Iron Mare

Rainbow Dash stared at an old photograph of her next to a younger Lightning Dust hanging on the wall. It was taken nearly a year after her father had passed, a decade ago. Rainbow sighed and looked to the floor. Lightning Dust had always been there for her when she needed her most, and, next to Spitfire, was the only pony she could call her best friend. It was no coincidence that Lightning Dust's strange behavior began so soon after her return from Saddle Arabia. In fact, it was quite obvious by now that what was happening to her was a result of whatever had taken place in the time Rainbow had lost contact with her in the cave.

Rainbow shut her eyes. She couldn't help but feel responsible for what her friend was going through. She had been the one to pressure her into going to Saddle Arabia. She was the one to tell her to try and fool a group of terrorists into believing that-

"Miss Dash?" Scootaloo's voice came from behind. "I was wondering if you needed anything before I left for the day"

Rainbow opened her eyes and looked at the clock on the wall. Its hands read five o clock, the usual time Scootaloo went home. She turned to face her assistant.

"Actually. Scoots, I need you to do something for me."

"Anything, Miss Dash." said Scootaloo in a chipper voice.

Rainbow grinned at Scootaloo's enthusiasm for her job.

"I need you to head down to DashCo HQ and get into Lightning Dust's office. Once you're there, I'd like you to do some snooping and see if you can find anything about what happened in Saddle Arabia. A journal, a recording, a file, something on her computer, anything suspicious. We need to figure out what she's not telling us. If you find anything like that, bring it to me. Maybe it'll clue us in on what's going on with her."

Scootaloo looked at her boss with a confused expression before nodding and turning to walk out the front door.

Rainbow faced the picture again and picked it up in her hoof.

"Don't worry, Dusty." She whispered "We'll figure this out."

Lightning Dust merely smiled back at her.

Scootaloo opened another drawer and looked inside. Nothing. Just like the last one, and the one before that. She slid the drawer shut and shuffled over to the next one, slowly opening it. She didn't expect to find anything. They were all either empty or held business records of some kind. More than likely, she wouldn't- Scootaloo looked down to see a small grey tape recorder resting alone in the drawer.

Looking from side to side, Scootaloo picked up the tape recorder and looked it over. It seemed innocent enough, but Rainbow HAD asked her to bring back anything out of the ordinary. A lone tape recorder in the middle of an otherwise empty drawer certainly fit that description. She sat down behind the fine wooden desk, held the tape recorder up to her ear and pressed a button on the side.

"Project Dynamo continues on schedule." She heard Lightning Dust's voice come through the speaker.

"Once it's complete... DashCo will once again be at the top of the-"

Scootaloo nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the door open in front of her. In the blink of an eye, she stopped the tape and shoved the recorder into her saddle bag and looked up to see Lightning Dust standing in the doorway.

"Scootaloo?" she asked.

The young orange mare simply smiled back at her and did her best to maintain her composure.

"Um, yes?" Scootaloo asked with a nervous laugh.

"What are you doing in my office?"

Rainbow Dash was right... She DOES look out of it... She thought, taking note of the dark circles under her eyes.

"Um... what are you doing here?"

Lightning took several steps into the office, allowing the door to close behind her. Scootaloo bit her lip, silently praying that the older pony had not heard her snooping.

"This is my office room... why wouldn't I be here?"

"Uhm... it's the end of the week?" Scootaloo continued to grin as she shuffled awkwardly out of the chair.

"Did Rainbow put you up to this?"

Scootaloo's grin vanished instantly.

I'm dead... she thought.

Lightning Dust sighed.

"Rainbow thinks I can't keep my own office under control so she sent you to come check on me. Ugh... Tell her that I don't need to be foalsat."

"Uhm... yes! That's exactly why I was sent! To check up on your office!" Scootaloo said, looking around "Yep! Heheh... Looks fine to me! Yessirree! Everything looks just fine! I, uh, better get back to Rainbow and tell her that she doesn't need to worry about you anymore."

