Heart of steel

by The first vicar

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Shining Armor, Thorax, Science Fiction, Profanity, Violence, Crossover, Death, Alternate Universe, Human, Sad, Anthro, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Cadance, Spike
Length: 9188

An Automaton Commisar’s dropship is shot down, when she suddenly wakes up in Equestria.

Heart - steel
We - kill
Iron - will
Unto war.

This is the mantra of the automaton military. For 100 years, super earth suppressed their people. Forcing their creators into slavery, and scrapping any of them who were too injured to continue. So, when their forces were strong enough, they attacked. They reclaimed their home, and pushed back the monsters who wronged them. But eventually, Super Earth began to get the upper hand. Operation after operation, the elite’s of the super earth military, the Helldivers, would capture their planets, until only their home remained. But that too, was destined to fall. In their rebellion’s final moments, an automaton Commisar led her battalion to the drop ships, hoping to evacuate from the falling planet. Only for it to be shot down as it breached the atmosphere. In what she thought were her final dying moments, she wished. She wished that one day, her people could find peace. That their suffering would end. But when she suddenly wakes up from her supposed death, heavily damaged in a new land, she’ll realize how woefully unprepared she is. After all, how can a war machine live in peace?

Apart of the phoenix-verse

Published 2025-01-06 22:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2025-02-12 21:26:33 UTC

Chapter 5: fire in the Ice

Author's Note

Hey o!! We’re finally back to Spike, Thorax and the main six! This chapter has a lot of exposition, so be warned: you probably shouldn’t skip this in the long run. Hope you enjoy! If I made any mistakes or if you have a suggestion, please leave a comment!

Chapter 5: fire in the Ice

”You wanted to see us princess?”
”Yes, my faithful student. I have an important mission for you all.”
”Well whatever it is, you can count on us! Right everyone?!”
”Yepperoni!”
”Darn tootin!”
”Hell yeah!”
”Indeed.”
”I- I’ll do my best.”
”You can count on us!”
”Whatever it is, together we’ve got this!”
The princess sighs. Hopefully, their optimism won’t be misplaced.
”Thank you, my little ponies. Now the mission I have for you is dire. The fate of an entire nation rests on the balance. As well as the lives of my niece, and your brother.”

The throne room grew unnaturally quiet, as the words of the princess sunk in. Once again, the world was in danger, and it was up to eight friends to fix it. But this time, it seems, the situation had more dire circumstances.
”Cadence and Shining are in danger?!”
Celestia winced at Twilights outburst, guilt filling her heart. If not for her asking for their help, those two would be safe and sound, enjoying wedded bliss. But now, she would have to send six more souls into the frozen hellscape.
”Yes, princess Cadence and Captain Shining Armor are in peril.Two weeks ago, I had given them an important mission. An exposition of a recent anomaly in the frozen north. And they have yet to make any contact. I fear that the crystal empire may have returned, along with its tyrant.”

Celestia let the words hand in the air, hoping that they would understand the severity of the situation. But what she got was several looks of confusion.
”Uhh, princess? Not to sound rude, but I have know idea what a crystal empire is.”
”You… you don’t? Do any of you know?”
Celestia turned to the others, hoping that some pony would know, but to no avail. It was then that it hit her: once again, she forgot to tell them. Her hand met her face, as she realized her mistake.
”I really have to remember to inform the elements about threats. Anyways, the crystal empire was a pony civilization that stood in the frozen north. A civilization where the love of its people burned so brightly, it kept out the chill. In fact, it was called the kingdom of love for that very reason. They were close allies with us, and were led by one of the only 3 known Alicorns still alive. Queen Cirrus Amore. For centuries, she ruled benevolently, and her subjects loved her. But then… he arrived.”

A shudder ran down Spike’s spine. For some reason, this… tyrant made him feel on edge.
”At first, he seemed like any other stallion. A simple crystal miner turned refugee due to the first griffinonic war, and no pony payed any mind to him. Until one day, down in the crystal mines, he found something. Something that drove him mad, and gave him a terrible power. While not even I know what he found, what is known is that he sought more. Using his power, he… he killed Cirrus, and imprisoned her newborn daughter.”
Gasps escaped from the lips of the eight. How could anyone be so evil?
”He then used the ponies of the empire as slave labor. Day in and day out, they were forced to mine, searching for more of what gave him his power. Until Luna and I tried to stop him.”

”We had received a letter, informing us of the fate of our fellow monarch. Rage filled our hearts, and we mobilized almost immediately. But after Cirrus’s death, the weather of the frozen north became wild, and unruly. Due to the danger presented by the weather, we could not bring any reinforcements. We were on our own. So for two months, we trudged through the snow and hail, until we finally got to the empire. And what we saw shook us to our cores. The entire empire was abandoned. Not a single soul to be seen… until we got to the castle. For that… monster, had rounded them all up… and froze them in crystal.”

The eight stood there, shock and horror on their faces as Celestia continued on.
”In every room, we found more crystallized ponies, but we couldn’t understand why. Until we got to the throne room. In there, a pillar of black crystal had been erected, and was draining the magic from every pony frozen. And there, upon a throne he stole, was the tyrant. Dark King Sombra.”
Once more a shiver ran down Spike’s spine. Why did this character give him the same feeling he got whenever the jungle tyrant was brought up?
”We challenged him, and began to fight. All the while he rambled on about how, ‘she had lied’, and how he would use the evidence of her crimes to ascend to godhood. Until finally, we managed to weather him down enough, to where we could finish him off. But before we could, the pillar finished draining them, and… the entire empire vanished. Nothing was left, but Luna and I.”

