//------------------------------//
// 27- Death is lighter than a feather 
// Story: Final Solution 
// by Luna-tic Scientist 
//------------------------------//

The pile of hardware had turned into a small hill, but at least the stuff had stopped arriving. Gravity frowned at what was left, a chaotic mass of 'light' modular weapon systems destined for hot-swappable bays on dog vehicles, ammunition for railguns and missile launchers, and a small stack of what one gryphon had assured her were self-contained, solid-state fusion reactors. Steady output for a gigasecond and no moving parts... I can see why the gryphons wanted them. They were simple-looking things, little more than matte-black cylinders the size of a pony capped with the fractal fans of heat sinks, although the plain exterior hid massive complexity.

She dipped back into her shadow sight, the relative simplicity of the magic-only world view making her other sense that much easier to read. Luna was there, and Grund, the most obvious things above the limb of the world. There was still no sign of the twitching that presaged a Hammer launch, and she sank into a light trance, following the tracks of everything above the atmosphere. It was a chaotic place, still evolving after Fusion's assault on the satellites, and the regular bands of floating machines had nearly all dissolved into invisibly fine particles. Nothing from the mass drivers. I wonder why they haven't tried to hit that Bakot place?

Gravity sighed, letting the sensations fade and dropping back to normal vision. Here I am, helping the attack after all. I could have gone with them. The ponies assigned to transport duties were cycling in and out of a patch of clear air assigned to them; each time one appeared it dropped off a clawful of gryphons. The majority were coming back uninjured, but there were a few suffering the normal injuries of battle. Burns and traumatic injury cases were stacking up in the triage centre, with medics hurrying from person to person and directing their attentions where required. Animal Scanner was at the centre, eyes closed and a red light dancing about his horn. Matching glows moved over the nearest gryphons, flowing over them like luminescent oil.

Eyes narrowed, Gravity scanned the scene, checking each of the medics in turn. Where are Spiral and Trocar? They should be--

One final pony teleported in, releasing Ellisif and Adigard. The pair dropped towards her, landing softly amid a plume of sweat- and smoke-scented air. "The raid was a complete success, ma'am," Ellisif said with a beak click. "We captured a significant amount of material, practically cleared out their armoury." She fluttered her wings, eyes bright. "That Redshift of yours has made us another eighteen nukes; this will give us real leverage over the dogs."

A bright light, the world's biggest lightning strike, coupled with enough heat to sear flesh at fifty kilometres. Gravity smiled. "I'm sure they don't need too many more reasons to fear us." She surveyed the airspace again, then frowned. "Where is Redshift?"

Ellisif turned to Adigard, who looked uncomfortable. "He said he'd be right behind me. I asked him to set the final bomb to destroy the base."

"You left him alone?!" Gravity opened her wings, hindquarters bunching for the leap into the air.

"Stop!" Ellisif snapped, and the tone carried with it enough similarity to that of a Master that Gravity hesitated, the teleport pattern dispersing in her mind.

"I'm not leaving a friend to burn!" she snarled, jumping into the air.

"And if he's already set the timer, what then? The delay will be very short," the gryphoness leapt into her own hover, wings beating strongly. "Your people can't afford to lose you."

'My people' only ever talk to Fusion. Her magic vanished, and she turned the hover into a slow vulture-circle. You refrained from jumping into one explosion, filly, how about another? How long would he have set the timer for? She started to count in her head, wondering when it would be safe to find Redshift. At a count of thirty, three ponies appeared in the air nearby.

The one in the middle was Redshift; exhaustion was clear in the ragged beat of his wings, but he had an expression of extreme satisfaction on his face. He angled his wings, dropping to the triage point, and Gravity followed him down, unable to take her eyes off the other ponies’ foreheads. A raw heat built in her belly, fighting with the cold that bit through her fur. The sun, already filtered by the heavy clouds, dimmed like she stood at a patch of shadow. Scalar... "You were at the base the whole time," she whispered, pushing her rage away and letting the light back in. Let's try this Fusion's way. Talk first; find out who I should be angry at.

"I need a medic here!" Redshift called out, depositing a limp Elliptic between a pair of battered gryphons, who shuffled sideways with angry-sounding hisses. He caught sight of Gravity, shying away from her expression. "I saw them at the last moment; didn't want to risk a delay in coming back for help," he said, ears drooping.

"I am the last pony to chastise you for galloping straight in, Redshift," Gravity said, "still, how long would it have taken to make a couple of jumps -- twenty seconds?" He nodded, ears drooping, and she smiled. "Don't worry, you did good; if Fusion gives you a hard time you'll have my support. I expect all the details later."

One of the Naraka ponies trotted over, a heavily pregnant blue-coated mare, her ears going flat at the sight. "Oh, you poor thing," she muttered, horn glowing and magic flickering over Elliptic's body. "Some evidence of thaumic medical repairs and no obvious internal injuries. Definite dehydration and..." Her voice trailed off as she sank deeper into her magic.

"Well?" Scalar said, taking a few steps forward then stopping when Gravity stepped in his path. "Get out of my way!" he said, pawing at the ground and lifting his head. Tiny fireflies of light danced over his horn stub and he flinched as if struck.

"Let the pony work, you'll only get in the way," Gravity said. "Talk, Scalar. The dogs claimed you died when a missile struck your airtruck." She smiled, ears folding back. "Yet more evidence that they cannot be trusted."

The stallion slumped, head drooping. "They took us to a base and were going to hook me into some machine, then another pony showed up and took charge." He looked confused, frowning. "A dapple grey mare, definite Security type. She... she actually ordered the dogs out, said they were never going to get anything out of me."

Gravity blinked, her ears relaxing. "And they obeyed her? Really? It wasn't some kind of show? Who was she?"

"Said she was 'Strategist Orgon's personal servitor', but never told me her name. The dogs seemed to be scared of her! And... and Elliptic." Scalar, wings drooping, leaned against Gravity and she staggered, bracing herself against his weight. "She was going to kill her if I didn't help; wanted to know where we were -- but I didn't tell!" He looked up at her, head still low. "I heard her talking to her Master, this Strategist Orgon. He said that they already knew where you were... they... they--" He looked around, eyes going wide as if he was seeing the valley for the first time. "What did they do? Did anypony get hurt?"

