I turn around, I see the humans, Blaze and Velvet, "Did one of you say that?" I ask, a shiver running down my spine. Velvet's eyes are huge, she shakes her head slowly.
I hear the clatter of hooves, and in moments, a dozen black ponies are in the room with us, all unicorns, all with their horns alight. I feel the pressure of a magic field settle over my body, I try to move, and I'm stuck. Damn, we waited too long. I look at the entire team, everyone is encased in magic, Twilight has a spell over her horn, I'm guessing it's some kind of suppression spell, and from the look on her face, it hurts.
All of the ponies that flooded the room move away from the door, and bow. What's going on? I hear soft hoofsteps and in moments, a purple face enters the room, I know this pony.
"Twilight Sparkle!" I shout, "Can you get us out of here?"
She cocks her head to the side, "Why would I do that?"
Then I take a second look at her, her wings, she doesn't have them. Then my blood runs cold as I spy her cutie mark, the purple star surrounded by small white stars isn't there, in its place is a star, but it's inky black, with no other stars around it. But that voice, it has to be her, she has the same highlights in her mane, the same mane color, everything else is the same. I look into the violet eyes, "Please, Twilight. Let us go."
She giggles, though I'm listening carefully, I remember talking to Princess Twilight back at the farm, and I vaguely remember her when I was at the Wonderbolt Academy, there is something wrong with this mare. She smiles at me, "I'm the one who had you captured, I had your Dr. Ray captured as well. And I have found out there is one pony still in this world that I need to capture yet, the one who was my friend before Celestia cast her spell on me."
Maybe I can keep her talking, maybe find a way to get out of this, "Celestia cast a spell on you?"
She grins, but the grin scares me, "When the twinning spell backfired, it created two of us, and Celestia, in her infinite wisdom," I can hear sarcasm dripping from her voice, "decided that I was a copy, and decided to put a coma spell on me. Then about a year ago, I woke up." She starts to walk back and forth, "I felt the magic, this world has magic waking, I can feel it getting stronger by the day, and the magic woke me."
I think for a moment, magic waking, humanity's magic! I narrow my eyes, their magic waking is what woke her up. Celestia must have sent her through the portal after putting that spell on her. So the real Twilight Sparkle is in Equestria, and her copy is here.
I furrow my brow, "If you were sent through the portal, how is it you aren't human now?"
She giggles madly, "Oh Lightning Dust, I was enveloped in Equestrian Magic when I was sent through, it shielded me from the effects of the portal."
I almost perk up at that, I might be able to visit my home, and return the way I am now. Do I want to risk it? I don't know, what I say is, "You were behind the trap in Panama."
She giggles again, "I haven't had much chance to study human anatomy or their weapons, I've learned from that. Though you won't have to worry about them. I've got you." Her brow furrows and her voice turns dark, "You are mine now, I'm not letting you go."
"But what about Spectrum, I can't see them working with any pony."
She cocks her head to the side, "Who says I'm working with them, Lightning Dust, I cleared out all the workers in that little factory while you were flying there. I had everything ready, though I seriously underestimated your abilities, I never expected you to escape so easily. And when it comes to the castle here, they didn't know they were dealing with a pony."
Her horn glows and suddenly a human is standing before me, male, powerfully built, with wide shoulders, latino dark skin and dark hair. Though the purple eyes remain, the human speaks, though with Twilight's voice, "I simply had to change my form to look like them. I conjured quite a bit of gold for them to let me take over this place." The shape again glows, and Twilight is standing before me again. She giggles, "Humans are so easily fooled."
My ears fall, this isn't a pony that felt the curse of Discord, she's fully aware of her powers and strength, that makes her a hundred times more dangerous. I switch tactics, I look up at her, "Please, Twilight, we just want Dr. Ray, he's our stallion, he's my family member. I'm not leaving without him."
She smiles that mad smile again, "You don't have any choice, all of my friends went back through the portal, I want my friends back, so I will take back my only friend left in this world."
I look back at Dr. Ray, and then at this Twilight, she giggles, "Irony Smith."
"Irony?" All my attention is now on this mare.
