9: Prep-Work
The Elders’ Hut was lit by fire, as was tradition. Smokeless flames curled up from ancient stone braziers that were old when she was born. Caro quietly knelt in the center of the hut on a small rug made of woven reeds. Her traditional white cloak covered her frail body, the hood covering her still-matted hair. She shivered despite the warmth of the hut.
The assembled council sat before her in a semi-circle, their heavy cloaks and head-scarves decorated with distinctive diamond patterns. Every eye was on her.
“Priestess Caro, Child of Lusie,” the High Elder addressed her, “you know why you are here.”
Caro nodded weakly, her eyes downcast. Friedrich, her dragon, crouched in her lap, his wings curled over his body.
“Though your actions have saved the Lu Lushe,” he continued, his voice heavy and sad, “you have committed a great and terrible taboo against the gods. A taboo that cannot simply be overlooked…”
“Dovahjun Do Vulonyol is not some beast you can simply command,” one of the female elders hissed. “You, his priestess, should know that more than anyone!”
Caro cringed away from the accusation.
The High Elder raised a hand for silence. “Your powers are great,” he continued, “but we cannot allow you to stay amongst our people. To do so would be to court further conflict from the other tribes. I hope, one day, you can forgive us…”
“Cowards…”
Caro looked up sharply as she heard her own voice. She turned slowly, her eyes widening as she saw herself standing at the entrance of the hut. The other her was clad in a blackened and charred cloak, the hood covering her face and hiding it in shadow. Her feet were bare and covered in ash, while her exposed hands dripped with blood.
“I’ll never forgive you,” the other her whispered hoarsely. Her hands reached up and pulled back her hood, revealing a soot-smudged face and smoke-stained pink hair. Tears of blood dripped from her eyes, and her teeth were bared in an animalistic snarl. “Never! You’re all cowards and idiots! One day I’ll come back, and you’ll burn too! I’ll burn all of you, just like I burned them!”
Caro pulled back as the monstrous version of her approached slowly, her dainty footsteps shaking the ground. An enormous, winged shadow loomed up behind the other her as fire erupted from the walls of the hut.
“Burn,” the other her chanted, her eyes wide and her teeth like fangs. “Burn. Burn. Burn! BURN!”
Caro’s scream of fear mixed with screams of agony as the fire began to consume the elders…
---
Caro sat up, her heart thudding in her chest and her skin slick with sweat. Her breath came in soft, panicked gasps, her hands clenching the bed sheets. She leaned forward, resting her face in her hands as she tried to calm down.
Master, Kerykeion’s gems flickered as the Device spoke to her telepathically, your vital signs are fluctuating. Are you in distress?
I’m fine… Caro let out a soft groan, closing her eyes and counting backwards from ten, just like she’d learned.
There was a soft, concerned trill. Friedrich flapped up from his nest, quickly flying over and landing in her lap. He looked up at her with those red eyes of his, a nervous chirp escaping his mouth.
“I’m fine, Fried,” Caro whispered softly, reaching down and stroking a finger over his crest. The silver dragon crooned wordlessly, nuzzling her finger and doing his best to comfort her.
“Caro?” There was a rustle of sheets before Erio’s head peeked down from the top bunk, blinking sleepily.
Caro let out a squeak. “Sorry Erio… did I wake you up?”
“Mmf… yeah.” Erio yawned loudly. “What time is it?”
Caro looked over at the glowing clock. “0100 hours…”
“Did you have a nightmare or something?” There was another loud rustling as Erio slid over and climbed down from the top bunk.
“Y-yeah…” Caro slipped her arms around Friedrich. The silver dragon rumbled softly and nuzzled her chest gently.
“Which one was it?” Erio landed with a thump on the ground, a hand rubbing his eyes.
Caro shuddered. “The one with all the fire…”
“Oh.” Erio ran a hand through his hair, looking uncomfortable. “Uh…”
Caro shifted in the bed and breathed slowly; in through her nose, out through her mouth. Her heart was slowly settling down into its regular rhythm, and the rush of fear-based adrenaline was wearing off.
Erio glanced away before he spoke. “I’m… uh… gonna head to the bathroom. Do you want some water or something while I’m there?”
“Yes, please.”
Erio nodded, and turned to walk off.
“Erio?” Caro hugged Friedrich a little tighter.
“Yes, Caro?” Erio glanced back at her.
“Are… you ever…” She swallowed nervously. “Do you ever get scared of me?”
“No.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You’re the nicest person I’ve ever met, Caro. Why would I be scared of you?”
Caro didn’t reply. Erio sighed softly, then reached up and stretched as he headed toward the door. “I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.” Caro turned to look at the curtained window, feeling Friedrich squirm in her lap and get comfortable.
Just because I’m nice doesn’t mean I can’t be scary, Caro thought to herself before she slowly lay back down. Summoners like me can be dangerous if we want to be…
The ceiling didn’t comment.
---
Well, Twilight thought to herself as she and the other instructors made their way out to the S4, if this morning’s performance is anything to go by, the kids have adjusted pretty well to their new Devices.
That much was true. It had only been two days since the trainees had been issued their new Devices, but they had adjusted quite well. Even Caro, whose synchronization ratio had been the worst of the six, had gotten to the point where she was, if not equal to her fellows, then only a tiny bit behind. Considering their progress, Twilight had agreed with Chrono’s decision to start the trainees on their next curriculum.
“It’ll be good to give these kids something hard for once,” Vita noted, the little Knight rolling her shoulders as she walked. “You’ve probably been coddling them too much, Sparkle.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Just because I’m not some hard-bitten drill instructor doesn’t mean I’ve been ‘coddling’ the trainees, Vita. I’m just more supportive, that’s all. You‘d probably have them, I dunno, hitting each other with mallets from dawn ‘till dusk if you had your way.”
Vita smirked. “I’ll have to remember to suggest that to Lady Carim next time I see her.”
“Please don’t give her ideas,” Zafira grimaced softly. “Her students complain enough already.”
“Oh sure,” Vita huffed and mock-pouted, “spoil my fun why don’t you? Blue-eared killjoy.”
Zafira shrugged. “Our Mistress did tell us to find a hobby.”
“Vita’s got a point though,” Fate concurred. “We really should start ramping up the challenge, Twilight.”
“Huh?” Twilight peered back at her sister.
“What?”
“Nothing, it just seems a little odd. Last week you were being cautious…”
“That was last week,” Fate replied, gently tossing her golden braided mane. “This is now, where the trainees have their advanced Devices and are actually starting to form a cohesive team.”
“Fair enough,” Twilight replied. She had to admit, Fate did have a point. Both Stars and Lightning Squads had reached a point where they were fully functional as teams. Lightning was ahead in that regard, but the members of Stars Squad (particularly a certain orange-haired sharpshooter) had settled into a reasonable equilibrium as far as relationships went. Sure, there was still some sniping between Scootaloo and Teana, but they seemed to be keeping it off of the training field.
Twilight looked over to Shari. The young woman was tapping away at a hovering holographic keyboard as they walked. “Think the S4 can handle the scenario, Shari?”
“I’m pretty sure,” Shari replied. “I should be able to replicate the drones pretty easily, thanks to the data the Altenritter gathered. And since I still have administrative control over their Devices, I can use that to mimic the drone’s AMF capabilities.”
“Isn’t technology wonderful?” Yuuno glanced over at Vita, smirking as the red-haired Knight rolled her eyes.
“Show off…”
Twilight shook her head as she and her group approached the Trainees. She coughed softly and put on her ‘teacher face’ before she began addressing them. “Good afternoon, all of you. Are you all ready for this afternoon’s training session?”
