//------------------------------//
// Chapter 32. Rememberance 
// Story: Dust on the Wind 
// by Sparky Brony 
//------------------------------//

The light brown pony known as Lightning Dust still has her memories. Yet she plods along, day after day. With a pack on her back. Carrying whatever makes her master happy. Her emotions are suppressed, but she has her memories. Her soft brown eyes watch where she is going, but her mind's eye is still active. As days keep going by, more of her memories from Equestria come back. She can't talk anymore. Even without that bit, any attempt at speech brings out nothing but earth equestrian sounds. Her shoulders aren't as mobile as they used to be, so her forelegs are limited in their movement. She stops for a moment, new memories are surfacing. She feels them, she feels her memories. She lets herself remember, a time from Equestria, from her life before Discord. 

***Equestria, 1st person Lightning Dust***

I sit up, I am panting. 

"That was fun!" I lean over and give the golden mare a kiss. She's panting as hard as I am.

"You are an animal, Dust."

I get onto all four hooves, I brush my tail against a very sensitive spot, causing her to shudder from overstimulation, "You don't know the half of it, Spitfire." I whisper in her ear.

She finally is able to get on her hooves, she nuzzles me a bit, "Don't expect this to become a regular thing."

I chuckle, "But the first time isn't as fun as later times are going to be." I waggle my eyebrows.

"You're pretty cheeky for a new member of the team."

I saunter closer to her, rubbing my body down hers, her wings involuntarily start to extend, "And this new member of your team just had her muzzle deep in your privates not five minutes ago." I'm gratified to see her blush. I follow her into the main locker room. The rest of the Wonderbolts are there. Including my sponsor, and the pony that saved me after I royally screwed up back in the academy. Spitfire was glad to give over the captaincy to Rainbow Dash. And with everything that's gone on since she's been in charge, I've been happy to be her wingpony.

Rainbow takes one look at me and grins, "You've been busy, haven't you Dust?"

I stop, oh crap, I feel my face, my fur is matted and I'm pretty sure I smell. I yelp and head for the showers. I can see a furiously blushing Spitfire as I gallop. 

Half an hour later, I'm back, and finally presentable. I stand in formation. Rainbow Dash trots from one side to the other in front of the half dozen Wonderbolts. 

"We have an easy day today. We don't have any performances planned, so we are going to work out with the 1st Pegasi. We can't spend all our time making sure to keep the ponies entertained, we need to also act like what we are, an actual guard's unit. So, today it's a day of sparring and practice with our fellow squad mates. So, draw your wingblades and grab the sheathes. Wouldn't do getting your pretty heads sliced off, am I right?"

The rest of us laugh, but I know that workout days are important, but boooooring. We get to do what we've done a million times, and many of us have years of wingblade experience. I'm one of them. I follow my squad mates out onto the practice field.

And we are surprised, another dozen Wonderbolts are there, the team from Cloudsdale, and the team from Manehattan are here. Not a prestigious as the Canterlot team, but damn. This is going to be actually fun. I slide the protective sheathe onto my blades, so we can spar without actually slicing off parts of our team mates. I size up against a Cloudsdale pony, I know this pony, her name is Surprise. And she's scary with wingblades. Speed wise, she's stupid fast, and that's coming from a speedster like me. I know why Rainbow Dash paired me off with her. She wants me to hone my reflexes. We prepare, waiting for the call to start. But it never comes. I look over at Rainbow Dash, her and the other two captains are all being talked to by a messenger pegasus. We all relax a little bit, seeing the urgency in their body language. There's something going on here.

After a few minutes, Rainbow Dash moves forward, she takes a deep breath, "This looks like it's for real. There are changelings showing up throughout town. By the thousands. We don't know where the queen is, as of yet. Princesses Celestia and Luna have headed to Ponyville with a selection of guard's ponies. Our job, is to take as many changelings out as quickly as possible."

Surprise moves forward, "What about Cloudsdale, or Manehattan, or any other pony city?"

Swift Wind, the leader of the Cloudsdale Wonderbolts steps forward, "We don't have any information, but the hive would have to be huge to attack more than just Canterlot like this. We are wasting time, let's go."

We take to the air, among several hundred other pegasi guards. Add in the unicorn and earthy pony troops, a whole lot of hurt is going to be descending on the changelings. I angle down, Spitfire at my side, we start surveying the area. Dark black smoke is billowing from several buildings. This is a city under siege, and it happened so damned fast! Hundreds of black specks are rising to meet us. I grin, it's slicing time!

