//------------------------------// // Loss // Story: The Iron Lady // by Chelis //------------------------------// There was still much to do for Twilight Sparkle. There were programs to start, calibrations to check, double check, and triple check. Fluids and systems in the robot had to be checked, as well as software to debug if necessary. There was also waiting for her friend Blossoming Jewel. In the event of an emergency, the protocol was to head straight to the hangar. Not caring for family or friends or even pets. Do not pass go, do not collect your two hundred dollars. Twilight began to worry about the fate of her friend. So she opened a wooden box that contained a hover drone. With it, she went down the stairs and outside the hangar. "What is that thing?" Flash asked. "Tracker drone. The Machinka pilot is not here so I have to find her. This thing does it." Twilight walked back upstairs to the room to turn on the tv as the diagnostics began running. The devastation: the aerial shots of buildings that had collapsed were close to it. The carnage had subsided because the creature was now ravaging the central park. No one knew what it was doing in the bowl that was lined with trees, but it was hard to see what it was doing. People were still on the bridges and at the marinas trying to escape the city. The beeping of a monitor attracted Twilight, Which meant that the drone found her. When twilight turned on the monitor and established the connection, her heart sank. The pilot was covered in white powder and in the prone position. Her hair was frazzled and her bottom lips were covered in blood. "Blossom!" "Twilight?" Blossoming Jewel coughed, which made more blood spill out. "What happened?" Twilight cried out. On the television monitor next to the one showing the state of her friend showed what was left of her friends apartment. It was gashed in its mid section, right where her friend was staying. Her drone lifted to see that a steel reinforcement bar had pierced her stomach, which also protruded out of her back and soaked in blood. "I guess I got unlucky," she coughed again. "Can you move? I need to get you out of there!" Twilight panicked. "No, it's too late for me." The building began to shift, including the rebar that impaled her. She held on to it and screamed in pain. Twilight began to break down. "Twilight, where are your roommates?" "They're downstairs. Why?" "They must man the Machinka. I'm not going to make it." "You will! I’ll get the hover bike and-" "It's too late, Twilight. You must stop that thing!" she said. Blossom's eyes began to water as she reached out to the drone, wanting to comfort Twilight as she sobbed. "I love you," Twilight said. "I love you too, Twi. Sisters forever." "Sisters forever." Twilight said. With what was left of her strength, Blossoming placed a finger on the monitor that the drone had, and Twilight did the same. Behind Blossoming, there was a thunderous crack and a subsequent rumble. The last seconds of the transmission showed her ceiling and the floors above her collapsing on her, the dust and debris blocked out her fate and also knocked the drone out. The news helicopter immediately showed what was left of the tower: a rubble of steel and concrete with a plume of dust flowing through the blocks surrounding it. Flash and Sunset made up there to see that Twilight had curled up into a ball on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. *** "Twilight, what's wrong?" Sunset said as she lifted her up, forcing her to sit on the floor instead of laying on it. Twilight's tears of sadness gave way to her anger. "Get in the room." Twilight whimpered. "What?" "Get in that goddamned room!" Twilight commanded, pointing to a room that was next to the control room. "NOW!" Sunset and Flash shrugged and walked in, revealing a modern-looking, rounded locker room where the storage blocks lined the walls. "The pilot is gone. I just saw my best friend die because of that monster, so you are going to kill it. Now, strip naked." Both began to look at the loudspeaker in the room. "A-are you sure?" Flash asked. "You both fucked. Even if you didn't there's a lot of lives at stake. Get fucking naked. I don't care if you are a baby dick, Flash, or if you have a unkept bush, Sunset. Get naked, and get ready.” The two had no choice at that moment and began to strip naked. They were in the pajamas so all they had to do was take their first layer off. It felt awkward being naked together in the same room again, but this time Sunset and Flash had to work to not look at each other's goods. "In the locker should be some body suits. But before you do that, keep staring at each others bodies… That's it… Remember that day you two first banged… Keep thinking about it." They suddenly felt a prick on their arm. Tt came from a robotic arm that curled down from the ceiling. Another robotic arm dropped in front of the two and started scanning their bodies. It took less than a few seconds, but it was uncomfortable all the same. "Physical and blood tests are in. Both are you are medically eligible to fight. Even if you weren't, you would have to anyway. Alright, get dressed. " *** They walked out in black tight suits with pieces of what looked like armor that were on their chest, elbows, thighs, and shins. "So, who gets to drive the bad boy?" Flash said as they saw Twilight continue with her programming. She was still grieving, but her sadness did not stop her from getting the robot ready. "I made a mistake in my rage. It was supposed to be you, Flash, that was supposed to man it, but now it’s Sunset. She is the only one calibrated to use it, but I can add you after all this is over. If you survive." "Sweet!" Sunset said as she pumped her fist in celebration. "Here is the quick run-though. Flash, get on a hoverbike and head to the monster. In it is a crossbow with 12 bolts. Try to get as many of those bolts onto the creature as you can. Each one is a GPS relay that will give Sunset and me its approximate location. The helmet you will be wearing also has a small camera and microphone so that I can see what you are seeing. You will be our tracker. Our eyes and ears, essentially. Sunset, if you don't know your job by now: Get on robot. Fuck shit up with robot."