Heart Forged of Iron

Chapters

Under my Iron Skin (1)
Under my Iron Skin (2)
Under my Iron Skin (3)
Under my Iron Skin (4)
Under my Iron Skin (5)
Under my Iron Skin (6)
Under my Iron Skin (Final)
Stand For Everfree (1)
Stand For Everfree (2)
Stand For Everfree (3)

Under my Iron Skin (1)

Twilight Sparkle was in the zone.

Rock music beat out of the radio, the guitar riffs sending her heart racing. It helped her keep focused as she worked on her armor, re-forging connections and attuning enchantments. She nodded to herself as she checked each box on her mental to-do list, finishing just as the song came to a close.

“And that was Under My Iron Skin, by the band Miracle of Sound. In the news this hour, what was thought to be rumor has finally been confirmed: Iron Mage is real! Last night she broke into a secure Seapony research station near their capital of Atlantis. Authorities responding to the scene found evidence linking the facility, as well as the company owning it, to Arcane Incorporated Mechanics. This finding has sparked renewed tensions between the Sea Ponies and Equestria, and the AIM scientists are currently being held by a neutral party: the recently crowned Dragonlord Ember.”

“Good,” Twilight muttered. The last thing she needed was some terrorists getting off because of some legal trickery. She began to put her tools away and clean up her work-space, leaving the radio on as she did.

“Very little is known about this armored avenger, other than her personal vendetta against AIM. She was originally credited in an attack on Twilight Sparkle, C.E.O of Spark Industries. While this was later attributed to a lab accident, many doubted the story, and there were rising reports of a red and gold figure attacking anyone connected to AIM.

There are very few details open to the public, aside from her initial attack on Spark Tower. Twilight Sparkle required medical attention, and the sensitive information Iron Mage made public cost the company and Ms. Sparkle herself a great deal of money and led to the arrest of dozens of terrorists. She also stole several pieces of advanced technology from the facility and fled.”

Twilight snickered. “You never did return those, did you?” She playfully rapped her suit’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, I can cover it.”

“The current discussion is whether her vendetta is causing more good than harm. Tensions between Atlantis and Equestria have never been higher, and some are wondering if she’s really on the side of—”

“That’s enough.” With a flick of her field, the radio was silenced, and Twilight was left with only her own thoughts.

She sighed. This is so much more complicated than it should be.

Twilight Sparkle was a straightforward sort of pony. She found a problem, and she fixed it. Fixing problems wasn’t supposed to make new problems, they were supposed to shut up and stay fixed. She levitated the helmet in front of her, looking at her distorted reflection.

Twilight wasn’t wearing any of her make-up spells, so her frazzled face was perfectly visible. She brushed her mane back, looking at one of the scars on her neck. AIM terrorizes ponies because they think they’re saving the world. What if I cross the same line they do? Who’ll stop me?

What she needed was a break. Since becoming the Iron Mage, she’d needed to balance her time as CEO with her nights as a vigilante. She couldn’t trust anybody with her secret after—

—Lights. Flashing, beating their way into her head.

A voice. Cruel and conceited.

A splash of red.

A voice screaming—

The loud clatter snapped her back to reality. Her heart pounded in her ears, and the scars around the Arc Reactor felt like they were on fire. She let her back legs give out, as she sank to the floor. It’s okay. I’m okay. I have the suit now. I can do this. I’m okay.

Slowly, far more slowly than she felt comfortable with, her breathing evened out. The trembling stopped. She could bring herself to open her eyes again. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, but eventually, she almost felt normal again.

She let out a shaky breath. “Right. I need a break.” Some fresh air would do her good. With a smile she knew looked unsteady, she put the last of her tools away and regarded her armor. The red and gold always shone, no matter under what lighting. Just looking at it made her feel better.

It reminded her of an old friend.

“Twilight?” a voice snapped her out of her reverie. “Are you here?”

I forgot to lock the door! “Uh, one sec! Hang on!” Lowering her voice, she hissed, “Armor: Energize.”

The suit lit up with magic, disappearing into the space unicorns travel between when they teleported. Her armor would stay there until Twilight called it back. Too busy to appreciate her own genius, she began rushing around the room. What can connect me to Iron Mage? There was the freeze ray she’d taken from Blizzard, some of her high-yield explosive potions... The heat ray was more of a curiosity than anything, but would it be recognizable?

“Twilight, will you please just open the door?”

“Just a minute!” Giving up on being subtle, she threw a tarp over the entire table and leaned casually against it. “Okay!”

Her personal assistant and secretary Spike the Dragon walked in, raising an eyebrow at the mess. Twilight smiled disarmingly. “Aaaaayyyy.”

Spike crossed his arms. “Okay, you’re clearly hiding something. Spill.”

Horseapples. “Nothing important. It’s just, ya know, a thing! But not like a bad or dangerous thing, it’s just a super-normal average thing that is no way scary at all!” She smiled wider. “Heh.”

Spike was not reassured. He took a step forwards, and Twilight had to stop herself from taking a step back. She didn’t think Spike noticed, but the drake still looked hurt. “Look, Twi… I get that coming back after everything that happened is hard. I can’t even begin to understand what you’re going through. But I want to. Won’t you please tell me what’s going on?”

Twilight felt the remainder of her good mood vanish. She turned away from Spike and began double checking her tools, heedless of the fact that she’d already put them away. “It’s nothing bad, it’s just that... “

It’s just that the only ones who could have betrayed me to AIM are my family.

It’s just that I can’t trust anyone anymore.

It’s just that I’m more alone now than when I was a prisoner.

“It’s just something I need to do,” she settled on. “I’ll tell you when I’m ready, I promise..”

Spike was in no way pleased by that, but he reluctantly accepted it. “I brought a list of some stuff that’s been waiting to get done. You asked me to come by so we could work on your schedule?”

“Right.” Twilight closed her eyes, trying to shake away the sick feeling of fear in her stomach that had persisted since the cave. “Right, sorry. What do you have?”

Spike flourished the papers from the clipboard, which Twilight took with minimal reluctance. “The M.I.T thing is coming up—”

Twilight winced. “Can you push it back to… I don’t know, June? I don’t want to stay away from the house for that long.”

“Oookay… the lab asked for a consultation on this weird flame from space they found in—”

“I don’t have time to get into a research project,” Twilight said. She frowned, sorting through the papers to avoid making eye contact. “They can get along fine without me.” There has to be something worthwhile in here.

“Come on, Twilight!” Spike tossed the clipboard on a table and took a step forwards. Twilight flinched. Spike froze, caught between an almost parental look of concern and almost parental look of anger. “...Twilight, look. I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do, but this isn’t good for you. You can’t stay locked up in this musty old lab all day!”

“I get out!” Twilight protested.

Spike’s expression officially settled on ‘parental anger.’ “When?”

Twilight opened her mouth to retort and paused when she found she didn’t have one. And hadn't she just been thinking of taking a break? “Okay… what about the Spark Expo? Anything low-key?”

Spike bit his lip. “Well, Starlight is demonstrating something for SHIELD. They’re Golems. She’s emphasizing how they’re, uh…” He closed his eyes to try and remember, “tools that are only limited by the imagination, or something.”

“That sounds perfect!” Twilight suddenly noticed she put away the same welding torch twice and sat it down for good. “It’s a crowd, but most of those ponies pay just to have stuff with my name on it, some interesting technology, good food—”

“I cook better for us than any of those half-rate vendors!” Spike snapped. “Lousy jerks. They just dump grease all over everything and expect ponies to be impressed. I’m a real cook!”

Twilight nodded, only half listening. “I’ll just shower, put on a vest, maybe a tie… how many emergency speeches do I have left?”

Spike sighed. “Seven, not counting the ones with keywords swapped out using a thesaurus.”

“Well of course not! Those are just back-ups, counting them is cheating.” Twilight smiled. “That was a fun afternoon, we should do that again sometime.”

“Wait, you don’t even want to write a new speech?” Spike almost took another step forwards but settled for rocking forwards on his feet. “Twilight, are you sure?”

“Positive! It’ll be a surprise for everyone. Super safe. Besides, isn’t Sunset Shimmer running security?”

“Uh… I think so?” Spike shrugged. “I mean, I haven’t seen her in a while.”

“Then I can check on her too!” She didn’t know who’d betrayed her, but she wasn’t sure it was Sunset, and Twilight missed seeing the mare. Come to think of it, it’d be good to see Starlight and the rest of Applied Sciences too.

Twilight trotted past Spike and headed up the stairs, pausing and waiting for the dragon to follow. She took a second to magically scan the wards protecting the hallway, wishing she had time to adjust the settings. She was supposed to get an alarm every time someone approached.

With a sigh, Spike turned to follow her. “What time do you want to meet?”

Twilight nearly dropped the lock. “Huh? Oh, I thought you had…” She suddenly realized she had no idea what Spike did right now, “business… things… to do.”

“This is one of my days off.” Spike stared at Twilight with an odd expression. “Besides, you’re my business. I’m your assistant, remember?”

“Yeah, I just…” That kind of emotional honesty wasn’t something Twilight was good at. She wasn’t good at anything that couldn’t be fixed with a wrench. “So… uh… like, seven?”

Spike nodded. “Seven o’clock it is. Will that be all?”

“Yep, that’s…” Twilight waved her hoof in a way she hoped counted as actual words, “yep.”

The bureaucratic center of SHIELD at least tried not to be soul-sucking, which was more than most offices did. The walls were a soothing blue, and cheerful music piped up from the background. There were small knick-knacks dotted across the cubicles, though nothing enchanted was allowed this deep in the Triskelion.

The office workers greeted Sunset with smiles and pleasantries but watched her carefully as she approached the Director’s office. A faint sense of pride filled her; she’d overseen much of their training and felt glad it stuck.

The main office had enchantments ensuring that only someone summoned by the Director herself could find it, so once Sunset stood near it the other ponies began ignoring her. She waited as a second set of spells analyzed her magical signature and told the Director she was outside. The door slid open sooner than Sunset had thought it would, and she cautiously slipped in.

Sunset nearly stopped in the doorway when she saw that the meeting was still going on. She stepped inside anyway; after all, she wouldn’t have been allowed in if Sunset wasn’t supposed to overhear.

Director Tempest Shadow sat at her desk, listening to a series of crystal balls. It was hard to tell, but Sunset thought she recognized one as Queen Novo of Atlantis. “—Invaded our sovereignty and endangered our city in capturing a group of terrorists we haven’t even been allowed to question or punish ourselves! Irate is an understatement.”

Director Tempest nodded. “And SHIELD is doing its best to locate the Iron Mage, but these things take time.”

Queen Novo actually hissed with rage. “No excuses!”

Tempest didn’t move an inch. “None were offered.”

“I feel like we’re getting distracted,” came the blue blur on the leftmost crystal. Sunset hesitantly moved closer, letting the image resolve itself into Dragonlord Ember. “I can’t help but feel like AIM is the bigger problem here. They were experimenting with ways of neutralizing dragon flame and apparently none of us knew they were there.”

“Apparently?” Queen Novo rounded on the Dragonlord. “Do you mean to imply something?

Dragonlord Ember snorted, a small cloud of sparks betraying her fraying temper. “I’m just saying that lots of people would be interested in buying what they’re selling.”

If Queen Novo hadn’t been underwater, Sunset felt sure she’d have burst into flames. “You dare insinuate a lack of care? You’ve barely had that staff for a year! I’ve been defending Atlantis for centuries, whelp.”

“And both AIM and the Iron Mage managed to—”

“Can we all please just settle down?”

The words shouldn’t have commanded the attention that they did. They were softly spoken and polite, but everyone immediately silenced themselves. The voice wasn’t loud, but something about it made it feel huge. It didn’t command attention so much as own it. Sunset took a step to the left, trying to see who was in the third crystal ball.

Her breath caught. Princess Celestia?

Both Novo and Ember remained silent, and Princess Celestia sighed. “Now I know this is a troublesome discussion, but we’re a part of the greatest alliance in history. We can’t let the stress get to us.”

Ember refused to look up, and Novo growled again. “I don’t have time for your surface world nonsense. Atlantis has troubles of its own. AIM is a pony problem and doesn’t concern us, just like the Storm King’s attempt to destroy us have barely concerned you.”

A flash of guilt crossed Princess Celestia’s face, but Novo didn’t give her a chance to speak. “If AIM crosses our borders, we will deal with them, but as things stand we have no reason to assume they are the threat you tout them as. They threaten some of the rich, they steal some inventions, they are but a nuisance! Meanwhile, this Iron Mage can tear down buildings, wields the power of all three pony tribes, and can sneak onto the doorway of my city without detection! Just because you don’t want to help—”

“That’s it!” Director Shadow slammed her hoof down, rattling the crystals and silencing the queen. “SHIELD is doing its best to find Iron Mage as well as the Storm King, to say nothing of the aid we’ve sent your city already. If you really find us so distasteful, I’ll happily cut you loose, but until then I won’t sit here and be insulted!”

Princess Celestia nodded. “Though we have many different priorities, we are doing everything we can to help you, and frankly I thought our friendship meant more to you than this. Are you giving up on us, just like that?”

The room stayed silent for a moment, the nervous beat of Sunset's heart the only thing audible in the room. “You have my deepest apologies, Princess Celestia,” Novo finally said. “Recent events have had me out of sorts. Atlantis appreciates all that you’ve done, and owes you many debts.”

Director Tempest nodded. “SHIELD will contact you when we have more information,” she said through gritted teeth. “Will that be all?”

Novo signed off without replying. Tempest closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing, and anyone who worked for SHIELD knew that you left her alone until she calmed down. Sunset quietly shuffled backward.

“Okay, so,” Ember started awkwardly. “I might have come on a little strong back there.”

Tempest gave her a Look. Sunset felt impressed; when before she’d said the Look could make dragons nervous, she hadn’t expected it to be literal. “You didn’t help. Where are we with the prisoners?”

Ember shrugged in the casual manner of those who don’t want anyone to know how frightened they are. “Nothing yet, but give it time. Dragons have ways of persuading others.”

‘No, Dragons have ways of intimidating,” Director Tempest corrected. “And that doesn't stretch as far as you'd think.”

“I’d take it as a favor if you’d let me talk to them,” Princess Celestia added.

Ember looked between the two of them and sighed. “When do you want to meet?”

“I’m afraid I’m in space right now and it could be a while before I’m back. Would it be alright if I contacted you when I returned?”

“Yeah, it… uh…” Ember hesitated. “I’m sorry, where did you say you were? Your Highness,” she added after a second.

Princess Celestia snorted. “I’m just doing some routine maintenance on the sun. It’s aggravating, but obviously, I want to keep it running as long as possible.”

“Yeah,” Ember said faintly, “that’s a normal thing for someone to worry about.”

Director Tempest chuckled. “It is when you have this job. Welcome to the frying pan. I’ll give you a heads-up if it looks like we’re going to fall into the fire.”

Ember opened her mouth to say something cool, realized she had been completely out-cooled, and gave up. “Just call me when you’re ready,” she said as she signed off.

Princess Celestia sighed. “Is there anyone else?”

Those four words sounded so exhausted that it gave Sunset pause. Princess Celestia was always so strong, so noble, that hearing anything that sounded mortal felt bizarre.

Director Tempest looked up and frowned at Sunset. “The agent who first encountered Iron Mage is here. Do you want to interview her later?”

“No,” the Princess said, almost snapped. “No. I can go for a while longer before the strain starts to get to me. Bring her forwards, please.”

Director Tempest nodded. Sunset stepped forwards and tried very, very hard not to twitch or look nervous. “Agent Sunset Shimmer. It’s an honor to meet you, your highness.” As she bowed, spells in the desk and crystal scanned her appearance, sending the data to Princess Celestia.

“At ease, my little pony. Just tell me what happened.” Any trace of weariness left her voice, and Sunset tried very hard to forget they’d ever been there. “I can see you now. I’d put my appearance in the ball, but I’m inside the sun right now, and I understand that mortal eyes aren't adjusted for seeing in such places.”

Sunset smiled at the weak joke and nodded. “I was overseeing a shipment of Sparktech heading to an outpost in the Frozen North. It was late, around 2100 hours.” It had seemed normal, boring even. The season was turning warm and there was even a pleasant breeze blowing across the dock. “I heard an explosion on the top floors. I didn’t know it was Twilight’s office until later, but I remember having time to worry about her before another spell struck the gate. It was powerful enough to transmute it into a stone wall. We had to tear it down later; the enchantments were aggressively strong. And then she crashed into the ground in front of us.”

“The Iron Mage,” Director Tempest supplied.

“That’s correct. She took hold of the train car and shifted gravity around it, gluing the other guards to its sides. I dove out of its range and drew my weapons.”

“Were any of them effective?” Princess Celestia asked.

“No, your highness.” The words stung; they nearly left a bad taste on her tongue. “I’m not sure how well protected the mare underneath was, but nothing I had kept her down. I’ve been planning new arrowheads since then, like maybe one that could overload one of the enchantments. Maybe short out the whole thing.”

Director Tempest shifted some papers around her desk, trying to find something. “Global Dynamics has been speculating that she’s somehow compartmentalizing the enchantments in the suit, so just disrupting one won’t undo the others. Striking her power source might bring it down, but that’s so obvious there must be a system in place protecting it.”

Sunset nodded. “Plus, it’s the only suit like it in the world There’s no telling how exactly it works,” she said before remembering that she was just an agent speaking with two of the most powerful mares on the planet.

Neither seemed to be that displeased with her. Director Tempest just waved her forwards. “Finish your report. You were about to get to the interesting part.”

Sunset found her mouth growing dry. She swallowed. “After I hit her with a stormcloud arrow, she opened the circle in her chest and it… took my magic. It—” Sunset broke off, not sure how that sentence was even supposed to finish.

“Take your time,” the Princess said soothingly. Sunset heard pity in her voice, and it made her square her shoulders.

“It hurt,” she nearly blurted out. She was an agent of SHIELD, and SHIELD agents weren’t scared of talking. “It, uh… It could have hurt more. I don’t think she was trying to drain me, I think she was just trying to knock me out. It still… wasn’t great.” Sunset forced herself to take a deep breath. It was like her lungs were filled with sand; breathing shouldn’t be this hard. “And then she finished taking the truck apart and teleported away.”

“And what did she steal from the trucks?”

Sunset shrugged. “Not much. The components she used to build the wings we’ve seen her in, some metal plating based on Changeling Hive architecture… I thought the stuff left behind was more interesting.”

“Contraband.” Director Tempest slid a paper underneath the crystal ball, and Sunset knew a copy of it would appear before Princess Celestia. “Illegal weapons, some SHIELD gadgets, and Sparktech that they’d deemed too dangerous to use. All incredibly dangerous.”

“And we’re incredibly fortunate that Iron Mage stopped them,” Princess Celestia said thoughtfully, “And that she didn’t steal them for herself, without injuring anyone permanently. What other harm did she do?”

“She nearly killed Twilight!” Sunset snapped. “Uh. Your Highness. Ma’am.”

Director Tempest grunted. “While Sparkle was injured, Iron Mage didn’t actually kill her. Scared her half to death.”

“And could have done worse. Twilight’s begging changed her mind, but it could have gone either way.” Sunset wasn’t entirely sure how forward she could be, but she needed them to understand. “Twilight had severe bruising, a mild concussion, and even some electric burns. If Iron Mage was willing to go that far for someone so,” do not say adorable, “defenseless, then what is she willing to do to others?”

Director Tempest nodded. “She could have started a war between us and Atlantis. She’s doing some good, but she’s still dangerous.”

Princess Celestia held her silence for a moment, considering her options. “Then we shall proceed. We capture the Iron Mage to study her armor and consider AIM to be a secondary concern. As powerful as they claim to be, Queen Novo is right. They have yet to engage in anything more dangerous than some thefts and they don’t seem to be that far-reaching.”

Director Tempest stood up. “I’ll start working on a task force to catch the mare. Agent Shimmer, do you want in?”

Sunset blinked. “Of... course, I just… Yes, ma’am.”

Director Tempest nodded. “I’ll give you a roster to start working through tomorrow morning. I want you to have a functional team selected within the week. Can you do that?”

Command. She’s offering me a command. “Yes ma’am!” Sunset had been after something like this for years! It was a chance to prove herself, one she hadn’t been sure she’d ever get. “I’ll start, uh…” She belatedly realized that she couldn’t start on anything until after the Director gave her the roster. “‘l will start going through the other reports on Iron Mage and see if I can find any other clues.”

Director Tempest grunted, not even looking at her. “You don’t need to worry about anything before your shift at the Spark Expo tonight. Just worry about making that run smoothly."

Crap! Sunset froze in place as she remembered that she’d intended to ask the Director if she could switch with Mockingbird so Sunset could try and see Twilight. The stallion ranked higher than Sunset and had wanted to see the Expo anyway, but Sunset couldn’t get off now. “That won’t be a problem, Director.”

“Good. You’re dismissed.”

Sunset saluted and left, thoughts crowding her head. Twilight’s been avoiding people ever since Iron Mage’s attack. She’s hardly left the manor except to go to work. Someone needs to make sure she’s okay.

Hopefully, she could leave it in Spikes claws for a little longer. At least the Expo will be an easy assignment.

