Orgon watched the telemetry, beamed straight from Luna and the few high-orbit defence satellites that had survived the servitor's retaliation and the resultant ablation cascade. At least they picked a spot far from everywhere to hide. The immediate collateral damage predictions were light; all non-essential aircraft had been grounded since the original heliostat attack, and there were precious few People in that terrain. The longer-term assessment did not make for such pleasant reading; no radioisotope problems, but the dust plume looked to reduce global temperature by over a degree and would no doubt trigger food shortages. It's going to be a cold winter.
The resolution from this height -- the closest sensor was up in an elliptic polar orbit and currently falling into the ablation zone -- was too poor to do more than pick out the shapes of individual mountains. It would get better, but it was a trade-off between resolution and survival time. The lower it got, the more chance of being struck by the rapidly multiplying fragments filling the more useful orbits. There was light cloud cover over the target site, little more than a high, wispy cirrus, but enough to degrade the image further.
The other displays showed a feed from the weapons themselves, or purely technical data summarised by machine-made schematics, and it was these that were of the most use. Members of the Synod occupied the remaining area of the wallscreen, their drawn faces reduced to thumb-claw sized windows. "Will it work, Orgon?" Councillor Indutu said, one paw playing nervously with the fur on his head. He'd been doing it ever since the conference had started, and had reduced his normally impeccable coat to a tangled mess.
About as well as force-quenching the Pit's power reserves, Orgon thought, keeping his face blank. "It's hard to say, Councillor. We should be able to catch many of them, but there's no such thing as a real surprise. Indutu will recall that Orgon was opposed to this move."
"The Court has access to all of our systems; they would have found out and ordered the attack eventually," Indutu muttered, "and at a time or place not of the Synod's choosing."
Orgon inclined his head. "...so if the Fusion or Gravity rogues do not try to save their kith and kin, or if they run -- and these ones know they can -- what then? The Councillor has seen the same classified research that Orgon has, he knows that the scientists are correct, despite the Church's teachings and popular belief. The servitors are fully sapient. So what would a Person do when faced with this kind of attack?" He smiled, lips drawing back in a grin that was almost a snarl. "A Person who has the offensive capability of an attack carrier battlegroup?" The questions were rhetorical and he waved a paw, cutting off any replies and encompassing the world map and its shaded areas representing the known positions of other Hive militaries. "This one will tell you what will happen next -- they will seek revenge... and it will be nothing so bloodless as the loss of our orbital industry."
"Your plan would have taken too long, and if the agent was discovered these ones would have noth--" Indutu froze, eyes fixed on his own set of displays.
Red light was creeping over the orbital schematic, highlighting a collection of debris-ring fragments that had abruptly changed course. Another new ability, he thought glumly, and no evidence of direct telekinesis. At these speeds, even the slightest impact... The cluster of icons representing the weapons split apart, part of the vanguard jetting sideways to collide with the intruders. More sensors tracked the resultant cloud of plasma, but the difference in velocity was so large that it was actually heading in the opposite direction. This one thinks it might... The apparent diameter of the world, viewed from the lead projectile, expanded dramatically and, for a brief moment, a brilliant bead of light appeared at the centre of the image. Then the display went dead, all the telemetry windows switching to post-mission analysis.
This is where we find out what they will do.
===
~~~discontinuity~~~
--Metal Matrix, carrying a quartet of struggling gryphons, appeared in the congested airspace above the valley he'd found no more than a hundred seconds ago. The empty, wind-scoured rock and ice-filled place was filled with fliers that packed the ground and air like scattered autumn leaves. The pastel colour of 'pony' was in the distinct minority; most of the fur and feathers were the duns, greys and red-browns of all the rescued gryphons.
This is not going to work, he thought, releasing his reluctant passengers, who flew away screaming insults, trying to find their friends or squad-mates. The gryphons seemed to be coping relatively well; already they were sorting themselves into distinct groupings, directed by shouted orders from individuals who strutted about with flared wings or flew with raised head feathers.
The ponies, though...
Panic was obvious; small groups, oftentimes only a dam and foal as few of the ponies knew each other, were dashing away, flying where the foal was old enough, or carried screaming in fields of telekinesis. Many of the foals had been separated from their dams; too young for magic or flight -- or even sapient thought, in some cases -- and were left scrabbling over the ice-covered boulders that choked the floor of the glacial valley. There was some attempt at order, but it was from individuals and without coordination, and they were swept aside or simply ignored. Some teams of gryphons, obviously dispatched to try and assist, were flying about, but kept their distance after being struck by the first flash of magic from a panicking pony.
"Maker!" he groaned, feeling the fatigue from a constant string of teleports coupling with the fuzzy feeling that came with the sheer mental effort to actually visualise the complex sequence of patterns required to chain the jumps together. "We're falling apart." Backdraft! Where are you, mare? You know how to do this stuff! He inhaled sharply, remembering the look of fixed determination on his old teacher's face when he'd taken his share of the injured from the improvised underground medical bays, and a horrible suspicion grew in his mind.
He cast about, hunting for a pony that wasn't panicking and was still on the ground, when his gaze fastened on a stallion the colour of daffodil petals. "Packet Switcher!" he screamed out, folding his wings and diving on the pony, who was trying to help a group of fifty injured survive the sudden shock of exposure to this sub-arctic environment. His magic covered the little group with yellow light, building a little shelter that forced back the cold and blocked the wind.
Packet's head came up, ears forward as he found Metal. "What's going on, Metal? Where's Fusion, I don't--"
There was an edge of desperation to the stallion's voice, a desire to fly away from the threatening, swirling mass of predator-shapes that covered the sky. "Where's Backdraft?" Metal demanded, his harsh tones making the nearest ponies lift their heads and fold back their ears.
Packet stared back, ears drooping and mouth trembling. "She said the others were more important. She's still at the base."
Metal snarled a wordless curse, twisting his wings to change from a dive to a sharp climb, building the return teleport pattern in his head. He pulled his wings in, reaching the apex of his arc and, eyes closed, folded his telekinesis around his body like an iron-shod paw, then pushed--
~~~discontinuity~~~
--slamming into air made near-solid by his conserved velocity. Metal's vision greyed out and his power flickered, sending him tumbling through the sky. Gasping, wings flailing and trying to bite the air, he fought the unwanted speed, finally getting control of his wings and braking violently. High overhead there were a pair of brilliant stars, one a solar white and the other a deep, deep violet, flaring so bright that for the moment he thought it was through shadow sight and not normal vision. The landscape below was cast with the colours of noon coupled with eye-aching purple highlights, turning the trees an unsettling shade of black. More light, this time a point of hard blue-white that felt warm even at this distance.
Metal squinted against the lurid glare, momentarily transfixed by the way the shadows of rock and tree distorted and suddenly stretched, as if one of the light sources had accelerated violently. There was the laggard crack of a sonic boom and a sudden feeling of magic, brutally strong, washing over him like a tide of burning ants. Fusion and Gravity, they are trying-- He dipped his head, sweeping the underground complex by shadow sight, then--
~~~discontinuity~~~
--stumbling to a halt in a dark passageway, blinking to clear the afterimages from his eyes. It was too slow, so he conjured a floating ball of light, bright enough to light the whole tunnel. "Backdraft! Come on, we have to go!" Stubborn mare! Is... is she hiding from me? A quick flash of shadow sight revealed a glimmer of horn and wing, the only one in the complex, lying on one of the abandoned sleeping pallets. Metal recognized Backdraft's colours; she had her head tilted up as if she was trying to look through the intervening lengths of rock to the battle going on high above.
"Go and find some other pony, Metal Matrix," Backdraft said sharply, voice coming out of the dark and echoing off the rock walls. "I know what's coming and I'll only be a burden. You need the able-bodied."
"Oh no, there's no rest for you," he said, matching her tone and trotting into the sleeping chamber. She kept her eyes closed, but her ears twisted to follow his approach. "It's chaos at the other end; you've got to help organize us." He reached out to lift her up, the teleport pattern forming in his head, but she deftly neutralised his power, deflecting the forces into random buffets that made the rubbish of the hasty evacuation dance and skitter across the stone floor.
"You don't need another cripple. Talk to Cooper Pair or one of the other rescue team ponies." She opened her eyes and stared at him. "I'm not going to let you take me, so you should just go and save more ponies."
"Nopony knows them like they know you!” Metal let his magic die, dropping to his belly on the stone floor. "Then I'm not going anywhere, either." There was a surge of magic, then another, strong enough to make them both flinch. Waves of sensation, like static electricity or the feeling of standing next to high-voltage lines, flowed over Metal's fur. He held his breath, willing his face into a calm mask. Can't be long now; I bet Fusion and Grav will have to wait until it's only a few seconds out. He held the teleport spell's pattern steady, only a moment of effort away from the real.
"Fine," she said, giving a little whinny of frustration, the glimmer of her magic, held ready to deflect his own, going dark.
Metal breathed out with an explosive snort, magic grabbing Backdraft and lifting her clear of the floor. His wings flicked out and down with a sudden downstroke and he pushed--
~~~discontinuity~~~
--appearing in clear air near a flock of mares with foals, telekinesis reaching out to steady Backdraft as she started to tumble. There were dozens of ponies, far too many to take, and he shared a desperate glance with Backdraft. His old teacher's face was the mirror of his own, then went blank, drained of all emotion. Even at this distance, nearly over the horizon from their base, the boom and pulse of brutally strong magic was obvious.
The other ponies, all those from Naraka, noticed them a moment later. The closest, a grey mare, thrust out her foal, a squirming, coal-black colt, in a field of pearly magic. "Take him!" she shrieked. "Take my foal first."
Metal froze inside, instinctively holding on to the youngster, eyes captured by the fear on the mare's face. But I won't be coming ba-- The thought died, replaced with a feeling of helpless anger. She knows!
"His name is Logic," she called out, wings pumping as she accelerated away.
There was a flurry of other shouts from the remaining ponies; more foals passed over. "I'll hold them," Backdraft said, her calm expression belied by the choked sound of her voice, "focus on being ready to leave."
