> Dust on the Wind
>  by Sparky Brony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1. A Typical Day in the Oil Field
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's gotta be you, you little devil," I say as I pull a relay out of the pump panel and inspect it. Inside the clear plastic case I can see a scorch mark. Yup, it's done. I walk over to my truck and pop open the service bed, open the drawer and pull out a replacement. In moments I've got the relay tucked into its base. I close the panel door and throw the disconnect. A quick turn of the switch to auto lets the PLC send it's signal, and the pumping unit whines to life. I step back from the unit and head to my truck. I stop to look around. Oil country, though it's not the Bakken, it’s got plenty of oil around here in Eastern Montana. I'm actually in North Dakota right now, a couple hundred miles south of the insanity that is the Bakken. This is what is best described as a mature field, oil's been pumped from these wells for thirty plus years. Near the Black Hills, the rolling hills around here are majestic. In the distance I can see an antelope perusing the spring grass. I smile as I put my hand on the door of my work truck, only to be interrupted by an electronic chirp. I snatch my winter glove off and pull my phone from its clip. A quick glance at the caller ID tells me it's a Bozeman number. I thumb the answer call button.

"Lightning Electric, this is Michael, can I help you?"

"Hey bro."

I look at the phone, the number is not in my directory. Huh?

"Hey Maddie, what's up?"

"I got a new number."

"I guessed that, problems?"

"Nah, Chuck and I broke up, he took his phone back, so I had to get a new one."

"Oh, sorry to hear that," I say while silently grinning. Chuck was another in a long line of loser boyfriends my errant sister has been with over the years.

"You sound so sincere," she chuckles in my ear. Damnit.

"Well, no, I'm not sorry. Sis, you know how to pick them."

She barks out a laugh, "Yes, I do, from loser, to asshole, and back to loser. I can't pick them. Maybe I should ask Helen how she roped you."

I chuckle, "You don't want a workaholic electrician for a boyfriend, you won't see him enough."

"When he owns his own business, I will."

She has me there. Once I finally was able to buy this company, I'm home every night, rather than spending time in the Bakken and living out of a hotel room. "Well, you know how hard it was to get this company."

"Yeah, but you’re debt free, despite going into shock for everything you have to get that company."

"Yeah, I did good, but it took years of very hard work."

"I know, big bro. But I was also calling for another reason. Happy Birthday big bro."

"And happy birthday to you little sis. Are you planning on your usual tradition? 2AM?"

"You know it." I groan inwardly. While we are ten years apart in age, I was born at 2:12 in the morning on May 1st, she was born ten years later, at 2:18AM, crazy, huh? She's been calling me at two in the morning on our birthday every year since I moved out to Eastern Montana.

"Oh, and other news, I'm in Montana now bro."

I gathered that by the 406 area code, which still serves the entire state. "Oh, cool," is my reply.

I open the door and haul myself into my truck. The diesel engine is purring in this fine, brisk, spring day. Eighteen degrees is normal for this time of spring in Montana. I dump my hard hat and balaclava off onto the passenger seat and shift the phone to the other hand so I can remove my other glove.

"Maddie, I've got to get back to the office. I'll catch up with you later, okay? Since you are over in Bozeman, are you gonna head over here? Helen and the kids would love to see you."

"Yeah, I was thinking this weekend, sound good?"

"I'll let her know."

We say our goodbyes and I place my phone it's it's booster cradle, pulling the bluetooth headset from the dash I activate it and put in on my head. I grab the stick shift and put it into second gear. This six year old Dodge Ram is lovingly maintained by my mechanic at the shop. He gets sixty hours a week just working on our company vehicles. But he says that no major manufacturer makes stick shift trucks anymore, so he's going to keep this truck going as long as physically possible. And that is good in my book, I hate automatics. In moments I'm down the lease road and at the intersection to the county road. Shortly I'm at the speed limit and then the inevitable happens. My phone beeps again and the screen shows it's the shop.

I touch the button on my bluetooth. "This is Michael."

My HSE (Health, Safety, Environmental) specialist is on the phone, "Mike, we've got a problem."

I sigh. Running three dozen trucks in addition to a half dozen backhoes and two hydro excavator trucks means that my phone is always busy.

"What is it, Rose?"

"The crew working at the CO2 injection plant east of town had a little…" she hesitates, "accident."

"Anybody hurt?"

"No, not really any damage, just a scratch to the bumper of a truck."

I sigh. Safety is a real concern, and as a company, we are committed to safety, but even a scratch like this is a whole shit-can of worms.

"What happened?"

"One of the apprentices was moving a truck, he put it in reverse and it rolled forward into another of our trucks."

"Any other vehicles?"

"No."

"I'm on my way." I glance at the GPS embedded in my dash. "I'll be there in about twenty minutes. Call the host company, let them know what happened. And don't forget to call the hospital, I'll bring in the driver for a drug screening."

"I know the drill, Pat is already on the phone. We'll handle things on our side."

"Now I know why I hired you, you are on top of things."

She laughs as she signs off. I floor the pedal, and in moments I'm running over a hundred. I know it's not safe, but I love speed. And the cops around here look the other way when one of the biggest employers in town is hauling ass.

***

I'm true to my word, in twenty minutes I'm pulling through the gate to the brand new CO2 injection plant. Pulling around to where my electricians are working, I stop and grab my hard hat and gloves.

"So, I got the call," I say as my journeyman on site comes up. "What exactly happened?"

The fifty seven year old electrician scratches his chin. "Damned apprentices."

"Oh shush, you old coot. You were an apprentice once yourself."

"Yeah, but I wasn't as dumb as some of these kids."

I glare at him. "Bill, you've worked for me since I bought the company, and you worked for our boss before. You've been with this company for, what, twelve years?"

He nods.

"We need new blood in the trade. I'm thirty four until tomorrow, and all of my journeymen are as old as me or older. We need more bodies in this trade. Or do you want to be pushing a shovel when you are ready to collect Social Security?"

He grumbles and leads me to a teenage boy sitting on a bucket.

I get down on one knee, getting a twinge of pain as I do. I'm not old yet, am I? But I've abused my body in this trade since I was twenty, something my body doesn't hesitate to remind me of. "So, what happened?"

The kid looks up at me. "Please don't fire me."

I have to chuckle. "The only way you would get fired is if your piss test turns up dirty. Will it?"

His eyes are huge as he shakes his head slowly.

I put my hand on his shoulder. "Then it will be okay. Come on, I'll take you into town, we'll take care of it." I'm groaning inwardly, the paperwork on even the most minor of incidents mean hours of the office staff's time, time which could be more productively used.
I guide him to the truck and in moments we are on the road. The rest of the crew continuing their day of work. He just stares out the window during the drive and I'm content to leave him be.

Hours later I'm back at the shop, in my office. I light up a cigarette and sit back in my chair. Taking a moment to enjoy peace until there is a knock at my office door. More paperwork, but it's on the computer. I spend the rest of the day in computer hell. I've delegated what I can to my office gals, but there's still things I need to worry about. Every decision that gets kicked to me can't be kicked anywhere else. Finally, as the sun is setting I'm climbing back in the truck. After a ten minute drive I'm opening the front door to my home.

"Daddy's home!" two voices say in unison as I'm assaulted by my fifteen year old son and ten year old daughter. I don't smell dinner ready, but I was planning on cooking. Spaghetti, my own personal recipe, honed by years of practice. I notice my wife had laid out some ground venison. This is going to be fun.

My kids and I engage in small chat while I'm slicing onions and garlic and throwing them into the big pot. My daughter runs up to me with a piece of paper. I look at the picture she drew.

"And who is this?" I ask, looking at the blue pony on the paper. I look closer, she's got wings, and rainbow colors for her mane and tail. There's a picture on the pony's flank, some kind of cloud with a rainbow colored lightning bolt. Something triggers in my head, that pony looks familiar.

"That's Rainbow Dash, daddy. She's the fastest flier in Equestria," she chirps excitedly.

I look over the drawing. My daughter is a gifted artist, the feathers are very well detailed and the picture looks very much like a cartoon.

She chatters on about Equestria and all the ponies who live there under the rule of the immortal Celestia. I listen attentively, but honestly, most of it goes over my head. I haven't sat down to watch TV for more than a few minutes in years. Too damned busy.
"And there are a lot of bronies, though we all were upset at the ending of the show in the fifth season." I catch that last.

"The show? Bronies?"

She then launches to the phenomenon that was My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It started around when she was born, and ended when she was five, but she discovered the show on netflix, then found out about the bronies. I have to shudder, grown men who love a children's show for little girls. Now that is weird.

I am stirring the beginnings of the meat sauce as I let my mind wander. In my mind I see a weird creature, who looks like a mishmash of various creatures. He's laughing as he throws bolts of energy at a pegasus, just like the one in my daughter's drawing. She dissolves into white mist. Then his mismatched eyes turn and look at me.

I shudder as I smell the food, the onions are caramelized, almost burnt. I shake my head and turn down the gas on the stove. It's not like me to zone out like that, I dump in the ground venison and get that started as I grab another pot and put water in for the noodles.

"Something smells good," a feminine voice croons. I turn and see my wife of sixteen years as she walks into the kitchen.

"Hi honey." And I receive a kiss, much to the chagrin of my children.

"Get a room, Dad,” my son chuckles. I give him an evil eye as I finish kissing my wife.

"Dinner will be ready soon," I laugh as I turn back to the browned ground venison.
Half an hour later, we are sitting down to eat dinner. Heaping portions of my signature sauce  onto the angel hair pasta I grab a piece of garlic bread and start eating.

I find out school was okay. But that's all I find out about school. It's almost the end of the year. They keep asking me what our plans are for the summer vacation. After the last year’s trip to Disney World in Florida, my kids want to know what we are going to do to top that. I glance at my wife and she nods her head, meaning that everything we had discussed is ready.

"Well, since you had so much fun at Disney World last year, we decided to go on a Disney Cruise this year."
I swear, kids can vibrate from being happy.

I'm actually looking forward to that. Disney World was a blast last summer.

"So, T-minus forty five days, and we'll be getting on a plane and heading for the coast."

I smile at how happy my kids are. The rest of the dinner conversation is about Disney.

***

I'm awakened by an electronic chirp from my phone. I crack one eye open and look at the clock next to my bed, it's just after 2AM. Ugh.

"Hello Madison."

"Hey big brother. Thirty five years ago today, in just a few minutes it will be the exact anniversary of your birth."

"Yup, and six minutes after that, it will be the exact anniversary of your birth."

I can hear her chirping excitedly. I swear my sister never runs out of energy.

Suddenly I'm flying, I'm watching Rainbow Dash flashing down at the same monster. She's dodging energy bolts from his paw and claws. Then I watch a bolt connect with the rainbow maned pegasus. She flashes to mist.

"Rainbow!" I scream as I throw a lightning bolt from my wing. It connects with the lion's paw of the monstrosity in front of me. It disappears, though it rapidly grows back, though the bolt elicited a grunt of pain from the monster.

"You are going to be trouble," he intones as he throws another bolt in my direction. I'm already dodging, and throwing another bolt at him. Pegasi aren't usually able to actually use magic, but there is a small percentage who can, and my cutie mark, a lightning bolt with three stars indicates that ability being evident in me. I can feel the drain to my magic as I throw bolts at the draconequus.

"Mike. Earth to Mike. You there?"

I shake my head. What the hell? "Yeah, Maddie. I'm here." I glance at the clock as it clicks over to  2:18AM. "And now is the exact moment twenty five years ago when you were born."

Silence from the other end of the connection.

"Soarin, you there?"

Silence.

"C'mon Maddie, this isn't funny. I know I zoned out for a few minutes, but you don't need to just go silent on me."

I listen to silence for a minute or two, trying to get her to talk.

"Wow, that was weird, Lightning. I think it's time for bed. I'm having weird waking dreams."

"No problem sis, I've got to get to work tomorrow. Have a good night."

She signs off and I place the phone back on the night stand where it belongs. I settle back and close my eyes.

Only to open them again, "Who the heck is Lightning?"

> Chapter 2. What is Going on Here?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 2. What is going on here?


Five AM, as always, comes way too soon. I reach over and silence the alarm on my phone. Glancing at the time I roll over and put my arm around my wife. She slowly stirs and opens her eyes. Her blue eyes are always the best thing to see in the morning. I give her a kiss and get up to head to the bathroom. Taking care of the inevitable I head back into the bedroom, my wife had turned on the light on her side of the bed. She looks over at me. A flash of anger flashes across her face, she inhales and shouts.

"Hannah!" Her voice echoes across the house. After several moments of silence she hollers again. This time I hear the thump, thump, thump, of my daughters footsteps across the house. My door opens.

"Yes, Mommy?"

"What did you do to your father?"

"Huh?"

Huh? I look down, what's wrong with me. My wife points down on my upper thigh, I follow the line from her finger and see a lightning bolt with three stars imprinted on the skin of my thigh. I do a double take. What the fuck is that?

My daughter comes further into the room, her eyes wide.

"Now, Hannah, is this one of your pranks, staying up late to put some kind of tattoo on your dad? You know, you liking those ponies has gone pretty far."

"Mommy, I haven't done anything like that. But that's a cool cutie mark. If I did do it though, it would be Fluttershy's cutie mark."
Fluttershy? Oh, yeah, from that show she likes.

I move over to my wife and get my thigh in range, she prods and presses the skin.

"Well, if you've gotten a wild hair up your ass and gotten a tattoo, it wouldn't be this detailed. And it would be red and swollen too," she murmurs as she scratches the edge, "This looks almost natural even." She turns and glares at my daughter, who visibly shrinks from the gaze. "If you are behind this…" She leaves the threat unfinished as I move away.

"Honey, she didn't do it, we are looking at the worst liar in Montana right here." It's true, my daughters emotions are always evident on her face, lying is very difficult for her. "I need to hop in the shower, I'll try to scrub it off there." I turn to my daughter. "Go start getting ready for school, and turn on your brother's light so he can get ready himself.

Twenty minutes later I'm in the kitchen, bowls of cereal and milk for everyone. My daughter looks excitedly at me. "So, Daddy, did your cutie mark come off in the shower?"

I sigh and shake my head.

"Well, I looked online, you've got Lightning Dust's cutie mark."

Lightning Dust. Who the fuck is that? I look at my wife quizzically, to which she lifts her eyebrows.

Well, I don't have time to worry about that. I've got to get going to work, since it's just after 6AM. I hop into my truck and wait for a moment for the glow plugs to warm up. The diesel fires to life and purrs contentedly. In less than ten minutes I hit the button on my visor and the bay door  slowly rises. Backing into my bay I grab my laptop and tablet, and move into the office. In moments I've got the large fifty cup coffee maker brewing and I'm sitting in my comfortable chair. As usual, the emails are hopping once I wake my computer from sleep mode. The rest of the hour fades quickly, my office staff shows up first and each pokes their head in to say hi before opening the front office for the day. And right before seven the start showing up. Thirty journeymen and nearly double that in apprentices get to be a large crowd. The dirt excavators show up as well, getting their daily assignments. I grab my tablet and walk out the door and up the stairs to the main conference room. The journeymen follow me upstairs as the apprentices start preparing the trucks for the day of work.

The morning meeting is always important, most of the journeymen are told by the host companies what needs to be done, so they update me on the progress of their various projects.

"Well, it's Friday, the first of May. Spring is here." I get chuckles from around the room, spring hits up here a bit later than most places. There's still a foot of snow on the ground in most places.

I look to each journeyman and get updates from each one, notating on my tablet so I know where my guys are. After about twenty minutes, we are all up to date.

"Well, that's all I've got for the morning, stay safe out there." I hear the distant thunder of feet on the stairs. One of my senior journeymen stands up.

"Well, Mike. When you took over, you gave us all generous raises, and you've been updating company trucks and equipment to keep everything modern." He stops and looks at the rest of the guys and gals. I'm lucky to have three female journeymen electricians at my shop. One of them started as an apprentice with my company. He turns back to me, and they all burst into song, singing me happy birthday. As they finish the door opens and almost everyone who works for me files through the door. Patricia, the office manager, has a huge birthday cake in her hands, which she sets it front of me and, red faced in embarrassment, I blow out the candles.

"Guys, you shouldn't have,"  I say through a grin. "Thank you."

He smiles hugely. "We aren't done, let's go downstairs."

We all file down the stairs into the main shop, and with a big bow on top, a large Snap-On tool chest is sitting there.

I move up to the big red tool chest, "You really shouldn't have. This must have cost thousands." I open a drawer and am floored, I open a second drawer, then quickly go through them all. Every drawer is full of tools, everything from Klein electrician's tools, to a full mechanics set from Snap-On. Strike that, there's over ten thousand dollars in the chest and tools here. I open the big bottom drawer and there's a compliment of air driven tools as well. I feel a large hand clap on my back. "Boss man, what do you get the guy who has everything?" I look at him with tears in my eyes. "Tools?"

A chorus of laughter from the assembled crowd. I laugh and give him a hug. Then I'm deluged with hands to be shaken. I ignore the tears in my eyes. I'm touched by my crew, I couldn't ask for a better crew of guys.

An hour later the last of the trucks is on its way out into the field. My out of town crew is due in later today, so Pat made sure to set aside enough cake for them when they came in. I sit down in my office. I'm checking my email, and answering the birthday emails most of the clients have sent me today. With the exception of finding weird shapes on my thighs this morning, today has been awesome.

***

One of the nice things about being the boss is I can leave the shop when I want, one of the bad things about being the boss is that I'm always on call, as evident by the call to fix the relay in the pumping unit yesterday. Happily, today my phone is somewhat quiet, though the shop phone is pretty much always busy. Such is life in the oil field. I plow through my emails and by noon I'm pretty much caught up. I put my computer in sleep mode and grab my jacket.

"On my way home, call if ya need me," I say as I stick my head into Pat's office.

"Hey, if you wanted to color your hair, should let your wife do it rather than doing it here."

Huh?"What are you talking about Pat?"

She laughs and points at my head, "I'll admit, blonde isn't really your color, but it looks pretty good on you." I narrow my eyes, what the fuck, is this some kind of prank?

"Your shitting me, right?"

She looks serious. "No, Mike. I'm not shitting you. Some of your hair is brown, some is blonde. Go look in the mirror."

I hustle over to the mirror in the bathroom. She's not messing with me, I pull my black cowboy hat off, and look at my hair. Streaks of blonde are all through my hair. What. The. Fuck? I put my hat back on head to my truck, shaking my head as I fire up my truck. Now, this is a crazy day.

Backing into my parking spot I step out and head to the front door.

"I'm home," I call into the house.

Silence.

I move over to the door to the garage, my wife's bay is empty. She must be off somewhere. I shrug as I head to my home office. I sit down in my big office chair and look at the neatly organized space. I think for a moment and pull out my laptop. I turn and hit the radio while I'm waiting for the computer to boot up. I hit the iPod without noticing the screen. Music starts playing and I let it fade into the background while I log into my laptop. It connects to the house wi-fi and I open the browser. While it's loading I pay attention to the music.

Come on everypony smile, smile, smile. Fill my heart with sunshine, sunshine.

What the hell, I snatch the iPod off the radio and look at it. I manipulate the menu for a moment, It's in the folder, Hannah's Playlists, and the specific playlist is called My Little Pony. The song is called the Smile Song, and it seems to be a remix. Who is the Living Tombstone? I toss the iPod onto the desk as I enter the term 'Lightning Dust' into Google. Clicking on the images link I pull up a light blue-green pegasus with a blonde mane. Oh shit, I don't have safe search on, I have to sigh. Rule 34 rules the internet.

I look up more on this pegasus, she... Wait a moment, a she? What the hell! I shake my head and continue reading, she first showed up in the season three episode 'Wonderbolts Academy" and then again in season five she shows up twice more. And she's a Wonderbolt. Which leads me to search the Wonderbolts, ahh, a performance team like the Air Force Thunderbirds. I sigh, definitely colorful. I'm reading for a couple of hours and then I notice my hearing has completely gone away. I jerk and feel for my ears, putting my hands to the side of my head, smooth skin greets my exploring fingertips. But now I can hear, what the hell? I feel my hair, ah, there they are. Wait a moment, they are at the top of my head, and now they are furry.This is totally weird.

My office chair ends up on its side as I jump up and rush to the downstairs bathroom. I stare at myself in the mirror, almost all my hair is now a two toned blonde, just like the picture. It's still in its signature ponytail that I've kept my hair in for the last decade or so. Though it's no longer to the middle of my back, it's actually shorter. I turn my head to the side and feel down my neck. The hair is growing out of my neck. Just like a horse, or a pony I guess. This is getting weirder and weirder. I hear the front door open, my ears flick to follow the sound, I see it in the mirror and can feel it. God, that is so weird. I hear my daughter's voice.

"I'm home Daddy."

"Have a good day at school sweetie?" I ask, noticing my voice is a little higher than it was this morning. What the hell is going on here!? She steps to the open door of the bathroom.

"What did you do to your hair, daddy?" she asks.

I look at her with wide eyes. "I didn't do anything to my hair, Hannah." She suddenly squeals.

"You've got pony ears, Daddy!"

I sigh. "Yes, they just appeared."

"Can I touch them?" she asks with all the seriousness that a 10 year old girl can muster.

Once again, I sigh and get down on a knee, "Sure hun, just be gentle, they seem to be sensitive."

She runs her fingers gently along the edges and feels the fur. "That's the same color as Lightning Dust."

Well, no duh, child.

"What is going on, Daddy?"

I smile at her. "I don't know what's going on, Hannah, but I'll figure it out."

"What if you are turning into Lightning Dust?"

That question makes me pause. What if I'm turning into a pony. I think about it for a moment. Nah, it can't be happening. "Sweetie, whatever is happening, we'll make it work."

She jumps onto me to give me a huge hug and I watch her scamper to her room with a promise to get her homework done quickly. I move back to my office and right my office chair. Sitting down, I'm looking up more things on the internet when I hear my son open the door. In moments he's heading upstairs. Probably to play on his video game system. I sigh. I've been on the internet for hours trying to figure things out. Then my phone chirps once again.

"Bro." I hear a muffled sob.

"Hey, sis. Are you on your way here?"

"Yeah, I'm just passing Miles City. I'll be there in a couple of hours."

I know that tone.

"What's wrong Maddie?"

Silence from the other end of the line.

"Let me guess, your hair has changed color and now you've got pony ears growing from the top of your head."

Silence for a long moment, then a very small voice, "How did you know."

"Mine is two toned blonde, and the ears are a light blue-green."

"Black and light blue respectively."

"I'll be waiting for you when you get here, sis. This has to be something big." I notice a really weird feeling around my backside. I reach down, then stand up and loosen my jeans. I pull out a blonde tail, after a few moments of shock I say into the phone, "Sis, you might want to pull over, seriously, like right now."

"Okay, big bro."

In moments I hear a scream. "Got a tail now, sis?"

"How the fuck did you know that?"

"Mine grew in while I was talking to you."

"You are shitting me. It's not funny. Why are you not freaking out about this?"

"Freaking out is for after the crisis, you know that Maddie."

"That's not the Mike that I know, you were always the aggressive and brash one. You were the first to freak out when things went wrong."

"Maddie, you know how that never helped anything, so I've had to grow up, a lot. I'll freak out later. Right now, this crazy joke is being played on both of us. Get that tail comfortable and get your ass here. Understand?"

I hear the roar of an engine over the phone line as she accelerates. "I'll be there as soon as I can. We need answers to this."

No fucking kidding Maddie.

I thumb the phone call off as my wife walks into the room.

"What the fuck did you do to your hair?" she asks.

"Why, is there something wrong with it?"

She looks at me, anger evident. "You know what I mean."

I smile a shit eating grin at her. "You mean my hair has changed blonde since I got up this morning. And then I've grown pony ears." I flick an ear at her, causing her eyes to widen, "And then this grew in." I stand up and turn around, I swish my tail from side to side. Only to hear a crash as she slumps to the floor. Damn, she took it worse than I did. I rush over to my passed out wife and pick her up. I notice that either she's lighter than she usually is, or I'm stronger. I stagger up the stairs and put her on the bed. Wetting a wash cloth I wipe her face with the wet cloth. In moments her eyes flutter open. And immediately fill with tears.

"What is happening to you, honey?"

"I wish I knew, but from the evidence, I'm somehow turning into a cartoon pony." I reach over and grab my phone, after a quick search I pull up a picture of Lightning Dust and show it to her. She looks at the picture then at me.

"Is that a mare or a stallion?"

"A mare."

"Uh, honey, if you are really turning into her, you might have some issues."

"And you think I don't have any issues now? I just grew a fucking tail."

"Yeah, and you are going to lose your fucking penis."

Those words silence me. Okay, NOW is freak out time.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" I shout as I stand up and storm around the room. "We have finally gotten on our feet after the mess of buying Lightning Electric, I've finally achieved the goals that you and I set when I became an apprentice. For crying out fucking loud, Helen. What the fuck are we going to do?"

"I'm the one married to a fucking pony, a fucking female pony. What the fuck is going on here?"

I sigh, and choke back a sob, a mane, ears, and tail, I can take in stride, but my manhood? Fuck no.

"I wish I knew honey."

"What are we going to do? You just got our debts cleared up from buying the company. You've finally put some serious money in our bank account, but what are we going to do?"

"I don't know." I stand up and start pacing.

"Why are you doing that?"

"I'm pacing, I'm trying to think."

"No, not the pacing, why are you walking on your tiptoes?"

Huh? I look down and sure enough, my heels are off the ground. I force them down and it feels odd, almost painful. I stop concentrating and they pop back up. What. The. Fuck?

"I don't know. But, Maddie is on her way here, and she grew her tail just after I did, I was on the phone with her when it happened."

"Oh, that's just great."

"No kidding, right?"

I stop and think for a moment. This is seriously messed up. I finally come to a conclusion.

"Well, we've got plenty of food, we've got two deer in the freezer, and plenty of leftover elk in the chest freezer from last season."
"None of which you are going to be able to eat."

That stops me in my tracks. "Huh?"

"Sweetheart, you are turning into a pony, what do ponies eat?"

I think about it for a moment. "Oh shit."

"Yup, welcome to the vegan lifestyle."

"I'm not giving up eggs and milk."

She laughs at me. "You are so damned stubborn."

"And you married me."

We both laugh as she gets out of bed and we head down to the living room, my daughter is there, she's got a box set of blu-ray disks in her hand.

"Daddy, since you are turning into her, I think you need to see the episodes with Lightning Dust."

I sigh and sit on the overstuffed couch, then yelp as I jump back up, then moving my tail to be more comfortable. Though I'm glad I cut a hole in the jeans for the tail, gotta be decent around the kids.

She boots up the blu-ray player and inserts a disk for season three. I'm shortly assaulted by bright, cheery colors. But the episode itself is pretty cool. I watch the character my daughter drew, Rainbow Dash, fly as the wing pony of Lightning Dust. I look at my wife. She's completely enraptured. After the pony's life dream is crushed by her own arrogance, I watch the credits roll.

"Well, it's not bad. No, I'm lying. It's actually a pretty good show."

After the second episode with Lightning Dust, I look at my wife. She's got tears in her eyes. "Her life is a lot like yours, frustrated when you were young, but then you buckled down and started kicking serious ass." I think about it, and she's right. Right after high school, I had an appointment to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, I was going to fly fighter jets. Then, I lost it, for medical reasons. I bummed around for a few years until at age twenty, I found an apprenticeship to be an electrician. Once I got my journeyman's license, I worked my ass off, got my master's license and then saved, scrimped, borrowed and begged to get enough money to purchase Lightning Electric.

Since then I've been off like a shot. I turned an industrial electrical contractor to a multi-function company. We do oilfield electrical work, we have a large excavation division, and I've recently purchased some hydro excavator trucks, so we can dig for more than our guys, although about 80% of our excavators work is for our electrical division. I was planning on buying the local roustabout company, I had about 60% of the required  funds for that purchase. I was going places. And it took a shit ton of work to get all that going. And now all of that is in the shitter. I'm turning into a fucking pony.

"Can we stop this?" I ask plaintively.

"We don’t even have a clue how this is happening, how can we stop it?"

"But, Daddy. This is so cool!" my daughter chimes in.

I turn to her, I've got to keep cool. She's ten, with a ten year olds point of view. "Hannah, while I admit changing into a completely different species might seem cool."

She interrupts me. "No, Daddy, you are turning into a pegasus, you are going to grow wings. Even I know how much you wish you could have flown fighter jets, now you are going to be able to fly better than they can."

Her revelation stuns me. I sit down heavily. "I'm going to be able to fly?" Then the wall clock catches my attention. "Sweetie, it's almost time for bed, go take a shower."

Time for some whining. "But Dad, I don't have school tomorrow. And we haven't had dinner yet."

Wait, what? I completely forgot about dinner. My wife jumps up and heads to the kitchen.

"Don't worry, Maddie will be here soon, let's just order pizza." I look at my daughter. "You can stay up late because tomorrow's Saturday, but I don't know how we are going to handle this. I really hope this can be reversed."

We are all interrupted by the door bell. My son bounces down the stairs to answer it.

"Hi, Aunt Maddie," I hear from the entryway, and they emerge into the living room. My son looks at me, his brow furrows. "Dad, what's going on?"

I sigh as my daughter jumps up and hugs her brother. "Daddy's turning into a pony."

He successfully fends off his sister then sits down in a chair across from the couch. "Seriously, dad?"

I lower my head, and I can feel my ears flatten, I nod.

"That is so fucking cool!" causing my head to jerk up,

"Watch your language, young man."

He smiles sheepishly. "Sorry, Dad."

Maddie comes into the room and sits down.

"What's going on with us? We are turning into ponies, why us?"

"I wish I knew little sis, I wish I knew."

We continue talking until the pizza shows up, then we continue talking until late at night, during that time my hair is done being hair, it's a mane, all trace of brown is gone. Maddie's mane takes on the color of one of the other Wonderbolts, Soarin. And of course we watch the episodes with him. Gotta find out everything about our alter egos.

She ends up sitting on the couch with her head in her hands, a half drunk rum and coke on the coffee table in front of her. "Why us? Why now?"

I take a swig of vodka, my goal for the night is to end up completely and totally wasted. I'm pretty far along right now. I can tell my words are slurring as I speak, "Maddie, I don't have a clue. This couldn't have happened at a worse time?"

She stands up violently, knocking the table back and spilling her drink. Though she doesn't seem to care, "A bad time for you? Look at you big brother! You are married, you have children, you own your own fucking company. Your bank account and your investment accounts amount to several million dollars. You don't have a care in the world." She stops for a moment, tears spill from her eyes, "What about me, big bro?" Her voice catches in her throat, "I haven't finished college, I have forty thousand dollars in student loans. I'm living with friends over in Bozeman. My bank account is negative, I used the last of the cash I had to drive here, in a car that's falling apart." She sinks down into the couch. "I'm a failure."

I jump from my seat over to my sister. I put my arm around her and she leans into me. I sigh, "Are things really that bad, sis?"
She nods as she starts to sob. "And to top it off, I'm going through an unwilling sex change." She starts to wail. I just sit there and let her cry herself out. After several minutes she winds down.

"Maddie, you don't need to worry about anything. Until we can find a way to change ourselves back, you are welcome here." I look at my wife, seeing her nodding her agreement, I take a deep breath and continue, keeping an eye on my wife as I talk. "You are my sister, and we will take care of you. Don't worry about the student loans, don't worry about your debts. I was going to use that money that I've got to expand the company." I stop and sigh, damnit, I feel tears starting to form. "That's out the window for the immediate future now though. We will help you get on your feet."

She pushes me away. "I don't want your charity, Michael. I'll get by, I always have. And this is the first time I've ever told you about my problems."

"It's not charity, Maddie." This comes from my wife. Her voice is soft. "You are family, and family takes care of each other. If I had known before now, those problems would already be fixed, even if it meant delaying the company expansion. We are going to fix this problem." She looks at me, her look brooks no argument. "And Mike was right, you are going to stay here." She gently puts her hands on each side of my sisters head and gently forces her to look into her blue eyes, "Maddie, we all love you, and we will help you."

Maddie sniffles a bit. "I'll pay you back."

Helen scoffs at her. "If you send me any money, I'll just donate it to some charity, we really are doing pretty well. How about an animal rescue fund?"

Maddie narrows her eyes at my wife. Then my wife's eyes go wide. "Holy fuck, what happened to your eyes Maddie?"

My sister turns and looks at me. I get a good look at her eyes, instead of the soft blue that they have always been, they are now bright green. I sit there in shock. Maddie squints a bit to get a better look at me. "I'm not the only one. Mike, I don't think it's humanly possible to have golden yellow eyes."

This necessitates a running, stumbling trip to the bathroom mirror. As we always did as brother and sister, we are pushing against each other jockeying for position as we get into the bathroom. I peer into my eyes. I now have eye color that is impossible in the human genome. I look at my sister, she's got her eyelids pried wide as she swipes a finger across the surface of her eye. "I would think I would remember putting in contacts," she murmurs as she checks both eyes.

"They changed right in front of me, Maddie," my wife says, her voice trembling. Her strength goes completely out of her legs as she sits heavily on the floor. "My husband is turning into a pegasus pony," she says woodenly, "and his sister is becoming a stallion. This is real, isn't it?" She looks at Maddie and I, tears are really starting to flow. "I mean, this isn't some bad dream that I'm going to wake up from?" She's starting to ramble. I grab my wife and hug her, both of us on the floor. In moments my sister joins in the hug.

"I really wish it were a dream, honey," I say. "But I don't think it is.

> Chapter 3. Can This Get ANY Worse?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Rainbow Dash!" I scream as she streaks ahead of the rest of the Wonderbolts. I'm as fast as her, but I'm keeping with the rest of the team as we all streak towards Discord. I get to watch as she is zapped by Discord's magic, turning into white mist. Soarin and Spitfire are in formation with me, I can feel the charge of magic along my wings. One thing is nice about being me, I'm a magic user pegasus. I can throw lightning, and it's not just ordinary lightning. It's a special time based lightning, so that what I hit with the lightning can be brought out of phase with time. It’s been effective before, and I hope it’ll work against Discord. I look at my wing ponies, they are going to distract the monster as I attack from a distance. I watch Spitfire streak right next to Discord and smashes him in the face at full speed with her hooves. The monstrosity that is Discord slams her to the ground with his lion's paw. I throw a lightning bolt at him and it connects with the paw as he's about to throw another spell at her. It disappears, causing a hiss of pain from the draconequus. His mismatched eyes turn to me, "You are going to be trouble."

I smile as I dodge a bolt from him, "Yes, that's my specialty, Discord." I throw another bolt at him, this one he deflects without doing any damage. Soarin comes out of nowhere with another kick to the face at high speed, dislocating the monster's jaw. He grabs it with his eagle's talon and puts it back in place, sending a bolt after Soarin that he barely is able to dodge. This monster is fast!

"Fluttershy thought she could tame me, the spirit of Chaos! It's time all you ponies know the power of Discord," he screams at us. I smile, let him talk, I'll kick his ass. I throw another bolt at him, this time hitting his hoofed leg. It promptly disappears and he nearly falls down, his wings taking his weight as he flies up into the sky. I see an orange streak come up with an uppercut, Spitfire is getting her hits in. I throw a few more bolts at Discord, each one he deflects with ease.

I'm nearing exhaustion right now. I look and see that some reserves have arrived. It's time for me to back off and rest for a moment, I see a likely ledge a few miles from Ponyville, I angle over to it and land. I turn and survey the battle. In moments, Soarin is next to me, huffing and puffing. He's as tired as I am. I smile at him, "Glad to see you aren't mush yet Soarin."

He smiles back, "Takes more than the spirit of chaos to kill me."

I look at the ponies harassing the draconequus. "I think he's toying with us. He can do what he wants with a snap of his fingers, why is he bothering with that weird spell he used on Rainbow Dash. I wince as a white flash announces the disappearance of another Wonderbolt.

Soarin thinks for a moment, "I think he's using a different spell, one that takes more power than to simply kill us."

I know my reserves are low, but we can only rest for so long. I flare my wings and am held back by Soarin. "Lightning, we need to rest, there is a reason why we have the reserves. Six ponies can't take care of threats by themselves. Give it a few more minutes." I subside, I know the wisdom of his words. I look around, and I see some clouds being maneuvered closer.

"The big guns are being brought into play, those are pretty nasty clouds coming in." We watch as the pegasi start bucking the clouds, sending hundreds of lightning bolts at Discord. He howls as a few of them score direct hits. I flare my wings again and see that Soarin is ready to go as well.

"Let's kick his flank." I say as we execute a perfect high speed takeoff. As I'm heading back, I notice a familiar pony in the fray, golden fur, white mane, he's too far for me to see his cutie mark, but I know that cutie mark, an arc blast. I howl over the wind, "Flash, catch!" I wait a moment and send a bolt at him.

He turns his head and sees the bolt coming in, he catches it in his wings, I throw another bolt at Discord and he directs another of my bolts at the monster, a two pronged attack, he sees one coming and bats it away, the other hits his eagle's claw, once again flashing the body part out of time. He howls and flails, missing both of us. I throw another bolt, this one he almost casually deflects. It's good to know he has to be aware of the bolts to deflect them.

"You are a one trick pony," he sneers as his lion’s paw comes around and smacks me, hard. I slam into the ground, and I'm stunned.

"Well, this sucks," I say as I get slowly to my feet. I spread my wings and feel that they are uninjured. In moments I'm back in the air as more of the Wonderbolts reserves continue harassing the draconequus. One other magical pegasus is using his special talent, telekinesis, to throw massive boulders at Discord. He reaches out to squash the Wonderbolt, only to have the limb zapped away by a desperate bolt sent by me. The other magic user dives to safety, still throwing anything he can grab with his power at the monster. I fly up high, so I've got a clear shot. I start charging my wings, I'm going to send this bastard a decade out of time. I can feel my magical reserves draining as the power leaps among my feathers. I know I'll be done for a while, complete magical exhaustion, after firing this bolt, but I've got no choice. It’s better to end the threat and fall from the sky rather than let him continue his rampage.

In moments my charge is ready, I bring my wings together in front of me in a mighty flap, loosing the bolt from both wings at the same time. Just as I fire, his head turns to me and he sends a bolt of power right at me. In horror I watch my bolt and his magic mingle for a moment, then the entire mass of energy comes right at me. I have no magic left, I can't defend myself. It hits me. I scream as his voice fills my ears.


"Five score divided by four,
Your memories removed, your body confused!
For your insolence you must pay,
Cast off to a land far, far away!
I've scattered the six, and that's just the start of my tricks,
Your mind shall be weak, your outlook bleak!
Forgetting everything and living like a fool,
You have all lost, now no one can stop my rule!"



I feel my own body dissolving into mist as I keep screaming. Then it's over. I'm in blackness. I look around. I look at myself, I have my own body. I hear the clip clop of hooves. I turn and see the source of them, a light blue-green pony with a two toned blonde mane. I know this pony. She comes up to me and opens her mouth…

My eyes pop open and I jerk up out of bed. I look over at my wife, she is sleeping peacefully. I rotate in the bed so I can put my feet on the floor and switch on the bedside light to its lowest setting. I look at my feet in the dim light. My middle toe is wider and it looks as though the rest of my toes are starting to fuse together. I sigh, I'm going to be walking on hooves now. That's going to be interesting. I pull forward my boxers, and yup, it's still there, thank God. I change into some pajama pants so I can walk around the house. As I'm heading down stairs, I can hear the television playing something. It takes me a moment to identify the voice on the TV. That sounds like Twilight Sparkle. Sounds like my daughter is up, watching more of that show. I check my phone and see it's five in the morning. I finish coming down the stairs. Then I stop, looking at the blonde head visible. That hair cut isn't shoulder length blonde, it's buzz cut blonde. It's my son. This is a surprise. I come around and sit down, twitching my tail to the side as I sit. I get a good look at my son, he has tears in his eyes.

"Not so cool now, is it Dylan?"

He apparently didn't notice me sitting down. He jerks and then uses his sleeve to wipe his eyes.

"Want to talk about it, son?"

He looks down.

After several seconds, "No matter what, Dylan, I'm still your dad."

He jumps up. "No, you aren't going to be my dad for much longer, you are going to be a pony mom!" his voice cracks as he yells at me. "I had a cool dad. He worked really hard, but he also spent as much time with me as he can. He took me fishing, he helped me get my first deer. He even gutted it for me." The tears are coming hot and heavy right now, I reach out to hug him, and he spins away and glares at me, "And now, he's dying. He's going to be some weird pony." He sits down on the couch and covers his face with his hands. "What am I going to do?"

I sigh. "I'm not dying, Dylan. I'm not leaving either."

"You aren't going to Equestria? Back where you came from?"

I spread my hands wide. "Dylan, damn it, I don't even have the first clue where Equestria is. And my priorities haven't changed. I may have this crazy body change, but the man you know as your father will live on…" I take a moment and gather myself. "Maybe in a new body, but I'm still me. You aren't going to lose me."

"What about Aunt Maddie?"

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it." I sigh. "I don't know what she is going to want to do. But for all I know, Discord banished us all here, and there is no way to make it back to Equestria."

"Do you want to go back there?"

"Dylan, I have no clue what Equestria is really like. All I know is from the little bit we see from the show. I don't know what happened to the Princesses, I don't know what happened to Twilight Sparkle and the rest of her friends. I wasn't even a background pony, I was…" I search for words, waving my hands around, "a guest pony I guess. I have about forty minutes of screen time in five seasons of this show. First as a reckless foil for Rainbow Dash, and then I am redeemed by her, and join the Wonderbolts. The trouble is…" I feel tears starting to form in my eyes. "I can see a lot of how I am in that pony. And I'm not talking the body. When I was younger, before my life was complete with you, your sister, and your mom, I was a lot like her. I was a wild child. I drove my parents to distraction. I was the kid jumping off the roof of the house with the plastic bag thinking it would be a parachute. I was the one who got on the skateboard and looked for empty pools to ride in. And what I did with a bicycle, I don't want you even attempting. I was crazy, and I pushed myself to the edge. It's a wonder that I never broke a single bone in all my adventures."

"Just like Lightning Dust?"

I smile sadly. "Just like her."

He looks at me, his green eyes penetrating my soul. "What changed? You aren't like that anymore."

I have to smile at him. "I'm still more like her than I'd like to admit. But, yes. I have settled down a lot, I had to. Once your mom told me she was pregnant with you, I had just started in the trade, and her and I sat down and set out goals for us to accomplish. Get the journeyman's, get a masters license, buy or build an electrical contractor. We set those goals, and I busted my ass and accomplished them." I sigh, "I'm not letting anything get in the way of taking care of you all."

The tears in his eyes are starting to ebb, "You promise, Dad?"

I nod.

I'm surprised by a hug, for the last couple of years, my son has been too cool to give his old man a hug, I hug him back fiercely. "No matter what, son. Everything will end up okay, even if I do finish transforming into a pony, I'm still here for you."

"Thank you, Dad." I can feel his voice on my chest.

"Morning, Dad." A small voice pipes up. I look over and see my daughter, her hair a sleepy halo around her head. She sits down and grabs the remote. I look up, Season 5, episode 25 and 26. The series finale of Friendship is Magic.

Forty four minutes later I sit back. "That was pretty intense."

My son looks over at me. "Even more intense after the season 4 ending. I thought Discord was truly reformed after that."

I look at him questioningly, I haven't watched enough of the show to understand. In answer, he inserts the season 4 disc.

After watching season four, it's early afternoon. Maddie and my wife are still zonked out. My wife can handle alcohol pretty well, but the emotional shock she's gone through, well. I know she needed the rest. I turn to my daughter.

"You've seen these episodes before?"

She nods.

"Hannah, so Discord wasn't truly reformed?"

She looks thoughtful. "I think he was tempted by more power than he had ever believed it would be possible for him to have. So he took the opportunity to take it. But the season finale didn't give details on why he turned, just that he turned evil again. I don't know why. Maybe when you and the mane six confront him…"

"Hold it, Hannah," I interrupt her. "I'm not confronting squat."

She stands up and points at the credits still rolling. "Daddy, he banished the mane six, he banished you, and the Wonderbolts. How many ponies did Discord banish to our world? We need to find them, we need to find a way to get you back to Equestria, so you can defeat him."

My son looks at his sister. "You want our dad to go away? To have us never see him again?"

She looks down. "Well, no. But all those poor ponies..."

I pipe up, "Can take care of themselves. We don't know how to get to Equestria. And I have to take care of both of you."

"But-"

"No butts, Hannah. We need to take care of ourselves. And we will certainly help any other ponies we find." I sigh again. "But our priority has to be this family." She crosses her arms and glowers at me. "Hannah, honey, they may not even be in this world? For all we know there are a lot of worlds that Discord sent the ponies too. Until I have more information, I'm going to focus on you guys, my sister, and your mother. Understood?"

She nods slowly as she subsides.

"Good morning."

I turn and see my sister, her face looks defeated. I know that feeling. I'm fighting that feeling myself. I nod to my children and they take the hint, it's time for Dad and Auntie to have some time to talk. My wife stumbles in just as the kids disappear upstairs.

I start off recounting my dream. "And what's so unusual, I have never been one to remember my dreams. And having one so vivid, and it being connected to a show I never watched until yesterday tells me there is a connection."

All through my recounting of my dream, Maddie's eyes were getting wider and wider. "I saw him hit you with his magic. I was trying to trip him up with a hard hit to the legs. I got him, but he swiped me with his tail and broke my wing. I ended up on the ground. One wing a ruined mess." Tears start flowing from her eyes. "It hurt so much. But I was so angry at Discord. He was destroying my home. He killed our Princesses! He must pay for that."

I look at my sister seriously. "Do you know how to get to Equestria?"

She looks down. "Well, no, I don't."

I bring my sister into a hug. "I don't know what the future holds, Maddie. But we are going to make things work. You will always have Helen and I to help."

She sniffles. "Thank you, Lightning."

"No problem." I guess I'm getting used to being referred to as Lightning. How much of this transformation is going to affect my mind, I wonder. I look at my sister, her skull has somewhat restructured itself. She's certainly got more masculine features right now. Her pony ears have grown a bit as well, and her eyes, I swear have doubled in size. I guess the animated look that the ponies have in the show are how we will eventually look. I sigh.

I'm interrupted by an electronic chirp, I grab my phone, silently cursing its existence, it's one of the client companies. I thumb the answer call button.

"Lightning Electric, this is Mike."

"Mike, huh? You don't sound like him ma'am."

I sigh, my voice is changing apparently. "It's been an interesting day Juan."

"No kidding Mike, we've got a problem over at the Produced Water Injection station."

"What is it?" I reach over and grab a notepad and write down some of the details as Juan brings me up to speed on the PWI. "Alright, I'll get a guy on it."

Ending the call, I scroll down to the shop's on call phone, after a few rings I hear a gruff, "H'lo?"

"Jim, it's Mike, you need to hustle over to the PWI."

"No can do, boss man. There were apparently some lightning strikes out there last night, half the north field is down, I'm trying to find the burned line. I had to pull in all the linemen crew to take care of this. And remember, it's snowing right now."

I look out the window and see the soft flakes fluttering outside. I frown, "Do you need help? Should I call in more guys?"

"Nah, I got it, but it will be a few hours, and with three quarters of the field down, I'm going to have to stay out until it's done. Got anyone else who can hit the PWI?"

I sigh, the on call part of the job can be a real pain. "No, I'll have to take care of it." After ending the call, I turn to my wife and sister. "Well, such is life, gotta go."

My wife looks at me with wide eyes. "In your current condition?"

"What? My hands still work, and I've got a job to do." I think about it for a moment. "I'll wear the balaclava and my hard hat, that will disguise the hair."

“What are you going to do about the cartoon eyes and the fact they are gold?"

I smile. "Tinted safety glasses, what else?" I run upstairs to change into my fire retardant clothing. And in another twenty minutes, I'm on the road. No matter what, over a hundred people depend on me for their livelihood, I'm not letting any of them down.

***

"Hey Mike."

"Yes, Juan?"

"Why are you wearing sunglasses inside the PWI building?"

I smile at him. "Juan, I had a really wild night last night."

He just laughs at me as he walks me through the idle equipment. There is no power anywhere here. That's not a good thing. I walk outside and head over to the main switch gear. As I get closer, I can feel my nose flair, is that mouse droppings I smell? I disregard the smell and open up the harmonic filters, no indication of an arc blast or anything to tell me why the breakers tripped. I check, everything looks good, I open the main switch gear and use my new tools to open the access panels to get to the terminations on the thousand amp breakers. Pulling out my multi-meter, I check for continuity to ground, the meter stays silent and shows overload on the resistance meter, that's a good thing. No ground fault. After a few minutes of work, I notice the smell again.

"Hey, Juan. Have the mice been thick?"

"Insanely thick, Mike, we've been finding the little bastards in process vessels, and everything that gives them shelter to build a nest."

"Well, I can smell them here."

He sniffs a few times. "Don't smell anything."

I smile as I close everything up, I guess my pony senses are more sensitive than my old human ones, well, there has gotta be some upside to turning into a pony. "Well, stand back. I'm going to turn on the power."

I throw the switches for the three breakers. Lights come on, and I can hear the sound of small motors starting to whine. Sounds good to me. I follow him inside as he goes through the startup sequence and in a matter of about ten minutes, the PWI is back up and running.

"Juan, I want to check that main switchgear one more time. I've just got a feeling."

In moments I'm opening the main door on the outdoor switchgear. Pulling out an infrared thermometer, I point it at the breaker face, the temp isn't bad at all. Then I hear crackling. I look up and see sparking from the top of the gear. Oh no!

I slam into Juan, knocking him back from the gear as it fails. The arc is not being extinguished though, I see fire extending from the vent holes and then a bolt of electricity shoots at me, I feel something inside me and I reach out a hand. The bolt hits me and I can feel the power run around inside me. I also feel that, once connected, I have control of the power. I know what went wrong, a phase to phase fault, and since it didn’t clear, I know it's on the line side of the gear. I look over at the power pole on the edge of the location. The massive surge is causing the wires to jump. I will the bolt to die off and it amazingly does. Leaving the switchgear a smoking mess. I walk over to the gear, it's dead now. A quick glance shows two cutouts on the main are popped. That was amazing.

I turn and see Juan looking up at me from the ground. "What the fuck just happened?"

I reach my hand out to help him up. "That, my friend, was a phase to phase fault."

"I know that, but the electricity came out and hit you. And you’re still alive!"

I look down at myself. The surge of electricity has singed all of my clothes, I'm smoking, and not in a good way, but I don't feel any pain. I unbutton my shirt and look at my chest, nothing out of the ordinary. What the hell? I should be on the ground in excruciating pain, burns all over my body. But I'm one hundred percent okay. I do the only thing I can think of, I pull out my pack of cigarettes and light one up, offering one to Juan, who takes one gratefully.

"You know we shouldn't be smoking on location."

I chuckle. "Too late." As I flick my Zippo to life and light my smoke., "Now, that. That was weird. They don't call me Lightning Dust for nothing."

All I get from him is a really weird look.

***

The gravity of what I did hits me on the drive back to the house. I look over at the setting sun. "What the hell am I going to do, I'm really turning into her!" I pull over on the side of the road and put my head on the steering wheel. "This can't be real!" I lean back and hit the steering wheel. That felt good, I hit it again, and again. Venting my frustration on an inanimate object is helping a little. 

My special talent is lightning, it's power, it's electricity. How much of Lightning Dust's personality ended up in Michael Shaw? Now I'm exhibiting her special talent. I let the tears flow. I don't have anyone to watch me break down like this. I don't like crying, but damn it, I don't have any choice in it right now. I howl at the injustice of it all. After about twenty minutes I'm able to pull out a handkerchief and wipe my face. I needed that. But I don't think I'll be telling anypony about it. Finally I'm back at the speed limit, heading home.

***

I open the front door, noting the smell of cooking. A few sniffs say that my wife is cooking and it's going to be Mexican food tonight. I smile as I head upstairs for a quick shower. In the shower I take notice of the changes my body has been going through. My feet 
are really hooves now, I've got light blue-green fur growing from around the hooves and is apparently slowly heading up my legs. I'm glad for the non slip tile in the shower stall, my feet are pretty stable here. My wife must have gone shopping while I was gone, I notice a bottle of mane and tail shampoo. I have to laugh at that. My wife thinks of everything. I lather up the tail and finish washing. Once I'm on all fours, this is going to be pretty hard. Thank God when I had the house built I had a large shower stall installed, it was specifically for fun times with the wife playing in water. And now it's going to be used to wash a pony. I sigh as I shut off the water and grab a towel. Exiting the shower I wipe off the condensation on the mirror and look at myself. My face has elongated, I have more of a muzzle now. And distinctly feminine features. I open my mouth and examine my teeth, they are flat for grinding food, and no canines I had as an omnivorous human. Ugh. I look down and see that the fur is slowly heading north, I guess I'll be saying goodbye to a part of me that I've had for thirty-five years. My hooves are pretty stable, but how it’s going to be once I'm quadrupedal, I have no clue. I flick my tail in annoyance and step into a pair of sweatpants and pull on a t-shirt. Everyone is sitting down at the table as I get down the stairs.

"Well, I know what that cutie mark on my flank means now." Four heads turn to me in unison as I take a bite of my wife's chicken enchiladas. I smile as I recount the events of the day.  My wife frowns.

"Honey, that could have killed you."

"I know, but I felt the power inside me as the electricity reached out to me." I stop for a moment, flexing my fingers, my middle finger is now wider than it was this morning, I'm going to be losing my hands soon. I sigh. "Lightning Dust had magic. I told you that earlier, but feeling it like this, it was amazing. I think once I have my wings, it's going to get interesting."

"What about the plant? I mean it's main power is out, right?"

"Well, they are going to have their power out until a new switch gear can be brought out and installed, and anything else that was damaged is replaced. Not something within the scope of the on call team. I'll have the guys handle it on Monday."

My wife looks at me seriously. "And what are you going to tell your crew?"

I stop for a  moment, I haven't even thought of that. What the hell am I going to say to my workers? "Crap, Helen. We need to get a hold of our lawyers, I don't know if I'll have anything to do legally when it comes to the company when I turn into a pony." I slam my hands down, "I know, I'll transfer ownership of the company to you." I grin at my wife.

"I don't know anything about your job, I'm a CPA damn it."

"And most of what you'll be doing will have nothing to do with being an electrician, it's all about organizing. Keep the guys working."

"And who'll be the master on record?"

"My card is good for another year and a few months, we'll get another master trained up. We've got a few go getters in the shop, we can persuade them to get that license. That's what I did, remember?"

She smiles at me. We might be able to make this work.

> Chapter 4. More Pony, What the Hell do I do With That?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Discord has killed the Princesses, we need to stop him," Rainbow announces at the Wonderbolt complex in Canterlot. We knew Celestia was going to go with Discord to stop the new monster that emerged from Tartarus. We all jump up. Soarin, my buddy and wing pony, looked at me. "What are we going to do?"

Rainbow answered, "We are going to kick his flank, what else?"

"What about Twilight? She has to help. She has alicorn magic, that and the elements are the only things that can hurt Discord," I say.

She turns to me. "Lightning Dust, you have your power. You can use it to help. You can push that bastard out of time. He won't hurt anypony then."

I look down. I've used my power in battle before. It's very draining, but worth it if I can end the threat. I look over at one of the other Wonderbolts. "Whiplash, I need you to alert the Wonderbolts reserves. This is going to be a big effort to take down Discord. Everypony needs to get in on this." I stomp my hoof and look at Rainbow. "I think us six can start harassing him, and keep him distracted. We'll have over a hundred Wonderbolts on their way shortly. He thinks he can gobble up Equestria, let's give him indigestion."

Rainbow laughs and extends her wing at me, which I bump gently. She turns to the assembled Wonderbolts. "Let's kick his flank."
In moments we are streaking towards the volcano where Celestia met her fate with Discord.

***

Once again I am an observer during the battle between Discord and the Wonderbolts. I don't see anything we could have done to finish off that monster. I again watch in horror as my magic combines with his and slams into me. Once again I hear his horrible voice in my ears as I scream. Once again, I'm in blackness, I hear the soft clopping of hooves and I turn around. I look down at my body, I seem to be fully human. I look at Lightning Dust as she opens her mouth to speak once again, expecting to wake up from this dream.

"So, you saw what happened." Her voice sounded defeated.

"You did your best, Lightning."

She stomps a hoof. "My best wasn't good enough,” she shouts at me, then softly, "I wasn't feathering good enough."

"You were beaten, Lightning. Without the elements, he couldn't have been beaten, especially without Twilight Sparkle. He was too powerful."

She glares at me. "I failed, I should have charged up sooner."

"And you would have sacrificed Soarin, Spitfire, and the other Wonderbolts? You protected them, kept them in the fight."

"If I had charged up my power sooner, I could have ended the battle."

"Or he could have destroyed you that much sooner, taking out the rest of the Wonderbolts while you were charging up, then he would have been able to defeat you that much easier."

She looks down. "I won't fail my team, I won't fail anypony ever again. I'm coming back, and I'm going to kick his flank."

"You are dead, and somehow, I'm turning into you."

She looks up at me sharply, "No, I wasn't killed. I was sent to your world, and born as a human."

"Yeah, as me."

"Once I get my body back…"

I interrupt her. "This is my body, Lightning, this is my mind. I'm not letting you have me, I'm not going away."

I get a glare for those words. "You aren't transforming into me, Michael. I am coming back. The curse that was placed on me by Discord is fading, and I will come back."

"So, I'm expected to fade away into the background and just not matter? Thirty five years of life in this world. A wife, two children, a career, a life. Just going poof, as though I don't matter!." I shout at the blue-green pegasus.

She waves a hoof in an attempt to calm me down, but I'm not subsiding. "Damn you, Lightning. I'm not going away. I've had this body longer than you have been alive, you were what, twenty two when this happened? I've got years on you. I'm not going away."

"You don't have a choice, Michael, I want my body back, I want to be me again. Your family will live on without you, but I'm coming back, my body is more than half pony right now. I'm going to be back, and I'm going to find a way back to Equestria, and I'm going to kick Discord's flank."

I growl back at her. "Over my dead body, sister."

She smirks at me. "That can be arranged." She leaps at me.

Once again, my eyes open and I jerk to a sitting position on my bed. I can feel the strike of a hoof on my cheek. I put my hand to my cheek, noticing that my hands aren't working very well anymore. My hand touches smooth unblemished skin. Then I notice something, my beard, which I've had shaved into a goatee and mustache for at least a decade, is gone. "Fuck!" I turn and look at my wife. She's sleeping peacefully. A glance at the bedside clock tells me I want to go back to sleep. I lay back down and put my arms around my wife. A quick sigh and I'm back asleep with her in my arms. "I'm not leaving you, my love," I murmur as consciousness leaves me once again.

***

I wake to the feel of my wife's hands on my body. She rubs her hands down my chest, tracing my muscles and ribs. I moan happily. I love when she wakes up in an amorous mood. Her hands reach my hips, and I shift them a bit to allow her to pull off my boxers. I move my hands down her body, while my hands are starting to turn, they still have some sensation, and I can certainly use my hands to make her feel good. I moan again. This feels good.

She rubs a hand down the outside of my thigh, then starts on the other thigh, she's going to tease me this morning. No problem here. Her hands make it back up to my chest, she stops after a moment.

"Honey?"

"Mh-hmm?" I murmur, enjoying the feeling of her hands on me.

"Your nipples are gone."

That causes my eyes to pop open. I look down at my chest, she's right, they are gone. I sigh, "Nothing I can do about that now, honey.” I tweak her nipple, making her jump a little bit. I smile as I bring her closer to me. We ignore each other's morning breath as we kiss. Her hands again make the trip down my body, I spread my legs to give her access, which she reaches down, and I feel an unusual burst of absolute pleasure from her touching me. Wait, what?

"Um, honey?" I hate opening my eyes again when I'm feeling amorous. I reluctantly open my eyes, to have her worried blue eyes staring intently at me.

"What?"

"I hate to tell you this," she hasn't moved her hand away from my genitals, "but you aren't a guy anymore." She wiggles a finger on my brand new clitoris, causing my eyes to cross in pleasure.

"Well, don't stop that, honey. Is that how it feels for you?"

She smiles at me. "I don't know, but it seems to be pretty intense for you."

I'm already breathing heavily. Then everything she just said registers in my brain. I jerk the covers back and look down. Yup, I'm now female when it comes to equipment now. I let my head fall back onto the pillow.

"Fuck."

"That's about my reaction to the situation."

I put my arms around her and lay on my back, she snuggles her head on my chest. I love when she does that. "Well, we had a good run. And now I lack the proper equipment." I stroke her hair, "unless you've got some latent lesbian fantasies that you wanted to act out."

This earns me a slap on the stomach. "What do you think I am, honey?"

"The woman that I love, and who loves me." I sigh, "No matter what form I'm in."

She lifts her head to look at me. "I really don't have any such fantasies. But you are the same person that I married." She looks unsure for a moment, "I'm not willing to lose you, Michael. Even if you are in this weird body."

She looks unsure again. "Are you Michael, or are you Lightning Dust?"

I remember the dream from earlier. "I don't know. I can feel Lightning, her thoughts, her feelings, her desires. But those are like background noise. I'm still me."

"For how much longer though?"

I take a few minutes to recount some of my conversation with Lightning in my dream.

"So, you are at war with yourself?"

"I don't know. If I am, it's something under my subconscious, but it might get more evident as the rest of these transformations happen."

"Can't you two come to a truce?"

"How can we come to a truce? Our goals are opposite. I want to stay and protect my family and friends. She wants to go to Equestria and kill Discord. The trouble is, she was defeated once with back up, it would be  practically suicide to take on Discord herself."

"There has to be some way you both can live, Michael. Would you want to kill another living, thinking, being to save your life?"

"Want to… no. To protect you, or the kids, in a heartbeat."

She hugs me tightly. "That's the Michael I know." She stays that way for a long moment, then she looks back up at me. "You say you are a lot like her, I think your goals are close enough that you can come up with a truce that allows you to remain you, and still have her with you."

I sigh. "I don't know, honey. That seems like a tall order."

"As tall an order as buying an electrical contracting business and making it a success? As tall an order as everything you've done in your life to support us?"

I look down at her. "I don't know."

"Well, you are going to have to figure it out. But remember, you will have me, and the kids are with you, no matter what."

"Even though I'm turning into a pony? What if I can't stop this? What if I can't turn back?"

She reaches down and fondles me, causing intense pleasure that again causes my eyes to cross. "Then we will have to adjust to the situation. Just like I am going to right now." She moves forward and kisses me, hard. All the while playing with my new female parts. God, I've never known how pleasurable those parts are. She's teaching me some things that I will  have to apply on her… a sharp moan rises up, breaking my train of thought. All of my focus is on what she is doing to me. I love this woman.

***

A few hours later I'm in the shower, trying to wash up. Though I'm finding it hard to stand. My hips have shifted in shape, my ankles have moved up, so have my knees, my legs certainly have a very equine shape to them now. I know today is going to be rough. I look down at my hands, In the last few hours my fingers have fused together, and the middle nail is growing over the rest. I wasn't observing the change of my feet into hooves, but the process of my hands turning into hooves is fascinating. I finally give up and call my wife in to help me wash up. While she is washing my hair she stops.

"Honey, you weren't kidding about becoming a pegasus."

I look at her questioningly.

"You have the beginnings of wings now. Can you make them move?"

I mentally assess my body, and I feel something new, yes. I'm guessing that the wiring for my new wings is coming in as well. I can feel her touching them, but only vaguely. I try to make something happen back there. And there is nothing.

I sigh. "Nothing. But I'm thinking that will change." This is one part of this transformation that I'm actually looking forward to.

I get a hug from my wife as she turns off the water. How am I going to do this without my hands? I stumble to the bed, where she helps me get some sweats on.

"You know, the ponies in the show don't really wear clothes all that often."

I look at her sharply. "Helen, we have children."

"Dogs and cats go around without clothes, so do horses, and ponies, they've seen them all. I'm just saying, for once this thing is done with."

I roll my eyes, which also seem to have grown overnight, "I'll think about it. Maybe I should get a Wonderbolts uniform made. Know anypony good with a sewing machine?"

She laughs, "I think I know someone. I'll see."

"With my luck, they'll be turning into Rarity."

This gets a hearty laugh from my wife. "Well, from what you and Soarin have said..."

"Maddie. Her name is Madison."

She cups my face in her hands. "Honey, she is Maddie, but she's also Soarin, he wants to be known by his pony name. After you went to bed, we talked for a good while." She trails off…

"What?"

"I think I'll let him tell you what he wants to tell you. You may not be siblings anymore, but you are still very close. He said he was your wing pony when you were Wonderbolts, and he said you were the best lead pony he'd ever worked with."

That causes me to blush. Trust Maddie… no… Soarin, to be complimentary.

"Well, I did some shopping today. Your dietary needs are changing, so I grabbed a few things."

I look at her questioningly, and get a smile in return. "You'll see, Lightning."

I sigh, I guess I'm more Lightning physically now than I am Mike. Might as well go by my new name, or would that be my old name? I don't know.

***

I pull my head out of the big bowl that had been placed in front of me, "Alfalfa pellets? I never knew they were this good!" I grab another mouth full, crunching through the pellets. I wonder what other foods I'm going to like now. Most of the rest of the day has been watching more episodes of My Little Pony. Two ponies and three humans have been learning everything we can about Equestria.

I turn to my wife. "The show has been off the air for, like, five years. What happened to the reams of paper that are produced by such a project? The show bible, all the scripts, the storyboards. Do you know?"

My son pipes up. "I've been searching online for that stuff, Dad. I've been able to track down the show bible, and some of the animation references. But it's not online, it's only hard copy, and some store in Seattle has it for sale. And it's not cheap."

"Well, whatever the cost is, I'm pretty sure we can afford it. Can you look up the owners?"

"Already did." He picks up his laptop from beside him and turns the screen to me. "I think someone else already had the same idea."

I look at the screen, a picture showing a burned out structure. I read the headline, "Suspected terrorist attack in Seattle" and slam my protohoof onto the arm of the couch.

"That bastard!"

Questioning looks from all around.

"What are the odds that the one place with the show bible for MLP would be targeted and destroyed like this?"

Confusion, then surprise. Soarin looks at me. "They have to be here. On this world."

I nod. "That bastard Discord made a crucial mistake. He sent us all to the same world, or at the very least he sent the former element bearers here. It has to be Twilight and company that did that!"

"Are you sure Lightning?" my wife asks.

I nod at her, "I'm a hundred percent sure. The odds that it was some terrorist group, or some fanatics are so vanishingly small, there has to be a connection to what's going on, and the biggest thing going on is this damned curse fading from the ponies."
My wife looks scared. "All of those ponies out there, he could have cursed thousands, or tens of thousands of them. And a lot of them are probably pretty scared. Imagine transforming like you two are. Without others going through it with them." Tears start to form in her eyes.

"Well, I hope Twilight and the other element bearers have found each other. And the rest… we have to do something for them."

"Daddy, why don't we write to Equestria Daily?" my daughter chimes in.

"Huh?"

She hops up and grabs her brothers laptop, in moments a website is displayed. "This is a news site for everything pony related. They have over a billion hits. We need to send an email to them."

I look at everyone assembled. "What would the reaction be if we went public with this?"

Everyone is quiet while we ponder this. Finally, my son pipes up. "Fear, hatred. For those who aren't fans of that show, you will be something different. You've seen enough, you know that the human reaction to the unknown is fear."

I look down. "I think you are right. There may be a time for us to come out and be public. But I don't think the time is right just yet." I glance at the clock. "It's a school night, time for bed, kids."

I endure the usual protests but before long it's just two ponies and one human in the room.

"I think Dylan is right. We need to lay low for a while. I just hope this changing will be done soon. This in between crap sucks."
Soarin hides a yawn behind a protohoof. "I'll be heading to bed as well."

Shortly it's just my wife and I in the bedroom, she smiles at me. "I'm not tired at all."

I smile at her. "Round six? Or is it seven?"

"Who's counting?" she asks as she kisses me.

> Chapter 5. I'm a Pony, So Now What do I DO?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm getting frustrated with this dream. I know I'm being shown what happened. But getting owned so badly by Discord is pretty disheartening. Once again I'm in blackness and Lightning Dust comes up to me.

"Are we going to fight, Lightning?"

She pauses for a moment. "I don't want to fight you. That would be me fighting me. You are me, I am you."

I look at her through narrowed eyes. I flex my fingers. "Are you still insistent on going back to Equestria?"

She looks down. "I've thought about what you said, and what you said during the day today. You really don't know how to get back home?"

"I am home Lightning."

This earns a glare, "You know what I mean!" she says acidly.

"I do not know how to get to Equestria."

"If you were given the chance to get there, would you?"

I think about it for a minute. "I don't know."

"What about all the ponies that are spread out all over your world? What about them? Do you remember your oath as a Wonderbolt?"

Memories start flooding my mind, along with a piercing pain. I grab my head with my hands and end up on my knees. I howl in pain. After what feels like an eternity of this pain, it’s gone as though it was never there. I look at her. "I'll help any pony I can help. I have resources, I have the ability to help. I will do everything I can."

"I know that." Her body is starting to fade. Her voice gets an ephemeral quality. "If Rainbow Dash hadn't gotten the element of Loyalty, I'm pretty sure it would have chosen us. We won't let the ponies down, just like we won't let our family down. We will save Equestria. Equestria isn't the land. Equestria is the ponies that live there. The land may be lost, but so long as the ponies exist, Equestria exists." She's fading faster now. And I can feel…something. I look down, light blue hooves, I feel wings extend. I'm in control. I am Michael Shaw, I am Lightning Dust. We are one. Our goals are the same. Now one pony exists in this dream, our goals aren't different, in fact, they never were. We will be the protectors of Equestria, even if it's here, on this Earth. We will help these ponies. Though I'll admit, I can feel the desire to kick Discord's flank from here back to the Everfree forest. I smile as I fade from the dream myself.

My eyes open, I glance at the clock, it's five in the morning. I am a pony now. I am Lightning. I smile and I feel electricity crackle along my body, lighting up the room. I don't do anything with it, I just fondle the power inside me. "I will protect the ponies." I smile as I let sleep take me once again, I am a Wonderbolt. We are so much more than a performance team, we are more than athletes, we are the tip of the spear. First into danger. Our bodies against the desolation of war. No matter what form it takes, we will be there.

***

The morning sun lights up my room. I'm feeling pretty well rested. I look over at my wife. She is still just as beautiful as the day I married her. I frown for a moment. I remember growing up in Baltimare. I remember growing up in Corpus Christi. I remember my parents. And after thinking, I know two sets of parents, human and pony. I have her memories, at least some of them. I'm thinking it will be a while before everything is integrated together. I look down. Yes, I'm a pony. Memories from the night flood into me. I smile again. At least her memories on flying are there. I need to practice. I lean over and kiss my wife, she murmurs happily in her sleep. I shift the covers and try to stand up.  Only to firmly plant my face on the floor. Okay, now I have to master walking on four legs. I think for a moment and move slowly. Left front, right rear, right front, left rear, repeat… After several shaky steps I am able to shamble from one side of the room to the other. After about ten minutes muscle memory is starting to take effect. I walked like this for over twenty years, I can do it again. I try thinking about other things while I'm walking. And amazingly, it has the desired effect. I can trot. Then I have to concentrate to avoid the centipede conundrum, don't think about it, and it will happen. After a bit I trot over to Soarin's room. A knock and I use a hoof to open the door, thanking God that I had specified lever type door handles in the house when it was built. He's awake.

"Morning Soarin." I smile at him. "You are now one hundred percent genuine pegasus pony."

He looks at me. "Don't I know it. How are you walking? I tried to walk and ended up on my face. It was horrible trying to get back into bed."

I smile. "So did I, but remember, we were ponies before we came here. The programming is still inside our skulls, we just have to figure out how to access it. C'mon." I use my teeth to grab the covers and yank them off the bed. "Today, we are going to fly."

Fear. "Are you sure we can?"

"Of course we can, Soarin, we did before Discord banished us, let’s figure it out and get busy flying. I've got a new pair of wings, and I'm dying to try them out." I extend my wings and feel my power. I play with it again, and the power crackles among my feathers, causing Soarin to shrink back.

"What the hell are you doing?"

I smile. "I don't know if we will have to deal with fighting anypony, but I will be ready. You remember when Dad taught you how to fire a gun, despite you hating using them?"

He nods.

"Same principle, better to be ready for the worst and have the best happen, than prepare for the best, and have the worst happen. We are going to fly today, Soarin. Let's go."

With a sigh, Soaring hops out of bed and trots to the door. Then a look of wonder crosses his face. "Hey, I'm doing it… ooof," he says as his legs get tangled and he goes down. He looks at me sheepishly. "Note to self, don't think, just do. It's natural."

"Exactly."

After successfully navigating the stairs, Soaring creeping down the stairs slowly, and me taking a running leap over the railing and half way gliding to the floor. We laugh as we enter the kitchen.

"Hi Dad, Hi Uncle Soarin." My son has a bowl of cereal and milk in his hand.

"Hey Dylan, want to do some driving?"

This gets a big smile, my son has been bugging me to start driving for months. I've taught him the basics, and he's pretty good with it, but he's still clueless with a manual transmission. I'm going to have to work on that with him, but for now…

"Breakfast first?"

***

Due to my son's inability to drive stick shift, we take my wife's SUV. In about half an hour of driving, we are in the middle of nowhere. Soarin and I hop out of the SUV.

"So, Lightning, how do we fly?"

"Umm, I don't know," I extend my wings. "Can't be that hard, birds do it, other pegasi do it. We can do it." I give myself an experimental flap. Nothing.

I hold my wings out and look at Soarin. "Come on college girl, did you take aerodynamic theory in school?"

Soaring gives me a dirty look. "I wasn't a hard science major, I was a business and computer major, I didn't take all those science classes." He flaps his wings a few times. "Damn it, I have his memories of flying, but they aren't on how to fly, just flying."

I sigh. "Same here."

Well, I understand the basic mechanics of flight. The stuff you learn in grade school. I examine my extended wings, marveling at how my neck is long enough to allow me to examine my wings so well. Oh crap, am I going to have to preen these things? Memories of wing care surface. Well, at least Lightning remembers the specifics of wing maintenance. I feel the way they move, and it's a completely new sensation to me. I experiment for a while, ignoring the chuckling from my son.

After a bit his laughing gets the better of me, I look at him. "Keep yukking it up, kiddo, and I'll tell 'Uncle' Soarin how fascinated you were with your feet as a baby." That gets him to shut up. But it doesn't stop him smiling.

"Dad, it really is funny to see you move your wings around like that." He comes forward and gently presses my wings, pushing them into a better airfoil shape. Once they are in that shape, it suddenly feels natural. I smile at him as I flap my wings. I feel the ground recede from my hooves. Dylan moves over to Soarin and does the same with him. In moments we are both in the air.

Flying around in circles is pretty nice and all, but let's see what else I can do. I was a stunt pony, hell, we were stunt ponies. I call over to Soarin, "Race you to that cloud!" He looks over where I'm pointing, about a mile away and about a thousand feet above us is a nice sized cloud.

"You're on!"

We streak off, I can hear my son whooping and hollering as we gain altitude and accelerate. Well, if I have to become a pony, a pegasus is the right pony to be. I'm howling in delight as we get to the cloud. I wonder if pegasi can land on clouds here in this world. Let's find out. I'm letting my muscle memories take over as I backpedal my wings and slow down. It's not a perfect landing, but I'm on all fours, on the cloud. I trot around what feels like firm fluff to me. I turn to Soarin, who's hovering above the cloud.

"I see it, Lightning, but I don't believe it."

"Dude, we are pegasi, we are masters of the weather. Cloud walking? That's foals play." I grin hugely as I sit comfortably on the cloud.

"Well, I have to give this a shot." He gingerly sets a hoof on the cloud, after sinking in an inch or two, it holds his weight. 

"Awesome!"

"I know, right?"

"I'm not done flying yet."

Soarin smiles. "I thought you would say that Lightning, let's enjoy this."

For most of the day, Soarin and I keep flying.

Finally, we end up back on the ground.

"Dylan, you go ahead and drive home, we'll meet you there."

"Dad, I need someone old enough to drive in the car with me."

That gives me pause, I want to keep flying. I look at Soarin. "Wanna ride back bro?"

He sighs. "Yeah, I can use a break, you've always been in the air more than I have. I do remember that."

They load in the vehicle and Dylan slowly drives off. I spread my wings. I love this, I've got to fly. I take off and head straight up. In moments I can see town. I can also feel the magnetic north. As a human my sense of direction was excellent, and now, it's ten times better. I streak north, heading for town. I see the SUV from above. I swoop down and buzz my son and Soarin. I get a honk for my trouble. Then I really take off, I look back, I've got the same trail behind me that I saw in my episodes on the show. This is how you fly. I perform a barrel roll, flying. Lightning is back.

***

Landing in the back yard, I trot inside the house.

"I'm home," I call out.

"Where is your son and brother?" my wife asks me.

I smile. "Driving back."

That stops her, it takes her mind a minute to reboot. "You flew?"

I spread my wings and did a classic Rainbow Dash pose, big grin, head down, legs spread in an aggressive stance. "You know it." I then, I swear to God, squeed, just like a character from the show.

"Was it fun, honey?"

"Oh my God, it was so fun. I'm really glad I can fly now."

"I'll tell you, I'm starving. Flying all morning really worked up an appetite." I flap my wings gently and hover. I like this. I can hover around the house now. I head for the kitchen. "Any leftovers from dinner?"

She looks uncertain for a moment as she follows me into the kitchen. "Uhhh, yes."

I nose open the fridge and see the glass pan on the shelf, grabbing it carefully in my teeth, I transfer it to the counter. Then I'm stuck. How do I get some of that delicious food onto a plate? I'm standing there with my brain locked up. What the fuck do I do? Then a pale hand with a spatula spoons out some dinner and puts in on a plate. I look at my wife gratefully.

"I love you honey."

She smiles back at me as she turns on the microwave.

I notice the smells wafting from the cooking food in the microwave, my mouth waters."Yup."

As my now brother and son enter the kitchen, I'm polishing the plate, forgoing utensils, I simply lapped up the enchiladas. That was good.

"Honey, you are a pony now, right?"

I frown. "Yes."

"And ponies are herbivores?"

"Yes."

"You just ate chicken, were you aware of that?"

I pause, looking at the licked clean plate, then back at my wife. I take a moment to think. "It was good."

Soarin looks at my wife. "There isn't much grazing when flying over water, Helen, it's a nice thing to be a pegasus."
I look at my brother, and back at my wife. A big smile on my face. "I can still eat meat." Another squee from me.

Soarin looks sharply at me. "Did you just squee like in the show?"

I just do it again.

I hear the electric chime of a phone. It's not mine.

My brother trots over to his phone.

"I just got a text." He runs his hoof over the screen, with no response. "Argh, how the heck can I use my phone? I don't have fingers anymore."

I glance at my son. "You still have a DS? You have the stylus from it?"

My son nods and runs to his room, in moments my brother is holding the stylus in his mouth as he checks the message.

"It's from Jim, he must have gotten Chuck to give him my new number. He's in Montana. He needs my help."

"Jim?" I look to my wife. "Texting would be faster if you do the typing honey."

She takes the phone and asks where he is.

In moments the phone beeps again. "The rest stop between Billings and Miles City on I-94"

My brother looks at me. "How long will it take to get there?"

I think for a moment. "Us, flying, about half an hour if we fly fast without pushing too hard. By car, about an hour and a half. You know what we are going through, can you tell him to bug off?"

I get a sharp look for that. "Lightning, I've known Jim for years. College, remember? I'm not going to abandon a friend in need."

I look over to my wife. "Can you follow us in the car? We can fly ahead and meet you there." I trot to my bedroom, after a few minutes of searching, I come up with the strap on phone case that my daughter got for me to strap my phone to when running. I get the phone in it, and slide a stylus under the strap. In moments I'm ready to go.

We both take off and head for our destination. We can talk while flying. That's a nice thing.

"Soarin, I don't think you've mentioned Jim very much. I know I've heard the name before, but what's he like?"

"He's a fun guy, smart, lively. Very fun to be around."

"How old is he?"

Soarin thinks for a moment, "I think he's my age?"

"Is it possible he's twenty five and just turned a few days ago?"

"Are you saying he's turned into a pony?"

"I'm thinking we can't discount the possibility. But we need to be careful, we'll land nearby, and walk in."

We continue flying in silence, shortly we are over the highway, those silly humans, confined to the road while the pegasi can fly wherever we wish. I grin at that. I notice the sun, it's on its way down to the horizon. We will be getting there around sundown. That is perfect. I spot the rest stop and point to a good landing point. We are going to have to walk through some trees. Good cover for ponies.

Landing softly I look over at Soarin. "You saw where it is, I'll circle to the west, you to the east. We'll meet in the middle. Be ready. I don't know what this Jim will think of us being ponies. If I wave you off, we'll just wait for my wife to arrive, keeping an eye on him."

"Why do you think he might be a pony like us?"

“You remember the rhyme? Five Score divided by Four. That is the number twenty five."

"I know that, but you are ten years older than that.”

I smile at Soarin as the sun finally sets, "Yeah, and I just tried to push him a decade out of time, and I was the one pushed instead. If anypony is going to be turning, they will likely be twenty five, with a birthday around May First."

Soarin looks thoughtful. "Sounds about right, pretty smart Lightning." He trots off.

It takes about ten minutes, but I find myself in the trees around the rest area. I swivel my ears around. Trotting through the trees I wade through the snow, one nice thing about snow is it muffles sounds when it's pretty deep. Especially when the pony isn't trotting, but hovering. I eventually notice a figure in a hoodie and heavy jacket. I look over to the east, I see Soarin coming in. The figure is intently looking at the entrance. Not paying attention around him. I'm almost close enough to touch him. I smile.

"Five score Divided by Four" I say loudly.

"Holy shit!" The figure falls to the ground and scrambles away from me.

I land and trot up to him. "Are you Jim?"

Too large eyes widen. I smile, I was right. I wave Soarin over.

"M-Maddie?"

I smirk. "Wrong sibling."

Soarin speaks up. "I was Maddie, I'm Soarin now."

There is nothing but fear from this almost pony. "I was Mike, now I'm Lightning Dust."

He lifts a protohoof. "So, you." He points at me. "Were Mike, and now you are the mare, Lightning Dust. And you," His hoof shifts to Soarin, "were Maddie, and now you are Soarin, a stallion?"

We both nod.

"And you are?"

He looks down. "I was Jim. But I am not anymore. I'm Lightning Flash."

The name makes me sit down heavily. "The Wonderbolt reservist, Lightning Flash?"

He looks unsure and nods.

He's bowled over in a hug from me. "You helped me in the battle against Discord! I sent you lightning bolts for you to direct back at him so we could attack from both sides at once."

"Are you sure? I mean I've had some pretty vivid dreams the last few nights."

"Dude, those weren't dreams, they were memories" Soarin says.

"Huh, that actually happened?" Flash looks confused.

"Best as we can determine, yes." I respond. "I mean, I talked to my pony self after seeing the battle."

"I did something similar. That's how I learned my name."

I look at him. "Lightning Flash, I know you guys were in the battle, how did you make it another day?"

He looks down. "When you, Lightning Dust, and you, Soarin, along with Spitfire, were hit by Discord, we had to scatter. There was nothing we could do. He was just too powerful. You know the other magic user pegasus?"

We nod.

"His was hit right after Spitfire. With the loss of you four, we had no choice." I see tears starting to form. "He was so powerful." He sits down in the snow. "I lasted most of a day until Discord finally got me. I will never forget that feeling knowing I was a fly looking at a fly swatter coming at me."

I put a hoof on his shoulder. "We will make this work." I'm interrupted by the headlights of a vehicle exiting the highway into the rest area. I know the sound of that vehicle. "It's my wife."

"What does she think of what's happening to you, Dust?"

I sigh. "She doesn't like it, but it's not like we have any choice. We love each other, so we are going to stay together."

"What about when you go back to Equestria?"

"I don't know if I'm going back, I don't even know if we can get back. My goal is to find as many ponies as we can find, and we will protect them."

"That's you, Lightning Dust, ever the protector." This earns a glare from me as my wife pulls into a parking space.

"Your wings aren't ready to fly yet, Flash. Soarin here will teach you how to fly tomorrow."

"What will you be doing tomorrow Dust?" Flash asks.

"Me? I'm going to work," I say as I hover over to my wife and give her a kiss. "Take care of him for me honey, I'm going to fly home." I look at him, he's smiling, but I can see the fear on his face. I get close to my wife and murmur, "I can tell he's terrified. Let's get him home, and fed. And tomorrow we can talk more to him and find out what's been going on."

She nods and smiles a knowing smile. "And listen in to everything he says to Maddie?"

"I know why I married you."

I get a hand cupping my muzzle. "In case you don't remember honey, I chose you."

I laugh as they all pile in the car. I take off. I have to think while I fly home.

> Chapter 6. Gotta Pay the Bills
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As always, five o'clock in the morning comes way too quickly. I have always been a night owl, and ever since getting in the trade, I've had to fight my tendency to stay up late because I have to get up early. I pondered the Jim problem on the flight home, and I was barely aware of my wife coming home. But that damned alarm, that woke me up. The screeching alarm on my phone silences with me pressing the power button. It's Tuesday. I was able to send an email Sunday night saying I wouldn't be in Monday. But Tuesday is here, and I know the company can run just fine for a while without the boss, but I am needed there. Today I have a client meeting. So I get to let my employees know that I'm now a pony, but my clients will find out as well. I sigh as I strap my phone on next to my shoulder and clip on my Bluetooth headset. Though with this new body, I'll have to talk to my crew. That sends a tingle of fear down my spine. What if they can't accept that their boss is now a pony? I've gone from a 6'8" 300lb electrician to a four foot tall colorful pegasus. I think they could accept me having a sex change operation much easier. I laugh quietly as I nudge my wife.

"Honey, want to take me to work?"

She opens her eyes groggily. "Huh?"

"Something normal might be a good thing, honey. I'll lock myself in my office while everyone comes in, then you can send them up to the conference room, I'm talking everyone, office staff, diggers, everyone. And once everyone is assembled, I'll come in and talk to them."

She smiles. "Let me hop in the shower."

I grin right back. "I need a shower too."

I get a salacious grin in response. I love this woman.

***

An hour later we are downstairs, I'm eating a big bowl of alfalfa pellets. I never knew how tasty some of this food could be. I tried cropping grass like horses do, but the dirt taste really ruined it for me. I'll take feed over grass. But it's nice to know I can eat it when I have to. I haven't mastered brushing my teeth as a pony, so my wife got to help with that. I have to laugh, or I'll cry. I don't think I would be sane right now if it weren't for that beautiful blonde haired woman sitting at the kitchen table.

"So, are you looking forward to seeing the crew like this, Lightning?"

I sigh. "I'm actually kind of scared, Helen."

She cocks her head to the side. "Why?"

"What if they decide they can't work for a pony? What if I'm too weird for them? I mean if the company fell apart like that, our finances would be fine for a while, though you would probably have to work full time."

"You think I'm worried about money for us?" She laughs.

I nod.

"Honey, when we were dirt poor, I was finished college, and you were supporting a family of three on eight dollars an hour, how did we survive?"

"You."

She chuckles. "Yes, me. I pinched the pennies so hard Lincoln screamed. Don't worry about money for us. There are over a hundred people, and you can triple that or more when you account for their families that depend on Lightning Electric. You might lose a few guys, but the company will be fine."

"Are you sure?"

She laughs at me. "You are so cute when you do that sad little puppy dog face. But yes, I'm sure."

"Fine, you know best, honey."

***

It's before 6:30 in the morning when we get to the shop, I'm happy to see that no other vehicles have shown up yet. I hustle into the building and head for my office. My wife sits in the break room, to greet the guys as they show up.

I fire up the computer and get used to using a pencil in the mouth to type. Yay, I've gone from seventy words a minute to about twenty by hunt and peck. This is so awesome. Yes, I'm being sarcastic. I notice a purchase order for a new switchgear for the PWI, that's good that my report made it to the shop and they are working on it.

I hear the door opening, and I hear the roar of diesel pickups outside. All of my journeymen and about half of my apprentices take their work trucks home daily. I simply do not have enough room for all the vehicles if I did it any other way. It's a cold day still, so I hear all those pickups idling. Well, the first hour of today is going to be billed on shop time, can't bill the clients for me telling my crew that I'm a pony now. I chuckle to myself. After the normal morning greetings and drinking of coffee, I hear my wife clear her throat.

"Mike wants everyone in the conference room, apprentices, digging crews, office staff. Everyone. So let's go up there." In moments I hear the thunder of feet on the stairs up to my massive conference room.

It's go time. I exit my office, hovering to not make a racket on the slate floor tiles in the break room. I push the door open, and slide up the stairs. In moments I'm sitting by the door to the conference room. My ears swivel forward and I can hear my wife quite clearly.

"This has been an interesting weekend."

I hear some chuckling from the assembled crew, one guy pipes up, "Yeah, having a switchgear explode right in front of your boss can be pretty interesting."

"Amazingly, I'm not talking about that," my wife says, I can just picture her right now, she is very rarely unsure, but I can tell she's having trouble saying what we talked about.

"About ten years ago, a television show premiered, it lasted about five years. It was a cartoon designed to sell toys to little girls. And it gained a huge following."

I hear another voice, "Mikes coming out as a brony, isn't he?"

I hear my wife laugh. "Not exactly." Her voice nears the door and it opens. I trot into the room and move over to my regular chair. A quick hop and flutter of wings I'm in the chair.

"Hi." I wave a hoof at my assembled crew.

Dead silence. I think everyone is holding their breath. I look at the assembled faces.

The silence stretches to be absolutely uncomfortable.

I look around. I think shock is the prevalent expression on their faces.

I let the silence draw on for a few more moments, though I can tell my wife is starting to sweat. Hell, I'm starting to sweat.

I finally break the silence, "I was Mike. I'm not anymore. You can call me Lightning Dust."

I think I broke them. Well, nothing to do but soldier on.

"I have had the weekend from hell, guys. Friday I noticed weird tattoos on my legs." I point to my flank. "My hair changed color, then I grew these pony ears. I hid my ears under my hard hat and my new eyes behind sunglasses while I did that service call. But over the next couple of days, I turned into the pony you see now. Yesterday I've been learning how to fly. And today, well." My ears droop, and I hang my head. "I need you all to know what's been going on."

I feel my confidence starting to return, "That all being said, Lightning Electric will continue on. I'm still in charge, for the foreseeable future. I may be a pony now, but I'm still the electrician many of you guys knew when I was a journeyman sitting next to some of you. My skills are the same. Though my ability to hold a wrench…" I hold up a hoof, "may be a bit impaired. But my goals are the same, I'm going to take care this company."

I hop off the chair, and spread my wings to their full extent. "I'm not going away. And if you feel you can't work for this company knowing that your boss is a technicolor pony. I won't do anything against you. But if you want to keep working for me. Then let's keep making Lightning Electric the best oilfield contractor out there."

Silence. A few guys stand up and walk to the door. As the door is opened one of my other guys leaps up.

"You would leave because the boss has had some problems?" A fourth year apprentice, Sam, speaks up. He walks forward.

"You are acting like racists from decades ago, not wanting to work for a black person, or a Hispanic person. I don't care what color our boss is, and you shouldn't either."

The first one walking to the door, the older journeyman from the CO2 plant, Bill, points at me. "I could handle if my boss was black, white, yellow, whatever. But my boss isn't human anymore."

"It doesn't matter, Bill," Sam retorts, "So long as the paychecks come in on time, and we keep working our tails off, my boss can be a polka dotted monster from Mars." I like the fact that quite a few heads nod in response to Sam.

"I'm sorry Sam." He looks at me. "And I'm sorry Mike, or whatever you are. But you should be locked up, not running a company." He walks from the room and down the stairs, followed by three apprentices, and two diggers. I look at the remaining crew.

"So, you guys will stay with me?"

Slowly smiles spread across the faces of the assembled guys and gals. The same electrician who acted as the spokesman on my birthday stands up. "I think I can echo Sam's words. So long as the job continues, we get paid, and we keep busy, we are in." A chorus of nods. And I feel tears start to leak from my eyes.

"We were loyal to our last boss, and I'm so happy to see you guys are staying loyal to me. I couldn't ask for a better bunch of guys, thank you."

It was really weird for me to shake every person's hand with a hoof, but I managed as they trooped down the stairs. Within about half an hour, trucks were on their way out to the field. I trot to my office and sit down in my chair. My wife joins me in the office.

"That went so much better than I thought it would," I say.

"Why do you think that honey?"

"I've been trying to hold a major freak out in for the last few days. I was scared that most of the guys would leave."

"The changes haven't happened to them, it's distant for them, and I guarantee you, they are all talking about today on the way to the jobs, and all throughout the day. I'm pretty sure you'll lose a couple more guys. But most of them are staying. You treat them right, and they will treat you right. No matter your species."

I smile at her. "Thank you honey." Then I sigh. "Now I have to deal with clients. They can be harder than my employees."
She takes her leave and in a few minutes Pat knocks on my door.

"I'll admit, when I read your email Monday morning, I was a little perplexed. Now I see you had a good reason to not come in yesterday." She smiles. "How are you doing with this change?"

I shrug my wings. "I'm dealing with it, I don't have a choice in it, so I'm doing what I can to make things work. Though I'll tell you, the planned expansion and buying the roustabout company is on hold for right now."

She smiles. "I'll admit, this is completely weird for me, I mean, my boss is now a pony, that can talk, and can fly. But I love working here, and I'm not leaving so long as you'll have me here. But I have to ask you a question, can you really fly?"

In answer I flap my wings and slowly hover above my chair. Her eyes get wide and she looks back, the other office staff are crowded in the doorway, watching me fly. I slowly drop into the chair again, adjusting my tail so I can sit comfortably.

"We are going to have to order some unusual FR clothing for you, you know tha," Rose says.

I sigh and nod. "I suspect my measurements are a bit different than they were Friday." I get a few chuckles out of that.

A good portion of the morning is taken up with me talking about my weekend with my staff, I tell them about my memories of fighting Discord, I tell them about Maddie, I tell them a lot of things. One thing I'm certain of, this is a small town, by nightfall, everyone will be talking about the pony who owns Lightning Electric.

***

Around noon, it's time for my client meeting. I grab the paperwork for my bid, and place everything in my laptop case, I have shortened the strap and it goes around my body snugly. I stick my head in the main office. "I'm off to the meeting with Snow Oil."
Pat looks at me, a questioning look. "But Mike. Don't you want to send someone else? We can call in one of the guys."

"If I'm going to continue running Lightning, I have to meet with clients, no matter what form I'm in, I'm still me. I'll get the job. Though I think I'll create a bit of a sensation when I come in." I chuckle as I exit the building. Spreading my wings I fly quickly to the Snow Oil offices, only about half a mile from my shop, they've been clients for years.

I time it perfectly, as someone comes out the door, I hustle through, then, using my wings for height, I take the pencil for their sign in sheet in my mouth, something I've had to practice is mouth writing like they do in the show, I'm able to scrawl out Lightning Dust, Lightning Electric and the time. I ask the receptionist if the superintendent is free, she doesn't even look up from her phone as she answers. I trot through the hallways, casually ignoring the uproar from everyone seeing a pony walk among them. I get to the end of the hallway and hop up on the chair, turning around, I fold my tail to the side and sit down in the chair.

"Afternoon, Anthony."

He's looking over a paper spread sheet and not even looking up. I smile. With a flick of my wing I slam the door. He jerks up and looks at the slammed door, then at me. He does a double take, then he sits there, jaw hanging loosely.

"Uhhh,"

"We've scheduled this meeting to go over my bid, Tony. Are we going to do this or not?"

Silence from him.

"So, I'm guessing you are wondering about my appearance. I know you aren't going to believe me, but I have been a pony for over twenty years before I came to this world. I've been cursed as a human being for the last thirty five years, and over the weekend, the curse has lifted, leaving me the pony you see in front of you."

"Huh?"

I extend my wings and hover to be closer, I wave a hoof in front of his eyes. He flinches. I smile, this is fun.

"Hello, Tony, is anypony home?"

He shakes his head. "Who the fuck are you? I was supposed to be meeting Mike Shaw."

"And I'm here. But I've had a bit of a change, you can call me by my name that I've have before I was Mike. I am Lightning Dust." I let my rear hooves touch the floor and place my front hooves on his desk. "Are we going to plan out this bid, or not?"

"Mike?"

I smile again. "It's Lightning Dust now, but yes, it's me."

He squints. "I swear, you have some of the same facial expressions as Mike despite being a horse."

"It's because I'm the same guy. And I own the same company that is doing work out in the field for you right now."

"But you are a blue pony." He looks hard at me. "With blonde hair, and wings."

"What does that matter? Listen, Tony. We've been friends for years, since I took over Lightning. You know the work we do. Can you just look past the fact the company owner is going through a bit of an identity crisis right now?"

He looks at me for a long time. "I know Lightning Electric, I've trusted your work for years. But you are certainly different. What am I supposed to think about that?"

"Evaluate me like you would if I were in my old body sitting in front of you, Tony. You know I'm not going to be going out and doing the work. I have my crew, and they will take care of you like they always have."

He looks thoughtful, "I don't know Mike. It's kind of hard for me to get past the fact that I've got a winged pony…"

"Pegasus, Tony. I'm a pegasus."

"Fine, a pegasus sitting in front of me instead of the guy I've known for ten years."

I smile at him. "That's the thing, Tony. I'm the same guy. Yes, the body is different, but the skills, the time spent in the trade that I've gone through over the last fifteen years is the same. I am here. And I'm not going away. So,  are we going to deal? Or are you going to lose your best electrical contractor because you can't get over what he looks like?"

He sighs, after a moment. "I don't want to lose you guys."

"Good."

***

After about three hours hammering out the details, the two and a half million dollar expansion project is in my hooves. I have the paperwork, I scrawled out my old signature and shook Tony's hand with my hoof. "Pleasure doing business with you, Tony." I say as I grab the knob in my teeth and open the door. To my surprise there are a half dozen Snow Oil office staff crowded around the door. They back away slowly as I trot out the door, calling over my shoulder, "We'll have lunch some time, Tony." I trot to the reception area. I feel hands reach out and touch my tail. I look sharply at the young man who just grabbed my tail.

"May I help you?"

"I can't believe Lightning Dust just came to my job,” he murmurs. Ahh, we've got a brony.

"Yes, and if you are wondering why I'm here, you can thank Discord." He recoils back.

"So what happened in the finale happened for real?"

I nod my head. "More than you will ever know." I trot past the receptionist, who is still enamored by her phone, and press the crash bar on the door, and my entourage follows me outside. I turn and look at them. "Anyone got a smoke? Left mine back at the shop." Amazingly three packs are offered to me, I take a white cylinder and accept a light. I inhale deeply and blow smoke.

"Amazing," one of the office workers says, I know him, he's the HSE for Snow Oil.

I look at him. "Let me guess, you've never seen a talking pegasus before?" Silently laughing at the looks on all their faces. I see a cell phone being brought out, "If you take a picture of me, I'm going to buck that phone into pieces." The phone is rapidly put away. I sigh and look at all of them.

"A matter of days ago, I was a human that all of you know. Mike. And now I'm Lightning Dust. I just want to live my life, and I know people are going to know I exist, and that the events of My Little Pony happen to be real. But that being said, I don't want too much fanfare. I know there are plenty of ponies out there. And for the most part, they are laying low. But I want to help them. Just keep an eye out, if you hear of anything strange that suggests that a pony is around, give them the number to the shop, I'll take care of them, understand?" I have a feeling I'm going to be repeating that speech quite a bit.

I do enjoy my time talking with them. After a few minutes they truly realize that I'm the same person they knew. I ask about children, their lives. Just the usual small talk. Once I grind my smoke into the ground, I take off. And in moments I'm back at my shop. I go into Pat's office and toss her the paperwork. I smile at her, "We got the job."

She smiles at me. "As if there were any doubt."

"I'm going home, if there are any problems, I'll have my phone on me, as always.” I trot out of the office, then a thought strikes me. I turn back. "Pat, do we have any employees that are in their mid twenties, and their birthday is within a few days of today?"
"I know we have one, but he was one of the people who quit. Let me look him up." I wait for a few moments as she pulls up files on her computer. "Ah yes. We've got Victor. His birthday was yesterday, and he's…" she scans for a few moments, "twenty five."
Gotcha. "Is he married? Living with parents?"

"No, he's living in the housing you subsidized to help get more guys to live here. Since he quit, he will have to move."

"Don't do anything with him, yet. I have a feeling that things are changing for him as well."

"How many ponies have turned, Lightning?"

"I know the mane six from the TV show are here. I haven't seen them, but I'm certain they are on Earth. And my sister, and a friend of hers. And I suspect Victor. I'm going to head to his place right now."

"Let me know, Boss."

I smile as I head outside. In moments I'm in the air, and landing in front of the apartment complex I built. To protect my employees from the wild prices for housing around here, I built this place, and about forty of my guys live here. They pay a much more reasonable amount of rent than the thousands of dollars per month for a one bedroom in other parts of town. I trot for a few minutes, and finally am knocking on one of the doors.

"Go away," I hear a muffled voice.

"Please let me in, I suspect the same thing is happening to you that happened to me."

"Please, go away." I hear a muffled sob.

I sigh. "I want to help you. If you are an Equestrian and you were banished as well, we need to stick together."

"Please. Just leave me alone." I can hear more sobbing.

I put my head on the door, "Victor, I can help you. Please let me."

"I don't need any help, just leave me alone."

"Victor, you know where I live. If you need someone to talk to, I will be there or at the shop. I know you quit on me, but I can help. If you are going through the same thing I went through, I can help ease the problems. It's very scary changing like this. But, in the end, it's for the best. Just remember, you can talk to me any time. Understand?"

"Fine, whatever."

My ears and head are down as I trudge away. I'm not happy about this change, but I want to help. If he truly is going through these changes, I hope he opens up. Finally I flare my wings and head home.

***

"Hi there Jim, or should I call you Lightning Flash," I say as I trot in the back door. Transportation is so much easier as a pegasus, just fly wherever you want to go.

He's fully a pony now. "I guess it's Lightning Flash, since we both are Lightning's, I'll call you Dust, you call me Flash, I think we did that back in the Wonderbolts."

"Sounds like some of your memories are coming back."

He nods. "Bits and pieces."

"Same here." My ears flatten for a moment, I'd like to know more, rather than vague recollections and pieces of my former life.
I hear the clop of hooves and Soarin comes in.

"Hey bro."

"You know, technically, we aren't related anymore, Lighting Dust."

"I'm not going to forget twenty five years of having a little sister just because we turned into ponies."

That earns me a chuckle. I turn to Flash. "So, what is your sad story? How do you know Maddie?"

He looks at Soarin. "We were in college together, Texas A&M. I was in ROTC, and she was in a few of my classes. We got to talking one day after class, and ended up friends."

I know the corps at A&M. "Did you join after the corps of cadets?"

"Served two years with my brother, marines. Deployed in the middle east."

I sigh, that part of the world has continued to be torn apart by war even after nearly twenty years.

"And what brings you here?"

He looks unsure. "Well, after Irony changed, I got the cutie marks on my legs."

"Hold on a minute, Irony? As in Princess Sparkle's personal guard? The earth pony?"

He nods.

"When did Irony change?"

"His, I mean her, birthday was the 25th of April."

I growl a bit. "Discord must have wanted her out of the way. Not many other ponies would be qualified to stay with Princess Sparkle. She hated having to have a personal guard. But Irony was an excellent leader, and ferocious when it comes to fighting. I always respected her."

"Well, she's exactly the same as she was then. We had a bit of an issue before I left."

He spends the next few minutes telling me about their adventure at the chop shop.

"So, Irony's recreated her armor and mace." I laugh. "I feel sorry for anypony that stands in her way." My ears fall flat and it's time to get serious. "I remember being briefed on Irony's abilities as a member of the Wonderbolts. Dash knows, and so does Soarin. I wasn't told anything about how she has those abilities, just that she does. Do you know?"

Flash shakes his head. "No, I don't. I just saw her do it that one time, and she was still in the process of transforming to Irony from being Henry." He looks down and his ears flatten. "That is part of the reason I ran away."

"Judging mby how much you've eaten last night and today, you've been on the road since you found your cutie mark," Soarin adds in to the conversation. Flash nods sadly.

"I said some things I shouldn’t have. Henry was my brother. Even after he changed, I still love him. I didn't know what to do. He turned into a fucking pony. And finding out that I'm going to follow in his hoof steps, I freaked out. At least I stayed male. Holy shit!!!" He jumps off the chair and starts pacing.

I look at Soarin as he looks at me, I raise an eyebrow. Huh?

Soarin asks, "What's going on Flash?"

"Sherry. Damn it all. I just left. And we were just really starting to get serious."

"I'm sorry to hear that Flash. Want to call, see what's going on with them?"

A look of fear passes across his face, he lays down on the floor and puts his hooves over his head. "She's going to hate me now."
I think of some of the stupid things I did in regards to my wife before we got married, it's amazing we actually did tie the knot, I smile at Flash. "I wouldn't count her out. Might want to give it a shot."

Soarin shifts in his seat. "I do want to know what was going on with your human life, but you survived nearly twenty four hours more than Dust and I did. How?"

"When we scattered, we went in every direction. I headed south. I ended up near Appaloosa, I saw a caravan I knew. It was Trixie. You know the Trixie from the show?"

We both nod.  "Well, I told her what was going on, and we tried to get away from populated areas. We hoped Discord would finish his tricks." He sighs. "We were wrong, he had a lot of ponies he wanted out of his way. Near the end of that day we were resting a bit, galloping that long is hard, and I couldn't fly, staying with Trixie. Discord appeared in front of us, I'll never forget what he said, 'Ahh, Miss Lulamoon, you will not believe the trouble I went through to track you down.' Then he looked at me, 'And you, little Wonderbolt, your team is gone and your precious princesses are done for.' He smiled the most evil smile I've ever seen on any face in my life. Trixie shouted to me to fly away as she sent some kind of magic at Discord. I'll tell you, she was actually a very good magic user. She kept her cool and sent spell after spell at Discord. He batted everything she did away, and when he fired his spell at her, I jumped in front of her, if only to give her a few more seconds to maybe come up with something to stop that monster."
I hopped off the chair and moved over to him, putting a wing over him. "I don't think anypony could have stopped him. He already took out the mane six from the show, and we were mopping up operations." I sigh, I notice another wing folding over mine. We just sit there for a long time, hugging each other and remembering.


> Chapter 7. An Officer and a Gentlepony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As always, the alarm jolts me awake. There are times I hate waking up so early. Oh well. I give my wife a kiss, knowing she doesn't have to work today, part time is good enough for her, in addition to tax preparation for the company, and I'll tell you, that is a nightmare every year. She snuggles further into her covers. I head downstairs to the kitchen, and I see I'm not the only one awake.

"Morning Soarin, morning Flash."

I get a plate of scrambled eggs slid over to me for my trouble. Winning.

I dig in, and after I'm able to swallow a few bites I look over at Soarin. "Want a morning flight before I head off to work?"

"You know it.," from Soarin.

"Of course," from Flash.

I wolf down the rest of my breakfast and head to the door. After a moment of consideration, I turn to my guests. "I have an idea."
They look at me expectantly. "Today we need to focus on two things, I'll check on one part at work, but I want you guys to check on the internet today, look around and see if you can find any indications of ponies. The closer the better, but we need to let them know that there is a safe haven for them here."

That gets enthusiastic nods, then Jim looks troubled. "But Dust, if there are a lot of them, your house is in town. You have five bedrooms here, which is nice and all, but you don't have the beds for a lot of extra guests."

I smile. "Already thought of that, my job will be to buy some land, and preferable a farmhouse and maybe get some construction going on some kind of barracks. If we have a lot of ponies, we'll need the space."

"How much land are we talking about Dust?" Soarin asks.

"At least four sections, maybe more."

That gets a low whistle from Flash, "Four square miles, must be pretty spendy."

I shrug my wings. "First off, land here is relatively cheap if it doesn't have oil underneath it. I'd like it to be somewhat close to town. And second, I'm not going to have it be idle, and the ponies aren't going to be idle. Our roles will be similar to back in Equestria." I pause for a moment, I almost said home. I feel my ears droop for a moment. Boy our bodies are more expressive than our human ones. I perk up quickly though. "The pegasi will handle the weather, the earth ponies who show the aptitude will help with farming, and unicorns will help with everything else."

"You are going to be on the weather crew?"

I stop and think about it for a moment. "I'll help out in a pinch, but financially, I've got to keep Lightning Electric going."

They look at each other. "What about defense?" Soarin asks.

That gets me to snort. "We aren't setting up an independent nation here, guys. We might patrol the borders a bit, just for peace of mind and to alert the ponies when humans come to visit." I guess there have been more mental changes than I thought, I'm starting to think of humans as aliens, and a potential threat. I think about my wife and kids, nope, not them. Good. "We will work to be safe, but I hope we can contract our abilities out to farmers in the area."

Now I get confused expressions from my compatriots.

"Think about it, as a farmer, how would you like to know when the rain is going to happen, and you can ask for more over certain crops, and you can have dry conditions when you are harvesting or need the fields to be dry?"

Two pairs of eyes widen. "That is fucking genius, Dust," Soarin says.

I shrug my wings again. "It's what we did back home." I trot out the door.

We start our workout with wing ups, and they are surprisingly hard to do. I manage fifty, barely. I vaguely remember in a previous life a hundred wing ups were a piece of cake. Gotta work on conditioning. And then we fly. We do circuits around town, just enough to warm up, and as six o'clock approaches, I peel off and head to the shop. Then I discover I've got a problem. I didn't grab my keys. That is fixed by a quick flight home and back. Then I discover, using keys without hands is a real pain in the flank. After about five minutes of me trying to open the door with the key I hear a truck bouncing down the gravel road to the shop. I turn and see it's one of the early risers of the crew, in moments I'm in my office firing up my computer.

***

The morning meeting went off pretty well, overnight we lost another journeyman and one of my hydro excavators quit as well. Well, replacing them will be a pain. I sigh at the resignation letters sitting in front of me. My wife proved true, like she usually does. I'm busy when I'm interrupted by a knock on my door. I've found that keeping the door closed prevents gawking, my employees are still human, and it's a novelty to see a pegasus sitting at their boss' desk. I look up.

"Come in."

Instead of one of my office staff, or one of the apprentices I've had working the shop, it's a tall man with a gun belt and a badge. He's Bill Connelly, the Sheriff.

"Morning Bill."

"Morning… uh…"

I laugh gently. "Lightning Dust will do. But you knew me as Mike. We've always been on a first name basis, and this transformation doesn't change that in my view."

He looks unsure, but he does take the visitors chair when I indicate with my hooves.

He continues to look uneasy. "There is a lot of talk around town, uhh, Mike."

I sigh, I expected this, though not this quickly. "I'm not really comfortable with this change either Bill. I'm just trying to take it one day at a time."

"It's not easy over here though, but I have to remember you have always followed the law, and you've paid your taxes, and been an overall upright citizen. Hell," he rubs the back of his neck and chuckles, "You've even generously donated to my re-election campaign."

"And you've been a fair sheriff. A fair man in office always gets my support."

"But you aren't a human anymore."

"I, more than anypony else around here, am quite aware of that fact."

Silence. I look at him expectantly,

He shifts uneasily under my gaze. "Well, I'm trying to figure out exactly what to do with you."

"And you are asking me for my advice?"

"Well, now, I wouldn't say that."

"So you've come here with your mind made up then?"

"Damnit, Mike. That's not the case either."

"Then what is it Bill?"

"Well, there's talk of just booting you out of town and letting the federal authorities take care of you."

Ahh, people certainly have been talking. Time to nip this in the flank. Before reactionary opinions hold sway.

"And what exactly has changed since Friday?"

"Damnit man, you are now a girl pony. And you are sitting there in your desk, pretty as you please. You are acting as though nothing is going on."

I slam a hoof on the desk, and it's a measure of how uncomfortable he is that he jumps. I look down at my desk, which now has a clear hoof impression on it. Damn, I must be angrier than I thought. "Bill. I look at this two ways. First off, very big things have changed. I'm now a four foot tall, light blue pony with wings. And I've gone through an unwilling gender change in the process. But on the other hoof, nothing important has changed. Lighting Electric is still here. We are shy a few bodies, but we are always needing more bodies anyway. Our guys still head out in the field every Monday through Friday, and even most Saturdays. I wasn't at church last weekend, but the fact I went through a major change kind of excuses me from that I would think. But I plan on being there this Sunday. And I'll still get to watch you sleep through the sermon." Which earns me a bark of laughter. I continue. "I'll still be paying my taxes, I'll still be contributing towards the economy of this town. Remember, about three hundred citizens of this town are my employees or their families."

I stop for a moment, gauging his reaction. "Bill, we've known each other for years. The important things haven't changed. I'm still here, we are still here, and actually a wondrous thing has happened.  We just found out there is a whole universe out there that has intelligent life." I smile at him. "What you are looking at right now is a being that was banished from her home by an evil spirit. And another amazing thing, magic is real."

Amazement dawns on his face. I unfurl my wings. "Look at me, I weigh more than any bird, and my wingspan isn't much more than some of the larger falcons or eagles. According to aeronautics, I can't fly. And yet I do. And if that isn't evidence enough, if and when I find a unicorn, we will see even more magic done."

He sighs. "Fine. I've made a decision. As long as you follow the laws and be a pony like the man you once were, I'm going to treat you like any other citizen. Last I checked the Constitution, it doesn't specify human beings, merely citizens. And as far as I'm concerned, you are a citizen."

I smile. "Thank you Bill. I knew I could count on you." I hold out a hoof.

After a moment of staring at my hoof, he finally shakes it. "It's been a pleasure, as always, uh… Lightning Dust."

As he gets up to go. "One more thing, Bill."

He turns and looks at me expectantly. "If you hear of, or see any other ponies, with the exception of the two living at my house right now, let me know. I want to help them through this transition. And if any get in trouble with the law, I'd appreciate a heads up. Just so you know, my life before coming to this universe, I was a military member. I can take care of any problems you may have. Ponies are a bit stronger than humans, I don't think your cuffs will hold them, but I can make sure they are taken care of. Because I'll expect them to follow the same laws every human has to. That will go for any ponies I find."

"How many of these colorful equines do you plan on gathering together, Mike?"

"As many as I can find."

He tips his hat to me as he leaves my office. Now, back to searching.

***

Early afternoon comes around and I've found what I'm looking for. A farm. A large farm, or enormous would probably be a good word. Ten full sections, with lease options for grazing on another forty. It's only ten miles out of town. I think about it for a moment, the owner, I remembered him, I attended his funeral a few months ago. And his kids apparently didn't want it, so they are selling everything, the whole kit and caboodle. It's got the farmhouse, numerous outbuildings, and all the farm equipment. I look at the price. It's spendy, more spendy than I was wanting to do, but it's perfect for our needs.  I check my accounts, I can transfer the money today and have enough operating capital until invoices come due at the end of the month. I send off an email to my lawyer. He's not in town, so probably has no clue about the fact that I'm a colorful equine. I smile. Lightning Electric is going to be the owner of a large farm. It's going to complicate the taxes a bit, but my wife will be able to sort it out. I stop for a moment. Glancing at my closed door, I swivel my ears around, I can hear the office staff chatting in their office, and I can hear movement out in the shop, no trucks coming in though. One thing I really like about this is how sensitive my senses are now. I flutter my wings a bit. I lean back in my chair and sigh.

"This shit is permanent, isn't it?" I say to no pony in particular. My oversized head sinks to the desk. I have to let the floodgates open once again. Damn it, I'm thinking about taxes, I'm thinking about long term as a fucking pony. I try to keep my sobs silent. For a long time I successful. But after a while I feel a hand on my back. Causing me to jerk up, Rose jumps away at my sudden movement.

"I'm sorry to bother you, er… Lightning Dust. But I heard you when I walked back to the PLC assembly shop. I wanted to know if I could help you."

I feel my entire face is wet, I've got snot running out of my nose, in other words, I'm probably a sight. I sniff a few times. I can't talk yet. She leaves the office, and then returns with a box of tissues. Grabbing one I blow my nose. Definitely a feat when you've got hooves instead of hands. She notices my trouble, she kneels down in front of me and helps me clean my face.

She smiles. "I didn't know ponies can blush."

"Well, apparently we can."

She moves over and sits in the visitors chair, "Something I can help with?"

I sigh. "No. Not really. I'm just thinking, this damn thing is permanent, isn't it?"

"Do you not like it?"

This causes me to pause to think. Do I like these changes?

After a few moments. "Yes, and no. I love being able to fly. I am actually growing to like this body. It's actually pretty amazing." But then my ears drop. "But I miss my hands. I am actually pretty bothered by some people's reactions to me now. It's scary, what if people decide I'm no better than a pig, or a cow."

She looks sharply at me. "Lightning, I can't believe I'm hearing that from you. Since we found out yesterday, this whole town is abuzz with what's going on to you. And a few people saw you guys flying this morning. I won't lie to you, some people are weirded out by this. But damn it, I've been talking to you, and you are the same person that you were last week, the week before, the last few years. You are still the same man that hired me, and trained me to do HSE work. Just keep doing what you are doing, you'll win them over. And as to the future, you'll figure it out. You were able to scrape together ten million dollars to buy this company. You've been busting your ass since then to pay off those debts, and you did it in eighteen months. All the guys love you, I talk to them out in the shop. A few were surprised about your change, but the consensus among the guys is the same as the morning meeting yesterday, as long as you keep us working and the paychecks keep coming, they are with you, hell or high water. Don't worry about the stragglers, some will come around, some won't. But you are doing wonderful."

"Damn it, I want to be human again."

She smiles. "Lightning, I don't care what you are. You are a good person, and you should be happy with that."

I sigh. "Thank you Rose."

***

I'm still working as the trucks start rolling in from the day's work. I smile as I hear the diesel pickups rolling in. I swear they all coordinate when they are going to arrive, because they are scattered to over a dozen work sites and yet most of them get in within about half an hour of each other. This time I keep my door open. I see the guys filling out the invoices and their time cards, and all the other paperwork that my office staff has to keep track of. I get the normal greetings, though I can tell that every so often they find a reason to walk by my door. I sigh after a bit and walk out to the crowded break room.

"Hey guys." I smile.

One of my senior journeymen comes up to me. "Uh, hey. Boss. A lot of us have been talking, and the office girls got to see, but…"

"You guys want to see me fly?"

That is just what the doctor ordered. I think I'm going to give them a show. "Give me a few." I trot into my office and place a quick phone call. And then we get outside, the shop has completely emptied out.

I look to the south and I see a speck on the horizon, in moments, Soarin is standing next to me. I smile at him, and get a big grin back. I turn to my guys.

"Back before we came here, we were members of a performance team, it was called the Wonderbolts." A few nod their heads, either closet bronies, or more likely, they turned on netflix last night. "And we did air shows. Now, there are just two of us, but we'll show you a few things."

I turn to Soarin. "My memories of the formations are pretty foggy," I whisper.

He smiles. "Mine too, let's just have fun up in the air."

We move to have enough clearance for our wings and we both spread them wide. Power takeoff time. I tap a back hoof and we both take off like bullets straight up, I know they hear a sonic boom as we accelerate, I've found, pegasi are fast. We spend the next half an hour doing a performance that would have had Rainbow Dash screaming at us for being lazy and forgetting everything. But I think we did a pretty good job. And judging by the applause as we landed, both breathing heavily. We impressed the humans on the ground. Though I noticed a few more cars parked and quite a few more faces among the watchers than when we took off. Apparently we were visible for quite a distance, and some curious onlookers decided to drop by. I smile at Soarin. "Thanks bro. Seeya at the house." In moments he's once again a speck on the horizon. I look at the assembled faces.

"Well, don't expect an air show every day." I get plenty of laughter from that. Then the sound of a truck bouncing down the gravel road gets my attention. I know that truck, it's Sheriff Connelly. I tell the guys to finish up and they head back inside, and the curious onlookers, for the most part, head back to their cars. The sheriff hits his brakes hard and slides to a stop.

He sticks his head out the window. "Lightning, I need you to come with me, it's serious."

I frown as he reaches across and opens the truck door, I clamber in and awkwardly close the door. He immediately flips on his light bar and floors the pedal. Not even waiting for me to get my seatbelt on, but then again, I'm not certain how I'm going to do that. I just hold on as best as I can as he blasts the siren to clear out the little bit of traffic in town. In a few minutes he pulls up to my apartment complex. One of his deputies pulls open my door and I hop out. I trot behind Bill up to an apartment. Oh no. It's the apartment I visited yesterday. He barrels through the door, with me in hot pursuit. Entering the bedroom he turns and looks at me.

"Lightning, you said that anything pony related I should keep you in the loop on. Well, some kids were playing outside, and they saw through the window… this." He moves aside, and I see a gruesome sight. My gut was right about Victor. He was about half turned into a pony, his hands were still hands, but his hooves were dark green with lighter green fur. I didn't recognize the cutie mark, but I did notice he had a unicorn horn. I flap my wings to gain height. It looked like he looped a rope around the ceiling fan. I'm surprised it held his weight. His face was purple, he suffered as he died. I saw the kicked over chair next to him, his feet were less than a foot from the ground. He was apparently one who had to go through the gender change, for some reason, he wasn't wearing any clothes, and the fact that he was now female was readily apparent. I looked at Bill. My ears drooped. No.

"Oh, Victor. Damn it!" I moan.

I feel an hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry Lightning, we didn't find a letter or anything, the door was locked and both sets of keys are inside. The medical examiner is likely going to rule this a suicide."

"Damn IT!" I shout as I buck as hard as I can. I hear the crack of breaking wood, and the shattering of glass. Victor's dresser is now good only as firewood. I feel tears stream down my cheeks. "God Damn IT!!!" I scream. I storm out of the apartment and finally end up by the sheriff's truck. Sobbing, and not caring who sees it. After a long time, I hear Bill come stand next to me.

"You need a ride home, Lightning?"

I shake my head and ruffle my wings. "I can fly home. Where I am going to get shit drunk."

He laughs and kneels down next to me. "I don't know if you ponies can get drunk, but if you can, have a few for me, I've still got a lot of work to do on this." He grabs my snout gently and turns it to where I can see him. "And I'll treat flying while drunk the same as driving while drunk, got it?" he says with a sad smile.

I nod as I flare my wings and take off.
> Chapter 8. How is a Butterfly Like an Office Desk
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I stumble into the office in a haze of pain. I opened a bottle of Jack Daniels last night, and seriously made a sincere attempt to finish it off. As a human, I could have, but I'm not that big anymore. There were a few swigs left in the bottle when I finally opened my eyes this morning. My alarm had been going off for nearly an hour at that point. But I wasn't the only one nursing a hangover. Soarin and Flash were, so was my wife, once I told them the news about Victor. It was a very subdued night. But I'm here. With four ibuprofen starting to work their magic, and the half gallon of water I guzzled once I was able to stumble out of bed. I hop in my office chair and don't even touch my computer. I just lay my head on the desk for a long time. After a bit I hear the sound of a cup being set on my desk. The smell of a coffee with plenty of sugar hits my nose. causing me to sniff more. That smells good. I strain to lift my head and I look at the cup. Rainbow Dash's face smiles at me from the cyan coffee cup. How cute. But I'm not in the mood. "Couldn't find a Lightning Dust coffee cup?"

I hear Pat chuckle. "No, Lightning. I couldn't. But I saw this at the store, and I couldn't resist." She hands me a stack of checks for me to sign, ahh, payday is tomorrow, better get the checks signed for those who elect to receive actual checks rather than direct deposit. And the per diem checks for the north crew are there. I pay them a hundred bucks a day in addition to their hotel rooms for staying out of town. That's not counting the out of town pay they get as well. To be on that crew, you can bank some dollars.

I take a pen in my mouth. "This is going to be weird,” I say around the pen as I scribble my usual unintelligible scribble of a signature on the first paper. In ten minutes, Pat smiles at me as she gathers the checks.

"Lightning, I heard about Victor. We all know about him now." Her face falls. "He was good, he was going places."

"Yeah, he was going to be a pony. We would have loved to have him. He needed help." I lay my head back on the desk. "I should have helped him."

"He refused your help, you said you went to his apartment and talked to him."

"I should have said something different, I shouldn't have given up on him."

"What, you would have forced your help on him?" I'm hurt by the sharpness of her voice.

"Well… No. But…"

"No buts, missy." That causes me to look at her sharply. In the decade I've known this woman, she's never raised her voice to me. "You can't save them all," she says much softer.

"I shouldn't have given up so easily. I thought he would come to us."

"And he didn't, he made his decision. You did your best. If you beat yourself up over that, you won't be able to help any other ponies. You need to focus on the ones you can save."

I sigh. "You are right. Thank you Pat."

She smiles. "It's all part of the service." She heads back to her office as I finally fire up my computer.

A few minutes later, I pump a hoof. Closing on the ranch will be in three days, but if we want, we can start moving stuff over today. At least some good news. Shortly, I'm immersed in my daily work. The amount of work I have to do is pretty large. I've been told I should hire some more office staff to handle my paperwork, and I've seriously considered it. But not yet. I get to work, hunting a pecking with a pencil in my mouth, wishing I had a better way to operate a computer.

***

It's still mid morning when I hear indistinct voices at the front office, then shortly I hear hoof steps heading to my office. Must be Soarin or Flash. A moment of silence then a hoof knocks on my office door.

"Come in," I call out.

The door handle depresses and the door opens, admitting two ponies, but not the two ponies I was thinking of. My eyes widen, an earth pony, and a unicorn, both mares. "Hi," The earth pony says.

I open my mouth and try to speak, but my mouth doesn't want to cooperate with my brain.

"We got the email from Soarin, we just got into town and were told to come here."

"Uhhhh."

The unicorn speaks up, "We used to live in Cody, Wyoming. And I have no clue how Soarin tracked us down, but all of a sudden an email pops up, and I would have deleted it, but some of the details in the email were exactly how my dreams have been. We talked quite a bit, then this morning we got in the car and came here."

I smile, my little bro has been busy. "Soarin was my sister. She was really close to her masters in computer science. She can do things that I wish I could do on the computer. Including some things that would probably be considered e-crimes. But that doesn't matter, she found you." I hop from my chair and come around my desk. "When was your 25th birthday?"

"We both have birthdays on the 3rd of May. We just finished changing yesterday." They look at each other. "We really don't even know our names. We are both bronies, but when we discovered our cutie marks we had no idea who they belonged to. We researched, and we couldn't find them. Apparently we showed up once in one of the episodes in season five, but that was when the mane six visited Baltimare. We were on screen for about three seconds. So, I look at them critically. The earth pony has a box of cherries for a cutie mark, and her body was we've stayed with our human names until we find out our pony names."

Her coat is the color of a bing cherry, that red almost purple color, and her mane is jet black. The unicorn, surprisingly enough has Pinkie Pie's cutie mark, but the balloons are different colors, hers are purple, pink and red. Her white mane is bouncy and curly just like Pinkie Pie's, and her coat is magenta. Oh crap, I know her name, some old memory from Equestria floats up. I look at the unicorn. "Mindy, I can't believe you are here!"

She looks confused. "Mindy? Me? How?"

I have to chuckle. "I remember growing up in Baltimare, just like I remember growing up in Corpus Christi." I sigh and raise a hoof. "Don't ask." I smile and walk up to Mindy. "As a filly, I remember growing up near you. We played together! Oh my God, I can't believe you are here."

As I'm talking, the earth pony's ears wilt. I notice this and turn to her. "I really wish I knew you from before. But no memories are surfacing of you. I'm really sorry."

We are interrupted by a knock on the door frame, and a young woman looks in. "Are Carl and Louis here?" She spies us ponies. "Oh, so you were right about that email. Just come to Lightning Electric and you'll find what you are looking for." She smiles. "I'm Mary, I'm Carl's little sister." She appears to be barely eighteen years old. She comes over and accepts a hoof shake. 

Mindy bounces up to her little sister. "Lightning Dust here told me my name, I'm Mindy."

She looks confused. "That doesn't sound like a pony name."

I smile. "She's not your typical pony, and neither were her parents. If my memories are correct, she can give Pinkie Pie a run for her bits when it comes to being a crazy pony. I loved this pony to death! We were the best pranksters in Baltimare. Always had to watch for the Guard, because when something happened."

Mindy picked it up, "Double Trouble was behind it." She looks shocked. "How did I remember that?"

Things get serious for a moment. "Discord couldn't erase your memories, your memories are part of you. He just made it to where you couldn't access those memories easily. As you are around ponies, you'll find some of your memories come back. Especially around ponies that you knew before the curse."

"The curse?" both ponies ask in unison.

I take several minutes to explain what Soarin, Flash, and I have come up with about the fight with Discord, and the curse that brought us to this world. As I wind down both ponies sit on their haunches.

After several moments. "This is all real, isn't it?" Louis says.

I nod. "And the unwilling gender changes as well." I get a wince from both of them. Mindy jumps up. "I don't care about that, this new body is amazing, and look what I can do."

She concentrates and my desk starts to glow. Then with a loud sound like a party horn blowing, it turns into thousands of butterflies. My mouth drops open.

"Oops, sorry, I was trying levitation. But I guess I don't have as much control as I thought," she says as she concentrates again, my window opens and a breeze picks up, blowing the colorful insects outside.

I turn to her, and she wilts. "I'm sorry," she whimpers. I surprise her by grabbing her around the middle and flapping my wings to pick us both up.

"You can do magic! Oh my God, you can do magic!!!" She laughs as I zoom around the small room, hugging her hard. "Mindy, I've missed you!"

Pat sticks her head in the room, she notices my lack of a desk and me zooming around the room, she pales and backs slowly from the room.

***

I haven't been in a vehicle very much since I've transformed, and now I'm in my truck, the crew cab cleaned out of tools to take a total of five ponies for this drive. My wife is driving, I do miss my hands, I think as I watch her manipulate the stick shift. She wanted her SUV, but this farm is down some really rough roads. I'll get them smoothed out with some of the shops equipment. Owning earth moving equipment can come in handy. I smile as I look out the window as we crawl down the road, yup. First thing is to grab the bobcat and start smoothing out the road. We jolt around the pickup cab a bit, my wife cringing at the jolts my truck is taking. We still haven't figured out how to get seat belts on. In a few minutes, we are turning onto the actual driveway to the farm. I've been emailing the former owners, and since they are glad to be rid of it, they were happy to inform me where the keys were, and were ready to sign the paperwork. Usually the purchase of property like this can take weeks or months, but a big cash payment is incentive to work much faster. I know my lawyer is pretty busy right now, I'll be receiving his bill, and grumbling about how much he charges, but he's always done good work for my family, and my business.

"Well, we're here," my wife exclaims. I look out the window. The two story farmhouse is pretty big. A quick flick of a hoof and I've got the door open. Mindy has been practicing her magic and opened the door herself. Hopping out with a huge grin, she looks around and starts hopping around. I swear she must be channeling Pinkie Pie. Every question is what's this, what's that, and a lot of ohhhhs. My wife kindly opens the door for me, I rub against her as I walk past and flick my tail to whap her in the rear. Her eyes go wide for a moment, then a grin for me. I grin back then look around. Whomever shut down the house for preservation did a good job, heavy tarps over all the furniture, no obvious drips from leaking water, and no apparent animal damage. I trot up the stairs, noting the five bedrooms. Then glide back down the stairs, my favorite way to go down any stairs. A big kitchen, with older, but serviceable appliances. All in all, I think a good deal. I let the ponies run around and inspect anything they want, my wife and I check out the outbuildings. Two large barns, a few equipment sheds. An emergency generator. That causes my eyes to light up. I trot over to its control panel.

"Hmmm, two hundred amp, that will be good for our needs." I move over to the main power, noting the meter had been removed, will have to call to set up service. "Also two hundred amps." A quick look tells me that the service feeds the house and all the buildings. That could be a problem. I flick my ear and my blue tooth chimes.

"Call shop."

In moments Pat has answers. "Hey Pat, we are going to need a crew out to the old Paulsen place tomorrow morning, bring a trencher. And grab a hundred thousand kva pole mount transformer set. Three phase." My wife looks at me questioningly. I finish giving instructions and flick the call off with my ear. I look at my wife.

"How many ponies could comfortably live here long term?"

She looks around. "Well, if you bed some of them down in the barns, maybe a couple of hundred."

"We are going to need room for over a thousand, I would think."

She starts in surprise. "How many ponies did Discord banish?"

"I have no idea. But I suspect the number is going to be larger than I'm going to prepare for." I look around. "And I'm going to prepare as best as I can. The Equestrians are refugees. And I'm not going to allow them to live in squalor. Not under my watch."

"What are you going to do?"

I look around at the equipment. "We will have grazing rights on forty sections. We are going to have to grow hay, it may not be the tastiest thing around, but it will be food for the ponies, but most of all, we will need living space." I look at my wife. "What do you think? Military barracks style, or like those man camps up north?"

She looks thoughtful, then opens her mouth to speak. "Oh Lightning, this is so awesome!" Mindy pops out from behind my wife and bounces in front of me. "This farm is huge, and there are fields for growing crops, and there are bales of hay, those big round bales. And it even looks like they built a paintball course here. And there is all kinds of equipment for working the fields, and trucks, and everything anypony can think of." She stops to take a huge breath. "And I love it!" Her scream actually blows me back a couple of feet. I shake my head and I look around, Mindy is bouncing around on the roof of the farmhouse now. I have no clue as to why. I look at my wife and get a smile in return.

***

Early afternoon and I'm back at the shop. My wife, Soarin, and the rest of the ponies have been spending most of their time getting the farmhouse habitable. I took delivery of the meter and installed it, so power is on, and that brought the water well pump up, which after a bit of priming, was producing plenty of water. How many ponies are coming, I don't know, but we are going to need the space. Distantly I hear the phone to the shop ring. I look around my office, I had a nice office desk, it was in two pieces, one sticking out into the room for me to do paperwork, and another part against the wall, with a hutch that had my computer, printer, and a few more pieces of office equipment on it. The part Mindy had destroyed was the flat portion, so I could still use my computer, but I'm going to have to order a new desk now. I sigh.

My door slams open, Rose is there, a look that chills me to my bone on her face. "Mike, we've got a problem."

She now has my complete attention. "One of the north crew, he fell off a fourteen foot ladder, it's bad, he fell onto a process vessel, then to the ground. He's bleeding, and he has at least a compound fracture. Ambulance has been called, but it will be a good forty minutes for it to reach them."

Oh, shit. "What site are they at?"

"Tioga, North Dakota. Why?"

I brush past her and head out to the shop. I see a couple of apprentices helping with organizing a materials delivery, one of them is the apprentice who had the little bang up earlier in the week. I trot over to the first aid station, and grab one of the big duffel bags that has a good deal of first responder gear. I head over to the apprentices.

"Joe, I need you to grab one of the spare trucks and head up to Tioga, as soon as you can. If you get a ticket, I'll pay for it, but I need you there as soon as possible."

Rose comes up from behind me. "But even driving a hundred, it's almost three hours there at that speed." I turn and look at her as I finish strapping the bag to my body, leaving my wings free.

"I'm not driving." I turn to Joe. "GO!" I shout at him in my best command voice, and he runs to the garage where we keep a couple of spare trucks, in seconds I hear the screech of tires as he hauls ass down the driveway. I push the button to open up the bay door. "I'll be back as soon as possible, let the other ponies know where I've gone." I spread my wings and take off like a bullet, north and east, that's my direction. I'm shortly above ten thousand feet and I'm hauling ass myself. The ground flashes beneath me, I hope I'm not making any windows break with my sonic boom. I'm actually maintaining flight above the speed of sound without much effort. I smile. This is awesome! The drag from the duffel bag shifts me around a bit, but I'm able to compensate for it pretty well. I would howl in delight if the situation weren't so dire.

After about twenty minutes I'm starting to feel tired, but I know I'm close to my destination. I look down critically. Ahh, there's Tioga. And to the south and east of the town itself, there is the transfer station that's my destination. I can see a group of people crowded around one of the bigger pump buildings. I shift from flight to a dive, wings folded back, and speed being my only objective. The ground rushes towards me and I finally judge it being time to pull out of the dive, I can feel the pressure on my wing joints as I backpedal my wings to slow down. My hooves touch ground gently to a trio of dropped jaws.

"I don't have time, I'm your boss, where is he?"

My north crew left Monday, they didn't know about my transformation. I just chuckle as I follow the pointed hands into the building. The lead man for my north crew is holding the injured man.

"Did you move him?" I ask.

He doesn't even look up, or acknowledge the stunned looks at me from the rest of the crew. "No, all we've been doing is keeping him warm and trying to stop the bleeding."

I shrug out of the duffel bag and toss it to him. "This stuff should help." I trot over and use my teeth on the zipper, opening the bag, I get out some materials and look at the young man. He's wincing in pain. "I wish I could give you pain medication, but the paramedics will have to do that."

I hear a confused sound, "Aren't you the paramedic?"

"No, I'm Lightning Dust, I just grabbed our emergency pack and hauled ass here."

"That's impossible…" He trails off as he notices that a blue-green pegasus has been answering his questions.

"Rose got the call and told me, I grabbed this, and I took off at full speed." I look at my phone strapped to my foreleg. "twenty two minutes to travel about three hundred miles. I'd say that's pretty good."

My north foreman is apparently a math whiz. "That's a bit over eight hundred miles per hour, or about mach one point one."

I smile. "I guess I was in a hurry." I rummage in the bag. "My advanced first aid training is rather rusty."

He grabs the bad and brings it close. In minutes he's got compression bandages on the leg, and on the poor journeyman's side, stopping bleeding from a large gash caused by an exposed valve as he fell. We continue working, I just basically do what he tells me to do. Finally the door into the building crashes open and the paramedics arrive. In moments they've taken over the situation and we move back away from our injured man. In  a matter of minutes he's on a backboard, his head stabilized and his body strapped down. They carry him to the ambulance and all of the north crew follow me to the back door of the oversize van. The door is shut and it takes off. I sigh in relief as they don't activate their sirens for the return trip, so they aren't worried about him dying in the ambulance. That is a good thing.

I turn to my north crew. "Hey guys, just pack everything up and go back to the shop. Take Friday off and I'll see you guys Monday."

Nobody moves, all their eyes are glued to me. "C'mon people, time to move."

I laugh gently as they all keep looking at me. "My name on Friday of last week was Mike Shaw, I'm still your boss."

One of the older apprentices recovers first. "My boss has turned into Lightning Dust. You sound just like her!"

I roll my eyes. Am I going to find bronies everywhere? "Yes, I'm Lightning Dust. But I'm still the same hard ass who is also your boss. Now get yourself moving. I'll have Joe meet you at the hotel to help you grab your stuff." I watch them move to the various trucks and start putting away tools and equipment. I flick my bluetooth to call the shop so they can get a hold of Joe. "Want a ride?"

I think about it for a moment, I just exceeded the speed of sound on wing power alone, and after about an hour on the ground, I'm good as new, though I'm pretty hungry. "Nah, but I left my wallet at the shop, can someone spot me a twenty?"

***

I make it to Williston faster than the crew does. I love being this fast. I have to laugh out loud as I walk through the door into McDonalds in Williston. In a moment I put my forehooves on the counter as the young lady behind the counter shrinks away.

"I'm not going to bite you, unless you won't give me food." She yelps as she moves as far away from me as possible.

"I'm kidding, but I am hungry, can I order some food?"

"What the heck is going on out here?" comes a voice from the office. In moments, the manager comes out and every employee behind the counter points at me.

"Who's dog is this?" he says after a quick glance.

"Excuse me, but I'm not a dog, I'm a pony. And I want to buy food here." He does a double take, then looks at his employees, then finally slowly moves up to the register.

"Uhhh, what would the pony want then?"

I take a moment to look at the menu, my ears swiveling around, I can hear the sounds of smart phones being manipulated, I'm pretty sure that video is being taken of this encounter, I smile to myself. This will probably go viral pretty quickly. "I'll take two chicken sandwiches, a large fries, and four salads, and a big cup of water."

"Just for you, miss?"

I nod, and pay for the food once he rings it up, with a promise to bring the food out to me personally. I trot over to one of the tables, cursing the fixed in place nature of the benches that are not shaped for ponies. I drag up a chair and hop on it. Patiently waiting.

"Um, Lightning Dust?" Oh god, another brony, but wait a moment, this is a young female voice. I turn and see a little girl, about seven years old, looking at me with huge eyes.

"Oh, hi kid."

She holds out a slim hand to me, and I gently hold out a hoof, allowing her to shake it. At the same time I glance at the humans that are apparently her parents, they are holding stock still, as though they are afraid the wild pony will maul their child, when she pulls her hand away, they visibly relax. "What are you doing here, Lightning Dust, aren't you supposed to be in Equestria?"

I sigh. "Discord banished me, and a lot of other ponies to this world, we've been living the last quarter century as humans, and now we are back to being ponies."

"Aren't you going to go back there?"

I nod in thanks as my food is sat down in front of me. I start struggling to unwrap my food as I look at the little girl. "I don't know how. But I've got a family. In fact, my daughter is a few years older than you. And she's a human, just like you." I ruffle her hair and she giggles.

"I'll let you eat, but Twilight went to the human world in Equestria Girls, the My Little Pony movie." That takes me by surprise, I've finally been able to see all the episodes, but I've never heard of Equestria girls. I need to do some more research.

I smile at her. "Thank you." I dig into my food, and think. Equestria Girls, I had better check that out.

***

On the flight home I notice a lineman crew working on stringing new power lines. I smile. It's time to have some fun. I land on top of the power pole right next to a lineman in a bucket truck.

"Hi there."

He looks at me, then nearly falls out of the bucket.

"Whatcha doin?"

I have to contain my laughter, he really doesn't know what to say to a four foot tall pegasus perched on the top of a power pole.

"Working."

I smile. "Do you know what I am?"

I know I've broken him, he just stares at me.

"I'm a pegasus pony."

Silence from the dumbfounded human.

"What are you?"

"Uhhh, human, I guess."

"Oh, well, nice to meet you Mister Human." I smile even bigger as I remember a line from a cartoon I watched when I was young. "Okay I luv you, buh bye." I laugh as I take off from the pole and head south. That was fun.


> Chapter 9. Simplifications and Complications
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh My God, No more, please, no more," I pant, every muscle clenching. After a moment, I'm able to flop onto the bed. All I can do is breathe heavily. No more words are possible.

My wife moves over to me and kisses me. "Better than once an hour isn't it?"

I simply nod. Oh sweet Jesus. Every part of my body is overloaded right now. My wife cradles my limp body and kisses my ear. Then she runs her fingers along the edge of my ear. All I can do is twitch. One thing humans have that I now envy is fingers.

For a long time, we are silent, just enjoying the afterglow, finally she turns and looks me seriously in the eyes. "Mike… Lightning. You seem to be taking to the change of equipment rather well."

I nod, "I can't change it. Might as well go with it."

"But aren't you going to want a stallion?"

That really catches me off guard. "Helen, I'm not leaving you."

"You know, a male pony. I'm under no impression that you are going to stay with me forever. You are going to want one of your own kind."

I cross my forehooves. "I'm not leaving you, Honey."

I get a slow kiss on the snout. "Oh sweetheart, you are so damned stubborn. We are now different species. I don't really have a problem with it, but that is because I remember the man you were. You said it's not very likely that you will be able to become human again. So, I'm asking you, what are you going to do?"

I open my mouth, and then close it. I have nothing to say. I hug my wife closer. "The memories I've gotten from this change are disjointed, and there really isn't all that much to go on." I close my eyes and think. I let every sexual memory float to the surface, and either Lightning Dust wasn't very active, or there are memories that I don't have access to, I suspect the latter. "What I can remember, they have all been mares."

"Huh?"

"I think the term in Equestria is a filly-fooler. A lesbian, I guess."

I hear a chuckle against my barrel. "So that's why you fell into this pretty well."

"Hey, you are falling into this situation pretty well yourself."

"You've got a tongue that extends six inches. Not as much as when you were human, but close. I can close my eyes and imagine the old you with me. But I think you are going to not want humans for much longer. You are becoming more like Lightning every day."

"But the change is complete."

She shifts around to where she is on her stomach and facing me, her hand cups my cheek. "I'm thinking the mental changes are taking a longer path. Your outside has changed, but your inside, your mind, is taking a little longer."

"But Mike and I have worked things out."

"Did you just hear yourself? You just said Mike and you. Not Lightning and you." She hugs me hard. "It's not your fault honey."

I feel tears starting to form. "Oh, honey. I'm still attracted to you."

She smiles at me. "I know Lightning, but for how much longer?"

I close my eyes. I don't want to answer. I can tell in the back of my mind that humans look kind of ridiculous when nude. In fact, the only human that gets anything out of me is my wife. Is that some remnant of my human self? Is that going to stay? Or is Lightning going to take me over completely? "I don't know."

I hear a soft sigh. "Lightning, you are changing, and I don't doubt for a second that you will always love me." She looks sad for a moment. "But I think as a relationship, I think the end is on its way, and neither of us can stop it."

"No," I huff.

"You were a stubborn human, and it served you well when you were building this life you've made. But being a stubborn pony isn't going to help anything."

"But?"

"Do you think I'm going have a divorce written up and then just run off?"

I can feel tears leaking from my eyes as I nod slowly.

This gets me a long, tight hug. "Not going to happen, honey. We are still parents, we are still partners in life. But I don't think you are going to be in bed with me much longer. The good news is we will make it work, but the relationship is going to be certainly different."

"So, you aren't going to leave me?"

She sighs. "No, I'm not leaving you. And I know you aren't leaving me. But you are going to lose your attraction to me."
I close my eyes and let the tears fall as I finally fall asleep.

***

I'm once again in the dreamscape, I can hear the clop of hooves. I turn to see who is approaching me. A blue alicorn appears. I immediately bow.

"Princess Luna."

"What? How? What's going on?"

It hurts me to see the princess of the night so confused. "Princess Luna? I'm Lightning Dust. One of the Wonderbolts." She jerks as though she's just now seeing me. Then she rears and whirls around, galloping off. I spread my wings and fly after her.

"Princess Luna?" I call out. She is shaking her head as she gallops, her wings clamped tightly to her sides.

"Please, Princess." I brace myself then fly in front of her, tripping her with my body. She tumbles end over end and ends up a sobbing mess. I shake myself, it didn't hurt, but it was an impact. I trot over to the sobbing princess.

"Princess Luna. I'm one of the Wonderbolts." She looks up, and my heart aches, my princess is in tears. I place a hoof on her shoulder. Only to be blasted away.

"How dare one lays a hoof on the royal personage." I'm treated to the full volume of the Royal Canterlot Voice.

All I can do is bow. "I'm sorry Princess, I'm trying to help."

I peek up at her eyes, she's standing in front of me, confusion reigns in her face.

"What is going on, Wonderbolt leader?"

Time to tread cautiously. "What do you remember Princess?"

She shakes her head violently, then her eyes narrow. "I remember Discord."

I smile. "Five score divided by four?"

She nods.

"So you are a human turned pony now?"

"I do not know, I think so. I remember memories in Canterlot, I also have memories of this new world." She shakes her head. "This is so confusing."

I stand up and look her right in the eye. "Princess, I've found that after the physical changes, the mental changes continue for a while. I think that is what's happening to you. You are now able to enter dreams."

Confusion from her."That is not possible."

I smile sadly, "But you are here, I didn't bring you here, you brought me."

She whirls and spreads her wings. "That's not possible!" she screams as she fades away, leaving me alone.

"Damn it, I wish I could have found out her human name, maybe track her down." I sigh. "But it's good to know at least one Princess survived the fight."

"Yes, she did, and thank Celestia she did."

I whirl around, Lightning Dust is there. I look down, I'm still myself, I'm still Lightning Dust.

"What the hell? I thought we were one."

A sad look. "We are, and we are not."

"That doesn't make any sense, Lightning Dust."

She smiles at me. "You can't accept something, something about me. You are blocking this."

My eyes widen. "Helen?"

She shakes her head, "No, you have just realized that your attraction to human women will fade. We will always love her. But that part of our lives is over."

I look down, I think I know what she means. "Were you a filly-fooler?"

A big smile. "And that is the fifty thousand bit question."

I'm actually genuinely curious. "Well?"

"My memories are the same as yours. To be honest, I don't remember. But whether I am or not is irrelevant. It is your attitude to the possibility that is at issue here."

"My attitude?"

She nods and trots to me. She rubs her body along mine, I flinch away. "Ha, you have no problem with a human woman, but if a mare shows affection for you, there the problems come in."

"But you are me, it's weird."

This gains me a dirty look. "Self love, there is nothing wrong with it, and you don't have a problem, if our memories aren't deceiving me."

I look down, I don't know what to say.

"If any mare shows physical affection for you." She shimmers for a moment and suddenly Mindy is standing right in front of me. She bounces over to me and plants a kiss on my lips. I yelp and jump away.

I can hear laughter as I shake my head. Lightning Dust is back. "And you are bothered by it. Why?"

I look down. "When I grew up, it was very taboo for the same genders…"

"You are female now. You must accept that. You are fully a pony now. Accepting that doesn't get rid of Michael."

"But…"

"You are Lightning Dust. A pegasus mare who grew up in Baltimare, who screwed up her first chance, but was given a second chance by Rainbow Dash to become a Wonderbolt, her lifelong dream."

I feel hooves on each side of my cheek, lifting my head up. I stare into my own eyes. An odd feeling.

"Please, Mike, we are ponies, we are not humans, our values and morals are different. There are a lot of similarities, but we are fundamentally different, you need to shed your human thoughts. I promise, you won't lose what it is to be you."

I hear a very small voice answer, and realize it's mine. "Are you sure?"

She nods, and then kisses me. I don't flinch, I just feel warmth, all through my body. I open my eyes, and she is gone. I don't even feel any buzzing around my head. But I'm still me, and I'm her. I had to let it all go.

***

I wake up, I feel calm. I feel cool, I feel… normal. That is so odd for me, since this has started, and for months, I've had a strong sense of foreboding in my chest. Now it's all gone. I reach for my phone. 4:45 in the morning. I tap it with a stylus for a moment, cancelling the alarm. I look at my wife. I can still feel the intense love for her that I've felt for over fifteen years. But I don't have a lick of desire for her body. I sigh and my ears droop. I'm going to miss that.

I'm first awake this morning, I heard Flash snoring in his room, and Soarin is asleep as well. My children are peacefully asleep as well, they have been pretty popular at school with a father as a pony. I've gotten quite a few requests to show up at my daughter's school. I've politely turned them down. But I'm going to have to do something about that soon. I trot into the kitchen. Hot breakfast or cold? I was good in the kitchen as a human, but I really don't want to deal with that right now. A bowl of alfalfa sounds good.  I drag the bag out of the cabinet, take the bowl out of the dishwasher, and scoop up the food, finally I sit at the kitchen table. This is amazing.

Breakfast finished, I end up outside in the snow, wing ups, fifty and I'm starting to strain, my conditioning is going pretty fast, I'm glad to have that. And finally, I'm in the air. The cold really doesn't bother me. I'm enjoying that. A few laps around the town, and I'm warmed up and ready for the day. It's almost six when I land in front of the shop. Another day. But I'm prepared this morning. I press the garage door opener that I had clipped to the strap for my cell phone, and the bay door slowly opens. In moments I'm sitting at my half desk. Ready for another day.

***

The morning meeting went well, I've had a few questions from my guys. The other client companies have asked them out in the field about me. I'm going to have to make appearances at a few places. And a printout on my desk shows a larger client has requested my presence in Oklahoma City. I'm going to have to decline that for now. I fire up the computer and send off an email, requesting a video conference instead.

I decide I need to go back to my house, this ‘Equestria Girls’ needs to be addressed. I send a text to Mindy and head out to the house. As I get in, I hear a truck in the driveway. They must have been in town when I sent the text.

"Hi Mindy. Hi Luis," I say as the front door open.

Luis bounces a bit. She's got a big smile on her face. "I was able to actually talk to myself last night, I have a name!"

Before I can say a word Mindy chimes in. "She's Cherry Punch. Get it?"

I know I look confused, because I am. "Huh?"

"Berry Punch in Ponyville, and now Cherry Punch."

My mouth operates a few times without words, I stop and let my mind catch up. "I don’t know Berry Punch."

They take a moment to explain the fanon name of one of the ponies that is apparently the town drunk. That gets a laugh.

"So, have you gals watched Equestria Girls?"

The both nod, "Of course, we were bronies before we became ponies," Mindy says with a giggle.

"How did Twilight get to the human world?"

Cherry Punch waves a hoof. "We already thought of that. There aren't any Earth humans with skin colors like in the movie. It's either not canon, the story was so messed up by the corporate bigwigs at Hasbro that it's unusable for us, or it’s a whole ‘nother dimension that we can’t get to anyways."

I narrow my eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Let's watch it."

We sit in front of the big TV in the living room, and the first part is nice, showing Twilight and friends in the Crystal Empire. Then we get to see Twilight have trouble controlling her wings. I've noticed that, at times, a pegasi's wings can have a mind of their own. I have to chuckle. Then it fades into the musical intro. This actually captures my attention, an excellent electronic remix of the show's admittedly girly intro music. I find my hoof tapping to the music.

As it's playing, Soarin and Flash silently join us and watch the movie. None of us have watched this before.

***

"Well, that doesn't tell us much," Mindy says as the credits roll, rolling her eyes as well.

I jump up and down on the sofa. "There is a portal to Equestria. This movie proves it."

Cherry Punch pipes up. "No, it doesn't. It was just a money grab from Hasbro, they just wanted to suck every penny out of their fans that they could, just like the second movie."

What? "I don't understand, the show is so accurate to my memories, there has to be a connection between the TV show and us."

"How do the people who made the show know so much about us then?"

"The creator, Lauren Faust."

"But she's too old to be one of us, every pony except for you has been twenty five when they transformed. She can't be the source."

I look down. "So, it's a dead end?"

"I think so. But maybe you should search the internet for a school that has Wondercolts as a mascot. Or something from the movie."

"That is a good idea, I'll do that."

In minutes I'm in front of my computer.

I've found an even better way to type, two Velcro straps, one on each forehoof, each holding a pencil. I can work with that. Though they make working the mouse a little difficult. But I manage.

After about an hour I'm storming into the living room, four pony heads and a human head all turn towards me.

"You were right Mindy, it's a dead end. Nothing on Wondercolts, unless you count old websites for the movie." I growl as I sit down. I see the credits rolling for the show.

"Wanna watch the second one?" Soarin asks.

I sigh. "Maybe later, I'm going to head to the shop."

***

I'm sitting in my nice office chair, handling paperwork when there is a knock at my door. Before I answer the door, it opens and Pat is there, white as a sheet.

"I'm sorry Lightning, I tried to send them away, but they are insistent," she stammers as two men in dark suits push past her into the room. I see Rose walk past the door quickly and I turn in my chair and lean back a bit.

"It's alright, Pat. Go back to your office, I'll handle these gentlemen." I shift my wings rapidly a bit, and get a wink in return, emergency message sent and received. I have a very smart office manager. Though, I hope she's thinking what I'm thinking.
As the door closes behind them. "And how may I help you gentlemen."

One of them produces a leather wallet, opening it I see the flash of a small golden badge. He moves to put it away.

"Actually, I would like to see your credentials better than a quick flash." He grimaces and his partner produces his, they both hold them in front of me. I scan them quickly and nod. They put their badges away.

"So, what can I do to assist the Federal Bureau of Investigation?"

"Well, we've been receiving reports of colorful equines popping up all over the place. We've been tasked to bring them in. Social media out of this town has been buzzing about the owner of Lightning Electric being a pony now."

"I expected that."

"And your little stunt in Williston yesterday was posted multiple times on Youtube."

I shrug my wings. "I was hungry, can a pony eat?"

"We are worried about the national security implications of your kind. Especially the unicorns."

Memories from the show and from Equestria surface a bit. "Unicorns? Are you sure they exist?"

"We have some in custody right now." His eyes widen, he didn't intend to divulge that little bit.

That produces a chill in my chest. Ponies, my kind, are being held. I suppress a very strong urge to growl at these humans.

"Any others, pegasi? Earth ponies?" I say very carefully.

He smirks at me. "I'm not at liberty to say, but suffice it to say, you'll get to meet them in holding."

This might get messy. "And if I don't want to go?"

"Where am I saying you have a choice?" He gets up and produces a pair of handcuffs.

"Hold on a moment, I'm a citizen of this nation, that would be a violation of my rights, or can you name a crime I am suspected of, and produce a warrant?"

"We are the FBI, pony. If we feel the need to detain you, we will."

A knock at my door. I chime, "Come in."

Two of my journeymen enter the room, along with a half dozen apprentices, they all crowd into my office. "There a problem boss?"

I smirk at the g-men in front of me. "I don't know. Do we have a problem, gentlemen?"

I see them creeping their hands for their service weapons. I nod at my guys, in moments, both men are disarmed and their handcuffs are around their own hands. Don't mess with pissed off electricians, pulling heavy wire, and bending heavy pipe means that we are pretty strong. One of my apprentices eject the magazines and unchambers the rounds, then goes the extra step to disassemble the Berettas.

I hop off my chair, I feel my wings extend in anger. "I am a citizen of this nation. You do not," I stomp my hoof hard on the tile floor, "have the right to arrest me without just cause. And I think you should be arrested." I canter out of my office and head outside. The agents are manhandled outside as well. I hear the roar of a gasoline pickup and look to the entry road. Sherriff Connelly's truck is powering down the road, he stops in a spray of gravel.

"I got a call on my personal cell from Pat. Saying it's an emergency. What's up?"

I nod my head at the agents. "These agents of the Federal government decided to arrest me without due cause. My workers and I have made a citizen's arrest and are turning them over to the local authorities."

He looks at the agents, then back at me. This gets a big chuckle from him. "I guess under my authority as county sheriff, I will detain them and get charges ready for unlawful arrest." My guys help the agents into his truck. As he closes the door he kneels down to me.

"Legally I can't hold them very long. But as a favor to you, I'll keep them on ice for a few days. If you know anyone to talk to so you can get this heat off of you, you had better start pulling strings. I know your Dad was Army. You might want to see if he has some old friends that can help. Otherwise we will all be in trouble.

I sigh. "I know. I will try. And, thank you Bill. I'll get right on it."

He gets back in his truck, spraying gravel once again as he takes off. Those agents are not going to have a pleasant evening. I look at my guys. "Dispose of their vehicle and get home. I'm going to see what I can do to head this crap off at the pass." I spread my wings and take off like a shot. In moments I'm home, slamming through the front door.

"Flash!" I howl as I walk through the house. In moments I hear him trotting down the stairs.

"Problem, Dust?"

I am starting to shake, the adrenaline is wearing off. I feel tears start to form. "Yes, as in federal government problems."

His eyes go wide. "Fuck."

"I know. You were military, I'm going to email my dad and see if he can do anything, but do you know anyone still in the service, or up in government that can help with getting the FBI off of our asses?"

He looks unsure. "I don't think so, but Irony might, she was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, she might have some pull with some still in the service."

"Call her."

He looks unsure. "I don't know if I can, Dust. I didn't leave on the best of terms. I said things I shouldn't have said."

I turn and shout right in his face, "Everything that we are trying to do can be destroyed by this, Flash. We have to get help, and we can't wait." I lower my volume and let my tears flow. "Please, Flash. I need you to try."

His ears droop and his head drops. "Okay, Dust. I know how important this is," he mumbles. He walks up to his room, in a few minutes he's back down with his phone. He connects it to the charger and turns to look at me. "It died right after I got the text back from you guys. I don't know what's been going on the last few days." He presses the power button and waits for the phone to boot up. He looks at me sadly one last time, then takes a spare stylus and starts to dial the phone.

"Hello, Irony. It's Flash…"


> Chapter 10. Rescue Rangers to the Rescue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Dust?" I hear from the kitchen, I was laying on the couch, trying to get over the shakes from the FBI encounter. It was not entirely successful. I look over at Flash as he trots into the living room.

In response to my questioning look, "Irony said she would call a friend. His father is a four star in the corps. He might take some convincing, though. She doesn't sound like Henry anymore." He looks down and his ears fall. "It was hard to talk to her after what I said."

Damn, I climb off the couch and fold my wing over the larger golden pegasus. "But do you feel better? Letting her know what is going on?"

I see the tears starting to fall. He's pent up even more than I was.

"You need to let it go, Flash. Those memories, those dreams. They are real, they were your life."

He looks down. "But…"

"My sticking point, what was keeping me from truly accepting this change was…" I bite my lip for a moment, "sex."

He jerks his head up and turns his head to stare at me.

I nod slowly. "Eeyup, I've said as a joke for a long time, I'm a lesbian trapped in a man's body. I just found out that wasn't a joke, it was true."

Confusion…

I hug him tighter with my wing. "I really was a filly fooler, just was in the male body, now I'm in my right body, and I find I prefer mares." I laugh softly. "But you can take a girl out of the south, but you can't take the south out of the girl. I had problems with that fact."

Again, he's pretty confused.

"Dude, remember, we are ponies now. And the show is pretty accurate when it comes to gender ratio in Equestria. There are a lot more mares than stallions. And as ponies, our morals, and values are different than the humans."

"Whoa, you've really gone native, haven't you?"

I sigh, I find I'm sighing a lot more lately. "Yes, I have. I had it pushed in my face, to be able to save the Mike I was, to save what I was, I had to let it all go. I had to embrace these changes, that was the only way I was able to keep me, and not just become full blown Lightning Dust, with no memories or thoughts of her life on this world, or full blown Mike, completely psychotic because he's turned into a freak of nature."

"So, what you are saying is, for me to not lose myself, to not lose Jim, I must let Jim go?"

"I know, it sounds counter to what you would think. But it is what worked for me. You are at war with yourself aren't you?"

He looks down and nods. "Every night. I'm afraid to sleep, and I never sleep well."

I give him a peck on the cheek. Hey, I have been a female for under a week, and I'm already using my feminine wiles to get stallions to do what's good for them. "You will not be happy, unless you do more than seek a truce. You must surrender, you will find that Flash will surrender as well. And you two can become one. It really is the only way."

"How is that possible?"

"Because you are at war with yourself. When one side surrenders, both surrender. Don't ask me, I'm just a pony in a human world." I smile and get a hoof punch to my side.

He looks thoughtful after a moment. "Did Soarin go through that?"

I think for a moment. "I don't know. But he hasn't told me of any problems, but as Maddie, he was always independent, and went his own way. He will work out his issues."

I get a wing hug from Flash. "Thank you Lightning. I will work on that."

I smile. "Now, what about Irony?"

He smiles. "He'll leave tomorrow morning, after he gets the FBI taken care of. Irony, Moon Shadow, and Trixie will be on their way here."

I furrow my brow. "Not the Great and Powerful Trixie?" Rolling my r's perfectly.

He laughs. "The same."

"How?"

"You know I was with Trixie when we were taken by Discord. She was hit moments after I was. Her human name was Sherry."

"The girl you were getting serious with?"

He nods.

"And she's now the Grrrreat and Powerful Trrrixie?"

A sour look."You don't need to make fun of her."

I fall over laughing, I'm gasping for breath. He just stands there, shifting his hooves, waiting for me to recover from my laughing fit.
"I'm sorry," I say as I wipe tears out of my eyes."But, I can't help it. Your girlfriend is turning…" more laughing… “into…" I'm holding my sides, I'm laughing so hard, "her."

I get a kick to the barrel, not hard, but it ends my laughing fits. I finally heave myself to my hooves, still chuckling a bit. I check the clock, it's getting late. My wife comes over to me. I get on my rear hooves, using my wings to steady myself, I give her a hug.
"I'll be upstairs in a bit." I get a peck on the lips. I thank Celestia that she's not letting it get awkward. I had to tell her while I was trying to calm down after the FBI problem.

I do manage to whap her in the rear with my tail as she heads to the stairs. I still feel a huge amount of affection for her. And I obviously love her. With today's problems, she was an angel when it comes to the kids. I feel my ears fall.

"What's wrong Lightning?"

I sigh. "My kids."

"Huh?"

"What's going to happen to them? I don't want to leave them, but if the FBI comes back with reinforcements, I may have to be on the run, we all will. And they don't need that."

He looks thoughtful. "Can you send Helen and them to relatives until this blows over?"

Hmmm. "Maybe my parents can take them, their health isn't so good, but I think they would love to see their grandkids. Of course, the Disney cruise would  be cancelled." I growl a bit at this, I wanted to go on that cruise. "I'll talk to Helen when I go to bed." I look at the wall clock. "Which I should be doing now."

"Why? It's Friday night."

I smile at him. "Because I'm tired is the main reason. I'll see you in the morning."

I like how dexterous my wings are, I use my wing to cover a yawn as I climb the stairs to my bedroom.

***

"Dust, wake up!"

I jerk awake, a quick glance at my phone tells me its two in the morning.

"Huh, wha now?"

"Dust, Irony just called me. It's not going to be easy, but we can make it work."

This jerks me wide awake. I look over at my wife. She's not awake, but much more talking will change that. I flare out a wing and place it on Flash's mouth. He gets the signal and follows me to the kitchen.

"I think I can handle a late night snack," I say as I pull some apples out of the fridge.

After a few apples are munched down, I sit at the kitchen table with Flash. "So, what's the deal?"

"Irony had to do some breaking and entering. But she was able to convince the man that she saved by jumping on a grenade that she was Henry. And he talked to his dad, and his dad talked to a few people in DC."

I nod and wait for him to continue. "I told Irony about the farm you are setting up for Equestrian refugees. And the agreement is that any ponies that you gather or make it on their own to your sanctuary are safe. But they refuse to widely acknowledge the pony problem as they call it. So we are going to have to work overtime to be able to find ponies. They refused to release ponies already in custody. But they want something out of you."

Oh crap. "What do they want? They already have Equestrians in custody."

"They want to interview and, if possible, do non-invasive medical testing on all three races present. They want demonstrations of unicorn magic, and of what the earth ponies can do."

"But no abductions? No dissections?"

He shakes his head.

"I'm not buying an MRI machine."

"They can bring one in on a semi-trailer. And we will be responsible for perimeter security. If they want to do this, then the farm will be along the likes of a reservation."

"A reservation, like the natives…" That name puts a sour taste in my mouth.

He nods. "And if necessary, they can annex some adjoining land to expand based on the population."

"I don't think that will be necessary, but I know quite a few sections around the farm are already federal land, grazing on that land should be sufficient, or maybe the right to cut hay."

"I don't think that will be a problem."

"But they won't be letting go the ponies they have?"

"No." He shakes his head sadly.

"That won't do now will it?"

He shakes his head violently. "What?"

"When Irony gets here later today, we are going to get the ponies out of detention in Billings."

"What if that violates our agreement?"

"Only if they find out it was us."

He gets an evil grin. "Then they better not find out it was us."

My grin matches his.

***

"Morning Dust."

I'm a zombie right now, I don't usually go for coffee in the morning, but since I woke up at 2AM. I'm ready for some of the life giving liquid. Soarin was always a coffee drinker as a human, and he's kept the habit. I push a cup onto the button on the brewer, the pump whines and a dark roast pours into my large coffee cup. I wait for it to fill the oversize cup. A lot of sugar, and some cream. And in about ten minutes, I'm a new mare. I finally look up at Mindy and Cherry Punch.

"Mornin'."

Cherry sits at the table next to me, wincing as she does so. "I envy you pegasi."

I furrow my brow. "Huh?"

"You can use your wings to flit around, and Mindy… Well Mindy is Mindy, as Carl she wasn't much different though. Complete nutjob. But I have to plod around all day. And it's all hard surfaces, and my hooves hurt."

"Your hooves hurt?"

"Yeah."

"What do horse owners do when they have their horses on hard surfaces most of the time?"

Her eyes get big. "No."

I smile as a big idea hits me. "Mindy, Soarin, Flash. Get ready, we are going to get shoed."

***

"Let me get this straight." The tall, skinny farrier said to me, "You five ponies can all talk." We all nod at him. "And you want to be shoed."

I speak up, "We need some cushioning shoes, please." He flinched as I talked.

"And no nails too," Mindy says.

He just turns into his shop. I follow, letting everypony see that I would go through it first.

The poor fellow just looks like he's operating in a daze. I speak up, maybe I can bring him to reality, "I know this seems odd, but I can pay you, and since we are unusual customers, I'll pay double your usual price, sound good?"

He shakes his head, I hear him mutter to himself, he doesn't know how sensitive pony ears are and I clearly hear, "I must be dreaming."

I slap my hoof on the concrete of his shop. "This isn't a dream. We are ponies, as in those from that damned television show. We are here, and I know for a fact we had horseshoes there. And my earth pony friend is wearing out her poor hooves walking on hard surfaces all the time. So we are going to protect our hooves. And being a little quieter when we are walking is a good thing. So, are we going to deal? Or do my associates and I have to find another farrier. And remember, most of us are pegasi, we can fly where we want." As if on cue, three ponies spread our wings. I swear he was going to faint. But after a minute, he's defeated.

"Fine, who's first."

I smile. "Why, me of course."

He shrugs and points me to the work area. I stand patiently waiting, I hear him fire up his propane forge. I start talking to Soarin for a few minutes, then I feel him press against my right rear leg, causing me to automatically lift my leg, though I'm not really aware of it. He fiddles around with a hoof knife and does some cleaning. I do hear him muttering that my hooves are cleaner than most horses, which I should hope so. He lets my foot down as we keep talking. Then about five minutes later he's back.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! What the fuck!!" I yelp as my wings pull me away from him. I'm hovering in front of him, he has a small shoe that is still glowing red hot in tongs.

His face is a mask of confusion. "I'm just sizing your shoes ma'am."

"While they are red hot?"

"It's easier to work on them that way. You have smaller hooves than the horses I usually work with."

I feel my hoof, there isn't any burn, it was just a surprise to me. I finally let myself back down. "Ya could warn a girl."

A long pause. "I'm sorry ma'am. It won't injure you, but it is a lot of heat to surprise you."
Hmmph, fine. I grumble at him, "Just let me know before you do it, I'm smarter than the horses you usually work on. Okay?"

"Sure."

After a moment of reheating, he again presses the shoe to my hoof. After the initial feeling of heat, it's gone and he sizes it to my hooves. After he quenches the shoe, he grabs some rubber tread and takes some strong glue and glues a strip to all of the striking surfaces of the shoe. In moments he's used the same strong glue to actually glue the shoe to my hooves. A process which I'm thankful for. I know how thick these hooves are, but I really don't cotton to the idea of nails being driven through them. I was the kid climbing every tree in sight, or I was the filly who was first to fly. Not the one to stick needles through a finger saying look how cool it is.

In a few hours, we are all shoed. I pay the man in cash, double what he asked, along with a generous tip. And promise of future business.

"Thank you Miss Dust," he finally says as I grab Mindy and Soarin tries to grab Cherry. But Cherry Punch decides she wants to gallop back to the farm. Mindy takes a moment to decide to gallop with her friend. We three pegasi shrug our wings at the weird earth bound ponies and take off.

***

It's towards sundown at the farm. I'm with all the ponies, my wife and kids are here too. During the day, Irony has been texting Flash, letting him know how far along they are. We are ready for them to arrive. Cherry and Mindy are watching Rainbow Rocks with my family, I'm only vaguely aware of it. After getting the shoes, which do a wonderful job of deadening the hoofsteps, I take a long nap for most of the day. But now, I'm just drowsing. Finally, I hear the deep thrum of a large engine outside. My ears perk up as the engine shuts off, and I hear the doors slam shut. I hold my breath waiting. Everypony else is oblivious.

"Flash, I think Irony is here."

His reaction is for his ears to droop. I gently tap him with a wing as I go by, letting him know he's got us no matter what. I walk to the door, and open it the moment I hear hooves on the large porch. At the same time I use my wing to turn on the porch light. As I get the door open, I get off my hooves and hover in front of them. I get my first look at Flash's friends. The most striking one is Irony herself. She's an earth pony, and I swear she tops Big Mac when it comes to size, probably by at least a hand or two. Her midnight blue fur and bright blue mane make a striking combination, add in the multiple colors streaking through her mane, purple, silver, black, and gray makes for a very nice combination. I look over at the other two ponies, I remember Trixie from the show, though she looks very tired right now. And there is one other unicorn there. I suppose she is Moon Shadow, with her dark gray fur, and her sea-blue mane.

I shake my head after a moment, interrupting my own thoughts, I put on a bright smile. "Dear Celestia, it is nice to see some more pony faces around here." I float back, beckoning them inside. Shortly we are in the kitchen. I notice Irony's heavy tread, but not nearly as heavy as I was expecting, given her size. I float around her a bit, noticing her eyes following me. I see the heavily muscled body of hers. Then it dawns on me, she's gorgeous. I thump onto all fours as my wings extend and harden to be completely unusable. I give my wings a dirty look as I finish trotting around Irony. I mumble to myself, "Damn, talk about a sexy gal."

Apparently I didn't mumble low enough, Irony's ears twitch a bit and she responds, "That's pegasi for you, heads either in the clouds, or in the gutter."

