Chapter 17: Hammer Time
The buzz of Flash Spark's wings climbed into a full-blown shriek as he loosed another lance of sonic energy at Rainbow Dash, only for her to once again slip easily between his shots. He'd been trying to clip her wings for nearly half an hour now, but she always managed to evade him. Her friends didn't help. Whenever Flash was certain he had a sure hit, one of the other Wonderbolts always came charging in from some different angle, forcing him to dodge or sending him into a tumble if their attack managed to hit home. The fact that none of their strikes could penetrate the armored carapace that enclosed his body was of little consequence to Flash's mind.
It was maddeningly frustrating. With his new wings, he could outfly any of the Wonderbolts on their best day. He should have been able to fly circles around Rainbow Dash...backwards...and upside down. He would have taken any of these Wonderbolts down one-on-one. But instead of fighting properly, they were ganging up on him, distracting him, and sucker-punching him.
Perhaps, had his mind been more rational, it would have been cognizant of the fact that he had, at one time, been more than happy to believe that he could have taken the Wonderbolts all at once, that he'd spent many an hours fantasizing about mowing them down like the herd of losers that he knew they were. However, that rational capacity had been shut down by the fact that the Wonderbolts weren't playing fair.
They were toying with him, playing him for a fool. Flash couldn't stand it. What was more, they'd apparently blocked up their ears so that the normally incapacitating buzz his wings emitted wasn't getting through to them. I've got to start taking them out. In spite of his singular belief in his superiority, Flash still remembered his limits. After all, Morning Star had made sure that they had been drilled into his head. He had only so much time until the energy reserves he'd built up from all the food that he'd eaten gave out. He needed to finish this fight with enough strength left to make the flight back to his hideout.
Flash growled again as a hoof crashed into the side of his head and the back of his neck took another hit from that weird, glowing wing attack that the Wonderbolts seemed to favor. So far, it had only barely scratched his armor, but the fact they were hitting him at all was annoying enough. That he could never seem to land a blow in return only made matters worse. Damn them! They make this look easy.
Contrary to Flash Spark's beliefs, the Wonderbolts were not enjoying lording their superiority over the insectile stallion. With the progression of the fight, the other members of the team had joined up and now harried Flash in squads of four while the rest circled about the periphery of the battle, switching out in sequence in order to stretch their stamina and hopefully wear the stubborn stallion down. With this pace, they could easily go all night if they needed to...except for one of them.
Rainbow Dash was panting hard and sweating heavily. She was sure that, if she slowed down enough, she'd be overwhelmed by the stink that must be permeating her flight suit by now. As Flash's most prominent fixation and his main reason for nearly attacking Ditzy's wedding, she needed to be in the battle as much as possible, if only to keep Flash engaged as they continued to lure him farther and farther away from Ponyville. Already, the neatly organized rows of apple trees that marked the Apple family's orchards had given way to the impenetrable canopy of the Everfree Forest. Ponyville and its outlying sections had dwindled to a minor blur on the horizon. But that still wasn't far enough. If Spitfire was to join the battle, they needed to get farther still.
Because of her role, Rainbow wasn't able to switch in and out of the fight the way the other squads were. The most she managed were a few quick breathers to get her wind back as the attacking squads of Wonderbolts switched with one another. She couldn't stay away too long or Flash might decide he'd had enough of being toyed with and head back to the wedding. The task was calling forth every ounce of stamina Rainbow had built up in the grueling training she'd endured up to this point. Fortunately, she was up to the task. However, all it would take was one slip and the flashing, screaming lances of sound that Flash was launching at her would slice a wing clean off.
To make matters worse, even though she and her teammates were getting hits in, they seemed to have virtually no effect. Flash might have been mildly disoriented after getting smacked upside the head with a hoof, but the impact always seemed to hurt the hitter more than the one who was hit. Even the Daisy Cutter, a strike that Rainbow had seen cut through solid steel, barely left a scratch on that carapace, which was now covered in such scratches and showing no sign of giving way.
Sweat forced its way into her eyes and Rainbow peeled away from the fight, pulling her goggles away from her eyes and wiping vigorously at them before her own perspiration blinded her. Unfortunately, Flash noticed and immediately went into pursuit, zipping after her and weaving between a pair of attacking Wonderbolts, who nearly collided with each other. His wings howled and a barrage of yellow lances zipped after Rainbow, who struggled to weave around and between them as she continued to try and get the sweat from her eyes. Not good...
