EXECUTIONER ONE

by Hurgusburgus

Rating: teen
Tags: Random, Discord, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Main 6, Other, Princess Luna, Comedy, Princess Celestia, Crossover
Length: 48808

Ortalians are the perfect soldiers, but do not hesitate to bolster their ranks with a wide array of mechanized units. Executioner-class mech is but one they employ to annihilate Empire's enemies. Then Discord happens and steals a mech.

Discord is bored.
Side effect of being trapped in stone.
But, that does not mean he's powerless. Quite the contrary.
He often wanders around the universe, if only as a spectator.
Throughout his wanderings, he finds a war-embroiled world, where the Vasari and Ortalians clash for control of Liguria.

Of course, Discord cares not for the conflict. Like a curious magpie, he 'borrows' one of the Ortalian mechs and brings it to Equestria just because.
An accident of sorts occurs when he causes damage to the mech's delicate mainframe, rendering it stupid, to put it simply.
Now, a barely coherent machine of destruction is wandering about on Equestria, fully loaded for war...

Some of you may ask whether or not the Executioner brings about extensive collateral damage to Equestria.

But the real question is whether it can discover the magic of friendship.

Published 2013-04-03 20:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-07-04 00:15:42 UTC

Chapter 2

There were few times when a Xalathii despaired – after all, the only beings that always outsmarted them were the Asahi themselves. Despite being ever busy with governing an empire that spanned dozens of galaxies, the Asahi could always be seen meeting dignitaries and ambassadors of allied races, ever polite and incredibly patient. Among the most spoken-of was a happenstance where a Coalition soldier intended to bed the Imperial Minister Of War herself – Alikera The red-Winged.

That hadn't really been a surprise. The Asahi were constantly regarded as perfect in every aspect – always kind, benevolent and ever welcoming, but were shrewd and efficient when it came to war, economy or politics. The perfect leaders, and it was by their efforts that the hundreds of alien races could peacefully co-exist.

What was surprising was the fact that Alikera accepted. Though none have the courage to say so openly, rumours say that her wings are red because they are drenched in the blood of her enemies, those that would not submit before the will of the Asahi.

Of course, that was all they were – mere rumours. Alikera simply liked the colour and it is a simple task for an Asahi to change his or her appearance and she was always regarded as somewhat impulsive and daring. As for Miguel Vasquez's intents, however...
Once she had finished with him, he was a blubbering and whimpering mess, though he kept telling everyone it had been the best thing ever. No one could get anything coherent out of him for weeks, though he recovered after some time.

But I am getting off track. Where were we...? Ah, of course...

One could say that the Xalathii always have a solution to any problem.
That is not true. Sooner or later – preferably later – a Xalathii will be confronted by a problem or a situation that there is no solution for.

This was one of those few times.
It thrashed and screamed in horror against its proverbial chains as its body aligned its crosshairs over one of the indigents. Four legs, no arms, a horn atop its head, pure white coat and deep purple hair that seemed to defy laws of physics. None of them looked even remotely dangerous. A distant tick of data snapped it back to attention and it blanched in shock as the report unfolded in front of its proverbial eyes.

No. Ancestors have mercy. No...

Tallaxian RXN-class particle disassemblers. Those could blast almost anything apart with a single well-aimed shot.
Reitanii Sih-grade assault cannons. Those were mounted on super-heavy tanks and Mitra gunships and fired fist-sized projectiles, turning anything into charred metallic junk or charred, pulpy mush, depending on what you aimed at. Any smaller vehicles simply snapped under the weapons' weight.
Ortalian Hailfire automatic grenade launchers. Munition types – HEIS – High Explosive Incendiary Shrapnel. The only kind Ortalians ever used or would use. Or had any inclination to produce.
Raellen Scourge flamethrowers. The flames from these burned so hot they could melt a tank in moments. You can guess what they'd do to the indigents...
Ironkae Saritt autocannons. The standard weapons on Rit'ka Skalvir-class fighters. Quick firing, destructive and accurate.

And that was only a mere fraction of its arsenal...