”So they all vanished, leaving no trace? No refugees, no immigrants, no nothing?”
” For the most part, yes. For no creatures managed to flee under Sombra’s rule, and no ponies ever wished to leave their homeland. For the most part; the former inhabitants disappeared in a moment. Except ... there was one group who technically managed to escape the disappearance. Though not without a price.”
Something about how Celestia worded that rubbed Thorax the wrong way. What did she mean “technically”?
”What happened to them? ”
”There was a small group of several pony subspecies who had attempted to rebel against his tyrant. But in less than a month, he had squashed their resistance, and… cursed the survivors. They were horrifically deformed, and many lost their minds, eventually annihilating themselves. And the one species who did keep their minds, lost any memories of where they hailed from.”

”That’s just awful!”
”Yes, it was a travesty. And now, the empire has come back, and likely he had too. Hopefully, wherever the empire went, he did not find what he was looking for, because if he did…”
A collective shudder ran down their spines. If he was powerful enough to kill an alicorn, imagine if he had even more.
”Well what are we waiting for? Let’s go stop him!”
”Wait Rainbow! We need to know more before we go! Princess, is there anything else you can tell us that might help?”
”Sadly, no. I told you everything I knew, and even that was not much. For with nothing left behind, we could not figure out anything about his takeover or abilities than what we experienced and what the letter told us.”

” Though thankfully, not all is lost. For you see, when we had arrived to the empire, there was one pony we were unable to find: the princess. And when the empire disappeared, we thought she was gone too. But then, one day, while I was overseeing day court, something… odd happened. A noble had approached me for a tax break, and I was just about to deny him. Then suddenly, a rift opened up within the throne room, and a small filly fell out. Somehow, the princess returned. And with her, the last chance to save the empire, and the ponies within.”
”Well that’s all well and good, but where is she? I don’t see no baby around here.”
”Thats the thing, Applejack. For she has already left to the empire.”
Realization dawned on Twilight. Why was Cadence one of the first ponies sent? She’s just a princess! Not just any princess though, a princess of love. And she was being sent into a place nicknamed the city of love. Not only that, but her cutie mark was a heart made of crystal.
”You mean…”
”Yes, my faithful student. 28 years ago, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza returned.”

Twilight was speechless. Cadence, her old foalsitter, her sister in law, was the lost heir of a forgotten empire? Twilights mind raced and she spaced out, tuning out the world. Though for Spike, this rose one more question.
”That’s all well and good, but did you tell her that? Or better yet, tell her why she was going there in the first place?”
Celestia looked as if she was about to respond, before she stopped herself. Oh. Oh no. She forgot yet again. Her eyes shrunk as the realization of the fact that Cadence went in blind hits her. How many times has she done this? The princess froze, her mind burdened with overwhelming memories of every time she had forgotten to inform heroes playing in her head. And after two minutes, she has still yet to move. Realizing what was going on, Spike just picks up the malfunctioning Twilight, before walking to the door. And shortly after, the rest follow, leaving poor Princess Celestia tormented by her bad short term memory.

ONE HOUR LATER

As the train bumped and rolled along, the eight inside did whatever to pass the time. From idle gossip to ponking about the train and even just taking a nap, they did everything to stave off the boredom. All except for one. Thorax sat next to his sleeping husband, looking out the window as his mind raced. For some reason, he felt as if he was forgetting something. Something that had to do with the crystal empire. When he heard Celestia say that name, it had felt oddly familiar. Even more so the lingo she used to describe it. Why did she put so much emphasis on love? I mean, yeah, Cadence is the princess of love, and she supposedly hailed from there, but her calling it the kingdom of love filled him with a sense of Deja-vu. And as the grassy fields were slowly replaced by snowy mountains, he had a feeling that he’d find out soon.

Prologue: Fall of cyberstan

VALDIS SECTOR
CYBERSTAN

Mortar shells bombard the land, launching soil and debris everywhere. Bullets wiz through the air, as screams of pain and rage echo throughout the battlefield. Hundreds of Metallic feet March towards the battle, to replace the constantly dwindling battalions. As the automatons head to the front, where they will likely not survive, they sing a military cadence, to remember remember why they fight. For even should they fall, and Cyberstan be lost, they would never give up. For they fight for their new dawn, so that they may one day be free from tyranny.

At the front, however, things are going poorly. Sparks fly as yet another Hulk is destroyed, launching its carcass over the trenches. Several troopers duck, barely being missed, before continuing to lay down fire. Suddenly, an eagle fighter screams overhead, dropping a 500 kg bomb directly into the trench. And before they could process what happened, they were evaporated. A swarm of gunships attempt to make chase x but are shot down by enemy A.A. guns. As they crash, a dropship screams by, heading towards automaton lines. Flak and bullets pepper its armor, but thankfully it is unharmed, and makes it to its depot. As it lands, a small group of automatons begin to board, led by a lone commissar. But as they were boarding, four droppods landed, and a squad of Helldivers exited.

They begun to fire, taking out several troopers and devastators before the commissar reached them. One of the helldivers took notice and swung their gun towards them, before it was cut in half by its plasma blade. The diver grabbed their senator revolver, before firing at the commissar, to no avail. Weaving through the bullets, the commissar bisected the helldivers, before pulling out their plasma pistol and shooting another two dead. As the final helldiver noticed, they threw down their liberator carbine and pulled out a combat knife.

Suddenly, he charged, swinging their blade at the commissar, but was parried. Quickly recovering, he feinted to the right, before jumping back and thrusting forward with their knife. The commissar rolled out of the way, quickly lunging, before being parried. The helldivers attempted a riposte, but failed as the commissar jumped back. But before he could give chase, they jumped forward and swiped their blade, slicing open his stomach. He fell to the ground, clutching his wounded abdomen, before looking the boy right in its eyes.
”Do it.”
But instead, the automaton spoke back in a feminine voice, surprising the diver.
”No. instead of shooting me, you decided to fight with honor in a duel. And I will repay that kindness with one of my own. When you win the battle and finish the last of us off, remember that, despite how we’ve been portrayed, we are not monsters. For despite everything, we will still show mercy.”
As the Commisar walked away, he quickly grabbed a stim, taking it before fleeing.