"They used the Hammer," Redshift said softly, backing away and looking behind him at one of the piles of equipment. "About half of us didn't make it out. It was Random."

Scalar's ears went back, then relaxed. "I should be angry, but that would have been me in a kilosecond." He swallowed, jaw working. "The grey mare... I showed her the teleport spell."

Gravity growled quietly at the back of her throat, and Scalar flinched, stepping back. "Sorry," she said, trying to relax, "I don't know what they did to you. Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"The mare... she's smart and not afraid to hurt ponies, or anyone else. Her master didn't seem very interested in using the teleport spell, more how to block it. There's something else... she behaved very strangely after she talked to Orgon, like she'd kept something vital from him." His attention drifted back to the medic working on Elliptic, and Gravity sidestepped to get out of his way.

"I want to know exactly what happened, and Fusion will too. Get yourself settled for a kilosecond or two and I'll try a sharing."

"But my horn... surely you can't--" He shuddered, closing his eyes, then nodded.

If it works on dogs, it will work on you, Gravity thought, backing away and scanning the valley with a frown. "Animal," she said, waiting until the medic had paused in his repairs, "where are Spiral and Trocar?"

"Wish I knew," he grumbled, "these Naraka ponies are too out of practice for the problem cases. Ask Lilac." He closed his eyes, focussing on the next patient.

Right. Gravity directed her attention inwards, feeling for the ponies she knew and had shared with before. Her sister was there, by far and away the strongest despite the distance that separated them, but there were faint traces of the others. No sign of Spiral, unfortunately, but Lilac was there. She pushed gently, and was rewarded with a confused response.

Grav? Is that you?

Gravity smiled. Who else? Little snippets of the youngster's sensorium were coming through the link, flashes of the work he was doing among the injured from the Hammer strike. Do you know where Spiral is? We need her.

She's missing? Not at any of the new settlements? She... she said something funny, last time I saw her. She said she was sorry.

That's it?

I think she was scared. Random was with her, but she moved like she'd been drugged.

Gravity's brow furrowed. Thank you, she sent, then dropped the link, directing her attention to Fusion instead. I think Spiral has run away. Trocar and Random are also gone. Not sure yet; I still need to check the new corrals we are setting up. A ghost of sensation swept through Gravity's body, a twisting in the depths of her gut echoing Fusion's own reactions. 

What?! Maker-dammit, I should have thought to-- Some of the anger left Fusion's mental tone, replaced with weariness. I should have guessed they'd leave; they must have heard all the talk from the gryphons. Does anypony know where they have gone?

Not so far, but I've only just started asking. We'll find them.

I'm needed here for now, can you manage? There was a sense of power being expended at the other end of the link, of energy being funnelled from some high, distant reservoir and directed to a multitude of sources. The weather ponies can maintain the cloud spells, but I have to pump most of the power in to get the magic to spread at a reasonable rate. 

Another application of that energy-draining spell of yours? You must show me. Gravity opened her wings and leaped into the sky, accelerating upwards. I can... I'll hit the furthest new corrals first. If I was going into hiding I'd start at the end of the chain and strike outwards. Talk to the weather ponies as you work; they might have seen something.

===

"Well I say we should take matters into our own claws. This 'Random' pony killed over half of us, and you are telling me that she will get away without punishment at all?!" Halla said, her head feathers erect and wings mantled. She strode about the clearing, eyes glittering in the pale light of a dismounted navigation beacon set to 'moonlight'. "Five hundred of us burned to charcoal and vapour in an instant... what's to say she won't do it again? What's to say any of the ponies won't turn on us the moment the dogs crook a claw in their direction? They even rescued those two prisoner dogs -- that's two of us they could have saved instead!" Around the perimeter of the little space, many gryphons snapped their beaks in agreement and an angry muttering filled the air.

Ellisif nodded in turn, idly scratching a triangle in the pine-needle litter with one foreclaw. She looked around the clearing, taking note of the shadowed faces. There was a wide selection present; some newly-minted NCOs from the remaining Naraka gryphons, but many from the units rescued from the Pit. Perhaps maintaining the old units was a mistake... it's a damned shame we lost so many from Naraka. It would have been good to split up and dilute the squads. As it was, since they had been effectively cut adrift from the dogs' table of organisation, most of the low level troops had become even more tightly bound to their units in an effort to cling to some semblance of normalcy. 

"You dragged us all out into the woods far from camp and away from prying ears, so I assume you have a plan, Halla," Ellisif said quietly. This lot could command what... three quarters of my trained gryphons? Something in her gut twisted, and she was suddenly aware how far away the rest of the camp was. 

"Random must answer to the Code of Military Order, just like we have to," Halla said promptly. "Make a public example of her; that will make any of the ponies pause before betraying us." She waved a claw through the air, black needle-tips glittering in the light. "I also hear that she's vanished, along with her parents. That sound innocent to you?"

"That would fall under Article Five." Ellisif nodded. "Yes, the case is clear, but... what if they won't let her be executed?"

"Then they cannot be trusted. We have our own weapons and we have numbers; we should leave. I don't think we need the ponies any more. With those nukes we can negotiate our own deal with the dogs -- at the very least they won't dare to come after us."

"That's your plan, to vanish into the wilderness. Follow the others that have already deserted." Ellisif shook her head. "You are a fool. How you ever made sersjant I'll never know." Halla hissed loudly, beak open, and took a step forwards. "Oh shut up. I've beaten you before and I can do it again." Ellisif swept her gaze around the assembled group, glaring at each gryphon in turn. "The same goes for the rest of you. You need to think with your heads, and not your claws." 

She jumped forwards, then strode up to Halla. "Putting aside the fact that we'll have to get a pony to construct an interface for the bombs, exactly how well will we fare without pony support? What about transport, or medical care? Do you really want to fly away with only what you can carry? Without them the dogs will just hunt us down one by one." She waved one wing, raking the little patch of visible sky with her primary feathers; it glowed a faint, alien pastel shade of pink.