Under my Iron Skin (2)

There was a nervous energy hovering over the Spark Expo. There were hundreds of ponies present, but it seemed quieter than it should have been. Ponies moved in small herds of three or four, fawning over the innovations but casting nervous looks around the room. Their gazes bounced from exit to guard and back as if they were worried one might disappear at any moment.

Twilight frowned as she and Spike trotted through the crowd. “What's with everyone?”

Spike shrugged. “It’s that thing in Atlantis. Everyone’s worried about what Iron Mage is going to do next.”

Her frown deepened. “I thought Iron Mage was only targeting AIM?”

Spike opened his mouth to say something but stopped. “Yeah, I guess,” he said instead and hurried forwards. Twilight watched him check the exits too. Just in case.

This isn’t what I wanted.

The crowd began to thicken as they neared the staging area, and they had to push their way through. Both of them were wearing glasses that were enchanted to keep others from recognizing them. Technically, Twilight didn’t need the pair; she could just boost the same spell that hid her Arc Reactor from view. But magical batteries were finicky, and adding power to it could mess with its integrity and destroy it. They slipped backstage and began heading downstairs.

Twilight had been bothered by how quiet the Expo had been, but the staging area underneath the floor felt positively eerie. It had a low ceiling and stretched all the way across the convention floor, making it both cavernous and cramped at the same time. The ponies hurried back and forth, so consumed with their tasks that they didn’t even see Twilight and Spike come in. Twilight waved a hoof in front of one of the guards, but he completely ignored her.

Something about that bothered Twilight, but before she could say anything Spike poked her shoulder. “Hey, there’s the girls!”

The Applied Science Division, made up of her best friends in the world, were gathered around a bizarre Golem. It stood on two legs like a Minotaur, and it was so tall that a pair of Unicorns had to follow it around while casting a Fit-In-Everywhere spell, to keep it from getting stuck. Its most bizarre feature was its head. It didn’t have a face or ears; just a huge rectangular block that sat on its shoulders. Twilight could hear some kind of machinery humming around inside it even at a distance.

Fluttershy, a doctor studying the effects magic could have on the body, hovered near its head and gave it a comforting rub. “Can you feel that? If you’re feeling tired, you can stop.”

The Golem shook its head, and Fluttershy floated back. From the ground, Starlight Glimmer smiled. “Alright, watch this carefully.” She lit her horn and levitated a small apple. It flashed and transformed into a brightly colored frog. It gave a croak of alarm and tried to squirm out of her grasp. Starlight gave it to Fluttershy and smiled at the Golem. “Now, face the apple behind you and try casting.”

It nodded and the front panel of its boxy head slid open. It lit a spell that looked exactly like Starlight’s, and spat it at the apple.

It splashed right through the apple and took a whole crater out of the far wall. Dozens of frogs poured out of the wall, swarming around the Golem and across the hall. The guards ignored them stoically.

“Excellent!” Starlight checked some boxes while Fluttershy nervously tried to collect all the frogs. “We still don’t have any fine control, but spell duplication is working perfectly! You can head back,” she called up to the Golem, “and tell the next one to come when it’s ready.”

It nodded and lumbered away. Pinkie Pie, an intern getting a degree in chemical engineering, bit her lip as she watched it go. “Ya think this is maybe getting a little dangerous?”

“We might have to cut the magic demonstration,” Starlight agreed. “Though after the Dye Incident, you really shouldn’t talk about dangerous.”

“Hey!” Pinkie snapped. “Everyone was basically, almost nearly turned back to normal eventually!”

“Fairy Charmer is still glowing.”

“I said nearly! I stuck a lot of qualifiers on that sentence!” Pinkie glared at the floor. “It’s not like it was on purpose.”

“It’d be better if it was,” Starlight said, still looking over her chart. “If we could have found some way to justify the incident things would have gone a lot smoother. Applied Science is in enough trouble as it is.”

“Trouble?” Twilight asked. She took off her enchanted glasses as she approached and immediately regretted it; Pinkie caught sight of her and beamed.

“Boss! Hey boss! Where have you been did you see that I got promoted and the Dye Incident isn’t really my fault and there’s so much to tell you—”

“Pinkie!” Twilight took a step back, flicking her ears at Pinkie’s high-pitched brand of excitement. “Woah, let's just remember our indoor voices, okay?”

Pinkie giggled nervously and stepped back. Starlight patted her on the shoulder and smiled at Twilight. “It’s good to see you.”

“It’s great seeing you girls too.” Twilight turned to watch Fluttershy begin to corral the frogs towards the middle of the room. “I guess things haven’t changed much.”

“Oh, oh!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Except I’m not just an intern anymore! I’m an assistant!”

“What, really?” Twilight smiled. “That’s great! When did that happen?”

“About a month ago! I invited you to the party, but you had to do something business-y.”

“Right!” Twilight said, “I was meeting with Sunburst and Blueblood about the laws limiting telepathic research in the private sector. I must have missed it. I’m sorry I’ve been so busy lately.”

Everyone exchanged a series of odd looks and then nodded awkwardly. “Well,” Starlight said, “You’re here now? Let me show you what we’ve been working on.” Starlight started walking in the direction the huge Golem had moved in, and Twilight slowly followed. She glanced around, noting again how quiet everyone seemed. As they walked they passed another Golem trotting in an oddly smooth manner and had no visible joints or seams. Twilight turned to watch it as it passed but had to hurry to keep up with Starlight.

Spike and Pinkie stayed behind with the new Golem, leaving Starlight and Twilight alone. Twilight could feel her anxiety bubbling in her stomach. She closed her eyes for a second and concentrated on her Arc Reactor.

Magic’s not about what’s possible, it’s about what is.

The magic inside began to stir.

Don’t get hung up on the possibilities, just focus on what’s real.

It began to flow, from around her horn down across her body towards her Cutie Mark.

Don’t look at it like a Unicorn. Look at it like an Earth Pony.

The Reactor finished its work, transforming her magic from a Unicorn’s to that of an Earth Pony. Earth pony magic boosted her Cutie Mark, so while she couldn’t cast spells, she could perceive and understand them much more thoroughly. She could almost see them now, floating over and through the ponies all around. There was a shimmering tether linking the Golem to whatever Starlight intended to show her, but no odd spells on Starlight herself.

They reached a large door barred by two guards who immediately pulled themselves up straight when they saw her approach. They opened the door for Starlight without looking, because their gaze was locked solidly on Twilight. She shifted uncomfortably and moved inside.

“Alright,” Starlight began. “Golems are the safest way to deal with dangerous situations, but of course programming them is difficult. Since they aren’t real people, they can’t react like a real person would which could, in turn, endanger whatever they were trying to save. So I thought: What if we didn’t have to program it?”

Despite the uneasy feeling in her stomach, Twilight felt intrigued. She loved watching Starlight work on problems, the mare’s mind had always been electrifying. “You found a way to let Golems create ideas?”

“Even better!” They reached the end of the short hallway and Starlight opened the door with aplomb. “What if they didn’t have to think at all?”

Inside the dark room were about a dozen ponies sitting at desks. Each sat in front of a modified crystal ball. There were wires connecting it to some kind of machinery mounted on the ponies foreheads. Twilight concentrated on the spell, trying to see how it worked with the machinery.

“Each one of these ponies is in charge of a Golem,” Starlight continued, “and is controlling it through these devices. This means they can be deployed for search and rescue, evacuations, dangerous exploration missions—”

“How are you controlling them?” Twilight interrupted. Her gaze remained fixed on the crystal, but she could hear Starlight’s sudden nervous laugh.

“Well, as I said, the device plugs into the crystal ball, and they can use it to direct the Golem’s movements. I don’t…”

Twilight let Starlight trail off as she turned back towards the mare. “It’s a mind-link spell. Those headbands are pulling out their minds, and sending it through the crystal ball into the Golem. Aren’t they?”

“Well… Yes,” Starlight began. “But they consented to what we’re doing—”

“That doesn’t make it safe!” Twilight exploded. “You’re sending their minds out with nothing to shield them! What if something intercepts the signal?”

“I mean,” Starlight tried to say, “we haven’t gotten that far yet...”

“If something happens to the Golem while they’re inside it, they’ll feel it like it’s real. What happens to someone after they feel themselves die?”

“Okay, we haven’t tested for that yet, so we’re not super clear…”

“And on top of that,” Twilight exclaimed, “Spark Industries is trying to ban this kind of research! Sunburst told you about the mess Global Dynamics made, and they’re careful— I mean,” she abridged, “they’re self-aware, careful a little much…”

“Twilight!” Starlight snapped. “I get that this could be dangerous in the wrong hooves, but it’s not in the wrong hooves! It’s in our hooves! And we can use this to help people! Why don’t you get that?”

“What are you talking about? I do that every day—”

“Not anymore!” Starlight’s magic spiked with her anger, and she dropped the clipboard. “You spend all of your time in your office, and you haven’t been down in Applied Science in months. You keep pushing these restrictions, you won’t see us—”

“I’m busy!” Twilight’s tail lashed, and it took far more strength than it should have to stand still. “I’m trying to fix the messes I made!”

“That AIM made. That other ponies made. The things you built—”

“—I didn’t take responsibility for.” Twilight spun around stomped over to look at the rigging more closely. She might have been trying to hide her face. “I knew my tech was being used to hurt people. But I blew it off until I couldn’t anymore. It doesn’t matter what I intended. The bottom line is that I could have helped people and I didn’t care.”

Starlight snorted bitterly. “So now you don’t care about us?”

Twilight stared at Starlight. Now she was the one facing away and hiding her face. “Starlight, that’s not true.”

Starlight snorted again. “If you’d been working with us, you could have told us to change direction ahead of time or found a way around this. Now we’re down another project. Do you know how hard this is without you? With all these rules we don’t get a say in? You haven’t seen us in forever, and things— are different. The board wants to get rid of Applied Science. We need this win, Twilight.”

Starlight looked up, and their gaze met. It had been a while since Twilight had seen her friend, and she looked older. As if it’d been years and not months.

Twilight sighed. “We can’t cancel the demonstration this late. We’ll do this, and then we can talk later about how changes are being made. But this mind tech is dangerous, Starlight. I want to find other projects.”

Starlight’s face tightened. “Yeah. Of course. We’ll do that.”

Fearfully, “Starlight, I’m sorry—”

“I’m sorry you cut us loose too.”

The sentence stood between them like a brick wall, blocking anything Twilight might have said back. The silence was broken by a gentle knock on the door. One of the guards from outside poked his head in. “Pardon me, I need to show you something.”

Starlight nodded. “I’m coming. We’re done anyway.”

“Uh,” the guard started, “I really should show this to both of—”

“Don’t bother,” Starlight said coldly. “She was just leaving.”

The guard shifted from hoof to hoof as Twilight stood frozen. She wanted to be angry— she wanted to shout her down— but the words wouldn’t come. So she just turned and left.

Spike watched the new Golem stand in place and begin to change. In some ways, the thing was simpler than the other Golems, because it didn’t have any machinery inside. It couldn’t mimic a pony’s ability to fly, a Minotaur's strength, or any other magical powers. What made it stand out were the elements used in its construction.

It was made from an alloy of mercury and a classified mineral that Spike didn’t even know the name of. It could transform its body from a solid to a liquid. Then it could reshape itself however it wished and transform back.

The Golem melted itself down and formed the shape of a small cage, before solidifying. Technicians pulled on the bars and nodded, before gesturing for it to continue. It shifted through several forms, including a pony-sized dog, a large cart, and a shorter likeness of Princess Celestia.

Fluttershy guided the Golem through each change, offering words of encouragement. Pinkie had taken over the clipboard and frowned as she checked off each box. Spike frowned with her. “Is something wrong?” he asked.

“Huh? Oh, not with this,” she pointed to the Golem, “I’m just worried about Starlight. She’s been running herself ragged trying to get this done. Ponies don’t like us as much as they used to when the boss worked here.”

“Oh.” Spike scratched the back of his neck, feeling a little on the spot. “I’m sure she’ll be back when she gets ahead of her work.”

“Everyone’s been saying that for forever,” Pinkie said, much more quietly than most would expect her to. “At least the ones that want to be nice. Everyone else keeps talking about how the boss was the only reason we got anything done. Without her, we’re gonna…” She shook her head. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to stay.”

“Twilight won’t let anybody fire you,” Spike said firmly. “She’s going through a lot, but she’s still your friend.”

“That’s not what Starlight thinks,” Pinkie said glumly. “Starlight is scared. She’s obsessed with this project, making it work right, making it look good… I don’t know what she’ll do if it goes wrong.”

“I don’t think it’s just her job,” Fluttershy said as she walked over. She quailed a little when they both looked at her, but she carried on. “I think it has something to do with Twilight.”

“I know, I’m worried too,” Spike said. “She’s hiding something, I’m sure of it.”

“That’s, uh,” Fluttershy bit her lip. “That’s not quite what I meant.” She shuffled her wings and looked away, trying to find the right words. “It’s… When did Twilight get captured?”

“The weapons demonstration near Yakyakistan,” Pinkie said.

“Right. The things is, uh, that she went to that instead of Starlight.”

“What? But that wasn’t Starlight’s fault,” Spike said. “Sunset and I wanted her to do that, so the board would stop complaining about her not taking her job seriously.”

Fluttershy nodded. “But she was really upset after Twilight got back and stopped working down here. I think she feels guilty.”

“We all feel bad!” Pinkie snapped. “But Starlight is being a huge... “ she sighed. “Well, you know.”

Spike sighed. “I wish I’d known things were getting this bad. Maybe I could have helped somehow. It’d be nice to get something right.”

Both mares waited for Spike to continue, and he blushed. He hadn’t meant to.say that out loud. “Sorry. It’s not really anything.”

“Pardon me.”

Spike and the girls turned to see one of the guards levitating crystal ball in his magic. “I need to show you something.”

With a morose sigh, Twilight trotted towards the food court, killing time before the presentation began. There were a growing number of ponies now, but the attitude was still very skittish. At the very least, it meant that the lines were shorter. Twilight felt too depressed to eat, so after passing up various deep-fried goodness, she settled on a soda and looked for a place to sit down alone.

She watched ponies talked animatedly about the inventions they’d seen, but she couldn’t bring herself to be excited. Every time someone mentioned a new innovation, Starlight’s accusing eyes would creep into her head. What if she’s right? Could I be going too far?

It wasn’t just Applied Science’s current woes; was Iron Mage working? She’d destroyed some research and cost AIM money, but SHIELD could have handled any of them. Maybe she hadn’t gotten any civilians hurt, but this aura of fear didn't do anyone any favors.

More than anything, she felt alone. As Twilight sat down, she realized that she’d left Spike downstairs by accident.

Of course you did. You’re so wrapped in your private war that you can’t see a thing your friends are doing.

“Mind if I sit here?”

Twilight jerked her head up. Sunset Shimmer smiled down at her, holding a sack lunch in her field. She was in uniform and armed to the teeth, and just seeing her made Twilight want to relax.

But what if she’s the mole?

Twilight did her best to brush the thought away as Sunset offered her a bag of chips. “You look like you have a lot on your mind, Twi.”

Twilight took the offered bag and sighed. “You have no idea.” She pointed to the seat across from her with a tired expression, and Sunset slid down. “How’d you recognize me?”

Sunset took off her sunglasses. “Enchanted with a Truth-of-the-Matter spell. I can see through anything I want to, including illusions. They should be standard issue, but they’re expensive.” She looked closely at Twilight’s face and her expression immediately fell. “I thought things were getting better?”

“I mean, they are, but…” She shook her head. “It’s nothing. How are you doing?”

“Pretty great,” Sunset shrugged, “so nothing new. I might have to spend less time at Spark Industries. Director Tempest wants me for a command.”

“That’s great!” Twilight leaned forwards. “Can you tell me what it’s for?”

Sunset snorted. “Classified. You know how it works. And don’t think I’m letting you get away with that, missy. I know that look on your face.”

Twilight frowned. Then, realizing that was the exact face Sunset was talking about, immediately tried to smooth it over and look normal. Upon realizing she didn’t know what her face looked like when it was normal, she gave up and let her head thunk against the table. “Heuuuuuuuugh,” she sighed. “There’s a lot.”

Sunset nodded. “It’s easy for things to stack up without you noticing. Did something happen today?”

“I mean…” Twilight took a bite to give herself time to think. How much could she tell Sunset? “I hadn’t realized how much stress I was causing everyone. You know how hard I’ve been pushing for reforms.”

“I get it.” Sunset slid over her blueberries, and Twilight gratefully took some. “Look, finding a balance can be hard. I have a little time to talk before I’m scheduled to go back.”

“But it’s…” Twilight sagged in her chair. Maybe Sunset was AIM’s pawn, but most of this would be making gossip rounds at Spark Tower anyway. And more than anything, she needed to talk to someone. “Yeah, okay.”

Slowly, Twilight started opening up. It felt hard at first, but the words flowed easier and easier the longer she spoke, and she felt enormously better by the time she was done. “...And now I don’t know what to do. If I let Starlight push this sort of research through, it’ll undo all the work I’ve done to protect people from my technology. But I can’t shut this project down without hurting my friends.”

Sunset nodded. “That’s a tough one. How mad was Starlight?”

“She said I’d ‘cut her loose.’” Twilight groaned. “She’s one of my oldest friends! We were roommates at the University, and now she thinks I hate her.”

“Hey! She’s just mad right now,” Sunset said. “Give her some time, and then sit down and talk with her over lunch or something. Maybe you can explain yourself better, maybe the two of you can find a new project. But if you try to make this call in a vacuum, you’re just going to hurt something.”

Twilight smiled. “Thanks, Sunset.”

“No prob.” Sunset stood and stretched, arching her sore back and neck. “Look, what happened to you was awful. It changes a person. Feeling out those changes can be rough. If you want to talk, I’m there for—”

“Pardon me.”

Sunset and Twilight turned to see one of the security guards from below standing there. Sunset frowned. “You’re supposed to be downstairs. You can’t just leave your post because I’m on a lunch break.”

The guard didn’t seem to notice. Over his shoulder, Twilight could see four other guards stepping inside and closing the doors. She frowned. “What’s going on?”

“I need to show you something,” he said simply. From the duffel bag on his back, he pulled out a crystal ball. As Twilight looked at it, her breath caught.

Hanging inside was a very familiar hypnotic spiral.

There was a hideous squeal from the intercom, but Sunset didn’t look away. Twilight looked up, hoping no one noticed that she should be mesmerized. It might have been smarter to pretend to be a brainwashed zombie, but her heart was beating too fast for her to fake serenity.

I know that spiral.

A huge enchanted mirror came to life, showing the demonstration area. There were SHIELD personnel and standard guards standing there, enraptured by a pony sitting on a newly installed throne.

I know that mare.

The mare on the screen was— very hard to describe. Twilight knew how to guard her mind against telepathy. After her capture, she’d been obsessed with it. But you couldn’t block out everything. Some images leaked through, like the spirals of red, yellow and orange gently floating up from the mare’s hooves and across her body. Even though the warped image on the mirror, it was impossible to discern the details underneath.

Twilight had a lot of time to try and learn those details because this was one of the people that had captured her.

Hypnotia.

Even the word in her mind was spoken with a mixture of fear and contempt. Her tail lashed. Her ears laid back, and suddenly the single most important thing in the world was the image of this mare laying under Twilight’s hooves coughing up blood.

The mare spoke, each sentence containing imperious authority. “Hellooooo, Canterlot! I’d just like to take a moment to express a few complaints as to how I’ve been treated lately. She stood as dramatically as possible, tossing her mane back and smirking. “All I’ve heard since I got to this city is this nonsense about the Iron Mage. ‘She is real, what’ll she do next,’ bla bla bla.” She paused for dramatic effect because that was really her biggest motivation to do anything. “But not once have I heard a single person mention AIM.”

The crowd was beginning to stir now, some even inching their way towards the exits. The guards stationed at each door stomped as one, and everyone froze.

“AIM,” the mare proclaimed, “is the largest secret society ever formed. We’re everywhere. We’re anyone. And nobody, not even some mare armed with some cheap armor and cheesy one-liners, can stop us.”

From behind her, a hatch opened and a platform slowly raised itself. On it stood the entire Golem project. There were a half-dozen pony forms, as well as four artificial Minotaurs and the two Twilight has passed by in the testing range. Pinkie, Fluttershy, Spike, and Starlight all stood with eyes glazed over with spirals, barely cognizant of the world around them.

Twilight sucked her breath in through her teeth. Her whole body was taut, shaking with suppressed rage. How dare she.

Hypnotia somehow found a way to smirk even harder. She could fit her whole body into her smirk, with a special tilt of her head and twitch of her hips. “This presentation? I own it. I own these ponies and the dragon too. Everything here at the Expo is mine, and there’s nothing Spark Industries or SHIELD can do about it. Oh, and if a certain Twilight Sparkle really is here?

Twilight leaned forwards, and Hypnotia finally dropped her smile. “Just know that the Great and Powerful Hypnotia is coming for her too.”

The feed to the mirror cut out, and a compressed panic settled in. No one actually wanted to sit still, but a single spiral shone on the mirror. Slowly, everyone’s attention slid towards it, until the entire room sat still and unblinking.

