Days of Wasp and Spider, Part II: Final Solution
by Luna-tic Scientist
=== Chapter 04: You can lead a horse to water...
"You need to get me back; I will be on shift soon," Spiral said, looking with distaste at the progression of the moons through the sky. There wasn't yet any sign of dawn, but the night was more than half over. The green mare looked exhausted, her adrenalin energy long since spent.
Gravity made to stand up, then sank back down when Fusion glared at her. "Don't even think it," Fusion said, then turned to Spiral. "I'll take you, you'll be back before you know it. What will you tell your mate?"
"That I fell asleep in the infirmary. I've done it before, and he has the same workload I have, as well as the added effort of flying home from wherever he's working this time. I very much doubt he'll even ask."
The white mare nodded in return, then paused. "The risk is very high... you understand what will happen if you are discovered?"
Spiral's ears drooped for a moment, then she straightened up. "I do. Your memories of those Security ponies were quite clear. It won't be just me who dies. Everypony I come into contact with will be regarded with suspicion. Considering the stress the corral is under at the moment... that could be most of the ponies I’m responsible for within a few days."
"Yes." Fusion flicked her wings, then sighed. "We'll do what we can to protect you, but..."
"What do you plan to do next?"
"It's probably best if you don't know."
Spiral was silent for a few moments, then glanced over at Packet, drooling slightly in his drugged sleep. "What about him? Isn't it a bit late to try and talk him around?"
"What alternative do I have? I can't send him back as he is, and I can't keep him here without causing problems back home."
"Yes." Spiral rummaged through one of the medical kits from the pile of stolen equipment, coming up with a single use injector. "Are you ready?" At Fusion's nod, she eased the needle into Packet's neck.
The stallion started struggling the instant the antidote took hold. His magic flared, at first wildly, and then with increasing focus, trying to burn a hole through Fusion's power. Sodium yellow light flooded the little wood-lined chamber, bursting out of the doorway and casting stark shadows through the closely spaced trees.
The mare tightened her grip, throttling his magic and shredding every attempt he made at creating a workable spell pattern. Still he struggled, panting and sweating, his teeth clenched and muscles standing out like cords along his neck and wingroots. "Let me go!" he hissed, "when the Masters find out--" His voice cut off in an anguished grunt, then his magic died completely. Packet lay there in Fusion's grasp, body held still by her white-gold telekinetic haze.
"They will try to kill me, and you, and everypony I've ever talked to," she said calmly. "Are you ready to listen to me, or do you want to fight some more?"
"Traitor," Packet panted, "how could you do this? When your mother finds out, she'd prefer it if you were dead!" His horn lit up again, just enough power to fend off Fusion's attempts at sharing her memories with him.
Gravity's horn glowed a little and Packet gasped, trying to shake his head. "I can force my way in, if you don't co-operate," she said.
"You can make me watch, but you can't make me betray my Maste--" Packet cut off, his mouth lolling open and eyes rolling back into his head.
She can do that? Fusion felt cold inside, sparing a fraction of her power to dismantle the enchantment that Gravity was constructing. "No, sister. If we make him believe we're no better than they are." The blue mare gasped and Fusion immediately felt guilty.
"What do you want to do then? Better that, than killing him!" Gravity shot back, but didn't try and cast the spell again. "There's no way we can trust him." Despite what she said, the mare created the same illusion of Random, with foals huddled around her legs, that she'd shown Korn.
Packet recovered from the invasive mind magic with a shuddering breath, and stared at the blue mare with real fear in his eyes. "Please, don't..."
"Then look, Maker damn it!" Gravity snarled, encasing Packet's head in a violet aura and pointing his muzzle at her illusion. The image moved in a short loop, forever showing Random trying to spread her tattered wings over the herd of foals. "Your brother is in there!" Packet squeezed his eyes closed, only to have the lids forced open again.
This has gone far enough, Fusion thought, stunned by her sister's sudden anger. She reached out to negate Gravity's telekinesis, and her eyes widened as the other mare resisted her efforts. For a brief moment white warred with violet, until Packet let out a pained whinny, the bones of his skull showing clearly where Gravity had strengthened her hold.
Fusion abruptly let go, swallowing hard. "Gravity, you're hurting him," she said softly, "remember what we talked about. This is wrong."
Gravity's head whipped around, and for moment Fusion stared into those wild eyes and felt a tiny flicker of fear. Is... is she right to be afraid of what she might become? the mare thought, hunching down inside herself at the sight of this unfamiliar creature, her own magic bunching and tensing in reaction. Then the moment passed and Gravity’s teal eyes cleared.
The violet magic vanished and the blue mare's gaze wandered back to Packet, her face falling. Mouth working, she clumsily got to her hooves and backed away. "I told you," she whispered, then turned and fled into the forest.
