Iron Mare

Chapters

The Accident
One Problem After Another
Escape
Changes
First Flight
Iron Mare

The Accident

"Through science, all things are possible."

Twilight trotted about her basement laboratory, setting up for an experiment as Spike lay on an apparatus in the middle of the lab, with several pads ready to inject him with the contents of six vials of blue liquid that were set in place, three on each side.

"Twilight, are you sure this is safe?" Spike asked, a bit nervous.

"I have run everything again, Master Spike. All calculations are up to date," the computer said in a masculine voice.

"Thank you, Dusk Shine," Twilight said as she finished her preparations. "Places, everypony. If this works, we'll have done what hasn't been done since the War of Sun and Moon."

"Twilight, why are we trying to replicate Dr. Erskine's formula that made Captain Equestria? And why are you trying it on me instead of a pony?" Spike asked.

"Because if it works on a dragon, it'll work on ponies for sure," Twilight said.

"Okay. I trust you," Spike said, taking a breath to keep calm. "Dusk Shine. Tell me again how this is gonna work."

"First, a series of microinjections will deliver the serum into your major muscle groups, causing immediate cellular change. To stimulate growth, you will be sealed inside that lead container and saturated in gamma rays. As Dr. Erskine took the calculations for the conversion of vita-rays to his grave, we will be attempting to reproduce the original product with gamma rays as a substitute," Dusk Shine explained. "We are ready to begin."

"Alright. Let's do this," Twilight said. "Delivering injections in three... two... one." Twilight flipped a pair of switches that injected the serum into Spike, who's eyes widened. Flipping another switch, the container moved into an upright position and sealed Spike inside as a tube was connected to the container by robotic arms. "Spike? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah. I can hear you," Spike said.

"You feeling okay?" Twilight asked.

"A little nervous, but okay," Spike answered.

"Alright, Dusk. Start the gamma saturation," Twilight said.

"At once," Dusk said as he began the flow. "10%... 20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%..."

"So far so good," Twilight muttered.

"80%... 90%... 100%," Dusk said. "Master Spike's vital signs are still normal."

Spike suddenly started screaming in agony as the stand of the container whined as it buckled under new weight.

"Spike!" Twilight screamed. "Kill the reactor, Dusk! Shut it off!"

No sooner had Dusk complied did Spike tear the container open and stumble out, only... he was a lot bigger.

"Spike?" Twilight asked gently.

Rainbow Dash had had a wonderful evening. She had gone on a dinner date and after dinner flight with her coltfriend Soarin, and he was an absolute sweetheart to her. Now she was stumbling toward her bedroom after bidding him good night. Planning to sleep for the next six or twelve hours. She bid Tank a good night and settled under her covers, looking forward to sweet dreams of flying with her love and the Wonderbolts, blowing a kiss at the poster of him on her wall. Not that she would ever admit to doing that last part. Closing her eyes, she let out a content sigh as her head lay down against her pillow.

Sadly, that was not to be. Considering that somepony was knocking on her door. Every few seconds. Very urgently.

Groaning, Dash got out of bed and made her way toward her front door. "I'm coming. I'm coming," she grumbled. "Whoever you are, you better have a bucking good reason for coming at 1:00 AM," she growled as she opened her door to find... nopony. Snorting, she prepared to slam her door before a pink mane came into her vision.

"Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed before falling, coming back up seconds later. "I'm glad you're home!"

"What's wrong, Pinkie?" Dash asked in one of the airborne intervals, clearly not in the mood to deal with her hyperactive friend.

"It's Twilight!" Pinkie exclaimed before falling again.

"What about her?" Dash asked, getting curious.

"She's in the hospital!" Pinkie said, getting Dash's attention and rousing her to full awareness. "She's hurt really bad!"

"What?!" Dash asked, grabbing Pinkie out of the air and carrying her toward Ponyville General hospital. "Tell me what happened!"

"I don't know!" Pinkie said. "I was on my way home after finishing my singing cupcake delivery run with Gummy, and I was passing Twilight's place when the ground started shaking, and it made me bounce and sound silly! Then something went 'roar!!!' and Twilight screamed, and something went boom! I went inside and found Twilight in her lab, really hurt, and Spike not far from her passed out. I knew right away that I had to get the gang together to help out Twilight! And that's what I did!" Throughout most of her explanation, Pinkie had been smiling her usual smile.

"Wait. How did Twilight get to the hospital?" Dash asked in confusion. There was no way Pinkie had tried that cloning pool again.

"Derpy Hooves took her while I rounded everypony up," Pinkie said.

"Wait. Derpy Hooves. The single biggest, most destructive klutz who can cause mass destruction by simply sitting down, took Twilight to the hospital, and you let her go without any supervision at all?!" Dash asked in disbelief.

"Yup!" Pinkie chirped. "She delivers mail all the time. She can deliver Twilight."

"Twilight is very different from mail!" Dash said, speeding up to get to the hospital faster, bypassing the front desk and following Pinkie's directions. "How is she?" she asked as she entered Twilight's room with Pinkie, setting the party pony down.

"She's stable, but hasn't woken up yet," Rarity said, looking at the heavily bandaged Twilight with concern while she cradled the sleeping Spike in her forelegs.

Dash looked at Twilight as well, and asked what they were all thinking. "What happened to her?"

One Problem After Another

"It is in adversity that we see the true colors of ourselves and those beside us."

Twilight's vision slowly cleared up as she came to, and she was very happy to see who had come to visit her. Her friends were all looking at her with worried looks, and she was quick to notice the worried faces of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Behind them was her brother and Princess Cadance. On Rarity's back with an absolutely repentant look was Spike, and as her gaze panned to another part of the room, she saw her parents, Night Light and Twilight Velvet. "Hey everypony," she muttered.

"How you feeling, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

"Banged up, otherwise, just peachy." Twilight couldn't help snarking with her answer. She then looked at her relatives. "Hey Mom, Dad, Shiny, Cadance."

"What happened to you, Sweetie?" Velvet asked, moving closer to her daughter's bed.

"I'm uh... not ready to talk about it," Twilight said, glancing at Spike.

"The doctor said you'll make a full recovery," Celestia said, smiling at her student. "You gave us all quite a scare."

"Sorry," Twilight said as the door opened, revealing a unicorn with a ruby red coat, sapphire blue mane with amethyst highlights, and emerald green eyes.

