Remnants, Forgotten.

by AnkhOmega

8:Progress

..\\..

Goruk'ah stood, looking over his meticulously prepared battlefield. The Greshok were arriving right on schedule, their heavy marching was shaking the valley with it's thunderous rhythm. He sauntered down into the epicentre of his plan, a connection rune linking him to the pockets of Growers he had set up. When he gave the signal their blood would be let, and all he'd have to do was focus.

The High Overseer was placing a great deal of faith in him. If this didn't work he'd be executed at the very least. The Gresh campaign was already too messy for High Overseer Narhk'esh's liking, the primitives were stubborn, their warsuits surprisingly strong considering their general level of advancement. Another failure would spell the death of many commanders and magisters.

But, if he succeeded, if his spell worked and the Greshok were trapped... He'd be given the title of Archmagus at the very least. Maybe even immortalised in the Library. By Kynara's sword, he may even be given governorship of the planet.

His grin stretched from ear to ear as he stood on the rune. It was time to finish this little war. He raised his hand to the sky, focusing his magic into a ball of light and firing it high into the mid-morning sky. Around the perimeter of the battlefield eight camps of soldiers heeded the signal slit the throats of the Growers they had captured, spilling the crimson fluid into the air.

Goruk'ah could feel their life-essence as it sprayed into the air. That glorious red conductor of magic was the linchpin of his new spell. His magic flowed through the connection, grasping every drop of of blood in the air. He flowed it into his symbols, eight floating symbols of crimson energy hovering above the pockets surrounding the field.

The Gresh didn't know what was happening until it was too late. Goruk'ah sent the final jolt, all the magical energy he had stored within himself, all the crystals around him discharging their energy, all the life force stored within the growers blood, everything burst forth into the spell. The blood shaped symbol focusing it's effect, and it washed over the Greshok in a crimson wave of petrification.

The soldiers had barely enough time to turn their heads at the wave before it washed over them, seizing up their armour, blackening their view-screens and freezing them in stone. They struggled, squirming against their new-found restraints, panicking and breathing what little atmosphere was trapped in there with them. The lucky among them choked early.

Goruk'ah sank to his knees, drained to the point of exhaustion. He felt like he would sleep for a week, but it was done. His spell had worked. He tilted his head back and unleashed a dreadful, body-shaking laugh. He had done it. He had succeeded. He would be well rewarded for this. Gresh now belonged to the Elserian Empire.

..//..

Twilight rechecked the paper. It definitely said the symbol had to be held in the air, and it had to be 'growers' blood. The amount was dependant on the quality of the grower, the amount of energy available for use, and the size of the target.

Annoyingly the document failed to mention what a grower was, or how to gauge the quality of one.

Applejack was still trying to wrap her head around the use of blood in a spell. “Ya sure you're readin' that right?” she asked, from what little she had observed of magic it seemed to be rather lacking in bodily fluid requirements. Unicorns just seemed to do that thing with their horn and poof. Magic.

“I'm certain of it...It says the symbol has to be drawn in the air, external from the caster, and out of the blood of 'Growers'.” Twilight stated, getting mildly annoyed by the unknown term.

“The hay is a 'Grower'?” Applejack asked, feeling more than a little out of her depth already. Luckily for her the patchwork voice of the Core Unit evidently felt like parting with the information.

“Grower: The Grower identification is applied to any race or section of population which has shown an aptitude for the following; Farming, botany, veterinary medicine, animal husbandry, or forestry.” the orb exclaimed as it hovered nearby. “The blood of Growers has been shown to enhance the potency of spells where it used as a reagent. All high quality Growers must be reported to a governing body under the Official Sacrifices Act.”

“Wait...am ah one of these growers?” Applejack asked, mere moments before her brain realised that having valuable blood might not be the best thing.

“This unit is capable of verifying the quality of a Grower via a blood test.” The orb floated menacingly toward the orange mare, a circle on it's side popped open as a needle tipped arm loosed itself from within. The light amount of dust that fell from it did nothing to improve Applejack's thoughts on the matter of getting stuck by it, which was to say she was poised to buck the machine clean through the wall of the library.