Alright, Twilight thought. I’m alone, surrounded by guards. My friends have been captured by my worst enemy, and if anyone sees me pull out my armor my company will be seized and I’ll be arrested. On top of that, the most advanced minds in the world, along with their greatest inventions, are about to be stolen by terrorists.

Twilight felt a new emotion peak through her rage and realized it wasn’t fear. For the first time since she’d gotten back, she didn’t have a voice in her head saying that she couldn’t do this, or telling her she was going to hurt someone. She had to do this, like it or not. And she had a very specific person she wanted to hurt. The only thing she felt was excitement.

Well, it’s about time I get a problem I know how to fix.

Under my Iron Skin (3)

They were slowly herded down a long corridor towards the expo floor. Twilight had managed to get a spot near the outside edge, but she didn’t have a plan just yet. The guards were passing crystal balls linked to Hypnotia around the group. Twilight remembered the—

The lights flashed.

Her own voice.

“…I won’t—”

—Twilight stumbled a little but kept moving. She remembered the rules of Hypnotia’s powers. Much like real hypnosis, they pulled attention and used your focus to relax you enough to agree with anything you were told. It could take several sessions to gain real control over a person, but since it didn’t directly implant commands it slipped past normal mental defenses. Twilight could shrug off the direct effects because of all the— practice, she’d had.

The herd moved slowly, but they were making better progress than Twilight had hoped. She could hear the eerie moans ahead, as the crowd repeated the chants Hypnotia gave them.

Alright, let’s break this down slowly.

There were three AIM guards, two on each side and one in the rear. Twilight couldn’t run without being seen, and at any rate, she’d be running right into Hypnotia and the rest of AIM. She couldn’t overpower the guards, because even aside from the reinforcements, the herd would turn on her. And if she didn’t come up with something soon, it’d be too late.

She focused her Earth Pony magic on the crystal balls, committing the signal to memory as best she could. Twilight took a deep breath and shifted her magic back to that of a Unicorn. On the next pass, she grabbed one of the crystal balls.

The guards converged immediately, but she wasn’t running. She brought it closer to her face and stared at it. She felt nausea creep through her stomach but powered through. “Preeeeeeeetty,” she said.

“What is she doing?” one of the guards asked.

“Shh,” the guard nearest her said. His field tried to reach inside hers, but he wasn’t strong enough. She had a harder time than she should have; there were extra batteries in the armor, but the Arc Reactor itself couldn’t store very much power. She didn’t have much time to complete the spell.

The guard lay what was meant to be a comforting hoof on her shoulder, and she couldn’t suppress a wince. “Hey,” he said, “you feel like you need to keep going, right?”

Her horn was lit as she frantically cast two spells at once; the levitation spell that everyone saw and a hidden attack on the Crystal Ball itself. She couldn’t hold her face blank, and when she shivered she realized that she was sweating. “G-going?”

“Yes,” the guard said. “Go on. Forwards.”

It was taking too long. Without using Earth Pony magic, Twilight was altering the spellwork blind. She had seconds. “Going…”

There was a ding, and she finally gained access to the network. “Going down!”

She isolated the audio signal and ripped it apart, sending a hideous screech through every ball Hypnotia was using to control people. The noise echoed throughout the facility, accompanied by a steadily rising terror. The shouts ahead faded quickly, as Hypnotia’s gaze brought them down again. But around her, there was immediate panic.

Ponies bolted in both directions, most going forwards towards the main room. Twilight didn’t have time to help them, she just turned and ran back the way they came. The guards gave chase, but there were a lot of ponies to round up and Twilight wouldn’t have a problem losing herself in the crowd.

“Look out!”

Twilight froze at the words just long enough for a guard to tackle her. He reared up to trample her, but she rabbit-punched him in the ribs and kicked him off.

She rolled away and stood, taking in the scene as quickly as possible. There were more AIM guards coming, but Sunset had recovered her bow. An arrow streaked down the corridor, striking the wall and splattering green ooze across everything. The potion flared a noxious green and began to distort, and titanic vines emerged and struck the guards. This caused a lot of panic, screaming, and general mayhem but some of the guards were already through.

Twilight absorbed all this in the split-second it took her opponent to stand. He growled. “Who do you think you are?”

“Loaded question.” Twilight tossed her mane back out of her eyes and stamped her hoof. “Let me show you.”

Her cocky attitude was a little misplaced. She’d been learning how to fight, but all of her real fights had been inside her armor. She instinctively tried to fly, and at the moment she remembered her wings weren’t there he was on her.

Fighting meant learning how to take a punch. His rattled her jaw and nearly floored her, but she got her hooves under her and stabbed him with her horn. He reared back, pulling her on top and kicking her unprotected stomach.

She staggered back, and he started to stand. Forgoing subtly, she grabbed his body telekinetically and slammed him against the ceiling. She felt a twinge in her chest as she did— Twilight could have tossed all these ponies around in the old days, but now she was starting to run on fumes.

Time to go.

Twilight looked back over the crowd again. It was thinner now; most of the innocent ponies had fled and the guards were focused on Sunset. It was an almost chilling reminder of how inexperienced she was; Sunset had floored three of the guards and was trading fire with guards on the other side of the vines. The vines were beginning to smolder as the magic sustaining them ran out.

I can’t leave her like this.

Twilight levitated the AIM grunt she’d disposed of, wincing at the effort. She’d need to be quick if she wanted to get Sunset out of there—

But what if she’s the mole?

Sunset had been hypnotized with the other agents, but that didn’t preclude any prior brainwashing. After all, a Special Agent would be very valuable to AIM, especially one connected to Spark Industries. And Sunset was the one in charge of security at the Expo. AIM could have walked right in.

But she’s my friend.

Twilight watched the vines continue to disintegrate. There only moments left, and to make matters worse, she could see the shifting colors of Hypnotia as she approached.

But what if she’s not?

Twilight dropped the guard and turned to run. As she galloped away, she heard the vines finally disappear. Sunset shouted and fell silent. Excuses piled up in her mind, telling her things like she didn’t stand a chance or how she’d save Sunset later.

It didn’t help. She had to leave a friend behind because she didn’t know if that friend stabbed her in the back or not. Nothing about this situation was okay.

It’s fine. I just need to hide, then I can summon my armor and pull Hypnotia’s smug head off.

And save my friends.

Those should have been the other way around.

There was a flare of light, and an AIM guard teleported in front of her. She yelped and tried to pull herself up short, only to trip and slide on the floor. She kicked him in the face and worked her way back to her hooves, ducking under a bolt of energy as AIM charged her. Throwing caution to the wind, she pulled what was left of her magic together and teleported away.

Darkness claimed her.

This should have been one of the best nights of Hypnotia’s life. All eyes were on her, they were chanting her new name, and she’d even gotten some light groveling in. But she couldn’t just enjoy something, now could she?

She observed the scene from behind the protection of two of Twilight’s little sidekicks; Starlight Glimmer and the short dragon one. The SHIELD agent lay unconscious. Hypnotia frowned, she’d wanted to talk to her. “Did Twilight Sparkle get away?”

The guard stared at her face for a second before the question registered. He closed his eyes and concentrated. “Yes, miss.”

She stomped her hoof and snorted. “Check on the guards stationed near the hostages. Scatter the cannon fodder in groups of two and have them comb through the facility. We can save the real guards for important things.”

The AIM guard bowed— not something AIM required, but Hypnotia appreciated it-- and walked away to carry out her orders. Hypnotia turned to Starlight Glimmer. Even seeing that uptight jerk smiling like a bubble-headed cheerleader didn’t erase her dark mood. “How long until our equipment is loaded?”

“Fifteen minutes, miss,” Starlight said dreamily. “It feels like no time at all standing in—”

“Yes I’m beautiful, now shut up I’m thinking.” Hypnotia’s frown deepened. If they left as soon as they’d loaded the equipment, she wouldn’t have time to leave any ideas in the audience’s heads. “Guard, remind me how many we’re allowed to foalnap?”

“Only a few, Miss. And we were ordered to report in if anyone broke free.”

She growled, and her thralls flinched at her anger. “Oh, hush,” she said irritably. “I’m not angry at any of you. Guard,” she ordered, “make sure no one talks to or bothers me in any way for the next few moments, no matter what happens. If they do, they will be punished most severely.”

The guard nodded and moved away. As soon as they’d formed a perimeter, Hypnotia closed her eyes and let her mind drift. She felt something shift across her mind, something both loathsome and welcoming. It hurt, and she sighed as she sank into the pain.

“Hypnotia. I can only assume that you are calling to explain how grand your most recent victory was?”

Hypnotia flinched. “I’m afraid there has been a minor setback.”

“What an intriguing change of pace. Do enlighten me.”

Hypnotia drew in a deep, shuddering breath. “While the equipment is being stowed away as we speak, a small group has managed to escape. I have guards searching for them now.”

“Have you located Twilight Sparkle yet?”

Hypnotia shook her head. She wished she could turn away, but there was nowhere to turn away to. The darkness permeated her, the voice both insubstantial and encompassing. There was nothing to fight against and nowhere to go.

“A pity. When you called to tell me that you had her so close, I had assumed you would be able to make up for your last great failure, as opposed to compounding it. Nevertheless, you still have an opportunity to make this right. I advise you not to waste it, as it would go... poorly should you return with naught but words.”

With a jolt, Hypnotia opened her eyes. “Was I out long?”

“Just a few moments, miss,” the guard said. “Are you alright?”

Hypnotia nodded, hoping her shakes weren’t visible. This is worth it, she told herself. She was AIM’s face, the terrifying yet alluring visage that all thought of. She might not be in charge of anything… crucial, but an entire planet fearing her?

That was worth anything

Hypnotia took a decisive step forward. “We can’t afford to leave any loose ends here. Can we see which doors they flee out of?”

“Yes, miss.”

“Good. I’ve got something special ready for our friend…”

At the nearest twitch of her tail, the titanic golems approached and bowed. “How may we serve you, miss?” they asked as one.

Twilight suddenly realized she’d blacked out, and forced her eyes open. It took her a moment to realize where she was. Teleport. Underground.

It had been a stupid risk to teleport with the reactor so low. That spell was a doozy when she’d been whole, but now...

Gotta stand.

It wasn’t as if she’d had a choice! She needed somewhere to change into Iron Mage. Without her armor, she was worse than useless. To do that she’d need power, and—

Twilight realized she was sweating. She reached up with a trembling hoof and realized it was starting to grey out. She wasn’t standing and moving made her nauseous.

Reactor low. Gotta recharge.

She raked her hoof across her vest, trying to reach the Arc Reactor. Buttons popped off and the vest was likely ruined, but she didn’t care right now. If she’d aimed right, she should be in one of the prototype rooms. She pressed her hoof against the Arc Reactor, and the cover flipped open.

Her limbs stopped shaking as power flowed into her. Her stomach stopped its complaining, and her head cleared enough to stand. She looked around as the streams of energy flowed from the magitech and into the reactor, and noted with relief that she was alone.

I’m getting lucky.

She dismissed the thought and closed the Reactor. Twilight cricked her neck, reached for the spell she buried deep inside the Reactor itself and said two words.

“Armor up.”

In a moment she was enclosed in iron. Her breathing eased, and her clumsy limbs moved more smoothly as the enchantments on the suit took hold. She lit her horn, watching her magic turn from lavender to bright blue. She flexed her new metal wings, stepping into the air with ease that defied her heavy armor. Twilight felt strong, saw clearer, and felt Invincible.

The Iron Mage tore through the wall and began to make her way towards the showroom floor, only one thought dominating her mind.

It’s time to end this.

Under my Iron Skin (4)

Iron Mage flew through the tunnels, faster than any could run but far too slowly for her liking. She loved the rush she got from Pegasi magic; the way time seemed to stand still and she felt like she had enough time in the day to get anything done. Honestly, between how much she loved flying and how many things she could learn with Earth pony magic, being a Unicorn was her least favorite tribe.

She passed a squad of guards in the tunnels but didn’t break her stride. Iron Mage shifted her weight to the jets in her boots and flared her wings. Six repulsars, three in each wing, lit them up in the space of a second. One of them managed to get a force field up, but she simply crashed through it. Then she was flying down the corridor again, mind focused on the coming carnage.

Not carnage, she thought to herself. Enough people have died because of AIM, and I’m not adding to it.

She couldn’t use lethal force against hostages anyway, and she absolutely couldn’t let her friends die. She wished the stealth suit hadn’t been trashed in Atlantis, but the Changeling plates wouldn’t grow back for another few days and she still had a lot of tuning to do on the spellwork itself.

Iron Mage landed underneath the stage and changed her magic from Pegasi to Earth Pony. It was hard to make out specific spells with so many people so close together, but all she needed were locations. The hostages were surrounded by a dozen or so ponies, which Iron Mage assumed were AIM guards.

There were more ponies stacking and moving the inventions from the showroom floor. A mixed group of Pegasi and Unicorns were grouping them together. She blinked in surprise when it began to follow their forwards trot, but rolled her eyes. They’re just using a normal dolly to move the equipment.

She followed them from below with little difficulty; there were tunnels underneath most of the Expo and she didn’t have a problem keeping up. They were likely heading towards the loading bay, which was where their transport would be. And if Hypnotia wasn’t on the main floor, then that’s where she would be.

Iron Mage slowed when she reached the entrance to the airship bay; she needed a subtle way in and the suit wasn’t made for subtlety. I think I remember the layout enough to do a teleportation spell. If I land far enough away they might not notice…

Before she could finish her thought, the door rattled open. Startled, she turned her gaze towards it and away from the AIM group, and saw the danger maybe a second before the door finished opening.

There were three of them, Minotaur Golems lumbering in front of a rapidly retreating AIM guard. Iron Mage called upon her Pegasi magic and checked her batteries. 85%, she noted. Power to spare. “Let's get this over with quickly.”

Her wings lit up as she dove at the nearest one. It slammed into her, leveraging its size against her power. She triggered her boot jets, briefly lifting the thing off the ground, before throwing it underneath the next one. They went down in a tangle of limbs.

She turned towards the third one, but—

Oh, that one has a big rock.

With a crash she went through the wall as the chunk of cement hit her, landing in the adjoining room. She winced as the pain spiraled up her back and head. The healing spells signaled ready, but she didn’t turn them on. They drew an excessive amount of power, and she wasn’t badly hurt.

Iron Mage shifted her magic back to that of a Unicorn, hefting the rock and tossing it towards the Golem. It caught the thing, and she used the moment to fire a thin pulse of magic through its knees. It crumbled to the ground, arms pinned under the rock.

Iron Mage checked her batteries again. 78%, she noted. Still could be worse.

She teleported into the room, aiming her horn at the two slowly standing Golems. She cast a Sink-Like-A-Stone spell on them, before turning back to regard the rest of the soldiers. I didn’t see the other Golems, she thought, but the pony-based ones might read as normal from this range—

A huge metal hand grabbed Iron Mage around the midsection. Huh, she belatedly realized. They’re even stronger than they look.

The Golem lifted her up and smashed her against the ground. She tried to summon her magic, but he lifted her and slammed her down again.

And again.

The power dampening and structural integrity spells began to protest the pounding. Iron Mage couldn’t focus enough to cast, and she tasted blood in her mouth. “Electrify suit!” she snapped.

Volts of electricity coursed across the suit and into the Golem. She rachted them up past what she’d use on a normal pony; she wasn’t even sure he’d feel it.

The Golem flailed wildly, slamming her into the walls and ceiling as it shut down before it finally keeled over. Before the other Golem could reach her, she blinded it with a Here-Comes-The-Sun spell near its eyes. She grabbed the joints and yanked them apart. It fell, crushing her beneath its weight.

She groaned, roughly shoving the machine away. Ahead, dozens of AIM guards stood with various magical and alchemical weapons pointed at her. Past them four Pony-shaped Golems lumbered towards her, and further back she could see them unloading a huge cannon.

Iron Mage slowly stood, head throbbing. “Oh, a fair fight?” she asked.

They opened fire.

Iron Mage leapt forwards through the air, weapons fire striking like drops of rain. Her power reserves were dropping, but she’d scattered the soldiers.

She switched back to Unicorn magic, landing with a loud clang in the middle of the Pony Golems. They were on her in an instant, trying to pull her down and trample her under their hooves.

Iron Mage caught the first one and threw it against the second. They skidded away, landing at the far end of the bay. The third was too close, and it slugged her in the face.

She staggered, the floor under her cracking under the blow. It pressed forwards, wrapping its forelegs around her neck and squeezing hard enough to bend steel.

The suit creaked but held. She changed back to Pegasus magic and used her boot jets to push them into the air. They smashed against the ceiling, and she spun them around and dove back toward the ground.

The Golem fell apart as its spellwork failed and it cracked open. It took her a moment to place the noise, but she quickly realized it was screaming.

No!

Iron Mage changed her magic to that of an Earth Pony, cursing herself. I said to Starlight, we don’t know what a sudden deactivation could do! I can’t believe I was so careless!

The AIM guards had collected themselves and began to fire again. Iron Mage ignored them; the durability enchantments could handle their weapons. She lifted the chassis and scanned the Golem. The signal is fading slowly, and he looks healthy. But if I hadn’t gotten careless—

A burning potion caught her in the shoulder and ignited. It took seconds for the defensive enchantments to re-work themselves to counter the fire, and that second of pain shattered her concentration. She staggered back as the AIM weapons began to penetrate her re-formatting defenses.

Power to 60%

I have to end this quickly.

She grabbed the top half of the Golem with both forelegs and threw it towards the group. They ducked, but it flew well over their heads. While they were distracted, Iron Mage flipped open the cover to the Arc Reactor.

The suit went dead, as she couldn’t risk absorbing its innate magic. For the next few moments, she was a barely-mobile metal statue. The AIM guards didn’t know that, and began to open up again with increasing desperation as they and their weapons lost their magic. She didn’t let up until each one of them collapsed, too weak to fight.

Power to 69%

Iron Mage closed the Reactor and sighed. Pulling up her Pegasus magic, she zapped the two Pony Golems and peered across the bay. They tried to get up, but she could pick them off at her leisure with this distance. Nothing else moved.

She trotted forwards, mind racing as she considered her options. She didn’t want a stand-off, partly because that put the hostages in danger and partly because ‘hostages’ meant ‘hostage negotiation’ and that gave Hypnotia a huge advantage. On the bright side, most of AIM’s Golems and soldiers were down and wouldn’t be up again for a while.

Now, she just had to find where Hypnotia was hiding.

“You know you have to open your eyes sometime.”

Sunset growled. Hypnotia’s voice tried to be conversational, but there was an edge to it. It was as if each word knew how special Hypnotia was and resented being restrained. “I really don’t.”

Somewhere off to her left, Hypnotia snorted. Sunset turned her head right, but the flashing light followed her. Even through her eyelids Hypnotia’s spirals almost burned her eyes, alternating between red and yellow and orange, before settling on a cool silver that didn’t hurt as much. “Everyone says that,” Hypnotia said, “and they always do.”

“...Twilight,” Sunset mumbled. She frowned at herself. “Twilight got away,” she tried again, more clearly. “So that means your powers have limits.”

“Well, let's be fair, Twilight Sparkle is very good at running away. She left you behind, after all.” The sound of clattering reached Sunset’s ears, and it took her a second to react. Hypnotia was rooting through the room, looking for something. What could... she… Sunset frowned. What is she doing? The silver light made it feel like there was a fog in her mind, each thought was far away and hard to see, and she had to concentrate to make out its shape.

It occurred to her that she wasn’t restrained. She could still feel one of her knives inside her jacket. If she was careful, she could take Hypnotia with her eyes closed. She just had to pick her… moment and…

Why didn’t I notice I wasn’t tied up?

The lights began to strobe again, just yellow and orange this time. Her eyes felt like she’d been doing paperwork for hours. “She’s... nh. No agent,” she mumbled. It was hard to think of words, let alone say them. “Not her job. Mine”

“But it’s okay if I take you?”

“Yes.” She tried to shake her head, but Hypnotia held it in place. “No—”

“I thought I couldn’t,” she said teasingly. Her voice was making Sunset nervous; it sounded far too self-satisfied. “I thought you could hold out forever. You aren’t slipping, are you?”

“No!”

“Well,” she whispered in Sunset’s ear, “then it’s okay if I push further in your head?”

“Yes.” Sunset flinched. “Wai—”

The light flashed silver and red. Sunset’s mouth hung open as the light overtook her. She couldn’t remember why she was fighting, only that it was important. And she desperately wanted to open her eyes.

“I’m not sure why you’re fighting us anyway,” Hypnotia whispered. “AIM and SHIELD both want to protect the world. We just have the power to... deal with problems. Like the Iron Mage.”

Sunset held her breath.

“She’s a vigilante, isn’t she? I know SHIELD wants her as much as we do, but we’re equipped to deal with her. You were helpless, weren’t you?”

“Yes.”

The word fell out of Sunset’s mouth before she could even process it. The red and silver gave way to warm yellow again, and she sighed as she relaxed. Distantly, she felt a pair of hooves around her shoulders, and then the feeling of leaning against something warm and soft. “Yes,” Hypnotia crooned softly, “I know what it’s like to be helpless. I had someone to help me, and I can help you like they did. Show you amazing things.”