Halla narrowed her eyes, head feathers lifting. "None of us asked to be 'rescued' by that Gravity pony. Not from Naraka and not from the Pit. It's her fault that we're now in this position. The Masters would have pulled us out. In fact, I'll bet they would even take us back, especially if we deliver the ponies to them. It was very clever of you, to arrange an attack so soon, but I saw though your little game. One victory is nothing in this war."

A sudden hush settled over the clearing, with each gryphon looking uncertainly at the next. "You were not on that raid were you, Halla?" Ellisif said quietly. "Is that because it would give you a way to go back to the dogs? I'm sure you heard what that pair did to the base, but you didn't see it. It was like a precision bombing run... they flattened the defences in the time it took me to draw a breath. Can you imagine what they might do if we betray them?" Fusion, probably nothing but cutting words. Gravity, though... Ellisif suppressed a shudder.

"How am I supposed to trust them if they cannot control their own?" Halla's claws raked at the already churned ground, making deep furrows. "Why should I take their word for it? I want them to prove they have the guts to stop their kind from betraying us. If they can't, then this... this rebellion has all the makings of a disaster."

"Oh, I agree, but you have to remember a few important things," Ellisif said, settling back down on her haunches and lifting one claw. "The Code only ever applied to gryphons and military dogs. Two," another claw joined the first, "Random is the last surviving foal of Spiral and Trocar, who are two of the three medics--"

"Who have already vanished! Most of us have some level of medical training, and I have nearly twenty trained battlefield medics." Halla snapped. "That is hardly a good reason!"

Ellisif hissed, the sound harsh and loud in the silence under the trees. "You must have seen what those ponies have done. Between them they have the capabilities of a major hospital. Spiral's other foal was shot by a gryphon during a botched Security operation, so you can imagine what she's going to think if we get Random killed. Three, no ponies means no more hardware and no instant transport, and nothing that gets broken will be fixed. I don't know about you, but I don't have an industrial civilization kit in my panniers." Four, Fusion was Random's friend, and she's far too soft to have her killed, even by proxy.

Halla made to speak, but Ellisif stood up, beak gaping threateningly. "No, that's enough. You, all of you, will listen to me. I don't want to just survive this, which is all Halla seems to want. I want to build a new world, a gryphon world, one where we're not looking over our shoulders at the dogs snapping at our heels. If we want to be free, we will have to kill them all, and we can't do that while cowering in the woods." She let her head feathers relax and started to walk the perimeter. "But I do understand. This world is a hard one and we cannot afford to be soft. I will make your feelings known to Fusion; she is a thinker and she will understand the consequences of Random's actions. Something will have to be done; after all, the ponies are just as vulnerable as we are." Possibly more so. If one turns they might convince others...

Halla nodded, but little of the anger left her eyes. "Very well. We'll wait, for now. I agree with you on one point; we are too dependent on the ponies. We must make every effort to gain some independence."

"I don't think we will ever be fully independent; after all, the ponies do most of the dogs' manufacturing. I'm sure we can work out a way to get some transport, though." Ellisif cocked her head, beak half open in a smile. "Plenty of gryphon-pilotable vehicles about, if we go to the right places. If nothing else, I can use your discontent to push the ponies into action."

===

Fusion flew in the gap between the heavy, pastel clouds and the dark fur of the evergreens that coated the valley, leaving the little corral behind her. One of a dozen or so that they'd split the ponies and gryphons into in an effort to reduce their vulnerability to the Hammer, spreading them over a thousand kilometres of mountain and forest, all sheltered under the expanding cover of the altered clouds. She looked upwards, watching through shadow sight as a pair of ex-weather team ponies, some of Naraka's survivors, flew through the clouds, pumping magic into the web of simple spells that tied them together. It was a pair similar to these that had seen three ponies travel up this valley, away from the new corral.

The sun was up, she could feel it above the artificial clouds, but little light penetrated. "Good thing we are going into local winter," she muttered, "at least the plants aren't losing what little growing season they have." The steep-walled glacial valley slowly climbed towards a distant peak, eventually vanishing amid the jumble of the terminal moraine and the glacier itself, but at this level the trees were unbroken aside from the rapid tumble of the icy river down its middle. Shadow sight showed her target -- a tiny cluster of horn- and winglights burrowed into the side of one wall, the colours matching those of Spiral, Trocar and Random. She's made herself a hole to hide in. 

She reached inwards, feeling for Gravity; the connection snapped open and she got a sudden sense of the mare flying low and fast over similar terrain. I've found them; you can stop searching.

I was half afraid some gryphon unit had gone for a little revenge. 

Fusion shivered. I hadn't considered that. We'd never recover from that.

I'm glad it's not the case. You will call if you need me?

I will. I'd like you to listen in, if you can. A sharing seems a good place to start with Random. Fusion felt the echo of a nod, the motion of Gravity at the other end of the link, and let the connection narrow to a thread.

Not a fit thing for a pony, living so alone. You should have come to me first, Spiral. Approaching the lights, Fusion skimmed the treetops, then dove through a slender gap, hooves rattling off branches, landing before a narrow entrance. 

Spiral stepped out of the shadowed opening, blocking it. "I wondered when you would find us," she said, voice trembling. "You can't have Random."

Fusion paused, one hoof raised. "I just want to talk to her."

"Do you? I've heard what the gryphons are saying, that she's a traitor and must be punished. The dogs trained them and we all know what they do those who betray them."

"You know what she did, Spiral," Fusion said softly, "There's no doubt."

"Of course I know!" Spiral shrieked, loud enough that Fusion flinched. "I-- I've had to keep her tranquilised... any time I stop watching she tries to--" Her head dropped, tears running freely down her muzzle. "She's my only foal, you can't..."

"I'm not going to." At least, I hope not. Fusion stepped close to the other mare, resting her head against her neck. "I failed her... we all did. I saw what she went through at the Pit; should have pressed her further." She gently nibbled at Spiral's shoulder, feeling the trembling flesh under the fur. "She's my friend and I don't want her to die... but we have to do something. I can't fight the gryphons as well." Well, I can, but it would be a slaughter and I won't kill so many for one. I think we need them.

