Armored core: Equis

Chapters

Prologue: Final battle
Chapter 1: First contact
Chapter 2: Meeting Luna and Twilight
Chapter 3: The Elements of Harmony
Chapter 4: Where I come from
Chapter 5: HERE COMES CHRYSSI!
Chapter 6: A Show of Force

Prologue: Final battle

As her AC, Lucifer , fell down the large shaft leading to the Internecine , Telos thought back to the Mission briefing . The person who had sent the request had said this would be a very dangerous mission, one that only the last surviving raven would have even a chance of completing. That being said however, she could not tell who the voice belonged to, as they had used a scrambler to hide their identity. The mission entailed defeating the final variant of the pulverizers, which the aerial version was thought to be the last of. However, it seemed that just before she had managed to destroy it, the Internecine had managed to create another pulverizer. As such, she made sure to equip heavy weapons along with a Karura micro missile launcher, seeing as pulverizers rarely had any missile defences. A brief description of her AC would be in order though.

It was a Middle weight AC with a good AP rating along with high mobility. Its legs were streamlined, but sturdy, with one large booster just below the knee joint of each leg. As for its arms, the shoulder joints were rounded, with a circular panel in the center for holding small weapons, like handguns, and pulse weaponry. The head however, was not at all streamlined, with a blocky structure, and several cameras on the front. The core was also fairly streamlined, but with four large panels concealing very large, exceedingly powerful boosters. The armament was as follows: A long bladed laser blade, Karasawa laser rifle, long barreled grenade cannon , a rather blocky micro missile launcher, and a bit of an oddity among ACs, a Scottish claymore sword, scaled up to be used by the AC, sheathed between the grenade cannon and missile launcher.

Finally, the shaft ended and deposited her into a large circular area. As she hit the ground, her AC's legs flexing to absorb the impact, the familiar voice of her AC's Computer could be heard saying "Unidentified energy source detected, extreme caution advised," something she had grown used to hearing these past few days. Looking up, she noticed a large blue shape, practically identical to the aerial pulverizer she had destroyed not more than a day ago. Instinctively, Telos immediately locked on and fired 9 missiles at it, only to see, much to her dismay, that 4 of them were shot down almost immediately. "SHIT, AN AMS," she swore, but as she said it, the pulverizer lunged at her, and to dodge it was a difficult task. Tapping a few buttons on the console in front of her , she brought up a scanning program as she boosted around the arena, narrowly dodging several plasma blasts that would have crippled her AC in a VERY short order. Much to her dismay, the scan revealed VERY little about her opponent, other than the presence of an energy shield generator, and several things she did NOT want to hear. It had an AMS system with a high intercept rate and infinite ammunition, along with a high agility missile launcher whose missiles were immune to her own AMS. It also had some kind of rail-gun that had no need to charge before firing, and could be fired VERY rapidly.

Groaning, Telos disabled the missile launcher, realizing that getting even 5 missiles in wouldn't happen often. Instead , she swapped over to the battleship grade artillery piece widely known as a grenade cannon, and fired off one round. It connected, and sent the pulverizer reeling as the impact was more than enough to stop her rival, whose name Telos never knew, but his AC was called Brawler, and had a habit of tearing through anything unlucky enough to get in his path. Seeing an opening, she threw herself at it, activating her laser blade and cutting off the rail-gun, only to get launched backwards when it smacked her with the flat of its blade. Realizing that playing defensively would only get her killed faster, she went on the offensive, rapidly firing her laser rifle and grenade cannon, while simultaneously opening up the panel on her right shoulder , launching several rockets in rapid succession. It decided that the rounds from her grenade cannon were the biggest problem, and took care to avoid them, only to have 20 to 30 high powered rockets blow several of its limbs off. Telos decided it was time to finish things, and flew after it, holstering her Karasawa and drawing the claymore as she did, but as she sliced it in half, her AC's computer warned her of a dimensional anomaly. However, it was too little, too late, and she was pulled in, never to be seen again, at least by the corporations she was so highly sought after by.

Darkness surrounded Telos, and try as she might, her AC's thrusters could not move her AC far enough to get back to the anomaly which sucked her in.Days past, and she began to wonder how long her rations would last, when finally, the darkness gave way to bright colors and a castle. Instinct kicked in and she realized that it was obviously a fortified location, and yet, no missiles came streaking up to blow her out of the sky. Realizing that she was in a place that was technologically behind, she activated her boosters and darted to the side, falling down the side of the mountain it was on, only to land on something that crunched when she did.

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Celestia's perspective

Hearing a loud, high pitched whine, I looked over the side of the balcony of my room, only to see a bright red THING fly just to the right of the castle, before falling down with crash, and an ominous crunching sound. Worrying that this might be a new changeling weapon , I immediately flew after it. Upon reaching it however, I noticed that it was FAR too large for a changeling. On its head were three bright blue lights. In its hands was a VERY large sword, resembling the one that my sister, Luna, often carried, though obviously scaled up to match this hulking metal beast. As I landed in front of said machine, the lights got brighter, and apparently noted the crown upon my head, as it sheathed the sword, drew the oddly shaped cylindrical device at its hip, closed several panels, and stood at attention.

Chapter 1: First contact

Telos's perspective

My radar registered a small contact closing in at a decent speed, so I turned to meet the possible threat. What I saw confused me and, admittedly, was slightly arousing. A bipedal horse, with wings and a horn, her fur the purest white, was approaching. That I could live with, but her armor was..... Unconvincing, to say the least. It consisted of little more than two plates, joined together by chain, in what could honestly be considered a bikini, which left almost nothing to imagination. Her bust was considerably larger than my own, and it was plainly obvious that she was taller than me as well, with an hourglass figure to match. I felt my face flush, and was glad that I was within my cockpit, because it was then that I noticed the tiara, signifying royalty. Because of this, I felt that it would be a good idea to stand at attention, at least for the moment.

Hands dancing across the console, my AC sheathed the sword down its back, drew the karasawa, and stood up straight. I maintained this posture for about a minute before I figured it would be a good idea to show my ACTUAL face to this.... pony i guess. Thankfully, long ago I installed a program that would set my AC to standby with a single button press. I brought up the interface, activated standby, and opened the cockpit.

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Celestia's perspective

It was plainly obvious to me that this was a machine of war, being that it had a sword, but the rest of the equipment confused me, with the lack of sharpened edges on most of the equipment. It was shaped similarly to the beings of our world, with the main difference being size and a lack of hooves on its lower appendages. When it crouched, I immediately went into a defensive stance, ready for anything. Except for what happened. It went down to one knee, and a hissing noise could be heard, before I noticed a ladder descending from the back, with what looked like a much smaller version of the machine riding down on the ladder, before jumping down. The being walked up to me between the legs of its machine, noting the green splotches on the feet. Soon it stood before me. The moment it stopped moving, it stood up straight, and snapped off a salute, not unlike the royal guard. I chose my words with great caution, as it was obviously a warrior of high caliber . Before it could say anything, I quickly said, "My name is Princess Celestia, I rule over these lands. Might I inquire as to who you are?"

As I finished my sentence, the creature slowly reached up to its head and took off what I assumed to be a helmet, revealing a pale face with no snout to speak of, and a quick smile on it's face. "I'm afraid with my profession, I cannot disclose my actual name, therefore, the best idea would be to address me by my call-sign, Telos," it said, quickly but courteously.

"Well," I said"I believe that we should take this conversation back to my castle, Telos," a worried expression flickered over Telos' face before she, I'm assuming this because of its figure and voice, turned and shot a changeling through the head with a weapon so small I hadn't noticed it until now.The changeling stumbled and collapsed, green blood leaking from the rather large hole in its head. The loud bang startled me, and I realized that the equipment on it's machine , save the sword, must all be similar in function.

