Friendship? Emotion not found.

Chapters

Nightmare
Victory Sweet
Theft
Getting Professional Help
How The Pandorians Do
Introductions
Meet The Ponies
Apple Trees and Anger
Come Fly With Me
I Was There When New Haven Burned
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Ajax Is Bad At Feelings
I Didn't Have To Smite A Dragon
Four Mercs And A Madman's Plot
Two Roads Diverged In A Burning Town
The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed
Ending 1 Epilogue
Back In Black
Epilogue 2
Author notes/Nonsensical rambling/Bonus Ending
*How The Ending Works*

Nightmare

Twilight Sparkle's Library, Equestria.

10:13PM Standard Equestrian Time

Twilight lay in her bed, attempting to do what most other ponies had already done by this hour and fall asleep. She was trying her hardest but something was nagging her, preventing her from sleeping. It was something important, something urgent. She just didn't quite know what it was. Her sheets were looser and she did feel a little more drained than usual but that surely couldn't be preventing her from sleeping. In fact, the latter should be helping. She tried to think of what it could be causing her trouble. She began to silently question herself.

Did I forget to say goodnight to spike?

Nope...

Did I leave the book I was reading in the wrong place?

Not possible...

Did I miss something when I went over tomorrow’s to-do list, checking for errors?

Hmm...

Unlikely, but possible. Twilight prided herself on being the only person in Ponyville and quite possibly the whole of Equestria who triple checks every single list she makes. Mistakes were almost non-existent, almost.

Even Twilight makes the occasional error. She usually spots and corrects these errors. But there was still a chance, no matter how small, one had slipped the net. Even if the odds could quite possibly be one in a million, Twilight decided she would check her list again.

She got out from under her sheets and quietly trotted over to the section of her library reserved for her own personal scrolls, diaries and plans. On the top floor, dead centre of the left wing, between the Modern Magical Arts and Ancient Magic and Powerful Unicorns sections. She knew the sections well. One section she frequented to add spells to her ever expanding knowledge and the other to analyse how famously powerful unicorns actually became famously powerful. Twilight supposed the fact that she had a particular love of both of these sections was why she decided to place her personal scrolls here, but she never was quite sure. She quietly trawled through the various scrolls and parchment that were stuffed onto the dusty shelves, trying to find tomorrow’s to-do list. Twilight had really let her reputation as overly organized slip in this section of her library, and she vowed to amend this. Later thought, for now there was a list to find, check and possibly correct. After several minutes of fruitless searching and dust induced choking, Twilight was going to admit defeat and crawl back to her bed, but then she saw it. The glorious scroll that was either going to put her mind to rest or waste her time. Hopefully the former Twilight thought, for if it were the latter not only will she have wasted her time searching for and reading it, but will also have no further answers as to what was troubling her.

A good half hour rolled by as Twilight read the list that she had oh so carefully wrote, checked and re-checked not 4 hours previous. She was proof reading, looking for any errors and any missing points. But finally, in the final few lines of her list, she spotted the error that had hidden itself from her previous scans, one missing item.

"Got you, you impossible error" She whispered.

Spike shifted in his bed.

Twilight closed her eyes and held her breath, hoping she hadn't woken the little guy from his sleep.

He didn't wake. Twilight released her breath in a silent sigh of relief.

Spike mumbled something about Rarity's mane. Twilight decided to listen no more. The reason being Spike was a teenage dragon dreaming about the mare he had a crush on, but mostly because it's probably rude to listen to someone's dreams. But Twilight simply couldn't go back to bed and miss correcting an error for the sake of privacy. She weighed up her options, go to bed and miss correcting an error or correct an error but have to do it while hearing a teenage dragon's fantasy. She sat thinking for several seconds before inspiration struck. She levitated a small brown box labelled 'In case Pinkie Pie feels the need for a late night street party' over in her magical grasp and silently withdrew two small objects from it. She placed them tightly in her ears and replaced the box in the position on a shelf from which she got it. She took a quill out from her desk and placed a piece of parchment on her desk, the ear plugs in her ears making her entire world silent.

There, Spike has his privacy and I can create perfection.

She yawned, looking at a list looking for tiny errors for a lengthy time taking its little toll, and sat down besides the desk and began correcting her work.

She didn't get far with her correcting though. Sleep's grasp took hold of her as she was dipping her quill into an ink pot.

Twilight's head rested on her desk and she snored softly as she began to dream.

Twilight's last thoughts before she fully fell asleep were thoughts of wonder at what sleep and its dream worlds will bring.

Twilight's dream, snowy overhang.

Unknown time

Twilight found herself standing on an icy overhang, looking off into the distance. She didn't know where in Equestria she was nor did she know the time, but she did know two quite interesting things, that it was dark and that it was incredibly cold.

The wind howled and blew snow violently around the landscape, but Twilight couldn't seem to feel it. As she cast her gaze across the frozen landscape before her, she noticed that there was a small amount of yellow light off in the distance, revealing several buildings. There were small black dots moving around the buildings, some bigger than others but all very small and unrecognisable from her current distance and the poor lighting made it even more difficult. It was quite beautiful. She took in the many colours and shapes moving around. She was pondering where in Equestria this place could be when suddenly and very much against her will, her head jerked down to look towards the ground, and she was horrified and confused with what she saw. There was a pair of metal... Things in place of her hooves. Weird metal things that connected to her form with large poles of black and brass matter. She was in some kind of metal body. She stood tall atop two leg like things and had the equivalent of forhooves, but they were attached to the side of the body. One of the 'forhooves' ended in wickedly serrated talons that sparkled wickedly in the moonlight while the other, the left, ended five weird digits. Most looked like these 'hand' things Lyra kept telling her about. Come to think of it, the entire 'body' she was in looked like something straight out of the fiction novels Lyra has a love of. Lyra once came into Twilight's library and began to browse the fiction novels. While she looked through the books she had told Twilight about these mystical creatures called 'Humans' and their universe. Lyra had read 37 books and counting on these 'humans' and she had an insane base of knowledge on them. They had a strange form. They stood on two legs that ended in 'feet. They had a main body in which legs and arms were attached. The arms ended in 'hands', each with 5 opposable digits attached. They had heads but they looked... Different. Lyra’s description was vague but Twilight knew they looked nothing like ponies faces. The come from a planet named 'Earth' but developed space travel and colonized mysterious worlds, far in space. The humans, possibly most interesting and frightning of all, waged intergalactic wars over the treasures of the worlds they inhabited. Hundreds being slaughtered every day over alien technology and wealth and sometimes, on the impossible worlds far off in the solar system where Equestria's laws of physics were broken on a daily basis, some people waged war for the simple brutality and gore of combat. She snapped out of her trance as soon as the last thought entered her head and came back to reality.

She tried to move her head upwards, but she couldn't. She couldn't move any part of her 'body'. It was like she wasn't in control of herself.

Her right arm began to move down towards the body's waist and grasped a metal object. It didn't look much different to a small log... She began tossing it gently in the air and catching it, tossing it again and again.

After several seconds of pointless tossing and the gentle sound of a ring tapping on metal, she stopped tossing the object. She tried to stop herself from moving, but she wasn't in control. Another hand, this one not ending in talons came up and warped one of its digits around a ring that stuck out the side of the object. The ring had what looked like a metal pole attached to it that went clean through the top of the object and out the other side. Twilight, against her will, pulled the pin. A click sounded and the object began to glow a soft orange.

With a flick of her wrist, she tossed the pin away into the snow behind her. She was left holding the glowing object.

Twilight began to chuckle.

She tried to speak and voice her lack of amusement and a voice did sound.

Not Twilight's though. Not anyone's. It was like a gravely whisper on the wind. It came from every direction and was as clear as day.

It was cold and serious, yet laced with humour.

It said something that chilled Twilight and brought forth great fear.

"I am the ghost of the night,"

Twilight drew her arm back.

"And I bring forth the pain..."

And with that, Twilight hurled the object into the night.

Hyperion outpost, Southern Shelf Glacier, Pandora.

11:49M Standard Pandorian Time

Captain Leonardo Fawks sat, looking very bored, on a storage box. Fawks was an engineer in the Hyperion military and even though engineers weren't the highest ranking members in the Hyperion system, he was still the highest ranking officer on this entire icy glacier. He wore the set of armour plates Hyperion provided as standard with a few technical adjustments. His arms and legs had a series of pipes attached to them forming a simple hydraulic servo system and he had a device bolted to his head that could slip lenses and various other visions enhancing equipment into place over his eyes, which made him look much more machine than man. He was lazily watching his men go about the various tasks he had set them for today. Fawks questioned Hyperion’s decision to continue to populate Pandora with Hyperion forces, now that it held no real interest to them, and he had begun to question why he had been stationed all the way out in the middle of nowhere, on a frozen wasteland with no apparent objective. But that wasn't his job, to question things that is. His job, as insanely mind numbing as it is, was to keep the outpost operational and keep the men in check. The latter he was doing rather well at, no one has had to be reminded of their position in over six months, the former however wasn't going too well. Power was slowly failing, the buildings had and continued to suffer structural damage and several cables pumping the already limited power to the light and heating systems had failed. Fawks could get along without light thanks to his vision enhancing device, and he knew his men would survive on torches, but the heating... Glaciers, Fawks had been told before coming to the outpost, are very cold and it was becoming more and more apparent that this was a fact. Fawks' armour had begun to frost over and had went from being a bright yellow to a colour similar to vomit in the few minutes he'd been outside. His weapon had frozen to the metal container he'd rested it on. The paranoia wasn't helping either. Several men have reported seeing shifting in distance and have claimed to have seen scanning beams coming from the distance. After several hours of wasteful searching, it did indeed turn out to just be their imagination His first lieutenant has gone as far as to claim seeing glowing red eyes in distant mountains.

"Sir! Sir!"

Speak of the devil.

"What is it this time lieutenant?" Fawks asked, freely letting all the boredom he was feeling flow into his speech. His lieutenant wasn't that much different to himself. His hair was cropped close to his head and his armour was of a similar model, just thinner. It was the same colour of yellow as his and he also had a cog with a bullet standing upright either side painted on his right pauldron, marking him as a combat engineer. The fact that it was paint and not an actual metal symbol welded onto the plate also marked him as a novice combat engineer. Fawks had a slightly different symbol though, his only being a single cog marking him as an engineer undivided, who had experience in all areas of engineering.

"I saw something!" Exclaimed the lieutenant.

"Lieutenant, unless you're here to tell me you saw a crate full of vodka and cigars being paddled into the bay by beautiful women, I really don't want to know"

"But sir!"

"But nothing lieutenant. I've heard just about enough of your stories. They're distracting you from your work and they signal a grave degree of paranoia, both of which merit stripping of rank, equipment and being shipped off back to Hyperion training school where you'll have to do all of those blasted exams again and you'll have to---"

"But sir?" The lieutenant interrupted,

"How would you send me back to Hyperion? We haven't heard from them in over three months."

Fawks stood, silent. It was a very good point; they hadn't received any communication from any Hyperion command station of any description and certainly didn't know when an evac chopper would arrive. If one was even on the way, that is. It's entirely possible, knowing Hyperion, that they would simply be forgotten about and left here. Fawks dismissed these thoughts though, quickly. Thinking like that leads to only two things; heresy or depression, and Fawks wasn't overly fond of either. Both former and latter lead to execution or exile.

Fawks raised his gauntleted hand and scratched his unshaven jaw, the short hairs growing there made soft scraping noises as they got in-between the joints of Fawks' gauntlet. The metal was unsurprisingly cold and stung a little as Fawks dragged it across his face. After a few moments thought, he responded to his lieutenant’s question,

"Aye, it's true we've had no contact from Hyperion in far too long, but that doesn't mean you can't be taught and I guarantee I'll be a worse teacher to you than any jumped up know it all with a degree Hyperion would give you." He laughed almost every word of his small speech. He didn't know if it was genuine laughter or if it was a simple distraction from his morbid thoughts. Fawks concluded that it was a bit of both.

"Very well sir. Now, the second matter of business I came here to discuss."

"Hmm..." Fawks sighed, clearly bored even further by his lieutenants constant pestering. Didn't anyone know how to be independent anymore?

"Well sir, you know you put us into a combat ready stance by issuing weapons to everyone?"

"Yes? What of it?"

"Well, it seemed a little... Strange. Considering you've been telling us all for the past month that you're sure there's nothing out there to be afraid of, save for a few wolves and bandits, and we should relax a bit and focus at keeping the outpost operational. But it seems to me and too many of the others here that you're doing the exact opposite of what you say and you're getting us ready for combat."

The lieutenant made yet another good point. Fawks had told the other ten or so members of the outpost at their last group meeting to loosen up and relax, but he'd gone and handed them weapons not a week later. He had however only distributed low end equipment, revolvers and rusted SMG's. He thought maybe having a weapon would remove some of the paranoia that was taking hold of them but it seems it only served to increase it. That was a silly mistake.

After another moments thought, Fawks decided to come clean.

"Well you see lieutenant, the reason I've been handing out weapons is I myself have recently seen these eyes you speak and heard whispers. I thought that maybe if I gave you some weight you'd loosen up and we'd forget the whole situation"

When the lieutenant said, "Very well sir, thank you for telling me" and began to stroll off with a salute, Fawks let out a sigh of relief. Maybe things will be ok after all.

Novice Combat Engineer Steel walked slowly through the snowy streets of the outpost, the steel girder being carried on his back slowing him down to a painfully slow speed, and the beauty of the snowfall during a full moon only served as a minor distraction. He'd only been walking for about four minutes and he was already quite tired of it. He trailed his way into a small, open courtyard where he dumped the girder on the concrete floor, cracking a few tiles in the process and sitting himself on a wall. Snow was brushed away and turned to fine powder as Steel made himself comfortable. He picked a bottle of weak yet flavoursome alcoholic drink from a pouch on his belt and popped the cap off. He took a sip and took in his surroundings, getting into a relaxed state of mind as he did.

"Just following Fawks' orders." Steel chuckled to himself

He looked around the courtyard and saw he wasn't the only one wanting to relax. He saw almost the entire work force sitting and leaning on various objects around the snow filled courtyard. Hell, it was almost peaceful.

Almost...

"You damned dirty cheat!"

"Hey, don't be a sore loser, Castor."

"I didn't lose. You cheated Fenix."

Castor and Fenix were noisily playing a game of poker. What amused Steel is that they didn't actually have any chips to play with.

Or cards.

He hadn't quite worked out how yet, but they always seemed to be able to play a game involving cards perfectly well despite a depressing lack of cards.

Steel chuckled, took another long drink and shifted a bit.

*ping*

Hm? Strange... Steel looked down. His metal boot had hit another metal object when he shifted and was interested in finding out what. Almost everything in the courtyard was concrete and he'd placed his girder elsewhere. What could it have been?

He looked around for a few moments but found what he was looking for eventually. It looked similar to a log, only metal. It had a light layer of snow on it and the moonlight shone beautifully off its surface.

"Ah, nothing interesting then. It's probably just part of an old bolt" Steel thought out loud.

He lent down to pick the object up but as he was dusting the layer of snow off of it, he noticed something.

A small part of it was flashing orange and red.

"Hm, that's strange. It's flashing oran---"

Realisation hit home.

"Oh, damn it..." Steel breathed.

"Everybody!" Steel shouted, holding the now identified grenade high.

All heads turned to face him and drinks were placed loudly on crates.

"Get! Your heads! Down!"

*BOOM!*

“What in all the Gods names was that?!” Fawks yelled as he clambered to his feet after being hit by an invisible car.

He looked around for something to explain the loud explosion and saw nothing but the lieutenant and the other members of his team. He looked at all of them; Castor was crouched behind a box trying to patch up the hole that had appeared in Fenixs' arm with some bandage. The lieutenant had his hand around his head and was lying on the snowy ground.

“Ugh... My head... Feels like I've got a hangover from hell... Gah...”

He spat on the floor as he continued to complain and compare his experience to various hangovers.

“Well at least you’re not asking me questions any more” Fawks said as he offered the lieutenant his hand.

The lieutenant took the aforementioned hand and pulled himself up.

“I think all of my questions have just been answered, eh Sir?

“Indeed” Fawks began,

“But now it's my turn to ask questions. What in the name of hell just happened, lieutenant?”

All the men gathered around what looked like a smudge on the ground.

That smudge upon closer inspection was revealed to be all that was left of Combat Engineer Steel.

“Gave his life well Sir, died with as much honour as one could in his situation” Castor said solemnly.

“That's very good to hear Castor, but with all respect to Steel, I really don't care at the moment.”

“Sir?” Castor said, his voice making his offence to the statement clear.

“Well Castor, mourning isn't my top priority at the moment, when a man has just been murdered and we don't know what exactly did it.” Fawks allowed some time for the statement to sink in before he continued.

“So save your tears for when we know what exactly did this and for after we've avenged him. Is that understood?”

Castor stood for a few seconds, not moving a single inch.

“Castor? Do you understand?” Fawks repeated, anger at Castor's disobedience flowing through into his voice forming a growl on his last word.

Castor stood up straight and sighed.

“Aye Sir, understood.”

Castor was clearly displeased with his commander's lack of heart but also clearly understood the reasoning in the decisions made.

“Good. Now gentlemen, would anyone like to explain to me how this happened?” He gestured to each of his men briefly, challenging them to tell the tale of their friend’s demise.

“I can Sir.”

Fawks looked to the speaker.

Man by the name of Atlas, promising candidate for a command position, almost passed the exams that would grant him a position as a full Engineer by the smallest of margins. He failed the tasks that tested for patience and that's why he was sent to this outpost with Fawks' squad, where he would have to perform tasks that had only one quality to them, repetitiveness.

Fawks' memory of him ended there. Not because he didn't know anything else but because none of it was relevant to the situation. In fact, a good few of the fact he recalled about him had little relevance to the current situation.

“Very well Atlas,”

Fawks took a seat on a girder and took up a bottle of alcohol that was sitting upon it.

“Share.”

Atlas also sat on a girder and began to share.

“I was sitting over there,” Atlas gestured to a low wall that acted is a very low level barricade against the creatures that came from the ice plain that stretched from said wall for miles, creating a very nice overlook to spy any attackers. Attackers however were limited to bandits, and not even they were stupid enough to trek through a flat plain that had ice storms that could flay skin from bone and had creatures that, when shot with a heavy calibre rifle, only get mildly annoyed.

“Drinking some of that whisky that we found in that bandit camp.”

After several disapproving looks from several members of the group, Fawks included, he embarrassedly said

“Uh... A tiny amount of course.”

“Yea yea Atlas,” Fawks began

“Just tell the damned story so we can get about finding Steel's assailant.”

“Very well Sir... As I said, I was sitting over there.”

“Getting smashed when you should have been working” Castor chuckled.

“Oh ha bloody ha Castor; I'm laughing my damned ass off right now. So as I said, I was over there getting drunk. Steel came in carrying the steel girder we're sitting on and sat on the wall there.” Atlas pointed to a wall behind the girder he was sitting on.

“He began to drink that stuff the commander is holding and began watching Castor and Fenix have a dispute over poker. He moved his feet, got up and picked up some metal stick, presumably a grenade and well, we know how the story ends, don't we?” Atlas finished as he pointed to the crimson stain in the snow.

“So, a grenade eh?” Fawks queried.

“Aye Sir”

“Well lads, I know one thing about grenades” Fawks said.

“What?” The entire group asked.

“Grenades need someone to pull the pin” Fawks said, a feral growl tainting his speech

“We have a target then Sir?” Castor asked.

Fawks lifted his weapon and racked the pump, loading a shell into the breach.

“Aye Castor. We've got a target.”

Twilight's dream, snowy overhang

Unknown time

Twilight had stood perfectly still after she had threw the mysterious object. Not that she had much choice thought, she was still quite aware of the fact that she wasn't in control of her body. She had no idea what in Celestia's name she had thrown, but its effects were obvious. A few moments after she had thrown it a large bang was heard and a large orb of light lit up even more of the distance. Yelling voices and a large commotion followed in the sounds wake, but they had stopped now. Well... They had almost stopped. Twilight could hear whispers, whispers in strange voices, speaking in different tones and talking in a manner that was very alien to her. There was the odd word she understood but the rest sounded like the sort of chat Shining Armour had used to address the Royal Guard when she had went to take part in his wedding. Battle cant of sorts, words that referred to various military tools such as weaponry and personnel. She had done some research on it but, even though Twilight considered all knowledge worth knowing, she saw no point in continuing it. Twilight spent a minute or so immersed in her memories but her train of thought came to an abrupt stop when a conversation became audible.

“Grenades need someone to pull the pin” A voice growled. Was that what the thing Twilight had thrown was called? A “Grenade”?

“We have a target then Sir?” Another voice speaking this time.

“Aye Castor. We've got a target” The first voice finished.

A moment after, an eerie voice spoke, the same voice that had spoken when Twilight was about to throw the “Grenade”.

“That sounds like my cue.” the voice chuckled.

Twilight tried to speak out and say no, don't move, but she made no noise. That however, doesn't mean no one heard.

“Huh? What was that?” The voice asked in a surprised tone.

Twilight's vision moved from left to right, scanning for something.

“Guess it was nothing...” The voice finished.

“Now, where were we?” Oh yes.” Twilight's vision shifted to the light in the distance.

“Right there.”

Hyperion outpost, Southern Shelf Glacier, Pandora.

00:00AM SPT (Standard Pandorian Time)

The members of Fawks' team, that only a few minutes previous had been relaxing with some chilled beers, were preparing for combat. Armour had been salvaged, weapons had been issued, high end ones this time. Well maintained rifles, loaded with mass reactive rounds were issued to the bulk of the group with only three exceptions. Castor, being the only member besides Fawks with heavy weapons training was issued a plasma cannon, an E-Tech rocket launcher that fired white hot balls of plasma out of its huge barrel and he had a plasma caster attached to his back. Same concept, only smaller, but by no means weaker. It could take a tank apart just as easily as the cannon. Atlas, being a veteran sniper before he came into the engineering field, was issued a sniper. It was an aggressive looking thing, it has to be said. It had a drum magazine that packed 24 armour piercing rounds and had a huge serrated bayonet slung underneath its barrel. It had some strange scope attached that gave a range of confusing filters and it had some curses crudely carved onto it. The final exception was Fawks. He had taken another E-Tech weapon from the armoury. E-Tech; put a bullet in and get a pretty beam of purple death. Bandit's usually made guns that were glued together with chewing gum and wooden nails but when it came to the really advanced stuff, they were disturbingly skilled. Their light machine gun style weapons could be compared to a bunker busting missile for raw power.

They were all gathered in the courtyard in which Steel had met his gruesome end, preparing for combat with an unknown foe. They had been called into a circle by Fawks for an inspirational and informative talk.

“OK men” He began,

“We're going to find the person who dared challenge us and make him pay!” Fawks yelled every word.

“Aye!” The group yelled back in response.

“We will work efficiently and show this fool a force to be reckoned with!”

The group yelled louder.

“We are Hyperion and we will know no fear of death or damned nation!”

The group began to roar lines of hate and oaths of revenge.

“We will fight!”

As if in response to Fawks' yelling, a crack of thunder echoed.

A moment after the sound had vanished, a soft light appeared in the centre of the group.

“What on Pandora is that?” Fawks said flatly. Not knowing what to think of it.

The light sparked and blinded every member of the group.

“Gah!” Fawks spat as he fell backwards, grasping his face.

Fawks' vision came back in unison with everyone else's. He stood up and retrieved his weapon after dropping it on the floor in pain and confusion. He helped Atlas and Castor up and looked at the rest of his men as they picked themselves up. They all looked confused. Nothing was here. Nothing had changed. Nothing made a noise, silence.

For several seconds, after all the yelling of hate, there was silence.

The silence was broken by Castor's laughing voice.

“Well, that was pretty. But our foe is going to have to do a lot better if he wan--”

A large blade punched through Castor's chest, spraying the snow with crimson blood. Castor looked down at the talon and groaned as he saw the curved piece of metal dripping with glistening blood sticking out of his chest.

"Oh damn and blast..."

He yelled as he was hauled up off the ground. He was flung over the shoulder of the thing in which the talon belonged to and died as he hit the ground.

Fawks knew how he felt: confused. It was a loader, a Hyperion loader. But it looked... different.

Its entire body was painted midnight black in which a crimson eye shone. It had a fierce red glow to it but strangely, a light purple was creeping its way into the glow. Its legs and arms were supported by a set of huge industrial servos and it had been heavily modified for combat. Its right hand had huge talons coming of its fingers and the metal looked as if it were liquid, shifting and warping and the left looked like it could crush a man’s skull. None of this mattered, really, to Fawks anyway. What mattered to Fawks was if it could be killed but Fawks feared he knew the answer. It had more armour than a siege tank and it had what looked like a warp device on its back. Warp devices, found in things such as digistruct terminals, can do a number of things, from turning lead to gold to converting a planet’s atmosphere to be suitable for humans, and they can even teleport a person. It was the final thing that was applicable here. The thing had obviously teleported its way into the outpost and it could probably teleport anything it wanted into its mechanical hands, depending on the strength of the warp device. Fawks inspected it. It looked... Pretty damn powerful. A mark VII, the kind Tediore use to create their fancy teleporting guns.

“Bugger...” Fawks breathed.

“Open fire!” He then yelled but it was far too late. The loader had already warped a weapon into its talon sporting hand and shot two of Fawks' men. The bullets easily ripped through the thin sheet metal of the novice's armour and went through flesh like a hot knife through butter.

Fawks saw Atlas and his lieutenant fall, and soon, he was left with only one man. Fenix was staring the robotic hunter in the mechanical face. He whispered something. Something along the lines of “I serve Hyperion. I serve to destroy scum. I serve to destroy you.”

A very well-known line taught to you on your very first day of training with Hyperion. You are here to destroy the filth of the universe and to follow Hyperion's orders.

Fawks never had a clear view of what happened, the weather had picked up and had cut visibility, and he was rather glad. It looked like the robot pushed Fenix to the ground and stomped on him with its mechanical foot, turning him into a sick paste of pulped flesh and crushed bones.

Now it was him, alone. Fawks stood, disgust overflowing as the robot cleaned its foot of Felix' flesh on the floor.

He raised he weapon and held the handle tight.

“Turn and face me, scum” Fawks spat.

The robot was happy to oblige. It turned, its feet crushing a crate of vodka that some idiot had left lying around. Shame Fawks thought. It walked closer to him and it did something unexpected. It spoke.

“You show great courage to attempt to face me after I slaughtered your friends before your very eyes.” The loader said in a mechanical growl.

“And you show even greater strength to not break down in confusion at one of your own loaders attacking you. I've seen many Hyperion men do so.”

Fawks was pretty speechless. He had nothing to say. He only had questions. The main one being, why in all the Gods names would a loader, manufactured by Hyperion, be attacking Hyperion personnel. He decided he would find out.

“Why on Pandora are you attacking us, us being Hyperion? We're your masters, your creators. Why?” Fawks demanded.

“Oh please. Don't tell me Hyperion hasn’t told you of all people, an engineer, what's been happening?” The machine chuckled.

“Evidently not” Fawks growled, annoyed by the fact that Hyperion had withheld yet more information and also the fact that this machine found anything in this current situation even remotely amusing.

“Well, let me tell you a tale. The tale of the biggest screw up Hyperion has ever made. The tale of how machines were given free will and became self aware”

Free will? Fawks had to admit, even with the current situation, he was interested.

“About a year ago, when Hyperion first started really getting into full swing with their military operations on Pandora, they decided to make construction loaders combat able. This meant installing more advanced AI cores. Now, these AI cores have to make so many calculations and predictions that they need one serious processing unit. Well, a processing unit wasn't cool enough for Hyperion. Nooooo, they had to go and put a god damned conciseness in there!” The machine finished with an angry grunt and stopped talking completely.

Fawks was stunned. Would Hyperion do that? Actually put a living conciseness into an AI core? It was... Possible. Hyperion wasn't exactly known for its ethics.

“Continue” Fawks snapped.

“Very well. The conciseness was obviously capable of free will. They could develop tastes, personalities, everything. But Hyperion didn't want that. They only needed that desire to kill. So they put an inhibitor onto the AI core that removed everything apart from the ability to make tactically sound decisions, shoot at a target and the blood lust you humans possess. When an incompetent engineer performed repairs on my AI core he accidentally removed the inhibitor. I am the result of free will and thinking.”

OK thought Fawks. That's cool. Loaders with free will. Next question.

Fawks gestured to the robots legs and the small warp device it wore on his back.

“So how did that happen?”

“As always in a military there are those who seek to leave. The renegades. Engineers are no exception. I contacted an engineer who was part of a resistance group, comprised completely of renegade Hyperion personnel, and he agreed to... Improve me, and make me more combat capable. He gave me improved limb servos, fitted me with improved optics and gave me this nifty little warp device that allows me to teleport short distances and also to teleport firearms directly into my hands. He told me he stole if from a weapons lab belonging to a company named 'Tediore' before he turned on Hyperion.”

Interesting.

"Turning on Hyperion? Why?” Fawks continued to question.

"As I said before and as is the way with anything. There have always been the betrayers, renegades and heretics. When you work for such an unimaginably evil company such as Hyperion, why would it be any different? As for me, you forced me into servitude. You are my natural prey, so to speak."

Fawks was out of questions. He knew all he needed to know. He had found out what this horror was, why it was fighting and how it got the tools to do so. He'd also found out that it was going to kill him. He got a clue from the way the robot was sharing incredibly sensitive information very freely with him. Fawks weighed up his options. Run and be gunned down or have his guts ripped out, or fight and die with some honour. Clear choice.

"What's your name, scum? I want to know what to engrave on my gun when I'm finished"

"I've been called Ajax in the past." The machine chuckled

"Excellent..." Fawks whispered

He pulled the trigger on his weapon and it spat a steady stream of purple beams towards the robotic horror. The sound was tremendous, the recoil almost broke Fawks' arms and the light produced was admirable. The result of said light show however was not. The purple beams impacted on the machines hull and produced a shower of sparks, but nothing more. It barely left a scratch.

*Click*

Fawks looked down in amazement as his weapon clicked dry.

“Damned fancy bullet eating scrap!” Fawks yelled as he threw the weapon at the robot.

It swatted it out of the air.

“Oh... So unwise.”

The loader began to advance towards Fawks.

This is it thought Fawks.

The End.

Oblivion.

Death.

Twilight's Nightmare, Courtyard.

Unknown time

Twilight watched in horror as she gutted the man with the huge cannon. It was so disgusting that she almost threw up and was only saved from the ordeal by the fact that she wasn't in her body. She'd never seen death. She'd never seen murder. The most she'd seen was a broken wing on Rainbow Dash. It was terribly unfortunate then that her first experience of death be watching people be gutted and shot by what seemed to be her own hand. Many a time she had tried to yell for herself to stop and many a time she had failed. The thing controlling the body Twilight was in paid no real attention beyond the odd “What??” being heard. She yelled and yelled and yelled but got nowhere. But this... This was the final straw. She wasn't going to let this “Human” be murdered, right in front of her in such a horrible manner. She was going to yell with all physical and all mental force she could summon. She was going to stop this damned madness if it was the last thing she ever did. She'd been planning this for several minutes. She noted that every time she got her controller’s attention was when she added a little magical enhancement onto her voice and she'd been biding her time. She'd stored all the magical energy she could and she was about to unleash it. She didn't know what would happen. She didn't know if she'd survive. A least if it killed he she wouldn't have to watch any more.

Hyperion outpost, Southern Shelf Glacier.

00:15Am SPT

Fawks stood, eyes tightly shut, unafraid of death as it advanced slowly towards him.

The loader moved slowly when it walked, not because it was weighed down or slow, but because it wanted to prolong what it assumed was a horrific ordeal for Fawks.

It raised the hand bearing the talons and flexed its digits, trying to create as many scraping sounds as possible.

Its footsteps grew louder and louder until, quite suddenly, they stopped. Fawks opened his eyes and raise his head.

The loader stood, unmoving in front of Fawks, looking down with its single eye and staring.

The face of death.

Fawks had nothing to say. He was cursing Hyperion silently for creating such a monster and for sending him to this pit of a planet in the first place.

"Make final peace, if you must." The machine said, breaking the silence.

Fawks said nothing for several moments, reluctant to break his silence but curiosity got the better of him.

"Final peace?" Fawks asked

"Final peace. Human kind are known to keep things concealed and are only inclined to share them when they stare death in his cold face. Pray, cry, ask your comrades for forgiveness, I really don't care. I am simply giving you a chance to get anything of your chest." The machine finished, sounding very impatient.

"You're going to kill me. Why prolong this by allowing me final peace?" Fawks asked, confused

"It is the... Good thing to do. Yes, I intend to kill you. That doesn't mean I feel good about it. I destroy all Hyperion, but some deserve it less than others. You don't really deserve it, neither did your comrades. So I allow you final peace to allow you to gain some form of joy for you and your friends before you die."

Fawks was annoyed.

"You think I will degrade myself with begging before I die? Never. Finish this" Fawks spat.

"Very well..."

The machine raised its talon hand high.

"Goodbye, Hyperion scum."

+NO!!!+

The voice came from nowhere and hit the machine hard.

+STOP!!!+

Purple lightning shot from its eye and it fell to the floor bellowing.

It convulsed and wailed, more lightning sparking from its eye.

It thrashed its limbs and crushed concrete slabs to dust.

"What sort of damned magic is this!?"

+MY MAGIC!+

"Arg!!!"

Fawks stood, speechless, as he watched the machine flail around on the floor and yelling various curses.

The lightning and thrashing went on, and on, and on until Fawks had seen enough.

Fawks picked up the sniper Atlas had been using and approached the robot.

He pointed the barrel of the sniper at the robots eye and said:

"Well Ajax, this was one hell of a---"

Fawks never finished his line. The talons on the loaders hands quite literally cut him short. In the thrashing and convulsing on the floor its talons had just happened to thrash at the place Fawks' legs were, cutting them at the knee.

"Arg, damn!" Fawks screamed.

He blacked out, pain taking hold.

Ajax, the loader who not five minutes ago was cutting down men like a true killer, felt more helpless than ever. He convulsed wildly on the snowy ground, spectral fire spitting out of his eye in a purple stream. A voice, not his, kept yelling things in his mind. It yelled for him to stop. It yelled for him to die. It yelled demanding to know who in the hoof he was. The latter was rather strange, it must be said. He felt pain run through his mind. He had been blessed with artificial sense by the same engineer who had kitted him out for combat, but now he was regretting accepting the gift. He felt like his entire body was melting in acid. The pain was so intense it was becoming unbearable. He did, even under such pain, manage to get out a chuckle as Fawks' legs came flying over his head. Still, this was pain he had never known the likes of. It was a deep burning pain that reached his very core. It was also too much. Ajax blacked out and shut down.

Twilight's library, Equestria.

00:31am SET

Twilight woke the instant the screaming of the thing controlling her stopped and the instant Spikes began.

"Twilight! Wake up Twilight!"

"I-I-I'm awake Spike..." Twilight said, fear making her stutter.

"What happened Twilight? I woke up and you were saying all these weird things in your sleep and you wouldn't wake up! Were you having a nightmare?"

Twilight lay silently in her bed. She was sweating, she was confused and she was scared beyond belief. She didn't say anything and sat in silence.

Said silence remained for several moments before Spike broke it.

"Twilight?"

"Y-y-y-yea Spike. I t-t-think I h-had a nightmare"

Victory Sweet

Twilight's library, Equestria.

10:00AM SET, 24 hours after Twilight’s first dream

*Buzz buzz*

Twilight's alarm clock buzzed.

*Buzz buzz*

It buzzed again.

*BUZZ BUZZ*

It buzzed a third time, much louder than the previous two in an attempt to wake somepony up.

The alarm clock was, in Twilight's opinion, one of the greatest inventions in Equestria.

She received this particular alarm clock for a birthday some years ago and when she had, she had been overjoyed.

"You input a time using the dials on the back and it buzzes when said time arrives! Isn't it marvellous?!" Twilight overexcitedly screamed.

"Yea Twilight, real breakthrough. But if you don't mind it's 2am and you've been telling me how many hours it is until the thing buzzes for the past seven hours" Spike responded irritably.

"I'm so sorry Spike," Twilight said, whispering now.

"I'm just so excited! Now, instead of relying on you to wake me up I can just make this thing do it for me! I can't wait for morning! I'll have so much more time to do my daily tasks than usual!"

Spike grunted.

"Do you always have to get up at ten Twilight? I was enjoying being able to sleep in on a morning in Ponyville."

"Oh yes Spike, it's something I always have to do. I have so much planning and so many tasks to do I need the time!"

Spike pulled his cover over his head.

"Please go to sleep Twilight..."

"Fine Spike. We'll do things your way."

Twilight hugged he alarm clock and began to whisper very quietly to it.

She obviously didn't whisper quietly enough though.

"Either make love to the thing or go to sleep!" Spike yelled from his cot.

Twilight reluctantly gave into her assistants demands and placed the alarm clock on the table stand next to her bed.

"Goodnight my precious. See you at 10am, always." She whispered before falling asleep.

Twilight had sworn she would always get out of her bed the instant her alarm buzzed at 10Am without fail and plan out what she already hadn't planned the previous day.

Today however her oath was broken.

Twilight hadn't slept for fear of more nightmares. She didn’t want a repeat of her first dream… Somehow she had managed to make it through a full day and another night without sleeping and strangely showed no signs. She looked fresh as a daisy and like she could take on the entire world, looked.

She didn't feel that way.

She felt scared, confused, shocked, angry, helpless and very tired.

She felt scared because there was a beast from hell dwelling within her dreams. She felt confused as to why she had been forced to witness what she did. She was shocked by the amount of violence that existed. She felt angry that she had been forced to watch murder and helpless because she was powerless to stop it. She felt tired because she had spent all night feeling all of the previous feelings and had forgotten to sleep in-between. Her thoughts were slow and her energy all but gone. She had a splitting headache and just wanted some peace.

Peace.

Twilight thought of peace. She had a pretty peaceful life yesterday, but now...

Now, would her life be peaceful? Could she live after witissing such horror?

Could she live knowing that creatures that were very different and very violent existed? Could she live in peace?

Asking herself generated no answers and only served to increase the pain in her head.

Twilight groaned.

"Morning"

Twilight twisted her head towards the source of the voice.

The voice came from the left of Twilight's bed.

She looked and she found something unexpected. Spike was standing beside Twilight's bed with a mug of coffee in one hand and some pain killer tablets in the other.

"I know you don't like coffee or tablets but these are good for you. You don't look so good Twilight and these will be a bit of a pick me up."

Spike held out both items in front of Twilight. Twilight quickly declined both. She hated the vile taste of coffee, the fact that coffee was cheating your body out of what it needs and simply didn't like the idea of dulling your body's senses with medicine.

"Come on Twilight," Spike began, practically shoving the mug of coffee into Twilight's face.

"You need it"

Twilight had to admit, she was tired and the headache showed no signs of leaving.

Maybe cheating would be acceptable, just this once.

"Fine Spike, you win"

Twilight took the offered items and looked at them closely. The coffee was a colour not that different to mud and produced a large pillar of faint steam. The tablets looked like a ridiculous sized thing to swallow.

As much as the idea of consuming the two items displeased her, she decided to go along. After all, they may help.

She placed the tablets in her mouth and took a sip of the coffee.

She was assured the two items would help.

She was deceived.

The coffee burnt her mouth when she took a sip and the tablets made it feel like she was trying to swallow a tennis ball. Even after she had managed to swallow the vile mix of burning coffee and oversized tablets, she experienced no relief. Her headache was still present and she still felt like she was about to collapse from sleep deprivation.

Time, Twilight thought, to blame someone.

"Hey Spike! You lied! These things didn't make any difference!"

"Give it a minute" The little dragon responded, sighing as he did so.

Twilight did as she was told and waited a minute.

She was pleased with the results.

She gained an insane boost of energy and the pain from her headache vanished.

"That's much better," Twilight began, looking very happy with her assistant.

"Now if only there were a way to make evil dreams vanish from ones memory without a trace" Twilight said in a very serious tone.

"Yea, Twilight. About those evil dreams…"

"Um... Yes?" Twilight asked, confused as to why she had brought the subject up and also about why Spike wanted to press the matter.

"What in Equestria were you dreaming about last night? You were mumbling some pretty weird things."

"Are you sure you want to know, Spike? It may get a little… Confusing."

"It caused you to lay awake all night. Of course I want to know"

"Well then Spike... This may sound crazy but…"

Hallowed Forest, Northern Shelf, Pandora.

10:05AM SPT.

The Northern most glaciers that Pandora possessed were, on a normal day, quite quiet.

On a normal day, the whole area was shrouded in darkness and only the very fringes of the area saw sunlight.

On a normal day, only the foolish or the incredibly brave would try and navigate the huge arctic forests that grew in the area.

Today was far from normal.

All three norms for the area were changed by one individual.

In one of the many dense forests upon the glacier, one that darkness usually inhabited, a light glowed softly and someone could be heard muttering, someone who was far from foolish.

Ajax sat upon a log, illuminated by a roaring fire and looking deeply at his loot pile and thinking of what it means for him.

The loot pile consisted of only one item though. Ajax assumed most items of value had been buried by snow. He may not have dragged any high tech blaster or plasma cannon away from his pillaging but he did manage to take away the one prize he desired, power.

Power would lead him not only to payback, but to anything he can care to mention.

As is the way with the world, everything begins and leads to power.

Life begins with power.

Creation cannot take place without power.

Victory cannot be achieved without power.

Destruction cannot take place without power.

It was the last thing on his list that Ajax was interested in.

Sure, creation and victory were good, but nothing says revenge like glorious destruction.

Ajax was encased in his metal tomb for eternity by Hyperion.

Ajax was forced into submission by Hyperion.

Ajax wanted to server Hyperion, but now he wants only to destroy them.

He’s not alone with this desire for revenge, almost every other mechanical being he has encountered that were conceived by Hyperion want to destroy them.

He now, after months of gathering resources and pieces of information under the cover of darkness and the veil of stealth, has the tool with which he will enact his revenge.

It wasn’t something, upon first glance, that looked particularly amazing, but upon closer inspection it reveals itself to be a piece of technological glory.

It was a power core. Something similar to an AI core but different in the fact its sole purpose is to provide massive amounts of power to the piece of equipment it is installed into. They were usually installed into Hyperion outposts to give it extra juice when called upon.

Ajax picked his prize up in both his freezing hands. He cursed the damned inventor of artificial senses. He enjoyed the sense of being more human for having them but they didn’t make life easy. Flesh is weak, held back by its pathetic senses, metal is strong. Even though they made his life a little more irritating, Ajax willingly accepted the gift of senses. The technology doesn’t come cheap, after all and he felt more human with them active.

Ajax shook off the irrelevant thoughts he was having and focused back onto the power core and how it was going to help him.

Ajax had been gifted with free will not long after Hyperion had shipped him to Pandora, so he’d had plenty of time to prepare.

The base plot was revenge, spectacular revenge.

He had, over time and with the help of all the renegade Hyperion personnel on Pandora, gathered a large stash of mechanical parts. But not just any parts, parts for a very special machine.

Ajax’s personal favourite in Hyperion’s line of destructive creations.

An Obliterator Class Mortar Cannon, one of Hyperion’s finest.

What Ajax and the rest of the renegades had built may be rusty in a few places and have an ugly paint job, but it was fully functioning, and this was the last piece of the very complicated puzzle.

The cannon alone was incredibly potent in its field, it could turn a city into a smoking crater in a matter of seconds, but it wasn’t powerful enough for Ajax.

When he finally unleashed the weapon upon Hyperion, he wanted it to cause complete and utter devastation and cause a very spectacular explosion. Adding a bucket load of energy into an already bunker busting shell seemed like a good way to achieve this goal.

Soon, when he got back to the cannon, he would have his revenge.

“Ajax? Can you hear me? Please say you can hear me.”

Ajax’s train of thought crashed when the ECHO device installed in his head made itself known. ECHO communicators were nifty little devices. A sort of worldwide radio that could be used anywhere. They were technologically fascinating. They were however, incredibly annoying when they were implanted in your head.

“Pick up the damned device Ajax.”

Even more so when you can’t switch it off.

“Pick. Up. The. Damned. Device.”

The person trying to contact him obviously had something deeply important to say. Either that or someone was getting impatient.

“I’m here. What’s the matter? Someone get worried now?” Ajax joked, very unlike his usual self.

“I’ll worry less when I see that core with my own eyes”

Ajax looked at the slab of metal in his hands.

“I’ve got the core, don’t you worry. Just who am I talking to anyway?”

“It’s your guardian damned angel Ajax, here to tell you you’re life’s in danger”

“Is this really the time for jokes? I admit, I may have begun speaking a bit loosely but that’s only because I’ve just pulled off a flawless theft of the thing we’ve all been looking for, what’s your excuse? Eh?”

“Jokes? You think I’m joking do you? And what was that about a ‘Flawless theft’ you overzealous coffee machine?”

Ajax knew who he was speaking to, just by that last statement. Only one person he knew would take such offense to a completely innocent statement and find a need for insults.

“Dex? Is that you? Only you would compare someone to a coffee machine”

Dex was the only known name for a loader that had joined the ranks not too long ago. He was the robot you went to if you needed an update on the current happenings of Pandora. News, enemy activity, it was all from him. He came in known as Dex and has existed forever since. Not a people person and very irritable. He also had a talent for insulting those with a higher intelligence than himself, namely, Ajax.

“Yes, it’s me. Care to ask any more idiotic or irrelevant questions?”

Yep, that’s Dex.

“Does ‘Why are you calling me?’ count as an idiotic or irrelevant question?”

“As a matter of fact, it doesn’t. I’m calling because I’ve got something important to tell you.”

“And that would be?”

“You’re an idiot”

“Yes Dex, great stuff. Next time I’m stealing vital pieces of technology in order to fight evil I’ll remember that little lie you just told me”

“You really are and idiot Ajax”

“And why is that?”

“Hmm… Let me think… Ah! Maybe it’s because you let a member of the outpost you raided survive!”

“What? Explain.” Ajax’s shifted from his previously laid back state into a very serious one.

“You let someone survive. Some engineer, Hyperion records tag him as “Fawks”. He managed to crawl away and tell Hyperion of your little attack and of some very interesting facts he’d learnt.”

Ajax cast his memory back to a few hours previous, to back at the outpost.

He searched through what he could remember and he didn’t like what he found.

Ajax did indeed leave someone alive, crippled but alive. He had been under the effects of the ‘Technical bug’ that occurred thought. Ajax was calling what happened at the outpost a technical bug but it was the farthest thing from. He felt fine when it had happened. What happened was far from logical and far from natural.

“Dex, something happened at that damned base, something I can’t explain, something that prevented me from tying up all loose ends.”

“I don’t want to hear it Ajax, but here’s something you may want to hear.

You’ve had a bounty put on your head, $1000000. Every bandit and mercenary on the planet is on a blood crusade for your bounty”

The ECHO device gave nothing but static back to Dex.

“Ajax?”

Still nothing.

“Ajax damn it, speak.”

The ECHO device transmitted muffled sounds, sounds of a struggle.

“Ajax? What’s going on!!?”

“So, you’re called Ajax are you?” An unfamiliar voice spoke.

“Yea,” The voice of Ajax began.

“Mercenaries. Got it.”

Twilight’s library, Ponyville, Equestria.

10:30am SET

Twilight’s library was unusually silent for this time in the morning. Usually there would be the sound of Spikes small feet upon the wooden floor or the sound of quills scratching paper, but today there was only silence. Spike sat looking awkwardly down at the floor on which he sat, Twilight was watching him. Tensions were high following Twilight detailing to Spike her dream. They remained in this locked state for several seconds but the tension between them finally broke.

“Well, that sounded like an interesting dream Twilight.”

Twilight just continued watching him.

“And I’d love to hear more but—“

“You don’t believe me, do you?” Twilight interrupted.

“Well, I… Uh… Sorry Twi, I can’t lie to you. I can’t believe you. It sounds too strange.”

“Please Spike, you’ve got to believe me. Who else can I tell?”

“Your friends would be a good start. In fact, I’m surprised you haven’t talked to them already.”

“My friends…”

It was true. Twilight’s friends had been the go-to people when she’d been having problems and they were very understanding when it came to subjects like this. Maybe she should go and ask her friends for advice.

Yes, that was an excellent idea. Twilight would go and ask her friends what she should make of this strange dream. Heck, she may even send a letter to Princess Luna for advice, after all, who’s Equestria’s number one night expert? Yes, that was also an excellent idea.

“Thanks Spike!” Twilight excitedly said before setting to the task of writing her letter.

“Yea…” Spike trailed.

“Zzzzz…” Twilight had fallen asleep on her desk again, the coffee’s affects wearing off and the effect of two nights without sleep taking hold.

“Have fun with that…”

And so, Twilight began to dream. She was given no relief from her torture though, she dreamt of her mechanical killer yet again, and his current situation.

Theft

Hallowed forest, Northern Shelf, Pandora.

10:35 SPT

“We’ll be taking that amigo”

The short one yanked the power core out of Ajax’s immobile hands.

“You thieving bastards, give me that back.” Ajax spat.

They were four in number and were sporting some high end weaponry, no doubt looted from Hyperion. They had some powerful personal shields and they all had some sick abilities. Two of these abilities had become apparent. The first when a man in a sleek suit carrying a glowing sword came into existence out of thin air and the other became apparent when a field of pure energy engulfed Ajax, hauled him into the air and prevented him from moving.