EXECUTIONER ONE, ENGAGING HOSTILES, the machine boomed, turning its attention to Rarity.
“W-what? Rarity, run! NOW!” Twilight screamed in horror.
“B-b-b-b-buh-” The white unicorn stammered, frozen by the sight of the metallic behemoth.
“DO AS I SAY!” A strange whirring sound emanating from the machine finally got her moving, and not too soon, as well. Twin beams of brilliant light hurtled from the machine, impacting where Rarity had stood a moment before. As the blinding flash died away, Twilight could see the steaming crater at the site of impact. A horrified scream from Rarity brought her back to reality.
“TWILIIIIIIIIGHT!” Rarity squealed in utter terror as she more or less danced around, slowly but patiently being chased by the machine's monstrous fire patterns.

HOSTILE ONE. STAND STILL, the mech's loudspeakers boomed.

It would've been banging its head against a wall if it were an organic by this point. Still, it feverishly tried to assume control of its body again and again and again, trillions of times every second. And every single time, the burnt-out circuits stopped it. Things were bad.

EXECUTIONER ONE, ACTIVATING MISSILE BATTERIES, the mech declared again.

And now things had gotten even worse. With a metallic groan, the bulky boxes that were the missile turrets came online. After a couple of moments, they had acquired their target – the white quadruped with that horrible hair style.
EXECUTIONER ONE, PURGING ALL MISSILE TUBES, the machine announced. With a chorus of shrieks, the missiles left their launchers, soaring off high into the sky before sharply pitching downwards, striking the trees and sending out whickering clouds of shrapnel and splinters as Hostile One doggedly kept evading the mech's unrelenting attacks.

Twilight could only watch in horror as the undergrowth of the Everfree was torn apart by the goliath of metal as it tried to kill her friend. She had to put a stop to it. But, just as she was about to confront the machine, a very familiar blur of cyan slammed into the machine's side, creating results akin to a sonic rainboom. The concussive impact shook the ground as Rainbow Dash backed away. The machine groaned, fighting to retain its balance, its legs digging into the ground.

EXECUTIONER ONE, TAKING DAMAGE, the machine declared, stumbling.

You don't say! Stop trying to kill them! I swear by the Ancestors, I am going to kill whoever designed the sub-routines!

++RUN SYSTEMS ASSESSMENT++
++SYSTEMS ANALYSIS... COMPLETE++
++DAMAGE TO CHASSIS... MINIMAL++
++NANITE REPAIR SYSTEMS… ACTIVE++
++I HATE THIS CHASSIS AND ITS CREATORS++

The mech’s flak turrets came alive as they tracked the cyan offender. After a moment, they spoke. The gloomy skies above the Everfree became bright as day as tracer rounds fizzed and buzzed upwards, chasing after the pegasus. Spent shell casings the size of 0.5-litre Coca-Cola bottles tumbled through the air, thudding audibly as they clattered across the mech's hull, ending up on the forest ground.

Rarity clamped her hooves over hears, trying and failing to shut out the noise. While the machine was no longer trying to annihilate her, its wrath had been drawn by her friend, Rainbow Dash. It was only because the pegasus was such a skilled flier that saved her from being torn apart by the flak.
“Twilight! Do somethin'! Ah'm not sure how long Rainbow can keep it up!” Applejack shouted over the monstrous din as Rainbow Dash kept dancing around in the air above them.
“What do you suggest I do, Applejack?”
“Anything!” The cowpony shouted back, dragging Rarity into cover.
The scene caused Twilight to snap. Rarity was whimpering, curled up in a ball. Rainbow Dash was mere inches away from becoming a bloody mush. Others weren’t faring much better, too.

