Chapter Eleven: Fault Lines
~BlackRoseRaven
Thorn Blackfeather stood in the bridge, calmly surveying the magic barrier before them as soldiers worked away at their consoles, before a mare with half her face replaced by steel and synthetic looked up and said: “We've isolated the source. Clockwork technology, as you predicted. Modified, but software and protocols all seem intact.”
“They have few, if any, programmable machines here. They wouldn't understand how to rewrite Decretum hardcoding in any event. Shut it down remotely.” Thorn ordered.
“Yes, sir.” the mare turned back to the console as several other soldiers joined her in this task, while Thorn returned his eyes to the window.
“Assemble a strike unit and prepare an Adjudicator. I want-”
“Boring!” booed a voice, and Thorn rolled his eye before he grimaced as a hoof slapped down on his shoulder, a mare in barbaric, spiky armor grinning widely beneath her skull-like helm. The bells and ornaments that decorated her heavy wooden yoke jingled as she almost demanded: “Allow me to fetch your pretty stone. I did not come on this journey to sit on my ass and look pretty for you.”
“No killing.” Thorn ordered as he slowly rolled an eye towards her.
The mare groaned loudly, throwing out her forelegs in exasperation. “Fine! Childish. But fie, fine. You think they'd be honored to have a warrior's death at the blade of a Valkyrie!”
“Gildrynn.”
The mare grumbled as she walked a few feet away, and then she spun around, yanking off her heavy helmet and feigning a grouchy salute. She was beautiful beneath her mask: her coat a dark, gorgeous emerald, her eyes a sharp blue, her mane intricately braided, falling in several long knots behind her head. But at the base of her neck, just beneath her throat, nodes visibly protruded from beneath her skin like mechanical tumors, clinking every so often against the heavy yoke she wore. “Aye, sir. Valkyrie Gildrynn, at your service, good master Thorn.”
“Engineering Squad A-3 will assist you. An Adjudicator will remain on standby if you require additional reinforcements.” Thorn said calmly. “I want this to be clean, Gildrynn. In and out. Avoid unnecessary contacts. Special warning applies to this world's Twilight Sparkle. Do not engage the candidate.”
“Ah, so you like that one, do you?” Gildrynn gave a cocky grin, but when Thorn didn't take her bait, she asked more seriously: “Powerful, then?”
“Unknown.” Thorn lowered his head, musing for a moment before he looked up and added shortly: “You have your orders. Follow them to the letter.”
“Sir yes sir.” Gildrynn said acerbically, and then she shoved her helmet back on before she grinned and spun around, running out of the bridge even as she called: “Be back in a whip of a cat's tail with your pretty rock, Thorn!”
Thorn only shook his head, feeling strangely uneasy as he turned back around to look down upon the Crystal Empire below. His eye drew across the city and the great tower of their palace, the stallion meditating over the signals that were appearing across the screen.
They were already trying fruitlessly to resist: pegasi were flying up in squadrons towards the floating fortress, but any who got too close were frightened off by warning shots from the anti-personnel turrets along the hull. Artillery was targeting them, both magical and kinetic, but neither could penetrate the killshield the Queen Mary was protected by: anything that moved too quickly towards the floating fortress was automatically targeted and obliterated by a powerful surge of energy.
But Thorn wasn't happy. It wasn't at all in the character of any world's Twilight Sparkle to avoid a meeting. And their systems had already detected her on a rooftop not far from the castle: she was likely trying to signal for his attention.
This attack on the Crystal Empire wasn't simply about the anchor, however. This was about teaching consequences. He was sorry that helpless ponies were going to suffer for the lesson that Princess Celestia was going to have to learn, but there were bigger things at play than what a single world thought of him, whether or not there was an Orphanage candidate here.
“Portia, locate all structural weaknesses and abnormalities of the tower structure. Compile a digital map and forward all information to Gildrynn.” Thorn ordered, and several new readouts appeared over the screen as the ship's AI went to work. “Deployment in forty seconds.”
