Princess Celestia sat at her desk in her private room, contemplating. It's been longer than three days since Metal Face's attack on Appleloosa, where he gave the threat that if Luna and herself didn't duel him to the death, he would attack other towns. She wrote to her student and told her to keep the Elements of Harmony on hoof in the event that the metal beast decides to attack Ponyville.

Now, however, she faced a conundrum. If Metal Face happens to evade the elements and continues to terrorize the towns and cities of Equestria, they will have to answer his threat. She had no doubt that he would carry out the threat of beginning the murder of her little ponies, should they not accept his death duel. The tracking spell would come too late for that reason alone.

There was a knock at Celestia's door, jolting her out of her thoughts. "Come in."

Princess Luna opened the door and beheld her tired sister. "Tia, are you worrying again?"

Celestia sighed. "Metal Face. As much faith as I put into Twilight and her friends, we must still consider the possibility of them failing to seal him away."

Luna shuddered. "I don't fancy a duel to the death with a nigh-invulnerable metal beast. Back when he first attacked us in a seemingly towering rage, even our most powerful spells only temporarily charred his body."

"That's what worries me, Lulu. He has us in this much of a compromising situation. We may be far stronger now than we were back then, but I fear even that won't be enough."

Luna looked at the papers scattered on the desk. "What of the tracking spell?"

"Doable, but it will come too late if he does carry out his murderous threat." Celestia looks at the papers with a sigh. "We need more help..."

"Perhaps we can get the help of Discord?"

This caused the solar princess to look at her younger sister in shock. "Do you know what you're trying to--"

Luna held up a hoof to cut her off. "Hear me out, Tia. Discord is nothing like that metal monstrosity. The only time he ever WILLINGLY broke somepony's spirit was when he tried to prevent Twilight and her friends from resealing him. He may of tried to rule Equestria in a state of chaos, but he let ponies come and go as they pleased. He never outright terrorized anypony like that... thing has."

Celestia nodded slowly, seeing her sister's reasoning. "When you put it like that, perhaps Discord CAN be redeemed, unlike how I originally thought." She thought a bit longer before smiling. "And I know just the ponies to help him: Twilight and her friends."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "I don't know, sister. They might be the ones who hold the biggest grudges against him."

"I still believe they have the best chance at reforming Discord. Especially Fluttershy, whom has had the least adverse reaction to him."

"The shy pony who's scared of her own shadow?"

Celestia shook her head. "She may be like that, but she represents kindness for a reason. Perhaps Discord will be willing to reform when Fluttershy gives him the kind friend he never got before."

There was a loud sigh from Luna. "I trust in your judgment, sister. I can only hope both him and the other bearers are... 'willing' to play along."

"I have full confidence in them, Lulu. Now, I need to prepare for his transportation to Ponyville in a few days. I can only hope Metal Face can hold off for that long."

Central Factory

Seeing the magic-filled cylinders exiting the teleporter and getting hauled off by the machinery continues to make me incredibly giddy. There have already been about ten-thousand cylinders transported in from the makeshift 'harvesting' facility and counting. There was still a ton of storage space for more but I knew that, at the rate we were getting filled cylinders, we would run out of room.

The one thing that sort of irks me is how tiny the cylinders are. They were small enough for a pony of all things to pick up and carry off, and the weight of the magic is next to nothing. Then again, I'm in a massive Mechon seventy-five percent of the time. I think it skewed my sense of scale enough to make me think that most things are smaller than what they should be.

However, what doesn't help is the fact that, not long after I got back to the Central Factory, the teleporter bringing cylinders in had developed a glitch in it's system. The Mechon on the other side were able to fix it no problem, but we've lost one filled cylinder and it's out there, waiting for a pony to pick it up and take it away. No big loss, but it's evidence against me.

I went into a refinery area and had a few cylinders brought in with me. After finding my way around the system, I managed to get the refining process running.

The results were fast and pleasing. Ten cylinders made a block of Mechon metal large enough to make the armor for many units. I could make a lot of the M30 or M40 series, plenty of the M50 series, a few of the M60 series, or a couple of the M70 or M80 series if I got crafty. it required at least two blocks to make one of the M90 series and, unfortunately, it seemingly required at least three blocks of the metal to make something like a M108/SPADE unit, one of the biggest Mechon units ever built.

