//------------------------------// // XI: Resonance and Harmony // Story: Tinkermane // by Razorbeam //------------------------------// Gearrick looked up at the five-story office building. This was the old Gearbox Guild headquarters for certain; the faded and splotched outline of the letters "GG" adorned the top, where the large, well-lit initials of the company had once been fastened before their relocation. Blue light flickered dimly through the dingy windows above on the fourth floor, a blue light he recognized well from his fight with Mick Magnet earlier that very night. It was easy to make out in the dark, for even though this section of the city had streetlamps like any other, it was not as brightly lit as the primary areas of the city further from the riverside. This region had no night-life to speak of, because all of the businesses here were private. Some were manufacturers, others accounting firms, but regardless there was nothing here that would draw a pony to it and, being a business-only region, it would be a ghost-town after dusk when the ponies who worked there went home from their jobs. Nopony would have been around to see a midnight kidnapper, or to witness the electric-blue glow of the powerful machine that had aided her in her crimes. Gearrick silently berated himself for not thinking of it sooner. Plenty of shady business was conducted on this end of the riverfront. Still, without confronting Magnet he never would have learned of the precise location of the guild's old headquarters, a building not used in over five years, by the look of things. He quickly ran over his plan again. His suit had taken a bit of damage in the fight with Mick, as had his shoulder, which ached badly from the gash his armor had given him. He couldn't hope to rely on the machine to handle another full-out fight with Mick's Markiver device while the thing was plugged in and receiving nearly infinite power. But he had learned enough to know that without that great supply of energy, the capacitors inside the suit were only so much junk waiting to be fried by the R.A.D. He would be hard-pressed to get anywhere near the suit without first disabling it somewhat, or getting it to run its power low enough. Even then, he wouldn't have much energy in his own suit to finish the job. The R.A.D. wasn't built to last; the capacitors were burning themselves out charging and discharging in a manner that they had never been designed for. This fight would go very differently from his fight with Mick, he knew. It would come down to Twilight's condition. He had been thinking over and over about her during his mad run over, moving as quickly as he could across the city through back-alleys and even along rooftops at a few points, levitating himself across the gaps. The things Mick had said hadn't mattered at the time to Gearrick, he had been too engrossed in the fight for his life and Twilight's safety. But with so much time to think, he couldn't help himself. If it were true, and she really was Celestia's student, then he knew he could depend on her. Even he had heard stories about Celestia's apprentice, the Element of Magic, yet he'd never known her by name until tonight. The fact that it was Twilight Sparkle, his Twilight, didn't change anything about how he felt for her. No matter how powerful she was, she hadn't come back to the warehouse, hadn't gone to the police. She'd never come back from the kidnapping, and she was in danger. Somehow, some way, she was trapped, or hurt... or worse. Gearrick's already grim expression shifted to one of anger. "I hope you're ready, Phyla. You might have been able to catch me by surprise once, but now it's my turn," he muttered to himself, walking as calmly as he could into the first floor of the building. He couldn't afford to make any moves that would announce his arrival and put Twilight in even more potential danger. Not until the field was set in Twilight's favor. Gearrick trotted over to the elevator doors, which were closed shut. He didn't dare push the button, though he doubted the machine was even active anyways, but the last thing he needed was the damned thing dinging on about exactly which floor he was intruding on. With his magic he managed to peel the heavy steel doors aside just enough to fit his hooves into the gap. Pulling those doors open was harder than lifting the Nomad, for they had been locked in place by some hidden mechanism that didn't much care for the idea of budging. Gearrick didn't much care what the locking mechanism felt like doing. Grunting with the effort, Gearrick pulled with all his might, the suit groaning as the metal gears that powered its motion ground against one another with the strain. He lent his magic to the task as well, pushing with both his mind and his machine until at last, with a loud crack, the bronze locking pins that had held the door snapped in two and the doors shot open. Gearrick halted them abruptly with his magic to keep them from slamming into anything and making enough noise to echo up the shaft to the fourth floor, where he figured Twilight was being held. His objective was in the other direction, down to the basement level. Cold air wafted up from below, trapped for years in the long drop of the elevator shaft. Craning his neck, he could see the elevator above, apparently stuck on the second floor where its last use had left it sitting. He could see the bottom through the copper glow of his