"Twilight! I came as soon as I heard," he said as he moved to her side and took her hoof in both of his. "Are you feeling alright? Aside from the obvious?"

"I'll live," Twilight said, smiling at him.

"Twily, who is this?" Shining Armor asked, eying the new stallion a bit suspiciously.

Twilight blushed a bit, having not gotten around to telling them. "This is Facet. My coltfriend." To say that the resulting silence was deafening would have been an understatement.

"Since when do you have a coltfriend?" Rainbow finally asked.

"We met at an art auction in Canterlot where some of my work was being sold," Facet said. "She was attending as Princess Celestia's guest of honor, and we ended up sitting next to each other. After the auction, we got to talking and really hit it off."

"One thing led to another and we started dating," Twilight said. "So far it's been long distance."

"An art auction in Canterlot?" Rarity asked. "That was six months ago!" she said as she rounded on Facet. "I simply cannot believe such an important detail of my own brother's life was kept from me for so long!"

"Brother?!" Applejack asked. "You never told us you have a brother."

"We don't often see each other since he works in Manehatten," Rarity said. "And you never asked, Applejack. None of you did."

"Same for why none of you knew until now about my relationship with Facet," Twilight said. "Well... Spike knew."

"The relationship isn't going to be long distance anymore," Facet said as he looked at Spike. "Spike, would you take a letter please?"

"Sure," Spike said as he got some parchment and a quill.

"My valued assistant Karot, in the wake of Twilight's accident, I have decided to put an end to the long distance relationship. And if you start thinking that means I am breaking up with her, shame on you by the way for even thinking that, let me clarify that the long distance part is ending. I need you to get all our possessions packed and call the movers. Because I am relocating my studio to Ponyville. While you take care of that, I am going house shopping around town. I will see you when you get here with our stuff. Your ever loving caregiver, Facet." After Spike wrote the letter, Facet took it and sealed it before using a spell to send it.

"Who's Karot?" Fluttershy asked.

Facet grinned a bit. "Twilight isn't the only pony with a dragon hatchling for an assistant."

In the following months, things went back to business as usual around Ponyville, slowly but surely. Aside from a few changes. Facet's things were relocated to a house he had bought in Ponyville, next to Sugarcube Corner to Pinkie Pie's delight. Everypony was introduced to Karot, a dragon welp about Spike's size, but colored black and red and being decidedly better behaved.

Twilight also started spending more time in Canterlot with her parents, in light of her near death experience. In particular she had managed to really bond with her father. Her family's wealth, contrary to her friends' belief, came not from being nobles, but from being in charge of a company that was even older than the Rich Corporation. Sparkle Industries had been founded by Twilight's ancestor Starlight Sparkle 1000 before, during the War of Sun and Moon. Starlight had been a true genius, providing a great many advances in his time, and the genius part seemed to be genetic. The company had thrived throughout the generations.

Twilight had been reluctant to inherit the mantle of company CEO, and her mother currently ran the company. While her father was head of R&D. Weapons in particular. That being the primary reason she had trouble bonding with him until her accident. But now it seemed she could finally bond with them both. But... with Twilight's luck, things could never be that simple.

(three months after the accident)

Twilight smiled at her father as they walked through the assembly floor of one of the Sparkle Industries plants. "I'm glad we were finally able to bond, Dad."

"So am I, Twilight," Night Light said. "So am I."

"Dad? Why does Sparkle Industries make weapons?" Twilight asked as she observed several unicorns carefully assembling a missile.

"Well Twilight," Night Light began. "Equestria is an old nation. She has a lot of enemies. and even though we have the Princesses, we still live among threats that can't always be dealt with diplomatically. And Starlight Sparkle originally founded the company to produce weapons for Celestia's army during the War of Sun and Moon. After the war, Celestia made Sparkle Industries the primary weapons contractor for the Equestrian military. Starlight himself had a saying, 'Peace means having a bigger stick than everyone else.'"

"Sounds like a glorified war monger," Twilight said.

"No. Starlight hated war," Night Light said. "He made weapons in order to protect the ponies of Equestria. We've done that ever since the company was founded."

"But he still made weapons that allowed war to be waged more effectively," Twilight said.

"Starlight had another saying," Night Light said. "'To be prepared for war is to be prepared for peace. There are times when war must be fought to safeguard one's loved ones.'"

Twilight nodded. "I think I understand. Not everypony fights because they enjoy it. They do it to protect the ponies they love."

"Exactly," Night Light said before the area was rocked by an explosion. "What was that?!"

Twilight saw an explosive land near them and jumped at her father. "Dad look out!" she screamed as she pushed him to the floor as the bomb went off, feeling sharp pains in her chest. Everything after that was a blur that she couldn't make sense of.

Twilight groaned as she came to, trying to look around as her vision cleared up. She was in a cave, surrounded by various odds and ends. Next to her was her father, who had some tears in his eyes. Across from him was a griffon.

"Good. You're awake," the griffon said.

"What's going on?" Twilight asked.

"You two are prisoners," the griffon said.

"Prisoners?" Twilight asked as she sat up, noticing her bandaged chest, which had something under the bandages, and it was connected to a large battery. "What is this?"

"I removed as much of the shrapnel as I could," the griffon said. "But there's still some in there, slowly moving toward your heart. Or it would be, if not for that electromagnet your dad put together. I put it in your chest though."

Any further conversation was cut short by the door into the room opening, letting a group of griffons, earth ponies, and a single minotaur in. The griffons and earth ponies were wielding weapons made by Sparkle industries, much to Twilight and Night Light's shock.

"Those are our guns. How did they get our guns?" Night Light asked before the minotaur stepped forward and spoke in a language that Twilight didn't understand.

"He says 'Welcome Night Light Sparkle. The greatest death dealer in the world,'" the griffon translated.

"Why are we here?" Twilight asked.

The minotaur spoke again, looking to the griffon for translation.

"He says that you're here to build weapons," the griffon said, pointing at Night Light. "He says if you refuse, he'll kill your daughter."

Twilight and Night Light both gasped in shock.

"What will it be?" the griffon asked.

Night Light sighed, a pained look on his face. "I'll do it."

Once the answer was translated, the minotaur smiled and said something before he and his soldiers left, leaving the three alone and locking them in.