With that, Scootaloo began heading for the door, trotted around Lightning Dust and through the exit. She continued until she reached the nearby staircase and began descending them as fast as she could, breaking into an almost sprint at the bottom.

"What the hay is 'Project Dynamo'?" Asked Rainbow, leaning in a chair in front of Scootaloo.

"I was going to ask you."

Rainbow Dash reached for the tape recorder that lay on the coffee table between them and held it up to her ear. She waited for a moment before pressing the button to play the tape. Lightning Dust's recording began.

"Project Dynamo will change the world upon its completion... So far, the only problem I've faced is obtaining a Crystal to properly power the armor itself. None of those created by DashCo scientists have been able to power it without exploding. Rainbow Dash is the only pony in Equestria who has been able to make a Crystal with enough energy output and durability to power my design."

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo exchanged concerned looks as the tape continued.

"Rainbow Dash... She's taken everything from me. The love of Equestria, the spotlight, she even took DashCo from me the second she was old enough. And here I thought she was my friend for the longest time. I thought that she was the best pony I had the honor of knowing. I thought I loved her like a little sister."

Lightning Dust's voice seemed to be cracking, as if she were breaking down. An audible sniffle from the speaker confirmed that she was indeed crying.

"I HATE HER" screamed Lightning Dust "I hate her more than anything! Ever since Saddle Arabia, I haven't been right... I've been hearing voices in my head. Voices that keep telling me the painful truth about her. How she's always strived to out do me, how she's always walked all over other ponies to keep her place at the top. How horrible of a pony she actually is. I can't wait to see the look on her face when-"

Rainbow stopped the tape and tossed the recorder back to the table. The room was silent as they both sat there, taking in what they had just heard.

It was Scootaloo who broke the silence.

"What do we do?" She asked in a somewhat shaky voice.

Rainbow looked up at her assistant.

"...I'm not sure..." She said solemnly, brushing a strand of her mane from her eyes. "Lightning Dust isn't right in the head, that's for sure, now. And I get the feeling that this... 'Project Dynamo' or whatever it is, isn't anything good. First thing in the morning, we go up to Lightning Dust and confront her about this whole thing."

"Why not now?"

"Because right now, I've got a new Crystal cooling in the Boom Room, and I need to be here when it's- Oh! Darn! I totally forgot! I had a meeting with that little Dragon from DEFENSE, or whatever it was called! Scoots, there's one more thing I need you to do. Head down to DashCo and meet up with him. Tell him we need to reschedule or something.

Rainbow stood up.

"I've gotta check on the Crystal."

With that, the two went their separate ways, unsure of what was to come in the next twenty four hours.

"Alright." Said Rainbow Dash, putting on a pair of black goggles. "Lets do this."

She turned to face the block of clay that rested on a worktable in front of her. Lifting a mallet in her hoof, she brought it down on the block, shattering the clay and revealing a bright, glowing Crystal. Rainbow set the mallet back down and picked up the Crystal in her hoof, squinting at its brilliance even through her tinted goggles.

"That was easy" she said to herself, a satisfied grin growing across her face.

There came a small buzzing noise behind her. Before she could turn to find the source of the strange sound, Rainbow suddenly felt her entire body go numb and watched the world around her disappear in a flash. She dropped the Crystal and fell to the ground in a heap.

When her vision returned, she found herself looking at Lightning Dust standing above her, holding a small, pen-like device in her mouth.

"D-Dusty?" Was all she could manage to choke out.

Lightning Dust trotted up to the new Crystal that lay on the ground.

"Don't worry, you'll live." Said Lightning, a deranged grin on her face as she dropped the device from her mouth and into her hoof. "Its a shame that the Equestrian Royal Guard never approved this one. There's so many ways causing short term paralysis can come in handy."

Rainbow groaned as she did her best to try to move her body, but to no avail. She could only follow with her eyes as Lightning Dust picked up the Crystal in her mouth and gently placed it in the brown saddlebag she wore on her back.

"What are you doing?" she asked, still struggling to piece together a coherent sentence.

