//------------------------------//
// 4 - Unicornia Burning 
// Story: Re:Harmony 
// by starcross7 
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Chapter 4 - Unicornia Burning
 
A young unicorn stallion, barely out of his adolescence, arrived at the temple grounds in which Chieftain Velvet had been training a small group of three young mares in mid-level spells.  His appearance was more ragged than usual, as he still preferred to play rough and tumble with his friends, but his expression was anything but rapid and jovial. The panicked words he spoke to the Chieftain were jumbled, but Velvet locked on the word that spat out of mouth:
 
Earthians.
 
It was enough to send everypony into shock.  One froze in horror, and another ran away to look for her family.  The saner one remained still and loyal before the stalwart Velvet, who immediately ordered her to issue an evacuation order.
 
The village was sent into an uproar, and as many evacuation drills as they had performed over the years, no unicorn was ever truly prepared for an invasion from outsiders.  All secret exit tunnels had already been filled to the brim with families clawing forward for their lives.  Yet even within the small village, there were still those foolish enough to remain just outside their homes to catch a glimpse of these visitors, overconfident that whoever or whatever these strangers may be, they would not stand up against a thousand years of practiced magic. 
 
Velvet had no time to make sure everypony fled to safety, and so she decided to meet with these visitors with Trixie and two older unicorn stallions summoned as her escorts.  It may be that the young stallion cried wolf so to speak, but she could not treat any emergency lightly.  She truly did see genuine fear in his eyes. 
 
It was too late to approach the unwelcome visitors stealthily, but just in case, Velvet had cast a spell that summoned cloaks to cover her and her companions’ bodies and another to hide their horns both physically and from any magical detection devices the Earthians had been reported to have been using.  As quick as they could, they ran down through the maze of tunnels, but slid to a halt when they arrived at one of the many junctions. 
 
Already they came face to face with the hornless ponies, all of whom were clad in black battle armor carrying rifles, swords, and any related war supplies in their saddlebags.  If their obscured Destiny Glyph did not rob them of their individuality, then it would be their faces covered by gas masks.  It was only the Clone Soldier with red accents on his armor that made him stand out from the rest. 
 
"We are looking for a fugitive who had fled through these tunnels," the Clone Leader spoke through a modulated speaker in his mask.  "She is a mare with an orange coat, a blonde mane and tail, wore a brown duster jacket, and had a large cowboy hat on her head.  Have any of you seen anypony matching that description?"
 
"I don't know what you mean," lied Velvet.  "We're just humble ponies with nowhere else to live.  We do not wish for any trouble in these parts."
 
"Ma'am, if you lie to us, you will be charged with aiding and abetting a terrorist, which may count as treason under the current Gaean Law." 
 
"I might have seen her," spoke Trixie. 
 
Velvet eyed her other prized protégé, Trixie.  She had already known that Sparkle had put Trixie up to covering up another one of her excursions to the Chasm.  For years Velvet implicitly allowed this to happen as long as Trixie had accompanied her to make sure Sparkle had not brought home any serious trouble.  Right then and there, it became fully apparent to Velvet that Trixie had failed, and the blue unicorn now owned up to her inaction. 
 
"And I can show you where she's hiding," Trixie added.
 
Good save.  Velvet felt confident that her second protégé had more sense in this dire situation, and it was likely she would survive a sneak attack from behind by these Earthian clones. 
 
The Clone Leader had motioned for Trixie to accompany him and four of his troops toward another path in the cave fork, whereas Velvet and her unicorn stallion escorts remained still and prepared to defend their village. 
 
After about a minute since Trixie had disappeared, the Clone Leader came back and the Clone Soldiers before Velvet slammed their hooves into attention before deploying their shoulder-mounted rifles. 
 
"Now," he said, "commence the extermination."



 
 
The apparently wounded orange earth pony was wounded no longer, and she sprang to her feet with her katana in her teeth.  She charged out of Sparkle's secret cave of wonders, and the unicorn gave chase after her, knowing that soon enough, she would become lost. 
 
"Blast these caves!" said the orange pony as she faced a three-way fork.  "I thought for sure I remembered the way back."
 
"Miss, this is the wrong way.  We have to--"
 
"THERE'S THE REBEL!" cried a voice.  "KILL HER AND THE UNICORN!"
 
Sparkle spun around, ready to cast the shield spell to protect herself and the orange pony, but the latter suddenly dashed forward in speeds that was like magic.  She heard four slices and saw arc-blurs of orange passing through the two Clone Soldiers.  Moments later, streams of light gushed from their deep-cut wounds.  Their rifles shattered, and now all that remained were the empty husks of their black armor. 
 
Sparkle had seen death, but she had never seen murder before her eyes.  This was too efficient.  This was too much.  She knew the surface world was dangerous, but the wonder had outweighed such dark facts.  This was just one pony, a mare even, who acted so brutally against her foes.  Imagine running into several of her, if not hundreds. 
 