Five cylinders made the materials needed to fully complete power cores, small energy weapon systems like a M34 Hornet unit's gun, and miscellaneous systems and programming. I knew that it would require more than just three cylinders for the bigger Mechon units, so I didn't bother trying to estimate further.

It was great that the refinery was working. What wasn't great is the fact that the program for automated refinement was missing, requiring almost constant manual direction for production to go anywhere. I made a mental note to try and develop a program for automation later.

Because right soon, I have a date with a certain bug nest and I wasn't about to break the promise I made to that forest.

Before I left, I managed to create something akin to a Mechon arm-cannon for my personal use, in case I get caught outside of my unit. The chances of that happening are low, but you can't predict all outcomes and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Finding a place inside my unit for the arm-cannon, I set out for the location of the bug nest. Thanks to the incredible speed boost from my triple jet engines, something I couldn't use because of the escort mission involving the carrier, I reached the village in no time.

What caught me off guard was the fact that it was covered by what appeared to be a misshaped glass dome of sorts. I scanned it and, while it had traces of magic in it, it was just as strong as normal glass.

You bugs are funny. Do you think I would be discouraged by such a weak barrier?

Zooming in my sight to see past the glass, I see the town decorated in some kind of... goth unicorn theme? The town definitely didn't look like that yesterday, like someone else beat me to the punch of conquering a town.

Well, time to crash someone's party.

I flew higher up before shifting into my mech form and diving down, claw first."This party's over!" I didn't even feel any resistance from the glass; it simply gave away to my presence. Seeing a group of ponies near an important-looking building, I fly towards it and land as the screams of ponies filled the air. I reveled in it, knowing just how pathetic of a race these ponies truly are. The only pony without a look of terror was a blue unicorn.

"The great and powerful Trixie demands that you--"

The blue unicorn was interrupted by Rainbow Dash, who had just exited the building with only three of her 'friends'. "Metal Face!"

I laugh. "Sorry I'm late to the party. What do you think of my little entrance?"

Now the one named Applejack spoke up, "How in tarnation did you know we'd be here?"

"What's that? The poor insects are a little confused? I'm here because I FELT like coming here!" There were a few more cries of terror from those words. "You being here's just an added bonus!"

"TRIXIE COMMANDS YOUR RESPECT!"

I look back at the blue unicorn. "No... you demand my attention. What do you think you are, the queen of all cosmos? The end-all-know-all of divas?"

"The great and powerful Trixie does not need to hear anything from a rusted tin can!" One of my fingers twitched at those words. "Now, leave before I force you to leave!"

I really look forward to the trend of having the one bug say something utterly hilarious every time I pay a beating to one of their nests. I once again laughed hard. "Oh my, the maggot really thinks she can beat me? This I MUST see, so go ahead... and hit me with your best shot!"

"TRIXIE WILL DO SO WITH PLEASURE!" She launches a red ball of magic at me, which somewhat surprised me considering her color scheme. The magic simply dissipated against my armor and I had another cruel laugh at her look of surprise. "What? You should of been nothing but an actual tin can!"

"Sorry, vomit worm, but I'm no ordinary tin can. I'm a tin can that's going to rip your face off... with gusto!" I pointed my Jade Cannons right at her and flashed my claws, causing her to lose some of her bravado.

"T-the great and powerful Trixie grows tired of your empty threats. The last spell was only a fraction of my power, now you will know Trixie's wrath!"

This time she launched a big laser of magic at me. All it did was produce a lot of smoke that completely covered me, yet she somehow seemed to be under the impression that she actually beat me, if I'm hearing her gloating right. I could see her through the smoke just fine, so I struck the ground right in front of her with my claw. "Look at you, you think you're so high and mighty... that nothing could ever match you in power. I think it's time to cut you down to size!"

I strike the ground in front of her again with a cruel laugh, causing her to finally scream with fright. My scans suddenly bring my attention to the amulet she was wearing; it held a lot of power and, according to the measurements, could put a normal unicorn on par with the maggot princesses.

I laugh again. "Using a magic artifact to increase your own power? Weak... weak and pathetic!" The bearers gasp as I backhand Trixie hard enough to topple her before picking her up by the amulet. "Can't let you or anyone else have this, so I'm destroying it!" I managed to break the clasp of the amulet, causing the unicorn to drop to the ground without it. I quickly throw it into the air and sliced it in half, which caused the glass barrier to instantly shatter.

"You, you're going to pay!" I hear Rainbow shout at me.