magic, and so he jumped the fifteen-foot drop, cushioning his landing with a spell. He repeated his less-than-ideal method of opening the metal security doors, finally walking through into a plain, darkened hallway. There were no lights on anywhere, and no emergency exit signs present for this underground area of the building; a safety violation to be sure. Still, Gearrick knew that the building still had power, just as he had expected. He could hear the humming of the building's switch room from down the hall. Recovered enough to continue, Gearrick looked at the meter on his shoulder. Very nearly empty. He would have to charge up quickly before he put his plan into action, and what better place to do so than at the main power line for the old office building? Kicking open the doors, he took a habitual comfort in the quiet buzz of the various switchboards and the smell of metal. The faithful machines still did their work years later, even with nopony to benefit from their labors. They had simply been running, and waiting. Gearrick set the ring to spinning on his left hoof, placing it on a switchboard. As the metal ground against the circuitry, sparks flew and electricity arced into his armor, the gauge on his shoulder rising again. It stopped suddenly, refusing to rise past what appeared to be fifty percent. Gearrick withdrew his hoof with a sigh, having suspected all along that this would come to pass. He'd put the circuitry in his suit through too much already, and the system had degraded. If he'd had more time to spend on it he could have stabilized it, but that wasn't the case. He would just have to work with what little he had. He didn't let it distract him from his mission, and he quickly spotted what he had really come down here for. A series of red levers stuck out of various bronze boxes: the master switches for the office building. Smirking to himself in anticipation for what was to come, he quickly made his way over to them, his red goggles hiding the eagerness in his eyes. This was it; time to save Twilight. Or, perhaps more appropriately, it was time to give her the chance to save herself. Gearrick lit his horn, lining all six of the switches in his copper glow, one for each of the floors on this building. "I hope you're ready, Twilight..." he said quietly, concern and excitement alike in his tone. Twilight watched in shock as the pony on the floor quickly became something that was clearly not Myla. Her spots shifted to black, and the coat to white. Only the mane and tail remained the same midnight blue. The white mare slowly got the her hooves, fixing Twilight with cold, deep-blue eyes that looked at her like she was just some thing, not a pony. "Phyla..." Twilight growled with distaste. Despite knowing what she now did about the white twin's past, what she had become was far from respectable, or pleasant. Twilight couldn't deny the hurt she felt for Phyla now, but knew just as Myla had that there was nothing to be done about it when face to face with her. Like Myla had said, Twilight would have to stop her. "Twilight," Phyla replied calmly, clearly not worried at all by Twilight's threatening glare or her tense posture. Her mane had fallen across one eye during the changeover, but the heartless mare didn't make any move to relocate it. Twilight quietly realized that only being able to see half of Phyla's face made her seem even less like a pony than she already did. "It would appear that my sister cannot be trusted, and does not understand what it is I am trying to accomplish," she said plainly, her one visible, cold eye boring into Twilight. "Trusted?" Twilight asked, slightly unnerved by her complete lack of reaction, despite that she had had it explained to her quite thoroughly. "Yes. I allowed her control for twenty-four hours on the condition that she would seek out Gearrick and attempt her advances on him a second time. It appears that she was unable to find him and, rather than surrendering the body back to me, disclosed a great deal of unnecessary information to you. I am afraid that my involvement in this process will have to become much more personal. It is clear that I cannot depend on her to act in accord with her own feelings as I once did." A shiver ran up Twilight's spine as Phyla's words itched like frost forming on her coat. "You're going to trap her in there, until you get your way..." Twilight concluded, doing her best to keep her voice from wavering with concern. "Yes," Phyla replied with a simple nod. "She does not understand the intricate steps required for this plan to succeed. Fortunately the damage she has caused by disobeying me is not so severe, as she was unable to find Gearrick. I had not suspected that she would go so far as to try and thwart my plans for her happiness, so I cannot allow her to interfere any further." "She doesn't understand?" Twilight asked, her concern shifting quickly to anger. "Her happiness? The one interfering in plans for her happiness is you!" Twilight roared suddenly, her emotions getting the better of her. "If you really care about her happiness, you would stop this and realize that what you're doing is hurting ponies! Hurting her!" "That is not relevant. In time she will see the good I am doing for her. She will forgive me when she is with Gearrick, and then she will be happy. It is like the progression of states of matter; even if the state you desire is solid, you must first go through liquid at the