Marionettes

by Godzillawolf

On the Lamb

Rainbow Falls train station was naturally much less busy at night than during the day, which was exactly why Trixie chose to risk going back into town during the night rather than wait till morning. Sure, it meant not waiting to make sure her pursuers had moved on, but given what she knew of their resources, the fewer people who knew of her presence the better.

The azure unicorn waited silently in a bush, watching the clock on the station as it ticked down. Each minute feeling like an hour thanks to her present situation. “If Trixie catches the one AM train to Ponyville, that should work well...”

The mare took a paranoid inspection of the surrounding area. There were a couple ponies here and there, but none of them a pair of sharply dressed stallions with sunglasses. “Good...looks like the coast is clear...act causal don't make a scene...”

The showmare took another cautious look around and crept out from her hiding spot. She put on a causal air as she approached the counter. She dragged a traveling case along with her, containing the supplies (including various disguises) she'd taken from her carriage but mostly to make it look like she really was going on a trip rather than trying to escape. She took care to use a front hoof rather than her telekinesis so in the dark one might just mistake her for an Earth Pony and lower the possibility of her being recognized. She further used her right hoof instead of her dominate left hoof. Presentation was everything, that was something any showmare worth her salt knew like a law of physics. “One ticket to Ponyville, please....Single quarters, please.”

As the pony at the booth got her ticket, Trixie made sure to take a careful look around for her pursuers, but to her relief found no sign of them. Then again, she'd seen no sign of them before until they'd broken into her home and tried to kidnap her...

Ticket in her mouth, the azure unicorn quickly hid herself in the station bathroom with the door slightly ajar so she could peak out until she saw that everypony who was going to depart the train (likely to get a room and spend a day at one of Equestria's biggest tourist attractions or enjoy the night life) already had before emerging and making her way aboard. She swiftly made her way directly to her room, pulled the blinds and locked the door, ensuring her solitude. She then double ensured it by putting a chair up against the door to hold it further in place.

Trixie didn't make a single peep for an entire minute, hearing nothing but the wind outside and the distant engine of the train as the big machine began moving. At this hour, very few ponies were leaving Rainbow Falls and most who were still there were checked into a hotel for the evening, and most on board the train itself were likely sleeping. Trixie finally let herself relax and lower her guard for the first time in hours.

“Alright...now Trixie just needs to make her way to Ponyville and get Twilight's help...that is all,” Trixie advised herself, her nervous tone betraying her. “Twilight is a Princess with ties to the other Princesses, even if the guards are tricked Twilight can order them to leave Trixie alone...”

Part of Trixie admitted to finding the idea of going for Twilight for help humiliating. But Trixie had accepted back in the Diamond Dog kingdom she could use help from her friends sometimes.

The showmare tried to lay down and get some sleep and try to rest after the hectic high speed chase down a mountain while trying to fend off a duo of persistent maniacs. Unfortunately for her, sleep didn't come.

“Ugh...” Trixie groaned, wishing the car had an air conditioner. “Trixie is much too hot to sleep...” she hadn't gotten the chance to grab her smoothy mixes, and even if she did, the ice would have melted long before she got the chance to use them.

On one hoof, the safe thing to do would have been to remain in her room with the door locked tight and endure. On the other...she just couldn't hope to get to sleep without cooling down. And trying to run for your life while tired would be even more difficult.

The mare poked her head out of the door, looking down one end of the hallway, then down the other, keeping her ears tuned in for even the slightest breath. She wished she could say the silence and darkness that greeted her was reassuring but instead it filled her with uncertainty. After all, who knew what might be hiding in the dark waiting to strike?

The unicorn carefully crept out of her room and continued down the hallway, carrying a small mirror in her telekinesis. She used a trick she'd learned from Rarity to hide the glow of her magic. She'd been very surprised by the amount of illusion magic the other unicorn knew, though it did make trading tips with her quite the enlightening experience.

Being a train, Trixie could naturally go in a straight line but at the ends of each car there were openings for the doors off the train, which were simply impossible to see from her current position without exposing herself to any waiting enemies in those blind spots. As she approached them, she slowed down and tiptoed, moving the mirror to each side and looking as closely as she could with it. Nothing. Just the starry sky of Luna's night passing by through the windows as the train sped towards it's destination. The distance between Rainbow Falls and Ponyville was close enough for a day trip, so it'd be well into the morning by the time she arrived.