Metal nodded, keeping the next teleport spell in mind, modifying it to match the number of ponies held by Backdraft. The air temperature dropped as he drained more and more energy from the local area; only holding one thing made the magic simpler, but the effort was just as great. Contact neighs from the collection of foals, high and frantic, cut through the air, battering at his concentration. Backdraft, I can't carry them all-- He kept the thought to himself, ignoring the building pain in his head as she added another foal to her collection.
"We'll keep your foals safe," Backdraft shouted. "Metal, move--!"
He pushed--
~~~discontinuity~~~
--appearing at the next jump-point. Metal dived, heading for the mountainside below. "I'm going back, you keep a hold of the foals when I drop you off--"
Light bloomed on the horizon, far brighter than the rising sun.
===
Katabatic's wingshoulders ached, a burn that spread from the middle of her back and reached around her barrel and along her ribs. The patch of bare fur on her flank generated a pulse of pain with each beat, the L-shaped surgical scar feeling like it was going to tear apart. Her nostrils were flared, breath coming in deep gasps, but there never seemed to be enough air reaching her lungs. Tucked against her side, Thunder neighed again, a high, fragile sound nearly lost amid the roaring in her ears, and struggled in her telekinetic grasp, his whole body trembling and shaking. "Stay still!" she screamed back, magic flickering for an instant.
Ahead were the rest of the herd, a distant scatter of pastel points that were steadily drawing away. There were a few ponies still with her -- mostly the marginal flyers and those in partial moult -- and a number of gryphons in the same situation. I should have stayed with the infirmary, I've not flown like this for a gigasecond. If I was still on the weather teams-- Living at Naraka, with only a few gentle crossings to get to her medical examinations at the Institute, had really taken a toll on her endurance.
The closest flyer was a gryphon, a brown-furred creature with dirty-white feathers on his head. The forced-flight was also causing him problems; the strokes of his right wing were short and choppy, like it had been sprained recently, and he gasped with each stroke, beak wide open and sides working like bellows. Unlike any of the others, he wore a partial harness, an arrangement of straps and equipment panniers that ran along the middle of his back and between his forelegs, with a compact tubular thing fitting snugly over one shoulder.
She strained her wings, climbing over the next ridge, now high enough that it was bare rock rather than covered with a carpet of trees, and headed straight across the valley towards the next one. There were lights in the sky where the rest of herd was scattered, little pulses of pastel colour, and the flying ponies started to vanish. What about me!? Muscles burning, Katabatic fell into a shallow glide, her speed bleeding away. How far do I have to go? She turned her head, scanning the horizon behind her, seeing nothing but more of the same the valleys and rock she'd been flying over. Am I safe yet? High overhead, back where the refuge was, there were two points of light, one violet and the other white-gold. That must be them, those strange ponies. There was a subtle itching sensation at the base of her horn, the telltale signature of magic.
The gryphon had matched her actions, gliding along no more than a dozen wingspans away. "Can you push on?" he shouted between gasps, "we've got to get over the next ridge, at least, or stay behind this one. Too exposed here. Hug the valley floor."
Why do I have to do that? Losing height only to gain it will be so hard. The ponies ahead of her had not done this manoeuvre, and were making far better progress. Katabatic opened her mouth but there was no room for speech so just shook her head.
He snapped his beak together, scaly talons opening slightly where they were coiled under his belly, and angled downwards to skim the rocks. "What's your name, pony?" he called out.
"Katabatic," she gasped out, maintaining her altitude.
"I'm Olvir. Katabatic, will you please do this for me?"
There was such a note of pleading and fear in his voice that Katabatic nodded jerkily. She flapped her wings once, then twice, trying to return to her previous rhythm, then settled into a slightly steeper glide to build speed and rest. Always harder to start again--
There was a light, like that of the noonday sun, from somewhere high and behind them, casting the dark evergreens on the lower slopes of the valley into sharp relief. With the glare came a pulse of heat, not unpleasant, but shockingly unexpected for its sudden bloom. A moment later there was another flash, adding to the first before it had really faded, and the heat jumped. The angle of the light shifted, like the source was a little lower in the sky, the shadow of the ridge they'd just passed jumping up the opposite side of the valley. At her side, the gryphon gave a shriek, folding his wings and diving for the valley floor, curving his course to head back towards the light. "Get down into the shadows--"
There was another soundless pulse, then another, each brighter and hotter than the last, coming faster and faster. Eyes nearly shut against the glare and heat, Katabatic pulled Thunder close and followed the gryphon down, his body little more than a wavering arrowhead against the light. A breathless moment later and she fell into shadow, the relative shelter an immediate relief from the burning heat. In the direction they'd been travelling, the exposed side of the valley was now too bright to look at without becoming dazzled, and the sky overhead was clearing, the very clouds evaporating, in a silent wave that spread across the heavens like the ripple of a stone dropped in a pond.
Eyes starting to adjust to the glare, Katabatic tucked Thunder against her belly, holding his head against her chest to protect his eyes, and spiralled down towards the trees to where the gryphon was waiting. He hovered there, just above the canopy, body hunched like he was expecting a blow. "Stay in the air," he gabbled, "I don't know what's going to happen. Even if the strike doesn't hit the grou--"
In total silence the light flared, a hundred times brighter and bluer than before and, just for an instant, Katabatic saw the distant specks of flying ponies flash yellow and start to fall, trailing plumes of smoke. The valley wall opposite did the same, immediately bursting into mad orange flames across the whole exposed area. Heat, reflected from the rocks and burning trees a kilolength away, beat at her body, stinging her muzzle tip. Thunder squealed and wriggled, fighting to be free of her magic so he could run and run and run away from this terrible place, but she held him tight, wings folding around them both. Katabatic started to fall and her magic pulsed again, an instinctively cast force-field bubble materialising with the sound of shattering glass.
Branches bent and cracked as she dropped through the stumpy forest, slowing her with jerky impacts that were transmitted as draining pulses of fatigue, until they came to a rest amid the relative darkness of the tree roots. She held the field up, curled around Thunder and heart beating so fast that it sounded like a roaring in her ears, waiting for the next blow or searing burst of heat that would reach in and kill them both. There was a sudden rumbling roar and the ground bucked under her flank, a whip-crack of motion that flicked the glassy sphere of magic into the air and shattered the trees all around. There was more falling, and the steady patter of smouldering branches and leaves, but the hungry sound had gone.
The heat was also changing; the appalling open-flame burn replaced with a steadier glow, while the light visible through her closed eyelids was no-longer an electric blue-white and had faded back through the spectrum to a deep red. Katabatic opened her eyes, then let out a groan and collapsed her force field; the sudden influx of painfully hot air made the sweat steam from her flanks. Is that it? Did we survive? A sudden laugh bubbled up, dying as she looked back at where they had come from.
There was a towering column of ash climbing above the ridge, which itself was lower and more jagged than it had been when she'd flown over it. Collapsed... we could have been buried. The thought flashed through her numb mind, but didn't have any real weight to it. The tower was huge but distant, so large that it didn't seem possible it could be real. The turbulent, dirty-brown mass was still climbing, capped with an incandescent toroid the colour of blood. Veins and streamers of roiling vapour circulated and expanded in the torus, colours fading through the black-body spectrum. Heat radiated from the cloud, like the sky itself was on fire, the mass of burning, vaporised rock steadily spreading outwards.
Mesmerised, Katabatic jumped upwards to get a better view of where she'd been no more than a kilosecond ago, pulling Thunder up along with her. The foal was quiet and still now, allowing himself to be tucked against her belly without a struggle. A few fast downstrokes took her above the level of shattered trees and tumbled rocks, where she could see the base of the mushroom cloud.
Something, a wall of mist or haze, was expanding outwards from the confused wreckage at the impact point. Already halfway to her location, it stretched as far as she could see, and there were... Katabatic wrinkled her muzzle, the half-forgotten magic of her weather team training making her horn sparkle. What kind of cloud is that? She tasted the atmosphere, pushing her perception out as far as she could. Pressure and temperature, changing sharply in the areas the wall of mist crossed. The thing was closer now, and in its wake were dark shapes, tumbling and churning as if in slow motion.
Shockwave! She folded her wings and dropped, head turning this way and that to hunt for somewhere to hide. There was motion amid the wreckage under her hooves, a brown-and-white shape stirring under a pile of broken branches. Without thinking, she shoved the wood aside and dragged out the gryphon, picking him up and holding him close. He struggled, but it was little more than the efforts Thunder was making to get away from the unknown predator she'd thrust so close to him.
There's nowhere to go. They won't be coming back for me. A feeling of calm settled over Katabatic and she cleared a space around them, then folded her legs and lay down. Casting another force field, this one only just big enough to hold the three of them, she pressed her muzzle against Thunder, working her teeth into his thin mane. Perhaps it will be enough. Thunder started to calm, leaning into her touch, so Katabatic closed her eyes and tried to lose herself in the simple feeling of contact.
Outside, the sky turned blood-red and the world howled in rage.
===
Fusion poured all her strength into the packet of ionised gas. Compressed and heated to the point where atoms were completely stripped of electrons, it nonetheless had a density close to that of uranium. The thing accelerated away from her, tight-wrapped layers of magnetism and plasma propelled by her magic to the point where it was little more than a streak. Subjective time was slowing as it seemed to do when she exercised her power, but still her target was invisible and felt only through the sharing feedback from Gravity.
The feeling of Gravity's power, even at this remove, stirred something at the back of her own mind. The connection she felt to the sun, that distant point of warmth, had developed a kind of depth as time passed. Where before it was just a source of power, now there was a sense of complexity, a feeling that she just had to make the right request for it to... The feeling was elusive and she let it slide away, returning her attention to Gravity and the plasma bolus, now high above the atmosphere and accelerating rapidly.
There was a shape to the sensations Gravity was experiencing, steadily increasing in resolution as the projectiles swept closer. Clusters of small points were at the front, leading by hundreds of kilolengths, while behind that came the main shot. It was a narrow, elongated thing, no wider than the stride of a good canter, but longer than a levitation train carriage.
