Iron Mage flew through the tunnels, faster than any could run but far too slowly for her liking. She loved the rush she got from Pegasi magic; the way time seemed to stand still and she felt like she had enough time in the day to get anything done. Honestly, between how much she loved flying and how many things she could learn with Earth pony magic, being a Unicorn was her least favorite tribe.
She passed a squad of guards in the tunnels but didn’t break her stride. Iron Mage shifted her weight to the jets in her boots and flared her wings. Six repulsars, three in each wing, lit them up in the space of a second. One of them managed to get a force field up, but she simply crashed through it. Then she was flying down the corridor again, mind focused on the coming carnage.
Not carnage, she thought to herself. Enough people have died because of AIM, and I’m not adding to it.
She couldn’t use lethal force against hostages anyway, and she absolutely couldn’t let her friends die. She wished the stealth suit hadn’t been trashed in Atlantis, but the Changeling plates wouldn’t grow back for another few days and she still had a lot of tuning to do on the spellwork itself.
Iron Mage landed underneath the stage and changed her magic from Pegasi to Earth Pony. It was hard to make out specific spells with so many people so close together, but all she needed were locations. The hostages were surrounded by a dozen or so ponies, which Iron Mage assumed were AIM guards.
There were more ponies stacking and moving the inventions from the showroom floor. A mixed group of Pegasi and Unicorns were grouping them together. She blinked in surprise when it began to follow their forwards trot, but rolled her eyes. They’re just using a normal dolly to move the equipment.
She followed them from below with little difficulty; there were tunnels underneath most of the Expo and she didn’t have a problem keeping up. They were likely heading towards the loading bay, which was where their transport would be. And if Hypnotia wasn’t on the main floor, then that’s where she would be.
Iron Mage slowed when she reached the entrance to the airship bay; she needed a subtle way in and the suit wasn’t made for subtlety. I think I remember the layout enough to do a teleportation spell. If I land far enough away they might not notice…
Before she could finish her thought, the door rattled open. Startled, she turned her gaze towards it and away from the AIM group, and saw the danger maybe a second before the door finished opening.
There were three of them, Minotaur Golems lumbering in front of a rapidly retreating AIM guard. Iron Mage called upon her Pegasi magic and checked her batteries. 85%, she noted. Power to spare. “Let's get this over with quickly.”
Her wings lit up as she dove at the nearest one. It slammed into her, leveraging its size against her power. She triggered her boot jets, briefly lifting the thing off the ground, before throwing it underneath the next one. They went down in a tangle of limbs.
She turned towards the third one, but—
Oh, that one has a big rock.
With a crash she went through the wall as the chunk of cement hit her, landing in the adjoining room. She winced as the pain spiraled up her back and head. The healing spells signaled ready, but she didn’t turn them on. They drew an excessive amount of power, and she wasn’t badly hurt.
Iron Mage shifted her magic back to that of a Unicorn, hefting the rock and tossing it towards the Golem. It caught the thing, and she used the moment to fire a thin pulse of magic through its knees. It crumbled to the ground, arms pinned under the rock.
Iron Mage checked her batteries again. 78%, she noted. Still could be worse.
She teleported into the room, aiming her horn at the two slowly standing Golems. She cast a Sink-Like-A-Stone spell on them, before turning back to regard the rest of the soldiers. I didn’t see the other Golems, she thought, but the pony-based ones might read as normal from this range—
A huge metal hand grabbed Iron Mage around the midsection. Huh, she belatedly realized. They’re even stronger than they look.
The Golem lifted her up and smashed her against the ground. She tried to summon her magic, but he lifted her and slammed her down again.
And again.
And again.
The power dampening and structural integrity spells began to protest the pounding. Iron Mage couldn’t focus enough to cast, and she tasted blood in her mouth. “Electrify suit!” she snapped.
Volts of electricity coursed across the suit and into the Golem. She rachted them up past what she’d use on a normal pony; she wasn’t even sure he’d feel it.
The Golem flailed wildly, slamming her into the walls and ceiling as it shut down before it finally keeled over. Before the other Golem could reach her, she blinded it with a Here-Comes-The-Sun spell near its eyes. She grabbed the joints and yanked them apart. It fell, crushing her beneath its weight.