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Telos' perspective

"It seems like that would be a good idea, Princess, but inform the people among the castle to cover their ears as I approach," I say. "Why is that, Telos?" she asks.

With a smirk, I respond, "Because Princess, If I am to get there in a timely manner, I'm going to need to get back in my AC"

"AC?" Celestia echoed.

"The machine behind me, Princess. I refuse to leave it in a hostile environment with the cockpit open, because who knows what those black, bug-like things would do with it if they got ahold of it."

"Very well, return to your AC, as you call it, and Meet me back at the castle," she said, spreading her wings and turning back to her castle.

"See you there, Princess" I said, climbing back into my AC. After a quick check to ensure flight readiness, I immediately start up my AC. It stands straight, then jumps high into the air, panels on the back opening up with energy charging in the thrusters behind them, before igniting and slamming me forward at speeds approaching the sound barrier. Despite her having a head start on me, I soon catch up to, and pass, Celestia whose expression was priceless as she saw me rocket past her.

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Celestia's perspective

As I flew back to my castle, I heard a loud whine, followed by what sounded like an explosion, and was getting louder instead of going away. Just as I was about to turn back and ask Telos about this, a bright red blur flew by me, approaching speeds I had only seen Rainbow Dash achieve. As I was about to continue on, I noticed the flames and smoke on its back being emitted by four panels. "hmm, this must be why she wanted to return to her AC, so that she could use.... whatever just happened, to get back to the castle in the shortest time possible" I silently mused. Realizing that my sister, Luna, would see this 'AC' as a threat, I immediately sent her a message via telepathy, "Lulu, there is an ENORMOUS , red, bipedal machine headed your way, do NOT attack it. The pilot is an ally, would likely retaliate in kind, and most likely destroy the castle in the process" Luna responded at once.

"Understood Tia, but I have already noticed it landing in the courtyard of the castle, it was moving too fast to even think of attacking it before it landed, " Sighing, I charge my horn and cast a teleportation spell with the destination set for the castle courtyard. These negotiations, if they go sour, could easily spell the end of Canterlot, possibly the entirety of Equestria.

Chapter 2: Meeting Luna and Twilight

Telos's perspective

About one minute after passing Celestia, I had decided to cut power to the Over Booster system, to avoid undue panic from my arrival. Despite this, I had reached the castle in short order.As I landed in what appeared to be the courtyard of the castle, several ponies had to scatter to avoid being crushed by the feet of my AC. I took the time to note that most ponies were, in fact, shorter than me, and that Celestia and two other ponies were the only ones that turned out to be of a similar height compared to me. While noting this, I also noticed that most ponies did not have both wings and a horn, rather, they had one or the other. There were some, however, who had neither, and these ones seemed to have a far more defined musculature than the rest. As I began to ponder on this, a bright yellow flash nearly blinded me, as I had set my AC's cameras to active observation mode, which made everything stand out more. Once I recovered from this, I immediately activated the laser blade attached to the left arm of my AC. A bright blue beam was emitted from the tip of the laser housing, ending at about 5 meters away from the device. It gained the attention of almost everyone in the courtyard at once, though no one came near, due to the heat it radiated being similar to that of a forest fire. Once I realized that it was just Celestia, I shut down the blade posthaste, so as to cause no further problems. Activating the external speakers on my AC, I said,"Apologies for any discomfort that may have caused Princess, but when you've been a Raven for as long as I have, it becomes a bit of an instinctive reaction to activate that when you're startled."

"What was that?" Celestia asked, "The heat coming off of it was nigh unbearable."

Chuckling, I merely respond, "I would rather not disclose information regarding my AC's equipment with so many members of the general populace here"

Celestia nodded, " Fair enough, Would you mind exiting your AC so that you can enter the castle, and we may speak of our current circumstance?"

After a few moments of deliberation, I agreed and set my AC to standby, but instead of kneeling this time, I just pop the hatch and let the ladder descend about to the knees of my AC before climbing down, and jumping the remaining distance to the ground. As I stood up from the impact, I felt dozens of eyes on me, making me feel somewhat self conscious, as I was still wearing my skintight pilot suit. For once, I felt extremely embarrassed. Thank the gods for my helmet's visor being reflective, because I felt my face flush once more as I noticed several males checking me out. In keeping with a Raven's stoicism however, I merely turned to Celestia, snapped off a quick salute, and followed her as she left for the castle interior after remotely closing the cockpit of my AC to prevent anything getting inside.

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Celestia's perspective

As we left the courtyard, Telos visibly relaxed, her stiff posture becoming more natural. Not soon after leaving the courtyard, we came to the throne room. It was guarded by 2 members of the Royal Guard, who, after confirming that Telos was indeed with me, allowed her entrance. As we entered, my sister, Luna, stiffened at the sight of Telos, who , strangely, did not take off her helmet for some reason.

"Tia, who hast thou brought into the throne room?" Luna asked almost immediately, narrowing her eyes.

Before I could answer, Telos took off her helmet and spoke up, "I am afraid that, due to my profession, I cannot tell you my actual name. Instead, as I have told Celestia here, it would be a better idea to address me by my call-sign, Telos"

Somewhat shocked at her boldness, Luna replied, "Very well Telos. During times of peace, we would have continued to pry as to what thy true name is, but these are trying times, as you might have noticed."

"Yeah, about that, I REALLY need to get back to my own world and purge any data the Internecine may have gathered from my battle with it's latest pulverizer. Any suggestions on how?" Telos asked.

"Internecine? Pulverizer?" Luna and I echoed, completely lost as to what she was talking about.

"Crap, I really AM in a different dimension or timeline... Its a long story, could I get a chair?" she asked.

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Telos's perspective

"Now," I said, " Before we really get into this, may I ask what your name is?"

"We are known as Princess Luna, but seeing as you are most likely not of this world, you may refer to us as Luna." Luna said

"Well Luna, where I come from," I began, only to have the doors behind me burst open, with yet another pony in possession of wings and a horn rushing in, only to stop when she saw the barrel of a gun pointed at her. As opposed to Luna and Celestia, who were both considerably more well endowed than myself, this pony was about the same height as me, with similar figure, but more pronounced hips and a lavender coat along with breasts that seemed to be in the C-D cup area, as opposed to Celestia's G cup bosom, and Luna's D-E cup bust. I must admit, I was feeling a bit flat around those two, which is a big deal, because most female ravens were generally possessed of an athletic figure with very small breasts, unlike myself. But I couldn't let myself get sidetracked, so I addressed Celestia " Princess, who is this pony, and why didn't the guards stop her?"

Sighing, Celestia said to me," Telos, please lower that weapon, this is Twilight sparkle, my former student, and fellow princess of Equestria."

Upon hearing those words, I holstered my handgun and immediately apologized to her. "Well, it's blatantly obvious to me that you are the one who the large machine in the courtyard belongs to," Twilight said.

"Indeed, I am a Raven, and that 'Large machine' is my AC unit, so If you were planning on dismantling it to find out how it works, I would advise that you don't, it is how I fight, and how I get around. It also has a large amount of dangerous equipment, as your former mentor Celestia can attest to, She has seen only two pieces of its equipment in use, and the most recent one was very uncomfortable for her."

"Uncomfortable?" Twilight said, obviously confused.

Sighing, I sat back down in the chair that Luna gave me to sit in, and resigned myself to a LONG explanation of my AC's equipment. "Yes, uncomfortable. The recent piece of equipment she saw in use was the laser blade attached to the left arm of my AC. I'm not going to go into specifics on how it works, but when active, it creates a blade made of laser energy, which generates so much heat that when it comes in contact with almost anything, it melts it at such a high rate that it appears to cut through it."