The other Wonderbolts did their best to harry Flash as he doggedly pursued her, but the insectile stallion had grown almost single-minded in his focus on Rainbow, charging after her while slipping one way and then another to avoid attacks coming in from all directions.
Abruptly, the mobbing Wonderbolts pulled away as a roar of wind drowned out the screaming buzz of Flash's wings. His modified eyes barely caught the slight distortion of light as a faint ripple in the air to one side of him before he was hit by a battering ram of compressed air. Flash Spark was knocked tail over teakettle and thrown away like a foal's toy by the awesome force of the strike, which would have shattered a normal pony's bones.
"Need to trade out?" asked Dawn as he came in to hover next to Rainbow. He was still dressed smartly in the suit Rarity had made for him back before the Autumn Festival. From one of its pockets, he fished out a hoofkerchief and passed it to Rainbow, who accepted it gratefully before using the square of cloth to mop the sweat from her eyes.
"I could use a breather, yeah," said Rainbow.
"You've been fighting hard," said Dawn, "Is Spitfire ready yet?"
"We're not far enough away," said Rainbow.
Dawn frowned. He knew from firsthoof experience what Spitfire was capable of when she was serious. During his first fight with Perlin, back during the conflict with the tribalists who had taken over Cloudsdale, she had separated him from his opponent with a wave of flame that had stretched over a kilometer in length. If she threw that kind of power around this close to Ponyville, especially with a very flammable forest beneath them, then there was every chance the town might be reduced to ashes by the very pony who was supposed to be protecting it.
That wouldn't do. Dawn wanted to end the fight as quickly as possible so that, at the very least, Rainbow would be able to enjoy some of the reception before she had to return to Cloudsdale. At the same time, his place wasn't here on the battlefield...this time...the Wonderbolts already had their plan and, as far as that plan was concerned, he belonged back at Sweet Apple Acres, where he could help serve as the final line of defense.
Still...there was no harm in...accelerating the Wonderbolts' plan a little. "Let me take over for a little bit," said Dawn as he began to fly towards Flash, who was starting to get his bearings again.
"Careful," said Rainbow, "That guy's a tank. He just seems to soak up everything we throw at him."
"Let him soak up this then," said Dawn as he surged forward.
Up ahead, Flash had managed to right himself. As he reoriented, he saw Dawn charging in and his lips curled up in a sneer. His mouth opened up, probably to spit out some sort of taunt or insult at the colt who had once taken the sky away from him. However, he didn't even manage a single syllable before Dawn's next blow slammed into him with the force of an out-of-control train. Flash's taunt transformed into a surprised yell as he was propelled through the air.
Before Flash could right himself again, Dawn was there, right in front of him, wings blurring with yet another blast of wind that launched Flash further still. The Wonderbolts had already scattered and were now fanning out behind the colt as he batted Flash Spark through the air like a ball. Rainbow held the center of their formation, coasting along in Dawn's wake and enjoying a much needed breather.
"Why didn't we think to ask him to do this in the first place?" muttered Soarin', earning a giggle from Rainbow.
"We're here!" she shouted as Flash came to a rest from the latest toss. It was clear that the blows, while having not done any actual damage to his body, had taken their toll. Flash bobbed unsteadily in the air, clearly disoriented from being knocked for a loop so many times.
"Up!" Soarin' shouted from his place next to Rainbow.
Dawn nodded and charged Flash once again. Flash saw the colt coming and moved to avoid the next strike, but found himself unable to when Dawn swept one wing around in a wide arc, putting the force of his body behind the move. In an instant, Flash was pulled into a swirling maelstrom that sent him hurtling upward like a shot. The tornado lasted only a few seconds, but those seconds that sent Flash much higher into the sky, above the level of most of the naturally forming clouds in the Everfree Forest.
Before he departed, Dawn had one last thing he wanted to do. He had followed Flash up from the lower altitude. As he flew, the tip of the outermost primary on his left wing began to spark, trailing arcs of electrical energy as Dawn drew it through the air. The energy being formed by the sparks was kept circulating at the tip of dawn's feather, accumulating and building, forming a glowing sphere of white-hot plasma. As Flash once again tried to reorient after the last attack, Dawn launched the bolt, aiming for one of Flash's fragile-looking wings.
