//------------------------------// // Ch. 1 First Impressions // Story: The Brightest Shine // by Cozy Mark IV //------------------------------// The Brightest Shine Written and read by Cozy Mark IV & Jan. McNeville (Link to the dramatic reading on YouTube) Disclaimer: This is a non-profit fan-made work of prose. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the property of Hasbro. Please support the official release Chapter One: First Impressions The wind whipped through his mane as Steady Hoof reached the apex of his arc and swung around to get a better view of his enemy. Several hundred feet below him, the rest of his unit continued their skirmish with the demons, flashing in and out of the clouds as they struggled for supremacy of the skies. Tucking his wings in close he picked his mark and dove, his speed rapidly building as he silently prayed that white ethereal thing below him would not look up in time... It did not. By the time it finally heard the rush of turbulent air around him and snapped its' head up, it was too late to dodge. For an instant before they collided he had a sharply clear and unwanted view of its hideous face. What at a distance appeared to be a pony's muzzle was revealed up close to be naught but a crude facsimile of a face, like a foal's inarticulate drawing forced into life against all nature's laws. The muzzle was stretched to more than double its normal length ensuring that the thing could never truly open its jaws, and as if to compensate for this upsetting deformity, its lips moved with a mind of their own, almost prehensile in nature like some kind of stubby tentacle attached to the end of the thing's mouth. Even the eyes were wrong, not just white and glassy but distorted. Where a normal pony's eyes were of a reasonable size and set forward in the face, the demon's eyes were huge, sticking out of the sides of its head as though to give warning against his coming strike. This time, though, they were not enough, and forcing both hooves forward, Steady Hoof slammed into the side of the thing, feeling its cloud skin give and give and finally fail, shredding into tatters as he passed through its body and felt its cold penetrate to his very core. The scream it gave as it disintegrated was enough to send shivers down the spine of any pony within five miles, but the commander had learned early on that this was but a pale shadow of the numbing cold that clung to the victorious pony's bones after a strike. Not that it would last. In a few hours of flight, or less with the aid of a warm hearth, he would feel like himself again and the demon would reincorporate not long after. Like all the others, his unit was fighting a losing battle against the winter demons that had been steadily encroaching from the north for nearly a year now. The last winter had been colder than any could remember and when spring finally came, it came late and grudgingly. Summer never did come, and the weather teams were already turning back errant snow clouds by September, but that was only the beginning. Since then, it had only gotten colder, and now in early April, there was no sign of any warmer weather on the way. With an unsteady wave to his second in command, Steady Hoof allowed gravity to have its' way, holding a steep glide towards the forward operations post not far below. The numbing cold left from the demon slowed his reflexes and he stumbled on landing, but managed to get to his feet before the two privates stationed outside could help him up. With a nod of appreciation, he shouldered his way through the outer and inner doors and the circle of ponies around the great hearth made way so he could join them in the fire's warmth. “Damn, Steady, you've got icicles for eyebrows! You got another one?” He felt his tired expression lift a bit as Flare continued, “You keep this up and we're going to have to get you a heat pack and some pants to put it in!” He smiled at the young Pegasus; while some mares preferred to work in all female units, Flare had requested the position in his unit and seemed to revel in the coarse humor of the camps. The story of her last encounter with an arrogant, sexist petty officer was still told around the campfires; it wasn't every day you got to see a full Sergeant blushing like a school filly. “Thank you for your concern,” he replied as he felt the welcome heat of the fire warming his numb hooves. 'Not that it will matter, though.' His smile faded as he thought to himself. 'In six or eight hours, tops, that thing will be back and all this will have been for nothing. They only need cold and dissent to thrive and there's plenty of that to go around. Food and fire however...' His thoughts trailed off as he took in the meager stock of firewood remaining by the hearth and the near empty kitchen shelves behind the mess hall counter. The very fact they were in a hall on the ground was testimony to how the fight was progressing. Steady Hoof was startled out of his thoughts by the blast of the assembly trumpets from the upper level of the building. Even in these dark days of biting cold, Commander Hurricane still refused to shelter on the ground, instead reserving the drafty upper floor for her private accommodation and war room. With a full body shake Steady Hoof dislodged the remaining snow from his mane