“...Nh.” Sunset’s body wouldn’t move, wouldn't even try. “No,” she said in a tone that was more pleading than defiant. “SHIELD. Twi.”

“Twilight again. Iron Mage hurt her, didn’t she?” Hypnotia asked.

Sunset tensed. “I couldn’t. Couldn’t save… her.” Putting together ideas was getting harder, but she had to keep trying.

”Of course, you could,” Hypnotia said soothingly, “all you need are the right materials. AIM is working on that too. Do you want to hear more?”

“Yes.” Something was wrong with her voice, it sounded almost slurred. But if there was something that could —

“That’s good,” Hypnotia said. “But I can’t just give it to you, now can I? It needs to be fair.”

“Fair.” That didn’t sound wrong.

“I just need to know a few things in return. That sounds right.”

“...Right?” Sunset frowned. “I…”

“Oh, by the stars,” Hypnotia muttered. “Why wouldn’t you want to do anything to stop Iron Mage?”

Sunset worked her mouth, trying to pull an answer from her mind. “SHIELD—”

“You’ll fight anything for SHIELD?

“Yes,” Sunset said. Her mind was starting to feel emptier now, and her body was so heavy.

“Then open your eyes and fight me for real.”

Sunset moved without thinking. She opened her eyes.

Every single color in the world flew through her mind at once, and she didn’t even think of pushing them away. She knew her body was moving, and her voice was talking but it wasn’t important. Those lights were important.

Each one did something different. The red pinned her brain down, and made sure Hypnotia’s words stayed in her mind, and the silver to obfuscate the thoughts she didn’t need. After that came the orange to make sure she didn’t remember until she needed to, and the yellow to make her happy for being a good listener. And then when she was done—

“Stand to attention.”

Sunset smoothly got to her hooves. “What do you want?”

“Mh,” Hypnotia said to herself, “not as docile as I’d like…”

“Docile?” Sunset snapped. “I’ll—”

“Don’t interrupt.”

Sunset’s mouth snapped shut. “Yes miss,” came out automatically. There was more, but she didn’t want to say it, but it pressed her jaw open and “is there anything I can do to please you?” just came out.

“Isn’t that better?” Hypnotia asked, and Sunset couldn’t say no. “Do you still have any weapons?”

“Yes,” Sunset didn’t want to say “miss,” but the word came all on its own. There was more she was supposed to say, about being happy to serve that she managed to hang on to it.

“That’s a very nice knife.”

Sunset realized she was holding her knife out for inspection. “Thank you miss,” she said, and a warm glow snaked through her chest.

“Mh,” Hypnotia met her eyes, and Sunset had to sit down as her world twisted around her. “saying that felt better than keeping quiet, didn’t it? And you’ll want to say it again?”

“No— I.” Sunset tried to move, but finally just had to sigh. “Yes miss.”

“Good job,” Hypnotia rewarded, “And there’s a lot you can accomplish with me, starting with that tin-plated tyrant.” She trotted over to the door and began to pull it open. “All we need now is Iron Mage herself—”

Hypnotia quietly stared out of the door.

Sunset couldn’t see much over her shoulder, but there was rubble and several unconscious bodies lying around. She froze.

SHIELD found out about the attack! I’ve got to stay with Hypnotia until… until she lets me go. She closed her eyes and tried to straighten her thoughts out. Because… I’m a SHIELD agent and we need her help? But I’m supposed to—

Outside, there was a high-pitched Reeee that she immediately recognized. She opened her eyes to see an armored form, and her mind immediately aligned itself.

I serve anyone who helps me stop Iron Mage.

Then Hypnotia shut the door and took off running, forcing Sunset to flee. She could see now that they were in the entrance of an airship, one that might be more advanced than the ones SHIELD employed. It was empty save for the two of them and the armored avenger behind them.

“Hypnotia!”

Hypnotia ran faster. She smacked a lever with her tail as they ran, sealing doors behind them. The steady hum of security spells drowned out the oncoming crash of each door being torn apart. “Okay,” Hypnotia said. “I can do this. How did SHIELD plan on dealing with Iron Mage?"

“We don’t have a plan yet,” Sunset answered. “I can’t do anything without my bow and arrows.”

“Great!” Hypnotia snapped. “I have got a knife, a useless SHIELD agent, and—”

She stopped running suddenly, forcing Sunset to stop as well. Their eyes met, and Sunset immediately felt the world begin to sway. “You have to protect me,” Hypnotia said. “It’s your job, right? To save people?”

“Save you,” Sunset repeated. Her ears flicked at the approaching noise but she didn’t look away.

“Very good!” Waves of yellow tinted her view, before red dominated her mind again. “Take your knife back. Hold it here,” Sunset felt it press against her throat and held it in place with her field. “Don’t ask how it works. Don’t even think about how it works. All the questions that you think of you’ll pack into a box labeled ‘unimportant’ and you can take them out later. Repeat.”

“Take. Take the knife,” Sunset slowly said, “and hold it to my throat. Don’t question.” She sighed at the pleasant orange and yellow swirls in front of her face before standing to attention again.

“You’re a very good agent, Sunset.” Hypnotia rewarded her, “and now stand in front of the door. Make sure Iron Mage can see you. Hold the weapon like that, and let me do all the talking.”

“Yes miss,” Sunset sighed. She faced the door, and it took a few seconds for reality to catch up with her dazed mind. The booms and clangs of Iron Mage’s arrival were getting louder and louder, and she shivered. She was a SHIELD agent, and she was used to monsters, but staring down something implacable with nothing more than—

I will not question Hypnotia or this situation.

—Sunset stared at the door, waiting for Iron Mage to arrive.

Iron Mage smashed the wall down and froze. Sunset Shimmer stood in front of her, eyes consumed by Hypnotia’s spirals and holding a knife to her own throat. She pulled up her Unicorn magic, but when she tried to cast her field, Sunset pressed the knife harder. A single drop of blood fell, and Iron Mage stopped. “Sunset,” she said, “what are you doing?”

Sunset slowly blinked, but before she could answer Hypnotia spoke up. “She’s stopping you. Just like I told her, because she’s a good SHIELD agent. Good agents follow orders, right?”

Sunset smiled. “Follow orders.”

“Stop it!” Iron Mage snapped. “Let her go, Hypnotia! This is between you and me.”

“I don’t see how this is unfair,” Hypnotia sniffed. She made a show of checking her hooves, like Iron Mage was some uppity server being put in her place. “You have a warsuit, and I have friends. I’d be happy to let them go if you’d only take the suit off…”

Iron Mage growled. “You can’t kill her,” she tried. “She’s worth too much.”

“Less than you,” Hypnotia said. “My leaders would give anything for a look at that armor. Imagine what could be done with a dozen of them.”

“I have.” Iron Mage didn’t move her head, but let her eyes drift around the room, looking for options. The most unsung advantage to wearing a mask is that most of the time you looked like you knew what you were doing. “You people do more than enough already.”

She smiled. “We’ve barely begun. Take your suit off.”

“Never.”

“Then,” Hypnotia braved a step forwards, “you’ll have to watch an innocent die. Can you do that?”

“If she dies, what’s keeping me from ripping your head off?”

There was a pause.

“Ah,” Hypnotia said, “that’s easy to fix. I can always get more…”

Sunset twitched. Her face contorted as she tried to say something, but she couldn’t force the words out. Hypnotia noticed this and frowned. “I’m not going to threaten the hostages,” she said soothingly. Iron Mage shifted but Sunset shot her a warning glare and pressed the knife tighter against her throat.

Hypnotia noticed that and smiled. “Good girl.”

Iron Mage frowned. Hypnotia had plenty of servants at the base and she usually traveled with one or two when she was working. None of them were even aware of the world unless she wanted them to be. “You know,” she tested, “Your thrall isn’t as far gone as I’d expect.”

“I’m not a thrall!” Sunset snapped. “I’m here because…” another blink, and this time it was accompanied by a brief flicker of her real eyes.

“Don’t worry,” Hypnotia said smoothly. “She’s just trying to make you angry, so you’ll make a mistake. Don’t ask questions, just focus.”

“Focus,” Sunset said firmly, gaze fixed on Iron Mage.

Behind her mask, Iron Mage swallowed. She’s fighting her. Not well, but she’s fighting. Her cover’s already intact, and Hypnotia is too vain to willingly spend time with someone who doesn’t want to kneel when told.

She isn’t the mole.

“Now,” Hypnotia continued, “I’m going to slip away and get help. You’re going to watch her and ignore everything she says, okay?”

Sunset nodded, but she looked uncertain. Iron Mage watched Hypnotia carefully. If she tried to push Sunset further down, she’d be too unbalanced to hold the knife. Neither of them had the field dexterity needed to hand the knife off without moving it away from her neck, and Hypnotia wasn’t going to put herself near Iron Mage.

Reluctantly, Hypnotia turned away. “If she gets past you,” she added slowly, “she’ll hurt Twilight again.”

Iron Mage watched Sunset stiffen. A newfound determination took hold, and she squared her shoulders. Where did that come from?

“You can’t let Twilight Sparkle come to harm,” Hypnotia said with a note of triumph in her voice. “So, watch her. And if she moves, you know what to do.”

Iron Mage used her Earth Pony magic to watch Hypnotia leave. She made a beeline for the hatch, much to her relief. The guards should still be out and she’d need to go all the way back to the convention floor for more help.

They stood in silence as Iron Mage considered her friend. “What happened—”

“Don’t,” Sunset growled. “Unless you’re surrendering, I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.”

“...Then I surrender,” Iron Mage said.

Sunset blinked. Iron Mage slowly sat down, raising her hooves in the air. She made sure to keep them pointed away from Sunset as she kept going. “You’re holding me hostage with that knife, aren’t you? So that means you’ve won, and that means I surrender. So why is Twilight Sparkle so important to you?”

Iron Mage held her breath. Sunset knew what Hypnotia had meant by the order; but Sunset didn’t like being forced to do things, and she hated people like Hypnotia anyway. A real thrall wouldn’t take the bait, but someone only recently—”

“She’s kind,” Sunset slowly said. “She can be intense; sometimes even unbalanced. But she loves people, and she’d do anything for her friends. And she’d never join AIM.”

Iron Mage’s heart was pounding. I can do this. “You’re helping AIM,” she pointed out carefully.

“Because I have to do what Hypnotia says,” Sunset snapped, but her anger stumbled over the words. She knew they didn’t make sense, but almost immediately she had something else to focus on. “I have to do what Hypnotia says to stop you. To protect Twilight and everyone else from you.”

Iron Mage took in a very shaky breath. “So, Twilight’s your friend?”

“Absolutely. And you’re not killing her.”

“I hope not.” Slowly, Iron Mage reached up. Her hooves clamped around her helmet.

There was a hiss as the seals released, and an odd fading hum as the spells disconnected from the helmet.

Slowly, she set it on the floor beside her.

“Okay,” Twilight Sparkle said, “Now what?”

Under my Iron Skin (5)

Iron Mage stood before Sunset, weapon ready.

No, that’s not right.

Twilight Sparkle stood before Sunset, hoof outstretched.

But that’s not possible.

Iron Mage was a violent criminal. Twilight got panic attacks from littering. They couldn’t be the same person. “This is some kind of trick!”

Iron Mage frowned. “How?”

“Because Hypnotia said so!” Sunset exclaimed, “and I have to believe everything she says because—” the sentence abruptly faded from her mind before she got to the end. What had she been about to say?

“Look at me!” Iron Mage snapped. “I’m not casting a spell! This can’t be a trick!”

“That doesn’t…” Sunset shook her head. “The first night… you hurt her…”

“Oh!” Iron Mage exclaimed, “that’s what she meant! No, I was fine. I mean— okay, I did get hurt, I lowered the defenses so I’d have some wounds for the doctors to look over, but it was mostly acting.” She shrugged. “Some of those scars were from when I escaped AIM originally anyway.” She looked back at Sunset and immediately lost the off-kilter smile.”Look, I can tell you all about it later. Why don’t you put the knife down and we’ll talk all about it?”

“No.” She desperately backed away, pressing the knife harder against her own throat. “I’m not… There’s not—”

Why am I holding a knife to my throat?

With a clang Sunset threw the knife as far away as she could. She backpedaled away and jumped when her flank touched the cold metal wall. Rational thought warred with animal instinct. I have to run enclosed can’t be enclosed controlled have to run—

A metal hoof, still warm from weapons fire, brushed her own. Sunset looked up into Twilight’s eyes and immediately felt more steady. “It’s okay,” Twilight said. “Just look at me and breathe. You’re going to be fine.”

Sunset took a deep breath and held it. Slowly exhaling, she let her legs go limp and slid down the wall. Twilight knelt beside her. “Are you okay?" she asked. "Can you recognize me?”

“Y-yeah. Yeah,” she said more forcefully. “I’m fine. I don’t feel woozy.” Sunset could still feel Hypnotia’s words in her head, but now that she could acknowledge them, she could ignore them. “Twilight, what… how? Why— no, how. How are you the Iron Mage? She tried to kill you!”

“No, I tried to kill me.” Twilight winced. “No, wait. I mean I staged the attack.”

“But—” Sunset shook her head, woozily trying to concentrate. “The doctor’s checked you out. You had—”

Severe bruising. A concussion. And electrical burns…

In her mind's eye, Sunset could see her fight with Iron Mage playing out. The volley of arrows designed to break apart stone. The explosives. And most of all, a huge bolt of electricity striking the metal figure…

Twilight put up a fragile grin to shield herself from Sunset’s stare. “Um,” she began, “I needed proof that I wasn’t Iron Mage, so like I said, I lowered the suit’s defenses—”

“You tricked me into hurting you.”

Twilight winced. “And I’m sorry, but the point is that it was necessary—”

“You tricked me into hurting you.”

“Hooboy.” Twilight lay a hoof on Sunset’s shoulder but the older mare shrugged it off. “Sunset, I know that can be upsetting, but if I could just explain—”

Sunset reared back, put both hooves on the shorter mare shoulders, and just barely kept from yelling “You tricked me into hurting you?!”

Twilight opened her mouth but Sunset wasn’t listening. She stepped back and began to pace. “You could have been killed! You scared me half to death! I thought Iron Mage had killed you! Do you have any idea what’s that like— and what if I had killed— Oh stars,” and that thought forced Sunset to the ground again, “by the stars, I could have killed you. I pushed for SHIELD to hunt you down and— and you know what, forget SHIELD. Do you have any idea how many people want to kill you right now?”

“...Some?”

“All of them!” Sunset said as she began to work her way towards actually shouting. She glanced at the door and lowered her voice. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because of Hypnotia,” Twilight said quickly. “I didn’t know who to trust after AIM attacked me.”

Sunset froze, her line of thought derailed. “You said that the attack was a coincidence.”

“I need AIM to think I thought it was a coincidence,” Twilight corrected. “So Iron Mage can investigate while Twilight Sparkle remains clueless and above suspicion.”

Twilight had a huge number of annoying habits, and the worst one was the ability to make sense. Sunset shook her head. “And what exactly was your plan?’

“AIM is working outside the law,” Twilight said, “and they’re small enough that they’re hard to pin down by something spread as thinly as SHIELD is. And since Hypnotia’s invented a new way of controlling people's minds, we need someone outside the system—

“To do what?” Sunset stood up and jabbed a hoof into Twilight’s chest. “You can't just kill them, you can’t arrest them—”

“I can stop them!” Twilight said. “Destroy their equipment, expose their plans, make it easy for SHIELD to—”

“Easy? You could have started a war!”

“That’s not my fault! I’m not affiliated with Equestria, they had no grounds—”

“Novo is insane, Twilight!” Sunset snapped. “You have no idea what you’re doing, you have no training—”

“That training didn't do you much good, did it?” Twilight stormed forwards, the heavy suit making each step land like a hammer. “I just saved you, woulda ‘thank you’ be too much to ask—”’

“You left me behind!”

Twilight froze for a moment, face abruptly frozen in worry. She looked away and picked up her helmet again. “I didn’t know if you were working for Hypnotia before. What did you expect me to do?”

Sunset’s teeth ground so hard together that she thought she heard them creak. “You. Are. Impossible to deal with, you know that? You always do this! You get an idea and you’re just so sure you’re the smartest so you just run off! You can’t do this!”

Clang!

Sunset didn’t flinch as the blunt metal sound slowly faded, or at the impression in the steel floor that Iron Mage’s stomp had made.

Iron Mage said, “I have to,” and the bitterly quiet tone made her shiver.

Sunset stared at the glowing eye-slits that hid her friend’s eyes. This wasn’t how Twilight was supposed to sound. Twilight was warm and open and didn’t keep secrets, not like this.

She could feel a gentle tug underneath her thoughts. As Sunset resisted her programming it had gotten softer, but now it began to rise again. This couldn’t be Twilight, could—

Stop.

She knew this was Twilight. She could trust her.

Sunset reached out a hoof that was shaking from fear that she had to believe came from Hypnotia, and gently lay it on her shoulder. “Twilight. Talk to me.”

Iron Mage moved like a different person underneath the armor. Each motion was deliberate and inequine. But if she strained, Sunset could hear a familiar exasperated sigh from behind the helmet. She smiled, and Hypnotia’s words fell silent.

“There’s a lot,” Twilight finally said, “And we don’t have a lot of time right now.”

Sunset had expected that and nodded. “And I don’t need the whole story. Just tell me why you think it has to be you.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Twilight predictably tried. “I didn’t mean ‘have to,’ have to, I just…”

“Twi.” Sunset interrupted gently. The helmet shifted away from her face, and Sunset lightly wacked it with her hoof. “Twilight,” she said again, “it’s me.”

The moment was at least as quiet as the first pause had been, but Sunset didn’t feel Hypnotia’s pull again. She knew who this was.

“...I shouldn’t be alive,” Twilight whispered. “I wouldn’t be, except for— except someone saved me. From my own weapons, my own inventions turned against good people who hadn’t done anything wrong. I saw people die because of me, Sunset.”

“And you want to make up for it?”

“I can’t make up for it.” Twilight stepped back. “I just want to keep it from happening again.”

It was a better answer than Sunset had given when she’d joined SHIELD. She nodded. “Alright. I’m with you. Do you know where my bow and arrowheads are?”

“Downstairs.” Twilight glanced to the side as if she could see through the wall. “I think I have a plan. How attached are you to that jacket?”

Spike jerked awake as he stopped walking. Hypnotia was talking to… someone. He couldn’t concentrate well enough to make them out. There was more than one of them, and he thought they were messing with some big metal thing in front of the airship. He gave up and focused on what Hypnotia was saying.

“Walk in first, to make sure Iron Mage isn't free. Don't speak to… what’s her face, the agent. Do you understand Starlight?”

Spike heard giggling and some kind of answer, but a shifting ring of yellow and red caught and held his attention. He stared until Hypnotia snapped at him. “Hey, idiot! I need you awake!”

“I’m sorry, miss,” Spike said.”It’s all just so…”

She held up a hoof to stop him. “Look, I love how much you love me, but we don’t have time right now so why don’t you concentrate on holding this,” she floated over a crystal ball, “for Miss Hypnotia, alright? Stay awake just enough to make sure you don’t drop it.”

“Yes, miss!” Spike took the crystal ball and held it gently in his hands, careful to keep his claws from leaving scratches.

He stumbled a little going up the steps to the airship and had to bend his neck uncomfortably under the low ceiling. Spike had never been the right height; up until middle school he barely came up to his classmate’s shoulders and now he had to stoop everywhere he went.

Spike forced himself to pay closer attention to the world outside Hypnotia’s spirals as they headed deeper inside the ship. That is Starlight, he noted. I’ve never seen her so relaxed. Watching Starlight smile was usually like watching someone bend a wooden board. It could get into position, but it was clearly about to snap.

Behind them marched two AIM guards, and in front, the liquid metal golem oozed ahead. The AIM agents made him uncomfortable, but he kept his mouth shut. Hypnotia worked with AIM, how bad could they be?

They’re terrorists.

Spike shrugged. Hypnotia was loving and wonderful. She could keep anything in line.

The golem began to flatten itself and ooze along the ceiling. As Starlight opened the door, it crept across the ceiling unbeknownst to those inside. Spike followed Starlight in, shifting his body carefully to ensure that the crystal ball faced Starlight at all times. Hypnotia herself strode in and walked past Spike, allowing him to turn and see Iron Mage.

Iron Mage was shorter than he’d expected. She stood barely as tall as Hypnotia, so without the armor, she’d come up to his stomach. She was a few hoofsteps away from Sunset, horn softly glowing as her sharp blue field tried to overcome the soft green one. In Sunset’s field was grasped a serrated knife.

The lights from their fields lit the room much better than the smokeless torch on the wall, throwing Iron Mage’s shadow into sharp relief. The knife trembled but didn’t move.

Spike found that he was holding his breath and slowly let it out. “What—”

“No interruptions,” Hypnotia said. “Let me talk. I’m very good at getting people to agree with me.”

“Somehow,” Iron Mage curtly said, “I don’t think that’s going to work with just your sparkling personality.”

Hypnotia scoffed. “Once you take off your helmet, I’m going to turn you into my own personal lapdog. After the headache you’ve given me, I might even make you drink from a little bowl.”

“No wonder you have so many friends.”

