Iron Mare

Lightning Dust groaned as she woke up on a cot  in what appeared to be a big dark cave, lit only by a small crackling fire. Not far from Lightning, a brown Earth Pony mare with a black mane and tail wearing part of a suit combed her mane.

Lightning then saw a cup of water, which would probably help her with her searing throat. But, as she reached for it, she ended up knocking it to the ground. She turned herself over to grab the cup.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said the mare.

Lightning looked on the other side of the cot to see what looked like a car battery with wires attached to it that seemed to lead…

In a panic, Lightning tore off the filthy bandages on her chest. Surgically attached just above her breasts was a circular device that almost resembled some kind of plug.

Lightning, horrified, sat up very carefully. “What  the Tartarus did you do to me?” she demanded.

The mare chuckled. “What I did to you saved your life. I removed all the shrapnel I could, but there’s still a lot left, and it’s headed right for your heart,” she said, tossing Lightning a small vial. "I've seen more wounds like those in my village than I would care to count. We call them the walking dead, because it takes about a week for the barbs to pierce the vital organs," explained the mare.

"And this is?" asked Lightning, pointing at the device in her chest.

"An electromagnet hooked up to a car battery. And it's keeping the shrapnel from entering your heart," said the mare. "You know, we actually met once at a technical conference in Haytaly back in 2000."

"Only thing I remember about that is that botanist and his project, what was it called... EXTREMIS," said Lightning.

The mare looked impressed. "I'm surprised you remember anything about that night. If it were me, I wouldn't even remember how I got there," she said.

Just then, a voice started yelling in a foriegn dialect.

"Come on! Stand up! Do as I do!" hissed the mare.

Very carefully, Lightning Dust stood up and put her hands behind her head as a small squad of armed Diamond Dogs entered. Lightning realized what the Dogs were holding.

"Those are my guns. How the buck did they get my guns?" asked Lightning.

"Shut up and do as I do!" hissed the mare.

A burly Diamond Dog entered and started speaking in the same dialect as before, which the mare translated for Lightning.

"He says 'welcome Lightning Dust, the most famous mass murderer in Equestrian history. He is honored,'" the mare translated.

As the dog continued speaking, he gave the mare a picture.

"He wants you to build the Hailfire missle you demonstrated, the one in the picture," said the mare, showing Lightning Dust the picture.

Lightning looked the Diamond Dog right in the eye and said, "Go buck yourselves and give me my guns back."

For that little remark, the Diamond Dogs grabbed Lightning Dust and stuck her head into a water barrel, only allowing her to breathe for a few seconds between each dunk.

As she was tortured, Lightning had an idea, one that could serve as an alternative to the car battery magnet.

Once the Dogs were finished torturing Lightning, a wool sack was placed over her head as well as the head of her fellow captive. As they were led through the twisting caves, Lightning was making very careful notes about the route they were taking.

Finally, the two captives arrived at the entrance to the caves, where the lead Diamond Dog gave the order to remove the hoods.

Wincing in the bright sunlight, Lightning and the mare were led into the center of what looked like the base camp of an extermist group. With a growing disgust, Lightning saw several crates with Dust Industries on them.

The lead Diamond Dog spoke again, and the mare translated, "He wants to know what you think."

"I think you've got too many of my weapons for me to be comfortable with," said Lightning.

The Diamond Dog continued speaking as the mare translated, "They have everything you need to build the Hailfire missle. He wants you to make the list of materials. He wants you to start immediately and when you're done, he'll set you free."

The Diamond Dog held out his claw, and Lightning had no choice but to shake it.

"No, he won't," said Lightning.

"No, he won't," said the mare.

~

Back in the cave, the mare and Lightning sat around the fire.

"Look, what you just saw out there. That's your legacy, Lightning: your life's work, designed to protect and save lives, in the hands of terrorists! Is that really how you want to go out?" said the mare. When Lightning didn't respond, she pressed on, "Is this the last act of defiance, of the great Lightning Dust? Or are you going to do something about it?"

"Why should I bother doing anything? They'll kill us both either way, and even if they don't, it's game over for me in a week," said Lightning.

"Well, then I suppose this is a very important week for you, isn't it?" said the mare.

~

It took about a day for the Diamond Dogs to get the cave fully outfited for everything Lightning Dust needed. As she and the mare, who was named Black Smith, worked, a process that included melting down palladium, Smith told Lightning what they were up against. Their captors were an extermist group known as the Ten Collars, and that they'd been buying weapons from Dust Industries for a few years.

Finally, after about four days, Lightning and Smith had built something, but it wasn't a missile. It was a small device similar to the magnet in Lightning's chest, except it had a blue glow coming from it.

Lightning smirked when Smith pointed this out. "That's because it's a miniatureized ARC Reactor. I've got a full-sized one powering my factory at home. This oughta keep the shrapnel out of my heart," she said.

"But, what could it generate?" asked Smith.

"Well, if my math is right, and it always is, three gigajoules per second," said Lightning.

"That could run your heart for 50 lifetimes," said Smith in amazement.

"That or it could run something big for fifteen minutes. Now, come on, I want to show you something," said Lightning as she got up and walked over to the table. She grabbed three sheets of drawing paper as Smith followed her.

"This," said Lightning as she positioned the papers. "Is our ticket out."

"What is it?" asked Smith.

"Why don't you flatten them out and look?" asked Lightning.

Smith did, and her jaw dropped at what she saw.

It was the diagram of a pegasus wearing a clunky, but clearly effective, suit of robotic armor.