Chapters The Iron Pony: Harder than Diamonds
A pink alicorn paced around the crystalline throne room, while her white unicorn husband sat calmly nearby. She would bite her lip occasionally, as if wanting to say something but couldn't find the words. After what felt like a millennia, she spoke.
"Maybe I asked too much of her? " she supposed. "She's already done so much."
"Celestia will always send help, Cadence. She is your aunt." the unicorn assured his wife.
As if on cue, a small scroll appeared in a burst of yellow sunlight. Shining Armor caught it with his magic and broke the seal.
"We'll make it though this, Cadence. I just know it." the prince assured, beginning to pour over the contents of the scroll. After a few long minutes, his face resembled something caught between confusion and amusement.
Princess Cadence raised an inquiring eyebrow. "Good news?"
"Great news!" her husband exclaimed, "Celestia is sending supplies to us by train! And Luna suggested some Technology too!"
"We can't use those things. Nopony knows how those pegasus war machines work." she pointed out.
"Luna commissioned a pegasus that does. Her scroll says he's an old friend of mine."
"Who could possibly be experienced in that advanced level of technology?"
A dark unicorn stallion sat in a dim room decorated with grey and black crystals. He was dressed in a near-complete set of equally dark armor, missing only the helm. A blood-red velvet cape was hung about his massive shoulders.
"How soon will my kingdom be ready for the taking?" he demanded in a booming voice to a silhouette in the corner.
"In approximately a month's time, your Highness, based on current estimates." a calm mare's voice answered.
"A MONTH?!" he thundered.
"Yes, King Sombra. The reinforcements sent by Equestria set us back a few weeks. It did nothing more than replenish their ranks. After we squash them, bringing down the shield should be easier than riding thermal currents."
Sombra didn't quite grasp the analogy, but assumed it meant there wasn't going to be any problems.
"Excellent. Although, I feel the Crystal-ponies should be punished for their insolence." He stamped his huge hoof, sprouting shadowy crystals about the chamber. "Starve them. Cut off their railroad supplies. Make them beg for my...salvation."
"It will be done." The mysterious mare affirmed before leaving the chamber.
"Are you sure it was necessary to send him, Sister?" A cream alicorn asked her dusk blue sibling. "He wasn't exactly keen on assisting us."
"He wasn't keen on assisting you , dear Celestia." The younger alicorn responded, a little snobbily. "Nevertheless, if what we suspect is true, then this pegasus is the only hope our niece has."
"And when he finds out?" Princess Celestia inquired.
Princess Luna smirked mischieviously. "We shall see in time..."
The Iron Pony: Harder than Diamonds
An armored transport car rattled across the frozen tracks, pulled forward through the effort of a huge locomotive engine. Perpetual snowfall blew past the windows of the car, partially obscuring the view of the great Crystal Spire on the horizon from the inside. Of course, it was the middle of Winter, so it was only to be expected this far north. The train itself bore no markings or identification, just the steely grey and black of its cold metal exterior.
Only four ponies rode the train. The rest of the space was taken by crate after crate of supplies, medical equipment, and a few boxes they weren't allowed to look in. The four ponies couldn't have been any more dissimilar. The conductor, an earth-pony, was in the engine shoveling coal into the furnace. One unicorn guard, a Solar Guard at that, was helping him. In the train car was another guard, a crystal-pony, staring out one of the windows anxiously. Finally, a pegasus was sitting in a wood chair lazily, rocking it back on its back legs.
The pegasus was strange himself. He was stark black, his bored eyes a ruby red. His mane was black as well, slicked back in thick spines with blood-red tips and smelling faintly of gasoline. His cutie mark was exposed, a silver wrench crossed with a white wing, a symbol emblazoned on a few of the crates. The stallion was wearing a khaki vest, standard issue for the overly-secretive and highly skilled Pegasus Operative National and International Emergency Squad, or P.O.N.I.E.S., as they were better known. His most unusual feature, or rather features, were his left foreleg and left wing. They were metal, comprised of gears and pistons rather than bone and skin, attached firmly to their sockets. He never gave a straight answer when asked about them, preferring instead to skirt around the subject or flat out refuse to answer. This pony was Steel Pteryx. Lieutenant Steel Pteryx.
The black pegasus turned to look at the crystal-pony. "You nervous, Private?" he asked the dull-coated soldier.
"N-no sir." the grey guard answered weakly, not looking at his superior. "Fear has no place on...on the battlefield."
"Fear is the only thing that keeps you alive in the field, Private. Keeps a good spring in your hooves." the lieutenant somewhat-jokingly reassured.
The crystal-pony clinked as he turned his head to meet the pegasus' eyes. His quartz crystal armor was not very well suited for movement. After what seemed to be a long moment of consideration, the private spoke again. "Have you ever had to kill another pony, sir?"
Steel itched his muzzle with his metal leg. "Yes."
The crystal-pony was taken aback by his nonchalant attitude. "Wha-? Uh, is...is it easy?"
"To kill? Yes. To cope...well, eventually." The pegasus grew a little tense.
The private noticed quickly, and changed the subject.
"I don't want to die, Lieutenant Pteryx."