I look at her. "How so? You're down two necessary bugs to activate the Elements of Harmony." The pink one tried to say something, but all that came out was something akin to mumbling. I zoom in on her and busted a side due to laughing so hard. "Oh my god, that is hilarious! Tell me, how does it feel to be unable to say anything to anyone, huh?"

"That's just cruel to even think, ya monster!"

I look at Applejack now. "Is it, now? Maybe you should spend some time set in stone yourself, you dumb, country hick!"

Now the white bug named Rarity was giving me a disdainful look. "You ruffian, how dare you continue to insult us!"

A familiarity to the words she spoke actually gave me pause for a second as I tried to remember what it reminded me of. I quickly shook it off before waving a claw digit. "Is that the best you can come up with for an insult? Besides, methinks you're pretty much dead in the water without your precious elements!"

"I don't think so, Metal Face!" I look over to see the bug named Twilight Sparkle rapidly approaching with Fluttershy, holding the Elements of Harmony in her magic. "Your reign of terror will end here!"

Of course I had to waste time playing with my prey...

Before I could even say anything, she teleported over to her friends, put the elements on, and immediately started glowing. The same glowing I saw when Discord let me see through his perspective. "I believe my time here is--" The rainbow wave of death erupted towards me. "God damn it!" I quickly turn into a jet and sped off.

My sensors kept blaring, warning me of the wave of harmony chasing me down. I flew above the village, trying to avoid getting caught by it, but it wouldn't give up. Attempting to fly out of range was an option, but my more than stubborn pride kept me from flying too far away. Besides, the weapon could have unlimited range and it would get me the moment I thought I was safe.

It wasn't until I saw the bearers just floating there, feeding the wave, before I realized what I must do to save myself. I sped out over the forest I had visited earlier and gained some distance before turning. The wave follow my exact path, which allowed me to turn again to go back to the village.

"Catch this, Elements of Harmony!" Using the trickle charge I had on my Metal Cannon, I instantly fired a blast of energy to where the bearers were floating.

The shot exploded, causing the bearers to be flung away from each other and causing the rainbow wave to dissipate. I let out a loud laugh as many ponies screamed in horror. "Aw, I broke your harmony!" I landed next to the closest bearer, Rarity. "Looks like I'll have to get my claws bloodied sooner than I thought. Too bad, so sad."

She desperately tried to crawl away from me as I raised a claw to strike. "Y-you wouldn't... you wouldn't dare!"

Again, she reminded me of something... or someone, but this time it didn't give me pause. "Sorry, love, but I dare. Can't have you in the way of my revenge!" I went in for the strike.

"Y-you brute!"

"Oh come off it, you brute!"

I halted, now looking at her with what felt like pinpricks for eyes. Now I remembered... who she reminded me of.

The accent and pitch... similar.

Her speech pattern and hair style... the same.

Her eyes...

Her eyes...

Kill her! Kill her and get it over with!

B-but I... I...

Just kill her! She is NOT your little sister. She's nothing LIKE her!

My claw starts shuddering and I start hyperventilating, much to the pony's confusion.

... Can't... I can't...

JUST. DO. IT!

I CAN'T!

"DAMN YOU!" I turn into a jet and sped directly towards the Central Factory, not even caring if they trace me to that location. When I got inside, I pseudo-crashed and flew out of my unit, clutching my head.

"It can't be... it can't be... why? Why does she... remind me so much... of her? Why?"

I stayed like that for a while, curled up on the floor and repeating the same question.

When I finally recovered, I realized I had tears in my eyes. My own memories had revolted against me and made me withdraw from what I wanted to do. The more I asked myself why I had such a weak moment, the longer I kept going in circles.

I couldn't even understand why I didn't react like this the first time she ever spoke to me or even tried to remember who she reminded me of.

Shaking it off the best I could, I tried to forget about the bug named Rarity and focused on my hatred for the maggot sisters.

"I need to end this soon. I don't think what's left of my sanity can take much more. I NEED to make an army now, in case I myself can't do the job."

I finally got up and back into my unit in order to reach the refinery. I needed to make the place as automated as possible, and I need it done fast. After all, I now had more than just the Elements of Harmony to worry about.

Author's Note

I'm a bit iffy about this chapter, as it's my first attempt at getting someone to abort their killing intent through familiarity by... well acting and, in a way, looking like someone close. I'm sure there are better ways to do it, but I couldn't think of them for this scenario.