Arcane Shadow (Re-Written)

A month went by, and no further changes to Redpine had occurred—as soon as the Void clamped itself around the island, the army of lava wraiths were stuck, and that was that. Everyone that would enact the insane plan of the tsunami-supercell combo platter watched in the office on the eve of their impending strike, as well as the two Umbrum who had some knowledge of their own kind's antics and the Bearers of Harmony. The moon shone through the office, just a tiny sliver from being completely full, and Spitfire frowned as she glanced between the map and the moon.

Tequila took a hit from his cigar. "So, homunculi are runnin' roughshot o'er there…" He shook his head. "Reminds me o' the time me an' me crew found the first three, stirrin' shit up."

Spitfire turned to him, still frowning. "Did… the trio of homunculi attack you?"

"Aye. Managed to get out o' that mess, without losin' any o' me crew somehow. An' that was with the gluttonous bastard o' the lot throwin' Ragnarok at us," Tequila said, his own frown deepening as he took another hit of his cigar. "I may be powerful, lass, but that's only with Big Magnum. Without me ship, I be just another citizen power-wise, in the grand scheme o' things."

Spitfire nodded, willing to roll with that. She'd have been in much the same position, if at any point in her life she had lost her wings, especially against demonic clones of ponies with catastrophic power. "Have you caught wind of anything regarding a changeling homunculus?" she asked.

Tequila shook his head. "Not so much as a peep," he affirmed bitterly. "But I reckon she'll show her ugly mug soon, an' when she does, she might o'erplay her hoof."

Shining nodded. "Seeing as you admitted that the other homunculi more or less did the same, this would make sense," he agreed. "But I have a feeling… the changeling homunculus won't do the same, even if she does go for broke." He put a hoof to his chin. "But what would the endgame of the confirmed loose homunculi be…? That's what's bothering me."

Natalie frowned. "Trust me, our doubles are scratching their heads over it, too. They have little to no clue what those loose doubles even look like," she said with a shrug. "That is, every time they're not engaging in their… our particular vices." She turned to Anna. "And have you put a belt on your double yet?"

Anna nodded. "Yeah, got that squared away. She had a conniption," she affirmed. "But anyway… say the changeling double isn't on our side—like, oh I don't know, some shitweasel managed to grab her and mold her impressionable little mind into something more like…" She lifted a claw and waved it in circles as she fished for words. "A subservient second-in-command to whatever endgame they've got going on?"

"Unfortunately, 'tis possible," Tequila agreed with a slow nod. "Would the same be true o' the Umbrum double?"

Anna put her raised claw to her chin and gnawed on her bottom lip a little. "Given that ours have the vices more or less their entire shiding, I'd unfortunately say yes. And if Annabelle and the others are nucking futs even by our standards, I'd hate to see what the other Umbrum think aren't lines worth crossing," she answered.

Matt shook his head. "Trust me, I've heard they have no standards at all for their evil. At least King Sombra tried to maintain some sort of decency—more than can be said for even half of Fantasia, sadly," he said bitterly. "Which means that the Umbrum homunculus is potentially willing to do anything and everything. Wouldn't be surprised if he, somehow, took on the changeling homunculus as a lover or something."

Tequila shuddered at that mental imagery, as did many of the others in the office. "Which makes finding the door to the Umbrum's realm more imperative, once Redpine is addressed," Shining said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, but that's going to be the hard part," Lance pointed out, sighing. "We can't exactly pin down a location when the damn thing decides it wants to play hopscotch."

Natalie put a pastern under her chin and pondered. "Maybe we need certain items to make it stay still, and then try to lockpick it?" she proposed. "What would we need, though…"

"Maybe pieces… or remnants of the ancient alicorns?" Anna piped up. "Like… things tangentially linked to them." She waved a claw for emphasis.

Natalie nodded, and considered that. "I'm listening…"

"But what else could be linked to them…" Shining pondered, eyes flicking across those assembled in the office.

"Mayhaps 'bloodlines' would do just as well—after all, the ancient alicorns probably constructed some, before they were slaughtered," Blueblood suggested. "Remnants of legacies long since destroyed, after all, are still linked to them—we needn't stick with only physical remnants of their misdeeds."

Natalie's ears twitched. "But that's assuming the door'll just pop open for anypony boasting those bloodlines in their veins," she retorted. "And for all we know, it might not even do that, putting us back at square one."