Carefully opening the door between the passenger car and the next, she used the mirror to look all around, making triple sure there wasn't a suspicious pegasus hanging onto the roof to pounce on her as she passed (unlikely for the average pegasus given the wind ripping around the moving train, but not impossible). She even turned the mirror to look down at the coupling between the two cars. Nothing to be found. The azure unicorn repeated the process on the other side of the door to the dining car, where she knew there was a water fountain she could get some cold water from. Most trains had a few water fountains, a convenient feature for frequent travelers (and one she'd taken advantage of before getting her cart back).

Keeping her eyes open, she moved deeper into the dining car and saw the drinking fountain, a simple silver machine with some paper cups set next to it...and heard hoofsteps coming from the same direction as she'd come from, the door opening. The azure unicorn found herself slipping under one of the tables and peaking out. As she hid, a pony trotted by in the dark and began getting some water from the fountain, evidently having the same idea that she had.

Just to be safe, Trixie used her mirror to take a peak. To her relief, the pony in question was a turquoise pegasus with a swept back amber mane and tail. Her Cutie Mark was a lightning bolt with several stars.

“Trixie is letting this get to her...” Trixie muttered to herself, wanting to slam her head into the floor. She then realized that emerging from underneath a table hiding from stranger and having to explain that would be incredibly awkward and ego bruising. “...Trixie's hiding, fewer ponies see her undisguised the better...” she decided.

So instead of allowing that, Trixie merely waited for the mare to leave.

“Don't know why a train to Dodge Junction has to go through bucking Ponyville. Stupid rainbow maned jerk...” the mare muttered bitterly, downing two glasses of water and heading back to what Trixie presumed to be her room.

Poking her head out, the azure mare looked around for anypony else, Luna's moon coming through the window and barely illuminating the room. “Rainbow maned jerk? Rainbow Dash?” she questioned. “Then again, Rainbow Dash does partake in many races, must be a defeated foe, Trixie has certainly had many bitter defeated ponies...though for more justified reasons...And it's not like Rainbow's the only rainbow maned pony in the world.”

Trixie got her water and headed back to her room, being slightly less paranoid. “Trixie is on a speeding train to Ponyville even if they realized Trixie is on board, what are the odds they could catch up in time?”

-

Trixie's eyes fluttered open, finding a bright light shining into them. As her eyes adjusted, she tried to move, but her body wouldn't respond. She couldn't move any of her limbs, like they just wouldn't respond. Even her neck seemed frozen in place. Only her eyes could move.

Looking above her, she noticed a bright light, surrounded by strange machinery that would make an alien abduction movie look tame.

As panic began to grip her, her eyes darted around, and found only a white room, no concrete details she could identify besides the very terrifying machine above her body. Her eyes locked on one detail she could, one that made terror fill her heart.

Two stallions in black and white suits stood nearby, watching her stoically. Not reacting at all to her situation. Between the two...stood a mare. One that Trixie felt seemed more...solid than either of them. She was an orange unicorn with a dark orange mane and tail, with purple eyes. She simply watched intently, expectantly.

She tried to scream but even her tongue and jaw seemed locked in place. She couldn't struggle. Only watch.

“Open her up,” said one of the stallions.

The machinery descended towards her, a blade preparing to slice down her chest.

-

Trixie jolted awake, giving a scream of pure terror, eyes pinpricks. Her eyes darted around the room in a blind panic, her entire body feeling cold. Her mind racing.

Throwing off her blankets with her telekinesis, she felt her chest frantically. No cut, no wound, no stitched up scar. It was just her beautiful blue fur as it always had been.

“Thank Princess Celestia...” muttered the azure mare, finding herself trembling violently. “Just a night terror brought on by a stressful situation... Trixie, you've been reading too much science fiction...yes, you are being hunted but you have no proof they are aliens going to dissect you. That's just paranoia talking...”

“Is there something wrong miss?” asked one of the train's staff, reminding Trixie she'd just let out a scream of terror on board a train which may or may not have picked up more ponies since she's went to sleep.

“Oh, yes. T-” Trixie realized that saying her name was probably a bad idea. “I just had a nightmare is all.”

The showmare got up out of bed, seeing the morning sun peaking out around the edges of her drapes. She considered whether or not she should leave her room at all. On one hoof, she didn't exactly need to, given she would arrive in Ponyville soon enough and be able to meet with her friends. On the other, it might be suspicious if she never left her room after screaming her head off like that, and it would be a lot easier to flee if her pursuers came if she wasn't stuck in one small room.

Not only that...but after that nightmare where she couldn't move or act or do anything...

Trixie looked at her case. “Well...Trixie could simply disguise herself...”