Celestia and Luna shift slightly in their seats, obviously uncomfortable with the fact that my AC is equipped with such advanced weapons. "Now," I said, " As for the rest of the equipment, it is equipped with a rocket launcher in the right shoulder joint, behind a circular panel. This is generally a last resort weapon, as the Fire Control System, or FCS, cannot lock onto a target with it, requiring precise manual aim. As for the weapon that is held in its right hand, it is what is known as a Laser Rifle, and there are many different models of laser rifle back where I am from, they fire concentrated beams of laser energy similar to that from the laser blade at a range, however, this one is among the most powerful. It is a bit of an oddity, as most pieces of equipment where I am from have a model number. This one is known simply as the Karasawa, and it fires an extremely powerful blast of laser energy that creates a cloud of charged particles upon impact, generally obscuring vision for a short period."

At the name Karasawa, Twilight spoke up,"Karasawa? That sounds like a neighponese word."

"Well, on my world, that is a Japanese word, though I cannot remember what it means," I said. Continuing on with my description of the equipment, I noticed Luna and Celestia becoming more and more uncomfortable, while Twilight was becoming more and more interested. "Anyway, on the left hip joint, there is a small holster, where I keep something called a plasma rifle. This is an exceedingly powerful weapon, surpassing even the Karasawa in damage output per shot. It fires bolts of superheated gas, that on contact, rapidly expand due to being released from an electromagnetic field that encased them during flight. It is often described to be similar to an explosion, and has a similar effect, aside from often melting whatever it hits instantly. In the left shoulder joint, there is a small storage chamber where I hide a small weapon known as a pulse rifle. As it's name suggests, it simply fires small pulses of energy, that, while weaker than plasma bolts or laser beams, are still significantly more powerful than bullets." At this, Celestia gasps, albeit quietly enough that Twilight didn't hear her.

With a smirk, I continue to describe the back mounted weaponry on my AC, "On the left back weapon mount is a Kisaragi manufactured Micro Missile launcher called the Karura. Despite each missile being small, and obviously not being able to carry a large warhead, It can fire a large amount of them, nine to be exact. Now, as opposed to the rocket launcher, the FCS can lock on with these, and they will seek out whatever I have locked on to. As for the right back weapon mount, it carries a weapon who's name is a bit of a misnomer. It is known as a grenade cannon, and yet functions much more like a battleship grade artillery cannon, as there is no arc to the projectile. This is EASILY the most dangerous piece of equipment on my AC. If fired while moving, the recoil is enough to knock my AC off balance, so I must crouch and brace my AC before I fire it. The projectile it fires will often look like a large fireball, but when it connects with any surface, there is an explosion whose size makes the AC that fired it look small, so this is generally reserved for when something HAS to go down FAST. Seeing as there are a lot of ponies around here though, I'm going to have to engage the safety on it, so as to not fire it and cause a serious amount of collateral damage. Even the empty casing is enough to crush several ponies, it is so large. Now on to a bit of equipment that is NOT normal for an AC to have, Princess Celestia has seen it before. It is a Scottish Claymore sword, sheathed between the missile launcher and the grenade cannon. The obvious thing with this one, is that it is only slightly shorter than my AC is tall, and is composed of a mixture of Titanium for the body of the blade, and a diamond edge to allow it to cut through tough metals with ease."

At this, Celestia leaned towards Luna and whispered " This Scottish claymore reminds me quite a bit of your personal sword. Her AC was holding it when it landed near the base of the mountain Canterlot is built upon, and at that point, it was covered in a black liquid,"

I straighten up and address Celestia " That black liquid was oil, I had just cut a pulverizer in half before a dimensional anomaly sent me here."

Blushing, Celestia looked at me and said," Oh, you heard me didn't you? I was not meaning to be rude, but merely wished to convey to my sister that your AC's claymore reminded me greatly of her personal sword, though on a much larger scale,"

"Oh really?" I asked, "Luna, would you mind showing me this sword some time?"

Luna merely shrugged and said " Why wait?" before standing and reaching behind her throne, pulling out a very large sword whose shape I instantly recognized, even in the sheath.

"Yeah, that's a claymore alright, I'd recognize that blade shape anywhere." I said, nodding.

Celestia spoke up as Luna put the blade away, "What was it that you used to get to the castle so quickly? I know it wasn't a teleportation spell, as you didn't disappear. "

I scratched the back of my head as I responded, "Well, that would be the special feature of the core of my AC. I'll get to the build of my AC shortly, Twilight,"I said, noticing her about to ask a question. She merely nodded and kept quiet."There are several features that an AC's core unit can have, among them are EO, or exceed orbit pods, weapon storage, so that you can equip more than one piece of equipment in the AC's shoulder panels, and what my AC has, which is OB, or Overed Boost. All ACs have boosters that they can activate at any time to increase speed, or enable flight. Several variants exist, from low output, but high sustainability, to exceedingly high output, but next to no sustainability, and everything in between. The boosters on my AC are closer to the high output side, but have decent sustainability. Overed Boost is something completely different. Only ACs with Cores that have the OB feature can do this, because with OB, instead of something that can be used to enable flight, this merely propels ACs forward at a tremendous velocity. OB cores always have one to four panels on the back, and when OB is initiated, these panels open up, revealing very large, powerful thrusters that need a short time to charge before they can activate. On certain cores, these can cause ACs to break the sound barrier, and move faster than the sound they create. The core I use however, sacrifices enormous amounts of thrust for a decent amount of armor."

While Celestia's expression is dumbstruck, Twilight delves a bit further into things "If what you say is true, and all of these weapons on your AC that would appear to use energy, then you would need some way of creating an immense amount of power, am I correct?"

As I chuckled to myself, Luna looked at me in confusion. "You are quite the sharp one Miss Sparkle, I can see why Celestia took you in as her personal student. Yes, you are correct, my AC does have a way to generate an immense amount of power, it has what is known as a pulse generator within the core. This device rapidly pulses nuclear fusion reactions to create energy for thrusters, energy weaponry , and generally the whole AC, but as you might imagine, it creates a large amount of heat, which is why radiators are an ESSENTIAL piece of equipment for any AC. Radiators, through a convoluted process which I have long since given up trying to understand, keep the generator cool enough that it does not overheat, and damage the AC." Standing up from my chair, I walk to the window, only to see my AC sitting pretty in the courtyard, with 5 ponies around it.

Chapter 3: The Elements of Harmony

Telos's perspective

"Excuse me princesses, but there appear to be five ponies surrounding my AC. Any Idea as to who they might be?" I asked.

After exchanging a glance , they followed me, and Twilight spoke up, " Oh, those are my friends, and fellow bearers of the Elements of Harmony"

"Friends eh? Well let's not keep them waiting, I'm sure they want to know who that AC belongs to." I said, walking to the doors of the throne room as I did.

With the princesses following me, we walked to the courtyard. Before I could enter the courtyard however, Twilight stopped me."Telos, see the pink pony? Don't bother trying to keep up with her questions, or try to understand her, it'll just make your head hurt."

"Thank you Twilight, I appreciate the heads up." I said as I walked out into the courtyard. The moment I stepped out into the sunlight , the pink one popped up in front of me. I jerked my head back in surprise and began to wonder how she did it, then remembered Twilight's advice about this particular pony.

"HI IM PINKIE PIE WHO ARE YOU? IS THIS YOURS? WHY IS IT SO BIG? WHY DON'T YOU HAVE HOOVES? WH-" Pinkie immediately started bombarding me with questions before I pushed her lips closed with my index finger.

