Metal Gear Rising: Marevengeance

Chapter 2:Test Run

(The Next Day)

[Twilight’s Castle]

“Twilight how long are ya’ll going to keep examining me?” Applejack asked as she folded her arms in annoyance.

“Probably until she needs to fall asleep,” Spike shrugged, looking back at the earth pony. “She probably has some long explanation for why she’s doing it though… Wait for it…”

“.....Nothing’s happening-.”

“What happened to you could possibly lead to a technological revolution in cybernetics, prosthetics and technology throughout Equestria, so I’m taking notes to make sure I understand every one of your main functions…… why are you looking at me like that?”

“Told you.” Spike sighed.

“How long am I going to be here Twi? Because right now I’m getting tired of being hooked up to theses fancy looking devices that you have on me.” Applejack said.

“Probably once she finally calms down about it… which might either be a while… or never… unless of course she passes out. Remember when she tried to find out Pinkie Pie’s Pinkie Sense?”

“...Okay that’s it, I’m done here.” Applejack said as she pulled the metal hat off her head. “We been here since morning, and I’m getting really annoyed at this.”

“Same here. Twilight, you seriously need to get some sleep. You almost have bloodshot eyes because of the amount of non-stop work you have been doing.” Both Applejack and Spike were about to walk out of the castle, only for Twilight to chase them down.

“Wait-!”

“Twilight, stay!” The dragon barked. The response from the alicorn was quite… unexpected as she soon began to back up and moan a little like a puppy. “Stay… Stay… We’ll be back later.” He told her as he tossed an encyclopedia to her. “Good girl.” With that, both the cyborg pony and the dragon were able to walk out without any problems.

“Um… what was that I just saw you do to Twilight?” Applejack asked, eyeing the young dragon.

“Whenever she gets desperate for answers, Twilight begins to desperately try to follow you like when Winona follows Applebloom everywhere or a lost puppy. So, if you talk to her like you talk to Winona, she actually listens. It happens when Twilight doesn’t get enough sleep.”

“Interesting, I’ll have to try that out next time when Twilight doesn’t get enough sleep.” Applejack said as she notice a cloud with a rainbow color tail sticking out of it. “Consarnit.”

“What is it?”

“It Rainbow Dash.” She said point to a cloud above them.

“So? She hasn’t noticed us so we should be fine-. Oh crap.” The dragon swore. “Incoming. Pink Blur.”

Applejack didn’t look behind herself as she simply moved to the left. Avoiding Pinkie Pie as she grabbed the party pony by the collar. “Howdy Pinkie.”

“Hey there, strange cyborg pony thingamajig that I haven’t met before-! Wait… AJ!? Is that you?!”

“Unfortunately yes.” The party pony gasped, hugging tightly as she tackled her to the ground.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!! You look… what’s the word the colts say nowadays? Uhh…”

“Epic?” Spike asked.

“That’s right!! EPIC!!!”

“You two are taking this really too seriously...and surprisingly well.”

“Well, think of it Applejack. Since when was the last time anything normal happened around Ponyville?” Spike asked her, making the Cyborg think a little. “Almost everyday, something unexpected happens. And unlike Twilight, who wants to study you like a crazed scientist, I want to try and help you the best I can.”

“Same here-.” Pinkie replied, before looking in the distance. “Is it just me, or am I seeing a lookalike of AJ?”

“What do you mean a lookalike?” Applejack asked.

“Somepony with a long black ponytail and a sword at the other end of town.” Pinkie said, almost like she was on a sugar rush. “What?”

“You think it’s that Raiden fella from that screen thing from my arm?”

“No, it doesn’t sound like it fits that description.” Spike replied. “Wasn’t Raiden’s mane white instead of black?”

Applejack said nothing as she reached into Pinkie’s mane, pulled out a cupcake, threw it at Rainbow Dash.

“Oww, What the bucking hell AJ!?!”