“Rush rush rush!” Gildrynn's voice grumbled, as icons of her and the Kirin of Squad A-3 all flashed into existence along the bottom of the screen, allowing Thorn to check their status at a glance.
“Monitoring now. Watchtower is online.” said the mare at the console nearby. “Append?”
“No. Mordin, take over Serenity's duties. Serenity, the operation will begin at your command.” Thorn said politely, nodding to the mare, and she gave a brief smile to him before she nodded and turned back to the console.
“Readings are green. Valkyrie Unit, deploy!”
The shield simply vanished: of all the things that Twilight had expected, that wasn't one of them. It was like Lord Black still had control of his own technology somehow...
Twilight's eyes widened as she stood on the rooftop: was that his trump card? Was he able to somehow control his own technology, even over great distances? If that was true, then Princess Celestia's New Power Initiative...
Another thought occurred, one that chilled her to the bone: what if Princess Celestia had suspected that Lord Black could do this all along? And what if she had purposefully set up the Crystal Empire just to test this theory for her?
“Thorn!” Twilight shouted: but her voice was drowned out by the klaxons, and she had the feeling he wasn't looking at her, anyway. The shadow of his floating fortress was passing over her, headed towards the Crystal Castle...
Something dropped out of the floating fortress above: Twilight saw it for a moment, shaped like a cylinder with a drill-like head, before her eyes widened as fire burst out of the back of it and it streaked like a missile through the air to slam with a resounding crash into the face of the castle.
They were going after the core.
Twilight couldn't sit back and not do anything. She had to do something!
“Twilight! They're-”
“I saw, I saw, I... I'm going ahead!” Twilight gritted her teeth: she had never tried such a long distance jump before, but she didn't have a choice if she wanted to get there before it was too late.
She popped out of existence in a flash of neon, then reappeared with a sizzling crackle in the middle of the hallway, gasping and stumbling before she forced herself to leap to the side and hide behind a chunk of rubble as a voice shouted: “Intruder!”
Twilight started to look up, then squeaked as a hoof seized her by the horn and yanked her into the air. She came face-to-face with a mare grinning through a metal skull-helm at her, this strange, armored pony chortling: “Well, what do we have here? Precisely the little pony I was told not to spank!”
Twilight gasped as she was flung backwards, the armored mare grinning down at her, not glancing back even as there was a tremendous explosion behind her. The walls and floor rumbled as Twilight flinched back, trembling, but the mare only winked at her as she said: “You're lucky, little miss. Stupid move, though, teleporting in like this. If I wasn't under orders I would have cut your head off and left you for the crows!”
“I... I can't let you leave with the core.” Twilight stammered out, forcing herself to sit up before she gasped when the mare stomped on her chest and pushed her back down like she was a toy.
“Oh, I'm leaving with it, little miss, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it.” This titan of mare stepped back with a huff. “Now stay out of the way or I'll have to put you down myself.”
With that, the mare turned and trotted through the rubble, and Twilight shivered before she forced herself to sit up. Her head swam, but strength was creeping back into her limbs and vertigo was fading. She gritted her teeth as she stood up, just in time to watch as the mare tromped out of the hole their vehicle had torn through the wall...
Of course. They'd aimed at the room beside the vault. Then they'd bypassed the vault door and barrier completely by blowing a hole through the wall.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
She stumbled to her hooves, then shouted desperately, as the Kirin walked out with the crystal core between them suspended in a stasis field: “H-Hey! Stop!”
“Really, miss? Are you really going to force my hoof here?” asked the armored mare as she turned towards her, and then she gave a wide grin beneath the mask of her helm, a massive bearded axe gleaming into being across her shoulders, the dwarven weapon glimmering dangerously as the mare idly squeezed a hoof around the pole. “Oh, please do.”