Fusion surged to her hooves and stared after Gravity, her mouth open yet unable to find the words that would get through to her sister. Behind her, Lilac gasped, while Spiral started to follow the path taken by the blue mare. What are you not telling me, sister? Fusion took a tentative step of her own, the hesitated, remembering what had happened the last time she'd chased after Gravity when the mare had only wanted to get away. "Be careful, Spiral. Gravity..."
"I'll just talk," the green mare said, "I've had plenty of experience with ponies suffering from stress."
Yes, but could any of them rip you in half without breaking into a lather? Fusion kept that thought to herself and just nodded.
Fusion watched Spiral disappear, then stared down at Packet, wondering what she could possibly say to this pony that would convince him to cooperate. Uneasily she shifted her weight. What am I going to do if he suddenly does change his mind? Is Gravity right -- can I ever trust him now? Something exploded off in the darkness, not the roar of a rock-fall, but the high velocity crack of demolition charges or railgun rounds.
Fusion jumped, all four hooves leaving the ground, and her wings flicked out in preparation for flight. Oh, Maker, no! Spiral--
===
Magic forgotten, Gravity tripped and skidded down the steep valley slope, unmindful of the scratches and abrasions she was picking up from the spindly trees. She finally came to rest when the trees ran out, colliding heavily with one of the rounded boulders littering the small river's flood plain. Gasping and full of self-revulsion, the mare huddled in the lee of the rock, staring blindly out across the valley while a cold wind laden with spray cut through her fur.
There was the sound of somepony picking their way over the rocks, the harsh click-click of hoof on stone. Gravity crouched lower and closed her eyes, willing the other pony away. The hoofsteps stopped, then the chill was blocked by the close presence of another body. A faint light washed through her eyelids, then the air became still and the temperature started to rise. Leave me alone, Gravity thought, I can't hurt anypony if I'm alone.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Spiral said, her voice full of compassion.
"It won't do any good."
"It might. I can't pretend to know what you are going through, but I've counselled many ponies in stressful situations. You are in an... unusual position, although you are not alone, I think."
"My sister... I can't share this with her; she's suffered enough at my hooves. I won't give her cause to fear for me as well."
"If you hold on to this it will destroy you. I won't judge you, Gravity, because I know you. I've known you since I smelled you in your mother's belly.”
Gravity sniffed, looking up at Spiral. “You can’t tell me that’s how you do all your diagnoses.”
The other mare smiled slightly, then kissed Gravity between her eyes. “You’d be surprised… but it sounds a lot less clinical than ‘since I monitored the implantation of your blastocyst’.” Her smile faded, face becoming serious. “You've had to do terrible things to survive--"
"Every time I close my eyes I can see her face," Gravity said quickly, before her nerve broke. She stared at Spiral, the mare's tired face illuminated by the faint green glow of her horn. "Her eyes were bright red, and it looked like she'd been crying, except the tears were blood. There was blood in her mouth and blood in her nose; the liquid had sprayed out like she'd been drinking and suddenly sneezed. The rest of the Security herd was using her as a conduit, and when I struck back..."
Spiral nodded. "I've seen similar before. It's a mild form of thaumic excursion... if it's any consolation, it would have been pretty quick."
"Not quick enough," Gravity said darkly, "she screamed."
"No, such things rarely are…” The green mare sighed and smiled sadly, leaning forward and staring into Gravity’s eyes. “Could it have gone any other way? Do you think you could have saved her?"
"The spell they were using was taking control of my body," Gravity whispered, "I couldn't stop it. I tried to remove the enchantment, but they kept rebuilding it. Two of the Masters were shooting at me... I felt my lungs stop and my heart start to miss beats, so..."
"You showed me those memories... I don't think you had much choice. It sounds like you were seconds away from death yourself."
"Yes, but neither did she!" Gravity's horn flared and, a dozen lengths away, a rock the size of a small aircar exploded with stunning violence. "They wouldn't stop, even when they knew they had no chance." Another rock, a little larger than the first, jumped off the ground in a halo of violet light and was flicked across the river to smash into the trees.
"And whose fault was that?" Another rock glowed, but didn't move.
"Don't patronise me, Spiral," Gravity snarled with a toss of her head, ears flicking all the way back. "I know exactly whose fault it is, but it doesn't make any difference, does it? I'm the one who killed her!" Her voice rose to a ragged scream, and the rock vanished with a crack and a vapour trail that arced over the near-by hills.
"Yes, you did," Spiral said, unperturbed, "and as long as that keeps you awake at night, you are still a decent pony."
All of the mare's anger vanished in an instant and she slumped, leaning into Spiral, who folded her wings over Gravity's neck. "Does it ever go away?" Gravity whispered.