and tail, spread his wings and followed the other unit commanders to the war room. It was the Commander who had first suspected that somepony was tampering with the weather, and while she had still not completely ruled out the Unicorns as the culprit, the reports of various spies pointed to gross incompetence rather than willful malice on their part. She had been on her way back from some ridiculous council with the Unicorn Princess and the Eps when the howling of the blizzard she was flying through started following her. Any normal warrior would have flown for all they were worth, and indeed some did, but the Commander had not earned her rank by turning tail. She dove headlong into the clouds, following the noise until she came face to face with the horrible blank stare of a Windigo. The resulting chase had gone on for hours until the 'death' of the demon. With the true cause of the winter finally discovered the Commander had led her entire army in the fight against the things, but as the weeks wore on, the cold deepened and casualties mounted, it became obvious something was wrong. It had been a lowly Ep, one of the field hands, who first described seeing a discorporate cloud of smoke condense back into a Windigo, and though none of them really trusted the thick-skulled coward, it wasn't long before pegasus warriors started bringing back similar stories from their battleground high in the clouds. Talk around the camp fires was of retreat, and though he could imagine no other way out, Steady Hoof still had a hard time imagining Commander Hurricane giving that order. “Attention!” Every pegasus present snapped to as the Commander landed at one end of the table and shook the snow from her coat. She was not known for mincing words. “Commanders, we have a crisis on our hooves. In the last six weeks of battle we have lost nearly eight percent of our warriors to injury and illness. A smaller but significant fraction of those ponies are never coming home. We have put up a good fight, but we have to face facts; Like it or not, without the Eps we don't eat, and those cowards fled south nearly six months ago. The useless Unicorns gave up and followed them a month ago and with these damn demons spawning as fast as we kill them it's only a matter of time before we're forced to follow. “Commander Pansy and I will be issuing new battle plans for a final push. We haven't used all of our tricks yet, and if one of these can finally kill a Windigo that would give us a reason to fight on.” She sighed and seemed to deflate before finishing her speech. “However, the first waves of children and wounded will be heading south tomorrow. We cannot jeopardize their safety any longer. Dismissed.” The murmur of conversation that followed was one of worry tinged with hope. To retreat was to admit failure, but at least they would be able to resume their lives and rejoin their families and foals. The larders could be filled again, the Eps rounded up and put back to work and their bellies filled once more. After months of fighting Steady found the idea... appealing. “Steady Hoof!” He spun about to find Commander Hurricane closing the distance between them. “I have a special assignment for you; your unit has fought harder than most and I admire that, but I also know what it's cost you.” He managed to conceal his flinch as he nodded, but she wasn't wrong. They had been spared any fatalities, thank the gods, but frost bite and broken bones had taken their toll. At this point his 'unit' consisted of only Flare, Squall, Sand Storm and himself. “The other unit commanders will be carrying the fight on this one. I need your unit to investigate a lead one of our spy ponies sent in; she reported hearing talk of some kind of unicorn magic that holds back the winter.” Steady couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. “You're sending us on a milk run, Sir?” The Commander flashed her predatory smile. “I wouldn't exactly call infiltrating the Unicorn Kingdom a milk run. The place is nearly abandoned by now, but the rumor was that a few poor ponies were left behind with some kind of magic that holds back the winter. It can't work very well if they all packed their bags and left, but if it's good enough to kill a Windigo then we need it.” 'So there might be something to this after all...' he thought. “Very well Sir, I'll gather the others and leave within the hour. Anything else?” There was that smile again. “Just make sure you get whatever it is they have and don't worry about getting your hooves dirty. The rest of that cowardly lot fled south weeks ago, and while I can admire a pony willing to fight the cold, I have no problem with 'persuading' them to help us.” A shiver ran down his spine; 'No, she definitely hadn't earned her rank by running away...' Steady thought as he tried to hide his unease, stories of her past exploits suddenly fresh in his mind. “I understand, Sir. Good luck to you.” ----------------- The last spells had finally been finished and with a sigh, Shining Mind released her magical grip on the saddle while Spec and Pie, her two subordinate researchers, took a much-needed break. This was the third such saddle, and with it done, they only needed one more to finally complete their task and follow Princess Platinum south to safety. “Nice