Episode 1: The Frontier Calls PT.1
In the skies above the Equestrian desert, a portal of pure energy appears and expands rapidly. A massive ship starts coming through and into the skies above. When it was fully through, the ship looked like a massive dome in red and yellow coloration with four spiral like towers on the top and two angular spikes on the sides. Its presence alone would cause a passing would stop and look at it with mixed reactions. However, unknown to those outside, a conflict was going on in the depths of the ship.
“STOP HER!!”
In a spacious corridor, a lone figure was rushing away from what appeared to be bolts of energies zipping past and hitting the walls. Coming from around, a group of silver robotic machines with box like heads were moving with purpose. The single, red eye in the middle glowed and fired a bolt of energy at the figure. The bolts of energy barley missed as the figure rounded a corner. The sudden move caused hood of the cloak to come off, revealing the figure’s face. The figure was a mare with a green coat and dark-tone pink mane with a streak of white in it.
At first appearance, she looked like a regular unicorn however, on a closer look at her yellow eyes, there appeared to be green lights going across the whites of her eyes.
She raced down the hall while clutching a case in her right hand. She made it to the end of the hall and she pressed her left hand on the frame of the door as it slid up into the ceiling. She entered what appeared to be a hanger.
The mare looked around until she spotted a grey shuttle with four small wings on the sides. She ran towards as a voice booms across the room.
“5 Minutes until arcanus warp! 5 Minutes until arcanus warp!”
She reached the door of the shuttle just as the robots entered the hanger. As she glanced back, the robotic soldiers filed in and parted into groups of two and stood side by side. A lone figure walked down the middle of them.
The figure was robotic as well but this one was different from the others. The robot was completely gray with yellow shoulder and knee pads. Its head held the characteristics of a buzz saw with a triangular red lens in the middle. The most distinguishing feature were the dual saw blades in both arms spinning with a deadly sound.
It raised its left arm at the mare and one of the blades shot out with deadly speed as another one constructed itself in its place. The mare ducked just as the blade zipped right above her head, cut of the wings of another shuttle and embedded itself in a far wall before dissolving.
“That was your final warning, hand over the case or face termination.” The figure spoke despite the lack of a mouth.
The mare gave a look of defiance and in the blink of an eye, pulled out a magnum shaped blaster and took down one of the robotic soldiers.
“FIRE!”
She ducked into the shuttle just as the soldiers started shooting. She got into the pilot’s seat, sat the case down and slammed her fist on the control panel. Words began to type out on the wind shield.
-Ignition.Process: Activated-
The thrusters on the shuttle began to fire up as it was peppered by blaster fire from the approaching soldiers. The shuttles thrusters came to life and it took off as the hangers opened for the leaving shuttle. The commanding robot growled in anger and raised its left arm to fire again but froze as sirens began blaring. The mare’s shuttle had just cleared the doors when a voice went off.
“Arcanus warp in 4..3..2..1..”
Then, everything went white.
An hour earlier.
In the eastern part of the equestrian desert lays the small town of Appaloosa. The once small settlement has expanded bit by bit but, it still holds strong to its root. The ways of the west still has an impact on its residents and none more than its favorite son.
Braeburn Apple still carried the cheeriness and smile the small town came to love, if to a degree. As like everyone, his clothes were reminded of day’s long past from the denim jeans and wide chaps to the tan short sleeve shirt and brown vest to the very hat that never left his head.
As of now, he was busy preparing for a three day competition. He was walking from the orchid with a basket of apples towards a cart of five other baskets.
“’Whew’, this should be the last one.” He said as he placed the last basket in the cart.
“This ought to be enough for the stand at the competition.” He added.
“I hope so because we won’t be able to afford a second trip.”
Braeburn looked to where the voice came from. In front of his house was stood an earth pony that seemed out of place.
The pony was male with a crimson mane and a light silver coat with red eyes. The clothes he wore seemed fit for the city as he wore a red long sleeve shirt and dark black jeans. He had on a black vest and a watch on his left wrist.
“We’re an hour late as is. We got to leave now.” He added as he looked at his watch.
“Calm down, codes. It takes time to pick the right apples for any type of eatin’.” Braeburn said with pride.
The stallion, Codebreaker or Codes, rolled his eyes as he walked towards him.
“Yeah well, this competition starts tomorrow and it takes a day to get to where we need to be. We gotta move, now.” He replied. Braeburn picked up the carts handles and the two made their way off the farm and towards the train station.
“Thanks again for helpin’ me out, Codebreaker.”
“No problem, Braeburn.”
Codebreaker and Braeburn have been friends for the last five years. They met when him and his parents came to Appaloosa on the request of a client and getting out of a city. While staying there for the meeting, he wandered onto the farm and was interested on helping out. The two became good friends and kept in touch over the years, even though their views on certain things were different.
Equestrian technology has advanced to the use of creating engines powered by magic-infused crystals. Codebreaker’s family owns the biggest manufacturing company in Baltimare. The company’s motto is ‘Don’t look back, Move forward.’
“I still don’t get why you had to come out here in those city clothes of yours.” Braeburn said.
“Not this again, I keep telling you that these clothes are what I always wear, especially for being in the city.” Codebreaker replied.
Some of the conversations they had were disputes on the present and advancement.
“Also, what’s the name of the place the competition is being held in again?” He added.
“Tumbleweed Junction.”
“’Tumbleweed’? that old, worn-out junction in the middle of nowhere. Why’s it being held there?”
“The reason is because it’s probably going to be the last one that happens in that town.” Braeburn said.
“Why’s that?”
“It’s because the deed owner sold the town to some developers and I heard they were going to turn it into some futuristic town or something. The guy always was a greedy snake, even when I first saw him.” Braeburn muttered the last part under his breath.
“Well, no offense but I think that that’s a good idea.” Codebreaker replied. Braeburn stopped the cart and looked this friend with a painful look.