very least, a state you do not want," Phyla said quietly. "It is the result that matters in the end, not the process." "You call yourself her sister?" Twilight asked, aghast. How could she think so coldly about this? "I do. I was born with her, biologically we are sisters. There is more, as well, but you would not understand," Phyla said, and though there was nothing in her tone at all, Twilight couldn't shake the feeling that those words were meant to be sad. Nothing gave it away, yet she knew. "What do you mean I wouldn't understand?" Twilight asked hesitantly, unable to part with the feeling of sorrow she was getting from Phyla. "I cannot impart to you the state I am in. It is... difficult, being unable to feel what Myla feels, and thus understand her motivations. Because of this, she appears greatly irrational and complicated to me. Likewise, she cannot fathom my ability to think unhindered by such things," Phyla said, nodding to herself while she spoke, as if she were not sure if what she was saying was an adequate description. "You have already heard all of this from my sister. But there is something she did not tell you, because she does not know it. Or rather, I think she does not believe it is true, even though I am not capable of lying," Phyla said, a gentle spark of something showing in her ice-cold eye for only a brief moment. "She does not believe that, though I cannot feel emotions like I once did, that I still love her. That she is the only one left that I can have feelings for, even when they are not the feelings she knows and understands." Twilight's reply bounced around in her mind for a few seconds, and then simply faded away. Sisterly love was the only thing Phyla could still feel, and then for a sister she could only see in that room in their mind. A sister she couldn't hold, or touch ever again. "Myla's happiness is of the greatest importance to me, the one great illogical part of my new life. I could have continued doing work without paying mind to her heart's fancies for Mr. Tinkermane. It would have been the sensible choice. But instead I chose to pursue her desire over what I knew would be more profitable and would sustain our existence. I cannot change what I am, and so even in handling this she considers me wrong and inept," she said quietly. "She and I see different things, and through my actions I see a logical conclusion in which she has exactly what it is she wants: Tinkermane." "That's not what she wants anymore," Twilight said suddenly, snapping out of her reverie regarding the explanation. "She doesn't want that, if it means hurting him!" "But she wants him still. It is the only path I see that will make it possible," Phyla replied curtly. "And what about her? Don't you care about what she sees? Where she thinks this is going?" Twilight asked angrily. "I cannot see that," Phyla muttered. "For me, it is not possible. I am only doing the most that I can to ensure her desire." "She told me to stop you," Twilight said with a glare. "Your own sister told me to stop you. Doesn't that mean anything?" "Yes..." Phyla said coldly, turning away from Twilight, and facing the Markiver device. "It means that I cannot rely on her, even for the sake of herself." The machine hissed, the panels all suddenly springing outward and opening the suit to Phyla. She climbed in without hesitation, the plating locking back into place around her. "What are you doing?" Twilight asked fearfully. Unlike Myla, she highly doubted that Phyla would be letting her go. "I am afraid that I must render you unconscious once more, and relocate you. It is possible that Myla found a way to contact Tinkermane and reveal this location to him. Until he surrenders to my demands, I cannot risk your rescue at his hooves," she said, her voice metallic through the suit's speakers. Twilight backed away as far as she could, but the loud hum of the light wall at her back warned her that another step would see her electrocuted. "Do not fight me. You cannot hope to overpower this machine while it is at full capacity," she cautioned. "Lay down and surrender." Phyla made no move to walk the suit into the circle, defeating Twilight's panicked hope that somehow she would get the chance to unplug it. "Like hell," she growled, clenching her jaw against the adrenaline that screamed at her to run away. Still, with the light wall standing her coat on end, she knew there was nowhere to go. "You leave me no-" Phyla began, the suit emitting a high-pitched whine in preparation for some sort of attack. Twilight winced preemptively, but her eyes shot back wide as the feeling of the light wall at her back vanished instantly, and all light in the room went out abruptly, leaving behind only the glowing suit. "Illogical," Phyla complained emptily. Two large, metal-framed cubicle walls lifted to either side of her suddenly, and she flung them as hard as she could at Twilight. Twilight's mind was already racing long before the lights went out, and so it took her less than a second to realize what had happened. The power had been cut, and the suit was now running only on its built-in power supplies. While it was probably fully charged, it no longer had the limitless power it needed to project the light wall and trap her. "Illogical?" Twilight shot back, blasting the cubicles panels aside with a barrier, the two miniature walls spinning away and crashing into various other things with enough force to have definitely