//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: The Rise of Iron Mare // by Alexstrazsa //------------------------------// Twilight awoke to a soft beeping, and when she opened her eyes she found herself in a hospital bed, hooked up to various medical devices. Looking around, she was the only one in the infirmary. She slowly took in her surroundings, observing the pale green walls and the bland, tiled ceiling. Covering her were a set of snow white sheets, which was much more than she had expected, being a prisoner. She then noticed the soft glow coming from her chest. Pulling the sheet down, she found the mage reactor planted firmly inside her, and all the memories from before came rushing back. Twilight groaned as the soreness began to kick in. Then, a griffon poked her head through the door. “Finally awake?” “Ah!” Twilight cried, startled by the sudden voice. “I mean, uh, yes.” “Right on time for me to check your vitals.” The griffon fully entered the room, revealing soft pink feathers on top of a coat of light fur. Her eyes were accented with pink markings, and she wore a buttoned up shirt with a red cross on the left breast. She made her way to the electronic instruments and looked over them. “You know, this isn’t your first time in here, missy, but to be honest I’m not sure which was the worst.” “Oh... do you know why I’m here...?” Twilight asked, skeptical of a griffon being this kind to her. “Of course I do, and I know who you are, Miss Sparkle.” She donned a stethoscope and placed it to the left of the reactor. “But I still have some compassion left in me.” After a few moments, she took the instrument away. “Can’t say the same about the other guys though. Try anything funny and they’ll rough you up real good.” “Nice to know...” the unicorn said, leaning back into the pillow. “Now I hate to say it, but Garrett wants you back to work ASAP, so you can’t stick around here too much longer,” the nurse said, unhooking some of the equipment. Twilight sat up. “But what about my injuries?” “For the most part, you’ll be okay. The bleeding stopped, mainly because of that gizmo you stuck in your chest. It seemed important, so I didn’t touch it.” “Thanks,” Twilight replied, putting a hoof on the reactor. The nurse carefully removed the IV line from Twilight’s foreleg and filled out the clipboard at the foot of her bed. “You’re set, Miss Sparkle. And just as a heads up, there’s two ‘escorts’ outside the door waiting to bring you back to your room,” she said, motioning to the door. “Thought you might want to know.” “Thanks... for everything,” Twilight replied, giving the nurse a smile. The griffon returned it, then left the room. Twilight sat on the bed for a while, pondering the days past events. It wasn’t until one of the escorts looked into the room and loudly coughed that the unicorn got out of the bed. She felt the magic suppressor firmly attached to her horn, so she had no choice but to let them lead her back to the prison cell. - - - The door shut behind her and she heard the suppressor click off. “Time to get to work,” she said, making a beeline to the work bench. As she picked up the pencil, the door to the room opened again. Twilight didn’t move, merely listening. “The was quite a scare you gave us,” Garrett said, his oily voice slithering through the air. “We thought you had gone and offed yourself!” He approached the desk, standing next to Twilight and looking over. He brought a claw down and traced the outline of her reactor. “But that clearly isn’t the case.” “What do you want, Garrett?” she snapped, her eyes darting in his direction. “Just to check up on your and deliver some more supplies.” He made a gesture with his claw and two other griffons came in, carrying palettes of materials. “I’m sure you’ll be able to make use of it.” Twilight looked back at the the additions, noticing sheets of metal among them, among other things. A small smile slid across her face. “Yes, yes I will.” “Excellent. I look forward to your results.” The griffon then looked down to her reactor and eyed it curiously. “What exactly is that?” “An experiment,” she replied, beginning to draw. “For...?” “Energy.” “Hm. Well, you can tell me more about it when you present the rest of your creations. Keep up the work, Miss Sparkle.” With that, he turned and left, taking the other two griffons with him. After they left, Twilight walked over to the palettes of supplies and sifted through them, looking at her new materials. She picked up a pipe and looked through it, then slipped her hoof through. “Good fit...” she said, observing the piece of metal. She then took it off and went back to her bench, looking over the sheets of parchment. Lifting the pencil up again, she began to scribble plans and notes down. Every so often she took measuring tape and measured one of her body parts, taking note of the results. This continued until she had a full