“How can you even say something like that?!”
“It’s nothing personal Brae. All I’m saying that this is probably the last option that place has before going broke. Best to just, move on and get something out of it.” He said, trying to make an opinion. Braeburn just shook his head as they continued on.
The two walked in silence until they reached the train station. They continued onto the platform and went toward the stationary train.
The train itself looked like a gray steam engine with a passenger and baggage car. The true difference between it and other trains was the mechanics that went into it. The two walked beside the train until they stopped beside the baggage car. Codebreaker slid the door open and a cool air came from it. Inside were rows of apple pies and fritters on top of a cart. He and Braeburn began unloading the basket of apples and putting them inside.
“Codes, are you absolutely sure the food is going to be okay in here?” Braeburn said with concern about the food.
“Brae relax, the food is going to be fine. The car has two gems that regulate the air in here to keep it at an ideal temperature.” Codebreaker pointed at the two blue gems at opposite ends of the car. ”The car is basically a giant fridge. Now, let’s get the last basket in and head out. We’re late as is.” The two got the last basket in and closed the door to the car.
Braeburn got to the passenger car and got inside while Codebreaker went to the engine. He opened the door and stepped in to start it up. The inside had a single chair in front of a control panel that was limited to a few gauges and throttles. In front of the panel was the engine itself fixated with a round gem in the center of it. He grabbed a throttle on the right and slowly eased it forward. As it moved, the gem began to glow brighter and the engine came to life with a whistle. He pulled the handle to the left forward and the train lurched forward.
“Next stop: Tumbleweed Junction.”
The ride towards the junction was going along smoothly with no interruptions. Codebreaker kept his eyes on the gauges and out the side window to make sure there was nothing on the track.
“Codebreaker, you think maybe we can stop?” Braeburn’s voice came in. Codes looked up to a cb radio and grabbed the transceiver.
“What for?” He talked into it.
“I want to make sure the fritters haven’t broken apart.” Came his reply. Codes sighed heavily.
“Braeburn, the food is fine. You’re worrying too much on this.”
“You put too much fate in these fancy machines your parents make. I just don’t believe that this thing we’ll get us there in time.”
“It’ll get us there, don’t worry. I helped design the engine for this train and we’re lucky that I know how to operate it. We could’ve left sooner if a certain farmer didn’t take his time picking fruit.”
“I told you, you can’t just pick any apple! You have to find the right tree that has the right apples for this competition. Bloomberg had the ripest apples when I started, like he was showing respect for the town.” Breaburn talked back. Codes didn’t reply back as he thought about that.
“You know I worry when you start talking like that.” Codes said. Even if he couldn’t see him, he knew Braeburn rolled his eyes.
There was silence between them as the train kept on rolling down the tracks.
“You know if you asked I could ask my parents to design an apple picker to cut back time harvesting.”
“My cousin told me about some scam artists that tried to do the same thing and tried to take her farm a while back. No thanks. Besides, we apples have done it the same way for generations. The old ways have worked fine and we ain’t changing!” He proclaimed proudly. Codes checked his watch to see the time.
“You ask me, the old ways are dying off and being forgotten.” He said under his breath.
‘CRACK’
A loud and sharp sound exploded with force. Codebreaker leaned out the side window to see what happened and his eyes widen at the site. In the sky, a giant object was appearing out of thin air.
“CODES, WHAT IS THAT THING?!” He heard Braeburn yell through the wind. He looked back to see him leaning out the window wide eyed and looking at the object.
“I DON’T KNOW!” He yelled back. He looked back at the dome object and saw that something flew out and that the object was glowing white.
“What’s it doing?” Codebreaker thought. He got his answer when the white light exploded and expanded… and was heading right for them.
“HANG ON!!!” That was the last thing he said.
Then everything went white.
Episode 2: The Frontier Calls PT.2
In the middle of the equestrian west with the sun beginning to set, a lone covered wagon made its way across the great expanse. The wagon itself was pulled by a brown coated bull with a harness. Reins were tied to the ends by rings and were held by the driver.
The driver himself was dressed in blue jeans, a brown vest on top of a white wrangler shirt, while also wearing a black duster jacket and topped off with a Stetson. His face showed that he had a black coat with some of his brown mane sticking out from his hat and brown eyes. The pony scanned the area to make sure no harm came to them.
‘CRACK’
A loud sound exploded in the air shocking the two. The bull reared onto its hind legs and began thrashing around trying to get away from the sound. The pony jumped off the wagon to try to calm down the bull down.
“Whoa, settle down! Settle down!” his words were falling on death’s ears as the bull continued to thrash about. He had to dodge being gored by the horns. In a last ditch and dangerous move, he jumped onto the bull’s back and grabbed onto its horns.
“Ease up, Richter. Ease up!”
The combined effort of the pony’s presence and calming words, the bull began to slow its thrashing until it ceased. The traveler got off its back and patted the bull’s head.
“That’s right, nopony’s going to hurt you.” He assured. The bull, Richter, gave a grunt in response. The pony looked to where the sound originated and saw smoke.
“Stay here, Richter.” The bull nodded in response and the pony walked toward the smoke. He came to a stop where the edge of the cliff was and looked down. In the valley below was something that was truly bizarre.
“What in the…”
Down in the valley was a wrecked train turned on its side with its cars separated from it. He could also make another pillar of smoke a few feet away but couldn’t make out the object. Whatever happened, it would take him awhile to find a way down there.
“Jumpin’ lizards, what is going on?”
Darkness. That’s what greeted Codebreaker, darkness and pain. He opened his eyes while a groan past through his lips. He shielded his eyes as light was suddenly on him. He realized he was on his back when shooting pain ran up it.
“Oh jeez, my back!” he hissed through the pain. He pushed through the pain to get onto his hooves. He held his back and covered his eyes to center himself. “What happened?” he asked himself.
