Iron Mare

by AidanofVT

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Adventure, Crossover, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 5947

Twilight Sparkle will become the Iron Mare.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention; when Twilight Sparkle is faced with dire necessity, she creates the mother of all inventions. But is it what Equestria really needs, or will Sparkle's creations cause more harm than good? Find out, as Twilight Sparkle builds herself into... Iron Mare.

Published 2014-11-12 06:20:08 UTC
Last updated 2014-11-12 06:20:08 UTC

Mk. I

Author's Note

This story takes place pre-season four; Twilight is a unicorn. Be sure to leave feedback on this story; whether or not I continue it will depend on the response from readers.

Mk. I

Twilight Sparkle woke to the sight of pain. Her vision swam, and colored lights popped against the darkness of her environment. She felt a hoof placed on her chest; she must have been lying down.

"Easy there," said an aged male voice, "you've made quite a recovery, but you're not quite there yet."

Twilight turned her head towards the voice, but her sight was still too murky to make out more than a grey figure. An earth pony, probably. "Rrrgh," she managed. She tried to inhale, to speak, but her breath was extremely shallow. She could feel her heart starting to race.

What's going on?

She tried to get up, but her body did not obey her; it was too weak.

"Easy, easy," said the voice, "lie down, you need to rest."

Twilight stared at the figure, her eyes unfocused but pleading.

"Telling you where you are would just make you more anxious. All you need to know now is that you're alive and recovering," he said. He gave her a light pat on the shoulder, and she passed out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight woke to the sound of raspy voices, shouting.

"We come in here every day, and it's always the same. He's sitting, and she's sleeping! Why do we have to feed them if they're not working?!"

"Shaddup, you. And you! She's been out for so long, she's probably gonna starve to death if she doesn't wake up soon! Whaddaya have to say about that?"

"I'm sorry, I've done everything I can, really. She just needs rest."

"She's been resting for more than a week!”

"She'll wake up soon, I promise. She came to for a bit this morning."

"Yeah, well, Shealah's getting tired of waiting. Keep that in mind while you eat her food."

"Of course."

A pause, then a door slammed and a lock rattled. Twilight opened her eyes to the sight of a dank cavern.

"Where am I?" she asked to nopony in particular.

"Ah, speaking now, are we?" said distantly familiar voice. Twilight turned her head to face a grey old stallion. He wore small rimless spectacles, and a long grey mustache flowed from his face. He looked at her benevolently as he stirred a steaming bowl of broth.

"Who are you? Where am I?" asked Twilight.

"My name is Coals, and we are underground, stuck in a prison cell together," he said.

Twilight tried to offer a hoof in greeting, but he waved at her, saying "No, stay still, you're very weak."

"I feel pretty good, actually. How long was I out?" she asked.

"Eight days," replied Coals, "can you stand? The faster you get on your feet, the better for both of us."

"Yeah I- aaah. That does hurt, actually," said Twilight. She looked down at her body, finding it covered in stitches and bandages.

"What happened? Why am I here? Did I commit some kind of crime? What did I do?

"I don't know," said Coal, "I've been here for a month. Eight days ago, they brought you in here. You were a complete wreck, totally unconscious. It was a good thing, at first, because I didn't have any anesthetic to work with, but after a few days I started to wonder if you were in a coma."

"Thank you, Coals," said Twilight, "Who's 'they'?"

"Feldspar dogs, they call themselves. Their leader's a bitch named Shealah," said Coals, "I'm sure she'll want to talk to you, now that you're awake."

Over the next few hours, Twilight slowly regained her constitution, and by the time supper was served to them, she was standing. Just as Coals had predicted, their host was summoned the instant Twilight was seen awake. Shealah rushed into the room after mere moments. She was taller than her peons, and judging by the way they regarded her, she derived intense loyalty from them. Shealah looked Twilight up and down, appraising her. Eventually, she spoke: "Welcome, Miss Twilight Sparkle. I've heard many impressive things about you."

"Flattery is a strange way to start a conversation with your prisoner," said Twilight, "What do you want from me?"

"I only want you to do what you love: to teach. You will teach us to make your new gold alloy."

"How do you know about that?" demanded Twilight.

"I have my ways; it does not matter to you how I came to know of it's existence. All that matters is that you ensure I learn how to create it."