She can't get a grip on it... Fusion kept the thought to herself, drinking in the flow of sensations coming in from Gravity while partitioning off any of her own. Waves of faux-fatigue rolled through her body, a shadow of the actual effect the magic was having on Gravity. ...and even if I hit the thing, what will happen next? All that energy has to go somewhere. Will I make things worse? What else do I have? The trajectory of the projectile was shifting southwards, away from the evacuation flights, but by tiny amounts. Grav, you can't do it. We have to go.
You go! I'm not leaving until our ponies are safe-- The thought broke off as a giant shudder wracked Gravity's body. Her wings went loose and Fusion transferred some of her attention to holding her up. --I can do it, I must do it. This last was barely detectable, lost amid the boom and rush of power roaring through Gravity.
Like I'm going to leave you! Fusion risked a glance below them; by shadow sight the base was empty of winglights, except a pair high up on a ridge overlooking the valley. A whisper of familiar magic pulsed, then they were gone. Too many people still within range. She measured the distances, constructing the teleportation pattern in a protected part of her mind. If only I could cast it on the projectile! Light suddenly bloomed overhead, at perhaps twice their altitude, a fierce blue-white that carried a stinging slap of heat with it. Fusion hardened her defences, surrounding them both in a bubble of darkness that dimmed the actinic pinpoint to merely 'too bright', rather than lethal.
What happens if it strikes as a rain of fragments and not at a single point? An instant vision filled her mind: not one monstrous explosion, but a blanket of fire that covered everything from horizon to horizon, a shell of random, megaton-range detonations. Far enough out to hit our evacuation site? Her magic twitched and a moment later the pulse of plasma flashed through the space that should have been occupied by the dogs' projectile, but without striking it. Fusion gritted her teeth and let it go, the power she'd been pumping into it returning like a physical blow and filling her body with fizzing energy. She diverted the magic outwards, shoring up their defences still further.
Gravity cried out, a half gasp-half scream, then another light pulsed, far closer, the lazy arc of the shockwave reaching for them even as the heat washed over and around them both. Gravity's magic faltered, a sudden dip in the brutal flood of power, and Fusion pushed--
~~~discontinuity~~~
--appearing above a mixed flock of ponies and gryphons, magic spearing out like the jaws of a dragonfly and pulling as many close as she could reach. Light, too much for her defences, flooded in and overpressurised the complex layered fields designed to bend it safely away, threatening to burst them inward and cook them all. She released the outer shells with a thunderous crack, but this allowed the light in, dazzle-bright even through closed eyelids, along with heat like a physical impact. Gravity started to struggle, her torn-loose magic whiplashing and trying to reconnect with the now distant spell locus--
~~~discontinuity~~~
--the slam of icy air that would have knocked them unconscious and snapped bones if it wasn't for the iron grasp of telekinesis wrapped around every body that she held. The wind died from a brutal hurricane to the more familiar rush of mere falling, and Fusion opened her wings, her grasp becoming more tenuous and vanishing as each person started to fly under their own power.
"I could have stopped it!" Gravity screamed, eyes wide and ears flat back. Her horn glowed a deep violet, random waves of telekinesis making the nearest people tumble in the air.
Fusion looked past Gravity, at the distant horizon. It looked like the sun was coming up, but far too fast, large and bright. A lurid yellow ball was visibly rising, flattening and spreading as it did so, the colour bleeding down through the spectrum toward a sullen red. "I was in your head, Grav... you couldn't," she said softly, then reached out and spun Gravity around.
Her wings flailed and her horn flashed brightly; Fusion let her go as if stung, backstroking her wings to give Gravity a little room. "Don't you dare--" The shout trailed off into a moan as her eyes locked onto the silently climbing mushroom cloud. Tears started to flow down her muzzle and she shook them away. "I'll kill them, I'll kill them all. For every pony dead I'll burn an arcology, I'll--" Power gathered around her, darkness flooding out like a tide. Ponies and gryphons scattered, the airspace around them emptying.
Breathing heavily, Fusion pushed out her own strength, folding it around Gravity and pulling her close. This time she didn't resist, and let her magic falter and die. "They want a war, sister," Fusion said mournfully, "so now they’re going to get one."
===
~~~discontinuity~~~
--no! You can't! The world of wide, rocky vistas had vanished in a pulse of purple magic, replaced in a blink by a tumbling, confused mess of sky and ground. Random tried to pull her thoughts together, tried to resist the horribly powerful grip of the youngster holding her still, but the sudden jolting deceleration knocked the wind out of her. Celestia was just on the horizon and--
~~~discontinuity~~~
--another scene, a wide flat expanse of water visible through clouds lit amber from the sunrise against a dark sky, then a glare of light from the wrong direction turning everything a hard blue-white and making dazzle-phosphenes dance across her eyes--
~~~discontinuity~~~
--an icy valley, filled with the fluttering of ponies and gryphons, lit by bright white light from somewhere close to the horizon. The shock of deceleration passed and they were falling; Random opened her wings then cursed. I can't die like this, killed by some idiot foal who doesn't understand what he's done. She slowed a little, but without feathers her flight magic refused to bite the air with anything like the necessary force. At her side, the youngster, front legs tucked in and hinds flopping uselessly, spread his clipped wings, although they did little more than turn the plummet into a steep glide.
His magic reached for her again and she tried to bat it away, but he still had some of that unnatural strength. She matched his speed then was drawn closer, his horn glowing ever brighter. "You've ruined everything, just let me die--!" There was a sound like breaking glass then she struck a glassy smooth surface, legs splaying as she tumbled down the purple-glowing wall, coming to rest at the nadir of a large force-field sphere. The youngster hung at the centre of the field, an expression of pain and concentration on his face, eyes fixed on the ground below them.
Random glanced downwards; they were still falling, but more slowly, as the globe caught the air. Still too fast, she thought, looking longingly at the approaching ice-covered valley wall. The shape of the field fluttered, warping as he tried to change its profile into something less aerodynamic, and the varying forces pushed her this way and that on the bottom of the field. Finally he ran out of height and they struck, skittering and bouncing down the scree slope, coming to rest wedged between two boulders.
Dazed and gasping, Random struggled to her hooves as the field died. Still several bodylengths in the air, the youngster dropped to the broken, snowy ground, wings whirring frantically. He skidded to a halt a short distance away, wild-eyed and breathing heavily, horn just starting to glow and coat his hindquarters with purple fire. Random let out a sharp whinny and stalked forwards, her own horn flashing gold as magic closed around the youngster's throat.
He clumsily deflected the surge of magic attempting to throttle him, then tried to grab her with his own power. Random cried out, her ears flat back, lashing out with her forehooves; he squealed in turn as one connected with his midsection. "Stop, please!" he gasped, concentration wavering and the telekinetic field holding his legs vanishing. He slid sideways, a hind leg getting caught between two sharp-edged rocks. This spun him about, slamming his muzzle into another rock buried under a thin layer of snow. The rest of his power vanished and Random staggered free.
"You took me away! How could you do that? I was about to meet my Master and help to save you all!" Random spat the words at him, her ugly, naked wings flicking with short, sharp motions. He looked back at her uncomprehendingly, eyes unfocused, and she reared, hooves flicking out to strike him in the ribs. He squealed again, legs and wings churning in an effort to get up and escape, but only succeeded in throwing up a spray of stinging rock fragments.
Random hauled him upright, then paused. The angle of the light and its colour had changed, slowly fading, dropping through the spectrum from solar yellow through to firelight orange and red. What-- Involuntarily, she looked towards the light, seeing for the first time that it was coming from the cap of a climbing, expanding mushroom-shape on the distant horizon. "W--" She stuttered to a halt, jaw hanging open. "What is that?" she whispered.
"You called the Masters and they came," the youngster said, craning his own neck to watch the fireball. He coughed and winced, taking a deep, shuddering breath. "Did you not listen to anything anypony told you?" he said plaintively. "You called them down on us."
"No." Random shook her head, a feeling of sickness spreading through her belly. "I won't believe it. My Master promised that they would try and save you all." There was a heat coming off the fireball, easily felt despite the obvious distance. The thing must be vast... and how far did we jump for it to be night again? Her knees wobbled, the big muscles in her hindquarters flexing and tensing. "Oh Maker, what have I done?"
Her head whipped around and she stared at the flocks of ponies and gryphons. There were faint cries and screams rising up from the valley floor; alien crow-like things from the gryphons and achingly familiar contact neighs from the ponies. Lost and separated families, she thought, breath catching in her throat. A final group teleported in; trailing smoke they tumbled through the air before being caught by those below. There were far fewer ponies in the valley than had been at the base, and no more were jumping in to join them.
Loose stone sprayed from beneath Random's hooves as she leapt into a dangerous, headlong flight, galloping down the slope and away, trying to escape from the screams of pain and betrayal.
===
~~~discontinuity~~~
--a choking fall of hot ash and pulverised rock swept across the cleared bubble of the wormhole terminus, making Metal Matrix gasp and his eyes water. Snorting heavily to expel the dust, he conjured a local telekinetic field to push the particles back, something he'd frequently used when engaged in industrial training, but it did nothing to hold back the smell. There were magics he could have used to clean the air fully, isolating oxygen and nitrogen from the contaminants, but he didn't use them. Instead, he inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring, fixing the near-overpowering stench of burning wood and vapourised stone in his mind.
This, this is what the dogs will bring to us all, he thought, wings stirring the heated air, then blinked and switched to shadow sight to inspect the blasted landscape below. Nothing... did nopony manage to shelter from the flash? I'm sure this is still on the evacuation route. He scowled into the unrelieved blackness, then returned to normal vision. They wanted us dead this badly... well, two can play at that game.
Vague plans for revenge forming at the back of his mind, Metal swept over the mountain peak and into the space beyond. The forested valleys had been scoured clean of anything resembling living trees, with the occasional pitiful remnant sheltered in deep cracks and crevasses. There was no snow on the higher peaks and exposed valley ridges, nothing but naked rock covered by a thickening layer of the soot that was raining down from the inky clouds above.
