Apropos of the Sinners

by SpitFlame

Part V – Chapter VIII – A Blinding Surprise

But whatever was Cluster up to in the Flying Rift Express? Nopony else had caught wind of his entrance back in Fillydelphia, nor had his presence been made known before the dual hijackings. Yet there he was. To be sure, the rumour of the "red light," or the Railway Beast, as it were, had been spread and established throughout the train thanks to his enterprising course of action. He had been the one striding about, firing blasts of destructive magic at both the Tic Tocs and the Tough Furs, steadily exterminating every last one of them.

Had Cluster not encountered Rave Note in Filio's house, back in Baltimare, indefinitely piquing his curiosity, this whole attack might not have taken place at all. It was during this month-long juncture which led Cluster to discover these underground connections slinking and tracing about, producing reports of stolen magic, which had ultimately led him to the Flying Rift Express.

Just the day before, at night time, it so happened that Cluster stealthily inspected the Flying Rift about half a kilometer away from the station; then he inspected all of the packaged shipments by the railway station. Then, perhaps out of reckless bravado, he started to look over the locomotive in detail, studying the procedures, the gears, realizing that something was off, and finally noticed that the names on the guest list matched several accounts of the mysterious happenings I have just described. He reasoned that this could have been a coincidence, and that perchance he was making a mountain out of a molehill with his suspicions, but these suspicions were further strengthened when he caught sight of a shady pair of ponies, all dressed in black, tinkering with the train. Apparently he had not been the only one who was not supposed to be there that night.

Unfortunately Cluster had not found either Airglow or Nova on the guest list; this is because the golden ticket was registered in Misty's name. He did not see Misty in Fillydelphia either that night or on the morning of the departure, and he quickly discovered her cancellation of the trip. So, he supposed, that her name was not taken out by mistake, and that Misty would not come at all—and that certainly his brother and sister would not be coming, either. He also did not expect for the train to not arrive on time, nor did he see Airglow that morning, as bad luck would have it.

Disciplined by his suspicions, and driven by a curiosity to get to the bottom of this ordeal, he learned of a very special package, which he deduced was not supposed to be delivered on the train, but was instead meant to come from Ponyville. He knew this because a crate of books, published by Hay and Noble, was not under any official documentation. Nevertheless it was being shipped within the freight holds of the Flying Rift, buried under numerous other crates. If anypony attempted to search for it the night before, they would have surely been caught and arrested. But to search for it on a moving train, far away into the north of Equestria, with little interference? It was a good plan.

Still, this did not add up to the fullest sense of the facts. Cluster pondered very heavily why these criminal reports were all leading to this train, and why such an ominous air loomed over the place that day—as if everything had become ever so slightly out of place, where you notice something is wrong but cannot place your hoof on it.

Misty Gem, he thought at once. Back in Golden Oak, she mentioned that she received the "wrong book." Is it still there? There may not be enough time to go back and still catch the train. She mentioned the words "elixir sixty-six." Is that code, or what?

Then came the hijackings, and the dimeritium inhibitors took effect, depleting all magic. However, these inhibitors did not deplete magic infinitely into regression, but only blocked out a certain percentage level. This threshold stood well over the limit of almost any unicorn alive, so to them their magic was completely eradicated. Cluster's magic, having been so developed thanks to Princess Celestia's tutelage, had been reduced to a mere fraction of his maximum capacity. But despite what little magic he had left, he was still more powerful than any individual opponent.

When ponies began to die, a certain premonition flicked in Cluster's mind: that he had no time to wait and see what this was all about, that these threats were likely an offshoot of sinister intentions behind an invisible veil, and that if he did not stop them now, something far worse was likely to take place.

His assault as the "red light"—because that happened to be the colour of his magical aura—completely rattled the hijackers, and many of them retreated back to their established checkpoints within the train.

Inside one of the cabins in first class, the largest one of them all, the Tic Tocs regrouped two hours after the slaughter commenced. They retreated in fear of the mysterious red light flashing about and killing their own.

In the cabin was three of them; they were conducting a quick meeting, but now most sat in intense contemplation. The main one acted as the de facto leader; another was mostly quiet but kept repeating certain phrases, with the name "Elder Solid" flitting about in them; the last was gesticulating, as if giving a speech. They had come from a powerful line of ponies and intended to make their name known all over Equestria. But the way they spoke was as if badly rehearsed, wooden, hardly convincing; one would suppose they were trying with much difficulty to carry out some order outside their prerogatives.

