Chapter Four
We are One, We are All

Shining Armor took a sip of his soda as he looked out the window at the streets of Manehattan from his hotel room window, five floors above the streets. Ponies walked and drove about, going to and from work or the stores.

Like the ponies below, the Peace Fighter leaders were there on important business.

“Captain, they’re ready” Lieutenant Spear said to Shining as she entered the hotel room, carrying two saddlebags on her sides.

“Let me see” Shining requested, waiting as Spear brought the documents in the bags out and set them down on a table, allowing the Captain to look them over.

Folder one contained blueprints and schematics for some armor designs that his Research and Development department had drawn up; it was standard armor, composed of the usual titanium alloy, but the most striking feature was the peace sign as the visor for the helmet.

“I like that, we should make it” Shining said, very impressed with the design.

“We just need to get the materials to make those suits, Sir. Which brings us to folder 2” Strong Spear declared, opening the second folder and handing its contents to Captain Armor.

“A shipment of titanium alloy to the Equestrian Empire from the Republica of Griffonia?” the Captain mused, impressed with the results his spies could produce. There were other things on that ship along with the metal, but nothing the Peace Fighters needed.

Though there was one part labelled CLASSIFIED, which intrigued Shining.

“The metal is on the Griffon Freight Ship Cobra Star, and will be leaving port on the Boaring Streit in nine days” Lieutenant Spear explained.

“OK. Thanks, Lieutenant. Now, what is planned for today?” Shining inquired, filing the documents away in their folders and handing them back over to the Lieutenant, waiting for the mare to reply.

~~~~

“Are you sure this will work, my Princess?” the subject asked Celestia as she stood over her, ensuring the straps securing her in place were tight and correctly placed before reaching into something out of the subject’s view.

“Yes, my faithful subject. Now, relax and let me work” Celestia commanded, producing a large hoof-held device which she pressed to the back of the subject’s head and pressed the trigger.

The subject gasped and yelled for a moment before calming down.

Celestia reached into a case and produced a black box, showing it to the subject who looked at it with curiosity.

“What is that, Princess?”

Princess Celestia smiled and began to put it on the subject’s back, strapping it in place and attaching the battery pack. “It’s something to make you a superior soldier, my dear.”

With the pack in place Celestia released the subject and she hopped to the floor, rubbing the back of her head and looking over her shoulder at the device.

“Now, hold still and activate it” Celestia ordered, sitting back on her haunches to watch.

“How?” the subject inquired.

“This button here.” Celestia reached for the device and flipped the switch. The subject stood still as told and a panel on the back of the device unfolded.

Then, the magic happened.

From the device a full suit of armor unfolded and secured itself to the subject; solid titanium plates staggered down her legs and her tail was encased in a circular case that formed on the rump area. The helmet unfolded into place and was secured over her head, a steel cord extending into the slot that Celestia had made in her skull with the modification-gun, making her head jerk rigid for a moment. The single slit of a visor flashed orange, indicating the suit was fully sealed on her body and ready for action.

“Now, how do you feel?” the Princess asked.

“I am fine, Holy One” the subject instantly responded in a firm tone.

“Will you do as you are told, without question nor hesitation?”

“Yes, Holy One.”

Celestia smirked, then read over the suit’s details on her computer. “Very good. Now, your suit has a wide variety of features, and I shall now go over them. It is comprised of a titanium alloy one-inch thick, and is vacuum-sealed with its own oxygen supply for 15 minutes of air at a normal breathing rate. Of course, being vacuum-sealed it is also completely waterproof and can withstand water pressure 100 feet deep. The suit provides a full heads-up display with a targeting computer for your guns, an integrity reading of the suit itself, an energy reading for the magic shield, a clock, a compass, a range-finder, a 64x digital magnification zoom, and warm and cold-blood imaging. Thanks to the upgrades I’ve administered to you, you can engage any of the features that are not on by default by just thinking about them. The targeting computer, shield reading, integrity reading, and compass are all on by default. Try thinking about the clock to turn it on” Celestia commanded.

A moment passed before the subject spoke again and said “it is on, Holy One. The current time reading is 7:17PM, Day 30 of the New Year Month 1, 1177.”

One minute ahead of Celestia’s computer, but she suspected her clock was a little mis-calculated anyway.

“Very good. Now, turn your suit off” Celestia ordered, the last part of her test.

“No, Holy One. My suit will remain on at all times in service of the Holy Goddesses and all their people, and upon my death or capture this suit shall be automatically destroyed, both in full compliance with Holy Decree ABHK-9756-V5S117. We are One, We are All, and We are Yours” the subject exclaimed monotonously and robotic, as if she were reading off a highly-reversed script.

Princess Celestia smiled; direct control had been completely assumed.

