The Undying Warrior

by Eternal Aviator

Rating: mature
Tags: Tragedy, Adventure, Crossover, Dark, Alternate Universe
Length: 6600

What happens when Chief of the Corporation, one of the best A.C. pilots to walk the earth, is sent to Equestria? Could he be the greatest discovery in Equestian history? Or will he be there grestest fear?

The Corporation is a company notorious for there hostile actions against any unknown military force, especially the Resistance. The Resistance is a rebellious organization that strives to conquer the Corporation and the City Police. The City Police are the guardians of the few pockets of inhabitable cities that remain on earth. As much as they hate it, they also work with the Corporation. Everywhere else outside the cities is known simply as the Contaminated Area, the result of countless decades of merciless warfare that completely annihilated most of the Earth's surface.

Chief is one of the best AC pilots to ever exist. As much as he knows how to win every battle he's been in, he isn't exactly the kind of solider to take things… seriously. After being killed two times prior, can a lifetime soldier like Chief thrive in a world where warfare is all but a fantasy, while he has the most powerful AC-like weapon on his world with him? But wait, is Chief really here to learn the magic of friendship? No. Making new friends couldn't be further from the truth. He's here because he's what he is.

A weapon.
~~~~~~~~~~
Just a quick note for those of you who haven't played Armored Core V-this story's crossover-,the cover art is Chief's AC emblem. To see what Chief looks like in this story, visit this link, you'll see the weapons he has mentioned in the story as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yM8jfkOBrM
No, I did not make the video.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-10-04 05:16:13 UTC

Prologue I: Fate

Prologue

Earth

Earth is in shambles, a desperate Resistance relentlessly, and almost unsuccessfully battled to Central Command; the last standing symbol of Father's power. With the surveillance system for Father gone, an assault team lead by commander Leon, invaded Father's tower to capture or kill him. After a well executed capture, a massive squad of combat helicopters each carrying Ootheca warheads sent Father's authority crumbing to the ground, along with his tour--under Father's orders. However, those killed in the tragic scene also included Leon, and the entire resistance assault force. The Resistance, hoping they could end the war once and for all, had taken a turn for the worst.

RD, Rosary, Leon, and Fran are gone, the Executive and Coastal Sector have both been evacuated leaving only the Corporation forces in the once powerful cities, destroying them completely. Chief has--yet again--returned after his second defeat to kill that single AC pilot. Rejoined with Carol, Chief has one more weapon that he is confident will do the trick--Exusia.

"The experiment was a failure." Said Carol in an emotionless voice. "You're no different from the countless corpses that lay buried in this wasteland. You continue to fight, knowing you're sealing your own fate." She continued flatly. "Such insignificant, foolish beings." She finished in an almost disgusted tone.

The orange and white tetrapod flew in high boost towards the place Chief was said to be located. The only thing that made him a little uneasy was the fact that Carol, Chief's accomplice, had told him. It was what used to be a large city that now lays in the Contaminated Area, ravaged by nuclear warfare. Large cone-like almost glowing clouds of chemicals and clouds pulled into into a circular pattern were still present from the nuclear fallout.

  "Oh I wouldn't say that." Mused Chief. "Perhaps fighting was what humans were meant to do." He said in a dark voice.

  "Interesting." Replied Carol. "But that's nothing more than a theory."

Chief's AC, the mighty Exusia (Muiltiplayer version) unfolded its huge metal wings and the arms slid from there sockets.

  "Very well, let's test it." Said Chief enthusiastically. "You should be able to handle this." He said to the tetrapod that stood before him.

In Exusia's chest, the large blue radiating orb of energy formed and was afterwards covered up by massive armor plates, followed by a very loud humming noise that pulsed whenever Exusia moved. His enemy immediately went into scan mode to analyze his weaknesses and A.P. levels. What he saw was less then settling; the A.P. was over 200,000, and was at least 1,500 in K.E. (Kinetic energy) and C.E. (Chemical energy). T.E. (Thermal energy) was over 3,000, but luckily (for the tetrapod) there were no T.E. weapons in sight, aside from Exusia's arsenal.

This was going to be quite a battle.