"The memories fade," Spiral said, her voice going distant as if lost in memories of her own, "but they will never leave you. Listen, we should get back, but please try to talk this through with Fusion. You'll hurt her far worse if you shut her out." Spiral got carefully to her hooves, and Gravity followed her. "Just remember," the green mare said, "when you get angry, make sure you direct it at those who really deserve it."
===
A sweep of the valley with her shadow sight allayed most of her fear; the firefly of Spiral's horn was still there, nearly eclipsed by Gravity's violet radiance. As she watched, another pulse of magic left the mare, and a sonic boom echoed off the mountainside.
At her hooves, still encased in her telekinetic field, Packet gave a pained snort. "Mad, the whole lot of you are mad. They are our Masters; going against them is like going against the Maker itself. If we were ever friends, Fusion, you'll let me go." He stopped struggling against her magic, panting heavily.
Bile rose up in Fusion's throat. "And if I do that, what then?" she said softly.
"I just want to be able to go home," the stallion said, all the anger suddenly leaving his voice. "I don't know how you are doing what you are doing, but I want no part of it. Just let me go and I'll- I'll--" There was a curious expression on Packet's face, like he was expecting something to happen, something painful. "I don't understand," he whispered, "why didn't the Maker..." He tailed off, eyes widening. "What have you done to me?"
Fusion dropped to her knees in front of the stallion, staring intently into his face. "Think, Packet, think about all you know about the Masters. Think about how they left you with your leg flayed to the bone after you risked your life to pull that Master out of the reactor building. You can't tell me that is the right way to treat an intelligent creature."
"The Masters do what is right -- how dare you suggest otherwise? You weren’t there. You didn’t see the chaos as they tried to bring the reactor under control. They would have come for me if they had been able." Some fire had returned to Packet's voice, and he glared at Fusion. "My memories were recorded -- what did you ever do to deserve that honour?"
The white mare snorted. "You did a brave thing, there's no doubt of that. Your memories will be used to indoctrinate the next generation of foals, preparing them for the Blessing and making sure it can hurt them when they act against the interests of the Masters in any way at all."
"Will you just listen to yourself? There's no great plot to keep ponies oppressed; we serve the Masters because it's what the Maker wants us to do... because it's right."
"If you are so sure of yourself, why won't you share my memories? I could show you the real story behind everything--" At that moment, there was the sound of slow hoofsteps from behind her and Fusion turned to see Gravity and Spiral. Thank you, Spiral, she thought, staring hard at the blue mare leaning heavily against the veterinarian. Gravity, her fur bedraggled and wet, looked dejected, walking slowly along at Spiral's side, tucked under the older mare's wing.
"I'm sorry, Packet," she said in a small voice as the pair stopped next to Fusion, "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Sorry." The lemon stallion gave a quiet, bitter laugh. "Sorry for abducting me and trying to feed me all these terrible lies, sorry for going against the will of the Maker and betraying everything generations of ponies have lived and died for. I bet you are sorry."
Gravity flinched as if struck and opened her mouth to reply, but it was Spiral who answered. "The Masters have my daughter, Packet. I don't know for sure what they have done to her, but she's been pulling out her own feathers rather than face what's in her mind." Spiral's voice became dry and clinical, with only a faint tremor to the words. "I've seen it before in other ponies; self-harm used as a way to escape the more terrible pains of the Maker's Test. It happens when a pony has to make hard decisions and all the available choices are evil." The green mare's eyes glittered in Fusion's white-gold hornlight, her face blank and drained of all emotion. "You were Random's friend--"
Packet shook his head mutely. "I'm sorry, Spiral, but all you have are the words of these madmares. They're obviously under the influence of some strange magic, do they look normal to you?" He nodded at each of the sisters in turn, staring at their unnaturally moving hair.
"You weren't there, that night... they sent an Agent to investigate the corral. She goaded Plasma into disobeying an order, then punished her for it. It wasn't much, the poor mare only asked after her daughters, but I'm still rebuilding her right wing. Then--" Spiral swallowed heavily and closed her eyes, lying down next to Fusion. Gravity backed away from the little group, heading to where they had left Lilac. The quiet sounds of the two ponies in conversation were almost intelligible in the sudden pause.
"I think I see where Fusion gets her treasonous nature from," Packet said, then fell silent when he caught a glimpse of the white mare's hollow expression.
"She made me euthanize Slipstream, right there in front of everypony."
Fusion's head snapped around to stare at Spiral. "You never said--"
Spiral gave Fusion a pained smile. "What difference would it have made? What's done is done. Slip wasn't the first pony I've had to kill... but for most of them it was a mercy. Slip was murder."