work, ladies. Ep! How about some cold water over here?” The startled Earth Pony leapt to her hooves at the command and scurried outside to fetch drinks for all of them. It was no easy task this close to the sun. As Verdant Growth reached the exit to the cavernous stone warehouse they were sheltering in she paused to throw the thick coat and hat on before scurrying out into the blistering heat and blinding light. She knew better than to look at the source of the light of course, but by borrowing Shining Mind's goggles when she wasn't looking, Verdant knew exactly what lay behind her as she galloped away, trying to put distance between herself and the sun. Their device had been a success! After countless weeks of labor the team of Unicorns had finally crafted a portable sun that held back the winter without exploding or breaking down. Unfortunately the device proved much harder to regulate then had been hoped, and within minutes of being ignited atop the highest tower of the castle, the sun had already set fire to several nearby buildings as the fire teams scrambled into action. In the end the fire destroyed nearly four city blocks in all directions, and Shining Mind had watched as her triumphant achievement laid waste to the greatest Unicorn city the world had ever known. The Princess had been furious, and Verdant could still hear the rage in her voice; “I told you we needed heat! I said we needed a way to hold back the winter and this is what you give me!?” “I'm sorry, Princess Platinum, the first two prototypes were easier to regulate, but you saw how they both burned up. We needed a reliable design, and that means robust spells and obsidian stone which is more durable, but harder to work with. Once we get the sun turned down-” “Turned down?! Turned DOWN??!! It doesn't matter what happens then because we won't be here! We held out here in the growing cold so your team of scientists could build us a way to stay in our home, but now you've burned it down! We barely have enough food and supplies to evacuate thanks to your idiocy!” The princess's very eyes seemed to burn with a fire all too similar to that which had just leveled much of her city. Even as a lowly Ep, Verdant couldn't help feeling for Shining as she fumbled on. “But with time, we will be able to regulate this new sun. Then we can rebuild the city and-” “Rebuild?!” The princess rounded on Shining once more as Spec and Pie cowered behind her. “More than half of the city is GONE! The castle that supports the damn thing is melting into a pool of liquid rock as we speak!” “Well, yes, but it will still be a month or so before it melts down to ground level and explodes. That's plenty of time to fix the problem and-” “Explodes?!” As barely more than a servant, Verdant was, for once, grateful for the insignificance of her position and the anonymity it afforded her at the back of the room. “Well, yes, the sun is driven by spells that split water in the air to make hydrogen which it then fuses into deuterium and then helium. It has to be kept off the ground, because if it's dropped then it will start fusing lithium, silicon, and other elements in the ground, or, say, the hydrogen in a lake or river, either of which will drive the reaction to tens of thousands of times' greater intensity due to the greatly increased density of the available fuel source.” Verdant had been wondering when her boss would get around to revealing this unfortunate design flaw. As an earth pony assistant she was trusted to understand enough of the basics to be helpful, but none of them took her seriously, and her hints at a shut off switch during construction had been ignored. Fortunately she understood enough of the forbidden earth pony magic to craft a safety of her own. She had woven it into the sun late one night after the others had fallen asleep in their lab, but when Spec stirred she had had to stop short. Her safety would shut the sun off should it ever go into free fall, a sure sign of impending doom, but Verdant hadn't had time to craft a formal shutoff command, and with the castle tower melting slowly away underneath it, her drop safety would do little to save them if the stone candle that was their ruler's castle was allowed to melt all the way down to the nub. “Of course, the radiation conversion spells will still convert all the hard radiation back down into heat and light, but-” “How big?” The anger was not gone from the princess's voice, but somehow the hard flat tone she was using now was even more frightening. “How big is what?” “The explosion when that thing reaches the ground.” “About eleven thousand trillion Joules.” The gray unicorn answered simply. If possible, her anger seemed to dissipate even more as, for the first time, it occurred to the Princess that the worst may not have happened yet. In a voice edged with fear she asked: “Is that a lot?” “It should excavate a crater about a mile in diameter. If the sun survives as it aught to, it will be launched in a high parabolic arc that should bring it back to the ground in a few minutes. Each impact will increase in intensity as it digs in deeper every time, and after a few more falls it should be blasted into orbit, at which point it will run out of fuel and burn out.” Everything after the first sentence had been lost on the princess as her eyes