There were familiar shapes here and there amid the rocks, and he resolutely checked each one, even though there was no glimmer of light via shadow sight. Most were little more than cooked remains, blackened and twisted skeletons that could only really be identified by the presence of a crystalline horn or the curve of a beak, but occasionally some body part had been protected and a trace of fur or feather survived. All caught in the air, he thought. They had no chance, no chance at all. I'm not sure there's any point, but... just one more jump, he thought, eyeing the darkness ahead. Filtration spells at the ready this time--
~~~discontinuity~~~
--the air was clean but stiflingly hot and humid. It was darker than the previous location, perhaps only as bright as a clear night under a quarter-moon. Metal Matrix let his eyes adjust to the light, scanning the ground. There was no soot-fall; here, directly under the cap of the mushroom, the clouds were still rising in updrafts that made themselves felt even at this relatively low altitude. The familiar arrangement of ridges and peaks had changed; great rents had been blown through the lines of glacially-carved valley walls and some of the mountains had collapsed. Fresh rock was exposed everywhere, sharp fault-planes created when the impact shock shattered the land.
There's no way, but... Soaring on outstretched wings, Metal closed his eyes and swept the ground with shadow sight. He blinked, dispelling the vague shadow-shapes of the land, then restarted the magic. It can't be! Wings folded, he fell in a tight spiral, sweeping in to land on an unstable scree slope. Right there, lying on a little circle of green branches amid the rock, was a skewbald mare. She was flat on her side, either unconscious or dead. Trying to tuck under one limp wing was a foal; on seeing Metal he let out a high-pitched squeal of a whinny, trembling and uncertain.
"Ah, you poor little thing," Metal said in a calm voice, although it came out sounding thick and heavy to his own ears. "Stay there and I'll just take a look at your dam." The foal backed away as he approached, but didn't try to run. "You must still be alive," he muttered, "otherwise I wouldn't be able to see your hornlight." More magic deepened the examination, showing that she was still breathing and had a heartbeat. He sighed, tucking one wing over the youngster, horn glowing as he took a subtle grip around the foal's midsection.
"Right, let's see if..." He pulled out a bottle of stimulant from his panniers, the kind that came with a set of impressive warning stickers, and gently sprayed a tiny amount on the inside of the mare's lips. There was a pause, no more than a few seconds, then her eyes flew open and she inhaled sharply, legs thrashing as she fought to rise. "Hey! Steady -- you are safe."
"I--what?" Her wild gaze found the foal and Metal released him so she could sweep him up in her wings. "Oh, than the Maker! I thought we were dead," she mumbled, muzzle buried in the foal's fuzzy coat.
"You should have been," Metal said quietly. "I think you are the closest ones to the detonation. Everyone else is..." He shook his head, anger making his teeth clench and his ears go back.
"There was a gryphon, said his name was Olvir, I think. He saved my life. Where...?"
Metal shook his head, then glanced up at a sudden pulse of magic from overhead. Two shapes, one pony and one gryphon, had appeared in the sky. "He must have gone to get help and run into one of the other searchers," he said, smiling. "Come on; let's get you back to the herd." Glad I'm not sorting out that chaos.
===
Redshift yawned, stretching his wings, then pulled over the tank and took a long drink of slightly murky water. Filters, must have another look at building some filters. He frowned, then glanced at the stream of ponies and gryphons leaving the valley. When we get settled again, if we ever do... perhaps it would be better to live life on the wind, ever moving, never resting. He shook all over, then snorted. So they can kill us one at a time? I think not. The warm weight of Shock Diamond moved slightly against his flank, face intent and eyes closed as he followed the manipulations of the other ponies in his team. Somewhere out amid the ice and rocks, helping to fit armour to the Naraka gryphons, was his mate, Doppler. I have you both back and I'm never going to let you go. Nothing on this world will get between us again. He gently nuzzled the back of the foal's neck. No more Masters.
His gaze returned to the mountain of equipment, some still neatly boxed, most in a big, tangled heap. His two 'apprentices', both ponies from Naraka with a history of matter micromanipulation, were still focused on their task -- remove a chunk of equipment from the pile, check it was undamaged, bypass any security systems -- and he suspected they were better at it than he was. What was it Spiral said? The best and the brightest went into that place as breeding stock? Certainly they seemed to be tireless, working with the smooth precision of machines. I think they might be much better than me... still, they are out of practice and behind the times, and we are all doing the Maker's work. They look happy, though. Must be nice to have some real work to do, after being locked up in that place for so long.
He also had a gryphon liaison, a reddish-brown individual that went by the odd name of Adigard Alfgeir, who was currently rooting through the pile of stolen equipment looking for, in his words, 'anything interesting'. His presence was a slight distraction to the working ponies -- they kept a constant ear pointed in his direction -- but as the things he came back with always were interesting, Redshift left him alone.
There was a line of gryphon shoulder-guns, each with a pannier harness of ammunition, stacked alongside their workspace. Over a hundred sets, not bad for ten kiloseconds' work. Behind the workers were another pair of ponies, expressions intent and eyes closed as they followed the actions of the others. Apprentices for my apprentices. Another few kiloseconds and they will be ready to start on their own, and I'll need to see if anypony else can help, assuming Fusion can spare anypony. He put the engine unit aside and pulled out something else, a near-featureless mass of rubble, with only a hint of metal casing visible. Now why would Adigard give me this...? Something not designed to be removed, by the looks of it. Gravity must have brought it along by accident when she stripped the armoury. Let's see... It had no batteries, but was packed with computronium and little else. He traced the power feed, making a few small repairs where the cables had been fractured by their sudden removal.
It came alive, emitting little pings of radio from an unnoticed transmitter. Mouth dropping open and heart thundering, he hurriedly killed the power and checked the device again. Ah Maker, don't tell me I've just... no, it's too small and the frequency is wrong. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Too rutting close. Thinking for a moment, Redshift pulled out one of the armour sets and held the visor up to one eye, then activated the machine again. The visor lit up, not with the normal targeting and sensor information, but with screens of densely-packed information.
Ah, now that's interesting... I wonder what it all says. One of these gryphons is going to have to teach me how to read this stuff. He manipulated the computronium directly, sampling the stored data and sending snippets of it to the visor. The occasional word jumped out of the stream of words -- 'danger', 'stop', 'explosive' -- all recognised from warning signs around his old place of work, but the vast majority was in the dogs' unreadable script. Impatient, he flicked to another section, this full of technical diagrams of various bits of military hardware, then another, this time showing detailed maps with a large number of annotations. Some places he recognised from the terrain -- the area around corral twenty-seven, for example -- but emphasis was given to unfamiliar installations, all marked with one or two symbols. This was only a tiny fraction of what was in there, but much was locked away and scrambled. Encrypted... to stop the gryphons having access to things they shouldn't.
Expanding the scale showed that the world was covered with these symbols, and not just in Lacunae territory. So what kind of bases would be marked on a map taken from a gryphon's armoury? Redshift started to smile. Oh, now that's really interesting... and I wonder how much more is in there, locked away. He blinked, pulling the visor away; the strain of trying to use the device, intended for a gryphon's far more binocular -- and acute -- vision, was starting to make his head hurt. "Hey, Adigard. Come over here for a second, will you?"
===
"We must respond, Fusion," Ellisif said. "If you just fly away from this, then..."
And do what? Slaughter each other until there are none left? Fusion turned away, walking in a tight circle that enclosed Ellisif and Gravity. The pair stared back at her, Ellisif serious and earnest, Gravity with her ears pinned back and jaw muscles bunched and flexing. "Yes," she said in strangled tones. "If they will not let us go then we will have to break free." But what does that mean? Must I pump fire into the arcologies, enough heat to flash a billion dogs to steam? Or do I do nothing at all and let my sister turn them into twisted wreckage? She lifted her head, ears twitching at the cries and moans from the improvised medical centres -- little more than segregated patches on the valley floor -- floating up to their position amid the rocks.
"Break free? Break free?!" Gravity snarled. "I'll do more than break free..." The words descended into a hiss and her eyes narrowed, watching the same scene. "What I did back at the Institute... I could do that again. I'm stronger now. Nothing physical can stop my magic, unlike yours. I can make the gravitational gradients so steep that they will pull a body limb from limb--" She closed her eyes, nostrils flaring as she inhaled deeply.
"Yes," Ellisif said carefully, her eyes not leaving Fusion's face. "I'm sure you could."
Fusion shivered, glancing sideways at the gryphon, the gentle and ever-changing colours of her mane and tail becoming pale and insubstantial. What does she see? A coward? A pony unwilling to do what is necessary? Would she rather just work with Gravity? The gryphons have a taste of freedom, their best chance at a successful rebellion... they won't want to give it up. She opened her mouth, then closed it again.
"Perhaps you would prefer another target, a military target, as a first step," Ellisif said, blinking and turning to Gravity. "A senseless slaughter does not serve us. The threat is the dogs' military and their ability to strike globally. We need to remove some of that power. The Arclight units and the mass driver launch facilities. Then there are the other gryphon units... if I know anything about my people, it's that the rumours of the dogs' defeats will be racing through the armies like wildfire. There are possibilities for defections... but that will take military successes to convince them. They know the consequences of failure all too well."
"And our people, Gravity," Fusion ignored Ellisif and lowered her head, brushing it against Gravity's neck. "If we commit an atrocity, smash and burn the arcologies in vengeance--" Fusion's mouth hung open and she took a deep, shuddering breath. Sweet Maker, we really could do it; we have enough power between us. "--what might the dogs do to all the ponies in the other breeding centres and corrals across Lacunae?" She felt Gravity sag slightly, leaning into her touch. "They will respond in kind, out of fear or desperation, to get us to stop." Her voice dropped to a whisper, lips finding Gravity's dusky blue ear. "It would be easy, perhaps only a labournet command. I've seen it in my dreams; medics forced to euthanize friends and families, then turning the needle on themselves..." The whisper turned to a mumble and Fusion backed away, holding Gravity's gaze. Say something, sister, please.
