Solitaire

by Acologic

Chapter I

The lab was tables and shelves. They were empty. A desk bore stacks of books and papers. A pony’s horn glowed. His coat was sirocco and his mane shark-black. His magic was amber. A notebook landed atop the smallest pile. The pony sighed and rubbed his chin. He tightened a travel bag and blinked at the desk. He sighed. He walked to the desk and split two piles. He flicked through a sheaf. He stopped and closed his eyes. He grimaced. He levitated the papers into order. He turned and walked. He ran his hooves over the empty tables. He reached the wall. He patted it, smiling. ‘A cold, empty, cruel farewell,’ he muttered. ‘But no. Goodbye is never good. So it is, and I cannot make it right.’ He smirked. ‘Good,’ he said. ‘Right.’ He walked. He patted the desk. He brushed a book. He sighed. He tapped the notebook. He paused. He picked it up. He licked his teeth. He opened it. He read:

… In the extremities of the following regions are those most critical points of contact, whose…

He stopped. He smiled and shook his head. He snorted. ‘As if I don’t know,’ he muttered. He turned. He eyed the door. The notebook floated in front of him. His horn flashed, and the pages burst into flame. ‘You won’t take this one from me,’ he said. ‘Not this one.’ Ash gathered and scattered. His horn shimmered and it vanished. He looked at the desk. ‘A slave to you no longer,’ he said. ‘Bad-bye, then.’ He turned, opened the door and walked out. He blinked and swallowed. A soldier was standing in the corridor. He wore a white jacket, white trousers and a white cap. On his shoulders were various patches. He had been leaning against the wall. He stood to attention and saluted.

‘Major Masterduke,’ he said. ‘Colonel Spruce wishes to see you.’

‘Yes,’ said Masterduke. ‘I know.’ He hoisted his bag and walked away from the lab.

Colonel Spruce stood in the atrium. Masterduke descended the stairs. He walked to the Colonel and stood before him. They eyed each other. The Colonel opened his hooves. Masterduke reciprocated. They embraced. ‘How silly the question,’ said Spruce as they parted, ‘yet I shall ask it. Until something is done, something may change. Are you decided?’

Masterduke nodded. ‘I am now.’

‘Then I shan’t see you again.’ He smiled at Masterduke’s look. ‘Come now, you know my hypotheses.’

‘Assume the worst?’ said Masterduke.

‘Exactly,’ said Spruce. He wasn’t smiling anymore. ‘You’re a scientist. What can you offer out there that you cannot do better here? I have tried to understand, but I don’t. Will you tell me?’

Masterduke rubbed his chin. ‘We’re crippled by distance. How can I improve my spells’ efficacy without access to who’s casting them?’

‘The same way you always have.’

‘No. It’s not enough.’

‘I see. Experience, then.’ Spruce saluted. Masterduke smiled.

‘What colonel salutes a major?’

‘You’re already playing at soldiers, to ask that. Go, Mast. Your desk will always be here.’ Masterduke twitched and licked his teeth. He walked away and out of the building.

The train was long, grey and dirty. The platform was crowded. Ponies shuffled in and out of cars, moving supplies. There were crates of rations and of munitions. There were fabrics and tents and wood and metal. There was livestock, bleating and moaning. Ponies queued. Few spoke. No face carried a smile. Beggars mumbled. Some were missing limbs. None had more than a hoof of coppers. Masterduke stared, sweating, at a clock as a beggar spoke to him. ‘What’s the time?’ Masterduke swallowed and turned.

‘Excuse me?’

The beggar leered. ‘I lost a leg,’ he said, patting the floor beside his stump. Masterduke stared. He turned away. ‘Hee, hee, where are you going?’ Masterduke pushed ponies aside.

‘Oi!’

‘In a hurry, are we?’

‘No rush, friend; we’re all bucked.’

He reached the edge of the platform. He blinked. He turned and walked toward a pony. He reached into his bag, extracted his papers and offered them. ‘Let’s see,’ drawled the pony. ‘Wrong car. You’re that way.’ He jabbed a hoof.