Chief launched forward at the AC and deployed the massive laser blades at the edge of the wings. The tetrapod saw this maneuver coming and dashed to the bottom of a collapsed building and boost jumped up it's side. Chief looked at the top to see it in ready position, a deployed Erbsen SC62 sniper cannon aimed at Chief. He dodged the first high-velocity K.E. bullet and shot a volley of Laser and high-explosive rounds at him. Being in ready position, this prevented the AC from dodging all the fire, and was struck by an effective portion. Dropping his A.P. down to 29775, and staggering him. Chief read an effective hit on target from his H.U.D. (Heads up display), and moved to fire again, when he was struck by two sniper cannon shells. This did a serious number on Exusia due to K.E. being his main weakness, and dropped his A.P. down to 182,937.

  "He has skill..."

At this, Chief decided to kick this battle up a notch. He shot upward just as another sniper cannon bullet whisked by him, just missing his left wing, and hovered there. A strange and very loud buzzing noise emitted from it at it's wings slowly straitened out and the arms joined them. Another round flew at him--only to simply bounce off of the transparent red shield that now encased Exusia. The AC disengaged ready position and threw the sniper cannon off to the side, and brought it's Seidenbaum SR13 sniper rifle to it's unfilled hand.

Suddenly, Exusia shot over the AC in flight mode, the same humming noise still being heard. Only now, there were two solid beams of fire shooting out of both the laser blade frames while Exusia flew in a circular pattern. As he turned, the AC watched in almost horror as the right beam--the one angled downward--sliced the remaining part of a building clean in half. The beam was moving towards the AC at an alarming rate. Closer...

Closer...

Only one building away...

The Glow showed on the AC's orange--

It dashed in high boost to the side, nearly cutting the tip of his sniper rifle off, and fired it and the Tansy RF12 in it's right hand. These rounds, like the other, bounced sheepishly off. Exusia's attack lasted for about another minute before it rocketed straight at the AC and did a stabbing motion with the now short but insanely powerful blades, nearly obliterating the building behind the AC. This attack, unfortunately, missed, which gave the AC a chance to return the favor.

The assault of K.E. bullets damaged Exusia, his A.P. was now down to 161,559. Chief was fascinated, he never thought a normal AC would've been able to last at least five minutes against him. Chief glided around two buildings and shot at the AC, lasers and high-explosive rounds blasing. Most of them missed, but fortunately for him, the AC was looking in the wrong direction, not seeing which way he had gone and not being able to turn fast enough, so Exusia closed in and struck with both laser blades. He read an effective hit on his screen, and stopped. He looked down to see the AC, and almost burst out in laughter. There was no torso left on the AC, just the legs which had only three still attached, and the top half was at the side of the legs without a right arm. With a large explosion, the remains of the once dreaded AC and it's pilot, were gone.

"Oh, what a shame. It was so fun playing with him, I almost wish he was still alive..." Chief thought sarcastically.

Exusia launched into the air and prepared to fly.

  "Oh well, I guess all good things must come to an end." He said sadly.

Exusia extended it's long metal wings and flew at sub-sonic speeds away from the battleground. One of the easiest ways to leave this part of the contaminated zone is to go straight through one of the large cloud-cones, also it would take him home faster. If one was to try to go around it, the pressure and air-pull from it would either kill you--if you aren't in an AC--, or just pull you into the inside anyways. Chief decided on the easier path--no point in making the effort. Within minutes, he was closing in on a massive whirling cone. He could feel the sudden change of wind, going from a gentle breeze to a forceful push, as he got closer. As soon as he flew into the cone, the wind stopped completly and Chief was left flying in what beared a strong resemblence to a stadium. Only this one was close to a mile in diameter. But as he got closer to the center, some very wierd things started happening.

The cone started changing color. What once was a dull green-ish was now an almost glowing cyan blue. Chief suddently noticed that the cone was also shrinking in diameter very quickly, and he started getting sucked upward--almst like a change in gravity. Noing desperate times called for desperate messures, Chief dissabled the boosters and folded in the wings. Tis seemed to slow his accent, but soon got faster. The cone edge was now only a few hundred feet away and closing rapidly, and was now solid blue. Chief went with a really bad idea and faced completly downward, and went full power boosters. This time unfountunetly, nothing happened, and chief was finally pulled into the top of the blue and now as thin as the Exusia's wingspan.

  "Welp, I guess this is fate. I wonder what's on the other side..." Chief siad quietly as the bottom of the cone parted from the ground and colapsed into the top.