“Agent,” Hypnotia growled, “has she done anything?”

“No miss.” Spike shivered at Sunset’s eerie expression; Starlight might look creepy because of her unnatural smile, but there was something particularly wrong with the way the spirals floated across Sunset’s eyes. “She tried to convince me that Twilight Sparkle was working for you, but I ignored her.”

“You’re still on that?” Hypnotia scoffed. “I wish you would kill her, it’d make my life a lot easier.“

“Ah-huh.”

Hypnotia frowned. Spike shivered too; it felt like there was something wrong that he couldn’t place a claw on.

“Dragon,” Hypnotia said, “I want you to walk over to Tin Mare. If she refuses to stop casting, cut the helmet off with your claws.”

What?

“I can’t hurt anyone! I’m— gh.” The world suddenly felt distant as Hypnotia stared directly at him. “Dragons can’t... I’m not...”

“You are what I say you are,” Hypnotia intoned, “and I say you’re going to cut the helmet off. Is that understood?”

“...Yes, miss.”

He surrendered the Crystal Ball, and he turned to face Iron Mage. Slowly, he put his talons around her throat. He tried to think, to move his hand away but in between every thought were Hypnotia’s spirals, sucking them down. “T-take off your helmet,” he asked.

“Miss,” Sunset began, “are you sure—”

“You will speak when spoken to!” Hypnotia snapped. “I am in charge here! You can’t do anything without my—”

Hypnotia shut her mouth. Spike hadn’t heard her do that before, so he turned to check on her. He couldn’t concentrate on her face through the spirals, but he noticed an expression. One of fear.

“Starlight,” she said. “Jam their magic. Now.”

Starlight’s teal magic wove it's away around Iron Mage’s, disrupting it. The field around the knife fell away, along with the image of Sunset herself.

An illusion.

“There’s two in the hallway!” Iron Mage called. Spike ducked as an arrow streaked overhead and was caught in Iron Mage’s field. Starlight’s magic brightened as the two of them struggled for it.

Spike stared down the hallway. Sunset stood behind the group, her bow gripped from three places in her field and a strip of cloth around her eyes. She grabbed four small arrowheads from inside her jacket and placed them against her bow. They grew arrow shafts as she placed them against the bowstring. Two concussive arrows flew down the edges of the hallway, driving the guards towards the center and into her second volley. They were smacked backward against the doorframe, and Sunset smirked as she aimed for their pained cries. She drew and fired a longer arrow with a shaft from her quiver, one that transformed into a net as it neared her prey and wove itself into place around them.

Hypnotia hadn’t even seen Sunset, she was pointing at Iron Mage and shouting as the armored warrior smacked Starlight aside and stabbed the arrow into the crystal ball. The arrow was strange; it looked like a normal glass bottle with an arrow sticking through it longwise. The bottle flickered green as it struck the ball, most likely because Sunset had enchanted it to ensure it didn’t break before Iron Mage could grab it. Her blue field reached around and crushed the bottle, unleashing—

SCR-eEeEeSCH!

Spike fell to his knees, Hypnotia forgotten in his blind terror. When it was done he couldn’t recall what it sounded like, only the blind terror of prey caught be the ultimate predator.

G-griffon. Just a griffon scream.

Spike sucked in a breath, trying to get himself under control. I’m not gonna die. It was just a griffon scream trapped in a bottle. I helped Sunset make that one. I have to—

Hypnotia!

Spike immediately slammed his eyes shut. He held still, hoping she wouldn’t notice. He heard Iron Mage say “Wait—” and a huge bang! There were frantic hoofsteps, the quiet pop and smell of a smoke bomb, then silence.

“Did she leave?” Sunset called. “I didn’t feel her rush past me!”

“She slipped by me.” Iron Mage said. “Starlight panicked and threw me against the wall.”

Spike opened his eyes. Starlight lay against the door, unconscious. Iron Mage walked to the center of the room, flexing her wings. “I’m going after Hypnotia. You stay—”

Spike saw a glint of metal moving over Iron Mage’s head. Before he could shout a warning a jet of liquid metal smashed itself across her right side. She tried to shake it off, but it burrowed itself into the ground and held her fast.

Her left wingjets flared as she pushed against the golem, but it didn’t fight back. Instead, it went loose and pulled with her, sending them flying through the wall. Spike winced as a successive series of crashes and bangs indicated they kept going until the breached the hull.

Spike shivered. “Sunset? Are you okay?”

“Of course I am! Where’s Iron Mage?”

“Outside! We had a golem with us.” Spike cautiously stepped towards the huge holes the two had torn through the ship. The outer hull was far enough away that he couldn’t see them. He heard a low fizzling boom and then the ship shook. “I don’t know where Hypnotia is. Starlight’s unconscious.”

“Good,” Sunset said. “I’m going after Hypnotia.”

Spike spun around. “Wha— Sunset, you can’t go after her alone!”

“Don’t worry, I’m blindfolded!”

“What, that’s not worrying?” In the seconds it took Spike to get to the door, Sunset was already gone. Spike swore at empty air until he felt better. She always does this. ‘Hey, I’m a SHIELD agent, I don’t need to listen because I'm smarter!’ He sighed. At least Twilight is still safe.

He looked across the room again. Starlight looked fine other than the small head injury, and neither of the guards could break through the net. He shoved his shoulder and arm through the hole and began working his way out towards the fight. They can do what they want. I'm going for help.

Panic gripped Iron Mage as fiercely as the silver golem. Intense pressure spread across her back and side as it squeezed, the metal protesting as the spellwork tried to keep up. She felt it stiffen as the mobility enchantments gave up entirely and heard a groan as it began to cave in. Desperately she flipped her left-wing around and fired all jets, sending herself into a spin. There was a hideous screech as it tried to dig into the wing until—

Reeee—eech!

It dug in too deep and tore the wing off entirely. Iron Mage didn’t feel pain; the connection to her mind was one-way but that didn’t help her calm down as the suit flew wildly out of control.

She cut all power to flight systems, and felt up and down orient themselves as down began to pull her. She rolled around, catching herself with her boots and taking a moment to catch her breath. “Okay,” she said. “Okay. I can do this.”

FZZZ—BOOM!

The first impact struck her so hard she wasn’t immediately aware she’d been struck at all. It was the second bout of pain that registered, a splintering sort of pain across her head and back as she was sent into the airship's envelope. There was a brief moment of blackness that gave her enough time to be confused before she emerged through the other side, and then the final impact came as she struck the far wall with a wham!

Iron Mage came to as she was falling, blinking away stars as the suit tried to keep her conscious. Stars gave way to swiftly-rising concrete as she approached the harsh ground and then with a final crash she lay still.

Don’t blackout. I can do this.

She lay, trying to breathe. Iron Mage directed the healing spells to her head and nowhere else; between whatever had hit her and the illusion power was at 47%.

Iron Mage didn’t move her head but looked towards the AIM soldiers. There were only four of them, and two of them were manning the cannon she’d seen earlier. They’re not gonna shoot again… need me intact. Need the suit intact. Hit ‘em hard, hit ‘em fast.

She lit her horn and began to teleport. She heard them shout and the sound of the cannon charging, but she knew the model—

It’s another one I designed, of course it is—

—And she could cast faster than it. She appeared in a flash of light behind them as a humongous pulse of magic tore its way through the stone where she’d been. Even though the armor she could feel the magic as it floated through the air.

Iron Mage didn’t waste time with anything complicated; she grabbed the two armed guards with her telekinesis and flung them in the air as she charged the cannon operators. One of them tackled her and began trying to strangle her, which she ignored. She kicked the other one under shoulder, wincing as the motion was slower than it should have been. He skidded across the floor and began to stand up, pointing a weapon at her.

Iron Mage switched to Pegasus magic and shot him. She pointed behind her and shot the one on her back, using her left foreleg because the right was too stiff to move correctly. Power had dropped to 37% after her teleport, which was a little more than it should have been. I need to go over the schematics again, consider reforging the base of the suit instead of just tweaking—

Focus. If I lose focus I’m dead.

She leapt into the air and hung there as she searched for the golem. She drifted up and down as she looked; even though it had no long-range weapons, Iron Mage wasn’t going to be caught unawares again.

The cannon shifted, and she saw the golem just as it pointed the huge cannon at her and began to fire. She cut the jets and dove underneath the beam, blasting it away as she landed. The golem dove across the floor towards her, but a repulsor-backed jump carried towards the airship. She switched to Earth Pony magic as she fell, examining it as much as she could before she hit the ground.

Its spell matrix looked bizarre compared to the other golems; it was like someone had attached a mess of insect limbs underneath the liquid and used them to shape it as the thing crept forwards. It was more complex than most pieces of spellwork and it’d crumble if she could hit directly. They were all tied together at the center of its mass, but that center was constantly moving.

She caught herself with her bootjets above the ground and began to fire on it. It was hard to predict its movements from the brief glimpse she’d seen; it’d have been easier if she had both of her wings, but her three remaining repulsors fired too slowly to hit something that small and fast.

It paused for a moment to weave its way under the ground. Iron Mage clipped it once before it hefted a segment of the cement and threw it at her. She blasted it down the center with two repulsors in tandem, and let it pass safely by her on either side.

She grinned as she readied her kill shot, but the golem wasn’t where it had been standing a moment ago. The rock was a cover, it jumped behind it! It's behind—

Iron Mage didn’t have time to spin around as it clung to her once again. She cut power to the bootjets and crashed, before triggering the ones on her left side and dragging herself across the ground. The suit protested with a loud screech of scraping metal, but the golem worked its way around to her left side and carried on.

She took power away from the healing spells to buff her remaining wing as she skidded to a halt. “Electrify suit!” She snapped. It’s mundane energy, not mana but maybe…

It didn’t work. The golem, frustrated that it couldn’t hurt her wing, wove around and grabbed her throat. Iron Mage changed her defensive spells to reflect this and switched to Unicorn magic to use her field. It grabbed her horn and disrupted her magic, then smashed her head against the floor.

Her head lay in a small crater and vision was beginning to go again. The world was blurry and dark. She was losing her ability to feel. She tried to remember if that was good or bad, before deciding it wasn’t relevant. This will not be how I die!

“Hypnotia… won’t want the suit hurt,” she gasped. “She’ll be… displeased…”

It’s grip loosened as it contemplated this. She coughed, felt something warm and sticky come up, and resolved not to worry about that until later. Come on, there must be something—

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something tall and purple hovering a safe distance away. “Spike!” She shouted with sudden inspiration. “Set me on fi—”

The golem heard this and grabbed her neck again. She got her hoof under its silvery grasp and tried to pull it away. "Fire! Just do it!” Iron Mage shouted. “Hurry!”

There was a very scary moment, where she wasn’t sure if he’d heard— or if he’d even help— but then hot pain smacked across her chest and helmet. The enchantments compensated for fire before she was seriously hurt, but she was sure she’d have burns to fix before she could appear as Twilight Sparkle again. The suit would have given way to the Golem’s strength, but it leapt away from the fire immediately.

It rolled away from Iron Mage, trying to restore itself as it began to lose cohesion. It tried to form a body and lunge at her one last time, but it fell to pieces just as it reached her.

Iron Mage fell on one knee as it dissolved into a puddle under her. She gasped for breath, suddenly aware of just how much she needed to breathe. The rest of her injuries crashed over her, and she fell.

Okay. Okay. Just take deep breaths. Healing spells. Okay.

Power at 29%

Any internal bleeding is corrected and repaired. Can’t mend the broken bones, just stick them in place...

Ignore the bruising, it’s not important. I can deal with pain, just fix whatever is keeping me from working.

The armor plating gave way around the ribs. I’m having trouble moving my right side, that’s from where the enchantments were exhausted. Right-wing is gone. I need to fix that and soon.

Power at 24%

Okay. I’m okay.

“Are you okay?”

Spike was looking at her,

Her hooves didn’t shake under the armor. No one could see her eyes, or hear her ragged breathing. Iron Mage was invincible.

"Yeah," she said. "Yeah. Just one thing left."

Under my Iron Skin (6)

Okay, Sunset thought. I know this looks bad.

The situation didn’t strictly look like anything, because she'd decided to pursue a fugitive while blindfolded without any backup.

I’m not some rough-and-tumble circus brat anymore. I’m a SHIELD agent and I can handle this.

She crept down the corridor, listening to the echo of her hoofsteps as she moved. Based on that, she had a solid idea of how long the hallway was, and that the door at the end was shut. Sunset carefully opened the door and listened for any response. She didn’t hear the sound of breathing or weapons being shifted and began creeping forwards. She froze when she heard distant shouting.

“—What are you dolts paid for anyway! Tell everyone to grab what they can and get out the back way! Do you know what she’ll do to me if—”

Sunset smirked. The room was longer than the last one, and she could feel light on her fur from the windows. That meant she was right outside the cargo bay and Hypnotia was making this easy. She put her field on the door and thought for a moment.

Fighting blind was all about finding ways to supplement your eyesight. This meant you needed to know your terrain well and have a clear idea of what your opponent is fighting with. Sunset remembered how big the cargo bay was, but she didn’t know the layout or even how many guards were even inside. The circumstances demanded caution.

She kicked open the door and smiled. The voices immediately stopped talking as everyone stared at her. “Hey,” she said.

Her first arrow was a flare she ignited in front of her body, prompting curses and pained cries. She rolled to the side, careful to keep her horn clear of the floor, and fired a Plunder Vine arrow at the main exit. She leaped back again, finding a large crate and ducking behind it.

The shouts and weapons fire echoed in the metal chamber, but it was large enough that Sunset could make out each sound. She flinched at the smell of burned metal and crouched down tighter, hoping she had decent cover.

There were three additional voices in addition to Hypnotia. One of them sounded oddly muffled and none of them had been ensnared by the slowly dissolving vines. She pulled a Thundercloud arrow from her quiver and fired it at the ceiling. There was a boom as lightning began to seek out targets.

Sunset winced as the thunder drowned at all other noise, leaving her briefly both blind and deaf. She couldn’t do anything but hope she was out of sight until her thundercloud was finished.

She felt in her quiver as she waited in the dark, grateful she didn’t need to read labels to recognize her arrows. Thunder kept booming and rattling the cargo, and she had no way of fighting back. There were homing spells, but Sunset never bothered because she’d seen them as a crutch.

Finally, the cloud began to wind down. The ringing in her ears faded and she heard a sizzle as the vines fell apart. “Alright guys,” she kept her voice confident, but it took some doing, “who wants to surrender first?”

“Your tricks ain’t gonna be enough,” the muffled voice bellowed. “I’m gonna find you—”

Sunset flicked her ears as she listened. The ozone in the air made it impossible to smell now, but she could hear that the voice was right underneath her first arrow, and furthermore that no one else was moving. That meant she’d hit the group, and logically the only one still standing was wearing armor of some kind—

She heard hoofsteps from behind her. She grabbed the crate with her forehooves and vaulted over it, charging across the cargo bay. She tripped without warning, the surprise forcing her to drop her bow or risk hitting her lit horn against the floor. Sunset turned the fall into a roll and leaped back up, tackling the AIM soldier.

Grappling blind was much easier than fighting blind because your sense of touch could help track your opponent. This would be great if her opponent wasn’t wearing armor. Sunset had expected him to rear up and try to trample her, and been proven right. She hit him under the ribs and drove him on his back. He kicked her into the air, not high enough to reach the ceiling but close. Sunset grabbed an arrow from her quiver and threw it towards the ground, hoping it would land before her.

A fwoosh temporarily covered an outburst of swearing from below, and Sunset fell into the results of her foam arrow. It covered the target in sticky goo to render them immobile, it was porous to allow the victim to breathe, there were enchantments that allowed her to use it to put out fires and the enchantments recognized her and wouldn’t stick to her. Twilight couldn’t make an arrow more complex than this one, and Sunset was forced to blow it on some random goon who happened to be wearing armor.

She landed and took a moment to get her bearings. There was a quiet scraping sound somewhere in the back that Sunset immediately threw an arrowhead towards. She jumped when her arrow went off early, much closer than she wanted. It’s a cargo hold. There’s no telling what stuff is laying between me and the door. Aloud, she said, “I’ve had a long day, showfilly. If you give up now I promise I won’t beat you up before I turn you over to SHIELD.”

Hypnotia laughed. It was a good laugh, but Sunset caught the tinge of panic that lay under it. “Finding me won’t be as easy as you think,” she said. “I’m a stage performer. My voice can come from anywhere.”

Sunset took a step backward and was gratified to find the exterior door where she thought it was. Mental bearings taken, she fired a net arrow at the other door and was gratified to hear Hypnotia squawk in dismay. She tracked and fired a second arrow at a series of scuffling noises and waited to hear if she’d hit anything.

A nervous chuckle, from somewhere to the left. “That was a lucky guess.”

Sunset shrugged. “Fine. Then you shouldn’t have a problem walking past me and getting outside.”

“And why would I do that?” The voice was beginning to smooth out now, sounding calmer. “I’d rather talk to you than leave with no prize at all.”

Sunset held her tail still and concentrated on her voice. “You’re not getting to me.”

“Twilight doesn’t need a blindfold, does she?” Hypnotia asked. There was a quiet thump to her left that she fired at, but Hypnotia kept talking. “You mustn't be as confident as she is if you’re wearing one. Do you even remember what I told you?”

“Of course I do!” Sunset snapped. Her memory was a little fuzzy, but there’d been something about trusting Hypnotia and…

She floated another trick arrow to the top of the bay doors and set it off, transmuting the air behind her into a solid plane of glass. Sunset’s arrows didn’t have the power to create a barrier stronger than that, but Hypnotia would have to make a lot of noise breaking through it.

She frowned as she took a tentative step towards the center of the room. What did Hypnotia say? It went “I love her, I trust her, and what?”

“You can’t even find me if you don’t really want to,” Hypnotia said. “You're scared of my words.”

Sunset kept calm, keeping her shoulders loose and grasping another arrowhead from her jacket. “I’m not going to let you bait me.”

What else was there? ‘I love Hypnotia’s something, I trust something else, and third thing.’ What was third thing? Something about her spirals?

“You haven’t even found your bow yet!” Hypnotia crowed. “You can’t focus on all of this at once, but if you let your concentration slip—”

“Shut up!” Sunset shouted. She bumped her face against a metal shelf and paused, taking stock. I have to remember the rest of what she said. It went…

“You’ve got to pick what’s most important, and focus on that,” Hypnotia said. Sunset flicked her ears in her direction but otherwise ignored her.

It went ‘I love Hypnotia’s spirals!’ And I trust her words and her voice makes me feel... heavy?

Satisfaction crept along her face. I can’t forget it again. I love Hypnotia’s spirals. I trust her voice, and my limbs feel heavy.

“So heavy,” Hypnotia whispered.

Sunset jerked, spinning around to grab her. Her magic was unfocused, and she lost the arrowhead. She took a step back, and something fell across her back, pinning her. It didn’t hurt, so it couldn’t be very heavy, but when she tried to push it off her legs were shaking…

“Shaking and aching from all that fighting,” Hypnotia said. “I bet you need to rest for a moment before you can catch me again.

Sunset took a deep breath in, trying to calm down. She can’t do this. I love Hypnotia’s spirals and I trust—

“No,” she said. “They’re counting on me.”

—Trust the sound of her voice. And my limbs are too heavy to move.

“And you can break free eventually.” Hypnotia’s magic reached down, tugging part of her mane free from the blindfold and straightening it. Her field buzzed pleasantly against her skin. Sunset let a deep breath out. “After all, you're a SHIELD agent.”

Sunset nodded limply. She could handle this. She just needed a minute to think of something.

I love Hypnotia’s spirals and I trust the sound of my voice. My body is too weak to move.

“But you can’t keep track of me with that blindfold on.” Sunset frowned, but a quiet twinkling filled her ears as it was pulled away. She tried to close her eyes, but a flicker of red caught her attention.

“Look me in the eye when I’m talking to you.”

Sunset’s mouth hung open. She tried to turn but—

“Both eyes, if you please.”

And there were rings of red and orange and all the colors she remembered, centered around gentle lavender eyes. Sunset concentrated, remembering that she could stand up but she couldn’t bring herself to move away. With an effort, she closed her mouth.

“Don’t you want to listen to my voice?”

“No…” Sunset said.

Hypnotia waited.

“...Miss,” Sunset finished.

She could feel Hypnotia’s smile. It made her happy, and that happiness pissed her off. “Stop,” she said.

“But you don’t want me to stop,” Hypnotia said in mock outrage. “You don’t want to put Twilight in danger, do you?”

Fear and submission hooked her like talons in prey. “I’m not—”

“You let Iron Mage getaway.”

Sunset blinked.

“Iron Mage hates Twilight,” Hypnotia continued. “And I’m the only one who can save Twilight from her, we already agreed? You remember. So if you really care about Twilight—”

Pow!

Hypnotia stopped talking as Sunset lashed out, backhanding the mare off her hooves. She stared as Sunset stood up, effortlessly shoving the light metal shelves away. “You hit me. You’re not supposed to hit me.”

Sunset didn’t say anything. Her anger took hold and she charged.

The spirals brightened again. Sunset didn’t feel pulled towards them, but they blocked her vision. She felt something slap her, too weak to hurt but it threw her off-balance. She heard a pounding of hoofsteps and threw another arrowhead with her magic.