She giggles that disturbing giggle once again, "Oh yes. She's mine, I brought her to Equestria, she's mine, and once I get her, I'm not giving her up."
I growl deep in my throat, "Irony has a herd now, a family. You can't take her away from us."
Another magic field envelopes me as the first one fades, this unicorn's horn flaring, I fly across the room, and slam into a wall. She pulls me back then slams me against the wall again, and again, and once more for good measure, then I'm jerked forward right in front of her face. "Not anymore, Lightning Dust. She belongs to me. You can't have her."
Then she jerks, looking over my shoulder, "Mom?"
I look over my shoulder, Twilight Velvet is standing there, her face a mask of shock. This Twilight prances over to Velvet, "Oh, I can't believe you are here. All the ponies that were sent here by Discord, and you were sent too?"
Her voice has completely changed, though I'm released as she lets her horn quiet. I start to move when one of the black unicorns grabs me in his magic. Ugh.
"Yes, I was." Velvet allows.
This Sparkle seems oblivious to the look on her mother's face, she nuzzles Velvet, and then looks at one of the black unicorns, "Well, release her you fool." The magic around Velvet fades as this Sparkle continues to prance, "I'm so happy you are here, I missed you so much, when I woke up in this weird world, all I could do was try to find ponies, but I didn't know where you were. First I found some humans, they had heard of ponies, and said they were all over. That Discord had cursed them, and then they asked where my wings were."
She rubs the top of her head underneath Velvet's chin, "I've never had wings, I told them that, and they said in the show I had turned into an alicorn, and I was an alicorn for a few years before Discord betrayed me. But Discord is stone, we turned him to stone, so then they told me about the show, and I was surprised to see how much of the show had of our lives, I watched every episode. But they missed some important parts, like the backfired twinning spell, the time I brought Irony over from this world. And quite a few other things that I remember happening, but this world is so strange. I can't believe you are here."
She keeps nuzzling her mother, and Velvet remains stoic in response. She prances over to me, "Nothing else matters, I've got my mother, I'll get Irony, and I can be happy, no matter what happens in this strange world."
"You don't have me, Twilight Sparkle." A cold voice intones, she turns to look at Velvet.
"Mom, what are you saying."
"My little Twi-Twi would never hurt another pony, the Twi-Twi I raised was kind and gentle. If you were really my daughter you wouldn't be acting like this. My daughter knows the magic of love, of friendship, and that's what earned her her wings. If you were really my daughter you'd give yourself up."
"I will have my mother back..." A dangerous tone enters her voice.
"You will not HAVE me, you do not demand, you do not force. that is not my daughter" Velvets eyes start glowing white as her mane and tail begin to move in the powerful aether she is gathering. "That is the way of Sombra, of Nightmare moon, of the dark shadows that we were sworn to protect all ponies against."
The magic around me fades, all the black unicorns end up against the wall, encased in her aura, "You hurt this pony willingly, you tortured him." Her head tossing to indicate the prone Dr. Ray, "My Twi-Twi would never do that, under any circumstance. My Twi-Twi wouldn't take a pony away from her family for her own selfish ends." Her voice is rising as she speaks, my ears fold back in response, I'm picked up once again in magic, though this time it's Velvet's magic, we are all pushed out the door as the older unicorn continues to yell at the younger.
I lean over to Blaze, "I think we had better bug out." Henry and the LT pick up Dr. Ray and they hustle for the stairs, I start to head out to follow the rest of the Rangers, then I skid to a stop, and turn around, "Blaze, we need to get going." I put a hoof on his withers.
He shakes off my hoof, "Velvet's in danger, I need to help her."
I sigh, "Nopony is better at taking care of herself than Twilight Velvet, you come with me, or I'll drag you."
He shakes his head, and reaches for the door, I grab him around the barrel and take off with him, following the Rangers, we crash up the stairs, Blaze squawking the entire way. We get out the gates of the castle, the LT glances around, and finally points, "The CIA came through." A Mercedes Sprinter is sitting there, he yanks open the back door then runs to the driver's door. A quick search brings up the keys, and the engine fires to life, Blaze screams in response.
"Relax Blaze, I'm not taking off without her."
Blaze struggles in my grip, "I have to help her!"
