A chime of magic sounds, and all the smoke dissipates instantly. In the early afternoon sun, that pony is standing there. Though there are some differences from how I’ve last seen her. Her mane is frizzy, her eyes are wide yet her pupils are shrunk to pinpricks, she looks absolutely nuts. But that’s not all. Patches of her fur are missing, ugly scars snake across her barrel, and her left foreleg is missing. In its place is a mechanical replacement. Magically powered, no doubt. She steps forward, her voice is a low hiss, “I’m going to get you, Irony. You escaped me, and I will have you back.”
I move in front of Irony, “Over my dead body.” I growl.
The clone of Twilight Sparkle grins, “That’s the idea, Lightning Dust.” She fires a bolt at me, which I deflect with my charged wing.
I smile grimly, “It’s going to take more than that, you imposter.”
Her scream causes my ears to fold back, “I am the real Twilight Sparkle, you bitch!”
I grin, and risk a glance at the other pegasi, the earth ponies and the unicorns of the EUP guard are strewn about, apparently knocked out, I hope they are only knocked out. I see Surprise, and I nod, I shout, “Attack!”
I take to the air, and as I do so, Sunset Shimmer and Moon Shadow appear, Moon Shadow already wearing her armor. A few seconds later, Hannah appears in a flash of light. They waste no time unleashing attacks on the purple unicorn. Who throws up a shield hastily.
“I won’t let you have her!” I shout as I fire off a bolt. It bounces harmlessly off the shield, but I can see she’s straining under the pressure. The pegasi are attacking as well. Pony designed firearms are coming into the fray. As well as wingblade attacks on her shield.
“Keep up the pressure!” I shout.
“Enough!” The clone shouts, and her shield expands, holy shit, she’s done this before, I slam down to the ground, grabbing Irony, bracing for the impact with my charged wings covering us both, I hope they are enough to stop the shield.
The impact never arrives. I look around, Hannah is standing next to us, a low dome of a shield over us, she smiles at me, the imposter’s shield just rolled right over. Hannah growls at our opponent as she lets down her shield. Then her eyes roll back in her head and she drops, a spear just got cracked over her head.
“Hannah!” I scream.
The purple pony steps forward, “Oh, she’s not dead…yet. Be happy she has a hard skull”
I flash forward, “I’m going to kill you, you bitch!” I scream.
She fires a beam at me, forcing me to the ground so I can use my wings to defend. Though I use the motion to unlatch the covers on my wingblades. They fall to the ground in a clatter.
I look around, where are the rest of the pegasi? A glance tells me what I need to know, they are strewn all over, the shield trick took out most of them, most of them don’t seem to be dead, but they are uniformly knocked out. Though I can see wings and legs dislocated all over the place. And several necks seem to be broken, too. I gasp a sob at the death and destruction this imposter has created.
Sunset and Moon Shadow have linked magic, they send out a beam of pure white light at the imposter, I’ve heard of this spell, it’s pretty much forbidden, balefire, no shield can block it, nothing can stop it.
It sizzles to a stop three feet from the unicorn, her eyes glowing green with black auras around them.
My herdmates are obviously surprised as they let the weave go, “How did you?” Sunset breathes.
The clone giggles, “I visited Equestria, and got into the restricted archives. Dark magic has such wonderful uses.” The black aura around her eyes intensifies as Sunset and Moon Shadow are thrown back, they both land in a heap.
I step forward, I hear a buzzing in my ear, one pony of my herd is not here, but she’s made her presence known to me, she just needs a few seconds, “You went to Equestria, yet you are a pony now, how did you do that?”
She focuses on me, “Oh, yes, that was simple, I read up on all of Starswirl the Bearded’s research on the mirrors. Turns out it’s so easy to prevent yourself from being changed by the mirror, just wrap yourself in your magic, and it will shield you from the effects of the mirror. Two glorious days to gather the books, and months of research, and I’m ready for you.”
The whispering in my ear ceases, “Weasel.” I shout, and the clone is launched from the ground. I flash forward, my wingblades ready. To my surprise, the clone keeps calm in the air, and brings up her artificial leg to block me, all I get is a shower of sparks from my impact. I flip back to throw a bolt at her as she lands. And Mindy is there, teleporting nearly constantly, throwing random spells at the clone. Who easily blocks everything Mindy throws at her.