---

Lightning Dust stood out on the caboose of the train, looking out into the distance rapidly being left behind. She wasn't sure why she was going to Dodge Junction, she had no particular reason to go there. Then again, she had no reason to go anywhere at all in all honesty, not since the Wonderbolts Academy.

“Stupid Rainbow Dash...” she muttered, kicking the guard rail. “What a snitch.”

Her dream died that day. Everything she'd ever wanted to do gone in an instant. All because of a stubborn pegasi deciding to rat her out for something everypony should have done!

Still...why then did she have dreams sometimes when she'd swallowed her pride and accepted her punishment. She was demoted to Dash's wing pony, but both graduated and both remained friends afterward. Eh, dreams were dreams, right? Had to be, why would she think anything positive about that snitch?

“Maybe I'll go to a sports bar get me a lot of salt...”

“I'm afraid those plans will have to be postponed, Miss Dust.”

The pegasus blinked, turning to find Cover Story standing behind her, the unicorn staring at her with no emotion from behind sunglasses.

“Huh? Who the buck are you?”

“We need something from you, Miss Dust.”

She swung around, finding Gear Shift standing on the railing, every bit the stoic as his partner except for panting slightly.

---

Trixie sat in the dining car, assuming the guise of an old mare with the proper dress, though she didn't have a wig, just the proper hat. Contrary to her normal 'front and center' methods, she was seated at the very back corner as far away from everypony as possible.

They were getting close to Ponyville by now, it was only a little while longer. “Everything is going perfectly, Trixie merely needs to keep herself from being found for a little while longer and she'll be safe...It's almost over now...” she whispered under her breath.

Trixie thought back to the day before, when she'd met those two and she ended up on the lamb...and began to feel cold. She remembered how she kept having the feeling she way being watched going to the store and back. How she felt like somepony was following her. And her mind's gears began to turn despite her efforts to avoid letting paranoia consume her.

The mare put her hoof over the side of her face not facing the train window and slowly looked over the other ponies eating. 'Why didn't I think to look at all the faces before sitting down?' Trixie questioned, knowing she'd seen the faces of her pursuers before. All she had to work with was mane color and outfit of half the car.

Her eyes fell on a stallion in a black suit, causing her to panic slightly until she realized he had the wrong fur color. Then a thought occurred to her. 'What if they're not wearing their suits?' she questioned internally.

The azure unicorn began looking for the shades of gray her pursuers had been colored. To her dismay, there were several stallions fitting that description. Even narrowing down mane color, there were still plenty of potential suspects. Four stallions with that exact coloring. Could it be one of them?

Trixie nearly jumped to the ceiling when the waiter put a glass of cold water, silverware, and the menu on the table in front of her. “Ready to order now, Miss?”

“Y-Yes. Yes, thank you...” Trixie lifted the menu with her hooves, her horn beneath the hat and wanting to keep it that way as she did her best not to give herself away. She took a drink of her water and kept looking it over as she tried to maintain her composure. “I think I'll...Just give me...um...a cheese sandwich, okay? And another glass of water, okay?” she requested, asking for the first thing appetizing that came to mind.

“Yes, Miss.”

Trixie relaxed herself and resumed her in depth check to make sure her attackers weren't present...when the door next to her suddenly loudly swung open. She kept her head down so her face wasn't easily visible...and to her horror found Cover Story trot through the door and into the car. 'He is here?!' she thought in complete and utter terror. The mare then tried to calm down and keep herself from panicking. Well, panicking more. 'There's no way they could possibly know you're on board, Trixie. They think you escaped, so perhaps they headed somewhere else to keep looking or find somepony else to terrorize. Kidnappers have lives too, right? And it's not like there's somewhere else in a moving train to get something to eat.'

Unfortunately for her, the stallion didn't seem interested in sitting down and eating something. Instead, he walked to front of the car, eyes hidden behind his sunglasses. He turned around, standing right in front of the door. “Attention, everypony,” he called, knocking on the wall of the car with a monotonous beat that got the attention of everypony in the car. “My name is Agent Cover Story, do I have your complete, undivided attention? Good.”

The stallion's horn glowed and Trixie found herself momentarily blinded by a bright flash of light. When it cleared, Trixie found everypony in the entire car staring intently at Cover Story, as if in a hypnotic trance.

“There is a dangerous criminal on this train, me and my partner are searching for her and it is advised all ponies on the train return to their cabins and lock your doors. Do not come out no matter what noise you hear unless it is me or my partner coming to check for the criminal, understood?”

“Understood...”

The azure mare felt a cold chill as everypony in the entire room answered at the same exact time and seemed to accept every last word the pony said as fact without a moment's hesitation and began to file out of the car as if his word was law. 'Who the Tartarus am I dealing with?!'