Flash saw the attack coming at the last second. He shifted, turning to pull his wing out of the path of the attack. However, this had the consequence of putting his own body in the way and the bolt of plasma slammed home against his barrel. The orb of energy exploded in a spray of arcing electricity that seemed to crawl across Flash's body, leaving scorch-marks in their wake. However, when the energy faded away, those scorch marks were the only signs of the attack's impact. A few seconds later, the downdraft from Flash's own wings blew away the light coat of soot, leaving his carapace unmarked by the attack.
"I see what you mean when you call him a tank," Dawn said to Rainbow, "That armor is impressive, even if his fighting ability is not.
Coughing, Flash fixed Dawn with a glare through the lenses of those strange, multifaceted eyes of his. "I've had about enough of this. Even after everything I've shown you, you fools don't take me seriously."
"On the contrary, we're taking you very seriously," said Soarin' as he hovered next to Rainbow, "We just needed to make sure we were well away from anything important before we really cut loose. But now that we've got you where we want you, it's time to hit you with everything we have." Even though his mouth was the only part of Flash's face that was actually visible, the sudden frown on his lips told Soarin' that he clearly hadn't been expecting this.
A nearby cloud exploded, scattering into transient vapor as a massive black shape burst out from within it. With a sound that was halfway between an eagle's cry and a lion's roar, a burly black griffon, clad in equally black armor, hurtled like a meteor at Flash. Seeing the attack coming, Flash yelped in surprise and dodged sharply away. However, Skan read the move and was already swinging with one taloned forepaw to intercept the evading stallion. His blow slammed full force into Flash's shoulder. Skan's body shifted to allow him to project all his strength and weight into the blow.
Flash cried out. However, this cry had a different quality from the past ones, which had always indicated surprise and shock. This was a cry of pain. All of the fighters' ears perked up at that. All the previous attacks that had connected had merely juggled Flash around. None of them had penetrated his armor and done any actual harm. What had Skan done that was so different?
Before that question could be pondered for too long, another shape bolted in. This time, it was the brindled figure of Zhan as she swooped down on Flash from above, her dive too fast for most ponies to track with their eyes. Even the trained eyes of the Wonderbolts were hard pressed to keep up with her movement as she zipped in on a separate angle from her mate. She came directly in at Flash's face and, before he could even attempt to recover his balance and think about counterattacking, she had already delivered half a dozen slashes to his armored face. The mandibles that had opened up in front of Flash's mouth folded closed to protect the one soft, fleshy part still exposed on his body. Zhan's fighting claws, forged from an alloy that could match mithril for hardness and strength, rang as she rained blows down on Flash's head. However, although her attacks had the effect of snapping Flash's head back and forth, her claws failed to actually penetrate that white carapace.
Having clearly had enough of being the griffoness' scratching post, Flash's wings shifted and the buzzing noise they emitted climbed several octaves. Taking that as a signal to disengage, Zhan dropped away, trying to escape before Flash could draw a bead on her and strike her down with a sonic lance.
Before he could fire, Flash's attack was interrupted. This time, a metal weight, attached to a cord, slammed into his stomach from directly below. Flash's form blurred slightly as the weight impacted. The mandibles concealing his mouth flew open as Flash spit a spray of blood into the air.
"What the hay?" gasped Rainbow as she stared at the spectacle. She and her fellow Wonderbolts had slammed into Flash with their hooves, carved at him with their wings, and just generally hit him with everything that they had without the slightest effect, save for knocking him about. And yet, just two blows from Storm Front and Skan and now Flash was spitting up blood.
"I thought it might have an effect," commented Spitfire as she came to hover near Dawn and Rainbow.
"What's going on?" asked Dawn.
"That carapace of his might be some sort of unbreakable material," said Spitfire, "But underneath it is regular flesh and blood. Skan and Storm are aiming for the joints along his body and using the force of their blows to drive that unbreakable material into the less-than-unbreakable parts of his body."
"Oh!" said Dawn, apparently getting the idea, "I get it now."
"You do?" asked Rainbow.
"Yes," replied Dawn, "It's very simple...like..."
"Basically, it's like trying to hold a balsa wood structure together with steel bolts," explained Spitfire, "If you hit the bolts right, then, because they're a lot stronger than than the material they're holding together, they do plenty of damage on their own."
"Oh!" said Rainbow, finally getting the idea.
"In any case, you've done enough," said Spitfire, "I'll take over here. So take a break."