Luckily for both the Core Unit and Ponyville's carpenter, who was currently taking a well deserved duvet day after rebuilding most of the cottages in town for the nth time, Twilight put a stop to the situation with an immobilising telekinetic field.

She gave the frozen pair a glare worthy of any exasperated schoolteacher trying to settle a room full of foals, which Applejack responded to with a sheepish smile. “While I would like to know as much as you seem to want to,” She chided as her focus turned solely to the Core Unit, “I'd only do so with consent.”

“But the law states-” the orb began, before she interrupted it with a tut.

“No buts. Ask first.”

“...Acknowledged.” it said, almost sounding disappointed despite it's limited vocalisations. “This unit requests permission to test Designation:Applejack's blood for Grower potential.”

Twilight released the field, allowing Applejack to put her hind hooves back on the floor and turn to face the floating ball of metal and it's surprisingly sharp looking needle. She frowned. Like most members of her family she was not a fan of needles, it'd been long standing family tradition to believe that any malady could be cured with a combination of bed rest and bowls of soup. Needles, and the doctor-y connotations associated with them, put her a little on edge.

She looked towards Twilight and shuffled slightly before asking, “Will...will it help ya if ah let this thing,” She gestured towards the orb with a forehoof, and pulled it back like she'd just touched something that was on fire when the Core Unit took the action as an opportunity to attempt to stab her. She glared at it before continuing, “...test mah blood?”

Twilight smiled reassuringly at the Farmer, “Well...Yes, probably quite a lot. But I'd never force you to give up your blood.” she said as she sidled over to Applejack, “If you don't want to I can probably find another spell if I look hard enough......or at the very least another pony who qualifies as a Grower...”

Applejack hung her head and stuck her forehoof out, “No..ah'll do it. Ah already feel bad enough fer runnin' off after seeing you before, and leavin' ya alone for so long when ya needed somepony.” She cast her gaze up, a faint smile gracing her lips. “And besides, what kinda friend would ah be, let alone what kind potential marefriend....” The Farmer's smile grew into a coy grin when she noticed the slight blush creeping into Twilight's cheeks. “...would ah be if ah wasn't there when ya needed me three times in a row.”

Twilight gave a soft chuckle as she nuzzled her head into Applejack's soft, fuzzy cheek. “Thank yo-”

A loud chime interrupted Twilight before she could finish. Both mares looked towards the source, the Core Unit, which had already hidden it's needle-arm away. “Test complete.”

Applejack looked between her hoof and the floating metal ball, she hadn't even felt it. That was incredibly disconcerting to her, that it had taken her blood without her feeling so much as a scratch.

“Results: Grower status confirmed. Initial quality assessment: High quality. Latent Thaumic Energy Echelon: Second. Recommendation: Immediate detainment for use in high level casting.”

“That...That's good right?” Applejack asked.

Twilight responded with a practically beaming smile. “Yes! That means it'll take less blood to cast successfully! If what we know of the Salt Units is true....” Twilight turned back towards the central table and started rooting around desperately for a clean sheet of paper, or one that had some space left on it. She grumbled with annoyance when nothing presented itself. After a gentle reminder from Applejack that she had stopped talking, she continued. “If it's true I think we can stop them. Maybe. I need to do some calculations. ” Twilight looked off into space, her lips moving and her eye tracing along some unseen equation.

Applejack was thoughtful. A lot had happened in the past few days and it seemed a rather large amount of responsibility had been placed upon her friends shoulders, although it wouldn't exactly have been the first time the fate of Equestria had been in Twilight's hooves. Heck, they had even met merely half a day before going out to save the world from being plunged into eternal night, so the stakes were dishearteningly familiar. But there was definitely something different this time. A city had never been destroyed before. Nopony had died any of the other times.

Applejack scrunched up her face in annoyance. “Twilight, I have to know....” she trailed off as she turned to look at the unicorn, who was still staring into space and looking like she was reading something intensely interesting. She poked the purple mare in her side to get her attention. “Nopony else is gonna get hurt, right?”

Twilight's smile was full of mathematically derived confidence. “Right! We'll stop them. We haven't faced anything we couldn't take before right?”