"All in due time Pinkie, I would like to meet the rest of Twilight's friends, although if they are anything like you, I'm certain we will get along just fine. In my line of work, there are far too many depressed people. Then again, the life of a Raven isn't exactly a cheerful one," I said, grimacing at all the death my job entailed. At this, Pinkie perked up and was about to ask another question, but was interrupted.

"Now just who the hay are ya'll?" one of the wingless and hornless ponies asked, with an audible southern twang.

"My name is not something I can disclose, due to my profession, but you may refer to me by my Call-sign, Telos, and I just so happen to be the owner of that machine behind you." I replied.

"Speaking of which, what in tarnation is that thing? I noticed the sword on it's back, but the rest of the stuff kinda confuses me" she said.

"Ah," I said," That would be my Armored Core unit, or AC for short. It is , for all intents and purposes, a robot that a person controls from the inside. They were originally developed from what are known as MTs, or Muscle Tracers, which were meant for manual labor. However, the Corporations which held most of the power on my world quickly adopted them for military use, which lead to development of ACs. ACs far and away surpass what any MT is capable of. I can tell that the blue, prismatic maned pony is one who enjoys speed, so how about I show you how fast it can go? However, before that, would you all mind telling me your names? I already know yours Pinkie." I said before Pinkie could speak up.

The one wearing a stetson who I had been explaining my AC to said, "The name's Applejack, pleased to make yer acquaintance Telos."

After stating her name, Applejack called up to the blue Pegasus, as I believed my mythology called them, who had been circling the head of my AC, saying " Hey RD, get down here, the owner of this here machine would like t' meet ya."

In a flash, the Pegasus stopped circling, and darted down to the ground in front of me, speaking as she went " Hey there, the name's Rainbow Dash, Fastest flyer in Equestria."

"Nice to meet you Rainbow, maybe we could have a race later." I said. Looking over at a white horned pony with an astonishingly well styled mane staring at me, I said "Well hello there, what's your name, and why are you staring at me?"

Shaking herself, she looked me in the eye and said" Oh! Apologies darling, my name is Rarity, and I was merely admiring your outfit. Black works WONDERFULLY with your complexion, and it hugs your curves VERY well. Tell me, does it have support?"

Blushing at the question, I responded" Y-yes, it does. With the forces I generally have to endure while piloting my AC, having a figure such as mine is generally a detriment without support."

Turning away, I see the last of the group hiding behind the right foot of my AC. Noting that this one must be the shy one of the group, I simply call out to her, "Hey, it's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you. Could you come out from behind my AC and introduce yourself?"

Upon hearing this, she quietly steps away from my AC, and flutters over to me. Once she reaches me, she hides behind her mane and quietly whispers "My name is Fluttershy"

Seeing as I'm used to listening for the quiet whisper of a hovering MT's thrusters, I hear her the first time, which apparently surprises the rest of Twilight's friends. "Well Fluttershy, it's nice to meet you. Call me Telos." I respond. Turning to Rainbow Dash, I say " Hey RD, wanna see how fast this thing can go?"

Laughing, Rainbow Dash responds, "Sure, let's see how fast this hunk of metal can move"

Upon hearing this, Princess Celestia and Luna both laugh quite loudly, before saying" Oh dear, Rainbow dash, you might be surprised at how fast that 'hunk of metal' is."

Laughing, I remotely extended the ladder and popped the hatch, before jumping on to the ladder and climbing in. Hands dancing across the console in front of me, I brought the AC to life. The previously silent metal beast soon was positively vibrating with energy, as the familiar voice of the AC's AI could be heard saying, " Main system, Engaging combat mode." Activating the external speakers, I said," Okay ya'll, I would strongly suggest that you all head to the entrance of the courtyard, this is gonna get LOUD."

Celestia obviously remembered her brief encounter with the OB system, and proceeded to the entrance posthaste, insisting that the rest follow. Rainbow dash refuses, instead electing to hover high above the courtyard, much to Celestia's dismay. "Well Dash, don't say you weren't warned" I said, chuckling.

Opening the case on the OB activation switch, I flip it before jumping about 20 meters into the air. As I start the jump, the four panels on the back of the core open, revealing one very large booster behind each, which then proceeded to charge with a high pitched whine that made everypony present flinch. At the apex of the jump, the boosters fired, slamming my AC forward at around 500 miles per hour.I flew about 30 miles out before turning around in a wide arc while unsheathing the claymore and activating the laser blade, noting a pair of the black, bug-like things flying towards the castle, and cutting them in half simply by flying between them with arms outstretched, before correcting my trajectory and heading back to the courtyard, all at speeds approaching that of sound. As I reached the courtyard, I cut power to the OB, dropping in with a resounding crash. As my AC stood up after flexing its legs to absorb the impact, I activated the external speakers, "Not bad for a 'hunk of metal" eh RD?" The rainbow maned pegasus could only stare.

She then shook herself and said, " THAT, was fast, the only time I can get moving that fast is when I'm diving, and even then, I really have to try." "SO AWESOME!" she said afterwards, and pressed her hands to her muzzle, while making a bit of a duckface.

Giving me a look of disapproval, Celestia looks pointedly at the laser blade, which is still active, and radiating an immense amount of heat. "Would you mind turning that off? I remember saying that the heat that thing gives off is nigh unbearable." Almost as if to prove her point, all of them save Rainbow dash had backed up a considerable distance.

"Heh, whoops, I forgot to turn that off after dealing with a couple of black , bug-like things that were headed for the castle" I said, quickly deactivating the laser blade. At the mention of those two creatures, I was reminded of the blood that still clung to the blade of my sword. After quickly flicking the blade to remove the blood , which splatters it in a small line on the ground, I return the sword to its sheath.

Remembering what Luna said about times of peace, my mind quickly turns military. "Quick question, are you at war with those beings, because those two looked an awful lot like scouts."

Chapter 4: Where I come from

Celestia's perspective

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Upon hearing this, I wondered how Telos was able to tell that those changelings were scouts, and furthermore, see right through the disguises that I'm sure they were using. "Ah, yes, those would be changelings, and their queen is rather sore about what happened at Shining Armor's wedding with Princess Cadance a few months back." I said, explaining why this whole absurd situation was even a thing.

"Changelings huh? Can't be much worse than my rival Brawler." Telos said.

"Brawler?" I echoed.

"Guess I'd better explain where I come from. Let me power this thing down first." Upon saying this, the AC became lifeless once more, as Telos popped the hatch and jumped down without even bothering to extend the ladder. Twilight and her friends gasped as she did this, worried that she would be hurt, but Telos stood up shortly after landing, apparently unharmed.

Telos's perspective

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"Hah, I've always wanted to try that, but my support crew always caught me with a damned safety net," I said, chuckling a bit.

"Why would you want to try something so dangerous without wings?!" Twilight said, obviously concerned.

"Relax Twi, you don't mind me calling you that, do you? Anyway, If I can withstand the G forces that I pull with a hairpin turn at the speeds the OB causes, A 15 meter fall is nothing, though I guess my feet are going to be a bit sore. I digress, shall we return to the castle? I'll inform you of my world on the way." I said, brushing stone flakes from my calves that had burst up from my rather heavy impact, before walking off in the direction of the throne room.

Groaning at the nickname, Twilight followed me, closely accompanied by her friends and the princesses.

