Forgotten Legacy
Chapter 11. Arrival - Sunset
Previous ChapterNext Chapter“Are ya sure about this, Sunset?” Applejack asked as she slid the boots on.
I shurgged. “New territory for me, AJ,” I said as I made a few more scores into the metal of the final boot. “I've never known a lot about artifice. Worst case, they don’t shut off after contact, but that’s why we designed them the be slip on instead of buckled.” I levitated the last one over to her.
She slid it on and fidgeted. She was still a little pale from the draining effect the ghosts had had on her, and she was still struggling with the memories. I could see it in her eyes.
I walked over and slid a wing over her withers. “If you need to take some more time, I can’t blame you,” I said. “I’m still a little shook up myself.”
She spun and stared at me. “No way,” she said. “They got the gumption ta bring mah Mom and Dad back and make me lose ‘em again? Ah’ll stomp my way through however many Ah got to t'return the favor!”
I smiled at the fire in her eyes. “You and me both,” I said, levitating in another poniquin. “Let's see what those can do.”
AJ charged the test dummy, and with each pounding step sparks flew from the boots. She reared up and connected with a left hook which burst into a fireball on contact. She spun around and bucked back into the barrel of the target and both rear shoes flared brightly, setting the target ablaze. She took a few hopping steps back, Shaking one rear foot as the fire flickered a little longer.
“A might bit warm,” she said, kicking the shoe off. “That’ll be an issue.”
I shrugged. “At least we’ll be in the snow if it happens every time,” I used a bit of mana to extinguish the burning target. “They are just prototypes, after all.”
She walked back over, kicking each boot off in turn, picking them up and setting them on the workbench. “And ya gotta make a pair for every soldier?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Just the Pegasi and Earth Ponies,” I said. “The Unicorns will be getting a collar that shifts their mana output over a certain amount to fire spells.” I looked out the window at the slowly shimmering shield that Cadence had thrown up over the borders of the city.
“I’m worried, AJ,” I said. “This is magic that isn’t supposed to exist anymore, and they’re using it as easy as breathing. And if we lose a single soldier, we’ll be facing them across the battle lines next time.”
She nodded. “Not t’mention that they can tap into our memories and haunt us,” she whispered, a tear slipping free.
“It’s less effective on Unicorns,” I said. “We have a slight advantage against domination enchantments like what ghosts use.” I shivered, remembering the arctic chill that had accompanied the appearance of my parent’s specters.
“Doesn’t make it any easier, though,” she said. “Does it?”
I shook my head. “AJ,” I started. “I’m sorry…”
“Don’t,” she said suddenly. “Ya did what ya had to to save mah flank, and Ah can’t fault ya fer it.” She nodded at the boots. “Just make sure Ah don’t scorch mah hooves when we go after the witch.”
“So, what do we know?” Cadence asked. She was already showing strain from holding the shield up for two days.
Starlight stepped forward, sliding a set of papers over to the Empress. “From what we were able to tell from the remains,” she said. “The mantic energy that animated them is flawed.”
Twilight frowned. “Flawed how?” she asked.
“Near as I can tell,” the pink Unicorn said. “It has a proximal distance and a time limit. If the…” she swallowed, an uncomfortable look on her face. “If the risen dead wander too far from the caster, they’ll disincorporate. They also might only last a handful of hours at best.
“What keeps them from raising them again?” I asked.
“Information on this kind of magic is sketchy at best,” Sunburst said. “But they are vessels for magic that moves them and gives them commands. but, like any vessel, they can only contain so much energy. Each time they get raised, it stretches them. And eventually, like a balloon that gets too much air, they’ll burst.”
“How much would it take to overload them?” Shining Armor asked.
Starlight smiled ruefully. “A lot,” she said. “We’d have to channel a lot of mana in a constant stream to override the caster’s control. We’d get overwhelmed before we could take down the first rank.”
“Would the Elements be useful?” I asked.
“The Elements were returned to the Tree years ago,” Twilight said. “Even if we could get them returned, I’m not sure if they’d help any.”
Suddenly, I felt a tingling sensation, and glancing back I saw my cutie mark flashing. I looked over and saw Twilight’s was as well.
“What in…now?” she gritted in exasperation.
I trotted out of the war room to the anteroom, spying the rest of the Bearer’s sitting inside, all of the cutie marks flashing. Twilight came behind me, looking on in confusion.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “How could there be…”
She never got the chance to finish as my Element sparked and shot out a rubicund light that began to pulse quickly. I stared in amazement and suddenly I felt an echo of the worry I was feeling, and an undercurrent of determination.
Twilight? I thought.
Just entering the palace, came the answer. I turned and raced to the entrance, Twilight shouting in confusion.
I burst through the doors to the entranceway, seeing my love trotting forward with eight other ponies, each with their cutie marks flashing and Elements glowing with red light. The Sirens' gems were also glowing.
I swept Sunshine up in a hug when I noticed that her horn was slightly different, the spirals deeper. “What happened to your horn?”
She smiled nervously and suddenly a pair of spectral wings spread from behind her back, the same deep purple that they had been as Midnight Sparkle, becoming solid as they reached full spread.
“Surprise,” she said, giggling embarrassedly as the wings furled and vanished.
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