I used to think that there was still good in Equestria, even as our world tore itself apart. I used to think that the good guys would always come out on top. That the bad would be struck down before it could even get too bad to stop. I used to think I wasn't just a hunk of rusted scrap.
Everything changed when I fell.
We had been travelling to Dodge Junction, a zebra assault had left the town in a state of disrepair, there were no prisoners, only the mangled bodies of stallions, mares, And foals. The attack had begun slowly- a small wave of zebra attackers trying to brute force the lightly defended walls - but being stopped by the various guards in hulking suits of power armor. The small town being the home of a heavily crowded steel mine. Said steel was used to create weaponry, battle saddles, and many, many suits of power armor. That small wave of attackers that had been so easily crushed was supported by a massive second wave of mechanized infantry, snipers perched on far away hills taking pot shots at civilian and soldier alike. The wave of attackers swiftly, and mechanically destroyed the town. Mortars peppering the outskirts of the city, before purposefully targeting the sleepy suburbs that sat outside the town, outside of the walls.
The Steel Pantheon was the relief effort, an elite team of mechanically augmented soldiers in specialized power armor. The team consisted of 6 members, their leader being the blindingly white-maned unicorn named Silver Shield- he was their heavy infantry, his battle saddle consisting of a 50 caliber machine gun strapped to his left and a cherry red revolving barrel assault shotgun strapped to his right. His power armor was perfectly polished, the steel glinting in the evening sun. The image of a silver shield was painted in bright paint. Everything about the stallion oozed confidence and purpose. The pupils inside of the synthetic eyes lodged in empty eye sockets expanding and contracting as they focused on the dull interior of the wagon that sat in.
The Second in command was Rosepetal, a mare with a dark red, almost wine colored coat. Her heavily armored wings snapped into a salute as their leader muttered a good luck to his team, as steely and terse as the words were, they boosted the confidence of the team. His friends wholeheartedly took strength in his words. Rose Petal most of all, Silver Shield's eyes flicking to her briefly, sending a deeper red spreading across her face as she saluted. A tiny smile spread across Silver Shields face, an uncommon sight that set the mood of the sky-wagon to one of relaxed vigilance. Rose Petals violet eyes flicking to and from Silver Shield's hulking form.
"Rosy, stop oogling at the boss!" A gruff, scratchy voice grumbled.
"W-what!"- The Rose-maned mare shouted back, her face erupting into a brighter shade of pink - "I'm not oogling..."
She spat out the word as if it were a poison, the two other mares in the wagon sharing a knowing glance at RosePetal
"Rose, just admit it, you have the hots for silver," The bright green mare said, the only words she'd said out loud the entire flight.
"I-I have no idea what y-you're talking about," Rose's eyes flicked back towards Silver Shield, seeing them staring back lazily, eyes half closed. "S-Silver Shield is an amazing commander to me and nothing more!"
"Ouch." The other mare muttered, her ivory painted power armor shifting as she grimaced at Rosepetals words. "Harsh thing to not call the big guy your friend at the least."
"W-wait thats not what I meant!" The double energy rifles strapped to her battle saddle jingling as she lurched forward, coming closer to Silver Shield's face."You're a great friend, promise, its just that you're not... That kind of friend."
A whistle coursed through the air, the pitch black suit of power armor rustled slightly as the wearer laughed, the gruff scratchy voice once again speaking,
"Really convincing us Rosy-cheeks," Rustyarmor said, his power armor far from rusty. "Hell, you might even be convincing the big man himself!"
The conversation was paused as a single chuckle rung through the air, the shining silver power armor shaking once as a smile played cross the wearer's face.
His horn lit as a custom built helmet was sealed onto his head, the sound of bone against metal ringing through the room as his horn slotted into the custom built M1CU power armor helm. The first ever unicorn specific power armor built to send its user into a deep cryo-sleep should they be lethally harmed, as a way to recover his still living body, should he fall in battle. His pale silver visor sprung to life, numbers and symbols flying down the visor as he opened his Pip-Buck menu, making sure he had everything he needed and that his power supply was full. Seeing the blinking red light at the bottle left of his visor he let out a sigh, turning his vision towards the green mare.
"Gemstone, you have any rubies for me?" He said as he checked that his battle saddle was secured properly, which he had done atleast 12 times throughout the flight. "Running low on power, and we don't want another Incident eh?"