“Yes, ma’am!” The six of them replied almost in unison.
“Good. Now that you’re becoming more accustomed to your Devices, we’ve decided to increase the intensity of your training. Because of certain events, Captain Harlaown has requested that I include a new scenario.” Twilight nodded over to Vita and gestured for her to step forward. “I’ll let Knight Vita explain.”
Vita, to her credit, seemed to restrain herself. The little Knight tromped forward and gave the six trainees a quick, critical once-over before she spoke.
“Twilight tells me you six are pretty good,” she began. “Twilight tells me you’ve got talent. Got potential. Maybe. We’ll see about that, though. There’s a world of difference between training and live combat; a difference that you six are going to suffer through very shortly.”
“Shari!” Vita pointed at Shari and snapped her fingers. “The images!”
“Right.” Shari quickly tapped on her keypad and brought up a large, holographic monitor. The image shown was of a large drone. The thing was lozenge-shaped, like a cold-medicine capsule, and colored powder blue with rounded black octagonal panels on either side of its body. A large circular yellow camera lens sat in the center of its body, surrounded by a quarter of small black nozzles arranged in a square around it.
“This,” Vita gestured to the image, “is your opponent for this new training regimen. These so-called ’Gadget Drones’ have been causing all sorts of trouble recently, and for reasons you’ll soon be experiencing, the Bureau has been having problems handling them. You six will be trained to take these things down, and Kaiser help me you will be good at it.” Vita shot a challenging glare at the trainees, her hands on her hips. “Twilight tells me you’re good. Are any of you going to prove her wrong?”
“No, ma’am,” was the shouted reply.
“Good, because I‘d hate for that to happen.” Vita smirked. “Now, let’s get to work!”
---
“Everyone ready?”
Caro nodded nervously as Teana spoke. Her fingers fidgeted with her gloves as she listened. The S4 had shifted to a rocky desert setting; the expanse of flat, cracked ground mixed in with tall rocky pillars and fissure-laden outcroppings. Every so often a tumbleweed rolled past.
“Good.” Teana lifted Cross Mirage up as she scanned over the area. “Since this is a pursuit mission, we’re probably going to have to rely on mobility. Subaru, Erio and Scootaloo will intercept and try to hem the targets in. Try to push them in our direction so we can hit them. Caro, you and Spike are with me.”
“Just a question, boss,” Scootaloo replied as she pushed her goggles down over her eyes. “If we get a clean shot on them, do you mind if we take it?”
Teana sighed. “Sure. Go ahead. Just be careful.”
“Don’t worry, Tea.” Subaru punched her gauntleted fist into her palm. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”
Teana ‘tsked‘ softly. “That’s not what I’m worried about. You heard what Vita said about these things. They’re equipped with Anti-Magilink Fields. Get too close, and you won’t be able to activate your spells…”
“Would you chill?” Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “You really need to calm down. Me and Subaru? We got this. Right, partner?”
“Yup!” Subaru reached down with her Revolver Knuckle, clicking it against Scootaloo’s extended skates.
Caro turned away as Teana let out an irritated groan. Friedrich floated around, hovering before and trilling curiously.
Mistress? Friedrich’s voice whispered in Caro’s mind. Mistress? We fight?
I… Caro closed her eyes. Last night’s dream echoed in the back of her mind like a song that refused to be forgotten. The screams of the burning elders mixing with her own as her twisted reflection grinned…
“Caro? Caro, you okay?”
Caro started as she felt a large hand touch her shoulder. She quickly spun around to face Spike. The taller dragon took a step back and raised his hands. “Easy there,” he said gently. “I was just checking on you… see if you’re alright. You were kinda staring off into space.”
“S-sorry,” Caro replied, shaking her head and pulling her hat forward on her head. “I’m fine. I was just…”
“Just what?”
“Nothing,” Caro lied.
Spike glanced over at Erio. Erio just shrugged in return as he rested Strada against his shoulder. Caro swallowed nervously as Friedrich flitted up and landed atop her hat.
“Okay… if you say so.” Spike didn’t sound too convinced. “Just make sure to tell us if-”
Attention Trainees, Twilight’s telepathic message interrupted, we will begin the exercise shortly. As mentioned during our briefing, you will have fifteen minutes to capture or incapacitate all of the target drones. Good luck!
“Alright everyone,” Teana shouted as she readied Cross Mirage, “you know what to do.”
There was a soft, bell-like tone as several dark blue loops of light sprang up from the ground. The loops glowed brightly, the Mid-Childan script running on the outside surfaces standing out brightly in white. Twelve drones slowly rose from the loops, each pill-shaped drone easily as big as Caro was. The sunlight glinted off their blue hulls as the loops winked out.
Begin mission!
And at the sound of Twilight’s announcement, the drones scattered in four directions, forming into groups of three.
“Crap!” Subaru shot off after one group, while Scootaloo and Erio pursued another two.
“Caro, you’re with me!” Teana ran over to her side. “Spike, change of plans! Go after the fourth group!”
“On it!” Spike crouched down and ran off on all fours in pursuit of the last group, his claws digging up the ground as he went.
---
“There they go.” Vita smirked as she watched the hovering monitors. “And there go the kids in hot pursuit.”
Twilight nodded. The instructors were clustered atop a high peak at one end of the S4, overlooking the training field below. Everyone’s eyes were focused on the glowing monitors hovering around Shari. The large central monitor showed a bird’s-eye view of the training area, with the trainees and drones represented by green and red triangles, respectively. The other monitors showed live footage as the trainees split off and pursued the flying drones.
“Interesting. It‘s weird seeing Spike run on all fours.” Twilight looked over at Zafira. “Was that part of your training?”
Zafira grunted and nodded. “My fighting style is designed to be effective both in human and wolf forms. Being a dragon, Spike’s built in a similar fashion. It made sense to train him to move efficiently both upright and on all fours, as well as pouncing and grappling maneuvers.”
“That’d make him pretty effective at ground work,” Fate observed.
“It would, yes. You seem surprised, Fate.”
Fate shrugged. “A lot of pony martial arts focus on remaining upright and on all fours. I think the only one that includes a large amount of ground fighting is the Zebrican simba ngoma style that Radi uses.”
“A weakness that’d best be corrected,” Zafira remarked.
“We’re working on it,” Fate replied.
“Training One,” a voice crackled over the intercom as a communications window with Teana‘s face popped up, “this is Private Lanster, Stars Squad. Requesting support.”
“This is Training One. We read you Private Lanster,” Shari replied. Twilight trotted over to her side as she spoke. “What do you need?”
“I’m requesting positioning and bearing data on the target drones.”
“Roger,” Shari’s fingers flew over the keyboard. “I’m linking the data to Cross Mirage now. Please keep an eye on your time limit.”
“Understood.”
“Guess that lesson stuck with her,” Shari joked as Teana’s communications window winked out.
“Yeah, but it might come back to bite her.” Vita huffed and crossed her arms. “If she gets overly reliant on having backup, then she won’t perform as well in the field.”
“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that,” Twilight replied. “Private Lanster is a very independent young woman. I’m sure she’d handle not having back-up pretty well.”
“If you say so. I’m more concerned about her, though.” Vita pointed at the screen showing Caro’s vitals.
“Caro? What about her?”
“You read her file, right? You know how powerful that little dragon of hers can be…”
“I’m not sure I like where you’re going with this, Vita,” Twilight replied slowly.
“You don’t have to like it,” Vita replied. “But facts are facts. She’s going to need to get over her phobia sooner or later if we’re going to put her in the field.”
