Armored Core: Failure

*****Chapter 5: 180--Day 2*****

Liam stepped out onto the balcony wearing a huge smile, Cadence and Shining Armor had stepped out ahead of him. Their announcement had drawn the attention of every pony in the city, and they were now waiting to see this new 'Friend of the Empire'.

The cheering was silenced as the ponies saw the man, standing a full head and shoulders over their Princess. Cadence shot him an apologetic smile, which he just chuckled at and turned to the crowd again.

"Crystal ponies," he began, voice amplified by a spell from Cadence. "I am kind of new here, so I'll keep my introduction short! My NEXT, the piece of machinery in the middle of the plaza there, is my vehicle, and my friend. Before awakening here, I had a vision, or a dream, in that dream I was told that I was to become a guardian to this world."

He caught a few confused glances in the crowd, even Shining Armor raised an eyebrow at him. "I come from a world of hardship and strife, where my species was foolish enough to wage wars on a global scale," he sighed, "We are all but extinct compared to our former glory."

The statement brought a gasp from several ponies, Cadence especially. "Do not pity me, or my kind. We were the ones to create such hatred and pain, and we adapted to live with the consequences. I see this as a new beginning for myself, one where I can work toward maintaining peace, instead of fighting another man's war!"

Hooves across the city stomped in approval, and Liam turned to look behind him for a moment. Skylight was standing at the entrance to the palace, he strode over and picked the filly up, allowing her to ride on his shoulders. He turned back to the crowd, a few 'aww's could be heard from the closer citizens as Skylight giggled and hugged the back of Liam's head.

With a smile, which turned into a devious grin as he decided on his next words, he raised his voice a little to ensure that his words wouldn't be missed, "Up until now, those that know me have called me Guardian. This is not my name."

Cadence could barely suppress the shock on her face, turning to look at the human with a little worry. Liam just smiled, he was tired of keeping up with the alias after only a day.

"My kind is somewhat of a myth to you, so I'll just put this out there. I am a human, and my name, is Liam."

A few startled gasps could be heard from the crowd, a mare or two fainted, he heard one or two scream 'YES!'. Most stared with a blank expression, or confusion. Skylight started to shake slightly, which worried him more than anything. Her reaction cut off whatever finishing line he had hastily prepared, and he gave one final wave and a forced smile before ducking back into the palace and making his way to his and Skylight's quarters.

Once inside the room, he set Sky gently on the bed. She backed away slowly, huddling down into a frightened, yet adorable, ball of feathers and fur.

Liam sat on the edge of the bed, reaching out a hand to her. She flinched away, but he didn't stop. Gently, he stroked her mane, and scratched a little behind her ears. She visibly relaxed, but Liam had to know.

"Sky, what's the matter?" he cooed to the filly, toning his voice to be kind and gentle.

Sky sniffed, peeking at his face from behind her hooves. "M-my daddy used to tell me stories about how hu-humans would come to get little fillies if they didn't behave," she squeaked.

Liam let out a silent chuckle, smiling warmly at the child. "If that were true, don't you think I'd have 'gotten' you by now, instead of taking care of you?"

She relaxed a little more, forgetting her fear and now looking confused, "But if that's true, then why did daddy lie to me?"

Liam sighed, lying down on the bed and pulling the filly into a hug. "He didn't lie, Sky. Everyone has stories about mean things that will hurt others, after a while, the story becomes more than just a story, and people believe that it's true because they don't know otherwise."

Sky nodded, not quite understanding, but no longer terrified of the human that had been so kind to her. Liam figured now was probably a good time to speak to her about the future.

"So Skylight," he began, his different tone causing the filly to look up at him. "In a few days, I'll be leaving for Equestria, and probably to see the rest of the world. I was thinking that you could come with me, and we could have some fun along the way. You know, see the sights."

She tilted her head, "You mean you're gonna adopt me?"

If Liam had been drinking, he would've choked right then, "W-well, yeah. I don't want you to have to-"

"Go to an orphanage," Sky sighed, interrupting him. "I know my mommy and daddy aren't coming back, the King's guards wouldn't let me forget that for a second before. But I know that they'd want me to be happy, no matter what."