“Enough!” The clone shouts, an energy burst hitting Mindy full force, sending her flying, I angle down to catch the now unconscious pony, whom I set down gently next to Moon Shadow and Sunset Shimmer.
“You think with all the time I spent with Pinkie Pie, I couldn’t handle a pony like her? Mindy is nothing to me!” The clone screams.
“You monster!” I hear a scream, as my wife of twenty-two years sprints for the pony, a spear from a downed earth pony held in her hands.
The clone chuckles as her magic yanks the spear from Helen’s hands and then bashes her over the head. Helen drops to the ground, fighting for consciousness, she reaches out and touches Hannah’s hand as she passes out.
I take to the air again, throwing bolt after bolt, I’m not pussyfooting it around this time, the bolts are bright green, and if they hit, they will put this mare out of time, permanently.
She bats away every one with her magic, then a surge of her magic comes to me, I feel the impact to my head, my wings lose coordination, and I fall. As I crash to the ground, everything goes black.
***
My head hurts, I'm dazed, what the hell? I open my eyes, Irony's lying in front of me, she's knocked out. I lift my head and look around, Mindy's out. My memory seems to not be working correctly. What happened? I struggle to my hooves. I notice a blonde head lying on the ground.
"Hannah!" I shout as I flash forward, damn that twenty feet of movement hurt like hell. I cradle my daughter in my arms. I can feel her breathing, oh thank Celestia, she's alive. Helen groans next to her, I place a hoof on her shoulder.
"You are dangerous." That voice triggers my memories, I gently set my daughter on the ground and step over Moon Shadow and Sunset Shimmer as I stalk towards my tormenter.
"You are not her, she's become a princess, she has ascended. You are a unicorn, you are a copy. A mistake!" I spit.
The purple unicorn charges her horn and throws a spell at me, I block it with a charged wing, "You are going to have to do better than that, you've hurt my family, you've hurt my Irony. I am going to kill you."
The mad mare chuckles, "I don't think so, I'm not done with your precious herd, and I'm definitely not done with the traitor known as Irony Smith." Without another word she throws out a concussive spell, I am thrown back a good fifty feet, though I land on my hooves, sliding another ten feet or so. I snarl in anger as I spread my wings. Before I'm able to take off, her magic takes hold and the training area is suddenly missing my family. My whole herd has been taken by this sick and mad mare.
"Fuck!" I slam a hoof onto the ground, "where did she take them?"
My breathing is still rapid, my adrenaline is still up, I'm never able to think clearly in these circumstances, I take a deep breath then think, and after a moment, I hold a hoof to my ear. As I touch moon shadow's earring and close my eyes, I can feel my family. After a moment, my entire body droops, they have minutes left, not even an hour, and I have two thousand miles to go. Fuck! I take a moment to drop my armor that Irony made for me, along with the wingblades. I have a long way to go, I don't need them now. I turn to the northwest and spread my wings. More and more usage of my magic has made me very well in tune with it, I can feel it coursing through me, "Wings, be true this day."
I remember my teaching only a day earlier, speedster pegasi and our takeoffs. Balance is second nature to me, though the crater I leave behind may be pretty damned big. My wings are spread, I’ve gathered my magic, the magic around me, I have more in me than I can usually hold. Small rocks and pebbles around me float off the ground as I finish gathering magic. I look up through the hole in the roof. Speed is my only goal, my only thought. I trigger my magic as I bring my wings down. The ground around me cracks and crumbles from my takeoff, I blow through the hole in the roof of the training complex, my power likely damaging it. Though I really don’t care right now, I have to get to my family. I'm past the sound barrier in a matter of seconds, and I’m climbing, all I need to go is faster. I know my destination, and it's my home.
This Twilight is in Montana, where all the other ponies are. They are in danger, I have to go faster. I'm too slow, I need speed. I draw on my magic reserves, pulling deeply. It feels as though I've got an ocean of magic to play with right now. My wings beat at a steady, rapid pace as I continue to accelerate. My magic is propelling me faster than wings alone. I blast through some high clouds without even feeling them. I risk a glance back, I'm leaving a trail that is miles long. I need more speed.