Without waiting for a response, Spitfire surged forward to join in the attack. A loud shriek echoed from above as Ouranos dived down into Spitfire's path, the two of them intersecting in a blast of flame. Both Skan and Storm retreated as the fiery form of Spitfire rushed in at Flash like a blazing comet. When her hooves slammed home on Flash's flank, an explosion rocked the air around them, engulfing the two ponies in fire, the roar of the blast drowning out Flash Spark's screams, which only worsened his situation as he inhaled and drew superheated air into his lungs, practically cooking himself from the inside out. Spitfire flew out of the blast. Behind her, the jeweled plumes that had replaced her tail lashed like whips, their edges drawing golden lines across Flash's Carapace. However, those lines quickly faded as whatever material Flash's shell was composed of ablated the heat.
Spitfire's retreat opened the way for Skan to come barreling in again, unleashing another shrieking roar as he drove his claws into the point where Flash's buzzing wing joined with his body. Once again, Flash cried out and lurched away from his attacker, only to scream again as Storm's meteor hammer slammed into the same spot on his opposite wing. Reeling from the two separate attacks, Flash was practically helpless as Spitfire came around for another pass.
Rainbow couldn't keep the grin from her face. They were going to win this. Flash was practically helpless now and they had him exactly where they wanted him. He wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer. Once they finally took him down, he wouldn't be able to threaten or hurt another pony ever again, once they figured out how to get that weird shell off of him. We've got this in the bag!
As Spitfire closed in, Flash's body twitched strangely. Dawn's eyes widened and his ears snapped straight upright. "SPITFIRE!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, "STOP!"
Unable to believe what she was hearing, Rainbow gaped at Dawn, only to have her attention drawn quickly back to Flash as he screamed and his entire body was wracked with spasms. His limbs were twitching randomly and his whole form seemed to bob unevenly through the air. The wings that held him aloft stopped their constant buzzing for a brief second, just long enough for Rainbow to see their configuration change again, before resuming their blurring motion.
Having heard Dawn's warning, Spitfire swerved to miss Flash Spark as some new vibration generated by his wings launched outward in a spherical burst through the air, visible as an expanding ripple around Flash's lurching figure. As soon as the ripple came in contact with Spitfire's flames, they seemed to dissolve or disintegrate. Rainbow, Dawn, and the others backed away, but were unable to escape completely as the same ripple washed over them. Rainbow felt the air under her wings become strangely thin and she had to adjust quickly to keep from dropping due to the sudden pocket of severe low pressure that seemed to have been magically conjured around Flash. At the same time, the air grew inexplicably cold.
Spitfire was affected the most dramatically by this strange new attack. Her flames extinguished and Ouranos emerged and was thrown away from her with a pained shriek. Spitfire immediately looped around to catch her companion and cradle him gently in her arms. She quickly turned to face Flash, expecting to have to retreat once he resumed his attack.
However, attacking did not seem to be what Flash Spark had in mind anymore...if he had anything in mind at all. He was still screaming, bloody spittle flying from his lips as his body writhed. Then, something bulged out from the center of his forehead. A strip of white material seemed to practically shoot out from his skull, looking like a thin white ribbon that tapered into a pointed tip. The ribbon began to wind, coiling about itself until it formed a perverse approximation of a unicorn's horn. As it emerged, Flash's limbs ceased their twitching and his entire body went limp, hanging lifelessly between those two humming wings.
"Well..." hummed a voice that was most certainly not Flash's, "That was more than I expected."
Rainbow stared. She couldn't do much else. Flash's mouth, still visible between the limp and motionless mandibles, was not moving at all. Instead, Rainbow's eyes were drawn to the stallion's wings, which were still blurring. But as the mysterious voice spoke again, the rhythm of their motion seemed to shift slightly, each shift producing a syllable that stood out against the constant drone in the background.
"You all fared much better than I expected. It never even occurred to me that you might take advantage of that particular weakness."
"Who are you?" demanded Rainbow, "And what in the hay are you trying to do with this jerk?"
"Well...what I was doing was a simple test," replied the speaker, ignoring Rainbow's first question, "something slightly whimsical, not even worthy of being called a proper experiment. This was more along the lines of throwing some chemicals together to see what might happen."
"Why?" asked Dawn, raising an eyebrow.
"To pass the time," answered the voice, "This was mostly an undertaking of idle curiosity. I was wondering just how far my newest creation would go. Admittedly, he didn't get nearly as far as I thought he would. I am clearly going to have to make some...adjustments...with his design if he's to maintain any kind of function in a scenario such as this. I had predicted that he would fail to do much damage during this attack. But I had simply figured that he would give up out of frustration at his own impotence and leave long before you made any progress towards doing actual damage to him. Imagine my surprise when you succeeded. Even though this can't even be called a real experiment, I managed to obtain some very valuable data."