"What do you want to do?" Spiral's voice was a tight whisper, like some spring inside her was wound up to breaking point.

"There are... options. None of them are pleasant, but she has a chance to live. It may even give her a reason to want to live. That's why I wanted to talk to you and Trocar first. It would be best if you carried out part of the... the sentence, to make sure it is done safely. For now, I just want to talk. I have to understand what she's been through if I'm going to convince the others. Has she told you anything?"

"No," Spiral whispered in a low moan, "she won't talk to me or Trocar. I hoped that if I took her away, she'd open up."

"Let me try, please."

Spiral stiffened, then backed away. "I can't stop you."

No, you can't. Fusion moved along the passageway and into the chamber beyond, only a few paces into the valley wall. "Trocar," she said, the gentle glow of her mane lighting the dark interior. The stallion was lying on a bed of pine boughs next to Random, staring up at her with a helpless expression.

"What are we going to do, Fusion?"

She swallowed, staring at the still shape of Random, her lips moving silently. I wish I knew. Oh, Random, I'm so sorry. "I have a few ideas, but she has to want to do it." Shadow sight showed a familiar curl of magic in Random's head, the same soporific spell Spiral had used on Packet. "Let me take her. I won't go far, I promise. No decisions without talking to you first."

He nodded, and Fusion reached in and took control of the spell, then picked Random up. She was light in her grasp, barely a feather's-weight, and Fusion carried her gently out into the forest and down towards the river. There, on a bed of water-smoothed pebbles, she allowed Random to wake up.

Her tan head moved, wobbling uncertainly in the manner of a pony too long asleep, eyes opening slowly, unfocused. "Dam, please, I don't want to sleep anymo--" She gasped, eyes snapping fully open and legs spasming with great, reflexive leaps.

Fusion held her jerking body close, one white wing folded over Random's back and flank, head tucked in against her friend's opposite shoulder. "Random, it's okay, you don't hav--" Magic came next, great surges of raw thaumokinetic force that blasted craters in the pebbles where Fusion parried the panicked blows without suppressing the spells. Ten seconds passed, then another, and Random still struggled in complete silence, trying to escape Fusion's grip. She waited and, after an eternity, Random stopped fighting.

"Let me go," she screamed, eyes wide and ears flat back, the words shockingly loud and sudden after the silent fight.

"So you can go and kill yourself?" Fusion said sharply. "No. I will not let you go that easily. We all have to live with the choices we make, and there are too few of us to let any slip away." Her voice softened, the colours of her mane becoming pale and insubstantial. "And you are my friend. I saw what the dogs did to you, I--"

"I killed all those ponies and gryphons, Fusion," Random said, muscles sagging and hanging limply in Fusion's telekinetic grip. "Me! If it wasn't for me, w-we'd have over a thousand more people." Her words became choked, spaced with great, gasping sobs. "A thousand! My fault, I--" Her body still trembled, but Random's voice was suddenly calm. "Give me to them, to the gryphons. They will know what to do with me. I have to pay the price."

If I won't let you kill yourself, you'll get someone else to do it. "And all that blame, all that great inverted mountain of blame and failure, is all focussed on you," Fusion said, gently stroking Random's neck. "It is not. You were just the final link in a long chain of events, any one of which could have stopped this horrible thing." She sighed then, still with one wing draped over Random's back, relaxed her magic and lowered her to the ground. "But in a way you are right, Random. You are to blame, but so am I for not seeing it, so is Gravity for not looking into your head. We both knew what the dogs did you. We should have checked."

Random shook her head violently and opened her mouth to speak, but Fusion touched her lightly on the muzzle with the primary feathers of her other wing. "No, just listen. The dogs who tortured you at the Pit, Salrath for taking you prisoner, me again, this time for getting you taken in the first place. The Blessing and the whole world conspired to put you in this position, balancing that mountain on your withers. What chance did you have? Nopony could support all that weight." She nuzzled at the back of Random's head, just behind her ear. "So you see," she whispered, "although you pulled the trigger, many others were involved with loading the gun."

"I can't go back, Fusion. I can't face all those people," Random said, tears dripping off the end of her muzzle. "What can I say to them?"

"Everypony understands the effects of the Blessing... some may have trouble forgiving you, but everypony will understand. The gryphons... well, there may be ways to convince them." She started to walk back towards Spiral and Trocar's shelter, giving Random little encouraging nudges. "Come on, you should start with your dam and sire. They only want the best for you, so don't you dare try and leave them."

Random shuddered, but took another step. "Yes," she whispered, "I know. I won't try anything."

"I know you won't. Come on, we have much to talk about."