They first addressed the facts: that just over half of their team were dead, but an equal amount from the white-suited Tough Furs were also dead. It was concluded that the red light (Cluster Tale) was some third party with their own agenda. Then came the arguments on how to solve such an issue. They spoke as if they had been robbed of something sworn to them, that is, in anger and indignation. The main thing which they emphasized was to secure the so-called package no matter what.

"Once we obtain the elixir," said the third one, "we can finally shed our weaknesses and obtain the recognition we deserve."

"True," said the leader, "we are greater than anypony else."

"And Elder Solid is greater than Princess Celestia herself," rapped out the second.

What they had failed to notice was that Cluster had followed them to their cabin. Try as he might, he could not get much information from them. He sat leaning in on the door, overhearing their conversation. He quickly learned, having picked up on their words, that they planned to completely detach the freight holds from the rest of the train. He also deduced several other pieces of information, but these deductions are based on a certain knowledge he possessed that I have not yet recounted to you, the reader. I will wait off till the time is right.

When the ponies inside reached an agreement and proclaimed to be heading out, Cluster concentrated the magic within his horn, being thoroughly annoyed as he already was by the inhibitors—and he teleported inside the cabin.

"Huh!" The leader gave a start.

"It's him! The red light!"

He appeared to the image of two alarmed stallions. The one to his left ran to the side, and he heard the third behind him begin to charge his horn.

Again Cluster teleported in a flash, just in time to avoid the attack from behind. He reappeared right in front of his attacker, crouched down, horn to his face. The stallion's face went numb, pupils shrinking and having no time to react. All the magic collected inside Cluster's horn fired forwards, ripping a blazing hole right through the stallion's face. His lifeless and disfigured corpse flung back, crashing into the wall.

"How is he using magic!" he heard from behind him.

Two more blasts of magic hurled Cluster's way, but he instantly teleported a third time. The second stallion felt a powerful aura push him: Cluster had grabbed hold of his body and whipped him across the cabin, breaking a lamp in the process. Within that instance the aura spiked, spreading to his horn, and destroying that green ring.

The final one—the leader—desperately fired off another attack, but Cluster fired his own magic, completely negating the attack. Cluster fired off another blast, a smaller one; the leader's eyes went blind for a moment, he was pushed to the ground, and his magic-conserving ring shattered off his horn as well.

Cluster drew a deep breath, waiting on the burning feeling within his horn to die down. The one who had crashed on the lamp was still alive, barely—he must have broken his back and kept grunting, but nothing came of it. The leader, for his part, was white as a sheet, fearfully looking at Cluster as if he were a ghost.

"What's the matter?" said Cluster. "Surprised? Shellshocked? Careful not to piss yourself; wouldn't want to make a mess, now would you?" He approached the defeated stallion, towering over him like some grand judge. The stallion tried to back away, but he only reeled further against the wall. "Give up," said Cluster again. "Now tell me—and if you're honest, I may just let you live—what's the name of your employer?"

"Just who in Equestria do you think you are?" reproached the leader, though not very confidently. He looked at Cluster with bulging eyes, propping himself up, but Cluster had no reaction. "Are you after the treasure, too? Is that why you're fighting us?"

Cluster pensively looked down for a second.

"Marble Solid," he said. "That's the name of your employer, isn't it?"

The leader winced, backing himself into a corner, shaking all over in rage but aware of the fact that he was powerless. The stallion from behind coughed, clearly in disbelief. "Forget this lowlife!" he yelled out.

"Oh, that's right," said Cluster, "I guess you're calling him 'Elder Solid' now, huh?"

"It's filth like you that we were warned about," said the leader venomously. "The treasure will grant us a life you can only dream of! We've fought for it, bled for it, slaved over it—it's ours!"

"Treasure? I think you mean this so-called 'elixir,' which has been making headway recently."

Cluster was responded with the most deafening silence. He couldn't help but grin, and a malicious little line flashed across his lips.

"Yeah, I know all about that," he continued. Unfortunately for these clowns, their package isn't onboard. Were they tricked? Is this all a distraction? "But answer me, for real this time—what's with the show? I mean, you put yourselves in such a terrible situation for nothing, ruining your own reputation in the process."