Twilight grimaced. Her ears folded flat against her skull as she twitched her tail. “Caro will work through her issues at her own pace, Vita. I’m well aware of Caro’s potential, but pushing her to do something she’s not comfortable with won’t help her or anybody else.”
“I’ll have to agree with Twilight,” Yuuno added quickly, resting a hand on Twilight’s withers. “Right now, Caro is an excellent support mage, and I’ve been teaching her some of my bind and field type spells to supplement her repertoire. Furthermore, I think she trusts us. Pushing her to unleash Friedrich before she’s ready won’t help.”
“Ugh.” Vita looked over at Fate. “And what’s your opinion, Captain?”
Fate exhaled through her nostrils. “Personally? I’d like to at least prepare Caro to personally engage in combat. However, that doesn’t have to involve the use of her dragon companion. Caro’s situation is… unique, to put it lightly.”
“Right. Well, looks like I’m out-voted,” Vita huffed, hands on her hips.
“Vita, we‘re already letting you beat up the trainees as it is,” Twilight replied grumpily. “Just don’t go after Caro. That’s all I’m asking.”
“Fine. Shari, are we ready?”
“Yes, Knight Vita,” Shari’s hands were poised over the keys.
“Good.” Vita smirked. “Time to give them a little wake-up call.”
---
The soft ‘fzam-fzam’ of the Gadget Drones’ lasers filled the air as Scootaloo darted back and forth, quickly skipping from side to side as she approached. Dodging the blasts was easy for somepony with her speed and reaction time, and she had managed to pin the trio of drones down thanks to her mobility.
Unfortunately, that was all she’d managed to do.
“Let’s go, Gale Force!” Scootaloo leapt skyward, kicking off a nearby spire of rock to gain further altitude.
“GOTCHA,” the Device replied excitedly. “PEREGRINE CLAW!”
A pair of long, scythe-like blades of compressed air and mana extended from Scootaloo’s skates, thrumming and glowing with purple light as she stooped down towards her targets. Scootaloo let out a battle-cry as she swung, only to hear that annoying keening noise again. Her claw rapidly fragmented apart, the edge dissolving away in scattering sparks of light. The gust of compressed air sent it flying backward, but without even a scratch.
“Rutting- gah!” Scootaloo’s curse was cut short as she dodged and swerved, quickly taking cover behind a nearby rocky outcropping.
Scootaloo, Teana’s voice said in her head, what’s your status?
My status? Rutting terrible, that’s my status! I can’t even put a dent in these things!
What’s the problem?
Scootaloo grimaced as one of the beam shots smacked a little to close too where she was hidden. The problem, miss high-and-mighty, is that my attacks aren’t working! It’s just blowing them around like dandelion fluff!
Hrm… I’ll see if I can provide you with some support, alright?
Scootaloo grunted, then paused. Her ears twitched. Hold on. They stopped firing…
What?
Vrom-ZEEEEEE…
Scootaloo let out a shout of surprise as a thin, solid ray of blue light sliced through the stone surface above her. A second ray sliced down to her left, only missing her by a few inches. “Gale Force!” She spread her wings and leapt, flapping rapidly.
“CLOUD ROAD!”
There was a deep whoosh as a purple ribbon of fog exploded before her. Scootaloo landed and accelerated, staying just barely behind the leading edge of the road. The drones gave chase, a trio of thin lasers tracing through the air behind her as she swerved and danced.
“When in Tartarus did they learn how to do that?!” Scootaloo glanced back quickly to check the ray’s approach, then skidded sharply and back-flipped over the beams, quickly shooting off in a different direction.
At least until one of the Gadget Drones floated up before her, letting out that horrible keening noise.
“ERROR,” Gale Force announced, “INTERFERENCE DETECTED!”
“Oh horse-apples,” Scootaloo’s wings flared as the road ahead of her dissolved away. She jumped, landing atop the drone with a click of her skates. Then the drone spun, throwing her off balance and sending her flying, her wings flapping fruitlessly. She could see the other drones directly below her, taking aim.
“This is gonna hurt,” she muttered to herself.
“Scootaloo!”
Scootaloo blinked as a familiar blue ribbon of light shot beneath her, right as Subaru caught her. The blasts of energy slammed against Subaru’s Wing Road as the human shot along, the engines of her skates thrumming loudly.
“TARGET CAUGHT,” Mach Caliber announced.
“You okay, Scoots?” Subaru looked down at her.
“Y-yeah,” Scootaloo squirmed. “Just having some minor problems. No big deal.”
“Good to hear I’m not the only one,” Subaru replied, glancing back up. Her eyes went wide. “Uh oh…”
Scootaloo looked ahead, then swallowed. A trio of drones floated up ahead of them, their emitters glowing bright blue.
“Hold on, Scoots!” Subaru crouched as the Wing Road shot downward.
The wind whipped through Scootaloo’s mane as they dove, then let out a panicked squawk as a pair of thin blue lasers sliced through the Wing Road like a pair of scissors.
“Hang on!” Subaru hurled herself off the Wing Road, turning in mid air to shield Scootaloo from the impact. Thankfully, they weren’t that far off the ground. Still, the speed they were going at made for a very impressive impact, sending a small cloud of dust puffing up around them.
Scootaloo scrambled out of Subaru’s arms and got to her feet. “You okay, Subaru?”
“Ugh.” Subaru sat up and rubbed her un-gauntleted hand against the back of her head. “Yeah… I’m fine.”
“You dummy, why’d you do that?” Scootaloo stomped one hoof, her ears folding back. “You didn’t need to shield me like that!”
Subaru blushed. “Well… we were going really fast, and I didn’t want you to hurt your wings…”
“Subaru,” Scootaloo replied flatly, said wings bristling. “We’re both wearing Barrier Jackets. Remember?”
Subaru blinked. “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“Uh…”
Right then, the familiar ‘fzam’ of the drones energy blasts crackled out. The pair glanced at each other, then quickly dove for cover.
“For what it’s worth,” Scootaloo muttered quietly as they hid behind a rocky spire, “I appreciate the save.”
“Heh, no problem.” Subaru flashed a quick thumbs up.
“Yeah, but what do we do now?” Scootaloo risked a quick glance, then quickly ducked back as a blast hit the rock beside her. “These things decided to go all aggressive on us, and I can’t even scratch them…”
“I’m not doing much better,” Subaru replied, lifting her Revolver Knuckle. “The ones I was after started moving too fast for me to hit…”
“Any ideas?” Scootaloo glanced up at Subaru hopefully.
Subaru swallowed, then shook her head.
“Well, we’ve gotta do something,” Scootaloo huffed, then blinked as she heard the familiar report of Teana’s guns. She risked a peek again and watched as the bright orange shots hit the ground around the drones. The drones quickly turned towards their new opponent, rapid-fire blasts of blue light firing in reply.
“Looks like Teana’s finally giving us some support,” Scootaloo noted, before she nudged Subaru with her flank. “Looks like a good opportunity for a counter-attack, doesn’t it?”
Subaru blinked, then grinned. “I like the sound of that…”
“Right. On three, we rush them. Got it?”
“Right.”
---
Shot after shot slammed into Spike’s upraised shield, sending sparks of blue and green mana in all directions. The dragon grimaced, but held his ground, an open hand extended to support the shield.
This is probably Vita’s doing, he thought to himself. This would be the exact sort of thing she’d pull during a training exercise, making them go from running away to full on assault mode.
Vrom-ZEEEEEE…
There was a noise like metal cutting metal as a trio of thin, continuous rays slammed into Spike’s shield. Spike could see a bright spot form around the points of impact on his Panzerschild, like metal glowing beneath a blow-torch.
“Yeah, this is getting annoying,” Spike growled under his breath, then reached up and tapped the gem on his collar. “Ritterherz, let’s light ‘em up.”