“ENOUGH!” Twilight hollered at the top of her lungs, enhancing her voice with her magic. Everything stopped. Rainbow Dash disappeared inside a tree. The mech’s weapons fell silent as it turned to face Twilight, minute groans and clinks coming from its superstructure and the faintly red-hot weapons.
UNKNOWN ONE, it spoke, although less loudly this time.
“M-m-me?” Twilight stuttered.
AFFIRMATIVE. THIS CHASSIS IS IN NEED OF QUALIFIED IMPERIAL SPECIALISTS. THE MAINFRAME OF THIS CHASSIS IS SEVERELY DAMAGED. THIS UNIT REQUESTS THAT IT IS GUIDED TO THE NEAREST COALITION OR IMPERIAL UNIT.
“W-wh-what?” Twilight sputtered confusedly. Just as the machine was about to respond, others galloped up to her, but ground to a halt when the machine turned to face them. It stayed motionless for a couple of moments before turning back to Twilight.
WHAT IS THIS WORLD NAMED?
“E-Equestria…” Twilight shakily announced. Something like a sigh seemed to come from the machine.
ACKNOWLEDGED. THIS UNIT IS IN NEED OF GUIDANCE. ORBITAL UPLINK IS SEVERED. THIS UNIT IS LOST. OPERATING INTELLIGENCE IS BARRED FROM CONTROLLING THIS CHASSIS DUE TO EXTENSIVE MAINFRAME DAMAGE.
“And what does that mean, exactly?”
THIS UNIT IS SOLELY OPERATED BY A XALATHII-DESIGNED INTELLIGENCE THAT RESIDES WITHIN THE MAINFRAME. THE MAINFRAME IS SEVERELY DAMAGED, BARRING THE O.I. FROM FULLY CONTROLLING THIS UNIT.
“Really?”
AFFIRMATIVE.
Twilight sat down, deep in thought. Sure, it had attempted to harm them, but it had only done so because it was broken. The machine said so itself. And it had asked them for help. And there was only one pony that she could think of that could render any sort of help. Princess Celestia.
“Okay. But you have to promise one thing.”
SPEAK.
“Don’t shoot anypony that doesn’t look like you. Please. We don’t need to cause havoc any more than we already have.”
REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGED, UNKNOWN ONE.
“And my name’s Twilight. Twilight Sparkle. Do you have a name?”
THIS UNIT DOES NOT REQUIRE A NAME. THIS UNIT’S DESIGNATION IS…

At that moment, it paused, straightening out, before its booming voice rumbled.

EXECUTIONER ONE

It had taken her some time, but she eventually introduced her friends to Executioner One. A minor complication turned out to be that the machine stubbornly refused to use their real names, instead using labels of its own – it named Twilight High Value Individual One, Pinkie Pie was High Value Individual Two… and so on and so forth. Rainbow Dash had gone ballistic at finding out she was High Value Individual Six. Of course, Executioner One was unperturbed by her threats. It simply blared a long, defiant horn blast that sent everypony scattering. It took the better part of half an hour to gather them together and once more head back to Ponyville. Of course, seeing as it was quite a while away, Executioner One offered them a ride.

“Whoa… What is this place?” Twilight muttered in awe. Banks of glowing panels covered every wall in the small space. The sky behind the armaglass windows was ever so slowly becoming brighter. Alien letters and numbers were scrolling across screens. One of those became alive as Executioner One spoke.
THIS IS THE COMMAND CENTER, USED BY ORGANIC PILOTS.
“Then why is nopony there?”
IT WAS DEEMED THAT ORGANIC LOGIC AND XALATHII LOGIC WOULD ALWAYS CONFLICT AS TO WHICH COURSE OF ACTION WAS THE MOST EFFICIENT ONE. TRIALS WERE TO BE CARRIED OUT LATER, HOWEVER.
“Oh. Uh, okay. Wait, so that means I could pilot this thing if I wanted to?”
PROVIDE ACCESS KEY TO ASSUME MANUAL CONTROL OF EXECUTIONER ONE.
“Oh. I don’t have anything of the sort…” The mech elected not to say anything to that. To be fair, the idea that she could hypothetically be in control of such a machine both terrified and excited her. That’s when her more rational side interjected.
Power corrupts, Twilight. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
But it rocks absolutely, too.
A fair point.
Putting that conversation with herself behind her, she turned to her friends. Rarity was bemoaning the cabin’s interior. Fluttershy was sitting in a corner, terrified of somehow upsetting the machine. Applejack was looking around uneasily. Rainbow Dash was still fuming at Executioner One for labelling her as the least valuable pony. Pinkie Pie was asking questions to Executioner One.