"You wouldn't understand," seethed the leader through his nearly compressed, pale lips.

"I guess I wouldn't, no," Cluster replied somewhat softly, speaking evidently from disciplined patience rather than expected mockery. And all at once a shadow seemed to dawn on his face. "But no matter how powerful your group is, you're still only mortal. Nothing more than that."

"You're wrong!" cried the stallion, suddenly offended. "We're special! We're not like your kind at all!"

They don't want to be called mortal, plus they mention an elixir. Connect the dots. Is it... some kind of elixir of immortality? "And you've grown so obsessed with the promise of an 'elixir' that you've developed tunnel vision," continued Cluster as if he had not heard the objection. "Don't make me laugh. None of you are even remotely qualified for such a drastic position of power."

"So you're telling us," wheezed the stallion from behind, "that we should go back to being commoners? You lowlife scum!"

"No, you're not getting it," Cluster snapped back, horn beginning to glow. "Just think about what you twits are for a damn second. You've always been a commoner, a cog in the population."

"Then... why have we been promised the elixir, unlike the rest of ponykind?" reproached the leader vaguely.

"Look, I'm a commoner!" said Cluster irritably, cutting to the point. "And I'm much more powerful than any of you will ever be. So tell me—what does that make you?"

The leader once more collapsed to the ground, utterly speechless. The other in the back kept squirming, but he, too, was out of things to say.

A certain question flashed through Cluster's mind as to whether his investigation was worth the bloodshed, but instead of contemplating it, he put it off. He blinked away the weariness in his eyes, took several steps back, viewing the two stallions in sight. He would simply keep moving forward.

They have nothing else to say. "Let me tell you where things stand," he said in a colder tone, his horn brighter than before. "I have an infant daughter. My only hope right now is make the world a kinder place for her, so that she won't have to suffer so horribly like the passengers on this train have. The only way I know how to do that is to exterminate those on the lighter side of the scale. That's the only viable method; as long as ponies like you are breathing, she'll never be truly safe. I'm a killer just like you, I know I am; but if I have to stain my hooves with your blood in order to protect her, so be it."

The leader simply looked onwards, scrunching his face, eyes blazing with extraordinary defiance, as if ready to accept any fate which lay ready for him.

"And that," Cluster rounded off, "is why I just can't let this go."

He struck down the leader, incinerating a hole right through his face. Then he turned around, blasted the remaining one dead in similar fashion, took one final look around, and teleported out of the cabin. The door remained lock, as if it had never been opened.

* * *

A flooding whirlpool of emotion overwhelmed our dear Airglow. She had completely forgotten about her broken rib and hurting arm, pushed to the back of her mind by the unprecedented sight of her brother.

"Cluster!" she cried with intense feeling, almost shaking with joy, as it were, and with tears streaming down her face. His very image was like a light to her all of a sudden, shining more brightly than the sun, casting away all advancing darkness.

"Airglow..." Cluster let fall, with a pained expression on his face, casting a brief glance at his sister. He couldn't stand to see her like this. He would never have even guessed that Airglow could be plunged into such despair as she was in now, and the dependence in her eyes made it worse. His horn continued to burn a dim red.

"He's using magic!" screeched one of the ponies in black. "How's that possible?"

Cluster instantly fixed his sights on them, and an extraordinary hatred flashed in his expression. He made some kind of subtle gesture, inclining his head forward, as if commanding his horn to charge up.

"Let me handle him," said the stallion in the front, taking direct aim at Cluster's face.

Both unicorns fired their magic straight at each other, but the effect was completely unequal: Cluster's attack blitzed right through his opponent's, cutting it aside like ribbons, and impacted with a flash, though not very forcefully. Cluster's magic had lost some momentum in the exchange. He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

The stallion was thoroughly knocked back, the flat of his snout singed. He grunted, struggling to get up. Ceaseless exclamation arose, followed by an explosion of shouts which signaled the inexpressible confusion the black-suited company found themselves in. Two more of them blasted their magic in unison, but the result was still the same: Cluster fired back, negating them, and everypony in front of him was shoved backwards.

The large sliding door opened up, and two more of the attackers came in support.

"This is impossible!" they cried.

"Fire! Keep firing!"

"Don't let up!"

Four of them now started to fire off their magic, indistinctly and out of order. Cluster's horn blazed outwards for a second, catching and deflecting the barrage of lethal magic which threatened him and Airglow—who, for her part, kept flinching when a new blast of magic came close, and she quickly covered her eyes with her hooves.