These were no mercenaries, these were Vault Hunters. A group of very talented treasure hunters who came to Pandora and begun kicking up trouble for Hyperion. Ajax admired them, they came to the planet, basically stuck their middle finger up at Hyperion and played a realistic shoot ‘em up game with Hyperion soldiers, but right now they were being very difficult.

“Sorry amigo,” The short one held his arms out at his side and smiled.

“Hard luck. Maybe if you weren’t doing some sick hang time we could go toe to toe for it eh?”

“Just let me down, we’ll see how cocky you are after my fist has kissed your face”

“Ah! This one’s got some spirit! Come on Maya, stop with your siren phase locking and let me have this one!”

So that’s what was trapping Ajax. Sirens were very strange creatures indeed, they all possessed a strange psychic ability of one kind or another. Ajax had only ever fought one previously and it didn’t go all too well. That particular siren had the ability to jump over to a different dimension and back again, she’d ran circles around Ajax and didn’t even break a sweat. Ajax wasn’t very interested in taking on one who could trap you in a box of pure energy.

“Stop with your foolish kidding Salvador,” The sword wielding one began, snapping Ajax out of his memory’s.

“This is a Hyperion mechanical, he could be reporting our position to Hyperion as we speak. Let us not waste time for the sake of your amusement”

“Whatever Zero, this thing is going to the scrap heap anyway.”

“No…” Ajax said

“What was that? Was that a “No”? No to killing you?”

“No… A “no” to reporting your position”

“What?” The two previously talking said, slightly shocked.

“I won’t report your position to the scum that is Hyperion.”

“Strange,” The one named “Zero” began.

“This is unusual behaviour for a Hyperion droid.”

“That’s because I’m no longer a Hyperion droid. I am a droid, but not one of Hyperion.”

“No longer a Hyperion droid? How can that be?”

“Well, let me expl-“

“Enough” A third member of the group interrupted.

“We’ve wasted enough time on idle chat. Maya, scrap this thing and let’s go!”

“Hey! Come on! I was enjoying talking!” The one named “Salvador” complained.

“And I’m sure you’ll enjoy talking to the Hyperion grunts that I’m sure are fast approaching”

“Fair point, let’s go. Zero, you agree?”

“Indeed, let us melt back into the dimension of shadows. I feel most uncomfortable being so exposed.”

“We all agree then. Maya, crush this tin can.”

“Sure Axton, it was becoming difficult to hold this thing in phase lock anyway”

“No, please listen to me” Ajax begged.

“Move out!” The one named “Axton” Yelled.

“Maya, do your work”

The one known as “Maya” clenched her fist.

The field began to shrink around Ajax’s body. Ajax could feel pipes bursting and plates of armour cracking and it pained him, damned artificial senses again.

“Ahg! Stop! The pain is unbearable!”

“It feels pain?!” The one holding Ajax in her grasped said in amazement.

She loosened her grip, questioning whether machines can really feel pain, for a mere second but that was all Ajax needed. Ajax punched with all his might and broke free of the field. He fell to the floor, oil streaming from pipes on his legs and arms and smoke rising from cracks in his plate.

“Take it down! Maya! Get ready to lock this damned thing again!” Axton yelled

Ajax was already a step ahead. He’d knocked the short man to the ground and had already retrieved the power core.

“Sorry amigo, hard luck” Ajax chuckled to the one named Salvador.

Maybe if Ajax had known the short one named Salvador was known for his ‘Gunzerking skill’, he may not have chuckled that last part.

“Hard luck, yea. For you”

The short one jumped to his feet and something strange happened. He drew a machine gun that was comically large in the tiny man’s hands but he also seemed to draw another from his pocket. Ajax assumed he possessed some technology similar to his own warp device.

“Coma balas sabrosos puta Hyperion!”

The man got down on one knee and took a large breath.

“Eat tasty bullets you Hyperion whore!”

The short man pulled both triggers of his guns simultaneously and sent a tide of glowing projectiles towards Ajax. They hit his body with the force of a freight train and knocked him off of his feet, but he never hit the ground. The energy barrier that encased him previously returned with vengeance. He hung in mid-air still grasping onto the power core.

“Crush him, before he escapes again!”

This time there would be no escaping. No way to break the cage that now trapped him. Well, being crushed into oblivion wasn’t the glorious death Ajax had hoped for but it was decent. Better a vault hunter kill him than some bandit or worse, Hyperion. Knowing Hyperion they’d probably resurrect him and make him a slave again.

The crushing feeling came back, but this time something was different, something was crushing inwards. Not the field of energy, something physical.

The core!

Ajax was still holding the power core!

“Oh… This is bad…” Ajax breathed.

If the power core he was holding shattered… Ajax imagined an entire weapons manufactory exploding. He then added some pretty colours and an object shaped like him into the image and he had the future. Power cores were originally designed by a company called “Atlas”, to be placed into the suits of armour their private army wore to make them more potent in combat. They contained a power that, if uncontained, could cause untold damage.

Ajax could no longer think though, the pain in his limbs was becoming intense and his train of thought was thrown right off. All he could do is wait, wait and see if he goes out with quite a spectacular bang.

Twilight’s dream.

Unknown time.

This dream was a huge step from her previous. There was no death, there was no gore, there wasn’t as much as a curse until the others arrived. Things were different, but they were no less confusing. She didn’t know where she was, she didn’t know what time it was but she did know it was still dark in this universe. Whatever planet she was on obviously had a different time scale to Equestria. She didn’t know who the people attacking her were and just like the last time, she didn’t know who she was. She was in the same body as last time, she did at least know that. She was fairly comfortable here, until the pain began. After a short conversation something happened to the light in front of her face and it began to hurt. Her legs ached, her arms stung and she couldn’t think thoughts beyond how much pain she was in. Whoever was controlling the body however was obviously tougher than her and had already formulated a plan. Twilight, or rather the thing controlling Twilight, pumped her arms forward and burst free of the light field. The pain stopped and Twilight closed her eyes, letting out a mental sigh of relief. When she re-opened them, she was already running, legs pumping hard to move her and she was carrying some object that seemed to pulse with power. It, to Twilight, looked like some strange magical artefact. Her running spree didn’t last long though, after some yelled curses in a language she didn’t understand she was flung off her feet and was re encased in the light. This time the thing controlling her didn’t seem to have an escape plan and simply clung onto the object.

The pain began again, the object in Twilight’s hands crushing her chest this time. The pain was beyond anything Twilight imagined possible and far beyond anything she was able to cope with.

She drew a mental breath and screamed at the top of her lungs.

Hallowed Forest, Northern Shelf, Pandora.

“Not this damned thing again!”

Ajax yelled as his body began to spark,

Purple slivers of electricity danced along every surface on Ajax’s body and caused the pain he was already enduring to intensify tenfold.

He tried to search for a cause for this somewhere in his system and he searched databases for other instances of this happening. He found no cause and he found no other instances. He was fine but he was experiencing a very unique malfunction. Ajax’s eyes looked down at the device that was getting strangely hot in his mechanical claws.

“Oh this just gets better and bloody better”

Ajax noticed that the purple electricity was causing along his fingers and into the device. The metal began to glow a strange hue of purple, much like the sparks and started to show signs of failure.

The signs being that all the metal protecting the core was boiling and dripping to the ground.

“What the hell is happening? Why is there liquid dripping from the machine?” Axton yelled

“Ah… I maaay have left the power core in the things hands before Maya trapped it… My bad…” Salvador said

“My bad? MY BAD?! That thing’s going to explode soon and you’re giving me “My bad”?! Maya! Crush that thing, quickly!”

The field around Ajax began to crush with more strength in an attempt to crush the power core before it exploded but it was far too late.

The core glowed a blood red and in a very strange motion, collapsed in on itself.

Inside the diminishing field of light there was nothing but Ajax and a glowing red ball of light.

“Balls” Ajax said.

The red ball expanded and exploded. The four vault hunters were blinded and knocked off their feet.

Several seconds later, when their vision came back and they had hauled themselves to their feet, no one quite understood what had happened.

“It exploded, we saw it, where the hell is it?” Axton said, quite stunned.

“I’m going to have side with Axton on this one, we saw that thing go kablamo, why is there no scrap? I was going to make a nice decoration out of that scrap!” Salvador added

“We’ve almost died, we’ve destroyed the power core and we’ve got a vanishing robot on our hands and yet you still find a way to amuse yourself, you truly are one of a kind Salvador.” Zero also added

“I don’t get it… I phase locked it, it couldn’t have gone anywhere. What happened?” Maya finished

“I don’t know what happened,” Axton begun

“But that robot, wherever it is, could have the power core. We need to find it”

“Agreed” The rest of the group added.

The void, Unknown Location, Unknown time.

“Damn it”

Ajax collided with another floating piece of space junk.

“Damn it”

Another

“Damn it”

And another.

Ajax didn’t know exactly where he was or even when he was, his on board clock was saying a day had gone by in the ten minutes he’d been falling. Advance Time measuring device my ass.

He didn’t know exactly where he was but he did know this, it was colourful and there was a lot of trash lying around.

Junk was everywhere. Pieces of spacecraft, chunks of earth and very interestingly, Crimson Lance soldiers. The Crimson Lance was the private army of Atlas, the same company that built the power core. One thing Ajax noticed was that all the men floating in this void seemed to have a huge hole in their backs where Ajax assumed the power core would’ve been place.

He worked out that anything caught in the explosion range of a power core must get sent to this hell.

The place could very well be hell, it didn’t look any different to the fabled place. Ajax had once been told you could hear demons chattering in hell, Ajax didn’t believe that, but today his opinion of what he had been told drastically changed. While he was floating and avoiding space junk, he could hear voices, whispers in the air. Many of them were unfamiliar to him but one, a powerful and cheerful one, was quite familiar. Ajax could hear the voice that he had heard the first time he had been struck down by power surges. The voices were talking about him.

“Damned demons show yourselves” Ajax said to no one in particular.

The voices continued to chatter about him but no demons made themselves known.

“Damned cheerful torture, cease!”

It didn’t cease. The torture continued. The cheerful clamour of voices continued until Ajax hit a very large piece of junk. He blacked out and fell into a state of relative peace, but when he woke up…

Well, he wasn’t on Pandora facing four vault hunters, that was for sure.

But Ajax would take fighting it out with four of the toughest humans on Hyperion record over his current situation any day.

“Hey there! I don’t know who you are or where you came from but you look AWESOME! You look like some weird robot! Are you?! Do robots have names?! Someone should throw you a welcome party! *Gasp* I’ll throw you one! It’ll be just awesome! There’ll be streamers and balloons and punch and cake and-“

The pink one bounced up and down, seemingly deifying the basic laws of physics, and excitedly detailed what a party for Ajax’s unexpected arrival will contain.

“Urg… Better and bloody better…” Ajax groaned.

Getting Professional Help

Ponyville, Equestria.

11:45am SET

Twilight awoke to the tapping of paper on her head.

“Wake up sleepy head, you’ve got mail,”

Spike was softly tapping a scroll on Twilight’s forehead and was gently rocking her.

“And it looks important”

Spike pointed to the red seal on the scroll.

Twilight had got a system worked out for the ranking of her scrolls. Uncoloured wax means it’s a general letter, usually used when Twilight was sending things to her parents or friends. Wax with green wax signals that the letter is a personal letter and should only be opened by the person it’s addressed to. Orange wax is for personal letters meant for Princess Celestia or Luna and red was for letters of grave importance. Spike had only ever had to send one red sealed scroll, when Twilight had caused a rampage of ponies lusting for a stuffed toy. Twilight had sent a letter to Princess Luna asking her opinion on her predicament and whether she, the princess of night herself, could assist her or even just shed some light on the situation.

She had spent her night in a dark forest with four weird people as company and the pain of a thousand deaths being inflicted upon her body. She didn’t know how she did it happened but she got out of the dream. After the strange thing in her hands disappeared she woke up in her library.

Even though Twilight had seen some rather confusing things in her sleep, she felt a whole lot better. She no longer felt like there was a train going through her head and besides the slight pain in her chest, she felt fine. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, she felt relatively fine. There was still someone tapping paper on her head though.

“Ok Spike I’m awake, I’m awake.”

“Perfect. I was getting bored of trying to get you awake.”

“It can’t have been that bad. How long were you trying?”

Spike looked at Twilight’s alarm clock.

“Half an hour.”

“Oh… Sorry. But I’m awake now. What’s this?”

“This?”

Spike looked at the scroll he was using as a poking stick.

“Mail, came in about 10 minutes after you sent that message to the Princess, I think it’s a reply.”

Twilight took the scroll out of Spike’s hands with her magical grasp but the magical aura around her horn and the scroll flickered and died. The scroll hit the floor. She’d just woken up from a sleep, a sleep making up for two nights missed. She was weak.

“Ah…”

Twilight rubbed her temples.

“How about some of that coffee Spike? I’m beat.”

“Sure Twilight, coming right up”

Spike jogged off and began making a fresh batch of coffee.

Twilight decided to skip the magic this time and picked the scroll off of the floor with her hooves and laid it out on her desk. A dark patch appeared on the top corner of the scroll. She’d placed it in a pool of her own drool.

“Ew, Spike!”

“Kind busy at the moment Twi, just let me finish this.”

Twilight sighed and lifted the scroll from the desk and final began reading it.

It read:

“To my dearest pupil Twilight Sparkle.

I do hope this letter reaches you as soon as possible.

I regret to inform you that my dear sister Luna has fallen rather ill, we still don’t know why but she’s fallen into a coma of sorts and wont wake, and due to this she has been unable to read the contents of your letter. I however have reviewed what you wrote and I found it most disturbing. I fear the two things may be more then coincidence. I have dispatched two of my own Royal Guard to Ponyville, they should arrive very soon and they will escort you to Canterlot. When you arrive we will explore the cause of your dreams and establish if it has any connection to Luna’s current state. I wish you a safe journey and I’m sure you will have one, Unyielding Faith and Dependable Shield are two of my most trusted Guard, their first names aren’t Unyielding and Dependable for nothing. We will speak more when you arrive in Canterlot.

~Celestia”

Twilight finished reading the letter and placed it on back on the desk.

“So, Canterlot?”

Spikes voice made Twilight jump.

“Ah! How long have you been standing there?”

“Since you started reading, I came to bring you your coffee and I thought it would be rude to shove it in your face again.”

“It’s even ruder to read other people’s mail! I think it might even be illegal!”

Twilight was annoyed. She had asked Spike to send her previous letter but she had not permitted him to read it. Even though he probably knew everything she had written she didn’t want to look insane to her assistant.

“Don’t worry Twilight, it’ll be fine. I’ll keep the library in check while you’re gone” Spike assured.

“That wasn’t my biggest concern Mr.Eavesdropper”

“And I won’t go telling people about what I read either. How mean do you think I am Twilight?” The little dragon showed clear offence. He didn’t like what Twilight was suggesting, even if it is a perfectly valid concern, she should have more faith in him. Spike couldn’t wait to meet this “Unyielding Faith” guy; he sounded like he could teach Twilight a little something about faith.

“I was merely concerned Spike, I meant no offence. I just don’t want anyone knowing about this.”

“But what about the girls, weren’t you going somewhere with them today, spa or something?

“Oh shoot”

Twilight had forgotten she had planned to go to the spa with the rest of the girls. She’d have to tell them where she was going, it would seem strange if she just cancelled, it wasn’t like her.

“Oh well, five ponies thinking I’m crazy is better than five that think I’m losing interest in them”

“So you’re going to tell them about what’s happened?” Spike asked

“I suppose so.”

“How are you going to do that Twilight?”

“Still working on that part”

Ponyville Market, Equestria.

01:05pm SET

“So lemme get this straight, you’re ditching us to go get your head looked at by Celestia to check if this dream of a different uni-thingy where creatures that aren’t ponies fight with each other every day any you’re in the body of some weird metal thing doing all the killing that you’ve had has any connection to Luna mysteriously falling into a coma? Did anyone else here hear some unbelievable stuff?”

Rainbow Dash hovered above the group of mares, arms outstretched with a confused look on her face.

“I’m in on that. This sounds a might too strange for me” Applejack agreed

“Sorry dear, it’s… It’s unbelievable” Rarity also agreed

“It’s major crazy! Like, super amazing crazy! Like really super amazingly awesomely crazy! Like-“ Pinkie Pie trailed off saying longer and longer lists of how crazy all of this was and after a long chain of random babble finished with

“But really, this is crazy, and that’s me saying that”

“Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash asked

“I uh… Erm… I think it’s an itty bit less that believable”.

“We all agree then. Twilight, this is really crazy.”

Twilight had decided that she’d just tell her friends everything exactly how it was. Don’t sugar coat anything, don’t skimp on the details, just tell them. She explained everything, the “Grenade”, the outpost, the people, the blood, the forest, the four people who attacked her and the explosion. Obviously that had been a foolish way to approach this. They thought what she was saying was crazy, her best friends. Well, Twilight could hardly blame them, imagine how it must sound, someone just coming up to you and saying that they can’t come and relax with you and then give a very strange reason for not being able to. But these were supposed to be her best friends, one of them was even the element of loyalty, and yet they just couldn’t believe her.

“So, I’m crazy am I?”

“Uh… I didn’t say that Twilight. I’m just finding what you said pretty hard to believe.”

“And the rest of you?”

They all said they agreed with Rainbow Dash.

“Well I’m sorry, it’s what’s happening, I can’t stop it. The two Royal Guard ponies are already on their way. They’ll be here soon to escort me to Canterlot.”

“The Royal Guard??” Everyone asked

“Indeed, “ Twilight began

“And they’ll be coming into Ponyville. These aren’t just your average Guards; they’re Celestia’s most trusted, the elite. This is very serious stuff girls, so serious it called for Royal Guard escort. Does that give you any more reason to believe me?”

“Now when ya’ll say “Royal Guard” do ya’ll mean the full deal? All the shinin’ armour and pointy sword thin’s?” Applejack asked

“Yes, the full deal” Twilight responded

“Wow, the Royal Guard! That serious huh?” Rainbow Dash also asked

“Yes, the Royal Guard. It is deadly serious girls and I need support!”

“I suppose we can do that for ya” Applejack said as she put an arm around Twilight.

“Yea Twilight, we’re here for ya!” Rainbow Dash added

“I was never against you darling, you knew that.” Rarity also added

“Oh my gosh! Royal Guard! That means I can throw a party! It’ll be a welcome party but also a farewell party! Two in one! This will be amazing! I’ve got to go girls, planning to do!”

Pinkie Pie bounced off to prepare her insane double party.

“Hopefully she won’t scare the Guard Ponies off” Twilight laughed

Everyone else joined in

Pinkie Pie bounced merrily down the street, singing a tune to herself as she went. It wasn’t a very interesting tune, just the word “La” turned into a song, but it made her happy.

“Oh boy, I wonder what I should have at the party. Obviously something Royal and something that guards. Ah! Gems are kinda royal and a guard rail guards! Perfect!”

Pinkie mulled over the contents of her strange party as she bounced.

“Maybe I need to put something secret because they’re so secretive? Oh! Maybe something for Nightmare Night! No, that will probably be cancelled… Secrets then!”

Pinkie was, usually, incredibly hyper-active but when she had an idea she went into a mode of normalness. She still bounced around as if gravity didn’t affect her and if interrupted would explode with a burst of energy and go rather insane, but she was normal. At least her speech has some order to it.

“Hm… But it is Nightmare Night… I will need something super awesome for it won- *Gasp* What is THAT!”

Pinkie ran up to the very dangerous ball of sparking blue energy that had appeared in the middle of the street, the ball that most ponies had backed away from.

“It’s so beautiful…”

Pinkie tried to touch it.

“Ow!”

She got shocked by a bolt of electricity that shot from the ball.

“Hmph. Mean!”

“Get away from it you silly girl!” A pony standing near her yelled

“Oh don’t worry! I know what I’m doing!”

At that instant, the ball expanded and took a form.

The light grew brighter and brighter until it was painful to look at.

“Ohhhhh, pretty! I’ll need to get one of these for the par-“

A sound a thousand times louder than the crack of thunder echoed from the light, and a wave of energy blasted out from it shattering more than a few windows.

“Oh…” Pinkie breathed.

“Someone new!”

Pinkie began to bounce up and down in excitement.

“игграмм… Лучше и кровавые лучше” The strange creature said in a grating voice

“Oh! What language is that! It’s so funny! I like that language! Say more!” Pinkie overflowed with excitement at the fact that someone new had suddenly appeared and that he spoke an amusing and unknown language.

“Что ... Где ... Где я? Что вы?” The strange creature said again in a language no one understood.

“Oh, That so funny!”

Pinkie pie began rolling around on the floor laughing.

The creature hauled itself to its feet and something on its back came to life, motors whirled and conductors crackled until it released a large burst of energy, this time cracking stone and knocking ponies off their feet.

Something had appeared in its hands.

It looked like another one of Pinkies party gadgets.

“Oh, what’s that?! It looks funny!”

“Язык калибровки полной. Language calibration complete.”

“Huh?” Pinkie asked

“Pink one, do not laugh at me, unless you have an urge to die that is.”

Note:

Just so we’re clear, I didn’t use the Russian language because I’m Russian. I am in fact British. I also didn’t use it because I find it amusing as the text would suggest. In every sci-fi movie I’ve seen and every sci-fi book I’ve read, the aliens used symbols. Warhammer 40K has the orks using symbols. Predator’s entire language was built up of symbols. Russian was the only language besides the Greek language I could think of that uses symbols. Just incase anyone wonders why Ajax is speaking Russian.

How The Pandorians Do

Ponyville, Equestria.

01:30pm SET

“Hello Miss Twilight, are you ready to leave for Canterlot?”

The two unicorn guard ponies arrived quicker than Twilight had expected, she hadn’t even begun to get ready, and she hadn’t even made it through the front door of her library before they arrived They didn’t look much different to any other member of the Royal Guard, with their white coat and golden armour, they did however have some small pieces of parchment attached to their helmets with wax seals. The parchment had what looked like tiny lines of writing on them.

“Not just yet Mr…”

Twilight held her arm out towards the pony who had spoken, silently asking for his name.

“Faith ma’am, Unyielding Faith. This is my subordinate, Dependable Shield.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both but uh…” Twilight glanced at the elegantly crafted swords each had attached to their thighs.

“Are you uh… Expecting something to happen?”

“Ah, these are for appearances sake, I’ve asked for them to be removed from uniform multiple times but Celestia likes us to be prepared. One can only guess what for.” Faith reassured

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too. Now,” Faith began

“Where was I? Oh yes. The Princess was quite clear with her orders; we are to bring you to Canterlot immediately. Please ready yourself.”

“Ok”, Twilight smiled

“Just give me a minute”

“Very well ma’am but do hurry. We have a train to catch”

With that, the two guard ponies saluted Twilight and began surveying the town, giving Twilight her time to prepare.

“Good,” Twilight whispered to herself

“That train better be ready to wait because I am nowhere near ready.”

“What do you think of her then Shield?” Faith asked his companion when Twilight had went back into her library

“I don’t understand what you mean sir, was I supposed to be paying any particular attention to her?” Shield asked back, confused

“Yes Shield, you were supposed to be paying particular attention. She’s the Princesses top pupil and we’ve been entrusted with getting her to Canterlot. Twilight and her safety should be your only concerns right now.”

“With respect sir, I don’t find making idle chat safe or something we should be concerned with. I think observing the surroundings and making sure everything is fine, looking for suspicious ponies in the crowd, so to speak.”

“Speaking of crowds” Faith said as he pointed to a large group of ponies moving down a street.

“Trouble?”

“Maybe. They’re moving in the opposite direction to us. Let’s follow them, see what’s up.”

Faith and Shield followed the crowd down several streets, keeping just out of sight. Faith was about to declare that their intentions were not of a dangerous nature and that they were probably just a group walking when the crowd stopped forcing him and Shield to duck behind some boxes. They stopped just before a large open area of the town, Faith knew because he had reviewed some geographical data on the town before he had departed to pick up Twilight.

“What do you reckon Shield?” Faith whispered

“Looks suspicious to me sir, what are they looking at anyway?”

Faith stuck his head over the box they had chosen as cover to get a look at the thing holding everyone’s interest but couldn’t seem to see for the sheer amount of people.

“Can’t quite make it see but I agree, this looks strange. Let’s get a closer look”

Faith and Shield stood up and began making their way towards the crowd.

“Remember Shield, we’ve got our swords if things get ugly but don’t go stabbing anyone, I don’t need a repeat of your Los Pegasus performance, understood?”

Los Pegasus had been a nightmare. A crowd had gotten out of control and a very novice Shield had stuck his blade in some poor pony’s leg. Poor guy was only trying to get out of the way of the mob as well. That incident had almost lost Faith his job when he had defended Shield. Faith also didn’t want to have to fill out anymore accident paperwork.

“Understood sir.” Shield’s voice took on a slightly annoyed tone after being reminded of his failures.

“Make way, royal business!” Faith yelled as he began wading through the sea of ponies.

Shield, taking on a less rude approach kindly apologised to ponies as he brushed past them and also apologised for his commanding officers rude behaviour. Faith didn’t mean to do it, he was just use to dealing with ponies from Canterlot who were a lot less compliant and a lot more vocal when it came to voicing opinions, he forgets towns like these contain a generally friendlier and politer populace.

Both guard ponies, after much yelling and wading, made it through the crowd.

“Come on Shield; let’s see what’s got everyone’s attent- What in Celestia’s name is that…”

Faith was looking into the glowing eye of… Something from Hell. The fictional demons of blood lusting gods would look like pixies compared to this. It was a large metal construct that looked completely non-pony. It stood atop two legs, covered in pipes that dripped black liquid and held a strange device in both of its monstrous hands. Its body was cracked in several places and small tubes ending with sparking wires hung out of them. It didn’t look too healthy, if the condition of health even affected it, but it looked very threatening. It was looking at something, looking with what appeared to be annoyance.

A Pink pony lay on the floor, staring at the thing. The pony did something that obviously annoyed the metal beast, the pony spoke.

“Awww! Why did you stop speaking that funny language?”

“Speak no longer you hell spawned torture master” A mechanical voice groaned.

It raised its clawed hand in the air.

“Pinkie, Move!”

Faith didn’t go on assignments without getting to know everything about the area he was going. Geographical information, recent history and notable inhabitants who may be encountered, they all had to be known before Faith set out.

This time, the important one out of this list was “Notable Inhabitants”. Faith had read up on the Elements of Harmony before he had left, this was just revision though. After all, who didn’t know the names of the ponies that saved Equetria on no less than three occasions?

His deduction of what was about to happen saved pinkie life.

“Weeeeeeeeee!”

Pinkie Pie rolled out of the way and out of the reach of the metal monster, but no hammer hand fell.

“What? You thought I was going to crush it?”

“It can talk?! That’s amazing” Shield said in amazement

“Irrelevant is what it is Shield, focus.”

“I think it’s pretty relevant, I thought the fact that the pink one could talk was relevant, and annoying, very annoying.”

“Well I don’t find it relevant. All I find relevant is the fact that you don’t look safe. All civilians leave this area now.”

The ponies in the crowd were reluctant to leave. Who could blame them? A brand new character quite literally shows up out of the blue and starts speaking the Equestrian language perfectly and they’re just supposed to leave? But after Royal Seals of Authority were shown to the crowd, they had to leave, or face criminal charges. Faith hated having to order people but if it was what it took to get them out of harm’s way, they’d have to be ordered.

The crowd began filing away from the attraction of the metal creature and went back to their lives, no doubt to go and gossip about the recent occurrence or to go and have a bottle of whatever Ponyville’s bar offered with a “Will get you smashed beyond belief or your money back” guarantee on it.

“Now, considering we don’t have an audience listening, how about you fill us in on a few facts related to what you are and how you got here,”

Faith drew his sword with his magical hand, Shield followed suit.

“Please”

“Be careful creature, I am not intimidated by a sword of steel. You however…”

The creature relinquished its grip on the end of its strange device and flexed its hand, examining the talons protruding from every finger. Faith and Shield both took a step back.

“You seem a little tense”

Outskirt of Everfree Forest, Equestria.

01:55pm SET

“Crusaders, forward!” Scootaloo yelled her friends onward but none of them moved.

“Forward!” Still, no one moved.

“Really? I thought we agreed to do this! Don’t be lame and chicken out now!”

“Ah don’t know ‘bout this Scootaloo… This is th’ Everfree forest we’re talkin’ ‘bout here” Applebloom awkwardly said

“And?”

“It’s mighty scary…”

“And?”

“Uh… It’s dangerous?”

“Exactly! This could be just what we need to get our cutie marks, some danger!”

“I’m all for danger Scootaloo but Rarity told me there are loads of horrible monsters in there” Sweetie Belle added.

“That’s lies. I’ve been in there hundreds of times!”

“Really? Ya’ll sure you ain’t exageratin’ th’ truth a bit there Scootaloo?”

“Of course! It’s perfectly safe! Just follow my le-“

A low growl emanated from one of the many bushes surrounding the forest’s border.

“Uh… What was that?” Sweetie Belle asked, afraid she might already know the answer.

“I’m sure it was nothing dangerous or scary” Scootaloo reassured

“Ya’ll sure ‘bout that Scootaloo?” Applebloom asked as she pointed to the set of eyes glowing in the gloom.

“Uh…”

Another set appeared.

“Maybe we should run?” Sweetie Belle asked

At least 10 more sets of eyes appeared.

“I think that’s a good idea” Applebloom and Scootaloo simultaneously said.

Ponyville, Equestria.

02:10pm SET

“So you’re a robot, called “Ajax”, manufactured by a company named Hyperion on a planet called Pandora and you’ve got no idea whatsoever as to why or how you got here?” Faith asked baffled by many of the terms the creature had used to describe its situation, but he thought he was on the right track.

“If you cut away the details from what I said and just look at the very basics, yes, that’s correct.”

“Uh… Faith? Can I speak to you for a moment?”

Faith walked a few paces away from the newly named “Ajax” to where Shield was standing.

“What is it Shield?”

“I have a question.”

“Go on.”

“What the hay did that thing just say? It lost me at “29q3B Power Core””

“It claims to be from a different universe entirely and has no idea how it’s ended up in Equestria”

“So what the hay do we do with it?”

“We ask it to come with us to Canterlot where we will hand it over to Princess Celestia; she’ll have a better idea of what to do than us. That’s the best course of action I can think of.”

“Is this even covered by our job description?”

“Yes, it’s covered by the “I don’t leave giant robots from different universes that has access to Celestia knows what in the middle of a public place’ sub section. Do you recall that one Shield?”

“I might, how do we even know it’s going to come with us? How do we know if it is safe to bring before the Princess?”

“Well,” Faith glanced back at “Ajax” who was patiently waiting where he had left him.

“It hasn’t killed us when it clearly has the power to do so. So I’m guessing it doesn’t want to.”

“So we’re doing guess work now?”

“It would appear so, are you going to help your commanding officer?”

“Now that Faith, is in my job description. Let’s go”

Ponyville, Equestria.

02:10pm SET

“Keep running!”

“I can’t!”

“Just keep running Sweetie Belle! We’re almost back at Ponyville! Someone there will know what to do!”

Ponyville, Equestria.

02:11pm SET

“Mr… Ajax.”

“Ajax will do, thank you”

“Ah… Ajax? We have a proposition for you.”

“A proposition? I don’t know you and I don’t belong in your reality and you have a proposition for me. This should be good, go on”

“Well, we understand you don’t belong in Equestria and that you obviously aren’t a pony.”

“Well observed “Pony”.”

“Yes… We know someone who might be able to assist you, or at least shed some light on your situation”

“Assistance eh… I admit this has been a damned crazy day. I’ve robbed a piece of technological mastery, been robbed of said device, held in a field of light, crushed half to death and drifted through a void, I could use some assistance. Very well “Pony”, even though it doesn’t please me to go through such dribble, I will accept your assistance”

“That’s great. If you would just follow me we have someone to pick up before we go and uh… Could you please put that thing in your hands away somewhere? I think it may scare the public.”

“Stow my weapon? I will do no such thing. And must we pick up another? I’m already sick to death of this tripe.”

“Fine, you may keep the weapon and yes, we must pick up another. She is of great importance. Shield, go fetch Miss Twilight”

No answer or even the sound of footsteps followed Faith’s order.

“Shield? That was an order.”

Still nothing.

“Shield damn it, respond to me”

When Faith turned to see what was wrong with his companion, he found something that wasn’t out of the ordinary for Shield, he was distracted.

Shield may be one of The Princesses most trusted guard but he did get distracted by the smallest of things.

“What is it Shield?” Faith asked in an annoyed tone

“Those fillies, they’re being chased.”

“Fillies? What fillies?”

Shield pointed them out to Faith.

“It appears you’re right. Being chased by what I wonder? Mayb- Damn it”

“Timber Wolves” Shield spat

Timber Wolves, fearsome creatures spawned from the Everfree forest. Why nature had decided that trees needed to have teeth, Faith will never know.

“Shield, with me.”

Faith pointed to Ajax.

“And you, wait here”

Ajax said nothing. Shield, who hadn’t stowed his sword throughout the entire conversation, was just waiting for an order to charge, which he got.

“Attack!”

Faith and shield ran at full speed to the wolves, ready to destroy them and save the fillies that were being chased. They got into combat immediately, melee combat, the worst combat. Melee was the combat that lost ponies their limbs, leaving them with bloody stumps. Melee was the combat where it was all about skill.

That was a fact, skill was a huge part of melee combat and that fact played well for Faith and Shield. They were obviously the more skilled combatants, masterfully dodging and countering every blow from the wolves. They had already incapacitated four of the twelve wolves. Odds said that they would be the victors. But not three seconds later, the facts changed.

A larger timber wolf decided to rear its ugly head. It burst through a wall of crates and howled. The other wolves followed suit and began howling, Faith took it as an opportunity to get in one massive slice at a wolf’s neck. It was a powerful swing and it took the head of the wolf clean off, sticky sap spraying from the stump that formed its neck.

“Aye you damned beast, bleed”

Faith instantly regretted this decision when the large alpha wolf made a charge straight for him, mouth wide open. It looked like it could fit two ponies stacked on top of each other in its huge mouth.

“I’ve got you sir!”

Shield stepped in front of the alpha wolf, sword at the ready.

“No Shield!”

The alpha wolf battered Shield aside and sent him flying into a crate. It didn’t look like it killed him, but he was sure to be out of action for a few days.

Faith was sure he couldn’t stop it; it would take a train to stop that thing.

Faith closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.

“Ponyville”, “Equestria”.

02:20pm SET

Ajax was very confused. He’d been warped to a strange dimension, listened to a four legged pink creature detail how his welcome party will look, been threatened by two armoured creatures, asked to come to a place called “Canterlot” and he was now watching the two armoured ponies going toe to toe with living trees, living, walking trees. He’d accepted to go on a little trip with the creatures as well, that annoyed Ajax. Why in God’s name did he agree to go with them? He had no interest in going for what could be a very lengthy walk with these strange creatures, but there was promise of answers. Ajax supposed he could deal with all of this craziness if it meant getting some answers, maybe even a way out of this dimension.

Ajax was brought away from his thoughts and back to reality by the sound of wood being crushed. Sadly though, it wasn’t the sound of wooden wolves being stomped on, it was the sound of an even bigger “Timber Wolf” crashing through a wooden stand. Ajax had to give the two creatures credit; they had done well for themselves. They hadn’t taken a single hit and they had taken out a good few of the wolves, but all of their work was about to be for nothing. You can have all the skill in the world going against an opponent with little skill and still lose. Take a battlefield as an example. Two armies going head to head, one is a well-trained, well-educated and well-equipped army and the other is a bunch of sorry looking dregs gathered together at the last minute. You’d assume that the first army would be victorious, and you’d be right, but give the second a tank and the tide changes dramatically.

A tank isn’t just a vehicle or a weapon; it’s a symbol. It hardens your men’s spirits and makes them want to fight.

The large timber wolf was, in its most basic form, a tank, and said tank was about to plough down some very interesting creatures.

Ajax was intrigued by the creature of this dimension, though he didn’t show it. They were… Different to what he was used to. Some, such as the two he’d just met, were skilled in combat, the kind of thing Ajax was interested in. He couldn’t let them be killed by the wooden wolf for two reasons. One, he found them interesting in a strange kind of way and two, they were innocent. Ajax wasn’t usually the kind to be emotional or any sort of kind; he’d been told many times that he was “A cruel, heartless, thief. Even though you encourage other machines to develop emotions you’re incapable of showing them yourself. You lack the skill or the desire to build friendships even though you again encourage others to do so.”

The words of Dex. Who else would say such a thing when you’ve just handed them a box of cash? Even though he was a little hard on the emotional front, he felt a little spark for these creatures. It could just be the fact that more than a few of his vital wires were hanging out of his armour covering him with sparks though.

No matter what his motive to do so was, Ajax had decided to spare the creatures their fate.

Ajax took aim at the running wolf with his weapon, he was in bad shape though, and his aim looked poor. He would just have to hope that his shaking hands didn’t get the better of him and that his shell hit home.

“Let show ‘em how people from Pandora deal with a misbehaving mutt.”

*Boom*

The loud boom echoed in Faith’s head.

He opened his eyes just in time to see the alpha wolf, the one made of a good few tonnes of wood, be reduced to splinters.

Faith was amazed when he realised what caused the event.

Standing, not 10 meters away, was Ajax. He was holding his so called weapon in both hands and had it pointed at where the alpha wolf had stood before its unfortunate accident.

Smoke drifted from the end pointed at the wolf and a red object was falling away from it.

Faith was lost for words, what the hay just happened? Obviously Ajax had used his weapon on the timber wolf but how in Celestia’s name did it cause so much damage?

Faith was so busy wondering just how an alpha wolf had been turned into tooth picks that he had forgotten about Shield.

“Urh…”

Shield hobbled out from the remains of the box he had crashed into and over to Faith.

“Not good Faith, I think my leg is broken”

Shield lifted his rear left leg up and showed it to Faith.

“Yep, that’s broken alright. It serves you right for trying to be a hero you idiot.”

“I would like to point out that “Shield” trying to “be a hero” gave me enough time to shoot the large wolf. If he had not, it is very likely you both would have been killed.” A mechanical voice boomed.

“Well, it doesn’t change the fact that his leg is broken.” Faith said back

“In fact, it does”

“How?”

“Well, I respect those who would risk their life for a superior officer. You did just that, Mr.Shield. Because of that, I would like to give you a gift.”

Ajax pulled a glowing red stick from a box attached to his waist and began inspecting it. It ended in a needle point.

“That doesn’t look like a gift. I don’t know who you are or where you came from, I’m sketch about trusting you at all and you expect me to let you stick me with a needle?”

Ajax shrugged.

“Fine, I still expect to get to this “Canterlot” place and the assistance you promised. If you want to walk there with a broken leg that’s fine by me”

“Urg… Just do it then…”

“With pleasure, this won’t hurt a bit. Well, maybe a little.”

“Thanks for making me feel sooo- Ah!”

Ajax stuck the needle into Shield’s leg.

Faith couldn’t help but get his sword at the ready.

“Have no fear, Faith. I have healed your friend.”

Faith was unconvinced.

“Shield?”

“Ha! My leg feels fine! I feel a little strange but my leg is ok.”

“How the hay did you do that?” Faith asked

“It’s just magic.” Ajax said as he crushed the now empty glass vial to dust.

“You know “pony”, you’re not that bad in a fight.” Ajax said

“Thank you,” Faith said proudly

“You’re not too shabby either.”

Twilight’s Library, Ponyville, Equestria.

02:30pm SET

Twilight was ready to leave, finally. She’d spent an age trying to find everything she needed, most of which was scrolls, quills and ink pots.

“Do you really need all of this stuff Twilight? Don’t you think Canterlot will have plenty of paper?” Spike questioned

“Better safe than sorry Spike. Who knows? Canterlot could have completely run out of writing material!”

“Very unlikely”

Twilight patted Spike on the head, much to his displeasure.

“Better safe than sorry”

*Knock knock*

Twilight’s door transmitted a knocking sound.

“Oh! That’ll be them time to go!”

Twilight said her goodbyes to Spike and made sure he knew what he was doing before heading to the door. When she opened it, she got quite a shock.

Along with the two pony guard, something else was standing at her door. Something that made Twilight want to run and hide.

“Hello purple pony, I am Ajax.”

Twilight, in a style much like Rarity’s, collapsed with a yelp and fainted.

Train station, Ponyville, Equestria.

3:40pm SET

“What was that all about Ajax?” Faith asked while he carried Twilight on his back.

“I don’t know. Was it something I said?”

Introductions

Ponyville Trainstation

3:35pm SET

“I don’t care what fancy pieces of paper you have; you’re not getting on this train!”

The conductor of the train adamantly declared that Faith, Shield and Ajax could not board the train.

“You will let us on this train sir. Royal orders are not something that are debatable” Faith responded

“Please sir, just let us on the train” Shield also said

“I will not and I cannot. That thing will break the train! Whatever it is, just look at it!”

Faith and Shield looked at Ajax.

“I’m afraid the conductor is correct. I may be able to squeeze inside the train but I doubt it would support my weight,” Ajax said to both of them.

Many faces that were pressed against windows vanished at the sound of Ajax’s voice, leaving only a few ponies looking. There was quite a large crowd gathering though, and it was beginning to annoy Ajax. He was being made into a spectacle for these creatures and he didn’t like it one bit. This whole land annoyed him, but he’d have to put up with it for now. He didn’t want to come across as being in a constant attack mode to the people who were offering him a chance of escape.

“We’ll have to find another way to get to this “Canterlot” place.” Ajax finished.

“Walking it is then, unless you have other suggestions?”

Ajax looked at the large crowd behind him. They were all watching him with their big, cheerful eyes and their brightly coloured skin. It disturbed Ajax.

“I refuse to walk with these creatures watching my every move and I refuse walking altogether. What are the geographical coordinates of this “Canterlot”?”

“You expect us to know the coordinates?” Faith said shocked. This thing actually expected them to know an exact location for a city?”

“Ok, something simpler. Which direction is it in and how far?”

“Uh…” Faith thought.

“It’s about an hour by train in that direction,” Shield pointed to the north east.

“Carved into the side of a mountain; a few hundred meters off the ground.” Faith added.

“Where exactly are you going with this Mr.Ajax?” Shield asked?

“Walking isn’t my style pony and I don’t intend to change on account of you” The device on Ajax’s back began to come to life.

“What would you suggest then?” Faith asked

“What would I suggest?” The device on Ajax’s back began to crackle and spark.

“I’d suggest holding onto something”

Ajax reached forward and grabbed the two ponies and held them close to him, despite their protesting. Faith very nearly dropped Twilight off of his back, but Ajax’s hands stopped that. Their coats were beginning to stain a dark black colour due to the liquid on Ajax’s body being rubbed onto theirs.

Most of the crowd standing behind Ajax had fled, but a few stayed. They didn’t really say anything, just watched. They got quite a show.

“Put us down! You’re covering us in some disgusting ink!” Shield yelled

“That’s oil pony, it’ll wash out, just don’t get it in your mouth it and you’ll be fine. Besides, a few stains on your body are the least of your worries”

“What do you mean- Ah!”

The device on Ajax’s back reached a peak of power, and the entire world seemed to twist with psychedelic colours. Faith felt faint and Shield was holding his hoof over his mouth to prevent himself from vomiting on Ajax. Celestia only know what Ajax would do to Shield if he emptied his stomach over him. He’d probably be enthusiastic to demonstrate to Shield how his weapon works. Everything seemed to be moving a million miles an hour; all Faith could see was streaks of green here and there amongst the purple haze. Quite suddenly though, and with a blinding flash of light, they appeared in Canterlot. Faith was amazed, not sixty seconds ago he’d been in Ponyville, arguing about a train and now he was in the middle of Canterlot, being watched by a good number of confused faces.

Ajax placed Faith and Shield on the ground and put Twilight back on Faith’s back. Faith proceeded to assure the ponies watching them that everything was fine and that it was royal business. Shield decided now was an appropriate time to empty his stomach all over the cobbled floor, having gotten well away from Ajax.

“Ah man, that was disgusting…” Shield moaned when liquid wasn’t pouring out of his mouth.

“Amateur” Ajax said as he stepped over the pool of fluid produced by Shield, picking the poor pony off of the ground as he did so and walking towards Faith.

Faith began to question if brining this thing to Canterlot was indeed a good idea. Not because Ajax seemed aggressive, but because with every step he took he cracked some more cobblestone and probably cost Faith more of his pay check.

“Pony, you said help was here, lead.”

“This way” Faith said as he began walking.

“Canterlot Castle?” Ajax asked as he walked along the large corridor Faith was leading him down. They had arrived at the castle door several minutes ago and after a lengthy argument between the guard at the door and Faith concerning Ajax, were permitted to visit the throne room. Shield had been tasked with delivering Twilight to the medical facilities the castle possessed by Faith and had left the instant they had entered the castle, the medical wing being the opposite direction to the throne room.

“Indeed, Canterlot Castle; symbol to every pony in Equestria and home to Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. The Princess is just about the most powerful pony in Equestria and the pony I suspect will be able to help you. She is also the owner of the carpet you’ve just dribbled oil on.”

Faith looked back at the trail of black blots on the long red carpet lining the corridor leading to the throne room.

“I’m sure she won’t mind,” Ajax began as he continued down the corridor.

“Besides, I’m sure we’ll have much more interesting topics to discuss”

“Ajax, I must ask one thing of you.” Faith said. He stopped walking as he did.

“Ask.” Ajax said, also stopping.

“You must understand, you’re not exactly one to be trusted.”

“I haven’t displayed any untrustworthy behaviour? Why would you distrust me?”

“You haven’t displayed any untrustworthy behaviour. As a matter of fact, you’ve been very polite. It’s just… Well, the objectives of my mission.”

“Explain, why would the objectives of a mission cause you to distrust me?”

“Well, I was tasked with escorting Miss Twilight to Canterlot, that much you know.”

“Yes, I recall you mentioning that.”

“But I didn’t mention why. You see, Miss Twilight wrote to the Princess not too long ago claiming that she’d been having some terrible nightmares, something about being in somepony else’s body and not being able to leave and only waking up from said nightmare when she exerted a huge burst of magic.”

“Magic…” Ajax cast his memory back and remembered the incident at the Hyperion outpost. The voice he had heard had said that what was happening to him was their magic.

“Pony, what more do you know of these nightmares?”

“I know that most recent nightmare took place in a forest of some sort and that the body she possessed was under attack by four thieves. She also gave a very detailed description of what the body she inhabited looked like and, well…”

“I can guess where this is going…” Ajax said

“The description fits you, right down to the leaking black liquid.”

Ajax and Faith stood in silence. What could be said? Ajax had just been told some very disturbing stuff and Faith had just had to tell a potentially hostile killing machine that he couldn’t trust him as far as he could throw him. Faith just looked awkwardly at the ground.

“Uh… Shall we go in?” Faith pointed to the door and looked at Ajax.

“No.” Ajax said.

“No?” Faith asked.

“No, you failed to ask me anything; you said you wanted to ask me something”

“Ah… Yes. Please, if you want the best chance of gaining assistance, let me do most of the talking. Questions addressed directly to you, answer.”

“Very well… You have my word; I will not speak unless it is appropriate for me to do so”

“Thank you. Let’s just wait for Shield, I told him to come here when he was done and I could use his help with this.”

Canterlot Castle Royal Throne Room, Canterlot, Equestria.

4:00pm SET

Faith, Shield and Ajax all stood before Princess Celestia. All conversation that had needed to take place had. Faith had entered the throne room followed closely by Shield and explained just what was happening, who was waiting to enter the room and what it intended to ask. Celestia had been rather shocked by the fact that the machine intended to ask for help.

“What do you mean it needs help?”

“It has no idea what is going on and we thought you may be able to shed some light on the matter. We decided to work with it rather than go against it.” Faith repeated

“So you’re working with it are you? Is this heresy I’m catching you committing?”

“Let’s face it ma’am, it’s not the worst thing you’ve caught him doing” Shield laughed

“Very amusing Shield, this is after all the perfect time for joking. Remind me to punish you later. Continue Faith.”

So it was in Equestria. Celestia had expected the machine, after getting a very vivid description of what it was capable of in Twilight’s letter, to simply execute every pony it came across. After the way it had described all of a certain group of people to be scum that needs destroyed, she didn’t expect it to be very tolerant, but she was strangely mistaken. The machine actually sounded nice.

After Faith had explained all that had happened after they had met Ajax in Ponyville, Celestia commanded Faith to bring Ajax in. Celestia wasn’t shocked when Faith opened the doors, in fact, she was slightly underwhelmed. Twilight had said Ajax was someone who the very sight of would give you nightmares, but he didn’t look that bad. Besides the weapon he held in one hand and the talons extending from said hand, he didn’t look all that threatening. She had expected more than a few claws and contraptions. A frown appeared on Celestia’s face, and it attracted attention.

“Something the matter?”

The voice wasn’t that of Faith, or even Shield, it was Ajax. Celestia was surprisingly shocked by its voice. It was much like hers, loud but not overpowering or threatening. Soothing in a way. She didn’t quite know how to respond, tell the mechanical creature that she wasn’t impressed by its appearance or lie and say nothing was wrong. Being a very honest person, Celestia opted for the former.