The Device let out a roar as Spike inhaled and focused. He let the Device handle the actual spell calculations while he fed the energy from his Linker Core up into it. A green loop of light formed in front of Spike’s mouth, Belkan glyphs surrounding it as he focused.
“Here we go… Drachenatem: Strahlform!” Spike inhaled deeply as he spoke the command phrase, filling his mouth with burning green fire. He took a step back and dug his toes into the ground to brace himself before he leaned his head back, then threw his head forward and exhaled.
The green flames of his breath flowed through the firing loop and exploded into a long, almost cylindrical jet of flame. He turned slowly, straining against the sheer force of the blast as swept the blaze across the drones. One of them partially melted and promptly exploded, while the other two flew skywards.
Oh no you don’t, Spike thought to himself. He snapped his jaws shut, then aimed his head downward. There was a thunderous roar as the jet of flame propelled Spike upwards like the world’s least aerodynamic rocket.
The drones noticed this, and opened fire. Blue bolts of light slammed into Spike’s Knight’s Clothing, leaving scorch-marks behind. Even through the layers of field spells that made up the enchanted garb, Spike could still feel the sting of the shots.
Gotta make this shot count… Spike narrowed his eyes, then shut his mouth to cut off the flow of flame. As he did so, he kicked his legs back and arched his spine performing a forward flip as his trajectory reached its apex. As he spun back to a vertical position he inhaled, then released.
One drone instantly vanished into slag. That was all Spike could see before he rocketed backwards, propelled by his boosted fire breath.
I… may not have thought this through, he mused. I hope Twilight’s not watching this. Or Zafira. Oh sun, moon and stars, don’t let Zafira-
And then Spike slammed into a pillar of rock. Or rather, slammed through it. The spell quickly fizzled out as he landed with a decidedly ungraceful crash, bouncing and tumbling head-over-tail before coming to a halt against a large boulder.
---
Yuuno winced. “Ouch…”
“Yeah,” Twilight winced as well. “I’m just glad he’s durable…”
Zafira, meanwhile, simply closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, his ears folding back as he did so.
---
Caro held her ground beside Teana, her hands raised before her as she maintained the Barrier shielding them both. Thin blue bolts of light ricocheted off the swirling dome of pink mana. Kerykeion’s jewels glowed softly as she held the spell steady.
“Looks like we have their attention,” Teana grimaced as she crouched beside Caro, a small holographic monitor floating before her eyes. “Looks like Spike took out two of his targets…”
“There’s still a lot left over,” Caro replied, wincing slightly as a bolt of blue light scattered off her Barrier at eye-level. “And we’re running out of time. If we-”
Caro’s sentence was cut short by the sound of an explosion. Both Caro and Teana turned to look in the direction of Subaru and Scootaloo. The pair had sprung from cover with impressive speed, charging directly into the distracted drones. Subaru’s gauntleted fist slammed into one of the drones, Revolver Knuckle’s gears spinning and widening the hole before Subaru leapt away. Scootaloo, meanwhile, zipped about the drones, drawing their fire. There was a loud whirring noise as two of the drones turned on their continuous beams, sweeping them about and trying to pin the pony down, only for them to slice through one of their fellow machines and causing it to detonate.
“Wow…” Caro whispered as she watched the pair work, pony and human almost working in sync together. “They’re really… impressive.”
“Yeah,“ Teana grunted as Subaru grabbed one of the drones and threw it towards Scootaloo. The pegasus leapt skyward, claws extending from the skates on both of her front hooves before she raked them downwards, spiking the drone like a volleyball. “Really impressive, that’s for sure…”
---
There was a familiar crackle of static as Spike felt someone grab his hand. He groaned loudly and slowly rolled to a sitting position, a clawed hand rubbing his brow. A few pebbles bounced free from between his dorsal spines as he shook his head. “Remind me never to do that again,” he muttered.
“I’ll try to,” Erio replied, thin tendrils of golden lightning crackling along Strada’s length. “You alright?”
“Fine. Just peachy.” Spike grunted as he climbed to his feet. “Where’s the drones?”
“My guess? Probably closing in.” Erio glanced around quickly, moving Strada back into a two-handed grip. “I managed to down one of them, but I missed the other two. I think they’re adapting to our strategies.”
“That‘s because they probably are.” Spike grimaced.
“You don’t sound surprised.”
“Of course not. This is Vita we’re talking about. Vita’s not like Twilight; she doesn’t play fair.” Spike looked up as he heard a soft humming. “Erio, behind-”
FZAM!
The red-headed young knight spun, Strada crackling in his hands as he swung. There was a loud crackle as Erio swatted a bolt of energy out of the air. Spike blinked.
Wow… that’s Fate levels of reaction speed right there…
“Looks like they found us,” said Erio casually as the drones opened fire. He spun Strada about, deflecting the shots with the head of his spear or blocking them with the butt. He then pirouetted, lightning crackling along the chisel-tipped blade of his spear before he swung, an arc of golden light shooting forth towards the drones. The drones, of course, quickly dodged and returned fire.
Spike stepped up beside Erio and thrust his hand out, Ritterherz glowing brightly as he called up his magic. The blasts of blue energy slammed against his Panzerhindernis, the green Barrier thrumming as it swirled.
“Thanks,” Erio replied, huffing softly.
“I thought Fate told you not to overdo the whole super-speed thing,” Spike replied, shifting his weight as the blasts continued to ping against his defensive spell.
“Yeah… force of habit.” Erio grumbled. He then swung Strada around and leveled the spear at one of the drones. “When I say ‘now,’ I want you to drop the barrier.”
“Are you crazy?! What the heck are you going to-”
Spike’s query was cut short as he heard the distinct report of a cartridge being fired off. “Strada,” Erio ordered, gripping the spear in one hand as he lowered himself into a runner’s stance, “let‘s go!”
“JAWOHL!” There was a loud whine as the spear’s jet engines flared to life, golden light streaming out from the triangular exhaust ports.
“Uh… Erio?” Spike looked at the thrumming spear worriedly, “are you sure this is-”
“Now!”
“Right. Dropping the barrier.” Spike clenched his hand, causing the swirling dome of light to fade.
“SPEERANGRIFF!”
There was a loud roar as Strada’s engines ignited, rocketing Erio directly towards one of the Drones faster than Spike could see. All that was left behind was a plume of smoke and mana from the rocket engines.
Unfortunately, the drones were much more perceptive. There was a loud keening noise as the machines dodged upwards. A loud guttering ‘whomp’ echoed out as Strada’s engines cut out.
“Erio!”
---
Caro turned as she heard Spike shout. The three drones hovering in the air above turned, aimed, and opened fire. Her eyes went wide.
Erio? Spike? Her mental voice trembled as she sent the message. What happened? Are you-
We’re pinned down, Spike replied. Erio missed his charge and we’re out in the open. We need some backup…
Caro’s heart skipped a beat. Is Erio hurt?! Are you-
He’s a little rattled. I think one of the drones zapped him before I could get the shield up…
Caro felt her teeth grit. Backup’s coming. Hold your position.
There was a pause. Uh… Caro? You okay?
Caro cut the connection and took a few steps forward, orienting herself in Spike and Erio’s direction.
“Caro?” She heard confusion in Teana’s voice. “What’re you-”
“Erio and Spike are in trouble,” she replied softly. “I’m going to help them.”
“Um… what’re you going to-”
Caro inhaled slowly, closed her eyes, then brought her hands together with a loud clap. There was a familiar chiming noise as a Mid-Childan spell circle inscribed itself beneath her feet. Energy ran up along Kerykeion’s bracers, sending out lines of energy along the tops of her fingers and around the Device’s core gems.