"Where to start? Well I guess I'll explain what led to me coming here. I had recently destroyed a machine known as the internecine, who's sole purpose was to create mechs with one purpose: Destroy Everything. First one I dealt with was simple enough. It used tank treads, had a pair of laser cannons on it's back, and it's arms ended in a weird fusion of laser blades and an actual physical blades. Thing was slower than a turtle. Cut the limbs and cannons off before blasting what was left with rockets. The next type was a lot more dangerous, because even my AC, which is heavily specced for mobility, had difficulty keeping up. It's armaments were identical to the tank type, with the main difference being the legs, which were quadrupedal. My standard setup, the one that you've seen, couldn't damage it fast enough. Had to swap the arms out for a set of arms that fire enormous missiles. These missiles follow their targets relentlessly, and are about 10 times the size of the doors of the throne room. Needless to say, when they connected, the damn thing went down instantly. The next type was even more dangerous, as it was even faster than the quad, and had more weapon systems in the form of a rapid fire energy weapon built into the blade somehow. No Twilight, I don't know how it was done," I said, quickly cutting her question off, something she was probably going to find irritating." It also could somehow fire off a very large energy blast by crossing the blades and bringing them down. Also of note, this one was bipedal. At this point, the Pulverizers, as these things are called, stopped mimicking AC's and became much more deadly. The next one was a hovering type, very quick and very dangerous, simply because it had orbit pods, weapons that follow their target while constantly showering them with laser bolts. The next type still had the blades, but almost never used them. It was absurdly large, making my AC look small. It carried several weapon systems, like an energy missile launcher and heat laser. After this, I had assumed my work as a Raven was done for some time, as I destroyed it and the internecine in a rather intense battle. Yet somehow the Internecine managed to create a final Pulverizer, one which rectified the main flaw of all previous versions. It had an A.M.S. which is short for anti missile system. It also was able to create an energy barrier which could block even the most powerful of weapons, and while this was up it deployed a very powerful weapon, which I'm still unsure as to what it was, but it fired a series of explosive energy blasts, only 4 of which would have reduced my AC to so much slag. It also did something at the beginning of the fight that I'd never seen, not by an AC, not by an MT, and not by any other pulverizers. It lunged at me with such speed it made my Overed booster seem slow, trying to end the fight before it even started, and almost did. As it lunged, it drew back one of the blades that remained constant throughout the series, and attempted to stab straight through the cockpit. Thankfully, my years of dealing with rushing ACs meant that I knew the best way to dodge this, and that was a quick flash of my boosters, pushing me to the left. Funny thing about that, I finished the fight in a way similar how to it attempted to, and cut it in half. That lead to a dimensional anomaly that got me here." As I finished that little lecture, we reached the throne room.

"Why would cutting a machine like that in half result in a dimensional anomaly?" Twilight asked, obviously confused, with all of her friends, along with Celestia and Luna, seeming to agree.

"Ah, see, the pulverizers used an unknown energy source, None of the corporations were sure as to what it was, just that it was an immense source of power. As for the Brawler I mentioned, he was a constant rival of mine , constantly showing up on missions where I had to destroy something to try and stop me. I call him Brawler because that's the name of his AC. No one knew his real name. Had the whole 'mysterious merc' vibe goin on. As for the name of his AC, it fits quite well, it is an almost unstoppable juggernaut with so much armor it could shrug off more than a few rounds from a grenade cannon and just keep coming." At this, They all gasped rather loudly." Literally the only advantage my AC has over his is mobility. See, Brawler is a tank legged AC, equipped with a wide variety of heavy shell weaponry along with a laser cannon that can reduce most AC's to slag in a couple shots. He preferred not to use it though, instead using something called a linear gun, which fires high impact rounds at a respectable rate, generally knocking any AC it hits off balance for a moment, which means he could lock you in place if you aren't careful. As for his arm weaponry, he has a pair of large, very powerful bazookas, which fire high power H.E. rounds capable of destroying most M.T.s in one shot, as well as dealing significant damage to AC's. Long story short, he's a Raven you don't want to fight if you can avoid it."

"What's a Raven? Cuz here ravens are a kind of bird. " Pinkie said, asking the question that must have been on all of their minds, considering how even Princess Luna looked at me expectantly.'

"Just the term for someone who pilots an AC . Rolls off the tongue much better than A.C. pilot, doesn't it?" I responded with a chuckle.

"How much does that thing weigh? It can't be too heavy if it can go that fast." Rainbow dash asked, apparently a bit oblivious.

Laughing , I said " It's probably around 100 tons. It goes that fast because the output of the OB is so damn high that it could probably get YOU going fast enough to escape the atmosphere, Rainbow Dash." After saying this, RD's jaw dropped, and I quietly closed it, saying "That is how you catch flies RD."

"Why are you constantly reffering to these 'Corporations'? Does your world have no government?" Asked princess Luna.

Sighing, I resigned myself to explaining the depressing part of my world and job. Sitting down in my chair, I began, "Well Luna, it indeed used to have a government. The corporations long since dismantled every nation and government, and now practically own the world. These corporations are large and powerful enough to have their own armies, far surpassing the average national army. The only advantage they would have had were Ravens, but seeing as the corporations manufactured most of the parts our AC's used, we thought it wise to side with them. I was not yet a Raven by this time, but rather an M.T. pilot, in one of the more advanced models, the OWL. It's pretty much an AC, just not quite as strong. It had an ECM maker, which scrambled the readouts of all enemy H.U.D.s and radars. Because of this it was useful for infiltration. But that's beside the point. Shortly after the first nation fell, I completed the test to become a raven, and was given a base AC , which in all honesty, and forgive my profanity, was a piece of shit in comparison to my current AC. Its weaponry was all cheap, and while effective against MT's and Guard MT's, which are small,unmanned units for base defense, were completely useless against AC's. Here is where the depressing bit starts. I have had to kill many innocents on orders of the corporations, for fear of a bounty being placed on my head, which is often what happens to uncooperative Ravens. I regret every innocent life I've taken, but it was me or them, and I wasn't about to risk the wrath of the corporations. Eventually my AC became what you see now, and I became one of the most sought after Ravens in the world. Just before destroying this last Pulverizer, A fellow raven informed me that I was apparently a dominant, a being raised solely to Pilot an AC. Sadly, I had to kill this raven, as he was jealous of me and my abilities, and attacked soon after informing me of this. Having killed Brawler in a mission who's sole objective was just that, it left me as the last Raven in the world." As I finished all of this, tears were rolling down my face, reminding me that the hard life as a Raven was something not many would want. " But seeing that I'm no longer in that world, it would appear that Ravens are now extinct. I-" While I was about to inform them that the only thing I'd need is a mission to carry out, I was wrapped in a furry embrace from all eight of these ponies.

"How horrible, no wonder you were crying near the end of that!" This, unexpectedly, came from Fluttershy, who normally didn't talk much. The rest were crying as well, save Applejack, who was still obviously shaken by what had been said, knowing that they had it easy in comparison, considering most of the time their problems were little things, like dealing with a competition or not having enough tickets for an event. However, this was a bit uncomfortable for me, as having eight ample pairs of breasts pressed against me was not something I was used to.

"While the affection is appreciated ladies, I would rather you'd warned me, I'm Bi-curious, and this is rather uncomfortable." Upon hearing this, they pulled off of me, all blushing, Fluttershy more than the rest, her face almost completely red. "As I was saying, If you have anything you need done, anything at all, just contact me and I'll draw up a contract for whatever needs done. I can live in my AC, as the cockpit is surprisingly large, and as long as I have food and water, I can patrol constantly."

Hearing this, Celestia perked up. "Having that AC patrolling around Canterlot would certainly deter Chrysalis and her hive, seeing as it's very large and intimidating, and if you could keep that laser blade active constantly, it would most likely dispel any disguises they could create, as intense sensations generally disrupt the concentration required to keep them up."

"Sounds good, How does 500 units of your currency per day of patrolling sound?" I responded, certain that my millions of credits were useless in this new world.