"He said to put together a list of materials and they'll be delivered," the griffon said. "I'm Yinsen, by the way. Yinsen Grimfeathers."

"Nice to meet you, Yinsen," Twilight said, picking up the battery in her telekinesis and taking it over to a work table, where she started levitating tools and some specific weapons, taking them apart and pulling out pieces of metal. "That should be enough palladium."

"What are you planning, Twilight?" Night Light asked.

"First we need to make a better power source for this magnet," Twilight said. "And I know just the thing."

Over the next several hours, Twilight worked on the device that she had in mind while her father and Yinsen watched in curiosity. Once she was done, Twilight hooked it up to some other tech and flipped a switch, dimming the lights as the object began to glow with blue light.

Night Light's eyes widened. "You... made a miniature ARC reactor."

Twilight nodded. "Not as powerful as the one in the factory, but still powerful. it puts out three gigajoules per second."

"Impressive," Yinsen said in awe.

"Can you install it, Yinsen?" Twilight asked.

"Of course," Yinsen said, getting some equipment ready and sterilizing some surgical tools.

Twilight stretched after getting off the operating table. With the reactor replacing the bulky battery, she was able to move freely. She then went over to some papers and gestured for her father and Yinsen to join her, pressing the papers down on top of each other to show them what it was: a sort of armored suit for a pony to wear.

"What is that?" Night Light asked.

"That..." Twilight said with a smirk, "Is our ticket out of here."

Escape

"When faced with death, every alternative is preferable."

Twilight, Night Light, and Yinsen looked at the design before them.

"How will we build it without them taking notice?" Yinsen finally asked.

"We'd need some way to hide it," Night Light said.

"As much as it pains me to say it," Twilight began, looking at them. "The only way to hide it... is to do what they told us to do. Make weapons."

"Yes..." Night Light said, a pondering look on his face. "We'll hide the production among what we make, and then destroy the stockpile when we get out."

"Given our circumstances, that seems like the best we can do," Yinsen agreed.

"It's settled then," Twilight said, separating the sheets and going over to the forge. A sheet of metal being put into the fire while she grabbed a hammer in her telekinesis. "Let's get to work."

Night Light watched as Twilight worked the bellows to make the fire burn hotter and heat the metal faster. Then he shared a glance with Yinsen. Nodding to each other, they too set to work.

Pulling the red hot metal from the fire, Twilight set it against an anvil and started hammering it into shape. Each blow slowly but surely shaped it into what she needed it to be. Several times it was placed back in the fire to be heated again, the heat of the forge causing her coat to become matted with sweat. But still she worked. When she was satisfied with the shape, she used her magic to cut out a pair of holes and a row of four vertical slits below them. Dipping the crafted metal into a barrel of water, she closed her eyes as the sound of rapidly heating water heralded the cloud of steam.

Pulling the metal from the water, she looked at the mask of the suit as water dripped from it. Turning it around, she looked through the eye holes at the room in front of her. They could do it. This mask was the first piece. They would be free, and they were going to make these terrorists suffer.

Across the room, Night Light and Yinsen worked together to assemble the components of a missile. With each they made, some fuel from the stores would be siphoned off and hidden for their own use. Gears, hinges, motors, the armor itself. The process would be slow, but they had no reason to doubt Twilight.

Hours became days. Days became weeks. Each day followed a similar routine. Wake up with ideas, discuss them over breakfast, put together weapons for their captors while pilfering components for the suit, have a Chess game over lunch, work on the suit in the evening before dinner, and then finally go to sleep. Every week, their captors came in to get a requisition list and to check up on their progress. It was tricky, with more than one close call, but the suit's production was hidden as the days rolled by.

As their 89th day in captivity rolled into day 90, the trio sat around their table working out the final details of their escape plan.

"Alright. We stall them with the bomb Dad built, give the suit time to charge," Twilight said. "While it charges, you two take cover on either side of the door and hold the line. Once it's charged, I'll take point and clear the way. Once we're outside, we light up the explosives and get out as it all blows."

"Then it's just a matter of crossing the desert and finding help," Yinsen said.

"A tall order, but we can do it," Night Light said. "I have faith in you, Twilight."

"No matter how this ends, it ends today," Twilight said, a determined look on her face. "We stick to the plan, and we'll all walk out of this alive." Following the end of the conversation, the three retired to bed, needing to be well rested for their plan. Twilight still couldn't quite quell a feeling of dread. Like something would go wrong. After all, as the old saying goes, no plan survives contact with the enemy.

It seemed only moments later that Twilight awoke, seeing Yinsen and her father awake as well. They all shared a gaze as they got out of bed. Nodding, they set to work. Twilight put up a barrier so they could hide from the camera while Night Light attached the bomb to the door, which had been left a blind spot for the camera.

In the security room, the Commander looked at the feed of his prisoners in curiosity. They had done good work in the past three months. But something seemed off. They were ordering materials in a somewhat larger amount than what they were providing, and now they wanted to have privacy from the camera. Frowning, he sent several guards to check it out.

Twilight's telekinesis lifted the suit pieces onto her body. First she covered her chest, the ARC reactor shining through the hole that had been cut out for it. The she covered her flanks, making sure her tail was safely tucked in and not in the way of anything. Then the limbs. First her hind legs, then her forelegs were covered. She checked and double checked the flamethrowers mounted on her shoulder armor, able to be directed via her magic. On the forelegs she had mounted an RPG each for some added firepower. Finally, she put on the head covering, with the face plate coming last. She'd had to design it carefully to be able to fit her horn inside.

As Twilight suited up, Yinsen was typing away on their computer, preparing the charging program that would siphon all the room's power into the suit. "Alright. The suit's charging," the griffon said as a progress bar appeared on the screen. "So far so good." He had just gotten behind cover when the door was pushed on and the bomb detonated. "Four guards, two dead, two maimed. More are sure to come, but the blast knocked out the camera."

Yinsen and Night Light each grabbed a gun and made ready to repel an assault.

"How long?" Night Light asked.

"About three minutes," Yinsen answered before shooting a guard with a three round burst. "We should be able to last."

Night Light picked off two guards while making another retreat with a wounded leg. "We have to."