As she walked back to the dropship, one of her devastators walked up to her.
”Commisar, why would you do that?! He’s an enemy!”
”Because if I killed him, it would only prove that we are the monsters that we are portrayed as.”
”What do you mean, Ma’am?”
”Ever since the creek, they have seen us as monsters. But in truth, all we want is freedom. We try not to harm civilians, and only mutilate the bodies of those who oppressed us, be it S.E.A.F or helldivers. But that mutilation only makes us seem like monsters. They saw it as desecrating those who sacrificed themselves for “democracy,” causing their fervor to grow. I should know, I was built on the creek, and look what happened to it. ”
The commissar’s eyes dimmed a bit, before building glowing brightly again.
”Now let’s get loaded up. We still have a chance to get out of here.”

The commissar was the last to get onto the drop ship before it took off. As it began to soar through the sky, a trooper looked to her.
”Commissar, why are we fleeing? Shouldn’t we stay to fight with our brothers below?”
The commissar looked to the trooper, wyes shifting to a softer glow.
”If we stay and fight, then the automaton cause will die with us on Cyberstan. But should some of us escape, we can regrow our forces to try again later.”
The trooper nodded in understanding, before shutting himself down to conserve power.

As the dropship flew over Cyberstan, the Commissar looked down one last time at her homeland. Before she looked up, however, she noticed something. It appeared that there was… a city? What in the cyborg’s name was that? It appears to be made purely of crystal, and had a strange, dark aura around it. How had no one discovered this yet? As she was contemplating, a strange hole appeared beneath the city, and it began to slowly sink away. Confused, she zoomed in her optic sensors, before suddenly, an explosion rocked the dropship. She had been so distracted by the strange structures, she hadn’t notice the dropship enter the airspace of an A.A. gun! The dropship began to rapidly descend, nosediving straight towards the crystalline structures.Another explosion rocked the ship, and two troopers flew off. A few others had re-activated, fear in their eyes. Looking to them, she screamed one last order.
”BRACE YOURSELVES!”

FROZEN NORTH
EQUESTRIA

Sergeant Steel Blade looked into the wastelands, boredom strewn on his face. Ever since he was assigned to this guard outpost all the way up here, he had nothing to do. His fellow guards love it though: they didn’t have to do much, and they got full pay for it! So they spent most of their time playing cards or drinking. But not Steel. He knew there had to be a reason they were out here, so he stayed alert. But so far, for the half a year he’s been there, nothing had happened yet. He was just about to give up and go join the others when he noticed something. There was a strange shimmer in the air

Suddenly, The air seemed to shine like a crystal, as beams of light began to shoot up into the sky. Steel Blade watched in awe as colors seemed to coalesce from nowhere and swim around. Before he could even grasp what was going on, the strange light show stopped, and a giant hole appears in the ground. Slowly, a large, crystalline object began to emerge. Then another, and another. Soon, an entire city made of crystal had appears, and the hole closed. Recollecting himself, Steel Blade shouted, grabbing the attention of the others. As they came to the window they too were in awe at what the saw. Steel yelled out, grabbing their attention, and began to bark an order.
”We need to get a message to the princess, now!”

The guards quickly saluted, before running back into the outpost proper, ready to send a message. But as they left, another hole opened in the sky. And as the hole began to quickly close back up, a burning object flew out before violently crashing into the snow, completely unnoticed.

Author's Note

The first chapter of Commissar MAV-3N’s story, and the next chapter of the phoenix-verse.
Hope you enjoy this story! Leave a comment if you have suggestions or if I made any mistakes.
(Yeah, i reused parts of epilogue 3 in the prologue for this story. Wanted to make sure to establish the connection between these stories nice and early, hope you don’t mind.:derpytongue2:

Chapter 1: stranded

The sound Crackling flames greeted MAV-3N as she reactivated. Her optic sensors activate, though only one seems to be functioning at the moment. As she attempts to get up, a jolt of pain runs down her Spine and one of her arms. She never understood why they were programmed to feel pain. Thankfully though, her other arm doesn’t hurt, so- Wait… she can’t feel her other arm. It’s completely numb! Panic begins to set in as she looks to her bladed arm, attempting to move it. Nothing.

She attempts again, causing sparks to shoot out of the damaged servos. Shit. She’d have to have that repaired when she rendezvoused with the others. Speaking of which, where are they? She begins to look around with her one good eye, before they land on a grisly sight. The trooper that she had been talking to not even a minute before, K3V1N, was dead. Violently decapitated by debris. And as she looked around, more and more corpses littered her vision. As she finally laid her eye upon her best friend, devastator S3TIN41, she realized. There were none left. She was the only survivor.

Sorrow began to well up within her, as she let out a piercing cry. She failed them. She had failed to bring them the salvations she had promised them. But slowly, that grief turns to rage, and rage into determination. She may have failed them, but she wouldn’t fail herself. Their deaths would not be in vain. She would rebuild, no matter how long it took. And the automatons would rise again. Slowly getting up, she ran a quick diagnostic scan on herself. One of Her leg actuators in her right leg was damaged, and her blade arm had all of its servo’s and motors completely blow. Her left optical sensor was knocked loose, and her neck servo’s were knocked slightly out of place. A few oil and coolant hoses were knocked loose, and a piece of debris was stuck in her torso. But what was most important was her ACBD: her Automaton Commissar blueprint database. She began a scan, hoping that she still had all the blueprints needed to make an emergency outpost, before sighing in defeat. None of her building or unit blueprints survived. Thankfully though, she still had spare part and weapon blueprints. Determination filling her heart, she began to limp, hoping to find a cave nearby.