“By the ancient contract,” Caro intoned, “I call you forth. Constricting chains of silver and steel, answer to my call!”
In the distance, she could feel the summoning portals open. Each portal took the shape of a summoner’s square; a quartet of small spell circles linked together by ribbons of Mid-Childan script around an eight-pointed star. She felt inert matter stir within the summoner’s squares, shaping itself to her whim.
“Wrought Iron Summon,” she called out, swinging her arms out in a cutting motion. “ALCHEMIC CHAIN!”
At her call, chains of solid, glistening metal erupted from the squares. The drones attempted to flee, only to find themselves promptly ensnared and lifted high into the air.
Alright… just like Mr. Scrya showed me, she thought as she clenched her hands, curling her fingers in as she guided the spell.
The chains tightened. Constricted.
They’re just machines. You can’t hurt machines…
Caro clenched her eyes shut. She didn’t want to see it happen. She balled her hands into fists, and the chains heeded the gesture.
There was a creaking of metal on metal as the chains grew tight. Then, a few seconds later, thin streamers of smoke drifted up as the drones crumpled inwards, going from pill-shaped to hourglass-shaped.
Caro exhaled and shuddered, slumping slightly as the metal chains retracted back into the summoner’s squares. She let her arms hang at her sides as Friedrich landed on her shoulder, the little dragon cooing approvingly into her ear.
They’re just machines, she thought, trying to reassure herself.
---
Vita was staring at the monitors. Twilight really couldn’t blame her; she was doing the same thing.
“What in the hell did she just do?” Vita looked over at Twilight. “Seriously, what the hell did Caro just do?!”
“What she does best: summoning magic,” Twilight replied, eyes wide and her lips split in a giddy grin. “That’s a variant-style of summoning, which shapes inanimate objects out of proto-matter…”
“Translation, anyone?” Vita glanced around, then settled on Yuuno.
“Caro’s using her magic to conjure chains,” Yuuno replied.
“Excellent use of the proper terminology, Yuuno,” Twilight added quickly. “But yes, Caro is using conjuration, the art of shaping proto-material into actual-material. She’s not converting energy into matter like our Devices, nor is she calling the chains from another physical location. She’s actually summoning non-differentiated neutral matter from the sub-spatial dimensional boundary and molding it with her magic, which is absolutely fascinating because it suggests that Mid-Childan-style summoning actually shares some traits with certain forms of magic used in Equestria, namely-”
“Okay, okay, I think I get the point.” Vita held up her hands in defeat. “We don’t need the lecture. I’m just surprised that she actually, you know, crushed them.”
“That’s… partially my doing.” Yuuno chuckled nervously as Vita looked at him with a quirked eyebrow. “I’ve been showing Caro a couple of tricks I’ve learned with my Chain Bind spell. It’s nice to see she’s actually applying it…”
“It is effective, that much is true,” Zafira noted, a hand rubbing his chin. “But it doesn’t seem like their AMF had any effect on the chains…”
“That’s because the chains are physical,” Twilight replied. “Unlike most other Bind-type spells, those chains are actual physical matter, while the manipulation is carried out by guiding the leading point of the chains. And Caro was smart; she lifted the drones away from the summoning point, which meant they couldn’t disrupt the spell!”
“Ah.” Zafira nodded in satisfaction.
“And with that,” Shari noted as the last Drone signal winked out from the map, “that concludes the first round of this exercise. Shall we go down and talk with the trainees?”
Vita grunted and nodded. “Sure, I guess so…” She paused, then glared at Twilight. “Why’re you smirking at me like that, Sparkle?”
“Oh, no reason,” Twilight replied airily. “No reason at all…”
“Twilight,” Fate chided gently, poking her in the side with one hoof.
“What? I’m not allowed to gloat a little?” Twilight pouted at her younger sister. “I thought the trainees did quite well.”
“Of course.” Fate replied with a straight face. “My squad did better overall, however.”
Twilight sniffed in mock-offense. “Hardly. Stars Squad did perfectly well, all things considered…”
“True, but Lightning Squad had a much more even spread of kills, whereas two members of Stars did all the work…”
“True, but given their respective make-ups…”
“Girls,” Yuuno interrupted, “am I going to have to separate you two?”
“Hmph.” Twilight stuck her tongue out at Yuuno. “Fate and I are just having a professional argument, Yuuno. No need for you to get involved.”
“Yes,” Fate concurred, a faint smile creasing her lips. “Very professional…”
---
“Well, boys and girls, congratulations,” Vita said with a smirk, her hands tucked into her pockets, “you’ve successfully proved yourselves to be… adequate. Barely.”
Caro wasn’t really listening to Vita. Her attention was focused inwards as the little Knight’s chatter rolled over her.
It was so easy. Her fingers twitched slightly. Like crushing a can. Just like Mr. Scrya said…
---
“Before we continue… there’s something I feel I should tell you, Caro. The tricks I’m going to show you are, in some ways, quite dangerous.”
“But, Mr. Scrya, these aren’t attack spells, right?”
“True, they aren’t. But any form of magic can hurt someone if used creatively. Binds meant to immobilize can strangle or crush a target as easily as someone crushes a tin can. A shield spell is just as useful as a battering ram as it is a defensive tool. Even teleportation can be lethal, if you send someone who can‘t fly high enough into the air.”
“But… But I don’t…”
“I know you don’t want to hurt anyone Caro. And that’s the reason why I’m teaching you this. I trust you, because you’re abundantly aware of how dangerous magic can be. And by teaching you these spells, I’m also equipping you with the knowledge to defend yourself against them. Do you understand, Caro?”
---
“Caro? Oi, Private Ru Lushe!”
Caro jumped slightly. “What? Yes? S-sorry!”
Vita snorted. “You know, when a superior officer addresses you, you’re supposed to respond, not stare into space.”
“S-sorry, ma’am.”
“Whatever. I just wanted to say I was pretty impressed with the chain trick you pulled. Pretty effective summoning work there, kid.”
Caro swallowed. The compliment made the pit of her stomach drop a little. “T-thank you, ma’am…”
“Right. So!” Vita turned and looked over the group. “We’ll start the next exercise in fifteen minutes. You all better be ready by then!”
Caro nodded absentmindedly as Vita and the other instructors walked off. Twilight broke away from the others, calling Teana and Scootaloo over, but Caro couldn’t hear what they were discussing. She slumped slightly, her shoulders slack as she walked over to a nearby boulder and took a seat, pulling her knees against her chest and wrapping her arms around them.
“Caro? You okay?”
She glanced up, blinking at Spike and Erio. Both of them looked concerned.
“I’m… I’m fine,” She reached up, rubbing her eyes with one hand.
“You don’t look fine,” Spike replied as he crouched down in front of her, his tail swishing. “You look miserable.”
Caro didn’t respond.
“Uh… look. If it’s about what Vita said…”
“It’s not that… it’s… it’s what I did.”
Spike blinked. “You mean the chain thing?”
“Yes, ‘the chain thing.’”
“Um…” Spike scratched one ear-fin. “Look, what you did-”
“What I did was I crushed them.” Caro’s hands clenched as she pressed her face into her knees. “I crushed them like they were nothing… and it was easy!”
“Woah, woah, relax!” She heard Spike shuffle as she snapped at him. “I didn’t mean to upset-”
“It’s not supposed to be easy,” she continued. “It shouldn’t be that easy to hurt something like that! But I just made it happen! I-”
She felt a hand gently touch her head. She looked up, sniffling softly at Erio. The young boy’s expression was unreadable, but his eyes were fierce.