"All right," said the orange pony.  "Show me the way."
 
"Did you kill them?"
 
"They would have killed us."
 
"But I could have used a spell to…"
 
"Get yourself together sugarcube!  The Clone Soldiers ain't real ponies!  They've been dead ever since they were born.  All their individuality, morals, and even their Nature's Call had been stripped out so that they're nothin' more than machines.  We're doing them a favor by disposin' of them like this!  But you unicorns are real ponies, and you gotta step up and save them!  And if you can't save them, then show me the way!"
 
"Miss, I…"
 
"It's not Miss anythin' sugarcube.  It's Applejack, and I'm the last of the Apple Family. I ain't plannin' on makin' you the last of the unicorns on my watch.  Now, if you can be so kind…"
 
"Okay," Sparkle breathed.  "This way."
 
After a running start, Sparkle leapt over the armor remains Clone Soldiers.  Only briefly did she think what kind of lives they would have if they were not forcefully reprogrammed to kill, but now her thoughts were focused on leading Applejack back to Unicornia. 
 
There were still more Clone Soldiers patrolling the maze of pathways, and Sparkle made sure to avoid their gaze.  Applejack looked ready to strike them at any moment, but the unicorn held her back, gesturing to her that engaging in direct action against a few Soldiers would delay them in helping to save the unicorns.  Applejack grudgingly nodded in agreement, and after a few delays in avoiding the patrolling Clones, the two arrived at the entrance to Unicornia located about two floors above the ground level. 
 
Below them, Unicornia was burning.  Smoke filled the massive cave structure, and the strong smell of napalm irritated Applejack and Sparkle's nostrils.  Clone Soldiers marched up and down the streets, shooting down any stray unicorn, and then shooting any fallen unicorn to make sure they were dead.  Every building they approached they blasted it with their flamethrowers, even if it was already burning.  No words could describe their systematic destruction, and it was if they were given strict orders to destroy anything that reeked of unicorn.  
 
"Oh no," cried Sparkle.  "Unicornia…"
 
"No…" Applejack gasped.  "I won't let it happen again!"
 
Applejack leapt off the ledge grunting loudly as possible, as if she wanted the Clone Soldiers to notice her.  Once on the ground, she slashed away against soldier after soldier.  The orange earth pony felt no graze of a bullet or the searing burns from the flames on her jacket.  Her unbridled rage gave her the advantage in battle, but it soon became her weakness.  From out of a nowhere, a Clone Soldier wielding a large hammer in his mouth struck Applejack from the side. 
 
The orange pony fell.  Her katana had been tossed too far away for her to retrieve it, while the hammer-wielding Soldier readied to deliver a fatal blow to Applejack's head.  Suddenly, a purple stream of magic barreled straight into the Hammer Soldier, who then inflated to gross proportions before imploding.  As with the other Clone Soldiers, the body inside the armor turned into a stream of light that escaped out towards the tunnels. 
 
"I didn't ask for your help!" Applejack cried.  "This is my battle to fight!"
 
"And this is my village!" cried Sparkle.  "Applejack, you're still hurt from before.  Please, let me do the fighting from now on."
 
"I can't let you! The Government, Gaeaopolis, and the Chancellor… They took everything away from me! I'll fight them all!"
 
Suddenly, Sparkle hugged the orange pony to calm her raging heart.  Applejack's breathing soon slowed, and she backed away in shame. 
 
"I'm sorry," said Applejack. "I lost my cool back there.  I haven’t hugged another pony for a very long time."
 
"It's okay, Applejack," said Sparkle.  "From the looks of things, most of my unicorns had already fled."
 
The two heard a crumbling of rock, and the two ponies stood back-to-back ready to attack.  Instead, a blue unicorn with a light-blue and white-striped mane emerged from a doorway of a nearby house half-dazed and half-shocked, but still attentive. 
 
"Minuette?" Sparkle cried.  "Minuette!" 
 
She hugged her friend, neighbor, and classmate in the Magisister training under Velvet.  Sparkle backed away when she felt the blood from her friend being splattered on her coat, but Minuette didn't seem to be fazed by the obvious wounds on her body. 
 
"Are you all right?" Sparkle asked her. 
 
"I'm okay. I stayed behind so I can buy time for your mother and the others to escape to the first evacuation point.  There are some who have escaped through the other tunnels, but I don't know if they're all okay or not."
 
"Well, I reckon she's alright," said Applejack while she fixed her Stetson on her head.  "Let's move on and save your unicorns sugarcube."
 
"It's you!" growled Minuette.  "You're the one those soldiers are looking for!  You led them here!"
 
"Lower your horn Minuette," said Sparkle.  "It's my fault.  I was the one who brought her from the bottom of the Great Chasm."
 
"You don't have to make me feel better by saying' that," said Applejack.  "I was the one who decided to escape to the other side of the Dark Ravine, and you just happened to rescue me.  In any case, there ain't no use arguin' whose fault it was when the unicorns are about to go extinct if ya'll don't do somethin'."
 