Tears started to form in Fusion's eyes and the mare hung her head. "If I'd have come to you yesterday, instead of taking the time to rest... I only really talked to Slip once." Damn you, Salrath, we should have killed you when we had the chance. The sadness gave way to anger, pouring into the deep well of rage that had been filling her soul since she had met the Agent. The subtle pastels of her mane and tail shifted towards harder colours, while her hornlight brightened and cast an unsympathetic glare across her muzzle and face.
Packet gasped as Fusion's telekinetic field hardened, his breathing becoming shallow as his chest was unable to expand. He tried to speak, but all that emerged was a choked whinny. Fusion, her mind in other places, didn't hear him.
Feathers fell over her back and the warm bulk of Spiral rested against her flank, washing away some of the rage and pain. "It's not your fault," the mare whispered. "If you'd have been early then I'd either have not been convinced by your arguments, or been stuck at the corral when they tested us."
Fusion leaned into Spiral, resting her head against the other mare's neck. Her magic faded a little, letting Packet draw a strained breath. Fusion ignored him, her eyes closed as she drew shuddering breath. "I had Salrath in my power; I could have killed her and no Master would have been any the wiser. Drowned the vicious dog under a sea of cryogenic gas... but I didn't. I didn't know enough to be certain, didn't know what would happen next. My weakness cost me an eye and Slip his life."
"You can't change what was," Spiral said, shifting slightly as she moved her head to look at something behind them both.
"That explains a lot," Gravity said.
Fusion nodded carefully at Gravity; this time the mare met her gaze briefly, before her shoulders slumped and she looked away. She looks better... what did Spiral say to her? Fusion thought, studying her sister intently. She's just embarrassed, thank the Maker. Will you talk to me now?
Lilac floated by her side, watching Packet with some interest. "Korn said Salrath took your eye, but I didn't press for details," Gravity muttered, still not looking at Fusion. Her gaze switched from the ground between her hooves to Packet and her voice strengthened. "This is Lilac, he--"
Packet stared at Gravity, his ears back. "K-keep her away from me! You can't make me believe your lies..." He tailed off, eyes darting from one pony to the next. "That's it, that's what's happened to you all," he said in a hushed whisper, his eyes going wide. "Gravity got into your heads and convinced you all of this fantasy." As he spoke, his words became slurred and his head slumped against Fusion's magic.
The white mare glanced sharply at Gravity with her shadow sight, but this new effect hadn't come from her. Instead, tendrils of green magic were emerging from Spiral's horn and twisting into strange shapes within the stallion's head. Packet gave a grumbling snort and started to snore. "You put him to sleep?"
"An old vet's trick; works best if they don't know what you are doing. He needs more time, if he's ever going to come to terms with this." Spiral sighed, a thoughtful look settling across her muzzle. "The Masters are actively investigating the corral; what do you think they will do if he just disappears?"
"I only have experience with Salrath, and she's... smart. Too smart. She figured me out even when the others didn't. With her in charge a disappearance would bound to be thought suspicious... I don't think she'll stop looking until she has our bodies at her paws."
"I thought as much." Spiral nodded, getting to her hooves and staring down at Packet. "This Salrath… there were always whispered stories about such as her, between the veterinarian groups. Masters who would leave dead or broken ponies in their wakes. Before, I’d have said she was sent to us by the Maker as a test, that it was all part of a plan to ensure we are the best possible servants for the Masters. ” The mare closed her eyes and shuddered. “I still want to think that, but I know something of mental health. She is exhibiting sociopathic traits -- not just towards ponies, but other Masters, too. She enjoys hurting others, both mentally and physically. You must have hurt her quite badly -- she has all the signs of someone only part way through a course of thaumic medical."
"I wish I'd finished the job," Gravity said.
"It's bound to be personal, as well. She can’t have her revenge on you… but that’s probably why she singled out your parents. I've had some dealings with similar Masters, and I agree with Fusion's opinion." Spiral's expression turned grim. "The safest way would be to euthanize Packet right now."
A heavy silence settled over the little group, all four ponies looking down at the sleeping Packet. "No," Fusion whispered, "I will not start this with a murder. Security will discover that we are alive soon enough."
Spiral nodded, looking relieved. "You don't know how glad I am to hear you say that. There is an alternative... but it's almost as bad." The green mare bit her lip. "He needs to have an accident, one bad enough to justify me keeping him sedated." Fusion stirred uncomfortably, but nopony replied. "I can half fix him, then keep him under in the guise of helping others first. Maker knows there are enough of them..." Her voice trailed off into a mumble and she inhaled deeply,
"Can't you just drug him?" Fusion said, what this conversation meant for Packet finally hitting home. Hard choices, she thought. Packet, why did it have to be you? Her mind churned, trying to find a path that didn't end with one of her oldest friends dead or maimed.
