Chapter Fourteen: One Last Shot
~BlackRoseRaven
Princess Luna sipped slowly at her tea, studying Twilight Sparkle for a few moments before she said bluntly: “Your idea is terrible.”
“I can do this.” Twilight said quietly but firmly.
Princess Luna rubbed slowly at her forehead with one hoof, and then she sighed and put down the teacup, retorting: “That is not my point. It is too direct. Sloppy. And all of Lord Black-”
“Thorn.”
“All of Thorn's attention will immediately focus on you. I heard that he made fine sport of Shining Armor. Do you believe you are a stronger combatant than your brother?”
That hurt, but all the same, Twilight responded evenly: “You asked me here to do this, Princess Luna. And I might not be as good at fighting as my brother is, but I'm the stronger mage. Furthermore, I don't have to overwhelm Thorn himself.”
“Madness.” Luna muttered, and then she sighed before she slumped a little, shaking her head slowly. “But you are right, all the same. I did call you here, and for no other reason than this. If you are so convinced this is what you must do, then so be it. I will render all of the assistance unto you that I can.”
Twilight smiled a little at this, and the two looked at one-another for a few moments before Luna said, earnest and sober: “I am sorry it has all come to this, Twilight. And that I must continue to challenge you, and ask more of you, and push you in all the same ways I know my sister did. I would not blame you if you did not desire to save her.”
“I'm not thinking about that. I'm not even thinking about saving Equestria, at this point.” Twilight glanced away, but when Luna didn't so much as twitch at this confession, she murmured: “All I can think of, really, is making sure my friends are okay... but even more than that, proving that... that I can handle this. I know what I'm doing. I know what I'm capable of. I can stop Thorn. I can solve his puzzle and complete his test.”
“Ah, is that what this all is to you?” Luna couldn't help but give a curious grin, shaking her head before she murmured: “Perhaps you are more like me and less like my sister than I had thought.”
Twilight didn't know how to reply to that, so she simply shrugged.
Luna studied her for a few moments, and then she settled back into her own seat and closed her eyes. She floated her cup of tea up to grip between her forehooves, turning it slowly back and forth before she murmured: “Well. What a pair we are. Conspirators, they must already be calling us. The only question is what they shall say when you leave Canterlot tomorrow morning. Will they say I sent you away to exile, or to meet with the enemy?”
“It doesn't matter. I'll bring Celestia back before the end of the week.” Twilight promised.
“How do you know you will be able to catch up with Thorn Blackfeather? And what makes you so sure he won't just leave for whatever distant aerie he calls home?” questioned Luna, although she sounded honestly curious now, not dubious.
Twilight hesitated for a moment, and then she answered finally: “There are a few clues. One is the coordinates he gave you. That's not all that far from Canterlot: I doubt he'd come all the way across Equestria to drop supplies for us, especially since I'm sure he knows we don't need them as urgently anymore. Two, we know there was a lot of damage to his ship, and he doesn't have the materials or the time to repair it, not with every pony in Equestria looking for him. Three, he said he wanted to take the anchor away from us, but he never said he was taking it home. I think he's going to try and hide it somewhere else. Somewhere where we can't reach.”
“On that note, how is it possible that monstrous ship is still evading our countless eyes, both magic and airborne? It vexes me.” Luna admitted. “We should at least be able to detect it, to get... some sort of feedback from it from the signals we have sent out, but there has been nothing.”
“That's easy. We're looking for artes or magic. I don't think that ship is actually powered by either.” Twilight answered with a brief smile. “As to how he's moving around unseen... that floating fortress seems very fond of hiding above the clouds. But I don't remember storms being scheduled for the day when he came to talk to me in Ponyville. I think his ship is generating its own cloud cover, and that might even help with dampening any signals we might otherwise detect coming from it.”
Luna nodded slowly, and then she said solemnly: “Even assuming you are correct on all counts, Twilight Sparkle, I fail to see how you will successfully find Thorn's ship before it is too late.”