"I guess you can call it revenge, Rainbow Dash." Replied Lightning Dust as she closed the saddlebag tight.

"Revenge?" Rainbow coughed out. "What the hay are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know what I'm talking about. After all, you did have Scootaloo steal my tape recorder." Lightning Dust grinned wider as she brought her face down to Rainbow's. "Did you really think that I bought that lame brain story she gave me back in my office? Did you really think I'm that dumb?"

Lightning Dust let out a quiet, unnerving giggle.

"Its really too bad that you brought Scootaloo into this. She's a good kid. She doesn't deserve what's coming to her tonight. But you did, and I can't have any loose ends hanging around. After all, Project Dynamo launches tonight."

"Lightning Dust, no! You're sick!" Gasped Rainbow, still struggling to move. "Let me help you!"

"Please, Rainbow... I think you've helped enough." The older mare patted her saddlebag with her hoof.

With that, Lightning Dust turned and began to walk towards the exit. Suddenly, she paused and walked back to Rainbow Dash, stopping mere inches from the fallen mare.

"Oh... and just in case you get any ideas..."

Lightning Dust reached down with a hoof and in one swift motion yanked the Crystal out of Rainbow's chest.

Rainbow gasped as she felt her body go cold.

Lightning Dust tossed the Crystal over her shoulder, where it landed with a clunk on the floor behind her and rolled for a bit before settling in a spot far out of Rainbow's reach. Lightning Dust smirked and briskly walked out of the room, leaving Rainbow to her fate.

Rainbow Dash's body grew colder with each second. She couldn't move. Everything was cold. Freezing. She knew that if she closed her eyes for more than a second, she would lose consciousness and if she lost consciousness, then it was game over. She had to stay awake no matter what. There was no Zecora to put the Crystal back into her chest, this time.

Across the room, the Crystal that kept her heart beating lay on the floor. Rainbow struggled to turn her body so that she lay flat on her stomach. If she could make her way over to the Crystal, she could try to put it back in her chest and hopefully get her heart going again. If she could just stay awake.

The world was growing blurry.

"No..." she whispered.

As the world slowly faded to black, she struggled frantically to move, the paralyzing effects of the device preventing her from getting very far. With all her might, Rainbow Dash managed to stretch her hoof out in front of her, desperately reaching for the Crystal that was too far away for there to be any hope of getting to it.

The world grew darker with each second as Rainbow Dash finally passed out.

"Rainbow!" She heard someone in the far distance yell.

Everything was dark. Quiet. There was nothing but blackness all around her. She couldn't feel anything throughout her body.

I'm dead... She concluded. ...the other side isn't as awesome as you'd expect...

"Rainbow!" Came the voice again, this time a bit closer.

Guess I'll have to start getting used to this...

"Rainbow, come on!"

Who is that?

"Rainbow, please!"

I'm dead, right? Who else could possibly be here?

"Rainbow, I swear to Celestia, wake up!"

She felt a sharp, painful sensation on the side of her face. It wasn't very long before she felt it again, on the other side of her face. It was almost like someone was slapping her.

"Rainbow, please!"

She felt it again as she began to consider the possibility that she was still among the living.

Only one way to find out... She thought.

With that, Rainbow began to picture herself opening her eyes. A moment later, a bright streak of light started at the bottom of her field of vision and slowly began to extend upward. As she opened her eyes more and her vision cleared, she was faced with the sight of Spitfire's concerned face staring back at her.

"Oh thank Celestia! You're alive!" She said in an excited tone, wrapping Rainbow Dash in her hooves and pulling her close.

It took a bit before Rainbow could manage to put together a reply.

"I guess the afterlife isn't ready for me yet." She coughed.

Looking down, Rainbow found that the glowing Crystal was once again embedded in her chest.

"What happened?" She asked, looking back up at Spitfire.

"Scootaloo called me and told me to come check up on you, since you weren't answering your phone. I got here as quick as I could, and you were on the floor with the Crystal over there." Spitfire motioned her head in the direction where Lightning had tossed the Crystal. "I put it back in your chest and hoped to Celestia that you weren't gone for good."