Prologue II: From The Clouds

Chapter I

Equestria

Why was everypony busy?! Rainbow Dash was becoming annoyed. Every house she went to to hang with one of her friends, they weren't around!

Well, almost all her friends.

  "Eh... I guess I could see what Egghead's up to, it wouldn't hurt... Rainbow Dash thought sort-of bitterly.

She sat up slowly and broke off a large chunk of the cloud she was on. Feeling lazy, she plumped down on the cloud and flew down to the town of Ponyville, an especially large, tree that also happened to be the local library, visible. As she flew over the town, she took in the sight of the bustling town; ponies going from place to place, stands selling all kinds of merchandise, an enjoyable sight.

When Rainbow Dash slowed to a stop, she dismounted the compacted condensation and bucked it. The cloud exploded with a light *poof* and Rainbow Dash walked up to the door and knocked. She took a step back and waited.

And waited.

And waited...

  "Oh c'mon!" Yelled the agitated pegasus as she threw her front hooves in the air.

She was just about to walk away when she heard Spike's voice inside.

  "Hey Twilight! Twilight! Someone's here to see you!"

A pause.

  "Twilight! Are you gonna--ah whatever."

Rainbow Dash heard footsteps approaching the door and Spike opened it.

  "Oh hey Dash, what's up?"

  "Hey Spike, is Twilight around?" Replied Rainbow Dash.

  "Sure, come on in." Said the dragon as he moved out of the way.

Rainbow Dash walked in to see the usual assortment of countless books on shelves, and sighed.

  "Hey Twilight, Rainbow Dash is here to see you." Spike called up to the second floor.

  "Oh hey Rainbow, come on up! You gotta check this out!" Twilight responded cheerfully.

Rainbow Dash, knowing anything Twilight found 'exciting' was out of her interest, shrugged annoyingly and followed Spike up the staircase. Twilight was looking through a large telescope at her window while she sketched down notes on a notepad. She looked up and chuckled at Rainbow Dash's puzzled face.

  "Come here, look through the telescope!" She beckoned over furiously.

Rainbow Dash sighed irritably and walked over to the device. She knelled down and looked through. But surprisingly enough, can't say she wasn't shocked.

  "Woah..."

It's been just over a week since the mysterious formation of swirling, dark clouds formed over the unknown lands in the distance, and literally everypony was eagerly waiting for it's outcome. But as much as everypony wanted to go explore it, there two things holding them back--it was right above the lair of the recently conquered (and most likely infuriated) changlings, and the bigger reason was because a couple of weather ponies who had tried to move the strange clouds were killed three days ago due to some kind of focused energy that triggered when they got close. The corpses remain unfound of located, and no pony in there right mind is going close the clouds any time soon...

The princesses, were not as excited, as the death of any of there citizens always devastated them. One of the princesses, was more suspicious than curious or traumatized.

Princess Luna gazed through the telescope on a balcony at the swirling dark entities, a deep frown on her face and a notepad & quill sketching down notes. Her eyes ached form a whole day of being stuck to the telescope. One huge possibility on the cloud's presence was constantly pounding on her brain, pushing any other possible answers out of her head. She groaned in annoyance as Celestia's disappearing sun made it increasingly difficult to see the clouds, as they began to blend with the sky. After a day of almost constant surveillance, Luna didn't realize how late it had gotten, and began to raise the bright moon on Equestria. As she finished, a deep yawn escaped her mouth as she made her way inside the awaiting castle. Another day of watching the clouds was what was on her mind for tomorrow, and she would gravely need the sleep.

~The next day~

Princess Luna woke up with a start, light headed. She thought it was just a symptom of the morning until she got out of bed, or at least attempted to. Luna's vision went blurry at soon as she stood and had to sit. Not knowing what was happening, she stumbled into the nearest bathroom and looked at herself in the massive mirror. She couldn't say she liked what she saw; her mane no longer flowed in a non-existent wind, her eyes were bloodshot, and when she tried opening her muzzle to speak, she literally couldn't.

  "What's happening to me...? What could this--" Luna stiffened as realization flooded over her mind.

  "Oh no..."

