One of Green Hoof's bodyguards walked back from the cockpit of the mayor's personal aircar. He walked between two rows of ponies, the Chairman and three of his security guards on one side, and half a dozen of his fellow bodyguards on the other. He walked back to the mayor, who was staring out the window of the rear hatch.
"Sir?" he whispered. "The platform has gone radio silent, and Red team has reported failure. Hurt One is loose, and your son is still with them. Wingless fighters are moving to engage."
"And backup?" the Mayor asked. He had hoped to shield his son from the scrutiny that would be sure to follow, but he made his decision at the mansion.
"Approaching the platform now, seventy of our soldiers, a dozen fightercraft, and that little gift from Si'irtos. We're on final approach now, and they'll be right behind us."
"Is there a problem?" Chairman Catch asked, hooves crossed in front of him. "How long until we reach the platform?"
"Not long," Green Hoof answered, turning away from the window. It was almost poetic. He was turning away from the current Tirassa, next time he looked out the window, it would be irreversibly changed. He sat down across from the chairman. "Impatience isn't like you."
"I'm worried," the unicorn admitted. There were so many variables that he couldn't control. If they knew they were coming, would Wingless move the ponies they captured? Would they cut their losses and leave them behind? Or worse, would they hurt them to leave a message? "Pony trafficking. Hard to believe even Wingless would be so cruel."
"Yes," the mayor agreed, "it's sad that Dinky's mother got caught up in all this."
The chairman was silent for a beat. He eventually glanced up at the earth pony, but stayed silent, studying him.
"Yes," Green Hoof said with a smile, "I know all about your so-called niece and housekeeper. How long did you think you could hide your winged lover and teenaged daughter? And in plain sight, no less! Are they why you're pushing so hard to raise up the pegasi?"
"You have it wrong," the chairman cautioned.
"I don't think so, Catch." Green Hoof motioned to his bodyguards, and they drew weapons. Each one leveling them at the four ponies across from them, earth ponies with blasters on the hoof, and unicorns bearing their blasters beside them in magic. "You're throwing away Tirassa's strength and history because you're taken with that little bird of yours. I won't let it continue."
"I hold our history dear," Catch countered, "you of all ponies know that. I'm only throwing away the bigotry and pain we comfort ourselves with." He looked around, unfazed by the weapons pointed at him. They weren't stunners. His armor would protect him from several shots, even at this range, but he and his guards were out numbered two to one, and their armor was weaker. "You would kill me for that?"
"Only if I have to." Green hoof reached under his seat and pulled out a camera. "I have an agent waiting to connect this camera to every broadcast feed on the planet. If you record a statement confessing to your mistress, and stepping down as Chairman, I'll let you live. You could live happily somewhere far away from the Capitol. A peaceful life with your family, your unicorn daughter, and her, soon to be, earth pony mother."
The chairman's mouth twitched, forming a smile for the briefest of moments. "You're part of of Wingless. I should have known." He narrowed his eyes at the camera, their angry silver glinting sharp like the edge of a blade. "You want a statement?"
"You shouldn't have turned off my watch!" Shouted the blue unicorn beside the chairman, reaching for his weapon. Seven bodyguards open fired on him as he lunged forward, blasting a hole in the wall behind him as he passed through the energy bolts and bodyguards before dissolving into mist.
Spit leapt from his seat as his illusion broke, drawing his knife instead of his blaster. It would be faster at these close quarters. Beside him, his brother Polish, did the same. Their simultaneous swipes severed the tendons in the two earth pony bodyguards' legs, they wouldn't be able to fire their weapons again.
Catch drew the swords on his back with magic, slashing them crossed before him, cleaving Green Hoof's camera into four equal pieces. A quick slash right, then left, destroyed a blaster held in a unicorn's magic, and separated another from its earth pony owner, hoof and all.
Polish swung his knife around as a unicorn brought his blaster to bear. Blade met horn, shattering both, and blasting shards in all directions like a grenade as that unicorn's magic exploded, uncontrolled.
Spit and the bodyguard he was wrestling with were thrown to the ground by the blast, and subsequent shuddering of the craft as it set down hard on a solid surface.
"We've reached the platform!" shouted back the pilot.
Spit's attacker got his hoof and blaster free, and got it pointed at the unicorn. In desperation, Spit pulled the hoof to his chest, away from his face. His vest took a blast point blank, energy mesh protecting him from the initial blast, but converting most of the energy into heat. His attacker screamed as his blaster melted around his hoof, and Spit rolled away, scrambling to remove his scorching armor with magic and blistered hooves.
Steel Catch Dashed forward, slicing a unicorn's horn clean off as the last guard took aim at Spit's unprotected back. Catch slammed into him as he pulled the trigger, sending the shot wide, but not enough. It skimmed across Spit's side, boiling flesh before blowing a hole in the floor.
He screamed, grabbing at his wound as Catch slashed down through his attacker's hoof. Then, with the backside of the hooked blade, lifted the bodyguard by the neck and slammed him down.
Catch spared his two guards a glance. They were both injured, but conscious, more than could be said for any of Green Hoof's men. And Green Hoof himself was gone, out the rear hatch at some point in the fight. "Coward," Catch muttered, stomping past the fallen and into the cockpit.
The pilot shrieked when Catch stepped up beside him, glowing emerald blades at the ready. "I'm just a driver!" He put his hooves up in surrender. "I'm not even armed!"
"Bring my men to the nearest hospital," Catch ordered, before placing one of his blades against the driver's neck. It sizzled, branding an odd glowing rune as the driver stuttered in pain. "If I don't remove it, that mark will burn you from the inside out at this time tomorrow."
Biting his lip, and blinking back tears, he quietly said, "All of Wingless is on its way, and you're alone. What if something happens to you?"
"Then you die in agony." The chairman patted him on the shoulder. "Wish me luck."
Catch walked away, leaving the driver crying into the steering wheel. "If he betrays you," he told Spit and Polish, "Shoot him." He then headed to the rear hatch, systematically nicking any remaining weapons with his blades as he passed unconscious guards.
With a deep breath, he crossed his blades in front of him before hopping out the back. A blast of energy impacted them as he landed, fizzling out against his magic. "Give it up, Green Hoof. This isn't an even match."
Across Tirassa, in homes, hotels, bars, and restaurants, on screens and pads, ponies young and old, earth pony, unicorn, and even pegasus gathered around whatever device was at hoof. They didn't believe their ears at first. The pony who called himself Red Hoof told them that their mayor was a traitor, planning to overthrow the chairman, but here now, proof was before their eyes. Green Hoof firing a weapon on the Chairman as the unicorn shielded himself with his crystal blades.
Both stallions were armed, both were wearing armor, and a small shuttle full of terribly injured ponies was moving away from them, rear hatch closing slowly. The camera zoomed in on a unicorn bleeding from countless cuts around his face. One eye was closed, but he saw the camera and was looking straight at it before the hatch closed.
Everypony saw the emblem of the Chairman's office on his armor.
The camera zoomed back out as the aircar flew away, scraping along the weather platform's landing pad before gaining altitude. In the distance, dozens of vessels approached.
Ponies knew the course of history would be decided before their eyes. A battle in the sky, like those in the past. It was only fitting, after all, for Tirassa's fate to be decided among the clouds.
Behind Green Hoof, the hatch to the interior of the weather station slammed open. A screaming pony ran out, clad in a brown jacket. He didn't get far before the end of a chain snaked out behind him. The living whip of steel, dozens of meters long, chased him with a snake's rattling.
It wrapped around his hind hoof and pulled taught. He hit the ground, and the chain dragged him back, screaming and clawing at the deck, until he disappeared into the depths of the weather station.
Green Hoof and Steel Catch both stared as he appeared once more, held by the scruff of the neck, like a kitten. A purple pony, unicorn and pegasus at the same time, held a stallion larger than her in her wing as if he was a child. She glowed, even in the daylight, and her mane and tail flowed behind her, waves of light and darkness mingled in celestial wind.
A short chain dragged from her right hoof.
"That's mine," she told the stallion, her gaze piercing and cold. She teleported the jacket off of him, then threw him against the wall like most ponies would a rubber ball.
He didn't bounce.
As an unconscious stallion slid down the wall, Green Hoof fired at the newcomer. She swatted the energy projectile away with her hoof. She didn't even look back, focusing instead on the approaching vehicles.
The first vessel screamed past well advanced of the others. It was small and almond shaped, with spindly wings jutting out either side. It looped around and made another run, much slower this time. A hatch on the underside opened, and a computerized gun popped out, tracking Chairman Catch as the craft turned wide.
It fired three times in rapid sequence, each blast crackling against the chairman's shield, and pushing him across the deck. Catch threw his Khopesh as the vessel turned around for another strafing run, guiding the spinning blade with magic, and it severed the weapon from the vessel.
A moment later, Twilight flung her chain at the vessel. It lashed out, much like it had for the stallion earlier, growing longer as it streaked towards the craft. It wound itself around the fighter's wing, almost sending it into a spiral when it pulled taught.
The pilot stabilized their craft barely a meter above the weather platform, and shifted from jets to antigravs for better control and lifting power, at the sacrifice of speed. He pulled away from the chain, craft struggling as if it was dragging a boulder.
Twilight grit her teeth as she pulled, matching her strength against the fighter craft. She curled her hoof, gripping the manacle that bound the chain to her. She wasn't about to let the fighter pilot get away with trying to shoot her only link to Ditzy and Dinky.
The craft inched ever closer to the edge, dragging her along with it, but the moment it hit open air, it was sucker punched by a speeding airtruck. The larger vessel plowed into the small fighter, climbing rapidly, and pursued by four more of the almond-shaped craft.
Twilight was yanked off the deck like a loose tooth tied to an arrow. She face-planted against the truck's window as she was dragged along by the hoof.
"Twi!" Astral shouted from inside the truck, strapped into the seat near the window. "Are you OK?!"
"Astral?! Stupid question!" She shouted back as the truck turned, and the fighter vessel dislodged from the grille. She was quickly dragged along as the fighter craft fell into the path of the others.
