Mechanical Revenge

I never knew how long that vertical shaft was leading into the Central Factory was until I had to haul a face unit down it.

The location of said shaft was also above where the transporter to Agniratha would be. I explored the Factory a bit more to get it mapped out for my unit's systems and I discovered that the place's layout was almost identical to the game's layout. This made things a lot more convenient for me, as it was my favorite location in Xenoblade.

Another thing I noticed is that the background where the elevator to Mechonis Field is supposed to be is similar, but instead of a bright orange glow, it was a duller glow and a metal wall. If I had to guess, this entire place was encased in a metal sphere of some kind, making it impossible to to dig into.

I found another shaft, but this one was horizontal and its entrance was in a cliff face, close to the maggot sister's castle. I thought of the invading potential, but I wished to refrain from building a Mechon army unless I'm unable to do the deed for whatever reason.

My priority right now is getting my face unit upgraded properly. That was the nice thing about having a giant mech as your means of protection; if you had the know-how, facilities, and resources to do so, you can change and upgrade your armor and weapons to your liking.

The facilities and know-how were no problem. The resources were. I made sure to rest up before gathering what I needed.

The first face I hauled down was Jade Face. I wanted to extract Face Nemesis first, but I've decided on functionality over sentimentality and Jade Face had systems I had an immediate use for.

When I went up to grab Jade, I noticed a blue dome in the distance with something inside. After installing Jade's extreme zooming systems meant for sniping, rather easily I may add, I was able to observe what was going on.

I saw Sombra giving chase to that looked like the element bearers and the stallion who had the wedding I crashed. I was incredibly tempted to fly off and try to, once again, make an attempt on Sunbitch's and Mooncunt's lives, but I knew I needed to whip myself into shape first. I'd win a battle of attrition, but I'm not patient enough for that.

I observed as Sombra attempted to... make ends meet, I suppose is the phrase I'm looking for. "I think he should make the switch from dark crystals to obsidian. Such an underrated material, especially if it's a shadow-based material like dark crystals."

Eventually he was defeated and, from what I observed, killed in a blast of bright light. I sigh as I brought Face Nemesis with me on the return trip to the Central Factory. "I'm willing to bet he would've made an excellent ally. Too bad he was killed by his pride."

As I lowered Face Nemesis, I searched in a compartment of my unit and found my last remaining memory of my sister:

A photo of me and her. I had my head on hers with a playful grin while her mouth was open with a smile, one eye closed. My Mechon's claw was in the picture as well, but it never bothered me.

This was taken by the one unicorn who saw us as more than monsters, the only pony I didn't wish a terrible fate on; Clover the Clever. She used magic to take this picture, and was the only pony that connected with my sister and I.

I sigh again as I put the picture back. I might make a replica Face Nemesis in her honor, but for now I needed the parts.

One thing I noticed that I can't believe I didn't notice before was the fact that all of the dead face operators had the same, fatal injury my sister had. This worried me a bit, as the maggot sisters may have found a way to penetrate Mechon armor.

If it was with the Elements of Harmony, the only reason why I was spared was because I never gave them the time to fully charge, so instead of killing me it sealed me in stone.

No matter. They no longer have the elements themselves. If I can get them to face me without the bearers, I'll be able to fight without worrying about THAT weapon.

Nemesis and Jade were easy to extract. Yaldabaoth and the mass-produced faces were a massive pain to even move. The golden mechon was larger than any of the other faces, forcing me to sever parts and make multiple trips. The mass-produced faces were really bulky, oddly having more armor than any other face. Sacrificed offense for defense I'm assuming.

I took a whole three days just to get every single unit down into the factory, during which I only took a bunch naps and quick trips back into the nearby forest for water. After I was finished, I immediately went to work on extracting Jade's guns from his shoulders.

"This is turning into an even bigger pain than I thought, all these wires and what-not I have to worry about."

After extracting the guns and whatever data I still needed, I put Jade in a nearby storage area and went to Nemesis next. I managed to extract the engines and their "covers" along with the system for managing them, but I entertained the idea of having three jets instead of one or two.

Yaldabaoth, sadly, had nothing of use to me except the far more powerful core and what I identified as a controller core.

Finally, I extracted the armor from one of the mass-produced faces, wishing to have thicker armor against whatever the maggot sisters had that can penetrate Mechon armor.

As much as I wanted to begin upgrading Metal Face ASAP, I wanted to make sure that the Central Factory wouldn't be found by my enemies right away. I was painfully aware that I couldn't keep this place a secret forever, but I want to delay that inevitability as much as possible.

Plus, if I'm lucky, I might be able to snag a magic artifact and make sure Sunbitch never gets to use it. I may be immune to all but the Elements of Harmony, but I'll be damned if I let them get more toys to play with.

Reserving the cliff-face entrance for when the place is discovered, I exit out of the snow-field entrance and flew south-east. If I can cause a ruckus somewhere away from the Central Factory, I should be able to buy myself some time.

I've forgotten how boring long flights are.

Don't be deceived by Metal Face's flight speed in the game. It's actually a lot slower than it looks.

After flying non-stop for almost two hours, stopping only once to have a drink right before a desert, I found what appeared to be a small settlement with a large patch of trees right behind it.

Oh, this settlement wasn't here a thousand years ago. Perhaps they wouldn't mind me paying a visit...

I heard a few screams of fear as I came in for a landing in the middle of the town, much to my amusement. One of the ponies, a gold-colored stallion, held his ground with a nervous look. "W-welcome to Appleloosa, strange being."