opened wide in terror. After a surprisingly short time to collect herself she summoned her aide into the room. “We're evacuating. Now. Tell everyone to take only as much as they can easily carry and begin the march south.” The aide took one look at the faces of those assembled and practically galloped from the room. “But Princess, what about our work? We can't just leave it behind!” Shining Mind protested with more passion than at any point thus far. “Oh no, I wouldn't dream of it.” The princesses's tone had turned to ice. “You and your team will be staying right here to... contain the sun.” Shining Mind shook her mane out in relief, completely oblivious to the looks of horror on her two subordinates and servant. “Excellent. We should have this wrapped up in a month or so. Thank you, Princess.” ... That had been nearly twenty-five days ago, and each day their shadows cast by the sun became longer as the castle melted underneath it. Now as she ran, Verdant's shadow stretched for hundreds of yards ahead of her as she covered the burned circle that was all that remained of the city's once vibrant market district. Once outside of the burned zone the heat began to fade, and Verdant peeled off her coat, enjoying a moment to herself in the false spring warmth. The section of the city she now walked through had once been closed to her kind, but with everyone else gone there were no more slurs, no angry disdainful glances as she walked down the street. She couldn't help but cringe as she opened the door to the ice cream and soda shop, but there was no outcry, no shouts of 'get out' or 'damn Ep'. There was no sound at all. Just the lonely silence as the wind whistled mournfully through the eaves of the empty building. With an effort she shook herself out of the contemplative mood. It wouldn't do to be late with the refreshments. In a few minutes she had stirred up a pitcher of tea and a few other drinks from the meager stock that had been left behind in the evacuation. Looking out the window of the opulent second floor balcony, she could see the snow still falling in the distance, held at bay by their creation. The one-story buildings were already gone, and many of the two-story houses were starting to disappear under the white blanket as well. Shining Mind still planned to avert the explosion by snagging and carrying the sun with the four enchanted saddles she was crafting for each of them, and Verdant had to admit it should work. With each of them supporting a quarter of its weight they should have no trouble carrying it aloft over level ground. The plan was for each of them to act as one corner of a pyramid, their saddles sending out a beam of supporting magic a thousand feet up and to the side. In this fashion the four of them could carry the sun to their new home, but how well it would work over rough ground, up mountains and down rivers all while under the blistering heat... She shook her head again. At least if they dropped it it wouldn't kill them... Probably... With the drinks mixed, Verdant washed up the dishes and put them neatly away, whether out of respect or habit she didn't like to think. As she clopped down the stairs and closed the door quietly behind her, a movement in the sky made her look up. Far off in the distance were a small cluster of dots, too large to be birds, and as she stared, they seemed to grow larger... ... When Verdant returned with the news it practically put Spec into hysterics, while Pie suddenly looked very nervous and began keeping her eyes on the entrance and her backside pressed against the wall. It took them several minutes to pull Shining's head out of her notebook and explain to her why this was a problem. “Shining, they're Pegasi!” Pie whispered while Verdant held a paper bag over Spec's muzzle. “Well, yes. Dirty, warmongering barbarians, what of it?” “Shining,” Pie tried to continue patiently as her eyes darted from her superior to the door, “Ep says they've been circling the city for almost an hour, that's why it took her so long to get back. They're looking for someone.” Shining Mind raised an eyebrow as she tried to grab her notebook back, “Well, they're not going to find anyone they know here, what with the evacuation; we're the only ones left, now give me that!” “Yes, and that's the problem! We've left tracks leading into and out of this place, and you insisted on the staying in the biggest building left standing in this part of the city! It's only a matter of time before they find us!” Shining winced at the reference to her claustrophobia, but she continued to grab for her notebook. “And when they do find us we'll tell them to kindly bugger off.” Pie seemed to resist the urge to face hoof, then tried again using small words. “Shining, we're the last Unicorns in the city. We're all by ourselves. Ep says that the big, burly, smelly, armored, MALE pegasi are looking for us. In an empty city. With no police.” For the first time it appeared that gears were turning in Shining's head that had nothing to do with higher mathematics. It took several seconds, but comprehension slowly dawned on her face and she swallowed visibly. Spec chose this moment to pull the bag from her muzzle and join the conversation. “They'regoingtofindusandholdusdownandgangrapeusandslitourthroatsandleaveusfordead!” Shining