Twilight trembled for a moment, and then she took a breath and started: “I want to speak to Thorn Blackfeather-”
“No you don't, he's boring. Terrible company! Do you even know who you're in the honored company of, miss? Gildrynn, of the Valkyries!” The mare posed, her bells jingling quietly around her neck as she looked proudly down upon the unicorn. “If you want to have a discussion, miss, you'll do so with me. And you had best do most of that discussin' with your hooves.”
Twilight gritted her teeth, trembling in fear, but her mind was already going a thousand miles an hour, working out what she was faced with, what was going on in front of her. Four Kirin: not a military team, she saw immediately. They weren't well armed, didn't have their weapons out. But this Valkyrie, on the other hoof...
Gildrynn was cocky and loud and dressed like a comic book supervillain, but the sense of magic she radiated was both ancient and intense. There was no way Twilight could hope to survive a direct confrontation with her.
Maybe she didn't have to.
“Okay. I'm... I'm going to fight you.” Twilight declared, straightening a bit as her eyes drifted around the hall. “How do we do this?”
“Oh, dear.” Gildrynn laughed, then grinned and gestured at herself, saying easily: “Why don't you just take the first shot? Go on. Show me what you can do!”
Gildrynn puffed out her chest with a mocking smile, and Twilight gritted her teeth, focusing her magic before she snapped her horn out.
Her shot went wide of Gildrynn, hammering a cracked pillar behind her, and the Valkyrie snorted laughter before she opened her mouth, but whatever she was about to say was drowned out by a terrible rumbling above, and the mare had just enough time to dumbly look up before the broken pillar and most of the ceiling came crashing down on her head, smashing her through the floor in a great haze of dust and debris.
Twilight leapt into the cloud, using her own magic to sense out the location of the confused Kirin and the crystal before she leapt into it, focusing magic through her hooves as she slammed it into the stasis field as she shielded herself at the same time. And a moment later, the field exploded in a tremendous blast of lightning that knocked Kirin sprawling with howls of pain as the crystal core fell to the ground.
Twilight grasped it with telekinesis as the shield vanished from around her, before she screamed in surprise when the floor beneath her shattered away: she instinctively leapt onto the core and hugged it as she wrapped herself in her own magic aura, catching herself in midair and levitating above the debris-littered hall below as Gildrynn shouted furiously at her: “If you make me come up there to get you, little miss, I'm going to spank you that much harder!”
The unicorn winced, looking down at the banged-up Valkyrie: her armor had been dented and scratched in places, and... was that blood? The sight of it made Twilight's stomach twist as she leaned back, uncomfortably floating in midair with the large core piece thrumming against her body, almost shielding herself with it as Gildrynn angrily swung her axe back and forth beneath her.
“Fine, I'll get you myself.” growled the Valkyrie, extending a hoof towards her, and Twilight squeaked as she felt a massive telekinetic vise seize around her: the magic she'd already wrapped herself in to levitate was the only thing that saved her from being crushed as she was yanked forcibly down to Gildrynn's level, the Valkyrie glaring into her eyes as she said icily: “Now. What should I cut off first?”
Twilight grimaced, before she realized what she was sitting on: a massive source of energy. She gritted her teeth, focusing her magic down into the core as she snapped: “Worry about your... face!”
Gildrynn cocked her head in confusion, and then she howled in shock as a massive thrum of energy erupted from the core, knocking Twilight into the air with a grunt of surprise, but hammering into the Valkyrie and turning her into a meteor that blasted through the wall and shot through the sky, sailing far into the distance. Twilight gaped as she landed beside the core as it hovered beside her for a moment before it clunked down, and she winced, sweeping it back up and absently rubbing her smoldering hooves against the floor, but barely feeling the tingling burns on them as she muttered: “Gotta get out of here, got to get... right, there's a bunker under the castle!”
She bit her lip, leaning out the hole she'd knocked in the wall and looking down at the ground below, crawling with confused soldiers. She took a breath, then flung the core out into the open air in front of herself before she jumped on it, gritting her teeth as her magic enveloped them both as she fell through open air, riding the magic core rapidly towards the earth.