"Do you think that will work--"
"And if they check? If they even look at him? Spiral will be faced with the full Security response without any of the new tricks you've taught me -- and there's no time to teach her now." Gravity got to her hooves and stood next to the veterinarian. "Lilac, I'll give you to Spiral for now, she'll take good care of you." At the youngster's uncertain nod, she laid him carefully at the green mare's hooves. "How good is that spell, Spiral? What would it take to wake him up?"
"Once you stop, he's sleeping normally. If you keep the arcane pattern powered... well, I use it for surgery as it's safer than chemical anaesthetics. Let me show you..." The mare opened a sharing environment and demonstrated the spell for the three ponies. The enchantment was simple and highly specific, honed by generations of medics so they could use it without interfering with their other magics.
Gravity nodded. "Thank you, Spiral, I can see that being very useful." Violet light coiled around Packet, lifting him off the ground; a single thread, visible only to Fusion's shadow sight, penetrated his skull and divided into invisibly fine strands within his brain. Her jaw muscles bunched and relaxed, a sudden shiver running across her skin.
"What are you doing, Gravity?" Fusion asked, "I thought we agreed no more mind magic." Her own power, never far from the surface, started to build into a pattern to block the mare's efforts.
"What n-needs to be done. I don't blame you for trying to avoid this; it would be unfair to expect you to do it." Gravity's expression became distant and she stared at Packet, her voice dropping to a trembling whisper. "I already have pony blood on my hooves... what's a little more?" She disappeared in a flash of violet light and a sudden thump of displaced air.
Fusion's magic closed on where her sister had been, just as the teleport terminus folded over itself and space smoothed out. For an instant, before the spell faded, there was the feeling of falling, of being connected to a distant location. Watching the process from the outside was fascinating and part of Fusion's mind filed away the observations for later examination -- the rest of her was filled with panic.
The white mare shot to her hooves, picking up both Spiral and Lilac with her magic, then quickly built the correct arcane pattern and pushed--
~~~discontinuity~~~
"--aker, what--"
The shout came from Spiral, the green mare flailing about with her magic in surprise at the sudden arcane shock. Fusion could feel the medic struggle against her telekinesis, but it was a distant thing, hardly noticeable. Lilac had said nothing, just floated in the same field with his eyes screwed tightly shut.
Gravity had already moved on, the faint residual traces of her next spell already twisting and distorting in the air above the empty mountain top. This didn't stop Fusion from building the next spell; it was obvious where the blue mare was going. Dammit, Gravity, don't do this on your own! You could at least have given me a chance. The pattern solidified in her head, and the white mare made it real--
~~~discontinuity~~~
--to appear at tree-top height a few hills away from their home corral. High velocity winds slapped at her flanks, hard enough that she tumbled for a moment, before instinct put her the right way up and she arrowed for the ground. Shaking her head to remove the residual disorientation, Fusion dropped steeply through the darkness. Using her shadow sight to locate the sleeping ponies by the gentle glows of horn and wing, she positioning herself so the bulk of the nearest hill hid her from any prying eyes.
Magic flared and Fusion thumped down in a gap between two rows of trees, hard enough that her ankles gave little warning spikes of pain. Unceremoniously, she dropped Spiral, leaving the green mare wild-eyed and panting on the leaf-litter, with Lilac next to her. The stallion had screwed his face up as if expecting a blow and appeared to be holding his breath; cautiously he opened one eye, mouth dropping open when he saw their new surroundings.
"Warn a pony when you are going to pull a stunt like that," Spiral grumbled, getting to her hooves and shaking all over to shed most of the clinging vegetation. She bent down to check on Lilac, then picked the stallion up and moved at a smart trot to put several trees between her and Fusion.
"I'll come and find you," Fusion said in a strained whisper, turning away when she saw Spiral's ears flick in response. In moments, Fusion was left alone in the near absolute darkness under the trees. Putting the other two ponies out of her mind, the white mare swept the air above the orchard with her shadow sight, hunting for any sign of her sister. And what are you going to do when she arrives? What if she's like she was back at the Institute? Fusion still had no satisfactory answer to that question, when a rainbow point of light appeared in the darkness of the arcane world.
The brilliant star abruptly ballooned into a polychromatic globe a few tens of lengths above the trees, then winked out to leave the internally-lit, blown-glass sculpture of Gravity and her unconscious cargo. In the real world a flash of violet lit the tree-tops, releasing the dark silhouettes of two ponies. Wings flaring, the darkest of the pair circled overhead as if reluctant to land, then settled to the ground.