Trixie did the wise thing and joined in the march, trying to look as inconspicuous as she possibly could. She even more any more than she had to, trying to just vanish into the crowd without looking like she was half as terrified as she truly was. 'Just stay in your room until you arrive, then you'll be fine Trixie.'

She made it back to her room and prepared to open the door...when suddenly a wind blew down the hall way and blew her hat off, revealing her horn and face.

Trixie stood, terror in her eyes as everypony paid her zero mind at all and simply went into their rooms and locked the doors. Like she wasn't even there at all.

“Hello, Miss Lulamoon...”

Trixie turned to watch Gearshift trotting down the hallway towards her with a measured, almost robotic pace. As if the idea she could escape now was impossible. Trixie did the natural reaction and turned to flee the other direction...only to find Cover Story standing at the door.

“You have nowhere you can run to now, Miss Lulamoon. Come quietly.”

With only a few seconds to think, Trixie looked at the two stallions...then promptly dove into her room and locked the door behind her.

“Running is futile, Miss Lulamoon,” Cover Story said, the two trotting up to her door. “You have trapped yourself.”

The two required only a few moments to smash down the door to the room, whatever they'd done to the rest of the passengers preventing them from caring about the noise. However, when they entered Trixie's room, they found her gone and the window wide open.

“Did she jump out?” questioned Cover Story, the two trotting over and looking out...only for Trixie to throw open the closet and dash out of the room, the two snapping around and coming directly after her.

Trixie spun around and froze the ground solid...only for them to reveal they'd donned winter horseshoes since they last came after her and simply continued after her. “Horseapples!” she shouted, dashing across the connector to the next car, nearly falling off on accident.

Once in the dining car, the unicorn proceeded to use her telekinesis to pick up every unfinished plate of food or other item she could at the duo, but that did little to slow them down even when they did hit. She ripped the curtains off the walls and webbed them across the car in front of the duo, giving her a few moments to run before Cover Story blasted straight through her makeshift barrier with his magic with ease. Blowing open the door, Trixie continued to the next car, trying to use a magically summoned scarves and some spikes to tie it shut, but Cover Story used a dagger pulled from his pocket and to slice them from the inside and continue pursuing her.

The azure mare looked around desperately, now in a normal, utterly empty passenger car. “Think think think...ah!”

Trixie opened a window and created a scarf, tacking it to the top of the locomotive with spikes and climbed out...and nearly got blown off the train by the wind. “This train is moving too fast for most pegasi...Rainbow Dash might be able to, but Gearshift is no Rainbow Dash!”

Gearshift looked out the window as Trixie dispelled the scarf at the top and used summoned suction cups (normally used for various acts) to secure herself to the roof of the train. “It appears she's gone to the top of the train...”

“Don't worry, partner, we came prepared for this eventuality,” Cover Story reassured. “Let's comb the train in case she tries to get back in or we missed any witnesses.”

---

“Okay, so Trixie managed to evade them...” Trixie muttered, trying not to be floored by the wind. On one hoof, she was naturally a fan of movies with train top battle scenes, but in reality the wind and speed made them a good bit rougher and more difficult than in fiction for the average mare, and only an athlete pegasi like Rainbow Dash could properly compensate for the speed. On the other, the dramatic part of her kind of missed the opportunity to have an elaborate train top showdown with her attackers.

Trixie looked off ahead of the train. They'd be getting into the greener areas soon, and Canterlot Mountain was visible now, wouldn't be too much longer.

“Alright, so Trixie just needs to evade them until she can manage to get off the train...but the bigger question is how in Tartarus did they find Trixie and get on board?”

Before Trixie could continue pondering things, a turquoise blur slammed into her and sent her flying. She just barely managed to catch herself using the suction cups, pulling herself back up. “What the-”

The turquoise blur slammed down on the roof of the train a few feet away from the mare, Trixie instantly recognized the mare as the same one she'd seen the night before. But...something was different.

Lightning Dust's eyes and face just seemed blank. Expressionless. Like she might as well be looking at a statue of the mare than a living breathing person. She didn't even seem flinched by the wind whipping around the train, like she didn't even feel it.

“What is your problem?!” Trixie yelled...right before having to duck under a punch from the mare, only to get backflip kicked back and needing to catch herself once with the suction cups. “...You're with them?!”

Instead of engaging in cocky, witty banter, Lightning Dust took off, showing no trouble keeping pace with the moving train or compensating for the moving battlefield. Trixie saw the attack coming this time and jumped, letting the wind and moving train do her dodging for her as Lightning Dust's drive by attack missed completely.