I fight to control my wings, but they are not listening to me right now. "Mostly in the clouds big girl."

I hear a sharp bark of a laugh from Moon Shadow. And I notice a faint blush on Irony's face. I mumble again, much lower, "But for you, a trip to the gutter is pretty damned nice." I point to the kitchen table. And we all sit around it. I've been practicing my old wood working skills, but with Mindy's help, curse these hooves at times, I made a few benches to be able to sit comfortably at the kitchen table.

I look at all the assembled ponies. "The United States Government has imprisoned ponies. We are going to go get them. We will need to leave soon, so we can get to Billings well before sunrise. I want to strike before dawn, when their security will be lowest."
Flash, Mindy, Cherry and Soarin all have determined looks on their faces. I see some surprise on the newcomers faces, apparently Flash neglected to mention that fact in his conversations.

"Now, this will have to be a quick smash and grab. I've done some practicing with my power, and I can consistently make a lightning bolt at will, though I've not been able to make the time displacement bolts as of yet. I think that skill will come eventually. But a bolt can be good to hit doors, and I think I can stun humans with it as well. They might get burned, but I'm going to consider that a hazard of their job, since they are holding Equestrians against their will."

"No."

I look over at Irony. "What?"

"I said no, Lightning Dust."

"Dust will do, since we have two Lightning's here."

"Fine, Dust." She grumbles for a moment. "I said no."

"No, to what, exactly?"

"To your plan, it is colossally stupid."

I've been thinking about what to do most of the day, and that sounded like the best idea. I sigh. "If it's so stupid, then maybe you can come up with something better, Miss Guard leader to Princess Sparkle."

I think I said the wrong thing, I can feel my wings wilt a bit as Irony's expression turns darker.

"Dust, we are talking the FBI here. What is the FBI's version of the SWAT team? It's called HRT, as in Hostage Rescue and Tactics team, police departments send their SWAT agents to them to get trained. And they will kick your team's ass. And I, for one, don't feel like absorbing bullets from the HRT team. I'm an earth pony, and I'm pretty certain I can absorb a lot, especially with the armor I've made. But attempting things your way would be one word. Suicide!" She slams a hoof on the table, leaving a deep impression in the wood. I'm impressed, that table is massive.

"Well, fine, if direct action won't work. We can't use stealth. In case you didn't notice, we are all ponies, and the humans will just lock us up if they see us."

"We will have to be smart, Dust. You made it to the Canterlot performance team of the Wonderbolts, you don't get that for just being good on your wings. Use that brain of yours and come up with something."

"You are the guard leader here, you come up with something."

She smirks at me. "I would call it off, breaking into a fortified installation without advanced weaponry, no diversion, and no way to camouflage ourselves would make it into a fool's errand."

Now it's my turn to slam my hoof into the table. "That is not acceptable, they are our ponies. They belong with us, not locked up."

"Then what is your plan?"

I stop for a moment, my brain spinning wildly, I look at the assembled ponies. And if this were actually a cartoon, I would have a light bulb appear over my head and flash on, I smile evilly. "I've got it." I look at Mindy. "How would you like to get captured by some humans?"

She looks confused. "That doesn't sound very fun."

My smile grows as I formulate more of the plan. "Oh, trust me, Mindy. This will be very fun."

She giggles. "Then count me in."

I explain for a few minutes, and shortly heads nod in response to my planning. And finally I say, "Okay, Irony, Mindy, and I are going to get going."

"Hey, Trixie and I should go too," Flash pipes up.

"Oh, no. Not I," Trixie chimes in. "I've been holding that spell all day, I am exhausted, I need to rest. But I agree, Flash should join you. It's always good to have an extra pair of wings."

"Spell?"

"Oh, it was a simple misdirection spell, I simply made the inside of the car so uninteresting, no human's gaze would be able to fix on the car as we drove. We are ponies after all, and a pony driving a car would have caused a sensation, and probably several accidents as we drove. So I masked us all with it."

I whistle slowly. "Great idea."

"They don't call me the Grrrrreat and Powerful Trrrrixie for nothing," she says with a smile. Then in a smaller voice, "Sorry, I love those episodes of the show." She ends with a giggle.

I'm finally able to close my wings as I hop off the bench, though I don't trust them enough for flying quite yet. I brush up against Irony and flick my tail in her face as I walk to the living room. A big grin on my face. I'll admit, this being a filly fooler is pretty fun, as I leave the kitchen, I glance back and see Irony blushing heavily. Then I think back. Ooops, I think I showed her more of me than I intended. I laugh softly as I head to the living room to let my wife and kids know it's time to head to the house. After that I grab my bluetooth and flick my ear to get the chime. I  direct it to call one of my lead journeymen, one of those who helped me today.

"Hello?" A sleepy voice answers.

"Hey Jerry. Want to make some overtime and hazard pay tonight?"

"Huh, what?"

"This is Lightning Dust, you know, your boss."

"Yeah, I'd love to make some extra pay, what do I have to do?"

"Grab the big crew bus and drive it to Billings. Once you get there, I'll give you directions. We are going to retrieve some ponies."

"Be on my way in ten minutes."

"Good." I flick my ear to end the call and turn to Irony.

"My truck is outside, we can take it, Mindy knows how to drive stick with her magic."

"Nah, let's take my car," Irony says.

"So soon? We just met. And you can't wait to get me in the back seat with you?"

I chuckle as, once again, Irony's cheeks flare with red.

"No, it's not like that. Let's just say I have an awesome car, and it'll outrun any of those diesel monstrosities you have out there."

"And my wings will smoke whatever car you have, but we need to take all of us."

"A 1970 Olds 442 will certainly have enough room, Dust."

I think about it for a moment, then shrug my wings. We head outside and I look at Mindy. "Can you handle that, Mindy?"

"No need," Irony says as she gets a look of concentration on her face. Then her entire body ripples, her stance changes to two hooves. Her forehooves become hands, though she remains covered in fur, but her body begins to look, sort of like a mix between human and pony. Her teats turn into full breasts and shift onto her chest. I feel my wings stiffen up once again.

"Wow, she's like an anthro pony," Mindy says excitedly. At my questioning look, "In a lot of fanfictions, the ponies are anthro, pony features on a mostly human body. But those are stories. Seeing it for real, now that's amazing."

Irony opens the big drivers door on the 442 and pushes the front seat forward, Flash and Mindy get in as I go around to the passenger door, I notice the window is down and simply jump through it, landing perfectly on the seat. I feel the seatbelt wrap around me and click home. I look at Mindy and see the soft orange glow from her magic fade from her horn.  I smile at her.

"Let's make some miles," Irony says as she turns the key, and the huge engine rumbles to life. And shortly, we are on our way.

***

The start of the trip is in silence. Every pony occupied with their own thoughts. I mainly stare out the window. Then we finally get on I-94, heading to Billings. I've been thinking about the mission for about an hour now. I feel something brush by me, but I don't really take note. Then I hear the soft chime of Mindy's magic. And the radio turns on. I glance at the display, a nice aftermarket set, I see an aux cord plugged in and the buttons are glowing with Mindy's magic. Then her phone starts the song.

A crash of thunder with a flare from some trumpets. My memory fades back in time to my childhood. I know this song. I open my mouth and…

"Sometimes, some crimes go slippin' through the cracks"

Then I hear Mindy take up the song with me.

"But these two gumshoes are pickin' up the slack
There's no case too big, no case too small
When you need help just call
Ch-ch-ch-Chip 'n Dale
Rescue Rangers!
Ch-ch-ch-Chip 'n Dale
When there's danger
Oh no, it never fails
Once they're involved
Somehow whatever's wrong gets solved"

I look over at Irony, she is facepalming, but I can't help it, I increase my volume,

"Ch-ch-ch-Chip 'n Dale
Rescue Rangers
Ch-ch-ch-Chip 'n Dale
When there's danger
Oh no, it never fails
They'll take the clues
And find the wheres and whys and whos
Ch-ch-ch-Chip 'n Dale
Rescue Rangers!
Ch-ch-ch-Chip 'n Dale
When there's danger
Ch-ch-ch-Chip 'n Dale!"

Mindy and I fall over laughing. Flash has a smile on his face, and I don't think Irony's eyes can roll any further. But I see a hint of a grin. I finally recover from that laughing fit.

"Irony, you need to loosen up, the time before the mission, and the time after are for blowing off stress."

"I know, Lightning, but to stay in this form, I have to concentrate, it's not hard, but I was doing it all day, and now. I'm a bit tired, and I've got a headache from it."

My ears flatten. "Oh, sorry."

She shrugs her shoulders. "Not a problem Dust."

I look around, and I'm suddenly struck with claustrophobia. The car, as spacious as it is, seems to be getting smaller. I open the window.

"I'm going to fly." And I jump out of the window at ninety miles an hour. I extend my wings and I'm flying. I'm easily keeping pace with the speeding car. I move in front of the car then increase my altitude. Ahh, this is better. I fly in formation with the speeding auto for nearly an hour. Then I notice something behind us. Blue and red lights. Uh oh. Cops!

I dive down next to the driver's window and tap on the glass, Irony looks at me and lowers the window. I holler over the wind, "Keep going, I'll take care of them." I brake suddenly and gain some altitude. I judge the correct distances, and then I drop, landing on the hood of the pursuit cruiser. A brand new Dodge Challenger. I feel momentarily sorry for the car, I'm planning on disabling it, but I really don't have to do anything. The officer driving panic stops, I flare my wings and flutter to the concrete as the car stops. The highway patrol officer steps out of her vehicle. I trot up to her.

"Ma'am, I don't think this is a night you want to be on the road." I know I look a fright in the flashing red and blue strobes.
She reaches towards her gun. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, wouldn't be the first time officers tried to pull their weapons on me today." My warning apparently goes in one ear and out the other. She gets a hand on her service weapon, I flash forward, one kick to her knee, breaking it, and another to her temple, knocking her out. I grab her moaning body and drag her into her car. I grab the radio microphone and, after a few moments of manipulating, I am able to trigger the mic. "Officer down, Highway 94." I remember the last mile marker I just passed, and repeat it into the mic. I let off the button. I hear the call being repeated and another officer is responding. I can't do anything more for her. She's going to have one hell of a story to tell. But I hope she didn't get a good enough look for an accurate description. I exit the car and take off.

A few minutes of high speed flight, and I'm up next to Irony's car. I keep pace next to the car and then slide in the passenger window. I smile over at Irony. "And the problem is taken care of." I take a moment to explain my actions to the ponies in the car.

"You know they are going to go ape-shit, don't you Dust?"

I shrug my wings. "Better than them going to extreme measures to end a high speed pursuit. I had to end it quickly, or more cars would have joined in the chase. As it is, they are going to head to the downed officer. She will have trouble walking for a while, but she won't be making our lives harder any time soon."

Irony huffs and eases off the gas, letting the car coast to the 75 miles per hour speed limit. "We are getting close, we need to be somewhat stealthy."

I shrug my wings again. "I want to save these ponies, that is my only goal."

***

A block away from a non-descript federal building. I know they have ponies in custody there. I've already found them. I flew around the building, taking note of the security cameras and keeping out of the visual range. I found a grated window on the fourth floor, with a light on at two in the morning. A quick look tells me that ponies are there. I flutter down to the 442.

"Mindy, Double Trouble is on the case. You ready?"

She bounces. "You know I am," she squees.

"Keep to the plan, and let us know when you are ready for our diversion."

***Mindy 3rd person***

There have been nice things, in Mindy's view, about turning into a pony. Especially the gender change. She still keeps giggling about that. When Dust told her to go, she just started bouncing. She saw the dreary, ugly federal building, but the plan was going to work. She knew it would. She loved best pony Pinkie Pie, and now that she was a pony, she can be just like the bouncy earth pony. She smiles as she bounces. In a few minutes, she's knocking at the door of the federal building.

Apparently their security was watching the cameras, because as soon as she knocks, lights turn on, and a tall, older, skinny man in a uniform comes to the door. She waves at him, she had let her smile fade as she got close, she has to be the best actor to make it seem real. He opens the door.

"Can I help you?"

"I just started turning into a pony a few days ago, and I thought you guys could help me, you are the government, right?"

He nods. "This is a federal building, and several departments of the government work here. Though it's two in the morning."

"And you are working here," she chirps. "Can you help me? I don't want to be a pony anymore. I want to be back to being a human." All lies from Mindy, she was happier as a pony than she ever was as a human. But the dour security guard didn't need to know that, she thought with an internal giggle. He opens the door further, allowing her inside.

She follows him as he heads to the elevators. As the doors close, she listens to the music, ugh, the worst kind of elevator music. She almost slips, but she knows how important the mission is. Finally the door opens, and she sees the placard next to the door saying they are on the fourth floor. She smiles internally, though she keeps her ears down and her head low, just like a sad pony. 

Finally the guard stops at a desk.

"Got another one for you," The guard says to the man behind the desk.

"Another one? That makes twenty we have in custody."

"Really? That many?" the guard answers.

"Yup, we are going to be sending them to DC in a few days. Almost all the field offices have ponies in custody. DC wants them brought back for testing. Apparently the President's daughter is turning into a pony. They are trying to figure out if it's some kind of biological attack, though what country would want to turn humans into colorful ponies, I have no idea."

Mindy has to bite her lip so hard she tastes blood. This isn't some form of biological weapon, this is a curse and those humans were originally ponies. She wanted to tell them so badly, but Dust told her she had to stay in character to save the ponies. So she did, and it was so hard.

"Excuse me, can you cure me?" she asks quietly.

The man behind the desk stands up and walks around to kneel in front of the magenta unicorn. "I'm sorry miss. But I can't cure you, but we are working on it right now. The FBI labs are keeping busy trying to figure out the mutagen that's making humans into ponies. We will find out what it is before too long." He stands up. "I am agent Burke of the FBI. I will take you to the rest of the ponies we have here. And we will try to figure this out."

"Okey Dokey Lokey." She allows a small smile for the human, he seems nice. But she knows that he is locking up ponies against their will. She doesn't like this human. But she follows him into the offices. Mindy makes sure to wave good bye to the guard as he heads back down stairs. In a few minutes, and following several corridors, she's in a section that has all cinder block construction. He takes a set of keys off of his belt, and opens a door. He gestures for her to enter, and she sees ponies. She heads into the room. She masks her anger, she sees all the ponies in one large holding cell, given straw for a bed, or laying on steel bunks. Ponies need to be outside, living free, not this crap. She turns to the door. "Thank you. I hope you find out how to fix this." She says as she lays down. He shuts the door and locks it.

After a few minutes, she trots up to a pegasus. "Can you fly?"

He gives her a sour look. "No, I can't fly. Humans can't fly without an airplane."

She cocks her head to the side. "But you are a pegasus. Pegasi can fly."

He slams a hoof down. "No, I'm a human, I just got hit with a mutagen agent which turned my body into a pony."

Oh no, it's worse than she thought, these ponies either don't remember Equestria, or they are being told enough times that stupid story so they actually think it's true. Time to fix this. She concentrates on the camera in the cell, after a moment she's made it so it just displays the same picture over and over. Then she makes a visual effect that looks like a screen. When you are a super party pony, you have to do a lot of things, and magic helps with visual displays. She shows her battle with Discord to the assembled ponies, some are apathetic, but most actually watch intently. When the white bolt hits her body the memory ends and she turns to the ponies. "How many of you have had a dream like this in the last week?"

They all shift around, looking at each other. Then finally one pony lifts a hoof, then another, and soon all the ponies have their hooves raised.

Mindy squees and bounces up and down. The humans can't see her, so she can be herself.

"My name is Mindy, and there are other ponies here to rescue you."

"Can they turn us back?"

Again, she cocks her head to the side, "You've already turned back. You were ponies, then Discord blasted you with his chaos magic, and you were born as humans, every one of you had this start on your twenty fifth birthday. Starting with cutie marks and then you turned back into the ponies you were."

One of the ponies called out. "This is just some crazy disease that another country infected us with."

She shook her head. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. The curse was twenty five years ago, by Discord.

"I need to signal to Dust." She concentrates, and the walkie talkie that was left on the passenger seat of Irony's awesome car is teleported in front of her.

"Decoy to Distraction, it's a go."

***1st person, Dust***

"Decoy to Distraction, it's a go," chimes over the radio.

I look over at Irony and smile. "It's go time." We start to head towards the building. We get about half a block down the street when a low wail starts. "Are we found out? Already? We haven't done anything."

Irony is back in earth pony form, wearing her armor and her mace is strapped to her. She listens intently. "No, that's an air raid siren."

"What?"

Ahead of us, several lights turn on, and in less than a minute, several large SUV's exit the side of the building, and scream down the road, Irony covers me with her body, her coloring much harder to see in the dark.

"Well, this really isn't the best time to get it on, Irony." I smirk.

She blushes as she moves away from me. "Next time, I won't hide you."

"Ohhhh, so that's what you were doing…" I smile at her. I grab the radio. "Decoy, we didn't start it, but there is a good distraction, go."

In a few seconds, an orange flash announces the arrival of twenty ponies. I holler at them to follow me, we all head back to where the 442 and my crew van is parked. Mindy magics open the door of the Mercedes Sprinter and the ponies pile in. All of them look completely confused. But that will be handled soon. I give Jerry a big smile as the ponies finally finish getting into the van. I'm going to write him a personal check for a very nice bonus for this. Nineteen ponies are now free. Flash and Mindy climb aboard and the van is started. Irony rushes over to her car and I jump through the window again. We take off, whooping and hollering at a successful mission.


> Chapter 11. Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? Do You Really Want to Make Me Cry?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We made it back to the farm. During the trip Mindy and Flash told the assembled ponies the cover story we came up with if they are asked how they escaped, since agents of the government are almost certainly going to investigate the farm. The cover story is simple, a group of ponies rescued them, then took them to the farm so they would be safe, then they left. Most of the ponies are in a daze, so watching Irony's car take off in a cloud of dust helped them think that the ponies that saved them left. They only had glimpses of me, so Mindy and Flash were the main ponies they saw. And their story is they decided to stay after the rest of the ponies left to find more ponies.

It is partially true, Soarin's snooping on the internet has turned up more suspected ponies. His masking of the IP address and routing his traffic through multiple servers have made him very hard to pinpoint. Soarin knows his way around the dark underbelly of the internet. And finding humans turned pony has been a challenge for him. Once internet was set up at the farm, he moved out there and got me to purchase a few nice computers and our own server. When I talked about how much we were spending on it, he made a convincing argument. The three new barracks are going to have the electrical rough in today, then the drywallers are going to be in there for two days, and then trim, and it will be done. Roughly a week to build three large barracks, pretty good if I don't say so myself. We finally get the ponies bedded down on cots in the barn, and sleep claims me, at least for a few hours.

Around noon I'm lounging in my bed, wishing I didn't have to get up, but my wife comes in and lays down next to me. "Morning sleepyhead."

I grumble, "Morning."

"Do we need to talk?"

My eyes go wide. What?

She hugs me hard. "About Irony. I saw how you were looking at her."

I furrow my brow. "How did I look at her?"

I hear a light chuckle. "Like you were in lust." Then I see tears start to form in her eyes. "Like you looked at me many years ago."
I have to stop and think. "You got all that from just watching me with her? It was only a few minutes."

"I know what lust looks like, honey."

I stop and think, am I really attracted to the massive blue earth pony? Or was that just a weird desire to flirt with a  pony I simply found attractive but not really any desire for. After a few moments my heart drops. I'm actually attracted to her. What the hell? I may be a fillyfooler, but almost the first mare I meet I'm intensely attracted to?

"What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing is wrong with you, honey. You are just the pony you were when you were in Equestria."

"But I'm still Mike too."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I have my memories, I remember how I was then, and I'm different now, but I am still me, I guess I can say I'm a blend of what I was, and what I am. Why am I so attracted to this mare?"

"Could you be in estrous?"

Huh? "What?"

"You know, heat. Like equines do, so do dogs, and cats, and many animals in our world."

"I have no clue. Could I? Would that cause me to be aggressive…you know…" I look down, "that way?"

"I don't know, honey. How was it back in Equestria?"

I shrug my wings. "I don't remember. I just remember that being in heat was a stressful time for me as a pony. That I didn't like it. But that's it."

"Well, usually those in estrous are wanting to mate to have babies, you said you don't have any desire for stallions, do you?"
I think for a moment, no. No desire at all thinking of a stallion. I shake my head. "Well, maybe…"

A finger is pressed against my lips, silencing me. "Honey, you have gone through a traumatic change, and you've held up pretty well. I'll credit that to how stubborn you are. But your new body is going to tell you what it wants. And you are going to have to listen to it."

"Are you sure? What about you?"

"I'll manage. I don't like this change, but I don't see a way to stop it."

"Want to go one more time, for the memories?"

She sighs and taps my nose with a finger. "I would, but I don't think your heart would be in it. You are Dust, yes, you are Mike too, but you are Dust. And Dust doesn't want to be with a human, and I can see that Dust wants to be with Irony."

"She's got her Moon Shadow. I'm not going to get between ponies that are in love. I can see that they are."

"So, you are frustrated then?" I hear a chuckle from her.

I nod my head, and get a strong hug from her. That does feel good. "Helen, can you hold me for a while?"

"Usually you are the one who holds me."

"I know, but right now, I need it."

She doesn't say a word, she just holds me for a long time.

***

Helen and I eventually emerge. I'm glad my kids are pretty self sufficient. Hannah needs help with some things, but Dylan takes care of himself. And he as a strong desire to cook, so he's taken a lot of kitchen duties over the last year or so. That kid can bake almost as well as Pinkie Pie. And some of his other meals, wow. He can't do the spaghetti sauce like I can, but his is close. He's pulling steaks out of the broiler as we get downstairs. I smile as I head to the table, which my daughter had dutifully set. Irony, Moon Shadow and Flash all join us. Moon Shadow and Irony look at the steaks with a definite look of disgust. I look over at them.

"Problem?"

"Meat? Seriously?"

"Pegasi can have meat, and I loved it as a human." I bless my son silently for slicing my steak into pieces. I reach down and take a bite.

Then have to spit it out. I look at the meat, it's cooked to perfection, rare, just like I always take my steaks.

"What the hell?"

Irony looks at me and smirks. I can feel myself blushing.

I gingerly take another piece of steak, and I have to spit that one out. It tastes like it's burned to a crisp. It tastes like char.

"I had a chicken sandwich the other day, and it tasted fine." I look at my son, "What kind of steak is this?"

He looks confused. "It's beef steak, Dad. Should I have done venison? Or elk maybe?"

I look down at the steak and smell it, it smells very sour to me. Like it's bad. I wilt a bit. "This sucks."

"So, let me get this straight," Helen says. "You have had no problem with fish, or with chicken, or venison. But beef steak bothers you?" I nod as she takes a bite off of my plate and pops it in her mouth. "Nothing wrong with it honey."

This is so weird. I think back to the show. "Well, in the show, cows are shown to talk, so are donkeys, but I did see pigs being raised like they are livestock and not fellow intelligent creatures, the same with deer and chickens. So, I guess there is some correlation there. There must be limits to what pegasi can eat when we are talking meat." I slam a hoof on the table. "This sucks!" I look at the potatoes and the other vegetable the rest of the ponies are digging into. "Well, I guess I had better eat something." I look at the beef steak, something a week ago I would be devouring, but now… I sigh.

***

The sun is setting as I trot up to Irony's room. I lift a hoof to knock on the door. Then I hesitate. Do I want to do this? This pony that has my mind all bent around in knots? I am undeniably attracted to her. What do I do with her? I haven't done anything with anyone but Helen in over fifteen years. What if I don't do anything she likes. What if I don't make her feel good? I silently lower my hoof to the ground and start to turn around when the handle depresses and the door opens.

"Oh, Hi Dust," Moon Shadow says quietly.

I nod in greeting. "I was just going."

"I heard you come to the door, I was waiting for you to knock."

My ears fall flat. "I'm sorry for bothering you." I trudge towards the stairs, only to be picked up in Moon's magic. I'm hovered into the room and the door is shut. I have never liked being handled by unicorn magic. I shoot her a sour look. "You could have just asked me to come in."

"But would you have if I did? I think we need to talk, girl to girl." She sees me looking around, the bedrooms are big, but not huge, and I don't see Irony. "Irony is outside right now, she heard an odd sound from the 442 while she was driving it back to the house, she's checking something about it. I don't know anything about mechanical stuff though."

I sigh. "I'm sorry for bothering you." I head once again to the door.

"Oh Lightning Dust, you are so funny."

That raises my hackles a little. "What are you talking about?"

"I saw the look on your face when you saw Irony. You like her don't you?"

I crouch down, my ears are as flat as they can go. I slowly nod.

I hear her hooves as she moves closer to me. "What exactly were you thinking when you came to the room?"

I shake my head. "I don't know, really. I wanted to fall into bed with her, to ravish her body. But I know you and her are together, I don't want to get in the way of the two of you. But I feel so strongly for her."

"Like an ache?"

I nod.

"Like your life wouldn't be complete without her?"

I feel tears in my eyes as I nod again.

"Like I feel when I look at her?"

Once again, I nod.

"Do you love her?"

This gets me, I can't hold back any more, I sob, "I don't know. I know my love for my wife. This is different, but it's so strong."

"How much do you remember of Equestria?"

"Not very much, I remember some things about me, about my life in Equestria, but not much more than that."

She sighs. "Same here."

I lay there, silently sobbing.

After a moment. "Were you the kind of pony to love them then leave them? Or did you want a long term relationship?"

"I don't want to come between you and Irony."

She laughs gently. "Little chance of that. What I want to know is can you let her go if you have to?"

Huh? Is she saying what I think she's saying? I lift my head and look at her, "Let her go?"

"I love that pony. I'm not letting her go. But if you do anything with her, you must know right now, you will have to let her go. She's killed for me. She would do so again without an instant of hesitation. She's nearly died for me." Tears start to form in her eyes. "She is dedicated. And I've talked to her, she certainly finds you attractive, though she refused to tell me that. But a girl can tell. I think if I said it was okay, she would want to."

I feel my heart rise to my throat. There is a possibility?

We are interrupted by the door opening, Irony trots in. "I knew it, the carb decided to get out of tune. Was an easy fix…" she trails off as she sees the two of us, me on the floor, tears in my eyes, Moon Shadow standing a few feet away, teary eyed as well. A dark look passes over her face as she sees Moon's tears, but that is cut off by Moon trotting up to her and kissing her thoroughly. I don't feel jealous of that. I just feel a desire to join in. I look at Irony as she comes up for air.

"Uhhh, hi there, Irony."

She sits on her haunches and looks at me. "Hello Dust."

I rub the back of my head for a moment. I give a sidelong glance to Moon. She gives me an encouraging smile, and Irony simply looks confused.

"Is there any specific reason you are in my room?"

I look down, then I move a little closer to her. "Yes."

I finally look up, she's certainly confused, I almost smirk, she's so cute with that look on her face.

After a long moment, Irony's patience seems to be wearing thin. "And that reason would be?"

Well, only one thing to do, I rush forward and press my lips to hers.

***

The sun wakes me up, it's Monday again. Ugh. I'm actually very comfortable, I look around, I've got Irony laying in front of me, well, I'm pretty sure it's Irony, though my view is of her nethers. I pull my head back a bit and see Moon Shadow holding Irony's other end.  I smile at them, they are a cute couple. I'm able to slide off the bed and to the floor. I head out the door to the bathroom, I take a look at myself in the mirror. Oh God, last night really was energetic. I'm a mess. I hop into the shower and start washing myself. I've found that I can use my wings to brace myself while I use my hooves to hold the wash cloth. Ten minutes later I shake myself to rid my body of most of the water. And another ten minutes later, I'm down stairs, my wife smiles as she finishes making omelets for breakfast.

"Morning honey."

"Morning," I grumble, I did not get enough sleep last night.

"Busy night last night?" my wife asks innocently.

I feel my cheeks heating. "I guess so."

I get a hug from my wife. "I don't know, it was pretty quiet from Irony's room. I know you went there."

I look to the side. "Moon Shadow cast a sound deadening spell on the room."

I get a flick on the ear. "So you and Irony did?"

I look down and nod. Why do I feel so guilty? I look up at Helen. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"Oh, Honey. I'm happy for you."

Huh? I look up at her, my ears are down, I'm pretty sure I've got the sad little puppy dog look plastered over my face. "You are?"

"Oh yes. You need to be with your kind."

My kind. Seriously? Ugh. Maybe she's right.

I get a thought. "Honey, what if the portal to Equestria is real, and a human going through that portal turns into a pony, would you want to go to Equestria with me?"

She looks thoughtful. "To visit? Or to stay?"

"I don't know. I don't know if I would come back, I'm beginning to really like this body, I don't think I'll be able to make myself come back."

"What if you were able to come back the way you were on April 30th?"

That gets my mind turning, just forget this bad dream, and be myself again, I think about my old body. My old life. I put my head on the table. "I don't know," I moan.

"I don't know either, honey. If that opportunity comes up, we can talk then. Now we need to talk about something else important."

"Really? What?"

"Are things going to get dangerous around here? You are gathering a lot of ponies, I know about the plans for the government to interview the ponies and get demonstrations of their abilities. But are things going to be bad?"

"I wish I knew, honey."

"Do you think it would be a good idea for the kids and I to bug out? We can go to Texas, your parents would love to see their only grand kids."

I look at her, tears starting to form. "I hate to say it, but I think it might be best, honey. I really don't know what's going to happen."

"Big sister, you've got to see this!" I hear Soarin bounce into the house, a laptop case around his body. He hops up onto the bench.
I look at my wife. "I think going might be a good idea. I'll try to visit once things calm down, though showing my parents my new form might be difficult."

This catches Soarin's attention. "What? What about Mom and Dad?"

Helen takes the lead on this. "I'm going to take the kids down to Corpus Christi. Gonna visit your parents."

His face falls, and his ears droop. "Oh, let them know we miss them, okay? But we will have to visit them and let them know what's going on."

"I know."

Soarin turns to me, then grabs a laptop out of the case and opens it. A second or two and it wakes up from sleep mode and I see a Seattle Times online edition website, the cover makes my jaw drop. 'Suspected cruise missile crosses border from Canada. Officials puzzled.' I read further.

"Read the second headline, that's the kicker."

I scroll down, and there's another story, about an explosion in gang territory in Seattle. A shed was destroyed, but there are no traces of debris consistent with any kind of bomb or missile. And it was hours after the suspected cruise missile.

I look up at Soarin. "Are we looking at pony activities?"

Soarin's eyes brighten. "That's what I'm thinking. A low flying but very fast pegasus would make a signature on radar like a cruise missile, and that would certainly pop off the air raid sirens like last night. And something happened, and with no debris that tells me the source of that explosion was magical."

"Can you be sure?"

"No, not without going there with a unicorn and testing for resonance. But based on the available information, that's the best conclusion."

Oh. Okay.

"Any twitch in the news about the break out the night before last?"

Soarin shakes his head. "Not a lick, Sis."

"They are going to suppress as much news about ponies as they can." I lean back and slam my hoof into the table. "Those bastards aren't going to acknowledge we exist."

"Are you going to come out to farm? Meet all the new arrivals?"

"Probably later today," I say offhandedly.

I eventually head upstairs to Irony and Moons bedroom. After last night, can I face them awake? I take a deep breath and knock on the door.

I hear hooves shifting on the hardwood floor and then the door opens, Irony is there. She looks like I did before my shower.

"Smells like a brothel in here," I say, with a big shit eating grin.

She smirks at me. "I'm pretty sure you helped it smell this way. We'll have to air it out."

"The shower has plenty of hot water, I put in one of those instant hot water systems in the house, so you can take as long a shower as you want and not worry about running out."

She nods thanks and moves away from the door, letting me in, Moon is still passed out.

"I think something big happened during our mission," I say.

Irony looks at me quizzically.

"Officials say that something that matches the signature of a cruise missile crossed the border, but it didn't explode."

Irony furrows her brow in thought. After a moment she stamps a hoof. "Rainbow Dash."

My turn to furrow my brow. "Are you sure?"

She nods, "There are fast pegasi, then there are really fast pegasi, you and Rainbow Dash are two that come to mind. You were busy the night before last."

I smirk. "Last night too."

She blushes, and continues. "Well, that couldn't have been you. When you were flying, you stayed close to the car, so you couldn't have been seen on radar, plus radar in the interior of the country won't really catch a pegasus very easily. They rely on transponders to see the commercial planes."

"Dust, the feds have shown up at the farm, I just got a text message." Soarin trots into the room, then crinkles his nose. "Christ, this room has a funk to it…" He stops mid word, looking at Irony, then his glance takes in a sleeping Moon Shadow, and then he notices my glowing face. Then he falls over laughing.

I look at Irony, her face matches mine. We both look down.

"I can't believe it big sis. You've been a pony and a female for a week, and already you are getting it on," Soarin barely gets out around his chuckles.

"Damn, Soarin, you have to tell the entire world?" I say to renewed peals of laughter from the blue pegasus.

Irony sits on her haunches next to me, I lean into her. That feels nice, then what Soarin said finally penetrates. "The feds?" I look at Irony.

"When the government wants to move fast, they can."

I look down, thinking hard. "Irony, you and Moon Shadow stay here for now. Don't need that complication." I turn to Soarin. "Let's haul some ass."

In moments we are in the air, and the flight to the farm only takes a few minutes. As we are coming in, I see a half dozen black SUV's clustered around the farmhouse, and some humans walking around. One of them seems to be in charge, I do a wonderbolt landing right in front of him, slamming to the ground to kick up quite a bit of snow. As it clears, the human can finally see me clearly.

He clears his throat. "I am Agent Walker from the FBI, out of Bismarck, North Dakota. I'm looking for the owner of this farm."

I keep my wings spread. "That would be me."

A long silence, finally he says, "And you are?"

"Lightning Dust. I was a member of the Canterlot Wonderbolts. But now I'm just a pony here. But, yes. I do own this farm." I glance around, the drywallers seem to be keeping busy. The buildings are going to be ready for habitation soon.

"Are you aware of the agreement?"

I nod. "Yes, I am. But I'm not putting you guys up in this place, you'll either have to bring your own housing, or rough it. There are a few fairly nice hotels in town."

His expression darkens, I continue, "This is my land, private land. And you are here as part of our agreement so you feds won't keep abducting ponies." My wings remain spread, I really don't like these humans, a big part of the back of my mind is screaming that they are a threat. "So, you said you want to see demonstrations of our abilities. Some of these ponies still think they are humans that have been hit by some kind of virus or mutagen. My friends and I are having to work on that."

"How do you know that's not true?"

"Because of my memories, and the memories of some of the ponies here. There are too many correlations to even explain a mass hallucination. Plus the fact that we can perform magic, giving a big middle finger to everything physicists say. We are really ponies from that television show, somehow cursed to live on your world and most of us probably will want nothing more than to head home in peace."

"Do you know if you can get home?"

My ears fall. "No, none of our memories are complete, only bits and pieces remain."

I hear the roar of a semi-truck engine, and see three of them coming down the road to the farmhouse. I gesture with a wing. "And what are those?"

"We expected to be able to perform MRI and CT scanning of the ponies. We are bringing the equipment."

"I hope you brought generators to power this stuff." I'm not paying the power bill for those high draw pieces of equipment.

He smiles. "We did."

I nod. "That's good. Now, if you want to interview ponies, I volunteer for first."

He nods back. "That would be fine."


> Chapter 12. To Russia, With Love?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I sit comfortably in one of the bedrooms of the farmhouse that has been converted into Soarin's office. I take the office chair and gesture to agent Walker to sit down.

"So, you wanted to interview me. Go ahead and start."

He straightens his tie and pulls out a clip board and a small video recorder on a mini tripod to be placed on the desk. He points the camera at me and turns it on, taking a moment to say the date and time, and his name.

"So, you say your name is Lightning Dust."

I nod.

"And how did you come about that name?"

"I was given it at birth."

"When was that?"

I give him the equestrian date as best as I can figure it out.

"Huh?"

"That was the date I was born. I was born in Baltimare, Equestria."

"I mean how old are you now?"

"I don't know, I no longer have that old human body, but I've been in your world for thirty-five years. So I'm not really certain how to answer your question."

He looks at his clipboard and sighs. I grin internally, though I'm doing my damndest to keep a poker face.

"Fine, moving on, what are your plans?"

"I plan on finding any pony I can in your world, and bring them here. They need protection from your world."

"Why?"

"Because I am a Wonderbolt."

He sits there, waiting for more of an answer, when none is forthcoming. "Would you care to elucidate?"

"Wonderbolts are more than the performance team you see in the show. You have seen all the episodes of the show?"

He nods.

"As you know, Rainbow Dash asked me to come back to the academy after she became Captain of the Wonderbolts.  I trained and became a member of the performance team out of Canterlot. And when Discord attacked, I was among the first responders to the battle. I took over for the team lead when Rainbow Dash was hit by his spell."

"What spell? You know magic isn't real."

I wave a hoof, I'll get into that little tidbit in a few minutes. "The curse that is now dispelling around all the ponies that are popping up all over this world."

"How sure are you of that?"

"One hundred percent."

He looks down his clipboard, apparently I've invalidated many of his questions, after a moment, he seems to make a decision. "You say you were a human before this change."

I nod.

"And how did you become a pony?"

I sigh, I know he's got a list of questions, but this is getting ridiculous. "I was cursed by Discord thirty five years ago. That curse has lifted, so I'm back to what I was before."

"What were you exposed to that caused this change?"

"Magic."

He shakes his head. "Magic is not real."

I smile. "You haven't seen an office desk turned into thousands of butterflies by a unicorn."

His eyes bug out and I allow a smile. If this is the price I must pay to protect ponies. I will pay that price. But I'm making them pay the price with me.

"You were informed that we will be requiring demonstrations of unicorn magic."

I nod.

"What can we expect?"

"I don't know. Most spell casting is learned. And the ponies really haven't gained their memories back, the best is only bits and pieces. Some unicorns can do more than others. And their magic is usually related to their cutie marks."

"Those designs on your flanks?"

I nod.

"May I ask what yours means?"

"It's an indication of what my talent is, what makes me the pegasus I am."

"That is a non-responsive answer, Miss Dust."

"Oh, what it specifically means? It's a lightning bolt with stars. In general, stars means magical abilities, and for pegasi, a lightning bolt means good with weather, for me specifically, it means that I can use magic to control power, electricity, and plasma, and time."

"Time?"

"In my battle with Discord, I was able to use time displacement lightning bolts against him."

He looks confused. I smile inwardly again and remain silent.

"And that means?"

Now I smile for real, "I threw lightning bolts that when they impacted parts of his body, they phased out of time. By his reaction, they were quite painful."

"And how did that not kill him?"

I give him a dirty look. "Because he is the spirit of chaos, do you think a simple lightning bolt, no matter how magically charged, can do him fatal damage?"

"What happened in that battle?"

I think about it for a second. "I will show you what happened in that battle." I pull my stylus out and send a quick text. In a matter of minutes Mindy opens the door and joins us.

"You said you want to see a demonstration of unicorn magic. I am going to remember what happened in the battle with Discord, and Mindy is going to project that memory. It's not mind reading," I say as I watch him shift in his chair. "She is simply portraying what is in the surface of my mind." I nod to the party unicorn.

Her horn lights and she slowly brings it to my forehead. As she touches a beam shoots out and creates a screen effect. I relive what was my dreams for several nights.

Several minutes later Mindy pulls away, sweating. I give her a hug and thank her for her help. Then I turn to the agent. "That is what happened."

He adjusts the camera back to point at me and mumbles, "I hope the camera captured that."

"So, you got your demonstration of unicorn magic."

"You know as well as I do that isn't enough. And you showed me you did magic as well, I need a demonstration of that as well, especially those time displacement bolts."

I shake my head. "I have not yet regained that ability. What I do remember is it was very difficult."

"Fine, Miss Dust. But I was promised access. I need to see your abilities, I need to see what kind of threat you ponies present to this nation."

Are we really going to get on that bandwagon? I slam down a hoof on the desk, causing him to jump. "We don't represent any threat to humans, in fact, more humans present a threat to ponies than the other way around. I would think the majority of these ponies showing up simply want to go back to Equestria, yet we have no idea on how to do so. Everypony else wants to simply live their life."

"What about ponies in other nations, nations that are hostile to the US?"

"I would imagine that ponies there have the same goal. If you want help retrieving ponies in other nations so they can be eventually sent home, I would have no problem helping with that."

He leans forward. "You would help abduct ponies from other nations?"

I cock my head to the side. "Certainly, they belong with their own kind, and I imagine most of them want to go home if we find a way to do that."

"What about those that decide they want to stay here?"

I lean back, a big smile on my face. "Well, I imagine we can help humanity with our abilities."

Confusion on his face, I continue. "I've talked with some of the ponies, earth ponies have a special connection to the earth. They can help grow food, they are also the best craftsponies you will find. The pegasi can control the weather. Soarin is already starting to do that all by his lonesome, I've been too busy. And once we help the other ponies here understand their heritage, they will find themselves driven to do what their cutie mark represents. I was planning on contracting our services to local farmers in the beginning. And if we end up with enough ponies, we'll expand on that."

"And the unicorns?"

"The unicorns can perform magic, and the vast majority of them have zero abilities that have anything that would be useful to any military. But would be useful in society. Trust me, having unicorns around can be handy."

"I can imagine. But I would like to see your abilities, Miss Dust."

I nod.

***

With a bright flash and a rumble of thunder, I've destroyed a soda can. Superheating the drink within and causing it to explode with my magic. I've destroyed several at this point. And a good half dozen cameras have captured the action. I nod over to Mindy, the only other magic user who has been able to practice. I trot over to the assembled ponies and gather them towards the barn.  I shooed away any curious humans as I close the barn. It's finally above freezing, and the snow is going to be going away soon, but I'm glad for the heater in the barn.

"Hello you all. Welcome to the farm. I am Lightning Dust. I just want to let you know, you are safe here."

One of the ponies raises a hoof. "Mindy told us that we were ponies before. I want to go back to my old life."

"You did, before you were a human, you were a pony. You simply reverted to what you were before."

This causes an uproar. Several ponies start talking at once.

"Some kind of mutagen."

"This is magic from someone who wants to destabilize the US."

"We can't have magic, magic isn't real."

"This  could be some company testing some weird drug on us without our knowledge, and it caused this."

"I watched her fly, I've got wings too, does that mean I can fly?"

I finally hover up and hold my forehooves out for silence, they eventually reluctantly fall silent. "I know this may come at a shock to you. But your human lives are over. In talking to the ponies that I have been able to talk to, each one has a different way of handling that conflict. I had to talk with my old self. I had to understand that her goals and my goals are the same. Before I became the pony you see in front of you, I was a successful electrician. I had scrimped and saved and borrowed, and ended up buying an electrical contractor's business after I tested and gained my masters license. I had to understand that specific life is over. The human, Michael Shaw, no longer exists, and in fact, never was. I was Lightning Dust then, as I am now. But the time I spent on this world did affect me. I am not the Lightning Dust that fought Discord, and I'm certainly not the pony you saw in Wonderbolts Academy anymore."

I hover higher and raise my voice a bit. "I was given a second chance by Rainbow Dash, then I got to witness her defeat by Discord. And I fought him myself. After he took some of the Wonderbolts, he took a lot of ponies and banished us. He banished the mane six, he banished the Wonderbolts and some prominent magic users."

I look around at the assembled ponies. "Discord always has a plan, and for some reason, he felt that you ponies would be a disruption to his plans for Equestria. That is why he sought each and every one of you out. I have no clue what the total population of Equestria was, but I sincerely doubt he took more than ten percent. Yet that ten percent could be tens or hundreds of thousands or millions of ponies. You should take heart in that fact. Discord feared you, feared what you can do, and so he banished you. I hope we find a way home, because I would love to see the look on Discord's face when all these ponies that he banished come back, ready to kick his flank."

They cheer. I let my wings lower me to the floor and I finally trot around among the new ponies, introducing myself, the three pegasi all ask if I can help them fly. And the five unicorns are going to get magic training from Mindy. And of course, the earth ponies are going to have to learn their own abilities. I wish I could help them with that.

***

I wish they had gotten a stand up MRI machine, being stuck in this damned tube is insanely claustrophobic. I have to endure this machine for over an hour. There are times I wish I wasn't so accommodating of the humans. I listen to the rhythmic thumping of the machine. I have to suppress the urge to shift my wings, I was told remain still for the scan. As a pegasus, they are intensely interested in how my wings connect to the rest of me. And also the muscle connections for those wings. The two doctors and the veterinarian they brought with them poked and prodded me. I only authorized them to take blood and tissue samples from myself and any pony that they ask, but there are strict rules on any type of coercion. And so far, they've been keeping their side of the bargain. A full day of interviews by the feds, and testing, and everything else they want to do is wearing on me.

Finally the machine stops thumping and the table slides out, allowing me to exit. I look at the technicians.

"Are we done?"

I get a nod and a wave, so I exit the semi trailer. I look around, sundown is approaching, and it seems the humans are packing up to head to the hotel. I trot into the house and head to Soarin's office.

"Hey bro."

"I've found more ponies."

Wow, no pleasantries. "Really? How far away, can they drive here?"

His ears fall,. "No, in fact, it was blind stupid luck that I found them. They are being held, by humans, in what I can best describe as a pony brothel."

My heart drops. "Really?"

"Yes, a pegasus and an earth pony, both mares. The pegasus was able to get to a computer, and called out for help. I was able to intercept the email at the server. It was sent to Equestria Daily."

"Oh, that pony website. Maybe we can get in contact with them and be a clearinghouse for information."

"I doubt that, we aren't widely known about, thanks to our friends outside, and information is being suppressed, that's why I've had to install email traps in a few dozen servers to be able to intercept mail with certain key words. It's been tedious, but electronic communication is my specialty." He smiles at me.

"Give me the address and I'll get Irony."

***

"Do we really have to drive the whole way there?" I can hear myself whining, I hate whining.

Irony turns and looks at me, she's in her bipedal form as we head to the car. "Yes, Dust, in case you didn't know, I'm an earth pony, I can't fly." She points to Trixie. "And neither can she."

I let my ears fall. "Okay," I say as I follow them. "Shotgun!"

***

Eight hours overnight in the car, and as much as I like Irony's monster, I don't like being inside it for too long. Though I found that Trixie is an excellent pony to talk to. We chatted like two teen girls for most of the trip, to where I hopped into the back seat with her while Irony drove. Irony is not much for girl chat, I've found out. But I kept dropping jokes at her expense and we both laughed at her blushing.

Finally the big city of Denver heaved into view. Our goal is a little suburb of the town called Arvada. Finally as the sun is rising, we pull onto the street. I look at the hill the street is on in front of us. I look back at Irony.

"A house? How are we going to do that?"

Irony reaches into the trunk, she pulls on her armor and grabs her mace. She walks two legged up the hill, heading for the house on the cul-de-sac. She heaves her great mace on her shoulder as I trot next to her. "We are going to ask, politely." I see the massive weapon of war on her shoulder, I grin. Head splitting time.

Trixie and I stand in the yard, under cover of her little distraction spell as Irony walks to the front door and knocks. After a minute, the door opens and a human opens the door, he's about six foot tall, maybe two hundred pounds, but he's not very well built. Before he is able to get a word out, Irony grabs him by the neck and pulls him out of the door, slamming him against the brick wall next to the door.

She pushes her armored muzzle in the humans face. "I know you have ponies here. Where are they?"

I smell the sharp tang of urine, and his pants grow a wet spot, I smirk as I pass them and head into the building. It's one of those damned split level ranch houses. I wave to Trixie to head up stairs, I head down, Irony will wait for a call to assist.

I get down the stairs and silently trot down the hallway, I find a bedroom, then a second one, and a bathroom, nothing here. I turn and head the other way. Then my ears pick up a sound, a rhythmic creaking, oh no, that sounds like bed springs. I slam through the door into the big family room downstairs. Two cages are there, and two mattresses, one pony is lying down in the cage. The other…

"You get off that pony!" I scream as I launch forward at the human violating the pony. My hooves slam into his shoulders and knock him to the floor. I land on top of him, making sure a rear hoof gets a good slam on the humans member. He howls in pain. I look around. The pony has crouches down, she has tears in her eyes.

"Don't you fucking do that!" I scream at the human. He tries to cover his head with his arms, which leaves other body parts uncovered, I take advantage of that fact, which causes him to put his hands down to protect his genitals, which allows me to get a good swipe at the head. I alternate hitting him a few times until I feel a hoof on my shoulder. Trixie is there, a sad look in her eyes.
"Dust, he's had enough." I look back at the bloodied human. He's simply laying there groaning. I see Irony in the doorway. The other human is pinned against the wall by Irony's massive hand. She throws the human next to the rapist.

"Irony, bust the cage open." With a mighty swing, the cage is opened, and now both ponies are free. I'm assaulted by the pegasus that was getting violated. She was dusky brown, with a cloud with snowflakes as her cutie mark, her blonde mane and blue eyes made her quite striking.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" she says as she hugs me.

I hug her back, she desperately needs ponies around her apparently. I take a second look at her. "How old are you?"

"I just turned twenty-five."

I shake my head. "No, as a pony?"

She looks down. "I think I was maybe eighteen when Discord took me."

I whirl around and kick the rapist in the knee, shattering it, his cries fill the air. "You fuck, you were raping a teenager!"

The other human pipes up, "I paid good money for her."

I look at the rapist, "and you paid this scum to have her?"

His tears flow down his face as he nods slowly, he's trembling in fear and pain. I have not a lick of sympathy for him. I turn to the pimp. "Where did you buy her and her friend?"

He cringes, but remains silent.

"Irony."

Irony steps forward and slams her mace down, just missing his feet, he jumps and wails, "I can't tell you, they are some bad dudes."

I get right in his face, he can smell my breath as I huff in his face, "And you think I'll leave you in any better condition?"
He looks at the massive mace and at me, Irony is tapping her hand with the mace, she's handling it like it weighs no more than a baseball bat. He pales visibly.

I bump my snout into his nose. "You had better tell me, my friend here will make a crater of any body part that I point to." He yelps again.

"I can't tell you miss. They'll kill me."

"Then your head will be the target then." I shift a hoof to point.

"You would kill me? You ponies are supposed to be all sweetness and light, you wouldn't kill."

I feel my wings spread in anger. "I spent thirty five years as a human, I have no problem with your death," I say over the butterflies jumping around in my stomach over the idea of killing. I really hope it doesn't come to killing. I look over at the other human. “Perhaps I should show you I'm serious by taking care of your client here."

Both of them tremble and try to get away. Irony moves over and lifts her mace. She starts to bring it forward.

"Wait, wait, I'll tell you what I know," the pimp says.

I smile at him. "Good idea."

He babbles about a trip to Seattle and that he had just gotten them four days ago. I feel my eyes go wide at his words. Seattle. The explosion on Saturday morning, in Seattle. Could they be related?

He continues to babble, but I think I've got enough information. I stop him with a glare. "We were never here, and if I find of any pony that ends up in this hell hole again, I will be back, and it will be worse, much worse. Trixie, if you please."

She steps forward. "With pleasure." Her horn lights up, and everything metal in the room, the cages, the cuffs, simply disappear. We head out the door and up the stairs outside to the light of day. I look around, a few humans are outside, apparently they heard some of the commotion. I ignore them as we head down to the car, in a matter of minutes, we are on our way home, with two new ponies in tow.

***

Just as we are about to cross the Colorado/Wyoming border, my phone chimes.

"This is Lightning Dust," I say as I flick the Bluetooth.

"Dust, it's Soarin."  I can tell by the tone of his voice, something is up.

"Go ahead."

"The feds have gone ape-shit since they found you weren't here. I told them the bare details of your mission, and they said they need you here now."

I look at Irony, and back at the three ponies that are getting schooled from Trixie during the trip.

"No can do, there are only two pegasi here, and one can't fly. We have over four hundred miles to drive."

I hear Soarin shout in protest and the sound of the phone being struggled over. Then there is a new voice on the line. "Dust, this is Agent Walker. How far away are you from the farm?"

"If any harm comes to any pony, especially Soarin, you will answer to me, agent."

I can hear him moving around, and Soarin objecting in the background. "Soarin is fine, but we need you. And that team you have to get ponies. CIA intelligence has sent us a flash message, we have to get you to Minsk as soon as possible."

I furrow my brow, thinking of countries. "Minsk is in Belarus. Why do you need us there?" I see Irony jerk in surprise at my words.

"We need a pony that has surfaced to be retrieved."

I sigh. "It will be about six or seven hours, I can't fly ahead of my team. I'm the only pegasus capable of flight right now."
He sighs back. "Let me work on that. Are there any ponies here that you would need for this trip?"

I think for a moment. "If you would ask Mindy if she would like to go, that would be great. Now put Soarin back on."

Silence…then… "Alright Dust, I'm back. That agent just hustled out of the office. So, you are going to do the feds bidding huh?"

"If it helps a pony in need, yes."

"Fine, well, we need to figure out how to get you guys to an airfield to get going."

We chat for a few minutes then agent Walker comes back on the line. "How long to Cheyenne?"

"We can be there in under an hour, agent."

"We are arranging transportation for you from there. Head to the airport there. I just had Mindy take off in a helicopter."

"Since when did you have a chopper at my farm?"

"We brought it in this morning, some VIP's are going to be touring the farm in a day or two, the advance team brought a helicopter, and I had to persuade them to be able to use it. But Mindy will be there shortly after you arrive, and they will be able to bring the ponies you rescued back to the farm."

"What do I owe you for this?"

I can hear him smile. "Dust, you are doing this mission for us, we will have two operators from CIA meeting you in Minsk before your operation."

"You are bringing us pretty far into the fold pretty quickly. I don't think there is even enough time to fill out the clearance paperwork."

He chuckles. "When Uncle Sam needs something, the rules can be bent. You, and your entire team will be sworn to secrecy for \this. But as of right now, you are a trusted asset, per Presidential orders."

That produces a chill down my spine, if the President is involved, there is more going on here than I thought.

I flick the call off and look to Irony. "I think we are officially in over our heads."

"Doing a mission only three days after them getting set up, yes, I think we are."

"Any idea how to unfuck ourselves?"

She shakes her head. "When Uncle Sam wants you, there's not much you can do to stop him. So, we going to Cheyenne?"

"How'd you guess?"

"Nearest airport big enough," she says as she floors the pedal of the 442. The monster leaps forward.

***

We pull into the airport and a man in a suit flags us down at the entrance. We pull over to talk to him.

He flashes a badge. "Head to the private terminal, you won't be flying commercial," he says in a gruff voice.

After a few minutes of driving, we park near the private terminal, I try to ignore the incredulous looks of the humans as I trot into the terminal. Another agent meets us and shortly I hear the roar of a helicopter. It lands and a magenta pony hops out and bounces over to us.

"Mindy!" I chirp happily as I go over to her for a hug. She hugs me back hard.

"Oh, Dust, I had the most fun. I got to fly in a helicopter."

I smile at her., "I'm glad you had fun. But this is going to be a serious mission."

She bounces. "I know, so I brought our secret mission gear." She reaches behind her and brings out a big duffel bag. The agent jumps in surprise as she pulls it out. His mouth opening and closing in shock. I open the bag, I see a couple of sets of clothing tailored for ponies. Even one set that has holes in the sides for a pegasus' wings. I can always count on Mindy. I smile at her.
"I'm not going to ask where you got that from, Mindy."

"But…"

I put a wingtip on her lips. "I'm not asking Mindy." I turn to the agent in the terminal. "Where is our plane?"

The agent looks blankly at the large duffel bag for several seconds, then he shakes his head. "Oh, your plane, it's fueling. Should be ready soon."

In less than an hour we are wheels up and heading east. And my terror starts. I was never claustrophobic as a human, but now I'm having to trust in wings that aren't mine, flown by a pilot I don't know. If Irony driving bothered me, this really gets me unsettled. I'll admit, flying in nearly brand new Gulfstream G650ER is a pretty nice way to fly. The military crew on board has been nothing but nice, but travelling 5,600 miles at nearly the speed of sound, I'm going to be stuck in this tube for about nine hours. Though the ER means extended range, and we'll make the entire trip in a single hop. I trot up and down the aisle in the cabin.

"Dust, sit down," Irony whispers to me. She hasn't shown the humans her ability yet. And if possible, we won't show them that.

"I can't. What if the pilot can't handle landing?"

Irony smiles. "I think the pilot has been checked out."

One of the flight attendants comes up, wearing a US Air Force flight suit. He smiles politely and asks, "Would you like something to eat?"

Eat? How can a pegasus eat at a time like this?

Irony smirks at me. "I think my friend would like the Chicken Kiev, I heard you offer that to the pilot, am I right?"

The young airman gulps. "But aren't you guys herbivores?"

Irony smiles. "But she is a pegasus, she likes meat, but it has to be chicken, or venison, or pork, or some animal that was non sentient in Equestria."

"Certainly, and for you… miss?"

Irony waves a hoof. "I'll take a salad, or maybe a vegetable plate." She looks at me significantly. "Unfortunately, my dietary requirements have shifted with this change."

I sigh and finally stop my pacing. "I hope this pilot knows what he's doing."

Irony chuckles, looking over at a sleeping Mindy. "If you remember when we boarded, our pilot does know what she's doing." She then leans forward and gives me a kiss. I feel my wings extend and tighten. Then my legs go limp.

"Okay, I'll settle down."

I get a smirk from Irony as I finally hop into a chair. In a matter of minutes, I'm tearing into some excellent chicken.

***

I'm awoken from a doze by the wheels touching down with a faint scream of the tires. I feel the uneven pavement bouncing the plane around as the front wheel touches down. I jerk up and look around, all the ponies are awakening. Nine hours of flight can take it out of you.

Finally the engines wind down, and the door of the airplane opens. I suppress the urge to just rush outside. It's the dark of night right now, though there is some sign of the sun on the eastern horizon. I follow the humans to a line of several big black SUV's. Soon we are screaming down the street, and the SUV that we are in takes a turn that the others don't. I look at the driver.

"We are going to a safe house, the rest are heading to the embassy."

I really don’t like this spy shit.

> Chapter 13. The Fourth Wall? What's That?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm Chris Malone." The tall, well built human reaches forward to shake my hoof. "I'm one of the operators that's going to help you on this mission.

I nod to him, his partner reaches forward. "Domingo Chevera." I get another handshake. Both of these humans are fit and ready to go. Both look like long distance runners. I smirk a little, I can outrun them, and I certainly can out fly them.

I look at Mindy, I've just put on the night gear that she brought. We've been waiting all day, the sun is setting, and I'm ready to go. I feel an itch between my wings, and the last time I went on a mission like this Discord attacked, this isn't going to be easy.

One of the agents comes in the room, he whispers to Chris quickly then leaves. Chris turns to me. "Intelligence just got a decrypted message, we aren't the only ones after this pony. Apparently Russia wants him too. We need to leave, like now."

We all rush to the black SUV. We forgo the usual running around trying to shake tails, we head directly to the location that this pony supposedly is at. Parking a block away, we use the cover of darkness to get close to the building.

I whisper to Chris, "I'll recon." And I'm in the air, I head straight up to get clearance, then I glide slowly to the ten story building. I hover in front of a few windows, then I finally see what I'm looking for. A golden furred pony is sitting in one of the rooms, being talked to by a man in uniform. I get a little closer, that's a Russian uniform. Oh no, we are too late. I streak away and back to the team.

"The pony is still there, he's being talked to by a Russian officer."

"Shit," Chris mutters.

I look over at Mindy. "You ready to go?"

"Hold it, you are under my orders," Chris objects.

I smirk at him. "This is a pony, that makes it my mission. You want to follow Irony and Trixie in the front, go ahead. But Mindy and I are going in via the roof. They are on the top floor, northwest side of the building."

The CIA operator hefts his suppressed MP5 and nods. I watch Irony shift and grab her armor from her duffel bag. Hefting her mace she nods to Trixie and they move off. Trixie refused to wear any special garb for the mission, instead simply using magic to make herself less visible. I grab Mindy and fly up to the flat roof of the building. Before landing I notice a sentry. Humans never look up, and this one is no exception. I position the unicorn above him and whisper to her to brace for landing. I let her go. My aim is true and she lands on the human, knocking him down. He's still moving when I flash in and knock him completely out with a forehoof.

I wave at Mindy. "Let's go." Her magic makes quick work of the lock and we are inside.

We trot carefully down the stairs, I'm very glad for the padded horse shoes as we get to the inside door for the tenth floor. Again Mindy works her magic on the lock and the door is opened. I stick my head through the door.

Then immediately pull it back in, I look at Mindy and whisper, "Two guards, guarding the room with our pony. What are we going to do?"

She pulls out her duffel bag and pulls out a green wool uniform and dons it. It's a pony shaped wool Russian general's uniform. Mindy has done some crazy things, but this makes me gape. I did not expect that. She trots through the door over my whispered objections, she trots over to the soldiers who salute.

"Mne nuzhno, chtoby uvidet' v plen," (I need to see the prisoner) she says in perfect Russian. 

"Mne ochen' zhal', no on na doprose," (I'm sorry, but he's being interrogated) the soldier says stiffly.

The soldiers are distracted by a commotion on their radios. Both of them rush towards the stairway I happen to be occupying. I fly up to the ceiling and let them pass underneath me. In moments I'm next to Mindy. "I didn't know you knew Russian."

She giggles."Neither did I." Her horn lights up and the door is opened. The officer in the room turns around and is knocked cold by me rushing in. I push him aside.

I go up to the pony. "Do you speak English?"

The pony nods. "Pretty well," he says with a strong accent.

Whew. "What do you know of your time in Equestria?"

He looks down. "I was a mage, one of the royal magical guards, I was detailed with Shining Armor before he teleported away." His ears flatten. "We failed him."

I hear more commotion out in the hallway. "Come on, we need to get you out of here." I trot to the door, then look back, the pony hasn't moved. "Are you coming?"

I get a sour look. "I asked them to come here, I'm going with them. I was Russian, I was on holiday in Minsk when this damned transformation took place. I want to go home."

"We are trying to get to Equestria, many of these ponies want to go home."

He scoffs at me. "My home is Russia, pegasus. Leave me be."

Mindy picks him up in her magic, only to have his horn glow, breaking her hold on him. "I said, let me go."

We are all interrupted by a spetznaz soldier crashing into the room, he levels his pistol at me. Without thinking I throw a lightning bolt at the soldier, the gun explodes in his hand and he's thrown back against the wall, his head flops over to the side, his neck obviously broken, his face and hands are charred from my lightning. My legs don't want to hold me anymore, "I just wanted to disable him," I whisper.

Irony strides through the door, Trixie and the humans in tow, her mace is covered in gore, which also speckles her coat and armor, there are several dents in her armor, and one on her helmet. "We need to go, they have called reinforcements."

"This is a mage from the battle with Discord. But he doesn't want to come with us."

Chris walks up to the pony. "We are from the US. We need to get you safely home, I need you to come with me."

The pony growls at Chris. "I'm not listening to you human. I am going to go back home, where I belong."

Before anypony can do anything, the human raises his weapon and fires a three round burst into the chest of the pony. Irony and I scream as the pony falls, I can tell it's an immediately fatal shot, "You son of a bitch," Mindy screams as her horn lights up, a flash of light and the CIA operator is against the wall. Mindy jumps over me and plants a hoof in his midsection, getting a loud groan from the human, she hits him again in the head, and he's unconscious.

I glare at the other human. "I'm not helping that scum who killed a pony. You want him, you had better carry him."

I look over at Irony with tears in my eyes. "Let's go." I flash out of the room as fast as my wings can take me, in seconds I'm out the door to the roof and I'm flying over the city of Minsk, sobbing the entire way.

***

I'm in the safe house for about ten minutes before I hear the door open. When I entered, I ignored the humans there and just went to an unoccupied bedroom. Soon I hear a soft knock at the door, Trixie sticks her head in.

"Hi Dust."

I look over at her, then look back out the window.

I hear her walk slowly to the bed, she climbs up in it with me. And surprisingly, she leans a head on my shoulder.

"Want to talk about it?"

I look down, I really don't want to. I finally decide to lay my head on the bed and let the tears fall.

"You did what you could, Dust."

"I failed, Trixie. I was supposed to get that pony and take him home, I killed a person."

She jerks away from me. "That soldier by the door, you killed him? It looked like magic."

I nod. "I threw lightning at his gun, I was trying to make it inert and blow it out of his hands.  I used too much power though, I blew him so hard against the wall I broke his neck. I failed, Trixie, twice, I took a life, and I let one be taken right under my nose."

"It's not your fault, Dust," Trixie says softly, "No pony knew what would be done by that human. Irony is securing him right now, she'll be along in a minute.”

I feel another body join me on the bed, I look over, it's Mindy. Her poofy hair has gone straight and flat. She simply crawls over next to me and lies her head down next to mine, taking comfort in my presence without a word.

For a long time I try to control my sobs, and I'm not very successful at it. Finally I hear Irony open the door.

"Dust?"

I look at her, and she rushes over to me, she can see the state I'm in, she morphs right in front of me, then picks me up bodily and gives me a hug. I sob into her shoulder.

"I killed a human, I killed, Irony. Some man is dead because of my actions. I failed."

All she does while I wail is pat my back and make comforting noises. I really let loose. All the pain I'm feeling, it wracks through my body. By the time I've cried myself out, her shoulder his wet, and I know I'm a sight with a stuffed nose and tear tracks through my fur. She finally puts me down.

I murmur, "Thank you, Irony." As she relaxes and becomes a normal pony again, she hops up on the bed and joins us.

I eventually fall asleep, wrapped up with Irony, with Trixie behind me, and Mindy half laying on Irony and I. We are just one big pony pile. I don't sleep long, perhaps an hour. And I finally feel somewhat back to normal. I slide out of the pile, and I see Irony shift herself off the bed, leaving Mindy and Trixie snoozing together. I take a moment in the bathroom to clean up before heading down the hall.

I look over at Irony. "I want to see what his major malfunction was." She leads me into one of the other bedrooms, Chris is there, tied to the bed securely. The other agent, Domingo, is sitting in the chair in the room. I trot up to Chris and hop on the bed, I straddle him and push my snout in his face. My wings are spread in anger.

"Why in the flying fuck did you kill that pony?"

He remains silent. I look over at his partner, who raises his hands. "I was told by big sister here to not touch him or she would use that huge mace on me." I look over at Irony, who smiles devilishly. "We were just following orders."

I bump his nose with my snout, hard. "You were told to kill ponies? Then why the fuck was I brought along? If you were to kill them?"

He gives me a hard look, then he finally speaks. "You yourself told me he was a mage. That means he is versed in combat magic, is that right?"

I nod. "One of few."

"And he was going to an unfriendly country, one that would do harm to the US. That made him a threat. I ended that threat to my nation."

I whap a wing upside his head, hard…"You dimwit. I would have dragged him bodily, kicking and screaming if I had to, Mindy could have suppressed his magic enough. That pony was coming home, and if I had to push him back to Equestria, I would have done so. But you removed that option by shooting him. I just needed one more minute to let him know it was happening whether he wanted it or not." I step back, I was shouting with the full range a pegasus can scream from a distance of six inches. He just might have permanent hearing loss from that.

"Do you know how to get back to Equestria?" The human suddenly looked suspicious.

"I don't!" I scream in frustration, then I take a moment to calm myself. "I don't, but for crying out loud, he would be safe in our custody if it weren't for you." I seriously consider making him pay with my hooves, but then I notice the grimace on his face, and some obvious bruising. I poke his body in various places, getting gasps of pain from several spots. I look over at Irony. "Did you work him over?"

Irony smiles at me, I answer with a grin, then turn back to the human. "Irony let you know exactly how displeased she was when you killed that pony. So I will forgo what I would like to do to you." I smile evilly, and am rewarded by his skin losing a lot of color. "Chris, I don't ever want to see your face again. We are leaving here tonight, and if I ever see your face again, I will make what Irony did to you seem like she was being gentle, got it?" I lift off the bed and land on the floor near the door, Irony follows me out. I trot down the hall, out of earshot of the humans.

"I'm going to fly home."

"But that's half way around the world, over five thousand miles!"

"It's actually closer to six thousand, it'll be a challenge! I'll race your plane there."

She furrows her brow. "Are you sure, Dust? I know you are broken up about killing the human soldier. But you reacted exactly how your training dictated."

"Huh?"

She smiles gently, "Oh, I keep forgetting, you are acting like you were in the military, but you've never been military on this world, and you don't really have your full memories from Equestria." She sits on her haunches and looks seriously at me."Dust, a big part of military training, both here and back home is to train your body to react according to your training. Automatic reactions are far faster than considered actions. If you had seen a soldier point a gun at you, without training, you would have frozen as your mind tried to catch up to the situation. And you would be dead now if that had happened. But instead, your reaction wasn't to freeze, but to act. And you did good."

"I killed a man," I sobbed. No, I'm not going to cry again.

"Yes, and that was a situation where you are alive, and he's dead, and it could easily have been the reverse, but your training made it work out the way it did. You did good Dust." She hoofs me in the shoulder. "I would have you at my six any time."

I smile, but I don't feel it, what I do feel is pain. I nuzzle her then walk to the door. Before opening it, I look back at her. "As I said, Irony, I'll beat that plane back to Montana!" I get a chuckle in return. I check my gear and make sure I have my phone and a few other things. Taking off, I head straight up to get to about ten thousand feet, then I streak to the west.

***

The speed of sound? Screw that, I don't know for certain exactly how fast I'm going, but I know I'm well above the speed of sound. I'm not straining like I'm trying to do the sonic rainboom, but I'm really moving. I find I'm rising as I fly. I'm above the cloud cover now, and accelerating further. My great speed pushes more than enough air into my lungs, the high altitude isn't affecting me at all. I can feel my lungs working, but it's distant. I just know my body is working at peak efficiency. And so long as I keep moving, I'm going to be fine. I have to laugh, I've been this high in a commercial jet, but doing so without anything around me, it's amazing. It's cold, but I don't notice it other than distantly. I actually am happy right now. All my feelings are left behind, it's simply the sky, and this pony. I'm not furiously flapping my wings, but I'm streaking through the air. I look at the GPS on my phone, I'm finally curious as to my speed.

I almost crash from losing my coordination as I see my speed, I'm holding at mach 2.4. I know I can't hold this speed forever, but this is crazy. I smile to myself, talk about supercruise. I remember the Concorde, it was called the speedbird before it was retired, and a trip from London to New York was about three and a half hours. I look at the GPS, I should be coming up on Greenland fairly quickly, following a great circle path from Minsk. I get an idea. I may lose the race, but I think the stop I have in mind is worth it. I shift my course further south and finally make landfall over Maine. As I get close to the mainland, I let my speed fall off, I'm just above the speed of sound as I cross into US airspace. I get a few minutes of peace, then I see an F-22 raptor on my left. I look over to my right, and there's another one. The one to my right drifts close and I can see the pilot clearly. I roll my eyes as the leftmost plane moves in front and slightly above me, keeping me out of his turbulence. Then he slowly descends. I humor the pilots and follow them. My curiosity piques as we finally end up heading towards an airfield, and from the map on my GPS, we are in central Delaware. The planes land and I hover next to one of the planes as it powers down. I look over, several HMMWV's are screaming down the runway towards us. I look back at the F-22. The canopy pops open and the pilot pulls off his helmet.

"What the hell are you doing?"

I look around. "What are you talking about?"

He shakes out his sandy blonde hair. "Radar picked you up over Greenland, when you changed direction, we were sent to investigate. When we got to the coordinates, our radar picked up a small signal, but it was doing mach 1.1. And when we get to that signal, it's you. What the fuck are you doing?"

I smirk. "I'm a pegasus, what does it look like I am doing?"

He smirks right back, "I know what a pegasus pony is, Lightning Dust." He pulls a patch off of his shoulder, it's unmistakably Rainbow Dash's cutie mark. Holy shit, we've got a military brony.

I smirk at him. "You've got the wrong cutie mark." I point to my flank. "That's the one you should be carrying."

He laughs. "If they had yours available, I would have gotten it as well."

He continues, a much more serious tone to his voice. "But you are a character from a television show, why did you show up on our radar?"

"Because I was flying home."

"Home?" The sirens from the wheeled vehicles is starting to get annoying as they draw closer.

"Yeah, I live in Montana, but I was going to visit Texas."

He shakes his head. "But you live in Equestria."

"Not after Discord took us."

He suddenly looked sad. "So, that bastard actually did what we saw in the finale. Didn't he?"

I nod glumly.

"Freeze!"

I turn to see a M-16 rifle pointed at me. Two HMMWV's with police lights have stopped fifty feet away from the airplanes.

I feel my magic surge within me, and I ruthlessly suppress it, I'm not killing anymore. The pilot holds his hands up and hops out of his plane, he walks between the rifles and me.

"She's a friendly."

I smile.

"How do you know?" comes the retort.

"Because I talked to her, and she was initially over mach 2, she could have outrun us, but she chose to land with us."

"So, she followed instructions, that doesn't remove her as a threat."

"Just trust me, this pony is a friendly."

I see around the pilot, one of the men pulls out a set of handcuffs and walks towards me, "Whoever, of whatever you are, you are under arrest."

The pilot turns around and looks at me, I catch his eye. "I'm sorry." With a great flap of my wings I'm a hundred feet up, I streak off, I know they heard my sonic boom. "I had better keep low for the trip," I say to myself as I streak along just above treetop level, it's harder to keep speed with this kind of air density, but I manage.

***

South Texas, even in early may, it's starting to get hot. I get across the nation at just under the speed of sound. I shot a text to Irony letting her know what happened at landfall. No response yet, but then again, they were probably over the ocean when I sent it. I flutter down a very familiar neighborhood. Finally landing at my destination. I bring a hoof  up to knock. I steel myself, and finally rap the door a few times with a hoof. Inside I hear the sound of dogs barking hysterically. I smile, my parents and their dogs. In a moment the door opens.

"Hi Dad."

My dad has aged since I last saw him, but I have to remember, it's been about five years. He surprises me. "Hi there Lightning Dust. Your wife is out with your mom. Where's your sister, or would she be your brother now?"

"Soarin is back in Montana, looking for any ponies we can find."

He smiles at me. "Well, I hope he decides to visit us." He backs away from the door, beckoning me inside. I follow him inside, and I'm inundated with dogs. My parents have always had a soft spot for dogs, and I love them, but I've always been more of a cat person. It's hard to pet them, but they seem to not have a problem with a turquoise pegasus pony. I follow him into the kitchen, which is the true heart of my parent's home. I hop up onto one of the kitchen tables while he busies himself in front of the stove.

"Coffee?"

I nod. "Yes please, you know how I like it."

I can hear the smile on his face. "My Michael, never likes it black, milk and a lot of sugar. In moments a Rainbow Dash mug is sat in front of me, full of the steaming brew. I look at the My Little Pony mug. Then look at him as he takes his seat.

"Huh?"

He chuckles. "Your wife came to Texas with a story that was almost impossible to believe. But she showed me pictures on her phone, and she finally convinced us she wasn't pulling our legs." He sighs. "I never imagined my son would become my daughter, and a pony, and a pegasus." He looks at me. "Like the wings?"

I spread my wings slightly. "Actually, I really do like these wings."

I think for a moment, my nose flairs, my parents still smoke. "Got a smoke?"

"You still have that habit?"

I nod, he walks into the living room, bringing back a pack and a lighter. He hands them over to me. I've found my lips are pretty dexterous, I extract a white cylinder, and use a wingtip on the lighter held in both hooves. I've gotten pretty practiced at this. I inhale deeply, then speak through the exhale. "Ahhhh, I left mine in Minsk."

My dad does a double take, "You were in Minsk? As in Minsk in the country of Belarous?"

I nod.

"Why?"

"We were trying to retrieve a pony, we found out he was a mage for Prince Shining Armor."

"From the TV show?"

I'm glad my kids and wife have introduced my parents to the show, "Yes, from the show. He was married to Cadance."

"Okay, and you got him?"

My ears fall flat, and I shake my head slightly.

"Oh, it went badly?"

Oh no, am I going to cry in front of my father? I haven't done that since I was ten. The tears start to fall. "The CIA operator that was helping us shot him, he refused to come with us, I was just about to have Mindy disable his magic, she did it all the time when we were kids in Baltimare, to prevent unicorns from finding us."

"Hold it, you grew up in, what? Baltimare?"

I smile sadly around my tears. "I have two sets of memories, complete memories as a human child here in Corpus, and fragmented memories as a filly in Baltimare. Mindy is a unicorn, and one of my best friends growing up."

"Wow."

I smile. "No kidding."

"So, go on. You were just about to disable his magic, then what?"

"We would have dragged him, kicking and screaming if necessary, he needs to be with the ponies," I look down. "Then that asshole pulled his weapon and shot the pony. I watched him die." I don't break down this time. But the tears are flowing freely.

After several seconds, my dad speaks up. "But that's not everything, is it son?"

I look at him sharply, he's always been able to see right through me. I shake my head. "No."

"What's worse than that?"

Ahhh, now I'm going to break down completely. "I killed a man." I'm able to sob out. For the next few minutes he's able to draw the details out of me, around my guilty sobs.

"So, let me get this straight, he had his weapon out?"

I nod.

"He was pointing it at you?"

Another nod.

"And you reacted without thinking?"

I nod once again.

"So, why are you feeling so guilty?"

"I killed him."

"And he would have killed you had you not acted first."

"I don't know that."

He puts a hand on my shoulder. "Lighting Dust, he had a weapon in his hand. He was already acting with lethal intent. It became a race at that point, whomever won, lived. You won. His life was forfeit by his actions."

"But I could have done something different."

The hand on my shoulder becomes hard as steel, my dad always had a strong grip for being as small as he was, 5'5" and 115 lbs dripping wet, but he was all steel, I look up at his blue eyes.

"I don't know exactly how to address you, so I'll just do the best I can. Michael, damnit, I was in the service, I served during Vietnam. You have never understood the thought of kill or be killed. But that was that kind of situation. You reacted like a soldier. You protected yourself. I'm glad you did. War isn't a game, son. Not like those games you played when you were younger, where if you died, you would just respawn. This was real life. And you reacted, and you did the right thing."

"But he's dead!" I wail.

Once again I'm gathered up, my dad isn't as strong as Irony, but he pulls me to him, he guides my head to his shoulder, I hear him over my sobbing, "And I wouldn't have it any other way. Taking a life is never easy, I've had to do it, and I'm not the only one. Any soldier hates taking a life, son. But it's part of our job. You did good. You need to take heart in that. Your family needs you."

I finally calm down, and I end up sitting on the floor. "God I hate crying, why the fuck am I doing it so much? Must be these female hormones."

My dad almost chokes on his coffee. I avoid the spray as he laughs.

"You can call me Dust, most ponies call me that."

"Alright, Dust. Don't let your mother hear that, or she'll kick your ass back to Montana."

***

"Hi, Mom." My mom, wife, and kids have just come in the house. I've made it to sitting in the living room. My dad is in his usual chair, and we've been talking for almost an hour. It's almost two in the afternoon. They must have gone shopping early. They look exhausted.

"I was told what happened, but I didn't know whether to believe it or not." My mother comes around the couch as I hop off, I steady myself with my wings and get a hug from my mom.

"I love you mom," I murmur as I hug her.

Finally we move away, and I sit on my haunches. "I'm sorry, but my visit was spur of the moment, otherwise Soarin would be here."

"And Soarin was Maddie?"

I nod.

"I don't know if I'll ever understand this, you kids weren't my kids. You were ponies, brought into this world by an evil curse?"

I nod again.

She sits heavily on the couch, I hop up next to her, and wrap my wing around her. "Something I've found as a pegasus, Mom. Wing hugs are really nice."

She smiles at me.

After the greetings are done, my kids finally get to hug me and tell me about the trip shopping. Shopping in Texas is far better than anything in Montana, unless you want to go to one of the really big cities, and yet that still doesn't compare. I may not be able to eat at Whataburger anymore, but I do miss their food, and some of the other places I haunted when I was younger. I let the kids know that our Disney Cruise is tentatively still on. I'm going to be on that ship if I can. They certainly are going. My wife looks at me questioningly.

"But Dust, why?"

"Because I refuse to hide. Most of the ponies I know also feel the same way, we are going to live openly in this world whether the rest of humanity likes it or not."

"That could be dangerous, son," my dad says.

I turn to him. "Yes, but we ponies aren't targets. We are the dominant life form in Equestria for a reason." My emotions wash over me, I feel my magic and I feel electricity crackle down my wings, I bring my wings together in front of me, letting the electricity arc between the feathers. "We are anything but defenseless."

"Do you really want to fight just to exist?" my mom asks.

"If I have to, Mom. I'm the same person I was as a human. I had this personality then, as I do now. I was Lightning Dust as a kid. You know how crazy I was. And Helen has shown you the episodes of the show with Lightning Dust, right?"

I get three nods.

I smile. "Those don't tell the entire story, hell, I don't know the entire story, Discord blanked a lot of my memories, I only have small bits. But I do know what I'm going to have to do. The Wonderbolts are the protectors, and that's what I'm going to do. I am going to find any pony I can find, and we will keep them safe."

My mother comes up and hugs me again, I wrap my wings around her. "Sweetie, if that's what it takes, you have our support, if we hear of any ponies, we'll send them your way. Sound good?"

I smile at her and squeeze her with my wings. "I love you mom."

***

I lay down next to my wife, I did miss having her close. My parents house is close to bursting, but Helen plans on coming back up north in a couple of weeks. I fall asleep with my forelegs around her, and my wings covering us both.

> Chapter 14. Harmony on Earth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


I can't believe it's only been seventeen days since this started, just under three weeks. I made it back to the farm finally after a long day flying. I think I can do those hundred wing ups now. This little bit of time has really shown how strong I am. But then again, the majority of the power for flight as a pegasus comes from our magic, our wings are too small to lift a two hundred pound body, much less exceed the speed of sound with it. And my magic has taken its time, but it's pretty much back, I think. Though I've not figured out the temporal displacement bolts as of yet. I glide to a landing in front of the farmhouse, those damned semi-trailers are still there, along with another trailer that carries the generator.

My barracks are complete, and there are now nearly thirty vehicles here. And the population of ponies is nearing a hundred. I smile at that. Ponies everywhere. I look in the sky, a dozen pegasi are moving clouds around, some are bringing them closer to the ground, the snow has finally left the ground, and the planned garden is starting to go in. The tractors are out in the fields, disks turning up the ground, I guess planting will be going on soon. I stop and watch the earth ponies in the garden, every single one of them has a cutie mark that is a plant. Seedlings look like they are several days old, and yet I'm watching them sow the seeds, and as they move on, the plants are growing. A pegasus brings a cloud down, and hops on it, creating a gentle shower for the newborn plants. I trot over to the FBI agents watching.

"Pretty wonderful, isn't it?"

One of them turns and looks at me, tears in his eyes. "That is amazing. I've never seen magic. And this…this…"

He points to the plants. "This morning, this was just disturbed dirt from the equipment building the barracks. And now…" he trails off. The ponies are singing. It's not even a song with words, just voices lifted in joy. I see a pony pull out a guitar, and in moments, more instruments are added to the general sound of joy. I look at the humans, they are very obviously moved by the experience.
I tap one with a wing. "And these are just the refugees. Imagine Equestria, with millions of us."

I leave the awed humans and head to the house. Having to stop for a moment as a large unicorn levitates a pallet of seeds as he trots to the shed with the seeder attachment for the tractors. I smile, pony society, with the addition of human ingenuity. I finally get into the house, where Irony and Mindy bowl me over.

Irony laughs. "Can you believe it? Their special talents are coming through, we've got over a dozen ponies that can control the weather, and we've tamed the clouds around us very well. We've got five sections that are actual farmland, and not grazing land. We'll have them seeded and starting to grow in a matter of days." She looks out the window. "These ponies are amazing!"

"And you should see their work in the kitchen!" Mindy chirps excitedly. "We have five or six ponies that can really cook. Though you might want to build a larger kitchen, we have a lot of mouths to feed."

I facehoof. "Oh no, I forgot! I thought we would be eating… well, you know… plants. No need for cooking."

I get a bop upside the head from Mindy. "Every pony house in Equestria has a kitchen, do ya wonder why now?"

I sigh. "I'll make a few calls."

Irony smiles. "Soarin already made the calls. It will take a week or two to get it done. He's waiting for your approval on the appliances. And a larger propane tank for fuel."

I look at them, my ears falling. "Are we going to make this permanent?"

Irony's ears fall as well. "We have no idea how to get back home, so we need to plan for long term. And your office manager called. You have work to do at the shop. I told her I'd let you know, but plan for a busy day tomorrow."

"Did ya get my text?"

"Yeah, you crossed the Atlantic Ocean on wing power, in under three hours, we weren't even over Ireland at that point. You won."

"So, how was your visit with your parents?" Mindy asked,.

I sigh. "It was good to see my parents, and I was glad to see my wife and kids. But I'm tired."

"No kidding," Irony murmurs. "Gonna head up to bed? Moon Shadow is taking a nap right now, she's been working on her magic the whole time we were gone." I get a hoof to the shoulder. "And she's kinda miffed at you for not bringing her along. She said she could have gotten that unicorn to come with us."

"I know, but we aren't doing any more of those missions."

"I don't know about that, the FBI agent that met us at the airport seems to think we will."

"Miss Dust?"

Agent Walker walked up to us, I turn around. "No humans with the exception of family inside the farmhouse without express permission."

He looks down for a moment. "I really need to speak to you, Miss Dust."

I look back at Irony and Mindy. Then I sigh. "Alright, I'll meet you in your office trailer in a few minutes. I've been gone a few days and want to talk to my family for a minute. Understood?"

He nods and I head to Soarin's office. A quick knock at the door gains me entry.

"Why did you leave all this in my lap?" Soarin asks me irritably.

I smile at him. "Because you stayed when you could have gone on those exciting missions with us."

He snorts. "And then these ponies wouldn't be found. But every day, I get ponies asking me if we have this, can we get that. And I tell them where Walmart is, and where the farm supply company is. And not a single one of them wants to go."

I smile, a trip to Walmart, better bring a panel van. Gonna stock up.

"We'll go. After I finish talking to Agent Walker."

He looks at me. "Really? I have an absolutely monster list. Everything from coco puffs, to angle grinders, and dozens of other things."

I hop up in the chair. "How are things on the financial side going?"

"I had to dip into some of your savings for some of the bills. But the good news is some of the ponies that are showing up have resources of their own, and are helping as they can. On the whole, the farm is going to be turning a profit shortly."

"Really? How?"

"You know your idea of contracting out our abilities to farmers in the area?"

I nod.

"Well, we've brought farmers from all over the county to take a look at the pegasi controlling the weather, and some of the abilities of some of our farm ponies around here. And we've come up with a fee schedule. We get about eighty percent of the farmers in the county, we are good financially. And anything else is pure profit. It's a lot of work, and we will end up having to pay the ponies beyond their room and board, but we've been working on that."

He slides a folder to me. "With the fee schedules, plus the payment to the ponies doing the actual work. We can turn a profit by winter, if more farmers come in and are as wowed as the ones that left this morning. We are also having some employers from town coming out soon, to see if they can hire some ponies for their abilities. Any pony wanting to has signed up, and nearly half of them don't want to be stuck working on a farm, they want jobs, and many of them have talents that would be helpful. We've discussed if they work outside the farm, they will have to pay rent to live here. And pretty much all have agreed to that. We ponies really like being with other ponies. I've talked to the mayor, and as far as the town is concerned, we are citizens just like every human. So we free to work and live, and get paid."

"What about our friends outside?"

"What about them?"

"Are they going to make our lives miserable?"

Soarin shakes his head. "I don't think so. They've pretty much left us alone. They got most of the scientific data they say they needed. And we had no battle mages or any advanced magic users show up. They know we can defend ourselves, but we are not warriors for the most part. Though agent Walker did say that they are working with allied nations to bring ponies to the US. And you are going to be really proud of me."

I perk my ears up.

"I got them to admit they have been holding captured ponies. And I've secured promises that they are going to be released to our custody."

Really? Soarin has been busy. "And what do they want out of that?"

"Not really much." He smiles. "As much information on Equestria as we can provide, and an open line of communications between us and them. I drew the line at permanent residence here."

I smiled at him. "Awesome job, Soarin. If we get to be able to go to Equestria, I'm guessing we'll have permanent diplomatic communications with the humans. Do you think some of the ponies are going to want to stay here?"

He nods. "In fact, I'm pretty sure roughly half of the ponies here are going to want to stay. We are making a life here. And since they won't be the only ponies, they won't have to take on this world alone, they want to spread the magic around our world."

I furrow my brow. "That's the TV show."

He hops out of his chair and uses a wing to draw back the curtain.

"Dust, look out there. They are harmony. They are the magic. We are the magic. Those gems are baubles compared to the magic of harmony that encompasses Equestria. It's not imposed by some outside force, we are free, and we choose to be what we are. And while we aren't perfect, we are certainly far more harmonious than humans. But…" He trails off, looking at the ponies working, and amazingly, I'm seeing some humans out there too. They are working, smiling, laughing, and singing with the ponies. Most of the humans are relatives or friends of the humans the ponies were before. But I can even see some in slacks, their jackets and ties taken off, their sleeves rolled up. They are joining in as well, with as many smiles and laughter as the others. "We are the source of the magic."

"Soarin, that was a television show."

He whirls on me. "I know it was. But whatever was the inspiration for that show had to be a real Equestrian pony. They just had to be. I've been here, I've seen these ponies interact." He looks back out the window. "They have conflicts, they have fights. They aren't anywhere near perfect. But in the end, they work together, and the magic within them comes out. It shines from them, everywhere I look." He turns back to me, tears in his eyes, "And the crazy thing, I'm starting to see that magic come from the humans here. I don't think I would have been able to get the concessions I did without that magic. We are an infection for the humans. And I hope that some darker elements of their society either never find out about our magic, or when they do, it's too late."

"What are you saying Soarin?"

The tears are freely falling, but he's smiling. Tears of joy? Really? "You want to know the answer to what ails humanity? To world hunger? To all the fighting, and killing?"

"You are not seriously suggesting…"

"Oh, but I am. Lightning Dust. I am. We are the spark, as Twilight said in the pilot episode. The spark that brings out the final element. The element of magic. Humanity has magic too. Otherwise our entire history wouldn't be replete with magical elements. But somewhere, we lost that. Fear, hatred, oppression took hold. It wasn't any one religion, it wasn't any one thing, but humanity lost harmony. And when that happened, the dark ages are still happening. And we are bringing back what humanity has lost. And what it took was one mad chaos god to bring back humanity to the magic born inside them."

"Are you serious?" I whisper.

"Dust, in the show I was a goofy character. But they had me wrong, Soarin in real life was a thinker, so is the Soarin that used to be Maddie Shaw. And do you know what started this all? The bronies."

Well, that surprised me, I shake my head.

"Oh, Dust, it's true. The show came out, and some humans picked up on it. They found quality, they found acceptance. They found friends. Even people who had never met were instantly friends before they ever met, because they had our world to bond over. That show brought out the first inklings of the magic. And now, with humans turning to ponies all over the world. We might just be able to help all of humanity."

"I've been keeping track of the news, humanity is closer to worldwide war than they have been in eighty years."

Soarin smiles. "That is because the forces are like the windigoes from Hearths Warming Eve. They are reacting to the harmony that they feel, but cannot explain. But this is a crucial time. This magic must spread. There are likely enclaves of ponies all over the world, all of them discovering in their own way, the magic that resides inside them. That magic is fragile right now, it's a child. It must be protected and allowed to grow."

I finally understand. "The Royal Guard, and the Wonderbolts."

He nods, "Exactly. You, Irony, Flash, myself, and a good number of guards were banished here because we represented a threat to Discord, but I don't think Discord realized that the harmony that our job is to protect is best served by us being here. He would have done far better to simply kill us. But he doesn't work that way, he hates death far worse than anything else, what he prizes is his namesake, discord. And harmony is the opposite of discord. So the protectors of harmony had to go, and those that generate harmony in their magic had to go. That is why he chose the ponies he chose when it came to attacking us twenty-five years ago."

I join him looking out the window, I even see Agent Walker shedding his jacket and picking up a shovel, a huge grin on his face. 
"He wanted us out of the way, but he sent what we are to protect as well. We can protect them here, and hopefully bring them back home."

Soarin nods. "And that is up to the mane six, and those that join them going home, if we can find a way home. But until then, we spread harmony here. And the Earth will be the better for it. Humanity will regain its magic back."

I turn to my former sister, and hug him. "Thank you Soarin."

"You need to do what you do best, Dust. Kick some flank."

"Soarin, I killed a man."

"Who would have killed you."

I sit and contemplate for a while. "I'm not killing anymore."

He suddenly looks sad. "What if it's your life or the life of somepony you love?"

I open my mouth to answer, but no words emerge.

***

Agent Walker brushes some dirt off of his white button down shirt as he hangs his jacket up in his office, he finally sits down and gestures for me to sit in the guest chair.

"There is a big reason I needed to talk to you Lightning Dust."

I look at him expectantly.

"We are having a big guest tomorrow, he'll be staying the night, and leaving sometime around noon the following day. His daughter is turning into a pony."

Two plus two turn into four in my head. "The President is showing up? Here?"

He nods. "The advance team is scouting out the area, and he will be arriving by helicopter. I have asked Soarin and received permission for him to stay here. He will be using one of the bedrooms. No press, this trip is strictly off the books. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, he's taking some time at Camp David. Secret service has been checking things out all day." He looks out the window for a moment. "And apparently helping your ponies with planting as well."

I nod. "Soarin explained it to me. Our magic is affecting everyone, including the humans."

He nods right back. "I hate to say it, Miss Dust, but my entire team has been nothing but smiles and laughter for the last couple of days. We are intensely curious about you. But you ponies are affecting us more than I think anyone here realizes. Are you going to go back to Equestria?"

My ears fall. "I don't know. I know a good percentage of the ponies here would love to find a way home."

"Will some stay?"

"I have a feeling that quite a few will stay. And I have a job as well."

"So, you are staying even if a way is found to go home?"

"I haven't decided that, Mr. Walker. I have a family I would be leaving behind. Two children. A business I've worked my ass off to build."

"Well, all that can be discussed with the President when he arrives."

"Are you going to keep suppressing ponies online?"

"My orders are the official denials are to continue, so my answer would probably have to be yes."

"You know we refuse to hide."

"What about humans that would do you harm?"

"From what I've been told, the city and most of the county are on our side. We've been talking with the mayor and the sheriff about our lives here. And as far as they are concerned, we are the same as every human. And will be treated equally."

"I hope something like that can be worked out nationally."

I look at him. "Something like that needs to be worked out worldwide. We were humans, we are not beasts of burden, we are not horses. Though we are equines, we are sapient, just like you, or any other human on this farm."

"We cannot force other nations to accept ponies as equals. And we have to consider our own survival."

That causes me to flinch. "How can a few thousand or maybe tens of thousands of ponies be a threat to humanity in general, or even to this nation?"

"I don't believe you are a threat at all, Miss Dust. But there will be some who do feel you are a threat."

"That is what I'm here for, Mr. Walker."

"It's Todd."

"Huh?"

"My name, it's Todd."

"You can call me Dust, most ponies do."

"Fine, Dust. But what do you mean? That's what you are here for?"

"As I told you before, I was a Wonderbolt. We are the defense of Equestria. Us and the Royal guard. Of which a few have shown up, and hopefully more show up in the future."

He looks at me quizzically.

"Our job is to protect the ponies. And we have an isolated place, one that is defensible. We will handle internal security, but we will also handle any threats to our lands. I'm not going to try to say we are establishing an independent nation within the borders of the United States, not at all. But what we are doing is setting up a home for the ponies. We will help, but until our rights are guaranteed, we will be somewhat isolated."

"What is your goal?"

"Acceptance by humanity. Recognition of our God given rights."

"Huh?"

"I would love to see ponies integrated into this society, so you can see a pony at the local bar, or at the grocery store, or somewhere else. Being treated like any other intelligent creature."

He sighs. "I would like to see that too."

***

I wasn't kidding, I'm in the panel van I usually use for large deliveries to jobsites.  We bounce down the highway. My tablet is sitting on the dash, with a long list of necessities and luxuries for the ponies. I've looked at the list. It's going to take a while. I think this is going to be fun. Mindy is driving the van, I snooze for the nearly two hour trip to Walmart. As we finally arrive, my tablet is picked up in Mindy's magic. And she hops out of the truck, and she bounces to the door. Another truck pulls up into the space next to the panel van, and a half dozen ponies pile out. I tried to get more to come with us. But these are the ones who wanted to venture out with humanity.

As a group we trot through the doors of the large building. I laugh internally as I see humans either completely stop what they are doing upon spotting the ponies, or shrink back from the mass of equines invading the store. Though I have to smile when a few small children break away from parents and go up to ponies. Every pony is nice to the children. Several even consent to let small hands caress them. With the children accepting of the ponies, more of the humans come forward. After the initial uproar slows down, I gather the ponies together.

I point to a group of ponies. "You need to go get the groceries, we are likely to nearly buy out the store. Have somepony come get me when you are ready to check out."  I look at Mindy and the rest. "Lets do some shopping."

All the ponies laugh as we scatter all over. The associates all over the store stop and stare as ponies walk along the aisles. The pegasi picking things up and flying over to the carts being pushed by unicorns and earth ponies. I think the biggest reaction is when a unicorn lights their horn, and items float into the carts.

I look around. "Where's Mindy?" One of the earth ponies with us shrugs his shoulders.

I trot up and down a few aisles. Occasionally calling out her name. Finally I hear her bouncing and singing. She hops up to me. "OhguesswhatDustieIfoundthecoolestcandyinexistence." She drops a nearly empty bag, I pick it up in my teeth and place it on the cart. Smoothing it out I read the label. Then I turn to Mindy, my eyes are pinpricks right now.

"Chocolate covered espresso beans? Mindy!"

She giggles. "I can see sound," she says as she moves her hooves in front of her face.

Oh Fuck.

***

About an hour later, I'm climbing into the van, Mindy hops in the driver's seat.

"Mindy," I slowly lower my head to where my forehead is touching the dash. I close my eyes.

"Yes Dustie?"

"Did you have fun?"

A huge giggle. "Oh yes, the most fun I've had in a long time."

I shake my head, no kidding."How did you get all those humans to get in a high kick line like the Rockettes?"

She smiles at me. "It's called the music of harmony."

I groan. "How is that possible?"

"I dunno, Dustie, but you were feeling it too. Almost everypony was in the line too."

"Don't remind me, I just felt something wash over me, and I had to join in." There was a line of humans and ponies all down the main front aisle of the store, high kicking and singing while Mindy was singing and bouncing. I just groan.

"And the high stepping out of the store?"

"Oh Dustie, we needed to leave the store on a high note, didn't we?"

"Oh for Christ's sake. If I didn't know better I would say it was some stupid flash mob, but this wasn't. This was completely spur of the moment."

"Of course it was spur of the moment. It wouldn't work otherwise Dustie. You are a silly pony," she says as she starts the engine of the van and puts it in reverse to back out.

"I don't understand."

"You weren't a brony. So you don't know about the music of harmony."

Huh? I look at her sharply.

She smiles at me. "Dust, it's a fan theory, the reason those ponies can do those numbers you see, like a true true friend in the season three finale, it's magic taking control of them and letting them do those numbers." She stops and giggles. "I think I've had my own magic of harmony moment today."

She pulls out of the parking lot and heads towards the highway. "That was fun." I look at the truck with the rest of the ponies on board, I can hear them singing as they pull ahead of us and out to the highway.
> Chapter 15.  Hail to the Chief
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am sitting with a few other Ponies. We've all cleaned up for this meeting. Of course, waiting for a helicopter can be sometimes boring. I play with my just brushed mane.

"Damn, why do I have to doll up so much?"

Irony looks over at me, "Because we are meeting the President of the United States."

"We've been told that his daughter is becoming a pony. Do you think she's going to come along?"

"I wouldn't doubt it."

Finally, a faint rhythmic thumping is heard to the west. As it increases in volume I finally see the Presidential helicopter, it's call sign is Marine One. Marine One circles the field near the buildings and finally settles to ground. We wait for its rotors to stop moving, whereupon the door opens and two secret service agents rush to greet the man exiting the helicopter. We are gestured forward. Irony, Moon Shadow, Mindy, and myself all walk in unison to the helicopter.

"Mr. President, I am known as Lightning Dust, welcome to my home."

The tall man looks around, the garden is starting to really grow, all the land is showing signs of good care. The barracks are brand new, the house was painted yesterday, by an enthusiastic group of ponies. All in all, we look pretty well turned out. But for this initial meeting, the only ponies seen are the ones that I have with me. Almost all the Federal employees are turned out themselves. I put out a hoof. He looks at me, and finally goes to one knee to shake my hoof.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Dust."

"Dust will do, Mr. President."

"Fine, Dust. Thank you for having me on such short notice."

I see a pink pony tentatively stick her head out from the helicopter. I gasp, I know that face. But not from my Equestrian memories. With her lavender mane, and unicorn horn sticking up. I'm certain I know here from watching the show. I nod to the President who gestures for her to join us. In moments she's sitting on her haunches next to him.

"And this is my daughter, Amy."

I feel my ears fall. I have an idea of what's coming. I turn and address the unicorn. "What is your pony name?"

She looks at me confused.

"You know, the dreams that you had right when you got your cutie mark on your thighs. The three brilliant cut diamonds."

She shrinks back, "I don't remember my dreams."

I sigh, then I look at her father and back at her. He seems to genuinely want her to answer, but I don’t think she's told him of the dreams yet.

I place a hoof on his knee, "I think you and I need to talk. Your guards can follow, at a distance. I have no intention of harming you at all, but I don't think you are going to like what you are going to hear."

He looks at me, confusion reigning on his face, he finally nods, but to my surprise, he waves off the Secret Service as I trot to follow him, after he places a kiss on his daughter's forehead.

We finally walk towards the fields. I get bored of walking quickly, so I spread my wings and hover at head level for him, so he doesn't have to speak down to me. I spend the first couple of minutes talking about my transformation, and about my family, my parents, and some of what happened.

He interrupts me, "I was told this was some kind of disease."

"Have they done genetic testing on her?"

He nods.

"What were the results?"

"That she shares less than 10% commonality with any species on Earth."

"What does that say to you."

He stays silent, he doesn't want to answer, he already suspects what I'm going to say.

"She's not of this world, neither am I, nor is any other pony here."

"But she's my daughter, I held her right after she was born. I held her hands for her first steps." Tears start to spill from his eyes, "Her first time on a bicycle. I comforted her after her first heartbreak"

"I know, my parents helped me the same way you did."

"What do they think of it?"

"They don't like it, but they are accepting, it's something they can't change."

"Can you be changed back?"

He walks with me flying next to him in silence for a long time, I finally answer, "No. We were originally ponies. What happened was a curse, all brought about by Discord. That curse has lifted, and the ponies we were twenty five years ago are back. To change us back would require something we don't have."

"And that is?"

"Magical knowledge, and more power than any unicorn known in pony history has."

"What about your princesses?"

He's been doing his research, "I don't think Cadance, Twilight, Luna or Celestia have the necessary power. And Discord himself won't do it."

"So, Amy I no more?"

I shake my head, "That's not the case, Mr. President. Amy never was. The pony she has become was turned into her, and a good deal of that pony's personality were folded into the human you knew as Amy. But she's reverted back to her original form, she is the same. Some mental changes have happened during the change, but for her to integrate what her life was with what it is, it is something internal each pony must face."

"Is there any way I can help with that. I've been told she hasn't been sleeping well. And she seems very reluctant to tell me anything about it."

I sigh, "The only thing you can do is let her know you will love her, no matter what. That's it. I had to deal with the Lightning Dust that I was, and reconcile her with the Lightning Dust that I am now. It took some doing, but it worked."

"So, she's not coming back?"

"She hasn't left, her body changed, that's it. She's the same pony she was as a human."

"She won't forget us?"

"There is a possibility that it can happen."

He look at me quizzically.

"If she hasn't resolved the facts in her own mind, the pony she was before and the pony she is now could fight, and then she would lose, because there are two outcomes, a pony that doesn't remember her time on earth and is freaked out being here, or a pony that doesn't remember her heritage and is freaked out because her body has turned into a freak. Neither of those are conducive to a happy life."

"You are saying, she's at war with herself?"

"And she's not the only one, many ponies here have gone through this, it's a hard thing to adjust to."

"And you did as well?"

I nod.

He looks down, "All I want is her to be happy, if we can't turn her back human, she needs to be happy."

"May I talk to her?"

He looks back, in the distance she is sitting with my friends, "I think she's getting talked to already." He turned back to me. "What do I do?"

I move closer to him, "Mr. President, I'm not here to tell you what you need to do. I know what is best for her, but it may not be easy. She is a pony now, she needs to be with her own kind. But wouldn't you think that the decision would be hers?  She was twenty five when this transformation started. She was an adult. What happened on your end?"

"Well, it's well known she wasn't living in the White House, she was a grad student at CalTech. When she got pony ears, she called me, crying, asking me what could be done. I had some Secret Service agents come pick her up. She completed the transformation in the White House with my wife and I." He looked down. "She cries every night. I know she's not happey."

"So…" I prompt.

"If she wants to stay here with you ponies, that's okay with me. We will have to have some security…"

"No."

He looks at me, his face darkens.

I gentle my voice, "Mr. President, nobody but your security and staff know that the pony over there was your daughter. She is in no danger from ponies. One thing I do know about pony society, we are very peaceful, your daughter will be safe here."

"Is she still my daughter?"

"Yes, and no. The body you see was her original, but you cared for her for twenty five years. She's as much yours as she was the daughter of some pony back in Equestria. If she still calls you Daddy, you are still hers."

He sighs, and puts a hand on my shoulder, "Thank you, Dust."

I smile at him, "All part of the service."

He turns back away from the farmhouse, apparently we still have some talking to do.

I hover as he walks for a while. Finally, he breaks the silence, "So, what am I going to do with you?"

"Beg pardon?"

He chuckles, "This is an election year, the year 2020. I'm in the middle of a fierce competition for the Presidency. And then this is happening."

"And that's why you are having general knowledge of the ponies suppressed?"

He nods.

"We won't hide. It's not right to make us."

"I don't have any choice. You know humanity's reaction to things we don't understand."

My ears fall flat, "Hatred, distrust."

He nods, "In the end, I am protecting you."

I roll my eyes. He nudges me, "I happen to know who pulled off that little stunt in Billings."

I almost fall out of the air.

"And why aren't you calling me out? Or getting the FBI involved, I guarantee they are angry."

"Oh yes, they were angry, but you did it all without harming a hair on a single human. Lightning Dust, you showed integrity. You said your goal is to help the ponies. I've been in communication with those working here. You have shown that you are a mare of her word. And I will tell you this, Lightning Dust, I don't control every individual part of the Federal Government. And while general knowledge of the ponies is not my desire, I will instruct parts of my government that I can to officially ignore you. So long as you remain within the bounds of the law, for our purposes, you are persons as defined in the Constitution, you have the same rights as any other person. I will issue an executive order to that effect, but it must remain secret for the time being."

I look at him intently, after a moment, that seems to be about the best I'm going to get. I hold out a hoof, "That will help Mr. President."

***
After our talk I'm finally introduced to Amy, and find out her name. Irony and Moon Shadow were talking to her quite a bit while the President and I talked. They were able to help her remember her dreams. Sparkler. Adopted daughter of Derpy Hooves. I almost squee in delight, one of my favorites in the show is Derpy. Mindy showed me the episode where she talked, before Hasbro got a wild hair and edited out Rainbow saying her name. Unfortunately, she has no clue where her little sister and mother are. After a bit the President comes up, and she rushes to him and hugs him, and sighs, "I love you Daddy." I hear. Good.

After judging a few minutes of Daddy Daughter time, I pull them to give them the tour of the farm. Only one barracks is in use right now. The three story buildings have been put in with long term in mind. No bunks, individual beds for each pony, and privacy curtains to allow ponies to rest quietly. But I've been finding that privacy is not something ponies value as much as humans. Only two floors of one of the three buildings is in use right now. After the initial greetings, most of the ponies have been lounging around, talking to each other. A lot more work needs to be done in the fields. I let them know what's going on and they pile outside to get to work. I continue giving the President and his daughter a grand tour. 

"It's amazing here, Dust." The President says. "How many ponies are you planning on coming here?"

I look at him, "Once the ponies that you have in custody are released, we will have almost three hundred here. The plan is to be able to accommodate over a thousand."

"For how long?"

"I don't know. As long as necessary."

He looks around, "All this must be expensive."

I nod, "It is, but some of the ponies have their own resources and are helping out, we aren't turning any pony that shows up away."

"So, some kind of commune?"

I look at him sharply, "I don't believe in that crap, that can stay in Mr. Marx's grave for all I care. This will be a community. Free ponies interacting how we wish. Some will choose to work in town, we are planning on bringing out business owners in the area and see if they want to hire ponies. Some of the pegasi have shown the aptitude for handling the weather."

His eyes get big, "So, the show is accurate about that?"

I nod, "Yes, and we are controlling the weather around here already. It's warmer than the area around us by a good ten degrees, and we are planning on it staying in the 50's temperature wise for a month or so, until summer gets here. Once the acreage is planted, we will be bringing in some gentle rainstorms to help the plants grow. And they are growing at an accelerated rate because of the earth ponies. I've got several ponies here that have cutie marks that show skills with woodworking, and even a few that can work with metal. I have no clue how to use the forge that came with the farm, but it's fired up, and we have ponies working on that now. I think most of the ponies here will earn their keep quickly."

"Just like in Equestria?"

I nod.

"Amazing, but what about my Amy."

"Sparkler." she pipes up.

He turns to her, "Sparkler? That's your pony name?"

She nods, he turns to me, "Okay, what about Sparkler?"

"I don't know what her cutie mark represents, so once she figures it out, she'll be able to do that as part of her job here. But every pony will be compensated for their work, some simply by food and board, but some will do more."

"And what will you be doing."

I smile, "I'm a Wonderbolt, but I also own an electrical contractor's business. I'm going to keep that up and running. In the end, this farm will turn a profit from our weather services, and from helping farming. This part of Montana will be much more productive when it comes to the farmland."

"You know the land around here is mainly cattle ranching."

I nod, "And those cattle may not be sapient like they are in Equestria, but they will be cared for just like any other creature here."

He nods. Then a thought hits me, "Excuse me, Mr. President, but I was told yesterday that I'm going to have to spend some time at my office today. So, you can talk to Soarin if you need anything. But you can treat this trip primarily like a vacation, no golf course here though. But feel free to enjoy your time away from it all."

He thanks me as I rush over to the farmhouse. In moments I'm at Soarin's door.

"Hey, bro. I've got to get to the shop, call me if you need me."

I hear a muffled response from inside the office, my brother is still busy looking for ponies online. I trot outside and take off.

***

Finally I'm able to flutter down and land in front of the shop. It's close to noon. So I just hustle right into Pat's office.

"I'm guessing you have some work for me to do?"

She nods and picks up a stack of paperwork, causing me to sigh, "I really need to hire someone to do a lot of the paperwork for me."

She smirks, "I thought of that, inside are three applications, one of them should work."

"What would I do without you Pat?" I say as I trot into my office and sit at my new desk.

She lays the papers down, including a stack of checks for me to sign, "Go out of business is what you would do."

I chuckle as she closes the door behind her.

The next several hours are occupied by signing the checks, and of course, the various bits of paperwork that I have to deal with. I find out more about my injured worker. Compound fracture of the leg, and several nasty lacerations. Pat sent flowers from the company, and set him up to get 40 hours a week of pay while he's recovering. I smile at that. Though he'll probably miss the massive overtime he was getting, 40 hours is pretty good. Bills get authorization, and everything else I have to deal with is dealt with. Though eventually there is a tentative knock at the door.

"Come in."

The door opens and two ponies come in. I recognize them from the farm, some relative newcomers. A pegasus and a unicorn.

"And what can I do for you?"

The unicorn looks nervous for a moment, then gains his nerve.

"We would like jobs."

Oh really.

"And you think I'll hire you because you are ponies?"

He shakes his head, "No, I think I can do the job, I've been getting pretty good with telekinesis, and I would love to learn a trade. And since you've become a master electrician, I can do it too." 

I look over at the pegasus, "And you?"

She gulps, "I may not be able to pick things up like a unicorn, but I'll learn everything I can, I want a job, and I know you pay pretty well. Your company has some of the highest wages in town."

"I also have some of the hardest work in town."

The both nod.

I look at both of them critically. I can see them starting to sweat under my scrutiny. 

After the silence gets drawn out, I'm thinking furiously, the unicorn says, "Please, Dust."

I grin, "I think I can find work for both of you. My out of town crew is light one body. I'll shift one of the in town guys who's already asked to work out of town. And you can take his place." I say to the unicorn. Then I turn to the pegasus, "I think stringing lines would be a good job. You won't have to climb the poles. How well can you fly?"

She looks at her friend, then back at me. "I can fly pretty well. I'm no Wonderbolt, but I just didn't have any aptitude for weather work. Soarin got a little sore at me."

I smile, my former sister was always a perfectionist, I'm glad to see that tendency made it through this change. "I won't lie to you, the job is dirty, and hard. But the pay is good, and you will learn a lot. I'll have Pat give you the paperwork for the job, and the apprenticeship. For now just use your legal names you had before your change, I hope we will work something out when it comes to that ball of wax. But I'll get you working tomorrow morning, seven in the morning, sharp."

Both ponies thank me as they file out the door. I look at them sadly, how many ponies will be able to get jobs in town? I hope every pony that wants to.

***

Eventually I'm caught up, and I'm happy for that. I did decide on the application, my new office pony starts tomorrow. Eeyup, Pat included a pony in the list of applicants and I didn't find that out until after I had made the decision. A unicorn. Meaning much better writing, and she's got a degree in accounting. It's all good for me. I fly quickly to my house. Lamenting the lack of my family. I finally crawl into my king sized bed and snuggle under the covers. I start to fall asleep but I'm interrupted by the front door opening and closing. After a minute the door opens and a few ponies come into the bedroom. I see Irony, and Moon Shadow. And to my surprise, Trixie and Lightning Flash join us. I glance out the window, the sun has just set, it's still relatively early.

Trixie speaks up, "It has been a long day for all the ponies involved. Would be okay if the Great and Powerful Trixie, and all of her friends join you in that huge bed?"

I look at all of them, and finally nod. The last few weeks have caught up to me, and exhaustion is taking hold. I lie my head down as I'm cradled by Irony, with Moon Shadow laying her head next to Irony's and mine, then Flash and Trixie find a way to make this a comfortable pile of ponies. I eventually nod off, feeling more secure than I ever have in my life.


> Chapter 16. More and More and More and More and More!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The dreamscape again? What the hell? I thought I was over that. I glance around, Lightning Dust isn't here. Nopony is here. I sigh. "A lucid dream, and nothing fun to have happen."

"I don't know about that, unless you don't count talking to me as fun."

I whirl around, and midnight blue fur is right in front of my face, I back away and look up, Princess Luna. I bow down before the lunar diarch.

"No need for that Wonderbolt leader."

"You remember me this time, Princess."

She looks puzzled. "Have we met here before?"

I nod.

"I have no memory of that. How odd." She looks contemplative for a moment, then shakes her head. "I'm actually here for a very important reason. I just finished talking to Rainbow Dash."

My eyes widen, and a huge smile grows on my face. "You found our leader? That is awesome!"

"More than that, she is safe, and we are going to announce who we are to the ponies of the world."

"I've been trying, today I met with the President…"

She interrupts me. "The President, as in the President of the United States?"

I nod. "The same."

"Perhaps that will make things easier. If you can get him to have the government stop repressing information on ponies."
My ears fall. "I tried, Princess. He refused. He's in an election year battle with a Senator Corddis. And he believes that public knowledge of us would be harmful of his election chances. He won't do that."

"Really? So what has he done"

"Well, when we started changing, the government was aware of it nearly immediately, due to the fact his daughter was also turning into a pony."

She nods, "I've heard rumors to that effect."

"Well, they rounded up some ponies. But they finally agreed to turn them over to me."

"And you can take care of my little ponies?"

I nod. "Yes, Princess. I've bought a farm, here in Montana. And they should be delivered to us in a day or so. Soarin has been searching online for days, looking for ponies. He's been pretty successful."

"Tell me about your farm, Lightning Dust."

"It's pretty nice, Princess. We have just over a hundred ponies there." I see her eyes widen, but she allows me to continue. "I own an electrical contracting business. And I've used funds I had initially set aside to purchase a roustabout company on something a little more conducive to being a pony. I bought the farm, which is very large. And I had three barracks style buildings built. We should be able to comfortably hold over a thousand ponies. We are putting in a larger kitchen and we just invaded Walmart the day before yesterday."

"You showed yourselves to the humans?" She snorts in surprise.

I nod, then I notice the disapproval on her face, my ears lower. "We refuse to hide, even though we are in these bodies. We deserve the same rights as any human."

I look down, after a moment I feel a soft wing fold over me, I look up into the lunar diarch's face. "It is alright, Lightning Dust. I was just surprised. You have done well." My heart leaped in joy. The feelings these ponies have for their Princesses, now I truly understand the rage behind us when we attacked Discord after him taking Celestia. I lean into her wing hug.

"Princess. Where is Rainbow Dash?"

"Iowa." She spends a few moments describing the farm there, and gives me the address. I file the information away, hoping to remember upon waking.

She continues, "They are trying to find a way back home."

"Princess, are you going to go home as well?"

She pauses, and looks thoughtful. "I will go home, eventually. If a way can be found. But I have to help my ponies here first."

"I am trying to do the same thing."

She smiles. "I know that, young Wonderbolt. You are fulfilling your oath, and for that, I'm proud."

I feel my chest swell in pride, a goofy grin on my face.

"Oh, I have other good news. Moon Shadow is here. In fact, she's sleeping inches from my body."

Luna sits back on her haunches and claps her forehooves together. "My apprentice is here?"

I nod.

"Amazing, I'm saddened by the fact that Discord took her, but I am happy to have her here. I will try to contact her after I'm done talking to you. I have missed her. She is an amazing talent when it comes to dreams."

I look at her quizzically. "All she told me is that you were her mentor. She never mentioned to me anything else."

"The world of dreams is a dangerous place, you do not have the talent. Sadly, very few non-unicorns do possess the capability to roam the world between worlds. Though I've seen one or two humans in my time here. I wonder if humans possess the ability to do magic."

I nod. "Soarin has told me that their magic has been sealed off, they lost that ability. But it is there, latent, but there. In fact, he said that having the ponies here, and our abilities to use magic may bring that back out in the humans."

She looks at me, I shrug my wings. "I really don't know how that's possible. But I saw humans affected by the music of harmony yesterday."

She shakes her head. "That shouldn't be possible young Wonderbolt. But if you say you saw it, maybe you did."
I smirk. "I was affected the same as the other ponies and humans. It was wonderous."

"I believe that, Lightning Dust."

"You can simply call me Dust."

She nods at me.

"Fine, I shall be going. Look out for our announcement to the world." She stands and starts to move away.

"Wait, Princess. One more moment of your time please."

She turns back to me. "Yes?"

"Why don't you make yourself known? Like present yourself at the UN and demand to speak. You are royalty. You are a leader of a nation, they would have to let you speak."

She looks down and her ears fall flat. "I wish it were that easy, Dust." She sighs. "But I think there are forces here that would prevent that from happening."

I growl deep in my throat. "I will find out who is behind it, and I will end that problem."

She smiles. "I have no doubt that you will, Lightning Dust. Until we meet again. Fare thee well."

***

My eyes pop open. Soarin is hovering in front of my face.

"Dust!" he whispers.

I blink my eyes a few times. "Soarin, it's five AM," I say after checking the clock.

"I found another pony that needs our help."

I look at him quizzically. "You have?"

"Well, at least I think I have. I've been expanding my search and I've implanted a bit of a tracker in a few search engines. And I got several hits, but this one looks promising."

I slide out from all the ponies, and finally trot my way into my office downstairs. "So, what have you found?"

"Searches, specific about the show, and those searches have spiked worldwide. But the pattern here has me worried."

"Why?"

He opens up his laptop, "I tracked their IP address."

"Spectrum Laboratories." I look for several seconds at the screen, then up at Soarin. "And that means…what?"

"I did some digging, they are a federal contractor. And they are very much into hush hush stuff. You get my drift?"

"And the searches coming from there, and the nature of the pony searches makes you worried?"

He nods. "I think they have a pony, perhaps more than one. And they are experimenting on them. I hacked their servers."

"You what? That exposes us to a lot of risk, Soarin."

He holds his hooves up to forestall my objections. "I covered my tracks, trust me, they aren't as good as I am when it comes to electronic security. But some of the data they are storing is scaring me. You need to get those ponies, like right now."

I sigh. "I'll get Irony, we'll get going."

He sighs in relief. "Thank you Dust."

***

Before sunrise we are on our way. During the drive I tell Irony, Trixie, Lightning Flash, and Moon Shadow about what happened with Luna. Moon Shadow, for her part, let me know she talked to Luna herself. She told me what exactly was planned by Luna and Rainbow Dash. A sonic rainboom over the heavily populated city of Des Moines Iowa. I sit back in wonder.

"Do you think she can pull it off?" Irony asks.

I nod, "Certainly, she's Rainbow Dash, after all."

"Well, we can't worry about that right now, we have to get to Portland as soon as possible."

***

The city of Portland, Oregon. It takes us nearly sixteen hours to drive there. During the trip we find out via smartphone that videos were taken of the rainboom. Seeing it in real life, I was amazed. And once again, it's now night. We pull up a couple of blocks from the address for the lab. I can see that their security is much higher than any place we've been to yet. Wrought iron fence, three meters in height topped in razor wire. Of course, none of that means anything to a pegasus pony. I flit from building to building, and finally find a likely one to check out. There are armed guards everywhere. But of course, they don't look up. All the cameras are facing the ground. I smile as I map out a plan in my head. I land over next to the ponies.

"I think I found them," I chirp happily, then I explain my plan. The stealth approach won't work, we are going to walk right in and take them. Irony cracks her knuckles, this is going to be fun.

We all trot right up to the main gates. I look at the security guard. "Let me in, I know you have ponies here."

The guard looks at me. "Piss off. This is a private installation."

Irony shifts back to bipedal form and grabs the guard and snarls in his face, "My friend said let us in." The guards hand moves to his sidearm, only to be restrained by Trixie's magic.

"We aren't going to ask again," she says menacingly.

He looks at all of us, then reaches over and buzzes the gate open. Irony reaches in and grabs his radio, crushing it in her hand, then she brings a fist down on the phone, shattering it. "Do you have a cell?" He nods, and it's floated out of his pocket, disassembling itself in front of his eyes. His eyes bug out. Irony leans close. "I would suggest you sit down and don't say a single word until we leave, understand?" He nods as his gun is drawn out from its holster, the clip ejects and the round in the chamber is popped out, the gun then disassembles itself as well then drops to the ground, the barrel squeezed flat by Trixie's magic. I smile at my friends as we head to the building.

Together we troupe down the hill from the gate. Irony chose to forego her armor this time, wanting to be able to rapidly shift from bipedal to regular pony. Flash stays up high, out of view of the cameras and the humans. I take care of the cameras, throwing a bolt at each one, shorting it out. In moments we are at the door. Trixie lights her horn and the glass doors fly off their hinges, crashing to the floor. We don't even have to slow down for them.

A few guards meet us in the lobby. These guards are armed. Trixie makes short work of their electronic devices and their weapons. I lead the way into the elevator. A flick of the ear and my bluetooth chimes.

"Call Soarin."

The phone does it's thing, and Soarin answers, "Were you able to figure out what floor?"

"Eeyup, seventeenth." I reach out with a wingtip and press the button. I hear heavy feet down the hallway as the door closes.
I look over at Moon Shadow. "Make sure they can't cut the power to the elevator."

She smirks at me. "They won't even be able to shoot it enough to shut it down." Her horn alight, green glow softly lighting the small room.

The elevator takes us rapidly to our destination. I exit the elevator, taking directions from the dongle in my ear. Soarin had found the building blueprints, don't ask me how he finds this stuff. I follow the instructions through the maze of the floor. We finally get to a door marked 'Animal Research' which produces chills down my spine. I whirl around and buck the door once, then twice, and it crashes in. On my signal, all of us ponies scatter throughout the room. I trot among the various cages. Curiously, most of them are empty. I finally see an earth pony laying down in one of the cages, the cage next to him is empty, but the one after that has a pegasus. I whistle and Irony appears as if by magic, I point to the cages. Irony grins and opens the first one, a simple catch that is impossible to get at from inside. Obviously they haven't had any unicorns yet. I smile at that.

"Hey, what's all the commotion here?" A human in a lab coat comes out of one of the offices.

I trot up to him, then rear on my hind legs, using my wings for balance. "We are rescuing the ponies you have abducted."

"What are you talking about? They are ponies. They are company property."

I see red for a moment, but I'm able to calm down enough to talk, though my volume is certainly higher than it was before. "You fuck, they used to be humans, they are as sapient as you or me."

He rolls his eyes. "That's for Doctor Richards to conclude, since his wife turned into one."

I totter on two legs and push him against the wall, I shove my muzzle right in his face. "Do you have any doubt now?"

He looks wildly from side to side, then he does the first prudent thing he's done since I've arrived, his eyes roll up into his head and he passes out.

Irony smirks at me. "Maybe you should have asked him if there are any more." Two semiconscious ponies are held up in Moon's magic. We trot down the aisles. I finally see light spilling from underneath a door. I press my ear to the door.

"Honey, I will find a way to reverse this," says a deep male voice.

A feminine voice responds, "I hope so. Honey."

I hear the clip clop of hooves. That's enough for me. I whirl around and buck the door open.

The male voice screams, "What the hell?"

I smirk at the tall man. "You can't reverse it," I snarl at him. What was wrong with her has already been reversed."

He looks at me. "How dare you barge into my office."

I look at the pink earth pony with the purple mane. "You don't have to go through experiments anymore."

She puts her hooves to her ears."My husband is going to fix me. Please, leave."

"There is nothing to fix. You remember Discord?"

She shudders, eeyup, she remembers, Discord.

"He cursed you, and for twenty five years, you lived at a human, that curse has now faded.  You are back to the way you were before."

She shakes her head violently. "No, once my husband finds the mutagen, he's going to make a counter mutagen and turn me back the way I was."

I sigh. "Honey, I'm sorry. But you have always been a pony. Even in your human body you were the pony before. This is the result of a curse."

The man speaks up, "I'm sorry, but magic isn't real. You need to leave."

I flare my wings and start to hover in front of him. "If magic wasn't real. I wouldn't be able to do this."

He looks at me in shock, I continue, "as a pegasus, my wings are too small to fly without magic, add to that, to keep a body my weight in flight, I would have to be moving a lot of air with my wings, and all the papers in here would be flying around. You notice that's not happening." I look over at Trixie.

She lights her horn and picks up a pencil. The then breaks it in half and floats the pieces around each other. "And I certainly wouldn't be able to do this, without magic."

Irony steps forward, then shifts. Standing upright. "And I wouldn't be here without magic, my friend. Your wife is a pony, she will stay a pony, and there is nothing you can do about it."

He sits down in his chair heavily. "This is impossible."

"No, it's merely improbable." I smirk at him. "But we are all too real."

The earth pony has scampered to the corner of the room, she's terrified. Moon Shadow moves closer to her. "It's okay sweetie. We are going to take you where you belong. With other ponies."

She shrieks and runs over to the man. "I don't want to go!"

Oh damn.

She's picked up in Trixie's magic and floated over to us, Trixie whispers to her while I move up to her husband. "I'm really sorry about this, sir. But the big problem is that ponies are in danger. And we have to protect them."

He looks at me hard. "You have broken into our lab. You have stolen our property. I'm calling the police."

Irony grabs the phone off the desk and rips it out of the wall. The pink pony is struggling in Trixie's magical grip. I look down. "Let her go Trixie."

She looks at me incredulously.

"We can't save every pony. She doesn't want to be saved." The aura around the pink pony fades away and she scampers into the lap of the human, we leave the room and head to the elevator.

As we are getting close, the elevator dings, and several humans pile out, with weapons drawn, they point them at me, I savagely suppress my magic, I'm not going to kill today. I flash forward, and I feel what feels like a punch to the chest. I kick the first human's smoking gun out of his hand, and snap kick his head. One down. I extend my wings and am in the air, a swift kick and a second human is dazed. Trixie comes up, her magic throws the other two hard against the wall and they stick there. She smiles as her horn quiets and she enters the elevator. "That should keep you out of harm's way." Irony comes up, with Moon Shadow and her two charges in tow. I sit down. It's getting hard to stand.

"Let's get out of here," I croak. Why am I having trouble talking? I look at Irony, suddenly there are two, now four Irony's in my vision. What the hell?

Trixie shrieks, "Dust, you've been shot!" She points with a hoof.

I look down onto my chest. "That's weird, aren't gunshots supposed to hurt?" I'm able to whisper.

I can't breathe. Oh, there's the pain. Twin daggers of agony hit me. Mercifully, my eyes roll back into my head, and I'm out.

***Irony***

I shift as dust collapses, picking her up and cradling her limp body. I can feel her trying to breathe. I tap a hoof impatiently against the steel decking of the elevator. Shortly we are in the lobby. Moon and Trixie are enraged at this point. The door opens and a dozen guards are waiting, guns drawn. A burst of magical energy blasts forth, blowing every human away, their guns melting in the blast. The fall to the floor with multiple splats. I carry Dust and the two rescued ponies are floating behind us, they haven't done much, I suspect they were drugged. Running as fast as I can I follow the two unicorns as they gallop to my beloved car. I fire up the engine and shove the transmission into first gear. I race the engine and pop the clutch, I leave two long trails of rubber behind as I accelerate. I reach into the glove box and grab my phone. I quickly dial a number.

"This is Doctor Ray."

"We are in Portland, a pony has been shot in the chest. We are heading your way, will be there in under two hours."

I hear his voice change from casual to serious. "Is the pony breathing?"

I hand the phone over to Moon Shadow so I can concentrate on driving. I hear her say, "She's breathing, barely."

She listens intently. "I can do that with magic." Her horn glows green for a moment, and Dust lets out a huge cough and blood floats from her nose and mouth. With a flash the blood disappears. She starts looking over Dust's turquoise body. "I see a wound in her chest, and one at the back of the ribcage."

She listens to the phone for a moment. "Okay, make sure she keeps breathing, and keep her warm. Got it." She magic's a blanket that I usually keep in the trunk and wraps it around our friend. I take a turn, tires squealing for purchase as I take the entrance ramp at a hundred.

I turn to Trixie. "You know that spell, to keep people from noticing us, you had better keep it up. We are going to be violating every speed law from here to Seattle."

She nods tensley. Her horn lights and I floor the pedal. I'm going to make this trip in record time.

***

The phone rings as I get close to Seattle. "This is Irony." I say into it.

"This is Ray. How close are you to Swedish hospital?"

I look at the GPS on Dust's phone. "About twenty minutes."

"I've got an OR reserved here. Get your ass here, I'll do what I can for her."

"What about the fact she's a pony?"

"The staff here have been apprised of what she is. This is the only place I would trust for this. It's very early morning, so there aren't many here. Just get her here."

I end the call, I've already got the pedal floored, running over a hundred and forty. I scream down the interchange and I'm back weaving among the few cars on the road.

Less than twenty minutes later I pull in front of the emergency entrance to the hospital. Moon Shadow hops out, carrying Dust in her magic, I pull the car into a parking space and leave Trixie with our charges.

"Boy, you guys sure took off," a male voice says behind me. I turn and look, Lightning Flash lands., with a goofy smile on his face. "Is she going to be okay?"

"I don't know, let's get in there."

***

Four hours in the waiting room and finally Dr. Ray comes in. He pulls off his mask and sits down tiredly.

"Your friend is very lucky."

"She's going to be okay?"

He nods. "I called in a favor from a surgeon friend of mine, he usually operates at UW. We worked on your friend. He needed my help, you guys' anatomy is certainly different than your average human's. The bullet was a full metal jacket, not a hollow point, so she had that going for her. It transited a lung and blew out just in front of her diaphragm. We've got her stitched up, and she's in for a rocky day or two, but she should be fine."

"That's a pretty bold statement coming out of surgery for a gunshot wound Doctor."

He smiles. "And you should know, as a former military man, most gunshot wounds are survivable. And the first aid you ponies did on the way here, keeping her lung somewhat inflated, saved her life." I look around and see relieved looks on every pony's face.

"When can we see her?"

"You can see her whenever you want. But she won't be conscious for a few hours. She's out of ICU, and she'll be in a regular room soon.”

"What about the bill?"

He smiles at me. "For you guys? Don't worry about it. I've got some pull. I talked to a few people. We will keep this on hush hush. You guys will either need to stay in the room with her, only nurses that have been briefed in will attend to her needs."

"You know we can afford this."

He claps a hand on my shoulder. "You helped take away my pain my friend. That is worth a hundred of these."

I grab him and give him a bear hug. "Thank you, Doctor."

Finally we pull away, I look at him. "We are going to Iowa after this. I want you to come with us."

He looks unsure. "We need you," I say.

He smiles. "Sure."

> Chapter 17. Soarin and the Mane 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

***Soarin***
I'm sitting in the living room, 60" television in front of me. I'm waiting for the sign, I'm switching between CNN, Fox News, and the networks. I know it's happening soon. Dust told me that something is happening. And, like clockwork, at 10:30AM, I get a breaking news alert, I happen to be on Fox news at that point. It reports of an explosion in Des Moines Iowa. I silently grin. A few ponies that have been trotting in and out most of the morning stop and watch. While I watch the continuous news reports. Within an hour cell phone camera footage is being shown. A sonic rainboom.

A unicorn pony comes up and sits next to me.

"Rainbow Dash is alive?"

I look at him and grin.

I get a grin back, "What are we going to do about it?"

"We have a choice."

"Really?"

"I'm pretty sure a certain princess is going to be visiting your dreams in the next night or two."

"Holy shit, Luna?"

I nod.

"What's going to happen?"

"There is another group of ponies. They are looking for a way to get home."

"You mean we can go back to Equestria?"

My ears fall flat. "No guarantees. What we are doing right here, we don't have the mane six here. So we are trying to make the best of things. But we have no pony here who has made any real progress. We need Twilight, we need all of them. And we don't have them. They do."

"Do you want to go to them?"

I look down. "I want to visit. And if they do find a way to get to Equestria, I want to go. But at the very least, I'm going to visit them."

He nods at me. "I agree." He levers himself off the sofa. "I'll tell the others."

As the sun touches the western horizon, we are on our way. A dozen vehicles full to the brim with ponies and some of their human families, myself included, are on our way east.

***

My phone rings. "This is Soarin."

"Soarin, this is Moon Shadow." I can hear a racing engine in the background. Her tone of voice makes my heart drop.

"Dust?"

I hear a muffled sob. "Yes. She's been shot."

Oh shit. "What happened?"

"We retrieved two ponies, and found a third that was apparently the wife of a scientist there. She refused to come with us. But as we were leaving, we were ambushed by the guards, Dust got two of them but she was shot in the chest in the process."

"She wasn't fast enough with her magic?"

"She didn't use it."

"What?" What the hell?

"She launched herself forward and physically took care of them, with Trixie's help."

"With her lightning, she could have taken them out all by herself."

A long pause. "I know."

"Damnit!" I shout, startling the unicorn driving the car.

"We are heading to Seattle, Irony is running fast. We'll be there soon. We know a veterinarian."

"A vet?" I scream into the phone. "How the fuck is a vet going to take care of my sister?"

Moon Shadow's voice becomes really small. "He's very good, and he's getting help. He saved Irony's life."

I feel my anger deflate like a balloon. "He saved Irony?"

"Mh-hmm."

I sigh. "If he saved Irony's life, maybe he can help with Dust."

"She means as much to me as she does to you, Soarin. Are you guys going? To the other farm that is?"

"We are about seven hours away right now."

"That's all the way in Iowa."

"We left at sundown. We've been driving all night."

"Good. I will update you once I know what's going on."

"Sounds good."

I end the call. I sit back in the seat. I look at the eight ponies sitting in the car with me. Everything just looks wrong. I press the button for the moonroof to open. "I need to fly." I hop through the moonroof and spread my wings. And I'm in the air. A quick look around says that I'm not the only pegasus who's feeling the effects of being cooped up in a car for too damned long. I find nearly a dozen pegasi, nearly a third of the pegasi that have made it to the farm, all flying in formation.

"Dust got shot."

That gets a reaction from every pony. I have to fend off dozens of questions, I just want to fly.

***

The sun has been up for a couple of hours when we make it to Muscatine. I'm still in the air. I look over at the other pegasi. "Hold on, I'll scout around first." I then dive for our lead car, landing on the roof I call in through the moonroof. "Find a place convenient to pull over. We need to check things over before we all barge in."

I flutter down the road, and I find the turnoff described to me. A quick glide down the road brings me to a gate. I land in front of it, not knowing what to do next.

"Greetings pardner, how did you find out about this place." There is no mistaking that voice, and that accent. Oh my God, she has gotten her hat! I almost squee.

I clear my throat. "I'm Soarin, and Lighting Dust and I have been finding ponies as best as we can. We have some ponies here to visit."

"Well, yee haw. I'm so glad to see you. We've already had some new visitors before ya. You will never believe who showed up."
I look at her expectantly, after a moment she smiles. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders, all four of them!"

That earns a big smile from me. We are coming together.

"So, where are the ponies?"

"Hold on a second." I tap my phone and send off a text. "They will be coming."

She leads me through the gate and down the gravel road to the farmhouse. As we walk slowly, the cars start showing up. Finally I'm in the living room with the mane six. I have to contain myself, I've got Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie all here. Along with Shining Armor and Big Macintosh. I can hear the Cutie Mark Crusaders bouncing around. But I really need to talk to the mane six.

"So, have you found a way back to Equestria?"

Several sets of ears fall in front of me. Twilight speaks up, "No, we've been trying to figure out if there is a portal like the movie."

"You are talking Equestria Girls, isn't that just a money grab from Hasbro?"

Twilight looks thoughtfu. "I don't really know. I was apparently the source for the show."

What? "How is that possible?"

She spends the next few minutes telling me about her talking to Lauren Faust when she was a little girl, how she poked holes in the memory spell that Discord was rolling her over with.

"So, it was you! Dust was right."

Eight confused looks directed at me.

"Seattle, the explosion."

Twilight, Shining, Rarity, and Pinkie all look sheepish and grin a bit. Then nod.

"The sirens going off?"

Rainbow Dash puffs out her chest. I roll my eyes.

"And the explosion in gang territory in Seattle?"

Twilight raises a hoof. "They had Pinkie and Rarity. We had to save them."

I smile. Then my phone goes off. I answer.

"Hi Soarin, it's Moon."

I trot into the kitchen so I can have privacy.

"So, how is my sister?"

"She will be fine, she was shot through a lung, it's all stitched up, and she lost a lot of blood, but she'll be weak for a few days, but she should be fine."

"You'll never guess where I am."

"Hmmm, Muscatine Iowa, with the Mane six?"

I chuckle into the phone. "Eeyup. So, when are you heading here?"

"When Dust is ready to go."

"Okay, I'll talk to you again later."

***Lighting Dust***

Pain, I don't like pain. I slowly slide my eyes open. Everything is indistinct. I'm able to groan.

"Honey, it's okay." That's Moon Shadow's voice.

"Water," I'm finally able to croak out.

In moments a straw is placed at my lips, I suck it greedily. After a bit, I'm able to actually talk.

"What happened?"

Irony shifts in her chair. "You got shot."

"Oh." I feel tears starting to form. "I wasn't fast enough."

Irony comes over and cradles my prone body.

I cry into her shoulder. "I hesitated."

"I know you did, sweetie."

"You could have died because of me."

"Well, I seriously doubt that," Trixie chimes in. "The Great and Powerful Trixie took care of the rest. Since Moon Shadow was busy with our friends."

I sob into Irony's shoulder. "I'm tired of crying."

"When you need to cry, Dust, I'll be here for you."

I pull away, I know I've got tears down my cheeks. "You don't understand, Irony. I've always hated crying. And this change has really unnerved me."

"I know, Dust. I know. And this change has unnerved many ponies. You are dealing as best as you can."

"I should have stopped them," I sob.

I get pulled into a powerful hug. I'm trying to control my emotions. I let my crying taper off. It's time to be serious. When I'm finally let go, I look at Moon Shadow. "When can I get out of here?"

We are interrupted by the door opening, two humans enter.

"Hello there, Lightning Dust, I'm Doctor Ray Stevens, this is the man who operated on you, Dr. Huddleston."

Dr. Huddleston comes closer. "It was a very close call for you, Miss Dust. You were very gravely injured."

"I heard, in the lung."

"Yes. But I've been talking with my college friend here." He gestures to Dr. Ray. "He did some work on Irony here. And from what I've been told, you ponies have an amazing healing factor. My younger sister is a brony, or would she be called a pegasister? Oh well. And apparently that is a normal thing. Your Rainbow Dash only spent a few days with a cast after breaking her wing. So, let me take a look here." He moves closer to me, he starts inspecting my wounds. He mutters to himself and brings Dr. Ray over. All the rest of the ponies move back as I am the center of attention. Though this isn't the type of center of attention that I'm used to. Bandages are removed, stitches are inspected, I'm poked and prodded. All in all, an intensely uncomfortable experience.

Finally he moves away. "If I didn't operate on you, I would say you've had several days to recover." He pulls his stethoscope off of his shoulders and places the pad on my barrel. "Big breath."

I comply with all of his requests. Finally he looks at Dr. Ray with a big smile.

"You will be back to your old self in a day or two. I could discharge you right now and not have anything to worry about."

"What about infections?"

He smiles. "This is a hospital that usually has humans, and even then, I doubt there are any equine diseases that would affect you. You are outside the normal realm when it comes to such things. So, my guess is that you would be mostly impervious to anything you could get in a hospital." He taps me on the shoulder with a fist. "All in all, amazing, Miss Dust."

He walks towards the door, then stops, he looks back at me. "Miss Dust, I saw the fact you have wings in surgery. But if you wouldn't mind."

I smile as I lean forward, I extend my wings fully and ruffle the feathers, he smiles at the sight and exits the room. Dr. Ray comes up. "Well, you heard him, you are going to be okay Dust." He looks at Irony and the other ponies. "So, when are we leaving?"

"We?"

He nods. "Irony wants me to join you guys on the trip to Iowa."

I look at Irony, she smiles at her friend. "Dr. Ray is a dear friend. We shouldn't have left him behind when we went to Montana. But he's the resident specialist when it comes to pony anatomy. You might need his help."

"We need to just buy a couple of school busses at this point," I grouse.

"Mindy texted me early this morning, she had the same idea. The ponies that the government held just showed up. And many of them had dreams about Princess Luna, they want to go to Iowa. She wanted your approval to get a bus."

I roll my eyes. "And what did you tell her?"

"Ask Soarin, of course."

"So, we are buying a bus?"

"Eeyup, three of them to be precise. Don't worry, Mindy said we can haggle with them for a good deal."

I don't doubt it. Bargaining is a way of life for us. It's hinted at in the show, but from some of my memories, that is definitely the case. I sigh, well. It was nice having a bank account with money in it.

"When can you get me out of here Doctor?"

"Well, you were kinda hush hush when we brought you in, so discharging should be easy. We get up, and walk out."

I look at the IV in my foreleg. "Well, I guess we'll have to call a…"

I'm interrupted by a knock on the door and a nurse sticks her head in. I've been in the hospital before, I've never had anything be so efficient like that. In less than ten minutes I've got a bottle of pain killers, a small bandage on my foreleg, and I'm walking out the door. Ignoring the crazy looks from the humans who've never seen ponies before, I hop into the car.

"Montana first?"

Irony nods as she hits the gas. Our first stop though is a hotel, where we pick up Lightning Flash and the two ponies that were stuck as lab animals. They are much more lucid now. The car is getting a bit crowded with seven ponies plus Dr. Ray. Most of the ponies pile in the back, all that are in front is Irony, myself, and Dr. Ray. Though I spend most of the trip lying on his lap. I'll admit, a humans fingers have some really nice uses, his hands work wonders around my ears and head. I fall asleep in his lap for the majority of the drive.

***

I'm woken by the bouncing of the car down the gravel road. I've had it smoothed out, but it's still gravel. I poke my head up, most of a day after the surgery, Dr. Ray checks my wounds. And looks surprised.

"You heal up quickly, Dust. I can take the stitches out."

"Less than twenty four hours after surgery?" Irony asks incredulously.

He nods. "We'll get it done at the house." I poke my head up, just a few minutes driving and we'll be there.

As Irony shuts down the engine, I pull the handle to open the door. I'm assaulted by Mindy. I end up on my back, wings splayed, and she's talking way too fast for me to understand. Though with the painkillers in my system, the whole world is moving a bit fast for my taste. It's time to stop with them. I need my head clear.

Irony helps me up and we end up in the farmhouse. I end up on the counter in the kitchen. Mindy giggles, I can hear her, as Dr. Ray takes five minutes and snips all my stitches.

"It's amazing Dust, you look as though you've been healing for a week."

"Ponies heal fast, especially pegasi," Mindy chirps. Dr. Ray looks at her.

"What?"

"Pegasi go through a lot more than most ponies. Their bodies naturally have to heal faster. It's a component of their magic. Earth ponies are resilient, they are strong, and I'm not just talking muscles." She smirks at Irony. "They also live longer than any pony race. Pegasi have natural healing abilities, but they don't live as long as earth ponies. And then you have unicorns. We have magic, we can do amazing things, but our lifespan is about half that of an earth pony's."

Dr. Ray looks at me. "Don't look at me, I didn't know," I say defensively. He shrugs and continues working on me. He's finished in minutes.

I roll off the table and land on the floor, I look at my wings. "I need to preen."

"Seriously Dustie? I have news, I told you outside."

I sigh. "Tell me while I'm working." I extend a wing and get started. My wings are seriously in need of work.

She gives me an exaggerated sigh. "Soarin didn't take his main computer, the one he's got all the trackers sending information to. And he showed me how to use it."

I stop and glare at her. "Are you serious? Another pony rescue?"

She nods. I look at Irony, she moves forward. "You can't save them all. Though we need another team."

I nod at her. "We do need another team, before we leave, we will recruit from the Royal guards that have shown up."
I get back to work as Mindy tells me what's going on. Now we get to head to Arizona. Yay.

After she winds down, I ask her, "Can it wait until tomorrow? Can we leave then?"

She looks down, her ears splaying to the sides, she slowly nods. I look over at Irony. "Can I get a ride to my house?"

***

I wake up to something I wasn't expecting. A human male in my bed. Dr Ray is in with the pile of ponies. I look around. I see a bottle of Jack Daniels Honey on the foot of the bed, Irony, Moon Shadow, Trixie and Flash are all in bed with me. I know I had a few drinks after getting home. But what the fuck happened?

I slide out of bed and trip over an empty Skyy bottle, that's my liquor of choice. I remember pouring a drink with that last night. I shake my head. I totter over to the master bathroom, I empty my bladder, then the remaining contents of my stomach join the urine in the toilet. I look in the mirror. I'm a fright. I stop everything and turn and get into the shower. Letting the hot water play across my body, I hear the door to the shower open, and I feel hands on me.

"Oh, Irony. What happened last night?" I say, my eyes still closed, enjoying the warm water.

"Irony is still sleeping." I open my eyes to see Dr. Ray kneeling down next to me. I squawk and back away from him.

"What the fuck is going on?"

"You are saying you…don't remember last night?"

I shake my head frantically. I get a soft smile in return. "You were amazing, Dust."

I have never been more happy for rubber on my shoes. Otherwise I'd be slipping all over the place. I'm on my rear hooves,  my wings and forehooves spread to each side, up against a wall.

"Oh fuck no!"

He smiles at me, then he nods. I shake my head profusely. "How much did I drink last night?"

"Plenty."

I shake my head again. "No, that's impossible, I'm a fillyfooler. I don't do guys."

"Ya did last night, Flash and I. It was one hell of a night."

If I had anything left in my bladder, it would be emptying itself right now in the shower.

"Come on, Ray. Stop messing with our friend."

I turn and look at the new voice, Moon Shadow is closing the shower door with her magic.

"What?"

"Dr. Ray was a perfect gentleman with you, Dust. When you said you were into mares. Well, mostly."
I look at him and at her. His smile has turned into an absolute shit eating grin.

"Mostly?"

"Let's just say the only part of him that didn't receive any action from you was…" And she points at his crotch. She then pushes him a little bit with her hoof. "But that part was taken care of by other ponies, am I right?" Getting a nod from him.

I bury my head in my hooves. "What did I do?"

"What didn't you do, Dust? If I didn't know better, I would say you were in heat last night," Moon Shadow says, though I will admit, the water cascading down her sides is quite alluring. I finally return to all fours. And shoot a glare at Dr. Ray.

"Remind me to never mix oxycontin and alcohol."

He smiles as he picks up the shampoo. "You want any help?"

I nod, and so does Moon Shadow. No more sexy times ensue in the shower.

***

I sigh as we get into the car. Mindy is with us, and two other unicorns. They are going to drive the busses back from us picking them up. I look at my go to team, Irony, Moon Shadow, Lightning Flash and Trixie. Again the car is full of ponies. We end up in Rapid City. After a little getting lost, we find our way into a lot, I see three busses lined up side by side. Not school busses, but tour busses. I smile. They look perfect. We all hop out of the car. Mindy magic's up her phone and dials.

"Mr. Melzer? We are here to pick up the busses."

She nods a few times, then hangs up the phone and looks at me. "He'll be here in a moment."

I look seriously at Mindy. "Does this guy realize that we are ponies?"

Her ears splay back and her grin turns evil. "Nope." I smile. This is going to be fun, I shoo all the ponies into the busses, and we wait for the seller. My only instructions are to act like there is nothing unusual. Damnit, if I can't have fun with this transformation, I might as well not have transformed.

After a few minutes I hear a car come up. I wait for the engine to shut off, and the door to open. I wink at Mindy, getting a quiet squee in response. I push the lever for the door to open.

"Yes, I think they will do nicely, Good job, Mindy," I say, focused on my partner in crime as we walk towards the car.

"Exactly, Dust. I  knew we needed them, so we should buy them. We have some ponies to get around."

We both stop and look forward. Two humans are standing there in shock. I jerk back and put a hoof over my heart, Mindy mirrors my action.

I take a couple of deep breaths, then I turn to her. "I didn't know we would have to be buying from…" I look at the humans then at her, and stage whisper, "humans."

I can see her suppressing a giggle, but she looks sufficiently surprised. "I'm sorry Dust. I didn't know. They didn't tell me they were humans."

"Wouldn't that be pertinent information?"

"You didn't say anything about you being…whatever you are." The shorter, rounder man says gruffly.

I look at him and scowl. "Mindy, he can't even tell what ponies are by looking at them." I extend my wings. "And much less can't tell a pegasus by look. I was here to pay cash. But I won't be swindled by humans." I shrug out of my saddle bags and toss them on the ground.

I'm gratified by him stepping back, I think he feels insulted. But, the words pay cash always resonate. He glances down at the saddle bags I just tossed on the ground, one side has opened, and stacks of hundred dollar bills are clearly visible, he licks his lips greedily.

I give Mindy an obvious hard look, then turn and look at the humans. "Well, I guess I can make do." I spread my wings and hover so my head is at the same height as theirs, I extend a hoof, "I'm Lightning Dust, this is one of my associates, Mindy."

He shakes my hoof, then looks at Mindy. He then looks at his hand, as though he's surprised he just shook it with a pegasus pony.

"I'm here to see if I can buy a bus or three,” I tell him.

"That is, if the price is right." Mindy chirps.

I can see him mentally shifting gears. "I'm looking for twenty five per bus."

I land heavily, my wings are spread aggressively. "Twenty five? These busses are ten years old, or older."

"But they have been maintained very well."

"I'll be the judge of that. You have the keys?"

A key ring is tossed at me, and Mindy catches it in her magic. She trots to the first bus. I watch intently as the diesel engine is fired up, I trot around the bus, eyeing every minor dent, every scratch in the paint. This human is going to see that I can haggle. I spend the next ten minutes telling him everything wrong with it.

I finally wind down. "Fifteen thousand each."

He has the nerve to look shocked. "I would be losing money at that price."

I scoff. "As if, dude. You didn't pay more than ten each to get them."

His cheeks redden. "I'll go down to twenty-two each. Anything less and you are taking food from my children's mouths."
The man is easily in his fifties "Your kids in college, if you even have any. Sixteen-two."
We go back and forth, and finally shake on eighteen thousand five hundred each. He pulls out a manila folder with the titles. I hand over stacks of cash. I'll admit, having stacks of hundred dollar bills feels nice. A few minutes with a pen, and three unicorns are heading back north with the newly purchased vehicles. I look over at the human. "You are a good negotiator."

He growls a bit. "You drive a hard bargain, miss Dust."

I smirk at him. "Of course I do." This gets a bark of a laugh. I chuckle as I hop in the car with Irony, and we take off south.

> Chapter 18.  To Iowa
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several hours and a few hundred miles pass uneventfully.  Finally my phone rings. I flick my ear for an answer. Mindy's voice fills my ear.

"So, Mindy. Tell me more."

"I told you this earlier, Dustie. Soarin's programs that are looking for patterns that indicate possible ponies got hits on this company in Tempe really pinged. The program says the odds are a unicorn is involved."

I sigh, "I don't want a repeat, what is the point of finding a pony if they don’t want to come?"

She chuckles at me, "How can you know, if you don't ask?"

I look at Irony, she's concentrating on the road. Trixie is snoozing in the back seat, curled up with Lightning Flash. I mumble to myself, "You've got a point there, Mindy."

"Of course I do." The phone beeps to indicate she hung up. I just lean back and sigh. I've checked the text from Mindy with the address, and Irony is taking the 442 down the city streets. I glance at the texts on my phone and around at the nearly abandoned streets. I take a deep breath, wincing at the pain from my healing wounds.

Irony turns the 442 and pulls it into a parking lot. She hops out and shifts to her normal pony form. She looks at me, "I don't think a hot entry would be advantageous in this situation."

I nod at her. I look again at my phone. "This just all seems thin."

I get quizzical looks from Irony, Moon, Trixie and Flash. I gesture to my phone. "I mean, a mining company that has been not making very much if any money for years finally strikes it rich. It happens all the time, doesn't?"
Irony moves closer, "Dust, it's the time frame, they did the first strike May the 5th, And in the twenty days since then, they've averaged a new strike every other day. If a pony was responsible for the gold strikes, I don't think that would be a good thing. We are looking to coexist with the humans. Not become something for them to fight over."

I look hard at Irony, "You have a point there Irony."

She smiles at me, "Of course I do."

I smirk back at her in response, "So how are we going to do it this time?"

"I don't think the humans will be to keen on giving up the pony, so lets not let them know we are here. Let's just do some shadowing."

Two sets of wings are spread in response.

"Good, I'm going to get an idea of the building on foot, you two set up observation positions up high. I'm going to site out a good place for the 442. And Trixie and I will survey from the ground. Keep in contact by phone."

I look at Flash, "Flip ya for the north door."

He smiles at me, "You are on."

I rush forward intending to trip him up, he's ahead of me, and in the air, I brace my legs against the ground and blow a strong gust at wind at him, aiming at just one wing. I'm successful, he ends up on his back, on the ground, I pounce and land with my forelegs pinning him down.

"I win," I crow.

I hear a hoof being applied to a face, I look over at Irony, I hear her grumble, "Pegasi. Make a contest of everything."

"Eeyup. Said the earth pony who never has any fun."

She shifts quickly and smacks me on my flank, hard. In a  second she's back on her four hooves, she winks at me, "I have plenty of fun, and you know it."

She's got me there. We finally scatter, I find a comfortable over watch spot that gives me a good view of the north and east walls. The north entrance is a place that I can see easily, and yet. Somepony looking would have a hard time spotting me. I can see the 442 down the street. And Trixie must be working her magic, I can see the car just fine, but the moment I try to focus on the interior, my eyes want to slide off to the side. Must be nice having unicorn magic.

Several hours pass without comment. I end up in a light doze. Finally I'm brought back to reality with a chirp from my phone. I look at it, a message from Flash, 'light in southwest corner. checking out.'

A few minutes later, I get another text, 'we've got a unicorn.'

I check the time, it's almost six in the morning. I take off and head over to Flash, who is hovering about ten feet from the window.  I get close, "Why don't we just knock on the window?"

"Shouldn't we wait for the others?"

I look around, "Nah. I think we can handle one unicorn."

He looks unsure. I flash forward, staring through the window I tap lightly. Causing the unicorn to jerk in surprise. She looks around. I tap again, and her eyes focus on the window. She comes to the window cautiously, I get a chance to really look at this new pony. She's gold. With the exception of her cutie mark, which is a pile of precious gemstones, all brilliantly cut, her coat, her mane, shimmering gold. Then I get a good look at her eyes, bright cerise eyes stare out from the golden locks. Wow, what a pony. I tap again, and she finally sees the pegasus hovering outside. Her eyes widen as she draws the curtains back with her magic, in moments the window is opened, and I slip through.

"Hi there, I'm Lightning Dust."

Her voice is anything but friendly, "I know you from the show, Lightning Dust."

"Good, now we need to get out of here."

She cocks her head to the side, "And go where?"

"I have a safe place, for the ponies. We have acreage, we have a place to live, food, anything you need."

"I have a bed, a comfortable one, I get all the food and anything I need."

"There are other ponies there," Flash chimes in as he slides through the window, "You won't be alone."

She shrugs her shoulders, "I'm fine being alone, I really don't care."

That floors me, one of the biggest mental changes I've noticed with this is the big shift for me from being a casual touch shy human to being a physically affectionate pony. I've seen it with all the ponies at the farm, they aren't nearly as touch shy as most humans. And watching them rub against each other, and nuzzle, and in general touch each other all the time. And it wasn't sexual. They simply enjoyed the contact. As an early riser, I've gone into the barracks very early and seen the ponies in their own piles, beds pushed together. And it wasn't even part of any family or lover group, it was just the way we are. The first night Irony and Moon joined me, I was nervous, then found I had the best night of sleep in years. And now the pile is getting pretty big. I have memories of Equestria, somewhat different than portrayed in the show. Ponies are herding creatures. We like being close. Far closer than many would assume. So having a pony say she's fine being alone stops my mental processes for a moment. I look over at Flash. He's having the same reaction I am.

"Are you sure?"

"What are you going to offer me?  A place to live?"

"Yes, with other ponies."

She trots back and forth in front of me, "My cutie mark is representative of my talent. I can find precious minerals, I can find gold, gems, oil, you name it, if it's intrinsically valuable, I can find it, and find the best way to get to it. What would you do with that?"

I smile at her, "Nothing."

She looks confused, "You aren't some kind of commune? Where ponies have to put what they produce to the whole and then get only what they need?"

I shake my head violently, "Hell no. I've said to another, good ole Karl can rot for all I care. I paid to buy the land, I paid for the new buildings, but beyond that. What you make, what you earn, is yours to keep. If you don't help with such things as farming, or weather management, or the other basics of living, you are charged room and board, that's it. Now, we are contracting weather services, and also earth pony assistance when it comes to farmers, out in the county, with plans to expand further as we can. But the ponies involved in that work are going to be employees, and will be compensated above and beyond their room and board. You want to find precious stones, or gold, or whatever. I know some oil company owners who would pay you lavish amounts of money to make their drilling costs go down. You keep what you want. All I'll charge is room and board. That's it."

She looks thoughtful, then I continue, "If you stay for a while, and decide living with us isn't your cup of tea, no problem. You can live wherever you want. I encourage you to stay with the ponies. I've been told by many that they are finding they are happier with other ponies rather than alone, or with humans. But humans live at the farm as well, though they are mainly family members of the ponies when they were humans."

She continues to look thoughtful, then eventually her ears fall, "I'm sorry. But I have other ties keeping me here."

I sigh, you can't win them all. But this losing streak is really crappy, first losing a pony to being shot, then getting shot myself and failing to get a pony away. I hang my head and head to the window. I turn my head and give her my phone number, "If you ever find you need help. I was a Wonderbolt, as you know. You may not choose to have my help, but if you need protection, we will be here quickly." I'm able to muster a smile, "I was able to cross the Atlantic Ocean in about three hours, I can move pretty damned quickly if I need to." My smile widens as her mouth drops open, "If you need me, I always have my cell on me," I shrug my shoulder to show the phone in its case. I turn to the window and I hear the chime of a text.

"Hey, what the fuck is going on here?" I hear a male voice. And the unicorn immediately brightens. The door opens and a man walks through. He's tall, just over six foot. Two hundred fifty pounds of muscle, with a bald head and a goatee. If he were older I would have thought of a Walter White look, but no. This guy was just plain scary. The unicorn bounced over to the man and nuzzles his hand. He looked hard at me, "What the fuck are you doing here?"

I turn to him, "I'm Lightning Dust, I'm trying to find those that have turned into ponies. I'm trying to protect them from danger."

He puts a hand possessively on the unicorn, "She doesn't need any protection!" He nearly shouts.

Something about this man really rubs me the wrong way, I take a look quickly at my phone to check out the text. It's from Irony, warning me about some humans coming in. I watch as he kneels down in front of the golden unicorn.

I guess he thinks he's speaking softly enough to not get overheard, but he underestimated pegasi ears, "Don't worry my little moneymaker. I'll chase that bitch out of here."

"But sweetheart, she is being nice. She will leave on her own." She reaches her mouth up, lips puckered for a kiss. 

He stands up and looks hard at me. "You need to get the fuck out of here."

I slide my stylus back into its holder and look at him, "And who's going to make me?"

That did it, he steps forward aggressively. I spread my wings and step forward.

"Alright you two, no need for a pissing match." Flash lands between us, putting a hoof on my chest and his thigh.

Only to be backhanded for his trouble. My friend tumbles and ends up sprawled up against the wall. Now I'm really pissed. I spread my wings and get to eye level, "Go ahead and try that with me, you son of a bitch."

The unicorn screams, "Jerry, don't!" completely ineffectively as the now named Jerry pulls back for a haymaker. Now, I know I can take a punch, I've been in fights as a human, and as a pegasus before that. I was a bit of a fighter growing up, so I know how to take a hit. But I end up on the floor, feeling like a rib is crushed in from the strength behind the punch. I look back at Jerry, the unicorn his holding him back with her magic. I wanted to show him that I was strong, and that turned out to be a mistake. I stand up. Put a hoof to my chest, good, nothing broken, but damned if that didn't hurt. I spread my wings, to let him know I'm ready to go again. He's struggling in her magic.

"Let me go, I need to show this bitch who's boss."

She yells at him, "I know you have a temper, but damnit, you can't beat up any guy who looks at me funny, or any pony that comes in here."

He whirls on her as her magic fades, "You don't tell me what to do." He then turns back to me. I'm ready as he rushes, a flap of the wings and I'm over him as he skids and falls to the floor.

"The first was a freebie. You won't get any more."

"Lightning Dust, Jerry. Stop!"

I keep an eye on her as Jerry keeps flailing at me, she's frantic.

"I'm not attacking him." I say to her as I flip over him again. He turns and lashes out, I avoid him easily. I flip again, and I'm caught by her magic. He gets in a hit.

"Jerry. Stop!" She screams again.

He turns and screams at her, "A fucking pony doesn't tell me what to do."

She drops me from her magic as her ears fall, and her face shows absolute shock.

"But, Jerry. I'm your girlfriend."

"I don't have a girlfriend, ever since she turned into a freak." He snarls.

She falls heavily to the floor. "But, you said you still loved me." She said in a very small voice.

I move over to her, "Come with us, please."

She has tears in her eyes as she ignores me. She trots up to him. "You said you loved me, no matter how I looked."

His face turns to a look of surprise. I don't think he intended to say that. He reaches behind his head and rubs the back of his neck, all the fight is out of him for now I guess, "You know I didn't mean that honeybunches."

Her voice starts small again, "That's why you haven't even so much as kissed me since I changed." She looks at me and at him, "and our sex life went to nothing. You really liked me as a human."  She spreads her forelegs aggressively and lowers her head, "You lied to me. You only wanted me once I found that gold nugget while we were hiking, while I was trying to hide my changes from you." She snorts and paws the floor, "You weren't waiting for things to settle down, you were wanting how much money I was making you and your friends." She's screaming at this point. I feel my ears folding back at her volume. 

Irony steps through the door, she's on two hooves and she picks up Jerry by the scruff of his neck and brings him to her face, "I don't think she's buying what you are selling anymore." The golden unicorn charges her, now former, boyfriend, and is captured in Moon Shadow's magic.

"Sweetie, I know you are angry at him. But it's far better to leave him. Irony can make sure he doesn’t mess with you anymore."

She struggles in Shadow's magic, "I want to let him know how I feel." Shadow looks at me, and I nod. Irony sets the man down, but she keeps a hand on his neck. Jerry, for his part, has lost all fight. The unicorn trots up to him. Then whirls around before we can do anything and slams both hind legs between his legs. I hear at least one pop as the man crumples to the ground. She spits on him as tears come to his eyes, "Don't worry. You weren't using them with me anyway." 

I smirk at the man as we leave, I brush against Irony and Moon as we exit the room. Then I stop.  Two other men are sitting on the floor, both of them with glowing restraints around their arms and legs, I look back at my friends. Irony shrugs her shoulders, "Easiest way to deal with them." I roll my eyes as we head back to the 442.

***

Our new friend Gold Dust spent most of the first day in the car, crying her eyes out. Usually on my, or Trixie's shoulder. She was still undecided when she was lucid, whether to stay at the farm with us, or to go to Iowa. I had to force this issue. We were going to Iowa. If she stayed with the ponies there, fine. But we were going there first thing. We drove straight through. Irony slept while either Trixie or Moon Shadow drove. But it still took us two days to make it to Muscatine Iowa. 

We turn down the road, I had just reentered the 442 after flying for a while. I see the sign put up at our turnoff. I grin, ponies are certainly living here. Who else would put up a sign that says, 'Mac & Applejacks's pony farm: Hooves welcome! Any persons caught trespassing will be fined on sight.' but ponies? We bump down the road for a few minutes then the gates become visible. Moon Shadow is driving at this point. I push Irony with a hoof. I get a swat for my trouble, then I decide to use a hoof in a more sensitive place, getting a satisfying yelp. I get a dirty look from her as she finally decides to look around.

"Are we there yet?"

Trixie gives her a sly look, "If that wasn't the first time you said that, the Great and Powerful Trixie would have to get cross with you. But it is, and we are."

I smile at Trixie, Lightning Flash, Moon Shadow, Irony, and Gold Dust. I clear my throat, "The mane six are here."

I get nods all around, then we crest the hill and I can see the farmhouse. The sun is just peeking over the hills as Moon Shadow pulls among the plethora of vehicles. I see one of our tour buses is here. We finally pile out of the 442. I take a moment to stretch, first my legs, then my wings. A few moments preening and I'm ready to go. Irony heads off with Moon Shadow in tow. Trixie and Flash head off together. And in moments I'm alone. I know my friends are here though. I trot around the farm, they are filling up, and it doesn't look like a long term plan has been started. Tents are popping up. And the barn, I can see, has cots being set up. Not the best for a long term solution.

After about an hour of walking, and catching up with Soarin, I finally notice a pony I've been wanting to see. Cyan fur, wings, and that multicolored mane. I spread my wings and flash forward, bowling Rainbow Dash over in a tackle, "Hey there slowpoke! Come on Dash, I thought you were supposed to be faster than me!" I say gleefully.

She blinks a few times then her eyes go wide, "…Lightning Dust?" She brushes herself off as I pose proudly, "How long have you been here?"

I shake my head a bit to toss my mane around, "Just got in this morning, I had to come see who put on that light show in the sky a few days ago."

I get a hug for my trouble, but her voice doesn't sound like she remembers anything. Not a good sign, "It's great to see you, Dust. I'm pretty sure we were best friends once."

If you only knew Dash, if I only knew, my memories of Equestria are too fragmented to say one way or another, I feel my ears drooping, "That's what the show says." I sigh gently, "I guess you have no memories of me?"

"Not really, no." She smiles wanly.

I kick the ground with a forehoof, "Yeah, neither do I." At least nothing that really answers any questions, "You kind of lucked out Dash, at least you can watch the show and get the memories of many of the important days of your life back." I feel my voice lower into a growl, "I was only in the show for, like, three episodes. I have nothing to really go off of! I don't know who I'm even supposed to be!"

She flutters her wings and I can see she's trying to cheer me up, "What can I say, Discord was a dick. But hey…" I get a playful nudge from her, "You're you, and you will have plenty of time to figure out what you want that to mean."

I'm able to muster a smile, "Thanks Dash, it's great to be here."

She moves a bit away and looks me over, "You look like you're in pretty good shape. You know, I really could have used a pegasus like you here on the farm much earlier."

Does she mean what I'm thinking she's meaning? Only one way to find out, I give a quick glance around to see if anypony is within earshot, then I smile coyly, "Well, Dash, you look ravishing yourself. I take it the fanon talk of Dash being a fillyfooler is true?" I sidle a little closer, "Maybe you can let your old wing pony in on that action?"

Best of luck, she didn't back away, she simply tilts her head and smiles slightly, "Wait, were Dash and Lightning Dust like…that? Or were they just friends?"

"I have absolutely no idea." But I'm thinking to myself, oh Celestia I hope so. "But I guess it's up to you and me to decide what fanon is true." I give her a wink.

"For the record, when I said I could have used a pegasus like you here on the farm much earlier. I was referring to your flight abilities." She raises her eyebrows and returns my smile, what a killjoy. "But it's good to know you're offering even more."

Now I'm confused, does this mare want to fall into bed with me or not? I feel my wings starting to extend, and it isn't in anger, "So, is that a yes? Or…"

"Gah! It's the Queen of Evil herself!" I hear a voice scream, and a quick glance shows Bon Bon fleeing from a big pony shaped bug. I feel myself brace, all amorous thoughts gone as Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings herself heads right for Dash and I. I move forward to be stopped by her wing. I know what she means, this is element duty. Fall back. I start to head away when I see Shining Armor and Rarity. I hate to admit it, but they have the situation in control. From my fractured memories, I do know that Shining is an amazing spell caster, not nearly as strong as Twilight herself. But pretty damned close. If he's not firing some arcane magic at the Queen of the Changelings, then I think we are okay. Speaking of Twilight, I had better find her.

I finally trot into the house, after manuevering my way around ponies I find a study. A soft knock gets a short growl, then the words, "Come in!" I push into the room, thanking Celestia for pony friendly door knobs.

I get a view of Twilight, sitting at a computer, her magic enveloping the keyboard and mouse as she's working it. As much as I like being a pegasus, the magic of the unicorn, or in her case, alicorn, is amazing. She turns and her eyes widen in recognition.

"Lightning Dust." She smiles warmly, "When did you get here?"

I shrug my wings, "This morning. We've been busy." I start of telling her of my adventures.

After a while I finally wind down. And then look expectantly at the Princess.

"So, you have been searching for ponies. And you've got a place for them?"

I nod.

"The former captain of my personal guard is here too? Irony Smith?"

I nod again.

"And you are looking to me for what to do?"

"Well, you are kinda a princess."

I get a loud growl and a huff for my trouble, "Why does everypony seem to want to follow me?" I hear her say under her breath.

I take a moment to think as she put her hooves to the sides of her head, attempting to massage away a headache I think.

"Well. Erm, eh…" I start to say.

"No, no. Lightning Dust. I'm sorry. I'm just tired. We are trying to find a way home. Back to Equestria, that is.

"Speaking of that. One pony that is with me today is Moon Shadow, personal apprentice to Princess Luna."

She looks at me, confused, "Princess Luna had an apprentice?"

I nod my head, "She took Moon Shadow on shortly after the Nightmare Night depicted in the show. She's a dream walker."

She shook her head in wonder, "I only thought alicorns could dream walk."

"It's very rare, but any tribe can have a dream walker. And Moon Shadow is very gifted apparently. She's been trying to search out a way to Equestria, and the most she got was an old equipment shed. But she couldn't get inside it, there was some magic preventing her from entering it in the dream world."

She looks thoughtful, "Any idea where the shed is?"

I shake my head, "She was pulled from the dream before she was able to determine that. And she tried again, but was unable to locate it again. I'm sorry Twilight."

She shrugs her wings, "Might be nothing, might be important, we have no idea which. Thank you."

I glance out the window, the sun is low in the western sky, "I'm sorry, Princess. I've occupied you for far too long."

She turns back to her computer, lighting her horn again and waves distractedly to me as I head out the door. I make it to the living room before I encounter Irony. I brush up against her and give her a kiss. I've never been a pony to be tied down in a relationship. As a human, I was happily married and committed to my wife, but as a pony, things are different. But being next to Irony made everything good. Moon Shadow comes up and leans against me.

"What are we going to do?" I ask.

Irony looks down, "I must talk to the Princess. After that, I don't know."

Moon Shadow leans further next to me, "Irony, my love. Go and talk to her. She was your boss, she was the one who brought you to Equestria. You need to see her."