The two shared a smile, slowly becoming more and more assured that they were going to win. They could do this.

..//..

“Are you absolutely certain you cannot take us with you dear?” Rarity asked skeptically.

“Absolutely. I'm sorry girls but we'd be able to get there faster with just the two of us.” Twilight said, looking over her sketched out maps of the area and the official map which she had laid beside them. “And before you ask Rainbow, we need to get Applejack and myself there along with enough supplies to last around a day. I don't think you can carry that much. And I'm a bit...heavier now.” Twilight pre-empted, leaving an annoyed Rainbow Dash to huff and ruffle her wings. Twilight klonked a metallic hoof on the floor for emphasis, the resounding thump of the metal on wood proved her point by travelling up all of the six assembled ponies' legs, causing an exaggerated reverberation in Pinkie.

Applejack cast her eyes over the maps that Twilight had arranged on her central table. Somehow during the time they'd spent gathering their friends Twilight had managed to gather enough paper and pencils to sketch out the map that was being used by the Salt Unit's themselves.

Their map was severely outdated. To the point where it showed dodge junction as a mountain. This was going to work in their favour however, thanks to the Core Unit being able to access their operation logs their route to their next target was uncovered. Twilight and Applejack were now planning on setting an ambush in the Whitetail Woods, which they should be passing through in roughly a day and a half. Twilight hoped this would give her enough time to prepare the spell and give it enough energy to turn the murderous machines into stone.

“I..umm..Still don't see why it has to be just the two of you...I mean..what if you need help?” came a mildly worried whisper from Fluttershy, who was desperately trying to study her fringe in an attempt to keep her eyes from staring at Twilight and her new limbs.

“I would bring more bu-”
“-But the energy required to cast the stoney spelly thingy is maaaaaaaasive and Twiborg can only afford to shield herself and one other with her own energy and still have a shot at stopping the big meany robo-monsters!” Pinkie Pie butted in, looking rather pleased with herself. Twilight, knowing not to question how she knew about the spells abnormally high energy requirements, gave a sigh at the new nickname, knowing Pinkie that name would somehow find it's way back to her parents.... By the sun, her parents! How are they going to-

Applejack noticed the steadily increasing look of intense dread creeping onto Twilights face and managed to divert her train of though by pulling her into a hug. Much to the gleeful delight of Rarity, who looked almost as ecstatic as the time Pinkie discovered coffee.

“'sides, we need y'all to get warnin' to Canterlot 'bout where they're headin' next, and to hold the fort should we...ya know...” Applejack said, mostly to cover the confused mumbles of Twilight as she got herself back in the right mind-frame.

Rainbow Dash looked over the ancient map and the more modern one laying next to it, slowly piecing together where the next target was. “...Hold on! They're coming here next?!” she shouted with alarm. The realisation that they were the next target sent a ripple of shock and fear through four of the assembled. Fluttershy seized up and looked like she might topple at the slightest breeze, Pinkie's jaw was scraping the floor, Rarity had pupils the size of dinner plates, and Rainbow looked like a bull about to charge down someone who had made a very poor choice in shirt colour that morning.

“Ye-..yes.” Twilight finally managed to mutter, “They are. Which is why it's best you girls stay here, we need some reinforcements waiting should this not work.”

“Can't...can't we just use the Elements of Harmony?” Rarity asked shakily, fear for her sister and her friends snaking through her features.

Twilight cast her gaze down, looking somewhat worried as she studied her inscribed forehooves. “I..I'm not sure they'd work anymore. I mean...I'm not sure mine would even recognise me like this.” She murmured, raising her forehoof up for them to examine, grimacing only slightly when she saw the looks of horrified interest. “They're my back-up plan anyway..Just in case.”

The Core Unit took this opportunity to make a sudden announcement. “Alert! Authority Internal Status Monitor indicating the following afflictions have reached critical status: Starvation, Exhaustion. Recommend consumption of high-energy foodstuffs and/or magically charged gemstones.” it bleeted out.

Twilight merely cocked her head at the machine. “What? I feel fine....though I could do with something to eat I suppose....” she trailed off.