Tears had run tracks through the fur of Gravity's muzzle, but the mare looked straight into Fusion's eyes. "It has to be done, you must know this. The delays will only make it harder." Gravity's voice was hoarse, like her throat was being constricted by a noose. "It may only buy us a few days, but at the moment we've got nothing."
Fusion stepped forwards and rested her neck against Gravity's, feeling the trembling muscles beneath her fur. "I know," she said softly, "but you shouldn't carry this burden as well." Fusion cleared her throat and worked her jaw, trying to get moisture into a mouth suddenly gone dry. Which means I'm going to have to do it.
Gravity pulled back and hung her head. "I only wanted to protect you. I-I don't want you to have to..." The mare's breathing became ragged, her wings flicking and her tail lashing in agitation. "It was fine during the fight, there was no time to think, but now there's nothing but emptiness in my head and it keeps getting filled with pictures of--" Her teeth snapped shut with a click, cutting of the words. "Sorry, this is not the time." The still sleeping form of Packet drifted in Fusion's direction, settling on the ground at her hooves. "Are you sure...?"
What did you have to do to stay alive in the tunnels? Fusion thought, trying to think of something to say. Finally she smiled weakly. "No, but what I am sure of is that it must not be you." She picked up the lemon stallion, carefully extending his wings into a semblance of a flying posture. "Could... could you get Spiral for me, please? I'd like to have a few moments alone."
Head lowered, the blue mare cantered off into the trees, leaving Fusion with only the gentle radiance of her still unfamiliar mane and tail. Gently she reached out with her magic, forming the simple sleeping spell and meshing it with Packet's brainstem. The stallion hung there in her magic, not stirring when she kicked him lightly on the shin. "I really want to wake you up and try again to convince you, but we both know that's not going to work." And then I'll have to hurt you anyway, probably with the knowledge that you'll have guessed what I intend.
She leaned forward and pressed her muzzle into the stallion's neck, wrapping her wings around the stallion and hugging him with all her strength. Fusion inhaled deeply and breathed in his clean scent, now tainted with sweat and fear. "I hope you can eventually forgive me for this," she whispered. Hearing the quiet sounds of hooves on grass, she reluctantly released Packet and turned to see Spiral.
"Where do you want to do it?" the green mare said, any emotions masked by a veil of professionalism. Only her wings gave her away; little twitches made the tips of the big primary feathers tremble as if in a breeze.
"Where I pulled off his communicator, I think. It's still there, so hopefully all it will show is that he lost it a few kiloseconds ago. Will another medic be able to tell when he was actually h-h..." Fusion stumbled over the word, falling silent.
"Thaumic medicine is very good, when the vet has enough time to actually complete it." Spiral gave Fusion a twisted smile, glancing at her prosthetic eye. "Once I start work any evidence will be completely erased."
"Okay, let's get it over with." Fusion walked slowly through the trees, trailed by Spiral and the frozen-in-flight Packet. The short journey was over soon, when Fusion noticed the faint glimmer of Packet's communicator laying buried in the leaf-litter. This spot was near the edge of the orchard, at the end of a double row of mature apple trees with widespread branches. "There," she muttered, looking at one thick horizontal branch, "just where a pony might misjudge his flight path." Descending in the darkness; exhausted from long shifts rebuilding the reactor, his flight magic at a low ebb and his inertia close to its resting state. Lulled into a false sense of security by familiar surrounding and coming in too low, the branches and ground invisible to both normal and shadow sight...
"Sorry, Packet," Fusion whispered, pushing the stallion up and away, lining him up with the tree. Tears started to fill her remaining eye, so Fusion closed it and focused solely on her shadow sight, reaching out to grab the target branch so it too was visible. Knees trembling, Fusion lay down before she could fall down, her breath coming in short gasps. Packet floated at the end of her magic, serene and motionless, as the mare tried to will herself to do what she had to do.
Spiral glanced up at Packet, then out out through the final layer of trees, looking down the shallow slope to the infirmary building. “It was lucky I was working late and heard the crash,” she muttered, “otherwise who knows what might have happened?” Her voice strengthened, becoming flat and emotionless. “Aim for the bottom of the chest, just where his front legs meet his body. The damage will be high, but it's all things that are relatively straightforward to fix. Protect his head and inner wings."
Panic started to rise and Fusion felt herself become dizzy, even though she was belly down on the leaves. Suddenly, there was a gentle pressure in her mind and she grabbed at it, feeling the close presence of Gravity, like the mare was sitting next to her, so close that she could almost feel the warmth of fur-on-fur. Emotions washed through the sharing; there were undercurrents fear and sadness, but the main impression was one of love laced with iron-hard determination.
Buoyed up by Gravity's support, strength flowed back into Fusion. Her breathing slowed and she steadied her grip on Packet. Gently at first, then with ever increasing speed, the stallion slid down an invisible line in the sky like a bead on a wire. Right at the end there was the delicate touch of somepony else's magic, fine-tuning Packet's final trajectory.