She groaned, roughly shoving the machine away. Ahead, dozens of AIM guards stood with various magical and alchemical weapons pointed at her. Past them four Pony-shaped Golems lumbered towards her, and further back she could see them unloading a huge cannon.
Iron Mage slowly stood, head throbbing. “Oh, a fair fight?” she asked.
They opened fire.
Iron Mage leapt forwards through the air, weapons fire striking like drops of rain. Her power reserves were dropping, but she’d scattered the soldiers.
She switched back to Unicorn magic, landing with a loud clang in the middle of the Pony Golems. They were on her in an instant, trying to pull her down and trample her under their hooves.
Iron Mage caught the first one and threw it against the second. They skidded away, landing at the far end of the bay. The third was too close, and it slugged her in the face.
She staggered, the floor under her cracking under the blow. It pressed forwards, wrapping its forelegs around her neck and squeezing hard enough to bend steel.
The suit creaked but held. She changed back to Pegasus magic and used her boot jets to push them into the air. They smashed against the ceiling, and she spun them around and dove back toward the ground.
The Golem fell apart as its spellwork failed and it cracked open. It took her a moment to place the noise, but she quickly realized it was screaming.
No!
Iron Mage changed her magic to that of an Earth Pony, cursing herself. I said to Starlight, we don’t know what a sudden deactivation could do! I can’t believe I was so careless!
The AIM guards had collected themselves and began to fire again. Iron Mage ignored them; the durability enchantments could handle their weapons. She lifted the chassis and scanned the Golem. The signal is fading slowly, and he looks healthy. But if I hadn’t gotten careless—
A burning potion caught her in the shoulder and ignited. It took seconds for the defensive enchantments to re-work themselves to counter the fire, and that second of pain shattered her concentration. She staggered back as the AIM weapons began to penetrate her re-formatting defenses.
Power to 60%
I have to end this quickly.
She grabbed the top half of the Golem with both forelegs and threw it towards the group. They ducked, but it flew well over their heads. While they were distracted, Iron Mage flipped open the cover to the Arc Reactor.
The suit went dead, as she couldn’t risk absorbing its innate magic. For the next few moments, she was a barely-mobile metal statue. The AIM guards didn’t know that, and began to open up again with increasing desperation as they and their weapons lost their magic. She didn’t let up until each one of them collapsed, too weak to fight.
Power to 69%
Iron Mage closed the Reactor and sighed. Pulling up her Pegasus magic, she zapped the two Pony Golems and peered across the bay. They tried to get up, but she could pick them off at her leisure with this distance. Nothing else moved.
She trotted forwards, mind racing as she considered her options. She didn’t want a stand-off, partly because that put the hostages in danger and partly because ‘hostages’ meant ‘hostage negotiation’ and that gave Hypnotia a huge advantage. On the bright side, most of AIM’s Golems and soldiers were down and wouldn’t be up again for a while.
Now, she just had to find where Hypnotia was hiding.
“You know you have to open your eyes sometime.”
Sunset growled. Hypnotia’s voice tried to be conversational, but there was an edge to it. It was as if each word knew how special Hypnotia was and resented being restrained. “I really don’t.”
Somewhere off to her left, Hypnotia snorted. Sunset turned her head right, but the flashing light followed her. Even through her eyelids Hypnotia’s spirals almost burned her eyes, alternating between red and yellow and orange, before settling on a cool silver that didn’t hurt as much. “Everyone says that,” Hypnotia said, “and they always do.”
“...Twilight,” Sunset mumbled. She frowned at herself. “Twilight got away,” she tried again, more clearly. “So that means your powers have limits.”
“Well, let's be fair, Twilight Sparkle is very good at running away. She left you behind, after all.” The sound of clattering reached Sunset’s ears, and it took her a second to react. Hypnotia was rooting through the room, looking for something. What could... she… Sunset frowned. What is she doing? The silver light made it feel like there was a fog in her mind, each thought was far away and hard to see, and she had to concentrate to make out its shape.
It occurred to her that she wasn’t restrained. She could still feel one of her knives inside her jacket. If she was careful, she could take Hypnotia with her eyes closed. She just had to pick her… moment and…
Why didn’t I notice I wasn’t tied up?
