dismissively. “Trust me, if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s helping with this sort of situation. I’ve got more than enough experience in it.”
“You two done?” Teana asked irritably.
“Yeah,” Spike replied. “So, what’s up? What’s the plan?”
---
Round Four is over! Special Instructor Sparkle’s telepathic message echoed in Teana’s head as she sat up. All Trainees have been defeated. There will now be a ten minute break before the next round. Good luck!
“Good luck, she says,” Teana grumbled as she dusted herself off. “Good luck my ass…”
Teana was hardly a fan of Special Instructor Sparkle. There were a few reasons why that was so, the least of which was the fact that she was a pony. Part of it was because Subaru was so enamored with everything she did. Part of it was the fact that Teana felt like the purple unicorn was talking down to her.
Now, however, Teana had a whole new reason to dislike Special Instructor Sparkle. Special Instructor Sparkle was invincible.
Teana had chalked up their first loss to a lack of planning, combined with the element of surprise their opponent had had. That was fine. The extra time Special Instructor Sparkle had given them had let Teana think clearly and put together a better strategy.
The second round had some flaws, she had to admit; Like before, they had holed up in shelter and waited for her to come to them. This time, it had been in the stairwell of a nearby office building. Only two directions, and both were easily covered by their combined force. Which was why it was surprising when Special Instructor Sparkle started blasting chunks out of the stairs beneath them to force them out of position. Afterwards, she proceeded to pick them off one-by-one.
The third round had involved a modified strategy similar to the ’Cross Shift’ pattern she and Subaru used. Erio served as bait to lure her into position so Scootaloo, Spike and Subaru could hit her in a three-way ambush, hidden by a mix of cover and a static illusion spell. And it would’ve worked, had it not been for the fact that Twilight had used her sensors to locate Teana and Caro’s position. They’d still managed to pull off the ambush, but none of the three had managed to so much as scratch the pony’s Barrier Jacket.
Finally there was the fiasco of the last round. Less than a minute after the round had begun, their location had been showered with long-range projectiles. She had been nailed by the initial salvo, which she was pretty sure was aimed directly at her general position. To their credit, the rest of the team had rallied together, with Subaru leading the charge. And just like before, the five of them had gotten stomped.
There was a flash of purple light as the rest of her team was teleported to her side, their various Barrier Jackets scuffed up and bearing small scorch marks from where Special Instructor Sparkle’s shots had landed. Teana stood up, then made her way over to them. “Everyone okay?”
“I will be,” Scootaloo groaned. The pegasus was laying prone, her four limbs splayed out ungainly about her. “Just as soon as I figure out how many carts ran me over.”
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Teana replied, resting her hands on her hips.
“You okay, Tea?” Subaru quickly climbed to her feet, dusting herself off. “You took a lot of hits back there…”
“Don’t worry about me Subaru. I’ll be alright.”
Subaru grinned, flashing her a thumb’s up. “Alright! I knew you’d be fine Tea.”
Teana tried not to let her irritation show. As much as she admired Subaru’s seemingly unflagging optimism, she was starting to have her doubts. All of her plans up to this point had been sketchy at best, or subverted at worst.
And given that I was her first target last round, I’m starting to get the feeling Special Instructor Sparkle has it out for me, she thought to herself moodily. She wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.
“So, Tea, what’s the plan?”
“Huh?” Teana blinked at Subaru.
“What’s the plan? Come on, surely you’ve got something up your sleeve, right?”
Teana glanced amongst the others. Most of them were looking at her curiously. The only exception was Scootaloo, who snorted and rolled her eyes at Subaru’s question.
“I… um…” She felt a few beads of sweat trickle down her spine.
“Come on Tea…” Subaru supplied encouragingly.
“Uh…”
“Oh give it a rest Subaru,” Scootaloo interjected irritably. “If you haven’t noticed, carrot-top there’s plans haven’t exactly had a stellar track record so far.”
Teana was about to retort, when Subaru turned to Scootaloo and just… looked at her. “Scootaloo,” Subaru replied quietly, “please don’t be mean to Tea like that. Okay?”
Scootaloo met Subaru’s gaze briefly, before she glanced away. “Uh… okay. Sorry Subaru.”
Hmph. Well, at least Subaru’s being a good influence on the brat… Teana filed that away for later, then turned away and crossed her arms, one foot tapping on the ground.