Irony tosses her mane, "I know."

A few moments pass before she steels herself, she nuzzles Moon and me. Then heads over to the study. I nuzzle Moon then head down the hall, asking a few ponies a question, then I finally knock on the indicated door.

It opens, "May I help you?" A large red stallion is at the door.

"Oh, Big Macintosh. I thought this was Rainbow Dash's room."

"It is."

"Then what are you…" I let my words trail off. Oh.

He moves back and gestures for me to enter. The door is shut behind me.

The massive stallion sits on his haunches, "Rainbow Dash told me that you were here. You planning on staying?"

I shake my head, "You guys are crowded enough already. I've got ponies to find."

"Yeah, I was told, you guys have a farm as well, over in Montana?"

"Eeyup." I couldn't resist. I get a roguish grin from Big Mac.

"Get's cold there?"

I smile, "A month ago, it was near zero. It's pretty nice at the farm right now, the pegasi have been keeping things warm. We may not have Celestia to control the sun and moon on this world, but we make do."

He laughs, "I bet." We are both interrupted by the door opening. One pony I was aching to see is there. That mare has been on my mind since this morning when I tackled her.

"Hi Dash."

She stops in shock, a dozen emotions flashing across her face as she looks at both Mac and I, "Hello Dust."

I look at her, I can feel my tail swishing from side to side, and my wings rapidly fan out. I think her mind is in the same predicament, her wings slowly extend while looking at me. I look down, "I didn't know you and Mac…"

She sighs, "Heh, yeah."

I look over at the stallion, he looks confused, but he also knows what's on my mind. I turn back to Rainbow. I don't know what to do at this point. So, I do the only thing that comes readily to mind, I rush forward and kiss Rainbow Dash aggressively. After a moment she returns the kiss. After what seems like hours I hear a soft clearing of the throat behind me. I break away, and look at Mac. Oh crap. What have I done? I burst into tears and tear out of the room, I brush past several ponies in a mad rush to get outside. In moments I'm in the air, my wings not wanting to do what I want them to do, but I'm able to fly, sort of. In a few minutes I'm on a cloud. Weeping. I lay down in my misery and confusion. What kind of pony am I?

***

Towards midnight, my phone chirps. I ignore it. For several minutes it rings as whomever is trying to reach me keeps dialing. Finally it goes silent. Then the text jingle starts blaring away. I finally look at it. It's Mindy, she's trying to reach me. I finally pull out the stylus and shoot off a text. It immediately starts to ring again, I finally answer.

"What is it Mindy?"

Her excited voice comes through the Bluetooth, "Dustie, I think I've found Discord."

> Chapter 19. Senator Corddis
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You what?"

"I think I've found Discord!" Mindy chirps.

I shake my head, Discord is back in Equestria, why would he banish us to get us out of his hair, only to come here himself, "That's impossible."

"No, it isn't. I was looking at the searches that Soarin has done. And it gave me an idea. We've noticed that ponies that upload videos and pictures of themselves to the internet don't go viral, all the major governments are denying our existence despite evidence that is leaking out. So, what do we get? There is something that is suppressing things spreading."

I think for a moment, "But the President said…"

"I know what he said, Dusty, and I adjusted the search algorithms to compensate for active government interference. And yet, that didn't stop the hits. So I kept digging, and I found him."

I leap up onto my hooves, "So maybe we can kick his flank?"

"Uh huh!"

"I've got to tell Irony, we need to get going."

"Hold on, Dustie, you aren't confronting him without me, I have a bone to pick with him."

"Where is he?"

"Washington DC, where else?"

I sigh, "Mindy, Montana is the opposite direction. That will add to our drive. But we will come get you."

"No need, I've figured out a new spell, hold on a second." I hear the chime of her magic, then there is a pop and she's right in front of me. In thin air. She smiles at me for a second, I blink a few times, why isn't she falling? Then I realize, I open my mouth to scream don't look down, when she looks. She panics and starts to fall. Gotta love those cartoon physics, but screw physics, she's Mindy. I launch myself at her, catching her with feet to spare. Then I gently set her on the ground.

"Ya could have told me that you were on a cloud, Dusty!" She says after catching her breath.

"How did you do that?"

"Oh, the teleport? I figured out I can use the cell phone connection to teleport to the location of the other side of the line. I tried it a few times, but I didn't expect to end up a thousand feet in the air."

I give my oldest friend a hug, "I'm glad I was able to catch you, Mindy."

"You and me both, sister."

We trot into the farmhouse and gather up Irony and Moon Shadow. Trixie and Flash plan on taking the bus with some of the ponies that want to hang around on Earth back to Montana. As we are loading up into the 442, I hear a voice behind me.

"Going off on an adventure without me, big sis?"

I turn and see Soarin, a goofy grin on his face, he continues, "You know, this time, I'm not getting left behind." And before I can say a word he's in the back seat of the car. I sigh and climb in the front with Irony. And with a twist of the key, we are off in a spray of gravel.

First thing, Mindy updates everyone on what she told me. Then she expands upon it, "From everything that the search systems are telling me, and I'm not the IT specialist that Soarin is."

Soarin smiles and nods, "You've done a fine job, Mindy."

She smiles at him warmly. I take a moment, is there something going on with those two? I shake my head as she continues, "Well, I've found the main place the government is affecting things, and it's our friends over in Fort Meade and San Antonio, Tx."

The NSA? Well, that's actually pretty obvious, they have the premier cyber security duties along with the Military Cyber command in San Antonio. My dad, a former Army man, knew enough to be cautious of them, and has warned me repeatedly about them.

"But after filtering out their interference, I had to dive pretty deep into some of the shadier parts of the internet." She smiles again at Soarin, "But those security programs you wrote are doing the trick, I've got zombies all over the world doing the actual searches, and tracing it back to Montana would be an absolute miracle." Soarin grins back. I look at Soarin, and over at Mindy. Eeyup, when have they had time to start something? Well, I can't think of a better mare for Soarin. I shake my head again, I need to keep focused. 

Soarin speaks up, and his words are nothing but geek to me. I have a passing interest in computers, I know enough not to click on things to screw them up. And I have an IT guy at the job, who also maintains my personal computers. Mindy and Soarin geek back and forth until Soarin is happy with Mindy's answers, then she switches back to English for us commoners, "But in the end, I was able to trace most of the interference to one point, and it's a server in Washington DC. And after a little digging, I was able to pull up the identity information."

"C'mon Mindy," Irony growls, "Who is it?"

She puffs out her chest proudly, "Senator Corddis."

"The senator who is challenging the President?"

"The one who will be President if the polls are to be believed."

I slowly sink my head to the dash of the 442, "So, us five ponies are to go up against a Presidential contender, arguably one of the most powerful men in the world. What are we going to do?"

I hear a low growl deep in Irony's chest, "Are you sure it's Discord?"

Mindy giggles, "Well, that's the most obvious thing. Cord Dis, Dis Cord. It's an obvious play on his name."

"I've seen more unusual family names. Are you sure?" Irony asks.

"Sure I'm sure, Irony. The odds that it wouldn't be him, given that I can't find any real history about him up until a few years ago, yet he has all the documents associated with a person of his apparent age. He's either a Russian plant, or he's Discord."

I roll my eyes, "I would believe Russian plant from the bad old days easier, if I didn't know Discord was real."

She giggles, "I know."

Together we speed to the east.

***June 1st, 2020***

Another long day of driving. Mindy, Moon Shadow, and Irony all sharing driving duties while Soarin and I spend some time in the air from time to time during the drive. We do happen to see a few ponies driving west as we head to DC, but finally we are on the beltway. Another night time start to a mission, but we are in luck, the sun is just about to set, and we are in the nation's capital. Ahead of us is the Senate office building on Constitution avenue. Moon Shadow pulls the 442 into a parking spot. As the engine quiets, Irony gets out and moves to the trunk of the car. Inserting her key, a quick turn, and the trunk opens. She pulls out the duffel bag containing her armor, she pulls out another cloth wrapped bundle and sets it in front of me.

"I made this, before I even met you. I didn't know it was for you until I saw you in action. There is no pony I know that can use this effectively, but you, Dust."

With a flick of my hoof, the cloth falls away, revealing…

"Oh my Celestia, Irony. You made Dust a set of wingblades." Soarin breathes.

Memories surface, training with a set like this. I move closer, "Those are gold inlays, Irony."

"Just leaf, I wouldn't let ornamentation override the functionality of them."

I lift up the blades, the blades themselves are extremely sharp, "And the engraving? This must have taken weeks to make."

Irony shrugs her shoulders, "It started as an unfocused project, where I just let my hands do what they will, by the time I figured out what they were, I was nearly done with the engraving. About two weeks of work, I'd say. Before I changed, I really didn't know what they were, with the hinges for them to stay along the leading edges of your wing so you can fly wearing them. When I packed to head to your place, I put them in because I felt I would meet the one these were for." She smiles brightly, "And I did." 

I place a hoof on them, "I can't, Irony. It's too much…" I feel tears leaking down my face.

A hand is placed on my withers, "Dust, these are yours. I've learned that every pegasi has differences to their wings, each set of wing blades must be custom made for the pegasus that orders them. I'll bet you money they are an exact fit for you."

"Go on, Dust. Put them on." Moon Shadow says. 

She levitates out another duffel, the zipper opens and a set of armor floats out and assembles around her body. The shaffron fits over her head, the crinet attaches to the shaffron and drapes back to protect her neck. The peytral hooks to protect her chest and finally the crupper onto her flanks. All of it is lacquered midnight blue, and on the crupper, Moon Shadow's cutie mark, a crescent moon partially hidden by night clouds with a purple star on the lower tip of the moon, is emblazoned on each flank. I step back from the now intimidating mare.

"That is beautiful, Moon."

She giggles, sounding quite odd coming from a mare that looks that fearsome, "Irony made it, and I made it better, it's enchanted, one of the few spells I could remember at first. It weighs less than ten pounds, it's similar to your inborn magic Dust. And a few other tricks I've figured out, I won't make a racket every time I take a step. And a few other surprises for any magic user foolish enough to attack me." Her smile becomes an evil smirk. Note to self, don't throw lightning at Moon Shadow.

Finally we are ready. I find, after fitting my wings into the wing blades, which are a perfect fit, as Irony predicted, that I can fold my wings comfortably with them on, but ponies might want to not get to close to a pegasus with their blades on, though. We trot down the sidewalk. Heading into the building under the cover of Moon Shadow's privacy spell, we are able to make it up to an office. The label on the door read 'Sen. Corddis'. Irony opens the door without any warning and we all file into the secretary's office. Moon Shadow lets down the spell. The one person working, a bespectacled young man turns around with a jerk seeing five ponies, two in full armor, suddenly appearing in front of him.

Irony steps forward, "We have to have words with your boss." She says as she places a hand on the door handle. Opening the door handle, we follow into the room. Which looks like a normal executive office. Leather sofa, huge oak desk, large windows showing the last glimmers of the sun in the western sky. The large office chair is turned to the window.

I look around, "I would have thought Discord's office would look…" I feel the plush carpeting under my hooves, "different."

I hear a low chuckle from the office chair. And in true super villain style, it rotates, slowly revealing our enemy. Finally I can see the Senator himself. 

And he looks completely ordinary. A man in his mid forties, a neat dark blue pin stripe suit, a solid light lavender shirt with and blood red tie. Though something about him makes me think he should have a white cat in his lap.

"I don't think a cat would be appropriate, Lightning Dust. They shed." He says.

Irony steps forward, "So, you are Discord."

He waves a hand, "Corddis, Discord. Either works for me."

She hefts her mace, "I'm going to kill you."

"Oh, I don't think so. Irony." A snap of the fingers and we are not in the office anymore. "I am still Discord. Or more accurately, a shadow of the Discord you knew. The rest of me is back in Equestria. Firmly ensconced in power. And your friends from Iowa will not have a chance against me." I take a moment to look around, we are in a grass field, miles from civilization. Though the sun is up and bright in the sky.

A flash of light and he's next to me, "And you, Lightning Dust. Ever since you discovered your nature, you've been following your plan." He laughs richly, "From the seat of the pants flier back in Equestria to a human who thinks ahead, and plans for contingencies, talk about a change." He bends down in a way impossible for the human form to stare at me in the eyes, "What part of Dust survived the change? Is there any of the old Lightning Dust in there?" He finishes with a knuckle to my forehead. He moves inhumanly fast to avoid a swipe from my wings. "Ah ah ah, your propensity to lash out is still there I see." He tilts his head back and laughs heartily. I look around, there are several Corddis around all of us, talking to each of us, but all I can hear is the one in front of me. 

I take a step forward and growl, "Enough of your tricks, Discord."

"Oh, but I've only begun my tricks."

Once again, he snaps his fingers.

> Chapter 20. Lightning Dust
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hello? Anypony out there?" My voice echoes to infinity as I trot around. I can feel the now familiar weight of my wing blades. I pick a direction at random and start trotting, everything is black. I can't see anything, but if I lift a hoof  I can see it clear as day.

After some minutes trotting, I see a form in the distance, in moments it resolves itself into a very familiar shape.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash. I got a text from you early last night, you guys found the portal. I thought you were in Equestria."

"I was, but now I'm here."

I shake my head in confusion, "How is that possible?"

"He's Discord. How else?"

I shake my head again. I finally notice the look on her face.

"Uhhh, Dash. Something else wrong?"

Her wings spring up, rage on her face, "Well, of course. Dust. I trusted you. You were my wing pony. You held back. You needed to keep up with me."

What? "I don't know what you mean…"

"Fuck that, Lightning Dust, you stayed with Soarin and the others as I ended up attacking Discord on my own. I lost because of you. You could have helped me stop him."

"Dash. That was a long time ago…"

She pushes her snout in my face, "We were Wonderbolts," she shouts, "We stay together. I needed my wing pony, my second in command, the only pony that could keep up with me, to stay with me. Face it Dust. You betrayed me, by not being there with me."

"But the outcome would have been the same."

"Are you sure of that? Are you willing to bet your life on that? We could have fixed this." Her wing flashes forward, I catch a glint of metal as she lashes out, in instinct I put out a wing to catch hers, metal rings on metal as her wing blades smash against mine. She lashes out again, and again. I deflect them. In her rage she continues to attack me. Sparks fly as blade meets blade. In desperation I sweep out a kick, tumbling her onto her side, allowing me a moment to get back and take to the air. I pick a direction at random and streak away. Her voice follows me, pure rage, screaming "Betrayer" I sob into the blackness as she finally fades away from behind me.

***

Finally after what seems like forever, I see another form. I cautiously approach, and I see her magenta coat with her white mane. In moments Soarin comes forward as well. I have two of my friends here. 

"Oh, Thank Celestia, I'm so glad to see you two."

"Why?" Mindy retorts. I've never heard such anger in her voice.

"What do we mean to you, big sis?" Soarin asks, venomously.

That brings me to a stop. "We need to stop Discord."

"Why should we do that?" Soarin asks, "You, the great Lightning Dust, you don't need us. We are your background ponies. We don't matter to you. We find the ponies, and you and your precious Irony go off and save them. While we stay at the farm, and don't do anything else." He spits on the ground in front of me.

"You left us behind Dust. We don't mean anything to you. You betrayed us." Mindy adds in.

I shake my head, "No. That's not how it is."

Mindy stalks forward, "That's exactly how it is. Dust. You leave us to rot, while you go off and have adventures. We don't mean anything to you."

I sit heavily on my haunches. Tears once again starting to form.

"What if Discord had attacked the farm? Or the US Military? Or rioters afraid of ponies in their midst? What would you do?" She scoffs, "Oh yeah, you would do nothing, because you are off saving other ponies. What about us? What if we need you, Dust?"

I shake my head, tears flying, "No, the farm is a place of safety. We've got former royal guards, of all three tribes, there. You are protected. I made sure of that."

"But the best protection is you, isn't it Dust?" Soarin asks softly, driving a spike into my heart.

I look up, their forms are wavy because of my tears. I see Mindy's horn start to glow, I have only an instant, I take off as fast as I can. I have to get away.

***

What seems like hours of flying later, I'm back on the featureless ground. I keep trotting, I haven't seen anypony. What is going on here? Oh no, more forms coalesce out of the darkness. Three of them, this time.

"Helen!" I smile and trot happily up to her. I know the look on that beautiful face. It pushes me to a halt. My ears fall flat as I see my children. Both of them have insurmountable anger plain on their faces.

"You left, Mike. You became that pony, and you left us. You left me." Helen says. 

"I haven't left you, honey."

"Don't call me that, you bitch."

I recoil. No, not her too. She continues, "I would call you a son of a bitch, but you even gave up your manhood. You are one of them, one of those freaks."

I can't believe I'm hearing this, "Helen."

My son comes forward, "Dad, you abandoned us. Stuck us down in Texas."

My daughter unfolds her arms from her chest, "Daddy, you love the ponies more than us."

"No, sweetie." I try to say.

Helen interrupts, "Yes, you do. You don't want us anymore. We are trash to you. You left your family for the ponies. You left your humanity. You aren't Mike anymore. My Mike is dead."

"That's not…"

"True? I can't believe I'm hearing this from you, Mike. No. I shouldn't call you by your old name. You aren't human in body, or in soul anymore. You are Lightning Dust. Beloved protector of the ponies." She stalks slowly towards me, causing me to back away, my tail tucked between my legs, and my ears splayed back, "You willingly gave up what was you. You were a man, a good man. Now you are just a pony whore."

I shake my head, "What?"

"How many times have you been with that other whore? That Irony? Don't tell me you wouldn't have fallen into bed with Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh in an instant."

"How could you know that?" I ask in wonder.

"So, you don't deny it? As if I would believe a denial." She scoffs. She turns her back to me, "You betrayed me. You betrayed our children. You are dead to me." My children move to be closer to their mother, and they turn their backs to me as well.

"Helen!" I wail.

No response from her, she takes the children and they walk away, slowly fading into the black mist. Leaving me sobbing. 

***

I lay there sobbing for a long time. Finally a heavily accented voice speaks. "You betrayed all of us." I look up. The pony from Belarus is there. He stands there, three bright splotches of blood on his chest. "You failed to save me." The pink earth pony from the lab comes forward, "You gave up too easily. You betrayed me."

Gold Dust comes forward, "You think you saved me? I was happy before you came to disrupt my life." She shouts at me.

I can't take any more of this. I look around, hundreds of ponies from my farm in Montana are here. All around me, I hear a dull roar of all they are trying to say to me. But the one word that stands out is… "Betrayer." I cover my ears with my hooves, but the words keep pounding into my skull. I can't hear anything else.

With a wail I shoot straight up, flying as hard as I've ever flown. This whole thing is destroying my soul. I pick a direction and streak that way. I have no idea where I'm going. I start to feel a burning in my wings. I need to land. All this has exhausted me. I finally flutter to the ground. I lay there, tears flowing freely. 

"Dust." I hear a soft voice.

I look around, a pony is there. It's Irony. No, not her too, anypony but her. I look at her face. No rage, no anger, no hatred. My ears relax and finally stand up. Is this nightmare over? I get unsteadily to my hooves and canter over to her.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you, Irony."

She cocks her head to the side, "Why?"

That causes me to stumble. "What?"

"Why are you happy to see me? I'm just another conquest in your life, aren't I?"

I shake my head, "No, you are too important to me, Irony. You and Moon Shadow."

She shifts and stands on two hooves, towering over me, "You can't say it, can you, Dust?"

"Huh?"

"You can't say that one word. You said it to your human wife. But you can't say it to me, or to Moon, can you?"

"I'm not certain what you are talking about Irony."

She smirks, "I love you, Lightning Dust."

My ears fall, I've never been good at saying that word. Even as a human I had problems saying that word, Helen was able to bring it out of me, but it took her a long time, "Irony, you know how I feel about you."

"No, I don't. You were ready to fall into bed with Rainbow Dash. You wanted her, you kissed her."

I nodded slowly, "Yes, I did, but…"

She interrupts me, "No buts Lightning Dust. You betrayed me, you betrayed us. We never made any specific promises to each other. But you know how we felt about you. You said we were important to you, you said you wanted us in your life, but you couldn't say it. That one word. It's such a simple word, only four letters. But it scares you. It terrifies you. You've always run away when it comes to that word. How many ponies hearts have you broken by not saying that word?"

I open my mouth, but no words emerge.

Irony's ears fall, "I thought that. You don't love me. I was a hook up, I was a conquest. Nothing more."

She turns and starts to walk away. I reach out a hoof to her as she fades into the distance.

I whisper softly, "I love you Irony."

***

"No, you don't. You don't love anypony but yourself." I hear another familiar voice spit at me. I whirl around, Moon Shadow is standing there. I crumple to the ground. I can't take any more of this. This is going to kill me. I hear a masculine chuckle low in the distance. Moon Shadow comes forward and lowers her head to where she's looking into my eyes. "I hoped you would get over that selfishness. You could have carried the Element of Loyalty. But here you are, betraying those who love you. You wanted Rainbow Dash."

I'm able to struggle to my hooves. I must be strong. I don't know why, but I must be strong, I take a deep breath, "I wanted Rainbow Dash, I need you, I need Irony. I told you, I wasn't a one mare kind of gal."

She shakes her head, "It doesn't matter, you shared something special with us, at least it was special until you decided to pass it around. What you have has no value now. You don't even have love to give. Maybe you should go to that human woman." She starts to trot around me. Something about her flank bothers me. "You told her you loved her, as a human, and as a pony. Does your love belong to her?"

I look down, I finally steel myself, "I do love her. We shared fifteen years together. But part of that relationship ended when I turned back into the pony I was before."

"So, does she hold your heart? So you simply pass your body around?"

I think for a moment, "She has my heart, so do you, so does Irony."

"So, your heart has no value? You can spread it around like that?"

I shake my head as she passes in front of me again, "No, it has more value, Moon Shadow. The more you love, the more you can love. I discovered that with my children. Loving them didn't detract from my love for my wife. I found that I loved her more, because of them. And because of loving her, and loving Irony and you, I found I can love you all just as intensely as I do her."

"And Rainbow Dash?"

My ears fall flat, "I don't know. I think I could."

She whirls around and faces me, "You can give your love that easily?" She scoffs.

Finally what has been bothering me finally snaps into focus, "What is wrong with your cutie mark Moon?"

She blows her mane off to the side, "You are trying to distract from the issue."

I shake my head, "No, I'm not. I've gotten a really good view of your cutie mark before. The star was on the top of the crescent before. Now it's on the bottom."

"No, it isn't." She turns and the purple star is now in the correct place.

I remember what I saw before, time to test the theory, "It was green, not purple."

"Can't you see, Dust? My cutie mark is correct, it's never changed since I got it." I glance at her flank again, the star has changed into a vivid green. 

I smile, "This is a dream, this isn't real."

Moon Shadow's body morphs and transforms, standing on two mismatched legs. The draconequus snarls at me, "You may have broken my illusions, but you aren't the only one suffering. Your friends will not survive this."

"I thought you hated killing, Discord."

He waves a paw dismissively, "One must be alive to endure chaos. Death is so final." His face turns to me, and an evil smile grows on his face, "But some exceptions can be made."

> Chapter 21. Soarin
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

***Soarin 3rd person***

Soarin looks around, it's the farm, in Montana. He shakes his head hard, how did I get here? He thinks. Then he notices what's going on, the farmhouse is destroyed, fire rages inside it. But most of the structure has collapsed. He moves towards it, but the heat drives him back.

"What happened?" He muses as he trots around the house and then he gets to see the barracks Dust built. They are nothing but gaping holes. Debris is everywhere. He stops in shock, the bodies. The ponies, the ones he left behind at the farm, they are everywhere. He moves up to a ruined body. A unicorn filly, she's nearly ripped in half, a look of shock on her face. He turns and empties his stomach. It feels like every meal he had ever eaten was coming up.

After a few moments, he stands up and moves away from the obscenity.  He shakes his head then moves to the main barn, which is, miraculously, still standing. He picks his way among the bodies, wanting to vomit again. Bullet wounds evident in the bodies, in the yard, what looks like hand grenade holes pocket the entire area. The beautiful garden, which was rapidly growing under Earth pony care, was a trampled mess. Bodies were torn apart as though a huge monster had torn through the farm. 

He finally makes it to the barn, he closes the door to close out the horror outside, then he turns around. With a gasp, he sees why the barn was spared. Over a hundred ponies. All hung from the rafters. Most hung by the neck, but quite a few are hung by the hind legs, their insides opened with a knife, leaving their entrails on the ground. The stench hits him and he retches again.

"Who did this?" He howls to the bodies, he gathers a huge breath, "Who did this to you?"

To his amazement, one of the ponies that was hung by the neck, her eyes glazed in death, swings slowly to face him, "You did this, Soarin."

His ears fall, his tail tucks between his legs, and he backs rapidly away from the body that spoke, he trips and is face to face with another body, it shifts its head to face him, "You, who prided yourself on being generous with your time, with your abilities, who wanted to save all the ponies, you were selfish. You went on an adventure with Lightning Dust. You abandoned us."

"No, I didn't abandon you, Dust and I left the guard here. They were to protect you."

Another corpse speaks up, "But they weren't enough, were they?"

Soarin shakes his head hard, this can't be real, can it? "But who?"

"Who else? The army did the work, but you set it up. They betrayed us, because you abandoned us." Yet another dead pony growls at him.

No! "That's not possible, we were promised that we would be safe here?"

Another pony that was hung by the neck, he knew this pony, from his old memories in Cloudsdale, spoke up, "Soarin, always the one to give what he had to help, no matter how little, no matter how much, decided to be selfish."

"This isn't my fault."

Another pony, "Of course it is your fault, you took responsibility for us, when we had nowhere to go, you found us online, you gave of yourself to find us, you used every skill you had to help us. And it all was for naught. When we needed you the most, you weren't here for us. You were off having an adventure."

He shakes his head again, "What do I do?"

A menacing voice whispers in his ear, "You can die. You selfish bastard."

With a scream he runs to the door of the barn, throwing it open. He makes it some distance, to a small clear space, where he collapses to the ground, sobbing. He looks back, embers from the house fire have blown onto the roof of the barn, which is starting to catch, in minutes, the roof is fully engulfed. As the barn slowly burns he hears screams from the dead ponies inside. He puts his hooves over his ears, but that doesn't silence the pained screams. He turns to the burning barn, tears streaming down his face, "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry isn't good enough." He hears a small voice. The first filly that he saw is looking at him.

"I know."

"There is only one way to atone, you must join us. Join us in death."

He backs away from the body. "No, I can't do that. Other ponies depend on me."

Another body, a pegasus colt with a bullet hole in the head, rears his ruined head up and stares at him with one eye, "We depended on you. You failed us. You will fail them."

Soarin couldn't take any more, he takes to the air. In moments he sees the churned ground indicating the invaders. He streaks to the south. But in moments he realizes that direction takes him to. "No!" He shouts as he doubles his speed. In moments he's over Mike's home town. He sees a dozen tanks in the streets, along with dozens of other vehicles. The people there are fighting back, but hunting rifles and pistols don't stand a chance against soldiers and their equipment. The pop of gunfire and the occasional boom of a tank round firing assault his ears. He lands at the outskirt of town. He sees a downed soldier, a gaping hole in his neck. The dead soldier's head turns to look at him, "We did this. Because you abandoned your duty. You abandoned the ponies." The head turns back and the body is still.

Soarin screams again, with every bit of power a pegasus can muster. "This can't be!"

His scream attracts the attention of the soldiers, who start shooting at him. Thinking fast he flashes to the side to avoid the spray of bullets. He takes shelter behind a car. He can hear the metallic clink of the bullets hitting the sheet metal. He covers his ears from the racket. But his eyes spy something. A young girl, maybe ten or twelve, she's huddling across the street. But as we watches, she stands up and tries to run away. 

With a snarl, he launches forward, trying to get to her, trying to save at least one life in this carnage. Before he is halfway there, he feels the impact of the bullets, his wings stop working and he tumbles to the ground. But he's not done, he keeps trying to crawl with only his forehooves. 

After a moment, a booted pair of feet enter his vision, he looks up, he sees the soldier aim at the fleeing girl.

"NO!" He screams as he hits the man's knee, knocking his aim off. The girl finally makes it into a building. Soarin sighs as he turns back to the soldier. He sees the face, it's the face of Corddis. The rifle is dropped and the soldier's pistol is drawn.

"Fucking pony." Corddis face says in some other voice as he pulls the trigger.

Soarin sees the bright flash, then no more.


> Chapter 22. Mindy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

***3rd person, Mindy***

Mindy bounces along a path, she recognizes this path. She's home, back in Wyoming. This was the path from the party supply store she worked at, back to the apartment she shared with her sister. She hums a happy tune as she bounces along. Curious that she's not seeing any humans or any ponies. But that doesn't matter. She's going to her apartment.

A quick hum of magic and her key opens the door.

"I'm home!" She shouts.

Her sister comes into the living room, an angry look on her face. She smiles as she chirps, "Hi not-Mary."

Her sister looks confused, "I'm Mary, your sister for the last eighteen years."

Mindy rolls her eyes, "Yeah, sure."

Mary looks serious, "Mindy, you were so kind, so loving, so full of fun. What happened to you?"

Mindy decides to play along, "I became the pony I was before you were born."

Mary furrows her brow, "You aren't my brother anymore."

"Of course I'm not. I'm your pony sister. And you had better listen to me like you listened to me as your brother."

"I'm trying to tell you something, something very important."

Mindy gives an exasperated sigh, "No, you aren't. You are trying to make me feel down. I don't want to feel down, so I'm not playing that game."

"This is very serious, the brother I knew and loved is gone."

Mindy smiles, "No, I'm not. I'm right here. Don't you see me?" Her horn lights and her sister is picked up in her magic. She's floated to the magenta unicorn, "I'm right here."

"You don't love me anymore. You would rather be a pony."

"Of course I want to be a pony, being a unicorn is awesome!"

Her sister shakes her head, "That's not what I meant."

"Yes, it's exactly what you meant, you said I liked being a pony, and I do. What is the problem with that?"

"Everything!" Mary shouts.

Mindy smiles at the woman who purports to be her sister as she sets her down gently. She then takes the woman's hand in her magic and places it on her mane, "What do you feel?"

"Fur."

"This is the fur I had up until twenty-five years ago. I've got it back. I like it. But that doesn't stop my relationship with you, not-sister. I know you believe you are my sister, but you are made up."

A growl emanates from everywhere and everything around Mindy shatters like glass.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, are you going to try to scare me next?" She calls out into the darkness.

Lightning Dust appears out of the blackness, "I thought you were my friend." She says.

Mindy cocks her head to the side, "I am Lightning Dust's friend, I don't think I'm yours though."

Another growl, and Lightning Dust disappears in a flash of light, being replaced by the scaly form of Discord.

"You are the most frustrating…" He screams at her, pulling on his cheeks in frustration. She reaches up with a hoof and bops him on the nose.

"And you are the most mean meaney pants there is, Discord. You are not my friend."

"Arrrgh!" He screams as white light envelopes everything.

Suddenly she's in Baltimare, she looks down, she's a filly again, a filly Lightning Dust is sitting next to her. She looks around, she remembers this. One of the few times Double Trouble actually got caught. They are sitting in a Royal Guards extension office in Baltimare. This had to be the time they were able to turn half the buildings on the west side of town bright red. 

Lightning Dust nudges her, "Well, we had a good run."

Mindy's ears fall flat, "Discord, you bastard."

Dust looks at her quizzically. "Who is Discord?"

Mindy hops off the chair, ignoring the Royal Guards calling for her to sit back down, "Not this Discord. I know it's you."

"What are you talking about Mindy?"

"Mindy!" She hears that voice. No, not him, anypony but him.

Her plea goes unmet as the door opens and a white pegasus strides into the room, he pulls off his armored helm of an officer of the Royal Guard and the enchantment on the armor fades, turning his coat back to its natural light gray.

Mindy's voice gets very small, "Hi Daddy."

She closes her eyes as she hears the words he says. On how he's so disappointed in her, that his daughter should do so much better, especially since her father is an officer in the Royal Guard.

Tears leak from her eyes, this stunt actually cancelled his promotion to work in Canterlot. He started drinking after that. Nothing was the same after that. Dust was the only one she could hold onto after that.

She whirls away from her father, "This isn't real. Discord, you bastard. You can't have my memories."

She hears her father in the background, lecturing her. Telling her what he told her all those years ago.

She sits on her haunches. Wait a moment. She's not twelve anymore. She's an adult. She looks down at her body, a mare's body is there. She turns back to her father, and gives him a hug, interrupting his lecture.

"I love you Daddy, and I'm sorry what I did made your life miserable. But you can't make my future miserable." She charges her horn and teleports.

***

She appears in blackness. The few tears she shed have dried. She's not afraid of what Discord can do to her. She turns, and the monster is there. Staring in wonder at the magenta unicorn with the bouncy, tangled white mane. She bounces up to him and again, bops him on the nose.

"I know this is a dream Discord. And once we get out of this dream, you are going to get it."

The draconequus stands to his full height, towering over her. She giggles, this is a dream, so she can do that too. She doubles, then triples her height, looking at him in the eyes. "You are in my head, Discord, so I can do to you what I want.

His eyes widen momentarily until she focuses on him, and suddenly a baby draconequus is sitting on the ground. She returns to her normal size and then concentrates for a moment, she shifts like Irony does, and reaches down and picks up the babbling, drooling monster. Not nearly as scary now as he was just a few minutes ago. She cuddles him.

"You are so cute when you are this small. It's too bad you have to grow up." The baby's head falls to the side a bit, not understanding her words, just the playful tone of voice. She feels her muscles tense, can she end this now? It would be so easy. But that is a passing thought, Mindy wouldn't harm a baby, even one to grow as evil as Discord. 

She gets an idea. She concentrates and a hole opens in the dream. Nothing wrong with throwing out the trash, right? She tosses the baby draconequus at the hole. As he passes through, his body reverts back to normal.

She looks at him, and the stunned look on his face, "You can't have my dreams either, Discord." And she slams the hole closed mentally.

Mindy giggles as she wills herself to wake up.


> Chapter 23. The Soul of Harmony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 23.

***1st person, Lightning Dust***

I open my eyes. I've defeated Discord's puzzle thrown at me. I shake my head, we aren't in that field, we are back in his office. I stand up and look around, my friend's are stirring as well. Except for one. I look closer at my brother. He's not moving. Wait a moment, I trot forward. He's not breathing. Oh no!

"Soarin!" That wasn't me, I glance over in time to see Mindy teleport right next to Soarin. She picks him up and cradles his body. She's sobbing. I move closer. His wings are limp, I can see he's dead. I look at Irony. She's reeling a bit from what she went through. I stumble to my former sister turned fellow Wonderbolt. His eyes are closed, I can't see anything more, my tears are flowing uncontrolled. I take a moment to kiss him on the forehead, and I nuzzle a sobbing Mindy. I must mourn later, right now. I have a job to do.

I turn to Discord, my wings extending in rage, "You son of a bitch, you killed my friend, you killed my sister." I take to the air and charge up for a lightning bolt. Rage is fueling my magic, I feel something snap in my head. My wing moves forward to let loose the magic crackling among my feathers.

But I can't complete the motion, Mindy's voice pierces the room, "You asshole. I love him, and you had to kill him." I glance over at her, and my wings clamp to my sides. I fall heavily to the floor, my intended charge reabsorbed. Her horn is glowing with dark magic, her eyes are glowing green. As I watch, she lets loose an inky black bolt. It strikes Discord, causing him to howl in pain. A crackling, inky black mass is attached to him, he screams as he tries to pry it off of him, but it acts like acid, eating away any part of him that touches it. After several seconds of fighting with the mass, he's able to dislodge it, blood flowing freely, and he loses his eagle's claw in the process.

That blast has taken a lot out of Mindy, she reels for a moment, and sits down heavily. Finally, Discord takes the opportunity to smash the window in his office, and slither out. I glance at Irony and flash forward, busting through the remainder of the glass. In moments I'm on the ground, I feel a heavy impact behind me as Irony jumps down the four stories, Moon Shadow and Mindy both teleport. I point off in the direction Discord, "He went that way." I jump into the air and flick my Bluetooth, calling Mindy. They follow the injured draconequus with my direction. I keep him from getting to far away with the occasional bolt of lightning.

"You are not getting away." I call at the limping form below me. I throw a bolt, crashing in front of him. Making him turn. He heads into the National Mall, with me harassing him all the way. I chase him across 4th Street Southwest. I glance back, Irony, Mindy and Moon Shadow are all following. I keep up the harassment. This bastard is not going to have an easy time. I flash down and slice along his back with a blade. I hear a howl in pain as I fight for some altitude. Something tickles the back of my mind, and I jerk to the left, avoiding a bolt of power sent by the injured draconequus. This fighting has given my friends a chance to catch up. Irony smacks Discord hard with her mace, causing him to tumble and decide to take to the air. I have my destination in sight, but he's not going to know he's being herded. A quick bolt of lightning turns him the direction I want, then I flash forward, neatly slicing his webbed wing off. 

With a scream he tumbles back to the ground, "The air is my domain, Discord. You'd best stay on the ground."

Irony growls as she swipes at Discord, "Which is my domain."

Moon Shadow directs a blast at Discord, "You have already failed at the world of dreams." We are overwhelming him. I look forward, five blocks to go. I smirk at Irony. We are going to finish this, tonight! I flash forward again, only to take a blast to the chest. I tumble from the air and land heavily. Irony scoops me up as she runs by.

"I got ya!" I give her a quick wing hug, then I hop onto her shoulder.

"Let's take him down." I shout as I launch from a running Irony. I pick up Mindy as I flash by her. I whisper in her ear, "You have more magic available than I do. Blast his ass."

I find that simply holding her and letting her blast him isn't a very good strategy. He throws bolts back at me at random, keeping me on my metaphorical toes. I feel Mindy squirm in my grip. Though she gets quite a few good hits in despite my near constant acrobatics. She gives a shout, and I let her go. Mindy teleports and lands with all four feet on Discord. Eliciting another howl from him. I smile. I wish we could have done this twenty five years ago.

We have a block to go. I charge up another blast, I have to keep track of my magic. Magical exhaustion can be very dangerous, but with all of us alternating attacks, we are keeping him off balance. I look at the grim determination on my friends' faces. I know that expression is mirrored on my face as I keep up the pressure.

In minutes he crosses 14th and 15th, causing a few car wrecks as he dashes across the street. We are going to end him here. I look around, humans, despite it being late, are slowly gathering from all the commotion. This is going to be very public. I flash down and slam into Discord with my hind hooves, causing him to tumble end over end.

"Don't kill me!" He pleads.

I shout, tears continuing to flow, "Just like Soarin shouldn't have died?"

"I can give you information, I can help you."

"We don't want your help, Discord." Mindy says, I take a glance at my friend, her hair is flat, her eyes are glowing and her horn is charged, it will only take a thought for her to unleash the power she's gathered.

I stalk forward, my wing blades at the ready. I want to slice him into tiny little bits right now. I know I'm not the only one who is feeling like murder.

"You can't kill me. I'm the spirit of chaos. I'm immortal!" 

"Fancy talk from one who's injured like that." Moon Shadow chimes in, I look at the draconequus, he's bleeding profusely, his lion's paw is having trouble holding his weight, but then I notice something. He's healing. I watch wounds start to close up. My eyes widen as a burst of magical energy from the draconequus sends us all back.

"You may have been able to injure me. But, as you see. I'm going to be all better momentarily. You really shouldn't have messed with me." He directs a bolt of power at me, on instinct I bounce into the air, letting it pass harmlessly under me. He turns to Moon Shadow and throws magic at her, which is deflected off her armor and heads back to him. He barely evades it. Hissing in anger.

"You pathetic ponies, I am Discord. I am chaos. You have no way to survive this!" He stands up taller, he's nearly back to his full power. All we've done is buy ourselves some time. I flash forward, attempting to slice into him with my wing blades, he catches me with a paw, throwing me to the ground. He kicks me savagely, only to be bashed back by Irony. He smiles. "You are done, little ponies!" He shouts.

All of us are hammered to the ground, power slamming us over and over. I look over at Mindy, she's barely holding onto a shield conjured with her magic, Moon Shadow is taking it on her armor, but it won't last much longer. 

"Hey, you leave them alone!" A voice calls. I slowly turn my head. A DC police officer has his gun out and trained on Discord.

He narrows his eyes at the lone human, "You stay out of this, little human. You have no idea what you are messing with."

"I know that you are Discord, you sent these ponies here. And they are trying to stop you."

Discord snaps his fingers, and a flash of light blows the police officer back, "I have no time for you, pathetic human." Only to have a hole appear in his chest. I look back, another police officer is firing at him. The bullets don't do anything more than make small holes, which close quickly. He sneers at the other officer, and with a snap, the other officer is twenty feet back, his jacket smoking. I snarl and throw a bolt of lightning at Discord. I feel a tingle to the magic, and it is bright green as it streaks towards its target. Have I figured out how to do the time displacement bolts? I think as the bolt hits his eagle's talon, which disappears. He snaps his head to me and throws a bolt of power at me. I flap my wings to evade.

I turn my head and glance around, hundreds of humans have shown up. Many are pointing camera phones at the unfolding battle, but some are linking arms, what are they doing? A bolt of energy hits Discord from behind. A unicorn, one that wasn't with us, is firing bolt after bolt at Discord, he's distracted for a moment. I let loose another time displacement bolt, yes. I can feel how it flows. I know how to do it again! I take to the air, finding about a dozen pegasi in the air with me.

I look at all of them, "Let's do to him what we tried to do twenty five years ago!" I shout at them. I get nods and they start dive bombing Discord. He's hit from every direction. More ponies show up, more unicorns, more earth ponies, and more pegasi. We all keep attacking Discord, he's howling, he can't do anything but flinch each time he's hit. We just might take him this time!  I wait for an opening, and flash another bolt at him, this one is deflected into the sky.

Finally, Discord makes a ball of light appear around him, it expands rapidly, blowing all those harassing him away.

"Enough, you are dealing with the spirit of Chaos. You can not kill me, I am eternal, I am Discord." He shouts to the sky.

I pick myself up off the ground, another pegasus is lying next to me, his neck obviously broken. I shake my head and look at Discord, he's laughing. It's as though he's never been touched. He lays around him with bolts, hitting human and pony alike. Irony takes a strike to her shield. Mindy deflects what she can with her magic, not just those directed at her, but she prevents many from getting hit. But I can see exhaustion on her face. What are we going to do?

"You pathetic creatures, you thought…" He trails off as his eyes widen. The wind picks up all over. What's going on?

"No. It can't be." He breathes. Lightning crashes in the sky, and suddenly a rainbow forms around Discord, it curves and speeds around him, making a miniature tornado with Discord at the center. Multicolored sparks emanate from the elements of harmony as their power envelopes the draconequus. He howls in pain. And in moments, all is silent. Discord is laying on the ground. I watch as humans come forward, arms linked together, in with them are ponies they are all surrounding Discord. He slowly gets to his feet. He looks dazed. I fly forward.

"The elements have gotten you, you aren't stone, you aren't dead, but I think they did something to you."

We watch, his wounds aren't closing, he coughs and spits blood. He holds his eagle's talon over his chest, he is in obvious pain.  He coughs again, fear plain on his face.

Irony steps up next to me, "You are mortal now, aren't you?"

The draconequus scrambles away from us, he looks badly hurt.

"You are, aren't you?" Mindy says in wonder. He takes a step back, and is pushed back by the assembled ponies and humans.

I don't know who starts it, but a deep bass voice rings out. Shortly another voice joins, this isn't a song with words, this is just voices lifted. Another voice rings out, and another. Soon, hundreds of voices are singing. And it's not just the ponies, the humans are singing as well. I watch in amazement as a white glow starts around the assembled ponies and humans. 

I look at Irony, she looks at me, we both grin. "Harmony, the music of harmony!" Irony says as she adds her alto voice to the din. I add my own soprano to the mix. We all sing. More and more voices are added, and the glow intensifies. The glow takes on a form of its own. 

White magic, from every human and pony assembled, swirls around Discord. He starts to scream. "No, it's not possible, the magic of humanity has died, long ago."

I step forward, "No, it hasn't Discord. It was merely put to sleep. And you did the best thing to wake it up. You brought us, with our magic here. We have awoken the magic of humanity, magic is part of every universe, part of everything." I look back at the assembled, I see tears of joy on faces, both pony and human, I turn back to Discord, "You may be the chaos bringer, but as you need the light to define the darkness, you need the chaos to bring out the harmony." I kneel to the draconequus, "I must thank you, while your actions have been horrible. You have helped an entire world with bringing us here."

"It won't last. There is too much chaos in this world." He spits at me.

I smile, "You are wrong, Discord. It will not be easy, but as this magic spreads, as the harmony spreads. That chaos will be contained. And harmony will reign, it will take years, perhaps decades for this to spread worldwide. But as Twilight Sparkle said, the spark is inside us. That spark of magic is here. And there is nothing you can do to stop it."

As I say the last, the singing reaches a crescendo, and the white lights envelop Discord, immobilizing him. Stone starts to work up his body, he starts to shriek. The singing keeps up, and finally, he is fully encased in stone. In moments, the magic fades, and the singing comes to an end. Leaving a Discord statue behind.

Irony steps up and knocks on the stone, "Well, he's apparently sealed away." She turns to look at me, then looks back sharply as cracks start to form in the statue, running all over the body. We all step away as the entire statue collapses into dust. We look at each other.

"What happened?" I ask.

"That wasn't the actual Discord, by sealing him in stone, we banished him from our world. Since he's already in Equestria, what we fought is actually dead." Moon Shadow says.

I look at her, and at the pile of rubble that was Discord, "Good riddance." I start to trot back towards where Irony's car is. I get about twenty feet before my hooves tangle and I end up in a heap. 

"Dust!" Irony shouts, and in seconds I'm picked up. I start to sob.

"Soarin, Maddie. She's dead." I wail into Irony's mane. I feel her hand patting my back. She makes soothing sounds as I cry. I shudder in her grasp. I hear the chime of Moon Shadow's magic, and my wing blades are off of me, I wrap my wings around Irony, I hug her with all I've got. I keep sobbing.

I hear Mindy talking to the humans as Irony slowly walks with me back to the 442. She takes her time, letting me cry. Finally, I hear the door of the car open. She bends to place me in the car.

"Irony, please stop. Don't let go yet." She straightens.

I pull my head from her shoulder and look into her eyes, "Discord. What he did to us before we were able to get out of the dream. I have to say something to you."

Her eyes are shining with tears, "What is it Dust?"

I look down for a moment, "I have never been really good at saying it. It took years before I could say it to Helen. I've not told you everything that has been in our relationship, and I'm not going to, some things needs to stay between couples. But there is something I really need to tell you, actually, both you and Moon Shadow. Please, put me down."

Once I'm back on my hooves, Irony shrugs out of her armor, and with a sigh, she's back on four hooves. Moon Shadow sits next to her, and both of them are in front of me. I sit on my haunches.

I take a very long time to collect myself. I'm a wreck right now. I look down, then I look up into the sky, "I wish this were easy, but then again, if it were easy, it wouldn't be worth it." I let out a big sigh. How in the holy bleeding hell am I going to say this? I finally am able to start, "I kissed Rainbow Dash."

Irony smiles, "I knew you were attracted to her. I watched from a distance when you tackled her. I watched your wings, your tail was twitching too."

Moon Shadow, "What are you trying to tell us, Lightning Dust?"

"I'm trying to say, I've never been a one mare kind of gal. When I met you, I felt an immediate attraction. You affected me to my core." I draw circles on the concrete with my hoof, "I am in love." I look up at them, "with both of you." 

I get assaulted by hugs from Moon and Irony, Moon Shadow speaks first, "Oh honey, we knew you were in love. We love you too."

"I don't know if you understand, this is more than I love ice cream, or I love a good book. I am in love, with both of you. And yet, I wanted Rainbow Dash."

Irony pats me on the shoulder, "I know, Dust. I love you too."

Moon chimes in, "You should know I love you as intensely as I love Irony. But I will say it, I love you Lightning Dust."

The weight that I didn't know was on my chest finally falls away. I'm able to smile. I can feel tears leaking from my eyes, and my heart still feels crushed, but at least that is done. I kiss Irony, then I move over and kiss Moon Shadow just as intensely. After a long moment I finally move a bit away, "But don't expect us to form a herd anytime soon." I chuckle, and I get answering chuckles from my two loves.

"Dustie, we need to get to the White House right now!" Mindy says. Her hair is still flat. But I can see intensity in her eyes. 

I look at her in confusion, "Why?"

"In case you didn't know, we just killed the number one contender to the White House. We need to make sure a shit storm doesn't descend on us." She levitates her phone to me, "I set it to record video, and I had some of the humans upload their videos to me. While we are driving there, I'm going to splice everything together, it's our evidence. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life in jail?"

I shake my head violently, this isn't done? Damn it! I look at Irony. "Well, we had better get going." I say as I hop into the car.

***

"Listen, you let the President know that Lightning Dust is here, and she needs to speak to him immediately."

Twenty minutes of arguing with the United States Secret Service finally got me an aide to the President. Who immediately blew me off. He won't see the video, he just tells me to get in contact with the President's appointment secretary, and I might be able to see him in a few weeks. I growl under my breath. I turn back to my friends.

"What the hell do we do?" I ask Mindy.

She looks sly, "We will make him see us." She trots over to the laptop in the car, the keyboard starts to glow, and in moments, the blueprints of the White House flash on the screen. She smiles, "All of you, touch me. We are going in now." I place a wing on Mindy as Moon and Irony also touch her. With a flash of light we are in the residence of the White House. This is the Presidential bedroom. I look around, the bed has been slept in, but no one is here.

"Damn, he's already awake." Mindy says, I feel a tug as her magic grabs me, and with another flash, we are in the oval office. Several humans jerk in surprise, more than one weapon is brought out, and trained on me.

I turn to the President, "I'm sorry, Mr. President, but we've been trying to talk to you, and it's very important."

He waves off the Secret Service agents, "Miss Dust. I gave you a phone number to bypass most of the official red tape, you should have called."

I shake my head, "This is too important. I need you to watch this." Mindy floats a tablet towards the President, he catches it and presses play on the queued video. After about ten minutes the video winds to a close. 

He stops and looks at me, "My opponent? Senator Corddis, was Discord?"

We all nod.

"And this is your proof?"

Again, we nod.

"You are aware that videos can be faked."

I nod, "We have a flash drive with all the necessary raw footage, from multiple sources. I think it's pretty convincing. Discord was trying to make it impossible for us to gather, he wanted to plunge the world into war. By taking the Presidency, he would have been able to kill as many ponies as he wanted. He would have killed millions, if not billions, to keep sowing the chaos that he loves so much. But we were able to stop him."

He looks at the tablet in front of him, and back at me, "This is a lot to believe, Miss Dust."

"I know, and I'm sorry to dump it on you. But you have access to some of the best analysis in the world. Check out our information, it's all legitimate. We are just about to head to Equestria, and I don't want Earth to be in danger of another world war because of the actions of the spirit of chaos from our world."

He sighs, then nods. "I'll check it out. I have your number. Please don't barge in like this again, Miss Dust. But I will forgive you, this one time."

I grin, "Thank you, Mr. President. We need to go." 

> Chapter 24. Harmony with Humanity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm getting tired of all this driving. Though with Irony at the wheel, Google maps says the trip from Washington DC to Dubuque Iowa is slightly under fourteen hours. Irony made it in a shade over nine hours. Average speed over a hundred. It's nice having a unicorn in the car who can make the car unable to be noticed. And Irony is an excellent driver, with twitch reflexes that would put most pegasi to shame. I spend most of the trip either crying by myself, or crying with Mindy. Or crying with Moon Shadow. I don't know how Irony was able to keep from crying herself, with us three crying. I think it's just because she has to concentrate. Moon Shadow can keep up the spell easily, it doesn't require constant concentration. 

We talk about Soarin, we all dread having to break the news to Lightning Flash and Trixie. Flash has become very fast friends with Soarin since he came to Montana. Finally we are rolling up to where Rainbow texted me that the portal to Equestria was. We aren't the only ones there. Flash and Trixie are there, so is Doctor Ray. A few other new members of our farm have decided to go to Equestria as well. Irony parks the car, and takes several deep breaths before finally killing the engine. I sigh, seeing our friends. The portal should be closing in about thirty hours. The next night at midnight. I sigh as we open the door, it's time to tell them.

Our friends come forward gleefully as they see us, but then stumble to a stop as they see us. Every head is down, everypony is sad. I find myself getting a hug from Dr. Ray. Trixie and Flash mob Irony and Moon Shadow. I gesture to Mindy, who joins us in the hug from Dr. Ray. Who, for a human, gives pretty damned good hugs. He pulls back.

"What happened Lightning Dust?"

I sigh. I look at Mindy, who looks at me, fresh tears starting to form. I can only say one word. "Soarin."

That's all he needs, I'm gathered up in a hug along with Mindy. I let loose more tears, I thought I was done with them. I sob the story into his shoulder. Him patting my back and making soothing sounds the whole time. I'm finally able to control myself for a bit. I look over at my loves, they are all holding each other, and everypony is sobbing. I don't want any more crying damn it! We've defeated Discord, apparently in this world and in Equestria. We should be celebrating. I look down, celebrating will have to wait, we paid the price, in blood for this. Nearly a dozen ponies and seven humans were killed in the battle in DC. News stories of the battle, along with footage from cell phone cameras have been all over the news, I've been keeping track as I can during the drive. The wireless internet is a wondrous thing. No official word from the DC police or the White House at this point yet. I finally nudge my friends to join Irony, Moon Shadow, Flash, and Trixie. We all get together.

Irony starts, "I must go to Equestria. I must talk to Twilight Sparkle, and if necessary, beg her permission to come back here and help with the displaced equestrians. What about you, Dust? Moon? Trixie? Flash?"

I bite my lower lip, I look at the little shed where the portal is. I look at Irony. "I don't know. If I come back, will I be human?"

Her ears fall, "I think so."

I can feel the pull of my home world. The magic emanating from the portal is affecting everything in my head. I dream of flying in the pristine air and beauty of Equestria. I take a step to the shed. But I stop. I look back.

"I want to go home."

Her ears fall. 

I continue, "But for now, home is here, this world. Until the Equestrians who want to go to Equestria are there, this is my home." I look back at the shed then back at Irony. "Going through that portal would be a one way trip for me. I'm not giving up this body on the chance that I would lose it coming back. I'll stay here."

Her ears lift and a big smile suffuses her face. "You know, I'll likely be human when I get back."

I smirk at her, "I won't hold it against you. You are always welcome on my team."

Moon Shadow speaks up, "I'm staying with you, Irony."

"What about Luna? Your apprenticeship?"

"I'm here for you, Irony. Anyway, Luna is still here, I've talked to her in the dream, she's staying, at least for the foreseeable future. I'll stay."

Lightning Flash chimes in, "I'm going wherever Trixie goes."

Trixie speaks up, "The Great and Powerful Trixie is staying here, other ponies need her help."

We all look at Mindy. Her eyes are shining with more tears, "Soarin and I were planning on going to Equestria, and trying to make a life together. Her ears fall, "That's not going to happen…now." She shrugs off an attempt by Lightning Flash to hug her, "I am going to do everything I can to help fix what Discord did to this world. So, I have to stay, to help my friends." She offers a wan smile. Then leans her head on Flash's shoulder.

"I want to go." a masculine voice pipes up. We all stop and look back at Dr. Ray. He lowers his hand, "I'll be back to human when I come back, so I want to go visit, and I'll help Irony wherever I can." He looks down, "Besides, my medical knowledge might be helpful. I don't doubt that there were some injuries in the fight with Discord in Equestria."

Irony smiles brightly at Dr. Ray, "Thank you my friend. I'll show you around, though I have no idea how Equestria looks right now. It may be years before it's back to the beauty that I remember. But I think we'll have a good time." She looks at all of us, then Dr. Ray leads the way to the shack. Finally, we are in front of the portal to Equestria. I want to jump through so badly it hurts. That apparent block of marble represents my home, where I grew up, where my life is. I take a step forward. 

Then I remember Helen, my children, visions of ponies that ended up at my farm when they had nowhere else to go. My second step is stopped mid stride. I'm not going through. I can't. Too many depend on me here. I think about being a human again. I won't come back as Mike again. I'll likely be some twenty something young woman, not the man I was before, but someone else completely. The portal thrums and a human emerges. She flutters her hands to cover her nudity. Then she steels herself, and walks somewhat steadily out to the parking lot. I smile. Humans look weird nude. I look at Irony, "We will be here. But if you aren't here by half an hour before the portal closes tomorrow, I will be coming through to get you, and damn the consequences."

Irony barks a laugh as she guides Dr. Ray through. He disappears through the portal, and she stops for a moment to look back at us. She then steels herself and steps through with a deep thrum.

***June 3rd, 2330***

"It's a half hour to midnight, the portal will close soon. We need to go get her." I happen to be restrained, in magic. I'm stretching for the portal. Irony isn't here yet.

"Irony will be here, if she can. She's never failed me, as a human, or as a pony. She won't fail us this time." The unicorn holding me in her magic says calmly.

I look back at her, "Moon Shadow. What if Twilight appealed to her duty? She won't have a choice. She's the Captain of her personal guard. If Twilight says she needs to stay, she will stay."

"Not without coming through and letting us know, Dust. She knows her duty, and more importantly, her heart will demand it. We will have a decision to make at that point. But until then, patience." Her magic lets me go as I relax. 

I shoot her a dirty look, "You shouldn't be all logical like that, Moon."

She leans against me, and I fold a wing over her, hugging her close. I feel her chuckle, "Somepony has to."

I chuckle as a deep thrum echoes through the small shack. I turn to the portal, and my jaw drops. Irony is there, she's walking on two hooves, and with a sigh, she folds down and ends up on four hooves. I smile happily and bounce to her, "You are still a pony!" I'm greeted with a kiss, and am almost crowded out by Moon Shadow moving forward for a kiss herself.

"Irony, I think there was a problem." I hear Dr. Ray say. I look for him, but all I see is another pony. I look around, then take a second look at the pony. A stallion, with a dark brown coat and black mane. His cutie mark is a silhouette of all three pony tribes with what looks like the traditional human medical symbol, the Rod of Asclepius superimposed over the top. The pony opens his mouth, "I'm still a pony!" Dr. Ray's voice comes out. 

Irony turns back, "Oh, crap! I think my magic did something to you."

Confused looks.

"My magic interacted with the portal, since I'm originally of this world, the magic I've got must have enfolded you as we went through. Remember, I put my hand on your shoulder as we walked through?"

The pony Dr. Ray nods.

"I think I sheltered you from the effects. Though I think if you go through then come back again, you'll probably be a human."

Dr Ray looks thoughtful, "Nah, I like the magic I've gained with this body. But I need more training. Boy, do we have a story to tell!"

Irony interrupts before he can continue, "That is for later, we have to clear the area, other ponies will be coming through. Many were saying goodbyes as we went through the portal. We are going to have some ponies turned humans coming through shortly. And I saw the mane six heading this way before we went through. So, this is going to get pretty crowded pretty quickly."

We talk for a while outside, watching the humans exit the shack. Moon Shadow took the opportunity to grab some blankets from the car, and other vehicles. Hoofing them over to the nude humans as they exited. Finally, right before the portal closes for the next thirty moons, one more deep thrum is audible from inside, and a blonde haired man comes out. He seems to not be all that bothered. Though he accepts the blanket.

"Big Macintosh?" Irony asks.

He nods.

I step forward, "You remember me?" 

Another nod, this time, with a smile.

"I'm guessing you are going to see about helping ponies to get home the next time the portal opens?"

"Eeyup."

I smile, "Well, that's my job too. We have a self sustaining community in Montana. And we will accept anypony that comes. If you need any help, we can help as much as we are able."

He looks around, "A ride would be nice."

I smile and look at Irony, "I think that can be arranged."

***

"Ugh, finally here."

"What are you talking about Dust? You could have flown ahead. You got to sleep through most of it."

I chuckle, "But if I flew ahead, then I would have to wait for you. And that would suck. So, I'd rather wait for you, with you."

She smiles, "Impeccable logic, love."

I smile and kiss her cheek. We are just turning into the farm. I notice some changes. A wrought iron gate has been erected, and the original barbed wire fencing, so common around here, has been replaced. And to hide the height and increase privacy, bushes have been planted, and I smell earth pony work, those bushes have been magically enhanced to grow huge. They are hiding the new wrought iron fencing. I can see the humans and the ponies have been busy in our absence. Crushed rock for all the paths, which snake all over. The trees have grown, and have a full crown of leaves. I have to smile. This place feels almost like home. The magic I felt at the portal is here. I look at everypony in the car, we all feel it.

Irony finally parks the car. An actual parking lot, covered with fresh scoria, has been defined, in a copse of trees, away from the main housing. I look over at the old bone yard, with rusted vehicles and broken farm machinery, it's all gone. I see one of the old combines being worked on by a couple of ponies. This is amazing. I've only been gone a few days, and it's like night and day. I see a couple of spaces set aside for parking near the house, and the only vehicle there is my wife's. Irony pulls into that spot. I hop out as the door opens with unicorn magic. I get a chance to trot around. I'm almost bouncing. This is awesome!

Within seconds of the engine shutting off, the door to the farmhouse opens. And one human that I'm always happy to see steps out, along with my kids. 

"Dust!" They scream as they run to me, but they aren't fast enough, I rush forward and tackle them. We end up in a pile, all laughing. I get to hear about them being home, and everything that's been going on since I was gone. I hug my children and look at Helen. A big smile on my face.

"I'm glad to see you are back." I say to her, I extricate myself from my children, then spread my wings, holding one in each foreleg, I've got both their feet off the ground, them holding on to me for dear life. I give her a kiss on the cheek. Eventually, we make it into the house.

I tell Helen and the kids about Soarin. But forestall any tears, for now. I can see through the front window, the trunk of the 442 being opened, and a cloth covered large bundle being lifted magically. We didn't leave him behind. Though Moon Shadow put what she called a stasis spell around the body, it was in the same condition as when the spell was cast. Cremation would be happening at sundown. A tradition for pegasi, one of my old memories said. I broke my eyes from the sad task outside back to my family. It took over an hour to get caught up with them. Helen told me about what has been happening since she got back. The pony that Soarin left behind in charge, none other than Ponyville's Mayor Mare, was doing a fine job in administration. Though seeing her with the pink mane was shocking she said.

"Lightning Electric needs you, so do we. Are you going out again?" She asks.

I sigh, "Not immediately. I need some time home, and I was planning on spending some time getting caught up at home. So, we will have some time to enjoy together." I finish with a smile.

"Is it true, what they are saying on the news? Discord is dead?" My son asks.

I shake my head. "He is a spirit, but for our purposes, he is. He has been banished from this world. The elements did a number on him. I was told by Big Macintosh that they banished him from Equestria. So, I think this is the last we will hear from him for a long time."

This gets smiles from my family. "So, it's over?" My wife asks.

"No, it's just beginning. We still have ponies left to find. We found out there are still ponies living under his curse. They will be changing over the next months, and we will have to help them. Add to that, there are ponies that have been cast all over the world, some in places that have never heard of My Little Pony. I don't want to lose any more."

"But you'll be taking some time here, so that's good, right?" My daughter asks. I give her a wing hug.

"That's right, honey. That's good."

Finally I'm able to get outside. I see a funeral pyre being constructed. Irony is helping, stacking wood, along with a few pegasi. Tradition demands family and close friends for the construction of the pyre. I move forward to help. And the next few hours is taken up by that work. Flash joined, so did Trixie, and Moon. The rest of the ponies keep quiet during our work. Finally, we are done, and Moon Shadow carefully levitates his body onto the carefully constructed pile of wood.

I look around, every pony is gathering, along with every human. Then my eyes spy a form I never expected to see here. I trot up to her and kneel.

"Princess Luna. What brings you here?"

"Moon Shadow asked me to come. I can't stay for too long. But I was asked to speak at Soarin's funeral."

Wow, royalty speaking at a pony's funeral. That's really an honor. I step back as she clears her throat, every pony quiets as she steps to the head of the pyre.

"It is always a sad time when we lose a pony. And one that was friend to so many here is so much harder. I never knew Soarin in this world. I never knew the Maddie he was before that curse from Discord wore off. But what I do know is that no pony worked harder and gave more of himself for those around him. I do also remember some of him from before, in Equestria. I will tell you about the Soarin I remembered." She looks around at the assembled. 

"Soarin was a fighter. He was generous, he was kind. He was a pony that should be remembered by all of you. He had magic, such a rare talent among the winged ponies. It wasn't so obvious as others who could throw lightning, or levitate. His magic was subtle. He could see. He could see the potential, he could see the magic inborn in all of us. This ability made him a very perceptive individual. He could see when a pony was troubled, he could see when we were in pain. He could see when we were happy. He was an amazing pony to know. I only wish I could have known him better in this world." She steps back, tears flowing freely. I look around. No pony else wants to speak. But I think I will.

I step forward, "Soarin…I grew up with Maddie. I am sad to say, we had a decade age difference between us. So, for a long time, she was the irritating young sister. But, when she got older, and the age difference wasn't as big a deal for us, I got to know her better. She was full of love. She always picked up the strays." I chuckle, remembering the long string of boyfriends she had found over the years. "She always had a good heart. And was full of love. Then the curse wore off, and Maddie became Soarin. Soarin was indispensable. This farm would not be in the state it's in without his hard work. For quite a while, he was content to stay in the background. Finding those who were lost, and either directing them here." That gets quite a few nods from the assembled. "Or he would direct us on how to get to them." I see the pegasus that I helped save from the pony brothel nodding, along with Gold Dust and a few others. 

My ears fold back a bit as I continue, "Soarin gave his life in the battle with Discord. He sacrificed himself so that we all would have a better life. Though I wasn't a direct witness to his loss, I have to believe that he did everything he could." I look at the pyre, feeling tears starting to overwhelm me, "Everything he could to make our lives better. We were all richer for knowing him, and we are all poorer for his loss." At this point, I can't talk anymore. I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I let Helen guide me back among the assembled ponies. 

As I sit there, sobbing, I can hear the soft hoofsteps of another pony. A voice starts to speak. It's Mindy. "I met Soarin when I got here. My first time in Montana, and I find a pony that just makes me feel wonderful inside. He was always kind, and we had plenty of nights talking together. And we fell in love. We were planning on making a life together, either here, or in Equestria, if we could manage it. That dream is over with." Her voice turns bitter for a moment.

I look up at my friend, all I can see in her is pain. She spent most of the trip curled up and crying. I'm amazed she is able to speak, tears fall freely from her eyes. "I love him, I will always love him. And I will carry my memories of him for the rest of my life." She turns and addresses the pyre, and the body lying there. "Soarin, I hope to God you can hear me. I love you. I will miss you forever. And when I take my last breath, I hope to see you again." She finally collapses, ponies rush forward, only to be waved away by her. She struggles to her feet and moves close to the pyre. Lighting her horn, she touches the wood, which bursts into flame.

I look to the West, Mindy had perfect timing, the wood catches just as the sun finally fully sets. We all watch the flames slowly spread throughout the pyre. Then to my shock, ponies start singing. Not the joyful noise that I've heard, but a slow and mournful dirge. As the singing grows, the flames move with the singing. I start to hear the words of the song. This isn't from Equestria, but from Earth. Bagpipes start to play. Causing me to look around, nopony is playing them. But I can hear them. I hear more and more voices start to sing. And, to my amazement, I sing as well.


Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.


I can feel the pain in my soul being drawn out by the singing. I discover my eyes were closed, having closed of their own volition. I open them, all around, the same white magic I saw before is swirling around us all. And it all feeds the flames. Soarin's body is consumed and finally the structure collapses. As the flames start to die down, the voices trail off as the song ends. The bagpipes slowly fade away. 

Luna comes up to me, "Dust, the magic of harmony. It truly is powerful, isn't it."

I nod. And to my surprise, my pain is gone. I still feel a great hole inside me, a void from the loss of my brother. But the pain of that loss was drawn out, it was consumed as well. I'm able to genuinely smile at the Princess, "Magic, Princess. That is what all of this is about."
> Chapter 25, Back to Business
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ugh, this is boring!" I moan at my computer in my office. The rest of the bodies of the ponies killed by Discord were delivered to us by federal authorities, allowing us to perform last rites according to each pony's tribe. The earth ponies were buried. The unicorns were subjected to magical dissolution, and the pegasi were cremated. The mourning was nearly complete after a week. I've been trying to focus on my family, my loves, and my company. 

Though with my office staff, there wasn't much for me to do. Business was hectic, we've been inundated with work longer than I've owned this company. And summer is always the busiest of times. I use a new innovation that one of my guys developed for ponies to type. It replaces the standard keyboard, and has two paddles and a floor switch. Each letter and number has a direction, best thought of in the cardinal and ordinal directions of the compass. With the hoof switch used to actually confirm the letter or number I was trying to type. North and north is A, North and North East is B, and so on. That gives sixty four different combinations. My former engineer turned electrician explained to me. With a few days of practice, it's natural to me. The new oversize mouse helps when using with hooves. Now all we have to do is market that to the ponies in this world. 

I have to laugh. How many ponies are going to stay here? Are we able to reproduce in this world? If we do, are we going to be a competing species on this planet? Or in symbiosis with the humans? I sincerely hope the latter. We can help them with so much. Though with the human's magic coming back slowly, will we see what that manifests as. I 
check my email, nothing new. I'm caught up. This elicits a grin. I hop off my chair and move around my desk. Just as I'm reaching for the door handle, someone knocks on the door. I smile as I open it. Trixie stumbles back, she wasn't expecting such a  quick response. 

"Hi Trixie!" I say as I spread my wings and start to hover.

"Dust, Trixie is happy to see you. But Trixie is troubled, and doesn't know who to really talk to about this."

I suppress a sigh and gesture for her to enter the office. I end up back in my chair, she sits in the guest chair and closes the door.

She looks unsure for a moment, then she finally speaks, "It's Mindy. Trixie is worried about her friend, Mindy."

That gets a grimace from me, Mindy has been closeted at the farm pretty much since we got back from DC and Iowa. She's communicated with Equestria Daily, and a couple of other popular brony sites, letting them know that any humans turned ponies can turn to us for help if they need it. With the revelations from DC, we are much harder to keep secret. We aren't widespread knowledge, but we aren't hiding. She's been on an earnest search, so she says, for more ponies. She's even had me help her make a youtube video, for ponies just starting their transformation. That video has over five million hits. And no doubt a lot of bronies checking their thighs daily for a cutie mark. Though the time frame was stressed, they have to be twenty five after May the first of this year. But I can see Trixie's point. She's turned into a recluse. 

I think for a moment, "Mindy is mourning. She has to work through her grief her way. She's been like that ever since we were little, the highs are really damned high, but the lows are pretty damned bad. I want to say she'll snap out of it, but it may take an outside influence."

"It will have to be you, Dust. Trixie has tried, but has only been rebuffed." 

I think. "It's been nine days since his death. She's gone through the most traumatic thing a pony can go through. Our best bet is to support her, and when she reaches out, grab on with everything we've got. But you try to bust through and make her, she'll put up a wall, and you'll drive her deeper. Trust me, Trixie. When her dad turned to the drink, she went through a very rough time, but she did come out of it. Have faith in our friend."

She looks sad, "Trixie will try. But it hurts Trixie to see a friend in so much pain."

I smile at her, "It hurts Lightning Dust too."

I get a smirk from her for that. But she hops off the chair and opens the door. We head outside, Trixie heads over to the car she used to get here. Calling over her shoulder, "And Trixie likes the new sign."

Sign, what new sign? I turn and take a look and then head immediately inside. I head into the office.

"Pat, what the hell?"

She looks at me, a big grin on her face, "Don't you like it?"

"Why would I like it?"

"It's you."

I sigh, I spy the collection of business cards on her desk for visitors to grab. They mirror the new sign on my shop. The old Lightning Electric words, but now there's a new silhouette behind it, instead of a pump jack, a pegasus with its wings spread, standing on its hind legs with the front legs kicked out. And to top it off, on the business card, under proprietor, someone grabbed a vector off the internet of me. And my smiling pony mug is on the card.

"I know it's me, but I'm thinking we should stay low key."

"Well, it's popular, we've gone through a box of the cards already."

I sit heavily, each box contains a thousand printed cards. "So, our name has been getting out."

She smiles, "Yes, and we've actually gotten more applications for work. Apparently there are some brony electricians, I've got six journeymen going through the hiring process, they will be ready for interviews in a week or so. And we are already lining up the work for them. And since we've got more journeymen coming in, that means we can hire about a dozen more apprentices. You know that that means."

I am floored, "We need to buy a dozen more trucks. Boy, the Chrysler company is going to be happy with us. Have you lined out new service beds yet?"

"They are on order, as well as multiple complements of a new truck setup when it comes to tools. We have the checklist going."

I smile at her, such a big expansion in business might mean we won't be having to delay the purchase of the roustabout company for very long. I finally trot out of the shop with a big grin on my face. Things are looking up. And I know I'm stuck here for at least the next two and a half years. So, we are in good shape. I end up bouncing out of the shop. 

***

At the farm, I knock on the door.

"Go away, I'm busy."

I press my forehead to the door, "Mindy, you are always busy. We need our friend back."

"I'm still here, Dustie. I'm just super busy."

I'm finally tired of waiting, I press a wing to the door handle, it's locked. I surge my magic through my wing. I hear the handle drop off the inside and I can push the door open easily. I get a good look at my friend, her coat is matted and dusty, her perfectly straight hair is dirty. And the room smells badly of horse. I crinkle my nose.

"Mindy, you get in the shower, or I'm going to have to drag you outside and bring a raincloud down, I'll even perform the rainblow dry on you. But it will be cold. Easier to do it inside.

"But Dustie, I've got to keep track of the systems here. There are likely ponies starting their transformation right this instant, and I need to help them."

I roll my eyes, "Mindy. I'm declaring a girls night out, you are coming with us, either of your own volition, or you are being dragged."

Her horn lights, "You wouldn't."

I grin at her, "I would, and you may be a very powerful unicorn, but would you be able to stand up to both Moon Shadow and Trixie?"

Her ears fall and her horn extinguishes, "I guess not." 

I smile brightly, "Then hop in the shower."

***

Less than an hour later, Mindy, Moon Shadow, Irony, Trixie, and I are in one of the bars in town. I throw them a credit card to start a tab, we are going to have a good time tonight. Irony brings over the first round. I love how ponies are no longer a sensation every time we show up. In fact, one of the bartenders is a pegasus. And he's as dexterous with his wings as any human with hands. We take up a table and settle in.

I decide to start, "Since Discord, I've been noticing my memories of Equestria have been coming back. Slowly."

I get nods from around the table.

Moon Shadow looks happy, "And I've been talking to Princess Luna quite often in the night. It's so good to have her council back."

Irony takes a sip of her drink, "I remember the second changeling war, I remember more of Princess Twilight Sparkle. But a lot is still foggy."

Mindy giggles, I'm glad to see my friend at least be able to giggle. I nudge Irony with a hoof under the table. She gets my hint. We both work to try to get Mindy to open up more. And it happens, slowly. 

Pretty soon, her words are slurring, and I've got a very slight buzz going on. I don't feel like getting wasted, so I keep ordering drinks for Mindy, but I keep to soda. I notice everypony but Mindy has gone off alcohol. 

Eventually she's on her way to a real rip roaring drunk. But she remains herself. I hear a lot more giggling from her. 

I've got Mindy hanging onto my shoulder, tears starting to form, but she's able to control herself. I see the look, "I miss Soarin too. He's gone."

"He's not completely gone." She giggles.

I know that the five stages of grief are somewhat debunked, but some of them apply, and denial is not something that Mindy has ever been party to. She takes things as they are. I start to open my mouth.

"You want to know how I know he's not completely gone?" She breathes her boozy breath right in my face.

I roll my eyes, "Because with our memories of him, he can never fully die?"

She giggles, and keeps giggling. Soon she's full on laughing, we all look around, embarrassed at how much of a spectacle she's making. Her only excuse is she is beyond simply three sheets to the wind right now.

Finally her laughing dies off, "No, silly. That's not it. While it's true, but our memories of him are not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about a part of him that is alive. Actually alive."

Confusion all around. She looks around brightly, smiling.

"You don't get what I'm saying, do you?"

We all shake our heads. Then what she's saying finally adds up in my head. I narrow my eyes, "You're not."

She smiles, "Ahh Dustie, always the first."

Irony looks at me, then at Mindy, then back at me, "Are you gals saying what I think you are saying?"

Moon Shadow pipes up, "Are you sure you should be drinking if you are in that state?"

Mindy giggles, "I could drink each one of you under the table, one after the other. I'm a bit buzzed right now. But you gals want to get me drunk, soooo…" She takes a gulp of the shot in front of her, "I'm going to enjoy free booze." She giggles again, "And getting drunk this early won't do anything, many new mothers have figured that out, to their chagrin." Her face falls, "I was never able to tell him. I was going to when we got to Equestria."

"And you know this for certain?" Trixie asks.

"Eeyup."

"How?" I ask.

"It's not like I have a test to prove it. Our hormones are different enough from humans for a human test to not be accurate. I just know. And I'm talking twins!"

"You know?"

She nods her head, "I know. I went through some information on equine pregnancy here on the internet. And that only made me more sure. I even performed a magical test. I'm going to have foals!" She bounces up and down.

I see some of the curl is coming back to her hair. I smile at her.

She hops over and hangs on me, looking at all of us. "I was really down in the dumps. Thank you all for bringing me out here. It's really nice that you all look out for me…"

She interrupted by shouting on the other side of the bar. I look over and see a table tumbling and half a dozen humans are backing away. But a pegasus and another human are trying to stare each other down. I know this pegasus. Named Sparks, he's on the weather team. I can hear more shouting, but the general din of the bar doesn't allow me to hear what's being said. I pull away from my friends and head in the direction of the budding fight. When I see the pegasus rear back a foreleg and he smashes the human in the face. The human takes the hit pretty well. And apparently, both are quite drunk. They end up thrashing on the floor, both trying to get a good hit in, but both are so inebriated it looks like neither is really up to a real fight. I flash forward.

"What the hell is going on here?" I shout as I grab the pegasus and drag him away from the human. I can feel the pegasus sobbing in my grasp.

The human slowly stands up, bleeding from the nose and mouth. "That asshole hit me."

Sparks screams back, "Because you said I abandoned my race, my humanity by embracing being a pony."

I look at the human, "This has been a hard time for us all. Can this be the end of it?" I let go of the pegasus, who takes the opportunity to jump forward and bowl the human over. He ends up on top, sobbing and hitting the man has hard as he can in the face. I sweep forward and bowl Sparks over. I shout at him, "No matter what he said. Those are just words. Don't let his words bother you!"

"I'm right, you never were a human, you just wore a human face for twenty five years, you have always been a pony inside." The human says, causing me to whirl on him.

"You son of a bitch. This transformation has been hard on every pony involved. Some of us like this transformation, some don't. And you don't have any right to say anything about it."

I turn back to the empty space that the pegasus pony occupied moments ago. I look around and see the side door of the bar, it's slowly closing. I flash towards the door and slam through. Looking up, Sparks is on his wings, trying to get away as fast as he can. But he's not as fast as I am. I flash forward. 

In seconds I grab onto him. Old memories taking hold on how to take down an uncooperative pegasus. I'm off his center of balance, I spread my wings to act like air brakes.

"What the fuck, Dust? Are you trying to make me crash?"

I nod grimly as he tries to flap harder, but he's losing altitude.

"To give up, let yourself go limp, and I'll fly you back."

"NO!" He screams as he keeps flapping his wings. 

All I've got left is patience at this point. I angle my wings to direct him to crash on the street rather than crashing through someone's roof. He screams as we go down, I finally bring my wings in just before we hit the ground. I take the brunt of the impact and let us roll. In moments he's shaking his head. Dazed. I spread my wings and grab him around the barrel. I take him back to the bar.

"Uh oh." I say as I notice a familiar pickup truck with light bar flashing. Landing, I guide the pony into the bar. I hear the wail of another siren in the distance. I survey what's going on in the bar. Three sheriffs deputies are there, along with Bill Connelly, the sheriff. Irony and Moon are being interviewed, the human in the fight is sitting down, one of the deputies is working on him, first aid kit open on the table next to them. The siren finally stops. And quickly three paramedics rush through the door. I move over to Sheriff Connelly. 

"Here is the pony involved in the fight."

The pony in question is now having trouble staying conscious, he slowly lays down on the floor. His eyes starting to drift closed. He gets a hard thumb in the side from the sheriff, jolting him awake.

"Is that necessary?" I ask.

"Yes, he's going to jail. The witness statements are pretty much unanimous. He threw the first punch."

I look at the pony fighting to stay conscious, and back to the Sheriff, "He was being taunted."

"I know, but he is the one who took it physical." He looks at the pegasus, "You are under arrest."

"Wait a moment, on what charge?"

"Until everything is sorted out, he's going to spend the night in lockup. The charge will be drunk and disorderly."

I wing hug the poor pegasus. I look at the sheriff. "Can I take him for you?"

He looks at me sternly, "You know that's not possible."

I sigh, then look at the pegasus, "Just go with the sheriff. We will sort this out." He nods his head in a daze. I look back at the sheriff. "You are aware that ponies are a good deal stronger than humans."

He nods, "And we aren't going to have a problem with this one. Are we?"

He hangs his head low, "No, sir."

Sheriff Connelly smiles and walks the pony out to his truck. While we were talking, the paramedics had completed their work and were loading the human into the ambulance. I'm finally able to get back to my friends.

"I'm sorry, the Sheriff asked for my cooperation when it comes to any legal issues with the ponies."

Irony smiles and nudges me, "I know, Dust."

***

The next morning I'm at the sheriff's office, bright and early. My checkbook ready to write for the bail of the pegasus.

"Mr. Sparks was bailed out about an hour ago." The clerk responds. Apparently not early enough.

Huh?  "By whom?"

She looks at her list. And names a name. I sit back on my haunches, that was the very human who he was fighting with. I head out of the office and take to the air. I know where the human lives. He's a roustabout for the company I'm wanting to buy. I land and knock on the door. His wife answers the door.

"I'm here to talk to Elliot." 

She smiles at me and lets me in the door. I stop in the living room and gape. The pegasus is there, along with Elliot. And Elliot is sporting a new hairdo. It's purple. Or more accurately, it's streaked purple, he's in the process of changing.

"Oh God, you are turning into a pony." I laugh.

The pegasus turns and looks at me, "Turns out the reason he was so confrontational was he discovered a cutie mark, Go ahead, Elliot, show Lightning Dust."

The young man looks down, then finally stands up and lowers the side of his sweat pants. a rock, cut like a precious gemstone. My eyes get wider and wider. I know that cutie mark, and I know that mane. I fall over laughing.

"Oh my God. Pinkie Pie is going to have to wait for a while to see her sister again." I am on the floor, on my back, helpless as the giggles keep washing over me. I finally let my mirth die down and eventually regain my hooves.

"I'm so sorry about that," I say as I wipe an eye with a hoof, "I loved the episode with you, Maud."

"Are you sure, Dust?" the pegasus asks, "He's going to turn into Maud Pie? From season four?"

I nod, I know that cutie mark, and that mane. "Eeyup."

His wife sits down next to him, she pats her belly, "And what about what's going on here? I'm three months along. What am I going to do?"

"Maude will do the right thing when she fully becomes a pony. She's going to take care of foals, no matter whether they are human, or pony. Am I right?"

The human turning into a pony sighs and nods his head, "We've been trying since we got married a year ago, and finally, we've got one on the way. Then I have to be turning into a pony."

"What can I say? Discord was an ass. If you have to blame anypony, it has to land on his head."

He seems to feel even more crushed, I move closer, he moans into his hands, "What am I going to do?"

I fold a wing over him and his wife, "I don't think your boss will have much of a problem with you turning into a pony. What do you do?"

Sobs are starting, "I'm a heavy equipment operator. I move earth for him."

I think I have a solution,  I smile brightly at him, "And you will be able to keep doing that. And, you know, I've got some heavy equipment myself. So, if you want, I've got an engineer that's been working on ponifying equipment for us. It was his idea, he's already come up with alternate controls for skid steers, and a new keyboard that's hoof friendly. He's working on dozers and track hoe's next."

I smile at thinking of the mousy little guy who can barely bend 3/4" rigid pipe, but is an absolute genius when it comes to electrical engineering. I've tried to get him to head a new design build division of the company, but he likes the field work, he just really likes to tinker. I pat him on the shoulder. "If you guys need help, you know about the farm where I've gathered the ponies. If you want to spend time there, go ahead. Any pony is welcome."

He looks at me gratefully, "Thank you Lightning Dust. And I'm sorry for my words. I freaked out."

His wife stands up suddenly, "You freaked out? We just found out you are turning in to a mare. You are turning into a girl pony." She screams, "And I've got your baby. What am I going to tell our kid? Oh, see that mare over there, that's your daddy."

"Honey, I wish I could change this, but I don't have a choice."

I look down, "There isn't much to be done, Ma'am. This was a curse, done by Discord. We banished him from this world, and from Equestria, but the effects of his spell are going to be going on for a while. More and more ponies are going to be emerging. The only thing I can say is, we will help wherever we can. If Maud here wants to keep working, he will be able to. But the changes cannot be stopped, or reversed. I've been talking to a few unicorns. They told me that the change is because the inborn magic of the ponies is reasserting itself. And if we use magic to stop the changes, it will be the same as if you close the valve on a high pressure pump."

She sits down heavily, "He would die?"

I nod solemnly.

Tears shine bright in her eyes, "So, what you are saying is I'll either have a dead husband, or a live pony?"

Once again, I nod.

She buries her face in her hands. He moves to hold her and she sobs onto his chest. He looks at me, "Thank you, Dust. We will do what we can. And I will support her wherever I can."

I reach out a hoof and get a shake from him, then I exit the house and wing my way back to the farm. Thank Celestia for Saturdays. I push into Soarin's old office, and sit in the chair with Mindy.

"Hi Dustie." I look up at Mindy, her hair has regained some of the bounce it used to. But she's still subdued.

"What's been going on in the realms of the internet?"

She smiles at me, "It's been pretty quiet today. I'm certain more ponies are starting their transformation, but I'm not seeing many reach out. Though I have found something interesting."

My ears perk forward, "What?"

"I've found two other sanctuaries for ponies. One is a large ranch in Texas, and the other is over in Florida. I've been talking with the ponies involved, and told them some of your ideas. They liked them, and they are sending a few pegasi over to be trained in weather management, based on what Soarin and Flash learned, we should be able to get them up to snuff in a matter of a few weeks."

I lean back, a happy smile on my face, "So, we can be beneficial to the humans?" 

She nods, "And you should see the latest email I got." Her magic chimes and her laptop floats in front of me. I take a moment to read the words on the screen. Then my ears fall, and I look at her in shock, "Mindy. This is amazing. Is this real?"

She nods, "I've been corresponding with them a few times. And we are working out a fee schedule."

"But the city of Los Angeles, it's huge. Weather management over a city that large would take hundreds of pegasi."

She nods, "I've got fifty trained volunteers already. The pay is going to be pretty good, and the mayor is offering housing for them. We will send about twenty unicorns that have volunteered who show some aptitude for weather to help. Also, as more pegasi are trained, we will get them to two hundred pegasi pretty quickly."

"Fifty isn't enough, but is two hundred?"

She nods, "Yes, but remember, some of the ponies there will also be on the lookout for other ponies, and we will hire them as well, if they can do the job. "

"What about management here?"

A big grin from my friend, "Until the big winter storms want to blow through, it will be fairly easy. The pegasi that didn't volunteer can handle it easily. And with the rate of new ponies showing up, we will have a hundred pegasi here by winter, maybe more. Do you have any idea how many ponies have shown up since we defeated Discord?"

I shake my head, "Seven hundred ninety four. Two hundred nineteen earth ponies, Two hundred eighty three unicorns, and the rest, pegasi."

Well, I was planning for a thousand, and we've exceeded that, "How many pegasi are training for weather duty?"

"All of them are trying, not all have the aptitude. But we have a lot of bodies here. Most are ready and willing to work on the farm, or help with the weather."

"And the rest?"

"Most of the rest are trying to get their hooves on the ground. And will make the decision on what to do."

"Have we lost any that just don't want to stay around?"

Her ears fall a bit, she nods, "Thirty four have decided they don't want to live with us."

Damn.

She brightens, "As you know, we've set up bank accounts for the farm's income and expenses, Mayor Mare apparently had instructions that Soarin left her with. They are given money, and whatever supplies they needed. And they took their own personal vehicles, and left. We still have to find a place for nearly three hundred vehicles though."

There is a banging at the door, and a unicorn opens the door, "Lightning Dust, we have a problem."

> Chapter 26 The Missing Chapter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hop out of my chair at Gold Dust's words. I hate having problems severe enough for a pony to find me like this. I follow her outside. She points to the gate, "Human problems."

I sigh and take to my wings. I land next to the closed gates. There are black SUV's sitting outside the gate. I get a look at the license plates. The state of Oregon. Am I really seeing this? A quick flap, and I'm over the gates, startling the humans that were at the gates. A dozen or so ponies are on the inside, and one had apparently been trying to talk to them. Time to take this one over.

"May I help you?" I ask politely, though I'm not feeling it. My wings are extended.

The apparent leader isn't in some dark suit, he's in khakis and an off white polo shirt. He turns and looks at me.

"Ahh, we have the pegasus of the internet fame." He saunters towards me, "The one who broke into my lab, and took my property."

I knew it. "Those ponies were being held against their will."

He chuckles, "Against their will? You are all animals. You have no will. I should take as many of you as I want. But I will settle for the two you stole from me."

I stomp a hoof on the ground, "I'm not an animal, any more than you are."

He chuckles, "I'm a human being, I am a person. You can be best described as livestock."

"Screw that shit. This is private property, so you can get in those pretty SUV's and get the fuck out of here. Or I will call the sheriff."

"Go ahead and call your sheriff. But I have a court order here, demanding the return of my property."

I step ahead aggressively, and a few humans start to reach inside their jackets. I smile grimly and charge a wing, allowing the electricity to crackle among the feathers, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

He smirks at me and brings out a blue folded summons. He hands it to me, I struggle to get the folded sheets open, it is indeed a court order. And to my surprise it has my former human name, and Lightning Dust as an alias. I think for a moment. Then look at the signature.

"This is a state judge. Not a federal one. This is just a piece of paper in Montana."

His easy smile slips a bit. I guess he didn’t think I would notice, "We are working on a federal judge."

I'm able to smirk back, "Your federal judge had better be talking to Washington DC. With a few members of congress having relatives turning into ponies, legislation is being fast tracked through the congress, recognizing us as persons. With the same rights as any human. And I know for a fact that the President will sign it, because it will affect his daughter."

He leans down and snarls at me, "I want my property back, I will take it if you refuse."

Apparently his tone of voice has pissed off the ponies, I hear the sound of teleportation and half a dozen ponies are ringed around me, "You had better be ready for a fight, asshole." One of the unicorns says.

"You need to go, and right now. These ponies are not your property, and we will defend ourselves." I say calmly. With all these ponies here, I don't really need to worry.

The apparent leader growls at me, "This isn't over."

I smirk back at him, "Yes, it is. We will protect ourselves. You don't want to…" I trail off as one of his guards pulls his gun. Without thought my wing snaps forward. A flash of lightning blows the gun out of his hand, and most of the hand is gone as well as he flies back from the impact. The human falls to the ground, screaming. 

"God Damn it, I didn't say pull your weapons!" The man screams. I look at one of the unicorns, to my surprise, it's Dr. Ray. He rushes forward, his horn lighting. 

"Let him work!" I shout as the other guards try to block him. Though the other humans are swiftly immobilized in unicorn magic.

I hear Dr. Ray talking softly to the injured human. The sound of his magic intensifies. A blue glow around the ruined hand. I can see Dr. Ray frowning in concentration.

After several minutes of magic work, Dr. Ray's horn finally quiets, and he staggers back, obviously spent, I rush forward to support the exhausted doctor. He leans against me and gives me a wan smile. "I couldn't fix it, but he won't die."

I look at the human, his hand now ends in a stump, and the obvious pain he was in is gone. He looks at the brand new stump in wonder.

I whirl on the arrogant human, "You son of a bitch, get the fuck out of here. As I said, we will defend ourselves. And if I find any more of your goons on my property, I will shoot to kill. Do you understand?" He's wincing at the volume of my voice. I step towards him aggressively and he spreads his hands to try to placate me.

"I'll leave. But I'm not done with you, Mr. Shaw."

I snort as I turn my back on him. With a few quick flaps of my wings I'm back over the fence and the unicorns have teleported back onto our side of the fence. I nudge one of the earth ponies, "Make sure they leave. But let me know if there are any problems." I head back into the house, supporting a woozy Dr. Ray.

***

Days pass, we are starting to get into a rhythm, though continuous inflow of ponies keeps staggering my mind. All three barracks are full now. I've already started construction on three more. But the breakneck speed I built the first ones was hideously expensive, so it's going to be a few weeks for construction to be finished on them. Luckily, the ponies really aren't having a problem cramming in the space available. I spend most of my time at my own house, which has now permanent house guests, Irony, Moon Shadow, Lightning Flash, Trixie, and Mindy bounces between the two houses all the time. Add in my wife and kids, it's always a full house, which I'm finding I like. Most mornings I will sit on the porch and watch the sun rise over the lake. This morning is no different. Lightning Electric is humming along, we've hired the new journeymen, and are in the process of hiring some new apprentices, we've taken delivery of three of the ordered twelve trucks. I have to smile as I take a sip from my orange juice. 

"Morning Dust." I hear the door open and Irony emerges, she takes a seat next to me.

She nuzzles me for a moment and continues, "Us early risers have to stick together."

I chuckle, "I'm only an early riser because I have to for work. Given the choice, I'd be awake right now, but after being up all night."

She smiles at me, "Well, the military never really washes out of you. Though I enjoy this time. But I'm getting bored." She stops and looks seriously at me, "Aren't you going to decide who is going to be on the new retrieval teams?

I look at her, and then I look out at the water, "I will announce who gets the jobs after today's run through."

Shortly after getting back to Montana, Irony had the idea that it shouldn't fall on just us to go and help ponies in trouble. She put the word through the ponies there. And had two hundred volunteers the first day, and another hundred the following day. Not just ponies, but some of the humans who've moved onto the farm with their pony family members have volunteered.  After much weeding, we've been able to set on two teams to join Irony, Moon Shadow, and myself. Each team is three pegasi, a unicorn, and an earth pony. I think the hardest was to get two more to round out our team. I wanted to have Trixie and Lightning Flash, but Irony vetoed it. Saying that would be too much favoritism, and plus, their experience on another team would be invaluable. To which I had to agree.

Add in all the pegasi that are learning weather management as fast as we can teach. I'm actually surprised no pony else has done the same. These ponies have had their heritage stripped from them by Discord. Bringing that back is important. And if we do some good around this world, that is a good thing.

Irony shrugs her shoulders, "What are you going to do with CNN?"

"I've already refused them interviews. And any time any news truck is set up outside, the humans living at the farm chase them off, leaving the ponies inside."

She smiles, "Don't you think it would be a good idea for us to really go public?"

I shrug my wings, "I don't know, Irony. I'd love to, but the reaction from some humans, I've been shot trying to save ponies, we've found one in the middle of getting raped. Is humanity ready for us?"

She lets me lean against her, though I fold a wing around her as the sun finally fully rises. Being summer, it's about four thirty in the morning. She sighs, "I don't think they really have a choice. Some of what you said is happening. Magic is coming out, from more than just the ponies. But I think some of the chaotic forces in this world are fighting back. In some places, I shudder to think of what's happening to the ponies there. Mindy has a few hits, and we are going to have to go out on missions again before long. I hope you liked your break. But at nine this morning, we are going to have a final run through. And you are going to have to make the decision."

I stand up, I feel my wings as I stretch. I've already eaten, I want to fly. But today, I feel like flying alone. I give Irony the kiss she deserves, and finally after catching my breath, I'm in the air. I blast through the low hanging clouds and go for some height. After several strenuous minutes, I look down. I judge my height to be over twenty thousand feet. The air is frigid, but it doesn't bother me, as long as I keep my speed up. I streak to the south. What would I have done without this? This flying. I have so many ponies asking me questions, wanting my opinion. I have to settle so many differences of opinions. I'm going to rip my mane out. I turn to the west, and increase my speed, and look around. I see a commercial airliner, I'm guessing it's out of Denver. An early morning flight. I smile. I love being a pegasus. 

I change course and streak towards the Boeing product and shortly am flying alongside it. I glance at the windows, and dozens of human faces are pressed up against the tiny windows. Eliciting a laugh from me. I wave at the humans then do a slow roll. The humans need a bit of a show, I work up and down the airplane, keeping a careful distance from the wings, and fly upside down, then I really get brave, I edge closer to the wing. Briefly thanking Celestia for the calm air as I let one, then both rear hooves touch the leading edge of the wing. I wonder if the pilot knows what I'm doing. After a moment I pull ahead, then flip over the plane to the other side, and repeat the feat on the other wing, keeping an eye on the windows, it only takes a moment before the faces are pressed to the other side windows. I laugh as I finally increase my speed and move to the front of the plane. I can see the pilot looking through the window. The look on his face is priceless. I toss him a wave then accelerate. In moments the plane is a speck behind me. I've learned that not all pegasi are as fast as Rainbow Dash and I are. There are plenty of fast pegasi, but we are a cut above. I like being in that exclusive club. I finally turn to the northeast and head for home.

***

I find myself hovering in the air above the paintball course that was constructed by the previous owner of the farm. I remember playing paintball there years before. But the ponies working around it are deadly serious. We've been testing hot insertions, we've been testing every skill we can think of when it comes to retrieving a pony. Some of the family members of the farm have volunteered to be the bad guys. I watch one of the pegasi, her name is Winter Storm. She was the one that was being raped when I found her in Denver. 

She's taken the trauma of that time and turned it into a determination that I've never seen matched. She has told me she doesn't want any other pony to go through what she went through. And as far as I'm concerned, she's kicking ass. She streaks along just under tree top height and lands in the place where her target is. But she's being smart about it. I watch the earth pony on her team creep up from being dropped by another pegasus to get close. That pegasus is perched high, keeping an overwatch. I'm liking her strategy. I can't hear the words she's saying but she's talking to the pony who is our "victim". The human tasked to watch her is suddenly restrained as the unicorn on the team teleports in. In moments, the "victim" is being led out of the makeshift building and towards the safe point. I have to smile, a textbook setup and solution. 

I move over to the end point and wait for them to emerge, and shortly the entire team is trotting happily to us. I hear the applause of those watching. We've gone from three hundred volunteers down to thirty ponies, all ready to go. The plan is we have two teams on hot alert, and one as backup. The backup team will keep training during missions. I hope we aren't going to be needed, but according to Mindy, that is not going to be an option. We've got missions to do.

"Excellent job!" I shout as they make it past the finish line. I turn to Mindy and Irony. I see smiles all around. I turn back to the tired team, "We will talk, and the decision will be made shortly."

***

Three hours of hammering out the details, and Mindy, Irony, Moon, and I have come to our decision. All thirty ponies are sitting outside, sweating in the summer heat. We finally push through the front door. 

"I know it was a long time coming, rounding out my team will be Cloud Kicker, and Blossomforth. B team will be, Winter Storm, Trixie, Lightning Flash, Morning Star, and Heliotrope. And in the lead, Winter Storm"

I look at the blossoming smiles from those chosen, I take a deep breath and continue, "Our dedicated backup team will be, Sparkler, Buttercup, Storm Track, Blaze, and Lightning Streak. And the leader for this team, Sparkler. That is all." I turn back into the farmhouse, I don't want to see the reaction from those that didn't make the cut. They were all very good. I have had enough unhappy looks. I end up in Mindy's office, alone. I lay my head on the desk and moan, "Why do I have to be the one they all look up to?"

Apparently somepony was listening at the door, "Because you are the best one for the job." Trixie says as she pushes in. I feel my ears wilt. 

"I don't want to be the best at leading us all, Trixie. I just want to do my job, and be the best at it that I can be."

She moves closer, "And your best job is to lead, Dust."

I slam a hoof on the table, "But I'm a shitty leader, I've failed, I've lost ponies. I've lost Soarin." I collapse. Tears flowing. 

Trixie wastes no time, and I'm brought into a hug by her. I sob into her shoulder. 

"You ponies should find another leader." I say.

She pulls back from me, forcing me to look her in the eyes.

"We will not be choosing another leader, Lightning Dust. You are the best for us. And you need to realize that. When the chips are down, Lightning Dust is the one who busts her ass to make us safe."

"But, Soarin, that pony in Belarus, those ponies dying against Discord…"

I get a hug from Trixie, "No leader is perfect. You are doing damn good work though, Dust. Though Trixie really thinks she should have been in charge of her team."

I sniffle a bit, "Irony, Moon, and I debated it. But we felt that the passion from Winter Storm is what put her over the top."

I get a hug, "Trixie knows, she first came in here to complain, but on seeing Dust like this, she couldn't really put her concerns first. But it is good to know why Winter Storm was chosen over Trixie."

I smile at her, "Thank you for being understanding Trixie, we really felt the way these teams are built complements what you will be asked to do. And you are an excellent mage, but you aren't the leader that Winter Storm is. She's going places. I honestly hope she goes back to Equestria when the portal opens next, they will need her there."

Trixie chuckles, "They have the mane six in Equestria."

I chuckle back, "Yeah, and Equestria is a whole world that has been under the oppression of a despotic maniac for twenty five years, smart leadership is required all around. Especially since the Princesses are still on Earth."

"You have a good point there." A new voice says, I look up, Irony is there. With a gentle smile. She sees my condition, and smiles at Trixie who is comforting me. She moves up and nuzzles Trixie, then I get a kiss. 

"Dust, you need to clean yourself up, I need to show you something."

***

"So what's going on?" I ask as I follow Irony into the small ironworking shop on the farm. Then I stop, my breath is taken away, the ponies working here have been working to expand the shop, it's easily triple the size it was when I bought this place. Stacked bars of steel are on racks, two large propane forges are lit, and ponies are hammering on anvils, various projects are scattered about in various stages of construction. But the primary open space is taken up by a large… I walk around it. I look up at Irony in confusion, "What is it?"

She chuckles as she puts her hand lovingly on it. "A new way to get around, this is the second one we've built. But I have to show you the first one. The unicorns are pretty much done with it."

The large bay doors are opened, allowing the summer sun into the smithy. I once again follow Irony outside. And another… I would have to call it a chariot, is sitting there, gleaming in the sunlight. Gold accents along with plenty of stainless steel, adorn it's side. The floor has been made of diamond plate steel, but it looks like it's been rhino lined. I feel it with my hoof to confirm. I look at her. "Does it work?"

She smiles and nods. I hear soft hoofsteps behind me, and two large pegasi are walking up. They have big smiles on their faces. Irony guides them to where they can hook up. In a matter of minutes they trot in a big circle, getting used to its weight. Then Irony steps aboard, with Moon Shadow and Trixie in tow. I look inside, "I don't see any seatbelts, or hand rails, or anything to keep you on it when they take off."

Irony barks a sharp laugh, "That's not needed love. That is what magic is for."

I tilt my head to the side, "Huh?"

She moves a hand to encompass the inside of the chariot, "Magic, Dust. You remember what they used in the show, well. One of the ponies here started building, and I helped him. But he told me about memories he had surfacing, how to make pegasi drawn chariots. And so we built a couple of them. He was able to start the spells, and he taught a couple of other unicorns to do the spells as well. And… well." She stopped and placed a hand lovingly on it, "We made it work, Dust. We've already tested it without anypony aboard, and we were wondering if you would like to be the first pony on Earth to test this out?"

My ears fall, I feel my tail tuck underneath my rear and I back away, "Oh, nononononono. I don't need that."

Her ears fall, I look at Irony and the others who've worked hard on this. I gulp. "Um." I look again at Irony, pleading with my eyes, I trust my wings. That's it.

I hear her softly whisper, "Please Dust. You can trust in our work."

I hesitantly place a hoof on the chariot, then a second. I finally hop my rear hooves onto the chariot and then sit down. I close my eyes tightly. Then I feel the chariot shift as Irony hops aboard, she's back on four hooves, and she nuzzles me, "You didn't think I'd make you go through that all alone, did you?"

You don't want me to answer that, Irony. I am able to shake my head, but I'm not able to fully control my trembling. She whistles out at the pegasi that are pulling the chariot spread their wings. I close my eyes once again. I hear their hooves on the crushed rock and then nothing but the soft flow of wind. I feel Irony nuzzle me. I lean into her, leaving my eyes closed.

"You can open your eyes now, love."

I shake my head vehemently, "I'm good."

"I'm not above prying your eyes open, Dust. Just please, for me?"

Well, when you put it that way. I crack an eye open, my first view is of the two pegasi, their wings working in long, easy strokes. But we are horizontal. Gravity isn't pulling us to hang underneath them. I look around in wonder.

"I didn't feel the takeoff." I say in wonder as I look over the side, we are easily a few hundred feet up.

"As I said, Dust. Magic. As it was explained to me, the spells create a null inertia zone. And it's own gravity. They could fly upside down and you wouldn't fall, in fact, you wouldn't know you were upside down if you didn't open your eyes. And it works with pegasi magic of those pulling it, which lowers the total weight, and allows it to stay with them pulling it, rather than carrying it."

"How fast can we go?"

She laughs again, "As fast as the pegasi pulling it can go. But I've got to say, a pegasus like you, or Rainbow Dash, or any other speedster pegasi would probably destroy these trying to pull them. You gals are just too fast, but we can probably cross the country in a matter of hours with this."

"So, the 442 is going to be parked for a while?"

She nods.

"And how many are ready to go?"

"Just this one, the second should be ready by the end of the day. And we can get some more built in about a week or two."

I smile as I look around, "This is amazing." Then I lightly punch her with a hoof, "I still prefer my own wings, love."

She leans against me, "I know love. But this way, we can at least be faster, and you won't have to be so bored."



> Chapter 27. A Not So Typical Day in the Oil Field
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, Mindy. Where are we going first?"

She giggles, "I have been talking to one pony online. He was able to steal a smartphone, and it's battery is about to die, but he first emailed Equestria Daily. Soarin's email traps caught it. And I was able to talk to him this morning. I told him we were going to come get him. He's really tired of being used as a pack mule. And any time he tries to talk, he's beaten. He said the only thing keeping him going is us coming to get him, so you need to get going."

She hoofs the address over to Winter Storm. She takes it gratefully. 

"Winter." I call out. She stops in her tracks and looks back at me, "Since this will be your first full mission, we are going with you. But you will have control. You can call us for backup, but without your call, we won't do anything. You want to prove yourself. Here is your chance." 

"Thank you Dust." She chirps happily. Trixie gives me a long look as she follows the rest of her team. This time, we are taking one chariot. Well, they are. I was persuaded to get on the damned thing once. Not again, any time soon. Those might be great for other ponies, but not for Lightning Dust. I move over to the pegasi who are going to pull the chariot. 

"Keep it under ten thousand feet, boys. We are going to follow the rules of ultralight aircraft, we don't have to file a flight plan, and we must stay under ten thousand feet. I don't want any F-22's catching up with us while flying."

They both chuckle as the rest of the ponies file aboard. Except for Winter Storm. She flares her wings.

"Winter, ride with them, I want you fresh and alert when we get there." This causes her to wilt a bit, but she's not a speedster pegasus. This journey, over five hundred miles, will have her exhausted. In minutes, we are in the air.

***

It's getting late, and I'm in my home office. Winter Storm is sitting across the desk from me. I can see she's nervous. I smile to assuage any fears, "So, Winter. Tell me what went right. And what went wrong."

"Ma'am, pretty much everything went right. The humans didn't have any fight in them once we stormed the front door. They didn't have any weapons, and they were using physical intimidation to subdue the pony. We got in, we got out. Nopony or human was hurt."

"How do you feel about a mission like this, Winter?"

She smiles, "If all of them are like this, there are no problems."

I frown, "You know as well as I do that not all of the missions will be easy."

She nods, "I know. But we have to save ponies that are captured. If they want to come with us, and this pony obviously did, we need to just find them."

"What about if they don't want to go with you?"

"If it's a dangerous situation, we will need to back off. It's not worth us getting hurt to save a pony that doesn't want to be saved. But if at all possible, persuasion is our best bet."

That gets a smile from me, "And how do you plan on persuading a pony that doesn't want to come?"

She giggles, "That's easy, Dust. I just have to tell them what happened to me. And how much happier I am with the rest of the ponies."

I nod. She does have a good point there, "You did a wonderful job, go back to the farm, get some rest, and check with Mindy if anything else comes up."

As she leaves I finally am able to climb the stairs up to my bedroom. Helen is sleeping, Irony and Moon Shadow are curled up in the bed with her. Helen has told me that the bed is a lot more comfortable with more ponies in it. I suspect she likes how soft our fur is. As I climb in, I see her head is on Moon Shadow's flank. I'll agree, sleeping like this is very restful. I sigh and let my eyes close.

***

The alarm jolts me out of a dead sleep. I look over, five AM already? Ugh. I hit my phone with a wing, silencing the alarm. I look around, Irony's apparently up. But Moon Shadow is snoozing quite contently with Helen. I gently kiss both of them then hop off the bed. I disconnect my phone from the charger and slide it into its strap on case. I slide the stylus where it belongs and I'm ready for the day. Today's going to be a little different. Ever since I bought Lightning Electric, I've always made sure to spend a day with a crew on the job on a regular basis. And since we have hired a couple of pegasi now, I should spend today helping the line crew string some lines. My wings ache from the thought, I knew how hard that crew was when I was a human. Though now, I don't have to climb poles. I'm going to be spending all day on my wings I'm pretty sure.

"Morning Irony." I chirp as she slides French Toast towards me. Then settles into the bowl of fruit she prepared for herself.

"Ya know something. You pegasi got it easy."

I cock my head to the side, "What are you talking about, Irony?"

She chuckles, "I had to give up meat with my transformation. I can tolerate eggs, but I have no appetite for them. You, on the other hoof, get to eat pretty much whatever you want."

"Yeah, and it all goes to my flanks." I laugh.

She laughs heartily, "Yeah, sure Dust. With all the flying you do, you would probably have to eat ten times the calories you do to gain a pound."

I dig into the French Toast, "I wish I had this metabolism as a human."

Her turn to cock her head to the side, I chuckle as I continue, "Irony. I was in my mid thirties, I wasn't skinny. I wasn't super heavy. But I wasn't a healthy weight for my height. I was pre-hypertensive, I was approaching middle age. And now I've got the body of a consummate athlete. One who is on her way to the top of her game." I spread my wings, "With these wonderful wings. Exercise isn't the chore for me that it was when I was human. I really am happy in this new body."

"Wow, so you really meant it didn't you?"

"What?"

She sighs, "Going through the portal would be a one way trip for you, Dust?"

I nod.

"You know, you would likely get a brand new female human body. One that will likely be as toned as the one you currently have. Don't like that idea?"

"No, Irony. I already had to endure a gender swap becoming a pony. I want to think in the back of my mind that male body is back there somewhere. Coming back with a human female body would probably be super depressing."

"Even if you had big tits?"

That gets a sharp bark of laughter from me, "With my luck, I'd have training bra size tits."

She chuckles again.

***

Breakfast over, I'm at the shop by six after a quick fly. Long enough to get the blood pumping, but not enough to get sweaty. Though I did like the fact that I wasn't alone in the air. Many of the pegasi of our weather team are early risers. As a courtesy, we've been controlling the weather around town as well. And published in a few places in town is when the rain is going to happen, and detailed forecasts for the rest of the summer. Far better than any meteorologist would be able to produce. The posting even had an email address for any special requests. I settle into my office chair and start on my daily email binge before everyone showed up at the shop.

By the time seven AM was approaching, my crews were showing up. The lineman crew was heading north, only about thirty miles, I elected to fly with the pegasi and start setting up for the day. The previous day they had finished the last of the poles on the seventy miles of high voltage line we were going to string for a set of new wells. This part of the project was going to be a couple of days. Stringing lines used to be a real pain, setting up pulleys on all the poles, then getting the guide wires in all the pulleys, followed by pulling the steel wire. Then the insulators would be installed and the wire tightened and everything tacked down. It was a labor intensive process. But having pegasi made the job faster. We would just string out the line on the ground, and the pegasi would lift the wire onto the pulleys, removing part of the workload.

"MDU is going to come out here today." One of the pegasi said as we were getting the big spools ready, in anticipation of the rest of the crew showing up, MDU being the utility company

I look at the pegasus, "Really?"

He looks really excited, "Yeah, with pegasi, we are easily twice as fast as any other line crew, they want to see what we are doing to get lines strung out so quickly. They don't know about the pegasi yet."

That gets a chuckle out of me, "How much you want to bet they are going to be trying to hire some pegasi to work for them?"

"Well, they do pay more than you do."

"Not by much."

He chuckles, "True. I'd rather stay here anyway. It's nice having ponies around."

I nod as I roll a spool into place to be picked up by the spool trailer. A minute of work and the axle is in place. We are ready.

I look around, "Where's the rest of the crew?"

One of the mares responds, "They have to go the long way, we get a break until they get here."

Fine with me, we keep talking for a while until a blue Dodge service bed truck comes over the hill on the right of way.

The next few hours are quite strenuous as the pegasi get the lines strung down the line of poles. I spy an MDU service truck bouncing over the uneven ground. One of the pegasi gets a bit frisky and buzzes the truck a few times, prompting laughter from the human crew, and myself, of course. Finally the truck stops and three humans exit the truck. I land with the other three pegasi on the line crew.

I trot up to the humans, "Hi there, I'm Lightning Dust…" My words trail off as I recognize the face of the driver of the truck.

"I remember you."

I remember him to. I was in a playful mood at the time, not so much now.

"Um, er… eh." Is all I'm able to get out.

"I remember what you said, and it really stuck out, I tried to remember who said that all the time." He stops and then laughs, "I'm guessing you were a fan of Animaniacs."

I nod.

He crouches down to eye level with me, "Nice to actually meet you, Lightning Dust. I must confess, I wouldn't have given the rumors of colorful ponies cropping up all over much credence if I hadn't had a face to face encounter with one."

"Yeah, about that…" I rub the back of my neck with a hoof, I finally am able to spit it out, "Sorry about that."

He smiles brightly, "My kids didn't believe me. So, if you would, can I get a picture of both of us so I can show them?"

I laugh, "Of course."

We end up actually taking a pretty good picture, I'm standing on his shoulder, wings out, big grin on both our faces. I even have them take a video of us just talking, it's harder to fake a video than a picture. He ends up with my phone number and a tenuous promise to visit him sometime and say hi to his kids. 

I actually had a good time at work, though when it was time to head in for the day, I accepted a ride. All the pegasi did.

> Chapter 28. Taken
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I think this one's gonna be a challenge, Dustie." Mindy chirps as she hands me a piece of paper.

I look at the address, "Tacoma Washington. Not too far. Why do you think it will be a challenge?"

"Well." She bites her lower lip, "I'm not entirely certain there is a pony there to be rescued."

"Okay, but you think there is one?"

She nods happily, "Oh, yes. Tracking web searches from that location makes me really think there is a pony there. But the searching is inconsistent. I'm not certain there are ponies there, or curious humans who know some ponies in the midst of their transformation."

Sounds like a wild goose chase, "Where is Winter's team?"

"The Philippines. A personal favor for the man in office. He called personally and asked. He said the government there was not really being helpful, and he felt that our team would do the best job.

I shrug my wings, "Well, a mission is a mission. I hope there is a pony there."

"Ponies, the searches include unicorn and pegasi."

I smile, "The more the merrier."

"The chariot is being readied, and two more former chariot pegasi have volunteered. They did it for a living back in Equestria."

I scoff, "For that short a trip."

She interrupts me, "The chariot would be faster than anything else. Unless you want to leave Irony and Moon Shadow behind."

I wilt a little, "True."

***

I land shortly before my friends. I'm not getting in a chariot if I don't have to. But soon we are looking at the twenty five story building. I bring the pegasi of our team close.

"Cloud, Blossom, we need to find where the ponies are. With a building this big, I know there is a lot we can't see from outside, but check every window you can. If we see ponies we'll figure out what to do then.

We are in luck, the sun has just set, so the inside lights of the building are helping us, we can look through the windows without being spotted. All three of us pegasi are flitting around the building. After nearly an hour of searching, we join the rest of the team near the loading docks of the building.

I look over at the two idling panel trucks, both are closed, but no drivers are evident, so I ignore them for the time being. I look back at my team, "Anything?"

Two lowered sets of ears tell me everything. I look at Irony, "You think we should search the building from the inside?"

"It's either that or go home."

I look at the large building and back at my team, "If there are ponies in there, we need to find them."

"What do we do with any humans?"

I smile, "Let's see if we can nice our way through this one. Be polite, respectful, but insistent. See if we can get the security guards to let us walk through the public areas of the building. And see if we can see any signs of anything. Cloud Kicker and I can start on the roof, and see if we can find anything."

"And if we find anything, we will get the ponies, over the objection of the guards if need be. But let the guards know that this is going to happen. But don't let them know Cloud and I are going to be coming from the roof."

I get nods all around, and Cloud Kicker and I end up on the roof.

She looks around and points, "There's the roof access door." And in moments we are on the twenty third floor. The top two floors being machinery and open space, nothing to hide a pony. We trot down the hallway. We come to a T. I look left and right.

"Cloud, you go left, I'll go right."

"Dust, we should stay together."

I scoff, "Cloud, we can cover more if we split up."

"We are safer if we stay together."

I think about it for a moment, "You've got a good point Cloud Kicker."

She smiles at me, "All part of the service."

We trot down the hallway, checking doors, two out of three open easily, but usually after a head is stuck in, we can call the room clear. We cautiously head down the stairs to the twenty second. This one seems a little different, some kind of office level, with a huge set of cubicles, which we rapidly clear by simply flying over the half walls.

The twenty first floor however is vastly different. Not anonymous corridors with plenty of offices, but more of a mixed office setup, with a large open room. And right near the stairs is a reception area. I push gently on the glass doors, and they open easily. I smile. They must trust their security guards to protect everything. I keep my ears perked. We haven't seen anything, or even heard any humans or ponies.

I cautiously push through a door, and I see lights on down the hallway. I quickly trot down the hall with Cloud Kicker in tow. A cautious test shows the door is unlocked, so I push the door open. I get a few steps in when I hear Cloud scream. I whirl around and as I see Cloud Kicker collapse to the ground, a man in black holding something to her neck, I snarl as I take a step towards him, when I feel something jab against my shoulder, I scream as fifty thousand volts surge through my body. And my consciousness flees as everything goes black.

***Cloud Kicker***

Oh man. I put a hoof to my head. That hurt. I've been tazed before, but never as a pony. Damn. I finally am able to open my eyes.

"Dust, you okay?"

I look around I'm not where I was before, I'm in the lobby, right next to the glass doors and across from the elevators. I stand up and try to get my bearings. I look at the doors, two inch thick glass. I push on them, and this time, they are locked. I push on them harder. Nothing. I whirl around and buck them for all I'm worth. The thick glass doesn't even notice. I growl and look around. 

"Dust, where are you?" This lobby is pretty small. I'm the only pony here. What the hell? After a few futile minutes, I finally hit the down button on the elevator. 

It takes a frantic twenty minutes to find Irony, Blossomforth and Moon Shadow and apprise them of the situation. Soon we all are in front of the massive glass doors. Two security guards in tow.

Irony gestures to the doors, "Open them."

The older guard spreads his hands, "I don't have the keys, ma'am."

Irony growls, "Damnit, I shouldn't have left my mace and armor back at the chariot."

Moon Shadow giggles, "But you brought me along, love." Her horn lights and the doors try to resist her, but the hinges fail, toppling the massive doors. I flash over the open doors, calling for them to follow me. I can hear them following, and I ache to go faster, but I need them with me. Soon we are at the door where Dust and I got hit.

"It was right here, they got us." I say as I buck the door open. We rush through the door.

Nothing. An office desk, a computer, a chair, no Dust. Nothing.

Irony screams in rage and picks up the younger guard by the neck, "Who's space is this?" She screams in his face.

The older guard answers, "The Spectrum group."

She tosses the human aside, "We need to get downstairs, they have to be getting away with Dust."

Blossomforth and I flash to the stairs where we fly up and out of the building, then down to the ground. Moon Shadow and Irony beat us, by simply teleporting. We look around. 

"Around the building, now!" Irony screams as we split to search around the building. We end up at the loading docks in the back,  "Damn it. Where is she?"

I look around. Oh shit, "Irony, both of the trucks are gone."

"Let's go!" She shouts as we head to the chariot, once in the air, Blossomforth and I quarter back and forth, looking for any sign of the trucks. We keep searching throughout the night, and into the day, we finally decide we can't find them by flying around. We need help. Irony pulls out her phone. "Mindy, we need the backup team, and you. We need help."

***Lightning Dust***

I come to in a truck. At least I think it's a truck. It's moving, I can tell you that. I slowly open my eyes. The lights are on in the truck, and I'm not alone. My nose flares as I smell the human smell in the truck. But my vision is too blurry to make anything out. I try to stand, then discover that I'm restrained, and I'm in a cage. What the fuck? I've got hobbles on all four hooves, all with massive chains and they are welded to a pin in the floor. I lift a hoof, it's heavy. I don't think I've got enough strength to break the chains. Whomever they were, they were ready for a pegasus. I grin, but they couldn't be ready for a pegasus with magic.

I flash a wing forward, throwing a bolt at the cage door. My grim mirth is strangled as the bolt reflects off the thick steel bars of the cage and hits me. I suppress a scream as the voltage surges through me. I try a second time, with the same results.

"Don't bother." A voice interrupts. Jerking my attention to the human in the back of the truck with me. I blink a few more times, and finally enough tears allow my vision to actually clear.

Then I finally recognize who was talking, "You!" I shout, and I strain against my restraints.

The same man from the farm brings up a stool just outside the cage. He is in khakis again, but his polo shirt is green this time. He sits down and looks at me. "I told you it wouldn't be the last you saw of me, Mr. Shaw."

"It's Lightning Dust, you bastard."

He chuckles, "I prefer your human name, but then again, you've embraced being a freak of nature. So, I guess I'll call you by that name."

"You haven't told me your name."

He smiles, "And I don't plan to." He taps the bars of the cage with a finger, "And you are going to be our guest for quite a while, Miss Dust. Though we are going to have to do something about that troubling ability you seem to have."

I smirk, "Good luck. It's part of me. You would have to kill me to get rid of it."

He smiles, "I don't know about that." He gestures around him, "This truck is heading to some of my…" he pauses for a moment, an evil grin blossoming on his face, "associates. They are going to make use of you." His grin turns even more evil as he continues, "But not in the way that you are thinking. You are an anomaly, Miss Dust. Ponies aren't sapient. And yet, you are here. I've learned some about what was going on. And I must say, you should have all gone through that portal, and left our world in peace."

I flare my wings aggressively, "There are still humans transforming into ponies, I can't go home until all the ponies that want to go home get to Equestria."

"How unfortunate, for you. Miss Dust. Because you won't be seeing any more of your precious ponies ever again."

He stands up and moves to the front of the cargo box. After knocking on the sheet metal a few times, the truck pulls to a stop and the doors are opened. A half dozen men climb into the truck. He looks at them.

"Clip her wings, gentlemen." I back away from the door of the cage as they advance. I try to throw a bolt at them, but it's again reflected at me, dazing me. They take that opportunity to open the cage and one of them tackles me.

"Hey, get off me!" I scream as another man jumps on me, my back legs are splayed behind me, my front legs are pushed to the front, I have no leverage to buck them off. I feel my wings being spread, I can't move them where I want to move them, they are being held too tight. I curse at them, and scream. One of them grabs a large pair of pliers.

"What the fuck are you going to do with those?" I shout, and I get my answer quickly. I feel a stab of pain as a primary feather is ripped from my wing. I suppress my cry of pain as a second primary feather is yanked out. I struggle with all of my might, but I can't stop them, and soon the pain overwhelms me with every yank. I feel tears roll down my face as more and more of my long flight feathers are pulled out, one by one. My blood is running freely now. I am reduced to just being able to scream.

Finally they are done, they leave me in a crying, bloody mess, all of my flight feathers are scattered around. I look at my bleeding wings. I feel my magic, and try to push it through my wing, the cage is still open. But nothing happens. My feathers are the conduit for the magic. I sag to the floor in defeat.

"There now, that wasn't so bad, wasn't it?"

I can't stop the tears right now, but I'm able to produce saliva. I spit at him, "Fuck you, asshole!"

"No, I think your new handler can take care of that."

***

Three days of hell in that truck. No food, no water, and two wings that are absolutely on fire. And to top it off, I was in the dark for those three days. After that asshole and his apparent employees left. I was stuck in the dark. Nothing but the steady movement of the truck, though I could tell when we stopped for fuel. But my throat was so parched by that point, I couldn't do more than whisper, much less make enough noise to attract any attention. Finally the truck bounces down what is apparently an unpaved road. I hear the roar of other engines, but I don't know what's going on.

Then the door is opened,  and I am completely blinded. I blink my eyes to allow myself to acclimate to the onslaught of light. I feel the body of the truck shift as someone comes in. By the sour smell of their sweat, they are human. The door to the cage is opened and a large metal bowl is gently placed in front of me. I look at it, it's full of water. I try to pick it up, but it's too big. I take the edge in my lips and tilt it down, spilling more on my face than what makes it in my mouth. For my trouble a booted foot slams into the side of my head. Knocking me to the extent of my restraints.

"You stupid bitch, drink."

I've got enough water to wet my throat, "I was trying."

Another kick, "No, you dumb fuck. It's a bowl, drink it."

I move to tilt the bowl to sip the water again, and get another boot to the side of the head for my trouble.

"Are you not listening? You must be really fucking dumb. Drink the fucking water before the plane is ready."

I shake my head, then what he was wanting finally dawns on me, I shoot him a venomous glare, "I'm not a common animal." I again try to get my hooves under the bowl so I can pick it up. This time my head is roughly grabbed, and my muzzle is shoved into the water. I have no choice at this point, I extend my tongue and start lapping up the water, the hands withdraw as I keep drinking. Feeling more and more degraded with every lap. I look up as best I can while doing so, and all I see are boots. I see fresh blood on the toe of one. I know that was my blood. I keep my temper as best as I can, but I do glare at the boots as I finally empty the bowl. My stomach protests the sudden onset of liquid, and I have to suppress the urge to vomit from drinking too much. I sit on my haunches while I'm trying to overcome my sudden nausea. Then hands come around and I feel a sharp click as a steel collar is snapped around my neck. I rear back, only to be restrained by the hobbles and the collar.

"What the fuck?" I am able to croak. This time the boot finds my ribs, knocking me on my side. Ow, that hurt like a son of a bitch. I stagger to my hooves. A ratchet is brought out, unbolting the pin from the bed of the truck. Then bolt cutters cut the chains from the hobbles, leaving my front legs tied together, and another set on my rear legs. I can walk, but only short, mincing steps. I extend my wings for balance, only to get another boot to the ribs. Fine, message received, keep the wings folded. I'm not helped the three feet out of the truck. I have to jump, ending up on my face. The chain on my new collar tightens, prompting me to get up. I can hear them talking.

"The border patrols have been stepped up again, we have to fly south."

"Why are we taking that stupid thing?" The second voice says.

The man holding the other end of my chain responds, "Because our employer told us to. Get this trash across the border, then we can get paid for this job."

I sigh, and try not to let my tears fall. I've done enough crying back on the truck. It's time to focus on survival. Though after three unsuccessful attempts at trying to climb into the plane, I'm finally picked up and all but thrown into the cargo area of the small plane. I simply lay there as the plane taxies over the rough ground, then accelerates into the sky.

Hours pass as we fly. I was expecting a short trip to get across the border, but apparently they aren't planning on staying close to the States. I am eventually lulled to sleep by the gentle motions of the plane.

Which eventually wakes me up as it lands. I groan as the plane taxies to a stop, and in a rush, I'm in the back of another truck. This one has an open top. So I can see as the sun sets as we travel. I've lost count of how long this trip has been. But well after full dark, the truck slows down and turns onto a gravel path. Finally the truck stops, then backs up a short distance. I'm not even given the chance to do anything as I'm roughly picked up and unceremoniously tossed onto the ground. I'm so exhausted, I fall asleep nearly immediately.

***

"Get the fuck up." I know that voice, it's the same voice from the truck. I look as another bowl of water is set in front of me. I consider trying to drink normally out of it. But I decide that isn't a good idea. I obediently lap up the water.

"So, you can learn." To which I stop and shoot him a dirty look. But I go back to drinking quickly. Finally I'm done. And I'm starving, but otherwise, my head doesn't hurt as much. I finally back away from the bowl.

"Thank you." I allow, only to have his boot flash out and connect with my temple.

"I don't need your gratitude." Well, any nice feelings wither up and die at that point. 

I don't know what he's wanting at this point, so I sit on my haunches and study him. He's wearing camouflage pants and a black t-shirt. He's white. At least I think he is. He's heavily suntanned, and his narrow face smiles at me. But I don't like that smile. I feel like a slab of meat being scrutinized. Finally he grabs the chain to my collar and leads me into a building off the paddock that I was dumped into. The pull chain light is switched on. And I can see him even better than the low lights in the yard. He smiles again, showing half his teeth are missing. I really don't like his smile. 

"So. What now?" I ask. And to my relief, his foot doesn't lash out at me again. His grin only gets wider. He walks around me slowly, and hooks the chain to a hook on the rafter, wrapping it a few times so I can't simply flip the chain to get it loose. Then he continues walking around me. I move as best as I can to keep him in front of  me, but soon I'm at the limit of what they chain will twist. I feel my wings extend. I'm getting pissed at his silence and that disturbing grin. Unfortunately, that makes his grin widen. The collar is preventing me from turning my neck any further. I hear something coming from him. Oh no. I know the sound of a zipper. I hear the soft sounds of cloth being moved. Is he doing what I'm thinking he's getting ready to do?

"What the fuck?" I scream as hands grab both of my wings at their roots. They are still extremely sensitive after the feathers being removed. I don't have any time to think of anything before he enters me. 

I scream as he starts moving, I clamp my wings to my side, trying to do something, anything to get this invasion to stop. But he keeps going, getting into a rhythm. I try moving away, but the collar around my neck combined with him holding me doesn't allow me to do anything but write in his grip. 

"You sad motherfucker. You have to take women when they are unable to fight back. You let me go, and I'll show you what it's like with someone who can fight back." I scream. I try to rear my head back to bite him. But that damned collar cuts off my airflow. 

He keeps it up, "You know, I was a man before this change. I was bigger to." Damn, no reaction at all, except the rhythmic pumping. 

"You miserable fuck!" I scream again, "Only the lowest of animals rape. You dumb son of a bitch. I bet you raped your mother. You miserable excuse for a dumb fuck sick sumbitch!" 

He's still going, what the fuck! The hobbles around my legs keep me from kicking, I can't do anything. As he continues, I feel tears leaking from my eyes. My ineffective shouting eventually devolves into nothing more than a long wail. This is too much for me. I want to lose consciousness, I want to die, I want anything but more of this. But still he's not done. Finally, after what seems like forever, his pace quickens. And he shudders against me. He finally lets me go, where I collapse, only being held up by my neck. Maybe I can suffocate like this. But no, he reaches up and loosens the chain so my head is able to lay on the ground.

"Must keep you alive, boss' orders." 

I hear him reassemble his clothes. And he passes my vision as he heads to the door.

"I lasted longer as a guy, you miserable fuck."

He chuckles, "Maybe, but I've got you. And you are mine to do with as I please." He pulls the chain, plunging the stable into darkness as he slams the door behind him.

I can only lay there, and cry.

> Chapter 29. Search and Rescue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

***3rd person***

Mindy doesn't mind flying. And the chariots are fun to fly in. But they can be boring. Nothing to do! Finally Irony's chariot is visible, and they all head down to the top of a parking garage so everypony can talk. Mindy hops out with the rest of the group.

"So, what happened?"

Irony spends a few minutes telling her what happened to Cloud Kicker and Dust.

Mindy's eyes glow green for several seconds, "When I find that son of a bitch, he's going to have nothing else to worry about." She growls as inky black lightning crackles up and down her horn.

Irony edges away slightly, "Mindy, where did you learn dark magic?"

She turns to Irony, a grim smile on her face, "Here and there. Dark magic isn't necessarily evil. But it is fueled by emotions, far different than normal magic. But I'm being careful." She concentrates and the lightning is replaced by her normal orange glow.

Sparkler comes up, "Do you have any idea which way the trucks went?"

Irony's ears fall. "Not a clue. They were gone before we got down."

Mindy smiles brightly, and two computers along with her phone are levitated out of her saddle bags. She opens both of them, setting the phone to give the computers internet access. She works both computers at once. "The Spectrum Group, you say?"

Irony nods.

"Okay, I thought I remembered that name. They are the holding company for Spectrum Laboratories." More windows appear on the computers, "And quite a bit of other companies. This company is huge!"

She frowns as she concentrates. Pages whipping by on the screen faster than anypony can read, except for Mindy.

"Okay, they have dozens of panel trucks. Though five are in the area. Oh, damn. They don't have them on GPS. We can't track them that way."

The rest of the ponies rest as Mindy rapidly scans through them.

"South."

"Are you sure?" Irony asks.

She shakes her head. "No, I'm not sure at all. But I've got a feeling. We will find Dust if we go south."

"Like to Oregon? Or California?"

"I don't know exactly, Irony. I wish I could be more specific. But from what I'm reading here, and everything else, my impression is south."

Irony stands up, "Well, you heard the mare, we are going south. Mindy, you keep your computers and…" She trails off as she see's Mindy's eyes shrink and her ears fall. Mindy slowly turns the computer around. A video window is open.

"What?"

Mindy has tears in her eyes, "I didn't open it."

On the screen a man sits down. With a jerk, Mindy knows who that is. The guy from Spectrum labs who visited the farm. He smiles brightly.

"Well, greetings ponies. I want you to see something." He presses a button on the desk, and the video cuts way. The inside of a panel truck is shown. Lightning Dust is there. Her shoulders are heaving in great sobs. The camera moves like it's a handheld. It zooms in. And everypony gasps. Dusts wings are bleeding, her feathers are scattered all over. The clip ends and the man shows back up.

"That was your leader. And she's in my custody. I want two things, the two ponies that you abducted from my laboratory. And I want you ponies to confine yourselves to your pesky little farm. You are to wait the thirty months until your portal opens, and then you will all leave Earth forever. After all you ponies leave, we will be destroying the statue that contains the portal. And we won't have to deal with the disruptive influence you ponies are on human society. I would just have your farm carpet bombed. But I am a merciful man. And I will not kill you if you agree to my terms."

Irony spins the computer around to face her, leaning down to make sure she can be seen clearly.

"I hope you believe in a God, little man. Because you need to start praying now. I will find you, and I will make you wish for death long before I'm done with you. Hand her over now, and kill yourself, and I won't destroy everything you hold dear."

She's interrupted by raucous laughter from the speakers. The man is holding is stomach and banging on his desk with laughter, after a moment, he speaks. "Oh, you ponies are so entertaining. I might have had the wrong one abducted."

Irony shifts and picks up the computer, putting her face center screen, "Know my name. I am Irony Shieldbreaker, and I will destroy you and yours utterly." She slams the lid closed, then breaks the laptop in half. She then shifts back and her tears start flowing. "Oh, Dust, what has he done to you?"

Mindy looks at the wreckage of the computer and up at Irony, "You know, that computer cost a bit over five grand?"

Irony gives the unicorn a cold look and turns to her chariot, gathering the rest of the team by eye, "Put it on my tab." Once in the chariot, she gestures for Mindy to join her. The magenta unicorn wastes no time packing everything up and hopping aboard.

"South it is."

***

"There it is!" Mindy screams as she points downward. A black panel truck is tooling down the interstate, 'Spectrum Group LLC' emblazoned on the side. Moon Shadow and Irony are in their armor. Mindy is holding her magic, she's ready. The pegasi pulling the chariot bring them lower, allowing every pony to jump off the chariot onto the roof of the truck.

Irony grips her mace and looks at them all, "You ready?" Getting nods from all around, Moon Shadow lights her horn to join Mindy, and the roof of the truck is ripped apart, allowing them to jump in. 

Irony frantically looks around. It's empty. And apparently the commotion wasn't unnoticed by the driver, they all brace as he panic stops. As the truck screeches to a stop, Irony bashes the door open, and they all rush to the front of the truck. The driver's door is enveloped in orange magic and is ripped from the frame, allowing a bipedal Irony to reach in and grab the driver. She grabs him and brings him close to snarl into his face, "Where is the other truck?"

He opens his mouth and then a hole appears in the center of his forehead, the bullet continuing through and splattering his brain against the side of the truck. Irony turns and sees an SUV stopped a hundred yards away. A sniper rifle being steadied on the hood. She snarls as the gun barks again, her shield flashing up to take the impact. She doesn't have to do anything else as Mindy's horn glows and the SUV is flattened, the sniper with it. They all look around. Irony screams, "Pegasi, to the air!" Prompting Cloud Kicker and Blossomforth to take off. Irony shifts her shield to take the brunt of automatic rifle fire from another SUV. Moon Shadow fires a beam at the offending vehicle, causing it's front half to just disappear. Three men with automatic rifles jump out of the remainder of the vehicle. Another two SUV's screech to a stop. It's ten men, all with weapons firing. 

Irony takes cover along with Mindy and Moon Shadow.

"Damn I wish I had my old SAW right now." She growls as she takes a dozen rounds on her shield. Her armor takes a few rounds as well.

"We're pinned down." Moon Shadow screams over the noise. She fires a blast at a man running between cover. 

Suddenly the gunfire quiets down. Irony peeks over her shield, then stands up fully. She laughs, "The cavalry is here."  A total of five pegasi are dive bombing the men. And magical blasts are hitting them from above. A grim Sparkler is standing on her chariot, firing blasts of magic at the humans trying to take cover. Mindy and Moon Shadow take the opportunity to get out of cover, and keep up the assault. In minutes, it's over. Three of the humans are dead. The rest are restrained with magic. 

Irony finally finds out who is in charge. She picks the man up. "Where is the other truck."

"Go to hell, freak!" 

He is dropped and her mace comes out, the sharp points are placed right under his nose, "I won't ask again."

Sweat beads on the man's forehead, "I don't know. We were just told to follow this truck and take care of any who try to stop it."

She looks around at the other humans, then back at the confiscated weapons that were found on them, or in their vehicles. She points to the weapons and they are levitated onto one of the chariots. She smiles, but this smile  is not at all pleasant. "Thank you for your donation." She then leans down and sticks her muzzle in the leader's face, "You tell your boss. I'm coming for him. And everything he holds dear will be destroyed." The man pales visibly before jerkily nodding.

Irony stands up and strides to the chariot, "We have a truck to find."

***

Three days of searching, quartering to the south. Following hunches, following slim evidence that Mindy is able to grab online when they stop to give the pegasi a breather. Mindy has tried everything from hacking traffic cameras to co-opting a camera satellite with ten centimeter resolution for a few precious hours. And they found a lot of black panel trucks. But not the one they were looking for. They were over Arizona right now. The B team made it back from overseas, and so now three chariots were being flown over the southern US border.

Mindy's phone chirps, "Hi Trixie."

She listens intently then abruptly hangs up. She calls to the fliers for the chariot to change direction. She looks at the rest of the team, "Flash was out patrolling, he found the truck. No Dust."

All ears fall. This is bad news. But after a few hours flying, three chariots are near the abandoned truck. Irony hops off the chariot and strides to the driver's door of the truck. Nothing. She heads to the back, and sees all the ponies gathered around the back door of the truck.

"What's going on?" Irony asks. She looks inside. Cloud Kicker is inside. She's gathering up the long turquoise feathers. Tears are rolling down her face.

"I'm surprised she wasn't killed. Having all of her feathers ripped out." She shudders as she shows a feather, a ragged bit of flesh still attached, "It had to be incredibly painful."

She feels a growl deep in her chest, "Will they grow back?"

Cloud Kicker looks thoughtful, "Normally, I would say yes. But it would be months before she's able to fly again. But we have another issue."

Moon Shadow hops up into the truck, "What other issue?"

Tears flow freely from the lavender pegasi's face, "We may lose her, if she's being tortured, she could be lost to us."

Moon Shadow cocks her head to the side, "Lost? What do you mean?"

"I don't have very many memories of it. It very rarely happened in Equestria. But a pony under these conditions can lose their magic. They can lose their very essence."

"Hold it." Irony shakes her head hard, not believing what she's hearing, "She could die?"

Blossomforth speaks up, "Well, yes. And no. Her body may not die, but her soul, what makes Lightning Dust special, can die off. Her body will remain, but she will be gone. Do you understand?"

Irony nods slowly, "How long do we have?"

Both ponies look unsure, hooves are tracing circles. "It all depends on her magic. We are magical creatures, and magic can be lost."

Irony grimaces, "And loss of magic is personality death?"

Cloud and Blossom both nod.

Irony gives a grim smile, "If there is one thing I know about Lightning Dust, she's got enough tenacity for ten ponies. She won't give up."

Moon Shadow murmurs, "I hope so."

Blossom and Cloud Kicker continue picking up the feathers for a minutes, Irony steps up on the truck to join them, "Why are we collecting her feathers?"

Blossomforth shrugs her wings, "She's a pegasus. When you lose a feather, a flight feather specifically, since they are the conduits for our magic, they are imbued with magic of their own. They are nearly indestructible, they will not decay, and even burning them is difficult. All adult pegasi save their feathers. Usually until they die, and the feathers are burned with their bodies. These are pieces of Dust's soul right here. Pieces of her magic."

Irony takes the feather in her hand, "So, this is a small piece of Dust's magic, of her essence?"

Nods from the pegasi.

Irony takes the feather and quickly braids it into her mane, allowing it to hang over her ear, "Until I find her. This stays with me."

Tears from the pegasi, Blossomforth speaks, her voice catching with the pain as she talks, "You really love her, don't you Irony?"

Irony nods.

"We need to find her. And we don't have the resources here. We need to head home, we have a lot to do." Moon Shadow says.

***

The three chariots finally ground again at the farm. More big changes in the last few days. Irony jumps off the chariot before it even stops moving.

"What's going on?" She asks the pink maned Mayor Mare.

"Oh, it's horrible!" Mayor Mare says, "We got the email, and the video from Mindy. We've gathered all the former Royal guards. He threatened us. We need to prepare."

"He will be taken care of. He's mine. The one who should be afraid is him." Irony growls.

She shakes her head, "I've been reading the materials Mindy sent me. He doesn't control the US Military, but he does have control of some things. The Spectrum Group has ties to a few mercenary groups that are stationed overseas. No doubt some of them are on their way here."

Irony shakes her head, "I don't believe that humans can be so savage."

Mayor Mare shakes her head, "Well, when they are motivated by two things, money, and fear. They can be as savage as anything. If that asshole is making those threats, and he's got Dust. He's serious. And your little temper tantrum doesn't help anything."

Irony turns her head slowly to the mayor, a determined look on her face, the mayor wilts, "And you are seriously suggesting we do as he says? Dust said that we refuse to hide, and I agree with her a hundred percent. We deserve the same rights as any human."

"I'm not at all thinking we do what he said. Soarin told me the same thing." The mayor smiles gently, "I have no interest in hiding here for two and a half years. I want to find more ponies. I want to help those who want to stay safe."

They are interrupted by a shout from the newly built practice yard. Earth ponies, garbed in armor, are practicing sparring. The pegasi are practicing with new sets of wing blades. The unicorns are practicing spells. Though the fewest in number are the unicorns. Not very many have the aptitude for offensive spellcasting. Irony follows the mayor through the practice yard.

"We are training them as best we can. The weapons you just brought in will be helpful. And some of the ponies have military backgrounds. We are purchasing more weapons as we can. The unicorns can use the guns unmodified. But for anypony else to use a gun, it has to be modified by our iron smiths. We are in luck, one of them was a master gunsmith. So, we will be either modifying guns for pony use, or building entirely new weapons."

"And how is this being paid for?"

She laughs, "Our first payment from the city of Los Angeles came in. They have over seventy pegasi working on their weather. And some other funds have come in. And the city of Denver has also come forward, wanting pegasi to work on their weather. And I've gotten emails from other cities as well. If we get enough pegasi, we can control the weather of the entire nation. Money is not a problem, Irony. That I can tell you."

"Have Helen and Dust's kids been told?"

Her ears fall, "Yes, she was told. She didn't react well. First losing Soarin, and then…" She trails off, tears starting to form in her eyes, "And word was passed around at her company. Lightning Electric has about a hundred very pissed off electricians. Nearly every one of them has come to me, offering help. Some are ex military, some have friends in the military or police forces. Everyone is contributing to the effort of defending the farm, and looking for Lightning Dust. She will be found."

"I'm going to start that process. We will start by dismantling the Spectrum Group."

"That is a very large company. It will be very hard."

Irony nods her head, "I know, and that's what makes it worth it." She strides away from the mayor and into her beloved forge. A dozen ponies are working at the forges and the anvils. Several pegasi are getting their wings measured for wingblades. Completed sets of armor are everywhere. The forepony for the forge comes up.

"Hey there Irony."

"Hi there, Folded Steel."

The large, dark gray earth pony with an anvil for a cutie mark shakes her mane, "Irony. I've put in for more materials. We are building as fast as we can. But we need materials, we need steel stock."

"Have you asked the mayor?"

"She's already agreed, but getting deliveries out here can be sometimes problematic. We live out in the boondocks, we've already cleaned out the local steel supply in town. They are wanting to restock. But it will be at least a week of idled forges if we don't get more stock. I would suggest we get a hold on a flatbed trailer and haul it ourselves."

"More damned money." 

"Not as much as you think Irony. Dust owned Lightning Electric. They have flatbeds they use for hauling equipment. And dozens of trucks. Perhaps a trade, or something."

This gets a bark of laughter from the blue earth pony, "They are all pissed at the loss of Dust. I think we can even get one of them to drive the truck for us."

A piece of paper with an address is hoofed over, "Then get a trailer here, it's a few hours away, but they have the stock we need."

"I'll get on it." Irony says as she exits the forge. She looks at the farm house, then heads to the 442.

***

"Hello Helen." 

The slim human woman falls into Irony's waiting arms. Tears immediately wet her shoulder. She guides the distraught woman inside. She's finally able to guide Dust's wife to the table in the kitchen.

"Irony, I know how important Dust is to you." Irony nods, "she is easily as important to me." She glances at the children watching TV in the living room, "And not just for the children. I know how close you two have gotten."

Irony's ears drop. A slim hand is placed on her cheek. "No, I'm not upset. She's in love with you. She was a good husband when she was Mike. And she's doing the best she can with this change. And the last few nights, with all of you in the bed with us. Have actually been very comfortable. Is that the norm back in Equestria?"

Irony nods. Helen continues, "Well, I must say, I've slept better with you ponies than I have for years without you. I'm happy to have you stay here."

"Mom, come here!" Dylan's voice rings out. The panic in his voice causes both adults to rush into the living room. Dust's kids are sitting on the couch, Hannah is staring at her hand in fascination.

"What happened honey?"

"We were watching TV, and my hand started to get hot, then this appeared." She presents the back of her hand to her mother, both Irony and Helen gasp. A ten pointed star has appeared on the back of the ten year old girl's hand. 

Irony takes it in her hands, "If I didn't know better, I'd say it was a cutie mark. It actually looks a lot like Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark."

"Who's to say you don't know better?" Helen says as she scrutinizes the star on Hannah's hand. Her father turned into a pony. There could be a connection."

"Oh there definitely is a connection. Hannah would be a unicorn if she were a pony." Mindy chirps. The magenta unicorn is bouncing behind Helen and Irony. A big smile on her face, "Though I don't think this is going to be confined to children with pony parents."

Everyone looks at Mindy with looks of wonder, she keeps bouncing as she continues, "Hannah can do magic. And I think other humans will be able to soon." She bounces up the stairs, calling out. "Go ahead Hannah, levitate something."

The young girl looks at her hand. Then she concentrates. "I feel something. I feel like a part of me is waking up."

Irony gently pushes Helen to sit down. She picks a cup of tea off the coffee table and sets it in front of the girl. "Mindy thinks you can do it. So, go ahead and try."

The girl stares at the cup, she slowly lifts her hand and a light blue aura glows around her hand, the same colored aura envelopes the cup.

"Go ahead, Hannah." Irony breathes.

The cup lifts off the table, then drops, then lifts again. It jerkily raises to a foot above the table. Irony looks at the little girl, her brow is furrowed in concentration. Sweat beads on her face as she concentrates. Finally the cup is lowered. She smiles tiredly at the adults. "Did I do well?"

Helen grabs her daughter in a hug, "You did awesome!" She shoots Irony a glare, "You get Dust back. The sooner the better."

Irony stands up, "Don't worry, Helen. I'm going to get Dust back."

***

The 442 shifts as the trunk is slammed. Irony moves towards the drivers door.

"What are you doing Irony?" Moon Shadow calls softly."

"I'm going to do what I promised. I'm going to start with the lab that was holding the ponies in Portland."

"Without the rest of your team?"

Irony's ears fall, "I don't want any of you getting hurt." She turns around, the entire team is there. Blossomforth, Moon Shadow, and Cloud Kicker.

Cloud Kicker stands on her rear hooves and pushes Irony into the side of the car, "You are not abandoning us. We are a team. We are going to destroy that evil man, not just you. You may think you are protecting us, but you leaving without us will just compound the pain." She drops back onto all fours, "I didn't know Dust nearly as well as you do. I was late to this party. But I can see exactly how much her loss has affected everypony. We are going to get her."

Irony's ears fall flat, "Are you willing to kill for her?"

Moon Shadow is the first to nod her head, but after several moments of shifting hooves and ears twitching, the other two nod as well.

Irony smiles, "Good. Because I have no doubt that killing is going to be necessary." She reaches over and opens the door to the car, allowing the other ponies to jump in. She walks back to the back of the car and loads their gear on board as well. Might as well do the job correctly. She smiles grimly as she finally sits in the driver's seat and turns the key. The massive engine roars to life. And she gently guides it over the uneven road away from the farm. She looks in the rear view mirror as the farm disappears from view. She focuses on the road ahead as she finally gets to the paved road. Where she floors the pedal, the 442 leaping forward.

> Chapter 30. Life on Earth as an Equestrian
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 29.

Mindy's phone rings, a quick chime of magic and it's against her ear and the answer button is pressed, "This is Mindy."

"Mindy, this is Gold Dust. You need to get outside right now." 

Mindy frowns, "Problem?"

"Yes."

Mindy doesn't waste any time, charging her horn and remembering the new teleportation spell she invented, she pops out of existence. And appears standing next to Gold Dust. 

"What's up Goldie?" Her chipper mood is immediately soured by what is happening. A caravan of cars are making their way through the gates. Irony's only been gone for two days, and this evening has been pretty quiet. She follows the lead car until it stops. The reason her mood is soured is simple. Glass is missing from some of the vehicles, and obvious bullet holes are evident in nearly every vehicle. "Dear Celestia!" She sends a text to Dr. Ray as she sits by the drivers door of the lead vehicle. When the door doesn't open quickly, she pushes a bit of magic and pops the door open. The driver slumps out. Barely staying conscious. Mindy gasps and picks up the unicorn in her magic. He's obviously exhausted.

A pegasus who was riding in the passenger seat hops out. "We were at our family farm in Nebraska when they hit."

Mindy shakes her head, "Hit? Who hit?"

The pegasi's ears flatten, "All I know is they were human. They overran our house. They captured about half the ponies there. We were able to scatter, and either with our cars, or we stole a few. But we heard about you ponies here. So we came here."

Mindy's ears fold back, "I think I know who they are. They are really nasty people.  My friend Irony is on her way to let them know not to mess with ponies."

The pegasus nods grimly, "I was a member of Twilight's special guard under Irony. If Irony is going, they are going to get the message."

Mindy smiles brightly, "Well, if you know Irony, and you were a guard. We can use you here."

The pegasus extends a hoof, "I'm Star Song"

Mindy shakes the hoof, "Mindy."

Star Song looks around, "I heard this was Lightning Dust's setup. Is she around."

Mindy's voice catches in her throat, "Dust's not hear right now."

The mint green pegasus with the lavender mane turns back to look at Mindy. "What happened?"

Mindy stops the tears before they can fall, but it's close, "She was taken. By the same people who attacked us, and attacked you."

Star Song whirls around to face Mindy, "Those same bastards have Lightning Dust? Where is she?"

"If I knew, we would already be after her. But we are trying to find her."

The pegasi's wings slowly relax, "They killed friends of mine. We have a good dozen dead ponies, and nearly thirty were captured when we fled." Her wings finally fold up, then she perks up. "Wind Archer, are you okay?" She trots over to the unicorn stallion, nuzzling him lovingly. 

Dr Ray lets his horn quiet, "He will be fine, he's just exhausted. We'll get him inside and bedded down. A few hours rest, and he'll be as good as new."

That gets a sigh from the pegasus. She turns to Mindy, "Well, where can we stay?"

Mindy points to the parking lot. "We'll get your cars squared away." She closes her eyes, and with a blink, each car in succession pops into position in the parking lot. The pegasi's jaw drops, "You are a damned powerful unicorn, aren't you?"

Mindy shrugs, "I'm me." She then gathers herself and bounces towards the barracks. One of the new buildings is ready for habitation, so she pushes open the door, showing the new ponies inside. These are built quite differently, a good sized common room, and a large kitchen in each barracks to start off with. And the living area in each one is huge by pony standards. She gets them bedded down and brings Star Song back into her office.

"What did you see?"

The pegasi's ears wilt, "To be honest, not much. I saw the muzzle flash of their weapons, and I saw humans running towards the house. We weren't prepared at all. We didn't expect the humans to attack us. They were actually pretty nice. We were working on the weather around town. It's a small town, called Auburn. We were having a good relationship with the humans really. It was all a blur as we got the hell out of there. I saw friends get shot." The pegasus shivers, remembering. She shakes her head to try to clear the horrible visuals from her head.

"What kind of weapons did they have?"

A shaken head is all she gets, "I know they had automatic weapons. I couldn't tell you the type though."

"Vehicles?"

"Never saw them, Mindy."

"Any air support?"

That got a sardonic laugh, "Helicopters would be a mistake against pegasi, unless they wanted to drop bombs on us."

Mindy nods, pegasi equipped with wing blades would make an attack with helicopters suicide A pegasus brand new to the air can outmaneuver anything humanity can put in the sky. She looks at the mint green pegasus, "It looks like they will hit anyplace where ponies are. I'm going to call the other places I know of that have ponies. And we are in the process of building up our defenses. We are anything but helpless. And your experience as a guard will be helpful."

Star Song nods, "I'll help wherever I can."

They are interrupted by a knock on the door, a white feathered head pokes through the opening door, "Uh, Star Song?" The masculine voice says, "Where are we to sleep?"

Mindy gapes, "You have a griffin?"

Star Song is able to smile wanly, "We have two."

"Gilda?"

A bark of a laugh from the griffin, "No, Gilda isn't here. We were in the Equestria Games episode, as best as we can figure out. But we do creep out most of the ponies around here. Some privacy would be helpful."

Mindy laughs as she bounces over to the griffon, "Nice to meetya, we can open up another floor of one of the barracks for non-pony equestrians. Sound good?"

The griffin pulls back a claw slowly from the enthusiastic shaking Mindy was giving it. He holds his claws together for a moment, making sure they are still connected. He then smiles and says, "Sure."

***Lightning Dust***

"Ow you dumb bitch, let go!" My tormenter screams as I squeeze harder with my jaw. He was unwary enough to let an arm get close enough for me to bite. I growl and shake my head like a dog, I can taste his blood as he tries to pull away. I still have that damned collar on. He howls in pain, causing me to smile around his arm as I keep pulling. I'll rip his fucking arm off if I get the chance.

His screams get louder and soon another human joins in the fray, they are trying to lever my jaw open. I just clinch my jaws as tight as I can. I'm stronger damn it. I don't even notice them hitting me with their hands. I've been a captive here for three weeks. And after enduring daily rapes, I'm pissed, and I'm staying pissed. Finally I'm poked in my overlarge eye, causing me to let go involuntarily. I back away, snarling at him.

"You fuck." I scream, his blood dripping from my muzzle, "I told you I would get you." I have to smile in triumph as he cradles his wounded arm. I drew a lot of blood from him with that bite. I lunge forward, "I'll do it again. Come on, you can handle a mare that’s tied up. Let's see you handle me without these hobbles." I'm gratified to see him dance out of the way of my lunge. The other human raises his hand to hit me. I puff out my chest, I'm ready for what he's going to do. 

"No, don't hit her." He shouts. I know his name, I heard another human use his name. Saul. He reaches to the door and picks up a base ball bat. I feel my ears fall. I don't want that bat used on me again. My wishes are not realized at the bat whistles through the air, catching me on the shoulder. I was able to move my head out of the way this time. Pain once again blossoms on my body. He reverses the bat and swings one handed, this time I'm dazed as he connects with my temple.

I feel my body fall to the ground, and the beating really gets started. I don't feel it anymore. I lay there and think of Irony, of Moon Shadow, of Mindy, of all my friends and loves. He can't take them away from me. I lose track of time, and eventually I lose consciousness as he continues to hit my abused body with a renewed will. I'm glad I got a good bite in. Normally I don't even get that far when it comes to defying him.

I come to, eventually, laying in the hay, my entire body bloodied and a mass of pain. I feel a second kick, it was the first that brought me back. I slowly open an eye, I find my other eye is swelled shut. He deserves another bite for that from me. I can see Saul, his arm is now bandaged. That gets a grim smile from me, he's going to feel that for a good long time. Then I see the other humans.

"Alright, boys. Hold her down." Three men grab me, immobilizing me quite well. 

He advances, I see something in his hand. My ears drop as I realize what he has. It's a bit, like the one for horses. And I've seen them at the farm, we don't use them, don't need them, but they were leftovers from the previous owners. This is a really nasty bit too, it's called a spade bit. It has a spoon in the middle that applies pressure onto the tongue of the horse. I try to back away, I don't want that thing in my mouth.

"What the fuck do you think you are going to do with that?"

I only get a grin in response. He advances. And one of the guys on top of me shifts and holds my head, not allowing me to move at all. My working eye is wide as he brings the bit closer. I clamp my jaw shut, but it's to no avail. He succeeds in getting the bit in my mouth, and he tightens the strap to hold it on. He finally signals the other humans to get up. 

"It's time that you learn what you are good for, you fucking whore." He adds with a swift kick to my already bruised ribs. He takes a lead and attaches it to the bit. Unhooking the collar, he pulls on the bit. The pressure makes my head move forward, and I involuntarily take a step. Then another. Shortly I'm shambling along behind him, taking short, mincing steps due to the hobbles.

"You do your job right, I might let you out of those hobbles." I suppress the surge of joy that rises at the prospect of getting those hobbles off of my legs. I want to run. I shift my wings, I want to fly, but that's not happening any time soon. My wings have been slowly healing, and most of the scabs are coming off, but I know it will be a long time before my feathers grow back. I slowly follow him. And as this is the first time I've been let out of the shed, I get to see my new home. I'm in the middle of some kind of jungle. Maybe twenty acres of cleared space, with a large building and the paddock that my shed is attached to. He leads me to the edge of the flora, and then stops. 

He turns and looks at me. "You can't be an effective work horse with those on. But as long as I have this rope here, you aren't going anywhere." He produces a key and hands it to one of the other humans, and in moments, my hobbles are off. I sigh and stretch my legs. I watch him intently, and when he turns his head, I jerk my head away from him, trying to pull the rope out of his hands.

Ouch, that was a mistake. The spoon on the bit presses down into my tongue, sending a jab of pain directly into my brain. I thought I had endured pain before, but this is a whole new level. I hear an evil laugh from Saul. "Oh, little pony. You have no idea. You are under my control. And except for your little victory in getting some blood out of me, you are doomed to lose. I chose this bit because it's one of the most aggressive bits, and runs the risk of injuring the horse if it's not trained to it. You aren't, so if you think you are going to be smart and pull away from me, you'll find that pain will be your reminder of exactly how alone you are. 

He turns his back on me, pulling sharply on the lead. I have no choice but to follow, otherwise my mouth will be in extreme pain. After a long time walking we come upon some other humans.

"Look here boys, we've got ourselves a new pack mule." He calls out. Earning him a snort and a glare from me. I'm no fucking mule.

This earns laughter from the other humans. And shortly I have packs on my back. Their cinches crushing down on my wings. I can smell what they are having me haul. I had tried the wacky weed in my much younger days. And now I get to haul the stuff. Is this what is left for me? Am I going to be their slave? Their work horse? For the rest of my life? I slowly trudge down towards the hill back towards where we came from. We do that several times for the rest of the day. My legs getting more and more tired, my whole body a mass of pain.

***

Weeks pass, and one day, I'm woken up early. Is it time for him to violate me again? I cringe at the thought. He seems flustered, but that has to be my imagination. I'm led over to a large truck, with a canvas top. The engine starts and the truck starts to move. I'm able to look out the back of the truck as we pull away. I notice that smoke is starting to emerge from the buildings and as the truck heaves out of sight, I can see the beginning of flames. Why are things being burnt? I briefly wonder. Then he jerks on my lead and I'm forced to lay down. I'm grateful for the removal of my hobbles. Sleeping is a lot easier now. 

***3rd person. Irony***

The chariot lands with Irony, Mindy, and the rest of Irony's team. Irony leaps out just as the wheels touch ground and runs to the paddock, she wrenches the door to the shack open, despite it being fully engulfed in flames, which drive her back. She whirls around, "Damn it. We finally had them tracked down!" She howls as she watches the hungry flames as they consume the small compound. "Where did they go?"

Mindy's eyes fill with tears as she moans, "I'm sorry, Irony. I don't know. We just got the twitch on this place, and came here as soon as we could. I couldn't even tell you for certain that Dust was here."

"Damn!" She shouts, then looks at the pegasi on the team, they get the message, they start a careful search pattern, starting with the path that led to the compound. After a few hours of quartering back and forth, they have to call the search. Whoever was here was long gone.

"Damn it Dust. If I have to go to the ends of the Earth, I will find you." She whispers quietly to herself as she climbs aboard the chariot. They take off in silence.

> Chapter 31. Life... and Death... on the Farm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

***Montana***

"Know my name, I am Irony Shieldbreaker and I shall destroy you and yours utterly" The speakers on the computer say, then the video shifts to hand held video. Showing the lab. Body's are zoomed up on, showing injuries that look like magical blasts, and others from Irony's great mace. The blood is vividly shown. Finally the video devolves to a well dressed human. We know this human. He opens his mouth to speak. And Irony slams the computer closed. Mindy gives Irony a reproachful look.

"And so, the war has started. But it's started in more ways than one." Irony growls.

Mindy nods. She looks at the rest of the team, "That video has over sixty thousand views. I've reported it for graphic content, and it likely will be taken down. But the damage is done."

"We should make a video, showing more of what happened in that video." Irony pipes up, only to be silenced by an uncharacteristic glare from Mindy.

"Oh, I will be presenting our case. But there is no guarantee that we will be listened to. This part of the war is all about emotions. And he seems to be presenting the case that we are dangerous. I've already gotten emails from our client cities. And I've been able to soothe their ruffled feathers by showing them what really happened."

"I'm going to fulfill my promise. I'm going to find that man, and wring his skinny little neck." Irony promises.

Mindy smiles at her friend, "I know, and I'm not saying stop. But I'm thinking you need to be a bit less public about your destruction. No more facilities around here destroyed, for the moment. We need to figure out how to show the world that this asshole is the asshole he is. But you notice that his little drug running operation wasn't shown. So as far as I'm concerned, open season, no bag limit."

"But how are we going to show that, Mindy?" Moon Shadow pipes up, after being silent since they entered Mindy's office.

"I don't know yet, Moon. But I will find a way. We've already been showing how we can help humanity. But videos of earth ponies making plants grow, and pegasi moving clouds aren't going to cut it." She stops and giggles, "But new tourism videos from Los Angeles are helping. They haven't had a day of smog in over a month now. And the long standing drought has been eased, and I've talked to the weather manager there. The weather is responding better than expected. Many reservoirs are at or nearing capacity. Two hundred pegasi have been working out there. And they've been sending ponies here as well. Ones they find. We've found fifteen griffons, five hippogryphs, even a few minotaur. They have been hiding as best as they can. Their size and their look scares most humans."

Irony frowns, "So, we are flourishing, but this crap can cause it all to fall on our heads?"

Mindy smiles brightly, "Yes, exactly."

Irony brightens, "I have an idea. We need to watch for illegal operations from them, this will only work until he figures out we are behind it, but we need to alert the authorities and have them come down on him like a ton of bricks. We haven't been able to connect the dots with his drug operations, but he's got to launder the money he's making on that. We need to attack that. And we need to find ways to show that he's violated his contracts with the government. The President would have to act then."

Mindy bounces, "If the government cancels contracts with him, he will be hurting for money, and he will rely on his illegal sources of income then."

Moon smiles, "And we squeeze those off as we find them."

Irony smiles, "And we will finish off The Spectrum Group before I lay a hand on him."

They all nod.

Irony strides outside. Relishing the setting sun. She loves the warmth of this time, just before actual sunset, and with fall rapidly approaching, she knows that those warm days are nearly over with. She moves over to the 442. As she opens the door a low wail starts to build. The sound comes from everywhere. She looks around. Ponies are running around. A real sense of urgency to their movements. She looks at the ponies, they were guard's mares. She turns and looks at the armory that was just erected. Ponies are streaming in unarmed, and emerging with weapons and armor.

"Oh no." Irony breathes. She runs to the back of the car, and in moments has her armor donned. Moon Shadow comes up, and her armor assembles itself around her.

"Makes me feel like Iron Man." She smiles, "but I have magic, which is better."

Together they follow the rest of the ponies, the pop of gunfire is becoming more evident as they get closer. Sparkler is there, calling orders to the earth ponies in armor. Pegasi are swarming into the air. Some with new pony designed firearms. Return fire is starting. Irony watches the fighting in the distance.

"Surely they don't mean a frontal assault on a prepared position." Her ears fall, "They aren't. This is a distraction."

Sparkler growls at Irony, "They have to be too smart for that. I've got a reserve force of pegasi with pony firearms. They are yours. I'll handle the assault group. You get the rest." She calls out, and a dozen pegasi land in formation.

"Blaze Star, you get your orders from Irony." Sparkler calls as she heads out towards the advancing  humans. The gunfire is getting hot and heavy now. 

Irony gestures for the pegasi to follow, she has a single pegasus stay airborne to keep an eye out. On a hunch, Irony heads north from the farmhouse. Her instincts saying that would be the best place to assault rather than from the west like these humans are. Her instincts are proven right when the airborne pegasus whistles. Irony points at two other pegasi who leap into the air. In moments they hear the roar of a helicopter. Irony watches as the three pegasi swarm the helicopter,  a few flashes and the aircraft is a ballistic object. Irony grins, but she knows that's not it. Her ears rotate around. Yes, there.

She raises her voice. "CHARGE!" She screams as she lifts her mace and runs toward the engine noises that were being covered by the helicopter. A dozen MRAP's are caught unawares. The dismounted soldiers are dispatched quickly, but the armor of the vehicles prevents the ponies light weapons from penetrating.

"You stupid humans. An attack on ponies in their homes. You cowards!" A voice calls, louder than any vocal cords could ever produce. Causing Irony to flinch. She looks back at Moon Shadow. Her entire body is covered in a dark aura. Not the one of dark magic, but somehow different. At her shout, all the vehicles stop. Everything goes quiet except for the distant pop of gunfire from the battle raging to the west. The aura fades and she smiles brightly. "There, they are taken care of."

Irony shakes her head, "Did you kill them?"

Moon Shadow shakes her head. No, I did far worse, they are now trapped in nightmares of their own worst fears. It will fade, eventually. But they will likely never be able to pick up a weapon without terrible fears." She trots up to one of the MRAP's, her magic wrenches the door open. The human driver is sitting there, completely motionless. She pokes him with a hoof, "See? Now let's get them out of the vehicles and tied up. Then we can help the rest of the ponies.

Nearly an hour later, they make it to the west field. Meeting with a grim Sparkler, she's holding a shoulder. Blood is dripping slowly from her field dressing.

"Those bastards didn't know what hit them."

Irony grimaces as she remembers what Moon Shadow did, "No. No they didn't. But how did it go here?"

"Do you remember reading about the Griffon war from about eighty years before we were banished?"

Irony nods, "I read the accounts of the war. It lasted all of six hours. And the griffons went home thoroughly bloodied. If I remember, Equestrian casualties were very light."

"And it's the same here, we have three dead, and about twenty wounded."

"And you are one of them."

The pink unicorn looks at her shoulder, "It's just a scratch."

Irony's ears flatten, "You are off duty as of right now. Go get yourself seen to by one of the medics."

Sparkler's ears fall, "But, I've got to…" She wilts at the look on Irony's face. "Yes, Irony."

Irony looks at Moon Shadow, "We've bloodied them. Will they attack again?"

Moon Shadow shrugs, "I'm hoping we are too tough of a nut to crack."

Irony looks at the devastation, the ponies herding the human prisoners. "Dear Celestia, I hope so."

Irony turns around and Mindy is bouncing in front of her.

"What is it Mindy?"

She giggles, "He's overplayed his hand. With an attack on our home, we can destroy him in the media. We need to take care of those injured, and the families of those killed. But our adversary has done the most stupid, insane thing he could do. He gave us fodder to attack him back."

Mindy's phone rings, and she answers. Her ears fall, and tears appear in her eyes. "No, is everyone okay?"

On hearing the answer, she breathes a huge sigh. She hangs up and looks at Irony, "The farm wasn't all that was hit."

Irony's ears fall, "No. Dust's home?"

Mindy nods slowly, "But they were taken care of, by Hannah."

Irony only vaugely hears the last, she's running for all she's worth, she's thrown down her armor and relaxed into her normal pony shape for speed.

***

Irony has iron control of the 442 as she speeds towards town. Normally a good ten to fifteen minute drive, Irony makes it in record time. The three sheriff's vehicles paint the two story house on the lake shore in vivid blues and reds with their light bars. Irony screeches to a stop and gallops through the door.

"Helen, Hannah, Dylan." She screams as she slams through the front door. Moon Shadow and Mindy hot on her heels. Irony skids to a stop. Six men are all handcuffed and sitting down, with two watchful deputies standing guard. Irony pushes into the kitchen. Sheriff Connelly is there, Helen is sitting at a stool in the kitchen, her kids sitting next to her. Irony moves forward and is assaulted by hugs from all three of the humans. 

"I had just come down stairs from turning off Hannah's lights in her room. One of them came and grabbed me." Helen sobs into Irony's shoulder. Her entire body trembles as she remembers, "Hannah wasn't asleep yet, so she heard when I screamed. Three of them ran up the stairs. I was being held, he had his hand over my mouth. I couldn't scream anymore." Her body shakes with her sobs, "I hear Hannah shout. But she wasn't screaming. She sounded mad. Then all three of them tumbled down the stairs. Hannah floated down the stairs, her hair was flying all over the place. She was glowing. She pointed her hand at the three of them, and she forced them to sit down on their hands, then they couldn't move. One of the others pulled a gun on her. But before he could do more than pull it, it came apart in his hands, and he was blown back against the wall."

"Did any get away?" Sheriff Connelly asked.

Helen shakes her head, "No."

"There were six of them."

"No, eight."

Irony shakes her head, confused, "But there are only six of them captured. Where are the other two?"

Helen nods, and looks at her daughter, Hannah takes up the story, "The last two pulled knives and jumped at me. The guy with the gun, my magic told me he wasn't a danger without the gun, so I took it apart. But those guys with guns were coming at me. Daddy told me if someone has a weapon and they are coming at you. You use what you have to stop them. He was talking about guns. He said if people come in the house with guns, we are to run into the bedroom, lock the door, and get one of the rifles." She looks at Irony. "Daddy's taught me to shoot since I was six. Anyone comes through that door but a policeman or Mommy or Daddy. I'm to shoot. Well, I didn't have the rifle Daddy bought me last year, but I had my magic. So, I made them go away."

Irony's ears fall, "What? Go away? Are they coming back."

Hannah shakes her head seriously, "No. They are gone. Forever, just like when we shoot a deer. They are gone." Tears well up in her eyes, her face falls, "Did I do right, Mommy?" 

Helen grabs her daughter and holds her tightly, stroking her hair, "No, honey, you did perfect. You protected us."

"Sheriff Connelly, are you going to arrest me for killing them?" The little girl looks at the tall sheriff.

The sheriff looks at Irony, and back at the human family, "No. I couldn't prove that you did anything anyway. But I wouldn't try either. As far as I'm concerned, this is a clear cut case of self defense. One of my boys gathered up the parts of the gun." He points to the living room containing the men, "These fellows are heading to jail." He looks at Irony, "Did things get exciting at your place?"