She tucked her wings and leaned into the uncontrolled dive, increasing her speed to put slack into the chain. Once it was loose, she pulled it back, and immediately threw it at one of the fighters still climbing, snagging its wing in the same way.
But this time, she detached herself the moment it started to lose control. The pilot tried to compensate for weight that was no longer there, and careened into the path of his wingman. They bumped, crumpling sheet metal and internal components as underbellies kissed.
Both craft broke off pursuit as they started losing altitude, entering controlled glides away from the fight.
Twilight chased the other two as they deployed the same computer controlled guns she had seen on the first craft. With a shout, she lashed out with magic, teleporting both pilots out of their vessels. Unsurprisingly, only one appeared beside her. The other would probably wake up inside the weather station.
She grabbed the pilot as she flew past, and dove for the weather platform. The larger vessels were landing now, unloading armored ponies.
Steel Catch grabbed the nearest of the four large vessels in his magic, and shoved it over the edge. It would be back, but he bought himself some time to deal with the rest. He could barely see, and couldn't lower his shield, as dozens of ponies were already blasting away at him. The deafening sound of crackling energy and blinding flashes kept him from picking out individual enemies in the crowd.
He threw a wave of unfocused telekinetic energy to his right, at the heaviest concentration of incoming fire. Soldiers stumbled and fell, disrupting the volley from that direction, and he saw another of the transport ships, unloading ponies who were quickly forming a firing line.
He dashed forward, still taking fire. Fewer shots hit his shield as he approached the transport. Ponies stopped firing out of fear of hitting their comrades. Except for the soldiers lined up along the transport. They started firing frantically, hoping to wear down the shield before Steel Catch reached them.
He leapt at the transport, crashing through the windows, shield and all. He dropped the shield as he landed among the soldiers still trying to disembark. Some of them were still strapped into their seats.
He marched forward.
The closest pony raised a rifle, only for Catch to slice it in two. The Chairman grabbed the grizzled soldier's head with his hoof, and cracked his face into the back of a seat. The next pony, younger by at least half, and still strapped in, raised his hooves away from his weapon. Catch tossed the weapon away, and left him alone. The third, also older, raised a blaster on her hoof, and her leg was cut to the bone by a mere flick of Catch's magic blade before she could fire.
"Surrender!" Catch bellowed. "I will grant a full pardon to anypony who throws down their weapon!"
Scared ponies exchanged glances, but only one threw down his rifle, a young stallion near the front of the vehicle. "My dad made me," he explained in a shaky voice.
"Coward!" Shouted another old pony, aiming at the scared young stallion.
Catch blasted him with magic, throwing him through the support column in the center of the windshield. It was not a pleasant sound, and if he survived, recovery would be a drawn out process. "Next pony to raise a weapon joins him." Weapons clattered to the ground, and Catch nodded. Children. These were children, teens and twenty-somethings, the lot of them, aside from the few that tried to attack him. "Now, get this ship out of here before I change my mind."
Catch teleported himself out of the transport, and behind one of the others.
"Aaaaahh!!" Quick Chop, piloting the Hurt One command truck, screamed as Chairman Catch appeared in front of the transport she was trying to ram. She swerved to miss him, and he dove out of the way, but when the command truck hit the transport, the transport swung around, swatting the chairman like a fly.
He was tossed over the edge, and disappeared in a flash. He reappeared a meter above the deck, close to where the truck hit him, and fell to the ground hard.
He groaned in pain as ponies filed out of the truck. The first one out, a light blue mare with white hooves, in police issue uniform, lobbed some sort of grenade over the transport.
It exploded with an earsplitting crack. Catch could only imagine how much worse it was for anypony close to it.
As Catch stood up, a grey unicorn followed her, half a dozen more grenades, and a dart rifle, floating beside him, but with no magic surrounding them. He launched the flash-bangs, spreading them out like a net. The two unicorns behind him ran to the Wingless troop transport, and shoved it away from their truck. They quickly retreated.
Catch smiled as the last pony exited the airtruck, lighting a rag stuffed into a can of solvent. She launched the can through one of the transport's broken windows, then rushed over to the chairman.
"Miss Kettle!" He called as fell to his haunches as more explosions went off on the far side of the transport, and it burst into flames. Anypony over there would have to think twice before charging blindly around that barricade. "Looks like we were right about Green Hoof," he groaned, "are there any more reinforcements on the way?"
"Probably not, sir. We couldn't contact anypony, and had to fight our way out of the city." She checked him over for injuries. "Anything broken?"
"Doesn't feel like it," he said, stretching and rubbing his shoulder, "just getting too old to be getting shot at and hit by trucks."
A screaming pony fell to the ground nearby. Twilight landed gently beside him. "Roughly fourty troops are falling back to cover after those flashbombs, and the small ships are forming a perimeter around the platform, you need to warn any ships on the way that they're headed straight into the cross hairs."
Miss Kettle laughed. "You're about twelve seconds late to party, whatever you are. I just got done explaining that there's no backup."
"Oh." Twilight glanced over at the burning transport. "I'm sure we'll be fine."
Before she could say anything else, Astral tackled her, wrapping his hooves around her. She was surprised at first, but quickly settled into the embrace. A warm touch felt like a foreign thing after how long she was in that cold cell.
She wanted nothing more than to stay here, just like this, but there was no time, and Astral knew it too. He let go of her, and stepped back. "Twi, what happened to you?"
"I'll explain later." She didn't know if he was asking about her disappearance during teleport, or the sudden change in appearance, but only one was important right now. "This station has a device that can distort gravity wells. The ponies here use it to intercept high energy teleports, stealing away an object if there's more than one in transit. They've been using it to kidnap ponies."
"We know, that's how we found this place. Used the start and end points of two intercepted teleports to find a fourth dimensional intersection." He glanced over at Miss Kettle. "Twi? Was there anypony else with you? Somepony went missing earlier today, in the middle of a teleport."
Twilight shook her head. "I was locked in an empty room, alone. They mentioned another mare, but I didn't see her."
"Give it up, Catch!" Green Hoof called from behind his troops. "You're outgunned, and outnumbered. " Wingless Dawn will prevail!"
"Main door's on the other side of all the ponies that want to kill me," Steel Catch observed. "Miss Kettle, you go look for her, and take these officers with you. I'll clear the deck so it'll be safe to make an escape."
"I took out most of the goons inside," Twilight added, "ringleader's an old earth pony mare, but I couldn't find her, she may be in hiding. And she may have a gun, be careful."
"Not to rain on things," Chief Cirrus spoke up, "but, how are we getting in?"
"Where are my swords?" Catch looked around, spotting one of them near the back of the burning transport. He dragged it over, and channeled some magic through it. He carved out a wide circle in the deck in front of him. "If there isn't a door, make one."
Twilight pulled the metal plug out of the way, revealing wires and support struts, and a barely visible bit of open hallway off to the left.
"Or make two," the chairman muttered, carving another hole the appropriate distance over. This time, the metal disc he cut fell straight through, landing with a clang, three meters below. "Everypony in."
"Last chance, Catch! You have ten seconds to surrender!"
"In," the chairman repeated.
With a nod, chief Cirrus hopped in, landing lightly below. "It's clear," she called up, and the rest of her team followed her.
"I can be more help up here," Twilight protested.
"And I'm not letting her out of my sight again," Astral added.
A small device clattered to the ground nearby, a squarish box with displays counting down on all sides. Ten seconds.
"No magic!" Astral shouted as he dove for it, seeing both Twilight and Catch reacting. He grabbed the box, and flipped it over in his hooves, finding a side with a keypad, and hitting the buttons with his hooves. The device beeped, and the displays froze at five seconds. He held it up with a breathless laugh. "Old-school surplus Curaxxan mining charge," he said, " good for busting tree stumps, but magic can mess with the countdown."
Staring at it, his eyes narrowed. "Twi? How far below the platform did you say those fighters were?"
"Oh," she brought her hoof to her chin. "A hundred meters down from the edge? So, just under five seconds drop, assuming a gravity like Canterlot. I really can't tell right now, my body feels super light, but that could be from the magic."
"Gravity's just a tiny bit weaker," Astral punched commands in, resetting the timer to seven seconds. "I'll drop it on six. Cover me."
"Just start it," Twilight suggested, "I'll teleport it down at the last second."
Astral nodded. "And if it has magic tampering prevention?"
Twilight crossed her hooves. "I teleported photons for my Master of Applied Magic Thesis, Astral. I think I can handle getting a bomb far away from us even if it explodes first."
With a groan, Catch swiped the mining charge. "Give me that." He hit the start button, and pitched it like a fastball. It sailed over the edge and fell out of sight. "Even if we don't hit them, those fightercraft won't stay down there if they feel like they'll be targeted."
As the charge exploded off in the distance, Catch shouted into the air, "The next one of those I see gets sent straight back!"
Green Hoof shouted back, "Do you still think you can win this Catch?"
"Do you?!" Catch wrapped the burning hoverbus in magic, and started shoving it towards the enemy. "You haven't attacked yet. You have me so vastly outnumbered, that a full third of of your forces ran, and the rest are waiting for what? An invitation?"
The flash of a teleport drew Catch's attention. An armored pony appeared behind them, only to fall, screaming, into the hole cut into the hallway below. Astral ran over with his dartgun, and fired a single taserdart down into the crumpled lump of rebel soldier.
Twilight stared at him in disbelief. "Was that necessary?"
"Can't risk him getting up, and ending up behind the others," Astral answered with a shrug.
"Very true," Catch agreed. "Now, not to be rude, but who are you two, and how are you involved in this?"
"Bad luck, mostly," Astral answered immediately, "to both questions."
That earned him a frown from Twilight, even though it was mostly true. Mostly because it was entirely true. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, and this is Astral Plane. You spoke to a friend of ours, named Silver, about the cryo chambers. Ditzy Doo, and Dinky, are both friends of mine."
Catch nodded his understanding. "I'm sorry you got dragged into-" His last word was drowned out by the roar of a dozen gravity dives starting up in unison. "Hoverbikes. Break's over, if you're gonna stay up here, you'll have to fight!"