"What do feldspar dogs want with gold?" questioned Twilight.

Shealah scowled: "Feldspar has been unprofitable for too long. We no longer want to spend our lives scraping from the earth rocks which are merely semi-precious."

"Okay, well, you may as well let me go now, because it would be impossible for you to make my alloy. It has unicorn magic in it; thus it can only be made by unicorns," said Twilight.

Shealah scowled, but quickly regained her composure: "I suspected as much. But no matter; I always have a plan B. You will make the metal for us."

"What are you going to do with it?" asked Twilight.

"You mean, what will you do with it? You will forge weapons. Mostly spearheads." replied Shealah.

"I would never. I don't do weapons," said Twilight.

"Then you will die," replied Shealah, "The terms of our arrangement are very simple: you will make weapons for us, or you will die."

"What's to stop me from just walking out of here?" asked Twilight, "You said that you know about me; you do understand that you can't keep me here."

Shealah tapped a woven bracelet on her left arm, then gesture at the dogs around her. They all wore similar braided bracelets. "Magic-feedback resonators. We all have them, so don't try to do anything I wouldn't want you to."

"Bologna!" said Twilight, reaching out with what little magic she could manage in her weakened state, "Why, even just looking at that junk I can tell that- GAH!" Twilight was set upon by a dizzying migraine. It was fortunate that her magic was pathetically weak right then, or she could have been seriously injured.

"Wah?" Twilight stammered, her headache quickly receding, "That's extremely advanced magic! How could you possibly...?! Who is-”

"Again," interrupted Shealah, "It does not matter to you, as long as you comply with my wishes."

"Well..." huffed Twilight, "If I can't escape... then you should just kill me now. I'm not going to spend my life in a cave. Even if you had me making flower pots, I still wouldn't agree to it."

"Oh, Twilight," said Shealah, drawing out Twilight's name in condescension, "I am not that cruel. As I'm sure you are aware, your recipe requires a fair amount of gold, which is a scarce commodity. You will only stay here until you have exhausted our supply."

"And how large is that supply?" asked Twilight.

"About two hundred kilograms." Shealah replied.

"Two hundred kilograms?!" exclaimed Twilight, "I could be here for weeks!"

"I wouldn't know; it's not my formula," said Shealah, "But surely it's better than the alternative?"

Twilight considered that. "I'll have to think about it," she said.

Shealah appeared irritated at that. "I have already waited for more than a week," she said, "But... I am generous. You will have one day to make up your mind. I look forward to your cooperation." And with that, she turned and began to walk out of the cell.

"Wait!" said Twilight, "What about him?" She pointed at Coals.

"He is here to assist you," said Shealah over her shoulder, "if he becomes a nuisance, just tell us and he will be removed."

The other dogs followed her out of the cell. The last one placed on the floor two tin pans: dinner, presumably. Twilight stumbled over to her cot and collapsed onto it, wincing in pain. She had only been able to stand for so long through fear and the thrill of defying authority. She turned around and looked at Coals, who had sat quietly through the entire ordeal.

"So that's what we're up against, huh?" she said.

"Yes," said Coals, "You will do what they ask, won't you?"

"I don't know," said Twilight.

"You don't really have a choice," said Coals.

"Well," said Twilight, "My life affects a lot of other lives. If I do what they ask, some people will probably die. On the other hand, my everyday work saves lives. It's a question of whether the lives lost through my helping the feldspar dogs outweigh the lives I would save if I get let out of this place, which, remember, is far from a certainty."

"They just want spearheads," said Coals, "I mean, if you do have some kind of superalloy, how much difference does it make if a spearhead is made of that instead of steel? It still a spear, and spears don't really need that much durability."

"That's true," said Twilight, "but spears do need to hold an edge, and they do need to pierce armor. And you can make an awful lot of spearheads with two-hundred kilograms of material. Actually, they said more than two-hundred kilograms, and that's just the gold component of the Aurum. It would be an awful lot of spears."

"Is that what you call it? Aurum?" asked Coals.

"Yeah, that's what I call it," said Twilight. She sighed. "I'll decide tomorrow."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey!" yelled Twilight as she pounded on the metal door of their prison. It actually wasn't quite a yell, and with her broken and bandaged legs it wasn't quite a pound, either, but she did her best. "I can't work in these conditions! I need the proper equipment! Hello? I know there's somebody out there. I know you can hear me!"

