Chapter 20

I toss the last duffel into the trunk of the 442, then slam the lid shut. I take one last stroll through the house, ensuring that everything is secured. We have no idea how long we'll be gone, so we packed anything we thought we'd need, and now I'm closing the house up.

Once again, I'm traipsing into the unknown. What have you gotten us into this time, Flash? I sigh. I've locked everything up, I even went so far as to hide most of my tools. I only wish I could take more of them with me, but we can fit just so much in the car.

I guess I should be thankful that we don't need to take much in the way of clothes. Well, except for me... I sigh again. My newly acquired fashion sense balks whenever I think about what little I packed for myself. Most of it is military fatigues, with holes cut in the seats of the pants for my tail. They're baggy on my humanoid frame, but have the added benefit of fitting me when I'm down on all fours, too.

I open the door to climb in the car... suddenly I'm overwhelmed with a nagging need to go back to my shop. I try to ignore it, but the urge just intensifies. I grit my teeth, slam the door hard, and march to the locked door. Grumbling to myself about how silly I'm being, I unlock the door, step inside, and look around. Okay, so... now what? I ask myself. Nothing comes to me. I throw my hands up in frustration. I turn to storm out, when my eyes fall on my project shelf. My eyes widen in recognition. Of course...

A strange feeling comes over me... slowly, almost in sacred awe, I pick up the jointed pieces of metal that I've been working so hard on recently. What Shadow told me were called 'Wing-Blades'. I hold them reverently...

I shake my head suddenly, clearing away the mental cobwebs that seem to have formed. What the hell was that? I look down at the object in my hands. Why am I holding these? I shrug, but take them with me when I leave. I re-lock the door to the shop, make my way back to the car, open the trunk, and put the wing-blades inside. Slamming the trunk again, I slip into the front seat, and start the engine.

"What was that all about?" Moon Shadow asks me.

"I'm not really sure," I answer, backing the car down the drive. Soon, we're on the Interstate, headed to the far side of Montana. Into the unknown.

* * *

"I guess we'd better stop for gas," I comment, looking down at the little red needle, which is now pointing firmly toward 'E', on the fuel gauge.

"Oh, thank heavens, Trixie is quite famished! Can we get some of those mini-donuts and a Squishee?" the light blue unicorn asks of me.

"Sure. Anything for you, Shadow?" I ask my marefriend, as I pull the muscle car up to the pumps.

"Nothing for me, thank you," she replies.

I shut down the throbbing power-plant, open my door, and step out to the life-giving, petroleum dispensing, receptacle and begin fueling. As I unlimber the nozzle from the car, I hear a gasp from behind me. I turn toward the voice, and see a woman backing away, slowly. Her mouth keeps opening and closing, much like a fish gasping for breath.

Her finger raises to point at me, and she finally regains the use of her voice, "M-M-Monster!" She spins on her heel, running as she screams. Her cries draw the attention of several other nearby people.

"What the fuck is that?!" I hear from more than once throat.

I drop the fueling spigot, and dive into the car. I turn the key in the ignition, and say a silent prayer of thanks to Celestia when the engine turns over on the first crank of the starter. The tires lay down a long strip of rubber as I peel out onto the adjoining street, racing toward the Interstate once again.

"What the hell happened?!" I ask the car at large.

"Trixie is so sorry! She lost her concentration on her spell when she started thinking about food. I am sooo sorry, Irony!" the unicorn wails, in abject apology.

"It's okay, Trixie, it's okay. We're safe, no one is following us, so it's fine," I try to calm her down.

"There were a couple of people taking pictures with their phones, but I took care of that," Moon Shadow supplied. "I destroyed their phones, as well as the video system at the gas station."

"Good thinking, babe, though it might have been a bit extreme," I say, glancing at her.

"It seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

"Dear Celestia, I hope we don't have any more scares like that," I state, wiping nervous sweat from my brow. I hear my hope fervently echoed from both of my passengers.

* * *

Following Flash's instructions, we pull into the drive of a large farmhouse just as the sun is setting. I shut down the engine, and lean my head against the steering wheel for a moment, before opening my door. I stumble out of the car, falling to my knees with my head in my hands. I shift forms, so that I'm sitting on my haunches, my head now cradled in my front hooves. My hooves drop to the ground, and I let out a sigh of relief.

"That is much better," I say to nopony in particular, glad to be rid of the headache that is the side-effect of maintaining my bipedal form overly long.

