//------------------------------// // Friction // Story: Equestria Besieged // by law abiding pony //------------------------------// Wub Club 2217 hours Ashni was curled up in a ball; in an effort to shield her head from falling debris as she fell off the second story bar to the floor. Yet after a half a minute of no pain or crushing weight she flicked her eyes open to witness a sheen of light completely covered by rubble. An electronic voice sounded in her head. "Warning. Holographic generators at fifteen percent and falling. Failure imminent. Recommend withdrawal from hazardous area." Ashni looked around to see what was hopefully a stable opening and crawled over to it as the rubble fell behind her as the shield moved with her. The collapse brought down a little more debris but not enough to cause a second disaster. With nothing threatening her, the harness spoke in her mind again. "Emitters recharging. Standing by on combat alert yellow, recreational use suspended until further notice." Looking around at the ruined club and dozens of injured or dead patrons she wasn't in the mood for recreation anytime soon. She saw a similar sheen of light over by the dance floor. There had been several unicorn guards present at the club during off duty hours and they had reacted quickly by projecting shields around themselves and a few other ponies who were lucky to be near enough. The same luck could not be extended to the pegasi who were unable to escape the falling roof, and most were badly injured or worse. Seeing the wounded around her, Ashni’s mind started to lock up. The smell of blood and fear coupled with the moans and shouting were making it worse and she was reduced to a near comatose state. Centuries of studying the common mental state of those in sensory overload prompted the sphinx’s harness to send a few precise electrical jolts along her nervous system that broke her out of it. It was not however able to help her cope with it any further than that. “What do I do? How do I help? I don't know the first thing about first aid. What if I do it wrong? How would I even help a species that I have no idea how to fix them? What if someone dies and I didn't same them cause I didn't know how?” Her ramblings continued as Daria flew into a hover above her and the routers began scanner her for injuries. After finding none Ashni felt several holographic tendrils latch onto her harness and hoisted her into air and carried her out into the street. Barrane dropped to the ground to check on her mental state. "Your vitals are fine, but are you okay?" "I-I I'm fine I think. I just survived an explosion, no big deal right?" A crazed grin plastered on her face searching her mentor for the big joke. "It's good for you. A nice explosion every now and then keeps the mind sharp." She deadpanned while landing. Ashni was so ambivalent on how to react to the comment that she was rendered speechless, which was the desired effect. "As much as I want to keep an eye on, I need to get back in there and see what I do until the medics arrive." Daria looked down the street. If the natives even have something like paramedics. "Just stay here and wait for me to get back." There were already several ponies bringing out those that could walk or they felt safe in moving. Barrane had no idea about pony anatomy outside of the obvious, but she was at least able to use the holograms to lift rubble off trapped victims. It took ten minutes for several ambulances to arrive along with several guards and Princess Luna. Together, all of them worked to save who they could, and remove the dead. At the end of it all Luna watched the ambulances cart away the last of the victims while several investigators arrives to ascertain the details of what happened. The midnight princess approached the alien after the investigation started. "You have my thanks Commander Barrane, and my sincerest apologies. To think somepony would be callous enough to bomb innocents like this. Were it not for your own swift response, many more would have died." "It was the least I could do. But I have to ask, is this a common occurrence?" Daria asked with concern. Luna was appalled at the comment, but then reminded herself that the visitor would indeed not know. "I will not deny that Equestria has had dark moments, but we haven't suffered this sort of attack in over a decade." Barrane hummed contemplatively. "Well I'm sure you'll be more than capable of finding the perpetrators." Luna was glad the visitor shared her faith in the city's law enforcement. She also noticed Ashni was having a borderline nervous breakdown. "It has been a trying night for us all. I would feel better knowing you returned to the castle for the time being. I know my sister will want to speak with you in the morning." "Far be it for me to deny a direct request from the ruler of the land." "My chariot will not be needed for a while yet, please take it back to the castle." The sphinx nodded and left with her companion shortly after, allowing Luna to focus on the remains of the club. In the desistance she saw the off-white unicorn yelling at a policepony for allowing her club to be destroyed. Luna was glad the famous DJ was unharmed and knew it was only a passing anger and let the policepony do his job so she could perform a thorough investigation. It was a mostly flight back. Ashni was successfully trying to calm herself down while Daria pondered about the night's troubles. The natives seem peaceable enough. Aside from some haughty nobles the whole place seems idealist. I haven't seen anything that points towards dissent against the government. Maybe it's just a veneer that covers up a darker aspect. The pegasi guards were stoic as they flew on. She leaned over the edge of the chariot to speak to them. "Do you know if this