Pinkie darted off to the kitchen as Rarity began to speak. “Deary...when was the last time you ate something? Or had a good night's sleep?” she asked, edging somehwhat closer.

“Well..I slept a bit last night... And I ate....back when I was at the dig site...” she admitted sheepishly.

“When ya first got there? That was nearly three days ago!” Applejack exclaimed, shocked. “That's it, yer eatin' something a'fore we leave.” She decided with a nod of her head. As Twilight opened her mouth to protest Applejack covered it with her hoof. “Nuh-uh. Yer' eatin' and that's that. Tell the rest of us what ya need and we'll get it while you feed yerself.”

Twilight gave a soft smile and was about to start listing off things they'd need for the travel into the woods, when pinkie burst through the kitchen door with a cart piled with...what appeared to be meals made up of everything she had in her fridge and most of what was in her cupboards too. Twilight chuckled softly as Pinkie acted out the part of an upper class waiter expertly, placing dish after dish in front of her while she gave the others instructions.

..||..

Primus Request: Status Update.

…
…

Secundus: Map error. Data inconsistent with terrain.
Tertius: Map error. Data inconsistent with terrain.
Septimus: Map error. Data inconsistent with terrain.
Octavus: Map error. Data inconsistent with terrain.

…
…

Primus Recommendation: Take direct path to Grid Echo-Delta 2. Update maps and adjust route as necessary.

...
…

Confirm. (4/4)

…
…

Octavus report: Current path leads to heavily forested area. Recommend reduce speed and release Ekrin banks upon entering tree-line.

…
…

Confirm.
Alert. Ekrin supply insufficient. Return mandatory at later date.

…
…

Confirm (4/4)

..//..

Twilight groaned as she plodded along the path, her stomach felt like it was ready to burst and looked as if she were with foal, much to Applejack's amusement. Each step only seemed to make her bloated belly feel worse, it's contents shifting around as even her upgraded digestive system struggled to cope with the sheer volume of food she had ingested.

Pinkie, with her strange and paranormal skill as a baker, had managed to find ingredients for, cook, and serve dozens of meals while Twilight listed off the supplies they'd need for their little day away from home. As it turned out, Twilight had been quite hungry indeed. Hungry enough to not notice when Pinkie started adding in gemstones to her food, which she only noticed when she coughed up a shard of sapphire that'd been slipped into a cupcake.

Unfortunately for Spike and his snacking schedule, discovering that she could not only eat them, but that gems had an incredibly rich flavour palette, meant that she had consumed practically every jewel in the library.

Applejack just smiled at the now somewhat pudgy mare, the odd thought that Twilight looked adorable with a little tubbyness to her circling through her head. She adjusted the strap on body that was connecting her to the wagon full of supplies. She had volunteered to carry the equipment herself, and in light of Twilight's current condition... objections were not forthcoming.

She chuckled as the purple librarian stumbled a little, the sharp click-clack of her metal limbs ringing out over the soft clopping of her own. Twilight gave her a half-hearted glare at the chuckle and ended up laughing when Applejack pulled off a surprisingly cheesy grin.

After a few more minutes of walking they were within sight of the Whitetail woods, Ponyville becoming an ever decreasing blob of various shapes and colour off in the distance. Applejack's smile faded as a sense of the gravity of the situation came over her. Dark thoughts swirled through her mind and she came to a conclusion.

“Hey Twiborg?” she asked, a sly grin of her face as she used Twilight's favourite new nickname.

“Ugh...Not you too..” Twilight groaned, trying to keep all the food in her stomach from seeing her open mouth as an opportunity for escape.

“Heh..Sorry.” Applejack said, somewhat disingenuously. “But seriously...The odds are kinda bad on this one, ain't they?”

“Not really more than any of the other stuff we usually deal with...”

“...Nopony's died before.” Applejack murmured. Brining a dark silence over the two of them for a moment. “...Iffin ah don't survive this-”

“Don't start talking like that..” Twilight pleaded, but Applejack pressed on regardless.