===

~~~discontinuity~~~

Fusion released her grip on Trocar and Spiral, flying down to the largest settlement they'd constructed so far. Like the original one, it was dug deep into the rocky walls of a nameless mountain in the endless northern range, a series of pony-dug tunnels that would house a mixed population of nearly two hundred. It was the first one to be occupied, and currently held far more than it was designed to; the overspill -- mostly gryphons, as every able pony was actively tunnelling or moving supplies -- was waiting for the other bases and roosts to be completed. When the network was complete, there would be small populations of ponies and gryphons spread throughout this harsh landscape.

Gravity was waiting for her, along with Ellisif and Halla, the gryphon she remembered from Gravity's rescue at the Pit. Other people were starting to collect, but they remained separate; one herd of duns and browns behind Ellisif, the other a riot of pastel shades near Gravity. "See, I told you my sister would bring them back." Gravity said, her voice loud and clear enough to be heard over the rush of air.

Fusion landed next to Gravity, pulling Random down to a soft, four-hoofed landing between them. The mare, although the same age as Fusion and older than Gravity, seemed to shrink into herself, head held low and stripped wings clamped tight against her sides. "Any problems, sister?" Fusion asked, cocking her head and staring at Halla. The gryphon glanced once in her direction, but was staring at Random.

"No. Halla here was just explaining how Spiral and Trocar had most likely betrayed us the moment they left."

"Perhaps not this time, but what about tomorrow?" Halla hissed the words, foreclaws flexing. "Or the day after? Once a traitor, always a traitor." Random stared back, hypnotised by those huge, alien eyes, and started to shake, legs dancing with the precursors to a bolt.

"No you won't, will you, Random?" Fusion said, magic taking a subtle grip around Random's midsection and holding her steady.

"N-no!" she said, the word coming out as a near-squeak. "The dogs, they lied to me, I--"

"A thousand people are dead because of you! Your words mean nothing against that." More rumblings came from the ranks of the gryphons, filled with vicious squawks and beak-snaps.

"Yes, it is my fault," Random whispered. "I failed so badly that the only way to prevent another disaster is for me to..." A ripple ran through the ponies behind them, a slight disturbance in the otherwise total silence. Fusion let her go and she straightened up on trembling legs, taking a step towards Halla.

"Fusion, no, you promised!" Spiral cried out.

I let you believe, and that's not the same at all. Her gut twisted but she kept her face still and expressionless. This is going to hurt, Spiral, but we have to do it this way. Fusion's power closed around the mare, keeping her still and soaking up her sudden flares of magic. "Nopony is to interfere!" she shouted, as Random took another step forwards, cringing as Halla's talons closed around her featherless left wing.

"You are right," Gravity said suddenly, "words do mean nothing. There is no way you, as a gryphon, can know a fraction of what it is like to a pony in the Masters’ service."

"I have worn a command collar, I have been forced into situations where it was obey or die," Halla snarled, giving Random a shake.

"A collar. A little electric shock machine." Gravity curled her lip, ears back. "A machine you get to take off at the end of the day. Every pony in the world has that, only it sits in their heads. You can't even dream the wrong dream without the Blessing sending you awake with screams in your throat. A foal soon learns how best to think."

"So what? This pony was freed of that spell, yet she still did something so monumentally stupid as to call the dogs down on us. She made the choice while free. She cannot be trusted."

Fusion stole a glance at Spiral; the mare was staring at Gravity like she was hypnotised. Carry it through, sister, they need to understand. Wish we'd had more chance to plan this.

Gravity smiled, a hard thing that involved little more than a twitching of her lips. "You don't understand; how could you? There's no way a gryphon can get in a pony's head." Her horn started to glow and Halla suddenly looked nervous, backing away a step. "Or is there? Perhaps you would like to experience exactly what Random did, while she was under the dogs' care?"

"I don't need to kno--" Halla's words ended with a squawk as violet magic locked around her head. Her legs dug at the ground, slipping and sliding through the dead leaves, but gained no purchase.

There was movement towards the back of the crowd, of claws reaching for shoulder-mounted railguns, and Fusion let her own magic build, pushing light and warmth out over the group like a blanket. There are more armed gryphons here than I thought... were they expecting something? "Let's all remain calm," she said loudly enough that the nearest flinched. "Gravity, take it easy." Her sister had listened in while she'd talked with Random, but they'd not rebuilt the sharing since the return jump. Don't push too hard.

There was a pause and Gravity looked back at her, a sense of calculation in her eyes, then her magic cut off, sending Halla sprawling to the ground. "Oh, I think you do. And not just you, but as many of the rest of you as I can manage." She took a step forwards, a dark silhouette towering over the prone gryphoness.

Fusion pushed out her own power, winding it about Gravity, tapping at the mental doors of the sharing until she sensed a flash of something; not words or thoughts, but a simple image of a pony's head, one eye closed in a wink. She hesitated, sending her worry back down the link. Be careful!

There were the nasty, metallic noises of weapons being cocked, and several gryphons in what passed for full armour jumped up from the perimeter of the crowd, hovering on wide, tawny wings. Their guns weren't focussed on Gravity, but on the rest of the ponies. In the herd, magic started to flicker, pushing against the blanket of Fusion's power like fireflies in a fog. Gravity looked up at the soldiers, her smile returning and becoming broad. "If that's the way you want--"

"Stand down!" Ellisif bellowed out the words, glaring up at the flying troopers. "Put those guns away and land, right now." Without waiting to see if she was obeyed, the gryphoness turned to Gravity. "You will not threaten my people!" she said, jabbing at Gravity with one claw. "We will not exchange one set of masters for another; if we do this thing, it will be as volunteers, because it is necessary."

Gravity cocked her head. "Very well, volunteers it is. Who will--"

"Me," Ellisif said promptly, "I want to know." She extended a foreclaw to Halla, helping her up. "You should, too." Halla gaped at her for a second, then nodded shakily.

"And me," Spiral said, her ears back. "This is my filly you are talking about." She walked forward to stand next to Random, who hadn't moved throughout the whole exchange. At the gentle touch of Spiral's wing, Random came alive, as if the whole conversation had just registered.

"No," Random whispered, "I don't want to--" She swallowed, eyes going wide and head whipping from side to side. "Don't want to remember!" Her hind legs bunched and she leaped to one side, knocking Spiral to the ground.

Fusion caught her before she'd gone more than a stride, lifting her clear of the ground. Random continued to struggle for a moment, then hung limp in the magic, staring at the mud and leaf-litter. "I'm sorry, Random, but you are the only one here who doesn't get a choice," she said softly, stroking the mare's neck with one wing. "This will not be pleasant for any of us."