Without looking up, he walked straight into something and hit his head. A hushed curse later, he uncovered his eyes to look up to see what he walked into. What greeted him was a strange site. It was a chair suspended in mid-air.
“How the…?” he got a better look around realized he was still in the engine car and it was on its side. He looked up to see the door leading out. He jumped up and grabbed the handle and pushed it to the side. He made another big jump and grabbed the sides to pull himself up and out.
With some effort, he pulled himself and sat on the edge of the train. He looked around and didn’t recognize anything; in fact he didn’t know where he was. He looked over to the right and saw the passenger car damaged and upside down. Currently, there was one pony in there.
‘Braeburn.’ He jumped off the train, ignored the pain, and ran straight to where his friend was. He got to the car, grabbed the car’s handle and quickly slid it open. He climbed inside and was greeted by the damaged inside.
The interior of the car was in disarray, half the seats were hanging from the ceiling, which was once the floor, while the other half broke from the bolts and cluttered the floor, some even broken and most of the windows were busted open. He maneuvered through the damaged and broken seats and looked for any sign for his friend. At the end of the car, he caught site of an arm underneath debris.
“Braeburn!”
He rushed over and made his way to his friend. “Hold on, Brae. I’ll get you out!” he grunted as he began clearing off broken pieces of the seats. He pulled off the final piece, an intact seat, and looked down at his friend.
Braeburn was covered in cuts and bruises. His clothes had rips in them, his hat was missing, and he was unconscious. He carefully picked up his friend and put him over his shoulders. He slowly made his out the car while making sure he didn’t slip off. Once outside, he sat Braeburn down and propped him up on the side of the train.
“Come on Brae, wake up. Please, wake up!” Code silently prayed, hoping his friend was alright.
As if answering him, a small groan came from the apple farmer. He looked up to see him begin to open his eyes.
“Anypony see the bull that hit me?” he groaned out. Codebreaker gave a big sigh in relief.
“Oh thank celestia, you’re okay!” He said.
“Yay, a little sore though.” Braeburn said. He began to stand up despite the protests from Codebreaker to relax and stay down. He heard his friend mutter ‘apple stubbornness’ but brushed it off.
“How’re you feeling then?”
“Besides a few bruises and a lump on the back of my head, I’m fine.” He replied as he stretched a bit. He looked around and saw the other part of the train.
“What happened?”
“I have no idea, Brae. Last thing I remember was that white light, than nothing.” He said. Braeburn nodded and took another look.
"Where are we?" He asked.
"I don't know."
The two agreed to look around the immediate area to find out where they were. After looking around, they went to check the other remaining car. The luggage car looked a little banged up but seemed less damaged than the rest. At least, from the outside.
“Might as well check to see what happened inside it.” Codebreaker sighed. He grabbed the handle and was about to open it when Braeburn spoke up.
“Hold on Codes, what’s that over there?” he asked, pointing at something.
Codebreaker looked to where Breaburn was pointing at. In the distance, he saw smoke coming from an object.
“What is that thing?”
“I don’t know. I can’t make it out from here.” He replied.
“Should we go over there to check it out? Somepony could be in trouble.” Braeburn asked. Codebreaker thought on that for a minute.
“I don’t know Brae. We don’t know where we are or what’s over there? More importantly, what happens if something attacks us?” he asked. Braeburn thought for a minute before snapping his fingers.
“I’ll be right back.” He said before taking off towards the passenger car. Codebreaker watched him climb in it before turning back to the luggage car. He grabbed the handle and pulled it open to take a peek inside. A blast of cold air greeted him. ‘At least the cooling gems system still work.’ Shame that was the only thing right. Apples were scattered all over the place and most of the food was destroyed and splattered all over the walls. He heard braeburn coming back and closed the door; he didn’t need to see this now.
He looked back to see braeburn coming up to him. He was holding a case in his right hand and his hat was on his head.
‘Guess he found it.’ ”What’s in the case?”
“Protection.” He replied as he sat the case down. He popped the locks and flipped the lid open. Inside was something that caused Codebreaker to step back in wide eyed shock.
“You brought guns?!”
Equestria has a couple of weapon manufactures that make firearms. One of them is one of its oldest, ‘Colt & Iron Inc.’. They’ve been making them for over two hundred years. Inside the case were two of their products, one resembled a lever action shotgun and the other was a six-shooter revolver. In two of the pockets on the lid were the cases of ammo.
“Braeburn, why do you have these?” He asked still in shock.
“Two reasons; one is like I said, I have them for protection and in case I need to scare something off the farm.” He said as placed on a back holster and loaded the guns.
“And the other reason?” Codebreaker asked as Brae finished loading the revolver with a ‘click’.
“The competition always has sharp shooting and trick shooting contests in them.” He finished. He stood up held out the revolver and its waist holster to Codebreaker. He reached out with shaking hands and took them.
“I’ve never used a gun in my life!” he exclaimed.
“Hopefully we won’t have to, Codes. Remember, only use it to defend yourself and look before you pull the trigger.” Braeburn told before walking in the direction of the smoke.
“Wha… hold on, Brae. Wait a minute!” Codebreaker exclaimed while trying to put the holster on and catching up to his friend.
The sun was starting to set as the two made their way to the smoke. The two kept looking for landmarks to tell them where they were but so far saw nothing. They were almost half way there when Codebreaker thought of something.
“Brae, can I ask you something?” Braeburn looked back at his friend as they kept walking.
“Sure, what’s up?”
“What you said back there, about using these to scare things off your farm and protection. Protect yourself and scare what off exactly?” He asked. Braeburn stopped and thought on that for a minute.
“That actually depends. We don’t have that many critters like the Everfree forest in Ponyville, but we do have are fair share.” He said.
“Like what?”
