Flurry Heart impatiently checked her holo-brace for the umpteenth time. She had four hours and twenty minutes to get to Nyx before the Orion's life support failed and they would begin to suffocate. On top of that was the ever-increasing chance that they were under attack already. The thought made her heart clench, and she fought to keep her emotions from running out of control.
She didn’t have time for this nonsense. She needed to be out there helping Nyx! Why was she here, waiting on this fat, preening oaf and his ridiculous need for theatrics? Dark thoughts of snapping the idiot’s neck played in her mind, but she did not indulge them. She couldn’t afford to cause any more delays, regardless of how satisfying the idea was.
Flurry let out an irritated snort at the thought of surrendering herself to the disgusting slavemaster. The mere idea made her skin crawl. Still, this was a small sacrifice if it saved everyone’s life on the Orion. Playing along to keep Merry happy would buy her enough time to complete the mission. Once she got back, she would crack the command spell and then introduce Merry to an alicorn’s version of justice.
Her gaze drifted around the hangar in which she stood, across the nervous faces all looking at her. Every pegasus under Merry Weather’s command had been gathered here, from the lowliest mechanic to the most august of Merry’s inner circle. It didn’t matter that they all had work to do; the sleazy low-life would have his spectacle. He wanted everypony to see his moment of triumph—Last Shadow brought to heel.
This show had been part of the deal for his help after all.
Her gaze fell upon Oakheart, prominent for being the only earth pony amongst the crowd. He looked concerned, almost anxious. She hadn’t consulted him on her decision, and now, events were out of his hooves. He was just a spectator, and he was clearly unhappy about where this was headed.
Flurry still hadn’t seen Swan Song, though she spotted Blitz and his wingmates in the crowd. She gave him a nod, which he at least acknowledged.
“Attention!” a well-dressed stallion barked, making everypony stand straight. “May I present his lordship, Merry Weather!”
A reluctant stomp of applause rippled through the crowd as Merry Weather’s procession emerged. Twenty or so of his cronies surrounded him, barging their way past anyone too slow to move out of the way. They were all decked out in their red dress uniforms, covered in polished medals, striding forward like strutting peacocks. They all looked ridiculous amongst the oil-soaked coveralls and patched flight suits of those gathered, but none more so than Merry Weather himself.
His gold-accented jacket strained to keep his bulk contained, the front clasps valiantly fighting against the tide of fat. His chest jingled with tinny-sounding medals of all shapes and sizes, all polished to an impossible golden sheen. His mane looked almost solid with all the styling grease he had applied, bobbing heavily with each step he took.
Swan Song walked alongside him, a long ornate staff of black oak held under a wing. She appeared shell-shocked, her eyes listless and unfocused. The poor mare was evidently still processing everything that had taken place in the past few hours. As she caught sight of Flurry, she stopped for a moment, a frown crossing her brow. Flurry could see that Swan’s mind was racing, trying to comprehend everything that was happening.
The whole thing began shaking Flurry’s resolve, a sliver of doubt chipping away at her confidence. This was her last chance to back out before she was fully committed. She quashed the thought with a reminder that this wasn’t merely to help Nyx, but to hopefully achieve something profound for the slaves present here.
The procession came to a stop before Flurry Heart, and one of Merry’s officers motioned for silence. The stomping of hooves trailed off, leaving the hangar silent.
“You took your time,” she huffed. “What, did they have to butter you up so you could fit through the doors or something?”
Merry Weather simply smiled. “My, what a foul mouth. Is that any way to speak to your new master?”
“I’m not yours yet, cream puff,” she said.
He chuckled and leaned in close, the stench of his cologne almost choking. “Not to worry, I’ll soon find something to keep that mouth busy with.”
Flurry merely bared her teeth and snapped her jaws together, causing a few of the nearby stallions to wince.
Merry offered a smirk, pulling back and opening his wings as he turned toward the crowd. “My dear subjects! I have wonderful news to share with you all!” he called. “We find ourselves welcoming an auspicious new member into our ranks of blackwings.” He then gestured towards her. “The infamous killer known as Last Shadow… Flurry Heart!”
There were gasps of shock from the crowd, murmurs rolling through them like a wave.
