Harmony and Reason

Roland sat in the cell that the guard had placed him in. It was relatively comfortable, despite the fact that it was clearly designed for a much smaller occupant. Of course this was nothing new to him, he didn't just bring his own chair to the negotiation table because of how impressive it was. Speaking of which, that was what he planned to do. Admittedly, the position of prisoner wasn't his favored way of entering a negotiation, but he wasn't known as the man who stopped a dozen wars with but a few words for nothing. Of course, being no fool, he had to keep the possibility that he would need to break out an option. All of a sudden, he heard his Vox crackle to life.

"Captain Darren, please respond."

"This is Roland, glad to hear your voice Nisus."

"Same to you sir."

"Tell me, is there anyone else with you?"

"The Innovatus Squad, plus the Dreadnoughts. Do you require assistance?"

"Negative, I'm about to enter sensitive negotiations, you know how nervous Brother Virtuti can make the other party feel."

"...You are aware you're under arrest right?"

"Hardly my worst starting position. I'll be alright."

Nisus sighed, "Very well sir, anything you want us to do?"

"Get the unit back together, remain discreet for as long as reasonably viable."

"Understood, we'll contact you 1 hour after sunset, discomm."

Roland smiled, Nisus may be a bit low on command experience, but he'd get the job done. After launching a lazy ball of spit, he heard the door to the cell block open. Turning to look, he saw a trio of guards walk in. 'One of each variant, probably to take advantage of the unique benefits of each. I'm guessing the, pegasi I believe, have flight capabilities, the regular ones have the highest average strength perhaps?'

The lead guard, the unicorn, spoke, "The princess has deigned to accept you request for an audience."

"Wonderful," replied Roland, "is this happening now?"

"It will be some time before the princesses will see you. Princess Celestia is currently attending a formal event, and Princesses Luna and Twilight are currently at their personal estates."

"In that case, could I trouble you for some paint?" Roland said as he indicated the scratched-up paintwork of his armor, "I would like to look my best."

The guards looked at each other, "We'll see what we can do."

Roland smiled and nodded in thanks, as his gaze shifted to where his spitball had landed. The previously pristine iron bar now had a small hole in it. 'And some Chapters don't like using the Betcher's Gland, ha.'

Fluttershy didn't know what to make of the being that had landed in her garden. The closest she had ever seen to it was Iron Will, but this was even bigger. It was encased in grey armor, the only color being a bit of blue on the left shoulder, and some red on the right and the trim of both. Both of said shoulders had a symbol on them, the blue one having a set of scales, while the red one had a half-mechanical skull of a creature she had never seen before, unless it was of the creature who bore it, within a large cogwheel. But the scariest thing about it was definitely the quartet of metal arms that sprung from its back. The lower 2 had massive claws that made those of her little lobster friends look like sugar tongs, while the others ended in strange devices she had never seen before.

Then, it woke up.

Fluttershy was pretty sure that not even Rainbow Dash would be too upset at her hiding in this situation, probably. However, she didn't expect it to reply with a voice much softer than its size would suggest. Fluttershy mumbled a greeting in return, it was only polite after all. After a few seconds, she had to ask, "What are you?"

"Ferox Celsior, Techmarine 1st class of the Knights Inductor," he said as he got up. "If it's not too much trouble, might I ask the same of you?"

"Oh, I'm Fluttershy." Before her natural timidity could create an awkward silence, a massive rumbling caused her to hide again.

Ferox turned to the source of the sound. "What have they done to you?" he said, in a tone that reminded Fluttershy of her own when she first saw an injured animal. However, what crashed through the trees was no animal, but what looked like a massive armored chariot that propelled itself. However, it was incredibly roughed up, smoke pouring out of several places, and a large long bit on top cracked and sparking.

After clearing the trees, it came to a stop. A hatch on the top opened to reveal a figure similar to Ferox, except without the arms coming out of his back. "Brother Ferox, it's good to see you," the figure said as he leaped down and strode towards Ferox, only for Ferox to whack him upside the head before walking towards the vehicle. "I suppose I deserved that."

"Yes, you did," Ferox said before placing one hand one its hull. "At least Innovation tells me that these wounds were gained honorably, even if it's just as mad as I am that you fired the main gun without checking it. Seriously, the hurricane bolters were in good condition."

"Didn't want to take the chance," the new figure said, rubbing his head, "seriously, we were attacked by wolves made out of wood, actual walking fucking wood, that we shredded with hand weapons. Then, the pieces all combined into one massive wolf. I had to make sure it wouldn't do that again, and you know how much oomph the Grav-Cannon packs." Ferox proceeded to grumble as he used his claw arms to lift the vehicle so he could inspect the underside, startling the few others who had exited it. One of them was the same size, but the other 4 were quite a bit smaller, and had armor that didn't cover nearly as much. All of them moved to assist with the inspection and repairs, speaking comforting words to it like Fluttershy would to one of her patients. All except for the one who Ferox had reprimanded, who was wisely staying out of the way; and another who wore a hooded robe under his armor instead of the jumpsuit of his fellows, who was fiddling with something that wouldn't look too out of place in Vinyl Scratch's setup, particularly the headset he was holding to his ear. Eventually, the figure's attention wandered over to Fluttershy, causing her to shrink back behind the bush she was using for cover. "Who's the pony?"