knocked her out. "It's perfectly logical," she said with a wide grin. She had lost to this machine once before, but only because Phyla had caught her by surprise. Now it was the other way around. "It does not make sense. The power grid is stable city-wide," Phyla returned coldly, the single, visible eye under her visor dancing back and forth as she scoured her mind for an answer. That eye settled abruptly on Twilight as she reached her conclusion. "Gearrick's come to save me," Twilight said with confidence, the urge to laugh suddenly coming over her. She let one, just one, fly free; a laugh of mixed disbelief, anxiety, and true relief. Phyla was silent for a moment, and then the suit shrieked with the sound of an impending attack. "No matter. I will continue my previous plan; you will be rendered unconscious, and relocated," she said quietly. Twilight grinned as more objects filled the air around Phyla, not a one of them concerning. "Let's see what that suit's really made of," she said, pawing the ground with her front hoof. More objects whirled at her, and Twilight shattered them with beams of light from her horn. Realizing that fighting the suit at a distance would leave her at a disadvantage, she quickly resolved to get closer to it at her next opportunity. As a cubicle panel flew for her, she got her chance. The furniture piece rocketed through a cloud of purple light and out the office window as Twilight vanished from sight. Phyla's reaction to the complimenting purple flash of light directly behind her was not fast enough. Having never undone the power cabling around her, she stumbled as the cords snared her hooves when she tried to whirl around. If her eyes could have widened in shock, they certainly would have as purple light flooded her visor. The barrier slammed into Phyla before she could create a field to part it, flinging her across the room as fast as an arrow. The cables in the wall snapped free, trailing behind her like the flames of a phoenix until she collided with the floor, the suit crunching loudly as it rolled. Sadly it showed no visible damage, nor did Phyla show any signs of pain as she got back to her hooves. Twilight wasted no time in duplicating her recently successful tactic, but this time Phyla was ready. When Twilight reappeared from her teleportation, she was immediately slammed by a cubicle wall. It hit her flat-first, as if it were a racket and she were a ball. The physics of such an analogy applied well as she flew backward, slamming into one of the metal beams that held the ceiling aloft. The impact knocked the wind out of her and hurt terribly, but she didn't have the time to think about it as the same panel came back in to slam her again. She blasted it into pieces, jagged bits of the wood and shredded metal frame scratching her as they flew past. She staggered on her hooves as she fell to the floor, gasping for breath to try and recover from the crushing force of her hit with the support beam. It was immediately clear that she wouldn't get the chance to recuperate as another piece of furniture rocketed in from behind her along the ground, knocking her hooves out from under her and dropping her onto her side in a heap. She rolled onto her back just in time to see an office chair screaming down at her from above, about to slam into her. She teleported out of the way on reflex, watching with a wince as the chair blew apart from its collision with the floor. That would have done much, much worse than just knock her out. Phyla was not playing around anymore, and not just trying to get Twilight out of here. It was if she were angry, or afraid. Still, it was clear that Phyla was winning the fight for now. That armor shielded her body, a benefit Twilight sadly lacked. What was worse, Twilight had forgotten just how much magical energy she had expended trying to escape, and then later to save Myla. Adrenaline could only do so much, and she realized that she might run out of the power necessary to keep up the fight long before the suit ran out of energy. Phyla stood ahead of her, the suit glowing and whining as it wound up for another round. Twilight was not getting any breaks, it seemed. Phyla was clearly very good at realizing a tactic the very first time it was used, and defending against it. Without a steady supply of new tricks, and the time and energy to execute them, Twilight would be hard-pressed. "Surrender, so that I am not forced to injure you," Phyla ordered. "You're not forced to do anything," Twilight growled, rolling her head to crack her neck and ease the pain in her back. "Why don't you give up?" she asked, using the trash-talk to come up with her next move. Her memories of Phyla's first attack were clear in her mind as she formulated her strategy; one Princess Celestia had taught Aurus years ago. Without warning, Twilight fired a beam of light at Phyla, her heart racing as she realized the timing would have to be perfect. As she suspected, Phyla caught the beam just as she had in the warehouse, the purple laser spinning around her like some kind of ponified atom. Twilight readied herself for what came next, her concentration perfect as the laser she had fired rocketed back at her. She erected five small barriers around herself; purple orbs floating at very specific angles to one another. The laser collided with the first and then bounced between the remaining four, changing angles until at last it lanced straight back