Where’s my bow?

Her vision cleared as she looked away, and she immediately found and grabbed it. She drew and fired an arrow almost immediately, only to watch a blue light smack her across the bay and spoil her aim. An arrow struck the spot she’d been in, growing a pillar of ice that caught the armored figure before she could catch up to Hypnotia. Sunset drew another arrow and fired it, but Hypnotia slammed the door closed just in time.

Sunset charged down the ramp after her, knowing she’ be long gone by the time she got there. She halfway across the bay when Iron Mage shattered the icey pillar. “What was that?” Sunset demanded. “You ruined my shot!”

“You shot me!” Iron Mage took a step forwards and stumbled to one knee.

Coming closer, Sunset could see that the armor was wrecked. One wing was missing, the whole side was dented, and cracks were formed across some of the larger plates. “What happened to you?”

“The specialized golems,” Iron Mage said. She was wheezing in a way that deeply bothered Sunset. “AIM still has at least one.” She pushed herself upright with an effort that Sunset winced at. She moved to help, but saw Spike coming and held still.

“I’m going after Hypnotia,” Iron Mage said as Spike landed. Her voice sounded different through the helmet, but Sunset knew the mare well enough to hear her mask pain. “You’re staying here.”

The dragon shook his head. He didn’t look hurt at all, just extremely upset. “We’re between her and the ship,” he said, “why do we need to go after her?”

“We aren’t,” Sunset said. “I have to round up as many AIM soldiers as I can and call backup. ”

“You can’t fight something like this on your own,” Iron Mage said. “I’ll go—”

“You can’t fight at all!”

“And,” Spike broke in, “We’re not letting you escape either!”

“Spike’s right,” Sunset said. Iron Mage stared at her, and Sunset almost rolled her eyes at the offended expression she knew was under her mask. “We still haven’t found Twilight Sparkle, and if we don’t, we’ll know who to blame.”

Iron Mage carried on glaring for a few seconds, which didn’t work when Sunset could see her face. She pushed herself upright and lit up a spell.

Spike had time to try and grab her horn, but Iron Mage was still strong enough to hold him back until the spell was done. With a flash of light, she was gone.

Under my Iron Skin (Final)

Twilight was aware she was sore before she was aware she was awake. Her head and back burned and her whole left side was throbbing. She tried to get up and instantly regretted it.

Arc Reactor is at 19%. Armor is…

I’m not wearing the armor.

Her eyes shot open and she tried to stand. Her legs were slow to cooperate, and before she could a hoof pushed against her shoulder. “Wait, I don’t think you’re—”

Twilight panicked and rolled away frantically, landing on the hard concrete floor with considerably more force than she wanted. Pain spiraled across her body and made it difficult to breathe. She drove herself to her hooves anyway, trying to get her bearings.

There was a dark purple mare with a sharp brown mane and gentle eyes looking at her with concern. She wore a standard SHIELD uniform, with a bandolier over it that marked her as part of the Rescue Hero division. She was holding a circular device that was lit up a soft red. “What I was trying to say,” she said calmly, “is that I’m trying to treat your injuries. Just calm down. You’re safe.”

Twilight would have snickered at the word ‘safe’ if it hadn’t been for all the terrible pain. “Who are you? How long was I out?”

“Sunset Shimmer said for about half an hour.” The mare’s expression was calm, but her ears were shifting suspiciously as she leaned forwards. “My name is Ariel Flyer. Sunset called in a favor to look after you, so I need you to let me help you. Okay?”

It could be a trap—

Twilight took a deep breath, winced as her ribs reminded her that she shouldn’t do that, and forced herself to nod. Ariel helped her back onto the gurney. “If you’re a flyer,” she asked to distract herself, “why the medical… stuff?”

“I’m a doctor trained to evacuate high-risk environments.” Twilight knew Ariel was just trying to calm her down, and she had to remind herself that she’d wanted to be distracted. Her whole brain felt discombobulated. “I often need to stabilize people before I can move them.” She held up the disc and it turned transparent. Twilight could see Ariel’s skull through the lense and guessed that it was some kind of X-ray device.

“Okay,” Ariel continued. “I don’t see any major internal injuries. These ribs aren’t healing right; you’ll need to reset them in a hospital.” She clicked the disc into place on her bandolier and it turned to silver, displaying the proud scarlet R of the Rescue Heroes logo. “Let me give you something for the pain.”

“...No painkillers,” Twilight managed. “I need to… think clearly.” The pain was making thinking a lot harder than it needed to be, but the fear of losing her mind crawled under her skin.

“It’s not a drug,” Ariel patiently said. She rummaged in the oversized backpack and carefully pulled out a strip of bandages. “These are made to soak up some of the pain and hold the ribs in place. They’ll only last a few hours, so make sure you see a real doctor.”

Twilight reluctantly nodded, sighing as the fierce pain began to leave. “Thanks.” She rolled off the side of the gurney and, ignoring Ariel’s protests, began to change. She teleported her shirt, vest, and bow-tie around her and winced as her vision flickered for a moment. Twilight closed her eyes and checked the Reactor, which was lower than it should have been. She almost began to panic before realizing that she was just too tired to cast the spell efficiently. “Okay,” she said. “Can you see any of my injuries under this?”

She looked back and was surprised to see Ariel swell up in rage. “You can’t seriously think that’s important right now?”

Twilight’s head was somewhat clearer, and now she was beginning to worry. I need an alibi. And I need to see if Hypnotia got away. And I need to see if they got away with anything, and I need to figure out what to do with the staff she affected… “I’m very busy,” was what she settled on.

“You’re hurt!” Ariel exclaimed. “You can’t look after anyone else until you treat your own injuries.”

“They’re treated! See?” Twilight tried to point at her side and stopped as the pain began to overwhelm the bandage. “I’m fine.”

Ariel looked angry enough to tackle Twilight, but from somewhere behind her, Sunset spoke up. “Hey, let me talk to her, okay? I promise I can manage her.”

Ariel glared at Twilight for a moment longer, before looking over her shoulder to glare at Sunset. “Make sure she gets to rest,” she insisted. “I know how hard you push yourself.”

“I take care of my friends,” Sunset said. “Remember the Academy?”

“If I didn’t I wouldn’t be here.” Ariel glanced through the window behind her. “I don’t like lying to Chief Blazes.”

“I wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t important,” Sunset soothingly said. “Trust me, you’re doing SHIELD a huge favor.”

Twilight watched Ariel reluctantly leave. My heart is hammering, she distantly noted. I shouldn’t be nervous. I proved I can trust Sunset…

But she still felt the persistent sensation of paranoia. She’d thought she was safe before and—

And she’d been wrong.

And then she’d been trapped.

And then there wasn’t anything she could —

“Twilight!”

Sunset had moved across from Twilight and was watching her. Twilight closed for a second, trying to slow her breathing. Her scars felt hot and her side pulsed with pain, and she abruptly sat down. Sunset mirrored her, moving slowly and not coming closer. “Are you okay?”

“...I can work.” She automatically reached with her magic to make sure the door was shut, but a small twinge in her chest stopped her. Twilight walked over and checked it herself. “Did we get Hypnotia?”

“No.” Twilight heard a real growl in Sunset’s voice. “Believe me, you’ll know when I nail her.”

“Get in line.” Twilight changed to Earth Pony magic. Its effect was passive and barely drained the reactor, and she felt better with some magic at her disposal. “What’d they get away with?”

“SHIELD’s still looking,” Sunset said, “But they did get away with one of the Golems. Pinkie called it the Awesome Android.”

Twilight snickered. “That’s a Pinkie Pie name. They’re okay, right?”

“Yes, but Twilight—”

“Good,” she said, “I need a list of everything that was stolen. If we can narrow down what Hypnotia knew to target, maybe we’ll have an idea who—”

“Twi.”

Sunset was using one of her no-nonsense tones. Twilight turned back around and she was all business. Gently, Sunset said, “I need to know what happened.”

Slowly Twilight nodded. She tried to focus, to think of just one place so she could start, but everything just seemed so important that it was hard to sort through it all. “AIM kidnapped me,” she decided, “but they weren’t just lucky. They knew I was going to be there. They brought the installation down using Spark Industries weapons.”

There was more about the attack she still couldn’t put into words. She’d seen people hurt because of weapons she built to keep them safe. She sat in a metal box waiting to die. She’d run and run and thought she’d gotten away, only to find a bomb with her name printed on it.

She remembered laughing while she bled. It was almost too on the nose.

Twilight tried to breathe smoothly. This was just facts, she could do facts. “I was injured in the attack. I can’t generate magic naturally anymore, but my—” Doctor? Friend? Victim? “Fellow prisoner managed to save my life.”

“What about the suit?”

“We worked on the first one together.” Twilight smiled. “It was one of the most complicated builds I’ve ever had to do. We were going to escape but— but in the confusion, she died.”

The words sounded hollow to Twilight. She died, like that was the only thing that mattered. “I didn’t know who Hypnotia had brainwashed,” she pressed on, “so I did the only sensible thing I could.”

“Vigilantism.”

“I had to do something!” Twilight didn’t remember standing, she was suddenly just in Sunset’s face.”I got people hurt! The soldiers protecting me, the guards I killed escaping, Moondancer—”

Her words just ran out as Twilight said her name. She looked down. “I spent years not caring about anyone else getting hurt, and it caught up with me. So I can’t just let this go. I have to be the one to make it right. Or—”

Or why am I here instead of her?

“I just do,” she said instead. “Or I will, at least. No matter how hard it is.”

Sunset nodded. “...I can help.”

“You will?”

“We can’t trust SHIELD,” Sunset said. “Anyone could be compromised, now or later. But I need you to work with me. You have a lot to learn.”

Twilight was nodding, had started nodding when Sunset had started talking. “Of course! Absolutely! Thank you!”

“Hey!” Sunset grinned and took a nervous step back. “Twi. You’re my best friend. You’re the smartest pony I know, and I’m the best SHIELD agent they have. If anyone can make this work, it’s you and me.”

“You and I.”

“Don’t make me regret this.” Sunset’s eyes swept down as she looked Twilight over. “Your make-up spells weren’t broken; I can’t see that you were hurt at all. But Ariel is right, you’re going to get a real check-up as soon as I figure out how.”

Twilight nodded again; she’d expected to have to put up with Sunset worrying about her health. “Before that, I need to make sure my alibi is working.”

Sunset nodded. “We’ll need an excuse for the bruise on your head, but your burns aren’t visible… how do they feel.”

“Fine.”

“Twilight…”

“Fine!” Twilight protested. “I forgot about them until you said something.”

Sunset nodded again. “Okay, but after we establish your alibi I want to look you over myself.”

Twilight shook her head. “Not right after. You need to do your job or SHIELD will get suspicious. And I’ve got something I should have taken care of forever ago.”

Spike’s hands didn’t shake as he prepared the tea. “Here we go,” he said steadily. “And the coco will be done in a minute, Starlight.”

“Thanks, Spike!” Pinkie said. She poured herself a cup of sugar cubes and held it out for tea. “So, what was she like?”

Spike only kept his hands still from long years of practice. “Sorry?”

“Iron Mage!” She slurped from her teacup and earned a disapproving look from Fluttershy. “She fought off all those ponies and all the golems and won and then escaped!”

“She ruined our Golems,” Starlight corrected, “And AIM still got away with some of them. We’re lucky the operators are alright.”

“I don’t know what to think of her,” Spike admitted. He gently breathed on a mug, warming the milk inside and carefully adding chocolate. “Here you go, Star. Anyway, she was trying to stop AIM, but I don’t know how much she cared about us.”

“Maybe our next project should be to figure out how that suit works,” Starlight said. “We could sell it to SHIELD, call it the next generation of Gaurdsmare armor…”

“The boss doesn’t like building weapons anymore,” Pinkie pointed out.

“Twilight doesn’t like us anymore either,” Starlight grumbled. Pinkie’s ears went flat and she silently drank more tea. Fluttershy patted her forelocks comfortingly.

“That’s not fair,” Spike said. “She’s been avoiding everyone.”

“We’re supposed to be her friends.” Starlight said. She stared at her mug, tail twitching angrily behind her. “I know she’s having a hard time, but—”

The door quietly opened, and Twilight stuck her head in. There was a bruise on the side of her head that was slowly fading, and she looked none the worse for wear. “Hey, girls.”

“Hi Twilight!” Pinkie exclaimed. She held up her cup of sugar. “Come and have tea with us!”

“Thanks, Pinkie.” Twilight pulled up a small bench to the table and sat down, though Spike noticed she didn’t take a teacup. “How are all of you feeling?”

“Pretty freaked out,” Spike said. “But fine. What about you?”

“I teleported inside a wall trying to get away,” Twilight said ruefully. “I was thrown out and hit my head. The doctors said that it’ll heal in a few hours. Plus I managed to avoid seeing Iron Mage.”

“Good thing too,” Spike said. “She still doesn’t like you.”

“Sunset said she was helpful,” Twilight said slowly, “maybe she’s not that bad?”

“You are way too forgiving,” Starlight said. “I’m not going to sleep easy until we figure out who she really is.”

“I’m way more scared of, ya know,” Pinkie frowned a little as she tried to talk. “Hypnotia.”

Spike shivered. The name still felt like it had weight behind it.

“She can just make us do stuff,” Pinkie said, “even if it’s mean or… anything. I barely remember anything, just all, all of those... flashing…” She stared off into space before Fluttershy nudged her. She blinked and took another noisy sip of tea. “Do you guys remember stuff?”

“I do.” Starlight glared at her mug so fiercely that Spike was worried she’d break it. “She turned me into an idiot and forced me to like it.” She started to lose control of her field, and she set her mug down before the sparks could get larger. “I— it was awful.”

Spike put his hand on Starlight’s shoulder. The mare didn’t usually like people touching her, but she just sighed. “Why didn’t it work on you?” Starlight asked Twilight. “Is there like, a mantra or…”

Her voice trailed off as Twilight froze completely except for her eyes. They flicked back and forth between each of her friends, stopping when they got to Spike. “Well,” she said slowly. “Hypnotia made a mistake when she first tried to… brainwash me.” She started to chew on part of her mane but stopped when she noticed and swept it behind her ear. “I… If you have something important to hold onto, an idea or a memory, then you can block her out.”

“What was yours?” Pinkie casually asked. Fluttershy pressed a wing against her mouth to keep her from talking, prompting a lot of indignant ‘Mmphs!’ that went essentially unnoticed.

“You girls,” Twilight said. “And Sunset. She threatened you.”

Twilight stared at the table as everyone stared at her. Pinkie pushed Fluttershy’s wing off and moved to stand, but Twilight shook her head. “Look, I’ve been paranoid ever since AIM kidnapped me. I’ve been afraid to trust anything, but you girls are my friends. And I can’t just give up on you. I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long, and if you’ll have me, I’d love to work with you again.”

This time, there was no putting off Pinkie’s tackle hug. Twilight wasn’t knocked to the ground but she flinched. “Pinkie, please don’t do that.”

“Sorry,” Pinkie said as she pulled back, “but I’m just so excited! We’re gonna have you back! I missed you so much!”

“Okay,” Starlight said. “Reign it in, Pinkie.” She looked at Twilight and winced. “Look, about what I said earlier…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Twilight said. “You were right. I’ve been away for way too long. Besides, where else am I gonna find better minds for my new project.”

“New project?” Pinkie gasped.

Twilight nodded. “We’re gonna find a way to break Hypnotia’s powers.”

Neighsay hated using codenames. So many operatives used it as an attempt to be creative and none of them were any good at it. Trixie Lunamoon, for example. What was a Hypnotia? It didn’t sound like a pony name, and it wasn’t particularly clever. It was nonsense and if the mare the name was attached to wasn’t of such use she would have been reprimanded.

Trixie sat across from his desk, crying softly. He wished he could take credit after her mission's dismal outcome, but AIM’s benefactor had wanted to speak with her personally. She’d started proudly but her resolve had broken in short order.

Under the spirals, the mare was thin as a rake, almost unhealthy. Her Cutie Mark had been a crescent moon and a magic wand, but they were buried under inky black magic. The shades of black and dark blue trailed across her body as though they were alive and dove into her eyes. They were filled with darkness, and the only sign that she had them was the trail of tears that leaked across her face.

It was a disquieting sight. Not because Trixie herself, of course; the mare possessed few redeeming qualities and most of them were covered up by her attitude. But the level of influence their benefactor wielded over her chosen gave him pause.

Trixie jerked, nearly slipping off her chair before straightening. Neighsay allowed her to regain her composure before speaking; while he would have preferred to berate her, breaking her down so completely would make her a less effective operative. “Have you been informed of your mistakes?”

“Yes sir,” she said quietly.

“Then we shall go over your successes, meager as they are.” Neighsay levitated his notes closer to his face, resolving to get reading glasses at his earliest convenience. “AIM has made an impression and a largely effective one. Despite being driven off by Iron Mage, you easily broke SHIELD’s defenses. While you didn’t successfully create any thralls, most of the people your power touched are being prohibited from working. The main target was stolen, and Iron Mage was wounded in the battle.”

Neighsay watched the mare’s pride begin to inflate and immediately moved to stab it. “You are no longer allowed to lead missions.”

He’d expected the mare to protest, but she simply looked hurt. “A search for a replacement is currently in progress, though I imagine you know who will be chosen to replace you.” The pony who should have been in charge of this operation to begin with, he added silently. “You will remain the public face of AIM so long as you can represent us in a good light. If something jeopardizes that, you will be removed. Is that clear?”

“Yes sir,” she quietly said again.

He glared at her and jerked his head at the door. She fled.

Neighsay sighed. He’d agreed to let the benefactor have more leeway than many had thought wise, because of the power that had been offered. He hadn’t taken any himself, of course; he was no fool. But he had allowed it’s experimentation more agency than had perhaps been wise.

The situation is stable enough for now, he decided. And it’s not as though AIM were completely helpless. The Makluan project was well on its way, and there would be new AIM Golems inside the month.

Neighsay generally restrained himself from evil laughter; there wasn’t much point if no one was there to shrivel in fear from it. But he found himself wishing for that sort of audience as he stroked his beard and plotted AIM’s next move.

Stand For Everfree (1)

Fluttershy was fine. Really.

She watched Starlight and Pinkie circling each other like angry housecats and had no real, important opinions to share. She couldn’t possibly be impatient with their lack of patience, so she sat safely behind her desk in the back and desperately tried to finish her paperwork.

“If you really thought this was a good idea,” Pinkie snapped, mane trembling from anger, “then you wouldn’t be trying to hide it!”

“There are plenty of reasons to not talk about something!” Starlight snapped right back “And Twilight’s going to be unreasonable about this—”

“You haven’t even given her a chance!”

“We were best friends! Spike and I were the people that got her to re-engage with the rest of the world after…” she grimaced and shifted the direction of the sentence, “when she got to the university. I know her, and she’s not thinking clearly about this!”

“She doesn’t want to build weapons,” Pinkie said stubbornly, “and I don’t like doing that either—”

“That doesn’t mean a thing to Iron Mage!” Starlight stomped, sending Pinkie skittering back a few steps, and sighed. “We have to protect ourselves. Look, just help me come up with a prototype before we talk to Twilight. Then if she shoots us down, we’ll know we did our best.”

Fluttershy almost frowned as Pinkie slowly nodded. It was the same thing Starlight had done to get them to help with the Golem project; she’d been arguing for a prototype for a while, but the way she presented made it seem like she was the one compromising. Fluttershy wasn’t sure she wanted to start an argument with Starlight though, and if she were forced to verbally express an opinion she’d agree with Starlight. There were plenty of nice things you could do with suits like that besides hurting people.

“But, but,” Pinkie pressed, “we don’t weaponize it until after we talk to Twilight. Promise?”

“I promise,” Starlight said. “Though there’s no point. The manufacturing facility won’t let me in anymore.”

“Me either.” Pinkie kicked the floor morosely. “They’re just sooo boring.”

Good, they’ve been getting my notes, Fluttershy thought. Having Pinkie Pie and Starlight Glimmer working in the same lab required a greater degree of supervision than Fluttershy was willing to provide.

The door swung open and Twilight Sparkle walked in. In addition to her usual shirt, vest, and bow-tie she wore a light-colored pith helmet with her Mark emblazoned on the side. “Hey girls! Do you have anything planned for today?”

Pinkie said, “Nope we’re not planning any projects or prototypes or anything not that we’ve been lazy we just haven’t had much to do but you’re here so hi!” in one sentence without taking a breath, which always fascinated Fluttershy.

Twilight stared at Pinkie for a moment and then transferred that stare to Starlight.

“It’s nothing important,” Starlight answered.

Twilight nodded and ignored Pinkie’s deeply offended look. “Great, because I found a lead. Have either of you heard of the Pys-der?" She plunged onwards before they could say no. "It's a spider that hypnotizes its prey into its webs with flashing lights like Hypnotia does. The Everfree Lab has one, we just have to go and pick it up.”

Pinkie raised a hoof. “Why can’t we have it shipped here?”

“The lab is closing down next week,” Twilight answered, “and the pony in charge has done a sloppy job recording their work. But I promise it won’t take more than the day to find!”