She galloped ungainly through a few corridors to reach the balcony with her telescope and notepad and rammed her eye up to the optic. Luna refocused and aligned the telescope and gasped as she saw the last thing she wanted to see--the once black, swirling ring of clouds, was now a massive green, glowing, funnel like shape that descended into the distant land, and pulsed violently with thunder & lightning. But the part that worried Luna the most was every time lightning lit up the green entity, her temple would throb painfully.

She rushed inside to find her sister, knowing she would be able to help with whatever what was happening, and nearly knocked her over as she rounded a corner.

  "Luna! My dear, I've been looking for you!" Celestia said as Luna got back up.

  "Tia, you've got to h-help me... The clouds, me--aahhhh!" Luna shouted at she buckled down in pain.

  "Sister!" Said Celestia as she kneeled down next to Luna. "What's wrong?! Are you okay?"

Luna groaned and kicked in agony before she fell completely silent and still. Celestia didn't know what to do other than just stare at her sister as she lay still.

Luna started laughing unusually hard. "Oh Celestia, I knew you would say that. Heh heh heh, so predictable..." Luna growled suddenly in a voice unlike her own.

Celestia jumped back and gasped as she recognized the voice as that of Queen Chrysalis. Luna laughed evilly as she slowly stood up and faced Celestia with a chilling smile. Celestia didn't know how to react--her sister, co-ruler of Equestria, was being possessed by the very enemy that they recently defeated. Celestia took a moment to look closely and noticed something as she looked into her face; her mouth was moving uncontrollably as she 'talked', but her eyes--her eyes were full of fear.

  "Chrysalis! What have you done with my sister?! Let her go or so help me I will--" Celestia threatened but was cut of by Luna.

  "What, you're going to blast your own sister? Now what kind of princess does that?" Chortled Luna.

Celestia's horn glowed but she immediately went back into worried mode when Luna colapsed in front of her, groaning and withering. Celestia quickly kneeled down to comfort her sibling, when Luna slowly turned her head and spoke in a frail voice.

  "The clouds... It's coming from the clouds..."

  "Guards!!!" Shouted Celestia as she softly held her weak sibling.

Act I: Chapter I: Conquerors' Decent

Act I: Chapter I

Conquerors' Decent

READ AUTHORS NOTE

It was almost time... Soon she would possess the greatest weapon in Equestrian history, and nothing-nothing-would stand in her path of ultimate revenge. She could easily say she was excited, but more so angered-just thinking about her previous defeat enraged her, but now that she would have the power to bend Equestria to it's knees, she can safely say she wasn't so mad anymore.

Queen Chrysalis, leader of the changeling empire, slumped against a large rock that served as her place to rest, for the time being. She only had a half hour at the most before she would need to inform her army of her master plan, plus there new ally.

  "Soon... soon..." She mumbled to herself.

Chrysalis looked up and smiled at the brightening entity of clouds that blocked out the still rising sun, giving it a very menacing look-just the way she wanted it. A column of lightning flashed across the clouds, illuminating the distant mountains and everywhere around the Queen, followed imedeatly by the loud roar of thunder. But then, the cone shaped cloud lurched downward, close enough that Chrysalis could feel the moisture from the clouds surrounding her and the whole land. Only this moisture wasn't warm, or cold, but numbing. The more she sat still, the more she could feel her muscles shutting down, the tingling feeling overcoming her. Chrysalis did not want to get paralyzed, not yet, she had important business to attend to.

She quickly stood up tall and shook a few times to keep from locking up, and proceeded through the large network of caves and paths to the very location she had ordered her followers to meet.

  "Soon..." She said quietly to herself, an evil smile on her face.

She stopped as she remembered one thing she had thought of doing before. She she walked into a small corridor and closed her eyes. Her horn glowed its strong green aura and she opened her eyelids to reveal solid green glowing eyes. She felt a successful hack into the princess of the night's mind, and could see everything Luna could see.

Luna stumbled out of bed and collapsed to the floor, which almost made Chrysalis chuckle, but she didn't want to give herself away-not yet. As Luna wobbled into the restroom, Chrysalis almost burst out laughing at the horrid sight of the miserable Princess, but was able to stuff it down to biting her lips together.

  "What's happening to me...? What could this--" Luna stiffened as realization flooded over her mind.

  "Oh no..."

