The war torn streets of Iacolt were set alight by intense spell fire. Bolts of green, yellow, pink and purple were slung between the burning streets of the once illustrious city. A unicorn mare, her lavender coat marred by burns and soot ducked back behind the rubble she was using as cover. Right as she did so, a blue bolt of magic impacted the structure sending shrapnel raining over her. A rocket flew by her head, destroying many of the ponies in front of her, showering her in burning parts of charred pony.
"They've broken through the front lines!" She heard, watching as the few surviving ponies retreated.
"Incoming!" Another one shouted before being shot in the back. Their position was ravaged by rapid fire bolts of magic, taking out many more ponies too slow to cover themselves.
"I can't reach the capitol, can you?!"
"No!" She shouted back.
"There's too many of them, I can't- AGH!" The stallion was pierced by a bolt, his spark extinguished on the spot. She peered over the edge, seeing pegasi standing on a roof firing their repeaters down on the ponies positions. The suppressing fire allowed more Shadowcon troops to move into position and set up. They were pinned down.
She couldn't get an angle on them without risking her own life, she felt powerless. Out of the blue, golden yellow bolts of magic fired from the smoke behind them, hitting each of the pegasi before Celestia herself came galloping through. She vaulted over debris and pony, landing and firing a shot at a surprised Shadowcon. She turned and blasted another charging at her before slamming her hoof into him and throwing him head first into the ground. "Hold out a little longer, we're almost ready!"
"Celestia lookout!" T-402 vaulted over her cover, blasting a Shadowcon of her own before throwing up a shield to protect her leader.
"Thank you." She nodded before aiding in the fight. They retreated back to the blockade, T-402's mostly drained energy reserves holding under the pressure.
"Get down! Incoming!"
"Uh, Celestia?" Off in the distance, they could make out the sleek form of an earthpony mare, her piercing purple eyes cut through the hazy atmosphere.
"Shadowcons, Advance!" She said, her voice kept one constant tone, the ponies behind her began rushing their position. Meanwhile, she held her own, behind her the unmistakable forms of Wind Rider, Moondancer and above all, Nightmare moon herself.
Celestia's eyes widened as she began to step backwards. "Canterbots, Fall back! I'll hold them off." The ponies began running, some dropping their arms to retreat faster. T-402 hesitated, she didn't want to leave her leader. "Get to the tower, I won't be far."
"Cut them off, Let none escape." Moondancer raised her left arm, a large mana-cannon having taken its place, and fired. Despite the distance, it impacted T-402's barrier and shattered it, blowing apart the foundations of a nearby building. It began crumbling, nearly catching T-402 on her flanks. Wind Rider leads a charge of pegasi, taking into the air and transforming. They flew overhead, raining hell down upon their routing ranks.
Two heavy set doors hissed open, ponies scattering across the top of the tower and hopping into escape pods. "Equestria has fallen, get to the escape pods."
"Celestia. With all due respect, this is our home. We can't just leave it like this." T-402 turned to her leader and refuted.
"The battle may be lost, but we have yet to lose the war. I have charted a rendezvous point," She projected a planet from her horn, showing the lavender unicorn a green and blue ball. "It is called Earth. I need you to go there and ensure its security. Protect it, if the Shadowcons find it, our cause is surely lost." Pegasi jets roared past the precipice, converting above their heads. "Now go!"
T-402 watched the pegasi for a moment, before turning and leaving with a salute. "I won't let you down Princess!" She nodded, lighting her horn and watching the missiles curve to the base. Everything shook, Celestia firing into the swarm of jets as the tower teetered.
She rushed to the edge, leaping into a skydive and grabbing the nearest Pegasus. T-402 watched as they tumbled through the air, colliding into a building and bursting a massive fireball.
Equitron rushed away, faster and faster, shrinking to nothing but a speck as she flew into the infinite nothing of deep space. Optimistic for the future, but anxious about the past.
Quite, soft crunches of hooves on leaf coated ground stopped. Sargent's hoof raised to halt those behind him, he took one step and everything flipped. Bushes reached for the sky and dealt their sharp thorns of pink pain straight into his exposed body.
"Ow, OW!" Staff Sergeant Leeway attempted to shield himself from the onslaught. "I'm dead already, man!"
Hooves coated in a ghillie suit lifted up, lightly gripping his helmet and lifting it off his face. "Oh, not just you. Being the over achiever that you are, you managed to get your entire squadron killed. In the first engagement no less."