“We have the coordinates where he was. We just need to know where he went.” Twilight answered. “We should start by asking pegasus weather teams in and around that area to tell us if there was any unusual rolling cloud cover. We might be able to track where he's gone, but because of where he left the supplies, I think I know where he's going. Somewhere close, but where Equestria won't be able to bother him.”
Luna frowned and tilted her head, and Twilight Sparkle smiled briefly. “And as long as you give me access to a workshop, I can finish outfitting myself with everything I need.”
The Princess of the Night studied her for a moment, and then she finally sighed and nodded, saying quietly: “Very well. Then I will not keep you any longer, Twilight Sparkle. Go, and do what you must. Just ensure you get some rest, too. You will need it.”
“I will.” Twilight promised, and then she hesitated before asking: “How did you... how did you forgive Celestia for everything that happened?”
Luna smiled briefly at this, asking sardonically: “Oh, for all the things that were my fault?”
But Twilight only looked at her, and the alicorn sighed a little before she answered finally: “By not thinking about it too often. And by recognizing my sister's faults, my sister's desire to save the world, and excusing that, rather than what she did in pursuit of it. And it is better to be here and be able to balance her martyrdom than it is to be distant and unable to... but even here, well, I was not able to stop her from doing something incredibly stupid.”
The princess mused for a moment, and then she sighed again and shook her head, gesturing at the unicorn. “Go, Twilight Sparkle. Before we get caught up in another hour of conversation. It is too nice an escape.”
Twilight smiled a little, and then she nodded before excusing: “I'll see you in the morning, Princess Luna. Thank you, for everything.”
“No, Twilight. Thank you.” Luna replied as Twilight turned and slipped out, before she sipped slowly at her tea, watching the door to the sitting room close and thinking silently of how little they deserved such help.
Twilight couldn't help but smile as she stepped into the hallway and found Spike waiting for her, the little dragon absently jotting some notes on what looked like a journal. He looked up with a brief smile, and the two looked at each other, comparing bandages and scars: most of Twilight's were gone, except for the wrap around her belly that half-covered the enormous scar in her backside. Spike's own hung loose around his neck and face and body: they seemed less like they were covering up the bruises now, and more like an aesthetic choice.
“You look kind of silly.” Twilight commented, and Spike scowled before he softened as she added: “I hope you never change.”
“Hey, I could say the same about you.” Spike clambered up to his feet, before he smiled and asked: “So what do you need me to do?”
Twilight hesitated, and then she walked forwards and hugged Spike fiercely, and the little dragon started before he smiled a little and hugged her tightly back, doing his best to hide his trembles before he frowned when Twilight murmured: “This is the last time you're going to be my assistant, Spike.”
“What? But Twilight-”
“No. Enough. Listen.” Twilight gently slipped her hooves to his shoulders, leaning back and looking into his eyes as she smiled at him. “I'm not saying anything bad. But I want this to be the last time that you... that you're nothing but an assistant. No matter what happens, I don't ever want you to think of yourself or let yourself be thought of as less than a pony, as just someone who exists to help, and nothing more. I don't want you to be my Number One Assistant anymore, because you're better than that. You've been my brother, my best friend, and my partner in work for years now. And you deserve to be recognized as that. You've always been that.”
Spike blushed, trying to look away, but Twilight gently grasped his face and turned his head back, saying softly: “Don't you ever let anypony treat you as less than you are. From now on, you're Spike. You're your own dragon, and you be whatever you choose to be.”
“Okay Twilight. I'll... I'll try.” Spike answered, taking a breath before he looked up at her and asked awkwardly: “I... I don't have to move out or anything, right?”
Twilight laughed and smiled, then replied: “I don't think the library could run properly without you, Spike. No, I hope you'll be with me for a long time yet.” She softened. “But that choice is yours now. I want you to live your own life, as your own person. And I won't hold what you decide against you.”
