Armored core: Equis

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."