"C'mon, those things sting." He said disheartened, motioning to the pistol strapped to his arm.
"What things?" Leeway yelped as another paintball flew into his underside. "I wouldn't know, I haven't been hit yet." He flexed his hoof again, letting another fly.
Leeway covered his face with a wing, wiping the paint from his fur and smearing it all over his feathers. "Hey, watch where you point that thing, you could have taken out an eye. That ain't sexy man, I got a date tonight."
"Yeah, you're right, I'm sorry." Another pull. "Oh, I'm really sorry." Once more. "That one was on me," And again, "That's a malfunctioning trigger," And again.
"Ok Ok, Stop!" Leeway peeked out from behind his wings. "Just stop." Sargent Scenery lightly chuckled to himself. "Oh, I should have let you die on the flats."
"Maybe. But then we wouldn't be able to have so much fun right now."
"Exactly." The Pegasus softly screamed at the approaching ground. Dusting himself off with the help of Sight. "I hate you. So much, I really do."
"That hurts, 'cause I love you. But you refuse to let it in because you have intimacy issues." Leeway tuned out, staring into the bright cloudless sky, watching a small orange dot grow larger and larger.
"Sight." Leeway patted Sargent Sight's shoulder, pointing to the orb with a wing. "Look."
"I know I look stupid but. . ." Audible rumbling accompanied a sudden burst of violet color, the tame orange flames turning wild with its approach.
"Everyone Take COVER!" The group of 21 ponies ran for the hills, narrowly dodging serious harm as whatever it was crashed into the dirt. The shockwave launched anyone still standing into trees and messy piles, thankfully not gravely injured.
Pulling his radio from his vest, Sight barked, "This is Staff Sergeant Sharp Sight, we have a projectile strike in the north-west corner of the training grounds. We require medical, multiple injuries, and someone tell me why your dropping Napalm on your own guys!"
Negative, there are no live fire drills in the north-west sector.
"Then what the hell hit us?" From behind, a low metallic boom drew his attention backwards. He watched as a metallic purple mass began rising, growing more distinctly equine as it stood. Two glowing violet eyes looked down upon him, squaring her shoulders as it inspected him.
Voices and the sound of engines drew T-402's attention away from him, flipping her visor down over her eyes as she focused into the trail. Watching several Humvees with mounted machine guns and harpoons. She focused in further, able to make out further armed forces making their way through the tree line. T-402 turned, looking down to see a small jeep and scanning it.
Sergeant Sight watched it leave with disbelief, slightly startled by the vehicle pulling up next to him. He shook his head, furrowing his brow, "I need all of you to fan out and track that thing down, now!" and bark orders.
T-402 galloped through the forest, turning to look behind herself every so often for their progress. They were closing in since her last measurement. Her body began shifting, her parts molding into new ones as she replicated the jeep, only in lavender.
"What the hell?" Sergeant Sight muttered, "Take it down!" The overhead harpoon was launched into the glove box, giving the jeep an unexpected jolt backwards and forcing her to drift off an embankment. Ripping the Harpoon out and tumbling down the cliff. T-402 splashed into a stream, getting little time to recover before she was targeted again.
She blew pass the trees, a lone Humvee on her trail soon joined by another. The mare lit her horn, forming a sharp blade of energy used to cut the trunks, blocking the path. "Damnit!" Sergeant Sight kicked paneling in front of him, watching as T-402 continued to make her escape.
The forest was silent, save for her heavy hoof steps kicking up scattered leaves behind her. She slowed, reaching a hoof up to her torn shoulder and feeling for damage done. The forest thinned, opening into a sandy area with a large cliff-face and a cave entrance. To her left and right, she was surrounded by speeding Jeeps and Humvees.
"It's going for the mines, cut it off!" Sight yelled, driving after T-402 as she galloped for the cave. The second Humvee crashed through her legs, bouncing her off its windshield into the dust and dirt of the ground. She groaned, getting back up surrounded and cut off. Sergeant Sight climbed into his vehicle's turret, aiming it down at T-402's glaring optics.
She kept her head low and in front of her in a defensive stance. She eyeing Sight directly, "Please, this is a mistake."
"Stay cool, hold your fire." He reassured his squadron.
"I don't want to hurt anyone." Everyone present turned to a new sound. Booming, roaring engines heralded the appearance of a lone fighter-bomber.