"Yes, but it simply might not manifest otherwise," Blueblood argued. "Furthermore, this Akron fellow was very likely imprisoned by the ancients, yes? Yet three of you managed to break his seal and then go on to slay him after the fact? The seal might have responded to the blood you carry in your veins, and shattered accordingly. The door might work the same way."

Gears turned in Natalie's head as she considered the insane proposal. And yet… the more she thought about it, the more it made perfect sense—she'd charitably go as far as to say it made too much sense. As far as she knew, nobody else on the whole of Fantasia had managed to undo Akron's seal before her group pulled the feat off, and if they had, Fantasia might have looked very different than the miserable husk it was now. All things considered, she was glad she had been able to stop a far worse tragedy in the end. And if all it took for her, Matt, and Lance to unwittingly break that seal was being related to the ponies who had installed it in the first place…

Still, something about the whole thing bothered her. "But what if the seal had weakened over time, allowing just three of us to break it?" she pointed out. "Because for all we know, it was on a timer of some sort."

"A sound possibility," Blueblood agreed with a nod. "But regardless, we needn't get caught up in 'what-ifs' or the like."

Tequila nodded. "Aye. An' if it takes fightin' fire with fire, then who am I to argue? 'sides, we be squarin' off against ancient alicorns—who better to land the killin' blow on the bastards, than the very ponies they wound up birthin' with their pogroms an' tyranny?" He smiled as he took another puff of the cigar. "If anythin', the ancients did this to themselves—shot their own hooves off, an' now be wonderin' why whatever plans they be makin' are crumblin' to shreds." He turned to Anna. "An' there was such an ancient in Greenwood, ye?" At her nod, his smile fell. "An' tell us… what was his idiotic ploy?"

Anna slumped at being put in the spotlight once again, but obliged Tequila and the others just the same, "The extinction of any new alicorns, to keep them from challenging his power, either by his own barky claw or by the hooves of the newest breed of lackeys. The banning of cutie marks, by altering them through the Greenwood Blight, and warping them faster than if they hadn't gotten their marks naturally. That, and the erasure of any past Greenwood might have had before that, so…" She shrugged. "Whole lotta good that did him in the end."

Tequila's frown started to deepen. "... that be troublin', Bushels. But not unexpected," he said. "Anythin' else, or did ye not hear another peep once ye bailed?"

"Not another peep as soon as I bailed," Anna confirmed. "I'd ask the villagers who survived, but… they're in the dark as much as I am. That, and they probably even know less than I do, because they're not alicorns." She rolled her eyes. "But they'll probably fill me in on all the bitching the three leaders did while I was gone, so…"

"And it's probably to the tune that nopony wants to hear," Shining surmised, garnering another nod.

Tequila turned to Lance, seeing that he hadn't gotten much of anything out of Anna. "'sides the whole 'build an empire' business, what all do ye know of the ancients' plans, Brassy?"

Lance frowned. "Well, they wanted to ban cutie marks outright, and any that I've seen obtain them got fed to the Illicit Instrumentation. Mares… well, besides 'mom,' we'll just skip over that, because we already know their opinion about that issue… and amassing an army of super soldiers mostly consisting of alicorns that won't question every little thing they do," he said. "Hell, technically, I fit that bill, as before I broke off to do my own thing and kickstart the Trials of Attrition, I was supposed to be the second-in-command."

Tequila's frown deepened by a considerable margin. "An' again, it backfired on the whole lot o' them, due to unforeseen circumstances," he concluded, garnering another nod and a ruffling of wings for his trouble. "Is it just me gut pippin' up all o' a sudden, or am I gettin' the feelin' that the ancients… aren't plannin' things out in the long run?"

"I don't think it's a lack of planning… I think it's a lack of things that would blindside them in this manner, given how thoroughly they've been culling the generations," Blueblood said, shaking his head. "Quite simply… they've seem to have become so sure of themselves, as to become complacent and, thus, open to more direct assault." He gestured to himself and his fellow Mythonians. "And we, outsiders who are as clueless as you are, are the ones battering their doors down and demanding answers for that complacency."

Shining frowned, and put a pastern to his chin. "When you say it like that, it makes it sound like we're invading…" he said. "But seeing as we've used the Elements of Harmony in Greenwood…"

"And if it got that bad…" Spitfire murmured, turning to Shining with a frown etching itself on her own muzzle.

"Yes. However, it would not have been possible to use the Elements, without the Aerie's military might providing cover and a rather convenient distraction, when things went bad," Shining said. "Partly because, the ancient alicorn in that territory let loose with the full brunt of his magic, requiring ponies with that same power to tackle him—an unstoppable force, in other words, had to meet an immovable object." He looked at Lance evenly. "Compared to you guys, we do have it made—save the occasional being that gets turned to stone, or is thrown into Tartarus, or blown up with Crystal Hearts, we really don't have to worry about a thing."