I give him a stare that he withered under. "How... kind of you to welcome me. However I must ask... if you haven't heard of me at all?"

"O-oh, are you perhaps a famous being from outside of Equestria?"

This is laughable, Sunbitch. You kept your subjects in the dark about me... and perhaps about a lot of other things you've ever tried covering up in your stupidity.

I looked at him as best as I could in my attempt to convey a grin. "Perhaps. I'm certain if you asked around Canterlot, you would know about me."

"Oh? Perhaps I can ask my cousin Applejack to ask one of her friends about you."

He's related to her, eh? I couldn't of asked for a better set-up.

Another stallion with what looked like a sheriff's badge and hat approached me with a bravado. "I-I'm the sheriff around these parts. If you cause any trouble what-so-ever, I'm going to have to place you under arrest, celebrity or not!"

The way he actually said this... to a being made of metal and is towering over him... the fact he went out of his way, just to say that to me as if to intimidate me.

I laughed... hard. "You maggots really think you can do anything to me? That is laughable. You worthless bugs wouldn't even be able to dent me, even if your pitiful lives depended on it!"

All of the ponies instantly started backing away from me. The sheriff spoke up, "S-so you show your t-true colors. You aren't f-famous after all!"

I laugh as I back-hand him and a few others into buildings, much to the surprised cries of other ponies. "I would rather think myself as infamous, thank you very much."

"Infamous or not, me and my tribe won't let you get away with what you did to the ponies!" I look over to see a small group of buffalo, with one slightly larger one wearing a native hat.

I scoff. "Oh look, buffalo jerky on legs!" This made him mad enough to ram into my ankle. I pretended to cry out in agony while holding it. "Oh no, my ankle! What will I ever do without my ankle?" I cut myself off with a laugh as I stomp him into the ground. "Sorry, sweetheart, but you can't even make me flinch!"

The golden stallion spoke up in a way that sounded like he pissed himself. "W-w-why are you a-a-attacking u-us? I-I-I assure you w-we did nothing w-wrong!"

That was golden, these ponies thinking that by doing nothing bad, nothing bad will happen to them.

I scoff once again. "It's not about the damage done. It's about sending a message. You should know that your maggot princesses never bothered warning her 'little ponies' about a dangerous presence... MY presence!" I crashed my claws on both sides of the stallion and looked at him up close. "You hear that? She effectively left you all... to die. BY MY CLAWS! If that isn't moronically stupid, I don't know what is."

He said nothing and my sensors picked up the tell-tale signs of urine, much to my amusement.

Moving away, I addressed the entire town, "I want you bugs to relay this message to your moronic rulers: Tell them that if they want me to leave Equestria forever, they must duel me to the death, with no outside help. If they fail to comply or get the message, I will continue attacking each and every one of their precious towns and cities.

"And trust me when I say... I don't want to bloody my claws before the duel unless they refuse to show up."

I looked at the ponies closer, causing some of them to faint like goats. "You hear that? If your rulers are too cowardly to duel me, any lives I have to take are on THEIR heads!"

With a mad cackle, I turn into a jet and zoom north-east in an attempt to make them think I have a hideout in that direction.

Ah... that may not of been my BEST performance, but I'll be damned if it didn't send a message... unless that entire town dies from fright...

With one item of business out of the way, I decided to see if I couldn't find any artifacts of power I could use or prevent the usage of. It wasn't until I started the return trip to the Central Factory did I find one.

A temple in the middle of a jungle. Haven't heard of that cliche before... oh wait.

Flying over it, my sensors picked up a fairly powerful energy signature, as well as a life signature moving around in it. The temple was far bigger than me of course, but I could pinpoint the artifact's location with ease.

So lets see here... I could exit my Mechon and traverse the temple and its hazards like a good little adventuring boy...

Or I could just bust the roof open and take the artifact like that. Where's your god now, Indiana?

I smashed the temple open and immediately found the artifact: A glowing blue sphere.

Eh... I could've gotten worse.

I picked up the sphere with my claws just as a yellow and grey mare entered the collapsed room. "HEY, just what are you doing to these ruins? These are--"

"Precious archeological sites that must be preserved, blah blah blah." I cut the mare off and she glared at me. "Sorry there, nurse, but methinks that the dead should help the living with gifts of power like this sphere, not hinder them with sites that will have no core significance in the grand scheme of things."

"Why you--"

"Save it, I ain't interested. All I care about is giving this sphere a nice, new home. Smell you later, cobwebs!" I hit the roof again and made it collapse over her, forcing her to retreat back into the temple, before taking my leave.

I made sure to grab the sphere with my human hands before continuing. No sense dropping it after going through the trouble of smashing a temple roof open.

Canterlot Castle

Celestia was still overseeing repairs to the castle. She was overjoyed to allow her student to start her advanced studies, but Metal Face's threat still loomed in her head.

"Your highness, terrible news!" She looked over to a panicking castle messenger, worry on her face. "A town by the name of Appleloosa has just recently been attacked by a giant metal monster! The residents are asking for royal assistance."

Celestia swiftly nodded. "Alert the guards and send relief to Appleloosa." The messenger bowed before taking his leave. She quickly summoned up a quill and parchment. "Dear Twilight Sparkle..."

After sending the message, she narrowed her eyes in a glare. "Metal Face... we won't let you roam this land free forever, as we will soon find a way to track you. Your attacks are unjust... and you will fall once again, just like Sombra..."