Voices shouted, hooves pointed, and Twilight took a breath as she naturally tapped into the core's magic, calling on its natural power to help her slow her fall, until she gently touched the earth, still standing awkwardly on the core. She smiled lamely back and forth, then hopped off it, clearing her throat as she said started urgently: “We need to get underground and-”
A hoof slammed into her face, the immense pain of which was overridden by pure shock as Twilight's head snapped to the side before her body followed as she was knocked flying into the crowd. Voices yelled from all sides, before Twilight felt herself yanked into the air by telekinesis, and then she was slammed into the ground, knocking the wind out of her in a gasp but snapping her out of her shock.
She wheezed for breath as she crawled up to her hooves, shaking her head quickly before she flinched in shock as white flames erupted from the courtyard behind her, sending her stumbling forwards. She looked back and forth in disbelief, and realized she was snared inside a circle of white, dancing flames, along with the crystal core... and a glowering, furious Gildrynn.
“So you want to dance, miss?” Gildrynn's axe appeared above her head, floating ominously for a moment before it slammed down into the ground as the Valkyrie cracked her neck. “Why don't I-”
Her eyes flicked sharply up, showing off supernatural reflexes as she reached up and caught Rainbow Dash before the mare could smash a kick into her face, the Valkyrie spinning to the side and whip-slamming the mare into the ground with a tremendous bang.
Rainbow groaned in pain, blinking dumbly a few times before the Valkyrie laughed, then blinked in dumb surprise as a voice shouted: “Hey, that's not fair!”
She turned to the side, just in time for a pink blur to slam a kick into her face, the Valkyrie staggering backwards with a grunt of shock before she swore in frustration when the ground beneath her erupted into jagged daggers. She stomped angrily at the earth, more knocked off balance than injured by the brittle rock thanks to her armor, but it gave Twilight the moment she needed to do the only thing that came to mind: run for the core.
Gildrynn's eyes blazed as they turned towards Twilight, and her axe ripped itself out of the ground to launch itself in a deadly spin towards her. The unicorn snarled as she narrowly deflected the axe away, but the wide blade of the bearded axe still caught her flank, made her bleed-
Again, she was reminded of the seriousness of the situation. There would be blood. There would be pain. There would be violence.
She had to survive it all. She had to be ready to respond in kind.
Gildrynn launched herself at her, and then she swore in frustration when Rainbow Dash leapt onto her head, the Valkyrie grunting in surprise before the pegasus leapfrogged her as she shoved her face hard into the earth, shouting: “I've been hit harder by Scoot!”
“I'll scoot you into next week!” snarled the Valkyrie as she launched herself up into the air after Rainbow, the pegasus wincing over her shoulder in surprise at the sight of the Valkyrie lunging high enough to grab her, before the armored mare squawked as a bolt of magic hammered into her back.
She dropped to all fours with a scowl before she simply jerked her head, and Rarity squealed as she was yanked over the barrier of flames, Fluttershy yelping as she was dragged after the unicorn thanks to clinging to her back. Gildrynn began to turn towards them, but then she scowled and instead blocked another kick from Pinkie, before she narrowed her eyes as she all-but-ignored a series of quick, slapping punches that banged loudly and uselessly against her armor as Pinkie shouted: “I challenge you to... to international boxing!”
“No.” the Valkyrie grabbed Pinkie by the neck, the mare giving a surprised hurk before she squealed as she was flung hard into Rarity and Fluttershy, bowling them both over. And then she snarled and leapt into the air over a massive blast of magic that tore a trench through the earth and whiffed out the flames behind her.
All eyes turned in shock to Twilight, who had the core in her magic grip, one hoof pressed against it and her body gleaming with magic. Gildrynn charged at her, but as fast as she was, Twilight's mind worked faster, blasting the ground in front of the Valkyrie and forcing her to retreat with a curse before she shoved a hoof at Twilight.