"However, while we might be growing complacent, and too reliant on the Princesses and Elements of Harmony, you guys don't have even that—because outside of the Aerie, and the few sane provinces, Fantasia has already stagnated. By that same token… you're proving it does not need to be this way, that both worlds could be doing better. What I'm saying is… we both have our strengths and weaknesses, and if we don't officially ally ourselves together, we might both be headed right to Tartarus," Shining finished.

Lance nodded. "A sound proposition, and sound reasoning." He smiled. "Now you're speaking my language."

Tequila took another puff, and turned to Matt. "An' what about ye, Powderkeg? Anythin' regardin' the plans o' the Umbrum?" he asked.

Matt shook his head. "Besides what we already know, no dice on that front. Mom wasn't privy to a whole lot when the disagreements started," he answered. "And the disagreements began when she and Uncle Andrew were little, so…"

Tequila sighed. "Unfortunate," he said, shaking his head. "But that tells us the Umbrum don't tolerate natural curiosity."

"And going by that tidbit alone, we can then infer that they would like everyone to… ahem, 'stay in their place,' as it were," Blueblood said, wilting a little at that prospect. "The slaves and serfs at the bottom, then the nobles, if any are present, and then the ancients, and probably the Umbrum at the very top of the social ladder. There can be no room for interpretation on the pecking order, when it was probably rigged from the start."

Twilight decided to pipe up, "You know, when the Crystal Empire resurfaced, and me and Spike were trying to find the Crystal Heart… I encountered a somewhat similar door to what you guys were describing earlier this month." Everyone turned to her, and Tequila waved the claw that held the cigar in an urging gesture. "It took… a bit of magic that Princess Celestia had taught me to open, but…" Twilight wilted. "It's… classified as dark magic."

Matt frowned. "So… the door we're looking for… might require dark magic to pop open?" he asked, his voice unusually quiet. This caused a tumult of small murmurs to erupt in the room.

Twilight nodded. "However, that will be our absolute last resort, in case all other avenues of opening the door to the Umbrum realm fail," she said firmly. "Partly because the door that I opened back on Equestria… it showed me my worst fears once I stepped inside. And the door we're going to be looking for soon… it might have the same properties as the one I remember. So we'd do well to brace for that possibility, when the time comes."

"That be worryin', but given the Umbrum an' their seemin' penchant for parlour tricks… not unexpected," Tequila muttered, looking at his cigar to see how much of it he had left. "But is that the only bit o' dark magic ye know?"

Twilight nodded. "Yes," she affirmed. "Largely because Princess Celestia made sure to warn me not to use it too much."

Matt relaxed a little. "Well, at least you got some warning… but do you have to strain to use that bit of dark magic?" he asked.

Twilight nodded again. "It… takes a bit more effort for me to cast than regular magic, and that's really the only time I have used it, so if the door were to attack somehow, or the forces beyond that door caught on… well, I might need a bit of cover while I cast," she said. "Hence, it being the absolute last resort."

Matt nodded in understanding. "Though, if the forces beyond the door catch on, then it might just pop open by itself anyway, to let them out," he pointed out.

Eve shook her head. "Not necessarily… they could slip through the cracks between the door, without ever opening it, or teleport from within the realm to outside of it without a hitch. Have you seen how crafty we can get with our shadows? We can pull off some pretty neat tricks that wouldn't be possible otherwise," she replied. "And that's also assuming, they've installed a guardian for that door in recent years; Andrew and I haven't seen it since we were banished, so I couldn't tell you for certain."

Twilight frowned, even as she remembered that shadows technically were everywhere in the sister worlds—a fact as unavoidable as light, time, and eternity. Regardless, that fact alone meant that even a half-Umbrum like Matt could pull off heists that would make most criminal gangs in Equestria jealous of the feats. And speaking of which, he probably did have some insane heists under his belt; all he had to do was hide in a darkened corner, meld into the shadows thereof, and pick and choose his moments to strike.

She nodded to herself. "So, let's say there is a guardian for that door, then… or maybe several, if the Umbrum are particularly paranoid. Would we have any candidates for what they would be?" Twilight asked.