Twilight struggled to keep her breathing in check as she watched her father and Yinsen take shots at any who approached. Something wasn't right. This was going too well. They were civilians against battle hardened terrorists. Something had to go wrong at some point. She couldn't shake that feeling of dread. And then, in the final thirty seconds of charging, her bad feeling came true. As he moved to reload his gun, Night Light was struck twice in the chest by a pair of bullets before Yinsen could gun down the shooter. "Dad!" As her distraught scream left her throat, the suit finished charging and the room was plunged into darkness. Gripping the doors in her magic, Twilight slammed and held them shut as she stomped over to her father, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Dad!"

Night Light was bleeding badly, and to Yinsen's trained eyes, it was clear that he wouldn't make it. But Twilight didn't have that trained gaze. "Carry him, Yinsen. We can get help for him." She grabbed any clean rag she could in her magic, trying desperately to stop the bleeding.

"He's not going to make it, Twilight," Yinsen said sorrowfully. "There's nothing we can do."

"Don't say that!" Twilight snapped as she finally caught her father's gaze with her own. He was unable to speak thanks to the blood flooding his lungs, and some was trailing from the corner of his mouth. Lifting a trembling hoof, he tapped it twice against the ARC reactor in his daughter's chest. A silent message that she immediately understood. She gave him a tearful nod, which he returned with a loving smile before his head and hoof fell limp, his chest no longer moving. "Dad?" Her voice trembled as she looked at him. "Daddy?" Her tears flowed faster as the reality sank in.

Outside the door, the guards were getting ready to bust their way in and deal with their prisoners when the hinges gave a loud groan as they were torn free. Then the doors suddenly flew back and smashed several against the wall, the rest being fast enough to retreat. As they recovered from the shook, a loud scream echoed through the tunnels. A scream that carried sorrow and rage. A scream that promised bloody vengeance, and it made them quake in terror. Slow, loud, heavy footfalls sounded as they saw the creature approaching them. A pony shape covered in metal that their bullets bounced off of and doing nothing to hinder it. They frantically reloaded as the monster stood before them. They quickly regretted that as a magenta aura engulfed the guns and tore them away, turning them back on their users. "DIE!!!" That scream echoed all the way to the cavern entrance before gunfire erupted.

Twilight didn't acknowledge the tears in her eyes as she mowed down any that stood in her way. Blood splattered all over the walls as she perforated her enemies, leaving their bodies to rot. Behind her, Yinsen was carrying Night Light's body on his back, wrapped securely in bedding. In the end, Twilight had refused to leave her father behind, insisting on bringing his body home so that he could receive a proper burial.

As she reached the entrance to the tunnels, Twilight paused and looked over the rest of her former captors. She no longer saw people. Just monsters that had taken her father from her. Loosing another scream, she started up the flamethrowers and began advancing, lighting everything on fire as she passed it. The RPGs took out their anti air guns so that Yinsen could escape with Night Light in the chaos. Once she was positive everything was burning and about to blow, Twilight started up the thrusters in the suit's legs and took off, clearing the huge explosion that destroyed the facility. Her feeling of triumph was cut short as she ran out of fuel and started falling with a scream. Acting quickly, she used her magic on herself to soften the landing in a sand dune.

She heard Yinsen land beside her and lifted the helmet off with a groan. After extricating herself with some aid from Yinsen, she looked into the distance. "We need to get moving."

Okay. Twilight could admit that perhaps she hadn't thought this all the way through. They had escaped, but were now trudging through the desert with no idea where they were. "Are we going to die out here?"

"Don't give up hope yet, Twilight," Yinsen said. "We can still find civilization. And remember, we griffons are used to extremes like this. Granted, I'm more used to cold than blazing heat, but we evolved in deserts. Shouldn't be much different than surviving the winters of Clawberia."

Twilight nodded and saw something in the distance. Shapes in the sky that were moving fast. Against the wind. "Pegasus scouts!" Her horn's tip shining, Twilight shot a light into the air that exploded and shone brightly as a makeshift flare. Sure enough, the pegasi turned and flew toward their location. Seeing them better, Twilight saw that they were Wonderbolts. And she recognized one of them quickly. "Rainbow Dash!"

The chromatic pegasus landed near Twilight and galloped over to her. "Twilight!" She engulfed her friend in a tight hug as Soarin and Spitfire landed. "You okay, Twilight?"

"I'll live," Twilight said, a tear cutting through the sand matting her fur as she looked at her father's wrapped body on Yinsen's back. "But... my dad..."

Spitfire uncovered Night Light's face and closed her eyes, a sorrowful look on her face. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Soarin worked his radio. "This is Soarin. We've found Twilight Sparkle. Repeat, we've found Twilight Sparkle."

"And Night Light?" the voice on the other end inquired.

"He didn't make it," Soarin answered somberly. "Have a casket ready."

"Understood," the radio operator answered. "We'll have medical personnel ready too."

"Copy that," Soarin said.

Dash did her best to wipe Twilight's tears away. "Let's get you home."

Author's Note

Apologies for the long wait. Had writers block and was working on some other stuff. But hopefully I can get this series rolling again. I thank you for your patience.

Changes

"If you want to make enemies, try to change something."

Throughout the journey back to Equestria, Twilight hadn't said a word. Rainbow Dash couldn't say she understood what her friend was going through, still having both of her own parents. But she was determined to do whatever she could for Twilight. She may not have been able to understand her pain, but she could give her friend a shoulder to cry on. And that was exactly what she did. She didn't leave Twilight's side once, and the griffon she had escaped with wasn't divulging details, saying that it was Twilight's place to tell instead of his.

Coming out of her thoughts, Dash focused on the fact that the airship was landing outside Canterlot palace. Guiding her puffy eyed friend to the lowering ramp, she slowly walked Twilight down onto solid ground. Yinsen, Soarin, and Spitfire walking beside the casket that held Night Light's body.

Twilight looked at the friends and loved ones she had missed those past months. Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were there and quick to hug her. After they released her, she was embraced by her teacher, burying her face in the solar princess' coat as she choked back a sob.

"Welcome home, Twilight," Celestia softly said as she released her student and allowed her to be embraced by her mother. Her heart stung as she watched mother and daughter silently mourn their lost loved one. She hated seeing her little ponies suffer so. She could however draw some consolation from the fact that Night Light had died protecting his daughter, as any devoted parent was prepared to do.