“Okay…” Teana began, “I hate to admit it guys, but I’m running out of options. If we fail one more round, this’ll be counted as a failed mission. And I don’t think any of us want that. But… I don’t know what we can do. Nothing I’ve tried has worked so far. We might as well just run off with our collective tails between our legs. What we need is some support. If this were an actual mission, we‘d at least have an open line to… head… quarters…”
Teana paused mid-sentence, her eyes growing wide. Twilight’s parting words rang in her head. “Just remember to rely on each other, and use every resource you can think of.” But… no, that can’t be true. She wouldn’t have… but it’s worth a shot…
“Tea?” Subaru sounded worried. “Tea, you got that funny look on your face again…”
“Shh…” Teana lifted a hand to hush Subaru, then held up her wrist. A small communication window winked into existence, the static on the screen hissing softly.
“This… this is Teana Lanster, Stars Squad on all Bureau frequencies,” she stated clearly. “Can anyone hear me? I repeat, this is Teana Lanster, Stars Squad…”
There was a loud hiss, right before the image cleared, revealing a familiar bespectacled, blonde-haired young man. “This is Training One,” Yuuno Scrya replied. “We copy. I was wondering when you’d try this.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Teana said slowly. She couldn’t actually believe what she was seeing.
“We’re not kidding.” A second face joined Yuuno’s in the screen; that of Captain Testarossa-Sparkle. “I admit, I’d expected you’d try calling before now. We’ve been monitoring you for some time now.”
“For some-” Teana groaned and slapped her forehead. “You mean to tell me we could’ve called for assistance at any time?!”
“Yes.”
“I’m an idiot! I‘m such a freaking idiot!” Teana’s hand slowly slid down her face. “Arrgh! How could I’ve been so stupid?!”
“You? What about them!? Hey!” Scootaloo skated over and butted her head up under Teana’s arm. “Why didn’t you guys call us? Why didn’t Twilight tell us we could use-”
“She did tell us,” Teana replied stiffly. “’Use every resource you could think of.’ I’d just assumed we wouldn’t have access to a headquarters, so we couldn’t get battlefield sensor data or anything else.”
“We were asked by Twilight to maintain radio silence until you tried,” Yuuno replied apologetically. “Twilight figured you guys would try every option possible.”
“So… does this mean,” Erio started slowly, eliciting a nod from Fate.
“We’ll be serving as your hub for the duration of this test. We have no contact with Twilight, so she won’t be able to hear our chatter. What do you guys need?”
Teana exhaled slowly, then nodded. “Everything. Data on Twilight’s Area Search beacons, her heading… everything you can give us.”
“Alright.”
---
Twilight was perched atop one of the practice field’s many skyscrapers, her eyes half-closed as she paid attention to her Area Search spell.
Originally, the spell had been a simple seeking spell, based on a modified version of Rarity’s gem-seeking spell. However, she’d never stopped tinkering with it; now she could effectively ‘see’ a dozen places at once, allowing the beacons to move autonomously while switching between sensors at will. Of course, she could also watch multiple feeds at once thanks to the attention-splitter enchantment she’d wrangled out of Yuuno, but doing that put an uncomfortable amount of stress on her brain.
How much time do we have left, Raising Heart? Her attention wandered as she addressed her Device.
Five minutes, forty seconds before fifth round, Master, Raising Heart replied.
Good. She sighed, letting her mind wander a bit. While she’d been impressed with the Trainees’ work thus far, she had to admit she felt a little disappointed with their performance thus far.
Maybe Fate was right. Maybe this was a bit much to dump on them all at once…
Alert; Sensor Three has been destroyed.
Huh?
Twilight’s attention quickly shifted back to her Area Search. Sure enough, one of the magical sensor orbs had been destroyed, its feed replaced by soundless magical static.
Huh… She paused, quickly flicking through the feeds. She quickly paused as she saw a familiar bolt of orange light streak towards one of her sensors, right before the feed went dead.
And then another went dead. And another. One vanished when a blast of green flame engulfed it, while another flicked off just as a gauntleted fist slammed into it.
Twilight smiled. There we go, kids. That’s what I was expecting… seems someone managed to put the pieces together and found out where I was hiding the beacons.
Twilight waited patiently as the last few sensors were destroyed, then inhaled and ‘woke up’ back to the real world. Now it was going to be an actual challenge. Without her Area Search spell up, she’d be flying in blind. And if they knew where the beacons were hiding, then they probably had access to Yuuno and Fate.
Which means that they probably know which direction I’ll be approaching from, she thought idly.
Indeed, Raising Heart concurred. Should we increase attack power, Master?