“Some of you may have longstanding grievances against her, but let it be known that it is only because of her generosity that the coward Swan Song rejoins your ranks,” he said, earning a gasp from Swan herself. “She will be leading the blackwings in the coming operation.”
Swan looked to Flurry with wide eyes, her shock turning to confusion. She blinked away tears, her shoulders sagging in relief. Flurry simply smiled and winked at her before turning to look back at Merry. He seemed to be keeping up his end of the bargain, at least for now.
Merry then turned to Swan Song. “Now, my dear, I give you the honour of branding the newest member of your aerie.”
Swan Song’s gaze flicked between Merry and Flurry for a moment, hesitation freezing her to the spot.
“Well?”
“Yes, my lord,” Swan murmured, drawing the staff and clutching it in her hooves.
Closer now, Flurry could make out the details of the staff’s headpiece. It was two pegasi carved into the wood, their heads held low while their wings were stretched upwards, supporting a flat base marked with arcane runes. Dark magic pulsed from the runes and made her bristle as her senses brushed against it.
This was the staff of judgement, whose power would bind the recipient to their new owner until they were released. During her time in the Republic, she had seen it being used a few times, back when it was only meant to punish criminals. What was once a simple system of repaying society for your crimes, was now twisted into a cruel slaver’s tool, somehow sanctioned by the Republic.
Swan reluctantly took to the air and hovered over Flurry’s head.
“By the Emperor’s judgement, you are condemned for your crimes against the Republic,” Swan choked out, barely able to speak.
Merry’s eyes were shining with glee. “May your shame mark you, blackwing.”
He nodded to Swan Song, who hesitated, drawing a frown from Merry. “Do not make me regret my decision, my dear Swan.”
Flurry tilted her head and looked to the hovering pegasus. The mare’s eyes were wide, the staff shaking in her hooves. Despite Swan wanting her dead mere hours earlier, the branding was obviously far more personal to her. “Hurry up, kid. Get this over with; we’ve no time to dawdle. It’ll be okay.”
Swan nodded glumly, bringing the staff down to touch between Flurry’s flight muscles along her back.
Flurry winced as she felt something cold dive into her core. It was alien and sickly, coiling around her flight magic like a living thing, enveloping it whole. She let out a gasp as her wings went numb, and looking back, she saw speckles of black appear on her primary feathers. Her wings flapped involuntarily, the lack of sensation sending her body into a panic. The numbing coldness crept up her spine, heading towards her horn. She tried to hold it back, but it slipped through her defences like smoke. The dark blotches grew as everypony watched, until it swallowed the last of her natural colour, leaving her wings jet-black.
Merry looked like he was about to explode with joy at the sight.
Flurry tried to light her horn, which only produced a few sputtering sparks of light. All of her senses were dulled, distant sounds becoming indistinct, and she could no longer feel the air currents in her wings nor the pulse of magic in her horn.
Oh this isn’t good.
She barely held back her body’s growing panic as she tried to reach out to her senses, only to be met with empty silence. Her breathing increased, and sweat began to form on her brow as her heartbeat rose to a crescendo.
It took all of her will to hold her body in check. She couldn’t afford a full-blown panic attack now, not in front of him.
Focus.
She swallowed and glared at him. “Remember our deal, fatso, I get my powers until the Orion is docked.”
“What’s the magic word, my pet?” he asked in a sing-song voice.
Her teeth clenched and she bit back an insult. Just play along—he’ll get what’s coming to him later.
“Please.”
He flapped a wing, and a jolt passed through her like somepony had just shocked her with a stun rod at maximum setting. She clenched her teeth and bore the pain in silence. She wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of showing everyone how much it hurt.
“We must work on your etiquette, but all in good time,” he said with a sigh, flexing both wings in a complicated series of movements.
The change was immediate, like a shawl had been lifted from her eyes as her magic returned. Though now, there was a weight that wasn’t there before, like a cancerous blob coiled around her power.
“As agreed. Remember, my pet, you have twenty-four hours to return, otherwise the enchantment will kill you,” Merry warned. “I suggest you don’t be late.”
He let out a happy sigh. “Now, you all may return to your duties,” he announced before trotting away. “I shall prepare for your triumphant homecoming. Ta ta.”
Flurry simply scowled as he trotted away, laughing with his cronies.