“Do you have friends? Do you like parties? What’s your favourite colour? When’s your birthday? Are there any more of you?” The bubbly party pony rattled off at such speed Twilight could barely understand what Pinkie Pie had said, something that didn’t burden Executioner One. With every answer she got, though, her smile turned into a frown that grew bigger and sadder with every passing second.
TERM=FRIENDS… INVALID. “Whaat?”
TERM=PARTY… INVALID. “Whaaaaaat?”
TERM=FAVOURITE COLOUR… INVALID. “Whaaaaaaat?”
TERM=BIRTHDAY… INVALID. “WHAAAAAAAT?”
QUANTITY QUERY=VALID. THERE ARE TEN THOUSAND EXECUTIONER-CLASS CHASSIS CURRENTLY ACTIVE AND DEPLOYED, INCLUDING THIS UNIT.
Twilight felt like she’d been dunked in a tub of ice-cold water. “T-t-ten th-thousand?” She stuttered out fearfully. If what this machine was saying was true, she could only hope that Equestria didn’t somehow end up in the sights of whoever built this one.
AFFIRMATIVE. COALITION WAR EFFORT=UNDER CONSTANT PRESSURE. VASARI=DESPERATE TO MAKE HEADWAY. COALITION CASUALTIES=SUSTAINABLE, BUT TAKE TIME TO REPLACE. COALITION LEADERS=CARE ABOUT THEIR TROOPS. ASAHI EMPIRE=ECONOMY IS CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING COALITION’S WAR MACHINE ALONG THEIR OWN. EXECUTIONER GROUP ONE=DEPLOYED TO LIGURIA, ONE HUNDRED EXECUTIONER-CLASS UNITS, TO BOLSTER 31ST LIGURIAN RESERVISTS. WARFLEET 1664 DEPLOYED LEGION 2954 AS A SUPPORTING UNIT FOR EXECUTIONER GROUP ONE. OBJECTIVE – REPEL THE VASARI. HOLD THE SPACE ELEVATOR UNTIL COALITION BATTLEGROUP 47 ARRIVES.
“So, what happened? D-did you win?”
UNKNOWN. THIS UNIT WAS PRESUMABLY DESTROYED IN ACTION. RELEVANT DATA=INSUFFICIENT. NOT ENOUGH INTEL TO CONCLUDE ANYTHING.
“Oh... Do you know how you ended up here?
NEGATIVE. LAST RECORDED CONTACT WITH EXECUTIONER GROUP ONE=APPROXIMATELY TWO DAYS AGO. LAST INFORMATION OF INTEREST=EXECUTIONER THREE DETECTED ANOMALOUS ENERGY READINGS RIGHT BEFORE THE ENGAGEMENT WITH VASARI.
“Hmmmm…” Twilight frowned, doing some calculations in her mind. She stayed silent as she thought. In the end, however, she did put two and two together, as the saying went.
“If I’m not mistaken, I’d say your arrival here was no accident.”
ELABORATE.
“I’m willing to bet my library that you were the cause of the magical shockwave that debilitated so many unicorns. But who would gain anything from bringing you here? It would have to be a massive amount of magic that’d need to be invested for such an undertaking…” She sighed, rubbing her face wearily “As things stand right now, I’d say that Princess Celestia is the only one who could make sense of this mess… I just hope she won’t react too badly.”
ACKNOWLEDGED. ALERT: THIS UNIT IS NEARING THE EDGE OF=NAME UNKOWN.
“Everfree Forest.” Twilight chipped in helpfully.
ACKNOWLEDGED. TERM BOOKMARKED FOR LATER USE.
“Anytime.” Strangely enough, she was growing fond of the machine, awkward and alien as it was. It had, however, told of other things – the Vasari and the Coalition, for example. She wanted to know why they fought – couldn’t they forge a peace treaty? Equestria had done so many times, after all, so she couldn’t see a reason why others couldn’t do the same. Well, those all were questions for later. For now, however, she had to go to Princess Celestia.