"She’s right.  Minuette, see if you can find any more survivors and take them to the second and third evacuation points.  Applejack and I are going to rescue my mother and the rest of the villagers."
 
"You can't!" cried Minuette.  "There are hundreds of those Clone Soldiers, and we barely have enough magic power to deflect their enchanted bullets."
 
"Don't worry!  There are still secret pathways that even my mother doesn't know about.  Now let's hurry!"
 
Minuette went one direction, Applejack and Sparkle went another.  Avoiding the fires, smoke, and other Clone Soldiers, Sparkle led Applejack up the stairs along the cave walls.  Higher and higher they went, and they were forced stand on their hind legs precariously until they were almost midway between the ceiling and the ground.  They reached a small alcove where they could afford firm footing on all four hooves for the two of them.  Sparkle pressed her horn into a small hole which unlocked to reveal a crawlspace barely big enough to fit a mare. 
 
"You'll have to take off your clothes and leave your sword behind," said Sparkle.  "It's going to be a tight squeeze."
 
"The duster I can leave, but I ain't leavin' my hat.  But the sword..."
 
Applejack swung her katana in the air back and forth. In one flash, a golden necklace replaced the sword, which the orange earth pony immediately placed on her neck.  Sparkle swore she had seen that necklace on Applejack on their first meeting, and she had probably assumed she hid it for safekeeping.  She could only assume some level of magic or high technology had been in play.  With so many questions she wanted to ask the visitor, there was no time to idle and wonder. 
 
Sparkle led Applejack through the narrow crawl space, suffering scratches and cuts as their skin brushed hard on jagged rocks.  Very soon, they arrived at a high ledge in the cavernous stalagmite evacuation area where neither of them could be seen from below, let alone noticed.  To Sparkle's fortunate delight, the remaining unicorns, however wounded they were, had put a strong barrier to not only protect themselves and their foals, but also Chieftain Velvet, who had suffered a wound that blinded her left eye. 
 
"That ain't gonna hold," said Applejack.  "Jus' because a thousand years has passed don't mean the Government isn't refining anti-magic weaponry."
 
"My mother is the most powerful unicorn of all of Unicornia.  She'll find a way out of this." 
 
"The honest truth sugarcube, she's not gonna stand a chance.  Here they are bringin' in the big guns, courtesy of Pegasus Atmostech."
 
Just as the orange pony had said, four pairs of Clone Soldiers appeared at the poles of the spherical barrier cast by the unicorns with strange fork-like weaponry.   The forked cannons, cabled by imposing portable generators, charged to life with electricity.  In one simultaneous blast, the cannons fired, enveloping the area with light. 
 
The lighting cannons immediately shattered the barrier, thereby sealing the unicorns' fate. 
 
"Mother!" screamed Sparkle.  In that instant, all attention was drawn up towards the alcove ledge where the purple unicorn stood.  In that same instant, her horn burst out untold power that immediately surrounded her in a bright magenta aura.  From the very core of her being, she ejected out an offensive barrier that, while rendering Applejack and the unicorns unharmed, the same could not be said for the Clone Soldiers, who were immediately thrown off their hooves and against the wall to be destroyed from inside their armor. 
 
The danger had not yet been averted.  Sparkle's innate magic spiraled out of control, and bolts of energy emanating from her aura began to shatter nearby rocks to create small avalanches.  The remaining unicorns began panicking chaotically in fear of a big cave-in.  Some ran, and some stood frozen in fright.  The very same magic that saved them was out of control, and it was going to kill them. 
 
"Sparkle!" Applejack cried.  "Get a hold of yourself!"
 
"I... can't... control... it!" cried the unicorn.  "Save yourself!"
 
"I ain't doin' no such thing!  An Apple always repays her debt.  You saved my life, and now I'm gonna save yours!"
 
"Applejack, no!"
 
"If ya can hear me Element of Truth, then I want you to absorb the power sugarcube is dishin' out.  Don't stop, even if I tells you so."
 
The jewel in her necklace flickered, and whatever magic or technology conjured from within, a spherical orange halo surrounded the earth pony.  That same halo began drawing away the out-of-control unicorn magic into the apple-shaped jewel.  Applejack then grunted at the intense pain of the absorption that singed her coat and mane and riddled her insides.  She could feel that pain and the intense burning heat, whereas Sparkle now felt not just the warmth of another pony, but also her deep and rapid heartbeat and her tears. 
 
"Applejack," cried Sparkle.  "Please stop! You'll die!"
 
"If it's to save you and your unicorn folk, then I'll gladly do so!  It's a small price to pay for leading the Clones here!"
 
"Applejack... Applejack!"
 
The final magical burst from Sparkle threw Applejack off her hooves, causing her to slam against the wall.  The outpouring of magic had finally ceased, and while the unicorns below stared at Sparkle in shock, all the purple one could think about before falling unconscious was Applejack’s fate.