"Don't worry about us," Astral shouted, "do what you need to do!"
"Good ponies," Catch muttered as he turned to face the Hoverbus. It's fires were nearly out, its seats and upholstery reduced to acrid, molten plastic and ash. He slashed his Khophesh upwards, launching a wave of emerald magic that split the bus in two, and he shoved the pieces aside. "What the hell is that?!"
Hoverbikes launched, and ponies fell back as a large slug-like monster was released from the back of one of the transport vehicles. It bloated and distorted as it squeezed out of a compartment that was too small for it, and five ponies stood ready with whips to guide it once it was out.
"Si'irtan Saltat!" Astral ran forward, past Catch. "Monsters are mine!"
Twilight reached out to stop him, but something stopped her. Astral was smiling. Running after a grotesque slime monster, and smiling. She didn't get to see him in action in the cargo bay, having been focused on sealing the void strand, so she was going to watch this carefully.
An earth pony on a hoverbike saw Astral rushing forward, and swooped down. Without slowing down, Astral blasted him backwards out of his seat with a stundart. One of the whip ponies turned around as he heard the hoverbike crash. Astral dropped him with another dart.
The next pony to see Astral, a unicorn, lashed out with his whip. It bit Astral's leg, high near his shoulder. He hissed in pain, but didn't slow his charge. But, he didn't charge the monster, instead, he charged the lead whip-bearer. He was still facing the monster, when Astral leapt at him, over him, and in a move he was sure feral Fluttershy would approve of, twisted around, grabbing the whip pony, biting his neck, and rolling. If he had his regular fangs, and not his current cosmetic grind-job, he would have torn this pony's windpipe, jugular, and carotid, killing him.
As it was, the blindsided pony was slightly bruised, but still conscious, at least until they stopped rolling and Astral bashed him in the face with his dart rifle. The grey unicorn then looked up at the remaining whip ponies, and shouted. "Get him out of here, or get eaten!"
They looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Their leader was the only one who knew how to handle the beast, they were just following his lead.
"This thing eats anything that bleeds!" Astral grabbed the leader's whip, and cracked it at the nearest pony, splitting skin near his flank. He could see the sudden fear in that pony's eyes. "It has four hundred teeth! On three separate mouths!" Astral glanced around. He had their attention, and the monster's, which had stopped moving once it smelled blood. "Each mouth is the size of your currency chips, and it will eat you through the original wound over the course of several minutes. It uses a paralytic venom to keep you still, and a stimulant to keep you awake and bleeding." They looked really nervous, but they weren't running, much to Astral's surprise. Why were they hanging around?! "You will be eaten from the inside out if you don't run, right now! Go!"
That got them running so fast that Astral had to grab one of them and remind him to drag away their fallen leader. And with them gone, Astral was alone with the Saltat. "Come on, big guy, you smell the blood, right?"
A bright blue bulb appeared from the spotty, mucus-coated folds of the creatures body. Astral leaned down, and took a big lick of the biggest blood pool left by the pony he injured. The bulb leaned towards Astral, and fighting the urge to retch, he took another lick.
The giant creature started pulling itself out of its prison again, much slower this time. It was flattening itself out as it reached towards the blood pool. Astral winced as he braced himself for his next move. Little of what he told the whip-bearers was true, there was no paralytic venom. This thing was a scavenger, a semisentient fungus with a strong survival instinct. It would only attack a known predator if threatened, and would rarely eat anything that was still alive.
But, it did like blood.
And it did have four hundred teeth.
And it would eat you exactly as he had described if it thought you were dead.
Astral lunged at the Saltat's leading edge, biting, and tearing out a chunk as it drew back. It was like biting a chunk of seat cushion foam dipped in egg white. Astral's eyes teared up as he chewed it enough to swallow, then turned back to the blood puddle. He took one last lick, showing the beast he wasn't going to be scared away from what it percieved as his kill. He wasn't sure which was more disgusting, pony blood or Saltat flesh.
He then ran back to Catch and Twilight as the Saltat inched forward to lick up the blood that remained. They were both clearly impressed, if a little grossed out. But he couldn't take pride in the moment, because he knew he was about to ruin it.
He glanced back to make sure the Saltat was still watching him, blue proto-eye extended his way. And, it was. "Just know, I apologize for this."
Astral grabbed Steel Catch, and licked the side of his face, jawline to ear before he could react. Twilight was next, but even seeing it coming, she was too stunned to do anything to stop it.
"I'm going to pretend that didn't happen," Steel Catch said quietly, staring straight ahead. "I trust there was a reason behind it."
"There better have been," Twilight added, fixing Astral with a glare she hadn't used on him since he pulled a feather out of her wing back in a Canterlot mud pit. "For his sake."
"There is," Astral quickly reassured them. "The Saltat's main predator is the Skaku, it's a dog-like, spined creature that's about the size of a pony, and hunts in packs. But, Saltats sometimes form a symbiotic relationship with a particular pack and scavenge after them in exchange for keeping their dens parasite free. I could have kept eating it, but let it live, and it thinks you two are part of my pack. It won't attack us now, and might even try to protect us."
"Impressive." Catch wiped at his face as the slug beast continued licking up the blood smears. "You must be Tanan? A beast-worlder? Will it attempt to scavenge after us?"
"Only if we leave corpses. They prefer recently deceased carrion, but won't eat anything with a pulse unless its starving. Well fed, and in the wild, they're really quite gentle. But, the sound of whips can work one into a frenzy easy enough." He glanced down at his dart rifle. "Well, I'm at a disadvantage for the next part of the fight, though, so I'm going to grab some more ammo from the truck."
"Hey," Twilight interrupted, "where did those hoverbikes go? And why haven't those fighter ships attacked us yet? That bomb exploded, they had to have seen it."
"They could be in contact with somepony up here," Catch posed as a possibility. "They may have been told the bomb was a one time thing, and not to break formation. But, that doesn't explain the hoverbikes. I can't even hear them."
"I can," Astral tilted his head, "barely. They're idling, so they're quiet."
Twilight listened carefully, ears turning and twitching. "I hear them, too... They're below us. Down with the fighter craft?"
"Checking for damage?" Catch asked. "Maybe we hit one with the explosive."
Twilight shook her head. "I doubt it, those things were clustered pretty tight to the platform edge."
Astral groaned miserably. "Guys... They're fanatics losing a battle on a floating platform, they have bombs and hoverbikes, and I'm guessing this weather station has a central antigrav spire like most medium sized antigrav platforms."
"I believe you're right. Shit." Catch stabbed the deck. "And it explains why they aren't attacking us. Mr. Plane, can the police truck still fly?"
The grey unicorn shook his head. "No, it took too much damage on the way up here." He looked over at Twilight. "Twi..."
She nodded. "I know."
"They'll have changed the code from the default after I disarmed that last one. And there's no telling how many they have, or how the timers are set."
"And the teleport disruptor is still active. We can't teleport away, and I'll have to teleport the bombs off one at a time, or they'll end up inside the station." Twilight ran for the edge of the platform and dove down. The sound of lasers and hoverbike engines followed.
The alicorn shot back up within seconds. "Nevermind!" An almond shape fightercraft was hot on her tail as she climbed. It launched a missile that promptly disappeared in a flash of purple. It ended up behind the craft, whose pilot bailed half a second before his own missile blew his craft to pieces. "Too many bombs!" Twilight shouted, swinging back down towards the deck. She landed hard near Astral and Catch. "They go in ten seconds! What do we do?"
"If they're using the same mining charges," Catch said calmly, "the platform isn't in immediate danger. I can slow the descent, but I will be an open target. The fight is up to you two."
An explosion rocked the platform, and it started to list. "Backups aren't going to last long," Astral groaned, "If we can find the control center, we might be able to set it down in a lake."
"No time." Catch exhaled slowly, and his horn lit up with pale silver energy. "And, hopefully, no need." He closed his eyes as the energy grew brighter. "I will trust you two to keep me safe until we reach the ground."
Astral's reply was drowned out by a gust of wind, and he had to brace himself, flinching against the unexpected force. When he looked back up, he saw that the silver aura wasn't contained to Catch's horn. Wisps of the same light were riding on the wind, and rolling with the clouds in the distance. Astral could feel the energy in the air, dancing over his coat like static, far beyond anything he could hope to muster.
"He's got this, Astral." Twilight took a deep breath as she walked up beside him. "And he's going to shake things up when he gets done with this spell. So, how do you want to do this?"
"Together?" Astral asked with a smirk.
"Duh." Twilight scoffed. "I meant offense or defense."
"Offense," Astral answered quickly. "Keep them from figuring out what Catch is up to, and clear a path for the others."
"Sounds good to me." She and Astral squared up with the split air bus, with the path back into the fight. "I'll have to break off if anymore fighter jets come up here."
"I know." Astral glanced over, and smiled. "Let's do this."
She smiled back. "Yes, let's."
They charged out together, galloping into the no-pony's-land created by the loose Saltat. Most of the Wingless Dawn troops were holed up behind the airbus it was released from. One brave soul poked his head around the corner on hearing hoofbeats, and ate a stundart for his trouble.
One of his compatriots dragged him back to cover, and another fired blindly around the corner with an old laser blaster.
Twilight threw her wing up, shielding Astral from the only shot even remotely close to hitting them. It glanced off her wing, deflecting harmlessly up into a sky darkening with clouds by the second.
"What the hell?!" Astral watched the bolt disappear into the distance. "Twi?"
"Yeah." She spared a small glance, but didn't slow down. "Long story short, I can do that now. Fall back!"
Astral looked back forward, and realized what she had planned. He missed a few steps, slowing his gallop, and letting her rush ahead. He picked up his pace right after though, and was only a beat or two behind her.
Twilight rounded the corner of the airbus first. Wings flared and head lowered, she snorted menacingly at the half-dozen soldiers in hiding.
And they opened fire.
Trained professionals, they were not, and most of their shots went embarrassingly wide. But one of them got lucky, and Twilight caught some sort of explosive ion pulse to the face. The uncoordinated fire stopped as glowing smoke obscured her from view.