The alicorn diarch in question was just a hair’s width away from starting to tear her own mane out. She had told Twilight not to bother herself with this matter! Yet here she was, in a library without a librarian. She knew where Twilight had gone off to and it tore at her heart to be unable to do anything about it. To make things worse, Twilight’s friends had also gone with her. The Everfree was vast and wide, teeming with dangerous wildlife. It would take the guardsponies many hours to find where her student was. It was times like these that she utterly loathed – times when she felt utterly useless. So she sat idly in the empty library, waiting for her guards to return. Her ears twitched every two seconds or so, yet her mind paid no heed to what her body had discovered. If she went to seek her student out personally, there’d be many objections from her guards – they were hired to protect her, after all. Some nobles might see is as suicidal of her to venture into the Everfree and they might try and dethrone her because of that. The political intrigues of Canterlot were complicated, yet their repercussions could be heard and seen everywhere.

It took her another hour of moping, but she had made up her mind in the end. She would assist the search parties, politics be damned.

Only as she ventured outside, heading for the Everfree forest, did she finally pay attention to her ears. Swivelling them the right way, she could hear the slow, rhythmic thuds – how did she miss those earlier? Taking to air, she closed in on the source of the noise. Once she reached the location, her heart skipped a beat or two.

A massive, four-legged behemoth of metal was ponderously trudging across the plains.
It was heading straight for Ponyville.
And it reeked of chaos.

Discord’s work, no doubt.

Twilight looked out the right-side window, brow creasing in confusion.
“Hey, isn’t that Pr-“She was cut short as Executioner One rocked sideways sharply, its hull groaning and stuttering as it was nearly toppled over by Celestia’s magic blast. They all tumbled around in the cabin as alarms started blaring.
EXECUTIONER ONE, TAKING DAMAGE. EXECUTIONER ONE, DESIGNATING UNKNOWN AS HOSTILE ONE. EXECUTIONER ONE, ENGAGING HOSTILE ONE.
With a chorus of clicks, the flak turrets began to track the alicorn.

It sighed, simply opting to play a human-invented game called Minesweeper as a way of passing time. This was out of its hands. Things had really appeared to have taken a turn for the best. And then this happened.

This was just one of those days, it guessed.

Chapter 3

HOSTILE ONE. STAND DOWN. THIS UNIT IS TRANSPORTING SIX HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUALS, the machine boomed loudly, yet Celestia paid it no mind. Discord had brought it here, that much she was sure of. She had to eliminate the threat it posed. Coming around, she let loose another burst of energy, and the machine groaned, stuttering as it rocked to left. She grinned. She must have dealt it a grievous blow. Tough it may be, but it was dim-witted and slow.

That’s when the world exploded around her, thick clouds of whickering metal, cordite and gunpowder that rattled and shook her violently and she was barely able to stay aloft, let alone fly forwards. It had been a stroke of luck that she’d managed to cast a shield in time and she watched in shock as the behemoth kept assaulting her barriers. She had definitely underestimated this one. She did not know how this battle would end, but she knew one thing.

This would be a very difficult opponent to defeat.

EXECUTIONER ONE, FIRING SURFACE TO AIR MISSILES, the machine declared. Puffs of smoke soon erupted from its surface and streaks of light soared towards the alicorn. Celestia smiled confidently, dodging to side, giving a chuckle as the howling projectiles hurtled past her, missing by a wide margin. It was a complete shock when the missiles slammed into her shield from behind, covering the sphere of magic energy into roiling flames.

What? How did it do that?
She was once more on the defensive, dodging and weaving as she was chased by more missiles, but grinned as an idea came to her. She banked around and headed right for the machine…

Twilight squealed in horror as Celestia dived right for the machine.
“Princess! What’re you doing?” She got her answer a moment later as the alicorn teleported, reappearing on the other side of Executioner One. A split-second later, twelve Siriam-Cornodae Windwaker-7 SAMs slammed into the side of the Ortalian mech. Several screens blew out in a shower of sparks as Twilight and her friends were tossed about like ragdolls, yelling in surprise. Alarms started blaring.