Gravity was silent for a long while, then turned to stare at Ellisif. "A military target. Do you have a specific one in mind?"
"Actually, yes." Ellisif waved a claw to encompass the valley filled with groups of ponies and gryphons. "That Redshift of yours cracked the battlenet node taken from the barracks-roosts at the Pit. It turns out that Captain Rthar had quite a high level of authorisation that had not been rescinded; the database opened for us like it was in heat. He tells me that it must have been still connected to their network when you took it from the barracks-roost, despite all the infrastructure damage.”
"I made a point not to target the barracks," Gravity said, "with redundant linkages..."
Ellisif inclined her head. "For that I am very grateful... but what it means is that the deployment data is less than twelve kiloseconds old. I have correlated it against what you extracted from Captain Rthar during the first round of questioning, before he knew we had it, and it all matches." Her crest feathers fluffed up as she spoke, her wings making little excited flicking motions. "This information is time-limited; if we don't use it it will become useless or even dangerous."
"I agree, and I know time is of the essence, but we can't just leap into battle." She felt the urge to pace again and resisted, lying down in a sheltered space between two of the larger boulders. A gentle nudge and a pleading look had Gravity settle next to her, and she hooked a wing over the other mare's back. "I know you've been trying to organize, Ellisif, so you must have done a count. How many did we lose?" There was silence and the sounds of the herd came back: the flutter of wings as ponies and gryphons flew overhead, the whump and thaumic tickle of teleport jumps from scouts hunting for another hiding place, and still the moan and cry of the wounded waiting aid. Gravity was tense, muscles like iron under her patchy fur, and breathing deep, slow breaths through flared nostrils. Steady, sister, steady. Let us see to our own before we deal with the dogs. Fusion sent the thought into a tentative sharing, tasting the backwash of Gravity's emotions.
How can you be so calm?!
This is not the time for fire, I think; this is the time for cold calculation. I am saving my anger for when it will be needed. Fusion swallowed, forcing down the bile that was building in the back of her throat. Her ears flicked and she gave Gravity a sad smile, a bare twitch of her lips. I want to make all of us safe, and I don't believe that a simple slaughter will do this... but we have to make the dogs listen, which am coming to believe will require special measures.
Ellisif glanced between the two of them, then made a soft cawing sound. "Exact numbers are hard to determine, as we never had a real count to start with." She sighed, looking up at the slot of murky sky visible between the rocks. "You ponies pulled out a lot of us as well as your own, and I am grateful for that. I know some of the teleporters were caught in the thermal flash."
"How many, Ellisif?" Fusion said, her voice dead and drained of all emotion. At her side, Gravity twitched, her ears folding back, then laid her head against Fusion's neck.
"About half of those pulled out of Naraka. Five to six hundred of each species."
"Over a thousand people," Gravity whispered. "I failed them."
"You saved far more, not personally, perhaps, but the ponies you trained did," Ellisif said sharply. "Look, heavy losses are always a shock, but you have to understand that there will always be situations out of your control. It was the Hammer, for Maker's sake. The thing was designed to defeat anything the Hives could do to stop it." She fluttered her wings, allowing her crest feathers to relax. "We found the pony who betrayed us, this Random Walk; she marched into one of the temporary encampments and announced it to everyone present. We nearly had a riot. They want justice... the military code of order is very clear on these matters."
"No, absolutely not," Fusion said, sitting bolt upright. "Random was tortured for almost half a megasecond; I saw--"
Ellisif waved a claw. "Things are different for you ponies, I know, but most gryphons don't understand how you live... you always seem so... so complicit in the dogs' affairs. We passed her to a couple of your medics. She was nearly incoherent; I think she wanted to die."
"She finally understands what she has done... it's one of the things a pony picks up from those around them. If you fail too badly, if you are of no use, then euthanasia can be an attractive way out." I nearly did it myself.
"She had a means to contact the dogs," Gravity said suddenly. "Do you think she would do it again?"
"You heard Ellisif, I hardly think--" Fusion snapped, breaking off when Gravity shook her head.
"I know what you are thinking, but no." Gravity smiled, a tooth-filled expression that had more in common with a snarl than anything joyful. "Not on her own, but on our terms."
"Would they ever believe her? Security is pretty paranoid... but if they are desperate, they might." Ellisif shook her head. "We could feed them misinformation, but…” She cocked her head to one side then glanced away for a moment. “no, it will take too long. We have to respond quickly, before our information expires. We must strike at some high-value target, really rip their throats out." Fusion made to speak, but stopped when Ellisif raised a claw. "I know, you think you need time and you can't spare the ponies until we have a new place to hide... but you really do need to do this."
"Look out there, Ellisif." Fusion moved her horn in a wide arc, encompassing the whole valley. "They've lost half their friends. I have a whole creche of foals without dams... they need time to understand all this."
"The dogs won't give us time!" Ellisif leaned forwards, her voice becoming strident. "If you won't do it, then let me -- all I need is transportation and perhaps a little artillery right at the start to break the defences. A hundred seconds of your time, and a few ponies to help with the retrieval, that's all. We'll do all the fighting."
"I don't want to ask anything of a person that I'm not willing to do my--"
"A laudable notion, but do you really think you can do everything? You, the pair of you, are like strategic weapons. Good for flattening an arcology, but not so good for taking it. If I don't find a use for all my people, they will just fly away. What reason would they have to stay?" She have a little soft caw of a laugh. "After they had finished fighting over my corpse, that is."
The whole herd -- flock? pride? -- would dissolve into factions as one leader or another fought for supremacy. Fusion nodded slowly. If that happens they are lost; the dogs will annihilate them all. I have to let go; I cannot protect everyone. "Very well. Between us, we can probably move two hundred people in a single jump, and in another few kiloseconds Redshift will have modified enough armour suits for that number. Is that enough?" Say no, then I will have more time.
Ellisif's beak opened and closed with a decisive snap. "Perfect. There are a number of potential targets, but the place I have in mind is an armoured vehicle base, Bakot. I even have a couple of troopers who have been there, so Gravity can do her mind reading trick. It's a staging and intelligence base for Lacunae should we... they need to go into Baur. A section of the Hive's Arclight perimeter is deployed out of the place... wouldn't you like to catch some of them on the ground?"
Blame the late posting on Deadpool.
6943666
He shouldnt have enjoyed reading it so much.
I was really, really hoping you wouldnt have to go all the way, but so far, even Celestia and Luna are only like Level 20s against the Level 85 Boss Hammer. ?
When Luna gets to teh point where she can lift a mountain, then that effort applied to even the Hammer would stop it dead in its tracks, and send it back. Against Grune, To be able to move that against its orbit? The Hammer would be an annoyance.
So many lost, but so many saved, The dogs have to be asking now, how quickly can Gravity create a force plane to slice straight through the buried energy storage superconductors, making them Immediately quench and dump all their energy into the gap. What if she takes the force she used against the Hammer, and applies it to a kilo rock. Accelerated to fractions below light speed, not going for survival of the projectile apart from time dilation, but it as an object to contain multiple times its rest mass in pure energy.
Time to see how Arclights handle Relativistic Sniper rounds?
Please, ffs keep writing in an ever forward accelerating fashion...! I love this story so goddamn much!
Alright finally time to get on with that cliffhanger... as somewhat confusing as some of the details ended up being...... Get now what was going on but, yeah REALLY mistook what was going on the first time.
So... things looking like a nail... reference to the Dogs having no freaking clue what the hell to do other then shoot more Hammer strikes at it, The Sister's brute forcing things.... then again learned to take the titles with a grain of salt, they do somewhat make sense and relate to the chapter, but mostly only one part of it and not some overall theme in them. Still, we all know the Sisters are going to fuck shit up, the big question is, how badly will the dogs shit themselves when they do.
Ah so going right to seeing it from the Dogs perspective, nice. Now how far will this go, right up to the destruction of the Strike?
Wait, just ONE strike does this? And they have used it before? Repeatedly? Or, is this going to be a more power strike then they usually use?
Seriously? They don't have any cloud piercing sensors? Even through something that light of a cover?
Oh wait you're serious, let me laugh even harder!
AKA, Don't you DARE try to fucking blame this on me when it fails you dumb prick. And maybe next time you will listen to me.
Ugh... we are bringing this back up, yeah we've been down this road before. Yes I can buy it being the 'official' policy and part of doctrine, and Dogs that never really deal with the Ponies buying it because, they have no reason to question it, and quite a few reasons to never say anything even the least bit counter to doctrine. I still cannot buy anyone spending any amount of time with the ponies and still actually believing that.
Yes I will give you this Orgon, you really REALLY do try your damnedest not to underestimate the Sisters, to bad they have access to powers and abilities no dog has ever even theorized yet, so you literally have NO way to prepare for or anticipate. Even if they only get to pull them out once while catching you off guard.
Well, that was rather... unsatisfying. I get the dot of light was Fusion and Gravity doing what they were planning on doing, but he's acting like it ht as planned. No shock no anything. So, he thinks it hit normally? But, wouldn't it have been to far out for that? And, he has other sources of info, wouldn't that spy sat he was using show the lack of the not QUITE Earth Shattering Kaboom? Why doesn't he know it did not hit as expected? Cause if he does know, he's taking it way to easily, even for him.
That much ingrained military training does have it's upsides.
Well, knew that was coming. And no, they really aren't given how the evacuation only went as well as it did because of her. She is kind of important.
Yes, yes Dogs, go on thinking you have a chance agsint that kind of power.
(So so SO LOVE! that image, just, damn that is awesome!)
They also need ponies as level headed, calm, quick witted and smart who are natural leaders like you.
Why? Are they trying to fool the Dogs into thinking it hit? Why? At best it would only fool them for a few kiloseconds till they find out the truth. If it's going to cause enough destruction to fool them, why bother stopping it anyway?
Nice one, both of you... yeah Have I mentioned how awesome Backdraft is? Just, loving her. Metal is pretty good too.
Just So much YES! There is just.. so much to say.. it is, just so great, and so simple and yet, so profound.. just.... wow I am so loving this....