***Vandenberg AFB, California***
Among dozens of radar tracks, one head pops up, then another. Several voices call out, the Major in charge heads to the radar monitors.
“What’s going on?”
“Something big, something just took off from the pony settlement in Florida, and it’s moving fast.”
“If it’s coming from the pony settlement, it’s a pony.” The major responds.
One of the operators shakes his head, “This just passed mach two, and is still accelerating.”
“Really? Pull up a list of the top speedsters.”
Another operator calls out, “Track has just passed mach three.”
The major looks at the list on the screen, “Well, that knocks down the list, how many pegasi are capable of mach three?”
The first operator scans the list, and the known stop speed of all of the top speedsters, “It can only be one, the only one that’s done a sonic rainboom in the US. Lightning Dust.”
The major looks at the big screen on the wall, a US map is there, showing the track as she beelines north and west, “Any idea of her desitination?”
The operators check their tracks, “It looks like she’s taking a great circle track towards New Beginning, Montana.”
“Damn, she must be in a hurry.”
***Lightning Dust***
I’m tearing through the air, as I do so, my mind casts back, my herd, my family. Irony, my love who has been lost for too damned long. She's still trying to recover from her captivity. That Twilight was nearly as sadistic as Saul was while I was a captive. Thank Celestia that Star Crossed was able to heal her physical problems, and to help her heal her mental problems. Speed is all I need, I notice some drag on my left shoulder, in seconds my phone is taken by the wind. I need to go faster.
Helen, my human wife, she was, and still is, the love of my life, I love her as much as anypony else in my family, but she still has a special place in my heart, she took up residence first. This Twilight hasn't done anything to her, except for knocking her out with that damned spear. I stretch my body, tucking my rear legs as tight as I can, stretching my forelegs out as straight as possible. My wings are beating a furious pace, I am drawing from my magic deeply.
Moon Shadow, my love who works behind the scenes. Without her interference, our family wouldn't be as strong as it is now. When Irony was taken, the only one more broken than her was me, by a shade of a hair. We got Irony back, and we've had to support each other as we've had to help Irony put herself back together. I risk a look down, the Florida everglades have given way to farmland, I don't know exactly where I am right now, but I have a long way to go, I need more speed.
***Quantico, VA 520th Special Air Group radar monitoring center***
“She just passed mach four.” White Lightning calls out.
“Holy shit, get on emergency channels, every flight in her flight path needs to get to a lower altitude, we don’t need any crashes from her doing a sonic rainboom.” One of the human flight controllers responds to the pony.
“Do you think she can do it?”
“She’s done it once before, and we tracked her transponder as she let it go. It just landed. And stopped, it’s likely in little pieces right now.”
“Her altitude?”
“It’s hard to tell without the transponder, but she’s over fifty thousand feet and climbing. Hell, she could almost go orbital with this.”
“What the hell is so important that she would be doing this?”
***Lightning Dust**
Mindy, the craziest one of us, the one who makes us happy all the time, either through her antics, or simply by being what we need, when we need. She's already lost Soarin, she lost Irony for a time, she doesn't need to lose anypony else, especially not from this mad mare. I need more speed, I am now well above the cloud layer, the air is thin, I'm over the speed of sound by a significant margin, how much faster can I go? I need more, I need every bit of speed I have.
Hannah, my beloved daughter. She's lost her daddy, and gained a herd mother. Well, she's gained four herd moms, but her and I were always close. She's my little girl, despite celebrating her sixteenth birthday. She will always be my little girl. She's learned magic, she's become incredibly powerful with her magic, and she's smart about it as well, as evidenced by her actions against the clone and her constructs. My daughter is not one to be trifled with. And I'm so proud of her. She's done an excellent job. I love that girl. Speed, I need more. I have to reach down, down deep, put just a little more, I've had a mach cone around me for hundreds of miles now, it keeps narrowing as I continue to accelerate. How fast am I going to go, I don't know, but I'm going to get home. I have more to give, so I give. I stretch a bit farther, I push a bit harder. The air around me coalesces, something is happening. What? I really don't care, I have to get there. Montana is my destination.