“Okay Twilight. I... I appreciate that.” Spike said, and then he cleared his throat and wiped at his eyes as he awkwardly stepped back, shuffling his journal and pen before he looked up and said: “Well, uh. I guess we better get to work, huh, uh... partner?”
“Yeah, partner. That's right. Let's get to work.” Twilight agreed with a nod, and then she turned with a smile, feeling extraordinarily lighter as she turned to walk down the corridor, with her friend following quickly behind her.
At least one good thing would come out of this.
She just hoped Spike would forgive her for lying to him, one day, about the time they had left together.
Twilight Sparkle only slept a few hours, but she felt ready and alert when morning came, eager to be off. She met briefly with Luna, who confirmed some of her suspicions: notably large, unscheduled cloud masses had passed through several areas, and while the local weather teams had just attributed it to the chaos in the capital, Twilight was positive it was Thorn's ship by the straight path the clouds took, sometimes even in spite of the wind blowing against them!
But of course no pony had really noticed it had been brought up: everypony was too concerned about the flickering power, about fading artes, and of course, about where their Princess had gone. Equestria was in a panic, and Twilight was unsettled to see protesters had already started gathering around the castle, shouting at them to 'do something!,' as if they could just go pick Celestia up at any time.
There was no reason they wouldn't think that, though: Equestria was a peaceful place, and before the attack on Canterlot, well... Twilight would have been wondering herself why Celestia didn't just magic her way out of whatever situation she was in, or why Luna didn't just go and get her and bring her home. Or why she and her friends hadn't been called on to solve everything with the Magic of Friendship.
They were going to need a little more than that today, though.
Twilight smiled a bit, then looked mildly over at Rainbow Dash as she anxiously adjusted the amulet she was wearing. “Hey, stop fiddling with that.”
“The cord is itchy. Do we really need these?” complained Rainbow, as she nervously toyed with the amulet, and Twilight smiled a bit before she nodded.
“We do.” She looked around at her friends: all of them were dressed in lightweight vests that would provide minimum armor, but were lightly charged to help deflect magic, which Twilight was more concerned about Thorn and his soldiers using against them. There was no amount of armor that would stop any of those cannons on his ship, after all...
They all had amulets, made from leftover shards of the anchor they had previously used for small-scale testing. They all had small packs of additional gear, modeled in part off the equipment taken off the captured Kirin, although it was questionable how effective their mock-grenades would work compared to the explosives that the Kirin had used.
They were on a train again, one powered not just by artes, but gemstone batteries that would kick in whenever the artes lost power: they were racing across Equestria, past where Thorn had dropped the medical supplies, and heading to the last stop on this track.
“I should have brought my party supplies. This is like the fourth train party chance I've missed out on.” Pinkie exclaimed suddenly. “Wow, I'm really off my game lately!”
“We've all had things on our mind, I suppose.” Rarity said after a moment, before she gave a small smile to Twilight. “It makes me all the more glad you're here to help us... find the right path, dear. Without you, well...”
“I guess what Rarity's trying to say is... don't do anything stupid without us, huh?” Applejack said in a softer voice, and Twilight frowned a bit at the earth pony, but the orange mare only smiled. “Oh, don't give me that look, Twilight. We ain't stupid, you know.”
“We just want you to remember we're here with you, Twilight. That you don't have to handle this all alone. I think we've been worried that, well...” Fluttershy smiled a little, even as her eyes focused intently on Twilight.
The purple unicorn softened, looking around at her friends before she said softly: “I can't do this without all of you. So don't worry. I'm not going to do anything that puts any of us into unnecessary danger, and that includes myself. I can't help make sure all of you are okay too if something happens to me first.”
“Just make sure nothin' happens to you last, either.” Applejack said mildly.
“Hey, that makes it sound like something bad has to happen to one of us!” Pinkie Pie blurted out, and then she shoved her hoof into the air, declaring: “Well, nothin' bad is going to happen to anypony else before it happens to me!”