sort thing happens in other nations?" The pony on the left answered in an emotionless tone. "I know the minotaur nation of Cervidas suffers this sort of violence on a almost regular basis, but there are other nations that weather them as well." Daria made a note to herself to gather information on Equestria's neighbors. "Would there be any national rivals that might benefit from this attack?" "All I know is hearsay ma'am. I would rather not give you unsubstantiated rumors to pass as fact." The commander scowled at that, but had to admire the pegasi's willingness to not spread rumors. "What about you then?" She said to the other guardpony. The pegasus suspected she would not back down until she got some kind of answer. "Like my partner I only know of rumors on who would and could do this; but I know Cervidas and Ib'Xian have never been on very good terms with us." "Interesting, thanks for the info." The guards nodded before facing front to make their landing. Daria had to pull Ashni a bit to get her moving off the chariot so it could fly back to Luna. The commander was deep in thought as she slowly marched back to their quarters. Ashni had finally shaken off the last of the bewilderment. She hesitated as she worked up the courage to ask a question a few minutes before reaching their quarters. "Do you think the attack was aimed at us?" Daria slowed momentarily so they could walk side by side. "I doubt it." "How can you be sure?" Barrane gave her pupil a calming smile. "It is within the realm of possibilities true. But if someone was after us specifically, they're doing it wrong. No I think the guilty party achieved exactly what they were aiming to do." The pupil had a quizzical expression as she opened the door into their quarters. "What was it?" Daria sighed tiredly. "Just a hunch." Both aliens retreated to their beds. Castle passageways 1020 hours The next morning saw the sphinxes being summoned by Celesta in the middle of breakfast. Daria was not one to abandon food and had both of their plates hovering beside her so both of them could eat on the go. Barrane noticed her pupil was extremely nervous. "You can return to the tower. The letter said only I need come." Ashni shook her head. While trying to maintain her fork's integrity. "I can't just sit there like last night. I feel like I have to do something, anything to help these people." Daria was not afraid to admit a touch of pride, but kept it subdued. "I appreciate the sentiment, and I'm sure the princesses would too. But you're barely used to your new skin. I would be derelict of my duty if I let you do anything more than just watch." "But that’s what us techno magi do isn't it?" Daria came to a dead stop and looked at her with an annoyed expression. "By us, are you referring to our species?" Ashni cowered slightly under the withering gaze. "Y-yes." Only a human would ever call us that. The commander moved her face in close to express her distain for the misnomer. "Let's get some facts straight. First off, do we possess magic?" The negative tone in her voice gave Ashni her answer. "No." "I don't know why people keep mistaking our psionics for magic. And because we don't have magic, we are not techno magi." She paused a bit to make sure her pupil understood before moving on. Ashni was rather crestfallen about it. "Is it really that bad of a term? I mean, sure it’s a little misleading and all, but if you ignore the literal definition it fits better than most." Daria had to give her credit for that. As far as slag went, techno magi was by far the best among them. She didn't like the connection to magic because it was misleading, that didn't stop her from using it during the war with the Clarions. Remembering that fact gave her an idea. Hmm, I haven't exactly told the locals how we control our tech, not that anyone outside of Princess Luna has thought to ask. Perhaps using the misnomer would be a good idea after all. Ashni became despondent at her instructor's brooding. "Sorry I brought it up." Barrane turned to face her. "Do you really like that term that much?" She asked genuinely. Ashni perked up at the question. "I remember a few snippets of news reports calling our kind the heroine techno magi, and bits and pieces of my childhood using the term synonymously with sphinxes." She finished with a sheepish grin. "I thought the nickname gave them-us a sort of mystique quality." Daria could help but snicker at the childlike starry-eyed expression her student had at the memories. "Alright fine. If they ask, you can tell the locals we're techno magi." Ashni preformed a jumping flap of her wings almost knocking her plate of food out of Daria's grip while crying out for joy. Several guardponies gave the prancing feline a moment's glance before returning to their typical stoic vigil. "Does that mean I'm your apprentice?" Daria inwardly groaned. You already are ya nitwit. "You can call yourself that if you want, but I have two conditions." The overly exuberant sphinx stopped hopping around with a anxious expression. "I'll do anything." Barrane raised a mischievous eyebrow before thinking better about pulling a prank on her right now. "First off, you have to remember we have psionics. And second, outside of the princesses, if anyone asks, we use magic not advanced tech or psychic abilities. No need to tell the locals we're any different than them, got it?" Ashni gave the conditions barely a moment's thought. "Yes ma'am!" "So, apprentice." Barrane still didn't like using mystic terms of address between them, but it was all the better to hide the true nature of their abilities. "What have you learned with your recent studies." "I've read up on the different styles of router control." Ashni exclaimed proudly. Routers are combat equipment, not for civilian use. Barrane hid