Armored Core: Failure

*****Chapter 4: Skylight--Dawn of Day 2*****

-Crystal Empire: circa 1000 years ago-

A weeping Pegasus stallion stood in the slave graveyard. It wasn't fair. All the small family had wanted was a peaceful camping trip. They neglected to fully prepare, however, ignoring the warnings of Crystal Empire slavers prowling the woods East of Trottingham.

It had started out well, they had set up a small campsite in a clearing beside a creek, enjoying the night sky and the stars that decorated it. The sight wasn't as beautiful as it had been before the Nightmare Moon incident two years before, but it was still peaceful.

Their filly was in high spirits, a beautiful turquoise Pegasus filly, with a faded red mane and tail. She had always loved exploring the bushes, the little paths that wound around the little grotto. They hadn't even seen the slavers coming. They were quick, quiet, and unmerciful.

Before his filly's eyes, her own mother had been de-winged. A brutish tactic used by those bastards to prevent their prey from escaping on the forced march. She had matured quickly. She had to. Now five years old, she stood beside her father, under his protective wing as they both wept silently. The work was brutal, beatings were frequent and food was scarce. His wife had been broken early on, without wings and without hope, she had given in to despair and died.

She looked up at him, her own father, always so strong and brave and compassionate. Not anymore. He was a shell of his former self. Early on, he had fallen into a habit of letting her eat her fill from their rations before eating whatever was left. She would've shared with him, goddess, she wanted to share with him, but after the first night, he knew her appetite. If there was a full bowl when she said she was done, she was certainly lying.

His eye on one side was glazed over constantly, malnourishment plaguing every one of his body's facilities. Half blind, covered in scars, and with new wounds being added every day, the filly felt as if there was nothing she could do.

There was never anything she could do.

A peal of thunder roared through the sky, shaking the little filly out of her dream as rain pounded down around her. She looked around, confused, remembering that she had taken shelter under some boxes in an alley for the night. What had once been her father's wing, was in reality nothing more than a soggy piece of cardboard. Shrugging off the heartache, she extracted herself from her former shelter. Ahead, there was something in the road outside her alley that she hadn't noticed in her rush to find protection from the elements.

Curiously, she stepped forward, eyeing the massive machine in awe. The rain was getting cold, and she had to find somewhere to bed down for the evening. Noticing the rope ladder, the little Pegasus ascended into the metal beast, a 10 minute ordeal of flailing limbs and grunting as she struggled to overcome the obstacle. She was met with a small room in front of a locked door. Shrugging, she curled up into a small fluff ball and quickly began snoring.

In her dreams, she was with her father and mother again, happily bounding around a large field while her parents rested their heads against each other. They were happy, she was happy, and yet she had a nagging feeling that she was still alone.

Liam awoke earlier than usual, or what he assumed to be earlier than usual. The sun was just barely peeking above the horizon, bathing the city below in its warm orange glow. There was peace here, as far as he could tell. He could see ponies trotting around, going about their business.

It brought a smile to his face. Even from this height, he could tell that they were content, if not happy, with their lives. It was a welcome change from the downtrodden, battle scarred veterans aboard the Cradle.

Thoughts of the Cradle brought with them thoughts of his family. How was his mother doing? Would his brother man up for once and actually care for her in his absence? What about his promise to Catherine, would she move on or would it be another maiden-awaiting-the-hero's-return situation? At least she knows my mother, and they have each other to lean on for now he thought. He was sad, but tears were not something he had to spare at the moment. He had plans to make, people-er-ponies to talk to, and an entire world to familiarize himself with.

His first objective, he decided, was to retrieve his clothes from his NEXT. He slipped into his piloting suit, zipping it up and clipping the helmet onto a loop at the waist. As soon as he was suited up, a knock at the door caused his head to whirl around fast enough that he was rewarded with a loud crack as his vertebrae popped back into place.

"Come in," Liam called.

Shining Armor stepped through the portal, wearing an unreadable expression as he turned to the human, "Cadence asked me to retrieve you for breakfast, she also wanted me to apologize for the way I acted yesterday. So, for what it's worth, I'm sorry for freaking out. It doesn't mean that I trust you, but I'll give you a chance to prove you aren't a monster."