~~~~

“All six test subjects were administered the ‘upgrades’ and fitted with the new combat suits, sister. They should be deployed against the Peace Fighters within a week. Data gathered from their experience in the field will be used to improve the final production models of the combat suits when our shipment of titanium from the Griffons arrive” Celestia said to Princess Luna in their private chambers.

“Very good, Tia. Now, about this shipment; we are getting something ‘else’ in it as well, yes?” Luna asked.

“Yes, sister, our special delivery from Griffon Militaries R&D is onboard this ship as well, hidden below decks in the expanded cargohold” the sun Goddess answered.

“Good. Those Peace Fighters will never know what hit them once we get this” Luna leered.

“Indeed, good sister.”

~~~~

“Start talking!” Shining Armor barked, smacking the captive across the face. He had embarked to another hotel nearby in Manehattan and captured an important officer in the Equestrian Empire, returning him to the hotel room and beginning the interrogation with Lieutenant Strong Spear.

The officer spit blood out on the floor and looked Shining in the face, muttering “I can’t believe Captain Shining Armor, hero of the Changeling Invasion and Crystal Conflict, is the one leading these pitiful ‘Peace Fighters’.”

Shining stood on his hinds and grabbed the back of the officer’s head, pulling it forward so his face slammed into the Captain’s other hoof, breaking his nose.

“TALK!”

The officer looked unfazed, and instead still looked defiant. “When Celestia learns of what you’ve done, she will have your HEAD!” the officer yelled.

“When she learns?” Shining chuckled darkly. “Fool, she knows that I’ve been leading the Peace Fighters for the past 19 months.”

“What are you saying?!” the officer declared.

“She has known all along you dumbass! For close to two years she has known that I, the former Captain and Commander of her Empire’s military are now leading a band of what she calls terrorists! She is too embarrassed to admit this publicly, so she feeds you fucking sheep lie after lie about how Lieutenant Strong Spear is the leader of my organization! She is a fat fucking liar, you FUCK!” Shining exploded, beating on the officer several times during his rant.

The officer again spit out blood, and still did not look convinced. “Bull. I bet this is all some trick by her majesty to ensure my loyalty. Why she would question it in the first place I do not know, but I have obviously provided enough reason for the Holy One to bec--” the officer started, bashed across the face by Captain Armor.

“Shut up with that ‘Holy One’ crap, soldier! You are UNWORTHY!” Shining yelled, blinking a few times afterwards.

He had fallen right back into his Drill Commander attitude from his days as an Imperial soldier.

The Captain looked over at Lieutenant Spear, who looked a little concerned and wary. Sighing in exasperation Shining Armor gathered up their things and motioned for the Lieutenant to follow him as he approached the door.

“Wait, what about the captive?” the mare inquired.

Shining mulled it over for a minute, looking at the captive officer, before approaching and shoving a sock in his mouth and slapping a piece of tape over it.

“There. We’re not gonna learn anything from him. We’ll let the hotel staff deal with him. Let’s go” Shining said, leaving the hotel room.

~~~~

Begin recording: Captain’s Diary, Day 31 of Month of the New Year 1, 1177 years after the Nightmare Moon Event.

I...am having a hard time writing this, I’m just so pissed off. My hoof is shaking in anger and fear... Fear of myself... My anger...

I swore today, something I have never done in my life. And not the usual pony curses, no, these were full-blown curses I hurled at an officer of the Equestrian Empire. He was the enemy, but not even I would do that to them.

Or so I thought.

Thinking about those words I used makes me want to cry in frustration over what has happened to not only me, but also all of Equestria the past 19 months. Why? Why did this have to happen to me? To all of us?!

I beat him too... I am ashamed and scared to admit that it felt good to hit him...

What the hell is wrong with me?

...If there’s one thing the Princesses and I share, it’s our equal hatred and love of technology. The Princesses preach to their..."subjects" that technology is both the cause of and only hope for this war. If we had never discovered the technology we did Equestria will still be a land of peace and happiness. A true utopia. But now that we have it, we have no choice but to use it in the hopes that it may bring about that peace once again.

There are days when I wish I had never learned the truth. Cadance is both my savior and worst nightmare for telling me the truth. I thank her, and curse her...

...I loved you so much, sweetie. I still do. Cady...why did you have to die...?

...This is too much...

...

*sob* ...Cady...

End Diary entry.

~~~~

Author's Note

Legal note: Shining Armor, Princess Celestia, Princess Cadance, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. Strong Spear and all related characters belong to me. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro.