Legio Celestia will walk upon the Changeling Empire, archenemy of harmony. This message was displayed on viewers throughout Equestria, in homes for families to see or on massive screens in the massive gathering areas in the cities. Sitting in her command-throne on the bridge of the Pax, Priceps Twilight Sparkle was content. Pale sunshine came in through the view ports in from and to the sides, illuminating the cabin but still leaving pools of shadows in hidden corners and behind equipment. Her and her crew stood atop the Grand Staircase, a massive flight of enormous steps built specifically for titans that descended from the lower bowl of Canterlot into the valley below. There were many viewing platforms situated at different points down the slope, and in some places high arched bridges spanned the gap, where people waited, cheering, shouting and throwing silver confetti even though the titans had yet to move. Her crew was already antsy, for their true preparation had already finished, and they were really just waiting for the command form Lord Spitfire to begin the walk. Spitfire loved attention, and even though she left the Wonderbolts for Her Majesty’s Titan Legion, she still craved the adoration of others, which propelled her to both feats of glory and acts of recklessness.
When the sun was high is the sky, and the viewing spaces were full to bursting with jubilant onlookers, the horn on the Ignis blew, signaling the start of the walk. Stride by steady stride the hulking machines descended the pearlescent steps, past whirling banners of white and blue, following behind a procession of knights in shining gold barding carrying blue flags flowing in the wind and trailing behind them. With each step Twilight felt a little more connected with the titan, and it felt great. To be one with a manifestation of the machine god was like nothing else. Unity, peace, she felt both, but she wasn’t content. Most princeps craved the connection. The flow of data to their brain and the touch of the machine god, but for her it just didn’t feel right. She was loyal to the Cult, that much was certain, but she didn’t like feeling that she only part of something else. She didn’t want to lose herself, like so many others, and preferred to use her own senses and functions more often than the machines. Though she was connected, they were both still separate, and that’s the way she wanted it.
With Canterlot behind them, they could now begin recording for their mission logs. Twilight, hard plugged into the command throne, began the log by going through all the necessary formalities. She stated the time of departure and their current objective, as well as the current status of all the engine’s systems. Once she was finished she took a deep, soothing breath, and realized that finally, she was free. The knights had left them at the valley exit, and now it was just open space in front of her. Green fields and blue sky, as well her fellows in their god-machines. Spitfire's voice came through the vox and demanded that each engine sound off. There were 9 engines in their battle line, with Pax Equestria situated near the center. Moderatus Dash sat back in her chair and fiddled with her hard cables. Bored, she turned to address Rarity, the second moderatus who served as sensorus. “Nothin’ like the feeling of marching headfirst into danger, eh rarity?” Nothing indeed, thought Twilight.
In her corner of the cabin, Rarity was analyzing signals and code fragments retrieved from the surrounding area, but one signal in particular caught her attention whilst they were passing through White Tail woods. "Princeps, I think you may want to see this." Twilight accepted the data transfer and opened the file. It appeared to be a distress signal, coming from a Reaver of unknown allegiance, obviously not one of Celestia's. She broadcast the data to her crew, and opened a direct channel with Ignis. "My Lord, this is princeps Sparkle of the Pax Equestia. My sensorus has detected a signal on a closed channel. It appears that it is being directed at our engine alone. Advise." She received a reply immediately. "Understood, you have permission to break formation and investigate, return to group at full stride in one hour. The Princess protects." At that the conversation was over, and with her new orders, Twilight addressed her crew. "We have received new orders, we are to locate the source of this signal and investigate. We have one hour." She sat forward. "Dash, 45 degrees clock wise rotation, half stride." "Aye!" she replied. Twilight sent a data blurt to her Tech-priests, Pinkie Pie and Applejack, telling them to divert half power to void shields. Princess knows what we might encounter, she thought.