"Ugh, don't even remind me, Silver," Gemstone grumbled, her gaze shifting to her saddle bags and digging out a few rubies with a hoof and tossing them to Silver shield. "My hooves were numb for hours, Silver, hours!"
His magic swooped them from the air, his helmet lifting only to allow him to consume the bright red gems, the little red bar in the bottom left of his visor filling up slowly as his metal teeth munched down on his energy supply. When Silver Shield was first born something had gone catastrophically wrong during the birth. His body had been flayed, devoid of skin entirely, all four limbs were sheared off, supposedly coming off when he was still just a lump of flesh and cells. His eyes were never formed, most of his internal organs were not fully formed, forcing him to spent his first three years connected to a machine that kept him breathing. Mechanized organs were made for him, flesh replaced with panels of steel, limbs replaced with mechanical legs ending with talons similar to a griffin, eyes replaced with cameras connected directly to his brain for him to see.
As time went on his body was enhanced further, armored steel placed upon armored steel, sensitive machinery lodged into his body, augmentations rammed wherever they could. He was an abomination of steel and meat, pulsating flesh covered with a thick sheet of metal, nails hammered deep into tendons to force the steel to not crush his organs. The pain had long since dulled, becoming a numb ache ever present in his mind.
Eight lines sat on his E.F.S. all staying at a neutral white, with one being a dark yellow. The single yellow bar belonged to the towering fortress of pitch black power armor. Cannon was not a very stable stallion. Prone to lashing out at friendlies in battle, blinded by a battle frenzy. His armor was equipped with a gigantic artillery piece strapped to the back, he was their mobile artillery. Now why would you put artillery on someone who was blinded by his own greed for violence? Surprisingly enough, he was a pretty good shot. He used his large size to battering his enemies into piles of meat and bones, or just launching a barrage to do the same thing from afar.
Silver Shield's smile had set off a chain reaction, the six ponies in the wagon sharing a moment of companionship. Smiles spread throughout the wagon, even the gruff looking Rustyarmor joined in, a cheeky grin on his face. The Ivory armored mare simply shook her head and chuckled, mumbling about how Rosepetal was stupidly easy to set off. The Ivory armored mare was the third in command, Moonflare, a lunar pegasus prone to teasing the rest of the team, like an annoying big sister to them. She had an anti-material rifle strapped onto the right side of her body, and a silenced machine gun on her left.
Rustyarmor was equipped with an assault rifle and what looked to be a lever action shotgun, his armor painted with flames and sparks, an auto-welder was strapped half haphazardly to his back with a strap. His left eye was replaced with a metallic cybernetic eye, the green light behind the eye being plain to see to anybody, even through the thick black visor on his armor.
A voice crackled into their helmets, the pilots warning them of something, but most of what they said was lost to static.
"Oh Celestia! They actua -- Krrrk --"
The sky-wagon rumbled around them, the door hissing open and revealing that they were very, very far from the ground, but also revealing a horrific sight. Bodies were everywhere, the entire town stacked high with zebra and pony alike, a single pony in power armor still stood, but upon closer inspection the pony inside the power armor had been melted inside of it, the metal twisted and malformed from melting. Dragon-fire most likely, recently smaller dragons had been teaming up with the zebra menace, giving them air support and a moving artillery platform. Yet that wasn't what caught their attention.
A thundering boom erupted across the desert, followed by a towering green mushroom cloud splashing across the dying sunlight. Then another, further away, then another, and another. Suddenly the evening sky was lit up with countless bale-fire bombs, the signalling of the end. Before they could even begin to understand what was going on, it hit them.
"Silver, W-what do we do?" The normally smug voice of Rustyarmor spoke over his intercom as the wave hit.
The wagon was sent spiraling to the ground, the six gathering together and holding onto the giant black suit of power armor that was cannon. The shock-wave was enough to melt the flesh from the two pegasi flying their pilots, a balefire bomb exploding in front of them by miles but still striking as if they were at ground zero. His voice cleared through even the sound of the bombs, Silver whispered out a single order before his world had come down around him and seconds before the wagon hit the ground in a brilliant splash of fire and steel.
"Hope."
Author's Note
Hey you, what do you think you're doing down here!?