As she turned, she saw the crew chief trot up to Swan, who was still clutching the staff tightly. She looked like she was going to be sick.
“Welcome back, lieutenant,” the old stallion said, giving her a salute. “Not an easy thing you just went through. You did well.”
It took a moment for Swan to recover before she straightened and returned the salute. “Thank you, Ratchet.” Her voice trembled with emotion, but she held it mostly in check, earning a small smile from the chief.
He patted her on the shoulder. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got work to do.”
He then turned to his work crews. “Alright you sorry lot, show’s over!” he yelled over the rising chatter. “We’ve still got ships to load onto the carrier so move it! The clock is ticking, ponies!”
The work crew fluttered off, heading towards the neighbouring hangars to begin their duties, leaving only a few blackwings remaining.
It was much quieter when Swan finally spoke.
“Tell me why, Last Shadow. Why did you do this?” she asked. “You just gave up your freedom. Everything. Why? I-I don’t understand.”
“I need Merry’s ship, and I need you to lead your aerie. Not to mention, I promised I’d help you,” Flurry replied, matter of factly. “I keep my promises, kid.”
“You don’t understand. You just sold your soul away,” she said, looking to the staff she held with revulsion.
“He might have my body for a while, but he doesn’t own our souls, kid,” Flurry replied. “Or should I refer to you as ma’am now? You technically are the head of my aerie.”
Swan’s tail flicked, and she let out a sigh. “Just Swan will do, Last—”
“Flurry Heart. My name’s Flurry Heart,” Flurry interrupted. “Last Shadow is dead. She’s been dead for a long time.”
Swan nodded grimly. “Fine, but you should know, this doesn’t change anything. I’m not your friend, and when this is over, I’m going to settle things between us.”
“I understand,” Flurry said with a sigh. “Look, I’m not expecting you to just sweep everything under the rug like it never happened. It might not have been my original reason for coming here, but I do want to help you, Swan. If you’ll let me.”
“You’re only doing this because you need us for your mission,” she said. “Once it’s over, you’ll weasel your way out of it, somehow, and leave us behind. Don’t try and pretend it’s for anything more than that.”
“Trust doesn’t come instantly, but it’s a start, right?”
“I suppose it is.”
Flurry gave her a weak smile as Oakheart joined them.
“Lieutenant,” he greeted Swan, giving her a nod. “I know things have been hectic for you the past few hours, but you should know that we’re departing within the hour. Sabre, Rapier, and Falchion squadrons are coming with us. Could you inform your pilots?”
“Yes sir,” Swan replied, giving him a salute before turning to leave. She stopped, her ears flattening as she looked back to the black-winged alicorn. “Flurry Heart?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.” And with that, she was gone.
Flurry smiled and flexed her black wings. “This is going to take some getting used to.”
“Care to tell me what you were thinking?” Oakheart demanded, his voice creeping up in volume.
She waved a hoof dismissively. “Relax, we got what we wanted, and now, Swan is joining us. Two clouds with one kick.”
He shook his head. “Ms. Flurry, I don’t think you understand the gravity of what you’ve done.”
“I understand perfectly, captain.”
“No, you don’t!” he said with an emphatic stomp. “You undertook the blackwing enchantment voluntarily. Harmony’s laws won’t be able to protect you.”
“It’s alright, captain,” she replied softly. “It’s sweet that you’re worried, but I’ve got this, I just need to…”
Her horn glowed as she reached down to the coiling black mass that infested her magic. It was like several balls of string merged together, the enchantment’s various components a mad tangle of strands. It would only be a matter of removing the right ones to give the impression it was still active.
First things first, she mused, reaching for the strand that acted as the control mechanism for the enchantment. Disabling that would stop Merry from shocking her whenever he pleased. She was going to need it gone if she was going to move on Merry once this was over.
The effect of her magic touching the enchantment was instant. Reacting to her intrusion, the spell quickly summoned a jolt of electricity from her core. It coiled around her body, rippling through her nervous system in agonizing pulses.
“Ms. Flurry…” Oakheart called, his voice suddenly distant.
The pain was intense, like a vice had clamped onto her horn. Her body convulsed as the jolts grew in intensity. She quickly resorted to tugging at the mass wholesale, hoping to rip it out. Yet for each piece she ripped away, a new piece appeared.