Liam was taken aback by her sudden maturity, he wiped a single tear from her cheek, hugging her tighter and petting her mane to comfort her. So much for subtlety he thought. He noticed her yawn a bit, even though it was barely after noon, she was exhausted.

"You want to take a nap?" he asked, Sky just nodded, snuggling up close to him and closing her eyes. After a few minutes, she was fast asleep, and so was Liam.

Liam stirred slowly, realizing that he'd fallen asleep. With a quick glance at the clock, he heaved a sigh of relief as he realized that he'd only been out for about 30 minutes. Quietly, Liam disentangled himself from the sleeping filly's grip, heading to the washroom and turning the water on before splashing the icy liquid over his face.

He glanced at himself in the mirror, getting a good look for the first time since he'd shown up in the Empire. He wasn't displeased with his looks, although the stubble around his jaw was growing in uneven patches. He cursed his luck a bit, wishing he had a razor to shave with before shrugging it off and heading to his door.

Outside the door was a single guard, clad in crystalline armor. Liam was about to ask for his attention, but Shining Armor came barreling up the hallway as he inhaled to speak.

"Liam, we need you in the throne room, please," he panted.

Liam tilted his head, "Me? Why?"

"There's a lot of ponies here. . . they're not exactly taking your introduction as well as we'd hoped."

"Ah," he sighed, "Well I'd best go talk to them then. Guard, can you wait inside the room and escort Skylight to the throne room if she wakes up before I get back?"

The guard grunted an affirmative, turning to stand just inside the door before Liam jogged after an already moving Shining Armor.

"Can you tell me more about their complaints?" he asked, hoping to get some kind of response prepared for them.

"Eh," Shining shrugged, "They mostly heard the same bedtime stories I did. About how humans were monsters that would foal nap bad children and such."

"That's all? I figured they'd have more. . . realistic concerns."

"Some do, although the majority are things like: 'Is he going to eat us?'"

Liam chuckled as they made it to the door to the main hall, taking a moment to catch his breath before motioning to Shining to remain outside while he went in. He'd formulated something of a plan, though it was little more than a dramatic entrance. With a sigh he realized that he'd forgotten his sword back in his room, beside the bed.

He shook his head once, before stepping forward. He pushed the massive double doors aside easily, stalking forward with large strides. He had every intention to come off as dangerous, a being that was not to be fucked with. Cadence caught his entrance, as for the forty or so ponies crowded around her throne nagging, however, they did not.

He deflated a bit when he realized that none of the ponies had caught his dramatic entrance. . . but quickly ignored it when he caught what was being said. A particularly scrawny looking stallion toward the rear of the group was speaking.

"- filly that he had earlier? How do we not know that she was his lunch?!" he shouted, murmured agreements were thrown about as Liam crept up behind the snob.

Cadence glanced at him, he simply put a finger to his lips to silence her. She looked back to the group, "I'm aware of your concerns, but you simply must put aside your unfounded fears and get to know the real thing before you judge him." She shot Liam a sly smile as he got into position.

Twig, as Liam designated him, was quick to scoff at the idea. "Why I'll never even- Princess do you even know what he's capable of? Why if I ever saw him near my children I'd waste no time in slaying that monster!"

Liam idly scratched at his chin, mulling things over. A wide grin grew on his face as he decided what to do, although in contrast, Cadence's eyes slowly widened. She was silently pleading with him to be calm, although the audience apparently took it as shock at his words. More nods could be seen as Liam decided to play along with the crowd.

"How do we know that his plan is not to slay the royal family and take over all of Equestria!?" he shouted, using his best panicked tone. None of the group looked back at him, all too busy fawning over the idea of a bloodthirsty alien in their lands.

"You know, you're not helping at all," Cadence deadpanned, getting a few of the congregation to turn around in confusion, which quickly turned to shocked horror.

Liam widened his stance a little, still planning to unleash all kinds of fuck upon the sniveling brat in front of him. "But Cadi~," he whined, making up a pet name on the spot, "It's so much fun to mess with the short ones!"

The panic began. Ponies ran every which way except toward the human, who simply sighed and facepalmed.