“Hey, Pinkie, don't think you can hog all the glory. If somepony's gonna get hurt, it's totally going to be me!” Rainbow interjected. “But hey, I can take it. I'll just hit that jerk Thorn back ten times harder!”
Twilight sighed and shook her head, but as she sat back, she couldn't help but smile at her friends. They were all so confident, or at least put up such a strong front. Even Fluttershy was smiling, and looked ready for what was ahead.
She knew none of them really were. She knew none of them had forgotten how easily Muse had defeated them. But she knew that if they were going to even stand a chance here, they had to go in swinging, and at least pretending they stood a chance.
So she let them talk, and laugh, instead of trying to stomp them out. She listened to them, and laughed with them, and celebrated, refusing to be dragged into her own evil thoughts, to fear what the next step was going to be.
It was twelve hours before the train slowed to a stop, and they got off not at a station, but at a dead end, just a little past a freight station. Twilight and her friends piled out, with all their equipment intact, and Twilight silently squeezed the hoof mirror she had done her best to suppress the enchantments on: she hadn't dispelled the magic, but rather repressed what she could. She wasn't sure if Thorn could hear or see anything through the mirror after cutting the connection, but there was no point in taking any chances with it.
They stood on a grassy ridge, gazing out at the cloudless sky, gazing out at the sea beyond a gorgeous beach that stretched for miles and miles. A boat had already been prepared for them, Twilight saw, and a soldier in uniform was waiting below, waving up at them.
Rainbow waved back, but Twilight only looked out over the ocean, and she could almost feel Thorn's presence in the distance: far enough away that no Equestrian would just stumble across him, but close enough that whenever he was done whatever it was he was doing with the anchor, he could simply return to Equestria and finish his work.
“Okay girls. This is the point of no return. After this, there's no turning back.” Twilight said in a low but firm voice, attracting the attention of her friends. “If you want to stay behind, no one will blame you. This is going to be dangerous.”
“We're with you, Twilight.” Applejack said firmly.
“Hey, I'm not turning back now. No way I'm spending another twelve hours in a stupid train!” Rainbow added.
Fluttershy and Rarity both smiled, and Pinkie Pie flung confetti into the air, declaring: “What kind of party pony would I be if I wasn't willing to help you throw the greatest friendship party ever!”
“That's not quite what we're doing, Pinkie, but I appreciate the enthusiasm.” Twilight said mildly, and then she took a breath, ignored the pang in her leg, and turned to walk down the hill, thanking: “Alright then, girls. Let's go. You and us, against the whole world. But with your help, I know we can do this, together.”
The mares followed bravely, and Twilight smiled a little before she steadied herself and made her expression more neutral as they approached the ship that had been requisitioned for them. A fishing vessel, not a military one: Twilight looked critically over it as the Royal Guard standing by the anchor rope saluted her: “Ma'am. Ready to cast off any time. Soldiers are as you requested, no armor, no uniform. We'll go in quiet.”
“Good. Thorn's attention should be focused on Princess Celestia and the anchor. If we're lucky, he won't notice the ship until we're passing beneath him. Unless we do something that tips him off, he'll keep his ship hidden in the clouds. That means we can't be doing any scanning for him.” Twilight explained. “I want your stallions to focus purely on keeping the ship moving.”
The soldier frowned, then asked: “Ma'am, if I may, then how do you expect to find him? We've been briefed on his floating fortress and its capabilities. We won't be able to locate it by sight.”
“No. But my friends here will be able to find it using air artes, even below deck.” Twilight replied. “His floating fortress has to interrupt natural air flows. We know that there were reports of cloud formations moving against the wind in areas.”
“Oh, I get it, yeah! We can use air artes to detect unusual changes in air pressure and stuff.” Rainbow perked up, nodding quickly before she frowned. “I mean, we'll have to be pretty close, though, and there's no way we'll be able to tell you exactly where he is...”
“That's fine. We know he'll be near the center of that cloud mass in the distance.” Twilight said, pointing at the faint mass of clouds on the horizon. “We move towards the center. All you have to do is tell me where he is. Once you tell me, I can triangulate his exact position with magic and get us on board.”