Eve frowned, but managed a reluctant nod. "Crystal golems, floating eyeball homunculi—" She lit her horn to conjure an image of two types of the aforementioned eyeball monsters, one with a shell of rocks and the other entirely spherical with a slit pupil, orbited by four smaller and spiked spheres only loosely attached to it by faint magical threads, "—and… what we call Cosmic Monoliths." The image she conjured changed, to a perfectly rectangular slab as tall as Princess Celestia, hewn of obsidian and flowing with red veins reminiscent of magma.

Matt paled and shuddered upon seeing the image. "Those fucking things? Oh, if the Umbrum installed that as their door guardian, we're in deep shit…" he grumbled.

"What's so bad about a Cosmic Monolith?" Twilight asked.

Eve shuddered. She flashed her horn again, and the image of the Monolith began to move, floating in the air, teleporting rapidly, distorting spacetime around itself to dodge attacks despite being planted in the ground, and other impossible feats that one would not easily attribute to a seemingly stone slab. "They're crafted entirely of dark magic, and capable of creating craters in the ground at least miles wide, on the scale of Ragnarok," she said severely. "Anytime one is seen… generally, it's bad news. They're weak to holy spells and lightning, but…" She wilted. "We don't have many of such spells on Fantasia, I'm afraid."

"The last one we ran into, we also found out they have a weakness for bombs," Lance said, crossing his forelegs. "Unfortunately, the only bombs I'd be willing to use on that thing can only either be fired from my tank, or from Blue Crow and his squad, or from whatever soldier brings forth the magitek blasters and tries firing bombs out of those. And the bastard Monoliths are immune to antimatter bombs, so that is almost entirely out of the question otherwise."

Twilight frowned. "You have antimatter rounds?" she asked.

Lance nodded. "Yeah, but you see… it's kind of a misnomer." He folded his hooves across the desk and sighed. "We studied the Cosmic Monoliths extensively, and used pieces of those slain to make the antimatter rounds. We also found something curious: the Dark Runes used… they duplicate if left alone. And if they keep duplicating, they could, theoretically, make a whole new Monolith if they decide to fuse together. So any Dark Runes we have, we have to keep a very close eye on."

"And we can also use the Dark Runes to… well, create another Ground Zero crater, though such attacks tend to damage us as well," Natalie added. "Unless we wear special gear that absorbs the dark magic to nullify the damage." She gestured to Lance. "His uniform has those enchantments, because Matt and I did some homework in regards to that. Matt's partially immune because half-Umbrum, and I can just use my crystals to redirect that dark magic to a medium that won't blow up in my face if I throw it far enough away."

Twilight tilted her head. "Dark magic can be absorbed…" Her brow furrowed when the significance of this hit her. "And I presume some guesswork also went into it…"

Natalie nodded. "Funnily enough, we didn't cast the dark magic absorption ourselves until we got ahold of some Dark Runes," she said. "There was… a lot of trial and error involved, and we had to make the enchantment circle in a remote, abandoned location. There was a lot of stuff blowing up. NoLegs taught us the basics of the spell, and let us run roughshot."

"And that resulted in a lot of singed feathers on my end. It took weeks to preen them all out afterwards," Lance said dryly. "And then two weeks afterward, my wings got hogtied in that blasted metal. I swear, who came up with the design for that shit? All it took was a little runework to unlock the damn things…" He put a hoof to his chin and pondered. "Actually… Twilight, do you still have my old wing binders?"

When Twilight lit her horn and conjured them from the ether, Lance nodded. "Before we head out tomorrow, drop that off in our research division—it's a few halls down from the medical wing, and two elevators above it, you can't miss it. If we have any luck, we might be able to pinpoint the magic signatures and see if we get a conclusive match from the bindings we found in Greenwood."

NoLegs meowed, and grabbed the bindings in his magic with a flash of his tail, before conjuring the other set of bindings that were found in Pestilence's abode. He teleported away with the bindings, and Lance sighed. "... or the cat could do it for us," he mumbled.

"So… you didn't see who or what struck you?" Twilight asked.

Lance shook his head. "No, I didn't. I strayed from my recon group to take a leak in Lankyroot, and after I got finished, I got flung into a tree a few meters away and was knocked out on impact. The most I did see was a flash of magic and the horn attached to it, and it was pretty much point-blank," he affirmed. He sighed. "I know, I should have had someone watching me in case that happened, but I didn't think to do that, because nature was getting antsy."

"What… color was the magic that struck you?" Twilight pressed.

"Pitch black, but pulsing with red sparkles," Lance replied. "The horn itself was curved, and red."

Eve's brow furrowed. "That sounds suspiciously like an Umbrum attack to me… did your soldiers see anything?" she asked.