‘Which one?’ asked Masterduke.

‘Personnel,’ he answered. Masterduke shuffled along the platform. He winced as the corner of a crate scraped his chest. He squeezed through and showed his papers. He stepped onto the train.

He watched Canterlot from the windows once the train moved. The city was grubby. Soot blackened most buildings. The palace was empty and vandalised. Ponies congregated in certain areas, like the barracks and the platform. The streets were silent. Masterduke peered into his bag. In it were a beret and a red sash. He licked his teeth. Around him sat soldiers, dressed in white. No one spoke. The train clattered and rattled. ‘Destination,’ echoed a monotone. ‘Rock Dunes Frontier – via Cloudsdale, Gorge and Bay.’ Masterduke itched his horn.

‘Soon,’ he mumbled. No pony looked up. ‘Why? Why not? What answer have I to either? Sombra. Celestia.’ He smiled. ‘Masterduke. Well. We shall see. “In the extremities of the following regions”. We shall see.’ Teams of Pegasi flew above the tracks. They were dragging rain clouds toward crop fields. Masterduke watched them from the window and shook his head. He closed his eyes.

The sun was setting as the train slowed into Rock Dunes station. The doors clanked open and the soldiers poured out. Masterduke rose, donning his uniform, and followed the tide. He stepped onto the rock and shuffled forward. A steep stone staircase led up onto a dune. A long, narrow stream of ponies ascended. He joined it and climbed. At the top of the steps, Masterduke saw the horizon. Ochre light washed across the desert of rock. The caravan funnelled into a fissure and the sunset disappeared. The ponies emerged into a huge cave. Here the tide dispersed and he stood, watching. White light blared into the space from lamps high above. White-clad soldiers walked to and fro. Against one wall were pinned canvases. Under these were gear and sleeping mats. ‘As sterile as any lab,’ muttered Masterduke. He walked into the mouth of the cave. The space was deep. He stepped toward a large tent near the front.

‘Major Masterduke, R&D,’ he told a sentry. ‘Reporting.’

‘Colonel Comet is there, sir.’ A pony with a jet-black coat and mane stood at a desk cluttered with paper. Masterduke joined the queue and waited. He stepped forward, presented his papers and saluted.

‘Major Masterduke, R&D,’ he repeated. ‘Reporting.’

‘Masterduke. Yes.’ Colonel Comet read. ‘Ah!’ His face lit up. ‘You are a liberator? Excellent!’

‘No, sir,’ replied Masterduke. He licked his teeth and added: ‘Although, as you see, I developed the programme. If you have any captives, I will be happy to remove their helmets.’

‘Well! What a stroke of luck! We’ve some, although –’ Comet grimaced. ‘I see that isn’t why you are here. Spells… standard-issue… This isn’t my field, Major, and I’m afraid we haven’t any specialists in the regiment.’

‘I know, sir,’ said Masterduke.

‘The best I can do is send you to local artillery.’ Comet scribbled on a page, placed it onto Masterduke’s papers and passed him both. ‘If you can,’ he said, ‘see Lieutenant Mask about those helmets. Dismissed.’

Masterduke asked the sentry for directions. He walked to the mouth of the cave. Wagons were filling. Beside them he spotted a pony with a pumpkin coat and an officer’s cap. He walked up to him. ‘Captain Meadow?’ he asked. ‘Major Masterduke, R&D. Colonel Comet’s orders.’ He passed the pony the page. Meadow read. His eyes widened. He stared.

‘By harmony,’ he spluttered, ‘you’re that Masterduke? Oh, forgive me, sir.’ He saluted. Masterduke smiled and waved him down.

‘Please. As you see, I’ll be coming with you.’

‘I must say, sir, that this is an unexpected privilege.’

Masterduke blinked. ‘Oh?’

‘Oh, indeed, sir! How many times your spells have saved my sorry hide!’

