Diary of the Dead

by AppleTank

31: Absolute Justice

The Siege of the Crystal Empire ended swiftly, measured, but in failure.

The red flare arced gracefully over the glimmering fields.

A dome of Harmonic Light burst to life, overtaking, smothering, consuming the flare.

The Empire’s shield darkened from a surge of dark magic, twisting the Empire out of reality.

The Seer stared at her missing target, then screamed in fury.

---

“Don’t take another step closer.” Quartave said through gritted teeth, the outstretched sword-pipe shaking slightly in her grip. The clouds of snow blasted out from her arrival slowly disappeared into the harsh wind. “You’ve done enough damage.”

Both Princesses froze, watching the hooded griffoness with a measure of concern and confusion. And for Celestia, suspicion. “What are you talking about?” the Solar Alicorn demanded. “The Elements are a force for good!”

“Did you not listen to a single word we said?” Quartave demanded. “Did you think he was joking about being nearly a century old? I found him, dying, alone in the middle of nowhere. But I saw potential in him, brought him back from the brink of death.” Her talons flexed, piercing through snow to tear up the frosted soil beneath. A vein of yellow crept up the side of her eye before she closed it, hissing frustration into the snow before her sword dropped from exhaustion.

“Was it the dark magic that kept his growth artificially neutered? Likely. But have you considered how it is likely the only thing that kept him alive through that damnable winter? I have put in a lot of effort into making sure my assets are in good condition, so please stop threatening to destroy them all.”

“Wait, you’re different…” Celestia began, her eyes squinting.

Luna interrupted her, holding a hoof against her chest, “Sister please, not now.” Turning back, she asked, “If what you say is true, then is the colt—”

A patch of snow behind the griffon shuddered, then slowly sat up. The flesh on half of Cycle’s face was gone, sloughed off, leaving bleached bone behind. There were further patches scattered across his back and legs, holes that you could see right through to the dim green gem within.

“Yes,” Quartave said, “The Elements are fatal to us. Cycle. He wasn’t supposed to live. None of us are. But me?” She raised her head, glaring. “I have things I still want to do in this realm. I’ve gotten a taste of life, and I’m grabbing anything I can to keep it going.”

“You dare play with Destiny so casually?” Celestia demanded.

“I and Fate do not see eye to eye, so yes,” Quartave replied. “Does the average person care about whether they’re following their destiny? Whether their actions will change others? I saw potential in this colt, and in the rest of my allies, but they were all going to die before realizing it.” She laughed. “So I plucked them out of the world and into mine. Harmony has never forgiven me. Now, if you may excuse me?”

She flipped the blade around and jammed it into the snow. With a twist, the hilt split open, ejecting a braided sling. A yellow flare was retrieved, loaded, fired behind her. A blink later, a massive shadow of wings swooped over. A black bird, wings sparkling with magic, dove down behind the griffon, clamped its talons into the colt’s neck, and hauled him into the storm.

“You’ve done enough damage,” Quartave said. “I’d prefer if we never meet again.”

“You are not using the same magic as the others,” Celestia said, her horn glowing slightly.

Luna winced. “Sister, we have lost this. We can only hope for a graceful exit and promise of better understanding. Please, let this go”

“Indeed,” Quartave said. “I am not obligated to reveal anything, nor do I like either of you enough to consider dropping a hint. It is better this way. Goodbye.” She turned, stowing the sling back into the hilt, and moving to walk away.

“Wait, we’re not done!” Celestia’s horn flashed out.

Quartave spun with impossible speed. Her sword-pipe screamed, blue blades of electricity twisting up its length. A shockwave blew up the snow, tearing through permafrost.

When the winds settled once more, Quartave was gone, and Celestia was left frustrated, clutching only a ball of snow. Luna stared silently off into the frozen wasteland, her heart in doubt and turmoil.

---

In the minutes it took to collect Cycle, the rest of Honeycomb had congregated at the fallback point. Quartave joined them soon after, and they left the frozen lands in a sprint. Quartave’s blinding rage burst forth, and it was sustained for over an hour before subsiding to merely impairing. “Why,” she demanded, “do we have a tagalong?”