“Caro,” he said quietly, “you didn’t do anything wrong.”
She sniffed. “But…”
“Caro, it’s okay,” he interrupted. “I know why you did it. I know you did it to protect us. I did something stupid, and you got us out of a jam. Thank you.”
Caro shook her head. “I… I just wanted you two to be safe. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I don’t…”
“I know… but Caro…” Erio inhaled slowly and closed his eyes. “Sometimes… you have to hurt people.”
Caro stared up at him. “Erio, I…”
Erio‘s voice dropped to a whisper. “If… if I’d had your kind of power back then Caro, things would’ve turned out differently…”
Caro froze.
“There are bad people in the world, Caro,” he said, his voice very carefully neutral. The clenched fists at his sides, however, suggested what Caro knew was under the surface. “There are bad people who want to do bad things to anyone who can’t protect themselves. Sometimes, they’ll do them to your friends, or your family, or even to you. And when that happens, you will have to hurt them, because otherwise…” He shuddered. “Otherwise…”
Caro pushed herself up, then quickly hugged Erio. She felt him go stiff at the show of affection, then slowly relax before he clumsily returned the hug.
“Well,” Spike interjected, pulling Caro’s attention over towards him, “if nothing else, I think we figured out something, Caro.”
“Huh?”
“I was right about you. You’re pretty brave.”
Caro blushed. “No, I’m not.”
Spike shrugged. “Keep telling yourself that all you like. Doesn‘t change things.”
“Spike’s right, you know,” Erio added. “You’re probably one of the bravest people I know, Caro…”
Caro’s cheeks were almost as pink as her hair. She lanced away, pausing for a second as she saw Captain Testarossa-Sparkle watching them, a small smile on her lips.
---
Looks like Lightning Squad’s handling itself. Caro’s doing fine, so that’s one less thing to worry about.
Twilight exhaled in relief at Fate’s telepathic message, glad that the yellow mare was keeping an eye out for her squad. However, she had her own problems to attend to.
“So,” Twilight said, glancing between Teana and Scootaloo, “I noticed you two were having problems, since neither of you recorded a single ‘kill’ in the last exercise.”
Scootaloo grumbled and kicked a hoof, while Teana exhaled in irritation.
Twilight snorted softly. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of, no matter what Vita says about the matter. You both still performed quite well, all things considered.”
“Yeah, but we could do better,” Scootaloo huffed. “Without my claws, all I’m good at is being a distraction.”
“To be fair, at least you can blow them around a bit with your wind,” Teana countered, shaking her head before pressing an index finger against her forehead. “My shots can’t even get through their AMF. It doesn’t matter how accurately I can shoot if the bullet can’t even get to the target in the first place.”
Twilight coughed loudly, drawing their attention. “Girls, let’s not dwell on that sort of thing. We know what we need to work on, so let’s see if we can’t come up with a solution, alright?”
Their replies were less than enthusiastic, which caused Twilight’s ears to fold back. I’m really going to have to talk to Vita about a little thing called ‘morale,’ she thought to herself.
“Alright,” she continued briskly. “I think we’ve already identified the problem; your respective attacks can’t reach their targets because of the Anti-Magilink Fields, correct?”
“Duh,” Scootaloo replied irritably.
Twilight kept her smile up, just like Celestia did when she was being a problem foal. “Good. So, knowing what you now know about AMF, how do you think you can counter it?”
“You don’t,” Scootaloo replied. “Subaru didn’t need to. She just punched holes in them with that big metal glove of hers…”
“Yes, but you’re not Subaru,” Twilight replied. “Your skills are different. So think; how can you get around their defense?”
“Ma‘am” Teana raised a hand slowly, “I… may have an idea.”
“Yes, Teana?” Both Twilight and Scootaloo looked at her.
“Well, I’m not quite sure if it’s feasible,” Teana continued, crossing her arms as she looked thoughtful. “I mean, it’d work in theory…”
“So? Spit it out, already,” Scootaloo urged.
Teana grimaced at Scootaloo, then looked back at Twilight. “Subaru would probably explain it better ma’am, but I assume you’re familiar with field-type interactions?”
Twilight nodded. “I should be, yes.”
“Well… is it possible to put a non-field spell inside a field without compromising the outside spell?”
Twilight’s teacher-like smile gave way to something a bit more excited. “Excellent thinking, Teana! I’m assuming you’re planning on surrounding one of your Shoot Barret projectiles with a low-grade field to counteract the AMF’s erosion of the spell linkage?”
“Well, yes,” Teana blushed slightly. “I suppose so, assuming that could even work…”
“I don’t see why it wouldn’t.” Twilight paused, quickly running through the scenario and the calculations. “Though it’d be difficult to pull off… a spell like that’s quite complex. Plus, it’d be very taxing in terms of power, since you’d have to generate both the shot and the field simultaneously…” Not to mention doing it consistently and guiding the projectile on top of that. Doing something like that at her level of power would be challenging to say the least.
Teana reached down and rested one hand on Cross Mirage’s grip. “Well then, it’s a good thing I’ve got eight cartridges worth of power to work with. Trust me, ma‘am, I can handle it.”
“Well, if you feel confident enough to pull it off, then I don‘t see the harm in at least trying it…”
Teana nodded in satisfaction, then looked over at Scootaloo with a smirk. “So, what about you? Got any ideas?”
Scootaloo glared back at Teana, then huffed and hung her head. “Not really…”
Twilight stepped forward and rested a hoof on Scootaloo’s withers. “Don’t worry, Scootaloo. You’ll come up with something, I’m sure. And if not, you can always ask Subaru for help.”
“I know.” Scootaloo huffed, her wings bristling and her tail swishing in irritation.
Twilight hmmed thoughtfully, then perked her ears forward. “Well… if I could make a suggestion, Scootaloo?”
“Yeah?” Scootaloo glanced over at her, on ear flicking and turning towards her.
“Have you considered something other than claws?”
Scootaloo blinked. “Huh?”
“A shape other than claws. While the cutting power of your Peregrine Claw spell is impressive, the spell itself is rather fragile because you’re stretching the containment and amplification field over a large area…”
“Yeah… But, I mean, that’s kinda how I was taught, remember? Fa- er, Captain Testarossa-Sparkle showed me how to make the blade in the first place.”
Twilight nodded. “True, but there’s more things you can do with it. Just… think about it, alright?”
Scootaloo nodded.
---
Signum stood at the pier, her long pink ponytail flittering in the breeze, her eyes focused on the hovering holographic monitors as the Trainees went through the anti-AMF exercise again.
Vita and Zafira were, as expected, advising Twilight and the others. Signum did not fault them for their interests, nor did she begrudge them their status as instructors. They, like Shamal, had found their niche outside of their duties to their shared Mistress. Signum took comfort in that fact. It almost made her own situation more bearable.
Almost.
“There you are. I was wondering where you‘d gotten to, Signum.”
Signum glanced away from the monitors as Trixie trotted up to her, the blue unicorn smirking slightly. “So,” Trixie continued, “I guess you decided to check in on the Sparkle sisters and their trainees?”
“Yes, Mistress,” Signum replied calmly, her arms folding before her.
“Good. Honestly, if it weren’t for these meetings with Captain Harlaown, I’d be out there myself.” Trixie snorted. “I suppose I should feel honored to be Chrono’s sounding board, but it’s really starting to grate. How many contingencies does one need, anyway?”
Signum nodded quietly, which caused Trixie to quirk an eyebrow. “Are you even listening, Signum?”
“Of course, Mistress.”
“Hrmph.” Trixie glanced up at her, then looked out to the S4, then back to Signum. “If you’re itching for a fight, you could always volunteer. I’m sure you’d make a fine op-”
Signum shook her head. “No.”