She staggered as pain began to flood her senses, her wings and legs tensing unbearably from the electricity pulsing through her body. Her focus was slipping as her body screamed at her to stop.
It was hopeless. She was no magical prodigy like… like Twilight. Brute force was all she knew, and it wasn’t working.
Eventually she had to stop, staggering into Oakheart as her muscles relaxed.
“Ms. Flurry, are you hurt?” he asked, bracing himself against her weight.
“Oookay, this might be a problem.”
... Roight... Imma gonna get me axe. Far too many skulls need collectin' 'ere.
See, kids? This is why you make sure you're good at math before taking a calculated risk.
Flurry Heart. Just...
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I only see one skull though...
But we'd need more than just an axe for him
God damnit flurry you idiot
Well... uh... let's hope Twilight is nearby somewhere. Can't wait to see how she chews you up for this.
With your style of doing things, I'm pretty sure this is your catchphrase, Flurry.
Can somebody just phaser Merry Weather already?
24.media.tumblr.com/dae67b641a97a28008c9984b27f3a200/tumblr_mn6tziLHh11rhg5lso1_500.gif
Flurry done goofed
And so starts Act II: The Rescue.
Seems Flurry is going to need some help to get out of this particular mess. If Nyx can't help, Twilight might be a possible solution, but finding her before the 24-hour time limit expires might be a bit tricky. Perhaps Flurry somehow convinces Merry to send her to meet with Twilight for some reason or another?
Looks like Swan is slowly warming to Flurry, too. Hope to see Swan and Flurry move past the specter of Last Shadow that have been hanging over them for so long.
Curious to find out whether the (mostly) free magic use until the Orion docks at Harmony Station and Swan's reinstatement were the only things Flurry demanded, or whether there are other parts of the deal that we have yet to find out about. Wonder if Merry negotiated anything else, too.
Okay so I want to preface this by saying, that while I have some more knowledge about this story than a complete layman would due to my participation in the bigger project this is a part of ,
I do not actually know what happens from this point onwards. Again I just read this chapter for the first time today, and have read not one word of the chapters that follow
I almost created a burner account to post this so that people wouldn't look at my name and assume I know more than I actually do. This is a somewhat educated guess, but still absolutely a GUESS, and more really like wish fulfillment.
so here goes spoiler alert is there in case you don't want to read my speculation, but again it is ONLY my speculation. nothing more.
So I can't help but notice that Merry Weather does not appear aware of precisely whom Flurry is so anxious to save. In other words, he talks a lot about the " ship" and " those souls" but the One time ( that I could detect) the name Nyx is mentioned in his presence ( by Oakheart) the conversation just proceeded right past that.
This tells me that he either did not pay attention to that conversation or the title "Captain Nyx" means nothing to him besides the name of the commander of the stricken ship.
By contrast, the moment Merry hears of Flurry and her presence, he seems unable to think of anything BUT Flurry. All his actions from that moment onwards are focused on Flurry. He is furious when she is not killed or arrested and brought to him. When she appears in person he basically salivates and demands she turn into his sex slave.
Yeah, obsession does not begin to cover this.
Granted, I'm sure Flurry takes after her famously beautiful mother and all, but STILL.... it's clear that the whole Alicorn princess turned famous outlaw warrior thing is a very large part of what so turns Merry's crank.
So if he understood what a " Captain Nyx" was, her mention would certainly NOT be something that would just slide by uncommented. Nyx is a literal living legend, and if subjugating powerful Alicorn warrior princesses is his Errr.... fetish..... The only "prize" that would rank higher is Luna herself ( and even then.... the closest thing physically to Luna WOULD be Nyx, who could be thought of as a clone of an aspect of Luna, at least physically) .
Tl;DR: this guy does not know who Nyx is, or at least he fails to comprehend that the Nyx on the Orion is THE Nyx.
Which means he is not preparing for what is going to happen to him ( or what I hope is going to happen to him) Once the Orion docks. He is probably thinking only of the orgy he will throw himself with his newest sex slave. Yeah you keep thinking that buddy.
Yeaaaaaah, I was afraid of that, that the spell might have been designed to take alicorns into account (or at least the abilities of the other tribes) as well, and that Merry's temporary allowances for Flurry to use her powers came with a few unspoken (but frankly obvious) caveats. Merry may be a disgusting idiot, but that still doesn't mean he was born yesterday.