found herself unconsciously crossing her legs and swallowing hard again. She was beginning to hyperventilate herself when it all clicked together in Verdant's mind with such force and clarity that she blurted it out loud, in gross violation of social decorum. “They've come for the sun!” There was total silence for a moment. “Oh.” Spec breathed with a trace of relief. “That...” Pie said as though working it out. “Well they can just buck right off, that's our work!” Verdant found her jaw hanging open as Shining wrenched a wooden chest out of a tangled pile of equipment and nearly ripped the lid from it's hinges in her haste. A clatter announced the meeting of blades and stone as the weapons chest was rudely relieved of it's contents. “All right! Pie, do you know how to spin a roulette?” Shining asked, a fire burning in her eyes. “Uh, yes, my brother showed me how to once-” “Good. I'll take the screamers.” She cut her off as she seized a pack of wicked looking steel frisbees, “Spec, what can you use?” Spec looked like she wanted to start hyperventilating again as it was becoming clear they would now be seeking out the pegasi. “Uh, I can't... I mean I-” “Nevermind. You can spray water right? Ep, help her get that pot of water up into the sunlight to boil. Maybe a bath will get their attention.” In a surprisingly short amount of time the scientists had strapped on what armor they had, hefted weapons and marched out into the clear space in the shade of the empty stone warehouse. “There, that must be them.” Spec pointed a shaky hoof at a group of three black dots. As they watched, the pegasi circled around the sun, apparently not sure what to do next. Verdant watched uneasily as Shining fished a particularly large parcel out of her pack and fit the ten interlocking razor-sharp boomerangs together into a wheel with a coiled spring in the center. Her brow furrowed in concentration as the pieces all interlocked, then began to spin faster and faster until the six-foot-diameter wheel was just a black blur vibrating slightly with a high pitched whine not unlike a huge circular saw. Spec hoisted the kettle of boiling water a few feet off the ground while Pie picked up the two roulettes and set them spinning about herself, then climbed a few feet above the others onto a low mound of rubble to afford them some protection. “Okay... We're ready now... I guess.” Spec said to no one in particular, “So now what do-” As she spoke, Shining Mind hoisted the rifle and carefully fitted the six foot death blade into its length. The device was little more than a four by four post with a gear track along one side, but when the gear teeth on the axis of the disk met those on the rifle, the disk would be launched downrange with incredible force. Normally, weapons held little interest for her; they were all little more than a competition to cram the most kinetic energy into the smallest space and time. Boring compared to her real work, but this design with all its interlocking parts and springs... 'It really is an elegant design. Probably the closest I'll ever get to art appreciation.'. She couldn't help but grin as she lined up on the distant pegasi and performed a quick mental calculation. 'Let see, G-flat above the clef is release at three thousand feet and...' Planting her feet she nudged her rifle back an inch, taking the massive kick of the weapon as it thrust her backwards and down, her hooves actually leaving short skid marks in the charred soil. 'Let's see how bad you illiterate barbarians want it!' All three of them stared with jaws open as the whine of the disk faded into the distance, climbing towards the pegasi. “You shot at them?!” Pie finally managed. “We couldn't start with 'hi, nice to meet you?!'” Shining picked up two smaller disks and began spinning them up in her purple magic as she answered simply. “They came to steal our work.” The blade was only barely visible at this distance, but there was no mistaking the panic as the pegasi scattered in all directions. A second later the mainspring won its fight against centrifugal force and pulled the ten bladed boomerangs out of their interlocking slots, exploding all ten parts outward. The pegasi dodged again and seemed to be getting back into a more orderly group when one of them apparently realized the blades were coming back for a second pass. They dove in all directions as the razor-edged steel bars whipped by a second time, narrowly missing one pony and barely grazing the back armor of another. After a lot of yelling and pointing, inaudible at this distance, the pegasi came in warily on a long slow glide, landing several hundred yards away and covering the last distance on hoof. As the two groups got their first good look at each other, the revulsion was near universal. Even as small foals, their parents had all warned them not to touch birds because of the diseases and parasites they carried. Now, staring across the dozen yards between them, Pie could actually see their feathered wings, and the mental picture of thousands of tiny crawling things moving about underneath them was enough to make her nauseous. A few feet away, Spec was seriously considering the effects of boiling water on wing mite infestation, while Verdant was trying to put on a brave front in the face of the three burly pegasi.