A bolt slid and the door swung open. Shealah stood there, with two dogs flanking her. She drowsily blinked the sleep out of her eyes. "Up for an early start, are we?" she said.

"I just slept for a week, I'm pretty well rested," said Twilight, "Hey, do you really expect me to work with this? I mean, there's a furnace, and I think that used to be a crucible over there, but that's it! C'mon!"

"Yes, of course," said Shealah, "We have the tools you need. I thought you might want to coordinate the workshop layout, so I took the liberty of allowing you to recover before setting it up."

"Fair enough," said Twilight, "Let me see what you've got."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Put those acids over there, and put the oxidisers next to where those guys are putting the acids," barked Twilight. She liked having workers at her disposal, and she knew how to use them efficiently. "That workbench... is too tall. I don't need it. Ah! that's more like it. Line it up with that bench over there. Put the torch over in the corner. I need more acetylene! Coals, help them assemble that crucible. Is that brimstone? Yes, good, put it with the other alchemical supplies."

Twilight smiled to herself. This was what she was best at.

Shealah appeared beside her. "Is this suitable?" she asked.

"Oh, yes," said Twilight, "This will work just fine. In fact, I think it's just about ready."

"Excellent," said Shealah.

"So, what do you want me to make? Do you have any plans or do you just want me to wing it?" asked Twilight.

"Of course I have plans," said Shealah, "But first I need to be sure you can deliver. Make me a sample of your alloy. Ugh, that's getting irritating; don't you have a name for it? I tire of calling it 'your alloy'"

"Aurum. I call it Aurum," said Twilight.

"Yes, suitable," muttered Shealah.

"I can get to work as soon as... well..." she scanned the room, "it looks like everything's here except the gold."

Shealah procured a handful of golden pellets. "Will this be enough to make a sample?" she asked.

"More than enough," said Twilight as she levitated the pellets into a nearby empty jar.

"I look forward to seeing your work, Miss Sparkle. I'm so pleased you decided to do business with us," said Shealah as she turned and left.

Twilight didn't waste any time admiring her new workshop. "Alright, everybody out! I need to work here. Yes, bye, thanks for your help, smell you later," she said the dogs. They filed out, the door was closed, and the bolt slid into place. "Coals, light the furnace and the crucible while I prepare a marinade for these titanium shavings."

"Very well," said Coals, "This is quite a lot of enthusiasm coming from somepony who was asking to die merely twelve hours ago."

"Yeah, well, I've got an idea," said Twilight, dropping her voice to avoid being heard by any guards.

"An idea?"

"Yes, an idea," said Twilight, "ideas are my specialty. They make me excited. I've got an idea, so I'm excited."

"Would you care to enlighten your assistant?" asked Coals.

"I wish I could, but it would be safest if you didn't know for as long as you can possibly remain ignorant."

"If you say so," said Coals, "So, how can I help with this idea?"

"We're going to need a lot more gold, so for now we're just going to make the sample Shealah asked for," said Twilight as she levitated the gold over to Coals, "Here, melt these."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shealah tossed the golden cube from paw to paw, appraising it. Around her lay various tools and weapons, now damaged beyond repair after being tested against Twilight's Aurum. "Yes, very good," said Shealah, "Highly satisfactory. You have lived up to your reputation, Sparkle. And may I commend you for your attitude. Your cooperativeness has been a pleasant surprise."

Twilight gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah, well, the way I see it, the faster I can wrap up here, the faster I can go home."

"Precisely," said Shealah.

"Sooo... what now?" asked Twilight.

"Now you can get to work on these," said Shealah. She handed Twilight a few leaves of paper. Twilight shuffled through them. On the papers were some fairly simple designs for various blades. There were spearheads, yes, but also swords, arrow and bolt heads, and wing-blades.

"Aurum is strong but heavy," Twilight commented, "'Not good for wing blades."

"Regardless, that is what you will make," said Shealah, "You will make as many spear points as possible, and ten of everything else." She nodded to a pair of dogs behind her, and they began carrying into the room small bags, which ka-chinked as they were dropped to the floor. “That is the gold you will use.”

"Do you want ten wing-blades of ten pairs of wing blades?" asked Twilight.

"Ten pairs."

"Well, okay then!" said Twilight, "We'll get right on it."

"Excellent," said Shealah, "I'll leave you to it."

She turned and left. The doors closed, and the bolt fastened.

"Well," said Coals, "that went well. I'll get a head start on this gold; it looks like we've got a long road ahead of us."

"Yeah you do that," said Twilight, "I have to prepare some stuff."

Coals considered pursuing that line of conversation, but decided against it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight finished horking down her boiled oats and set down her supper tray. "Okay, no sleeping tonight," she said.

Coals raised an eyebrow. "Do you have something else planned?" he asked.

"Yes I do," replied Twilight.

"Is it part of your 'idea'?" asked Coals.

"Perhaps," said Twilight, "Now listen. I need to spend the next few hours preparing a spell. Time is precious, so I need you to keep busy while I'm out. I've written out some instructions for you here." Twilight levitated a small novella of notes into Coals' hooves.

"When did you make these?" asked Coals, leafing through the pages.

"When you were asleep last night," said Twilight, "I think I'm still making up for my pseudo-coma, and I don't normally sleep that much, so I had some time on my hooves. Do you know where all those materials are?"

"Yes but... I have no idea what I'm doing here. I'm a smith, not an alchemist," he replied.

"Don't worry," said Twilight, "there's a lot of steps, but it's all fairly simple. Just do your best, and I'm sure you'll get it done just fine. Oh, and try to keep quiet; I need to concentrate, okay?"

"I'll... try my best," said Coals, adjusting his glasses as he poured over the first page.

"That's all I ask," said Twilight, "If the guards come in, just give me a shake and I'll give them an explanation. Good luck." And with that, Twilight sat back, closed her eyes, and slipped into a trance. Coals got to work. The instructions did turn out to be surprisingly easy. Step by step, page by page, he molded, ground, melted, fused, froze, re-melted, carved, and welded the metals, powders, and liquids. He formed components from them, and from those components, he formed the final product. After only a little more than two hours, Coals held in his hooves a sort of crystal dish, filled with a saline-based fluid. Floating in the liquid was a thin, black ring. A wire ran from the center of the bowl to a device on a nearby workbench, which Twilight had left pre-assembled for him. It had an unpronounceable name in the instructions she had left, but judging by the dials it sported it was clearly some kind of regulator. Coals sat there, admiring his handiwork, pondering the strange creation, and wondering about the final instruction that had been left for him: Place the completed crystal apparatus in front of Twilight. He had some idea what that meant. He carefully placed the bowl just in front of her front hooves. The instructions hadn't been very specific as to exactly how it should be placed, so he just made his best guess. Now, presumably, he just had to wait for Twilight to finish whatever she was doing. Coals walked over to his cot and sat down. Immediately he felt waves of fatigue wash over him. He was old, and it had been a long, hard day. An extra long day, in fact. He briefly fought the urge, but soon fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLAM!

Coals woke with a start. Twilight sat where he had left her, coughing and waving away a cloud of smoke which hung around her.

"Damnit," she muttered, "That was really loud, wasn't it? I hope we didn't wake any of the dogs. We should play it safe; turn out the lamp."

Coals blew out the lamp beside his bed, and the room became filled with a soft bluish-white glow. He heard Twilight utter some panicked indecisives: "Uuuhhh." There was a rustling of canvas, and the light was extinguished.

Neither of them said anything. They waited a minute. Five minutes. Coals was just being to nod off again when the white light reappeared."

"Okay, come and see this!" Twilight hissed excitedly.

Coals rolled out of bed and walked towards Twilight. He found her sitting over the crystal bowl, which had been covered by a similar piece of crystal. The ring in the bowl, which had formerly been black, now emitted a soft glow.

Twilight punched his shoulder exuberantly. "Eh?!" she triumphantly exclaimed, "Nice work. I couldn't have done better myself."

Coals looked at the device, confused. "This is what we made?" he asked. Twilight raised an eyebrow and gave an 'ain't it impressive' nod. "What is it?" he asked.