Aaaa, don't worry just joking. Trying the whole comedy thing and all that.
Sorry if I got some stuff wrong or whatever.
Don't worry this chapter is meant to be sudden and short.
Cold.
I lost track of time a while ago.
I forgot what the sun looked like after the first 45 years.
As much as cryo-sleep may protect your body, your brain is still active inside of the tin can. I spent the first few years just planning what I would do when I powered back on.
I forgot the plan a week later.
Rust had begun to set in, my steel skin coated in a thick sheen of black orange and brown. The once brilliant silver visor was smashed inwards from the crash, only letting me see just barely. For the first 100 years I was still myself. I could remember my life, my family, my friends.
I forgot them 3 years later, now they were a distant thought. A whisper from afar, so close yet so far from me. It was as if a great cloud of fog had enshrouded my mind, turning me into some mindless hulk of rust as time went on. My vision was restricted to the same color as it had for the past 200 years, a dull orange that shifted into a dull green towards the sky. For the first 35 years I simply prayed, to Princess Luna, Celestia, hell I even prayed to the chrysolese mare.
Or was it chrisalas
Hmm...
Nevermind, what were we talking about?
Oh right, me being trapped in a suit of power armor for 200 years.
The rust started poisoning my insides after the power ran dry, constantly recycling power as the cryo-pod aspect of the suit required at-least a little bit of power to run. This means that all other functions were disabled to conserve power. The repair talisman atop the helmet had been disabled just 62 years ago, allowing rust to begin degrading the power armor around me, the rain water searing my insides as it got into the weakened joints of the suit.
Only one thing had remained the same over 200 years. This unbearable feeling of frost enveloping your body, your organs slowing to a crawl to keep you alive. The chilling aura surrounding the cryo-suit froze the immediate area around it. covering the sand with a thick sheet of ice and frost. One of the few things I will never forget is the feeling of ice coating my entire body, inside and out.
There isn't much I remember before the crash. I remember I was happy. I remember the sound of my mothers voice. I had begun to hear her voice whisper into my ear, after a while. I stopped counting how many times I had heard her speak to me. She always whispered dark things into my ear, to succumb to the cold and just give in. To forget about the past, the future, and the present. To forget my own name.
I defied the whispers.
My name is Silver Shield Of the Steel Pantheon... And that is a very haggard looking pony...
He stumbled in front of me, a dark beige coat covered in scars, blisters and muck. The rain gently splashed against my armor, the slow methodical Tink... Tink... Tink... of water dripping through the armor leading to a slight feeling of numbness in my chest, before the rampant feeling of burning would spread throughout where the water had drained. He tapped against the visor, a small spatter of glass shaking into my half open eyes.
Everything was so fuzzy, I think the stallion's mane was a dark color, black, maybe? Or was it lighter?
He walked behind me, the release button tucked away on the back of my neck itching, internally I begged him to press the faded button. Begged him to release me from this steel prison, from this tin can where I'd been trapped for 200 years.
But he did not.
He trotted back in front of me, a small tarp covering his body, 4 sticks taped to his tunic to keep the tarp above him to block the rain. His cutie mark was... Something grey, I think. He rubbed his hoof against his chin, probably thinking to himself.
"Just how long has this thing been here?" He rambled to himself, a noticeable drawl in his words, "Such a shame good armor goes to waste..."
I wanted to scream to him before he left, free me from my prison! Let me escape this horrid desert, help me remember! Something! Anything!
He once again circled me, his hoof tapping the right side of my body, before drifting along to the back of my armor, and then up to the helmet, tapping his hoof against the horn and being rewarded with a static shock. He yelped slightly, holding his hoof to his chest, before grumbling and getting closer to my visor, peering deep into the cracked silver.
"What... The F-"
My eyes snapped open, rust covering the silver shell of the eyes, but not stopping the piercing light behind them.
The mystery stallion jumped back, a look of pure mortal terror on his face. I couldn't move my eyes, but they were back online, just how had that happened?
"Holy shit, you're still alive in there?" He almost squeaked out, his voice rising an octave as his eyes opened wide before he slowly crept away from me, eyes never leaving the visor.