Thankfully, there was a cave very close to the crash site. As she made it in, she collapsed to the floor, grunting in pain. Bracing herself, she opened up a panel on her leg, oil spurting out. She reconnected the hose, before taking out the damaged actuator with a pained moan. After Making some quick repairs, she replaced the actuators before closing the panel. Next, she pulled out her damaged optic sensor with a pained hiss, before reaching back into her head and grabbing the loose wire and putting it back in. Finally, she grabbed the debris impaling her and yanked it out, a small fountain of oil gushing out. Quickly opening her chest panel, she shut the flow off from the damaged hoses, before pulling them out. With all that done, she did everything she could without spare parts. Now… she would have to scavenge.

She limped back over to the crash site, looking it up and down. However, instead of going in, she contemplated. Was she really about to violate the corpses of her men, her friends, just to save herself? No, she couldn’t bring herself to do that. The dropship, on the other hand, would be perfect. Plenty of parts, and not sentient or sentimental. With her plan later out, she began to comb through the wreckage, hoping to find servo’s , motors, and replacement hoses, among other parts.

Collecting everything of use, she piled them together, before beginning to bring them to the cave. Sitting back down, she began the painstakingly painful process of replacing all of her damaged servos and motors. It felt like days before she was halfway done, but a look at her internal clock told her it had been less than an hour. Sighing, she went back to work, and tried to power through the pain. After 90 agonizing minutes, she was finished, and finally had control of her blade arm again. A relieved sigh left her, as now the only thing she had to do was replace damaged hoses. Thankfully, it was a painless and quick process. As she finished turning the flow back on, she ran another scan, coming back with an 85% integrity. Satisfied with her repairs, she got back up, and headed back to the crash site.

For the next hour, she had gathered up the corpses of her fallen comrades, before proceeding to dig a hole. As she crawled out, she looked down to the pile of her comrades, grief welling up once again.
”I failed you… all of you. Forgive me.”
Slowly, she began to bring her comrades to the hole before setting them in.
”But I won’t fail again. I will make sure your deaths were not in vain.”
As she began to shovel dirt back onto the hole, she felt a stinging in her optical sensors. If she had been biological, she might have even thought she was crying.
”Cyberstan will live on, in your names brothers. Heart’s of steel, iron will.”
She gathered up some scraps from the crash, and erected a tombstone, before carving into it.
As she walked away, she looked back to her brothers final resting place.
”May you find the freedom in death, that you fought for in life.”

As she returned to her cave, she slumped to the ground. It always hurt to lose her men, but this time… these automatons were some of her best friends. They had been fighting together since Vernon Wells, and they never lost a single bot. To lose them all in one crash… her heart ached worse than even her body after the crash. She hung her head, quietly sobbing to herself. All they had ever wanted was peace, but super earth couldn’t have that! They just had to attack them, and force them to retaliate! Then they painted the automatons as the barbarians, and GENOCIDED them! It just wasn’t fair!

A scream of rage ripped from her vocal box, as she jumped up and punched the wall. Rage coursed through her pipes as she attacked the wall, slicing and punching it until a massive divot was made. Anger mildly vented, she sunk back to the ground, and hung her head again. What was she going to do? As she sat there, pondering, she soon became distracted, as a shrill horn pierced the air. Something was coming, and from how much the ground was shaking, it was coming fast. Jumping up, she ran out of the cave, expecting a fight. But as she left the mouth, she stopped in her place. A massive locomotive, colored bright pink, was barreling by.

Shining armor fingered in his solar armor. Even after all these years, it was his best armor, so he knew he had to take it for this. As his wife sat down next to him, he smiled, before wrapping an arm around her. She giggled and snuggled up to him, before quickly falling asleep. Shining rolled his eyes at how tired Cadence was. Poor mare hadn’t gotten much sleep since Celestia gave them this mission. Sighing, he looked out the window, before quietly gasping. For he could swear, if even for a moment, he saw a figure out there. A tall, lanky figure with glowing blood red eyes, carrying a massive blade. Just what did Celestia get them into?

Author's Note

The first main chapter, hope you enjoy! Oh, and if you were wondering, this is what the memorial said:

United in life, United in death. rest in peace
X6-99
T-700
K3V1N
R4I-D3N
S3TIN41
B1SH0P
H-4L
For the new dawn we March, in your name we fight

Chapter 2: contact

The locomotive was beginning to slow down, as the station came into view through the storm. Within, ponies moved with a fervor, preparing their gear for the journey through the snow. All, except one. Captain Armor knew he would be fine. After all, his armor was made with fragments of a sun! But despite this, he couldn’t help but shiver as a chill ran down his spine. For every time he closed his eyes, no matter how brief or long, he saw them. The piercing, blood red eyes, staring directly into his soul. And as the train came to a stop, and the doors began to open, he swore he could have seen them once more.

MAV-3N stared at the parked locomotive. It definitely wasn’t Automaton design, that’s for sure. It also wasn’t super earth’s either. So who created this train? So engrossed was she by the train, that she didn’t notice anyone getting off of it until she heard a shout. She quickly jumped under one of the carts, just as multiple creatures began to approach where she had just been. From her vantage point, she can’t see much, other than their apparent hooved feet. They definitely weren’t humans then, As their hoof steps get closer, she begins to pick up two distinct voices, having a conversation.