Then all at once, those four stallions blasted together, creating a super-charged beam of magic; it met and was halted by an even larger large flash of red magic. Cluster grit his teeth, losing his breath more and more, then with a rush of willpower he forced the attack back. A bolt of what seemed like lightning struck from his horn, and the whole struggle was inverted onto the attackers. Every window in the compartment shattered; planks from the walls and floors ripped apart; in the end, once the smoke cleared, Cluster was left weary, panting, and pale in the face. But he did not manage to take out a single enemy. Airglow brought her hooves down, daring not to leave her brother.

With a strange and reproachful gaze, Cluster looked straight into Airglow's eyes; his lips twisted, attempting to say something, but some twinge of pain prevented it. His constant use of magic under the sapping influence of the inhibitors was starting to take its toll on him. He had been giving it his all, and yet he could barely produce more than what he had before. Every second felt like an anchor sinking him deeper and deeper into helplessness.

While the enemies recovered from their daze, Airglow took notice of the sickly tint colouring her brother's weary face. She tightly grabbed hold of Cluster by the shoulder, and said in a faltering voice, "Please, we have to run away, hide somewhere, w-while... t-th-they—" She stammered at those final words, grunting and falling back, holding her sides with a hoof.

"You run," said Cluster quietly at last, seemingly having regained control over himself. His eyes went dim and, entirely forgetting himself, took a step forward.

Airglow's lips were trembling. She wanted desperately to say something, or to take an alternative course of action, but in the same degree as Cluster there was nothing she could do.

The entire company of enemies had recovered, all in a rage. There was six of them in that moment, horns all charging. The one in the front, who had his snout singed and who was especially angry, stepped forward.

"You can't take us all on," he snarled.

"Yeah, I know," replied Cluster solemnly. He began charging his horn.

"Ready... steady," began the main one. Their horns grew brighter all at once.

Cluster drew in a large breath, focusing all of his attention to his horn, all of his power, drawing from every nerve in his body.

"Fire!"

He fired off the strongest blast possible. The impact exploded in a flash of light, but strangely, some unexpected reaction spiked the point of contact upwards; that is, it turned out that Cluster had swung his head up when firing, causing his blast of magic to travel at an angle.

As a result the entire roof was ripped apart and incinerated from above, and most of the indoor light vanished at once. The faint rays of the moon filled the half-destroyed compartment. Everything inside filled in with the rush of the snowstorm. The wind was sharp and dry. For a moment the only sound was of the wind, frequently overlaid with grunts of pain from both sides.

Airglow was taken aback by the small explosion. She was pressed against the wall, instinctively leaning to where it was warmer in the other cart. She lifted a hoof over her face, blocking out the incoming snow, narrowed her eyes, and witnessed her brother struck down on the floor, panting, hardly able to manage himself anymore. But even Airglow, who frankly had endured much more than she deserved to, was starting to slip out of consciousness. The edges of her vision darkened, and she could hardly make out the pain anymore from her ribs.

Get up, get up, get up, get up, get up! thought both Cluster and Airglow to themselves.

Cluster indeed brought himself back up, but his horn was spent. The enemies all recovered, and he heard one of them saying, "Now what? Now?" Some more shuffling and stirring, then they approached a bit but halted. Then, "Eh? He's alive!"

Damn, not where I wanted to go, thought Cluster. His breaths were fainter than before.

The remaining six enemies—and to be sure, they were all that was left of their side—grouped together, some began charging their horns, but the main one raised his hoof, stopping them.

"This one is finished," he said.

"End him!" they cried.

"He's killed all of our own!"

"And what have you to say?" asked the main one, scowling. But he was thrown into confusion by a new sight: Cluster's inexplicable grin. There was something troublesome about it. "What is this?" The glowing on his horn stopped for a second. He looked with unease, as if realizing something entirely unprecedented. "I've seen this face before..."

But a response was the very last thing on Cluster's mind. His usual calm and pensive face, which all this while had been out of harmony with his painful efforts in combat, was now visibly animated by a new feeling; and yet he seemed unwilling to show it, and the perceived mockery remained on his face.

"What's going on?" asked one of them, whose horn ignited as well.