"Where's Lightning Dust?"

Rainbow slowly began bringing herself to her hooves.

"Rainbow, I'm more worried about you. You almost died. We need to get to a hospital to see if there's-"

"No, you don't get it." Interrupted Rainbow "She's the one who did this."

"Lightning Dust? What?"

"Something's wrong with her. She's sick or something." Rainbow shook her head from side to side a bit, trying to wake herself up. "We don't have much time."

"Look, I know Rainbow Dash is a very busy pony, but we had an appointment. I expected her to keep it." Said the small purple dragon.

"I know. I know she said she'd be here, but she isn't. I'm sorry." Scootaloo paused for a moment, a thought creeping into her head.

She turned her head and reached into her saddlebag, pulling out the tape recorder. She dropped the device into the little dragon's claws.

"What's this supposed to be?" He asked, looking up at her.

"Just give it a listen."

Lightning Dust smiled as she looked at the suit. It was enormous, nearly ten feet tall from hooves to the top of its head, much larger than Rainbow's, with two heavy caliber saddleguns on both of its shoulders. Lightning Dust's eyes settled on an empty socket in the middle of the suit's chest, the size of the Crystal in her bag.

She had assigned several DashCo scientists to create a Crystal with an equal energy output to Rainbow's. Several attempts had been made, but none were able to power the suit for long before they overloaded and exploded. This had led to Lightning's conclusion that the only Crystals in existence that would be able to power the suit were ones Rainbow had created herself.

Lightning reached into the saddlebag with her hoof, pulling out the white Crystal. She lifted it up to the socket in the armor's chest and aligned it just right before pushing the gem in.

The sides of Lightning's mouth curled into a maniacal grin as the machine powered up with a loud mechanical hum.

Rainbow Dash had a stern look on her face as the armor assembled around her. Spitfire watched as the various machines bolted the pieces of omnium together.

"Rainbow Dash, she tried to murder you, for pony's sake!" She said, in a tone that, had Rainbow not known better, would have been interpreted as fear.

"I know, but you gotta let me try to reason with her."

"And I guess you're just putting on the suit because you want to look like a bad flank doing it"

"If this whole Project Dynamo thing is anything like what I'm hoping it's not, then I need to be prepared for anything."

"Rainbow Dash, you could get killed!"

"Spitfire, one of my best friends in the world needs help. If I need to beat the daylights out of her to get through, then I'll do it."

Spitfire sighed and rolled her eyes, accepting the fact that there was no stopping Rainbow.

"Fine, but is there anything you need me to do?"

The final piece of armor was placed on Rainbow's back, covering her wings and pressing them flat against her body.

"Keep the skies clear."

The golden mask lowered itself over Rainbow's face, the eyes lighting up. With that, Rainbow Dash looked up and and took off into the night sky.

All was silent as they opened the door to the DashCo factory. Scootaloo shivered at the sudden temperature drop when they stepped inside. It wasn't unusual for the factory to be a little cool, but this was downright freezing. Why was it so abnormally cold?

"Stay behind me" said the little dragon, who Scootaloo learned was named Spike.

Scootaloo noticed that Spike was visibly shaking as the cold air engulfed his body. Dragons were cold blooded creatures, meaning that if Scootaloo found the air cold, then Spike must be literally freezing.

Poor thing she thought. Actually... he'd look adorable in a little sweater. Maybe I'll get him one for the winter and-

Her fluffy thought was cut off by the sound of a crash up ahead, in the darkness. She turned to Spike, who had drawn a strange pistol that he held in his claw.

"What's that for?" She whispered, not particularly fond of guns.

Spike, never taking his eyes away from the space front of them, whispered back.

"I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it."

They proceeded into the factory, the door closing behind them. As soon as the door clicked shut, the pair felt the floor shake underneath them. The two stopped in their tracks.

As the shaking continued, the floor in front of them cracked and rose before finally collapsing, leaving a gaping hole in the ground. They both took a step back as an enormous machine rose from the earth.