And as the smoke cleared, showing her to be unharmed, she smirked at the stunned soldiers. "Ooh, my coltfriend's not gonna be happy about that."
On cue, Astral dove out behind her, sliding to a stop prone, and rifle-ready. He dropped all six soldiers as they scrambled to bring their weapons to bear on the new threat.
And then, they were alone.
All the remaining soldiers were loaded onto the last, and least damaged, airbus, retreating.
Astral pointed to the front of the airbus. "There! That green stallion, the one yelling at the pilot. That's Greenhoof, he's the one behind all of this."
Twilight saw him. "Got it."
Astral was expecting her to teleport him out, but she didn't. Instead, she wrapped him in a pink bubble, and tore him out through the side of the airbus. She tossed him up into the darkening sky, then slammed him down, burying the bubble in the deck barely a meter from her and Astral. "Leaving so soon?" Twilight peered into the bubble, sneering at the disoriented stallion within. "You're missing your chance to inspect the merchandise."
It took a moment for anypony on the airbus to overcome their surprise enough to act. But the first to do so, was stunned by Astral the moment the jumped out of the airbus.
Lightning crashed.
"Stay where you are!" Astral shouted over wind that wasn't there a moment ago, keeping his dart rifle levelled at the opening. He didn't have any ammo left, but hopefully they didn't know that. "We're putting an end to this!"
Somepony glanced out, slowly figuring out that their opponents were vastly outnumbered. "The insurrection will last to the last pony!" He shouted with confidence, motioning for somepony to give him a weapon.
"We'll see about that!" Twilight shouted. "I've no patience for slave traders and drug dealers!"
She saw the two ponies closest to the opening glance at each other. The young pony holding a weapon out to the one that shouted suddenly pulled it back, clutching it tight to their chest.
"Oh." Astral lowered his rifle as they turned to look at still others aboard the bus. For a moment, it was total silence. Then, it was quiet voices. Then, it was raised voices. He looked over at Twilight. "I don't think they all knew about that."
Greenhoof shouted something from within his bubble, but it was so muffled by the magic sphere, even Astral and Twilight couldn't hear him. "Shields don't usually block that much sound," Twilight explained happily, "but I thought it would be best if you couldn't give any more orders."
There was a short burst of gunfire on board the airbus. Windows shattered. Ponies screamed. Astral ducked in alarm as a bolt of energy shot out a window and over their heads.
"Oh, crap!" Astral brought his rifle back up out of reflex. "I guess their opinions were pretty divided on the whole slave trade thing."
Twilight stared. "They didn't just... You know... Start killing each other?"
"I don't know," Astral admitted as the weapons fire died down. "But, there's still movement. Which side do you think is control?"
That question was answered by the clatter of a weapon being tossed out a window. Another followed it out through the hole Twilight tore in the side of the bus. A third weapon followed that one, and the pony who dropped it leaned out with his hooves held high.
"He can't be any older than Radio," Twilight muttered.
"We didn't know!" The colt shouted. "It's just-"
Another explosion rocked the platform. It was different from the last one, and followed by the sound of laser fire. The next explosion they heard wasn't accompanied by any shaking. A fighter craft in flames rocketed up and away from the station, pursued by a hoverbike.
"They're turning on each other," Astral realized. He looked over at Twilight, and behind her, he saw a hatch open. Gunshots echoed as a unicorn climbed out, firing Astral's pistol behind him. "Get down!"
Astral dropped his rifle and tackled Twilight as the unicorn zeroed in on her. He felt the searing pain of the bullet, and he heard the shot. As they crashed to the ground, he knew it wasn't just a graze. There was a lot of hurt, all down his right side. His leg burned, he couldn't feel his shoulder, and there was a sting all the way to his cutie mark.
He tried to stand up, but Twilight was on her Hooves faster. "Astral?" She tried to steady him with her wing, not noticing the blood until she felt it on her feathers. "Astral!"
"How fitting!" The unicorn shouted, laughing at the fear in her expression. "Your would-be rescuer dies by your own gun! You might take us down, but we still broke you."
The unicorn raised the pistol again, and Twilight shoved Astral out of the way before he fired. And then... she glitched. She blinked out of existence for a brief moment, as the bullet passed through the space she once occupied. It sparked harmlessly as it ricocheted of the deck behind her. She reappeared out of position, blinked away, and reappeared again rapidly, air distorting around her like static. The speed she flickered at increased with every disappearance.
"What the hell?!" The unicorn stared in horror. Spatial magic started crumpling the deck plates around her, and she was reappearing in multiples, sometimes in the same place. Light ceased to exist in the deepest myriad folds of dimensional distortion surrounding her. The air around was beginning to protest the abuse with a screeching cacophony of twisted voices. Or, was that her voice? Jumbled and multiplied by whatever spell was distorting reality around her?
He raised the gun again to end whatever unspeakable black magic he was witnessing.
And Astral crashed into him, grabbing the unicorn by the mane before collapsing. The bullet was lodged in his hind leg, so he wasn't about to win a fight of mobility, but he at least had a chance up close.
The unicorn tried to shove Astral away, but caught a hoof to the face. He punched back, narrowly missing Astral's head, and swung again, lower. He caught the injured pony in the right side, blow aimed at the blood where the bullet had skimmed across his hide.
The pain dropped Astral for a moment, and the unicorn brought the pistol around.
Astral grabbed it with his magic, pulling it off course by the slide. When the unicorn pulled the trigger, the gun was pointed at the deck. The shot was deafening. The bullet shattered. Fragments cut Astral's cheek, and temple, though he didn't feel it over the adrenaline, and the manhandling of the gun's mechanisms by two competing magics caused the spent casing to jam, a stovepipe failure, though Astral was the only one who noticed.
Astral released his grip on the gun, and the unicorn tried to pull the trigger. Astral tried to catch his breath, standing up during the second or two it took his opponent to realize he wasn't dying in a bang of powder and lead. He grabbed the gun again, with his hooves this time, and tried to pull it away, but the unicorn quickly pulled back.
Astral felt the pull, and shoved all his weight into it, overwhelming the unicorn, and bashing his nose in with the broadside of the malfunctioning pistol. The suddenness, and shock of it, shook the unicorn enough that he lost his grip on the weapon. He realized this quickly, and tackled Astral, prompting a scream as the injured unicorn landed on his right side.
Pressing the advantage, the slaver reared up, pulling his hoof back for a grand swing, ready to stomp Astral's head in.
But, Astral was faster, and he had the gun. In one short motion, he grabbed the pistol's slide in one hoof, pulling it back to clear the jam, as the other hoof pushed the rest of the gun towards his assailant. His magic pulled the trigger. He released the slide, and the gun fired the moment it slammed forward.
It was a glancing blow, skipping off the unicorn's rib cage, but there was a bang, and blood, and pain, and he fell back, scrambling away from Astral in fear of a second shot.
He didn't need to.
Astral lost his grip on the gun after that first shot. Holding the thing in his hoof, plus the awkward angle, made the slide bite him as it cycled the next round. One more small pain, but they were building up, and he was losing focus as fast as he was losing blood.
Astral tried to get his hooves, or his magic back around the weapon as the other unicorn abandoned the idea in favor of building up a large fireball. Astral shut his eyes against a blinding flash, bracing for flames, but no pain accompanied the light. When he opened his eyes, slowly falling to his knees, he saw that the unicorn was wrapped in glowing, featureless squares.
Twilight limped forward, shuddering in pain, jolts and twitches of spatial static still wracking her body as shattered runes and formulae of light evaporated off of her. "Looks like I'm the one who broke you," she growled, as the squares snapped shut, twisting her target around as they pulled his limbs tight in opposite directions, leaving him hog-tied, and suspended in mid-air, half a meter above the deck. "That hurt way, way more than I thought it would." Twilight collapsed next to Astral, and the last of the runes and lines poofed into a little cloud of fading stardust. "I told you before, the gun wouldn't work again," she whimpered, reaching for Astral.
His hoof met hers half way. "You did," he groaned, "and I should have listened."
"Mr. Plane!" Chief Cirrus popped up out of the hatch the unicorn used. Weapon at the ready, she swept it across the deck, searching for any remaining hostiles. Finding none, she climbed out, and stared in confusion at the bound unicorn. "It's clear!" She shouted into the hatch, before running to Astral and checking his injuries. "What happened?!"
"He shot us, we shot him," Astral answered, trying to sit up. His entire right side was on fire, and he quickly decided to just stay down and apply pressure to his wounds with magic.
The chief checked Twilight as well, but she didn't have any apparent injuries. The wind was picking up, and it whipped her mane about. "Why is he floating up?"
Astral looked over. The unicorn was now almost two meters up, and slowly rising higher. "He isn't," he groaned, "we're falling."
"That explosion we felt?"
Twilight nodded, the pain from forcing herself out of phase with matter slowly fading now that her spatial alignment was back in tune with reality. "Mining charges on the main anti-grav spire. But, we captured Greenhoof, and two of their airbuses are still intact enough to fly out of here." She pointed at the airbus full of Wingless Dawn's remaining soldiers. "The ponies in that one surrendered. There's injured elsewhere on deck, and Steel Catch is trying to buy time before the platform falls. We can't teleport if the disruptor's still online, and we're surrounded by fighter craft and hoverbikes. Oh, and ignore the monster, just stay away from it and it's all fine."
"Monster?" The chief looked but didn't see the Saltat as it was still behind the other hoverbus, happily licking the deckplates clean. "So, you're saying we have nowhere to go." Cirrus glanced back as the last of her team exited the hatch, followed by Miss Kettle who helped the grey Pegasus following her. "Unless we can hold off the fighter craft. There are some heavy weapons and a shield generator still in the command truck, they might get us back to the surface at least."
"I'll see if I can help Catch," Miss Kettle volunteered, "if not, I can help take out the fighters."
"He's here?" The pegasus asked, limping forward, broken manacles dangling from her hooves. "He came to save me?"
Twilight gasped when she saw her. "Derpy! You were the other mare they captured?"
The pegasus was just as surprised to see her, and the chain on her hoof. "Miss Twilight?! Were... Were you the one in the torture room?"
