//------------------------------// // Chapter 64. A Light in the Dark // Story: Dust on the Wind // by Sparky Brony //------------------------------// Ray steps further into the room, “I’m not joking Dust, it’s just a few days, but my scan shows that I’m pregnant.” I look at Mindy, then back at Ray, “Well, I’m guessing that the point of the spell Sunset was using was procreation.” Ray moans, “Yeah, but did it really have to happen to me?” Mindy bounces over to Ray and gives her a hug, “Oh Ray, we can fix this.” She shakes her head vigorously, her ears flopping, “I would never do that.” Mindy giggles, “No, silly. We can simply transfer it. And then the spell can revert naturally.” Ray snorts, “And who would want to take this on? Nearly eleven months of this.” Mindy giggles, “Oh…” She looks at me, I shake my head, I’m not ready for another foal right now. “Well, I was planning on having one with Alan soon. We planned for a while back, but things got in the way, But we will have one together soon.” Sunset walks in the room, “I was walking by, transferring what?” Mindy bounces to Sunset Shimmer, “Ray is with foal, and he needs somepony to carry it to term so he can go back to being a stallion.” Sunset looks at Dr. Ray for a long time, then at Mindy, then she blushes, “I got you into this mess, Ray. I’ll take it.” Ray shakes her head, “No Sunset, I could have said no to all of this.” I look at him for a long time, “Are you sure, Ray?” Ray nods, “Yes. I think I do want to keep this foal.” She smiles, “Might be fun.” *** I don’t want to go charging off after Mindy’s hunch without preparation. We are going to head in that direction though. A few things at home need to be tended. In fact, I got a call earlier, and now the lilac pony that I talked to earlier walks into my office. “Cloud Kicker!” I chirp happily, and move over and get a hug from her. Her constant companion, Blossomforth follows shortly. After a few minutes of greeting, Cloud gets down to business, “You’ve heard of human trafficking?” I nod. “Well, a friend of mine in law enforcement before my change gave me a call a few months ago. And once we found out what was going on, it has been a full time project for us.” I furrow my brow, “Human’s? You are rescuing humans?” She smiles, “Yes, and more. The reason I was brought in, some foals have been showing up in some brothels across the world. And that’s what has prompted our help. But yet, we save many human children in this as well.” I sigh, “Well, help as many as you can, Cloud.” She sighs, “That’s why I’m here, Dust. I’m going to be doing this full time. I can’t be on call with you guys for the foreseeable future. I need to focus my energies on that.” I smile at her, “Well, I was expecting to ask you on a mission tomorrow morning, but I guess I’ll have to find somepony else. You are following you heart, right? You are doing what you feel is right?” She nods. I smile brighter, “Cloud, you’ve been a great help to me. And you can always count on my help where possible. Go ahead, and I hope you smash a few nuts of some nasty fucks.” She chuckles, “I’ve done some of that already, Dust.” I grin as she takes her leave. Then the moment the door closes, my smile drops, I need ponies to help. And two ponies that have been reliable so far, are busy. Damn. I sigh and pick up the phone, a quick number dialed…”Limestone, it’s Dust. I need some help.” *** It’s almost bedtime, I’m trotting to my room, though I have a task I really don’t want to do. I get to Hannah’s room. I sit there for a long time, I don’t want to have to do this. I sigh and get close and put my ear to the door, hearing feminine giggling, I open the door, Hannah and Diamond are sitting in Hannah’s bedroom, Hannah’s computer is open and they both look at me. I smile looking at them, Hannah and Diamond have actually hit it off pretty well. Diamond’s experiences as a human, and much of what happened to her before Discord took her has made for a pretty positive change in the young earth pony. “What ya doin?” Hannah turns around the computer, showing a website, “Beauty tips for ponies.” I giggle, looking at Diamond, “And?” She almost falls over with her giggling, “Oh, Dust, this had to be written by humans.” I look at the computer, and smile, “Sweeties, this site was written before we turned.” Hannah giggles again, “I know, that’s what makes it so funny. I never knew they had hoof polish for show ponies.” Diamond chimes in, “I remember wearing hoof polish, but just clear polish, to make the hooves shine, putting on actual colors, now that’s funny.” I look at both of them, my smile getting bigger, seeing both of them hitting it off, makes me feel wonderful, Diamond has only been here a week, and she’s been Hannah’s inseparable pal very quickly. At first Hannah was a bit doubtful, after watching