"Why so little? You are basically preventing an all out war just by being around. We would say half that per HOUR of patrolling would make more sense." Luna replied, with her sister nodding agreement.

"I might be a Raven, and by extension a mercenary, but I'm not a greedy, money grubbing bitch, like Mumu was before her untimely demise at my hands. Bah, I'm talking about my own world again, apologies."

"Mumu?" They all echoed, like usual when I mentioned someone from my world.

"Warlord independent of the corporations. Sadly, her entire army was poorly equipped, including her AC, which I tore apart with little effort. Light weight AC's are laughably easy to destroy, especially since most of them are specced for close range combat. Her spouse however, proved a tougher nut to crack, his name was Cerberus Garm, and he piloted a heavyweight Bipedal AC with a mirage manufactured Shade laser rifle, handgun and a large rocket launcher. He went down too though. His last words however, made me regret having to kill them. 'I tried to warn you. She would be here, we shouldn't have come. You didn't listen, and we both payed the price for our foolish greed.' It made me feel like a monster, one who had no second thoughts about killing." As I said this, I laughed, but it was a dry, hollow one, devoid of any humor. " I suppose I would have retired after dealing with this last pulverizer, I know I was getting tired of all the killing. Funny how things work out, isn't it? I planned to retire, and I end up thrust into a new conflict instead." Standing up, I started off toward my AC to begin patrolling, but Celestia spoke up.

"Are you certain you wish to keep fighting , even after all of what you have been through? The knowledge that you have killed another being, even if you had no choice, is a heavy burden to bear Telos."

"In all honesty Celestia, I don't want to keep fighting, but I have to. This is a curse I am burdened to bear. As a dominant, my sole purpose is fighting. Seeing as your sister seems to be the warrior of the group, I believe she will understand this phrase. 'Live by the sword, die by the sword' I know killing is wrong, but fighting and killing are all I know. So I keep on fighting, hopefully making wherever I am a better place by doing so. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm headed back to my AC." Walking away, I let my posture droop, practically announcing my current depression to any who would pay attention. Upon reaching my AC, I remotely popped the hatch and extended the ladder, and after grabbing on, just retracted it, too weary to bother climbing. Jumping in the cockpit, I started up my AC, holstering the Karasawa and drawing the sword. Figuring a relaxed posture would keep these ponies happy, I rested the blade lightly on the shoulder joint of the right arm. Jumping out of the castle, I landed in a rather empty street, cracking the pavement. Sighing and opening one of the last MREs I had, I began the patrol for today, walking slowly as to not incite panic, as I'm sure a 15 meter tall mech would if it started sprinting.

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Celestia's perspective

"Telos has been through much, it would seem," Luna pointed out.

"No offence yer highness, but that seems to be puttin it lightly," Applejack said, still wondering how a being who had killed and hurt so many could still be so sensitive.

Sighing, I responded, " I would have to agree with Applejack in this instance. Telos is mentally scarred after having been in as many conflicts as she has. Yet somehow she remains honest , kind , and generous... These corporations she spoke of seem awful. Corrupt and powerful, bending ponies to their will, and destroying all who opposed them."

Walking to the balcony, I rested my arms on the railing and looked out over Canterlot, trying to find Telos in her AC. It took me all of ten seconds to do so, seeing as the red and black color scheme of it made it stand out, almost as much as its size. Now that I was seeing it walking, it surprised me as to how quiet it could be, and how beautiful this machine of war really was. With its sword resting on its shoulder, it almost seemed peaceful as it walked through the streets,sunlight glinting off of the edge of the blade, while the body of the sword seemed to absorb the light, it was so dark. As I watched, it kneeled and the thing I assumed to be what was called a grenade cannon unfolded, and fired a round straight up, exploding a few hundred feet above the city, almost like a firework. However, while it was pretty, I assumed this firing was a warning shot, meant to show any hostiles that there was an AC defending the area, one with a weapon of immense power.

"Was that the grenade cannon? Why did Telos fire that?" Twilight asked, somewhat confused.

"I believe it was a warning shot. She fired it to inform any and all that wish to invade this fair city that there is something here with a weapon of immense power standing between them and their goal. I'm certain she is not ever going to fire that inside the city, as she has used it many times before, and knows the amount of collateral damage it can cause is dangerous." I responded, smiling at my former student.

As I said this, however, Telos turned and fired it at a much lower angle, aimed towards the badlands, where Queen Chrysalis's hive was. Even that far away, I saw the explosion as it detonated directly above their hive, most likely shaking up any and all changelings there.

"As for that shot, I believe she was informing the changelings of what would happen should they attempt to invade again. I believe that this time, Chrysalis will not come herself, not after what just happened. It surprises me though, how precise such a weapon can be, despite being so absurdly destructive." I said, a bit unnerved at the directness of Telos's tactics.

"It worries us though, that Telos is a mercenary, and thus follows whoever pays the most. If Chrysalis were to contact her and offer more money, what would stop her from turning on us and laying waste to the city and this country?" Luna pointed out, obviously worried about this possibility.

"Hey, she said not ten minutes ago that she's not a greedy, money grubbing bitch, and that she has morals." Rainbow dash pointed out, more than willing to support Telos.

"We are aware of this, but some can be swayed with enough payment." Luna said, still worried.

"Forgive mah rudeness yer highness, but give the gal some credit. She's been through a lot, and still shows compassion." Applejack said, also coming to her defense.

"I would have to agree with them Luna, from when I met her, Telos showed a considerable amount of mental fortitude, as she saw straight through a changeling's disguise upon her arrival." Celestia said, putting in her opinion on the matter. " Telos can be trusted, and If chrysalis does indeed contact her, I believe her offer would be refused almost immediately. She seems to have a strong moral compass."

"We only hope that you are correct Celestia, T'would be disastrous for us should Telos side with Chrysalis." Luna said, still ill at ease.

Chapter 5: HERE COMES CHRYSSI!

Queen Chrysalis's perspective

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A thunderous sound, accompanied by the entire hive shaking, almost to the point of collapse, woke me from a rather pleasant dream, one in which I had succeeded in my attempt to take over canterlot. Falling off of my bed, I was roused by the rather cold floor of my bedchambers. Wondering what in tartarus had woken me, I got up and went to the bathroom which was situated right next to my room. Before hopping in the shower, I took a moment to admire my figure, beautiful as it was. Standing at a height which rivaled Celestia, my curves were more subtle around the hips , and much more pronounced in the bust area, an H cup to her G. I then proceeded to take a quick shower, and got dressed.

"GUARD! STATUS REPORT! WHY WAS I WOKEN UP BEFORE NOON?!?" I barked, surprising both of them, the one on the right recovering faster.

"Apologies your majesty, but there was an enormous explosion just above the hive not two minutes ago, we're attempting to find the source. Initial reports mention what looked like a fireball streaking in from the direction of canterlot before exploding." He responded, snapping off a quick salute.

"An exploding fireball? Some new long ranged spell Celestia's student cooked up?" I wondered aloud.

"According to those who saw it, the fireball had no visible magical signature, but rather seemed to be launched from some kind of weapon." Said changeling responded, speaking out of turn.

"I must see this weapon for myself." I remarked, charging a teleportation spell. As I entered canterlot, disguised of course, I felt a presence not of this world, and looking behind me, saw an ENORMOUS red and black biped.