Irony nods, "We can take them off of your hands. There are too many here for your jail. And we will guard them."

"What will you do with them? What if this is tried again? This was on US soil, and these men were US citizens. What the hell is going on here?"

"I'm willing to bet these men are mercenaries tied to the Spectrum Group. The same people who have Dust."

The sheriff has a sour look, "If they are related to those who did to Dust what you showed me in that video, then have at it."

"I think they are involved. Moon Shadow and others are interrogating those captured at the farm. We will find out what's going on."

He nods, "Good."

Helen moves forward, "Are we in danger of this happening again?"

Irony's ears fold flat, and she nods.

"We are moving out there, to the farm. That is until Dust comes back. I want to be around those that can protect my children."

Irony smiles, "That's easy, everypony loves Dust, and her family is always welcome at the farm."

Helen looks at her kids, "Pack up, we are going tonight."

Both kids disappear upstairs.

Irony looks at Helen, "With this progression in her power over the last few months, I really think that she should be trained by Mindy and Moon and the other teachers we've been able to garner. One of the humans at the farm has also gained some magical ability, he is not as powerful as Hannah is apparently, but he has a talent for magic as well. We will happily train Hannah in what she needs to learn."

Helen sighs, "I'm glad for you Irony, all of you."

***

Irony emerges from the house first thing in the morning just before sunrise. She looks around. After getting the kids and Helen bedded down for the night, she just finally collapsed with Moon Shadow, Helen, Trixie and Flash. They slept well. Irony heads down the stairs from the porch, she gets to the clear area and looks at the sight there. Over a hundred men are sitting on their knees, hands under their knees, and every single one of them is stripped nude. She strides over to the unicorn in charge.

"Why are they like this?"

"After one of them tried to stab his guard with a knife he had concealed, we decided to remove all chance of them hurting a pony."

Irony gestures to the humans vaguely, "But they aren't wearing any clothes."

"So."

Irony facepalms. "There are still humans here, and there are some fillies and colts here."

"Anything wrong with the human form, Irony?"

Irony stops and looks at the unicorn, with her lavender coat and blue hair, and with a pair of hoofcuffs as a cutie mark, she tosses her mane from side to side. "Isn't it a bit inappropriate?"

The unicorn paws the ground, "I was given control of the prisoners, and until we have a place for them to be confined, I'm not going to have it be a like a human prison. They are going to have less rights than those jails in Arizona. These men attacked us, Irony. They were paid to kill ponies. I have zero sympathy for them. We will treat them decently, they are going to stay alive. In fact, our medics are currently treating a few of them that were severely injured. We aren't barbarians. But I was tasked to be in charge of security for the prisoners by Mayor Mare. And I'm going to do my job."

Irony looks at the men kneeling in straight rows. "What happens if one of them moves."

The unicorn smiles, "They've already found out that it’s a mistake to move without express permission. They are currently magically bound to where they are sitting. But a few unicorns are setting up a barrier around the main grounds of the farm, then they will have a binding placed on them. They try to get outside the barrier, and they will be stopped, painfully. And then dragged back to the farmhouse. We won't be torturing them, but they are being interrogated, Mindy has one right now. And in the mood she's in, I actually feel sorry for the poor sot."

Irony watches for a few minutes, then heads inside. She briefly considers bothering Mindy, but that probably wouldn't be a good idea. Too many distractions won't help the bouncy unicorn. Irony grabs some breakfast, and heads out to the forge. It's been too long since she's been able to spend time working with steel.

***

In the early afternoon, Irony is heading back to the forge when a short siren interrupts her thoughts. She sees ponies paying attention to the main gate. Signals abound for the ponies protection. A car with government plates is waiting for admittance. The newly erected gate guard post has the pony in attendance checking out the driver. In moments the gate opens and the car slowly drives through. Soon a parking spot is found, three humans emerge. Irony brightens at seeing one of the faces.

"Hello there Todd." She looks at the other faces, she vaguely remembers one of them, but the other is a mystery.

He rubs the back of his neck, "Well, we've come here because we need your help."

"Our help? Todd, I don't know how a colony of ponies can help you. Unless your home town is growing anything and can use earth pony assistance, or you want weather management. And for that, we can set up a contractual agreement, but I would think Congress would have to authorize that."

He looks at the other two, then back at Irony, "We actually need unicorn help."

Irony looks at him, confused, "What can a unicorn do to help three humans?"

"Train us, in magic, with your memories of Equestria, you can help us." He holds up his hand, another star, different than the others, has appeared on his hand.

"No, it's not a tattoo, Irony."

"And the other two?"

"The same, they are subtly different, but all have some kind of star showing up on our hands."

"You know you aren't the first to have magic manifest like that, but I know you were here, and you." She points to the vaguely familiar human. The then points to the third human, "But I don't know you."

The last human shows up, "I've never been here before. But this started a couple of days ago. And look what I can do." He brings up a hand, a purple aura envelopes his hand, and the car levitates a foot into the air.

Irony turns to the man, "You've been practicing?"

He nods, "I'm Timothy, call me Tim."

Irony extends a hoof, "Irony Shieldbreaker."

Todd takes Irony aside, "I don't know everything about what's going on. What's happening with Dust?"

This causes Irony's ears to fall once again, she spends several minutes apprising Agent Walker with what's been going on. 

"So, you have no clue where Dust is?"

The tears in her eyes are mirrored by his, she nods. 

"I'll make a few calls my friend." He places a hand on her withers. He turns around and almost bumps into a pink unicorn. "Oh, hi Sparkler."

She smiles warmly at the human, "Hello Todd." 

He steps back, "What happened to your shoulder?" He's pointing at her field dressing.

"Humans." 

"From the attack last night?"

She nods.

"I'm going to have to tell your father, you know that."

Her ears fall, "Please, don't."

He kneels down to here, "Honey, I have to, I was specifically ordered to report anything happening to you. I don't have a choice."

Irony nods, "It's better if your father knows what's going on. I don't think we need more security, but maybe with them attacking us at the farm, maybe we can get some real help, maybe accelerate the process of dismantling the Spectrum Group."

She sighs, "You don't know my father."

Irony chuckles, "No, I don't. And with him being told, he'll either be here soon, or we are going to be receiving a very irate phone call. But we will deal with that when it happens, otherwise…" She trails off as a magenta unicorn teleports in front of her.

"Irony, I was able to get a line on some of Spectrums illegal works. The leader of this mercenary group was able to divulge some computer contacts he had, I've gotten through. Here's a map."

Her magic brings out a map and Irony grabs it. "I'll do some scouting, if anything bears fruit, I'll give you a call." 

Irony strides right to her car. Then stops, remembering her armor, and she makes her way back to the armory, where somepony was thoughtful enough to bring her armor after she shed it running to Dust's house. In moments it's safe in the trunk of her car. And she's on her way south.

***

Saul looks at his captive. The pony has amazingly been losing her color. Instead of turquoise, she's light brown, she's kept her blonde main and tail, and that damnable mark on her flank is still there. Though he does laugh as he removes the saddle bags. She's lost her wings. If he didn't know better, he would think she was a small horse. That mark is very vivid though. Though she's still fun when he wants to play with her, she's stopped resisting him. Speaking of. He unzips his pants, another time is just what the doctor ordered, he thinks as he enters her. She only tosses her head and nickers a bit. She's not as fun since she stopped fighting, but he enjoys the lay anyway.
> Chapter 32. Rememberance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The light brown pony known as Lightning Dust still has her memories. Yet she plods along, day after day. With a pack on her back. Carrying whatever makes her master happy. Her emotions are suppressed, but she has her memories. Her soft brown eyes watch where she is going, but her mind's eye is still active. As days keep going by, more of her memories from Equestria come back. She can't talk anymore. Even without that bit, any attempt at speech brings out nothing but earth equestrian sounds. Her shoulders aren't as mobile as they used to be, so her forelegs are limited in their movement. She stops for a moment, new memories are surfacing. She feels them, she feels her memories. She lets herself remember, a time from Equestria, from her life before Discord. 

***Equestria, 1st person Lightning Dust***

I sit up, I am panting. 

"That was fun!" I lean over and give the golden mare a kiss. She's panting as hard as I am.

"You are an animal, Dust."

I get onto all four hooves, I brush my tail against a very sensitive spot, causing her to shudder from overstimulation, "You don't know the half of it, Spitfire." I whisper in her ear.

She finally is able to get on her hooves, she nuzzles me a bit, "Don't expect this to become a regular thing."

I chuckle, "But the first time isn't as fun as later times are going to be." I waggle my eyebrows.

"You're pretty cheeky for a new member of the team."

I saunter closer to her, rubbing my body down hers, her wings involuntarily start to extend, "And this new member of your team just had her muzzle deep in your privates not five minutes ago." I'm gratified to see her blush. I follow her into the main locker room. The rest of the Wonderbolts are there. Including my sponsor, and the pony that saved me after I royally screwed up back in the academy. Spitfire was glad to give over the captaincy to Rainbow Dash. And with everything that's gone on since she's been in charge, I've been happy to be her wingpony.

Rainbow takes one look at me and grins, "You've been busy, haven't you Dust?"

I stop, oh crap, I feel my face, my fur is matted and I'm pretty sure I smell. I yelp and head for the showers. I can see a furiously blushing Spitfire as I gallop. 

Half an hour later, I'm back, and finally presentable. I stand in formation. Rainbow Dash trots from one side to the other in front of the half dozen Wonderbolts. 

"We have an easy day today. We don't have any performances planned, so we are going to work out with the 1st Pegasi. We can't spend all our time making sure to keep the ponies entertained, we need to also act like what we are, an actual guard's unit. So, today it's a day of sparring and practice with our fellow squad mates. So, draw your wingblades and grab the sheathes. Wouldn't do getting your pretty heads sliced off, am I right?"

The rest of us laugh, but I know that workout days are important, but boooooring. We get to do what we've done a million times, and many of us have years of wingblade experience. I'm one of them. I follow my squad mates out onto the practice field.

And we are surprised, another dozen Wonderbolts are there, the team from Cloudsdale, and the team from Manehattan are here. Not a prestigious as the Canterlot team, but damn. This is going to be actually fun. I slide the protective sheathe onto my blades, so we can spar without actually slicing off parts of our team mates. I size up against a Cloudsdale pony, I know this pony, her name is Surprise. And she's scary with wingblades. Speed wise, she's stupid fast, and that's coming from a speedster like me. I know why Rainbow Dash paired me off with her. She wants me to hone my reflexes. We prepare, waiting for the call to start. But it never comes. I look over at Rainbow Dash, her and the other two captains are all being talked to by a messenger pegasus. We all relax a little bit, seeing the urgency in their body language. There's something going on here.

After a few minutes, Rainbow Dash moves forward, she takes a deep breath, "This looks like it's for real. There are changelings showing up throughout town. By the thousands. We don't know where the queen is, as of yet. Princesses Celestia and Luna have headed to Ponyville with a selection of guard's ponies. Our job, is to take as many changelings out as quickly as possible."

Surprise moves forward, "What about Cloudsdale, or Manehattan, or any other pony city?"

Swift Wind, the leader of the Cloudsdale Wonderbolts steps forward, "We don't have any information, but the hive would have to be huge to attack more than just Canterlot like this. We are wasting time, let's go."

We take to the air, among several hundred other pegasi guards. Add in the unicorn and earthy pony troops, a whole lot of hurt is going to be descending on the changelings. I angle down, Spitfire at my side, we start surveying the area. Dark black smoke is billowing from several buildings. This is a city under siege, and it happened so damned fast! Hundreds of black specks are rising to meet us. I grin, it's slicing time!

My first opponent is dispatched with abandon, my wingblades slicing down his carapice, taking out a wing. With a howl he plummets to the ground. I hear spitfire shout, an earth pony is falling from a tower. I flash forward, catching him.

"I got ya." I crow as he wraps his hooves around me. I angle to the ground, Spitfire at my wing as I let the earth pony down. I love being the mare to save the stallions. A grounded changeling is close, I shift to keep in front of the still terrified stallion as Spitfire flashes forward and dispatches it with a kick of her armored hooves. 

"Spitfire, to your left!" I howl as another three changelings come from an alleyway. She shifts to avoid their magic as I flash forward, slicing legs out from underneath the bugs. 

"Damn, Spitfire, it's safer in the air." I shout with glee as I throw a lightning bolt at a group of changelings. It shocks all of them, leaving them smoking as I take to the air. We keep our eyes peeled. I see a gray pegasus in the mix with a dozen or so changelings. She's protecting a teenager and a little filly, both unicorns. I slam to the ground on top of one of the changelings. Splitting its skull. I sweep a wing out, decapitating another bug. I jerk back as the body of another changeling flies past me, I look at Spitfire, she's calmly slicing down the barrel of another changeling. She tosses me a smile and takes to the air. I look over at the gray pegasus, who's nuzzling the two unicorns.

"Derpy, you need to get your kids to your family compound, it's not safe!"

Ponyville's mailmare nods and gathers up her kids on her back and rockets off. I take off to catch up with my wingpony. I see the orange pegasus ahead of me. She banks hard to the left, I look and see her destination. I flash forward and sweep through a group of changelings. Slamming out with an armored hoof to take out another one. I find I'm laughing as I do this. This is grim work, a hard fight, but it's fun. I've never felt so alive. I see a changeling charging it's horn. With a quick flash of my hoof, I've slammed his horn, cancelling any magic he was trying to cast. Before he's stopped recoiling from the pain of the hit, I've sliced off a leg and did a four hoof kick to knock him against the wall. I look to my left, more changelings! Damn it! I my wings push me back to avoid one bug, then forward to avoid another, I kick off with my hind hooves to get into the air, a short loop and I'm slamming down on another bug. 

"Damned bugs, I love squishing your sorry asses!" I shout as I throw a bolt to take a bug that was trying to catch Spitfire unawares.

"Thanks Dust." She shouts as she powers into the air.

"C'mon slowpoke, we are in a target rich environment, let's show them it's a mistake to mess with Canterlot." I flash forward, back into the fray. I'm panting. This is hard work. But I've been a consummate athlete for years, this is a strenuous workout for me. I'm still laughing as I slice through another  set of wings. A kick for another bug and they get a hit on me, right to the wing. Ouch!

I end up grounded, with only one good wing. I rear on my hind hooves, and I feel Spitfire move to have my back.

I smile savagely at the bugs, "C'mon, give me your worst!" I lash out with a forehoof, and a wing, taking down two bugs. I feel Spitfire move as she attacks. 

"Dust!" I hear a familiar voice, I look up, Spitfire is coming at me on the wing, she's got a terrified look on her face. I glance back at Spitfire behind me, she's enveloped in green fire, and the changeling hisses at it strikes me with a forehoof. Their exoskeleton is actually quite hard. I'm on the ground, dazed. I watch Spitfire bisect the bug with her blades. She lands and smacks another with an armored hoof. 

"Better watch your back, these changelings can be sneaky. I had one impersonate you, almost fooled me." She offers a hoof to help me up.

"I wasn't fooled." I say defensively, "I was taking care of the others before they got a lucky hit in."

She chuckles, "Yeah, sure. Let's get you to a medic!" She hovers to pick me up. And with a grunt, I'm in the air with Spitfire.

***

A few hours, and a very skilled unicorn healer, and I'm good as new. I trot over to the command headquarters, and I'm surprised to see a rainbow maned pegasus.

"Dash, I would think you would be out in the fight."

She groans, "I would rather be out there. But somepony has to be the brains of this operation."

I snicker, "And they chose you? We are in trouble then."

I get a hard hoof to the shoulder for my trouble. I grin at the other speedster pegasus, "Kidding, kidding! How are things going?"

She sighs as she looks at a map of Canterlot, "Things aren't adding up. There are too many bugs for this to be a diversion, but damn, everything points to this being a diversionary attack, maybe to get the Princesses. But they are safe in Ponyville. Princess Twilight has her new castle. But there has been no indication of their queen. It doesn't make sense."

A messenger comes into the room, he talks quickly to Rainbow Dash and then takes off. She moves a few pieces on the map. "That's good, we are pushing them back, and gathering the civilians. Most are staying to their homes, and barricading themselves in. But it just doesn't look right."

I look at the map, from the castle into town, our lines have been advancing. After the first time we had to deal with changelings in Canterlot, we've been training to take care of them again. No more relying on a single shield from a pony that lives in the Crystal Empire. I can see smoke billowing from several of the towers. The cleanup from this is going to be expensive! I glance at the map again. I don't see anything that's telling me anything.

"I got it! Damn, they are being clever!" Rainbow Dash crows. 

I look at her, at the map, then back at her. "I don't get it."

She puts a hoof on one part of the city, then traces a line, "They are keeping the guard busy. This is a massive attack, but they aren't taking ponies for them to feed on, they are simply attacking. This has to be a diversionary fight. The real fight is…" She looks out of one of the windows facing towards Ponyville. Smoke is starting to show from there, "They had to have a second hive help, or they've been growing a lot of drones recently, because these mooks are simply a diversion!"

Oh, damn. "What do we do Rainbow?"

"We still need to fight them back, but the guards contingent in Ponyville needs to be bolstered. The Wonderbolts, a detail of the Earth guard and the Mage guild will join you shortly. But the Wonderbolts will get there first. I'm going to stay here in overall control of Canterlot. You, Lightning Dust, are going to go to Ponyville."

"Me? I've never been to Ponyville."

She claps a hoof on my shoulder, "There's a first time for everything, Dust."

***

The flight to Ponyville is short. But the eighteen pegasi of the three Wonderbolt teams are easily up for the flight. We flash down the streets of the small hamlet of Ponyville. Slicing our way through the changelings. How did so many of the damned bugs get here? I land next to a mint green unicorn, she's blasting the changelings, but not with general energy beams like most unicorns, she's using gentle nudges to push the bugs off balance, then quick strikes to snap necks or break open bodies. Several dozen of the bugs are attacking her. I gesture to Spitfire and we both flash forward, and in minutes we are in the clear.

"Damn, that's the first time I've seen a Still Way grandmaster really truly fight. Damn. I'm impressed."

She gives me a bright smile, "Thank you. Though you've got some pretty good moves yourself, especially with those blades."

I smile right back, "We need to get to the castle, but we need to thin the ranks of these bugs. You up for helping?"

She smiles, "I'm a reserve officer in the Guard, I'm always up for helping." With a flash of her horn, she teleports, only to reappear a few hundred feet down the street. I can hear her chiming laugh, "Come on, slow pokes, we have Princesses to save!"

"Damned unicorns." Spitfire growls, "Always showing off."

I cock my head to the side, "Something tells me she would be a blast in the sack."

"Argh, is sex all you think about, Dust?"

I chuckle, "After flight, what else is there worth thinking about?" I flash forward after the green unicorn.

The Wonderbolts carve a path to Twilight Sparkle's new castle. These changelings are smarter. They use their camouflage abilities to confuse us. But the mint green unicorn just disables them without injury, and we flash in and take care of ones that flash with green fire when knocked out. Other unicorns of the guard follow the Still Way grandmaster's methodology until the changelings get wise to it, and abandon the use of camouflage and simply attack. Which allows us to simply cleave through them, soon we've punched a hole into their lines and are circling the castle. A few of the guards rush inside, but I keep outside, keeping the changelings at bay. And before too long. It's all over. Princess Twilight is injured but will be okay, an earth pony saved her life. Celestia and Luna were freed from their imprisonment by the reinforcements, and the queen was able to narrowly escape, at the expense of over a hundred of her drones. But we won the day. And the following days of mop up operation. For a war, the second changeling war was rather quick.

***

The memory ends, and the pony tosses her mane as she heads back to the paddock for the night. Unnoticed are her tears, dripping on the ground as she slowly plods ahead. Another night of being abused, in more ways than one, by the sadistic human.

***

Irony growls as she gets through the checkpoint. Her new ID card that she got back in Montana along with the new passport allows her to get through the border checkpoint. South, ever south. Her maps actually show facilities in Guatemala and in Columbia. She looks at the map and floors the engine, leaping forward. "Dust, love. I'm on my way."

> Chapter 33. Rescue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Irony taps her phone and holds it to her ear, she hears on the other end, "This is Mindy."

"I feel good about this facility. They don't seem to be on high alert right now. But they are pretty busy. And I haven't seen Dust. But I have seen horses in use. She's got to be here, I just really have a feeling."

Silence from the other end. Irony looks at her phone to make sure the call wasn't dropped. She puts it back to her ear, "Mindy?"

"I agree with you, Irony. This is very likely. We are loading up now, give us nine hours. We will be there, sit tight, wait for us. And we will back you up."

"If I see Dust, no guarantees. I'm getting her."

A big sigh on the other side of the connection, "Do you want me to teleport there?"

"No, bring all three teams. This is a big facility. They seem to be processing the coca leaf here. It's pretty big. They can't pack up as easily as the last few facilities we've raided. Just hurry." 

"Copy." The connection goes dead. Irony powers down the phone. She checks out the scenery, her beloved 442 is concealed, and she's been hiding in the brush. Two days of observation have been tedious, but necessary. This does belong to the Spectrum Group, through various shell companies that Mindy was able to track down. Dust has to be here. 

A few hours after calling Mindy, she sees a man lead a light brown horse through the compound. It's wearing large saddle bags, she can't see it's flank. She keeps her eyes peeled for a single hint of Dust's unique coloration. But…nothing. She growls faintly as she waits. Her friends should show up very early in the morning. So she needs to keep her eyes peeled, and not give them any idea they are under surveillance.  

As the sun finally sets, gasoline generators are fired up. And she watches the peasants from the local villages file in. She growls again at how they use the poverty of the locals to allow them to process their drugs. 

"Damn it Irony. You can't save everypony. Or every human. We need to focus on Dust."

Yet her heart goes out to the poor humans, working for decent wages for the area, but would be a pittance back home. They didn't ask for this, and the cartels keep using them, and are making billions of dollars. As a former military member, she hates most drugs with a passion. But she knows that the United States war on drugs has been a failure. As evident by the drugs still being produced. She leans back and tries to close her eyes for a little while. Relying on her ears to sense any problems.

***

"Irony." A fierce whisper wakes her. She looks over, Moon Shadow is moving stealthily towards her. She smiles happily at her love, she accepts a nuzzle then follows Moon Shadow back to the chariots and her car. 

"So, how are we going to do this?" Mindy asks.

Irony takes a look at Mindy, she's about four months along, but she is beginning to show. "Mindy, shouldn't you stay at home?"

She cocks her head to the side. "So, because I'm pregnant, I'm not a part of the team anymore?"

Uh oh, treading on dangerous territory right here, "No. Mindy. I'm not saying that, and you know me well enough that I would never say that. I'm just worried about you."

The unicorn starts to look actually angry, but then smiles brightly, "got ya." And she giggles.

It's so nice hearing Mindy giggle, Irony chuckles, "We will hit them just before sunrise. I'm going to crash through their gate with my car, and I'll have a few pegasi with me." She looks at Moon Shadow, "And you, as well. Moon Shadow. We are going to have to hit them hard. I've seen a few likely places where Dust could be held. All my instincts tell me Dust is here."

"Why do you think that? We've thought Dust was at some of the other locations. But none of them panned out."

Irony looks over at the low lights coming from the location in the distance, "It's not just a feeling. Though I can feel her close. I can feel her pain. But this is a big production facility. This is the hub for this entire area. This would be the place they would keep Dust."

Mindy puts a hoof on Irony's withers, "I trust your judgment, Irony. We need to get our friend."

Irony grits her teeth, "Yes." She looks at the assembled ponies, "Cloud, you keep an eye on the compound, and the rest of you, get some rest."

***

"Hey, Reynaldo, quiet night?" The relief guard comes up. He crushes out his cigarette as the man he's relieving does the same.

"Yes, it's always quiet, after we've let the government know it's not a good idea to mess with us." This gets a chuckle from both men. It's still quiet. No need to worry. Nothing ever comes out of the jungle. Their lazy morning is interrupted by two pegasi. Who silently land on top of the guard post and slide through the window. A hoof over the mouth while a wing blade impales them. Winter Storm and Blaze let the bodies gently down to the floor. A quick wave at the pony hovering near the trees confirms the assault is ready.

With only the slight warning of a racing engine, Irony's 442 crashes through the gates of the compound. Announcing their presence to the just awakening humans. Three chariots land as well, and the pegasi pulling them shrug out of their harnesses and join in the fray. Humans are screaming, ponies are screaming. Irony races towards the barracks. Moon Shadow heads out, blasting humans with her magic, paralyzing them.

Unbeknownst to Irony, Saul was in Dust's paddock when she crashed through the gate. Though she finds out when she turns around. She sees a human pulling the leads on a pony. At first her mind wants to ignore it, the same pony from the previous night. But then she notices something. On that light brown flank is… "Dust!" She screams as she unhooks her mace and runs towards the human. He gets the pony into the truck and turns back.

"She's mine you freak." He pulls out a pistol, leveling it at the charging mare, and fires. The bullets are deflected by Irony's armor as she continues her mad rush. 

With a belch of diesel exhaust, the truck pulls towards the open gate. The man moves away from the truck and keeps firing, quickly exhausting his gun. He looks at the locked back slide. Then throws the gun at Irony, which she smacks out of the way. He draws his knife and lowers his body, ready for her. But he's underestimated Irony. With a underhanded swing, her mace connects with his groin. With a groan, he falls to the ground, blood streaming from his crotch, his pelvis ruined. She moves up and a great overhand swing ends everything for the human who was with Dust. She turns and watches the truck pulls out of sight.

"Mindy, Moon Shadow, that truck has Dust. You finish off this place. I'll take care of Dust." She rushes over to her 442 and throws it into first gear. With a spray of dirt, the car fishtails on its way to follow the truck.

***

Moon Shadow watches the 442 disappear out of sight. The impact of a bullet to her peytral brings her back to the present. She teleports the gun to another dimension and leaps forward, keeping her magic ready. What these humans consider heavy defense, isn't even a basic guard force to the ponies. Moon Shadow follows Mindy, who stubbornly refuses to wear armor, instead relying on her magic. She watches the unicorn turn a building into a flock of ravens, that fly away in every direction. She skids to a stop, did she just see that? Mindy bounces and teleports over to a human, who is spraying his AK-74 randomly. She grabs the weapon with her magic, and it turns into a dozen long stem white roses. Moon is close enough to hear her giggle, "You'd get better results with those big boy." Then the unicorn teleports to another human, this one unarmed. 

"Tag, you're it," she shouts, as she pushes him into the mud. With a flash of teleportation, the unicorn is on top of the barracks. She's bouncing, but with every bounce, the building gets smaller. Humans start running from the building as the building shrinks. They stand there and just watch as the building is reduced to the size of a doll house. Mindy hops over to them. 

"Sit down!" Mindy shouts, and every human sits immediately, without the use of magic. Moon would have felt that. Moon Shadow turns and watches her continue. While Mindy is busy with her playthings, all the other ponies have stopped what they are doing to watch. Just watching the party unicorn deflect everything leaves them laughing at her antics. The cache of drugs transform into a huge ball of goo, then rapidly expands as though being cooked, leaving a perfect twenty foot long by ten foot wide loaf of bread standing in the middle of the mud and muck. The humans that didn't sit stop too. Just watching the spectacle unfold before them in awe. Mindy stops and looks at every pony and human watching her.

"What?!"

Moon Shadow takes the opportunity to throw restraints on all the humans. Dragging them to the big yard in the middle. The fight is over. She trots over to the bouncing unicorn.

"Mindy, what was that?"

The magenta unicorn cocks her head to the side, "What was what?"

"You," Moon gestures with her hoof to the compound around them, "You did…this!"

Moon Shadow gets a gentle bop to the nose and a kiss on the cheek, "Of course I did, silly," giggles Mindy, "We need to go to Irony now."

In a matter of minutes the pegasi are hooked back up to the chariots and are airborne. Moon Shadow follows the road that Irony's car took, leaving the compound. They trace down the road for nearly twenty miles. And then they find what they are looking for.

Moon Shadow indicates for the pegasi to bring the chariot down. And they come to the scene of devastation. The truck's front end is mangled, and twisted in with the passenger side of Irony's car. Moon Shadow hops out of the chariot and rushes to the driver's door of the car. It's popped open, but no Irony. She looks at the driver's door of the truck, and it's been ripped off its hinges. A human is lying on the ground, skull mostly missing. She avoids going any closer to the body, she's had enough with death. Enough for a lifetime. She hears a soft earth equestrian nicker. She moves to the back of the truck and hops in.

Irony is there, she's holding the head of a horse, and she's sobbing. The horse neighs softly, nuzzling the despondent Irony. Moon Shadow moves closer, she can hear her love talking to the horse.

"Oh, Dust. What have they done to you?"

Moon Shadow looks around, "Where is Dust?"

Irony looks at Moon, "She's right here."

"That's a feral horse, Irony. Not a pegasus."

Irony slowly stands, she lets go of the lead and the horse moves over to her and nuzzles her, "And apparently it likes me."

Irony's voice is full of pain, "Moon, she's still got her cutie mark, that is Dust."

"No, that's imposs…" She trails off as she sees the cutie mark. Vivid against the light brown of the fur. She looks in the eyes of the horse, they've changed color to a soft brown, "No." Tears well up. "Is she lost to us?"

Tears continue to spill down Irony's face, "I don't know. But it doesn't look good. She can't talk, I pulled the bit they had put in her mouth, it is a very cruel bit, and would be very painful for the horse." She holds up the jointed pieces of metal. The spoon shows evidence of blood. Moon Shadow grimaces and Irony tosses it to the floor of the truck.

"The area is secure Irony." Cloud Kicker says as she lands inside the truck with the others. She lets out a low whistle, "That's Dust?"

Irony and Moon Shadow nod. "Damn," the lilac pegasus breathes. 

Moon Shadow steps forward to Blossomforth, "Is she lost?"

The faintly pink pegasus gets close to Dust. She looks in Dust's eyes, she moves down her body. She looks back with tears in her eyes, "She's not lost…yet. Her cutie mark is still there. But she's pretty far gone. I don't know if we can retrieve her."

"How do we do that?"

Those tears start to fall, "I don't know."

Irony stands up and gently caresses the former pegasus, "I'm not giving up. We need to get home. Let's get her on a chariot."

They hop out of the truck. Irony looks at the ruined 442, "Oh, Irony. Your beautiful car."

Irony moves to the back of the car, which is relatively undamaged. She opens the trunk and unloads it into the chariot, "It's metal, and plastic. It can be replaced. We can't replace Dust. She is more important." She moves close to Moon Shadow, cupping her cheek with a furred hand, "And you are just as important to me as Dust is."

Moon Shadow leans her head into Irony's hand, "I know, love."

Irony leans down and kisses Moon Shadow, when she pulls away, "Let's save our love."

They board the chariots, heading north.

***

"Well, this is a first," Doctor Ray says as he lets his horn quiet, "I was a human, a veterinarian, I've worked on horses. Now I'm a unicorn, and I'm still working on Earth equines." He steps out of the barn, where Dust was put temporarily so he could work on her. Irony and Moon Shadow have updated Dust's family on her condition. But she's not ready for them to see Dust just yet. She wanted Dr. Ray to check out the former pegasus before anything else.

He heaves a big sigh, "If I didn't know better, I wouldn't be able to tell you that she was ever a pegasus. Her bone density is not pegasus, but the same as terrestrial horses. She's almost horse size, just about a hand and a half away from the height to be a horse, so technically she's still a pony. And she's had a very rough time. There are healed fractures in a good portion of her bones. I would say she's got signs of the worse abuse I've ever seen of a horse. Add in to her being raped. She's had a horrible time."

Irony perks up, "Rape?"

Dr. Ray nods, "She's been raped multiple times, and not just the typical way, but I've pulled splinters out of there, both wood…" he looks unsure, and sickened, he takes a deep breath, "and metal.". The tearing is indicative of long term abuse. Frankly, I'm surprised she's alive. A terrestrial horse would likely have died under this abuse."

"Can we bring her back?"

His ears fall, "I don't know Irony. All the healing I know that I've been taught as a unicorn tells me that to attempt to heal her in this condition could cause her to slip away. Her magic is holding on by fingernails at this point. And she's in decent shape now. So, I don't think she will slip further away under these conditions, but bringing her back." He rubs the back of his neck, "I don't know. I do know that any attempt from me would probably be a step back for her."

"So what do we do?"

He shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know, Irony. I really don't know."

Irony turns to Moon Shadow, "Well, it's time to let Helen and the kids see Dust."

Moon Shadow recoils, "Already?"

Irony nods, "Yes, we can't guarantee she will recover, but her family needs to see her."

Moon's ears drop and she hangs her head, "You are right, I'll get them."

Twenty minutes later, Moon Shadow's magic opens the barn doors, and the three humans are brought to the stall that now houses Lightning Dust.

The former pegasus whinnys and tosses her head in greeting, she strains to get to Helen, who wraps her arms around Dust's head. Dust makes content noises, being touched by her former wife. She then nuzzles both children.

"She remembers us." Hannah says.

"Yes, it appears so. She's still in there, but I don't know if she can get out."

Irony lets them know what Dr. Ray told her about Dust's condition. Leaving out the rape. Not something to tell the children. They are sobbing by the time she's done. She sobs with them.

"Helen, Hannah, Dylan, we will bring her back. I promise you. We will get her back. It doesn't look good now. But I have faith in her. She's too damned stubborn. She won't let herself be lost forever. She remembers you, she remembers all of us. So, there is something that was Dust still there. We just have to bring her the rest of the way back."

***

Moon Shadow's eyes pop open. Many nights of trying to find Dust's dreams have been fruitless. As a feral horse, her dreams haven't shown up in the dreamscape. But this night, she spent most of it with Princess Luna. The Princess had very little knowledge of lost ponies. But she gave Moon Shadow some pointers to help. Moon extricates herself from the ponies and humans on the bed. She trots down the stairs and outside. She slowly opens the door in the barn. The small light inside barely illuminates two bodies in the stall. Irony is sleeping, leaning up against Dust. Moon Shadow smiles at her love's dedication. Both of them are dedicated to the pegasus, in different ways. She clears her throat, which is enough to bring Irony out of her slumber. Irony stands up from a sleeping Dust. She shushes Moon as she leaves the stall. They meet up outside the barn.

"How did your meet with Princess Luna go?"

"What she proposed is dangerous. We could both die in the attempt."

Irony looks into the barn, and back at Moon. Her ears fall, "I really don't want to lose the both of you."

Moon Shadow places a hoof on Irony's cheek, "Oh, honey. There isn't any question in my mind. I will start, first thing in the morning. I don't care about the risk. Dust is worth it. And I will do what I have to."

Tears spill down Irony's face, "But what if I lose you both?"

Moon Shadow's horn lights and she uses her magic to dry Irony's tears, "Sweetheart, Dust wouldn't want to live like this. The risk is nothing compared to the hell she's in. There is no other way. We've been trying for weeks now. And now her cutie mark has started to fade. I fear we only have days until she's gone. She's fighting as hard as she can, but she is slowly losing the fight. We need to act, and we need to do it as soon as possible.

"How long will it take?"

Moon Shadow shakes her head, "Time is subjective in the dream, it could be minutes, it could be hours, it could be days. I won't stop until it's done. Until we have our Dust back. Do you understand, love?"

Irony nods, "First thing in the morning then."


> Chapter 34. The Incredibly Dense Mind of Lightning Dust
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Moon Shadow squints at the rising sun. She has never been a morning person, or pony. Always preferring the night. But she was up before anypony else this morning. Her magic has Dust's lead. The light brown mare placidly follows the lead as she brings her into the main yard. Just the thought of trying to do this in the dark stable makes her sad. She decided if this was to be her last day, she would be in the sun for it. The screen door slams, and a quick look confirms that Irony is trotting over to her.

"You aren't going to wait for anypony else?"

Moon Shadow shakes her head, "Nopony else is qualified to do this. This is a dream, this is my domain. I have to dive into her mind. And it's very tricky, using magic that I don't fully understand. But I have to try. If I take the time to fully understand the magic that Luna taught me last night, Dust will be gone. She is so weak." She looks at the pony in question, "She is fighting so hard, but she's hanging from a cliff, and if she's not offered a hoof very soon, she will fall, and we will lose her. I know the risks. And while she doesn't know the risk, I know that she would approve of what I'm doing."

"Are you sure, love?" Irony asks, her ears splayed back.

"Oh, I'm sure I would get griped out, saying I shouldn't risk myself to save a pony. That my life is too important to risk on a gamble. And she would be right, and I would do it anyway."

Irony chuckles, "Yeah, you would. In some ways, you are just as stubborn as she is. I wonder why I love you both so much."

Moon Shadow chuckles, "Yeah, no idea." 

Irony hears the soft pop of teleportation. She turns and her mouth drops open, "Hannah!"

The ten year old girl giggles, "Miss Mindy's been teaching me. I'm getting pretty good at it too."

Moon Shadow frowns, "That is very advanced magic for such a young filly. You should be finishing up your work on levitation."

The girl rolls her eyes, "Oh Miss Moon. I finished that work two weeks ago. I've worked on transmogrification. And a few other advanced spells. Took me an hour to learn to say that right." She giggles, "What are you and Miss Irony doing?"

Moon Shadow sighs, "I'm going to use dream magic to dive into Lightning Dust's mind. I need to find her, and try to bring her back. Somehow."

Hannah blinks, and her eyes glow for several seconds, her hair whips around in an unseen wind and she levitates a few inches off the ground. Moon Shadow and Irony both back away from the girl. She blinks again, and her eyes have turned color. They are purple now. She shakes her head quickly, "Don't do it, Moon. You will die."

Moon Shadow looks at Irony then back at the ten year old girl, "I know that is a danger of this. But I must. It's the only way. Otherwise we will certainly lose Dust."

Hannah shakes her head, "No, my magic told me. If you go in alone, you will die. To have your only chance of success, you must have one with you."

Irony steps forward, "I'll go."

Hannah looks at Irony, her eyes flash for a moment, and she feels a cold chill all down her body, "No,  Miss Irony. Your magic would disrupt everything, and she would slip away before you even enter her mind. You need magic like Miss Moon Shadow has."

"Dream magic?"

She shakes her head, "Dream magic is the key, but only one needs dream magic."

Moon looks to the house, "I'll go get Mindy."

Again the little girl shakes her head, "No, Mindy is pregnant, and that would disrupt everything the way that Miss Irony's magic will. You need to take me."

Irony looks sharply at Hannah, "There are two reasons for a no. One is you are only ten years old, you've had your magic for a matter of months. And the second is, Dust will murder us, slowly and painfully, if we allowed harm to come to you."

Hannah giggles and looks at the light brown pony, "Oh, I don't think he's in any position to say anything about it. But you don't have a choice, nopony has the power, except Moon, Mindy, and me. Moon is already going, Mindy can't with her foals. That leaves me. There is no other choice."

Irony opens her mouth to speak, "Irony, Hannah has a good point. We need to listen to her." Moon Shadow says. 

Irony turns and gapes at her love, "Are you serious?"

Moon Shadow nods slowly, "Her magic is very powerful, I could name maybe half a dozen unicorns on the farm that can best her when it comes to magic, but that's it. And she has a powerful motivation. She loves Dust as much as we do. Dust is her daddy, and she knows that Dust would do anything for her, and she would do the same for Dust." She turns and looks at the little girl, "Hannah, we will have to link our magic for me to bring you. Since you aren't a dreamer. And keep your thoughts close, because inside the dream, your thoughts can become your enemy."

The young girl nods her head, "I'm ready Miss Moon."

Moon Shadow lights her horn and brings it close to Dust, she sees the little girl envelop herself in her aura. She brings her hand close. They both touch Dust at the same time. Moon Shadow feels herself pulled hard. And she ends up in darkness. Hannah sprawled next to her.

"You okay, honey?"

The girl is standing without going through the space between. Her hand is in front of her face, then back down at her side, "Are we here?"

Moon Shadow nods, "Yes. We are."

They walk in silence for a while. Though Moon Shadow's ears keep twitching. What she is hearing scares her. She glances up at the human girl walking with her, Hannah's head keeps swiveling around, she hears the screams as well.

"What is all of that, Miss Moon?"

"Just call me Moon for right now, Hannah. We are certainly equals in this."

She gets a bright smile in return. The girl takes a moment to gather her mid back length hair into a ponytail. "I need my hair out of my face," She gripes.

A particularly loud scream grabs Moon Shadow's attention, she gestures that way, "Dust is in pain, she's reliving what she's been going through. You may not want to come further."

The girl sighs, "Moon, whatever happened to Dust, I need to help her."

Moon Shadow sits on her haunches, how do you explain the violence that happened to Dust to one so young? "Dust was…violated. This very evil man used his body to control her, to punish her, and just to hurt her. It is something that happens from time to time even in the real world." Her ears fall, and she lowers her head, "Dust was raped."

Silence from the girl, then, "I've heard of it."

Moon Shadow looks up at Hannah, "This very evil man did it for months to Dust, and hurt her very badly, he broke quite a few of her bones. And right now, she's reliving what happened to her. We need to help her dispel the nightmares that are destroying her right now. Just remember, while what is here can be dangerous to us, they are not real." She flinches as a particularly loud scream, and then a whole string of cussing comes from the distance, "But they are real to Dust, and they are pushing her to the edge, and if she falls over that cliff, she's dead to us. That pony is all she will ever be."

Hannah nods, her now purple eyes huge, "I understand Moon Shadow."

Moon Shadow growls under her breath, "I shouldn't have brought you here."

Hannah cups Moon Shadows muzzle and looks deep into her eyes, "I need to be here. I will be strong for Daddy, I will be strong for Dust."

She pulls the girl into a hug, "You are an amazing young lady. I don't think I should refer to you as a little girl anymore. You are too special, Hannah."

She feels the young lady giggle in her grasp, "Now, let's save Dust."

They move forward, and like stepping through a door, they are in a dimly lit room, little more than a stable, with straw on the floor, and wooden construction. They see Dust, hobbles on all four hooves, and a metal collar around her neck. Dust gasps, she watched Irony kill that man. Then she smiles, well, Irony got some small revenge on him with that underhand swing of the mace.

"Come on, you asshole, is that all you've got?" Dust's featherless wings are spread aggressively. She watches the human who's holding a baseball bat, "I've gotten worse beatings against changelings, you are nothing." The bat whistles through the air and contacts the ground as Dust dances away as best she can while restrained. "Swing and a miss." She lashes out with both forehooves, landing on the baseball bat, snapping it in half. But gets a punch to the side of the head for her trouble. She moves away, clearly dazed, "Were you trying to hit… me? Because I don't think you could kill a mosquito with that hit. Come on, let me out of these hobbles, and I'll show you how to fight."

The scene fades away in front of the human and the pony. Moon Shadow looks at Hannah, a grim smile, "Dust doesn't know when to quit." And gets a nod in return. They step forward together.

They are in a different shed, Dust is no longer wearing the hobbles, she watches in horror as the man pulls away from Dust, and zips up his pants. Dust tries to kick, but the man is too fast for her. The collar keeps her from moving very much. The man smiles as Dust lays her head down, too tired to say anything. He kicks her savagely in the head, blood spraying from the torn skin. Dust just sighs, though Moon Shadow can hear her mumble, "You fuck, I was better in the sack than you would ever be." She sighs again, and a ripple of gray slides down her body, her wings are smaller, her turquoise fur has lost some color, and her muzzle lengthens, her entire skull subtly reshaping. Becoming more earth equine rather than equestrian. Moon Shadow looks up at Hannah, seeing tears there mirrored by her own. 

The scene fades. But before they step forward again, Moon Shadow addresses Hannah, "This is going to be hard, Dust is reliving her captivity, if it gets to be too much for you, hold on to my mane, and just close your eyes."

A slim hand grasps her mane, "Moon, I can handle what I'm seeing, but what I'm hearing hurts worse."

"I know honey, I know," They step forward, Dust is reliving her losing her feathers. Another step, she's lost her wings and most of her coloring, another step, she's bright and vivid turquoise, and she's snarling as she fights against her restraints. Moon Shadow realizes that the time frame is being all jumbled up. But she presses on. Tears flowing.

Finally with another step, there's a human standing there. He's over six feet tall, powerfully muscled, but with a little extra around the middle. He's wearing a black cowboy hat, he has a neatly trimmed goatee, his brown, curly hair, is pulled back in a pony tail that flows down his back.

"Daddy!" Hannah squeals as she runs forward. He gets down on one knee as she runs to him, and she crashes into him in a huge hug. Moon Shadow smiles as she trots forward.

"Mike?" She says in a quavering voice.

He looks up, and a dark look passes across his face, "You don't belong here, pony." He squeezes his daughter tighter, then brings her to where he can see her face, "I've missed you, kiddo. What happened to your eyes?"

She giggles, "Moon Shadow and the other unicorns have been teaching me magic."

That same dark look passes over his face, unnoticed by his daughter, it's replaced with a smile, "But you don't have magic."

"Oh, yes. I do now. And it's all your fault!"

He smiles and tickles her ear, "How could I give you magic?"

"Because you were a pony, then you came to Earth because of Discord, and you had me, then turned back into a pony."

He shakes his head, "I don't understand."

Moon Shadow steps forward, "It's true. Though with the ponies here, magic is showing up in humans that have never even met us. We just had two more magic users show up that had never seen ponies before."

His eyes turn cold as he looks at Moon Shadow, his voice changes, and he shouts at her, "No one has asked what you think pony. Now get the fuck out of here." He raises his hand, and to Moon Shadows surprise, lightning arcs between his fingers, and a bolt strikes out at her, she wills the strike to miss, and it does, narrowly. Using her magic here might be dangerous for her, and for Dust, but her abilities in the Dream are all she can rely on.

"Daddy, no!" Hannah screams as she grabs Mike's hand. He pushes her away and stands up.

"If you are with the pony, you need to go, Hannah."

Tears stream down her face, "Daddy, please."

He raises a hand at his daughter, electricity crackles between his fingers, and before anything else happens, his features change, he gets shorter, he loses a hundred pounds, and gains nearly twenty years in age. And to top it off, half his teeth are missing. Moon Shadow recognizes that man. It's the man that was raping Dust. He hisses at them both, Moon Shadow having willed herself in front of the terrified girl.

"This pony whore is mine, you can't have her!" He hisses and then disappears.

Moon Shadow hears a sob behind her, she whirls around, "Daddy would have hurt you, he would have hurt me."

Moon rears up on her hind hooves and envelopes the girl in a hug, "Oh, no. That wasn't him, that wasn't Mike. It was a part of Dusts mind trying to defend itself from our intrusion. It wasn't really her, it wasn't really him. It was a reaction from how much pain she's in."

She gives Hannah a few minutes to calm herself, then wills the young lady's tears away, "We are getting close. You must be strong."

They move forward, finding other versions of Mike, other humans in Dust's life. Moon Shadow has to work very hard to suppress her tears when she hears Helen scream at her that the ponies are what have destroyed her husband. But finally they see one more stable. This isn't the nasty creations from earlier, everything is clean, she can smell the clean hay, she steps inside, and it's far bigger inside than it looked from the outside. She hears sobbing. Hannah and Moon search through the stable.

"Moon, over here." Hannah calls, and Moon wills herself to Hannah's side. She's picking up a filly pegasus. No cutie mark, but the same turquoise, and the same golden eyes. The pegasus nuzzles Hannah. Then opens her eyes.

"What are you?" The young filly asks. Moon judges her to be maybe three or four years old.

"I'm a human, I'm your daughter."

Chiming laughter, "You silly, I'm not a mommy, mommy is my mommy."

Lightning crashes outside, lighting up the stable, causing the pegasus to spread her wings and jump in surprise. Hannah barely is able to keep a hold of the small pony.

"It's scary out there."

Moon Shadow nods, "I know it is, Lightning Dust. But we need you to come with me."

The filly pegasus squirms in Hannah's grip, then disappears, reappearing on the ground, sobbing, "I don't want to go with you. A mean man did bad things to me. He hurt me."

Moon gathers the pegasus up again, despite her protesting, she can feel the strength of the pony. Not nearly what it should be. Lightning flashes and thunder booms again, the pegasus screams, and she can feel more strength wither away. The pony gets smaller in her grip.

"Dust, you really need to come with me."

"I'm too scared. I can't go. I will die."

"You are the strongest and bravest pony I know. Irony misses you, so does Mindy, and the rest of your friends, and your family."

"Irony?" Moon Shadow almost drops Dust as the pony gains some strength, "Irony is there?"

"Oh yes, honey."

"Will she protect me?"

"With all of her heart Dust." 

Once again the pony disappears, then reappears next to the door of the stable. She's grown, she looks like a young teen, she reaches out and lightning flashes again, but instead of a boom of thunder, they hear cackling laughter. Dust scampers away from the door and loses ten years of age, "No, I can't go out there, I will die. He will kill me, after he hurts me again."

Moon's heart aches for Dust, "I promise you, he is dead. Irony killed him." This perks the filly's interest up.

"The bad man is dead?"

Moon nods, another chuckle frightens the small filly, she shrinks away, "I still hear him."

"Those are just dreams."

The filly gives her a sour look, "Dreams are scary."

Moon Shadow sighs, "I know they are, it's my job to help with those dreams, help make them less scary."

Hannah pipes up, "Please Dust, we all need you. We can't lose you, if you stay here, you will die."

The filly shakes her head, "Hannah, what happened to you?"

Hannah moves forward and sits on the ground in front of Dust, "My magic came out. You know how I would make light bulbs break when I got mad when I was younger? Well, I've got the same kind of magic as a unicorn. Moon Shadow here has been teaching me, along with Mindy."

"Mindy. She's okay?"

Moon laughs, "Mindy is better than okay. She helped get you."

"Double Trouble?"

Another laugh, "Double Trouble wouldn't be Double Trouble without Lightning Dust."

The now teenage looking filly bites her lower lip, looking at both Hannah and Moon, "So, I'll be okay? If I stay with you?"

They both nod, then the most violent lightning strikes again, this time, visions whirl around, visions of Dust's abuse, her pain. The filly screams and runs away. Moon wills the filly back into her grasp. She cradles the infant. "Hush, Dust. You will be fine."

Slowly as Moon Shadow cradles the crying infant, the lightning ceases, and white light spills into the stable. She looks at the now silent Dust, Dust looks around, she's back to around seven years of age in appearance, "What is that?"

Moon Shadow cocks her head to listen. She can hear singing. Then she realizes what's going on. "That is your friends, that is your family. They are helping you now, guiding your way. Please come with us, I promise you will be okay."

She sets down the now young teen Lightning Dust. Though the pony is trembling, she moves towards the doors to the stable with Moon Shadow and Hannah. They open the door.

Moon Shadow's eyes open and she pulls her horn away from Dust, she looks at her love, the turquoise pegasus opens her eyes slowly. Her eyes focus on Moon Shadow, she takes a step forward and kisses Moon, with all the passion she can muster. The kiss goes on, while the music around her fades away, behind her closed eyelids, she sees the white magic fade slowly. Dust finally breaks the kiss, "Thank you. Love."

***1st Person Lightning Dust***

I look in to Moon Shadow's eyes, I know some of what they did to bring me back. I look over at Irony, and step forward to show her how much she means to me, and my legs decide not to work. I'm heading for a face plant, but Irony is faster, she shifts and picks me up, cradling my hind legs and rear, and she hugs me with her other arm. I nuzzle her, then kiss her. "My Irony." I breathe when I come up for air. I blink my eyes, taking in the setting sun. I see the ponies, and the humans all around. "What happened here?"

"Magic happened, Dust. Magic."

> Chapter 35. Family Affairs
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

***3rd person***

"Go the fuck away!" Helen hears a scream. Then she hears something heavy impacting the wall next to the door. Dr. Ray ducks out of the bedroom. Unshed tears quite evident in his eyes. Helen kneels down and gives the unicorn a hug.

"It's alright Dr. Stevens. Mike was never a good patient. And I'm pretty sure Dust isn't either."

He pulls back from the hug, "I know her anger isn't really at me. But it still hurts."

Helen stands up and puts a hand on the lever style door knob, "I'll have a talk with her."

He waves a hoof, "No, not about that. Her anger is understandable, she's pretty much a complete invalid. She can't do anything she wants to do. And she hurts all the time. I've got her on some pretty strong painkillers, but she's still in constant pain. This is far worse than the gunshot she received."

Helen chuckles, "I know, Doctor. But I do want to talk to her."

She pulls her phone and sends a quick text as she opens the door. "I heard someone's manners could use some adjustment."

Dust looks at her, then folds her forehoofs in front of her chest with a huff, "He's not doing anything for me."

Helen cocks her head to the side, "Are you so certain, Dust? Your wounds are mere scars now. Your wings are starting to grow feathers back. You are on the road to recovery."

She huffs again, "In Equestria, I'd be good as new right now."

Helen laughs gently, "One, we aren't in Equestria right now, and two, the full healing magic requires magical strength from the pony being healed. You were just brought back from nearly dying. Be a little forgiving."

Dust slowly extends a wing, the beginnings of new feathers evident, "I hurt, Helen. I hurt so much," She presses her hoof gently to her nether regions covered by the comforter, "But there are some places that hurt even worse. I lie here, just in pain. I've never been laid up before, and it sucks."

Helen moves over and sits on the bed with Dust, "Oh Dust. I understand what you are going through. I've had to recover from surgery, and I don't have magically assisted healing."

Dust turns her head away, "I know. I took care of you when you needed it."

"Yes, you did."

Dust is silent for a long moment, then she turns to Helen, "Did you order me a new phone?"

She gets a nod.

"And a new case?"

Another nod. The pegasus returns a short nod, then snuggles down, "I want to sleep."

Helen pulls the covers off of Dust and dumps them to the floor, "No, it's too early in the day. You aren't going to be sleeping for a while.

"What the hell Helen?! I'm tired, I want to sleep."

"Do you remember what you did when I got to the point where I didn't want to go on?"

A long time grumbling from Dust, "Yeah."

"Well, consider that favor returned."

The turqoise pegasus rolls her eyes as the door opens. Irony sticks a head into the room.

"You texted me?"

Helen smiles brightly at the midnight blue mare. "I've been told that physical therapy is important." She gets a venomous glare from Dust, but she continues, "for anyone to heal. And I was told this by Michael Shaw after I had surgery." She ads in with a pointed look back at Dust, "And I think it's time for our resident pegasus to get her hooves back on the ground."

Dust growls at her, "You wouldn't."

Helen laughs, "Honey, I already have. Come on Irony."

Irony chuckles as she shifts and moves to the bed.

"I'm injured, I should be resting, I don't need to go outside…" Her protestations continue as the strong earth pony picks her up and cradles her next to her body. Dust's protests become a wail as Irony descends the stairs and heads outside.

Shortly Lightning Dust is laying on the large dock jutting into the lake from the back porch of her house. 

"I don't wanna, just bring me back inside, please Irony, I don't want to be outside right now."

Irony kneels down and gently takes Dust's muzzle in her hand, silencing her, "Love. You need to get on your hooves. If you get on your hooves and walk right back to your bedroom, I'll be happy. But I'll be even happier if you walk around for a while. Your muscles need exercise. You remember your training as a Wonderbolt. Did all your training focus on your wings, and flight?"

Dust scoffs, "No, of course not. Wonderbolts need to be in their prime at all times, and not just our wings, but our entire bodies…" She trails off, she was reciting words from her trainers, words she had said to other ponies when recovering from injury. She looks down, "I still don't wanna."

Irony chuckles, "But you are going to, right?"

Tears form in Dust's eyes, and she gives Irony her best little lost puppy dog look, "Please, Irony. I promise I'll do it tomorrow, but not right now."

Irony tosses her mane from side to side, "No, Dust. It's now. And tomorrow, and the day after that. Until your wings have their plumage back, you need to get around, and not by me carrying you."

"Oh, but I like you carrying me, Irony." Again with the puppy dog look. Irony growls gently.

"Dust, you get on your hooves or so help me I'll just dump you into the water and let you swim."

With a hurt look the turquoise pegasus gathers her hooves underneath her. With multiple grunts and groans, some of which were likely all theatrics, she slowly gets to her hooves.

"There, I'm standing, now I'm going to head to my room, and lock the fucking door." She takes a step, then another step, but on her third step she face plants, "Or maybe not."

She tries again, without a single word from the assembled ponies and humans. She makes it four steps. After her third attempt she's covered in sweat, and she's panting on the ground, "I can't, not any more. Please, not any more."

Irony steps forward and gathers her up, "Oh Dust, you did wonderful."

The pegasus spasms in her hands, "No, I didn’t do wonderful, I did horrible, I couldn't make it twenty feet before it hurt too much." Tears roll down her cheeks onto Irony's shoulder, "You should have let me die."

Irony strides into the house with a purpose, she sets Dust on the couch, then she cups the pegasus' cheeks with both hands, looking into her eyes, "Lightning Dust, don't you ever fucking say that to me again. You are weak now. But you will get stronger. And you will be back, better than ever. I know you are in pain, you have gone through something that would kill most ponies, and you are still here. Do you really want to die, after everything you've gone through?"

Dust sobs for a long moment, then finally shakes her head.

Irony moves forward and hugs her marefriend, "I won't let you, Dust. We all want you to heal. But the pony that needs to want the healing the most, is you, love. Will you keep working, for me?"

After a long moment, Dust finally nods.

***1st person, Lightning Dust***

I'm woken to a kiss. It's been three weeks since they got me back. The kiss is very nice. I'm not even sure who is kissing me. Then I feel her tongue tip flex at the end. I smile as the kiss is broken, "Morning Moon Shadow."

She giggles, "Morning love. How are you feeling?"

"Better, thank you Love." I extend a wing, showing the new feathers slowly growing, still covered in a waxy coating, "I hate being ground bound. I never learned to handle stairs without wings. Going up is fine, but Irony has had to carry me down the stairs because I'm still weak." I look at the clock, it's almost six thirty. I bolt up, "Damn, going to be late if I don't hurry."

"Late for what, love?" Irony says lazily.

"Work." I say as I look around, "Now where is the new phone?"

Moon Shadow huffs, "Your phone? What would you need that for?"

I look at her, "Yes, my phone, and the new case for it. I can't be expected to work without it. I need it." I look over at the night stand, the charge cord is there, the phone isn't, "Come on Moon, I need my phone."

"Give me a kiss and I'll give it to you." She giggles. 

I sigh and kiss her, I feel my wings extend as the kiss progresses. Before I get too far, my body flashes cold and I pull away. No, not time for that, "Please Moon?"

She sighs and her horn lights, Irony jumps as though she was goosed and my phone, in its case, floats to me, from under Irony. She give me a grin, I lean over and give Irony a kiss as well. Might as well share the love with them both. I finally pull away and struggle to get the case on, to be helped by Moon's magic. My muscles are still weak after my ordeal. But I need to get back into shape anyway. I shoot a grateful smile at Moon as I hop off the bed. A quick trot and I'm at the stairs. I look at the long stairway, then look at the living room the stairway overlooks. I remember my first day as a pony in this world, I just took a running jump and glided down. Now I can't glide. I take one step, then two. My feet don't tangle on me, and finally I'm on the first floor. I smile in triumph as I head to the garage. Then I look at my work truck. Damn these hooves. I trot back inside.

"Anypony want to give me a lift to work?"

***

"Dust, welcome back!" I hear Pat say as I slide in less than ten minutes before seven. Then my crew does something that brings me to tears, they all break into applause. I sit down and look at them clapping. After a minute it dies down.

"Well, I was planning on being here earlier, but I was delayed at home. But as you know, I'm back now. Lightning Electric will keep going. I trust nothing important burned down while I was away?"

That gets a few laughs, one of my journeymen comes up, "Dust. Some of the ponies told us what went on. Were you really tortured?"

I nod, "Yes. But I'm not going to go into the details on that. Let's just act as though I was on a really shitty vacation. And am really happy to be home. And let's leave it at that, okay?"

I get nods from all around, "No morning meeting this morning. Just go and stay safe. I'm going to see if my office is where I left it."

I trot into my office and hop into my chair. Curse these damned useless wings. I almost lose my balance as I turn around in the chair.

"Pat!" I holler.

She comes in with a stack of paperwork for me, "Yeah, Dust?"

"We need pony friendly chairs."

She chuckles and sets the stack down in front of me, "I'll get right on it boss lady."

***

A few hours later I get an email I was looking forward to. I pull out my phone and call the number on the email. In minutes I'm off the phone and am heading outside. A few minutes of waiting and I see a truck turn onto the road to my shop, it's got a toy hauler trailer on it. I smile at that. The driver pulls next to the building then backs the trailer up to the front of the building. The heavyset driver then hops out of his truck and opens the toy hauler. Two latches and the door slams down, revealing what I've waited five days for. He crawls inside and backs it out and parks it. Once done he looks around. 

I clear my throat and he looks down, "Holy shit!" He screams as he jumps back.

I smile at him, "I take it you haven't met a talking pony before?"

He shakes his head slowly.

"I would like to take delivery now." I walk slowly around my new prize. After a few minutes of inspection, I see Pat come out with a thick envelope. I walk up to the truck driver, a big smile on my face, "It looks great. Pat, would you pay the man?"

She hands over the envelope which he takes, but he keeps an eye on me all the way to his trailer, he fiddles with the door for a moment before closing it, his eyes always on me. Finally he gets in the truck and drives off. Pat moves my prize into my bay in the shop and closes the door. I give her a smile as she goes inside.

Ten minutes later, one of my company trucks turns down the road. I know who's driving this one. As Irony exits the truck, she relaxes onto four hooves and comes up for a hug.

"Irony, Moon Shadow told me what happened when you were able to find me. You sacrificed your beautiful car to stop the truck, so you could save me."

She interrupts me, "Dust, I did what I had to do. The car was nothing compared to losing one that I love."

I smile at her, "I know that, I know that better than you would ever know. But the thing is, you are now relegated to either using one of the chariots, which means you have to get some pegasi to pull it, or you have to use one of the vehicles at the farm."

"And you gave me your personal pickup since you can't drive it."

"But it's not your classic car, it's a… what was the term you used? Oh yeah, diesel monstrosity."

She blushes faintly at my words, but I continue, "Well, you need your car back, and I couldn't find another 1970 Oldsmobile 442. But I did find something. It used to be my dad's. It's been mothballed for a few years, but I got him to give it to me, and I'm giving it to you."

Her ears fall, tears spring into her eyes, I turn and gesture to the bay door, and Rose, who had been watching through the small windows in the door, pushes the button to open the door. Revealing my prize. A 1971 Ford Mustang Mach One. It's Richard Petty blue, with a silver racing stripe. The sun hits it as the door finishes opening. Irony slowly stumbles to the car, tracing a hand down its factory paint job. She opens the door, looking inside. She closes the door and looks at me. Tears are racing down her cheeks.

I smile at her, "It's pretty much stock. My dad always had plans to do work on it, but never found the time or the money. But we have both here. So, this is your project. I want to hear that engine growl like a hungry beast when you are done. The frame is perfect, the body is cherry. The interior… could use some work. But the engine needs work also to make it the monster your old car was. Don't worry about the money for it. I've included a generous budget for the work you'll want to do on it. But it does run, and it's fast already. But I want you to make this car yours."

"Dust, I can't accept it. It's too much."

I smile at her, "Irony, all this is…" I gesture to the car, "is just another way to let you know how I feel about you. You sacrificed something you put your heart and soul into to save me." I walk around the car to Irony, I rear onto my rear hooves, placing my forehooves on her chest, "And Moon Shadow told me you didn't think twice about it at the time. The nearly lost pegasus in that truck was your only concern. In fact, you told her it was metal and plastic and could be replaced, Dust can't." I smile at her and nuzzle her, "Well, you don't have to replace me, I'm still here. But I am going to replace the car."

Her arms wrap around me in a hug. I get a sense of exactly how strong this mare is as she hugs me. I accept the lack of air, her arms around me make everything feel right.

***

"Merry Christmas Lightning Dust." I hear as I crawl slowly down the stairs. I smile at my family. Helen and I went all out, as we usually do when it comes to Christmas decorating and presents. Though having Moon Shadow helping with the decorations was very nice. I get a good look at my family. Helen, Hannah, Dylan. And we've got Irony, Moon Shadow are here as well. Trixie, Mindy and Flash will be showing up later today. They usually spend more time at the farm than here. They are part of the extended family.

I heave myself onto the couch and accept a floating cup of eggnog. I take a sip and smile, it's been doctored the way I like it. Apparently Helen and Moon have been talking. Just a hint of rum. I take another sip and sigh contentedly. I lean back as the kids take the time to distribute the presents to the family. I see that my online shopping forays over the last few weeks have paid off. I've taken the delivery at the post office, so nopony knows that I was a busy little pegasus. I look over at Helen and smile at the look of surprise on her face, and on everyone's faces. Dylan gets a brand new smart phone, I saw him eyeing the advertisements over the last month or so. Hannah was a challenge, but the gold chain bracelet really works for her. 

Helen, what the hell does a displaced pegasus give to the woman he once called the love of his life, and meant it. And in fact still means it. The gold necklace with the emerald setting seemed pretty nice. And judging by the tears and the enthusiastic hug and kiss I got, she liked it as well. Irony was a challenge as well.  I sit and watch Irony unwrap the present, and when she gets it unwrapped. She looks at it in confusion, it's a wooden box, simply but very well put together. It has the engraving of a feather on it. She opens it up and bursts into tears.

"Dust, this, the car, I mean, this is too much."

I shake my head, "It's simple, but it means a lot to me. And I hope it means something to you as well, love."

Irony pulls out a turquoise feather and looks at it, I continue, "When I was first back, Cloud Kicker brought me a box full of the feathers that were yanked from me. She explained some of it, but I knew some other parts already. That right there, those feathers, they are parts of me, I made that box myself. I actually made the box before I changed, but I engraved the feather onto it last week. Whenever I lose a feather, I want you to have it. I only have one desire when it comes to that box. When I die, burn it and the feathers inside. Though I would be honored if you keep a feather for your memories."

"Oh Dust," she murmurs as she sits there looking at the feathers. "When you were found, I took the feather out, because I didn't want to presume. I know I love you, and I know how you feel about me. You told me after the fight with Discord. You love us all. But I didn't know what you would think, because that feather is nearly the same as me declaring we are in a herd, and to be honest, that you would be our lead mare."

That gets cold chills down my back, I suppress my fears, "Irony you are saying you took the feather out because you didn't want to presume something that wasn't there?"

She nods.

I extend a wing, it's not nearly as painful as it was, and I touch one of the feathers in the box, "Irony. I want you to wear it. You and I both know how important we are to each other. And I don't think it would be presumptuous for you to wear a feather." I caress her cheek with my newly growing feathers, "You, and Moon Shadow, are important to me. That important." I indicate the feathers, "You moved heaven and earth to get me back. I'm sorry that my fears, my insecurities, prevent us from taking that step. But the emotions, how I feel about you, are the same as any loving herd mate."

Irony takes the feather and slowly braids it in her hair, "Thank you Dust."

I turn to Moon Shadow, "You were the hardest to buy for. You don't want much. You've got your loves, you've got your magic, you are still being taught by Princess Luna. So, go ahead and open it."

Moon Shadow strips the paper with her magic, then she slowly opens the box. I see tears in her eyes as she spies what's inside. She pulls out the small carving. It's a single piece of wood, with a detailed carving of myself, Irony, and her. 

"I couldn't think of anything to buy you, Moon. So I carved this. And I enlisted Hannah to help paint it. She was happy to help for all the training in magic you have been giving her."

The suspends the small carving in her magic, tears in her eyes, "I'm touched, Dust. This is amazing."

I smile at her.

The rest of the presents are portioned out. I get a single earring, with a sapphire in it. I look at it in confusion.

"An earring? Moon, I don't wear jewelry."

She chuckles, "Dust, you should know by now it's going to be enchanted. It's got a couple of purposes, I used dream magic, you put it in, and when you touch it with a hoof and concentrate, you can tell where anypony else wearing one is. And when you concentrate on them, you can see them in your head. It's a way for us all to know how each of us are doing. I made one for you, me, Irony, Helen, and Hannah. I made a ring for Dylan to wear. We will all know where everyone else is."

I look at the small stone in its setting, "My ears aren't even pierced. My dad told me if I ever came home with an earring, he would yank it right out."

Irony barks a laugh, "My dad said something similar, but remember, Dust. We are female now."

Don't I know it. I shift my hind legs, that part of me is still very tender and painful from my abuse. Even months later, I can't walk without being reminded of what was done. Dr. Ray says it's healing well, but with the pelvic bone damage and the soft tissue damage from the foreign objects used on me, it will be a long time recovering. I nod my head, "But where do I go to get my ear pierced?"

Moon Shadow laughs at that, "Hold still, love."

The small earring floats up, and I feel the gentle touch of her magic, I don't even feel pain as it's pushed through right near the base, and a soft tingle of the area around it has healed the very minor injury, I now have a pierced ear. She repeats with Irony while Hannah and Helen both put matching sets of earrings in. Dylan looks at the heavy mans ring. He slips it on and smiles. Moon Shadow continues, "Dylan, your ring will always be sized to you. It's a simple spell really, you can grow, and the ring will always be perfectly sized for you." This gets another smile, and the now sixteen year old young man gets up and gives the unicorn a hug.

Finally, it's time for Irony's presents. I smile at the huge box that the kids had to cooperate to move, I put a hoof on it, and look around expectantly. I'll wait until last to open this, I look at Hannah and Dylan expectantly, their long, narrow presents are quickly opened, both gasp upon opening their boxes, "Irony. This is amazing!" Hannah says, pulling out the sheathed dagger, the leather sheath had the same mark on her hand imprinted upon it. She unsheathes the dagger, on the hilt is engraved the same star, but with my cutie mark overlaying it. 

I look at Irony and she shrugs, "She is your daughter, I thought it works." She tests the blade gently and smiles. Dylan's has a pair of wings overlaid with my cutie mark. He grins at the gift.

Helen and Moon Shadow open their gifts, both get hair combs, for putting their hair up, and both have all of our cutie marks emblazoned on them. Both are grinning like crazy at their new gifts. Finally it's time for me to open this massive box. I eagerly rip the paper and open the box, then I stop. I look at Irony, "Damn." I pull out the lacquered steel helm and put it on, then I pull out the padded leather protection, and then I click my hooves into the hoof guards, the two for the forehooves shaped to be helpful when striking, but to act as shields as well. The armor doesn't impede my movement, or my wings. I move over to Irony and nuzzle her, "Thank you so much, love." And I get a nuzzle back.

***

Just after dinner I'm outside, looking at the setting sun. The lake is frozen over, so I trot out onto the snow covered ice. The pegasi have made the most picturesque day for today. The snow is lightly falling, enough to be beautiful without providing more than the needed cover. Allowing for roads to be easily scraped. I flap my wings ineffectually. I still can't get off the ground. Moon Shadow and Dr. Ray say I need a couple more months for my feathers to fully grow in. I inspect the trailing edge of a wing, the primaries are still like pin feathers, they are long, but the keratin protecting the feathers is still present. I've been learning from some of the other pegasi the methods on how our feathers grow. I want them to be ready now, but rushing such large feathers would be a mistake. The softer, down like feathers have grown in, so that's not the issue, at issue is the primaries, which by their very nature are very hardy and actually magically protected, that simply means that it takes longer for them to grow when lost. Cloud Kicker told me that some pegasi have actually died from the loss of their feathers in a traumatic way like this.

She also tells me that the fact I survived that torture shows exactly how strong I am. I sigh, and let the tears flow silently. I don't feel strong, at all. I feel like an invalid. I feel as though I've lost myself. I look up at the low cloud cover. Damn, what I wouldn't do to actually be up there again. I sigh and just cry silently.

A hand is placed on my withers, I jerk in surprise. I didn't hear any one come up. I look at the human face. The face of  the woman I've loved for a long time, she kneels down and opens her arms, allowing me to fall into them for a hug. She pats my back and lets me cry.

"Oh Dust. You are so proud, and being like this is horrible for you."

I simply nod.

"What are we going to do with all of this?"

I pull back so she can see the confusion on my face, she touches the tip of my nose, "Irony, Moon Shadow, You, me, the kids. Are we going to do anything formal with all of this? I know how much you love them, and I can still tell how much you love me. What are you going to do honey?"

"Well, in Equestria, this would be a situation for a herd."

"And you would be, what… the lead mare of such a herd?"

I nod, "Yeah, they kind of look up to me, having a formal lead mare is kind of old fashioned, but my birth herd was pretty small, two stallions and six mares. My birth mother was lead mare for our herd. I don't think Irony or Moon have any interest in being a lead mare. And to tell the truth, I don't either."

"Do you want to form a herd with them?"

I look at her, and at the house, then down.

She chuckles and runs a finger down an ear, "And what are you going to do with your human family if you form a pony herd?"

"That's simple, Helen. You would join us. I know of griffons joining herds, what would be wrong with humans?"

"You think Irony and Moon Shadow would accept a human female in the herd with you? And two human children?"

I scoff, "The fact that you are human would be the last thing on their minds. They love you as much as I do."

She stops and looks thoughtful for a moment, "You are right. So I think I'm going to have to do to you what I did with you right before we got married."

I look at her, confused, she chuckles, "You do remember, I had to break through your fear to get you to propose to me. I had to make you understand that your reticence was hurting me. Just like your fear is hurting both Irony and Moon Shadow. They want you to take the next step, and while their words say they understand, their hearts don’t."

"But, I can't do that Helen." I look down, "I'm damaged. I know they love me, but I'm useless the way I am."

That gets a hand to cup my muzzle, forcing my head to face hers, "If I asked Irony or Moon Shadow to describe you, the word, useless wouldn't even be in their heads."

I smile at her, "You are so nice, Helen. But a pegasus who can't fly…" I look down again.

"Is still the pegasus they love. The pegasus that I love too."

I look up at her, "Even after all that's happened, you still love me?"

She nods, "Yes, I do. I still want you in my life, and I know those ponies really want you in theirs. I'm not saying you need to propose to them, but you should form a herd with them, with us."

"You are willing to break with human traditions like that, you want to embrace the pony traditions?"

She chuckles, "I'm already married to a pony."

I pull her into a hug, and a long kiss, "So long as you can handle me being female." I say after I break from the kiss.

She runs her finger down my ear, "I can manage."

> Chapter 36. The Herd
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Okay, Dust, extend."

I dutifully flare out my wings for the good Doctor. He moves close and inspects them, "Well, Doc?"

"Hmmmm," for a long time he's looking at my primaries, most of them have emerged from their cocoon, I know that, because I've had to preen the damned things, knowing it's not enough for me to fly, but it's so tantalizingly close. 

He finally lights his horn, and my wings are engulfed in his aura. I feel pokes and prods. I suppress the pain that I feel. I have been exercising my muscles, especially my flight muscles, for months now. I've gotten off the ground, but every time, I've let myself come down. And it hurt even worse than the physical pain I've been feeling.

"Well, Dust. How do you feel?" Dr Ray asks.

I sigh, "Well, Doc. I do feel pain, all the time. When I'm on the ground, my body aches in general, especially." I look down, my ears splayed back, "back there."

"I noticed that area is still tender. I'm not certain why it's healing so slowly. So I don't recommend any bedroom activities for a while yet. But when it comes to your wings, I think you just might be ready to get off the ground. But I want you to take it slowly."

I giggle, "You are saying I can fly?"

He nods, "But remember, take it easy."

I smile as I gallop from the bedroom, shouting, "Irony, get your car!"

***

I'm in the passenger seat of Irony's Mustang. It's growling contentedly as we cruise the Montana highways. We are near the Rocky Mountain range. We are getting close to the mountains themselves. I want to be in the sky, but first. I need to get my hooves off the ground. A few more hours pass, I'm content to simply sit next to Irony. Just her and I are in the car. I would be doing this myself, and my few solo tests have let me know my body is ready, along with Dr. Ray's blessing. I'm not in full fighting trim yet. But I judge myself to be about eighty percent of what I was before that damned tazer hit me over six months before. I've always loved the cold. I zone out, watching the snowy landscape as we speed past Bozeman, Montana.

I'm startled out of my reverie with the sound of the engine changing. I can feel the brakes being applied. Irony pulls onto a dirt road at my direction, and nearly an hour of driving these small dirt roads have us in the middle of nowhere. The snow hasn't gotten too deep out here, yet. She stops the car and exits, moving to open the passenger door for me. I trot with a purpose, Irony shifts onto four hooves and is content to simply follow me. After some time walking, we are at the edge of a sheer cliff, for miles around, there is a valley in front of us. Heavily forested, and achingly beautiful, this valley is where I'm going to fly. I survey the snow covered trees all around, and smile. 

Irony looks around, "Now, Dust. Tell me exactly why you want to start at a cliff? You can simply fly at home. Why drive for hours to fly here?" 

I touch one of her cutie marks with my primary feathers, and rub the wing along her back. Then I enfold the feather braided in her mane, "Because this place calls me."

She looks confused, "You can fly at home, I've seen you, you haven't gotten more than a foot off the ground in the last few days." She looks down at the several hundred foot drop, then at me, "What if you can't?"

I chuckle, "If I can't, it will be a spectacular crash."

"And a fatal one."

I shrug my wings and move away from the cliff face. I make it about fifty feet, then I spread my wings. I feel them. I feel my magic inside me, that has been aching to do something for months now. I let my magic crackle among my feathers, "I won't crash, love. But I have to do it this way. This," I inhale sharply, "This, is my element. Flight, the air, above it all. This is me. Have you ever wondered why I spend so much time flying? Even inside, even when I'm not doing anything else, I'm still in the air, or perched up high?"

"I've wondered, but never been certain."

I smile at her, and trace a pinion across her cheek, eliciting a blush, "Because I am a pegasus. I am a creature of the air. Even during my captivity, my memories kept slowly returning. And I remember a lot more of what makes me…me. My family was ground bound, my father was a unicorn, my mother was a pegasus who had lost a wing when she was a filly. My other herd mothers were earth ponies and unicorns. I was the only pegasus daughter they had. They never understood me. They never understood that as soon as I could fly, I was flying. I need to be in the air, I need to soar." I look back at the cliff, "My wings were clipped, I lost that for a long time. So, I have to do this. I have to prove to myself that I can fly the way my mind and body scream at me to. Not simply getting above the ground, but risking everything for that flight. Flight is everything to me." I look down, "Well, almost everything to me. But, I must do this."

At my direction, Irony moves as close to the cliffs edge as she dares. "I know how important flight is to you love. And I know you will do wonderfully."

I smile, and squash any doubt. This is my element, this is me. I spread my wings, prepared for flight. I lower my head, and close my eyes. I take measured breaths. Finally, I'm ready. My eyes snap open, and I whirl around. Galloping for all I'm worth towards the cliff. I see Irony as I'm running, and I decide to make it fun, I plant my hooves and push, letting my inertia flip my body before I hit the edge of the cliff. I smile at Irony and toss off a salute to her as I fall off the cliff backwards. Now, I'm out in the air. I was expecting…fear? anxiety? pain? No, none of that greeted me. It was all exhilaration! My wings catch the air and I climb for some altitude. I'm flying, once again after so long. I accelerate and loop the loop. I get more aggressive, I do a flat spin that nearly gets me into the trees, but I recover with plenty of space to spare. Barrel rolls, negative G loops, I'm going faster and faster. I get well above the mountain heights, and I dive for the ground, with my wings back. I flare them at the absolute last second and glide along the ground with mere inches of altitude. I finally go for altitude again, and I'm above the clouds. Another long dive, this time with a purpose, gravity isn't bringing me in that direction, I'm pushing as hard as I can, I bank to avoid a canyon wall, then fly along the wall, pinions barely brushing the walls as I turn on my side, and gallop along the cliff face at over a hundred miles an hour. I push off from the cliff and once again go for some altitude. I check and see if Irony's still watching me.

She is, of course, and I angle for her, I'm going to give her a buzz cut at nearly the speed of sound. I accelerate towards her, grinning like a fool the entire time. This is what it means to be in the air. I love the confidence my love has in me, she doesn't even duck as I buzz her, she could have reached up a hoof and touched me as I passed. I howl in delight as I loop the loop again and slam to the ground, my magic protecting me from the very hard landing. I'm still laughing in delight. "Now that," I finally am able to control my glee, "That is flight."

Before I can say anything I'm picked up and hugged. Irony then kisses me thoroughly, so much so I can feel my wings extend. Before anything else can happen I push away, offering an apologetic smile. I look at the sky, I bring a wing forward and kiss a feather, and spread the wing to the sky. I am back. I look over at Irony,

"Now, it's time to go home."

***

My eyes pop open fairly early the next morning, despite the fact that the long drive yesterday really was tiring. I'm ready. In more ways than one. I slide out of the pile of ponies. I notice that I'm not the only one up. I get to the top landing of the stairs, and descend the way I want to, with a running leap and a glide down onto the couch. I suppress a giggle. 

Finally I trot into the kitchen, Irony is standing there, making breakfast. I stop to look at her, she's in her two hooved form. Her furred back is facing me. I'm struck by how lucky I am to have this mare around. I love Helen, I love Irony, I love Moon Shadow. I am full of love for them. And to be honest, if I had to choose one, I couldn't. They all are more important to me than anything. I flare a wing slightly, and nod to myself, yes, even more important than flight, by a feather. I smile as I hop onto a stool at the counter.

"Morning love." I chirp happily.

"Morning Dust." She stops for a long second, then turns and looks back at me, "Dear Celestia, you have no idea how long I've waited to hear that happy tone to your voice."

I cock my head to the side, my ears perked forward, "Happy tone?"

She chuckles, "Before we lost you, I remember the way you would greet any of us, with a happy chirp to your tone of voice. Since you were brought back, I didn't hear it." She moves forward and runs a hand gently along my left wing, "But you feel good now, right?" I nod, "And you are happy again?" I nod again, she grins, "And you have that happy chirp back in your voice, I'm so glad to hear it."

I shrug my wings, "I am happy to be back, yesterday was amazing."

We chat for a while as I consume the waffles she was making. 

I finally put down the fork and push my plate away, "Irony. I need to talk to you, I need to talk to you, Moon Shadow, and Helen, all together, in a little bit. I saw they were starting to wake when I hopped out of bed, so they should be down here before too long. But I need to burn off some energy first. So, before they decide to scatter around to do stuff for the day, I really need to talk to them, and you, together. Would that be okay?"

I tilt my head down, looking at Irony out of the corner of my eye. She looks confused for a minute, then smiles brightly, "I'll be happy to corral them and make sure you can say your piece, Dust."

I smile at her, "Great, and I'll be back pretty quickly, I need to get the blood pumping." I hop off the stool and make my way to the back door. I relish the below zero chill as I trot out into the snow. I'm going to enjoy this flight.

***

I trot into the house, slightly winded, but very happy. I shake the snow out of my wings and head into the living room. Irony have everyone I asked gathered in here. It's still early on the weekend, so the kids are still asleep. I stand in front of the three most important ones in my life. I sit down on my haunches and look at all of them.

"I'll bet you are wondering why I gathered you here today." Then I flare my wings and jump to avoid a thrown pillow. I smile at Helen, who threw the pillow at me, "No, seriously." I smile at all of them. Then it's time to get down to seriousness. 

"Irony, Moon Shadow, Helen. I did ask you together here for a specific reason though." I look at each of them, "Helen helped me Christmas evening. I was distraught, I felt broken, I knew I was healing, but it took so damned long." I feel my ears flatten back as I talk, "I couldn't fly. I hurt all the time, and I wasn't ready." I look down, "Well, I can fly now, I still hurt, but I do think I'm ready for this."

Two looks of confusion and one knowing look greet me when I look back up. "You three most of all are the reason I'm alive right now. Along with that little girl upstairs. And I've heard how Dylan was a big help around here, trying to keep things going with me being in pieces. So, my family has helped me, so much." I feel tears start to leak, I just let them, "I know, intellectually, how the courting process is in Equestria, and I do know how Helen was able to break through my fears and help me when I was very reluctant to tell her how I felt about her. But I've never courted as a pony. I was a one night stand for plenty of mares. A lot of those memories came back. I know now how many hearts I broke, and I feel for those ponies that I hurt." 

I look at all of them, I think realizations are dawning on my pony family, Moon Shadow has an excited look on her face, and Irony is just grinning, I have to continue, I have to get the weight off of my wings. I take a deep breath, "I want us to be a family, I want us to be a herd. I want us to cooperate in raising those children upstairs, and any other foals that we end up with." I take another deep breath and hold it, waiting for an answer.

Two shocked looks, and then Helen breaks the silence, "I'm not versed in your traditions as ponies, but I've known you for a long time, almost seventeen years. I'm in." Irony and Moon Shadow look at Helen, and then at me.

"Irony, you already wear a feather of mine, and you know how meaningful that is. I also want you, Moon Shadow, to wear a feather, you don't have to all the time, but as least occasionally." I smile at Helen, "I've already given you a ring, and though I haven't lived up to the promise that it represents completely, I have tried. And I want you all with me as we go forward. Whether we decide to stay here, or go to Equestria."

I get nods from both Irony and Moon Shadow, tears slowly dripping down their faces, but they are smiling. I take that as a good sign, "So, the answer is yes, then?"

I'm bowled over in hugs from an earth pony, a unicorn, and a human. My herd, my family. I wrap my wings and hooves around them all. We laugh and cry for a long time.

"Mommy, Dust. What's going on?" Hannah says, her hair a sleepy halo around her head.

Helen turns to our daughter, "We've just grown our family, Hannah, we are going to go with the pony traditions, you have two new herd mothers. Irony, and Moon Shadow."

Hannah frowns in thought, Irony takes a moment to explain further, and when she finally understands, she joins us in the hug. Finally, Hannah giggles, "Dylan is going to flip out."

I chuckle and ruffle her hair, "And I think the best lead mare for our family is going to be Irony."

Irony's ears fall flat, "No, Dust. There is only one pony that deserves to be lead mare, and it isn't me."

I look at her in confusion, then I look at Helen, then at Moon Shadow, "Then who?"

A midnight blue hoof cups a cheek, I look at Irony, "That pony should be you, Dust. You've brought us together, your force of will has driven this family. There is nopony that I would follow, other than you."

I feel a cold chill, "Irony, I can't be lead mare, I've still got healing yet to do, and I don't know if Dr. Ray told you, I can't bear foals now. Being fertile is actually a strong requirement for a lead mare."

She shakes her head, "No, Dust, he didn't tell us. And I am so sorry to hear that, I was hoping to see foals from you, once you decided to enjoy some time with a stallion. But I was willing to be patient. But, that doesn't remove you from being lead mare in this family. As hurt as you were, as well as you are getting to be, you are a natural leader. There is a reason you were second in command of the Wonderbolts out of Canterlot. You are our lead mare."

I shake my head, "But I can't."

She shifts and her hand cups my muzzle, forcing me to look into her eyes, "But you will, and our herd will be stronger for having you at the lead."

I look at the other two, getting the same look from Helen and Moon Shadow. I look back at Irony, "Are you sure?"

Three nods.

I look down, "If you are sure. Then I can't argue with that."

Irony looks unsure for a moment, then it looks like she made a decision, she pipes up, "I would like to add to this herd pretty quickly."

I hear the soft pop of teleportation and then I hear a party horn as Mindy appears in front of me, bowling me over in a hug, "Oh, Dustie, I thought you would never ask them."

I'm confused now, I look at Mindy's huge smile, then I look at Irony, "You don't mean…"

She nods.

"Mindy…"

"You just started a new herd, and Irony wants me to join? Yes, I want to join you guys. Hannah." She teleports from me over to my daughter, and bounces in front of her, "You are going to be a big sister soon, I felt them kick." She turns so my daughter can place a hand on her slowly expanding middle, "I was actually first coming over to tell about the foals, but then I noticed that you were having a serious conversation, and then you all hugged, and I knew that Dust was thinking about asking you guys to start a herd, and I knew Irony wanted to, and the same with Moon Shadow, and Helen just wanted to be with the family, no matter what. So, we are all going to be one big happy family! Woohoo!" She teleports all over the room, bouncing in place.

I look at Irony, "We are going to be an interesting herd."

I get a nod in response, then we both look at the bouncing party unicorn.

> Chapter 37. More family
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 36

Ahhh, flight. How I've missed you. Ever since that first flight in the mountains after my long convalescence, I've spent every moment I could in the air. Just the feeling of air under my wings. I'm actually winging my way south. I'm racing an airliner, and winning, seriously winning, and I waited until the plane was in the air to get going. I smile as I look to the speck behind me. I'm going to have fun, but hopefully not give the pilot a heart attack. I ease off the speed, and within about ten minutes, the Boeing product is to my right. I take it easy, I can see the pilot has his eyes on me, but he waves back when I wave at him. I'm not seriously above the speed of sound, so being at this altitude is a bit of a strain at this speed. But I'm up to the challenge. There aren't many pegasi who are able to keep up with me. I get behind the crew compartment of the plane, and slowly edge closer. I see faces pressed to the windows. But I'm looking for specific faces. Ahh, there they are. My herd. I can make out Helen, my kids, Irony, Moon Shadow, and Mindy. I wave at them. I see them wave back. I'm we are losing altitude, we are about twenty minutes of flight time away from landing in San Antonio, Texas. A rental car is ready to take the herd back to Corpus Christi. It's a long day of travel. And we could have taken chariots from the farm, but Helen wanted to fly commercial. I had to laugh at her insistence. But I refused to fly in an airplane myself. No, not this mare.

Fine, I've had my fun. I slowly speed up. Passing the plane and once I'm far enough away for any atmospheric disturbance I create to affect the plane, I speed up more. I'm above the speed of sound, then I double my speed. I'm tearing through the air now. I look down, I see the city of Austin pass by to my left, I don't need to follow the flight path of the airplanes. So, I don't. I streak down I-35, and as I see the outer ring highway of the city, I shed my speed and dive. In minutes I'm sitting comfortably in one of the seats at the arrivals section of the airport. After about ten minutes of waiting, and playing on my phone, I hear someone come up to me. The entire arrivals section was hushed from the moment I trotted through the automatic doors. They must not have many ponies here. I look up from my phone. Into the brown eyes of a little girl. She can't be more than five or so.

"Are you a pony?" She asks seriously.

I have to chuckle, "Yes, I'm a pony, not like the ponies that live on Earth. I'm from Equestria." I offer a hoof, and she hesitantly takes it for a gentle shake. I glance over at two adults looking at me in shock, "Those your parents?"

She looks at them, then smiles brightly as she looks back at me. I wave at them. They seem to be rooted in place.

Though their daughter seems to be pretty bold, "Why are you here?"

I smile, "I'm waiting for my herd."

Her brow furrows, "Herd?"

I smile, "Yes, my herd, my family."

Another little girl comes up, and a boy, who's maybe eight. The first little girl pipes up again, "I'm waiting for my abuela, she's coming in from Denver."

I smile at her, "My herd might be on the same plane, they changed planes in Denver."

She apparently gains confidence and hops on the bench next to me. I look at my new coterie of children. Though one is yanked by her arm by her parent. Though she sadly waves at me as she's dragged from the building. I just can imagine the conversation about to ensue there. 

The first little girl squeals, "My abuela is going to meet your herd before I do. That's funny."

"Yes," I smile and nod.

Her mom apparently breaks free of her paralysis, "What are you?"

I have to chuckle, "Your daughter had it right. I'm a pony."

She shakes her head in confusion, "But ponies can't talk. And they certainly can't sit in an airport playing on a phone."

I give her a winning smile, "And the ponies you are talking about don't have wing and can't fly. But I'm not one of those ponies." I spread my wings. The mother steps back, putting her hand on her heart in shock. I toss a wink at the little girl, who giggles. Now it's time to be serious, "I'm Equestrian. I'm from another world. I was banished here, along with thousands of other ponies. I'm heading to visit my parents. Your daughter is a delight to speak to…" I trail off when an airport security guard comes up.

I look at the man in a uniform and badge comes up, "Miss, I need you to come with me."

I look at the little girl, "I'm sorry, but I think you had better go with your parents. Maybe I'll talk to you later." She hops up and runs over to her parents. I take a moment, then divert my attention to the officious looking human.

"And why would I need to come with you? I'm waiting for a flight that's just about to land."

"You don't belong here, miss. You need to come with us to the security office." His hand is on his weapon. 

He's close enough, hmmm. "I'm not bothering anybody here. I'm just waiting for my family. I am asking you nicely to leave me alone."

Uh oh, we've got a rent a cop with an attitude here, his jaw sets like he's grinding his teeth. He takes a step forward, now he's seriously in my personal space. I flash out a wing before he can think and simply touch his gun hand. I run a nice charge through my wing, causing him to yelp, and cuss. And more importantly step back. He looks at his hand.

"The paralysis is temporary. You threatened me. Don't threaten me again. I've had enough with humans who think they can push ponies around." I find I'm on my hooves, my wings are spread in pure aggression, and the man is scrambling back. He looks around, and three other guards are running forward. 

Uh oh.

"Stop right there!" One of the guards shouts. He's overweight, balding, and is already out of breath. I smile as I take off, I stay on the ground. My unshod hooves ring throughout the building as I gallop away from the humans.

"Catch me if you can, fattie!" I shout over my shoulder. Then I look forward and skid to a stop, my ears falling. Two more guards are running towards me. I frantically look around, then dart to the left. I'm a little big to weave between humans, but there are so damned many of them!

I brush up against another human, and finally get in the clear, I look back, smiling, I'm leading them on a merry chase. I look forward, and spread my wings to bounce in the air to avoid running over a baby stroller. The ceilings in the airport aren't super high, but enough for a bit of flight. Irony and my family is going to be here any minute. I can hear the intercom announce the landing of her flight. 

"Shit." I breathe, I'm running out of building, I bank hard to the right and reverse my course, flying over the humans chasing me. The other humans in the concourse have either scattered, or are stopped, watching the drama ensue. I find a clear space and land. Galloping inside is better than flying near the ceiling. I need someplace away from the humans. I cast around and I finally see something. Once again, I unlimber my wings and take to the air. I land on a twenty foot tall sculpture. I'm out of reach of the humans. Though in moments ten airport guards are around the sculpture. They try to reach me, and I swipe at them with a hoof.

Before long a ladder is brought out. Oh no, they are dedicated to getting me. I charge a wing, letting electricity crackle among my feathers, I bring it forward.

But I don't release the charge, "LIGHTNING DUST!" I hear. And immediately wilt. 

I point my no longer charged wing at one of the humans, "He started it!" The humans turn and see my herd. Irony is dressed in baggy camo pants and black tee shirt, and she's on two hooves. Her gaze levels on the humans. She strides up to the indicated human, "Were you trying to arrest my marefriend?"

The human visibly wilts, "Uh, I, uh."

Irony pulls back a little bit and looks at all of the guards. "That is my marefriend right there, and she didn't harm anyone, did she?" She squints a little at them, and they all have the decency to look abashed. I flutter down and join the rest of my herd. I sit on my haunches and watch Irony berate them. I swear she sounds like a drill instructor, only with not a lick of profanity. Though I'm certain each of those humans feel about an inch tall. She finally winds down, and turns to me.

"Lightning Dust, you were ready to strike, with your power. You don't do that, you know that, not with misguided guards."

My ears fall, and I look down, "I'm sorry, Irony." I turn to look at the humans, "I'm sorry. I wasn't going to hurt you. But…" I trail off. I look at Irony, I get wink in return. I smile brightly. Since when does anypony affect my emotions that much? I shake my head and then look at the humans.

Irony continues, "Lightning Dust here was just waiting for us, you don't need to harass her for that. Now, we are going to get our rental car, and get going."

***

I'm holding my sobbing mother. My parents already know about Soarin, that was one of the first calls I made. But the emotions are still raw. Though they also know of my time where I was captured. So, all in all, this is a very emotional reunion.

Tears are evident in my father's eyes, "I'm so glad you were able to be found. When Irony told us what happened to you, we feared the worse, and when you were found, we were happy, but we were scared too. Then that first call." 

I remember, I called them from my bed, letting them know I was okay. And promising them I would visit, he continues, "Soarin died to save others?"

Irony nods, "He fought bravely, we weren't able to witness his loss, Discord's magic was holding all of us. But Soarin was never one to go out without a fight." She's fighting her own tears. I finally feel my mother move, I let her go so she can sit up.

"Well, I do have happy news. Though you might find it a bit strange." I look at my herd, "These ponies, Helen, and the kids, we've formed a herd."

Confused looks from my parents, I guess I'm going to have to explain.

"Herds are the basic family unit in Equestria. Most herds have one or two stallions, and at least four or six mares, though some get bigger."

My dad looks around, "I don't see any stallions."

I chuckle, "We haven't courted any. At least not yet. Gender ratios in Equestria are quite a bit different than here. The mares, well." I look at Irony and Moon Shadow, "We protect the stallions, because there aren't nearly as many of them as there are mares."

"So, you have three wives now?"

I look at my herd, "Four, actually. Helen joined us, but I don't think wife would be the accurate term, herd sisters would probably be the best way to describe us. Different than genetic sisters, but our bond is like husband and wife, as you would understand it."

My dad looks around, "So, you are…" he looks thoughtful, then he gets it, "polygamous, then?"

I smile, "Yes, I guess that would be the closest analogy."

We spend hours telling them about what the herd means in Equestria, and what our herd means to us.

He finally sits back, "Okay, I think I get it, my son, who's now my daughter, is in a polyamorous relationship with three ponies and his, or her…" I get a look from my dad, "wife?"

We all nod, "And this is the norm in Equestria?"

Again, we all nod.

He turns to Helen, "And you are okay with this?"

She laughs, "Actually, I was a little afraid at first, but these girls are really loving, and lovable." I get my mane ruffled by my wife, "And it's way out from what I'm used to. But they are all committed to the kids, and to each other." She smiles, "And to me. I'm getting to like the idea, and sleeping in one big pony pile has been actually very comfortable. We really do all love each other."

My dad looks at his wife, then at my family, "Well, I must say this is not something I ever expected, but if you are happy, I'm not going to say anything about it. All I'll do is wish you, best of luck."

Hours later I'm sitting in the living room, slowly finishing off a cigarette, Irony enters the room from outside where she was helping my dad with taking care of the plants. She doesn't have the specific magic like earth ponies with plant cutie marks, but she does have some ability to help, and though it rarely gets freezing cold in winter in Texas, the plants are protected now. She crinkles her nose.

"I do wish you would quit that nasty habit."

I chuckle, "Irony, I've been smoking for a long time, even with this change, I still like the occasional smoke." And occasional it is, as a human, it was nearly two packs a day, now I can make a pack last two weeks, just one or two a day.

"It's not good for you."

"Neither is alcohol, but we do indulge from time to time. I'm keeping my vice."

She leans up against me and nuzzles me, "I know, but I keep hoping you'll quit."

I smile at her, and lean into her large body, and sigh happily. My mother chooses that moment to walk from the hallway into the kitchen, spying us out of the corner of her eye, she changes course and sits down in her favorite chair, she sits and looks at Irony and I.

"So, Irony." She starts, uh oh.

Irony smiles at my mother.

"How did you two meet?"

I look at her, she looks at me, I move away to give her a little thinking space, but I keep my wing touching her. To let her know I'm there.

Irony spends a few minutes telling her about her brother, Lightning Flash, and how he ended up running away, then calling Maddie, whom he knew in college. And how Irony received a call from Flash, and how they ended up driving just over a thousand miles to meet us all. I rub a wing down her back as she continues, telling her about some of our adventures, saving the ponies in Billings, our setting up the farm, meeting the President of the United States, and a few other things.

Then my mom gets serious, "I may not be able to choose what my Lightning Dust does, but I want to know whether you will ever hurt her."

Irony flinches at that, "Mrs. Shaw, I wouldn't hurt Dust for any reason. I love her."

I have to chime in, "Mom!" I'm silenced by a glare from my mother. I even wilt, I know that look. My dad was always a softie, my mom was the one who ruled the roost when I was a kid. She looks back at Irony, I can feel Irony wilt under her glare. 

Finally Irony says, "I would give my life for Dust in a heartbeat. Without question."

My mother smiles brightly, then she looks at me, "And do you feel the same about Irony? Or Moon Shadow? Or this Mindy?"

I nod solemnly, "We all are dedicated to each other, Mom. Though I'm not the one that needs protection, there are four lives that each of us are dedicated to protect, two unborn foals, Hannah, and Dylan. Remember, you are going to have new grandchildren, though these will be a bit different. Unicorn foals can be a handful."

She chuckles, "I didn't have much trouble with Hannah or Dylan. Foals, if they are as intelligent as my grandchildren, they will be fine. But I wanted to ask you about Hannah."

I look at her expectantly.

"I saw that mark on her hand, and I know you have the same attitude on tattoos as your dad does. What is it?"

"She got a cutie mark, we think."

She looks confused and glances at our flanks, "Isn't it just ponies who get them?"

I shrug my wings, "I don't know, because she's not the only one, back at the farm, there are thirty-seven humans with various cutie marks that have appeared on their own. And each one has manifested magical abilities. And Hannah is actually a very powerful magic user. She still has years of training ahead of her. And she has to be with a unicorn while she's learning new spells, but her abilities are amazing."

Moon Shadow apparently was listening, she strides into the room, "Yes, she has amazing powers, and a strong desire to learn. We are still debating on whether or not to pull her out of school and home school her. Give her a solid magical education in addition to her reading, writing, and math."

My mom snorts, "Teach her Equestrian history?"

I laugh, "Yes, and the history of this world. She is a voracious learner, and she's absorbing what we are teaching her at a prodigious rate. I've talked to Helen, and we are leaning towards homeschooling."

"They are your children, and you are the best ones to decide for their needs." She smiles at me. 

Moon Shadow calls my daughter into the room, and shortly my daughter is demonstrating levitation and a few other spells that she's been learning. I'll admit, I like seeing my mom so proud of her granddaughter. And I'm pretty damned proud of Hannah as well.

***

My herd is on its way back north. I'm not heading for Montana, just yet. I've got to visit some place. I know where Midland is, so I wing my way towards that city. As I get close, I head a bit to the east of the two small cities of Midland and Odessa, I've got ponies to see. I finally spy the ranch, visible easily for me, because of the pegasi flitting around. I flutter to the ground. I'm noticed immediately, a pegasus trots up, she's yellow, with a bright orange mane, a cutie mark of a rose and a cloud.

"Welcome, are you new here?"

I smile, "My first time, who's in charge?"

"That would be Wind Walker, she's in the house. I'll take you in." I follow the pegasus. As we trot I take a look, the ponies are building housing as fast as they can, apparently. A fairly large town is in the process of being built. I smile, the ponies are ever industrious. We finally make it into the main farmhouse, a quick trot up the stairs and a quiet knock on the door.

"Come in." Comes a tired voice from inside. I push open the door, with thanks for the pegasus bringing me upstairs. I look inside, and stop for a moment, with a name like Wind Walker, I was expecting a pegasus, but a unicorn is sitting at the desk. With a light purple coloring, and jet black mane. And in her mane is a brilliant orange stripe, she's quite striking, sitting at her desk, I can't see her cutie mark. She looks up, then her jaw drops.

"Lightning Dust?"

I nod.

She doesn't even bother to run, she teleports over to me, and my hoof is grabbed, and being shaken so hard my teeth rattle.

"Oh my Celestia, I can't believe it, when Mindy told us what happened to you, and then told us you were back. But very injured, and she didn't know if you would be able to come, and finally, you are here, oh my! I can't believe it!"

I smile at her, "Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine now."

She's continuing, I don't think she heard me, "We've been working on getting a new town set up, there are so many ponies here. We are trying to build housing for all of them. But we have to worry about money, and income for the farm, and…" Tears are starting to form in her eyes, she finally trails off.

"It's a bit overwhelming, isn't it?"

She nods, "But the pegasi we sent to get trained on weather manipulation have been teaching here. We are only now starting to get a handle on the weather here. This is going to be an oasis in the desert once we have everything up and running."

I put a hoof on her withers, "Breath, Wind, breathe."

She listens to me, and takes deep, long breaths.

I gesture to the chairs, she hops back up on her chair, she reaches to the side and closes the laptop, I notice more than a few entries on it are red, must be an accounting program. I sigh, "Wind, we are all ponies, we all have been thrust into this world. We can help you. Ponyville's Mayor Mare is there, and we have Mindy. And without their organization skills, we wouldn't be anywhere near where we are now. Is this farm yours?"

She nods, "My family has owned it for a few generations." She looks down, "My human family, anyway." Her ears flatten.

I cock my head to the side, "What happened with your family?"

Tears spring into her eyes, "My parents rejected me, I fled to the farm when I was still turning into a pony. I had a few friends that had the same birthday as me, we all turned. We made the house habitable, but we didn't have any resources. I'm scrambling to pay the bills as it is. And the electrical contractors want a forehoof and a hind hoof for service. And we have earth pony carpenters, but getting materials for them has been a nightmare. We've been using trees from here for lumber, but there aren't that many…"

She's rambling again, I can see how stressed she is, I hold up a hoof and she stumbles to a halt.

"Wind Walker, I was thirty five when I changed," I hold up a hoof once again to forestall questions, "I own an electrical contracting business. We are working oil country up north, add in the farms income, we are controlling weather for three major cities. We are not only solvent, we are doing very well. If you are having problems, we can help."

She shakes her head, "I don't believe in charity." She once again stumbles to a halt to my upraised hoof.

"I don't believe in taking charity either, I've always done it myself. But how about this, consider this cooperation, how many ponies do you have here?"

She thinks for a moment, "A bit north of five thousand."

I sit back, stunned, "How many ponies did Discord banish?"

She shakes her head, "I have no idea, but a lot."

"We are at about six thousand total, counting the five hundred pegasi and unicorns in various cities controlling their weather. But my point is, we can help you. I can't send my electricians south, licensing issues. But I apprenticed in the Dallas area. I'll talk to a few contacts, and get you hooked up. And we will cover their charges. Do you need some ponies to come down and help organize things?"

She shakes her head, "I think we can get on top of things, we just need to dig out of the hole we are in."

I smile, "I can help you with that."

We spend over an hour talking about the details of her ranch. I find out that her ranch has mainly unicorns and earth ponies, less than a thousand pegasi. But I do get to see her books, and she's right. They are struggling, but with help from us, they can be doing well pretty quickly. Then she brings up a point I was wondering about.

"Dust, did you know that nearly a third of the mares here are pregnant?"

That gets me, I start laughing. I can't stop, I fall off the chair, laughing. She comes around the desk and looks at me in confusion.

"What's so funny?"

I'm finally able to control myself, "We are a horny lot, aren't we? Up north, more than a quarter of the mares are pregnant. How many baby ponies are we going to have when the portal opens up next?"

That gets a chuckle from her, "Quite a few, I believe." She rubs the back of her mane, "I'm not entirely certain how many ponies are going to want to go to Equestria. I know some are counting down the days, but a lot are making their lives here. Some might want to go through, then come back as humans and live their lives here, but a lot just want to stay, as ponies."

That sobers me, "The same here. I don't know if I'm going to go. We have the ability to go, when we want to. But I don’t know. I like the home I've made here, and I love my herd."

That gets an odd look from her, so I explain about my herd, and after a moment she's nodding, "Some memories from Equestria are of herds. I know a few herds have sprung up here. But I don't know about it."

I smile at her, "It is very nice. You better find yourself a special somepony."

She chuckles, "I'm too damned busy."


> Chapter 38. New Friends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

This mare is heading her happy ass back north. I want the chill of winter, I'm glad for it. I'm over Colorado, I decided to sight see on my way back home, and to my left are the Rocky Mountains. I just came from Pike Peak. I briefly landed on the top of that mountain. Now I'm just tooling over the city of Denver. 

A pegasus buzzes me, then the wake from the flight puts me into a flat spin. I end up folding my wings and letting gravity take me for a moment, then flare them to get back on track. I look at the pegasus, she's got a trail behind her like I leave, or like Rainbow Dash's rainbow trail. I angle to follow the pegasus, and she accelerates. So, I speed up too. I start to close when she really pours on the speed, I hear the distant crack of a sonic boom, then I generate one myself as I speed up. Damn, she's got a turn of speed on her. Finally after several minutes and we are well into Nebraska when I finally get a good look at her other than the yellow trail with dark streaks. She's yellow, and her mane is streaked yellow and black. She looks back and sees me, I see her eyes widen, then she apparently gives up, she's heading for the ground. I smile as the other pegasus finally decides to land. I look around, and check the gps on my phone, holy crap, I followed her a bit over two hundred miles. Damn. But I'm still angry. 

My wings are spread in aggression, "What the hell? Don't you watch where you are going? You put me into a spin!"

She shrugs, though she's panting a bit, "You were a Wonderbolt, you should know how to recover."

I shake my head, did I just hear that? "Yeah, I was able to recover, but that doesn't remove the fact that you weren't watching where you were going. What the hell is wrong with you?"

She shrugs her wings, "What's wrong with you? You are okay, you weren't harmed. What's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal?" I scream. I feel blood vessels ready to pop. This little pony is a danger to those around her. Then my ears fall, my eyes widen.

"Holy shit." I say softly.

Her ears perk forward, "What?"

I start to laugh, I like being able to laugh, but this is almost too much, that's twice in one day I'm laughing so hard I can't keep on my hooves. I'm laying on the ground, slamming a hoof into the ground repeatedly, laughing so hard I can barely breathe. 

She doesn't wait very patiently, she's tapping a hoof. I finally am able to regain my hooves. I get a look at this pegasus, she's maybe fifteen years of age. She's probably the same age as Sparkler. This is rich.

"You are just like I was."

Her head cocks to the side.

I smile at her, "Did you watch Wonderbolt Academy?"

She nods slowly, "That was me, reckless, seat of the pants, everything was about speed. I dreamed for years to become a Wonderbolt. And my reckless attitude was what destroyed my first chance."

"You got in, didn't you?"

I nod, "I got in for two reasons, first, I got a second chance. After Rainbow Dash became Captain of the Wonderbolts, she immediately came to me, and got me back in. But I would never have made it if I hadn't learned from my mistakes. I believe in pushing myself, I still want to be the best. But you haven't had that lesson yet. And it's something you need to learn."

She rolls her eyes, "I'm a better flyer. I'll smoke you wherever you want to go." She lowers her head and spreads her wings.  I just look at her.

"C'mon, you think your better, show me."

I sigh, "Back in Equestria, before I went to the Academy, I would be showing you exactly what kind of flyer I am."
I stop and look at her, shaking my head, "I am not that pony anymore. I've learned, I've grown, and you need the lessons I've gone through. I'm not going to race you."

"Because you know you'll lose."

I give her a look, "Seriously?"

She sighs, "Fine, no racing. I'm Ginger Crisp."

I chuckle at the name. "So, Ginger, you a speedster?"

I get a confused look back, "Speedster?"

"Yes, a speedster, a pegasus who is naturally faster than most other pegasi, and everything about a speedster is flight. Do you find yourself perched high, or simply hovering because you hate being still? One other pony you should know of, Rainbow Dash, is the ultimate speedster."

She nods slowly.

"Do you find you can outpace most other pegasi, most of the time without trying?"

She again nods.

I smile, "You are a speedster. Though to find out some of your abilities, you'd have to have some magical testing done, and unfortunately, the only place I know to get that testing done is back in Equestria."

She sighs, "I don't know if I'm going to go back. I like it here, and I really like my job."

Huh? "What job?"

She indicates the satchel she's carrying, "We are the New Pony Express. Guaranteed Nationwide delivery, you want cross country in half the day? We are your pegasi."

I let out a soft whistle, "Damn, what an awesome idea. Did you know pegasi are managing the weather in Denver?"

She shakes her head, "I was just getting a package for delivery to South Carolina. Then back to New York before supper."

"Damn, you are a speedster. Not many pegasi can make that trip that fast."

She shrugs her wings, then turns and flares her wings, "Speaking of, I've got a delivery to make."

"Hold on one second."

She huffs, but she folds her wings.

"You are based out of New York, you said."

She huffs again, "Yes."

"Who's in charge there?"

She looks abashed, "Well, there's only me, right now. But I hope to find more pegasi that can do long distance flight like me. We can really clean up where email isn't sufficient for sending things. A pegasus that can exceed the speed of sound, and cross the country faster than an airplane. There are places that are willing to pay a pretty penny for things to be delivered that fast."

I don't doubt it. "Let me know where to meet you, and I'll want to talk to you where you aren't so busy."

She shrugs her wings, but finally gives me her address and phone number. She then takes off, and in moments the report of a sonic boom comes to my ears. Damn. What a fast pegasus. I take the stylus and tap on my phone a few times, my new Bluetooth hums and then the other side is picked up.

"Yeah, Irony. You wouldn't believe what just happened."

***

I land at the farm, I haven't been here in months, not since I was brought back after being retrieved down in Columbia. Since then I've been mainly at home. With a little time at the shop. I'm recovered, so I'm going to see what's going on. The first to see me is Cloud Kicker. She gallops up and hugs me.

"Oh Dust, it's so wonderful to see you back."

I smile, "I'm glad to be back."

Time for business, "How are things going with a certain human?"

She smiles evilly, "After Sparkler was injured by the mercenaries, the President pushed through an act of Congress, cancelling all contracts with the Spectrum Group. They are under some scrutiny from various agencies because of the evidence we provided. Their legitimate income stream is down to nearly nothing."

I smile, "And the man himself?"

Her ears fall, "He's in the wind, the FBI wants a word with him."

I chuckle, "They better get in line behind us, especially Irony, but I want a crack at him too. The trouble is, we won't leave much for the FBI to question, and I think they dislike questioning corpses."

She laughs, "Let me show you what we've been doing." I follow the lilac mare. This farm is ten sections, as in ten square miles, so it's pretty massive. We wing our way a couple of miles north, and as we land I end up just looking around.

"Houses?"

She smiles, "Yes, Dust, houses. We are building our own town. All ponies, with a few humans joining in. We've got dozens of herds forming, they want their own homes. Someplace to call their own."

The trees of the section have been knocked down, and a town has grown, well maintained gravel paths snake all over. Houses are everywhere. Over a hundred of them, and even in the winter cold, construction is going on at a furious pace. I see ponies with cutie marks all related to building running all over. Pony size hard hats abound. We get to a new section going up, Cloud Kicker and I are given hard hats for walking around. I'm amazed, pegasi are holding framing while earth ponies are nailing things down, unicorns are framing as well. The hum of magic is everywhere. 

Cloud Kicker nudges me, "If you'll notice, the houses are typical Equestrian design, they are modular."

I give her an inquisitive look, "Modular?"

"To accommodate growing families, just unhook them from utilities, and a few earth ponies can hook up and drag them to join them with other houses, making big herd housing. Add in the housing already being built for some of our larger herds, we have a town in the making. We haven't decided on a name for it. But we are also building with clouds."

Huh? I look over at a nearby hill, what I thought was just general cloud cover isn't. I take off, heading for it. Amazing. I land on the cloud, I look around. Cloud houses are being built, and combined into one large cloud. A huffing Cloud Kicker lands next to me, "Yes, we've thought of naming it the Rim of the Sky. I kind of like the name. But just look at it. We are making homes on Earth. Thousands of ponies are planning on staying, and now nearly half the mares are pregnant, we'll be doubling our population soon."

"And food?"

She laughs, "Food is the least of our concerns, we've converted a good portion of the farm to grow food. And with earth pony help, we will have bountiful baskets. Add in what we can purchase, and what ponies are doing to help when it comes to growing. Earth's food shortages can go away rather quickly."

"I wonder." I look down as I trot down the cloud streets, I'm focused internally. I walk for a long time in silence.

Eventually my silence gets to Cloud Kicker, "You wonder what, Dust?"

I stop and turn to her, "What if this was Discord's plan all along?"

Confusion from the lavender pegasus.

"Think about it, Cloud Kicker, just think about it. He always had plans within plans. What if his plans here are twofold, bringing the ponies to this world bereft of magic, bring our Equestrian magic here, and to bring out humanity's magic. And also, to help the humans in a back handed manner, we control the elements around us, we have to, we are driven to. We have to grow food, we are driven to control the weather. Something that humanity has been at the mercy of for millennia. What if this?" I gesture to our new community, "All of this, is part of his plan? He couldn't be killed, he's a spirit, but he was banished, but he's not dead."

She looks thoughtful, "I don't know Dust, he did a lot of bad things, he hurt a lot of ponies. He was savage."

I laugh, "Cloud Kicker, if something is handed to you, do you value it?"

"Usually."

"Yeah, usually. But what if you have to fight for it, and some die in the fight for it. Don't you hold it dear? Isn't it worth more, because blood has been spilled for it? I'm the last pony to give Discord credit for anything, but every episode with him showed that he had plans within plans, like Twilight's Kingdom, he gave the Mane Six the clues to open their keys, he even gave them the true answer in the Return of Harmony, as to where the elements were."

"Yeah, but he never expected the elements to work after he affected them."

"But if he truly didn't want to be defeated, if he wasn't the contrast to harmony, if he was truly malevolent, wouldn't he have put the elements where they couldn't be found, or even if found, could never be retrieved? He wanted to test the mettle of the Mane six. He wanted to see if they were worthy of beating him. The more I see, the more I believe, he was never truly evil."

Cloud Kicker sits down for a moment, "I hear what you are saying, and I agree with some of it. But I don't think I could ever forgive him for what he did to Equestria, for what he did to us."

I sigh, "I don't know if I can forgive him either, but it's certainly food for thought."

***

"Mayor Mare, I'm so happy to see you." I poke my head into the office. She's sitting, working on the computer, a pony friendly keyboard in front of her. She smiles at me.

"Oh, good. Lightning Dust. We need your input on a lot of decisions."

I hold up a hoof, "You don't need my input, Mayor, you are doing fine yourself."

"Oh, but I do. We don't have to access your personal bank accounts anymore, and in fact, we've paid you back for the loans for buying food and materials until we were self sufficient. But…"

Once again, I hold up a hoof to forestall her, "You are in charge, I've got my company to run, I don't want to be in charge here."

She stops, a blank look in her eyes, she finally recovers, "But you've spent so much money, this land belongs to you."

"While the title is in my company's name, that isn't the issue, I did that for the ponies."

She shakes her head, "Lightning Dust, you own the land, you paid to have the barracks built, all six of them. You have so much invested, we can't just take control, it wouldn't be fair to you."

I shake my head, "Mayor, I really don't care."

"But I do, and I'm not the only one who is quite aware of how much you have done for us."

I sigh, "Fine. If you really are aware of my investment, buy me out."

"Come again?"

I name a figure, "That is how much money that was spent to get this farm up and going, I'm not worried about the so called loans for food and supplies, but since you've paid me back for them, they are water under the bridge. But if you are so stressed about me owning the place, make this pony owned, by all of you. Buy me out, and then you won't feel the need to ask me for input on every little thing."

"Oh, no. We can't do that."

"Yes, you can. Mindy's let me know what kind of income the farm is getting now."

"Oh, it's not a lack of money, I would have a riot of ponies if I did."

I shake my head, "What?"

"Lightning Dust, you need to understand something, you and your herd saved a good number of these ponies, either directly by going and retrieving them from horrible circumstances, or you got them to come here, where they've been safe, secure, and are becoming prosperous. If I were to buy you out, they would think we wanted you gone. We don’t."

I cross my forehooves and huff, "Well, I don't want to be bothered by every little decision. I've got a company I'm trying to run, I've got a herd I'm lead mare for. I don't need the extra responsibilities."

She looks thoughtful for a minute, then the former Mayor of Ponyville smiles, "I've got it."

"Okay. Mind letting me know what you've got?"

She smiles brighter, "You are now the CEO. You own the farm, and the land, but the City Council that's sprung up and I will be the ones handling day to day decisions for the town. You don't have to make decisions, but we would appreciate if you came to the occasional council meeting. We've got a few of those with law degrees among the ponies, we can draw up incorporation documents, make it all legal. And you won't be bothered by us wondering what to do anymore."

***

Back at the house, and the sun has just gone down, though I'm waiting. Irony's around, so is the rest of my herd, but I'm waiting for a knock at the front door. Finally my patience is rewarded by a knock on the door. I jump over the couch and land lightly, opening the door.

"Hi there, Ginger Crisp."

The yellow pegasus just stops, "You set me up, you called for a delivery."

I smile, "Yes, I did. And I had my wife call, so you wouldn't recognize my voice."

She cocks her head to the side and her ears fall, "Why?"

"Would you come in?"

She looks outside like she wants to fly, then she makes a decision. She slowly trots into the house, "I'm still charging you, I came from Nevada to pick up your delivery to New York."

"There is no delivery, but I will pay you for your valuable time. In more ways than one." I gesture to the sofa and she makes herself comfortable. Moon Shadow levitates a glass of hot chocolate to the pegasus, who takes one sniff then sips gratefully.

"So, I'm guessing that you brought me here for a reason?"

Ding ding ding ding, give the mare a prize. I smile at her.

"How would you like some backing, and a few other pegasi to share the work load. Add to that, advertizing, and in general a more steady life and income stream?"

"So, you are wanting to take my business from me?" Her wings start to spread.

I fold my ears back, "Oh no. Ginger, not at all. Partnership would be a far more accurate term."

"I'm not leaving New York, I love it there, and some of the humans like having a pony around. They leave my apartment alone, and I've sealed off the door there, the only way in is by flying."

I smile, just like a pegasus. "You won't have to. But you are always welcome here. We are actually building a cloud city here."

That gets her to perk up, "I was from Cloudsdale. I would love to live in a cloud city again." She stops and shakes her head. "No. While I really do appreciate your offer, I must refuse. I don't think I want to be beholden to anypony. I'm my own boss. I don't take orders very well."

My ears fall, you can't be a success at everything. I offer a hoof, and she shakes it. Then finishes off the hot chocolate. She gathers up the envelope of cash I get for her. I'm true to my word, and she departs.

Irony comes in, "I heard most of your conversation with her, love. What are you going to do?"

I smile, "Well, she doesn't want to join us, so instead of being partners, we'll be competitors."

She looks at me quizzically, "Huh?"

My smile broadens, "I know a few pretty fast pegasi, let's see how many want to restart the pony express, and really make some money."

She shakes her head, "You are one hell of a businessmare."

I toss her a kiss as I take to my wings and head upstairs, "You know it."

***

How many ponies did that bastard banish? How many are out there? How many are hunkered down, wondering what the hell is going on? I need to find them. I've got pegasi of my retrieval teams all over. The more enclaves of ponies we find, the better. We've found two in the state of Montana. Numbering about a hundred ponies. In the mountains where they decided they would be safe. Cloud Kicker was able to convince them to join us. 

I'm over Minnesota right now. I'm keeping my eyes peeled. There have to be more ponies out there. I'm going to find them. I have to find them. Then a disturbing smell hits my nose. I feel my muzzle crinkle in response. It smells burnt, and sour. I look around, the prevailing wind is to the west, so it's behind me. I bank hard and follow the smell. After a few minutes I see where my destination is. I come in for a landing. I don't like what I'm seeing. My stylus comes out and I dial the phone.

"Mindy, I need you here as soon as possible." I say. And in seconds, a soft pop announces the arrival of a pregnant unicorn. She looks around.

"There is something wrong here, Dustie." She looks at me, "Irony, Moon Shadow, Cloud, and Blossomforth are on their way."

We trot through the snow for a few minutes, well, Mindy trots. I hover around, keeping my eyes peeled. There is over a foot of snow on the ground. And the snow has drifted, but I see an odd looking mound, I brush the snow off of it.

"Oh Dear Celestia!" I turn and vomit. Mindy pops over to me. Her magic cleans off the body, I can see a hard set to her face. In seconds, her horn glows, and the entire area heats up, and the snow is clearing. In less than a minute, the snow is gone. Uncovering the carnage. She's looking at the bodies. Dozens of ponies, all dead. "How long ago was this?"

She looks crestfallen, she looks at me, "Can't be more than a few days, Dust. There was a big snow storm last night. This snow was all fresh." She trots around, her ears perk up. 

"You hear that?" She asks me. I trot forward, my ears rotating, the sound comes again. It sounds like earth equine. I trot over to the barn, being set among the trees, I didn't know what it was at first. I pull open the door. I know this smell. Horse, and it's pretty strong. I hear something moving.

"I think we've got a feral horse here." I trot inside, and in one of the stalls is exactly what I thought I heard. I open the door and grab the lead. Drawing the horse outside.

"Oh, no." I whisper, "Mindy!" I then howl. "We've got a pony here!" A stallion. His cutie mark is vivid on his flank, it's a pegasi's wing, and more than that, his coat hasn't completely changed, it has more than a hit of turquoise to it. I look at Mindy as she gallops to me.

"Sweet Celestia, another pony, but he's not as bad off as you were." She looks up, "Right on time. Moon Shadow may be able to help him." The chariot comes into view and lands. The rest of my team hops off and gallops over to us.

"Moon Shadow, take a look." The dark gray unicorn trots up, lighting her horn.

"He's pretty far gone, but I think I can retrieve him." Without another word she touches her horn to the pony's forehead. Everything goes quiet. Both ponies are stock still. I look over at Irony.

"It took a really long time for them to get you. I hope she can do it on her own." She moves close to Moon Shadow, I lean in as well. I listen closely, their breathing has become synchronized.

I continue inspecting this farm. I bring Mindy close, "These ponies were killed by small arms, mostly." I indicate a body, "But I think this is the same sort of mercenaries that attacked our farm."

Mindy directs a sour look at me, "They could try again, but that would be a mistake. Something that is not well known, the National Guard has a brand new station less than ten miles from our home. And they have what they call a rapid response force at the station. They are even patrolling the area, making sure they can't sneak up on us."

I nod, "Because Sparkler was injured."

"She is still his daughter. But I'm the one who had to field a very angry Presidential phone call after that raid."

I grumble, "How bad was it?"

She smiles at me, "I had to hold the phone away from my ear for a full minute for him to wind down and let me get a word in edgewise. And the federal agents who came to get the captured mercenaries were not very kind in loading them into prison busses. From what I've been told, they are being quietly tried by military tribunal, and sentenced to very long stays at very substandard federal housing. We won't need to worry about them anymore."

I sigh in relief, "And word of what they went through is spreading, so they likely won't bother us."

She looks around, "But we aren't all the ponies. The sooner we end that asshole, the better."

I look at her, "Has anypony been able to find out his name?"

She shakes her head, "They are a privately held corporation, they don't have to divulge all that information. And we've looked for a long time. No luck at all."

I turn to Irony and Moon Shadow and trot over too them. Something is happening. 

I watch the pony, his cutie mark stays bright, but ripples of color go up and down his body. And as I watch, a bright white light comes from him, causing me to put a hoof up to protect my eyes. When the light finally fades, a bright turquoise pegasus is standing in front of me, Moon Shadow brings her horn away and lets it quiet. His eyes open. He looks around, then his eyes roll back, and he collapses to the ground. 

"We had better take him home." In seconds he's suspended in Moon Shadow's magic, and they enter the chariot. I take to the air, staying with my herd. 

***

As I'm flying, I'm thinking. This pony wasn't as bad off as I was, but he nearly lost himself. He looked physically fine, but something really shocked him to the core. What could have hurt him so badly? What could have had him lose the desire to live? That's when I started to lose my color, I really wanted death, I wanted to not feel anymore. I retreated into myself, it really wasn't the loss of my flight. It was the feeling that things would never change, that I would have to endure what I was going through without ever getting relief. That evil man, Saul. Irony nearly split him in half with her mace and he deserved it. Though in my darker moments, I wish I had been able to end the man myself. I haven't been able to be intimate with the ones I love because of that man. And that just burns me up as I think about it. I look at the unconscious pony laying in the chariot.

"Don't worry. We are going to find out what happened to you, and fix it." I say quietly as we start to descend into Montana.

***

The stallion stays asleep for nine hours, I try to make myself busy, but I can't. I end up napping for most of the afternoon. I don't know what the herd thinks, me sleeping curled up at the foot of the bed with this strange pony in it. But I have to find out what happened. I'm finally woken by him shifting in his sleep. I shoot off a quick text, and soon the rest of my herd joins me in the bedroom.

I sit and watch as his eyes flutter open, "Water." He croaks.

Moon Shadow is ready with a cup, which is drunk greedily. After the second cup, he's finally able to talk. 

"Where am I?"

"Montana."

"What happened?"

I chuckle, "Actually, we were hoping you could answer that question."

He looks down, "I don't remember much. But it was three days ago, I do remember that much."

I nod, moving closer, "I heard gunfire, just loud pops all over the place, it was so fast. So much of it. I panicked, I ran into the barn and hid in one of the stalls. I ended up underneath the hay until all the noise stopped."

Tears shine brightly in his eyes. "After everything went quiet, I walked back to the house. It was on fire, I tripped over one of my best friends, Moon Dancer. She looked like she was asleep, until I saw the back of her head." He sobs, "It was gone. They all were dead." Tears roll steadily down his face, "I couldn't take it. I didn't know what to do. All of my friends, everypony that was with me through the transformation, and the few we were able to find. Those who found our little farm, they were murdered. I couldn't take it. I withdrew into myself."

He looks at Moon Shadow, "Thank you for bringing me out. I had a pretty hard life as a human. My family was very abusive, and I ran away at fourteen. Turning into a pony was actually a godsend. I could fly, I could get away from all the crap in my life. I felt free in the air. Moon Dancer was my rock, back when she was Allan and I was Mikaela. He was always there for me. Even when my dad came for me, he stood up to him."

I smile at the stallion, "Sweetie, we are going to make sure you are protected. We have a whole community here."

He smiles thankfully, "Oh Thank you, Lightning Dust."

Damn they all know me from the show, that's funny. I smile as I trot from the room.

I am sitting down in the kitchen, eating a tuna salad sandwich, Irony comes over and puts a hand on my withers, "Dust, you like him don't you?"

I look at her quizzically, "What do you mean?"

She chuckles, "Because throughout you talking to him, you had the wing-boner from hell."

I shake my head, "That's impossible. I'm a filly fooler, I don't do guys."

"Look at your wings, love." I look back, and I feel my wings, they are so tight they hurt, how did I not notice that before. What the hell?

"That's impossible." I say again, "I'm having trouble thinking about sex with you, sex wasn't on my mind at all when talking to him."

She kisses me on the cheek, I grab her cheeks and direct the kiss where it belongs, we intertwine tongues for a long moment, she pulls back, "Your mind might not be thinking that direction, but some part of you was. I can smell you from here."

What? I shift my hind legs, holy shit. I look down, face burning. "I'm sorry, Irony."

Again, I'm kissed. "You haven't done anything to be ashamed of, love. We really need to think about adding a stallion or two to our herd. I was thinking of Dr. Ray. I'd still like us to court him into the herd, but if you like this stallion, go for it.

I chuckle, "Fat chance of that."

> Chapter 39. Business and Hormones
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ahh spring, the first of May. The pegasi are getting the weather to warm up. I hear the strains of music, singing floats from our new town, it sounds suspiciously like Winter Wrap Up, in the last few months, the town has sprawled to be within sight of the farmhouse. It's amazing how much we have grown. I have to smile. It's now been a year since I started turning into a pony. Warm weather is on its way, the ponies are making sure of that. I look over at the ponies flying throughout the town. I can feel the tingle of magic. I take wing and head back to my house in town. 

I don't feel like doing much today. I tiphoof quietly upstairs, I had a little bit of exercise this morning, but it's Saturday, so I'm going to join the family in bed. I open the door slowly, everypony is still asleep, even Irony this morning. I move over to the windows and quietly draw the shades, don't want the sun to wake everypony else up. I slide into the pile, I end up with my head next to Helen, my hooves around Irony, and my wings holding Irony and Moon Shadow behind her. Mindy is holding Helen, but she's on the edge of the bed, because of her pregnancy making her get up every so often. She's almost ready to drop a couple of foals. I sigh happily as I let sleep take me.

I'm woken up to lips on mine, a tongue invading my mouth, I feel the tongue, it's much shorter, and narrower than most, so I know this is the lone human of my herd. I smile and my hooves wrap around Helen. I feel my body being drawn to lay on my back, I can feel a pony down there. A wide flat tongue is caressing my thighs, oh my, that feels amazing. Then the tongue moves to the mare's destination. I feel myself being spread and I clamp my legs together.

I feel myself shuddering, even Helen can feel it. She pulls away.

"Are you okay, love?"

I look at her, I try to give her a convincing smile, but apparently I fail at that. I look down, "I'm sorry, Irony." 

She smiles, "It's okay love." But I can hear it in her voice. The amount of pain in her voice hurts me too. We haven't made love since I got back. I want to cry now.

I slam the bed with a hoof, "No, it's not. Irony, please, keep doing what you were doing."

She looks unsure, "Are you sure?"

No, I'm not sure, "What I am sure of is I want you. I'm not going to let this get in the way of that. Please, Irony, show me the love you were trying to before my fears overwhelmed me?"

She looks at Helen, then at Moon Shadow. She moves up and gives me a kiss, which really starts me back into the mood, damn she can kiss. She moves slowly down my body, eliciting little mewling noises from my throat. She finally is back between my hind legs, my tail is thrashing from side to side, I want her, I want what she is wanting to do to me. I close my eyes, and focus on the pleasure I feel. I ignore the rising fear. I'm not getting raped again, I'm not getting violated with a baseball bat again, I am with a mare that loves me. One who killed the man who hurt me. I feel her tongue. My body stiffens, but I'm able to keep from pushing her away. She stops for a moment, but her breathing is hot and fast, and she's breathing on me down there. I moan, "Oh please, Irony. Keep going." That's all she needs. My body finally really starts to relax. Helen moves up and kisses me again. Oh Celestia, this is how it's supposed to feel. 

***

Past noon and I am downstairs, "Morning Star Shine." I chirp to the stallion. He's made residence at my house in town rather than the farm. Saying he feels safer with my herd. I really don’t mind. The stallion has been very nice so far. Two months living with us has been pretty fun. He likes to cook, a holdover he says from when he was human. And he's pretty damned good at it. Him and Dylan have actually become pretty good friends. He wasn't much older than Dylan when Discord got him. He's standing in front of the stove, flipping pancakes. I can smell eggs have been cooked. And sausages, what a breakfast, I feel my stomach let me know I've exerted a lot today with only coffee to satisfy it.

Star Shine chuckles, "I can hear your stomach, have a fun time this morning?"

I feel my wing extend, "Oh, we just had a quiet morning in bed."

He smiles at me, "I heard at least two mares screaming, and it was the good kind of screaming." His wings are extended. My face heats up.

I look down, "Moon Shadow was supposed to cast a sound deadening spell."

He smiles as he slides a plate to me, "Well, I think she forgot. But your herd had a fun morning. But I have to ask you, does your human member of the herd join you girls?"

I look down, I know my face is beet red, I nod.

"You are a lucky mare, you've got a total of three mares with you, and a human woman. All having sex. Wow."

I stab a piece of pancake with a fork, "Yeah. Helen was never interested in women, but I think we've converted her. She was my wife before the change, and she's fallen in love with all of us." I think for a moment, "Oh crap, the kids! They had to have heard us."

He smiles, "They were up a few hours ago, I sent them to the park to go play. They weren't here when you were playing."

"You made sure they ate?"

He smiles as he sits down across from me, "They ate, they are bundled up since it's still a bit chilly outside, but they are all taken care of."

I give him a grateful smile as I dig into my food, "Thank you, Star Shine, I don't know what we would do without you." 

He smiles as he gets up, I focus on my food for a moment, then I'm startled, he's right next to me, he just gently bit my ear. I flick my ear and look at him. Seeing a shy smile on the stallions face as he blushes, he trots into the living room.

That stallion is interested in me. Seriously? I don't do stallions. I look at the entryway to the living room. What the hell?

***

"Irony, he bit my ear. And I know what that means. That's a clear signal from a stallion. What the hell?"

She's turning a wrench. We are in the garage, she has oil in her fur, and her Mustang is sitting there in all its glory. Just maintenance on her today. Something I've found that Irony enjoys to do, keeping that car in tip top shape. She looks at me, "Well, offer him a turquoise flower, or a feather. Take him out on a date, by yourself or with the herd. We all like him, if you want to court him into the herd, go for it."

My ears fall, "But you haven't even started courting Dr. Ray, yet. It wouldn't be right for me to grab another stallion before you've even brought one stallion into the herd. And add in the fact, I don't do stallions!" I huff.

"I've talked to Dr. Ray. He's interested, but he's too busy learning magic, and he's also busy with the medical needs of the town, he doesn't feel he has the time to devote to a herd right now. He's also a complete novice to our social customs, we have years of memories surfacing, he has what he's been able to absorb in the half year he's been a pony. But Star Shine does know the social norms, he was a pony back in Equestria." She stops and waggles her eyebrows at me, "And he was a human girl before he changed back into a pony, that has to count for something."

I sigh, "I don't know, Irony. I think about him, and my body responds. Badly! I leak whenever he's around. I'm probably dropping pheromones like it's nopony's business. And even if he's not aware of my constant wing-boners around him, he has to smell me. It's like I'm in heat, but only around him."

"Who's to say you aren't in heat, Dust?"

"I am, when I'm not around him, I can feel that I'm not. I do recognize heat when it comes to me."

She chuckles, "Dust, what are you going to do if you actually go into heat with him around? You going to be waggling that plot around him, inviting him to mount you?"

I shudder, "Dear Celestia, I hope not."

She chuckles, "Want to take a bet?"

I give her a dirty look.

***

Flying helps me loosen my mind. After talking with Irony, I take to the air. Just some time in the air. Though as a speedster pegasus, what I consider a short trip is a long haul for many others, I make a turn south at Kalispell, then turn back east at Bozeman. Keeping nearly the speed of sound, I'm gone for about two hours. Another pony rises to meet me as I get close to home. Turquoise fur, black and gray streaked mane, and a cutie mark of a pegasus wing. 

"Hi Star Shine. " I say as I get close.

"Irony told me you were getting close, thought I would fly with you."

That little imp, she's manipulating things. I bank hard, and he follows. Time to see how fast this pegasus can fly. I streak off to the east. Leaving a turquoise trail with a lightning bolt in it. I look back, another turquoise trail is following me. Damn, is this pony a speedster too? Can't be, we are not that common. I accelerate, smoothly breaking the sound barrier. I look behind me, he's keeping up with me. Damn! Well, I can make this interesting, I'm not going to go full speed, but I'm going to show him why I was a Wonderbolt. 

I quickly dive for the ground, letting my wings take the punishment as I pull out at the last moment, I let myself slow down at the lower altitude, but I'm actually powering down less than thirty feet above a highway. I can see the cars on the two lane highway. I smile, then streak down among the cars, weaving between them much faster than they are going. I reach out a hoof and run it along a semi truck trailer as I pass it. I howl in delight. I tap my hooves on the cab of the truck as I finish passing it. I gain some altitude, and fly upside down, looking behind me at the other turquoise pony keeping up with me. Yes, he's fast too, so I had better make this a challenge. A quick turn to the south, and I'm accelerating, once again above the speed of sound, but keeping my altitude below ten thousand feet. I quickly pass out of the state of North Dakota and into South Dakota, I turn a bit to the west, and finally get to a town that I've spent a lot of time in as a human, Rapid City. I get an idea, then streak north, finally landing near the town of Keystone, a little tourist trap that is known for being close to a major national monument. I've actually landed at that monument, known throughout the world, Mount Rushmore.

"Damn, Dust. You are fast!" Star Shine says as he lands. He trots up to me on unsteady legs, but he's got a huge smile on his muzzle.

I grin at him, "Eeyup, I am. None faster!" I puff out my chest and pose for him.

"Except maybe for Rainbow Dash."

I wave a hoof, "Her and I are pretty equal, and she's not on this world."

He chuckles, since when does the sound of a stallion chuckle make me weak in the knees? I shake my head.

"Any particular reason why you decided to make me chase you?" He asks.

I smile at him, I suppress what I want to say, instead, "You didn't have to chase me." I feel my tail twitching, my wings are now painfully tight.

He comes closer, "I know a wingboner when I see one."

"Oh, you do, do you?" I smile coyly. Yet in the back of my mind, I'm gibbering in fear. This isn't happening.

He reaches up and nips my ear gently, then he breathes into my ear, "I was told Lightning Dust is a filly fooler."

My tail tucks under my hindquarters and I back away, "Oh, those rumors are true."

He smiles a half smile at me, "Then why are you so attracted to me?"

Amazing, this pony has been with my herd for a couple of months, and now he's coming on to me? Though I'm kind of leading him on I think, "I'm not."

He comes closer, as he reaches to nip my ear again, I can smell him, and by Celestia, he smells amazing. I back away before he's able to nip me again. I turn away, "I'm really not. I was a guy before the change. And my memories of Equestria, I've never been interested in stallions."

His muzzle moves my tail to the side, causing me to leap into the air, I end up twenty feet away. My wings are spread, but not in desire now, "What the hell?"

His eyes are glazed, damn I must be dropping those pheromones like nopony's business, "You smell amazing." He trots up to me. I can see he's ready in more ways than one. Oh dear Celestia! I can't really fly right now, wings are ignoring me. 

"You can keep your nose where it belongs, and that is away from my marehood." I nearly shout at him. He wilts visibly. Oh damn. I didn't want to hurt his feelings. I move up and use a hoof to gently cup a cheek, I tell myself he's not that beautiful of a stallion, but my body is ignoring me. "I'm sorry, Star. I'm a filly fooler, I don't do stallions. I don't know why my body is doing what it's doing…" My words are cut off as he kisses me. Oh, sweet Celestia, is this how Helen felt when I kissed her as Mike? My knees go wobbly, and I can feel my tail swishing from side to side. My scent is so strong I can smell myself. Oh dear Celestia, I'm responding to his kiss, my tongue is invading his mouth as strongly as his is into mine. 

I break away, tears flowing down my face, "I'm sorry Star, I've got to go!" I'm able to gallop until my wings finally calm down enough to take to the air. In seconds I'm above the cloud layer, and well above the speed of sound. If I keep this up, I'll do a damned sonic rainboom! 

***

I land on a veranda, the city sounds are filling my ears, damn New York is noisy! I knock on the door, I hope she's here. After a long time knocking the door opens and a yellow pegasus looks at me through a sleep tousled mane. It's dark, but the city never sleeps, doesn't it. As a country boy before, and becoming a country mare since my change, I really don't remember how busy a city is. But I'm reminded of it sitting here.

"Ginger Crisp, I need your help."

"I don't want to talk to you, since you've started competing with me, it's been harder to make a profit."

I smirk at her, "Oh Ginger, you had a wonderful idea, I just capitalized on it. Though a partnership is still being offered."

She starts to close the door, I put a hoof to stop the door, I give her my most plaintive look, "Please Ginger, I can't promise to stop competing with you, but I really do need your help. Mare to mare."

She looks at me with a sour look, "So whether we partner up is based on whether I help you or not?"

I rear back a bit in shock, though I'm gratified she doesn't complete closing the door, I finally am able to find words, "No, Ginger. You could shout at me, yell at me, cuss me out like a dirty slut of a mare, and my offer of partnership will remain. You had a wonderful idea, I found six pegasi who can do the job, and I still want you to run it. I'll help out, and handle advertising, and in general make life easier where I can. The two are not related, I want to keep making a profit on that wonderful idea. But having you will make more profits, and easier work. You were running your plot off." The businessmare inside of me is taking control right now. "Fifty-fifty profits, you can run the pegasi, you can do as many deliveries as you want. I'll even help you open a store front in New York, or wherever."

She looks thoughtful, then finally, "It was my idea, seventy-thirty."

I shake my head, "I'll be putting up capital to advertise and open a store front, fifty five to you, forty five to me."

"I'll still be making deliveries, sixty-forty."

I think about it for a moment, then offer her a hoof, "Deal." She shakes and smiles.

Ginger then opens the door and gestures me to come inside. I spend the next several minutes explaining about the farm we found, the dead ponies, then the mystery that is the stallion Star Shine, and what's been going on. 

She laughs, apparently my stress is a source of her amusement. I look at her sourly, "I'm glad my pain is the source of your mirth."

She stops laughing, but there is mirth in her voice, "Oh Dust, why didn't you just let him, you wanted to, he wanted to. And you said your herd wants you to as well."

I sigh, "Were you a guy or a girl before the change?"

"A girl."

"I was a guy, and the thought of a guy doing that to me…" I wilt, "Doesn't really appeal to me."

"Yes it does, Dust, otherwise your body wouldn't be responding so strongly."

"But I never did that with a stallion back in Equestria."

"There's a first time for everything." We are interrupted by a knock on the veranda. Ginger moves to open the door.

"Well, love. You've got a very confused and heartbroken stallion back at home." Irony says as she enters the room. I look up sharply.

"Irony, how did you find me?" I look down at my phone, it's been dead for hours now.

She puts a hoof to her ear, showing off the earring from Moon Shadow, "I used Moon Shadow's gift. We are all worried about you." She comes over and gives me a hug, I bury my face in her fur. Sobs wrack my frame.

"I just don't know what to do!" I wail into Irony's soft fur. I get a hug for my trouble.

"Dust, you know what you want, you are just afraid. Just like you were afraid with the herd this morning, but you fought through the pain, the fear, and opened yourself up to us. Was this morning worth it to you?"

I nod slowly.

She takes my cheeks in her hooves and gently forces me to face her, "Dust, I promise, your herd." She kisses me gently, "Your family, supports you. You want him, but you are scared. You will find that you enjoy it."

I look at her with my best lost little puppy dog expression, "Promise?"

She kisses me, "Yes, Dust. I promise you. He's smitten with you, he'll be gentle, he wants you to enjoy him as much as he wants you. I've talked to him."

I look down for a long moment. Then move over to Ginger, "Thank you for being a shoulder to cry on. And for your help."

She smiles, "Don't mention it, and I'll be over sometime in the next few days to hammer out our agreement."

I chuckle as we make our way to the veranda, Irony climbs onto the chariot, "Love. Why not ride with me, just be close to me while we head home?"

I look at her, and out at the sky, then I join Irony on the chariot.

> Chapter 40. Equestrian Dating on Earth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The chariot finally lands, Irony has been holding me the whole time. But now I'm feeling well enough to grumble about how long it took. They must have taken off right after Star got back to the house. We land just after sunup. I smile at the pegasi that are flying the chariot as they take off for home. I look at the door to the house, I look back at Irony. I sigh, I'm really not looking forward to this. But Irony leads me into the house. In moments, Irony, Helen, Moon Shadow and Mindy are all sitting around the table with me, and another pony is there, Star Shine.

I look down, "Hello Star Shine."

Once again, I'm smelling Irony's hand in this, Star is sitting right next to me, I can easily touch him with my wing, though I'm too sad to even begin having a wingboner over him. He touches my back with a wing, I only flinch a little bit.

"I'm guessing I should explain myself." I say.

He just looks at me while I spend some time telling him about my captivity. Irony's hand is on my withers the entire time from her place on my other side.

He looks down, "So, you were raped."

I nod, tears forming.

"By a human, for months, and he hurt you horribly?"

I nod again, those tears are now threatening to roll down my cheeks.

"And because of this, you are not only barren, but you still have flashbacks to the abuse? And yesterday morning was the first time you made love with your herd sisters since you came back?"

I look down, "Yes, Star." My eyes close.

And then open as I hear a loud report. I look over, I've never seen such anger on a pony's face. Not even Irony, but in truth, I wasn't aware of Irony's reaction to my captivity. 

"That son of a bitch, I'll kill him." His hooves are shaking on the heavy butcher block table. I look down, it has new hoof impressions have been pressed into the heavy butcher block style table. 

Irony growls, "I already did." She looks at Star sharply, "And I would bring him back from the dead so I could do it again and again. When I killed him, I didn't know what had been done to her, he was in my way, he shot at me, and most of all, he was getting Dust away from me. So I killed him." She smiles evilly, "But my mace took him in the crotch, so I got a little bit of revenge on him for what he did to her."

Star looks hard at Irony, "In the crotch, you say?"

She nods.

"You are pretty damned strong, even for an earth pony, so I'm guessing the mace made it through the pelvis?"

Again, a nod.

He smiles a bit, but it's not a nice smile, "Good."

I look at him, he's acting like… my ears fall. There is no way, he's only known me for a couple of months.

He finally seems to calm down a bit, he looks seriously at me, "So you aren't giving me crossed signals on purpose?"

I shake my head.

"Dust, I find this hard to say, first, I have to say how thankful I am when it comes to you and your herd saving me. I was lost after the death of my friends. The last couple of months have made my life actually mean something." He stops and leans his forehead on mine, "And I think I'm falling in love with you, Lightning Dust."

That gets a shudder down my spine, he feels is and backs away, "I'm sorry for saying that." So, now I know why he's reacting that way.

"No, Star. I am still trying to heal. It is hard for me. I had so much trouble telling the rest of my herd how I felt about them, and it took me months after I was back before I could ask them if we could make ourselves into a herd. I've been oriented to be attracted to females my whole life, both of my lives actually. As a pony I was a filly fooler, and as a human, I was a man attracted heavily towards women. This is the first time in my life that I've actually felt attraction for a stallion. And I'm trying to wrap my head around that. But before you think I'm not interested, I'm going to tell you." I look down, and sigh, "I am."

He moves closer, "I'm sorry if my outburst scared you, Dust."

"Me? Scared? Talking to the wrong mare there." Though I think he can see through my lie. He kisses me.

*pomf*

Awww damnit! Those wing-boners again. I open an eye, he's saluting the sky as well.

"Uh, guys." I hear.

I pull away from the kiss, "We will so have to go on a date."

He chuckles, "Yeah, I think that would be fun, just with you? Or a herd date?"

I look over at Irony, I read her mood as best I can, "Just you and I for the first date, and we'll see about a herd date later on."

A quick glance at Irony shows she's agreeing with me. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Tomorrow?" He asks?

I smile, "Tonight sounds better to me." Oh Celestia, I only thought I had popped a wingie, that hurts.

"Um, Dust." Mindy says.

"What do you want to do for our date, Dust?" Star asks.

Meet him in the bedroom, and make sure Moon Shadow sets a sound absorbing spell before leaving, what I actually say is, "Whatever sounds fun to you." Though I think he would love my idea.

"Dust!!!" Mindy shouts. Finally catching my attention.

"What, Mindy?" I look over at her. Her face is strained. Oh no.

"I think we better get Dr. Ray over here!" She moans.

I look at my herdmates, talk about timing Mindy.

***

"Okay, I see the second head, time to push Mindy." Dr. Ray says gently.

I'm sitting right at Mindy's head, holding on to her forehooves. She's covered in sweat, four hours all lead up to this. Mindy strains as her body demands she pushes. After a few moments she goes limp.

"And I've got her. Congratulations Mindy, you've got a pair of beautiful foals."

Irony and Moon Shadow have been helping Dr. Ray on Mindy's other end. Hannah is helping too. She's got one of them in her arms, and Moon Shadow is working to clean the second foal. Soon they are brought to a tired Mindy. I look at the foals, they are adorable. One pegasus, with a pink coat with a yellow mane, and a unicorn, with a jet black mane to go with light blue fur. Mindy curls her forelegs around her foals, sighing happily.

"Well, I'm glad that's done with." She looks at me, "If you had told me two years ago that I would be a pony, and that I would give birth to two foals, and be deliriously happy about it, I would have laughed at you. But I have, and I am." She giggles, "I wouldn't have it any other way." She nuzzles her foals.

"Any ideas for names for them?" I ask.

She giggles again, "I've been thinking about names since I found out I was pregnant. She cradles the pegasus, "Cloud Burst." And the unicorn, "Dot."

I cock my head to the side, "Dot?"

She nods seriously, "Oh, yes. Dot is the perfect name for her. Trust me."

I shrug my wings, they are her foals, she can name them what she wants to. But Dot? Really? I sigh gently. I look back at Mindy, "Dustie, I promise, they will live up to their names. We all do, especially you, right?"

I smile and run my wing down her side, "Mindy, they are our foals, they could have any name, and they will be loved, but I do trust you. They will be wonderful."

***3rd person***

Star Shine did have to wait until the next day for that date. But when him and Lightning Dust took off, Irony's Mustang roared off as well. Dust said they weren't going too far, and Helen and Irony were going to be there for their herd sister. True to her word, when Helen touched the earring that Moon Shadow made for her, and concentrated on Dust, she was able to direct Irony to a place to park the car, and they ended up on foot. Dust had chosen a local reservoir for them to spend time together, a picnic blanket has been set out, the basket is being unloaded. Irony peers through binoculars at the couple sitting next to the water.

"So far so good."

Helen brings out a thermos of coffee, "I don't know how you ponies like this weather." She grumbles a little bit.

Irony glances at her, "It's in the forties, nice weather."

Under her breath, Helen says, "If you are a penguin."

Irony chuckles as she continues to monitor with the binoculars, "We've got a nice coat of fur. Though the pegasi have it easiest in this weather. I think it's a little chilly, Dust and the other pegasi love it. Remember, they like being up high, and the air gets a lot colder." She looks up at the cloudless sky, "They have to tolerate some pretty cold weather to fly so high."

Helen pulls out her own pair of binoculars, and both of them watch the new couple for a while.

"He's trying so hard," Helen chuckles, "he wants to make a good impression on Dust." She watches the stallion pull out a bottle of wine for Dust.

Irony puts down her binoculars, "Helen, I know human culture is heavily biased for monogamy, how are you handling this change, joining our customs, our lives?"

Helen sighs, "I used to get jealous when women would look cross ways at Mike. I knew he loved me, but I was always afraid that he would find someone and replace me."

"Replace you? How could anyone replace you?"

She shakes her head, "I don't know, Irony. But I thought that Mike would find someone better and just drop me."

Irony growls, "If Mike was anything then like Dust is now, he would never have wanted to replace you. But things are different now. Are you afraid that we are going to replace you in Dusts heart?"

Irony can see the tension in Helens hands as she holds her field glasses. The human woman is silent for a long time.

Finally, Irony breaks the silence, "Helen?"

"At first, I was. When Dust first changed, and then you came into the picture, and I could see how much she was attracted to you, I thought, she's a pony now, she should be with those that are like her. And I covered up how much the thought of losing Mike was hurting, I don't even think she knew."

"And?" Irony prompts as Helen grew silent.

Helen sighs, "And I've found out that her feelings for me are still amazingly strong. She hasn't abandoned me, she hasn't ever been there just to take care of the kids, she still loves me, with the same intensity. I was amazed, Irony." She puts down the binoculars and looks at Irony, "I know how much she loves you, and Moon Shadow and Mindy. And yet she still has time for me. Whether it's just being close together, or talking. I'm on her thoughts as much as you are, or any member of the herd is. Even today, I woke up with her wings around me, and when she woke up, she saw me and her eyes brightened. She still is as much in love with me as when she was Mike. She's not dividing up her love between all of us, each one we bring in increases her capability to love. And she loves us all."

Irony nods, "Add in the fact that you've got all of us, we all love you as well, Helen."

Helen runs a finger along Irony's ear, "I know, love. Having the rest of you in my family has shown me that I'm just as capable as Dust is, I'm capable of more love because I have more of you to love. Now, there are times I know that I was selfish, wanting Mike all to myself, wanting Dust only with me. And that's changed, if we can love each other, life is so much better with more to love."

She picks up her binoculars. Irony puts her hand on Helen's back, "Love you, Helen."

The human leans over to be close to the earth pony, "I love you too, Irony."

For a long time they watch the pegasi enjoy their food and the bottle of wine that Moon Shadow had added to the basket. The two pegasi are leaning against each other, Star's head resting on Dust's as they gaze out at the water birds playing in the lake. Helen watches as Star moves his head away, then brings his lips to Dust's cheek. Through the field glasses, she sees Dust's cheeks glow in a blush. Getting a smile out of the human woman.

"Awww, he's really smitten with her."

Irony notices the wings, "Yeah, and she's just at affected."

They watch Dust turn her head and bring her lips close to Star's. Then the mare stops just shy of kissing the stallion.

"Uh oh." Irony says. Both of the quiet observers watch intently as Dust quivers. Dust pulls away, and turns away.

"Damn," Helen adds, "I knew she was still scared, but I know how much she actually wants him."

Words are being exchanged between the pegasi, finally Dust trots a few feet away, sitting on her haunches, and using her wings to hold herself.

"Don't do it, don't do it." Irony says quietly, but of course, she's not listened to by the stallion. He moves closer and puts a hoof on Dust's withers. Dust lashes out with a hoof, knocking his hoof away. 

"No, Dust, don't!" Helen moans as Dust flares her wings and takes off like a bullet, "Damn!" She says.

Irony shifts onto four hooves and gallops off, calling out Star's name as he flares his wings to take off. Helen jumps up and follows as fast as she can run. In moments she's huffing and puffing next to the stallion.

"But, I know she wants to, anypony can see that."

Irony responds, "Dust has been broken, she's put back together now, but she's still fragile. You go off chasing her, she'll respond badly. And I think it will be worse than her flying cross country, she might end up even further away. She is in pain now, Star. And I know she wants you, she's told me she does, but she needs to wrap her head around everything going on. You need to be patient with her."

Star looks at Helen, "And what do you think, Helen?"

Helen looks at the direction that Lightning Dust took off, "Star, she's interested in you, and I think she's falling in love with you. But you press too hard, you will shatter her. She's been through hell. And she's questioning everything."

"But…" The stallion's wings droop, "I love her."

Irony draws the stallion into a hug, "I know, Star. And I'm pretty damned sure that Dust loves you as well, but what she needs now, is time."

They all three end up looking towards the direction that Dust went.

***Lightning Dust***

I didn't go very far, a bit over a sixty miles. I'm sitting on a cloud looking down at the well I was working on right before I started this transformation. I lay down on the cloud.

"What the fuck is wrong with me?" I say to myself.

You don't want to be a mare, you don't want to be mounted by a stallion. That little voice in the back of my mind screams at me.

"But why?" I whisper to myself, "I like being a pony, I love being a pegasus, and being a mare isn't that bad."

It will hurt!

I shake my head, "What's a little pain? He loves me, Irony loves me, so does Helen, Moon Shadow and Mindy."

You remember heat back in Equestria, it always sucked because you didn't want a stallion, you were never interested. The most you would have would be the occasional cooler, just to help you cool off. But you also hid away during your heat.

"I remember that, but maybe being a filly fooler wasn't all it was cracked up to be."

Why not? Plenty of hot mares to play with.

"Yeah, and no real satisfaction during heat."

I stop and remember, my first heat, Mindy ended up being my heat buddy, she helped, and her magic was a godsend, but I still felt like it wasn't enough. Though I did find a nice little mare back in Baltimare who was really fun to play with. I smile at the memory. Then it dawns on me, I've never been with a stallion, worse than that, the only actual male was the fuck who raped me. That's where the fear is from, damn it all! My only experience as a mare was violent, and painful, and an all around horrible experience. No wonder I'm so fucked in the head. I turn and spread my wings. I have an apology to make to a stallion who's been nothing but sweet to me.

***

Landing at my house, I trot through the front door, then stop in my tracks. My herd is here, all of them are sitting quietly. I put a hoof to the earring, "So you knew I was on my way back?"

Nods from everypony.

I look down, "I'm sorry. I've been remiss in my duties as lead mare." I end up lying down, "If somepony else wants the responsibilities, I won't object."

I look up, everypony looks completely shocked, I perk my head up, "I'm serious, I haven't been taking care of you the way I should. I told you I was broken, I told you that I wasn't suitable." I hang my head in shame, "I don't deserve to lead this herd, this family."

Strong hands pick me up, I'm embraced by Irony, "Oh Dust, we know you are trying. And honestly, I don't want the job, neither does anypony here. You have gotten this family where it is, and for another mare to take charge would be a disservice to you."

"But I've failed you, Irony, all of you."

I'm hugged tightly by the earth pony, "No, you haven't. You've simply been dealing with the issues of what happened to you. Nopony is better qualified to be here, Dust. Please, Dust, we need you. And there is a stallion upstairs who is heartbroken right now. Why don't you go upstairs and make it right with him?"

I sigh, "Are you all sure? I'm no tyrant, I want all of your opinions on things."

Moon Shadow comes up, "Dust, we all love you, you are the lead mare. Please, know that we support you."

Irony lets me down, and I look at them, and give them a watery smile, I swipe a foreleg across my eyes to remove the tears. Then I head up stairs, in moments I'm at the master bedroom door. I take a deep breath and open the door. Star is asleep on the king size bed. I stop and look at him, he's gorgeous, coloring similar to mine, a wonderful cutie mark, with a turn of speed that is rare among pegasi. I stand there a long time. My mind going a million directions at once. What if it hurts, what if he's too big for me, I'm not the largest of ponies, and the coolers that have been used on me in the past haven't be exactly jumbo sized, they did the job, that's it. Dear Celestia he's beautiful, he'd be good to be kept in the bedroom and never have to leave.

I shake my head, I'm thinking about sex with a stallion for the first time ever in any of my lives, and now I'm thinking of turning him into a sex slave. I chuckle softly, oh Dust, you naughty girl. I take to the air gently and hover close to the sleeping pegasus. I let myself down gently onto the bed. He doesn't even twitch as I gather him up into my arms. I look at him sleeping for several seconds, finally, I'm ready. I put a hoof on his cheek and kiss him. After a second or two he jerks a little, then returns my kiss strongly. I know he's ready, but I need to talk before anything else happens. I put a hoof on his chest and push gently.

"Star, you know what happened to me. I am up here because I want you. I want you more than anything else in this world right now. But you need to understand, you will be the first stallion I will have ever been with. I need you to be gentle, and slow, and as loving as you can be, can you do that for me?"

He nods, "Dust, the last thing I want is for you to feel any pain, I've been trying to say that I love you. You need to know that."

I kiss him quickly, then pull back, "Star, I know. And I am in love with you too."

He starts to stand up, but I stop him, "Not the normal way for us ponies, that's how he did it to me, and that terrifies me, let's do things differently."

***A/N***
I've written what happens, in Dust on the Wind: Cloptional  Parts, this will be in 39a.
***

The sun is setting, and this mare is one satisfied girl, before I left the room, I let Star Shine know that I could feel that my heat was going to be coming soon, so be prepared for a lot more. I smile, I feel wonderful. By Celestia, I never knew. All those filly foolers in Equestria are really missing out. I chuckle as I finally get downstairs.

"Well, sounds like you had a good time." Moon Shadow chirps. I stop in shock.

"Weren't you supposed to cast a sound deadening spell on the room, you knew what I was planning on doing."

Moon Shadow smiles lasciviously, "Oh Dust, the kids aren't here. We knew what you were planning on doing, and we wanted to know if he was making you happy." Her smile widens, "And it sounds like he did."

I chuckle, "My knees are still wobbly, and I don't trust my wings yet. Is it always like that for women? Be they human or pony?"

Moon Shadow comes up and rubs against me like a cat marking someone as their own. Damn, I was completely satisfied, and I'm popping a wingie for Moon Shadow, she purrs into my ear, "Not always, but when it happens, it's amazing." This time I get a nip to the ear from her, "We'll have to play later, you, me, and Star. Though Irony might want to join."

I chuckle, "You are going to wear out the poor stallion."

This time a full throated laugh from the gray unicorn, "Oh, he has no idea what's in store for him."

***A/N***
I've written some of what happens for the ponies in heat, it's in Dust on the Wind: Cloptional parts, 39b Mares in Heat
***

> Chapter 41. Sunset Dawns
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's been a long day, but this is the kind of day where I am happy to be a mare. Dr. Ray and Star Shine are both sleeping, exhausted after, servicing two very intense mares. The mares of the family are downstairs, the TV is on, but is being ignored.

Irony looks at Moon, "Did you get Mindy to cast the no-foals spell on you? Or you Dust?"

I shake my head, "Dr. Ray said that I was too injured to have foals, so it's not a worry for me."

Moon shadow looks really small, "I forgot, I knew it was coming, and I planned on asking her last night, before we went to sleep, I thought I would wake up ready, and boy, did I ever."

Irony sighs, "Moon, do you want foals? It's a bit early being here to think about foals."

Moon Shadow looks unsure, "Well, before the change, to be honest, I wanted Henry's children."

Irony blushes, "I never knew."

Moon Shadow blushes as well, "I never told you, love."

"You should have gotten the spell though, we don't need any more foals yet."

I pipe up, "And why not? I guarantee you if Moon Shadow ends up with foals, they would be loved, just as much as Dot and Cloud Burst are loved, just as much as my Dylan and Hannah are loved by all of us."

"But…"

I interrupt her, "If you are worried about money, Lightning Electric is doing great, we had a busy winter, and the spring is heating up, profits are high right now. No worries."

She looks ashamed, to my shock, "Dust, we don't want to have to depend on your income."

I leap up, "Irony, damn it all. You are a member of my family, so is Moon, Star, and Dr. Ray if he wants to join. Money is not a problem in this family."

"I…"

I cut her off, she's not going to go all noble on me, "Damn it Irony. I love you, I've been the provider for this family for fifteen years. I wanted you to join the family, I've already added you all to the joint bank accounts, I've had credit cards issued in all your names. And yet, I watch the financials." I turn to Moon Shadow, "You haven't spent a penny, neither has Irony. And Star has barely spent any money."

Irony and Moon Shadow murmur.

I scoff, "You have your own resources. That's all well and good. You can do two things with them, add them into the joint bank accounts, or leave them to not be used. I expect you to use the resources I work my plot off to provide."

I quiet down a bit, "Irony, Moon, this family is in the top tenth of a percent of income earners. We are rich, and despite what the media wants to say about the rich, we are anything but idle. All I ask is if a purchase reaches into seven figures, clear it with me first."

Irony looks confused, "So, you are saying if we spend a million dollars, make sure it's okay."

I nod.

"So, if I want to spend a hundred grand on a weekend in Vegas."

"You have my blessing."

Moon Shadow and Irony exchange looks, "And you would…"

I smile, I know what they are going to say, "I would be happy that the ponies I love are enjoying the fruits of my labors." I look slyly at them, "Though I would hope that if you plan on spending a hundred grand in Vegas, that I would be invited to join in."

I'm swept up in a hug and a very thorough kiss from Irony, "I was starting to get a bit worried, we've burned through a lot of our savings the last year or so. I always kept money on hand, but the account back home was getting a little lean."

"How much was it?"

She names a figure, I trot to my office, gesturing for them to follow.

She stammers as I write out a check, "Dust, you don't have to do it."

I spit out the pen and gently tear the check from the register, I hoof it over to her. "This is double the amount you told me. Put it in your bank account back home, then leave it alone. I'd transfer some over to a money market account, and let it grow, but it's all yours."

She stammers again, "Irony. For one, I know that your pride isn't allowing you to tell me how much money you've spent, and for two, even if your account ends up with more money than when you started this little adventure, I don't care."

She cocks her head to the side, "Don't care, this is a lot of money Dust."

I shout loudly, causing both their ears to fold back, "I don't give one single rats ass about money, Irony. Ask Helen, she's tried to make me care about how much money is in the bank. But she gave up once there was over a million dollars in the checking account. I don't care. I never have, I never will. As far as I'm concerned, money is means to an end, I work hard for two reasons."

I put up one feather of a wing, "I enjoy what I do, no… I love what I do. Running this company has been the most stressful and wonderful thing of my life." I hold up a second feather, "I love being able to provide for my family. As far as I'm concerned, you don't have to do anything."

"You know we can't do that."

I smile, "I know, but it's good to know that whether you eat or not, or whether or not you have a roof over your heads isn't dependent on your work. It's taken care of. By one who loves you all more than anything else in the world."

Irony shifts and reaches over my desk, picking me up. I'm kissed very thoroughly by the midnight blue mare, then again by Moon Shadow.

"We will not have to worry about resources for the kids, or our needs." I hop back into my chair and turn the computer around, a moment of work has logged me into my personal financial accounts.

Irony gives a low whistle, "It's not Bruce Wayne kind of money, but at the rate it's growing, you might be able to give Batman a run for his money."

I chuckle. "Irony, I don't really care about how big that number is. As long as our wants, needs, and desires are taken care of. It's all good. Remember, Irony, if that check isn't deposited, I will know."

She looks at the small slip of paper, "I promise, Dust. It will be." 

***

I'm sitting in my office at work. It's been a long day. I hired two new journeymen, and their trucks are outfitted and ready to go. Pat walks into my office.

"We have a visitor, Dust. I know that you've told me that the humans changing to ponies  have pretty much tapered off. But there's a pony out here that I think you need to see."

"Really? Bring them in."

A chime of magic sounds and the door opens, revealing a pony I actually know. With her golden fur and an orange and red mane, and that distinctive cutie mark. I sit back in my chair, "Sunset Shimmer, so he got you too?"

She smiles slightly, "Yes, Discord got me. I finished changing yesterday, and I got your address from Equestria Daily."

"It's been over a year since we all changed."

"I know. But I remember it vividly, after I destroyed the mirror, Discord appeared in front of me. He didn't even bother torturing me, he already knew about the mirror." She looks down, "I was wrong. But at least I kept it out of his claws until the Mane six were able to reopen the gateway."

I hop off my chair and fold a wing over the unicorn, "It's alright. The portal will open up, and you can go back to Equestria, or you can step through, and come back as your old self. A new lease on life."

She looks at me, "I only have some memories, will the rest come back?"

I nod, "It was a long process for most of us, but being around ponies has been a great way to let the old memories resurface. It wasn't all at once, just bits and pieces over time."

"I was Celestia's star student, until Twilight Sparkle."

"I know, I watched the movie."

"Just one of them?"

I chuckle, "Yeah, just the first, I had too much else to worry about."

"You should watch the second, I think it was pretty good."

"Were you a brony?"

"A pegasister would be more accurate, I would think."

I laugh, "Well, at least you didn't have to go through a forced gender swap."

She looks shocked, "You were a guy before?"

"What I was before no longer matters, Sunset. I've made peace with the changes, and so should you. From what I've been told, you were instrumental in helping reopen the portal."

She sighs in relief, "Information on the ponies is rather limited. Most people know that humans turned into ponies, but we don't know which ones. You are saying the Mane six made it back home?"

"Oh yes, they made it home, and found the elements of harmony, with new bearers, they used the elements to strip Discord of most of his power, and that affected the part of him here."

"I saw the video, that's why when I got my cutie mark, that I looked you up. You have a lot of ponies here in Montana?"

"About twenty five thousand now. I've been talking to a few of the other places the ponies have made sanctuary, all in all, best guess is Discord banished about a hundred thousand ponies, a couple of thousand went through the portal the last time it opened, and there will likely be tens of thousands ready to go home the next go around."

Her jaw drops, "That many? How have you been keeping secret?"

"We aren't actively hiding ourselves, and the government has finally admitted we exist, but the information is not spreading very fast. We were a curiosity in the news for a while, and people in a couple of cities talk about pegasi moving clouds around. Though I have to laugh at that, those are pegasi from here, manipulating the weather to benefit the humans."

"You are controlling the weather?"

"Yes, in Denver, and Los Angeles, and a couple of other cities we have contracts with. Down in Texas, the sanctuary there is controlling weather for a good portion of the state of Texas. We've got a few ideas, by the end of next year, we should be able to control the weather nationwide."

"You guys are going to put a lot of meteorologists out of business." She laughs.

I smile, "They never did a good job anyway."

"You know it." She finally gives me a real smile and follows me out of the shop. She hops in a beat up old pickup truck, "I follow you?"

I nod and take to the air. And in just a few minutes, we are at my house. I open the door, "Hey, guess who followed me home?"

Sunset follows me into the house to a very surprised herd.

"Holy shit, it's Sunset Shimmer!" Irony says as she hugs the golden yellow mare.

Moon Shadow comes up, "How nice it is to finally meet one of Princess Celestia's star pupils."

Sunset rubs the back of her neck with a hoof, "You know what I did, right?"

"What happened in the movies?"

She nods.

A rich chuckle from Moon Shadow, "We don't know all the details, but what happened in the movies."

Sunset looks down, "The movies had a lot wrong with them, but they got some important parts right."

Irony's jaw dropped, "So, you actually turned into a raging she demon?"

A nod.

"And Twilight defeated you with the elements?"

Another nod.

"And she used the book to reactivate the portal?"

"Yeah, it was about six months after."

I break in, "Wait a moment, Twilight used a book to reopen the portal?"

All three ponies nod. I shake my head, "Can we get a message to Twilight? Let her know how many ponies will be coming through, and maybe get the portal opened up again?"

Sunset shrugs, "I don't remember what I did with the book, it is likely back in Dubuque. "

I look at Irony, "I'm thinking of a road trip."

Sunset looks sharply at me, "Given the chaos in Equestria, it's very likely the other book was destroyed."

I grin, "We won't find out unless we try, right?"

I get nods from all around, I turn to Sunset Shimmer, "So, are you up to a road trip?"

She looks unsure, so I pull out my heavy arsenal, my best lost little puppy dog eyes. She wilts under the onslaught, she rolls her eyes, and grumbles, "Fine."

I jump up and head to the garage, and am stopped in my tracks, "But I'm really tired, can we leave in the morning?"

Oh drat.

***

I peek my eyes open to a magenta face bouncing in front of me.

"Mindy, are you serious?" I look at my phone, "It's five in the morning." I turn over, "Give me an hour."

Is there any denying Mindy? I'm picked up in her magic, my covers falling on Irony as I float out of the room and down stairs into my office, she even sits me down in the chair.

