//------------------------------// // Interlude: A Unicorn Serves His Purpose // Story: The War of the Mark // by Wise Cracker //------------------------------// Sunburst’s body was weighed down by a familiar magic he’d only felt a few times during changeling attack drills. Their brand of suppression magic was one that clouded the mind and made the body sluggish, he recalled. The best thing to do when hit with it, if he remembered correctly, was to find a safe spot and lie down. He was pretty sure ‘up in the air above Canterlot, carried by two Queens’ did not count as a safe spot. He was only barely aware that his body was being carried, but the blood rushing to his hind hooves was a decent indicator of the situation he was probably in. He tried to open his eyes. Sure enough, he could make out one Chrysalis to his left, another to his right. Below were the streets of Canterlot, but a lot farther than he remembered going. The two Chrysalises started going down. He recognised where he was now: a pastry shop on the road to Ponyville. The time between landing and entering the shop were a blur. “Sunburst, is it? So glad you could join us.” Another Chrysalis stepped out of the shadows. The whole place was dark, he now realised, boarded up on the outside and covered in green goop on the inside. They dropped him on the floor. “You’ve been very annoying to me today,” the Chrysalis said. “Very painful, too. What do you have to say for yourself?” Realisation set in. This was the real one. She was in Canterlot. She was right in front of him. If he could send a signal, if he could launch a fireball, he could end this whole mess. The Queen smirked as her clones flanked her. “Not much of a talker, then. Not much of a caster, either, not now. I wouldn’t bother trying anything, Sunburst: that suppression spell on you was strong enough to lay low Shining Armour. And while I will admit, you’re a powerful wizard, you are not in the same weight class as Shining Armour.” Sunburst stopped squinting. His horn was blocked, his mind numbed. He couldn’t focus, he couldn’t think. “What do you want with me?” She gestured around the room, and the green goo around lit up. It wasn’t random piles of slime, he now realised. There were ponies in there, mostly Unicorns. He recognised Bullet Time on his far right, unconscious but breathing. Amber, the shieldbreaker specialist, was laid out on the floor, incapacitated the same way. He shuddered when he saw another mare. Green Unicorn, short manecut, green and white, he recognised her as a former classmate, though only vaguely: she was more into the bardic schools than the purely arcane. He knew why she was here, though. Bastion’s mother, one of them, at least. “You’re going to kill me like you killed them?” “Oh no. They’re very much alive. They need to be, for now.” She strode over to him. He tried to stand up, and she stomped on his neck to push him down. “Don’t bother trying to move. It’s much easier if you let go. Just surrender, and it’ll be over soon.” Sunburst grunted and tried to get on his hooves again, managing to get his horn to spark. He got a kick in the stomach for it. Coughing and wheezing, he rolled onto his back in agony. His breath was cut off by her hoof. There was an arch inwards on that limb, it made for a very fine grip. He batted at the limb, desperately trying to gulp for air. “Thaat’s it,” Chrysalis cooed. “That’s what you want. You want to breathe, you want to live. It’s funny, you know, they say you only truly know yourself right before you die.” Sunburst’s eyes lit up. She’s not using telekinesis. She can’t shapeshift, and she can’t use telekinesis. Maybe she can’t focus. More pressure on his throat cut off that train of thought. “No, no, no, you tenacious little pony, don’t start thinking now. I need you to panic. I need you to know you’re about to die, and I need you to try and stop it. Come on, let me see. Show me your true self. Show me what you are in death.” Spots appeared in Sunburst’s eyes. His mind trailed off to weeks earlier, to meeting Starlight again, and learning magic back in Sire’s Hollow. His arms went weak, and he stopped struggling. “That’s it. Embrace despair. Accept defeat.” The hoof went off of his throat, and he desperately gulped in as much air as he could. When that breath of relief left him, that’s when she breathed in above him. Despite air filling his lungs again, he still felt weakness creeping up on him with his exhale. His horn throbbed, his heart slowed. His thighs burned. Chrysalis licked her lips, and Sunburst saw his cutie mark flash before her eyes. “There’s the solar magic I was missing. Thank you, Sunburst. We’ll put it to good use.” As he fell into darkness, he saw her concentrate, and the two Chrysalises standing