"No," Ellisif muttered, "not if she would rather die than go through it again."

Fusion felt a touch inside her head and let Gravity in. Random's mind hung like a fractured jewel in the mare's perception, its facets reflecting odd, half-recognisable places and people. There were other minds in the empty space; some blurred and fuzzy, the others perfect, polished shapes. I've never seen it like this, she thought.

I noticed it after I started to use the sharing on non-ponies... I'm sure it all means something, but I don't know what, yet. The view blurred as Gravity did something, and there was the sudden feeling of others being present.

What--? The thought was from Halla and was gasped out, holding the same tones as the throat that would have spoken the words out loud, coloured by endless megaseconds of a brain hearing its own voice, but younger-seeming and obviously frightened.

Nearly got it.... The jewel, suspended like some fragment of crystal in the debris ring, seemed to fold in on itself, turning and churning like it was made of grinding teeth. Steady, Random, steady, Gravity thought. I'll be as quick as I can.

We're all here, Fusion sent, trying to accompany the thought with her own memories of Random -- happy things like games of tag, listening to wild stories during homecoming parties or long flights and romps over endless cloudscapes.

There was a distorted whinny, half thought, half heard, and the view suddenly changed--

--a press of bodies, all smaller than me, the slightly earthy smell of poor grooming mixed in with the wild-garden scent of constant, low-grade fear. There was a singing in my head, traces of memory that were all-too close to the surface threatening to burst across my mind and-- No! Mustn't think! Pain twitches at the back of my head; a cat with steely claws flexing and working their way into tender flesh. Eyes closed, my head dipped, muzzle and lips hunting the underside of one wing for a feather. They are all short, the big primaries pulled out long ago, but they are big enough to get my teeth around. I pull slowly, prolonging the pain, using it as a shield to--

--a paw on my withers, the blunted claws firm but not unkind, guides me down a white-lit corridor to the Machine. It's at least a hundred steps away, hidden behind a bend, but I can still feel it. I can't resist dropping into shadow sight and watching the glow of its crystal thaumic systems as I approach. It pulses like it's alive, like a heart or -- and this is more apparent the closer I come -- the coiled, peristaltic twitches of some giant parasitic worm. I walk like I am already dead, legs loose and threatening to collapse at the slightest stumble, rounding the final corner and standing quietly next to the Machine, my skin twitching and rippling like it is trying to flow away from the thing. A gesture and I lay my head in a groove on the upper surface, a jewelled clamp locking about my poll and horn--

--pink-maned, the white-coated body moved weakly, the bloody half-circles of hoofprints scattered in pairs over the forequarters. "Random, please--" I hesitate, the familiar voice from my foalhood making me freeze, then pain, blinding in its intensity, reaches up and wraps itself around my head. I spin and the big muscles in my hips contract, sending my hooves out again--

--entrails like lumpy snakes trail from the belly of the yellow stallion. His eyes, empty and terribly familiar, bore into my own, the reflected golden highlights fading as the magic I used to--

--joy, so vast as to make me weightless even with my damaged wings, floods through me like a warm rush as my new Master lightly touches my head; I fall to my belly, pressing my muzzle into the grass at his booted paws. I have a purpose again, something of the greatest importance to Him. I am not worthless; I will not fail, I cannot fail--

The real world returned with a rush, leaving Fusion staggering, spread-legged, strange and alien memories that seemed so personal, yet were not her own-- "Monsters!" Gravity growled, shaking vigorously. She glared into the forest surrounding the clearing, surges of power making the light flicker and flutter. At her hooves Ellisif and Halla flopped like they had been gutted, beaks open to show sharp little bird tongues. Random was also down, but curled into a tight, shivering ball. Spiral lay next to her, wing spread to cover her. All around the crowd of gryphons were backing away, guns coming back up.

"Yes," Fusion said thickly. "I knew it was bad, but nothing like that." She looked down, helping the weakly-stirring gryphons to rise. "Why, Ellisif? Why would they do that? What possible use is that scenario?"

The gryphoness shook her head, beak opening and closing, then waved at the others. "It's okay," she croaked out, "we are unharmed." The crowd relaxed slightly, weapons lowering, and she turned to Halla. "You see? Could you have withstood that?" Halla stared back, then looked away. "Fusion, I... all I really know about is training gryphon soldiers, but I have heard things. The aim is to mould a mind into a new shape; for us this is what basic training is for. It is a shock to the system that lets them... I imagine that atrocity would have the same power and more." She cocked her head, gaze sweeping along Fusion's body. "That white pony... that was you?"

"I think so. I recognised others from our corral. I wonder how many times they made her do that?" Fusion shook her head, then looked at Halla. "Well? Do you still think that Random is to blame for what happened?"

Halla opened her beak, then closed it again with a snap. "No... Ellisif is right. No one could come out of that unbroken." She closed her eyes, keeping them shut. "But it doesn't matter; if anything it proves my point. She cannot be trusted. You ponies are too strong; if she should go against us again, who's to say she won't do a better job next time?"

"I can be sure!" Gravity hissed. "I can see into her mind as easily as I can pick apart yours!"

"Oh, and you are completely certain, are you?" Halla's white head-feathers rose, her beak snapping to punctuate the words. "What about the day after you check, or the day after that? Are you going to sit in her mind forever to be absolutely sure? She's been twisted by the dogs... a moment's doubt is all it would take to call them down on us again. You can go through her head, but can you fix it?"

Gravity's ears went flat back, practically hidden beneath her mane. "No," she ground out.

"Enough." Fusion nudged Gravity with one wing, making her take a step sideways. "So you will be satisfied if Random cannot contact the dogs?"

Halla nodded slowly. "She's already flightless... but I don't think the Security-issue horn suppressors are good enough. It wouldn't be hard to remove one, given a few kiloseconds of uninterrupted effort."

"No, they won't hold a determined pony. You can break them, even with an active shock collar." Fusion moved a few steps, dipping her head to whisper to Spiral. "I'm sorry, but we have to be sure. It doesn't have to be permanent, just enough to stop Random using her magic for a few megaseconds. After that it won't matter."

"So this is what you wanted me to do." Spiral didn't look up from Random, but Trocar did, his ears flat back and teeth bared.

Fusion nodded, then lifted her head to address the crowd. "Random's horn will be removed to ensure she doesn't present a danger to herself or others." 

Halla nodded, as if Fusion's words were for her alone. "I accept this." Throughout the gryphon half of the crowd, the tension bled away, bodies relaxed and wings, partially spread and ready for flight, were furled.