A powerful pyrokinetic explosion ripped through the air around the unicorn, her friends crying out in denial as white flames threatened to consume the unicorn and the core for a moment before they were simply whiffed out by a shockwave in response, and Gildrynn stared in shock for a moment before a solid blast of magic smashed into her, knocking her sprawling with a cry. Her helmet and chunks of armor flew in all directions, crashing to the ground around her as the Valkyrie skidded backwards with a hiss, before she rolled sharply, one of her forelegs hanging burnt and limp and broken, but a grin on her face as she growled: “That's more like it!”
Twilight's eyes widened, and she hesitated, and Gildrynn roared as her eyes gleamed and her head tilted to the side.
Twilight braced herself, but she prepared for wrong attack: the Valkyrie didn't charge or send magic at her. She simply grinned, and Twilight didn't know why before she screamed as agony tore through her body, staggering forwards before she dropped to the earth with a shuddering gasp, the core rolling away from her as she twitched violently, the Valkyrie's axe buried in her back.
“Disappointing!” the Valkyrie pronounced, grinning as she took a step forwards, before she snorted as Twilight's friends leapt in front of her,forming a furious line. But Gildrynn only smiled thinly, cracking her neck as she growled: “Oh, think you've got what it takes to stop me, do you?”
“Twilight!” Shining Armor and Cadance both ran to the mare, dropping beside her, ignoring the core. Twilight twitched on the ground, breathing hard, trembling in agony as her brother gently took her hoof, staring down at her with tears in his eyes as he whispered: “T-Twilight... no...”
“Oh knock it off, you idiots! Little miss isn't dying!” scolded Gildrynn, before she grimaced and stepped back, her eyes flicking up as she muttered: “I didn't call for reinforcements. I don't need help, Thorn Blackfeather.”
A transport flew down, hovering above the crowd: Kirin emerged first, leaping down and forcing soldiers back with their rifles, clearing a space so that Lord Black himself, and his masked Muse, could leap down from the transport.
“Gildrynn, you are dismissed.” he said coldly, and the Valkyrie glared at him, but then quailed when he gave her an icy look in return. “You disobeyed a direct order.”
“Fie.” complained the Valkyrie, but she grunted and nodded, storming away towards the hovering transport. Without so much as a twitch, even dragging her foreleg, she leapt easily up and into the vehicle, vanishing inside the ship.
Lord Black approached the mares, who continued to glare defiantly before they were almost all knocked sprawling as Shining Armor slammed through them, snarling at the stallion. Royal Guard closed in, but with barely a glance at them, Shining Armor yanked the sword away from one of them before he sharply gestured for them to fall back, the Prince growling: “Give me one good reason I shouldn't cut your head off, here and now.”
“You are not a soldier. You are not a champion. You are a leader to these ponies, and the battlefield is no longer your place. I am not here to fight you. I am here to retrieve the core piece. In return for your cooperation, I will heal Twilight Sparkle.” Lord Black said, calm and collected as ever.
Shining's eyes widened before he looked back at his sister. He trembled a bit, staring at the long, ugly axe buried in her back, before he narrowed his eyes and slid his gaze forwards as Lord Black continued: “Her injuries are not life-threatening. But without treatment she may walk with a limp for the rest of her life.”
“And how do you plan to treat her?” Shining asked evenly, pointing the sword at the stallion.
Lord Black was clearly unperturbed, answering: “We will take her aboard the Queen Mary for surgery. She will be my guest. We will conduct negotiations once appropriate, and then she will be returned. I will anchor the Queen Mary here and allow whoever you choose limited access: that way you don't have to fear any plans of abduction.”
Shining Armor nodded slowly, before he looked back at Cadance. He listened, silently, as his little sister whimpered, as his wife reassured the mare he'd tried all his life to protect.