how Diamond was in the show, but they warmed up quickly. I toss my head, looking at Diamond, she gets the hint and follows me out the door and down the stairs. I turn and sit down on my haunches. “So, Diamond, are you liking it here?” She smiles hugely, “Oh yes. Hannah and I are having so much fun. And I love playing with all the little foals. You have a wonderful family, Dust.” I move closer and put a wing over her withers, “Just so you know, the paperwork has been put through, you are officially adopted here, but I do have bad news.” She looks at me, confused, I sigh and continue, “I talked to Cipher, over at the military command. She did a records check, and found Filthy Rich.” I move my wing over her mouth when she gasps, “I’m sorry sweetie, Filthy was among the casualties in the fight at the gate.” She looks at me for a long time, in obvious shock. I bring her closer and hold her as her body trembles. “I’m sorry, sweetie.” After a long time, she looks up at me, tears in her eyes, “Daddy’s dead?” I nod and sigh, “I’m told he fought bravely, but he was injured in the fighting, and died shortly before the portal closed for the first time.” “Oh Diamond, I’m so sorry!” I hear Hannah’s voice rings out, and she appears, what looks like a cloaking spell dissipating from around her as she rushes to her friend. Diamond latches onto Hannah, and starts to wail. I move away, watching my daughter comfort her friend. After a few moments, I sigh, “Diamond, you are welcome to stay with us for as long as you want to. I want you to know that.” Hannah shoes me away, Diamond moans, “Thank you, Dust.” Then she finally collapses with my oldest daughter holding her tightly, letting her know she isn’t alone. Damn, I hate being the bearer of bad news. I move away and watch as my daughter sits there, tears in her eyes, as she holds her friend. After a while, I decide to head upstairs. We have a mission coming up. Rest is needed. *** Three chariots, a total of fifteen ponies, are heading to the city of Detroit, Michigan. I’ve got Mindy, Moon Shadow, and Sunset with me, Sparkler is rounding out our team. In the second are Winter Storm, along with her team, Trixie, Lightning Flash, Morning Star and Heliotrope. In the third chariot is Limestone Pie, with some of her best students. I had talked to Velvet and Blaze, and without confirmation of this pony being in the US, they couldn’t get official sanctioning of this, and military support. They did offer to come anyway, but I declined, don’t need to get them in trouble with the military for going off the reservation. Fifteen should be enough to search, and get Irony if we can get a line on the massive earth pony. Moon Shadow is standing stock still in the chariot, feeling out as best as she can, while she doesn’t have the earring to zero in on. She does have the years of time with Irony that she had before Discord, and her time as a human with Henry before they changed, and of course, the time after the change together. She told me at times she could feel when Irony was close. I move over to her. “Have you tried to find her dreams?” She nods, “Every night, and every time I take a nap.” I sigh, we need any lead we can, “Try one more time, love.” She lays down, and I seconds, she’s dozing. As a dreamer, she can put herself to sleep at will. A talent I’ll admit that I envy. I look around, the city of Detroit has been losing population for years, it used to be a manufacturing hub for the entire world, but now… not so much. I sit at my ease, waiting for something to happen, I know something is going to happen, Mindy’s hunches are usually right. But what is going to happen? Moon Shadow jerks up, “I got a hint from her, I couldn’t talk to her, but I could feel her dream. There is some kind of spell over her, keeping her from being accessible to me, but I was able to find her dream, since she is close. I couldn’t talk to her. But Dust, what has been done to her. This Sparkle has made her life hell, her entire dream was her running away from that pony. Pain, fear, terror so strong I can still feel it.” I put a wing over the shuddering unicorn, “Okay, Moon. But can you figure out where?” She nods and points, “Her dream shows a sign, I think it was the sign she saw when she was brought in, it’s the Chrysler symbol. I think it’s the old Chrysler plant.” I leap up and shout to the pegasi pulling the chariot, and we change course. I look at the other chariots. It’s time for action. The chariots land peacefully, something I wasn’t expecting. We are ready, everypony is in armor, with weapons ready. I adjust the throat mic, Cipher was able to get a few little toys for us to play with, with our radios, each team member can talk to each other, and each team leader can confer. I look at Limestone and Winter Storm, “Each team fan out, start