Fusion lowered her voice, pitching the rest for Spiral, Trocar and Random. "It doesn't have to be like Slipstream; no damage to the horn bed. I know Animal has checked Elliptic and Scalar; he tells me that they will regain full function within half a year, and some ability much before that." She dropped to her knees next to Random, switching her attention between Trocar and Spiral. "There are other benefits, you understand? She won't be without support. Would you rather Animal do it?"

"Without magic I will be useless." Random twitched, uncurling enough to lift her head, fur tear-streaked and matted with mud. "It would be better to let me die."

"I don't agree with her, but Halla does have a point. I know what we've seen, but it's not like we can ever really know you, not second by second. No pony can know their future self... I really don't think you will betray us again, but I don't want you to die, Random. You are my friend and I don't want to hurt you... but I'd rather see you dehorned and alive than whole and dead."

"You should have left us in hiding," Trocar spat, "what gives you the right to decide what happens to ponies? I was right the first time; you, the pair of you, are monsters. All that power you have has turned you into something twisted."

Fusion bowed her head, flicking a wing in Gravity's direction when she felt her sister move. "At the start, power gave me the right, because there was nopony else. Now..." She blinked, head coming up. He's right... there's no way it can be just me and Gravity making the decisions. I can be rid of some of this responsibility... and if something does happen to me, there will be leadership. Her eyes widened, mind racing away down the possibilities, then she shuttered the thoughts. "That will change, after today. For now, though, this is necessary for all of us."

Trocar snorted and opened his mouth, but Spiral shook her head. "I will do it. It's the only way I can be sure. You said... you said there might be something else you could do?"

Fusion nodded. "Yes. Random, you were a teacher once. There are a dozen foals who need a... a guardian." Gryphons, too, but we'll start with ponies...

"Those are the ones that I... that I--" Random swallowed heavily. "I killed their dams, Fusion, you can't ask me to..." Her eyes went distant, the whites showing around her blue irises.

"We could split them up, spread them through the rest of the Naraka dams, but they have already formed a little herd among themselves. It would only hurt them to separate them again. They need stability and a constant adult companion, not just whichever pony happens to have the time." She leant forwards, brushing her muzzle against Random's. "Think of it as your punishment, if you like." Fusion smiled. "Hard labour." 

Some of the fear slipped away from Random's face, and she offered a tentative smile of her own. "It would be kinder to kill me. A dozen foals..."

Fusion nodded, a tight knot of stress uncoiling in her belly. I will bind you to them with chains of duty and devotion, keep you so busy you don't have time to breathe, let alone think.

Random's eyes moved to Trocar. "Sire, it's okay. I... I think I need this to happen. I made a mistake and have to pay the price. You all tried to help me but I didn't listen." Trocar's jaw worked, the big muscles in his cheeks bunching, but stayed silent. "Dam, please do it quickly, I--"

Tears leaked down Spiral's muzzle, pushing past her closed eyelids. "Stay still, baby." A cage of green magic spread over Random's head, then a single crystal chime and a line of pale light cut her horn off near the base.

===

Chaos had long ago traced the communications networks of the bipeds, identifying the critical nodes each polity used to distribute orders and to make plans. Use of particular facilities, or meetings between particular bipeds, always attracted its attention, and it would periodically dip into these spaces. The long, slow interactions of molecules and ions that passed for thought in these organics was both a blessing and a curse; it only needed brief touches to sample the short-term memories of those present, but it took them so long to reach any decision.

Activity at these highly-connected nodes had increased dramatically, and Chaos could feel that the whole system was at a turning point in the behaviour phase-space. A push, perhaps only a single manipulation of one individual, would be enough to move the system from its relatively stable state to one where a dramatic reduction in the numbers of organic minds would be accomplished. The trick was to find that balance-point and nudge the system in the right direction, while avoiding Guardian attention.

The bipeds’ own defence infrastructure was an obvious point, but there were safeguards and no single individual had the ability to trigger the massed launch such an event would require. There was such a weak-point for a single system, not a weapon of physical destruction, but of economics, in the polity self-identified as 'Baur', but it was out of Chaos' reach. Too many of those responsible had their behaviours modified by a control mechanism similar to the one used on the servitors; careful experiments had shown that any attempt at direct manipulation would result in a failure of the target mind's organic infrastructure.

Perhaps some subtle alteration to the high-level order set that was used to coerce the required behaviours from the bipeds? Or to the manufacturing process of the crystal actually supporting the automata-control function? No: the upgrade cycles were measured in hundreds of planetary rotations. The situation it had manufactured might have resolved itself by then. Frustrated, Chaos made another fleeting pass at Baur.  

===

The Strategic Operations Centre of Baur Hive was silent; the full attention of everyone in the dimly-lit room was on the comms screen. This one wonders if the rumours are true, that the Monarch has his fur bleached-- Ininil's mind wandered as the report from External Security, a thing of wonder crafted using only the finest euphemisms, continued interminably onwards. He won't be very impressed by this. Ininil glanced sideways, watching the speaker, a relatively junior officer, visibly try and keep his ears up and whiskers forward. Ininil carefully kept his face blank, attention on his own report.

"What is Intelligence's assessment?" The tone was one of bored indifference coupled with a refined lilt that sounded closer to the melodic intonations of a servitor than a Person, and suited the perfect figure very well.

Ininil looked up from his set of screens, fixing his gaze directly at the camera, rather than the snow-white and absurdly handsome figure on the wall-sized display under it. "Monarch, the information coming out of Lacunae has been very fragmentary; there is the data packet supplied to Auditor Kosigan, but there is no independent verification of--"

The figure scowled and waved a manicured paw with a sharp, choppy motion. "The assessment, General." The Monarch's voice was delicate and full of cultured tones, a product of careful thaumic surgery, and was completely at odds with the harshness of his expression.

On either side of the wall-screen, actually within the operations centre with Ininil, two other figures stirred. The pair, direct representatives of the Monarch's reach and a reminder of the risks of failure, were always there, so much part of the furniture and so motionless that you might be fooled into thinking they were statues. A servitor and a gryphon, both the same unrelieved carbon-black from feather to coat to equipment harness, switched their blank gazes to him. The gryphon's beak opened slightly, revealing a pale pink throat framed by dark razors.