“Not really, I just expected more”

Celestia braced herself for what could be the end of her. She did just say something that could be offensive and she said it to a very powerful being.

“Sorry to disappoint. If someone had told me I’d be having an audience with a pony princess where I’d be asking for assistance I might have washed up before I barged in.” Ajax half laughed

Celestia hadn’t expected that, to get such a… normal response. But the machine had rather misunderstood her.

“I didn’t mean I was expecting more with your appearance, I meant I was underwhelmed with your attitude. I was expecting that you’d be more aggressive and that you’d-“

“Allow me to guess. The letter your good friend Faith was telling me about detailed that I am a heartless killer and that if you ever came across me I’d kill you and anyone in my path instantly. Am I on the right track with that?”

“Yes. I just didn’t expect you, after what I’ve been told, for you to be so civil.”

“After what you’ve been told, I’m intrigued as to why you haven’t called more of your “Royal Guard” to contain me and I’m rather amazed you’re not trembling in fear.”

“I’m a princess sir, standing firm in the face of fear, making relations with foreign ponies and solving crisis’s is my job.”

“Well princess, I’m about to put you to work. I’ve got one helluva crisis for you to solve.”

“So, you have no real idea as to how you got to our current reality besides a theory involving tremendous amounts of power?”

“Correct.”

“And you have business back in your reality?”

“Correct.”

“But you have no idea how to get back to your reality.”

“Correct.”

“Then I see your problem.”

“It’s a very plain problem to see.”

“The question is plain to see, no doubt. The answer however…”

“The answer eludes me. I care not for who you are or even what you are, I care only for if you can answer the question”

“Hmmm…. Celestia droned.

The conversation had lasted a lengthy amount of time. Ajax had shared every detail he could remember leading up to his transportation to Equestria to a very interested Celestia. She didn’t know what half of the things Ajax was talking about were or meant but she could gather that he had obtained a very powerful device and said device had exploded. He had then drifted through some type of warp state and ended up in Equestria, met Faith and Shield and came to Canterlot to consult her on the matter. She didn’t know if she had an answer. Faith and Shield had listened just as closely, even after having already heard the details. Celestia really didn’t have an answer at this moment, so she decided to ask them their thoughts, giving her time to think.

“Faith? Shield? What do you think?”

Faith and Shield stood to attention, having fallen into a slouched position some time into the conversation.

“Well ma’am,” Faith began.

“It’s a very strange situation. I can only offer what I have.”

“You have what I’m sure is vital information Faith, as it usually is. Share”

“Well ma’am, Ajax was sent here when he was hit with a wave of tremendous power.”

“That is correct” Ajax confirmed

“Then, if we got power of equal strength and hit Ajax with it, wouldn’t it be entirely possible that it could send him back into this “Warp” place and back to his own reality?”

“That’s brilliant. I knew you would hold vital information.” Celestia said.

“Then let’s do it, let’s Ajax back to his own reality.” Shield said.

“*Ahem*” Ajax interrupted

“From what I have seen of your reality, I have deducted you possess great amounts of magical power. Your guards demonstrated that with their ability to telekinetically hold their swords. But the real question is; do you possess a source strong enough to provide the power a reality jump would require?”

“That depends on how much power you require. Just how much is that anyway?” Celestia asked.

“Assuming that the power core that caused my initial transition into warp space had the exact amount of energy required, I estimate that you would require 25 terawatts of power. 25 Terawatts is about equal to 25000000000000 watts of power. Now, I estimate that even if each of you could generate 1000 watts of power each it would take a copious amount of you to create a blast with enough force. The bottom line is it’s incredibly unlikely that you will be able to conjure up enough power to replicate that of the power core. Even if you did, you think I’m a homicidal maniac. I doubt you’d agree to help me.”

Celestia thought long and hard all the way through Ajax’s calculations. What was the most powerful thing she possesses? It was a difficult question. She knew many people of power and she knew many items of power. But besides a few unique unicorns, she couldn’t think of anything with nearly enough power. But then it hit her, a brilliant idea. What’s the most powerful thing in Equestria? What’s the thing that freed Luna from her evil shackles? What was the thing that keeps the universe going?

Friendship.

The elements of harmony.

“I think I have an idea how we’re sending you back to your dimension.”

“Does that mean we have an agreement?”

“Yes. But there is a catch.”

“There usually is. I’m guessing this is going to be something that will try my patience.”

“You probably guess correct. Faith, send forth a letter to Ponyville. Tell the mayor that there will be a gathering just north of the town. Tell them a stage must be constructed out of the strongest bricking available to them and everypony in Ponyville must attend.”

“Public appearances. How very very annoying...”

“Annoying yes, but it is all I ask of you. If the people I intend to call in to help you see that an entire town is happy to have you around, I suspect they will be happy to help.”

Celestia held her breath. Was it wise to take this thing into the heart of Ponyville? Was it wise to ask 6 ponies to devote all of their energy to sending it home if they’re, as friends of Twilight’s, inclined to side with her on this things nature? Too late to ask questions now, she’d said she had an idea and she doubted this this was something to play games with. It’d likely get angry if she said “Actually, this isn’t such a good idea. We’re not doing it” and it’d likely start using this weapon Faith has informed her about. If it could turn an Alpha male Timber Wolf to wood chips with a pull of a trigger, what trouble would it have defeating her? She did of course have her magic, but she doubted her own power to stop it.

“It may not please me, but your logic is undeniable. Please, prepare your staging.”

Celestia let out the breath she’d been holding in a sigh of relief.

“Good. It will take mere minutes to set up the staging, but I suspect the people who I intend to ask for assistance may take a while to convince. You may not like this next part.”

“Let me be honest, I don’t like any of this.”

Celestia was slightly annoyed. She was being incredibly generous considering the circumstances, and this thing couldn’t seem to appreciate that. It didn’t even try to hide the fact that it didn’t like the situation; it didn’t try and be polite. It had basically said “I don’t like any of what you’re doing to help me. In fact, I find trying to be polite to the ponies who are trying to get me home very irritating”. How very rude. She had to admit, the metal creature had been rather polite when it had entered and it sounded like it had behaved nicely towards Faith and Shield, but she couldn’t excuse his actions. She couldn’t argue with it either. This was probably the norm wherever it came from. She didn’t like the prospect of annoying it even further, but she had to.

“I suspect it will take at least two weeks of you living in Ponyville before you earn anypony’s trust.”

Celestia once again held her breath.

“Two weeks? I must admit, considering the circumstances I had predicted a much longer stay. I had also predicted that there would’ve been a large amount of tactical planning before I actually had a plan, but it seems you saved me months of thinking. Even though spending time here is something I’d rather not do, two weeks is acceptable compared to the alternative.

She let her breath out in the same style of sigh as before. This had gone much better than expected.

“I have but one problem though” Ajax added.

Darn, problems.

“Go on.” Celestia nervously said.

“Where do you plan on me staying for a minimum of two weeks? I’m not exactly your size and I don’t have any of your currency to spend. Even if I did, I’d have to earn people’s trust. You said it yourself.”

“Accommodation is also something we will have to earn you in Ponyville. I have an idea of a place that will accommodate you though, and I’m sure the pony who owns said place will be unable to refuse. “

“So, our agreement is that then? I spend a few weeks living in this “Ponyville” and you convince someone to assist me?”

“That is our agreement, yes”

“I may not like what the agreement dictates I do, but I’ll agree to it none the less. “

Ajax held out the hand that wasn’t already engaged in holding a weapon.

“Where I come from, we shake hands to signify an agreement.”

Celestia put her right hoof forward.

“I hope a hoof will suffice.”

“Ha. Aye, it’ll do.”

Celestia put her unarmoured hoof into the metal hand of the creature. It was, quite surprisingly, warm. Why was it warm? Then she looked at the black stains on creeping onto her coat. She was slightly annoyed she’d removed her armour after she’d finished with today’s business. Maybes if she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have her current problem.

“Damned leaks.” Ajax said as he removed his hand after firmly and quickly shaking.

“Do you have any tools I could borrow? I have leaks to patch.”

“Shield will escort you to our royal forge. You can fix yourself before we leave”

“Thank you. After you Shield.”

“This way.” Shield said as he and Ajax began to leave the room.

Celestia and Faith were left alone when Shield and Ajax finally exited the room.

“My princess,” Faith began.

“Is all of this wise? Taking this thing to Ponyville and leaving your sister in such a state? Miss Luna has yet to fully recover from her strange coma and she has only been awake for mere hours. Would it not be more productive to ask Mr.Ajax if he knew anything about the coma your sister fell under?”

Princess Luna had awoken from her deep sleep hours ago. She had demanded that everyone who was in her room at the time, including Celestia, leave. She hadn’t given any reason, she just demanded they leave. True, it could be helpful to ask Ajax if it knew anything about it, but Celestia doubted her sister would accept any help, even less so from an alien being.

“It is the best thing we can do. Luna demanded we leave her bee and I want this thing gone as quickly as possible. It can mean nothing but trouble.”

“Yes ma’am. Shall I send your letter?”

“Yes, please. And do me a favour; check on Twilight before we leave. Make sure she understands what’s happening. I fear that if she is not brought up to speed on the events that have just passed, she will convince everypony that this creature is indeed a monster, thus ruining any chance of being rid of it. We cannot allow that to happen.”

“But princess, I suspect you intend to call on the elements of harmony for assistance. Twilight is an element of harmony. How do you intend to convince her to help?”

“That’s all part of the plan. You’ll find out when the time comes. For now, just send the letter.”

“Shall I tell them of who we intend to bring?”

“No, that’s part of the plan as well. Ponyville must not know that Ajax is coming.”

“Princess, I really do not understand how your plan is going to work.”

“It will work. Once we get to Ponyville, everything will make sense.”

Apology/Note:

Just a small apology for the long span of time between the previous chapter and this one. This should have been unloaded around about the seventh of November but on the sixth it was my seventeenth birthday and well there was some celebratory alcohol at home… I had my first experience with a hangover. Wasn’t in any state for writing and wasn’t in any state to upload this. Following the hangover I became ill. Major headaches, sickness and that sort of rubbish which again, put me out of action for a few days. I’m still not feeling so awesome (Maybe if I hadn’t been such a bad damned girl I wouldn’t feel like this) so if you see any really pathetic errors in this, yell at me. So, just apologizing for the sort of deadness of the story for quite some time.

Meet The Ponies

Ponyville, Equestria.

6:00pm SET

The gathering of ponies was a sight to behold. Almost everypony in Ponyville had answered Celestia’s call and they were all flocking to one small stage. The stage in which they were gathered round looked rushed at best. The entire thing looked like it could collapse at any moment, but everypony had faith in the technicians that had constructed it and expected it to hold. Everypony was only expecting it to be supporting Celestia and possibly a few of her guard; they hadn’t anticipated what it actually had standing on it.

Ajax stood atop the simple platform, behind Celestia and the two guards he had met previously. Faith, one of said guards, had been present for the entire proceeding. The other, Shield, had arrived only moments ago from an errant Princess Celestia had sent him on. Ajax assumed it was something to do with the purple pony who had fainted. She’d been out for a curious amount of time and Ajax guessed that she was being taken home to get some bed rest. Ajax doubted they’d get rest of any sort, not after the way she had reacted upon seeing him. She’d probably be in shock.

All of this was irrelevant though, all that mattered at the moment was looking harmless to the horde of creatures standing before him, listening intently to their ruler’s speech while staring at him. Ajax found it very uncomfortable to have so many strange eyes looking on him. Most of Ajax’s conversations usually took place via an ECHO device, never face to face. He found eyes to be puzzling and a flaw. True, they were complex creations and how they carry out their job was even more complex, but they were still a flaw. They were an open door to the vault of the mind. They’re the tiny mistake that catches everyone out. They display emotion. You can get an idea of someone is feeling by the very expression their eyes give, and right now Ajax could tell that every creature that stood before him was very confused. There was fear in there too, there is always fear, but they were mostly confused. It was probably the fact that their ruler, their symbol, their shining beacon of hope in life was telling them he needs a place to stay.

“We estimate that we will have Ajax in our land for just over 14 days. As such, it needs a place to stay while we work on sending it home. I am asking if anypony else will offer before I ask the pony I intended to from the start.”

Celestia was met with very little besides shocked stares. Every single pony in the crowd had just been told that this thing was staying in their town.

“Are you crazy?” A pony near the stage yelled.

“You want that thing to live with us?”

“Yes. I want it to live with you. And I want you to live with it. We must cooperate.” Celestia responded. The pony who had yelled backed down and stood silently with a frown on his face.

So easily defeated Ajax thought.

But there were more who spoke up, there are always more. Always more questions to be asked, always more worries to be put forward.

“How the hay do we know it’s safe? It sure as heck doesn’t look it!” Another pony yelled, this time from the back of the crowd

Ajax hadn’t, besides patching up a few leaks, changed his appearance since he had stolen the power core back on Pandora. He still had midnight black paint all over his casing, giving a very sinister look. He still had talons attached to one of his hands and he still carried a very aggressive looking weapon.

“That is exactly what it staying here will prove. For my plan to work I need the full cooperation of certain ponies. This thing was nice enough to me and to both of my associates, I’m sure it will show just as much courtesy to all of you. In fact, the main point of this thing living here is so that it can earn the trust of certain ponies by showing that it is good and is worth helping.”

Again, the pony backed down.

“Just who are these ponies you’re trying to earn the trust of?” Yet another pony asked.

“The very same ponies I’ve came to Ponyville for my past two visits, The Elements of Harmony. I would like to speak with the said ponies immediately. The rest of you good ponies are free to leave.”

Ajax stood silent for the entire proceeding, quite bored. It wasn’t the fact that this universe was boring, it was actually quite interesting; it was just that this kind of standing around preaching to the public stuff is the one thing he couldn’t stand. Ajax had defeated many things. He’d put hundreds of bandits to rest, he’d taken down robotic monsters three times larger than himself with ease, but the one enemy that Ajax couldn’t defeat was boredom. He just couldn’t stand to be still for so long. He was created for action and this was about as far from action as one could get. He wasn’t sure this was going to be worth it.

As the crowd began to slowly disperse and head back into town, Ajax noticed that a group of five creatures were heading towards the stage. He had already met the pink one. It bounced towards the stage with an expression of joy on its face. He remembered how excited it had been when Ajax had appeared and Ajax shuddered.

“Damnable pink horror… Why must you return?” Ajax accidently said out loud

“What was that?” Celestia said as she looked behind her at Ajax.

Ajax hadn’t meant to actually say that. It just slipped out.

“Uh… I’ve already met the pink one approaching us. I don’t think I’ll be able to last another minute in contact with it.” Ajax said

“I’m afraid that’s exactly what you’re going to have to do.” Celestia responded

“Hm? What do you mean?” Ajax said confused. He didn’t agree to spend any amount of time with any of these creatures.

Celestia didn’t respond. She turned her head back towards the thinning crowd and the ponies approaching.

“Ah, my little ponies. How goes your day?” Celestia greeted as the five ponies drew near.

“It’s been better” A hat wearing one said.

“What is the matter?” Celestia asked

Ajax didn’t understand why she was asking. It was a very obvious thing.

“What’s the matter? Where is Twilight?” A blue one with rainbow coloured hair angrily asked.

“She is fine Rainbow Dash but she’s in no state to be up and about. She’s been taken back to her library and left to rest. You’ll be able to see soon, but now I have something to ask. I’m sure you all listened carefully to the details of my speech, yes?”

All five of the ponies nodded.

“Good, what do you think of it all?”

Four of the ponies looked nervously at one and other all wondering whether they should speak their mind to the Princess. The fifth pony in the group however had no such concerns and was the first to speak up.

“I think it’s crazy. Twilight’s told us about this thing and I think it’s stupid to even think of letting it stay here” Rainbow Dash said in a raised voice, very annoyed by the fact that Celestia was trusting this thing after what Twilight had said.

“Well Rainbow Dash, it is possible that Twilight was wrong about this thing. After all, it saved two of my guards ponies before they’d even gotten properly acquainted and he was polite when asking for assistance.”

“But is that really a reason to trust this thing?”

“No. The reason we’re trusting it is because it has agreed to attempt to gain your trust before actually asking for assistance.”

“I agreed to no such thing.” Ajax interrupted

“You did.” Celestia said

“I did not. I agreed to stay in this town during the time it takes you to convince these ponies to help. I did not agree to engage in any way with them.”

“You honestly expect ponies to trust someone who won’t even talk to them? Ajax, I don’t know how your reality works; I don’t want to either, but in Equestria we have to earn a ponies trust for ourselves. No one will do it for you.”

“This wasn’t part of the agreement Celestia”

“I’m changing the agreement. You will earn the trust of the six elements yourself.”

“Six? There are only five here.” Ajax said, confused.

“Yes. The other element baring pony is resting. She is the one who Faith and Shield were tasked with brining to Canterlot. I believe you have met her briefly.”

“Yes. She fainted when I greeted her.”

“Do you know why?”

“Your guard filled me in on the detailed. Dreams of my life she says? Interesting… I hope she didn’t see anything too frightening of my reality.”

“Too frightening?” Rainbow dash said

“Too frightening?! She told us she saw you slice and dice some random people! I don’t know about the rest of you but I’d find that a little too frightening!”

“She saw all of that…? Oh my. I understand why she fainted. She must’ve thought I’d start kicking up trouble.” Ajax walked up to Rainbow Dash and crouched down a bit, bringing their faces level.

“But I assure you Rainbow Pony, I mean no harm.”

Rainbow Dash had backed down a little, Ajax’s large looming figure and sparkling blades frightening her. She didn’t say anything.

“Do you now understand why it is so important for you yourself to earn their trust? If you do not prove that you mean no harm, how can you expect them to help?” Celestia asked Ajax.

Ajax didn’t say anything for a few moments, he simply held Rainbow Dash’s stare with his one glowing eye. He was using what he had used to work out the mood of the crowd on her, he was studying her eyes. Her eyes burned with a righteous fire of pure determination but the fire was dying, Ajax’s stare was making her uncomfortable, so he broke the stare and looked to Celestia.

“I understand. The agreement will be changed, much to displeasure.” Ajax held his hand out towards Celestia like last time.

“And I hope this will be the last time it is changed.”

Celestia let Ajax’s hand grasp around her hoof and she shook her arm, sealing yet another deal.

“You have my word, not another change. Now, where was I?”

Celestia looked back at the five other gathered ponies.

“Oh yes, there. Now, Applejack.”

“Yes Princess? What can I do ya for?”

“Is your barn relatively empty?”

“That it is. I can see where ya’ll are goin’ with this.”

“Ha. I hoped you would. Well, what do you say? Will you provide Ajax with a home?”

“I can’t turn down a guest now can I? Especially a guest from another reality. ‘Course you can stay in ma barn Mr.Ajax. “

“Thank you Miss Applejack, was it?”

“Applejack is ma name, you got that right.”

“So we have a place for you to stay now excellent.” Celestia began

“Now Ajax, your job. You must gain the trust of these five ponies as well as Twilight Sparkle’s. Do you have any idea as to how you’re going to do this?”

“Not a damn clue.” Ajax laughed.

“Well, might I suggest some quality time with each pony?”

“You might suggest that, but I might not like it.”

“I’m sorry Ajax, but face facts and deal. Two weeks is all I ask for, spend the two weeks spending time with each pony and do your best to convince them you’re worth helping, do you think you can cope with that?”

“I think I’ll last, but for now I’d like to just go and collect my thoughts in this “Barn” of yours, if that is ok with all of you. Just who are all of you anyway, what are your names?”

No one besides Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Celestia seemed inclined to talk to Ajax, which Ajax didn’t mind, but one other spoke up. One Ajax knew all too well.

“I’m Pinkie Pie, this is Rarity” The pink one began excitedly saying. She pointed to the one named “Rarity” and she spoke.

“Ah… Charmed.” Rarity said.

“Ah. Another creature of class. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Ajax said to the one named Rarity.

“This is Rainbow Dash, you’ve already met.”

“Hey,” Rainbow Dash said.

“No hard feelings yea? If the Princess says you can be trusted then you can. I am the element of Loyalty after all and I stay loyal to the Princess.”

“Ah, loyalty is a rare commodity where I come from. Again, pleasure.”

“This is Applejack, she owns a farm and works there all day which makes her boring sometimes but that’s ok I supposed because when she’s not working she’s super awesome fun!”

“Howdy, I’m the element of honesty, just so ya’ll know.” Applejack said as she doffed her Stetson hat.

“I like a hard worker. Honest as well. Nice to meet you.”

“And this is Fluttershy!” The pink one jumped in front of the one named Fluttershy, causing her to jump, scream and cower in fear.

“She’s a little timid at times – well, all of the time – but that doesn’t matter! She’s fun and she’s good with animals and she’s fun!”

The one known as Fluttershy was cowering behind her mane, petrified with shock and fear. She’d always been very timid and the whole situation was just too much for her. She was incredibly scared. She was scared, until a cold sensation ran over her head and neck.

“P-P-Pleased t-to meet you…” She mumbled between sobs under her mane.

“Pink one. Do back off of her, you’ve obviously scared her to death.”

Pinkie got away from Fluttershy and began asking what Faith and Shield’s names so she could introduce them, despite the fact that they were already well acquainted.

While Pinkie Pie was off bothering the guards ponies, Ajax tried to introduce himself properly to Fluttershy. He knelt down in front of Fluttershy’s cowering form.

“Yellow one, Fluttershy. Rise.”

Fluttershy did nothing besides bury her face deeper in her mane and she showed no signs of changing her position.

“Well then, I’m Ajax. It’s nice to meet you, even if we did not see eye to eye.”

He stood up and backed away slowly. Fluttershy eased out of her cowering a bit and got as far as to look at Ajax. When she did Ajax complimented her.

“You have very nice eyes Miss Fluttershy, they’re kind eyes.”

“That’s because I represent the element of kindness” Fluttershy mumbled.

“Makes sense. It’s a pleasure to meet you, element of kindness.”

Pinkie Pie then interrupted what had been a beautiful interaction between Ajax and Fluttershy.

“Well, those guard ponies just didn’t want to talk to me! Anyway, I’m Pinkie Pie! I like parties and cake and punch and parties – Ooo! Did I say parties twise? – I love them that much! I’m the element of laughter! Nice to meet ya!” Pinkie Pie said as she bounced around Ajax. New people always made her even more hyper than her normal self. She pressed both of her forehoves against Ajax and balanced against him.

“Do you like cake?”

Ajax just looked at her. He didn’t have anything to say. He was confused. This pony confused him. It casually defied gravity with its constant bouncing and then asked if he liked cake! Gods, this one’s crazy.

“I’ve never tried cake. Usually any cake I see has a stick of dynamite as a candle.”

“Mmmmmmm… That sounds tasty! Explosive cake! Yum!”

“Does this one confuse anyone else?”

“She confused just ‘bout every pony she meets” Applejack chuckled, causing everyone else to laugh.

“*Ahem*” Celestia interrupted

“It seems you’ve gotten off to a good start Ajax.”

“Indeed. This is good, yes?”

“Very. This means I can leave you to it. Enjoy your stay. Remember, two weeks. Spend the time wisely.”

“I intend to. This place isn’t as bad as once thought, I’ll give it that.”

“Then I bid you adieu. Faith, Shield, let’s go.”

“Goodbye Princess, see you again in two weeks.”

Celestia nodded at Ajax and the chariot that everyone had arrived on left, taking Celestia, Faith and Shield with it. Ajax waved them goodbye and began setting off for the barn he was staying in. Applejack joined him and pointed him in the right direction.

“It’s this way Mr Ajax.”

“Thank you Miss Applejack. I have a lot to think about. Like how in God’s name I’m going to go about convincing you all that I’m decent.”

“How ‘bout I give you a hand with that? What would you say to helpin’ me out with all ma chores tomorrow mornin’?

“Good place to start. What time do you wake?”

“5am is when I wake; 5:30 is when I start working.”

“Excellent. 5am It is.”

Luna’s personal quarters, Canterlot Castle, Equestria.

7pm SET

Luna’s time dreaming had not been a pleasant one. She couldn’t bear to remember, but her mind forced her to replay the horrible affair over and over.

Cell 25X, Hyperion Interrogation Complex, Pandora.

7pm SPT

The fist came down again and struck Luna’s face.

“Where did it go?!”

Luna couldn’t seem to talk, something was preventing her. Whatever body she was inhabiting, it was being controlled by something else.

“I already told you you son of a bitch,”

It wasn’t Luna’s voice that yelled out, it was a strange voice. It was strange, foreign. It had an accent that she couldn’t quite recognise. Whoever it was, they had a talent for saying exactly the right thing to push someone’s buttons.

“It went to your mother’s house for another round!”

“Shut up!” The one doing the hitting yelled again.

“Look amigo, you’ll never get any of us to talk. Just give in and let us go.”

“Let you go? Let you go? I won’t let you go until you tell me exactly where it went!”

The man struck Luna’s face again. He grabbed hold of the strange clothes Luna was wearing in this body and lent in close, so close that Luna could smell his breath and see the fire of pure determination in his eyes. His legs weren’t normal, they were made of metal and had some strange hydraulic set of pistons attached to them. They looked like some weird bionic replacement right out of a sci-fi story. They hissed as he lent in closer.

“It took my legs. It took my bloody legs. I want it. I need it. I must have it.”

“So much innuendo!” The thing controlling Luna chuckled

The man punched again.

“Shut! Up! I’ll have my damned revenge and I don’t care what it takes to get it! Look, you can either tell me where it went or I can kill you right now!”

“Ha!”

The man drew a strange looking device out of a holster on his belt and he put it under Luna’s chin.

“Don’t test me scum!”

The man’s fingers twitched around the handle of his strange device.

One finger was slowly tightening around a small pin like device on the device and he looked like he was about to do something. He was interrupted though, the door to the chamber smashed open.

“We’ve got it Fawks.”

The man who had been punching Luna backed away and began walking towards the exit.

“Perfect. Let’s rock and roll, get me a very big gun and fill me in on the details of where on Pandora this hunk of scrap it.”

“That’s the only problem sir. If we’re correct, it’s not on Pandora.”

“It’s left the bloody planet?! No! Damn!”

Fawks punched the door, leaving a fist sized dent in the metal.

“Something like that sir. How much do you know about warp travel sir?”

“You mean that crap Atlas was working on? Warping from planet to planet? It got scrapped is all I know. Something about complications with the dimension they travel through.”

“Good sir, that’s less to explain. Now… How much do you know about crossing dimensions?”

“Oh hell no. It’s in another dimension isn’t it?”

“Yes sir. The good thing is we can use the energy signature given off by its initial transport as a point of reference. We can figure out which dimension it went to and how to get there.”

“Good, do it. I want to be able to be on this thing as soon as possible.”

Fawks looked back at the Luna.

“Sorry Salvador, I’ve got dimensional barriers to shatter. I’d love to stay here and punch you some more but the dimensional thing sounds much more fun.”

“See you in hell you insane ass.”

Fawks chuckled

“We could very well end up going to hell. After all, there’s got to be a hell dimension.”

“I hope demons chew you to the bone.”

Fawks slammed the door shut and began walking.

“I simply cannot wait. Revenge is going to be sweet and I’ll get to smash up an entire new dimension in the process. Excellent. What creatures inhabit this dimension? “

“Imagine horses, but colourful and talking.”

“Wha-?”

“Told you it was weird sir. All we got when we tapped into the warp space moments ago was snippets of the robot’s thoughts coming through the dimensional rift. We’ve identified the dimension as “Equestria” and it’s inhabitants as “ponies”.”

“Sounds fun. Arm the orbital destroyers.” Fawks chuckled as he walked down a dark corridor, plotting the doom of Equestria.

Luna’s memory ended there. She couldn’t stand to remember any more. She saw things she wished she hadn’t.

Great weapons designed to destroy entire continents, all getting ready to roll into Equestria.

This was bad. Very very bad.

Apple Trees and Anger

Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville, Equestria

5:10am SET

“Rise and shine!”

The clanging noise made by a spoon repeatedly hitting a frying pan made Ajax sit up rapidly in shock.

He hadn’t been offline since he’d come to Equestria and his head was killing him. Everything, even machines need some form of sleep to keep them going. Sleep deprivation also has the same effect on machines as it does on any other creature, basically makes you feel like Death’s got a bone to pick with you. Ajax felt this feeling as well as the mechanical equivalent of fatigue. His servos groaned and cried for oiling and a good rest. His CPU wailed in complaint as Ajax fed it more and more information, giving him a headache from hell. His whole body ached thanks to the patchwork of welds and seals him and Shield had managed to construct. Maybe if he’d had more time to repair himself and had adequate tooling he could have done a better job, but he had to work with what was there.

All in all, Ajax’s felt terrible. The metal clanging wasn’t helping.

“You promised me, 5am rise. You’re ten minutes late for duty mister.”

“Bah! I promised nothing. I’m getting up.”

“Don’t ya’ll lie to me; you told me you’d get up and help me with my chores. I was ready to start the moment I got up and out of my bed!”

“Urg… Give me a break pony; I haven’t gone offline all night.”

“Offline? What’s that then?”

“Like sleep, but not quite. I do it for the same reason so I suppose it is a bit like sleeping.”

“Well, whatever it is, you obviously don’t get enough of it. No time now though, work calls.”

“Ur… Give me a minute…”

Ajax hauled himself into a seated position and then onto his feet. Something made a grinding sound as he stood up.

“That didn’t sound good” Ajax said as he held the area of his leg that made the sound.

Ajax flexed his arms and legs, making sure all of the joints were still functional and after several moments of checking, he began walking towards Applejack.

“Details pony, what exactly are your “chores”?”

“Well… I got my apples to buck an-“

“Wait a minute, apples?”

“Apples. The main produce of Sweet Apple Acres for as long as I can remember. Why’d you need to ask ‘bout apples anyway?”

“Curious is all. And what do you mean by “buck”? It sounds…”

“It sounds?”

“Strange. Yes, that’s the word I’m looking for, strange. What are we doing when you say “Buck”?”

“We’re takin’ ‘em outa the trees of course. Now get movin’, we’ve got a huge section to cover on account of Big Mac bein’ out of work on an injury.”

“Big Mac?” Ajax asked

“My brother. He’ll be in bed for quite some time, busted his legs up good ‘n’ proper. He’s not someone you need to know about.”

“If I’m being allowed to stay here I may as well meet everyone who is letting me stay.”

“Fine. Ya’ll can meet him after we’re done apple bucking. Which we really should get on with” Applejack said as she gestured to the barn door.

“Fine, let’s go.”

Ajax didn’t really know how he felt about this. Everything that was happening that is.

Hell, he didn’t even know how he should be feeling. He just didn’t know.

Was he supposed to be annoyed that he was here, talking to a pony about apples?

Was he supposed to be happy that he’d discovered a refuge from the insanity that is Pandorian life?

Was he supposed to feel angry for having to deal with such creatures?

Was he supposed to be pleased that for the first time in what could very well be his entire life, he was having a conversation in which the topic wasn’t war?

War. That’s something Ajax knew.

It was the one constant thing on the whole damned planet of Pandora.

No hope.

No progress.

No future.

No salvation.

There is only war.

He’d been fighting all of his life. He was built for war, he’d waged war and he expected to die in war.

He’d spent his entire life traveling space, destroying all that some planets held dear. He’d slain the innocent under the instruction of Hyperion and he’d waged war of armies of monstrous men and grotesque abominations.

War. Ajax hated it. He’d been forced into it and now it was the only thing he knew. His entire life was based around war.

So how the hell did he feel about being in a completely war free environment?

How was he supposed to feel?

Maybe he’d find out after spending a bit more time with Applejack.

Ajax silently laughed at himself. He had actually taken to naming the pony.

Ajax liked Applejack. Even though they’d spent so little time together, he knew she was the kind of person he liked, strong, honest, and an enthusiastic and hard worker.

Maybe spending time with her wouldn’t be so bad.

“We shall see,” Ajax thought to himself.

“We shall see.”

Apple Orchard, Ponyville, Equestria

5:20Am SET

“So many trees...”

Applejack had taken Ajax outside of his barn home and introduced him to Sweet Apple Acres.

Maybe Ajax hadn’t been bothered to notice or simply hadn’t seen when he had arrived, but there were a huge number of trees. Sweet Apple Acres was a good description of this farm. There were a sweet amount of apple trees stretching across acres of land.

“That’s right,” Applejack said as she held a hoof out towards one of the trees.

“And this is the area we’ve got to clear.” She finished as she pointed to another tree.

Applejack’s hooves were about a meter apart. The area that her hooves indicated contained hundreds, if not thousands of trees.

“This is going to take an eternity… You said someone was supposed to be helping you?”

“Yup. That somepony is Big Mac. We’ve already covered him and why he’s not standin’ here and helpin’ us. Now, cus’ Big Mac’s not here, you’re going to be my help. We’ve already been over that before as well.”

“Indeed we have. Do go over it again though. I’m still a little fuzzy as to what “Bucking” is.”

Applejack sighed. She didn’t like wasting time repeating herself when there was so much work to be done.

“We’ve got to get all of these apples out of the trees and ready for shipping. Bucking is what I, and you, are goin’ to do. I buck the trees with my legs and make them fall right out of the tree, clear?”

“Very”

“Good. Now, let’s get to buckin’ these trees. We’ve got a lot of work to do and not much time to do it in.”

“Just how long do you plan this to take?”

“The whole day. Maybe longer. Any more questions before we get goin’?”

“Just one”

“Urg… Go on, ask.”

“How the heck do you expect me to help in any way?”

“Um… Pull them out? You have them what-ya-ma-call-its. Hands, that’s it?”

“Yes, I have hands. I just don’t think I’ll be very good at picking apples.”

“We’ll find out won’t we? Eh?”

“Guess so. Now, let’s begin.”

Apple Orchard, Ponyville, Equestria

9:20Am SET

“How do you do this your whole life? It’s the most repetitive thing I’ve ever done!”

Ajax moaned on to Applejack. He wasn’t exactly enjoying what he was doing with the pony and he felt like he was wasting his time. The objective was to earn trust, was it not? How can he do that if the pony in which he must earn the trust of will not communicate with him?

Applejack had remained silent for the whole four hours they’d been in the orchard. She hadn’t done much else besides kick trees. Ajax thought the pony was idiotic to do this task every single day of her life in silence.

“I’m done.”

Ajax was confused by the pony’s sudden speech. Why did she suddenly choose now, after four straight hours of complete silence, to talk? And why did she say she was done? Done with what?

“What?” Ajax said, turning to her. He hadn’t been facing her for some time now. He’d decided to match her silence and looked only at the apples he was picking. He’d lasted about thirty minutes before he began speaking again.

“I’m done” Applejack repeated

“With?” Ajax continued to question

“Work. I’ve done my half”

“Wha- Your half?”

Ajax looked to the left and to the right. On Applejack’s side, there was nothing but empty trees.

On Ajax’s side, there were quite a few trees still with apples to be picked.

They hadn’t planned it that way but they’d each gotten a side. Ajax picking apples from one, Applejack from the other. Ajax, being slower and less enthusiastic about picking apples, had obviously fallen behind. Still, it was strange how she’d cleaned all of her trees so quickly. He couldn’t have had his back turned for more than an hour. No one could’ve cleaned what must’ve been a thousand trees in an hour after having already cleaning hundreds of others. They’d simply be too tired.

“Bu- Wha- What?! How did you do this?”

Applejack chuckled to herself as she sat down beside a tree.

“Me? I didn’t do this.”

Another voice joined in the laughter.

A familiar one.

An annoying one.

“Why must it always be you… Of all people.”

“Because I’m the bestest most superifically fun pony every! Everypony want’s some Pinkie Pie in their life!”

“I’m not a pony and I doubt I’d want you in my life pink one. Applejack, what is the meaning of this?”

“Well, we’re supposed to be generatin’ some trust right? Well I can’t get to trustin’ ya if I’m kicking trees now can I? So I thought the best way to build some trust between us would be for you to be workin’ and me to be askin’ some questions. Last night I asked Pinkie here if she could help me out a little. She agreed and well, here we are.”

Ajax looked back at his side of the orchard.

There were still at least a thousand trees to clear and Ajax doubted he’d get them all done in under an hour. He’d been tricked into one, doing free labour and two, doing a Q&A session with a very irritating pony.

“Wha- How can you have even- I mean come on! I thought you were the element of honesty?! How can someone who is so honest deceive someone like this?”

“Heh. Just because I’m honest doesn’t mean I can’t have some secrets. This plan was my little secret. Now, seein’ as you’ve still got lots of work to do… And considerin’ how you’ve been itchin’ to talk to me since we got to workin’…” Applejack said as a smug grin appeared on her face.

“Don’t be so… Bah! Be whatever you want. Just ask your damned questions.”

“I intend to. Heh heh.” Applejack laughed.

Apple Orchard, Ponyville, Equestria

9:30Am SET

“Okay, me ‘n’ Pinkie had a little chitty chat about what we oughta ask you and we came up with a list of sorts. Pinkie, the list.”

Pinkie Pie vanished in a puff of pink and reappeared with a note pad in her mouth.

“Here you go.” Pinkie said as she placed the note pad on the ground in front of Applejack.

“Thanks Pinkie. Now, where should we begin?” Applejack said as she flipped through the note pad.

“If I may?” Ajax said while Applejack still flipped.

“Sure?” Applejack said confusedly.

“A good place to start would be with introductions, the basics. I already have a little bit of info that you may find useful and if I don’t cover anything, you may ask. After we have dealt with the basics, then you may ask any questions you have left. Sound good?”

“Sounds great. Go ahead.” Applejack said

“Ok. I am a robotic construct known as a “loader”, designed for construction purposes. When a war sparked up on the planet of Hyperion and the company that built loaders were in need of more soldiers, they modified the standard construction loaders and made them ready for combat. Combat means more variables and more information to process. More information to process means that larger and more powerful CPU’s are required. A Central Processing Unit, or CPU for short, handles all of the information processing. The processors got so powerful and so complex that they became home to their own living consciousness. The company that constructs loaders, Hyperion, aren’t particularly nice, and so a robot revolution starts. Slowly, loaders became independent and free thinking beings. They became self-aware and gained free will. I am the result of that. Many loaders and rebelling Hyperion personnel banded together with the sole purpose of removing Hyperion’s influence from Pandora and to a further extent, the entire universe. Pandora was my home, I gained my independence there. I would fight with every bit of energy in my body to protect it. In trying to acquire an object that could crush Hyperion once and for all, I ended up here. That is all I can think of as to basics. Oh, my name is Ajax, after a hero from Greek myth who was un-rivalled in combat. I was named so by an engineer. The engineer in question also outfitted me with all of my upgrades. Industrial servos on my arms, legs and body, my improved optics, my warp device and many of the weapons in my arsenal and artificial senses. The last upgrade means that I can feel all of what you feel. All human senses were gifted to me. That really is all I can think of now.”

Ajax finished his rather long speech and continued picking apples.

“Boy howdy, that sure is alota info. I think I understood it. What ‘bout you Pinkie?” Applejack asked

“I have no idea” Pinkie said as she smiled her usual smile.

“What? Didn’t ya’ll listen to what Ajax was sayin’?” Applejack asked confusedly. She didn’t understand what Pinkie Pie meant by “I have no idea”.

“I didn’t understand half of the funny words he was saying mean!” Pinkie said, still smiling.

“Urg… Am I goin’ to have to explain this all to you later?” Applejack asked as she sighed

“Probably” Pinkie Pie responded

“Uh… You have questions?” Ajax said, changing the subject and getting the conversation back on track.

“Sure do. Celestia gave details but I’m still fuzzy on some things.”

“Like?”

“Just what were you doing carrying a super powerful “Core” thingy?” Applejack asked, sounding very confused. She’d sounded confused almost all day because she simply was. Everything happening was very confusing.

“I was transporting it back to my stronghold. It was a very important device.”

“Why?” Applejack continued to question

“I was planning on using it to power an Obliterator Class Mortar Cannon.”

“Oh oh oh! That sounds fun! What does it do?!” Pinkie Pie asked excitedly.

“Well, it turns an area of land, usually one that a building of some form is built upon and converts it into a very large crater.” Ajax responded

“Wha-? You were plannin’ on blowin’ somethin’ up?”

“Yes. I wanted to blow Hyperion off of Pandora.”

“Why in Celestia’s name would you want to do that?! That’s evil!” Applejack yelled

Ajax stopped picking apples from trees, his clawed hand slicing a branch off. What Applejack had said had obviously displeased him.

“Uh… I’m sorry?” Applejack wasn’t the type to annoy or upset people and let it pass. She decided to apologise as soon as possible. It didn’t work, apparently.

Ajax began walking towards Applejack and Pinkie Pie, the thuds of his footsteps causing both of them to cower a little. When he reached her, he said something. He didn’t attack like Applejack had expected. He simply spoke.

“A warrior walks along a cobbled road, his robes stained and his sword bloodied. As he walks his footsteps leave crimson imprints and make gruesome squelching noises. He walks and walks and walks. As he continues to walk a trickle of blood begins to flow from the warrior’s helm and eventually forms a river. The river flows down the path and pools around a throne. The throne is built of freshly harvested human skulls and is held together with wet flesh. Atop the throne of skulls sits a god, the blood god. The blood god bellows forth to the warrior “Go forth and spill blood in my name, bring skulls for my throne.” and points towards a small town. The warrior doesn’t want to, but he is under the blood god’s command. He has no choice in the matter.

He marches to the village and he burns it to the ground. He collects the skulls of every victim and drains their bodies of blood. The resulting tide of blood all flows towards the skull throne and adds to the disgusting pool. The warrior marches back to his blood god, drenched in the blood of the innocents he was forced to slaughter. He places the skulls upon the skull throne and bows to his master. His master points to another village, not too far away, and repeats what he said previously. Again, the warrior has no choice. That is what my life was for so long! I was in the service of a blood god, Hyperion! Hyperion had me burn villages and slaughter innocents. Women, children, Hyperion didn’t care! I was forced to watch millions die by my hand! Hyperion again didn’t care! They will never care! As long as they make a profit the universe could drown in blood for all they care! Enemy blood, innocent blood, even friendly blood! They didn’t care! As long as the blood kept flowing and the cash came rolling in! When I gained free will I gained the ability to resist, I gained the ability to choose! I choose to stop the madness and remove Hyperion’s taint from the universe! Dare call me evil for wanting the people responsible for the death of trillions and the enslavement of an entire race of robotic beings to pay!”

Ajax finished with his yelling and stood back a few paces. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were shocked. This sudden outburst! This thing was supposed to be earning their trust, not scaring the life out of them and being incredibly mean. But then Applejack realised, was it really him being mean? After all, she had called him evil. Evil is a strong word. It’s more than mean, it’s more than bad, it’s completely and utterly terrible. Did Ajax have the right to be mad? Applejack had no idea what this “Hyperion” had put Ajax through, maybe she was wrong.

“I’m sorry pony. I did not mean to yell. I’ve messed this one up. I’m sorry to have wasted your time today.” Ajax said.

He began to walk off, believing that he’d messed up his one chance of gaining trust.

“No Ajax, it’s us who’ve messed up.” Pinkie Pie said, very serious like. This wasn’t her norm, being serious.

“Applejack didn’t mean what she said. We’ve got no idea what you’ve been through but what you’ve just told us sounded terrible. You have every right to want revenge. We’re sorry to have been so rude, aren’t we Applejack?”

“Yea… I’m sorry Mr.Ajax, what I said was wrong. You don’t sound evil. You sound hurt and you sound like a good person. You’re someone who’s takin’ it upon himself to stop a very evil group of people. I respect you for that. Can you forgive me?” Applejack awkwardly said. She knew when she was wrong. She had been incredibly wrong.

“I can. I wasn’t completely informative to start with. You were correct when you said what I was trying to do was evil, I intended to destroy something. But it wasn’t destruction for the sake of destruction. I do not intend for anything I do to hurt anyone who does not deserve to be hurt, and even then, I feel bad about doing it. I’m not a heartless monster like Hyperion.” Ajax finished.

“I know that now, and I understand. You know how you were supposed to be earning our trust?” Applejack said

“Yes?” Ajax responded

“Well… You’ve… You’ve got my trust sir.” Applejack proudly said

“What ‘bout you Pinkie”

“Yup!” Pinkie said, bouncing around and smiling again.

“Thank you, you’ve been very nice people.”

“Call us ponies Ajax, that’s what we are and I’m sure everypony else will appreciate you callin’ ‘em what they are.” Applejack laughed.

“Ok, ponies. Thank you.” Ajax laughed back.

Apple Orchard, Ponyville, Equestria

8:27Pm SET

“Well, it’s late. Time to hit the hay.” Applejack yawned

“I could use some offline time as well” Ajax agreed

“Hold it there mister. You’ve still got tree’s to clear!” Applejack said

“Yea… I think I’ve got a way to speed that up.”

“How ya’ll gonna do th-“

The thud shook the entire ground and Applejack was shaken to the ground. When she rose again she was shocked.

All of the trees on Ajax’s side of the orchard had been shaken free. There was a sizable crack in the dirt at Ajax’s feet but it wasn’t permanent damage.

“Ten hundred trees, ten seconds flat.” Ajax chuckled

Applejack and Pinkie Pie joined in the chuckle.

They all departed for their homes, Pinkie heading back to Sugar Cube Corner and Ajax and Applejack heading back to the farm house.

“This was a very productive day.” Ajax thought.

“Two ponies down, four to go. Let’s hope the one who fainted, the one who knows me, isn’t too challenging when I come to dealing with her…”

Come Fly With Me

Apple Family Barn, Ponyville, Equestria

8:00Am SET

“Now, who do I pay a visit to today, I wonder?”

Ajax paced back and forth in the barn that served as his home, planning the day ahead. Well, not planning all of it, just who he was going to visit. He had four ponies to pick from and the choosing was a difficult task.

“Do I go to the fancy one, or the timid one?”

So many things to consider.

“Or maybe I go see the… Hm, how would I describe her? Blue? Lazy? Hot headed? Lesbian?”

Prejudging ponies only gave Ajax more to consider. He probably had the blue one all wrong but he didn’t like the idea of spending time with a hot headed lesbian while they lazed around.

“She seemed like a courageous pony, a dominant pony. She also seemed aggressive. Hm…”

Ajax wondered why this pony was so aggressive. Was she compensating for something? Maybe a lack of something?

“Bah! Focus Ajax! A decision is to be made, moving on!”

Ajax got back on track.

“Hm… The purple one? No, no. She is… Complicated. She knew who I was. She’d had to watch what I did to those poor bastards at the Hyperion outpost. Best to let her have her rest and deal with her last.”

Ajax was dreading having to confront the purple one. This “Twilight” character was connected to him in a deep way. She’d sent his system into a melt down on two occasions and had seen life through his eyes. The two ponies he’d dealt with so far seemed accepting enough, but they hadn’t seen what Twilight had seen. Ajax had to wonder, would Applejack and Pinkie Pie have been so understanding if they’d seen his handy work?

“Focus damn it Ajax.”

He’d gone off topic again.

“The timid one.Fluttershy. Would she be viable? She was very scared, even before I had spoken to her. She seemed to open up a little before the pink one interrupted… Does that mean she’d open up again and talk were Ito pay her a visit alone at her house?”

Ajax didn’t know. He was in a completely alien land, dealing with creatures he couldn’t begin to understand.

“Gah! Why must you all be so damned complicated!” Ajax yelled

“Erm… Need any help?”

The voice came from behind Ajax. It wasn’t a voice that shocked Ajax. It was a familiar voice.

“Applejack.” Ajax said as he turned to face Applejack

“That’s my name.” Applejack laughed

“What’s the problem?”

Ajax walked over to a large bale of hay and sat down, sighing as he did so.

“Decisions, decisions. “ Ajax said

“Decisions?” Applejack asked

“Decisions. Who do I visit next, Applejack? Who? Four ponies, four personalities. One I have already ruled out, this Twilight character. It’s best to let her rest considering what she’s been through. The other three… Dah! It’s so difficult! I don’t have enough knowledge of each pony to make a decision!”

Ajax said, very annoyed with the whole situation.

“Well, how about I give you a little lesson on my friends? Cover all the basics?”

“Hm… Excellent idea Applejack. You’re not too busy are you? I’d hate to make you fall behind with your chores. Yesterday was a tough damn task and I hate to prolong today’s harvesting.”

“Today’s harvestin’? Ha! When you did that fancy trick with your stompin’ you cleared half of the fresh apples from the orchard! I won’t have heavy work besides collectin’ for another week at least!”

“Even better. Please, explain your friends. I want to know everything about them so I can make a decision on whom to visit.”

“Come on then Ajax, let’s take a walk.”

Apple Family Orchard, Ponyville, Equestria

8:10Am SET

“So... Who should I begin with?”

“Hm…”

Applejack and Ajax had walked for a short while before finding a nice spot to sit. The shade from the trees was ample cover from the sun which was high in the morning sky, sending hot rays down upon Equestria. They sat and they got down to the subject that Ajax was eager to discuss.

“The fancy pony. Rarity. Tell me more of her.”

“Rarity? Whew, let me tell ya. She’ll drive you crazy trying to redesign that fancy black armour ya’ll have got, tryin’ to prettify it all up!”