"Only until I broke out." Twilight ran over and hugged her former mailmare. "I'm so glad you're ok."
The pegasus returned the gesture, squeezing her friend and princess tight. "I told Dinky you'd be looking for us. I knew you-"
Booming thunder drowned out the rest of her words, and most of the team instinctively covered their ears. Lightning flashed, showing just how dark it had gotten.
"Where'd this storm come from?" Chief Cirrus asked, looking up, and wondering why there wasn't any rain yet. "It was clear a few minutes ago."
Twilight glanced back towards where they had left the chairman. There were two airbuses between them, so she couldn't see what was happening, but she had a fair idea. "Catch is trying to use the clouds to slow us down, but he gathered them too fast. The excess energy turned them into stormclouds. It should still work, but it's going to get worse before it gets better, and there's no way it will stop us completely."
"We can't allow the platform to crash in the city." Chief Cirrus looked back at her team. "I'll head to the command truck, and see where we are. Everypony else, secure the area, get the injured onto the working airbuses." She gestured to the still climbing bound unicorn. "Pull him down and cuff him before he gets too far up."
Twilight dispelled the bindings, and the unicorn crashed to the deck screaming. "I'm going to help Catch with the platform," she told the chief, "please take care of Astral for me."
"Help how?"
"I don't think we can keep it in the air very long, but I can push it away from the city." She took a slow breath, setting her jaw in determination. There were still fighter craft down there, but she couldn't let them stop her. "If this platform crashes into the city, thousands of ponies could die. I can't let that happen."
"Twi," Astral held out his hoof, beckoning her over.
She stepped over, but before she could grab his hoof, he grabbed her by the mane, and pulled her down to him. Foreheads together, horns barely touching, he sighed quietly. "Twi," he said quietly. He knew what she had to do, and what could happen if those fighters got in her way. He could see that she was worried about it. "Twi, it's never easy to think about taking a life, but you need to think about the lives you can save first. The pilots of those fighter craft made the decision to be here, to fight, to die. The ponies in the city didn't. They don't know what's about to happen. You can save them."
The alicorn closed her eyes. "I know, Astral. I know."
"I hate to butt in on this dramatic moment," Chief Cirrus said, leaning in, "but, can't you just teleport the whole kit and kaboodle out of your way? They'll end up in the belly of the station, but everypony's out here, so we can lock it down and round them up later."
"Or, you can do that," Astral quickly agreed.
Twilight nodded her head. "Yeah, that's much better." She looked back at Astral. "Wish me luck."
"You'll make your own!" He called as she ran off.
She smiled as she ran, hooves sparking against the deckplates as she built up her magic. Finally, he going to be of some use. No longer sidelined by her own fears and trepidations. She was the princess of friendship, and this planet was about to learn a hard won lesson about being nice to ponies.
She dove from the platform edge with a battlecry. She twisted about adjusting her fall to land on a fighter that happened to be passing below. It shuddered from the unexpected impact, but the pilot adjusted quickly. Around him, the fighter vessels and hoverbikes were turning on each other, but he didn't dare get involved, he wasn't sure who was on whose side.
"Hey!"
The pilot tapped his helmet. "Repeat that?" That was weird, why was the voice so quiet? Was his comm malfunctioning?
"Hey!" The voice was accompanied by a knocking sound this time.
The pilot looked over, and Twilight waved at him, smirking as she she peered down into the cockpit. With a grunt, she swung the back of her hoof at the glass bubble, tearing it free of the small aircraft.
The pilot screamed as he was torn from the cockpit, hoisted by his flight harness out into the wind and storm. Twilight dragged him along as she leapt back, away from the vessel before vaporizing it with a blast of violent amethyst magic.
Twilight dove as a pair of hoverbikes turned towards her, identifying her as a larger threat than their former compatriots. The wind screamed in her ears as she gained speed.
The bikes dove after her, and she turned, spreading her wings as a brake. Rain pelted her face, but she blinked it away, and threw the pilot she nabbed up at the first bike. She waited for the bike to get close, and teleported both him and the hoverbike's rider away.
Without it's rider, the hoverbike continued its dive, and Twilight grabbed it as it sped past. It took her a moment to figure out how to seat herself and grab the handlebars, but she figured it out just in time for one of the two ponies she teleported to reappear beside her. It was the pilot from the fighter.
She grabbed him, and twisted the bike around. The other bike was there, charging at her, and she threw the pony again before gunning the accelerator. She teleported him and the new bike rider, then let the collision of the two hoverbikes throw her clear of the resulting explosion.
As she tumbled through the air, there was a flash beside her. Exactly as planned. She grabbed the pilot and looked over at him with an off-kilter, adrenaline-fueled smile. "If you guys had just been a little nicer to pegasi, I wouldn't be doing this, understand?"
He nodded weakly, barely managing a whimper before he was thrown at another passing vehicle.
Back on the deck, a bright silver glow was rising into the black clouds above. The crackle of powerful magic competed with the wind and thunder. Hurt One had carried Astral to the surrendered hoverbus, getting him and Derpy out of the rain that started so suddenly.
One of the younger passengers had offered up a medical kit, and Grey Hound was working on stopping Astral's bleeding. Home Brew, after dragging several unconscious ponies to the bus, was carefully lasering Derpy's chains off, so he could treat the abrasions on her leg. And Chief Cirrus was double checking that all weapons had been surrendered, and tying the hooves of any pony that had been stunned.
She made it to the last seats in the hoverbus, and found an old stallion slumped in his chair. But when she went to tie this last pony's hooves, she realized he wasn't merely stunned. His hooves were completely limp, and a gentle tilt of his head revealed a blackened wound on his throat. It was a small wound, but it reeked of burned flesh. She recognized it from training videos, but had never seen this type of wound in the field. This was made by an older model collimated laser weapon, at least a few decades old.
She looked over at another stallion. Hooves folded in front of him as he stared at the body. He was equally as old, and seemed uninterested in anything happening around him. He only looked at the chief when she stepped right in front of him. "Did you see what happened?" She asked him quietly.
The old stallion nodded slowly. "He was gonna shoot one of the kids," he said sadly, "for giving up."
She nodded her understanding, but moved her hoof to her stunner. "Who was he? A friend of yours?"
"My brother." The stallion looked past the chief. "He looks so peaceful, doesn't he? His fight is over, and now he gets to sleep."
"Did you see who killed him?" The chief's question was ignored, and she stepped over, blocking the stallion's view of his brother's body. He was probably in shock. "Sir, this is important."
The old stallion's eyes finally focused on hers. They weren't the eyes of a pony in shock, or confusion. They were clear, and thinking, and full of regret. "Were we wrong?"
With a sigh, the chief shook her head. "I can't answer that."
The old stallion nodded, and looked forward. He saw one of the younger soldiers holding supplies for the pegasus being treated, and the bloody vest being pulled off the unicorn, and said, "I think we were."
The chief glanced up towards the front, and the stallion unfolded his hooves. He pressed his old laser pistol, a small thing, easily concealed in the crook of his hoof, up under his jaw, and pulled the trigger.
The chief saw the flash out of the corner of her eye, and closed her eyes for a moment. Change was being meted out in blood. How much more would it take? She turned back to the old stallion, and took the weapon off his hoof before walking back to the front, amongst the stares and hushed whispers of those who surrendered peacefully. She left the old stallion and his brother there, slumped over in their seats, having fallen asleep on Tirassa's journey, just short of the destination.
She gave the weapon to Home Brew without saying a word, then hopped out of the bus through the hole in the side. The light was growing brighter, she could feel the magic in the air dancing on her coat. Whatever was about to happen, it had better be worth it.
She glanced over at the sound of a hoverbike approaching slowly. It wasn't one of Wingless Dawn's, but a police issue bike. "Red!"
"What?!" The earth pony set down near her, and idled down the engine, repeating his call now that he could hear over the gravity drive. "What?!"
Cirrus headed over. "Red, what's going on? We've got Wingless pretty much handled here."
"I know." He gestured to the camera he had wedged in the handlebars. "I've been broadcasting everything." He glanced back at the silver glow beyond the ruined airbuses. "Chief, the Chairman is engulfed in what looks like magical flames. Some pony destroyed all the aircraft down below, and is pushing the platform away from the city. A pegasus that somehow has magic."
"That's miss Sparkle, Astral's missing friend. If she succeeds, then the city is safe."
Red shook his head. "We're falling too fast. We won't make it out of the city, but she's pushing us towards the biggest open area nearby."
"Where is that?" The chief could think of several locations that might work, lakes, parks, even some parking lots, but she wasn't sure which was closest. No, wait, the widest open area of the city, at least, as viewed from the sky, would be a wide field of green with a single building. "The Mayoral Mansion!"
Red nodded grimly. "It's surrounded by media and emergency services. I warned them, but who knows if they have time to get out of the way."
"It's out of our hooves now, Red. We played our part." She was quiet for a moment, then added, "Red, a stallion just killed himself, after killing his brother for turning on some kids who surrendered. If we survive this, Tiraasa is probably going to tear itself apart before it can rebuild."
"Then, we do what we always do," Red said quietly, "we protect ponies, we maintain order. That's what we're for."
"Of course," the chief said with a nod.
Red and the chief were quietly watching the glowing light, when it condensed with a sudden flash. They ducked, covering their eyes as Miss Kettle came running back from around the ruined airbuses. She slipped on the wet deck, then scrambled back to her hooves in order to cast a giant shield of green between everypony and where the light once was.
"Miss Kettle!" Red hopped off his bike and ran over to her, steadying her.
"Get back!" She shouted at him. "I think something's wrong!"
A massive beam of light shot skyward, parting the clouds. Lightning rippled through the corridor left behind before crashing down, following the light's path back to its source. Timed to the deafening boom of thunder, the windows in the ruined airbuses shattered, blowing glass out like shrapnel. Shards bounced harmlessly off Miss Kettle's shield, mixed with rain.
Lightning crashed down the beam of light once more, and a shockwave of silvery energy washed over everything. It buckled metal and crackled as it danced against Miss Kettle's shield.