No. We’ll stick to our current strategies for now. No Bombardment, no winking.
Yes, my Master.
A soft chiming noise quickly caught Twilight’s attention. She nibbled her lower lip as a holographic timer winked in before her, quickly counting down to zero.
This is Twilight Sparkle to all points. We will now begin Round Five. Time limit; ten minutes.
She backed up slowly, then leapt off the edge of the building. Her Flier Fin spell quickly kicked in, two wings of energy and light unfurling from her back as she took to the air.
This is going to be a lot harder than before, she thought idly as she flew, her eyes scanning the ground below. Without her Area Search spell active, she was limited to her eyesight and what magical awareness she possessed. While she did have reasonably accurate vision, she was nowhere near the level of a pegasus.
She dipped lower, flying down into the ravine between buildings. Thin, glowing contrails flowed out from her wings as she swooped and turned, quickly flying a search pattern down the streets of the fake city the S4 had generated.
And then she saw something out of the corner of her eye; a brief flash of orange from below and to the left.
She ascended sharply as a familiar orange shot flashed past, barely missing her hooves. She quickly came to a halt, spinning towards the glimmering orange glow highlighting a familiar silhouette inside the office building.
“There you are, Teana,” she muttered, slightly amused. She had to admit, it was pretty audacious; attacking without cover like that. Of course, knowing Teana, that was just the opening play.
Twilight quickly replied, her Corona Shooter spheres winking into existence before she loosed them. The projectiles flew out in a rough corkscrew, the first one smashing through the wall next to the window Teana fired from, making way for the others.
Only for Teana to vanish as one of the shots collided with her.
Illusionary decoy. Very good, Teana.
There was a sudden roaring noise as a blue ribbon of light swung out from around a corner. There was a loud whine as Subaru charged toward her, sparks spraying from the wheels of her skates.
Twilight swung her staff, a few more Corona Shooter spheres winking in before they launched toward Subaru, aiming towards the center of the girl’s mass.
Subaru didn’t even raise a hand to defend herself, which was the first thing that tipped Twilight off that something wasn’t quite right.
The second thing that tipped her off was when the shots went through Subaru. The girl vanished, revealing a petite orange pegasus crouched low on the Wing Road.
Okay, now that’s impressive, Twilight thought to herself as Scootaloo leapt towards her. “Raising Heart?”
“CORONA WALL!”
The magenta Shield intercepted Scootaloo, the pegasus holding steady as she dug her magical ‘claws’ into the surface of the defensive spell. Twilight grimaced, then blinked and flicked her ears as she heard the roar of another Wing Road. She glanced over her shoulder as Subaru shot towards her from the opposite direction.
However, she wasn’t alone.
“Here we GO!” Subaru shouted as she slung herself about. Her gauntleted hand was clenched tight around Spike’s wrist as she physically flung the dragon directly at Twilight. Spike let out a battle cry as he extended his claws.
Multiple feints… excellent. A second Corona Wall winked in to block the rocketing dragon. Spike’s claws sent out sparks as he raked them across the magical wall, right before he kicked off of it and jumped higher into the air.
“Revolver…” Subaru shouted, the sound of three cartridges going off in sequence mixing with the whine of her Revolver Knuckle’s gears spinning up.
“Wall Launch!”
There was a whoosh of wind as Twilight’s Corona Walls produced wings, then fired out from her position. Scootaloo let out a loud squawk as she went flying. Spike spread his legs as the circular wall flew underneath him, straight towards Subaru.
“SHOOT!”
The vortex of mana and wind slammed into the Corona Wall. Unfortunately for Subaru, the Shield was quite a bit stronger than her attack spell. There was a loud whine as Subaru’s skates skidded along the Wing Road, her fist pressed against the wall as it pushed her back.
Twilight, however, had other things to worry about. Spike landed on the Wing Road, then lunged toward her. He inhaled deeply, then let out a stream of green flame towards her.
Twilight retreated, her Flier Fin wings flapping as she flew backwards. Her eyes darted about as she tried to anticipate where the next attack was going to come from.
She didn’t have to wait long. There was a flash of orange light as several shots streaked towards her, right before Teana ducked back into cover
Twilight dove, letting both the shots and Spike pass over her as she dropped in altitude. She inhaled, taking aim at both Spike and Subaru with her staff and horn before she initiated the spell.
“MOTION BIND!”
Subaru and Spike let out a surprised shout as pinkish rings of light locked around their limbs.