“We have a mysterious pony in Ponyville and I need you to come with me, Spike, and Pinkie Pie. Also that was for throwing stuff at me to see if I can cut them in half.” Seconds after hearing about the mystery pony, Rainbow Dash got out a pair of binoculars and looked in the distance.

“Whoever he is, he’s on the outside of-. Oh horseapples… AJ, you need to hurry! Now!! His blade is blood red and it looks like he wants to butcher somepony from over here!!”

“Spike, write a letter to the princesses about what’s going on. Me and the girls will check out the situation.” Applejack said as she bolted off to where the mysterious being is. When she arrived, the mare found the being just casually walking and whistling a tune with the sword he had on it’s back and unaware of Applejack’s presence.

“Hold it right there varmint!”

The man, stopped whistling and slowly turned around. “Oh? Now who do we have here? I haven’t seen someone like you before.” Shaking his head, he looked back at AJ with a creepy grin on his face. “What’s your name, kiddo?”

“The name’s Applejack, mind telling me you think you’re doing here?”

“Oh, you know. Taking in the sights… trying to find my way around here. I could say otherwise for the creatures that tried attacking me in the mountains.” He sighed, noticing her blade. “Well, it appears you are a warrior, I take it?”

“What are ya’ll talking about?”

“Your sword. It’s rather unique… Would you let it fulfill it’s purpose?”

“Um...I don’t understand what you’re talking about. What I want to know is why is your sword covered in blood?”

“Oh?” He said, “Well, let me make it simple… My blade… fulfilled it’s purpose.” At that moment, Applejack noticed his left hand move down to the scabbard of the blade and heard a clicking sound. She only had seconds to react as it shot forward and the individual grabbed it to try and take a slice at her. “Now… I wonder what the purpose for your sword is…”

“What hay was that for!” Applejack yelled as she took a boxing stance. “You could hurt somepony by doing that!”

“Heh… looks like you don’t understand the circumstances you are in, missy.”

“Oh I’m sure I understand one thing.” Applejack said as she bolted towards the swordsmen. “I’m gonna have to bring you down and take you to the princesses before you kill somepony.” In response, all the figure did was simply move out of the way, using his foot to have Applejack fall onto her face.

“Well now… another one who wants to use their weapon as a tool of justice. You’re just like Raiden…” He laughed, drawing his blade once more and forcing Applejack to get up on her hooves again. “You deny your weapon it’s purpose. It yearns to bathe in the blood of your enemies… But just like him, you hold back.”

“Look partner, unlike you who enjoys seeing others hurt. I’m not the type of pony that enjoys that. Now either you surrender now or else I’m gonna have to lay the smackdown on you.” Applejack once again charged at the swordsmen as she was ready to deliver a haymaker at his face. This time though, the figure moved again, using his blade to slash Applejack across the upper chest.

“That is what happens when you bring a pair of fists to a swordfight. Fight like you mean it, Kiddo. Because right now… You’re boring me.”

“This is bad.” Applejack thought as she grabbed her chest from the pain. “If I don’t figure out how to knock him down,” Applejack looked at the huge gash on her chest as blood started to pour out of it. “No, focus Applejack. You just need to stall him until the princesses get here. I just hope Spike sent the letter before I started fighting.” In that moment, her other hand stretched out to grab the scabbard of her own blade. Something happened though when she did that. The trimmings around the blade began to turn a light cyan blue and she could feel electricity coursing around her. However, instead of hurting her… it was healing her. Closing the wounds. When she removed her hand from it briefly, the pain returned. So, the second she noticed it, she grabbed the sword and prepared herself for her opponent to attack again.

“Now… that’s more like it. Someone is finally beginning to learn.”

“I don’t even know how to use this thing...then again when you think about it, it’s just like a stick.” She soon tried to prepare herself as she took up a defensive guard based stance that she remembered seeing the guards in Canterlot use during the Canterlot Wedding invasion a couple of years back.