...............
To REALLY scare the crap out of the Dogs.
Now that would be a neat trick.
... Oh.... so.. they didn't stop it.... Well that was a lot of buildup for nothing....
... Way to fucking go Dogs, now you even have the peaceful one out to kick your sorry asses.... way to freaking go.
Still, they didn't stop it.. that.. is actually rather surprising.. still a good amount made the evacuation, they had enough warning to get most away safely, and those that survived are now going to be even more driven to fight. So yeah, way to go Dogs, you did jack shit to help, and everything short of sending Salrath as an official diplomat to the ponies you could wrong.
But yeah.. they didn't stop it.. guess it IS good that the Sisters DO have limits, still now that they know the threat and have direct experience, they can work out a plan to stop it next time. Just, seems a waste of all that build up for it to end like that... really anticlimactic. Not even them not stopping it, that could have worked, but just... stopping like they are, and being really sparse on the details. It's hard to get a good procession of facts going, to focus on the what is happening this way, leaving mostly an emotional investment, more caught up in the feeling of things, and then to have them change that suddenly with little build up to the change, just, flip a switch and things are different then we expected.... I don't want to say it was BAD per se, since it could just be personal preference, but it is rather jarring the way it's handled.
................ I think this story might be giving me heavy metal poising with the shear amount of irony in that sentence....
AH Lilac, yeah like Lilac doesn't have a plan for this.
Follow the bouncing ponies.
Also, having Dresden Files flashbacks with this bit.
Oh will you just shut up you fucking MORON!
The denial is strong in this one. Still going to be hard to overlook a crater that size.
To bad I rather doubt there are any pony therapists, cause this pony is going to have SO many issues to work through now....
Didn't they scatter in three directions? I know they found this place fast, but weren't a lot of them already heading in other directions? Could still be some that got far enough away but don't know how to find this place. Couldn't there?
Yup, this is going to be... interesting... to see how she deals with this....
Yup, Dogs.... you done fucked up big time.
Hell yeah Kattabaric!
HUZZAH! The typo finding has been DOUBLED!
Also HELL YES OLVIR! Still will get back to this.
Way to freaking go! Still doubt things would go that bad THAT fast.
So, emergency transponder? Signal relay? Way to hack into Dog comms? Bound to be something useful.
Ohhh, A Command and Control unit for troop leaders possibly?
Whoa whoa whoa... detailed maps, high level clearance info possibly? Oh hohohoh Heartswarming came early this year! The single greatest weapon, is knowledge, so yeah very nice job Redshift.
To quote Schlock Mercenary (More or less) "The greatest discoveries are rarely ever heralded by cries of 'EUREKA!', but far far more often preceded by some version of the phrase 'Hmmmm, that's interesting. Hey guys, come take a look at this.'"
Well, her more peaceful nature is still there, she hasn't FULLY been driven to bloodlust... yet.. but yeah she knows she needs to respond, and yet the dilemma, the questions, wanting to be free, but not wanting to hurt anyone, preferring to simply be let alone.. knowing she won't be, it really is an amazing bit of internal conflict to see play out. And really well done.
Ohhh and, nice going Ellisef, finding that middle ground, being more then willing to strike, to hurt the Dogs, to take them out, and yet also without Gravity's rage and near berserker tendencies getting in the way of doing so effectively. Calm, pragmatic, practical, exactly what the Sisters need.
Heh..hehe...hehehehehehehee, yes I am giggling manically right now.
That maniacal giggling, it's now full one, broad-faced grin laughter
That... is an understatement.
.... OHHHHHHHHHHH So, if this was Fusion, I'd say it was for trying to talk, but coming from Gravity.. gloating, threatening, or trap?
Also a good point... yeah Eilsef is EXACTLY what they need. Someone to give them a swift kick in the ass to get them moving when they need it, and to make sure they are going in the right direction. And they are smart enough to listen to her. Yeah getting the Griffons on their side was SUCH a huge gain.
And now my roommate is giving me weird looks over the super villain level cackling I'm doing . But HELL YES! Go kick their asses!
Two major notes, one Backdraft, I SO love her character, completely understandable in why she did what she did, rather noble, if mistaken just, yeah she is freaking awesome! What more really is there to say about her? And Metal, also awesome, really it would be shorted to name the characters that AREN'T and yet she really stands out.
And the whole bit with Olvir helping, with the two saving each other like that, working together, even without knowing each other just... damn that was amazing, and a perfect representation of his whole alliance. ti's more then just being allies, more then simply using each other because they need the other. But, this level of trust, of being able to work this closely, to trust each other with their lives... not just allies in battle.. but Friends.. so so fitting for what this world will come to embody. Just amazing.
I forget, what color is Random's coat? Is she by any chance pink?
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And I hoped Random to be dead!
Well, now let's hope Ellisif can get the sisters to agree to the necessity of performing the execution. After she's fed some disinformation to the Masters, of course.
Then name the system!
Grand Moff Ellisif seems to have the right idea, he's pointing the Pony Death Stars at the Arclight systems
6944235
The chapter title is a reference to a famous phrase: "When you're a hammer, everything else is a nail." Alternately, "When all you have is a hammer, everything else is a nail."
The phrase is apparently a reference to people's tendencies to pick something that worked for them, and then apply it to everything they can. Sort of a habit of decision-making, or something. I'm probably screwing that up a little.
With regard to this chapter, it's appropriate on multiple levels. First off, we have "The Hammer." This is kind of a play on words because "The Hammer," and because it obliterates things (nails) with overwhelming force, and that's all it does. So that's exactly what it does in this chapter.
Second, we have the dogs. Their solution to any threat is apparently to (attempt to) destroy it in the most direct manner. Orgon suggested an alternate solution, and everyone else overruled him into using The Hammer.
Then there's the fact that they have never considered negotiation as anything but a delaying tactic to allow them to prepare more strikes.
Hammer. Nail. Must hit.
6946000 I know what the phrase means, hence the reference, just the chapter titles tend to be not quite indicative of the overall slant of the chapter itself, though still relevant in some fashion to the chapter. But often only obliquely, or in ways that make perfect sense afterwards, but don't necessarily give you anything to assume what will happen in it based just on the title.
Great read, as always. I wish I had more to say, but that sums it up really well.
6944271 From the character reference:
Thanks for all the comments, folks!
===
6942998
More like where won't it go.
6944123
They are working on it; every encounter makes them stronger. A relativistic projectile within the atmosphere isn't on the cards, though -- nothing is strong enough.
6944133
Like all escalators, the only way to get off is at the top. There's no realistic way to get back down. Also, thanks.
6944235
This is the first full-power use of the Hammer; the other strikes were low(er) power. There's also the target environment; the rocks under the strike point play a part (different aerosols have different atmospheric effects). Sensor-wise, they have nothing useful left. This a satellite designed for high orbit traffic control and debris tracking. Optics are only a secondary thing for it (it's also too high).
Curious: how did you get through both Metal's and Katabatic's scenes and still get the impression that Grav stopped the projectile?
The pones did scatter, but the thermal flash radius is so high that simple flight just isn't enough. Anypony not teleported out (or very well sheltered) is toast.
I have to admit, Katabatic's scene is one of my favourites; I like the idea of gryphons and ponies being friends.
6945173
Aren't you a bloodthirsty one! Death is too easy, too fast, when someone has made an error of that magnitude.
6945760
Ah, I knew someone would recognise that!
6946138
Thank you!
6946138 Oh. Didn't know that doc was there. Thank!
Failed to mention this in my last comment, but the story is still awesome as ever.
Oh yes, yay for the Tarkin reference. Hah. This will be a fun retaliation, even if the conflict is still only escalating
6946611 Oh, I remember something I forgot to bring up after you uploaded the last chapter.
In this blogpost you explained that you decided to split this story up in 2 parts because it was getting so long that it might intimidate new readers. The first part, Days of Wasp and Spider, counts 235,380 words and this second part, Final Solution, now counts 232,919.
In light of this I'm wondering whether you've changed your view on how perceived story length impacts the eagerness of new readers to pick up your story, or whether you're planning to make a third part, thus turning A Soot-Covered World into a trilogy.
I read through some of your older blog posts to see if you had mentioned anything about this, but I couldn't find any such plans. By the way, I'm really impressed (though not really surprised ) with your description of your writing process. Not only does it make me appreciate each chapter you've put out so far even more, but I think it might also be just the inspiration I needed to get back to a little writing project of my own that I've put on hold for too long.
Orgon is kind of a tragic character. What he's done so far puts him orders of magnitude beyond redemption, and yet under different circumstances, he would be among the few dogs capable of brokering peace with the ponies.
WHEW! Backdraft is still in the game.
As far as Random is concerned, I don't want her punished (let alone dead). There is really no punishment any of them can come up with that is remotely as horrifying as seeing the outcome of her actions. (And on a more pragmatic note, they can't really afford to lose any of the survivors right now.)
6946611
I'm not bloodthirsty. I'm pragmatic and, in real life, I am in favour of the death penalty.
Let me put it this way: In one of Isaac Asimov's many compilations, he included a story about two Lunarians who discuss (over coffee) about the sentence of some sod who committed what, in their judicial system, was equivalent to a crime against humanity: the sod had, through action, endangered a Lunar city's physical integrity. I don't remember what had been his action, but it had been an accidental consequence of him doing something much less serious (something like crashing a truck while he was somewhere he wasn't authorized to be), and had resulted in having to turn on the city's emergency life support while repairs were performed. What was the interesting part was what wasn't being talked at all: his crime was simply considered capital, and the only subject of discussion was that one of the chatting blokes argued that executing him "indoors" was more humane than "exiling" him.
Back to Random's case: at the very least, she is currently guilty of over a thousand counts of manslaughter, if not second degree murder. (Never mind what I have been arguing for over a year now: anypony who passes Initial Security Screening is to be considered automatically suspect). There is also absolutely no doubt of her culpability, plus that she could feel the need to try again Pinging the Masters. Her current contriteness is also worthless: her saying sorry won't revive the twelve hundred that she facilitated for slaughter, and will not recuperate the safety of the rebels' now lost safe haven. It has become a question of fortitude: if Gravity and Fusion try to protect her from being executed, the gryphons will mutiny, along with half the ponies.