“Um,” Starlight said, “Find the spider that can brainwash things?”

“Little things!” Twilight said. “Well, not by spider standards, but the birds it eats are much smaller than people!”

“Uh-huh,” Starlight said. “Nope.”

“They’re small by bird standards! More or less…”

“More no.”

“Starlight!” Twilight paused and lowered her voice. “Starlight, we need to figure out how her powers work. The lab is closing in a week and I need help going through the inventory. Besides, you wanted me to help you find a project that would help make Applied Sciences look good, and solving Hypnotia’s powers will do that.”

Fluttershy shivered. It had been a week since AIM’s attack and it felt like they were everywhere. When she’d come back to Spark Industries after the attack the mood had been tense. There were new security checkpoints, and people were staring suspiciously at each other like they expected an attack to come at any minute. And to be fair, it actually could. Fluttershy felt nervous around the guards now, knowing that anyone of them could be a double agent.

Starlight sighed. “But why can’t we have interns do this?”

“Because I want control over who knows what, at least until we have something we can use.”

The room felt very quiet after she said that. Fluttershy crouched a little smaller behind her desk, and both Pinkie and Starlight looked uncomfortable. Fluttershy only remembered some of what happened, and she knew Pinkie didn't remember anything. Starlight was still very angry about it and she knew Spike was still bothered that he agreed to hurt someone. All of them were scared of Hypnotia.

Twilight, being Twilight, didn't notice. She glanced between the two of them and looked mildly confused. Fluttershy wanted to explain how they felt, but...

She's been feeling like this since she was kidnapped. She might even be worse. She'll figure it out.

Twilight shrugged. “So you’re coming?” she asked with her charming smile.

Starlight sighed. “Fine. Let me just find Fluttershy and we’ll be off.”

“Um,” Fluttershy tried. She went unnoticed as the three mares walked out the door.

Twilight was not completely fine, but at least she could admit it. She sipped her thermos as she listened to Pinkie and Starlight talk. Fluttershy had caught up to them at the train station and was either reading or hiding behind a newspaper.

Sunset Shimmer stepped into the train car and caught her attention. Twilight glanced back to make sure none of the girls were looking before she joined the agent. “Anything?”

“No AIM signals yet. You?”

Twilight shook her head. “My device picked up some SHIELD sending spells right when we left, but nothing else.”

“And you're sure you can detect them.”

“Sunset.” Twilight fixed her with a look. “I’m me. They aren’t going to outsmart me with science.”

“Okay, okay.” Sunset slipped her receiver back into her jacket and looked at Twilight. She smiled.

Twilight frowned. “What?”

“Nothing, you just look a lot better than you have been for the last couple weeks.”

“Oh. Huh.” Twilight shrugged. “I guess having something like a plan in place is helping.” She had felt more on the ball while planning things with Sunset; just having someone to talk things through with had relieved so much pressure. “What about you?”

Sunset snorted. “Busy. Hypnotia has really freaked SHIELD out. The medical staff has been going over me to see if there’s anything about my body that made me immune, because why would I understand what happened, oh and the councilor has been meeting with me to make sure I’m actually free— Getting permission to do this took some favors.”

An immediate flash of guilt stormed her. “I’m sorry—”

Sunset raised a hoof to interrupt. “It's okay. Even if we weren't friends, this is important. I’m just saying it might be hard for me to slip away and help in the future.”

Twilight blew her bangs out her face and looked out the window, watching the people walking by or staring at the train pass around Ponyville to reach her lab in the Everfree. For a moment, she wondered what it’d be like to live there, maybe working as a librarian, just having a normal life.

Eh. It’d probably be too quiet. At least like this, I'm getting chances to really help people

“I’m going to go back and keep an eye on the girls,” she said. “You keep watching the perimeter. Even if we’re unlucky and there’s an attack, we can figure out who the mole is and maybe save them.”

Doctor Gloriosa Daisy wasn’t just fine, she was the most-fine pony who’d ever lived.

As she trotted through the ruins of the Castle of the Two sisters, she didn’t think about the labs closing, or where she’d go if they did. She was a scientist with not-mad aspirations collecting samples in a calm manner.

She was in Everfree Castle because magic in the area tended to behave oddly. Some even suggested that the place was haunted, but that was just a story the Princess spread to keep people away from her sister’s grave. The truth was that the Princesses battle with the Nightmare had featured two Alicorns channeling immeasurable mystical energy, and the magic had dented the laws of physics a little. A similar phenomenon took place after the White Event elevated them to Alicorns in the first place, changing the nature of magic for a hundred years before things stabilized.

Gloriosa reached out with her magic, feeling the plant life around the castle. Oh, there’s a hole in the northwestern wall! Something was growing under the wall, breaking apart the stone, and it was just down the hall!

Gloriosa turned the corner and saw a pair of Wall-nuts growing underneath the wall, the ultra-tough wood breaking the stone apart. Patches of moss grew across their side and up the wall, and some scratches on the floor told her that animals had been getting in as well. She tapped a button on her forehoof, and her saddlebags came to life.

Artificial limbs had only recently become commonplace, but they still allowed Earth Ponies greater versatility than they’d ever had before and were now the standard at places like Spark Industries. The enchanted metal limb stretched out from the top of her saddlepack and began to clear away the loose debris as she looked for seeds. The Wall-nuts were the best part of her presentation and she was running low. Without them—

There was a lack of sound. It wasn’t a silence marked by animals and other noises stopping; it was like there had been a sound and then something retroactively decided there wasn’t. Gloriosa turned.

She thought she could see something shifting in a corner, something small but very much alive. She held her breath, afraid of frightening it away. She moved closer, sliding her hooves across the floor to keep her hoofsteps from alerting anyone.

The light from her helmet revealed an odd patch of nothing. It was a very black, very present nothing, a shadow in three-dimensions. It twitched forwards in the light, stumbling end-over-end to land at her hooves. It tried to sit up.

Gloriosa bent a little closer, trying to get a better idea of what it was. Despite its very odd appearance, she didn’t feel threatened by it at all. It stretched upwards as if it were trying to reach her.

There was a hoofstep outside, and the shadow twitched closer to her face. A sudden panic gripped her, not at the bizarre creature at her nose but at her bodyguard. I can’t let him see it! She brought the arm down, hurriedly urging the creature into a containment pod. The ease of which it was captured escaped her notice, as the fact that she had no reason to hide it.

Once the creature was out of sight, her mind eased. If she’d had a moment longer to think about that her life might have turned out differently, but her bodyguard entered and her train of thought rapidly jumped tracks.

Blockhead was a friendly Unicorn with an unruly brownish-red mane and white fur. His father had been a miner and he’d inherited a very compact, muscular physique. He was friendly, enthusiastic about things even if he didn't understand them, and incredibly handsome. “Doctor Daisy? Are you wrapping up?”

“Uh— Yes!” Gloriosa Daisy declared. “Almost! Just give me a minute more, please?”

“Sure.” Blockhead twisted his head, getting the cricks out of the gloriously thick neck of his, and moved to peer out the window. “So, you’re almost done with your plant-growing project thing?”

“Oh yes!” Gloriosa beamed as she haphazardly shifted through the debris on the floor. “it's going to revolutionize the construction and save the labs!”

“Huh.” He used his field to fiddle with his collar, trying to loosen it. “Isn’t it a little too late for the labs?”

“It’s never too late!”

“Yeah, but like… almost everyone else found work somewhere else and stuff.” He suddenly looked nervous. “Not that I don’t appreciate it! But I have gotten a pretty sweet offer to pilot ‘assorted vehicles’ for some rich guy out west. I don’t know what an assorted vehicle is yet but I can’t wait to give it a shot!”

“That’s… yeah,” Gloriosa said, “I’m... sure you’ll do great. But these labs were my first real break. I can’t just give up!” She shuddered, and unbeknownst to her the shadow she’d found shimmered in response. “I have to make this work, no matter what it takes.”

He nodded. “Well, I heard that some kind of bigwig was going to be here to collect samples in a couple of hours. Maybe you could show—”

Gloriosa grabbed his face with both hooves and pulled it down to her own. “What!? When!?”

“...In a few hours?” Blockhead said again. “If you hurry you might be able to present your… science stuff? Science stuff to them.”

“Yes!” she could do this! Glorisosa's mind was a whirl with possibilities, matching the shimmering her shadow made from inside her pack.

His eyes darted from side to side. “Um… you’re welcome?”

“Right! S-sorry.” She took a step back and cleared her throat. “But you’re right! All I have to do is show my plant armory and we’ll have all the money we need! I can do this! Come on!”

Gloriosa rushed out of the castle, scarcely aware of the terrain around her. She barely noticed Blockhead keeping pace behind her, and she’d certainly forgotten about the shadow she’d collected in her pack.

There's no reason to worry, she told herself. Everything's coming together. I got this.

Author's Note

She does not, in fact, have this.

Still deciding the tech level of Equestria-- Radios were already a local thing, so spy style radio transmiters disguised as shoes and things. Locally, the more spells you cast on an object (and the more complex the effects) the less likely it is to work. Purely Arcane artifacts are more expensive and less functional in general, and consumer grade products are largely magically augmented techology. The private sector, especially for a magic devolpment company, does include more expensive mystical gear.

Also, scroll back up and check out that swanky cover art! I might be commissioning an Iron Mage suit from JodtheCod next month too, depending on my financial state, so stay tuned.

Stand For Everfree (2)

Popcap Labs was in better shape than could be expected, in that the facility was intact.

There were a lot of companies and think-tanks interested in the Everfree and there was always at least one project in progress somewhere intended to finally be the one to discover its deepest secrets. These tended to end in a mixture of fire, destruction, and tree sap.

Twilight tried to read the inventory again as they trotted up the path, squinting at the glare of the sun. The weather was always uncomfortable around the Everfree no matter what Pegasi tried. “This is the worst checklist I’ve seen in my life,” she grumbled. “Half of these aren’t even dated!”

“It can’t be that bad,” Starlight said, “let me try.”

Twilight passed the list over as they reached the guard shack. “Twilight Sparkle and guests,” she said. “Agent Shimmer will be patrolling the perimeter while we’re here.”

“Cool!” The guard declared. “I’m Blockhead, it’s nice to meet you! Go right on up, Doctor G wants me to take the VIP’s to her presentation.”

Sunset nodded and broke away from the group to head up some stairs. Twilight frowned as they began to follow Blockhead. “What presentation? We’re here to look for something we need for a project.”

“Is that the Doctor Gloriosa that’s supposed to be in charge of this list?” Starlight asked. “Because I definitely want to talk to her. What does ‘mostly contained’ mean?”

“Is that the Twittermites? Yeah, some of the swarm got out. They’re in the Everfree somewhere.”

“And the rest of the lab animals,” Starlight asked more urgently. “Are they mostly contained—”

“Not to worry, we double-checked everything before it went into storage,” Blockhead said, “that was how the Twittermites got out. But nothing else did, so it’s all cool. And even if it did, I’d wrangle it for you!”

“That’s great,” Twilight quickly said, “But, uh, what exactly can you tell us about this presentation?”

“Absolutely nothing!” Blockhead somehow said proudly. “I think plants were involved? Not sure.”

“So,” Twilight tried again. “...It can’t kill us.”

“I dunno. But Doctor G is great! You’ll love her.”

They reached the greenhouse doors. Blockhead pulled the lever and slowly opened them, revealing an Earth Pony— presumably Doctor Gloriosa— standing with her back to them facing some kind of enchantment device. It glowed green as it bathed a wall of seeds with magic. “So,” she attempted to begin dramatically. “It’s an unexpected pleasure to have a member of holy crap you’re Twilight Sparkle!”

“Most days,” Twilight dryly said. “You want to give some kind of presentation?”

“Um,” The gobsmacked scientist tried as she regained her bearings. Twilight carefully suppressed a sigh. It wasn’t a lethal trap of some kind, it was just another scientist positive they were the first people bold enough to surprise her with an impromptu presentation and request for money.

She didn’t complain, because the mare was clearly nervous enough already, but she did begin checking the exits and changed to Earth pony magic. Last-ditch presentations made by scared scientists were either obsessively perfected or painfully slapdash.

“We could do this after my team’s had time to pick up our materials,” Twilight offered.

The mare responded as if Twilight had threatened her with a poker. “No! No, I’m fine. Really.”

Twilight watched the mare prance in place a moment, trying to calm down. Fluttershy and Pinkie were trying to look encouraging, and Starlight wasn’t paying attention. The mare steeled herself and nodded.

“Okay! This was inspired by the... “ she visibly sorted through adjectives before settling on “problems the lab has had staying open. Magical defenses need mana to run, and they have to be recharged by ponies every day to function.” She interrupted herself by gripping a watering can and taking it over to one of the plant pots.

As she poured water into the pot, a small green plant began to grow out of it. It was clearly magical, as it bobbed its small head and blinked what looked like eyes as it reached its full size. Gloriosa patted it with her hoof. The little thing flashed white for the briefest of second before turning around and shooting at a makeshift target board on the far wall.

“I named this the Peashooter,” Gloriosa said. “It can metabolize all of its magical power from the air and sun, and grow its own infinite supply of ammunition. It needs to be watered with a potion each night, but the potion also heals it of any injury.”

The Peashooter fired again very slowly. Each pea smacked the board with enough force to crack it, but it only fired about once a second.

“I have lots of plants,” she continued. “Chompers can grab a whole pony and hold them until guards come, Wall-nuts can be used as a temporary barrier, for inside I have so many different mushrooms, so um… yeah.” Gloriosa was trying not to wince, which only really meant the wince traveled much more slowly across her body. “I think this could change the way we design buildings and uh, hope my research can continue! Yep.”

It was an awful presentation of an intriguing idea. Twilight checked the Peashooter with her magic, and it wasn’t some kind of trick; while their magic signatures were similar, it was alive and moving independently of Gloriosa. “How are they controlled?”

“And can I try?” Pinkie asked.

“Not with this one,” Gloriosa said, confidence increasing with each word. “The potion lets the gardener implant a few commands into each plant and it’s synced to whichever gardener waters it. Or Gaurd-ener, I guess.” She grinned at the four of them, grinning.

When even Pinkie Pie just looked confused at the joke, she just winced and continued, “I created most of these myself,” she said. “My Mark lets me control how plants grow. Some of these are a modification to existing plants, and the Chompers I created by myself.”

Twilight nodded. “Does that mean the supply is limited to what you can make?”

“Sort of. The plants produce seeds for something like these, but they need to be treated with my magic. The thing behind me is just a really big mana generator I programmed with my field. I give it a big charge in the morning and it fixes the seeds for the rest of the day. I’m not really a mechanical engineer, so I’m not sure how to streamline that process…”

Her voice trailed off fearfully, and Twilight pretended not to notice. “I can look at that when we’ve found the things we need,” she said. “I’m trying to stop selling weapons… what kind of other things could you grow?”

“Well,” Gloriosa said slowly, “patches to hold buildings together, in the middle of disasters? Maybe some kind of organic armor… I was really focused on helping this lab, though. I’ve worked here for almost ten years, I just wanted to save this place.”

Oh.

Twilight tried to hold a neutral expression, but the new hope in Gloriosa’s chipped away at it. “Gloriosa,” she started, “I appreciate that you like this place, but even your project was complete I couldn’t keep the lab open.”

Her voice was gentle, but Gloriosa still looked like she’d been kicked in the ribs. “But— no. No, it worked! My plants could keep this place safe!”

“Probably,” Twilight carefully said. “After we’d finished testing and expanded the kind of plants we could use. But that takes more time than this place has, and people would still be in danger.”

“It’s worth it!” Gloriosa snapped. “Don’t you see? There’s so much good this place can do, you can’t just waste it because of some bottom line—”

“I’m not!”

Twilight’s voice snapped, making Starlight look up and Pinkie Pie flinch. Gloriosa’s back legs gave out, and she looked like Twilight was going to rip her heart out.

I guess in a way I am.

Aloud, she said “You’ll be able to continue your research, I’ll make sure it’s funded properly myself. And if reopening this place becomes viable, then we’ll consider it. But right now the place needs a security staff twice as large as any other lab this size, and I know there were casualties in the past. It’s not worth it.”

She thought Gloriosa might faint for a moment, but she kept her forelegs straight and slowly stood. Her gaze was squarely focused off into space. “It’s just not worth it,” she repeated slowly.

Twilight’s mouth opened and closed helplessly. “It’s... “ she tried. “I’m sorry…”

“I’m—” Gloriosa said, “It’s— Excuse me.”

She pushed past Twilight and left, breaking into a gallop as soon as she was out of sight.

Twilight flinched as the hoofsteps receded in the distance. She lifted a hoof, trying to decide if she should follow or not when Blockhead stepped forwards. “I’ll go check on her,” he said somberly. “You do whatever your thing is.”

Gloriosa couldn’t let herself cry. Good fillies didn’t cry. She was fine, because if she was fine then she could fix this—

It wasn’t worth it.

She was in the equipment room, trying not to let tears fall. She reared up and placed her forelegs on the table, laying her head against the cool metal surface.

It didn’t matter. It worked and it didn’t matter. She didn’t care, and this my first job, a job I’ve had my whole life a job my brother got me and I’ll have to leave—

A little ways away, the shadow she’d forgotten about perked up.

All my friends, my house— I’ll have to sell the house and move away and how am I supposed to find a place to live before the lab finishes shutting down?

The containment glass was enchanted, but the shadow floated through it like there was nothing there.

And all the work I put in at this lab, and none of my friends are coming back now and Timber is… wait, what’s...

The shadow floated behind Gloriosa, growing bigger and bigger.

What’s behind me?

She turned and started to scream, but stopped herself. The shadow that stood before her wasn’t formless anymore; in fact, it looked exactly like her.

It titled its head inquisitively to one side as it regarded her with a face shaped just like hers, and twitched the tail she was never happy with the same way she did. There was still no texture or color, but it otherwise was precisely the same.

It lifted its hoof and stroked the side of her face. Gloriosa didn’t feel a hoof or anything but… comfort. A soothing wave of comfort when it touched her, and a… what? Idea? Intuition?

There is something I can do.

“What?” She asked desperately. “I did my best and it didn’t mean anything! I just…”

It stepped closer and gave her a nuzzle like her brother used to. She wrapped a foreleg around and instinctively pulled it closer.

“You… want something? Need something from me? And you can fix everything?”

It didn’t want to take something, it wanted to share. It would be a part of Gloriosa and in return...

“Power,” she whispered. “Power to make things the way they should be. But…”

She heard voices down the corridor. The shadow and fear both gripped her. They’ll want to stop me! They want things to change and to leave me but I can’t let that happen. I’ll do anything if I can just—

The shadow swallowed her.

Fluttershy felt deeply unsettled as they attempted to sort through the storeroom. She wasn’t sure if she was more worried about Gloriosa or what they’d find in here. Starlight was in charge of pulling out each of the unmarked boxes, and she would help Twilight open them in case whatever was in there was alive and free.

She didn’t have a problem with that, It was her Mark, so she couldn’t complain.

Twilight wasn’t paying close attention, opening each box automatically and barley glancing inside, which Fluttershy wasn’t sure was safe. Starlight was organizing the marked boxes and Pinkie Pie was writing everything down from a safe distance with strict instruction not to touch anything.

Fluttershy watched Twilight disassemble and reassemble the same box, trying to work up the nerve to say something. “Uh,” she started.

Twilight put the lid on the box and shoved it around, before beginning to pull the lid off. “Um,” Fluttershy said, more forcefully.

Twilight hesitated, staring at the box. “Oh,” she said, “Sorry, Fluttershy.”

“It… seems like something might be bothering you?” Fluttershy managed to ask.

“What makes you say that?”

Fluttershy shifted uncomfortably. Before she had a chance to back down, Starlight jumped in. “I don’t know,” she said, “but I think you’ve been going through that one box for a couple minutes now.”

Twilight sighed. “What should I have done,” she asked. “I can’t keep the lab open; it’s not safe.”

“And no one's saying you should,” Fluttershy said. “I’m sure Gloriosa won’t either, after Blockhead gets her to calm down.”

“Fluttershy’s right,” Starlight said, “and if she’s in trouble now it’s her own fault.”

“Starlight,” Fluttershy scolded.

“It is,” Starlight continued. “I mean, look at this mess! I’d be surprised if she did anything but work on those plants for months.”

“Because she’s scared,” Pinkie said. “She’s allowed to be scared. We don’t get mad at Fluttershy when she hides from things! No offense, Fluttershy.”

“...None taken,” she said quietly.

“Look,” Twilight brought their attention back around to her, “what can I do now? I agreed to fund her research before she had her breakdown… Maybe some kind of plaque?”

“Plaques are dumb,” Pinkie said. “Oh, you could get photos from her friends and make a scrapbook of all the good times?”

“I don’t know if anything can make her feel better,” Starlight said. “Sometimes, stuff just happens, and it's awful. Either you find something to pull yourself up with, or you have a breakdown. I had a rough fillyhood, and if I hadn’t gotten out of town there's no telling what would have happened to me.”

Fluttershy watched her look up and wince under the weight of the three gazes. “I don’t want to get into it. Point is, either she’ll be fine or she won’t. There’s just not a lot we can do.”