"Are you okay, Irony?" I hear Trixie ask me, as Moon Shadow leans against me, comfortingly.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I just pushed a little longer than I should have," I reply, shaking my head and standing up.

"Love, you've always been too stubborn for your own good," Shadow nudges my side in reproach.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on, let's go meet everypony," I say, leaning in to kiss her gently before traipsing up to the porch.

Before I can even get all four hooves onto the porch, the door opens and a light comes on, illuminating our little party. A compact pegasus, with turquoise fur and two-tone blonde mane, hovers in the doorway. She floats there, checking us out, while I can't take my eyes off her.

The pegasus speaks, but I miss it entirely, I'm staring so hard. Finally, Moon Shadow nudges me. I look at her, blushing like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Thank Celestia for my dark fur, I sure hope she didn't notice. Shadow nods her head toward the door, indicating we should follow the pegasus. She has a mischievous smirk on her muzzle. Guess she noticed... I can feel my face getting even warmer.

We follow her into the kitchen. She introduces herself to us as Lightning Dust, then hovers around, checking us out some more. I catch myself staring again, and look away.

I hear her hooves hit the floor, notice her wings are fully spread, and hear her say under her breath, "Damn, talk about a sexy gal!"

Snorting, I respond, "That's pegasi for you, heads always either in the clouds, or rolling down the gutter."

"Mostly in the clouds, big girl," she replies, making a visible effort to control her wings, and failing. Moon Shadow laughs at us, and I turn crimson again. She mutters something else, but it's too low for me to make out this time.

Using a wing, Lightning Dust points for us to sit down at the kitchen table. We all take a seat, and are shortly joined by Flash and three other ponies. The others are introduced as Mindy, a unicorn; Cherry Punch, an earth pony; and Soarin, a pegasus I recognize from the show.

Lightning Dust calls us all to order, then drops a bombshell on us, "The United States Government has imprisoned ponies. This is unacceptable! We're going to go get them, but we'll have to leave soon, so that we can get to Billings well before sunrise. I want to hit them before dawn, when security will be at its lowest."

I look around the table. The only surprised faces are mine, Trixie's, and Moon Shadow's. I glare daggers at Flash, he obviously knew about this, and failed to mention it. He's doing his best to avoid my gaze, evidently finding something very interesting about the tabletop in front of him.

Lightning Dust continues, "This will have to be a quick smash-and-grab. I've done some practicing with my power, and I can consistently make a lightning bolt at will, though I've not been able to make time-displacement bolts yet."

Lightning bolts? Time-displacement bolts? She's a pegasus! What in the world is she going on about?! And she wants to do a frontal assault of an FBI office? Is she completely insane?

Lightning Dust has continued on, I've missed most of it, but it doesn't matter. "No," I state, firmly.

She looks at me, "What?"

"I said 'No', Lightning Dust," I answer.

"Dust will do, since we have two Lightnings here," she says.

"Fine, Dust then," I grit out. Is she purposefully missing the point here? "I said 'No'."

"No... to what, exactly?"

"Your entire plan. It's incredibly, colossally, stupid!"

Dust sighs loudly. Then she says, "If it's so stupid, then maybe you can come up with something better, Miss Guard Leader to Princess Sparkle!"

I stare her down until I see her wings wilt a bit, then say, "Dust, we're talking about the FBI here. Do you know what is the FBI's version of SWAT? It's called HRT, as in 'Hostage Rescue and Tactics'. Many police departments send their SWAT agents to them to get trained. They will kick your team's ass. This isn't some kind of video game, and I, for one, don't feel like being a bullet-sponge. I'm an earth pony, and with the armor I have, I know I could absorb a lot without dying, but attempting things your way would be tantamount to suicide!" I slam my hoof down on the table, leaving a deep impression in the hard surface.

"Well, fine, if direct action won't work, then what? We can't use stealth! In case you hadn't noticed, we're all ponies! The humans will just lock us up if they see us," Dust replies in a bit of a huff.

"We'll have to be smart, Dust. You made it all the way to the Canterlot performance team of the Wonderbolts. You don't get that far just by being good on your wings. Use that brain of yours, come up with something!" I reply, a tad testily.

"You're the guard leader here, you come up with something!" she almost shouts back at me.

I shake my head, "You don't want my plan. I'd call the whole thing off! Breaking into a fortified installation without any kind of advanced weaponry, no diversion, and no way to hide ourselves, will make it a fool's errand."

Now it's her turn to slam a hoof down onto the table, marring it in a similar manner, impressing me with her strength, "That is unacceptable! They are our ponies! They belong with us, not locked up!"

