Author's Note

Chapter VII

Not breaking stride, Pumpkin forced the castle gates open with a burst of her magic. "Princess Twilight!"

Pumpkin quickly realized she would not get a reply, her gallop petering off. Twilight was in plain view: collapsed on the floor in a heap. And standing over her prone form, genitals shoved inside her, was...

She gasped in surprise. It was Pound. Why was he even here? And having... intercourse with Twilight, no less? He had been missing for months! Surely this had to be some kind of misunderstanding, like a changeling prank.

"Pound?" she asked, inching closer. "Is that you?"

Pound, or whoever it was, finished extracting himself from Twilight. He clicked his tongue in irritation. "Shit. And everything was going so well."

Pumpkin stared. None of this was making sense. "What are you talking about?"

"Nopony was supposed to come in here while I was with Twilight," he said, brow narrowing. "Now you're a problem, sis."

A problem? Pumpkin's eyes widened, and everything snapped back into focus. She was a problem for him because he had done something worth hiding. Pumpkin didn't want to believe it, but the evidence right in front of her pointed to Pound as having raped Twilight! Surely they would have moved to a bedroom otherwise.

That would be quite serious, she thought, frowning. Maybe he was also the pony behind Spike's attack too! How could he even conceive of doing such a thing? To be sure, Pumpkin reached out into his mind. Immediately, she could make out the familiar connection between his magic and her own, confirming it was definitely her twin. But before she could glean anything else, he suddenly forced her out like another Absta would.

Now it was Pound's turn to be surprised, and he nearly tripped backwards. "You just probed my mind! How did you... wait. Those robes... there's no way." He practically snarled at her. "What are the odds?"

A part of her was still in shock, but Pumpkin now knew that Pound possessed to means to have done something truly nefarious. She took a deep breath to steady herself before her training took over. "Pound Cake, by my authority as an Absta Knight, I'm placing you under arrest."

Pound met her eyes, and the rage within them was clear. "Yeah, that's not happening. I'm leaving, and you won't be following." Then, he reached into his hoodie and pulled out a phallus made of Bloodstone. "A revolution is coming, and I can't let you stop it."

Pumpkin balked at his choice of weapon, penetration-ready as it was. It was almost like he was some sort of anti-Absta. She pulled out her Conduit, its facets gleaming in the light of the castle. "I don't want to fight you, Pound," she said as best she could with her mouth full. "Please just come quietly. "

"Sorry. I'm committed," he said with a smile. "You don't know what you're missing. Maybe after I beat you I'll show you; incest is one of the only kinks I haven't tried yet."

"Sweet celestia, how far you've fallen," said Pumpkin, chills running down her spine. "That's sick."

Pound just laughed, twirling his weapon as he started to approach, paying no attention to the sleeping Twilight as he stepped over her.

With no doubts left in her heart and no words left to say, Pumpkin leveled her Conduit at him. Pound took that as his cue and charged.

Using his wings for a burst of speed, Pound rapidly closed the distance between them, swinging in from the side. Pumpkin pivoted on her back hooves, bringing her own weapon to bear and blocking the strike, sparks flying from the crystal on impact. The amount of force behind the blow was staggering, but her four-hooved stance let her maintain balance and knock Pound away.

With a snarl, he lunged again, cutting loose with a barrage of rapid stabs and swipes. But Pumpkin gave no openings, parrying or sidestepping every attack. Even a glancing blow could provide enough of an opportunity for Pound to assert his mind over hers, and she couldn't let that happen. Her brother was evidently thinking along the same lines, being careful not to overextend himself and leave an opening.

Still, his assault inevitably slowed, and in that split second, Pumpkin counterattacked, twisting her head to deliver an uppercut with her Conduit. Rather than try to block it, Pound launched himself into the air and out of the way. Before he could catch his breath and plan his next approach, Pumpkin switched tactics and reached out with her unicorn magic, grabbing Twilight's wooden desk at hurling it upwards as fast as she could.

But Pound's sharp reflexes let him register the impromptu projectile immediately, and he barrel rolled out of the way with a mighty flap. Seeing this, Pumpkin grabbed the desk in midair for long enough to send it back at him. This time, Pound snarled, grabbed his Penetrator in both hooves, and swung it in a savage overhead strike that smashed the incoming piece of furniture into harmless splinters.