“That’s two of you…” Twilight exhaled, then paused as the mage and the dragon began to glow bright pink. “What…?”
Both Subaru and Spike looked equally confused as they winked out in a flash of pink light, the bindings quickly dissolving.
Huh… Twilight thought to herself as she landed with a click-clack of hooves-on-asphalt. That’s new…
It appears that the targets have teleported away, Master, Raising Heart supplied.
So I noticed. But the question is, who teleported them? The only person whose magical color matches is…
She didn’t have long to think, as she heard the tell-tale crackle of static. She spun around, but Erio was already barreling down on her.
Correction. Three Erios were barreling down on her.
More illusions… Twilight swung her staff around, letting loose a volley of Corona Shots. The three Erios promptly vanished in flickers of orange light.
And then a second trio of Erios leaped out from hiding: two on her left, one on her right.
Again, she turned and retaliated, and again, they vanished in flickers of orange light.
And then there was a crackle of lightning. This one was much louder, and coming from right above her.
Twilight looked up just as Erio reached melee range. His staff was wreathed in golden lightning, and he was way too close for comfort.
The forked tip of Erio’s staff struck home, right on her withers.
There was a loud, hollow boom as Twilight’s Barrier Jacket initiated a low-level Reactor Purge. Magenta motes of light and smoke filled the air as the armor piece Erio struck exploded, knocking him backwards and away. The young Knight somersaulted in mid-air and landed in a crouch, skidding slightly as he did so.
Tiwlight shook her head as the smoke slowly cleared.
“ROUND FIVE OVER,” Raising Heart announced. “TRAINEES, PASSED.”
“Well, I guess that makes it official,” Twilight said, panting softly as the adrenaline dwindled. “You can all come out now…”
Erio grunted, slowly standing up from where he’d come to a stop. Scootaloo soon joined him, fluttering down and lightly landing beside him with a click-clack of her skates. A few minutes later, Subaru, Teana, Caro, Spike and Friedrich joined them. Teana had an arm looped over Subaru’s shoulders, while Caro looked more than a little worn out. Spike was glancing at her with concern as Friedrich trilled softly to her.
“Oh dear… are you two alright?” Twilight quickly trotted over as Teana got to her feet.
“F-fine, ma’am.” Teana replied. “Just a bit worn out.”
“You look more than a bit… hold on.” Twilight closed her eyes and raised her head. She willed magic into her horn, sending tethers of energy toward the two girls. There was a soft, song-like tone as she held the charge, then slowly released it into them.
Teana jerked slightly as she opened her eyes, her body shuddering. “Woah…”
Caro, meanwhile, was standing bolt upright, looking like she’d just been hit by lightning.
“Better?” Twilight smiled.
“Much…wow…” Teana shifted her weight and bounced on the balls of her feet. “Was that some kind of energy transference spell?”
“Mhmm. I just gave you both a small shot of mana. It’s not much, but it’ll replenish whatever you used during the last round… and considering how many illusions you were using Teana, you probably needed it.”
Teana nodded. “Y-yeah, well… it wasn’t like it was that big a deal or anything…”
“Considering you managed multiple, highly realistic illusions of your allies that allowed them to set up several quite successful feints, I‘d say it was a pretty big deal.”
Teana looked away, causing Subaru to laugh softly.
“Though there’s another thing I’m curious about,” Twilight continued as she looked at Caro. “Caro, did you teleport the others out of my binding spells?”
Caro nodded nervously.
“Interesting. I didn’t realize you had a knack for transporting magic…”
“S-Some of the same principles from Summoning apply to that type of magic,” Caro replied. “I’m… not the best at it… and I was spending most of my time boosting Teana’s illusion spells…”
“Still, I’m quite impressed you managed a teleport spell like that. You’re all just full of surprises!” Twilight smiled as she glanced around at her Trainees with not a small hint of pride. “So, I suppose that puts the record at four to one, my favor?”
The six of them nodded.
“Good. I’m looking forward to your come-back. Good luck! You have ten minutes to prepare.”
And with a flash of light, Twilight winked out, reappearing back atop the skyscraper Fate and Yuuno were observing from.
Twilight trotted over to her sister and her human best friend, a bit of a bounce in her step. “So,” she began jauntily, “it looks like they won that round, didn’t they?”
“Mhmm,” Yuuno replied, peering over the hovering holographic monitor at her. “Have to admit, it was a pretty good showing on their part.”
“Are Teana and Caro alright?” Fate glanced over at her as Twilight came up beside her.