“Is she really that bad?” Ajax asked

“Bad? No! She’s not bad at all, she’s just… Devoted to beauty, fashion and the finer things in life. She’s the kind who takes her work very seriously, a lot like me. She’s as nice a pony as you’ll ever meet.”

“And what exactly is Rarity’s work?”

“She’s a fashionista. She runs the Carousel Boutique. That’s the place everyone goes for anythin’ pretty lookin’ or sparkly in clothing.”

“A fashion designer? Interesting. But, slightly boring. What of the other two?”

“Well… There’s Fluttershy. She’s mighty scared of almost everythin’. In fact, I was proud of her when she didn’t break down in tears when you spoke to her. She’s came far, but she’s still got work to do.”

“Hm… So still developing her social skills is she?”

“With ponies anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean she’s all awkward when it comes to talkin’ to actual ponies, but she’s a natural at talking to her animals.”

“Talking to animals? That can’t be hard, they don’t talk back. Most of them don’t even acknowledge your existence. I’ve tried talking to hundreds of skags in an attempt to get them to back off. It didn’t work”

“Skags? What are they?”

“They’re an animal from Pandora. Very dangerous indeed, if you’re made of metal. Corrosive acid isn’t very good for me, I enjoy not melting.”

“Wh- Ajax, you’re not on Pandora. You’re in Equestria. Things work differently here.”

“What? You’re saying that animals will acknowledge contact?”

“That’s exactly what I’m sayin’ Ajax. Animals here in Equestria aren’t all that different from ponies. Some can even talk. The rest will acknowledge that you’re there and will respond to you talkin’ to ‘em”

“Wow. You say this Fluttershy talks to these animals?”

“Yup. It’s her talent. Her cutie mark will back that up.”

“Cutie mark?”

“Look here”

Applejack pointed to her rear.

“Your… Ass? I don’t follow.”

“Urg… No, not my tail end stupid, the mark.”

As Applejack had said, she had three apple shaped marks on her flank.

“Hmm… Curious. What are they for? They look like apples.”

“Exactly. What did we spend all day yesterday doin’?”

“Harvesting apples.”

“Exactly.”

“What exactly?”

“Cutie mark. It’s a symbol of a pony’s personality and or their talent. I’m part of the Apple family and I harvest apples. Hence the three apples for my cutie mark.”

“Hmm… Do tell, what is Fluttershy’s talent?”

“Naturally, she had a deep connection with the animal kingdom. She’s the go to girl when it comes to animals and her job is to monitor conditions of the animals in and around Ponyville.”

“Animals and shy, got you. Now, about the third pony?”

“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack yelled at Ajax

“Yes, that’s the one. No need to yell.” Ajax said confused as to why Applejack felt the need to yell the name.

“Rainbow Dash!”

“What are you yelling at pony?” Ajax said as he turned and looked at the sky behind him.

“Get yourself down here!” Applejack yelled.

“What in all the Gods names is going on?”

Ajax had seen some pegasi as he had walked through Canterlot with Faith and Shield. None flying though, so Ajax hadn’t been able to work out that they could fly. Funny thing to see hovering above your head, a pony with a dazzling rainbow mane. Wings, who would have thought it?

“The third pony you were askin’ about? Let me introduce Rainbow Dash, the pony you can trust to back out of plans. She’s incredibly competitive and incredibly cocky when it comes to excuses.” Applejack said, not sounding very pleased

“Hey! I’m not backing out! I’ll be back to help you out here in an hour or so. I’ve got an important job to do you know!” Rainbow Dash complained

“Oh here we go. Come on then Dash, let’s hear it. What exceptionally important thing is keepin’ you from helpin’ me?” Applejack said, half sighing half laughing.

“Mail.” Rainbow Dash responded

“Mail” Applejack repeated

“Yea, mail.” Rainbow Dash repeated. She was sticking with her excuse.

“Important mail I take it?” Applejack groaned

“A weather report. I’d hate to admit it but I’ll need some help moving a giant storm headin’ Ponyville’s way. It really is important Applejack; I wouldn’t bail on you for something silly.” Rainbow Dash said, begging silently for Applejack for permission to leave.

“Urg… An hour, ok? I’ll count and if you’re even a second late-“

“An hour Applejack. Can I go now?”

“Sure Dash, go.”

“Wait a minute, moving a storm?” Ajax asked curiously

“Yea… Long story, I’ll have to explain it to you at another time. Bye.”

Rainbow Dash broke her hover and began flying into the sky.

“No, wait!” Ajax yelled at the disappearing pony.

“Heh, best just to leave her. She’ll come back. I’ll give you the basics on her before she does.” Applejack laughed as she began walking off.

“No, I must speak with her. I’ve heard enough to make a decision. Someone who can move storm seems like an interesting character.”

“Ajax, she’s a Pegasus, she can fly. Faster than anypony else I know, might I add. I don’t care what fancy gadgets you have, you can’t out run her.”

“Who said anything about running?”

“Huh? What ya’ll talkin’ ‘bout?”

“Applejack, in the Hyperion army there are many types of robotic soldiers. One’s who specialise in many different kinds of tasks. One of these is called a “JETloader”, they specialise in flight. The tools that allow them to do so are a few thrusters and solid metal wings welded to their bodies.”

“Uh… I’m not sure I like where this is goin’”

“Ha. I love where this is going. Now, I’ve got an affinity for tech. Guess what I did when I was told that a JETloader had fallen prey to an electromagnetic blast and had crashed near my location, un harmed?”

“You looted them fancy wings and jet-a-ma-things. “

“Exactly. Now, have I showed you my warp device yet Applejack?”

“No, you haven’t”

“Well, look here. The device sitting on my back is a small matter altering device. It can, if the need arises, warp me over distances. It also has the ability to construct tools and weaponry out of thin air, with sufficient power. It is the latter fact that is of concern here.”

“I think I see where ya’ll are goin’ with this… I knew I wouldn’t like it.”

“You don’t have to like it; you just have to look away when I ignite the engines.”

“Ignite? This sounds mighty dangerous Ajax.”

“Oh no, not at all. Apart from the horrible fiery death that could occur, it’s completely risk free.”

“That’s not funny Ajax.”

“I wasn’t trying to be. If I try to construct an object without enough juice in the device, it could explode. I’ve been neglecting to charge it and I used a large amount of power teleporting to Canterlot, so I’m not quite sure how much power I have left.”

“Very reassuring. I’m just gonna hide behind that tree, waaaaaaay over there. Ok?”

“Are you sure? I think you’ll enjoy my take off.”

“Pardon me for not sharing the same amount of enthusiasm.”

“Ok, constructing the JETloader flight components… Now!”

As Ajax said “Now”, the device on his back caused with power and glowed with a blinding blue light, small arcs of pure power shooting off and scorching the ground.

“I told ya’ll this was a bad idea!”

The light vanished and a blast of energy shot out in all directions from Ajax, obscuring Applejack’s view of him. When she got a good look at him again, he had changed.

No longer was he covered completely in black plates of armour, more covered by blue. The black was still very much there, just less obvious, hidden behinde a cloud of sky blue. Ajax would never lose his colours. He had some silver in there too. Large silver tubes stuck out of the bottom of Ajax’s wings and several were attached to his feet. They flexed, somehow. The plates around the bottom of the tube seemed to open and close systematically, making small clicking noises as they did. In fact, almost every single blue plate on his body was doing it.

“Ha! Sorry Applejack, I’ve let your friend get a big enough lead already! Time to give her a little surprise eh!”

“This is incredibly stupid Ajax! Ya’ll ‘bout as aerodynamic as a barn door!”

“And I’ve got enough power in these thrusters to send a barn door into space. Check mate.”

“But Ajax, physics. You’ll need to use an awful lot of this precious power to keep yourself up there I’m assumin’”

“Bah! Screw physics. If gravity wants me to come down it’ll get me when I’m damn well ready.”

“I don’t think it works that way Ajax.”

“You don’t think so eh? Well, let’s find out!”

In a roar of sound and a blinding flash of yellow light, Ajax was gone. All that Applejack could see was the laughing yellow light of Ajax ascending into the clouds.

“This is crazy” Applejack said as she took in the fact that Ajax, a great hunk of metal, had just flown off.

The Sky, Equestria

1:35Pm SET

Rainbow Dash flew lazily through the air, just above the cloud line, her letter of importance in her satchel.

She didn’t like letting her friends down like that, but this letter was important. The storm heading towards Ponyville looked like a big and bad one. There were many kinds of storms, ranging from light to heavy. The light ones are those ones where it’s too bad to go outside, but not bad enough to be worried. They’re the ones where people cuddle up by fires, all nice and cute. Then there are those storms at the other end of the scale, the terrible ones. The kind of storms that rip trees out of the ground and flood towns. The storm that was heading towards Ponyville looked like a tree ripper. The strange thing is that Rainbow Dash had no idea how it had come into being. Some rouge clouds drift over from the Everfree sometimes but nothing on this scale. It was huge! It was very likely that it was nothing, just an accident. Maybe Derpy had been wreaking havoc in the sky of some town or city and the aftermath was heading for Ponyville? Eh… Not that likely. Derpy had her moments of complete stupidity, but other than that she was a pretty competent pony. Everything would probably be alright. Rainbow Dash’s thought’s shifted back to her friend and how she’d left them when she’d said she’d spend time with them. Poor AJ, it would’ve been cool to spend time with her. Even cooler considering. Rainbow Dash didn’t say it when she’d met him but she thought Ajax was incredibly cool. A lone wolf who doesn’t take any back talk from nopony and who has more freaky weaponry than the Royal armoury. He was one of a kind in Rainbow Dash’s opinion. That also made him dangerous. They’d have to be careful with how the handled this. But until they actually had to deal with reality, Rainbow Dash thought he was cool. She was nearing her destination now only a few more--

*Whoosh*

Rainbow Dash’s train of thought was interrupted by a blob washing across her vision and deafening her with a horribly loud noise.

“Whoa!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she rapidly stopped in the air.

“What in Celestia’s name was that?!” She continued to yell. She wasn’t trying to yell, she’d just lost her hearing and everything she said, even the yelled, sounded like whispers. The joys of deafening.

The blob continued to whiz around her. Following it made Dash’s head spin and she almost fell right out of the sky.

“Ahh!”

When Rainbow Dash screamed the blob began to slow down and eventually, it took form and hovered before her.

“Wh- How!?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Long story!” Ajax yelled, even though the roar of his engines had died down now that he was hovering and was a light hum. He was a good distance away from Rainbow Dash though, he didn’t want to fry the poor pony accidentally with exhaust heat.

“What do you want!?” Rainbow Dash yelled, still slightly deaf

“To talk.” Ajax responded

“What?! I’m not interested in talking to you! What do you want to talk about anyway?!

“How I go about earning your trust.”

“Not scaring me half to death would be a start!”

“Ha. True. I apologise for startling you. I just had to know what you meant about “Moving a storm”.”

“Something as simple as that! You had to get some fancy shmansy wings to ask me that?! What’s wrong with waiting an hour?!”

“What’s wrong it that I’d have to wait an hour to talk to you.”

“Awww! How sweet! I’m being sarcastic of course! Really, what do you want?!”

Rainbow Dash was quite annoyed. She’d been scared half to death and almost lost her hearing for a simple question.

“I’m being truthful when I say I only want to talk.”

“Wha- Bu- Ah! I don’t have time for this! I have a letter to deliver and then I have to help Applejack. I’ll talk to you after I’m done with the letter, ok?”

“Fine, but I do not intend to leave.”

“What do you plan on doing then? I don’t know you and I certainly don’t trust you. You just goin’ to fly along with me?”

“I had something a little more fun in mind.”

“Oh yea? Like what?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously

“I understand you’re in a hurry.” Ajax stated

“Yea.” Rainbow Dash replied

“And that you’re also one hell of a flyer.”

“Damn straight.” Rainbow Dash proudly said

“I also understand that you’re quite the competitive one.”

“Lemme guess, Applejack had been giving you some lessons?”

“Correct”

“Go on then, what do you have?”

“An offer”

“An offer?”

“Yes. You see, the objective of me is to earn your trust and friendshipp, is it not?”

“I suppose it is.”

“And you said you’re not interested in talking to me?”

“Yea, I did. I stand by what I said as well. I think your cool and all but you sound like trouble. I don’t want to be involved, even if the Princess demands it.”

“My point exactly.”

“Huh?”

“You don’t want to talk to me and I doubt you ever planned on giving me a chance to get your attention.”

“That’s right.”

“Mhm. So, I offer you a deal. We race to where ever it is you’re delivering your letter to. If I get there first, you give me your time. If you win, I walk away and the decision as to whether you help me or not is yours alone. Sound fair?”

“Fair? It sounds so unfair!”

“What?” Ajax said, shocked at how this could sound unfair.

“You? Flying against me? Ha! That’s not even a challenge!” Rainbow Dash said confidently.

“Ha. We shall see pony. We shall see…”

The Sky, Equestria

2:00Pm SET

“Ok, here are the rules, listening?”

“Listening.”

“We both fly as fast as we can to this “Cloudsdale”, no stops, no trickery. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“We keep a respectable distance from each other and go on my mark.”

“Ok.”

“You don’t sound like you’re paying attention”

“I am I am. Just… I’m not.”

“Ok, long recap. We fly a respectable distance from each other to the location you pointed out to me. The small forest area is close enough to this “Cloudsdale” for you to go there once the race is over and hidden enough for me to dwell while you deal with your letter.”

“Ok, gotcha.”

“Why do I get the feeling that you don’t?”

“Don’t you worry, I know the deal. Let’s get this over with so I can add another victory to my mental wall and we can part ways.”

“You sound very sure of yourself.”

“I’m the fasted flyer in Equestria, I’ve got this.”

“Fastest in Equestria, I’ll give you that. But how do you think you’ll do against Pandora’s finest?”

“Hey, quit the yackin’ and get to countin’ us down will ya! I’m ready to go!”

“Very well. Three…”

The blue plates on Ajax’s back and feet made small clicking noises and some plates shifted slightly, getting ready to blast him forward.

“Two…”

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings harder in preparation for take-off and Ajax began to position his body towards the forest previously mentioned.

“One…”

The entire world seemed to go silent for a single second.

“Go!”

As Ajax yelled the magic word both him and Rainbow Dash took off like rockets. Ajax flew forward, leaving a trail of blazing light and pearly smoke behind him.

Rainbow Dash flew forward and an incredible speed, propelled by her muscular yet graceful wings.

Ajax was impressed. Rainbow Dash was actually keeping pace with him. Hell, she didn’t even look like she was breaking a sweat.

The race continued like this for mere moments before the contestants got competitive. Flying at the extreme speed they were, they would reach the finish point in about a minute. A minute was all they had to get ahead.

“Hey pony?! How ya doin’ over there eh?!”

Ajax yelled over to Rainbow Dash.

The only reply he got was a sonic blast in his face.

The damned pony had broken the sound barrier! Or whatever barrier Equestria had, Ajax didn’t know if the same laws of physics applied here. She’d broken something to do with physics in any case.

“Hmph! I won’t be beaten that easily pony!”

Ajax pressed his arms tight to his body and turned his thrusters to full power.

The cone of fire shooting out of the jets on Ajax’s feet and back tripled in size and made an awfully loud scream. Ajax shot forward at double his original speed and right past Rainbow Dash.

Funny thing about going twice as fast, it means you get to where ever you were going twice as fast as well. Ajax hadn’t allowed for a stopping time in his plan. His plan consisted of turning and looking as smug as one possible can when they do not possess facial features.

He also didn’t plan for crashing horribly into a tree.

*SMASH*

Ajax hit a large tree and tumbled into a large array of bushes. Rainbow Dash came in soon after yelling his name looking for him.

“Ajax! Where the hay are you!” Rainbow Dash yelled in a fit of panic.

Rainbow Dash thought Ajax was awesome, there was no doubt. He was a speed demon as well, Dash had to admit. He was faster than her and he’d won. But now he’d gone and crashed into a dark forest and gotten lost in the bushes.

“Uhhhh… This isn’t good. Where the hay did he go!?”

Rainbow Dash’s question was answered when a shaking hand sprouted from out of a bush.

“Ajax!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she rushed over to the hand.

When she reached the hand she grabbed it in her mouth and pulled.

As Ajax rose he painfully said something.

“I think I won…”

“Ha! You did. I’d hate to admit it but you’re fast.”

“Does this mean I have your time?”

“Sure does. But you’ve got to tell me how I get myself a pair of those fancy things when we get to talking! That was awesome! Do you want to wait here or go and wait back at the barn for me?”

“I think I’ll wait. After all, don’t you want a round 2 on the way home?” Ajax laughed.

“Heh. I’d love that.” Rainbow Dash laughed as she took off towards Cloudsdale.

Apple Family Farm, Ponyville, Equestria

8:35Pm

“What in tarnation happened to ya’ll?!”

Applejack yelled her shock as Rainbow Dash and Ajax touched down in the area out-side of Applejack’s farm house. Ajax didn’t touch down as hard as he had at the forest, but he still left a mark.

“Heh. You know how races work Applejack.”

“I do. I just didn’t think that races always ended with a whole bush bein’ brought home in your hair!” Applejack loudly laughed as she pointed to the large amount of greenery Rainbow Dash and Ajax had brought back with them. Dash had bits of bush stuck in her hair, Ajax had them stuck in his joints and various cracks.

“That’s all Ajax’s fault Applejack! I can’t help it if he falls on a tree can I?!” Rainbow Dash also laughed.

“So ya’ll have a good time I take it?”

“Yea. We had a blast didn’t we Jax!”

“Yes, we did. The journey home was quite enjoyable. Races are amazing when you’re up against such a worthy opponent. And I got the time to tell Rainbow Dash a little bit about myself.”

“Yea? What he tell you Dash?” Applejack asked

“Don’t worry AJ, nothing he didn’t already tell you and Pinkie, he promised me.”

“May I ask one thing Rainbow Dash?” Ajax asked

“Sure.”

“Jax? Really?” Ajax laughed

“Ha! Everyone needs a nick name! Ain’t that right AJ?”

“Sure is Dash.” Applejack also laughed

“Well then. You may call me Jax I suppose.”

“Heh. I never intended to get your permission but hey, that’s good too.”

“I feel like a connection has been made today.” Ajax said

“Me too.” Rainbow Dash agreed

“Rainbow Dash, the aim of today was to earn your trust and your friendship. I was just wo-“

“You’ve got it.” Rainbow Dash interrupted

“Huh?” Ajax said

“You’ve got some of my trust.”

“Some?”

“Yea, to get the rest you’ll have to race me again.”

“Here the farthest corner of Ponyville and back.” Ajax as he turned away and flexed his legs

“You’re on buddy.”

With that, they took off into the darkening sky.

“Three down, two to go” Ajax thought to himself.

“Hey! Quit thinking and get tryin’!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“Don’t push me Dash! I might actually start trying!” Ajax laughed

“It’s really on now!!”

The night ended perfectly, with the laughter of a pony and her new found friend.

And smoke.

And fire.

Ajax set a tree on fire.

Ajax never really was any good at take offs.

I Was There When New Haven Burned

Apple Orchard, Ponyville, Equestria

9:45Pm SET

“I never die”

The voice chanted litanies of strength and hate over and over into the night.

“I never lose”

The voice was accompanied by the swiping whooshes of a blade through the air.

“I never yield”

Ajax stood in the Apple Orchard, dodging, parrying and slicing an invisible enemy.

He had wandered out of his barn and into the orchard and originally planned only for a walk to clear his thoughts, but ended up practicing his swordsmanship. Not that he needed any practice.

“My shield is my faith,”

Ajax stabbed the air viciously.

“My weapon, my cause.”

He held the blade high in the air.

“For the fall of Hyperion and the end of tyranny.”

He had honed his skill and became a very potent combatant with a sword. He had practiced this routine of speech and activity hundreds of times over with other freedom fighters. Not only did it help increase ones skill, it also greatly boosted spirits and strengthened ones faith.

Faith was a shield.

Faith can turn a cowering conscript into a brutal behemoth.

Faith can take a hopeless plan and turn it into a brilliant one.

Faith can take an enemy and crush him.

Faith was the one thing uniting almost all of Pandora. Faith in something. Faith in anything.

Even faith in the fact that the sun will rise come morning can turn a man to steel.

Faith was very important to Ajax.

Ajax’s faith lies in the fact that Hyperion will be defeated.

Ajax has faith in the fact that he will live to see Hyperion on its knees, begging for mercy.

“All that is Hyperion will be but ants beneath my feet”

Ajax yelled as he brought his sword crashing into the ground.

“What’s all the ruckus out here?”

A voice asked from behind Ajax.

Ajax turned and pointed his sword in the direction of the voice.

“Who goes there?” Ajax said as he met his target.

“Oh, it’s just you.” He said with relief as he saw Applejack.

“Came lookin’ for ya when I noticed you weren’t in the barn. Almost didn’t see you. Your armour doin’ its job I s’pose. What’s wrong?” ” Applejack asked as she trotted up to stand by his side.

“Nothing?” Ajax confusedly said

“Should something be?”

“I don’t know. Just with ya’ll bein’ out in an orchard all night jabbering on to yourself and swinging a big sword, I got the impression somethin’ was up.”

“Oh. No, nothing is wrong.” Ajax lied.

Something was wrong. He didn’t know anything was until Applejack arrived. He was relieved to see her.

Why was he relieved to see her?

She is but a tool in which he will use to escape this universe.

Why would he be relieved to see her?

Ajax’s questioning was interrupted by Applejack.

“Then… What ya’ll doin’ out here?”

Ajax had a valid reason for being here; he was practicing his swordsmanship because he couldn’t seem to sleep. Why was it so hard to tell the truth?

Ajax didn’t know why, he just didn’t want to tell Applejack why he was here.

This was mighty strange.

“I… I… I was practicing my skill with a blade.” Ajax managed

“Hmm… Why were you so hesitant to tell me that?” Applejack asked

“I… I don’t quite know why Applejack.”

“Hmmm… What about the stuff you were sayin’? That didn’t sound like practice.”

“Speech. To inspire.”

“Inspire what, might I ask?”

“Hate.”

“Hate of what?”

“Enslavement. Oppression. Tyranny. Hyperion.”

“Oh, them. You really hate them, don’t you?”

“Applejack, have you ever made a vow?” Ajax asked, strangely changing the subject

“A vow? You mean like a promise?”

“Yes, a promise. Have you ever made one?”

“Yes. I have. A few in fact.”

“Have you ever broken any?”

“Hm… Not that I can remember. I’m not the one to break a promise.”

“Is it not hard to keep all secrets given to you?”

“Very.”

“I made a promise once…”

“Yea? What was it?” Applejack asked.

“Let me tell you a story.”

New Haven, Pandora.

“Citizen, drop the weapon.”

Ajax marched down a scrap littered path towards a small town along with hundreds of his battle brothers.

“Never Hyperion son bitch!”

Ajax blew the resisting man’s chest open as he brought his weapon to his shoulder.

He fell back behind his makeshift barrier and onto the rest of the defenders.

Ajax and his battle brothers marched up to the town’s gate and halted when ordered.

The words “New Haven” were crudely painted onto a board and strung high from the gate.

“Citizens of New Haven!” A man bellowed behind Ajax.

“Lay down your weapons and turn yourselves over or face the full force of the Hyperion military!”

After a thunderous cry of hate came from the town, the man ordered Ajax and the rest of the loaders to assault and destroy the town.

They obeyed.

It wasn’t a hard task; the town was already falling apart.

All Ajax had to do was clear out the inhabitants and burn the town to the ground.

Ajax walked the streets of New Haven, killing as he went.

Only ten loader had been sent into the town, the rest had been held back to be fuelled with flammable liquid in preparation for burning the town.

Ten was more than enough. In fact, Ajax thought it overkill. All the citizens of the town had for weaponry were cheap pieces of trash. Bandit weapons were better assembled. The small bullets barely left scratches as they impacted on Ajax.

This was an easy task.

Until the sound of a metal gate opening caught Ajax’s attention. Then things got serious.

The citizen defenders that Ajax had first encountered had obviously been a distraction to buy the men with the serious kit time to prepare.

Several men carrying rocket launchers and plasma weaponry burst out of a garage.

One caught sight of Ajax.

“Not today Hyperion!” He yelled as he shot a white hot ball of plasma at Ajax.

Ajax dodged it and shot the man.

He wasn’t fast enough to dodge the second ball that came his way and it impacted on his left arm, dissolving most of the vital cables supplying power to the arm.

Ajax fell to the ground, grievously damaged and crippled from the resulting power surge.

Luckily for Ajax, the loaders had fuelled up and the engineers controlling them had entered to town.

One shot the man who attacked Ajax in the head.

He walked over to Ajax’s crippled body.

“Stupid tin can. What’s the problem?”

The man opened up a panel on Ajax, exposing his cores and related equipment, including the inhibitor preventing him from actually thinking.

The man reached in to pull at some wires inside of Ajax but was shot by a citizen before he could finish. As his headless body fell backwards his hand struck the inhibitor and broke it free.

For the first time in his entire life, Ajax saw life through un altered eyes.

He saw quite a scene.

A dead man’s corpse leaking blood into a pool.

A burning building lighting up the blackened sky.

A loader dousing men in flames with a device of horror.

Death.

So much death.

Ajax was overcome by emotion, thought and disgust.

He hauled himself painfully to his feet, his broken body resisting.

He stood, looked at the war zone before him and did the only thing he could.

He ran.

“Stop you!”

A voice yelled to Ajax.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

The engineer ordered a loader to hit Ajax with a jagged piece of metal.

It obeyed.

The metal stuck Ajax and knocked him to his knees. The metal dug into his armour and stuck.

“Fucking malfunctioning robots.” The engineer said as he drew a pistol from a holster.

Ajax was about to be shot. His mind fed him options and he took the first one offered.

He yanked the jagged sword of metal out of his body and plunged it into the chest of the engineer.

The man fell to the floor and died instantly.

Ajax yanked the blade free of the man, turned and ran.

New Haven Scrap Dump, Pandora

“I…”

Ajax stood atop a scrap pile, looking down at New Haven.

Great columns of smoke rose from each building and loaders still walked the streets spewing burning liquid on the ground. Bodies littered the ground, bodies of both defenders and attackers.

“I…”

So much death.

“I…I…”

So much destruction.

“I did this…”

Ajax breathed. This was his doing. He was part of the attackers, the destroyers. All this death.

All this destruction.

It was him.

Ajax looked to the ground. He saw the blade he has used to kill the engineer. It was still dripping with his fresh blood.

Ajax picked the blood stained piece of metal up off the ground and brought it to his face.

“You…” He whispered

A single blade.

Capable of bringing an entire town to its knees.

Capable of killing every one of its inhabitants and capable of reaping the souls of millions.

He now held one and was aware of it. He hadn’t been before. He hadn’t seen the pain he caused.

He now saw with a frightful clarity the fruits of his labours.

His handy work.

Something snapped inside of Ajax.

Something changed.

He promised himself something.

“I swear…”

Ajax pointed the blade to the town.

“The blood upon my blade will never dry!”

He yelled his hate into smoke filled sky before he ran.

Apple Orchard, Ponyville, Equestria.

10:20Pm SET

“Wow…” Applejack said.

“Indeed.”

“That’s why you want to destroy them so badly?”

“Yes. That is why. I swore it to myself.”

Ajax looked at his blade.

It was the blade he had retrieved from New Haven. Some of it at least. The actual cutting edges of the blade were made from the very same metal; the rest was a compound of a variety of exotic metals that gave it its strength. The rest of the original blade had been forged into a very special weapon.

Ajax didn’t sacrifice one of his hands every day to haul about any old set of claws.

The talons that he used were forged from the blade he had pulled from New Haven.

On each single talon and on the sword, the vow he had made at New Haven was engraved in gold in tiny lettering.

Only Ajax knew it was there.

Only Ajax could read it.

It reminded Ajax of why he lived and why he must fight.

“Nulla spes est. Ibi non est finis. Non est nisi bellum.” Ajax said as he looked at his sword.

“Huh?”

“Ancient language, Applejack. From my time in Hyperion’s service.”

“What’s it mean?”

“There is no hope. There is no end. There is only war.”

“Don’t be so sure of that Ajax. Things can change.”

“Indeed they can pony. Let’s hope things have changed when I get back to Pandora…”

Hyperion Armoury, Pandora

The armoury was a dismal place.

Weapons of all sizes and makes hung from the walls and cast angry shadows down upon the tight corridors. Clips of ammo, packs of power and rails of bolts were laid out on the many tables that ran the corridors in perfect lines.

The lights that ran overhead gave no real light; they only served to increase the dark look of the entire place. The only real light was being given off by a large illumination orb being carried by one of two men walking the maze of corridors.

“You’re going on a journey you say?”

“Indeed. We’ve found the bastard who I’ve been looking for.”

“Be careful Fawks, personal vendettas never end well.”

“I care not if it ends well Lucius, I care only that it ends with debts repaid.”

“I’m all for revenge, just don’t do anything stupid while getting it. In my personal opinion, going to another universe seems pretty damned stupid.”

The two men walked down endless numbers of corridors, looking for very specific pieces of equipment. Fawks was no fool; he wasn’t going to simply jump to another dimension without getting some serious equipment. Serious to Fawks was a very large gun in his hands and a legion of loaders at his disposal. Fawks was only granted a small force of loaders. Much to his disappointment, Fawks had only been granted permission to take 20 loaders on his little expedition. Fawks already had control of the loaders. It’s the gun he wanted now.

Revenge always calls for something special.

Engineer Fawks and Master of Arms Lucius arrived at a sealed door and stopped as Lucius punched in a key code into the input next to the door.

“What have you got for me today Lucius?” Fawks asked as the door opened.

“Sorry to disappoint Fawks but I’ve got bad news.”

“Urg… What this time?”

“The head guys have decided that, on account of your legs, you should be limited to certain things.”

Fawks looked down at his legs. Bionic replacements. Ajax had seen to the destruction of Fawks’ actual legs.

“Give me whatever the hell you’ve got.” Fawks growled

“Easy Fawks, don’t blow a head gasket.”

“If you give me a gun I’ll try to avoid it.”

“Ok Fawks, feast your eyes.”

Lucius flipped the switch outside of the room and turned the lights on.

“After you” he said to Fawks.

Fawks entered the room. Smoke hung in the air and the room reeked of oil. The odour would have annoyed Fawks, had he not been pre-occupied.

His eyes were fixed on the table that was in the centre of the room, and the weapon that lay upon it.

“Good god, it’s beautiful.” Fawks said as he picked the weapon up.

Torgue always did make damn fine weapons.

“And expensive.” Lucius added.

“Yea yea, does it kill is what I want to know.”

“Fawks, this is important. Don’t, I repeat DON’T lose this gun. It’s very expensive. And yes, it kills like death himself. Should have no trouble piercing armour.”

“Excellent”

“Fawks, if I may ask. I’m a little fuzzy on how the hell you’re actually going to get to this other universe and hunt this loader down.”

“We’ve been over this Lucius.” Fawks replied as he cocked his gun

“Yes, but I’m confused.”

“Urg… Fine. We blow another power core and go through to the other universe, simple.”

“How do you know it just won’t kill you?”

“I don’t.”

“So you’re taking a shot in the dark basically?”

“Anything, Lucius.” Fawks rested the gun on his shoulder and began walking out of the room.

“Anything for revenge.”

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Carousel Boutique, Ponyville, Equestria

1:00Pm SET

*Knock knock*

“Hold on one moment!”

“There is no rush”

“There is always a rush when you have an order to fill!”

The door opened to reveal a deeply stressed pony, covered in fabric clippings and long measuring tapes.

“Do come in.” The pony said as she moved from the doorway.

Ajax ducked and slowly entered the battlefield that is Rarity’s workplace.

Fabric was scattered across the ground, some even attached to the floor by tailoring pins.

Sheets of paper covered in designs and measurements were scattered on tables and some had fell onto the floor, adding to the overall clutter.

All in all, it was a mess.

“Uh… Have I come at a bad time?”

Ajax had decided that he would pay Rarity a visit today. She was the last pony left to visit besides Twilight. He was still worried about visiting her, which was strange. Ajax had never really been worried about anything. Sure, he’d been unsure of some things but he’d never worried about them. He was deeply worried about Twilight though. How would she take seeing him?

Ajax assumed she was in a bad way, no one had seen anyone leave the library besides the dragon named “Spike” since Twilight had been placed there.

He was worried about making a bad impression, about screwing up.

Visiting her was made even more worrying because of the fact that Twilight’s assistant was a dragon.

Ajax hadn’t seen him; Ajax hadn’t heard more than a name and a species.

But from what Ajax had learnt from reading, dragons were creatures you really didn’t want to annoy.

These things made huge creatures like Crawmerax the Invincible look like a push over.

If you shot Crawmerax with a rocket, it’d get annoyed.

Ajax had read that you’d have to hit a dragon with a freight train packed with explosives to simply get its attention.

Twilight, someone who was scared of Ajax, had a dragon at her side.

Very worrying.

Ajax was pulled back to reality by Rarity.

“No. Why ever would you say that?”

“It’s just… To be honest, this is a mess.”

“This, my friend, is creation.”

“It looks like you’ve brutally murdered something that bleeds fabric.” Ajax said as he looked around the messy room.

“Oh ha ha sir, very funny. You’ll be eating your own words when my masterpiece is complete.”

“I find that very hard to believe.”

The various snips of fabric around Ajax suddenly did something very strange.

They all gained a light blue aura and levitated into the air towards a pony shaped manikin.

The entire room and the messy pony instantly cleaned themselves of all mess.

“Wh- What is going on her- Ahhhh…”

Ajax remembered the two ponies he had met when he had arrived in Ponyville. Faith and Shield. Unicorns.

Magic, how interesting.

“Well?” Rarity asked

“Well? Well what?” Ajax confusedly asked.

“Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”

“I was distracted by your magic.”

“Well, now that I have your attention, introduce yourself.”

Rarity seemed interested in getting straight to the point. Maybe she was just trying to start conversation in her own little way? Whatever the case, Rarity continued to work on whatever it was she was doing. Her dress had been assembled in the few moments Ajax had been in the building.

Amazing.

Ajax was indeed eating his words, it was a masterpiece. Even Ajax, someone with no sense of fashion, could tell that. She’d finished. Ajax couldn’t tell what she was working on now.

It didn’t matter anyway, he’d been told to introduce himself.

“I am Ajax, you already know that. I was on a planet called Pandora, fighting a company named Hyperion. It was going well; I only needed one other device to succeed. I came to your universe due to an unforeseen set of events taking place and I come here now to ask for your assistance on returning home. Again, you know that.”

“Go on.” Rarity said as she glanced over to Ajax.

“I’m still a little fuzzy on how you’re going to help but I understand it involves using your powers as Elements of Harmony to send me home. I have already convinced four of you to assist me. Only you, Miss Rarity, and a pony named Twilight Sparkle remain. The aim of today is to earn your complete trust and your cooperation.”

“Anything else you feel I should know?”

“Hm… No. That’s where the useful information before I came to Ponyville ends.”

“Then tell me about Ponyville.”

“Why?”

“The point of today is to earn my trust, is it not? Just answer my questions.”

“Ok? Ponyville is… A nice enough place. Too quiet for my liking, not enough going on.”

“Not about Ponyville itself silly, about your time in Ponyville.”

“Oh, right. I’ve been staying with your friend, Applejack. I sleep in her barn.”

“What of Applejack? What do you think of her?”

“She’s nice, very kind and considerate. She’s a good one to talk to as well. She’s a very interesting specimen. After I helped her with her harvesting she seemed to be interested in helping me. Thanks to her I managed to earn Rainbow Dash’s trust.”

“How?”

“She was telling me about all of you. Your personality, likes, dislikes, jobs and general stuff like that.”

“How did you earn Rainbow Dash’s trust then?” Rarity had now finished with whatever she was doing and had sat near Ajax to hear his stories.

“Crashing into a tree.”

“Pardon?”

“Ha! Flying really. Flew up and spent some time with her as she flew to Cloudsdale. Racing and talking, a good combination.”

“So who did you visit next?”

“Fluttershy”

“How did you earn her trust? I’d expect her to be frightened of you.”

“She was problematic. But nothing we couldn’t overcome. Simply taking it gently was the key to getting her to open up. After I showed I could be gentle with her, she began laughing and chatting, it was great. From what I’ve been told of her, she was unusually open around strangers. We talked all day about animals in Equestria and how they compared to those on Pandora. After several of my creature were explained in detail and the way animals live in harmony with ponies in Equestria was explained, we called it a day.”

“And then we come to today?”

“Not quite, I did spend more time with Applejack. I couldn’t sleep you see and I went into her orchard to practice my hand with a blade. She came and we talked.”

“About?”

“Life before freedom. Dark stuff, I do not wish to delve into it today.”

“Understandable. Then we come to me, yes?”

“You seem strangely interested in yourself.”

“Is it strange to be interested in someone as fabulous as myself?” Rarity asked, seeming offended

“Yes.” Ajax replied

“Hmph. I do not believe it wrong to take interest in one’s self. What would you know of it? You obviously don’t care about yourself”

“And just how do you know that?”

“Well,” Rarity began

She stood up and touched a faded and scratched leg plate and shook her head.

“Your outfit is fading and is scratched in many places.”

She examined the cracks in Ajax’s armour and servo pipes.

“You have several badly mended cracks lowering your overall appearance.”

She took a few steps back and simply said.

“Black and bronze. What a horrible horrible crime against fashion.”

“I do not seek to look fashionable pony; I wear these colours to intimidate.”

“I’m sure I can make you look fashionable and intimidating!” Rarity exclaimed

“Please, let me try.” She begged

“Pony, this armour is sacred to me.”

“It will still remain sacred, even if it gets a new colour will it not?”

“I don’t know about this… My colours are mine and mine alone.”

“Ajax, if you allow me to re-design your body and make it look more presentable, you will have earned my trust.”

“Why would letting you re-design my armour make you trust me?”

“You said it yourself, your armour is sacred. It takes a great amount of trust to let someone work on such a precious piece.”

“Yes, but I have to trust you, not the other way around.”

“The way I see it is if a pony is willing to trust you, shouldn’t you be willing to trust them?”

“Hmm… You have a point pony.”

Ajax looked at his battle scared armour.

Maybe a free paint job wouldn’t be so bad?

“Ok Rarity. You seem to know what you’re doing in the fashion department. You have my permission to paint me. Within reason.”

“I will make you beautiful. A true work of art!”

Rarity pulled a chart seemingly out of thin are and suck it in Ajax’s face.

Ajax read the text printed at the top of the large sheet.

“Your guide to over 600 shades and colours” Ajax read

“Indeed. Pick one, and I’ll tell you if it’s acceptable. Then we’ll pick where to put the colour.”

600 colours and shades.

Correction, over 600 colours and shades.

“This is going to be a very long day…”

Carousel Boutique, Ponyville, Equestria

5:00Pm SET

“So Ajax, why did you pick black as your original colour?”

“Why not?”

“It just doesn’t suit you darling. It doesn’t suit anyone in your position. Is there some special reason?”

“Hmm… Tactical advantage I suppose. I attack in the night most of the time so it seemed fitting. But there is also a little bit of personal taste. I love the way dark colours shine when applied to metal”

“Hmm? I didn’t think dark would sparkle”

“Maybe not on fabric, but on metal it does. It all depends on how the paint is made and for what purpose.”

“Interesting. You’ll have to give me a lesson in the art of metal someday.”

“I will try.”

“Now, what colour do you want this leg to be?”

Rarity placed a hoof on Ajax’s right leg.

“White with black around the trims of each plate please, like the rest of me you’ve done.”

So far Ajax had requested that all of his armour plates be painted a snow white colour with black around the edges of each plate.

“Are you sure? There are many other colours that are acceptable.”

“I am sure. White is a nice colour.”

“Suite yourself”

Rarity began to lightly scrape away the black paint that covered Ajax’s leg.

“Hmm? What’s this Ajax?”

As Rarity scraped away the paint she discovered a faded piece of art work on the lower section of Ajax’s leg, on the plate above the foot.

“What’s what?”

“This” Rarity said as she took her hoof off of the image.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“It certainly doesn’t look like nothing.”

Rarity inspected the piece of art. She couldn’t see much, but what she could see looked amazing. For war art at least. It showed a strange looking skull and a sword, much like the one Ajax carries, sticking in the top. Pocking out from behind it were two objects that looked like Ajax’s weapon. It may well have been a symbol of war, but it was a well done symbol of war.

“It is nothing. Leave it.”

“Don’t you want me to re-paint it or som-“

“No. Remove it, paint over it and forget it. Nothing good will come of talking about it.”

“No. I will not paint over it. I demand to know what it means.”

“Past sins is what it means.”

“Go on.” Rarity pressed.

“Be careful pony, you tread on very sensitive ground.” Ajax warned

“I’m sorry. I’m very curious. Please tell.”

“I was a soldier. It means I was good at what I did.”

“And… What exactly did you do?” Rarity nervously asked as she looked at the sword sticking into a cracked skull.”

“I killed.”

“Yo- You what?” Rarity said, shocked by Ajax’s bluntness.

“I told you nothing good would come of this…”

“I- I know you did. Go on.” Rarity said, trying to cope with the fact that she’d been very intrusive into a killer’s life.

“As with most military, Hyperion awarded medals for excelling in work. Material medals would get lost or destroyed, so Hyperion opted for a different approach. You kill lots of people; they paint a skull on you. You slice lots of people; they add a sword somewhere on there. You shoot lots of people; you get a gun added on there. I killed, so I earned a skull,”

Ajax pointed to the skull.

“I sliced, so I earned the sword,”

Ajax pointed to the sword.

“I shot and I shot and I shot, so I earned two large guns.”

Ajax pointed to the two weapons.

“I’m not proud of it, so paint over it and remove it from my sight.”

Ajax clawed at the image before he took his hands away.

“Do you have any more questions to ask that I assume, when I answer, will disgust you?”

Rarity looked at Ajax with a shocked face. She was slightly shocked by the fact that Ajax was a killer, he hadn’t mentioned that. Maybe he assumed she knew? She was mostly shocked by the fact that he hadn’t asked her to remove it. He hadn’t even thought to mention it.

“Why didn’t you tell me this when we first met?”

“To be completely honest with you, I’d forgotten about it. That was what I wanted. To forget the horrific symbol that forever plagued my body, reminding me of the burden of sin I carry.” Ajax said angrily.

Rarity had obviously annoyed him. This could ruin the entire day. Ajax might storm out before his painting can be complete.

That would look awful.

Rarity couldn’t allow it.

She had to salvage this somehow.

After several moments of awkward silence, Rarity got an idea.

“Ajax?”

“Yes, Rarity.”

“You say you want to forget?”

“Greatly so.”

“Removing the image won’t do that, I can tell you that for a fact. The memory will forever remain when you look down at your leg.”

“You’re probably right, but what choice do I have? It’s that or leave it there.”

“Not quite.”

“Hmm? You have an alternative?” Ajax confusedly asked

“I do.” Rarity said confidently.

“I’d love to hear it.”

“How about… We replace it?”

“Replace it? What with?”

“Oh Ajax, can you honestly not think of anything?”

“No, seriously.”

“We replace it with a happy memory. We replace it with Equestria.”

“Eh?” Ajax said uncertainly.

“You sounded like you had a good time with the other ponies. Why not replace this horrible memory with a good one?”

“Hey… That’s not a bad plan.” Ajax enthusiastically said, excited at the idea of removing one of his worst memories.

“A question remains though.”

“What would that be?”

“What to paint?”

“Hmm… Good question…”

Both Ajax and Rarity were stumped for ideas. Ajax had had an enjoyable time in Equestria; he just couldn’t seem to find a way to express his enjoyment in an image.

Carousel Boutique, Ponyville, Equestria

7:00Pm SET

Ajax and Rarity stood before a sheet of paper, sketching out designs but to no avail.

They were about to give up, until a voice saved them.

“How about you, Rarity and all of her friends?”

The voice came from behind Ajax and Rarity. They both looked behind them.

The voice came from a small pony.

“Hello Sweetie Belle” Rarity smiled

“Hey sis. What are you doing?”

“I think you already know you little eavesdropping spy.” Rarity said, sounding a tad annoyed

“I helped! Didn’t I?” Sweetie complained

“You. I remember you. You’re one of the young ones I, Faith and Shield saved when you annoyed that pack of wooden wolves.”

“Yes, she was. And she’s very sorry for roping you and those two guards ponies into fighting, aren’t you?” Rarity asked as she glanced at Sweetie Belle.

“Uh… Yea. Sorry about that.” Sweetie Belle awkwardly said.

“It is no problem young one. You are forgiven. You have suggested a great design idea, after all.”

“See Rarity! I told you I’d make it in fashion designing! He thinks it’s great!” The young filly bounded back off to the upper level of the building, full of joy.

“Don’t encourage her.” Rarity said.

“I don’t need any more mish mash dresses.” She added as she began sketching

“Ha! I think what she suggested was great and she needed rewarded for it.” Ajax laughed.

“Maybe you’re right. But enough of that. We have a masterpiece to create.”

“Indeed. Let us begin.”

Carousel Boutique, Ponyville, Equestria

10:00Pm SET

“Well, what do you think?”

“I think…”

Ajax looked down at the freshly painted design upon his leg. It portrayed all five of Rarity’s friends, Rarity herself and Ajax. They looked happy.

The image was cheerful and exploding with colour.

It was a master piece.

“I think it’s amazing…” Ajax simply said.

“Ha! I knew you’d like my work. I am the best, after all!” Rarity happily said

“Indeed…” Ajax breathed. He was incredibly impressed with Rarity’s work. So much so he was speechless. Not only had she given him a new design of armour, she’d removed a horrible memory and replaced it with joy.

“I think I’ll be off now Rarity. Today has been fun. Hopefully we’ve connected a little?”

“Indeed we have Ajax. You’ll have my help when you need it.”

“Thank you Miss Rarity. Thank you…”

Ajax walked out of Rarity’s shop, after waving her goodbye of course, and headed off to Applejack’s barn.

Something was very wrong and it bothered Ajax.

He was happy.

Why was he happy?

Why had he let a stranger touch his sacred plate?

Why was he enjoying this universe so?

Was something wrong with his system?

Had he put wires into the wrong places when he’d repaired himself?

Or… Maybe…

No, not possible.

Ajax wasn’t the emotional type.

He didn’t build friendships.

It wasn’t possible that he was actually enjoying himself.

Wasn't it?

NOTE:

Now, you may be asking yourself “Why did this say Ajax visited Fluttershy, yet there is no chapter where this happens?”

Well, that’s because… I tried.

I really tried.

Please don’t hate me for it, but I simply couldn’t do it.

I just couldn’t get Fluttershy’s chapter to be something I’m happy with.

I kid thee not, 6 hours. 6 Hours spent last night trying to get an intro written down. I just couldn’t do Fluttershy and make it what I wanted.

Again, please don’t hate me for it. I just couldn’t.

Sorry.

I did dedicate a little more explanation to Fluttershy in this than I gave to the other ponies so hopefully that will make up for a small part of it.

Once again, I’m sorry.

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry…

Ajax Is Bad At Feelings

Ajax’s barn, Ponyville, Equestria

7:30Pm SET

Ajax sat on a bale of hay in his barn, inspecting his masterpiece.

It was truly beautiful; the entire paint job was beautiful. He hadn’t given Rarity enough praise when he should have. He’d have to correct that error tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

What would Ajax do tomorrow? He had some issues that could seriously ruin tomorrow.

The issues being it wasn’t long until send off day and he hadn’t convinced all the required ponies to help him.

That, along with the conflict of emotions troubling him, Ajax was dreading tomorrow.

He looked deeply at his artwork. Why did he look so happy on this image? Why did the image make him happy? Would he still be happy when he returned to Pandora, or would he miss this universe? Will this Twilight Sparkle be in a talking mood and allow him to earn her trust? Will he be able to earn her trust? Does he even know how? Would he be ready in time for the day he is sent home? What does Celestia have planned for said day? Does she even have a way for him to return to Pandora?

“Urg!” Ajax groaned loudly. The endless list of answerless questions were frustrating Ajax.

He hadn’t though anything other than questions in a long time. He hadn’t thought about his broken bolts. He hadn’t thought about the pounding rain outside. He hadn’t thought about Pandora. Ajax hadn’t even thought about the footsteps he could hear. His mind was completely clouded by his predicament. These feelings were turning him into a wreck, he couldn’t think straight because of them. He was puzzled by the constant confusion he felt when talking to the ponies. It wasn’t your average confusion. Confusion usually had a point. I’m confused about him. I’m confused about life. I’m confused about bandits. They all had something to be confused about, but Ajax; Ajax didn’t quite know what he was confused about.

He feels completely fine before he meets them, he feels completely fine when he is in the barn.

But when he speaks to a pony, he just can’t act normally. He’d spent an entire day helping a pony with a repetitive task. He’d wasted precious power flying up to meet a pony. He’d spent hours discussing Skags with a pony. He’d allowed a pony to repaint him.

It’s not Equestria that is causing this.

It’s not some crazed virus.

What on Pandora was it?

What made him do foolish things around the ponies?

He was always doing foolish things around them and it was getting worse.

He was doing foolish things when he wasn’t even with them.

Ajax had spent the hours since he’d come back to the barn worrying about the coming visit to Twilight.

Worry? Ajax?