“There we go… Now, lesson one… Keeping your guard up.” The figure taunted, charging in. Applejack dodged the first of three attacks and blocked the other two. However, she was caught off guard when the figure kicked her backwards, causing her to skid.

“Lesson two… Expect the unexpected…” It smiled, looking very creepy from Applejack’s perspective. “Lesson three… never be afraid to take any chances.”

“If you think something like that will stop me, then you never met Ponyville’s strongest pony.” Applejack said as she charged at the figure, only for her to vanish from his sight and appeared below him. This gave the country pony the opening she needed to deliver a powerful kick to the swordsman stomach, sending him flying into an abandoned building. Seconds after though, that building came toppling down in a series of slashes and it showed the being walking out of there, unscaved.

“Strong yes… But compared to me when it comes to combat experience… you are a novice.” The being then disappeared, only to appear behind Applejack as he kicked her this time, sending her flying into a few trees. “That was a kick.”

“C-Consarnit...I-I can’t move.” Applejack thought as she felt herself hit the ground. As she tried to rise, he was walking to her, only to stop and look to his left, sheathing his blade.

“Heh… Lady luck is on your side today. I have business elsewhere… Goodbye… Jack.” He smiled, before running off into the forest and leaving her to try to stand. Applejack looked at her sword, noticing something on the scabbard as she tried to get up.

20% energy. Needs recharging.

“Great, not only did that varmint get away, but I have to recharge myself…why did I let Twilight convince me to go to that swap meet with her?” Applejack asked as she fell to the ground. “Can this get any worse?”

That’s when the ringing on her wrist was beginning to happen again. Something she was personally beginning to drone right around now. “Five bits says it’s that Raiden fella.” Applejack thought as she slammed her arm onto the ground, activating her communication device on her arm.

“Applejack, what the hell happened?” Raiden’s voice could be heard over her communications. “One moment, you’re fine and next moment, your heart rate and vitals are off the chart!”

“Oh so this is this Applejack friend of yours?” Another voice said in the background. “You just happen to find the most strangest of chick wherever you are-.”

“Shut up, Kevin!!” Raiden yelled. “Don’t mind him, my friend here is an idiot sometimes.”

“Okay….you were saying Raiden?”

“I was asking why the hell were you vitals off the chart to where it looked like something was trying to kill you? Since you first reached me, I can tell when you’re injured or not and right now, you look like someone tried to decapitate you.”

“Some cyborg pony similar to me, only he had a black ponytail and a creepy smile on his face was the one that attacked me. What I don’t understand was he mention your name for some reason.” For a moment, Raiden was silent, still trying to process everything. However, after a few moments, he then spoke again.

“I’m sending something to your mainframe real quick. Did his description match something like this?”

“That’s the varmint that attacked me!”

Now Raiden was really concerned with the edge that was in his voice. “Now that is a problem. A MAJOR problem. Jetstream Sam is not one to be messing with. He’s too skilled for someone at your level to be facing… I’m sending you a couple other things to help you in the meantime. I still need to try to find you before we can meet face to face.”

“And those would be?”

“One, an intel file on that son of a bitch for starters. As in an old saying, know thy enemy. Second, I’m sending you a training guide for you to know how to wield your sword. Yes, I am picking up your sword from my scans here. Now, unless you want your systems shutting down on you, you need to find a source of electricity and fast.” After that, Raiden said one other thing. “I’m going to also patch you in with someone I know. Doktor knows a lot more about Cyborgs and if you have any questions about them, feel free to ask him. I’ll contact you again once I find a way to locate you.” Before Applejack could say anything, she heard the com-line get cut off and the call finished.

“That might be hard to do seeing how I’m stuck here….and he hung up...I’m really hoping Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie can find me soon.” Applejack said as she began to crawl back to her feet. It was only then that she heard someone else speak. One that was something she briefly recognized.

“Oh my gosh!! Somepony’s hurt!!”