Liam's eyebrow crept up his face as he listened, suppressing a laugh as he responded, "Don't worry about it, Prince. One thing you should know about humans is that we can be a great ally, or deadly enemy," he paused, holding a hand out for Shining Armor. "As long as you don't stab me in the back, I'll always be there if I'm needed."

Shining Armor gulped, but took the offered handshake without much hesitation. "So, judging by your sword, I take it that you're a soldier?"

Liam chuckled, "Your wife asked the same question, and the answer is no." Shining's brow furrowed for a moment, "I am a mercenary, or was, it runs in the family. My father was a merc, and so is my brother."

Shining's face took on a troubled expression as he replied, "You know, if you want to earn my trust, being a mercenary isn't going to earn it any faster."

Liam simply smiled, "Would you rather I lie? Tell you that I'm a noble warrior of my people, fighting the demons that threaten their lives while rescuing fair maidens from otherwise horrible fates?"

The pair walked out of the room, headed toward the lower floors and the dining hall. "No," Shining replied after a moment, "But it would sure help if I knew you were loyal to something beyond money, you know?"

"Hah, tell me about it. But seriously, I don't take unethical contracts. Well, I wouldn't if any came up. Only contracts that were open back home were company on company military strikes."

"Company on company?" Shining looked at his guest from the corner of his eye, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Liam was confused for a moment, before remembering that the ponies actually had countries. "Oh, sorry. I guess a proper analogue here would be army on army. Stuff that's well away from civilians and all that." They walked a little further in silence, descending two flights of stairs before Liam remembered his first objective of the day. "Hey, Prince Armor, I actually need to head out to my NEXT before we get to breakfast. Wearing my piloting suit isn't very comfortable."

Shining glanced up at him, examining the black fabric that seemed to have wires woven into it. "You know, I thought that was just your coat. But it does look strange now that I think about it, what's it made of?"

"My coat? Oh you mean like fur, no. This is made of spandex, with circuitry woven into it so it picks up on the electrical signals from my brain. It allows me to control my NEXT as though it were my own body, rather than a bulky interface and joystick controls like the Normals."

Shining Armor simply gawked at the human, understanding that the suit allowed him to control his machine, but completely lost for the rest of the meaning. "Well let's go get your stuff, then we'll meet Cadence in the dining hall."

The pair continued in silence, walking together into the streets of the Crystal Empire as several ponies took notice of them. A few ran, but many bowed respectfully to the Prince. All cast shocked and intrigued looks at Liam as they walked by. He merely chuckled and wore a half smile, finding their skittish, xenophobic reactions funny in the early morning.

Together, they reached the NEXT. The systems may read it as Guardian, but to Liam it would always be Failure, a reminder that he was not good enough to do the things his brother did on a regular basis. Killing Arms Forts, other NEXTs, it was all a regular occurrence for his brother, and all out of his scope of combat. Not that he wasn't a great pilot, just that his reactions and rational thought in combat had never been anywhere near as swift as his brother's.

Liam sighed, grasping a rung on the ladder and heaving himself up towards the waiting cockpit where his possessions awaited him. As he ascended, a faint sound became more and more obvious. Liam was curious, as it sounded like someone was snoring inside his NEXT.

Lo and behold, poking his head over the lip of the entrance step, there was a small turquoise bundle of fluff and feathers snoozing away. Liam's face couldn't keep the smile away, as it was one of the cutest things he'd ever seen. Still, he needed to get into his cockpit. With a small nudge, the filly began to stir, letting out an adorable yawn and ruffling her wings as she opened her eyes.

When she laid eyes on Liam, she froze. Slowly, she backed into the door, cowering behind her forelegs while peeking glances at the human. He reached out with one hand, gaining a small 'eep' from the filly as he touched her mane.

"Hey, it's alright little one, I'm not going to hurt you."

She lifted her head a bit, a little fear being replaced with curiosity as she unconsciously leaned into the hand petting her mane.

"Do you have a name?" Liam asked, smiling at the youngling.