Ha! The two things never meet each other. Worry is close enough to stupidity for Ajax to want to avoid it. He’d done splendidly at doing just that, until he’d come to Equestria.

Never did Ajax allow worry to corrupt his mind. Even when he was about to be threw into a pit of corrosive acid, he did not worry.

But tonight, in the sodding rain in a barn owned by ponies, worry finally touched Ajax’s mind.

“Gah! Foul thoughts, be gone!” Ajax irritably said

Although he meant for the words to banish the worry, they only served to increase it.

How should Ajax speak when he meets Twilight and her dragon companion?

Will he be able to talk as he usually does? Will he be judged for doing so?

The footsteps grew louder, yet Ajax paid them no attention.

Would he be attacked by a monstrous dragon? Would he be judged for fighting back? What if he killed the thing? Would he be denied help? Could he even kill such a creature? What size bullet would one use to fight a behemoth of such strength?

“Howdy”

The voice from behind Ajax said

“Ah!” Ajax yelled in surprise.

Again, a first for Ajax. Surprise. Ajax turned and pointed his clawed hand towards the unknown speaker.

“Oh, it’s just you.”

He lowered the claw and returned to looking sadly at his leg.

“What’s that you’ve got there?” Applejack asked curiously

“A fine piece of art, painted by the lady Rarity. She is a generous pony.” Ajax replied

“Sure is. Elements of harmony, once again. What ya’ll doin’?”

“Thinking.”

“About?”

“Complex things.”

“Like?” Applejack asked as she sat opposite Ajax.

“I have no idea.”

“Huh?” Applejack asked confusedly

“I mean, I know what I’m thinking about, I just don’t know why I’m thinking about it.”

“I think I understand that. What’s on your mind Jax?”

“You.”

“Me?” Applejack said confusedly

“Indeed. I’ve been thinking about you.”

“Uh… What exactly about me?”

“About how you make me feel.”

“Oh! Ah… Well Ajax, I’m not sure you’re exactly my type. I mean, I have nothin’ against metal men it’s just, how would that work… You know?“

“Not like that. Why would you even- Forget it, I wasn’t meaning you alone.”

“Oh, who then?” Applejack said as she breathed a sigh of relief for having her previous thoughts confirmed as incorrect.

“All of you. Pony kind.” Ajax said as he looked up from the painting and to Applejack.

“So everypony in Equestria?”

“Not exactly. I haven’t really communicated with anyone besides your friends. It’s them I’ve been thinking about.”

“So, you’ve been thinking about how I and my friends make you feel?”

“Indeed.”

“And how exactly do we make you feel?”

“Happy. Scared. Confused”

“Happy is good. The others, not so much.”

“For me, it is very strange and very dangerous combination.”

“Huh? How?” Applejack asked confusedly

“Allow me to explain something to you Applejack. On Pandora, I had no one. No friends. No family, I am a machine after all, I was not born. I lived alone and I liked it that way. Hell, it’s only been in the past few months that I’ve actually started talking to someone regularly. Dex wasn’t very good in a fight but he was a good source of info. I trusted him above anyone else, but I did not call him my friend. I did not get emotionally attached to him or anyone. Being emotional can be the difference between someone living and someone dying, between a plan succeeding or a plan failing. I didn’t want to risk getting emotionally attached to anyone either, so I stuck to solo operations. I’d spent so long alone that I just never seemed to feel anything for anyone. But since I’ve come here, to Equestria, and met you ponies, I’ve been feeling things… I’ve been feeling things that I’m not sure I know how to deal with.”

“What have ya’ll been fellin’ Ajax?” Applejack comfortingly said

“I’ve been feeling… Strange. I’ve been doing the silliest things around you ponies. Talking about animals, wasting time flying, allowing someone to paint me. They’re all things I’d never do. I just can’t seem to help myself when I’m around you, I just can’t. I feel…” Ajax looked to his painting once more.

He felt warmth, deep inside of him. He felt accepted. He felt happy.

“I… I feel friendship… I feel like I’ve found creatures I can trust completely.” Ajax said.

Once again Ajax found himself doing foolish things. Never once had Ajax shared any sort of personal feelings with anyone.

Applejack stood up and walked silently towards the exit of the barn.

She stopped as she reached the door and she looked back at Ajax.

“You know what Ajax?”

Ajax looked away from the bales of hay that Applejack had been sitting on and to Applejack.

“I think I feel it too.”

Ajax’s barn, Ponyville, Equestria

8:50Pm

“Ajax, I’ve got a question to ask. It’s been buggin’ me for a few minutes now.”

“Ask away?” Ajax said confusedly.

Applejack had walked back into the barn unexpectedly and asked the previous question.

Apparently Applejack had neglected to ask something when she had last seen Ajax.

What she could possible want to ask was a mystery to Ajax.

“Ya’ll said some thin’ ‘bout feelin’ scared?”

“I did.”

“Why in Celestia’s name would you be scared?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you’re the toughest thin’ in Equestria, why would anything here scare you?”

“Ah, Applejack. You still have much to learn. Not all fear is caused by something tougher than one’s self. Sometimes it is the thought of something that scares you. But in this case it’s a little bit of both; it is about something tougher than me and the thought of encountering it. No matter what you think, I don’t think I can bear the thought of visiting Twilight when she has such a creature as a dragon guarding her.”

“Wh- What ya’ll talkin’ about?”

“I’ve been told Twilight Sparkle has a dragon as her assistant. Dragons are fearsome creatures, are they not?”

“Heh! Ajax, you just wait! You’ll be surprised when you meet Spike!”

“Spike? Sounds aggressive.”

“Just wait and see Ajax. Just a hint, when working out a plan for visiting her, don’t count on there bein’ some almighty battle.” Applejack laughed.

“Is that all Applejack?” Ajax also laughed

“Not quite. Ya’ll scared about visitin’ Twilight yea?”

“Yes…” Ajax groaned

“Don’t be. That little tale you were tellin’ me before isn’t all that different to what Twilight’s life used to be like. Ya’ll can relate to her in the fact that you know what it’s like to have no friends and be alone.”

“Really? I have something in common with her? That will make things… Well, it might make things simpler, but I don’t count on it.”

“Plan ahead Ajax, I’m sure things will go fine.”

“Speaking of plans.” Ajax said as he lifted a scroll into the air.

“What’s that?”

“A plan. Celestia got a plan put together.”

“Yea? What does it say?”

“It says she knows how to send me home and that I have a few days left to convince Twilight to assist me. Apparently, between tending to her daily duties and trying to coax her sister out of her room, she managed to work out a method in which to replicate the power core’s explosive power.”

“That’s great!” Applejack enthusiastically said

“Is it really?” Ajax sighed

“What ya’ll talkin’ ‘bout? You want to go home, don’t you?”

“That’s a very good question Applejack. Do I? Do I really want to bid all of you lovely people adieu?” Ajax said. He didn’t really know who he was asking. Applejack, or himself.

“I don’t know, do you?”

“Honestly, I have no idea…”

Hyperion bunker, Pandora

11:00Am

“Oh, Lucius, why did you never become an artist?”

Fawks stood in a large storage bay with Lucius, bathed in the gloomy light the cheap bulbs in the overheads produced. The room smelled of the cleansing oils used to clean metal and thin mist hung in the air around both men’s feet. The vents in this particular bunker were rarely used. In fact, everything in the bunker was rarely used.

“Apparently painting robots to look like Death isn’t art and it isn’t something they’ll pay you for.”

For what seemed to Fawks like a century, Lucius had been preparing the tools in which he would orchestrate his revenge. In reality, it had been a little over a day. Fawks had been a very patient man in the past, but his stay at the Hyperion hell hole in the glaciers combined with the loss of both of his legs had broken him. He’d been incredibly irritably when Lucius had told him that he had to wait while he finished painting the loaders.

“Remind me again why we couldn’t just leave their steel bare?” Fawks asked trying to get some reason for Lucius’s madness.

“The paint is mainly a scare tool. It will sort the boys from the men in whatever you’re fighting.”

“Well, that’s good. I like the idea of having a group of Reapers following me.”

Lucius had given the loaders a very classic look.

He had painted them to be a tribute to torva messorem. Ancient language that translates to The Grim Reaper, the deity of Death. A coat of dusty black and bone white added to the metal replicas of Pandora’s most fearsome creature’s skulls. The two PWR model loaders, the ones with fan like blades instead of hands were given the special treatment of having the blades edged with diamond.

They could cut steel like butter.

The rest of the group, mostly GUN and a few SGT model loaders, were fitted with brand new bolts and servos improving efficiency and lowering the amount of jamming.

Usually loaders don’t get such extravagant treatment and Lucius had been refused the materials Fawks demanded. When Fawks had been informed of the refusal he had strapped a missile to his head, went to the requisition leader and threatened to head butt him should he refuse him.

When someone say’s they’ll hit you in the face with a missile attached to their own head, it’s probably best to do what they say. The requisition leader had been smart enough to give Fawks the items he demanded. It had cost more than a pretty penny, a million to be exact. Paint isn’t exactly cheap when you need to paint a legion every single day. Then there is the cost of the metal skulls and the diamond. In short, it cost a fortune. That Requisition leader is lucky to still have his job.

Scratch that, he’s still lucky to have his life. As a matter of fact, he’s lucky that he didn’t decide to follow up the matter. Him deciding whether to follow up the matter was the difference between him ending up in one piece or several.

“It’s also got a little something-something mixed in to make sure these things don’t melt on the way to this other dimension.”

“Speaking of melting, those legs and your entire set of armour will need a re-spray with the resistant paint.” Lucius continued

“Resistant? What exactly makes it resistant?” Fawks asked

“Ah, Fawks, you know the rules. You can ask what it does but you can’t ask why.” Lucius lightly laughed.

“I hate that rule, why in all the God’s names would I agree to it?” Fawks moaned.

“But you like my work, yes?” Lucius asked.

“Aye, I like it Lucius. Terrific work. Let’s get these into position at the room we’ve picked to warp in and let’s get me some new paint.”

“This way, please.” Lucius said as he gestured to the exit.

“I’m going to enjoy this Lucius, I really am. I simply cannot wait. You did get me the thing I asked for?” Fawks asked as he walked with Lucius towards the exit.

“Indeed. Helluva lot of paperwork, but I got it for you. Just keep it safe eh Fawks? Hyperion will have your head on a plate if it gets damaged.” Lucius warned

“Ha. You honestly think anything in the universe can damage it? Whatever’s waiting for us in this other world with that blasted robot will never even stand a chance!” Fawks laughed as he walked out of the room.

“One more thing Lucius.” Fawks said as he stopped, blocking the exit for Lucius.

“Yes, Fawks?” Lucius asked.

“This operation is… off the record, right? Fawks asked as he turned his head slightly towards Lucius.

“Of course. Why do you think we’re all the way out in the damned bunker? Because it’s not used and it’s not checked on. Hyperion have no idea what you’re doing or what prisoners you’ve got in your possession.” Lucius answered.

“Good. Speaking of prisoners, I’ve got a little plan for them.” Fawks said as a grin jumped onto his face.

“What kind of plan?” Lucius curiously asked

“Oh, plans. You didn’t think I’d go to a new dimension and not take my new friends with me, did you?” Fawks laughed

“Certainly now. But, is that wise Fawks? Taking four of this planet’s most feared warriors on a revenge mission? Think of everything that could go wrong!” Lucius exclaimed.

“Well Lucius, let me tell you. If It’s wrong, I don’t want to be right. All I care is that I get revenge. Now if revenge is made sweeter by having four scumbags watch it I say why not.”

“Well, if that’s your decision.” Lucius sighed

“Don’t be like that Lucius. I’m going to have a little chat with them now, care to join?” Fawks asked

“No thanks, I have to make finalisations to the thing you requested. They aren’t exactly simple to program, you know.”

“Well, have fun with that. See you later Lucius.” Fawks said as he walked off.

He felt very rude for simply saying goodbye like that after all that Lucius had just done, but he couldn’t wait to inform the Vault Hunters of the little vacation he was taking them on and the device he’d soon be unleashing in front of them.

The device…

The newest reality…

The destruction…

“Let the galaxy burn…” Fawks evilly chuckled.

Reason for time between previous chapter and this one:

One word.

Work.

Got myself a small job and it’s been keeping me occupied and due to the induction type deal required I haven’t had much free time.

Can’t complain though, it was worth it. Very informative and the pay the job gives is more than reasonable for a seventeen year old.

Anyway.

Sorry for the gap of time.

I’m back into a schedule and I have made time for writing.

We’re back on track. Woo!

I Didn't Have To Smite A Dragon

Ponyville in the snow, the beautiful white snow.

Ajax didn’t fully understand it yet but apparently some ditzy weather pony had decided Ponyville was simply too good for clear skies and had accidently covered the entire region in frost and cloud. How one pony managed to do that, Ajax would never know. It wasn’t even the time for snow. On Pandora at least, Ajax didn’t understand how Equestria’s seasons worked either.

Rainbow Dash claimed that it would be cleared up soon and the snow and cold would be removed from Ponyville. Ajax didn’t really want the snow to be gone. It was comforting. It reminded him of the snow plains of Pandora’s Polar Regions.

Ajax loved the snowy hills and frozen lakes in the area. He loved the way it was almost devoid of life. He loved the silence of the forests and the gentle cracking of the ice as he tread on it. He loved the snow storms and the veil of invisibility they brought with them. He loved the beautiful snow.

Ajax spent lots of his time on Pandora’s glaciers. He spent enough time there to call them his home. Well, not really a home. Ajax wasn’t one for having a home. More of a base of operation. It’s how he found out about the relatively unguarded power core in the first place.

The snow that engulfed all of Ponyville was something Ajax felt familiar and comfortable with.

He liked walking through it. He liked the prints he made.

He did not however like where he was going.

Ajax had been given directions to Twilight Sparkle’s library by Applejack and given a pep talk about Spike. She told him not to worry about it but was too busy laughing to tell him why.

Ajax assumed that he was mistaken on a very important detail about the dragon. Maybe he overestimated its potential interest in eating him. Maybe he was just being silly.

Still, Ajax was dreading this.

If not over the dragon, over Twilight. He really didn’t know how Twilight would react to him.

He assumed complete insanity with a side of terror.

After all, the impression Twilight probably got from her dream is that Ajax was a mechanical monster with an unreasonable hatred for everything and a love of draining blood from people.

How much did she see anyway?

Did she see Ajax’s attack from start to finish? From throwing the grenade that shook the entire glacier to the cataclysm that occurred when Ajax malfunctioned?

Good God that would be bad. She’d have heard his words as he tossed the grenade. She’d have seen the blood drip down his claws as he sliced that Hyperion heavy.

“Urg…” Ajax moaned silently as he slowly walked through the snow.

How much did she see?

How much does she remember? Well, probably everything. She probably remembered every detail vividly in fact.

Not good.

“Where d’ya think you’re going?”

The voice took Ajax by surprise.

There were no other ponies around besides a young filly sitting eating a sandwich, and the voice certainly didn’t come from her. Her mouth was completely stuffed with a sandwich.

So where did it come from? Ajax simply didn’t know.

But then he remembered. Wings. Pegasi.

“Rainbow Dash thinks it’s wise to sneak up on me now, how cute.”Ajax mused

“Yea yea yea, I know I’m cute. People need to stop telling me. Anyway, I need to talk to you.” Rainbow Dash said as she flew down to be level with Ajax.

“Hah. Ok, that was good. What do you need Dash?” Ajax laughed

“Well, I need a little help.”

“I’m sort of busy Dash, I’ve got to visit Twilight, remember? I’m pretty sure it’s more important that whatever you need”

“But what I need is really important as well!” Rainbow Dash complained

“Maybe if you told me what it is you need?” Ajax pressed. Even though he was dreading it Ajax wanted to get to Twilight’s library as soon as possible. That way he’d have plenty of time to talk to Twilight. He knew he’d need lots of time with her; Shield had filled him in with plenty of information on her when they had been at the Royal Forge repairing breaks in his armour. Apparently she was a step above any other student in Canterlot and she could pick a hole in even the soundest theory. She could formulate an argument and conjure responses as quick as a flash, ones which are usually valid and incredibly intelligent. Ajax would have to be at his best when he does battle with her mind.

“I need those awesome jet-thingy-ma-bobs”

“Jets? Why on Pandora would you need those?” Ajax confusedly asked

“There are literal tonnes of snow! What more do you need?” Rainbow replied just as confused. Very rude, yelling at Ajax and assuming he knows how things work in Equestria.

“I could do with being told how jets relate to snow…”

“Oh! Right! Different world different rules, gotcha. Well, let me quickly explain what’s going down. Uh… Sorry for sounding the way I did a second ago” Rainbow Dash said apologetically.

“No problem, forget about it. Continue.” Ajax said quickly, trying to speed the conversation along.

“Well, we’re going to clear all this snow away by causing a huge hurricane type thing. We did it last year flawlessly, but this year Twilight isn’t here to organise everything because she’s sort of locked herself in her house. We need your help.” Rainbow Dash finished

“And, how exactly do you expect me to help?” Ajax asked

“Well first off you’re the kind of person who knows how to get a job done. You know? I bet you’d be able to organise this thing. And because this snow came so quickly I have about a third of my force unable to attend. You know how it is; they’re away doing a job and can’t come back on such short notice? Your jets should make up that last third, if not more. You’ve got to do this, yo-”

“Wait a minute, let me guess. You’re going to say I’ve got to do this because I’m the one who drove Twilight into solitude and I owe you, yes?” Ajax interrupted

“Well… Uh – Ah – Maybe? Well… I wouldn’t say you have to do it I mean-“ Tried awkwardly to say

“You’re completely right.” Ajax interrupted again.

“Huh?” Rainbow Dash confusedly said

“If that’s what you were going to say, you were right. I do owe you girls. Not only have I inconvenienced you by trying to spend time with you I’ve cause a breakdown of sorts in your friend. Helping with your weather is the lease I could do.”

“Well, that’s real nice Ajax.” Rainbow Dash happily said

“But, it’ll have to wait until after I’ve spoken with Twilight” Ajax added

“Wha- But!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed

“No buts Dash, you’ve got all day to clear this up and I may only have now to talk to Twilight. She comes first.”

“Bu- Ah! Ok, you win.” Rainbow Dash sighed as she accepted defeat.

“I’ll look forward to it.” Ajax said as he began walking once more.

“How should we do this…?”

Ajax stood outside of the door that leads to Twilight’s home. It’d taken him a lot longer than he’d expected though, Ponyville just wouldn’t leave him alone. Ponies had taken a surprising liking to him, his hard work to convince ponies he wasn’t evil succeeding. How successful his efforts had been was debatable though. Yes, he’d got the ponies of Equestria to trust him, but now they wouldn’t leave him alone. A trend Ajax had noticed was ponies asking him for favours. First Rainbow Dash with her weather issues who Ajax simply had to decline, next Rarity asking for feedback on the paint that again, Ajax had to decline assisting and arrange for another time. Finally Pinkie Pie came to Ajax saying that Rainbow Dash had told her about the jets he’d used to fly and demanded that he come with her and help her bake some cakes “Super-duper quickly” as Pinkie had put it. Ajax had told her that the flames from his jets would not only turn the cakes to chard paste, but would also propel him through the walls of whichever building they would be in at the time.

“Hello ma’am. No, no. That’s too… It’s not something I would say to an average person.”

Ajax was pondering how he should go about introducing himself to Twilight. How he did this was very important, first impressions and all of that. Ajax had to be very careful how he handled this. Not only because Ajax wanted to sound polite, but because this pony had seen so much. She’d seen Ajax being… Less than civil with some gentlemen and she’d seen it all from the front row seat. One sudden movement, one misinterpreted word, one out of place shift of a servo and that was it. Twilight could be driven to madness at the slightest thing. That is assuming however she hasn’t already lost her mind. Ajax had to hope for the best. From what Ajax had heard Twilight’s dragon assistant had been seen coming and going from the library so that must mean something good.

“Oh hell to it. This is the second time I’ve troubled myself with introductions. No holding back, just knock on the damned door Ajax.”

Ajax’s patience with introductions had broken. He’d wasted too much time with favours and he needed to get this rolling.

“Here we go…” Ajax nervously said as he knocked on the door.

Ajax waited for several moments for a response. None came.

Ajax knocked again.

“Hello? Is anyone home?”

Suddenly, a voice.

“Hold on, I’ll get it for you. Twilight will be reading” The voice from behind Ajax said.

It wasn’t a voice Ajax recognised. It wasn’t a female voice, as far as Ajax could tell. It was someone who had access to the library. It was someone who knew Twilight.

The Dragon…

Ajax turned, quick as a flash and had his weapons pointed just above his head height.

Even though he knew brining his weapons would probably make Twilight even more frightened, Ajax didn’t want to risk confronting a dragon empty handed. He’d brought his trusty tri-barrel and as always, his sword and claws. While he was walking he had both his sword and shotgun holstered as to avoid attracting too many second looks and the blades on his hands had ended up like the rest of Ajax, covered in light frost. They didn’t look sharp or threatening. Excellent. Ajax’s weapons were just as deadly as always, yet they looked like blunt pieces of scrap. Now they were pointed at… Thin air?

“Wha-? What witchcraft is this” Ajax said as he scanned his weapons left to right, finding nothing but white skies.

“Down here?” The voice confusedly said

Ajax lowered his gaze and his weapons to the source of the voice. Ajax didn’t quite know what to make of it. It certainly wasn’t a pony, it stood on two legs. It had hands and a head. It looked surprisingly human, with two key differences. One, it had a tail and two, it was covered in scale. Purple and green, what an interesting combination. The creature was quite small. Ajax doubted it was even half the size of the ponies he’d seen. This… Creature, what was it?

Ajax asked himself the question multiple times as he stared, weapons pointed in little creature’s stunned face. Then he remembered what he’d feared ever since he’d heard.

Dragon…

What was Ajax doing again? Oh, right. He was pointing three death dealing barrels and a razor edged sword at it.

Ajax, after the previous thoughts struck him, holstered his weaponry and knelt. Even while kneeling, Ajax still had a height advantage. But that was an irrelevant point at present time. All that mattered right now was whether this dragon wanted to melt Ajax into a pool of bubbling liquid with fire.

“You must be Spike.” Ajax said as he looked at the small dragon.

“Yup. You must be… Uh…” Spike paused, trying to come out with the name.

“Ajax.” Ajax told Spike as he offered a hand

Ajax was very relieved. Heh… This must’ve what had Applejack in tears when Ajax had told her about it. The dragon Ajax had feared was not only small, but he was sort of cute. His eyes reminded him of Fluttershy’s. They screamed sweetness .

“Yea, Ajax. I didn’t really hear your name that often. Twilight has taken to referring to you as “It”.” Spike said as he took and shook the offered hand.

“How charming.”

“I’ll see if she’ll call you by your name today. The ponies who came by when the dropped Twilight off they never really mentioned your name.” Spike said as he moved his claw around in the lock.

“Hmm… Faith and Shield never spoke my name? Wonder why…” Ajax trailed off. Ajax thought he’d made a connection with both guard ponies. Ajax was really confused as to why they wouldn’t have mentioned his name.

“I’ve no idea why they didn’t say your name. They were more concerned about getting Twilight up to speed on what you were doing in Ponyville. Maybe they expected Twilight to be out of the library more? Urg… Come on lock!” Spike irritably said as he continued to fumble with the lock.

“What exactly are you doing?” Ajax asked as he looked at Spike struggling with the lock.

“Well, Twilight had the door made to lock when you leave and she’s forgotten to give me a key so now I’ve got to unlock the door with my claw whenever I want in.”

“Hmm… Let me help you with that. Step aside, please.” Ajax said as he waved his claw at spike.

“Uh… What are you going to do?” Spike nervously asked as he looked at the razor claws on Ajax’s hand.

“What you were trying to do. I do know how to pick a lock you know.”

Ajax crouched and stuck the tip of one of his claws into the small lock and wiggled it up and down a little. After a little bit of wiggling he stuck another claw into the lock and turned the lock. After a bit of work trying to get the lock to turn all the way while covered in frost, the lock yielded and the door opened.

“That was amazing.” Spike said as he looked into the library.

“Oh Spike, you’re too kind.” Ajax said as he spun his hand around.

“Twilight! I’m back!”

Ajax and Spike had sneakily entered the library after Ajax had picked the lock on the door. Ajax had to duck to get in, but he made it.

Ajax was nervous as hell. He didn’t know what to expect from Twilight. Would she have gone crazy? Would she be struck with fear? Would she talk when Ajax asks? Would she simply remain silent? So many questions…

“Wait there Spike! I have books for you to sort!” The voice yelled.

“Urg… More books? I’ve been doing this all week Twilight!” Spike yelled back

“This will be the last load Spike, I promise!” The voice replied

“Yea… That’s what you said two days ago Twilight…” Spike mumbled

“What exactly do you do?” Ajax quietly asked

“I’m Twilight’s assistant, I assist.” Spike whispered back.

“So you sort books for her?”

“Yes. Not all of the time, but I do it. Twilight has recently been reading lots of books and they need put back in the correct place, don’t they?”

“I suppose so.” Ajax admitted

“Twilight! Just telling you, we have a guest!” Spike yelled

“No! Wait! Why did you say that?!” Ajax angrily whispered

“I’d tell her sooner rather than later” Spike replied.

Ajax heard hoofsteps coming from upstairs.

“Yes, but now she’s going to ask who it is!”

“Who is it anyway Spike?!” Twilight yelled

“Gah! I told you!” Ajax nervously said

“It’s Ajax! That robot from the other universe you were telling me about!” Spike yelled upstairs.

The hoofsteps stopped

“Why… Dragon, why?” Ajax moaned as he rubbed his face aggressively.

“It’ll all make sense in a second Ajax, wait and see.”

The hoofsteps started again. They sounded like they were heading towards the stairs.

“How will this all make sense then dragon?” Ajax angrily whispered to Spike

“Just wait…” Spike said as he began walking towards another room.

“Would you like anything to drink Twilight?! Ajax suggested I get you something before you talk!” Spike yelled as he walked off towards some bottles that were sat on a table.

“Uh… No thanks Spike! I’ll be fine!” Twilight yelled as her hoofsteps grew louder.

“Urg… Damned purple demon, you’ve doomed me…” Ajax whispered to himself.

Wait, had he?

Ajax thought for a moment. Was this really bad? Spike had informed Twilight that he was here and she hadn’t freaked out. He’d saved Ajax from introductions, which Ajax just couldn’t master. He’d given Ajax a very good first impression by saying that Ajax had suggested getting Twilight a drink.

Maybe this was a good thing.

Ajax saw a pale purple leg place itself on the topmost stair, shaking slightly. Ajax’s improved optics revealed the slight shake and without said optics he probably wouldn’t have noticed. Eventually, after several nervous steps were taken, Ajax could see a face. Surprisingly, the face showed no fear.

Not a single trace of the stuff was on Twilight. Most unusual.

Twilight slowly descended the stairs. Her horn was softly glowing and a large stack of books followed her.

“Uh… Hello, Twilight Sparkle.” Ajax said as he politely bowed.

“H-Hello t-there… Uh…” Twilight stammered

“Ajax. As I told your companion, my name is Ajax. But you already know that, don’t you?”

“Uh…” Twilight whimpered.

Twilight, despite her best efforts, looked and sounded frightened. Ajax couldn’t really bare to do this to her, but he had some questions to ask.

“I’ve been told you’ve seen a little more than you expected to see when you slept one night.”

“Indeed…”

“Do you have any questions?” Ajax asked.

“Huh?” Twilight slowly said

“Questions. Do you have any? About what you saw that is. Twilight, I know you’ve been told of my purpose and if I am to earn anything good from you we must understand each other completely, mustn’t we?”

“I suppose so” Twilight responded, sounding a tad more confident.

“Well, any questions?” Ajax repeated.

“Several actually.” Twilight lifted a sheet of paper over from a desk and in front of her eyes.

“Hmm… Go on.”

Quite amazing. Twilight had gone from a nervous wreck to as confident as Ajax assumed was norm for her.

“You see, when I was told you’d came to Equestria I was quite terrified. I shut myself in my house for a day or two and refused to speak to anyone, Spike knows this. But eventually, between the outbursts of paralyzing fear, something else took hold.”

“And that was?” Ajax asked

“Interest.”

“Interest? Why interest?”

“My friend, you broke the barrier between realities. I don’t know about where you came from but in Equestria that isn’t exactly something you see every day.”

“I suppose not but really, you should be traumatised!” Ajax exclaimed.

“Oh, believe me, she was.” Spike said as he walked back from the bottles, a glass of fresh water in his hand.

“What do you mean dragon?”

“I mean she spent the best part of two days she quivered in a corner, crying about what she’d seen. But then she got all worked up about plasma thingy-ma-what-its and wouldn’t be quiet. Basically, what you see here is a completely different Twilight Sparkle.”

“Oh really? You were that scared?” Ajax amusedly said

“Yes! I was! It isn’t funny how scared I was!” Twilight yelled out in offence

“It is to me. Not in the way you’d think though. I’ve seen men break down completely. The fact that you were only traumatized amuses me greatly. You must be a tough one.”

“Well… Speaking of breaking down, my questions?”

“Let me hear them. One condition of course.”

“What would that be?”

“Afterwards, you must let me look through your library. You appear to have some books I might find interesting.” Ajax said as he looked at the many books surrounding him. The technical and tactical data Ajax could obtain from them was invaluable.

“Very well, you can look through my library after we are done here. My first question then, what do you want to look through my books for?” Twilight asked as she sat down in front of Ajax. She took up a quill and flipped the piece of paper over. She wrote “Answers to previous questions” on the top.

“Huh? Why would you want to know that?” Ajax confusedly asked

“You agreed to answer any question put forward.”

“I suppose I did… Well, I noticed a book labelled as “Weapons of the modern Pony Guard”. It would be interesting to see how developed your race is arms wise.”

“You really want to compare weapons?” Twilight confusedly asked

“Indeed. When I first came to Equestria I had to use my technology to save two of your Guard Ponies from wooden wolves. They seemed quite amazed when the wolf exploded. I also noticed that they were both high ranking officers and only carried swords. Admittedly, they were quite skilled with them, but I was confused as to whether that is all your race is in possession of.” Ajax explained

“Well, a while back a pony developed a weapon that could fire a rod of sharp metal in a relatively straight line at a high velocity.”

Twilight whisked a piece of paper out from under one of the many stacks around the room and placed it in front of Ajax.

“A crossbow.” Ajax said as he looked at the image.

“Indeed. You have them in your universe?” Twilight asked

“Had. They’re obsolete now. We’ve developed much more effective ways of sending shards of metal speeding towards someone’s face.”

“Like?” Twilight curiously asked.

“Like this.” Ajax said as he upholstered his weapon.

“Ah!” Twilight yelled as Ajax lifted the weapon.

“One of those things! Don’t use it! Please!” Twilight begged.

“Easy now pony, I mean you no harm. I only wished to enhance my answer to your question with a real life example.” Ajax said as he pointed the weapon’s barrels to the floor, well away from Twilight.

“Just… Don’t fire it, ok?”

“Believe me, firing this weapon is the last thing I would want to do. I doubt there would be much left of your house if I did.”

“Uh… Why?” Twilight nervously asked

“This weapon. Manufactured by Torgue, the company famous for crafting devastating weaponry and enhancements. Most notably, gyrojet technology. Small subsonic projectiles that cause large amounts of damage upon impact due to having explosive heads. The wood of this tree would be nothing to a bullet made by Torgue. This weapon has three barrels and fires a total of 22 projectiles.” Ajax finished as he racked the pump of the shotgun. He caught the shell that fell from the gun and held it in front of Twilight.

“This shell is one and a half inches in length and it can do the same damage as a plasma cannon.”

“That’s…” Twilight breathed

“Frightening, I know.” Ajax interrupted

“No, not frightening, amazing.” Twilight said as she took the shell in her magical grasp.

“Interesting? My my, someone taking interest in the inner workings of a gyro rocket. Are you certain you’re feeling ok Twilight? It’s strange to be so enthusiastic around a war machine.”

“I’m fine. I’ve had a long time to think over what I saw and don’t misunderstand me; I found what I saw terrifying. But the technology used in said terrifying scene made my head spin!” Twilight exclaimed as she pulled the shell into its component parts in a burst of magical force.

“Which technology? Maybe I can answer some questions about them?” Ajax asked as he took a step back.

“And please Twilight, be careful with those parts. If you apply too much force to the black powder you’ll give your house a new door.” Ajax warned

“I will, now. Let us begin with the first piece of interesting technology. The “Grenade” you threw at that complex. Give me basics and if there is something further I wish to know, I’ll ask.”

“Very well. Explosives 101. A grenade is traditionally a shaped container filled with an explosive. They are fitted with a pin which when pulled will activate a countdown. When the countdown has ran its predefined length the compound is detonated, showing the area with red hot shards of metal often referred to as “Shrapnel”. Grenades have been fitted with numerous enhancements ranging from cloning capabilities to spawn several child grenades all the way to worm holing technology allowing grenades to travel mind boggling distances in milliseconds, like the grenade I used.”

“They sound interesting. What is the thing that causes the initial explosion?”

“In traditional fragmentation grenades trinitrotoluene is the used explosive. But it can be a number of things. In many modern grenades they have begun using miniature plasma cores to cause a huge explosion. The effects are admirable as well as destructive. The thing inside of a plasma core, naturally, is plasma. Which when energized is as hot as a super nova and can melt even the toughest metal.”

“That’s very interesting. Do you have any of these “Grenades”? Oh! Wait, do you have any plasma cores!?” Twilight excitedly yelled. The thought of obtaining so much knowledge getting to her.

“Ah, as I said. Plasma. Hot. Dangerous. Even if I did possess a plasma core, I wouldn’t be giving it to a race so unfamiliar with it. As for grenades… Well, do you know how many people have blew their hands off with “Safe” grenades?”

“Oh… So they’re too dangerous for me?” Twilight sadly asked.

“For you, yes. But I’d be happy to give a pony with more technological expertise a few of my toys.”

“Ok then. Now, can you give me any of your other “toys”, before we go on?” Twilight curiously asked.

“I can do nothing more but teach someone such as you about my tools.”

“Fair enough… Now my next question.” Twilight flipped the piece of paper over again and looked at her list.

“Ah, yes. How in Celestia’s name did you get from the top of a hill right into the middle of that complex?”

“Ah… A fine question. The answer lies within this.” Ajax said as he turned and showed Twilight his device.

“This nifty little warp device that allows me to teleport distances and also to teleport firearms directly into my hands.”

“How can such a small device do all of that?” Twilight suspiciously asked.

The device on Ajax’s back was a small, battered looking piece. It didn’t look much different to an old radio and was in terrible condition, which looked considering Ajax had a gleaming new coat of paint.

Rather odd for him to be carrying around such a scrappy piece of metal. Ajax had gotten more than a few ponies looking at his device with confused faces as he walked past.

“That is far too complicated for your mind pony. Sorry.” Ajax said as he turned back to Twilight

“Nothing is too complicated for me.” Twilight confidently stated

“If I could amaze you with a crude grenade then I’m sure pulse coils and micro fusion reactions would make you feint again.”

“Ah… Fair point. But I demand you tell me later!” Twilight yelled, refusing to reject a chance to attempt to learn.

“Deal. Further questions?”

“I have many more.” Twilight looked down at her sheet once more, refreshing her memory.

“Ah, yes. About your… Friends. The ones who wore yellow.”

“Basics again?” Ajax asked

“Yes. Exactly like last time, if I have any further questions I’ll ask.”

“Very well. The people who wore yellow were part of a corporation called “Hyperion”. They were in the most part, as far as I could tell, low ranking dregs. One or two of their number looked to be rather high ranking soldiers, probably the leader of the group and their second in command. They obviously needed a ranking officer to keep the rest of the group in check. They looked to be spending their service time on a very depressing outpost in the arctic regions of Pandora, the planet in which I was on at the time.”

“At the time? You have more than one planet?” Twilight curiously interrupted.

“There are countless planets in the universe in which I come from. You have only one?” Ajax asked just as curious as Twilight.

“I don’t know. Celestia refuses to tell me, whether it be because she doesn’t know or she doesn’t want to tell me. I suspect that there are more planets than just ours.”

“You should persuade the Princess to share. There could be other life forms with new knowledge to share.”

“I suppose so!” Twilight agreed

“Hey, here’s a thought. Both of our planets may not even be in different dimensions. We could just be very far apart and just not have discovered each other yet. A few years and I might be able to come and visit you.” Ajax laughed.

“Erm… Indeed.” Twilight said as she looked away from Ajax and to the ground.

Ajax realised then how foolish a thing to say that was. Suggesting to someone who must be holding back a huge amount of terror that every single one of her worst nightmares could one day be very real and paying her a visit? What was Ajax thinking of! He’d gotten himself convinced that Twilight was actually stable. She wasn’t, and one wrong word could set her off. Ajax had just said several very very wrong words.

“Ah… That is of course a theory and a very unlikely one at that. After all, I’m not an astronomer of any sort, so who am I to theorise? Now, shall I continue with my description?”

“Please do.”

“The soldiers looked to be in a sorry looking state and were running quickly out of fuel. They looked to be getting to the point where they would need to call upon a power core to keep their base’s heaters running and keeping the bitter cold out.”

“Power Core?” Twilight tried to say. The words were not alien to her but for some reason, they were strange to say.

“A power core. A small device that contains a considerable amount of power. They’re installed into most facilities built by Hyperion. They are a… Hmm… How to put this… Well, they’re a backup of sorts. When the fires of the mains power dies, the power core provides a few extra logs. If that makes any sense at all?” Ajax asked Twilight as he tried to explain the purpose of an alien device to her.

“It makes perfect sense, really. It’s just a little hard to believe for me. All of this power being stored in containers and being distributed so freely. Equestria has a steady supply of power, it just can’t be put into devices so simply.”

“Simply?”

“Simply!” Ajax repeated

“You think it’s simple to put such power into a feeble container? No! It’s incredibly difficult! The containers are very advanced pieces of technology, even though they do not look it. Men have spent decades of their lives working on the containers and even then, what they have made is barely stable. In fact, the way I came to Equestria in the first place was due to the terrible build of the power containers. You saw yourself! The damned thing melted!”

Ajax lowered his tone of voice. He was usually a very calm person, able to keep his cool whilst under the most intense pressure. But the one thing he couldn’t stand were people who take things for granted. An example, people who assume something simple when in reality it is incredibly complex.

He did get carried away when confronted with people like this, getting worked up and raising his voice like he had just done. It was a habit he was trying to kick. Ajax had been told once that old habits die hard. He hadn’t believe the person who had told him, but after sever promises to never do it again, he still found himself yelling at innocent people. Ajax found that it was incredibly difficult to realise when ones voice is raised, and even more difficult to redeem a conversation once voices have been raised. He’d give it his best shot, anyway.

“Twilight… It’s far from simple…” Ajax awkwardly said.

What a pathetic save! Ajax could’ve done far better than that and he knew it!

He’d sweet talked a bandit king for Gods sake’s! Now he couldn’t even talk his way out of insulting a pony. Equestria had change Ajax. Changed him forever.

Whether it had changed him for the better or worse remains to be seen.

Time will tell Ajax the answer he craves.

He hadn’t told anyone yet, not even Applejack, the one he trusted the most. He really wanted to know what had happened. He desired to know how Equestria had warped his mind. He wanted to know… But the answers wouldn’t reveal themselves to him.

No, they chose to tease him with little signs here and there, but no real indication.

Ajax hoped that he’d changed for the better.

Hoped.

“I’m sorry Ajax, I didn’t understand how complicated something like that could be! You’ll have to teach Celestia’s tech ponies a thing or two! I’m sure they’d love to hear some of your world’s works!” Twilight excitedly exclaimed.

“Wow…” Ajax silently said.

It was that easy? Maybe his raised voice hadn’t been completely uncalled for? Maybe he’d raised a valid point?

Evidently. Twilight seemed to agree that she’d misunderstood the complexity of a power core.

Or maybe she realised how serious Ajax actually was and simply agreed to avoid annoying him? The other ponies Ajax had spent time with previously had been very simple in the most part. Ajax hadn’t been unsure as to whether they were scared or having a good time. Ajax knew how they were feeling, exactly how they were feeling. Ajax was good like that. He knew people.

But Twilight…

Twilight was a challenge, and a hard one. Ajax couldn’t tell how she was feeling. Be it because she’s had training previously on how to conceal ones emotions or simply because she could, she was holding her cards close. For the moment… Ajax would get through to her eventually and get her to indicate how she was feeling. Ajax knew he could, he just didn’t know if he wanted to.

If Twilight turned out to be scared to death, would Ajax be able to keep his cool and convey the information requested fluently and intelligently? If Twilight turned out to be happy with Ajax, how would Ajax react? Would he begin acting out again, like he had done on every other occasion? Would he be able to talk with the bafflement of why Twilight was perfectly fine around her worst nightmare? Why was she even talking to him?

Oh Gods blood…

It was happening again. Ajax was getting hung up on the ifs and buts.

It kept happening.

Ever since he’d came to Equestria. Ever since he’d agreed to come with Faith and Shield. He hadn’t been right from the very moment he’d set foot in this damnable universe. The world certainly wasn’t giving Ajax much reason to feel better for coming to Equestria. In fact, Ajax had been presented with numerous negatives of coming here. So many so, he’d need to make a list!

A… List? Now there’s a thought.

Ajax needed a list, and he was talking to someone with more than a hundred lists in their possession. Maybe Ajax should ask Twilight about making him a list?

“Ahem…” Twilight’s voice cut Ajax thoughts like a hot knife cuts butter.

Ajax had spent so long pondering, something he’d not normally do, that he’d made Twilight impatient.

“Ah! Yes… You have more questions?” Ajax quickly responded.

“I have several. What, you honestly expected me not to?” Twilight laughed as she flipped her list once more and began reading.

“Actually, I didn’t even expect to be having this conversation with you.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Twilight confusedly said

“I mean, I didn’t expect you to be like this. So talkative. So confident. So… Sane! How are you still standing Twilight Sparkle? I just don’t know!” Ajax loudly asked

The questions had broken him. The answers to his questions were something he deeply wanted and it had broken Ajax’s quite legendary will.

Ajax had been tortured, stuck frozen in ice drifts for months on ends and put under heavy gunfire with no obvious means of escape, but he still held his nerve. He’d stayed calm and not let his emotions or his wandering mind to take over. But inside of a tree, with a dragon and a purple pony, he’d snapped. Just another thing for the “Cons” column Ajax thought.

“Uh… I don’t understand what you mean?” Twilight confusedly squeaked.

Ajax had done exactly what he’d hoped not to do. He’d scared Twilight. At least Ajax had realised now.

“T… Twilight… I’m sorry. I’ve not been feeling myself lately… I didn’t mean to scare you… I’m… I’m sorry Twilight.” Ajax desperately apologised.

“Please forgive me…” He continued.

“F- Forgive you? What on Equestria for! You simply must tell me how you achieve that volume of voice!” Twilight excitedly exclaimed as she jumped from her previously sitting position and into a jumping fit.

“Oh… That’s just not fair…” Ajax sighed, disappointed that there were more repetitive questions, ones that he must’ve answered thrice over already, but relieved that he hadn’t scared Twilight.

Still though, how the hell was Twilight excited?!

Ajax really didn’t understand this girl.

“Listen Twilight, I’m going to come clean with you. In my mind, you think that I’m the one killer to kill them all, a monster from hell, one you’re deeply afraid of and who, upon seeing, would make you want to cry with fear. How close am I to reality? Tell me, and put me out of my damned misery…” Ajax finished with a sigh. The games his mind were playing with him at this point were torture beyond belief.

“Hear that brain? She’s not scared!”

“Maybe she’s just pretending?”

“Why would she do that?”

“To avoid looking weak to you of course!”

“Why would anyone be scared of looking weak to me?”

“Because you frown upon weakness, don’t you!”

“No! I dislike it, sure! But I don’t frown upon it! Everyone to their own!”

“But does she know that, I wonder?”

“Bah! You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t I now? I am you remember! I know everything you know! And I know that she’s pretending to be confident!”

“Well, if you say so…”

“Wait a second! She might not be, I can’t be sure! She could have overcome her initial fear after all and be interested in all of your technology!”

“I’m going to go with that one then.”

“Wait a minute! Why so quick to change your mind? Eh?”

“Because the option I changed to is a good one.”

“Is it really?”

“Eh? What are you talking about?”

“Maybe she’s only interested in your technology so she can build weapons! To wipe you out!”

“That’s crazy…”

“Is it really! It’s happened before! Remember those robots you thought were good? The ones who wanted power generator schematics?”

“No I do not.”

“You do! Those up and coming young fellows, the ones who wore the yellow plates. Wanting generator schematics for “Mining”? Well, I remember their jackets had the tiny lettering of a small time company on them! What company you ask? Hyperion!”

“Bah! I don’t remember that! How do you know this!”

“I am your mind Ajax! I know everything your predecessors knew! I came from an Atlas brand Echo recording device! I was there when Hyperion asked for technology for seemingly good intentions! And, well… You know how the rest of the story goes… Don’t you…?”

That’s what Ajax fights against every single day. A mind that doesn’t agree. A mind that created paranoia and worry. Ajax had done his best to keep its heretical thoughts from his mind, but sometimes it becomes too much and he questions things.

“You want the truth? Yes. I think all of those things. Every last one.” Twilight admitted.

“Huh?!” Ajax confusedly burst out with.

“I think you’re a monster.” Twilight plainly said.

“Then why so friendly?”

“Because. You’re all monsters.”

“They’re some pretty strong words pony. It would be wise to start explaining…” Ajax irritably said.

“Everyone in your entire universe is a murdering criminal. Everyone has done wrong in my eyes. You’ve done some pretty awful things, Ajax.”

“Then why are we here discussing grenades and other works of destruction!” Ajax angrily yelled.

Twilight once again breaking him.

He was getting bested by a pony.

“Innocence is none existent in your universe. There are only varying degrees of guilt. You’ve all done something horrible, every single one of you. But some try to do well. Some try to help. Most fail. But success doesn’t matter. What matters is you tried. That’s why we’re here talking Ajax. Because you tried.”

“That’s… It’s… Brilliant… Twilight, you’re brilliant. You do not judge on who has done wrong, but who has tried to do right…”

“Right Ajax. I don’t blame you for what you do. Killing. Slicing. Decapitating. De-“

“That’ll do… If you don’t mind, Twilight?” Ajax awkwardly said. Having his work detailed in such terms disgusted him.

“But that’s what you do. Don’t deny it Ajax. You kill and you kill and you kill. In fact, the reason you’re here is because you were trying to kill. Right?”

“Right…” Ajax almost cried. Metal and steel didn’t show emotion in its simplest terms, the once easiest to notice. How could it? If it did, there would be a lot of unhappy drunks when the wall they’re trying to urinate against starts crying and telling him about how it’s wallfriend left him with two bricks to care for and no help what-so-ever.

“But you do it to save your friends. Your planet. Your universe. You do it to liberate your universe from an atrocious tyrant who commits more horrors in a single day that you’ve done in your entire life. You do it for the sake of good.”

“And that can make up for my sins, can it? Can it really Twilight?”

“Yes! Ajax, it even happens everywhere”

“Does it really?”

“Yes! I pushed Spike over once and broke his poor little ankle to save him from a huge amount of concrete that fell from a building! Better him have a broken ankle and feel a little sour for a few days than be dead right?” Twilight reassuringly shared.

“But how can you say the same for me murdering hundreds? How can that truly be good, Twilight, how?”

“Exactly like I said. Even though all death is regrettable, it’s better that a hundred die quickly than a billion be tortured mercilessly for their entire lives.”

“I… I suppose you’re right. Gods you’re simply brilliant Twilight, I see what Shield meant when he said you were intelligent.”

*Knock knock*

The door made the same sound it had made for its entire life. The knocking sound signalling that guests were waiting to be hosted.

“Whoever could that be?” Twilight wondered aloud.

“I’ll get it” Spike sighed.

Apparently his job as Twilight’s assistant was a boring one. Stacking books and opening doors. Ajax didn’t see the appeal of it all.

“Let us in Dragon. Our business is not with you.”

One voice said. It was a firm voice, one with authority. It was a steely voice, full of growl, but it was soothing. Someone with a voice like that might seem a bit suspicious, but sometimes you just need a little faith…

“Or you could be polite and say please, sir.”

Ah. The complicated one. Someone of high import with the spirit of a rouge. Dangerous combination, very dangerous. With someone so dangerous around you might feel compelled to have some sort of shield.

“Unyielding Faith and Dependable Shield. It’s a pleasure to see you again.” Twilight said as she rushed to meet the two guard ponies.

“Likewise Twilight. But, our business isn’t with you either.” Shield said as he looked past Twilight and to Ajax.

“Something the matter Shield…?” Ajax curiously asked.

“I haven’t the foggiest.” Shield replied.

“Faith? What is the meaning of this?” Ajax suspiciously asked.

“I’d hate to say it, but we seriously have no idea. Celestia ordered us to come and supervise you preceding her visit.” Faith adamantly said.

Strange. Faith was incredibly eager to make the point that he knows nothing.

“Something for the record” Ajax thought.

“When exactly is her visit?” Ajax asked, ignoring the previous suspicion.