There was the sharp crackle of small branches, then the solid thump of a body striking something immovable, strong enough that she could feel it through the ground. Fusion felt Packet's body go loose in her grip, limbs and ribs becoming flexible in places where they shouldn't. Oh, Maker, was that too hard? Her panic started to return, and the mare released the stallion into Spiral's waiting telekinetic grip.
Green light flashed and flickered against the trees as the veterinarian started to work on Packet even before she'd lowered him to the ground. The stallion's insides, illuminated by Spiral's magic, were clearly visible to Fusion's shadow sight; a mess of shattered bones and torn tissues, jagged splinters pushed deep into organs and muscle. Things moved and twitched under the veterinarian's influence, a score of minor magics all working at once.
Fusion stood a little way back, shifting her weight from hoof to hoof, desperate to know what was happening, yet unwilling to interrupt the working mare to find out. Within a few seconds she was joined by Gravity and Lilac; her sister had a tear-stained, distraught expression that Fusion imagined was the same as her own. Lilac, on the other hoof, was just looking on with interest and making little exclamations of discovery as he watched Spiral work.
Moving carefully around to the other side of the group, Fusion bent her head, placing her mouth next to Lilac's ear. "Is he going to be alright?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
Lilac didn't look in her direction, keeping his gaze on Spiral and her magic. "I think so... yes..." The word was a drawn-out hiss, the youngster obviously distracted.
Fusion struggled with her emotions, trying to resist the urge to pick Lilac up and shake him until he gave her a satisfactory answer. "Lilac, please..." she whispered, voice breaking on the last word.
He twitched and turned slightly to glance at her, ears flicking back. "Sorry, I..."
"Just tell me what's happening, please?"
His attention went back to Packet. "Spiral has stopped most of his internal bleeding and reinflated both lungs--"
The medical litany went on while green light flickered and odd shapes moved under Packet's skin. Blood, black in the monochromatic glow, leaked from torn skin along Packet's front in a line just above his forelegs. Both his legs were broken, the complex joint of his shoulder cracked and dislocated. The front few rows of ribs were shattered, fragments driven deep into the stallion's body cavity. Most had been extracted by this point; the bone splinters pulled back along their wound tracks and roughly packed back into their original positions. Very little had apparently been repaired, with most of Spiral's efforts going towards stabilising Packet.
The green mare continued her work, sweat starting to dampen her flanks, before finally opening her eyes and turning to Fusion. "He'll make it, but will need a lot more work before he's really fit for duty," she said, between gasps. "It's more than enough to justify keeping him under for at least a few days."
There was disapproval in her voice and Fusion winced. "It was proper flight speed..." she started, her gaze avoiding Spiral by searching out the branch the Packet had struck. Still as solid as before the impact, but now coated with blood and a dusting of long yellow hairs. As much evidence as anypony could want, she thought, feeling sick.
"I know," Spiral said, her expression softening. "Come on; let me get him into a stall where I can get some drugs into him." She staggered to her hooves, nodding gratefully when Fusion carefully picked up Packet, then all five ponies made their way down to the infirmary.
===
Fusion and Gravity were gone, flying low and away from the corral before jumping back to their wilderness retreat with that strange new spell. Packet was asleep, installed in a padded armature that held his legs in the correct orientation. He had a long road ahead of him; it would be painstaking and tedious work to reassemble all those little bone splinters back into workable structures. Spiral took one last glance down the corridor, magic sweeping the stalls, then picked up Lilac and quickly trotted around the outside of the infirmary and into the little room that held stall eleven.
Hello, Slip, Spiral thought, her gaze lingering on the blank steel surface of the refrigerated compartment, then smiled down at Lilac. "Will you be okay in here for a few kiloseconds? Take whatever you need from the medical supplies, and there's drinking water from that tap there. The waste dispose-all is behind that door. It's biohazard rated, so..." She cocked her head as Lilac looked away in embarrassment.
"I'll be fine," he muttered, "plenty of points to grip with my magic. I managed in the forest. What do I do if somepony comes in?"
"They won't. Nopony will come in here apart from me or Trocar, my mate..." She chewed her lips, eyes darting around the small room, gaze settling on the row of wide doors on the rear wall. Opening the first, she poked her head through and lit the compact space with a floating point of green light. More magic flared, shifting the stacks of packing crates and racks of supplies until she'd created a small space hidden at the back of the storage area. "It won't stop a real search, but... you think you can get in there?"