"S- Skylight," she chirped adorably.

Liam's smile grew a little more, fingers running through the rusty hair, "That's a beautiful name. Do you know where your parents are?"

At the mention of her parents, tears began to well up in her eyes. A defeated look overtook her as she buried her head in her front hooves. Liam knew that look, it was the same one that he wore when his father passed away. She shook her head, speaking through her legs and sobbing, "Th-They-They're gone."

Liam hefted himself up onto the ledge, scooping the filly into his arms in one quick motion. He suspected that she would've been terrified if she hadn't been so sad, instead, she simply buried her face in his chest. She sobbed for a few minutes before Liam put her down, "P-Please, don't leave," she whimpered, crawling back toward the man as he crouched to enter the rest of the cabin.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to change clothes and then I'll be back. Just stay put for a minute, alright?"

Skylight nodded, plopping back down on her hindquarters and sniffling to herself. Liam ducked into the cockpit, stripping out of his control suit and donning his only set of clothes. A simple set of black shorts, coming down to the upper quarter of his shins, and a black T-shirt. He grabbed his jacket, a simple hoodie, dark grey. He never really cared much for style, and black was usually the cheapest option around when the opportunity to purchase them arose. He also still wore the piloting boots, as he did almost everywhere. He had a pair of old black sneakers in the box, a white logo on the side read 'Chuck Taylor', but those took too much time to lace up. They were also one of his most valuable possessions, the only things that he had ever actually dropped some real money for. Supposedly, they were popular back in the old days before the war, and were simply called Converse High-tops. They were cool, that's all he cared about.

He exited the cockpit, finding Skylight still sitting on the ledge, sniffling. He scooped her up, tucking her into his shoulder as he used one hand to descend the ladder. On the ground, he moved her to his arms, allowing her to tuck her legs under herself and lie on his forearms as he strode up next to Shining Armor.

Shining Armor looked surprised to see him come down with a filly, and shot Liam a questioning glance, "So who's your friend there, Guardian?"

Skylight looked down to the unicorn from her perch in Liam's arms, being adorably shy, "I'm Skylight."

Liam chuckled, freeing an arm to ruffle the filly's mane again, "She was sleeping in the entrance well." He leaned over, turning Skylight so she wouldn't fall down, and whispered in Shining's ear quiet enough that the child wouldn't hear, "She's an orphan."

Shining's eyes dilated, and he gasped slightly before regaining his composure. He nodded, "So, Skylight, would you like to join us for breakfast?"

The filly's stomach decided to reply for her, letting a loud growl that rivaled Liam on his worst days. Both males shared a laugh as Sky blushed, hiding her face in Liam's chest. With that, the trio set off back toward the palace. As they approached, Skylight's eyes kept growing until they were standing in front of the door.

"We're going to eat breakfast in there!?" she piped up, throwing a hoof upward to the palace floor.

Shining laughed, "We sure are, kiddo. I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Prince Shining Armor, but you can just call me Shining if you want."

"Prince?" Sky tilted her head to the side, "Is King Sombra your dad?" She buried her face again, peeking out to the side to see Shining grimace and shake his head.

"No. Actually, we just kicked Sombra out a few days ago. Weren't you here for that?"

Skylight tilted her head to the other side now, "No, I just 'member waking up in the alley last night, and finding that thing."

Liam let out a deep chuckle, causing Sky to look up at him curiously, "Well you can call me Guardian, Sky. I just showed up here yesterday after some. . . stuff."

Sky giggled, "Garden's a funny name."

Shining laughed with her, Liam would've facepalmed if his hands weren't busy keeping the happy filly safe from falling. He settled for shaking his head and sighing. The trio continued on in silence, following Shining through the halls of the palace until they came upon a grand dining hall. The closest comparison that Liam could make was the NEXT hangar onboard the cradle. The ceiling was massive, holding three chandeliers made of the same translucent blue crystal as the rest of the palace.

"Damn," Liam whispered, momentarily forgetting that Sky was nestled in his arms as she, too, looked around slack-jawed.