Dimi decelerated slightly to keep pace besides the Seer. “I was waiting for you to get your temper under control to explain. Evens and I investigated Sombra’s most heavily guarded tower. It was his laboratory, library, and … a prison. Living, sapient specimens. Experimenting with ... biological prosthetics.” They glanced at the mare keeping pace with them. “I … I think he was close to succeeding.”

“Hrm. Concerning. We will need to investigate this further.”

“Evens and I grabbed what we could when your signal hit. Hope there’s something left to go back to when the Equestrians leave.”

“They better not destroy anything.” Quartave nodded quietly, then moved over to the mare, who cautiously slid away a body length. “Who are you, foal?”

The mare looked around, hesitantly, but seeing as she had chosen these to run with now … she sighed, and raised her head high. “I am Stalci Coda, former ruler of the Crystal Empire.”

---

“Why.”

Quartave looked up from where she was observing the physical checkup being performed on the exiled Princess. “You heard them, then. The Elements. I made no illusions about the nature of our work. I’ve been hunted by agents of Harmony for several of my lives. It happens.” She shrugged, then turned back to the operation room.

I thought back to the escape, when the Seer’s terror induced warning flew over the skies.

But then, as I blurred through the snow, a warmth began following me. The smell of pines and the tingle of a morning sunrise. The light of a tight knit community. The weighted comfort of a home forever lost to me when I ran past a frozen tree reflecting red flares still burning above.

I burned all the stored magic I brought to this mission into my legs, magical discharge singeing the tips of my coat and my armor into a dark glow. For a moment, it seemed that I had returned to the winter chill surrounding the Empire. But then that bubble popped, its last gasp sending a cluster of sparks over me. I lost all feeling in my legs, and plowed face first into the ground.

I thought back to the memory of fulfillment burned into my psyche, and wept.

---

Gladas looked over me next. “We're going to need to speed up development on Project Lamprey," she noted. "I don't trust those ligaments from not ossifying and shattering within a few months. Keep the bandages on, tight, at all times. I do not want to deal with picking up after you."

I looked down at the mass of bandages literally holding me together, and sighed. I had a permanent stain reminding me of how much Harmony wanted my death. I was baffled how no one else seemed to be so blase about how they too were cursed this way, and was left with little help but neutral words of acknowledgement.

The thoughts of my home pained me now. How much could I really do with the magic of the lands might very well try to wipe it off the map once more? I sank back into the only thing I knew at this point, and volunteered to help pick out our haul from the Towers. I would either find a great distraction, or a revelation.

---

Gladas looked over the table to Quartave’s seated form, Quartave’s talons clasped in front of her. “What is the state of our little Empress?” Quartave asked.

“It was as we suspected,” Gladas reported. “Sombra was interested in what it would take to become an alicorn. He already had attached a unicorn’s horn to himself, a borne Terrasire. He is worryingly close to getting his wings.”

“The Empress?”

“Yes. She’s ... growing into them. Those wings are not hers, yet they are bonding to her anyways. The horn she has only contains half the nerve endings required to channel magic. I suspect Sombra only wanted to make sure his technique was reproducible. Yet, that is healing too.”

“Concerning.”

Quartave stared at the table in thought. Gladas waited silently, impatiently, until she slammed both talons onto the table. “How did you miss that!?” Gladas demanded.

Quartave merely raised an eyebrow. “Did I not mention I was happily playing with Destinies for my own designs? What do you think would have happened to this little group if I didn’t convince Wallace to not murder-suicide his former allegiances? Greater Forces on this realm have been rather cross about it ever since.”

“Well that’s great,” Gladas snorted. “Nothing we say gets to him. He’s falling into a mental void, and he’s completely falling apart both physically and mentally. His body is deteriorating at the seams. I am seriously worried about a fatal ‘accident’ in his future. Are you blinded by this too?”

“I am ... unsure,” Quartave admitted. “I feel like I can still see him, but I am unsure if I’m seeing a distortion. This isn’t adding up.”

Gladas groaned. “I’ll ... have someone watching him all the time, then. Its the only thing we can do.” She turned and stomped out of the room. Quartave could only stare at the piles of documents on her desk in frustration.

Actually, she could do something else. Maybe she could choke some trees.

Author's Note:

References:
Absolute Justice: One Piece's Marines

Comments

[Alitaher003]

I do not like Celestia at all.