Trixie yelped and moved forwards as best as she could given she currently had suction cups on her hooves. She knew if she got hit with a few more strikes, she might go flying off the train. The showmare set off a firework in front of Lightning Dust to distract her when she prepared to come at her again, letting her make a leap to the next car and move forwards. “Leave Trixie alone! This has nothing to do with you!”

Lightning Dust's response was to dive bomb her again, forcing her to duck. Trixie was pretty sure she lost a few hairs at how near a miss that was. The mare still not saying a single word.

Trixie continued moving forwards and manifested several lightning clouds between the turquoise mare and herself, hoping to maybe stun her with a bolt. Instead, Lightning Dust expertly dodged the lightning and busted the clouds without getting shocked at all.

“Trixie needs to be able to move quicker or she's toast...” Trixie exclaimed, taking another dive bomb that sent her flying over the side. The mare barely managed to latch on to the side using the suction cups, struggling to keep herself from falling off with the roaring wind.

As she struggled to hang on and possibly pull herself up, she saw Lightning Dust prepare to dive at her...and then pull up sharply. “What the...oh horseapples.”

The azure unicorn managed to pull herself back up and flatten herself across the top of it, the top of a tunnel barely clipping her flank and ripping into the old mare's garb she'd been using to disguise herself (and still hadn't the time to discard). Trixie cringed and felt the area grow somewhat wet and warm. “Not good...”

She crawled her way up further on the train, wishing she'd fallen off the OTHER side of the train where it was open for other trains to pass by. Deciding being more mobile was a preferable trade off to being secure during a fight, Trixie made the suction cups vanish into thin air and replaced them with heavy chains she normally reserved for escape tricks. As the train emerged from the other side of the train, Lightning Dust was waiting and tried a dive bomb. While the heavier weights weren't quite as secure, they did weigh her down enough to let her move without being thrown off, allowing her to leep to the side and dodge.

Trixie magically conjured another length of chain and threw it, wrapping around Lightning Dust's leg and pulling down, using the fact Lightning was going in the opposite direction of the train's momentum to bring the pegasus crashing with a thud into the top of the train. “Haha! Don't underestimate Trixie the Magnificent!”

Unfortunately, it did little to keep the silent assailant down, and she was right back up. Trixie had to release the chain before Lightning Dust could pull her back towards her, resulting in having to duck under several whips of her own weapon. “Trixie should not be underestimating her opponents either!”

The showmare did the intelligent thing and dispelled the chain in Lightning Dust's hooves. She considered summoning some clouds to try and zap her attacker while she was grounded, but they were on the top of an occupied train. She heard another loud rumble and saw another train coming the opposite direction on the second track running side-by-side with the one she was riding.

Running as Lightning Dust took off, Trixie jumped from car to car and made some headway as the other train came up on them.

“Trixie?!” she heard somepony call from the other train, and stopped in confusion...until Lightning Dust flew straight up and did a loop, catching her off guard and launching her forwards. This time the turquoise pegasus pinned her down and attempted to punch her lights out several times before Trixie could recover and blast the pegasus in the face with an intense flash and kick her off.

Unfortunately for Trixie, Lightning Dust got right back up unfazed and prepared to continue the chase...when a rainbow colored comet slammed into the attacker and sent her flying. “Whoa! Lightning Dust?! What the Tartarus are you doing?!”

The azure mare blinked, staring up at the cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane who'd come to her rescue. “R-Rainbow Dash?!” she asked in amazement.

“Hey Trix,” Rainbow Dash replied, landing on the train and helping her up.

“Thank Princess Celestia...Not that the Magnificent Trixie is complaining, but what are you doing here?” Trixie questioned.

“Magic Cutie Marks, Cutie Map, long story,” Rainbow Dash replied, her expertise in dealing with high gs and wind showing in how little effort it took for her to endure the raging wind. “I'll explain later. What about you?...And what the Tartarus are you wearing?”

“Being chased by kidnappers! And Trixie is in disguise!”

“...They're not obsessed fanboys again, are they?” the cyan pegasus questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“No!”

Rainbow Dash was prepared to fire back with a quip...but stopped at how terrified Trixie seemed. “Alright, gotcha. Don't worry, I've got this...”

Rainbow Dash then had to duck and pull Trixie down with her as Lightning Dust dive-bombed them. “Geeze! Lightning Dust cut it out! Why are you even after Trixie anyway?! I'm the one who ratted you out! Not saying you didn't deserve it!”

The cyan mare did a back-flip and kicked the incoming pegasus in the jaw, knocking her back.