I give her a hard look, "Then what is your plan?"

She stops, and through her eyes I can see her mind working furiously on the problem. She looks around the table at us, and I swear she has an 'Aha!' moment. I half expect her to shout 'Eureka!' Her muzzle forms itself into a most disturbing grin. She turns to Mindy and says, "I've got it! Mindy, how would you like to get captured by the FBI?

Mindy looks at her, confused, "That doesn't sound like very much fun."

Dust's grin widens, "Oh, trust me, this will be very fun indeed."

Mindy shrugs, and giggles, "Then count me in!"

Dust proceeds to explain her plan to us, and I have to admit that it's pretty ingenious. She ends the conversation with, "Okay, Irony, Mindy, and I are going to head out."

Flash jumps in with, "Hey, Trixie and I should go, too!"

Before we can respond, Trixie speaks up, "Oh no, not I. Trixie has been maintaining that spell all day, and is exhausted. She needs her rest, but Flash should go with you. It's always good to have an extra pair of wings available." Flash looks crestfallen. I'm sure he was hoping to have some time with her.

"Spell?" Lightning Dust asks.

"Oh, just a little misdirection spell. The Great and Powerful Trixie simply made the interior of the car so uninteresting, that no one's gaze would be able to focus on us. We are ponies after all, and a pony driving a car would definitely have caused a sensation, and most likely several accidents. I used the spell to mask all of us," Trixie replies, smiling.

Dust whistles in appreciation, "That is a great idea!"

There's some small talk after that, but not a lot. Lightning Dust hops off her bench, seeming to finally be able to close her wings, which have been flared open the entire time we've been discussing the mission. She brushes up against me on her way by, causing an electric jolt to shiver its way down my spine. Then she flicks her tail up into my face, giving me an incredible view of her glistening nethers. I can't take my eyes off them as she continues into the living room, a big grin plastered on her muzzle.

"Love, you need to roll your tongue back up, and put your eyeballs back in their sockets," Shadow whispers into my ear, with a titter of laughter.

I can feel my face burst into flame anew. Oh, damn, I'm such a dirty slut! I'm more lecherous as a pony than I ever was as a man! I hang my head in shame. "Sorry," I whisper. She just smiles at me, then follows the turquoise pegasus into the living room. I sit there for a moment, trying to get a little control of myself. I feel a slippery sensation between my legs, and realize that I've been oozing since I first laid eyes on Dust. Sweet Celestia, what will Shadow think of me?!

I finally decide that I can't put it off any longer, and head into the other room as well. I enter the room just in time to hear Dust finish a phone conversation. She turns to me, and says, "My truck is outside, we can take it. Mindy knows how to drive stick with her magic."

I smile smugly, "Nah, let's take my car."

She wiggles her eyebrows at me, "So soon? We only just met, and you can't wait to get me in the back seat?"

She laughs as I turn red, again! "No, no, it's not like that!" I insist. "It's just that I have an awesome car, and it'll outrun any of those diesel monstrosities you have out there."

"Yeah, and my wings will smoke whatever car you have, but we need to be able to take everypony."

"There'll be plenty of room for all of us, Dust. It's a 1970 Olds 442."

She looks thoughtful for a moment, then shrugs her wings and leads the way outside. She turns to the magenta unicorn, "Can you handle that, Mindy?"

Before she can answer, I say, "No need." Then I concentrate. I feel my shape change, my perspective shifts higher, and a dull ache settles in behind my eyes. Not long enough out of this form, but I'll manage, I tell myself. I turn to Dust, and it's my turn to grin at her, because her wings have shot out to the sides again. Aha, wing-boner... guess that much of the fanfiction is true!

I hear Mindy say something to Dust about anthro-ponies, as I open the driver-side door. I push the seat forward to let Mindy and Flash into the backseat. Dust opts to skip the door altogether, simply jumping through the open window of the passenger-side. I slip in behind the wheel, crank the starter, and say, "Let's make some miles."

* * *

Other than Mindy taking over my stereo at one point, it's been an uneventful trip, which I'm thankful for. The pain behind my eyes has ratcheted up a notch, but is still bearable. The speedometer hasn't dropped below 120 since I first hit that speed, and the Olds seems to be loving it. It's almost like she is alive, and being opened up like this is feeding her soul.

I love this beautiful machine. I have an intimate connection with her. I've personally installed every bolt, every instrument, and every piece of wire in her. I spent the last five years of my life putting every spare moment, and dollar, into reviving this sexy monster.