Lance shook his head again. "No, they didn't," he replied.

Eve's face hardened. "Strange… why would some Umbrum single you out to bind your wings?" she muttered. At that one, Lance merely shrugged both his shoulders and his wings.

Andrew frowned. "Maybe some more got banished, and decided they wanted to pick on what they thought was an easy target," he suggested. "Though… given that we've been away from the Umbrum realm for years now, we probably don't know who else would actually get banished."

"Or maybe, it was that Umbrum homunculus we keep hearin' about," Tequila suggested, looking at the remnants of the cigar in his claw. "We still don't know that scallywag's plans, but it very likely don't mean anythin' good." He looked squarely at Lance as he procured a half-scorched handkerchief and used it to put out the worn cigar. "Probably thought ye were a threat to whatever plans he was makin', broken horn be damned."

"It's more likely to be the homunculus who sprung the surprise attack; I don't think the Umbrum would be so keen to leave their realm so freely, if they have all sorts of security measures for the door of that realm," Twilight pointed out. "Furthermore, they might have just killed any other dissidents, instead of banishing them, meaning that any other Umbrum pulling the attack off is extremely unlikely."

Eve nodded. "You're probably right… I've seen them kill off lesser Umbrum for mere disagreements, and we had to be pretty crafty to avoid that fate ourselves…" She shuddered. "And I think they're only going to get worse from here, if we do not deal with them soon."

Twilight nodded. "King Sombra times the Windigos worse?" she guessed, looking at Shining Armor as she said that.

Shining nodded. "Or perhaps even worse, somehow," he agreed. He turned to Eve and Andrew. "Where was the door at, once you two got the boot?" he asked.

Eve frowned. "... it was in the hallway of the entrance of a colosseum, where…" Her face paled when her own words hit her. She turned to Andrew. "Wasn't that the same colosseum…?"

Andrew paled as well, and his ears fell flat against his head. He turned to Matt. "Yeah, it was… though the door probably isn't there anymore. Did you see any weird doors in that colosseum?" he asked.

Matt frowned and shook his head. "Nothing out of the ordinary, but then again, I was stuffed in a cage for most of that shitshow, and before then there was a bag on my head," he affirmed. "Not much room to do any exploring." He shifted to sit down. "And we didn't see anything after the Catastrophe, either, except for melted stone and scorched wastes."

Eve wilted a little. "That crosses that place off the list of potential areas, then…" she muttered, somewhat in dismay.

"And that's just one place in eleventy billion on Fantasia," Andrew added, shaking his head. "So, what the fuck are we going to do?"

Rarity, who had been silent until now, decided to speak up, "If I may interject, I have a penchant for finding gemstones and using them." She gestured to her mark and added, "And when the Void struck Greenwood, my innate magic triggered on its own, and urged me to find crystals… that hadn't grown in the location at all, without directing me to the Crystal Caverns." She turned to Natalie. "More specifically… I believe it was you, Lieutenant-General Starcovert, that my spell was tracking."

Andrew turned to Rarity, frowning. "So… if you can detect her crystals…"

Rarity proceeded to finish his sentence for him, "Yes, I do believe I can also help track down this mobile door, wherever it may be. It will take time and effort, but I think it best to look for crystals… in areas that do not naturally have them, as that is our best chance to find the door."

Applejack snorted. "She can track a gemstone the size of a pin six hooves under, she can track an entire door made of the stuff," she affirmed with a nod. "Y'all want any help with rare, shiny rocks, she's practically the go-to mare for that shiding."

Andrew and Eve traded glances, then turned back to Rarity. "After Redpine is dealt with, where should we start?" they asked in tandem.

Rarity smirked. "I have a few locations in mind, though do give me some time to sort them out and compile a list before we do any door-hunting," she answered.

"So now that we have that sorted out, for the time being…" Lance turned his gaze to Fluttershy, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rainbow. "Are the animal friends going to be spending the next night here, or out there fighting?"

Fluttershy's face hardened. "I told them everything. Even though they're scared out of their minds at fighting wraiths… they want to help," she affirmed. "However, given that Angel and Owlowiscious are small and delicate compared to lava wraiths, they asked me to ask if you have any potions or the like for them to use."