A pale purple light wrapped around the supports holding up the back wall. As all foals found out shortly after they came into their magic, telekinesis just acted as a kind of immaterial arm and paw; a pony could not lift herself without 'holding on' to something higher up. Lilac dragged himself along the smooth floor, then awkwardly manoeuvred his unresponsive hindquarters through the narrow opening and into the prepared hiding place. "There's got to be an easier way to do this," he muttered, when he'd finally arranged his legs as best he could.
Spiral sighed, the quiet noise turning into a wide yawn. "Probably, but it should only be for a short while. Tomorrow I'll spend some time on you, in between working on all the rest of these ponies." She flicked one wing out, encompassing the whole infirmary. "It would be a good idea if you follow along; I'll share with you while I work; how does that sound?"
Lilac's expression brightened and he smiled. "I watched you work on Packet, and I think I've got a few ideas for how to fix myself--"
"No! Don't even think of doing that." Spiral's tone was harsh and Lilac shrank back in shock. The mare took a deep breath and shook all over. "Sorry. Please don't experiment on yourself; there are so many things that can go wrong. Watch me through the sharing tomorrow and I'll train you properly."
Looking a little scared, Lilac nodded. Spiral leant in to give him a quick nuzzle, then closed the compartment door and quietly walked away.
===
Lilac let his magic fade and slumped against the racking that walled him in. The darkness was absolute; no matter how much he strained, there was nothing apart from the faint, formless colours he normally saw against his closed eyelids before sleep. Ears twitching, he could make out the faint breathing noises of a dozen or more ponies, somewhere on the other side of the partition wall. Mixed in with the snorts and grumbles the sleeping are wont to make were other, more unsettling, sounds. Faint whimpers and cries, and once a kind of choked whinny that made the fur along his back tingle. Shadow sight relieved the darkness but unveiled a horror show of injured body shapes; there were ponies with limbs out at uncomfortable angles, while others had curled into tight balls and were huddling in corners or against walls.
These ponies made him pause, and Lilac tentatively reached out with his magic to the closest shape. It was a stallion, one without any obvious injuries, but within his head there was a web of bright green magic that pulsed and twitched like it was alive. The pony shivered in time with magic and occasionally whimpered. That's his Blessing, Lilac thought, it seemed pretty easy to remove... The young stallion replayed that particular segment of Fusion's memories, his brow furrowing in the darkness. I could fix it right now... He bit his lip, wings twitching in frustration, then settled for examining the rest of the ponies in more detail.
Of the score or so ponies present, nearly half had the same symptoms as the closest. The spell in their heads flickered and flared at various levels of activity; whatever it was doing to them sometimes emerging as twitches or quiet moans. I've seen this removed in Fusion's memories... she did it to me and she did it to Gravity -- and she has no medical training at all! The repairs he'd done for both mares had been simple things compared to what Spiral could do, welding bone and knitting torn muscles, but the pair hadn’t a clue how to even start the work.
It's hardly experimenting, if I've seen it done a couple of times already... Lilac thought, the idea taking a firm grip on his mind. I can even think of a couple of improvements. It was obvious that, going by Gravity's initial reaction, the process was quite painful; a simple nerve block near the horn bed would prevent a pony from feeling a thing. Vague memories of Gravity and Fusion's planning session, seen through the hazy filter of half-sleep, ran through Lilac's mind.
They were going to do this anyway, so why shouldn't I do it now? A particularly pitiful whine, fading into silence as if the poor pony making it had been choked, made the young stallion's ears flatten. They are all hurting, and I can stop it. More noises, the ragged breath of a creature in the throes of a nightmare. Spiral said they were drugged, but can a pony escape Punishment even if unconscious? They shouldn't be able to feel anything, but...
The quiet noises, most completely inconsequential, built into an atonal, chaotic song of pain and despair in Lilac's mind, and tears started to run, unnoticed, down his muzzle. Punishment hurts so much-- Lilac clamped down on the thought, making a quiet whine at the recalled pain of his own brush with the Master's displeasure. Giving no further thought to the matter, he reached out and swept the closest pony with his magic. The web of green light didn't react, so he traced the pattern, following it until it vanished amid the ordered crystalline structures of the stallion's horn.
I've seen Fusion do this twice, and Gravity once. I've even seen her make a mistake that nearly killed a pony, so I know what not to do...
The changes were obvious; a sick green haze that occupied a strictly defined volume at the base of the horn, isolated from the violet of the rest of the material. Swallowing hard, Lilac folded his will around the small area and twisted. The green light flicked out; the tangled mass of neon threads fading like hot wire filaments cooling. The stallion relaxed, his breathing losing its laboured cadence, and Lilac let out the breath he'd been holding.
Easy! he thought, smiling in the darkness, teeth glinting in the gentle glow of his own horn. Lilac nodded to himself, then reached out for the next pony and did it again.