So it'll be interesting to see how Flurry gets her way out of this. To be sure, BIG complication to her plans making things not as simple as she thought they would be before, but she sure as heck isn't going to put up with this forever either--Merry still needs to be...disciplined...after all.
Besides, recklessly ad-libbing her whole way to victory seems to be Flurry's MO, so...might as well continue that tradition here, amirite?
Oh, she won't. The thought of doing you in once she's back is motivation enough.
Wouldn't it be ironic, then, that you end up saving Flurry's life instead before this is all over? I mean, the way things are going in this story, I certainly wouldn't rule it out.
Oh, like that's ever stopped her before. It's precisely because of that fact that she's even in this mess now, you know.
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lol
Okay well some context is probably in order, but I will refrain from spoiling anything important. This is just the setting:
First, this story takes place in the year 2922 of the Age of Harmony.
By contrast, Nyx caused her big upset on Equus back in the year 1183.
It is also very important to keep in mind that this is colonial space. Ponies have colonized hundreds of worlds over the centuries, split into factions along tribal lines, had wars, and pretty much governed themselves, apart from Equus, for far longer than anyone mortal has been alive. It's to the point where the mere sight of a cutie mark perplexes a lot of ponies because one must travel to Equus to get one.
In fact, to many common folk out in the colonies, alicorns themselves are legendary and the vast, vast majority have never seen one in their entire lives. Swan herself is shocked when she first sees Flurry, thinking of how absolutely alien it is to have a unicorn horn on a winged pony. Everything she knows about alicorns is hearsay. She is taken entirely by surprise that the strength of the alicorn is actually real. Somewhere in the back of Swan's mind, she didn't truly believe the legends and actually believed she could personally take Flurry down in that outburst a few chapters ago.
By this point in history, the population of all ponies is so vast and so separated from Equus that even the royal alicorns are barely acknowledged as real people. Most have probably never even heard of the legend of Nightmare Moon and so on. So it is completely understandable, at this point in history, that even prominent and connected ponies like Merry would never have heard of Nyx.
Flurry, on the other hand, is present and active in the minds of anyone involved in the recent war between the Republic and Alliance. Flurry was active on both sides and is considered a war criminal / pirate by almost all the authorities. So, capturing Flurry does make sense as a primary motivation on Merry's part, since she is pretty much the "galaxy's most wanted" as is mentioned a few chapters back.
Nyx? She's not very well known among the colonies at this point in history. She has been doing (and preparing for) very different things, back in the Equus Commonwealth.
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Oh don't get me wrong I m not at all criticizing that they don't know who she is. Because their lack of familiarity with her, if what I want to happen happens. is specifically what will help give Merry Weather his comeuppance.
Amazing story so far. I can‘t wait to see where this is going.
So, here's my wild speculation on this.
I think Flurry's way out might be through the enchantment itself.
She said it's been perverted from passing judgment to imposing slavery, right? So if Flurry hasn't committed crimes against the Republic, we only know of authorized actions that she'd taken during the war, and if she has no shame to show then maybe she can convince the enchantment that her service is done and that she should be released? Magic has done stranger things before.
Eh, the sheer stupidy of it all really broke immersion here, so here is some kind of harmony initiative kowtowing to its slave mercenary lord protector? And assumed leader of the station of useles weaklings allows someone under its protection to brand herself?
Useless failure of a project led by fools.
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Yeah, agree it took me right out of the story too.
Seems like Flurry (who apparently is a thousands of years old Alicorn) gets smashed with an idiot stick and agrees to the dumbest thing. If it was a regular pony O.C, maybe it would make more sense but her characterization seems to be pretty inconsistent - jumping between powerful old creature and really dumb teenage solider.
Death is too good for Merry. I hope you have something planned accordingly for him. Hopefully something involving Nyx as I seriously doubt she would let an Alicorn, much less family, be enslaved.
Uh oh, Flurry, you done goofed. I can 100% support all the reasons it was done. Flurry was playing the game and an important gamble to help not only Nyx but these pegasi. But yeah, magical artifacts/trinkets should rarely be trifled with. Here's hoping she can find a solution, even if it comes from someplace she may not prefer.