They took their seats, Shining on the Princess' right, Liam and Sky on their left. Cadence looked at them strangely, silently asking where the little filly had come from. Her response came from Shining Armor, who must've explained in the same manner he had voiced his concerns about Liam the day before. Cadence gave a small gasp, glancing at the filly before smiling in her direction.

"It is nice to meet you, little one. What's your name?"

Skylight 'eep'ed, hiding her face under the table adorably before her eyes peeked over the edge, "S-Skylight."

Liam had to fight back an 'Aww' as he watched the filly acting so adorable.

"Well my name is Princess Cadence, but you can just call me Cadence."

Skylight caught sight of the wings on her side, and lit up with excitement, "WOW! A REAL PRINCESS! That's so cool!" She went on, gushing over how cool it was to meet a real princess. By the time she was finished, she was barely inches away from Cadence's face, leaning over the edge of the table while standing where her food would have gone.

Cadence was blushing from the praise, mumbling something about it being 'no big deal', while Liam and Shining both doubled over in laughter. Sky snapped back to reality, faking anger at the two males, and huffing all the way back to her seat.

Breakfast arrived shortly afterwards, a veritable feast compared to what Liam was used to, the ponies got a mix of various greens, flowers, and an omelet each. Liam received an omelet, big enough to cover the entire plate, filled with a few green things that he thought were peppers or chilies, and cheese. They all dug in, although the three adults were stunned into silence at how voracious the little filly beside them was. All of her food was gone in a matter of seconds, or so it seemed, and she sat back with a happy smile and a belch that startled a passing maid into fainting.

After breakfast, Liam showed Skylight to his room, accompanied by Shining Armor and Cadence. At their request, he joined them in the hall outside as Skylight went to bathe herself and get ready for the day.

Liam gave a heavy sigh, turning to the two royals before him, "What will happen to her?"

Cadence looked to the floor, "She will be placed in an orphanage until she is old enough to provide for herself."

Shining nodded in agreement, "Without her parents, it would be irresponsible to do nothing."

Liam thought for a moment, possibilities running through his mind. He didn't want to send her away, to an orphanage where she would grow up without parents, and possibly without friends. He also didn't like the idea of taking her with him in his NEXT. Sure, they could manage, but the cockpit was not built to house a child. A whole minute passed, Liam wrestled to figure out which was the lesser of the two evils before finally addressing Cadence.

"How difficult would it be to adopt her? I mean, would it even be possible?"

Cadence seemed to brighten up at the suggestion, "Well it would be difficult, but I could always pull some strings. It would be a bit of a delay in your departure, if you still wanted to go to Equestria, but we could make it work."

Liam thought for another moment, though he had a sneaking suspicion that his decision had been made when he had found Sky sleeping in his NEXT. "How much of a delay? I'd like to get moving within the week, if not today or tomorrow."

Shining spoke up this time, "Well if I were to personally push the paperwork through while Cadence makes your introductions to the Empire, I think we could have this resolved later tonight."

"That actually doesn't sound bad, it'd give me a chance to plan a little more. Not to mention that I could get some supplies and-" He cut off, realizing that he had no money, "Actually, supplies are a bit limited since I have nothing to pay for it with."

Cadence giggled, "Well if it's money you're worried about, I could always put in a requisition for any supplies you need. Food or otherwise, as well as some money to keep the two of you afloat in Equestria. I can't do much, but it should be enough for the trip, and you're always welcome here in the Crystal Empire."

Shining nodded, "Agreed. We may not have known you for very long, but being a guard these last few years has taught me much about judging character. I'm sure that you're a good pony- er- human, and little Skylight will be in good hooves."

Liam chuckled, waving his fingers in front of his face, "Hands, actually. Anyway, I appreciate all that you've done for me. As far as waking up in a whole new world goes, this could've gone much worse."

Cadence rolled her eyes, "Come on you two, we've got introductions to make. We don't want everypony thinking you're some kind of monster any longer than they have to, right?"

"Yeah, that. That would be good," Liam fell into step beside the two, heading across the palace floor to a balcony on the other side. He couldn't keep the smirk off of his face, though.