“You know her?” Trixie questioned.

Rainbow Dash nodded as Lightning Dust sat back up on the train roof. “Yeah. She's this pegasus I met once, a lot like me, only ya know, a lot less awesome in the ways that count...but something's off...”

The azure mare blinked, noting the suspicious look in Rainbow's eyes. “What?”

“Lightning Dust has a lot of flaws, but being mute ain't one of them,” the cyan mare replied, keeping herself ready to react. “She should be trash-talking me left and right, but she looks like a statue...”

Rainbow Dash took off and met Lightning Dust's charge, the two pegasi clashing with one another above the train like a pair of deranged humming birds. Trixie's eyes couldn't even keep track of them, but was stunned both had enough presence of their environment to stay above the moving train. The two continued attacking and evading one another until Lightning Dust managed to get behind Rainbow Dash and try to deliver a flying piledriver into the top of the train. Rainbow Dash elbowed her repeatedly in the ribs and managed to kick her off, pulling up just before impact and skidding to a stop in front of Trixie. Lightning Dust got back up, and prepared to take off right at them again...

“Duck!” Trixie yelled, seeing something up ahead. She and Rainbow pressed themselves against the roof of the train...but Lightning Dust just kept approaching.

“Lightning Dust! Behind you!” Rainbow Dash called, panic filling her voice. “Get down!”

The stoic, emotionless pegasus turned to look behind her just in time for the top of a tunnel to smash into her face and send her tumbling head over heels, coming to a stop right in front of them but not moving an inch. Rainbow Dash felt something wet and warm land on her face.

The moment they came out the other end of the tunnel, Rainbow Dash got to her hooves and rushed over to the downed pegasus. “LIGHTNING DUST?!”

The mare wasn't moving at all.

“Come on, don't do this! You're a jerkflank but I don't want you to...” Rainbow Dash shook her...then stared in blind shock at her face as the mare's head rolled over. “What the Tartarus?!”

Trixie blinked...then trotted over slowly, looking down and gasping in shock.

Lightning Dust's head was indeed damaged...but there wasn't blood, though what was there had streaks of red in it. Instead of bone and blood, there was metal and oil. Beneath what was once her right eye was a blue robotic (though inactive) optic. The metal skull had blue mana flowing through lines running along it.

“She's a machine?!” Trixie asked in disbelief. “But I just saw her last night! How could she be a robot?!”

“Did we just trot into Invasion of the Ponysnatchers or something?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, backing up from the robot that she'd believed was Lightning Dust, Trixie doing the exact same thing.

“...Those ponies,” Trixie gasped, a thought entering her mind. “They must have replaced her with this robot! Or turned her into a cyborg or something! That must be why they're after me!...Come to think about it, when I first saw them the Flim Flam Brothers suddenly vanished as well!”

Rainbow Dash slowly approached 'Lightning Dust' and moved her head, touching the metal...and reacting like she'd been burned. “Youch! That metal's hot! Geeze...”

Before she could turn around, Lightning Dust's head snapped up, looking Rainbow Dash in the eye. The cyan Pegasus jumped as a bright flash of light went off from the machine's eyes, the same exact type as the one Cover Story had used on the passengers earlier. Lightning Dust then fell back to the roof, unmoving and seemingly offline.

Recognizing it, Trixie gasped and ran over, looking at the cyan pegasus with a mix of fear and concern. “Rainbow Dash, are you okay?!”

Rainbow Dash groaned, rubbing her eyes. She opened her purple eyes and an aura of blue magic glowed around them, causing what looked like white colored magic to shatter off. “Yeah...ugh, felt like something was trying to worm its way into my head...”

“Thank goodness it didn't, I saw one of the stallions use a spell like that on the passengers before and it made them do exactly what he said...I wonder why it didn't work on us...”

Rainbow Dash looked unnerved. “Ugh, okay, I might be awesome, but this is 'save the world' level stuff, we need to go get Twilight and the others, fast.”

Trixie didn't need to be told twice and quickly got on the pegasus' back before the mare took off as fast as her wings would take her, leaving the train continuing on its path.

“Alright, promised you an explanation so here it is: I was asleep in my house, right?” Rainbow Dash asked, going as fast as she could without setting off a Sonic Rainboom. At least not until they were well ahead of the train. “And the Tree of Harmony decided to call me to the castle.”

Trixie did her best not to look down at the ground far below. Instead she just focused on Rainbow Dash. Instead of focusing on her hind legs dangling off several hundred feet up, she focused on the sensation of the cyan mare's racing heartbeat and breathing, keeping her eyes on the back of Rainbow's head. “The what now?”