Chrysalis smiled grimly as Luna's thoughts registered in her own mind.

  "Oh yes!" Chrysalis thought excitedly.

After Luna had taken a hard look at the swarming entity that now covered most of the Changeling empire, Chrysalis waited for when Luna would do what she expected: Find the big sister.

  "Just as I thought..."

  "Luna! My dear, I've been looking for you!" Celestia said as Luna got back up from Luna bolting her over.

Chrysalis decided it was time to make her move and her horn pulsed.

  "Tia, you've got to h-help me... The clouds, me--aahhhh!" Luna shouted at she buckled down in pain.

  "Sister!" Said Celestia as she kneeled down next to Luna. "What's wrong?! Are you okay?"

Chrysalis let her soak in the agony of the pulse for a moment before taking total control.

  "Oh Celestia, I knew you would say that. Heh heh heh, so predictable..." Chrysalis chortled.

She began to laugh as Celestia jumped back in fear.

  "Chrysalis! What have you done with my sister?! Let her go or so help me I will--" Celestia threatened but Chrysalis finished for her.

  "What, you're going to blast your own sister? Now what kind of princess does that?" Questioned Chrysalis.

She was about to continue as she saw Celestia's horn light up, but a powerful surge of energy from Luna broke her connection.

  "So, you are strong..." Chrysalis mused to herself.

She looked up at the clouds and saw what she had been waiting for. A smile grew across her face as a massive dark red sphere descended quickly from the very top of the clouds.

  "Finally!" Shouted the Changeling queen as she stepped into the same area where her weapon would arrive.

Everyone except the queen scurried clear of the dropping orb as it was about to impact. As it collided violently with the rock land and bits of stone flew in every direction, the entire ground shifted, throwing Chrysalis off her hooves. She waited for the smoke to clear before rising and disabling the green shield that kept debris from hitting her, to try and get a glimps of the new being. She briefly looked up and saw the dark clouds were already turning white and moving in random directions, all at a suprizingly fast rate. She looked down just as the last clumps of dust cleared and saw an amazing sight. The inside of the now transparent orb contained a huge, red dragon like figure. Only a few thing made this unlike any other dragon Chrysalis had seen: this one had round arms on its upper torso, and everything on the being was made of... Metal...

        Chrysalis was amazed, this was definatly more than she bargined for. Oh the destruction she could bring with this machine. She slowly walked towards the part of the machine that was what she assumed was the head, and raised up a hoof.

  "Wake up, my great machine..." She purred.

Her hoof was less than three inches from the cold surface.

  "Become my kind's salvation..."

Her hoof grazed the side of the head and the eyes blazed a sharp cyan. This color shot through various grey channels turning them the glowing blue as well. Because the machine was on its back, Chrysalis was able to see a beautiful blue ball of raging blue energy from in its chest and get covered by a large metal plate. The machine then slowly began to sit up, extending its arms to support it, and looming a short shadow over the excited queen. As it turned its head slightly, it looked away from Chrysalis. She was about to call to it, but it snapped its focus on her instantly. Chrysalis noticed that it actually narrowed its eyes, as if studying her, using a mind. After a few motionless seconds between flesh & bone, and gears & steal, flesh & bone broke the silence with the only words this machine would remember.

  "Rise, become the solider I called for you to be. Rise, and become my conqueror..."

Act I: Chapter II: Awakening

Act I: Chapter II

Awakening

Confusion. It was an unexpected emotion to say the least, yet It was the best word to describe his feelings on the situation. He tried to think, but it was like something was forcing the thoughts down. Confusion was all he could think about right now. Deciding that thinking his way out of whatever this was futile, he went with another plan. As he was about to move, another new sensation washed over him, taking him completely off-guard.

Weakness.

He felt weak. This one wasn't unexpected, it was completely new. It covered his body and held him to whatever surface he was on like a restraint. He felt disabled, vulnerable, and he didn't like it one bit. Whatever surrounding he was in seemed to fade away, leaving only him to deal with his body. Deciding enough was enough, he forced all his energy into breaking free of the invisible prison. He struggled and thrashed but his body literally wasn't moving. He was about to stop his useless strategy when he felt a light touch on the very corner of his head.

Immediately his body reacted and power surged through him. At least his torso. He sat up, his arms being supports, trying to free his legs now from there immobilization.

