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