Twilight finally tore her gaze from her mother and allowed it to pan around. She didn't see Spike, but she was happy to see Facet. Locking eyes with him, she slowly walked toward him, being met halfway and embracing her love. She felt the corner of her mouth twitch a tiny bit upward as she felt him trembling. He schooled himself well, but she could see through the calm face.

"I was so worried," Facet whispered as he held her. "I could barely eat, I had such bad nightmares that Princess Luna had to intervene more than once so that I could sleep." He hugged her closer. "Don't ever scare me like that again."

"I'm sorry, Facet," Twilight answered, planting a kiss on his cheek. "You kept me strong during that ordeal. You and our friends."

"Let's get you inside," Facet said as he finally released her. "You could probably use a home cooked meal after what you've been through."

Twilight gave him a small smile even as her stomach growled. "I really could. Thanks, Facet."

After getting her fill of both her mother's and Facet's cooking, Twilight looked at her assembled friends and family. "Where is Spike?"

"We... Don't know," Rarity said hesitantly. "He disappeared after you were abducted."

"We're still looking for him, but haven't found anything," Dash explained.

"I see," Twilight muttered. "Mom? Can I talk to you alone?"

"Of course, sweetie," Velvet said, gesturing for the others to leave them. She couldn't help smiling a bit at Facet planting a kiss on Twilight's cheek as he passed her. He would make a fine son-in-law someday. She waited until the doors had shut to speak again. "What do you want to talk about?"

"The terrorists that held me and Dad prisoner..." Twilight began. "They were armed with weapons made by Sparkle Industries." She ignored her mother's shocked gasp. "The weapons my father designed to protect the ponies in the Equestrian military were what ultimately killed him. Effective immediately, I'm taking over as CEO of Sparkle Industries. I need you to call a press conference so that I can make that known, and announce some other changes I have in mind."

Velvet could tell her daughter was dead serious. "Alright. I'll make the arrangements, Twilight."

"Thank you," Twilight answered with a nod.

The central square in Canterlot was abuzz with activity as the journalists got settled in and news crews got ready to broadcast live throughout Equestria. At the podium stood Velvet, dressed in a black dress like Twilight, who stood to her side. On Velvet's other side stood Trixie Lulamoon. The former showmare had turned over a new leaf after the incident with the Alicorn Amulet, and decided to join the military. And now here she stood, at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and acting as the military's middlemare to Sparkle Industries.

Velvet got the signal that they were live and raised her hoof in a silent request for silence. "My family has been struck by tragedy. While my daughter Twilight has been returned home safely... Her father, my husband Night Light, lost his life protecting her. But we won't let this loss get us down forever. Twilight has insisted on taking over as CEO of Sparkle Industries, and I am here today to introduce her in that role."

The reporters clamored to have their questions answered as Velvet stepped down to let Twilight take the podium. Raising a hoof, she pointed to a random journalist.

"What happened to you overseas, Ms. Sparkle?" the reporter inquired, his quill and notepad held in his telekinetic grip.

"What happened to me?" Twilight repeated. "What happened was that my father and I were taken prisoner by a terrorist cell armed with weapons from Sparkle Industries." She waited for the crowd's gasp to pass. "My father was killed by the weapons he had designed. Weapons intended to protect the ponies of our military." She adopted a frightening glare. "I don't know who in my company has been dealing under the table, but whoever it is will pay!" She took a deep breath. "Effective immediately, all weapons development projects at Sparkle Industries will be discontinued, and all our weapon contracts with the military are null and void!" She had to magically amplify her voice to make the rest of her statement heard. "I'm taking Sparkle Industries in a new direction. A body count will not be our legacy!" With that, she turned and walked away from the podium, teleporting away before anyone could stop her.

Twilight stood in silent contemplation as she regarded the ARC reactor that powered the Sparkle Industries facility. This one was imperfect though. Lacking the efficiency of the one in her chest.

"You sure about this move, Sparkle?" a female voice asked from behind her.

Turning, Twilight saw her new business partner. "Silver Tiara. Yes. I'm sure about this move." She looked back at the ARC reactor. "We'll be looking into ARC reactor technology again."

"The ARC reactor? Seriously?" Silver asked incredulously. "That was a publicity stunt! It was built to shut the nature lovers up! We haven't had a breakthrough in..."

"A thousand years?" Twilight asked while turning to her. "I made one." She undid her dress enough to show the glowing device in her chest.

Silver's eyes widened ever so slightly. "Is that really..."

"Yes," Twilight said as she covered it back up. "Starlight was limited by the technology of his time. But I'm going to perfect it."

"Sparkle..." Silver began. "Think of what this could do for Equestria's military. A new generation of weapons with the ARC reactor at its heart."

"No." Twilight's tone was firm. "We are not going to use ARC reactor technology to make war. It will be used for the people. For peaceful applications." Before Silver could speak again, Twilight teleported away.

Twilight looked at her new and improved ARC reactor. It was vastly superior to the one currently in her chest, with four times the power output. Carefully removing the old one, she took a deep breath after attaching the new one and settling it into her chest.

"Twilight?" She heard Dash's voice as the pegasus entered her lab. "You wanted to talk to me?" She saw the old ARC reactor in Twilight's telekinetic grip. "What is that?"

"This... is what was keeping me alive," Twilight said as she sat it on the table. "This will be keeping me alive for the foreseeable future."

"What happened that made you put that in your chest?" Dash asked, her voice dead serious.

Twilight sighed. "There's a cluster of shrapnel trying to worm its way into my heart. This ARC reactor is powering an electromagnet that's holding it back."

"Dear Celestia..." Dash muttered. "Who else knows?"

"Mom, Facet, and Silver Tiara. But Silver doesn't know it's keeping me alive," Twilight said. "But that's not what I called you here for." She went over to her computer and started typing. "Dusk, you awake?"

"For you ma'am, always," the AI answered.

"Open a new project file. Index as Mark II," Twilight instructed.

"Shall I store this on the Sparkle Industries central database?" Dusk inquired.

"Keep everything on my private server until I know who I can trust," Twilight answered while bring up a hologram on her suit on the hologram table.

"Working on a secret project?" Dusk asked.

"Just don't want it winding up in the wrong hooves," Twilight said as she looked the hologram over, discarding pieces from the design and beginning to refine it.

"What is that, Twilight?" Dash asked as she looked at the hologram.

"This... Is how I escaped captivity," Twilight said. "And now I'm going to refine it and perfect it."