“Uh. How?” Applejack asked uneasily.
“With this...” Twilight held up the hoof mirror. “And because there is no cry like a child's to their mother.”
The ponies looked blank at this, but Twilight only smiled before she headed to the ship and climbed quickly up the ladder on the side to get on board, calling back to her friends: “Come on, we don't have a lot of time! Let's get moving, we don't want to take any chances!”
The ponies looked at each other, then shrugged before the mares hurried to follow their friend, and the Royal Guard sighed and came last to brief his troops before sending them off, only hoping that this Twilight Sparkle was really the miracle Princess Luna had claimed she was.
“We have detected Twilight Sparkle in the vicinity, sir.”
Thorn Blackfeather looked up from the central control console, asking a silent question with his eyes, and Serenity nodded as she returned her eyes to the console. “Residual damage to the Queen Mary's sensors makes it hard to pinpoint her location, but I would estimate she's moving along the coast. She may be aware of where we are.”
“I would be disappointed if she didn't figure it out.” Thorn answered, and he hesitated for a moment. Something gnawed at the back of his mind, but he dismissed it before saying quietly: “Tell our scanners to be aware of magical surges. She may be looking to negotiate again. She may send out signal flares to try and attract our attention. Keep an eye on her, but make no move to engage or communicate with her.”
“Sir.” Serenity returned to the console, then asked without looking up: “Should I have security prepared?”
“No. There's no way for her to penetrate the Queen Mary's defenses. Our limited power is better devoted to engineering at the moment.” Thorn answered, before he returned his eyes to the central control console, bringing up a holographic screen so he could check the status of the rest of the ship.
Several systems were still non-operational, and there wasn't much they could do at this point and time. Hull integrity had only improved slightly: they simply couldn't effectively repair the Queen Mary with their limited materials and while airborne at this point. The most they could do was patch the damage and hope that it would be enough to make the phase shift when they had to return to Decretum.
Thorn had meditated on abandoning the Queen Mary entirely, but so far these ponies had demonstrated they were greedy and destructive when it came to new technology. They were like undisciplined children, and if the Queen Mary's weapons were somehow dredged up from the bottom of the sea and replicated, it would mean the ponies might destroy themselves.
On the other hoof, they weren't warlike; they were just naive and emotional. They might also replicate the Queen Mary's power core... and, barring catastrophe due to negligence or idiocy, they could prosper even if their artes and much of the world's spiritual energy faded.
But whether he trusted them or not was irrelevant. He wasn't here to hold their hooves and help them out of the hole they had dug for themselves. He was here to fix the anchor they had broken and secure the shielding around the core world before it was too late.
He worked for a few minutes in silence, rerouting power throughout the ship to better supply their current needs, contacting work crews to give them new orders and check progress, and other tasks that at least gave him something to do. That was, until a transmission came up on the bridge screen, and Thorn looked up, barely suppressing a smile as a staticky image of a young stallion came through, greeting awkwardly: “Uh... Dad?”
“Yes, Prince Thesis?” Thorn asked pointedly, and his son blushed a little as he reached up and swept back his short white mane, then gave a cheesy grin.
Horses of Heaven, his son looked so much like his brother had. His coat was just a little bluer, his mane the wrong shade of white, his eyes more platinum than white...
But that grin. That freeness. He was just like the uncle he had never known.
“Sorry, I mean, uh. Sir, Orex has mounted an attack on Decretum. I thought you should know.” Thesis said lamely.
Thorn frowned slightly at this, and then he opened his mouth to give orders, before Serenity cleared her throat loudly.
“We have a problem that demands your attention, Lord Blackfeather.” she said.
Thorn scowled slightly, but then he bit his lip and nodded, returning his eyes to his son and saying calmly: “Prince Thesis, I have left Decretum in your care for a reason. I trust you to do the right thing. You are more than capable of handling a nuisance like Orex.”
