//------------------------------//
// Metal to Move 
// Story: Innavedr 
// by Imploding Colon 
//------------------------------//

	Rainbow Dash winced.  She watched as her blue wings flexed in and out, slowly, feathers spreading with tender movements.  "I can kind of... erm..."  She gulped and looked across the barn at Imre.  "I can kind of move them.  Just a little pit.  The pain's gone and stuff."

"Yes, but is the numbness?" Imre asked while reaching down towards a cot several feet away.

"Uhhhh... No?"

"Then you're not ready for flight."

"Unnngh!"  Rainbow Dash sagged upon the cot where she sat.  "Come on!  I gotta take to the air!  How long do I seriously gotta make love to the levers inside this stinkin' armor?!"

"Until the sapphiric string finishes its job," the unicorn droned as she helped a dazed Crimson into a sitting position atop his cot.  "You should be lucky it's working so fast.  Your body is handling the magic well."

"Yeah..."  Rainbow Dash glanced at her posterior.  Her tail had grown long enough that she could flick the colorful lengths of it with little effort.  "I guess I should stop griping and moaning."  She gulped and turned back.  "But it's been two days!  The longer I stay here, the longer I put off looking for my friends and—"

"One thing at a time," Imre droned, holding Crimson's shoulders steady as she looked the muscular stallion in the face.  "How are you feeling?"

"Nnnngh..."  Crimson's bass voice rang off the wooden beams of the barn above them.  "Like I just rolled around in a sea of glue."

"Cute.  How about your legs?"

"How... l-long was I under, Doc?"

"Focus, Mr. Crimson.  How do your legs feel?"

"They... feel... fine..."  Crimson rubbed his face, blinked, then gawked at the mare.  "All... four of them..."

Imre simply stared back at him.

"What in Spark's name...?"  Crimson gazed at his forelimb.  His eyes bounced back the reflective glint of a cylindrical metal prosthetic, jointed at the middle.  "Hooo boy..."  He squinted.  "It actually fits!"

"What?"  Imre raised an eyebrow.  "Do you seriously think I was going to attach toothpicks to you?"

"Still..."  Crimson pivoted the blue and silver limb before his gaze, examining it from several angles.  "It's a bit... erm... thinner than I thought it was going to be..."

"Well, sorry," Imre grunted.  "But I'm not used to attaching stuff to muscular stallion limbs."

"Yeah..."  Rainbow Dash grinned as she reattached her armor over her wings.  "She's just used to replacing the tree-trunks of thick-necked mares."

Imre rolled her eyes and glared over her shoulder.  "Must you?"

"With extra mustard," Rainbow Dash proudly chirped.

"I think I can almost... almost..."  Crimson eased forward, hissing as his muscles coiled.

"Easy... take it slow," Imre said.

"I... I can feel it!"  Crimson exclaimed as he stood evenly on four limbs once more.  "How is that even possible?  I mean, I've... uh... I've heard stories of 'phantom senses...'"

"Pretend that it's tapping into that, but in a good way," Imre said.  "I've attuned a crystal core built into the limb to operate off the manastreams coming from your horn's leylines."

"Luna Poop..."  Rainbow Dash grunted, slipping her leg armor on.  "Just hearing that made my brain turn to paste."

"In laypony terms," Imre continued saying to Crimson, "It's responding to your unicorn horn to power up and operate the limb, instead of the usual manacore that Searonese ponies use to replace their hearts.  Do me a favor."

"Huh?"  Crimson shifted on his weight and looked at Imre.  "Sure.  What...?"

"Think about smashing something."

"Uhm... alright..."

"And do it..."  Imre pointed at a nearby bale of hay.  "Preferrably to something that the crystal farmers around here won't miss."

"Very well then."  Crimson took a deep breath.  His brow furrowed.

Just then, a high-pitched whine filled the air.

Rainbow Dash shuddered.  "What's that?  Sounds like a swarm of bees who really gotta go to the bathroom bad..."

"Wait for it..."  A glow shone across Imre's face as her lips curved slightly.  "Ah... there we go."  She pointed down at Crimson's prosthetic.  "Working like a charm."

Crimson squinted at his own limb.  A deep blue glow shimmered through the glossy, metallic body.  "Is it... vibrating?"

"It's building up a sonic charge.  Now..."  Imre pointed towards the bale of hay again.  "Smash."

"Right..."  Crimson bit his lip and coiled his muscles.  "Smashing."  He lightly tapped the prosthetic to the cluster of straw.

The sound of cannonfire echoed across the barn, causing many patients to sit up and gasp.  Volunteer nurses glanced over, wide eyed.  Before them, a huge plume of hay fell slowly in an orange cloud.  Where Crimson's limb now rested—no longer vibrating—a veritably deep crater had formed in the foundation of the barn.

Crimson blinked.  "Well... uhm..."  He cracked an awkward smile.  "I suppose I'll no longer lose hoof wrestling contests."

"Hmmm... I must have set it too high," Imre said, rubbing her chin.

Crimson gazed at her, wide-eyed.  "You can adjust the settings?"

"You can do many things with it.  Considering your field of... erm... work, Mr. Crimson, I felt you would benefit from it far more than the other infirmed ponies in Aurum's care."  She pivoted about.  "Forgive me if it seems a tad bit dramatic.  I only had the tools from the airship to use, and there's no piece of Searonese tech that doesn't in some way double as a weapon."

Rainbow Dash leaned in. "I don't suppose there's a way I can replace my tail while it's still growing?"

Imre glared.  "No.  There isn't."

"Awwwww... Not even a cider dispenser?"

"Don't you already have one there?"

"Hah hah hah hah—"  Rainbow Dash went cross-eyed in mid cackle.  "Wait.  Ew."