diagram of her body in front of her, with enough measurements that even  Rarity would be proud of her. Twilight mumbled to herself occasionally, working out calculations for her escape plan. “Attach those, link them here, feed it all into the mage reactor... I can do this! I can make this work. Just need to add some magic enhancement in the frame, spell-proof the plating...” She trailed off, taking notes of both mathematical and arcane in origin. Finishing several drawings, she stood back and beheld her creation. The paper in front of her held the plans to a suit of armor. It fed directly into her mage reactor and drew magic from her horn. While inefficient and clunky, it looked good enough to fulfill it’s purpose. “Now, to keep up the magic flow and power the different segments... carry the five... multiply by resistance. Oh dear.” She scanned over the numbers again to double check them, then gulped. “That’s a lot of power.” Twilight looked down to her mage reactor and prodded at it. “I hope you’re strong enough to get me out of here,” she whispered. With that, she picked up the plans and walked to the supplies. After a bout of cherry picking wires, pipes and various other pieces of metal, Twilight had a pile of working supplies next to her. At the bench, she strapped on a pair of goggles and quickly tied her hair back. She had a long week ahead of her, and she had to work as fast as she could. - - - It was the third day of her capture when she started to piece together the suit. Taking pieces of pipe and cutting them into fitting forms, she started to assemble the leg pieces. She bent metal to form the boots and lined them with thinner metal and padding, then strung wires through and soldered them into place. Twilight painstakingly attached fuel containers to the sides and ran the lines to the bottom of the boots, right into an awaiting funnel. Then, she connected the upper and lower legs with straps, securing them to herself for a test fit. They were heavy, but effective. She was able to move her front leg and feel protected, but she hadn’t tested the magical enhancements. With a flash of her horn, light purple energy came from certain points on the boot, signaling power. The sliding of metal on metal was music to her ears as she did a quick yet unbalanced jog around the room. “Leg one is a success,” she said, marking off a box on her checklist. With a grin, she undid the leg and put it to the side, then grabbed more metal sheets from her pile. “Three more to go.” - - - Garrett squinted at the monitor, watching Twilight slave over another leg piece. “What are you up to, Sparkle,” he pondered, scratching at his chin. He watched as she looked between two separate sets of blueprints. Adjusting one of the knobs on the control panel, he zoomed the camera in. One page showed a diagram of a pony, with various scribblings and notes. The other was a picture of a griffon, with similar markings. “Hmm... comparing species, I see. But what for?” Twilight then brought a piece of metal onto the table, followed by the leg piece. She slipped her hoof into it and put her goggles on. Moments later, sparks and small bits of smoke began to rise above the workbench. “Ah... a homemade welding torch. Hmph. I guess the one we provided wasn’t good enough for you, Sparkle,” Garrett mumbled, moving his head back from the monitor. He watched her work for several more minutes before yawning and standing up. “Greger!” he called, turning away from the monitor and looking out the door. “Come watch the pony while i’m gone.” The other griffon walked into the room and was mid nod when he paused and looked at the monitor. “What was that flash, Garrett?” “She’s welding! Don’t bother me with trifles, simpleton,” he angrily replied, walking past and out the door. Gregor shrugged, squinting at the monitor. “If you say so.” - - - The next day, she had completed another two legs, and the day after that she had begun work on the chest piece and back plates. “Can’t test this out or it will raise too much suspicion,” Twilight mumbled, welding two sheets of metal together. A formed piece of padding was bolted into place, followed by the addition of a strap hook. After a few more chunks of metal, it began to resemble an actual casing. “Hopefully you fit without too much trouble.” Moving to the front, she began filing down the hole for her reactor and routing the wiring from the power source throughout the rest of the armor piece. She slipped a thick glass plate into place as shielding, then bolted it in. Twilight wiped the sweat from her forehead as she set the breastplate to the side, then looked over her plans. All four legs were crossed out, and various notes about progress had been added to the midsection of her suit. The only section that hadn’t been touched was the helmet section. “Hmm...” Twilight hummed, looking over her design for the helmet. “I’ll work on