The third lightning strike was the last, and the shockwave it created threw the airbuses themselves. Cracks appeared where one of them slammed into the shield.
"No, no, no!" Miss Kettle ran to the cracks, shoved the airbus away, enough to let the energy waves blast it off the side of the weather platform, then poured energy into her shield, trying to repair it.
Swirling light was all Red could see beyond the shield. The sky above was torn open, a gash of bright clear blue in the middle of black storms. "What's going on?!" Red shouted over the storms and terrible energies. "Is the Chairman alright?"
"I don't know!" Miss Kettle strained to pour her own magic into the cracks in her shield, even as powerful silver magic fought to seep in. "I didn't think one pony could create magic like this, much less harness it safely."
Without warning, all sound ceased, and all the magic stopped pouring against the shield. There was still a hazy glow, blocking the view beyond the shield, but it was no longer assailing them with mystical energies.
"This is bad," Miss Kettle breathed as she took the chance to heal her shield. "The worst is coming." She glanced back at everything behind her. An airbus full of ponies, scattered survivors of Wingless Dawn's troops, and more importantly, Derpy, Astral, and all of HRT One. "I have to do what he did," she realized. "I have to fight this on the same terms."
Red didn't like the sound of that. "What the hell does that mean?"
"Get back!" Miss kettle surged energy to her shield, eyes turning as green as her magic a second before the energies surrounding the chairman exploded outwards one final time. There was nothing left for the shockwave to throw, so it started to tear deckplates off the station. They pinged off the shield, or vaporized if their angle held them between competing magics for too long.
The entirety of the shield start to show cracks within seconds. Miss Kettle let out a battle cry as she poured everything she could into her shield. Her entire body glowed as she turned herself over to the energy within, pulling on her very lifeforce to strengthen her magic. She didn't care if it killed her, she was the only pony on the planet besides the Chairman that could hope to fight this amount of magic.
But, it wasn't enough. The cracks were widening, spiderwebbing out across the shield. Silver light poured through.
"No!" Miss Kettle screamed as she pulled her shield in, making it as small as she could while still covering everypony. Condensing it pulled the cracks together, and she fought to fix them, but as she sealed them, new ones formed. It was starting to feel hopeless.
And then, the station crashed.
The deck shuddered, and listed hard. Ponies lost their balance, including Miss Kettle. But, she also lost her concentration on the shield as the deck behind her tore in half. Chief Cirrus, and the airbus started to fall with the section of station, and Miss Kettle threw her magic at them instead, pushing the section away from the rest of the station, and keeping it level for the few seconds it took for it to stop while the rest of the station continued to slide across the ground.
Miss Kettle knew that was her last gesture in this. She left her shield alone too long to save it now, no matter how far she compressed it. And, she was out of magic anyway. She felt Red tackle her, trying to shield her as her shield shattered.
She embraced him as pure light engulfed the both of them, sad that, as similar as they were, they never came to understand each other before this.
The ponies on the fallen section could only watch as the light faded, and the weather station slowly tore into a large building. So bright was the light, nopony really saw the impact with the mayor's mansion. But, they heard it. As the light faded, they could see the aftermath, and it wasn't pretty.
The Mansion, a centuries-old historical building, was halfway flattened under the station, antique red brick, lovingly maintained with the pride and attention of generations of Tirrassans lay fallen, piles of rubble where walls once stood strong. What little remained intact was hardly better off, painted wood columns and facing of the main facade scorched and damaged from a previous explosion and fire. A massive scar in the earth trailed up to this, pieces of the platform strewn wherever they snapped off, starting with pieces of the main anti-grav spire back at the start of the rut.
Swallowing hard, Chief Cirrus made her way to Red's hoverbike. He was over there when the shield broke. There was no telling the nature of that magic, or if it was survivable, but she had to find out.
As she climbed on the bike, she checked the camera, and it still seemed to be transmitting. She had to see this through, and the ponies of Tirassa would see it through with her. They needed to know what happened here. Red realized that, it was why he grabbed the camera in the first place. She would honor that by showing them how it ended.
She nearly fell off the bike when Twilight landed with a flump beside her, shouting, "Where's Astral?!"
"On the bus!" She shouted back, pointing. "The rest of us are fine, by the way, except for the two ponies who just sacrificed themselves to save us."
Twilight shook her head. "As long as they didn't fall, they're probably fine."
Before the chief could ask for clarification, the purple alicorn galloped away, leaving a pilot behind, curled up on the deck and shaking like a newborn chihuahua. The police mare stared at him for a moment, and quickly decided the traumatized pony wouldn't pose any threat if she left him there.
She throttled up the hoverbike, and headed for the main wreckage, circling as she searched for signs of life. She saw the purple sphere of the bubble holding the mayor, untouched, and lodged in the deck where Twilight left it. Silver smoke rose from the epicenter of the earlier shockwaves, obscuring whatever lay beneath. Waves of destruction surrounded that point, decking peeled away in distinct rings.
Chief Cirrus slowly descended towards the sphere, anger rising. It wasn't fair that Greenhoof went through all this safe and protected, while his own son and Miss Kettle may well have given their lives to stop him. If he was indeed unharmed, the chief was going to take great pleasure in being the one to bring him in.
She set down away from the sphere, setting the camera wide, and pointing the camera at the mayor as he pounded on the inside of his small prison. She made sure the smoke, and as much wreckage as possible was visible. This arrest was going to happen by the book, on record, and in front of the entire population with evidence of the destruction he caused.
As she walked towards the mayor, a voice boomed out, as loud as any thunder. "Leave him," it commanded, "we have unfinished business."
The chief looked back as the smoke cleared away, blown by magically summoned wind. Chairman catch walked towards her, silver energy still outlining his body, fading quickly, whisping away like steam. Only bits and pieces of his armor remained, little more than emerald accented regalia now. His horn had grown longer, sharper, and he stood taller than before. It wasn't until he walked closer, slowly stepping where deckplates remained, that the chief saw the greatest change, the wings folded against his side.
"Sir, what happened to you?"
"I'm not sure," he answered, voice rumbling the skeletal deck, "but I am able to finish things here. Please retrieve Miss Kettle." Catch pointed a wing tip towards the edge of the platform. "She was unharmed, but thrown in that direction, along with another."
"They're alive?" The chief gave a quick nod. "Yes, sir!"
She ran back to the hoverbike, unwedging the camera and setting it on the deck, extending its built in tripod to give it a better view. She then took off and flew over the edge of the platform, landing seconds later in what was once a grand dining hall. The roof had been torn away when the platform first hit, and the walls were dumped over, piles of brick surrounding a surprisingly untouched dining table.
The floor creaked under her weight when she stepped off the hoverbike. Countless pieces of fine crystal were littered underhoof, the remnants of an extravagant chandelier that no doubt hung above the table just minutes ago. Behind her, walls of pipes and wires and metal rose from the wreckage where the exterior of the weather platform was torn away. The hallways of the platform were easily accessible through their doors, some of which were already torn open.
"Red?!" The chief called out. "Miss Kettle?!"
She didn't know if they could hear her, or if they could answer, but she had to try. She started walking away from the platform, carefully watching any and all rubble for signs of movement. If she didn't find them soon, she would have to go get Home Brew, and get him to cast a detection spell over the area. But, the squeaking of the floor under even her light steps made her worry about the unicorn's bulk. He would likely have to stay on the hoverbike.
Back on the deck, Steel Catch looked skyward. He felt the sun on his face, and felt strength returning to him. He was exhausted, but wasn't sure why. His battle with the ogre's cauldron was much worse than this, wasn't it? Perhaps he wasn't drained at all, and felt so empty simply because he was a larger vessel for magic now?
Either way, he was still standing. The platform had been set down away from any significant population density. And, Green Hoof was standing alone before him, trapped in a bubble.
The now alicorn Chairman reached out with his magic, mildly surprised at how hard he had to work to dispel the shield Twilight created, even after all the damage it took. But it gave in, eventually, disappearing with a small pop, like a soap bubble.
"You've failed," Catch told Green Hoof, not giving the earth pony time to speak. He gestured to the camera watching them. "All of Tirassa has been witness to this. Please, surrender now."
"No," the mayor growled. He glanced back at the camera, then back at Catch. He wasn't able to fight the Chairman before, and now, he was unarmed, and facing a unicorn that had undergone unnatural changes. This was the end for him. He knew that. But, it didn't have to be the end of this. "Tirassa!" He turned to the camera, running towards it. "Tirassa, rise up, and-"
"No, Green!" A hoof grabbed him by the vest he wore. Catch had run up beside him, and pulled him around to face him. Green Hoof was surprised, honestly. He had been half expecting to be vaporized in a flash of magic, or cut down by emerald blades. So much for his grand, final gesture. Instead, he was accosted like a disobedient child.
"What now, Catch?" He swallowed hard, almost scared. He didn't see anger in the Chairman's eyes. He expected anger, needed it, needed to show the world. But it wasn't there. Confusion, betrayal, pity? Catch looked like he was near tears. Green Hoof didn't want to see that sort of weakness from the victor. That wasn't the way of the Tirassa he fought for. He nodded his head in the camera's direction. "You said it yourself, all Tirassa is witness to this. What are you going to do, Catch? Kill me? Do it, it's the only way you'll stop me, but every last ground pounder on the planet will rise up to fight."
Catch shook his head. "Green, don't you realize? We've already done it. We rose up long ago. We've been fighting for so long, we've forgotten to stop. We rose up against the Storm King, and it wasn't enough. We had to go further, higher! We fought against our own nature, our own limits, and even our own names. We rose up to walk among the clouds, Green! We have stations in space, built by our own hooves. We have platforms in the sky, letting any ground pounder walk among the clouds if they so choose. Today... Green... Today, we tore one out of the sky. We've stopped fighting to go higher, and all we have is at risk of crashing down."
"Don't move!" The chief frantically looked for something she could brace the wall with. A black-feathered wing was sticking out from under a pile of bricks, a collapsed wall, and when its owner started moving, the wall behind started tilting. "Hold still, you've got debris above you."