“Well, there are coyotes, foxes, rabbits, snakes, lizards, birds; I actually saw a squirrel or two in the orchard.
“Okay.”
“Then we have are share of beasts like cliff wasps.” That caused Codebreaker to stop for a second.
“Cliff wasps? Why would you need a gun for wasps?” he asked.
“They’re actually pretty big.”
“How big?”
“About the size of Winona, if not bigger.” Braeburn added quietly.
“WHAT!” He shouted. Codebreaker has seen pictures of the Border collie at Braeburn’s house. ‘And there probably bigger?!’
“Don’t worry their call ‘cliff’ wasps for a reason. They usually stay up in the surrounding cliffs. Sometimes they come down to make a fuss around town.” He quickly explained.
“What else?”
“Well there are pit strikers. There basically scorpions with a snake’s head. But they’re three times the size and twice as poisonous. Oh, and we do sometimes spot diamond dogs.”
“Diamond dogs?!”
“Only on rare occasions and they usually stick close to the mountains near the badlands border.”
“So how do you know they’re there?"
“A year ago, some rock climbers went to a mountain a couple ways south of town. Well they found out the hard way. We called the guards a week after not seeing them come back.” Braeburn explained as they started walking again.
“Okay, so you have dog-sized bugs, poisonous half snake-scorpion hybrids, and diamond dogs. What’s left?” Codebreaker counted off asked, almost not wanting to know.
“That would have to be the dust deavils.”
“I don’t get it. How do dust devils factor into this? I get that they might be dangerous but it’s just wind.” Codebreaker said confused.
“Not those kind dust devils. Dust deavil with an a after the e. They’re, well their kind of like big cats.”
“Okay, so what do they do?”
“As their name might suggest, they can create dust devils. They run fast enough to make them. The more there are, the bigger they get.”
“Wonderful. So what are the chances we run into any of them out here?”
“That’s… a really good question. I don’t rightly know.”
“That’s just great.” Codebreaker muttered as they continued to walk. They were almost there when they heard something.
“Did you hear that?” He said. Braeburn nodded as they went close enough and hid behind a nearby boulder. They took a peek around it and what they saw shocked them.
A few feet away was a large diamond shaped object with wings. This was where the source of the smoke was coming from. However there was something else there as well.
In front of it was what looked like a pony with its back to them, but different. The pony was wearing a full grey bodysuit, with black gloves, boots, and chest-plate with gear-like patterns, and wearing a square helmet. Also, whatever it was doing, red blasts were coming from it and hitting the side of the object.
“What is that thing?” Braeburn whispered.
“I don’t know. What do you think he’s doing?” Codebreaker replied. They stood there and watched the pony stand still shoot off another red blast and watch it hit the same spot and leave a scorch mark. Deciding to find out, Braeburn exhaled and walked around the boulder and toward the pony.
“Brae, what are you doing?!” Codebreaker whispered sharply. Braeburn stopped a couple feet away from the pony.
“Ahm, howdy there.” Braeburn said, trying to start a conversation. The pony stopped what it was doing and perked its head up. “We were just wondering if you needed any help.”
The pony in question slowly turned around to face the stallions. What they saw next, shocked both of them.
The pony had no face. In its place was a black screen like visor with a single, red, machine like eye.
“Brae, get back over here now!” Codebreaker nearly shouted. Braeburn stuttered a few words trying to same something but found himself frozen in place.
“Uh, nice head gear. I haven’t seen a design like that before.” He said trying to salvage a conversation.
The ‘pony’ just stood there and stared at the pony. Before Braeburn said anything else, the ‘pony’s’ eye began to glow bright red. By the second it grew brighter and as the ‘pony’ drew its head back a bit…
“GET DOWN!!!”
Codebreaker tackled Braeburn to the ground just as the ‘pony’ jerked its head forward and red bolt shot out of its eye, flew over their heads and struck the boulder. A small explosion erupted from behind as small rocks fell on their backs. They looked behind them to see a huge chunk of the boulder was gone.
The two stunned stallions didn’t move an inch as a shadow loomed over them. They looked up to see the stranger looking down at them. It raised its right arm up and a blade shot out from a slot above its hand. The two rolled away from each other as it brought the blade down where they were. The stranger looked between the two before walking towards Braeburn.
“Hold on, wait a minute!” He exclaimed, trying to diffuse the situation. He just barely dodged a slash from the blade. He tried to fight back by kicking the stranger in the side only to recoil in pain.
“It’s like kicking a steel drum!” He hissed. He dodged two more strikes before tripping and falling on his back. The stranger advanced forward while raising its blade.
“STOP!” Codebreaker shouted as he pointed the revolver at the stranger with shaking hands. “Stop or I’ll shoot! I mean it!”
The stranger didn’t respond as it raised its blade as Braeburn looked up in fear.
“NO!!!”
‘BANG’
A shot rang out as the bullet left the barrel and sailed towards the stranger’s head… only to hear the sounds of metal against metal as the bullet struck the head and fell to the ground.
Codebreaker stood there in shock as the stranger turned around to look at him, unfazed and undamaged, and began walking towards him.
“What are you?!” Codebreaker shouted as he fired off two more rounds only for them to bounce off the stranger’s chest plate. It made a swipe at him that caused him to drop the gun as he jumped back. One more swipe caused Codebreaker to stumble back and fall onto his tail.
He scrambled back as he searched for something to defend himself as the stranger walked towards him with. He felt something in his right hand and grabbed it. He swung it in front of him to defend himself as the stranger brought the blade down.
‘Cling’
‘Thump’ The sound of metal against sounded again and something landed next to him. He looked to his left and saw the blade on the ground… with the hand attached to it.
He looked back up to see the stranger inspecting his missing hand as if it didn’t faze him at off. He looked back at him as the red eye began to glow bright again. Codebreaker brought whatever he used to try to defend himself and closed his eyes.