“Oh yeah, long story short, we're kinda linked to the Tree of Harmony that the Elements came from, and sometimes it calls us with our Cutie Marks to solve Friendship Problems. In this case, it called me in the middle of the night to go to Rainbow Falls and that was kind of the weird part to begin with. It only called me. Every other time it called more than one of us. So I got on the train and headed out, but that's when it got really weird. Twilight sent me a letter with Spike saying how the location it decided to send me too had started moving. Thankfully, it looked like I'd meet it half way, which yeah, kind of did. Now what about you? How'd you end up with Mecha Lightning Dust back there after you?”

Trixie promptly explained everything that had happened. The Flim Flam Brothers suddenly vanishing, feeling like she was being watched, Cover Story and Gearshift attacking her in the middle of night, and finally them and Lightning Dust ambushing her on the train.

“So first the Flim Flam Brothers, then Lightning Dust, and now you,” Rainbow Dash replied, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, definitely sounds like Invasion of the Ponysnatchers. I guess the Tree of Harmony sent me to find you and figure out what's before half of Equestria's robots...or aliens...or alien robots. Wonder if that crazy Starlight Glimmer's behind this. Replacing everypony with robots she could program to act the same isn't too much of a stretch...”

Trixie nodded slowly, then looked down sadly. “...Trixie just wants to be able to go home again. She can't believe she got ran out of it in the middle of the night...again.”

Rainbow Dash peaked back, noting how sad Trixie looked. “Hey, no worries, Trix. We save the world all the time! We'll kick these jerks' flanks and save Equestria, then you'll be right back to being a professional showoff, okay?”

The two shared a smile. “You mean like you wish to be, Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Hey, can't say we don't like showing off, right?” she questioned. “...By the way, nice going making it this far by yourself. You're tougher than I thought!”

Trixie chuckled and gave a bow as best she could in her present situation. “Thank you! The Magnificent Trixie is many things, but weak she has never been!”

“Tell me about it, you're not even winded!” the cyan pegasus replied. She couldn't feel Trixie's heart racing or her breathing heavy. Though she felt rather hot.

“Well Trixie does pull her carriage all over Equestria! One could say she has been through endurance training most of her life!” the mare announced bombastically. She then remembered the blow she'd taken back in the fight. “Thought she was injured in that fight.”

“Don't worry, even if we can't take you to the hospital with these bozos after you, Fluttershy can handle it if you need help,” Rainbow Dash replied, giving a chuckle. “Trust me, she's tended to enough bruises of mine.”

The azure mare laughed, something that felt so good. After running for her life this entire time a laugh was very welcome. Before she could retort, both her and Rainbow Dash felt something odd. Trixie looked down to see Rainbow Dash's Cutie Mark glowing with a bright light beneath her leg and outfit. “Rainbow Dash, you're Cutie Mark is glowing. Since when does your Cutie Mark glow?”

“Yeah, that's what I meant about the Tree calling me. Kinda normal for us now...” Rainbow Dash explained. “It normally glows again when we've finished saving the day...wait a minute.”

“What?”

“It's not stopping. It should have stopped if saving you was what it sent me to do...I think we need to get back QUICK. Grab on tight and don't let go, okay?”

Trixie blinked and wrapped her hooves around Rainbow's chest. “Alright...”

“Good! Brace for Rainboom Speed!”

“Wait, what?!”

---

Lightning Dust lay unmoving on the roof of the train car, where the two had left her...but the oil had stopped 'bleeding' from her 'wound.'

'SELF REPAIRS COMPLETE.'

The mare's left eye opened and her exposed optic began to glow blue. She got up and looked in the direction her prey had taken off in. Rainbow Dash lived in Ponyville...

'CONCEAL DAMAGED COMPONENTS BEFORE CONTINUING PURSUIT.'

The artificial pony reached down and punched a hole through one of the windows, pulling out the curtain and wrapping it around her exposed mechanical parts. Flapping her wings, she took off after Rainbow Dash and Trixie without batting an eye.

---

“So Trixie went to the bathroom to check on her wound and get cleaned up?” Twilight Sparkle asked, the group gathered around the Cutie Map, which now had all six of their marks hovering at the castle.

“Yeah, poor girl's been through Tartarus from the sound of it,” Applejack replied, the orange Earth Pony looking in the direction of the bathroom. “And I don't think Flim and Flam deserve whatever happened to 'em neither. But are yah sure Lightning Dust was a robot?”