The lights began to strobe again, just yellow and orange this time. Her eyes felt like she’d been doing paperwork for hours. “She’s... nh. No agent,” she mumbled. It was hard to think of words, let alone say them. “Not her job. Mine”
“But it’s okay if I take you?”
“Yes.” She tried to shake her head, but Hypnotia held it in place. “No—”
“I thought I couldn’t,” she said teasingly. Her voice was making Sunset nervous; it sounded far too self-satisfied. “I thought you could hold out forever. You aren’t slipping, are you?”
“No!”
“Well,” she whispered in Sunset’s ear, “then it’s okay if I push further in your head?”
“Yes.” Sunset flinched. “Wai—”
The light flashed silver and red. Sunset’s mouth hung open as the light overtook her. She couldn’t remember why she was fighting, only that it was important. And she desperately wanted to open her eyes.
“I’m not sure why you’re fighting us anyway,” Hypnotia whispered. “AIM and SHIELD both want to protect the world. We just have the power to... deal with problems. Like the Iron Mage.”
Sunset held her breath.
“She’s a vigilante, isn’t she? I know SHIELD wants her as much as we do, but we’re equipped to deal with her. You were helpless, weren’t you?”
“Yes.”
The word fell out of Sunset’s mouth before she could even process it. The red and silver gave way to warm yellow again, and she sighed as she relaxed. Distantly, she felt a pair of hooves around her shoulders, and then the feeling of leaning against something warm and soft. “Yes,” Hypnotia crooned softly, “I know what it’s like to be helpless. I had someone to help me, and I can help you like they did. Show you amazing things.”
“...Nh.” Sunset’s body wouldn’t move, wouldn't even try. “No,” she said in a tone that was more pleading than defiant. “SHIELD. Twi.”
“Twilight again. Iron Mage hurt her, didn’t she?” Hypnotia asked.
Sunset tensed. “I couldn’t. Couldn’t save… her.” Putting together ideas was getting harder, but she had to keep trying.
”Of course, you could,” Hypnotia said soothingly, “all you need are the right materials. AIM is working on that too. Do you want to hear more?”
“Yes.” Something was wrong with her voice, it sounded almost slurred. But if there was something that could —
“That’s good,” Hypnotia said. “But I can’t just give it to you, now can I? It needs to be fair.”
“Fair.” That didn’t sound wrong.
“I just need to know a few things in return. That sounds right.”
“...Right?” Sunset frowned. “I…”
“Oh, by the stars,” Hypnotia muttered. “Why wouldn’t you want to do anything to stop Iron Mage?”
Sunset worked her mouth, trying to pull an answer from her mind. “SHIELD—”
“You’ll fight anything for SHIELD?
“Yes,” Sunset said. Her mind was starting to feel emptier now, and her body was so heavy.
“Then open your eyes and fight me for real.”
Sunset moved without thinking. She opened her eyes.
Every single color in the world flew through her mind at once, and she didn’t even think of pushing them away. She knew her body was moving, and her voice was talking but it wasn’t important. Those lights were important.
Each one did something different. The red pinned her brain down, and made sure Hypnotia’s words stayed in her mind, and the silver to obfuscate the thoughts she didn’t need. After that came the orange to make sure she didn’t remember until she needed to, and the yellow to make her happy for being a good listener. And then when she was done—
“Stand to attention.”
Sunset smoothly got to her hooves. “What do you want?”
“Mh,” Hypnotia said to herself, “not as docile as I’d like…”
“Docile?” Sunset snapped. “I’ll—”
“Don’t interrupt.”
Sunset’s mouth snapped shut. “Yes miss,” came out automatically. There was more, but she didn’t want to say it, but it pressed her jaw open and “is there anything I can do to please you?” just came out.
“Isn’t that better?” Hypnotia asked, and Sunset couldn’t say no. “Do you still have any weapons?”
“Yes,” Sunset didn’t want to say “miss,” but the word came all on its own. There was more she was supposed to say, about being happy to serve that she managed to hang on to it.
“That’s a very nice knife.”
Sunset realized she was holding her knife out for inspection. “Thank you miss,” she said, and a warm glow snaked through her chest.
“Mh,” Hypnotia met her eyes, and Sunset had to sit down as her world twisted around her. “saying that felt better than keeping quiet, didn’t it? And you’ll want to say it again?”