for Phyla. The white mare had not expected Twilight to redirect her own attack, and was unable to catch the laser a second time as it hit home. The beam slammed into her shoulder, throwing her backward and lifting her from the floor due to the sheer force of the impact. Phyla rose slowly to her hooves, this time panting from what Twilight assumed must have been pain. Even through the plating of that suit, a blow as heavy as one of Twilight's lasers would sting at the very least. The panel the laser had smashed into was dimmed out and smoking slightly, though there was clearly no fire. Twilight teleported to her head-on, hoping to use her recovery as an opening and strike while the iron was hot. Phyla wasn't easily surprised, however, and was ready when Twilight appeared before her suddenly. As Twilight readied her next spell, Phyla lashed out with one of her hooves, poking Twilight hard in the chest. Still, it wasn't the hit that did the damage. The suit whined, and Twilight screamed, her cry muffled by her clenched jaw as the electric current assaulted her entire body, locking her muscles up tight. The shock kept up for what felt like minutes, the pain excruciating and unbearable. Her heart fluttered and she feared that it would stop in her chest, until at last she crumpled to the floor, breathing hard with tears in her eyes. Phyla loomed over her suddenly, her ice-blue eye gazing into Twilight's pained face with nothing in it; no malice, no pity. "It seems you are alive," she stated simply, raising a hoof in preparation to kick her as she had in the warehouse. "That is fortunate. Now you see the inevitability of interfering with my plans; they are only logical." She moved to stomp down, and Twilight closed her eyes in anticipation of the sudden burst of pain and impending blackness of unconsciousness. Through her residual pain, she kept thinking one thing over and over: she couldn't lose, couldn't be taken away again. Gearrick had given her this chance for freedom and she couldn't give up, no matter the aching in her muscles and the pounding in her head. Twilight's eyes snapped open abruptly, glowing as white as the sun off fresh snow. The luminescence of her gaze was so powerful that Phyla staggered backward a few steps, the brightness stinging her eyes even through the glowing barrier of her visor. Twilight slowly drifted up from the floor, as if gravity had simply forgotten her. She didn't land back on her hooves, but instead remained hovering there, appearing as if she were standing on the air. Her expression was impossible to read through the burning brightness of her eyes, and the blazing purple magic that stained the air all about the room. "What are you doing?" Phyla asked, recovering from the sudden burst of light and readying the Markiver Device for an attack. "You won't take me away again," Twilight said quietly, calmly. "I have a reason to stay." "A reason to stay?" Phyla asked blankly. "That does not make sense." "It doesn't have to. Now you see the inevitability of interfering with my plans," Twilight said mockingly. The Markiver Device whined to life, but before anything could come of it, the suit rocketed into the ceiling abruptly, followed quickly by the wreckage of various pieces of furniture and entire cubicles that had not yet been destroyed in the battle. Shaking her head to clear the ringing in her ears from the impact, Phyla tried her best to force herself to her hooves. Motors in the suit aided her in standing, but they groaned with the effort. As she took a quick look about, Phyla realized very suddenly that she was standing on the ceiling. The gravity had changed, both in direction and in magnitude. The force was crushing, and she could feel the tug on her entire body. Her joints ached from the incredible force. It stopped just as suddenly as it had started, and Phyla caught herself with a magnetic field as she fell to the floor, tumbling end over end. The room became a blur of flashing purple light as Twilight teleported about rapidly, firing lasers from new angles each time she appeared. Phyla caught them over and over, but more still soared in. Unable to release the ones she had captured without falling victim to the new ones coming in constantly, she was forced to keep up the field that disturbed the beams. A field that required a very large amount of energy to sustain. The suit emitted a strange humming sound, starting from its usual high-pitched whine and growing lower in tone. The various lasers orbiting Phyla all broke free suddenly, flying off in random directions as the suit ran out of the energy it needed to keep them under control. They punched through cubicles, windows, and even the floor, leaving behind holes ringed in purple-glowing slag. The defensive field finally collapsed, and five more beams raced in, hammering Phyla and lifting her from the floor, bouncing her between them with the sheer force of the blows. The suit crunched and screeched as metal ground against metal at the command of the crushing barrage of purple light. Unable to keep up with the directions she was turning in, or think through the pain, Phyla couldn't stop herself as she slammed into the floor. The building shook from that impact, and this time the suit didn't have the energy left to help her stand as she and everything around her groaned from the powerful force of amplified gravity. The force faded suddenly, and Twilight drifted slowly to the floor, breathing