beside her got the same glow in their eyes. She took my magic. She has my cutie mark now. They all have my cutie mark now. His eyes drifted closed, and his body shut down. Chrysalis picked up the caped stallion and tossed him aside. She didn’t bother commanding her drones to cocoon him, not this time. Time was of the essence. Bastion had been spotted, and one of his allies had fallen. She took off at full speed with her two drones flanking her. The battle for Canterlot was going well, all things considered. Her disposable minions had brought all the available high-value targets, as planned. Bastion was panicking, and he was still within her reach, also as planned. It was a shame she had to plan ahead for any troubles with him teleporting, but even that eventuality had not caused any diversion from her plans. She flew over the marketplace where the boy had last been spotted. Little specks of black marked where her drones had fallen, and on the roof of a shop, where one of her Primes had been destroyed. That Pegasus boy was a nuisance, and she knew it. There weren’t many ponies around these days with artifact magic flowing through their veins, let alone one so young. At least the artillery Bastion had at his disposal was gone. His heart’s blown, she’d seen the Pegasus say, when her drones had concentrated their lip-reading skills on that spot. More than likely an overload, the body not being ready to carry so much power. The corpse of the Unicorn colt lay at the corner of the street. His body had been turned, because ponies never let their dead enter the afterlife hooves up. A pity, really. Power like that would have been useful. And at that age, that power must have been locked in his talent. But there was no power to be had from a dead boy, not yet, at any rate. She flew on. There was a stallion nearby, one of her Primes reported through their hive mind network: a powerful stallion, a noble by the name of Fancy Pants. He was skewering drones left and right with some sort of extendable rapier. She groaned at the prospect. These ponies were so annoying. All across Canterlot and Ponyville, her drones were feeding her with sensory data, and while much of it consisted of panic, there was far too much defiance and far too many horrible puns mixed in. The Elements of Harmony were kept at bay, Celestia was contained, but at a heavy cost, in numbers if not in quality. She closed her eyes and summoned reinforcements from the Hive. They’d take some time to make the journey, but she couldn’t risk overburdening herself with too great a force to control in one place. I’m too close now. She slowed. Her drones were dying up ahead. What? There was an entrance to the Crystal Caverns under Canterlot, or the catacombs leading to the caverns, she couldn’t be sure. Whatever it was, it was an old building, nestled against solid rock, with only one way in or out. The entrance itself was sized for a Princess, most likely this used to be an old escape route for the royals. In modern days, it didn’t have any of the signs of a tourist attraction, but it looked like it saw use for some reason or another. The sight in front of said entrance was more interesting, though. Defending the way into the caverns was that annoying little Pegasus colt, firing off shots from an Ice Amulet, a Lightning Ring, the occasional Wind Belt, and bolts of light from his helmet. She set down at a safe distance and commanded more drones to fall in, breaking them off from the forces assailing the Academy. He was fast, this one, reflexes quick enough to make one think he was wearing enhancements for it, but she’d learned already he wasn’t. One drone fell to the blades on his arms, another was sniped by a stray ball of ice, and he unleashed a thundercloud that zapped any foe that stepped in it. The zaps were weak, but they hurt enough to stun a drone momentarily, and against an opponent in full Kingslayer armour, that was enough. She grinned. It was a sight to behold, truly. That little boy fought for dear life. Through the link of her hive mind, she swore she tasted tears, no doubt for his fallen friend. As fun as it was, though, she had business to attend to. She couldn’t even be bothered to steal his powers, at least for now. A simple blast from her horn to drive him back, bury him in rubble if need be, and she could pass on to the main course. She squinted, and conjured up a ball of energy. It fizzled as soon as she brought her horn down. “Wait, what?” She tried the spell again, and again. With a mental command, she tried to make her drones fire a spell, but nothing happened. In fact, nothing happened in all of Canterlot or Ponyville. Her drones were cut off from any pony magic. She looked at her hooves in confusion. “Why is my magic gone?”