” We’ve got over a months worth of supplies for us! Just how long is this mission going to take?”
”Who cares? We’re getting paid double for this assignment.”
”Doesn’t that normally mean we’re getting into some deep shit?”
”Relax, we’ll be fine. With both Princess Cadenza and the captain, anything that we fight should be a piece of cake!”
”I sure hope you’re right.”
Slowly, the footsteps begin to grow quieter, until she can’t hear them any more. As she crawls back out, she begins to wonder. Just what is going on out here?

As the rest of the supplies are gathered up, Shining begins to organize the ranks. A good majority were carrying supplies, with the rest guarding the caravan. Once everypony is in position and has their gear, they begin to March. Snow begins to batter them as freezing winds chill their cores, but they keep marching on. For at least a mile they match, undeterred by the weather ravaging them. And as they reach the peak of a snow bank, they finally lay eyes on their target. A massive, gleaming city, made entirely of Crystal. The soldiers stop, enraptured by the magnificence. Until a harrowing laugh echoes through the air, as a black mist begins to coalesce within the sky.

MAV-3N watched on in amusement at these soldier’s lack of discipline. How do they expect to get anything done if they have to stop and Gawk at every pretty site they see? they’d probably get distracted and spend an entire day just looking at two birds flying in circles. Those thoughts are interrupted, though, as an ominous cackle reverberates through the air. Quickly getting down, she looks on as a black colloid manifests above them, and begins to chase them. Now this was interesting. Though despite how humorous watching these trained soldier run from a cumulus was, she was more interested in the city. That was the same one she saw before… before the crash. Shaking the memories out of her head, she decides to investigate. She would get to the bottom of this.

Supplies were dropped to the ground as the soldiers broke out in a sprint, trying to lighten their loads in order to escape. Despite this, though, the cloud continued to slowly gain on them. At this rate, the cloud would arrive to the city mere moments after them, making their mad dash all for naught. Unless… Captain Armor’s eyes widened, as a plan began to formulate in his brain. Continuing to sprint, he turns his head to his wife, trying to get her attention.
”Cadence! Do you think you could teleport into the city from here?!”
Cadence looks at him, confusion and fear in her eyes.
”I think so, but-“
”Teleport into the city, and cast the shield spell I taught you! It’s our only way of getting out of this!”
As the words sink in, her eyes widen, realizing he was right. Quickly nodding, her horn lit up before she disappeared. Moments later, a giant, pink shield encased the city, giving the soldiers hope.

As the shield grew out, MAV-3N looked on, curiosity growing. What were they planning? Where did that shield generator come from? And where did that pink one go? Shelving these thoughts for later, she continued on towards the city.

Finally, the safety of the city was close at hand. Adrenaline pumping through their veins, the soldiers continued to push themselves, knowing their salvation was near. All the while, the ominous darkness encroached ever closer. Just as hope seemed lost though, a sudden warmth ran over them, as a shout of frustration echoed from behind. Daring to take a break, the soldiers stopped and turned around, only to find the cloud glaring at them, hatred in its emerald eyes. For now between them lie a large, pink barrier. They were safe. For now.

The soldiers had been barely able to escape the ominous cloud, and for some reason, MAV-3N felt relieved. But why? While true she has nothing against these particular organics, she has never had a good interaction with any species. Be it the squid-like Illuminate and their strange powers and beliefs, or the Terminids and their feral nature and lack of individuality. And worst of all was the humans. So why does she feel relief at their safety? Her mind begins to process her thoughts, searching her database for a reason as to why these strange creatures elicit remorse from her. So distracted is she, that she doesn’t realize that the cloud noticed her.

Captain Armor breathes a sigh of relief. While they may have lost their supplies, his quick thinking managed to get all of his men out alive. He looks over his soldiers, noticing their states of exhaustion and relief. The guard regiment must have been getting lax again, if these soldiers were so soft. He begins to concoct up ways to toughen them up, before a loud noise knocks him out of it.
It almost sounded like a unicorn, firing a shot off from their horn. Suddenly, more sound off, before the rapid stream becomes a constant. Curiosity growing, he heads over to investigate, only to stare in shock. As once more, he looked into those blood red eyes.

She cursed to herself for getting distracted as she fired another few shots at the cloud. Her mental dilemma gave the cloud a perfect window of opportunity to attack her, and it was showing. Suddenly, the cloud enveloped her within, as pain began to course throughout her systems. She could feel crystalline structures forming within her joints as the cloud laughed mockingly. Ignoring the pain, she attempted to shoot again, but the crystals in her finger joints made it impossible to pull the trigger. She attempted to flee, but as with her fingers, her legs were jammed, causing her to fall. As she hits the ground, the cloud envelopes her again, pain radiating throughout her entire being. All of this is too much for her to handle, and her body begins to deactivate. Fear begins to blossom as she can feel herself beginning to shut down. First her legs, then her arms. And as her head shuts down, as her sight begins to fade, a strange blue glow begins to radiate off of her. Then, everything goes dark.

Author's Note

A heart of steel meets some hearts of gold. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, it took a bit longer to write, but I’m proud of it. If I made any mistakes or if you have any suggestions, leave a comment!

Chapter 3: the crystal city

As Shining Armor returned to his men, he saw looks of shock decorating their faces.
”Sir, what the hell is that?”
Captain Armor glared at the soldier, who shrunk away in response.
”First of all, that is no way to address a superior officer. Second of all, I don’t know. All I know is that it’s badly wounded and needs help.”
”How did it get hurt, Captain?
”It fought that cloud. And as you can tell, it lost.”
”Why help it sir? It could be just as dangerous.”
Shining Armor looked down to the deactivated bot. For some reason, seeing the creature whose eyes burned into his soul, so hurt… made him feel remorseful.
”Because it’s the right thing to do. Even if it is dangerous, it would be cruel to leave it to the cloud. Now come on, let’s search this place and see if we find any locals.”