Masterduke grinned. ‘I’m delighted they work for you.’

‘Indeed, sir, for everyone in the company. So, is that why you’re here, sir? To test new spells?’

Masterduke’s eyes flickered. ‘No, I’m here to improve the old ones – and, if possible, to plan more.’

‘You’ll have no trouble here, sir,’ piped up Meadow. ‘Good horns, all.’

‘Are you going into action?’

‘Perhaps, sir. We’re travelling onto the dunes. Skirmishes at worst. The thralls are scouting us. Colonel Comet sends us to keep them as far from base as possible.’

‘Good. As you were.’

‘Sir.’

They boarded the final wagon. The platoon of Unicorns trundled into the dim, pulled along by silent, burly Earths. They entered a narrow fissure and turned. Masterduke strained his eyes. Black rock ran far. There were four wagons, each carrying ten or so ponies. They stopped, arranged in single file and continued. Masterduke cast his eye over the ponies in his cart. A few blinked at him. One saluted. One stared, his mouth agape. Masterduke watched him. The pony leaned forward. He removed his cap. His mane was tumbleweed and his coat copper-rust. Masterduke blinked. ‘Professor?’ said the pony.

‘Who’s that?’ replied Masterduke, shifting forward.

‘Professor Mast? Is that you?’

‘You know me?’ said Masterduke. Their eyes met. Masterduke’s widened. ‘Starburst?’

Meadow was turning his head from pony to pony. ‘Private, you know the Major?’

‘The Major!’ Starburst beamed. ‘That’s Professor Mast! Flanks! How did you end up here, professor?’

‘You are Starburst,’ Masterduke said, ‘that student who could conjure the most wonderful ribbons!’ A few ponies turned and snorted.

‘What?’ said one, grinning.

‘Ribbons?’ sniggered another. Starburst blushed.

‘Ah. Yeah. Well. That was a long time ago.’ He grinned. ‘Yeah, they were pretty awesome, though, weren’t they, sir? I guess you aren’t teaching any more. Flanks. Closed down the uni, did they?’

‘Quiet,’ hissed the Earth pulling their wagon. ‘We’re leaving base.’ As the fissure widened and the wagons spread, Masterduke leaned in and smiled.

‘How are you finding my spells?’ he whispered. Starburst shrugged.

‘What do you mean?’

‘My spells. You know, standard-issue. You cast, surely?’

‘Oh. You mean killing. Those are your spells?’

Masterduke flinched. He paused. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘They are.’ He stayed quiet. He watched Starburst, who was looking down and fidgeting with his cap. ‘They did,’ he whispered. Starburst looked up.

‘What?’

‘Close it – the university, that is. I’ve worked for the cause ever since. You know,’ he said, leaning closer, ‘I developed the methods we use to rescue ponies from helmets. Did you know that?’

‘You did?’

‘Yes, yes! I did.’

‘Are you here as a liberator?’ Masterduke shook his head.

‘No. I’m here to do… something else.’

Starburst nodded. ‘Cool.’ Masterduke rubbed his chin. He swallowed and turned away.

The wagons split. They travelled alone across a dune. Meadow ordered the driver to stop. They climbed down from the cart and assumed positions along an overlook. Below them was black rock. Meadow raised a hoof and signalled for silence. He crouched. Masterduke and the others followed suit. ‘There,’ breathed Meadow. ‘Do you see them?’ Masterduke strained his eyes.

‘No,’ he whispered.

‘Look there. Open wide.’ Masterduke peeled back his lids. He glimpsed a flat shadow inching forward. ‘They suspect that we’re here,’ breathed Meadow. ‘They know we search for them. You’ll appreciate this, I think, sir.’

He slipped away from the precipice and signalled to the squad. Horns glowed. Spirals of aqua, olive, navy, silver and green shone in the dim. Then they fired. A giant, yellow-pink cloud shimmered above the dune. It dropped. There was a flash of red and the report of a splash spell. Squeals echoed upward from below. Meadow shot orbs into the sky. Masterduke raised a hoof and shielded his eyes. On the rock lay helmets and corpses. Meadow turned to him, grinning. ‘Well, sir? What do you say to that?’