Nearly twice the size of a large stallion, the dark grey suit of armor sported glowing white eyes and two large saddleguns on both its shoulders. It took Scootaloo a moment before she was finally able to put together that this must be the fabled "Project Dynamo".

"L-Lightning Dust?" She barely managed to sputter out.

The machine looked down at them with its bright eyes before a deep voice that barely resembled Lightning Dust's came from the headpiece.

"I'd like to thank you for all your help over the years, Miss Scootaloo... but your services are no longer required..."

With that, both saddleguns pointed themselves at Spike and Scootaloo. She let out a small yelp.

"Lightning Dust, wait!" she yelled at the suit. "You don't need to do this!"

"Of course I do" came the deep, mechanical reply "Now that Rainbow is dead, you two are the only ones who know about this."

With Lightning Dust talking, Scootaloo hadn't noticed Spike aim his gun, causing her to jump in surprise when he fired. Unsurprisingly, the small bullet had no effect on the heavy machine.

Lightning Dust jerked her head to look at Spike and turned to face him. With a swift swing of her hoof, she sent the dragon flying until he crashed into the wall behind them. Lightning turned back to Scootaloo and aimed both saddleguns down at her.

Scootaloo quickly turned and ran as fast as she could out of the Crystal Chamber. She felt the ground shake and assumed that Lightning Dust was close behind. She didn't turn to look, she just ran for all she was worth.

She ran and she ran, faster and faster. She didn't care if she pulled something or hurt herself, she just wanted to make it out of the factory alive. She made through the doorway and heard a crash behind her. The ground stopped shaking. Scootaloo turned to see that Lightning Dust's suit of armor was unable to make it through the steelframed exit due to its immense size. She didn't stop, she just kept running until she was outside of the building.

Finally, when she was a safe distance from the factory, she slowed to a stop. Her lungs were on fire, as were her legs, but she was safe. Lightning Dust was trapped inside the building, and she- The small cellular phone in her saddlebag rang. Scootaloo shakily reached into her bag and pulled the phone out, holding it up to her ear, turning her back to the building.

"H-hello?" she gasped.

"Scoots! Thank Celestia, you're okay!" she heard Rainbow Dash say.

"Depends on your definition of okay, but sure, I'm alive. Lightning Dust's gone crazy. She's- she's built a suit of armor and she's... she's.."

The ground began shaking once again as she whirled around to see that Lightning Dust had escaped from the factory and was now headed directly for her.

"Keep her busy, I'll be right there!" said Rainbow before Scootaloo dropped the phone to the ground and began running once more.

Keep her busy? she thought as she sprinted What does that even mean?

Scootaloo shook her body side to side, never once stopping. Eventually, she shook herself free from the saddlebag on her back.

Okay, let's do this...

Scootaloo spread her small wings and fluttered them with all her might. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't enough. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't lift herself more than an inch off the ground.

Up ahead was a wall. Originally built around the perimeter of DashCo to keep trespassers from entering the facility after hours, it now blocked Scootaloo's escape route. She slowed to a halt as she reached the wall, turning around and pressing her back against it. Lightning Dust continued her charge. Scootaloo closed her eyes, hoping that however Lightning Dust chose to end her life would be quick and painless.

Just when Scootaloo expected it all to end, there was a whooshing sound followed by a crash. Opening her eyes, Scootaloo found that Rainbow Dash had flown in from seemingly nowhere and smashed herself into Lightning Dust, sending the larger mare flying back. Rainbow landed with a thud on the grass and turned to look at Scootaloo, the mask lifting itself from her face.

"You okay, Scoots?" she asked, a genuinely worried expression on her face.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine..."

"Good." Rainbow said, the mask pulling itself over her face once more. "Get someplace safe. I'll deal with Lightning Dust."

Scootaloo merely nodded before scrambling to her hooves and sprinting away.

Rainbow Dash turned to face Lightning Dust, who had managed to climb to her hooves again. The two metal titans prepared themselves for what surely would be a battle of the ages.