Telos's perspective

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My radar registered a new contact, and I turned in time to see a changeling, much taller than others I had seen, appear in a flash of green light. Sheathing the sword and drawing the pulse rifle so as not to cause any collateral , I pointed it at this newcomer. Activating the external speakers, I announced, "Identify yourself, or I will fire. If you are here with hostile intent, I strongly advise against it, I am the current guardian of this city and country, and will terminate you without hesitation." Activating my AC's active sensor suite, I noticed the crown on her head, despite the casual clothing. "Ah, you must be the Chrysalis that Celestia spoke of. Either leave or stand down. You must have noticed the warning shot I fired, and obviously ignored it."

"How did you see me through my disguise?! And furthermore, what warning shot?!" Chrysalis replied indignantly, charging and firing off a small hard magic burst, which promptly bounced off the angled plating of my AC's core.

"This one," I said, kneeling and firing off another shot from the grenade cannon in the direction of her hive. Just as before, it exploded about 15 meters above her hive, the edge of the fireball grazing the top. "Stand down or I'll level your hive right now. Even think about charging a stronger attack and your hive will be without a queen." I said, noting the green glow around her horn, and holstering the pulse rifle in favor of the much more menacing Karasawa. With the barrel so close to her head, Chrysalis could most likely see the blue glow of the laser being charged in preparation to fire, and feel the heat that would come of it. Activating the laser blade and lowering the Karasawa , I placed the tip right next to her nose, making her squirm from the heat.

"Leave. NOW!" I ordered, and apparently she was all too happy to comply, teleporting away in a flash of green light, most likely headed back to her hive. Figuring it would be best to report this to Celestia, seeing as Chrysalis was apparently the reason that these two nations were at war, I turned and sprinted back to the castle, leaving craters every 20 meters, before jumping into the courtyard. As I landed, I once again activated the external speakers, calling out, " Celestia, we may have a situation incoming. I just apprehended Queen Chrysalis."

Queen Chrysalis's perspective

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"DAMAGE REPORT, HOW MUCH OF THE HIVE WAS DESTROYED BY THAT EXPLOSIVE?!" I barked as soon as I returned to the hive.

"Nothing significant, it just took off the spire, but if another explosion like that were to happen any lower, we would lose the incubation chambers." One of her drones responded immediately.

"Damn it, that thing has to go. Wait a minute, there was somepony in that... thing. And furthermore, the weaponry was far more advanced than any Celestia has..." I mused aloud. "I have never seen a blade that emitted such heat. Maybe it's not of this world? And she , I'm assuming this because of how the voice sounded , certainly had the air of someone well versed in combat... perhaps I could persuade her to join us. That thing would certainly tilt the scales in our favor for this war, especially since a hard magic burst just bounced off of it. Yes, that would be most helpful in dealing with unicorns, and I'm certain with how large it is , it HAS to be absurdly heavy, making any attempt to knock it over most ineffective." Laughing maliciously, I teleported back to my bedchambers, thinking on a way to get that thing on my side.

Princess Celestia's perspective

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"WHAT?! Chrysalis was here and you let her leave?!" My sister exploded, obviously upset.

"LUNA! I AM NOT A MONSTER WHO TAKES A LIFE WITHOUT A REASON! IT MATTERS NOT WHO'S IT IS, WHETHER THE ENEMY OR NOT!" Telos barked, her voice rising to a volume rivaling that of the royal canterlot voice. Lowering her voice back to a reasonable volume, Telos continued," She gave me only one reason, but that reason didn't even scratch the paint on my AC and so I cut her off. I fired another round from the grenade cannon at her hive, making sure it got close enough to do damage but not destroy it, and immediately warned her that if she did not leave, or tried to attack again, there would be one of two outcomes. One, she becomes a queen without a hive. Two, the hive lives on, but without a queen. I do not, repeat do NOT take lives if diplomacy is an option. She was more than willing to leave with the laser blade less than an inch from her snout. As I'm sure you're aware of the heat when you're in the area while its active, imagine how it would feel if the tip was that close. Considering I've had an even higher output blade pass within millimeters of my face after cutting through the armor on my core, I can tell you, even if it lasts for only a moment it is NOT something you want."

Seeing as Luna was about to respond in kind, I stepped in, saying, "Telos, while I admire your resolve to use diplomacy when possible, this means Chrysalis now knows of you, and will most likely attempt to persuade you to join her. I know not if she will attempt to appeal to your mercenary side and offer more money than us, or simply try to hypnotize you and force you into her army. Either way, we must now be on guard for further infiltration attempts."

"Speaking of which, she said something about seeing her through her disguise. Am I to assume they can take the form of any creature?" Telos remarked.

This startled me, considering even my sister and I can't tell if there's a changeling in the area without them revealing themselves. "Yes, they can. Have you seen any changelings surround themselves with green flames that vanish shortly afterwards?"

"With every goddamn one I saw. I figured it was a scare tactic. What, is that some kind of transformation? If it is, I can see right the fuck through it. Don't even need the thermal setting on my AC's sensors. Why, can't you see through it?" Telos responded.

Before I could respond, Twilight spoke up, "No, no pony alive today can tell if somepony is a changeling or not. You mentioned a thermal setting on your AC's sensors? Does that let you see heat?"

"Yup, If there's an object or being that has a different temperature than the ambient heat, they stick out like a sore thumb." Telos replied.

"IDEAAA!!" This, unexpectedly, came from Rarity. All of us turned to her, curious as to what she meant. "Having had close contact to a disguised changeling, I can assure you that they are cold blooded. If you could create a spell that would allow ponies to see heat, we could all tell whether or not a pony is in fact a disguised changeling."

".... That's actually a purty darn good idea Rares. Not somthin I'da expected from ya," Applejack quipped.

"As it turns out, there is indeed a spell that allows ponies to see heat. It hasn't been used in centuries, but should work just fine for this purpose." I remarked, glad that somepony was thinking ahead.

"There you go Rarity. You'd make an excellent commander, I can tell you have a rather tactical mind, just from that little idea." Telos said, giving her an approving smile. "Now, let's get ready for the chance of infiltration. Celestia, Luna, teach Twilight and Rarity how to cast that spell, I'm headed out to the badlands. I think it's time for a show of force."

Chapter 6: A Show of Force

Telos's perspective

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"HUZZAH! Chrysalis has gone too long without experiencing true fear. Fear imposed by being unable to change anything about what is happening. I readily approve of this , Telos. Show those changelings what 'Getting Rekt' ,as the foals say, is all about." Luna exclaimed, all worries of betrayal by me assuaged by this suggestion.

"YEAH, go show those dadgum changelings what for!" Applejack agreed.

"THROW THEM A PARTY! A PARTY OF PAIN!!" Pinkie pie proclaimed.

"Do please show mercy when possible if that's not too much to ask" Fluttershy squeaked out.

"Just because she defeated celestia once doesn't mean she stands a chance with you here!" Dash boasted. Celestia squirmed slightly at that, especially when I raised an eyebrow at her questioningly.

"Darling. I may not like fighting, but that doesn't mean I don't fully support and agree with your suggestion. KICK SOME CHANGELING FLANK FOR ME!" Rarity roared in approval.

"Give her one for the wedding she nearly ruined for my brother, Telos," Twilight added, before an unfamiliar familiar voice spoke up.

"And just who is giving her that? Am I safe to assume it would be this 'Telos' you are talking to Twily?"A new unicorn said, striding into the room with yet another horned, winged pony close behind, gazing at me with eyes filled with sadness and understanding.

"Yes you would be, Am I safe in assuming you are her brother?" I quipped, glad that these two siblings were so close.

Turning towards me, the unicorn's eyes widened, taking in my unfamiliar shape. As he started checking me out, the winged, horned pony behind him snapped," SHINY, WHY IN EQUESTRIA ARE YOU CHECKING OUT THAT FEMALE WITH ME RIGHT BEHIND YOU?!?!"