searching, report any contact.” We all disappear into the massive factory. I’ve got Moon Shadow, Sunset, and Sparkler with me directly. I stop for a second, where the hell is Mindy? I touch my throat mic, “Mindy, where are you?” Her giggle fills my ear, “Dustie, you search, I’ll search, we’ll find her.” I sigh, I know Mindy goes her own way, but seriously? I look at Sparkler, Moon and Sunset, then I shake my head, “Move out.” I don’t know when this factory was abandoned, but apparently the usual auction wasn’t very successful for all the tooling, quite a bit of equipment is still here. Though there is plenty of open space, we stalk slowly through the building. Winter Storm’s voice carries over my ear piece, “Checking offices now.” I look around, “This part looks too abandoned, let’s see if there are any basements, or something underground, away from prying eyes in the sky.” In moments, we find a set of stairs leading down. I stop for a moment and touch my mic, “Checking underground.” We get into a large storage area, with several pathways leading in different directions, I look at the others, “Call if you need help.” And we split up, each taking a different hallway. After a long time, I find another stair leading down, I check with the rest of my team, and then descend. I get to the bottom of the stairs, I must be at least thirty feet underground at this point, damn. I look in wonder. “It’s the Golden Oaks Library!” I mutter. Damn, this Twilight seems to be trying to recreate her old life, underneath a defunct car factory. I look around and push my way into the massive tree, how long did she work to make this place? Inside, it looks exactly like it did in the show. I flap up to her sleeping alcove, and it’s empty, the bed is unmade. I sigh and turn to the door to the basement, I wonder. I get to the bottom of the stairs when I hear something. I flash to a side door, opening the door reveals Irony. Her eyes are closed, though there is something wrong with her. I have to stop for a long second, she must have been having a very rough time, heavy manacles are forcing her to stay in her humanoid shape, she has a muzzle over her snout, and her eyes are closed, but her color is far grayer than the last time I saw her, and one of her hooves is a human foot, fur is missing up half of the leg, showing human skin. Patches of fur are missing on other parts of her body as well. I think about it for a second, then I gasp, she’s lost hope, like I did. My gasp apparently woke up the slumbering pony, one of her eyes opens, though only the right one. The left looks like it’s sealed shut somehow. Her good eye widens, and immediately tears start to form. I touch my throat mic, “I found Irony!” I give quick instructions to my location, then flash forward. A hard strike from a shod hoof breaks the lock on her muzzle, freeing her mouth. She works her jaw a couple of times, then immediately bursts into tears, “Oh Dust, I’m so sorry.” I put both hooves on her cheeks, forcing her to look into my eyes as she babbles her apologies, then I stop them all by kissing her. I lose myself in kissing her for a long moment. Then I pull back with a smile, “I got your note love, you’ve forgiven me, I’ve forgiven you, let me get you the fuck out of here.” She nods hastily, and I quickly inspect the chair and the manacles. “Damn, Irony. Somepony wanted you to stay in one place.” She nods, “We need to get out of here before she comes back.” I hear over the radio calls of “Contact, contact.” She might be here already. I just hope we can slow her down enough to get Irony free. I extend my wings, one on each side of the hinge of the manacle on her right leg, the one still with a hoof. I grumble to myself, “This is going to hurt.” I push the charge through one wing, and complete the circuit with the other. Electricity jumps between both wings, through the hinge. I grit my teeth and accept the pain, my magic isn’t really supposed to be used this way. ***Moon Shadow*** I’ve just met up with the rest of Dusts team when an explosion sounds in the distance. I look at Sunset and Sparkler, both of them grimace and we head towards the entrance that Dust told us about. We are galloping when nearly thirty of the black unicorn constructs teleport in front of us. We all skid to a stop. One of them steps forward, “Surrender.” I look at Sunset, she smiles, I turn and look at the unicorn, “No.” I shout as Sunset fires a spell, dissipating the construct. Three of them jump at us, and I leap forward, taking the brunt of their attack on my armor. I leap back and then swipe with an armored hoof, and then blow another out of existence as it leaps for Sparkler. She smiles at me quickly before leaping forward herself. How many constructs has this Twilight Sparkle made? In moments I can see over a hundred here. Now comes