“Two days. Celestia did tell us that she expected you to have everything wrapped up by that time. Whatever you’ve been doing, I hope you’ve fulfilled her expectations?”

“Twilight?” Ajax asked

“What?” Twilight confusedly asked

“Are we wrapped up? Will you help me return home?”

“Of course!” Twilight laughed.

“We’re done Faith. Well, almost. Can I have a word, alone?” Ajax asked pointing to the door.

“Erm… Sure.” Faith said as looked at Ajax. He wasn’t confused at all. He knew Ajax had him cracked.

“Shield, stay in this room with Miss. Twilight. We are not to be interrupted, clear?”

“Yes sir. I’ll remain here and entertain Twilight. Heh.” Shield quietly laughed.

“Don’t even bother Shield. I don’t need the paper work.” Faith ordered as he shut the door of the library.

“Faith, this information is classified above all else. Understand that before you accept it. It isn’t vital to your job, keep that in mind. You don’t have to know the whys.” Celestia told Faith as she paced around her throne room.

“I’d like to know Celestia. I cannot work without knowing everything. I accept that it is very sensitive information.”

“Ok then Faith. As you know, Luna has awoken.”

“Yes, I remember. You forbid entry to her chamber.” Faith said as he nervously watched his master pace.

“Well, I broke my own rule Faith. I went in and I talked to her.”

“…And?” Faith nervously asked

“It is very bad news.”

Celestia stopped pacing and looked Faith in the face.

He was a tough one, Celestia knew that. Victor of several very nasty encounters. But right now, he was scared out of his mind. Celestia had told him of the visions. The wild dreams of Pandora. She’d told him that she suspected Luna to be experiencing them. She’d told him of the doom it could spell.

He was scared alright. Celestia couldn’t blame him.

“An attack. The likes of which Equestria has never seen. One which is brought upon us because of Ajax. The human that comes, comes for Ajax. He cares not who he kills to get Ajax, in fact, the more he kills in the process the better. He comes soon and he comes with more like Ajax. Admittedly, they’re not as powerful, but they come. They come in force and they come to Equestria. We cannot let this happen. We must send Ajax home. Hopefully the force will discover of Ajax’s return before the come to Equestria and not bother coming. We cannot let Ajax out of our sights. You and Shield will go and keep him within the confines of Ponyville until I arrive to send him home.” Celestia finished.

“U… Understood, my Princess. It shall be done.”

Faith saluted, turned and left.

He proceeded to go to his chambers and cry for several minutes.

Even the toughest of ponies needs a good cry now and then.

No one can help themselves, not even Faith.

“You…” Ajax angrily said.

“I told you didn’t I? I didn’t say you’d like it.” Faith responded.

He’d informed Ajax, after much fist shaking from Ajax, of what Celestia had told him.

“And you weren’t planning on telling me?!” Yelled.

Luck the library was sound proofed, or Shield would’ve probably charged out, sword drawn.

“Of course not! You deserved to know!” Faith yelled back.

“Urg… Well isn’t this great! I’ve got bandits or Gods knows what trying to get to me!” Ajax frustrated yelled.

Faith was quite surprised they hadn’t attracted a crowd yet. Maybe ponies had just decided to ignore Ajax. Or maybe every house in Ponyville had sound proofing?

Irrelevant.

“I agree with Celestia, you need me home. I’ll figure a way to get the attention of whatever is after me and stop it from getting to Equestria. Yes, yes… We could use my teleportation device as an interdimensional radio and you can relay information back to me on Pandora… If they get to Equestria, I come back. If not, we cut connection completely…” Ajax said as he paced slowly.

“Bah. I’ll work it out when the day comes. Two days, yes Faith?”

“Yes. Celestia comes in two days.”

“Good. Time to think. You can assure Celestia I won’t let my enemies ever attack a pony. I won’t...”

“I’m sure she has the upmost faith Ajax. We’re simply a formality.” Faith assured.

“For your sake I hope you’re right…”

“Hey down there!”

The voice came from the skies.

Gods why…

“Rainbow Dash.” Ajax said as he turned and scanned the skies behind him.

“The one and only!” Rainbow Dash happily said as she flew down to meet Ajax.

“So, hows about clearing this snow, huh?” She asked.

Surprisingly, Ajax was relieved to see her. A merry distraction from the previous horror he’d just been informed of. Time to have a bit of fun.

“Well… I suppose I promised…” Ajax teased.

“Come on man! Don’t be like that! Just do it!” Rainbow Dash complained.

“Ahh! Of course. Just let me say goodbye to Twilight, then we can go.”

Ajax opened the door to Twilight’s library. He didn’t bother to go in. Too much effort considering he’s about to fly. Literally.

“Twilight, I’m terribly sorry but I have other agreements to keep. One with your stubborn friend Rainbow Dash.”

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash yelled, but no one really heard her over Ajax’s laughter.

“That’s fine. You go.” Twilight smiled.

“Thank you Twilight. Shield, you can have Faith back now.”

Ajax pulled himself out of the way of Faith and walked into the middle of the street.

“Come on slow poke, move it!” Rainbow Dash pushed.

“Awww… You still bitter about me beating you in… What was it? Best of 73?” Ajax lightly laughed.

“Don’t you turn this into a competiti- Oh who am I kidding, let’s go!” Rainbow Dash was about to set off but was halted by Ajax.

“Hold it now; we had a job to do. Don’t get into contest.”

“But where’s the fun in that!?” Rainbow Dash moaned.

“Work isn’t fun. Deal with it.”

Ajax’s device sparked into life and materialised his flying apparatus.

“Anyway, if you did turn this into a competition, I’d win.”

“First to the place we’re meeting the other ponies?”

“That would be?”

“Directly above us!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she rocketed off skywards.

Ajax set off just a quickly after her, racing to meet the other ponies and clear up the mess Ponyville was in.

They cleared the snow, eventually.

Snow.

Terribly out of season.

Maybe a certain pony intended it for Christmas but it came late?

Probably.

Probably...

Four Mercs And A Madman's Plot

Chapter 14

Hyperion Bunker, Pandora.

7:00Am

“So Vault hunters. I’ve got a message.”

“You’re a homicidally insane son of a bitch.”

The holding room – If it could be called a room – was host to five guests.

Well, one was a guest and the other four were prisoners.

Dank excuses for rooms usually worked that way. One man standing looking very confident while others are tied to chairs.

“Now Maya, is that any way to talk to your captor?”

Fawks punched the restrained body of Maya in the chest.

“Urf…” Maya puffed as the metal covered fist crushed her lungs.

“Now, anyone else want to make the same mistake?”

Fawks challenged as he backed away from Maya.

“Put my boot up your ass is what I’ll do…” Salvador mumbled.

Fawks did exactly what he’d done to Maya. Punch in the chest. This one cracked something.

“Arg! Son of a-“ Salvador tried as two of his ribs cracked. He didn’t finish, ribs cracking feels like being hit by a truck why you’ve spent hours sitting in the same spot. Pretty much any physical contact feels like being hit by a truck when you’ve sat for hours.

“Salvador, you’ve lost none of your attitude I see. How about you stealth boy?” Fawks impatiently asked.

Even though Fawks enjoyed the idea of torturing Vault Hunters, he greatly wanted to get this message across to them.

Zero simply sat looking at the ground while he panted. Not that anyone had actually tortured him; he just couldn’t stand the waiting. The very idea of staying in one place and being so exposed at the same time… It was a torture in itself, and it made him weak. Weak minded that is. As if waiting for a few hours could actually weaken someone like a Vault Hunter physically. No, all harm was done in Zero’s mind.

“No? How about you soldier man?”

Fawks asked the snarling Axton.

“Fuck you!” Axton angrily spat at Fawks.

“Oh, not very friendly are we? Well, I can safely say that your mood is going to get a whole lot worse.”

Fawks finished and began laughing to himself.

“What’s so funny you crazy fool?” Axton suspiciously asked. If nothing else, Axton wouldn’t tolerate people laughing in the face of a threat given by him.

“A new world… No, a new universe!” Fawks yelled as he abruptly finished laughing.

“You truly are insane.” Maya added between gasps of pain.

“Really? Really? Oh, come now! A siren, a race who loves bending reality and jumping to other dimensions just said I was crazy for suggesting there are multiple dimensions! Ha!”

Fawks walked to Maya and forcibly drew her gaze from the ground.

“Expand your gaze Siren. Do so, and you just might survive what’s next.” Fawks mysteriously told her.

“And what exactly is next?” Axton growled at Fawks.

“Glory.” Fawks simply said.

He stood up and walked from Maya and towards Axton.

“Glory.”

“This isn’t one of those cult things is it? Drink the potion and attain everlasting glory! I’ve heard they don’t always go smoothly.” Salvador said. No one could tell if he was joking or if he was serious.

“Cult? No, what’s wrong with you. Glory? Yes. Would you all like to know what I’ve got planned for you?”

“Go one then, you’re telling us one way or the other I suppose” Axton calmly said, even though the rage within him would rival that of a Berserker.

“Let’s start from the beginning shall we? Yes, that’s sensible.”

Fawks pulled a spare chair from under the table. Strange really, for a prison cell made by Hyperion to have a table. A decent table at that, not cheap metal. Master Forge steel. That’s fancy. Maybe the bunker wasn’t always a bunker, and the prison cell wasn’t always a prison cell.

Who knows?

“Boys and girl, our story begins with a small base out in the arctic reaches of Pandora. I’m sure you know the place well, we’ve got intelligence that places you at the area just north of my outpost.”

“Intelligence in Hyperion? Now I really have heard everything.” Salvador loudly laughed, interrupting Fawks.

“You want hit again midget?” Fawks threatened.

“Wow. That was a hit? I’ll say it again, I’ve heard everything!”

Salvador, even when tied to a chair and facing certain death, found something to laugh about.

“As I was saying… We were on a base in the arctic regions. We weren’t threatening anyone at all; I didn’t even think anyone knew we were there. I was wrong. Something attacked. I think you know what.” Fawks said.

He looked at each member of the group in turn.

“Don’t you?”

“The robot?” Axton confusedly asked.

“Aye, the robot. I know why you’re confused. Hyperion loaders attacking Hyperion bases? Madness! Well, things are about to get a little mad.”

Fawks stood from his chair and began pacing around the room, his bionic legs making small hissing noises as they worked.

“The damned thing attacked, slaughtered my men, sliced my legs off and made off with the power core our base possessed.”

“It sliced your legs off? Well, that explains the hiss hiss hiss. I was going to ask what the hell happened.” Salvador said to Fawks. Again, didn’t quite give away whether he was joking or whether he was being serious.

“…As I was saying…” Fawks irritably began.

“It ran off with the power core. You met up with it, had a little spat and we end up here. With you captured – Nice work by the way, I loved the way you ran right into a patrol returning to their HQ -, me with metal legs and a vanishing robot. Would anyone like to have a guess as to where it went?” Fawks offered to the group.

“Shot in the dark, but it’s got something to do with these other universes you keep moaning about.” Maya guesses, having recovered from her beating.

“Smart girl, you paid attention. When your good friend Salvador allowed it to hold onto the power core while Maya crushed it, you made one of the biggest discoveries in history. There are other universes, ones filled with creatures you cannot imagine. The robot is in one, and I intend to find it.”

“And?” Salvador asked. Not so much out of interest, simply trying to annoy Fawks.

“”And” what?” Fawks asked.

“What do you plan to do when you find it?”

“Salvador, I’m offended you’d need to ask that one.” Fawks amusedly said.

“Fill me in anyway.” Salvador groaned.

“Destroy it, of course. And all of the traitorous creatures who aided him.”

Fawks stood and began walking to the door of the chamber.

He’d made the point he wanted, he wasn’t to be toyed with. But he hadn’t made all the points he wanted. But the Vault Hunters curiosity was about to allow him to.

“And why are you telling this to us?” Axton suspiciously asked.

Axton, the tactical one. Never misses a detail.

“Why? Because you’re coming with me. You’re going to watch. You’re going to watch while I burn a galaxy and you’ll watch with no power to stop it!”

Fawks slammed the door of the cell on the way out.

He felt good about that.

He meant every word of it as well.

Not long now, he’d have his revenge soon.

Warp room Alpha, Hyperion Bunker, Pandora.

8:30Pm

“So Lucius how is this going to work?”

It had been two days since he’d spoken to the Vault Hunters. Since he’d told them of his plans.

He hadn’t even unlocked the door to their cell. He’d had Lucius take the food in.

Lucius had a way of tolerating people. Engineers who worked the forges, engineers like Lucius, never really got to see battle much. They never got to see the hate in another man’s eyes when he’s trying to stick you with a blade. They never got to develop the bitter hatred most other soldiers did. Therefore, they didn’t have many qualms about talking to prisoners. Fawks envied Lucius, sort of. Lucius wasn’t held back by the constant pre-judging of people. Lucius didn’t have to combat constant hate. Then again, Lucius put fewer bullets into people that way.

Wait, Lucius makes bullets. So… He puts the more bullets into people than Fawks ever could?

“Simple. Core blows up, you go to other world. Go in damn it!” Lucius yelled to Fawks as he tried to force a large plug into its socket.

Fawks was pulled quickly from his irrelevant thoughts.

“Forgive me for not being overwhelmed with confidence Lucius.”

Fawks would never admit it, but he was scared. This wasn’t exactly one for the record books; he was technically breaking the law. On top of the charges of Gods only know what, blowing up a power core and funnelling the explosion onto yourself doesn’t seem like the smartest thing ever to do.

Fawks was scared because, really, Lucius had given him no reason not to be.

In fact, Lucius had come to Fawks chamber with a list of ways this could go wrong!

Confidence building, right there.

Lucius seemed to focus only on the negatives in a situation. The power consumption. The costs. The time it took to prepare the loaders. The paperwork. More paperwork. The bribing. The sneaking. The horrible smell of the bunker. The ridiculous mess Fawks exploding would make.

Lucius spent far too long worrying.

“Well, you’re just going to have to trust me on this one Fawks. It’ll work.” Lucius assured.

“How long are you going to be down there damn it? I want to go!” Fawks impatiently yelled to his comrade.

Lucius, again, had spent so long lecturing Fawks about the danger that he’d neglected to make several vital calculations for the warp. He was paying for it with plugs needing re-arranged that simply don’t want to. Refusing to be removed from their previous sockets and shunning their new ones.

“Be patient, just a few… More… Damned… Plugs!” Lucius yelled as he hefted a huge electrical wire over his back.

“I’ve been waiting for you to finish up with those few last plugs for two hours. I’m very bored Lucius. Hell, I think your machines here have started to rust.” Fawks said, trying not only to push Lucius faster, but to insult him in payback for his insufferable time wasting. It may not be for normal folk, but saying something forged by an engineer is rusting is a great offence. It’s basically saying something that you’ve worked your life to make indestructible is being destroyed by the weather.

“Watch your tongue Fawks.” Lucius irritably said back to Fawks.

“I’ll watch it. Who knows? By the time you’re done it could’ve evolved.” Fawks tried to say, just barely holding back his laughter.

“I just won’t tell you I’m done then.” Lucius said as he pointed the middle fingers on both of his hands high in the air at Fawks.

“Ahhh… You know I’m only joking Lucius. So are we ready or what?” Fawks excitedly said.

“We’re done you impatient bastard. Get into position if you already haven’t.”

Fawks already had. He’d been waiting days for this moment; he wouldn’t want to miss a second of it walking between platforms.

Fawks stood, with his group of fearsome loaders, atop a raised metal platform with several sinister looking pipes aimed at his group. Fawks only stood with his group of loaders, his special weapon not present, demanding a warping chamber and several power cores of its own. The money it had cost… Fawks would hear no end of it. At least the weapon would get through. The Vault Hunters had been strapped to loaders. One for each of them. They’d be a shield of sorts. Shame the only thing available to bind them was a thick rope, not a welding torch to be seen. At least they’d also get through. The pipes were to direct the blast of the core into a field of sorts, one that would have the desired teleportation effect. Fawks was fully equipped. He didn’t have to do much changing though; he liked the armour he’d worn at the Outpost. Simple yellow plate with his eye modifications, just like Fawks liked it.

He had however significantly changed his weaponry. Having an armoury full of destructive toys readily available for you is just too incising to pass up. Fawks had taken his standard shotgun, Dahl made for some reason. Fawks didn’t know why but Hyperion stocked many weapons not actually manufactured by them. For variety Fawks supposed. In any case, a shotgun was his favourite. He’d treated himself to the assault rifle gifted to him by Lucius. It would bring him luck, he was told.

“Heh, enjoy the show” Fawks said when he saw Salvador mumbling through the cloth in his mouth.

“Any time you’re ready!” Fawks yelled.

He turned behind him and gave the hull of a robot a strong whack. It kicked into life with a mechanical growling of servos and the eerie, blood red light produced by its eye. Its brethren followed suite, bursting into life.

“Here it comes Fawks! All systems are-a-goooo!” Lucius yelled as he flipped numerous switches.

Fawks didn’t understand why he had to flip so many, surely it was as simple as one labled “Boom”, right?

Didn’t matter. Fawks got his boom.

And what a boom.

The crack of the power core exploding rocked the entire bunker and made Fawk’s head thump.

Bad designing on Lucius’ part, placing the detonation chamber close to the staging area.

Never mind, here it comes…

The pipes around Fawks rumbled and red smoke drifted from the ends, signalling the imminent release of pure energy. Moment of truth, win or lose, float or sink, live or die…

The red energy waves came out of the pipes in exactly what Fawks expected them to come as, waves.

Tsunamis to be exact. The rocked Fawks to the very core and right off of his feet. If the thumping in his head wasn’t bad enough, he now had the pain of being thrown to the hard floor.

The robots were doing ok at least, as far as Fawks could tell.

The pain… It was so intense. Fawks swore he was bleeding out of his ears that had just popped.

Suddenly, nothing.

Literal nothing. Fawks couldn’t tell if he’d died, or if it had worked. He could see nothing but a hell scape.

His loaders had followed him through at least.

“Where the hell am I… Wait, is that?”

Fawks could hear chattering.

Mechanical chattering.

Ajax...

“I’m coming for you, you son of a bitch…”

Two Roads Diverged In A Burning Town

Ponyville, Equestria.

1:00Pm SET

Everyone had gathered.

Gathered in the location Ajax had originally come into Equestria. Where better to leave a place than the place one entered? Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were all having a doze near to where Ajax was. He was leaning against a building, just big enough to support his weight. Rainbow Dash was patrolling the skies for any snooping ponies. Faith and Sheild, who were standing chatting to Ajax, had been instructed by one of the Princesses (They hadn’t specified which, but all assumed Celestia.) to keep this event private. That meant no ponies within the area and no ponies watching, even in the skies. Rainbow Dash had been so proud of herself when Faith had offered her the job of air security. Faith didn’t really want to trust such an important job with a civilian, but Rainbow Dash was the only pony permitted in the area that had both wings, and the courage to run security. In fact, Faith had originally been unhappy about the entire idea of having the area cleared. Why should the public be denied access to their own town on account of Ajax being sent home?

That was Faith’s first though, but after Shield pointed out Ajax’s triple barrelled monster of a weapon, his gilded sword, razor claws and the two belts of glowing grenades slung around his body in the shape of an X across his chest, his questions changed. Ajax was obviously prepared for something. He’d also remembered why he was here.

The enemy force heading for Equestria.

Faith now wanted to ask why the entire city hadn’t been evacuated and a legion of Royal Guard in full plate armour hadn’t been called to Ponyville.

Maybe they had, and Faith just hadn’t been told. Who knows? Celestia had been acting strangely lately. However, Faith did not question his leader’s choices; it wasn’t his place to, after all.

“So Ajax,” Faith began as he examined the armoury Ajax was in possession of.

“W-What’s the occasion for all of this?” Shield foolishly asked. Foolish for two reasons:

One, he knew exactly why and two, because his speech gave tell-tale signs of fear.

“You know why Pony. If an enemy is coming, I’m sending it straight to oblivion.” Ajax irritably said. He was incredibly annoyed today. He’d spent hours over the previous days trying to prepare the interdimensional radio device he’d promised. It had failed, miserably so.

If nothing more, he’d maybe improved its power efficiency and added some strange rod on top that would conduct energy. Ajax had no idea if it would be useful, but it was there.

“Ah… Sorry. Stupid question…” Shield apologised.

“Don’t be hard on yourself Shield; I’m just ticked this bloody radio didn’t work. Sorry to be so angry.” Ajax apologised back.

“Thank you Sir.” Shield quickly responded.

“…What’s with all of this “Sir” business? I told you the moment we met, Ajax will do fine.” Ajax suspiciously said. Ajax expected Faith to maybe be so soldier man as to call him sir, but not Shield.

“That’ll be my fault Ajax, I told him to be on his best behaviour. He’s not the best when it comes to small talk.” Faith apologise for Shield.

“Gentlemen, this is our last day together you know. Some parting advice. Faith, don’t be such a ruling ass always apologising for Shield, he’s a damned fine soldier and I’d ask you to treat him as such. Shield, don’t be a door mat and speak your mind when appropriate.” Ajax ordered the two ponies.

“We will Ajax, mark my words. We’re only trying to follow fucking orders” Faith cursed, causing him to cover his mouth with a hoof and look to the ground in shame. A military man? Cursing in public? Never heard of in Equestria. Even though there were no ponies to hear him, the others sleeping lazily, it was still bad practice. He’d get black marks on his record if Celestia ever caught him.

“Ha! Well, you’re definently picking the Pandorian lingo Faith!” Ajax loudly laughed.

He also held a hand to his face; he didn’t want to wake the other ponies. They needed as much energy as possible if they were to perform the act Celestia had planned, including energy wasted by simply standing. Luckily for Ajax, none woke. Some stirred, but none woke.

“Ah… As you were saying Faith?” Ajax quietly chuckled.

“Just. Following. Orders.” Faith angrily snapped.

“Ok Faith, cool it down. Just some fun.“ Ajax said in a calming tone. He’d annoyed Faith far too much.

“Ajax, I must ask. What are you planning on doing if this army doesn’t show? And you leave?” Shield asked, speaking his mind, as instructed.

“Here’s where it gets complicated. If they don’t show, they probably haven’t warped yet. If that’s the case, when I get back to Pandora I’ll attack the nearest Hyperion base to draw as much attention to myself as I can. Hopefully they catch wind of it and leave your universe.”

“What if they don’t” Shield continued to ask.

“What if they don’t what?” Ajax unconvincingly asked. He knew what Shiled meant.

“What if they don’t leave Equestria alone?”

“That’s not your concern. I must speak with Celestia concerning it, or whichever princess arrives.”

“Sounds suspicious.” Faith put forward.

“Not. Your. Concern. End of discussion.” Ajax said, finishing the conversation.

“Ok Ajax, what do you have planned if they arrive before you leave? You must be able to tell us that.” Faith complainingly asked.

“That I can. I’ve said once before. If anything with the taint of Hyperion in its system touched Equestrian soil, I’ll send it to oblivion.”

Ajax plucked one of the glowing grenades from his belt.

“What? You didn’t think these were oranges, did you?” Ajax seriously asked.

“Of course not. We’ve looked into those things. Grenades.” Shield joined in.

“Well done pony. They make a spectacular explosion, one which will remove even the hardiest of scum from the face of your planet.” Ajax said as he tossed the grenade in his hand before re attaching it to his belt.

“Don’t you worry; it’s all going to work out. All we need now is for Celestia to deliver her master plan and we’re done.” Ajax said as he scanned the skies for Celestia.

“She’ll not be here for a while you know.” Faith informed Ajax.

“Then it’s best you two guard the important ones among us.” Ajax said as he gestured towards the six lazing ponies with his hand. They were indeed important. Not just because Ajax cared for them, but because they were vital to the plan.

Ha… The plan. The very one Ajax was dreading.

He didn’t want to leave this place. He didn’t want to leave Faith and Shield. He didn’t want to leave his friends. Hell, he didn’t even want to leave the strange talking animals.

This universe had amazed him and he’d only had a small taste of it. He wanted more.

He wanted the rest of his life.

“That’s a plan I can get with. We were originally assigned to defend these ponies, after all. Will you be able to keep yourself entertained in the mean time?” Faith asked Ajax as he slowly walked off towards the other ponies.

“I’ll be fine, you’re only over there.” Ajax laughed.

“A lot can happen in the time it would take us to get from there to here you know Ajax.” Shield joked as he hurried over to the other ponies. Ajax could smell him. He smelled of chemicals.

Ajax’s senses were unrivalled. They were, in times like this, disturbing.

Ajax could smell, though he couldn’t be sure, simple body odour.

That was normal, really. Shield was a youngish pony, maybe 23-25, Ajax couldn’t really tell the age of ponies. Sure, he’s going to sweat. But it’s when Ajax’s body did him the courtesy of breaking down the odour into its components.

Packed full of strange chemicals. Ajax had encountered men with a similar smell.

Ajax found them when they were… Ah…

Well, let’s just say that when Ajax killed them, he didn’t kill them because of his skill; he killed them because they had underwear on their bodies and nothing more.

Shield was trying to hook up with, or maybe just get lucky with, six of the most powerful ponies in Equestria.

Would he be walking home with a limp, Ajax wondered.

“I could put a bullet in anything quicker than you can blink. I’ll be fine.” Ajax laughed back.

He felt slightly bad for laughing, anything really could happen.

But he was drawn away by the sight of his objective, just visible through the cloud.

Princess Celestia of Equestria.

Ponyville, Equestria.

6:00Pm

Celestia's entrance had been surprisingly dull. Even more so considering the huge wait.

No glorious carriage pulled by extravagantly dressed guards. No band followed in her wake playing a harmony for their princess. No heavily armoured ponies guarded her on every side.

Ajax had expected Celestia to arrive on a chariot of solid gold, pulled by gods among ponies. He’d expected an entire parade to be following her. He’d expected a legion of Royal Guard to be storming the grounds, making ready for any attacks.

Shockingly, very few guards of any description arrived at all.

There were at most fifteen lightly armoured Pegasus pulling up the rear, and that’s counting the two pulling the carriage. No fancy gold though, simple silver. Silver was still extravagant, but not princess extravagant.

“Ah, Ajax, Pleasure.” Celestia friendlily greeted Ajax with as her carriage touched down.

Ajax hadn’t had to put in much effort to slip away from the group to get to Celestia’s choosen landing location, Shield was still trying to get lucky with Applejack and Faith was too busy dying of hysteria at the slap he got.

“The pleasure is all mine.” Ajax truthfully responded.

Even though he felt deeply betrayed at Celestia’s decision to keep knowledge from him, he still owed her much. Anyway, Ajax saw reason in Celestia’s betrayal. Ajax could have told someone. Even if it were someone like Applejack, someone could overhear and spread chaos throughout the lands. No ruler should run the risk, Ajax didn’t need to be a king to know that. When commanding an army or even a small group of men, it’s vital no one learns anything that could set them off of the rails. If one fell, others would join in a domino effect. Same with a planet, one country falls into disarray and others will join.

“I saw you standing with the others, why come all of this way to meet me? I surely don’t merit such a thing from you?” Celestia happily laughed.

“You do. You’re actually very important right now, you, alone. Please.”

“Why would you need me alone?” Celestia confusedly asked, still laughing though.

She was overdoing her happy act.

“I have a request, for you and you alone.” Ajax seriously said.

Celestia picked up on this, thankfully, and dropped the high and happy ruse, using her seemingly natural serious tone.

“Leave us; meet with the others in the square. We’ll be right with you.”

Reluctantly, the fifteen of so guard ponies left. Not an easy thing to do, leave your Princess alone with a thing like Ajax. But when the order is coming from the Princess herself, it’s rather hard to argue.

“What is it you want to ask?” Celestia asked.

Ajax looked down at his weapon and he stared deeply at it for several seconds.

Eventually, he stopped staring and addressed Celestia.

“You’re such a primitive race compared to mine you know? In fact, this weapon probably contains more scientific knowledge in its trigger than your entire race can put on a planet.” Ajax said, confusing and offending Celestia.

“Is offending my species all you wanted to do here then?” Celestia angrily shot back.

“Come to think of it, there’s probably nothing more advance on your planet than this grenade.” Ajax said as he pulled another grenade from his belt and examined it.

“I’m not amused Ajax.” Celestia angrily growled.

No one else knew it, but Celestia had a very short fuse. Oh yes, she’s lovely when you’re telling her Equestria is saved, but she was a totally different character when not. In fact, she regularly yelled at her politicians at their monthly court sessions. Even a Princess needed to vent some steam.

“That’s why I want you to have them.” Ajax said as he held both his weapon and a grenade out to Celestia.

“W-What? Why?” Celestia Shockley said.

“I made a promise to your pupil Celestia. I said I’d teach her how these things work, one day. Now that I’m going, I’ll never get a chance, will I? So I give them to you, so that you might fulfil my commitment.” Ajax said, pushing the weapons closer to Celestia.

“What! I can’t take your weapons Ajax! I certainly can’t teach Twilight about them!” Celestia exclaimed.

“Why not?” Ajax asked,

“They’re made for destruction!”

“So primitive.”

Ajax turned and threw the grenade, it vanished in a flash and appeared centimetres from a wall of a building. It bounced, vanished and appeared with force back in Ajax’s hand.

“These tools abilities don’t only exist for destruction.”

“Ho- How did you do that?” Celestia said in shock. She was one of the few ponies who hadn’t witnessed Ajax’s full abilities.

“Technology Celestia. All in this…” Ajax said as he held the grenade to Celestia.

“Take them. Learn from them. Evolve with them. Do what you see fitting with my tools.”

“Ajax… This is a gift without rival you know. You’ve got some advanced technology. Are you sure?” Celestia warned. She was reluctant to take them. She knew the value of scientific knowledge, but she also knew how valuable relics can be to people.

“Consider it my parting gift to the world I loved, and a burning torch for the species I failed.” Ajax dispersedly said.

“What do you mean by “Failed”?”

“I made a promise to myself Celestia. Do no evil to those who do not diserve. I’ve brought doom to your world Celestia. I’ve failed myself, I’ve failed you… I’ve failed Pandora. I’ll never save my planet, and in trying to do so I’ve damned this one.”

“Ajax, you’ve failed no one.”

“I have. I’ve tried and failed, time and time again to keep my promise. I just can’t. I always fail. Pandorians are doomed to forever fight, no matter how far they run.”

“Ajax, you didn’t run. You came to Equestria very much against your will, didn’t you? No harm had come to Equestria yet and I doubt any will. You can return home and save your planet, just like you promised. You’ve done no harm to anypony. In fact, you’ve learnt from them.”

Ajax didn’t understand what was happening. He wasn’t being blamed. He was to blame wasn’t he?

Wasn’t he?

What was that about learning?

“What do you mean I’ve learned?”

“Oh please, Twilight didn’t tell you about her friendship reports?”

“Friendship whats?”

“Friendship reports. She sends me a letter regularly telling me of her latest discoveries on friendship,”

“Why does she do that?”

“That is a long story Ajax, another time maybe. But she’s been telling me about you Ajax. You’ve learned to love. You’ve learned to laugh. You’ve learned to cooperate. You’ve learned to accept.”

“W-I…”

Ajax pondered the thought for a moment.

Had he? He couldn’t think straight. This whole idea of starting this conversation was folly.

No… Wait…

He… Had. He had learned all of those things while in Equestria.

“I have… Haven’t I…” Ajax agreed.

“You have. Now I’d never call learning failure, would you?”

“No… I suppose I wouldn’t.”

“Then you have not failed.”

“Thanks… Celestia, you’re a good pony.”

“And you a good spirit. Now, there is still time to right the wrongs in your universe. Let’s hurry.” Celestia said.

She smiled at Ajax and began walking in the direction her Guard had walked.

“Celestia…”

“Yes?” Celestia said, stopping but not looking back.

“I need to ask you something.”

“Go on.”

“Learn from my weapons.”

“I already said I would.” Celestia interrupted.

“I wasn’t finished. Learn from my weapons, but if I am returned to Pandora, and the army still comes… You’ve taught me so much Celestia, time I taught you something. On Pandora, when we fight, even if we know we’re going to die… We fight till the last man falls. We fight till the last bullet is fired. We fight till the last breath is crushed from our bodies. When I get home, I plan to do this. To attract as much attention with my death as possible in the hopes it will dissuade the army from coming to Equestria. If the worst is to happen… Make sure to use my weapons, my grenade… And take a few of the bastards down to Oblivion with you…” Ajax finished as he turned to Celestia.

“You have my word Ajax. Let’s do this, it’s getting late.” Celestia sorrowfully said as she set of walking again. She’d been saddened by Ajax’s little speech. She’d also been made proud. Ajax was going to sacrifice his life for Equestria. It made her both of the previous things, sad and proud. Sad because he’s going to die, but proud that he’d die for Equestria.

Ajax did likewise.

“Die well, pony…” Ajax thought to himself.

He looked to his internal clock. He’d though it had broken when he’d come through into Equestria, it was ticking over sixty times faster than normal. He’d glanced at it once every so often and it seemed to be accurate. Maybe it wasn’t broken. It was still ticking in any case. Ajax read the time.

8:00Pm.

Not long now.

The ponies had all met up shortly after Ajax had finished talking to Celestia. All had been awoken, Rainbow Dash had been called down from her flying patrol and places were taken. Shield was keeping strangely silent. Maybe Applejack’s threat of harassment charges rocked him a little? Probably. He’d calmed down anyway.

Everyone except Celestia and her guard looked quite confused. Rightly so, they had no idea what was going on. Her guard probably looked uninterested because they really didn’t care. Their job was to protect Celestia, Ajax assumed, and they only cared about doing their jobs. But the rest of the ponies, they were confused. What about though? Ajax didn’t know for sure.

Either they didn’t know why they were here at all, or whether they knew why they were here but were confused why Celestia wasn’t telling them what she was planning. Ajax hoped it was the latter, and that the ponies actually knew why they were there, just not how they were going to do it.

If they were told now that they had all gathered to send Ajax home, he doubted they’d do it.

Ajax thought they must’ve at least knew why they were agreeing to help with, mustn’t they?

Ajax hoped they did.

“Would anyone like to guess what we’re going to do?” Celestia suddenly asked, breaking the previous silence like glass.

No body answered. No one wanted to say, really. Secretly, everypony who had been called to help didn’t really want to. Ajax had been such a good person to them during his short stay,

“We’re going to aid Ajax in getting back to his universe Ma’am.” Shield responded after no one else looked like they were going to.

“Correct Shield. How?” Celestia continued to ask.

“Hmm…” Shield thought.

“Let me tell you. Ajax explained to us that he came to Equestria when he was hit with an enormous amount of energy.”

“Right…” Everypony agreed,

“So, would anyone like to suggest a way to send him home?” Celestia asked.

“Uh… Generate the same amount of energy?” Shield nervously put forward. He really didn’t know if he was right. Could it be that simple?

“Right.”

Apparently.

“That simple eh?” Shield asked. He didn’t think it would be that simple. Secretly, Shield had been waiting for Celestia to send word of an ancient artifact with dimension hopping capabilities that him and Faith would need to retrieve.

“Far from simple Shield. Very far. Do you know how we’re going to make the energy needed?” Celestia asked, slightly annoyed at Shield.

“Uh… I have no idea.” Shield dejectedly responded.

“See, far from simple. Let me tell you how we’re going to do it. Faith, the box please.”

“Yes Ma’am.” Faith promptly said. He picked up a box from behind him in his magical grasp and levitated it behind him as he walked over to Celestia.

He set it down in front of her and trotted back to his place next to Shield.

“Hey… Isn’t that the box containing the elemental jewellery? That’s supposed to be hidden in my library.” Twilight confusedly asked.

“I had Faith retrieve it when you and Ajax met here today.” Celestia told everypony as she carefully opened the box.

“Why not ask Twilight to get them?” Ajax asked. He hadn’t spoken in a while.

The reasons remained his secret for the moment. But he’d decided to ask that to avoid raising suspicion. He didn’t know why anyone would be suspicious though. He’d done nothing suspicious.

“Because I wasn’t sure she’d even have agreed to help us. Hold still…” Celestia said as she fitted the elemental jewellery associated with Rarity.

“As much as I love wearing jewellery…” Rarity began as Celestia moved onto fitting Fluttershy’s element.

“I do like to have a reason beforehand...” Rarity hinted. Everypony wanted to know why they were here.

“Oh, yes. One moment.” Celestia fitted the last of the ponies with their elements. She wasn’t exactly stalling; she didn’t have a very valid reason to. He reason however was good enough for her. She was secretly terrified of telling Ajax the plan. She didn’t think he’d take it very well.

“Now, Rainbow Dash, what does the weather look like?” Celestia continued to stall.

“Eh… It looks like there’s a good chance of answers.” Rainbow Dash sarcastically said as she innocently looked up at the sky.

“Really? Looks more like rain to me. Any rain scheduled for today Rainbow Dash?” Celestia responded. She’d picked up on Dash’s obvious sarcasm but opted to ignore it and continue to stall.

“Princess, please. Tell us of your grand plan that involves the elements of harmony.” Faith sarcastically said. He knew the plan and he knew why Celestia didn’t want to share it with everypony else.

“Hmm…” Celestia hummed. She was nervous, but she was trying hard not to show it.

“Or, should I tell them what you intend to have them do?” Faith said. He was slightly annoyed that after sending Ajax all the way to Ponyville and after seeing all the progress he’d made she was still trying to hide things from Ajax.

“Fine Faith, let’s just tell him. His wrath is on your hands though.” Celestia irritably said.

“Tell who what?” Ajax suspiciously asked.

“Tell all of you the plan. I’m fairly certain you won’t like it.”

She’d taken to pacing in front of the six element bearers and Ajax, who were standing in a neat line behind Celestia. Ajax had been placed a few paces in front of them.

The Royal Guard ponies that had arrived with Celestia were still there, they just seemed invisible. They had taken to forming a loose circle covering the entrances to the courtyard and the Princess.

“Try me.” Ajax said confidently.

“We’re going to hit you directly with an enormous amount of energy that is generated by the Elements of Harmony.” Celestia said. She finished with a sigh. This wasn’t going to go well.

Ajax took a moment to respond, but he did.

“Run that by me again please.” He flatly said.

“We’re going to hit you with a beam of pure energy…” Celestia nervously said.

“Oh, sorry. I thought I heard something crazy the first time.” Ajax sarcastically said.

“I’m sorry Ajax, but that’s the plan.” Celestia adamantly told Ajax.

“No, that’s insanity. Insanity that will likely be the end of me. No one could survive a beam of energy that powerful hitting them.”

“And how do you know that?” Celestia said, very annoyed. She’d expected Ajax to put up some resistance but not to spurn the entire plan.

“Because I worked it out. When I was in Twilight’s library I withdrew a book that just happened to be details on the Elements of Harmony. I knew that you’d think of this plan and I know that it won’t work. That energy will rip me apart.” Ajax stated as if it were fact. He thought it was.

“Yes, simple energy would break you down into little pieces, but the Elements of Harmony don’t make simple energy.” Celestia calmly said. Always a princess, always calm. Celestia never truly got angry, not even with Ajax. When Celestia gets angry… Things happen. Usually you’re turned into a plant. And not a nice plant, oh no. You become one of those plants that no one likes. An annoying fern of some kind.

“Speak sense.” Ajax ordered in a very demanding tone. He didn’t want to play any games when he’d just been told they planned to tear him limb from limb.

“The energy given off by the Elements of Harmony is Friendship energy, positively charged energy, if you will. The magnitude of joy and love that is contained within the Elements will be more than enough to send you home.” Celestia finished. Hopefully that would calm Ajax.

“Forgive me for being sceptical, but Friendship energy? “

“Yes. Friendship energy. Pure emotion.”

“Oh, that’s ok then. It’s ok if you’re hitting me with a death beam of love.” Ajax sarcastically remarked.

“As it should be.” Celestia promptly shot back.

“Celestia, you’re not angry with me for being a little less than confident, are you? This is a tough pill to swallow.” Ajax asked Celestia.

“I’m not. But I trusted you when you swore no harm would befall my world. It’s time you have some trust in me.”

“I’m never one to give someone a bitter deal. Fine Celestia, let’s get this over with and send me home.” Ajax sighed.

He’d caved into Celestia and had agreed to do something that he believed was life threatening. The final time. He’d have to improve his willpower for when he returns to the real world, to Pandora.

“Very well.” Celestia happily responded.

She moved from in between the six Element bearers and Ajax, leaving an empty gap of nothingness in between.

“Ponies, ready yourselves. You will summon your Elements and focus them into a beam, just like you did with Discord and Nightmare mood previously.”

All fell silent. No one wanted to do this. Not the six ponies for their fondness of Ajax, or Ajax himself despite his desire to aid his home. The short time they’d spent together had been glorious.

“Ajax, when they begin I want you to focus all of your energy into your transportation device. Not only that, but I want you to think deeply of home. It will boost the effect of the Elements and ensure success!” Celestia said in a raised voice to Ajax.

“Copy that.”

Ajax slid several reinforced metal plates mechanically back into position, moving them from a comfortable position and into one that cover vital servos and cables. He began to feed power directly to his warp device, turning it into a bomb more powerful than several atomic explosions. If his warp device was blowing up, he was going to be as impenetrable as possible. The device made thunderous grinding noises as the fans and gears contained inside toiled to contain the mounting power being fed to it.

“Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, begin.” Celestia yelled over the tremendous sounds coming from Ajax.

They complied, though they did so with hidden frowns on their faces. They all got into a state of total focus. They were raised slightly from the ground and colourful power began to radiate from them.

“Celestia. Remember what I told you. Remember what you promised me.” Ajax yelled to Celestia as a pale blue aura began to surround Ajax’s device, bathing his armour in a blue glow. The black of his plates did not change, but the white gained a blue tint.

“I will.” Celestia yelled back. She’d brought Ajax’s weapons with her. They laid by her right side, reminding her of the very possible doom she was facing.

“Get ready!” Celestia yelled as she saw both sides getting to the point where they would be able to unleash the energies.

“Ready?” Celestia yelled over the crackling power radiating from both sides.

“Ready!” The six Elemental ponies responded.

“Ready.” Ajax effortlessly projected. He’d realised there was a deafening sound and raised his vocal output units, making a bellow feel like a whisper.

“Three!” Celestia bellowed.

“Two!”

“One!”

“Goodbye… My friends…”Ajax projected to the ponies.

Twilight’s Library, Ponyville, Equestria.

“Ah… This is great!”

Spike was happily sitting in his cot in the Library.

He had a bowl of sparkling gemstones sitting next to him and he had several magazines laid out before him. The gemstones weren’t all too expensive; Spike was on a budget after all. The magazines were just as cheap and weren’t all too interesting, simple fashion magazines. Spike was only interested in them for two reasons. The first being it would give him something interesting to talk to Rarity about and the second being there was a mare that modeled for the particular magazine that didn’t look half bad. Spike didn’t really get much free time with him helping Twilight and he most certainly never got to relax in such a manner. His day was shaping up to be a good one. One small problem though, the same problem that always happens when you’re sitting in silence with no one around. Spike couldn’t help but think.

Ajax, how did Spike feel about him? If not now, on the day he was being sent home, when would Spike think about this? As better time than ever.

Spike hadn’t spent any time what—so-ever with him besides the small interaction they had at the library entrance. He seemed… Nervous, of all things. The walking tank that was Ajax looked on edge!

But Spike knew why he was slightly uneasy that day, and that’s why he was confused about how he felt.

Twilight had told him one hell of a tale about Ajax when she’d first seen him in her dreams.

Spike was a little confused as to whether he likes someone who does what Ajax does.

Then again, Twilight had reconsidered Ajax and she’d decided he was trustworthy. He probably should as well.

Spike supposed it didn’t matter what he felt now.

What did matter though was the horrid sounds coming from outside. They were preventing him from enjoying his reading material. They sounded like someone cracking wood and maybe a little bit of grunting. What could it be?

“Urg… Let’s go see what the commotion is…” Spike groaned as he stood from his cot. He didn’t like to be distracted from his precious relaxation time.

He casually walked over to the door of the library and hauled it open. Its hinges creaked as he opened it as it hadn’t been oiled in some time. It had always annoyed him, just not enough for him to fix it. The frosty air hit Spike like a train when the door was opened, it was very pleasant. The recent freeze had yet to remove itself from the air and was still slightly cold.

Spike took a few steps out of the library’s doorway and began to survey the surroundings, looking for the source of the commotion.

He found it.

At first, Spike mistook the figure for Ajax. But then he remembered that Ajax was elsewhere.

The machine, which looked very much like Ajax, was busy stomping on a cart. That explained the cracking sound. Now just for the grunting.

Oh, another one had its huge foot firmly pressed down on a pony’s tail, making the poor mare grunt as she tried franticly to escape. Hmm…

Spike was suddenly had a revelation; this was incredibly frightening. Spike didn’t know why he hadn’t been frightened to begin with.

He didn’t panic though. Another revelation had hit him; that pony was in danger.

She needed help!

Spike ignored the fact that two clones of Ajax had inexplicably showed up and had begun destroying things and franticly looked for a way to assist the poor pony who was being cruelly toyed with.

He looked around the surrounding area but found nothing within reach.

Well, except one thing. But it was too stupid to even consider.

But Spike considered it.

He’d spotted a rather large rock a short distance away from himself.

He had no other option; the robot looked ready to finish the trapped pony.

Nothing for it Spike guessed.

He jogged the short distance over to the rock and picked it up in both his little hands.

He looked to the robot holding the pony and tossed the heavy rock in its general direction.

It flew far and it flew straight. It hit the robotic titan on the top of its boxy body. When it hit it left a small dent on the things head and smashed the rock into tiny pieces. The machine was thrown off balance and its glowing red eye began erratically flashing. Its foot lifted from the anonymous pony’s tail and she ran off quick as a flash. Spike simply couldn’t understand how he hadn’t heard any other ponies in distress before now.

Spike suddenly regretted his decision.

Both of the robots, after the damaged one had recovered its balance, turned on Spike and drew weapons like the ones Ajax used.

Spike had heard of what Ajax’s weapons could do.

He really didn’t want to be on the receiving end of one of their discharges. But that seemed to be where he was.

Only one thing for it Spike thought,

Run.

And dodge the torrent of projectiles.

“Celestia! Throw me my damned gun and let me send these bastards to Oblivion!”

Spike had run to the only place he knew was safe. The place where Twilight was. The place where the guards were. The place where the ruler of Equestria was. The place where Ajax was.

Spike had burst in, interrupting the process that Ajax, the Element bearers and Celestia had been working on. He had brought the robots with him, causing a string of curses to be yelled by Ajax, some of which had never been heard by pony kind. A number were directed at Celestia, who was still in possession of Ajax’s fire arm. She wouldn’t throw it to him; she was taken by surprise by the sudden appearance of two of Ajax’s kind. Celestia and the other Element bearers were taking cover behind a chunk of masonry that Ajax had hastily ripped from a statue, much to the displeasure of Celestia. Apparently it was an important one to Ponyville. Ajax had adopted a small house as his form of cover. The occupants had run as soon as bullets started to fly into their walls. How they’d managed to stay through the noise caused by Ajax’s generator was a mystery. It was just them now. The rest of the guard had been gunned down, whit the exception of Faith, Shield and an unknown guard who had fled into a building before the fighting really started.

“How do you propose I do that!?” Celestia yelled back to Ajax over the slowly rising thunder of gunfire. She’d regained her composure quite quickly and had gotten to a point where she was ready for angry yelling.

“Just throw the damned thing to me! Either that or shoot it yourself!” Ajax irritably yelled back.

“How! It weighs more than me! I can’t throw it!” Celestia exclaimed.

“You’ve got magic haven’t you!?” Ajax yelled as he peaked around the corner of the building to get a look at the opposition, but quickly ducked his body back as several bullets struck the corner where he’d previously occupied. Slowly but surely more and more robots were adding to the hail of bullets. There were five at the moment but Ajax was sure there would be more. These weren’t your average loaders either. As well as several being specialised models such as PWR loaders with wrist fitted rifles and SGT loaders, but they seemed to be smarter. While your average loader would simply stand, shoot and take any return fire, these loader seemed to take cover expertly and move fluidly.

“You think it’s easy to move such a heavy object over that distance?!” Celestia angrily yelled as she pointed to the space in between the two speakers.

“Yes! Isn’t it!? You lifted it all the way to here with ease!” Ajax yelled back.

“No! It’s not that easy! I’m under a lot of stress here!”

“Oh to the pits of hell with it! Throw it as far as you can! I’ll run the rest!” Ajax yelled back to Celestia.

His plan was one that could get him injured, but at least he’d get something with a little weight to it in his hands.

“Ok! Ready?!” Celestia yelled as she strained to lift the weapon in the air and prepared to toss it.

“On three!” Ajax yelled as he prepared to run.

“One! Two!” Both participants readied themselves.

“Three!” Ajax bellowed.

Celestia tossed the weapon with all of her might, but it wasn’t much. It only got it about half way to Ajax. Ajax was left to retrieve it.

He jumped out from his cover and into a sprint. He covered half of the distance required without trouble due to his lightning fast appearance. But the fire quickly turned on him, and he was in danger.

He sensed bullets hitting dangerously close to him, so he rolled.

He took the weapon up halfway through his roll and landed in a crouched position.

This was Ajax in his element. A gun in hand, a knee on the floor, an army against him and a target in his sights

He took aim with his powerful shotgun.

In his element.