"Chief?" Groaned a familiar voice, from underneath. "Where are we?"
"Red?" The chief found a fallen beam on the other side of the room that was small enough for her to lift, and started dragging it over. It wasn't much, but it might stabilize the wall enough to get them out. "Is that Miss Kettle with you? Is she conscious?"
"Barely. She's in a lot of pain, but I can't see why. I was trying to drag her away from the wall in case it collapsed anymore."
"Don't, Red, there's a wing sticking out on this side, and I think it's hers. You'll hurt her if you try to move her."
"A wing? What are you talking about?"
"That light, the Chairman's spell, it changed him. Gave him wings, grew his horn, he's even taller than before. The same thing may have happened to her." The chief carefully propped the beam up, fliching at every bit of dust that she knocked loose. "How about you Red? Did anything happen to you?"
"I don't have wings, if that's what you're asking. What kind of ridiculous..." There was a long pause under the rubble, followed by a muttered, "Oh, crap."
"Red? What is it?"
"I don't have wings!" Red repeated, stressing the point. "But, um, stand back, I'm going to try something."
The chief stepped back. "Red, talk to me."
"Stand way back," the lieutenant told her, "I'm not sure what's going to happen."
The chief complied, but thought about ordering him to wait until she brought a unicorn to teleport them out of there. That might be the safest-
Mid-thought, she was swept off her feet by a silent shockwave of brilliant red magic. The brace she propped against the wall landed beside her, and she was pelted by bits of broken brick and drywall, not one larger than a pebble. She scrambled to her her hooves only to see the pile of rubble had been obliterated. Red stood in the epicenter of the shockwave, horn still glowing, sucking air through his teeth as he realized how much power went into that. "Oh, boy."
"Red!" The chief stared at him for a moment. He didn't have wings, but he got the horn and growth spurt to match Catch. And, laying by his hooves, Miss Kettle didn't seem to have grown any, but she did have wings, and one of them was clearly broken. "I've got the hoverbike, do you think you can take her to safety?" He nodded, and leaned down to pick her up, but the chief stopped him, and sat down beside her. "Wait, we've got to set that wing first, or it may not heal right. Get me some cloth and something we can use as a splint."
"Are you sure that's a good idea? Shouldn't we get her to a doctor, wait for a specialist, or-"
"A specialist?" Cirrus looked up at him. "A specialist on pegasus wings?"
With a sigh, Red looked away. "Point taken. Do you at least know what you're doing?"
"More than you might expect." She probed at the wing, gently feeling for the tell-tale lumps. "Miss Kettle, can you hear me?" There was a groan, that the chief took as an affirative. "You've got a break here in your wing, feels clean, but it's in two spots, probably because of the rubble that fell on it. Take a deep breath."
Miss Kettle groaned a vague protest, and the chief snapped her wing back into place. The former unicorn's scream drowned out the cracking twig sound. The chief held down her other wing, as it instinctively flared out in response, then pressed a hoof to her neck when she tried to move. "Calm down. Calm down, Miss Kettle. It's alright." With soft shushes, and ginger stroking, she tried to comfort the whimpering pony. "It's ok, it's over now. I know it hurts, but if you leave a wing broken, it can start healing wrong, and keep you from being able to fly later. Just think of that. You'll be able to fly, very soon, and walk among the clouds, as free as anypony can ever be. A little pain is nothing compared to that, right?"
In the other room, something wood shattered loudly, and Red came running back with a board and long piece of lace, maybe a table runner, in his mouth. He spit them out next to the chief. "I don't like this, I can not control this magic, at all. I just exploded an oak dresser like it was a stack of cards."
"Well, I don't think you get to give it back," the chief mused as she started carefully splinting Miss Kettle's Wing. "But maybe hold off on trying it out until we're somewhere more stable."
He nodded his agreement. "I'm going to try and bring the hoverbike in here. If we can get her draped over it, it will be more comfortable than trying to carry..." He glanced back, hearing something shift in the rubble. "You," he mumbled, seeing the purple alicorn setting down in the other room. "Who are you?" He demanded louder, marching over to Twilight. "You showed up in a police report, right before everything went to hell! And I want to know just what you-"
Twilight grabbed him by the face, and slammed him to the ground. It was scarily easy to do. "You need to calm down, right now," she told him as he held him down, keeping her voice calm and even as frothing red magic bubbled from his horn. "Magic is tied to emotion and, and if you don't get your anger under control, right now, you're putting your friends at risk."
"What?" He looked back, catching sight of the chief and Miss Kettle, as his magic faded. He noticed the fading red light now, but didn't notice when he was creating it. Confusion was replacing his anger, and he started to realize how different things would be from now on. "What do you mean?"
"Casting spells in anger is risky," Twilight explained, calmly releasing him, "even if you know what you're doing. If you don't know how to contain your magic to a spell, and mix your anger with enough raw energy, you can create a burning, toxic miasma that stains everything it touches. Or, you can cause an explosion or fire. Or, you could start turning ponies into potted plants. Everypony's different. Anyway, you are about as strong right now as a unicorn can ever be, you need to realize that, and control yourself."
Red nodded his understanding. That light, the excess energy from the Chairman's spell, it changed him. It changed Miss Kettle too. "I'll try." He slowly stood up. She was so strong, yet calm about it. And, her wings, and her horn... she must have gone through this before, been changed like he was. "Is there any way to undo this?"
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to? You are still an earth pony. Only, now, you are also a unicorn. You'll have access to both magics, and they will both be stronger for it. And, alicorn ascension isn't out of the question for you either."
"I don't know what any of that means," Red growled, trying hard not to let his anger get away from him. "I don't know what happened to me, and I don't want it!"
"I don't think you get to give it back," Twilight pointed out.
"Oh, by the broken horn!" Red looked looked over at the chief. "Really?!"
She was about to respond, but a quiet groan distracted her. "Miss Kettle?"
"Yeah," the injured pony answered, looking up, and trying not to move her wings. "Don't make me laugh," after a moment to catch her breath, she added, "it hurts too much."
"Well, excuse me for caring that my body has just been transformed, and that I didn't have any say in it." Red scoffed, and decided it was time to change the subject. "What happened to the bus after that section broke away?"
Twilight gestured to the freshly minted, but still curled up in pain, alicorn of the group. "She stabilized it long enough for me to grab it, and keep it upright until it stopped." She moved her hoof to indicate the chief. "Then, after she left on the hoverbike, I was able to check on everypony, double check that the teleport device was disabled, and get them to a hospital that the older stallion of your group was kind enough to direct me to."
"You don't know any of our names," Red realized, "do you?"
The purple alicorn shrugged. "You expect me to?" She jangled the chain that was still secured to her hoof. "I'm sorry we didn't have time for introductions in the hour or so I've been unchained, but we've all been up to our necks in violence. What is wrong with your planet by the way? Why is everypony trying to kill each other? What is up with the way you treat pegasi? And, why is slavery even a thing?"
"It's not!" Red snapped. He took a breath to calm himself. He felt the energy inside him swell with his outburst. He needed to stay calm. "I'm sorry. I meant, it's not supposed to be. There was a trafficking ring operating out of the station. They will pay for that crime. Whatever you may think of how pegasi are treated, they are not slaves."
Twilight shook her head. "Coffee might disagree with you."
Red didn't know who that was. "Who?"
"Nevermind." Twilight teleported the three ponies away. They would find themselves in the hospital, along with the rest of their team. With that, everypony was back to safety except for for the two up top. She already teleported everypony still inside the station away, many of whom were clustered in one spot, most likely the pilots she teleported earlier. Of course, that was her best guess based on the auras of living ponies. She had no way to tell if anypony died during the crash, not without more time to search, and a more intricate spell. Though, the old mare in charge was nowhere to be found, so there was little hope that the crash didn't result in at least a few casualties.
For now, she should probably check on the chairman. She felt him dismantle her shield earlier, but that begged the question, was he releasing his opponent, or ending the fight?
She flew up, fast as she could, only to see magic wrap around both the Chairman and Mayor. The mercurial light spilled runes as they faded, leaving both ponies wrapped in geometric shapes drawn in silver lines of energy. Most prominently, a circle floated just in front of each of them, five bright diamond points on its circumference.
"What is this Catch?" He tried to turn his head away from the bright points of light, but they moved with him, tracking with his head. The circles on the ground moved around his hooves when he stepped back. "Kill me and be done with it, or must you turn it into a game?"
The chairman shook his head. "We used to be friends, Green. And, for some reason, I still respect you enough to give you a chance, and this spell is that chance. Its one of my own design, and its name is Veritas. Would you like to know how it works?"
Green gave up on shaking off the geometric apparition, and glared at Catch through the lights. "Do I have a choice?"
"I suppose not," the chairman shrugged, looking at the camera. "I am Chairman Steel Catch of Tirassa, and I am seven years old." He looked back at Green Hoof, expression neutral.
One of the points of light floating before the alicorn shattered with a sound like glass.
"A lie detector," Green Hoof scoffed. "I was almost worried. What's with the rest of the light show? Are you showing off for the camera?"
The chairman shook his head, his glowing counter following the motion. "You know me better than that, don't you?"
"I don't know you at all anymore," the mayor shot back.
One of his points shattered.
The mayor was startled, but the shards of light faded harmlessly. He didn't even feel the ones that touched him.
"You do know me," Catch corrected, voice a low growl, "I haven't changed. I don't put on shows for my own benefit, and I don't take things lightly." He quickly lifted his hoof, drawing a strand of light that connected it to the ones on the deck. "That's why I'm bound by the same spell you are. These runes and figures are a binding spell. They bind our life forces to these points of light. If the last light dies, so does that pony. But, don't worry," Catch lowered his head, levelling his gaze at the earth pony, "it's painless."
The light of the shattering point danced in the Chairman's eyes like colorless flame.
Green hoof stepped back, looking down at the spell matrix laid out below him. "You... No... You can't do this!"
He jumped at the shattering of another point.
"Is that so? Lie to me," Catch stepped forward, gesturing at his chest with his wing, amazed by how natural it felt to do so as he pointed at the camera next, "or lie to Tirassa, and you will die. Understand?"