her annoyance and decided test her on it. "Oh? Then you should be able to name the defensive styles, and no cheating by using your circlet's external memory." The pair passed through a towering hallway with large decorative windows on either side. The guardponies either ignored their passage, or gave cut nods. Ashni felt Daria's technotelepathy grip onto her circlet cutting her off from it. She felt it was an unnecessary precaution as she was determined to pass the quiz honestly. "Barrier, Deception, and Restoration." Her mentor nodded sagely. "Good. What are the major subsets of Deception." Ashni listed the terms easily. "Mirage, Disinformation and Subtlety." Daria was pleased that her pupil was bound and determined to learn quickly. Even if it was not the field of study she wanted her to learn. "What's the differences and synergy between Mirage and Subtlety?" Ashni rattled off the facts after giving serious thought to her phrasing. "The difference is that mirage is typically done through the use of holograms or sensor diffraction to make the enemy think we are somewhere else or that there are so many signal returns that they would be forced to guess which one is real. Subtlety can be used with holograms, but is typically used to hide ourselves or our actions, such as cloaking or sleight of hand.-paw? When combined by advanced practitioners, the mage in question would be neigh undetectable or impossible to pin down." Barrane saw the doors leading into the conference room where Celesta was no doubt waiting for them. "Since you’re here, you can join me in the meeting, but I want you to think of ways to use that in civilian life." The guards opened the large doors for them and they marched in. Ashni was rather miffed at the last directive. I know I freaked out last night, but I don't want the life of a civilian. She tried to keep her face passive to hide her growing exasperation at both herself and Daria constant pressure to be a civilian. Celesta was present along with one of each tribe of pony. The sun princess's conversation with the white coated and black spotted earth pony was interrupted with the visitors' arrival. "Welcome commander, Ashni." The alabaster alicorn nodded to each respectively, who in turn returned the gesture. "I was just reviewing the eye witness reports with my lead detective, Sergeant Snoopy." "Charmed. These are my associates Eagle Eye and Lenses" Snoopy said smoothly as his cohorts gave their own greetings. "From what we gathered, several survivors credit you for saving them." "I neither desire, nor require praise for doing what was necessary. Anyone with my ability should do the same without hesitation." Celesta thought the serious tone sounded like it was coming from a different person. She had seen it all too often in her long years possessed by serviceponies. Equestria was not always the peaceful place recent history would have one believe. "Did the eye witnesses say anything useable?" Snoopy flipped through his notes on the large table. "Yes. At ten twelve PM, several witnesses remember seeing several griffins leaving in quick succession. This information came mostly from those who were outside waiting to get in and the bouncers." He flipped the page over to continue. "Roughly four minutes after the first one leaves, a group of five griffins were seen fleeing the premises. Less than a minute after that, the bombs detonated." Celesta had every respect for the investigators' objectivity, but doubt many others would. "Before we try to find blame, what can you tell me about the bombs themselves and their placement." Lenses levitated a large scroll and unfurled it onto the table. It was a sketch of the club before it was destroyed. He grabbed a pointer baton to indicate several points. "All the explosives were of different strength only had the exact amount of explosive force to cripple the part of the supports they were placed at. There was absolutely no wasted effort behind this." All present felt a chill at the implications. As if to press the point home, Lenses stated what everyone was thinking. "We are dealing with a very professional group. I have little doubt this is the handy work of a nation state." The alicorn maintained a calm exterior as Lenses carried on with his theory, but she was already going through a list of possible enemies. Equestria was a large nation and had only in the last four hundred years had it become more peaceable. She knew of a handful of other long lived old enemies who held long standing grudges. Finally came Eagle Eye, the pegasus mare bore the team's current theories as to who was behind the attack. "The most obvious assumption would be that the griffins are involved. As we all know, griffins are highly intelligent and cunning and have used physiological warfare in the past. I would not put it past a group of malcontents from our northern neighbors to make it so obvious that it was a griffin run operation that we are to think that it would foalish to suspect them at all. Or, they want us to make the obvious connection so they can incite more official conflict between our two governments." While the investigators outlined their findings to the Princess, Ashni barely paid attention to any of it. She was still angry about Daria shooting down her attempts to help directly. She had broached the topic several times since finding out about how they ended up in Equestria in the first place. Yet Barrane sternly denied her first because it was a pony issue, and not for them to interfere; but then this morning she was denied again on the grounds that she was not prepared physically nor mentally for any of it. Daria's going to end up helping them some way other than with this meeting, I just know it. If there's anything I remember about sphinxes is that they…we