that tomorrow,” she said, circling the head section. She then folded up the plans and pushed them aside, making room for another batch of scraps she needed to piece together. The sixth day of Twilight’s capture found her finishing off the body segment of her armor and moving on to the neck and helmet. She only needed to fold a few pieces of armor and attach them for neck protection, but the helmet was significantly harder. She started with a casing for her horn, which would be able to absorb the magic energies she output and convert them into a usable resource for the suit. This in turn would allow her to cast spells that were amplified by the suit and her mage reactor. It also protected her horn from battle damage and magical interference -- not that she expected much from griffons. Most importantly, it would disrupt the signal controlling her horn suppressor. After making a casing, she attached it to the frame of the helmet and continued on to make the dome of the head and the back of it, then welding on the side pieces. Before long, she had a sturdy looking helmet which only lacked a faceplate. Twilight opted to build that later as she began to cast magical enchantments on all of the pieces to bolster their defenses. One protective spell after another was infused into the armor. They weren’t the best they could be, but it was all she could put together with sparse resources and little time. When she finished, the suit looked less like a bunch of scrap metal welded together and more like the armaments of a runic warrior, engraved with arcane symbols and other magical additions. “Only one piece left,” Twilight said, filing down three holes in the faceplate until they were smooth. When that was finished, she slid it into the helmet and locked it in place. Taking a step back, she looked over her creation as it laid in structured pieces in front of her. “Crude, but hopefully effective.” A glance at the clock told her that her time was about spent, so tomorrow she would need to make her move. “Almost time, Twilight,” she mumbled, dimming the lights in the room. Falling into the mattress at the corner of her room, she dragged the light blanket across her and began to snore. - - - She didn’t know what time it was, but all she knew was that her room was suddenly filled with light and shouting. Twilight brought a hoof over her eyes as they adjusted. Her senses began to return and the shouts became more audible. Before she knew it, a talon grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the bed. She was met face to face with Garrett. “What is this?” he hissed, pointing behind him. Another griffon was holding up her chest piece and curiously looking over it, attempting to fit it on his body. Twilight narrowed her eyes, still tired and not adjusted to the light. “It’s for protection...” she mumbled, finishing off with a yawn. Garrett growled, shaking her foreleg. “Don’t play games with me, Sparkle! What is it protection for?” “Magic overexposure and arcane resistance,” she replied, starting to wake up. “I need it to effectively enhance the equipment and produce the power sources.” The griffon let go of her arm, then called over another who was holding one of her leg pieces. “And just what is this for? Why do you need four of them!?” “Different prototypes of weapons. Not completed yet.” “Do you think I’m stupid, Miss Sparkle? Did you think you could plan this without me noticing?” Twilight looked from the other griffon to Garrett and grimaced. “You asked me to make weapons, so I’m making you weapons. If anything, I need more time.” Garrett growled and turned away from her. “I gave you a week. It’s been six days and you’ve made no significant progress.” He then looked back to her and scowled. “I may reconsider if you can show me something tomorrow.” The unicorn gulped, but her gaze never softened. “I’ll have something. You’ll see.” “I better,” Garrett replied, flicking his tail. He looked to the two other griffons and gave them a hand signal. With a nod, they departed the room, leaving Twilight alone. She waited until their footsteps faded off before letting out a deep breath and feeling her body enveloped in a cold sweat. “Tomorrow... I’ll find out if it was all worth it.” - - - “She’s waking up, Garrett,” said the griffon watching over Twilight’s cell. Next to him, Garrett was laying on a makeshift bed made from blankets and clothing. At the sound of his voice, Garrett slowly opened his eyes and stood up, shaking his feathers out as he did so. “And what’s she doing?” He grumbled sitting down in front of the monitor and rubbing his eyes. “This is her last day, so I hope she has something  good set up.” “Well, she’s at the workbench now. Looks like she’s putting on the gun. Oh, she’s putting the second one on, too.” He leaned in and stared at the monitor. “Huh... the third and fourth ones are on as well.” “Wait, what?” Garrett