Spitfire now came to a hover in front of Dawn and Rainbow, staying between them and the now limp form of Flash Spark. "You have a lot of nerve," she said, "A lot of ponies could have been hurt thanks to you. Identify yourself and turn over Flash Spark and I might not burn your face off when we meet in pony."
"Sadly, as much as I would like to reward you for your magnificent efforts on this day, I cannot turn this specimen over to you," replied the voice, "As for identifying myself...I don't think I need to give a name. If you ask the right pony, I'm sure that you'll learn about me soon enough."
"And who is the pony we should be asking?" demanded Spitfire.
"A pony who knows about making that which does not exist,"answered the voice cryptically.
"You think I'm just going to let you leave after a half-assed answer like that?" demanded Spitfire.
"I won't be leaving, I'm not even here to begin with," replied the voice, "Using the qualities of the Dark Matter I created, I simply assumed control of its functions and overrode Flash Spark for the time being. You could say he is being operated by remote control now."
"Fine," snorted Spitfire, "You think I'm just going to let you take Flash Spark without a fight. We're taking him into our custody."
"Like I said, I cannot hoof over this specimen," answered the voice, "You did quite well today. For that, you have my greatest respect. Farewell."
"Move in!" snapped Spitfire. The Wonderbolts immediately surged forward to try and capture Flash. However, Flash's body began to shift, looking to all the world like a figure in a drawing where the ink was beginning to run, except that ink was being sucked away in a spiraling vortex, drawn into the grooves of his own horn. Before the Wonderbolts had even closed half the distance, Flash's entire body had been drawn in before the horn itself vanished into a spiraling oblivion.
For a moment, nothing was said or done. The Wonderbolts, the two griffons, Dawn, and Storm Front simply stared at the empty space that Flash Spark had been hovering in. Finally, it was Rainbow who broke the silence, giving voice to the feelings of everypony present.
"What. The. HAY!"
After the fight, everything seemed to go back to normal for the evening. Having nothing more she could do about the situation, Spitfire had decided to withdraw the Wonderbolts, seeing that Flash had been neutralized as a threat for the time being, but had given Rainbow one of Ouranos's feathers, just in case they were wrong. The Wonderbolts headed back to Cloudsdale to rest after the grueling battle, while Rainbow borrowed the bathroom at the Apple Family's house to clean herself up after spending so much time on the move and fighting.
If Ditzy was upset that Rainbow was late to the reception, she didn't show it, but instead greeted the cerulean mare enthusiastically. Rainbow did her best to enjoy the party, but was distracted by the lingering frustration caused by Flash Spark's escape. Soarin' had opted to stay with her and did his best to help her cope with the situation.
"We can't win all the time," had been what he'd said, "But we did do something that counted," as he jerked his head in the direction of the revelers, many of whom were enjoying themselves out on the dance floor.
Rainbow nodded, getting what Soarin' was saying. They'd kept Flash away from the wedding and made sure that he didn't ruin Ditzy's special day. That counted for something at least. As she watched Dawn and Scootaloo make their own awkward, halting attempt at dancing to the music together, she couldn't help but smile, glad that she'd at least managed to come through for her friends.
"Okay," said Twilight Sparkle, rubbing her temples, "Tell me everything about what happened, every detail you can remember."
The morning after the wedding, Rainbow and Twilight were in the library. Soarin' had come with Rainbow to help give an account of the battle. Along with them were the rest of the Element Bearers and Spike, along with Dawn, who would be able to supplement the story with the parts he had been privy to. Storm Front was there as well, along with the two griffons assigned to protect Fluttershy. Arkenstone was there as well. Scootaloo would have been there too, had she had any say in the matter. However, Dawn missing morning classes, and possibly the rest of the day as well, was enough, especially given that Scootaloo had stayed with the wedding party, leaving her with no salient details to contribute.
Rainbow nodded, shivering slightly as she felt Applejack's eyes on her. Applejack had not been happy when she'd learned the reason for Rainbow's late arrival at the reception. She was especially upset that Ditzy and Macintosh's wedding had essentially been used as bait to lure in a dangerous criminal. Only Twilight pointing out, somewhat reluctantly, that Flash Spark could have very well attacked anyway had mollified her at all.