the hard part, they have magic of their own too. Our armor is enchanted, Sparkler’s and mine, but Sunset doesn’t have any protection. My whole world becomes blocking spells, and getting an offensive spell out when I can. My armor takes so many hits, it’s a wonder it’s still in one piece. I teleport up high, landing on two constructs, crushing skulls. They may not be real ponies, but they are easily as tough as any earth pony, and damned strong too. I have a moment, and I can see Sparkler is fighting for all she’s worth. Throwing spells, and using the hoof guards of her armor as effectively as she can. I take a hit to the side of my head, tumbling me over. I’m able to recover and send the construct that hit me back to its maker. Twilight Velvet’s teachings ring in my ears, use your environment to your advantage. I grab anything my telekinesis can grab, old car parts, packing crates, whatever. I use them to smash the black unicorns as fast as I can. I see a group of them at one side of the room, and I focus on the concrete roof, a strong pull has massive chunks of concrete smashing down on the constructs. I turn and then get a glimpse of Sunset Shimmer. Her eyes are glowing, so is her cutie mark. Her mane wafts in an ethereal breeze as she decimates the constructs. Constructs fly from near her, dissolving as they fly. Any attack they attempt is absorbed by a spell she wrapped around herself. In a matter of moments, the room is clear of the black unicorns, she lets the energy down and her hooves touch ground again. She pants slightly, and smiles at me, “Let’s go get Dust and Irony.” ***Winter Storm*** It’s been nearly five years since Dust, Irony, and Trixie saved me from the brothel in Denver. I’ve been trying to help ponies. I know what my cutie mark means, I remember my life in Equestria, I was a weather mare, and a damned good one. But on this world, I’ve been a warrior. Helping save as many ponies as I can. And when I found out about Irony being abducted, I’ve been all over, trying to help find her. When Dust called, saying they were going to follow a hunch Mindy had, something told me, we were going to be getting into the action. I’ve got armor on, while Moon Shadow had not enchanted it, some of the mages back in New Beginnings did. I’ve got a .50 caliber pony designed gun mounted on my shoulder, and I’m good with it out to five hundred meters. Two hundred rounds of ammo, and I’m ready to go. Trixie is wearing armor, I insisted, and finally said she wasn’t staying on my team without it. Though she had found the lightest armor she could, and enchanted it herself. But every bit of concentration not on self protection goes to attack. Lightning Flash is with Trixie, as always. I split my team up to search, Trixie and Flash, Heliotrope and Morning Star, and leaving me by myself. We head through the expansive offices I keep an ear open, listening for anything. But all I hear are the hoofsteps of my team. I take to the air, keeping on the move. “This is Trixie, northwest corner, need help.” I tap the transmit button on my neck twice, producing clicks in the earpieces, acknowledging the call. I see the rest of the team heading in the same direction. Trixie is standing by a set of double doors, and her normal sky blue coat is very nearly white right now. “I opened the door, and very quickly shut it. It’s a large conference room in there. And there are hundreds of the constructs that Dust described, all just lying there, as though they were robots with the power turned off.” Her normal voice is very subdued right now. I look at the doors, “Can we seal them in there somehow?” She looks bleak, “I don’t think so, not without making too much noise, I just hope…” Anything else she was going to say is wiped out by the doors bursting outward, blasting us all back. “Oh shit.” I growl as I fire the first round of my rifle. I touch my throat mic, for all the team leads, “Contact, contact, northwest corner of the offices.” I fire off a second round, a pony was jumping at Lightning Flash as he smashes another that was firing a beam at Trixie. That construct lands on the floor, most of its head missing. I take to the air. Then I curse as another set of doors opens, and it’s not unicorn type constructs this time, these are pegasi. This fake Twilight seems to have been a very busy pony. I flash forward, striking at the incoming pegasi. I’ve never learned to use wing blades, so I don’t have any, preferring the use of my hooves, or my gun. Though I realize something, I don’t have enough ammunition. ***Lightning Dust*** The building just shook, I’m guessing the Rolling Earth practitioners are getting going. Though gritting my teeth isn’t enough anymore, I’m gasping as I work to free her other leg. “Dust when you said this was going to hurt, I thought you meant me.” I’m