looked at the monitor as well, watching the unicorn strap on more pieces of metal. The other griffon sat back, a confused look on his face. “Just what is she doing? Any idea, Ga-” he was cut off as he looked towards the other griffon and found a searing scowl on his face. “I know exactly what she’s doing,” Garrett growled, watching the unicorn strap on the neck piece, followed by the helmet. “And she isn’t getting away with it!” He then watched as Twilight looked to the camera and raised a foreleg. A blast shot out and the camera screen turned to static. With an enraged yell, Garrett flapped his wings and rushed out of the room. Twilight breathed heavily as adrenaline pumped through her system. The suit was working, and it was working well. With another surge of energy, she shot a large blast at the door, shattering it to pieces. To her relief, she didn’t feel the magic disruptor change. Moments later, the grinding of metal echoed through the room and hallway as she ran as fast as she could outside. Yelling could already be heard from down the halls, so Twilight ran the opposite direction they came from. As she did, she charged up a teleport spell to try and escape, but all it did was fizzle out. “Damn, do they have this whole place spell-proof?” “Hey, stop!” came a yell from behind her. She spun around and shot a blast of energy at the griffon, which hit him square in the chest and sent him to the ground. Not waiting for more griffons to show up, Twilight continued running, looking for any sign of an exit. Almost like a blessing, she spotted a literal exit sign at the end of the hallway. pointing to the left. She reached it and turned, looking for another sign. A door in front of her burst open, with several griffons pouring out and wielding electrically crackling spears and swords. She put her head down and charged at them, silently praying that her armor worked. For a brief moment she felt small impacts and jolts against her head and shoulders, followed by several larger hits as she barreled through the small group. Twilight took another turn, following the next exit sign. It lead her up a series of stairs, then to another long hallway. She recognized this area as being near the infirmary. Far ahead, she saw a set of doors, and her heart skipped a beat at the thought of freedom. Then, Garrett himself came from one of the connecting hallways, yelling “TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” The unicorn shot a burst of magic, but he dodged it easily. The same happened with the next two shots, so Twilight had to resort to a trick up her sleeve. She shielded her eyes and lifted a foreleg as a cartridge popped out from the side and shot a solid beam of magic. It swept through the entire hallway, clipping Garrett’s wing as it reached the end of it’s arc and sending him to the ground. Twilight ran past him, nearly reaching the doors before an unexpected magic blast came from behind her and knocked her off balance. As she stumbled and tried to regain her footing, she saw Garrett leaning against the wall with a tube shaped object that smoked from the end. Another blast erupted from it, but this time Twilight anticipated it and put up a shield. The blast deflected off of it and shot back into the hall, destroying part of the wall. The section of building it hit collapsed, filling the hall with rubble and dust. Twilight used this opportunity to crash through the doors and out into the world again. She gasped as she found herself at the base of a snow covered mountain; an area she recognized as being deep in the griffon lands. From behind her, she heard yelling as Garrett recovered and brought reinforcements. Twilight gulped, whispering “Please work” over and over as she began to gallop forward. With a spark of magic, the bottoms of her hooves ignited in magnificent plumes of flame, with enough for to send her skyward. She haphazardly took to the air, flailing as she tried to maintain her balance, but the jets seemed to have a mind of their own. She careened over a large hill in front of the base, reaching the peak of her flight just as the rockets cut out. “Oh no, oh no, no, no!” she cried, trying to get the jets working again. As the ground got closer and closer, she curled her body together and braced for the impact, which came moments later. With a loud thud and the horrific screech of metal twisting and bending, she hit the snow covered plains and tumbled forward, sailing out of the remnants of her armor and rolling across the ground. She sputtered and coughed, getting the snow out of her mouth. Every part of her body ached, and she was sure one of her limbs was either broken or sprained, but she pushed herself up and forced herself to walk forward. “Come on... Twilight. Keep going...” she mumbled, pushing her body to keep moving. Then, in the distance, she saw bright blue and gold, followed by a streak of rainbow.