Rainbow and Soarin' began to tell their story, explaining about how they'd intercepted and engaged Flash Spark, right up to the point where they'd actually started doing damage to him. Dawn had supplied additional details when needed. Finally, they described the last few minutes of the fight and the conversation that had taken place there.
"Let me get this straight," said Twilight, once they finish, "So somepony took remote control of Flash Spark, made him grow a unicorn horn, and then made him teleport out."
"Uh...sort of..." said Rainbow.
"Sort of...?"
"It seemed to me that the horn that grew from Flash Spark's armor was the instrument whomever was behind this used to seize direct control," commented Dawn, "Immediately before that, it seemed as though something, besides the beating he was receiving, was causing him pain."
"In other words, the process of having his control taken by someone else must have been extremely painful," mused Twilight, pausing to take a sip of the tea that Arkenstone had brewed for everypony.
Dawn shrugged. "That's what it seemed like."
"What about the other things Flash Spark did?" asked Soarin.
Twilight frowned. "That's what really bothers me. Flash Spark's primary attack appears to have been some kind of sonic cutter. I'm guessing it used high-frequency vibrations focused along a very tight path as a cutting tool, producing a destructive resonance effect along its path, essentially dissolving the molecular bonds via vibrations with any material it encounters. Something like that would be as sharp as the Gale King's vacuum blades. The light you observed is almost certainly a byproduct of the friction between vibrating air molecules.
"However, producing that effect via the vibration of his wings is almost impossible from a physical standpoint. We're talking about focusing sonic vibrations into a tight line, like a ray and projecting it along a path. That would normally require a physical apparatus of some sort with a physical means of redirecting the sonic waves, seeing as they don't just bounce back off of nothing, You're describing a convergence effect that's taking place without any physical apparatus to enable it."
"I'm not sure I even got half of that," muttered Rainbow.
"The point is," said Twilight with an irritated huff, "What you're describing should be physically impossible. It certainly isn't something a pegasus can do if you only just give him insect wings."
"What about the other effect we observed?" asked Storm, leaning forward, "At the end of the battle."
"That..." Twilight sighed. "That's almost even more improbable. Given what you've described, I can only assumed that somehow Flash, or whoever was controlling him at the time, used vibrations to generate an auto-refrigeration effect."
"A what?" asked Spike, tilting his head in confusion.
"Auto-refrigeration," said Twilight, "By subjecting matter to a drastic phase change, usually from a liquid to a gas, by introducing it to a drastic drop in pressure, causes said matter to absorb a tremendous amount of energy from its surroundings, usually heat."
"Okay...and why is that so impossible?" asked Soarin'.
"Because the matter in question needs to be compressed first," explained Twilight, "Given what was going on at the time, you're essentially saying that Flash drew the heat out of the air by initiating phase change from a gas phase...to a gas phase. There's no way that should have been able to produce the effect you're talking about. More importantly, that doesn't explain how it managed to counter Spitfire and Ouranos so effectively."
"Why not?" asked Soarin', "That's how fire extinguishers work, right?"
"No...it's a side effect," said Twilight, "Fire extinguishers expel a stream of carbon-dioxide, which displaces the oxygen a fire needs to burn and smothering it. The cooling effect doesn't actually do all that much to put out the flames at all. I can't figure out how anything like that would have affected Spitfire."
"Maybe it was something in the vibration itself," suggested Dawn.
"Maybe," said Twilight, clearly frustrated by all the apparent contradictions of the situation. "Urgh! None of this makes sense! It's almost as though Flash Spark or whatever he's made of is completely capable of violating physical laws. And then there's what that voice said..." Twilight froze, her eyes growing wide as her pupils contracted diagonally, a horrified look spreading across her face as the color drained away from underneath her coat.
"Twi...?" Applejack leaned forward to give Twilight a worried look. "Ya okay sugarcube?"
"I..." Twilight swallowed, her body beginning to quiver. "I need to write a letter," she said quickly.
Before anypony could say anything else, she had darted upstairs to her room. From there, everypony could hear the sounds of rummaging as Twilight looked frantically for ink, quill, and parchment.
"What on earth?" mused Rarity, shooting Spike a questioning look.
The little dragon shrugged. "I haven't the slightest idea what she's so worked up about," he said.
"I do," said Arkenstone, speaking up for the first time since the meeting had started.
"What is it?" asked Dawn.
Arkenstone's eyes opened slightly, revealing a pair of milky-white orbs as his lips pressed into a tight line. "Do you remember when Twilight and I went to Canterlot to do additional research on your condition?"