"Does anypony?" Steel responded, relaxing.
"I have a wife, sir." he pulled a photo from the collar of his curiass. "She's going to have my filly soon."
"Filly, huh?" Steel mused as he rose from his seat and crossed over to look at the picture. He delicately took it in his hooves and stared at it. "Whatcha' going to name her?"
"Amethyst."
"Pretty name." the pegasus stated simply, stuffing the picture back into the crystal-pony's armor. "What's your name, Private?"
"Diamondshine, sir!" the pony saluted proudly. "Private First Class!"
"Well, Diamondshine, to survive, you need to kill." The lieutenant said grimly. "Are you willing to take another pony's life if it means seeing your daughter open her eyes?"
"I would slay an army." The private stated, puffing out his chest.
"Then you're ready. And I'll make sure you get home." Steel reassured, resting his heavy metal hoof on Diamondshine's armor with a clink.
"Thank you, sir." the private sighed, relieved.
"We're almost there anyway. What could possibly happen this close to Empire territory?"
The Solar Guard burst in from the engine, flustered and covered in soot. "Pteryx, out the window! A railless train!"
Steel Pteryx shoved Private Diamondshine roughly to the side and leapt to the small window. His ears instantly flattened to his skull. "I have a feeling that's not an escort."
Steel studied the strange thing plowing through the snow parallel to the train. To the others, it looked like a train car put on huge rubber wheels. To him, it was a blueprint to be read. He already knew how it worked, inside and out, without any plans or instructions. The vehicle practically tore itself apart in his mind's eye, exposing all of its secrets. Armored plating on a reinforced frame concealed a massive engine that ran off of...petroleum. Diesel? Definitely diesel. It would be hoof-operated by a series of pedals and wheels to control acceleration and steering, respectively. A holding cell inside was sealed by a heavy bulkhead door, probably filled with soldiers, or maybe empty for prisoners.
"Lieutenant?" Private Diamondshine asked tentatively, breaking Steel's concentration. The bulkhead door parted, leaving a huge opening in the side of the strange vehicle.
Several ponies were inside, with strange devices strapped to their flanks. Again, Steel knew how these devices worked, but for a different reason. He invented them. There was no mistaking those six long barrels and seemingly endless chains if lead.
"GATLING GUNS!" He shouted to his fellow passengers.
"What?!" Diamondshine managed before being tackled to the floor.
The windows shattered as the leaden projectiles tore through the air and embedded themselves in the wooden interior. Ricochets pinged and sparked off the plated armor of the car, denting it and even piercing it. The buzzing of the guns seemed to never end.
A lavender alicorn leapt back from her telescope with a short cry. Thinking fast, she bounded from the edge of the Spire that she had been watching the scene unfold from, speading her wings and looping into an open window. Tearing down the crystal halls like her hooves were aflame, she weaved around scared servants and confused guards, until she reached her target.
"Applejack!" She shouted to the orange mare as she skidded to a halt. "Get Rainbow and Rarity! I'll explain on the way!"
"Hold up, Twi. What about Fluttershy an' Pinkie?" Applejack asked inquisitively.
Twilight Sparkle shot her friend a look of terror.
"Ah get your point. Meet ya in the courtyard."
Steel picked himself up off of Diamondshine with a groan. The rattling train car was splintered all to Tartarus, although much of the cargo was miraculously unharmed. The unnamed Solar Guard's body was slumped against one wall, riddled with holes and splattered with blood. The engine was maintaining speed, so Steel assumed the conductor was unharmed.
"You alright, Private?" he asked the coughing crystal-pony.
"I (cough) think you crushed my ribs."
"Quit bitching. At least it's not a chunk of lead in your skull."
"What are they doing now?" The private hesitantly asked, not moving from his prone position on the splintered floor.
The lieutenant chanced a glance over the broken windowsill, the icy air cutting his muzzle like knives. The antagonists were parting inside their transport, a single pony struggling with his flank-mounted gun. It had one huge barrel rather than six, and a second pony loaded something into the back of it. Steel, as expected, knew this weapon too.
His P.O.N.I.E.S. training having conditioned the pegasus to stay calm in a life-or-death situation, Steel quickly bucked open one of the crates emblazoned with his cutie mark. Inside, amidst the light packing material, was a near-exact copy of the same weapon.
Wasting no time, Steel loaded a large shell into the gun and strapped to his own flank. He leapt over to the door and wrenched it open, snow and howling winds filling the compartment as he did so. The other pony had finished struggling and was finally steady on his hooves.
It was synchronous. Both stallions took aim at the other. Both placed the trigger into their mouths. Two small bursts of flame, and two reality-shattering explosions.
The Iron Pony: Harder than Diamonds
Steel coughed as the world swam back into view. It was a blur of reds and oranges and blacks and whites, enough to make somepony sick. A feeling of cold washed over him as the ringing in his ears gave way to howling wind and crackling fire.
After regaining his shaky orientation, he observed the flaming wreckage before him. Boxes splintered, spilling their cargo all over the snow. The twisted heap of metal that used to be a train crackled and popped from an open fire.