"You're about to make a lot of ponies very happy," Dash said. "Especially after that stunt at the press conference."

"This isn't for the military," Twilight said as she started gather materials. "I will only certain individuals that I trust to use this technology I'm developing."

"Twilight, the military needs something like this," Dash said. "I'm not sure I can be part of this and not keep quiet about it to my superiors."

"I understand," Twilight said. "Just Pinkie Promise that you'll keep everything we've talked about to yourself."

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," Dash said, going through the motions of the unbreakable vow.

Twilight nodded. "Thank you, Rainbow Dash."

"Sure thing, Twi," Dash said, patting her friend on the shoulder. "I'll let you work." The only sounds in the lab as she left was Twilight's tools as she started putting together the first piece of her improved suit.

Twilight slipped into that familiar zone that once only came when she was studying. Her breathing steady as her eyes flitted about her project, piece by piece they came together. In what seemed only a short time to the unicorn, she had assembled the boots of the suit. She smiled at her good work and donned them.

"Okay. Let's do this right." Twilight said as she stepped into a clear space. "Test 1. Gonna start nice and easy with 10% thrust capacity, see if that achieves lift. In three... two... one." Next thing she knew she was on the floor behind a table with a full body ache from slamming into the ceiling. "Ow..."

First Flight

"Day five, test 15. Seriously, starting off easy. 1% thrust capacity," Twilight said as she stood ready to test again. She was still aching from getting slammed around by her thruster boots. "In three... two... one." The thrusters kicked on and she began hovering a foot or so off the ground, carefully keeping herself steady and landing after several seconds. "So far so good. Alright, let's bring it up to 2.5%. Three... two... one." This time she was pushed a bit higher into the air and started floating about the lab slowly. "We're still okay." She then noticed the chemistry area coming up. "Okay this is where I don't wanna be!" She carefully avoided passing over the table full of chemicals. Figuring out how to control her flight, she moved back to her starting point and landed. "Okay. I can fly."

Twilight spent the next day putting together a suit and put it on. "Dusk, you there?" she asked as she put the faceplate on.

"At your service, ma'am," the AI answered.

"Engage Heads Up Display."

"Check."

"Import all preferences from home interface."

"At once, ma'am." Twilight did a walk around as she watched her preferences pass across the screen while being uploaded. "Upload complete. We're online and ready."

"Do a virtual walk around," Twilight instructed.

"Calibrating virtual environment," Dusk answered.

"Do a check on control surfaces."

"As you wish." Twilight watched the HUD display as the suit's various flight control panels were tested. "Test complete. Preparing to power down and begin diagnostics."

"Scratch that," Twilight said. "Do a weather check and start listening in on ATC."

"Ma'am there are still terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight is-"

"Dusk. I know what I'm doing," Twilight assured. "Ready? Three, two, one." The thrusters kicked on and propelled her into a hover. "Here we go." She tilted her hooves and poured on more power, being propelled out of the cargo door and into the open air. "Woooo!!!" She couldn't help letting out that cheer as she flew over the Everfree forest. "I'm starting to see why Dash loves this so much!" She did a number of spins as she flew around town and over Sweet Apple Acres, seeing the Cutie Mark Crusaders camping outside their clubhouse with her HUD's telescoping feature. "Let's see how high we can go." Looking skyward, Twilight began her ascent into the heavens. The lights of Ponyville quickly becoming pinpricks.

"Ma'am, a potentially fatal buildup of ice is beginning," Dusk informed her.

"Keep going," Twilight said as she kept ascending. "Let's see how far we get before the icing stops us."

"As you wish," Dusk answered with what sounded like hesitation as they flew higher and higher, the ice continuing to build up.

When the thrusters finally gave out and the suit's systems totally shut down, Twilight grabbed the manual release for the flaps in her telekinesis as she made mental notes. When she was done, she deployed the flaps and broke the ice away, kicking the thrusters on and resuming stable flight toward her library once everything had rebooted. "Dusk, take note. Main transducer feels sluggish at plus 40 altitude. Elevation ceiling before total system shut down is approximately 90,000 ft above sea level. Hull pressurization is also problematic. Likely due to aforementioned icing."

"A very astute observation, ma'am," Dusk said as they landed in the lab and Twilight began removing the suit. "Perhaps if you intend to explore Princess Luna's domain, we should improve the exosystems."

"Reconfigure the shell metals. Use the gold titanium alloy in the Royal Guard standard issue armor. That should ensure fuselage integrity while maintaining the power to weight ratio," Twilight instructed.

"Shall I render using proposed specifications?" Dusk inquired as Twilight sat at her desk and poured herself a drink.

"Of course," Twilight answered as she sipped her drink, watching the render take shape on one of the computer monitors.

"The render is complete," Dusk said, the screen showing a gold colored suit.

"That... is the most ostentatious thing I've ever seen," Twilight said. "Make it purple with the gold for accents." She finished her drink and smiled once the render was updated. "I like that. Put it together."

"Commencing automated assembly," Dusk said. "Estimated completion time: five hours."

Twilight looked at the clock and smiled. "In the meantime, I've got a date. Don't wait up."

Twilight smiled as she saw Facet waiting for her outside their favorite restaurant. "Hope you weren't waiting long, Facet."

"Not at all, love," Facet said, smiling back after pecking her on the lips. "You look beautiful." His eyes roamed over her dress, recognizing his sister's work.

"And you look so handsome," Twilight answered with a giggle. "Shall we?"

"We shall," Facet said, walking with her into the restaurant. "Reservation for Belle and Sparkle."

"Right this way," the host said with a friendly smile as he led them to their table on the second floor balcony. Which gave them a wonderful view of Canterlot and the night sky.

"It's such a beautiful view," Twilight said as she and Facet sat down, smiling at her coltfriend.

"It pales compared to you, Twilight," Facet said, smiling at the blush he got from her. "Seems like forever since our last date."

"Yeah," Twilight agreed, looking at the waiter. "A bottle of wine, please." She smiled at Facet as the waiter trotted away to procure the wine. "I'm just glad I can finally spend some quality time with you."

"Me too, Twilight," Facet said, levitating a jewelry box over to her. "A little welcome home present."

Twilight took the box in her own magic and opened it, letting out a small gasp as she pulled out the ornate necklace in it. Intertwined gold and silver with pearls, diamonds, and a flawless ruby. "Facet... It's beautiful." She gave him a loving smile as his magic aura took the necklace and fastened it around her neck.