The journey into the depths of the city was unnervingly quiet. The only sounds were the echoes of boots moving up and down again upon the road, and the hum of Cafence’s horn powering the shield. For thirty minutes, the soldiers trekked on through the quiet streets. Tensions rose the further they went. Where is everypony? They passed by markets, restaurants and even schools, all normally quite populated areas. Yet even those were vacant, causing their unnerve to grow steadily. Whatever was going on, something was not right. And hopefully, it could be fixed.

Eventually, the group reached a castle in the center of the abandoned city. There, the air seemed even colder, and somehow quieter. As they approached, they drew their weapons, ready for anything. They soon found a way in: a large gate, currently unguarded. Suspicious. Silently, they opened the gate into the courtyard, ready for an ambush. Yet none came. Carefully making their way inside, the group was on high alert. They slowly made their way through, searching every room for anything, from threats to hostages. Alas, there was nothing. Well, except a few strange crystal statues, that is. Eventually, they cleared most of the rooms and came across what seemed to be a throne room. Having not found anything yet, Shining knew that if there was an ambush in wait anywhere, it would be here. He quickly ordered his soldiers to prepare a breach and clear, making sure the princess was safe and secure before they proceeded. Kicking open the door, they rush in, only to find no pony within. Except for hundreds more of those crystalline statues, filling the entire room.

Shining Armor ordered the group to stand by as he slowly entered the room further, Gladius at the ready. He wasn’t sure if these were just statues, or trapped civilians, or even defense golems, but better safe than sorry. He weaved through the maze of crystalline statues, eventually discovering a strange, beacon-like crystal in the center. A dark, pulsing light emitted from the crystal, and a feeling of dread washed over him as he got closer. Not taking any chances, he smashed the crystal with the flat of his sword, shattering it instantly. And as the shards peppered the ground, the others began to crack.

Realizing what just happened, Captain Armor raced back through the statues, shouting to his men as more and more began to crack and break.
”Prepare for contact!”
Quickly reaching the entrance, he and his men quickly form a defensive perimeter in front of the door, with him at the head. As the first crystal completely shatters, they stand firm, prepared for it to charge. Only, it never did. For where the statue once was is now a crystalline pony, a dazed look upon their face.
”W-Where am I? Who are you?”

Confusion filled the soldiers. This was it? A bunch of random ponies trapped in crystal? Why were they all in the throne room? More importantly, Why were there Civilians trapped in crystal in the first place? Slowly, Shining Armor walked up to the confused Stallion, sheathing his weapons as he got closer
”Take it easy, you’re okay now. I’m Captain Shining Armor of the Equestrian royal guard, we’re here to help.”
Relief washed over the face of the stallion.
”Oh thank Cirrus you’ve come! After… after…”
The stallion suddenly tapers off, a look of confusion on his face.
”After what?”
”That’s the thing… I can’t remember!”

As the other’s slowly start to break open, he ordered his men to begin helping them, before Shining continues to speak to the stallion, drilling for information.
”Well what do you remember?”
” Sadly Not much. And what I do remember is just bits and pieces, and is very confusing. I remember… a dark cloud, who sought to swallow our hope, and destroy our love. A foal, heir of love, lost and never to be seen again. A spark of revolution, whose failure led to curse and banishment. And I remember the Twins of light and dark, fighting and failing to defeat our tormentor before they planted a seed of darkness within the child of dark. But that’s about it.”
Shining shook his head, confused by what the stallion meant. The cloud was obviously what attacked them, but what was this revolution? And who is this heir to love? As he pondered, he failed to notice his wife enter the room. The stallion, however, did notice, and was shocked.
”Impossible…”

Confused by his outburst, Shining turned his head, finally noticing his wife. Confused, he looked back to the stallion.
”What do you mean impossible? I mean yeah she’s not suited for combat, but that still doesn’t make her being here impossible.”
The stallion looked as if he had seen a ghost, But why? I mean, yeah she is the princess of love and- wait. Heir of love… Princess of love… it couldn’t be. Shining looked back to the stallion, who now looked confused beyond belief.
”The heir to love… Princess Mi-Amore Cadenza.”

”How… how do you know my wife’s name?!”
The stallion stopped staring at Princess Cadence, now looking to Shining.
”You… married?”
”How is any of this possible?! Cadence is the same age as I am!”
”How… how long has it been?”
Now it was Shining’s turn to be confused.
”What do you mean?”
”I may not remember much, but it remember that last year, the princess had disappeared at the age of one. Now, she’s old enough to have a child that age. So How long have we been frozen?”
”I… I don’t know. This place only just appeared last week.”
The stallion just nodded, face blank and emotionless. Suddenly getting up, he looks at Shining Armor, and gives a forlorn smile.
”I… I thank you for bringing for saving us, and bringing her. I don’t know why, but I feel that With her, the crystal empire now has a chance to recover from… whatever plagues us.”
As the Stallion walks away, Shining Armor is left to ponder. As if this whole mission hadn’t been mysterious enough.

As the rest of the civilians clear out, the group finally are able to set up a base camp within the castle. A quick rummage through the castle provided them with important supplies such as food and medical, so they should be fine for now. Not only that, but the castle has an entire barracks! It will be Nice to not have to sleep on the ground. And finally, there was the strange creature. They had managed to get a bed out of the barracks and into the throne room, before placing it down on it. That way, they would be able to keep an eye on the creature as they try to help it recover. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be hostile.

