//------------------------------// // OiM Special: Olympia boys // Story: My Iron Warriors: Ordinance is Magic // by Perturabo //------------------------------// Y’all realise that isn’t a word, right?” Applejack asked Pinkie with a tired glance. The pink pony didn’t seem to care about her friends’ correction, continuing to blather onwards about how ‘nervecited’ she was. Twilight wasn’t really listening to any of it. The Alicorn princesses’ eyes were firmly locked on the glowing portal before her, its depths glistening and shimmering with an ephemeral light. It seemed almost inviting, drawing Twilight’s gaze deep into the roiling tides. Only the stark truth of her mission gave her pause, and kept her standing well back from the gateway. “Twilight?” Cadance asked. Twilight looked at the Princess-her equal, now-with an uneasy smile. The Princess of Love returned it. “Are you okay?” “I…I think so.” Twilight said, forcing her voice to sound a lot more confident than she felt. “It’s just…anything could be on the other side of that portal. We have no idea what we’re dealing with here.” Cadence flashed another apologetic, supportive smile, but it was cut off by an even higher power. “I know you must be frightened, Princess Sparkle.” It was a warm voice, a maternal voice. Twilight took heart at hearing Celestia’s words of belief. “But I would not send you if I did not think you could do it. The crown must be recovered from whatever is one the other side, and as Princess of Friendship only you have the power to get it back.” “Yeah, and besides, if you need us you bet we’ll be right through after ya!” Rainbow cried, excitably as ever. “You mean it?” Twilight asked, confidence swelling even more. “Well, duh!” “Absolutely Darling.” “Darn tootin’.” Touched by her friends’ faith in her, Twilight turned to look back at the portal. It still ebbed and flowed with white light, beckoning her onwards. She took a deep breath, flexing her wings. She hadn’t had much time to practice with them yet, but learning on the job had never been that difficult for her. Feeling the familiar weight of Spike on her back, she took her first tentative steps forward. The steps became more definite, more deliberate. Before she knew what was happening, Twilight found herself being enveloped by the white aura. “Good luck, Twilight Sparkle.” She heard Celestia say behind her. “Soon, you’ll know more about that world than even I do.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sp…Spike? The floor was cold. That was the first thing she noticed, after the terrible buzzing in in her head had vanished. It was cold metal pressing onto her skin, chilling right through to the bone. The floor felt strangely sticky too-not sticky as in there was some foul substance spilt there, but almost sticky with corruption. It made her nostrils burn and her eyes water. Gently, Twilight propped herself up. Her vision was still swimming in the aftermath of the transition, but other senses were returning, and in short order she realised Spike was not trying to talk to her. She had not even heard his little voice. She tried to call out, but couldn’t tell whether she’d actually made a sound. Other noises were coming into audible range though. It was a low droning, punctuated by the occasional creaking and what sounded like…mutters. She blinked, trying to clear her vision. Something purple began to swim into focus. She squinted, in an attempt to make it clearer. It was…it was something awful. It was like a huge purple stick where her hoof should be, with five smaller sticks sprouting from the end. They wiggled when she tensed. Both her forehooves had been replaced with these…things, and the shock of realising they were part of her drove Twilight to her feet with a gasp. “Wh-what?” Was all she could manage, even Spike’s plight temporarily forgotten. Before she could calm down and try to reach a rational conclusion, another thought struck Twilight. She was standing on her hind legs. It was worse than that. Her lower hooves had been replaced with strange fleshy constructs as well, although exactly what they were was difficult to tell due to the clothing she had materialised with. To Twilight’s eyes, she appeared to have shed her Pony form entirely. No magical horn crested her head, nor wings sprouted from her back. Panic overtook her. Twilight-that is, if she was still Twilight, and that was looking more unlikely by the second-stumbled back and forth, only just making out details around her. Shapes were moving, lights flashed and what looked almost like a skull loomed at her from the wall. She didn’t know where Spike was still, but Twilight feared the worst. Despairing, she dropped to her knees, eyes watering. “WHAT AM-“ She never got to finish her sentence before the first bolt slammed into her back. Twilight went rigid, not comprehending for a moment what had happened. The pain began to lance through her as the explosive munition detonated, tearing most of her back off in the process. She slammed face-first into the floor, the stickiness now as much due to her own pooling blood as any latent corruption. More bolts slammed as she fell, ripping off arms and the side of her body. Twilight’s thoughts were a well of pain, shock and fear. Her eyes stung with tears as memories of her friends came flashing to the fore. She didn’t suppose she’d ever see them again. The strange creature that had once been Twilight Sparkle only just had time to wonder what form of twisted dimension she had entered before another bolt detonated inside her skull, silencing the Princess of Friendship forever. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Yeah, but…what is it?” Zuko asked as he gave the purple blob another kick with the tip of his boot. The other Iron Warriors that had been on the bridge had formed a loose circle, also prodding the remains with a mix of cruelty and genuine interest. From atop the throne of black iron at the other end of the room, two blazing red eyes stared down at what was left at the interloper. Lorkhan shifted in his chair, resting his chin on a fist. To his right, Mordecai folded his arms, cocking his head to the side. “I would advise that you don’t touch it, old sport.” He called across to Zuko. “This whole thing seems to be a frightfully rummy affair.” “How the hell did it get on-board.” Lorkhan growled. The distortion provided by his armour, coupled with his naturally threatening voice, sent the nearby mortals scurrying away. Zuko shrugged. “If I knew I’d tell you. It just…appeared. Shoot first, ask questions later and all that.” Lorkhan grunted. Hard to disagree with that. He rose from the throne, stepping down from the dais on which it sat and coming to stand over the corpse. He knelt down beside it, the other Iron Warriors parting to let him through. Beneath his helmet the Warsmith squinted. The creature had been pulped, but as he looked over it there was something almost….human about it. Its fear had seemed human enough. And idle thought passed to what it could have been; he dismissed it. “Teleportation?” He asked. Zuko shrugged. An uneasy feeling ran through the Warsmith as he considered the implications. “That dog…thing?” Lorkhan asked, still looking down at the body. “Ask Rorke’s shoe.” Somehow, the complete lack of emotion in Zuko’s voice was almost humorous. Lorkhan rose, turning away from the body and striding towards the blast door of the Olympian Sun’s bridge. He felt his warrior’s eyes on the back of his head as he went. “The body, Lord?” “Feed it to the Raptors.”