‘BANG’
He heard the shot and opened his and gave a yelp at what he saw. The stranger had a gaping hole in his chest. Sparks shot out from the hole as the red eye faded and blinked off as he fell over onto his back. Behind him was Braeburn with a smoking shotgun in his hands. He rushed forward to his friend.
“Codes, are you alright?!” He worriedly asked.
“Y-yeah, I think so.” He answered. Braeburn held out his hand and he took it as he helped him up. Codebreaker looked at what was in his right hand and saw that it was a piece of metal, probably from the object. He looked at the down stranger.
“Is he dead?” He said in a shaky voice.
“I think so.” Braeburn replied. He took a few steps to look at the stranger. Codebreaker looked down and saw the revolver on the ground. He went to it, bent down and picked it up and placed it in his holster. He heard a gasp and saw Braeburn in shocked.
“What is it?” He asked with some fear in his voice. Braeburn looked at him with wide eyes.
“Uh, I think you need to see this.” He said. Codebreaker stood up and walked over to his friend. He looked down at the stranger and matched his friend’s expression.
Instead of seeing blood and guts in the hole, he saw gears, wires and the occasional spark.
“Codes, what is this thing?” Braeburn asked dumbfounded.
“I don’t know. I think it’s a… robot.” He incredulously responded.
“What is going on here, Codes?”
“I don’t know, Brae.” Codebreaker replied. He looked back towards the giant, silver object. “But I bet it has something to do with that thing?”
The two walked towards the object and saw that it was the size of a carriage. They checked around it to figure out what it is. Braeburn checked around it and Codebreaker checked the side. He looked at the blaster marks and the piece of metal he slid into his holster belt. Braeburn was looking at what he think was the front when he saw a glass window. He wiped some of the dust off and peeked inside. He gasped at what he saw.
“Codes!”
“What is it? You find something?” He called back.
“There somepony in here?!” he answered. Codebreaker went to where his friend was and looked through the glass. He saw a figure on the floor and wasn’t moving.
“How do we get in there?” He said. He heard the cocking of a gun, looked next to him to see Braeburn point his shotgun at the glass.
“Stand back!” He stated. Codebreaker got out of the way and heard the sound of the gun go off. He looked and saw that the shell didn’t even scratch the glass.
“Shell didn’t even phase it!” Braeburn punctuated as he ran a hand over the intact glass.
“Then help me find the door on this thing. You search the other side, I got this one.” Codebreaker said as he moved his hands over the side to find the door.
“I don’t feel anything!” He heard Braeburn call from his side.
“Keep searching, there’s got to be a door for this thing.” He replied as he kept searching. His right past over a certain area and a green rectangle glowed in its place. In front of him, the outline of a door appeared, pushed into the hull and slid up inside it.
“Uh, Brae I found it!” He called to his friend as he stepped inside. The metal floor clacked underneath his hooves as he looked around. The interior wasn’t much. There were seats built into the sides in the back with a couple of monitors. He looked towards the light and saw the unconscious pony.
He walked towards the pony and bent down to look at the face. The pony was a mare with a green coat and dark pink mane with a white stripe in it. He also noticed that she was a unicorn. He checked her pulse and found her alive but unconscious. He heard noise and looked back to see Braeburn had come in as well and looking over his shoulder.
“Is she okay?” He asked.
“I think so, just knocked out.” Codebreaker replied.
“What do you think happen to her?”
“I don’t know but we aren’t finding out here.” He asked. He got his arms underneath her and picked her up bridal style. “Let’s get her back to the train before the sun goes down.”
“Are you sure you can carry her all the way back?” Braeburn asked.
“I’m not that weak Brae, I can handle it.” Codebreaker said. He looked back down and saw a case lying next to where she was. “Grab that case; it might be important to her.”
Braeburn grabbed the case and the two friends left with an unconscious mare, a mysterious case, and a whole lot more questions.
They were able to make it back to the wreck just as the sun was going down. It was getting dark and they were able make a make-shift camp. They took pieces of wood from the broken seats to make a fire and the cushions to make beds. Two of which were occupied.
Codebreaker was seating on one, examining the piece of metal from the large object. He glanced over to his left and saw the mare on another one, fast asleep and her back facing him.
‘Just where did you come from?’ That one question ran through his head. He heard something and looked up to see Braeburn walking towards him with a bunch of apples in a sheet in his hand and an expressionless face.
“Sorry about the food, Brae.” He said. Brae let out a sigh.
“It’s fine, the most important thing is that were okay.” He said with a smile. He reached in the cloth and pulled out an apple. “And most of the apples were still good, so we got something to eat.”
He tossed it and Codebreaker caught in his left hand. He took a bite out of it and went to looking at the metal.
“You still looking at that thing.” He asked.
“Brae, this metal is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.” He said.
“What do you mean?” Braeburn asked when he started on a second apple.
“I tried to make a dent on that boulder over there, made a cut in the rock itself. Whatever type of metal this is, that thing must be made of the stuff.”
“What was that thing anyway?”
“I have no idea but if I had to guess, it almost looked like a… ship.” Codebreaker said as he finished the apple.
“It looked too small to be an airship.”
“It might be a life boat or something. I don’t know.”
“But I didn’t see any propellers on it. How did it fly?” Braeburn asked as he started on his third apple.
“I saw what looked like thrusters so I guess that’s what kept it in the air.”
“Like in those sci-fi movies we watch.”
“I guess but, this is years ahead of us. Even the Griffon Kingdom would have a hard time with this.”
“Where does something like this come from?” Braeburn asked. Codebreaker thought for a minute until something clicked.
“Remember that big thing in the sky right before that light hit us?” He asked to which Braeburn nodded. “Right before that happened, I saw something leave from it. It must have been her.”
“So why do you think she did that?” Braeburn asked as he sat down on his own ‘bed’.