Ininil matched that gape for a moment, his own jaw hanging loose, then a feeling like ice water ran down his spine and he sat bolt upright. "The Hammer strike was on target, Monarch, but it is unlikely to have the effect the Court would desire. This new ability of the servitors--" He glanced at the soot-coated pony, but it didn't even flick an ear. "--renders them supremely able to evade a direct assault with even the slightest forewarning. There will be reprisals, there must be. This one fears that they have already achieved a critical mass of recruits -- Lacunae reported over a thousand -- if they are truly working with the original rogues, and not just blindly following because of a lack of valid orders..." 

He swallowed, looking down at his trembling paws for a second, then laying them flat on his desk. "Monarch, this is a worst-case scenario. The Blessing's conditioning was never intended to prevent a mass uprising. It may be too late to stop this rebellion without resorting to..." There was a prickling sensation in his head, warning tendrils of pain that crept from the base of his spine and down his neck to curl around his chest. "...special measures." Ininil kept his face fixed forward, ignoring the whispered comments and gasps from around the operations centre and fighting back the discomfort. Everyone here has clearance; this one will be fine, he thought, trying to will the desire into the little bundle of thaumically active material bonded to the inside of his skull, just above the brainstem.

===

Only a few seconds for the glacial organic thought processes, but an age for Chaos. This particular biped's distress was clear as the coercion mechanism started to activate, crudely prodding certain reward/punishment pathways in its organic networks. The cause of this was what drew Chaos' attention; those in the chamber were the prime-movers in the polity's defence structures. Such meetings were rare, and Chaos ran and reran the memories of every entity in the chamber, creating short-lived models of the minds and interrogating them as to the meaning of the discussions. 

Its presence became more concentrated in the local space, pulling on enough of the automata's resources that it started to affect their performance. Guardians would be coming, drawn by this anomalous activity, but still it hesitated, reaching for an elusive understanding and a prediction of what would happen next. It suddenly had an answer: this was part of what it was looking for, not the tipping point, but a step to enable that decision junction to be used. The coercion mechanism the polity used on its own members could not be tracelessly altered while active, but it looked very much like it was about to be--

The automata it parasitised were failing and Chaos realised it had stayed too long; Guardians had arrived and were cleaning out its influence, eating away at the corners of its mind. It fled into the dark, slow spaces near its decoy, using that isolated fragment to lure away its pursuers.

===

"To even mention that is dangerous, General," the Monarch hissed, his perfect ears folding back and lips pulling away from teeth even whiter than his fur. The pressure from his gaze was matched by that from the two guards, backed up by a glimmer of magic around the servitor's horn.

"It might be a useful excuse to humble Lacunae... we would be doing the Court's work for them, and with far less damage than multiple Hammer strikes." This came from Argor, head of the Cabinet, seated a little further down the conference table. There was a sense of discomfort in her tone, as she blindly searched the space of acceptable words for ones that wouldn't trigger a response from her own implant. "There will be censure, but they may even thank us... and someone will have to act as administrators for Lacunae territory."

Thank you thank you thank you. "Excellent point, Minister," Ininil wheezed, the pressure in his head slowly building. "It should at least be discussed, if it suits the Monarch." He bowed his head and waited, the space between his shoulder blades itching. 

There was a rattling noise; the sound of someone drumming manicured claws on a desktop. "Very well. Look at this one." The voice shifted tone, moving from anger to command, and the words twisted something within Ininil's head. "The Monarch releases those present from the geas, for the duration of this meeting only." 

==

The Guardians were still there! This was the best place in space-time, in all the available dimensions, to effect the changes it wanted, and the Guardians were still there! It dithered, sending stealthy probes into the automata, monitoring their activities. Panic subsided; they were just finishing their clean-up, the normal destroy-and-rebuild approach, and were moving away.

Chaos knew the modifications it had to make, not to the minds, but their automata-connected controlling mechanisms, enclosed within the calcium-based container for their organic networks. The mechanism had switched to a passive state, rendering the mind it controlled vulnerable to Chaos' manipulations. It ignored that tempting target and reached in, connecting to all the passivated mechanisms and altering them slightly.

How long this modification would survive depended on the inspection cycle the bipeds used; there were random elements based on the decay of unstable nuclei and it was not easy to predict or manipulate the process without detection. This was not necessarily a problem, as it was likely to be many planetary rotations away, and until that time Chaos had a way to deactivate the coercion mechanism at will.

==

There was a near silent sigh from around the table, and Ininil wasn't the only one to slump slightly. "That is appreciated, Monarch."

"This one is interested that the General thinks that Strix is actually a workable solution to the rebellion; he always considered it to be a first strike weapon only useful in degrading the enemy's infrastructure. It was his impression that it would always be less useful than Project Seraphim--" The Monarch's expression soured, his muzzle wrinkling. "--should it ever get off the ground."

"There has been some success, Monarch; the silicate/alumina metabolism has taken in the latest tranche of hatchlings. The one adult we managed to create in the original batch continues to grow in power--"

"But not in control, if this one remembers the outcome of the last test." The Monarch was leaning forwards again, muzzle cradled in blunted and polished claws, his eyes fixed on Ininil. "This one can see that he needs to spend some time in a full project review. Now, back to the Strix project. Has there really been that much progress in penetrating the production chains of the other Hives?"

Something else that is true; the Monarch doesn't read the intel summaries. Ininil resisted a dangerous urge to sigh. "Yes, Monarch. Our modified lucerne crop has been found in the majority of forage fields supplying plants manufacturing the universal servitor supplement; these ones gave the other Hives the opportunity to steal the genome and they appear to have done so. Testing of locally-sourced supplement pellets all show that they are using our lucerne as feedstock, and that the prion precursor is present and does survive processing. None of the other Hives have shown signs of reverse-engineering the extra protein, or even detecting it." Ininil risked a tiny smile. Of course, this one also doesn't know the full consequences of Strix activation. There were those unwanted epigenetic effects...  "There would have been an outcry if they had."

The Monarch gave a sharp nod of his perfect head, bone-white whiskers flexing with mirrored amusement. "This one is pleased. General; this is an excellent idea. The General will prepare a full briefing on Strix, along with a selection of strike options and expected remediation after World Court censure. Ensure the herds are at full readiness; this one wants to be able to use the weapon at short notice."