“Well she might have been a cyborg or something,” Rainbow Dash replied. “But I know what I saw, Trixie saw it too. Something seriously freaky is going on! I had Spike sent a letter to Gilda to keep an eye out in case they go after her too. She said she would but so far nothing weird up in Griffinstone.”

Fluttershy pinned her ears. “I sent one to Iron Will too, but he hasn't gotten back to me...this is starting to get scary. Oh, but Discord's okay, but he said he's busy transdimensional fishing with the Smooze.”

“Of course, unreliable as always...” Rainbow muttered.

“Well whatever is going on, darlings, doesn't change the fact poor Trixie has lost her home,” Rarity replied.

The cream colored pegasus nodded somberly. “Again...”

“She's right! How is Trixie supposed to have parties without a house to throw them in?!” Pinkie Pie asked. “Oh, and it got smashed by the Ursa before, so she's probably feeling really bad...”

Twilight gave a concerned look to the map. “And the Cutie Map went from only asking for Rainbow Dash to asking for all of us...it hasn't done that since Starlight Glimmer...something big is going on here...And this isn't Starlight Glimmer's style. Not if Lightning Dust was an exact copy and not 'equalized.' This doesn't make any sense.”

“At least it actually called you this time, Twilight,” Spike pointed out. “I mean we ran out of books. I didn't think that was possible!”

“I know! Isn't it great!...Other than the potential robot invasion thing...”

The six ponies and one dragon sat down in their thrones, thinking over the situation.

“...Um...Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah Rarity.”

“What's that on your flank?”

Rainbow Dash blinked, looking back at her hindquarters. To her surprise, a black substance was stuck to her fur. “Ugh, oil. Probably got on me from when Mecha Lightning Dust got smacked in the head. Got a bit in my face too.”

Twilight blinked, looking closer at the oil on her face. “Hmm...there's some red pigment mixed in...perhaps if only their skin is pierced they have fake blood?”

“Uh, girls, you said oil came from those things when they're hurt, right?” Spike questioned.

“Yeah...”

“Look!”

The ponies all turned to follow Spike's pointing finger, looking to see a puddle of oil on the floor nearby, a drip of it heading off towards the bathroom. Unlike the oil on Rainbow Dash, this looked fresh. Everypony's hearts skipped a beat and they looked around in worry and paranoia.

“AHHHHHHH!”

Everypony jumped at the loud, terrified scream.

“That was Trixie!” Fluttershy gasped out.

“Lightning Dust! She must have followed us!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, giving a worried look and taking off.

“Come on everypony!” Twilight screamed, all of them stampeding towards the bathroom as fast as their legs or wings could carry them.

Skidding to a stop, Rainbow Dash rammed the door down, splintering it to pieces.

“Rainbow Dash, I have a key you know,” Twilight pointed out in annoyance. “This IS my castle after all...”

“Whatever, Trixie, what's...wrong...”

Words died in everypony's throats at the sight on the other side of the broken door.

Trixie had stripped off her disguise to prepare for the now shower. But she'd never gotten in.

Instead, the mare was staring at her own hip in absolute horror.

There wasn't any blood. Instead of blood and bone, there was oil and metal. The silver metal beneath having lines of glowing blue running through it.

And despite this sight...Trixie was the one who seemed to be filled with the most shock and horror out of everypony in the room.

To be continued...

Comments

[Alex Warlorn]

Thanks. Really wish this was getting more attention than it was.

[Proper Prose]

Did not see that coming.

[Reddened Chaos]

This...is sounding like....Terminator Salvation...where the main character was a Terminator...and he didn't even know it!

[DracoDarastrix]

Okay, I wasn't surprise by the cliffhanger. The subtle hints in the text of this and previous chapters made it clear that there is more going then meets the eye. Still very good story so far and I like where it's heading.

[Ultimate Warrior of Zera]

So Trixie is a robot who has her own will. Creepy

[howard035]

Awesome, now it looks like the start of I, Robot. (Well it's Trixie, so I guess it would be She, Robot).

I doubt Discord could be a robot, but maybe Gilda could, and the PiB just figured it would be easier to build a replacement antagonist for Rainbow than travel all the way to Griffonstone to trigger a reset.

You know who I feel really bad for? Filthy Rich. I think he's the only member of his family who isn't a robot.

[Silvermyr]

Phyrexian oil, maybe? Is anypony else here into Magic, The Gathering?

[Ri2]

Yeah, I thought something like this might be the case.
Still think there's some government agency making ponies solely to be antagonists.

[LurkyMcLurkerson]

The PIB came on too strong. If they'd just folded that paper into a little unicorn and offered Trixie a job, she would have come along quietly...

[Biker_Dash]

6602295 I had that exact same thought