“Who knows, we’ll have to wait for her to wake up.” Codebreaker said. Braeburn took a glance at the mare and the case.
“What about the case?”
“If it’s important to her, I didn’t bother it. Besides, I don’t know how you open it. It might be a spell or something.” He explained. Braeburn gave a sigh, laid down and looked at the stars.
“Where do you think we are?” He asked. Codebreaker finished his third apple and laid down on his bed too.
“I don’t know. We’ll figure it out tomorrow. We’ll get home, don’t worry.”
“Yeah, I suppose your right. G’night, Codes.”
“Goodnight, Brae.”
After that, the two friends drifted off to sleep. Unknown to them, the mare had woken up but stayed silent as she listened to the conversation. She listened until they fell asleep.
“If there’s a home to go back to.” She whispered before going back to sleep.
The sun was rising into the sky as it was close to noon. A lone shadow loomed over the destroyed remains of the robot from yesterday. The buzz saw headed robot that attacked the mare stood over the destroyed robot.
“’Tch’ that’s just great.” The robot growled. He looked up and saw a pillar of smoke rising in the distance. The robot didn’t say anything as he raised his left arm and without even looking, launched a saw blade at the shuttle. Only, instead of going through, it imbedded itself into the hull and blinked red ominously.
He walked towards the smoke trail and when he was out of range. The blade detonated, resulting in the explosion that swallowed the shuttle and robot remains.
It was close to noon and there was activity in the camp. Codebreaker decided if he could fix the train. Braeburn was maintaining the weapons. He was busy loading larger bullets into the revolver and quick loaders. He glanced at the mare, she was still asleep but when they woke up the apples he had left for her were eaten.
“Ah, dammit!” He heard a yell come from the engine and looked up. He saw Codebreaker climb out and jump down from it. He walked towards him with a disgruntled look.
“No luck, huh.”
“Not even close. The radio’s busted, the gem converter’s shot, most of the parts have snapped in half, and a whole bunch of stuff I can’t fix.” He ranted.
“You’ll figure something out Codes, you always do.” Braeburn encouraged as he handed him the gun and loaders with new bullets.
Before Codebreaker could respond, he heard like a whooshing sound and a ‘clunk’ noise.
“Did you just hear something?” He asked…
‘BOOM’
An explosion from behind knocked the two to the ground. They looked back and stared in shock. The once intact train engine was reduced to burning and molten steel.
“What the hell happened?!” Braeburn shouted.
“I don’t know!” Codebreaker shouted back.
Then, as they looked back at the wreck, they saw something walking through the flames. When it emerged from the other side, they were scared at what they saw.
The figure looked like another robot from what they figured but different from the one before. It was grey with yellow pieces of armor. But the most distinguishing feature was its head was in the shape of a buzz saw blade.
“Move and you forfeit your life.” It said without emotion.
‘Now they can talk!’ “Wh-What do you want with us?” Codebreaker asked in fear.
“By the will of the Cyphoric Empire, return the researcher or face termination.
The two didn't know what to do right now. Before any could respond, a green energy bolt shot over their heads and hit the robot square in the chest. The robot grunted in response and all heads turned to where it came from. They saw the mare standing up with the case clutched in one hand and a pistol-like weapon in her other.
“I would rather die than go back there.” She said with a hate filled voice. The robot growled as the blades in his arms spun even more deadly.
“Last time was a guarantee, return what you took or perish.” He said with malice. No one moved as the two didn't move an inch and glared at each other.
“Hold on there…” all eyes went to Braeburn as he stood up and leveled his shotgun in shaking hands. “but if the lady said she isn’t going, than that’s her choice, so you can’t take that away from her.”
“Brae, are you crazy?!” Codebreaker snapped at him as he shot right up to his hooves.
“It matters not how many of you fight.” The robot said. He brought up his left arm and pressed a button on it. “ZY-BOTS!”
Upon the command, multiple green circles appeared on the ground. They began to glow brighter as copies of the destroyed robot began to materialize. As more than fifteen robots appeared and awaited the command.
“THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS, ZIPHRES!” the mare practically screamed.
“They chose their fate.” The robot, Ziphres, stated without emotion. He raised his right arm and gave the signal. “FIRE!”
“GET TO THE PASSENGER CAR!!”
It had taken an entire day but the traveler pony and the bull, Richter, had made it into the valley and were headed to the train wreck. They were close enough to see the wreck when the shots started. The pony pulled the reigns to stop Richter. He could see multiple flashes and gun shots going off, as if a shootout was happening.
“Celestia’s mane, what in tartarus is going on here?!”
Blaster fire and gun shots exchanged themselves and as the fight began. The three ponies were falling back to the train cars as they returned fire against the mechanized soldier. The zy-bots continued to fire at them as Ziprhes was in back giving orders as they advanced. The mare made it to the train car and slammed the door open.
“Get inside, quick!” She screamed. The two stallions returned a couple more shots and ran inside with the mare right after them.
They took cover behind a couple of broken seats as the zy-bots peppered the car’s hull with blaster fire.
“How long do you think it will hold?!” Breaburn shouted over the blaster fire as he tried to reload his shotgun.
“I don’t know! This thing wasn’t design for combat or whatever those things are!” Codebreaker shouted back, and as if to emphasize it, a blaster bolt punched a hole in the wall above them. He glanced at the mare in back of them as she put the suitcase in her lap.
“What are you doing?”
“Hopefully, saving our lives.” She stated. Her horn glowed a dark green and so did the case. On the top part of it, a crack formed and split it down the middle from up to down. It gave a hiss and the two parts came apart, revealing its content.
Inside the case in slots were five blasters laid out with three on top and two below it. The blasters resembled silver revolvers, but they had a long, rectangular barrel that reached to an extended hammer and trigger guard. On both sides of the barrel, close to the hammer, was a circle. It also had two muzzles, one above the other and on the bottom part of the barrel were three oval shaped buttons.