“My word!! Fluttershy, get the first aid kit quickly!!”

“Rarity, Fluttershy! Boy am I glad to see you two!” Applejack said as she tried to keep her balance.

“Applejack? Darling, is that you?” Rarity asked. “What happened to you? And why are you in that hideous suit!?”

“I’m going to ignore that comment for the time being. Now would you please help me out? Because right now I’m pretty much on the edge of passing out.”

“Oh right… I can teleport you back to the orchard if you want AJ.” Rarity offered, doing her best to not look at the scars on Applejack’s body.

“Twilight’s place. She might have something that might help.” As Applejack said that, Spike came running in, with only a messenger bag and Pinkie behind her.

“Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner than I could. Twilight passed out on me and is currently asleep. But-. Sweet Celestia, what happened!?”

“I’ll explain later once we get to Twilight’s place. Rarity if you would?”

“Hold on, before you do…” Spike interjected, going into his bag and pulling out something Applejack was surprised about. A zap apple. “Twilight told me to give this to you. Before falling asleep on me, she thought that the electrical charge from Zap Apples could recharge your systems. Since you’re now part cyborg and rely sometimes on electricity.”

“Well that’s one way to get a quick recharge.” Applejack said as she grabbed the zap apple, and crushed it in her hand. She was surprised about crushing it like that and personally thought it was a muscle reflex. But when she looked at her sword again, the earth pony saw a positive sign and breathed out a sigh of relief.

55% energy recharged.

“Well, that’s one thing ah got to thank her for later. Should help me for right now.” She said as she looked back at the others. “Ready to get to Twilight’s?”

“Certainly.” Rarity replied, casting her spell that engulfed the four of them as they arrived in the castle. To her surprise, Princess Celestia had just arrived recently to find Twilight curling up in her bed like a sleeping cat.

“Why, hello there, dear Applejack. Are you okay?”

“We have a bit of a problem, Princess Celestia.”

“A problem?” She asked, now seeing Applejack turn around and watching the scar on her body heal right before her eyes. “Dear me, what happened to you?”

“This might take a while to explain, so you might want to get comfortable.”

(Moments Later)

“And that’s pretty much what happen to me in a nutshell.”

“So… You talked to this… Raiden… You encountered someone that went by the name of Jetstream Sam and he left you with that scar on your chest? Not only that, but Raiden provided an intelligence file on him?”

“Pretty much yeah. I had Spike send you and Princess Luna a letter informing you about what happen.”

“Which I had received before coming here… I’ll have the royal guard keep an eye out for any activity involving this… Sam individual. In the meantime… You need to learn to fight with the blade you have.” Celestia explained. “You learned firsthand that using your fists against an opponent like this will only leave you vulnerable. If you expect to overcome him when you two meet again, you need to learn to fight with your blade. What you previously thought was “useless” if I do recall.”

Applejack said nothing as she looked away from Celestia in both shame and anger. “I could’ve beat him if he didn’t have his sword on him.”

“Yet, you learned as well that he doesn’t need a sword to harm you when he kicked you in the ribs.” Celestia replied. “The more tools you have at your disposal, the more chances you have to hit him with the element of surprise.”

“..... I’m going for a walk.” Applejack said as she walked out the room she was in. Only for Celestia to teleport in front of her.

“Applejack, I know this is something you would rather want to avoid talking about, but this is important. I don’t want anypony in my kingdom to get hurt, but from how you described your attacker, this isn’t like anything that ponykind has seen before. Please, take this seriously.”

“I am taking this seriously! What? Did you think me getting my flank handed to me was on purpose or me being lazy?!”

“No, I believe you, but it also tells me that you need a teacher to help teach you how to fight. Fortunately, I know one that can help you.” She told her, looking back at the mare before looking behind her.

“And who would that be?” After noticing the princess look behind her, the earth pony turned around and was personally surprised by who was standing there. It was Luna, Princess of the night. But in her hand, she was holding a blade that was similar to hers, but longer in length. And it was the first of two blades with the other one being on her hip.