able to chuckle a bit, though my voice is strained, “Oh no, Irony, I think you’ve gone through enough.” After a few moments, the hinge pin is hot enough for a hoof strike to shatter it. That’s two legs free. I get working on one of her arms, “Hang on Irony. I’m going to get you out of here.” “Thank you love, for not losing faith in me.” I watch the electricity arcing, two of my flight feathers are a ruined mess right now, I may have trouble flying after this. It doesn’t matter, I have to get Irony out, I look up at her, “Anything for you, Irony.” ***Limestone Pie*** A flip and more concrete is slamming towards the constructs. Dust warned me about them, and she was right. I’m having to deal with unicorns and pegasi. The pegasi are relatively easy, just aim for the wings. My pupils, four of the best students I’ve been able to train are with me. And we are tearing up this part of the factory. I slam down a hoof, breaking loose a chunk of concrete, sliding me along the ground. There’s so damned many of them. I call out to one of my students, a stallion, from the Apple family, he’s holding off several of the constructs by himself. He’s able to skim away towards me. He gets close. “Let’s hit them hard.” I shout over the din, and he smiles in response. In unison, we slam hooves into the ground, bringing up a massive chunk of concrete, we slam it together with our hooves and our magic, sending it in one piece towards a mass of the unicorns. Their magic isn’t enough to stop a couple of tons of concrete, several of them become greasy smears as the concrete hits the wall, then it crushes a couple more as it falls to the ground. “Got em.” He crows. Then his eyes widen and he leaps forward. A black unicorn I hadn’t seen had fired a spell, he takes it in the chest, a shot that was meant for me. I scream as I bring up two fist size pieces of concrete, speeding them like bullets into the unicorn, who collapses. I look at the stallion, his eyes are already glazing over in death, damn. My moment is almost shattered as another back unicorn leaps at me, I forgo the Rolling Earth, and seize the unicorn in my hooves, I flip around onto it’s back and bring a hoof down on its horn, snapping the appendage off. The construct screams as I jump off, using my momentum to knock down one lining up a shot at another student. “Fall back, we need to fall back!” I shout, there are too many of them. I touch my throat mic, “We have to retreat, we can’t get to you Winter.” ***Winter Storm*** I hear Limestone’s call, damn. No reinforcements, I have less than ten rounds left. I squeeze off a shot, another pegasus lands in a mound. I look around, more are showing up by the minute. Damn. I tap my throat mic, transmitting to my team, “Fall back, towards the chariots.” I watch Heliotrope, the earth pony has been learning from Limestone as well, he’s throwing rocks, and chunks of concrete as fast as he can. One of the other pegasi of the team, Morning Star picks him up and heads back the way we came. I fire off another round. And a second one at a pegasus trying to dive bomb Lightning Flash. They get to the door, Morning Star is down, Heliotrope is rolling along the ground, I turn and fire at the unicorn that hit Morning Star. I tap my mic, “Flash, get Morning. Trixie, you get them out, I’ll cover.” They struggle to comply with my orders, I fire again, and again. I keep an eye on my team, they are almost to the exit. I flash forward and slam down on another unicorn, and fire again, hitting a pegasus. I’m out of ammunition, damn. My team isn’t out yet. I pull the rifle off of its mount and swing it, knocking another unicorn senseless. I break the wing of another pegasus, it’s down and screaming. Then four or five of these damned constructs land on me. I’m forced to the floor, but I can see Trixie being dragged back by Lightning Flash, I told them to retreat, and they are doing so. I look up at one of the constructs, and I watch his horn be enveloped in a golden aura, he fires his spell. ***Trixie*** Lightning Flash is dragging Trixie away from the offices. “She’s gonna die!” She screams. Flash grits hit teeth, “She gave us time to get out, Trixie.” “I can save her!” She wails at the closed doors. The earth pony stallion, Heliotrope, shakes his mane, “Trixie, Winter’s gone. We need to get out ourselves, or her loss will be in vain. We need to go.” Trixie takes one last look at the door, how long until those constructs burst through the door? With tears in her eyes, she nods, and then lights her horn, the ceiling quickly comes down and the debris ends up against the doors. “That should slow them down.” Trixie sighs as they turn and head back towards the chariots. ***Lightning Dust*** I’ve almost got Irony free. Where the hell is the rest of my team? I shift over to start on the chest restraint, three