I finally break through this barrier, I look back, and coruscating rainbow is spreading out from my flight trail, I've just done a sonic rainboom. I really don't care, I have to get home, I have to get to Montana now. Passing through that barrier makes things easier now, I leave a hundred mile long light trail behind me, I'm well into the hypersonic range. My magic doesn't feel like an ocean now, it feels like a bathtub, and the stopper has been pulled, I have to get there, I have to get there now. Nothing else matters, my family is in Montana, my family is with that evil creature. I have to kill her, I will kill her. There is nothing that can stop me, especially not at this speed. I'm going kill her for Irony, for Moon Shadow, Helen, Sunset, Mindy, and most of all, for myself. That creature was created in an accident, she was banished, she was asleep for decades thanks to a spell cast by Princess Celestia. The trouble is, the magic awakening here in this world allowed her to awaken. And now she's tormenting my family. I'm going to kill her for that. Erase that black star cutie mark from existence.
***Quantico, VA***
“Holy shit, she did it! The energy is emanating from central Indiana. A sonic rainboom is confirmed.” The operator calls out.
White Lighting looks at the overall track on the big screen, “How fast is she going?”
“It looks like she’s at mach seven, reaching for mach eight.”
A white hoof slams onto the desk, “Damn.”
***Lightning Dust***
Most of all, I remember my oath, I was, no. I AM a Wonderbolt. First into danger, last to flee. The tip of the spear. We protect all of the ponies with our lives. We protect everypony, everyone, everywhere. Our lives before theirs, we pledge our lives to the ponies, and to the crown. Wonderbolts now, and forever. I speed along, rolling farmland underneath me, I'll be passing the black hills before too long.
I'm close, speed has worked, I know where they are, I'm going to make it. My magic reserves are done, I push harder, I feel something snap inside me, I may not be able to fly after this. I don't care, her death is all I need right now. I'm descending, I'm below the clouds once again, I'm going to kill her. I can see her, narrowing my eyes, I can feel what's going on, my magic allowing me to see what's going on a hundred miles away. I see my family is awake again, they are squaring off against this evil version of the mare that we've all revered. Something tips her off, her head turns in my direction. I grin as I end up tree height, I'm going to bash her skull in with a hoof. At seven thousand miles per hour. Irony, I wish grimly, you had better get back, I'm going to be like a tornado coming in.
My eyes widen as the mad mare lets loose a gout of fire, but not at my family, it's at me. Oh shit, this mare has an amazing amount of strength, the jet of fire is in my flight path, I can't avoid it, not at this speed. I don't care, my only goal is her death. I extend a hoof as the fire washes over me. I can't help but scream, this isn't normal fire, this is heart of the sun hot. I scream in the last seconds as my eyes burn away. I can't see, I was on course the last second, I'm going to hit her, she doesn't have enough power to stop that. Inertia is in control now. I feel the impact in my left forehoof, my foreleg is now destroyed, my shoulder is useless now. I don't know what part of her I hit, but I couldn't miss, not at this speed. All I hear is the scream of the wind, my body is ruined, my wings are burned away, oh dear Celestia, I hope I hit her. All I can do at this point is crash. I pull what small vestiges of my magic that I can gather, this is going to hurt.
I slam into the ground, rolling like a rag doll. Soon I'm motionless. My ears are burned away, but I can still hear, to an extent. I lay there for a long time, then the sound of teleportation pops next to me, I smile, I hope that is my family. A hand snakes under my head, I hear sobs, I open my eyes, only to be greeted by nothingness, oh yeah, they don't work anymore.
"Irony?" I’m able to croak.
"Yes, love, I'm here."
"Please tell me I killed her."
"Oh, love, you snapped off her horn. I throttled the rest of her life out of her."
I sigh, "Good." I reach with my good hoof, and somehow find her face, "I love you Irony."
"Let's get you to Henry, he can get you fixed up." She starts to lift me up, to be stopped by my pained screams, "Or we should get him here to you."
I smile, at least I think it's a smile, "No need, love. I'm done for. I knew it when I took off. My final flight."
I cough, wetness on my body, It’s blood, I know how badly I’m damaged.
"No, Dust, we are going to get you fixed up."
"Oh love, kiss me and don't forget me. I love you, Irony."
The pain intensifies as I feel my broken body brought up in a hug, I feel her lips on mine, I smile as I fall into the light.