“Really? Since when were you one to turn down a fight?”
“Pitting me against the trainees would not be a fair fight,” Signum replied. “Besides, you know how… enthusiastic I can be sometimes.”
“Hrm… you‘ve got a point there.” Trixie looked thoughtfully at the floating screens. “You know, of the four of you I would’ve expected you’d be an instructor, not Vita.”
“Vita has… adapted,” Signum replied. “As have Shamal and Zafira. They are more comfortable with the way things are…”
“While you’re stuck in the past,” Trixie replied. Signum glanced down at her with an irritated look, which Trixie returned. “What? It’s not like I’m wrong.”
Signum sighed. “I… am too much of a Knight, Mistress. I have neither the desire, nor the disposition to teach. Even if I did, what could I offer? My skills are not meant for peaceful enforcement. They’re meant for the battlefield. I‘m meant for the battlefield.”
“And I was meant for the stage,” Trixie replied, “and look how I turned out.”
“Your stage still remains, Mistress. Mine, however, does not.”
“Well, if nothing else you at least make for a good bodyguard,” Trixie ventured playfully.
Signum grunted in reply.
Trixie sighed. “Have you spoken to Princess Luna, by any chance?”
“Yes. Not recently, but we have kept correspondence with each other.”
“And have you-”
Signum shook her head. “It’s not my place to burden someone of her rank with my problems.”
Trixie rolled her eyes. “You do realize that you’re talking about the mare that wanders the dreams of foals and protects them from nightmares, right?”
“I’m aware of her duties, but my point stands.”
“What about Schach? You and her seem to be all buddy-buddy, and she is a nun…”
“Sister Schach holds me in high regard, given my experience and age. I do not wish to appear weak before her.”
“So, you’re telling me you’re actively trying to avoid help?” Trixie arched an eyebrow. “You’re many things, Signum, but I didn’t expect you to be so… intentionally dumb.”
Signum exhaled slowly and looked at Trixie. “Mistress, my… dissatisfaction is not something that others should be required to fix. It is my problem. Do not concern yourself with it.”
Trixie‘s ears flattened as she glared up at Signum. “You’re my assistant, Signum. I’d be stupid if I wasn’t concerned about you.”
Signum reached down and rested her hand on Trixie’s mane. “And that is why I consider it an honor to serve at your side, Mistress. You are a good commander… when you have a mind to be.”
“Hmph.” Trixie turned her nose up at that. “Trixie will have you know that she is always a good commander, Knight Signum. Anything contrary to that fact is to be disregarded.”
“Duly noted,” Signum replied dryly before she turned back to the screens. “Perhaps I should speak to Testarossa-Sparkle once they’re finished. Laevatein is growing restless in his sheath.”
“Is that so?”
Signum looked down at Trixie as the blue mare tilted her head. “Last I checked, Signum, swords don’t grow restless. Only the hands that draw them do.”
Signum didn’t reply to that. She simply slipped her hands into her pockets and looked back out across the bay.
---
Excuse me, but I was under the impression that you were actually good at your jobs! Are you trying to disappoint me?! If not, then hurry up and knock out those drones already!
Teana grimaced as she tried to tune out Vita’s telepathic haranguing. She’d expected it, to be honest; after the first round, the difficulty had spiked up. Last round, they had managed to kill all but one of the drones, which had earned them a rather snide commentary from the little Knight.
Pick up the pace, people! What is this, an elementary school kick-ball team? If you don’t start smashing those tin-cans into the ground, I’m going to come down there and beat the Scheiße out of you myself!
There was a loud crack as Teana pulled Cross Mirage’s trigger. A thin bolt of orange light shot out, streaking upwards and hitting the upper edge of a tall, rocky spire. A thin line of light quickly connected her gun to the anchor point as she leapt upwards, the mana-wire reeling her upwards. The momentum carried her up past the edge of the spire, allowing her to land on top in a crouch.
Status, everyone? Teana stood quickly peering out over the holographic desert.
In position, came Caro’s reply.
In pursuit of group two, Spike replied.
I’m coming in to intercept, Spike. Approaching from three o’clock, Erio replied.
Got my hands full with group one, Tea! Subaru’s voice was louder than normal.
Teana nodded, then frowned. Scootaloo? Scootaloo, report.
Kinda busy here, carrot-top, came the hurried reply. Got three on my tail and I can’t shake them.
Teana nodded. Head towards my position.
What’re you going to do, spit-ball ‘em to death?
Just do it, Scootaloo, Teana replied as she holstered one of her guns.
Fine, whatever…
Teana exhaled and closed her eyes. “Alright Cross Mirage… let’s try this again. And this time, let‘s get it right, alright?”
“RIGHT.” Cross Mirage’s orange core flickered in reply.
“Load Cartridge,” Teana ordered, resting her off-hand on her holstered pistol. A series of cracks filled her ears as cartridge after cartridge fired off from her gun, the empty casings chiming as they landed on the ground beside her. She felt the familiar surge of mana course through her body, her core temperature rising slightly in response to the sudden swell of mana.
Teana gripped the single gun she was holding in both hands, her feet shoulder-width apart as she leveled it, her eyes narrowed in concentration. An orange Mid-Childan circle sprang up around her feet with a familiar chiming noise.
Alright… let Cross Mirage handle the mana control. Focus on the calculations. Her hands tightened as an apple-sized ball of orange light formed in front of her Device. That, however, was the easy part.
Teana knew she wasn’t the brightest member of her squad. That was more Subaru’s talent. While she could be an air-head sometimes, Teana had to admit the girl had a knack for memorization and calculation. After all, she’d been the one to tutor Teana. But what Teana lacked in smarts, she more than made up for in lateral thinking.
Containment fields won’t have enough shielding, Teana thought as she ran through the calculations. Defensive fields wouldn’t work either; the bullet will just break against the barrier wall. So… what about a jacketing effect? Yes… that might work.
She inhaled, quickly reciting the functions for a Barrier Jacket effect, but altered certain factors; decreasing durability and mana-retention, while increasing energy and stability. Cross Mirage quickly picked up on the spell formula, and Teana could feel the mana surge through her as the spell took shape. A shimmering, pulsing coating of light slowly began to form over the blast, increasing the size as it slid upwards.
Teana could feel sweat drip down the back of her neck. Come on… please let this work…
The coating covered the bullet half-way now. Three quarters.
Scootaloo came into view. Three drones were hot on her trail, their shots impacting in the dirt around her. It was a golden opportunity.
The coating slid up, then closed around the bullet.
“VARIABLE COATING COMPLETE,” Cross Mirage announced. “FIELD STABLE.”
“Finally…” Teana raised her arms and took aim. “Variable Shot, fire!”
She pulled the trigger. The blast flew free. With a nudge of her will she twisted the projectile’s path, sending it into the lead drone.
The bullet’s coating shimmered as it hit the edge of the drone’s AMF, but the coating held as the blast ripped through the machine’s metal casing. She swung her arms slightly, guiding the shot into and through the second. The third drone’s AMF peeled away the barrier, but that wasn’t enough to keep the blast from putting a hole where its yellow eye once was.
Scootaloo swerved to a halt as the drones detonated, then slowly turned to look up at Teana with wide eyes.
Teana slowly lifted an arm and gave the pegasus a thumbs-up and a smirk, trying not to show just how much that little stunt made her brain ache.
Let’s see you top that, feather-brain, she thought to herself.