feathers on each wing are charred nubs. I've still got my magic, and I’m going to free this mare if it’s the last thing I do. I light the arc for the lock on the chest restraint, I get this done, and her last arm free, and we are out of here. I’m in the middle of heating up the lock when a magenta flash overpowers my eyes. I blink several times, Irony is gone! I look around, “No, damn it, no!” I scream. “Oh yes, Lightning Dust.” That voice, damn. The mad mare teleports in front of me, “Irony is mine, you can’t take her away from me that easily.” I paw the ground and growl, “What have you done with her?” She giggles, “This world is big, and I’ve got a few nice little hidey holes. She’s in one of them. You will never find her, Lightning Dust.” She giggles, sending chills down my spine. I finally notice the commotion going on, “What is going on with my family?” She giggles as she stalks forward, “Oh, I’ve been busy, making quite a few constructs, they are in the process of wiping out your family now.” My vision goes red and I leap forward, charging up my wing to send out a bolt. She teleports away as I fire, the bolt grounding itself harmlessly into the living wood of the tree. Her voice comes from behind me, “Oh Dust, I’m not so easily defeated.” ***Mindy*** Mindy walks along an elevated catwalk, she knows what’s happening with the other teams, but she has a task that she needs to do as well. This Twilight has made plenty of pony constructs, but she’s also made a lot of her fake human ones as well. Mindy knows what is going to happen. She knows her mane has been straight since they landed. And she knows better than anypony else what this means. Pinkie Pie has nothing on Mindy when it comes to this. She feels the magic of harmony, she feels the magic in this world, she can feel the beginning of a song, but this isn’t going to be bouncy or funny. This is deadly serious. All around, the sound of an electric bass starts, this is going to be fun. The magic takes hold, and she opens her mouth to sing. Can ya get me? C’mon let's play! She can see the constructs, they are holding their weapons, they think they can do something to her. She grins as she puts her hooves on a railing as the bass drum and snares start to play. They aren’t going to know what hit them. I might shoot you anyway! She’s in the perfect position, she can feel hammerspace, she can feel the GAU-8 minigun, all she would have to do would be reach, and it would be there. She could imagine it, her firing the cannon, 6,000 rounds per minute, digging into bodies, concrete, everything in front of her, her hooves sliding slowly back as she’s firing. But that would be…excessive. And her magic doesn’t run out nearly as quickly. Death and magic, that’s the trick, I'm gonna give you, a little bit of panic oh ah! Mindy can feel quite a few constructs behind her, they think they are going to ambush her. She smiles as she pulls the same stunt that Velvet did a while back, all the pins from their hand grenades appear in front of her, clattering to the ground. She smiles as multiple resounding cracks announce the destruction of those constructs. Think you can avoid me? Don't worry, you won't be ignored! A half dozen of the human constructs rush at her, her magic disintegrates them, their remains falling at her hooves as she continues to stalk, and to sing. The full music is around her now, So can you try a little harder? I'm really getting bored! She turns the corner, nearly a hundred are ready, starting to fire shotguns and assault rifles. She doesn’t let anything get close to her as she watches them fire. It’s time for the chorus. Come on! Run faster! Waste all your magic energy yeah! I'm having so much fun right now! I think it's time for some more anarchy! As she’s singing, she flashes forward, the way Dust usually does. To the constructs, she was in one place, now she’s among all of them. She doesn’t need to make contact with them, her magic does the work, her horn is flashing brightly, so are her eyes. She uses air as a weapon, slicing into the bodies, crushing them, one gets close, and she slams down on it with fire, the body burning to ashes instantly. She whirls around, these constructs are fearless, they are rushing at her. She can feel her magic, she’s got plenty left, more than enough for these things. She is mildly surprised as one brings out an RPG, this Twilight has done her homework, that warhead could be as deadly as the real thing. Too bad they are trying to use it against her. I'll burn this whole town down, I don't care what anypony thinks It's such pathetic neatness, You've fucked with me, now you're jinxed! The RPG flashes towards her, she grabs it in her magic, causing it to explode, her magic directs the explosion away, taking the metal of the shaped charge. She smiles as