“Sister, you said that my experience in combat was required?”

“Your sister is gonna teach me how to fight?” Applejack asked

“Yes. After you and your friends freed my sister with the elements of harmony five years ago, she wanted to learn how to defend herself. So, the Kirin ambassador of Neighpon taught her the art of Kenjutsu and she was able to master what one would take years to learn in as little as two weeks.” Celestia told her as she noticed Luna eagerly gripping the handles of her weapons. “I believe she will teach you well. Especially since nopony has ever beaten her in a duel because of what she knows.”

“Alright fine.” Applejack said, sighing in defeat. “So when do we start?”

“Right now,” Luna replied. “Follow me, fair Applejack.”

“Wait right now? But I just got my flank beaten, and I’m still recovering.”

“Not anymore.” Celestia replied, pointing at Applejack. To her surprise, all the scratches and wounds she had before were completely healed, despite the feeling of Sam’s blade earlier in the day. “It appears your new body heals much faster than your old one. Or in some cases, much faster that Twilight’s or any unicorn that knows healing magic. You’re good to go.” With that, Applejack grumbled as she followed Luna to a special training room in the back of the castle. When the door closed though, Celestia was the only one in the room. And the only one to be a witness to something… Surprising.

(Private Training Room)

“How come nopony ever told me about this room?” Applejack asked as Luna looked back at her.

“This room was suppose to serve as an armory and training hall. However, since none of you until now had the need to fight, there was no purpose to use it.” Luna replied, “Now, there is a purpose.”

“To train me, correct?”

“Exactly.” She replied. “The room is soundproof, so no one outside can hear us. In addition…” Luna then took out one of her blades and tried to slice one of the crystalline walls, only for the crack to form on the wall to heal itself. “The castle’s magic can repair itself if damaged. Making it an ideal place to teach you.”

“Okay… so what now?”

“Well first, show me what you know. Take up a combat stance. I can only see where you need to improve if I can see what you know already.” She advised, sheathing her blade and waiting on Applejack to do what she asked her to do.

“Okay.” Applejack unsheathed her sword as ordered. Luna watched as she recognized her take a stance that was normally used when it came to training guards. Soon, Luna noticed some things that could help the Earth Pony start improving.

“That is good. For a beginner. Try firmly holding your ground by bending your knees. In addition, keep a strong grip on your weapon. Watch me.” Luna soon used one sword as she took up her own combat stance, arms and blade forward and a calm and composed posture with her lower body. “There are two stances you should remember. This one is known as Saigan no Kamae. One where the tip of the blade needs to be at eye level.” Soon, Luna switched stances again, this time crouching down and holding one of her blades above her head at a forty five degree angle. “This one is Jodan no Kamae. You may choose which one personally works for you, but from here, we can continue with the lesson. Now… you try.”

“O-Okay?...”

“Just try to match what I showed you. Afterwards, I can help you with the adjustments. We have a lot of time after all.” Luna told her calmly.

“This seems...weird.” said Applejack as she tried to get into the stances Luna recommended.

“You’re doing great.” She complimented. “Hmm… I have an idea. Show me the stance you take up when you are going to fight somepony in a fist fight.”

“That I can do.” Applejack said as she sheath her sword, and took a boxing stance.

“Okay, keep your legs in that position.” Luna told her as she walked forward and unsheathed Applejack’s blade for her. “Now, have your hands forward to grab the handle of your weapon.”

“Okay, sure.” Applejack grabbed her sword, still in her fighting stance.

“How does that feel now? A little more comfortable I hope?”

“...I still don’t like it.”

“I’m trying to adapt what you know already and add onto it. There isn’t a reason to completely erase what you know already than to build on top of it. Your legs and lower body are familiar with your first stance and your arms are calm and relaxed.” The princess explained. “For this art, it requires focus. That same focus you use when trying to punch an object… Is this making sense to you? I don’t want to confuse you.”

