Flashes from the shield were becoming brighter, and cracks were appearing across it. There was no more time to wait for a closer shot. The soldiers swiveled the ballista around to an approaching group of fighters. A slight pause, and they adjusted their lead on the swarm. They pulled the trigger.
Shadowpiercer was still watching the fight when he heard an unexpected sound. Looking around, he saw a filly crying so softly that he was surprised to have heard anything at all.
"What's the matter?"
She looked up. "I can't find my mom."
He wasn't entirely sure what to do. The crowd was thick enough that a search through them would take forever. Besides that, he didn't have too many options regarding movement anyway.
Then again, perhaps there was something he could do. It wasn't much, and it certainly wasn't as reliable as he would have liked, but it was better than nothing. He just hoped he had enough battery...
He closed his eyes.
{BEGIN STARTUP PROCESS
{INITIATE SCAN
[======= 29% =======]
{SCAN CANCELED BY USER
{INITIATE SYSTEM CHECK
{BATTERY: 37%
{NO PERIPHERALS DETECTED
{SETMODE: FACIAL RECOGNITION
{ALGORITHM: PHENOTYPE RECOGNITION
{SETGOAL: FAMILIAL RELATIONS
It works!
He scanned her face for the control sample, then began scanning everyone else in the room.
{PROBABLE RELATION: 39%
{PROBABLE RELATION: 27%
{PROBABLE RELATION: 42%
This wasn't working, but then, at this range, they would have found her themselves anyway. He began checking reflections from every object he could find. There would be distortions, of course, but those could be removed in editing.
He kept scanning the room until he saw two ponies reflected in a decorative sconce.
{PROBABLE RELATION: 73%
Normally, he would have looked for a higher confidence level, but there was something in their faces and behavior that his AI wasn't looking for. They were looking around, searching the place, asking ponies around them about something. They were also far more worried than those around them. It had to be them.
He turned to the guards. "This child is lost. Do you see that pillar? The second one off that way?" He pointed towards the column in question. "Her parents are near it. I can't guide her through the crowd. Could you?"
One of them, a unicorn with a firm telekinetic grip on his crossbow, glared at him.
"This had better not be a trick."
"It's not."
The guard clearly didn't believe a word he'd said.
"Look, I'm chained to a pillar, that guard also has a crossbow, those two have swords, and there are two plainclothes officers right there. Trust me, I can't escape. It's not a trick."
The guard simply maintained his glare in response.
"Please..."
The guard stared him down for a moment, then turned to the other one with a crossbow. "Keep a close eye on him."
He then walked over to the filly and began escorting her in the right direction. He only stopped as he passed a particular stallion and mare.
"You two really need to work on your disguises."
As the bomb left the catapult, the string pulled its safety pin free, starting a timer. It sailed into the path of the swarm before releasing a bright burst of magic, the appearance of which would later result in the weapon being nicknamed "the Party Sparkler."
It had to be the second least impressive explosion they had ever seen from an artillery shell.
The swarm dove, lining up a shot straight at them.
The shots never came. It wasn't that they were blocked by the shield. They were simply never fired in the first place.
The craft hit the shield themselves, broke into pieces, and slowly slid down the side.
It took a moment for the guards to register what had happened. As soon as it did register with them, they gave instructions to assemble more of these devices as soon as possible.
They had a weapon that worked.
Sierra Springs enjoyed watching cracks form in the dome. He did not enjoy watching his air force get shot down. A couple losses to the unicorn squadrons was not unexpected, but entire swarms dropping at once meant something was very wrong.
He checked his telescope. There were still several swarms remaining. He watched as one of the swarms began another strafing run on the castle. As it approached, someone on the roof fired something from a catapult. He couldn't see what it was exactly until reached the middle of the swarm and exploded.
A firecracker?
He watched as the swarm dropped into the dome.
An anti-magic bomb.
That didn't make much sense though. Those bombs were too dangerous to keep around, so nopony ever researched them. The last one he'd heard about was...
It couldn't be.
He checked the telescope again just as another firecracker went off.
Whose side was that pony on?
He turned to his brother. "We're switching to plan B."
His brother nodded and signaled the ground troops. It was time to breach the walls.
The guard returned to find his prisoner still chained to the column. He shouldn't have been surprised, as that was, after all, the point of the chains. Perhaps he was still surprised to find the filly's parents where he had predicted. He was at least glad that it wasn't a trick.
"How did you do that?"
The prisoner pointed to a wall sconce. "I saw their reflection. She looks just like them, and they looked like they were looking for someone."
The guard looked up at the sconce and saw a hundred distorted blobs. "You saw them in that?"
Shadowpiercer nodded. He'd explain if the guard wanted, but there would be no demonstrations. He was saving the rest of his battery for when the trial restarted.
The guards had shot down most of the aircraft, but the cracks in the shield were worsening from the impacts. The last swarms were gathering together and flying away, but the guards did not breathe a sigh of relief. Instead, they watched carefully to be certain it wasn't a trick.
There was no trick, but it wasn't a retreat either. The guards watched as the craft began to spiral, climbing higher and slowly moving towards the center while remaining out of reach of the catapults. At the center of the spiral, they dove straight down and immediately began firing. The guards fired as many bombs into the air as they could, but this time, the craft themselves were the weapons.
They all hit the shield at once, shattering it.