she forms it herself, leaving a silvery metal heart to drop to the floor. She looks around, this room is done. But more constructs will be a danger to her family, to her friends. Mindy won’t allow that, her magic charges and she teleports. So much faster, so much fun, Let's start from scratch and blow up the sun! A storage area for constructs, only a few are online. This is almost too easy for Mindy, a few tweaks to support columns and a quick teleport, and the entire section of the building crushes down, rendering the constructs, and likely days or even weeks of work for the purple bad unicorn, ruined. She smiles as she finds another group of constructs, they are running to where she was before. Come on! Run faster! Waste all your magic energy I'm having so much fun right now I think it's time for some more anarchy! A quick teleport has her above the running constructs, and she makes a shield, surrounding them. Mindy lands on the top of the shield. A quick hop has the shield shrink down to the size of a soccer ball, with all the constructs inside. Water isn’t normally compressible, but she manages it as they are all smushed into the small space. She teleports as she brings down the shield, releasing all the pressure. I'll burn this whole town down, I don't care what anypony thinks It's such pathetic neatness, You've fucked with me, now you're jinxed! Mindy touches her earring, Dustie is around somewhere. Ahh, she’s underground. She can feel Dust’s emotions, rage, loss, fear. Irony is gone. Purple dark is with her. Purple dark can kill her, she may be strong but she needs some help. Mindy teleports. You're done... you're done... You've been jinxed! ***Lightning Dust*** I whirl around the basement of the library, where did this Twillight go to? I flash towards the door and up the stairs. I crash through the door exiting the fake Golden Oaks Library, and skid to a stop. Sparkle is there, so is Sunset and Moon Shadow, Sparkler is down, though I can see her breathing at a distance, Moon and Sunset’s horns are lit, both of them are intently staring at Sparkle, who’s horn is also lit, but nothing is happening. I step forward and suddenly I can feel the magic in the air. A titanic amount of magic is being used by both parties. But they are at a stalemate, which can only end one of two ways, one side wears out, or one side is distracted. I take to the air, I’ve lost some of my flight capacity using my magic the way I did, but I can do this. Time magic is too much right now, but I can certainly still throw lightning. The bolt strikes her on the flank, flinging her to the side and tumbling her over and over until she crashes into a wall. Moon and Sunset collapse, they must have been near their limits at this point. I’m glad I showed up when I did. I flash forward, landing on this Sparkle, she’s semiconscious, I snarl into her face, “Where is Irony you fake?” She spits blood into my face and chuckles, “Oh no, if you kill me, you will never find her, and she’ll die. Do you really want to risk that?” I look over at Moon and Sunset, they are spent, I seriously doubt they could light a candle right now. We need to get a hold on this unicorn’s power. Her horn lights and I bash it, hard. She winces, “You really shouldn’t do that.” I growl in her face, “Try that again and I’ll snap it off, you fake.” Her scream causes me to fold back my ears, “I had to deal with this with Irony, I am the real Twilight Sparkle!” I scoff, “Only in your dreams.” I look up again, Sunset is staggering to her hooves. I sigh, Sparkler is rousing herself as well. I look down at the unicorn I’ve got pinned down, “We will get you home, with a magical restraint on you. You’ll talk.” I know where I hit her, I reach a hoof to the scorched part, and press in, hard, getting a loud gasp from her. “You will talk.” She spits at me, “You are just like the humans, first to violence, first to harm.” I’m incredulous, “I have a feeling you don’t have any interest in friends. Not with you torturing Irony.” She smiles that mad smile, “She will come around, we will be friends again. I’ve gotten my other friends, and she was so willing to give her friendship and affection to the fake Twilight, she will come around.” I press deeper into her flank wound, getting a hiss of pain from her, “I would much rather not have to fight you.” I pull the hoof away, “I can’t call you what you are not. But Twilight Sparkle is back in Equestria. You can have a happy life here. Tell me where Irony is, and you will have to pay for your crimes, but I’m certainly willing to offer a hoof in friendship.” “How do I know I can trust you?” This actually shocks me, “I’m a Wonderbolt, I’m a member of the royal guards. “If you can’t trust me, you can trust in my family. There is magic in forgiveness, something you haven’t apparently