Fluttershy opened her mouth, ready to offer a real disagreement when she heard it.

Hehehehe ha…

All talk in the room vanished as they looked up. The eerie giggles were too far away to make out clearly, but they could all hear them. “What was that?” Pinkie hissed.

“No idea,” Starlight whispered, “but I’m sure it's fine, so we should just leave right now.”

“We need to check it out,” Twilight said as she stepped forwards. Literally no one followed her.

She flicked her tail at them and took another step forward. “Hello?” She asked. “Anyone?”

The door swished open, and something stepped out. It was like someone had taken a picture of Gloriosa and warped it. Her pinkish colors had darkened to a shade of purple and her mane was an eerie blue. Her expression was the worst part; a smile with no connection to reality set above eyes that had turned pitch black.

“...Doctor Gloriosa?” Twilight said. “What happened to you?”

She giggled again, the unhinged sound sending shivers down Fluttershy’s spine. “So many things!” She said. “I have power now, look!”

A titanic cracking sound sent Fluttershy scurrying away to hide behind the crates. In the other corner she could see Pinkie Pie hiding behind Starlight, who had her horn lit. Another crack broke the cement apart and revealed an enormous vine with small pods up and down its length. “I can control everything about a plant now,” she said, “Not just how they move, but what they grow into! I just have to think of it and they reshape themselves. I can keep the lab safe. I can keep everyone safe, forever!”

“Doctor,” Twilight said carefully, “You’ve had an accident. Something, probably from the Everfree, is affecting your mind.”

She laughed again. “I knew that’s what you’d do,” she said. “You want to control everything, to make it dance. Well not me, not anymore! I’m free!”

The pods on the vine opened, revealing a blue version of the Peashooter from earlier. It swiveled towards Twilight. Wound up. She could see the ball leave the plant—

Fluttershy was flying without thinking, striving forwards with all her meager might. She didn’t keep in shape, but she was moving down and anyway, she could always accelerate well.

Fluttershy tackled Twilight moving at full speed, and for a moment she wasn’t sure she’d hit Twilight hard enough to move her. Then the cold encased her and she slid across the ground. She heard more pods spring open and open fire, and Twilight shouting. “Split up!” She said. “She only wants me!”

“Oh that’s not totally true,” and Fluttershy didn’t have to look to see the psychotic smile across her face. “I want you where I can see you, sure; but everyone here is going to see what I can do!”

Fluttershy was pulled into the air, swinging back and forth in the air as the vines carried her. Pinke was dodging all the weapons fire and making a beeline for the outdoor exit while Starlight and Twilight tried to work their way to the hallway. Gloriosa ducked a pulse bolt and actually hissed like she was part cat. “I should have known you’d be violent,” she said.

“Gloriosa, please!” Twilight called out. “You can’t do this!”

“You have no idea the power you’re dealing with!” She shouted. “I can control every inch of life, right down to the cells.”

A curved wooden board was slowly grown from the hole in the foundation the vines had created. They stretched out and draped it across her chest, and it bent itself around her. More organic armor followed, lashed into place with vines and some kind of grass. A large Peashooter sat on her back, with a longer barrel and some kind of black shell that almost looked like a hat. Thorns grew out from the wooden shell, and a helmet grew across her face. Only her eyes were visible now, the horrible black eyes with only a hint of toxic green where the pupils would be. “I am the Plantmare,” she shouted. “And if the world won’t do anything right, then I’ll force it to!”

Twilight raced down the hallway, a small box in her field beside her.

Come on, come on…

She didn’t see what happened to Fluttershy, but the mare was good at hiding. Pinkie had made it outside and Starlight had disappeared a while ago. She didn’t have tabs on any of them.

Please do it, no one's looking and you're in danger, just do it…

Twilight was staring at her signal interceptor as she ran, waiting for it to pick something up.

AIM loves this sort of thing, and you’ve got an alibi, whichever one you are. Just call them, please…

She ducked down a hallway and skidded to a stop as she found a group of purple mushrooms. A purple cloud of smog erupted, forcing her back the way she came.

Can you please just give me a break!

One of the lights lit up, red bulb strobing urgently. AIM was on its way. And since SHIELD was looking for AIM signals, they'd know AIM was on the way, which meant that no one would wonder why Iron Mage was showing up.

Author's Note

Last chapter for a few weeks; I'm taking a break to start on a story for GM Blackjacks Depth of Innocence contest. My entry will be called "A Nightmare dressed as a Daydream" so get hyped!

Stand For Everfree (3)

“The Forrest has actually been pretty quiet today,” the security captain said. His name was Codes and he looked like the quintessential soldier, orange/blonde mane cut short, wings preened, and a suspicious glare permanently cast out over the wall. “Usually a couple a’ the smaller buggers come ‘round, tryin’ to give us trouble. The quiet is makin’ me antsy.”

Sunset nodded. Officially, SHIELD didn’t believe in superstition or curses, but there’d always been an unspoken exception to the Everfree. “Are you worried that something’s going to happen or that it’s already happened?”

“I’m worried,” he replied. “Don’t like to discriminate.”

Sunset followed his gaze out into the forest. She could hear a stiff breeze but it didn’t quite reach the wall. Down in the underbrush, she spotted a little white rabbit racing away from the wall at full speed. “Do you have any idea what could happen?”

“No,” he said. “Could be anything. If I didn’t know better I’d call this place creative.”

Sunset looked at him. He started to speak something but thought better of it. “Though,” he said instead, “that’s just what I think. The eggheads in charge have all sorts of theories.”

“I’d rather hear what a soldier thinks than some egghead,” said Sunset, before wincing. “Twilight doesn’t need to know I said that.”

“Understood.’ He shifted his wingblades as a shadow passed overhead, but Sunset had already clocked it as a normal falcon. “It’s the way this place changes,” he said. “It doesn’t feel random. We always have time to get used to whatever sort of monsters it has before different ones start raiding us. Plenty of times the new lot is perfect for dealing with whatever defenses we’d set up for the last pack. It’s good at separating scientists from their guards, and it always seems to go quiet just when we’re thinking of packing in.” He folded one of his forelegs across his chest uncomfortably. “Most fella’s think I’m paranoid, or making excuses, but I swear it’s like this place is toying with us.”

“Or experimenting,” Sunset said idly. Captian Codes went silent at that, and she frowned. Wait a second…

“Can you usually hear birds from here?” She asked.

Codes blinked, his mental train of thought derailed. “Yeah,” he said. “Why wouldn’t you be?”

“Because I can’t hear them now,” Sunset said as she lifted her bow. “I can’t hear anything but the wind.”

“What wind?”

The two of them stared at each other, then peered over the ledge.

A tangled mess of vines slowly slithered across the surface of the wall, thicker than she was. A mesh of smaller vines trailed down as they circled the walls, flowers blooming from certain points. Mounted on these flowers were bizarre-looking plants that Sunset had never seen before and didn’t want to learn about.

“BATTLE STATIONS!” Captain Codes roared.

Sunset drew and fired a series of concussive arrows, aimed at the point where the vines touched the wall. They weren’t powerful enough to damage the stone or tear the vine apart, but the explosion forced the vine away from the wall and it began to sag under its own weight. Two pointy arrows severed one side of the vine and it began to crash to the ground.

More vines began to grow from the sides as she drew another arrow. She ducked as the weird plants turned towards her and began to shoot at her. Ice coated the wall where she’d been, only to be shattered by a long red thorn shot out of a cactus. “Is this new?”

“Very!” Codes shouted back. All around the wall, guards cried out in alarm as the plants fired on them, driving them to take cover. Sunset grabbed one of her more complex arrows and floated it down, feeling along the wall until it bumped into a vine. The magitech inside whirred to life and it began to drive heat away from the vines, killing the plants with a thick layer of ice. Sunset grabbed her pointy arrows and began shooting off the weaponized plants.

An urgent beeping caught her attention. She pulled the box Twilight had given her out of her jacket. The dials were spinning and every light was turning red.

AIM.

“Hey, cut it out!”

Sunset glanced back at the lab and saw somebody in wooden armor ascending towards them on a gigantic vine. As it stretched out to its full length a second vine pushed up from the ground and caught her, supporting her weight as she approached the wall. Sunset took careful note of the unbloomed flower-pods. “What do you want? Are you with AIM?”

“Why would I be with AIM?” she asked. “I’m here to protect you!”

“Protect how?” Codes growled. “Who are you?”

“Codes, it’s me!” The wooden helmet split apart, revealing a pony face. Codes took a step back. “See,” she continued, “there’s nothing to worry about! I’ll take care of everything from now on, you just go inside.”

“That’s not good enough,” Sunset called out. “Protect us how? For how long?”

“Forever of course!” she said happily. “I’ve already rounded up almost everyone inside, aside from,” and her face darkened, “the oh-so-special Twilight Sparkle. I’ve almost caught her friends too.”

“Rounded up? Sunset asked. As she talked she eyed up the vine, trying to decide how many arrows it’d take to burn down. The vines might be immune to fire but that’s normal grass… of course, burning the lab down might not count as saving it…

“In the cafeteria,” she said happily. “We’ll all be able to live here forever! Isn’t that grand?”

Across the wall, the vines pulled themselves up over the ledge and sat flowers down near the guards. Weird purple things with mouths grew and leaned over the wall, flanked by large watermelon catapults. The guards were outnumbered. “What if we don’t want to live here?” Sunset asked. “We could have families, or other jobs or… spa appointments?”

“A spa?” she repeated. “You’d choose a spa over the wonders of nature? The glory of science? The majesty of… a third thing?”

“I mean, I like third thing,” Sunset drily said, “but I’m not giving up my whole life because somebody said to.”

“Gloriosa, listen to me!” Codes shouted. “Something’s messing with your head! You gotta calm down.”

“...No,” she whispered, then louder “No! I’m not the crazy one, you are! And you! And all of you, and everyone inside! But I’ll show you. The Plantmare will show you all—”

A blue light smacked her off the vine. The second one immediately moved to catch her, but two more bolts sliced through it. Plantmare crashed to the ground, and Sunset looked up to see Iron Mage flying towards her.

Iron Mage overshot Plantmare as she tried to brake; she hadn’t gotten replacement parts for the wing yet and had been forced to cannibalize the remaining one to build small stabilizers. The wings were supposed to have three repulsors on either side and she was trying to make it work with just two total. She drifted around Plantmare, pointing a hoof at her while managing her direction with the wings. “Let them go,” she said curtly.

“You’re…” Plantmare staggered to her hooves, stumbling a little. “You’re Iron Mage.”

“Most days. Let them go.”

“And then what?” she demanded. “What are you planning on doing to these people?”

The vines were rustling behind her, forcing Iron Mage to shift position to keep an eye on both them and Plantmare. She needed to replace her wings soon, this lack of coverage could get her killed. “Nothing,” Iron Mage said, “I was following an AIM signal. I’m here to help.”

“Well so am I!” Plantmare shouted. “I’m going to save these people whether they like it or not!”

The huge gun on Plantmare’s back spun towards her and fired. The impacts rattled Twilight under the suit and forced her further into the air. She returned fire, a casual blast smacking Plantmare across the yard.

Something hit her from behind, coating the suit in ice. Her wards began compensating but as it was melted more weapons fire began beating the suit down. She spun around and began firing on the plants along the wall, but another bolt of ice came from the ground. The suit chimed a warning as it failed to compensate for the weapons fire.

Iron Mage gritted her teeth and dove through the pain, snapping the ice apart, and tackling Plantmare. Up close, she could see the cracks in Plantmare’s armor healing themselves. One of her hooves reached out a vine that anchored itself to the ground, and the weapons turned to face Iron Mage.

Boom!

An explosion ripped the larger weaponized vine apart at its base, toppling it. A pointy arrow severed the vine holding them and they blasted up into the sky. Plantmare was screaming and fighting with everything she had, and Iron Mage couldn’t stabilize herself without dropping her. They began dropping erratically back towards the walls.

As they strafed the wall, one of the purple Chompers reached up and caught them in its mouth. It bit down hard on the suit, the sound of its teeth grinding against the steel grating on her ears. Panicked, she let go of Plantmare and fired all of her weapons, tearing it apart.

Plantmare leaped onto her back, wrapping a vine around Iron Mages neck. The wards recalibrated again, and the other plants had stopped firing on her. “Electrify suit!” she snapped.

The wooden armor barely smoldered at the sparks. It did grow long thorns that tried to stab their way through her suit. Iron Mage shot into the air again, but this time Plantmare just let go. It took her a few seconds to flip around and dive again, and as she did she was running into a lot of guns that hadn’t been there a second ago.

She was driven off course and overshot Plantmare, landing some distance away next to Sunset. Iron Mage switched to Unicorn magic and put force field around them, securing it to the wall and wincing at the pressure placed on it. “This isn’t working,” she said. “She’s too well-armed.”

“She won’t be less well-armed if we run now,” Sunset snapped.

“Most of my men are armed with close-range weapons,” Captian Codes reported. “They’re sitting ducks. We have to pull back.”

Iron Mage opened a small hole at the top of the force field and shot out several Let’s-Be-Friends fireworks spells. They dove, screaming bloody murder and letting a breathtaking light loose when they reached their targets. They couldn’t hurt anything but they’d blind the plant turrets. “What about the guardhouse?” She asked. “I can teleport us from there to anywhere once we’re grouped together.”

“Nah,” Captian Codes said. “This place has protection against stuff like that. Unless you had access to—”

“Yes!” Iron Mage said quickly, “but I’m more advanced than Spark Tech so I can do that anyway.” She tried to mess with her mane but it was hidden underneath the helmet. I’m glad no one can see my face.

“It’ll have to do,” Sunset said sourly. “Captain, make sure the guardhouse is secure. Iron Mage, collect all the guards. I’ll go and distract Plantmare."

Plantmare trotted slowly towards the guards, thinking very quickly. She wasn’t having trouble securing ponies, but none of her weapons had stopped Iron Mage. She winced as she moved, feeling more bruised and battered from the two-minute fight than she had in her whole life.

With nary a warning, an arrow struck her chest plate and transformed into golden ropes that bound her limbs together. Some distance down the wall, a SHIELD archer was slowly advancing and picking off her plants. “You’re under arrest!” She shouted. “Let those people go!”

Anger flared bright enough to erase her pain. “How dare you!”

A panel on her side opened and dropped a red Jalapeno Pepper. It swelled as it came into contact with the air and exploded, sending a stream of fire up and down the wall. She barely felt the heat from inside her treated suit, but the ropes snapped apart immediately.

The archer drew and fired an arrow that transformed the air into a slanted glass wall. It was scorched and half-melted by the wave but it did its job; the flames licked over the sides of the walls and caught her other plants and vines on fire.

Plantmare brought her Gattling Peashooter to bear but a pointy arrow shattered the wall and sliced the gun from its stalk. The arched strode through the shattered wall with flames burning on either side and a strut that fundamentally understood how cool she looked. “Last chance pal. I doubt you’ve got an anti-arrow plant in your garden.”

Her eyes widened as she realized she did. Plantmare mentally ordered the vines to sever themselves and fall to the ground and began summoning a new plant. To buy time, she said “Please! I’m helping these people! I can do so much for them, grow anything they need—”

“Could you grow a replacement for their families?”

Plantmare felt her whole body, her whole being freeze in place. The archer heedlessly continued. “Look, I get it. Change can be scary. But if you—”

Bzz-Fwoosh!

A powerful burst of wind interrupted her speech. She fired an arrow but it was driven off-course and exploded in the forest. From beneath the wall, a Four-Leaf Blower slowly raised itself into view, spinning its’ propellers fast enough to generate great gusts of wind. She drew another arrow and tried to compensate but more Blowers lifted themselves into view.

Plantmare had actually been looking anticipating the look of fear on the mare’s face; she’d even had the fortune of thinking of something witty to say in time to say it. But this wasn’t fun anymore, so she slashed her hoof forward, turning her vines into a jagged whip.

Crack!

The archer shouted in pain as it struck her side. Plantmare slashed her again and again, shouting "Don't talk about him like that!" The mare dropped her bow and tried to grab the vine with her field, barely holding on as it writhed like a snake. Plantmare slowly advanced, a new weapon growing on her back.

“Sunset!”

Plantmare glanced to the side and saw a wave of energy bigger than she was flowing towards her. She dove off the wall just before it smashed through the place she’d been standing and kept going towards the distance. She was caught by the vines and lifted to the glowing hole where the rampart should have been and saw Iron Mage helping the agent up.

Plantmare froze as Iron Mage stated at her, then she finished charging up her horn and teleported away.

Fluttershy finished thawing and stood, immediately moving her wings and pulling heat into herself. Drops of water shook themselves free as her wings moved and the chill began to fade from her bones.

She was in a cafeteria with a herd of other ponies milling around something she couldn’t see properly. None of them had apparently noticed Fluttershy’s existence, which she was fine with, and they were all milling around in a manner that suggested that they’d rather be cowering but didn’t want to look like it. Fluttershy didn’t want to take to the air and draw attention to herself, so she trotted around to try and get a better look.

There were two thrones growing out of the floor, and draped across the leftmost one was the slowly-stirring form of Blockhead. “What happened?” He said. “I was being chased by a plant-monster and—” He slowly sat up, realizing what he was sitting in. “Oh man, why does this always happen to me?”

A vine slowly broke through the floor with an ear-splitting crack, driving everybody back. A vine broke through the ground, carrying a flower the size of a pony. It bent down and the flower opened, letting Gloriossa stride out. The vine lifted itself back up to the ceiling and began to encircle the room. “Fools!” she shouted. “I can’t believe how ungrateful they are, I just want to help! You get it, right Blockhead?”

“...Yes,” Blockhead said slowly, “but if you’d explain it, then I could agree even more. So you should do that.” He nodded slowly.

Fluttershy facehoofed quietly so that no one would notice.

Gloriossa’s helmet retracted. Her face was just as eerie as it had been; it wasn’t just the color, it was like there was some vital piece of herself missing. “I’m making everything better,” she said. “I just want to help people, that’s all.”

Blockhead looked around at the weapons and scared faces and nodded. “Cool.” Fluttershy saw his eyes meet hers and light up. “Hey, I know you! You were with that famous pony, the purple one! What happened to her…”

His voice trailed off as Gloriosa’s head whipped around. The crowd split apart just as fast, leaving Fluttershy with nothing to hide behind. She slowly looked behind her in the desperate hopes that something behind her had somehow attracted Gloriosa’s attention, before turning back and awkwardly waving.

“You were with her,” Gloriosa hissed. “When she destroyed my dreams.” In her peripheral vision, she could see Blockhead following with his horn softly lit. It made her feel a little better. “She didn’t, doesn’t care about anything other than her agenda. She’s a horrible pony, isn’t she?’’

Fluttershy trembled in a way that could be construed as either a nod or a frown, depending on what the other person wanted.

Gloriosa put a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “And she did the same thing to you, didn’t she?”

Fluttershy blinked.

“Sh, shhh,” Gloriosa hushed as she pulled Fluttershy into a hug. Fluttershy flinched as the wooden thorns shifted away from her body. “She can’t hurt us here.”

Fluttershy stared at Blockhead, who had a very eloquent shrug. She didn’t want to talk, didn’t want to do anything but the way Gloriosa held her… it felt desperate. Like she was scared.

Fluttershy licked her lips. “It, uh… It sounds like you’re mad about more than just your project,” she managed. “Do you want to talk about it?”

The words were said so quietly that they were almost lost before they left her throat, but Gloriosa heard them. “Talk?” She said as she pulled away. “I’ve been talking all day and nobody has understood me!”

“Why don’t you try with us?” Blockhead asked. “We’re not going anywhere.”

Gloriosa looked down and started to laugh, but froze. “Say that again,” she said.

“...We’re not going anywhere?”

“They left.” Gloriosa’s helmet grew back over her face and she grabbed Blockhead by the shoulders. “Don’t you see? I was hurting them! Iron Mage’s suit—”

“Iron Mage is here?” Fluttershy asked. She resumed quailing as Plantmare spun around to look at her.

“Yes! And that suit, it must have a limit! Maybe it’s battery isn’t as robust as we thought or… Oh! No, I know what it is! It’s a system!”

“Hey,” Blockhead interrupted, “I don’t think hurting anyone is gonna help…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Plantmare interrupted. “Just leave it to me. I’ve got a plan.”

Author's Note

I said it'd be published on the weekend and it's the weekend for forty-five more minutes so I win universeJust let me die...

Plantmare is armed with:
A Peashooter, which shoots compact spheres that are like being shot with a bean bag round.
Snow Peashooter, which are the same but they freeze people.
Gattling Peashooter, which is really big.
Chompers, which eat people and contain them or cut them apart.
Wallnuts, which are basically just walls she can grow wherever.
Jalapeno Pepper, which fires a lateral wave in front of and behind wherever its dropped.
Fume-shroom, which Twilight saw last chapter and emmit knockout gas.
Four-Leaf Blower, which is an anti-arrow plant she had in her garden.
And Cacti, which shoot thorns at people.

I'm going to double down on Spider-Mare for the month of June, and we'll be back here in July!

Also check out Super Pony Roomies, because the worldbuilding is really cool and Manehattanite is super nice. And because there aren't enough super hero sitcoms in the world.