"Nothing!" cried the main one, snapping out of his stupor. "Don't get distracted, we don't take risks. Get ready to attack!" They all began charging their magic for a final time.

Not sure if this will kill me, thought Cluster, but...

Cluster's eyes momentarily went wide. Vague images of all the ponies dear to him—Airglow, Aurora, even the last wishes of Snowfall—flashed fleetingly through his head.

No... this is nothing.

He clenched his teeth in anger, clenched them so hard his jaws started to hurt.

It doesn't even come close to the fear of losing all I have.

His horn glowed once again, which threw his opponents off guard; but strange enough, this was quite unlike his previous magic. This glow was mostly white, tinged in certain places with pink or blue. It was very bright, yet remained flat against his horn and did not blaze out, looking like a thin veil of glowing mist.

"What the—!"

"He has more?"

"Don't get distracted!" commanded the main one again. "Get ready..."

One percent is the lowest I can go, thought Cluster, which is still gonna hurt like nothing else, assuming it won't snap me in two.

"Steady..." Their horns were all fully charged, at the dawn of firing.

A small vortex of white magic appeared on the tip of Cluster's horn, swirling into a single, small point, accompanied by the sound of something heating up rapidly.

Alicorn magic blast... one percent...

"Fire!"

All the while Airglow watched as the enemies fired their unified attack, and for a fraction of a second she sensed that it was all over; but suddenly a new spell took over, completely alien to her.

Cluster fired off his attack.

Some intense light covered her entire vision, and she couldn't see anything save for the the faint silhouette of Cluster's horn, of which the light originated. The brightness from this light soon overloaded all of her senses, till she could neither see, nor hear, nor feel much of anything. Strange, she found herself contemplating, because the sensation from all that brightness felt somehow serene, as if it had lifted all of her pain away.

She felt peaceful for some reason. She felt like she were floating in an empty white void and had forgotten about all the negative aspects of her life. The passage of time became uncertain. She wasn't sure if one second or one minute went by.

She let out a small, soft breath, feeling for the light surrounding her. It soon started to vanish, not all at once, or in any unexpected capacity, but slowly, lulling her away from its grasp. Her ears twitched; she could hear once more. She strained herself to listen, picking up on certain echoes which seemed far away. That same silhouette appeared before her, but this time it represented a whole figure, a rather imposing one. The echoes pricking her ear soon became discernible.

"Airglow... Airglow!"

Huh? Is that... brother Cluster?

"Hey, Airglow! Stay with me. Airglow... come on..."

What's he...? Airglow involuntarily gasped.

The light was gone, and reality snapped back into focus. She still felt herself pressed against the wall, but it tilted backwards a bit. Cluster leaned over her, but two things stuck out. First, he was speaking in a completely unnatural voice, one twisted and writhed in pain, as if he had damaged a vital body part but was trying to hide it. His words cracked every now and then, and he could barely hold his breath in for long.

But second, Airglow observed with horror, amid the moon's rays which outlined around Cluster's head and the rushing sweeps of wind—the physical colour of his horn had turned mostly purple, the way one's limb turns purple when they break it; the tip was completely black, and a thin, somewhat noticeable crack ran down the middle, twisting to the left halfway. His forehead was completely bloody, and his right eye squinted far more than the other.

"It's okay, Airglow," whispered Cluster with an effort, "they're gone. They're all gone. Hey, Airglow? Please... are you...?"

But he went silent. His face was the last thing Airglow saw before she passed out.

Author's Note:

End of Part 5.

Cluster's blast of alicorn magic at 1% equals to roughly 25 billion joules of energy. I calculated this first by taking a look at the Tirek fight in the season 4 finale, more specifically at Twilight's first attack which creates that rainbow-y mushroom cloud. For the sake of simplicity I assumed that such an explosion was worth a Hiroshima bomb, or 15 kilotons. But Twilight was using the power of four alicorns, so I made 15 kilotons = 400% alicorn magic. At 1% that's 0.0375 kilotons, or 25 billion joules of energy, which is the equivalent of having something weighing 560 tons hurled at you at just under 300m/s (mach 0.87). Even at a mere 1% it's so intense that Cluster's horn breaks from using it, the same way your arm would break if something with sufficient force bashed against it. Keep in mind that he's the only unicorn we know of who's even remotely capable of accessing such devastating power, because of how naturally OP he already is.

I dunno how accurate this is to lore but it's my story so meh.