After it was clear I was still just a metal statue covering a body, he leapt back to his hooves, eyes still locked with my own flickering eyes. Slowly, ever so slowly, he crept back towards my suit, eyes moving from my eyes to look up towards my horn, hoof reaching up again to tap it ever so gently.
He was once again shocked, springing backwards as my suit surged to life, the speaker on the helmet crackling out a high pitched whine of static and my right hoof slamming down against the ground, a clear indent following the hoof. Once again I was paralyzed, body struck with a wave of ice and frost to keep me slumbering, releasing a sheet of ice on the sand. He stared down at the ice, and then back to my eyes.
Before something clicked in his head, he sprung to his hooves, approaching with a look of pure unadulterated child-like wonder. His hooves crept along my armor, before sliding to the release button, and whispering something to himself.
Yes! Free me! So Close!
"Please don't kill me if you're still alive," He whispered out, more to himself than me. "Here goes nothing."
His hoof slammed down on the release button, setting off a chain reaction. First there was a thick mist that enveloped the two of us as the cryo-pod released my body from stasis, then the slowly rising sound of rusted metal scraping against rusted metal, and then a great rush of air as the suit forced me from its hold.
"Oh Goddesses above, thank you kind str-" The words barely left my mouth before a torrent of orangish brown vomit spewed from my muzzle, followed by a strangling cough that continued for minutes. The stallion, mid way through the coughing fit leaned over, placing a hoof on my cold metallic shoulder, retracting his hoof almost as soon as it rested.
"Woah, woah, breath buddy, you like pretty normal for a prewar relic," The stallion let out before his hoof retracted "W-whats wrong partner, need some water?"
He pulled out a small plastic container of dirty brown water, hoofing it over to me, and prompting me to chug. I didn't resist, my body felt as if it were on fire, burning pains rushing through my throat and chest. Even as the copper-tasting water rushed down my throat, my body continued to hack and wheeze, before a single word left my mouth.
"E-energy..." I then resumed my rampant coughing fit, rusty metal skin scratching against the ground with each movement, bits and pieces flaking off and revealing pulsing flesh.
The stallion's eyes met mine, before he mumbled "Aah, l-like food or?"
"Need power..." I rasped out, lungs struggling to take in the harsh desert air.
"Like a battery or something?" The stallion reached back and pulled his saddle bag off, moving to cover my body from the rain with the large billowing tarp above him, "Yeah, sure, I got some batteries off of a big ol' busted robot down near Junk Town."
Not even waiting for him to give them to me, I reached out with my magic and pulled it swiftly into my helmet, which had remained on my head through the expulsion from the suit. A bright silver light poured from the visor, before the visor itself slowly repaired, the cracks repairing before the bewildered stallion's eyes. Soon followed by my armored skin slowly repairing itself, the back end and head starting first, leaving big patches of rust as the spell died down. The power armor helm was still pulsing with energy, rust coating the tip of the horn, a relieved sigh escaped my mouth. During the repair process my mechanical augmentations were first to be repaired, silver steel hooves glimmering ever so slightly, nails hammered into rusted armored skin made to shine again.
The stallion's mouth was agape, his eyes wide and bewildered, before he gently patted my side with a hoof, a solid Ting! ringing from the impact. After seeing my confused look he simply responded "Just making sure you're actually a real pony... And that I'm not dreaming..."
A distant sound reigned over the hollow sound of the wind, a sound like cloth flapping in the wind, soft texture against air... My head flicked back towards the stallion, a pounding pain rushing through my skull as a black shape covered the ground to my right, seemingly unnoticed by the stallion. The shape was gone by the time I turned to my right, a flash of ivory and green appeared to my left, wisps of green smoke wafting past my visor.
Seeing my rapidly shifting view and frantic movements, the stallion approached, a worried look settling upon his face.
"Hey, buddy, you alright?" He said, his eyes flicking to mine briefly, before he pulled away in shock and horror.
"W-what... Why are you looking at me like that?" My hoof reached up to tap my helmet, magic pulling it from my head with a satisfying pop.
My magic turned the helm in its grip turning my visor to face me as the almost blinding pain rushed through my skull once again, like a dull pounding. The visor was coated in a think red liquid, dripping from muzzle to horn, pulsing flesh reflecting back at me as I saw a fraction of my reflection.
What am I?