“If ah die...there's a hill on the farm, only ever got one tree on it. Mac'll probably show ya where...” Applejack sighed softly, this was a lot easier to say in her head. “...could ya make sure they bury me there? It's where my parent's are...”

“...Sorry AJ, I can't.” Twilight said, and at the almost hurt look of confusion from Applejack continued. “Beeecause you're not going to die. No-one else is. We are going to stop them and I am not losing my new marefriend this quickly.” she said defiantly, earning a slow grin from the farmer.

Both mares jumped at the sudden inclusion of a third voice from the wagon. “Alert. Plan has less than 64% chance of success. There is a high chance both Designation: Applejack and the Authority will be terminated.” came the patchwork synth-voice of Core Unit-002. It received a three-eyed death glare from both Applejack and Twilight for it's useful insights when it floated it's way out from under a blanket.

“Didn't I tell you to wait with the girls?” Twilight asked angrily.

“This unit found a 89% probability that it would be able to render useful battlefield assistance to the Authority...” it paused for a moment, before almost hesitantly adding. “The safety of the Authority is paramount.”

Twilight eyed the orb suspiciously. She had a sneaking suspicion that it was holding something back. Luckily for the core unit she was tired and felt too bloated to ask about it.

“Ugh. Fine. We could probably use the help anyway.” Twilight groaned, slowly turning her attention back to walking and not throwing up. Which was proving to be a rather hard challenge for the poor mare.

Applejack kept one eye on the floating orb, still wary of it's needles, as it floated over to Twilight and followed them all the way into their planned ambush spot.

..//..

She could feel it. Spreading her ribcage apart, the bones creaking and cracking in protest. The gentle pitter patter of her leaking blood joining the cacophony of noise in the small chamber.

She watched with horror as the metal arm reached into her open chest, a sudden and horrible cold spreading through her body as she watched it retract. She wanted to scream as she saw her still beating heart in the machine's grasp.

A new arm slunk down, baring the sharpest scalpel she had ever seen. It severed her organ from her body with three simple movements.

Slash. Slash. Slash.

Everything went still.

There were no more sounds.

No more pulse.

No more feelings.

She felt dead.

“Stage 1 Complete.”

She screamed as she shot bolt upright, knocking an incredibly frightened looking Applejack into the wall of the tent. The orange mare recovered quickly, darting over to place her hooves on the now hyperventilating Twilight's shoulders.

“Twi?! Are you okay!? Twilight!” she shouted, shaking the purple mare gently to try and snap her out of it.

After a few minutes Twilight had managed to calm down enough to realise that she was not in fact being operated on again. She pulled Applejack into the tightest hug of her life and buried her face into the soft orange fur of her neck.

Applejack began to softly stroke a hoof through Twilight's hair, cooing soothingly to the now shivering mare.

It took half an hour for Twilight to come down enough to be able to talk again, they moved outside the claustrophobic tent and sat next to the campfire, a blanket wrapped around the two of them.

“I...I'm sorry..” Twilight muttered, her ears folded down and a sad frown on her lips.

“It's fine sugarcube...Y'all were tossin' and turnin' something fierce before ya woke...” Applejack murmured, looking at the librarian in her old and new eyes. “..bad dream?” she asked tentatively.

“....Something like that.” Twilight responded, giving off a soft disappointed sigh. “..I..keep having the same nightmare. It's why I can't sleep.” she admitted slowly.

Applejack just nodded, silently urging Twilight on.

“...It's..the surgery where this happened.” she waved a metallic hoof for emphasis, causing Applejack's eyes to go wide. “They...didn't have any anaesthetic...I was awake the whole time..”

“Stars above...” Applejack murmured, wrapping her forehooves around Twilight and hugging her softly in the moonlight.

“......I think I died.” Twilight said in an almost whisper.

“Wha?”

“I...I think I might be dead....I don't have a pulse AJ.”

Applejack quirked a brow and put her ear to Twilight's chest, listening intently to her inner workings. Sure enough there was a suspicious lack of a heartbeat, just a soft whirring noise deep within her chest. She raised her head slowly, confusion evident on her face.

“...How in the hay don't ya have a heartbeat?” Applejack asked incredulously, repeatedly placing her ear back on Twilight's chest just to make absolutely sure.