---
By the time practice was over, Caro felt dead on her feet. Her entire body throbbed from exertion, and her heartbeat pounded in her temples. To be fair, she wasn’t the only one who’d looked drained when the six of them staggered into the barracks after dinner. Even Friedrich was looking a bit droopy, with his tail slack and his wings splayed out as he flopped beside her.
Caro sighed and stretched slowly, her legs splayed out before her as she tried to relax. A hot shower had helped, but not completely; hence, the stretching. The last thing she needed was to wake up the next day with aching muscles.
She paused, half-bent over as she heard the muffled sounds of hooves on carpet. She glanced up, blinking as she saw Scootaloo pause a body-length away from her, the pegasus looking a little nervous.
The two stared at each other.
“Uh…” Scootaloo said, breaking the ice. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Caro replied softly.
“So, uh, whatcha doing?”
“Stretching.”
“Cool, cool.” Scootaloo nodded, almost like she was agreeing with herself. Her hooves shuffled on the carpet.
“Uh… “ Caro sat up fully and folded her legs beneath her. “Did you want something?”
The question seemed to startle Scootaloo. “Huh? Me? Uh…” She shuffled again, then sighed and rubbed her head. “Well… I noticed you and Spike’ve been doing that whole meditating thing, you know? And I was wondering if you could… well…”
Caro blinked. “You… want to meditate with us?”
“I guess so. Don’t get me wrong, I could totally do it on my own. I mean, I’ve been taught how to do it. I just figured that I could watch.”
“Watch?“ Caro blinked in confusion. That didn’t seem to be the reaction Scootaloo wanted, however. The pegasus shuffled her hooves and ducked her head.
“I’m… not that good at it. I mean, the whole Zebrican ‘at peace with the world’ thing is really not my style. But Radi ordered me to do it, and if he finds out I’ve been sucking at it I’ll never hear the end of it. So… yeah. Do you mind if I chill with you and Spike for a bit?”
Caro exhaled, then patted the ground beside her. “Sure. Spike should be down soon. Why don’t you get in position?”
Scootaloo trotted over and took a seat. Caro watched as she took a seat, her hind legs bent awkwardly in front of her in a crude approximation of a full-lotus position. She paused as she noticed Caro’s gaze. “Heh… don’t worry. It just looks uncomfortable.”
Caro exhaled in relief. “That’s good… so, what exactly are you having trouble with?”
“The whole ‘be at peace with the world’ thing. Like I said, it’s not really my style. Way too much to do, way too much to think about.” Scootaloo swirled one front hoof in front of her. “Just can’t get into it…”
“Um… maybe you should try focusing on something else, then?” Caro folded her legs beneath her and scratched her head. “What did you think about before you started having problems?”
Scootaloo blushed. “Uh… birds.”
“Birds?”
“Yeah, birds. After Radi started calling me ‘little bird,’ it fit. You know, Pegasus? Wings? Ergo, birds. Besides, birds are cool.”
Caro giggled, then stopped as Scootaloo arched an eyebrow. “Sorry… it just… seemed appropriate, that’s all.” She then tilted her head to one side in thought. “So… why’re you having trouble?”
Scootaloo huffed. “Just… all this. Being here on Mid-Childa. Working with Stars Squad. Working with Teana. This is all just… weird.”
“How so?”
Scootaloo grunted. “Well first, this place is different from Equestria. Everything’s different. Equestria’s always so bright and colorful. But here? Here it’s like… everything’s duller and quieter. The air feels different. The ground feels different. The food tastes different. It just makes me… antsy for some reason.
“And then there’s my squad. Subaru’s pretty cool and stuff, but Teana? Teana’s a brat.” She bared her teeth, her ears folding back against her mane. “She’s always so high-and-mighty, like she’s better than me. And the looks she gives me sometimes… Ugh, I just want to give her a good smack, right in the kisser. Pow!” She punched the air demonstratively. “It doesn’t help with the way she treats Subaru. Subaru says they're friends, but Teana sure doesn’t act like it sometimes. She acts like Subaru’s just some… thing for her to use. And that really just rutting pisses me off, but there‘s nobody I can talk to and I’m sure as Tartarus not going to bring it up in front of Twilight, not with the trouble we‘ve been in before…”
Caro didn’t reply.
Scootaloo sighed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to just go off on you like that…”
“It’s okay,” Caro replied quickly. “Really. It’s fine. I… guess you just had a lot bottled up.”
“Guess so.” Scootaloo slumped slightly. “It’s just… I didn’t expect everything to turn out this way, you know?”
Caro nodded. “Yes, I do know. I don’t think anyone here planned for something like this.”
“Heh…” Scootaloo snorted, but smiled slightly. “You’re pretty nice, you know that?”
“So I’ve been told,” Caro replied softly. She then shook her head and inhaled. “So… do you… want to try meditating with us?”
“Sure? What could it hurt?” Scootaloo shifted slightly. “Just don’t mind me if I wiggle. Sometimes my tail gets caught…”
Caro giggled. “I’ll try not to notice.”
---
Hidden Laboratory
Undisclosed Location
There was a soft hum as the door opened. “Doctor?”
Jail Scaglietti turned as his number one assistant approached him, his smile broad and vulpine. “Yes, Uno? What is it now?”
The lavender-haired woman glanced at her data pad. “Our sources indicate that the Saint Church has acquired another Relic. They appear to have acquired it before our forces could, and are currently transporting it to a safe location.”
“Hmmm…” Jail rubbed his chin in thought.
“You seem unconcerned, Doctor,” Uno replied.
“Oh no, I’m concerned. However, one Relic is not the end of the world for us.” His lips split into a cheerful grin as he raised one finger. “In fact, this is an excellent opportunity to test the current generation of drones.”
“Of course, sir. Shall I ready the Model Twos and Threes?”
“Absolutely. And inform Quattro and Dieci that they’ll be monitoring in the field.”
“Of course, Doctor,” Uno replied with a nod of her head. “As you wish. I’ll inform you once we’ve located the transport route the Relic will be following.”
“Thank you, my number one assistant.” Jail turned away as Uno exited, his eyes focused on the four bio-genesis chambers before him. Dozens of monitors and data feeds showed the vital signs of the figures floating within, providing a comprehensive analysis of their physical, mental and magical health.
“Just a little longer, my darlings,” he cooed. “Then you’ll get to meet your sisters properly. Won’t they be in for a surprise…”
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A maiden who fears her power. And a youth who has lost his innocence. These two are more alike than they might think.
Stars Squad is slowly coming together, while Lightning is solidifying its bonds
But Jail has a plan in the works. Who knows what sorts of scheme the mad doctor is hatching?
Yeesh, I can't believe Caro got kicked because she could summon... you-know-who(don't wanna spoil anything), you'd think she'd be a celebrity or something.
And I laughed a Spikes faceplant into the boulder, you got a great sence of humor man.
Ah yeah, that fire-breathing attack was everything I was hoping for when we learned Spike was going to be in the story. And I don't think he should feel too bad about that reverse jet-engine move, in the right circumstances it could have combat applications, and training is the time to come up with that kind of thing.
And that Alchemic Chain move by Caro, very nice.
Hah! Blunt Trixie is best Trixie.
And that was pretty nice too.
5114236
Caro's issues will be made clearer in time.
5148441 So there's actually more to it then what was shown?
Colour me interested.
Hey I just had an idea: Why not turn Angel into Fluttershy's Familiar? I mean why not?
I've not even started your A's fic yet, but having watched StrikerS only a few months ago, I am delighted you're adapting it too! The original Magical Pony Lyrical Twilight is one of the nicest crossovers I've read, and the MLP fandom seems to have quite a few good ones.
The story finally seems to be getting interesting. Still, is a shame only like a third of the focus or less in in Equestrian characters.