The right side of my face was coated in thick rust, a small crack running down the side of my skull and leaking blood at a growing rate, pulsing flesh forcing its way through the cracks ever so slightly. My eyes had faded to a dull rust coated orange, shining silver replaced with one bright violet and a familiar green shining through the left. Fangs protruded from my mouth, similar to that of a... Something... My vision slowly darkened, blood dripping down onto the cold metal talons that rested at the end of my front hooves. My eyes flicked up towards the stallion, seeing him reach for a bandage in his bag, my body took over.
My talons reached over to his saddle bag, tearing it away from him and digging further in, blood beginning to pour at a feverish pace, constant, almost like a stream of thick red liquid. Voices spoke in my mind, whispers at the corner of my ears, flickers of shapes dashing just outside of my line of sight. My eyes locked onto the flickering lights of four more batteries, my talons reaching down to grasp the batteries and pull them to my lips, plastic cracking under the new fangs. Relief came seconds later, the tide of blood stemming ever so slightly as messages ran down my vision.
Power Level Critical...
Power Conversion Process Beginning in...
5
My eyes moved back towards the buck standing a distance away, a bolt action rifle held in his mouth, one hoof on the bolt. I muttered an apology... I think. Stumbling over to the rusty suit of power armor, the dull flames on the right side mixing with the rusted ivory on the left shoulder retaining some of its color, black back legs also retaining the deep black paint. Metallic wings on the back remaining tucked to the armor's sides. The lever action shotgun strapped to the back - atop a large artillery piece - was rusted over, trigger having fallen off long ago. The heavy machine guy strapped to the right had its barrel caved in, looking as though someone placed a grenade at the end of the barrel. An anti-material rifle was strapped to the left, blood caking the entire weapon, looking as if it were used as a club, stock crumbled into the rest of the rifle.
4
3
My eyes wandered the armor, talon outstretching to allow me to suit up once again. The shadows seemed to draw into the armor as the hydraulics hissed open. Colors streamed into my mechanical eyes, multiple lines overlapping on my E.F.S. directly on top of the armor. I ignored the frantic whispers, gradually leading to them becoming frantic shouting inside of my head, 5 voices overlaying into one.
2
1
My talons slotted into place, the armor once again placing its cold grasp upon my body. The voices rose once again, leading me to slam my unarmored skull against the ground, a resounding thud ringing through the air as my head hit the concrete. The voices ceased, if only ever so slightly, my eyes reigning in to look at the stallion, his eyes wide and his heart racing. Don't ask me how I knew, but just looking at him made me feel ill. He was terrified, and that much was obvious due to his quaking legs. A heart beat in my ears, and then another, many hearts beating at a growing pace. I slotted the helmet atop my head
Repair Talisman Activated...
A blinding rush of silver light rushed through the thick power armor, horn lighting as the weapons upon the armor repaired ever so slightly, still in a bad state. The voices ceasing once again, dying down to a dull whisper, instinct had led me through the situation. My body reacted as if it had done this thousands of times now, turning to the stallion and kneeling in front of him, my calm voice speaking over the intercom on the armor.
"My apologies sir, I will reimburse you for your contribution to the Steel Pantheon." My head bowed before I could force it to stop, brain working on scraps of memory.
Steel... What? My brain ran through a myriad of different possibilities before settling on... Oh yeah I don't remember.
The stallion's rifle dropped from his mouth, allowing him to speak as he grabbed his saddle back from the ground, tossing it over his back with his mouth.
"Oh, you mean the Steel Rangers? Naah, I would rather not after that display, could you just... Not turn me into a pile of pulp?"
I stood back up from kneeling, confused myself by what I had just done. The armor seemed to have gained a bright sheen, what looked like a mishmash of different parts and types of power armor strapped to the cryo-pod frame.
"Uhm... Y'know, I don't really know what I meant by that... Whatever, I'm sure its nothing important." I lifted my head
The stallion simply shook his head, grumbling something along the lines of "Aaah, now there's two of 'em," before turning to me with a smile on his face, "How about this, I helped you, you help me."
Author's Note
Footnote: Quest Perk Attained
Fractured Psyche : Due to years alone contemplating the meaning of existence and ruminating over your past mistakes, a good chunk of your memories are a mystery to you!
+1 Charisma
-2 Intelligence
-2 Perception