He closed his eyes, then looked away and murmured: “So. Twilight, and the core piece. And you want to remain inside the Crystal Empire.”
“Ease of access. If you prefer, I can land the Queen Mary outside.” Lord Black answered.
“How do you know she's not dying?” Shining Armor asked, even though when he glanced back again, he saw a little nod from Cadance. It looked terrible, but...
“Biometric readings. And you can see the lack of bleeding for yourself. Gildrynn cauterized the wound. But that's why she needs surgery. The muscle damage will be permanent if left untreated.”
“You have an answer for everything, huh?” Shining Armor trembled, and then he took a breath and rose his head, saying quietly: “Fine. I can't let my little sister be put in any further danger.”
Thorn nodded, and started forwards.
Shining Armor waited, his body trembling, his head low, as he was forced to do something that went against everything he was.
But Twilight couldn't be allowed to be put in any more danger.
The sword sang as it cut suddenly through the air, and Thorn dodged backwards with a grimace of surprise, the blade narrowly cutting across his face, slicing through his cheek and loosening his eyepatch. Then Shining Armor swept the sword around to try and knock his foreleg out from under him even as voices cried out-
The sword banged uselessly against something metallic beneath the cloak, and Shining blinked in surprise before he gasped as he was blasted backwards by a surge of telekinetic power from Muse. His sword clattered to the ground as the Adjudicator stepped forwards, but then she retreated with her head lowered when Thorn gestured at her, saying quietly: “I will handle this personally.”
Shining shook his head, trembling as he picked himself up, and Thorn said calmly as he reached up to pull his loose eyepatch away from a closed, scarred eye: “This is not an intelligent course of action. You are a Prince now. Your duty, however terrible, is to protect yourself, first and foremost.”
“My duty is to my family!” Shining Armor shouted as he picked himself up, glaring furiously at the stallion. “Besides, if I kill you, this invasion ends, doesn't it?”
“This is not an invasion. This is a recovery mission.” Lord Black calmly undid the brooches holding his cape on, absently shrugging it loose and aside, and all eyes stared, not just at a scarred body, but a gleaming, mechanical foreleg that flexed slowly, overlaid plates shifting like living muscle as some kind of motor whirred up with a rumble in his shoulder.
“Either way, it stops. Maybe you should leave while you still can.” Shining Armor spat, before he grinned as he picked his sword back up, striding quickly forwards, unable to hear the weak, whispering protests of his sister.
“I see no reason to withdraw. I am familiar with this method of negotiation.” Thorn Blackfeather said quietly, and he opened his scarred eye, revealing a brilliant, neon blue iris that made Shining Armor flinch as it locked on him.
But the stallion steadied himself, gritting his teeth as he sized up his grizzled, scarred opponent. The white unicorn steadied himself, while Thorn simply breathed and relaxed, as if he didn't care that he was surrounded by an entire army of ponies, with only his four Kirin and Muse to back him up.
But Twilight and her friends knew he didn't have to be afraid with that kind of power at his disposal.
“Please stop.” Twilight tried to croak, but her voice couldn't escape her lips, and all she could do was watch.
Shining Armor lunged in, and Thorn dodged the first few swipes of his sword before he slapped a thrust away, then carelessly rapped Shining's face with his hoof as if the prince was a child, the stallion stumbling back as his eyes bulged in shock as Thorn said coldly: “That was your final warning. Surrender or I will respond with sufficient force to neutralize you.”
Shining snarled, then lunged forwards, slashing his sword down, and Thorn swung his metal foreleg up to block the attack, the blade clanging uselessly off the metal limb before the stallion stepped forwards into a precise hammer of his steel hoof into Shining's face. The prince staggered back with a gasp as blood burst from his nose, but then he snarled and stepped forwards into a slash-
Thorn slapped the sword away with ease, then hammered a short, quick flurry of strikes into the stallion's chest and head, knocking the white unicorn backwards in a daze before he was knocked flat by a hard blow to the side of his neck. He gasped on the ground, his foreleg and side numb, his body trembling as Thorn measured him with his eyes for a few moments before he said in a low, unmoved voice: “Passion is not a substitute for skill, and your efforts are not heroic, but idiotic. This is not a task for a prince.”