“No— I.” Sunset tried to move, but finally just had to sigh. “Yes miss.”
“Good job,” Hypnotia rewarded, “And there’s a lot you can accomplish with me, starting with that tin-plated tyrant.” She trotted over to the door and began to pull it open. “All we need now is Iron Mage herself—”
Hypnotia quietly stared out of the door.
Sunset couldn’t see much over her shoulder, but there was rubble and several unconscious bodies lying around. She froze.
SHIELD found out about the attack! I’ve got to stay with Hypnotia until… until she lets me go. She closed her eyes and tried to straighten her thoughts out. Because… I’m a SHIELD agent and we need her help? But I’m supposed to—
Outside, there was a high-pitched Reeee that she immediately recognized. She opened her eyes to see an armored form, and her mind immediately aligned itself.
I serve anyone who helps me stop Iron Mage.
Then Hypnotia shut the door and took off running, forcing Sunset to flee. She could see now that they were in the entrance of an airship, one that might be more advanced than the ones SHIELD employed. It was empty save for the two of them and the armored avenger behind them.
“Hypnotia!”
Hypnotia ran faster. She smacked a lever with her tail as they ran, sealing doors behind them. The steady hum of security spells drowned out the oncoming crash of each door being torn apart. “Okay,” Hypnotia said. “I can do this. How did SHIELD plan on dealing with Iron Mage?"
“We don’t have a plan yet,” Sunset answered. “I can’t do anything without my bow and arrows.”
“Great!” Hypnotia snapped. “I have got a knife, a useless SHIELD agent, and—”
She stopped running suddenly, forcing Sunset to stop as well. Their eyes met, and Sunset immediately felt the world begin to sway. “You have to protect me,” Hypnotia said. “It’s your job, right? To save people?”
“Save you,” Sunset repeated. Her ears flicked at the approaching noise but she didn’t look away.
“Very good!” Waves of yellow tinted her view, before red dominated her mind again. “Take your knife back. Hold it here,” Sunset felt it press against her throat and held it in place with her field. “Don’t ask how it works. Don’t even think about how it works. All the questions that you think of you’ll pack into a box labeled ‘unimportant’ and you can take them out later. Repeat.”
“Take. Take the knife,” Sunset slowly said, “and hold it to my throat. Don’t question.” She sighed at the pleasant orange and yellow swirls in front of her face before standing to attention again.
“You’re a very good agent, Sunset.” Hypnotia rewarded her, “and now stand in front of the door. Make sure Iron Mage can see you. Hold the weapon like that, and let me do all the talking.”
“Yes miss,” Sunset sighed. She faced the door, and it took a few seconds for reality to catch up with her dazed mind. The booms and clangs of Iron Mage’s arrival were getting louder and louder, and she shivered. She was a SHIELD agent, and she was used to monsters, but staring down something implacable with nothing more than—
I will not question Hypnotia or this situation.
—Sunset stared at the door, waiting for Iron Mage to arrive.
Iron Mage smashed the wall down and froze. Sunset Shimmer stood in front of her, eyes consumed by Hypnotia’s spirals and holding a knife to her own throat. She pulled up her Unicorn magic, but when she tried to cast her field, Sunset pressed the knife harder. A single drop of blood fell, and Iron Mage stopped. “Sunset,” she said, “what are you doing?”
Sunset slowly blinked, but before she could answer Hypnotia spoke up. “She’s stopping you. Just like I told her, because she’s a good SHIELD agent. Good agents follow orders, right?”
Sunset smiled. “Follow orders.”
“Stop it!” Iron Mage snapped. “Let her go, Hypnotia! This is between you and me.”
“I don’t see how this is unfair,” Hypnotia sniffed. She made a show of checking her hooves, like Iron Mage was some uppity server being put in her place. “You have a warsuit, and I have friends. I’d be happy to let them go if you’d only take the suit off…”
Iron Mage growled. “You can’t kill her,” she tried. “She’s worth too much.”
“Less than you,” Hypnotia said. “My leaders would give anything for a look at that armor. Imagine what could be done with a dozen of them.”
“I have.” Iron Mage didn’t move her head, but let her eyes drift around the room, looking for options. The most unsung advantage to wearing a mask is that most of the time you looked like you knew what you were doing. “You people do more than enough already.”