As the massive engine strode off towards its target, crushing trees underfoot and shaking the earth with each step, Twilight closed her eyes and thought about how things got so bad. With the defeat of Queen Chrysalis at the Wedding of Cadance and Shining Armor, every-pony thought that a new era of peace had begun. They could not have been more wrong. The Changelings were furious, and silently amassed an army, which, with our attention on the newly reappeared Crystal Empire, we managed to overlook. When the Empire was just rebuilding after the tyrannous reign of Sombra, they attacked, utterly destroying the beautiful city and slaughtering its rulers, Cadance and Shining Armor. At the thought of her brother Twilight felt an acute pain inside her stomach, one which was broadcast to her hard-plugged crew. Rainbow-Dash spun around in her chair. "Princeps? Is something the matter?" Twilight, situated in her elevated command chair shook her head, dismissing the moderatus, who immediately went back to daydreaming. Her crew were loyal, especially her moderati. She would trust RD and Rarity with her life, and she does, every time Pax Equestria is deployed. Dash may be lazy, but she's good in a fix. She thought of the rest of her crew. Although most moderati share a special relationship with their princeps, here the feeling of fellowship was mutual. They would all give everything for each other, she did not doubt. They had been friends before they reached their positions in the legion, and because of the bond they shared she had hoof picked each of them. Her musings were interrupted by her sensori alerting her to their close proximity to the estimated source of the signal. "Hard stop!" She canted, and her steerspony obeyed. Within seconds the great machine came to a stand sill, a lone behemoth in a sea of trees. Nothing could be seen through the viewport. She switched to thermal scanners, but it was unnecessary. The enemy titan exploded from its crouching position and came at them full stride. The markings were immediately analyzed and confirmed the engine for... "No..." whispered Twilight, eyes wide. "It's firing on us! Void shields holding!" shouted Rainbow-Dash. Twilight regained her focus and flexed her fore legs, causing the titans arms to respond. "Ready right weapon, prepare to fire." The servitor in the titan's corresponding shoulder gave a binaric conformation. She focused her mind and clenched her muscles tighter. Fire! The massive weapon limb let loose a barrage of plasma blasts, strong enough to evaporate an entire building. The shots punched right into the shield of the advancing engine, causing it to falter in its charge. With this, she aimed her right weapon and let loose a volley of las-bolts. "Keep target in front!" She screamed. "Half stride north east! Move us out of its path." The crew responded and the hulking metal beast groaned as it began to strafe around the engine. Their shields shrieked as the two engines exchanged fire. Engine battles weren't meant to be done up close, but this was no ordinary engine. This was the engine of the legendary wall eyed pirate, Derpy Hooves.
Once an imperial loyalist, something happened to her during the battle with discord, and she began to change, questioning orders and disobeying, until one day she declared the Princess false and stole off into the wilderness, harrying Engines and transports ever since. The Pax was her newest prey.
At last the shields on the Mortis began to fade. Apparently the engine had seen better days, and with notoriety like hers it was no wonder Derpy couldn't get it repaired. The crew must've had to make their own, and it showed. With a defiant burst of code, the Mortis broke off and ran in the other direction. "After it! Contact Spitfire, she must be told!" "Aye, my princeps." Replied Dash, and with a flurry of key presses Spitfire's voice came on the vox. "This better be important, Twilight." She said. "It is, we have located the infamous pirate Derpy, and request aid in our pursuit." The response was immediate. "Princeps, did you say, Derpy?"
"I did, my lord."
"Understood, dispatching titan Equus, under princeps Heartstrings. The princess be with you." Heartstrings, she thought, my old friend. Right on cue Lyra's familiar scratchy voice burst through the vox. "Looks like we're kickin' it co-op, huh Twi?" Twilight grinned.
Good old Lyra. Always the eccentric, she was considered odd as a child due to her strange fascination with the mythical predecessor race humans. When she showed great potential in the simulators, however, she was accepted into the University of Her Highnesses Fighting Forces, and became privy to the sequestered knowledge that Humans did in fact roam the earth in the past and that their physical form inspired the design of the Titans. She rose through the ranks with her newfound self-confidence and was eventually granted a mechanical hand that functioned like the ones the humans supposedly had. Now, in her own engine, she clenched that hand into a fist, anticipating a fine kill and the glorious honors it would bring. "Princeps, my princeps, we have located the rogue. Acquiring target solution." Said her moderatus-sensorus. Good, she thought, it's been a long time coming. In the academy they had been friends, Derpy and her, close to kin even, but then she changed. It happened slowly, but she remembered the beginning, when she returned from the war. Their company got separated, and couldn't regroup until after the final skirmish. Unfortunately, when it was all over, the only surviving member of the second group was Derpy, and she couldn't seem to remember what happened to her.