With a loud squeak, the barn door opened, casting light into the room.  Tweak stood in the frame, panting, hovering a manarifle over his shoulder.  "What in tarnation was that thunder and crap all about?!"

"Don't worry, Mr. Tweak Farmer Dude Guy!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, waving.

"My apologies, Tweak," Crimson said, proudly waving the new prosthetic in question.  "Just testing Dr. Imre's fantastic gift here.  We... may have put a dent in the barn's foundation, but nopony's hurt."

"Yeah..."  Rainbow Dash smiled.  "We were basically just cyber clopping."

"That's it."  Imre stood up and made for the exit.  "I need a break..."

"Oh come on!  You're a doctor!"  Rainbow Dash grinned after her.  "I'm sure you've heard and told worse jokes!"

"I couldn't afford to when I had the Searonese breathing down my back."  Imre paused at the exit besides Tweak to look back.  "Installing a rocket-launching fetlock backwards?  Instant death..."

"Heh... Check out Princess Cynicism."  Rainbow Dash smirked at Crimson while pointing Imre's way.  "I bet a day hasn't ever gone by where she's failed to roll her eyes at the world."

"Actually, I missed a day once."

"LIES."

"Ahem..."  Tweak trotted into the barn as Imre exited.  "Now that y'all are all sorted out... erm... of a sort—"

"Right..."  Rainbow Dash hopped up in full armor.  "How are you feeling, Crimson?  Like... really feeling?"

Crimson looked at Rainbow Dash, at his new limb, at the crater, then back at Rainbow Dash.  "I'd say pretty swell."

"Good.  'Cuz now we gotta get our flanks up north!  Well... uhm... presuming you're still along for the ride."

"You know that I am," Crimson said, pivoting dizzily to face both her and Tweak.  "But what about you?  We've been over this.  I can't fly, and even if you did go ahead of me—"

"I've got this clunky armor with its rockets and stuff, remember?"

"Yes, but Imre has told us time and time again that the fuel would run out before you're a fraction of the way there."

"Nnnngh..."  Rainbow Dash facehoofed.  "Well, then, we'll gallop north on hoof if we have to!"

"To where exactly?"  Crimson's face was long and defeated.  "Rainbow, we don't even know where to look."

"So you're saying we should do nothing?"

"No, I'm saying we should find a way to get information," Crimson said.  "To figure out where Belle and Pilate's been taken, we need the right tools, the right tech..."

"The right tongue," Tweak muttered.

Both ponies glanced awkwardly at him.

"Buh?" Rainbow Dash spat.

Tweak sighed and said, "What I mean is, you ponies have been to many places and survived many scrapes.  Maybe there's a way you can talk some party around these here parts into giving you the flight you need to get where you need to go."

"I... uh... I kind of have selective friends for a reason, shiny," Rainbow Dash said with a nervous smile.  "Since I hit dragon country, every living thing I've seen has wanted me dead or mounted or both.  I doubt I can make allies all willy-nilly.  On top of all that, I'm—like—a gazillion miles from my home."

"As you well know, I'm too far from Franzington to request help from the Blades Guild," Crimson said.  "As if they'd afford any help in the first place.  My province may not be part of the Confederacy, but they're in no position to piss off Ledomare."

"I figured you were a prime example," Tweak said.  "No offense, pal.  But once you get home, don't you wanna make yourself hidden?"

Crimson winced.  "I don't know if Ledomare can afford to hold a grudge against a single mercenary.  But... yes... I-I would most definitely want to take my family somewhere safe and unpopulated.  There's a place down south of the old fields that's perfect for expansion..."

"Y'know, Crimson, for real..."  Rainbow Dash looked at him with a kindly expression.  "You've taken the brunt of cruddy things enough, especially since I showed up.  If you wanna split for your hometown, I really can't force you to tag along."

"Rainbow Dash, you know I hate talking in circles..."  The stallion facehoofed, only to wince at the cold taste of metal.  "Ahem... I have a code that I go by, and I'm committed to assuring the safety of your friends as much as you."

"It's just a matter of time before my wings are all better, then I can fly where I need to go, no problem."

"And exactly where do you need to go?" Tweak asked.  "Alone or together?"  He sighed and sat back on his haunches.  "If you ask me, y'all got the grit, but not the gumption."

"There were... like... tons of managliders that bit the dust in Foxtaur," Rainbow Dash muttered out loud.  She looked at the stallions.  "Maybe Crimson and I can head west, steal one of those stupid things, and see if it can still fly?"

"No..."  Crimson shook his head.  "The enforcers are too meticulous to leave those things flying around."

"You sure?  You flew to Aurum in one."

"That's because I didn't waste any time, Rainbow.  If I had stayed in the ravine any longer, I'm quite certain a cleanup crew from the Steel Wing's armada would have found me."

"Well, darn it!  Just what are we going to do?!"  Rainbow Dash grumbled.  After a few sullen breaths, she smiled tiredly in Tweak's direction.  "I don't suppose you have a zeppelin hidden in one of your crystal barns or something?"

"If I did, I would have rained gemstone death upon those mangy canines nippin' at our flanks months ago," Tweak said.  "If you ask me, you ponies have the perfect mode of transportation resting right under your muzzles."

Rainbow Dash blinked.  "How do you mean?"

"Brother!  Brother!"  Lucky Strike's voice sounded out from behind.  All three turned to see the stallion standing in the barn's doorway.  "Oh, hey, you guys are already together.  Sweet."  He motioned out towards the farmland beyond.  "Come on out.  We're having a meeting."

"What kind of a meeting?" Tweak asked.

Lucky smirked.  "Guess who finally decided to talk?"

"Who?" Crimson asked.

Rainbow Dash squinted.  She glanced downwards in thought, the tilted her gaze up with drooped ears.  "Roarke..."