hard. The glow in her eyes faded, and the magic that had filled the room slowly dissipated as well. She joined Phyla on the floor, collapsing in a heap, too weak from her sudden exertion to even stand. She and Phyla weren't the only things to have taken damage. The floor suddenly caved in, natural gravity taking hold. Twilight didn't have the air left in her aching lungs to cry out as she and her immobilized adversary plummeted down, wooden beams and other debris falling around them. Her descent halted suddenly, and she watched through a haze of exhaustion and copper magic as Phyla and her badly-dented suit slammed into the floor ahead of her unhindered. It was raining dust and shards of wood everywhere as the floor above her continued to fall apart, streaming into the third story. The gaping hole above was at least twenty feet wide, the destruction thorough. Her tired mind tried to reason how she had managed to catch herself. She was too tired to cast anymore spells, and should have shared the same fate as Phyla, buried under falling rubble. The answer came to her as she suddenly recognized the copper glow around her that was lowering her gently to the floor. Ahead of her stood her rescuer, clad all in mismatched bronze plates, the armor on his front-left leg stained with dried blood and his horn glowing brightly. His determined glare was apparent even through his red-lensed goggles as he watched Phyla dig herself out of the rubble, her legs clearly shaking from the aftereffects of the beating she had taken. Whatever ability she had to remain upright clearly came from the suit itself, which was sparking and smoking in various places. The fall from the floor above would have surely broken something in Twilight's body, and she silently thanked Celestia that Gearrick had caught her. He was here, against all of her fears and in answer to all of her hopes. He hadn't abandoned her. "Are you alright?" he asked her quietly, the frighteningly determined expression never once leaving his face, his eyes never leaving Phyla. "I-I'm fine," Twilight coughed, fighting the dust that was intruding on her lungs from the wreckage. "Tinkermane," Phyla said coldly, a stream of blood visible through the blue haze of her visor from some gash she had taken to the head during her fight with Twilight. Other small trickles of the red fluid overlapped the remaining blue lines on the Markiver Device from cuts caused by bent and broken armor. "Very unfortunate. Step away from the mare." Though she was standing, her breathing was heavy and she was clearly in incredible pain. "I am not finished with her..." "Yes you are," Gearrick replied flatly, leveling his right hoof at her. "You've done enough damage, and this isn't a game. Remove the suit, and give yourself up," he warned, and it was clear to Twilight that he was not in an arguing mood. She had never heard him sound so grave. "I cannot do that," Phyla replied evenly. "I cannot allow you to save her; my plans require her to be separated from you." "You've already lost then," he said quietly. "She's right here with me. Whatever you had planned, it's finished." "I can still retrieve her from you," Phyla said simply, her suit whining lamely in preparation for her assault, the high note stuttering. No sooner had it whined than the armor Gearrick was wearing did the same. Phyla's suit flickered, then suddenly erupted in a shower of sparks as all of the plating on the left side of the armor burst wide open. The blue lines flickered and then went out, leaving her armor no more than a black lump of metal. Phyla cried out in pain, stiffening immediately as electricity ran visibly over the surface of her armor, shocking her. It faded after only a moment, and Phyla toppled to her side, gasping for breath. Gearrick approached her without fear, and Twilight was glad that he had been there. The suit clearly had some energy left. However little it was, it was more than Twilight, who could barely keep her own eyes open. "I don't... understand..." Phyla panted, her eyes closed against the residual pain behind the now-dim visor. "I already explained it once today," Gearrick said, his expression not softening. He leveled his right hoof at her again, a clear threat should she try anything funny. "I don't need you to understand. You've lost." "A... Affirmative," she sighed, her tone just as empty as ever. Yet her body-language oozed defeat as she slumped. "Get out of the suit," Gearrick commanded. Phyla complied as best she could but, when the suit failed to open due to all of the damage it had taken, Gearrick was forced to peel it off of her panel by panel. Twilight was finally able to stand again after her short rest. She stumbled over to Gearrick's side, leaning into him heavily as she looked down at the white pony. Phyla seemed so weak now without the armor, her eyes closed and her breathing heavy. She was covered with numerous gashes and bruises that were already showing purple through the white of her coat. Twilight realized with a sigh of relief that none of the cuts seemed to be too deep or bleeding too badly. "She'll be fine," Gearrick said suddenly, as if reading her mind. "I didn't want to hurt her, but I didn't have much of a choice..." he said, his voice thick with remorse. Twilight couldn't think of anything to say to that. He had looked so fierce, but in the end he was still the same Gearrick; soft-hearted and probably more angry with himself