"And it makes you even more beautiful," Facet said. "It's the work of my own hooves."

Twilight giggled. "I'll be right back. Need to visit the little fillies room."

"I'm not going anywhere," Facet said, giving her a knowing smile.

Twilight headed to the restroom and smiled as she looked in the mirror. She loved the jewelry he made her. Such an artistic mind. Facet saw beauty in everything, even her nerdy moments. Part of why she fell in love with him.

"That's a very nice necklace," a mare beside her said.

"Thanks," Twilight said with a smile. "My coltfriend made it for me." She then noticed she was talking to a very familiar looking pegasus. "Aren't you the mailmare?"

Ditzy Doo turned and looked at Twilight, sans derpy eye and all business. "It's my cover." She showed her a badge. "Agent Ditzy Doo. Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"That's quite the mouthful," Twilight quipped.

"That's what acronyms are for," Ditzy replied. "Just call us S.H.I.E.L.D."

"And what do you want with me?" Twilight asked, falling into a similar business tone.

"We need to debrief you about the circumstances of your escape from captivity," Ditzy said. "There's a lot of unanswered questions."

"Can it wait?" Twilight asked. "I'm on a date."

Ditzy pulled an envelope from under her wing. "Look these over when you get home. You know where to find me." Leaving her with the envelope, Ditzy left the restroom.

Twilight leaned on Facet as they entered the library. "I had a wonderful time, Facet." She put her foreleg around his neck and pulled him into a tender kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too," Facet said, smiling at her before noticing the envelope she had been given. "What's this?"

Twilight pulled it out with her magic. "Almost forgot about it. Ditzy Doo gave it to me. Wonder what it is." Opening the envelope, she pulled out a series of pictures. Looking through them, they saw terrorists armed with Sparkle Industries weapons, and timestamps that showed they were taken the day before.

"I thought you shut down the weapons division," Facet said.

"I did," Twilight said. "Someone is still selling." Going into the lab, Facet following her, she tossed the pictures onto a work table and went to the computer. "Dusk. Is the Mark III ready?"

"As of ten minutes ago, ma'am," the AI answered.

"Increase the strength of the repulsers and add in the following devices," Twilight instructed as she typed.

"At once, ma'am," Dusk said.

"What are you doing, Twilight?" Facet asked. "What's the Mark III?" He then noticed the Mark II. "And what is that?"

"The Mark II," Twilight said. "The Mark I was how I escaped captivity."

"You mean... You've built a suit of armor that I'm guessing is powered by that thing in your chest?" Facet asked.

"That's right," Twilight said. "A secret project that aside from you, only Rainbow Dash knows about. I swore her to secrecy."

"Then consider me sworn to secrecy too," Facet said. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." He went through the motions of the Pinkie Promise without hesitation. "If you need anything, just tell me. I'll do whatever I can to help you."

"Calibrations and adjustments complete," Dusk announced.

"Time to suit up then," Twilight said as she changed into a black formfitting bodysuit. Her ARC reactor glow shining through it.

Facet watched as she stepped onto a tiled section of the floor that opened up and lifted a pair of boot like objects that she slipped her front hooves into, letting the sliding platforms slide her forward and allow her hind hooves to step into an identical pair of boots. A number of robotic arms folded out holding what he guessed to be the rest of the suit and started putting them into place on Twilight's body. The mare slowly being covered head to hoof by the purple and gold suit.

"After she was suited up, Twilight turned and looked at Facet. "I'm going to find that weapon stockpile and destroy it. My company's double dealing will end one way or another." With that, the faceplate slid down, the eyes lighting up before she took off out the cargo door and into the night, setting a course for the region named on the pictures. Coltmira. Over the Everfree, she went supersonic.

Iron Mare

Rainbow Dash was beside herself with anger as she landed in front of Twilight's front door. Knocking on it, she waited impatiently. As she raised her hoof to knock harder, the door was opened by Facet. "Where's Twilight?"

"Why do you seem so angry, Rainbow Dash?" Facet asked as he stood in the doorway, denying her entry. "If you're mad at Twilight, tell me why."

Rainbow shoved past the stallion and started looking around. "Twilight! Where are you?!" Ear twitching, she went to the door that led down to Twilight's laboratory and opened it, going down the stairs.

"Rainbow wait!" Facet called as he followed after her. "Twilight isn't taking visitors right now!"

Rainbow ignored him as she approached the lab, hearing yelps of pain.

"Be gentle, would you?!" Twilight demanded as mechanical arms tried with thus far limited success to remove her beaten and battered suit.

"Ma'am, the more you struggle, the more this is going to hurt," Dusk Shine calmly responded as he kept attempting to remove the armor.

"I designed this to come off!" Twilight snapped back as a piece of her suit was removed. "Progress!" She exclaimed triumphantly before the door burst open. Looking to it, she saw Rainbow Dash and Facet in the mare's wake.

"I'm sorry, Twilight. I tried to stop her," Facet said apologetically.

Twilight stared at Rainbow in silence for several seconds. "Let's face it. This is not the worst thing you've caught me doing."

After the suit was finally removed and Twilight was at her desk with some ice packs, Rainbow was still furious even as Twilight was designing a new suit. "Rainbow, what's this about?"

"You know damn well what this is about!" Rainbow shouted. "What the hay were you thinking pulling a stunt like that?! You do not send civilian equipment into my active war zone!"

"That was not a piece of equipment, it was a suit!" Twilight corrected with a glare as she turned away from her computer and telekinetically grabbed the pictures Ditzy had given her, shoving them into her friend's face. "Somepony in my company is still selling weapons to terrorists. I will not abide that technology being in the hooves of such evil!"

"Then do something about it within your company!" Rainbow snapped back. "You have to go through the proper channels for something like this!"

"The proper channels won't get anything done!" Twilight shouted. "This is a personal mission for me, Rainbow! Those weapons were what killed my father! He died in my hooves! I have to do this Rainbow! It has to be me! Somepony else might get it wrong!" Tears streamed down Twilight's face as she relived the painful memory of watching her father die. "The terrorists that held me captive... When Dad died I... I just snapped." She looked into her friend's magenta eyes. "I killed them. Every single one of them. Not just at their hideout, but the ones that were in Coltmira too."