As she said this, most of the room burst out laughing, only myself, her, and 'Shiny' not laughing.

"Quick suggestion 'Shiny'. Don't open your mouth. You'll just insert your hoof." I said, narrowing my eyes and resting my hand on the butt of my handgun.

COMPLETELY ignoring my suggestion, he turned to her and replied," Come on, Cadance, with such an exotic body and coat, can you really blame me?"

Snapping the handgun out of it's holster and firing a shot, I managed to shear a good bit of his hair off. At this, the laughter in the room was renewed, with only 'Shiny' refraining from laughing, instead opting to glare at me, before asking," Was that ABSOLUTELY necessary? You could have damaged my horn, or worse, killed me outright."

"Oh do be quiet Shining Armor. Telos is an experienced markswoman, and I'm certain she would never kill you. Not without you giving her a good reason anyway." Luna said, still chortling.

"I said not to open your mouth, as you'd just put your hoof in it, and you did anyway.I might not be a pony , but I am not just a piece of meat for you to ogle. Considering I am the current protector of this city and country, It would be wise to do as I say, considering I KNOW I have more combat experience,but I digress. Yes, I am the one known as Telos. You must be Shining Armor, former captain of the royal guard." Turning my gaze to the pink winged and horned pony, I continued,"And you must be Princess Cadance, who's wedding a few months ago was quite rudely interrupted by one Queen Chrysalis?"

"And you know this HOW?" Cadance responded, a bit surprised.

Jerking my thumb towards Celestia, I said" Sunbutt over there told me." This elicited a giggle from the whole room, save Celestia, who glared daggers at me. Ignoring her, I started to walk toward the courtyard, before Shining Armor stopped me. "Wait, there is a lar-"

"Hush Shiny, I know. That is how I fight." I interrupted,brushing past him, not wanting to delay much further. As I walked past the guards, I decided walking wasn't fast enough, and set off at a sprint through the winding hallways, finding myself at the courtyard in under a minute. Popping the hatch and extending the ladder, I quickly climbed in and brought my AC off standby. Turning towards the badlands, I flew off using normal thrust for the first few miles, then, deciding it would take too long to get there that way, activated my OB and roared off.

An hour or two later, I reached the hive, and of course, there were changelings around it. Grinning viciously, I started in on the poor fools. Upon seeing me, several started charging hard magic bursts, firing them in rapid succession, doing nothing more than bouncing off my AC. Activating the external speakers, I laughed at their efforts, before holstering the karasawa and proceeding to lock on to nine of the things. Nine missiles streaked from the launcher on my AC's back, turning nine changelings into little more than bug bits. I then proceeded to crush more of them with my AC's bare hands, several sickening crunches could be heard as I picked several up and crushed their heads. Green blood and black fragments of exoskeleton covering my AC's hands, I drew the Claymore with the AC's right hand, unholstered the plasma rifle with the left, and activated the grenade cannon. Seeing a huge cloud of Changelings swarming out of the hive, I grinned sadistically and fired a salvo of three shots in rapid succession, turning most of them into bug paste. Flying up, I activated the laser blade as well, and dashed through the remainders, twirling and slashing, leaving both smoking, cauterized wounds and bloody, messy ones. Activating the OB and roaring out of the group, flicking the blood off the claymore, sheathing it, and drawing the Karasawa, I turned and blasted the rest, leaving steaming piles of gore when the plasma bolts connected, and bug bits when the lasers hit. Turning back to the hive, I popped 3 rockets on the main door, blowing it open and leaving the changelings inside with burst eardrums. Laughing sadistically, gotta love psychological warfare, I turned and activated the OB, heading back to Canterlot, and the castle.

Queen Chrysalis's Perspective

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Standing in the doorway of my once proud hive, I gazed upon the destruction wrought by that accursed machine. The sun-baked earth was covered in green blood, piles of gore, and bisected drones, some still bleeding, some smoking and never having bled in the first place. "I never thought I'd be looking at something like this. I fear no pony, but that thing, it scares me."

Princess Celestia's perspective

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After teaching Twilight and Rarity the spell to grant heat-based vision fairly quickly, I suggested we return to the castle courtyard to await Telos's return. Only Shining Armor wanted to stay, but his proposal to wait in the throne room was promptly vetoed by the rest of us.

Four hours later, we were starting to worry for her. "Oh, I hope she's okay." Fluttershy fretted.

"Relax Fluttershy, she's fine." Rainbow Dash said, though she was a bit worried too, if her fidgeting was any indication.

"T'would seem our fair Telos is here," Luna quipped, pointing out the bright glare of the OB system about a mile out. Two seconds later, it was close enough that it was almost right above us. Cutting the OB, it dropped into the middle of the courtyard with a thunderous crash. Spinning the plasma rifle like so many gunslingers, it holstered the plasma rifle, put away the karasawa, and knelt.

"Well, that should make Chrysalis think twice about attacking again." Telos said, once again jumping down. Turning towards her AC, she frowned slightly. Turning back, she remarked,"Damn, probably shouldn't have crushed that many changelings with the bare hands. Hey Celestia, you got anything I could clean all that damn changeling blood off of the hands of my AC with? Short term, it's no biggie, but long term it could get in the joints and start rusting them. "

Laughing, I charged my horn and cast a scouring spell on the AC's hands, removing all of the blood, and a fair few shards of changeling exoskeleton.

"T'would seem thine warrior instincts got the best of you Telos. How many did you crush with the AC's hands?" Luna quipped, grinning ear to ear.

"I er... lost count after the first fifty. No more than two hundred though. Figured it'd be faster to use the sword and laser blade." Telos responded, scratching the back of her head."Oh , and heads up, Chrysalis probably thinks I'm a sadistic madwoman now. I laughed rather sadistically as I left. Psychological warfare is a beautiful thing. She probably will aim to destroy me, rather than sway me to her side, considering she's probably terrified of me now. I made sure she watched as I slaughtered hundreds, possibly thousands of them. Hey Twilight, can you show everyone the changeling hive and the area surrounding it? Would certainly put my words into perspective."

Eye twitching, Twilight opened a viewing portal, giving us a birds eye view of the changeling hive's location. Eyes went wide all around when they noticed the color of the ground, save Luna, who smiled, glad that we had a warrior capable of this on OUR side. Normally it would be a sun-baked, desolate brown. Now it was a sea of green, with shards of black everywhere. Turning towards Telos, we all looked at her in a new light, seeing for the first time, a battle hardened warrior with no qualms about mass killing. Yet, under our gazes, she squirmed, uncomfortable.

"Why art thou fidgeting and squirming so? You did as you SAID you would." Luna said, confused.

"Because you're the only one looking at me and not acting as if you're looking at a monster, Luna," Telos replied.

"Is this what a show of force is like in your world Telos?!" I asked, horrified.

"No, usually they are much worse. I toned it back, seeing as this is a normally peaceful world. In mine, there would have been nothing left but a crater, the Corporations don't mess around when it comes to sending a message. I told you, I'm not a monster. STOP STARING AT ME LIKE I AM ONE!" she said, finally walking over to a bench and collapsing on it, emotionally wrung out.

What she probably WASN'T expecting, was us all walking over to her and burying her in another group hug.

Fluttershy, surprisingly enough, voiced our sentiments."We're sorry Telos, we've just never seen that much death caused by one being."

As she finished, Telos groaned," I believe I asked you to warn me before you bury me in a group hug like that. That said, I'm glad at least you don't think I'm a monster."

When we started to pull off, she objected, saying, " Hey, I never said you had to pull away. It's been too long since I've had any affection at all. Being a Raven means Civvys are often afraid of you." At this she put her arms around us as best as she could, enjoying the embrace, unlike last time.