We all look back as a bright flash of light brings up Twilight Velvet, the LT honks the horn and the unicorn rushes over and hops into the van, "I think she'll be out for a while. She is amazingly powerful, it was pure luck that I was able to get the better of her. We need to get out of here." She slams the door as the LT slams on the gas, the van leaping forward.
"The extract point is just over the border in Poland. Let's go!"
***
I'm sitting in the C-5, it's heading back to the states.
"I need to get to Montana, as soon as we land, we need to get Dr. Ray home and I have to warn Irony."
Twilight Velvet kneels down next to me, "I know, Dust, we have to protect your family. We will call ahead."
I sigh, "I hope it's enough."
Velvet finds a seat and sits, Blaze hops up next to her, and they simply enjoy each others company. I look at the other members of the team, Dr. Ray is sleeping, still being monitored by the team medic. I finally decide to grab the book and continue reading. I pick a place at random…
Systemic lupus erythematosus the pen used to write the words is nearly pressing through the page, the free clinic was able to get some extra tests done on me. The RN-NP was really nice when she told me. But she told me my body has this disease, where it thinks that parts of itself are actually invading tissue. That means my immune system is attacking parts of me. Specifically the heart. I might have five years left. If I'm lucky.
I flip back a few pages… I've been living on the streets for months now. I got away from those horrible people. I've aged out of the system, as they say. Turning eighteen is supposed to be the magic number for children to turn into adults, then why am I so alone?
I wipe a few tears off of my face, then move to earlier in the book, Four foster homes over the last few years, every one worse than the last. I've run away more times than I can count. They always find me, and send me back.
I flip a few pages, I had the dream again last night, I was running in a beautiful field. I felt the grass under my hooves, but I wasn't happy, I was terrified, my family was cursed by the monster. Most of the town has been. It's been a week from Tartarus. After he cursed the six, he was cursing the rest. Am I on that list? I turn the corner and I see him, he's standing before me, laughing. A pony I know is flashing white, I scream, this pony is a friend of mine. My scream causes the monster to look at me.
"You will be taken care of, but when I choose, not when you want to."
He disappears, then I find myself lifted into the air, he curls around me like a snake, "Oh, the little foal wants to be sent off, just like her friends?"
I feel myself struggle in his grasp, "No, I want to get away from you, Discord."
His arm comes around and ruffles my mane, "Oh you. You don't have to beg. I'll get to you in my own time. But I have some plans that I'm going to follow. I have a purpose to what I do."
I snarl at him, "To take the ponies away?"
He chuckles, "I'm sending the ones away that will challenge my rule. First the six element bearers, then the other ones that have the magic of harmony inside them. Then no one can challenge my rule!"
I moan, "And you are going to take me?"
He grins as white light flashes around him, I end up on the ground, my eyes spinning from the impact, "All in good time, little foal."
He disappears completely in a flash of light, "All in good time, you shall feel the bite of chaos."
I close the book. Tears falling from my face, I look up at Blaze and Velvet, they are cuddling together, "Discord destroyed a lot of lives, but why?"
Velvet looks thoughtful for a long time, "He had a purpose, in the show he always has plans within plans. Even in the first episode that we see him, he could easily have hidden the elements away where nopony could get to them. If he really wanted to be truly defeated. I think he wanted to see if the mane six were worthy of defeating him. "
"He truly was chaos personified." I sigh, rubbing a hoof on the book, "I'll have to have Mindy look up this pony, see if they made it back to Equestria, or even if they became a pony. They started at least."
Velvet looks confused, "Huh?"
"She drew the cutie mark that appeared on her hips in here." I flip through the pages and show them to Blaze and Velvet, getting a low whistle from Blaze.
I close the book, "But she was dying in the hospital when the cutie marks appeared, so I don't know if she finished the transformation."
"Attention. We are preparing to land." The pilot calls over the address system.
Velvet pulls out her phone, "Better call Mindy."
I nod and tap the phone to make the call.