I remember when I first saw you, I think to my car, you were a sad, broken frame, with a few scraps of sheet metal hanging off of you. But, I could see your beauty. Immediately, I could envision you complete. They warned me how much it would take to restore you to your former glory.

When I started rebuilding, there were a couple of collectors who'd tried to buy her from me. I'd steadfastly refused to sell. And then I really pissed them off... Instead of doing a restoration, and making her original, I'd done my best to upgrade her with more modern parts, while keeping true to what I saw as her story.

My musings are interrupted by Lightning Dust rolling down her window. She says, "I'm going to fly," and jumps out the window, spreading her wings to catch the air.

"What the fuck is she thinking?!" I scream, cranking my head over to watch her keep pace with us for a moment. "We're going over 120 miles per hour!" I shout, hearing pride and excitement in my own voice at her ability. She picks up her pace, and leads us along the highway for the next hour, or so.

"Shit!" I say with feeling. I've just noticed the flashing red-and-blue lights of a cruiser behind us. I hear a tap on my window, and look over to see Dust keeping pace with us.

I lower the window, and she says, "Keep going, I'll handle this!"

I nod, and keep an eye on her in the rear-view as she falls behind us. I watch as she lands on the cruiser's hood. The cop slams on the brakes, fish-tailing to a stop. I begin slowing down, then remembering what Dust said, I hit the gas again. Before long, I lose sight of Dust and the cruiser, as they fade into the distance.

A few moments later, Dust is pacing us again on the passenger side. I open the window, and she gracefully slips in through the window, plopping into the seat with an excited grin on her muzzle. "And, the problem is no more!" she exclaims with a flourish, turning her grin at me. She takes a couple of moments to describe how she disabled the officer, and put in a call for assistance so that she wouldn't lay there unconscious all night.

"What were you thinking? You know they're going to go ape-shit now, don't you?" I berate her.

She shrugs her wings, "Better than having them go to extreme measures to end a high-speed chase! I had to stop them quickly, or more cars would have joined in the chase! As it is, they're going to go to the downed officer. She may have trouble walking for a while, but she'll be fine. In the mean-time, she won't be making our lives any harder."

I sigh loudly, rubbing my eyes as I let off the accelerator. We coast down to the speed-limit of 75. "We're getting close, we need to be at least a little stealthy," I explain.

Dust replies, "I want to save these ponies. That is my only concern."

* * *

I shake my head gently, as I watch the last of the 19 ponies we've rescued get into the van that Dust has arranged. She has one of her employees driving it. She quietly assures me that he's a trustworthy human. I simply nod at her words. I'm distracted by the things I've heard the ponies saying as they load into the waiting vehicle. It seems they've been brainwashed into believing that their transformation is due to some kind of virus. They are all convinced that they're going to be cured eventually. How can they be so blind? I just hope we can help them to see the truth. I snort a little laugh, Unless, of course, we're the ones who are fooling ourselves.

The rescue went off way easier than we'd planned. Dust, Flash, and I hadn't even had to do anything. The plan called for us to create a distraction, so that Mindy could teleport the ponies out of the holding cells without being seen, after allowing herself to be 'caught'.

We never even had a chance to do anything. An air-raid siren had gone off, completely distracting all of the humans. At first, we'd thought we were caught before we'd begun, but instead, we watched as the federal building emptied out, black SUVs barreling down the road in the opposite direction out of town.

After that, the escape had been a piece of cake. Mindy teleported all of the ponies in one fell swoop, something I consider pretty damn amazing!

Mindy and Flash follow the rescued ponies into the van. Dust tells me that they're going to accompany the rescuees back to the farm, giving them our cover story on the way. Dust and I climb into my car, and start toward her home.

* * *

"You're pretty quiet," Dust says, breaking the silence. We've been on the road for about 45 minutes, with more than three hours still ahead of us.

I glance over at her, "Sorry, guess I've been lost in thought."

She waits a few minutes for me to elaborate, then finally asks, "So... what are you thinking about?"

You mean, other than how I really want to stop this car and do deliciously naughty things to you? I squeeze my thighs together, and shake my head, to help dislodge that thought. Slowly I answer, "I guess I'm just trying to understand how all of those ponies could so easily ignore their dreams. I immediately felt like they were a window into what was happening. Though, maybe it's different for them. I've been dreaming about Discord my whole life."

"Wait, what?!" she turns toward me, her face full of shock.

"What?" I ask, glancing at her.

"Run that by me again. The part where you've been dreaming about Discord your whole life..."