"Stop this!" Twilight ran towards the two ponies. From the moment the spell matrix appeared, she had been frantically studying it, trying to read the shapes and inscriptions, but the runes were incomprehensible. She couldn't even begin to guess at the language they came from, or the purpose behind them, and without either, she had no hope of dispelling them. "You have to stop this, hasn't there been enough violence already?"
"Stay out of this," Catch commanded, "It doesn't concern you!"
Catch looked over in surprise when one of his points shattered.
Calming himself, he looked back at Twilight. "I suppose that's wrong. It does concern you, doesn't it? Ditzy and Dinky are friends of yours, aren't they?"
"Yes, they are," Twilight confirmed, standing at the edge of the glowing circles on the ground. She didn't know if it was safe to get any closer, for her, or for them. It was frustrating, not being able to glean the slightest amount of information from something she should be able to easily read. Was it possible for magic on this planet to have changed so much in five millenia? The rest of the galaxy wasn't that different. "They are friends of mine, and also my subjects. I am responsible for their safety and well-being."
Catch nodded slowly, but remained silent. Ditzy had told him of her old home, but he never expected to meet another from there. This could help or derail his plans, but he had to trust that truth would win out. "I would like to place the Veritas spell on you. But, I won't link it to your life force like ours. Would this be acceptable?"
"No," Twilight answered. "Connect it to my life force. I take it you have some questions for me, I will answer them with the same gravity they are asked."
A solemn nod was the Chairman's only reply as he wove his spell. Light wrapped around the newcomer, obscuring the purple mare. As it faded, spell complete and runes surrounding her, Catch gestured to the camera. "Might I ask you to introduce yourself to Tirassa, and explain what brings you here?"
Green Hoof remained silent through this. Questions were safe, but any statement he made carried risk. When he told Catch he couldn't do this, the spell reacted to it as a lie. In hindsight, it was obvious that it would. There was clearly nothing that could stop Catch now, much less a lone earth pony. He could probably rule the planet by force now, Storm king reborn if he wanted. And this spell, how did it work? What does it do about subjective statements? Would the spell react based on the beliefs of its creator, its victim, or physiological response like a technological lie detector?
Twilight walked towards the camera, standing tall, regal and composed. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. A long time ago, on a planet that no longer exists, I was known as the Princess of Friendship." For the first time in a long time, she truly felt the weight of that title. Gone were the days of friendship problems, and fun adventures. The stakes were higher now. Her life was on the line, and so were the lives of her friends. It seemed like every planet they visited was out for blood. What sacrifices would be required to ensure their safety? "I come to your planet in search of a friend of mine, and her daughter. Millenia ago, I sealed them into cryogenic stasis chambers as our kind left our world, fleeing destruction. These chambers are scattered across the galaxy now, and two of them ended up here."
"Your kind?" Green Hoof found himself asking before he could stop himself. But, it was a question, it was safe.
"Yes," Twilight answered, "my kind, ponies. Back then, we only had one planet to call home, and we shared it. Unicorns, Earth Ponies, Pegasi, Alicorns like myself, Gryphons, Dragons, Changelings, Yaks, Hippogriffs, Coatl, Diamond Dogs, Kirin, Breezies, and many more."
"Then, our ancestors came from this planet of yours?" Catch asked quietly. Under any other circumstance, he would have been so excited to ask such questions. "What was it called?"
The newcomer pressed her lips together, unsure of how to answer. "I... I don't think we ever properly named it." Her spell's points of light calmly followed her head as she shook it slowly. "I called it Equestria, and most of us did, but that was really just the name of our nation. There were several other nations, and they all had names, but we never seriously considered the possibility of our world needing a name. The way the galaxy is now, all these planets and systems full of life and civilizations, it makes my world seem very small."
Catch nodded slowly. "You call yourself an alicorn. Is that what I've become? Where you always an alicorn, or did you undergo a similar change?"
"I was once a unicorn," Twilight answered, "much like you. I don't mean to brag, but I was tutored in magic by the princess of Equestria, and was quite strong. The catalyst for my transformation was when I completed an ancient spell by a legendary wizard. Your catalyst must have been harnessing the power of the sky and weather to slow the descent of this platform. You gathered a remarkable amount of power very quickly, and if I had to guess, it had nowhere else to go except within you... Well, you and those two that were that were standing on the edge of the platform."
"Miss Kettle, and that officer? You're saying they were affected by my spell?"
Twilight nodded. "Miss Kettle gained wings, and... what's-his-name has a horn now."
"What's-his-name?" Green asked angrily. "That was my son, Red Hoof! Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to come here and judge us when you know nothing of our history?"
Our history?" Catch demanded. "What part of our history gave Wingless the right to imprison her in-" Twilight raised her hoof to stop him.
"He is right, I have no right to judge your history. I am responsible for your ancestors arrival on this planet. I launched the ships that carried them here, set the parameters that determined whether a planet was suitable to become a new home. And that is where my involvement ends. I wasn't there for the rest your planet's history, so how could I? But your ancestors would be ashamed of the division and hatred that is allowed to persist here. Ponies of all kinds used to live in harmony, united-"
"You know nothing!" Green Hoof shouted at her.
Another point of light shattered, leaving the mayor with only two.
"Damn this literalist bullshit spell. You know what I mean!" He jabbed his hoof at her. "I don't care what sort of peaceful utopia you had. Our ancestors had one too, and it didn't last. All it took was a volcano and a few years of famine for it to all fall apart. The pegasi took over when the clouds covered the planet, and they ruled with iron wings. Only the strong survived their rule, and only strength took the planet back. But even then, all that remained of those strong earth ponies and unicorns were broken stallions and shattered families. My own great grandfather was tortured so badly that he barely remembered who he was. The war never ended for him. It followed him, and the generations that had to take care of him. He barely recognized us on good days, and he would attack us on bad ones. And he lived to a hundred-fucking-eighty-two believing that the war was still on. My son was there when we buried him, that was how he spent his tenth birthday. Catch was there too, though he seems to have forgotten. And you expect us to forgive centuries of cruelty, when those who survived it are less than twenty years in the ground?"
"Yes, Green, I was there for you, and your grandfather, but remember, you were there for my grandmother a year before."
"I remember. She suffered in the war as well, wasn't she crippled by fire in the siege on the castle?"
"After opening the gates from within, remember?"
"Yes, she was a hero. And you want to forget what she's done for our world?"
"I want to be remember what she did. She was a hero, who turned on her own father for the good of Tirassa. The last of the Storm King's children. She knew that the planet couldn't continue under her father's rule, and provided information and aid from under his nose. Without her, and other pegasi like her, who sided with us, to the point of carrying soldiers and weapons over the walls, no army would have made it into the castle, and do you think the Storm King would ever have fallen?"
"That can't be. My great grandfather wept for her. She couldn't have been a pegasus!" His outburst was punctuated by the shattering of another point of light. Only one remained now, one more lie would end his life. He fell to the ground. "Fine. I don't care anymore." He looked up at Catch. "How the hell am I supposed to tell the truth, when it seems I don't even know the truth?! You're telling me the pegasi helped overthrow the storm king? That his own blood turned on him? What else don't I know? Leave this spell on me then, I'll die for Tirassa in ignorance! Is that what you want?!"
With a wave of his horn, Catch dissolved the light surrounding the mayor. "No! Who could want that? We were friends once, don't you remember? Even then, you were a proud pony. Tirassa will always have that pride, but it has to let go of its anger, or it will become a storm that will eventually consume us. Do you understand now? Do you understand why I've chosen the path I have?" Catch dispelled the light surrounding himself, then Twilight. "All ponies need to stand together, equal, unified, drawing strength from the differences and abilities that separate us, and sharing that strength. I truly believe that anything less would lead us to destruction." He held out his hoof. "I truly hoped that, one day, you would come to see this, too. And that we could work together to lift Tirassa even higher, out into the stars."
The mayor hung his head. "You've never changed, Catch. You've always been naive, idealistic." He glanced back at the newcomer. "You really believe that is what our planet needs now? You think Tirassa will follow you, or this outworlder, when you've been hiding our own history from us?"
"This outworlder has nothing to do with it, Green. If she wasn't captured by Wingless, she would have already left our planet. And I've never hidden anything about our past. The museum in the capitol has been laughed at and derided by so-called scholars for decades, but it was planned, assembled, and curated by ponies that were there. It tells the story, Green, has for as long as possible, but no pony would listen. No pony wanted to hear it. So which of us is the naive one?"
The chairman turned away from from Green Hoof, sparing a glance at Twilight before turning to the camera that was still broadcasting to the entire planet. "It seems the truth is something our planet still struggles with. My grandmother never wanted to hide who she was, but my grandfather forced her to, for her own safety. So, her story was told in the museum she built, and it was dismissed as conspiratorial fiction. I am the descendant of the unicorn who killed the storm king. I am also the descendant of the storm king himself. My goal is not to raise the pegasi back into a position of power, nor is it to lower earth ponies and unicorns back into servitude. My only goal is to bring Tirassa up, to raise her into the stars. One united Tirassa! A Tirassa free from the chains of our past, free from the hatred holding us back. Yes, there was suffering under the pegasi. But, can revenge burn forever? Or will our hatred burn out some day, burning us along with it? All who commited these attrocities have died. All who suffered under them have as well. Are we, as their children, condemned to carry their burden, their bitterness with us forever? Or can we move past it?"
Catch took a deep breath. The answer lied with the ponies on the other end of the camera, hundreds of thousands of souls watching this from across the planet. It lied with them, and how they would react to what he said next.
"As Chairman of Tirassa, I hereby decree, that different types of pony will no longer be separated under the law! The words unicorn, earth pony, and pegasus, will be struck out whole. We are Tirassan! No more, no less. Any law that applies to earth ponies and unicorns will apply equally to pegasi. No more, no less. Any law unfairly restricting a pony's rights on the basis of wings, horn, or not, shall be struck from the books. We are Tirassan. We are strong. We are proud. And there is an entire galaxy out there, waiting for us. All of us."