Steel started as he saw the battered and bruised conductor wrench himself from the engine. Spotting the lieutenant through one eye, he called out. Unfortunately, all the pegasus could hear was a somewhat faint CRACK echo over the wind. The earth-pony's forehead exploded into a chunky, red mist that immediately got swept away in the snowy gust. His limp body slammed face-first into the metal, never again rising.
Before Steel could even react, a large stallion's hooves crunched the snow behind him. A cold metal cylinder was roughly jabbed into the base of his skull, its icy touch freezing the pegasus solid. A flankgun.
"Stand up!" The pony barked.
Steel did as commanded, his leg whirring mechanically as he did so.
The offending stallion began chuckling immediately. "They're sending cripples now?" He started laughing a little harder. "That's fucking hysterical! "
The lieutenant wheeled around and socked the laughing pony hard in the mouth with his metal hoof, sending the stallion sailing onto his back with a thud.
"Crippled?" He asked the soldier, his muscles pulsing with electricity pumped in from his racing heart. "I'm not fucking CRIPPLED!!! "
With tremendous mechanical strength, Steel heaved the stallion into the air and brought his spine down upon the permafrost like a meteor. The snapping and pained shrieking echoed across the snowy landscape. The wind had finally died down.
"Holy shit! " A young mare's voice yelled indignantly.
Steel wheeled around on his hooves, facing a small group of them. Their mouths were agape, and one of them, a white unicorn , was borderline fainting. The broken stallion's cries died down to shaky sobs.
"Rainbow, ah told ya not tah use them words." The orange mare in a cowpony hat chastised.
"AJ, he broke him in half! What would you say?"
Steel's left ear twitched. Click-click. A slide bolt loading a new round into a chamber. Quickly scanning the terrain, and ignoring the mares, he spotted a sniper crouching over the dead conductor. Without a moment's hesitation (and to the group's surprise) Steel's disembodied metal wing impaled the unwary soldier in the windpipe. She struggled for air, desperately trying to wrench the bladed feathers from her throat, only to continually slice her forehooves and add more crimson to the stream running down her chest.
The pegasus was already scaling the wreckage to retrieve his wing, still not having spoken a word to the four mares. Upon reaching the dying sniper mare, he crudely yanked the appendage from her neck, splattering the last drops of her life, and her corpse tumbled down to the group below. He casually flicked some of the mess from his feathers before locking the prosthetic back into its joint.
A lavender alicorn, now noticed by Steel, stepped forward cautiously.
"Who...are you?" she asked inquisitively.
"Lieutenant First Class Steel Pteryx, ma'am!" He answered, saluting before bounding off the train to the mares. "P.O.N.I.E.S. Division, Alpha team."
"P.O.N.I.E.S.?! " The cyan pegasus exclaimed.
"What's P.O.N.I.E S.?" asked the Princess.
"A specialized tactical team comprised of military pegasi with fully-realized talents." Steel responded with pride.
Rainbow Dash couldn't contain her excitement. "They're second only to the Wonderbolts!"
Steel shot her a skeptical glance before facing the Princess again. "Our duties generally include emergency response, black ops, and specialized royal escort. Well, my duties, anyway."
The air tensed slightly, and Steel changed the topic.
"So, you're Princess Sparkle." He said, pointing to the lavender alicorn. "And your friends are...?"
"I'm Rainbow Dash." The azure pegasus said coolly, brushing her prismatic mane out of her crimson eyes.
"I'm Rarity." the white unicorn followed, tossing her luxurious purple mane.
"An' I'm Applejack." The orange earth-pony finished, tipping her hat.
Steel bent over the sniper mare's body, examining her remains. "Its an honor. Now about our opposition."
The dead pony was wearing thick snow goggles and a scarf. Examining her further, Steel discovered a warped patch of flesh where the cutie mark should have been. Removing her goggles revealed a web of scars branching from her eye sockets. The colors of the eyes were too sharply defined to be natural. Too perfect. Removing the bloody scarf not only revealed the ragged tear his wing made, but another set of scars running parallel to her windpipe.
"Silenced, ocular enhancement, sniper training. This is feeling all too familiar." Steel stated, mostly to himself, since Rarity had finally fainted, and Applejack was busy rousing her.
Only Twilight was hanging onto his every word.
"What exactly do you mean, Lieutenant Pteryx?" She asked, curious.
"I mean," he replied, getting to his hooves, "that this mare was Tailored."
Seeing the confusion plastered on her face, the pegasus decided to elaborate.
"Tailoring, in this sense, is the process of surgically implanting or removing parts of the body to fit a specific need."
"Like with clothing." The alicorn related.
"Precisely. Now not all Tailoring endeavors exactly work. " he rotated his metal hoof, trying to find a simple way to speak his mind.
"Who in their righ' mind would wanna replace their body parts?" Applejack inquired, waving her stepson by Rarity's muzzle. "Cain'tcha jus' learn yer skills like a normal pony?"
"What else could you Tailor?"
"Nearly anything." Steel responded, kicking away the corpse. "I've even seen cross-species Tailorings."
As if on cue, a large boom rang out from the other side of the wreck.