Masterduke closed his mouth and swallowed. ‘You’re all trained in mortar splash,’ he muttered, rubbing his chin. Meadow swelled.

‘As I told you, sir – good horns, all. Hold on. Ah, there’s more. Charge up, lads.’

‘How efficient are your secondary spells?’ asked Masterduke. ‘You’ve expended a lot of magic.’

‘All your ones, sir,’ replied Meadow. ‘We start with a splash, though rarely one as big as that. Then it’s beams and sweeps. Your manual on focus made that possible. Hold on. Shit.’ Thirty or so thralls emerged from positions across the dune. Some had started casting. Meadow and Masterduke ducked as blasts shot over their heads. ‘Beams! Synchronise and fire!’ commanded Meadow. The ten ponies obeyed. Masterduke added his beam to the sweep. They carved through the first rank, dropping them. Few rose.

‘You’ll need to take care of that,’ said Masterduke, pointing to their flanks. Thralls crawled up the cliffs. ‘Split the squad into three. Five in the centre and pulse.’

‘Yes!’ said Meadow, grinning. Three ponies moved at Meadow’s order. Another few ran to cover the other side. Masterduke joined Meadow in the centre. ‘Horizontally, now,’ cried Meadow. ‘Fire!’ Their wave stunned the onrushers. The rank behind them stopped, squatted and fired. The squad shrank behind the lip. As they did, thralls advanced. ‘Back, charge up and fire on my command!’ snarled Meadow. Horns glowed. They poked their heads over the lip.

‘Ah!’ A pony squealed and fell onto the rock below. His body crumpled. Masterduke’s eyes bulged. The flanks were swarming with thralls.

‘Shit!’ said Meadow. ‘Retreat! Full retreat! Oo!’ The orbs vanished. Masterduke blinked in the dark and swallowed.

‘This is it,’ he muttered. ‘My greatest creation? Now we shall see.’ He scrambled sideward and down a slope. He spun around and saw the flashes of thralls’ spells. He steadied himself and closed his eyes. He licked his teeth. His horn glowed. It flashed. He grimaced and stamped. He closed his eyes and steadied his shaking body. He breathed in and out. His horn glowed. The shine swirled. It grew. A tornado of amber light twisted around his head. He focused and pushed. It zipped forward and vanished into the dark. He waited, holding his breath. There were cries from the overlook. ‘Let it be,’ he muttered. ‘Let it be; let it be –’ He shivered. His eyes widened.

‘Stop,’ he hissed. ‘Cease fire.’ The blasts of the rear rank of thralls vanished. The dune was black. He stood, shaking and blinking. He opened his mouth. ‘Was that it?’ he breathed. ‘Have I done it? Did it work?’ He staggered forward and stretched out his hooves. He felt. He touched cold metal. His eyes widened. ‘A helmet,’ he muttered. ‘A thrall!’ He leapt backward, then stopped. He stared. His eyes adjusted. He rubbed his chin. His lip curled. Five thralls stood before him, breathing. They did not move. They did not speak.

He turned and ran to the overlook. He followed the shouts. The squad, with Masterduke, had become five. They ran. Thralls, slower, chased. He spotted Starburst and the Earth, who had abandoned the wagon. Meadow was alive. ‘What do we do?’ he demanded.

‘Keep running,’ grunted Meadow, sweating. ‘We get to safety. Find a fissure. Get down into it.’

‘What happened, professor?’ asked Starburst. ‘Did you stop them?’

‘I tried,’ panted Masterduke. ‘They’re still behind us.’ They ran. The dune was flat, yet shards and gaps tripped the ponies. Masterduke squealed as his snout scraped the rock.

‘Are you hit?’

‘Fell,’ he gasped. ‘Go!’