right now than with anypony else, Phyla included. "What are you going to do with her?" Twilight asked quietly. "I'll turn her in to the authorities," Gearrick replied with a sigh, doing his best to let things go for the time being. "They've already arrested Mick Magnet... I fought him and left him for the police to find before I came here," he explained quietly. "I needed to find out where Phyla was keeping you, and it turned out he knew the answers. It looks like I was just in time," he said with a sad smile. Twilight rubbed her cheek against his in gratitude. "You definitely were..." she whispered quietly, giving him a light kiss on his jaw, the best she could manage standing where she was in reference to his taller frame. "Magnet... is arrested?" Phyla asked, a groan of pain following shortly. "Yes," Gearrick said with a sigh, and Twilight got the feeling that that sigh carried the weight of something very troublesome from his duel with the head of the guild. "He'll testify against you when you're tried for kidnapping," Gearrick assured. Twilight's eyes widened as a sudden realization came to her. "Gearrick, we can't..." she said suddenly, pleadingly. "What? Why?" he asked, clearly surprised. "Because Myla is innocent." It was Phyla who answered him, both of her blue eyes visible once more through her mane, a small stream of blood running down the side of her head from a gash in her ear. Twilight nodded when Gearrick looked to her with questions in his eyes. "Myla tried to save me before Phyla took control of the situation, and things got out of hoof," she explained quietly. "I don't see how that affects her," Gearrick said with a scowl, pointing to Phyla. "She and her sister share a body," Twilight explained quietly. Gearrick's eyebrows shot up at that, and he pulled his goggles down to get a better look at Twilight's face. It was clear by her expression that she wasn't kidding. "You're serious..." he muttered, putting a hoof to his eyes in exasperation. "They can't just put Phyla on trial... Myla's innocent, but to imprison one of them, you have to imprison both," Twilight said sadly. Gearrick was silent for many minutes, clearly trying to think of their options. "What should we do?" he asked at last, confusion evident in his tone. Twilight realized that he really did believe her story about the sisters, and that he trusted her judgment on this matter. That was honestly more than she would have expected. If their places had been switched, Twilight knew she would want revenge on Phyla for taking Gearrick away from her, and it would have been very hard to convince her that Phyla couldn't be sent to jail so easily. His faith in her helped to lift her spirits somewhat as she thought of a plan. "Turn her in, like you planned. I'll contact the Princesses... they'll know what to do," she said hopefully. She realized suddenly that Gearrick probably had no idea what she was talking about; normal ponies didn't just contact the Princesses. He didn't react, just continued staring down at Phyla in thought. Twilight gave him a gentle nudge to rouse him from what she thought was shock. "Gearrick? You okay? You seem a little lost..." "Not really. Magnet explained everything to me. He told me about you being Princess Celestia's student in magic," he said with a light chuckle. "Even knowing that, I have to say I'm a little impressed by the damage..." "Gearrick," Twilight replied quietly, concern clear in her tone. He picked up on the cause of her distress easily. "Don't worry. You're still the same Twilight to me," he said quietly, giving her a reassuring smile. Twilight's heartbeat leveled out a little at that, even bringing a tired smile to her lips. "So the Princesses will figure out what to do with her," he said quietly, lowering the threatening hoof he had been holding over Phyla the whole time. "Before that, what do we do about her?" he asked. "I doubt she'll come along willingly, and I'm not going to knock her out..." "I'd love to, but I don't think we have to," Twilight said, her tone mockingly disappointed. She looked down at Phyla, who was looking back at her blankly, as she always looked at anypony. "Give control back to your sister." Phyla nodded slowly. Her body stiffened suddenly, the eyes fading to black and the coat going dust-grey. She would have blended in with the rubble around her, if not for the bright-red streams of blood matting her coat. Gearrick took a step back in shock, but Twilight steadied his nerves with a calming hoof on his shoulder. "It's alright, Gearrick. This is how they change back and forth. When she wakes up next, it will be Myla." "And you think Myla's more likely to cooperate?" Gearrick asked hopefully, swallowing his confusion as he watched the body begin to change, the eyes going magenta and the coat shifting to black. Twilight smiled sadly, and simply nodded. "I know she is." Jack looked around anxiously, searching for the source of the hissing sound that was trying to get his attention. He spotted it suddenly, rushing away from his stall without even telling his patrons where he was going. He shuffled over to the alleyway as quickly as his old legs would take him, noting with growing discomfort the various cuts and bruises of his visitor, as well as the blood and the dents marring his armor. "Gearrick?" he asked in disbelief. "Yeah, it's me... Sorry to startle you like this," he said sheepishly. "And don't worry about the blood; it's