***
I’m quite happy, Mindy told me she would contact Irony to get her back home. Everypony is happy that Dr. Ray is coming home. Though Mindy informed me that Irony was away from home, looking for me, and she assured me that her first thing to do after I got off the phone with her was to call Irony and get her on her way home. The USAF airplane landed us in Billings, and within an hour, we were on chariots on the way home. I’ve been away from home for too long. Our chariot lands us in New Beginnings, and I start the walk home with Dr. Ray, he’s under his own power now. Though Henry, the Ranger medic, has been hovering around Dr. Ray continuously.
I can see my home, my ears drop, my tail tucks under my rear. I hurt my family, not intentionally, and hearing Mindy’s happy chirping has lifted my spirits, but I don’t know. Am I truly forgiven for my actions? Do they still love me? I sigh as we push through the outer gate and head up to the house proper.
With the sound of a party horn, Mindy is hugging me with all of her strength, her face comes forward and kisses me. My body relaxes to an extent I never knew was possible. I hug Mindy back as hard as I can. And finally I pull away, happy tears in my eyes, I look over at Dr. Ray. Star Shine, Sunset, and even Helen are all hugging him at once, with everypony else around him, waiting their turn. It’s almost ten minutes before the commotion settles down.
I look over at my entire family, “Where is Irony?”
Mindy’s ears fall, “Her phone went to voice mail, she should call back soon, but I checked her locator earring, she’s okay, down in the Keys as of about an hour ago. I sent a text telling her to head home, that you were coming home.”
I sigh, you can’t have everything, can you?
Soon every member of my herd except for Irony is here, and I sit down and let the tears that I’ve been holding back finally flow, “I’m so sorry. I knew there was danger, but I didn’t think to warn you. I didn’t think to explain myself. I thought what was obvious to me should have been obvious to everypony else. So I acted without thinking.” I hug myself with my wings, “And for all of that, I’m sorry.”
I continue looking down, my tears flowing down my cheeks, I can hear more than one set of sniffles from my family.
“Dust.” Helen says, “We know what happened, you acted to protect us. That has always been your goal. I think you should have let us know what was happening,”
“I tried to…” I’m silenced by a finger on my lips.
Helen smiles sadly, “Not hard enough, Dust. But under the circumstances, you were forgiven when we discovered the fake pony.” Then she smiles, a true, genuine smile, “You brought Dr. Ray back to us. Thank you Dust.”
With that, all the members of my family come forward, and I’m hugged by everyone. My tears continue to fall, but this time, they are tears of joy.
After a bit, Moon Shadow pulls away, wincing in pain, “Something is wrong.” She touches her earring, her horn alighting, then she pales, “Irony!” She turns and gallops as fast as she can out the gate, heading for where the chariots are stored. I look at the other members of our family, Star Shine steps forward, “We’ll take care of the kids, go.” He addresses all the mares of the family. Helen gathers the stallions up, and my human kids. Sunset, Mindy, and I take off after Moon Shadow.
We catch up to the dark gray mare with the chariots. She’s sitting in a large one, tapping a hoof as two pegasi strap into the stirrups of the chariot. We hop aboard with her.
I look back at Velvet and Blaze, who followed us, “You going to come with us?”
Velvet looks at Blaze she's obviously torn, she shakes her head slowly "We can't, we've been gone to long as it is and have... responsibilities here. If you find you really need us give is a call. I'm sorry."
I nod as the unicorn and pegasus turn away.
Moon Shadow shouts and the pegasi take off, turning swiftly to the southeast. I place a hoof on her withers, “I know something is wrong, what?”
She looks at me, tears in her eyes, “Dust, something is wrong with Irony.”
I furrow my brow, “You said you just checked on her.”
She nods, “Yes, but I felt a strong pain from her earring. When you took yours out, I felt it. But it didn’t hurt. This time it hurt, the only way for that to happen is if someone does it to her. She’s in the Keys, we need to get there as soon as possible.”
I look at Mindy, she shakes her head, looking bleak, “Dustie, I have to know exactly where I’m going, or I could appear in the middle of a wall, or even underground since I have to account for the curvature of the Earth. If I was on the phone with her, I could get my location that way, but without knowing the specifics, I’m stuck too.”
I look over at Sunset, who nods, agreeing with Mindy.
I look out at the backs of the two pegasi flying for all they are worth, “Shit.”