"One of the locals Tormen," Ferox said as he used his gauntleted fist to bend a piece of armor plating into proper position, "and rather shy from what I could tell, so none of your usual shenanigans."

As Fluttershy considered getting some of her friends to help, the robed figure stood up suddenly, "Sir, I have Brother Conatus on the Vox."

Sergeant Fieri lead his squad at a brisk pace towards the city gates. The pony they had rescued was being carried by two Battle Brothers on a stretcher made of their Riot Shield, the branches of an evergreen they had found nearby, and held together by some of Irae's wound sealant. Irae was running alongside, keeping an eye on her vitals via medical auspex. Of course he had no idea what was considered normal for her race, but he was one of the best Apothecaries around, he'd make do. Of course, the moment they approached, they were stopped by a pair of guards. "Medical emergency," Fieri said as he indicated the injured mare, holding the confusion he had that the guards had crystalline coats for later.

The guards looked at each other before heading into the city at a brisk trot, Fieri and his squad close behind. As they moved through the city, most of the ponies in the street gave them a wide birth, although more then a few remained to watch them. The city was even more sparkly than its inhabitants, there wasn't a single building that wasn't made of crystal. Fieri went to order his squad to polarize their helmets' veiwports, only to find that they already had. He allowed himself a moment to be proud of their initiative before turning his attention back on their guides.

After about 15 minutes, they arrived at a rather large building that they assumed was a hospital. Upon entering, the two Marines transferred their passenger onto a waiting gurney, that the guards had radioed ahead for. Irae was rattling off her condition to a waiting doctor with a lot of technical terms. Fieri tuned that out, he stayed Tac-Marine for a reason. Instead he tuned back in to the local channels on his vox. Most of it was civilian entertainment broadcasts, he could even pick up a few kids playing with rudimentary voxes. However, he couldn't help but be concerned that he could pick up a few military bands. True, all of it was patrols and guard stations reporting in, but it wasn't even protected with basic encryption.

Hearing the door open behind him, he turned to see several more guards enter, lead by a massive(by their standards) red stallion that looked to be in charge. "I assume that you're the ones that the border guards reported bringing in that mare?"

"We are," Fieri replied, bringing his fist to his chest in salute, "Sergeant Fieri Clipeum, Knights Inductor 3rd Company, 5th Tactical Squad."

"Lieutenant Rock Steady, Heavy Platoon. I'm going to have you to come with me, the Commander in Chief would like to ask you a few questions."

Fieri was about to reply before noticing that Irae was currently accompanying his patient to the operating room. "We're gonna have to wait a while."

Inanus was rocking slowly back and forth in his cocoon. His original idea to get it caught on a sharp outcropping in order to rip it was thwarted by the fact that there weren't any, so now he was just doing it to pass the time. Soon however, he heard something burrowing underneath him. Sure enough, after a minute, a dark red spider the size of a bulldog tunneled up from the ground underneath him.

"Greetings little one," said Inanus, "feel free to stay, unless your here to try to monologue me to death, that position's already been filled."

The spider chirped before skittering up to his cocoon and started to eat it.

Inanus couldn't help but chuckle, "Cute little bugger. Hey, would you mind freeing up one of my arms while you're up there?"

While it gave no outward indication of hearing him, its feasting eventually lead it to clear away the gunk around his left arm. Inanus shook off a few bits that were clinging to him before pulling out his plasma pistol. Turning to its lowest setting, he turned it to the strand of hardened goop holding his cocoon to the ceiling. After a few seconds, it melted enough to snap, dropping him and his new friend onto the ground. Inanus then turned it towards the rest of his prison, taking care to avoid his new friend who was still happily munching away.

"Can't believe she didn't take you away," he said before holstering it, "must not have recognized it as a weapon." He walked towards his sword which was secured to the wall with more of that goop and pulled it free. He heard a chirp, and turned to see that the spider had crawled onto his power pack to get at some of the goop on his collar. "Hope the captain doesn't mind you tagging along," he said as he pulled the goop away from his mode toggle and handed it to the spider, who chewed on it gleefully. "Think I'll call you... Sapper."

Just then, the sound of hoofsteps approaching announced the arrival of Chrysalis. "Alright my pet, it's time to continue... how did you escape!?!?"

"That's not really important," said Inanus as Sapper scurried out of sight, "what's really important, is that I finally get to shut you up." An unearthly chill permeated the room as Inanus switched his Amp to 'Enhance Mode', letting Chrysalis know that she had royally fucked with the wrong target.