I roll my eyes, "Mindy, what was so important?"

She looks at me seriously, "Spectrum."

That gets my attention, "As in the asshole who had me under his control?"

She nods. Fine, I can handle being woken up for this, "What do you have?"

She hops up and down excitedly, "I've got Cloud Kicker and Blossomforth coming over for kid duty. So no worries there, but we need to go to Australia."

I furrow my brow, "That is a long flight, even for me. You think the chariots can make it that far?"

"Oh, they can. But we aren't using the chariot, we are flying. I've arranged a plane."

"You've gotten us tickets?"

She giggles, "No, silly Dustie, I arranged a private plane, I'm assuming we are taking Sunset Shimmer. So it will be five ponies and Helen. Though there are some ponies at the farm that I would like to bring along."

Oh no, "Mindy, if there is even a chance of fighting, Helen isn't coming with us."

"Oh, I don't think any fighting will be necessary, because this trip is twofold, we will be fulfilling a request of the US government, specifically the President who has been very nice to us, we are going to be meeting with ponies that live in Australia. The government there isn't all that happy with ponies there, and are trying to pawn them off on us. The President thinks that would be a mistake, so we are to help the ponies there, and let the Aussie government there find a way to accept the ponies."

I cock my head to the side, "But if they aren't being accepted, why force them to stay?"

"Well, most don't want to move. That's a start, and two, there's about ten thousand ponies there. Some of them are from the aboriginal tribes when they were human. Let's just say the change to technicolor ponies has been a bit of a trauma to many of them."

Damn, Discord sent a lot of ponies down under. "That's rough. Are you sure we can help?"

She hops up and down in the chair, "Of course I do, Dustie."

"And what about Spectrum?"

She smirks, "They had a lab down there, it's been closed down, but some of their computer systems are still active, I think an in pony search would yield some results."

We chat for a few more minutes, then I end up knocking on the door to Sunset's guest room.

After a few moments I hear a mumble, I knock again, "Yeah?"

I push through the door and look at the prone unicorn. "I work in the oil field, I have for over a decade."

She nods, uncertain as to my point.

"Do you know what the number one way to start a conversation in the oil field is?"

She shakes her head.

I smile brightly, "Change of plans."

This gets a bark of a laugh from the golden unicorn. I grin and continue, "If you want, you can use resources from the farm, and go and try to retrieve the book from Dubuque. Or you can come with us."

She looks thoughtful, I quickly continue, "You can take a little time to decide. I need to get breakfast started."

I quickly exit the room and make my way to the kitchen. With a hot waffle maker and the ingredients to make really good batter. I was a devotee of a show many years ago, called Good Eats, and Alton Brown, the host, had the best waffle recipe I've ever tasted. Along with a lot of other things he made. I'm quickly pumping out stacks of waffles, along with eggs, and sausage, and bacon. For those who like the stuff. Unlike Irony, I was never a fan of bacon, too many people overcook it in my view. It's an occasional thing for me.

"Something smells good." Damn she sounds just like her voice in the movie.

"We have some pretty good cooks here, my son is excellent in the kitchen, so is Irony."

"How old is your son?"

"Sixteen."

I think I surprised the unicorn, "Everypony else was twenty five when they changed, how did you get an extra ten years?"

I take a few minutes to describe the fight with Discord when I was banished.

A low whistle from Sunset, "So, you were pushed back a decade, and the spell lasted ten years longer?"

I nod.

"Damn, that's amazing."

I look over my shoulder and smirk, "Yeah, just so much more for my life to be disrupted by this change."

"Oh, your life wasn’t disrupted all that much."

I give her a sour look.

"I'm serious, Lightning Dust. You were a successful electrician, you own your own company, you have a family who loves you. What exactly has changed? Except for your family increasing in size?"

I look down, "Well, it doesn't help that I'm now a four foot tall quadruped with wings."

"And would you give up that body? Go back to your old one?"

I think hard, "I gave up the chance to go back to Equestria after we were able to defeat Discord."

"Why?"

I look down, thinking furiously, "Because I didn't want to abandon the ponies."

She chuckles richly, damn, what a pretty voice, I fight to control my wings, I can't be attracted to every mare here, can I?

Sunset Shimmer continues, "There is a lot more than that. I talked to Irony, and Moon Shadow after you went to bed last night. Your company is thriving, you've set up a sanctuary for the ponies. They are building their own town here. Yet you don't live there, you live in town…here. And you take care of your family, you don't want to leave your human members."

I look at her, "What about you? You left Equestria, you became human."

She nodded, "I did, and my memories from being human here are untouched, apparently Discord's spell only affects memories as a pony. I remember what I did. I remember how horrible I was, until Twilight Sparkle was able to save me." Her voice gets really quiet at the end.

I flip the switch on the waffle maker and turn off the gas to the stove, breakfast is ready, and the family will be coming down soon. "Sunset, what happened? Was there really a Pinkie Pie, or Rainbow Dash or any of the mane six here?"

She shakes her head, "No, not really, but there were some girls that had very similar personalities to those in Equestria that were friends of Twilight's. They helped me learn about friendship after Twilight left. They helped Twilight and I defeat the Sirens. But they weren't the mane six as you see in the movies."

I cock my head to the side, "You could have stayed here on Earth, an never gone back to Equestria, even when you found out about Discord."

She smiles, "Despite the fact that I abandoned Equestria, it was my home." She looks sad, "It still is my home. I don’t know if I'll be welcomed back to Equestria when the portal opens next. But I think I will go."

"Best of luck to you, Sunset. But you have sanctuary here for as long as you need it." 

I sit down to eat my breakfast, I take two bites, then have to run for the toilet. I come back to the kitchen, and resume my breakfast. "Sorry, my stomach has been queasy the last few mornings."

Sunset smirks, "Maybe you are pregnant."

I laugh, "Oh Sunset, during my captivity, I was tortured, I can't bear children."

Her mood darkens immediately, "Irony told me some of what happened to you."

I nod, "And she probably sugar coated it, I would say it's at least twenty percent worse than what you heard."

"You are a lot like Rainbow Dash, Dust. I see why you were friends."

I smirk, "Those memories are pretty much back, yeah, we were pretty good friends."

I feel my ears rotate to the sound of retching from the upstairs bathroom.  Dr. Ray confirmed her pregnancy two days ago. And apologized for it, but Moon Shadow and Irony were having none of it. Though that morning about a month ago really did help him to decide to join our herd. It's good to think that our herd is healthy, with two stallions, four mares, a human woman, a unicorn foal, a pegasus foal, and two human kids. 

We've discussed with Helen whether or not to add a human man in for her, and for us. I have to grin, knowing that we are pretty damned horny even without being in heat, we keep our stallions very happy. Though Helen has refused, saying after Mike, meaning after me, she really doesn't want another man. As long as she's happy, I think things will be okay. 

Magic caresses my wing, jerking me to the present, I see Sunset smirk as her horn quiets, "Having amorous thoughts Lightning Dust?

I look back, I'm saluting the sky, I feel my face burst into flame, "Uh, yeah."

Her ears rotate, "I'm guessing you are remembering when Moon Shadow was impregnated?"

I nod, I swear my face can't get any redder.

She looks sad, "I thought about having children when I was on Earth before. But I always planned on going back to Equestria, and didn't want to confuse them. No…" She looks sour, and angry, "And they wouldn't advance what I was trying to do."

I move next to Sunset at run a wing down her back, one good fondle deserves another, "Oh Sunset, you are a different pony now, and I have to add, any babies you have would be beautiful, and smart."

She watches me as I walk into the living room to greet the family coming downstairs. This time I'm careful to keep my tail covering me, I don't know if it's her having me so turned on, or my memories.

I hear a knock at the door, I look around, nopony else to answer, so I trot to the door.

An Air Force officer is there, judging by the rank insignia, he's a Colonel, a silver bird on his lapel, "Lightning Dust?"

I nod.

"I'm here to escort you and your companions to the airport, we have a flight to Australia ready for you."

I look at him, then back in the house, "Give us a few, everypony is still waking up, minimum of half an hour, k?"

He nods and walks to a blue SUV waiting.

I turn around…"Mindy!" I shout.

> Chapter 42. Ponies Down Under
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once again in a government jet, with my loves. I look over at Irony who is peacefully sleeping in her chair, Mindy has even zonked out, though I have to grin at her and Moon Shadow. Those two are curled up together, Moon's head on Mindy's flank, and Mindy's head on Moons. I look at the rest of the cabin, over a dozen ponies are here in addition to my herd. And my new enigma, one miss Sunset Shimmer. She's curled up as well, in fact, I'm the only one actually awake at this point. I shake my head, I hate flying. No, I take that back, I hate flying without the benefit of my own wings. The Pacific Ocean is quite a bit bigger than the Atlantic, I could make the flight, but I would be exhausted at the end, even with my increased endurance due to being a magic user pegasus. Mindy had her ways, and almost every pony I was involved in when it comes to directly saving them from some horrible situation is on board. 

I watch the Air Force enlisted personnel moving about the cabin, I felt the change in engine speed, we were descending. I had asked earlier, and we are going to land at the Royal Australian Air Force Base Richmond. One of the enlisted airmen quietly moves up to me. He looks nervous.

"Miss?"

I smile at him, "Yes?"

"I don't know how to say this, but when we saw all of you ponies come aboard, we were surprised. Are there really a lot of you?"

I nod, "Yes, a lot of ponies were banished by Discord."

"When some of the news reports on the ponies came out, I watched some of that old show, I saw Wonderbolts Academy."

I chuckle, "That was an old me, I learned a lot since then."

His eyes get big, "So those wings, you can actually fly?"

I spread my wings and hover above my chair, "Yes, I can fly, so can all the pegasi here."

He looks around, "And the ones with horns, the unicorns, they can do magic?"

I nod.

He silently mouths, "wow" as he nods to me and heads to the back of the cabin. I have to smile as I land back in the seat. 

"It's amazing how little knowledge of us has spread." I hear Irony say. I look over at her, she's cracked an eye open and is grinning at me.

I look at her, "His eyes would come out of their sockets if he saw you shift your form."

She barks a laugh, jolting both Mindy and Moon Shadow, "Yeah, I guess he would."

I look at the waking Mindy, "Why did you have these ponies come with us, Mindy?"

She smiles sleepily as she stretches and slowly extricates herself from the still semi-conscious Moon Shadow, "I wanted these ponies here for a reason."

I look around the cabin at the slowly waking ponies, "I noticed that all of these were ones we had saved."

She nods, "And they can give their story to the ponies in Australia."

I cock my head to the side, "Why?"

She giggles in response, "Because of you Dust."

My ears fall, "Me?"

She nods, "It's not just the farm, it's everything you have done Dustie. You have been the one to fight to save ponies in horrible situations. Where a pony is in need, Lightning Dust is there."

I feel my face grow warm, "Mindy, I'm just trying to do my best."

For a moment, she actually looks angry, "Dustie, I love you like no other, but come on girl."

I know my face is mirroring the confusion roiling through my mind.

She clicks her tongue a few times, "Oh Dustie. You've saved a lot of ponies, and everypony here is grateful for what you did. You saved many lives."

I scoff, "Mindy, anypony would have done that."

She smiles gently, "Are you sure about that, Dustie?"

I nod.

"Then why aren't there any other teams running around the world, saving ponies?"

I chuckle, "We haven't had a real mission in months that wasn't connected to closing down Spectrum's illegal operations."

"I know that, Dustie. But nopony else has done the work you did automatically. Once Soarin was able to find Winter Storm and Sunny Day, you've been off like a shot, saving as many ponies as you can." I think back to that first real mission after the work in Billings. 

"Mindy, I did what needed to be done."

She sighs theatrically, "Oh Dustie, never change."

She hops off her seat and heads to the front of the plane, I'm guessing to find some sugar laden treat.

I look at Irony in confusion, "What was that all about?"

Irony leans back, "She's right you know."

I roll my eyes, "Not you too."

Irony chuckles, "Dust, love. Nopony else was able to do the job that we did. And we all did it because you were there, you insisted that the ponies be saved. We could have hidden out quietly, content to live our lives until we found out about the portal and just went to Equestria. I was only concerned about keeping Moon Shadow and Flash safe. But you opened my eyes."

I scoff once again, "I'm telling you, Irony. I just did what had to be done."

She hops off her chair and comes over and nuzzles me, "Dust. You did what needed to be done, because you are the pony you are. You are a protector to your core. One of the reasons I love you so much." She looks at the stretching Moon Shadow and back at another row where Flash is finally starting to stir.

"Dust." She turns and looks at me seriously, "You have a wonderful vision, you want all the ponies to be safe. And you are selfless about it. You poured your own money into making the homes these ponies live. You've not asked for anything in return, no matter how hard the mission was. You kept going. You were captured, you were tortured." I nuzzle her as she stops, tears springing to her eyes, and emotion choking her words. She swallows a few times, "And even after all that, you have forged us into a family, a wonderful herd that I am so happy about. I am with you, I understand your need to protect them." She points at the ponies, many of them looking out the windows of the plane as our descent becomes more obvious, "And everypony here would give their lives for you, without a second thought."

"I would hope it never comes to that." I say.

She chuckles, "I share that hope, Dust. But if that day comes, you have hundreds, if not thousands of ponies at your back, if you need us."

I look at the ponies milling about the cabin, ignoring the flight crew asking them to buckle in for landing.

I call out loudly, "Hey, sit down and buckle in, the door won't open until the plane is stopped."

As one over a dozen pairs of eyes focus on me. And then there is a flurry of ponies strapping into the seats. The unicorns helping the rest as I hop into my own seat.

Irony winks at me, "See, Dust. You are loyal to them, and they are loyal to you."

I lean back and think about what's been said, and I hear her say under her breath, "Just as I am to you as well, love."

***

The door is opened on the plane, letting in the cooler fall weather. I chuckle, south of the equator, it's autumn here. I look around and head over to a crew bus heading towards the parked plane.

A man in a suit is standing in front of the crew bus, he puts out a hand, "I'm American ambassador Ryan. Welcome to Australia."

I smile, "We don't rate any of their staff?"

He chuckles, "They really don't want the ponies here. You are supposed to be here to gather up the ponies here and arrange for them to come to the US."

I cock my head to the side, "What if they don't want to come?"

"The Prime Minister believes that they will."

I sigh, "That remains to be seen. We will talk to them, but in the end, the decision is theirs."

We pile into the bus, I take up a seat next to the ambassador. The driver takes off.

He pipes up again, "I'm going back to the embassy, since you have Presidential authority, embassy staff isn't really necessary here."

"Why is the Australian government so gung ho to get rid of ponies?"

"The official line, which is really unofficial, since they refuse to acknowledge pony existence, is that they should be with their own kind, which is back in the US, which apparently has the largest pony population, though I've heard there are quite a number of Chinese ponies that have cropped up. But let's not worry about them."

I muse for a minute, then turn to him, "You know, the ponies can be a benefit to mankind, you've heard what's been happening in Los Angeles?"

He nods, "Yes, the drought is over, the weather has been very nice. And not a single day of smog in over a year."

"You can directly attribute that to our work. We control the weather, we have to. We are driven to do it. Many earth ponies are driven to grow things, our magic works in this world. We can help all of humanity."

He sighs, "I've heard, a little. But I think a lot of humanity is going to be a hard sell when it comes to accepting sapient ponies."

Now it's my turn to sigh, "I know."

We travel through the city streets of Sydney for a while in silence. Though the ponies in the bus are chattering excitedly, and I'll admit, the urge to gawk is pretty high in me. Though I keep looking for pegasi working on the clouds above. I've grown used to seeing that. I know youtube videos show up all the time from cities that pegasi are working, showing them manipulating the weather. 

I'm interrupted from my musings by the bus pulling over.

The ambassador gets up, "This is my stop. I have a car ready to take me back to Canberra to the Embassy. Best of luck to you Lightning Dust."

I offer a hoof and get it shaken, "Thank you Ambassador Ryan. I have a feeling we'll need it."

The driver pulls off, and we start driving.

And keep driving, then drive some more. Nearly six hours later we pull into a small town called Dubbo. I'm told it's a small town, but with a population of over thirty five thousand, I don't have the heart to tell the driver the town I'm from has about two thousand people living there.

From there we head north, for about two hours, until finally the bus stops in front of an overturned truck.

The driver turns back and looks at me, "This is where them ponies are livin. I can't go no further."

I thank the driver as the ponies pile out. I nuzzle Irony affectionately and move through the group of ponies milling around. The apparently take my cue and stay close as I approach the toppled truck.

"Stop right there." A voice calls out, "You are in the sights of a half dozen rifles."

We all freeze.

I look at Irony, then take a step forward. "I am Lightning Dust, I'm from the US. I would like to speak to whomever is in charge."

I hear some muttering, "Ya'll can git right back on that government bus and turn around back where ya came from."

"Not happening. I was asked by the President of the United States to come here."

The reply is quick, "He's got no authority here. You are just trying to get us off our land. We own this land, free and clear. Ain't nopony going to take it from us."

Fillies and Gentlecolts, we've got ponies here. I smile. "I know I hear ponies through that thick accent. Come on out."

"No!" I hear a shout.

I spread my wings, then I hear, "You take a single flap of those wings Shelia, and that will be the last thing you do."

I look around, I'm faster than their reaction time, but if they shoot anyway, they might hit some of the ponies around me. I glance over at Mindy, then get a shock. I can't see her magenta face or pure white mane anywhere. I look at Irony in confusion. She nudges me, and I look around again. Moon Shadow is apparently not here either. I grin.

"I think I will take to the air." I flap my wings gently and hover a few feet above all the ponies. Giving me a better view. I see four or five ponies gathered behind the truck, rifles in hoof. I'm guessing they've modified the rifles for ponies to be able to fire. 

"You ground yourself right there missy, or we will be shooting."

I scoff, "You would, but I sincerely doubt you have any ammunition anymore."

I hear a muttered curse, and the sound of a bolt action being worked. Then more cursing.

Mindy's voice floats to me, "All clear, Dustie."

I chuckle and indicate for the ponies to come forward, we head around the truck. 

I offer a hoof, "As I said earlier, I'm Lightning Dust. And I would like to see whomever is in charge here.

The earth pony curses softly and stands up. I have to move back a bit. This pony can easily give Irony or Big Macintosh a run for their money in size. With a tan coat and a forest green mane, he's pretty distinctive.

I hold out a hoof, "We can be counted in the friend category."

He looks at me hard, I feel Irony tense up next to me, I put a wing gently on her back, and she subsides.

I look around, "I wouldn't have brought my herd here if I was here for a fight."

He snorts, "Yes, my herd. This mare here is Irony. The two unicorns that removed the threats to their family are Mindy and Moon Shadow. We've got Helen, who was my wife before the change. Our stallions are Dr. Ray, and Star Shine."

"You herdin with a human?"

I nod.

"Takes guts to bring them all here."

I nod again, "Though, I was not expecting rifles to be pointed at me. Every other place where ponies have congregated have been friendly to outsiders."

"Those other places haven't had human soldiers trying to gather us up and expel us from the country."

I growl deep in my throat, "We aren't going to force you to do anything."

He evaluates me for a long while, then turns, "Follow me. I'll take you to the owner of this fine place."

I nod to the other ponies to follow me. I listen as the bus that brought us here cranks the engine and apparently turns around.

***

This place is huge. Tawny Grove, the stallion, leads us to a farmhouse. I have to chuckle. A farmhouse ends up being where a lot of ponies take refuge. Trying to get away from the humans. Though this place shocks me. I see tents everywhere. Nothing permanent, no town being built, very few pegasi flying around. I'm actually pretty surprised, this place has a lot of earth ponies. I whisper to Irony and she gets the rest of the ponies to mingle with the Australian ponies here while I enter the farmhouse alone. I follow Tawny into an office and sit down in the guest chair. Apparently I'm going to have to wait for the host.

The old me would be pacing, or doing something to keep moving, but I have learned, I sit peacefully. Closing my eyes and waiting. It's incredibly boring, but after about twenty minutes, the door opens and an earth pony enters the room, I get a good look at her, she's the same yellow as Fluttershy, with a light blue mane, she actually looks very pretty. Her cutie mark is a muffin. I smile as she sits down.

"Hi, I'm Banana Muffin."

I suppress a chuckle, "Lightning Dust."

"I've seen the cartoon."

"Well, then you know some about me."

She nods. Then looks at me for a long time.

Finally, she breaks the ice, "I know you are from the States. Why are you here?"

"Officially, I'm here to help you ponies transition to life in the states. Unofficially, I'm here to offer an invitation to join us, but failing that, I'm here to help you."

"The humans sent you, why should I trust you?"

Damn, these ponies have had it rough, "You don't have to trust me, Banana. I would be happy to say we failed and head right home. But I think that would be a disservice to you, and your ponies. I want to help you."

"We don't need your help."

I hop off the chair and look out the window, "Nothing permanent is being built."

"We don't have the money, or supplies to build anything permanent. We are barely scraping by."

I love hearing that Aussie accent, I turn around. "What do you need? How can you get self sufficient?"

She sighs, "I don't know if it's possible. We can grow our own food, and we have enough pegasi here to make the weather helpful. Food isn't the problem. Housing, and the million and a half things that we need on a daily basis to make life work is what's missing. I own the property, but we've had soldiers here twice. They want to shuffle us onto planes and send us to the states. We've refused, and chased them off our lands. But I don't think that's going to last."

"Do you know why they want you gone?"

She slams a hoof into the battered desk, which creaks alarmingly, "Damn it. I wish I knew. Those retards seem to think that we can just be gotten rid of, and they can forget we ever existed."

"Ponies are a fact of life in this world now." I say sadly.

"I know."

I think for a long time, I want to help. They need help. But how do I help. I finally pull out my phone and dial.

"Mayor Mare." Chirps the voice on the other end.

"Mayor, the Aussie ponies here need help. I need a semi trailer loaded up with building materials, tools, and equipment."

"Little problem Dust. How do we get it to Australia?"

I smile, "We fly it. Have a unicorn cast the necessary spells and get it over here as soon as possible."

She sounds unsure, "I don't know if we have any unicorns with enough strength. But I'll get on it."

I smile and end the call. The turn to Banana, "We will help you. And first thing will be I will head to Canberra and have a nice long talk with the Prime Minister. We will get you up and running."

"Are you sure, Lightning Dust? There is a lot we need, a single semi truck wouldn't be enough."

I smile happily, "You are fellow ponies, we have to help you, so we will."

I get bowled over in a hug from the earth pony, I hug her back tightly, "We will make it work, Banana, don't worry."

***

I make it outside after hammering out the details with Banana Muffin. I have to love that name of hers. But she should be named Tough Cookie, because she's kept this little place going pretty well. I find the ponies that joined me on the way from the states. I join Irony and Moon. Sitting and talking to them. And watching the Australian ponies come up and talk to my little group of ponies. 

I'm talking with Sparkler when a lavender blur latches onto her leg.

We look down at the lavender filly unicorn with the blonde mane. My mouth drops open and Sparkler's eyes shrink to pinpricks.

"Oh big sis. I missed you. I'm so happy you are here." Says the little filly.

Sparkler looks up at me, "She was here?"

We hear a distant voice…"Dinky? Where did you go?"

Dinky pipes up, "I'm here mom, and you have to see who I found."

The crowd respectfully pulls back and reveals a pony I've been wanting to see. Grey coat with blonde hair, her wings are folded softly at her side, and her bubble cutie mark is barely visible. 

I look into her golden eyes, "I can't believe it's you!"

She looks at me, then at Dinky, and finally her gaze settles on Sparkler.

She whispers something, but I can't hear. Dinky stays attached to her big sister as Sparkler haltingly moves towards her mother.

Derpy shakes her head, and in a faint Aussie accent, "Is it really you? I had lost hope, either you were in Equestria, or you were somewhere I couldn't get to you. I had no clue."

She doesn't have any time to say anything more before the faint pink unicorn grabs her and hugs her. She hugs her daughter back, her wings holding both ponies tightly.

I move closer, Irony at my side, I can hear her sobs as she holds her reunited family. "Oh thank Celestia." She moans gratefully over and over. 

I finally sit on my haunches, leaning into Irony's side. Letting the family rediscover each other. I have to smile at their chatting. I am keeping some distance, to keep from crowding them. But watching them makes me happy.

I am lost leaning against Irony for a long time, then my name being spoken breaks me out of it. I look up, only to be bowled over in a hug from the grey pegasus.

I get a full on kiss from her. She pulls back, "Oh, thank you Lightning Dust. Thank you so much for taking care of her."

I smile at her, "She has been very helpful. She wanted to help retrieve ponies that were lost. That were captured, that were in need. She was wonderful."

She looks back at her daughters, then back to me, "Is it true that she ended up the daughter of the man who is now the President of your United States?"

I nod, "She was Amy then. But she's herself once again." 

"That's amazing." 

I stop for a moment, and look around, "So, you ended up down under?"

She nods, "I was a bush pilot until I changed. My best friend in the whole world ended up being my daughter."

"And your other daughter was sent to the US." I stop and clear my throat, "Do you remember when Discord took you?"

She nods, tears in her eyes, "Yes, I was in Canterlot with Dinky. Sparkler was spending some time with friends in Ponyville. It happened so fast."

I nod, "I know. We fought him, the Wonderbolts did, that is."

She nods, "And you lost. That's why you are here."

I sigh.

She folds a wing over me, "Well. A few more of our Ponyville friends made it to the great land down under. The Cakes are here, along with their twins. And a few of the Canterlot ponies made it as well. Discord lived up to his name, he sent us all over."

I shake my head. "I know. It's wonderful to see you. But I need to get to the capital."

She cocks her head to the side, "Why?"

"I need to get them to stop trying to round the ponies up, I want you to just live your lives."

"Can't we come with you?"

I nod, "Of course, we can take some ponies back to the states with us. But from what I've been told so far, most want to stay."

She sighs, "Yes, there are a lot of ponies here that want to stay. But there will be some that will want to go with you when you leave."

I put my wing over her back, "You and your family are welcome, Derpy. A lot of ponies back in the states would love to see you."

I head over to Irony, "Climb on, love."

Irony stands very still, "Dust, I'm much heavier than the average pony."

I stomp a hoof, "I want you there with me, I need you. I can handle your weight. It's only a few hundred miles. But I need you, Irony."

She looks around, then at me, "Are you sure?"

I smile, "Hey, Irony. Look at who this is. I'm Lightning Dust, one of the fastest ponies alive. I think I can handle you."

She leans her head down next to my ear, "You handle me quite well." And she pulls back, her face glowing. I can feel the heat in my own face as I gesture for her to climb on my back. She shifts and gently places her weight on my hips, holding onto my withers.

"Hold on tight, love."

I can feel her considerable weight on me. I feel my magic compensating for her load. I know I can fly with her. I look back at her, "Just remember, you are safe with me."

I feel a slight tremor as she nods, "I know, love. This is my first ride on a pegasus."

She already went there, so I decide to return the favor, "I don't know about that, Irony. You've ridden me pretty hard before." 

She chuckles as she blushes anew. I spread my wings and take off slowly. I can't cross an ocean with her, but I can fly with her. I smile as I accelerate. I feel Irony leaning down to where she's nearly prone on my body. I can feel her body against mine. I force my thoughts out of the gutter, unless I pop a wingie and end up on the ground very quickly.

I hear her shout for joy as we get above the clouds. I risk a glance back, a look of pure joy on my love's face.

This is a good reason to fly.

> Chapter 43. I Hail From the Land Down Unda
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I can't fly full speed with Irony on my back, but I relish the time in the air with her. Though, all good things eventually end. We flutter down to the aptly named, The Lodge, in Canberra. Irony and I are past the gates, and the humans haven't even begun to mobilize. Irony and I push through the doors and we finally end up in the office of the Prime Minister of Australia.

The man in question stands up from his desk, "May I help you…" He looks at Irony then at me, "Ladies?"

I smirk, "Yes. You can end your actions against the ponies."

He shakes his head, his smile never failing, "I'm afraid I can't do that. We don't want to deal with the pony problem. You were asked to come here to make them move."

I step forward aggressively, "They don't want to move. You don't have the right to make them."

He spreads his hands, "They don't have a choice, Miss."

I shake my head, "They are citizens of your nation."

His face grows dark, "They are ponies. They are not people."

"They are people just like humans, that has already passed the US Congress, and in other nations as well." I growl.

"None of that has any bearing on this nation, Miss Dust. You yourself are here for one reason only. That is to gather up those ponies that have cropped up in this nation, and get them to leave. We don't want them here. And you need to make them go with you. Or we will take action."

I growl and take a step forward, Irony stops me with a hoof on my withers, "Dust, this man has no interest in helping us. We will have to prepare the ponies to defend themselves. They don't want to move."

"That is your choice, but soldiers are on their way to gather the ponies up and get them on a plane today. We have a cargo plane ready for them to go away. And that is what's going to happen."

My ears fall flat against my skull, "You would use force against them?"

He nods.

"You son of a bitch." I shout at him, Irony's hoof restraining me, "My herd is there, my family. If any one of them is harmed, you will answer to me." I whirl around, dialing my phone as I gallop out the door and outside, Irony hot on my hooves."

A couple of rings, "Hello."

"Mindy, has anything happened while we were gone?"

"No, why?"

"Soldiers are on their way, and from what we've been told, this is not going to be them playing nice."

I hear a growl on the other end of the phone, "Put your hoof on Irony."

"What?" I say quizzically.

"Touch Irony with your hoof now, Dust."

I comply, "Okay, what now?"

"I'll bring you here."

Before I can utter another word, I feel like I'm being squeezed through the eye of a needle, and with a loud pop, I'm suddenly back at the farm, standing in front of Mindy."

I shudder, "Mindy, a little more warning next time." I feel my stomach churning from the teleportation.

She giggles and concentrates, her horn lighting, and with a soft pop, quite a bit of stuff appears on the ground in front of us. I smile and grab the armor that Irony had made for me.

"If soldiers are coming, let's show them ponies can fight back." She giggles again. 

In moments Moon, Irony, myself, and Sparkler are all in armor. Sparkler nuzzles her mother, "We will help you, Mom. We will stop these humans."

I look around, "Are the ponies getting ready?"

She nods, "I told Tawny and Banana while you were getting your armor on."

"Where are they?"

"I think they will be here soon."

"Here they come!" A pegasus shouts from above.

Oh crap, this was a setup, I look at Mindy, "You gather up Helen, our stallions, and every noncombatant and get them inside, you protect them Mindy, I trust you with our lives, understand?"

She nods seriously and gallops off. I look at Irony, "We need to take care of these humans."

She nods and heaves her mace onto her shoulder, "We are going to have fun." I grin at her.

I look at the pegasus who called out, and rise to join her. I look around, these guys are going to be stupid I think. I flash down to Irony.

"Keep an eye out, they might try to flank us, just like the mercenaries did." I shout at Irony as I flash forward, I hear her call as I flash forward with my wingblades ready. I land along with a dozen or so pegasi as the military vehicles get close. They halt in front of us. A soldier exits one of the lead vehicles and saunters over to me.

"Turn around and go home. The ponies have decided they don't want to move. Leave in peace."

"I don't think so, pony. We are doing our job. We are going to take you ponies to the airport, and you are all going back to the United States. And out of our hair."

I shake my head, "No."

He smiles, "You don't have a choice." A soldier snaps up a rifle. I charge a wing and point it at him, the electricity crackling among my feathers.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

I hear a sound that chills my blood, I feel an impact on my chest armor. Compressed air, so something non lethal.

I look down, "What the fuck?" Three small darts are stuck into my armor. I swipe them off with a hoof and look up, "Big mistake." I flare my wings and take to the sky, I see the soldier who fired at me, a quick bolt has him on the ground, screaming. I risk a glance back and see over a hundred earth ponies and unicorns heading towards us. Sparkler, in her new armor that Irony made for her, in the lead of the Aussie ponies. I watch the pegasi flash down, starting to take out the dismounted soldiers. I see one, then two pegasi collapse to the ground, darts in them. I snarl as I fire a time displacement bolt at a truck, it flashes into nothingness as I continue forward. 

I feel a pain in my lower jaw, I reach up a hoof to find out what's wrong. Oh no. It's those damned darts. They found my flesh. The tranquilizer starts to affect me almost immediately, I try to change direction, but my wings fold to my sides of their own volition, my mind starts to get fuzzy as I start to fall from the sky.

"Got ya." I hear a familiar voice tinged with a faint Australian accent. Somepony caught me. I smile as my consciousness flees.

***3rd Person. Canberra***

The Australian Prime Minister glares at his guest in his office.

"I haven't even notified the Parliament of the existence of ponies, at your insistence."

"And why haven't they been shuffled off to the US, so they can go through the portal and leave humanity alone?"

"I have only limited ability when it comes to the military, sir. I can't just mobilize the entire army and not have to explain why. And the ponies there have resisted all efforts to relocate them."

His guest slams his hand on the desk, "And you allowed Lightning Dust to come here? She has been very disruptive to me. She's gotten all of my US Government contracts cancelled, I'm on the run, and if they knew I was here, there would be an extradition order forthcoming."

"You have provided more than enough remuneration for me to not be reporting your whereabouts, sir."

The other man chuckles, "Yes, I would think ten million American dollars would be sufficient for you. But how are you handling the rumors of ponies, the RAN would at least be saying something with one of their crew members turning into that Daring Do character."

"She was shuffled off to the US and the entire crew was sworn to silence. They know that any mention of that pony will get them in some serious hot water. As to Lightning Dust, I asked the American President to quietly send assistance, hoping that one of the largest pony colonies in the US would be able to persuade their little struggling homestead to abandon their attempts and head to where they would be with other ponies. Apparently that pony, Lightning Dust, had other ideas. The group of soldiers that I sent should be able to gather up these ponies. They have tranquilizer guns, and will knock the ponies out. They will wake up on an American C-5A on its way out of our hair."

His guest stands up, "I sincerely hope your soldiers don't fail." He turns and heads out the door of the Prime Minister's office.

He heads down the hallway, and out to a waiting car. "Airport." He says curtly to the driver, who speeds off. The land down under is getting a little hot for his taste. Time to move on.

***1'st person, Lightning Dust***

My eyes slowly slide open, then closed. Damn it, I hate this! I force my eyes to open and then I look around, the room is empty, but judging from the peeling paint and the old furniture, I'm in the farmhouse. I notice nopony is in the room with me. I'm able to groan.

The door opens and Irony walks in. She has a bright smile on her face,

"I'm guessing we won?" I'm able to croak.

She chuckles, "Yes, we won. And you were right, they tried to be smart, and go for a two pronged attack. But we were ready for them. And we let them know that it is a mistake to mess with us."

I sigh, "How many casualties?"

She looks bleak, "Over a hundred of the Australian ponies are dead, nearly double that injured. Of our group, we didn't lose any, but several are nursing gunshot wounds."

That surprises me, but I'm still not in full control of my body, "They were using non-lethals on us."

She shakes her head, "At first they used tranquilizer darts on us. But once we started fighting back, they switched to their guns. The Aussie military is pretty damned tough. I'd put them with the Marines anytime. They were pretty fierce. But we won, we killed a lot of troops that were simply following orders."

I growl. That son of a bitch, "I'm going to head back to the Parliament in Canberra and give the Prime Minister a piece of my mind."

"You aren't the only one, Dust. But you need to wait until the tranquilizer has fully worn off. You are in no shape for flying."

I sigh, "You are right, Irony. As usual."

She smiles and hoofs my shoulder, "All part of the service. I'll have somepony get you some water."

I nod as she leaves. Though the effect is still pretty strong, a pony quickly comes in with water and I gulp some down, then I'm back asleep.

***

A few hours later, I'm finally back to normal. I'm itching to leave, but it being almost nightfall, Irony was able to persuade me to wait until morning. Though I'm looking forward to what's happening now, the semi-truck of tools and materials is getting close, I can see a speck flying in the distance.

Over several minutes, the speck resolves itself into being a semi-trailer, being pulled by a half dozen pegasi. Though my jaw drops in shock. I know the form riding one of the pegasi. My daughter, her entire body is glowing as the pegasi bring the trailer in for a landing.

I rush forward, "Hannah, what in the hell are you doing?"

She looks at me innocently, "Dust, Mayor Mare said she didn't think they had any unicorns strong enough to maintain the spell. And she was right." She giggles, "But I was able to handle it. And I cast a cloud support spell on everything when the pegasi were tired. It took us a long time to fly this far. But we were able to get it here."

"But, you were over the ocean, thousands of  miles from help, what would have happened if..." 

My daughter shushes me with a finger to my lips, my golden eyes meeting her purple ones, "I've been trained pretty well. And I know enough to know that I have a lot to learn when it comes to magic. But I knew I could do this, I knew I could help. So I did."

I open my mouth, only to get a stern look from my daughter, I change what I was going to say, "My own daughter..." I chuckle. She laughs and gives me a hug.

"Holy shit, you daughter can do magic?"

I turn and look at Sunset Shimmer, though my daughter is the one to answer, "Yes, I can, Miss Shimmer."

The golden mare stalks up to my daughter, then walks slowly around her, taking note of her cutie mark on her hand. She turns and looks at me, "I think I would like to stay around you ponies for a while."

I think for a moment, "I'm confused."

Sunset looks at my daughter, then at me, "I was thinking I would spend some time in your new pony town, but then I would go through the portal and go to Equestria. I don't think I'm going to do that now."

"And, why is that?" I ask quizzically.

"She needs more education." 

Moon Shadow speaks up, "I have been teaching her, along with Mindy."

Sunset looks at her, "You are good with dream magic, right?"

Moon nods.

"And Mindy is... well, a lot like Pinkie Pie?"

We nod.

"I was Princess Celestia's prized student for many years, before I came to Earth the first time. I learned a lot directly from the Princess. I would be the most qualified to teach this human child, especially with the abilities she's already gotten."

Moon Shadow slides closer to me, "She has a point," she whispers in my ear, "Hannah is reaching the bounds of what I'll be able to teach her, and Mindy is running out of spells to teach her. Sunset, with her added knowledge, might be a wonderful tutor for her."

I look at Moon, then at Sunset, then finally at Hannah, "Would you like to be Sunset Shimmer's personal protégée?"

My daughter giggles, then teleports over to Sunset and gives her a huge hug."

Sunset smirks, "I think the answer is yes."

***

It's early afternoon, and we are on a chariot. Well, I'm not. I'm using my wings, but Irony, Moon Shadow, and Sunset are in the chariot that I'm keeping pace with. Irony developed a plan, this evening, our friend the PM will be addressing the Australian parliament, and we are going to have a little talk with him. Some interrogation of the soldiers sent to get the ponies illuminated a simple fact. The PM has not told Parliament of his actions. So, this is going to come down on his head. As we get close to the edifice, I spot a likely place for us to land. All we have to do is wait.

A few hours later, I watch a Mercedes come up, and I whistle for my friends. We watch as the Prime Minister of Australia is escorted into the building. I have to laugh, their security isn't anything near what the US Secret Service can do. I look around, "He's supposed to start his address in ten minutes, so we will get in there during his opening remarks. I look at Sunset, "Do you know where to teleport us?"

She nods, "I've been studying the blueprints, there is a cloak room near the dais where he will be speaking, I'll teleport us there, and you can talk to him there."

I grin, this is a time to destroy a political career. After we lost so many ponies, we are all seriously pissed off. Though I would really like to drag him somewhere to let him know exactly how angry I am. But the ponies, their security and safety, is far more important than my desire for physical vengeance. But who knows, I might be able to anyway. I can feel my body wanting to vibrate with anticipation, but I can't do anything yet. Irony is keeping time. I look at her, then at the building, then back at her.

She looks at me, "You are showing your impatience, Dust," she smirks.

I sigh, "Yes, and I would rather have ambushed him at home."

She puts down her phone and looks seriously at me, "If we had done that, the people of this nation would be against us. This way, we expose him for what he's done to us, and we get far better revenge. People like him are sharks, and the other sharks will notice the blood in the water."

I growl, "It's more fun for us to take matters in hoof."

She shakes her head, "I know, I agree. But we have to be smart about this."

I duck my head, "I know." I moan. 

She looks at Sunset after a minute or two, and nods. Sunset Shimmer charges her horn, and we are in a small room, all bunched up together. I smile, it's go time.

I slam the door open, seeing exactly what I want to see, the Prime Minister is standing at the podium, teleprompters in front of him, he's speaking like the politician he is. I am at a canter when I come into view of the chamber of the Australian House of Representatives. I hear a collective gasp from the Australian lawmakers as it becomes obvious that a turquoise pony is heading to the Prime Minister. He turns and looks at me, his face a comedic look of surprise.

I take to the air and tackle him from the podium, "You son of a bitch!" I scream into his face as he puts his hands up to fend me off. I use my greater strength to hold his hands down, "Over a hundred of your citizens are dead, in addition to nearly two hundred of the soldiers you sent to gather them up." 

"What the hell are you?" A man shouts, several of the lawmakers are surging forward, in addition to security personnel. Sunset is ready, any gun brought out by the security team is flashed away by her magic. Irony stands between me and the oncoming men.

I turn and look, "I'm Lightning Dust, and I was sent from the US to help the ponies here."

A confused look on several faces, one of the lawmakers decides to step forward, "But we were told that the pony problem was all rumors, and that there were none here."

I snarl at him, "You were lied to." I look down at the man I'm holding down, "By this son of a bitch."

Sunset Shimmer looks at all the cameras, she then steps to the podium, rearing on her hind legs to be visible, she places her hooves on the podium.

"Hello to all of you. My name is Sunset Shimmer. I don't know how many of you have watched the cartoon show that depicted a good portion of our lives. But a surprising amount of that show was true. We are living proof of that. We have popped up all over the world, tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of ponies are currently living all over the world. Many have made it to the various places of safety that we have set up in the US. I am one who has just joined a group in the state of Montana. Some of us have been simply trying to live our lives, and want to go home. We know of the way home, but it is only open a very short amount of time. But a good number want to stay, we have forged a life here. We have started families." 

Tears start to form in her eyes, "Some families that have been torn apart by the abomination known as Discord have been reunited. I'm pleased to say that I've found a family that will accept me the way I am. But you all need to know, there are ponies here in Australia, several thousand of them. And that man," She points a hoof at the man who I am holding down, "sent soldiers to their home some hours from the capital here in Canberra. Those soldiers were directed to gather up the ponies and send them on a plane to the United States. The problem is, most of them don't want to go." She looks around beseechingly, "How would you feel if you were as intelligent as any other person, but because of your skin color, or because you had a certain color hair, you were forced to leave your home? Well, that seems to be the case when it comes to the ponies. We have been thrust into your society, unwillingly."

I look around, her words are resounding with the lawmakers in this building. Very many faces have thoughtful expressions as she continues,  "And yet, we are driven creatures. The pegasi among us are driven to control the weather, the elements around us. The earth ponies are driven to grow food, to be craftsmen, to build, to grow. And the unicorns are just as driven. We can help humanity, we are already helping at our homes in the US. Let us help you here. Even though some of the ponies will decide to leave this world forever, there will be a lot of ponies here. Earth..." She trails off for a moment, letting the tears spill down her cheeks, "this Earth, this reality. This is home for many of us. And we will be staying, but for now, we simply need your acceptance. We are no different, we may walk on four hooves, but we can talk, we can think, just like you. Please, we need the same rights that you have by virtue of your birth."

She relaxes back onto four hooves, and comes to me, she murmurs, "Let's go." 

I grin and grab the struggling human around his chest with four legs, my wings lifting us both in the air. His panicked screams filling the silence as I fly with him away. As I leave the chamber, I hear Irony's voice, "He will be fine, we need to talk to him."

Fine, which means he will be alive when I'm done with him. I can live with that.

The prime minister howls as Sunsets magic teleports us to the Lodge. His residence. I find a chair, which Sunset binds him to. I plant a hoof in his midsection, getting a loud "ooof," out of him. My heavy hoof crashes into his face, he spits out a tooth and glares at me. His face is starting to show bruising very quickly, and his nose is bloodied.

He groans, "Why?"

I get in his face, "Why? Are you fucking serious? Why? You caused the death of over a hundred ponies. If I had my way, you would be dead right now, you fuck." I punctuate that with a hoof to the midsection. Then another across his face. Blood splatters onto my face. I rear back to hit him again.

Irony puts a hoof on my withers, "Love, he's had enough."

I shake her off, "Death is too good for him." Then I look at the blood speckling my fur. That stops my attack immediately. I sit on my haunches, looking at the blood. My ears fold back.

"Dust, we don't execute, what is the penalty in Equestria for murder?" 

I look back at her, "We haven't had a murder in decades before Discord." My blood is still boiling.

She nods, "But the law is on the books, you were a Wonderbolt, which is an extension of the guards. You know the law."

I sigh, "Banishment." Irony's words are having an effect on my, my breathing is starting to return to normal.

She nods. I look back at him, "We may not be in Equestria at this point, but I think I've made my point."

Sunset comes up and scans him with her magic, "I'm certain you have Dust, you've broken three ribs, the right orbital bone, and four teeth."

I growl, "He deserves more. He should be set in the middle of the bush with a single canteen of water."

Irony growls, "Dust, I know how mad you are, I'm just as angry, but we don't let anger determine us, now do we?"

I look down, "No, we don't."

The human is trying to speak, I think the broken ribs are making it a lot harder to get enough breath to speak. He's panting, but I can make out an attempt to speak.

I look at Sunset, "Can you heal some of his injuries, let him talk, he seems to think we should know something."

She lights her horn, and teeth re-grow, in addition, much of the bruising fades before my eyes. She looks reprovingly at him, "I could do more, but I won't. I'm easily as angry as Dust is. But you had better tell us something interesting, or I'll let her have her way with you again."

"Spectrum." He pants.

Irony steps forward, shifting on to two hooves, her massive hands gripping his skull. "Spectrum, as in the Spectrum Group?"

He nods, and Irony lets him go.

He's able to whisper, "He was here."

My eyes widen, "That son of a bitch?"

He nods, "He paid me ten million American dollars to shelter him, and he told us to get rid of the ponies here, so they could go back through that portal you have back in the states, so you can just go away, and leave humanity alone." He coughs. Moon Shadow floats a glass of water to him. 

I'm vibrating with anger now, Irony can see that, she shifts and gathers me up, I'm shaking so badly. Sunset looks at me, then at him, "Now, this is what you are going to do, you are going to push to give ponies the same legal rights as any person in your nation, and that ten million dollars, you are going to donate that to the colony of ponies here in Australia."

Irony nods, I can feel it, but I can't see anything, my vision is filled with what was done to me. I shudder in her grasp, tears starting to flow. After a few minutes, I'm able to whisper to Irony, "Please, get me out of here, love. I can't handle this."

Irony takes me from the room, but I hear the human promising to do as told to Sunset. She finally sets me down in the hallway. After a few minutes, Sunset joins us.

She grins at me, "I think a lot of the problems that the Aussie ponies are having have just been resolved." She moves forward and kisses me.

*pomf*

She pulls away, "Thank you, Dust."

I shake my head, "I'm not complaining, Sunset, but what was that for?"

When I said that I found a family that accepted me for who I am, I saw you nod."

Her words take a moment to actually register, "Are you saying you want to join us? Not just as Hannah's teacher?"

She nods, "I know this isn't the exact best time to talk about this, Dust. But I want to court your family, I want to join you, Moon Shadow, Irony, Mindy, and Helen."

I look at her for a long time, I'm really floored, "You could take your pick of almost any mare or stallion on this world, why us?"

She smiles, "Because you are interesting, and you are driven. You are dedicated to protecting any pony you can. I've talked with Irony, I've talked with Mindy, and Helen. You are the lynch pin of this family, and I want to join you."

I look at Irony, who smiles at me encouragingly, then back at Sunset, "Sunset, I don't know what to say."

She kisses me again, "Say yes."

I smile, "Of course, yes. We are glad to have you. Hannah's going to be so thrilled."

She giggles, "I think she will."

***

We are getting ready to go home, nearly a week in Australia after our encounter with the Prime Minister has been interesting, he did what he was told to, and most of all, he resigned after pushing for legislation for personhood for the Equestrian ponies. I guide my family onto the chariot that will take them to Sydney. Some of the Australian ponies have decided to join us in the US. Among them is Sparklers family, they all board the bus, since the chariot can't take them all. The bus slowly turns around, and rumbles off into the distance. I give Irony a kiss as she board the chariot, "I'll see you at home."

She looks at me quizzically, "You'll see me at the airport, right?"

I shake my head, "No, I'm going to fly home."

She frowns, "That is a really damn long way." 

I nod, "I'm going to island hop, and I can catch fish along the way. If I get tired, I'll sleep on a cloud. But I want to check some populated islands, see if there are any ponies there."

She sighs, "Dust, are you ever going to just take time for yourself?"

I nod, "I already did, I was months out of the action."

"Yeah, while you were recovering from some serious injuries."

"That was the very definition of me time, Irony. Time to get back into the mix."

She sighs again, "Well, remember to plan family time too."

I waggle my eyebrows, "Oh, I won't forget family time. When we get home, we are going to have a big date with Sunset." I look at the golden mare talking animatedly with Banana Muffin, "I've talked to her, we are going to have fun together."

Irony's face colors, I smile, I can feel the heat in my own face, I know her mind ran right for the gutter the moment I said that. I hop into the air and then lean down and give Irony another kiss, "Love, I shouldn't be more than a couple of days. And I'll give you a call before I get there."

She nods as Sunset hops aboard, along with a couple of pegasi from the Aussie farm that are staying. They will pull the chariot back once our group is dropped off. A very full plane will be heading back home. I take a long look at my family, then flash forward and give the rest of the family kisses. I even give Sunset a kiss as well. I enjoy watching her face redden as I pull away. Hannah gets a hug from me, and I take off like a bullet, heading east and north.

***

Three days of flying from island to island. No ponies, but I'm sitting on a cloud, enjoying raw fish. The theories about pegasi evolving to live like this have to have some merit, I was never a fan of raw fish, but this time, it's excellent. I swallow the last of my meal and take off.

After about an hour of flying, I'm a few hundred miles from the Big Island of Hawaii. And then I'm buzzed by a fighter jet, it catches me unawares as it streaks by me at nearly the speed of sound. I wasn't pushing my speed, only a couple hundred miles an hour. I swivel my head and notice a second jet, it's keeping pace with me. I move closer and notice the type, an F-35 Lightning 2. The pilot is gesturing to me. I see the first jet has taken up position in front of me and to the other side. I have two options, accelerate and leave them in my dust, or follow them. I think for a moment then decide on the second option.

After a bout ten minutes, I see an aircraft carrier ahead. I look at the pilot to my left, he's pointing at the carrier. I flash forward, outstripping the fighters and then as I get overhead, I kill all of my forward momentum and drop like a stone towards the carrier deck, folding my wings I flip so it's a full on dive. Flaring my wings at the last second, I land on the carrier, far easier than any airplane can do the job. I trot around, folding my ears flat against the din of an aircraft carrier performing flight operations. A man in a purple helmet comes up to me, I can't hear him, but he points at a hatch in the island. I trot towards the hatch as the first of the planes that intercepted me come in for a landing. I look around, noting the CVN-76  on the superstructure. I'm not certain which ship this is as of yet.

As I get through the hatch, a naval officer comes up to me, "I'm Commander William Riggs, I'm the XO of the Ronald Reagan." He extends a hand, I reach out a hoof and he shakes it. "I'm pleased to meet you."

I look at my hoof, then at the human, "You were expecting me?"

He nods, "We've got a pony here, she's been on board for a few months. But during our extended deployment, we've not been able to get back home. And she refuses to take a greyhound home. She said she wants to stay with the ship."

I shrug my wings, "If she doesn't want to go back shoreside, why do you want her gone?"

He looks down, "We actually don't want her to go. She's been invaluable as a member of the crew. Even after her change."

I cock my head to the side, he continues, "She was originally one of our fighter pilots, and once she started changing, she turned into a unicorn. Her magic has been very helpful aboard ship."

"Really?"

He nods as he heads off, me walking next to him, "I was surprised at how useful a unicorn can be to have around."

I snicker a bit, "Yeah, I've heard."

We continue chatting until we get to a conference room. A unicorn is sitting at her ease in one of the chairs. Her light blue coat and midnight blue mane really catches my attention. Quite pretty, I take a look at her cutie mark, ocean waves. I'm thinking she would have naturally been drawn to the navy as a human, since a lot of our pony personalities come through as humans.

I step forward, "I'm Lightning Dust."

She smiles at me, "Blue Lagoon."

Nice name, I smile back, "So, I don't know how, but apparently you were expecting me."

She nods, "I received an email, saying a pony was going to come and visit me."

"I didn't send any emails." My ears flatten as I think.

"Well, I was told to be on the lookout for a unicorn."

That makes me stop and think, "A unicorn? Out in the middle of the ocean?"

"Well, we are pretty close to Hawaii, was thinking they would messenger out here."

I hop up into one of the chairs as the XO of the ship bids his leave. I look around, "So, I've been told you were an invaluable addition to the crew."

She nods, "My special talent, I can control the currents in the ocean."

I cock my head to the side, "Huh?"

She laughs, "I can get the water to do what I want, I remember some of Equestria, I was a weather mare, specializing in coastal weather. I could generate the water needed for Cloudsdale or the other weather cities by myself, without the use of a pegasi generated tornado."

That gets a low whistle from me, "In Equestria, were you tested for strength."

She blushes and nods.

I wait patiently for her to continue, after a moment, "Class five?"

She blushes even more and nods again.

My wings drop to my sides, "You are among the most powerful of unicorns, there are only a few hundred in all of Equestria with that kind of power."

She nods, "Yeah, Princess Celestia wanted me to join her school, but I declined."

My jaw drops, after a moment, "But why?"

"I wanted to stay near the ocean, not be shorebound in Canterlot. That would have required years away from the ocean, with only a few rivers or fountains to play with. I visited, but it didn't appeal to me."

I have to shake my head, this is a unicorn that could best almost any unicorn that I know, with the possible exception of Sunset Shimmer. Mindy and Moon Shadow, as high class fours, would be mere playthings under this unicorn's power. 

I clear my throat, "I'm guessing you won't want to leave the ship?"

She shakes her head, "I've been accepted by the crew. By the captain, by everyone here, I am happy here."

I shake my head, "Well, I won't try to make you. But I am very happy to meet you, Blue Lagoon." I go on and tell her about our sanctuary, all of the ponies there, and I finally finish up with, "You are always welcome to visit."

She smiles, "Not very likely, Lightning Dust. I am drawn to the deep currents, to the water. And whenever I want to fly, I can create a cloud platform and fly with it. I was a pilot, and I guess as part of me loving to fly is because my herd moved to Cloudsdale when I was young, I was the only unicorn of a family of pegasi. We moved there once I was able to perfect casting the cloud walking spell. I spent most of my younger years living on the clouds."

I'm amazed, a unicorn that thinks like a pegasus. I like her. 

We are interrupted by a knock at the door, a human in a khaki shirt comes in, I see an eagle on his lapel.

Blue Lagoon hops off her chair and salutes the captain of the USS Ronald Reagan.

He looks at me, "So, you have met our resident pony."

I nod, "You have an amazing unicorn here."

He nods, "Yes, she's helped us with some sticky situations, she's even dispelled a storm that was making flight operations rather hairy. We had an F-18 that was dangerously low on fuel, and after two wave offs, she stood on the bridge, and I've never seen anything like it, in seconds we were in clear sky, and the plane was able to land without incident. I hope you aren't planning on taking her away from us."

"I wouldn't dream of it, Captain. If she's happy, I'm happy for her."

The captain extends a hand for a shake, I put out a hoof, he goes on, "Well, I would like to extend you the invitation to spend some time with us aboard ship. We are due in San Diego in nine days. And I know that you ponies are pretty social creatures. That's the only thing I've really noticed wrong when it comes to Blue over here." He smiles at the sad look on the pony's face, "She gets a bit lonely, her shipmates all really like her, but she needs some of her own kind here."

I think about his words for a minute, "I would happily stay, but I have a family at home waiting for me, so I'll just stay a day or two. But I know a few pegasi who were originally members of the US armed forces. Perhaps a few would like to join your crew."

I see the blue unicorn brighten immediately, a huge smile splitting her face. I continue, "I think things can be arranged, the President's daughter turned into a pony, and we actually communicate with him directly from time to time. I think some bureaucracy can be pushed past and have a half dozen or so ponies assigned to the Reagan. But no guarantees."

The captain moves over and puts a hand on Blue Lagoon's withers, and she looks up at him. That look really interests me, she really likes the captain. They both look happy, Blue Lagoon speaks up, "She can bunk with me."

He chuckles, "That's what I was thinking."

***

It's getting late at night, and after catching her up on things back at home, I ask her, "So, you really like the captain?"

She blushes, but I don't think she's aware of it, "Yes, he's always been a wonderful officer. A great teacher, and a very strong leader."

I get a sly look, "What were you before you changed?"

"A woman, why?"

I chuckle, "So, you've been crushing on him before you became a pony?"

She shakes her head really quickly, "What? No. I respect him."

"And you love him." I say loudly, "Come on Blue, I can see it written all over your face."

She ducks her head, she's silent for a long time, "Do you think he knows?"

I chuckle, "He's male, and I used to be one. He's as oblivious about such things, just like other men."

She looks surprised, "You were a man before you became a pony?"

I nod.

Her ears flatten, "And you are pregnant now?"

"I'm not pregnant. I was tortured for months, I was almost lost. I can't bear foals."

She smirks, "Have you been having morning sickness?"

I shake my head, "No, occasionally I'm queasy in the morning when I wake up."

"Dust, I have magic, and I can tell. There are subtle changes when a pony is pregnant, and I can tell."

I shake my head even harder, "There are times I wish that were true, Blue. But I can't be pregnant, one of our stallions is a doctor, he told me I was unable to bear foals after my torture."

"I suggest you talk to him when you get back." She looks seriously at me. I scoff as I pull the blanket over my body and yawn loudly.

I think for a moment as sleep starts to overtake me, I can't be pregnant, I have too much scar tissue, too much damage back there, it's impossible.

***

I sit up and bang my head against the bunk, "Owww." I whisper, rubbing my head with a hoof. I look over at Blue Lagoon, she's snoring softly. I look around the dark cabin.

The sound that woke me up repeats, it's unmistakable, a soft hoofstep. Another pony!

I hop off the bed and onto the decking, my new horseshoes quiet on the deck. Though through the cracked hatch, I can hear a soft gasp, and the sound of a pony at a gallop. What the hell? I stick my head through the hatch, and see the glimpse of a dark tail as it rounds a corner. I flash down the hall, it's pretty damned hard to fly in these narrow corridors, but I manage a stumbling wing assisted gallop. I slide around the corner, there is no pony there. I rush down the hall, I can hear hoofsteps in the distance. Then a yelp. I accelerate and make it to another corner. Two enlisted navy men are standing there.

"Was there a pony here?"

One of them nods, "Yeah, it came around the corner, yelped, and then disappeared in a flash of light."

"Stallion or mare?"

Both shake their head.

"Coat color? Mane Color?"

Again, two heads shake.

I sigh, "Anything distinguishing?"

One of them speaks up, "On the flank, it looked like a star."

"How many points? The color?"

He spreads his hands, "I'm not certain, a lot, more than the typical five pointed star, but the color, it was inky black. That's why it stands out, I've seen a lot of that show, I've never seen a black cutie mark like that."

I thank the two men and walk back to the cabin I am sharing with Blue Lagoon, who is this pony, and why don't they want to be found?

> Chapter 44. Homecomings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A text message comes through from Irony, so instead of Montana, I head south. Texas is my destination, it's where my herd is, so I dutifully follow them. But this time, instead of Corpus Christi, we end up at a resort south of Corpus, down in South Padre Island. I follow the instructions and end up on the top floor of this resort. Though I got really odd looks from the humans as I trotted through the lobby, I hit the button for the elevator. A few moments later, the door opens and Irony's grinning face is in front of me.

"I've told everypony else, but now it's your turn." She seems to almost be bouncing.

I cock my head to the side, "What?"

She sticks a hoof out so the door reopens, "Come on out of the elevator."

We end up heading down the hall, "So, what's the news, Irony."

"Dr. Ray checked me out today, I'm pregnant."

I stop in my tracks, "What?"

She laughs, "I'm pregnant Dust, I'm going to have a foal."

I shake my head, "How did that happen?"

She looks at me seriously, "Do you remember my heat a couple of months ago?"

I giggle, "Yes, but you said that Moon placed a no foals spell on you."

"She said she did, but after Dr. Ray told me, I tracked her down, and she told me since I bawled her out for not getting the spell and ending up pregnant herself, she decided she wouldn't do it for me. And from what I've been told, Helen was in on the decision. I had to apologize to Moon because apparently when I bawled her out, I really hurt her feelings."

I growl, but am stopped by Irony, I look into her magenta eyes, "That was wrong of them."

She sighs, "Yes, I know. But I find I'm happy, I mean seriously happy about it. So, if you get mad at them about it, you will have to get mad at me too."

I cock my head to the side, "Really?" I sigh at her nod, "Well, fine. But why did you have Dr. Ray check you out?"

She rubs the back of her head with a hoof, "It started with my teats being tender, to the point of distraction when I walked. But the clincher was when I tried to transform, it took a lot of effort, and my head immediately started to hurt. Dr. Ray scanned me and said my foal was doing fine. Then he stopped and looked at me, saying that he thought I had the no foals spell. Then he apologized for getting me pregnant."

I chuckle, "He apologized?"

She laughs, "Yes, and I had to give him a long hug and kiss to calm him down. He knew that Moon Shadows foals were his, and now finding out I've got a foal on the way. He didn't know what to think."

I laugh, "Poor Dr. Ray. But that is life in Equestria. If you're a stallion in a herd, you are going to end up being a daddy."

She nudges against me as we start walking again, "How was the flight, and Blue Lagoon?"

I let Irony know about what has been going on while I was taking the long route home. I tell her about the pony that visited in the night. She stops in her tracks and frowns, "Should we be worried about this pony?"

I shake my head, "I don't think so, nothing happened, it was just really odd. Maybe it was a pony from the small community they have in Hawaii, wanting to bring Blue into the fold, and was spooked by having another pony there. It's all good." I shrug my wings as Irony knocks on the suite door.

Magic grips the door handle and the door opens. Moon Shadow waits patiently for us to enter the suite. It's apparently pretty crowded, though I was told we have several rooms for the size of our party, they all seemed to congregate here. I follow Irony inside and I see two foals being played with, with my parents. My mother is sitting on the floor holding Dot. Cloud Burst is sitting on my father, who is laying on the floor, smiling at the foal on his chest.

I smile at the sight, "So, the grand foals are agreeing with you?"

My mom looks up, "Oh, they are so cute!"

I nod, "Of course they are, they are Mindy's."

My mom looks slyly at me, "And when are you going to add your own foals to the herd?"

I shake my head, "Not going to happen, Mom. You know what Dr. Ray told me."

My mom laughs, "Are you so certain? When magic is involved, you never know."

With all this talk, I head over to Dr. Ray, "Dr. Ray, can you settle all this? I've been told outright that I'm pregnant by Blue Lagoon, and it seems like everypony thinks I'm pregnant." Eyeing a smiling Sunset Shimmer, "I want you to scan me, and tell everypony that I'm not pregnant, and I can't become pregnant due to my injuries."

Dr. Ray moves close and lights his horn. He scans me, and then is silent for a long time.

I look at him, "Go ahead, Ray."

"I think we should talk about this in private, Dust."

I shake my head, "No, my family knows the extents of my injuries. They deserve to know the truth."

I look over at him as he looks down, "Dust, I really think we should talk in private about this."

I stomp a hoof, "Ray, just tell them it's impossible for me to have foals, and we can leave it at that."

"It's a filly." He whispers.

I shake my head, "Ray, don't joke with me. You yourself said I was too injured."

He smiles, "I'm not joking, and apparently that pegasi healing factor has worked in your favor. You not only can bear foals, you are pregnant, with a single pegasus filly."

My ears and tail drop, "That's not funny, Ray. It's really not."

He comes up and kisses me, "I'm not joking Dust."

I look at my family, at my herd. Everypony and human is smiling at me. I have a foal, she's currently growing inside me, and in nine or ten months, she will greet the world. I look at Irony, Mindy, Moon Shadow, Sunset, I turn and look at Dr. Ray, then over as Star Shine. My head is whirling with the news, I finally look at Helen, her smile is the largest of them all. I whisper, "That's impossible."

Irony comes over and nuzzles me, "Congratulations to you, Love."

I bounce away, wings aiding me, I end up planting all four hooves on the wall, then I land by the door to the suite, "No, that's impossible!" I scream, tears flowing down my face, I fumble with the door, and when I'm unable to open it immediately, I flash out a wing, with a crash of lightning, the door explodes outward, I rush down the hall, my wings aiding me in the narrow hallway. Turning to the stairs, I hop up a single flight and crash through the door to the roof. I flare my wings to take off, then stop. Where do I go to get away from this? This is inside me, no matter where I go, I'm going to be pregnant still. I fold my wings to my sides, and trot away from the roof entrance. I look over at the ocean view, I finally hop off the roof, gliding gently down to the sandy beach. The brackish water of the Gulf of Mexico in front of me. I finally sit down, letting the gentle waves wash over my hooves.

I sit there and cry for a long time, but I'm stopped by a hoof on my withers. I turn and look, it's Sunset Shimmer. She's smiling gently at me, I bury my head in her mane, tears continuing to stream from my eyes.

She hugs me as I cry, petting my mane and making comforting sounds as I continue to sob.

Finally she chuckles, "You are taking it like a lot of new moms."

I bring my wings around her, hugging the golden mare tightly, "It's not that, I had to deal with the fact that I was barren. I thought I was finally at peace with that. And then I find out that I'm pregnant. It's just too much."

"Do you want a foal? If you don't want it, distasteful as it is, there are spells to end an unwanted pregnancy."

I pull back in shock, "Never! It's innocent!"

She smiles at me, "I never thought for a moment that you would want to go through with something like that. But if you are really distraught about being pregnant, I offered a solution, as much as I hate that option, it does remain."

I growl, "Not a chance in Tartarus, Sunset. I'm pregnant, and I'm going to have this foal."

She smiles and hugs me closer, "Thank you Dust. That is exactly what I expect of you."

I sniffle a little bit as I gain control of myself, "I'm sorry Sunset. That was happy news, and I freaked out."

She leans forward and kisses me. My wings pull away of their own volition and end up tight and upright, I kiss her back hungrily. I put a hoof to her cheek and turn my head a little bit, and our mouths open, tongues playing against each other. 

We are interrupted by the clearing of a throat behind us. I pull away, nuzzling Sunset then I look behind me, Star Shine is sitting there, his wings down and limp, ears down.

"I'm sorry, Dust."

I bowl him over, ending up with him on his back and I'm holding him down with my hooves, I kiss him thoroughly, feeling his wings extend as I continue kissing him.

Finally I pull back, "Nothing to apologize for, Star." I kiss him again, then, "I wanted foals, I couldn't tell anypony how badly that hurt thinking I was injured too much for foals. But now I'm better, and you gave me a foal. I'm so happy!"

I let Star up and move over to Sunset, nuzzling her again, "Thank you, Sunset."

***

Three days of relaxation at the beach, though I think a herd of ponies playing in the surf has drawn quite a crowd. My parents are sitting in the sand with Dot, Cloud Burst, and Mindy, making sand castles together. Dr. Ray and Star are galloping through the waves, their raucous laughter floating back to me. Helen is in a skimpy bikini, sunning herself. Sunset, Irony, Moon, and I are all laying on towels, soaking up the sunshine and enjoying a bright warm day.

Sunset sighs, "Now, this is a date."

I look at her, "This isn't a date, this is family time."

Sunset moves over and lays down next to me, leaning against me, "My life was driven before. As a pony, as a human here, I was pushing myself, I wanted it all. I wanted the most power," her ears drop, "Twilight's friends were really nice and helpful in showing me what friendship truly meant. I'm not the same pony I was then, but in this life. As a human, before I changed, before I heard about the humans changing into ponies, I was driven to succeed. I graduated early from high school, then I was done with college by twenty. Then I was lost."

I cocked my head to the side, "Lost?"

"I grew up knowing I had to push myself, I was pretty, I was popular, but I didn't care about popularity, I wanted to get my education, I skipped prom because I was too young, and was worried about prepping for college. My parents were a huge help, but once I got my degree. Real life slammed down on me."

"What did you get your degree in?"

"Double degrees, Master Structural engineering, and electrical engineering."

I look at her sharply, "Boy, you certainly were driven. Did you get a good job?"

She sighs, "Yes, for a couple of years."

"Huh?"

"I had my degree, I had a good job, paying pretty damned good money. But I would go home to my apartment, and I would be so damned lonely." Tears start welling in her eyes, "I got hooked, on drugs. I lost my job, I lost what few friends I had. My entire life focused on that next high."

I drape a wing around the unicorn, she snuggles closer to me, "For over a year, I burned through all my savings, I sold my Mercedes, I briefly considered the world's oldest profession for a while. Then I hit bottom."

She stops for a long time, Irony comes over, along with Moon Shadow, nuzzling the unicorn. I am content to just stay next to her, let her work through her emotions. Finally she continues, "I woke up in a dingy hotel room, I was filthy, I heard a siren outside. I walked out there, and saw a crime scene being set up, a friend of mine, one who had been my drug buddy, I guess you could say. Was lying on the ground, her head bashed in." The tears really start to pour down her face. She suppresses a few sobs, "That could have been me, I remember she was going outside to score another hit, and then I had passed out. I could have been dead, my skull crushed by a baseball bat. I had to do something to change that. I checked into a rehab program that day. I cleaned myself up. I was able finally get a new job, I was turning my life around." She sighs heavily, "Then these appeared on my hip." She indicates her cutie marks.

I nuzzle her, "And are you happy with how things are now?"

She smiles through her tears, "Yes, I freaked out at first when I started getting the mane, I liked Sunset Shimmer in all the movies, but I totally freaked out once my human memories came flooding back. Since Discord didn't get rid of them, I remembered a lot of what I did as a equestrian in human form. I was on the same path as a pony as I'd taken as a banished human."

She looks around at all of us, "I wish I had found a herd, a family like yours before I went through that portal the first time."

We all stay close to the golden mare, "Well, you have us now." Moon Shadow says.

I think these new tears are tears of joy.

***

One quick teleport half way across the country, courtesy of our resident level five unicorn, we all trot into the Maze by Gordon Ramsay, in New York City. A popular restaurant from what I was told. The eponymous and foul mouthed chef isn't there. But the smells that greet us are amazing. The host boggled at the three humans along with seven ponies joining them.

He stands there, looking at us for a long time, I clear my throat, getting no reaction.

"We have a reservation, under Helen Shaw."

He looks at his list, then at us, "For ten?"

I nod.

"And where is Helen?"

She steps forward, "That's me."

He looks around at all of us. "I don't think I can seat you all."

I look at my family, I wanted to eat here, I pull my wallet out of my small satchel that I keep with me almost all the time, I open it and pull out four one hundred dollar bills. I hoof them over to the stunned human, "We aren't beasts, you know. We left the kids with a sitter." I smile, Dylan is being paid rather well to watch his sister and the foals.

I continue, "We are celebrating, additions to the family, both now and in the future." My tone darkens, "But if you want to be a xenophobe, we can take our business elsewhere."

He looks at the cash in his hand, then at me, then back at the money. It disappears and he greets me with a smile, "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, of course we can seat you."

In moments we are all sitting in an absolutely silent restaurant, I look at all the faces turned towards my family. Their scrutiny finally gets under my skin, I call out loudly. "We are a family wanting to celebrate, nothing more. I know you've heard about the ponies, now let us eat in peace."

Suitably chastened, the other patrons turn their attention to their own tables. The waitress appears and takes our drink orders, I decide on bottles of champagne for all of us. I pick up a glass,

"To our newest herd sister, Sunset Shimmer." She blushes as we clink glasses and drink.

Sunset raises her glass, "To our newest moms to be, Moon Shadow, Irony, and Lightning Dust."

Once again, glasses are clinked together.

Dr Ray leans over, "I don't mind you drinking occasionally, but remember, moderation."

I chuckle, "Moderation is for monks." At his dark look I continue, "I very rarely partake in consumption of alcohol, Doctor. Cool your jets."

He smiles at me.

Shortly our food is ordered, and we enjoy chatting as we wait. I look around, although we are still getting sidelong glances from the other patrons, most are returning to their own meals. I look at my herd. Helen is chatting happily with Moon Shadow, I never knew how quickly their friendship blossomed. And I found out that they were behind that first time with Irony. I didn't know I was being pushed into it, both by Helen, and by Moon Shadow. All those questions she asked was her way of determining how I felt about the massive mare sitting next to me. Doctor Ray, on my other side, leans over. 

"Dust," He says quietly, "you are pregnant, and you have healed to a degree that still boggles my mind, there is still scar tissue. Normally I would tell you to be on bed rest for the entire pregnancy." He chuckles at my sour look at him, "But I didn't feel like being told to go to hell. So, take it easy, Dust. Pregnant mares may be resilient, but you aren't invincible. Please, for the sake of you, and that foal inside you, keep your adventuring to a minimum."

I sigh, "We will be pretty far along when the portal opens next. My goal for the next few months is to get ponies ready. Those that want to head back to Equestria."

I stop and look at Dr. Ray, "Do you want to go through, then come back, and be human again?"

He looks thoughtful for a moment, then shakes his head, "I like what we have going on here Dust. I am actually pretty happy as a pony."

I lean over and kiss the stallion, "I'm glad."

*** 

One more long distance teleportation, back to Texas, we all sit in the large living room in our suite. Apparently somepony visited the local liquor store, and mixed drinks are being portioned out. I've got just enough for a pleasant buzz. I am on my side, cradling my head on Irony's barrel as we continue chatting and laughing. Finally, my dad stands up.

"It's getting late, I'll see you ponies in the morning." He helps my mom up, and they head off to their own suite. Mindy disappears with her foals, and Dylan and Hannah head over to their own rooms. Soon it's just us, Irony, Moon, Mindy, Helen, Sunset, Ray, and Star. 

Sunset stands up, "I'm thinking we continue our date."

I cock my head to the side, is she thinking what I think she's thinking.

The answer comes quickly as she steps forward and kisses me, her tongue playing along my lips, then invading my mouth as I open it in answer.

***
Chapter 43a, in cloptional story
***

Three more days in this beautiful seaside resort and finally we take a chariot home. Well, the family does, the pegasi of the family, Star, and myself, fly ourselves. But we enjoy the nice long flight. After hours of flying we land at our house. There's a mare sitting there, Gold Dust, I furrow my brow as we land, what is she doing here?

I trot up to her, and open my mouth to ask her why she's here. She brightens and gallops towards me, I stop as she brushes past and I turn and watch her tackle my son. She's pressing her lips to his, and he's kissing her back enthusiastically. Irony puts a hoof on my withers as my wings extend. I look at her and get a shush look from her.

I turn back to the enthusiastically kissing couple, and after a moment, I clear my throat. Causing them to part very quickly, both red faced, I look again at Irony and step forward. Both are warily eyeing my wings.

"Gold Dust, what is the meaning of this?"

Gold Dust looks curiously at Dylan, then at me, "He was supposed to tell you while you guys were out of town."

I look over at my son, apparently he's trying to stammer out a response, I wait a moment then..."Dylan?"

"Dad, uhh, Dust, Gold Dust and I just started dating, while we were in Australia was when it all started. Though, we had been talking the last few weeks, and well, with you finding out you were pregnant, and all, I just never had the chance to tell you."

I narrow my eyes, and my son apparently tries to pull into himself, but I don't have a chance to say anything as the gold mare tackles me, "Oh my Celestia, you are pregnant, Dust? I can't believe it! You had said that you were too injured, and that..." She trails off as she sees the look on my face, her horn lights and she teleports over next to Dylan.

I get up slowly and brush myself off, "Gold, you're twenty-five, my son is seventeen."

She chuckles, "I may have been twenty-five before I changed, but I was sixteen when Discord took me, and most of the ponies are going by the ages they were when Discord got them, so as far as we are concerned, I'm eighteen, and your son is only a year younger. Is that okay?"

I look at Dylan, and at Gold Dust. I shake my head, then I sigh, "Gold, he's a man now. If you two are interested in each other, I'm not going to stand in your way." I chuckle, "I just never thought that Dylan would end up with a pony."

He crosses his arms over his chest, "Well, Mom and you are still together, and I know of at least two herds in the new pony town that have human members." He stops and looks unsure, "I am not going to ask permission, Dust. But I do hope that you won't object."

I look at both of them, then I walk to Dylan, and rear up to give him a hug, wrapping my wings around my boy, I whisper in his ear, "If you really care about her, take care of her." I drop down on all fours, then move over to Gold Dust, and give her a hug, whispering in her ear, "He's my son, if you hurt him, I will have a lot of trouble forgiving you."

I step back and look at them, a little bit of fear in her eyes, and my son is beaming, he kneels down and hugs Gold Dust, who holds onto him strongly.

I trot into the house, Irony next to me, "Well, handled, Dust."

"He's my boy, I want him to be happy."

> Chapter 45. Do you love life on Earth? I do
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 45

September, fall, my favorite time of year. Though time at home has been wonderful, I've been playing with Dot and Cloud Burst, I've been watching my son's romance with Gold Dust blossom, and I've been enjoying the time home. Spent a little time at Lightning Electric, though I've hired a manager, trying to get out of day to day operations of the company. I've even entertained a thirty-five million dollar offer to buy the company, and then declined. 

My phone interrupts my thoughts, a flick of the ear answers.

"Hello?"

"This is Mrs. Wallace from the school, your Mayor Mare has been working on the new curricula for the school, and I wanted..."

I sit up straight, "Hold on, what new curricula?"

I hear a laugh from the other side of the conversation, "A few months ago, Mayor Mare, the mayor of that town of ponies you guys have gotten, they have been working to set up schooling. They decided to not build their own schools, and instead are sending the foals to school here. She said that living with humans was a fact of life here, and integration was the best idea, so we've quadrupled the class sizes, we've hired a lot of new teachers, including some pony teachers, and are teaching the foals of your town."

I frown, "That's all well and good, but why am I being asked to go over coursework?"

"Lightning Dust, she said that as a former wonderbolt, and as a pegasus, you can help the pegasi with their flying lessons."

I groan inwardly, teaching little pegasi how to fly is fun, but dozens if not hundreds at a time, nope, not this mare, what I say is, "I am not a teacher, Mrs. Wallace."

"Oh, I'm not asking for that, though I think the students, from more than one class, would be happy to have you come and talk to them, would you like to come over and see what we've been doing?"

I look around, it looks like everyone is busy, Mindy is playing with her foals, Irony and Moon Shadow are in the kitchen with Helen, and I'm just lazing around, the stallions are around as well, but I don't hear them, "Sure."

I give my loves a kiss and fly off to the school. My first impression is amazement. The whole time I've lived here, the entire class size was around two hundred fifty in the high school, being an oil town, the school is a lot larger than you would expect for a town that size, due to the money flowing around. Now, it seems they have a dozen temporary buildings up, and heavy equipment is running around in a large fenced off area, it looks like a new addition is being constructed. I flutter down to the entrance, and push through the front doors, heading for the office. In moments I'm in the principal's office, though I have to fight to suppress the memories of times in such offices, as a human, and as a pony. School was rough for me, I'll just say that. 

"Hi Lightning Dust, would you like a tour before we start?"

I nod and follow her out of the office. As we walk she starts a running commentary, "Mayor Mare was busy with us all summer, and when she informed us of how many students from the new town are going to be coming here, we didn't know what to do. Until she said that the expansion and construction costs will be handled by the town, and the added teacher salaries as well, then that was a load off my mind. Having to deal with nearly a fivefold increase in students between the high school and elementary schools, that was stressful I tell you."

I stop and look at her, "From what you are saying, pony students outnumber the human students?"

She nods, I continue, "Any friction? I know that this is a small town, with small town attitudes, not wanting change, and having it thrown in your face can be rough."

She smiles, "Actually, I think the novelty of students that walk on four legs and write with their mouths hasn't worn off yet. The new food choices in the cafeteria have been fun. Though it's amazing to watch some of the pegasi children enjoy chicken sandwiches with the human kids has been fun. Though beef has been completely removed from the menu."

I chuckle, remembering my attempt to eat a perfectly good steak, "So, how are you organizing things?"

"Well, let's go look at the unicorn section first. Some extra precautions have to be made there, since a magic surge could be disruptive, but we've gotten a few really good unicorn teachers, they can fix any damage, and they are wonderful at teaching our magic users, both human and pony."

I furrow my brow, "Human magic users? My daughter is one of them, but how many do you have?"

"Thirty seven, if I remember correctly in the high school, another dozen or so at the elementary school."

A low whistle from me, "That many?"

She nods, "Apparently word has spread, if you find yourself manifesting magic, come to Montana. Though some adults have also gained that ability, so we have an after school program for them."

We come into a large courtyard, fifty or so unicorns are sitting, along with a half dozen human children of various ages, being taught by a peach colored unicorn mare, with three stars on her flank, and a mane color of brilliant yellow. She demonstrates a spell, and then coaches the students. I sit in wonder for a long moment, then the mare sees me.

"Lightning Dust, could you come here please?"

I look at Mrs. Wallace, pleading with my eyes as magic gently picks me up and brings me to the front. I wave at the students, "Uh, hi."

The unicorn smiles, "I'm Lemon Drop, I'm the intermediate magic teacher. And class, this is Lightning Dust."

The ponies and humans all intone a greeting.

The unicorn seems to be in lecture mode, "Lightning Dust is actually a rarity among pegasus ponies. She can do magic. Though her power level would indicate she would be a higher level unicorn, but since her abilities are limited to only be affiliated with her talent, with her cutie mark. By the definitions of different unicorn levels, what would that put her as?"

A hand shoots up, Lemon Drop nods to the boy in question, "Mrs Drop, since she's confined to basic magic per her talent, that would put her at a level one unicorn."

Lemon Drop beams, "That is correct, Travis." She looks at the entire class, "Lightning Dust can manipulate and generate electrical charges with her wings." She gives me a sly look, then continues, "I'm not going to ask her to do a demonstration, but suffice it to say, she has considerable abilities, within the confines of her talent."

I look at all the bright faces, even the human children are raptly listening to the lecture. Lemon Drop apparently decides to move on, and I bid my leave of them.

Rejoining the principal, we move on, I marvel at the gym, ponies and humans running under the watchful eyes of both a pony and a human coach. The pegasi are getting taught as well, outside in a set of clouds that the teachers apparently brought down for learning. 

Mrs. Wallace continues, "We've been very busy with all this. Over the summer, the school board approved the construction, the new curricula."

"Hold on, hold on." She stops, looking at me curiously, "How in the holy bleeding hell did you get the county school board to go along with it?" I remember dealing with the school board, just trying to get them to modernize the schools was like pulling teeth.

Another chuckle, "Because your Mayor Mare knows how to grease the wheels."

I hold up my forehooves, "Oh, no, she didn't."

Mrs. Wallace looks confused, "Didn't...what?"

I shrug my wings, "Usually greasing the wheels means money changed hands."

She shakes her head, "Oh, dear no. Not at all, let's just say she knows the right words to say to get things to go the way she wants. She was able to get what she wanted without ruffling any feathers. She was the squeaky wheel that got the grease, you have a master politician in her. Watch out."

I smile, "I think she deserves a raise." We laugh as we continue the tour.

***

Landing at home, I'm glad to be home, and I'm amazed. I spend a good hour updating my family about what's happening. After I'm done, Helen pipes up, "Dylan said they were doing some work at the school, but he's never elaborated."

I laugh, "With ponies all around his home, and having a marefriend, sounds like school is no different in that respect."

We all laugh, but are interrupted by the door slamming. I look up to see my son as he rushes towards the stairs and his room, I notice something, "Dylan!" I call out.

He rushes up the stairs and I flare my wings, only to have him gently grabbed in light blue magic. I hear Sunset Shimmer, "Dust called you, Dylan."

The young man struggles in her magic as she brings him down the stairs. I end up on my hooves as I get a look at his face.

"Dylan, what happened?"

I look at Sunset, she lets him go, and he simply stands there, tears streaming down his face.

My wings bring me over to him, I try to hug him, getting my hooves slapped away and he turns around. 

"Dylan, what's wrong?"

After a long time, he finally speaks, "I got in a fight."

This isn't like him, he was never a fighter, then I get a good look at his face, he has flecks of blood on his upper lip, and a red stain on his burgundy shirt, I didn't notice that at first. And he also has the beginnings of a shiner. I cock my head to the side, "With who?"

"Lucas," He mumbles.

Ah, Lucas White, the quarterback of the football team, generally the most popular guy in school, and a total shit. I banned him from the house years ago, and Dylan eventually saw through his nonsense. He was one of those smooth talkers, who said everything right to the parents, but when the parents weren't around, he was a totally different child.  The child reminded me of Eddie Haskell, from Leave it to Beaver. Don't laugh, I watched that show when I was young, after a growl, "Who started it?"

He looks down, he knows my rules, never ever start a fight, but finish it if it's brought to you. Judging by his reaction, he threw the first punch, "Dylan!" 

He looks up sharply, "I had to, he said something really horrible!"

"Words are just words, Dylan, you don't need to get physical over words."

He growls.

After a long pause, "What did he say, Dylan?"

"He called me a horse fucker."

"Really?"

He nods, I sigh, "Dylan, as horrible as that is..."

He interrupts me, "I was out with Gold Dust."

I apply hoof to face, "He said it in front of your marefriend?"

He nods, I understand, "Did hitting him do anything?"

He shakes his head, "He hit me back, we ended up fighting pretty badly, then Gold Dust got involved."

I have to laugh internally, "And she really got her licks in, right?"

He nods, "She didn't put him in the hospital, but he's a lot worse off than I am."

I smile at him, "She's an equestrian mare, Dylan. You've learned a lot about Equestria from us, mares are going to protect our stallions, yet she had a lot of misgivings hitting another stallion, if that were a mare fighting you, she would have done worse. We are a feisty lot, us mares."

He giggles, I notice, "And very passionate, right?

His face turns bright red, I smile. I've had the talk with him, and apparently Gold Dust has been showing him what that means, I move forward and place a wing on his shoulder, "She loves you son. Just remember that, love is a powerful thing in this, and any world. I hope you feel the same way about her."

He sniffles and nods, I rear up and give him a hug, "I love you son, just take care of her, and I guarantee, she will take care of you."

The front door opens and a golden face peeks in, Gold Dust canters over to Dylan and rears up to give him a hug. He reflexively wraps his arms around her, kissing her passionately. I have to clear my throat after a moment, "Gold, do you have a house?"

She looks back at me and nods, smiling lasciviously, I continue, "Well, I'm already aware of your activities with him." This gets a furious blush from her, and renewed flames in his face as well. I sigh, my son is going to want to move out before too long, he's a senior in high school, with a steady marefriend, he's even looking at colleges. Sunset has been working with him on getting him accepted to Cal Tech, her alma matter. This kid's life is going pretty well. "Why don't you guys go to your home." They both smile and head to the door, I call out, "And Dylan, if you aren't in bed by midnight, come on home, k?"

He shyly waves, I'm pretty sure he won't be back home tonight. I have to fight my natural desire to protect him, and my desire for him to be happy. I've had a nice long talk with Gold Dust, she's smitten with him. I hope they work out.

I get back to watching a little bit of the ole television when I hear a knock at the door. Before I even open it, Trixie barges through.

"Oh, Lightning Dust, Trixie has the most awesome news!"

I look at the blue mare, then see behind her, Lightning Flash is there with her. Both are beaming, "Okay, give."

Flash answers, "Bronycon."

I narrow my eyes, "I know the word brony, but bronycon? What is that?"

"It's a big convention for the bronies, and the great and powerful Trixie has been invited."

She giggles, "Just got the email Dust." Then she looks down, "Trixie was asked if she wants to bring anypony with her, and she said, Lightning Dust, and the convention organizers were really happy to hear that. So, Dust, will you come to bronycon with us?"

I look at my herd, smiles are everywhere, there are a lot of bronies that turned ponies in my family. I finally seek out the face that has never steered me wrong over the years, Helen nods at me, so I turn to Trixie, "Well, when is this geek convention?"

She giggles, "This weekend, they had a lot of trouble tracking me down, with all the rumors of the humans turning to ponies, they knew we existed, but finding us wasn't really easy."

I chuckle, "So, in two days, we are going to be gawked at by hundreds of bronies?"

Irony laughs loudly, "Dust, Bronycon has had average attendance of over ten thousand bronies every year, even after the show ended, the fandom kept producing for years, the voice talent still shows up. And there are always rumors of a reboot to the show, and bronies eat it up."

My ears fall, "ten thousand?"

She nods, "Though if ponies are actually going to show up, there might be a lot more."

I shudder, "That is a lot of humans."

She laughs again, "And a lot of them are going to want to talk to Trixie, and to you. They will likely have you in a panel, have you gals talk about Equestria."

***

"Hello there Bronycon!" I shout, to thousands of people yelling at the top of their lungs.

It's been an amazing time, when Trixie, who was dressed with the wizard hat and cape from the show, and I walked into the convention center in Baltimore, everything went totally quiet, for about ten seconds. Then they started cheering for the ponies in their midst. The rest of the herd followed sedately, I was really wowed by the mass of humanity, all devoted to us. I got to see people dressed as the mane six, I even saw some that were dressed as Trixie. Then I saw something that floored me, people dressed to look like me. Wonderbolt suit and everything, I had to stop and talk to them. More than once I was called best pony, which caused a furious amount of blushing from me.

I even got to meet the voice talent for the show, I was truly amazed! The voices of the ponies I watched on television, though every one of them wanted my autograph! And the voice of Discord, I had liked him in previous roles he had played, but he was charming. He even apologized for what his character did to us in the finale. I had to get his autograph, so we settled on a trade. I've got a picture of me and him together, both smiling like fools. Then I got to watch Trixie wow the crowd, both talking about her time in Equestria before Discord, and her time since then. She told them about Lightning Flash, about our fight with Discord, and after she wowed them with her magic, she introduced me. And I get to talk to them, though I'm going to do things differently.

I watch as the shouting finally dies down, "You all heard Trixie's story, and I'll let you know mine, but I want to tell you a few things before I turned into Lightning Dust."

I gesture to the guys in back, and the lights come up, I can see the bronies now. I smile, "I wasn't a brony, I barely had heard about the show, in fact, my daughter could tell you a lot more about My Little Pony than I ever could. And then these appeared on my flanks." I indicate my cutie mark, "Since then, it's been a wild ride. We've been taking care of the ponies that have turned all over the world. We've built towns, we are starting lives here. And a lot of us are planning on staying." This gets more cheers.

"But, I've wanted to know about the bronies, I've heard a lot about you, I've met a few. I've liked those I've met, but I want to hear what you guys think about ponies showing up, I want to know what you think of us being real!"

After a few moments, everything calms down, I look around expectantly, in moments, a young man stands up, "Lightning Dust," He giggles, apparently talking to a turquoise pegasus is a novel thing to him, "What about Equestria? Are you going back?"

I sigh, "I don't know, I love living here, and my family is pretty well established. That being said, I'm pretty certain I'm going to stay here."

One of the other attendees stands up, "What if a human wants to move to Equestria?"

I look at him, "Why would you want to go to Equestria?"

The young man looked about ready to cry, I gestured for him to come closer, and he approached the stage, I got up close to him and sat on my haunches, I repeated myself, "Why would you want to go to Equestria?"

He thought about it for a moment, then put the microphone up to his lips, "Because your home is so ideal. Peaceful, idyllic, beautiful, colorful. And lots and lots of ponies."

I chuckle, glad for the headset type microphones that were handed to us ponies, "I'll address all of that, but first, yes, there are lots and lots of ponies." This gets plenty of laughs, I look at the rest of the audience, "Let me get a show of hands, how many here would love to just pull up roots, step through the portal, and start new lives in Equestria?"

At first a few hands shot up, then more and more, and eventually over half of the attendees of the panel have their hands up. I have to sigh, "Well, it's not as easy as you all might think."

I look around at all of them, then focus on the young man who spoke, "We have lots of ponies, we also have dragons, manticores, changelings, hydras and a plethora of very scary creatures. And I remember some of that from my time there, they aren't the cutesy wootsy creatures you see in the cartoon. A full grown manticore is downright scary, as well as very dangerous, the same with the hydras. A dragon roaring in your face can make you lose your bowels right there. We are peaceful, but we have the royal guard, we have the Wonderbolts for a reason. I'll get into the second changeling war in a bit, I was directly involved with that. Crime is low, very low in fact. But that is our nature. We are different than you humans in many ways. I will tell you that my heart aches every day, I miss flying in the pristine skies. I miss life there." 

My ears fall, I feel the sadness that I think all displaced Equestrian's feel about our lost homeland, "But Equestria isn't the same as you see in the show, and it's not how I remember it anymore. A mad chaos spirit took over, he ruled Equestria for a quarter of a century. Two members of my family went through the portal and came back, and they told me that things are a lot different. The mane six, those who were the stars of the television show have gone home. But they have years of rebuilding ahead of them. And remember, they spent twenty-five years as humans as well, and that time affects us all. I'm not the pony I was before Discord happened. Neither is anypony that spent time on this Earth. There are a lot of reasons I've not gone back, the primary reason is because there are ponies here that want to go home, and I have promised, through my oath as a Wonderbolt, to protect them. And I will do so to my dying breath."

I look around, many people seem to be moved by my words, "Don't get me wrong, Equestria is a wonderful place, but it's not they utopia many of you wish it were. Will I ever go back?" I see my family sitting in the back, I look a long time at Helen, "I don't know. The ties that keep me here go even deeper than my commitment to the ponies." I see her smile at my words, causing me to grin, "But enough about the depressing parts. Any other questions?"

The microphone is handed to another, this a young pegasister, she steps forward boldly, "Can you do a sonic rainboom?"

I chuckle, "I haven't tried, to be honest. It's extremely difficult, Rainbow Dash was able to do it because she has magic like I do. Except her magic isn't throwing lightning bolts, or telekinesis. It's geared to help her go faster. If I really stretched the bounds, and pushed as hard as I could, I might be able to do it. I've flown with her, and when it comes to speed, I could keep up with her pretty well. Her and I are the two fastest pegasi alive. I've been told that the magic from being around the rainboom is amazing, I would love to experience it. Though I don't plan on trying any time soon, Rainbow Dash told me that the drain on her was severe, and she was confined to flying slow for days after."

I field a few more questions, then I decide to throw a wrench into the proceedings I go into my role in the second changeling war then, "I've been talking about  a lot of subjects, but let me get somepony who was involved as much as I was in that war. Irony Shieldbreaker." I gesture out to the crowd and the spotlight goes to the back of the room, Irony was not expecting me to call her out, I have to chuckle as her face turns red and she slowly stands up, she dressed up for the occasion, staying in her two hoofed form. She told me that most would think she was just a really good cosplayer. I had to look that up.

After a moment she walks down the aisle and hops up on stage, she grabs a mic and turns to address the crowd, before she's able to speak, wild applause breaks out at the new pony. She waits a time, then hold out her hands for silence, "Greetings, I am Irony. Lightning Dust here wants you to know about the second changeling war. I was in Ponyville during that. But first, as you can see, I walk on two hooves and have hands. I'm a little different than most ponies. I was not born in Equestria, though I was brought there by a spell by Twilight Sparkle. She helped me acclimate to my new life there. For a long time, she helped me. She was always so nice to me. Then the changelings attacked. I had learned smithing during my time there, and I had become a fairly good armorer, and had joined the royal guards. But the guard contingent at the castle was not up to the task. Princesses Celestia and Luna were en route from Canterlot when their guards said they should get to Ponyville. And then the changelings crashed through the front door. I told Princess Twilight to head to the library and seal herself in. And then I discovered I could change forms, to the form you see before you. I grabbed the mace I had been showing her that I had made, and used it on the changelings. Their green blood ran like a river that day. I took quite a few injuries, changelings are very tough, very hard to kill. Their hooves are sharp, and their magic, though rather weak compared to most unicorns, got some pretty good hits on me."

Her ears fall flat, "As they kept coming, there were so many of them, I was past the point of exhaustion. But they were attacking, they wanted my princess. I had to stand between them and her. I kept having to fall back, and I ended up with my back against the door to the library. I had two other guards with me at that point, and then both of them fell. I was bucked to the side and the door was broken through. I chased them, Princess Twilight was using her magic on them at that point, but we ended up back to back, changelings around us. I could hear the shouts of the pony guards, the Wonderbolts and the extra pegasi from Canterlot had finally arrived, but they had to fight through the castle to get to us. Princess Twilight and I just had to hold until they got to us. It was a long fight though." Tears start to track down her furred face, "I just remember swinging my mace, both of my arms burning, I could hear Princess Twilight panting with the effort, she was about ready to give in. I turned and saw a changeling bite down on her foreleg. And I'll tell you, seeing her blood flow enraged me to a level I had never known. She told me later that I was a whirlwind until the guard crashed into the room."

She looks out at the crowd, "I was days recovering, I was told many times by skilled doctors that I should have died, with my injuries. But I didn't, and then the Princesses called me to Canterlot after I recovered. I had allowed my Princess to be injured, I was certain I would be punished for failure, for letting Princess Twilight be injured in my presence." She chuckles, "Imagine my surprise when they award me the highest honor in Equestria. And then I'm promoted to be the leader of Princess Twilight's personal bodyguard." She looks around at the silent crowd, "Princess Twilight had no desire to have anypony be tasked to go with her everywhere, but after her injuries in the battle, Princess Celestia insisted. So, I spent a few years as her bodyguard, before Discord happened. He actually took my five days before the rest of the ponies. He wanted me out of the way before he attacked the rest."

She puts a hand on my withers, and her finger taps a few times, I pull out my phone and stylus, tapping out a text message. She talks for a few more moments, then I thank her as she heads back to her seat to wild applause. I step forward, "And we aren't done, we haven't told anyone about this surprise, I doubt many humans know that she ended up here, but we have one more guest for you today." I smile hugely, "That guest is Sunset Shimmer!" 

After a few shocked seconds, the entire room bursts into applause, loud whistles and yells from everyone. Sunset teleports onto the stage. And I was only thinking the applause was wild before, it doubles, then redoubles as everyone is on their feet screaming. I watch Sunset blush furiously, she told me that she didn't think the bronies would be all that enthused about her appearance. I promised her that they would love to see her. I move up to her, kiss her cheek and whisper in her ear, "See, they love you Sunset. Maybe not as much as I do, but they really do."

I sit next to her as the applause keeps going and going. Thousands of voices screaming Sunset's name. I swear we are going to bring the building down with all of the clapping and stomping of feet. She slips on a mic and steps forward.

"Uh, Hello." She says nervously, to renewed screaming. She blushes furiously as she waits for them to calm down. "As Lightning Dust said, I'm Sunset Shimmer. I was in your world many years ago. I spent several years as a human before Discord happened. And though the events shown in the movies were not a hundred percent accurate. Some parts were," Her ears fall, and she quiets a bit, "depressingly accurate."

She stops for a moment, then continues, "I was an evil mare. I was consumed with power. I wanted to get Princess Celestia back for not teaching me the way I wanted her to teach me. She took so long, I had mastered everything she threw at me in record time. But every time I asked to accelerate my training, she always said that I had to go at the right pace. I became bitter, and angry. And then I found the mirror, the mirror leading to this world. For six months I had to wait for it to open for me that first time." She looks around at the enraptured audience, "Then I came through, and found the school. I was a prodigy among ponies, I was barely fourteen when I walked through the portal, I had been Princess Celestia's student for six years. I was able to get into the school, after some research and popping back to Equestria a couple of times to be able to access my magic, I was able to enroll in the school. I rose to be the most popular student there."

She looks around, tears threatening to fall, "Then Princess Twilight came through the portal. I actually wasn't a student at that point, I had graduated, but I was a teacher's aide. I was still popular, and unknown to the teachers, I was running the school." The tears started to fall, "I had manipulated things, and I had gone through to get the element of Magic. I had been through the portal, and had found out that the elements had been found, and a new unicorn was the element of Magic. I was able to get the crown, and I turned into that demon you saw, and I was defeated by Twilight Sparkle, and the friends she had made in the school. Those friends weren't the same as her friends in Equestria, but they had similar personalities. They accepted Twilight where I could only sow chaos and discord. She found that magic existed in your world, and she used the crown that sat upon my head to defeat me."

She suppresses a sob, and I hear a few sobs from the crowd, looking around I see plenty of eyes shining with tears, I move up to Sunset and nuzzle her, then fold a wing around her. She looks at me gratefully, then continues, "Princess Twilight reformed me, she showed me the error of my ways. She even appealed to the principle of the school to let me keep my job." She stops and works through her emotions, "Six months later, the sirens showed up, I had found the book that allowed me to talk to Princess Celestia, I sent a message to Princess Twilight, and she showed up less than an hour later. She helped redeem me, she helped me become the mare I am now. I will always be grateful to her for not only defeating my selfish ambitions, but to forgive me for what I did." She looks down, "She was able to forgive me long before I was able to forgive myself."

She stands up, shrugging off my wing, but nuzzling me quickly, "A few years later, I went through the portal, I had wondered why Princess Twilight had gone quiet when it came to me talking to her through the book. I discovered what Discord had done. I destroyed the mirror on the other side to keep him from having control of that portal. And I thought, to conceal its existence from him. He already knew of the portal, but he hit me with his spell to send me back here as a human, and now I'm back." She looks at me, "I've found a new family, one that accepts me for my flaws, and gives me an opportunity to give back some of what was so generously given to me by both Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight. I will always remember the kindness of the Princesses, and more importantly, I am always thankful for the ponies I've gotten to know since I've become myself again."

She stops, and the entire room bursts into applause, everyone is on their feet. She smiles shyly at all the attention. I move forward and nuzzle her again, "You did wonderful, love."

***

Three wild days, I got to attend the brony version of the Grand Galloping Gala. And I'll tell you, it was far more fun than the one time I attended it as a pony back in Canterlot. I spent way too much money on pony merchandise, and I signed my name so many times I was tired of it. But everyone was so happy at this event, it made me happy. 

Just after the closing ceremony, I was with a group of about fifty bronies and pegasisters of various ages, singing Pinkie Pie's song, Smile smile smile, when I was stopped by a hand on my withers. I turned and one of the even organizers was standing there.

"So, the portal is opening in a few months?"

I nod, "Beginning of December."

"Where is it?"

I cock my head to the side, "Why?"

"A lot of people want to know."

I chuckle, "How about this time, tens of thousands of ponies are going to want to get through, to go home. How about I tell you the location of the portal before it opens that time. Then if some humans want to visit, or make new lives in Equestria, they can."

I can tell he really wants to know the location, I sigh. "I think that is the best answer you are going to get from me."

His face falls, "I understand, it is your home, after all."

I nod.

But will you bring me to the portal? Just to visit? To see what Equestria truly is like?"

I cock my head to the side, "I'll think about it. You've given Trixie your contact information, so we can bring you, if we decide to. Good?"

His face brightens, "Certainly!"

I spot my herd, and rush over to them. Only to get bowled over by Mindy, "Oh Dustie, this place has been awesome. I have had so much fun, and so many bronies. I want to do this again!"

I have to laugh, "We've been invited again next year, I've tentatively said yes, unless something pops up, we'll be here. Along with some other ponies from home.

She bounces and cheers.

Irony comes up  and nuzzles me, "Bronies are pretty awesome, aren't they?"

I look at the departing people, "They are a big source of magic for this world, our world has really resonated with them."

She follows my gaze, "Yes it has."

> Chapter 46. Marco Polo 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Irony, get over here!" I shout.

Irony trots down the stairs, I've never been good going down stairs as a quadruped. She's mastered it. I'd rather jump and use my wings, "What is it."

I point at my obviously pregnant belly, "She kicked!"

Irony grins, "Awesome!" She comes over and places a hoof, after a moment, I feel the odd feeling of something inside me kicking. 

I smile at Irony, "Dr. Ray said she'd be a pegasus, and she's going to be a strong one."

Irony chuckles, "Coming from you, Dust, that's an easy thing to believe."

I smile at her, "I never thought pregnancy would be so amazing, when Helen was pregnant with our kids, I got to experience it from the father's point of view, but now as a mare." I stop and look at Helen, she's smirking, "It's been amazing."

Helen's smirk grows, "So, after this one, you want more?"

My ears fall, "Now, I'm not saying that!"

Helen laughs, "I know Dust, though you getting up to pee about twenty times a day has been amusing. Though you are carrying them low, with Dylan, he was up high, I couldn't eat, you are hungry as a horse, all the time."

I chuckle at her little joke and heave myself off the couch, I walk over to her and plant my forehooves on her shoulders, giving her a peck on the lips, "I'm so glad we were able to reignite what we had before. Thank you, love."

She rubs a finger along my ear, "Well, I'll admit, I wasn't sure that I would enjoy being with ponies that much." She blushes bright red, "But you girls are very lovable."

Judging by the heat in my face, I'm blushing as badly as she is. I smile and give her a kiss again then lay back down next to her on the couch, she starts rubbing behind my ears, that feels really good.

Irony looks thoughtful, "Dust, the portal is opening in less than a month, I know some ponies from town have packed up and left, but wouldn't we want to help get ponies to Equestria?"

"What do you think we should do, Irony?"

"Offer transportation, money, fuel."

I wave a hoof, "Mayor Mare and I have discussed that already, a fund was set up, and all the cars from when the ponies came here are being used, as well as the three buses I bought. Those buses have made dozens of trips over the last couple of months, we are going to lose about a quarter of our population to head back to Equestria."

Irony narrows her eyes, "That's all well and good, we are pretty organized, but what about some of the other enclaves around the world?"

"The American President has appointed Cloud Kicker and Blossomforth to head to many of the worldwide enclaves of ponies. They are offering transport to the US, and the Iowa farm has been used as a staging area for the exodus of ponies. I got a call from Big Macintosh a few days ago, he said they are full to bursting, even with the financial assistance I've offered, they have tens of thousands of ponies ready to head home."

"What about the other US enclaves."

I frown, "I haven't talked to them that much. Perhaps we should."

Sunset Shimmer trots down the stairs, "I think we should get busy, Dust. I just got off the phone with Cloud Kicker, they've been denied entry into China to talk to the ponies. Their official line is there are no ponies in China. But we know differently. We've been in communication with the ponies in China, and there are nearly a hundred thousand of them. Nearly half the ponies Discord banished went to China. Dust, the vast majority want to leave China. Their conditions are deplorable."

I think about what she said and nod, "Then we will have to do something about that. And Sunset, what is the worldwide population of ponies?"

"I've been trying to get a tally, not counting newborn foals, now Dust, I'm not trying to be precise, just get a general number, but we are aware of nearly quarter million ponies worldwide. We've been able to get a lot out of the middle east, where they had a pretty bad life. But the best we can determine, in China, they've been pretty much rounded up into a very large camp. I think we should get them out of there."

I frown, "We don't have the transportation capabilities for that many."

She grins, "Just get me there, I can open a portal back home."

I just look at her in shock, she continues, "You are looking at the pony who's researched the portal here more than any other, it is based on dream magic, I don't have those capabilities, but dream magic is very similar to dimensional magic, and I learned a lot, we just need to make a portal in a large enough object for ponies to walk through, we have places in New Beginnings that we can make the other side of the portal. And since it's not going to a different dimension, I can open the portal with my magic."

"New Beginnings?"

She chuckles, "Dust, you need to be more aware of what's happening in our pony town, if you would go to the occasional council meeting, you would know they've settled on a name for the town."

I frown, "No pony pun?"

"Many wanted 'New Ponyville' for the town name, but that was rejected, but they were able to agree on New Beginnings as the name of their home. It symbolizes their hope that this town will become a permanent settlement for ponies in this world."

I think for a moment, "That's very good, Sunset."

I look over at Moon Shadow, "Dimensional magic and dream magic are linked?"

She nods, "Sunset and I have been talking quite a bit about our respective magical talents, Princess Luna concurs, if we can get the Chinese ponies here, many of them will want to go to Equestria, but most of all, they want to get out of their camp."

"So, to China then?" I look down at my belly, I'm not huge yet, but it's obvious I'm pregnant. I heave myself off the couch and head to the door, "You coming."

Irony looks surprised, "Now?"

I grin, "No time like the present."

***

I wake up, on a cloud, I look around, Irony, Sunset, and Moon Shadow are with me, along with two of the largest pegasi I've ever seen hooked to the chariot. Their magic is preventing the chariot from falling through the cloud itself, though they are curled up in their harnesses. I smile and mount the chariot, even I have needed some rest stops during this long trip. We were offered a plane to Japan by the government, but we refused, though I did option to have a C-130 waiting in Okinawa for the trip home. Makes the trip home seem far better with the resources available there. We are a couple of hundred miles from the location of the concentration camp of ponies. I look out at the setting sun. Time to go, a feather tickling their noses wake up the pegasi.

"Time to get going." I say.

Without a word, they take to the air, I follow. My abilities to fly have been curtailed by this pregnancy, but I keep pace with them. Those two hundred or so miles go pretty quickly, flying near ground level, I'm pretty sure that the Chinese government knows we are here now, they have a pretty good radar system. Though the US Navy has been running a bit of interference by running flight ops near their airspace. Keeping their attention much farther north than we are. Blue Lagoon and the other ponies aboard the USS Ronald Reagan have been keeping busy.  I smile as we end up passing over a large barbed wire fence. 

Shortly we land, there is a rudimentary tent city here, it's amazingly huge, tens of thousands of tents everywhere. And there are very few humans here. I trot up to a unicorn, "I'm Lightning Dust, I'm here to help."

His reply is incomprehensible. I don't know Mandarin. I look back at Sunset and family, "What are we going to do?"

Moon Shadow steps forward, and she speaks in, what I guess is Equestrian, I must have been fluent in it at one point, but that memory hasn't surfaced. 

They go back and forth for a moment, then the unicorn indicates for us to follow.

I sidle next to Moon Shadow as we walk, "I didn't know you knew Equestrian?"

She blushes, "I've never really had much use for it, it was among some of the memories I've been able to dig up, dream walking helps with memories, Dust. I could help you remember how we spoke in Equestria some time if you want."

I think for a moment, then nod, "After this, but I guess you are going to be our interpreter for now, Moon."

She smiles as we walk, "I hope we don't have to spend too much time here. And we will have to set up some kind of schooling for the ponies here, teach them some English, before many of them go through the portal."

I nod. And finally we get to our destination, quite a few older mares are sitting together, one of them steps up, "Are you Dust?" Her English is very broken, but understandable.

I nod.

"Can you get us out of here, the government just put us here, they barely feed us, they don't really do anything to help. We are stuck out here, in these tents, they don't even let us do anything relating to our cutie marks, and any attempt to get free has been severely punished. All the pegasi have had their flight feathers clipped, it's been a nightmare."

I look over at Sunset, "Can you make the portal?"

She nods, a large barn is in the distance, "I'll make it in the wall of that barn."

She trots off, I look at the earth pony mare, "How long have you been like this?"

She looks down, "Over a year, once we started to changed, the government sent agents to pick up everypony they could, and they built this place. They bring hay, for food, but not much else. We technically are well fed, but..." She looks a little green, "not very appetizing."

"Were you one of the ponies that we've been emailing?"

She looks at a unicorn, who magics out a smart phone, "We have been talking to you, when we get the chance. They pretty much leave us alone."

I sigh, "How long until they notice the population of ponies will be rapidly shrinking?"

She shakes her head, "I don't know, I don't know how they will react, they might be thankful that the ponies are leaving, but there are some that don't want to leave their homeland, can you help them get outside the gates? We can live in the forests, away from the humans."

I shake my head, "And be hunted, and maybe punished for all the ponies that escape, I can offer you two options, the portal to Equestria will be opening soon, so you can go through it and go to our home. Or you can go to the US, and make a life there."

She sighs, "I think I'll choose Equestria, I have memories of living there, and I would love to return."

I smile and fold a wing over her, "Then let's get Sunset Shimmer to get the portal open, and we will get you to our home, where you can get ready to go back to Equestria."

"Are you going back too?"

I shake my head, "Not yet, I have to help the ponies that want to go home."

"You do take your oath as a Wonderbolt seriously, don't you?"

I nod, she smiles, "You will protect the ponies with your life?"

I nod again.

"I feel better knowing that, thank you, Lightning Dust."

I nuzzle the pony and head over to the barn. The entire wall is glowing, and Sunset is busy, her horn glowing brightly, Moon Shadow is sitting next to her, her magic glowing brightly as well. The glow seems to be encompassing both unicorns, I'm guessing they've linked their magic. I watch as a white glow starts in the middle of the wall, and in moments the wall flashes brightly and both unicorns let their magic fade.

"It's done."

I look at the earth pony that I had talked to, "Let them know, walking through this wall is the way home."

She calls out in Mandarin, and at first a few, then a flood of ponies dash for the portal. A deep thrum sounds every time a pony enters the portal. I look at Moon Shadow, "How long to get the ponies through?"

She looks around, "I don't know, the portal is big enough for many ponies at a time, and we used the barn at the farm for the other side. We set that up before we left. A lot of ponies can get through in a short time, but there are a lot of ponies here." She watches as the stream of ponies gets wider, word has been spreading. I look at one of the humans, he's in a uniform of the Chinese army. He seems to be smiling at the ponies running through the portal. So, it seems at least one human doesn't have a problem with the ponies leaving, but is that the policy?

My answer to that question comes a lot sooner than I thought, as excited chattering in Mandarin reveals a half dozen soldiers. One of them levels his rifle at the fleeing ponies. I throw a lightning bolt, knocking him back. I glare at the rest of the soldiers, they leave their rifles slung as they look at the ponies streaming through the portal. One of them grabs a radio and talks into it.

"I think he's calling in reinforcements."

Sunset's horn glows, and my armor appears in front of me, along with Irony's and Moon Shadow's. "Then we will defend these ponies."

In minutes we are ready, and we have good timing as well, a helicopter banks hard as it comes in for a landing, "It's time to fight, Irony."

She grins, "My pleasure, Love."

I take to the air, that helicopter is a danger, I flash forward, stabbing my wingblades through the glass, shattering it. I make quick work of the pilot and spring free as the chopper spirals to the ground. I was unable to prevent it disgorging a platoon of soldiers, but it won't be bringing any more. I look around, no other pegasi in the air, well, I had better get busy. I flash forward, disabling two more soldiers, then a crash of lightning slams to the ground behind me. A pony in armor flies towards me. I grin, Lightning Flash.

"I ran through the portal when ponies started saying there is a fight on the other side. Trixie and quite a few others are here too. Let's protect these ponies." He shouts at me.

I smile and blow him a kiss, "Remind me to find a good way to make it up to you, Flash."

He blushes and flies to a cloud in the sky, he gathers up another lightning bolt and slams it down at a group of humans. I look at the barn yard. A thick stream of ponies are continuing their run through. Nearly a hundred thousand of them, it will take hours at this rate. We need to end this threat, now.

I flash forward, slicing through a group of soldiers, I land and lay about with my wing blades, slicing into them deeply. I dodge a fired round and throw a bolt of lightning at the soldier who shot at me, he ends up on his back, screaming in pain. Another pegasus lands on his head, ending his screams.

"I was told you gals went in here with minimal force. Naughty of you Dust. You would scream at me for that." Winter Storm smirks at me.

I grin, "You are right, I would reprimand you, but I planned on this, getting the portal open, that's why you were told to be ready if things got hairy."

She whirls and fires a pony designed firearm at a human, he falls, "Backup plans are no substitute for a good initial plan."

I smirk as I throw another bolt, "I didn't want to come in as an invading force, I didn't want to start the hostilities."

She fires another shot, she's pretty good with the .50 caliber rifle mounted on her shoulder, "I understand Dust. But what if the portal hadn't worked."

I chuckle, "It did, I knew it would, considering who the magic users involved were. I had faith they would succeed in making the necessary portal."

She bounces to the air and I join her, both of us firing as each human pops his head up. I mentally thank Celestia that they are focusing on us, and not the ponies streaming through the portal.

"There has to be a command and control center somewhere, somewhere these troops are being directed from. I'm going to find it." I flash away before Winter is able to say a word. I end up in the air. Pegasi from home are harassing the soldiers, the humans are trying to make way to the barn, and usually getting swept up in the stream of ponies. A multicolored horde is heading towards the barn. I see some of the ground bound members of our guards heading against the flow, helping to pick up the infirm, the elderly, and those having trouble making it on their own. The humans really don't seem to really have their hearts in this fight. They must be being ordered, but they don't apparently like their orders. I need to find who's giving the orders. I see another helicopter flying around, but I don't see any gunships. A half dozen pegasi swarm the lone chopper, and in moments it's a ballistic object. I flash further to the north. Ahh, there is my destination. A group of vehicles at the northern edge of the camp. Humans running around, staging as the ponies nearby are slowly moving their way to the barn.

I land among the humans, folding my wings, showing I'm not a threat. I take a moment to take off my champron, showing my face. I look around and notice someone who seems to be in charge. I trot up to him.

"Do you speak English?"

He nods curtly, I continue, "I am Lightning Dust. I was tasked to get these ponies away from here."

He frowns, "I'm Colonel Wong, I was told to keep the ponies here."

"Why?"

"Those were my orders, from Beijing."

"Don't you ever question orders? Orders that make no sense? We don't want to do anything to your nation, most of these ponies want to go back to Equestria, they want to go home."

He frowns again, "They are citizens of China."

I growl, "Who are being kept in a concentration camp, like they are common criminals."

"They are horses."

I cock my head to the side, "I'm a pony, yet I'm talking to you. Do you doubt that I'm intelligent?"

He thinks for a long time, "No. You are intelligent, Lightning Dust."

He gestures to one of the soldiers, and tea is brought out, I sit on my haunches and bring the tea cup to my lips and take a delicate sip, "Colonel," I sigh, "all they want to do is live in peace, if your country had done what many others have, we would be a benefit to your home. We are starting to control all the weather around us, smog in some of our most polluted cities is nearly nonexistent. We have been a help for humanity. And if your government had not treated them so badly, I'm certain a good percentage would have wanted to stay. As it is, most will want to go back to Equestria. That makes me sad, because so many ponies have made homes for themselves in many other nations. In fact, my home town in the US, we are only losing about a quarter of our nearly twenty five thousand population for ponies to head back. Most want to stay, we are forging out a life here. Your nation, the most populous nation in the world, would do well to have ponies in your society."

He looks thoughtful, I continue, "We want life, we want peace. Is there anything better than that?"

"But you are fighting, you are killing our soldiers."

I shake my head, "Only in response to aggression. We are the royal guard, our job is to protect the ponies. And we will do what is necessary. What I'm here to attempt is to try to keep the bloodshed to a minimum. I want peace. I think you do as well. Call off your troops, let the ponies leave in peace."

A dark look crosses his face, "If I defy my orders, I could be killed."

"You could come through the portal with us, you could stay in the US."

"And betray my nation? Would you betray those ponies out there?"

I shake my head, "No."

He sighs, "You made a good point, Miss Dust. I will call off my troops. I will try to find a way to justify the ponies disappearing. I just hope that my superiors are happy with the ponies being gone, and not in China anymore. You said most will want to go back to your homeworld, of Equestria?"

I nod, "That is what I've been told, Colonel Wong. Some wanted to stay in China, but I told them they would be hunted, they would never know peace, their best option is to make a life back in my home. We will welcome them with open arms."

He grabs a radio off a passing soldier and talks into it. He gets a response and then he shouts into the radio. After a moment he sets it down, "I've ordered my soldiers to back off. You get the ponies out of here, I was told they are running through the wall of a barn."

I nod, "Some magic users I brought created a portal for them to get through, it's easier than a fleet of airplanes full to bursting with ponies."

He chuckles, "Thank you, but make sure that portal is sealed  Those ponies can not come back to China."

I nod, "Agreed." I hold out an armored hoof, which he shakes as he smiles.

"You are an honorable pony, Miss Dust."

"You are an honorable man, Colonel Wong."

In moments I'm in the air, heading back to the barn, and I shortly land next to Irony. I take a moment to inspect her, she hasn't been able to transform the last few months, but her reworking of her armor to take into account her pony form has seemed to be successful, her mace has been hung up for now, in its stead is a set of armored and bladed hoofguards, and all four of her hooves are covered in blood, and the rest of her armor has blood spattered all over it.

"Oh my Celestia, any of that blood yours, Irony?"

She grins, her white teeth showing brightly, "No, Love. It's a bit harder to fight as a pony, but I managed. We were fighting pretty hard, then the humans just left. What happened?"

"I talked to Colonel Wong, he is the leader. I let him know the ponies just wanted to leave peacefully. And finally he agreed."

She frowns, "Even though we killed humans?"

"I explained we were defending these ponies, he's a military man, he understood what we were trying to do. We can leave in peace, so long as we don't return."

Sunset comes up, "We have quite a few ponies left, but they are going through pretty quickly, we should be finished in a couple of hours."

I turn to the golden mare, "What will you do with the portal?"

"Moon Shadow and I will collapse it in on itself, there will be no trace of us. The guards are sweeping the whole camp now, it's absolutely huge, at least a hundred thousand ponies. We will be gone before sunrise."

I nod, then I hear a gasp from Irony, "Dust, is that blood yours?"

I look back, "What are you..." Then I get a look at my flank, a bullet had apparently skittered along my flank, opening up a long wound, blood is trickling down, "Well, would you look at that?" 

Irony traces a hoof near the wound, "Dust, you are extremely lucky! A few inches over, and you could have lost your foal!" 

My head immediately goes faint, Dr. Rays words resounding in my head, "We should have left this to others, love. You can't shift, and I'm slower than usual." I feel tears starting to spring to my eyes, "I put her life in danger, without even thinking about it." 

She comes closer to hug me, "Oh, Dust. You didn't know this would be a fight?"

I slap her hoof away, "Of course I did, I knew that they wouldn't let the ponies go peacefully easily. I knew a fight was very likely. Humans, the damned humans didn't want the ponies to be free. Fuck them!"

She leans against me, "Oh Dust, You don't mean that."

I glare at Irony, "I'm really finding myself hard pressed to not hate these humans. They don't want peace, they want power. The leader of Spectrum, Saul, the Chinese government. Greed, those fucking mercenaries did what they did for the promise of money."

"That is not all of humanity, Dust. They are very few." 

I trot away from her, hugging myself with my wings, "There are too many of them. Fucking humans."

"What about the humans back at home, they love having ponies around. Some of them even work in New Beginnings, helping around."

"Yeah, they are the weird ones, the horse fuckers, the perverts."

"Oh Dust, you don't mean that."

I look at her, tears flowing down my cheeks, "Yes, Irony. I do." I take off like a shot. It will take me a while, but I'll fly home. I may not be able to fly as fast as I usually do, but I'll make it, there are plenty of clouds over the Pacific for me to rest on if need be.

***
Hawaii is a pretty good resting point. I glide down to land on the big island. I'm pretty close to Honolulu, and I've stopped crying, I've stopped bleeding, I'm okay, to an extent. I was told there is a small enclave of ponies here, a couple of hundred who originally lived on the islands before changing. I've talked to a few that are making their way to the mainland to head to Equestria, though they are only losing about fifty ponies. I have to grin, the population of Equestria is going to get a boost pretty soon. I hope they are ready for the influx of ponies.

I think I had the location right, this isn't a farmhouse, it looks like an apartment complex. I trot up and down the big open area, after a long time, I simply trot up to a door and knock.

After a moment, the door opens and a pegasus looks at me, "Can I help you?"

I sigh in relief, this is where the ponies are living, but..."This is amazing, you guys have an apartment complex for all the ponies?"

She frowns, "You new here?"

I nod, "I've from the mainland, I'm Lightning Dust, and I was looking for which pony is in charge here."

"Oh, that will be Fiddlesticks, she's in the main office, she can help you with your questions." The pony closes the door in my face.

"How rude." I mutter to myself. After a few minutes of walking, I finally find the main office, a quick knock and a push and I'm inside. This seems relatively new construction, I look around, I hear a voice call out a greeting.

After a moment a pale yellow earth pony trots out of the back office. Her treble clef cutie mark and bluish dark mane identify her for me. She stops in her tracks, her mouth an O of surprise. After a moment she shakes her head, "Well, burn my britches, if it isn't Lightning Dust of the Wonderbolts. What brings you to beautiful Hawaii?"

I look outside then back at the earth pony, "Well, I just wanted to visit and see how you ponies were doing."

She chuckles, "Well, we are doing just fine, sugar. I've talked to Mayor Mare over in New Beginnings, and the ponies that want to go back to Equestria have already left." The earth pony looks sad for a moment, the brightens, "But enough about unpleasantness, if you aren't wondering about the ponies deciding to leave, then what's got you coming here?"

I look around, "A different way to organize the ponies here."

She chuckles, "My family owns this apartment complex, and when we started changing, ponies just started moving in. Many of them have jobs, the locals have actually been pretty nice, and the pegasi have been controlling the weather, so we are doing pretty good here, there's only about three hundred ponies here. Those are all that cropped up in Hawaii."

I nod, "And they are happy here?"

She cocks her head to the side, "For the most part. We ponies kind of like more open spaces, but we are trying to stay somewhat low key. This complex was pretty deserted, and in pretty bad shape when we started, but the ponies have fixed it up pretty well. We don't have many humans here anymore. But we are more of a rumor in most of Hawaii than an anything else. Those that have jobs are either on other islands and fly back and forth daily, or on the weather team, and we are paid under the table by the mayor of Honolulu."

"Amazing."

The earth pony comes forward, "You are wearing armor, and I spy wing blades if I'm not mistaken."

I doff my peytral, maybe that's why the first pegasus was put off. I've washed the blood off of it, flying through some clouds will clean such things rather effectively. But I still am in traditional pegasi armor. I start taking the rest of it off, piece after piece falling to the floor. Fiddlesticks eyes keep getting wider and wider. Soon she runs off, and I hear the sound of a phone being picked up. I am so tired, all the flying, all the crying, all of everything since leaving China. I finally collapse to the floor, though I see her hooves move towards me as I lose consciousness.

***

I awaken to a cup being pressed gently to my lips, I open my mouth and cool water pours in, I drink greedily. After the cup is empty, another cup is pressed, "Careful hun, it's hot."

I sip some excellent chicken noodle soup. Dear Celestia, I love being a pegasus. I open my eyes and see the same earth pony from before, Fiddlesticks.  "Dearie, a pegasus in your condition shouldn't be attempting long distance flight."

I sigh, "I know."

She looks seriously at me, "And even though you are a member of the Royal Guard, you shouldn't be throwing yourself into the mix, and getting yourself injured, you are pregnant, Lightning Dust, you need to take it easy."

I smile, "That's what Dr. Ray keeps telling me."

"And right he should, Lightning Dust. You are in a delicate condition."

I sigh, "I'm sorry, I just passed out in your office."

She chuckles, "You must have had a hard time, Miss Dust."

I nod, I look at her for a long time, then finally decide to let her know what's been going on, I start with the pony brothel that Trixie, Irony and I raided first, and then move on. Leaving nothing out, tears spring anew to my eyes when I recount my capture, and torture. Fiddlesticks sits there in silence, tears leaking from her eyes. I finally get caught up, "Oh sweet Celestia, I'm so sorry for burdening you with this."

The earth pony comes up and gives me a hug, "It's okay, Lightning Dust. Have you told your herd about all of this."

I sniffle, and nod.

She nuzzles me, "And they've supported you in all of this?"

I nod again, "I would be a basket case without them. But this is all too much. I am tired of humans, I'm tired of their shit."

"They aren't all bad."

I stomp a foot on the bed, "No, they aren't all bad, Fiddlesticks, but the ones that are bad..." I look down and shudder."

"I was human once, so were you."

"I know, I was once human, but I never would have acted like these humans are acting. Whe a human is in power, that power corrupts them, it's scary, Fiddlesticks."

"I know, Dust. But the source of your strength is your herd, your family, including your human wife."

I sniffle again, "Are you sure?"

She nods. 

I bring her into a hug, my wings bringing her closer, "Thank you. You are welcome at New Beginnings anytime."

She pulls back, "Yet you don't live there?"

I smile, "No, I spent a lot of money on that house, it's not modular like typical pony houses, I would like to move it."

She chuckles, "And you have two level four and a level five unicorn in your herd, surely they could move it."

I think for a moment, "You know what, you are right. Thank you, Fiddlesticks."

She gets off the bed, "You get a good night's rest, Dust. We can talk more in the morning."


> Chapter 47. Making My Way Home.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm woken by my wound, and the kicking of my little one. One hurts, one fills me with wonder. I shift around, nosing my wound, it's scabbed over pretty well, I guess. Do I want to worry about stitches? I inspect it for a long while, then decide to leave it alone. I was lucky, in more ways than one. A few inches one way, and it would have hit my outstretched wings, a few inches the other way, and the new life growing inside me would be dead. Hell, I could have died, the tough leather of the armor wouldn't stop a bullet. Perhaps I should ask Moon Shadow about a way to strengthen it to resist bullets. 

I shake my head, I need to worry about that life. My little one, I haven't even decided on a name for her yet. Mindy told me that the names for her foals came to her once she saw them. I'm waiting, but I don't have a clue at this time. I sigh and roll off the bed, wincing at the pain in my flank. My wings extend automatically and I hover off the floor. That's much better. I float to the door and out to the living room. It's very late at night apparently, and Fiddlesticks is asleep on her couch. I feel a pang of guilt, I put this very nice mare out of her own bed. I alight in front of her. Nuzzling her a bit, she moans in her sleep.

"Fiddlesticks, you can take your bed back." I whisper.

Her eyes open, and she smiles at me, "Oh, hun, your awake."

I smile back, her smile is almost as infectious as Mindy's, "Yes, and thank you so much, and I'm so sorry that I put you out of your own bed."

She yawns sleepily, "Oh, Dust, it's not a problem. No apologies necessary. I made a call before I turned in, you have a flight to Billings, Montana leaving at ten in the morning."

My ears fall, "Oh, you didn't need to do that."

She grins at me, "Oh, but I did. You were going to be stubborn about it, and I'm insisting. You fly home, and not on your own wings."

"I'll pay you back for the ticket, a ticket with no advance purchase..." I look at the email confirmation on the table, "And Business Elite, that's not cheap." I then look at the price of the ticket on the confirmation, holy shit. "You didn't need to do that."

"Mayor Mare has offered us money, she says helping all the ponies is a pleasure. I declined, I'm not hurting for money, Dust."

I turn and look at her, "I'm going to pay you back."

She rolls off the couch, she comes over and hugs me, "Dust, you truly want to repay me? Fine. You take it easy and have that foal, and have her be strong and healthy, and I'll consider that payment enough."

"No." I look down, "Well, I will be doing that, we have a lot to do since the portal is opening soon, but I promise, no more adventures, but I want to pay you back."

She looks firm, "No, Dust. You write me a check, I'll burn it. You give me cash, I'll throw it out the window. Damn it Dust. Can you take anypony else being generous to you?"

I look down, is my pride taking over? After a long time I finally speak again, "Thank you, Fiddlesticks."

Her smile is like the sun coming over the horizon, "Now, that's Dust. Why not snooze for a while before you have to go to the airport, I'll have a friend drive you. But I don't want you getting any altitude on your wings for a while. You are recovering from a serious injury."

"You think it will scar?"

She chuckles, "I could virtually guarantee it, it missed your cutie mark by a hair. But you will have a fine scar after all of this."

I chuckle myself, "You are always welcome at my home. Come and visit anytime."

She smiles and nuzzles me as she leads me back to the bedroom, once I see the bed, "Oh, no, you sleep on your own bed."

She uses her head to knock me onto the bed, "Dust, we just talked about this, accept generosity when it's offered, and get some more rest."

I lay my head down on the bed, it's queen sized, and I'm not big, "Fine, but only if you hold me."

She chuckles and climbs onto the bed, "You miss your herd?"

I nod, tears shining in the corners of my eyes, she gathers me up and holds me. "Thank you Fiddlesticks, you are a godsend."

I hear her sigh, "You are very welcome, Lightning Dust."

Earth ponies are strong, but they are very gentle. I fall asleep in her embrace very quickly.

***

Waking up was a very pleasant prospect with the yellow earth pony holding me. Sometimes it is nice to be held once in a while. I nuzzle her as I see that the sun has risen.

"Morning Fiddlesticks."

She yawns and stretches, "Well, good morning, Lightning Dust. Did you sleep well?"

I nod as I head to the bathroom, and in minutes we are in the kitchen, I try to start making breakfast but am quite firmly told to sit down and let her make the food. I sit down, thoroughly cowed and she whistles as she works, and in a matter of minutes, I'm enjoying a stack of waffles with syrup. 

"You don't let anyone steamroll you at all, do you?"

She chuckles as she digs in herself, "I'm a member of the Apple family, Lightning Dust. What do you think?"

I smile, "A lot of strong personalities in that family, am I right?"

She nods, "Granny Smith is one of the most forceful personalities I've ever met. She is just as kindly as she was in the show, but she got her way, no matter what." She chuckles, "The Apples, we are a very big family, I've had to adapt."

I take a bite, "So, how did you end up in charge of the ponies here?"

She look down, her ears folding flat, "I was among the first to change, I turned on the third of May, so I remember that Discord was making ponies disappear.  It was pandemonium in Equestria." Tears start to form in her eyes, "There were witnesses to the attack that took Rainbow Dash, you, and many of the other Wonderbolts. Some of the guard tried to resist him, they fought near my home."

The tears start to flow, "Discord took them, every single one of them, with that bright white flash. I watched it, but before he flashed away, he smiled at me and said that I was on his list, that I couldn't go anywhere to avoid him."

"How long after that did he get you?"

She moans a little, and she shudders, I move close and fold a wing over her withers, she takes a deep breath, "It was about a day later. He popped up at my home, he didn't even say anything, he simply hit me with his spell, I heard his five score chant as I screamed. I know it happened in a matter of seconds, but it felt like hours."

I shudder myself, time did stretch out while his spell was taking effect. I wouldn't call it painful, but feeling that dissolution was horrible.

She looks sad for a long while, then brightens, "Then I ended up in Hawaii, and I'm happy here. I have quite a few family members here. And I'm staying, at least for the foreseeable future."

I smile, "Well, you are always welcome to visit Montana and New Beginnings."

She smiles, then her eyes dart to the side, "Oh crap, Dust. You'll miss your plane."

I look at the wall clock, "How far to the airport?"

"It's about a twenty-five minute drive, but you can't drive, I'll get someone to drive you."

"Oh, it's okay, I'll fly there."

She stops in her tracks and looks at me, "Do you remember what I said, Dust?"

I nod, "But surely you don't mean..."

Her face turns dour, "Dust, when I said no flying, I meant it, you hovering around is okay, because you'll do that no matter what I say, but you promised, right? And you don't break promises, right?" She wiggles her eyebrows as she says the last. 

Message received, "Okay, Fiddlesticks."

"Dust, I'll make a quick phone call, and we'll get going."

A few minutes later there is a knock on the door, I get up, though that doesn't sound like a hoof, my ears fall as the door opens and one of the largest humans I've ever seen comes in the door. He looks at me, and smiles. Visions of pain run through my head as I charge a wing. I see Saul, I see the mercenaries, I see the all the humans that have hurt ponies, that have hurt me. My wing flashes forward, and I let loose a bolt as Fiddlesticks bowls into me. She's shouting in my face, I can't understand what she's saying, I'm sobbing too much.

After a long time, "What the hell were you thinking, Lightning Dust?"

I look at her, "Huh?"

"That is my brother, Lightning Dust, he's going to drive you to the airport."

I look at the human, he's wearing a pony shirt, it's Rainbow Dash, and says this shirt is now 20% cooler. I look at him again, he has a big smile on his face, though it looks strained. There is a jagged burn on the wall next to him, and right now he's pale as a ghost.

I look over at Fiddlesticks, "Oh, no."

She hugs me, I tremble in her embrace, "I'm so sorry!" I wail.

She finally pulls away and smiles at me, "I think I should have warned you, my brother is here. He was a brony when the show first came out, he's almost forty now. He's told me he wishes that a cutie mark appeared on his hip, and not mine, but he wouldn't hurt a pony for any reason." She looks at him and back at me, "I'm sorry Dust, I should have warned you."

He steps forward, "I'm sorry for scaring you, I'm Alan." He extends a hand, which I tentatively shake, though I have trouble suppressing a shudder. I get another look at him, he's almost seven feet of muscle, he has to duck through doorways. I don't think there is an ounce of fat on him. I think he could give Irony a run for her money in strength.

Fiddlesticks comes up and hoofs him in the side, "My big brother, he's big, but he's harmless. He wouldn't hurt a fly." She trots to a bookshelf and brings back a photo, showing two humans, "This was taken about a month before I changed into a pony." 

The photo shows the huge man, Alan, he's holding what I assume is his sister, she's tiny compared to him, I have to laugh. 

She laughs as well, "We were always an odd pairing, he was seven foot and nearly three hundred pounds, and I was just over four foot, and ninety two pounds. He was thirty seven when I changed, and I was twenty five, so there is a twelve year difference there."

He speaks up, his deep bass voice resonating, "Nice to meet you, Lightning Dust, I was a big fan of you. I do have a Lightning Dust T-shirt, but I didn't think you would want me to wear it."

I walk up to him, then take to my wings to get up head level with him, "I'm sorry, Alan. I've got a really sour taste when it comes to humans, and I saw you, and I freaked. I'm so sorry."

He reaches forward and grabs me, and pulls me to his chest, I reflexively wrap my hooves around him. I feel warm and comforted by his hug.

"Now, don't you be getting any ideas about my brother, Dust."

I look at her in confusion, then I notice my wings, once again, I'm popping a pinion, but over a human stallion. What. The. Fuck? He lets me go and I land lightly on my hooves, my face glowing.

"I'm sorry, Fiddlesticks."

He looks at his sister and at me in confusion, "What?"

The yellow mare comes up and bats my stiffened wing with a hoof. "Alan, the fandom is right about pegasi and wingboners."

My blush redoubles, and he blushes as well.

I look at Fiddlesticks, "I won't jump his bones on the way to the airport. I do have a herd to think about."

She looks at her brother critically, then at me, "Maybe I should buy a second ticket, have him join you. He has talked about visiting the main land."

I look at him, he holds his hands up in front of himself, "Sis, you don't need to do that."

She smiles, "Oh, you think you can tell me what to do, big brother?"

He shakes his head emphatically, "Of course not."

She smiles, "I thought not. Now I have to grab a phone. You guys get to the airport."

In minutes we are in his brand new Dodge Ram, he shifts it into drive and takes off.

"What do you think of my sister?"

"She's a member of the Apple Family, that's for certain."

He chuckles, "She was always very forceful as a human, as small as she was, she wrapped everyone around her fingers."

I think about the yellow mare, "So, do you think she's ordering another ticket for you?"

He looks thoughtful as he merges into traffic, "I think she is, she's always wanted to find me a girlfriend, she says I'm too shy to go about it myself."

I chuckle, "And she's thinking about a pony girlfriend for you, I guess."

He smiles, "No objection here." His face blooms in another blush.

I sit back in the seat, "Do you usually do what she wants?"

He chuckles, "Yes, I don't really want her mad at me, as a pony, as a human, Lauren was always a force to be reckoned with. I always said that whatever God wanted to give her when it comes to height and strength, she took and made it force of will. Tiny but mighty."

I look out at the buildings as we pass them, "I've known a few like that, as a human, and as a pony."

He surprises me with a subject change, "When are you due?"

I look down at my swollen belly, "April."

"What are you having?"

"A pegasus filly."

"That is amazing."

I smile, "Not really, over fifty percent of the mares back at home are with child, and every mare but Mindy in my herd is pregnant as well."

He looks at me oddly, "We have five pony mares and a human woman, as well as two stallions."

"A large family."

I nod, "It's myself, Irony, Moon Shadow, Sunset Shimmer, and Mindy, as well as Helen, who was my wife before the change. And the stallions are Ray Stevens, and Star Shine."

"Ray Stevens?"

"Yes, he's a unicorn."

He cocks his head to the side, "A very human name for a unicorn based on MLP."

I smile as I remember, "He visited Equestria, and he was with Irony, who has her own unique magic, on the way back through the portal, which prevented him from changing back into a human, and he decided to stay that way for now. Moon Shadow's foals are his, Star Shine is the sire for my filly."

"What a family."

I nod, looking out the window, "A wonderful family, I miss them."

"You said Sunset Shimmer, as in the one from the movies?"

I nod.

"Wow, I never thought Sunset would herd with anypony, she seemed too independent."

I smile, "She was originally planning on going through the portal and was going to come back a human, then continue her life. But she changed her mind."

"May I ask why she did?"

I lean back, remembering, "She said that she felt how our family was strong, and that she wanted to join our strength, and she wanted to teach my daughter magic."

I hear a gasp from the human, "Your daughter, so I'm assuming she's human, but magic?"

"Yes, my human daughter, Hannah. She was ten when all this started, and she gained magic. My daughter would probably be classified at level four or five, she's really strong. I'm so proud of her."

That prompted questions how a twenty five year old man can have a fifteen year old son and ten year old daughter, so I had to let him know about my fight with Discord, and the fact that I was older than most when it comes to being a human before I became myself as a pony. This lasts until we pull into the airport.

Once again, everything goes quiet the moment I step into the airport. I pause at the doorway, hundreds of human faces turned towards me. I lean up against Alan as he leads me to the ticket counter. 

He sets down my confirmation sheet and informs the ticket agent about my flight, she looks over the counter at me severely, "Animals need to travel in crates."

Before I can say a word, he growls at the ticket agent, "Lightning Dust is as smart as you are I. She's no animal."

I quickly produce my Montana ID card, since I gave up my driver's license since it's kind of hard to drive as a pony, and I prefer my wings anyway. I slide the plastic card up on the counter, silencing both of them.

"I would like to take my flight, please." I say quietly. She looks at me in shock.

She gets to work on her computer, and in moments she hands over my ticket. Alan's phone chimes, he looks at it, then heaves a great big sigh, "And a ticket for me has been purchased as well."

In moments we are through security and waiting for our plane. There are hundreds of humans who have stopped what they are doing and looking at me. I feel suddenly exposed. I lean up against Alan. He puts a massive hand on my withers. Then glares at the humans. And apparently having a seven foot tall, muscle bound human glare at them tends to have people on their best behavior. We continue chatting during the wait. Finally our flight is called, I walk up to the ticket agent and he looks at me for a long time before he takes the ticket from my mouth. I know how to pick things up in my mouth with it ending up covered in saliva. He looks at the ticket in wonder, then scans it, and the computer beeps. I smile as I head down the jetway, the Boeing 747 -400 is a massive widebody jet. Alan and I head up the stairs and get comfortable in the seats, 77A and K. So, we are right across from each other. I get comfortable, and look over at Alan, he's looking around the well appointed Delta Airlines flight. 

"Fly much?" I ask cheekily.

He looks at me shyly, "Not very often, never been in a plane this big."

I have to admit that this plane is huge, I haven't been on one of these before. My flying as a human was always in the narrow bodies, this is fun. I grin as I look around.

A steward comes up, "Champagne, uhhh."

I giggle, "It's Dust, and yes, I'm a pony." I flex my wings, "A pegasus pony to be exact."

He looks at me a long time, "So," He coughs, "Uh, Dust, would you like some champagne?"

I giggle again, "No, I'll take orange juice."

He moves on to the next passenger, though every passenger's eyes are glued on me. I wilt more and more in my seat. Alan's face starts to get red as he looks at all the passengers looking at me. Apparently he finally has enough, he stands up and walks to the front of the section, right behind the door to the cockpit. 

"Look at you all," His bass voice rings out, "I'm ashamed of you!" He looks at all the humans in the section, even the steward has stopped what he was doing and is staring. "Ponies have been around for over two years. Surely you know about them, the rumors, the videos you've seen of ponies moving clouds around. You certainly know that  Los Angeles no longer has a smog problem, and in fact has had the best weather that anyone has seen in years." He walks over to me, he touches my wing gently, "Well, now you know why, pegasus ponies like Lightning Dust here have been taking care of the weather. They have been helping humanity all over. The good weather in Denver is due to pegasus ponies, and in case you didn't know, the nearly thirty percent jump in food production in this nation are entirely due to ponies. They control the weather around them, they have to. The earth ponies are driven to grow food, they have helped farmers all over the nation."

He walks up and down the aisle, "Ponies are everywhere, and yes, some are leaving forever. But not all of them, not even a majority, they want to stay in the home they've known for the last quarter century. You should be happy they have decided to stay, they are a boon for us. Humanity can learn a lot from these ponies." He stops and looks at me with a big smile. "The ponies I know, like Dust here, are friendly, intelligent, and are actually great to have as friends. My sister turned into a pony, I know a lot of ponies. And there are a lot of ponies in the US. Just treat them as you would any human, and they will do the same."

A lot of human faces around me are looking thoughtful, looking at the massive man talking to them. Alan finally gets quieter, "I love my sister, it doesn't matter that she turned into a four foot tall quadruped, she's still my sister. And the other ponies, I have a lot of affection for all of them, and that's independent of that TV show."

He finally sits down as the steward shakes his head, coming back to himself. The pilot makes his pre-flight announcement, but I do keep looking around, no longer are all faces glued to me. Acceptance, that's all that I want.
The steward finally brings me orange juice in a champagne glass. I smile at him as he helps me with my seat belt. I can feel the engines spooling up, I gulp a little and swallow my apprehension, I'm severely claustrophobic, but I can make it through this flight. I look over at Alan, and he seems to understand my trepidation, he smiles at me, and reaches a hand across the aisle to touch my withers. I nuzzle his hand, there is one human outside of my family that doesn't consider me an oddity.

> Chapter 48. Aloha Aloha (Hello and Goodbye)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The flight was uneventful. I'm so glad to be near my home, though a four hour drive is ahead of me. But to my shock, as we get out of the secure area of the airport, I'm bowled over by a magenta pony, I end up on my back, looking into the grinning face of Mindy. I shake my head to clear it, then hug the unicorn with all of my strength. She then helps me to my hooves, I look over at Alan, he has a goofy smile on his face. 

"Alan, this is Mindy." She looks at the massive human, then at me, then tackles him, or rather, tries to. He barely staggers as her weight hits him when he adroitly catches the flying unicorn. 

"Ohmygosh you are the biggest human I've ever seen, you are so totally awesome, and I see by your shirt that you are a brony, that is so cool!" She shouts rapidly, then without taking a breath, "I came here to teleport Dust home with me, do you want to join us?"

He's cradling the excited unicorn, "I was here to escort Dust home, I would be happy to join you."

She teleports from his arms over next to me. "C'mon Dustie, let's go home."

Without another word, Alan is pulled over in her magic, and my hoof along with his hand is placed on her withers, we pop out of existence, and reappear at the farm. I look around, "I thought we were going home, Mindy."

She giggles, "Dust, we've been talking to Fiddlesticks, she told us what you wanted. So we did it, Sunset, Moon, and I."

I cock my head to the side, "What?"

"Oh, Dustie, you just talked to her last night about this."

I finally put what she's saying together in my head, my ears fall, "You didn't."

She giggles, "Yes, we did."

"And it went well?"

She nods, "It was easy peasy, with three unicorns handling it. Though the lot where your house was is certainly much emptier now."

We trot for a while, and soon end up in the town of New Beginnings. And based on population, is now the sixth largest city in Montana, just above Helena and lower than Butte. Though with the hundred thousand or so transients from China, we are now the most populous city right now. I have to grin at that, but Montana is a rather small population state, it only made it over a million in the 2010's. I trot down the brightly colored streets, bright colors greet me everywhere. And the ponies, oh my Celestia, the ponies. I hear Equestrian being spoken almost more than English, I'm guessing the Chinese ponies are having an influence.

Mayor Mare trots up to me, "Oh, Lightning Dust, I'm glad to see you."

I sit on my haunches, Mindy and Alan nearby, "Hello Mayor Mare."

She looks more than a little frazzled, "Dust, are you aware that about a quarter of all these ponies you just brought over are planning on staying?"

My jaw drops, "Fifty thousand permanent residents here?"

She nods, "We are having to set up a Chinatown of sorts here. The new ponies are very industrious, every doctor here has helped the pegasi that had their primaries trimmed. Most of them are learning to fly. We are teaching them English as fast as we can, and thousands of those heading to Equestria have already departed. Though it's going to take at least a week for the ponies to all be moved."

"That's amazing, Mayor Mare. I must give credit to your organizational abilities. How are the new arrivals handling everything?"

She chuckles, "Many just stumble around in awe. We've got some quartered in the barracks you put up, and almost every herd has opened their homes to the new arrivals that are staying. Also, housing is being built as fast as possible."

I laugh, "Never underestimate what a pony can do, right Mayor Mare?"

She nods and giggles.

"You have no idea what's been going on, Dust. You need to get to the council meetings more often. Then you would know at least three big box stores want to open locations in New Beginnings. Along with a couple of other businesses that want pony help."

I look at her, shocked, "Seriously?"

She nods, "Walmart, Home Depot, and Barnes and Noble have all expressed interest when we approached them."

I cock my head to the side, "Why did you approach them?"

She laughs, "Dust, this town of ponies is going to be over fifty thousand, and growing rapidly. A good portion are working, the amount of money flowing here is huge. We need a fully functioning economy."

The confusion I feel must be showing on my face, she continues, "I know in Equestria we bartered, we haggled, we had open air markets. But we are in the human world, we shouldn't isolate ourselves. We need to be part of the broader economy of this country, of this world."

I think about her words for a moment, then smile, "You know what? You are right, I don't need to question your leadership abilities, Mayor Mare. You are doing a fine job on your own." I look around, most of the streets are cobblestone, but it looks like a suburban section is being built, with homes and asphalt paved streets. I ask about that.

"Oh, we are having roads built to your former home town, along with heading north and west. We are going to be an economic powerhouse of Eastern Montana very quickly, and of the entire state before too long. There are just too many of us."

I shake my head in wonder, "Mayor Mare, you are a gem."

She smiles at us as we take our leave of her and follow Mindy down a street, I don't know where I'm going. Alan, with his height, doesn't even get a second look from all the ponies running around. I rotate my ears. "Where is my home now?"

She giggles, "Oh, Dustie, it's up ahead, and while there really isn't any bad part of town, your house is one of the largest, so we got land near some of the larger houses in town. We have all the utilities set up, and everything is ready. The kids love the new location."

I chuckle, "They are going to miss the lake."

She giggles, "Think again, Dustie. We are ponies, we control the world around us, a couple of streams that make their way through the farmland have been diverted, the new lake will be frozen soon, but by next summer, it will be bigger than the lake at home."

I feel my jaw drop as I stop walking, Mindy stops and looks at me curiously, "Something wrong Dustie?"

I shake my head, "No, Mindy. Just in shock, we've done so much in so little time."

She smiles, "This is our nature, we get things how we want them."

"Well, the farm is only ten sections, everything you are talking about is going to take up a lot of space."

She nods, "And Mayor Mare has already thought of that, we've purchased two other farms, and some federal land as well, New Beginnings will be a stone's throw from your old hometown."

I shake my head in wonder, "Boy, I had better get plugged in to what's been going on, Mindy."

We finally make it down a very nicely appointed street, large houses dot the street, and the street itself is smooth, yet made of cobblestones, and all the streets are big enough for both hooved traffic and wheeled. This town looks a lot like some larger pony towns, but with a human touch. I smile as I see my house, this is totally amazing. I spread my wings to take off, only to have Mindy's magical aura enfold them, bringing them back to my sides, "Dustie, you've been told, no flying."

I growl, "Mindy, I promise I won't fly anywhere, but I'll be damned if I'm not allowed to hover around."

She sighs, "Fine, but you get over ten feet of altitude, I'll get mad at you Dustie."

I shudder as I bring my wings into play once again, getting off my sore hooves, "I don't want you mad at me Mindy."

She giggles, "Of course you don't Dustie." She hops up onto Alan's shoulder and sits there like a parrot on a pirate. Complete with feather costume and plastic beak over her muzzle. Alan smiles at the pony on his shoulder, I have to laugh as one again I extend my wings and hover at head level for the massive human. We end up inside the house, Irony smiles at me, so does Moon Shadow. Helen comes up and grabs me out of the air for a massive hug. 

"We were so worried after you left." Irony says as she walks up, I don't answer immediately, being consumed by my hug with my wife. I give her a kiss and she finally lets me go, I move up and kiss Irony, then Moon Shadow. Of course I can't forget Sunset Shimmer.

Greetings complete, a stallion walks out from the exercise room, towel around his neck. I dash over to Dr. Ray and bowl him over in a hug, then kiss him thoroughly. His face turns red and he looks down, "What was that for, Dust?"

I bite my lower lip, this is going to be hard, "Ray…" I look down, "I'm sorry."

He hugs me hard, "Dust, I know how stubborn you are. No worries. You are okay, right?"

I sniffle a bit, "No, Ray, I'm really sorry, I put my life in danger, I put my foal's life in danger. I was stupid, bull headed…" I'm interrupted by the unicorn hugging me tightly, he forestalls my tears with a passionate kiss.

He pulls away, "Dust, I love you, so does everypony in your herd. We worried about you, we worried about your foal. But nopony is mad at you."

"I'm mad at me."

I get a hoof across the face, did he just slap me? I look at him in shock, "Ray!" I say sharply. 

He laughs, "Dust, if you get into that self loathing bullshit, I'm going to do more than slap you." He comes forward and nuzzles me, "I am sorry, though, Dust, love."

I nuzzle him back, "Love you too, Ray."

I turn around and look at my herd, Alan has Mindy's foals, they are a bit larger, but they are no problem for the massive human. He looks happy. I get a look at Mindy, she's lost the feather costume, but she's still got the parrot beak on, she grabs Dot from Alan, nuzzling the unicorn foal, then fitting the parrot beak on her daughter, getting a giggle from the foal. I smile at them. My family, my herd, I'm actually very happy right now. My foal kicks, getting a little jump from me, I place a hoof on my belly, "It's okay, little one. Mommy is going to make sure you are okay."

My ears drop, did I just call myself mommy? Oh shit. Am I ready to be a mommy? Daddy was one thing, but this is so different. I rub my stomach, my feisty little one pushes where I'm touching, I smile, she's going to be a little hellion. Just like her momma. I feel myself blush. I spent thirty five years as a man, I am the father to two wonderful children. But now I've got one growing inside me. My ears fall, I'm going to be a mommy. I move over to the living room, heaving my body onto the couch, I look at Sunset, she's playing with my daughter on the big TV, the Playstation machine, the four, or the five, I don't know. I've lost count what iteration those things are at. They each have a controller in their magic. I'm watching zombies get blasted on screen, I look at their faces, both screwed up in concentration. 

I'm comfortable, and yet one of my herd mates decides to cuddle up with me, I feel her climb up onto the couch from behind me, a dark gray foreleg wraps around me, and she brings me closer.

"Mmmmm," I moan, "Moon Shadow." 

She hugs me tightly, "Dust, I'm worried about you."

I turn my head to look her in the eyes, "I'm okay."

Her brow furrows, "Are you sure, love? I know you are upset about what happened."

I sigh and lay my head down, "I was." My eyes roam over to Alan. Mindy and him are sitting, she is talking to him animatedly, "But a really nice human showed me that not all humans are bad."

She giggles in my ear, "Of course not all humans are bad," She tightens her grip on me, "Some of the most amazing ponies I know used to be human."

I sigh, "It's not that, love. We were the ponies we are now, just wearing human bodies. I'm talking about the humans, the ones that will stay human."

"There are those." She allows, then after a moment, "What about Dr. Ray? He was human once."

I scoff, "The exception to prove the rule."

She chuckles as she squeezes me a bit, "I would tend to think he is the norm. Once humans get to know us, they tend to like us."

I roll my eyes, "The bronies, and some of the humans do like us. But they aren't all that way, too many of them are too consumed with themselves, with power, with money."

"From the rich mare who has a lot more money than most."

I turn my head and lick her cheek gently, "I'm not consumed with making money, Moon Shadow. I've worked hard to build what I've built, not for the money, but a passion for the trade. And I've already told you, I don't care how much is in the bank."

I can feel her smile against my ear, "I know Dust."

"Are we ever going to get true acceptance by humanity?"

She sighs against my ear, "I don't know, Dust. I hope so."

I don't know, my foal is restless, that's making me restless, I flip over and hug Moon Shadow, and push myself away for clearance for my wings, I hover out the door. A new deck has been built behind my house, it juts out into the beginnings of a new lake.  The basin that the lake will fill has a new concrete dam to the south. I'm guessing this new lake will be about a square mile or two, it's going to be pretty big. Though the lake line seems to have been determined, and will be very picturesque once it's filled to capacity. Trees have been planted along the periphery, This is going to be very calming and comforting place once it's ready. 

"They have done a beautiful job, haven't they?" A voice says.

I look over at Irony, "Yes, this is all amazing. How much hard work that has been done."

I sigh, "I know," I rub my bouncing belly.

She chuckles, "It's way outside our experience isn't it?"

I look at her curiously, "What?"

"We were both guys, and now we are pregnant mares."

I bark out a laugh, "Yeah, it's a hard thing to think about. Got anything you miss about being and outie versus an innie?"

She laughs, "I dunno, sex as a mare has been amazing, and I'm easily double the strength I was as a human." She slaps a hoof on the ground, "Peeing in the snow."

I look at her, confused.

"Didn't you ever pee and write your name in the snow?"

I smile, "Michael is a pretty long name to write with a single bladder." Then I look down, "I did try a few times though." I chuckle.

"And Flash probably likes his new equipment, am I right?"

She chuckles, "He's mentioned that a couple of times."

I laugh with her, then hover over to her, "Irony, thank you."

She cocks her head to the side, "What?"

I tighten my hug around her neck, "Thank you for being you, for helping me find out what family truly means."

"I think Moon Shadow would have more to do with that than me."

"No, Irony, Moon Shadow, and everypony else has helped, but when I saw you, when I met you, there was so much that was unique about you."

I pull away to look in her confused face, "Are you talking about my unique origins?"

I cock my head to the side, "Not really, but your size, your beauty." She blushes, "Your intelligence, your drive."

Her blush redoubles, "I mean it, Irony. You are a beautiful pony."

"No, I'm not, Dust."

I kiss her, losing myself in the kiss for a long time, I end up on the ground, wings spread, and blush on my face. "Irony, you are gorgeous. You need to have some confidence in your looks, Moon agrees with me, and so does Mindy, and Sunset, and a few other ponies. Some ponies like big ponies." I kiss her cheek, "I'm one of them."

I head into the house, and Sunset comes up to me.

I smile at her, "So, who won?"

She smiles, "She got a higher score, but we both lost, but we did make it to round thirty seven."

I smile, "Good job. I've played an earlier iteration of that game some years ago."

"Are you ready to go to Iowa?"

I furrow my brow, "Iowa?"

She giggles, "Dust, we need to talk to Big Macintosh, we need to help with arrangements to get ponies to the portal, a lot of ponies have to get through in only three days."

"How many are going to Equestria?"

She shakes her head, "I don't know the exact number, but I'm thinking about eighty to a hundred thousand."

I look down, doing some mental math, "If it's a hundred thousand ponies, and three days, that's an average of one every two seconds."

"That's pretty quick, and I guarantee some ponies will want to come through from the other direction."

"We will coordinate with Big Macintosh, the ponies in Iowa have been busy getting ready to go home."

I smile, "So, when do we leave?"

"In the morning." 

I cover a yawn with my hoof, "So, bed time?"

She nods.

> Chapter 49. Homecomings...For Some
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once again, I'm in the air, though Irony was able to talk me into getting onboard a chariot. I'd rather be flying, but I don't want to raise Mindy's ire. I'll keep to just a hover unless there's something I must fly for. I lean against Sunset Shimmer, this mare has been instrumental in training my daughter to a level I have trouble believing is possible. Hannah is in one of the other chariots, four of them are flying in formation on our way east. We are going to make a stop at the farm, and then we will be on hoof when the portal opens the following night. As it is, we are going to land at the farm, and we will have a chat with Big Macintosh. I can't wait, I actually liked the big man that came through the portal two and a half years ago. We talked to him the entire drive back. He's been busy, doing the exact same thing we have been, gathering ponies to head home. And many that wanted to stay, he directed to our farm, or the one in Texas, or in Florida. I feel the pull, I want to go through that portal, so badly it hurts. But I have to stay, I have to take care of these ponies. But it's home. I miss my home, I miss flying in Equestria.



The pegasi pulling our chariots are descending, we are going to be there soon. This is far faster than any commercial jet. I've toyed with the idea of chariots being used as executive transportation. But I couldn't find enough pegasi that qualified to pull the chariots. Though the pony express idea has been a big hit. Stuff that 3-D printers can't handle, and very high value items can be transported across the nation in a matter of hours. And doing so has been very lucrative. I put my hooves on the rail of the chariot and look down at our destination.



"Holy shit!" I shout, getting Irony's attention, she looks over the side.



"Holy shit!" She shouts as well. There is a huge mass of ponies at the farm, the pegasi angle for the familiar farmhouse. They do find a bit of spare space for landing. I look around at the thousands of ponies. Tents are everywhere. Wow! I walk around, there are so many ponies. They have a lot less space than the Chinese camp did. So they are really packed together. I'm in awe. I'm greeted by hundreds of voices as I walk to the farmhouse.



After a bit of walking around the house, I finally find Big Macintosh, the big blonde haired man smiles and extends a hand, "Lightning Dust, I see you have been successful in gathering ponies to come home."



I blush, "I've tried."



"Mayor Mare has been talking to us a lot. I brought quite a few gems back from Equestria, so money hasn't been a problem, I've been able to buy the land around the portal, and we are starting construction on a complex for the portal."



"You know how fast they have to get through the portal with all of these ponies?"



"I have a plan, I'm going to go through, just after the portal opens, and talk to the ponies there, Rainbow Dash told me they would prepare on their end, so I hope it will be ready, and once I get back, I think we can get two ponies at a time through the portal, so we just keep them moving, and we should have them through with thirty-six hours to spare. Then we can make plans for the future. Are all the ponies that want to go home here?"



I sigh, "I think there will be some stragglers. But a lot of ponies do want to head to Equestria."



He cocks his head to the side, "Is Equestria home to you, Lightning Dust."



I look down, "Yes…yes it is, Big Mac. But I have to get these ponies there, and a lot are staying. So I have to stay, they need protection, they need the guard."



"Have you been recruiting new guard members during your time here?"



I nod, he continues, "And you've got a guard presence in New Beginnings?"



I chuckle, "I think it would be double that we would have for an equivalent city in Equestria."



He smiles, "Good."



We continue chatting for a while, and eventually, he invites us to bed down for the night.



***



I am standing in front of the portal, right now it's an inert statue, we have less than an hour before it opens. I nuzzle Irony and then start walking among the ponies heading to Equestria.



"Dear sweet Celestia it looks like a party of OC's." I chuckle to myself.



I find one pegasus, he's blue, but he's so dark he's almost black, with a black and royal blue mane, I come up and offer a hoof.



He chuckles, "I know who you are, Lightning Dust."



I have a feeling I'm not going to have to introduce myself much today, he continues, "I'm Harts Fire."



I chuckle, "Can't wait to get back to Equestria?"



He nods, "I miss my home."



"I do too." I continue down the line, coming up to another pony, this one is chocolate colored, with beautiful blue eyes, I fight to control my wings, looking at the gorgeous pony. I'm thinking this one rivals Rarity when it comes to looks. I completely fail when it comes to popping a wingie.



"And what's your name?" I ask the unicorn.



"Chocolate Delight." She glances at my wings and giggles. I glance over at Irony, she has a big grin on her face.



Sunset is walking among the ponies, Chocolate Delight runs forward and tackles Sunset.



"Ohmygosh, Sunset Shimmer!" She shouts. "I can't believe you are here, are you coming home?"



Sunset blushes, "No, I'm here to help those that want to go home." She extricates herself from the brown unicorn and comes over to me, "I'm in Dust's herd, and if the herd goes back, I'll join them. But I don't think that will be happening any time soon."



Chocolate looks down for a moment, then brightens, "Well, when you come back, I'll be back at Rainbow Falls, I had a sweet shop there, and I'll make sure you get plenty of sweets." She looks sly, "I was trained by the Cakes over in Ponyville, though I think I've improved on some of their recipes."



Sunset smiles at the pony and we move on, I can't believe how many ponies are here. Thousands upon thousands of them. They run the entire rainbow of colors, I can see light purple with a black and orange mane, along with a jack-o-lantern cutie mark. A shift of the gaze shows me an all green pony, mane and coat. Looking around, I even see a periwinkle blue pegasus filly and a light blue earth pony. I trot up to the latter.



She smiles at me shyly, "I'm Delicate Ribbon." She blushes and adjusts the pink ribbon in her blonde mane.



"I'm glad to meet you."



The light blue pegasus filly I saw just moments before jumps on my back, I hear her excited voice in my ear, "Oh my gosh, it's Lightning Dust. I'm Rivermist, I can't believe you are here!"



She hops off of me and stands in front of me, "You are so awesome, a pegasus as fast as you are, and you are a Wonderbolt, but why aren't you wearing your suit?"



I giggle myself, "I'm not performing today, little one." I ruffle her mane.



She knocks my hoof away, "I'm eleven, I'm not a little one."



"Oh, sorry, my mistake." I smile at the filly. Then move on.



By the time I've made it back to the portal, I've met hundreds of ponies, and I've got promises to feed me full of the best food in Equestria, and several challenges by pegasi to races. All of those get chuckles out of me, a speedster like me is actually pretty rare. Most pegasi don't stand a chance against this pony when it comes to speed.



It's almost midnight, Big Macintosh steps in front of the crowd.



"Hello to all of you, some of you may not know me, but I'm Big Macintosh. In the show I was never known for talking much, but I need to talk to you. First thing is, I'm going to go through the portal, I should be only a few minutes to make sure that things are ready on the other side. Once that is done, and I get back through, I will need you all to keep a constant speed, remember, there are a lot of ponies that need to get through the portal. So, don't stop once you get through, just keep running until you are a good distance away. And my hope is that the other ponies will be ready to greet you, and let you know where to go until you can find your homes back there."



He pauses and looks at the moon, the pegasi have cleared the sky, and the moon is bright. A small flash in that moon indicated the portal is open, and Big Mac steps through. "Now we wait." I murmur to myself. Sunset leans up against me as we watch the portal.



After a few minutes, Big Mac steps through, his hands laden with bars of gold. He carries them over to the side and then gestures for the ponies to start. First one, then two, then hundreds start streaming through. The statue is large enough for three ponies abreast to run through. And running they are. I trot up to Big Mac, "Looks like we are going to get them through pretty quickly."



He smiles, "Yes, and they have plenty of ponies ready for them. Jaws dropped when I told them how many ponies were here. And Rainbow Dash wants to talk to you once the ponies are through."



"Is she coming through?"



He nods.



I smile, I've gotten two and a half years of practice in this body, I'm not going through to come back. One way trip, that's my decision. We sit back and watch the ponies continue through.



I look over at Big Mac, "How are we keeping curious humans away?"



"Well, a lot of ponies have been talked to by the humans, but we all give them different locations for the portal, we are hoping to get about a day before they zero in on all the ponies here. And I've bought most of this land. The old school is just about to be demolished, and as you can see, the shed the statue was in has been removed. We will be breaking ground on an entire portal complex soon, I was having trouble getting the funds for that, after buying the land. But with the gold that Rarity just hoofed over to me, that won't be a problem."



I look at the pile of gold, it amounts to several million dollars at current gold prices, "Is that conjured?"



He nods.



I chuckle, "I hope that the spell doesn't wear off."



He looks at me sharply, "And one of the most powerful alicorns in existence, Twilight Sparkle, can't make the gold endure?"



I sigh, "You've got a point there, Mac."



He ruffles my mane, "Of course I do. Now let's check the police cordon."



I frown and follow him, we make our way around the massive crowd of ponies heading to the portal, cars are making the trip, I see all three of my busses turning around after disgorging a load of ponies. Though many are making their way on hoof. I hear even more excited chattering. A lot of ponies are going home. Every time the portal thrums, a little weight is taken off of my shoulders. We finally make it to a blue barricade with a police cruiser sitting there, it's lights flashing in the night. A police officer is standing there, he smiles when we come up.



"Hey there Mac."



Big Mac comes up and shakes his hand, "Hey John. The overtime working for you?"



He chuckles, "Yeah, though this is a cake walk, just stand here and make sure no one gets past. Though you ponies are certainly moving quickly."



Big Mac smiles, "Of course they do, home is calling."



John chuckles, "I bet it is. Are you going through and staying?"



Big Mac nods, "Yeah, we've got some volunteers from Equestria that are being paid rather well to stay and complete the work that I started. I get to be back with my marefriend, and the complex will be finished for the every thirty month cycle of the portal."



I interject, "So, we have a long term plan for the portal?"



Big Mac nods again, "Pony volunteers are going to administer the portal complex. On a rotating basis, every cycle. We've purchased the land, and we've got an arrangement with the mayor. Dust's herd here, has been talking to the President, and with our agreement, this will be the Equestrian embassy, of sorts. There has been talk of moving the statue to Washington DC, but that idea was shot down. This is where the portal will be, and some of the Equestrians coming back will take control of the farm as well. Tomorrow evening, a few diplomats will be coming, and they will go through the portal to talk to the government as it is in Equestria, so that means they will be talking to Twilight Sparkle mainly."



"How long to get the ponies that want to go through to their home?" John asks.



Big Mac laughs, "Things are going faster than I thought. They should be through by tomorrow evening."



I step forward, "So, this is going to be a busy three days?"



He nods, I continue, "Mac, how many police officers are keeping curious humans away?"



John answers, "There are about a dozen police, though most residents are staying in their homes at night. And we've got detours set up for traffic during the day. When the media finds out about this, it's going to get a little more exciting, but we will do our jobs in that respect."



"What about news helicopters?"



Mac smiles, "They will be met by pegasi and escorted away. It will somewhat show our hand, but we will keep the media as far away from this as possible."



I grin, "You've thought pretty hard about this, haven't you Mac?"



He spreads his arms, "I'm a bit more than I was in the show, Lightning Dust."



We take our leave of the police officer and check the other checkpoints. Thousands of ponies, only three days. But with the organization, I think we will be done by tomorrow night.



***



The flood of ponies has dwindled down to a stream. It's been nearly thirty hours since the portal opened. Nearly a hundred thousand ponies are going to resume their lives in Equestria. I feel very happy for the ponies, but also wistful. I've had to stop my hooves several times from walking through the portal. Every time I stop, I look at Sunset, or Irony, or Moon Shadow, or any of the many other ponies on traffic duty, making sure the ponies make it through. The buses have stopped running, the farm is now devoid of ponies. I watch a few stragglers walk through the portal. Finally, they are home. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding.



"Okay, now the real work begins." I say to myself. I actually haven't done much except watch ponies, or simply snooze. The ponies are eager to head home, so I really don't have to do much. My herd comes up to us, a serious look on a few faces.



"Dust." Moon Shadow says.



I cock my head to the side, "What?"



She looks at Sunset, at Irony, Mindy, and at Helen, then she sighs, "Do you want to go through the portal? Do you want to go to Equestria?"



My wings drop from my sides, I'm so shocked, "What are you saying?"



She looks as though she's steeling herself for what she's about to say, "Dust, we are pretty happy here, we have a home, we all love each other, but you are our lead mare. You don't talk about it very much, but we all know that you are aching to go through and leave this world behind. We are offering that option to you."



I look at her a long time, then I notice all the ponies and humans here. Helen, Hannah, Dylan. Gold Dust is holding on to Dylan like there is no tomorrow, Hannah looks scared, and excited. I move up to Dylan, "Son, do you want to go through the portal?"



"I want to be with my family, Dust. No matter where that is."



I move over to Helen, "You would give up your humanity, willingly?"



I see tears starting to form, "Dust, love, wherever you are, wherever we are. That is home, if I have to be a pony to have that happen, then that will be how I will live. You lead us, that is your job, your role in our family. You must decide."



I look over at Moon Shadow, she's leaning against Irony, "Irony, Moon Shadow, do you agree?" They both nod.



I look at the portal, the occasional pony is still walking through, and now some traffic from the other side is starting to come through. Blankets are being distributed to the nude humans trying to steady themselves on two legs for the first time in years for them. I focus on the portal itself, that is Equestria, that is my home, where I was born, where I was raised, where I was betrayed by Discord and banished to this world. I can feel it's magic calling me. I can feel it in my very bones. I take a step to the portal, then another. I'm walking at a slow pace, I can see my family following me. They really would go to the ends of the Earth for me, wouldn't they. My hooves stop of their own volition, I can reach out and touch the surface of the portal itself. My hoof reaches out, touching it's surface, it ripples at my touch. I hesitate, looking at the smooth surface, can I do it? Can I make that step and go back to the home that I miss so badly?



"No." I turn around, "No." I say again, "I want to go, but our job isn't done yet."



Moon Shadow comes up and nuzzles me, "Dust, the ponies that want to leave, they have left, they are home now. Surely you aren't staying because of the ponies here."