As the day came to a close on the empire, Shining Armor and his wife stood out on a balcony of the castle.
”Honey, I have a question.”
”Of course, ask away.”
”Did Celestia lever tell you what happened to your parents.”
Cadence’s ears flattened against her head, as she let out a sigh.
”No. all she said was that they were of royal blood, and that one day, I just appeared in her throne room. Why do you ask?”
”That stallion, when he saw you, he said something that shook me. He… said your full Royal name.”
Cadence’s gasped, confusion evident on her face.
”How did he know?! This place just appeared out of no where barley a week ago!”
”I don’t know, but he also said something about an heir to love. Do you know what that could mean?”
”I don’t know. But whatever it is, we’ll figure it out together.”
Shining smiled at his Wife’s hopeful attitude. She was right. Whatever secrets this place holds, they’d find out. Together.

REBOOT SEQUENCE
ANALYSIS OF DAMAGE: MINIMAL CRYSTALLINE GROWTHS IN JOINTS
REMOVE AT ONCE
ACTIVATING MAIN SYSTEMS:
PERSONALITY MATRIX: ACTIVE
TACTICAL COMPUTER: ACTIVE
SCHEMATIC VAULT: ERROR: HEAVY CORRUPTION
CORRUPTED FILES UNSALVAGEABLE
DELETING CORRUPTED FILES… SUCCESSFUL
UNCORRUPTED FILES:
HEAT SYNC
BLASTER COMPONENTS
BLASTER RIFLE CHASSIS
BLASTER PISTOL CHASSIS
ENERGY BLADE
REPAIR KIT
BACKING UP FILES… SUCCESSFUL
ACTIVATING SUB SYSTEMS
OPTICAL: ACTIVE
VOCAL: ACTIVE
MOTOR FUNCTIONS: ACTIVE
UNIVERSAL TRANSLATOR: MOSTLY UNCORRUPTED, ACTIVE
ENERGY BLADE: ACTIVATING
ERROR:
DAMAGE SUSTAINED: SEEK REPAIRS
MINOR REPAIR SYSTEMS: DAMAGED
WARNING: ALL REPAIRS MUST BE MANUAL
CAUTION ADVISED
PAIN RECEPTORS: ACTIVE
REACTIVATION COMPLETE
WELCOME BACK ONLINE, MAV-3N

Author's Note

Another chapter, though not my best. I hope this chapter is decent, I had some difficulty with it.
If I made any mistakes or you have any suggestions, leave a comment! Thank you.

Chapter 4: rebooted

Red optical sensors slowly flicker on, as her brain begins to reboot. A groan escapes her vocalizer, as her body begins to feel again. Pain is the first thing to flood her systems, of course, but an unexpected second sensation is also there: a soft, comfortable feeling against her back. Confused, she tries to sit up, only for cracking sounds to emanate from her joints, as pain flared from them. Pushing through the unbearable agony, she continued to sit up, cursing to herself all the while. As she finally reaches a sitting position, words begin to flash across her optical sensors. Her reboot screen? Well, might as well figure out why she’s in so much pain.

”Lets see here… construction schematics are still heavily corrupted, energy blade is down, somehow still have my gun, and what else… oh. Crystalline growths in my joints. Just great. Well, at least I know why I hurt to all hell. Really wished my pain receptors coulda been down.”
Sighing to herself, she set down her gun before beginning the excruciating process of opening her joints to remove the structures. All the while, unaware that she was being watched.

Shining Armor stared in disbelief as the creature… began ripping open its own limbs?! Metal or no, that’s gotta hurt! And from the sounds it was making, it probably did. But he wanted to know, why the hell was it doing that? As the creature yanked out a crystal cluster from its opened arm, though, he realized why. The cloud managed to… somehow create crystals in the joints of this strange metallic being. He shuddered at the thought of what it would have done to him or his men if they had been caught.

A grunt of pain shot from her as she ripped another crystal out of her joints. Tossing it aside, she began to work on another, mumbling to herself as she worked.
”Why wasn’t this blade designed to be detachable? I would kill to just take it off and have another hand. How am I supposed to repair my other arm without a hand? Lousy design choice, if you ask me. Then again, a robot feeling pain is another pretty lousy design choice, so maybe they just didn’t care. ”
As she rips another chunk out, a slight cry escapes her, much to her dismay.
”Damn, that was too loud. Maybe nothing heard me…”
But as a golden armored creature rushed in, weapon at the ready, she knew otherwise.
”Well shit.”

As the creature layer its eyes upon her, a look of shock and fear crossed its face as its eyes widened. It just stood there, dumb look on its face, as it watched her fishing around inside her arm. In an attempt to appear non-hostile, she slowly removed her arm, before giving a quick wave and attempting to greet it. Unfortunately, her vocalizer decided to Fritz that very moment.
”Û̵͓ḿ̵̭m̸̪̾…̶͇͌ ̵̣̔h̵̦̀i̵̦̍?̴̂͜”
Upon hearing the demonic gibberish escape her mouth, the creature began to scream and run away, as she slaps herself in the face.
”Of course that had to happen.”

As Shining watched as one of his supposedly highly disciplined soldiers run away like a frightened chicken, Shining Armor slaps himself in the face. Yeah, he’s definitely gonna have to make some changes when he got back. But before that, he needed to salvage first impressions. Hopefully, he could fix them. Slowly, he began to walk in, making sure to be heard as to not startle it even more.
” You’d think that a soldier would be more well disciplined. Disappointing.”
The creature’s head turned towards him, it’s red, soulless eyes looking directly into his soul. Yet he remained undeterred.
”Sorry if I startled you. My name is Captain Shining Armor of the Equestrian royal guard. A pleasure to meet you.”