Dawn nodded slowly.
"During that excursion, we were shown something...important," said Arkenstone, "A secret vault in the archives, housing knowledge compiled by one of Princess Celestia's previous students, a criminal whose crime was apparently heinous enough that he was completely wiped from the annals of Equestrian history."
"What does that have anything to do with what happened?" demanded Rainbow.
"That mage's specialty was the creation of matter," explained Arkenstone, "More than that, his magic was focused on the creation of matter of a type that did not exist in this world before, matter that behaved according to its own physical laws and, when interacting with the physical laws of this world, produced abnormal effects in a manner similar to the things you described Flash Spark doing would be considered to be impossible."
"So...you're suggesting that this pony...this criminal, may be the one responsible for the unique attributes this Flash Spark character possessed," rumbled Skan, his eyes narrowing.
"Either him or somepony like him or somepony with access to his knowledge," said Arkenstone, "At least, that appears to be what Twilight thinks."
"But surely this criminal was imprisoned," said Rarity, "There's no way Princess Celestia would allow a pony so dangerous to just run about on the lam."
"Part of his punishment was that his horn was removed," Arkenstone pointed out, causing Rarity to shriek, her hooves flying to the base of her own horn, "And he was subsequently banished."
"But why go so far as to erase all knowledge of his existence?" inquired Dawn.
"That...is another matter..." said Arkenstone.
"What do you mean?"
Arkenstone's ears laid flat against the side of his head. "It is...apparently...the severest punishment the Princesses are capable of meting out. It is called Excommunicare-Equestris, complete exclusion from Equestria. Unicorns have their horns removed, pegasi are plucked, and earth ponies have the tendons in their hind legs damaged. Said pony is then physically expelled from Equestria. Finally, all records of the criminal's existence: birth, family relations, any accomplishments she might have made; everything is erased so that, by the conclusion, the pony in question might as well not have existed at all."
Silence fell over the table. "That's...horrible..." said Fluttershy finally, her wing extending reflexively to curl around Dawn and pull him against her, "Why would Princess Celestia ever use a punishment like that."
"It is the very worst punishment she can inflict," said Arkenstone, "Primarily because the ponies who would most likely find themselves subjected to it would not even consider death a punishment."
"What kind of ponies would do that?" asked Rainbow.
"A few types," explained Arkenstone, "I can't give any specific examples because I don't know them. Naturally, I was not made aware of the existence of these ponies either. It took a great deal of effort on my part to actually convince Princess Celestia to explain the nature of this punishment when we were at the Royal Palace during the Hearth's Warming season."
The conversation was interrupted as Twilight nearly tripped over her hooves coming back down the stairs. Arkenstone nearly leapt out of his spot to try and catch her, but paused as she regained her balance and continued her way down at a more cautious, but still hurried, pace.
"Spike!" she snapped, hefting a scroll in her magic, "I need you to send this letter to Princess Celestia immediately!"
Swallowing at the intensity in Twilight's tone, Spike took the scroll without a word of protest and used his flame to immolate it. The glittering cloud of ashes quickly made its way out the window and streamed towards Canterlot.
"What did you tell her?" asked Rainbow.
"I wrote a quick report of the incident," said Twilight, "Including a description of what that voice said. It should only take a few minutes for Princess Celestia to send back a reply. I suggest we get ready."
"Wha-what do you mean?" asked Fluttershy.
"The Princess is probably going to want to see us," Twilight explained, "Possibly immediately. It's likely we'll have to leave before the day is out."
"B-but..." Fluttershy squeaked, looking more than a bit reluctant.
"Are we gonna take the train?" asked Applejack, talking over Fluttershy.
"Maybe," said Twilight, "Though, if the situation is urgent as I think it is, the Princess may send chariots for us."
"We might want to wait for her re-re-ULP!" Spike's stomach bulged and he released a burst of flame, which transformed into Celestia's reply.
Twilight wasted no time in unrolling the scroll and reading its contents. "I was right," she said, "But not everypony has to come. Princess Celestia has asked for me and Arkenstone specifically. The rest are welcome on a volunteer basis. She's sending a chariot large enough for everyone though."
To Twilight's surprise, Rainbow raised her hoof. "I'll pass," she said, "I have to get back to Cloudsdale and get my training back on track. Keep me posted on what's going on."