I look down, furiously thinking, "You are right, the ponies that want to get home are home, and those that want to stay are protected. Every pony settlement that I know of now has a contingent of the guards. They are as protected as I can make them." I look back at the portal, then back at my herd, "But my home is here, with you. I can tell, you want to go back, but it isn't an aching need, it's more like…" I stop and think for a moment, "a desire. You miss our home, but you would miss here as well, the lives we've been able to forge here on this world." I allow a smile, "And I would miss this world as well. And let's not forget Spectrum, there are those that would do ponies harm."



Irony speaks up, "Winter Storm, Sparkler, and many of the guards back in Montana can deal with them, Dust."



I smile even larger, "And they will have to, until I drop this little one in my belly. Then we are going to end them once and for all."



Irony grins, she whispers in Moon Shadow's ear, getting a smile from the gray unicorn.



"What?"



Irony laughs, "Oh Dust, never change." I gallop forward and tackle her, ending up with me on top, kissing her.



I pull away, "Thank you." I whisper in her ear. Then I move off and look at the rest of my herd, "Thank you, there may be a time where we can go through the portal." I look back at the portal then back at them, "But that day is not today."



I hear a thrum, then a voice pipes up, "Lightning Dust."



I turn and see an auburn haired woman standing there, not even apparently noticing her nudity despite the chill of December in the air. I get a glance at her hips, a tri colored lightning bolt flashing down from a cloud. I smile, "Rainbow Dash!"



Rainbow Dash comes forward, "I've got to say, it's good to see you again." She says as she accepts a hug from me.



"How are things in Ponyville?"



She chuckles, "It's kind of crowded right now, a lot of ponies just came home."



I nod, "Big Mac told you his plans?"



She nods, "Rarity and Shining Armor will be coming through in a few minutes, they have a few things to do before they head back."



I smile, "First thing would be to get some clothes."



She chuckles, "I'm only going to be on this side long enough to talk to you, I already miss my wings."



I flex my wings, "Yeah, I hear you."



I spend quite a while updating her on things, some business ventures that are apparently getting started for traffic through the portal, she tells me of plans back in Equestria of a similar nature.



Finally we wind down,  "Rainbow, I want you to meet my herd."



She looks shocked, "The eternal bachelorette Lightning Dust is in a herd?"



I nod, and bring her to my family, taking a moment to introduce all of them. She notices Hannah's cutie mark, "So, magic is real here?"



I nod, "Humanity's magic has been asleep, it wasn't dead. And it's slowly waking up. Our foals will live in a world with magic, even being here."



"So, how many ponies are staying?"



"We think a bit more than a third of the ponies banished by Discord headed home. The rest, for now, are staying." Sunset Shimmer says.



"You will visit when the portal opens again?" Irony asks of the auburn haired woman.



She nods, "Rarity and Shining Armor will be getting married here the next time the portal opens. But for now, we are going to focus on getting Equestria back in the shape it needs to be in."



Finally we bid our goodbyes and she steps through the portal once again. I look at my family. "Let's go home."

> Chapter 50. Welcome to the Family, little ones
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next four months pass quietly. And that is amazing since the last two and a half years have been anything but sedate. I may be growing big with my little one inside me. But, Moon Shadow is getting huge. She just growls at anypony poking fun at her now. It's not fun to tease a pregnant mare about to give birth. But that fateful day arrives.

Dr. Ray is at one end, Irony and I are at the other. Star Shine and Helen are off to the side, ready for the new foals. We've been ready for months, though when Moon Shadow said it was time, we all leaped to action, even the other pregnant mares of the family.

Alan is sitting next to Dr. Ray. Though the unicorn doctor has been able to handle things quite capably, it's nice to have an assistant, right? Add in the fact that Mindy has been wooing him for months now, though she's said we are going to have our first herd date after the foals arrive.

"Okay, it's time for another push, Moon." The doctor says gently. Getting a low moan out of the unicorn.

In moments, "And we have a beautiful unicorn filly." The bundle is lifted in his magic and the umbilical is separated magically, he floats the newborn over to Helen, who is ready with a blanket, and towels to clean off the foal. Dr. Ray's attention is back on Moon Shadow as she pushes again, squeezing Irony's hooves hard as the second foal is born. "Wow, you are ready to have this over with, aren't you?" He says as a second form is passed to Helen. Star Shine is swaddling the first born. 

"You try carrying them for almost a year." Moon Shadow growls. I feel a kick, I know my time is soon, but hopefully not today. We've got our hooves full with these twins. I'm glad Irony's got a few weeks left herself. My ears rotate towards the foals, I'm surprised by the silence. Though Star Shine and Helen are busily working, they don't seem upset. 

"Why are they so quiet?"

Moon Shadow smiles as Dr. Ray answers, "Pony foals aren't nearly as vocal at birth as human babies, I've delivered enough over the last few weeks to know that."

I extend my wings and hover over to Star Shine and Helen, they are cradling the foals, both of them with their eyes closed, I get a good look at them, I move closer, they are identical, midnight blue coats, violet manes, both with a bright gumball pink streak in them, in the exact same place on both. I chuckle, "Moon, I think you are going to have trouble telling them apart."

She laughs as both babies are gently picked up in her magic, she seems to be impatient to hold them. They float to her and she cradles both of them, nuzzling them lovingly. She looks at Irony, "Honey, I really wish these were Henry's, but you are a herd mother to them, that will have to be good enough.

Irony nuzzles Moon Shadow, then she nuzzles me as I get close, Irony speaks up, "So, Moon, what are you going to name them?"

Moon Shadow looks at them for a long time, then I see a sparkle in her eyes. Both foals open their eyes for the first time, and I drop to the floor. Both have off colored eyes, one bright blue, the other cerise. Moon Shadow lifts the one with the blue eye on the left side, "This is my little Rinoa." She shifts a bit to lift the other, with her blue eye on the right, "And my beautiful Rydia."

Dr. Ray comes up and kisses Moon Shadow, then he nuzzles his foals, "They are beautiful names, Moon Shadow."

"I know where those names are from, Moon. I played the games. But how did they come to you?"

Moon Shadow looks thoughtful for a moment, "I don't know. I looked at them, and after a moment, I knew that was what their names had to be." She stops and looks at me, "What games?"

"From the Final Fantasy series, two very powerful magic users from two different games."

She looks at me for a long time, then at the foals drifting off to sleep in her arms, "Well, I've never been a gamer. But these names will fit, I believe." She yawns widely and lays her head down, cradling the newborns close to her as her breathing evens out.

I gather everypony but Dr. Ray by eye and we leave the room. Dr. Ray will finish up with the cleanup before calling it a night himself, he's been pulling double and triple shifts at the New Beginnings hospital, nearly a thousand foals have been born in the last few weeks, and he's been wearing himself out. To the point we had to confiscate his cell phone to allow him some rest. He isn't the only doctor in New Beginnings, but he's apparently taken on the task of helping with the birth of everypony of this new generation. And I think the term baby boom is really going to be appropriate. Almost everypony I've talked to that was pregnant plans on more babies. Moon Shadow, along with most of the unicorns with the right amount of strength have been offering to use the no-foals spell. And most have been kindly, but firmly rebuffed. How long until ponies outnumber humans in this state?

***

Three days after Moon Shadow gave birth, I'm awoken by immense tension in my body. I can feel muscles spasming, is it my time already? I glance at my phone, it's three in the morning. Seriously? I shift my body for more comfort, maybe this little one can wait until a more decent hour.

Nope, a strong contraction wracks through my body, damn. It's over in seconds, leaving me panting. I turn a bit, looking at Helen sleeping peacefully. I poke her gently with a hoof, "Helen."

She moans in her sleep, though I'm glad to see a smile on her face. But this isn't time to reflect on my wife, it's time to give birth. I poke her again, "Helen, if you don't wake up, I'm liable to drop this foal right in bed here."

That gets her attention, her eyes pop open. "Seriously?"

I nod. She pokes a sleeping Dr. Ray, "Ray, you're up."

He growls in his sleep, only to have Sunset Shimmer pick him up in her magic, "Dr. Ray, Dust is in labor." Okay, now he's awake.

He helps me to my hooves, and we make our way to the makeshift medical room that Moon Shadow had her foals in.

I lie down on the stainless steel table, Sunset and Mindy get some pillows for me to be somewhat comfortable.

***

Hours pass, "Well, Dust, I can see you are dilated. You are ready." He stops for a moment as he scans me with his magic, "And your foal is ready and in position."

I growl at him, "I've been pushing, why won't this one come out?" Another contraction hits, this one even stronger than the last few. My body is screaming in agony, nothing is happening. I howl out my pain, with the added lung power of being a pegasus, everypony's ears fold back at the volume.

Finally the contraction passes, I sigh, "I'm sorry."

Star Shine is holding my hooves right now, I look at him, he smiles, "It's okay Dust. This has been hard for you."

I lay my head down, I'm exhausted. Though I can hear Dr. Ray move over to the rest of my herd, I rotate my ears to hear what he's saying, but he's talking too low for me to make out the words. Though by the tone of what I can hear, it doesn't sound good.

Oh no, another contraction! It takes hold and my body clenches as I push with everything I have. My magic arcs and sparks among my feathers, and the lights in the room dance in response, but I'm only half aware of things, everything is getting fuzzy.

Dr. Ray scans me again, "Dust, I think we had better get you to an operating room."

I frown at him once my contraction is over, "Something wrong?"

He looks bleak, "Dust, your foal's heart beat has just dropped by over half. I'm very worried about that. I want to get you into surgery, we will do a C-section and get this done quickly." I look intently at him, gauging the look on his face, he's worried, scared to death even. I nod.

Sunset steps forward, "I can make this happen."

Dr. Ray nods, and her horn alights, then we are in the waiting room of the hospital. I'm gently lifted onto a gurney, and wheeled through the hospital, quickly stopping in a huge sterile room. A nurse comes up, her horn lighting, and I feel a pinch in a foreleg. She smiles at me, "Just something to make it easier for you." I stop caring as the drugs hit my system, putting me into a light twilight state.

The next half hour or so goes very quickly as my belly is shaved, and I'm prepared for surgery. I'm able to muster enough energy to inform them in no uncertain terms that I don't need a shield to obscure the surgery from view. I've watched two C-sections before. Though this will be my first time having one myself, I have to chuckle as another doctor lifts a scalpel in his magic, Dr. Ray hovering right next to him. They talk back and forth, though I'm not really able to do anything as my body is opened, and soon they pull a small form from me. 

"She's not breathing." The doctor says, the urgency in his voice snaps me to reality.

The blood covered form is rushed to the other side of the room, Dr. Ray moves with the foal while the other doctor starts patching me up.

"Doctor, what's going on with my foal?"

He pauses in his work, "She is being worked on, you were pushing hard, but you've still got scar tissue from your ordeal. She's suffered some loss of oxygen, but we got to her quickly. So, be patient, we are working on her."

I flop my head down, no longer fascinated by what is being done to my belly, I turn my head to the doctors and nurses working on my foal and hate Spectrum just a little bit more.

Finally the penetrating sound of a foal crying rings out, snapping me from the drug induced half sleep. I lift my head. The ponies around my foal are relaxed, they seem happy. I smile, that means good news! In moments a swaddled baby floats to me, and I finally get to meet the little one that's been doing her damndest to bruise me from the inside.

"Hello little one." I murmur as I nuzzle her lovingly. A pure snow white coat, with an almost metallic silver to her mane, and bright gold eyes look at me, "You are beautiful."

She wiggles in my forelegs, I hug her tightly, I pull back and look at her. Time for me to name her, I can see her creamy fur, her beautiful mane. And I can feel the small wings moving under the swaddling. She's going to be one hell of a flier, just like her mother. And her father, but what to name her?

Finally, it comes to me, "Welcome to the world, my little Mischief."

***

Where did Mindy want to go for a herd date with Alan? A swanky restaurant? The movies? Climbing Everest? Nope, she chose an amusement park. In fact, one that I've been to as a human. All the way down in San Antonio, Tx is a Six Flags theme park called Fiesta Texas. I went there before Six Flags bought it. Down time is good, and family time is so much better. I've been enjoying the fact that other ponies are handling security and taking care of the ponies. I have family to take care of. 

The chariots land in the massive parking area of the park. Sunset Shimmer teleported over to the booth to pay for parking. I would love to see the human ticket taker's faces as she pops up in front of them. I've got saddlebags on, one side with the needs for a foal, and the other side has my precious Mischief. She's three weeks old. Irony's two week old little colt, Zeddicus is in her arms, she decided to stay on two hooves today, wearing a black t-shirt with camo pants. I have to laugh at how she looks with clothes on. Moon Shadow has her twins with her, and Star Shine has Mindy's two young ones on a saddle carrier of his own. 

A soft pop announces the return of the golden mare, "Hey, Dust." She giggles, "Their jaws dropped, and one of them was a brony. He was really happy to have me pay for the chariots."

I giggle with her, and she walks with me. I'm watching Mindy bounce next to the seven foot tall human. Watching her and him, I'm actually reminded how I felt with Helen when we were first dating. He's walking, and she's talking animatedly with him. I smile, and nudge Sunset, "I think we might have a new herd mate before too long."

Sunset allows a throaty laugh, "I wonder how he is in bed."

I grin, "Mindy says he's amazing." Something I've found with Sunset, her mind is in the gutter more than mine usually is. We actually pair up pretty well together, in bed, and out. She was still in that shell of hers I noticed portrayed in the second Equestria girls movie, which she said was pretty accurate. But that shell has finally fallen to the wayside, with a family that accepts her the way she is. 

Finally we are at the ticket booth. Helen presents all the tickets to the flabbergasted human. He looks at the group of ponies, then at Helen and Alan. Then with an exaggerated sigh, he waves us through. I take to my wings to get past the turnstiles, which gets more than one yelp from the humans nearby. I guess a flying pony is going to take some getting used to.

Mindy is suddenly next to me, "Oh, Dustie, we have to get on the Iron Rattler, first thing."

I was actually looking forward to floating down the lazy river in the built in water park, White Water Bay, I don't know if our new pony anatomy can handle sitting in a coaster. But I shrug my wings, "Sure."

I hear the chime of magic and my load is lightened, Mischief is on Sunset's back now, she smiles, "I'm terrified of the roller coasters, you gals have fun." I spin around and give Sunset a kiss and gallop off with Mindy. Alan is surprisingly light on his feet for his size, and is keeping up with us at a gentle gallop. Several minutes of navigating through the park with Mindy and the massive human, we finally find the entrance to the iconic roller coaster.

I look at Mindy as we start walking through the back and forth line to get to the queue of people waiting to get on  the coaster, "My parents got season tickets when this place opened. This was an all wood coaster, called the Rattler. I rode it so many times that year."

She looks at me, "How old were you?"

"I was seven that first year, born in '85, remember?"

She giggles, "Oh, I have trouble remembering that you were thirty five when you changed."

"Yeah." My memories of walking up this as a young kid surface, "It was fun then." Then I brighten, "And it's going to be fun today!" We finally catch up to the last person in line. Being a weekday in May, the park is relatively quiet. Though when the human finally notices that there are ponies in line behind them, they stop and just watch. 

I look at the young woman, "Problem?"

She looks surprised then turns around, I look at Mindy, "Ponies have been around for almost three years now. You would think that there would be less commotion."

"Oh Dustie, you know that the Texas ponies have pretty much kept to themselves, and most of the ponies live in the few pony towns. Most humans don't even realize we exist. We were a fifteen minute wonder, and now we are just vague rumors."

I frown at that as I take a few steps. Hearing the coaster make it's rounds, "We need to do something about that, Mindy. I get tired of being treated like a circus freak every damned time I leave Montana."

Alan puts his hand on the back of my head, his fingers rubbing behind my ears, my left rear leg wants to twitch in response, it feels really good, "Dust, you have to give humanity time. Attend a few more conventions, and most of all, accept the interview requests with the major news networks."

"Why me?"

"Dust," He stops and looks at Mindy then seriously at me, "Humanity is curious by nature. As long as ponies are rumors, you will have to deal with their curiosity. But get out there, do a round of the press. Maybe even get the President to talk to humans with you. But if you want to be commonplace in their society, you need to fight for it."

"It's not going to happen on its own, Dustie." Mindy chirps as we take a few more steps forward.

"But why me? Why can't Cloud Kicker, or Winter Storm?"

"Because you were in the show, duh." Mindy laughs.

"Yeah, for three episodes."

"More than me, or anypony else except for Sunset, and she was only shown as a pony for a couple of minutes. It has to be you, Dust."

I sigh, "Do you think it will be helpful?"

Both of them nod. Getting another sigh from me.

Presently we are at the head of the line, Alan has the most trouble, with his size, but we are able to sit on our rears, the restraints actually do work with the pony form, so long as we sit more like humans, though after this long as a pony, it feels unnatural. After the staff takes an extra long time checking to make sure everyone was ready. And gawking at the ponies, the ride starts.

A minute and a half later, Mindy climbs out, bouncing, "Oh Celestia, we have to do that again."

Her and Alan run down the exit to head back up the stairs for another go. I take my time, walking over to the booth selling pictures from our run. I watch the screen for us to show up. And I have to smile, I used to get really excited about roller coasters. I found this one bored me. Too violent, too rough. I could do smoother loops, and faster ones too. 

My musings are interrupted by a form jumping on my back, and a small voice screaming in my ear, "It's a pony!" 

I turn my head and look at the little girl, she couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old. Her legs are crushing down on my wings. She bouncing excitedly up and down on my back, I just keep my gaze on her. 

"Can I help you?"

She stops bouncing to look at me, "Your real?"

I nod.

"You can talk?"

I nod again, getting an excited squeal from the little girl, who wraps her arms around my neck, "Oh my God, a talking pony. I'll take you home, I'll name you Susan, and we will have so much fun together."

Two adults are walking up from the exit to the ride, I glance at them then at her, "My name is Lightning Dust, I have a home, and I think my herd would miss me if I left with you. And most of all, would you please stop squeezing my wings so hard?"

Her bouncing stops, she slides off of me, allowing me to stretch my wings, that was more than a little painful. I turn around so I can face the girl, "Just because a pony is here, doesn't mean you can snatch her up and take her wherever you want. I'm just as intelligent as you are. I own my own company, well, actually a couple of companies now. But I'm successful, I have a family, and I don't need to be named Susan and go off with any random little girl."

The heat in my words apparently affects her, tears spring to her eyes and her face crumples, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know."

I realize how harsh I sounded, I try to soften the blow, "It's okay, little one. But I have been rather badly treated by some humans. And someone trying to take me really scares me." I move closer and run a wing down her face, drying the tears, "Ponies that can talk are just as smart as you are, sweetie. We aren't animals, we aren't beasts, we are people. We just walk on four legs. How about this, you can be friends with a pony that talks, just don't try to take them home, deal?" I raise a hoof.

She seems confused, but I think she will eventually understand, she accepts the offered hoof for a shake.

I smile at her parents, who hung back while their daughter talked to the turquoise pony, and head out of the ride. I don't think I want to wait for Alan and Mindy to finish their second ride of the Iron Rattler.

A quick touch of a hoof to Moon Shadow's earring tells me where my family is, scattered all over the park. I decide to grab a drink and wait for the two love birds. 

Waiting pays off as they both bounce through the exit, "Going again?" I ask.

They both laugh, though Alan responds, "We'll go again later. But, Dust. Why didn't you go through a second time with us?"

I flare out a wing, "When you have these, the best a human can do seems rather pale in comparison."

Mindy nods, "Well, as a unicorn, I can appreciate a good roller coaster. Though maybe they should hire some pegasi to offer guests some real excitement."

I laugh as I remember the pegasi who pulled the chariots for us, we bought them tickets to go in themselves, so they are presumably having fun themselves here, "Who wants to see a show?"

A human hand and a magenta hoof both spring into the air, "ME!" They shout in unison.

I smile as we head to find one of the shows that is played at this massive park.

***Alan***

"I think I'll be staying a while, little sis." 

Fiddlesticks' voice comes through my cell phone, "So, you are enjoying your time there?"

I look over at Mindy, she's bouncing as she's waiting for me to finish my phone call, "Yes, I am. The ponies here have been wonderful."

"Including Mindy?"

I'm shocked, how did she find out? My sister's laugh chimes through the phone, "I've been talking to Dust. She told me about your time at the park. Sounds like you had a fun time."

I can feel myself blush, "Yes, we did."

"If you are asking for my approval Alan, you've got it, Dust and her herd are going to be good for you."

"Well, thank you sis, love you."

Again that laugh in her voice, "Love you too big bro."

I close out the call, and look at Mindy, "You ready?"

Suddenly she's on my shoulder, "Dot and Cloud Burst are doing well, and we are good for the night."

I smile, I love playing with her little ones. This is a date, though. "Ready for dinner?"

I get a kiss from the magenta mare, I don't know how she can balance on my shoulder like that, but she does it on a regular basis, "I'm always ready for food."

***

Having a marefriend that can teleport you anywhere she wishes can be really nice. We started the evening in Montana, we had dinner at a pizzeria in Chicago, and she then teleported us to New York City, we finally are strolling through Central Park, the sun is just setting as we walk.

Walking is a good time to be talking, Mindy starts, being uncharacteristically quiet, and simply walking rather than her usual bouncing around, "I like you, Alan."

I reach out a hand, running it down her ear, getting it to twitch, and her to giggle. "I like you too, Mindy."

She rubs up against me as we continue to walk. 

"I want to do something, Alan. Promise you'll keep an open mind?"

I'm a little confused, "Anything."

Out of nowhere, Sunset Shimmer pops into being. I look at her curiously, I like the mare, but I've been keen to really spend time with Mindy. Sunset comes up to Mindy, giving her a long hug, "Are you sure sweetie?"

Mindy gulps and nods her head, "It's only for a few hours, Sunset."

Sunset nods and her horn alights, Mindy starts to glow, the glow intensifies, to the point of blinding. I throw up a hand against the brightness, and it fades as it never was. I lower my hand, Mindy is gone, in her place is a human woman, her hair is bright white, just like Mindy's. Sunset comes forward, "The spell will last a few hours, you two. Just call me if you need anything."

"Ummm, Sunset." The woman asks, in Mindy's voice. Wow! It's Mindy. Though as I get a better look at her, she's nude.

Sunset chuckles and her horn lights again, and Mindy is covered in a light pink dress, her tousled hair ends up in a long flowing ponytail, though it has a lot of the bounce it had from before. 

"Mindy, you are human now?"

She nods, "Sunset and I planned this. I wanted to walk with you on two legs, holding your hand with my own." She looks very shy for a moment, "Is that okay?"

The new shape of Mindy is barely five feet tall, quite a bit shorter than I am, but I pick her up, she reflexively wraps her arms around me, "Mindy, I love you no matter what you look like."

"You love me?" She even bats her eyelashes, getting a giggle from me.

Did I just say I loved her? I think about it for a long time, then bring her up to kiss her, after time immeasurable, she pulls away, "Yes, Mindy, I do."

She squeals and jumps from my arms, she reaches frantically behind her to grab my hand as she overbalances and nearly falls, "Oh, I had better watch out, I haven't been on two legs in three years."

I chuckle, then I hold her hand as we start walking, she bites her lower lip for a long moment, "I'm certain I'm falling in love with you as well, Alan."

I chuckle, "I've already told you how I feel." She nods seriously.

"Can I tell you something, Alan?" Her voice is more serious than I have ever heard her.

"Anything."

"I want to go home."

I stop walking, I bring her close, and look into her now blue eyes, "Mindy, home is but a teleport away. We can go whenever you wish."

She giggles, "I don't have my magic like this, Alan. But, I'm not talking about Montana."

I'm a bit confused, "What are you saying, Mindy?"

"Dust was wrong, we should have gone through the portal. We belong in Equestria."

"Equestria?"

She doesn't continue that line of thought, she keeps walking, squeezing my hand tightly.

I keep an eye on her while we are walking, "Tell me about Soarin."

She looks down as she puts one foot in front of the other, I almost regret asking her, seeing the tears welling in her eyes, but her tone of voice tells me different, "He was amazing. He was a lovable goofball, just like in the show. And yes, he did love pie, especially apple pie. I made apple pies for him from time to time, he always loved them."

She smiles through her tears, "He was smart, he was extremely perceptive, I suspected that he was a magic user pegasus, the way Dust is. But his magic was more subtle, he could see, he could see into your soul, and he loved you for it."

"He saw your soul, Mindy?"

She nods, "Yes, I knew he had the hots for me from minute one, but as we got to know each other, he delved deeper. He could feel my emotions, he knew what to say, exactly how to say it to make me happy. I'm usually a very happy pony, but he was able to make me happier than anypony else in this world."

"Really?"

She nods again, "Our first date was a simple walk around the farm, just so we could talk. And he was so nervous, he wanted to show off for me, and he decided to fly for me," She giggles, "He found a pile of manure when he wiped out, Rainbow Dash from the show style."

That gets a laugh from me, along with her laughing, "He was so embarrassed, he couldn't bring himself to talk to me for most of a day, until Lightning Flash decided to push him, those two were good friends."

"And then?"

She smiles, her tears seem to be drying up, remembering him, "Our next date was far more fun, he had me climb up on his back, and we had lunch on a cloud, I was able to remember the cloud walking spell, so I didn't have to stay on his back the whole time, though I think we wanted me to. Our first real kiss was on that cloud. He made me feel so wonderful inside, so special. I was my usual goofy self, but he saw through that, he talked to me and helped me understand that he really saw me, my fears, my passions, my desires. I actually calmed down a lot during our date, because I wasn't focused on having fun, I was focused on spending time with him, no matter what we did." She stops and looks at me, "Quite a lot about how I feel when I'm with you, Alan."

I can feel my face heating, but I smile at her, getting a huge smile back. Her tears have dried, I think she needed to say those words.

She continues walking, I follow her, she's holding herself as she walks, finally she speaks again, "I want more foals, Alan."

"You have two fine sires back at home, Mindy, surely they can…"

I'm interrupted by her whirling around, "I want you to be their father, Alan."

I stumble a bit, "What?"

She comes to me and wraps her arms around me, bringing her face to mine, I don't even have a chance to think before her lips touch mine, her tongue probes my lips, and I open my mouth in response. We kiss for a long moment. She finally pulls away, her breathing hot and heavy, "I want my foals to be yours, Alan."

"But we have no genetics in common, Mindy, it's impossible."

"It's possible if you become a pony."

Do I want to become a pony? After a moment I've decided, "Does it require going through the portal?"

She looks thoughtful for a long moment, "I don't have the strength, but Sunset Shimmer should."

"The strength? To do what?"

She runs a hand along my cheek, "It's similar to what she did for me, but it's longer term, a matter of a few days, and it does affect your DNA. Would you do that? For me?"

I think about what she said for a long moment, then nod, getting a squeal from her and her arms tightening around me again. She brings my face closer so she can kiss me.

She pulls away and breathes into my ear, "They will be beautiful, Alan."

Finally I let her down, and we continue walking, hand in hand, "Though I really think we should go through the portal. Soarin and I were planning on doing so, before I joined with Dust."

"Why?"

Her hand squeezes mine for a long moment, "This isn't our home, Alan. We are ponies, and I love it here. But I feel the same way Dust does, it's an ache, it hurts to be away from my home."

We keep walking in silence as I think about what she's said, finally, "Do you think Dust will ever go through? Will she ever abandon this world?"

She again bites her lower lip, "I don't know, Alan. I know how much she misses home, I know how hard it is, but she's got us here, she's got her family. If we weren't here, she would be through the portal, no questions asked."

"Do you want to push her? Help her decide to walk through the next time it opens?"

She shakes her head, "I've known Dust from before Discord, we were best friends growing up, you don't push Dust anywhere. She will dig in her hooves and go the way she thinks is right. And she is right, most of the time."

I think for a moment, "Would you leave the herd to go back?"

She stops walking, I turn and get a good look at her face, she looks conflicted, finally she responds, "No, I love Dust and them all too much, I wouldn't force my views on them, I wouldn't leave them."

I frown, "What does that mean Mindy?"

She looks up at me, "It means we will follow Dust. But I think I will be happy if you give me a foal the next time I'm in estrous."

"So, you want me to join the herd? Be a new stallion for all you mares?"

She actually blushes as she looks down, and nods. 

I pick her up again, kissing her deeply, finally, "I love you Mindy."

She giggles against my chest, "I love you too, Alan."

> Chapter 51. Now We Are Truly in the Public Eye
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are you certain this is a good idea, Irony?"

She smiles, "I certainly think so, Dust. We need more exposure, and this certainly is a vehicle to do that."

Our conversation is interrupted by a young woman entering the room. She looks at my outstretched hoof for a long time before shaking it, she looks at the entire herd, "I'm Kathleen. I'm the production assistant here, and I just need to tell you a bit before we take you out to the stage." She looks at us for a moment, then shakes her head, I hear her murmur under her breath, "I must be dreaming." She smiles and continues in a normal voice, "When you called and asked to be booked, she was a huge fan of the show, and she even cancelled a band that was booked so she could devote the entire hour to you guys. How many are coming on stage with her?"

I look around, "I think I'll come out first, though some of the others might get over their shyness as the show progresses."

She looks at us all, "Ummm, okay." She shakes her head, apparently she's having trouble understanding that this is real life, and that makes me chuckle, because this coming from someone working in television, she continues, "This is a taped show, so you don't have to be perfect when it comes to talking, and the director will be talking to her in a little device in her ear. If you have any problems, just let us know." She glances at her watch and gestures for me to follow. I follow her to the edge of the stage, if I stretch my neck, I can see the edge of the live studio audience. A couple of staff people are working on stage, though the bright stage lights have been lit, something not the case when we were first escorted to the green room.

A few minutes of waiting, then music starts up, and some kind of cue must have gone off, because the crowd starts cheering, and in moments, entering stage left, is the iconic daytime host. Her short blond hair bounces as she dances in front of the crowd, which continues to cheer, but add in clapping in beat with the rhythm of the music. I find a hoof tapping to the music, and my nerves hit, I'd like to puke right now. But Irony told me to eat light, and I did. But my stomach is roiling. I sigh as the music quiets down, all the lights dim except for a spotlight on the host.

She holds out her hands for quiet, and once she gets it, she smiles for the cameras, "Welcome to my show. I don't usually get to the guests so quickly, but I'm so excited about these guests. If you've been paying attention to the rumors, yes, it's true. And they are going to be here." The crowd spontaneously starts to clap as the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic logo flashes on screen. She points back at the screen, "Yes, the characters from the show are real. And from what I've been told, Princess Twilight Sparkle and the main ones from the show are back in Equestria, rebuilding after a very rough time. But a lot of ponies decided to stay." Behind her the screen flashes scenes from the episodes that have me in them. Seeing myself in animated form is always fun, but I'm really trying to control my body. I am terrified.

The host is oblivious to my terror, she continues, "And in fact, they have homes all over the world, including a few right here in the US. And if you didn't know already, the weather here in Los Angeles is already being influenced by pegasi. If clouds are to come in, you might catch a glimpse of one. My guest today hails originally from Baltimare, Equestria. But is currently a resident in the frigid state of Montana. Ladies and gentlemen, Lightning Dust."

Well, here goes, I plaster a smile on my face and extend my wings. If I'm going on stage, I'm doing it my way. A spotlight hits me as I emerge, nearly blinding me. I hover slowly as I let my eyes adjust to the onslaught of light. I'm at head level for the host, and so I surprise her by throwing my forelegs around her neck in a big hug. She giggles as she hugs me back, then she guides me to the couch. I settle into the couch and watch her sit.

After a long time with a lot of applause, the audience finally calms down. I can't see them, not with all the stage lights, but I can certainly hear them. Ellen clears her throat and starts, "Well, first off, why don't you just tell your story."

I smile, I have to remember to keep a smile on my face, this is television, "I'll give you the cliff notes, Ellen. A bit over three years ago, I was a human being, just like you, or anyone else here. Then on my birthday, the strangest thing happened, these weird tattoos appeared on my hips." I touch my cutie mark quickly with a hoof, then continue, "Over the next three days, I slowly turned into the pony that is sitting before you."

She grimaces, "Did it hurt?"

I shake my head, "Not really, except when I tried to walk on two legs with pony hips, that was a bit painful, but the transformation itself was painless."

She looks at me slyly, "I saw you fly in here, you like those wings?"

I nod enthusiastically, "Oh, you have no idea. I wanted to be a pilot when I was a kid, now I can fly faster than any airplane. The only thing that can beat me in the air is a rocket, and I'm more maneuverable than any rocket." I flare my wings and jump straight up, doing a very fast and short loop, landing back in my chair. "Being a pegasus is awesome! Though I'll tell you, any pony thinks their tribe is the best."

"Even the earth ponies?"

I nod, "Especially the earth ponies, every earth pony I've asked, they all said they love the pony they are."

I like the thoughtful look on her face, after a moment she continues, "How many ponies are there?"

I stop to think, "We haven't done a census or anything, it's something we are talking about, but my best guess is there are about a hundred thousand ponies in the US, and another fifty or so thousand scattered all over the world."

She whistles, "That's a lot of ponies, Discord must have been busy."

I nod, I can feel tears welling in my eyes, she quickly changes the subject, "So, tell me about your, what is it? Herd?"

I nod, "We've got a pretty big herd, there is myself, Irony, Mindy, Moon Shadow, Sunset Shimmer, and Helen for the mares, we've got three stallions, there's Star Shine, Dr. Ray, and Alan. And then we have the foals."

She furrows her brow, "Ray, Alan, Helen? Those don't sound like pony names."

That's because Alan and Helen are humans, and Dr. Ray was a human, but with a magical mishap with the portal, he had visited Equestria on its first opening and remained a pony on returning."

"You herd with humans?"

I nod, "Helen was my wife before the change."

I'm interrupted, "You were a guy?"

I chuckle, "Yeah." Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Sunset's horn light up, and I glance back, a picture of me with my family is on the screen, Sunset shoots me a smile as I continue, "I am a master electrician, I own my own company. Doing oilfield electric work, and I still own the company."

"What did she think of the changes?"

I smile as I catch a view of Helen, "She's accepting of the changes now. It was rough for a while, but while I was recovering from some very serious injuries, we talked quite a bit, and then we decided to form the herd." I brighten, letting my smile come back out, "I love every member of my herd."

She smiles at me, "And you mentioned foals, how many?"

"Well, there is Hannah and Dylan, they were mine before the change, but then every pony mare has added to the family. We have six foals in addition to the two human children of my herd."

"That's a lot of mouths to feed."

I nod, "But I wouldn't want a single day without them."

"You said every mare, that means you had one as well?"

I nod, "My little Mischief, she's three months old."

"Are a lot of ponies having foals?"

I have to laugh at that question, "Yeah, you could say that, about eighty percent of the ponies are mares, and of those, more than three quarters of the mares are pregnant or have new foals."

Ellen gasps, "Haven't you guys ever heard of condoms?"

I bark out a laugh, "We have something better, it's a spell cast by unicorns, called the no-foals spell. But most of the mares were pregnant before the spell has been rediscovered. But I'm told that many are refusing to use it. We love our children, we are a growing population."

"How many are staying here?"

I think for a moment, "The vast majority of those that wanted to go back to Equestria have gone, as of a few months ago. So the ponies that are here, are mainly going to stay here."

"What about humanity? Food? Clean water? All the necessities of living, with as fast as your population will be growing, won't it be hard?"

I shake my head, "Oh, no. None of those problems are going to be problems much longer. I guess the best way I can explain it, we are in harmony with nature. You know the big thing in the show, harmony. Well, it's not the tree that creates harmony, the gems in that tree are small compared to the magic of harmony the ponies generate. We are growing food and can more than double food production worldwide, maybe even more. We've already been talking to farmers nationwide, and we are helping. As well with the pegasi and our weather control. We are driven creatures, Ellen, we have to control the world around us. Weather, food production, clean water, we control all of that. I've watched a bit of television over the last several months, being heavy with pregnancy makes me want to rest more than usual. But I've watched meteorologists scratch their heads over the climate. And I can answer with one word. Ponies."

"Really? You do all of that?"

I nod, "Oh yes, Ellen. We want to share this world with humanity. All but the foals were once human, we are not competitors for limited resources, we are increasing the resources, so all can benefit."

She looks thoughtful as I continue, "We've been working on legislation setting up a pony weather bureau for the US. And if it passes, and we get things working correctly, and I have no doubt that we will. But droughts will be a thing of the past, destructive weather will be a rarity. Earth ponies can help, so can the unicorns. And don't forget a wonderful thing that has been happening."

She looks confused, "What?"

"Humanity once had magic, do some reading, human history is replete with magical elements. But then it all went away. And we've found that humanity's magic simply went to sleep. But with us here, with us using magic all the time."

She interrupts me, "You are talking about the unicorns?"

I nod, "Yes, but not just them, the pegasi have magic too, and so do the earth ponies. We all have magic, Ellen. And we have awoken magic in the humans."

Now that is a surprised look, her eyebrows almost disappear into her hair, "Really?"

I nod again, "Yes, currently at the pony town of New Beginnings, we have nearly a thousand humans, of all ages, that can do one magic or another, the same way any unicorn can do magic."

Now the look on her face is shock, "A thousand humans with magic?"

"Yes, from all over the world. And we are teaching them to use that magic, so they can go back home and teach other magic users that arise in the future."

"That is amazing, Lightning Dust."

"Yes, it is. And I am blessed with a human magic user in my own family."

"Really? Who?"

I smile, "My daughter, who was a brony at ten years of age before all of this came about." I look over at my family and nod. With a soft pop, my daughter appears in front of us. Ellen just stares at the young woman.

My daughter extends her hand with the cutie mark, "Hi, I'm Hannah."

Ellen just sits there, dumbfounded, "You can do magic?"

Hannah giggles, "Oh, teleportation wasn't good enough? Here, let me show you what Sunset Shimmer has been teaching me." She concentrates and a vase on the table levitates. All eyes are on the vase, except for mine, I'm watching my daughter, she's concentrating even harder, and with a loud pop, the vase turns into a male cardinal, which lands on the table, looks at Ellen, the chirps and takes off.

"Wow!" She takes a moment to focus on a camera, "And with that, we will take a commercial break, and be back with Lightning Dust, and family."

The light on the camera extinguishes, and Ellen visibly slumps. After a moment she looks at my daughter, "That was amazing!"

Sunset Shimmer pops over to us, the bird floats back in her magic. And with a squawk, it turns back into a vase, "Well Hannah, you seem to have your transmogrification down pretty well, I'm proud of you. Time to go to the next step in your training."

Sunset turns to Ellen, "She easily tops the scale, Ellen. She's almost scary, how powerful she is. But she's learning at a prodigious rate. She's doing amazing."

"What about you?"

Sunset giggles, "The only unicorn in Equestria to outstrip me when it comes to strength is Twilight. Though Hannah is pretty close." She brings the little girl over for a hug.

Ellen smiles, "Your family is amazing, for the rest of the show, I really would like to have you all out here, I can bring out more couches."

I look at the members of my herd, I see Helen subtly nod. I turn to Ellen, and nod.

A few minutes later, we are all sitting together, she nods at the cameras and apparently the director is watching, more lights heat up, and cues flash for the audience to start applauding. After a long moment, Ellen speaks, "And we are back, if you didn't know, I was talking to Lightning Dust, and her family has decided to join us." She gestures with her hand, and I watch another camera swing a bit towards us, with a red light on the top. I'm guessing that's the active camera at the time. The applause swells for a moment before calming down again.

"So, Lightning Dust, why not introduce them all."

I smile, and point to Irony, "This is Irony Shieldbreaker, she was the leader for the guard contingent for Princess Twilight Sparkle after the Tirek incident." I point next to her, "This is Moon Shadow, she is a dreamer, and is able to do what Princess Luna does, in fact, she's Princess Luna's apprentice, much the same how Princess Twilight was Princess Celestia's apprentice. And next to her is a pony many know, Sunset Shimmer." I smile warmly at the golden mare, she blushes a bit over the renewed applause.

"Next we have Mindy, she was only shown for a few seconds in season five. But she was actually my childhood friend growing up in Baltimare. And last, but certainly not least, Helen, who was my wife before the change, and still is the love of my life." I soften my voice, but I think I'm still audible, "All of these ponies are the loves of my life." I clear my throat for a moment, trying to control my emotions, "Including the stallions. We have Star Shine, Ray, and Alan."

Helen takes a moment to pass my little Mischief to me, I nuzzle the tiny pony, and am lost, looking at my child for a long moment, then I hear Ellen's voice right above me, she's come over, and is on a knee, looking at the little bundle in my forelegs, "She's so cute! Can I hold her?"

I'm caught unawares, I really don't want anyone that's not of my herd to hold my child, but before I can even think, she's gently scooped up Mischief. I know she will be gentle, but I have to fight my reaction to have my wings show how stressed I am.

"You have the most beautiful of foals, Lightning Dust!" She coos, and I feel my face flush, Mischief is completely adorable, I know this fact. Mindy's two little ones are tottling around, and Dot shambles up to Ellen, getting her attention, she reaches out an arm and gathers the unicorn into her lap. I look over at Mindy, she isn't at all stressed by someone holding her little one. Cloud Burst is trying out his wings, and seems to be successful, with how he's zooming around. Moon Shadow has both her foals with her. She looks happy, not just to be here, but happy with holding her babies.

"Three months of age, you say?"

I nod. 

Ellen looks thoughtful, "So, you mares are in the estrous cycle, and your cycles are pretty close to one another, right?"

I frown, I'm not certain where she's going with this, "Yes."

She looks sly, "So, Helen, what were you doing while all these ponies were getting it on?"

Helen blushes, and judging by the flames in my own face, I'm just as brightly blushing as she is. I look around, everypony is blushing, this gets a huge giggle from the show host, "You didn't!"

I trace a circle in the leather of the couch with my hoof, and in moments, Ellen exclaims, "You did! All of you?"

Helen laughs, "Yes, they did. And I joined in."

Ellen looks at the ponies, then at the humans, "What about you Alan, have you?"

I didn't think his freckled face could get more red, but it does, "Well, actually. I've only been with Mindy so far."

Apparently Ellen had some thoughts, because her face turns red as well, "Wow, as a good friend of mine, who passed away not too long ago would say, Oh My."

This gets a lot of laughs from the audience.

Mindy bounces out of her chair, "I have an idea everyone!" 

She bounces in front of the audience, and she starts to sing, music starting to fill the air, Ellen's eyes widen as Mindy starts to sing. She turns and looks at me, her jaw dropping.

"You've watched the show, the term, it's Pinkie Pie applies when it comes to her antics."

She nods slowly as she looks around, I smile, "Yes, it's Mindy."

I recognize the song, it's a Pinkie Pie song. And soon the rousing chorus starts, the entire audience stands up and sings with her. I laugh as I watch.

Ellen turns and looks at me, confusion on her face, I smile at her, "It's called the magic of harmony, and it is wonderful to watch.

She looks at the crowd singing and back at me, then smiles, "I knew I liked you ponies!" She squeals.

***

Three days later, I'm at CNN headquarters in New York City. After the Ellen show aired, I've received renewed calls for interviews. After CNN, I've got two radio shows to do, and another interview with Fox News. This press tour is really going gangbusters. The director for the show has just finished explaining things to me. I hoofed over a flash drive, Mindy has drilled into my skull the names of files on that drive that she said should be helpful. I haven't watched all the files on it yet though. Shortly the host of the show announces a commercial break, along with a requisite tease about what's coming up next. I have to smile, he said one word, "Pony." I know a lot of people are going to be glued to their screens for the next segment. The lights on the cameras go out, and I'm waved over. I trot over to the offered chair and hop up, using my wings to steady myself, I finally settle into the chair that is not at all designed with a pony in mind, and turn to the host.

"Hi there, I'm Lightning Dust."

He smiles and offers a hand, I reach out my hoof and it's shaken, I smile at the human.

"I've watched quite a few of the episodes, I'm really happy you decided to come on my show."

"We have to get our story out, after a long time denying interview requests, I've decided to do some."

"May I ask why?"

Wow, the interview is starting before the cameras are rolling, I smile at him, "For a long time, after we changed from human to pony, we've been focusing on ourselves, getting homes set up, getting lives worked out after the supreme disruption that was this change. But I've gotten tired of being treated like a circus freak the instant I leave where ponies are common. So I'm trying to change attitudes, ponies are a fact of life, humanity has to see that."

He chuckles, "I understand you there. Though you aren't our only guest in this segment, we are going to be joined by satellite with a couple of others, we want to have as many opinions on this."

This catches me off guard, I thought it would be a lot like the Ellen show, where we showed ourselves, and let humans see that we are for real. "Seriously?"

He nods, "It turns out there are some with some very strong opinions about you ponies, and we need to give them some air time as well. We need to see what's really going on."

I have to sigh at this point, "What really is going on…" I'm interrupted by a raised hand, he seems to be listening to his earpiece, and he turns and smiles brightly at the camera, which shortly has a red light activated on it. 

"And welcome back, as you no doubt have seen, the ponies from Equestria happen to actually be real. In the studio today, I have Lightning Dust."

The camera facing me has it's light turn on, he turns to me, "Welcome to New York, Miss Dust."

I wave a hoof, "Just Dust will do, our family structures are a little different than here. Very little use for Miss, or Mister, and such. Just plain Dust will do."

He smiles, but I see in his eyes, he's a little taken aback.

We chat for a bit, mainly covering ground that I've trotted on quite a bit with Ellen so far. Then he throws me a curve ball, "You are aware there are now some out there that want the ponies to go back to Equestria, and leave humanity alone."

My mind immediately goes to Spectrum, I have to fight to keep my wings from flaring in anger, though it's obvious I'm gritting my teeth, "I've had to deal with humans with that attitude, yes."

"Well, today we have a guess out of Salt Lake City, Utah. His group believes Earth is for humans only. And when you were booked here today, he wanted to provide his own point of view, Richard Willard, of the Community to Keep Humanity Pure."

He looks at the camera, and a monitor springs to life, it's not the hated leader of Spectrum, but another human, rather rotund in appearance, in a dark blue pin stripe suit, his unruly mop of hair and obvious sweat under the lighting really stands out to me.

"Thank you for having me."

"So, Mr. Willard, we've heard Lightning Dust's point of view. Let's hear yours."

The human sits up straighter in his chair, his greasy smile makes my wings want to extend in fear, "Thank you. Now, for a couple of years now, we've heard about the ponies cropping up all over the world. And we've been trying to get some traction. We've had some success, Salt Lake City has been declared a pony free zone."

I fight to keep my face neutral, this son of a bitch has been blocking ponies? I try to fight my emotions, though I want to scream at him, I'll get my chance. He continues, "These creatures do not belong in civil society. Their customs, their way of life, is opposed to the freedom that humanity desires. They even emblazon their slavery for all to see, and disguise them with a euphemism, a cutie mark. They don't have free will, even the creature you are sitting there with said it herself, she says they are driven creatures. They are driven to control the elements around them. They are doing unnatural things to our climate. Who even begins to know what their meddling will do."

I'm breathing heavily now, I can see on the screen, I'm the focus on the screen, I fake a smile, to me it looks fake, I hope others think it's genuine.

"Those are some pretty strong words, Mr. Willard." I start off with, I take a moment to control my emotions, though it's not easy at all, "I was telling the truth, we are driven creatures, and humanity has been benefitting by our hard work. Los Angeles hasn't had a smog day, or even an air quality alert since shortly after we started working on the weather there."

He interrupts me, "And do you deny that the symbol you possess on your flank marks you, and limits your freedom?"

I suppress a sigh, "Of course I deny it."

He smiles, that greasy smile again, "So, once you gain your cutie marks, as you call them, you are driven to do what that mark represents?"

I nod tightly.

"So, where is the freedom? Where is the self determination in your society? Or are you all in thrall to a quartet of supposedly immortal beings that you worship?"

I want to snap back at him, but being rude isn't going to help at all, though what I'd like to do is high tail it to Salt Lake City and find this weasel and beat the living snot out of him. It was wise for us to converse by satellite, I clear my throat, "We do have the princesses, that is true, and my cutie mark, along with the cutie marks of all the ponies do say to the world what our talent is, what makes us special, we are in no way limited by these marks. Let's talk Rainbow Dash. Her cutie mark is a tri colored lightning bolt flashing from a cloud. What is means is, she is a speed demon, a speedster pegasus, I am one as well. We are very rare. But what was her job in Equestria? She was weather manager for Ponyville, and later a Wonderbolt. Neither occupations really have anything to do with her talent of speed."

He sneers at me, "Oh, and being a member of a special flight team isn't being enslaved to her quote, unquote, talent?"

I shake my head vigorously, "Not at all Mr. Willard, as a performing member of the Wonderbolts, she is not in a race when we are performing, she has to stay with her wingpony for maneuvers, she must restrain her speed to do her job correctly."

He immediately takes a different tact, "And what about your home life, you've introduced your herd, you have six females and three males in your polyamorous relationship?"

I nod, "Yes, I do."

"Including two humans?"

I nod again.

"Do you have sex with them?"

I can feel my face flushing, "Our private lives are none of your business."

He nods, "Meaning yes, you do."

He shifts in his seat and his eyes bore into the camera, "This is sickening, not only are they in a polygamous relationship, they don’t confine their sickness to their own kind. They've got two humans along with them. This is why they need to go back where they came from."

"Now hold on a minute," I shout, "That is not the complete story." I get a hand on my withers from the host of the show, my glare at him shoots daggers, I turn to the camera, "Yes, we have a large family. Though that is the norm in our home. The humans in my herd, Helen, who was my wife before I turned into a pony, and Alan, who has recently come into our lives, are here of their own volition. We didn't force them."

He scoffs, "Yeah, enticing humans to join with you in unnatural ways."

I talk over him, "They are happy, we all are happy, we are raising our children in this world. And we are making the lives of people like you easier. Food production has nearly doubled, rainfall nationwide has increased, even some of the driest places in the US are getting more rain than they've seen in centuries. We are helping humanity!"

He stands up and slams a hand on the table in front of him, "You are corrupting humanity with your ways."

The host takes a moment and looks at the camera, "We'll be right back after the commercial break."

The light goes out and I look sharply at the host, "Can he hear me?"

A quick push of a button on the desk, and he shakes his head.

I growl, "What the fuck is this guy's problem?"

He looks confused.

I'm working my way up to be really torqued, "I expected an interview, not a debate. I'm trying to show what is now a fact of life in this world, and you want to bring on some yahoo who wants all the ponies gone?" I'm shrieking right now, I don't like shrieking.

"Lightning Dust, the public needs to know, they need to know all the viewpoints."

I snort, "So if you get somepony on the news saying that water is wet, you'll have to bring on someone who has a different opinion? I'm here as a courtesy, you invited me. I did not sign up for this."

He looks scared for a second, "Are you ending the interview?"

I've already thought about that, I've made my decision before the final word left his mouth, "Of course not. But this will be the last damned time I appear on your show, or your network, if they allow bullshit like this."

"Please, watch your language."

I scoff, "We are on commercial break right now, as you said. And if you want to run any of this later, you can fucking bleep my words out. I've been an electrician for a decade and a half, most of which in the oil field. I cuss, I smoke, I'm not at all the cutesy wootsy pony you see on your television, this is real life. And we are very similar to that children's show, but we are also very different."

He looks more confused, "How so?"

I feel some of the steam abating, "Listen," I sit back down on the chair, folding my wings at my side, "The show got a lot of crucial things right. The elements, Discord, us ponies. But you have to remember, that was a children's show, designed to teach morals for the children watching it. The ponies here, on the other hoof, are real, living people. Not the idealized characters you see animated on screen."

He jerks in surprise, putting a hand to his ear, I'm guessing the director is talking to him through his earpiece. He looks at me plaintively, "We are back on in fifteen seconds, can we finish this?"

I grin, "Of course." I sit and look on the camera, putting a calm expression on my face as I settle down.

After the allotted fifteen seconds expire, our host brightens as the lights illuminate once again, "And welcome back, we have our guests here, Lightning Dust, and Richard Willard." He looks at me, "Dust, would you like to say anything in response to the last comment from Mr. Willard?"

I smile, "Of course I do." I look into the camera, mentally boring a hole in the head of the stupid human, "Mr. Willard, I've spent thirty five years as a human, and before that, twenty two years as a pony. My life was seriously disrupted by this change. And this change is something I've had to deal with. Just like all of humanity has to deal with the fact there are intelligent quadrupeds all over. We are here, and nothing you are going to say is going to drive us away."

The human on the other end of the satellite connection  clears his throat, "You should be confined until that portal opens again, then shoved through. Leave the earth for humanity."

I suppress a growl, "I'm sorry, Mr. Willard, that you feel that way. But I'm just glad your view isn't the prevailing view in this world. The ponies are not competitors, we are friends. Many humans near where I live enjoy having the ponies around. There has been friction, ponies aren't perfect either. But we refuse to hide, we refuse to be confined. In fact, I'll have the news network give you a phone number, you call it, and I will personally escort you around the town of New Beginnings. I'll let you see ponies and humans interacting together, and both richer for the experience. I'll show you ponies controlling the weather, growing food, and doing the magic that humanity has lost, but is now finding."

He grins, "Oh, I doubt I'll be calling that number, though would you explain all the deaths caused by ponies?"

My ears fall, "What are you talking about?"

"A couple of years ago, in Oregon, a little place called Spectrum Laboratories."

"That was in response to me, personally, being abducted by Spectrum employees."

He waves a hand, "Likely story."

I growl, and I look at the camera, "Mister Director, I know you have the flash drive I gave you, would you pull up the file called Dust's torture?" I'm really glad that Mindy had me bring the flash drive with some of the videos.

I glance at the host, he's got a hand on his ear, listening intently, and in moments he nods. On screen, the leader of spectrum is sitting at his desk, though the sound apparently is muted, then he presses a button on his desk, and the scene changes. I'm sitting in awe, neither Mindy, nor Irony have shown me this. The camera shows me, sobbing, my wings dripping blood freely, my shoulders wracked with sobs. The scene ends, I pipe up, remembering what I was told, "And could you show them the file called attack on the farm?" 

A few second delay, and magic held video shows dead ponies, dead from obvious gunshot wounds, it even shows Sparkler, blood flowing freely from a wound to her shoulder. And humans being disarmed with magic. I've been told about this, "Why not have you explain the deaths of ponies at human hands, and the money for those men came from the Spectrum group. Those same men who had me captured, and tortured for over six months. The same men who had mercenaries break into my house, and attempt to capture my wife, and my children?" I'm standing on the table now, my wings spread in rage, "You son of a bitch, we've been attacked in our own homes because we are different than you. We didn't ask to be on this world, we were brought here by chaos incarnate. But since we are here, and almost all of us have twenty five years of memories on this world, and we don't want to give this life up, that means it's okay for us to be shot? To be killed by people who hate those that are different than you?"

I paw at the table, my eyes are narrowed, "I've been personal witness to human caused death and destruction far more times than I want to count. All of it since I've turned into a pony. We have not responded to most of that. Or maybe you could explain the small farm in Minnesota, with just over a hundred ponies, completely wiped out, except for one?" I'm shouting once again.

The fat human on the other side of the satellite link has gotten very pale, "I didn't…"

I cut him off, "No, of course, you didn't know. We don't advertize all of our heartache for the world to see. What did we do with the farm? We found the lone survivor, and we gave him a home. What did we do with the mercenaries who attacked New Beginnings before it was a town? We stopped the attackers, and captured them, we treated them humanely until the federal authorities came and got them. What did we do in response to myself being kidnapped, tortured, and raped? They retrieved me, they saved me, with surprisingly light human casualties, in fact, at the cocaine production place where they had me, over two hundred humans were captured, and hoofed over to the Columbian authorities. I must say, Mr. Willard, we've been very polite in response to some serious aggression by humans that believe as you do."

He continues to stammer, I hop off the table, my wings still spread in anger, "This interview is over. And I won't be returning." I stalk out the door of the studio, and after a few minutes, I'm on the roof of the building. I'm going home.

> Chapter 52. Life is Not Without it's Complications
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Good little one, you done?" I say to the small form suckling at my teats, Mischief pulls away, I gather her up and bring her to my shoulder, I use my wing to rub her back, and in moments a small belch is emitted from the small white form. Almost four months of age, and she's demanding, my teats hurt, even with the lotion that Dr. Ray gave me. Her first teeth are coming in, and they are sharp as hell, it all adds up to quite a bit of pain on my part. She seems exhausted from the ordeal of eating, falling asleep in my arms. I transfer her to one foreleg, and walk with the other three over to her crib. In moments the tiny pegasus is sleeping peacefully. I'm getting better at transferring her without the aid of hands. I'm glad the press tour is over for now. A very hectic week for the entire family, but word of the ponies is starting to get out. That brings a smile to my face.

A hand rubs behind my ear, "You did good Dust."

"It's easy, Helen, just had to figure it out with the new appendages."

She pinches my ear a bit, causing me to look at her, "That's not what I meant, and you know it, Dust."

We both look at the sleeping form, I sigh, "Yeah, I know. I was lucky, Star did a good job too."

She chuckles, "Star had a bit of pleasure, you got to carry her for eleven months. It was pretty different being the oven rather than the turkey baster."

I laugh, "You know my part was a little bigger than that."

She sighs, "I know, Dust."

"What brings you up here, Helen?" I'm still not comfortable feeding Mischief where others can see me. I've been female for only three years, so, it's a bit of a stretch to do to the pony version of breast feeding in front of people, even those that I love.

"Sunset is ready."

"Back to Dubuque?"

She nods, "You girls are going to try to find the book, Sunset has been doing a bit of research online. Trying to find where she lived as an Equestrian on Earth. She found the house, finally. She said it took a lot of searching with Google street view. She didn't remember the street name, just had to search for days, until she found a familiar place. But she's ready to go."

I look at the beautiful bundle in the crib, she's moving around, and her wings are certainly growing, I can't wait to take to the air with her before too long. From what I've seen so far, pony foals mature slightly faster than human children, though walking is easier, since we use all four legs for walking unlike the human two. But she's babbling once in a while, and her first words are on their way. I sigh as we walk out of the room, I look up at Helen, "Tell me that I am making the right decision, staying here instead of going to Equestria."

She chuckles as she rubs behind my ear, "Dust, you made the best decision available. Will it be easy? No. But it will certainly be interesting, and Mischief is going to live in a wonderful world."

I sigh and follow my wife out the door, I smile as I watch Irony and Moon Shadow get ready to join us, Mindy will be staying home this time, she wants time with the foals. 

"Okay Dust, I'm ready." A male voice says behind me, I turn.

"Dr. Ray, you coming?"

He smiles sheepishly, "Yeah, I've been to focused on things here, I want to join you guys, and on an easy trip like this, it should be fun."

I smile, "Glad to have you, love." I move up and give the stallion a kiss, keeping it chaste since Hannah and Mindy's foals are in the living room as well. I nod to Sunset Shimmer, "Ready?"

She nods and we all leave the house, a quick trot down the street and we are heading to the parking area where we keep our chariots, along with housing for the pegasi whose job it is to pull the chariots. Though I have to slow down as we walk.

"Damn, all the ponies!" I breathe excitedly, easily a thousand ponies are in my view, a couple of hundred pegasi are up in the sky, though the cloud city has been gaining population by the day. I hear a dozen languages, everything from English, to Chinese, Spanish, and quite a bit of Equestrian. This is a bustling city now, with nearly fifty thousand souls living here, it's amazing! Then I see something that stops me in my tracks.

"They are real?" I mumble, too awestruck to think of anything else to say.

Sunset looks where I'm looking, then back at me with a smile, "Yes, they are real."

Two ponies are sedately walking down the street, yet they aren't like any pony I've seen before. Their elongated ears, slitted eyes, and most tellingly, leathery wings folded at their sides, "I never knew." I say in wonder.

Sunset giggles, "There are about a hundred of them in New Beginnings, a few have even signed up for jobs pulling chariots."

I sit down and rub my eyes with my hooves, then stare at the bat-ponies once again, "Amazing!" I search back in my memories, there are still holes and gaps in them. Apparently the bat-ponies are among the gaps, because nothing of them surfaces as I search my memory. After the fruitless search, I shake my head and regain my hooves. My family with me as we continue to walk through the town.

"Oh, Dust, you've not been through town very much recently. In case you didn't know, the Walmart has opened, and a few other national chain stores are vying for space in this town. And we have bronies visiting all the time. We've actually started building a hotel for visitors. This town is continuing to grow, Lightning Dust. In fact, we are now the third largest city in Montana. And we are getting nationally known restaurants, stores, and entrepreneurs wanting to work with ponies. While we don't require them to hire ponies as a condition of coming here, they do anyway.

I can only shake my head, finally we are at the transportation hub for New Beginnings. The chariots are being built at a prodigious rate, but we only have so many pegasi qualified to pull them. We walk over to one that is owned by my family, and two pegasi emerge, they are ready to fly for us. I'm going to use my wings, but my family will take the chariots.

"Lightning Dust!" A voice calls out. I turn around a look. Then I smile.

"Twilight Velvet!" I shout, the mare herself is coming at a gallop, her ever present shadow, Rainbow Blaze, is flying behind her. 

She skids to a stop, "I saw your appearance on TV, I got here as fast as I could."

"You know, we could have sent a chariot for you."

She waves a hoof, "I only use those things occasionally, I much prefer my own hooves." 

I chuckle, looking at the blue pegasus next to her, "So, we were just about to leave, do you want to join…"

"Oh, no, I've got important work to be doing, you talked about Spectrum in your interview." She cuts me off with.

I flinch, Spectrum is a very sore subject for me, the older mare comes forward and nuzzles me quickly, breathing into my ear, "I'm sorry to give this to you so late, Dust. But some of the information was just confirmed, and I think you will want to handle it."

Her horn alights, and a small satchel is levitated off of Rainbow Blaze over to me. I sit down and rummage inside, official looking government paperwork, we are over twenty years into the twenty-first century, and our government still runs on paper, though I do spy a flash drive among the documents, I look at the mare, "What is all of this?"

She sighs, "Proof, of twelve ponies that were at the site that you raided before the first time the portal opened, that did not die of natural causes."

I feel my breathing more than double, my wings flare aggressively, by the look on my face, Twilight Velvet takes a step back, I paw through the documents, pictures fan out, I look at the ponies shown. I don't recognize the names, but the ponies, six earth ponies, four unicorns, and two pegasi, their pictures burn into my brain. My hoof comes down, scattering the papers all around as I whirl away from the unicorn. I walk a few steps, my wings folding around to hold my shaking.

"Twelve of us, killed."

I hear the chime of magic, and the refilled satchel is placed in front of me, Twilight Velvet sounds like she's about to cry, "Dust, I don't have the capability to do anything about it, but I do know you have the ear of the President, this is very damning evidence against an Admiral Volker, who authorized their transfer to Spectrum, and authorized the experiments."

All breath leaves me when I hear the last word, I whirl around to face her, "Experiments?"

I see tears in her eyes, "I've already read the entire file. And I've watched the videos. It's gruesome."

I shudder, my wings are still tight with rage, I take a long time composing myself, then move over to Irony, "Love, I want to handle this, can you and the rest take care of trying to find that book?"

Irony places a forehoof on my withers, "Of course, Love. Do you want any of us with you? To watch your back?"

I chuckle, pushing magic through my wings, electricity crackles and pops among my feathers,  "I don't think that's necessary, Irony. I will take care of this son of a bitch myself."

She cocks her head to the side, "Are you sure? I can go with you."

I shake my head and shrug the satchel onto my back, "I'll take care of him, love."

She nods and steps onto the chariot, I sit and watch as the chariot quickly becomes a speck in the sky to the east. I turn to Velvet and Blaze, "Thank you for this. I will see that justice is done." Without another word, I'm in the air, I'm certain my sonic boom is audible with as fast I took off. I'm in the air, once again, as I'm flying, my mind casts back, to when I met the mare.

***

May 11th, back in 2020, right before the FBI showed up, in fact, that night was when Irony and I first were together. Just after dinner, after Irony went back outside, I get a call from Soarin at the farm.

"Hey sis. Got an issue."

I sigh, I know that means something is going to be a pain in my ass, "What is it Soarin?"

He chuckles, he heard it in my voice, "I don't think it's that bad, but you need to get your hot plot to the farm."

I chuckle, as Maddie hit puberty, I would tease her about her looks, now Soarin is returning the favor, "I'll be right there."

A few minutes flight time, and a quick trot through the house, I knock on the door.

"Come in."

I press down on the handle, we've ponified all the doorknobs in this farmhouse, thank Celestia. I pause for a moment, did I really thank a pony that I really have no memory of? I smile as I complete opening the door. Then I stop, my haunches hit the floor as I recognize the pony sitting in the guest chair.

"Wow, are you the pony that I think you are?"

She chuckles, her rich voice triggers some memories for me, as a Wonderbolt based out of Canterlot, I knew many of the high society, and Twilight Sparkle's mother is certainly one that I have met at the various parties that I had to attend, though she wasn't always at the parties, too busy with her travels throughout the world. But I have met…"Twilight Velvet."

She furrows her brow, "You know me?"

I nod, "Canterlot Wonderbolts." She nods, and I notice a pegasus sitting next to her in the other chair, I shake my head, "Rainbow Dash's dad? Rainbow Blaze?"

He nods, "I remember a bit of the Wonderbolts, I was so proud of her when she joined, and the first thing she does is recruit you." He chuckles.

"You know it, she knew quality when she found it."

He laughs in response, "Well, judging by what you are doing here."

"We are trying, it isn't easy. But we will be able to take care of a lot of ponies."

Twilight Velvet turns to Soarin, "Blaze and I need to get going, can you help with the ponies? The Crystal ponies are very fragile, I'm guessing because of the trauma of Discord, and what has happened since."

I interrupt, "Crystal ponies? They are real?"

Soarin nods, "If you had paid attention while you walked through the living room, you would have seen them. Twilight Velvet brought us some ponies, she was an Army Ranger before she changed. They were on a mission during her change."

I wince, that couldn't have been fun, Soarin continues, "A Nicaraguan drug cartel was gathering ponies, the Rangers saved them, then Blaze started to change. Though their adventures haven't been the best. The US government is making their lives miserable. But we don't have enough details to go on."

Twilight Velvet jumps off the chair, walking past me, she whaps my rump with her tail, "Keep that tail down, Dust."

I blush, I guess she remembers my amorous nature back in Canterlot, I think I might have made a pass at her once or twice, not even caring that Night Light was there. Blaze smirks as he walks past me. I blow Soarin a kiss and turn to follow them into the living room.

I stop on my tracks, I know the human there, I didn't even notice him as I entered, so focused on seeing Soarin, "Eric Peterson, I can't believe it!" I trot up to the human with a big smile on my face, "Ronald keeps telling me about his son the Ranger."

He furrows his brow, "Huh?"

"Surely he told you, I had to let my employees know that I was a pony now. I used to be Mike."

He looks shocked, "My dad told me that his boss turned into a pony, but seeing you." He rubs the back of his head with a hand, "Amazing."

I chuckle as I move over to the ponies, "And who do we have here?"

Three ponies are sitting on the couch, a pegasus, and two earth ponies, all of them are crystal ponies.

Velvet points, "May I introduce Blue Sky, Amber Waves, and Arctic Lilly, formerly of the Crystal Empire, now they are here."

I smile at all of them, "Glad to meet you. We are building a community here, for as many ponies as are willing to stay. You are all welcome here."

A wing folds over my back, I turn and look at Soarin, "Well, big sis, looks like we are going to have a lot of ponies here before too long."

I nod, then remember that I still have things at home to do, I nuzzle Soarin and follow Velvet and Blaze out the door, they watch as I take off full speed, I've got to talk to Irony.


***

I've made the cross country trip in nearly record time, my rage powering my flight. I finally flutter down to the White House east lawn. A quick call around Illinois let them know I was coming and it was important. A secret service agent meets me, escorting me to the Oval Office. 

The President looks up from his desk, "Well, at least this time you called ahead."

I nod as I use a wing to guide a chair to the other side of his desk, hopping up, I toss the satchel on his desk. "I want his ass."

The President furrows his brow, "Who?"

I place a hoof on the folders as the President is going through the paperwork, "Admiral Volker, his ass is mine. And we are going to try him according to Equestrian laws, back in New Beginnings."

He looks at me sharply, "This man is a member of the US armed forces, he's not subject to your laws."

I growl, "That's why I came to you first, instead of abducting him. But I assure you, he will face justice, I'd rather do so with your blessing. I have to warn you, Mr. President, I haven't seen all of the evidence yet, so you and I can go through it together, but as far as I'm concerned, he should be in New Beginnings now."

He sighs and picks up a folder, "When we set up for New Beginnings for you ponies, we treated it along the same lines as a Native American reservation. You are essentially your own nation within our nation. It made it easier when we had to take care of the mercenaries that attacked your farm. Though we have good relations, right?" 

I laugh, "Oh, of course, most favored nation, I would think."

He laughs again, then the chuckles are cut off as he starts reading.

Three hours later, both of us have watched videos that have both of our stomachs roiling, ponies being dissected while still alive, and without the benefit of anesthesia, I wanted to puke, my wings have been tight with rage since the first video, which showed a pegasus getting every feather plucked while the doctor that I met when I raided there droned on about his observations, over the screams of the stallion. A pile of tissues are next to me, and one or two are next to the President himself.

He finally pushes away, "I've had enough. And you've shown me that not only did Admiral Volker authorize the experiments, he also authorized the transfer of the ponies into Spectrum custody. I can have extradition orders ready for you in an hour. Would you like some coffee while you wait?"

I shake my head tightly, I'm too angry.  

Within that promised hour, I'm winging over to the Pentagon, with a badge made at the White House to clear me through the secure sections, I'm glad that the President trusts me on all of this. My shod hooves are silent as I enter the building.  With ponies being in the news, there really isn't much uproar as I walk though the building. I've been told where to go, I follow the instructions and shortly I'm at the office that is my destination. I knock on the door. An Army MP is in tow.

"Come in." A voice calls.

I take a deep breath, and check my wings, folded at my sides as they should be, and open the door.

He looks pretty ordinary, skinny, dark black hair though he's graying, brown eyes, is this the face of a monster? I know what he's done, and while he didn't do it on his own, it was at his request, "Admiral Volker."

His face darkens as he gets a good view of me, "Yes."

"On behalf of Equestria, I am placing you under arrest."

His grimaces, "On what charges?"

"Twelve counts of murder."

He waves a hand, "Preposterous."

I narrow my eyes, my MP steps forward at my indication.

"Hold it right there Mister." The Army MP stops mid step.

"I have right here a signed extradition order from the President of the United States. You are coming with me to New Beginnings, to stand trial for the murder of the ponies."

He scoffs, "I was protecting the nation."

I smile, "Equestria has nothing like Miranda rights, but I'll tell you, anything you say can will be used against you in your trial."

His hand reaches towards a drawer in his desk, my wing flashes forward, the bolt grounds itself into the wall, missing his hand by inches, "Go ahead, give me a reason to bring a corpse back." He blanches and moves his hand away.

The soldier steps forward, producing handcuffs, Admiral Volker stands up and lets himself be cuffed, soon we are walking back towards the exit. I had a chariot follow me, with a quick call after I calmed down a bit while flying, I am not carrying this son of a bitch back to New Beginnings. 

He's pushed onto the chariot, two guard ponies, Blue Sky and another former Crystal guard are there in their armor. The pegasi pulling the chariot are in golden armor as well. This is as official as we can make it. I scrawl my signature on a log and look at the Admiral, "Anything else you want to say?"

His weathered face turns to me, "I acted to protect my nation."

My wings spring out in rage, "You killed ponies, that mean no harm to any human. Take him away."

The pegasi take off quickly, I let them get into the air before I take off, streaking past the chariot, I'll be home hours before they get there.

> Chapter 53. An Offer Declined
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Little did I know the shit storm I unleashed with my capture of the Admiral. I get back to a home missing half of our family, Sunset, Irony, Moon Shadow, and Dr. Ray are gone, and from my texting to them, it will be a couple of days. So I head home and rest, knowing that the guards escorting the Admiral will put him in holding. Yes, we've built a jail, of sorts. Though it's rarely used. The next morning I'm woken very early to banging on the door. I glance at my phone, 4:18AM. What the fuck? I see everypony in bed with me is still snoozing peacefully, so I flutter downstairs to the living room, a quick trot has me at the front door.

"Geez, the door is never locked, what the fuck?" I say as I open the door, then I immediately bow. A midnight blue alicorn is standing there.

"Princess Luna." I scuttle back and point into the living room, bidding her entrance, she gracefully walks past me and goes to the large open room. Her wings are up, and not in any royal capacity, the Alicorn of the Night seems to be more than a little upset.

"Oh, get up, we aren't in Equestria, Lightning Dust."

I quickly comply, then move to one of the couches, I hop up on a couch, and indicate to the Princess to sit, she looks at the large chair, then settles herself into it.

"This is rather unusual, Princess Luna."

She frowns at me, "As are your actions, Lightning Dust."

I furrow my brow, "What are you talking about?"

She sighs, "You arrested a human military member."

I find my wings spreading in anger at her tone, "I was acting in my capacity as a Royal Guard, as a Wonderbolt. That man ordered the murder of twelve ponies."

She sighs, "I've heard, though I would like to see the evidence, but you violated US law in doing so."

Huh? "What are you talking about?" is what I say.

"I don't know if you remember, but back in 2003, a law was signed, it protects military members from being arrested for war crimes, what you specifically did."

I shake my head, "Uhh, Princess. There was no war."

"That doesn't matter. As a member of the US military, he can't be arrested for such actions."

I growl, "The President mentioned that, but he said that was specific to the Hague, in regards to actual war crimes, he said it didn't apply."

She raises her voice, "Oh, then why did I get a phone call today from a member of the Joint Chief of Staff of the Army? You have ruffled a lot of feathers in the Pentagon."

I wave a hoof, "When the extent of his crimes are brought out, they will feel differently."

She returns with a growl of her own, my wings snap to my sides in response, I feel a thrill of fear down my spine, "Lightning Dust, we must cooperate with the humans, no matter what has been done to you, you have to remember, we are an extreme minority here in this world. We have to worry about such things."

We sit in silence for a minute or two, then I perk up, "I have an idea, you should preside at his trial."

It's time for her to furrow her brow, "Me?"

I nod, "You are a Princess, the only Princess on Earth, since Princess Celestia decided to go through the portal the last time it was open. You are the leadership of Equestria, surely you remember presiding over court cases."

She nods slowly, "It is true, I did. But…"

"Princess Luna, make this a full blown affair, the deaths of ponies needs to be addressed. He was responsible, and Dr. Phillips is already dead himself, otherwise I would have him here as well. But Admiral Volker was responsible for the deaths of the ponies. He needs to be held accountable."

She thinks for a moment, "I think we can make that work, though I will have to invite some military brass to join us at the trial, in an advisory role."

Once again, we lapse into silence, until she breaks it after a long time, "And if he's found guilty."

I suppress my queasy stomach, "Death."

She shakes her head emphatically, "Equestria does not believe in the death penalty."

I spring to my hooves, "But banishment, we can't banish him, he'll just go back home and not have a worry in the world."

I think for a long time, then I feel as though I have a light bulb above my head, "I know."

I explain my idea, and at first, she looks confused, then finally, Princess Luna starts to nod in agreement.

"We will have to do that, provided he is found guilty."

I growl, "I'm certain he will. Remember, I had to study law just like any other Royal Guard member."

"Well, I'll have to see the evidence."

I shake my head, "If you are the presiding judge, Princess, you can't see it, until it's presented."

She nods, "Oh, yeah." She then chuckles, "You know, my life while cursed by Discord did not at all prepare me for this."

I have to laugh, "Maybe not, but you are still Princess Luna, with thousands of years of experience as ruler of Equestria, along with your sister."

She laughs, "Got that right, Lightning Dust."

***

You can't accuse Equestria for not having a swift trial, within a week, a gavel is lifted magically by Princess Luna.

"To all here, Court is now in session." She says regally, smacking the gavel gently on its base. She barely even notices the several cameras set up in the court room. While the trial isn't being broadcast live, it is being recorded. And also, Princess Luna had a wonderful idea, all court room officers, everypony with an official capacity when it comes to this trial, was some form of Royal Guard or military member in Equestria. Princess Luna as Judge, she had rank in the EUP, Blue Sky, a crystal guard, is a bailiff. And several other members of the guard are present. Equestria typically has no jury trials, trusting instead the will of the Princesses. 

After a few moments, a side door opens, and the human is led out. He was allowed his Navy uniform for his trial. And his own lawyer, along with a pony familiar with Equestrian law assisting him, over the objections of Admiral Volker.

On the prosecutorial side, a former lawyer from Equestria, a fairly small profession back home, is handling the prosecution. I've had to turn over all the evidence provided by Twilight Velvet to the court. And I had to go over that evidence with him, it's rare for a stallion to be a lawyer in Equestria, though he had some other ties to the crown that I found out about, and he was more green around the gills than I was in the end. He finally hops off of his chair, and stands before the Princess.

"Good morning Princess Luna. We are ready."

The pony lawyer on the Defense side stands, along with the human lawyer and the defendant, "We are ready as well, Princess."

"Proceed." The princess intones.

The prosecutor clears isr throat, "To all who don't know me, my name is Kibitz, I will handle the prosecution."

Luna smiles as she nods.

He steps in front of the bench, "I am here today, to balance the scales of justice. When Discord banished us all, he put us in this world, and when we started to change back to our true selves, we caused more than a little distress to both the normal person and the governments of the world as a whole. This planet ended up closer to a worldwide conflict on the magnitude of the early world wars of the last century, than at any time since. I will admit, this was in no small part due to the fact that ponies are not native to this world."
"That however should not remove the responsibility of those who deliberately killed ponies, or in the case of the defendant, by their orders, ponies were subjected to horrific experiments, and knowing fully well…"

The human lawyer stands up, shouting, "Objection."

Princess Luna smiles as she intones, "Overruled, we are following Equestrian law here. You will get your chance to respond."

Kibitz smiles a bit at the Princess, "Thank you, Princess." He looks at the assembled humans and ponies, "As I was saying, knowing fully well that the experiments would end the lives of the subjects. He ordered them transferred. Under Equestrian law, and under United States law as well, he is as guilty as those who performed the experiments."

Kibitz walks slowly over to his table and sits contentedly. On the other side, the human lawyer and the pony lawyer bend towards each other, after several moments, the human stands up and stands before the Princess.

"Good morning, Princess. My name is Marcus Phillips, a former major in the United States Marine Corps, I served in the capacity of Judge Advocate General, I am now retired, though I've come through at the request of the Admiral here. I am here to defend against these spurious allegations. An officer of the United States Military cannot be held accountable in a foreign court for their actions in commission of their duties. I intend to prove that and prove that the actions of Admiral Volker were reasonable, given the circumstances involved.

I sit in the audience and suppress a snort. If they are going to go with the just following orders defense, this will be a quick trial.

***

I come home after a long day in town, I trot through the empty house, where is everypony? I check the bedrooms, nopony there. I finally find someone, in the laundry room in the basement.

"Oh, Alan. Where is everyone?"

He turns a smiles at me, "Hi Dust, all the foals, along with Irony, Moon Shadow, Mindy, Helen and Sunset, as well as the other stallions, headed out for a while. I think they are shopping in Minnesota, they said they would be back tonight."

"Any word on the book?"

He sighs and shakes his head, "Sunset wrote a message to Princess Twilight, still no response as of yet. She says she's certain the book on the other side is still there, otherwise the magic would have died. But apparently nopony has noticed it as of yet."

I frown, from what Irony told me, Equestria was going to be in shambles for a long time after the ponies returned, though I would think most of the work would be done, or nearly so. I finally shake my head, then walk over to Alan, rearing up on two legs, letting my wings spread for balance, I put my forehooves on his shoulders, and reach up to kiss him. He kisses me back as his arms wrap around me, but when I tease his lips with my tongue, his lips remain stubbornly closed. I pull back and look at him, today has been emotionally exhausting.

"Alan, please?"

He frowns, and amazingly, he looks a little scared, "Dust, I know we've talked about it before. I'm not really comfortable with anypony but Mindy."

My ears fold back, "Mindy isn't here, and I know she would approve, Alan, we all love you. And I really need you right now."

He pulls back a bit, "Dust." He sighs, "I'm sorry."

I pull out of his arms, landing on all fours, I don't know what to do with my wings, I don't want to fold them at my sides, they end up fluttering of their own accord, "Alan, I know Mindy has explained it to you, we all belong to each other, and while for a while, it was okay for you to be exclusive with Mindy, even to the point of excluding yourself when all of us are feeling amorous, but you are a stallion in our herd, in our family. We all love you, you know that right?"

He nods. I feel myself wanting to growl at this insufferable human, but I can't. He means too much to me.

"The time has come for you to be included with the rest of the herd. I'm not asking for much, Alan." I turn back to him, the tears that were threatening to overtake me start to fall, "Alan, I need you. Please?" My voice gets really small at the end. My wings droop to the floor, why am I crying over this? I just need someone, right now, I hurt too much otherwise.

He kneels down, "Dust," He puts a hand on my withers, "You are asking me for more than I'm willing to give. I love all of you mares, you are so nice to me, and you've been very loving. And yes," He smiles and blushes, "I've vacated the room when you ponies are in an amorous mood. But I am not ready for such activities with the rest of you. Mindy and I are still discovering each other, you have to understand."

My hoof comes down on the tile of the laundry room with a sharp crack, I look down, the tile I've hit is shattered, I look up at him, venom in my eyes, "Alan, I'm sorry I met you, and I'm really sorry I introduced you to Mindy." Without another word, my wings power me down the hall and up the basement stairs. I crash through the door and am barely able to open the back door, though I think a pane of glass or three are cracked as I slam the door. My wings really take over, and I power straight up, picking a direction at random, I streak off. After several minutes of flying, I find a likely cloud, I land on it and curl up. Feeling truly miserable.

> Chapter 54. Trial of the Century
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Strong arms grab me in my sleep, pulling me off of the cloud and bringing me to a broad chest, I'm only half awake, I squawk and struggle against the arms holding me.

"Lemme go!" I scream in panic, though the arms don't respond to my screams. I'm flipped around to end up chest to chest with the one who grabbed me, my wings flapping wildly, I'm not lucid enough to realize what's going on. I end up wailing against the chest, and covering the shirt in my tears.

"Oh, Dust, love." A masculine voice coos into my ears, I pull my head back, Alan's freckled face and red hair comes into view, I throw my wings around him, "I'm so sorry." I moan into his chest as I press my face against it again, more tears falling as he holds me, patting my back.

"I know you didn't mean it." He whistles and out of the corner of my eye, we start moving, curious, I look around, we are one of the chariots, and two bat ponies are pulling it. 

I squirm a bit to let him I want down, he releases me so I end up on my hooves, I turn and look at him, "How did you find me?"

He kneels down and touches my earring, then puts a finger on the heavy mans ring he's wearing on the ring finger of his left hand, "I had some help. But it also helps that the only cloud for a hundred miles that is black and raining was visible once we got to altitude."

I blush, a strong magic user like myself can change a cloud based on our mood, a white fluffy cloud can become a raging thunderstorm if we are feeling miserable, just like I was. Alan picks up on my mood, "The family isn't back yet, but I knew you didn't mean those words when you took off. I followed you immediately, though you are really fast, what took you less than five minutes to fly, took the chariot almost twenty."

I rub my fetlock across my muzzle, "I'm a speedster, Alan, I'm fast."

He chuckles, "I know, Dust. Let's get home."

***

Alan is an absolute angel, he doesn't even let me take to my wings to head to the house, he simply picks me up once the chariot lands, and cradles me as he walks to my house. As the sun sets about an hour after I took off, he's laying me down in bed, then he crawls in, gathering me into his arms, I kiss him, keeping it chaste as I start to drift off. Though his voice interrupts my almost slumber.

"Dust, we do need to talk."

I sigh, "I know, Alan."

He's silent for a long time, "It's hard to adjust, I've had a few girlfriends, and having Mindy as a marefriend has been amazing."

I smile, "She's Mindy, she's amazing, you know how long I've known her."

I feel him nod against my neck, "From even before you became a pony here, back in Equestria."

I nod, "She was my best friend growing up." I feel my face flush, "She even helped me through my first heat, and several after that, before I went to the Wonderbolt Academy the first time."

"Helping with heat?"

"You know how ponies are, when it comes to estrous."

He nods again.

"Well, we aren't beasts, our intellect is in control, but estrous is a very trying time, our hormones are absolutely screaming at us, we want that physical connection. But I was a filly fooler, I wasn't really interested in stallions, but Mindy would use a cooler on me, to give me some relief." I chuckle, "And I returned the favor for her when her heat came about. She was interested in stallions, but at least the first few times, she hadn't found one that she seriously wanted to start a family with." I sigh, "Mindy and I are as close as two mares can be, I love her."

He chuckles, "And she loves you, I know, she talks about you a lot."

That gets a laugh out of me, "That's funny, since when we are doing stuff, you are the one she talks about all the time."

He laughs and hugs me tighter, "Mindy is wonderful."

I know that, I flip within his grip, ending up face to face with him, "Alan, I didn't mean what I said earlier, I'm not going to force the issue, but I need to know something."

He furrows his brow, "I'll tell you anything you want to know, Dust."

I feel the tears start before I even open my mouth, "Is it because you find me unattractive?"

He chuckles, and I stiffen, I'm about to get angry when he kisses me, and he surprises me by opening his lips, his tongue darting into my mouth, thrilling me to no end, I feel my wings start to extend as I wrap my longer tongue around his, relishing his flavor, my eyes close as the kiss continues. 

After time immeasurable, he pulls back, "Dust, I do love all you ponies, but my dad cheated on my mom when I was a young teen, I saw how hurt she was with his actions."

"But, it's not cheating, we are a family." I start, only to have a finger placed over my lips.

"I know, Dust. You will just have to be patient."

"Then will you hold me Alan? I really need to be held tonight."

He smiles as he flips me over, and cradles me with his body, I sigh and relax against him, "Thank you, Alan."

***

After three days of testimony, and evidence presentation, Kibitz finally rests for the Crown. I have been trying to not be sick, those videos, the recorded phone calls, the pictures stored digitally along with the printouts, I had to leave the courtroom a couple of times to get some fresh air. Though I keep an eye on the Admiral, to my eyes, he seems completely unmoved. And Luna, she's really taken on the role of judge in this, I can see deadly intensity in her eyes, and I can see her heart was breaking, but she continues to be the judge that I knew she could be. Though I have a feeling when court is recessed, she has more than a few tears to shed for her subjects being treated that way.

The pony lawyer finally stands up, he was using his magic to write some notes on the ubiquitous yellow legal notepads. Finally he stops and looks at the Princess, "The defense is ready, Princess."

She nods, "Go ahead Leading Docket."

He hops off the chair and stands before the courtroom, "I move for an immediate mistrial."

Hushed murmurs spring up around the room. 

"Denied, go on."

Leading Docket seems taken aback, "You haven't even heard why I am moving for a mistrial."

I watch Luna suppress a sigh, "This court will decide the fate of the defendant, none other. But if you really want to state your reasons for the record, go ahead."

Leading Docket nods to himself, then turns and points at Kibitz, "I am requesting on the grounds of a conflict of interest. With the prosecutor here."

Princess Luna seems genuinely puzzled by this, "What do you mean?"

"Kibitz here, was a resident of the Royal Palace in Canterlot, he was Princes Celestia's legal advisor for years before Discord hit. And I've found out, for a fact, that he advised you on several occasions."

I watch the princess hide a smile, what is she planning?

"So, you are saying I would look with favor upon Kibitz and his case due to our previous relationship?"

Leading Docket nods and opens his mouth to speak, but Princess Luna overrides him, "Or do you think that I would rule against him because of the often times strained relationship I had with him?"

Leading Docket seems speechless, she continues, "Because the latter is far more likely. Let me inform you about our previous relationship in Equestria. He was pompous, he was overbearing, and when I wanted to give out a heavy sentence, he would overrule me, using my sister's authority in such cases. He was a constant source of vexation for me as I was adjusting to life back in Equestria after my long imprisonment. Always telling me how to act, how to treat the subjects, things have changed in Equestria over the last thousand years, was his favorite saying."

I glance at the off white pony sitting in the prosecutors seat, he has a faint smile on his face.

Princess Luna focuses on the Defense attorney, "So, you are wanting me to recuse myself because you think I wouldn't be able to get over my animosity towards the prosecutor?"

Docket blanches and steps backwards, "Oh, I wasn't suggesting that, Your Highness."

Princess Luna smirks, "Then what exactly are you suggesting, Leading Docket?"

He shakes his head faintly, "Motion withdrawn."

She moves forward on the bench, "No, I'm not allowing that. This needs to be addressed, you tried to question my impartiality, and as a side benefit to me recusing myself, your client would get off on a technicality. I am not allowing that. You will vigorously defend your client, and I will give you credit for that, but if I even hear a hint of you questioning my ability to be impartial in this trial, I will find you in contempt of court, and I will fine the ever loving Tartarus out of you, is that understood?"

Docket ducks his head, his ears splayed back, "Yes, your highness."

***

After a day of work from the defense, finally the moment I've been waiting for arrives, Marcus Phillips stands up, a single lifted finger at his co-lawyer as a does so, silencing Leading Docket. "I call to the stand, Admiral Gregory Eugene Volker."

The Admiral gets up, and straightens his uniform, he walks slowly to the witness stand, I noticed him picking up a book, one he's looked through quite a bit while on trial. By the way he was holding it, and from my distant view, I conclude it's a bible. He places his hand on it as he's sworn in. And finally he sits down.

Marcus steps over close to the Admiral, "Good afternoon Admiral."

Volker nods.

"Do you understand why you are on trial now?"

Volker nods, and finally speaks, "I was abducted from my office so I could partake of this sham of a trial. I am a member of the US armed forces, acting under the lawful orders of the President of the United States. I demand to be released immediately."

Luna smirks at him, "Admiral, some of your coworkers are here, we have discussed the ramifications of this trial with other members of the US military, and also with the President himself. You are on trial, this is not a sham, and you will keep a civil tongue in your mouth, is that understood?"

The Admiral subsides, Marcus continues, "You have been accused of horrific crimes, in fact, you objected to having a pony lawyer to assist me when it comes to this trial."

Volker nods tightly.

"May I ask why?"

He nods, "God created man, in his own image, and gave man dominion over the beasts of the world. These ponies are not men, they are beasts, to do with as we please. I see nothing wrong with the experiments ordered."

More than a few wings spread in response to his words, and an angry muttering in the courtroom starts. After a moment, Princess Luna bangs her gavel, "I will have quiet here, or I will clear the courtroom."

Not surprisingly, the ponies subside in response.

Marcus straightens his tie, "And there are many here who would dispute your account."

Volker waves a hand dismissively, "Those that do are violating the word of God, I don't really care what they say."

I suppress a growl, I believed in the Bible, in fact, I still do. But I know that book doesn't address the ponies, and from what I remember of my history, organized religion never really took hold, not with two extremely long lived sisters who raised the very sun and moon for us. Though I will admit, integrating my faith with my new life hasn't been the easiest of things, and there are a couple of churches and other places of worship in New Beginnings, showing that other ponies are conflicted as well.

Mr. Phillips continues, "There would be some dispute with that as well, there are now ponies as members of the clergy in the Vatican, as well as a finding from the Pope himself. Do you dispute that?"

Volker nods vigorously, "The Pope is but a man, I'm reading from the very word of God himself."

The questioning goes on for hours, with Volker justifying his actions as orders. But finally Marcus winds down and sits in his seat. Though he glances at Kibitz before saying he's done, and pales at the look on the unicorn's face.

Kibitz smooth's his long mustache and hops off of his chair. He trots up to the witness stand and places his forehooves on the divider.

"You have been talking for a while, Admiral."

The Admiral sits mute.

Kibitz smiles and gets down on all fours. "What does it mean by 'any means necessary'?"

The Admiral continues to ignore the unicorn. After a few moments Kibitz repeats the question, getting the same response.  Finally Kibitz says, "I require an answer, Admiral."

Again, silence from the human on the stand.

Princess Luna clears her throat, "Admiral, you have a choice at this point, you can remain mute or you can answer the questions posed. But I warn you, if you continue to remain silent, you risk summary judgment, and I must say, that judgment will not be in your favor, so I suggest that you answer the questions."

I can see the Admiral grinding his teeth, and finally he opens his mouth, "The orders were worded 'any and all means be used to find a cure for his daughter.'  And any means exactly that, no limits."

"To the point of murder?"

The Admiral snorts, "it's not murder when it's an animal, the worse that could happen would be animal abuse, but that wouldn't apply either, since what was done was animal experimentation and that is perfectly legal, even to the point of the death of the subject."

"In case you didn't know, this is an Equestrian court, and those ponies were Equestrian subjects."

"They still weren't human."

"Irrelevant, they were ponies, they have the same rights as you or any other human."

Volker scoffs, "Not at the time they didn't, the law recognizing personhood of the ponies was signed after the experiments were concluded. There was no retroactive provision in the law."

"Again, that is irrelevant, if this were a court of United States law, that would apply, this however, is not."

"That is why I hold to what I said before, these are illegal proceedings." He looks at the assembled military brass in the room, by their stony expressions, I don't see him getting much, if any, sympathy.

"This has already been hashed out, Mr. Volker. Due to the circumstances involved, and the fact that this is not the Hague or the World Criminal Court, the Servicemember protection act does not apply. You can, and you will be, held accountable for your actions. While Equestria firmly believes in the adage, 'innocent until proven guilty', the evidence against you is very compelling. I would defend myself if I were you, sir."

Volker remains with a stony visage, "I was following my orders."

Kibitz sighs, "Some of the greatest atrocities in this world," He looks around at the assembled, "have been committed by men that were just following orders."

He whirls around on the human, "While you were being interviewed by my opponent here, you asserted that the arising of the ponies was the greatest danger to humanity, along the lines of the Nazi's, the Soviets, and others. Yet you ignore a simple fact, The danger that our nation was dealing with actually had an internal source, Discord himself, in the form of Senator Corddis. He was stoking paranoia, he was fomenting the aggression that he knew would lead to more chaos in this world. In case you didn't know, once we took care of him, tensions dropped quickly. In fact, we are even back on speaking terms with Russia. Apparently Discord was acting on their side as well. With him gone, and with us ponies, peace is closer than ever in this world. Were you aware of those facts?"

Volker crosses his arms over his chest and nods, "One more reason your existence is so dangerous, what other crazy monsters from your world will invade ours?"

Kibitz smiles, "Only time will tell, but I have to say, I have met a monster not of Equestrian origin in this world." He looks at Princess Luna, "I am done with this witness."

Princes Luna nods as the defense rests. I don't expect in immediate verdict, so I take off as the Princess heads off to her chambers, with a half dozen human military members in tow. I wouldn't want to be the Princess right now. I'm a soldier, I may lead, but I don't have to deal with what she does. If I ever wake up with a horn on my head in addition to the wings, I'll go into exile by myself. No way, not this mare. I shake my head as I get outside, I'm glad the court is close to home, a few minutes in the air, and I can greet my family.

***

It takes two days for us to be called in for the verdict. I am sitting in my now usual seat in the audience of the courtroom. I'm glad I wasn't called as a witness, I've seen enough, I don't want to recount it. Princess Luna finally enters the courtroom, the assembled ponies and humans quickly hush as she settles herself at the bench. Her horn alights and she gavels the court in session.

"Admiral Volker, please stand."

The human takes his time standing, being prodded several times by his legal team, but finally he is standing, facing the Princess of the Night.

She clears her throat, "Do you have any words before I render a verdict?"

He shakes his head.

She sighs, "Based on the presented evidence, you are hereby found guilty."

The only response in the courtroom is a collective taking of breath. I think most of us were expecting that.

Volker grins in response, I don't think he regrets his actions one little bit.

Luna then continues, "And your punishment is what took the longest to decide." Her eyes dart very quickly to the military members at the back of the courtroom, "But the court has come to a decision. You are to be banished."

Volker looks confused, but I see Leading Docket get very pale in response.

Luna smiles, but this is not a smile you want directed at you, "This being unusual circumstances due to the fact we are not in Equestria directly, the decision has been made, you will be held here, until the next opening of the portal between our worlds, and you will be taken through. To live the remainder of your life as one of us. As a pony in our world. I understand your daughter was among those who changed, you will have the opportunity to join her. But the ponies there will be apprised of the situation, and you will not be allowed to enter the portal on the other side. You are to be banished from this world, forever."

Cries of outrage come from the assembled, ponies demanding the death of the human, Princess Luna silences them with a look, then she turns and heads to her office. I sit there for a long time as the Admiral is led from the room, and the courtroom finally empties out. Once the room is nearly empty, I take to my wings and land at the door to the office. A quick knock at the door gets a sigh, and finally a, "Come in."

I open the door and push my way in, "Princess, if I may have a word with you."

She looks at me, "What is it, Wonderbolt Leader?"

I furrow my brow, "I know we discussed it, but why did it take so long to decide on banishment?"

She simply smiles at me, I think for a moment, then continue, "Is it because you are banishing him to Equestria?"

She again nods.

"You know there are humans on this Earth who would kill for that punishment."

She chuckles, "And now that the majority of the ponies that want to head home have, some of them might be able to. We are setting up an emigration system between the worlds. Humans that want to go to Equestria can apply to go there. The waiting list is now in the thousands."

"But Volker…"

She smiles, "It is the worst thing that Volker could imagine, I suspect he's seriously wishing the death penalty. But I had to take it off the table, our friends out there wearing uniforms insisted that the death penalty not apply, no matter how brutal his crimes were."

"But Princess, we haven't had the death penalty in thousands of years."

Her grin turns evil, "But they didn't know that."

I smile at her in response, "Excellent play, Princess."

She flares her wings, "They don't give these wings and horn to just anypony, now do they?"

I have to laugh, "No, they don't. Are you staying?"

She shakes her head, "I have other matters to attend to, but I really like how you have things set up here in Montana."

Her praise causes my chest to swell, "Thank you Princess, but at least do me the favor of inviting you to supper tonight."

She sighs, "I would like that, Lightning Dust. I really would."

> Chapter 55. A Weasel in a Mouse Trap
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I land at a nice home pretty close to mine, one of the more expensive houses actually, I think this house is bigger than mine. I have to smile, Dylan has been living with Gold Dust pretty much full time for the last several months, with his 19th birthday on the way, he's able to make his own decisions. He does seem happy, though getting a call from him a few minutes ago was a surprise. I stand on the door step for a long time, I'm guessing Gold has taken my suggestion to heart, I knew that many companies would pay through the nose for her special talents. She might have more in the bank than I do. I finally knock on the door, and then wait, but after a minute or so, the door opens, revealing a dark purple pegasus with a long blonde mane, I smile.

"Hi Dust." The stallion says.

My wings spring out, that voice is so familiar, "Do I know you?"

The pony chuckles, "I would hope you do, but I look a lot different than you saw me a couple of weeks ago."

My rear hits the ground, and my wings go from spread in alarm to drooping on the ground. "Dylan?" I whisper.

He nods.

"But how?"

He smiles, "Who else?"

I stand up again, I fight to fold my wings, they don't want to listen to me, "Sunset Shimmer?"

He nods.

I'm going to kill her, she didn't even tell me, though what I say is, "Well, this is a surprise."

He nods, "Gold Dust wants foals, so does Strawberry Sunrise. So, I asked Sunset, since she's a herd mom and all."

Never let it be said that I don't support my children, I place a hoof on his withers, "And what do you want, son?"

He giggles, I look into his eyes, the boy seems to be pretty happy, "I love it. I almost wish this were permanent."

"Liking the wings?"

He blushes and smiles, "Strawberry has been showing me a bit about how to fly, and it's amazing. Though I don't think I'll ever be as fast as you are, Dust."

I giggle, then change the subject as he backs up to allow me into the house, "Looks like you are doing pretty well."

He smiles, "Every time I say I should get a job, to support my family, both of them almost bowl me over, saying it's their job."

I know how stubborn my son is, "But you got a job, didn't you?"

He grins, "Yeah, web development, I was almost as good as Aunt Maddie when it comes to computers, so I'm making money on that. Add in what Goldie makes, she is printing money finding the best places to drill for oil. And Strawberry makes pretty good with the weather bureau, so we are doing really well."

I chuckle, "I would hope so, says I raised you right. Now, son, if you need anything, I'm but a phone call away."

A chime interrupts, "Speaking of…" I flick my ear and my bluetooth chimes, "This is Dust."

"Dustie, we need you to get home, there are some developments that we need to take care of." Mindy's voice says in my ear."

I sigh, a mare's work is never done, "Love you, Son. And name one of the foals after me, will ya?"

He chuckles, "As if I have any say in that."

I laugh as I head outside and take to my wings, just a few moments and I'm landing in front of the house, Irony tosses a duffel at me, "Spectrum."

I growl and start to put on my armor and my wingblades as more of the family comes outside. Mindy hops over, chattering excitedly, "We've gotten a good twitch in Panama. They are moving drugs through there, and I know there is some computers to raid, I've tickled their firewalls a few times, and got a strong response, the system is protecting something."

"Panama, that's a bit of a flight."

Irony smiles as I hear something behind me, two bat ponies have landed with a chariot, "We are flying in style, love."

I giggle, "Yeah, you are. I'll fly next to you."

Then I yelp as I'm picked up bodily by the large earth pony, she tucks me under an arm as she walks to the chariot, "Dust, I want you fresh, you are riding this time, and it's final."

I huff as I cross my forelegs, "And me the lead mare."

***

We land about a mile away from the building that Mindy was talking about. I follow my family, now my team, towards the building. Cloud Kicker and Blossomforth have joined us this time, so we have myself, Irony, Mindy, Sunset Shimmer, and the two other pegasi. Moon Shadow had decided on kid duty this time, helping Helen with the foals. I love how those two are such good friends.

I take point, Irony behind me in her armor, and the other two pegasi circle around the building. I've tried to get Sunset Shimmer and Mindy to wear armor, but they always insist their magic is more than sufficient. Though I can't see either unicorn right now, they are using Trixie's attention bending spell. We gather at the main door of the building, though I notice traffic around this building seems to be nonexistent. Irony steps forward and places a hand on the door, and with a tight nod from me, she opens it. She darts in quickly, and a low whistle tells me to follow her in.

This place is entirely normal, a small warehouse, with boxes everywhere, in clear aisles, Irony stalks down an aisle with us in tow, but after a bit, Mindy pops forward. She leads us upstairs to a large office.

"Oh, nononono, that's not possible." She says with a moan.

I look around, it looks like an entirely normal office, "What?"

She taps the huge monitor of a computer, "These are CRT monitors, the computers here are at least fifteen years old. They are not the ones that I found."

I shrug my wings, "Perhaps you got the address wrong." I get a withering glare from the party unicorn for my crack. I chuckle as I trot around, then something catches my attention, "That's too big for a building like this. There's no manufacturing going on here."

Mindy, "Huh?"

I point at the electrical service, through the windows, I can see thick wires coming into the building, and the panel is huge, not the hundred or two hundred amps a large open building would need, but about two thousand amps. I look at Mindy, "There is more here than what meets the eye." I trot over to the large switchgear, "Hmm, these are relatively recent," I point at the large electrical conduits heading down into the concrete, "they cored the concrete out rather than having them in when the slab was poured." My eyes narrow, then I look at Sunset, "Is there a basement here?"

The world falls on us as over a hundred humans rush from concealed stairways, all of them armed, and we are quickly surrounded. I look at no less than a hundred rifles pointed at me. All of the humans are dressed in camouflage outfits, black masks over each face. Except for one, though it's not the face I want to see, the head of Spectrum. The man is much darker, with black hair and dark brown eyes, he chuckles.

"Surrender now, or be killed." The man says with a smirk.

I look at Irony, she's snarling, holding her mace tightly, then I glance in the direction of the unicorns, they seem to have vanished. I hear a whisper in my ear, I know Mindy's whisper anywhere. "Dustie, say the word when you are ready." Blossomforth and Cloud Kicker are ready as well, their wingblades at the ready. I unfurl my wings, bringing my blades to a ready stance.

The human smirks, "As you can see, there is no escape, Lightning Dust. You will end up in our custody.

I allow a smile, "I don't think so."

He stomps a foot, "You are outnumbered, out gunned, and you pegasi know that if you take off, you won't be able to save your earth bound comrades."

I grin, "Ahh, but you are wrong. I have but one word for you."

The human frowns, "What?"

My grin widens, too bad the only pony in on this joke is Mindy,  "Weasel."

With the word, one of Mindy's favorite prank spells, pop goes the weasel, goes off. Every human is jerked off their feet by a spell that acts like a spring under their feet, the shouts of humans fill the air as we scatter. I hear Mindy laughing as I dart forward, shoulder checking one human, and bouncing off of him to slam into another, using my inertia to knock them down. I don't want to kill, and I won't, unless I really have to.

I glance over, watching Mindy, she's turned off her misdirection spell, keeping the humans on their toes, she hops in front of one, who levels his gun at her, and she teleports away just as he fires, hitting one of his comrades. Short controlled bursts of gunfire fill the room, and the ponies are easily evading, with more of them than there are of us, guns actually can be a disadvantage. 

Sunset's voice floats over to me, "Dust, get over here." Her location pops into my head and I hop straight up, then land in the middle of the fight, though Sunset is sitting there at her ease.

I look around, "Uhhh, Sunset, is this the best time for this?" I say nervously as a human lands on his back on the shield around us both.

She giggles, "They can't see or hear us Dust, this shield looks like a large crate, but you have to see something I found." Her magic lifts two bodies off the floor, obvious bullet wounds in both of the humans. Her magic strips off the masks, identical faces to the human that was talking to us earlier are revealed.

She prods them with a hoof, "They aren't human, Dust. They are magical constructs."

My jaw drops, "Are you sure?"

She nods, "they are all identical, and I can feel the magic inside them, they were made, I'd say these are just a few hours old."

I grin, "Thank you, love."

I power straight up, and hover near the roof, I shout in my loudest voice, "Gloves off ponies, wipe the floor with them."

The fighting gets really intense as ponies decide to stop playing nice. I flash forward, my wing blades cutting into the constructs, they seem pretty human, but they die easier than humans would. In minutes we are all panting, bodies strewn about.

Irony chuckles as she hangs her mace on her belt, "Thanks for the warning."

Mindy laughs, "It's a double trouble special, we did it to half the royal guards during a parade. Should have seen them! We had to hide out for three days for that one."

I giggle, I do remember that one, boy, my herd was mad at me once I got back. They suspected us, but nopony could prove it. I look over at Sunset, "let's find that basement."

It only takes a moment to find the concealed stairs, and shortly we are in a large basement, with a server farm, and plenty of modern computers. As well as the reason this place exists, nearly a thousand pounds of pure cocaine. Sunset crinkles her nose as her horn flashes and the wrapped and sealed packages of nose candy pop out of existence, "Vile stuff." I hear her murmur as Mindy hops among the computers.

"Oh, Dustie, this is exactly what I needed to find." Mindy shouts as she hops from computer to computer, her orange glow around half a dozen keyboards at the same time, "It will take me weeks to go over all of this. Watch the exits as I pump all this stuff for information." She floats her small satchel off of her back and several thumb drives float into various computers. She giggles, "Oh, this is even better than I imagined! This looks like they are running pretty much the entire black market here for South and Central America. When this goes down, their communications and money laundering is going to be completely cut off until they can get things reestablished." She continues to flit from computer to computer, checking the file transfer status on the various drives.

I trot through the space, noticing the industrial air conditioners to keep the servers cool, and all the other bits to keep the computers happy.

Sunset comes up to me, looking at Irony as she has returned to her four legged form, and sits comfortably, watching Mindy as she flits from station to station.

"Something wrong, Dust, love?"

I nuzzle the flame maned unicorn, "Yeah."

"What?"

"This, this is wrong. Spectrum is anti-pony, how in the hell did they have magical constructs here to trap us?"

I get a loving nuzzle from the unicorn, "I don't know, Dust. But I'm glad nopony got hurt."

I sigh, I'm glad for the exact same thing.

It ends up taking a few hours, but Mindy ends up setting a connection between her server farm in New Beginnings and this place in Panama, and quite a lot of data is apparently transferred. We end up on a neighboring rooftop, our chariot waiting as Mindy and Sunset work together. They both grunt as they exert, and in moments the building folds in on itself, the large building ending up so much rubble.

We quickly board our chariot and head home.

***

During the flight home, my mind continues to churn, why in the hell did Spectrum do this kind of setup? If they had wanted to trap us, they could have used a more ideal space, something to limit the pegasi, to limit the earth ponies, and perhaps find some way to blunt the effectiveness of the unicorns. This entire setup seemed almost amateurish. Spectrum is not run by an amateur, he is a cold, calculating professional, not some amateur.

I watch the low clouds as the bat ponies keep us moving at a steady rate. I would prefer to fly, but Irony is right, being fresh at the start of the mission is helpful, though I don't think I'll admit that to the massive earth pony sitting next to me.

I huff and think some more, it just doesn't make sense, the constructs were really recently made, and they were simply clones of one another, they didn't have even the full human strength, or toughness. In fact, they were laughably easy to finish off. With no pony casualties, ponies aren't perfect, I would expect at least one to have gotten hit on their armor, but all the pony armor was pristine when we were done with them. 

I gesture over to Cloud Kicker, who decided to fly near us rather than join us on the chariot, "Hey, did they get any bullets to hit you?"

She nods, "I felt the impacts."

I think for a moment, "But those were M-16's in three round burst mode, I heard them shooting, and even with the new enchantments, you should have some mark on your armor from the hit."

She points to her chest, right smack dab in the middle of her peytral, her hoof showing completely unblemished leather, "I felt it get hit right there, but… nothing."

Hmmm, more and more amateurish, and naïve as well, not knowing the abilities of the guns the constructs were carrying. I look over at Sunset, "Were their guns also constructs?"

She nods, looking confused, "Why?"

I shake my head, "I'm not certain."

***

I wake up at Irony's urging, peeking over the side of the chariot, there is my house. I'm so glad to see home after this adventure. Apparently somepony has made a phone call, my family is coming outside. I hop off the chariot, hugging and kissing my family members, but when I get to the brown unicorn, I notice a look, and as close as I am to him, I can tell there is something about his scent. At that moment everything just clicks, the raid, the constructs, the amateurish attempts on our lives, this wasn't Spectrum. My wing blades take Dr. Ray in the chest, vivid red blood gushes from the wounds as I stare into his eyes, "It was you!"

> Chapter 56. Of Broken Wings and Steel Hearts 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Dust, what did you do?" Irony screams. The brown unicorn slumps to the ground, still impaled on my blades, I put a forehoof on his chest and pull them out.

"Irony, I…"

She cuts me off, "That was a member of our family!" Tears spring to her eyes, "That was the father of my foal."

"Irony, I had to…" 

"You had to? You had to kill a member of our family? Why?"

I wipe the blades clean of blood, "We were set up, and while the site was Spectrum, the constructs we just fought weren't. Those constructs had just been created, this was a setup to capture us. And this pony." I kick the prone body, "Was the one who told them where we were going."

"That's impossible, that is Dr. Ray he helped me, he saved my life," Her brow furrows, "He saved your life too, if you can't remember."

"No, this pony didn't do that…urk." 

I am stopped from talking as an armored hand wraps around my neck, lifting me off the ground. I can't speak as she brings my face close, snarling into my face, "That pony was Dr. Ray, he saved our lives, he joined me in Equestria, he did nothing but help us. I love him, almost as much as I love you. And you killed him."

She throws me to the ground, "Go, Dust."

My entire body drops, "Irony, you can't mean that, I was…"

She cuts me off as she whirls away from me, "Get out of here, you killed one of our own. You are so against killing, and yet you kill one who was as innocent as can be."

I raise a hoof, reaching for Irony, "Irony, you've got it all wrong…"

She turns her head so I can see the tears running down her face, "If I see you again, Lightning Dust. I will kill you."

I stand there for a long time, I look at the rest of my family, everyone seems to be hurt by my actions, but I did the right thing. I look at Mindy, her face is unreadable, though pain is shining through, "Dust, you had better go."

I look over at Helen, tears flow down her face, the same with Moon Shadow, and even Sunset Shimmer, "I did the right thing."

Irony growls and whirls, her mace in her hand, swinging at me with all of her might, I do the only thing I can do, I bounce into the air, my wings pulling me away.

"Get out of here, Lightning Dust, and never come back!" Irony screams. Fighting tears of my own, I turn and fly, shedding my armor as I do, finally the wingblades are left behind as I continue to accelerate. I know what I have to do, I have to find the real Dr. Ray, and bring him back to my family. I smoothly break through the sound barrier and streak off. Dr. Ray is still alive, I have to find him, and nopony is going to stop me. 

***

Several hours of flight time, and I'm near Gallup New Mexico, I flutter down to a house I've been told about, but this is my first visit.

I stand on the porch for a long time, afraid to knock on the door. But finally I raise a hoof, only to have the door open, and a familiar face greets me.

"Hi, Velvet."

The older mare looks at me in surprise, then behind her, she shoos me off of the porch and comes out, closing the door.

"Dust, you shouldn't be here."

My ears drop, "You've been told already?"

She nods, "I got the call from Mindy about an hour ago, why did you kill Dr. Ray?"

I sigh, tears leaking from my eyes, "It wasn't Dr. Ray, it was another unicorn changed to look like him."

Velvet shakes her head, "I'm sorry Dust. I'm having trouble believing that. What proof do you have?"

I spend a long time explaining how everything fit together, and when I finally wind down, she frowns, "I'm sorry, Lightning Dust, but this is all conjecture, and going with your gut. And somepony died because of it." She looks up, "Did this unicorn turn back into his natural form upon death?"

I shake my head.

"I only know of a single unicorn with the requisite power to have the changes be enduring even after death and the life force of the one changed no longer able to sustain the spell, and that is Sunset Shimmer, an alicorn could do it, but Twilight Sparkle is back in Equestria. So it couldn't have been her."

I shake my head vehemently, "Velvet, I don't know how it's possible, but everything adds up, even his scent was wrong, I mean it was a very slight difference, but I only noticed it because everything else was coming together, I had noticed a slight difference before, but I had shrugged it off."

She looks at me, "Lightning Dust, you killed the one pony that could have proven, or disproven your allegations. Can you think of any time that Dr. Ray wasn't at home with you ponies? Or not with another member of your herd?"

I shake my head, "The only time he's really gone anywhere recently was when they retrieved the book."

She sighs, "Lightning Dust, I really hate to say this, but you are not welcome here, and I doubt you will be welcome among any ponies."

My wings drop, I feel dizzy, "But Velvet, he sold us out, he told whomever it was that we were coming, enough to set up an ambush that, if it had been properly executed, could have killed us."

"That is a theory, Dust. But you killed the one pony that could have told us the truth. Without that so called imposter, you can't prove your theory."

I stomp a hoof, "I know it's true."

Tears spring to her eyes, "I'm sorry, Lightning Dust, but you need to go."

I shake my head, "I need your help, I need to find the real Dr. Ray, and rescue him."

She shakes her head, "I have things I'm working on as well, you know I want to bring down Spectrum as much as you do, but I can't have a murderer around. I'm sorry, I really liked you. But you murdered, in cold blood. You need to go, Lightning Dust."

"But…"

I'm bowled over by a blue whirlwind, I end up on my back, a dark blue stallion with a rainbow mane is snarling in my face, "Velvet said you have to go, now go, Lightning Dust. You are not welcome here. Now get out of here."

He gets off of me, allowing me to regain my hooves, "Blaze, you have to listen to me."

He stomps a hoof, and stalks forward, his wings spread in rage, "Lightning Dust, get out of here, you have no business here, we don't like murderers around here. We've dealt with enough that want ponies dead, to have to deal with a pony that will kill another pony."

Velvet places a hoof on his withers, he shrugs her off, "Her impulsiveness almost got my daughter killed before, back in Equestria, I can't let her impulsiveness endanger the ponies here. She is a danger to us all." 

I look back on the porch, Apple Pie has joined Velvet on the porch, along with a wizened man, I'm guessing it's Blaze's grandfather, I look back at Blaze, "Please, listen to me."

Blaze streaks forward, I can feel him gathering his magic, he may not be the kind of magic user pegasus that I am, but I can feel the magic within him, what makes him the speedster he is, I bounce back and fold my wings, "Please!" tears fall from my eyes, I can't take this. I did the right thing, but I can't handle this.

"Blaze." Comes a sharp shout from Grandfather, "This is sacred land, are you seriously offering violence?"

The blue pegasus wilts a bit, "I won't harm her, I'm simply making sure she leaves." He turns to me and stomps a hoof, "The penalty for murder in Equestria is banishment, you know that as well as I do, Mindy has told us what happened, you need to go. Nopony will give you shelter, nopony will be your friend, nopony will be around you, Lightning Dust. Now go."

I slowly turn, my tears flowing like a river down my face, "Please, don't."

He sighs as he turns away, "And did Dr. Ray get a chance to ask you not to?"

I turn and wail as my wings power me into the sky. What can I do?

***

A flight east lands me in Texas, I think for a long time whether or not I should go and see my parents, but rejection from them would likely kill me, the way I feel right now. I've alighted on top of one of the many wind turbine generators located in this part of Texas near Midland. I sigh and strip my phone off of my upper foreleg, I was always glad they had found a way to make the touch screens hoof friendly, and my phone could be called a phablet for as big as it is, it's always been my link to my family, the link to those I love. It's battery is almost dead right now, but do I really care?

I place the phone on the fiberglass of the nacelle of the turbine, looking at it for a long time, then I bring my hoof down sharply on the phone. The new generation glass doesn't break with my first strike, to I hit it again, this time the glass has a shatter mark in it, and the fiberglass of the generator has a crack in it as well. I really don't care. I bring my hoof down again, grinding the phone until the battery shorts out, killing the device. I would need to be a unicorn to get this little earring that Moon Shadow made for me out, I hold my hoof to my ear, I try to concentrate on Dr. Ray, but I don't feel him at all. I saw the charm that Moon Shadow had made for him, the equivalence of the rings in the mare's ears, when I killed that pony, so whomever had substituted him for the real Dr. Ray was paying attention. I fiddle with the earring again, and finally bring a hoof on each side of it. Squeezing my hooves together, I get a good grip on the earring. With a small yelp of pain from me, I yank it out of my ear. My family rejected me, I only have one path of redemption, I must find that stallion, and the sooner the better.

I place the earring lovingly on the nacelle, I look at it for a long time, then with a flash of anger, I bring my hoof down on it, making sure the metal of my horseshoe lands firmly on the small piece of jewelry. I grind it into the nacelle, then bring my hoof away, the emerald is unblemished, but I did strip the gold of the earring off. That will have to do. I can feel blood dripping down the side of my head, but I really don't care.

"Dr. Ray, I will find you, if it's the last thing I do." I take off, I have to find him.


> Chapter 57. To Get Too Close to the Sun
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

***Irony***

I watch Dust streak off, her armor falling to the ground as she wails. All I can do at this point is cry, one I love, killed by another that I love. What am I going to do?

I turn and walk into the house, I quickly shed my armor, I don't need it now. I finally relax onto four legs, I've been on two for far too long, my head hurts. My little Zed brightens as he sees me, and I scoop him up, nuzzling him, then I look at Mischief, she's tottling over to me herself. I gather up the white pegasus and hug her tightly.

"Mommy?" Mischief asks.

I am trying not to sob too much, I'm holding my children here, but Mischief asking for Dust causes me to break down. I sob into her mane, and the small pegasus spreads her wings to hold me as best as she can. 

"Love Mommy Iree." The small form says, I hold her tightly.

"Mommy Irony loves Mischief." What am I going to tell her? Not now, I can't tell her this now, I'll have to figure out what to say when she asks about Dr. Ray.

Another form crawls onto the couch with me, I feel a pair of hooves wrapping around me.

"I can't believe it, love." Moon Shadow moans as she squeezes me tightly.

"She's always been impulsive, but why?"

"She seemed to believe she was protecting us, but how?"

Helen walks up, she seems to have been able to compose herself for the most part, Mischief reaches for Helen, and a half snoozing Zed snuggles into her arms, "I'll get these two down for a nap."

Mindy comes in, her phone is in her magic, she sets it down, "I've told the other two main pony colonies, and Velvet's group down in Gallup. I told them to send her back here. No matter what, she needs to be here." She lays down, her head on me, "Why, Dustie, why?"

I shift, it's worth the pain right now, I gather Moon Shadow and Mindy together, I stroke both unicorn's manes, "She had her reasons."

"What could be the reason?"

I sigh, "I keep finding myself trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, we have never lost faith in her before."

"But this was Dr. Ray!" Moon Shadow explodes, she rolls off the couch and starts to pace back and forth, I can see how upset she is, easily as much as I am. "Dr. Ray, Irony, the sire for both of our foals, he was the kindest, most gentle pony I've ever met, you and I heard what happened to him before we turned, before he met us. What the hell?"

"She said that he wasn't Dr. Ray."

Moon Shadow scoffs, "If he were transformed from another pony, in death he would have reverted back, just like changelings do when you kill them. That body is still Dr. Ray. It has to be him."

"Could somepony do the spell to endure even after death?"

Moon shakes her head, "Not possible, there is only one unicorn I know with the requisite power, and of course the alicorns could. But Luna didn't, she wouldn't. Neither would Cadance, I'm still not certain where she is now. Twilight is back in Equestria, as is Princess Celestia, and the only pony that could do it would be Sunset Shimmer."

I shake my head violently, "Sunset would never do that."

She sighs, "Then we are back to square one, Irony. It looks like Dust has gone crazy."

I shake my head again, more violently, "I refuse to believe that Dust could ever go that crazy, there has to be a reason."

"Then what is the reason, Irony? I would love to be able to wrap my mind around this, and find some way to believe that Dust hasn't gone homicidal maniac on us."

I look at Moon Shadow sharply, "Moon!"

She looks at me darkly, "Irony, I love Dust as much as you do, but both of us know exactly what that mare has gone through, she's been captured, she's been violently raped, she had all of her feathers ripped out of her wings, she has gone through more than most ponies could live through. In fact, she should have died under that abuse, under that torture. Is it possible that she cracked under the pressure? Where she actually believed that Dr. Ray was a threat? But in fact, her mind has cracked?"

"No, Moon. Dust is the toughest, most stubborn mare I have ever known. I think it's possible for her to break that way, but I think what it would take to actually break her like that would actually kill her. She recovered from all of that, she was happy, and you know how Mischief as affected her. She love being mommy. I can't see her cracking like that."

She slams a hoof onto the floor, "Then why did she do it, Irony?"

I shake my head, "I don't know, love."

I nod, "I'm so exhausted." Emotionally drained would be the better term, I shift back onto four hooves as I head to the stairs, Mindy and Moon Shadow in tow, I hop up on the big custom built bed, laying down , I gather Mindy and Moon Shadow to me, and after a few minutes, Helen joins us. We lie there for a long time, the only sound is the occasional sob from one of us, then there is a soft knock at the door.

"Can I come in?" Star Shine asks.

I nod at him, Moon Shadow is in my forehooves, he crawls up into the bed, his forelegs holding both of us, his wings spreading out over  us mares.

"I'm so sorry, Irony." He whispers.

My response is nonverbal, but I think he's able to get my meaning. I stroke his mane with a hoof, we are all just destroyed right now, I can't believe what happened.

***Sunset Shimmer***

"What are we going to do?" I feel the tears falling, Lightning Dust, why did she do that? Oh poor Dr. Ray.

Mindy, she only slept for about an hour or so, comes up, her hair completely flat, "What are we going to do about his body?"

I sigh, "I put a stasis spell over the body, he was human, so he might want to be buried."

Mindy thinks for a long moment, "Sunset, he loved being a unicorn, I think he would like to be treated as one in death."

I sigh again, it's been only a few hours since Dust went crazy. I don't know what to think about what Lightning Dust did, the look on her face scared me. I'm interrupted by the chime of my phone.

"Hello?" I say as I float the phone up to my ear.

"Dust just left here. I have some questions."

I frown and think for a moment, "Twilight Velvet?"

"Well of course, who else would it be?"

I shudder, one of the hardest teachers I've ever had at Celestia's school for gifted unicorns was Twilight Velvet, "What can I do to help you, Velvet?"

"Lightning Dust made some radical accusations when she was here, she's always had good instincts, I want to know something."

"Dust murdered a pony, that is what happened."

"But the why is what's important, Sunset. Do you remember my courses you went through?"

"Yes."

"I remember a young unicorn more interested in reading spell books rather than paying attention to lectures. But I need you to do a resonance test on the body."

I frown, "A resonance test?"

"I can come up and perform the test, if you wish."

I frown, this is my family we are talking about, "I can handle it, Velvet. I'll call you with the results, when I get them."

I sigh as I disconnect and consider throwing the phone into the wall as fast as I can. Then I remember, Dust got us all new phones, and thinking about her brings tears to my eyes. I sorely wish I could simply go up to the bedroom and lay down with my family. But if I don't follow through with what Twilight Velvet asked, the old battle axe will be up here, demanding to do the test herself. I'm going to do it. 

I trot quickly down the stairs to the basement, his body is enveloped in a stasis field, the field isn't actually touching the body, but envelopes it, preventing the magic of the spell from tainting anything for evidentiary reasons. We have had to call Mayor Mare, and some Royal Guards took our statements, but they will want to do an autopsy. I don't know.

Mindy followed me, "Sunset, what are we going to do?"

"Dust said that it wasn't Dr. Ray, I have to see if she's telling the truth or not."

She frowns, "But he still looks like Dr. Ray, how is that possible?"

I shake my head, "I don't know, it is possible to put the spell deeply into the subject, make it endure, but very few unicorns have the power."

"Like you?"

I nod. Then a thought hits me, "Did Dr. Ray have something that meant the world to him?"

Mindy thinks for a moment, the teleports away with the sound of a party horn. And in moments the party unicorn pops back. Her horn still alight, she floats a couple of sheets of paper to me, "This was the letter that his brother wrote to him when he killed himself, it was very important to him. This has to qualify."

I hold the papers in my magic. This should work, I place them on the side table, and look at the body, my horn alighting as I unweave the stasis spell, I could let it simply dissipate naturally, but that takes time, and I don't want the residues from the spell to taint my attempt here. 

I take a deep breath and delve the body, then I slam down a shield over the body as the spell I just triggered starts. I grunt and pour more power into the shield, "what the hell is that?"

"Uh, Sunset, why are you covering the body with a shield?"

"Somepony put a failsafe into this. And it's strong."

The power pulses, apparently whomever put the spell on was thinking that a unicorn would try to cover the body and was compensating for it. The power was varying wildly, I have to keep up with the variations otherwise my shield would break. An extremely strong pulse pushes through the shield, blowing Mindy back.

"Sunset!" She shouts as she teleports away, in moments she's back. I divert a small bit of attention and magic away from the spell for a second after a peak and connect myself to the floor, if I get blown back, this spell could easily destroy the house, and maybe the block. I'm holding back the equivalent power of a small nuclear device, but it's not just one pulse and done, it's hundreds of pulses, and I have no idea how long it will take. I look at the body, I'm glad I made the shield transparent, I watch the body change under the effects of the spell. The fur changes color to pure black, his mane turns as well. 

Mindy moves forward. "Can I scan through the shield?"

I grunt and nod, my body is getting hot, how long can I keep this up?

Mindy moves forward gingerly and her horn alights again, her eyes get wide, "This was never a living pony, Sunset, it was a golem."

I gasp, "A golem? I thought it was Dr. Ray!"

Mindy walks around the body, staying away from the shield spell, her horn shining brighter, "I don't know if I'm reading the weaves right, but this was created out thin air, a construct. And then once it was finished, a morphing spell was used to make it look like Dr. Ray." She moves up to the head, "And the brain, whomever did it had Dr. Ray, because his memories are here, he likely thought he was Dr. Ray."

A particularly hard pulse has me panting, "What can I do with it, Mindy?"

She looks at me bleakly, "I don't know, Sunset, I'm afraid to teleport it away, if the pony that did the spell was planning on a unicorn using a shield spell, they would think of teleporting the body out of danger, and account for that. I think it would be a mistake to try."

"Mindy, I can't hold on much longer, this is a lot of power."

She giggles and her horn alights once again, "I'll help you, Sunset, we are in this together, love."

I can feel her, she's opening herself to me, I desperately reach out and grab a hold of the power she is offering, and she moans as I draw deeply from her magic as well.

She rubs her temple, "Not the easiest way to be brought into a circle, Sunset." Then she does a double take, "Uhh, Sunset, are you aware that not only are your eyes glowing, but your cutie mark is as well?"

I look at her, "So is yours."

She giggles as the spell gets more wild. We both grunt as we fight to contain the power, we can't talk anymore, everything has to be focused on this, and it's only been about five minutes, how long is this going to last?

"What the hell is…" Helen stops in her tracks as she opens the door and sees both of us, our eyes and cutie marks glowing, our manes wafting in magical aether, as the body has been consumed by fire, our shield stretching over the miniature sun in the laundry room of Dust's house.

I'm able to grunt, "Foals, stallions, now."

Helen disappears, and less than a minute later, Moon Shadow comes in, "What…" She stops and looks at the conflagration, she shouts back down the hallway, her words lost in the noise as the fireball gets bigger, stretching the boundaries of the shield.

"Can I join my power to yours?"

I shake my head, all we would be doing would be containing, we need to get rid of this.

She seems to understand, she comes up to me, and her horn alights, I feel a spell settle over my body, and she does the same for Mindy, then the entire room takes on the glow from her horn. She turns to the wall, and a dark spot appears, rapidly expanding into a hole in reality, though I can see stars. Did she just open a gateway into outer space? She screws up her face in concentration, the body launches through the gateway as I direct the shield to go with the body as it moves, once it's through, the gateway closes, cutting off the flow of my magic.

I release Mindy from the circle, and sit down, I can feel sparks of magic all through my body, I think I'm in trouble.

Moon Shadow gasps, "Sunset, you overdid it, your nose."

I swipe a forehoof across my nose, it comes away covered in blood, "That's not a good sign." I say as darkness overtakes me.

***

I'm awaken in the big family bed, though I think a doctor has come, I can feel a pinch on my forehoof, I open my eyes, greeted by my family.

"Hi everypony, what did I miss?" I chuckle weakly.

"For about an hour, we had a second sun. Sunset Shimmer," Irony says. 

I just stare at the massive earth pony, "An hour?"

She nods, I look over at Moon Shadow, "Wonderful thinking, that spell would have overwhelmed us in a matter of minutes."

Moon Shadow smiles shyly, "And then likely would have destroyed New Beginnings, and the surrounding land for about a hundred miles. The casualties would have been in the hundreds of thousands."

I let my head flop back down onto the pillow, "Who has that much power to force a fusion reaction inside the body, and have it be triggered so easily?"

"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, Princess Twilight, and you. There may be a few others, Hannah will be able to once her training is completed." Mindy says.

I think for a long moment, "I know I didn't do it, and I have trouble believing that any of the Princesses could do something so horrible."

"Sombra is in Chicago. He might have enough power. I never got a read on him though." Mindy says.

I narrow my eyes, "He was evil, but I don't think it was him."

Irony huffs, "Don't you see what this all means? Dust was right!"

I frown, "I know Dust was right, but how could she know?"

Mindy steps forward, "The answer to that is simple, Sunset. She was a magic user pegasus, and her instincts said that Dr. Ray was a danger to the family as he was, she severed his connection with whomever was controlling him."

Moon Shadow looks thoughtful, "If she had simply accused him, they could have set off the spell remotely, and if you hadn't already been casting magic, the spell would have taken hold immediately, and killed us all."

Irony nods, "We need to call her. Right now." She shifts and reaches over to grab her phone. She taps the screen a few times, and gets voice mail. She tries a second time, same result. She looks defeated.

Moon Shadow smiles, "I'm glad I made those earrings." She puts a hoof to her ear and closes her eyes, then her face scrunches up, after a long moment she opens her eyes, tears starting to fall, "She had to have taken it out, I can feel the earring, it's in Texas, but I can't feel her."

"Where did Dust go?"

I sigh, "I don't know, but we need to let the ponies know, have them let us know if she's found."

Mindy hops up, "I'll get on that, right now."

I look at my family, what are we going to do?"

***Lightning Dust***

Atlanta Georgia, my last resting stop before I hop the gulf and head to Panama. I need to get my head in the game, I need to find Dr. Ray. But right now… I see a building that looks likely, I flutter down and land on the front lawn of the massive building. I sit for a long time, looking at the structure, I can see humans walking into it, and I feel the draw of this place, I look around, it's all humans, though they seem to look at me curiously, they don't really take note of the pegasus in their midst. I hop over a hedge to the sidewalk and head to the entrance, following the humans. I can see them notice me, but the fact there is no uproar tells me that the media campaign has been at least somewhat successful, they don't see a beast, or a monster in their midst. One time I'm happy to be a non issue.

I find a seat and hop into it, staying in the back of the huge auditorium. In moments the lights go down and the band starts to play. I lose myself in the music, singing 'How Great thou Art' really makes me feel a connection, to what, I don't know. But I take comfort in it.

The pastor comes forward after the song ends, "Welcome one and all to First Baptist church." I smile as I settle in for the service.

A little over an hour later, all the humans start filing out. I simply sit, my attention inward as the hall slowly empties. The humans left me alone throughout the service, I just needed to come for that connection. Something at times I craved as a human, and I'm finding I crave it from time to time as a pony as well. Finally someone is standing next to me, I look around, it looks like cleaning staff is working their way through the building. I look at the man, he's in his mid 30's, clean shaven, dark hair, and bright blue eyes.

He holds out a hand, "It's nice to get our first Equestrian visitor."

I shake my head, "Oh, I'm sorry, service is over, I'd better go."

He takes a gentle step forward, his hand still extended, "You are welcome here, all children of God are welcomed here."

I cock my head to the side, "Really? Even ponies?"

"You can talk, you can think, you can know the glory of God himself, so yes, even ponies like you."

I finally extend a hoof, and open my mouth, he cuts me off, "It's nice to meet Lightning Dust of the show."

I chuckle, "And here I am not even having a clue what your name is."

He smiles, "I'm pastor Ron, this is my church, the people are my flock. I take care of them."

I nod, "Thank you Pastor Ron. But I really should be going."

He shakes his head, "Well, in fact, I would like to have a talk with you, would you join me in my office?"

I shrug my wings and hop off the chair, I quickly follow him into his office, and he gestures me to sit in a seat, and he forgoes the desk and sits in the chair next to me. Before I can say a word, his face turns serious, "I can tell a soul in pain, Lightning Dust."

Before I know it, I'm being hugged by the human, sobbing into his shoulder, telling him how everything fit together, how there was an immediate and terrible danger to my family and I had to act. Even though it looked like the pony I loved, doing that tore at my soul.

Finally I put down the last of about the twentieth tissue, "Thank you for listening to me babble away."

He smiles, "Dust, you are an exceptional pony, and it saddens me greatly to know that your family rejected you. I would like to point out an equivalent story in the bible, but sadly, none exist." He stops and chuckles, "That being said, your family was reacting out of pain. I think if you were to go back to them, they would find it in their hearts to forgive you."

I shake my head, "I killed, I killed one who looks exactly like the father to some of our foals, one who has saved several lives with his magic, there is only one thing I can do."

"Find Dr. Ray?"

I nod, "That is the only way they will be able to forgive me. I need to find him."

He gives me another hug, "Then go with God, and know that he truly loves all of his creations." He smiles, "Even the ponies."

I give him a grateful smile as I leave, in minutes, I'm in the air, Panama, here I come.

> Chapter 58. Search and Rescue... Again! 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Panama ended up being a bust. I head back to the US to think, I end up stopping for food and rest in south Texas, I've got plenty of cash, so getting cooked food isn't that big an issue. And with ponies becoming more of the norm, we are able to be among humans without too much fanfare. I've found a nice diner in Brownsville. I trot into the diner, the waitress doesn't even blink twice looking at the turquoise pegasus walking into the restaurant, I choose a booth and sit down.

After several moments, I get a chance to check out the menu, then I'm aware of someone next to me. I look up.

"What can I get ya?" The waitress says.

I smile at her, and to my surprise she smiles back, "To drink… coffee, and to eat, a chicken sandwich with fries."

She furrows her brow, "I thought you ponies were vegetarian. We've had a couple show up."

I chuckle and extend a wing, "I'm a pegasus, many of us like meat."

She jots down my order with a smile and turns away. I look at all the different patrons here. A couple of border patrol agents, police officers, along with several other humans. The reason I chose this place was the law enforcement vehicles in the parking lot. The cops know where the best places to eat are. 

I sit and stew for a while, while spending time at that church in Atlanta helped me feel a bit more centered, but I'm still ready to cry at a moment's notice. I've lost my family, I've alienated them so badly that I've lost them. They will never be able to trust me again. My instincts said I needed to take care of the imposter, no delay, no outcry, just take care of him. So I did, and I really wasn't given the ability to explain. I sigh, the reason was because I was too focused. I didn't think about how my actions would affect Irony, or Moon Shadow, or anypony else. I smile at the waitress as she brings my coffee and my food. I dig into the food as I continue thinking.

I love Irony, I love all of those in my herd. I need to get Dr. Ray. I know that already, but how do I do that? I think for a long time as I munch on my food, relishing the taste of the food. Finally as I dip the last fry into the ketchup and take a bite, it hits me, I need to find out who this new operator is, and since they were set up at Spectrum, Spectrum is my goal. I'm going to end that company in more ways than one. I need to find the leader of Spectrum. I finally sip the last of my coffee. I pull out a century note and place it on the table and head out the door.

I've not gotten a meal into me, I end up trotting through the streets, after a while I end up under a bridge, and I'm sitting watching several humans make their homes underneath this bridge. I almost feel the need to cry, all these people, in a world with magic, with food aplenty, with some of the worst problems humanity fading away by the day, there are still those who do without. Watching the humans dressed in shabby clothes, taking care of meager possessions. I wish I could do something for them. Maybe I can think of something to do to help them. A hand touches my mane, a woman is standing there, not a single tooth in her mouth, but a very happy smile as she looks at me. I smile and nuzzle the human woman. 

"Pretty pony." I hear her say. I rear up and hug her, my wings extending around her.

After a few moments she seems satisfied, I walk among the humans, most of whom simply ignore me. I sit down next to a tent, this one seems to be disused, not much inside it. Though I spy a small book inside, underneath the dust and a sleeping bag. I step forward inside the tent and grab the book in my teeth, I set it in front of me, opening it to the first page, 'Diane Ramirez, born May 7th, 1995.' That date really grabs my attention, could this be the journal of a human who turned into a pony? I push the book into my satchel and take to the air, I don't know why I was pulled to that place, maybe this book means something. I'll read it more when I have time. But I have to figure things out.

***

I streak in from ten thousand feet, this is one of the smallest cocaine processing facilities, we didn't do anything to this place since there was a very low likelihood of anypony being here. But I'm out of options, I need leads. I've been watching from a cloud for three days, trying to figure out who is in charge here. I've finally identified my target. I slam into the human, I wrap my hooves around him and my wings take us into the air. The human squawks as I power into the sky. In moments I'm landing on a cloud, holding onto the human.

"Speak English?" I snarl into his face.

He nods, looking down, and then his arms wrap around me.

"I know who your boss is, I want him, now."

He trembles in my grip, "I don't know where he is. He keeps moving."

"He has a member of my family, I am going to find him."

"I'm sorry miss, I don't know."

I look at him for a long moment, then, "I don't believe you."

His scream pierces my ear as I let him go. I watch him fall for a long moment, then streak down and catch him, less than twenty feet from the ground, I'm cradling him as he frantically wraps his arms around my neck, "Going to tell me the truth."

"Venezuela, Caracas." He screams into my ear. I look at him and grin, I skim along the ground and let him go, he tumbles as I head to the facility. In a matter of minutes, I generate lightning to get the place ablaze. This is the second place that I've raided. I hope my next raid is more successful. I need to find Dr. Ray.

***

Six weeks, six fucking weeks, forty-two damn days, and no Dr. Ray. I haven't even seen any ponies since I crossed the southern border of the US. Though I've been flitting from country to country this whole time. If I had remembered my passport, it would be full of new stamps, but as it is, I've just been flying over every border. I haven't gotten any sidewinders shot at me… yet.

I'm looking at a rather large site in Caracas. Though in my work, I've done some interrogation of the employees, there's a site or two in eastern Europe that I need to check out. Sometimes I wonder why I'm focusing on Spectrum, but then I remember, the ambush was at a Spectrum site, so whomever this was, they either know Spectrum, or are using them, the key to all of this are the bastards at Spectrum.

I take to the air, enough recon, time to do something. My eyes sweep the area, I notice a white Mercedes Sprinter van sitting a block away from the building, I notice two panel trucks backed into the loading dock. Both engines are off though. I smile as I land on the roof of the building. I trot silently to a sky light and use a fetlock to wipe the dust off the window, I peer through the window. Yes, there are people in there. I wonder if word of my antics has spread. I sit and watch for a long time.

After about an hour watching, my ears rotating listening for the telltale sounds of a human on the roof. With pegasi being a threat, it would be smart to have a patrol of the skies, but humans never learn. Then all my attention is grabbed by what I'm watching.

The head of Spectrum is there, he's talking to some of his workers, but he's clearly visible to me. All reason flies out the window as I strike the window hard with my hoof, shattering the glass, I flash through the hole and streak forward, slamming into the human.

"I've got you now, you son of a bitch."

A heavy boot kicks me in the side, knocking me off the human. I tumble but regain my hooves quickly, "I'm going to kill you!" I scream.

He stands up and brushes off his khakis, "Oh, I think not, Lightning Dust. I knew you were up on the roof." He smiles at my confused look, "The wonders of the electronics age, you had two cameras on you the entire time. I decided to show up so you would come down and play."

He gestures and fifty humans jump at me, I'm fast enough to get to the air. I snarl as I dive bomb the humans, striking with hooves and wings, knocking some out, I can't get enough speed to do any real damage, but I get some distance, charging my wing, I throw lightning at the humans, keeping them on their toes. After the mess with the Dr. Ray imposter, I've been very reluctant to kill. But this one human is an exception in my book. I easily dodge gun shots, I'm in full speedster mode right now, making everything else almost achingly slow, I weave between the flying bullets, I dodge their strikes faster than any human would ever be able to believe.

All of my abilities doesn't mean I'm perfect, a stun gun's probes pierce into my barrel, I never even saw the stun gun as it fired. 50,000 volts surge through my body, I scream as everything returns to normal speed, my concentration is utterly broken. I crash heavily to the ground, and in seconds I've got twenty humans on top of me, I try to buck them off, but I don't have enough strength. In moments I'm panting, totally spent.

The head of Spectrum saunters up to me, he bends down and flicks me in the muzzle, "You stupid bitch. You had to know you would lose. I always win. You've been able to choke off most of my funding, but I have sources you will never know about. All you have done is seriously piss me off." He chuckles as he stands back up, "I had you in my grasp, and I'm not letting you be taken away from me again." He stops and looks thoughtful, "During our experiments on your kind, we found some serious changes in personality and near reversion when a pegasus has their wings plucked, you were actually an anomaly, you stubbornly remained the same even with the removal of your feathers."

His grin turns evil, "So, this time, after your wings are plucked, your wings will be removed surgically." He turns and walks a bit away, "But since you are a simple animal, you won't have the benefit of anesthesia."

I shudder, "You fuck. When I get out of this, I'll kill you." I think it's all bravado at this point, I can feel a puddle around my rear, I just pissed myself. I can feel my entire body shaking, what am I going to do? It's just me, I'm all alone here. Will this be the end of me?

He smiles at me, "You won't be getting out of this…" He stops as one of the men on me spasms and goes limp, the loud bark of a rifle sounds, echoing throughout the building. In moments a second report sounds out as another human goes limp. 

With a crash, the glass above shatters again, and another pegasus slams to the ground, I know this pegasus, Rainbow Blaze. He flashes forward into the pile of men on top of me, several men go flying under his assault, allowing me to buck the rest of the men off. I grin as I bump hooves with Rainbow Dash's father, then together, we leap at the humans.

As I'm fighting, I notice a door open and several humans crash into the building. Among them a very familiar unicorn. She looks at me and her horn shines, and she teleports to the clear spot that Blaze and I have created, now it's her turn to tear into them. Men fly in every direction, sticking to the walls encased in her magical aura. I watch Twilight Velvet's eyes glow, her cutie mark does as well as in moments everything quiets down, leaving the humans disabled, even the head of Spectrum is forced to his knees, and her magical aura holds his arms and legs in place.

I smile at him, "You were saying?"

He snarls at me, "This isn't over."

I snarl right back, "Oh, yes it is." 

I flash forward, and I hear a voice say, "Scorpion." And before I'm within ten feet of the human, a hole appears in his forehead, his brain matter exploding away from the now lifeless body, which slumps in Velvet's magical hold. I land, skidding, trying to avoid running into his remains.

I turn and snarl, "He was mine!"

A human walks forward, I can tell by his demeanor, along with the black bars on the shoulders of his camouflage uniform, that he's in charge, "No, Lightning Dust, he was a target. I ordered him taken out."

My wings are tight with rage, "You have no idea what that man did to me." I can feel the tears starting to fall.

He kneels down, he shakes his dark brown hair that is streaked with gray, "I know what was done to you, remember, Velvet was there when you were brought back from the brink of losing your magic. Dr. Ray told me what was done to you. You've gone through absolute hell, Lightning Dust."

My golden eyes bore into his dark green, "I wanted him, I wanted to make him feel as much pain as I did."

He smiles, "But you would have had one more death on your conscience. You have seen too much death already, Dust."

The tears are falling freely now, "But…"

I don't get any further when his arms wrap around me, I sob into his shoulder. Before long, I'm wailing, my body not reacting at all except to shudder as sobs wrack my form. I feel a pony hug me as well, and then a wing folds over me. I've already lost it, but beyond all belief, I cry even harder.

"I am so alone, they don't want me around anymore." I shudder.

The human simply pats my back and makes nonsense sounds for a long time as I continue to blubber.

After a long time, I finally am able to pull away. Still sniffling, "Thanks." I say quietly.

The human chuckles and rubs behind my ear, "I've had to be a shoulder to cry on a few times, just ask Velvet."

I look over at the mare in question, her face is glowing and she traces circles in the dust on the ground, "Blaze did as well."

I look over at the blue pegasus and smirk, "You too?"

He blushes and looks down. I have my answer, it looks like.

One of the humans comes up, "Building is clear, the workers are either disabled by Velvet, or they buggered out. No other ponies here, and no prisoners." I perk up, I know this human, Eric Peterson, son of one of my employees. I smile at him and, to my surprise, I get one back.

I strike the ground hard with a hoof, "Damn, he's not here. Well, it's off to the Czech Republic then." Then I realize who's around me, I lower my head, "I'm sorry you had to save me." I turn towards the door to the building, "I'll go now, I know I'm banished."

I'm picked up in magic, and flipped around to face Velvet and Blaze, "Lightning Dust, you are not banished, in fact, your herd has been ready to rip their manes out looking for you.

I blink several times, "But, I haven't found Dr. Ray yet."

She chuckles, "When Mindy can't find somepony, then they must be trying hard to stay lost. Why did you take out your locator earring? Why did you smash your phone? Mindy found it, by the way."

I look down, "They think I killed Dr. Ray, my only chance is to find Dr. Ray and bring him back home. Then I hope I can beg for their forgiveness."

Velvet tutts at me, "Oh, Dust. Ever the stubborn pegasus." She pauses, looking at Blaze then back at me, "Sunset ran a resonance test, it almost killed her. In fact, it almost destroyed New Beginnings, somepony had put a light spell inside the body. Your quick thinking prevented that from being set off by whomever was controlling the pony. But I have to ask you, Dust. I know many pegasi have a finely tuned danger sense, but yours is beyond simply being finely tuned, how did you know?"

I shrug my wings, "I've always been pretty well attuned, Velvet. I can feel things, and usually the right course of action just pops into my head." I heave a big sigh, "But it didn't work when I needed it the most."

She cocks her head to the side, "Seriously? When?"

"Discord."

She chuckles, "Oh Dust, he was the spirit of chaos, you just did your best then. But you should listen to that sense, because you saved a lot of lives." She stops and shakes her head, "But it's time to get you home. We can arrange transport."

I put out a wing, shushing her, "Velvet, I need to find Dr. Ray. I'm not going home until he can go home with me."

Velvet looks at the LT, "Well, can we help this pegasus?"

He chuckles, "I'll arrange transport."

My ears drop, and my tail tucks between my legs as I back up, "Oh no no no no no, I'm not getting on any plane. I've got wings, I'll fly there. Blaze can catch up to me if he really wants to."

Blaze snorts and stalks forward, his wings flaring in anger, "Lightning Dust, in case you don't remember, we just pulled your sorry plot out of a serious jam."

I wave a hoof, "I would have gotten out of it."

Blaze's eyes narrow, "Yeah, sure. But this whole thing proved one thing. Care to guess what that one thing is, Lightning Dust?"

"That I'm the most awesome pony in existence?" I chuckle, I can still crack a joke from time to time.

He snorts again, "That you can't do it alone, and we are offering to help you. Got it?"

I wilt at his tone of voice, "Fine, Blaze."

***

A matter of hours has us getting on a military transport, a C-5 Galaxy, bound for Germany. And a little help from Special Operations command, we'll be in the Czech Republic. But when we get into the crew section between the wings of the massive airplane, I sit in the seat, and quickly pull out the small book. I flip open the cover and rifle through the pages.

The doctors don't expect me to live much longer, there are no donor  hearts available in this small town and I don't have the money to travel.  There was a chance that the clinic could have had something flown in but I am just too low a priority.   For now, I guess I can use what time I have left to tell somebody about my life.   I have no family, no one to will this to, so I can just hope that whomever finds it will understand.   I was born on May the seventh, 1995...

I flip through the book near the beginning…

I'm moving to a new home today, my last foster home was horrible. My foster mother was horrible. She would beat me senseless. And she knew how to do it without leaving visible bruising. At first, when I told the teacher at school, she called my mother and had her come to the school, so I could tell her what I told the teacher. Needless to say that I clammed up. But the beating I got that night when I got home did leave bruises. So I was yanked from the home. I hope my new mommy is nicer.

I flip a few pages, skimming, through, I brush away a few tears, this is dated a few weeks later.

Oh, what a disaster, I've jumped from the frying pan, into the fire. They seemed so nice at first. But they drink, all the time. And my foster daddy, when he gets drunk, things are bad. I haven't eaten in four days, barely any water. My dreams are so odd though. I sleep a lot, I don't have the energy for anything more. I remember galloping, on four legs. A beautiful town. A beautiful life. I want that life. But then I see the monster. He scares me. Yellow and red eyes, Five score. That's all I remember. 

"Dust."

I close the book and look up at the LT, he smiles, "We are about to land at Ramstein, we will be transferring to a different method of transportation there. You may not be aware of this, but we aren't exactly on friendly terms with the Czech Republic. We can't just land there."

I slam a hoof into the seat rest, then I notice the look on his face, "You have a plan?"

He nods, "Yes, we do."

> Chapter 59. Angel's Wings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We exit the massive cargo transport, and a quick trot has us standing behind another fairly large craft, though this one has two massive propellers, and the nacelles holding them are pointed up. I breathe in, "An Osprey."

The LT chuckles as he shakes the hand of the loadmaster for the craft, "The VC-22, it's perfect for what we are going to do."

I look around, ground crew are bringing up plastic cargo containers and carrying them onto the craft, "And what exactly are we going to do?"

He chuckles, "A HALO drop."

I cock my head to the side, looking at Blaze, then at the humans that are pulling on what I guess are wing suits, then I look at Velvet, "Uh, LT. We've got a problem, Blaze and I are going to be fine, we've got wings, but what about Velvet? She doesn't exactly have wings, and I don’t think they make those wing suits in a pony version."

Velvet is the one who responds, with a chuckle, "I've done this before, we have a whole setup for me, and any other unicorn on such missions." She taps a plastic container with a hoof. "It's all off the shelf parts, but they were able to modify things to make it work for me. It's a modified hang glider, and it's even got a built in O2 supply for when we get up really high. I may not be as maneuverable as the pegasi with this, but I can actually glide a bit better than the wing suits. "

Her horn alights, and the top pops off the container, and the carbon fiber ribs fly out, then the material, looks something like parachute material, everything assembles in front of my eyes, Velvet smiles, "And it's got a chute for landing, or I can simply teleport to the ground, using my momentum to have me at a gallop when I land. It works pretty well." In moments her magic has everything back where it belongs.

I smile at the mare and whap her with my tail as I walk by, "Maybe you are half pegasus." I smile as I look at a blushing Blaze.

Soon we are in the air, the VTOL capability of the Osprey is pretty nice, though I still much prefer my own wings. The LT has been able to garner some intelligence from the CIA. Their information was sketchy at best, but we were able to confirm the location. The CIA simply couldn't confirm WHAT was going on in there. But with the head of Spectrum dead, I think this will be fairly easy. Though after a while I trot up to the front of the aircraft.

"Hi guys." I say brightly to the pilot and copilot of the Osprey.

They turn and smile at me, "Don't you pegasi prefer your own wings?"

I nod, "Oh yeah, but I'm not alone, otherwise I'd already be there."

I look outside the windows, I'm usually very claustrophobic, but for some reason, the internal size of this craft, and the big windscreen in the front actually has me fairly at ease, "We are up here pretty high."

The Captain laughs, "Oh, yeah, we are flying on a civilian flight path, following the route for commercial aircraft. In fact, we are squawking as a civvy airliner. We do it from time to time, we don't need the Czechs getting curious about us."

I glance at the multitude of displays, "We are burning through fuel pretty fast."

He smiles, "We are actually about to tank."

I cock my head to the side, "On a commercial air route?"

He nods, "We aren't even using the KC-135's. We are using a commercial in air refueling service. We'll tank, then drop you guys off, then tank again before we head home."

I shake my head in wonder, I didn't even know there was such a thing as a commercial air refueling service. Probably pretty expensive. But when you have the kind of money Uncle Sam has to throw around, I guess it's pretty nice to get what you want, when you want it.

A few minutes later the aircraft is jumping around a bit, time for the refueling, though it goes pretty quickly. I lay down to take a quick nap.

***

"Dust, it's go time."


I look over at Blaze, he's got on a black form fitting outfit, and he's holding one for me, I struggle for a moment before the chime of magic sounds and the outfit slides easily onto my body, I look at Velvet gratefully, "Thanks."

She smiles brightly, "Anytime."

While I had been sleeping, the inside lights were turned off, and red lights were activated, to preserve our night vision I suppose. I look at the loadmaster, he's got his hand up as all the Rangers and the ponies are ready now. I've got a throat mic and a radio in my ear, I've refused weapons, I would like my wing blades, but I don't deserve them right now. The loadmaster's hand forms into a fist as he pulls the lever for the door to open, all lights extinguish as the door fully opens. I smile, the pegasi are in the front of the aircraft, the last to leave, but since we are the most maneuverable, we are in the perfect position. The loadmaster thrusts his fist down, and the humans rush forward, leaping into the air, followed by Velvet and her modified hang glider. Then the pegasi launch. Blaze and I keep our wings tight at first, letting gravity take hold. We need to not show forward speed, so we disappear from radar. The LT said that the German Air Force was going to be doing some maneuvers near their south eastern border, keeping the attention of the Czech forces, and increasing the likelihood that our drop would go unnoticed. But we could kill all of that by showing up on radar. Several long moments as we drop straight down, I flip to nose first and keep my eyes on the Rangers, when they deploy their suits, Blaze and I will start flying.

Before we had boarded the Osprey, we had gone over the maps of our target, a large privately held castle in  Nachod, through some wrangling of computers, Cipher, a friend of Velvet's was able to track down the owner of the castle, the Spectrum group. I'm guessing this is the source for most of the cocaine and meth for a good portion of Eastern Europe. I can see the castle in the dim early morning. The sun will be up before too long, so we need to get grounded quickly.

It's time, I watch the humans extend their wing suits, and Velvet's horn shines as her wings extend as well, I join them in slowing our descent. We are on target. I keep my eyes peeled for anyone on the roof of the old building watching for flying invaders. We get close and I see the roof is devoid of life. Blaze and I flash forward, as the humans deploy their chutes. Velvet gets a nose down profile and then teleports, appearing on the roof at a full gallop. She skids to a stop and her telekinesis folds up her flight equipment quite handily.

She smiles at us, "Let's find him." I find myself encased in magic as I get close to a roof access door.

Velvet comes up next to me, "Stealth is our friend, Dust. We are the night. Got it?"

I nod as her magic takes care of the lock, her magic even encases the hinges so the door swings open quietly. Blaze and I flash through the door and head inside. The humans are armed and they come in behind us, in two by two formation. We all keep quiet as we go through the various halls inside this castle. 

I lean over to Blaze and whisper, "Are you sure intel was right? I'm not seeing anything here."

He shrugs his wings, and whispers back, "Some of the info is pretty dated, but the ownership of this place hasn't changed in years."

I nod as we enter a large room. This looks like a cocaine cutting room, pure product is cut with inert ingredients to reduce it's potency, and inflate the volume, so they can make more money off of it. I trot among the various stations here, and run a wingtip over a desk, it comes away dusty. I look at Velvet, "There's something wrong here."

She nods as we make our way to another room, a large amount of product is stored here, though everything is covered in dust. This is looking bad.

I move over to the LT, "Is there a basement? Or some kind of underground part of this castle?"

He nods and gestures, in moments we are heading slowly down the stairs. Then I freeze, my ears twitching, I hear someone ahead. I flash down the hallway, and with a muttered curse, I hear Blaze following as quietly as he can. I land in front of a large wooden door, I can hear someone breathing inside. I try the door.

"It's locked." I mutter, then I bring a wing forward, surging magic through the feathers, the door lock melts and lands on the floor, I push the door open.

"Dr. Ray!" I say as I flash forward to the brown unicorn. 

He seems delirious, I gesture and the medic, Henry, comes up. He starts working on the unicorn as the rest of the team gathers together, "There's something wrong here. I feel something, I don't know what it is, but we need to get him up and moving, and get the hell out of here."

The LT nods and crouches next to Henry, "Can he move?"

"Give me a few minutes."

I shudder, I don't like this at all. I look around, something feels really off. "Please hurry."

I move over to Blaze, Henry had to glare at me because I wanted to be close to Dr. Ray. But I was in his way so I moved away, I watch the moaning unicorn, how long has he been here? Did he know that we were looking for him? Did he feel lost without us, as lost as I've been feeling without the rest of my family? I resist the impulse to jump up and hug the poor unicorn, but he's getting water and electrolytes from the medic of the Ranger team. After a few minutes, he nods and I rush forward, wrapping my wings around the former human.

"Oh Ray, when I found that imposter, I was afraid you were dead."

He coughs a little bit, "When we were getting the book, I wandered away, looking for the book myself, I just wanted to get it. Then she…" He shudders, I run my hooves over his body, he's been beaten, I need to get him home, he needs to be away from here.

I turn to Velvet and Blaze, "We need to get out of here, before it's too late."

A new voice chimes up, "Ahh, but it's already too late for you, Lightning Dust."

> Chapter 60. Heaven and Earth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I turn around, I see the humans, Blaze and Velvet, "Did one of you say that?" I ask, a shiver running down my spine. Velvet's eyes are huge, she shakes her head slowly.

I hear the clatter of hooves, and in moments, a dozen black ponies are in the room with us, all unicorns, all with their horns alight.  I feel the pressure of a magic field settle over my body, I try to move, and I'm stuck. Damn, we waited too long. I look at the entire team, everyone is encased in magic, Twilight has a spell over her horn, I'm guessing it's some kind of suppression spell, and from the look on her face, it hurts.

All of the ponies that flooded the room move away from the door, and bow. What's going on? I hear soft hoofsteps and in moments, a purple face enters the room, I know this pony.

"Twilight Sparkle!" I shout, "Can you get us out of here?"

She cocks her head to the side, "Why would I do that?"

Then I take a second look at her, her wings, she doesn't have them. Then my blood runs cold as I spy her cutie mark, the purple star surrounded by small white stars isn't there, in its place is a star, but it's inky black, with no other stars around it. But that voice, it has to be her, she has the same highlights in her mane, the same mane color, everything else is the same. I look into the violet eyes, "Please, Twilight. Let us go."

She giggles, though I'm listening carefully, I remember talking to Princess Twilight back at the farm, and I vaguely remember her when I was at the Wonderbolt Academy, there is something wrong with this mare. She smiles at me, "I'm the one who had you captured, I had your Dr. Ray captured as well. And I have found out there is one pony still in this world that I need to capture yet, the one who was my friend before Celestia cast her spell on me."

Maybe I can keep her talking, maybe find a way to get out of this, "Celestia cast a spell on you?"

She grins, but the grin scares me, "When the twinning spell backfired, it created two of us, and Celestia, in her infinite wisdom," I can hear sarcasm dripping from her voice, "decided that I was a copy, and decided to put a coma spell on me. Then about a year ago, I woke up." She starts to walk back and forth, "I felt the magic, this world has magic waking, I can feel it getting stronger by the day, and the magic woke me."

I think for a moment, magic waking, humanity's magic! I narrow my eyes, their magic waking is what woke her up. Celestia must have sent her through the portal after putting that spell on her. So the real Twilight Sparkle is in Equestria, and her copy is here.

I furrow my brow, "If you were sent through the portal, how is it you aren't human now?"

She giggles madly, "Oh Lightning Dust, I was enveloped in Equestrian Magic when I was sent through, it shielded me from the effects of the portal."

I almost perk up at that, I might be able to visit my home, and return the way I am now. Do I want to risk it? I don't know, what I say is, "You were behind the trap in Panama."

She giggles again, "I haven't had much chance to study human anatomy or their weapons, I've learned from that. Though you won't have to worry about them. I've got you." Her brow furrows and her voice turns dark, "You are mine now, I'm not letting you go."

"But what about Spectrum, I can't see them working with any pony."

She cocks her head to the side, "Who says I'm working with them, Lightning Dust, I cleared out all the workers in that little factory while you were flying there. I had everything ready, though I seriously underestimated your abilities, I never expected you to escape so easily. And when it comes to the castle here, they didn't know they were dealing with a pony."

Her horn glows and suddenly a human is standing before me, male, powerfully built, with wide shoulders, latino dark skin and dark hair. Though the purple eyes remain, the human speaks, though with Twilight's voice, "I simply had to change my form to look like them. I conjured quite a bit of gold for them to let me take over this place." The shape again glows, and Twilight is standing before me again. She giggles, "Humans are so easily fooled."

My ears fall, this isn't a pony that felt the curse of Discord, she's fully aware of her powers and strength, that makes her a hundred times more dangerous. I switch tactics, I look up at her, "Please, Twilight, we just want Dr. Ray, he's our stallion, he's my family member. I'm not leaving without him."

She smiles that mad smile again, "You don't have any choice, all of my friends went back through the portal, I want my friends back, so I will take back my only friend left in this world."

I look back at Dr. Ray, and then at this Twilight, she giggles, "Irony Smith."

"Irony?" All my attention is now on this mare.

She giggles that disturbing giggle once again, "Oh yes. She's mine, I brought her to Equestria, she's mine, and once I get her, I'm not giving her up."

I growl deep in my throat, "Irony has a herd now, a family. You can't take her away from us."

Another magic field envelopes me as the first one fades, this unicorn's horn flaring, I fly across the room, and slam into a wall. She pulls me back then slams me against the wall again, and again, and once more for good measure, then I'm jerked forward right in front of her face. "Not anymore, Lightning Dust. She belongs to me. You can't have her."

Then she jerks, looking over my shoulder, "Mom?"

I look over my shoulder, Twilight Velvet is standing there, her face a mask of shock. This Twilight prances over to Velvet, "Oh, I can't believe you are here. All the ponies that were sent here by Discord, and you were sent too?"

Her voice has completely changed, though I'm released as she lets her horn quiet. I start to move when one of the black unicorns grabs me in his magic. Ugh.

"Yes, I was." Velvet allows.

This Sparkle seems oblivious to the look on her mother's face, she nuzzles Velvet, and then looks at one of the black unicorns, "Well, release her you fool." The magic around Velvet fades as this Sparkle continues to prance, "I'm so happy you are here, I missed you so much, when I woke up in this weird world, all I could do was try to find ponies, but I didn't know where you were. First I found some humans, they had heard of ponies, and said they were all over. That Discord had cursed them, and then they asked where my wings were."

She rubs the top of her head underneath Velvet's chin, "I've never had wings, I told them that, and they said in the show I had turned into an alicorn, and I was an alicorn for a few years before Discord betrayed me. But Discord is stone, we turned him to stone, so then they told me about the show, and I was surprised to see how much of the show had of our lives, I watched every episode. But they missed some important parts, like the backfired twinning spell, the time I brought Irony over from this world. And quite a few other things that I remember happening, but this world is so strange. I can't believe you are here."

She keeps nuzzling her mother, and Velvet remains stoic in response. She prances over to me, "Nothing else matters, I've got my mother, I'll get Irony, and I can be happy, no matter what happens in this strange world."

"You don't have me, Twilight Sparkle." A cold voice intones, she turns to look at Velvet.

"Mom, what are you saying."

"My little Twi-Twi would never hurt another pony, the Twi-Twi I raised was kind and gentle.   If you were really my daughter you wouldn't be acting like this.   My daughter knows the magic of love, of friendship, and that's what earned her her wings.   If you were really my daughter you'd give yourself up."

"I will have my mother back..." A dangerous tone enters her voice.

"You will not HAVE me, you do not demand, you do not force.  that is not my daughter"  Velvets eyes start glowing white as her mane and tail begin to move in the powerful aether she is gathering.  "That is the way of Sombra, of Nightmare moon, of the dark shadows that we were sworn to protect all ponies against."  

The magic around me fades, all the black unicorns end up against the wall, encased in her aura, "You hurt this pony willingly, you tortured him." Her head tossing to indicate the prone Dr. Ray, "My Twi-Twi would never do that, under any circumstance. My Twi-Twi wouldn't take a pony away from her family for her own selfish ends." Her voice is rising as she speaks, my ears fold back in response, I'm picked up once again in magic, though this time it's Velvet's magic, we are all pushed out the door as the older unicorn continues to yell at the younger.

I lean over to Blaze, "I think we had better bug out." Henry and the LT pick up Dr. Ray and they hustle for the stairs, I start to head out to follow the rest of the Rangers, then I skid to a stop, and turn around, "Blaze, we need to get going." I put a hoof on his withers.

He shakes off my hoof, "Velvet's in danger, I need to help her."

I sigh, "Nopony is better at taking care of herself than Twilight Velvet, you come with me, or I'll drag you."

He shakes his head, and reaches for the door, I grab him around the barrel and take off with him, following the Rangers, we crash up the stairs, Blaze squawking the entire way. We get out the gates of the castle, the LT glances around, and finally points, "The CIA came through." A Mercedes Sprinter is sitting there, he yanks open the back door then runs to the driver's door. A quick search brings up the keys, and the engine fires to life, Blaze screams in response.

"Relax Blaze, I'm not taking off without her."

Blaze struggles in my grip, "I have to help her!"

We all look back as a bright flash of light brings up Twilight Velvet, the LT honks the horn and the unicorn rushes over and hops into the van, "I think she'll be out for a while. She is amazingly powerful, it was pure luck that I was able to get the better of her. We need to get out of here." She slams the door as the LT slams on the gas, the van leaping forward.

"The extract point is just over the border in Poland. Let's go!"

***

I'm sitting in the C-5, it's heading back to the states.

"I need to get to Montana, as soon as we land, we need to get Dr. Ray home and I have to warn Irony."

Twilight Velvet kneels down next to me, "I know, Dust, we have to protect your family. We will call ahead."

I sigh, "I hope it's enough."

Velvet finds a seat and sits, Blaze hops up next to her, and they simply enjoy each others company. I look at the other members of the team, Dr. Ray is sleeping, still being monitored by the team medic. I finally decide to grab the book and continue reading. I pick a place at random…

Systemic lupus erythematosus the pen used to write the words is nearly pressing through the page, the free clinic was able to get some extra tests done on me. The RN-NP was really nice when she told me. But she told me my body has this disease, where it thinks that parts of itself are actually invading tissue. That means my immune system is attacking parts of me. Specifically the heart. I might have five years left. If I'm lucky.

I flip back a few pages… I've been living on the streets for months now. I got away from those horrible people. I've aged out of the system, as they say. Turning eighteen is supposed to be the magic number for children to turn into adults, then why am I so alone?

I wipe a few tears off of my face, then move to earlier in the book, Four foster homes over the last few years, every one worse than the last. I've run away more times than I can count. They always find me, and send me back.

I flip a few pages, I had the dream again last night, I was running in a beautiful field. I felt the grass under my hooves, but I wasn't happy, I was terrified, my family was cursed by the monster. Most of the town has been. It's been a week from Tartarus. After he cursed the six, he was cursing the rest. Am I on that list? I turn the corner and I see him, he's standing before me, laughing. A pony I know is flashing white, I scream, this pony is a friend of mine. My scream causes the monster to look at me.

"You will be taken care of, but when I choose, not when you want to."

He disappears, then I find myself lifted into the air, he curls around me like a snake, "Oh, the little foal wants to be sent off, just like her friends?"

I feel myself struggle in his grasp, "No, I want to get away from you, Discord."

His arm comes around and ruffles my mane, "Oh you. You don't have to beg. I'll get to you in my own time. But I have some plans that I'm going to follow. I have a purpose to what I do."

I snarl at him, "To take the ponies away?"

He chuckles, "I'm sending the ones away that will challenge my rule. First the six element bearers, then the other ones that have the magic of harmony inside them. Then no one can challenge my rule!"

I moan, "And you are going to take me?"

He grins as white light flashes around him, I end up on the ground, my eyes spinning from the impact, "All in good time, little foal."

He disappears completely in a flash of light, "All in good time, you shall feel the bite of chaos."

I close the book. Tears falling from my face, I look up at Blaze and Velvet, they are cuddling together, "Discord destroyed a lot of lives, but why?"

Velvet looks thoughtful for a long time, "He had a purpose, in the show he always has plans within plans. Even in the first episode that we see him, he could easily have hidden the elements away where nopony could get to them. If he really wanted to be truly defeated. I think he wanted to see if the mane six were worthy of defeating him. "

"He truly was chaos personified." I sigh, rubbing a hoof on the book, "I'll have to have Mindy look up this pony, see if they made it back to Equestria, or even if they became a pony. They started at least."

Velvet looks confused, "Huh?"

"She drew the cutie mark that appeared on her hips in here." I flip through the pages and show them to Blaze and Velvet, getting a low whistle from Blaze.

I close the book, "But she was dying in the hospital when the cutie marks appeared, so I don't know if she finished the transformation."

"Attention. We are preparing to land." The pilot calls over the address system.

Velvet pulls out her phone, "Better call Mindy."

I nod and tap the phone to make the call.

***

I’m quite happy, Mindy told me she would contact Irony to get her back home. Everypony is happy that Dr. Ray is coming home. Though Mindy informed me that Irony was away from home, looking for me, and she assured me that her first thing to do after I got off the phone with her was to call Irony and get her on her way home. The USAF airplane landed us in Billings, and within an hour, we were on chariots on the way home. I’ve been away from home for too long. Our chariot lands us in New Beginnings, and I start the walk home with Dr. Ray, he’s under his own power now. Though Henry, the Ranger medic, has been hovering around Dr. Ray continuously.

I can see my home, my ears drop, my tail tucks under my rear. I hurt my family, not intentionally, and hearing Mindy’s happy chirping has lifted my spirits, but I don’t know. Am I truly forgiven for my actions? Do they still love me? I sigh as we push through the outer gate and head up to the house proper.

With the sound of a party horn, Mindy is hugging me with all of her strength, her face comes forward and kisses me. My body relaxes to an extent I never knew was possible. I hug Mindy back as hard as I can. And finally I pull away, happy tears in my eyes, I look over at Dr. Ray. Star Shine, Sunset, and even Helen are all hugging him at once, with everypony else around him, waiting their turn. It’s almost ten minutes before the commotion settles down.

I look over at my entire family, “Where is Irony?”

Mindy’s ears fall, “Her phone went to voice mail, she should call back soon, but I checked her locator earring, she’s okay, down in the Keys as of about an hour ago. I sent a text telling her to head home, that you were coming home.”

I sigh, you can’t have everything, can you?

Soon every member of my herd except for Irony is here, and I sit down and let the tears that I’ve been holding back finally flow, “I’m so sorry. I knew there was danger, but I didn’t think to warn you. I didn’t think to explain myself. I thought what was obvious to me should have been obvious to everypony else. So I acted without thinking.” I hug myself with my wings, “And for all of that, I’m sorry.”

I continue looking down, my tears flowing down my cheeks, I can hear more than one set of sniffles from my family.

“Dust.” Helen says, “We know what happened, you acted to protect us. That has always been your goal. I think you should have let us know what was happening,”

“I tried to…” I’m silenced by a finger on my lips.