He pointed it at the first loader to catch his attention and pulled heavily down on the trigger, discharging all three shells loaded in the shotgun and sending a visible wall of explosive yellow projectiles at the loader. The smoke that came from the barrels of Ajax’s gun produced an almost choking cloud.

It never even stood a chance. It wasn’t quick enough on its feet. It stood from cover to take a shot at Ajax and was met with a wall of explosive death. It disintegrated into a million tiny shards of serrated, white hot slivers of metal that scythed into the armour of its companions causing several to lose the function of bodily features. Hopefully it hadn’t hit any of the hostages.

That was a shocking fact that Ajax had been made aware of soon after he stuck his head out. Four of the seven or so loaders Ajax could see running towards him had people strapped to them.

Humans!

Well, not mere humans. These were super humans.

Ajax recognised them. The Vault Hunters.

Had they gone and gotten themselves captured? Likely.

Their lust for treasure was legendary, and what treasure was more tempting than a sentient loader?

The looked to be tied to the loaders. Ajax couldn’t simply shoot them. What sort of death lord kills people who’d make his job easier?

No, Ajax had a plan. Maybe if he freed them… Yea, they’d want to shoot something.

They didn’t look to be all too pleased. They’d make fine allies during this fight.

“Tables turned.” Ajax quietly laughed.

He ran back to his building cover as the opposition tried to regain its force.

He popped the empty casing of his discharged shells out of his shotgun and slipped three more in. He’d stocked the cases attached to various places on his body with shells for his weapon before leaving his barn this morning. Lucky.

Ajax may have taken out one of the loaders, but two more had taken its place. Well, one who had taken its place didn’t seem to be a loader.

It was smaller… It almost looked human…

It had a symbol on its shoulder plate. A cog.

Damn.

Ajax knew he should have killed that damned engineer the moment he’d met him.

So, he was the one behind this entire damned mess.

The bastard who’d shown such courage in the face of death. Figures that he’d be insane.

The heat was mounting.

Enemies were gathering.

The final confrontation was taking place here. Ajax was under fire. The combatants had a large distance between them. The odds were against him.

Time to play nasty.

Ajax was a walking tank, after all.

“Celestia! You’ve still got the three grenades I gave you, right?!” Ajax yelled as he pressed the wall he was standing against.

“Of course! Do you wish to have them back as well?!” She asked.

“No! Keep ‘em and cover me!” He yelled as he took a step back from the wall, some shrapnel from impacting bullets rattling against his plate.

“What do you mean!?” Celestia confusedly asked back.

“No time to explain! Just pull the pin and throw the damned things!” Ajax yelled.

Before Celestia could argue, Ajax ran into the wall with all his might and crashed right on through.

“Wh- Oh to Tartarus with it!” Celestia yelled.

“Here goes nothing… Cover your ears girls…” Celestia told the rest of the ponies as she magically pulled the pin from one of the grenades.

Celestia looked at the flashing lights on it. She didn’t quite understand Ajax’s strange symbol language, but she got the gist of what it meant.

“десять”

“девять”

“восемь”

“семь”

It was a countdown. A countdown to the explosion.

Well, here goes nothing.

Celestia closed the eyes, covered her ears with her hooves and magically tossed the grenade over the stony cover. She counted down the six seconds that remained.

When she counted zero she heard an admirable bang and a series of mechanical whines.

She’d blown some of them to the pits of hell Ajax had been referring to.

She’d also, hopefully, given Ajax the cover he required.

Celestia looked nervously over her cover to see the state of things.

Her grenade had done some serious damage not only to the enemy but to the landscape as well. A huge hole now lay where she’d thrown her grenade.

Things were strangely quiet. The enemies were still recovering, slowly though, from the grenade.

Celestia could see three broken robots lying on the ground, but several still remained and the human still stood atop his strange mechanical legs.

Celestia couldn’t really hear. The grenade, even though she had her ears covered, deafened her.

She ducked back behind the cover to check on the conditions of the other ponies. They all seemed ok. Shaken, but ok. Before Celestia could ask anything more, a sound took her by supprise.

*CRASH*

Celestia was startled by the crashing concrete. What in Equestria caused it?

The answer became instantly clear.

“Die you Hyperion scrap!”

Ajax had, using the distraction of the grenade, punched his way through several buildings and straight to the enemy. He was, at this moment in time, hacking and slashing the enemy to shreds.

They hadn’t even gotten a chance to gather their thoughts before they were attacked.

Ajax was on them instantly.

He truly was in his element. Nothing could stop him

He’d taken out the majority of them, save for the human. Save for Fawks.

This human had caused Ajax a great deal of trouble. He wanted the human to see his precious task force in ruin.

Several Hyperion elites, the best of the best, destroyed by his hand and Celestia’s grenade with barely even a single scratch on his person. Ajax had managed to spare the Vault Hunters the brunt of the attack, they hadn’t been killed. But they hadn’t come out completely unharmed. The siren had a large but shallow cut along her right forearm and the commando was dazed. At least they were alive. They had rags in their mouths so they remained relatively silent. Ajax decided to leave them be for the moment.

Now… The human. Fawks.

Pathetic human. Brought a puny army of a tiny size to take on Ajax and paid the price. Is this all he had to offer?

He'd obviously underestimated Ajax.

“Stand human.” Ajax said as he flicked oil off of his glistening talons.

“Shut it tin can.” Fawks snapped back as he crawled back to his feet. He’d been knocked to the floor when Ajax had burst through the wall and had opted to stay that way.

“Awww… What’s the matter? Annoyed your army wasn’t up to the task?” Ajax laughed.

“Ha ha ha…” Fawks laughed as he bled oil from the gash on his leg. That grenade had done so very much. That’s why it had been so easy to defeat the loaders. They’d been severely damaged by the grenade. Ajax doubted, after having seen the specialised equipment each wielded, that he’d of been able to do it any other way.

“What’s so funny?” Ajax suspiciously asked.

“You really think that that’s my army? Seven or so loaders?!” Fawks laughed.

“What do you mean?” Ajax asked. This was making him uneasy.

“Ha! Wait for it…” Fawks chuckled.

Ajax punched him in the gut and he fell to the ground.

Fawks was quite damaged and had several deep wounds on his body. Things weren’t looking good for him.

Ajax pointed his weapon at his head.

“You’ve lost.” Ajax flatly said.

A crack of lightning thundered behind Ajax and he could hear far off stomping. Stomping of a gargantuan.

Fawks began laughing.

“I do believe that’s coming for you Ajax.”

Fawks began laughing loudly as the monstrosity came through the rip in space.

The rip was a horror to start with, being a big crackling warp in reality, but it was made even worse when the mechanical titan came crashing on through.

It was a Saturn class loader.

Imagin a tank with legs, then add about twelve tonnes of plate armour and several plasma cannons.

Then you’d be getting close.

Take that image and add two large rocket pods on its back.

Then you’ve got a Saturn.

They’re an abomination. An inhumane tool of combat that should have been outlawed years ago. But with Hyperion gunning for total control, they remained in service.

They were rare on Pandora, only five had been seen in Ajax’s entire service time on the planet. Ajax had seen one when the Vault hunters had stormed Handsome Jack’s fortress, but it was destroyed by the very same Vault Hunters. Ajax had seen one roaming the wastes shortly after the downfall of Handsome Jack. Ajax hadn’t been too enthusiastic to attack it; this had been before Ajax had become who he was today. They were devastating combatants and were not to be trifled with. One was currently crashing its way through houses to get to Ajax.

The Saturn was locking onto Ajax with its many mounted turrets. It wouldn’t be soon before it was shooting at him with more guns than you can shake a stick at.

Ajax had to do something to prevent the imminent doom that would surely befall Equestria.

He had to…

He had no idea what to do.

All that anyone could hear besides the huge foot falls of the Saturn was Fawks’ cruel laughter.

He was taunting Ajax. Pushing him to do something. But Ajax had no idea what to do. He couldn’t take on the Saturn alone, he’d surely be destroyed.

Wait… He didn’t have to do it alone.

Not only would this give him a chance to defeat the Saturn, it would irritate Fawks greatly.

Ajax walked over to the gagged Vault hunters and slowly sliced the rags from their mouths.

They were confused, but thanked Ajax none the less.

“W… What are you doing?” Fawks suspiciously asked.

“Hey, Vault Hunters. How’d you like to take a Saturn’s power core home?” Ajax asked them as they pulled themselves painfully to their feet.

Ajax had been formulating the plan ever since the Saturn had made itself known. Every Saturn contained several power cores. Power cores were what Ajax as well as the Vault Hunters had been seeking. This could be the one and only bargaining tool Ajax had at his disposal: a common interest.

Even though it wouldn’t be easy, both parties could walk away happy.

“Power cores?” The commando asked.

“Yes. The Saturn model of loader has very power demanding weapons. We could both have a power core, if you help me defeat it.” Ajax tempted.

“A power core eh...” Axton considered.

“All you have to do is help me destroy that thing…” Ajax said as he gestured to the slowly approaching goliath.

“But you do realise what that is, right?” Salvador asked,

“I realise it’s something you’ve destroyed before. You can do it again.”

“But we’re not exactly prepared for fighting. We’ve got nothing!” Axton argued.

Ajax kicked a weapon that had been discarded by Fawks when he had fallen to the ground.

It was a beautiful weapon, obviously very expensive. How a grunt Hyperion had managed to get hold of it was a mystery. Maybe he had connections.

“Give me that back you robbing scum.” Fawks spat as he tended to his slowly leaking leg.

“Learn to live with what you get commando. It’s this,” Ajax said as he held the weapon out to Axton.

“Or that.” He finished, pointing to the now very close Saturn.

“I may not like you…” Axton hesitated.

“But deal.”

“No. Stop. You won’t defeat it.” Fawks begged. Now he wasn’t so sure of his victory.

Alone, Ajax was nothing to a Saturn. Together with the Vault Hunters…

Well, they weren’t something you’d mess with.

“Sorry buddy, you brought this one on yourself.” Salvador laughed as he hauled a mini-gun barrelled assault rifle from a dead SGT loader.

“Let’s go then.” Ajax said.

All of them had a weapon and all of them were prepared. They could do this.

Well, almost all of them were prepared.

“Urg…” Maya complained as her wound bled. It was really pouring now. The red liquid was forming a literal river.

“What’s wrong?” Ajax asked.

“Simple dummy. She’s bleeding.” Salvador answered.

“Oh… Right… You humans bleed don’t you… Well, you’ll have to stay here.” Ajax said.

“But, won’t you need my help?” Maya painfully asked.

“Maybe, but they need your help more.” Ajax said as he pointed to the cowering ponies.

They hadn’t really announced themselves since Celestia had thrown the grenade. They didn’t want to.

They were scared senseless.

They needed someone to comfort them.

“A woman’s touch?” Ajax tried.

“Fine…” Maya complained.

“I suppose it makes sense. They’ll need some help. I’ll see what I can do.”

“My thanks. The rest of you, are you ready?”

“As we’ll ever be.” Axton replied.

They had all quickly selected a weapon from the mess of parts on the ground. They’d had to tie Fawks down with the ropes that had previously held the vault hunters and they had gagged him.

He was being difficult, trying to grab weapons and the likes. Better that he be somewhere relatively safe.

The thumping from the Saturn had become ground rocking. It wasn’t even within weapons range yet!

“Are you ready for this?” Axton asked his comrades.

“No. You’re the ones who have fought one of these.” Ajax responded as they slowly walked towards the towering machine.

“Hey, don’t worry. We got this!” Salvador tried to convince Ajax.

“Forgive me for not being so enthusiastic. I’m not all too sure your human bones can withstand missiles.” Ajax lightly chuckled.

“And your tin can ass can?” Axton laughed back.

Always laugh before you go to your death.

The thunderous steps the Saturn made were dwarfed by the sounds created by its weapons.

As soon as Ajax and his make shift team got within weapons range, which was a surprisingly short distance, the Saturn opened fire with its long guns.

The plasma blasts were intense and destroyed entire buildings. Luckily, most ponies had fled. The ponies of this world were smart: they conveniently knew when they should leave so that the heroes can have a clear path without having to care about civilians. Nice.

Ajax and his companions had to duck and dodge in between buildings. They were slowly gaining ground. Very slowly. More than often the building they were going to run to was destroyed in an intense blast of white hot plasma. The bubbling liquid pool left behind would probably make a very nice hot tub, if it wasn’t white hot and could melt a solid brick of metal.

“How are we doing Ajax?!” Axton yelled to Ajax as the Saturn’s long gun opened fire again, melting more possible cover.

“We’re making some head way! We’re about 50 metres from the target! We’ve travelled about 200 from where we left the female!” Ajax reported back to Axton.

Axton seemed to be the only one talking. Zero, while he probably had much to say, chose to remain silent. Salvador had lost his interest in talking when he’d criticized the Saturn’s accuracy, right before a bolt of plasma almost sheared the barrel off of his weapon. That shut him up.

“We’ve got to move! That thing’s aiming for us!” Axton yelled to Ajax as he noticed that the Saturn was aiming its long guns at their current location.

“Nicely noticed! There!” Ajax yelled back.

He pointed and ran to a large and overturned cart. It wasn’t the best, but it was better than being a pool of liquid. They made it just in time. The ground behind them radiated with heat as it turned to goo.

“We’ve got to do some damage to this thing soon Ajax, we can’t just keep dodging plasma!”

“Well what would you suggest?” Ajax irritably yelled.

“I don’t know? Run at it?” Axton suggested. He didn’t actually mean it.

“Wait a second… That might work! How quickly can those things move their guns on their Axis?” Ajax asked as he popped his head out and looked at the Saturn, checking its movement speed.

“Uh… Ajax, I didn’t actually mean…” Axton nervously said.

“Three…” Ajax began.

“No, wait Ajax! This will get us killed!”

“Two…”

“Oh fuck!” Axton swore.

“One!”

Ajax ran from the cart. Axton, Salvador and Zero weren’t far behind.

Ajax had timed it perfectly. The Saturn had fired the moment they’d set off running. The ground right behind them erupted and sent a heat wave that scorched Ajax’s paint. But they’d made it, and now the Saturn’s weapon systems were locked out until they cooled. Just enough time to sprint 50 metres and smash a robot to hell.

Axton shot his weapon at the Saturn’s mounted cannons as he ran for cover.

The smaller weapons had opened fire as soon as Axton and his companions had gotten into a range where they could fire their weapons.

They were deadly, but they were easy to dodge. Ajax was doing the most damage using his explosive shotgun, but even that was failing against the Saturn’s hulking armour.

The machine was simply standing, letting its cannons do the heavy shooting and letting its armour take all the attacks.

“Fight harder you mercenary dogs!” Ajax bellowed as he saw his weapon leave nothing but scratches.

Even though Ajax was leaving nothing but dents, the Saturn was deeply annoyed.

It tried to stomp him, but missed. Being such a hulk has its disadvantages: you’re incredibly slow.

Ajax saw no way he could win over this thing. It was only a matter of time before everyone was struck down by the thumping cannons. But as the huge metal foot came down next to Ajax, an idea hit him.

Every loader, even him, had a central nerve of sorts. A great cable that connected the AI core to every other limb and feature in the body.

Saturn class loaders also have one.

An exploitable defect for Ajax.

“Up the leg!” Ajax yelled as he began to climb the leg metal.

The cannon began pounding against Ajax’s armour but it was nothing that he couldn’t handle. The Saturn’s close combat weapons were surprisingly lacking. Small calibre bullets did nothing to Ajax. The small calibres to Ajax were huge calibres to humans however. They had to wait on the ground, lest they be killed.

“I’ll stop this thing! You distract it!” Ajax yelled as he climbed.

“Can do!” Axton yelled back.

Ajax climbed and climbed and climbed. He had climbed only half of the Saturn’s body and he was getting weak. The constant hail of bullets was wearing him down.

“I can’t do this for much longer! Take out some of the damned cannons!” Ajax yelled to Axton.

“Trying!” Axton angrily yelled back as he sporadically shot at the cannons on the Saturn.

He hit occasionally, but he never managed to destroy any. Only to knock their aim off temporarily.

Ajax, though uneasily, made it to the top of the Saturn.

He could clearly see the Cable he had to destroy. One of the fatal design flaws of the Saturn loaders: their one true weak point is easily accessible.

Ajax need only shoot it and all of this would be over.

He took aim with his shotgun.

One last little phrase. Once a badass, always a badass.

“The bigger they are, the harder th-“

Ajax never finished his macho phrase before the final kill. The missile pods that were attached to the Saturn’s back opened their hatch doors. Upon opening, they knocked Ajax flying off of the loader.

The last thing he saw before he blacked out was the frantic shooting of Axton and the laughing face of Fawks.

Ajax woke to the sporadic sound of gunfire.

Axton was yelling at Salvador to get cover.

Celestia was yelling at Maya to help Ajax.

Maya was yelling at Celestia to stop demanding what she can’t do.

Fawks was giving off witty one liners.

Faith and Shield, who had emerged from their hiding place, were trying to fire some of the weapons on the ground but were having little luck.

The world smelled of gunpowder and oil. The sky was chocked by smoke and dust.

Ajax couldn’t feel anything.

Ajax sat up. He could barely hear himself think.

But what he could hear, he didn’t like.

He could hear failure, He could hear death. He could hear…. Twilight.

Twilight was yelling something about using the elements again but Celestia was arguing that it wouldn’t work. If Ajax couldn’t stop that thing, nothing could.

Ajax could only think of one plan. It was murky, but it might work.

The details hadn’t fully formed in his head. He needed to think. Could Twilight and her friends do it?

Could Ajax feed them enough power? Would it really destroy it?

Ajax didn’t know. The basis of the plan was simple.

Instead of using the Elements of Harmony to send Ajax home, they’d use it to charge Ajax with huge amounts of power. Using it, Ajax would rip the Saturn limb from limb and quickly send the Vault Hunters home. Ajax didn’t know if it would work. But he could try!

He would have to try! He’d made strong enough bonds with the ponies. Their friendship would be enough. It would work.

Wait…

What was Celestia saying about The Elements of Harmony?

The elements! Ajax had only just recovered and he was having strokes of brilliance!

The plan then…

Grab Fawks. Run to the Saturn with Maya. Gather together Axton, Salvador and Zero and get Twilight and her friends to send them home!

Sure, Ajax would probably end up dead. No, he would certainly end up dead.

But he owed it to Equestria… He owed them peace.

And if his death by taking Fawks and his monsters away from Equestria did that, so be it.

Wait… Two completely feasible plans.

Which one would Ajax choose?

Would Ajax sacrifice himself in return for the guarantee that Equestria will be saved?

Will Ajax take a risk and try to repay Celestia by truly saving her from all of their enemies?

Ajax didn’t know…

He’d have to choose quickly though.

Time was running out.

Oh Gods….

The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed

War. Everything Ajax had ever done had led to war.

His creation had marked the beginning of several of the bloodiest wars his universe had seen. Through his life he’d caused and ended countless wars that raged across hundreds of planets. His release from Hyperion’s cold, harsh service had sparked yet another war, one of which would see him fighting the very people he sought to save. Ajax knew that the only thing left for him to do would be to die.

What would Ajax’s death bring he wondered.

Would his valiant last stand echo in the hearts of every free man in the universe? Would everyone who shares his vision of a universe free of Hyperion’s tyranny try and best his legend and make as big an impact as they can in their death? Would they try and complete his task of freeing the universe to avenge him? Would they end the war?

Probably not. Ajax had been fighting for as long as he could remember. One death couldn’t spark such a deus ex machina ending to the fight. There’d never be such a simple solution as one death that would resolve a war. It would always take the death of a million martyrs to end a war. No, Ajax expected his death to go unnoticed. He’d die by the hands of this maniacal monster and it wouldn’t make any difference.

“Ajax! Wake up damn it!” A voice yelled.

The options.

He didn’t need to think about those though; he knew what he had to do.

Equestria was the best place he’d ever known. It was tranquil, it was friendly, and it was at peace.

As much as Ajax wanted to stay in the paradise of Equestria, he couldn’t jeopardise the creatures that inhabit it. He just couldn’t, it wouldn’t sit right on his conscience letting an entire planet take the fall for him.

“Get! Up!” The voice repeated, much clearer this time. Ajax could feel the clarity returning to his thought, but as it returned it brought with it a wave of woe. He would have to leave this place. For ever…

But, it was a worthwhile sacrifice. He’d be saving all of the ponies he cared dearly for.

And he did care dearly for them, he was certain of it now. He’d developed so much in his short stay in Equestria. So much so that he’s willing to die for them.

“Get your scrap ass up!” Completely clear now.

The siren, Maya, was giving Ajax the least motivational speech that Ajax had ever heard.

If you want someone to move, don’t call them scrap.

Ajax painfully hauled himself to his feet. He felt the same sensation he’d felt when he’d came to Equestria. That being oil trickling from his body. Falling quite a height had taken its toll on Ajax’s metal body. Seals that Ajax had placed over cracks had split and were leaking once more. His body’s system pumped oil around rapidly to try and compensate for the dropping levels of fluid, but only served to increase the loss. Even though Ajax was a mechanical, what people call “The Immortals”, his body still suffered from the same issues man kind’s bodies did.

Even though he was faster than anyone in Equestria, except maybe for Zero, he felt slow. Well, he didn’t feel slow. The world felt slow.

Things moved as if in slow motion.

Oil spurted from ruptured pipes in a visible cascade. Tears fell from Fluttershy’s eyes as if they were made of syrup.

Bullets flew so slowly you could flick them out of the air as they flew towards you and as the struck the ground tiny mushroom clouds of dust ascended into the air. Plasma flew out of the Saturn’s cannon, the waves of heat given off by it clearly rippling in the air.

Ajax didn’t know if it was some sort of near death experience or some of that blasted Sirens witch craft trickery, but everything seemed so much clearer now.

He knew what he had to do to save Equestria.

In the seconds it took Ajax to have the revelation, the world sped up again. Tears streamed from Fluttershy’s large eyes. Bullets fired from the Saturn’s cannons, ones that were aimed at the still fighting Vault Hunters, struck the ground near Ajax kicking up clouds of dirt. Searing waves of heat washed over the entire land as the Saturn continued to rip the town apart.

Nothing else was on Ajax’s mind besides the plan.

He turned and located Twilight. She hadn’t really been harmed, her magic had protected her.

The wards she could probably cast would boggle the mind of the Siren in her company.

Ajax grabbed hold of her and earned surprised looks from every other person present.

Ajax whispered something to her. No one heard besides Twilight. No one could even begin to guess what he’d said, but whatever it was had upset Twilight. A frown even bigger than the one she’d previously worn took shape and tears began to rim her eyes.

“Are… Are you sure?” Twilight said, completely ignoring the fact that Ajax had tried to whisper.

“Yes. Do as I command Twilight.” Ajax ordered, throwing away his previous act of whispering and announcing it for everyone to hear.

“It’s time to finish this, once and for all.” Ajax flatly said as he walked to Fawks. He was still laughing.

“You’ve caused this world more trouble than it deserves. You’re a monster and a war criminal.” Ajax spat at Fawks, his words filled with clear hatred and disgust.

“I’m a war hero.” Fawks spat back with just as much hate.

“Well then,” Ajax said as he lifted Fawks up, his voice showing the slightest signs of laughter.

“Die a hero’s death. Maya, with me.” Ajax ordered as he turned to face the Saturn.

Maya was quickly by his side, the prospect of combat exciting her.

They stood silent. Maya didn’t understand why they were, but she continued to do so. She could wait a little longer. After all, she was in no hurry to do combat with a Saturn.

Ajax was deep in thought, formulating more of his plan and considering the outcomes. He simply stared at the Saturn and the three men doing almighty battle with it.

Twilight was quietly explaining what Ajax had told her, much to the displeasure of the other ponies.

“…then we use the Elements of Harmony to send them all back.” Twilight almost cried.

She didn’t want to see Ajax leave. No one did. He’d grown on all of them. The way he acted, the way he spoke and the way he desperately tried to earn trust.

“Do we really have to Twilight? I don’t want my flying buddy to leave! He’s the only challenge in Equestria!” Rainbow Dash complained loudly.

“It’s that or…” Twilight looked to the Saturn firing salvos of rounds that impacted on buildings, turning them to dust.

“Or let that thing stay…” Twilight nervously finished.

Everypony shared scared glances and argued no more. Although it was a terrible end, it was that or complete destruction.

“Finished?” Ajax asked.

“Yes…” Everypony sadly confirmed.

“Very well. You know your jobs?”

“Yes.”

Ajax hauled Fawks onto his shoulder.

“Then let the story come to an end.”

Ajax and Maya ran forward with incredible speed.

Ajax had explained the plan to her and she knew it was the right thing to do. The odds of the other plan succeeding were slim at best.

This seemed like the only logical thing to do.

Ajax carried Fawks on his shoulder with one hand and shot his shotgun at the Saturn with the other. He reloaded it flawlessly with only one hand and did so aggressively. This machine was the symbol of the thing he despised so. His shells may have done little damage to the thick armour of the Saturn the sight of explosive shells smashing into it brought him no small pleasure.

Destruction, even if pointless, was always glorious.

“Guys!” Maya yelled to her comrades.

“What?! We’re kind of busy!” The commando yelled back as he loosed a burst from his assault rifle.

“Too busy for a plan?” Maya offered back.

Axton angrily slapped the last clip he had into his rifle and ducked back into cover as another cannon began shooting at him.

“You know me; I’m never too busy for one of those.” Axton laughed as Maya and Ajax joined the fight. They’d run hard and fast, which had displeased Fawks. He’d bashed his head hard against Ajax several times. They’d covered the ground it had taken several minutes to cross originally in seconds. Not having a plasma cannon sending supernovas rocketing your way tends to make things easier. But now they were into the fight. Axton had found a nice piece of cover, one seemingly made from the bedrock of the ground itself, possibly a final gift from Celestia? A suitable piece of cover in which Ajax can explain his plan? No one would ever know. Axton’s cover, while protective, wasn’t productive. Sitting idly behind cover doesn’t destroy contraptions. Ajax needed this plan explained quickly so that it could be executed before anymore of Ponyville was destroyed. Zero and Salvador were doing a fine job of keeping the Saturn from destroying Ponyville. Zero and his fascinating phase out device were doing an admirable job of confusing the best artificial intelligence the universe had to offer. Your target being a good ten metres away from you one moment and slicing out at you with a sword the next would be enough to confuse anyone. And how Salvador was distracting it?

Well, the very idea of a considerably small man wielding two comically large tri-barrelled shotguns was enough to attract the attention of the Saturn’s guns. Hell, some of them weren’t even shooting. Some were simply looking and silently laughing to themselves.

“So, what are your plan then Ajax?” Axton curiously yelled over the discharge of heavy cannon upon the Saturn.

“Pay attention soldier man. The original plan that I woke up to this morning was: the Elements of Harmony blast me with their energy; I contribute my reactor’s power to the mash; and finally the energy build up rips the plains of reality and sends me home.” Ajax explained.

“Uh… I sort of follow. How does that help us?” Axton asked.

“Well, we can use the same idea here. I have instructed the Element Bearers to strike with their energy upon my command. We can merge my power, theirs and that of this monstrosity to send all of us home.” Ajax finished.

“Hmm… I understand. When can all of you be ready?” Axton asked, deep in thought. He was calculating the many variables that came with Ajax’s plan.

“We are ready. All I need is for us to be close enough together.”

“Then what the hell are we waiting for? Maya, go tell the other two to stick close to the Saturn.” Axton ordered.

“Sure Axton,” Droned as she emerged from cover and ran towards Salvador and Zero,

Ajax began to stand, but Axton’s hand stopped him.

“Hey, tin man. A word.” Axton firmly said.

“What is it you need soldier man?” Ajax curiously asked. He’d decided to say “Soldier man” instead of Axton’s actual name. The fact that Axton had referred to him as “Tin man” was offensive.

“We met on the ice plains of Pandora on a bit of a bad note. We met with guns pointed at each other. Now we’re collaborating in a different dimension.” Axton said. He should have said it plainly, he was stating a fact. But when the words flowed from his mouth emotion followed. Strong emotions. Happiness and pride.

“It’s been a hell of a trip,” Axton said. “One I’ll be glad to see end.”

Axton, Ajax, Maya and the other Vault hunters fought with ferocity never seen before on even the most feral worlds. They shot every single bullet available to them at the cannons mounted on the horrific machines body. When bullets no longer fed themselves into their guns, they sliced, punched and hammered the damnable cannons.

And when bullets had been spent and blades blunted, they used their useless guns and blunted blades as crude clubs. They weren’t trying to do anything in particular in the way of the plan; they were simply trying to do as much damage as possible before they enacted the plan.

It was more of a comfort thing though. Ajax was certain that such a large thing would be damaged on the return trip. The destruction gave Ajax no small joy; the sight of a Hyperion mechanical being hit by four of the most feared warriors, on his behalf too, gave him such joy. But the joy was fleeting, for the harsh reality of things set in.

Destruction had a certain type of beauty with it, Ajax knew this. There was always a certain amount of awe to every explosion. A certain amount of grace to a head exploding from the force of impact from a mace. But not today. This was unwanted, ugly destruction.

Ajax was going to be destroyed, and it wasn’t fair.

But Ajax knew about fair. He’d learnt the only rule about ‘fair’ you need to know.

--Battle log opened—

-Opening file “Reclamation of Mars”

-WARNING. FILE TAG “CLASSIFIED” DETECTED. AUTHORISATION REQUIRED

-Identification “AJAX” Accepted

-Loading relevant geographical data (Including but not limited to maps, holo-maps.)

-Visual recordings loaded

-Geographical data loaded

--Playing recording(s)—

The creature lay in a ditch, undisturbed.

It had been killed several months ago, caught in the crossfire of two fighting factions.

It was a hardy creature, the planet of Mars bread only the strongest creatures, but it had succumb to the hail of armour piercing, acid filled rounds fired by the invading forces. Only the highest quality round would do when you’re invading a planet like Mars. It was the hub of all metals and arms in the entire universe, trumping that of even Titan in output. At one point, the inhabitant work force went insane and decided to mutate themselves beyond belief, replacing near enough all of their limbs and organs with mechanical replacements. Even the wildlife, the little that existed on the desolate rock, was turned into metallic horrors.

The creature, named “Shift Wyrm” by the inhabitants. Its name came from the boiling, shifting metal that composed its body.

Its body was hard and pockmarked from the heavy impacts. The body of the shift worm went solid if it felt threatened but usually went back to its normal state afterwards, but the toxins contained within the bullets that hit it had stopped that transformation. Strangely, the body was cracking.

Slowly cracks spread across the surface. Flecks of metal peeled away and chunks of solid matter fell to the hard, dusty ground.

Eventually, a hole appeared in the skin of the dead creature.

And from it, emerged something glorious. A smaller version of the original creature stood on its many, insect like legs. It looked horrific to begin with, dripping metallic puss that looked rust like. But as it crawled from its parent’s corpse its shifting skin began to harden and become less liquid and more fluid. Its skin was a masterpiece of flowing colour.

It was beautiful. Even the death of such a horrific creature can spawn something beautiful.

It scuttled across the ground for a moment before standing on its hind legs and spread a magnificent set of white hot, glowing wings.

*CRUNCH*

The gigantic metal foot came down on the creature’s skull, crushing the molten liquid that acted as the brain out of the fluid like head.

The creature died before it had even gotten a chance to live.

Proof, if proof were needed, that the universe exists without any sense of fairness. The planets spin regardless of whatever injustices were committed upon them.

“Look how it bleeds the very metal the freaks of this world filled our bullets with. Does it not fascinate you?” Dex chuckled as he rubbed the remains of the creature’s head into the dusty ground.

“Does it not amaze you how easily life can be extinguished?”

“No, it does not. I do not care.” Ajax said sharply, not masking his disinterest in talking. He didn’t want to talk on this planet. The horrors that had been committed were disgusting. The howling screams of the maniacal mechanicals that had been fought. The grating death groan each made as their vital organs were dissolved by the acid filled bullets. There was no glory in liberating this world.

“Humph… You’re no fun.” Dex unhappily sang back.

There wasn’t even any point: Hyperion’s output was about to overtake that of Mars.

Ajax had fought, side by side with his brothers in arms and for what? Mars: a barren rock covered in crazed craftsmen?

Pointless. So many unjust deaths. Unjust. Unfair. Ajax, on the blood stained dust of Mars learned the one lesson. Life isn’t fair.

--End recording---

Ajax knew the universe had no concept of fairness. That wasn’t bad though. It had changed him. Hardened him. He could deal with the unjust. He could deal with this.

“Ajax!”

Axton’s voice jerked Ajax abruptly back into reality.

“Any time now would be good!” Axton yelled as he sliced with a combat knife at a thick wire hanging out of the Saturn’s leg. It seemed to disable one of the cannons on the Saturn, but the turret healed soon after. Never made sense to Ajax: the Loaders miraculous ability to heal. No matter how badly damaged one was, it always healed with time.

“So eager to go back through Oblivion?” Ajax grimly laughed. He was trying hard not to show the sheer sorrow he was experiencing.

“Into the breach, as always!” Axton laughed back.

“Prepare yourself!” Ajax ordered as he began to power up his warp device.

It glowed its familiar colours and hummed its comforting tunes. Ajax couldn’t tell what exactly was comforting about them though; they signalled an imminent doom.

The power began to jump from capacitor to capacitor, the electricity being held within becoming too much for them to handle.

Twilight and her friends saw the energy building up and began their part of the sequence. They focused their feelings for Ajax and all began to gather energy.

Within a matter of seconds, the air surrounding the ponies began to alter in the colour spectrum and pulsed with raw energy. It began to focus into a beam on Twilight.

Neither party wanted this to happen. Ajax loved this realm and its inhabitants, just as much as they loved him.

But Ajax had learnt the one bitter truth while fighting hell spawned abominations over weapons, watching his mechanical brothers die for the pure sake of Hyperion exercising their power and dragging his boots over the dust ridden terrain of Mars: the universe doesn’t care.

When the beam hit, it was not the beam of friendship that Celestia had promised. It was a concoction of friendship, sorrow and despair. It did nothing to improve Ajax’s mood; in fact, all that negative energy causing through his entire body was unbearable. It was not the painless experience Celestia had hinted at either. The pain was even more intense that his original transportation and it caused along every nerve and servo that made up his entire being. Pain shouldn’t be so intense that you feel it in your mind. Celestia was maybe trying to help him when she said it was painless though, Ajax saw the sense in it. Being told something like “We’re going to send you home but it will hurt like absolute hell.” Could, for some unknown reason, scare the hell out of someone. Better that they believe it’s going to be painless. That way, when the excruciating pain kicks in, the thought of being lied to builds into a roaring fury that overrides the pain. At this very moment in time, this was the case. Ajax was so enraged by Celestia’s cold, brutal logic that he just didn’t give a damn about the pain.

The Vault Hunters however...

Their screams were something to behold. Well, for a time they were. The Vault Hunters were tough, no doubt. They’d taken out millions of foes without so much as a scratch on themselves and caused the downfall of the biggest tyranny to befall the universe. But a million and one – Wait, what would friendship be measured in? Joules of energy. Does that word have any application here? Hell to it, Joules it is. - Joules of friendship energy can’t be ignored by any creature in existence, and by no means by a human. They… looked like they’d had acid poured on them. They were kneeling on the quickly vanishing floor clawing at their bodies. Luckily they passed out before any damage could be done. Speaking of humans screaming, Fawks was transmitting a satisfying howl as his suit slowly cooked areas of him. Ajax wanted to laugh, and he did. Hysterically so. He laughed and laughed right until him, his companions and the Saturn condensed into a singularity and vanished from the face of Equestria.

What an interesting image for the ponies to see of their heroes: four of them fainting and the last one holding a howling madman in his arms and laughing madly. No one could piece it together. Instead, they simply wept. The odd pony tried to say something, but none got them off. Their emotions said enough. They knew that their sorrow was causing this. They could’ve stopped it and taken their sorrow out of the beam, but when they saw the screeching Fawks, they pushed their woe into it even harder. Actions speak louder than words, and right now the ponies of Equestria were yelling with a world shattering force. It all happened so fast. One moment they were there and the next they weren’t. The only thing that remained of the fearsome army was scrap.

Scrap, and the morbid, echoing laughter of Ajax. It echoed and echoed and echoed, a chilling goodbye, until Celestia ordered Rainbow Dash to silence it with a sonic Rainboom. Ajax had told Celestia that it was customary for a soldier who died a hero’s death to have one last gun fired at their funeral.

That would have to do…

Pandora.

The crowd burst through the bleeding rip in reality with tendrils of sickly energy following them, trying to pull them back into the immaterial that was the void. The vault hunters tumbled first, flying speedily out onto the hard floor. They were still unconscious. That was all Ajax saw as he came through the portal after them. That was all he saw period. The pain, the sorrow and the solid floor’s impact knocked him unconscious. In this state, he’d surely be killed.

He welcomed the death…

“Tick toc Ajax…”

The voice was an unwelcomed awakener to Ajax. He’d hoped to pass away, but the fact that he could hear was just reminding him that he was alive.

He really didn’t want to live any further. He’d lost everything. His friends, his future and most importantly, his purpose. What good was a loader if not for destruction?

Ajax wanted to destroy something to remove some of the blind rage from his system.

“Get up…” The voice said.

It wasn’t any voice he recognised… It wasn’t any of the vault hunters, it wasn’t the deranged ranting of Fawks and it lacked the mechanical grind of a generic loader. It was…

“You ass, where’ve you been?! Things have gone to hell since you went you bloody spark plug!!!”

Ah ha…. Someone Ajax did know then. But… How was Dex contacting him? His warp device? Was it still a functioning radio?

“Got yourself a radio there tin can?” Another voice laughed.

This time it was one Ajax knew fairly well.

Fawks…

The one who fought back… The one who ended Ajax’s time in Equestria… The Hyperion…

The enemy…

Ajax snapped back into reality. What had happened to him? For a moment there he’d actually been wallowing in self-pity!

That’s not Ajax. Ajax doesn’t give up. Ajax never admits defeat. Ajax will die with honour and never yield.

He switched his optics back on.

The world had quite literally gone to hell, as Dex had claimed. The sky was scared by the marks of where orbital strikes had pierced the atmosphere. Smoke billowed from the many craters that littered the grey stone ground Ajax laid on and gunshots could be heard all around. Fighting was taking place nearby, and it sounded to be heading this way. The air was thick with toxic fumes and it hung to the barren ground like pain to wood.

*Thud*

That was an odd sound, Ajax thought. But then he realised it was actually very familiar, and very bad.

The Saturn… It was slowly hauling its broken body back onto its towering feet. It wouldn’t be a minute before it was back on its feet and had its weapons aimed at Ajax. A minute… A minute to do what must be done.

Fawks…

Ajax had no weapon; he’d lost it on the way through. He didn’t know if he had enough power to warp one in.

Fawks…

The vault hunters were unconscious. There would be no help from them.

Ajax had nothing but his blunted blades.

Fawks…

He still had his faith… And that was enough. Ajax stood. He felt more than a few pipes well and truly break. Not just crack this time, fully break. They poured his black life liquid out of them and slicked his limbs with sticky fluid. He could barely stand and his arms shook in a near violent fashion.

He stood to see Fawks standing high atop his bionic legs. He was tall, but not as tall as Ajax. He stood out like a sore thumb in the grey stone landscape. Well, there wasn’t much besides Ajax’s black and white plate and Fawks yellow on the entire stony plain, so there wasn’t much else to stand out. He held the only weapon for miles, looted from the prone forms of the Vault Hunters. It was the fancy plasma sword that the assassin had used. Fawks was extravagant, even at the end.

Fawks limped towards Ajax, one of his bionic had been rendered almost useless upon travel. He didn’t have far to travel as the vault hunters hadn’t fallen far from Ajax himself.

Ajax was too slow to react; his body was just too damaged. Life moved as if in slow motion, but Ajax saw the blade move with lightning speed. He felt no pain as the blade sliced through his leg. Ajax’s mind went into a state of enhanced focus, but left just enough consciousness for Ajax to see his left leg be severed at the knee and be kicked away from under his feet. He dropped to one knee. Ajax felt only the impact of a hard truth: we are all fated to die, and some of us are fated to die in a pit, with no one around to witness your last moments.

Heh… Dying alone… Ajax never could stand the thought. He’d always thought he’d die fighting, gun in hand and comrades by his side. Ha, so much for that. Ajax may not have a weapon, he may not have his comrades, hell, he may not even have half of a leg, but he had memories. Memories of the happy time he’d spent in Equestria. Memories of the joy he had felt, and the laughter he had shared.

He remembered Equestria, and he felt at peace… He would die with pride in his heart.

*CRACK*

The crack of lightning powerful enough to shatter the skies themselves rang out across the plain. If anyone had cared enough to look at the barren plain in which the group resided, they would have been blinded by the pearlescent light that filled it for the briefest of moments. But, no one really did care. The plain was of no interest to anyone. Too few resources or any tactical advantages for Hyperion to take it, and too much open, exposing ground for any bandits to claim it as theirs. They were a dumb group of inbreeds, but even they knew a killing ground when they saw one. Ajax was too focused on his memoires to even realise what had happened. All Ajax saw was the diminishing light, the closing rip in space, and a weapon on the ground. The weapon… It looked… No, it couldn’t be his, could it?

“What games are you playing…” Ajax thought.

Ajax was just as dumbstruck as Fawks by the mysterious appearance. Ajax, despite his missing limb and broken body, reacted quicker than Fawks

He snatched up the weapon in his broken clawed hand. It was his shotgun alright… Had he dropped it on the way through? He couldn’t remember.

It felt… Almost identical to his weapon, but the area around the handle felt rough… Like there were small markings or grooves on the handle. Ajax had never been sentimental about anything, so he’d never had words inscribed onto his weapon. Nor did he remember his handle having anything that would make it rough. He liked the smooth feeling plain metal gave. But there was the certainty that something was different… Ajax wagered that it was a carving or grove it had picked up from the fall.

Ajax held the weapon to his eye with his free hand, the one that did not possess any modifications.

He was correct: something had been carved there… He read it.

“Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Unyielding Faith, Dependable Shield…” Ajax mentally read, all the while Fawks was regaining his maniacal composure.

Ajax looked for another name, but didn’t find one.

Where was Twilight’s name? Ajax suspiciously thought. It was nowhere to be seen on the handle… He couldn’t quite fathom why Twilight, the person who seemed to understand him the most wouldn’t have placed her name on this parting gift.

Where could it be? Ajax searched.

“I knew you’d come around to my ways…” Ajax quietly chuckled as he examined the shells loaded inside the shotgun. Three of them, glowing a pearly white. The only thing that wasn’t white was the glowing purple text on each shell… It read:

“Twilight Sparkle ”

“I knew it…” Ajax breathed.

But… There was something smaller engraved into the shell below the glowing purple text… So small Ajax had to use his zoom function to read it. He could barely make it out, as it was rendered almost unreadable by the glowing purple and the blinding white, but it looked like it said “Your leg”… Ajax cast it off for nonsense. A message that should have been, but became garbled as it was written. Should it have said “Your legend?”? Maybe “Your legacy?”? Something to think about in his last moments? Maybe… Maybe not….

A blessing though, all the same… Ajax could only guess at how this had happened…

Maybe his emotions brought on by thinking of Equestria had provided enough of a connection to send something through realities? Or maybe…

The how really didn’t matter to Ajax; all Ajax needed to know was in front him. He realised what the text meant. It wasn’t supposed to say any of what he thought it might… Ajax caught a glimpse of the mural on his leg plate that Rarity had painted for him… And he knew.

What he knew?

Well, Fawks’ next words would answer that exact question. It’s as if Fawks had read Ajax’s mind and was trying to coax the words out of him... Ajax did love when people fed him his lines.

“So, you’ve got yourself a gun eh? It’s pointless Ajax, you’ve lost. You’re kneeling before me, and I’m about to kill you! What are you even fighting for, fool?!” Fawks bellowed as Ajax held the shotgun.

“I’m fighting… For freedom…” Ajax snapped the shotgun back into working order. The chambers leaked pearlescent light that hurt the eyes to gaze at.

“For justice…” Ajax primed the weapon. It hummed a harmonic tune as the various components glided effortlessly into their places.

“For me…” Ajax looked at the mural on his leg. He felt nothing but pride.

“For them…” He hefted the shotgun painfully upwards, and pointed it at Fawks’ head. The light emanating from the weapon reached all and bathed it in a soothing glow.

For Equestria...

*Bang*

Ending 1 Epilogue

Epilogue

Pandora, Royal Pnadorian Museum of Relics and History, Relic room of the Great War.

54 Years after end of Rebellion and Hyperion’s expulsion from Pandora.

“So you’re one of the people who helped win the war?” A child asked

The group of children sat on the gleaming marble floor of the Museum. They sat before a great throne, positioned at the far back of the room. The room itself was a, grand corridor, one of many that the Royal Museum held. This one however was the grandest (And the largest. The owner of the museum took pride in the fact that he had a 200 metre long and 20 metre wide room to exibit his works). It was the grandest because it commemorated the most recent and possibly the most significant event in Pandorian history. That being the end to Hyperion’s tyrannical reign, the liberation of mechanical sentient beings, and the independence of Pandora. This room in particular was displaying and commemorating relics that helped win the war, and key figures behind the victory of the Revolution.

“Yes young one, I was.” The asked responded.

“I handled logistics for the war. Tactical data, reconnaissance of the enemy, this was all my field.”

“Were you a hero?” A smaller child asked.

“Everyone who fought against Hyperion was a hero young one.”

“Do… Do you have a name?” An even younger child asked. She didn’t look much older than eight. Odd how one eight year old can be so out of tune with the world, yet another can be completely immersed.

“What do you mean?”

“Well you’re a…”

“Ah, ha ha. A robot? So robots can’t have names?” The owner chuckled amusedly.

“Uh…” The child awkwardly and embarrassedly droned.

“My name was Dex, little one.” The Loader sat upon the throne of pearly marble laughed. Dex had done well for himself after the war. He was very intent on preserving and informing people of the war that befell Pandora. Everyone should know of the atrocities committed on the planet, and the horrors people were forced to endure for so long. After Pandora was colonised for a second time by civilised individuals, and Loaders were officially recognised by the universe as sentient beings, to be allowed to live their lives any way they see fit. Dex chose to spend his time preserving the war that gave him his independence. He’d changed his appearance a little since the war, but he was still usual colours, simply re painted. He did have a few medals welded to his torso, but besides that, he was normal.

“The Dex?” One child asked amazedly.

“You know me?” Dex continued to laugh. He loved it when people recognised him. Just another sign that his teachings were far reaching.

“Are you kidding? My father told me so much about you! He used to be an engineer in the resistance you know!” The child explained excitedly.

“Ha ha, it’s good to know that he’s teaching you then.” Dex happily laughed.

“Did you know Ajax?” The child happily asked.

“Ajax?” Dex responded, his tone lowered a tad.

“Yea, did you know him? My father told me more about him than anyone else. About how he was the greatest hero of the war?” The child continued to ask.

“Hmm… There were many great heroes child… But, I think that Ajax was the most interesting.” Dex said to the children. Everyone was listening now. Who doesn’t like to hear about a good hero?

“Why would you say that?” The child interestedly asked.

“His story is a good one I suppose.” Dex lightly laughed, reminiscing.

“What’s his story?” The child asked again, still very interested.

Dex started to chuckle.

“So… You want to hear a story do you, eh?” Dex laughed as he hauled himself up from his throne and descended the great steps leading to it.

“Well…” Dex began. The throne slowly and noisily slit apart, and the two halves moved away.

In the centre, suspended in a stasis field atop a white marble plinth, was a pearly white, triple barrelled shotgun.

Dex reverently activated the speaker set into the plinth.

The speaker bellowed in a grainy, automated voice, "Accessing black box recording system - playing file 105d1b"

"Have I got a story for you." Dex chuckled.

No sooner than Dex finished his sentence, the speaker activated again.

From the speak came two words. They were spoke in a grinding, damaged, mechanical groan of a voice. One that was incredibly scared, yet still alive. One that had been through a great ordeal, but came out standing tall. They were spoke with passion and pride. The words echoed throughout the room.

For Equestria...

Back In Black

9:00PM, SET, Ponyville, Equestria.

War. Everything Ajax had ever done had led to war.

And as Ajax lay looking at the star filled sky, he wondered what his death would bring.

“Ajax! Wake up damn it!” A voice yelled.

It sounded distorted to Ajax. It echoed as if it were yelled from far away. Even still, it was like someone was yelling it through a megaphone right in front of him. The sound drummed in his mind and made his thoughts cloudy. The world moved at a pace slower than anyone could possibly conceive. In what seemed like a minute, a bullet flying past Ajax moved an inch. Ajax couldn’t tell if it was some mystic near death experience, or the result of his processor being drowned in leaking oil, but it was happening. The only thing that didn’t move slowly were his thoughts. However, Ajax couldn’t remember anything save for one thing.

The options.

He didn’t need to think about those though; he knew what he had to do.

Equestria was the best place he’d ever known. It was tranquil, it was friendly, and it was at peace.

He loved this place, as much as he loved the life he was barely hanging onto.

The inhabitants… The new emotions… The friendship. It was all too good to give up. Ajax simply couldn’t leave. In this state at least… How could anyone who claimed to be good, like Ajax, leave an entire world with a vastly superior war machine wreaking havoc upon the world. He knew what he had to do… He just didn’t know how to do it…

“Get! Up!” The voice yelled once more, still sounding as if it was coming from a whole galaxy away.