“How are more guns going to help us?!” He asked incredulously.
“These blasters can coat the user in synthetic, poly-morphic body armor. It should protect us from fatal injuries.” She explained as she gave him and Braeburn each one and picked up a third for herself as the case closed itself.
“Well how do you activate this armor?” Braeburn asked as he examined the odd gun.
“They are voice activated, so they should work.” She said as she brought the blaster close to her face. “Initiate armor sequence.”
Nothing happened for a minute until a mechanical voice came from the blaster.
‘VOICE RECOGNITION: DENIED. SYSTEMS: OFFLINE’
“You mean it needs a certain voice?!” Braeburn exclaimed as another blaster bolt shattered one of the windows.
“It appears so.” She said worriedly.
“Well whose voice does it need?!” Codebreaker shouted. Before the mare could answer, the blasters responded.
‘VOICE RECOGNITION: APPROVED. SYSTEMS: ONLINE’
They sat there, not saying anything from the response.
“How did you do that?” The mare whispered as she stared at him.
Before he could even respond, two saws imbedded themselves at opposite ends of the hull. Following a pattern, they made a giant rectangular hole in the car, taking away their cover. Outside, the zy-bots had their sword drawn and awaited a commanded. In front of them, Ziphres stood with his arms extended as the blades hummed ominously.
“We could really use that armor right now.” Braeburn whispered worriedly to the mare.
“I’ve tried but it won’t respond. It needs an activation phrase.” She responded and to emphasize, the blaster responded.
‘PLEASE INPUT ACTIVATION PHRASE.’
‘Activation phrase’ Codebreaker thought as he looked between the robots, Braeburn and the mare. As he was thinking up a plan, for some reason, an old memory came to mind. It was when he was over Braeburn’s house for a visit, a couple of months after they had become friends.
“Hey Brae, what’s this thing?” He asked as he showed him an old children’s book he was holding. Braeburn looked at it in surprise.
“I didn’t know that was still there. My papi used to read it to me when I was a small.” He responded.
Codebreaker looked at the book and blew off most of the dust. The image had faded away but he could still make out the title.
‘The Lone Stars: Pride of the Frontier’
Brought out of his memory, Codebreaker still looked between the two and tried to think of something.
“What’s the plan, Codes?” Braeburn whispered. Codebreaker thought for a minute until settling on a final plan.
‘This will be the dumbest idea I’ve ever had.’ He thought. He steeled his nerves before standing up and walking out the giant hole.
“CODES!” Braeburn shouted.
“What is he doing?!” The mare questioned.
It had taken him a minute but the traveling pony had made it close enough to the wreck without being seen to see what was going on. They hid behind a boulder and he took a peek around it. He saw a whole bunch of weird figures pinning down a group. He was thinking of coming out to help them when he saw a pony come from the train car and stand before them.
“What are you doing, kid?” He questioned.
Codebreaker stood before the robots with one course of plan as he gripped his new gun tightly in his right hand.
“Have you accepted the inevitable?” Ziphres spoke. Codebreaker took in a deep breath before speaking in a firm voice.
“Look, I don’t know who or what this ‘Cyphoric Empire’ is, but so far your tin soldiers have attacked me and my friend and tried to take our new one against her will.” He spoke. Unknowingly, he spun the blaster on his finger as he brought it up and caught the grip.
“I don’t know what’s going on but no one hurts my friends.”
“You know nothing of who we are or what you wield.” Ziphres said.
“I guess we’ll have to find out.” Codebreaker said.
‘I really hope this works.’ He brought his arms up and crossed them in front of his chest in an ‘X’, right over left.
“Frontier Pride!” When he spoke those words, a thick white line began forming in the middle of the top and bottom portion of the barrel and encircled the circle. In the middle of the line, a separate one went up from both sides and formed an outline of a triangle without the bottom. He pulled his right arm back and brought his left hand to be aligned with the hammer, palm facing him. He thrust his arm forward and left hand caught the hammer and cocked it. When his right arm was fully extended…
“Energize!”
He pulled the trigger.
The background changed to him standing with two mountains to the side and behind him and the setting sun to his back. The red blaster bolt left the barrel and shot forward before taking the shape of a coyote and turned around he did not back down as it hit him.
A red glow enveloped his whole body. When it faded, he was changed.
He was covered in a red body suit from head to hoof with white gloves and boots with gold edges. Around his waist was a white belt with a gun holster on the right side and in the middle was a gold belt buckle with the symbol of a sheriff star.
A silver cowboy vest appeared on him as well with golden edges. On the back appeared a black image of a coyote’s head in the middle. A similar image appeared on the chest of his body suit but hand size. On the left part of the vest, a white image of a revolver cylinder appeared with six black dots representing the chambers.
On his head, a custom helmet appeared on him. It was red like the suit and the top part resembled that of a cowboy hat that had the motif of a coyote. The visor was rectangular that curved with the helmet.
All eyes were drawn to him as the transformation ended. Codebreaker looked at himself in disbelief.
“Amazing.” He whispered.
“How could he have activated the device?” Ziphres whispered in shock.
“So, that’s the armor you were talking about.” Braeburn asked the mare, not taking his eyes of his friend.
“Yes but, why would it take that form?” She asked herself.
“No matter… FIRE!” Ziphres gave the order. The zy-bots eyes glowed and red energy blasts shot towards him. They all connected and the resulting blasts covered the area in dust.
All that were there waited with baited breath to see the fate of pony. Ziphres glared into the dust to see a shape. A red glow illuminated from the dust and a red blaster bolt shot out, scattering the dust, and hitting a zy-bot dead center in the chest, rendering on the ground in a fit of sparks.
The dust settled and Codebreaker stood there as the glow began to die down from his blaster. Braeburn gave a silent ‘YES’ and glanced at the blaster in his hand and then to the mare.