The next couple of weeks she wasn't herself, disrespecting officers and getting drunk every night, until at last she snapped, and like that she was gone. And then she did it, ruined Lyra's life, and laughed all the while. It was her, she killed them, all of them, in the raid on Vanhoover. Her family, her friends, they were visiting her Cousin, to congratulate her and meet her new filly, and they never came home. The day Vanhoover burned she had been out on assignment, but when she returned and heard the news, she went wild. Her little rampage earned her 2 weeks in confinement, but when she was released she vowed revenge. With newfound determination, she excelled like no other and earned herself a place as Lord Spitfire's First Princeps. Twilight was her moderatus throughout all of this, up until her final promotion, when she was forced to leave her behind.
"Target solution aquired, weapons to you, my princeps." Bon Bon, was a good moderatus though, and she’d grown to like her over time. "Thanks pal. Load main shoulder mounts, prepare to fire." She took a deep breath and pictured her house and parents, then released. "Fire"
Derpy let out a harrowing shriek as her void shields were forced to their breaking point. She whirled around in her chair, shouting commands between snarls and grunts. Her crew, now nearly part of the machine physically as we'll as mentally, responded vigorously, as if receiving the command from their own minds. Mortis was hungry. She was hungry, for death, for ruin. But why? It hurt to think about, but it still bothered her, nagging at the corners of her polluted mind. What was the point? Why did it make her feel so good? "Princeps..." The voice was an echo in hear ears, in her soul. "Princeps... It's her, your friend, your enemy..." So, she came back for me. I knew she would, but who? Who came back, and why? And then the thought was lost. "Strafe, you fool! Fire lasers! Grrrr! Scrape away their shields!" Her head was pounding, and she felt sad. Nothing a little death couldn't fix. The crack of lasers would warm her heart, the screams of ponies her soul. “Take us between those rocks! We need cover. Divert power from all trivial systems to voids." This wasn't going to be easy. One Imperial Warhound was no problem, but two would be difficult, and that presence... "We are - arrgh... Being hailed my - rrnnggh! My princeps!"
"Deny it! Deny it! She can't hear me, see me, forgive me!" Who? The presence was growing. Lasers clattering all over their shields, the Moris creeped behind the cover of rocks and was safe from fire for the moment. Soon the enemy would be on them. No, her friend would be here soon. I should get the door, but first the muffins. I made them especially for her. We can talk about how I murdered her kin, and stole her happiness, and we can laugh and laugh at my silliness. The crack of splitting rock called her forth from her stupor. The enemy’s cannons were destroying her cover, but she had one more trick up her sleeve. "Slay them! Slay them in close combat. The will of chaos will show us victory this day!"
Without warning, their target bolted from its depleting cover, close combat flail crackling, and sped along at full stride on a collision course with Lyra's machine. Howls of scrap code filled her vision and for a moment she felt a deep sense of despair, longing for absolution for some forgotten crime. Then it was gone, and before her the world lit up in fire. Lyra had unleashed a full barrage on the oncoming Reaver, but she foolishly stood her ground, refusing to give even one inch to her opponent. In response the Reaver fired its shoulder mounts, the huge shells crashing into Equus's voids and knocking the scout to one knee. With a ripple of lightning the Reaver engaged is close combat weapon, slamming with full force into the downed Titan with a sound like the roar of a fallen god. Twilight opened fire before Derpy could finish her off and drew her attention away from the fallen machine. She would have to remember to ask what the hell was wrong with Lyra after this was all over. With a defiant squeal of scrap-code, her enemy let loose a salvo of las-bolts and attempted another charge. This time her target moved out of the way, showering the pirate with a hail of mega-bolter shells. The Reaver certainly out classed the Pax, but she was acting rashly, charging headlong again and again without thinking, like a bull blinded by rage, or a shark smelling blood. With a departing blast from its shoulder mount the Reaver spun around and ran away at full stride. Coward, first you betray the Princess's trust and now run from her judgement. Before she could pursue however, she received a distress call from the Equus. Their tech priest was dead and fires were raging on all levels. From her viewport she could see smoke rising from the ruin of Lyra's engine, and swiftly decided that Derpy would have to wait.