‘They’ve stopped, I think,’ grunted the Earth, looking behind. ‘They know there’s not much point.’

‘Even so,’ said Meadow. ‘We aren’t leading them to base. We’ll find a fissure. We stay out tonight.’

The fissure into which they wriggled was tight. They leaned against the rock, panting. Meadow sighed, his mouth thin. ‘Sorry, sir,’ he muttered. ‘I wanted to give you a show. We gave you one, and the price was lives. Celestia damn me, and damn this war too.’ Masterduke nodded. He was trembling.

While the others rested, he stared out of the opening and at the sky. The clouds parted and the moon shone. Masterduke swivelled and surveyed the remnants of the squad. All slept, even the Earth, who had volunteered to watch. He wriggled out of the trench and up onto the dunes. His mouth wobbled. He smiled. He chuckled. He licked his teeth. ‘So,’ he whispered. ‘So. Is the world mine?’

‘Professor Mast?’ Masterduke turned and tripped in his haste. Starburst was watching him. Masterduke stared. Starburst climbed out of the fissure and stood beside him. They watched each other. Starburst spoke. ‘You did something out there, didn’t you? Meadow said it. He thought we were going to die, but then half the fire stopped.’ Masterduke licked his teeth, then smiled.

‘Why deny it? Yes, I did. Oh, I did something quite unique, Starburst. Something truly special. It may have been the greatest magic I’ve made.’

Starburst stiffened. ‘Did you kill them?’

‘Wha—? No! No, of course not!’ He glared at the Private. ‘You don’t believe me? Well, I’ll have you know! Not only were they alive and well when I left them; they were unscathed! You hear? An anti-personnel weapon that harms neither hide nor hair!’

Starburst blinked. ‘But – how?’ Masterduke beamed at him.

‘I’ll show you! That’s the beauty of it; the spell isn’t too hard once you have it! My boy, don’t you see? Sombra’s power is broken! The war is over! I have ended it!’ He stamped and beamed. Starburst opened his mouth. Then his eyes widened. He stepped forward, then stopped. A blade touched his throat. Masterduke gasped as a blade brushed his.

‘Big claims,’ hissed a voice in his ear. ‘Very interesting ones too, I think. Come, then, let’s hear all about it – but not here. Leave them, Marius,’ hissed the voice. The eyes of a third pony, Marius, flashed red. He stepped away from the trench, its occupants unmolested. They walked in silence across the dunes. They came to another fissure. The ponies shoved Masterduke and Starburst into it. Their leader raised his blade and placed its tip onto Masterduke’s chest, above his heart.

‘You answer my questions or you die, and know that it doesn’t bother me too much. As it sounded, you are responsible for our little malfunction earlier. If the secret’s yours as you say it is, you’re a push away from keeping it forever, understand?’ Masterduke nodded, his face rigid and sweating. ‘Good. Now, who are you?’

‘Major Masterduke, R&D.’

‘A soldier?’

‘A researcher.’ The blade twitched.

‘A researcher, eh? Then why are you out here? Speak!’

‘Ah!’ squeaked Masterduke as the blade scratched his torso. ‘I’m – I’m a researcher! I make spells. I’m here to improve them.’

‘Aha! Look, Marius! A darling of death!’

Marius glared, his eyes redder than fire. ‘I say we flay him. Take his cutie mark and send it to their colonel.’ He stepped forward. The leader shooed him.

‘Calm down. Let’s get to the bottom of this first. So, you’re a spellmaker. What spell did you use to sabotage the helmets?’

‘I didn’t!’

‘Don’t lie! I saw it myself!’

‘No! Please! It wasn’t the helmets! Ah! It wasn’t the helmets. It hasn’t anything to do with mind control at all! It’s isolated excitation leading to extreme suggestibility!’