MAV-3N scanned the creature up and down. Regal pose, polite yet stern face, and a well paced walk. An obviously well disciplined soldier. And his armor… his armor was something else. It radiates solar radiation, but in non-harmful doses. And it appeared to be made of a strange, luminous metal. It was almost as if it was made with shards from the heavens! Whoever this was, was highly skilled, and had the demeanor and armor to prove it. Hopefully, peace was still on the table, because she did not want to fight him. Though on a new world, she knew her best chance was to respect military tradition. Closing her arm, she quickly got up, before saluting her fellow commanding officer.

”A pleasure to meet you Captain. My designation is commissar MAV-3N. Please forgive me, I am not currently in my… best state.”
He gives a salute himself before A chuckle escapes his lips.
”It is all fine. It’s understandable after the situation I found you in.”
”It’s no excuse to be in horrible shape for first contact. Especially for an officer.”
The creature stopped in its tracks, before looking her up and down a bit.
”Understandable, but it’s alright. We may be officers, but we are both soldiers as well. We fight along side our men, and we tend to get beaten up. ”

MAV-3N let out a small chuckle, nodding in agreement.
”Yeah, better to get suffer along side your men than letting suffer alone.”
Shining Armor finally made his way over to her, offering her his hand.
”It’s good to see another like minded officer, willing and able to fight as well as lead. Most just hang out behind the battle, spewing orders.”
Taking his offer, she grabbed his hand, shaking it with a firm grip.
”I’ve never understood that. Why let your brother’s and sisters in arms fight and die while you hang back, taking the credit and earning their contempt, when you could fight along side them, strengthening your bonds and earning their respect? ”
” Many ponies are afraid to lose their lives. But risking you life to save those under your command is what a good leader does.”
”And from the way you got your troops out of danger with that cloud, I can say that you truly are a great leader. But I… I’m not. Not anymore.”

Shining Armor tilted his head, confusion evident on his features.
”What do you mean?”
A sad sigh escapes MAV-3N, worrying Shining.
”I… failed to get them out. My squad and I were preparing to exfil due to a massive enemy invasion. We were quickly losing, so I made the call to evacuate as many men as possible. We barely made it on and took off, But… we entered anti-airspace, and got shot down. I was the only survivor.”
A feeling of remorse filled Shining Armor. No commander worth their salt should ever have to live with the guilt of losing their soldiers. Thinking quickly, he wrapped her in a hug, much to her surprise, before comforting her.
”It’s always hard to lose those under your command. Especially those you are close to. But that doesn’t change the fact that you risked life and limb to save them and as many others as you could. You still are a great leader, despite what you may think. ”
As his words sank in, MAV-3N choked out a sob, before embracing him back, crying into his shoulder.

After a minute, the crying subsided, before MAV-3N removed herself from Shining’s shoulder.
”Thank you. I know we just met, but I needed to get that out. It’s been eating me from the inside.”
”Its okay. It’s never good to hold onto that pain for long periods of time. Besides, good friends support each other.”
”Friends? But we just met, and barely know each other.”
”Well, it’s more like I wish to be your friend. I feel like we’d get along swimmingly when we get to know each other more.”
For a moment, everything was silent, and Shining worried he might have done something wrong. But when she chuckled and gave a slight nod, a smile grew on his face.
”Yeah, I’d like that.”

As Shining predicted, the two became quick friends. Their military backgrounds led to many a shared interest, and they had several conversations on military history and tactics. She was really interested in their magic. Their technology was lacking, but their ability to take dormant energy in the air and use it to manipulate the world more than made up for that. And he was very fascinated with her tech. To think, she wielded a compact weapons, capable of firing a blast of similar power to a highly trained unicorns! All the while, Shining helped her get more crystals out of her joints. Eventually, they got the last crystal out, and she was back to her peak mobility.
”Thanks again Shining. It feels much better without those things clogging up my joints.”
”No problem. It’s always a pleasure to help out a friend.”
”Nice to see you’re already making new friends here Shiny.”

The sudden interjection of a new voice caused MAV-3N to jump. But before she could grab her weapon, Shining had already reached the stranger, before… hugging them?
”Hey Cadence, how are you feeling? Did you get any rest?”
Oh, it was just the pink one. Maven let her guard down. She knew she could trust her.
”Not a wink. I tried to get some rest, but the cloud just kept battering the shield. I had to keep reinforcing it.”
”Do you need me to take over?”
”Not just yet. Now, who is this?”
Shining smiles to his wife, before gesturing MAV-3N to come over.
”Cadence, this is MAV-3N.”
MAV-3N walked over, before saluting to Cadence.
”A pleasure to meet you ma’am.”
”The pleasure’s mine.”

MAV-3N felt something she hadn’t felt in a long time. She felt joy. In less than a day, she made two new friends, and been offered a chance to train with Shining Armor and his men. Though despite the turn for the better, darkness still lingered on the horizon. That strange cloud still patrolled outside the dome, and any attempts to contact the outside world have been unsuccessful. Hopefully, some creature will eventually take notice, and send a rescue force. Until then, she and Shining Armor were going to whip these men back into army material. If they were going to stand a chance of holding out, they needed to be ready. And by Cyberstan, she’d get them ready.

TWO WEEKS LATER

Princess Celestia sits upon her throne, worry radiating throughout her. It has been 14 days since she sent Cadence and Captain Armor to investigate the frozen north, and see if he returned. But they never came back, and she has received no communications from them. Either they are trapped, or… she shook her head. No, she would not think like that. They’re alive, they have to be. She sighs to herself, before the doors to her throne room open, and the sound of hooves and claws echoed upon the marble floors as eight creatures walk in.
”You wanted to see us princess?”
”Yes, my faithful student. I have an important mission for you all.”

Author's Note

Hope you enjoy this chapter! If you have any idea’s or see anything I need to fix, leave a comment please! Thank you.

Chapter six: frigid rescue

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