learned. Even Sunset can forgive you for what you’ve done. Please, let us know where Irony is. We need to heal her, we need her back. Her colt misses her, so does the rest of the herd.” Her ears fall, I’m looking in her eyes, she’s thinking it over. I sigh, “I’ll let you up, please, we need our love back.” True to my word, I stand up, and offer a hoof to assist her. “Please, I need my Irony back.” She stands up slowly, “What is my name to you?” I frown, where is she going with this? “She’s in Equestria, so you aren’t Twilight Sparkle.” “Wrong!” She shouts, and a sphere of magic rapidly expands from her horn. I don’t have time for anything but leaping at Sunset, Moon Shadow, and Sparkler, shouting as I grab all three of them, “Teleport us out.” Sunset’s horn alights and we are a thousand feet in the air. I’ve got all three of them, but with my limited flight capabilities right now, I can’t hold them all. “I’m sorry, Dust. I didn’t have a good read on a destination, so I had to hurry the teleport.” Sunset calls, holding tightly as she shifts onto my back, holding onto the semiconscious Sparkler. I hold the unconscious Moon Shadow as we head for the ground. I look back at them, “It’s going to be a rough landing.” They nod grimly as they tighten their grips on my barrel. As the ground gets close, I bring Moon Shadow close and hold tightly, we impact on my left foreleg, I can feel bones snap as I roll into a ball, Sunset and Sparkler leap clear as I roll with Moon Shadow. I end up on my back, Moon seems to be okay, but I’ve got a broken foreleg and upon moving my wings, a break in my left wing as well. I gasp at the pain as it slams into me. I hear groans from the unicorns as I roll onto my right side, holy shit that hurts. Then my heart leaps into my throat as a magenta flash announces an arriving teleportation, “Oh shit,” I groan, “We got away from you.” I look into the purple eyes of this Twilight. She grins, “You are still alive, if you had stayed still, my shield spell would have you paste on the walls, and all your problems would be over with. But you had to have those speedster reflexes, didn’t you Lightning Dust?” I groan, tears leaking from my eyes, I’m beaten, I don’t have anything left. I look at Sunset, she’s wobbly on her hooves after the blind teleport, Sparkler is in no shape to fight, and Moon Shadow is unconscious. I lower my head, “You win, Twilight Sparkle.” She chuckles, “Oh, it’s too late for that.” Her eyes widen, “No, it’s not possible.” I stretch my neck to follow where her eyes are pointing. Mindy is there, but I know Mindy doesn’t stand a chance against Twilight, strength for strength, Sunset has more than Mindy, and Sunset is tapped out with Moon’s help against this mare. Then I see the other form with Mindy, I shout, “Hannah, get out of here!” My daughter stalks forward, “You will not hurt my family, you imposter.” I wince as this Twilight fires off a spell, my daughter swatting it away as though it were nothing. Her eyes start to glow, and her blonde hair starts to waft in the aether my daughter is building up, what the hell? Hannah speaks, though it’s not her normal voice, it sounds like several voices at once from her lips, “You don’t belong here, you are a copy, a clone. You are not the Twilight Sparkle that we know and love. Go back where you came from.” With that, she extends a hand, a bar of white liquid flame leaps from her hand at Twilight, who hastily teleports away before the bar hits her. After a moment, her eyes stop glowing, and her hair falls back to normal. She turns to me with a smile, “I’m glad Mindy came and got me.” I sigh and rear up and give my daughter a hug, holding my left wing straight to avoid it being touched, “Thank you Hannah, but you are fifteen years old, you shouldn’t be risking yourself.” She cups my cheek with her hand, “Oh Dust. You want to protect me, thank you, but I don’t need protection anymore.” Sunset steps forward, “That was not a spell I’ve ever taught you. How did you know Balefire? Do you know how dangerous it is?” Hannah nods before her teacher, “I know, Sunset. I read about the spell in a book, and I understood the weave behind it when I read it. And the only reason I used it was because of the danger to my family. I wouldn’t use it for any other reason.” Sunset looks at Hannah for a long time, “Okay.” And rears up and gives Hannah a hug, I can hear her whisper, “You saved us all, thank you sweetie.” I think we need medical attention. I moan, the pain is starting to make me feel weak, though walking with three legs, and a broken wing is agony, eventually Sunset picks me up gently in her magic to get me back to the chariots. Shortly, we are loaded up, and it’s a melancholy group heading back to Montana. No Irony, and two lives lost, two ponies to mourn. Tonight will not be joyful.