“Yes, Dad.” Thesis mumbled, blushing and looking away.
Thorn paused for a moment, then asked slowly in spite of himself: “Why is Orex attacking Decretum directly?”
Thesis blushed.
Thorn narrowed his eyes.
Thesis cleared his throat and admitted after a moment: “I heard you needed time, so... I sent a message to him, telling him we had a new anchor here in Decretum we were preparing to deploy. And then I um.”
“Yes?” Thorn asked patiently.
“Then I showed him my butt.”
“You showed him your butt.” Thorn repeated.
“I showed him my butt. Like I sat on the communicator. Purposefully! Not like that time I did it to you by accident, Dad.”
“Thank you for clarifying.” Thorn said tiredly, and then he rubbed at his forehead before saying finally: “We will have a talk on diplomacy and tact when I return. For now, thank you for buying me some additional time, Thesis. Orex will-”
“Sir?”
Right. Thesis had to learn this on his own. Thorn couldn't be there to hold his hoof, every moment of every day. He turned a half-glare on Serenity, and then he took a breath before returning his eyes to the screen, saying quietly: “You will handle this incursion effectively and efficiently. If you have any problems or Orex's forces make it past our secondary defenses, then I want you to immediately call Rex Prox Danzsöngr.”
“Auntie Swan, got it.” Thesis said, nodding firmly.
Thorn sighed a little, but before he could let himself get drawn into scolding or giving any further orders to his son, he instead said calmly: “I am closing the uplink now. You can handle this, Thesis.”
“Okay. I got it, Dad. Uh, Emperor.” Thesis saluted awkwardly, and Thorn smiled before he nodded briefly, then closed the uplink, leaning on the control console for a moment before he turned his eyes towards Serenity.
Serenity gave him a brief smile, then became professional again as she informed: “We're detecting weak magic signals from what appears to be a fishing vessel approaching our position. We can't verify whether or not Twilight Sparkle is on board.”
“This world's artes are still very foreign to us. Adjust to read specifically for unicorn magic and let me know if you detect any spikes. We'll react appropriately then.” Thorn dismissed, glancing back at the bridge screen and absently rubbing at his face with one hoof.
No, allowing himself to get distracted was unprofessional and unacceptable. He had his mission, and compared to what Decretum had faced in the past, Orex was... subpar, to be charitable. The only reason he was a threat was because of his potential to worm his way into the core world, and his ability to phase-step between different worlds without leaving any trace behind. Thus, the entire reason he hadn't been caught and pummeled into submission by Danzsöngr yet.
There were, of course, other people they could ask to intervene and capture Orex for them, but Thorn wasn't that desperate yet. With Orex's attention now diverted to something other than drilling his way towards the core world, Thorn felt much more comfortable with the course of action he had chosen. Now they would easily be able to repair and replace the anchor in time, thus eliminating any possibility of Orex worming his way into the core world.
Yes, Thorn reassured himself. He was in control, at least for the moment, and even if he was worried that his somewhat-unpredictable teenage son would do something stupid, he was sure that Rex Prox Danzsöngr and her team would be more than capable of handling any trouble in Decretum.
“Lord Blackfeather!” Serenity shouted, snapping Thorn out of his distracted thoughts. “Massive magical reaction!”
Thorn looked sharply at Serenity as the operator hammered at her console, before she blurted out: “It's... it's coming from inside the ship!”
Thorn didn't have time to react, feeling every nerve lighting up across his body, his eyes going wide as impossible readings blared across his synthetic iris before he was barely able to cover his face in time as there was an explosion of light and sound.
Klaxons blared, and the entire ship quaked with the surge of magical energy that ripped across the bridge. Thorn stumbled and caught himself, his vision flickering as he snarled, his eyes locking with incredulity on Twilight Sparkle as she stomped down and anchored herself in front of his sizzling, crackling console, flinging a melted communicator to the ground as her friends stumbled to the ready around her. “Thorn Blackfeather!
“I'm here to show you just how strong we ponies are!”