And never mind the judicial option of imprisonment: long-term imprisonment is (historically) a recent development, with sentences normally being fines, temporary or permanent slavery, humiliation, mutilation, death, or death-by-torture. Now, I don't believe the ponies currently have the resources needed to even try to build a jail, so a quick death will be your only option other than mutilating her and chaining her to a column, or breaking her horn before feeding her to a few chickless mother gryphons.
Oh yes, I see what you did there.
You certainly have a way with words.
6947720 She was kind enough to specify that it'd just be a military target to start on.
So good. Quid pro quo is going to be something.
6946611 Okay regarding how I could think they stopped it...
Because everything building up to this had made it seem like they would, all that action, all that build up and the cliffhanger, and then the way it jumped around, not giving a definitive "Yes it hit" but rather things that might have been or might not have been. Hence my confusion with the Dogs, how they couldn't tell it blew up early. Everything was pointing towards the Sisters somehow stopping it.
The last part, yeah it was getting odder, I thought.. maybe they did stop it, but it was still really really close to impacting, still did damage, but they at least managed to moderate it, while keeping it low enough that the Dogs could have been fooled. It was how everything was built up, how it was presented that... made them not stopping it not seem like an option. And then we finally get to their POV and.. it was still, hard to be clear about, hard to really process what was going on as it was happening due to the somewhat vagueness of the details. The extremely sudden changes, and, overall questionably well done build up and failure.
Like I said in the commentary, that they didn't stop it, not that big a deal, and yeah, it is kind of nice to see they DO have limits, to actually have them fail at something like this. That is not the issue, I just think it wasn't presented as well as it could have been, and came off as incredibly jarring in the swap from how the last chapter ended, to what ended up happening.
6947916
I was half expecting Ellisif to speculate that Bakot might be too remote to make an effective demonstration.
One potential concern, what happens when the Dogs send scouts to the location and start discovering bodies? Given the jumps by which they arrived at their evacuation site, and the fact that many evacuees were flying, it could be a simple matter of following the breadcrumbs to where they are now. All they'd really need is a direction.
I really hope they choose somewhere off the "beaten path" to relocate.
6946611
Or maybe you really meant it when you said "too easy, too fast"! Dude, are you seriously proposing long-term torture? Well, you are the European here, while I, as a Mesoamerican, tend to believe in the dignity of a quick and efficient execution... notwithstanding the fact that we preferred to sever the heart rather than the head.
6946843
Thank you!
6947225
Yeah. Half a million words. That's just silly. I think that it's more a case of being 'incomplete' that scares readers off -- the failure rate of amateur fiction is pretty horrific, and so folks don't want to start a fic that may never be finished. Which I can understand. Realistically, 250K is already too long; your typical novel is only 120K. That said, there are folks who like high word-count stories, so who really knows?
I don't think I'll split it again; there isn't really a good break point, and I really hope it won't take another 250K words to finish. As for the actual process -- I've got to the point where I can generally just sit and write when I want to, but as a 'new' writer I found that persistence was the key. It takes practice to get the words out, and for that you have to put the time in. Anywho, best of luck with the writing!
6947605
Welcome back! Yes, I've been riding for about three years now. It's fun to watch riders on their first few lessons; reminds me of how terrible I was at the start. Canter was always the scary one -- there's nothing you can do to prepare yourself without actually doing it.
6947709
There are times when I can agree with it, but justice is human, and thus fallible. It's so hard to be sure.
As for Random -- in a certain light, her actions could be viewed as a result of a mental illness. We don't (generally) execute the insane. Practically, she's also the sole surviving daughter of Trocar and Spiral, who are two thirds of the rebel's trained medics. Every pony lost is a loss of skill and genetic diversity, at this point. Future threat is also easier for the pones to assess than it is for us; it's hard to hide from a sharing. The gryphons are a problem, no doubt (and feeding her to them would set a poor precedent!). There are consequences whichever way the decision goes.
6949041
Dammit! Now I wish I'd thought of that.
6949829
Heh, when I figure it out, we'll both see what happens.
Well, this chapter was really grim. So many dead, for such little reason. The mounting horror was really good though. Of course the real horror is of what must be to come. All of this world is gone and I get the feeling that it did not fade gently over time...
The Hammer seems virtually unstoppable. Unless they can go to ground for long enough for the crew to starve and abandon the station.
...Why would we think that this story has something to do with the Holocaust? (no, I haven't read the story, but I will someday)
6949145 1. The place they are now is just a temporary shelter while they search for a better place to dig in and make a new base. 2. When the ponies left and started to scatter, they flew off in three separate directions.
I must comment at this point on a few things I've noticed.
This is one of the few very grim and brutal stories I can keep reading, solely because it's so well-written.
Stories like this, brilliantly crafted alterate universes that truly go the distance in completely re-writing the world into a new and fantastic form (I would also point to the Slave King saga as another unique and original alt-Equestria epic vastly underappreciated), are so often ignored while rote, trite, flimsy, pathetic excuses of writing which manage to make the Twilight Saga appear... well, not good... 'average' by comparison are applauded and lauded merely by pandering to one or more dull, listless and lazy tropes (hating Celestia, overpowering NMM, overpowering an HiE, throwing some other world's character into Equestria... and overpowering them (I'm noticing a trend), making ponies racist against dragons, etc.).
It's considered bad form by a story's author to take note and mention such things, so I thought I'd do it since I have a reputation as a scathing, brutal, unsympathetic critic and troll to maintain and the author of this story deserves praise for tormenting ponies relentlessly and still keeping me hooked.
6951005
Yes, why indeed?
Apparently the name 'Final Solution' does things to some people's brains; more than once I've had comments asking 'is this about the extermination of the Jews?' (no, obviously not!). Also, ever since I put that line in the description, I haven't received anywhere near the number of random downvotes...
Honestly, for everyone turning their anger on Random: People like you are the reason I'm glad we don't have the death penalty here in Europe.
By the Maker, that little filly was brainwashed to near death. She was prodded and prodded again until every last of her brain cells was in alignment with the dogs' policies. She had no way to not do what she did, plus she thought she'd be doing it for the good of all the
poniespeople in the resistance—she thought that was the only way for their redemption and how to make the dogs save them!Was what she did the greatest mistake that she could have made? Of course. But she had no way to know. If anything, those around her that didn't watch out for her after she was freed are the ones to blame. They knew of her mistreatment, they should have known to watch out for things like this.
I think what Random needs now is not punishment, but a lot of love, consolation and support from her parents and friends, however hard it may be at this time.
Now that she's seen the light, who knows, she might become one of the strongest supporters of the rebellion, and maybe play a vital part in their future success.
Apart from that, call me a hopeless romantic, but I kinda want to read a (side) story of a doggy somehow falling for his personal servitor during these times, and what consequences this will have for his and her own future, and possible involvement in the rebellion.
°oO(OMG, Orgon and Merlon? But he was kinda too cold to her for that lately… But maybe just because he doesn't want to allow himself to…?)
Last chapter in a nutshell.
media.giphy.com/media/l4KhS7q2Q8ishf1Xq/giphy.gif
6953805
That under-the-fence slide.
Action Mare, Mare of Action.
6953805
That's... wow. I just wish we had an extra second of video after the nag went under the fence.
6951422
Thank you, I appreciate it. I've always believed that actions have consequences, and it's the second order effects that are the most interesting. If I've managed to bolt by day-dream together in such a way as to make it interesting and internally consistent (or at least, the flaws are not glaring!), then I'm glad.
I have read this one right when it came out (or from midnight on to a few hours deep into the night). Back then I was too tired to comment.
It really hurts to have seen all those ponies die ... to not be able to save them ... to not be able to stop that ...
A military target for retaliation is really the best compromise ...
And poor Random ... poor mare ... what are we going to do with you? At least we can use your ping to lay a trap for those dogs ... and a trap and a lesson they need ...
6945173 So you're saying that someone kidnapped, tortured, and brainwashed deserves to be treated as a criminal, and not as a victim? I am a supporter of the death penalty, when it is applicable to the crime, and the evidence is clear cut, but this... This is a victimized filly, brainwashed and tortured after being taken from her home and family, by monsters.
Save the death penalty for the monsters.
Heal the victim. Slaughter the dogs who would be monsters.
Once again Luna-tic... You never cease to write epic tales! All my respect for this amazing story! I couldn'tt care less if it reaches 2 million words... It'd just be that much more for me to love reading!
6956668
I do not think from a high-and-mighty, First World point of view. I think from the point of view that the gryphons will have, which also happens to be my own point of view as a national from a country that has never, ever won a war unless they recurred to guerrilla tactics. Even within the first year of our war of independence (1810), Mexico had to go either freeing or executing every prisoner it took.
I am also considering the so-far-stated psychology of the gryphon, meaning that they will not trust hearsay from bleedhearted ponies, especially if these ponies start saying that Random is truly sorry and will not do it again. In their place, I would not trust Random unless she's neutralized (dehorned, clipped and immobilized), or preferably dead. Never mind how many gryphons may have lost friends, family or long-term teammates, and may just wait for a chance to kill Random if she is allowed to live. Never mind the fact that the gryphon leader has already outright stated that her people would rebel and kill her even over something as relatively pedestrian as feeling stir-crazy. Would they just smile over something as serious as feeling that nothing is being done against their 600 dead, plus 600 dead allies? She's beyond redemption, as far as the gryphons will care. Considering that, her life is a bargain of a price to preserve the peace.
And Random has proven beyond doubt that she is not to be trusted, as far as I care. She could not trust her own family, her own friends, to enter a 'sharing'. Furthermore, she wasn't brainwashed: she was programmed. Remember the details of her programming, including such beautiful things as to kill pony foals with just an order? What happens if the Masters next try to advance with megaphones and offers of peace: will you warranty that Random won't jump forward and happily divulge every secret that she has heard? I would not ever trust such an individual unless she had been systematically deprogrammed through psychotherapy in a hospital-prison. And believe me that when the Mexican Insurgents had to execute prisoners, they weren't doing it out of blood thirst: they had no logistic possibilities toward the maintenance of prisoners.