“They’re fine, sis. I lent them enough energy to get them back on their feet, so they should be good for the next round. I’ll have Shamal check up on them after lunch, though. How’s the data looking?”
“So far, so good,” Yuuno replied. “I’ve been sending the readings from each round to Shari. I haven’t gotten a response back from her, but then again…”
“We really should check on her this afternoon,” Fate noted. “She’s been cooped up in her lab since last week. I’m pretty sure she hasn’t left except to get food or go to the bathroom…”
“Considering she’s working on at least five projects, I’m not surprised,” Twilight replied. “Thankfully, this should be the last of the data she needs to finish the fine-tuning.”
“I guess some bad habits transcend species,” Yuuno teased, eliciting a small giggle from Fate and an eye-roll from Twilight.
“I’m not that bad, right Fate?”
“Well…” Fate glanced away, rubbing her chin in thought. “There was that one time Princess Celestia asked you to translate that old book by Starswirl the Bearded…”
“And don’t forget the time when I took you on the trip to HQ’s Infinite Library,” Yuuno added.
“And then there was the time you had that weird box you got from the Tree of Harmony…”
“Okay, point taken,” Twilight sighed. “Sheesh…”
“Hey,” Fate nudged her gently, “we still love you sis, problems and all.”
“Heh, thanks.” Twilight smiled, then shook her head. “Anyway, I should probably get ready for the next round. Give the kids my regards when they call you.”
“Righto,” Yuuno saluted jauntily as Twilight winked out.
---
“Alright everyone,” Teana announced as she reloaded her Anchor Gun, “you heard her. Let’s get ready for the next attack. Everyone, get to your positions.”
“No need to get bossy,” Scootaloo noted. “We‘ve got this in the bag.”
“Scootaloo, we’ve got precisely zero margin for error,” Teana replied snippily. “Just because we managed to win one round doesn’t mean we can get overconfident, understand?”
“Yeah, yeah. Come on Subaru, let’s get some altitude.”
Caro glanced over at Friedrich as Subaru and Scootaloo rode off. The little dragon landed on her shoulder, his wings folding back as his talons dug into her Barrier Jacket. Fried?
Mistress? Friedrich let out a loud snort as he replied.
Are… you still mad at me?
Friedrich let out a low trill, his tail swishing. Not mad. Just want fight. Want fight bad.
I know Fried, I know… it’s just…
Mistress says no. This one follows Mistress’s commands. This one does as Mistress asks. But want fight bad. Want to protect Mistress.
Caro winced slightly as the grumpy note of Friedrich’s voice. I’m sorry, Fried… But I just… I’m not sure if I let you fight, that we’ll be able to…
Friedrich hissed. Mistress CAN control this one…
“Caro?”
Caro blinked, then turned as Erio addressed her. “Huh?”
“I was asking if you were okay…” Erio leaned his staff against his shoulder. “You looked like you were zoned out. Were you talking to Friedrich?”
Caro nodded quietly.
“Right.” Erio glanced at the little dragon. Friedrich stared right back at him, his red eyes unblinking. “Everything okay?”
“So far…”
“Okay. Good.” Erio glanced away from the little dragon. “Um… we should probably get into position.”
“R-right.” Caro nodded, then began following after Erio.
But then, she felt something weird… like a cold breath on the back of her neck. She paused mid-stride and glanced around. Fried… did you feel that?
Fried trilled in confusion at her query.
“Caro?” Erio glanced back. “You okay?”
“Y-yeah… just… never mind.” She shook her head, then began walking again.
There’s no other summoners near the base… right? Then why did I…
---
A small, silvery insect, sensing it may have been noticed, flitted off from where it’d been hovering above the surrounding outer barrier. It coursed through the air like a little silver bullet, heading on a direct path towards its destination.
The bug in question was hardly natural; its spindly silver body was vertically oriented, resembling a roofing nail with its disc-like ‘head’ and pointy lower body. Two wings buzzed on either side of its head, while four purple compound eyes dotted its front like tiny jewels.
The insect buzzed over the waters of Oured Bay, unnoticed by most anyone, then flitted through the docks of Cranagan’s southern edge. It flew further inland, quickly gaining altitude before it came to rest at its destination; the glove-clad hand of a small young girl seated on a park bench.
“Thank you, insekt,” she whispered softly, a finger delicately stroking the bug’s wing. A small breeze stirred the girl’s waist-length lavender hair and rustled the ruffles on her black and pink dress. Her skin was oddly pale; the sort of fair complexion that suggested she rarely saw the sun. She looked to be around ten years old, though the distant look in her dull red eyes and the almost vacant expression on her face had no place on a girl her age.