‘Which means what, exactly? Same difference so far as I see it. You hit our troops with a spell, and they stopped listening to us. However you frame it, that’s trouble enough. Now tell me exactly how you did it. Preparations, incantations – whatever you Unicorn lot do. All of it. Oh, and to make sure you’re straight with us –’ He looked around. ‘Ah, yeah. Marius, cut that one’s leg when I tell you. So, no nonsense, and junior keeps his stride.’

Masterduke told them. As he talked, Starburst listened and swallowed.

‘Well, that was painless. Now, just to make certain you haven’t told us a pack of lies, you’re coming with us. You’ll prove it, and then – because we’re fair – we’ll spare your life. I think you’ll look good in a helmet.’ He chuckled. Marius scowled.

‘We should kill him,’ he growled. ‘Kill them both and the secret’s safely in the grave.’

‘Idiot!’ snapped the leader. ‘They commandeered half a squad! You think His Highness will decorate you for bloodlust? We take them. They prove it. Then we’ll see.’ Masterduke swallowed and rose. He walked in front of the blade. Starburst walked beside him, hyperventilating.

‘Are you OK?’ whispered Masterduke. Starburst gasped, eyes rolling.

‘If I pretend to have a fit,’ he breathed, slurring, ‘can you handle them?’ Masterduke paused. He swallowed. He nodded. ‘Oooo,’ groaned Starburst. He collapsed. He writhed.

‘Get up!’ Marius raised his blade.

‘No!’ snapped the leader.

‘It’s this one we need,’ snarled Marius, jabbing at Masterduke. ‘If he squeals any louder, we risk giving ourselves away.’

The leader paused. ‘Fine,’ he said. ‘Kill him.’ Marius leered and swung. There was a flash and a whistle. He blinked. He looked at his hooves. They were yards away, on the rock. Blood oozed from stumps. His head rolled.

Starburst rose, his eyes bulging. He stared at the corpses. Masterduke was wiping his brow, gasping. An amber glow dissipated. Starburst watched him. ‘Are you hurt?’ he asked.

‘No,’ panted Masterduke. ‘That spell – takes – takes a lot,’ he gasped. He closed his eyes and staggered. ‘But –’ His mouth twitched. ‘I must admit – I have wanted – for a long time – wanted – to use it.’ He inhaled. He exhaled. He stood, wobbling.

‘I think we should move them,’ said Starburst.

‘Where? Into a fissure?’

‘If there’s one nearby.’

‘Well, have – have a look, then.’

‘Here.’

‘Good. Can you use your horn?’

‘Can’t you use yours?’

‘Not yet. I have to wait.’

‘Flanks. Levitation isn’t standard-issue, you know.’

Masterduke snorted. ‘Soldiers,’ he mumbled. ‘No artistry.’ As Masterduke rested, Starburst pulled the bodies into a ditch.

‘So, that’s that,’ said Starburst, watching him. Masterduke sighed.

‘Yes. That’s that. You know the spell now.’

Starburst shifted. ‘What?’

‘The spell. The masterpiece.’

‘You mean –?’

‘Yes! I’m anxious to see you cast it.’

‘What, now?’

‘No, not now, boy! In the field!’

‘But – isn’t this sort of thing, like, research?’

‘Of course it is! Why do you think I’m here?’

Starburst frowned. ‘You implied it was to evaluate our firepower.’

‘Well, yes – that’s the official story. Don’t you see, though? It’s as I said! The end of the war!’

‘I don’t know about that. Who says Sombra won’t think up a counter?’

Masterduke waved his hooves. ‘Details, boy, details! If you can cast it, and it works, then we can train everyone. We can synchronise! Snap those wearing helmets into suggestibility! Order an advance on the Empire! Sombra is a genius, but he is not all-powerful. I have him!’

‘Sombra is a genius,’ repeated Starburst, glaring. Masterduke blinked.

‘Magically. I speak in relation only to his magic. Ah, Starburst, these are details. I have it, the means to –’ He stopped at a gasp from the trench. Starburst stiffened. Masterduke’s lip wobbled. There was a gurgle, then a moan. The Unicorns looked at each other.