6957827 All Grav and Fusion need to do to quell any would be vigilantism... Is make an example of the vigilantes.
Make sure you never take a job at a mental hospital. EVER.
6958648
They do that with the vigilantes, and they will lose the gryphons.
And do avoid a political career yourself.
6958932 Oh, so you support lawlessness and vigilantism. The griffins have shown that strength is what impresses and inspires them. Fusion and Grav putting a hoof down would be more likely to awe the griffins than anything. They are creatures that fight for dominance. Remember the evacuation? Remember, that not long before, even the griffins were fighting FOR the dogs. They only need to be reminded of that. These griffins have seen what the dogs do, and thanks to their military training, will be more compliant to follow a chain of comman and are level headed enough to still loyally serve, despite knowing they are now fighting alongside ponies who have slaughtered waves of dog commanded griffins. The majority of unrest can be quelled diplomatically, and the bloodthirsty stragglers can be shown force, which the griffins have been shown to respect.
Whatever. You're just the bloodthirsty type. You want blood, regardless of where the true fault lies, and dog blood isnt being shed fast enough for you. Maybe you shouldn't "idolize" your country's past methods so readily, when you self-admitedly state your military's various endeavors have been... less than stellar...
I think I'm done trying to be reasonable with you. Bloodlust usually trumps reason anyway, so any attempt at reason is likely wasted on you, at this point...
6959768
Theirs is a new society. They literally have no law other than whatever they pronounce... except that the gryphon leader has already pronounced that gryphon law already sees Random as a traitor.
First of all, what griffins? There's considerable difference between griffins and gryphons, starting from the fact that the MLP mythos and this story remain griffin free so far.
Secondly, we are moving here down the pyramid of Maslow:
businessballs.com/images/maslow's_hierarchy_businessballs.jpg
Regardless of whatever platitudes the ponies give regarding Random being now contrite, the gryphons (plus plenty of ponies) are now shaken to their core, and will not feel safe as long as Random is there. Social needs are far less basic than safety needs, and they will seek safety, whether this means killing Random or jumping ship.
Thirdly, will the gryphons fall into line at a show of force, or will they be even more likely to jump ship? Especially considering that most of the gryphons were untrained breeders.
What endeavours? Mexico has never been an aggressor in a war, other than sending an Air Force squadron to Europe during WW2. The closest thing to real military endeavour was when Pancho Villa crossed the north border and marauded in the US, but he was an independent warlord, not an official member of the Mexican military.
...Although you may want to call 'endeavours' all of those peace missions that the Mexican Army has done throughout the world in the last fifty years. After all, Mexican military doctrine heavily emphasizes on disaster relief.
Do tell me: how would they maintain prisoners? And I want specifics, not high-and-mighty idealism.
6957827 Random is basically the pony equivalent of the ISIS youth gleefully cutting people's heads off... so thoroughly brainwashed and broken internally that she really can't ever be 'repaired' even if the dogs are defeated... other than magical brainwashing back to 'normal', which is rather a twisted way to treat a victim of brainwashing (my evil side would do it anyway because it's convenient and practical... logic can be evil too!)
It's a compelling question of what you do with someone who's never had a chance to be anything but a killer by compulsion.
Permanent institutionalization seems the only alternative to a death sentence, as they will forever be a risk to people around them.
6960943
Well, I don't actually believe her to be an irreparable case (while she did go through something like a month of intensive obedience & loyalty programming, she wasn't raised a child soldier). On the other hand, I do believe that this new society is not only unable to provide her with the long term treatment she would require, but I also believe that her life is a political cost that the leadership cannot afford.
6959768 6960572
I appreciate the debate, I really do (I'm not commenting, because if I do, I stop discovering what you folks think, and that's too useful to lose).
I would ask you keep it cool and impersonal, please (and perhaps avoid drifting off into politics and history).
6957827
Random just spent months in such a tightly controlled environment that not even her thoughts were her own, and almost the entire time she was being taught thoughtless obedience, and that the masters are always right, no matter how she felt after wise. The story went into a lot of detail about how unpleasent this was for her and the self harm she caused herself because of it. She has also just gone through another horrific learning experience. And this time there's no 'blessing' stopping her from thinking about what she's done. Before the strike I would have agreed with the utility of killing her, but now? Let's judge the situation on who she is now, not what she used to be. She also used to be an innocent filly. Judging based on 'used to be' is counterproductive.
If the gryphons can't learn to understand what the blessing actually is, then they're either useless for anything other than purely destructive combat missions - and quite frankly nether Fusion nor Gravity need them for that.
In other news...
Anyone want to bet that when Orgon finds out about Merlon disabling her own blessing, his first reaction will be, "Oh thank the Maker! At last someone sane I can talk to!"
Also, how well protected is the hammer? Just because they couldn't stop a full strength strike, doesn't mean they can't send debris back at them with respectable velocities.
6961161
6960943
I will get semantics out of the way first, Nacho... When I am on my phone, I am NOT looking up whether Luna-tic used one spelling or another of griffin/gryphon. SAME DIFFERENCE. When I type that much on a freaking PHONE screen, I'm not pausing to check "wait, how was that spelled?" That you would stoop to such low hanging fruit really shows the "quality" of argument you're making. Grow up.
Now, as to why I believe she is worth saving? EVERY SINGLE PONY IN EXISTENCE had been brainwashed into following the dogs with the same degree of loyalty. The capacity to turn in your own family and friends, to report for euthanization if you felt useless to their purposes...
LITERALLY every pony has been brainwashed, and via the sharing, and the training found in the sharing, they recovered... If I recall... Didn't Random refuse to join in any sharing? Not sure if I recall correctly. At the very least, she did not trust it. I would say the ponies DO have exactly the type of environment and skills needed to rehabilitate her... Not to mention she just saw the dogs unleash hell upon them... an absolute lie from what she was led to believe... She already sees the cracks in her view... Her conditioning is already in the process of shattering.
I see her as a far extreme example of what every other pony believed, except she was brainwashed with extreme torture, as opposed to every other pony being brainwashed by constant negative stimulus for any slip up... The end result is the same. Just to differing levels of extremity.
As for prisoners... There WERE keeping prisoners. Dogs at least. The medic probably can figure out some manner of nerve block to inhibit magic... I mean, arc light exists... There probably ARE precedents for such a thing. Heck, they salvaged a bunch of dog tech. Aren't some of their armors integrated with some anti-magic stuff? The point is, they aren't incompetent. Whether that's truly necessary at all... Who knows... She cracked in this chapter, upon seeing how devastating the dog's lie was. That seemed obvious to me.
She didn't choose to kill those masses of ponies. She believed she was "saving" them. She's not com comparable to IS**. In her twisted sense, she still believes in saving the majority of the ponies... She believes the dogs will "fix" them and "forgive" them. It's only the core rebel leadership that she despises. Again... Upon seeing the consequences of her actions, and the lies of the dogs... She is NOW seeing the light of truth, and how wrong her perceptions were. She's already not he way to recovery. She was never a "bloodthirsty slaughterer that only knew killing". Far from it. Her conditioning forced her into a state where she COULD blindly follow the dogs, including blindly killing, but her motivations were still misguided, but in the mindset of helping, not harming.
The dogs did the harming, much to her surprise, and to the surprise of no one else.
**BTW: ISIS is a media generated terminology that "sounds good" in a broadcast, but is not very true to the the group's true name, and creates an unfairly demeaning stigma to people named Isis... Isis is a girls name, and I know at least one... She'd be a teenager right about now. I can't imagine what she thinks of hearing ISIS, ISIS, ISIS all the time as being evil, evil, evil!!!... Daesh is a more accurate term, or just IS, if you want to westernize it. I refuse to acknowledge the term "ISIS", for that reason.
6962064
Before the strike, she was only guilty of conspiracy to perform espionage; she's currently guilty of espionage, and enough counts of manslaughter to cover a football field with coffins.
How would human justice judge her?
And I don't mean a proper tribunal in peacetime, but a rag tag group of Jews and Gypsies trying to get out of Nazi Germany. Even in the USA during the Cold War she would have been judged a spy and a high traitor and sentenced to death. A railroad would have killed her not out of justice or vengeance, but simply to make sure she doesn't get another chance.
6962070
Is it? A griffin is an oversized lion; a gryphon is a chimeric eagle/lion. The difference is like pointing at a boat and saying that it is a car. I believe someone else needs maturing, kid.
As to the rest of your post: cool down, then read my previous post. You are gripped by your emotions.
And ISIS does identify with that name, if the fact that they were everywhere in social media holds any value. The funny thing to me is that Islamic radicals have come to identify with the name of an Egyptian goddess.
6962070 ISIS is actually first and foremost the name of an Egyptian goddess who had quite a popular cult built around her during the early Roman era.
It's a clever insult to jihadists when you use it.
6962496
Your interpretation of the crimes is largely correct, but the sentence would be quashed under the weight of her being incapable of determining right from wrong. And also the slight distraction of a Russian first strike, if you really want to use that analogy.
There is a similar scene in the film Fatherland. The son 'betrays' his father, because he had always been raised to believe Nazis as good, and so when a group of SS said they wanted to help his father, the boy believed them. If you're in a hanging mood, would sanction execution of the boy too?
You seem to be operating under the assumption that a mind (or some fundamental component of it at least) is impervious to outside influences, no matter what experiences they are subjected to, and thus deep down a person must realise they are doing wrong - by your personal standards of right and wrong obviously, as apparent from your personal perspective and knowledge base. This is a very silly notion.
But even if you ignore all that - you do realise you interrogate traitors for information BEFORE you kill them, don't you? (Rape pillage, THEN Burn.) Maybe in your eagerness to tie the noose yourself you might want to bare that in mind, hmm?