Shining snarled, and then he snapped his horn up with a shout, but the blast of magic was deflected: Twilight was barely able to detect Thorn's counter, because it was so precise.
Shining helplessly tried to press the attack, but he was barely able to grab his sword with telekinesis before it bounced uselessly across the ground as he felt some other magic firmly remove his psychic grip. He swore in frustration as he tried to get up, but Thorn caught him by the head, then briskly slammed it down into the floor of the square.
Cadance gasped, and the crowd milled in fear as Thorn stepped over Shining Armor's unconscious body. He walked over to the core piece, touching it gently before his eyes shifted to Twilight Sparkle.
Cadance stepped protectively in front of her, spreading her wings, trembling violently before she whispered: “I... I won't let you take her.”
“Very well.” Thorn said, neutral as ever, as he turned and approached. The Princess of Love shook in fear and anger before him, but when he gently brushed her aside, she allowed herself to be moved, even as she chewed fearfully at her lip.
Thorn knelt beside Twilight: he reached up and touched the axe, then calmly yanked it loose, making her gasp in pain before she trembled as he ran his hoof sharply over the wound, and she felt his magic penetrating her nerves, numbing them. She settled, trembling, hating the feeling of being... of being ripped open: it was so much worse than the pain somehow, knowing that her flesh had been pried apart, leaving a gaping nakedness to the world...
She was delirious.
Thorn gently touched her face, and she looked up at him, and the grizzled stallion studied her for a moment before a slight smile twitched at his mouth. “I don't see that anger in your eyes anymore.”
“I want to stop you.” Twilight whispered, but tears came to her eyes as she trembled and confessed: “But I'm scared that... we're all wrong. All of us.”
“We are.” Thorn agreed, before he straightened and said calmly, without looking at Cadance: “If you don't allow me to take her, all negotiations end here. I will stage a full assault on Canterlot and I will take the last piece of the anchor by force. You will receive nothing.”
“If I let you take her, I betray her, and my husband, and Princess Celestia. I... I won't let you take her. We won't let you take Equestria's last hope!” Cadance shouted, trembling, even though she knew she was powerless to resist, if Thorn decided that was what he wanted.
Thorn mused for a moment, and then he simply nodded and turned. Muse picked up the core piece for him, and they headed back towards the hovering, waiting transport, as Cadance mouthed wordlessly before she asked in disbelief: “That's... that's it?”
“I didn't come here to fight. I did not come here to abduct Twilight Sparkle. I came here for one thing: the anchor.” Thorn answered, looking back over his shoulder at her, calm and composed and careless as ever even as the slightest hint of frustration was betrayed by his terseness. “I have a job to finish, that is all.”
“But... but we...” Cadance trembled, then she hurried after Thorn, before she nearly tripped over Shining. She looked down at the stallion she loved for a moment, staring at his unconscious body before she looked up as Thorn climbed into the transport, shouting: “Please! Please help us! You... you bastard, why won't you just help us?”
“I have gone out of my way to try and help you. But a negotiation does not involve one side getting what it wants and the other side getting nothing.” Thorn replied calmly as he turned around, leaning out of the door of the transport as it slowly began to rise into the air. “So all that is left now is force.”
“W-Wait! We were scared, we... please help us! Just let us borrow the anchor for a little while longer, or-”
“No.” Thorn said simply, and with that, he ducked out of sight, and the transport flew into the air, heading back to the floating fortress.
And, as the shadow of the floating fortress vanished, Twilight Sparkle trembled on the ground, knowing that now the time for negotiations was over, and the time to choose a side had come.
She only hoped she wasn't on the wrong one.