Pumpkin inhaled deeply as she reasserted her focus, readying her Conduit as Pound circled around to swoop in and hit her from behind. Their weapons met the instant he landed with a resounding crack. At first, Pumpkin was pushed back, but she steadily put in more force, and soon their weapons were pressing against eachother in a deadlock, muscles tense from exertion and neither sibling giving an inch.

"Just give up, sis!" Pound exclaimed. "What you're doing is stupid, and only limits what you can feel!"

"I feel more alive as I am now than ever before," she replied, "and I didn't have to violate anypony to do it!"

"It's not violating, it's liberating! Once I beat you, all of Equestria will be free!"

Pumpkin redoubled her efforts. "What you call freedom, I call slavery! I wish you could see that!"

Pound snorted. "Fine, then! Fuck me for trying to resolve this peacefully, I guess!"

Suddenly, Pound broke off from the clash and leaned away just enough to avoid touching Pumpkin's Conduit as it fell. Pumpkin quickly transitioned into a low sweep at his legs, but Pound performed a spinning backflip to get clear. Pressing the attack, Pumpkin slashed as he landed, only for him to deftly parry her Conduit and counter. But she did the same, twisting to intercept and then retaliating.

Time seemed to stand still for Pumpkin as the fighting continued, back and forth. An outside observer might mistake their actions for a fluid dance as the tide of battle consumed the pair, but Pumpkin knew better. For her, and perhaps also the whole of Equestria, the stakes had never been higher, and she was doing her utmost to stop her errant brother. As their weapons met over and over, she could see that, behind the anger in his eyes, Pound was looking down on her. Was it in pity? Or superiority?

Pumpkin, though sweating from exertion, maintained her strength, swinging her Conduit perfectly level with the floor. Pound, rather than dodge, raised his Penetrator vertically in front of himself to block. And then, in a moment of sharp insight, weapon still carving a path through the air, Pumpkin knew she had won. Just as bloodstone struck bloodstone, Pumpkin let go, relaxing her jaw. Simultaneously, she caught the other end of her Conduit in her magic and tugged.

The Conduit whipped around Pound's weapon like a horseshoe on a post, the end Pumpkin had been holding rocketing straight into Pound's temple. Pound's eyes barely had time to widen in surprise before it made contact. He was unconscious before he hit the ground, his body dropping like a sack of flour.

As she allowed herself to finally relax in mind and body, adrenaline fading away, the full strain of the fight caught up with Pumpkin, and she started panting heavily. She stared at Pound's motionless form, listening to the sound of her own breathing. However, that was soon supplemented by the rapid percussion of hoofbeats. Pumpkin spun to see who it was, and sighed in relief as she spotted her master, galloping next to a mare she hadn't seen in a while: Starlight Glimmer, aka Starlight the Bold.

"Twilight!" cried out Starlight as she rushed to the princess' side.

Quinoa stopped next to Pumpkin, focused on both her and Pound. His robe was torn in multiple places. "Pumpkin, what is all this? What happened?"

"My brother, he... he has powers like we do, somehow," she managed. Pumpkin wrenched her gaze away to face Quinoa. "He was talking about not letting anypony stop him from changing the world, and we fought. Master, I'm pretty sure he raped Twilight."

"WHAT!?" exclaimed Starlight. Without preamble, she turned and shot a beam of magic at Pound, instantly encasing him in a block of pink crystal. Then, she scowled. "If that's true, then he should be glad I didn't just immolate him."

Pumpkin was practically pinned by the intensity of her glare until Quinoa placed a hoof on her shoulder, his expression now deadly serious.

"First Spike and now this..." he said. "We'll have to interrogate him, thoroughly."

Oh yeah, Pumpkin had nearly forgotten. "Is Spike ok?" she asked. "And what happened to Skytrotter?"

"I managed to clear Spike's mind just before Starlight arrived," he replied. "The dragon was quite shaken afterwards, especially once he saw the wounds he had inflicted on Skytrotter. Both were taken to the hospital."

Pumpkin bristled at the news. Yesterday, she wouldn't have been able to imagine what Spike must be going through. But after what her own twin had done, the sympathy was visceral.

A sudden groan snapped Pumpkin out of her melancholy. She was relieved to see that its source was Twilight, her awakening magically accelerated by Starlight. "Thank goodness," she said.

"Indeed," said Quinoa. Then, he turned to face the petrified Pound. "Now, we can get some answers."