"Who called in the Airforce?"
"That's not the Airforce." T-402 raised her head, dropping her ears as she recognized the insignia. "Run." The F-4 flew overhead, dropping missiles over the group and blasting it apart. Ponies were sent flying with their now shredded vehicles, T-402 crashed through the side of a wooden shack and the F-4 turned for another go.
It straightened for another pass, lining up with T-402 as she recovered and blasted straight for her. Converting, wings splaying out into feathered forms, lion paws and eagle claws folding into place and a white beaked head with yellow seething eyes pushed T-402 into the rock behind her. "Did you think you could hide?!" Gilda yelled, temporarily stunned by a kick from the unicorn before flying after her. "Now you'll die screaming." She blocked a strike from the mare, knocking her back into the flaming wreck. "Like your friends back on- UAH!"
T-402 zipped into her chest, knocking the griffoness down, lighting her horn in an attempt to stab her. Gilda ignited her thrusters, flying underneath the unicorn and doubling back, gripping her neck and flying her into the wall. Slamming her arm into the rock, she pulled herself into the larger bot's leg and clambered up onto her back. Lighting her horn once more and plunging it deep into her shoulder, pulling out and stabbing into the thruster. A sudden movement forced her next strike to glance off a plate, but she was not deterred plunging further into the back and twisting. The jet sputtered and died, dropping the two into the solid rock wall and falling to a plateau bellow.
Gilda was up before T-402 landed, her arm shifting into a rifle and peppering her barrier with high caliber bolts of magic. The force slowly pushed the mare closer to the precipice, part of it falling away and before the mare could drop a metal claw wrapped around her throat. "Now then, T-402, tell me where your friends went."
T-402 shook her head. "I'll never talk."
"Is that right?" She wound her claw back, its razor sharp tips glistening in the daylight. "Then let's make it official." The claw was plunged deep into her small neck, sparks flew from the wound as she gave one, then another tug. Pulling free T-402's Voice Synthesis chip and dropping it to the ground.
She was allowed to fall, rolling down the cliff and slamming into the charred ground. Gilda crashed down behind her, kicking up more dust and forcing that dust to dissipate. "T-402, you and your thick cranium. As a member of the Canterbot resistance, you are a traitor and sentenced to death. Blah Blah Blah," she picked T-402 up by her neck and gazing into her optics, her visor cracked and shattered. "Good riddance." She suddenly jerked in her claw, ripping her wrist open with telekinesis and jamming a missile straight into her chest.
Gilda panicked, gripping the missile and dropping the unicorn. "No. . ." She whispered, yanking on it but found it stuck fast through her chassis. "NO!" T-402's horn was glowing brightly, charged and aiming right at the missile. Gilda was destroyed in an instant, the force of the explosion enough to the lavender unicorn further into the dirt and lightly charr her skin.
The metal mare still standing slowly rose to her hooves, observing the burning remains of the griffon mercenary. Her optics constricted as her internal systems blared,
[CORE FUNCTIONS CRITICAL]. She slowly trekked forwards, reaching towards the hole in her neck which sparked with each attempt to speak.
She didn't know how long she was walking for, or what she was looking for. What ever it was, it would have to wait, she was getting tired. She didn't know how tired she had gotten, but it came ahead at a small stream where her legs finally failed her. Giving off one final groan of refusal before dropping to their knees, and depositing a beat-up lavender unicorn on her side. Her optics fading in a out of consciousness.
[CORE FUNCTIONS CRITICAL]
Slowly rising to her hooves, she was fascinated by the shape and color of them. Turning their warped discolored forms over in her vision.
[CORE FUNCTIONS CRITICAL]
Parts of her vision degraded, catching her off guard and causing a spike in fear. She felt afraid of what it meant, an innate fear programed into every one of her kind. Everyone like her. . . where were they?
[CORE FUNCTIONS CRITICAL]
She looked up, gazing into the distance at what looked like small insects. Each one going about their day, leaving behind large metal vehicles. They had to be like her, right? She reached out towards them, trying to say something, anything to get their attentions.
[CORE FUNCTIONS CRITICAL]
She did the only thing she could think of, with more of her vision leaving her she had to ensure her safety. Attempting to scan left her with more and more errors, going for one last scan on a small bubble of a vehicle.
[CORE FUNCTIONS CRITICAL]
[STASIS LOCK ENGAGED]