Helen smiles sadly, “Not hard enough, Dust. But under the circumstances, you were forgiven when we discovered the fake pony.” Then she smiles, a true, genuine smile, “You brought Dr. Ray back to us. Thank you Dust.”

With that, all the members of my family come forward, and I’m hugged by everyone. My tears continue to fall, but this time, they are tears of joy.

After a bit, Moon Shadow pulls away, wincing in pain, “Something is wrong.” She touches her earring, her horn alighting, then she pales, “Irony!” She turns and gallops as fast as she can out the gate, heading for where the chariots are stored. I look at the other members of our family, Star Shine steps forward, “We’ll take care of the kids, go.” He addresses all the mares of the family. Helen gathers the stallions up, and my human kids. Sunset, Mindy, and I take off after Moon Shadow.

We catch up to the dark gray mare with the chariots. She’s sitting in a large one, tapping a hoof as two pegasi strap into the stirrups of the chariot. We hop aboard with her.

I look back at Velvet and Blaze, who followed us, “You going to come with us?”

Velvet looks at Blaze she's obviously torn, she shakes her head slowly "We can't, we've been gone to long as it is and have... responsibilities here.  If you find you really need us give is a call.  I'm sorry."

I nod as the unicorn and pegasus turn away.

Moon Shadow shouts and the pegasi take off, turning swiftly to the southeast. I place a hoof on her withers, “I know something is wrong, what?”

She looks at me, tears in her eyes, “Dust, something is wrong with Irony.”

I furrow my brow, “You said you just checked on her.”

She nods, “Yes, but I felt a strong pain from her earring. When you took yours out, I felt it. But it didn’t hurt. This time it hurt, the only way for that to happen is if someone does it to her. She’s in the Keys, we need to get there as soon as possible.”

I look at Mindy, she shakes her head, looking bleak, “Dustie, I have to know exactly where I’m going, or I could appear in the middle of a wall, or even underground since I have to account for the curvature of the Earth. If I was on the phone with her, I could get my location that way, but without knowing the specifics, I’m stuck too.”

I look over at Sunset, who nods, agreeing with Mindy.

I look out at the backs of the two pegasi flying for all they are worth, “Shit.”

> Chapter 61. Shatterstorm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The entire trip cross country is in silence. The US agency, the FAA, has insisted that all of our chariots carry transponders. Next to the transponder is a ruggedized tablet computer for filing flight plans. I look on the screen, it shows our location with GPS precision, we’ve been flying for hours now. Moon Shadow specifically requested some of our fastest haulers with the best endurance, flying cross country is tiring. I’m glad we pay those pegasi pretty well, their barrels are heaving as we continue flying. 

I sigh and turn to Moon Shadow, “Any updates?”

She looks bleak, “I can’t feel the earring anymore, Dust. That means it’s destroyed. I was able to zero in on it’s location, though not well enough for a teleport.” She sighs, “I hope it’s not this weird copy of Twilight Sparkle.”

I had updated my family on this new pony. Even Sunset Shimmer looks worried about dealing with her. Everypony has been really quiet during this flight. We are all worried. Mindy comes up next to me, “Dustie, I’ve gotten a response, Cloud Kicker, Blossomforth, and all of the rest of the teams were in Texas, training with the guard contingent there, they are on their way, we will meet up with them there.”

I nod, and sigh, “How is Mischief?”

Sunset smiles sadly, “Oh, she’s been wondering where mommy is. We’ve been keeping her distracted, but she’s almost two. Hell, the portal opening is just a couple of months away. She’s a smart little one, and I know she misses you.”

I sigh, “I miss her too. Damnit!” I slam a hoof into the diamond plate of the chariot, “I wanted to see my little foal. I wanted to spend time with all of you. Not having to go out again.”

Sunset comes up next to me and nuzzles me, I fold a wing over her and sigh, “I’m sorry. This Twilight Sparkle has me really spooked.” 

She shudders, “I know how powerful she was as an alicorn, I can imagine she was extremely strong as a unicorn. But we have something she doesn’t.”

I sniffle and look at her, “What’s that?”

She smiles, and gestures with a hoof, “All of us. The show, and our lives here, have all shown us that we are stronger together.”

I look at her, realization dawning, “I discovered that too, I can’t do this all alone, I need you.”

She looks at me slyly, “No more charging off into danger? Leaving your herd behind?”

I chuckle, “No promises, love.” I turn my head and kiss her, my body tingles as I reconnect with her, I bring a hoof to her cheek and lose myself in her.

A throat clearing brings me back to the present, I look over at Mindy, my face heating, “Sorry.”

She giggles, “Don’t be. We are all happy to have you home, Dustie. We are getting ready to land now.”

I look around, we are in the cloud layer as we get close to our destination, I see to the side, two other chariots, with other members of our guard’s teams. Though there are quite a few more ponies than I expected. We finally land on a building, less than a mile from our destination. Trixie bounces out and runs to me, bowling me over.

I end up on my back, with the blue mare chattering excitedly at me, “Oh Dust, when Trixie found out about what had happened, she was so upset. Then we found out about the light spell on the body, and the fact it was never a pony in the first place. We were relieved. Is it true that Twilight Sparkle is back?”

I nod, then furrow my brow, “Light spell? Isn’t that something that you simply use to make light?”

She tosses her head, “It’s most basic version, yes. But more advanced versions are actually very scary. Sunset described to me the one used. And it can only be done by a select few unicorns, Trixie can’t even do that version. Sunset would have problems with it. Even Twilight Velvet would find this version taxing to her abilities. The version used actually created a fusion reaction. And Sunset’s instincts to put a shield spell around it saved her life, and the lives of everyone in your home. But from the spell’s standpoint, it was the worst thing to do. It would have exploded, taking out your house, and a couple of other houses, and Lake Luna would have a new bay. But holding in the energy, with two strong unicorns holding it in, allowed the spell’s reaction to continue, it was actually producing a small sun, a sustained fusion reaction. It was Moon Shadow’s quick thinking, putting a spell to protect Sunset and Mindy and then opening a gateway into outer space that saved the town of New Beginnings from what the light spell became.”

I look at all the ponies here, "This is more than our teams, what's going on?"

Nearly fifty ponies are here, all in armor, I don’t know most of them.

Trixie turns to look, “They want to help, they are rapid response teams from the ponies down in Texas, we are going to get Irony back. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.”

I give Trixie a grateful smile, then turn to the small warehouse. Why does it always have to be a warehouse? I can see Irony’s car, gleaming in the sunlight, “Are we ready?”

I hear murmurs of assent, and I spread my wings, We are going in hot, “Let’s go!” I shout as I take to the air, the pegasi of our teams with me, some of them carrying the earth ponies. The unicorns all opt to teleport. In a matter of seconds I lead the spearhead of ponies into the warehouse. I slam through the doors. Several of the pegasi toss the earth ponies through the windows, then follow them in. I slam to the ground. 

No one is here.

We all look at each other, “Where is Irony?” Sunset says.

I shake my head, “I don’t know.” I point to some of the unicorns, “Search the building.”

Several horns alight as the ponies teleport.

I walk over to Moon Shadow, “You are sure about the place?”

She nods, she walks around, “I can feel the residues, there was a lot of magic here.” She looks around, “I think there were a lot of constructs, like what you had to deal with overseas. Irony didn’t go easily. It even looks like she escaped for a time.”

“Dust.” One of the unicorns popped in front of us, “I need you to come with me.”

The peach colored unicorn with five silver stars on her flanks turns and gallops off. Moon Shadow is hot on my heels as we all gallop outside. She skids to a stop and points.

I flare my wings and take to the air to get a better view, “That’s a lot of blood.”

Moon Shadow touches her horn to the dried blood, “its Irony’s.”

I look around, almost a gallon of blood, counting splatters all over. “I’m no expert, but that is a lot of blood for one pony to lose.” I look at Moon Shadow, “Is she alive?” 

Moon Shadow looks bleak, “I think so, I really do, but this is a lot for Irony to lose. Even as big as she is. I don’t know.”

I turn to the rest of the team, "Irony's not here. We need to circle around, try to determine where she went.”

Moon Shadow comes up, “if she’s been captured by that Twilight, she likely would have been teleported.”

I sigh, “I know moon, but I don’t know what else to do.”

She sighs as well, “I’ll drive her car home, Love.”

I sigh, I want to cry, but what do I do? “Load up!” I shout.

In minutes we are in the air. Though after hours of scouting around, we end up being unable to even get a clue. With a sigh, I order the ponies home, then I curl up on the diamond plate for the flight home.

***
I’m nudged by Sunset Shimmer, I blink and look around. Home, in minutes we are on the ground, and the walk to the house goes by quickly. Then I’m jarred out of my funk. “Mischief!” I scream as I flash forward. 
The little foal yelps as she’s picked up, I find myself nuzzling her, and hugging my little one. I cover her little face with kisses. She looks at me in confusion, then brightens, “Mommy!” She spreads her wings and hugs me back. 

“Miss mommy!” She wails. 

“Mommy missed Mischief too.” I sob as I hold my little one. Very little in my world is right, but right now… I nuzzle Mischief again, right now, holding my little Mischief, at least one little part of the world is just perfect.

***

A little later I’m in my office, Zeddicus is playing with Mischief, I try to stop the tears. But they won’t stop. I look at my desk, the computer, the pile of documents from Lightning Electric. My eyes are drawn to the framed picture on my desk. I keep looking at the photo, it’s all of us, mugging for the camera. I look in the background of the photo, Irony is showing one of her rare smiles. Then I find myself sitting up, something is wrong with the photo. It’s not centered in it’s frame, what the hell?

I have a couple of digital photo frames in the house, but this one, I just got a hard copy of the photo, and I had it framed, and for the last couple of years, I’ve looked at that picture, and it always helped me. I bring the frame closer. Yes, the picture has moved. I furrow my brow as I turn it over, a moment of work has the back off, and I’m sitting here, looking at a piece of paper. I look at it for a long time, is this from Irony? If so, she found the perfect place for me to find it. Helen rarely comes in here, and the kids know that my office is off limits. The only one who would find this would be me. I finally unfold the paper…

Dearest Lightning Dust,

If you are reading this, then you have returned home before I could find you. If you've come home, then maybe you can forgive me... I... I don't know how to apologize for the things I said, for the actions I took. You saved us all, and I was ready to attack you. To kill you if necessary. On the note, I can see that there are tear stains on it. I trace a hoof on the stains for a moment, then continue reading.

There is nothing I can say, or do, to fully repent my actions. But, know that I would have soon followed you into death, had I felt forced to follow through on my threat. 

I regretted my words, my actions, immediately, but couldn't take them back. I should have realized that there is no way you would have done something like that without reason. I should have let you explain... I shouldn't have acted so rashly. 

I love you, Lightning Dust, with all of my soul, more than I ever thought I could love. I pray to Celestia that you can somehow, someday, forgive me. 

All my love, 
IRONY

I feel my own tears start to fall, “Oh Irony. You did nothing that requires my forgiveness.” I’m able to moan as I hug the letter to my chest, I fall out of my chair, I can’t do anything but sob.

“Dust!” I hear a voice, I have no idea how long I’ve been on the floor.

A small set of arms wrap around me, and I feel the tingle of magic as I’m levitated off the floor. I’m cradled like a baby, and float up the stairs. My eyes aren’t working correctly, no part of me is working correctly. Soon I’m set gently on the bed, and as the form sets me down, I reach my hooves out, grabbing who was holding me, and I bring them into a hug. My wings join in the hug as I sob. A pair of hands pat my back as I cry. After a long time, I’m able to focus my eyes, and I pull back.

“Hannah!” I shout, she giggles.

“Hi Dust.”

I sniffle, “I’m so sorry you had to take care of me like this.”

She cocks her head to the side, “Why?”

I find myself searching for words, but finally I’m able to say, “A child shouldn’t have to carry the burden.”

She ruffles my mane, “You and mom never really hid stuff from me, or Dylan. You let us know what was going on. In part, I’ve had to grow up more quickly, but I think I’m better for that. I know what happened to Mama Irony. I already asked Mama Moon, Twilight Sparkle is back?”

I nod, “Yes but not the Twilight from the show, something is wrong with her, in her head. She’s not like she was in the show.”

“But she has the same abilities?”

I nod.

“How can you defeat her?”

I am actually able to smile at this, “The same way she defeated her enemies in the show.”

She furrows her brow, “You don’t have the elements, you don’t have the magical rainbow cannon to defeat your foes.”

I nod, “That magical rainbow cannon was powered by the one thing we do have.”

She looks confused, “What?”

“Friendship. Our family, our bonds. What was used to defeat Discord in this world, the bonds of all the ponies here. We have that. That is our strength.”

She hugs me hard, “I hope you can stop her, and get Irony back.”

I hold my daughter for a long time, “I hope so to.”

***

I end up trotting into Mindy’s office. She’s insisted, and we have several fiber optic lines installed, Lightning Electric ran them for us. We have absolutely fast internet at the house. I stop for a moment, I know that we did some remodeling as the family has grown, but she has a pretty nice sized office in the basement, but the door off to the side behind her desk it open. I walk through slowly.

“Mindy?”

“Oh, hey Dustie, just replacing a hard drive.”

“What is all of this?”

She giggles, “We are the internet hub for New Beginnings, Dustie. This is our server room.”

I walk through the racks, “This looks like a server farm, Mindy.”

She appears from an aisle, there are over a dozen aisles here, server racks everywhere, I count over a hundred before I give up, “How much power is being used here, Mindy?”

She giggles again, “Oh, a lot. But we provide internet for the entire town, subscriber fees pay for all of this, I’ve got a few ponies who work here, maintaining them, but they are off now. I’m the one on call, keeping things working.”

I furrow my brow, “I haven’t seen any ponies coming down stairs.”

She points, “I’ve got it all covered, Dustie. We have an entrance and offices for them. This is really a big complex, took three weeks to dig. I was happy to have it done.”

I shake my head, “I’ve been home for a while now, Mindy. When?”

She cocks her head to the side, “I started it before we moved the house, I scouted the site out and got things started. When we moved the house, we just had to be careful where we put the basement, so everything hooked up correctly, then I made the door, and we were in business.”

I shake my head, “You are a gem, you know that Mindy?”

She furrows her brow, “No… I’m a pony.”

I giggle, it’s nice to be able to giggle, then I sigh, “Any luck searching?”

Her ears fall, and her mane starts to fall flat, “No, Irony apparently hasn’t been able to get to a computer. This weird Twilight has been keeping her internet presence quiet as well. I’ve been scouring the net. I’m keeping everything going, I’m looking for her. But I can only do so much. I’ve even contacted Cipher Splash, she’s working for the Military cyber command. We are searching as best as we can. Tapping into cameras where we can, but nothing so far.”

I sigh, “It’s only been a couple of days, Irony knows to try to find a computer, or something to connect, we will find her if she shows up.”

Tears start to form in Mindy’s eyes, I move forward and wrap my forehooves and wings around her, tightly, “Mindy, we are doing what we can.”

She sighs in my grip, “I miss her.”

I squeeze her, “I do too, we will find her.”

She pulls away and looks at me seriously, “Promise?”

I am able to smile and nod at her, “Yes, Mindy. I promise, we will get Irony.”

“But what are we going to do about this Twilight Sparkle? She’s so powerful! Even Sunset Shimmer, the most powerful unicorn I know, is scared of her.”

I sigh, “I don’t know, Mindy. Maybe we can let her know that we can be her friend, that she can find happiness in this world. Maybe we can use the magic of friendship that we know we all possess.”

She sniffles, “But what if that doesn’t work?”

“Then we will do what we must do, Mindy.”

She pulls back and looks at me seriously, “What does that mean?”

“It means, we will get Irony back, no matter what.”

***
The guards have a facility that has been built for training, my status as a Wonderbolt gains me entry, though I bring Moon Shadow and Sunset Shimmer with me. We get into the large training yard, I watch different ponies training. The earth ponies are training, though this time, it’s not with weapons, I spy a face I’ve seen a couple of times, she’s standing before a dozen or so recruits, lecturing them. They are all standing in a large arena, with a sunken main floor. I know what all this is for, memories from Equestria float to the surface as I smile.

“Limestone!” She spies me and after a moment, getting the recruits doing exercises, she comes up to me. 

She hugs me warmly, “Glad to see you Lightning Dust.”

“How are you liking the spring weather in Montana?”

She smiles, “It’s a lot cooler than Texas.”

I chuckle, “I’ll bet, I grew up in Corpus Christie, I know what hot is.”

“Well at least you had the sea breeze, over in Midland, it’s just hot, hot and more hot.”

“I did my apprenticeship in Dallas, so I know what you are talking about.”

She chuckles, “At least Midland is a dry hot.”

I look at the earth ponies doing pushups, “So, what are you training them on?”

“Rolling Earth basics, seeing which ponies have the aptitude for it.”

I look at her, “Rolling Earth, now that is a rough discipline. I tried, but I could only master a few forms, I just don’t have the brute strength.”

“You’ve got speed, you are a pegasus. It’s good, just not good for Rolling Earth.”

I look over at Sunset and Moon Shadow, “Limestone Pie here is a Rolling Earth grand master.”

“Pie?” Moon Shadow asks.

“I’m Pinkie Pie’s sister.” She says quietly.

Moon Shadow giggles, “So, we’ve found Maud and Limestone, what about her other sister?”

Limestone’s ears drop, “I think she went through the portal the first time.”

I put a wing over the earth pony, “Well, at least Pinkie has two sisters to spend time with, since Maud took her wife and son through the portal the last time it opened.”

She sighs, “I really thought about going through, I really wanted to. I still might. But I’ve got a lot of students here, I have ponies that need me right now.” She sniffles, “I can’t go back yet.”

I squeeze her with my wing, “It’s alright Limestone, the portal opens every thirty moons, you can go through any time you wish.

She smiles, “Thanks Lightning Dust.”

I look at the ponies, “So, are you going to kick their ass?”

She nods, “Wanna watch?”

“Oh yeah.”

She tosses her head to indicate a spectator area, ponies performing Rolling Earth can really tear up an area, so spectators need to keep away, I flutter up there, as Sunset and Moon Shadow opt to teleport. We sit and watch quietly.

Limestone trots up before the group of about thirty ponies, “I’ve taught you the basics, how to feel the magic you possess, and to get the earth itself to bend to your will. Now you are going to use those skills, you have to try to defeat me.”

They look at her in shock for a moment, and she jumps, landing hard on the concrete, two large chunks of the concrete bounce out of the ground, and she flips in the air, kicking at both chunks, her hooves don’t make contact, but both chunks of concrete slam towards the group of ponies, who scatter in response, except for one. This pony flips herself into the air, kicking at the chunks as they streak towards her, they reverse direction, and fire back at Limestone almost as fast as they were coming towards this other pony. The other pony goes into offense, and slams her own hooves into the ground, bringing up four chunks, another flip in the air, and those chunks are flashing towards Limestone.

I gasp as Limestone waits until the chunks are almost to her, she taps a hoof on the ground, and the ground she’s on lifts up a few inches and slides to the side, she jumps off the slab, breaking it in pieces and sending them at the other pony.

“It’s like that cartoon that Henry liked.” Moon Shadow breathes.

I smile as I watch Limestone thoroughly whip the pony, and while the two are battling, a couple of the others get brave, sending rocks of their own at their teacher, who adroitly either avoids the clumsy attacks, or sends the rocks back at the ponies much faster.

Sunset leans down to talk in my ear, “I’ve heard about Rolling Earth grand masters, but seeing one in action, I wonder if Discord had a time taking her.”

I feel the fur down my back raise, “I hope she went down swinging, though I have a feeling he was glad to have her gone.”

Moon Shadow looks thoughtful, “That is amazing.”

My attention is grabbed by two ponies walking into another part of the practice field. I take off and slam down in front of both of them, “Blaze, Velvet, what you guys doing here?”

Blaze chuckles, “We are practicing anti-unicorn fighting, if we have this Twilight Sparkle to deal with. Best to be prepared.”

I sigh, “That’s why I’m here, why not work together?”

Velvet looks thoughtful, “Two pegasi against little ole me? Sounds fun.” She grins evilly as she finishes.

With a pop, Sunset and Moon teleport, “Well, I brought my own sparring partners.”

Velvet looks at them seriously, “Are you trained in battle magic, Moon Shadow? I know you aren’t, Sunset, so go and watch.”

Moon Shadow looks confused, “I know the spell forms.”

Velvet grins, “Knowing the forms, and using them on your hooves are two very different things. The answer is no, now sit down, and I’ll teach Lightning Dust what she needs to know.”

Both unicorns move slowly away, and I gulp, I may be getting in over my head here.

Velvet’s voice takes on an air of lecturing, “As pegasi, you both need to know how to deal with the weaknesses of unicorn magic. One of the hardest things for a unicorn to do is pick up liquids.” Her horn lights and both of us are encased in her aura, “While I know tactics to combat what I’m going to teach you, you need to learn the basics.”

I glance over at Blaze, he’s squirming, trying to keep moving. After a moment I start squirming as well, keeping every part of my body flexing, trying to move.

Velvet continues, “Most ponies make a serious mistake when captured by telekinesis, they go limp, they assume they are defeated and give up.”

Blaze apparently breaks a foreleg free, he keeps it moving, and soon has a wing free. I’m still stubbornly stuck. But I keep struggling.

Velvet’s voice starts to sound strained, “If you keep moving, if you keep fighting, you can wear the unicorn out, you will certainly be keeping them on their toes, always trying to compensate for the different variables. The more ponies the unicorn tries to hold, the harder it is to hold on to them if they keep moving. Just like trying to hold a cup of water, minus the cup, but imagine the water in that cup under pressure, and looking for any way to...” 

She pauses as Blaze streaks into the sky, finally breaking free of her magic, “Very good, Blaze!”

She then focuses on me, “You haven’t even broken any part of yourself free, Dust. Better work harder.” 

She grins as the field around me tightens, since she doesn’t have to compensate for two ponies, she’s got me. I struggle harder, and harder. Then the field melts away, and I take to the sky as Blaze buzzes her, close enough to give her a manecut, from the withers up.

He chuckles as she flinches away, “And that is why pegasi work in teams, the lead pony, and the wing pony. One gets free, and frees their partner.” He streaks high into the sky and drops towards Velvet, who starts shooting stun spells at the blue pegasus. I join him in buzzing her, and she fires a few bolts at me, keeping me hopping.

Narrowing her eyes, Velvet’s horn glows as she grabs a set of blunted metal disks,  for real combat they would be sharp, but for training these will work, firing them off like buckshot at Blaze and I, they spread out a bit keeping us on our tiphooves trying to dodge. Something tickles the back of my mind and I shoot straight up. Blaze isn’t so lucky, the disks had stopped behind him, and reversed course, he got grazed by at least one of them. "Not all attacks are magical” Velvet calls out loudly, “A smart unicorn will use physical weapons too.  And attacks can come from any direction, combat can be as much about creativity, as about the spells."

I feel a shudder run through my body as I get closer, her mom is nearly outdoing anything I can do. What will her daughter do?

I glance at Blaze and we resume our attack, Blaze slams to the ground, and I make another pass. I keep high and watch him dodge every blast she sends at him, and every time she gets too focused on him, I remind her of my presence. I even am able to run a hoof from her withers to her tail as I pass over her. And then have to dodge furiously as the blushing mare sends several bolts at me, allowing Blaze to get close.

“Blaze, look out!” I shout at the lilac mare turns and fires several blasts at him. But one of his wings flashes out in front of him, deflecting the energy into a wall.

I almost lose control, he just deflected a stun spell, with his wing! Though my amazement is short lived, when a stun spell hits me in the barrel, causing me to crash heavily into the ground. Blaze comes up, offering a hoof up.

Velvet comes forward, “You two seems to be…”

I interrupt her, “Blaze, how in the hell did you deflect that spell?”

He smiles, “We found it out a while ago, speedsters, and other magic user pegasi can charge our wings with our magic, and use them to deflect or even absorb unicorn spells.”

“Charge my wing? I can do that, Velvet. Shoot a stun spell at me.”

Blaze backs away as the lilac unicorn frowns, “You haven’t trained on this Dust.”

I smile, I know how to charge my wings, “Go for it, if I screw up, I’m out for a minute, and it hurts. But I need to learn that.”

She sighs and her horn lights, “You asked for it, Dust.”

I grin as I charge my wings, she fires her spell at me, I bat it away without even thinking twice. She sends another one to me, even stronger, I bat it away again. 

“Oh, come on Velvet, is that all you’ve got?” I smirk.

She narrows her eyes and fires a beam at me, it’s as tall and wide as a pony is long. I put both my charged wings in front of me, absorbing the magic she’s sending, but soon I’m blown back, I end up tumbling over and over, and end up slamming into the wall. I’m dazed, my eyes are spinning.

“Oh, Dust!” Velvet shouts and teleports next to me, picking me up off the ground.

I feel my face, and rub a forehoof over my nose, it coming away bloody. I look at Velvet, “Perhaps I shouldn’t have taunted you so much.” I say and pass out.

> Chapter 62. Clues and Deceptions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

***Mindy***

I hoof through the journal that Dust gave me, at times I don’t know why she did, this whole story seems to be very sad. I look at the hand written pages,

Mommy gave me this book, she said I should write down my thoughts and feelings in it. She gave it to me right after Daddy died. He served in Afghanistan, right after the towers fell is when he joined up. He was a hero she said. He saved the lives of his tanker crew when an RPG had hit the treads of the tank, making it unable to go. He got them to get out, and he used the gun on top to provide cover fire while the other soldiers boarded a helicopter. But as he was running, another RPG landed right next to him, killing him. Mommy was never the same after that.

I sniffle and turn a page,

Today was the worst day ever. I got home from school, and the house was dark, mommy was in bed. I made some food, Mommy taught me to make food, and I’m pretty good at it. After dinner was ready, I went to wake her up, so she could eat something. I touched her, she was cold. I saw the bottle of pills on the bed stand, the bottle of brown liquid, mommy occasionally drank that stuff, but this time. She didn’t move, she was cold, she just lay there. I’m seven years old. What do I do?

I look at the written words, the childish scrawl on the pages, I think about Dust, she’s been pretty hard core on the humans are bad beat, we’ve all tried to talk her out of it, but reading this, I sometimes think she’s got a point there. I finally sigh and turn the page.

The social services woman was really nice, and I got to stay at a home for a little while, they said that it was until they set up foster care for me, and they’ve gotten a family set up for me. I’ve heard stories, but I don’t know what’s going on. I’m told after school I’ll get to meet my new foster family. Wish me luck.

I flip the page,

Oh Mommy, why did you have to go? This family is horrible! The other kids they have get toys, I’m supposed to call her Meemaw, and Meemaw says that the state pays for her to take care of me, that’s it. I don’t need toys, I don’t need anything but food and shelter, and I do get it. But my foster brother and sister are so mean to me. And when they are mean, Meemaw and Peepaw just laugh. And they say I should toughen up. I cry all the time, I just want to get away from them.

The next page,

I got away from them, I can’t get beaten up by my foster brother and sister anymore, though I don’t really know what to do. I took a different school bus, all the way to the end of the line, I’ve packed some clothes, some food, and most of all my journal. It’s getting dark now, I had better find a place to sleep.

The police found me, they took me back to the foster home, how do I get away from these people?

I’m interrupted in reading by the door to my office opening, I look up, “Oh, Hi Dustie.”

Dustie smiles as she sits down, “Any luck?”

I look at the journal, “Well, it’s nice that she drew the cutie mark.” I flip towards the back of the book, tracing the mark that is drawn there, “I found her records at the hospital. She was admitted to the hospital May fifth, 2020. It took some wrangling, but I brought Dr. Ray to look at the records, he was a vet, but he did say it looked pretty bad, though the good news is that three days after she was admitted, her hair started to change color, and her vitals improved. She slipped out late that night, she took the journal with her.” I flip a few pages, showing her entries, her making her way south, to Brownsville, and her last entry says that her hands aren’t working very well anymore, but she feels better than she has ever in her life. She knows the pony she turned into, but she didn’t have any real memories of her life in Equestria.”

“And?”

I look up at Dustie, feeling bleak, “I’m sorry, but there are very few records of the ponies that went through the portal the first time. Several thousand ponies went through, but I don’t know if she did. I put in calls to the other major pony settlements, the Texas settlement didn’t know if she was there, I’m still waiting on a call from Florida. They have a lot of ponies there, it may be a few days.”

Dustie slams a hoof on the desk, “Damn. I was hoping we would be able to find out if…” She’s interrupted by the warbling tone of my desk phone.

I charge my horn, the handset lifts off the base and comes over to my ear, “This is Mindy.”

I hear the voice identify itself, and I look at Dustie, wide eyes, then my magic turns on the speakerphone, “…I know it’s been two years since our talk on CNN. But I want the promised tour of your city.”

Dustie furrows her brow, “Richard? Richard Willard?”

“Yes.”

I see her ruffle her feathers, she shifts in her chair, I know Dustie mad, and she really dislikes that human, “Your group has been fighting against pony rights for years now, why?”

He sighs, “I’m doing this under protest, but some of those financing our efforts have insisted that we get a full record of your lives on our Earth. There is talk that we won’t continue to get funding if I don’t. I’m going to be bringing a camera crew with me.”

Dustie shakes her head, “This isn’t exactly the best of times…”

“Nevertheless, I insist.”

Dustie sighs, “I’m sorry, Mr. Willard, but if you could coordinate a schedule with me, perhaps…”

She’s interrupted by the voice on the phone, “I might be able to give you some information on a certain family member.”

Dustie’s breathing more than doubles, and she glares at the phone, “You can tell me about Irony?”

A low chuckle comes over the phone, “I’m not going to tell you anything until I get my promised tour.”

Dustie slams a hoof on the desk, I wince at the deep impression she leaves in the wood, I light my horn and smooth it out as she grumbles to herself for several seconds.

“I’m waiting for an answer.”

“Fine, when will you be here?”

“We will be there in the morning.”

Dustie rattles off the address to the old farm, “I’ll meet you at the farm, and we can head over to the town from there.”

“Fine.” And a click on the line signals Mr. Willard hanging up.

Dustie jumps off the chair and heads to the door.

“But what about…” I call out.

“Later, Mindy.” Dustie growls, I know how mad she is, I watched the interview, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Dustie doesn’t smack that man the instant she sees him tomorrow, maybe I should sell tickets, see if anypony wants to watch Dustie deck Mr. Richard Willard. I giggle a bit before I turn a couple of pages in the journal and continue reading.

***Lightning Dust***

I wake up in a fine mood, I come down for breakfast, made by our human stallion, Allan. I’m ready for the day, then it hits me, I’ve got to show that asshole through the town, ugh… double ugh. I look at my family, all gathered around the large butcher block style table in the kitchen, everyone is enjoying their breakfast. And my appetite just disappears.

Sunset leans over, “Not hungry Dust?” She indicates my half eaten French Toast, made exactly how I love it, with brown sugar instead of syrup. I push the fork around the plate, then set it down, I nuzzle Sunset and hop off the chair. I head to the living room, but nothing keeps my interest. Do I wait for him here? Or wait at the farmhouse? I don’t know. But I finally decide to take off and fly for a few minutes. Though after only five or so minutes of flying, I find myself landing at the farmhouse. I sit down and look at the house. Nopony lives here anymore, the town is pretty much encroaching on the original main part of this farm. The paths are still there. There are still about a hundred cars parked underneath the trees in the large parking lot. I look back to the entrance, the large wrought iron gates and fencing is still in place. The paths between the various buildings are still in place, though the old armory is gone, so is the ironworking shop. I’m guessing the forges and materials have been moved to town. The barracks are still there, but I can see a crew working inside, all ponies. I trot up to the apparent forepony.

“Hi there.” I chirp.

The Earth pony looks at me for a long time, a pink pony shaped hard hat is on her head.

“Uh, I was just wondering what was going on.”

She grunts, “Mayor Mare is having the old barracks renovated to be a new hotel. We have a lot of visitors, and this is a good place to keep the horde of Bronies out of our manes.”

I chuckle, “I can gather that would be a problem.”

She grunts, and continues to look at me.

I look around, “Uh, I’m Lightning Dust.”

She continues to look at me, then something catches her attention, she looks inside and shouts, “How many times do I have to show you how to do that?” And she disappears inside the barracks. I shake my head, but further musing is stopped by a black SUV rolling through the gates of the farm. I head over and wait for the door to open.

“It’s almost June, I thought Montana would be cooler than this.”

I chuckle, the pegasi are keeping the temperatures in the mid seventies right now, “Used to air conditioning?”

The fat human looks down his nose at me, “I’m used to civilization, pony.”

I keep myself from growling, “I want to know about Irony.”

It’s time for Richard to chuckle, “All in good time.” He gestures, “This is my camera crew.”

A skinny, very tall man gets out, and hefts the camera to his shoulder. Another man gets out of the back of the SUV, and opens the back, pulling out a long boom mic, along with some audio recording gear that he hangs around his neck.

I’m not in the mood to offer a hoof, I decide to start right off, “What you see here,” I pause for a moment as the camera man pans around the area, “Is where things were when we started. After I changed, I knew more ponies would be needing homes, so I bought this farm, and started building the barracks you see over there.” I point and the camera points at the line of buildings.

“As things have matured, we first expanded the farm, but then Mayor Mare decided that we were going to rapidly outgrow the space we had here, she scouted out the location that became our new town. We named the town, New Beginnings. That name was to signify the hope that this town, in this world, would be our home, our home away from Equestria.”

Richard comes forward, “Why didn’t you simpy go through that portal? Just head home and leave humanity alone?”

I glare at him, but quickly moderate myself, the camera pans towards me, and the boom mic comes close, “Would you leave a home you had spent the last twenty five years living in? Would you abandon your friends, your family, because your body changed shape?”

He doesn’t respond, though I can feel his loathing from ten feet away, I decide to continue, “I, along with many of the ponies here, have family, and friends in this world, and are not willing to leave them.” I look at him long and hard, “And we resent any attempts to force the issue.”

I look at the camera severely for a moment, “Are you simply trying to antagonize me? Or are you here to learn about our lives, Mr. Willard?”

He smiles that greasy smile, “Can’t I do both?”

I grumble and start walking, a well paved path leads towards the town, a couple of miles away. After a moment, I look back, “Are you coming?”

He looks shocked, “Walking? For miles?”

I nod, “I usually fly, but for you, I’m making a concession.” 

“Can you get some kind of cart? I have a bum knee.”

I grumble for a few minutes, then pull out my phone. A quick text is sent, and within about ten minutes, a unicorn in the armor of the Royal Guard teleports in, a golf cart in tow. She sets it down and salutes me. I return the salute and her horn charges as she teleports away.

“You have your own military?”

I smile, “The accurate answer to that question is yes, and no. We have the EUP, which is the Royal Guard contingent, which provides security for this, and other Equestrian pony colonies. But they are under both the civilian control locally like the US National Guard, but can be called up if needed by the US President via our arrangements with the US Government. We even train with regular military members to train our ponies against human military members, and to train human military members against the Guards. And in addition, they provide the pony equivalence to the police force. Our nature makes the necessity of a strong police force much less of an issue, but the guards will investigate crimes, and we will imprison those who violate our laws. We are a very peaceful populace, Mr. Willard. And having ponies here that help with that peace is always a good thing.” I look towards the bustling city, “Our nature is harmony, Mr. Willard. That is something the TV show got a hundred percent right. We aren’t perfect, but we are peaceful, friendly, and we are welcoming. With all the horrible things that happened to many of the ponies during and shortly after their transformation, until they made it to one of our colonies, I’m actually surprised so many have adjusted so well.” 

This gets a wistful smile out of me, “Ponies and humans living here, in harmony, is a good thing, Mr. Willard. Thousands more humans have been showing up, with magic of their own. We’ve been teaching them what their magic means, how to control their magic, how to live with the magic that has manifested inside them. And that is something that is not going to go away, humanity had magic long ago, and it’s awakening again, now. We ponies were the catalyst to bring that magic about, and us going away isn’t going to stop that.

He looks thoughtful as they board the electric cart, he gestures to the drivers seat, which has attachments to allow a pony to drive it, though sitting in it looks rather uncomfortable, I smile again at him, “Oh, I don’t drive. I no longer possess a drivers license, just an ID card. If I need to get somewhere, I use my wings, you are welcome to drive yourself though.”

He grumbles and looks at his sound man, who reluctantly gets out of the back of the cart and moves to the drivers seat. In moments we are off, with me flying beside them.

A few minutes of driving on the paved path brings us to the southern edge of the city. I can’t really call it a town anymore, I slow down and move to the passenger side of the cart, “When they first started building, I was actually a captive in South America, I didn’t know about it until after I had healed for a while. So, I got to learn about this place later. Though we didn’t name it immediately, some ponies wanted New Ponyville, or even Canterlot on Earth, but Mayor Mare put her hoof down, we weren’t going to go with a horse pun for our home, so New Beginnings was chosen, over a year after the city was started. But we only had about ten thousand residents at that point, so the initial plan was to pattern the city off of Ponyville in the show. Wood construction, cobblestone pathways, colorful and artistically designed buildings. And this is down town New Beginnings now.” 

We pull into the down town area, the cart stops and the humans pile out. Rapidly the camera is started up, and the camera man pans around, I continue, “We have small shops here, we have the Mayor’s office.” I point to a three story structure, though it vaguely reminds me of the town hall in Ponyville in the show, very ornate, and brightly colored.

Richard interrupts me, “I see electric lights here, where do you get your power? I was objecting to you hogging resources, and among those is electricity.”

I chuckle, “We generate our own in town, in fact, it’s greener than any wind turbines or solar panels, but I’ll get to that soon.” I turn and walk slowly through the town, pointing out the different stores, and the houses.

“As you can see, the houses all have similar designs, it’s because we design our houses to be modular, as a family grows, they can bring another house and attach it, or simply build an addition. Working with only hooves and mouths, Earth ponies are among the best craftsponies you will ever meet. In fact, I’ve replaced all the furniture in my home with pony made. They can make it sized and shaped for humans, or ponies. I highly recommend it.”

I smile and look around, then point, “That is Rim of the Sky, our cloud city, for pegasi and those who have the cloud walking spell cast on them. That is where the Pony Weather bureau is.”

Richard sneers, “That boondoggle. A government giveaway to you ponies.”

I whirl around to face him, my wings extending, “For about three quarters of the old National Weather service’s budget, we aren’t studying the weather, we are creating and controlling it. In the last year and a half, there has not been a hurricane to make landfall. Lake effect snow has been lessened, so the North East doesn’t get dumped on every year, and nationwide, the weather is controlled. Almost fifteen thousand pegasi work for the Pony Weather service. And their hard work has more crops being grown on less land than at any time in human history. And to counteract the falling food prices, we’ve helped farm income increase by increasing the diversity of crops grown nationwide. We’ve moved away from genetically modified seeds, because we can control the pests far better than insecticides ever could. Earth ponies with the gift, along with unicorns and pegasi work nationwide to grow food for all of us. You can see for yourself in any grocery store, food prices have fallen, yet profits for growers and food manufactures have risen, and it’s because of what we do.”

He growls, “What you have to do, you slaves.”

This gets a groan from me, “We do what we are driven to do, and our drive is to be in harmony with our world. With the whole world, we strive for harmony, we aren’t slaves. Anypony can decide at any time to do something else with their lives. Our lives have meaning, and the ones who determine that meaning is us. We decide what makes us happy, not some outside force.” I’m finding myself getting heated, “If Mozart had been a pony, he would have had a piano cutie mark, Picasso, Rembrandt, in their own ways, they were just as driven. Yes, some would say they were slaves to their music, to they’re art. But in the same way, weather control is an art. Just because we wear our true hearts on our hips, doesn’t mean that we are any more or less slaves to our passions as humans are.”

I whirl away, fighting to control my wings, my temper is showing way too much right now. I keep walking north, away from the main part of down town New Beginnings, and soon Richard and his crew are in the cart again, I continue the tour, fighting to keep my voice level, “When the Chinese ponies came over, a lot decided to go through the portal and settle back in Equestria. But quite a few decided to make their homes here. We have a bustling Chinatown, and some of the best Chinese food you’ve ever eaten, most of it vegetarian, though a few places have pork and chicken. I was actually going to offer to treat you to some food there.”

He waves a hand dismissively, “We ate before we got here, we won’t be partaking of any of your food.”

I suppress a sigh, “That’s fine." Then I brighten, “You’ll want to see our EUP training area.” He looks confused for a moment, then follows me to the expansive complex.

***

A few hours showing my erstwhile guests around the training complex actually has them suitably impressed. The ponies have built a wonderful training area, and in addition to the ponies walking around in fatigues provided by the US Military, there are quite a few US military members, of every branch of service, here. Training goes on here, and in a few open places around town. The currently deployed unit is in stand down mode, maintaining equipment, and the ponies of the EUP are teaching some of their officers some tactics. I suppress my feelings savagely, Irony, more than once, has been called upon to lecture here. She had written a couple of books on pony warfare tactics, and had rightfully earned her place as Princess Twilight Sparkle’s guard contingent leader. Then we are walking through the training area that I had sparred with Twilight Velvet a few weeks before, I see her there again, training. Though the two ponies with her surprise me, I rush over to them, tackling both of them at once.

“Moon Shadow, Sunset Shimmer! What are you doing here?”

I get nuzzled by both ponies, and a glare from the older mare, as I let them up.

Sunset speaks up, “Oh, after you working with Velvet, I decided to learn combat. As a strong generalist, I can learn the spells, but the tactics, the thinking on my hooves, I’m being trained on that.”

She looks over at Moon Shadow, who nods enthusiastically, and adds, “When we find that Twilight, we are going to do everything we can to get Irony back.”

I look at the humans, who are walking over, then I look around, “I don’t see Mindy here, surely she would benefit from the same kind of training.”

Velvet speaks up, "Mindy's magic style isn't compatible with my teaching. Mindy is about chaos and randomness.  Like Pinkie Pie, she bends and breaks the rules, creating her own on the fly.   What I'm teaching is magic muscle, reflex response, and combat control.   How to think on your hooves and apply your skill and specialties on the fly, but also how to almost instinctively understand and respond to a situation.  Very few ponies can match Mindy but at the same time, she can't be taught."

She shifts on her hooves a little, "As well, Mindy can't work in groups the same way, I know, for example, what you can do Lightning Dust. I can use my magic to support you, to cover you, and to protect you.   I can often guess what you are going to do next, and with training in teams that becomes easier and easier, often times groups won't need to share many words in combat while they work.   Mindy, though, can't be predicted, so she can't work in a team like that."

Twilight Velvet is in full on lecture mode, "In true combat, like what I'm teaching, that unpredictability makes her dangerous.  Not just to the target, but to her team, herself, and any hostages.   I'd be scared to take her out into the field myself.   Scared for my safety and hers.   She's powerful, and if she's not paying attention or watching, she easily could wipe out those around her when she shatters reality."

I chuckle, “Mindy sure knows how to mess with reality. But all that information is really good to know, thank you, Twilight Velvet” I look at the approaching humans, “I’m going to continue with this tour, but once he gives me the information he’s promised, we will be on our way.”

The three unicorns nod at me, and turn back. I move over to the humans, “I’ve shown you the town itself, I’ve shown you our training area. I want to know where Irony is.”

Richard smirks, “All in good time, you said you generate your own power, I don’t see smoke stacks, there is no nuclear power here, how do you get power here?”

I smile cryptically, “The same way we have power in Equestria.”

His face clouds in confusion, I copy his earlier smirk, “Follow me.” 

In moments they are back in the cart, and they follow me to a low building on the west side of town, he gets out, “This doesn’t look like a power plant.”

I smile, “But it is, we are actually selling about half the energy we produce to the local co-op. So cost wise, this facility is actually profitable.” I push through the door, and the expansive building is visible. Most of it is underground actually. I bring the humans to a small window with extremely thick glass, “Have a look.”

He looks, and the camera comes close, Richard frowns, “It looks like a cloud.”

I smile, “Exactly.”

He stands up, “Huh?”

I turn to the side, “Look at my cutie mark.”

He looks for a long time at my flank, and back at the large enclosure, “Lightning?”

I smile and nod.

“How?”

“The power of being a pegasus, Mr. Willard. We gather clouds with a strong charge, and bring them through that hole in the ceiling.” I point up, “And we place them in the containment, which induces lightning to charge capacitor banks and then we invert it to 480 volt, three phase power, which is stepped up for distribution throughout town. And we also step it up to long distance transmission voltage for sending off to the co-op, which we sell for half the rate that they can get elsewhere.”

His shock is evident, “What about elsewhere?”

I smile, “We are building these facilities in several places, where we have pegasi to maintain them.” I turn and look at him severely, “I told you, Mr. Willard, we are a benefit to humanity, not competitors, not enemies, but friends.”

I walk away from the stunned humans, and use my wings to bring me up to ground level, I walk outside and sit down.

“Hey, Dustie, I found her!” A voice calls, I turn and look, Mindy is bouncing to me.

“Irony?”

Her ears fall, her mane loses a lot of its poof, her voice gets really quiet, “No, Dustie, nothing new on the Irony front. The pony from the diary.”

I smile, “A close second. Where?”

She smiles, “She’s in Florida. We can get going there as soon as you want.” Her mane starts to come back, her eyes shine looking at me, “We both want Irony back, and you will be the first I tell about when I find something.”

I move over and hug her, “I know Mindy, love.” I give her a kiss.

“Disgusting, ponies and public displays of affection.” A snide voice starts from behind me.

I turn around, “Mindy is a member of my herd, one I love unreservedly, if you have a problem with that, you can just leave.” I step forward, my wings flaring, “I’ve been accommodating to you, I’ve given you the information that you’ve looked for. Now I want what was promised, I want Irony’s location.”

He smiles and spreads his arms, “I have no clue where she is, and if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”

I narrow my eyes, and apparently he is scared by the look on my face, “You lied to me?”

He smirks, “And you’ve given me all the ammunition I need. Nearly 20% of US citizens are living in poverty, and yet you ponies live high on the hog. You have polyamorous relationships with each other, and your bring humans into your nasty ways. You sicken me…”

His tirade is stopped by my hoof impacting his ample midsection. My wings bring me into the air, and another hoof slams into his cheek, and then his nose. He topples back to the ground. I land, breathing heavily. 

Mindy comes up and puts a hoof on my withers, “Dustie, I will find her.”

I sigh and press my face into her neck, I need a moment.

“You attacked me, and it’s all on camera, you attacked a human. You are a danger, and when the portal opens you all should be pushed through, and have humanity be done with you.”

I turn, my wings flaring again, “Get out of this town, if I see you again, I will kill you.” I whirl around and walk away, Mindy bouncing next to me.

“Don’t worry about him, Dustie, he’s an asshole.”

I sigh, “And asshole with some good propaganda against us.”

Mindy giggles, “An asshole with wiped cameras. I took care of that as you turned to walk away from him. He has nothing.”

I look over at her, “Mindy, have I told you today that I love you?”

She giggles again, “You tell me that almost every day Dustie, and I always love to hear it.”

> Chapter 63. It's Not Just a Rule, It's an Adventure 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another cross country flight to Florida, though this time, we are farther north in the state, a bit to the west of Orlando. And it’s not the frantic flight that we had to deal with last time. Mindy and I are riding, she insisted I ride with her, rather than flying myself and leaving her in the chariot all by herself. Finally we land in the pony town established here. They’ve even made guest accommodations, for the frequent visitors to their town. Finally we are escorted to a waiting room.

While we are waiting, Mindy leans over to me, “Dustie, I really think you should read the entry of the diary that talks about Discord taking her.”

I shake my head vigorously, “Oh, no, I’ve had enough of Discord for ten lifetimes.”

“Dustie, I think it’s pretty important.” Her ears drop, and she assaults me with her cutest expression, “Please?”

I sigh and hold out a hoof, I start to read,

I had a dream last night, when my cutie mark appeared, I was running through a town, I finally remembered it’s name, Ponyville. I ran up and down the deserted streets, for the last week, it’s been Tartarus, Discord has been appearing at random, making the few ponies left disappear. Though many have simply run away. I know there are ponies left in other cities. But Ponyville is deserted. He had been having fun otherwise, not too long ago, a large part of the Canterlot Castle landed on the outskirts of town. I’ve been scrounging for food, I’m so hungry, and most of all, I’m so lonely. I may have been above them all, but I have found out, I need other ponies in my life. Being this lonely has been horrible! Finally I’m walking slowly down an alley, and he’s there. I stop and look at him for a long time, he has a twisted smile on his face, “Now, it’s your turn..”

I jumped at him, “Oh Discord, take me out of this place, I’m so lonely, it’s horrible!”

He catches me, and for a moment, he seems almost tender, but his magic hits me, and I can’t help it, I scream. His voice fills my ears as I feel my body coming apart, 


"Five score divided by four,
Your memories removed, your body confused!
For your insolence you must pay,
Cast off to a land far, far away!
I've scattered the six, and that's just the start of my tricks,
Your mind shall be weak, your outlook bleak!
Forgetting everything and living like a fool,
You have all lost, now no one can stop my rule!"


I shudder on reading the last, it’s been almost five years since I’ve changed, and those words still have a strong effect on me, I look over at Mindy and frown, “With her depiction in the show, I wonder how accurate that was.”

She shrugs, “I don’t know, she never mentioned the show in her journal, I’m not even certain she was aware of My Little Pony as a human.”

We are interrupted by the door opening, and a young pony walks in, she’s about fourteen or fifteen now, starting to get to her adult size, but she has the same pink coat, and the purple and white streaked mane. She speaks up, “I was told you wanted to see me?”

I smile, and lift up the journal, “I believe we have something of yours, Diamond Tiara.”

She gasps and rushes forward, grabbing the journal, which she hugs, “I can’t believe it, when I left it in the tent, I thought I would never see it again!”

She looks at Mindy and I, tears in her eyes, “Oh thank you for finding it, and getting it to me. Maybe I can write some happy things in my journal now.”

I’m able to smile, “Happy things?”

She nods exuberantly, “We don’t know where my daddy is, but the ponies taking care of me have been wonderful.” Her ears fall, “For the most part, that is. Things have been hectic for a long time here. A lot of ponies have been starting their own families, and while they take great care of me, it’s not Filthy Rich, it’s not my Daddy. I remember how my Daddy was. I was a spoiled brat.”

“Were you like how you were depicted in the show?”

She sits down, her ears laid back, tears ready to fall, “In some ways, yes. I was a bully, I was spoiled, I felt entitled. It seemed Silver Spoon and I could do anything.” She sighs, “Then Discord happened.” She looks up, the tears are now flowing, “I was so scared, so alone. He nearly depopulated Ponyville. The train stopped running, so I couldn’t get to Canterlot, or Manehattan. I was just stuck, alone.”

I gather her up, and put my forelegs and wings around her, she cries into my shoulder, “I hated being alone, that’s why I was so mean. I was popular because we were rich, I was somepony, because of my Daddy’s money. And Discord took all of that away from me. I can’t believe it, I was so lonely, when he showed up, I begged for him to curse me, I begged to be taken away from all that life had become.”

I hold the young mare for a long time, looking at Mindy.

Finally I ask, “Do you like where you are living right now, Diamond?”

She pulls back, “It’s okay. They take care of me.” She sniffles, “Though they have some foals of their own now, and…”

I trace a hoof along her cheek, “You feel left out, still alone?”

She nods, the tears still falling.

I look at Mindy again, then smile at her, “How would you like to live with us? Until Filthy Rich is found, or if you can go through the portal in a month or so. I know he’s not in any US pony colony, we’ve checked. But he might be overseas. I have a daughter about your age, from when I was human before my change. I think you would like her.”

She narrows her eyes, “A human girl?”

I nod, and nuzzle her, “We are a whole herd, Diamond, and Hannah is just about to turn fifteen, and I think she would be thrilled to get to know you.”

“Does she know how I was?”

I nod, “Yes, but I think she would like how you are now.”

She looks thoughtful, I decide to sweeten the pot, “Hannah is also one of the humans who gained magic.”

Her eyes widen, “A human with magic?”

I nod, smiling hugely.

She looks thoughtful for a long time, looking occasionally at me, then at Mindy, then back at me, then she leans forward into my forelegs, hugging me tightly.

“Don’t worry, Diamond, we will take care of you, you never have to be alone again.”

***

A few days after our little tour with Mr. Willard, my phone chirps.

“Hello?”

“You miserable bitch, you did something to my camera.”

I suppress a chuckle, “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

I can imagine how he looks right now, his face red, shouting into the phone, “Don’t play coy with me, you somehow wiped the hard drives on our cameras, and the memory cards as well.”

I grin, “Let me think for a moment…” I look over at Mindy, who is smiling as much as I am, “Oh yeah, you brought your camera equipment into the power plant. Remember, we use lightning to generate the electricity, each bolt is like a miniature EMP, everything in there is hardened and shielded to prevent disruption. Though we do know that cell phones are vulnerable.”

“You could have told me.”

I smile again, “We’ve never brought cameras close to the generation equipment, we will conduct testing, and consider signage, warning about certain electronic equipment in proximity to the equipment. Thank you for your information.”

“You’re lying! We continued recording after that. All that is gone.”

Mindy whispers in my other ear, I continue, “Mindy noticed with her phone, it got blanked while the system was writing, and so everything after was corrupted, you might want to pull the power and do a hard reset. That is what she did to her phone, and it’s working correctly now.”


I hear a lot of grumbling from the other side of the connection, and I fight to suppress my giggles, finally he talks, “Fine.”

“I must thank you for that information, so we can prevent future computer damage. Though as I said earlier, you are not welcome on any pony settlement land. So, best of luck to you.”

I close down the connection and look at Mindy. We both fall out of our chairs, laughing.

***

Sunset smiles at the human male in his twenties, and she glances over at the two mares sitting off to the side, a pegasus and an earth pony, she turns and focuses on the young man, “So, Dave, This will last a few days, and will likely end up in you being a daddy, are you ready?”

He looks at the mares, it’s obvious he’s in love with them, something that warms Sunset’s heart, “Oh, yes, Sunset Shimmer, they want foals, and they want me to be their daddy. I really want this.”

She smiles, and steps back, “This is a rather complex spell, I need you to remain absolutely still. I promise it won’t hurt.”

Her horn lights, and after a moment her eyes start to glow. Sunset Shimmer shortly had her magic ready to let go. She takes a step and aims her horn at the smiling human.

An orange flash announces Mindy teleporting in, next to her is Dr. Ray, As the magic fades she shouts, “Hey Sunset, you’ll never guess…”

The startled unicorn gasps, her concentration broken, the magic streaks to Mindy and Dr. Ray, enveloping both ponies in light. Sunset sits down and rubs her temple, “What the…” She looks at her herd mates, “Mindy!”

After a few moments, the light fades, leaving two ponies lying, sprawled on the ground, Sunset teleports over to Mindy, “Oh, Mindy, you have the worst timing.” Her magic turns Mindy over.

Mindy groans, “What happened?”

Sunset brings Mindy’s face close, “You startled me, is what you did. And now you are stallion for the next couple of days.”

Mindy’s eyes go wide, “What?” She flips onto her hooves, and looks down between her legs, then she looks up at Sunset with a big grin, “I am so going to have so much fun with this, Sunset!”

“Oh, what the hell.” Comes a feminine voice, catching both Sunset and Mindy’s complete attention,

Mindy moves over and cradles Dr. Ray, “I’m so sorry Ray.”

Ray looks confused for a long moment, then Mindy giggles a bit, “Sweetie, you are missing something.”

The brown unicorn feels over his body, and finally finds what he’s missing, the now female Dr. Ray groans and lets her head flop back, “Seriously?”

Mindy giggles, sounding a little odd coming from a stallion, “Oh, yes. We’ve been rule 63’d.”

Ray frowns, “Huh?”

Mindy giggles again, “Oh, nothing, just a rule of the internet.”

Sunset steps forward, “I am trying to figure out why the spell affected both of you.”

Mindy bounces up and down, “My teleportation field was fading as you fired, and it affected your spell, hitting both of us, but I think this will be fun, Sunset.” Mindy moves forward and kisses Sunset, “But I think you’ll like this new equipment. So I know what we are doing later.”

Sunset looks at the human and two mares, blushing furiously, “Oh Mindy…”

Mindy giggles and his magic picks up Dr. Ray, and they both disappear in an orange flash.

Sunset stops for a moment, her horn sparking, her face red, then she turns and looks at Dave, “So, you still want to go through it?”

He looks at the two mares and gulps, then nods. Sunset smiles, charging her horn once again.

***Lightning Dust***

Naps are good, I love me a good nap. This time, I’ve curled up with Alan, he’s been busy most of the day, and he wanted a nap, I joined him, lying there with the massive human is relaxing.

I’m woken to a tongue invading my mouth, I open my eyes to see a magenta face with a bright white mane, “Good afternoon Mindy.”

Mindy giggles, yet her voice is off, I furrow my brow, “Um, Mindy, you sound different.”

Mindy’s new voice responds, “I accidentally messed up Sunset’s spell, take a look.” Mindy sits down on the bed, her front legs parted a bit. I get an eyeful of what’s hanging there.

“Oh no.” I moan.

Mindy giggles, “Oh yes, I hope you are horny, Dustie. I want to try this out, but Ray is going to get it first.”

Now I’m really confused, “I didn’t know that Ray swung that way, Mindy, I think he prefers mares.”

“Oh, he did. But for the next couple of days, he’s going to try the life of the fairer sex.”

My ears fall, “No way.”

Mindy nods enthusiastically, “Oh yes, I was teleporting both of us when Sunset did her spell, it hit us both, he’s a she, and I’m a he now.”

I look at the unicorn at the end of the bed, “Ray?”

He nods, a blush evident in his face, “After it happened, Mindy and I have been talking, I think it might be fun.” He looks down, “Mindy promised to be gentle.”

I move over and hug the former stallion, “Oh Ray, this is going to be a new experience for you. I had to go through it myself, learning to be female. It’s pretty damned nice, I’ll tell you.”

Ray blushes harder, “Mindy has been showing me, we haven’t gone all the way yet, but…”

“Mindy showed you what other parts of our anatomy can do?”

Ray nods, “I’m still wobbly on my hooves, but it was very fun. I’m hungry for more.”

I get a whif of the unicorn mare in front of me, “Um Ray, I think you might just be in heat.”

His ears fall, he looks sharply at Mindy, “What?”

Alan sits up, looking at us in confusion, he rubs his eyes, “Uh, Mindy, why are you a stallion?”

Mindy giggles and bounces in front of him, giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, “Alan, I accidentally startled Sunset, she turned me into a he for the next few days.”

Alan furrows his brow, “Seriously? What are you going to do?”

Mindy giggles, “What else? I get to see how the other half lives.” He moves over and sits next to Alan in the bed, wrapping a forehoof around him, “I know you prefer with me, but I don’t have the equipment right now,” Mindy looks at me, a sly look on his face, “Though I think Dust would be happy to take care of you, before I get to her.”

Alan gulps, looking at Mindy, then looking at me, I’m giving him my best lost little puppy dog look, which gets a smile out of him, “I think I can hold off until you are back to normal, Mindy. I’m not ready for that, just yet.”

I’ve had about enough of that from Alan, I move over, rubbing my entire body along him, enjoying the thrill of electricity that pops throughout my body in touching him, every member of my family affects me like this, I know I’m leaking now, I sit down on his legs, my nose level with his, “Alan, it’s been a long time, I know what you went through with your dad. I respect that, and I admire how you feel, and how you are keeping true to Mindy. But I want you,” I can feel the heat in my face, I’m certain my face is glowing red right now, “To be honest, when you stood up for me in the plane from Hawaii, how you made all the humans there know they were in the wrong to treat me like that, I wanted you. I wanted you even before Mindy got a connection with you. And for that whole time, I’ve been keeping quiet, thinking that you’ll eventually come around.” I poke his nose with my snout, “Please Alan, please show me the love that you’ve shown Mindy, show me that you love our entire herd just as much as you love her.”

His smile gets strained, he seems to be thinking furiously, then Mindy moves over and whispers in his ear, I can’t hear it, but his face turns bright red, he shifts to look at Mindy, who nods and smiles, then he looks at me, then back at Mindy, who gives him more than a chaste kiss.

Finally he pulls away, I can tell that Mindy’s kiss has really turned him on, I smile, weakly, I really want this human, so badly that it hurts. Then his eyes widen, I think he can see that hurt in me. His arms grab me up and he kisses the pure hell out of me, my wings shoot up, and when he finally lets me have some air, he traces my ear with a finger, “I never knew how much my issues were hurting you, Dust.”

I push him back onto the bed and bring my face close, “I love you Alan, just like everypony here does.”

***Cloptional part in side story***

A few days later, a renewed mare Mindy pops over to me. “Dustie, I have a feeling. I think if we investigate in Detroit, we will find Irony.”

I frown at her, “What? Did you find anything online to tell you that?”

She shakes her head so hard her ears flop, “No, Dustie. It’s a feeling. I can’t say for certain, but I think if we head that way, I think we will get lucky.”

I move forward and kiss her, “Mindy, whatever it takes, if it takes following your hunch, we are going to get Irony. No matter what.”

The door to my office slams open, Dr. Ray is there.

“Umm, Dust. I think there is a problem.” She says.

I cock my head to the side, “Sunset said sometimes the spell lasts a day or two longer, depending on the magical strength of the subject.”

Ray shakes her head, “No, Dust. I just performed the test. I think I’m stuck as a mare for about the next eleven months.”

Both Mindy and my ears fall, looking at the unicorn mare in front of us as she takes a deep breath.

“Dust, Mindy. I’m pregnant.”


> Chapter 64. A Light in the Dark
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.



> Chapter 65. Operation War Horse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“1st Earth corps, watch your left flank!” I shout, my throat mic picking up my words and relaying them to the ponies in question. I watch them adjust, we need to win this one, damn it. I’m ten thousand feet above the battlefield. I’m glad that typical infrared homing missiles are ineffective against pegasi, though the radar guided ones, we have to watch for. Over a hundred pegasi are in the air, the Royal Guard pegasi are keeping the battlefield organized.

The humans have learned to keep rotary winged equipment away from pegasi. We can disable them with ease, an armored hoof to the blades, or other relatively minor damage will put them out of commission. Though I’m keeping my eyes peeled, fast moves are likely going to be in the area. I’ve got a com setup strapped to me, with a touch of a hoof to the buttons on my chest, I can talk to any of the unit leaders before me. I’m told it’s better than any bit of satellite imagery, and I have to agree. I can direct the battle quite well from up here. Though the humans have been taking pot shots at me from time to time, but all I have to do is break the sound barrier and streak off, trusting in the individual unit commanders to do their jobs without me looking over their withers constantly. 

So far, they’ve earned that trust. Rolling Earth has turned out to be rather effective against some of the heavy weapons that humans have. And keeping a couple of unicorns that are proficient with shield spells on hand keeps the heavy crew served weaponry at bay. I glance around the sky, something is tickling the back of my mind, I don’t see anything close enough to be a threat, but missiles fired at beyond visual range can make my life miserable today. I’ve got a half dozen speedsters here with me though. We are going to make the humans regret coming against ponies in prepared positions.

I focus my eyes down, switching frequencies and keeping apprised of the situations. Working together, it’s something the US military focuses on to the nth degree, it’s also something ponies believe in. I get a query, and answer in the affirmative. A dozen ponies break out from the lines, heading for a quartet of tanks that have a good portion of the right flank pinned down. The ponies use the terrain to their advantage, and get close. 

The unicorn in the lead jumps forward, his horn glowing. Three of the earth ponies with him slam hooves into the ground, bringing up a jagged chunk of earth, and now two of the tanks have their treads completely off the ground. And in moments the other two are taken care of the same way. At the same time, the gun tubes of all of the tanks bend to where each muzzle is facing its own tank. Well, that was easy. I grin as the ponies head back to cover. 

“Dust, F-22 inbound.” Comes a call from one of the other speedsters on the periphery of the battle.

I scan around and tap a button, “Got it Ginger, I’ll take care of it, you keep an eye on the ground pounders.”

I streak towards the plane. I don’t think the pilot knows he’s been spotted. He’s supercruising, keeping a bit over the speed of sound. But he doesn’t know what a pegasus like me can do. I do a hard turn, coming up from underneath and to the side of the sleek fighter. Pegasi aren’t very visible on radar either. I pop up right next to the cockpit, tossing off a salute at the human. I laugh as his head jerks in surprise, and he takes his plane vertical. A crashing boom announces him lighting off his afterburners.

“A vertical climb, huh.” I chuckle, “Too easy.” I streak straight up, hot on the aircraft’s tail. Is he gonna try an immelman? Shortly he’s at his apogee, and he flips the plane, streaking down towards the battlefield. I’ve got to give the human pilot credit, he’s focused on his mission. Not that I’m going to allow him to complete it. I streak in front of him, forcing him to change course.

“Dust, they didn’t just send one.” Ginger’s voice comes over my com system.

I barrel roll around the fighter as I key in to respond, “How many?”

“Looks like an element of four.”

I think rapidly, I’ve got one of the best fighters humanity has been able to produce hot on my tail, and three more of them in the area. Damn it. “Misty Fly, High Winds, and you, each take one. Force them away.” This is a lot different than playing with airliners, they are maneuverable. Not nearly as maneuverable as I am, but I’ve got to keep on my tiphooves to keep outsmarting the pilot. And this one seems to be almost as crazy as I am. He reefs his plane in nearly a ten g turn. I pull nearly thirty, trusting in my magic to keep me safe as I turn within his radius. He can’t accelerate as well as I can as well. I hear calls of roger as I accelerate to stay in front of the fighter. 

I glance back, “Okay big boy, keep following me, and you won’t make my friends lives harder.” A squeal sounds in my headset, he’s trying to get a lock on me. “Oh, you naughty boy.” I breathe as I nearly double my speed and pull a tight loop, coming up behind the craft and make contact with the plane right behind the cockpit. I wonder if the humans know this trick that Rainbow Blaze came up with. My magic interacts with the plane, and I’m on it like I would be on a cloud. I fold my wings and walk to the cockpit, a quick climb over the bubble cockpit and I am face to face with the pilot. He rolls the fighter, and my magic sticks me to the plane like I’m a part of it. He takes it vertical again, and I laugh in his face.

He flips his visor up, I get to look into his brown eyes. I’ve got his complete attention, I bring up my forehooves, and stretch my face out and stick my tongue out at him, laughing at the expression on his face. I giggle as I let go and let myself fall from the plane. Watching him recede from me as I keep my wings folded for a long moment. I watch him turn on his side and pull a hard turn. He’s done. With all the afterburner flight and maneuvers, he’s almost out of gas now.

“Alert, alert, B-1’s incoming.” Comes over my com. 

Shit, the F-22’s were a decoy. And a smart one too. The B-1B Lancer, known as the Bones, is a supersonic bomber, quite capable of dropping a lot of ordinance on a battlefield. I touch a button, “This is Dust, repel them. Let’s show them what we’ve been working on.”

I hear calls of roger and look over at our command post. A dozen pegasi are taking off, I narrow my eyes and enhance my vision. Half of the ponies have a long tube, nearly ten inches in diameter, and a bit over twelve feet long, mounted on them. This is the pony variant to the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile. The normally 335lb missile has been halved in weight, and has nearly double the range, thanks to advances in the fuel, and the normally fifty pound warhead is under thirty pounds, and is more effective than the original. The only thing we haven’t been able to figure out is how to upgrade the radar on it. But for incoming Bone's, it will see them just fine. Added in with the small radar system each wingpony carries. Those long range bombers are in for a bad time. I turn and keep an eye out. The sky over the field remains ours.

“Dust, this is Ginger.”

I growl, “Ginger Crisp, report.”

“This fighter is crazier than a loon, I need you to get your happy plot over here and help me drive the son of a bitch off.” I groan and streak to the west, Ginger’s patrol area.

In moments I can see her, and the pilot. Ginger isn’t as fast as I am, so she’s not able to shake the pilot nearly as well as I can. In moments I’m above and behind the F-22. Okay, time for some real fun. I streak forward, and latch onto the nose of the aircraft. Not caring that I’ve left four pony size hoofprints on the nose of the craft. I stalk up to the cockpit of the fighter. This pilot does the same as the last one, and lifts their visor. I look at the pilot in shock.

It’s a girl. This gets a big grin from me, and I turn around and twitch my tail to the side, giving her a good view, then I hot launch from the aircraft, leaving more hoofprints on the aircraft as I accelerate. Ginger had used my distraction to change course, and she updates me where she is. I grin and look back, I’ve got a pissed off pilot on my tail. I switch my radio to the guard frequency, I know she can hear me.

“Got a fast plane there.”

Her voice crackles over my headset, “You are pretty fast yourself, didn’t know you could stick to planes.”

I smile, “I’m just full of surprises today, aren’t I?” I glance back, she’s lit off her afterburners and is catching up, “Catch me if you can!” And I pour everything into my speed. 

In seconds I’m pushing harder than ever against the air. I’m up against some kind of barrier. I take one last glance and push my forehooves forward, tucking my rear as tightly as possible. I’m well over the speed of sound, I’ve got more to push, so I push more. I know I can go faster than this. Pressure over my entire body, it’s like I’m trying to squeeze through a knothole. I can do it, I know I can.

Finally the pressure lets off. I feel my body streak forward, what just happened? I glance back, I’ve got a trail nearly a hundred miles long, and then I almost lose control, behind me is a coruscating rainbow, expanding outward. Holy shit! I pull a hundred eighty degree turn, my magic so amped up it looks like I did a U turn in the sky, I couldn’t begin to tell anypony how many G’s I just pulled. I streak towards the F-22. My hypersonic speed allows me to blow past the fighter, I’m certain my wake is going to make her life hell in the next few seconds. But hell, I just did a Sonic Rainboom!

***

I flutter down to the command center. I’m exhausted, I get on all fours, then yelp as my left foreleg touches the ground. When Ray set my forehoof, he said it would hurt for a while, though the bone is mended. My wings healed much more quickly, I was hovering around within a week, and back to where I should be when it comes to flying within three. I watch as my family emerges from the group of tents. Mindy rushes forward first and bowls me over.

“Holy shit, Dustie. You did a sonic rainboom! Wohoo!” She shouts as she hugs me.

“Heh, yeah, I guess I did.” I look up, the remains of the massive magical explosion is still spreading across the sky. Ponies and humans all around are looking up at the sky, and jaws have dropped, many of the humans are simply stumbling around.

Sunset comes up, “Your rainboom just caught the humans off guard. The rest of the exercise pretty much was humans getting out and looking at the sky. If our weapons had been real, we’d have had no problem getting them all. As it is…”

She’s interrupted by a loud voice, “Lightning Dust!” Come a roar, and shortly the human in question appears. His face red, “What in the holy bleeding hell was that?”

I look at the Major General, “Well, General Smythe, that was us kicking your ass.”

He grumbles for a few moments, “The computers are still running through the numbers from all the vests, and all the administrative kills. But it looks like you were winning well before you pulled that stunt.”

Mindy bounces up, “Dustie did a sonic rainboom, General grumpy pants.”

He glares at Mindy, who is now wearing Admiral’s stars on a US Navy fatigue uniform, she wags a hoof at him, “You can frown at me all you want, but we whipped your sorry plots. This exercise was a complete success.”

He snorts, “That remains to be seen. But we will have to talk to some of your guard leaders, some of what you ponies have developed could be used by the US military.”

I grin, “We will sell you whatever you want, when it comes to equipment that we’ve developed. But the unicorns that can do the shield spells and the others with magic that was able to defeat much of your equipment are free ponies, and don’t have to go anywhere they don’t want to. If you want them to help, you’ll have to persuade them.

I chuckle at that as I follow the dour human, ponies wouldn’t react well to his methods of persuasion.

In moments we are in an ad hoc conference room, Lt. Fischer of the Rangers is there, along with Velvet and Blaze. Fleetfoot is sitting next to the LT, leaning against him, his hand rubbing her neck, both of them with smiles on their faces. I look at the other humans, members of the US Marine Corps, the Air Force, and the Army.

I move to the head of the table, “Well, ladies and gentlemen, the purpose of this exercise today was twofold, to train ponies on human equipment and tactics, and to train the human military what to do with the way the ponies make war.” I look around at the assembled, “This really gave everyone an idea. But I must caution you, we didn’t have much of what was used today back in Equestria. Ponies are adapting to this world.”

General Smythe leans forward, “Well, thanks to you, the Chinese have very few ponies, so they can’t do much when it comes to war. But from some reports, several thousand ponies cropped up in Russia. So, you can guarantee there will be some pony involvement if we have to deal with them.”

I nod, “I understand, though with how peaceful things have been the last couple of years, after Corddis has been taken care of, I sincerely hope this training ends up only for readiness purposes.”

One of the other Generals, in an Army uniform huffs, “Well, this wasn’t supposed to actually damage equipment.” An Air Force Colonel next to him nods his head.

I suppress a giggle, “It’s kind of hard to simulate magical damage.” I smile brightly at them, “But unicorns are in the process right now, of fixing the damaged equipment to better than new status. We knew this would be a possibility.”

The Colonel pipes up, “And the damage to the Raptors? One of them has a badly crumpled nose cone. The pilot nearly completely lost it when you blew by her at supersonic speeds.”

This gets me to giggle, “Actually, Colonel, it was hypersonic. But I’ll have a unicorn come by and repair the damage. Your plane will be as good as new. On to dealing with a pegasus, which is far more maneuverable, and a good number of us are quite a bit faster than your best airplanes. We don’t have much of a heat signature for missiles to get a lock on, and radar homers cannot maneuver to hit, so to hit a pegasus in the air would require the pegasus being sloppy, or half asleep. We don’t have much for offensive weaponry naturally.” I grin, “Unless you count unbearable cuteness.” This gets a cut off bark of a laugh from Blaze, “But we are working on ways to fix that deficit, and I guarantee you that potential enemies would have the same ideas.”

One of the Marine generals looks at me, “And what is to stop you ponies from selling or even giving knowledge you’ve gained here in the US to other pony colonies? Word is there is about fifty thousand outside the US.”

I nod, “Fifty thousand is a good conservative estimate. Not counting the stragglers from various other parts of the world.” I glare at the Marine general, “The ponies here are US citizens, but in the end, we are all Equestrian, that is true. But from the ponies that I’ve talked to, we’ve decided that where we are staying is our home, our country. So we will hold to the laws of the US. In Equestria, our human nationality doesn’t matter, but we aren’t in Equestria, so the problem is moot.”

This seems to satisfy him. We talk about tactics for a while, everyone chiming in ideas and thoughts. I pushed the idea of doing this exercise to train against potential pony threats from outside the nation. But knowing the nature of most of us, I seriously doubt this information will do anything really. My real reason is to train up the guards, give them something than fellow guard members to train against. What we are training for is to go get Irony. Mindy was able to track a few things, and she hasn’t zeroed in on this Twilight’s location, but we will find her. After several hours, I call an adjournment. Which is enthusiastically agreed to by the humans. I limp out of the tent, and spread my wings.

“Dustie…” Comes a voice.

I look back, “Yes, Mindy?”

She comes close and gives me a hug, then whispers in my ear, “Sunset and I have been talking. We’ve all been taking the loss of Irony hard. But the one taking it the worst is Moon Shadow. I think you need to take her out on a date, just you and her. Just be there for her. You’ve been so focused on training, on searching. We support her as best as we can, we know how important what you are doing, leading the ponies and all, but she needs some attention from you.”

I cock my head to the side, absorbing it all, but something sticks out, “I’ll do exactly that. I don’t think she’s slept in bed with us more than four or five nights in the last three weeks since we almost got Irony. But I have to ask, leading the ponies?”

Mindy giggles, “Oh Dustie, don’t you know? Not only do the ponies all look to you for leadership.” She stops and looks around at the ponies cleaning up from the exercise, “and I’m not just talking your herd. But you are the public face of the ponies.”

My jaw drops, “No, that can’t be.”

Mindy gets a quizzical look on her face, “Dustie, who went on TV? Who crashed the President’s office the night Discord was defeated. What pony is the one that they now make more plushies of than anypony else?”

Huh? I stop and try to reboot my brain, “Plushies?”

I get a whirlwind hug from Mindy and she turns towards town, bouncing. She calls back, “Oh Dustie, never change.”

> Chapter 66. Dreaming of Irony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A quick touch of my hoof to my earring tells me where Moon Shadow is, my house. I take to the air and in minutes I’m landing at the front door. Before I open the door, I look at the face of the house, perhaps I should build a landing platform for pegasi, my bedroom is upstairs, it would be nice. I smile as I open the door, heading inside. I get to the kitchen and head downstairs to the basement. Mindy’s office is before me before too long. I push through the door into the office, my ears picking up voices. 

I get close to the entrance to the server room. I stop for a moment and listen.

I hear Mindy’s voice, “Nothing on your satellite views Cipher, the algorithm seems to be fine, it sees ponies just fine, and can determine cutie marks and coloration fairly well. What is the resolution of the cameras?”

Cipher’s voice pipes up, “These are the newest satellites, we are down to sub centimeter resolution, you put a matchbook on a set of train tracks, we can read the logo on it.”

Another voice chimes in, “That’s scary.” Ahh, there is Moon Shadow.

Cipher giggles, “Not really, there are definite limits to the capabilities of satellite surveillance, you can’t see inside a structure, you are limited by the viewing angle, in fact, street cams all over the world give better pictures. And we are tapped into them.”

Mindy chirps, “Cipher has connections to every DoD computer here, and she’s granted access to our server network for the purposes of searching for Irony.”

Cipher giggles, “Well, some of the higher ups don’t know exactly how much access you guys have here. But we are going to get your family member back, so I’m helping.”

I hear the sounds of them moving around, and, “Ack Mindy, I don’t need a hug right now.”

Mindy giggles, “That’s silly, Cipher, everypony needs a hug.”

Moon Shadow’s voice comes through, “I always love a Mindy hug.”

Again, the magenta unicorn giggles, “And if Dustie would stop listening at the door and actually come in, I’ll give her a hug too.”

I sigh, can’t sneak up on her. I push through the door and head into the server room. Several high end workstations are set up, The three unicorns are working. And a table has been set up, with a map of the world set there. And something that I never expected to see, in addition to the world map, a large globe is set there.

I look around, “I don’t want to know how you knew I was there, Mindy.”

She giggles, “Of course you don’t.” She pops over and hugs me tightly, then pops back to her station.

Cipher gives me a wave, “There isn’t a Starbucks very close to here, I’d have to head all the way to Billings to get coffee from them.”

I am able to giggle, “Try City Brew, they rock. Though Mindy persuaded me to get an actual espresso machine in the kitchen.”

The tangerine unicorn giggles and disappears. I look over at Moon Shadow, she’s sitting, looking at the work station in front of her, she seems to be frustrated. The keyboard and the mouse are enveloped in her magical aura. I move closer, and sit down and watch, her eyes are intently focused on the screen.

With a soft pop, Cipher appears, blowing on an overlarge coffee cup. “You were out of milk, so I grabbed some, and some half and half. Here.”

Another coffee cup floats over, I sit on my haunches and take a sip, and smile, “Seriously, Cipher, a caramel pecan white chocolate latte? How did you know?”

She giggles, “Mindy told me, gotta know the coffee habits of everypony.”

I look over at Mindy who is whistling softly, and two computers are being operated by her at once. I look over at Cipher as she starts working once again. Her horn alighting, and two more virtual screens pop up, words and code slide along all the screens.

Fascinated, I move over to Cipher, “That’s amazing, I can read fairly quickly, but that is way too fast for me, for just one screen, how are you managing three at this speed?”

Cipher’s eyes remain flicking between the three screens, “Well, two of them are created by my magic, so my magic is helping to process the information on those screens. And the main one is mostly output. So I usually focus the most on it.”

I take a sip of the excellent coffee, and look over at Mindy and Moon Shadow, in less than five minutes, Cipher had produced four excellent cups of coffee, and popped back down here. Twilight Velvet has told me about a lot of the teaching that she has done with her first class. Called the Unicorn Club, those three unicorns in addition to Velvet, have helped teach the ponies that were military members how to take care of themselves, and how to make their lives easier with their magic. I look down at Cipher’s flank, “Usually, I can understand, to an extent, what a pony’s cutie mark means, but looking at yours, I don’t even begin to have a clue.”

She giggles without taking her eyes off the screen, “That is classified, Dust.”

I sigh and walk back over to Moon Shadow. As I sit on my haunches the gray unicorn growls and her horn gets brighter. I watch her rear back a hoof. My shout is lost in the sound of the computer being crunched in her magic. She hops off the chair, both Mindy and Cipher are staring at her, dumbfounded, “Moon?” Mindy asks.

“This isn’t helping anything, Cipher, Mindy. All this is doing is filling time. We need to find Irony!”

I look at the other two unicorns, Mindy’s mane is flat, her eyes sorrowful, “We are trying the best way we know how, Moon.”

Moon Shadow jumps at the table, grabbing the world map and crumpling it into a ball and throwing it across the room, then she slams her hooves on the globe, spinning it rapidly. Then she storms from the room. I smile gently at Mindy and Cipher as I follow Moon. “I’ll help her, thank you for telling me, Mindy.”

Mindy offers a small smile as she walks over to the destroyed work station, parts of it starting to go back into place as her orange aura envelopes the broken device. I head through the office, and find Moon Shadow walking slowly towards the stairs, “Leave me alone.” She moans as she heads up.

I’m not taking any of that, as I push through the door into the kitchen, I jump into the air, picking up the unicorn around the barrel, my wings propelling us up stairs and I slam into our bedroom. I unceremoniously drop Moon Shadow onto the bed, and land on it myself, then I move to be face to face with her, using my hooves to force her to face me, “Moon Shadow, you barely eat, you don’t sleep, you just get the occasional nap when you can, and you waste the restful sleep your body needs in searching the dream world for Irony. You’ve destroyed three computers, one of which was beyond Mindy and Cipher’s best efforts to repair. You are irritable, and grouchy, and you haven’t made love to your family in a couple of weeks.”

Tears come to her eyes, “I’m searching for Irony.”

I shake my head, “You are tearing yourself apart is what you are doing. You are so exhausted right now, you can barely stand up, I saw you stagger as you walked up the stairs, love. You have been burning the candle at both ends, and to top it off, you’ve been burning the middle as well. What will we do if we find Irony? That copy of Twilight Sparkle is insanely powerful, and right now, I doubt you could light a candle after that little temper tantrum. You need sleep, you need rest, and you need to get your mind off of the single purpose that is destroying you right now.”

“But…”

“Cipher and Mindy are searching, and they are far better qualified to do so. Your strength is the dream, and magic, not computers. I don’t doubt that they were glad you tried to help, but let them do their jobs. We will find her, just keep faith. You can do your part too, keep searching the dream, but you need to keep your strength up, your power needs to be ready, so we can deal with the clone. Hell, I’m trying not to run myself ragged either, I’ve been training up the guards, I’ve been training with humans, I’ve been trying to get us to the point where we can win when we have to fight. Just please, Moon Shadow, rest, sleep, relax.”

She looks at me thoughtful, “Irony needs us, I get glimpses, she’s in pain, the clone is using her magic to cause Irony pain, she’s in constant agony. You told me about her eye, well, it’s infected, and life is hell for her right now. She needs us to find her, love.”

I move around and hold her, putting my wings and forelegs around her, using my head and neck to force her head down, “Moon, if you don’t sleep, I will find the most powerful horse tranquilizer I can find and inject you, now get some rest.”

She grumbles for a long time, then finally her body starts to relax. I listen to her breathing even out, and though I can’t tell whether she’s going to the dream realm, she is falling asleep, at least some rest is better than none. I close my eyes as I use her as a pillow and she uses me as a comforter. Her soft, steady breathing quickly lulls me to sleep.

***

There are few things more in this world that I love other than flight. All of them are ponies. I’m in the air, morning exercise is important as a Wonderbolt. We have to keep in top shape, we have to keep our bodies, and our minds strong. Though not only Wonderbolts believe in keeping to an exercise regimen, hundreds of pegasi are in the air as well, wheeling through the sky. I think I’ve loosened everything up. Time to head home.

As I’m heading to my home, I see something. A lone figure, walking towards the house, on two hooves. The figure is almost at the gate.

“Irony!” I scream as I flash down, landing behind her. She’s still walking. I don’t know if she heard me. I call out again as she slams through the gate. I trot behind her, what the hell is going on?

“Irony!” A female voice screams ahead of me, and Dr. Ray hops off the porch. Moon Shadow is standing behind Ray. Ray is almost dancing as she bounces towards Irony, a huge smile on her face.

“Irony, I can’t believe you got…urk.” Her happy chirping is cut off abruptly as Irony’s hand closes around her throat. Irony shifts her hold to grab Ray’s body as well, a quick twist with a loud snap, Ray’s neck is broken. Irony drops the broken body and looks hard at Moon Shadow, who wilts in response, “It’s because of you!” Irony screams, her voice causing Moon Shadow’s ears to fold back, “Because they care about you more than me. Nopony here wants me. They want you.” She kicks the prone body, “Especially Lightning Dust!” 

I stop for a second, looking at Ray’s body, something is wrong here. I look at Irony, she’s actually quite a bit taller than the last time I saw her, nearly ten feet tall. 

“You tricked me before we changed, you tricked me into sleeping with you. Then you ran away! You broke me, Moon Shadow, I killed for you, many times, in Equestria, and here in this world. And now when I was taken away, you have my herd loving you more than me.”

“No, Irony, It’s not true!” wails Moon Shadow.

Irony’s mace is in her hand, she swings it at Moon Shadow, missing her face by inches as she flinches and presses herself against the door, Irony roars, “It is true, you manipulated me from minute one, you influenced Dust to end up in bed with me. You suggested I talk to Helen, and you talked to her, and we made love. Where you came as we were done and made me think that I was doing something wrong. And why did you do it? So you could influence our lives, you controlled everything! You and Helen made our herd, and once I was taken, you forgot me!” She punctuates the last with a swing of the mace, slamming into the porch right in front of Moon Shadow.

I shake my head, this has to be a dream! I flash forward, slamming into Moon Shadow and crashing through the door. Irony roars at us, I hold her head in my forehooves, forcing her to look at me, “Moon Shadow, this is a dream, stop it.”

She looks at me uncomprehendingly, “But, Irony!” She wails.

I bring her into a hug, holding her tightly, “This isn’t Irony, this is a product of your fear. Irony would never act like that!”

She trembles in my grasp, and after a long moment, everything goes dark. I open my eyes, unaware that I had closed them. Moon Shadow disappears from my grasp, appearing a few feet away, her tears still flowing.

“I’m sorry you had to see that Dust. I let myself drift off into an actual dream.”

I move over to her, leaning next to her, and draping my wing over her, “Moon, do you really feel that way?”

She looks hollowed out for a moment, then she smiles, “Latent fears, not really real. But I feel that way, at times. The longer Irony is gone, the more I fear that.”

“Oh Moon.” I moan as I hug her tighter, “You know we don’t feel that way. We love you, and we love Irony. With all of our hearts. We will find Irony.”

She sobs, then her face smooths over as she gets a handle on herself, her tears disappearing, her breath stronger and more even. She finally smiles, “Thank you Dust.”

Who could resist smiling at that beautiful face? I smile back, “You are welcome, though I don’t know how I got into the dream.”

She giggles, “It’s my fault, I usually have to keep control as I fall asleep, lest others be brought in the dream with me. I didn’t keep that control this time.” She hangs her head, “I’m sorry Dust.”

“Ahhh.”

Moon Shadow paces back and forth, “As I was falling asleep, I was planning on getting some restful sleep for a little while, then I was going to search the dream once again. But since you are here, we can search together.

I feel my wings droop, the dream? “Moon Shadow, I don’t know if I can do that.”

Her smile gets much bigger, “Dust, do you trust me?”

I shake my head so hard my ears flop, “Of course, Moon Shadow, without question.” I look around, “But…”

She fades from in front of me, appearing right next to me, “There is no need for fear, Lightning Dust.”

I shake my head again, “I’m not scared.”

She fades again with a giggle, “Oh, Dust… Never change.”

Everything disappears and in moments, stars come out. Thousands, millions of them, all around. I’m standing on nothingness, I spread my wings in alarm.

“Oh, Dust, no need to worry, in this realm, I am master. I will not let anything happen to you.”

I sigh, “I trust you, Moon Shadow.” I bring my wings to my side.

She appears next to me, “Thank you, love.” She points her hoof around, “Do you know what these are?”

I look again, “Um, stars?”

She smiles, “These are dreams, Dust. Dreams of everypony, and every human in this world. From all over the world.”

I furrow my brow, “Humans too?”

She nods, “If they dream, they are here. The twinkling is dreams disappearing and reappearing as people go through their sleep cycles. Some are here for only a few minutes, or sometime closer to an hour. Can you tell the difference between the humans and the ponies?”

I look around, then shake my head, “No.”

“That because we are all the same,” she points to my head, “In here.”

“Can you tell the difference?”

She sighs, “To an extent, I can tell by looking at a dream who it is, my friends, my herd, I can find their dreams because I know them. But just any random dream? No, I can’t.” She gestures, “This one,” the dream floats to us, “Is our friend, Sparkler. Would you like to see what she’s dreaming about?”

I shake my head, “Are we going to look for Irony?”

She smiles, “We are, if her dream comes into this realm, I will know.”

I shrug, and she gestures, and all the dreams whirl around us, another dream comes towards us, though this one is roiling and dark, Moon Shadow touches the dream, “Touch it, Dust.”

I touch it dutifully, and my mind expands into the dream, a small pink pony is running, Discord howling in laughter as she runs away.

Moon Shadow speaks softly, “Poor Diamond Tiara, she has some horrible dreams, even during a nap during the day.”

I look at Moon, “Can we help her?”

She nods, “Of course we will help her, this is my job in the dream, Dust. I help those who have nightmares. Push harder into the dream, and we will enter together.”

We push and we are in the air, I spread my wings and catch the air, Moon floats serenely next to me, she calls out loudly, “Diamond Tiara, it’s time to end this nightmare.”

The evil shadow of Discord is dispelled, and the grass turns bright green, the sky clearing up and turning blue. We float to a landing before Diamond, who is sitting there, blinking at us both, “Momma Moon? Momma Dust?”

I nod, and smile at the small earth pony, who instantly turns to her real age, and size in front of me, “Yes, Diamond, Moon Shadow saw that you were having a nightmare.”

She looks around, “Wow, thank you!” She runs to me and gives me a hug, then jumps at Moon Shadow, getting one from her as well. 

Moon Shadow ruffles her mane, “You are very welcome, young mare. Now off with you.” 

Diamond and the entire dream fades as we are drawn from her dream and end up back in the void with all the dreams.

I lose track of time as Moon Shadow goes from dream to dream, calming fears, introducing herself to mystified humans in their dreams. Finally, back in the void once again, she looks at me, “I think I’ve helped a few, and Irony hasn’t shown up, let’s start our date.”

I look at her in confusion, she disappears and comes up next to me, purring in my ear, “Mindy said something about a date, right?”

I feel a tightness in my wings and look back, yes, I’m popping a pinion, I look over at Moon Shadow, “Oh, I would love a date, tomorrow?”

She giggles, “This is my realm, Dust. We can have our date right now.” She kisses me, and my wings tighten further, “We are in the dream, love. We can do anything we want.”

I think for a moment, and over to my side, the world brightens, our herd is on the bed, writhing in pleasure. I smile and look at Moon.

She sighs, with a large smile on her face, “Oh, Dust, is sex all you think about?” With a wave of a hoof the scene fades, she trots off.

I giggle, “What else is there to think about that is worthwhile, love?”

I follow her, and soon we are in my home, but it isn’t. I look around, “This looks like…”

“Home?” She giggles again, she is truly in her element here, “No, this is a construct I’ve made. It’s like a dream within a dream.”

I look around, “It feels so real.” 

“Well, of course it does, I chose something that I know well, down to every tiny detail. So, what do you want to do?”

I open my mouth, only to have a hoof placed over it, “We get plenty of sex in the real world, let us be a little more imaginative.”

I push her hoof down, “I wasn’t going to say that, I was thinking I would let you decide, love. This is your realm, so how about you decide.”

She smiles, “I have an idea.” In moments I find I’m a lot taller than I was. I look down, I have hands again. I turn, there aren’t any mirrors in the living room, but one appears.

“You remember how you looked before your change.”

I feel tears start to form, I turn and look at her, “My old body.” I step forward in wonder. Touching my face with my hand, feeling my goatee. I reach behind my neck and grab my ponytail, bringing it over my shoulder. I look at her in shock.

“What you imagine becomes real in the dream, Dust.”

I look at the form in the mirror, there are times I really miss this. Miss being able to hold my family in my arms, to trace a finger along Helen’s face. I close my eyes, squeezing them tightly, “I’m not Mike any more. Please, Moon Shadow.”

She frowns, “I thought you would like being in your old body, perhaps this.”

I feel myself shrink a bit, and I look at myself in the mirror. I’ve got mid back length blonde hair, I step forward once again to look at myself in the mirror, blue eyes stare back, and a heavily freckled face, to the point where I’m surprised my hair isn’t bright red. I’m athletically slim, I step forward, I’m wearing blue jean short shorts and a tank top. I pull the tank top out, “I’m guessing this is how I would look if I came back through the mirror.”

She nods, and her form shimmers, and a young woman is standing there, long raven black hair, bright blue eyes, and porcelain skin. Dressed in a long flowing nearly translucent dress, “And this is how I would look.”

I pull my shirt forward, “Well, I was right, training bra sized tits.”

She giggles, and my breasts swell, “Would you prefer them bigger, love?”

I giggle as they become enormous. I think hard for a moment, in the dream, what you imagine becomes real, I imagine her back in her pony form, and for a moment, it feels as though I’m pushing against a hard brick wall, and with a flash, she’s back, an astonished look on her face, “Wow, Dust. Very good.”

I’m back to being a pony, I smile at her, “I like how I am, Moon, and I love how you are.” I look around, “Can we sit and eat something here?”

She nods, “Not really nutritious in the dream, but we can eat whatever we wish here.”

I smile, “I want to have a candle lit dinner, with just you, Moon Shadow.”

She smiles, “I believe that can be arranged, love.”

The world swirls around us, and we are sitting at an elegant table, a candle in the middle. Plates appear, hers has a bowl of red beans and rice, mine has fried chicken. I smile at her, “Now this is a meal.”

“Oh, yummy!” Can I join?”

Both Moon Shadow and I look at Mindy, who appeared out of nowhere. She pops over to Moon Shadow, grabbing her out of the chair and kissing her. The kiss goes on, and both Mindy’s and Moon Shadow’s horns spark a bit, I clear my throat. Mindy lets Moon go, and sits down, a big smile on her face.

Moon puts a hoof to her chest, and breathes deeply, “Mindy, not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?”

Mindy giggles, “Because you are wonderful, Moon Shadow. We believe we’ve found where Irony is being kept.”

My wings drop, so does my jaw, “Huh?”

Her hoof pushes my jaw closed then she’s next to Moon Shadow again, “And it was Moon Shadow who gave us the inspiration.” She turns and looks at the gray unicorn, “When you spun the globe, I came up on Canada when it stopped. Cipher was looking at it for a long time, then she did her magic with the computer. She tasked a satellite to check some of the northern reaches. And she found a structure that wasn’t in any records. Infared shows that it’s occupied. And it’s far too big to be one of the fishing villages that is the norm there.”

I hop up, “Let’s get going.”

Mindy puts a hoof on my chest, “The last time we went alone, we didn’t get Irony. Cipher is arranging things, along with the LT and Fleetfoot, Velvet’s Ranger team will be going, along with two SEAL teams, and some other support. We’ll have Canadian hovercraft ferry the teams from the ship to the facility.”

“Canadian hovercraft?” I ask, tilting my head to the side.

“Along with armored vehicles, Canada isn’t too keen on US Military on their soil without an escort. So we are getting that escort. I’ve called the Reagan, and while it’s too long a steam for them to get here, the ponies from the ship are already on their way here, so are the teams from Texas and Florida. In all, over a hundred ponies, and quite a few humans, are going to go get Irony.”

Moon Shadow looks at our meal, then at me, “Sorry to cut our date short, love.”

I move over to her, rubbing my body against hers, and purr in her ear, “Moon, I hope we can have another date here soon, with Irony.”

She puts her head under mine, and I can feel our connection, our love, emanate from her, “I hope so, Love.”

A click of a camera and I look over at Mindy, who has a camera pointed at us, she smiles, “Perfect.”

Moon Shadow laughs, “You know this is a dream, Mindy.”

She giggles, “Of course I do. But I wanted the pic, you two are so cute.”

I sigh, Moon Shadow laughs as we all fade from the dream.

> Chapter 67. Across the DEW Line
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Outside my house, Velvet and her team are there. She comes up to me, “Dust, Cipher’s briefed us. We’ve gotten clearance to try to end the threat that is this clone of my daughter. The SEAL’s, and most of the teams are going in by sea. You have a choice, your team can join us in the insertion by air, or you can go with the rest.”

I look at my family that is coming with us, Sunset Shimmer, Moon Shadow, Mindy. Limestone Pie is here to help. I look at the humans and sigh, “Velvet, I’m not really certain that humans should be involved with this.”

Capt. James Fischer steps forward, “Dust, she’s your family member, from what Moon Shadow has told us, Irony is being tortured, we are going to get her.”

I snort and stomp a foot, “This is an insanely powerful pony we are going up against, she’s had a couple of months after our last attempt, I guarantee she is going to have made quite a few new constructs, so it’s not going to be a quick smash and grab, it’s going to be a battle. And much as I hate to say it, this is a pony matter.”

The Captain looks sly, “What about honorary ponies?”

I cock my head to the side, my ears perk forward, “Honorary ponies?”

He smiles and brings down his combat pants, “I got this at the battle for the gate, Lightning Dust.”

My jaw drops, he’s got a bona fide cutie mark, a shield with wings, and five stars in a V pattern. I reach out a hoof, then bring it back, looking at his face.

He nods in response to my unasked question, he pulls up his pants and smiles, “We all earned them during the battle. We all were touched by the magic of your world. Moon Shadow and Fleetfoot have shown me what that magic means, what this means. It took me a long time to accept it.” He says as his face falls, he then goes to one knee, “In the time I’ve known you ponies, I’ve gotten to understand what camaraderie you ponies have. What it means to be a pony, and it’s far more than having four hooves. These cutie marks, your lives, you wear your true selves out in the open, and I think it’s a beautiful thing. I want to help you get Irony, because she needs you, and you need her. I’ve had to do quite a bit of persuasion, I had to let my superiors know that getting a tortured individual was enough to warrant the risk. We need to get rid of this clone, who has extremely strong magic and is hostile to ponies and humans alike. While equipment is going to be pretty easy, Fleetfoot has some pull, we’ve got a C-130 that is going to take us there. And most of the ponies will be steaming from Seattle tonight. We have a little more time since we will be flying. But we need to get ready.”

I nod. “We are going to get Irony.”

***

Nearly three days later, we are in the C-130, en-route to Prince Richard Island, our land team is nearly there, we have about ten minutes of flight time left before the plane will be going low to drop us. No radar has been detected. I’ve got a headset on my head, new ones have been designed with ponies in mind, so it’s actually comfortable. Though I’ve got my wing blades on, and my armor as well. Moon Shadow has changed its color for me, it’s now midnight black. I like the new look, and a new enchantment on the armor actually changes my coat color, I’m now a dark gray. It’s not long after sundown right now. 

I hear something from my headset, and the plane makes a hard turn, I’m thanking Celestia that we are strapped in securely. I look at the Captain.

He touches his headphones, “Blue Lagoon reported from the ship, they were just about to land when she detected a ward. We are in a holding pattern while she deals with it.”

I sigh, “Well, the clone knows to keep layers of defense around her home. We have wards around our pony colonies, to warn us if a plane is coming, since the airspace directly over our towns is restricted due to the pegasi. I hope she can deal with the ward quickly.”

In moments the all clear comes across, and the plane turns again. A red light turns on in the cargo bay of the plane.

The captain stands up and gestures, “Everypony in.”

My tail tucks under my rear, “Oh, no. I can fly.”

Blaze hops in the Light Strike Vehicle, “You too chicken to fly on the wild side with us, Dust?” He shakes his tail as he settles in and pats a hoof on the seat.

I grumble and hop in.

A few minutes are all that’s necessary to get every human and pony strapped in. The Captain is driving, I look around, “What now?”

He smiles as he fires up the engine, shifting it into neutral, “Now the ride gets intense, Dust.”

Behind us, the cargo doors of the C-130 open, I crane my neck and can see we are less than a hundred feet up, and are rapidly descending. I gulp as three drogue chutes are launched out the back and billow open.

Jay smiles, “Hang on to your asses, Rangers.” The catch is released by the loadmaster as the light turns red. All of us are jerked against our restraints as the Light armored vehicle is yanked from the back of the plane. Dropping the ten feet to the ground, the Captain shifts to fifth gear and howls in delight as he yanks the wheel hard to the right, a  quick burst of magic from Velvet has the chutes fluttering to the ground, cut from our vehicle. And we are off, heading towards this anti-Twilight Sparkle’s fortress of solitude.


I look around, there are happy faces all in this vehicle. But one face stands out, “Hannah, what the fuck?”

She smiles, “Hi Dad, I had to get in on the action one way or another.”

I look at my family, everypony is looking at Hannah in shock.

Sunset chimes in, “Hannah, how did you get here, there is no way you could have gotten enough of a read for a teleport in.”

Hannah giggles, “Of course not, Momma Sunset, I’ve been with you since you boarded the airplane. Just a simple misdirection spell, you never noticed me.”

Sunset puffs up a bit, I can see the golden unicorn is about to lose it, “I would have felt the magic being channeled.”

Hannah tips her head to the side, “You taught me to use the masking spell, to hide the flows from another unicorn. Those were two simple weaves to hold at the same time.”

I look at the Captain, he’s looking back at us, a worried look on his face, noticing the young lady in the armored vehicle with us, “Do we need to abort?”

I think for a moment, “I would love to, but we have too many others depending on us.” I turn and look severely at Hannah, “You are in a heap of trouble, young lady.”

To my surprise, she reaches over and bops my nose, “No, I’m not, you old softy, you know I can handle myself, and I’m too much like you. I want to be in the mix just as much as you do.”

I growl, “You are my daughter, and you are only fifteen.”

“And fifteen year olds have been getting killed in war for centuries, I can fight, I can help, and I want mamma Irony back as badly as you do.”

I look at my herd, everypony is looking at me. I have to make this decision. My ears fall, “Hannah, I don’t know what I would do if anything happens to you.”

Again, I’m bopped on the nose, more gently this time, “Dust, I’ll be fine, we need to get Irony.”

***

A total of three hovercraft are approaching from the south, we are coming in from the north. The reason I had asked Blue Lagoon to join us is her weather abilities, and those abilities become evident as a massive ground based cloud bank springs up the closer we get. Soon the fog diminishes vision down to barely the hood of the strike vehicle. GPS and maps from satellite photos less than an hour old are what we are depending on to get to our destination. No one knows exactly how smart the clone’s constructs are. And she can’t be everyplace at once. So we are trying to get in as undetected as possible. It’s soon apparent that our efforts have paid off. The Captain slows the vehicle to a crawl and finally stops. The doors are opened and the human and pony passengers pile out. The thickness of the fog is almost enough that I could just walk on it right up, and the sound dampening qualities that Blue had apparently added seem to be working. 

We quickly make it to the wall. I touch the wall, it’s made of ice. I look at Sunset, she smiles, and the ice in front of me melts, the water steaming away, she trots through the wall, and we follow. As we all get through, her horn lights again, and the ice reforms. I smile, and Velvet moves forward to take point, Blaze and myself behind her. The rest keep behind us. 
We trot for several minutes, keeping our pace to within human endurance. Captain Fisher is keeping apprised of the other teams on his com gear. The whole building seems to be made out of ice, but inside it’s quite warm. Though after a few more minutes, everything transitions to wood construction. Velvet touches the wood, “It’s real, though conjured.” She says and moves on. I could see any of this in Equestria. 

I move up to Velvet, “I think she’s trying to recreate her life in Equestria.”

She nods grimly, “From everything you’ve told me, that sounds about right. I wouldn’t be surprised if we found another Golden Oak library here.”

I sigh, “With Irony being kept in the basement again, likely.”

She nods again, frowning.

We walk in silence for a bit, finally, I whisper to her, “You okay?”

She almost misses a step, then looks at me quickly, then gets her head back swiveling, “Yeah, it’s just a bit disturbing. All of this in here feels so familiar. She’s done a remarkable job in recreating the feel of Equestria, much how New Beginnings is feeling like home. It pulls something deep inside me.”

I’ve noticed it too, “New Beginnings isn’t my doing, Velvet, the ponies there, they did that. Naturally, out of them being the ponies they are. This does feel similar, but different.”

She nods, “Yeah, like that is natural, and this is artificial.” She holds up a hoof and we all stop. I look forward, there’s somepony walking there. But not all black like the constructs. I move silently forward a bit for a better vantage. Then I gasp and flash forward.

“Rainbow Dash?”

The cyan pony stops and looks at me, confusion evident on her face, “Who?”

I don’t hear her, “Oh my gosh, I thought you were back in Equestria, how did you get here?”

Rainbow puffs herself up, “I’m here for my friend Twilight.”

I cock my head to the side, “Twilight is back in Equestria.”

She shakes her head, “No, she’s here. I can take you to her.”

I hold out a hoof, “No, I’m looking for Irony.”

Her ears fall, “Irony is a bad pony.”

I try to control my temper, though my wings have spread, and I’m pretty sure that Rainbow realizes what that means, she wilts. I step forward, “I love Irony, and I’m going to get her back.”

Rainbow backs up a step, her wings flaring as well. I’m able to grin, she doesn’t have wingblades on.

“Out of my way, Rainbow Dash.”

She growls, “You aren’t going to make Twilight sad. I’ll stop you.”

I hear the chime of magic behind me and Rainbow’s head jerks to the side, like she’s been hit by a sledgehammer. She drops, and her body erupts in green flames, leaving a black carapace and satin like wings behind.

I look down at the body, “A changeling? I thought Chrysalis went through the portal.”

Sunset comes up, “She did. But apparently some of her eggs were left behind. Let’s go.”

Velvet again takes the lead, and soon we’ve found another Golden Oak library. I move forward, taking the lead, I know where Irony was kept last time, most of the team stays behind, but Moon Shadow, Hannah and Sunset join me as we head inside. A quick trot has us down the stairs, and I find the right room. Opening the door reveals the pony I’ve been missing for so long. I flash forward.

“Oh, Irony.” I murmur as I look into her one good eye. She looks at me intently, tears starting to leak from her eye. I smile at her, she’s going home, no matter what, this time.

Sunset lights her horn again, and in a flash, all of Irony’s restraints are removed. She slumps out of the chair, and I barely catch her. I look at Hannah, “Teleport her home. We will let the teams know, and we will be on our way shortly.”

Hannah moves forward, her magic lifting the huge earth pony and she wraps her arms around Irony. I have to say, something about the last time I saw her, it must have uplifted her spirits enough, she wasn’t losing herself this time nearly as badly. With a pop, Hannah and Irony disappear.

I turn to Sunset, “We need to get out of here before she finds out we’ve stolen her prize.”

Emerging from the tree, I smile at James, who pushes a couple of buttons on his com setup, “Target has been retrieved, pull out.”

I look at Velvet, who takes the lead, we need speed, I run up behind Henry, getting between his legs and bumping him onto my back. Reflexively he grabs onto my mane as I take off, he shifts a bit to get his legs behind my wing joints, allowing me to use them. Some of the other ponies do the same with the other humans, and we gallop full speed towards our entrance. Sunset quickly melts the ice again and we gallop into the night.

We are almost to the Stryker light armored vehicle, when a blast from behind sends us all tumbling. I end up upside down, Henry apparently had tucked and rolled when he was thrown clear. I turn my head, and a wave of fog and snow is heading towards us, “Everypony down!” I scream as the second blast wave hits us. Multiple thumps come to my ears as the Rangers fire off their M320’s back behind us. In seconds the flash bangs they just launched go off.  Looking back, I watch the Stryker roll onto its back from the blast. I growl and look at Sunset, “Can you teleport us out of here?”

She shakes her head, “Not all at once, there are too many.”

“Take the Rangers, and as many ponies as you can. Then come back and get me.” I turn and spread my wings. 

After a few seconds, I look back at Sunset, she has a shocked look on her face, she looks at me bleakly, “Dust, she’s put up a new ward, it prevents teleportation. I can’t teleport us out of here.”

I nod and turn back. This is going to suck. I bring my wing blades forward into a guard position.

With a magenta flash, the clone of Twilight Sparkle appears, her mane is frizzy, and her eyes are wide, with small pupils, she screams, “Where did you take my Irony?”

I step forward, “She’s safe, you fraud. She’s away from you. And I won’t let you have her again.”

She growls and fires a beam at me, I deflect it with a charged wing, “Gotta do better than that, you imposter.”

With a primal scream, she fires another blast at me, and again, I deflect it harmlessly away, though that one stung, my wing aches where her spell hit.

“I’m going to…” She trails off, looking down at her chest. Three darts are there. Her horn shine slowly fades and she falls over. I look over at Twilight Velvet, her horn is quieting as well, and she trots over to the now prone form.

I move over to the older mare, “What did you do?”

“It’s not well known that certain medications can affect a unicorn’s ability to do magic. I’ve just pumped her with a nearly lethal dose of MAOI inhibitors.” She smiles at me, “Thank you for distracting her, you gave me the opening I needed. I discovered this with a few other ponies back in the early days after our changes. We’ve had to help them break through the fog that the medicine creates.”

I look at the clone, she’s twitching under the effects of the medicine, her eyes are open, but I’m not certain she’s aware of what’s going on exactly. I touch her with a hoof, “How long will it last?”

She shrugs, “It’s hard to say for certain, it’s dependent on the pony’s strength in magic, her emotions, quite a few factors, actually. Though accounting for all of that, perhaps fifteen minutes or so.”

I sigh, “We need to get a horn restraint on her before then.”

She nods and gallops over next to the armored vehicle, the sound of metal squealing floats over to me as the mare starts to look for the restraint. Captain James Fisher comes over to me, “That was some quick thinking, Lightning Dust.”

I shrug my wings, “I just did what I needed to.”

He goes to one knee, “I’m glad you got Irony back.”

I sit down in the snow, “I am too. I know she’s had a horrible time, but she’s with her family now.”

Twilight Velvet returns, a restrain held aloft in her magic, “I had one with me, but the strap broke on my saddle bags with one of the blasts, it’s probably twenty miles away by now.” She lowers the restraint onto the clone’s horn, and with a twist of her magic, it’s tightened down. We can get her back to New Beginnings and try her for the crimes she committed.

Two of the Rangers scream out, I look up, so does Velvet and Blaze. 

“Oh shit.” Velvet murmurs.

I turn and scream, “Everpony, we need to make it to the hovercraft. Let’s go. NOW!” 

We all take off as hundreds of the clones constructs burst through the fog. The clone is in Twilight’s magic as we start running. The humans are picked up by the other ponies, and I slide under James. He flips on my back as I start to gallop, so he can face backwards, soon the night is lit by the weapons of the Rangers. They are no longer using non-lethals, they are fighting back, as best as they can from the backs of galloping ponies.

“Damn,” I gasp, “They must have been trying to surround us.” I listen to that little voice inside my head, and jerk from side to side, evading incoming magical blasts. I watch Sunset, she’s blasting away as she’s galloping, and even Mindy is more subdued than usual, she’s not breaking any rules, she’s simply fighting as she runs. Moon Shadow has a determined look on her face as she focuses on the path ahead of us. Apparently Blue Lagoon has let go of the fog, it’s dissipating rapidly as we continue to run.

I groan, I’m not effective on the ground, I flare my wings, “James, better hang on.”

His empty rifle clatters into the snow as he gets himself to be facing forward on my back. He thumps the side of my neck twice, letting me know he’s ready. And with a leap and a mighty flap, I’m in the air.

“Ah, that’s better.” I grin as I accelerate, I throw lightning at a group of constructs that Moon hadn’t gotten to yet. I flash forward.

“Damn, Dust. I know you are fast, but don’t go too fast, you’ll drop me.”

I chuckle, “James, you aren’t going to get rid of me that easily.” I dive towards the ground, slamming one, two, three bolts at another group of constructs that were hiding behind a low rise in the earth. I look down and check the teams, it looks like everyone is doing okay. Though they are starting to show the strain, I look forward, we’ve got a couple of miles to go, I can see the hovercraft, ponies and humans falling back towards them, and what looks like a mob of constructs being fought off. Damn, I hope they don’t get overrun, it will be a long swim to get back.

My musing is shattered by a spell hitting my face, my eyes are dazzled as I roll, James reflexively grabbing on tightly. I blink my eyes several times, “Uh, James. We’re in trouble.”

His voice sounds more than a little strained, “Ya think?”

I shake my head violently, “No, James, I’m blind. I can’t see.”

“Oh shit.”

I try to remember my orientation when I got hit, I was fairly level, but I’m a sitting duck, flying in a straight line, “James, where’s the ground, I need to land.”

His voice growls in my ear, “If we get grounded, you’ll be easy pickings…”

“But you’ll be safe.” I call out, interrupting him.

His hand flashes out, pinching my ear, hard, getting a yelp from me, “You are not sacrificing yourself to save me, Dust. I've been a pegasus, I still have a pegasus cutie mark. Let me guide you. Trust in my cutie mark to keep us safe.”

There is nothing left to do but trust him. He shifts his grip to my mane at the base of my skull, he pulls back gently, and I let him lead me to gain altitude.

“Damn, Jay and Velvet are in serious trouble, Velvet lost the clone.”

I moan, “I can’t aim my magic.”

My head is turned sharply to the right, I rotate 90 degrees on my side and do a hard turn, and he guides me back to level, “Okay, Dust, when I say fire, you fire straight ahead.”

“But I can’t see…” I wail.

His hands push my head down, and a little to my left, he shouts, “Fire.”

I throw a bolt of lightning blindly. Praying to Celestia that I’m not hitting my friends or family.

“Good shot Dust!” He calls. He guides me in a hard left turn, I follow his instructions, “Fire, Dust!”

“Damn, we missed, you up for going around and trying again?”

I grin, we are working quite well together, “Go for it, James.”

I feel him tilt my head, and I follow his instructions, “Okay, Dust…” He waits for a moment lining me up, “Fire!”

I dutifully fire off another bolt. I can feel myself starting to pant, “James, I only have so much magic. I’m good now, but I’ll be running out before too long. Adding in the fact I’m carrying you, and that’s also a bit taxing. So don’t think I’ve got infinite ammunition.”

He chuckles, “Don’t worry, Dust. We are almost there.”

I sigh in relief, then I feel my skull tilted up, “We need a better view.” I claw for some altitude in response to his directions.

He breathes a sigh, “This is amazing.”

I’m able to nod, “Yes, flight is amazing.”

I feel him shift on my back, “It looks like the rest have exhausted their weapons, just a few more minutes, and we’ll be able to call in an air strike.”

I nod grimly, if that will take care of the imposter once and for all, let some Canadian F-18's take the day. My head is tilted sharply down, “There’s another group near the hovercraft, you are going to have to fire several times, you up for it?”

“Yes.” I say as I dive. 

A few seconds and then, “Start firing, Dust.”

I throw bolt after bolt blindly, after each blast, James adjusts my course a bit, after a few seconds, “Okay, Dust. Cease fire.”

I sigh, I’m almost done, I can feel the beginnings of magical exhaustion, “We need to come in to land.”

“Way ahead of you, I’ll tell you when to land.”

Again my head is pointed down, and his voice sounds in my ear, “Time to slow down.”

I backpedal my wings, he calls out, “Ten feet, five feet.”

I extend my hind hooves as he calls out three feet, and in moments I’m on the ground. I collapse to the ground, panting.

His voice is right next to me, apparently he’s lying down too, probably as exhausted as I am, “You rock, Ranger.”

I get a hand on the side of my face, “You did great, Dust.”

Sunset’s voice comes to me, “Oh, Dust. Let me fix that.” 

I can hear her panting heavily, I put out a hoof to try and stop her, but the chime of her magic overtakes my entire body, and a cooling sensation covers my eyes. In moments I blink my eyes, I smile, “I can see!”

I look around, the hovercraft are being loaded, and in the distance, I can see the constructs are fleeing.

James slowly stands up, and looks at the fortress, a dull roar announces the low run from a flight of four F-18’s. I don’t see the bombs separate from the aircraft, but in moments, bright flashes announce the sixteen JDAM’s landing. Several seconds later, the loud reports from the bombs reach us. And the entire building is demolished.

I look over at Velvet, “Do you think she survived?”

Her ears fall, “I hope she did, and I hope she didn’t, Dust.”

I look over at James, then walk slowly to him, I rear up and put my forelegs around him, bringing my wings into the hug, minding the fact I’ve got my wing blades on. Then I kiss him on the cheek, “Thank you James, you have the true heart of a pegasus.”

> Chapter 68. Life Continues
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rather than waiting the time it takes to fly home, Mindy and Sunset get us home instantly. As the teleportation field fades, I rush into the house. A few minutes inside, and I rush out, winging my way to the hospital. Before too long, I’m standing at a closed door. I move my ear to the door, hearing nothing.

“Dad.” Comes a quiet voice.

I turn and accept a hug from my daughter.

She gulps a few times, “Mama Irony was in really bad shape, I got her to the hospital first thing.”

I smile, “You did awesome, Hannah.”

“Dr. Ray is with her now, doing an involved healing weave, she said. She will open the door when she’s done.”

I sigh, and let my oldest daughter lead me to the waiting room. After a few minutes, the rest of the herd shows up, Mischief is passed over to me, and I amuse both her and myself, playing with her. Young pegasi need their wings exercised, we have a few games that I remember from Equestria that help. After a while, I’ve got Zeddicus with Mischief, those two play together all the time, though Moon Shadow’s little twins join after a while. And I’m bouncing around, entertaining a total of six foals when Dot and Cloud Burst come over. Two almost five year olds and four two and a half year olds. I’m on my back, with toddlers all over me when Dr. Ray comes in.

Her ears are down, her head is low, I extricate myself from the kids and move over to him. She sighs, “I’ve healed her body, Dust. I can’t regrow her eye, we’ll have to get her an eye patch. She’s been through hell.”

I cock my head to the side, “You said her body, what about her mind?”

“Well, my delving shows she’s got a lot of problems that I can’t fix. She flinches at the smallest sound, her heart rate is staying elevated, and she’s got adrenaline pumping through her system constantly. She should be resting, but I’ve actually had to sedate her. I know she needs a good cry, probably several. She needs her family, I’m glad you guys came home. I can see in her eyes, she’s happy to see me, but she’s scared. I think she thinks she’s going to be taken back any minute. The tension in her is so strong. I’m not certain what to do there.”

I move forward and give Ray a hug, “Can we see her?”

She sighs, “I think that would be best, she needs to feel safe. I didn’t give her much, she’s not sleeping,  but she’s in a light twilight state.” Her horn lights, and Zeddicus floats away from the other foals, “I think she misses Zed, and I know he’s missed her. All the foals would be too much, but she needs Zed.”

I move over and get Mischief on my back, Ray volunteers for kid duty for the rest, I walk sedately to Irony’s room, the rest of the herd with me, Helen puts a hand on the door. After a moment and a deep breath, she opens the door. I get my first view of Irony. She’s lying in the hospital bed, her eyes are closed. My wings hop me into the bed, I land gently though, my slight movement on the bed causes her eyes to jerk open, and she sits up from the reclined position quickly. She looks at me and breathes a sigh of relief. I come forward and kiss her, the kiss goes on until I hear a giggle from my back, I look back at Mischief, she launches off of me into Irony’s arms with a scream. Her scream is mirrored by Zed, he’s reaching for his mommy. He’s brought forward in Mindy’s magic, and he latches on to Irony. Tears leak down from her one eye as she hugs the foals.

“My little Zed.” She murmurs as she hugs the earth pony colt tightly. She looks at Sunset, and at me, “Thank you, loves.”

“Irony, we needed you back.” I say, settling in on the foot of her bed.

“Thank you, love. I’m so sorry.”

My ears fall, “Sorry? For what?”

She sniffles a bit, “I tried to kill you, when you tried to save me before, you said you had forgiven me, but I have to say it. I was wrong, and I knew I was wrong when I was swinging my mace. I was reacting to my emotions. Rage, and grief, I didn’t even think to find out exactly why. I didn’t care at that moment, and I’m sorry.”

I smile, “I should have been more clear in trying to explain. As I said before, you are forgiven, don’t dwell on it.”

Her ears fall, she looks at the two foals in her lap, then up at me, emotions struggling across her face, “I did dwell on it, for months, until you found me the first time.”

I smile, “Love, it’s been hell trying to find you.”

Another form crawls up into the bed with Irony and I, Moon Shadow’s magic grips the foals and pulls them away enough to get room for her, she lies down as Irony brings an arm around her, to hold her. The foals settle back onto Irony’s broad chest with her. Moon Shadow doesn’t move forward for a kiss, she just lies there. After a moment her body shudders in a sob. “Oh, Irony.” She moans.

Irony kisses the top of her head, “I missed you, love. I saw you trying to find me in my dreams, I dreamed of you a lot.”

Moon giggles through her tears, “I found your dreams a lot, but that clone put some kind of spell around your dreams, preventing me from fully entering.”

Irony sighs, “She didn’t let me sleep a lot.”

I growl, “I hope she’s dead.”

Irony flinches, “Part of me agrees with you, Dust. I don’t like killing, but in her case, I’d like to put my mace through her skull.”

I smile, “That would be too good for her.”

Irony nods, “You must have gotten a good hit on her with your magic, Dust. She required healing after that last fight. And she said that humans don’t have magic, how did that girl have magic. That made me smile, because Hannah must have surprised her.”

Sunset moves up, her forehooves on the bed, “Hannah is surprising everypony with her strength. I think one on one, Hannah and the clone would be at a standstill. With Moon Shadow linking with me, we had her stalemated, but I’m almost scared of how strong your daughter has become.”

I smile, “When it comes to Hannah, you don’t need to be scared, she’s smart, and has a very good heart. She has an amazing amount of power, But she wouldn’t do anything to hurt anypony. Though you mess with her family, all bets are off.”

That gets a giggle from me, “She’s a lot like me.”

She nods.

I look at Irony, “How long till we can get you home?”

Her ears fall, “Ray wants me to stay for a few days. Observation, she says.” She scrunches her muzzle, then looks at Sunset, “When did Ray get rule 63ed?”

Sunset giggles, “A few months ago.”

Irony cocks her head to the side, her ears still down.

Sunset giggles in response to the unasked question.

I smile as I use my wings to grab Mischief, and I hop off the bed, “You’ll have to ask Mindy about that, Irony. I’ll be back tomorrow, but first, you need to catch up with the entire family. I’ve got to talk to some humans, and see if anything survived the attack.”

I get to the door, looking back at Irony, “Love, I am so happy to have you home.”

She smiles, but it doesn’t touch her eyes, “I am too.”

I leave the room, I’ve never seen a pony so scared in my life. I need to make sure that the clone is dead. I’m not going to let her be taken away, no matter what.

***Dubuqe Iowa, May 31, 2025, portal complex***

Two unicorn Royal Guard are flanking the lone human, his hands are manacled in front of him. He was granted permission to wear his uniform for this. His face is the one of a man looking at the gallows. In front of him is a midnight blue alicorn.

Luna looks around at the portal room. A helicopter landed recently, going to take some ponies turned humans around, the arrangements have been made two and a half years earlier. A marriage would be happening during the opening of the portal. That thought makes Luna smile, in a few minutes, the portal would open. She turns and glares at the human.

“Admiral Volker, I passed sentence on you, and now I will accompany you through the portal.”

“Wow, I get the royal treatment.”

Luna smirks at him, “Oh, don’t puff up that head of yours, I’ve wanted to go home, and I’ve been able to wrap up my affairs in this world so I can. I ache to get back home, I miss my sister, we’ve been so long apart.” She grins, “And I must inform the ponies as to the extent of your crimes.”

“So I can be imprisoned in Equestria.” He says, a grimace on his face.

She smiles, “Actually, no. They are being informed only for the fact that you are barred from ever returning. You will be given money, you will be given supplies, and the choice of where to live. You will live out the remainder of your life, in peace, in Equestria. We are not cruel, Mr. Volker.”

“It would have been better had you killed me.”

Luna snorts, “Equestria does not believe in the death penalty, Mr. Volker. You will not be molested by the ponies. The only ones that will know will be the staff of the portal, who are Royal Guards, and my sister. You will have many years to live in my world. And perhaps will be able to find out what life was like for those you ordered killed.”

He sighs, “I am a prisoner, and when I leave this world, I will be a martyr, for following orders.”

She bends her head down to him, “Perhaps your world would be better off if some humans had chosen to not follow their orders.” The alicorn of the night turns away from the human.

The digital clock in the portal room clicks over to midnight, and Luna’s wings involuntarily extend, she can feel the magic of the portal as it once again wakes. She steps forward, “It is time.” Her horn lights, and his restraints fall to the floor, she steps through. 

The guards push him to the portal, and he walks through under his own power.

In the portal complex in Equestria, an aquamarine pegasus lands on four hooves, he shakes his two tone blue mane looking at his new body. He tentatively extends his wings. Three golden waves on his flank indicate the ocean he’s loved all his life.

“You will be taught to use those.” Princess Luna turns to the other alicorn standing in the large room. Princess Luna moves over to talk to the white alicorn, with her flowing pastel mane. He stands patiently until Princess Celestia steps forward to him.

“Welcome to Equestria, I am sorry to hear of the circumstances of your arrival. But as your punishment is to be banished to our world, we will accommodate you as best as possible. Princess Luna has informed me you have a daughter that turned in your world and came through the portal. I can arrange to have her brought to you.”

He growls, “She stopped being my daughter when she turned into one of you freaks.”

Celestia smiles, “Perhaps if you spend some time as one of us freaks, you’ll find your mind changes.” This gets a snort from him, “In any case, come with me, we will arrange housing and you can find out how you want to join our world.”

His ears fall, and his head is low as he follows the alicorns from the room as more ponies arrive through the portal. He notices out of the corner of his eye, a white unicorn with an indigo mane along with a large white stallion unicorn with a two tone blue mane heading towards the portal. 

***

The portal is closing in a matter of hours, my family didn’t go this time. No need. Though at times, I want to leave all of this behind, and go back to my life in Equestria. Things were simpler then. And if I have my herd with me, it would all be good. But I have a good life here, Irony is back, she’s physically recovered, but we’ve had to deal with nightly nightmares, Moon Shadow has been her near constant companion in the dream, helping her work through things. They’ve even pulled me into the dream a couple of times. I know some of what’s been done to the big mare, and I still get chills, the clone was absolutely twisted. Though infrared satellite passes over the complex in Canada has shown nothing, the US Military is considering it a kill, and I sincerely hope they are right. I don’t want to have to deal with her again, if we do, there is only one option, and I hate that option. 

I’m in my office, sorting through the mail, along with the typical mail a household receives, I’ve been astounded. I get actual fan mail. At least one a day, sometimes a stack comes through. Mindy has said because I’m the public face of the ponies, but I don’t know. Today there is just one, I look at the hand written address, a childlike scrawl, it makes me smile, even little kids are loving ponies, enough to take the time to actually write out a letter. I grab the letter opener and fit its strap over my hoof, and a quick swipe has the paper on the desk, I open it.


Dear Mrs. Lightning Dust

I know you are very busy being the leader of all the ponies in the world but I really need your help.  I wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for a pink unicorn that the Make a Wish Foundation sent me.

Please misses Dust, I was just 4 years old the doctors said I had leukemia.  The doctors told mom they didn't think I'd survive and she cried so hard every night.  I wrote to make a wish and asked them only to send me a unicorn.  I just knew they were real and believed with all my heart.  On June 10th 2020 they came through for me and sent me one just before my treatment.  He was the kindest and gentlest unicorn I ever saw.  He told me I had to be strong for my mommy and for others.

He said his name was Star Crossed but told me he couldn't stay with me though.  He said there were so few unicorns and so many little girls in need.  That if he stayed with me, another girl’s wish might go unanswered.

If I could be a unicorn I could help out other little girls too, please miss dust, can you teach me how to be a good unicorn?  Teach me so I could share the gift with others?

Love,

Lilly

A drop falls on the paper, causing me to jerk, I swipe a fetlock over my eyes, this has me crying? No, can’t be. I set the letter down and read it again.

“Hi Dust, what do you have there?”

I look up and sniffle. Moon Shadow smiles and comes fully into my office. Her magic floats the letter off my desk. I watch her face as she reads, first she smiles, then her expression turns into a thoughtful frown.

“I don’t know where the humans get that silly idea.”

She lowers the letter a bit, looking at me.

I continue, “Me being the leader of all the ponies, that is.”

She giggles, and continues reading. “Has the Make a Wish foundation contacted you, Dust?”

I nod, “Oh yes, in the last couple of years, I think. We’ve gotten quite a few requests, and most of the time, a performance by pegasi, or unicorns to do magic, along with simple visits to children who’ve asked. We’ve even had a few take tours of New Beginnings, along with a cloud walking spell, and touring Rim of the Sky. Some unicorn doctors have healed the ones they can. But some diseases are beyond most healers here.”

She nods, “I thought Leukemia was something that the unicorn Doctors haven’t been able to cure.”

I shrug my wings, “That’s the case, as far as I know.”

Moon Shadow sets the letter down, and a pen floats up, then circles the date. “One thing that concerns me, June 10th, 2020. That was right after the portal closed, the very first time.”

I shrug my wings again, “Yeah…”

She looks at me seriously, “Dust, at that time, the Make a Wish Foundation had no clue we even existed. And that name looks familiar.” She taps a hoof on her chin in thought, her horn alights and she brings the letter to her again. 

“A pink unicorn, hmmm.” The envelope floats to her, she looks at the address, “Jamestown, Wisconsin. That’s very close to Dubuque.”

“So, it was near the portal.”

She nods, “I remember Sugarberry telling me about something. Twilight Velvet had taken in a couple of foals that were Canadian as humans. And just after the portal closed, she had gotten them out of holding. Well, long story short, ICE came up, wanting to take them into custody.”

That gets a low whistle from me, “And mama bear came out.”

She nods, “She produced a magical blast that turned every human within a couple hundred yards into a pony, the closest to her were turned for I think three days or so. Guess who was close to her when she blew up?”

I think about it for a second, then my ears fall, “Henry?”

She nods, “And what is his pony form?”

I have to giggle, “A fluffy pink unicorn.”

She nods, “And June 10th sounds like a day or two after that happened.”

I shake my head so hard my ears flop, “So, you are saying, the Ranger medic, who just worked on Ray when we got him back, the same human who’s been with Twilight Velvet in many of her missions, cured a child of cancer?”

She nods, “That’s what it looks like.”

I sigh, “Remarkable.”

She nods, “His cutie mark, a red cross on a large white star, around the large star is several smaller white stars. It’s the magic of trust and healing, Dust. He is a natural healer.” She chuckles, “They are even more rare than speedsters or level five unicorns.”

I put my head down on the desk, “And he gave that up?”

“He wasn’t very pleased with his color scheme, Dust. Not very many stallions are pink. And a lot of ponies that grew up as humans watched the show and were active in the fandom. He heard the fluffy pink unicorn dancing on rainbows too many times.”

I slam a hoof into the desk, “Oh come on.”

She nods, “Exactly.”

I sigh, “I think we need to have a talk with him, next time we see him. His abilities are amazing, he needs to help heal.”

She touches the letter, “Are you going to respond to your fan mail, Dust?”

I sigh again, “Of course.” A hand written response to a hand written letter, well, I’ll be holding my pen in my mouth, but it’s the same idea. I pull out a sheet of paper, and grab a pen.

Dear Lilly,

Thank you for your letter. I love getting mail. Though I’m not the leader of all the ponies, I’m just a pony. I’ve talked with my family, and we think we know where Star Crossed is. And when I see him again, I’ll let him know what happened. 

I’m sorry to say, even Sunset Shimmer, the most powerful unicorn that I know, can’t turn you into a unicorn. And unicorns that can cure such horrible diseases are very few. But ponies do try to help where we can. All over the U.S. pony healers have helped where they could at hospitals. I’m so glad to hear that he was able to help with your leukemia. If you want, you can come out to New Beginnings sometime, and meet some of the ponies here.

Warmest Wishes,

Lightning Dust

I look at the letter and smile, then I pull out an envelope and put the letter in, copying the address and putting on a couple of stamps. I look at the envelope her letter came in. All it was addressed was to Lightning Dust, in New Beginnings, Montana. I hope she likes my response.

There is a soft knock at the door, Fleetfoot is standing there.

“Lightning Dust, are you ready for your speech?”

I sigh, and nod.

***

A little over two years ago, at the behest of many ponies in the guard, and with the help of Mayor Mare and some members of the US Military, we have established a Wonderbolt training academy here on Earth. I was asked to be an instructor, as a former Wonderbolt myself. Though I did decline. I was, however, asked to speak to the first graduating class. Brand new Wonderbolts and Wonderbolt reservists. New Beginnings would have a team, so would the other two pony colonies. And to add to that, the New Beginnings team would be training, and performing with the US Navy Blue Angels on occasion. Pegasus ponies along with F-18 fighters, flying in formation and doing aerial shows. Mindy had pushed me into that. Saying that having humans watch the Wonderbolts would be helpful for our cause of being accepted. And now, a little over two years later, the first teams would be graduating. I get up to follow Fleetfoot.

Soon we are at Rim of the Sky, the guard pegasi training ground has thousands of ponies, and quite a few humans have had the cloud walking spell cast on them as they join the other ponies on the clouds that have been shaped into bleachers. I end up back stage, looking at the others that will be speaking. I’m apparently the keynote speaker. Mindy and Moon Shadow have both been telling me to work on my speech, and I’ve thought about it. But I think I know what to say. I pace back and forth while the others are talking and after what seems like forever, a pegasus comes up to me, gesturing for me to take my place at the podium. 

As I become visible, the crowd starts screaming, clouds aren’t conducive to stomping, which how ponies usually applaud, but the screams cause my ears to fall. I finally make it to the podium, I rear onto my hind hooves and place my forehooves on the podium. I look out at the crowd, there is a good ten thousand ponies and humans here. Mostly pegasi. 

I sigh, and look down at the ponies this is all about. Three dozen in the full Wonderbolts uniforms. Another hundred or so in the Wonderbolts reservist uniforms. I smile at the pegasi standing proudly at attention. I look up, three flags are waving in the breeze. Old Glory, the American flag, the flag of the two pony sisters, and the Wonderbolts flag. I wave a hoof and the screaming dies down slowly.

“Good Afternoon.” I look again at the graduates, “It’s a little different than on the TV show, isn’t it?”

Titters of laughter from the assembled.

“Thirty years ago, Discord attacked the ponies, sending us to earth as humans for twenty five years. And finally, his curse faded.” I smile, “And we’ve made lives on our new home world. We found each other, we found friends, we found families. And now, we have made communities to live in. We’ve reestablished the guard, but we found we needed something. Something important, the Wonderbolts.”

Once again, the applause swells, I listen as it slowly dies down, “We spent a long time figuring out how to rebuild, from our scattered memories, we were able to find ponies that could teach, some ponies that could learn. And we’ve succeeded. Some of you will stay here, and provide morale support as Wonderbolts, and others will go to the other colonies we have all through the nation. One thing I implore all of you, remember the oath you made when you joined. It is really that important.”

***Sunset Shimmer***

Irony is working on the weight set at Dust’s house. Two hundred pounds, thirty reps per set, and she’s on her fifth set.

“Okay, time for the speed bag.” Ray says. Irony sighs and stands up, she moves over to the small bag hanging on the wall. She hits it once, then starts to get into a rhythm. Then she misses, she reaches out and stops the bag and starts again. Once again she gets it going, then loses the rhythm once again. She growls and tries a third time, with the same result. She swings hard at the bag and misses, putting a hole in the wall with her fist. She growls. 

I smile and light my horn, fixing the drywall, though the sound of my magic causes the large earth pony to jump.

She turns and looks at me, “Sunset, why am I so scared all the time? You used magic and I want to cry.”

I sigh, “Irony, magic can only go so far to heal. You are fine physically. You’ve just proved it.”

She growls, “I used to not have a problem with the speed bag.”

Ray comes forward, “Irony, you’ve lost an eye. Your depth perception will take time to be retrained, and it will never be the way it was before.”

She growls. I stand on my hind hooves and give the mare a hug, “Irony, we are doing our best to help you. Why don’t you relax back onto four hooves?”

She growls again, “I prefer this way.” She grabs a towel and throws it over her shoulder and walks from the room.

Ray looks at me, “Sunset, I can see that Moon Shadow has helped her, but she’s showing signs of severe PTSD, and I don’t have any magic that can fix that.”

I sigh, “Same here, Dr. Ray.” I look at the door that Irony just exited, I feel tears starting to form, how can we help her?


> Chapter 69.  ...Or Does It?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“C’mon, breathe damn you.” I moan. Chest compressions, I’ve got my hooves on her chest, pushing hard. I felt ribs crack with the first compression, something that’s not usually mentioned in CPR classes. As a DOT regulated company, all of my employees have to be CPR certified. I’m thanking Celestia for this right now.

“Somepony, please help me!” I shout as loud as I can. I had left my phone on its charger, I’m alone in the forge right now. And I’ve got a nearly dead pony to deal with. I move over and tilt her head back, and put my lips to hers, a fetlock over her nose and I breathe into her mouth, a second breath, and I’m back at her chest, I count to myself as I do the chest compressions.

“Somepony in here? Oh dear Celestia!” I hear, I don’t look up, I don’t recognize the voice. Then comes the sound of hooves galloping away, I hope they are going to get help. I finish the round of thirty chest compressions and give two breaths. I’ve got sweat pouring down my face now. Nopony told me how physically exhausting it is to do CPR on a real person, be they pony or human.

“What’s going on? Oh, Lightning Dust!” I hear, again, I don’t look up, I’ve got to keep doing this. I finish another round of thirty and I see a golden set of forelegs in my peripheral vision as I do two more rescue breaths, I move back over and start pushing on the chest again.

“Dust, back away.” It’s Sunset Shimmer, I know her voice. 

I ignore her and keep my tempo, “Sunset, please help me.” I moan.

I’m enveloped in her magic and dragged away. At the same time, the prone form is also enveloped in magic.

I collapse to the ground, every muscle is like water now. Sunset’s voice is strained, “I’m keeping up her heart rate, though I don’t have enough medical knowledge to get her heart to beat on its own, I’m doing it for her. The hospital has been called, some EMT pegasi are on the way, along with an ambulance. You need to rest, love.”

My chest is heaving, but it’s not just the exhaustion, “I came in, to check on her, and she was sitting, she had that rope,” I point to the charred rope hanging from the hook on the wall. “She had just leaned forward, cutting off her airflow. She was moving when I got in here.” I look at Sunset, with tears adding to the drops onto the dirt floor of the forge, “Please, tell me she’s going to be okay.”

Sunset moves over to me, leaning against me, her horn shining bright as two pegasi crash through the door, I can hear the wail of a siren as the ambulance is getting close. In minutes, two unicorns and an earth pony come in as well. The prone body is loaded onto a stretcher and put into the ambulance. Its siren sounds off as it moves away from the forge, for the four minute trip to the hospital.

I bury my head in Sunset’s side, “Oh, Irony, why?”

***

Sunset teleports us to the hospital. I’m barely able to stand, I’m so exhausted. She guides me to a family waiting room and then trots off. Leaving me to my own devices. I think I’m in a fog, I find myself staring off into space. Before long, a pair of arms pick me up. I look up, and Alan’s face is there. He’s got tears in his eyes as he holds me. I reflexively latch onto him, my wings hold him as I sob.

“Dust, what happened?” Helen asks me. I look around, the entire herd is here. I’m shuddering. I nod to Alan, who puts me down back in my chair.

I sit, and not knowing exactly what to do with my wings, I finally fold them at my sides, I look around, and sigh, “I remember I didn’t see Irony for a while, and for the last few days, she’s been hiding out in her forge. But this time, I didn’t hear any hammering. I was curious, so I walked into the forge.” Tears start to flow again, “I saw her sitting there, she had just put the rope over a hangar on the wall. She wrapped it around her neck, and leaned forward.”

Moon Shadow gasps, though she doesn’t continue, I look around at everyone, “I threw a bolt to cut the rope loose, she was gasping. I was trying to wake her up when her breathing stopped, and I felt for a pulse, her heart stopped.” I sob, then I sniffle and continue, “I did CPR, it was the only thing I could do, while I called for help. Why didn’t I have my phone with me? Why couldn’t I get ahold of anypony?” I can’t do anything else, I nearly fall over as sobs wrack my body, Alan catches me. He sits down and cradles me to his chest, letting me wail. After time immeasurable, I finally fall asleep.

***

I’m woken to the sound of hoofsteps, I pop my head up as everyone else also looks at the new entrants to the room. Dr. Ray is standing there, along with another of the doctors at this hospital. Ray smiles wanly at me as I hop over everypony and end up standing in front of her. 

“So?”

Ray sighs, “Irony is still among the living. Though I had to sedate her, who performed CPR?”

I raise a hoof, she smiles at me, “You saved her life, Dust. And I’m pretty certain you got to her in time, I can’t detect any brain damage. Though she had four cracked ribs, which are mending now. You did good, Dust.”

“When can I see her?”

Ray looks at her colleague, then at me, “She’s very fragile right now, I don’t want more than two visitors at any one time. But she should be waking up any time now.”

I get her room number and flash down the hall, I barely stop to get the door open, and I’m finally at the foot of the hospital bed. Irony is there, a hospital gown on her large form, she’s reclined in the bed. She seems to be breathing easily. I sigh, happy to hear her slow breaths. It’s only been a couple of weeks since I was last at the foot of her bed. I spread my wings and lift up into the air. I then slowly let my weight ease onto the bed. This time, she stays asleep. I fold me wings to my sides and curl up at the foot of the bed, looking at Irony. I’m going to be here when she wakes.

***

It takes a couple of hours, I note the sun as it descends down towards the horizon, and being July, it finally sets after ten at night. Irony shifts in her sleep, jolting me from a light doze. 

“Irony.” I whisper. I hear another pony moving, I look over, Moon Shadow comes forward as well.

After a few minutes, Irony’s eye opens, she looks around, then her eye focuses on me, and she wilts.

“Well, Irony. Mind explaining yourself?”

She looks down, taking part of the bed sheet in between her fingers and rolling it, though she remains mute.

I stand up, “You scared the ever loving fuck out of me, Irony. I do know it’s been hard recovering from what the clone did to you, but you wanted to leave me? You wanted to leave the family?”

She looks down, “It’s not like that.” She whispers.

“Not fucking like that? Are you kidding me?” Her ears fold back at my shout, “You’ve been gone for so fucking long. We’ve lost friends trying to get you back. Ponies have died, Irony, to retrieve you. And even if they knew in advance that they would die, they would have gone anyway. Why? Because we needed our Irony back. Anypony going through what you were going through needed to be gotten away from that situation.”

“Dust…” Irony begins, only to be rolled over by me.

“All of us have cried over your loss, all of us have felt the hole in our hearts, missing one we love. And we finally get you back, and everypony is happier than I have ever seen them. And now you want to fucking leave us?”

Apparently my words have been having an effect, she leans forward and shouts, “I’m not the mare that was taken!” She shouts back, tears in her eyes, “I’m a freak, I’m damaged. That Irony is dead.”

I slam into her, my forehooves around her neck, along with my wings, “No, Irony. You are the same pony, damaged, broken, but you are still the Irony that we love.” I guide her head onto my shoulder, I can feel her convulsing as she starts sobbing. I continue, “I don’t care Irony, nopony cares about that. We are glad to have you back. Yes, she hurt you, but we love you. And will always love you.”

“I can’t shift forms anymore!” She wails. I squeeze her in the hug, letting her know how I feel, her arms finally come around as she holds me tightly, “I’ve lost an eye, I hurt all the time, I’m scarred from what she did to me. I barely sleep.” She looks over at Moon Shadow, who was standing there in shock, “You have helped me… some… in the dream. I don’t fear sleep nearly as much as I did when you got me back.” She looks down, “But I still have some pretty bad nightmares.”

I let go of her, and move back a bit, “I don’t care, nor does anypony in the herd care, that you can’t shift forms anymore. Did the clone do something to cause that?”

She nods, “She set me up, she got me to shift forms, and then she used her magic, she forced me to stay in this form for way too long, and it broke something inside me. And I couldn’t change anymore, she couldn’t even change me. She was absolutely sadistic, my loves.” She stops and shudders, after a long time of her staring, and remembering, she looks at me, “The only ponies that truly accept this form are my herd, it’s you. Everypony else looks at me as though I’m some kind of monster. When I could shift, it wasn’t a problem, but now I can’t. And I can see it in their eyes. I cause fear just by walking around. It hurts me, Dust.”

I nuzzle Irony, “Oh Love.” I murmur, “what everypony else thinks is irrelevant. You have us.” My ears fall, and I don’t have to try too hard to do the puppy dog eyes at her, I’m leaking tears myself, “Please, don’t leave us.”

She looks at me a long time and finally pulls me into a hug. 

***

After hours of talking to Irony, Sunset and Mindy take over with spending time with her. Moon Shadow and I end up back in my office. I settle into my chair, and look seriously at Moon Shadow.

“Henry.” I say.

She nods.

“So, he is a natural healer, one of the rarest unicorns in existence. To my memory, there are two that are known, ever.”

She nods again, “I did some research, a while back, when I was helping another human that went through the gate.”

I look at her, “And you didn’t tell me?”

She smiles, “Dust, I have access to people’s dreams, when they are most vulnerable, I must maintain confidentiality. Or would you like me talk about the time when you…”

“Okay, I get the point.” I say, overriding her. Getting an impish smile from the gray unicorn. I lean back in my chair, “I think we need him, as a unicorn, to help Irony. And there are others he would be able to help.”

She looks thoughtful, “But Dust, imagine this scenario, some rich businessman, let’s just say someone with the reach and power as the former head of Spectrum. He’s dying, but he finds out that there is a single unicorn in this world, just one, with the ability to heal him.” She hops off her chair and starts pacing, “If someone has that kind of power, wouldn’t they use it to extend their life? Wouldn’t they go to any extreme for the services of that unicorn?”

I think about it for a moment, “And most healers would simply heal him, they would have to.”

She nods, “But what if that person decides that no one else should have access to the healing abilities of that unicorn.”

I frown, “That would mean confining him, keeping him away from others.”

She nods, “There was a reason the royal sisters kept tabs on the two known unicorn natural healers. So they don’t become pawns in somepony else’s games. We aren’t the royal sisters, and humans would not necessarily respect our decisions.”

I sigh, “And he would become something for the humans to fight over.” I growl and rub my forehead, “But Henry, he is doing what his cutie mark is telling him, but as a unicorn, he would be able to be so much more effective at it.”

She sighs, “Dust, in the end, it must be his decision. The most we can do is offer that to him.”

I groan, “Yeah, and he’ll have to wait until the portal opens again to go through, then he’ll have to come back, enveloped in Equestrian magic, to remain a pony when he comes back. Does Irony have that long?”

She blushes, “Not necessarily, Dust.”

I frown, “What do you mean, Moon Shadow?”

“Well, Mayor Mare requested a full Equestrian library here in New Beginnings, and the books were brought through with the last opening of the portal. While all the books are in Equestrian, I’ve been reading from the restricted section, book that both Twilight Velvet and Sunset Shimmer requested. And among those are some of Starswirl the Bearded’s notes about the multiple mirrors he’s made.”

I look at her, my jaw dropping, she continues, “He found there was potential for those that live here, to go through the mirror, and if they are touched by magic of our home, by Equestrian magic, they might be able to turn into ponies. We would use the magic of the cutie mark, the magic that they touched, to affect more than their skin, but their entire bodies. It would be similar to how we transformed back into ponies, but in three days’ time, Henry could be the pony he was in Equestria, permanently.”

I shake my head, “Really?”

She nods, “Well, he could go through the portal and come back and be human again. But he can change here.”

I sigh, “And all we have to do is persuade Mr. Pink and Fluffy to become a unicorn again.”

She nods with a smile.

I sigh and look at the office phone, “I guess I’ll give him a call.”

She smiles, “No need love, he’s likely asleep. Let’s talk to him in the dream.” She hops off the chair and heads out, swishing her tail as she leaves the room. I smile and follow her.

***

Once again, we are in infinity, the stars of dreams all around us. One in particular is in front of both Moon Shadow and myself, “Is this Henry?”

She nods and puts a hoof on the dream, then pulls back, a blush on her face, “Perhaps we should wait a bit.”

I frown, and reach a hoof towards the dream, only to have it smacked away by Moon, I look at her, her blush widens, “He’s male, and he suffers from the same thoughts that all males do.”

I grin and reach for the dream again, this time I find myself twenty feet away from it, Moon Shadow looking at me sternly, “Dust, private lives are private, you haven’t been trained, you have no notion of what privacy of the dream is.”

I roll my eyes, “Well, is he thinking of someone we know?”

She ducks her head and nods, her blush now covering her entire face and stretching down her neck.

The dream pulsates for a moment, and Moon touches it again, this time, she smiles, “I think it would be safe to enter his dreams now, Dust.”

I furrow my brow, “Enter his dreams? Can’t you bring him out?”

She cocks her head to the side, thinking, then she brightens, “Good idea, Dust.”

With a scooping motion, pulls him from the dream, and at the same time, all around us flashes white, and we are outside, in New Beginnings. Henry is looking around, he finally gets fully around, noticing the two ponies before him.

He looks confused, “Moon Shadow, Lightning Dust. What’s going on?”

She smiles, “Henry, first of all, I need to let you know this is a dream.”

He looks around again, “Are you sure?”

She disappears from in front of him, and appears behind him, without her horn lighting, “Yes, Henry.”

I step forward, “Henry, we brought you here for a purpose.”

His tone changes, on his guard, “what?”

“We need you, Henry.”

He stammers a bit, his face breaking out in a blush, perhaps we could have worded our request a bit better, I smile at Moon Shadow, and then at Henry, “No, Henry, not like that. But as a healer.”

He breathes a relieved sigh, I don’t know whether to smile, or be offended, he starts, “While I have ended up being fairly well versed in pony anatomy, I would think Dr. Ray, or many of the doctors at your hospital would be better qualified.”

Moon Shadow shakes her head, “None of them can do what you can do, Henry, but not like this.” Before me, his form changes, he’s a pink unicorn again, with fluffy chest fur. This is the first time I’ve seen him like this, I cover my mouth to hide my smile.

Looking down at his pink forelegs, he visibly pales, "I thought you said dream, not nightmare..."  He looks between his forelegs, down his belly then sighs, "Okay, at least it’s not a total nightmare."

I cock my head to the side, “and what’s so wrong with your coloring?”

He blushes, “It’s pink.”

“So.”

His blush intensifies, “I’m a pink…stallion.”

I chuckle, “Not a bad looking pink stallion, I would say. But what is wrong with pink?”

He scuffs his hoof on the ground, “It’s not…” He looks at his hooves for a long time, “A very masculine color.”

Moon Shadow giggles, “Henry, what color are doctor’s scrubs at many hospitals?”

He sighs, “pink…” he says after a long time.

Moon Shadow smiles, and the world around us changes, we are in a busy hospital, people running around, though they don’t notice us, “Henry, what color are the doctors, and a lot of the nurses wearing?”

He looks at his foreleg, “Pink.”

Moon Shadow moves over to him, hugging him, “I think the mirror knew your aptitude, it knew what you were best at, and that is healing. So you got the colors of healing in our world. And while some with juvenile tastes will tease you about that, those who value your abilities will not.”

I snicker, and get a glare from Moon Shadow, “Right, Lightning Dust?”

I gulp, and stammer a bit, finally, “Sure, Henry. Only immature people will make fun of your color scheme.”

After a few moments, the hospital fades from around us, and we are back in New Beginnings. I move over to Henry, putting a wing over him, Henry, you are needed. We need you to be Star Crossed again. You can help many with what you can do. Your cutie mark, your abilities, they are rare. And I’m talking extremely rare. In modern Equestrian history, I know of two, only two natural healers. And you would make the third. Even the Royal Pony sisters sought out natural healers like you.”

He looks thoughtful, but I can tell he’s not convinced yet. Time to try a different tact, I nod to Moon Shadow. A piece of paper appears in front of him, he reflexively reaches out and grabs it, his horn lighting as he uses the touch telekinesis trick to hold it. I watch him read it slowly, “I remember her.”

Moon Shadow comes forward, “Henry, you cured Leukemia, one of the most horrible cancers in human history, and you did it in seconds. Human doctors have to use fairly unreliable techniques, and often fail. Pony doctors can’t do much more than that. Unicorn magic, even well trained unicorn doctors, have not been able to cure many of these diseases.”

He looks at Moon, then at me, “And why are you asking me? Do you have a family member with cancer?”

I shake my head no, “It’s Irony. While her physical injuries have been healed, she’s still in pain, she’s still hurting. And much of that hurting is psychological. She has a horrible case of PTSD, and she had some kind of hemorrhage, she can’t shift forms anymore. She is beyond what Dr. Ray, or any pony doctor can do. Moon Shadow has been doing what she can to help, but she says it’s beyond her.” He looks at Moon, who nods sadly. I look down, “Not very long ago, she tried to end her life, it was pure dumb luck that I was able to be at the right place at the right time to save her. But she did say that she heard Moon Shadow and Sunset talking, saying that they didn’t know what else to do. We are at the end of our rope, Henry, we need you.”

He looks at both of us, emotions warring on his face, his ears flicking like crazy. “But I would have to go through the portal to become like this, and I would end up human again on coming back. So we would both have to go through the portal. I don’t know how long it would take, mental problems are the hardest to heal, even with magic. That means we would be gone for at least two and a half years.”

I step forward, “Not really, Henry. You can be turned, permanently into a pony. Sunset Shimmer, along with Moon Shadow, can use the equestrian magic within you, within your cutie mark, to turn you. And you would be the form that your soul deserves.”

He looks at me, his eyes wide, “Seriously?”

We both nod.

He sighs, “Okay, if it will help a pony in pain, I will help where I can.”

Both of us now smile, I rush forward and tackle him, a full body hug, with wings, I kiss him on the cheek, “Thank you Henry, you will not regret it.”

“So, what do I do?”

Moon Shadow grins, “Just come to New Beginnings, we will handle the rest.”

He mumbles to himself as he fades from the dream.

***

True to his word, the next afternoon, Henry knocks on my door. I answer, “Henry, I’m glad you came.”

He nods, though he has a bit of a look of a man heading to the gallows, “I told my superiors what’s going on. And I’ve taken leave. Once I’m acclimated to being a pony, the decision will be made then on how we are going to proceed. But for now, I’ve got a few weeks of leave, so we can work on Irony.”

I look back into the house, Irony was sleeping somewhat peacefully when I went downstairs, “C’mon in, I’ll get Moon Shadow and Sunset Shimmer.”

In less than twenty minutes, we are in the basement entertainment room. Henry is looking around, “How much was all of this?”

I cock my head to the side, “What do you mean?”

He points to the TV, “That’s an absolute monster, and it’s 4k resolution, right?” I nod, “You have stadium seating, but with the most comfortable seats I’ve ever seen, and you have all this stuff here, did it cost a lot?”

I shrug my wings, “I don’t remember how much was spent on this room, the kids told me what they wanted, so I got it. They liked having sleepovers down here, playing video games, doing all that sorts of stuff, I’m rarely down here.”

He looks at me in confusion for a long time, “Just how rich are you?”

I sigh, “Henry, I haven’t cared one bit about how much I have in the bank since I was supporting a family of four on ten bucks an hour. I have plenty of money, because the companies I own have been successful. But for an exact accounting, I’d have to check my records.”

He whistles, “This room probably cost more than my yearly salary.”

I chuckle, I know what the Army pays, “Well, not anymore, as a healer, if you want to work at the hospital, you’ll likely be paid pretty well.”

He looks at me for a long time, then over at Sunset and Moon Shadow, “What do I do?”

Sunset blushes, “I’m going to need you to strip.”

He takes a step back, “What?”

“We need access to your cutie mark, we must pull from it’s magic, to awaken the spark within you. To bring out your Equestrian magic, and start the transformation. Moon Shadow is well versed in dream magic, which is what is required, but she doesn’t have the necessary power, that’s what I’m here for. But you don’t have to strip all the way, though it would be easier. But we must have your cutie mark visible.”

He looks at me, then at the two unicorns, I smirk, “Want me to turn around?”

He shakes his head, and starts to unbuckle his belt, he hitches down the side of his pants, exposing the cutie mark. Moon Shadow’s horn lights, and then Sunset’s lights too, but the glow looks like it encompasses both of them. Moon Shadow comes forward slowly, tendrils of magic waft from the cutie mark, and when her horn touches it, she gasps, along with Sunset. For a long time they are frozen, the magic dancing around the room, and then it all rushes into Henry, who sits down heavily. Sunset and Moon Shadow stagger, but stay standing, Moon Shadow sounds like she’s run twenty miles at a gallop, “It’s done.”

Henry sat still for several moments not moving.   Slowly he started moving his his lips in a bare whisper, "Five score divided by four..."  Shaking his head vigorously as if clearing out the last of the cobwebs he looked down at his hand.  "Really?"

She nods, “Oh yeah, in a few hours, your hair will change color, and become more of a mane, and over the course of three days, you will be back to a unicorn.

He looks at Moon Shadow, "Sounds like what Velvet and Blaze went through when they changed."

She nods.

He smiles wanly, “Thank you. I hope I can help Irony.”

I nod, “I hope so too.”

As we are heading upstairs, I thump him with a wing, "I heard what you said, five score divided by four."

He looks down, ""Your mind weak , your outlook bleak." He sighs, "In my case my roadblock was color wasn't it?"

That gets a frown from me, how much effect did Discord have here in this world?"

***
Henry has almost fully turned into his pony self after nearly three days, I'm in my office, talking to Irony.

“Dustie, we have a mission.” Comes Mindy voice, and in seconds, the party unicorn appears in front of my desk with the sound of a party horn.

I look at Irony, then at Mindy, “Mindy, we haven’t been able to reform our team, and Sparkler’s busy, and with the loss of Winter Storm, we don’t really have any prepared teams.”

Mindy frowns, “Well, Cloud Kicker called, they need help in Malaysia, you need to get going, and help her.”

I growl, “I’ll talk to Trixie and Flash, maybe they can help.”

“I’ll go.” Irony says.

I shake my head, “Irony, you aren’t ready, you have to rest.”

She growls and slams a fist on the desk, “Dust, since I’ve been back, all I’ve done is rest, I need to do something, love. I need to feel useful again.” Her ears fall, and her eye waters, “Please?”

I look at Mindy and back at Irony, then my ears fall back, and I slowly nod. “I’m guessing we will need our armor.”


> Chapter 69.5. A New Beginning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Walking down the street, Henry looks at the different places in New Beginnings, he knows this town well. Though, since the spell he knows the place will soon have a much different feel to it.  His first stop though, is the Hospital.  He’d have to get a kit together.

Walking in, he smiles at the little earth pony mare behind the desk.  Nursing ponies often have a red cross like his, though without the stars.  It is so hard to tell pony ages, but she seems fairly young to be a nurse.

"I'll need the first change vaccination set, for a stallion. I'll also need two vials for blood typing." Sighing softly, he looks over at the linen rack.  "Um, any chance I could also get one or two pairs of scrubs for a human? I'll pay for them."

"Oh is someone you know undergoing the change?"

"I am, I'm a trained medic with the US Army so I know how to do the shots and take the blood for the typing."   Looking through his wallet he put down his Military ID card.  "Yeah ok I'm going to need to get that updated too."  

"Aren't you a little bit... old?"  She says, looking a bit skeptical.

“Tell me about it, I’m almost 29.  It’s a special case, if you have questions, you can call Lightning Dust, Moon Shadow or Sunset Shimmer.  They are aware of it, and make sure to tell them it’s Henry, or Star Crossed.”

Waiting quietly, he looks at the posters on the wall.  The nurse places the call, though immediately wishes she hadn’t.   Apologizing, she hangs up and goes into a storage room to prep the items. Shortly she returns, “Sorry sir, what are the scrubs for?”

“Day two, when the hooves come in, as well as day three.  Regular clothing can be problematic, especially in the final stages of the change.  Scrubs are loose enough and stretchy enough not to interfere.  If necessary, they can be ripped off or cut off easily on day four, when I’m fully a pony.”

“True, sorry.” She looks more than a little abashed, “Do you know what tribe you are?”

“Unicorn.”  He says softly.   

Nodding, she finishes gathering the supplies, while not common anymore, some ponies still show up now and then. They are likely to be referred directly to New Beginnings for starter kits on their change.  For most it is a scary time, not knowing what was going to happen, only that they would become a pony but not the steps.  The only questions he has are, how long would it take him to remember how to walk?  And how long would it take him to remember his magic?

Turning, Henry walks out of the building and looks around.  There are ponies everywhere, doing work, talking, daily life.  At the same time there were very few humans here, those that are here are usually accompanied by other ponies.   Really, Henry hopes it wouldn’t become an issue that he is a lone human.

Next up is the big market. He had been here before, it combines a grocery store, along with a farm supply store. Entirely owned and run by ponies, He knows what he needs here.  Idly he wonders if those who are going through their first changes these days are as calm.  Walking inside, he picks up a basket and grabs some type 1 and type 2 alfalfa bits.  Chuckling softly, he notices they had changed the packaging.   What was used to be a basic horse food, is now boxed in bright colors, much like any cereal product.  

He probably doesn’t have to hide for the entire change, like ponies in the past did. Though it still looks somewhat silly in some stages of the transformations.   Picking up a saddle bag off one shelf and some hoof boots, he wants to have some basic clothing for himself.  It is mostly essentials he is buying.  

Glancing around, he does notice he is getting a few looks from other ponies.  He is still human right now, or at least he looks the part.  He wonders if some of the younger ponies here have even seen a human that often.  Yes, they come through town all the time but, still few would shop in a pony store for pony items.

Grabbing the basic Velcro straps for phone, wallet and ID he rolls the basket to the front checkout.

“Looks like someone’s going to be a pony.”  The clerk giggles.

“Yes, me.”  

“Oh, having the 3 day spell cast on you?”  She asks.

Henry hadn’t thought of that.  But then why would a human buy this for just 3 days?  “Nope, I’m reverting to pony form.”  

“Oh, you don’t look too thrilled.  I guess it’s hard to accept, me I couldn’t imagine not being a pony now though.  Don’t worry, there are lots of ponies around to help you with this.  Just don’t think of it as an ending, think of it as… A New Beginning.”  She says, with a bright smile.  

“It’s ok, I’m not worried or afraid.  Friends, family, and work are all supportive.  How much?”  Henry asks, looking at the saddle bag.

“Free, I’d never expect a person going through the change to pay, that would be just mean.”  She smiles tilting her head, “Consider it a birthday present.  One thing I need to fix though, can I see your mark?”

Henry blinks, looking at the little unicorn clerk, “Um isn’t that a little…”

“We all see the marks after the change, few of us walk around with clothing on most times.  Trust me on this, its just fine.”   She says in a gentle voice.

Sighing softly, he lowers his pants a bit to show her.  It feels strange doing this in public but there are not many shoppers in the store right now.  

Nodding, she touches her horn to each of the clasps on the saddle bag.  With a flash of light they change from a flat piece of steel, to a star and cross.  Puffing she looked up, “There you go, now your bags are proper.”

Henry leans over, giving her a hug.  Loading his things into the saddle bag, he slings it over his shoulder and walks out.  Standing outside, he inhales deeply, then pulls out his cellphone. He dials quickly, calling the familiar number.   “Ok Dust, I’ve got my change kit.  Is there a hotel or motel room I can use?   It’s going to be a long three days and I’m already getting strange looks from ponies.”

Pulling the phone away from his ear, he cringes.   Dust is definitely in one of her determine moods, so there is no arguing with her.  Her house is where he is staying for the foreseeable future.  Hanging up, he looks around again.  

Walking back to Dusts place, Henry finds himself watching to foals playing.   Many of them were born on earth, and have never known Equestria.   Earth is their home, but he wonders if any of them feel the calling to return to Equestria at times.

Knocking at the door he squawks in surprise as it is flung open and Hannah bounds through and hugs him.   “Hi Henry, dad told me you’re here to help Irony.  She said you were going to turn into a pony for her.”

“Yep.”  He says, “Dust and Moony have a way of talking you into things.”  

“So you’re really becoming a unicorn?”  She asks with a bright glow.

Shaking his head henry chuckles, “Nope, I’m really returning to unicorn form.”  

“Mom’s got a room set up for you for your visit.”  Smiling, she leads him up to a nice bedroom with a big bed.  “Now you’re not going to hide here the entire time are you?”

Helen walks in, shaking her head, “Don’t worry he won’t, now go have some fun Hannah.  Henry here needs to relax.” Hannah bounces out, and Henry spies a pink earth pony that Hannah bounces over too. He had heard Diamond Tiara was found and was adopted by Lightning Dust. They laugh as they bound down the stairs.

“I’m fine.  Thank you.”  Henry laughs softly.

“Want one last steak dinner or perhaps venison before your change?”

“Ugg, no, this is going to sound strange but I’ve been on a pony diet for the last five years anyway.  Ever since I went through the gate the first time in 2020.”  Henry smiles, “Except I couldn’t eat alfalfa then.  So I picked up a box for myself.”

“Oh don’t worry, there’s so much more to eat than just that.”

“I know.  My friends ate it though when they changed, in some ways, I’d like to say its tradition.”

Hellen laughs softly, “I didn’t take you for a traditionalist.”

Helen heads out and closes the door gently. Henry lays back on the bed and takes out his cell phone.  The light on his phone is flashing, and the box comes up, 72 new text messages.  Velvet, Feather, Candy, Cloud, Snow, The Captain, Sugar B, Cipher, cipher, cipher, Starbucks gift card for unicorn sized coffee, Ballad. 

Shaking his head he chuckles.  The unicorn club and everyone else are sending him congrats, and happy birthdays.  In some ways, this is his new birth day.  

Watching some TV, he just relaxes until Hellen calls for dinner.   It is a nice meal, his last as a human but it doesn’t feel that way.   His diet hasn’t changed since the mirror so it is pretty strange, it is just another normal meal.

Once done, Henry heads up to bed.   It is going to be an early night for him…  

*** 

Screams, dark mist fills the streets slowly, guard ponies in their steel grey armor walk down the pathways.  Their eyes glowing green with red and black auras around them.   Red crystals grow up from the ground everywhere.

The two sisters yell out in challenge, but the dark creature stands, defiant.

The form of a Dracolisk flits through the mists.

Crying, a pink mare holds fragments of a crystal in her hooves, tears filling her eyes “Princess Amora”.  

The cackling laugh.

“Falling, falling…  Gallifrey falls.”

*** 

Bolting up, Henry shakes his head, “argh, I knew I shouldn’t have watched that movie last night.”

Ruffling his hair a bit, he heads to the bathroom, he looks at himself in the mirror.  Yep, human, that wouldn’t change till later in the day.  He takes a quick shower, then heads back to his room and gets dressed in some clean clothing.  

Heading outside, he walks down to the market.  Even here, ponies opt for an open farmers market, to show off the freshest and best grown foods.  Looking through the selection, Henry picks up a few carrots, celery sticks, and some fresh bread.  It is a strange breakfast, but he’s had stranger.

Heading down to the reservoir, he sits and looks up at the Rim.   Munching on a carrot, he watches the pegasi training.   Formation flying, they are probably a weather team, practicing cloud control formations.

Pegasi can generate a fair amount of force on impact.   Luckily, they heal quickly.  Henry’s side however…   

The force of the impact send Henry rolling and tumbling a good ten feet before he comes to a stop, looking up at the pink form sitting on him. 

“What’s up, doc.”   Henry says, with a laugh.

“The Rim of the Sky.”  Feather responds innocently.    “Happy belated birthday.”

“Thanks, how’s my little niece doing?”

“Hey, I’m not that little anymore.”  She protests.

“Trust me, I know, you’re sitting on me… not like I’ll need those ribs there tomorrow anyway.”

Getting off of him quick Feather laughs, “Sorry Star Crossed.”

“Why do I think you had a hoof in this somehow?”  

“Nope, but I support it one hundred and thirty two percent.”

“Well that’s an odd number.”

Giggling, she fluffs her wings, “And think, when you change you’ll be able to visit the Rim.”

“I’m a unicorn, not a pegasus.”

“And unicorns can learn to cloud walk.” Feather says, with a firm nod.

“Fine…”  Henry chuckles and sticks a celery stick in her mouth.   Going back to the carrot, Henry dusts himself off and smiles at the young mare.  

“Let’s go shopping and see the sights.”

Chuckling, Henry follows Feather around.   The town has a nice shopping area, other than the farmers market.  It is fun to see how many of the common things, from furniture to household fixtures have been redesigned for pony use.  In fact several things could simply not be used by a human anymore, due to height differences.

They have lunch at a nice little café by the river.   Henry still has to watch what to order, he can’t eat full pony food yet.   He has to remind himself to get things he can safely digest.  That isn’t hard though, there are lots of human friendly meals.

Heading back to Dusts in the evening, Henry is greeted by a rude sneer from a mare wither foal.  She is an earth pony, and her foal is barely two years old.  First guess would be it was born on earth but really, there is always the chance that was a cursed one too.

Feather blinks, putting herself between the mare and Henry, spreading her wings somewhat.  “What is your problem?”

Looking to Feather the mare shakes her head and shifts to Eponese, “A friend of yours?”

Blinking, Feather whinnies back, “Yes.  I’ve known him for years.”

The mare shakes her head, continuing to whinny in the Eponese language, “We’ve been seeing more and more Brony fans around here.   We’ve asked Mare Mayor and Lightning Dust to do something about it.  Walking around with wigs like that is just insulting to the rest of us.”  She says, looking up at Henry.

Looking up at Henry’s hair she giggles and whinnies, “Ok yeah, it does look a little funny, except that’s his real hair, he’s going through his change to pony form.”

The mare does a double take, then she changes her tone and demeanor right away.  “Oh Celestia, forgive me, I’m sorry.  I thought you were some Brony, making fun of us.”

Henry shakes his head, “You know I didn’t even notice the mane starting to grow in.”

Putting her hoof against his leg, she nods, “Trust me it looks fine, and will look great on you as a pony.”

Finally getting to Dust’s house, he arrives with Feather beside him, just about dinner time.   Hellen takes note of the hair and chuckles, “Wake up with a brush cut go to bed with a mane.”

“Yeah, an army barber’s worst nightmare.”

Henry has dinner with the family.  They even invite Feather to stay.  Alan, Helen, and Hannah are there, as well as all of Dust’s equine family.

Henry bites his tongue though, noticing the look on the turquoise mare’s face, and he feels worry starting to well inside him.  Is Dust mad at him?  Was Dust upset with the fact that he hasn’t changed faster?  Irony is in trouble, looking at her sitting there, lethargically putting food in her mouth, but this magic, the change only goes so fast.

Lowering his head he extracts himself from the table and apologizes, heading down the stairs Feather following him.

“You don’t need to watch over me Feather.” 

“I’m not, I wanna watch a movie on franks 2000 inch TV.”  She says, smiling.

Chuckling Henry sits down on the sofa, Feather joining him, lying on her side stretched out.   Hannah joins them a few moments later.   Turning up the TV a bit, they relax, letting Dust and the rest of the herd talk upstairs.  

After a while, Feather sits up, yawning hugely, “I’m going to head up to the Rim for the night.”

Nodding, Henry gives her a quick hug, then stands up, his tail swishing.

Giggling softly, Hannah looks over, “Tail and ears are out.”  

Henry looks back at his tail and chuckles, “Yep, means I get my horn and hooves tonight.”

“You’ll be able to start practicing magic soon, to get yourself in shape.”

Looking up at the stairs he shakes his head.  “I know.  I’m dreading it.   I need to talk with Moony.”

“Why are you dreading magic?”  Hannah looks confused.

“Not magic I’m dreading, it’s the practice.   Fundamentals are just evil.” Hannah giggles, though she pales a bit herself. As a magic user human, she’s had to go through many of the same exercises that Velvet and the other unicorns did.

Standing up, Henry heads upstairs and asks Helen for Moony’s room.  After getting directions he takes a deep breath and knocked on the door to the master bedroom.  Swishing his tail, he waits quietly for Moon Shadow.

Yawning, Moon Shadow opens the door, “Oh hi Henry.  See you have your ears.”

“And tail.  Moon Shadow, I’m not a cursed unicorn, but I had weird dreams last night.  I hope it was part of the brain re-wiring but…”   Henry shakes his head, “I didn’t have dreams like that in Equestria.”

“Hmm, mind if I take a peek tonight?  It might be a problem with the spell.   Best to be safe.”

“Thanks.  I’m heading to bed now.” He grins and gets a grin in response, “Thought I’d let you know.”

***  

Her golden eyes burn bright.   Her peach pink fur and bright pink mane flow, blown by some ethereal wind.  Her horn flashes brilliantly as she screams, then she turns to dark red crystal.