can't just sit there any let this sort of thing happen. I don't exactly remember why though. After all the evidence and theories were laid bare the group of ponies finally turned to the silent aliens. Barrane strictly believed in not interfering with local issues unless directly asked to do so. So she wait for the enviable question. It was as expected, Princess Celesta who broached the request. "Do you have any insight into the matter Commander?" Ashni halted her brooding to listen as Daria spoke. "I do." The three spherical routers detached from her harness and floated up to space themselves out above the table. They projected a holographic recreation of the club complete with dots representing the patrons. "You said earlier that the Wub Hub was a common hang out spot for the off duty guard, especially for pegasi because of the added room to accommodate more fliers so the ground could be entirely allotted to unicorns and earth ponies." Barrane's hologram had several explosions and the roof fell on the occupants. "As both the simulation and the causality report verifies, most of the dead or critically wounded were pegasi guards." The hologram disappeared and the routers returned to their mistress. "Whoever did this could be trying to hide the objective to weaken your standing army by striking a civilian locals. Possibly with a focus on your pegasi." Celesta had to give the commander credit where it's due. It was not an angle she had thought of and it was a sound theory. The assassination attempt on my sister and this bombing might be linked. If that’s the case, then someone's declared war on Equestria. The big question is who. "The possibility of similar attacks in the future is practically guaranteed. I will deal with the matter appropriately. I thank you all for your time." The others returned weary farewells and departed. The aliens were half way back to their quarters when Ashni was tired of waiting to ask a seemingly unnecessary question. "Why didn't you offer our assistance?" "Its not our place, and you're hardly in any shape to give such assistance. The locals have survived this long without our help, and they will continue to do so." She turned around and pointed a holographic finger into Ashni's forehead. "In case you forgot, we are not in Sol Force. We do not have legal authority to go vigilante. Nor do we have diplomatic immunity if something went wrong. We follow the law of the land and it strictly states foreigners do not conduct any sort of military operation without express permission from the princesses. So unless they come right out and ask, we are to do nothing. Got it?" The sheer force of command in Daria's voice resoundingly drove the point home to her apprentice. Ashni reluctantly acquiesced. "Yes ma'am." Barrane knew short-lived acceptance when she saw it. She hoped Ashni would act the way she suspected she would. "Now, lunch is three hours away so until then, you're on flight training." Ashni returned a downcast acknowledgement. Barrane couldn't help but feel the same way her pupil did. Sphinxes in general were a protective bunch. Anyone they deemed an ally would be hard pressed to find a more loyal comrade. It was one of the reasons humanity was bound and determined to keep them from going extinct as humans had developed the same mindset towards them. Currently Barrane was concerned that Ashni was letting her instincts get the better of her. She's like some moody teenager who doesn't know how to deal with hormones. Course, this wouldn't have been a problem if we were still back on Barossa Three. Froggy Bottom Bogg Midnight Meanwhile at the Legion of Doom several ponies of ill character gathered around a U shaped table within a mobile dome shaped headquarters as it broke the surface of the murky brown water. The malicious band of malcontents conversed about diabolical plans until one unicorn took to the podium at the outer bend in the table and hammered a gavel to grab their attention. The atmosphere of those gathered was filled with anticipation and satisfaction. "This meeting of the Legion of Doom will now come to order. As you know, the second action against the diseased city of Canterlot was a complete success. But now is not the time to get complacent. We have to make sure the investigation moves in the direction we want it to." Sands surveyed the chamber and saw Calgradni brooding in his chair. So the failure actually returned. The cost of that summoning alter alone set us back months. He scanned the table and found the earth mare he was looking for. "Harlequin, with the plan in motion, I want you to make use of your special talent in the aristocracy, while the rest of you continue your own operations. I want this success to become the standard-" He stared at Calgradni and put as much condescension in his voice as possible. "-not the exception." The meeting went on for hours, all dedicated to schemes to unleash an unspeakable evil. Sands retired some time later when he saw Calgradni made his exit. Sands knew the ice blue pegasus would only go far enough that their conversation would not be interrupted. "So." Sands began with contempt. "Instead of a Maledict you manage to summon two skinned griffins. An impressive feat to be sure." Calgradni glowered at the cult leader. "Perhaps if you had paid for better mercenaries who were capable of doing as they were told, Luna would be host to the Maledict." "Do not try to pass failure to others." Sands growled. "I supplied the funds, you were the one who picked useless mercs. Thanks to you we have to set our timetable back months." "I can still deal with the princess-" "No, you will not." Sands interrupted. "I have something else for her. You however will go to Concordia and join the action there." "As you command." His voice dripped with loathing.