Rainbow was struck silent at Twilight's outburst. She could see just how important this was to her friend. She knew she should bring it to the attention of her superiors, but she was torn between that loyalty and her loyalty to her friend. Ultimately, the Pinkie Promise she had made was the deciding factor. "Alright. I'll try to keep the skies clear whenever you go out. Just... Be careful Twilight." She eyed the bullet holes and scorch marks on Twilight's suit with apprehension.

"I will," Twilight said. "I won't be using the Mark III anymore though. For the foreseeable future, the Mark IV will be my suit of choice." She turned back to her designing. "Dusk, make note that we need to improve the integrity of the suit's armor against ballistic impacts."

"Of course, ma'am," Dusk replied as Twilight sipped a glass of an odd green concoction.

Rainbow sighed. "Regardless. Your little stunt is all over the news." Grabbing the remote to the lab's TV, she flipped it to the news channel.

"In other news. Authorities are still baffled by the surprise appearance of a mysterious armored pony that liberated the town of Coltmira from terrorist occupation," The anchormare, Hot News gestured to cycling images of Twilight in her suit as she fought the terrorists. "The military's official statement is that they were uninvolved in the strike, and that they are investigating the pony in question."

The broadcast then cut to another news pony interviewing a civilian from Coltmira. "The armored pony was a mare," she said. "She saved my husband and son from being shot, destroyed their weapons, and brought the leader to us. She said he was all ours. He will not trouble us again. Whoever this mare is, we are forever in her debt and will never forget what she did for us."

The news pony brought his microphone to his mouth as the camera focused on him. "Well this mysterious savior is certainly popular with the ponies of Coltmira."

Rainbow turned off the TV and pulled up a Snoutbook feed on one of the computer screens Twilight wasn't using. "You're all over Snoutbook too."

Twilight and Facet looked at the feed and saw all the comments about Twilight. "Iron Mare?" The former asked with an arched eyebrow. "Kind of a misnomer. The suit is made of a gold/titanium alloy. And those aren't lasers I was firing."

"Then what were they?" Rainbow asked with a tilt of her head.

"Repulsor blasts," Twilight replied after drinking more of her green concoction. "The repulsors draw power directly from the ARC reactor in my chest to fire high mass, negatively charged muons as a concussive energy attack."

"Once an egghead, always an egghead," Rainbow muttered. "Hey, Facet. Could you let me talk to Twilight alone for a bit?"

"Anything you want to ask her you can ask while I'm here," Facet replied with a frown as he stepped closer to his marefriend.

"It's alright, Facet. Give us a few minutes," Twilight said softly. "Maybe brew us some tea?"

Facet relented after several seconds of silence and pecked Twilight on the lips before heading upstairs. Only after he was gone did Rainbow speak again.

"Alright. Why are you suddenly drinking chlorophyll? I never pegged you for a health nut." Rainbow was giving Twilight an even more serious gaze than she had been before. Her anger was replaced by concern for what she saw as out of character behavior.

"A girl can't start taking better care of her body after a near death experience and months of captivity give her a healthy appreciation for life?" Twilight as she set Dusk to assembling her new suit.

"Taking care of your body is one thing, but out of all of our circle of friends, I'm the biggest health nut. Comes with the Wonderbolt territory, and chlorophyll is one of those things you don't start drinking unless you're paranoid about something affecting you. Now spill it, Twilight." Rainbow stared Twilight down without a single blink as she spoke.

"Ma'am, perhaps we should share the truth with Ms. Dash," Dusk suggested in what Rainbow could never mistake as anything other than concern.

Twilight sighed and drained her glass before turning to her friend. "This ARC reactor in my chest. It uses cores made from palladium. Palladium is a heavy metal, and this reactor is powering what amounts to a pacemaker. That palladium is getting leaked into my bloodstream little by little. Without proper management, it'll build up until it eventually hits a lethal dose. Hence the chlorophyll. It can bind and flush out the palladium."

"Then replace it with something else!" Rainbow snapped in alarm and worry. "If you know it's poisoning you then why are you still using it?!"

"Because I haven't found a replacement element yet," Twilight replied. "I've been trying ever since I got home."

"I have been running simulations of every known element," Dusk Shine chimed in. "Thus far none can serve as a viable replacement for the palladium core. As it stands, the device that is keeping Ms. Sparkle alive is also killing her."

"It'll be okay," Twilight insisted. "As long as I keep up the chlorophyll drinking I should be okay for at least six months. Plenty of time to figure this out."

"Does Facet know?" Rainbow asked.

"Yeah. I told him everything," Twilight confirmed with a small smile. "He's been so supportive. I'm so lucky to have him."

Rainbow couldn't help but share in her smile. "You really are, Twi."

In the deserts where Twilight and her father had been held captive, a secret meeting was being held in the camp of the terrorists that had been responsible. What was left of them anyway. Twilight had been extremely thorough in her purge of them, but a few had managed to elude her, and now hid in the shadows licking their wounds.

In the tent of the group's new leader, said leader was meeting with their benefactor, and was very unhappy. "You see what Sparkle did to me?!" He demanded as he gestured to his scarred face.

"Well if you had killed her and her father like you were told to, you'd still have half a face," his benefactor smugly replied as they took a sip of their tea. "So that... suit is how she escaped you?"

"Yes. Managed to construct it right under our noses. Though this was only her first crude effort. Sparkle has perfected her design and put it to use."

"Indeed. Your decimation is all over the news in Equestria."

"Still. The suit is potent. A stallion with ten could conquer most of the continent. So here's what I propose. I give you this suit, and in return you give a gift of iron soldiers."

His benefactor chuckled as they reached over and put a hoof on his shoulder, a faint piercing sound entering his ear and paralyzing him. "That will not be necessary," they replied as they closed the device making the sound and removed their protective ear plugs. Leaving the stallion paralyzed, they stepped outside, where the remains of the cell were held at gunpoint by the benefactor's own people. "Pack it all up. No witnesses." As they walked toward their airship, the sound of gunfire rent the air.

Author's Note

Took a while, but I'm getting back into the swing of things. If you like the fic, then feel free to leave a comment, like, fave, and follow. If you want to help me out more, then come support me on Patreon, goes a long way in supporting future content. Even a dollar pledge brings me closer to godhood, my precious fans.