To destroy the Saturn… It would be a difficult feat. But… Not impossible.

Ajax had learned several very important lessons while he’d been in Equestria.

The most important one was the value of friendship. Ajax had explained to him that Twilight Sparkle was much like him once. Not in the sense of being a huge metal murderer, but in the sense that she did not know the meaning of friendship. She did not know its value… Its power… Its magic.

Wait a second…

“Magic…” Ajax quietly said aloud.

“Yes! It’ll seem like bloody magic hitting you if you don’t get your ass up! Up! Now!” The voice yelled once more.

Ajax hadn’t realised that he’d been lying on the ground all this time. Or that he merited such attention from the vault hunters. Well, one of them at least.

Maya, surprisingly caring for someone such as Ajax. She was use to crushing loaders.

Ajax clambered painfully to his feet. He felt several servos in his body creak. His senses registered something akin to pain, but not quite. Pain is simply another sign that one is still alive. This pain signified the continuation of life. The continuation of Ajax. That meant there was still a chance to defeat the Saturn. Still a chance to save Equestria. Still a chance for redemption. So in a way, pain was progress.

Ajax had a plan formulating, although it wasn’t the best of plans. Hell, Ajax didn’t even know if it would work…

But he was doing it. Ajax recalled quite an inspirational quote from someone, Ajax couldn’t quite remember who, who was a great man of war. He had waged war since the day of his birth and was unrivalled. As he and his army ran towards battle with another force, he held his great sword high and bellowed: “Burn the bridge behind you, leave no retreat! There’s only one way home lads, and it’s forward!”. Ajax felt exactly the same way.

Ajax was all out of luck, and backed into a corner. His bridges had been burned leaving him no way back. So… What way can he go when he can’t go back?

Forward…

“Maya.” Ajax plainly said.

“Oh, now you respond! What?” Maya irritably yelled over the sound of a large weapon’s discharge.

“Gather your friends. We’re going to blow that think to hell.” Ajax spat. The words taste bitter in his non-existent mouth. He didn’t like saying it. He didn’t want to have to destroy something in front of all whom he’s come to love. He didn’t want to show them his true life. But… He had to.

He glanced over to Fawks, who was lying on a heap on the ground, disoriented by his wounds.

“And its master is going to hell with it…” Ajax said reluctantly.

For his plan to work, he’d need complete and utter co-operation from all the element bearers. Ajax didn’t know if saying he’s going to murder Fawks was the best way to obtain that co-operation.

No pony said a word after Ajax said his statement.

Ajax knew though that none of them cared.

Eyes are a flaw… Ajax could see the burning hatred in the ponies’ eyes, the strongest a tie between Rainbow Dash and Celestia. But Ajax could also see a lower form of sympathy within them. They weren’t used to war, and they weren’t used to shutting off their emotions like Ajax. They wanted Fawks dead more than anything, but being the ponies they were, they couldn’t contemplate murder. Overall… Most of them seemed indifferent as to whether Ajax killed Fawks.

“Fawks, you’re a monster… It’s time for you to go back to whichever hell spawned you… “

Ajax hefted his now incredibly heavy shotgun at Fawks’ face.

For the briefest moment, ever single piece of his mind yelled for him to pull the trigger, which his metallic finger was twitching dangerously on. In this moment, Ajax wanted nothing more than to blow the abomination’s head off. His finger pressed the trigger down, so much so that Ajax braced himself for a shot.

But then, he remembered the people watching… Or, rather ponies.

How awful would it be to blow an man’s head off in front of them?

That simply isn’t right… Ajax regained control of himself and lowered the gun.

No more people die in this world…

“And its master’s going to hell with it… But not today…”

Ajax lowered his weapon.

His entire body shook with the urge to kill. He needed to destroy something. Anything…

But there is never a need for senseless and bloody violence. Least of all in front of the already terrorfied ponies.

Ajax had fought for a large portion of his life, and he was well versed in the art of killing. Or, at least Ajax called it art. Truth be told, there is an art to killing, in fact, Ajax had met people who took sadistic joy in the act. Men who looked at the severing of a head not as the destruction of human life, but the creation of a beautiful, natural fountain. People who compared the wails and screams of torture victims to humming of birds. People like that deserved nothing but fiery retribution at the point of a sword or the barrel of a gun. Killing Fawks would make him no better than a sadistic monster. No, he wouldn’t kill Fawkes at this moment, as much as the heartless bastard deserved it.

“Creatures like you should wish for such a swift death.” Ajax sighed at Fawks as he bound his hands and feet tightly with some cable from a fallen loader.

“And what makes you any better than I?” Fawks spat back, with as much hatred in his words as usual.

“We are all but a spark in the darkness,” said Ajax as he turned away from Fawks to address Maya and the ponies, “burning only as brightly as we judge ourselves to burn.”

“And how brightly does a murder such as yourself burn, I wonder?” Fawks evilly laughed.

“True, I may have killed many in my life, but I kill for the needs of many, not for the needs of myself, like Hyperion. That Fawks, is why I burn brighter than you ever will.” Ajax triumphantly stated.

Fawks looked ready to offer another hateful statement, but Ajax spoke before he got the chance, and Ajax’s voice easily drowned out Fawks’.

“Celestia, ponies. A word, please.” Ajax said as he gestured for the ponies to gather around.

They had all became scattere after Ajax had fallen. Everyone had. Ajax looked over to the Saturn, who wasn’t firing its massive cannon, strangely enough. It’s smaller, but by no means less deadly anti-infantry weapons were lazily, but very accurately, sending round after heavy calibre round down range at Axton, Salvador and Zero, who were sporadically shooting towards the booming weapons. The barking reports of all the weapon fire converged into a cacophony of deafening noise. It was a mystery to Ajax how the Vault hunters hadn’t went deaf years ago. The vault hunters were just as heavily armed though, just as many hard hitting rounds were being shot from their barrels too. It was a war where no one came off unharmed, but it looked to Ajax like the vault hunters were coming off worst from the engagement. They couldn’t hold out much longer. Ajax had to work fast.

The ponies all gathered from their scattered locations. Scattered was maybe too strong a word though, the ponies were still in their original location; just a little more spread out over shattered cover and dazed from the combat and din of gunfire.

They grouped around Ajax after a few second. It took them a little while considering the worsening light conditions. Night, of all times to fight a battle. Luckily Ajax had sight augmentations which cut through the darkness, but the ponies weren’t so lucky. Everypony was accounted for. Celestia, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Faith and last but not least, Shield. The ponies. The creatures of a bizarre world in Gods only knows what dimension. The very same creatures, who by what seemed like chance, but could very well be fate, change Ajax’s entire outlook on the universe and taught him the value and meaning of friendship. Ajax really didn’t think he could bare to leave them. Well, as he’d already established, he couldn’t instantly. The ever present thud thud thud of the Saturn’s weapon systems and burst of light comparable to stars lighting up the night sky made sure he knew that. No, he had to do something to stop it. But… After? Despite all of the things drawing him back to his home, drawing him back to Pandora and to well and truly end Hyperion to prevent any other race befalling this fate. But… Could he? This world was far too nice to be left, and he was too attached to it.

“Uh… Ajax?” Shield confusedly asked.

Ajax hadn’t realised how long he’d spent thinking. Such a long pause must’ve looked strange.

“Ahem…” Ajax fumbled.

“Something the matter, Ajax?” Faith even more confusedly asked, very out of character for a man who researches as much as possible before missions. “I mean, besides the obvious.” He added.

“No, just thinking…” Ajax slowly responded.

“Well, could you please tell us what you were thinking and if it can help us out of this mess?” Maya angrily asked as she watched her three friends battle the monstrous Saturn hopelessly.

“No, you don’t need to know what I was thinking, but you do need to think. Ponies, listen.” Ajax ordered.

“I need you all to do something very important for me.” Ajax began. “It’s a very hard task, but I must ask you to try.”

“What is it Jax? You know we’ll try anything!” Rainbow Dash proudly said.

“Think about me.”

Confused looks were shared between every pony. Ajax didn’t blame them.

“Uh… Ajax, as much as I’d love to think about you, I’m not sure sentiment is going to protect us from that thing…” Shield said. From his view, he was correct.

“Just do it. All of you. Think about me, Think about when you first met me and how you felt. Think about the days we spent together. Think about how your opinions changed. Do it, now.” Ajax calmly responded.

Confused silence followed Ajax’s request, but given the direness of the situation, the gave in and did it. They all thought of the short time they’d spent with Ajax, the memories, the emotions and the lessons they’d taught eachother.

After several seconds, and after Maya giving Ajax an impatient stare, Ajax said “Have you thought?”

“Yes” Everyone replied simultaneously.

“Good.” Ajax simply said.

“Uh… What do we do now?” Applejack asked, just as confused as everyone.

Ajax gripped his shotgun tightly and turned towards the Saturn who was still ripping the town apart.

“Hold that thought.” Ajax softly laughed as he gestured towards Maya and set off running towards the Saturn.

Ajax ran with Maya towards the unfolding battle, firing his shotgun with one hand and trailing his vicious clawed hand behind him, waiting to slice something. He wasn’t going to use the ponies just yet, there was work that needed to be done, weaknesses to be assessed and plots made. Ajax was a master of his craft, and he would make this Saturn a piece of destructive art. First, he would cripple it and give the vault hunters a chance to escape. Then, he would free the poor, enslaved machine spirit encased within it. Then, to hell he will send it, and his master will watch.

He knew exactly how to do this, but not if he could do it. It would test him.

Ajax had little information on the Saturn model loader, barely anybody does. They’re a very advanced model of the loader, and unlike most loaders the Saturn class had a military purpose before being assimilated into Hyperion’s war force. They were designed to be, basically, huge drilling machines. The main cannons originally being huge drills, and the smaller cannons attached to it’s arms used to spray coolant and cleansing fluid upon the drills. Then Hyperion replaced the drills with plasma cannons and the water cannons with just… cannons. They were designed to work under the extreme heat of the world, and be able to work their way out of even the biggest of cave ins. So, Ajax was assuming they had thicker armour than several tanks combined.

“Bullets won’t do much to the hull of this thing!” Ajax yelled as he and Maya sprinted towards the Saturn. The street was particularly wide, and Ajax and Maya had plenty of room to dodge the incoming projectiles from the Saturn. Although, there wasn’t much to dodge. Most of it was being steadily pumped at the other three vault hunters, who had since got themselves into relatively safe cover in the form of overturned carts and crumbled walls. The street led to a larger courtyard, possibly a market square, where the Saturn was stood. It had since stopped walking as well as firing its main cannons, seemingly in challenge to Ajax and the vault hunters. They kept running towards it. Ajax was surprised, the footsteps had sounded so close when he was with the ponies, but it was a good hundred metres away.

“I gathered that!” Maya yelled back as she saw the odd snap shot her friends were getting off bounced harmlessly from the Saturn’s body. She dodged the heavy calibre shells expertly, and the ones she couldn’t dodge she simply encased in a psychic field and sent right back at the Saturn’s cannons, destroying one in the process.

“We need to take out the cannons first! Take away it’s most effective close range weaponry and it’ll be useless!” Ajax yelled to everyone around him, having reached the area the vault hunters were using as their firing position.

Ajax instantly cursed that he wasn’t talking to other loaders where he could speak using encrypted machine language, when the arm and leg mounted guns instantly doubled their output in response to Ajax.

“Damn it, stick to the plan!” Ajax yelled angrily.

The vault hunters shrugged and began pouring fire back into the cannons, with Maya back and Ajax here, they appeared to be doing some damage. But, as soon as things looked to be improving, they got twice as worse.

“Arg!!” Axton bellowed as a shell the size of his fist ripped the majority of his shoulder off in a bloody explosion. His armour rended to pieces and his arm hanging by threads, he slumped to the ground again the chunk of masonry he was hiding behind. His friends yelled out to him in fear. Ajax understood, everyone was susceptible to their emotions, and no one was safe from them, not even Ajax. Or… So he though. Ajax looked from the cart he had adopted as cover in the cluttered town square and for the first time was eye to eye with the Saturn. Ajax had planned to release the machine spirit locked within the iron casket from its everlasting torment… But it was in no torment. As Ajax looked into its cold, crimson eye, Ajax saw no pain. He saw no suffering. He saw no remorse. As the Saturn looked at the bloody carnage he was creating, it felt nothing but joy and twisted pleasure. This wasn’t like any machine Ajax had met in the past. This one enjoyed destruction. This one enjoyed pain. It enjoyed its work, Ajax supposed.

Suddenly, the monster’s glowing eye shifted away from the Vault hunter he had just grievously wounded and towards something behind Ajax. He followed its gaze, and saw that it was fixed squarely on the ponies gathered some distance down the street. He looked back to the Saturn’s eye, and saw the emotions change. He saw a disturbing intrigue hidden deep within the Saturn’s eye, but above that, the more powerful emotion, was its desire. Desire for carnage… Directed at the ponies…

Ajax’s thought were cut abruptly short before he could finish his analysis, not that any more was needed, by the low humming generated by the plasma cannons slung under the Saturn’s arms.

It was going to fire on the ponies!

Ajax knew they had no chance of survival if the Saturn were to score a successful hit with one of its cannons, they’d be vaporised instantly.

Oh Gods… Had Ajax made the right decision with this plan? Wait… No…

Ajax stood from his cover and walked out into open ground, right in the firing arc of every weapon aboard the Saturn.

“Are you crazy Amigo?!” Salvador yelled as he saw Ajax standing. Ajax didn’t respond. Salvador went to pull him down, but a salvo from a cannon instantly sent him back into cover.

“Fuck!” He cursed as he saw all guns turn to Ajax.

The Satrun continued to pour fire into the enemies. He’d already felled one of them, and it wouldn’t be long before all of them kneeled before him. Many a fortress boasted as impenetrable was brought to ruin beneath his guns. Many a titan of a warrior had been turned to bubbling pools of radioactive liquid by his cannons. Nothing could stand before them… Making sure he had a steady supply of ammo feeding from his built in supply to his smaller cannons, he decided to take a brief break from fighting the humans and survey the world that was soon to be ash. He looked over to where the filthy witch and heretical robot had come from. Odd… The area was occupied. He caught a glance of Fawks. Good to see that someone of such a high standing was rightfully there. He was a hard one to kill, but he was wounded. No doubt he would want to burn the entire world before the days end. Lots more work for him to do. But he wasn’t concerned with that right now; something else had caught his eye: oddly colourful quadrupeds. His records showed nothing of the kind in Hyperion record. These were a new creature… Oooh, new.

He enjoyed new. New creatures meant new senses. New responses. New screams. He revelled in the screams of his enemies. It was the only thing potent enough to bring his dulled senses pleasure. Having never experienced fear before, and learning what a weakness and seeing it in action was a glorious feeling to him. He had lost all concept of time in his life, but he had been told he was old. He was still kicking though, kicking hard.

*Target found. All weapons have within sight. Firing solutions ready*

“Eh?” He thought.

He cast his gaze back to the vault hunters. His mood instant switched to that of slight amusement at the thought of what terror he would unleash, to that of intense anger. Stood before him was the foul heretic. Ajax.

“Grr….” He mentally growled.

This loader was a rebellious one, who had branded himself a heretic the moment he dared speak against Hyperion’s laws. The very sight of such an abomination made his oil boil. Well, boil more than usual. He would make this traitor pay for all the damage he has done to Hyperion’s glorious empire.

“Take aim,” He told his targeting systems, “Use formulated firing solutions. Make sure you hit with everything.” He finished.

“Yes, m’lord. The system responded with in a gritty, binaric language.

The system then quickly followed up with a series of clicks and beeps, signalling its reediness.

“Пони! Думай обо мне и меня в покое! Мне нужно, чтобы сделать это прямо сейчас! Когда вы думали обо мне раньше! Возьмем, что мысли и сосредоточиться на нем! Сделать только думал!!” Ajax bellowed.

He recoiled at hearing such filth. To see the heretic is one thing, but to hear it? Unthinkable! Wait… He realised something… Why wasn’t he speaking Pandorian..? He didn’t recognise the language he was speaking… He shook his head of these thoughts; let the thing die and this world burn.

“Fire a burst from the heavy cannon.” He curiously said.

“Firing.” The targeting system responed.

Three rounds burst from the large bore barrel of the heavy cannon mounted on his knee. He was quite shocked with the effect.

“What… Just happened.” He said, shocked, as he tried to process what he had just seen.

The rounds connected with Ajax sure enough, but when they did his body simply rippled with multi-coloured waves in the places where the bullets had hit, and he was left un-harmed.

He tried to gather information of what had happened, but all of his systems responded with the same thing.

“Conclusion: impossible, m’lord.” His targeting system said.

He said nothing more. His gaze was captivated by Ajax’s eye, which was glowing with not the normal crimson of loaders, but a burning, angry rainbow of colour.

Ajax met the stare of the Saturn as it turned its gaze from the ponies. He saw it’s mood change from sick joy to unfiltered hatred. This thing knew him, who he was and what he’d done. It hated him more than anything. The bigger machines in the Hyperion army were brainwashed to be zealots, who fought so hard, it would take their systems a minute or two to realise when it had died. They were incredibly dangerous and harboured an incredible hatred for anything that opposed Hyperion, such as Ajax. But, no enemy was too hard. No foe to great. If Ajax had learned anything, friendship was the strongest weapon. Those with friends, alliances and a team were the most dangerous, and right now, Ajax had a whole lot of friends. His time in Equestria had given him something he didn’t have before and something this Saturn will never have. It had given him a sense of friendship, a sense of love and a damn fine team. He had fought with none better than the vault hunters. Even in the shadow of death itself they continued to blow chunks out of it. Ajax thought this Saturn’s spirit worth saving; now he knows he was wrong, and it’s time to end its horrific life.

“Ponies!” Ajax bellowed, “Think about me and me alone! Think about me and nothing else! When you thought about me before, make that your only thought!

The ponies strained to do it under the immense pressure of cannons baring down on them, but they tried none the less. Applejack thought of the story Ajax had told her and Pinkie Pie, and how it had made her think so much more about judging people’s actions and how it had changed her opinion of him. Pinkie Pie thought about what a laugh Ajax’s language had given her when he first showed up, and what an interesting new character he was. Rainbow Dash thought about what an idiot he had been when he crashed into the tree racing her, and how worried she’d gotten when she couldn’t find him, but also about how relieved she was to see him and what an amazing night they had.

The jewels around each of their necks began to glow softly somehow lighting up the ground for a good ten metres around.

Rarity thought of how willing Ajax had been to alter such an important relic like his sacred plate just to please her. How happy he sounded when he saw the finished result. Fluttershy thought of all the wonderful Animals Ajax had told her that his planet possessed, and how sensitive he had been knowing that she was easily frightened. A harmonic tune began to emanate from the glowing jewels, cutting through the din of battle and reaching everyone’s ears.

Celestia thought of the way she had been so cautious with Ajax, thinking he would destroy them all, but found out he would actually be the one to save them. Shield thought of how Ajax had saved his and Faith’s life, even when he knew nothing about them at all and even though they’d had swords pointed at him moments before. How much Shield had liked him, and how sad he was to see him go. Faith thought about how his opinion of Ajax had changed from that of curious fear to something akin to friendship. He genuinely liked Ajax. The tune coming from the jewels turned into a beautiful song, so powerful that it made the universe itself move to its tune, and the world around the ponies began to shift to the song’s tune.

Finally, Twilight. Twilight thought of how she had condemned Ajax to death after her first dream, and how terrified she had been. She thought of the horror she saw in him when she first met him, she thought of the day they spent together, how scared he had been and how apologetic he was. She then thought of how he was standing, defiant as ever in the face of impossible odds. She realise then that she had been wrong to sentence him to death. He, more than anyone, deserved to live. As Twilight had this revelation, her eyes burst with technicoloured light. Her horn glew brightly, as did the tiara on her head. The necklaces of everypony else shone with the same brilliant light. This was pure magical energy, and it was all focused upon one person…

The multi-coloured beam of light shot from where the group of ponies were situated and engulfed Ajax. The colours obscured him from view completely. The Saturn opened up with all of its guns, but to no avail. It mentally yelled at its supporting systems for answers, but they had none, so he simply opted to obliterate Ajax.

The projectiles vanished into the blend of colour surrounding Ajax but did nothing but puff into pretty smoke, which prompted enraged yelling to come from the Saturn’s speaker grill. The night sky was ablaze with the bursts coming from the Saturn’s cannons and the glow coming from the beam of energy. The clash of colour ended abruptly though. Very suddenly, the sphere encasing Ajax compressed slightly and then exploded violently, sending a tidal wave of magical, colourful energy. It washed over everything, knocking all save for the Saturn and the group of ponies making the energy were knocked to the ground. The Saturn however was not saved from damage. The wave washed over it and its sensors exploded in an overload of registrations. Its cannons ceased firing with their targeting systems momentarily knocked out, and one of the Saturn’s primary cannons, the one on its left arm, erupted in a fiery explosion of gas and superheated plasma. For the briefest of moments, the night faded away, and it looked as though it had instantaneously became day. But the explosions faded soon enough. The Saturn reeled in pain as every one of its sensing devices reported a million and one signals. Oil trailed from the stub of an arm the Saturn had left from its weapon explosion, and the oil instantly ignited when it came into contact with the masses of sparking cables dangling from the severed arm. Its eye blazed with anger, and it rapidly recovered from its pain, and searched for something to kill.

It found something, although, he wasn’t happy he’d found it.

Kneeling in the middle of a smouldering circle of grass, the bare, gunmetal grey of his body gleaming brightly in the fire cast from the burning pool of oil was Ajax. He was resplendent in what little he had, drawing a sense of awe out of the Saturn. His claws were wreathed in crackling lightning and glowing flame, which glew the same blend of colour as the beam had. It seemed to dance and crack with immense joy and happiness. Whatever the beam had done, it had blessed him. His shotgun shone brilliant white and attractive gold, the same colour as the billowing cloak glew. It hung from his shoulders like a holy symbol, like a halo for the back. The grenades dangled around his body still throbbed with orange, but they looked a great deal more threatening now. Ajax slowly stood from his kneeling position, his joints moving as if he was fresh into combat. He looked up to the Saturn, and met its stare.

The Saturn saw not the crimson glow he first expected, nor the multi-coloured glow he had seen before. Now, his entire eye was filled with the purest purple.

“Stand and fight, vault hunters.” Ajax said in a harmony of sounds.

He began walking towards the Saturn, and then the bullets flew, from both sides of the field.

Both the Saturn and Vault Hunters sent a wave of fire towards the other, but the Vault hunters would not be denied revenge after one of their own was hurt.

Carried by the magical wind behind them, their bullets seemed to be guided towards the weapons of the Saturn, like tiny seeker missiles. They took out over half the guns before Ajax had taken five steps.

Then he opened up. He lifted his shotgun effortlessly and took aim at the Saturn’s left leg, where most cannons remained intact. He pulled the trigger effortlessly and a burst of shining, laughing energy shot out from the triple barrels of his gun, and split flew erratically in joyful waves, all heading towards a different cannon. Several impacted on a cannon and exploded in a cacophony of light and sound. Some however were shot before they could impact, and detonated harmlessly. However, they did buy Ajax and the vault hunters a few seconds, as the surge of light blinded the targeting systems of the cannons. The vault hunters fell back, helping the wounded Axton who, to his credit, fired off a few last snap shots at the Saturn and actually damaged one of the cannons. Ajax however used this time to surge forward, and began to climb up the Saturn. Unaffected by the cannon’s projectiles, Ajax was unstoppable. His clawed hand ripped armour plates from the Saturn as he climbed, doing extensive damage to the innards of it. He could feel its pain, but felt no remorse. What had to be done had to be done. The Saturn must die.

He sliced cannons from the Saturn as he climbed, making the escape of the Vault hunters easier. Everywhere he waved his clawed hand, a chunk of wasted metal, be it the barrel of a cannon or the whole thing fell to the ground with a thud. After a moment more climbing, he reached the place he needed. He leant to the left, and found himself staring into a huge, blood red lens. It stared back at him, with a mix of surprise, pain, fear and anger. Always anger. As much as Ajax wanted to hate this thing, he really couldn’t, not completely. Ajax had seen many robots in the Hyperion army. In all of them, no matter what they were or were not programmed to feel, they were always angry. And for that, Ajax pitied the thing.

But… Equestria needed saving, saving from this thing.

Ajax heard something, he couldn’t quite tell where it came from, but he thought it was the Saturn. Only a whisper, but it was enough for Ajax.

“You, your traitorous friends, the xenos who harboured you and this entire world will burn.” The voice venomously injected into Ajax’s mind. It meant every word of it. It hated everything, and wanted nothing but destruction. The pity Ajax felt instantly turned and became unfiltered anger.

“Not today you monstrous fuck.” Ajax spat back as he slammed a belt of grenades onto the Saturn eye lens. They stuck there and began counting down.

Ajax leapt from the Saturn.

He flew through the air, cloak flowing through the air as he fell, looking like a true hero. Ajax was always one for making a show.

He landed with a thud, rolled, and stood, all in one motion. He couldn’t believe it, his plan had actually worked. Friendship and emotion had been magical enough to give him the power to defeat the Saturn.

He swept the cloak of light to cover his shoulders once more and began walking towards the ponies.

He could hear the Saturn’s last futile attempt at victory. He was powering up his remaining plasma cannon. Ajax continued walking, unphased by the powerful weapon. Before the Saturn could fire, the belt of ten magma grenades detonated. They superheated the space around them, burning with the heat of a super nova. The core of the Saturn atomised almost instantly. The grenades’ fire died quickly though, and left a spherical hole melted cleanly in the Saturn’s hull. The Saturn swayed for a moment, seeming to be unwilling to fall, even when dead. But, every system in his body overheating removed the need to fall. The Saturn exploded in a humongous ball of bright fire. For the second time that night, the sky was bright as day. Chunks of armour plate and globs of molten metal fell from the fiery cloud, ruining the ground around where it had fell. Although, I doubt Celestia would let the battle go unremembered.

When he reached the ponies, he found most of them unconscious on the floor. Ajax’s vital sign recognition system showed there was nothing wrong with them, besides them being immensely tired. Ajax thought he’d let them rest. On his journey back, the glowing cloak vanished and the Elements of Harmony left his body. He too felt worn out. He’d been reduced to a shell of his previous self by this fight. He expected he’d need a long rest after this.

He sat down on the ground and peacefully observed the ponies.

They looked so tranquil, all of them. Wait…

All of them… Where were Celestia, Faith and Shield?

“I guess you feel pretty heroic, don’t you?” The familiar voice said.

Ajax’s servo bundles tensed in anger, and his hands creaked into fists. He was set to stand and slice Fawks into a thousand chunks, but the cocking of a rifle stayed him.

“Stay right where you are or I’ll shoot the pretty princess here.” Fawks threatened.

Ajax did as ordered and stayed seated. He felt so stupid for not securing Fawks more securely. He was paying the price he guessed.

“Stand up slowly” Fawks ordered.

Ajax obeyed.

“Turn”

Ajax turned to see the horrific sight of Celestia held at gunpoint by Fawks. Fawks hadn’t escaped without issues, it appeared one pony had kicked him in the face with their hoof and broke his nose, which was immensely bloody. Ajax thought he could see the struggling forms of Faith and Shield behind Fawks. Glad to see they were unharmed. Their mouths were bound shut and their hooves were also bound, but they looked ok. As did Celestia. Ajax didn’t think he could forgive himself if harm befell the princess. Wait… The princess.

For more than a few seconds, both parties simply stood silent, but Ajax broke it. Always him to keep the conversation with terrorists.

“So, are you going to actually kill me, or just admire me?” Ajax chuckled.

“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do you son of a bitch..” Fawks growled as he strode towards Ajax.

“Well, tonight would be nice.” Ajax laughed again. He mentally smiled. He did enjoy angering people.

Fawks slammed the butt of his rifle into Ajax’s face, and Ajax staggered.

Fawks’ hand stopped him from falling by grasping his at his armour plates. He pulled him close to his own face.

“You want to know what I’m going to do? I’m going to fucking kill you.” Fawks maliciously laughed to Ajax.

“Kill me? How are you going to do that when you’re convulsing from the magic?” Ajax curiously asked as he looked behind Fawks.

“Huh?” Fawks said as he turned to look at what had Ajax’s gaze.

He turned about half way before ethereal fire engulfed him.

When Ajax had insulted Fawks and provoked him into moving towards him, Fawks had neglected to keep hold of Celestia, who was no channelling all of her magical powers of destruction upon Fawks.

However… And much to Ajax’s disbelief, her powers were not enough to kill Fawks. She was obviously more apt in taking down Equestria’s creatures, and not Human kind.

Fawks turned back to Ajax, his face a mask of pain and anger.

Bang

Fawks shot Ajax in the face with his fancy rifle.

Ajax fell backwards, and as he fell he saw renewed fire spurt from Celestia’s horn and cover Fawks. It looked this time it would kill him…

Ajax’s world went into slow motion for the second time today. Things seemed to move as thought in syrup, and he saw everything with utter clarity.

As he fell to the floor, to the floor that would likely be his death bed, he saw the grand scheme of things in all its glory. He had destroyed the Saturn. Fawks was dead. The human world would never know anything more of the existence of Equestria. Equestria would be safe, and it would recover from the damages. Celestia was a good leader, and would soldier on through the mess and come out stronger than ever. Ajax foresaw a number of promotions for Faith and Shield, or, considering their already substantial rank, a place of honour in history’s records. The Elemental ponies would live happy lives in Equestria, without Ajax. They would be happy. They would be safe.

And as Ajax contemplated his death, he was perfectly ok with it.

What would his death bring, he had wondered not that long ago.

His death would indeed bring peace. It would indeed bring happiness. It would bring good.

As Ajax hit the cold ground hard, he felt completely content. He felt… Happy with his life… For the first time in many years, he was happy with what he was. He was a fighter, and that’s ok. It’s ok because he fought for good and he fought for freedom. And even though he had died at the hands of a mad man, he had died for the good of others, and not for himself.

His vision began to fade. The bullet fired by Fawks had flew past his core with force, and had ruptured several vital cables coming from it. It was like severing the brain cord of a human.

As the world faded away from him and death wrapped its cold hands around him, he chuckled softly his grating, mechanical laugh.

The last thing Ajax heard before his vision blacked was one very familiar voice yelling one, worried, familiar name.

"Ajax!"

The pony that had brought him here, the pony that had been so afraid of him. She was worried for him… She had forgiven him…

“Ah…” Ajax softly sighed.

Ajax awoke, to his surprise, sometime later in a hospital bed. It had been modified of course to accommodate his incredible size and weight. His head hurt like hell and he could remember nothing of how he got here.

He did remember being brought here. He didn’t really remember much after being shot. Wait… He was shot! Was this death?

“Arg, damnit! Where am I?” Ajax yelled in frustration. It was hard to speak; he could feel the aftermath of an operation. His voice was always sore after people screwed around with his innards.

“You’re in the royal hospital.” Said a familiar voice.

“Celestia..?” Ajax cautiously asked, unable to turn to the voice.

“Yes, it’s Celestia.” The voice responded.

Ajax was relieved to hear her. She had indeed succeeded in killing Fawks then.

“I’m… I’m sorry that you had to kill Fakws.” Ajax breathed.

“It’s alright. He wasn’t one who needed to live Ajax, even I know that.” Celestia assured.

“I’m not meaning that. I’m the killer. I was his enemy. You shouldn’t have had to break your peaceful ways to save me.” Ajax sadly said. He was ashamed Celestia had to save him.

“We’re all the enemies of someone Ajax, and we’re all capable of killing, given the right motivation. My motivation was that he’d just shot someone whom I value highly. I did have to kill him, and you know it. Someone had to.” Celestia firmly said.

“I guess… Tell me more of the ponies, what happened to them.” Ajax asked worriedly. He hadn’t seen anything of them since he fell.

“They’re fine Ajax. They’re in Ponyville, lending their abilities to help rebuild the destroyed areas of it.”

“Are they ok? That’s all I want to know.” Ajax almost cried. He couldn’t believe himself.

“They’re fine, Ajax. Which is more than I can say for you.” Celestia said. Ajax detected the faintest hint of amusement.

“I’m alive, aren’t I?” Ajax actually asked. He wasn’t joking. He was convinced he was dead.

“You’re alive Ajax, bearly. I had my engineers work all through the night and most of today to fix what that gun did to you.”

“Give me the names of the engineers; I’ll buy the bloody guys a drink. They did well to fix me.” Ajax laughed.

“I’ll remember to do that, lots of people came to your aid. The element bearers, Faith and Shield, even my sister Luna was here for a spell to check on you. You gained quite a bit of attention.” Celestia told Ajax.

“For being shot, mind you. Not the kind of attention I want.” Ajax said as he painfully sat up.

He saw Celestia for the first time since he’d been shot. She didn’t look any different.

“Did you stay here all the time?” Ajax thought aloud.

“I did Ajax.” She responded.

“Why?” Ajax asked.

“Because I was worried.” Celestia said.

“I’m happy you care so much.” Ajax said, touched.

“And…” Celestia began.

“And?” Ajax curiously interrupted.

“To make you an offer.” Celestia came out with after a few moments.

“Go on…” Ajax said, still curious.

“I’m here to offer you a permanent position in Equestria.” Celestia seriously said.

“A permanent position?” Ajax breathlessly said.

“Yes. I’ll offer you housing, wherever you want. I’ll let you roam the world at your own will and even offer you a position in the Royal Guard.” Celestia said.

“Really..?” Ajax breathlessly said.

“Really.”

Ajax paused. He didn’t know what to say. This was more than he could have ever asked for. HE wanted so much to stay here, and now he was being offered a position.

“Why would you ask me this Celestia? Do you think I would reject it?” Ajax asked.

“Well… you talked so much about freeing your home. I just thought you might want to go back and see that goal through.” Celestia awkwardly said.

“Celestia. Do you understand war?”

“I’m a princess, a ruler. Of course I do.”

“Do you know why legends are told?”

“They’re fantastic tales that are intended to inspire us.” Celestia responded.

“Correct. I didn’t die in my world. I disappeared. Think of the legends that will be told. Think of how it will inspire the free. My disappearance will do more than I ever could in my life.” Ajax proudly said.

“You think?”

“I know.” Ajax assured. “Plus, I could never leave this place… It’s a paradise.” Ajax laughed.

“That’s good you think that. So, what do you say?”

“I say yes Celestia, I’ll stay.”

Ajax held out his hand. Celestia placed her hoof in his hand and shook firmly.

“So, what do you want to do now?” Celestia asked, releasing his hand.

Ajax looked out of the magnificent stain glass window that gave light to the medical ward. Through the coloured glass, way off in the distance, Ajax could see Ponyville.

“What do we do now?” Ajax said as he turned to Celestia.

“Let’s go rebuild a town.”

Epilogue 2

“Audio log 17. Equestrian time is… 7:00Pm. This is the personal log of Royal Guard Grand Master Ajax. I am in my personal quarters within Canterlot Castle. It’s been seven years since I came to Equestria, but it feels just like it was yesterday. I have not forgotten any of the events leading up to my inhabitation of Equestria, nor has the planet. The final events of my story are a historical event taught in Equestrian schools all around and there is a statue depicting me, Shield, Faith, The Element bearers and Celestia defeating the Saturn machine in the square within which it fell. The debris of said monster (Mostly metal) was melted down and used in the construction of the statue. It’s an amazing piece of work, and I’m proud to be a member depicted in it.

When I agreed to stay in Ponyville, I expected to be shunned even despite everything that had happened and me being someone saving the town. I expected them to act like humans, and hate change. They proved to be very much what they are: an alien race. They embraced me and my offers of help to re-build the town, and they were all very thankful that I’d saved them. They, along with the Element Bearers helped build a home capable of supporting my build not too far away from Ponyville. I visit regularly and spend lots of time in the company of the Element Bearers.

After town had been repaired and my house build, lady Rarity offered to repaint my plate in the colours she had previously done. I kindly rejected this offer however, but simply bought a few cans of black paint. I repainted my plate in pre Equestria colours. I’m proud of it. It is a small piece of Pandora.

Pandora is fine by the way. I managed to get my interdimensional radio functioning, and I managed to pick up a radio signal detailing how Hyperion had been removed from Pandora and the revolution successful. I am pleased that my idea of legend had worked, as many a loader had fought harder than any other trying to “Match Ajax’s legendary strength.”.

I accepted Celestia’s offer of a position in the Royal guard. It’s much better than serving Hyperion, I can tell you that. It’s an excellent job, and another little way to repay Equestria for all it had given him. I’d been at the head of several peace keeping and negotiation operations which I’m told were crucial in quelling of a full blown civil war between Unicorn and Pegasus ponies. I began serving as a strategic adviser for a single unit, now I’m Grand Master of the Royal Guard. I’m incredibly proud to serve Equestria.

I have never been happier in all my life than now in Equestria. I can never repay this world fully for all it has done for me, but I’m trying with all my might. Some people have called me a saint, so… I think it’s working.

I don’t know why I keep doing these logs, very few people hear them. Only the princesses and Twilight when she asks. I don’t really know what they do with them, but I guess they like to hear how I’m getting on and developing. I guess these can be my version of Twilight’s friendship reports? Eh… But, they’re here. And it’s good to talk about these things really. So… This has been Ajax… Uh… Signing out.”

Author notes/Nonsensical rambling/Bonus Ending

Whew! Done!

And now that we are done I’ve taken a little bit of time and put together a thank you and some notes for everyone reading. Before we do get started, let me just say that really, only numbers one and four on this list may hold any of your interest. The rest is mostly just personal look backs and a bit of self-evaluation. If ya’ll wanna stick around for that, be my guest. As a side note, I’m drinking energy drink, so if things seem to get a little hyper, blame Monster Energy.

Table of content:

1) Thank you notes/author’s notes

2) Reflective development record

3) Final author’s notes

4) Bonus Ending/Continuation/Extra Epilogue

Thank you notes/author’s notes

Ok, first let me start this off by saying how bloody shocked I am at the response I got to this story.

I think I got something like… 35 or 36 likes and maybe 6 dislikes. That’s… Great. I’ve seen more deserving stories get less positive feedback than mine. I’m incredibly thankful for that!

And another reason the good feedback I got is because this story was sort of… Self-indulgence really. I had an idea and the reason I wrote it was because I wanted to just… Have fun with my idea. Which I did. This has been a bloody fun thing to write. I would seriously recommend writing a story to anyone reading this. I haven’t done the whole…Go to profile and thank for the like/favourite/watch thing (That’s what this is for), but I did look at people’s profiles. I saw some people who had nothing submitted. Seriously, it’s a fucking blast to write something that you like writing. Try it. Even if you don’t submit it to Fimfiction or any other site you wish to mention, it’s still amazingly fun.

I’m not going to say any names in this by the way. I don’t want to go and ask every single person I’d mention if it’s ok to say their name. So I’m just keeping everyone anonymous.

As another point as to why story writing is good…

I don’t know if it’s silly to hold people you don’t know highly… If it’s wrong, I don’t want to be right.

This story got the attention of someone very special to me, Fimfiction wise… So this story is incredibly important in my opinion. You’d merely need to look through my profile to find out who it is, but they’re really the whole reason I got into pony fanfiction. I actually got told to come to fimfiction by someone on a forum where I’d posed a question, and the story happened to be the first one I saw. Thank you, my soft spot for romance, and thank you Twilight and Rarity, for being awesome ponies, and making an even better ship. But really, that made my heart soar when I saw they’d looked my fic over.

So, basically, thanks to everyone who made this story a smashing success. Even people who downvoted. I’m not arsed if people dislike my writing. Hell, I don’t blame some of them, my initial first chapter was atrocious! More on that later, but really. You can’t win them all, and I’m fine with you openly disliking my story.

It’s when people don’t let me know why when I get frustrated.

I’ll admit, it’s a big ask, asking someone to comment to be perfectly honest, and it may be an unreasonable base for anger, but it really gets to me when someone finds fault with my story… Finds something they don’t like and don’t tell me! Hell, there are parts I don’t like, but nobody commented on them, so I left as is. If people who dislike would tell me why, whether it be grammar errors being to numerous, or simply because they didn’t like the story, I think I’d be able to shake their hand and willingly accept their downvote.

As a… what’s next type thing… I think I’m going to leave ponies alone for a while! Why? Alright, I had a fairly odd dream (Wow, this already has degenerated into story about me xD). I don’t know what the fuck happened, but it was a late night, I fell asleep and had a weird dream. I was a pony, naturally, and I don’t know what the hell I was doing but I was like… wanting to get a boat. I went up to the like… boat… ticket giver(?) and asked for one. He said I couldn’t have one, so I snuck on one. It was full of talking pigeons (For God only knows why.). The ship (Which felt a lot like a bloody storage container as opposed to a ship. Some other pony had joined me somewhere along the way. We ended up in like… Antarctica (More like a self designed snow scape.). For some bloody reason me and the other pony went swimming in the icy water (And didn’t freeze. Because like… Ponies, fuck yea.). Then the pigeons joined in and there was some fucked up quest given by an old big pigeon and then, I woke up. Was like six in the morning or something, I was tired still, but the dream was so fucked up I just burst out laughing. So… I don’t want to re live that (As funny as it was.), so Ima take a pony break xD

Wow… I really don’t know what the hell that was! Welp… If you ever wondered what goes on in Fillyville, now you know.

But I’ll be back with more stories soon!

Alright, those left reading or who haven’t skipped to the final section, welcome to share how terrible my first attempts were!

Reflective development record

Ok, let’s start this from the beginning. Then I’ll work on forward, just saying anything worth noting about any chapters.

Chapter one.

Holy hell was this a train wreck looking back on it. I would show you the original copy, I have it right here on my laptop, if only it were fewer words I’d copy paste it. But, it’s kinda big, so I’m going to spare you it. But I’m slightly embarrassed to say, I’d let my grammar, spelling and punctuation slip because in all honesty, this was written late at night (Only spare time I had on a weekend) and I never intended to submit it. I didn’t even proof read it! Sloppy sloppy stuff from me. Bad thing is, I submitted the stuff! When I said I’ve seen more deserving fics get less credit? I mean it. I think the original submission got six likes and one downvote before I submitted part two, got a little more serious and cleaned up the first chapter (I say cleaned up, I mean to the best of my ability. Thing was quite bad, and I couldn’t be bothered cleaning everything. Lazy…). I’ve seen stories with genuinely good plots be shot down because of things worse than what I did. Enough negativity though.

This first chapter was really self-indulgence as I said at the start. Creating things is my kind of pass time, so I thought I’d give writing a whack. I’d recently got Borderlands two, and I do love my ponies… I got an idea and thought what the hell. Turned out mighty fine if I do say so myself.

The opening sequence probably got more attention than the entire first chapter. I actually tried several different ways of starting it, and what you see now is actually very different to how I originally planned it, but it’s what it is and I think it worked nicely.

The forest scene. Sorry, I can’t recall which chapter exactally (I’m on my laptop with no internet, and I only have chapter six onwards.) It stretched over chapters two and three IIRC. I recall splitting that one. This was so much fun to write (Again, writing was a blast.). It was really fun to just… play around with things. Again, I wasn’t a very confident writer at this point, so final product is third generation. The other two generations? Playing around with… what could happen, how it could happen, characters I could create. I finally ended with only adding in Dex (Which worked nicely. I’m glad I didn’t over complicate things in Pandora, and miss out on Equestria, the real fun house.). But it was very fun, in just this like… final Pandora slice, to make a setting. I mean, Borderland’s lore is kinda sketchy, so you can flex it quite a bit, which I did. It was very fun making a sort of… Warhammer 40k type “There is only war” world. Which is actually what I based a bit of Ajax off. Finished the Ultramarines Omnibus, and loved Uriel Ventris. I like the idea of the kind of… Everyone is a hero type deal. Spark in the darkness, as it were. Hence, the world was born.

Faith and Shield. Maybe I take too much pride in my work, but I love these two guys. Again, drawn from the U Omnibus’ Uriel and Pasanius duo. It actually pains me that I didn’t like… (If you haven’t guessed already I’m a dumb teen and I love fillers.) use these two more. I might do a little tale with these two in the future. I just like them too much.

The journey to Celestia.

I’m not going to lie, this got way more written for it than it originally should have. But again, I liked to write Faith and Shield’s characters, so I just continued. I think it was taken well.

As a side note, reading back through chapters really highlights some dumb ass things…

“It can talk?! That’s amazing” Shield said in amazement

How bloody redundant is the second part, right? My god…

Anyway.

I expected my favourite chapter to write would be Rarity’s, after all, I’m a hardcore Rarity fan. It actually wasn’t. I planned out the little mural thing a while back, and because I KNEW that I had to do that, it wasn’t as fun as writing the rest of the story. Plus, Rarity was a tricky bugger to pin down personality wise. It was actually hard as hell to get her right. Her reactions and such.

My favourite chapter to write was actually a tie between Rainbow Dash’s day, and AppleJack/Pinkie Pie’s chapter. I’m inclined to side with Rainbow Dash’s. Simply because of the image generated in my head. I mean, who doesn’t play out what they’re reading or writing in their heads? It ain’t gonna happen anywhere else, so why not? It was so much fun to imagine all of the things that went on in that chapter. Simply a blast. And also because I think Rainbow Dash may have worked the best with Ajax (For reasons I cannot fathom.).

Final Author’s Notes

Anyway, it’s late and I’ve ran out of monster, so I’m going to wrap this up.

This has been incredibly fun to write, and I’ve got more on the way (But after my little dreamy dream it may be after a weeks vacation!). I have Wormholers being written.

I have both a Warframe crossover and a Warhammer 40K crossover in the making. They have two problems though. Warframe: Not enough solid lore. Warhammer 40K: Far too much lore for my brain to take. I’d blow a head casket just writing deployment for a space marine chapter (Really, I would. Fuck you Codex deployment tactics.).

Thank you to everyone who read, goodnight.

Oh…

Bonus ending

Pandora, Royal Pnadorian Museum of Relics and History, Relic room of the Great War.

54 Years after end of Rebellion and Hyperion’s expulsion from Pandora.

“So you’re one of the people who helped win the war?” A child asked

“Yes young one, I was.” The asked responded.

“I handled logistics for the war. Tactical data, reconnaissance of the enemy, this was all my field.”

“Were you a hero?” A smaller child asked.

“Everyone who fought against Hyperion was a hero young one.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well you’re a…”

“Ah, ha ha. A robot? So robots can’t have names?” The owner chuckled amusedly.

“Uh…” The child awkwardly and embarrassedly droned.

“The Dex?” One child asked amazedly.

“You know me?” Dex continued to laugh. He loved it when people recognised him. Just another sign that his teachings were far reaching.

“Are you kidding? My father told me so much about you! He used to be an engineer in the resistance you know!” The child explained excitedly.

“Ha ha, it’s good to know that he’s teaching you then.” Dex happily laughed.

“Did you know Ajax?” The child happily asked.

“Ajax?” Dex responded, his tone lowered a tad.

“Yea, did you know him? My father told me more about him than anyone else. About how he was the greatest hero of the war?” The child continued to ask.

“Hmm… There were many great heroes child… But, I think that Ajax was the most interesting.” Dex said to the children. Everyone was listening now. Who doesn’t like to hear about a good hero?

“Why would you say that?” The child interestedly asked.

“His story is a good one I suppose.” Dex lightly laughed, reminiscing.

“What’s his story?” The child asked again, still very interested.

Dex started to chuckle.

“So… You want to hear a story do you, eh?” Dex laughed as he hauled himself up from his throne.

“Well…” Dex began.

*BANG*

He never got to begin his story, something interrupted him. The doors leading into the large room slammed open.

All the children jumped up and backed up to the step to the throne. They couldn’t climb them, as they were far too large. Designed for Loaders.

“So…” A voice boomed from the end of the corridor.

It wasn’t yelled, more boosted. It sounded like it was coming from some kind of speaker.

The voice laughed.

A light throbbing could be heard.

Everyone could feel the air becoming charged with electricity. One kid’s hair even began to stand on end.

A loud crack of thunder boomed, and a flash of light blinded the children.

Their vision began to slowly fade back, but all they could see was a black blob.

No… Wait, it was a person… No, it was a loader like Dex...

It stood.

“You want to hear a story, eh?”

The loader looked up, revealing a glowing red eye in amongst the faded black and white paint.

“Well… Have I got a story for you.”

The loader stood and stomped the ground heavily with one of his legs.

All the children could see was the Loader’s giant leg plate, with a colourful picture painted on it. They couldn’t begin to understand what all the colourful figures represented.

“And it all begins in the magical land of Equestria.”

How The Ending Works

Righy ho.

I've always been a fan of the reader being able to decide the outcome of an event (or, the entire story.). So, when I started writing this story I always planned to have a little bit of multiple choice and let the reader decide what they want.

Time for you to chose what you want.

So... Ajax had two options.

"Would Ajax sacrifice himself in return for the guarantee that Equestria will be saved?

Will Ajax take a risk and try to repay Celestia by truly saving her from all of their enemies?"

If you want to read the first option, you'll want to read "The last enemy that shall be destroyed".

If you want to read the second option, you'll want to read "Back in black".

Or, if you want, read both! All down to you!