"I call it a Magic Allocation and Storage Capacitor, or MAS Capacitor for short. It stores magic. I've had the design for a while, but I could never quite get it to work. Then, last night, I was lying in bed and I had a revelation of sorts; I'm sorry; it's too complicated to explain. I made a few tweeks to the design and... ta da!" Twilight said as she gestured at her accomplishment. "Here, look." Twilight levitated the small device on the other end of the wire, and twisted one of the dials on it. The dial clicked, and a subtle hum filled the air as the glow grew in brightness. Twilight waved a hoof over it, and looked towards Coals with wide eyes. "Feel it, it's warm," she said.

Coals hesitantly did as Twilight bade him to. "Yes, I feel it," he said, "Is it supposed to be like that?"

"Yes, don't worry," said Twilight, "It's just some harmless radiant energy overflow."

"Is this going to help us escape?" asked Coals.

"Yes, if everything goes according to plan," she replied, "Their bracelets make them immune to magic. In fact, we'll have to assume that everything past that door is magic-resistant, so what we need to do is to turn magic into physical force. We can hurt them with that."

"Okay," said Coals hesitantly, "I follow... so how are you planning to do that?"

"With this," said Twilight. She lifted her mattress and levitated a few sheets of paper towards Coals. He took them and began to consider the notes and illustrations they contained. He scratched his chin.

"Armor?" he inquired, "You will not get far in golden armor, especially in your state. Unless, that is, you plan on using your magic to push your own legs." He smiled at her humourously.

"Actually, that's just about what I had in mind," said Twilight, "Yes, gold is heavy, and a golden suit of armor would be difficult to move in, even with magic. But it does conduct magic very well. When I smelt Aurum, I should have enough control over the alloy's properties to tune it quite precisely. My hope is that I can tune it to respond to the output of this-" Twilight looked down at the glowing MAS Capacitor, "-and express the energy as torque."

"Well," said Coals, "I don't have any experience with that sort of thing, but I'll help you in any way I can."

"Thank you," said Twilight, "I'll need it." She yawned. Coals poked at one of the pages he held.

"It's bipedal," he said, confused, "and it looks like a mare's proportions. Are you making one or two of these?"

"We only have enough material to make one without them getting suspicious," said Twilight, "I thought it would be best if I don it, because I understand it better, and I've got some combat experience. I'll clear the way and you'll follow me. As for the two legs: if I'm not using magic, then I'll need some appendages to fight with. Thus, the bipedal design."

"I trust your judgement," said Coals, "but you don't look like too much of a fighter." He raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Yeah, well," said Twilight, "I haven't personally fought that much, but... I've been in fights, if you know what I mean."

"Okay, I'll take your word for it," replied Coals.

They sat there for a minute, basking in the subtly warming glow of their creation. Twilight yawned again: "Ugh... I'm tired. Let's get to bed."

Coals didn't need any persuading.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Work was slow but steady. Coals spent his days forging swords and spearheads. He worked intentionally slowly, always appearing plausibly busy but producing at the slowest rate he felt would safely keep him within Shealah's patience.

"Best to minimise the fallout from this fiasco," Twilight had said.

Twilight Spent most of her days napping so that she could work on the armor at night, when the risk of being interrupted was lowest. She explained the nocturnal noise to Shealah by claiming that she just wanted to finish Shealah's blades as fast as possible. Shealah was clearly irked by the noise, and often appeared sleepy when they saw her, but her eagerness to have her arsenal completed as soon as possible led her to tolerate the racket. Twilight had also been practicing standing on two legs. After a few days of continuous practice, she became reasonably adept.

Piece by piece, the armor was completed. Twilight hid the glistening pieces in the furnace, under the glowing coals. This seemed like the most inspection-proof location she could think of, and she was fairly sure that the Aurum wouldn't be damaged by the prolonged heat. Eventually, after almost two weeks, the fateful day arrived when the armor was as complete as it reasonably could be made in the modestly-equipped cave. Or, more accurately, the fateful night. They had decided that a nighttime escape would be the safest plan. Best case scenario: the dogs would be asleep and they wouldn't have to fight at all. Worst case: they would at least get the jump on their captors. They had taken turns napping during the day, and they waited until a few hours after dinner to make their attempt. Coals claimed that he remembered the route to the surface from when he had been abducted.

"As I remember it," he said, "It just a straight shot. You'll go through a few rooms, but I don't think it's more than seventy feet."