“The Authority has been upgraded.” Came the answer from underneath a stone topped bucket. The Core Unit had been confined in there when it had failed to grasp that it wasn't actually allowed into their tent while they slept, especially if it was just going to watch them sleep.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Applejack barked back at it angrily, worry quickly turning to anger.

“All major vital organs have been replaced with cybernetics. Exclusion: The brain has been augmented rather than replaced due to a lack of materials and damaged equipment. Organ functionality has been increased by a factor of...ten.” the bucket-voice responded, a soft buzz coming from within as it made some calculations.

Before Applejack could bark something aggressively and threaten to dunk the orb in the well again, Twilight broke into the conversation.

“Why am I not dead?..I..I saw you take my heart out...I felt everything stop..Why am I still alive?” she asked, voice becoming somewhat frayed towards the end of her question.

“Vita-Ray: The Vita-Ray is an advanced piece of medical equipment which focuses several healing spells upon a target. This can effectively keep a patient alive regardless of physical condition for an indefinite amount of time. Use of a Vita-Ray is now standard in all surgeries to prevent death from complications.” the orb answered, rocking it's bucket slightly.

“And they couldn't put something in it to stop the pain?!” Twilight shouted, loud enough to scare a nearby bird right out of it's nest.

“Culture: Elseria: Military: Pain: All of Elseria's military are required to undergo surgical and cybernetic enhancement to meet the needs of their specialisation. Pain medication is no longer commonly used in military surgeries due to the need for a fighting force that is resistant to it. The pain of the surgery itself and the after effects are used to condition each soldier to not break under physical torture. Civilian and Governing Bodies are exempt, pain inhibitors are installed in most to allow them to return to their duties as soon as possible.”

Twilight looked over her 'upgrades' again, “Pain inhibitors?...I wonder how much pain I'm actually in...” she murmured.

“Twi'...I know that look, don't you even think-” Applejack began, unfortunately much too late.

Command: Deactivate pain inhibitors for one second.

Twilight froze up, her pupils shrinking to pinpoints as she dared not even move. Time seemed to slow down as every single nerve in her entire body screamed at her. Her muscles ached and her legs...her legs felt as if they were on fire and someone had tried to douse the flames in a mixture of salt and lemon juice. Her new eye exploded in agony which traced it's way along the side of her head and all the way back around up to her horn, which felt like someone had tried to flatten it with a sledgehammer.

For one brief second she felt the agony she was in. She wanted to scream but her face hurt too much to move.

And then it was gone. The inhibitors reactivated and she was left with nothing but the feeling of the blanket and Applejack glaring at her.

“Twilight. Fer a smart pony y'all sure are dumb as a sack of pears sometimes.” Applejack said disapprovingly.

“...I.....am never....ever... doing that... again.” Twilight whispered, shivering as the memory of how much she actually hurt refused to fade.

Applejack's glare softened and she spent the next hour cuddling herself up to Twilight and watching the camp-fire slowly die away.

After all the light had faded to mere embers in the ash Twilight smiled softly. Applejack had fallen asleep on her and was giving off the quietest little snore. Twilight decided to let her sleep, and to not suffer a nightmare and wake her.

She decided to look through the library, find something to read while she was waiting for morning. A rouge memory struck her.

'Search the library for my name.'

She remembered the High Overseer's final message. Maybe something in what he left behind would be useful? She searched for the name 'Vark Oohn' and got...no results. Luckily the library was smart enough to realise she might not know what she was trying to spell.

Error: No results found. Phonetically similar searches: Vaark'un.

She rolled her eye, think that he probably should have spelled his name in his last message. Then she remembered the ending of that message and supposed maybe he didn't have enough time for it.

She searched for his actual name and got dozens of results. The top three were logs, labelled 'Log-End'. She opened them, hoping they wouldn't be as depressing as their title insinuated.

..||..

Comments

[Lelouch Vi Britania]

Twilight: "I've got pain inhibitors? Let's just shut those off..."

Yeah, real intelligent there twilight. Anyway, great update, looking forward to the next one!