“.....Yes...to some degree...okay I’m not gonna lie, but this is confusing me more then the time Twilight tried to explain to me how unicorn use magic.”

“Yes, but that is focused on the mind. This is focused on strength, agility, and focus. Almost the exact same thing when it comes to Applebucking during the harvest if I recall.”

“True, but you’re body isn’t made of robotic stuff.”

“Yes, but your body is still your own. No one else is controlling it. Only you. The only thing that’s changed is it’s durability. You could take multiple hits and still be standing on both of your hooves… I want you to remember that.” Luna explained, having her conjure two wooden training swords. “Now, let’s try something different. You won’t be needing your own blade right now. We’ll be using these.”

“A stick?”

“You can say that. However, these are training swords. Much stronger than your average stick.” She explained, tossing one to Applejack as she set her own blades aside. “I want to test your reactions. Use this time to practice how to react properly to my strikes.”

“I get the feeling this won’t end well.”

“That all depends on you, Applejack. Let’s begin.” Luna told her, using the grip on her weapon to strike from the upper left side.

“Oh horseapples!” She swore, quickly moving her weapon above her head and closed her eyes, expecting to get knocked down to the floor. Only to not falter and actually block it.

“Well… this is interesting development. Look at your posture.” Luna told her as Applejack opened her eyes. To her surprise, she was in the same position that resembled the second combat stance that Luna was demonstrating earlier.

“How the hay did I do that?”

“It was your reaction to my movement. Muscle memory. Something tells me that from seeing me demonstrate the stances earlier, you remembered it and reacted accordingly. This is what I meant by focus. You focused on protecting yourself and that happened… Okay, let’s try again.”

“Muscle memory? What’s that?”

“It’s where your body is familiar with a series of motions to where you remember them instantly. You remember the proper form for Applebucking because you’ve done it multiple times before, am I right?”

“Yeah in some way that is true.”

“That’s probably how come your legs remembered the motions. Through Applebucking.” Luna replied. “Your legs remember the motions through Applebucking and your arms know the actions through your previous experience with fighting, your brief encounter earlier today and through what I showed you. Your body remembers those actions through previous experiences. Put both of them together and you get your stance right now.”

“I still don’t like it.” Applejack said

“That’s because you’re just starting to learn. Over time, you’ll get use to it… We have a lot of time after all and I mean that literally.” Luna smiled, lowering her weapon and looking at the puzzled mare. “When we entered in here, I cast a spell that affects the flow of time in this room. 24 hours in here… is only a mere twenty four seconds outside.”

“Look it’s not about just learning how to use a sword. It’s just that I’m not the kind of pony that does something like this. I prefer to use my fist when it comes to fighting somepony or multiple opponents. It’s what the apple family been doing since I was a little filly.”

“Hm… That doesn’t mean you can’t adjust. Look, I’m doing this to help you. What if something like what you saw came for your family? I want to teach you so you can be able to protect those you care for… Which makes me think of something. What if we could combine my teaching with what you already know?”

“Can we take a break from this? Right now I’m hungry and I haven’t eaten anything in the past few hours.”

“No worries, I came prepared.” Luna told her, using her magic to summon a couple of apples and a hay sandwich for her as she handed her the plate. “I’m not familiar with an earth pony’s diet, but I believe this can last you a while.”

“....I get the feeling I’m gonna be stuck here for a while huh?”

“Trust me, by the time we find something to work with you, barely any time outside this room would pass at all… Speaking of which… what would the light on your forearm be for?”

“What light?”

“The small silver one.” Luna pointed at it, the same arm that she was holding an apple in.

“Huh, that’s odd. This never light up unless somepony is calling me.” Applejack said and soon touched it. A new small screen opened up, containing something that surprised her.

New Database acquired: Combat Maneuvers.