"Enough!" Cadence shouted, causing most of the ponies to stop where they were. Liam calmly walked up to her throne, taking a seat on the third step like he had the day before. "If you could all stop being such foals about this, and actually listen, we might actually get something accomplished!"

A few ponies left, visibly upset, but the majority gathered around again, although much further away from the throne than before. Cadence nodded at Liam, giving him the spotlight.

"Alright, you all already know my name and what I am, so I'll just start taking questions." Every hoof in the room shot straight up, "Well, I can see we might be here for a bit." He chuckled, pointing to a pony in the far left corner of the front row.

"Are you here to eat us?" She asked, cowering a bit.

Liam sighed, "Really? Well, no. What I said earlier is true, I had some kind of vision or dream before waking up here, so I am to act as a protector."

"B-but you could eat us if you wanted?"

"That question is a trap," Liam sighed, "Let me put it this way. Throughout human history, there's only been two or three recorded occasions of humans eating equines, and as far as I know, those were horses. Before you freak out about that, know that those were only in extremely dire situations. Situations where it was either eat the horse, or eat your friend. Keep in mind also, that where I'm from, horses and ponies don't have any form of sapience. They can't talk, they don't have higher thought processes, just instinct and habit."

The ponies didn't look too convinced, some looked as if they were about to be sick. Liam pointed to the next pony in line, "Um, yes. What about the foal you had with you earlier?"

"Ah, her name's Skylight. She was abducted by slavers under Sombra, as were her parents. They both died during their enslavement, so I'm watching over her. Hopefully, the paperwork will go through and I'll be able to call her my daughter before too long," Liam smiled, "I've seen kids back home that go to the orphanages on the cradles, I don't want her to have to do that."

Most of the congregation relaxed, though not totally at ease. More hooves shot up in the air.

Liam sighed, "Let me try to answer a few questions before they're asked. I was told of a few children's stories involving my race, and I don't know what they are exactly. I do know that every society has stories intended to frighten their children into behaving. I know that back home, there's and old religious text that describes four horsemen that would herald the apocalypse.

"We don't eat ponies, in fact, they're rare now, though before I read that they were kept as pets. I also read that horses and ponies were used as a form of therapy for the mentally handicapped. They were seen as loveable, and were most often very well taken care of and prized by their handlers for their appearances and peaceful disposition." Liam looked around, seeing a few confused faces, but he didn't expect perfect results. Most of them were still suspicious, and a few even looked disgusted. "Alright, the moral of the story is, I'm a nice guy. If the Crystal Empire is ever in trouble, I'll head back here to assist in whatever capacity I can. Just please drop your prejudices and allow me a chance to prove myself."

With that, the throne room doors opened, revealing a sleepy looking Skylight, and the guard from his room. She yawned, making an adorable squeak. Liam smiled, standing and stepping through the crowd, which parted to make room for him as if he were going to lash out at any moment. Sky's face bore a smile as she trotted over to him, squealing happily as he scooped her up into his arms.

Most of the other ponies were apparently appeased with this display, and began to head out. A group of three in particular remained though, looking expectantly at the human.

"Can I help you?" He asked, scratching behind Sky's ears as she snuggled into his chest.

An older mare stepped forward, "Yes actually. We represent a group here in the Crystal Empire that studies old folklore and legends. Namely, humans. It's an obscure group, founded by a mare from the royal city in Canterlot over one thousand years ago. I don't know if it still exists outside of the Crystal Empire, but we were wondering if we could interview you. Perhaps record some of your knowledge of human history for study?"

Liam smiled, "Well sure, it's said that those that don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, so I don't see the harm in teaching about my race. Maybe we can avoid some problems before they have to happen here."

The mare giggled. . . hungrily? "Oh this is fantastic! I'll get some supplies and we'll meet you here in an hour!"

"Actually, Ma'am. Hold on one moment," Liam said, turning to Cadence, "Would it be alright if we were to use the dining hall? I know I'm starving, and I think Sky here could use some food too." Sky's response was a deep growl from her belly, causing her to worm around to hide her face for a moment. Liam raised an eyebrow at the change in behavior from earlier, she was being much more clingy than she had been before her nap.

Cadence smiled, "I think that sounds like a good idea. I think myself and Shining would like to join you as well. We haven't eaten in a while either."