  "This is futile..."

It was the first time he'd ever though of giving up at anything. It was such a weird feeling, not trying. He loathed doing it, but he had no choice. He stopped his internal fighting and went still, giving in to the negative energy surrounding him. As he sat, one more thought entered his mind, one that just plain annoyed him more than he hated.

He was alone.

There would be nothing to have fear him, nothing to kill, nothing to make fun of. He would've grunted, if he had a mouth. Not knowing what to do, he was about just let his mind wander to unknown depths, when he got the feeling he was not alone at all. As his mind immedeatly focused on the thought, and another sensation followed; one that he liked.

Determined to find it, he snapped his head to his right and sighted a miniscule, black, quadruped figure staring up at him with wide but focused eyes.

  "What are you looking at?" He thought sarcastically as he narrowed his solid cyan eyes on the creature.

  "Rise, become the solider I called for you to be. Rise, and become my conqueror..."

Needless to say, Chief was taken aback. Her conqueror? Who ever said he was anyone's anything?!

Being the selfish 'man' he was, Chief would not tolerate being called someone's tool. After realizing his legs were now working, he slowly stood up, trying to look as sinister as possible, and leaned over the tiny quadruped, who was now being surrounded by an army of smaller ones all glaring and staring at him.

Chief began to laugh evilly as he leaned in over the large crowd of ponies who all staggered backwards in fright, except for the bigger one, which Chief now assumed was there leader.

  "Heh heh heh heh... Are you the boss here?" He growled in a voice that seamed to make the ground vibrate.

For a moment nothing was heard except for the yelps of fright, until the leader turned around and boomed loudly.

  "Fear not, my minions! For this new being that stands behind me is that of which I have promised will be our key to vengeance!"

At this announcement, most of the audience calmed down and shuffled back forward to listen.

Now Chief was ready to snap. He slammed down his massive metal fists--making all of the minions scurry away, leaving the leader alone in a large space--and brought his huge face down right in front of the now trembling queen.

"I'm not gonna ask again; are you, or are you not, the boss here...?" Chief hissed in such a terrifying voice, he thought he could here a soft whimper come from the queen.

After almost a minute of silence, she finally decided to speak to him directly.

  "I-I am Queen Chrysalis. Leader o-of the changeling e-empire... I have brought you here, great dragon, to seek your assistance..." Chrysalis replied in a shaky voice.

Chief chuckled again.

  "Good, good... We're finally cooperating. Now, before we continue, let me make one thing clear..."

He extended his enormous metal wings from his back, and folded them over with the plasma laser-blade frames outstretched so each one had the bottom-tip of its frame right next to the terrified queen.

"I don't oblige to orders from anyone... Especially something as small as you." Chief rumbled as the two humungous blade frames erupted in a fiery inferno of blue plasma.

  "And secondly, did you say you brought me here? You decided to shamelessly tear a villain like me from my own world and use me for your own silly games, just because you're upset about being beaten?" Chief asked slowly as he backed up his head a little bit.

When no response came, Chief figured she was just to pitifully afraid of him to talk, so he decided that due to the fact that being any more scary than he already was would probably kill her right then and there, to just ease some of the tension.

  "That takes quite the guts to pull that off. Bravery. I like bravery." Chief muttered as he withdrew his no longer blazing blades. "I see now you're not my enemy. I therefore will not utterly wipe you from existence. I will not follow any orders given to me by anyone. However, I will take into consideration your mentioning of revenge." Chief paused to let it sink in, and also saw a smile work its way onto Chrysalis's mouth as her followers inched forward again. "That really caught my attention..."

Luna couldn't think. She couldn't move. She couldn't do anything. The only thing she could do was lay still while the entirely new level of terror surrounded her like an iron coffin. No matter how much the princess tried to fight it, it only intensified. She could feel tears leaking out of her eyes, her brain hurt... For the first time in a very long stretch of time, Luna, the legendary princess of the night, was scared. This wasn't ordinary fear, she felt like she was a target for the most devastating bounty hunter on the planet, multiplied by ten.

The large stretcher thundered through the various corridors of the castle towards the medical wing, pushed by three guards while Celestia ran beside it, not taking her eyes off of her sister. She was terrified, and her mind was churning with countless quantities of questions. What even happened to her dear sister? How did it happen? Why did it happen? What did she mean by "it's coming from the clouds"? Will Luna even be okay?