“Well, we can’t let him have all the fun now can we.” He asked her. The mare nodded and the two stood up, went out and stood beside Codebreaker.
“Nicely done, Codes.” He said.
“Honestly, I’m surprised that actually worked. Listen, can we save the questions for later. Please?” Codebreaker said. The two ponies nodded and followed the actions he did.
“Frontier Pride!” Their blasters gained the same characteristics as Codes’ and then…
“Energize!”
The background shifted back to the mountains and the two firing. A difference between the three happened as the blaster bolt from Braeburn was yellow and took on the shape of a horse. While the blaster bolt from the mare was blue and took the form of a hawk. Neither of them moved as the bolts turned around and connected with them.
Their armor formed around them and when the glow was gone they were different. There was a subtle difference in their armor. Braeburn’s gear was yellow and his hat and suit had a horse motif. The mare’s gear was blue and her hat and suit had a hawk like motif, another difference was that there was a silver skirt that reached her mid-thighs.
The two looked over there new forms with interest.
“Not bad, even kept my hat.” Braeburn commented by tipping his hat.
‘Why would it choose this form?’ She thought as she examined herself.
Ziphres growled as he looked at the three. “I don’t know how activated the transformers but it will do you no good. ATTACK!”
Upon command, the zy-bots raised their swords and rushed the three.
“Let’s do it, guys.” Codebreaker exclaimed. They gave their approved and the three rushed forward to meet their enemies.
The traveler watched as the three ponies split off and took on different groups of enemies.
Braeburn was surrounded by a few zy-bots. He dodged multiple blasts and strikes by rolling out of the way and jumping back. He returned fire and took out three in rapid succession.
One zy-bot got close and made a downward slash but Braeburn blocked it with his left arm. He gave a solid kick to the front that caused sparks and sent it sliding to the ground a few feet.
“Woo! I’ve never been this strong before.” He exclaimed. He noticed the buttons on the side of the gun.
“I wonder what you guys do?” he whispered. He took a chance and pressed the left one.
‘Buster Mode’ The gun announced. The top muzzle began to glow bright yellow. Braeburn gave a chance and shot at an approaching zy-bot. The recoil was just like his shotgun and the damage just the same as the bot went down in pieces.
“Oh, I like this!” He exclaimed. He grabbed the barrel with his other hand and continued to blast away at the zy-bots.
The mare was holding her own as she dodged blasts and returned fire. She ducked and jumped to avoid hits.
“I never thought it would be this durable.” She commented.
She gripped the handle tightly and pushed the barrel up. A slender, ten inch blade jutted out from the top muzzle.
She displayed good swordsmanship as she parried multiple zy-bots and slashed them in return. She spun in a circle and took down multiple zy-bots at once.
Codebreaker was also holding his own against the enemy. He showed marksmanship that he didn’t even know he had. One last blaster bolt took down the last zy-bot near him.
“I never thought I’d be able to do this.” He said to himself. He heard buzzing and jumped out of the way as two saw blades exploded where he was just at. He looked up and saw Ziphres standing before him.
“This game has gone on LONG ENOUGH!!” he spat. He raised both arms and blades revved up even more.
“At least we agree on that much.” Codebreaker replied. He looked at the blaster and pressed the middle button.
‘Rapid Mode’ The gun announced. Both barrels began to glow red. Ziphres launched multiple blades at him. Codebreaker pointed and pulled the trigger. Both barrels shot out bolts in quick succession like a machine gun. The blaster bolts and saw blades continued to collide with each other as they were shot out.
The robotic commander growled, took out a saw blade and held them in each hand and charged him. Codebreaker shifted his blaster to the sword and charged as well. The two were close to each other when Codebreaker slid on his heels, ducked underneath the saws and slashed the robot across the mid-section causing sparks.
Ziphres grunted from the pain and turned around to face him only to fall on one knee.
“Impossible. How… could you master it… so fast?” He choked out.
“I don’t really know myself….” Codebreaker started. He touched the circle on the left side and flipped it down. On the other side was and indent in the shape of a star and a button in the middle. He took the star of his buckle with his left hand and placed it in the indent. “…but what I do know is…” with a flick of his hand, the pad snapped back into place. Both circles on the blaster glowed white and emitted a clock chiming sound as he aimed it at Ziphres.
“Your sun has set.”
He pulled the trigger and an orb of orange energy shot out. The orb impacted with Ziphres as he yelled in pain. The image of a sheriff star appeared briefly before vanishing. The general had sparks coming from his whole body.
“You may have bested me… but know you… have… signed… your... DEATH!” He declared before falling on his back and exploding.
Codebreaker breathed hard as he looked as the explosion subsided. He heard no sign of battle. He turned around and ran back to the train to help the others.
The battle ended and the three ponies converged in the middle of the camp.
“Okay, did all that seriously just happened?!” Codebreaker asked breaking the silence.
“Yes it did and we kicked them back to where they came from!” Braeburn announced.
“Only you would say something like that.” Codebreaker said exhausted. He looked at his suit and then to the mare. “How do you turn this off?”
The mare didn’t answer but flipped the panel on the blaster open, pressed the button in the middle of the indent and close it. Just after closing it, the armor disappeared.
“Well that’s convenient.” Braeburn said. The two stallions followed the steps and their armor came off as well.
“Desert Rose.” She spoke. The two looked up in confusion.
“Excuse me?” Codebreaker asked.
“My name is Desert Rose.” She responded.
“Well, nice to meet you Ms. Rose. My names’ Braeburn Apple and this here’s my friend Codebreaker.” He said with smile while Codebreaker nodded.
“Ms. Rose…”
“Just call me Rose” She replied quickly.
“Okay Rose, Why were those robot s after you?” He asked trying to figure out why they were attacked. She was about to respond when…
“Are you Ponies alright?”