My first opponent is dispatched with abandon, my wingblades slicing down his carapice, taking out a wing. With a howl he plummets to the ground. I hear spitfire shout, an earth pony is falling from a tower. I flash forward, catching him.

"I got ya." I crow as he wraps his hooves around me. I angle to the ground, Spitfire at my wing as I let the earth pony down. I love being the mare to save the stallions. A grounded changeling is close, I shift to keep in front of the still terrified stallion as Spitfire flashes forward and dispatches it with a kick of her armored hooves. 

"Spitfire, to your left!" I howl as another three changelings come from an alleyway. She shifts to avoid their magic as I flash forward, slicing legs out from underneath the bugs. 

"Damn, Spitfire, it's safer in the air." I shout with glee as I throw a lightning bolt at a group of changelings. It shocks all of them, leaving them smoking as I take to the air. We keep our eyes peeled. I see a gray pegasus in the mix with a dozen or so changelings. She's protecting a teenager and a little filly, both unicorns. I slam to the ground on top of one of the changelings. Splitting its skull. I sweep a wing out, decapitating another bug. I jerk back as the body of another changeling flies past me, I look at Spitfire, she's calmly slicing down the barrel of another changeling. She tosses me a smile and takes to the air. I look over at the gray pegasus, who's nuzzling the two unicorns.

"Derpy, you need to get your kids to your family compound, it's not safe!"

Ponyville's mailmare nods and gathers up her kids on her back and rockets off. I take off to catch up with my wingpony. I see the orange pegasus ahead of me. She banks hard to the left, I look and see her destination. I flash forward and sweep through a group of changelings. Slamming out with an armored hoof to take out another one. I find I'm laughing as I do this. This is grim work, a hard fight, but it's fun. I've never felt so alive. I see a changeling charging it's horn. With a quick flash of my hoof, I've slammed his horn, cancelling any magic he was trying to cast. Before he's stopped recoiling from the pain of the hit, I've sliced off a leg and did a four hoof kick to knock him against the wall. I look to my left, more changelings! Damn it! I my wings push me back to avoid one bug, then forward to avoid another, I kick off with my hind hooves to get into the air, a short loop and I'm slamming down on another bug. 

"Damned bugs, I love squishing your sorry asses!" I shout as I throw a bolt to take a bug that was trying to catch Spitfire unawares.

"Thanks Dust." She shouts as she powers into the air.

"C'mon slowpoke, we are in a target rich environment, let's show them it's a mistake to mess with Canterlot." I flash forward, back into the fray. I'm panting. This is hard work. But I've been a consummate athlete for years, this is a strenuous workout for me. I'm still laughing as I slice through another  set of wings. A kick for another bug and they get a hit on me, right to the wing. Ouch!

I end up grounded, with only one good wing. I rear on my hind hooves, and I feel Spitfire move to have my back.

I smile savagely at the bugs, "C'mon, give me your worst!" I lash out with a forehoof, and a wing, taking down two bugs. I feel Spitfire move as she attacks. 

"Dust!" I hear a familiar voice, I look up, Spitfire is coming at me on the wing, she's got a terrified look on her face. I glance back at Spitfire behind me, she's enveloped in green fire, and the changeling hisses at it strikes me with a forehoof. Their exoskeleton is actually quite hard. I'm on the ground, dazed. I watch Spitfire bisect the bug with her blades. She lands and smacks another with an armored hoof. 

"Better watch your back, these changelings can be sneaky. I had one impersonate you, almost fooled me." She offers a hoof to help me up.

"I wasn't fooled." I say defensively, "I was taking care of the others before they got a lucky hit in."

She chuckles, "Yeah, sure. Let's get you to a medic!" She hovers to pick me up. And with a grunt, I'm in the air with Spitfire.

***

A few hours, and a very skilled unicorn healer, and I'm good as new. I trot over to the command headquarters, and I'm surprised to see a rainbow maned pegasus.

"Dash, I would think you would be out in the fight."

She groans, "I would rather be out there. But somepony has to be the brains of this operation."

I snicker, "And they chose you? We are in trouble then."

I get a hard hoof to the shoulder for my trouble. I grin at the other speedster pegasus, "Kidding, kidding! How are things going?"