Twilight stood, huffing nervously, trying to mentally ready herself. She shot him a nervous glance. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Pretty sure," he answered.

Twilight hefted the golden face-plate that she had completed just last night. "How many of them are there?" she asked.

"I don't know," responded Coals, "Not too many, I hope."

"Me too," said Twilight. She looked at the pile of pieces that had been gathered from within the furnace. It was no longer a pile of metal: four acetylene tanks for their final escape were strapped to the rear-hoof gauntlets; several nasty alchemical concoctions dangled from the waist; lights had been affixed to the helmet; a makeshift bag filled with food and water lay beside it. The MAS Capacitor glowed brightly from it's place of prominence in the center of the chest piece. Twilight had poured as much magic as she could manage into it. The storage was somewhat inefficient, so it had taken her more than a week to fill it to capacity. She took a deep breath. "Alright," she said "Let's go."

She lit her horn, and piece by piece she she secured the armor to her body. Buttons were buttoned, bolts were fastened, and much duct-tape was used. After almost half an hour, and with an air of finality, Twilight fastened the face-plate to the back portion of her helmet.

Coals looked at her appraisingly. "Ready?" he asked.

Twilight lifted and flexed her limbs. She took a couple awkward steps; the armor whirred with every movement. Her motion was somewhat restricted, and it felt especially funny on two legs, but nevertheless she was pleasantly surprised by the way it had all come together. "As I'll ever be," she said.

She stepped toward the door. "Make some noise," she instructed Coals. He picked up a hammer and began loudly whacking an anvil.

Twilight braced herself against the door's frame, placing her front hooves where she imagined the bolt was. "Here goes nothing," she whispered. Twilight pushed. The armor's joins whirred, then stopped and strained. Twilight pushed harder, willing the armor's limbs to greater output. The metal of the door buckled, and the portal lurched open with a ping of the bolt snapping. Twilight kicked the door fully open, ready to confront whatever she faced. Nothing jumped at her. Twilight dimmed her lights and looked around.

A muffled voice spoke up: "Ugh, damn noise."

Twilight froze, and slowly looked down at her hooves to find a sleeping dog laying just inches from her. Twilight stood there, considering her options. She hadn't anticipated her captors being this off-guard.

I have to deal with this guy somehow; it's too risky leaving him here with the broken door... Maybe the most obvious option is the best.
Twilight knelt down and pressed a hoof against the dog's mouth. He immediately jumped awake. "ahmph..." he said, his paws shooting to his covered muzzle.

"Hi there," said Twilight, "Sleeping on the job? tsk, tsk. Stay quiet and stand up." She put her other arm around his chest as he rose, and shuffled him back into the workshop. "Coals," she said, "do we have any rope?"

Coals looked questioningly at the confused feldspar dog. "No," he said, "No rope."

"Hrm," said Twilight, "Well then, I guess I'll let you get back to your nap." She pushed the dog forward, took a step towards him, and struck his skull with a vicious blow. She thought she heard something crunch. He slumped to the ground. Coals eyed Twilight. She caught his expression. "Huh," she said, "maybe we should dial it down a bit." She grasped the regulator at her hip with her magic and turned it back a couple clicks. She turned and stomped out the door, closing it behind her. "Keep an eye on him," she said as she closed the door. Twilight slowly walked down the passage. It definitely seemed longer than seventy feet. She passed numerous offshoot passages, all of them receding into darkness, and soon came to a door blocking her way forward. There was light coming from underneath it, and she could hear mirthful laughter from beyond it.

Maybe it was one of the other tunnels? Do I have to go through here? Coals said the way was straight… I don’t have any reason to suspect any of the other tunnels, so I guess this is still my best option… maybe this won't be a cakewalk after all.

Twilight kicked down the door and filled the doorway. She looked down on half a dozen feldspar dogs, who had frozen in the middle of a poker game. They stared at her, some of them with drinks held halfway between the table and their mouths. "Hey," she said, "I found your pal sleeping back there. I woke him up, and now he's sleeping again. I think." The dog closest to her on her right shifted, then jumped. Twilight grabbed him by the neck and slammed his head against the table. He fell to the ground and didn't get up. "Now, there's two ways we can do this. You can all behave like your friend and end up under the table with him. That's option number one. Option number two is: you show me the way out of here, and then start running."