Muscle memory seemed to guide Celestia through the castle halls because her mind sure as hell wasn't. It was too busy trying to answer questions it didn't have the answer to.

  "Just hang in there sister, you are going to be fine..." Celestia murmured quietly, tears welling up in her eyes.

When the five finally reached the large doors that lead to the medical rooms, one of the guards ran over and thrust open the gates while the other two rushed inside with Luna.

  "Your majesty, we require you to stay out of the medical facilities for the time being. We will inform you when you are allowed to visit your sister."

The worn out princess of the day stopped and stared at the guard for a moment before nodding slightly.

  "Oh... Okay. I'll be in my private quarters. Inform me as soon as Luna is well enough to see again."

  "Yes, your royal highness." The guard replied and walked into the medical rooms, leaving Celestia alone in the corridor.

Celestia didn't know what to do. She was helpless... Seeing her sister in this condition was enough to make her brake down right then and there. After a few minutes of not moving, Celestia finally turned around and slowly walked back to her room.

  "This will be over soon... Get well dear Luna, the kingdom needs you..."

Act I: Chapter III: Situational Awareness

Act I: Chapter III

Situational Awareness

From the medical hall to the bedroom. That's all it was. Nowhere else to stop by. Just one destination. Just a few minute walk. Almost not a thing in the world to worry about. So why did it feel like a mile to Celestia? She wasn't even thinking about anything but Luna and the message from Chrysalis that nearly killed her. What was she going to say? She knew that Chrysalis could've held the message longer, and she knew there was more to it. What if she tried again, while Luna was already in this condition? Celestia could hardly bare to think that way. The simple five words stuck like arrows in the front of her mind, never stopping at wrapping her mind in almost what felt like a plastic film.

  "It's coming from the clouds..."

Just thinking of them seemed to set off a new level of worrying like fuel to a fire.

Without realizing it, Celestia had walked an entire corridor past the staircase that led to her and Luna's rooms. Shaking her head slightly, she walked back down to the entrance and climbed the stairs. When she reached her large bed, she shook off her crown but didn't bother with the golden hoof-shoes, and threw herself onto the soft bed.

  "This will be over soon..." Celestia whispered to herself as she shut her eyes.

  "I hope..."

Great. Just great. Of all the artificial emotions he could've felt. Chief was fucking bored. Now this he had felt, many times in fact. It usually came when he was waiting for an enemy to show up, or some other pointless task he usually didn't oblige to... But this time, he was waiting for what the equine he now knew as Queen Chrysalis, called 'orders'. She had said something about going to get a general or something, but Chief wasn't really listening. As he sat in the massive creator shaped, topless structure, motionless, he made a mental note to ask Chrysalis why he was even listening to her in the first place. Like, why the hell shouldn't he just fly away right now and forget everything here? Why was he going to help her?! As he thought about it, he started to get angry, like he'd already done something he regretted (like, following orders for example...). He turned towards the nearest wall and began pumping his large fists into the rock, making the whole structure shake. Chief was about to deliver a punch that would easily obliterate the part of the rock, when he heard a shout from his left.

  "Stop! Dragon stop!!"

Chief halted his wall pummeling as he recognized the feminine voice. He turned sharply towards the startled Queen and folded his now extended wings. As he focused in on the pony, he noticed what must've been the general she went to get, shaking slightly. With two large steps, Chief positioned himself in front of the two, making the general almost fall backwards, while Chrysalis remained still.

  "So, this your friend?" He grumbled.

There was a painfully long pause before Chrysalis answered.

  "Dragon, this is Venyte. He is my most trusted generals and is my prime planner for attacks. I have a special request for you that he will inform you about."

Chief was going to stop her in the middle of her sentence, but paused for a moment when she finished her statement.

  "Now, let me make one thing that I thought I already made clear, more clear." Chief growled in an agitated tone. "I, do not follow, ORDERS!!"

He yelled so loudly it knocked both Chrysalis and Venyte off there hooves, and the cyan lines on Chiefs body and the orb in his chest dramatically brightened.

"Okay! Okay! Look." Chrysalis sighed but did not continue.