mine." "What in the hell happened to ya?" Jack asked, concern thick in his voice. "Shh, keep it down!" Gearrick hissed. "Look, I'll get the chance to explain it all to you later, alright? Right now I need you to do me a favor." "Look, boy, it's one thing to ask me fer favors when you're not covered in blood-" the old pony started, but Gearrick waved a hoof to silence him. "This is important, alright?" Gearrick asked in exasperation. After only a moment's hesitation, Jack nodded. "I need you to call the police, and tell them it's an emergency and that I need medical support. Send them to my warehouse," he said quietly. "This is getting shadier by the second," Jack cautioned, his bushy eyebrows low in an uncomfortable scowl. "Look, Jack, I promise it's for the best, alright? Just don't ask any questions," Gearrick pleaded, putting his hooves together in front of him, his need clear on his face. Jack sighed and shook his head, but at last he nodded. "Alright, Gearrick. I trust ya. They'll be right over. I don't know why ya can't just go an' get 'em yerself, but I ain't gonna ask," he said, holding up a hoof to stall Gearrick's oncoming complaint about questions. "I expect ya to tell me when whatever's goin' on is done with." "Thanks," Gearrick said with a heavy sigh, and Jack noted with even deeper worry that it was not one of relief. Without another word, Gearrick turned and vanished into the alley. "I don't like this, kiddo..." Jack whispered to himself, turning and galloping off toward one of the emergency police radios on Main Street. There was yellow tape strewn everywhere, a clear sign that the police had already been here once before to investigate the cause of the fire from last night. The fire department's report hadn't been able to identify anything other than that it had been deliberately started by somepony. The police had fenced the area off later that morning, but had given up the search when the sun went down, planning instead for a second day of investigation. Gearrick sighed with relief as he trotted back towards the ruined structure, finding Twilight and Myla still laying where he had left them and saving their strength. Myla had spent a good deal of time complaining how badly her body hurt, all of them injuries that Phyla had earned that she was forced to share in. Both she and Twilight were in no condition to be moving around, so Gearrick had been the one to run off in search of help. Myla needed to be taken into custody, but both of them needed medical attention. Gearrick probably needed some himself, but it was the furthest thing from his mind as he settled in for the wait. "Were you able to get the police?" Twilight asked tiredly, her eyes barely open from exhaustion. "They'll be here soon," Gearrick promised, doing his best to keep his tone pleasant as he stroked her mane. Twilight just nodded, unable to make much more of an effort than that to show she had heard him. It wasn't long before the sound of hoofsteps came echoing to them from down the alleyway, several ponies galloping hard. There were five officers and four medics, two pairs of them with stretchers balanced between their backs. Gearrick forced his aching legs to get him on his hooves as the officers approached. "What's going on here, son?" the first officer asked gruffly, looking Gearrick over with a suspicious eye. The tinker had long since removed the R.A.D. and laid it aside, anticipating this moment. "These two mares need medical attention," he said simply, pointing to Twilight and Myla. "The purple one was kidnapped, and the black one was an accomplice to the kidnapping." The officer's eyebrows shot high at the mention of that. He gave Myla and Twilight an inquiring scowl, and when both of the exhausted mares nodded that what Gearrick was saying was true, the paramedics rushed over, getting them on the stretchers. "What's yer name?" the officer asked suddenly, suspicion clear in his tone and his eyes as he scowled at Gearrick, the accusing gaze darting between the scars on Gearrick's jaw and his red goggles. Gearrick sighed, having suspected that this was coming. He looked at Twilight as the medics carried her past, and when she caught sight of his suddenly sad smile her expression turned curious. "Gearrick Tinkermane," he replied to the officer. The officer sighed, as if he had known it all along. He pulled a set of hoofcuffs from a pouch on his side. "What's going on?" Twilight asked, sobering up from her tired state as she realized something was very, very wrong. "It's alright, Twilight," Gearrick replied, sitting down and holding his hooves out in front of him. The officer cuffed him abruptly, his scowl still in place. "Gearrick Tinkermane, you are under arrest on suspicion of trespassing, destruction of private property, assault, theft, and arson." "What?" Twilight asked, confusion and hurt dripping from that single word. "Gearrick, what's happening?" She reached out for him, but he just shook his head and smiled sadly as the medics walked her and Myla down the alleyway. "Gearrick!" That cry broke his heart as it echoed back to him from what felt like miles away. A gentle hoof on his shoulder gave him a nudge to follow the medics. "Come with me," the officer commanded, and Gearrick could tell just from his tone that the officer who had cuffed him didn't want to believe the charges he had been arrested for. With a heavy sigh, Gearrick followed the officers slowly down the alleyway.