She sighs as she looks at a map of Canterlot, "Things aren't adding up. There are too many bugs for this to be a diversion, but damn, everything points to this being a diversionary attack, maybe to get the Princesses. But they are safe in Ponyville. Princess Twilight has her new castle. But there has been no indication of their queen. It doesn't make sense."

A messenger comes into the room, he talks quickly to Rainbow Dash and then takes off. She moves a few pieces on the map. "That's good, we are pushing them back, and gathering the civilians. Most are staying to their homes, and barricading themselves in. But it just doesn't look right."

I look at the map, from the castle into town, our lines have been advancing. After the first time we had to deal with changelings in Canterlot, we've been training to take care of them again. No more relying on a single shield from a pony that lives in the Crystal Empire. I can see smoke billowing from several of the towers. The cleanup from this is going to be expensive! I glance at the map again. I don't see anything that's telling me anything.

"I got it! Damn, they are being clever!" Rainbow Dash crows. 

I look at her, at the map, then back at her. "I don't get it."

She puts a hoof on one part of the city, then traces a line, "They are keeping the guard busy. This is a massive attack, but they aren't taking ponies for them to feed on, they are simply attacking. This has to be a diversionary fight. The real fight is…" She looks out of one of the windows facing towards Ponyville. Smoke is starting to show from there, "They had to have a second hive help, or they've been growing a lot of drones recently, because these mooks are simply a diversion!"

Oh, damn. "What do we do Rainbow?"

"We still need to fight them back, but the guards contingent in Ponyville needs to be bolstered. The Wonderbolts, a detail of the Earth guard and the Mage guild will join you shortly. But the Wonderbolts will get there first. I'm going to stay here in overall control of Canterlot. You, Lightning Dust, are going to go to Ponyville."

"Me? I've never been to Ponyville."

She claps a hoof on my shoulder, "There's a first time for everything, Dust."

***

The flight to Ponyville is short. But the eighteen pegasi of the three Wonderbolt teams are easily up for the flight. We flash down the streets of the small hamlet of Ponyville. Slicing our way through the changelings. How did so many of the damned bugs get here? I land next to a mint green unicorn, she's blasting the changelings, but not with general energy beams like most unicorns, she's using gentle nudges to push the bugs off balance, then quick strikes to snap necks or break open bodies. Several dozen of the bugs are attacking her. I gesture to Spitfire and we both flash forward, and in minutes we are in the clear.

"Damn, that's the first time I've seen a Still Way grandmaster really truly fight. Damn. I'm impressed."

She gives me a bright smile, "Thank you. Though you've got some pretty good moves yourself, especially with those blades."

I smile right back, "We need to get to the castle, but we need to thin the ranks of these bugs. You up for helping?"

She smiles, "I'm a reserve officer in the Guard, I'm always up for helping." With a flash of her horn, she teleports, only to reappear a few hundred feet down the street. I can hear her chiming laugh, "Come on, slow pokes, we have Princesses to save!"

"Damned unicorns." Spitfire growls, "Always showing off."

I cock my head to the side, "Something tells me she would be a blast in the sack."

"Argh, is sex all you think about, Dust?"

I chuckle, "After flight, what else is there worth thinking about?" I flash forward after the green unicorn.

The Wonderbolts carve a path to Twilight Sparkle's new castle. These changelings are smarter. They use their camouflage abilities to confuse us. But the mint green unicorn just disables them without injury, and we flash in and take care of ones that flash with green fire when knocked out. Other unicorns of the guard follow the Still Way grandmaster's methodology until the changelings get wise to it, and abandon the use of camouflage and simply attack. Which allows us to simply cleave through them, soon we've punched a hole into their lines and are circling the castle. A few of the guards rush inside, but I keep outside, keeping the changelings at bay. And before too long. It's all over. Princess Twilight is injured but will be okay, an earth pony saved her life. Celestia and Luna were freed from their imprisonment by the reinforcements, and the queen was able to narrowly escape, at the expense of over a hundred of her drones. But we won the day. And the following days of mop up operation. For a war, the second changeling war was rather quick.

***

The memory ends, and the pony tosses her mane as she heads back to the paddock for the night. Unnoticed are her tears, dripping on the ground as she slowly plods ahead. Another night of being abused, in more ways than one, by the sadistic human.

***

Irony growls as she gets through the checkpoint. Her new ID card that she got back in Montana along with the new passport allows her to get through the border checkpoint. South, ever south. Her maps actually show facilities in Guatemala and in Columbia. She looks at the map and floors the engine, leaping forward. "Dust, love. I'm on my way."