"Ah'll go," said Applejack, "The plantin's all done, so there ain't much but the regular chores. Bloom and Red can handle those. It sounds like we ain't gonna be there long."
"Probably not," agreed Twilight.
"I suppose I can come along," said Rarity, "Most of my work for the time being is close to being finished and I can trust Coco and Flaxseed with the shop for a day or so." She made a mental note to make sure she could trust them with each other first before she fully committed.
"I...I...don't think I should go," whispered Fluttershy, "I n-need to stay..."
"I can look after myself and the animals for a short time," said Dawn, "But you shouldn't go if you feel you don't want to. After all, nothing in the letter said that you have to."
Fluttershy nodded and wrapped her colt in a tight hug, cuddling him for her own comfort.
"Ooh! Ooh! I'll go! I'll go!" shouted Pinkie Pie, bouncing in place eagerly.
"I guess that'll do," said Twilight, looking at the other ponies in the group.
Skan and Zhan shared a glance. "We'll stay here," said the ebony griffon, "Our responsibility is to our ward after all."
"I'll stay too," said Storm Front, "There doesn't seem to be anything useful that I can contribute for the time being."
"I'll go," said Soarin', getting a surprised look from Rainbow in the process, "Somepony who was actually part of the battle should be there to answer any questions the Princess might have about it. I was there for almost the entire thing." Seeing Rainbow's guilty look, he gave her a warm smile. "Rainbow's right about her training though. We can't afford to let that slide too much." That seemed to reassure the cerulean mare, who leaned against her coltfriend, looking a little more relaxed.
"Well, I guess that's that then," said Twilight. She didn't bother asking Dawn if he was coming. The colt clearly intended to stay, possibly so that he didn't miss any more school. Since Soarin' was coming, Dawn's presence wasn't really needed, so it was fine to let him go.
They settled into preparing for the departure. Dawn was sent back to school for the remainder of the day, while Storm Front carried a message from Applejack to Sweet Apple Acres explaining the situation. Rarity made a quick trip to her Boutique to do the same with Coco Pommel and Flaxseed. Pinkie Pie also zipped over to Sugarcube Corner to tell the Cakes. Arkenstone had already made arrangements with Dawn regarding the teahouse. Dawn and the rest of the Crusaders would open it up after they got out of school and close it again at the end of the day. The reduced hours might upset some of his customers, but it was a small price to pay. Finally, Rainbow Dash said her goodbyes before heading back to Cloudsdale on her own.
About two hours later, the chariot, pulled by a pair of pegasi from the Royal Guard arrived to pick up the group. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Arkenstone all climbed in while Soarin' decided to fly alongside the group. A few minutes later, they held on tight as the chariot climbed through the skies, heading for Canterlot.
Flash Spark's limp, unmoving form was dropped with an unpleasant thud onto the square of stone set in the center of the room. Any ordinary pony who saw him at that moment would have been deeply disturbed by the sight. Flash Spark was motionless, yet did not seem quite dead. Rather it seemed more like he was some sort of automaton or golem that had simply been switched off. Naturally, as the pony who had "switched" Flash off, Morning Star wasn't overly concerned by the sight.
"Fascinating," he muttered, "I hadn't really thought of that particular weakness. I had thought that the strength of the armor was sufficient to keep impact from reaching inside of him. I really hadn't considered that they would turn its own strength against him. I wonder..."
"Looks like I was right," commented Swift Stride as he examined Flash from the other side of the table, "Those Wonderbolts sure did a number on the poor guy."
"Not just the Wonderbolts," commented Morning, "They fielded assets I wasn't aware of. I suppose it was negligent of me not to do more research into the forces that have been arrayed in Ponyville."
"Well...your heavy hitter is set to come in, of course they're gonna start gathering their strongest," said Swift, "How far is he from there, by the way?"
"A couple weeks out," said Morning, "He intends to arrive on the day after the equinox."
"And do you think he'll succeed?"
"Maybe," said Morning with and indifferent shrug, "maybe not. It doesn't really matter in any case. Thanks to this arrangement, the rest of the Order gave me the time I needed. Once all is said in done, what happens in Ponyville will be immaterial."
"A rather pointless roll of the dice, don't you think?" mused Swift.
"Well yes...." admitted Morning with a shrug, "It is pointless in the sense that whatever result is produced, whatever number comes up, it doesn't matter in the slightest."
"Then what does?"
A chuckle bubbled up out of Morning Star's throat. "What matters is that, regardless of the result of the roll, everypony is watching the dice."