She smiled. “We’ve barely begun. Take your suit off.”
“Never.”
“Then,” Hypnotia braved a step forwards, “you’ll have to watch an innocent die. Can you do that?”
“If she dies, what’s keeping me from ripping your head off?”
There was a pause.
“Ah,” Hypnotia said, “that’s easy to fix. I can always get more…”
Sunset twitched. Her face contorted as she tried to say something, but she couldn’t force the words out. Hypnotia noticed this and frowned. “I’m not going to threaten the hostages,” she said soothingly. Iron Mage shifted but Sunset shot her a warning glare and pressed the knife tighter against her throat.
Hypnotia noticed that and smiled. “Good girl.”
Iron Mage frowned. Hypnotia had plenty of servants at the base and she usually traveled with one or two when she was working. None of them were even aware of the world unless she wanted them to be. “You know,” she tested, “Your thrall isn’t as far gone as I’d expect.”
“I’m not a thrall!” Sunset snapped. “I’m here because…” another blink, and this time it was accompanied by a brief flicker of her real eyes.
“Don’t worry,” Hypnotia said smoothly. “She’s just trying to make you angry, so you’ll make a mistake. Don’t ask questions, just focus.”
“Focus,” Sunset said firmly, gaze fixed on Iron Mage.
Behind her mask, Iron Mage swallowed. She’s fighting her. Not well, but she’s fighting. Her cover’s already intact, and Hypnotia is too vain to willingly spend time with someone who doesn’t want to kneel when told.
She isn’t the mole.
“Now,” Hypnotia continued, “I’m going to slip away and get help. You’re going to watch her and ignore everything she says, okay?”
Sunset nodded, but she looked uncertain. Iron Mage watched Hypnotia carefully. If she tried to push Sunset further down, she’d be too unbalanced to hold the knife. Neither of them had the field dexterity needed to hand the knife off without moving it away from her neck, and Hypnotia wasn’t going to put herself near Iron Mage.
Reluctantly, Hypnotia turned away. “If she gets past you,” she added slowly, “she’ll hurt Twilight again.”
Iron Mage watched Sunset stiffen. A newfound determination took hold, and she squared her shoulders. Where did that come from?
“You can’t let Twilight Sparkle come to harm,” Hypnotia said with a note of triumph in her voice. “So, watch her. And if she moves, you know what to do.”
Iron Mage used her Earth Pony magic to watch Hypnotia leave. She made a beeline for the hatch, much to her relief. The guards should still be out and she’d need to go all the way back to the convention floor for more help.
They stood in silence as Iron Mage considered her friend. “What happened—”
“Don’t,” Sunset growled. “Unless you’re surrendering, I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.”
“...Then I surrender,” Iron Mage said.
Sunset blinked. Iron Mage slowly sat down, raising her hooves in the air. She made sure to keep them pointed away from Sunset as she kept going. “You’re holding me hostage with that knife, aren’t you? So that means you’ve won, and that means I surrender. So why is Twilight Sparkle so important to you?”
Iron Mage held her breath. Sunset knew what Hypnotia had meant by the order; but Sunset didn’t like being forced to do things, and she hated people like Hypnotia anyway. A real thrall wouldn’t take the bait, but someone only recently—”
“She’s kind,” Sunset slowly said. “She can be intense; sometimes even unbalanced. But she loves people, and she’d do anything for her friends. And she’d never join AIM.”
Iron Mage’s heart was pounding. I can do this. “You’re helping AIM,” she pointed out carefully.
“Because I have to do what Hypnotia says,” Sunset snapped, but her anger stumbled over the words. She knew they didn’t make sense, but almost immediately she had something else to focus on. “I have to do what Hypnotia says to stop you. To protect Twilight and everyone else from you.”
Iron Mage took in a very shaky breath. “So, Twilight’s your friend?”
“Absolutely. And you’re not killing her.”
“I hope not.” Slowly, Iron Mage reached up. Her hooves clamped around her helmet.
There was a hiss as the seals released, and an odd fading hum as the spells disconnected from the helmet.
Slowly, she set it on the floor beside her.
“Okay,” Twilight Sparkle said, “Now what?”