"You know, I'm sure you've had the dream, right? The one where Discord banishes you?" I have to fight the urge to look into her eyes, keeping them on the road.

"Yeah, I've had that dream, but only since my birthday. Before that I didn't know anything at all about ponies, or little girl cartoons. I was a 35 year old man, for Christ's sake!" she replies.

"Whoa... I... I've been having this dream ever since I can remember. Every year on my birthday, and more than once when I was faced with a tough decision in my life. I dreamt about it every night for two weeks when I was trying to decide if I wanted to join the Marines," I continue, describing my dream to her in great detail. She sits silently, her jaw dropped open, and listens until I finish my tale.

"Holy cow! I can't imagine having a dream like that as a little kid. What did your parents think about it?"

"I never told anyone. Not even Flash. Not until the changes started happening. You're the first pony beyond Flash, Trixie, and Moon Shadow that I've told about it."

"I... feel honored that you would share that with me, then," Dust says quietly after a minute.

"It feels good to share it with somepony who understands. Speaking of which, how much do you remember?"

"Not a lot. Not yet, anyway. I keep getting small bits and pieces, sometimes even a whole memory, but not nearly enough. You?"

"I don't remember much at all of Equestria, beyond my arrival there," I mutter, lost in the one memory that is complete.

"You remember being born? Are you serious?! That is so cool!" Dust exclaims, bouncing in her seat excitedly.

"Huh? What? Oh, no, I don't remember being born. I doubt anypony could remember that," I reply, confused.

"But, you just said you remember arriving in Equestria!" she almost shouts.

"I..." I trail off, trying to show only a poker face.

"Hold on! No way!" now Dust is turned in her seat, completely facing me. I don't know how, but she looks confused and excited at the same time. "What are you saying?"

"Nothing," I state, staring intently out the windshield at the road.

"No, not nothing. You can't let something this big slip and expect me to just leave it alone! Please?" she gives me the most adorable puppy dog eyes, and I find my resolve crumbling.

"I..." I sigh, "fine, I give up. Flash trusts you, so I guess I can too." I pause for a moment to gather myself, "I... I'm not Equestrian. At least, not originally." I glance over at her. Her jaw is resting on her chest, her mouth wide open in shock.

I continue, "I was human, here on earth, and was accidentally summoned to Equestria by Twilight, not all that long after she became a Princess."

"Holy Fuck!" Dust yells. "Are you shitting me?"

I glance at her, and can't help but grin at the look on her muzzle.

She bursts into giggles, "Damn, you really had me going there for a moment!"

"Oh, that's all true. I have two full sets of memories of growing up on earth to prove it," I say, all mirth gone from my voice.

"Wow..." she trails off, staring at me in disbelief. She finally regains her composure, "That is so unbelievable, but I can't figure out why you'd lie about it, either. So, I'm assuming that you're telling the truth. This is so freaking crazy!"

"Tell me about it," I sigh again.

"So, tell me more. Like, how old were you when you went to Equestria? What was it like growing up in, what, the seventies? Or would it be the sixties? I bet that was interesting!"

I raise a hand to cut off the flow of her words, "I was 24, or 25, when Twilight's spell brought me to Equestria. I don't really know for sure, that's just a rough estimate. Age was a little less important in those days, I guess..."

"What do you mean? How can you not know exactly how old you were? Did you live under a rock, or something?" she grills me.

"Yeah, or something," a tear rolls down my cheek, though I'm fighting it.

"I'm sorry, Irony. I didn't mean to bring up something hard. You don't have to tell me anything; you don't owe me your story. I'm sorry I pried... I always stick my hoof in it..." she trails off, shrinking in on herself.

I reach out a hand, brushing it along her muzzle, then down her neck to her shoulder. Why did I just do that? That seems rather intimate... I push the thought aside, then speak slowly, quietly, "It's ok Dust, you didn't know, and maybe it'll help you understand what kind of pony I am."

I pause, give her a watery smile, and continue, "I was born in Savannah, Georgia, in the year 1827..." I tell my entire sad tale with her, leaving nothing out. It surprises me how good it feels to share it with the turquoise mare. I find the few questions she asks to be refreshing, rather than annoying. For some reason, I feel like I can trust her, like she's the right pony to expose my past to.

We talk the rest of the way back to her home, quietly. She shares her past with me, too. Even telling me about things she wasn't proud of about herself. By the time we arrive, I feel that I know this pegasus very well indeed. For some reason this fills my heart with warmth. The same kind of warmth that fills me when I think of Moon Shadow...