On tapping it with her finger, a series of small images with a sideways triangle appeared on each of them. There was also a side note on there too on the left hand side away from the others.

Clips of Raiden’s combat mechanics and maneuvers for viewing purposes. Subject is self taught in his own combat form named Zandatsu (“Cut and Take”) and uses his new cybernetic body and multiple functions to effectively fight against enemies he encounters. Press a video to play a training sequence in a specific area of your choice.

“This is… interesting..” Applejack said to herself, pressing her finger against the top portion of the screen. It showed Raiden in a simple standing posture, but using the second stance that Luna had showed her to block incoming attacks. In response, Raiden attacked back with a series of slashes with one arm and some strikes using two. However, one thing that surprised Applejack before the clip ended was that Raiden was somehow able to attach his blade to the bottom of his foot as he struck his opponents with several kicking motions.

Motions similar to Applejack when she was applebucking during the harvest.

“How far are the folks in neighpon in their technology?” Applejack asked.

“Advanced, but not on the level that you are at… I believe there is something we can do now though.”

“Unless you have some kind of weapon similar to fists, then I don’t see how you can help me with that.”

“This Raiden appears to have a similar body in structure as yours. I believe we can be able to take the moves in these segments and teach you that same style. He is self taught, so his style could be easily transferred to you based on observation and practiced. Plus, a lot of it seems to be based on his cybernetic body structure. The same one that you now have.”

“Great, more using sword stuff.” Applejack said sarcastically. “This is going to be fun.”

“I like your enthusiasm.” Luna teased, picking up the wooden sword again. “Now, shall we continue?”

“I can’t believe I’m helping you out.” Rainbow Dash said carrying Chrysalis in one hand, and Fluffle Puff on her back. “Why am I even helping you after what you did in Canterlot a few years ago?”

“Just hurry, please. I need to talk to Celestia.” The Changeling queen told her. “This is very important and she would want to hear what I would have to say.”

“Yeah because after what you did, I’m sure she’ll trust you and welcome you with open arms.”

“Just… give me… a chance.” Chrysalis heaved, grabbing her shoulder. It wasn’t until Dash looked back at her that she realized that she had metal piercing through her arm and she was currently bleeding out on her.

“Pft.” Fluffle Puff said giving Rainbow Dash a serious look.

“Alright, alright. We shouldn’t be that far from the medical bay, so try to hang in there okay?”

“I’ll be fine… My wounds can wait though. Celestia needs to hear this now.” She insisted, a bit of a strict edge to her voice.

“Fine, but don’t blame me if you pass out.” Rainbow Dash said as she took Chrysalis to meet with Celestia. Upon setting her down, Chrysalis got to one knee, digging her fingers into her shoulder and pulling out the metal shard in her body.

“Chrysalis, what in faust’s name are you-?”

“Celestia… I need your He…. your he…”

“You mean help?”

“Yeah that…” Chrysalis groaned. “Some monstrosity just attacked the hive and slaughtered almost all of my kin. I fear the same thing that happened to the hive would happen to the rest of Equestria.” The Changeling soon had a series of images appear in her hands as she looked back at Celestia. When the sun alicorn looked at them, she was stunned by what she was seeing. Metalic monsters the size of castles, soldiers that were fully mechanical and weapons that were not like ones she had seen before. But one thing stood out to her.

One of them appeared to be the same one who attacked Applejack. “Oh my… This is indeed serious.”

“Please, Celestia. If my kind are allowed to seek refuge, I will tell you everything I know about them-.”

“Umm… Not to be rude… but why is that metal shard beeping?”

Rainbow’s comments did not fall on deaf ears as both ponies noticed what she was talking about. Seconds afterwards, something smashed through the entrance of the castle as a new figure emerged.

“Hello ladies… I don’t mean to be rude, but I forgot to introduce myself to the bug lady over there.” He cringed, grinning a sinister smile. “You may call me… Senator Armstrong.”