A heart beats, but the crystal heart is gone. 

Sombra’s hooves slammed into the ground shattering Amora, sending fragments flying in all directions.

Laughter, the hissing laughter of Sombra fills the darkness.

The scream of Celestia and Luna in rage rises above the laughter. 

Radiant Hope opened her eyes, tears flowing free as she holds the crystals.

The heart beats again, thumps out loud and clear.

Out of the mist Discord’s eyes appear, a claw reaching out, he strokes Radiant Hope’s mane.  

The heartbeat again…  

A flash and the crystal fragments are gone.  Amora is gone, Radiant Hope stands alone on the ice.   What’s left of the Crystal Empire is fading in the distance.

Discords eyes fill the dream and a crystal flies straight towards…

***

*WHAM*  

Henry awakens to striking the floor as he rolls out of bed in his sleep.   “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.”  

Lifting his hand, he rubs his forehead and horn with a moan.  Glancing down to the floor he sees a divot in the wood and groans.  Of all things, he had hit horn first.

Sitting on the floor he looks at his new hooves.   Poking one of them with a finger, he examines it, just making sure it is real.  It isn’t that he doesn’t believe it, or doesn’t expect it.  More of just a reflex.

Moon Shadow opens the door at a gallop with her magic, she skids as she stops, “Henry are you okay?”

Blinking a bit, Henry just pulls the covers over his lap to give himself a little dignity while still sitting on the floor.

“Oh um, sorry.  I was just worried.  I was watching your dream, I saw the gem.”  She shakes her head.  “I’ve never been thrown out of a dream so violently before.  My head is still ringing.” 

“Not horn?”

She shakes her head with a smile, “Dream magic doesn’t require a horn, or wings, it’s inborn. There have been pegasi dream walkers, and a few earth pony dream walkers. Even Princess Celestia cannot dream walk, though she can use spells to access the world of dreams, she’s not a Dreamer.

“I fell out of bed and landed horn first on the floor.”  Moving over he motioned to the chunk taken out of the wood.  “I’ll pay for it.”

“Nonsense it was an accident.”  She lights her horn, and the floor is good as new, she sits down and takes a deep breath, “Ok that wasn’t a Five Score dream, at least not the normal type.”

“I’ve heard about a lot of them, honestly that was just weird…  I kept expecting to hear someone say the sleeper has awakened, or see a worm come up out of the ground yelling Melange.”  

Moon giggles softly at that.  “It wasn’t a first person dream either.  So I’m not sure.  It might just have been your mind playing games.  I’ll talk with Dust and Sunset Shimmer about it.  I’m not sure I recognize the ponies.”

Glancing up at his horn, he thinks for a moment. Closing his eyes for a second he makes it glow.  “At least I still remember how to do that.”

“Ok now I’m jealous.  It took me a while to figure out my magic again.”

“I’m not cursed though remember.  So I remember how I used my magic before, plus I remember all the magical training and theory from grandfather.  May have been years ago but I have a good memory.”  Shaking his head he looks down.

“It kind of gives me an unfair advantage over the true ponies,” he says softly.

“Nope, no being down or saying this is the worst thing ever.  You are NOT Rarity.”  Moon says before getting up.  “I’ll tell Dust see what she has to say.”

Watching Moon go, Henry leans over and opens his saddle bags.  Pulling out the scrubs, he gets himself dressed then puts on the hoof boots for traction.  Finally comes the snack food.  He feels his teeth with his tongue, they’ve already flattened out so he opts to have some alfalfa bits while he relaxes.

It is a fast day for changes.   He knows a lot would happen to his body.   Walking downstairs he hears the doorbell.  Dodging quick to the side he laughed as Hannah runs by and skids to a stop before opening it, Diamond Tiara hot on her heels also skidding to a stop with a giggle.

On the other side Feather stands, wiggling her tail.  She has a shopping bag in her mouth from Walmart.  That is a bit of a flight from here, Henry muses.  

“I brought you a change kit.”   She says, looking innocent.

“Thanks Feather but I already made one up for myself.”  Henry chuckles.

“Oh?  Did you include these?”  Feather pulls out a 5000 piece puzzle and a Child’s Gears, Gears, Gears set.   

“NO!”  Henry quickly moves so he has Hannah in between himself and the creations of pure evil, she’s backing up from them herself though, “Not on your life.   5000 are you nuts!”

“Mom said you’d need practice.”  Feather nods firmly.

“No, seriously… NO take it away.”  Henry shakes his head. 

Diamond Tiara blinks and looks over as Moon Shadow comes up to see what the commotion was.

“What’s the problem it’s just a puzzle and toy.”   Diamond looks at the puzzle. It is a normal Ravensburge edition.  The puzzle is a picture of a town and bridge, nothing special at all.  

“It’s not what it is, it’s what it’s used for. Unicorn torture methods.”  Henry scowls at the boxes, and notices a nod from Hannah.

“Torture?”  Moon Shadow has a faint smile as she looks at the puzzle and gears, then at the two other magic users.

“Oh it’s fun.  Velvet did, than trained the Unicorn Club in it. To practice fine TK work, you assemble the puzzle, one piece at a time, while holding the puzzle in the air.”  Feather giggles.

“Feather, Velvet and the club worked on 200 and 300 piece puzzles, not 5000.”   Henry protests.

“They didn’t have any kid’s puzzles, and since you’re an adult and not a foal, I figured an adult puzzle would work.”  She says, putting on her innocent face.

“I didn’t do much of that training, so what are the gears for then?”  Moon Shadow asks.

“Oh those are more freestyle play.  You put one up and start it turning, then you keep adding more and more gears, as they all keep turning until you can’t lift or control anymore.  Also you’re not supposed to build in 2 dimensions it’s supposed to be 3 dimensional.”  Feather giggles, “It’s so cute to see, especially if two or three unicorns are doing it together…”

“It’s called fundamentals.  It’s the bane of unicorns trained by Velvet.”

Hannah gulps, “Sunset was trained by Velvet back in Equestria, these are similar to some of the lessons she’s put me through. Though the puzzles were metal, and three dimensional, though five thousand pieces…” She shudders.

“Let’s get started!”  Feather says, dragging Henry to the downstairs entertainment room, Hannah looks at Moon Shadow, and sighs, following the pegasus and unicorn to be downstairs, her earth pony friend in tow.   

Quickly Moon sees why Henry was reluctant to take part in this. It is exhausting, especially given the size of the puzzle Feather had bought.   A skilled unicorn would have problems doing this.  

Poor Henry who is still mid change, out of practice, and never really used TK past touch mode and short range is in agony. Trying to sort and build the puzzle is bordering on painful at times.   Just because of the number of pieces he has to sort through before finding one that he needs.

This sort of training was so far below Moon Shadow all she could do was feel sorry for Henry. Though Hannah doesn’t need any prompting to help, saying that Sunset always says the fundamentals are something to keep working on. Feather has him taking breaks getting him snacks, juice, and food.  Well food other than just the alfalfa bits he had been snacking on.  Even then however, by dinner time he is totally wasted.   

He remembered how Velvet, Sugarberry, the Cottons were after this training.  Even Cold Front and Black Marble were on their backs after a day of this.   Standing, he ends up having a little trouble keeping balance and he is more than a little dizzy.  With help though, he makes it up to the dinner table.

Hellen smiles softly, “You look exhausted.”

“Feather had me practicing my magic all day.   I didn’t even notice the pink fur starting to grow in.”  

“Well you were occupied so you didn’t worry, that’s a good thing.”  Helen says.

Looking up Henry watches Lightning Dust come in, though she still seems to be brooding.

Lowering his head, Henry goes quiet, he doesn’t want to give Dust more reason to be upset.   Tomorrow he should be a full unicorn and be able to do what she needs.  

> Chapter 70. Clash of the Titans
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our chariots land, I hop off before they are settled. I hear Irony call out as I’m flying away, but I ignore her. I’m too angry right now. And I know she is angry as well. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I quickly leave New Beginnings proper fall behind me, and I’m over the border into North Dakota. I find myself descending, but I don’t land on the ground, but a cloud.

I watch the wildlife on the ground for a long time. Everything from rabbits, to deer, to the occasional elk. I’ve done my crying over this. I feel defeated, my ears are down, I’m just ready to fly away and never return, except for the fact I would be leaving everyone I love. I sigh and curl up in a ball, looking at the passing clouds.

A voice interrupts my fugue, “Well, Moon Shadow has told me you were in a foul mood, looks like she wasn’t kidding.”

I turn and look at the pony, she’s riding a cloud as it merges with the cloud I’m on. She looks at me, a cocky smile on her lips, “Quite different from the pegasus that visited me on the Reagan.”

I grumble, “Yeah, Blue. Aren’t you going to head back?”

She trots over and lays next to me, “I took a few weeks of leave. I’m going to have to head back to my ship before long, but I was visiting Gold Dust and your delightful son, and I saw you guys land. I headed over and talked to Moon Shadow. She said the raid was successful.”

I nod, and sigh, “Yeah, Cloud Kicker had tracked nearly a dozen ponies to a facility. There were eight mares, and two stallions, and they were their own version of a puppy mill. Every cycle, they were pumping out the foals. And selling them to the highest bidder. To be used however they wished.” I feel my stomach do flip flops. “They were pretty well defended, but we were able to free the ponies, and the humans as well. Some sickos aren’t going to have their little playthings anymore.”

She nuzzles me, “So, why are you so upset? I saw the cloud as I came in, I’m surprised you aren’t deaf with as many lightning bolts that this cloud is generating, just from you laying on it, all pissed off.”

I smile, “The animals below don’t even seem to notice.”

She chuckles, “It was Irony, wasn’t it?”

I nod, “That mare.” I scream in frustration, then take a deep breath, “I love her to death, but right now I’d love to pinch her head off and tell God it was an accident.”

I’m nuzzled again, and she folds her neck over me in a hug, in response I put a wing over her, “So, what did she do?”

I sigh, “She was trying to get herself killed, is what she was doing.”

Blue’s ears flick a bit, “Why?”

I growl, “On the way back, she said that she deserved the death of a warrior, in battle.” I look down, “And I just lost it.”

“In battle?”

I nod, “I know exactly how bad she feels, I took months recovering from my ordeal, and in some ways, for her it was worse, because what was being done to her, was being done by a pony, one she had respected, and even loved, in her own way. The betrayal she felt was very real. And she doesn’t feel herself getting better, she’s stronger, and she has healed, physically. But she barely sleeps, and she’s always on edge. She has one of the worst cases of PTSD that I’ve heard of. And I don’t know what to do.” I moan the last, tears leaking from my eyes.

“So, she was trying to get herself killed, how?”

I sigh, “We were up on a ridgeline, firing back and forth, and she just stands up, and starts walking down the hill. Her armor took all the bullet strikes, but she didn’t even react when the first mortar round exploded about a hundred feet from her, the second was closer. And I got to her before the third fell. Her armor is good, but not against a mortar. And she was crying, fighting against me as I pulled her back to the line. Shouting about how she needs to die, like a warrior.” I close my eyes to stop the tears leaking, it doesn’t work.

Blue Lagoon pulls away a bit, “So, what are you going to do?”

I sigh, “Henry is finished with his transformation by now, I hope his healing abilities will help.”

She mumbles for a moment then, louder, “Dust, magic, even magical healing, isn’t a cure all, she needs your love, your acceptance.”

I look at her, “I know that, Blue. But she needs some forward momentum in her healing. I don’t want her to find a different way to end her life, I really don’t want her to succeed at it.”

She nods and hugs me, and for a long time we both watch life go by. Then finally I stand up, “Okay, I’m bored now.” I say with a chuckle, “I need to get home, and set that mare straight.”

Blue Lagoon looks at me seriously, “Dust, you need to think before doing.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I say as I take off, back west.

***

I slam into the ground, a ring of dust expanding from my impact point, and stalk into the house. My wings are up, and not with any amorous thoughts. I open the door, and there is Irony, she looks shamefaced at me, I know she heard my impact with the ground. Her ears drop back, and she braces herself when she sees the look on my face.

“No, I’m not calmed down, Irony.” I growl.

She wilts, “I’m sorry, Dust.”

I sigh, “I know you are, Irony, but damn it all, you don’t need to die. In fact, your dying would make everything worse for us.”

She looks down, “I’m tired of the pain, Dust.”

I slam a hoof down, hearing a snap as I’ve broken a tile in my entryway, “Pain? Are you serious? Pain? I went through whole boatloads of pain. Coming back from nearly losing myself, I didn’t want to kill myself, in fact, when I voiced that, you clamped down on that instantly. And now you are saying you want release from the pain.” I flash forward, and am hovering eye level with her, “What about the pain your death would cause us all? What about Zed?” That gets her to flinch.

She whispers something, I can’t hear it but I feel rage rise in me, I think I know what she said, “Oh, don’t talk about Zed? Seriously? The one pony in the world that will be more affected than anypony else, he’s the one you don’t want to talk about.”

“Shut up, Dust.”

“Shut up? No, I’m not going to fucking shut up, Irony. Zed will be crushed, he’s the happiest I’ve seen him when you came back. He tottles around all the time saying mommy mommy, and he’s happy. And you want to crush him, by leaving him.” Her fist impacts on my left cheek, my wings lose coordination and I’m thrown into the wall. Drywall smashing as I impact, I stand up to see the massive earth pony running at me, I only have time to brace as she slams into me. We roll, both of us trying to find purchase to hit each other. The solid oak front door doesn’t even slow us down as we slam through it. 

I feel the edges of the front stairs against my back as we roll into the front yard. I get to my hooves and jump at her, my heavy hoof hitting her in the jaw. Three jabs to my barrel and I’m pushed away, landing on my back. She jumps at me, and I get all four hooves ready, and she lands on my hooves, I push her and she is in the air. I take to the air myself with a scream, hitting her with two hooves as she falls to the ground. To my amazement, she stands up faster than I would ever have believed possible, how did she know Judo? She snakes her arms around me, and has me tight, though I’m able to wiggle out of it, getting her in the midriff with a hind hoof, I turn around to slam her again, but she’s moved again. She’s got a wing in her hands, and a sharp twist dislocates my wing. My howl of pain is short, but I shrug off the pain initially and slam her in the face. She ends up down again. I’m leaping at her when I’m suspended in mid-air. A golden aura is enveloping Irony as well.

“What the hell is going on here?” Sunset Shimmer’s voice resonates throughout the yard. My chest is heaving, so is Irony’s, Sunset continues, “You two, fighting like school children. Are you serious? I should bend you both over and paddle your rears so hard you won’t sit down for a month.” She screams.

I look down, “I’m sorry, Sunset.” And I hear Irony copy me. I shoot a venomous look at the midnight blue earth pony, and get one in return.

Sunset stalks up to me, her mane wafting in her magic, “You, Lightning Dust, you are the lead mare of our family. You don’t fight your herdmates. You don’t hurt them, especially when they are already hurting!”

I look down, abashed, tears starting to come, “But she…” 

She stops me with a look, and then turns to Irony, “And you, I can’t believe you started a fight with our lead mare. We are supposed to look to her for direction, for purpose…”

As she bawls out Irony I get a good look at her, her jaw is actually hanging at an odd angle, I think I dislocated it, but I think she’s still too amped up on adrenaline to actually feel it yet. I am too, though when the adrenaline runs out, I’m going to be in a lot of pain from my wing.

Sunset finally winds down and whirls away, she stops and looks over her shoulder at us, “You two had better find some way to coexist. Because if I have to break you two up fighting again, I won’t be nearly as nice.” She stops, and looks at Henry, who is standing there, his mouth an O of shock, “Star Crossed, I want these two to wait a couple of hours before they are healed, there’s nothing life threatening, and maybe they can feel the pain of what they did to each other and maybe learn a lesson.”

Henry ducks his head as she walks inside, and then walks up to us, “Less than a minute of actual fighting, and you did all that to each other, wow. I will follow Sunset’s instructions, but damn girls, when you two fight, you don’t hold anything back.”

I would chuckle, but the pain is starting to come in, and boy, it’s not a little bit. I grit my teeth, “Gee, thanks Henry.”

He chuckles, “Serves you two right.”

***

Dr. Ray brings her horn back, Henry is focusing on Irony, and both Sunset and Moon Shadow want him to conserve his energy and not overexert himself, the change was taxing for his body, and his magic, so they both say for him to take his time.

“What is it they say in Texas? Mess with the bull, and the horns will get you?”

I look down, “I guess I poked the bull a little much.” I shoot a glare at Irony on the other side of the living room. Henry is fussing with her, and her jaw is back where it belongs. Finally, she was gasping a bit in pain as we finally both calm down. I’ve got tear tracks down my cheeks, having the wing dislocated, that hurts, and thank Celestia Dr. Ray is really good with the tendons, or I would be out for weeks. As it is, I’m good. I kiss Dr. Ray and let my wings take me upstairs, I need a nap.

***Irony****

I try not to let Star Crossed see the glare I shoot at Dust as she flies upstairs. That infuriating mare, ugh. 

Star Crossed sits down, “Okay, that was relatively simple healing, now, let’s see about the eye.”

I touch the empty socket, “Really?”

He nods, I look down, “I don’t know if I really want to heal that. I’ve been like this for months, and there are some drawbacks to it, but…”

He cocks his head to the side, “But Irony, you need your vision.”

“I can see.”

“Why not, Irony?”

I look down, unsure of what to say.

He sighs, “So you are giving up?  You are surrendering to Discord, you are letting him win?”

He stands on his hind legs, putting his hooves on my chest,

“Discord may be gone but his curse is still in effect.   Your minds weak, your outlook bleak.    That's not just some silly add on to the rhyme.   That was there to stop ponies from finding their happiness, it was to stop them from being happy.  Stop them from finding their way back to Equestria or finding happiness.  

Discord could have sent the ponies to some Utopian world where they would live in happiness and joy and never want to return to Equestria.   He didn't though, he sent them here.  Then to make it more of a game, he added the challenges.”

He gets back on all fours and sits down,” Have you ever thought through that?  This situation with the clone of Twilight Sparkle could have been your challenge?  She sought you out.  She targeted you.  She claimed you.   That isn't a coincidence to me.   Her being here, her awakening, her singling you out.   That sounds just like the curse to me.

“Now every time a pony gives up on their lives. Decides to let the curse win, to let Discord win, it takes away from every single pony in the world.  The reason is simple, because you ponies need each other.   Lightning Dust knows this, otherwise she wouldn't have wanted me back in this form.   I still think I'm honestly the last person that should be a pony, let alone deserves to be one.”

“I still hear people chuckling and saying Pink Fluffy Unicorns.   I know I'm probably going to hear that every single day of my life now.  From now on.   If it helps ponies recover from Discords curse though, it’s worth it.   If it helps you, it’s worth it.   I wasn't born a unicorn, I wasn't cursed to be one. I'm just a stupid human poser, who's racked up maybe twelve days as a pony.  I'm sure there are others out there who deserve to be a pony more than me.  At least that's how I feel.  Every time I look in the mirror I wonder, am I just going to turn back?  Do I even deserve this cutie mark on my flank?”

“So trust me, I know it’s hard, but ask yourself.   A one warrior to another.  Do you really think Discord should win?   Even after he's gone, should we just give up and let the curse have its way?”

I listen to his words, every one of them a dagger to my heart. Tears spring into my eye, I grab him and hug him, “Oh, Star Crossed, I’m certain you deserve that mark, I’m certain you were meant to be the pony you are.” I sniffle, “Yes, go ahead and do whatever you can for me, please?”

I finally let him go, and his horn lights, “Now, hold still, Irony. I guarantee this is going to feel weird.”

His telekinesis pulls me towards him, and his horn touches my forehead. I’ve been healed too often to count. Every time it feels like a cool chill running down my body, this time feels like my head is dunked in ice water. I want to gasp, I want to scream, but all I can feel is the cold, and it focuses on my eye socket. After a few moments he backs away, and staggers to sit down, I blink a few times, and shout, “You did it!”

He nods and lies down, “I think I may have done too much.” 

Moon Shadow is next to him nearly instantly, her horn lights and doughnuts and other sugar laden food is sitting in front of both of them, she takes an éclair in her magic and starts feeding it to him, “You ran through a lot of energy just now, Star. You need to rest for a few days before you do anything else.”

He nods groggily, and looks at me, “Like the eye?”

I close one, then the other, “I was just getting used to having just one eye, this is amazing!”

Moon Shadow looks at me, “There is a mare up there, hurting, you need to talk to her.”

I stand up, looking up at the bedroom door, then I look at Moon, “I’m sorry, I can’t help her right now.” I turn and head towards the ruined front door, “I’ll be in my forge.”

***Dust***

I wake up in my bed alone, the sun is about to set, I can see. I reach over and pull out a cigarette. Ever since Irony was lost, I’ve gone from a pack every week or two, to one to two packs a day. I know I smell like an ash tray, but I don’t care. My number one trigger when it comes to smoking is stress, and stress has been my constant companion for months now. I take a drag and blow the smoke at the ceiling. Feeling the nicotine rush into my blood stream, I feel my body relax. Ahhh, now that’s good. Pegasi feathers are nearly as nimble as fingers, I bring a wing forward to pull the smoke from my lips, I reach over and tap the ashes and put it back in my mouth. I flip myself out of bed. I rotate my ears, most everyone is downstairs, it sounds like a meal. My stomach grumbles, but I’m not in the mood to eat. I open the French doors to my new balcony/pegasus landing platform and step out. Flaring my wings, a great flap and I’m in the air. I don’t have a specific destination in mind, I find myself fluttering to the ground quickly.

I look at the forge, I can hear the hammer ringing inside. I rotate both ears forward, I can hear her softly singing inside. I sit outside the forge, listening for a long time. After a long time, I once again flare my wings and take off, I can’t deal with this, with her, right now. I love that mare more than anything, but I can’t deal with this. I wing my way south, rising slowly as I break the sound barrier. Above the clouds there is a nearly full moon, it’s been about a week since the portal closed. I finally start to enjoy flying, the feel of the wind under my wings, the sensation of speed. Life as a pegasus, nothing better.

I streak to the south, and soon, I’m landing near Gallup, New Mexico. After I had made another stop. I’ve been here before, but Twilight Velvet and Blaze spend a lot more time in New Beginnings than here with Grandfather. But I need his advice. I knock on the door, and after a long time, the door opens and his white maned head pokes out. He looks down at me, “Greetings, you have the look of a lost spirit.  What troubles you little one?” I set down the package of herbs and tobacco that I had picked up in Denver on my way south.

I nod, “Thank you, and yes, I do feel lost.”

He comes outside and sits down on his rocking chair. Looking at me patiently, letting me tell my story in my own way. He doesn’t react to my tears when my emotions overcome me, he simply lets me talk.

After a long time, I wind down, “Grandfather, I don’t know what to do. I’m so frustrated and angry.”

“Why?” He asked gently, taking out his rattle and stroking its side.

I shake my head so hard my ears flop, “Why? I just told you why!”

He smiles, and mumbles a bit, I don’t know the language, finally he switches back to English, “You are so stubborn, Lightning Dust. And so is Irony.  You are like 2 stags locking antlers, neither wishing to back down.  You two have to find a way to make peace with yourselves, to reconnect and rebuild the harmony between you.”

I growl, “I want to reconnect, but she keeps pulling away.”

“And why is that?”

“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be lost.”

He sits back, looking at me, “That is not why you are lost, little one.  You know what you need to do, Lightning Dust. Your antlers are up, you are defending yourself from getting hurt.  And by doing so, you are hurting others.  Not just Irony, you will charge any that approach.”

I feel tears come to my eyes, “But I can’t lose her again.” I wail.

He looks at me sternly, “You keep this up, Dust. You will lose her as well as the harmony you built.”

I sigh, and finally bid my good bye to the old man.

“One day you will need to visit the medicine circle.  Sit in front of the great fire.   The Spirit guides have much wisdom, if you are willing to be calm and listen.”  
***Irony***

“Who’s the cutest colt?” I giggle at the form in my arms.

“Me!” Zeddicus squeals with a laugh.

I take him and throw him up in the air, letting him get a couple of feet of height, and I catch him easily, and bring him close in a hug. Holding my colt, I swear he’s been almost better therapy than anything else. Mischief ambles over, “Mama Inee!” She says, to get swept up by me as well. I love playing with the foals. It’s just Hannah and me in the nursery with all the foals. I’m lying on my back, with foals all over me, and enjoying every minute of it. Dust is brooding in her office, three days have passed since I’ve gotten my eyes back. Hannah is using her telekinesis, making toys float, to the amusement of Moon Shadow’s twins. 

A knock at the door, and it opens, a human walks in, along with a golden mare, I smile at the two, “Gold Dust, Dylan!”

Dylan waits while I get up, then reaches and hugs me, “I’m so glad to have you back, Mama Irony. I apologize for not visiting sooner, Gold Dust and I have been nearly around the world for her job.”

I smile, “I’m glad to see you.” I look over at Gold Dust, “So, pregnancy agreeing with you?”

She nods and sits down in a huff, “It’s wearing at times, I’ve got four months to go. Dylan has been heavenly, dealing with my mood swings.”

“And your short temper.” I chuckle.

She looks surprised, I grin, “I went through it too. Quick to anger, and usually quick to forgive. But boy, those hormones can really throw you for a loop.”

She nods, “Yeah, Dylan has had to deal with two tempermental mares.”

He smiles, “I know you two love me, Gold. Even when you saying other things.”

I give him another hug, “Very mature of you, Dylan.”

Gold Dust looks at the foals playing around, “Actually, we are here to play with the foals for a while, Star Crossed asked for you to come downstairs, he says he’s going to work on you.”

I sigh, “While I love having my full eyesight back, I don’t know if he can fully fix me.”

Dylan puts a hand on my shoulder, “Mama Irony, you will get better, I have confidence in you.”

I look at him, trying to suppress my tears, finally I nod and head out the door, a quick walk and I’m heading down the stairs.

“Irony, make yourself comfortable.” Star Crossed says, and I settle myself on the overstuffed couch, looking at him.

“This will be a little different, Irony. I’m going to be focusing on your brain, which will likely cause random firing of the neurons, so your vision will be affected, so will your hearing, your memory, your sense of touch. I won’t be doing anything at first, just feeling my way through. I want you to think of how you feel when you shift. I know it still causes you a constant headache, so I should be able to find my way there fairly easily. Are you ready?”

I nod, and his horn lights, once again he touches my forehead. I find my eyes fluttering closed. The first thing is I see stars in my vision, swirling around. Then my hearing blanks out, causing me to twitch my ears. I resist the urge to shake my head. I focus inward, I feel my ever present headache, it’s there all the time, so I can usually ignore it. It’s amazing what you can ignore when it’s constant. I feel it, and it causes stress, but I have found ways to not have it affect me as much. Though when I’m tired, it comes to the forefront, and I have to lay down. I’ve spent way too much time laying down in the last month or so since I’ve been home.

Suddenly the headache intensifies and my hearing comes back, I hear Star Crossed growl, “There it is. What a damned mess.” The chime of his magic intensifies. A combination of gasping pain and freezing cold wracks through my brain. “I can get this, I have to actually rewire what was damaged. Healing those neurons…” He gasps.

After what feels like forever, the cold become a jagged spike of ice in my skull, I’m beyond gasping, every muscle goes tense, and finally he pulls away, “Okay, Irony, relax.” He looks at me as my eyes open, a trickle of blood from both of his nostrils, I sigh and I feel my body change, my hands become hooves, and my hips change form, my barrel changing shape as my breasts fade from my chest and reappear as teats between my hind legs. I put my forehooves down on the couch, and watch as Sunset swoops in.

Henry staggers off the couch as Sunset fusses over him, she wipes the blood from his nose with a handkerchief, “Oh Star, you should have waited a few more days before doing this.”

He shrugs her off, “I was turned for a purpose, Sunset, I’m going to help this mare.”

“You don’t need to kill yourself doing it.”

He smiles woozily, “I won’t, Sunset Shimmer.”

Sugarberry comes up, “Oh, Henry.” She gives him a hug. They walk slowly upstairs, she’s staying with us while Henry is healing me. I watch them disappear upstairs, Moon Shadow comes up, and, with tears in her eyes, gives me a hug.

“Thank Celestia. How do you feel?”

I think for a moment, “I feel more relaxed, and my head doesn’t hurt. It actually feels weird, not being in pain.”

She smiles, “That took a lot out of you, let’s get you upstairs, and take a nap together.”

I look around, Moon reads my mood, “Dust is in her office at Lightning Electric.”

I nod and follow her upstairs.

***Lightning Dust***

I’m sitting in my office, the shop has been expanded, adding half a dozen bays, and a larger material warehouse. The office has been expanded as well. My manager has an office, and I have a new office here as well. Though with the manager, I don’t have as much to do. I’ve met with my manager, I’m just actually spending time here to stay away from home. I don’t want to, but part of me needs to. Mindy pops in.

“Dustie, you have to see this. Cipher just sent this over to me.”

I sigh, “What?”

Her horn lights and my computer wakes, Twilight Velvet is on the screen, the video starts playing, “So, now you have four hooves…” My jaw drops.

I look at Mindy, who giggles, “Just after the change, Velvet was asked to make informational videos, to help military members with the changes. It was never widely distributed, but Cipher sent them to me, just for a giggle.”

I smile, “Thank you Mindy.”

“She made several of them, you should watch them, I’ve put them on your network.” And with a party horn sound, she’s gone. I chuckle and start watching.

A few hours later, there is a knock at my door, Pat sticks her head in the door, “Dust, I think Discord was busy with that curse for longer than we thought.”

I cock my head to the side, “What?”

“There are some deer here.”

My ears fall, “What?”

“You heard me, Dust. Deer.”

My wings power me over my desk, and I follow Pat into the reception area. Three deer are here, a stag, a doe, and a fawn. All three look exhausted, and terrified. They look a lot like earth deer, but subtle differences stand out to me, including their larger eyes, with more defined irises and pupils. The doe is wearing the leftover remnants of a safety vest, bright orange against her dusky coat.

I sit down, “I’m Lightning Dust.”

The doe comes forward, “I’m not sure what my name is, but we just finished changing yesterday, all four of us.”

I look at them, “I count three of you.” I say in confusion.

The fawn starts to cry, “Hunters got my sister. Why did they do it Dust?”

I growl, “They weren’t hunters, young one, they were poachers. The lowest of the low.”

The buck steps forward, “I was known as Sharp Thorn.” 

I’m able to smile, “All of you, I’ll take you to New Beginnings, you will be welcome there.”

“Among ponies?”

I nod, “And hippogrifs, and donkeys, and mules, and griffons, and bat ponies, and minotaurs and even zebras. Discord was a very busy Draconequus.”

They follow me slowly from my shop.

> Chapter 71. Remembering and Healing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spitfire growls as she whirls away from Rainbow Dash. She stalks up to me, putting her snout in my face, somehow I know what’s coming, but I can’t do anything about it. Her hoof comes up, pulling the gold medal out of my uniform, off of my chest. I feel the tears welling in my eyes as she points back to the barracks. 

I look back for a moment, then continue slowly walking towards the barracks, two stallions walking with me, I hear spitfire behind me, “You’re no wing pony, Rainbow Dash. You are a leader.”

At that my emotions break through, I leave a trail of tears all the way to the barracks, barely noting the other cadets shadows as they flow over me. My dream is over, I’m done. 

I take a long time packing, the Wonderbolts have been my dream since I was a filly, watching the Baltimare team perform. I’ve trained long, and hard, and when I finally got my letter, I was on top of the world. But now, I’m the lowest of the low, I’m not a Wonderbolt, not even a recruit or a reservist. I’m a washout, I’m a failure.

The trip back home takes forever, but finally I open the door, my family home in Baltimare. My sire is in the living room, he smiles, I’ve always been a daddy’s filly. Then he sees the look on my face, “Didn’t go well, sport?”

I shudder, folding my wings around me, I shake my head slightly, “I’ll go to my room.”

He smiles gently, and gets up, I’m caught by his magic and brought over for a hug, “My little Lightning Dust, you’ll always be a Wonderbolt to me.”

I am able to give him a watery smile, “Thanks, Daddy.” I walk slowly to my room, my cloud bed has dissipated in the week I was gone, I don’t have the energy to go get another one, so I curl up on the floor. Though I’m not even really able to get comfortable when the door opens. I look up, a bright blue pegasus is there, with a golden mane, one wing folded at her side, the other, gone. I look at my mother’s missing wing, and shudder. I look at her face, tears in my eyes, “I failed, mom.”

I’m quickly brought into a hug again, while she lost her wing as a young filly, she has told me some nights that she wishes she had her wings, that she could soar in the sky. I feel sobs wrack her form as she holds me, and I let go the dam that I had built within. My own tears flowing down my face, I tell her everything, how I did the best at the dizitron, only slightly slower than another recruit even though I had it going faster than anypony else. How my team beat all the others at finding the flags, how we totally kicked plot at the obstacle course. Then I really start sobbing, as I tell her about the tornado, I thought we would win, busting all the clouds, until those ponies came up in that balloon. Finally, I’m able to wind down, “Mom, I knew I was the best there, I flew better than anypony, I pushed myself harder than any Wonderbolt. And I lost, I failed.” 

Once again, I’m held tightly, finally she pulls back, wiping the tears out of her own eyes, then using her wing to dry my tears, “Oh, sweetie. You are back, that means the Wonderbolts aren’t for you.”

I go absolutely stiff, “Mom, I’ve dreamed about this for years, I’ve applied every year since I was fourteen to become a Wonderbolt, and on my eighteenth birthday, the letter comes, accepting me to the academy. That was my dream.”

She smiles, “Was, Lightning Dust, was. You aren’t there now, and you were kicked out, you need to move on. I know how hard it is, but you can’t wish things to go your way, you must deal with life as it is.” She looks back at her missing wing, then she looks at me, “They kicked you out, and you know as well as I do it wasn’t because the other recruit was better, it was because of you. You went too hard, you overdid it. That other recruit, Rainbow Dash, she clipped her wing following you. You know you should have worried about your teammate.” She sighs, “Your temperament just isn’t that of a Wonderbolt. They value team work, they value working together.” She taps my nose gently with a feather, “You are simply too independent, Dust.”

I look down, thinking about her words, and finally hug her again.

The next couple of years pass by in a blur, I end up working small jobs, finally moving away from Baltimare. Then I’m sitting in my little apartment, I had moved to Manehattan, working for the weather service there. Pushing clouds all day, not the most exciting of jobs, but it paid the bills. When I get a knock at my door.

As I’m heading to the door, my ears prick forward, I hear a voice I haven’t heard in a long time, “We’re calling HER in to help? Is the fate of Equestria really worth it?” I shudder and sit there for a long moment, long enough for the ponies on the other side to knock again, finally I open the door. Rainbow Dash is there, so are the other element bearers.

I look down, my ears splayed back, “Rainbow Dash.”

To my surprise, she puts a smile on her face, though it seems a bit fake to me, but there’s something there.

“Lightning Dust, I was just made a Wonderbolt.”

I turn away, “Congratulations.” I walk inside, not exactly slamming the door in their faces, but they apparently don’t take the hint.

Rainbow Dash flips over me, and we are muzzle to muzzle, causing me to sit down, “Lightning Dust, I need you.”

I feel a blush spread across my face, I look the other mare up and down, “Just you? Or all of you?” I am able to waggle my eyebrows just a bit.

She blushes, “Not that way, as a flier, as a Wonderbolt.”

I shrug past her, all amorous thoughts squashed, “I failed, Rainbow Dash, I didn’t complete the Academy.”

Once again, she’s in the air and lands muzzle to muzzle with me, I growl, “Leave me alone, Rainbow Dash.”

She growls right back, “Dust, you are pretty much as fast as I am, and the Wonderbolts need you, you need to join back up.”

I shake my head, I don’t know if I’m understanding her correctly, “You want me back, to be a Wonderbolt?”

She nods, a smile on her face.

I look down, unsure, “But what if I fail again?”

I feel a wing over me, Rainbow Dash smiles, “You won’t fail again, I believe in you.”

I look at her for a long time, “Fine, I’ll try.”

She turns and trots towards the door, “You will do, Lightning Dust, there is no try.”

“Dust, wake up.” Helen’s voice penetrates the fog, I was dreaming? It felt so real, I open my eyes to her smiling face, “It’s almost ten in the morning, and you are still sleeping, don’t you want your present?”

I shake my head, “Present?”

“In case you forgot, it’s our anniversary today.” Helen and I have continued celebrating our anniversary, even since we’ve formed the herd, but now it’s more of a family event for all the mares and stallions. Though Helen always tries to do something nice for me.

I smile at her, “I haven’t forgotten.” I’ve got her present done. With Moon Shadow and Sunset’s help, that is.

She giggles, “But I want to give you your present.” She points to a large cardboard box she had deposited on the bed. 

“What is it?”

She smiles, “Something for the mare who has everything.”

I frown, “I don’t understand.”

She touches my nose with a finger, “I think you’ll like it, love.”

I flip over and walk over to the box, it’s not taped, so I simply open the flaps, then I’m rooted in place, I reach in the box, pulling out the gold and blue cloth, “This can’t be real.”

She smiles, “Oh, but it is.”

“A replica of our Wonderbolt uniform, amazing.” I lift it up to inspect it, “The stitching is right, the colors are perfect.” I look closer, “They even got the thread of gold right in the accents.”

She laughs, “Dust, that’s not a replica, that was yours. From Canterlot.”

I look at her, then at the cloth in my hooves, the back to her.

Helen moves closer, “You know where I said I was going to Missouri to visit my folks? I lied.”

“Huh?”

“I went through the portal, Dust. I knew a couple of ponies in New Beginnings that wanted to go back to Equestria, so they went with me, helped me learn to walk like you guys, and we went to Canterlot castle. It’s been put back where it belongs. And we went into the Wonderbolts locker room. I found your old locker, Lightning Dust, it had your color, and your cutie mark. I grabbed everything in there and brought it back to the portal.”

“My spare uniforms?”

She nods, “And your EUP dress uniform, your flight goggles, both pairs. And even some personal correspondence you had in your locker. Some bits and bobbles that always end up in the bottom of a locker.”

I had three pairs of goggles. Very expensive ones, nothing but the best for the Wonderbolts. One of them was on me when I was hit by Discord. It’s getting hard to see through the tears as I look at everything in the box. I pull out the other clothing, neatly folded, and smelling clean, I look at Helen. “There must have been thirty years of dust on all of this,”

“I took them to a place in town, to get everything cleaned up, everything is as good as new. Though I wonder about something.”

“What?”

She gets up, and goes to another box, much smaller. She opens it and then turns around. It’s like lightning through my mind when I see what is in her hands, a flight feather, bright blue in color, tied to a leather thong long enough to go around my neck. I leap forward, landing in front of her. “Mom’s feather!” I scream.

She hands it to me, and I take the feather with a wing, looking at it, yes, it’s my mom’s alright. I hold it close, tears streaming down my face, I turn to Helen after a long time.

“Thank you, love. I don’t think there is anything more perfect than this.”

I put down the feather, looking at Helen, I walk up to her, my wings spread, I kiss her, but keep it quick. I think I had better give her my present. I open the closet, and reach into the plastic storage container that I had stashed the present in. I cradle it in my wings and give it to Helen.

She sits down and opens the small box, and she pulls out my gift to her. She looks at the deep sea blue crystal in her hand for a long time, “What is it?”

“It’s an Equestrian memory crystal. Look into the individual facets of the crystal.”

She gasps, “it’s you!”

“Turn the crystal.”

She complies then gasps again, “That was you, before the change.”

I nod, “Check out another facet.”

“Moon Shadow.” She turns it, “And that was her human form.”

I smile, “It has all of the herd in it. Now, let’s show you the kicker.”

I reach in the box and pull out the small pedestal. I have Helen place the crystal into the pedestal, and I flip the switch. The small light in the pedestal shines through the crystal and the images in each facet glow as they flow up. Forming a ring of images, all of the herd, in human form, and pony.

Helen chokes back tears, “It’s beautiful, Dust.”

I smile, “Moon and Sunset helped imprint the images. The crystal is Equestrian, though I got it from the UK.”

She looks at me, then gently sets the crystal and pedestal on the bedside table, then grabs my neck fur, pulling my face close. She kisses me, lighting flowing all over my body as her tongue invades my mouth. I can feel my body responding to her, my wings are tight. I want her so badly right now. I push her gently back on the bed, continuing to kiss her, feeling her body under mine. Finally, I pull away. “Helen, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” I say as I bound through the door, my wings helping me down the hall, and I soar over the railing and land in the living room, right in front of Sunset Shimmer.

“Sunset, I need you to use some pretty strong magic on me.”

She furrows her brow, “Um, what?”

“Make me into a stallion, for a few hours.”

She snorts, “That’s pretty strong magic, Dust. Are you sure?”

I nod, “I want to make love to Helen, how we did before all of this, before the change, I know you can change me to a human, but it would be my human self as a pony. I wouldn’t be Mike anymore, so it isn’t worth it. Please, just change me into a stallion.”

She thinks about my words for a long time, then she smiles and her horn lights. I feel the magic envelop me, a flash of light and I land on my hooves. I look down between my hind legs then look up. Sunset seems a bit tired after that, but she smiles at me, then she leans forward and whispers in my ear, “Gonna let me in on some of that action, later?”

I give her a kiss and my wings bring me back upstairs. I close the door and hop, letting my wings guide me back on the bed, “Okay, now where were we?”

Helen looks at me strangely, “Dust? What did you do to yourself?”

“I had Sunset do a little spell on me.”

Her eyes are big, “Gender changing isn’t a little spell. You know, I like you as a mare.”

I lean forward and kiss her, after time immeasurable, I pull back, “I know you do, and I love making love to you as a mare, but I want you, I want you so badly I can taste it. I want what we had for sixteen years before the curse wore off. I may not ever be able to be Michael again, I can never be the man I was before.” I look down, “I do want you, Helen, I want to make love to you, as close as I can from when it was just the two of us.”

She looks at me, then brings her hands to either of my cheeks, “Dust, you don’t have to change for me. I love you the way you are.” Then the look on her face changes, to one of lust, “But I’m not going to complain about the additional equipment right now.”

***Cloptional 71***

I have been thinking about what I’ve been told by an old man. I need to lower my antlers, as the saying would go. I flutter down to the garage. The original garage for the house has long since been replaced, it’s more of a mechanics garage, to accommodate Irony’s maintenance needs. She also maintains some of the other vehicles owned by my family. I can hear the faint metallic click of a ratchet inside. I walk through the open garage door. I can hear her, she’s in the pit. The Mustang is there, the hood up. I can smell various chemicals in the air. 

“Irony.” The sound of the ratchet ceases.

For a long time I wait, then finally I step forward a bit, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I harassed you about Zed, I’m sorry that I hurt you.”

Silence from the mare in the pit.

I feel tears starting to fall, “I’m sorry, I’m so terrified of losing you, of losing anypony. I took it out on you, and I need to apologize. I hope you can forgive me.”

The silence is starting to get to me.

“Irony?” I call quietly. Only to get silence, “Irony please.”

“I hear you, Dust.” Comes the quiet reply.

“Can you forgive me?”

I hear a soft sigh, “How can I forgive you, Dust. When I can’t even forgive myself.”

I move over next to the car and crouch down, looking at the midnight blue mare, “Irony, you don’t need forgiveness, you need healing.”

“Henry’s been healing me, Dust. It hasn’t changed anything. Except that I’m in a lot less physical pain.”

“That’s good, right?”

She turns and glares at me, “No, Dust. It’s not good, some pain is gone, but other pain is still there, in fact, it hurts worse, and is harder to ignore.”

“Do you still want to die?” I whisper.

She looks at me for a long time, and finally turns away, picking up the ratchet again, “I don’t know, Dust.”

I walk slowly from the garage, tears in my wake.

***

I sit down in front of the door to my guest bedroom, I look at the door for a long time, then finally I knock. After a moment a white face with a two toned pink mane pokes her head out, “Oh, hi Dust.” She smiles at me.

“Hi Sugarberry,” I sigh, “Henry in?”

She nods and backs away, I put a hoof over the threshold, and stop, looking at the pink stallion reclining on the bed, he’s got the TV remote in his hooves, holding it with magic apparently. He looks at me, “Something I can help you with Dust?”

I walk the rest of the way into the bedroom, and sit down, my ears drop, I sit there for a long time, then finally nod.

Perking his ears forward, he tilts his head, looking at me, “What?”

I feel tears leaking from my eyes, “I’ve been an unmitigated bitch, to you, Henry.”

His ears droop, his tail clamps tight to his rear as he lowers his head a bit, “Dust, I know it took a long time for me to change, and I couldn’t do everything at once. You had a right to be upset.”

I scuff a hoof on the floor, “No, Henry, I was never mad at you. I’m thankful for what you are doing, seeing Irony with both eyes, and actually the occasional smile, it’s been wonderful having you here. You have been completely selfless when it comes to this. You have given up your human life, willingly.” The tears are really coming now, “You’ve even refused the money I’ve offered.”

Smiling, he looks up, but his ears stay splayed back, “Dust, I don’t want your money, I told you that already. Between Sugarberry’s pay and my income, we will do fine.”

“I know, but I want to say something.”

He stops, ears perking forward, his tail starting to relax a bit, “What?”

“Thank you, Henry. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for doing what you’ve done to help Irony, to help my family.”

He smiles, “Dust, I’m not done with Irony yet. And I don’t expect thanks. You and your family have been so generous.”

“Henry…”

“You can call me Star, or Star Crossed, Dust. It’s my true name,” he smiles and winks.

I smile a bit, “Star Crossed, what I’ve done is nothing compared to what you’ve done. You are healing somepony who has been through hell. I am forever in your debt.”

He looks down at his hooves for a long time, “Dust, you don’t need to.”

I strike the floor hard with a hoof, “Oh yes, I need to. You name it, if it’s within my power, it’s yours.”

He hops off the bed and sits on his haunches in front of me, “Moon Shadow has told me how rare a healer is like I am, and she’s explained the dangers.”

I nod, “Security is being set up, you will always have Royal Guard ponies with you when you leave any pony settlement. We will make sure you are safe.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about, Dust. Though thank you, but what I’m worried about is, if my abilities are this rare, how can I help others?”

I smile, “We will take that one step at a time, I’ve had a few ideas on that, we can discuss later.”

“Would you come to our wedding, Dust?” Sugarberry blurts out, her face red.

I look at Star and at Sugar, “I knew you two were close.” I look down.

He chuckles, “We’ve been talking about it, Dust. And yes, we are planning on getting married.”

I smile, “That is awesome, and yes, I’ll be there.”

Both of them smile, then Star Crossed stands up, “And speaking of Irony. I think I’m ready for another healing session, want to join us?”

My tail tucks under my rear, and my ears splay back, “Oh, no. I’ll let you do that.”

Even though Star is smiling, his body still reacted to me, his own ears drooping, and his tail tight between his legs, Sugarberry nuzzles me as she passes, “Thank you Dust.” She pauses for a moment, smiling at me, “You know, he hasn’t really figured out his pony body, he displays every emotion he’s feeling.

I am able to smirk, “I noticed.”

She giggles as she follows Henry down stairs, I watch them disappear down the hall. “I think I’ll take a nap.” I say as I turn in the opposite direction.”

***Irony***

Once again, Star Crossed is working on me. He’s had me shift to sit more comfortably on the couch. He’s sitting on it too, his horn touching my forehead, all I feel are cool chills throughout my body as he keeps working.

“I’m not finding anything here, Irony. What would you say your pain level is right now?”

I think for a moment, I haven’t been on two hooves long enough for my headache to appear, and physically, I feel pretty good, “One, maybe.”

He sighs, “I know there is something more. I felt it the last time I was working on you.” After fixing my ability to transform, Star has spent a couple of hours like this, his magic washing through me. I feel fine afterwards, but he’s always woozy, and stumbling a bit. This kind of healing always takes a lot out of him. I appreciate his dedication, but nothing he has done has made me feel normal, how I felt before I was stupid and got myself taken. Though one good thing about this. Everypony in my herd has been accepting of me. Even Dust, in her limited way, has shown me that she accepts who I am. Do I really want to die? I can’t honestly answer that question now. Which is a far better answer than before Star started working on me, when the answer was an unequivocal yes.

I sigh, “You know, Star. Maybe you have done all you can.” I look down, my ears splaying to the sides, “Maybe I can’t be fixed.”

“No, I don’t believe that.” The heat in his voice is unmistakable. 

For a long time, I feel just the normal chills of his magic, then I hear something, a small voice screaming.

“Mommmeeeeee!!” Zed gallops up, skidding as he makes the turn at the end of the couch, he makes a giant leap into my lap, I catch the colt and hold him tight in a hug. As I’m doing that, the cool chill becomes dunked in ice water for an instant, then Star leans back, a smile on his face.

I look at Moon Shadow, who is standing at the end of the couch. She’s smiling, then I look at Star, his face is nearly split with his grin, I look back at Moon, then back at Star, “What?”

“I found it. I knew there was something, but I couldn’t reach it somehow. I had Moon bring Zed in here, I needed to be connected, to feel your reaction to stimuli that always causes a strong reaction in you. You’ve been pretty dead emotionally for a long time. I suspect you’ve suppressed as much of your emotions while you were a captive. You don’t think about your feelings.”

“But I feel fine.”

He shakes his head vigorously, “I’m not talking physically, I’m talking emotionally. Most of your physical damage was relatively easy to heal. But your emotional scars, what you have suppressed to keep yourself from being hurt, and you’ve done it so long, and so hard, that it required a jolt to get you to feel.” He looks at Moon, who is smiling as well, “You opened the door for Zed, and I used that burst of love to help. Irony, I can’t say you are cured, only you can say that. But we’ve made a big step today. You will find your emotions bubbling to the surface easily, not just pain and grief, but happiness and joy. You haven’t let yourself feel happy for so long.” His ears fall and tears start to form in the corners of his eyes, “You haven’t let yourself feel the love that is all around here, the joy, the true blue equestrian magic that centers in this town, and in this house, since you’ve gotten back.”

“ You’ve walled up your emotions, but this little one.” He nuzzles Zed quickly, “has broken through the wall. And him coming out here, and you reacting to him, showed me where that break is. I couldn’t shatter that wall, but I opened up a lot of cracks.” He looks at me seriously, “I have no doubt that you can demolish that wall fully.”

I think about what he said for a long time, then I bring Zed up and hug him tightly enough that he squeaks, then look at Star, “Thank you Star Crossed.”

He hops off the couch, stumbling a bit, he walks slowly toward the kitchen, looking back at me, he says, “I was just glad I could help you, Irony.”

***Dust***

The doorbell rings. I’m working on my computer in my office. I have to keep up with the books, or the work will bury me. I’ve already got a full time bookkeeper, but every year means more regulations. I always have this work to do.

The doorbell rings again, I shout out, “Is someone going to get the door?”

No answer, and yet the doorbell rings again, I huff, “Fine.” I hop off my office chair and a quick trot has me at the front door.  

Grandfather is standing at the door looking down at me, “It is time, the spirits have sought you out.”

A second native man stands with him, looking somewhat confused himself but abiding by Grandfathers wishes.  

“Yes, well.” I clear my throat, “I’m actually pretty busy right now, perhaps another time. I can get the family down to Gallup.

He looks at me severely, “The time is now, Lightning Dust. My friends have found a place to set up away from prying eyes, at the edge of town near the woodlands.   While this is not traditional holy land, I feel it can be done.  Bring Irony and Moon Shadow.”

Turning Grandfather walks down the street towards Lake Luna, speaking in Navajo again.  

I watch the old man as he shambles down the street. Then I turn and head upstairs. One thing about the sound proofing in my bedroom, it works both ways. Everypony is taking a nap apparently. I gently wake up Irony and Moon Shadow and we head out. We get downstairs to the other native man.

“When Grandfather asks us to do something we do it, it’s in our blood, it’s in our DNA.”  Turning, he jogs up to catch up to Grandfather.

***  

In somewhat of a dip away from the sight of others, several humans have set up a medicine fire.   Sitting at the head of it, Grandfather taps his rattle gently, chanting looking into the flames.

As we approach, we are ushered to the three other cardinal points. I sit across from Grandfather, Moon to the west, and Irony to the east.  The drum beats pick up as the elders keep singing, following Grandfathers lead.  

I handful of herbs is thrown into the fire.  The vision of great herds of horses, deer, and Buffalo running across the plains fills the smoke.  The thunder of hooves in time with the drum beats, as the singing continues.

Another hand full of herbs, and a great eagle rises twirling, and soaring across the flames.  Its shriek cuts thought he air as it arc’s over and dives back into the center of the fire.   The flames roar up and the image of a powerful stag stands true.

“Thorn, is something wrong, we were expecting to hear from you sooner?”

“Noble spirit, Prince Bramble, I have brought the troubled one to the healing fire.”

“I see, Lighting Dust of the Sky Dancers.   I am Bramble son of King Aspen, about 25 years ago several of our kind ventured in different directions looking to find what happened to the ponies.   They never returned.   They may have been caught and cursed by the Spirit of chaos.”

“Our kind do not have the same ties to magic as yours do, we are creatures of the forest, of the wild.  We use potions to help with and live in harmony with nature.   If possible could you help them find their way?”

I look in amazement, I’ve heard stories of Prince Bramble, and King Aspen, after a bit, I finally find my voice, “Prince Bramble, three of your kind have made their way to New Beginnings.”

He sighs, “So, Chaos got them.”

I nod, “there is a problem though.”

He looks at me expectantly, I look down, “In this world, deer are commonly hunted. Their lives are in danger.”

He growls, “Then they must be found as soon as possible.”

I nod

> Chapter 72. What Does It Mean to be an Equestrian 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few days after the spirit fire, I’ve got calls to the other pony colonies, even the one in the UK, and no indication of any more deer showing up. Though I remain hopeful. The family does plan on visiting a couple of the colonies, the one in Texas, the one in the UK, and the one in Florida. Mainly to see how the ponies are doing there. Especially since it’s been years since I visited them, Helen thinks it’s a good idea to see the progress they’ve made. 

I’m once again playing with the foals, something that I love to do when I’m not otherwise busy.  The rest of the family is out, enjoying a beautiful day. It’s only been a couple of weeks since Star Crossed made the jump to become a pony. Irony is much better, though her and I haven’t fully healed the rift between us, we are on speaking terms, most of the time. I hear a knock at the door, I tackle Mischief out of the air, and get her onto my back as I take flight, I land in front of the front door, laughing as I open the door.

Fleetfoot is there, “Oh, Hi Fleetfoot, c’mon in!” I shout gleefully as I tumble back with Mischief. We end up wrestling on the floor for a few moments and I finally am able to extricate myself from the overhyper two and a half year old, I get to my hooves.

“You seem to love playing with the kids.” Fleetfoot says.

I smile, “Nothing better, how is your little filly?”

“Oh, Wind Diver is fine. But I’m here for another reason.” The tone in her voice gets my attention. 

“Everything okay, Fleetfoot?”

She nods, “James is retiring, he’s decided he’s had enough, and his contract is up, so he’s put in the paperwork.”

I smile, “Oh, good, you’ll have more time with him.”

She smiles a bit, “Yes, well, we’ve discussed things, and with what you guys did with Henry. James wants to do the same thing.”

I cock my head to the side, “He wants to become a pony? Like Star Crossed?”

She nods.

I sit down, a wing out for Mischief to play with, while I think, then I smile, “I can’t volunteer Moon Shadow or Sunset Shimmer’s services, but I think they will say yes. They should be back later tonight.”

She smiles hugely, “Thanks Dust, I really do appreciate it. I’ll bring James by later tonight.”

As she leaves, she tosses over her shoulder, “James has told some of our friends, I think they will be showing up.”

I smile, “The more, the merrier.”

She nods, “I know, you have always been supportive of us.”

Fleetfoot wasn’t kidding, when James and her showed up as the sun is low in the sky, I’ve already got a full house. Though I really love it, the joy and laughter, ponies and humans talking, enjoying time together. I don’t feel the need to retreat to my office. I’m sitting and spending time with them when Sunset Shimmer ushers James into the house, Fleetfoot in tow, and sets him down on the couch.

She smiles at him, “James, are you sure you want to change?”

He’s holding Fleetfoot’s hoof in his lap, he looks at her for a long time, and finally he looks at Sunset and nods. “We’ve talked about it, Fleet and I. I want to be a pony, help Wind Diver be the pegasus she can be.” He looks longingly at Fleetfoot, “After Moon Shadow and Fleet helped me realize what my cutie mark represents, after all of you have helped me so much. I want to be what I now feel I was meant to be.” He looks around, “I am a pony, it took me a long time to realize that. It all started when I went through the portal, when I was touched by your magic. It opened something inside me. Something I fought with everything I had because I thought I didn’t deserve it.” He smiles, “But now I can feel it, this is the best decision for me, for her, and for our foal.” 

Moon Shadow comes forward with a big smile, and they both lead him down stairs. I sit and chat with Fleetfoot for a while, then he finally comes upstairs. A big smile on his face, he grabs the blue mare off the couch and wraps her in a big hug. She puts her wings around him and hugs him back, “Oh, Wind, I can’t wait.” She coos as he finally lets her down. I invite them to supper with my family. One other guest has taken over my kitchen, a member of the expansive Apple family, one Apple Pie, is working hard in our kitchen, and growling at anypony that comes in and tries to help. Though by the smells coming from the kitchen, I think we are in for a treat.

Before too long, Ah-pee has delivered, pegasi friendly meat meals, and even fare for the ponies that can’t handle any meat. I look at the spread, everything from Texas BBQ pork ribs, to eggplant parmesan, I find myself drooling at the mountain of food.

I look at the earth pony mare, “You’re hired.”

She cocks her head quizzically, I giggle, “Personal chef, you can do this here anytime.”

She giggles, “Oh, no. I may be a pretty good cook, but I don’t want no job cookin for you.”

I smile, “Well, it was worth a shot, though any time you want, you are welcome here.”

She smiles, “Well, James has decided to join us pony folk, I thought a good meal was in order.”

He chuckles as he grabs some fried chicken, “Oh, Ah-pee, I’ll eat what you cook anytime.”

Star Crossed levitates some fire grilled vegetable skewers over to his plate, “You are an amazing cook, Ah-pee.”

She chuckles, “I would have done the same for you, had you let me know that you were doing this.”

He ducks his head, his ears falling, “I’m sorry, Ah-pee.”

I clear my throat, “Well, you can blame me, Ah-pee. Star was kind of a rush idea. We needed him to help Irony.”

He smiles and looks at the mare in question, “And how are you feeling?”

She smiles right back, “Better than ever, Star Crossed, thanks to you.”

That gets a blush out of Star Crossed, Sugarberry is sitting next to him, she nuzzles him, “I love him no matter what. He’s my special somepony.”

We all smile at the couple, sitting there, enjoying their time.

James sets down his drink, “Sunset Shimmer, Moon Shadow, I have to say, I was thinking that we would have to go through the portal, and stay in Equestria, when we retire.” He looks down for a moment, “Fleet and I were worried about that, thinking that we would be uprooting Wind Diver from her home, from the only home she’s ever known, so we could live in a completely different world.” He looks at Fleetfoot and smiles, “Now we don’t have to worry.”

Eric and Ballad are sitting together, Jay and Sanchez are also enjoying the food, Jay pipes up, “So, you are planning on staying on Earth now?”

“We don’t know yet, Jay. There are good things about both worlds. But we are certainly going to wait until our foal is older.”

Jay looks down, his brow furrowed, then he looks up, “Sunset, Moon, could you do your spell again? For me?”

Moon Shadow looks at Jay in shock, then Sanchez pipes up, “Me too, if you don’t mind.”

Moon looks at both of the humans, “Really?”

The mood of the meal has certainly shifted, I speak up, “Guys, really?”

They look at each other, and both of them nod, Sanchez picks up his glass of beer, looking at the amber liquid, “I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, so has Jay. We’ve talked about it a lot. We were planning on going through the portal when it opens next. Our contracts are almost up, and we were talking about retiring to Equestria.”

“Would you go to Equestria, and stay?” Sunset says quietly.

Jay looks down, a pensive look on his face, finally he smiles, “Yes, I think I will. Your home, New Beginnings, is wonderful, and you’ve brought out the magic of your world. But I think I would prefer to live there. There is just something about Equestria.”

“I feel it pulling at me, in my bones.” Sanchez says, “I don’t think I will be truly happy until I move there.”

I have to chuckle, “You know there is a waiting period to emigrate to Equestria.”

They both laugh, “Yeah, for humans. But ponies get at the front of the line.”

I smile, “True.”

We are interrupted by a knock on the front door.

I head over to the front door and open it, a human is standing there, looking unsure. Though her hair looks a little odd to me, “Can I help you?” I ask.

“Are you Lightning Dust?”

I nod, and she smiles hugely, “Oh, I’m so happy to finally meet you.” She reaches out a hand, into which I hesitantly place my hoof, to get it nearly shaken off by her enthusiasm. “I got my cutie mark yesterday morning, and I drove here straight through.”

Huh? “What do you mean?”

“I’m turning into a pony!” She squeals.

Her enthusiasm is enough to get me to giggle, some human who is happy to become a pony, whodathunkit?

I back away, bidding her entry, “Well, if you were cursed by Discord, I’m glad to see you have found us.”

She giggles, “I had the weirdest dream when my cutie mark came in. I knew about the ponies from when you appeared on TV. So I had to find you guys.”

I smile, “So, do you know who you were? Do you remember being cursed?”

She nods, “Oh yes, I most certainly do. I was in season five.” She giggles, “I actually had a pretty big part, I think.”

I cock my head to the side, looking at her white and faint lavender streaked mane, she giggles again and hikes down her sweat pants.

“Night Glider!” I shout, noting the moon with the crescent shaped auras.

She nods, “Yeah, I don’t remember much, yet. But I do remember there was a resistance movement, a lot of ponies banded together and attacked Discord. And given what happened to all of you, I’ll bet there are a lot of people right now with brand new cutie marks.”

I sit down heavily, “More ponies?”

She nods, “A lot, I think. I really don’t remember all that much, but I do remember thinking that Discord would be busy with his spell when he hit me, because we were fighting him.”

I shake my head sharply so hard my ears flop, “Where are my manners, we were eating dinner. Please join us.”

She looks unsure, I get behind her and use my head to push her to the dining room, over her protests, and soon she’s sitting among all of us.

“Well, you know me, Lightning Dust, let me introduce you to…”

She giggles and interrupts me, “Oh, I know Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Velvet is here, Twilight Sparkle’s mom, along with Rainbow Blaze, Dash’s dad.” She looks at Cipher, “I saw you during the smile song, jumping from roof to roof with Pinkie Pie,” She shifts over to Sugarberry, “You were doing the ice carving with Pinkie Pie in Winter Wrap Up.” That gets a nod from Sugarberry. She points to Ballad, “You were fighting for Smarty Pants in Lesson Zero.” Ballad blushes and nods. She turns to look at Ah-pee, “You were in the premier, Apple Pie, right?” Ah-pee smiles and nods. Night Glider continues, “And every time the Apples get together, you were there, along with the Canterlot wedding, and all kind of other places. You got more screen time than Velvet did.”

I have to smile, “Boy, and I thought Hannah was a Brony.”

She giggles, “Oh, I grew up watching the show. I’ve watched every episode at least a dozen times. I’ve been to Bronycon and Everfree Northwest, and BABSCon, and even a brony convention in Germany and in the UK. I’m a huge fan. You have no idea how happy I was when my cutie mark came in.”

Moon Shadow gets up from her chair, and comes around, her horn lighting, “My name is Moon Shadow, and I am a dream magic specialist. Dreams and memory are interrelated. Is it okay if I try to help shake loose some of your memories?”

Night Glider nods, and Moon Shadow’s horn touches her forehead, Moon’s eyes start to glow, and she levitates a few inches off the floor, her mane and tail flowing momentarily. She then settles to the floor, and smiles tiredly at the human.

Night Glider looks shocked for a long time, then her face crumples, “Oh no.” She moans, “That miserable bastard.”

I frown, “Discord?”

She nods at me through her tears, “Oh, this was horrible, Lightning Dust. I was one of the resistance leaders. We started soon after the first ponies were banished. I traveled all over Equestria, to the few places that Discord wasn’t actively trying to rip to shreds. I found ponies, and we amassed an army. Tens of thousands of ponies.” Tears drop from her eyes. “We were fighting his horrible creations, but the guard had been taken away with the spell. They couldn’t help us. We never knew where they went, we all thought Discord killed all of you, killed the Princesses. We didn’t know how to fight, we were farmers, we were craftsponies, we didn’t know what to do. And Discord himself, he just waded through all of us, everypony he touched turned into white mist. We thought he was killing us all as well.”

She stops for a long moment, “But he wasn’t, he was sending us here.” She looks at me, tears bright in her eyes, “Why did he do that, Lightning Dust? Why did he send us here? Instead of simply kill us. Life under Discord’s rule was horrible. But it would have been so much easier to him to kill us, instead he sent us here, he cursed us for twenty-five years.”

I shake my head, “I’m sorry, Night Glider, I don’t know. Nopony knows why Discord did what he did.”

She shakes her head, “I think there is more to this than we will ever know, Lightning Dust.”

***Moon Shadow***

Night Glider gets settled into one of the guest rooms, and eventually we bed down for the night. After dealing with Henry during his change, the dreams he has had. I want to monitor the other three humans turning into ponies. James joins Fleetfoot and at Dust's insistence, they stay in guest rooms in our home, Jay, and Sanchez also end up in guest rooms in our house. I think we’ve expanded the house twice. Having unicorns and earth pony crafters have made the upgrades to the house seamless and easy to deal with. I sometimes wonder is this a house, or a mansion? 

I smile softly, Dust has been generous with her money, despite Irony and my attempts to not use her money, she’s insisted. I’ll admit, it’s hard to use somepony else’s money as though it’s your own. Most of the family is bedding down. I sigh as I look at what has become depressingly normal, Dust is on one side of the bed, and Irony on the other. I know they’ve been working on the rift between them, but… I climb up onto the bed, I have a job to do tonight. 

It only takes a moment of thought and I’m asleep, I’m in the void between worlds, the bright lights of all the dreams all around me. I smile as I can find James’ dream easily. We stayed up late, enjoying our time together. Fleet was saying they were tired when they finally headed to their guest room.  They are here, I reach out for James’ dream…

“The night shall last forever!” Nightmare Moon laughs as Celestia looks on in shock.

An energy blast from Luna rips a massive hole in the side and roof of the castle.

“We’ve got to help the princess!”

A wing goes up in front of the earth pony. “No. Our first duty is to the residents of the castle. We must get them to safety. Those two are likely to level this entire place.” The pegasus commander turns and starts calling for the servants to evacuate.

“Luna! I will not fight you, you must lower the moon. It is your duty!” Princess Celestia calls out.

The pegasi and earth ponies work to get as many servants out of the castle. Some scream as a tower falls in the heat of the battle between the sun and the moon.

Laughter… Misshapen eyes looking on at the chaos. Discord flits through the debris, searching, ever searching.

A bridge connecting the outer wing to the main castle is cut down by the Nightmare. Flying up, the pegasus guard grabs a foal and brings it to the edge of the forest.

A scream rends the air as Celestia is hit, falling into the castle.

A tower slowly crumbles. The pegasus commander veers hard, knocking Star Swirl out of the way. Rubble everywhere, the darkness. Discord’s eyes.

“Well there you are.”

There is an explosion of light. It is so powerful, it throws everyone out of the dream

I open my eyes, it not only threw me out of the dream, it completely woke me up. I look around, hearing the soft sounds of my family breathing. I smile gently, I know everything is okay. I lay my head down and close my eyes.

Once again, another orb is before me, this is Jay. I have a theory forming in my head. Discord is behind this, I know it. Yet this isn’t the five score dream. It’s something different. I reach out to Jay’s dream…

“My lord! The changelings are breaking through on the southern flank!”

“King Orion! The lines are faltering. We need help in the east!”  

Two pegasi look at each other and nod, “We have this, our liege!” 

The changelings have magic, pegasi fight with ferocity and weapons.  The two pegasi look to each other and split apart, diving into a group of changelings.   

The screams assault their ears as they charge. They are not letting the changelings win.

The first pegasus hits a changeling with his lance. The lance breaking through the changeling drone as he turns towards his wingpony.  Surprised, the other changelings turn to chase.  The pegasi break into a spiral.

Chrysalis laughs over the sound of a mare crying, screaming out her mourning over the loss of her foal.

The second pegasus cuts down a changeling in a second group, before spiraling out.   The two pegasi in counter spirals cut past each other.   Their lances each taking down another changeling before the two groups of changeling’s crash into each other.

There are simply too many of them.  As much as they fight the two can’t stop them.

Discord’s head appears out of a cloud, then his whole body.   Chuckling, he flits through the feeding changelings.  Looking though the fallen pegasi he searches.

*“The Fallen rises.”* 

Discord laughs, and a brilliant flash knocks everypony out of the dream.

I end up in the void once again, my head throbbing. Yes, there is a connection. I step out of the dream and open my eyes, I knew it! I look over at Dust, she is sleeping peacefully. Her dreams have been stormy and disturbing. I’ve thought about asking Star Crossed to help her too. She’s just as hurt as Irony was. He helped Irony, maybe he can help Dust. That is a thought for another time. I lever myself out of bed, and soon head downstairs. After a quick visit into the kitchen where I make myself a cup of coffee. It’s floating in my magic as I make my way down to the basement, I open the door to Mindy’s office.

“Oh, Hi Moon Shadow!” Mindy chirps. Sunset Shimmer is there too.

I crinkle my nose, “Smells like you two have been having fun down here.” I smirk at both of them turning slightly red in the face,

Sunset clears her throat, “Well, Moon. If you had been here about twenty minutes ago, you could have joined in.”

I smile, “Maybe next time. I actually need some computer help.”

Mindy cocks her head to the side, her ears falling, “What?”

“I need searches done. During the time since the first portal opening. I want to know of any humans that have gone out of their way to save pony lives. Even to the point of getting injured themselves.”

Mindy’s computer fires up, her keyboard and mouse glowing orange as she gets busy on the machine. A few minutes go by, then Mindy smiles, “I’ve actually found a few.”

I smile, “really?”

“Oh, yes. During the time the government was scrubbing pony information. They were storing it on military servers, and since things have eased up, FIA requests have brought some of the news reports to be searchable. Let’s see, here is a Chicago firefighter, he was helping clear a building less than six months after the first opening of the portal. He carried an unconscious unicorn mare from the fire. He then went back in, and carried out two foals, they were about three months old.”

I shake my head, “Given the timing, sounds like she was pregnant when Discord hit her.”

Mindy nods, “He received 3rd degree burns on about twenty percent of his body.” She turns the monitor around, showing a head wrapped in bandages, also both of his hands were covered.

I look at the picture for a while, “Any idea where he is now?”

She looks thoughtful and then she murmurs to herself, “Checking retirement records, disabled benefits,” She’s silent for a long time, then she smiles, “Yup, I’ve found his home address.”

I turn, “Come with me.”

Sunset calls out, “Moon, it’s three in the morning.”

I smile, “It’s four in Chicago, and it will take the chariot a couple of hours to get there.” I stop and turn back, “Are you two too tired?”

Mindy giggles, “Never.”

***

I knock on the door, the sun has been up for a little while, it’s a little after seven in the morning. Dear Celestia I hope he’s awake. I knock on the door a second time.

There is movement in the curtain behind the glass of the door, and then the door opens. An older woman opens the door and looks at me, blinking at the three ponies sitting on her door step, “Can I help you?”

I give her my most winning smile, “Is Samuel here?”

She cocks her head to the side, “Yes…” She furrows her brow, “He just got up, can I ask what this is concerning?”

“His injuries, and how he got them.”

She sighs, “It was ponies.”

I frown, “I sincerely doubt that.”

She moans, “He was trying to save them. He went into the building, he got himself burned to save them. He had to move back in with me, I have to take care of him, because he decided to play the hero to a couple of worthless ponies.”

I flinch at that, the heat in her voice… “I’m sorry to hear that, but I think there is more at play than you think.”

She blinks, looking at me.

I step forward a little bit, “Recently, some humans that helped the ponies in Equestria have had some very unusual dreams. I am a dreamer, I can touch other’s dreams. And all of their dreams have a common element, yet they aren’t the same as the ponies dreams that were cursed by Discord. The thing is, Discord is in those dreams.”

“Discord, as in the creature that sent you into our world?”

“The same. Well, they are having dreams of events from a thousand years ago, When Celestia and Nightmare Moon fought, when Pegasopolis fell. That is not the five score dream. And since those humans are having such similar dreams, I think there is a pattern.”

Sunset shakes her head, “Moon, Discord doesn’t have a pattern, he is chaos.”

I look back at her, “Actually Sunset, Discord is ultimately a creature of balance. And he does have plans. He was meticulous when it comes to the ponies that he cursed, and the timing of when he did it. He intrinsically sought the balance between chaos and harmony. And he felt that things were too far in the direction of harmony in our world, and too much in chaos here. That is what I think is why he did the five score spell. But I think he did more than that.”

The woman looks at me, “And this relates to my son…how?”

“I think he was Equestrian at some point in the past, and Discord sent him here, when he died.”

Another voice pipes up, “I’ve been having dreams, of ponies, of Equestria.”

A hand is gently placed on the woman’s shoulder, she looks back at him. I step forward, “Samuel?”

He nods, his hairless head, and his skin looks like a melted plastic mask, he tries to smile, “Yes, that’s me.”

“I’m Moon Shadow, I am a dreamer, and I think you are Equestrian.”

“I heard some of what you were telling my mother.”

“May I scan you? Try to touch your mind?”

He nods and turns. He shuffles into the small but very neatly kept living room, “Any place you want me?”

“On the couch will be good, a bed would be better.”

We follow him, I look at Mindy and subtly gesture to his mother, Mindy gets the hint, keep her occupied. Sunset follows me into his bedroom, he sits on the bed, and then with a grunt, he lies down, I hop onto the bed next to him, “Okay, clear your mind, just think about your dreams, think about calm things, I will help you fall asleep.”

I light my horn, most of the time, I don’t need magic for dreaming, but this time, I need to help him fall asleep. In moments he’s breathing deeply, though his breathing is somewhat labored. I’m guessing from smoke inhalation or superheated air in the fire. I listen to him wheeze a bit, then I follow him into the dream.

“He’s feeding off the magic!”

“We just need to buy them a little time.”

The large earth stallion looks on as the centaur demon slowly walks towards the town.

Several of the guards have already run off.  They fled with the civilians.

“You can stay if you want…”  A smaller stallion says, turning.

“The princess is coming.   We just need to delay him long enough and get as many civilians out of here.”  The large stallion is firm in his choice. 

Fire rages out from between the demons horns, causing a house to explode.

Running over to a group of other ponies, the stallion organizes several others to try to retrieve survivors.  

Laughing, mis-matched eyes… Discord flits through the debris…

Using his powerful hind legs the stallion bucks several large rocks at the demon.

Swatting the rocks out of the air, the Centaur turns and launches another fire blast to the stallion. 

Running clear, he draws the demon’s fire… every shot aimed at him is one less that is aimed at the foals.  Every shot aimed at him, is more time for the princess to arrive.

*Laughter, shrieking.   “Fire, fire everywhere.  Let the world burn.” * 

A fire blast explodes in front of the stallion, sending him flying back into a building.  The entire structure falling on top of him.

Discord’s eyes again.   “I see you…”

My eyes snap open as the same time as Sam’s. I shudder, Tirek, his first invasion over a thousand years ago. Before the Royal Sisters sent him to Tartarus. He was uglier than in the cartoon, that is for certain, “How old are you?”

He shrugs, “thirty-two, I turned twenty seven shortly before the ponies started to appear.”

Just a couple of years before the five score curse. I frown, I can feel the equestrian magic within him. He was Equestrian. His magic is here. “Sunset, link with me, please.”

She looks unsure, but I can feel her open herself to a link. I draw her into the link with me, my horn shining brightly, I touch his forehead, causing him to stiffen. In moments I’m done, and he scratches his thighs, “What did you do?”

I smile, “I’ve started the change, you have Equestrian magic within you, not Earth magic. You were a pony, and something about that stayed on, I think it was from Discord. But either way, in three days’ time, you will be a pony.”

“Will I stay in pain?”

I shake my head, “I don’t think so, not at all. You will have a new life, without the pain you constantly feel.”

“What tribe will I be?”

I smile, “I think an Earth pony stallion.”

He leans back, smiling, “Good.”

I gather up Mindy and we thank Samuel’s mother profusely, and soon we are on our way back to Montana.

***Lightning Dust***

“Amazing.” I breathe.

Moon Shadow nods, "there are a lot of examples, Dust. A police officer, just after the initial changes, was responding to a call, and found a stallion and three foals, all being abused, he ended up in a gunfight, and was shot twice. But he saved the ponies. A Border Patrol agent saves two ponies as they are crossing the border from Mexico. This is a pattern, Dust. A coherent pattern that I think comes from Discord.”

“How is that possible, Moon?”

She shakes her head, “I don’t know, but everything points to that. Discord had a plan, he knew what ponies he was going to banish, and he found ways to actually protect them. I guess we could call them the Five Score defenders. Every single one of them went out of their way, and risked their own lives, to help the ponies. Did you know over two hundred humans went through the portal that first night and participated at the battle of the Gate?”

That gets a shake of my head, she continues, “I’ve done some checking around, in the last few days, our chariot flyers need a raise, I went all over. And twenty three of them gained cutie marks during their time there. But every one that I’ve scanned.” She slams a hoof onto the desk, “Every single one, shows Equestrian magic within them. Every one of them has either had odd dreams they remember from being in Equestria, or the occasional odd dream since then. And many of them found their diet changing, to be more in alignment with pony diets.”

I look at her seriously, “How many did you start the change on.”

She smiles, “Only the ones that ask for it. With the exception of Samuel,” She ducks her head, “I kind of got retroactive permission from him.” She wilts a bit under my glare, “But he was in a constant level of pain from his burns. You know we have our own burn center here in New Beginnings because unicorn magic has been exceptional at repairing the damage from burns. All the other burn centers in the US send patients to us for treatment, because they can walk out of the hospital in the same condition as they were before they were burned. He was burned before this was discovered, and there was nothing we could do at that point, except turn him into a pony.”

I look at her for a long time, “You really should have gotten his permission, Moon.”

She smiles, “I think he’ll be happy as a pony.”

I sigh, “I hope so.”

Moon Shadow gets out of her chair and heads to the door, “Dust?”

I look up at her, “Yes?”

“You need to spend more time with Irony.”

I look down, “When I can, Moon.”

She sighs and leaves my office.

It’s not too long before my landline phone rings, I snatch the receiver off the cradle and put it up to my ear, “Hello?”

“Dust, it’s your Aunt May.”

I feel a cold chill as she continues, “You need to get to Corpus, it’s your Father.”

> Chapter 73. In Memoriam
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The cold chills continue as my aunt does, “He was driving home. He had a stroke, lost control of the car.”

I feel my entire body tremble, “Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“He’s on life support, but I don’t think he has much time left.” She tells me the hospital and room number and I hang up. I hop off of my chair, and open the door to my office. 

I look out in the living room, then sigh and head upstairs, Helen is putting clothes away in the dresser, she turns to me with a smile, which slides off her face at the look on mine, “What is it?”

I feel dead inside, “It’s my dad.” I sit down and in seconds I have my wife’s arms around me. I shudder in her grip, “He raised me, he taught me to be the man I became. He instilled the work ethic I have.” I moan, I know the tears are going to come, but I’m too much in shock to cry just yet, “I let him down.” I stop, gasping, I’m starting to hyperventilate, breathing faster and faster. “I became a pony mare, I’m not the man he raised.” I shudder again, harder. Helen tightens her arms around me, letting me know that she’s close, “That man he raised, is long dead.” Okay, a few tears are leaking down my face, “I’m not his son anymore,” I moan, then I sob, “I’m his daughter, and I’m not even the same fucking species he is.” I can’t talk anymore right now, Helen guides my head onto her shoulder, letting me cry.

“Oh Dust, he understood about your change. Don’t say stupid stuff like that.” Helen says gently.

I pull away and shake my head, hard, “I don’t deserve him as a father. I’ve abandoned my humanity, I’ve abandoned what he made me into, in favor of this.” I touch my chest with a hoof. “I’m not the Mike he raised, Helen.”

She actually laughs gently, “Oh, Dust. You don’t talk to your parents enough. He most certainly did accept you as the pony you are. He’s told me himself exactly how proud of you he is. He was still a little confused about the change, and why you turned into the pony you did. But he accepts it. He’s proud of you, as the mare you are now.”

I shake my head again, “I’ll be back soon, I need to find Star Crossed.”

I quickly slip from her grip, and open the French doors to the deck. I ignore Helen calling to me as I take to the air. I know where Star Crossed and Sugarberry’s home is, and quickly I’m slamming to the ground. I knock on the door.

After a few moments, Star Crossed answers the door, he smiles, then he notices the look on my face.

“Star, I need your help.”

“Whatever I can do.”

I sit down as I explain what happened. He calls back to Sugarberry and closes the door behind him. I don’t wait for him to gallop, I put my legs around him, and yank him from the ground, his body freezes and I think his eyes are closed for the less than a minute flight. My family is emerging from the house, Sunset is in front.

“Dust, Helen told me what’s going on.”

I nod, “Call for a chariot, and I’ll get down there.” I spread my wings.

“Dust, if you take off, we’ll beat you there.” That gets me to stop, I look at Sunset, “Mindy will teleport some, and I’ll get the rest. We’ll all go, right now.”

I nod, and her horn lights. And we are on the roof of the hospital. She looks at me with a smile, “Didn’t want to teleport in blind, Dust.”

Another teleport, and I’m leading my family through the double doors into the hospital. A few minutes to get up the elevator and soon we are at the family waiting room. My mom’s sister is there, she comes up, and I rear up to give her a hug.

“Oh, Dust. It’s good to see you again.”

I shudder, and she adds, “Though the circumstances could be better.” I hug her tighter, “Your mom is in the room with him.”

Finally I’m back on all fours, “I brought Star Crossed, he is the best pony healer known. He’ll fix Dad right up.” I look at Star Crossed and he follows me from the room, soon we are walking quietly down the hallway, getting strange looks from the various staff. I have to smile a bit, ponies are common knowledge, but having one show up, much less an entire herd, is probably a bit shocking.

I step through the door, my mom is sitting next to the bed, holding my father’s hand. He’s got a respirator breathing for him, his other arm is in a cast, so is one of his legs, I gesture to Star Crossed and move over to my mom. I can see the heart rate monitor. I give my mom a hug.

She’s beyond words right now, we both watch as Star Crossed horn alights, and he touches it to my father’s forehead. He stands there a long time, and then, with a sigh, he sits back.

I look at the monitors, then at Star, nothing changed.

His ears fall, his tail wraps around his legs, “I’m sorry, Dust.”

I feel the tears start, “Star, he’s still alive, fix him.”

He sighs again, “It’s not that simple Dust. He had an aneurysm that burst. I could heal his broken bones, I could repair the bruising and his damaged liver and spleen from the wreck. I could fix the punctured lung. But he is gone, Dust. I’m so sorry.”

I shudder, “Star, he’s still alive. Please?”

He looks about ready to cry, “I could heal him, but he wouldn't be your father anymore. The functions of his brain that control heart rate are still working, barely. But all of his higher brain functions are gone. I’m sorry, Dust. Everything that made him special is gone.”

I shake my head vigorously, “No, Star, please, he’s got to be still in there, use your magic, fix what’s wrong. You have to,” I end in a whimper.

I didn’t know Irony had walked in, she sits next to me, “I’m so sorry, Dust,” To my shock, she nuzzles me. I reflexively put my wing over her, and bring her close. Then I bury my face in her chest. Sobs wrack my body as I moan. And soon I’m wailing, her chest fur is quickly soaked by my tears. She shifts and picks me up, cradling my body, patting my back. Which only causes me to cry harder.

I can hear Moon Shadow talking to my mom, she’s crying as hard as I am, though she is able to get some words out, “The doctors said pretty much the same thing. They said the only options are to keep him on life support and pray. But they said it would be an absolute miracle for him to come back. They said sometimes the brain will bounce back. He’s just back from surgery. They repaired the aneurysm, but they said the blood loss and starvation of oxygen to parts of his brain says this is unrecoverable.”

Finally Irony lets me down, I give her a grateful smile, and turn to my mother, “I’m so sorry, Mom.”

She looks confused, I continue, “I failed, I’m not Mike anymore, I’m Lightning Dust, a pony. I’m not the son you raised.”

To my surprise, my mother kneels down and hugs me, very tightly. She murmurs into my ear, “You were changed by circumstances beyond your control. You may be Lightning Dust now, but you are still the one I raised.”

I am only able to whisper, “I’m a pony, mom. Not Mike.”

She pulls back and looks at me seriously, “You are Lightning Dust, you are successful, you have a family that loves you. And you have wonderful children. That’s all that is important. You need to stop beating yourself up over that.”

A soft clearing of the throat garners our attention, a doctor is there, in pink scrubs and long white jacket, he looks at my mother, “Have you decided?”

My mother looks at Star Crossed, then at the Doctor, “He’s told me he would never want to stay this way. With machines keeping him alive.” She looks down, “He’s gone. He’s in a better place.”

The doctor looks down, “I understand.”

***

The next three days are an absolute whirlwind as everything is prepared for the funeral. Though I must say I object to my treatment, every time I try and help with anything, I’m shooed away. So the majority of my time is spent sitting and talking with my mother. Ah-pee and quite a few of our friends from New Beginnings show up. On the fourth day, my parent’s lawyer shows up. He ushers me into the master bedroom, the TV has a computer attached to it, and my father’s smiling face is on it. A video file seems to be queued up. 

I look at the lawyer in confusion, he smiles, “Your father recorded a message for some members of his family. I’ve already shown your mother her section. I’ve got to track down his brother’s for the final two sections. But since you are his daughter, he wanted to have a final message for you.”

My ears fall, I was referred to as a daughter, so this was recorded somewhat recently, I’m guessing. The lawyer steps from the room, and I press the button on the computer and sit quietly, watching.

My dad smiles, “Hello there, Lightning Dust.”

My jaw drops as he continues, “It’s been a couple of years since your change. I still find it amazing that I raised a son, and a daughter, and my daughter becomes my son, and my son becomes my daughter.” A brief cloud of grief passes over his face, “And then I lose my Maddie to that creature called Discord. But you said she fought bravely, and acted to save lives. I was always proud of my children, and hearing that made my heart swell.”

He looks into the camera, “You were Mike, but a long time ago, Discord attacked you, Lightning Dust. And sent your soul to this world, to be born as Mike. And then when his curse faded, you became Lightning Dust again. And since then, you’ve busted your ass to be the best mare you could be. I was proud of you as Mike, and I’m just as proud of the mare watching this video. You have a family, you have children of your own. And no matter if your children are pony, or human, you love them equally.” 

He smiles, “Just like I love you equally, it doesn’t matter what your form is, what matters is the heart and the soul, inside. And that soul is the same whether you were called Mike, or Lightning Dust. I love you, son, daughter, whatever you choose to call yourself. And no matter what, I’m proud of you.”

He smiles once again as the file pauses automatically.

I look at his face for a long time, then I move forward to the TV, I bring my wing forward, and kiss the tip of a feather, then place the feather on his cheek, “I love you, Dad.”

***

The pony town in Texas has some nice shopping, I’ve made a quick trip there for some appropriate clothing before the service. I step out into the sun after the service. I watch the family get slowly into the limousine, I’m not going to ride today. I look at the dress I purchased. I’m glad it has wing holes, I slowly unfurl my wings as the procession takes off. We have about thirty miles to travel, two limos and about a hundred cars will be following. Two of San Antonio’s finest take off on their motorcycles, followed by the hearse, and the limos. I take flight, staying just above and behind the hearse. As I fly, I watch around. A military member who served with honor has passed. We get to the first overpass. My emotions swell, an ambulance is stopped there, the paramedics are there, watching the procession with their hands over their hearts.

This continues, paramedics, fire trucks, police cars, almost every overpass has an emergency vehicle stopped, with the occupants paying their respects, to someone they had never met, and yet they showed this. Tears leak slowly from my eyes as I continue flying. After retiring, my dad stayed in the Civil Service, continuing to do what he did as an MP in the Army. Train dogs until he retired from Homeland Security in the mid 2010’s. He travelled all over the nation, making sure the bomb dogs that sniff your luggage when you fly are well trained, and the handlers do the job correctly. We have representatives of police departments all over the US in this procession. Who knew when my father died, it would be felt nationally. My herd is not the only ponies showing up as well. Ponies from all over have shown up, every one of them saying it is to support me. That has buoyed my spirits to an amazing amount. 

Finally we turn off the highway and turn onto the massive national cemetery at Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio. It will be my dad’s final resting place. An honor guard is there. Many of my dad’s service buddies are there. I greeted several of them. We remembered times when I was a kid. Beer busts that I used to make money, I’d stand at the keg, filling everyone’s beers, with a little cup next to me, that they all tucked a buck or two each time in when they got a refill. Some of the men he had trained, who had gone on to serve for years. Many faces that had never seen my pony face. 

My ears twitch as I see the hearse get close. The other vehicles of the procession stop, and all of my family make it to the grave. Finally, six uniformed Army members reach in and pull out the coffin. They then slow step it towards the grave. I take a moment to look around, Twilight Velvet is there, along with James and Blaze and the other members of her Ranger team. My dad was never Rangers, but seeing them honor him, I have to gulp back some more tears. They are in their dress uniforms, medals proudly standing out on their chests. My mom is sitting next to me, the rest of my family behind me. I remember my time as a Wonderbolt, a member of the Royal Guard. Some of the traditions of Equestria are appropriate now. As the coffin passes, I put a hoof to my heart as those in uniform salute.

The pastor starts to talk, and I let his words wash over me as I look sideways at my mother. She looks hollow, forty years with him, through thick and thin. And she is still here, as he is laid to rest. Soon, the pastor winds down, and the soldiers pull the flag from the coffin. With precision they fold the flag, and it is soon presented to my mother. Then the honor guard marches forward, the flag is lowered as the guns fire. Seven rifles, three shots each. I look at the coffin for a long time. I remember times with him as a pony, and more times with him as a boy, and as a young man. Him teaching me to work on cars, him teaching me to fish, to hunt. I remember a time where he told me if I didn’t apply myself in school, that I would end up digging ditches for a living. And many years later, just after I had bought Lightning Electric, I called him up and told him that I didn’t apply myself in school, and I was digging ditches for a living. Why didn’t he tell me that digging ditches made so much money? I find myself smiling as I remember his response, “Well, that wasn’t what I was talking about.”

My memories are interrupted by the bugler, he starts to play, and the words for the call come to my mind.

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the lake, from the hills, from the sky,
All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

Voices from all around, including Ballad and Sky Song, join and sing those words. I feel the magic of Equestria, and the magic of this world, The ponies are singing, and many human voices join in as well.

Fading light dims the sight
And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright
From afar, drawing near
Falls the night.

Thanks and praise for our days
Neath the sun, 'neath the stars', 'neath the sky'
As we go, this we know
God is nigh.

Sometimes, when I hear that call, I find myself believing.


> Chapter 74. Of Cold Beer and Hot Wings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We spend about a week with my mother, getting everything in order. Life insurance took care of the house, and car, and leaves her with some money, which I quietly increased the amount in her bank account by a significant margin. I’ll likely get an irate phone call when my mother realizes that quite a bit of funds have been added. But she’s always been the independent type. I’m standing outside, the Texas sun beating down on me, though the sea breeze makes Corpus somewhat livable. Behind me, the rest of my herd comes out, and I receive an unexpected nuzzle from Irony. I turn and look at her, she smiles.

“Thank you, Irony, love.”

I’m nuzzled again, “We both needed healing, thank you for never giving up.”

I feel tears start to form, I don’t think she knows how close I was to giving up, I nuzzle her back, “Love,” is all I say.

Sunset comes up, “You sure you want to fly back?”

I flex my wings, and leave one over Irony, we aren’t back to perfect, but talking the last few days, lots of tears, but lots of healing, has really helped. I’ve apologized profusely to her, and then was shocked to have her apologize back at me just as profusely. Our relationship is in much better shape, I look at Sunset Shimmer, “I need to get some time in the air, maybe I’ll remember how to fly.”

She giggles, “You hover around all the time, love.”

I grin, “Hovering isn’t flying, it isn’t speed. It’s just staying off the ground.”

I get a nuzzle from Sunset Shimmer. “Don’t take too long.”

I smile, and spread my wings, I gather my energy, “I won’t, love.” She hastily backs away, a pegasus doing hot launches can be painful, so I watch my energy as I take off.

I’m in the air, and above the sound barrier, I check my phone, I’ve had a special phone for a while now, at Velvet and Blaze’s insistence, my phone has a transponder and an app for filing flight plans. I usually just keep it below ten thousand feet and keep my speed subsonic, but today… not so much. I’ve filed a flight plan and my intended speed, so I’ll be heading north quickly. I’ve got a special Bluetooth that hooks in with the guard frequency and a throat mic so I can talk over the wind. A few minutes in the air and I’ve left the coast behind. Rising faster than any airliner, I’m quickly above forty thousand feet. I’m in the clear according to my flight plan.

As I get north of San Antonio, a voice comes over my com, “Attention Lightning Dust, on your port side.”

I look to my left, I’m cruising at about mach one and a half, apparently an airplane has come up behind me, a F-22 Raptor had detected my transponder and has intercepted me, I smile and wave at the pilot, and get a wave back.

Then the voice crackles over my headset, “Wanna play?”

I grin, and a hoof touches my throat mic, “Sure.”

“I want to tank quickly, follow me, and we’ll play.” The plane rolls over ninety degrees and turns, hard. I mimic the maneuver, and in a matter of minutes, we slow down near a KC-135 tanker, the pilot nuzzles the fighter close, and I watch as the boom connects and the plane refuels. Slow by my standards, but it’s still fascinating to watch. I get close to the tanker, and watch the boom operator through their little window. I have to smile at the human lying prone in the back of that airplane.

With a puff of fuel, the tanker disengages and the pilot gets the all clear, he turns to streak to the west. I follow, and soon I hear in my coms, “Okay, Dust. We are in restricted airspace for flight training. Let’s see what a speedster pegasus can do.”

I grin and streak forward, I know the top speed of the F-22 is around mach 2, but I’m not going to go that fast, because then they will suck down the fuel with the afterburners. I’ll keep it around his supercruise speed.

I do an aileron roll, and then pull up, heading for the stratosphere. The air keeps getting thinner as I rise, and I feel the lift falling off from my wings. Then I do something no pilot should do, I fall into a flat spin. Keeping my eyes down so I don’t lose my orientation, I fall from over seventy thousand feet. The desert of New Mexico is below me, I howl in delight as I use my centripetal force to catapult me in a random direction. Then I climb once again, and look back, while he didn’t follow me through the flat spin, he’s right underneath me during this climb, I think of how I look to him, and touch my throat mic, “Liking the view?”

He chuckles, “I’m all about the plot.” He pulls hard to starboard, and I go port and we streak away from each other, I know my face is red. Fighter pilots are nuts. He calls out, and we both pull hard one eighty’s and end up heading for each other. In only a few seconds we blow past each other, I swear I could have put out a hoof and clipped his tail. This guy has got some guts.

Soon we are flying side by side, both doing barrel rolls, keeping our distance as we spiral through the sky. I hear him howling over the coms, I’m shouting my joy as well. I needed a fun flight today.

After about an hour of running around the sky, me hiding in clouds, seeing if he can find me via radar. Most of the time unsuccessfully, he heads down. I follow as he ends up in the glide path for landing. I’m right on his side as his wheels make contact with the tarmac at Nellis AFB in Nevada. I follow as he taxis along and finally pulls into a parking space. A couple of non-commissions roll a ladder up to the aircraft.

The canopy lifts and the pilot clambers out and down the ladder, he comes over to me and pulls his helmet off, “That was fucking awesome!” He holds out a gloved hand and we high five.

“Hell yeah it was.” I grin. I finally pull my headset off and fold it up, hanging it around my neck, “You’ve got one heck of an aircraft there.”

He looks back at the aircraft and the specialists working over it, refueling it and getting it ready for the next flight. I get an arm over my withers, “Hey, some of the other pilots and I are planning on a beer bust this evening, wanna join?”

I crinkle my nose, “Beer?” The look on my face says it all, I don’t like beer.

He laughs, “It’ll be at a bar, you can get whatever drink you like.” He then stops and looks at me seriously, “You do drink, don’t you?”

I have to laugh, “Like a fish, when I’m in the mood for it.” I think about it for a moment, “And yeah.”

He smiles as we head away from the flight line. I dial my phone to let my family know I’m going to be a bit later than I thought.

***

I slam down the shot glass, “Gimme another.” I shout. The denizens of the Speed Zone Tavern are all shouting and laughing. I think many are happy to have a pegasus in their midst. Though the 520th speedster pegasi spent quite a bit of time here, I can see Fleetfoot and Fire Streak, along with High Winds’s pictures on the wall along with the other pilot pictures.

The bartender obediently fills my glass. I look around at the couple of dozen pilots. I’ve had at least five shots, and I know I can do quite a bit more. I flashed ahead of the pilots when we came in and tossed the bartender my credit card. I am paying for tonight. Because I’m going to get snookered. If I can’t make it home tonight, a cloud is a wonderful bed. And it won’t require much flying.

Beer is flowing like water, and the liquor bottles are being drained as well. I’ve started in on Vodka. Everyone always talks about Grey Goose, not this mare, I’m getting served from the distinctive blue bottle of Skyy vodka, my absolute favorite.

A good portion of the pilots of the 57th wing, 433rd weapons squadron out of Nellis, the Satan’s Angels are here, along with some of the crews. All in all, the entire bar is now fairly packed.

I look over at the pilot who I played with in the sky, “Firefly, get your ass over here, and take a shot with me!”

Lt. Thomas Edward Chapman smiles as he drains his Bud Light and sits at the bar stool next to me, “Okay, Dust.” He grabs the shot glass and tosses back the drink. I watch him intently, he doesn’t even grimace, though Skyy is very smooth, to the uninitiated, it can be a bit strong. He slams down his glass, and smiles at me.

A hand clasps onto his shoulder, “Happy birthday, Firefly.”

He turns and looks, “Thanks, Moto.” He says to the other pilot.

That gets me to look at him, “Your birthday?”

He picks up a new beer, looking at the liquid for a moment before taking a sip, “Yup, tomorrow, the big two five.”

I giggle, “Twenty-five, with your luck, you’ll be turning into a pony.”

He chuckles, “Oh, all you guys changed years ago. A lot of humans turn twenty five every day, no big deal.”

I shrug my wings, “That would be funny, you are pretty damned natural in the air.”

He puts an arm over my withers, “So are you.”

I smile at him, then take another shot, what am I up to, eight? Nine? Don’t care, “I’m a pegasus, we live for the air.”

He burps, “Yeah, but not all pegasi can do what you do.”

I set down my tenth shot, “Oh, I’m the fastest flier on this world. And only Rainbow Dash is faster in Equestria.” I think I’m slurring my words now. A pair of jello shots are placed in front of me, they disappear very quickly, I love the feel of them slithering down my throat.

Firefly touches my cheek, “Dust, how much are you going to drink?”

I smile, “I’m thinking of one small step away from alcohol poisoning.”

He looks me up and down, “What do you weigh? One twenty?”

I touch his cheek, “Awww, your sweet, I’m compact, not a waif, I’m two fifteen.”

He smiles, “You look small.”

I grin, “I’m not fat, if that’s what you’re saying.”

His hand finds my shoulders, which he starts massaging, “No, I would never call you fat, Lightning Dust.”

I hoof him in the side, getting a grunt, “You had better not, I’ll kick your ass, Firefly.”

He looks at me for a long time, then leans forward and kisses me.

After an eternity, I reach down and feel with my hoof, and finally break the kiss. I was responding to it. Strongly. I feel a tightness in my wings, and look back, I’m popping a pinion.

He taps my wing gently, “Does that mean what I think it means?”

I reach down again, feeling him through his pants, “I’m not the only one with a boner here.”

He smiles and kisses me again.

***

“Ugh, what happened?” I look around, I’m inside. Not on a cloud like I planned. I look around, the sheets are fairly high quality, on a nice queen sized bed. I turn my head, I can hear noises in the attached bathroom, the shower is running.

I’m still hazy, I finally am able to kick myself free from the sheets. I’m lying on my back, I’m actually fairly comfortable. Then I notice something, my nethers are sore. Like I’ve had a wild night of sex kind of sore. I reach down and feel, yes, very tender. Did I have sex? 

The shower stops, and I hear a male voice humming in the bathroom. It sounds like he’s humming the happy birthday song. What is going on here?

After a few minutes the door opens, “Shower’s free.”

I look at him for a long time, “Firefly, what happened last night?”

He crawls onto the bed and kisses my cheek, “As if you don’t remember.”

I put a hoof to his chest and push him back, “No, Firefly, I’m serious, what happened?”

He gets a concerned look on his face, “Dust, I kissed you, you groped me, and we were kissing as we left the bar. You flew me here, you didn’t want to wait for a taxi. You are pretty damned good flying while drunk. But it was less than a mile.”

I shake my head hard, “So you are telling me…”

“We had sex.” He pushes my hoof down and kisses me on the cheek again, “And you were wonderful.”

I burst into tears, “Oh, what have I done?” I’m able to sob.

He puts an arm around me, “You were awesome, as usual, Dust.”

I push him so hard he end up on the floor, “No, I cheated on my herd, on my family!”

He pokes his head up, “You’re married?”

I groan, “Yeah, I was married as a human, and I’m still married to her, and I’ve got others in my herd.”

He looks confused again, “You have several in your herd, I heard the ponies are polygamous, so what’s the problem?”

“The problem is I wasn’t having sex with a member of my herd, but someone outside of my herd, I cheated!” I snarl.

I flip out of the bed, starting to pace, “Oh, what am I going to do, what can I do.”

Silence from the human, I look at him, kneeling next to the bed, nude. Then I notice something, and step forward, “Serenity, hey, Serenity!”

I tap him on the shoulder, he blinks a few times then looks at me, “Whoa, that was odd.”

I frown, “Did you just have an odd waking dream, involving Discord?”

He nods, shuddering.

“Five Score Divided by Four?”

Again, he nods, this time the shudder is longer and deeper, he turns and looks at me, “How did you know?”

I put a hoof on his thigh, and look at him, “Because the same thing happened to me, a bit over five years ago.”

He looks down, a brand new cutie mark has appeared, three raindrops. He groans, “Oh shit.”

I look at him, “Is it really so bad, Serenity?”

He furrows his brow, “My call sign is Firefly, not Serenity.”

I shake my head, “Oh yeah.”

I whirl away, “Well, you can talk to your bosses, I’ve got to get home. I have a confession to make.”

He steps forward and puts a hand on my withers, I turn back, and the fact he is nude is very apparent to me, I look up, “What?”

He sighs, tears in his eyes, “For what it’s worth, I didn’t know, I’m sorry.”

I walk on, and wait at the door, it’s a damned traditional doorknob, he notices my predicament and opens the door for me, “Thanks,” I say, and quietly, “I’m sorry too.”

I trot out the door, and head downstairs, in moments I’m pushing my way out the door to the apartment building, and I take to the air, what am I going to do?

***

I finally land in front of my home, I look at the enormous house. Another addition is being built, and new brickwork is being installed on the face of it. Workponies are all over the place. My lawn has been torn up, but new sod will be delivered in the next few days. I look around, my home is becoming something different. I don’t know what to think about it. I lived for over a year with two young kids and my wife in a house that was 467 square feet, and now I’ve got over five thousand square feet of home now. Do I really need all of this? I sigh, that is a question for another day.

I push my way into the house, Sunset is the first to see me, she comes up, then sees the look on my face, “Dust, what’s wrong?”

I wipe my eyes, “I need to talk to everypony.” I say quietly.

She turns away and calls out, looking back at me several times as Helen shows up, Moon Shadow quickly by her side. Mindy pops up in a teleport. Irony strides in, her fur sooty from working in the forge. The stallions show up too, Star and Alan, Ray is here too, showing a bit with her pregnancy.

I sit down, my tail wrapping around my hooves, I look down, “I’m sorry everyone, I’ve failed you.”

Sunset steps forward, “What happened, Dust?”

I pull inward a bit, “I don’t deserve to be lead mare, I am such a horrible pony.”

Golden forehooves wrap around me, along with a pair of magenta hooves, I’m hugged by both ponies as I look at the rest, “I cheated on you.”

Both sets of hooves around me go slack, “What?” Irony says.

I look down, I slowly talk about going to the bar, how much I drank. I start to sob, I talk about waking up, what I said when I found out.

“I fucked him, apparently all night long. And from what he said, I enjoyed it. I betrayed your trust, I betrayed all of you.”

Mindy tightens her hug around me, putting her face against my cheek, “Oh, Dustie. You weren’t yourself. You didn’t mean it.”

Sunset murmurs in my other ear, “Were you intending that when you went into the bar?”

I sigh, and think for a long time, then I turn and look at Sunset, “I vaguely thought it might be a possibility. But at that point, I didn’t care. And by the time I came to myself, it was far too late.”

Sunset’s voice changes a bit, “You knew he was attracted to you?”

I shrug my wings, “I thought he was, but I wasn’t sure. I shouldn’t have had so much that I lost all control of myself.” I feel tears leaking down my cheeks again. 

Mindy chimes in, “So, what about him?”

I shake my head, “I don’t know, he got a cutie mark this morning…”

My cheeks are grabbed by Sunset Shimmer, “He got a cutie mark?”

I nod, “Three raindrops.”

Mindy moves a bit away and looks at me severely, “Okay, Dustie, let me get this straight, you fucked him all night long, then you freak out on him in the morning. And on top of that, you find out he’s going to turn into a pony. What if he turns into a mare? One last use of the equipment before it goes bye-bye? Are you kidding me?”

I close my eyes, and shake my head.

“Please tell me you left him some way to contact us, he’s becoming a pony for Celestia’s sake.”

Once again, I shake my head.

I open my eyes to see Mindy rolling hers, “So, his introduction to ponies is sleeping with you, then you dump him. What if he turns into an eligible stallion, and you’ve scared him off of mares? We could have a new colt cuddler because of you.”

Sunset moves over to Mindy and hip checks her, “Not helping Mindy.”

“What?”

Sunset turns to me, “Dust, while I will say you were very wrong to do what you did. I also know how broken up you are. You weren’t trying to hurt us, you were seeking comfort.” She looks back at the rest of the herd, “And while I sincerely wish you had found another way to do that. I can’t fault you too bad for it. You didn’t keep up the relationship, you didn’t try to hide it from us, and you told us first thing.” She moves forward and hugs me again, “I can forgive you. No, I do forgive you.” 

I turn back and look at the rest of the herd. I see more than a few with tears in their eyes, but they all seem to echo what Sunset just said. Except for one, I watch Irony as she strides from the house, on two hooves, her back straight.

Damn, I’ve fucked up with her again.

> Chapter 75. Actions and Consequences 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey, anypony have any idea where Irony is?” I ask. Sunset looks at me, then looks away, so does Moon Shadow. I cock my head to the side, “Okay, spill.”

Moon Shadow looks down, “She asked us not to say.”

I look at Moon Shadow a long time, “Fine.” I put a hoof to my earring, and then frown, “She took it out?”

Sunset nods, “She didn’t want you following her.”

I growl and snort, “Where is Irony?”

Moon Shadow stiffens, “Dust, are you serious?”

I wilt, and slowly shake my head.

Sunset comes over and nuzzles me, “Irony doesn’t want to be disturbed, Dust. Respect that.”

I look at her, my ears falling, “Sunset, I’ve been back here three days, Irony left right after I confessed to you all, she took her car. She’s still gone, I’m getting worried.”

Moon Shadow narrows her eyes, “You don’t think Irony can take care of herself?”

I shake my head, “That’s not what I’m saying, and you know it.”

Moon Shadow giggles and nuzzles me, “All I have to say, love, trust her.”

I sigh and head back upstairs. I need a nap.

***

The sun is setting, what woke me up? I hear the sound of a car door slamming, the car coming up to the house must have woken me. I heave myself off the bed and open my door. I hear the front door to the house open. 

“Dust.” Comes a growl. I sigh, I know that growl, and I’ve heard it way too much for my taste the last few months. 

“I’m here.” I say quietly. I hop over the rail and flutter to the living room floor. I turn and look at Irony, my body wilting.

“I have someone for you to meet, Dust.” She steps aside. Revealing a pegasus stallion. I don’t know him.

The stallion steps forward, his ears splay back, and his tail tucks under his rear, “Dust.”

I cock my head to the side, taking in his pink fur and his dark mane. He turns a little bit, and I can see his cutie mark, three raindrops, “Serenity?”

He nods, “I was a weather pegasus in Ponyville, I helped with the tornado.”

Irony nods, “One of the best rain specialists in Equestria, actually. I remember him.”

My wings are tucked tightly at my sides, my tail tight against my rump, all I can say is, “I’m sorry.”

“Is that all you can say, Dust?” Irony says softly. I look at her, what else am I supposed to say?

Irony sighs and sits down on her haunches, “It’s about time you learn something important, Dust.” She stops and looks at Serenity and back at me, “Being the fastest flier on Earth doesn’t mean you can run away from all your problems.”

“I didn’t run away…” I start.

Irony slams a hoof on the floor, “You did, Dust. You ran away from Serenity when he needed a pony’s help. Yes, his job with the Air Force was supportive. But he needed the support of fellow ponies. You were a Wonderbolt, Dust. A Wonderbolt stands up and admits when they are wrong, they don’t run away.”

Her words are certainly having an effect on me, I’m backing away slowly, “What would Spitfire say? What would Rainbow Dash say?” She very nearly whispers.

I feel tears leaking down my cheeks, “Irony, I’m sorry.”

She looks at me, “I know you are, Dust. And intellectually, I know why you did it. But you were still wrong. You still hurt me. You hurt us all, some of the others in our herd may have been quick to forgive you. But I can’t forgive, not until I know you won’t do something like that again.”

I can’t respond, all I can do is sob, Irony continues, “I know your father died. From the time I met him, and spent some time with him, I know he was a wonderful man. And you are in pain, and acting out. But the thing is, Dust. We are your support, we are your family. You should have come to us. We would have supported you, we would have helped.”

She shifts and puts a hand on Serenity’s withers, “You hurt us, but your rash decision to run away hurt him too. You did him wrong, Dust.”

I don’t know where she’s going with this, I take a few moments to grab onto my emotions, finally I’m able to talk, “Are you saying I should have asked him to join the herd?”

Irony rolls her eyes, “Thinking with your nethers, Dust?”

I shake my head, “No, I really don’t know what you mean.”

She sighs, “He needed to be with ponies Dust. For his change. Henry, James, Jay, Sanchez, they all were with us during their changes. They were supported the best way possible. Serenity didn’t go through the terror we went through when we changed, thank Celestia for that. But he needed our support. You should have brought him back to New Beginnings. As Night Glider said, thousands, maybe tens of thousands of ponies are going to show up. He was one of them. We need to make their transition easier. It is our responsibility.”

I sigh, and turn to Serenity, how am I going to put this? I move close to him, “I’m sorry, Serenity, I acted rashly and I shouldn’t have just run away.”

Serenity looks at me, then at Irony, then back at me, “I knew when we left the bar it would likely be a one night stand. But thank you, Dust. It means a lot to me.” He comes up and gives me a hug, whispering in my ear, “But you were awesome that night, any time you want a repeat, let me know, I’ll play with you, and with Irony too.” He pulls back and turns to Irony. Leaving me blushing and stammering. “I remember some of my life in Equestria. I’ve put in the paperwork. They allow early retirement for ponies that want to leave because they turned into ponies. The stop-loss orders are no longer in effect since we have Rim of the Sky, and the other pony settlements. I’ll go to get a job with the weather bureau here.” He gives Irony a hug too, and apparently he whispers in her ear. Curiously, she blushes as well, I find myself watching his tail as he walks from the house.

***

“Dustie!” I hear the voice far below me, causing my ears to twitch. I’m enjoying a nice rest on a cloud. Ugh. 

I roll over and peek my head over the edge, “What is it Mindy?”

“Our flight to the UK will be leaving in six hours, and we have a four hour drive to the airport, we need to get going. We are all packed and ready.”

I sigh, “Go ahead, it’s less than a half hour flight for me.”

Mindy’s horn lights and she teleports onto the cloud, settling on the fluff, “Dustie, you need to come with us. One of the busses you bought is loaded up and ready to go. Helen has your new passport and remember, the entire family is going. Even Dylan and Gold Dust’s family is going to join us. Come on Dustie, we need to get going.” The magenta mare then surprises me by bouncing up and giving me a hug, which I gladly return. Mindy hugs are awesome!

She pulls away, “Dustie, I know you don’t like being stuck in a metal tube flying along impossibly slowly for your taste. But please?” Her ears drop and she looks sorrowfully at me, “Be there with your family?”

I have to giggle, it’s hard to deny Mindy. I finally nod, and her horn lights again, and we are next to the bus. Irony is putting a plastic storage container in and shutting the belly door. I can see how stuffed the storage compartment is, I look around, “Where’s Rarity?”

Irony looks at me oddly, “What?”

I giggle again, “With that much luggage, I thought Rarity and Sweetie Belle were joining us.”

Irony gently grabs my ear, rubbing it gently, she shifts back to four hooves and giggles herself, “Oh, we have a huge family to transport. And since we are going to a pony colony, I’ve got your Wonderbolt uniform, as well as your EUP Uniform packed, and I didn’t forget your armor as well.”

I raise my eyebrows, “Armor?”

She nods, “Mine, yours, and Moon Shadow’s. We are going to be talking to the EUP guards there, so we need our uniforms, and I guarantee you they will want demonstrations. They always do.

I chuckle, EUP is just like any military, I’ve learned how that is talking to Velvet and some of the US Military member ponies. I look around, “Everyone here?”

She nods, “Dylan, Gold Dust and Strawberry Sunrise have already left, it’s just us in the bus. But we have enough, with the foals, and everypony.”

I turn to have Mischief attack me, landing on my back and grabbing my mane, “Mommy!” She screams. I pretend to buck around a bit, my foal screeching her joy. I finally get my wing around to swipe her off of me, and I grab her in my foreleg for a hug. Then I put her back on my back and trot up the stairs into the bus. In a matter of moments, Hannah plops down next to me as the bus door closes, and the driver pulls away from the house. I look out the window for a moment, Mischief is standing on the seat, her hooves on the window sill, looking out as we get on the highway heading north. Soon we will be in Bismarck, to catch our plane to London. Then the drive to the Shetland Isles. It’s going to be a long time travelling. We could have done it with chariots, but we have too much luggage, and it really isn’t worth it for this long a trip. Flying commercial was fine until I saw the price for seventeen first class tickets to London. Three hundred grand, round trip. Hell no! Helen insisted, so we just rented a Gulfstream G650ER. A lot cheaper, about a third of the commercial price.

The road trip goes smoothly, then I’m standing on the tarmac, watching our luggage being loaded aboard the plane. I look at the aluminum tube I’m going to spend the next eight hours, or so, in. I shudder, then a hand lands on my withers, “It’s okay, Dust. Or would you like a tranquilizer?”

I look up at Helen, “I can handle the flight.” I resist the urge to arch my back and spit at the airplane though. 

The pilot comes up, extending a hand, which I put out my hoof for, “I’m Captain Archer, I’ll be flying your family today.”

I feel my wings, my pegasus weather sense is going nuts. I know pegasi all over the nation have tamed the weather, but there is still the outside chance of something bad happening, “We should get going, otherwise the front coming in from the west is going to get things a little choppy.”

He looks at me, apparently at a loss, a younger man, apparently his copilot claps a hand on his shoulder, “She’s a pegasus, John. She can tell the weather.” The pilot looks sharply at the copilot, then at me, then he nods.

I turn to the family, “Okay, everypony aboard.”

***

I was actually able to sleep, Captain Archer was an absolute professional behind the yoke of this very nice airplane. He was ex-US air force, so his touch on the plane was gentle. Not like a typical Navy pilot, landing with authority as though the runway was going to get away from him. The rear wheels of the plane kiss the ground at London’s Heathrow airport. Soon we all pile out, time for the entry rigmarole. I present my passport to the clerk, who blinks a few times, looking at the mass of ponydom coming to visit. 

He looks at the passport, which has my smiling face on it, along with my cutie mark. He looks at me, then back at the small booklet in his hand. Mine just has a few Canadian stamps from my occasional visits to the land up north for shopping trips. 

“Purpose of your trip?”

I think for a moment, “Business.”

“How long to do you plan to stay?”

“Two weeks, I think.”

“Anything to declare?”

I suppress a giggle, and shake my head. My passport is stamped and I move on. Before too long, we are in a puddle jumper, then into a rental bus over to a ferry, and then a short drive and we are pulling into an apparently prosperous town. Though the pedestrians are all I need to see that we are here. The van finally stops and Irony opens the door, relaxing back onto four hooves. It’s raining. Why is it raining? Don’t the pegasi keep the weather here nice?

I walk through the gentle downpour, my family following behind. Quickly, the rain stops falling on me, I look back at Sunset, her horn is glowing. I smile gratefully, I don’t mind the rain, but I’d rather not be sopping wet. We eventually get to a nice manor house, facing the sea.

Helen knocks on the door, and we all wait, and then the door slams open, and a small magenta shape is there. I get a glimpse of pink hair before two big blue eyes are right in my face.

“Ohmygosh, it’s Lightning Dust! Is it true you slept with Rainbow Dash? I totally shipped you with Rainbow Dash and Spitfire! I heard you were kicked out of the Wonderbolt Academy for sleeping with Spitfire! I can’t believe you’re here!” 

I sit down, looking at the small… Dragon, I think, “Do I know you?”

The dragon looks around, “Oh, I don’t know. I’m Mina.”

I think for a moment, that name doesn’t come to mind. I shake my head slightly and smile, “Sorry.” I offer a hoof.

Only to nearly get it shaken off, with her grasping it in both of her claws, “So, are you going to answer my question? I mean, you used a tornado for cloud busting, nothing wrong with that, those silly filly’s in the balloon shouldn’t have been in restricted airspace near the Academy anyway.”

I blink a few times, remembering, then I grin, “Oh, that was the reason I got canned. Putting civilian lives at risk was the official reason.”

She looks down, a little sad, then I move over and whisper in her ear, “I didn’t sleep with Spitfire until after I became a Wonderbolt, right before the second Changeling war.” She giggles. I sit down and introduce my herd, she bounces between everypony, shaking hands, hooves, whatever. She seems to be a boundless source of energy.

I finally hear a soft laugh from farther in the house, “I see you’ve met Mina.” 

I turn and see the white unicorn, she smiles and comes forward. I bow formally, “My Lady.”

Magic brings me out of the bow, “We’ll have none of that, Lightning Dust. You are an honored guest, you and your entire herd. You are here at our request, right?” I nod, “Some of the local members of our EUP corps have asked for some training assistance, and we are responding to your inquiries regarding deer showing up in our corner of the world.” I nod again, getting a brilliant smile from the white mare.

I look back at my family, and back to the white unicorn, “We have been traveling for a good while, we have rooms booked at the inn in town. Are you up for a tour tomorrow?”

She smiles, “Of course, Lightning Dust. Always glad to have visitors.”

***

I awaken to big blue eyes right in front of my face, I blink a few times, then a voice penetrates, “Wakey wakey.”

I put out a hoof, “There is such a thing as personal space, Mina.”

She giggles, “Sure, when all you ponies are in one big pile, personal space, hah.”

I extract myself from Sunset Shimmer and roll out of bed, the window is showing the beginnnings of the sun peeking over the horizon, I glance at the clock, “Seriously? Four thirty in the morning?”

The dragon shrugs her shoulders, “I couldn’t sleep, and I couldn’t wait to get to know you.”

I have to sigh at that, I look back at my herd, and push the duvet back over Sunset, who snuggles into it and sighs, getting a smile from me. I turn back to the dragon and let her lead me out the door of the suite. Soon we are walking along the streets, I see the early risers moving about, getting set up for the day.

I look around, “Food.” I need coffee too. Jet lag sucks.

I’m led to a small restaurant that seems to be open all night, so the few ponies working seem happy to have customers this early. I order an omelet and a large cup of coffee, and sit down, “So, what do you want to know?”

While my food is being prepared, I tell the small dragon about my time in the Wonderbolts, my role in the Second Changeling war, and some other fun tidbits. Mina, for her part, raptly watches me as I talk. Eventually, after three cups of coffee and a very good omelet, I finally wind down.

I have to notice though, during the entire meal, pegasi would come in, grab hot bags full of food, and rush off. I ask Mina about it.

"Oh, we provide hot food delivery to several of the rigs out there. They love getting food from here, and the pegasi are making a mint. Pizza is pretty popular out there."

I look at another pegasus fluttering in, and trotting over to the counter. These ponies are keeping busy. But that's typical of us ponies, we have to keep active.

The sun is finally fully up, so we head to the inn, and find the family in the process of waking up. Mina and I are loaded down with coffee and tea for the family to wake up to. And bagels, and croissants, and all manner of breakfast foods. I take a few moments to don my EUP dress uniform. So does Irony. Soon, we are heading in the direction of the EUP station. I’ve got my ever present Mischief on my back. After Mina spent a good ten minutes playing with her, and telling me what a beautiful foal I’ve got. Of course she also said the same for Mindy’s, Irony’s, and Moon Shadow’s foals as well. But it helps that Mischief is that adorable.

“Good morning Dust.” My internal musing is interrupted by our host.

I turn and bow once again, “My Lady.”

Once again magic grasps me gently and forces me to look at her in the face, she looks sternly at me, “Now Dust. You are a guest, I’m not an alicorn like the Princesses. You needn’t…” She trails off at the grin on my face, “Oh, you scamp.” Which gets me a whap from a wing from Star and a faint laugh from the white unicorn.

She turns and walks with my family, “This is our town, we’ve decided to call it New Poniesburge, the population is around twenty five hundred Equestrian ponies, as well as some other refugees from Equestria.” 

I frown, “Back home, a good portion of our ponies work in weather management or crop growth. That doesn’t sound like enough ponies to control the weather.”

She chuckles, “Oh, we control the weather, locally. Though the natural weather here is for an average of almost two hundred fifty days of rain a year. The environment around here needs that kind of moisture, so we usually just break up the larger storms, and don’t allow too much severe weather to hit. About a third of our population is pegasi, but a full thirty-five percent of our population is foals. So, we are a growing community, but we can’t have the effect on the area around us until we have a much larger population.”

I look around, ponies are walking the streets, they seem to be pretty happy, though I spy a hippogriff and a couple of griffons as we walk, “All of you from the UK?”

She shakes her head, “Oh, no. A lot of ponies from The Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and such have made it here.”

I nod. I watch a trio of pegasi take off, heading towards the ocean with a purpose. I look at our host, “A problem?”

She looks at them, then at me, “Oh, none at all. You see, local companies are saving millions of dollars by hiring pegasi. There are off shore wind turbines as well as oil drilling rigs out in the middle of the ocean. It’s a lot cheaper to have a pegasus check out a malfunctioning wind turbine than to either have it break itself apart in high winds, or send a helicopter or a boat to check them, for a problem that can easily be fixed.” She giggles, “And having pegasi delivered hot fresh pizza’s has been pretty good. Pegasi handle a good portion of the deliveries out here.”

I think for a moment, quite a bit of oil drilling in the Gulf, perhaps the New Pony Express can do those kind of deliveries as well. We keep walking, and chatting, I look at a couple of local equines. They aren't Equestrian, they are Earth ponies, as in the Shetland pony variety. Three of them are walking towards our group. I nod politely, and one of them whinnies in Eponese, "Good Morning." I stop dead in my tracks. Our host laughs, "And I see you know about our locals now. About fifty of the local Shetland ponies have joined us. Most of them can understand our language, and five or ten of them can actually speak like we can."

I shake my head, then look back at my daughter, who is on one knee, feeding one a carrot and scratching the pony behind the ear, then I look at our host, "Equestrian magic?"

She nods, "And earth magic too. We affect everything around us. Just by our nature." She walks on, continuing on, “We do have an orchard up and running now. With earth pony work, the trees matured in less than a year, and we’ve got bountiful crops of apples, along with some other farming for pony friendly food. We are quite well set up up here, Lightning Dust.”

I smile, “I’m glad to hear that. I know you ponies sent some pegasi for weather training, as well as some unicorns and earth ponies for other training, as well as finding out how we are doing things on our side of the pond. What about your guard detachment?”

“Oh, you’ll get to meet them soon. Less than a hundred guards here. But we don’t really need more.”

I think for a moment, “I hope you are right. We’ve had some human problems back at home.”

She chuckles, “Oh, we very rarely get any bronies here. We aren’t widely talked about. Most UK bronies actually head to Florida for your colony there. Don’t even know we exist, something we like.”

I sigh, “I don’t mean bronies.” I spend a few minutes telling her about the Spectrum mercenaries, as well as some other problems we’ve had.

She puts a hoof to her heart, “Oh dear, we haven’t had anything like that. Though some of our magic users have created some of the same wards that you have to alert you to potential problems.”

We finally get to the small guard outpost at the eastern edge of town. The door opens, and I find myself having to bow, “My Prince.”

The white unicorn stallion steps forward, “Welcome to our home, Lightning Dust.”

I blink a few times, when I’ve had to deal with Prince Blueblood back in Equestria, he barely acknowledged my, or any Wonderbolt’s existence.

He breaks into an easy smile, “I’m not the same as you remember me.” He smiles at our host and gestures for us to enter, as I pass him, I hear him murmur, “My life because of the five score curse has helped me not be an entitled brat.” I look at him seriously as I get inside, getting a happy smile from him.

The door is opened out to the training area, as the door is opened, I hear calls for attention. I step out and look at the sixty ponies standing at attention. I’m a major by the rank on my shoulders.  I stand in front of the group, looking at all of them. 

I step forward, “At ease.” They all relax a bit. “Good morning, as you all know, I’m Lightning Dust, and I was asked to come over here and work with you all when it comes to training. I have with another member of the EUP. Princess Twilight Sparkle’s personal bodyguard. Appointed so after the second changeling war. That would be Irony Sheildbreaker.”

Irony steps forward. I continue, “I’m quite certain you have been trained pretty well. But we will see how you have adapted to living in this world. This is not a world of swords, but of guns. I am trained in the use of wingblades, as are all Wonderbolts. But I also can use some of the pony designed firearms we have been developing in New Beginnings and other places.” I look over at our host, “I’m sure you will do New Poniesburge proud.”

I’m not much for speeches, I look at all the faces, “Fall out, we’ll get some training done.”

Shortly I’ve exchanged my uniform for my armor. And I’ve got a griffin standing in front of me, her wings also carrying blades. Both of our blades are sheathed, for safety.

“An honor to spar with you.” The griffon says, her faintly accented voice rather melodious.

I glance over at some of the earth ponies, Irony is sparring with them. I grin, this is going to be fun.

The other griffon in the guards here strides forward, she puts her wing between us. I tense, my blades ready.

“Fight.”

I’m not waiting for her to come to me, I flash forward, she barely gets her blade out to stop it. She swipes with the other, but I’m already twenty feet in the air. With a growl she takes off. Then tumbles to the ground as a swipe from my sheathed blade gets her in the shoulder joint.

I land on my hooves, “Had this not been practice, you would have lost your wing. Always watch out for speedsters.” I grin, “Again?”

She growls and brings her blades to a ready position again. The other griffon calls out, and I wait patiently as she rushes towards me, I flash to the side, but she anticipated me this time. Her blade is coming at me, I get one wing out to block and at the same time, swipe out with my other. She jumps over the swipe and takes to the air. I grin and follow her up. I think I’ve upset her, getting her so easily the first time. She uses her greater strength to bat at me several times, though I see everything coming and block. 

Then she surprises me, her claws flash out and she grabs me by the armor. She brings her armored helm right at my face. Impacting right above my eyes, I’m dazed, and my descent is far less graceful than my ascent. I blink blood away, shaking my head.

She’s hovering just above the ground, “Remember, griffons have claws.”

I grin and leap at her. We tangle, moving too fast for most to understand what is going on. Finally I get her on the side of the head with a blade, then I catch her and bring her to the ground. She’s going to feel that one when she wakes up.

I set her down gently and look at the other griffin. She’s grinning too.

“Wanna spar?” I ask.

She shakes her head, “Wingblades are old school for me. I may not be fast, but few ponies could lug a 25mm cannon into the air with them. You are insanely fast, Lightning Dust.”

I puff my chest out, “They don’t call me Lightning for nothing.”

She snorts, “I’m Greta, that griffon you just pummeled is Natalya.”

I hold out a hoof and get it shaken gently, “Well, anytime you gals want to spar, let me know.”

She smiles, but it slides off her face as the PA system blares out, “Call out, Group 3 we have an emergency. Fishing boat, without power, four crew on board, she clipped the rocks.  She's taking on water and her engine compartment’s flooded. Pumps are a no go.  60.667272, -1.310639"

Four pegasi rush over to a storage locker. They pick up a couple of packs and take off, full power. I watch them leave. Blueblood comes over to me, “Life Boat Rescue Squadron, they patrol and perform S&R.”

“Oh.” I look at him, “They need any help?”

He smiles and shakes his head, “Oh, no, they have it well in hoof. Those packs are personal life boats, they weigh about four pounds, but can save lives. We keep a stock of them for such occasions.” He turns and gestures, and I follow. He continues, “I think you’ve done enough for now, Lightning Dust.”

I swipe a hoof over my face, “I’m fine. It’s a good workout.”

“I want a unicorn healer to fix you up, Lightning Dust.”

“It’s just a scratch.”

He chuckles, “Oh, I insist.” A unicorn trots up, her cutie mark a red cross. Her horn lights and a cool chill washes over me.

As she moves away I glance at Blueblood, “The Prince Blueblood I remember from Canterlot wouldn’t care whether or not a mare was injured, especially an EUP member. We were just living furniture as he was concerned.”

He chuckles, “So much of my life, I was like that. It took me growing up as a woman to find out how wrong I was.”

My eyebrows raise, “Well, if it’s any consolation, I grew up a man.”

He chuckles, “Well, you are quite a bit different from the Lightning Dust I knew. She was arrogant, and almost pompous enough to be royalty herself. Always sure of herself, no matter what.”

I sigh, “I’ve grown up a lot since then.” I look at my foals playing with some of the local foals. Hannah is even rolling around with them. She’s sixteen now, but she still plays with them like she’s a child like them.

Blueblood notices me looking, “One of them yours?”

I nod, “Hannah is there, and so is Mischief.”

“Human and pony?”

I nod, “Hannah was mine before the change, Mischief after. I love them both.”

I’m actually nuzzled buy the white stallion, “Being a mother is a wonderful thing. And it changes you.”

I nod, then look at the Prince, “You have changed from then. For the better, I think.”

He chuckles, “I think a lot of us have changed a lot from how we were before.”

***

A few hours later, we are walking sedately east from the shore. And soon we come to a large sign, “Bright Apple Acres” I have to smile at the name. Soon we are at the farmhouse, and three ponies walk out to greet us. The stallion is Big Mac size, he trots over and offers a hoof, “Welcome to the Acres, Lightning Dust. I’m Bushel.” He points to the mare, “That’s Apple Bumpkin, and there,” He points to the filly, “Is our little Apple Crumble.”

I must say, I enjoy at times having ponies recognize me, but this is getting insane, every pony knows my name here, I smile, then I look at Apple Crumble, she’s a bit old to have been born on Earth. She’s probably twelve now, she bounces up, “Hi there, Lightning Dust. I can’t believe a Wonderbolt is coming to visit our little orchard.”

I smile, “Thanks.”

Before I can say another word, the filly is continuing, “We’ve gotten the trees to grow, and we have enough Equestrian magic here, we even have zap apple trees, we actually just finished harvesting them.”

I look at the two adults, “Seriously?”

Bumpkin smiles, “Oh yes. It takes an Apple, trained by Granny Smith herself to grow them. We have a dozen of the trees growing. Though with the seeds from this batch, we’ll be trying to double that, or more. Our first crop of zap apples a year ago sold out in less than ten minutes. We’ll be making the jam over the next couple of days. Though we have a few jars left from last year’s crop that we saved for personal use.”

I find myself drooling a bit, I love zap apple jam. Apple Crumble seems to notice, she giggles, “I think I can arrange for you to have some jam with us. In fact, we were about to eat supper, you and your herd are welcome to join us.”

She doesn’t have to ask me twice.

***

We spend a wonderful two weeks in New Poniesburge. Two deer did show up. They are happy where they are right now, but I promise them we will make sure they make it to the portal the next time it opens. Prince Blueblood and the rest of the ponies will ensure their safety.

And as we are loading up, the pilot comes over to me, “Back to Bismarck?”

I shake my head, “No, we need to go to visit the pony colony in Florida.”

“Ahhh, I’ll land you in Orlando.” He walks off to file his flight plan.

> Chapter 76. The Gathering Storm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once again, the plane kisses the pavement, this time at Orlando International Airport. Helen writes out the check for the service and we take off. Heading south on the Florida Turnpike until we turn at yeehaw junction, then we head west for a while. Finally we turn to a ferry landing. The van trundles onto the small ferry. And soon we are following the channels.  I find myself looking up out the windows of the van. I can see pegasi moving clouds around. Soon the small ferry noses up to a dock, and the front is flipped down. Our van drives slowly down the concrete dock and to a small parking area. As we park, Moon Shadow hops from the driver’s seat and her magic opens all the doors. 

We pile out, too long confined, Star and I immediately take to the air. But we just keep off the ground. Irony shakes her head at the two pegasi of the family, a small grin on her face, I flash by her, planting a small kiss on her cheek. 

“Welcome to Joie de Vivre, Lightning Dust.” A stallion’s voice sounds. I turn and smile. The stallion has the same Cajun accent I remember from that one episode with Apple Bloom, off white coat with a dark mane, and…beard? The stallion steps forward, “I’m the mayor of Joie de Vivre, and it’s a pleasure to have you all here. I’m Bayou Beau.”

I reach out a hoof, only to get it nearly shaken off, Bayou shakes hooves just like an Apple. I take a moment to introduce my herd. And everypony else gets the same treatment, though he really gushes at Sunset Shimmer.

“Oh, Sunset Shimmer, I’m such a fan, I watched all the Equestria Girls movies, and you were awesome.”

The golden mare blushes a bit, “Well, only the first two movies were somewhat accurate, Bayou.”

“Well, you were awesome.”

I clear my throat, interrupting his fanboying, I hover forward a bit, “You told me a couple of deer have shown up?”

He nods, “Oh, yeah. Five of them, it’s the damndest thing. They look a lot like the deer I used to hunt. You have to really look to see the differences.” He starts walking, along with my herd, while he talks, “I think we are going to have to find some way to restrict hunting seasons. There were quite a few sent out to find the ponies before they were cursed themselves. That Discord, he was an evil cuss. He sent them all over. One grew up human all the way in Illinois. When she changed, she had to get here, during hunting season last year, poor thing. She didn’t get shot, but she had a few close calls.” He moves over and nudges me a bit, “Likely gave a couple of hunters a heart attack, her screaming at them to not shoot.”

I chuckle, I was a hunter, though I don’t anymore. Don’t have the appetite for venison anymore, but Hannah and Dylan do still hunt, from time to time. Though with the emergence of equestrian deer, they’ve had to be really careful. 

Soon we are walking through the town. It’s easily as colorful as Ponyville, or New Beginnings. They have the same type of farmers market set up, though the town itself, with nearly twenty thousand ponies for population, actually covers most of the island. A lot of the land around the south part of the island is pony owned farmland. I look around, pegasi are flitting everywhere, “So, is this town mostly pegasi?”

He chuckles and shakes his head, “We’ve got a lot of pegasi, several thousand. Most of them are either handling the weather all over this region, or they have other jobs in town. But mostly, we have earth ponies. Our farmland has been very bountiful.” He sits and looks at me, “We’ve been quite fortunate, Lightning Dust. Between weather income, and farm income, and most of all, our tourist income, we’ve been quite prosperous.”

I land, a little surprised, “Tourist income?”

He smiles, “Oh, yeah. We’ve got tourists from all over the world visting. At first it was exclusively bronies who visited. But over time, more humans visit all the time. Since we are real, and that toy company’s trademarks were invalidated, we are a nice little tourist trap. Humans from all over come to see the ponies live their lives. We sell a lot of pony made crafts, we have tours of the town. Festivals, all kinds of celebrations. We welcome the humans here.”

I chuckle, “A lot of the residents of New Beginnings feel insulted by the bronies.”

He guffaws, “Oh, some of the ponies here felt the same way, felt that the bronies were just insulting us. But we decided it was mostly honest affection from a show they loved. I can’t fault them that, being a pony is awesome.”

I know that. I follow him to the town hall, as we are escorted in, a large stag is sitting there, at his ease. Four does are there as well. The stag steps forward, “Greetings Lightning Dust, I am Lord Rosethorn. With me are Persimmon, Olive, Pear, and the youngest is Lychee.” He says, pointing at the other deer.

I bow formally, “A pleasure, I have been in communication with Prince Bramble, of the Everfree deer. He has asked me to find the deer that Discord has cursed, and send them home.”

Lord Rosethorn bows back, “Thank you Lightning Dust. We know some of what’s going on.” He shakes his head, “That evil creature, Discord, did horrible things in Equestria. We were able to get around, and meet some of the ponies before he got us. Sharp Thorn and his party was separated from us, he got them first, it was a few weeks before he got us.” He shudders. 

“I know you have homes here, you’ve been here a few months, but I am here to offer you refuge in New Beginnings with Sharp Thorn and his companions.”

He looks back at the does, then back at me, “Thank you, Lightning Dust, we will consider your offer. Though I like the idea of being with other deer.” The does all nod, getting a smile from me.

“The offer will stand, my Lord.”  I get a gracious nod from the stag.

***

Several hours later, we are continuing to tour the city. One thing I’ve seen that amazes me, a lot of Equestrian non pony life has made it here, a full dozen minotaurs are here, hippogriffs, griffons, donkey’s, mules, and even zebras. And the humans, oh dear Celestia, the humans. Some are obvious bronies, wearing pony t-shirts, or wigs, or carrying plush dolls with them. But what surprises me the most, the humans without any indication of love of ponies are here. One furniture shop has a good dozen humans browsing the merchandise.

I trot up to a human, “Fan of the show?” 

The woman turns and blinks at me, after a moment, she shakes her head, “Oh, I’d never heard of the show.”

I cock my head to the side, “So, why are you here?”

She giggles, “Are you kidding? You ponies make some of the best furniture around! Ikea or Joie de Vivre, pony work wins every time.”

I sit down, “Really?”

She nods, “I’ve got a dining room table and a sofa so far, and I’m buying more. I’ve got little kids, and the sofa doesn’t hold stains, it stands up to the abuse wonderfully.”

I thank the woman and move on, one man tells me the fresh grown crops here are better than anything at the grocery store. Another woman tells me the carvings are the best. I smile, this town is very prosperous, the ponies have made a happy life here. Symbiosis with the humans. And both sides are happy with the arrangements.

***

My family is scattered all over this town, three days so far, enjoying our time here. I’m enjoying a wonderful lunch at a creole restaurant. I’m interrupted by a droning howl. Looking around, in response to the howl, the pegasi are heading for the ground. Then, the rhythmic thump of a helicopter starts to get close. It only takes a moment to determine where the sound is coming from. A helicopter is coming, flying low. That’s why the alarm sounded, a ward for the pegasi to keep clear.

The side of the helicopter says air ambulance, so that answers my question. I take to the air, keeping well clear of the chopper as it flies over the town. Soon we are on the northwest side of the island, near the fairly large hospital. The helicopter lands on a helipad near the building as a half dozen ponies pile out from a building entrance facing the helipad.

Two get out, one a human, the other a unicorn, as the blades slow down. They yank open the door on the side of the helicopter and pull out a stretcher, then a second one. The other ponies from the hospital surround the stretchers. One of them has two ponies on board, strapped down. The other stretcher has a human, also strapped to a backboard. The staff of the helicopter and the hospital staff are chattering to each other as the stretchers are wheeled in.

I’m not hospital staff though I land near the emergency entrance to the hospital. I push through the door, and watch momentarily. The staff is swarming over the ponies and the human. It seems the healers are working hard to help them.  

One of the healers moves back, a happy sigh escaping from her. I trot over, “What happened?”

She looks at me for a moment, then recognition flashes in her eyes, “Oh, Hi Lightning Dust. It was a pretty bad car wreck on the Turnpike. We’ve got them stable.”

I look at the patients, “So, they are going to be okay?”

She nods, “The pony driving apparently fell asleep, drifted into the other lane. Offset head on collision, at least she was slowing down when her magic failed.”

“The poor human.”

She chuckles, “I know, just having a car drift into your lane. Very scary. But he’ll be okay. We’ve healed a couple of broken ribs, his arm was broken as well.”

I look at the ponies, one of them is starting to come around, her wing extending, I look at the healer, “Well, if a pony is going to drive, they need to make sure they aren’t going to fall asleep mid drive.”

She nods, “Safe driving tip number one, be rested and alert while driving.”

She turns and draws me along, “I know you ponies from Montana are visiting, feel free to look around the hospital. We are a decent size for the area. We are the trauma center for the area as well. We have therapy areas too, including hippotherapy, and other types of physical therapy that ponies are good at.”

I put a wing over the healer and pull her into a hug, “Thank you.”

I get nuzzled by the mare in return, “No worries. Keep doing what you do best, Wonderbolt.”

I trot throughout the hospital. The patients are a mix of human and pony, though I think there are more humans here. There is a large children’s hospital section. While cancer is out of reach for most of the pony healers, we can heal some other ailments that are common to humans. So in the end, a pony staffed hospital ends up having quite a few human patients. A service we are happy to supply. Good health is an important part of life, a tenet of pony life.

I trot out of the hospital proper, and end up in a large semi-open stable. I walk through the air curtain, into the large, cool building. A well maintained dirt floor, stalls with plenty of Earth horses. Though one of them really catches my eyes. This mare is walking, with a small boy, maybe six years old, on her back. She’s whinnying her way through eponese, the pony language. She’s wearing a bridle, a name is emblazoned on it, Avira. Something tickles in my mind. But what gets me, her color is more equestrian, a pale lavender. Her eyes are bigger than a earth horse’s as well, but her head is more earth equine shaped. Holy hell, they have a pony blanking here, and it’s bad. Her cutie mark is gone.

I rush forward, I tap my Bluetooth, “Call Mindy.” I shout when the tone sounds. I take to the air, gently pulling the child off of her back, and hoofing him over to his mother, with profuse apologies. I’ve been in pretty bad shape, but my cutie mark never disappeared.

“This is Mindy.” Comes over my ear piece.

“Mindy, I need you here, right now. I found a pony, it’s blanking, like I did.”

“On my way.” By the time way is out of her mouth. She’s blinked right next to me. I’m standing in front of the horse, a confused look on her face.

“It’s okay, Avira. We will help you.” I say in English.

“But I’m okay.” She responds in Eponese.

I look at Mindy, “We need to get Moon Shadow here.”

Mindy is on her back, all four hooves in the air, she’s laughing. I look down at Mindy.

“Mindy…”

She is laughing so hard she can’t breathe.

“Mindy, this is a pony’s life we are talking about.”

Mindy hiccups as she tries to stop laughing, then falls over in peals of laughter again.

“Mindy, please?”

“Oh, Dustie. I can’t believe you would do that kind of joke.”

I look at her, completely confused, finally she flips onto four hooves, “Avira here isn’t a pony, she’s a horse. A Saddle Arabian.”

What?

Mindy gets up and bounces over to Avira, “I didn’t know Discord got horses in Saddle Arabia.” She says, cupping Avira’s muzzle with her hooves.

Avira looks down, “Saddle Arabia?”

Mindy easily shifts to Eponese, “Oh sweetie, I can’t believe you are found. We need to get you home, you don’t belong here, you are royalty.”

Both her and I jerk, “Royalty?”

Mindy turns and looks at me seriously, “Oh yes, Avira here was a delegate to Equestria. She’s a member of the royal family there.” She turns and adopts a scolding tone, “What are you doing letting humans ride you?”

She shakes her head, “I’m a horse.”

Mindy giggles, “So?”

The pale lavender horse scuffs a hoof on the dirt, “I’m a horse…so I got a job that a horse could do.”

Mindy rolls her eyes and snorts, “And the ponies here didn’t know who you were?”

A head shaken no.

“Well, silly billy, we’ll take you to New Beginnings, and when the portal opens, you can go home.”

She looks confused, “Some of the other horses here, and I know they were born here, they speak.”

Mindy looks at me, and back at her, “They speak Eponese, like us?”

She nods, “A few. But they all understand us.”

Once again, our magic is affecting everything around us.

Mindy gets next to Avira and walks with her, “Come on Avira, we’ll get you settled in. And when we go back home, you can join us.”

I shake my head, amazing.

***

“Looks like we have a new crop of speedsters.” I say, looking at the dozen or so pegasi foals arrayed in front of me.

All of them are looking at me expectantly, I’m not a teacher, but I’ve been asked to talk to a new group of speedsters in junior speedster camp. These foals are between four and six years old. They’ve learned a bit about flying from their parents, if their parents are pegasi. But all of them have the potential to be speedsters, like myself.

“Today, we are going to learn control on takeoff. Does anypony know why we must control our energy on takeoff?”

Not a single hoof raises in the air, I almost feel the desire to sigh, then I remember, they may have grown up here, but their parents likely don’t have the knowledge to be able to teach the young pegasi everything they need. 

I smile anyway though, “There are actually a couple of reasons, as Equestrian pegasi, our wings are too small to allow us to fly. So how we fly is with our magic. Our wings are the conduits for our magic. When you spread your wings, getting ready to fly.” I spread my wings and naturally crouch, “We aren’t just getting ready for that first down stroke, we are gathering our magic. Ready to use it to get us off the ground. But remember, you must be balanced to be able to fly, all your balance to the back, you’ll do a backflip and eat dirt.” To exemplify, I flap hard, letting my center of balance be too far back, I do a short backward loop, landing on my forehooves. I let my rear hooves touch the ground gently.

“Conversely, if you shift too far forward, you’ll end up eating dirt again.” I smile at them, “Eating dirt sucks, little ones.” I spread my wings again, keeping my weight balanced correctly, “Doing it right, you can simply hover, as a speedster, you’ll find you don’t like being grounded, you want to be in the air, or up high. All of you are here because your parents found you up high, or you were using what control you have already to get off the ground. It’s an instinct for speedsters.” I let my hooves come to rest on the ground.

One of the foals raises a hoof, and I point at him, “You were saying control your energy, balance isn’t energy.”

I nod, the six year old has a good point. “Right, and that is where the next part of the lesson comes in. Without years of training, you will find it very hard to keep balanced on takeoff. So, if you pour all your energy into a takeoff, and your flight will be short. So, you have to learn to control your takeoff energy, and you have to learn to manage your balance.”

I flap my wings gently to get off the ground, just hovering a foot or so off the ground, “Most of the time, what I just did is all you need to get off the ground, then you take off in the direction you want to fly.”

Another foal raises a hoof, “But Miss Dust, you were a Wonderbolt, you didn’t just take off like that when performing.”

I nod again, “That’s right. As I said, most of the time, a gentle takeoff is what you need. And that is what I’m going to teach you today. Hot takeoffs are for another day.” A chorus of groans, “Hot takeoffs are rude to any unicorns nearby. You can give a sensitive unicorn an instant migraine by taking off too hot. Add in the fact, if you are a strong speedster like myself, you can leave a crater behind with the energy you used.”

I look around at all of them, “And you are using energy that is better spent on flight. Managing your energy reserves is also a big part of being a speedster. You run through too much of your magic, you risk magical exhaustion, and if it gets severe enough, you could end up falling from the sky.” My smile widens, “And that sucks too.”

I clap my hooves together, “Okay class, what is rule number one as a speedster?”

A dozen voices intone, “Watch your power on takeoff.”

I smile and nod to their normal teacher, who comes forward. I move off to the back of the class, where Irony and Moon Shadow are standing. Practical teaching will be later in the afternoon.

Irony giggles, “Oh love, watching you teach, that’s funny.”

I roll my eyes, “How did I get roped into this?”

Moon Shadow snorts, “You said yes when you were asked, there aren’t very many speedsters down here. You aren’t all that common. But having a dozen pegasi speedster foals is a good thing. One or two of them might be as fast as you are, from their magical tests.”
I snort, “Nopony is as fast as me.”

I get nuzzled by Irony, “There’s Rainbow Dash.”

“She’s in Equestria, not here.”

They both laugh at me.


***

Irony and I walk sedately into the guard station, to be greeted with the sound of a party horn, and a pair of bright purple eyes in front of me, “Lightning Dust!” Then I’m assaulted with a hug that bowls me over. I finally am able to make out the white coat with the yellow blonde curly mane.

“Holy shit, Surprise!”

The white pegasus standing over top of me giggles, “None other.”

I find my ears falling, “So, Discord got you too, huh?”

Her ears fall a bit as she nods, then she brightens, “Actually, a good number of the Cloudsdale Wonderbolt team ended up here.”

I cock my head to the side, “Why didn’t you come to the Wonderbolt academy at the Rim of the Sky, at the very least, you could have trained the rookies.”

She giggles, “I’m a guard member here, Dust. I’m not abandoning Joie de Vivre to help train other pegasi. Our job is to protect the ponies.”

“Do they need a lot of protection here?”

She looks down, “More than I would like. Before we set up tourist accommodations, any human that could get across about a hundred feet of water came when they heard about the ponies. Florida is fairly densely populated. We got some really bad people here.”

I frown, “Bronies?”

Her ears flop as she shakes her head, “Oh, no, just perverts. Rapists, murderers, the dregs of human society. Over the last five years or so, we’ve had three ponies murdered, and a half dozen rapes from humans.”

I growl, “So, you’ve got wards to warn you if someone is crossing to the island?”

She nods, “Yeah, it’s keyed to humans, so we get less false alarms. The ferry follows its route because we wanted some security, and some control as to who visits us. Some of the unicorns have been really helpful at creating wards.”

They are good at that, aren’t they…

Surprise looks around, “Where’s Mindy?”

I think about it for a second, do I want Mindy and Surprise in the same room together? Dear Celestia help us, I smile, “I think she’s around. She should be visiting later. Right now it’s primarily EUP guards right now. Training day and all.”

She looks down, “Awww, I wanted to party with her.”

I chuckle, “I’m pretty certain she’ll want to party with you, Surprise. But can we focus on training for now?”

Surprise puts out a wing and I give her a wing five.

Twenty minutes later, we are in armor and sheathed blades. I bow to Surprise.

“Oh, pretty wingblades, did you have them custom made?”

I giggle, “Yes, Irony made them, before she met me.”

She frowns, “You have to be pretty precise to measure them.”

I nod, “I know, she just knew, somehow. She didn’t even know they were for me until we went to fight Discord.”

She answers with a low whistle.

I look around at the other guards here. Irony already has hustled the earth ponies and the unicorns off for their melee training. I’m going to test out the pegasi here. I think I’m going to mix it up, some of the more advanced fighting techniques are air to air, with some altitude. A squadron of pegasi, a full one hundred forty four, twelve flights of twelve pegasi, follow me into the air. I set them to pair off with each other, and keep watch. A few support pegasi are on hoof, in case a pony is actually knocked out of the air, for safety’s sake. Pegasi can play rough, it’s our nature.

An hour of them sparring only has two on the ground due to injury. Surprise has won every spar she’s come up against. That mare is crazy fast. I put a hoof on her next opponent’s withers, the tan mare sighs in relief as she hovers away.

One of the support ponies is bringing the whistle to her lips when something about my earring just grabs my attention. Somepony is in trouble. I look down, smoke is rising from the training area. Oh shit. It’s Irony.

Surprise has noticed my being distracted, she looks down and her eyes widen.

“Everypony, to the training yard!” She shouts, and all the pegasi dive. I’m the first to slam into the ground.

“Irony.” A voice calls, I know that voice. Where is she? How did she survive?

The smoke is too thick, where is she? I put a hoof to my ear and concentrate on Irony. She’s to my left, about forty five feet. I flash that way and stop next to her.

She’s holding her middle, gasping in pain, she says three words that chill me to my core, confirming what I heard, “It’s the clone.”


> Chapter 77. A Memory of Light
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

***Irony***

I feel Dust’s body relax, I feel her last shuddering breath against my cheek. I hold her ruined body against my chest, the tears are rolling down my cheeks.

I’m crouched down like this, I can’t do anything but sob.

“Irony, she’s gone. We need to get home.” I hear Moon Shadow say.

I shake my head, still beyond words.

“Irony, please. Yes, Lightning Dust is dead. But we have to get back, the rest of the family is on their way”

I finally find my voice, “It doesn’t matter, no more monster to fight, it’s over.” I heave a big sigh, “She took care of the monster.”

A hand lands on my shoulder, I look up, Helen is there, her eyes bright with tears, “We need to take her home, Irony.”

I turn and look at the massively broken body, almost all of her fur has been burned away, her skin is actually cooked, there was no way she could have survived this, I’m not even certain Henry could have fixed her.

“Irony, let us go home, love.” Helen says.

I sigh, and finally nod. Dust’s body is gently picked up away from me. I look around, Hannah has her aura around her hands, she’s carrying her daddy home. The young lady has tear tracks down her cheeks, but she’s concentrating, she’s pushing past her pain. I relax onto four hooves, “Hannah, you can put her on my back, I’ll carry her.”

Hannah shakes her head tightly, “No, I’m going to carry her.”

Sunset looks around, “Loves, she tumbled over twenty miles. Do you really want to walk it back?”

I look at the path of destruction. Dust coming through broke trees, left gouges in the earth. It’s perfectly obvious the path her body took as she crashed.

Sunset sighs and her horn lights, her magic takes hold, and we are in front of Dust’s house. A lot of ponies have shown up, several houses in Dust’s approach path have damaged roofs. And what happened after she hit the clone… I look at the path her body took as it tumbled. Two houses will likely have to be completely rebuilt, though our house is structurally okay, the brickwork is damaged, and several windows are shattered. Sunset sits down and her magic starts mending the glass, and the brick. The windstorm from Dust’s turbulence has been massive. She blew us all back. Only smart thinking by Sunset Shimmer kept us from being killed. 

I look at the body lying there, a pony steps forward, she traces a hoof along the mangled cheek of the clone. A few tear drops falling to the ground.

I shift and put a hand on the mare’s withers, “That isn’t your daughter, Velvet. It was a clone.”

Velvet looks at me, “I must have done something wrong raising her. The clone had all of her memories up to when she was cloned.” She looks down at the clone, “To think my daughter could ever have ended up like this.”

I pick up the unicorn and hug her to my chest, “You raised a wonderful daughter, Velvet. She’s still wonderful, back in Equestria. This is garbage, a body to be disposed of.”

She shudders in my grip, I hold her tighter, “Velvet, this was never your Twilight Sparkle. You can tell by her cutie mark. It was changed, she was no longer the pony you knew when the accident happened. Your Twilight Sparkle could never become like that creature.”

Velvet pulls back and looks into my eyes, “You were her guard, her protector, back in Equestria. Are you sure?”

I’m able to smile, for her benefit, “I loved and revered Twilight Sparkle. I would have given my life for her.” I nuzzle Velvet, “I still would. For the pony back home, not for this clone.”

She wraps her forelegs around me, “Thank you Irony.”

***???***

“Lightning Dust” A voice calls.

I roll over, what the hell happened? I open my eyes, all I see is white. Memory crashes into me, my eyes, they are working! Did Henry get to me before?

I look down at my body, it's back to normal, luxurious turquois fur, a pristine hoof. Am I dead? Am I alive? If I’m alive, where the hell am I? It doesn’t look like any hospital room I’ve ever seen. What happens after one dies? I'm puzzled by the fact that I feel pretty good. No real pain. I've got a body, it seems to be working. I look around, all I see is light. I get to my hooves and trot around, though my hoofsteps are completely silent. 

"What's going on?" I murmur.

"Welcome to the afterlife, Lightning Dust, you’re dead."

I whirl around, I know that voice, "Discord."

He chuckles, I still can't see the draconequus. I whirl around again, "Where are you, are you behind that evil version of Twilight Sparkle?"

Again he chuckles. I spread my wings and take off, but where am I going, all I see is white.

"Nowhere to run to, Lightning Dust." Discord calls. Suddenly I'm motionless, I feel a floor beneath my feet, but again, everything is white.

"Come out where I can see you. We've kicked you ass before, I'll kick your ass all by myself." I spread my wings aggressively.

"Awww, what nasty things to say to your benefactor. I kept you from moving on, I kept you from becoming unreachable."

I sit on my haunches, "What happens after death?"

He chuckles once again, "That would be cheating, I'm already giving you a chance to cheat death, I'm not going to go any further." He appears in front of me in a flash of white light. He bends down to bring his face close, "You were the one pony to actually discern my true intent when it comes to that spell."

I narrow my eyes, "The five score spell?"

He nods, then he conjures a flash of light, and a chair appears, he sits down, offering me a cookie. I shrug and taste it. And almost gag, it doesn’t taste nearly how I expect it. Not like a chocolate chip cookie, but like waffles, complete with butter and syrup. I lick my lips, "Yum."

He smiles, "I am a spirit, I am truly eternal. Jumping through time is nothing to me."

"I don't understand."

You ponies, you think of time like it's a line, it's far more complex than that."

He offers me another cookie, this one tastes like broccoli, I chow down, I love broccoli.

"I've had to serve a long time under that spell, I was a horse, you see. Sent back to the distant past, and forced to live for eons as a humble equine. I had a good time. But you see, I am still myself."

"And?"

"Humanity lost their magic, oh I won't go into the details, but humans lost a lot in that time. And then I sent you ponies to this Earth. And then what happened?"

I think for a moment, "Then we awoke, our magic came out, and we brought out the magic in humanity."

He giggles, "Exactly, you get another cookie."

This one tastes like my spaghetti sauce, complete with noodles. "Wow, you got my recipe right."

He chuckles, "Humanity needs a push, they've gotten very far, farther than anyone could believe without their magic. But they have hit a hard wall, they need something, something to bring them to the next level, to let them see exactly what their potential can be."

I stand up, my wings spread in rage, "You killed, you hurt a lot of ponies, and you ruled Equestria for a quarter of a century. Chaos ruled."

His chuckle becomes a full on laugh, "Well, I got to have a little fun in the bargain. So sue me."

I growl at the draconequus, "You are an asshole."

He smiles at me, "Guilty as charged. But you forget one thing, Lightning Dust."

"And what is that?"

"You are here, not in the next life."

"So."

He taps the top of my head, avoiding my hoof as I try to bat him away, "I'm not done with you yet."

I sigh, "What are you going to do?"

"I know what you did to defeat the shadow of myself I left in this world, I know what I put you through."

I growl, "Where you killed Soarin."

He smiles, "Yes, though you'll be happy to know that he went out like a hero, even though it was a construct, he acted to save lives. I'll give him credit there. But he is beyond my reach at this point."

"Are you coming back?"

He smiles, "There can be only one spirit of chaos, I'm trapped in your world, so I have to talk to you like this."

I am getting angry at his antics, "What are you going to do, Discord? You just said you can't affect the world now, so what now?"

He turns and looks at me critically, "The necessary balance for both worlds was upset for far too long. Equestria was too harmonious, and this Earth was too chaotic. Neither was any fun. But I’ve fixed all of that. Now humanity and Equestria can grow, together."

I narrow my eyes, "You intend for there to be permanent relations between our worlds?"

He nods.

"Why?"

He walks around me, "Because humanity has been confined to their one little world, perhaps by understanding there is such a thing as a multiverse, other beings that can think, that can feel. They need to not be so insular. So, I'm forcing that."

He produces another cookie, it tastes like chalk. I spit it out and glare at him.

He shrugs his shoulders, "They can't all be yummy, Dust."

I sit down and think for a long time, then finally, "What now?"

"You go back."

I shake my head, "My body was destroyed, it's no use, Discord."

He chuckles, "I may be merely a spirit, not a god. But I possess powers you have no concept of, young pegasus. Now, Go!" He taps me on the forehead.

***

I open my eyes slowly, I’m on my back, my wings are folded at my side. I look up at the ceiling. I’ve been moved into my house, I’m lying on the dining room table, a sheet is under me. I guess they are planning on wrapping me up later. How long have I been out? I glance out the windows, it’s dark. So I’m guessing they are planning my funeral for tomorrow. I have to smile at that thought, my funeral is going to be a long time coming, I hope.

I lay there listening, I think my house is pretty full right now. I can hear a lot of voices talking. I finally flip off the table onto the floor, I shake myself and fold my wings at my sides. I lift a hoof, my shoes were lost during this misadventure. I extend my wings and flap, but nothing happens, I look back at my wings, they seem to be in fine shape. But they do hurt. My entire body aches, then I think about it, I’ve got a horrible case of magical exhaustion. I’m ground bound for the next few days, maybe a couple of weeks, judging by how I feel. Well, better use the hooves, I take a step, and a second, my legs are shaky, and weak, but I think I can handle it. I’m hungry. I can hear somepony in the kitchen. This many ponies in one place, somepony is making sure they are fed. It’s true, food really brings families together.

Where is everypony? I walk softly from the dining room into the living room, there they are. They are all sitting there, huddled together, though the stallions and the foals aren’t here yet. I’m guessing they haven’t made it back from Florida yet. My family, Twilight Velvet, Blaze, Star Crossed, Jay and Sanchez, Wind Shield, Mayor Mare, and quite a few other ponies that my family knows. Irony is sitting there, she’s holding something in her lap.

“No, Moon. I know she wanted me to, but I won’t.”

Moon Shadow sighs, “Irony, she asked you to keep a single feather, for your memories.”

Irony shakes her head vehemently, “After the funeral, this will be all I have left of her. I’m not burning her feathers.”

Awww, that gets a smile from me.

Mindy’s voice pipes up, but she sounds more miserable than anypony, “I miss her.”

I can see Helen move closer and hug the straight maned pony tightly, “Oh, Mindy. We all miss her.”

Okay, I’m out of my misery, I should put them out of theirs, “Well, you can stop missing me, since I’m here.”

Everything goes silent for a long moment, and heads swivel towards me. I smile hugely.

Moon Shadow is the first to recover, "Dust." She whispers. She looks at everypony else, then back at me, then she screams, “DUST!”

I brace myself as I’m mobbed by my family. I quickly have everypony close to me, I have my forelegs and wings around as many as I can touch. I’m nuzzled by everypony, Hannah squirms through and wraps her arms around me, Helen kisses the top of my head.

Irony looks at me incredulously, "Dust, you were dead, your body was ruined, what happened?"

I smile, "Discord happened, Love."

Her eyes narrow, "Discord? He's been banished."

"Not as banished as you may think, Love."

"So, you are okay?"

"Yes, but I think I'm ground bound for a few days."

She chuckles, "Oh, so you’ve got to be down here with us mud bugs for a while?"

"I'll hate every second of it." But to cool the sting, I run a feather along her ear, eliciting a smile from the massive earth pony.

“How fast were you going?”

“As fast as I could, my love.”

I look around, “Where are the stallions? The kids?”

“They are on their way.” She glances at the wall clock, “Actually, they should be here any time now.”

“How long have I been gone?”

She shakes her head, “I’m not certain, several hours now, I think. We haven’t been exactly watching the clock.”

Irony leads and I walk slowly behind her, down the stairs and to the laundry room, there are more tears in her eyes, “I couldn’t see putting both of you together.”

She flips the sheet from the form on the stainless steel table.

“She’s dead.” I murmur.

Irony looks at the body, “Yes, she is.”

I look up at Irony, “She would have killed you, right?”

She nods, “She was crazy. We had to stop her.”

I sigh, “I know.”

Irony sits next to me, leaning against me, “You did everything you can, Dust.”

I sigh, I feel tears starting to fall, “I wish she could have been brought back. To be the pony we knew.”

Irony sighs, “She wasn’t the real Twilight Sparkle, Dust. She was a clone.”

“She was a living, thinking person. She was sick. She should have been healed.”

Irony shifts and places a hand on my withers, “Dust, she didn’t want healing. She wanted what she thought was taken from her.”

I sigh, and lean into her side, she squeezes me tightly, “I wish things could have been different.”

I feel a tear drop on top of my head, “Me too, Dust. Me too.”

We stay like that for a long time, though eventually our funk is interrupted buy hoof and footsteps upstairs, I look at Irony, who smiles at me. The rest of our family, I stand up to head upstairs, Irony’s speaks up, “Dust, they were too high for cell reception, I don’t think they know you are okay.”

Now I had better hurry, without my magic, I can’t flash down the hall, but I gallop, I leap up the stairs and slide on the kitchen floor as I make the turn. I see Star, Ray, and the foals, the rest of the family is all together, I don’t even check my speed as I leap among them, screaming in joy.

I’m grabbed and held, Star is sobbing, Ray is crying too. I try to answer questions as fast as I’m peppered with them, then one little form is waking up, her golden eyes latch onto me, and she leaps from Alan’s arms, “Mommmmmmeeee!” Mischief screams as I catch her.

I nuzzle my little foal, I’m so happy to see her. She pulls back from the hug, “Daddy Alan was crying, said you were dead.”

I nuzzle her again, “I was, Mischief. But because of the chaos spirit, I’m back. I’m not leaving my little Mischief.”

She cocks her head to the side, a quizzical look on her face, I nuzzle her again, “I’ll tell you more when you are older.”

The family is moving back into the living room, Irony claps a hand on my withers, “You know, Dust. You were dead, and you came back. You should be an alicorn now.”

That get me to freeze for a moment, I reach a hoof to my forehead, and sigh in relief, “Thank Celestia that didn’t happen.”

> Author's Afterward and Q&A
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think I will start this off by telling you all how this came about. I read part of the first Five Score story. And it got to where they all met up at the farm. I seriously enjoyed it. And was enjoying new chapters as they came out. Then June of 2014 came about. Twisted Spectrum did a blog post, talking about a new story in the five score universe. I had read quite a few of the side stories, not aware how many were defunct. But this new one, by a guy named Phenrys, looked interesting. I read the entire thirty thousand words in a day. And then my muse bit my ear, I sat down and wrote. And wrote, and wrote some more. By the time I had about fifteen thousand words in. I worked up the courage to PM Phenrys about his story and I was seeking his input on the beginning of Dust on the Wind. He wrote back, and and he had the same idea that I had written to him and hit send not five minutes before, collaboration! I finally published the start of Dust at the beginning of July, 2014. Little did I know at that point that I had met my best friend. Seriously, Phenrys, I’m so glad I met you. While his pace of writing is much slower than mine, he crafts wonderful pony words, seriously, if you’ve read Dust, you need to read Irony’s Tale. (And Velvet Nightfall, but I’ll get to that in a bit). So, after a bit more than a year of writing consistently on this story, it’s finally done. YAY!!!

A latecomer to the addition of the Five Score universe that is Dust on the Wind, Kitsy Chan, she powered through the main story, and The Last Crusade, and Earning Wings of a Different Nature, then she went through Dust very quickly. And then she decided to make her own story. So, now I’ve got three authors I’m in constant communication with. Even though this story is over, I’m going to continue talking to my friends about their own five score stories, and providing support wherever possible.

What am I going to do now?

Well, I’m going to get some other stories complete. Though I’m not done with the five score universe. I have Mischief Makers tickling the back of my brain. But I don’t want it to completely take over my life like Dust on the Wind has, so I’m going to try to force it back to the back burner for a while, it needs time to mature. Remember, Mischief is a little foal, and she needs to grow up a bit before I start in on her life.

Now, on to the real Q&A… Pretty much all of them from the third author I talk to all the time…exnaggerwes

Q. Do you like Dust more than your OC Sparky?

A. At first, no. After getting in her head for a year, most definitely…yes.

Q. What's your opinion on Dust wearing shoes in Equestria? Rainbow Dash tried to sell her horseshoe in "Trade Ya", implying that she wore them at least at some point.

A. I think shoes are helpful for ponies as well as horses. I have Dust wearing shoes for a reason. I even have Dash wearing shoes in Rainbow in the Dark.

Q. Being a fillyfooler, can Dust confirm that Rarity is an attractive pony? or does she wear too much makeup?

A. Yes, skillfully applied makeup can make an average woman beautiful, or make a beautiful woman drop dead gorgeous. From every reliable depiction of Rarity, she would be one to skillfully apply makeup, not cake it on. Though I do wonder, how does makeup work on fur?  

Q. What's Dust's favorite color?

A. Turquoise, what else?

Q. Obviously Mike Shaw had an affinity for electricity and circuits. Does Dust actually share this affinity naturally, or was it acquired as part of her human side remaining behind as she took on her new form?

A. Acquired as her human side integrated with her pony side. 

Q. Would said affinity for electricity carry on to modding electrical and mechanical parts and machines? Would she know which power supply to put into a computer that ran dual xeon processors and 2 GTX 980 Ti's in SLI?

A. Dust is not a computer expert.

Q. Does Lightning Dust's house have a room with a skylight?

A. No, she did eventually build a pegasus landing platform off of the Master Bedroom though.

Q. What kind of Music does Dust like?

A. Hard question right there. I think she’d like classic rock, and perhaps some metal. Anything else is pretty dependent on mood.

Q. Does Dust prefer Intel or AMD?

A. She doesn’t care, one way or another.

Q. Does Dust prefer AMD or NVIDIA?

A. See the answer to the previous question.

Q. Did Dust ever find out about Irony's background? Did she know about Ray's?

A. She knows both. Perhaps not all the details, but quite a bit of the story is inferred. Dust has been lover to Irony for over five years as of the end of the story, they know each other pretty much inside and out.

Q. Why didn't we see a clear call out to Sparky in the story?

A. You did, Sparks, in the bar, where Mindy announced her pregnancy. He fought with the human that became Maude Pie

Q. Did anyone ever high five Dylan for courting an older mare?

A. You did exnaggerwes.

Q. What kind of car or chariot would the herd use if they went out with all of the ponies, foals, and children?

A. For earth bound vehicle, a Dodge Sprinter or equivalent. They have a lot to haul around. Chariots, theirs is custom built. Minimum of two strong pegasi to pull, or preferably four. 

Q. Would you support polygamy in real life, or should it be reserved for herds in fanfiction?

A. That is a touchy question. I am not a fan of it for humans, but I do follow the tenet of live and let live. If some humans want to have a big family like that. That is their business.

Q. That said, how would Dust's herd deal with the fact that there are so many couples in one herd, and so few instances of the herd as a whole?

A. While there are “couples” within the herd. They are mere subsets to the herd as a whole. Moon Shadow has a strong affinity for Irony. But she really does love her entire herd equally. Dust is the same way. Mindy and Alan, for the longest time were fairly exclusive, but Alan did finally show his love (in more ways than one) to Dust and the other mares.

Q. How would a herd marriage work? Separately as couples, or an even bigger ceremony? Is the herd leader something you have respect for, or is it something you would have preferred to leave out?

A. The herd leader is something I have respect for. Families need leadership to advance and function correctly. In a plural marriage, a leader would need to be chosen, I would think. I don’t think it would be a marriage, at least not on this world. Marriage is older than any government on this world. The fact that government has usurped what is really a function of the community and religion is distressing to me. But I’m not getting into a political discussion, merely stating my opinions.

Q. Just how much inspiration came from Xenophilia and how highly would you recommend it to someone who is more neutral on the concept of herding and polyamory?

A.I highly recommend Xenophilia. In fact, I was not even neutral to the idea of herding and polyamory among ponies before I read it. Though the design of the story, and how well it works, really changed my mind. Herding and polyamory is great..for ponies.

Q. Would you have preferred to break this story up into several slice of life style stories with much more detail, or condense it into one adventure with a lot less focus on the details like Dust's interpersonal relationships and daily occupation? 

A. Hmmm, a very tough question. I actually would have liked to make Dust quite a bit longer and focus more on the interpersonal relationships. But I really wanted to advance the adventure side of the story. Elements I’ve thought of will find homes in other stories. Still, about 350k words for this story. I’m quite pleased.

Q. Do you enjoy talking about your story as much as writing it?

A. I could be sarcastic, but….no, I won’t be. Hell yes I enjoy talking about this story. My coworkers are probably sick of Dust on the Wind. I know my wife is. 

Q. How many characters in the story are based on real life people?

A. Dust is, Hannah is very much like my daughter. I’ve included the personalities of several people I know into multiple characters.

Q. How many events in the story were inspired by real life?

A. Some events, the switchgear explosion did happen. And a couple of other things.

Q. What was your favorite scene to write?

A.I actually had a lot of scenes that were really fun. Anything where Mindy was being nuts was a challenge, but I think they turned out very well. I loved doing the interpersonal relationships between the herd. But an absolute favorite? I can’t say, there were a lot that I really enjoyed.

Well, that’s it for this story. Hope you enjoyed, and go ahead and check out my other stories.