Instead it was Venyte who spoke in a surprisingly strong tone. "What if it was me asking for a favor? No orders, nothing like that. Just just me asking you to do something?"

Chief would've smiled if he had a mouth. He slowly knelt down in front of the general as his colors calmed.

  "Finally, someone who thinks of it that way!" Chief cheered. "Of everyone who's tried to order me around, no one's ever been as smart as you!" He looked at the smiling Queen. "Please exit the premises, I need to have a talk with your general."

A distant echo sounded in the back of Celestia's mind. She waved it off and her dreams resumed. The echo came again, louder this time and almost sounding like a voice. This time Celestia creaked open her eyes and heard a loud knock on the door.

  "Princess!" A male voice shouted.

  "I'm here, one second!" Replied Celestia as she threw herself out of bed and put on her crown.

She then walked to the door and threw it open, relieving a single guard who saluted.

  "Your highness, it's Luna. She's awake and she wants to see you."

Celestia gasped happily.

  "Oh fabulous! I must see her at once!" She almost shouted in glee.

  "Very well. your Highness, follow me." Said the guard as he began to walk down the hallway with Celestia in tow.

When the two reached the large familiar gates that lead to the medical hall, the guard rushed forward and thrusted open the gates, afterwards joining a second guard on the other side of the gates. Giving a nod to the guard, Celestia walked into the hall, scanning each room for her sister. Her patience shortened with each empty treatment room, where was she? Finally looking upon an occupied room, she recognized the dark alicorn resting quietly in a bed, and doctor and a nurse on one side of the bed.

  "Luna!" Squeaked Celestia as she trotted into the room and stopped on the opposite side of the bed as the two officials.

  "Sush, she's not doing two well right now, but she really wanted to see you." Informed the doctor.

Celestia nodded and looked back at her poor sister, who slowly turned her head towards Celestia and smiled softly.

Celestia chocked back a sob from both sorrow and happiness.

  "Oh Luna... Luna, what ever happened to you...?" Purred the sun princess.

It took a moment for Luna to respond. Her weak voice nearly broke Celestia down.

  "It's all so distant... I remember Chrysalis, she's doing something. Something bad... I..." She paused as a look of horrifying realization splashed across her face. "It's the clouds. Chrysalis, was using me to try and tell you... She's bringing-Ah! Annagh!!" Luna was cut off as her whole body thrashed and twitched.

  "What's happening!?" Demanded Celestia at the two others.

  "Oh no, another wave! Celestia, we need you to leave now!" Ordered the nurse as she rushed over to Luna.

Celestia, not wanting anything further to happen to her sister, nodded quickly and ran out of the room into the hallway.

As she exited the hallway, another big question entered her head.

  "What am I supposed to tell everyone? How am I supposed to tell them that, "sorry to tell you, my sister is dying"!?

Celestia just shook her head bitterly at the idea.

  "Well whatever Chrysalis is planning, it sure isn't nothing anymore..."

After a confident Chrysalis had left the area, Chief turned back towards the slightly uncomfortable general, who was craning his neck to look him in the face.

  "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Asked Venyte quizzically.

  "Well you tell me, unless I'm not hearing right, you were going to ask me a favor, right?" Pinpointed Chief as he cocked his head slightly. "So fill me in."

Venyte hesitated briefly before clearing his throat and replying in a strong voice.

  "Well, very recently, we attempted to attack and bring down the kingdom ruled by Princess Celestia and her younger sister, Princess Luna. We failed, and were fended off by their terrible elements of harmony..." He paused with a disgusted look on his face.

"And you want me to get rid of them? That's the 'favor'?" Asked Chief, a little taken aback at how easy this was going to be.

  "Well no, you alone aren't going to destroy them. First we want to send a message, get the word out that we, the Changlings, are not defeated."

Chief nodded slowly.

  "I like the way you guys think. Go on."

Venyte sighed before continuing.

  "Indeed. Where you, as well as a large force of us Changlings, will be attacking, is another smaller kingdom known as the Crystal Empire."

  "Crystal Empire. Hm, sounds exotic." Chortled Chief.

  "Yes, quite. But we don't want you to just destroy the entire place... You will also aid us in the assassination of it's rulers--Prince Shining Armor, and Princess Cadence."