The dogs looked at each other, then back at her. One of them at the other end of the table stood, sidestepped, and flipped the table towards her. Twilight was ready. She punched forward, sundering the table in two with a deafening CRACK. A melee ensued. The dogs piled onto her, but Twilight's Aurum armor was even stronger than she had hoped, and just as impregnable. Dog by dog, limb by limb, she broke them.

"Bad doggies," she said as she dropped the last one of them. She looked towards the door opposite the one she had entered through. She trudged through it and opened it. Darkness and a cool breeze greeted her. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but soon stars appeared above her. She could recognise some of the mountains in the distance.

I must be in the Badlands.

She knelt to the ground and exhaled in relief; she hadn't realized how much she missed open sky and the familiar stars. Escaping hadn't been that hard at all; all she had to do now was go back and get Coals. She turned around. The thought of stepping back into that hole was suddenly nauseating to her, but she had to get Coals. She trudged back through the door, past the unmoving dogs, past the second door, through the dark passage, into the workshop. She pulled up her face-plate. "Okay, Coals, I found the exit. Time to go... Coals?"

Coals was gone. "Coa-" Twilight was shoved forward. She crashed face-first into the dirt. "Argh! What the?!" Her armor protected her body from injury, but the impact still hurt, and hurt unprotected nose felt broken. Twilight's eyes teared up with pain. Something grabbed her shoulder and turned her over. It was a foot. A paw. Twilight blinked the tears from her eyes to see the form of Shealah looking down at her. Behind her was a small feldspar dog; it looked like the one she had first encountered and left with Coals.

"Looking for someone?" asked Shealah, "Well, I may have found them." She raised her left paw, presenting to Twilight the severed head of Coals, spectacles and all. "Is this the one?" she asked mockingly. Twilight gasped in shock. Shealah's smile turned to a face of rage. "Miss Sparkle," she said through clenched teeth, "You have violated the terms of our agreement!"

"You bitch!" spat Twilight, "What have you done?!"

"Oh-ho, my dear Sparkle," said Shealah, "I am merely fulfilling the escape clause of our contract."

Twilight gasped in disbelief: "Your soldiers are hurt and you're making puns?!"

"Oh my," said Shealah with a cheeky smile, "I suppose I am." She kept her eyes on Twilight, but spoke to the dog behind her: "Give me your spear, and hold her down." He passed his weapon to her, and moved towards Twilight.

Twilight grted her teeth and blinked the last tears from her eyes. "I don't think so," she said. She levitated a corked beaker of liquid from her waist and hurled it towards Shealah, smashing it against her face. A ball of flame exploded from the point of impact, throwing Shealah back and the smaller dog forward onto Twilight. She threw him off and stood as quickly as she could manage. Shealah lay next to the door, holding her face and gasping. "You deserve much worse than that," said Twilight under her breath and she picked up the pack of food and water that she had planned on sharing with Coals. As she looked down she noticed that the light on her chest had faded; the charge was running low. She had to get out of here.

When Twilight finally made it into the night, she didn't look back. She wasn't yet ready to contemplate what had just occurred. Instead, she stood tall and yanked on a pin attached to her back. BOOM. A fire erupted beneath her feet, and Twilight was propelled far into the air. So far, so fast. She must have been propelled miles before she finally dropped to the ground with a gut-wrenching impact.

"Ugh," she winced, letting her arms fall to her sides. She was tired and sore, and tempted to fall asleep right then, half-buried in the sand.

No, I have to get moving.

She tried to lift herself, unsuccessfully. She looked down at her chestpiece. It's glow was almost nonexistent, it's charge almost completely depleted.

I have to get out of this armor.

The armor was a lot more difficult to get off then it was to get on, but with patience and some dextrous use of magic, Twilight eventually freed herself. It seemed strange to leave such a huge pile of what was essentially gold lying in the middle of the desert, but Twilight was too tired to care. She didn't really have a choice: she couldn’t carry it, and she couldn’t charge it fast enough to walk in it. She looked down at the faint blue circle in the chestpiece. She plucked it from it's place and held it close to her face, admiring it.

I think I'll keep you.

Twilight turned and started walking.