"Potions…?" Lance put a hoof to his chin and pondered, then shook his head. "Those were decommissioned after the Trials of Attrition, when inexperienced wizards without cutie marks made them… and weird side-effects manifested. And before you ask, the side-effects wore off in time, so…"

Matt perked up. "Oh yeah, that reminds me… I have a shadow familiar that I haven't got to use in a while." His shadows split off of him, and formed into a rotund little black demon with white eyes, small horns and wings, and a red spiral on its stomach. A wisp of red magic was loosely attached to its head by a faint magical thread, taking the shape of a simple pom-pom that bounced above the horns. "I call him Balrog, and he's a crafty little bastard." He smirked. "If the animal friends need to, they can hide in his shadows to avoid any grisly damage. I used to have him bring potions to me all the time, before the side-effects came along."

Pinkie smirked. "Oh, that reminds me, Zecora's brewing a lot of potions for the big fight! Should we have Balrog stick with her, too?" she asked.

Matt mulled it over, and then nodded. "Sounds good to me," he said, lifting a hoof to pet Balrog on his little head. Balrog purred affectionately, leaning into the touch. "Just some warning, though: Balrog will also fling weapons at enemies if given the chance, and he's deceptively strong for his size."

Pinkie put a hoof to her chin. "Would he throw my party cannon if he can get a clean shot?" she asked. At Matt's nod, her eyes lit up. "Okie dokie lokie, I'll be sure to pack an extra, extra, extra big stash of water balloons then! Should douse the lava wraiths nicely!"

"Would they even be able to leave the party cannon, though?" Applejack asked, turning to Pinkie with a frown. "Cause I reckon they'd just explode once the cannon got its string pulled."

"Pshaw!" Pinkie waved her hoof dismissively and rolled her eyes. "I asked a bunch of soldiers for a lot of chitil, and did test shots in the firing range! The chitil balloons hold up until they hit something," she replied. "Besides, I just oiled the party cannon anyway; she'll be good to go!"

"Chitil and water… interesting choice of ammunition," Lance noted. He turned to Fluttershy. "And what do you plan on doing during the battle?"

Fluttershy sighed. "I'm… not good at fighting. I'm barely passable at flying, and I can't do it fast unless I catch a draft. I… might try to commune with the elemental sprites, if any are left on the island, and see if they'll help out," she answered. "Otherwise, I guess I could throw healing potions to those who need them."

"... a risky ploy, but it's worth a shot," Lance admitted. He turned to Rainbow. "And you?"

"Help out with the supercell until it achieves liftoff, and intercept attacks otherwise," Rainbow answered. "My speed won't matter if the wraiths catch me and burn my wings, and I can't get in too close to them, so I'll have to help any slowpokes I find to dodge attacks. If I have to, I'll make thunderclouds to take the attacks head-on."

Lance nodded. "So, we'll have to cover for both you and Fluttershy, then, and possibly give you some armor to better take any glancing and straight-and-true blows," he concluded. "Alright… is that everything for the night?" Once nods answered him, he straightened his posture. "Alright. We attack as soon as we get to Redpine. Let's hope the Tormentor is more occupied with the wraiths than it is with us. In the meantime… we rest, because tomorrow will be busy."

With that, everyone except for Twilight and Lance filed out of the office, heading to the guest rooms to catch up on some sleep before they became too deprived of it. "... are you sure it will go off without a hitch?" Twilight asked, voice tinged with concern that flashed in her eyes.

Lance frowned, and sagged in his seat a little. "... not terribly convinced it will go without a few bumps along the way," he admitted. "But… it's our best shot at dealing with the bastards." He turned the chair around to gaze out the window. "The battle could go either way… and that's the fact that I hate most about battling at all."

Twilight trotted up to the desk, then around it to stare out the window herself. "Is it bad… that I find this battle plan insane, even by Equestria's standards?" she asked aloud.

Lance shook his head in her peripheral vision. "No, no… to be honest, I find it batshit, too," he replied. "Not too often we have to summon an inland tsunami of all things, and the bastards can fucking fly. So if we don't ground them, they're going to go around it altogether, and that's gonna make that part of the plan completely worthless."

Twilight nodded. "And that's assuming the supercell will knock the wind out of their wings," she concluded. "If it even makes it that far inland to begin with."

Silence held in the office, until a burst of light shone from behind the chair, followed by a meow that sounded irritated. Lance swiveled in his chair once more, and turned to NoLegs. "What is it?" he asked.

NoLegs waved his tail and conjured a sheet of paper that he handed to Lance. Lance took it and waved Twilight over with a hoof. She lit her horn and came over, shining some light on the parchment. Skipping past the technobabble, Lance went straight to the bottom of the parchment, where four little words greeted him in a language he could understand.

MAGICAL SIGNATURE MATCH: CONFIRMED.