“Finished, Lutecia?”
Lutecia looked up from the silver bug to the man seated beside her. Despite the day’s warmth, he wore a long, hooded coat. He was a tall, muscular man, his shoulders and chest broad, his hands large and his legs long. His face had a rough-hewn quality to it; like a sculptor had failed to smooth out his cheekbones and chin underneath his tanned skin. An unruly mass of dark brown hair topped his head, barely hiding his aquiline nose and piercing blue eyes.
“Yes,” she replied, her voice soft, but flat and uninflected. “The Doctor should be interested by my findings.”
He man grunted in reply, the noise deep and rumbling. Lutecia dismissed the insekt in a tiny flicker of purple light, then reached over and carefully took his hand. The large, circular purple gems on the backs of her gloves glinted in the sunlight. “We should go, Zest. Agito will be wondering where we went…”
Zest nodded, then gingerly took her hand and rose to his feet. Lutecia followed, carefully pulling up the hood of her own coat as they began walking.
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Oh buck. They aren't planning an attack this early on, are they?
Also, while I can guess fairly well what happened to Scoots, I do kinda wanna see her move past it soon...she's even grating on me a bit. (I know it's the point, but limits and all that)
Great move with that though. "Wait, we could have.." "Yep. Called us at any time." "You have got to be kidding me..."
...and that's why people who say video games are impossible are indolent
A treacherous heart,
an unseen power.
With these shall you soon find your bliss
and no longer will this tragedy repeat.
Awaiting further releases.
I was laughing my ass off at that, looks like Celestia's trickster mentor ways have been rubbing on her.
Now, Spike's flashback was a little scary, but something tells me that Garble and his cronies ended up bitting more that they could chew off, with tragic results.
Zest and Lutecia appareance was unexpected, probably Scagglietti has some interest on Twilight.
It's okay guys, I'm sure Twilight will try not to vaporize anyone.
That bit with Caro makes me really wondering what might happen if Twilight was faced with an enraged Friedrich instead of the surrender. Is the little guy that dangerous, or is the concern more about what else might get summoned if the situation goes pear shaped? Twilight is crazy powerful after all, but the limiters on her and the rest of the older types could leave them pretty vulnerable if it hits the fan faster than she can react without her usual OP skillset.
First, this makes me wonder if Equestria has something equivalent to the Darwin award, because Garble and friends were trying very hard to earn it. Second, yikes, I hope Rarity was/is okay.
Hah!
Hahaha!
Awesome fight scene in round five. Also, Twilight has her barrier jacket set up to explode to knock away attackers? Scary.
Interesting, so we're going with season three and four as partially canon to this series? Maybe this was already covered and I just forgot.
4471429 Basically, most of the canon incidents have happened in some way, but with some obvious changes (Yuno et al. playing a role in them) and ignoring certain plot points (like Twi becoming an alicorn).
Tho I'd seriously love to see how Twilight-Tirek duel would have gone in this 'verse, non-canon or not. Considering how epic it turned out in canon...
4474803 No kidding regarding Tirek.
Re: Tirek
I commented on this in my updated 'What's Canon in MPLT' blog post, but I think it bears repeating and elaborating here.
When it comes to Tirek, I'm pretty sure that the moment the Wolkenritter learned about Tirek, who he is and what he does, he would be dead. They would hunt him down and kill him as quickly and brutally as possible, and then probably deliver his horned head to the Princesses.
There would be no quarter, no negotiation, no chance for a 'join me and we'll rule together' speech like he did with Discord. They would find him, pin him down with any number of binding spells, and then execute him. Because if there's one thing the Wolkenritter will not stand for, it's someone emulating the Book of Darkness.
4471429
Re: Rarity
We know she is alive, due to the Hot Tub Group Chat from earlier, but we don't know (as of chapter 6) if she is well. Sure, given that it is Rarity, so much as giving her a stubbed hoof would be enough to give Spike a complex. However, given that we weren't actually given a full description of her in that scene, she very well could have looked like this:
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/7/30/687060__solo_rarity_grimdark_lil-dash-miss+rarity_artist-colon-shuniyamasaki.jpeg
4475556
Good point.
But I still want Applebloom to learn how to make and repair devices. luna has to take an apprentice on that sooner or later, and making it an Earth pony would something she would to to annoy stuck up pony nobles.