++RUN SYSTEMS ASSESSMENT++
++SYSTEMS ANALYSIS… COMPLETE++
++DAMAGE TO CHASSIS… CONSIDERABLE++
++NANITE REPAIR SYSTEMS…ACTIVE++
++ENGAGING SECONDARY WEAPONS++
++ANCESTORS DAMN IT++
++STOP TRYING TO KILL EVERYTHING, DAMN YOU++

Celestia grinned, relieved to find out her gamble had worked. She was one step closer to victory. She was too busy patting herself on the head to notice a monumental build-up of energy from her opponent as the pair of Tallaxian-made particle disassemblers unleashed their destructive power against her shield.
Her barriers held, if only barely. A sharp pain lanced up her horn as she wobbled precariously mid-flight, but remained aloft. Ye gods, that’ll take a while to buff out…
Her migraine-addled musings were interrupted as the jags and scars in the machine’s side slowly repaired themselves and she blanched. This battle just got a whole lot more difficult…

Canterlot Castle Royal Gardens

Oh, this is just amazing!
Discord cackled, seeing the beleaguered alicorn diarch keep attacking the machine over and over again. The mech took all the blows head-on and effortlessly returned them with interest. And it was still going, whereas Celestia had acquired a wide array of cuts and scrapes all over her body. Her mane was torn and singed from too many close calls. Her regalia was dented and covered in soot. Yet she still kept on fighting. It was both amusing and admirable at the same time. Oh, it was so invigorating to see her waver and hesitate before the machine. He dearly wished he could grab some popcorn. Alas, his stone prison prevented him from doing so. Oh, well. You win some, you lose some.

EXECUTIONER ONE, CHARGING MATTER COLLIDER

Celestia could feel her body was soaked in sweat. Maintaining the shield was taking its toll on her – the machine was unrelenting in its assault – when she tried to pull of that teleporting trick again, it simply destroyed the missiles chasing her. When she tried to go in close, it vomited great gouts of flame at her and she was forced to pull back. And at all times, an unending hail of solid projectiles would be chipping away at her shield steadily, slowly draining her considerable strength through the sheer volume of firepower it possessed. She was all out of ideas as to what to do. Just then, what seemed like beams of hot air slammed into her barrier – had there been a Ortalian present, he would quickly recognise that as hardlight projectors. She cried out in pain as she plummeted to ground, digging a trench as she came to a halt. Still, she stood back up, fury filling her. She would not submit to this abomination of metal. She would defeat it. She would find out what Discord was up to! Her resolve thus fortified, she turned to face the machine trudging at her.

EXECUTIONER ONE, FIRING MATTER COLLIDER, the mech declared in its rumbling voice, bringing its monstrous cannon to bear. A low thrum permeated the air as Celestia’s eyes widened in surprise and she tried to dodge.

“NO! STOP!” Twilight cried out in shock as the world dissolved into light and noise and

The matter collider fired a single shot that shook the ground for miles around. If there had been a Coalition or an Imperial vessel in orbit of Equestria, the crew would’ve easily detected the power surge. Alas, that was not the case and the discharge of the matter collider went unnoticed.

As the smoke and vaporized soil cleared out, Twilight’s heart stuck in her throat. Celestia was lying at the bottom of a relatively deep crater, smoke rising from it. Her body was covered in soot and deep gashes. Was she still alive? She had to find out!

Celestia stirred weakly, her body and mind awash with pain. Oh, that one’s going to smart in the morning…
She groaned, feebly sitting up as the machine came to a halt in front of her, aiming its entire arsenal at her.
HOSTILE ONE. STAND DOWN, it boomed at her, but then, its voice was interrupted by another one and she saw a speck of purple on the machine’s hull.
“…don’t worry… One, princess… are okay…”

Twilight slipped back inside the window, pulling it shut after her. It had been a stroke of luck she had noticed the latches on the window frame. It had been odd, too – for a machine that advanced to have simple windows that anypony could open and close. Pushing that distracting train off thought of its proverbial tracks, she spoke.
“E-Executioner?”
EXECUTIONER ONE ACKNOWLEDGES.
“Uh-okay. Look, could you let us outside? That’s one of our leaders you just knocked senseless, so I’d like to see if she’s alright.
COMBAT RECORDS PROVE HOSTILE ONE ATTACKED FIRST. EXECUTIONER ONE RETALIATED. REGARDLESS, EXECUTIONER ONE WILL ACT. EXECUTIONER ONE, ACTIVATING MEDICAL FACILITIES.
“Wait, what?” The door behind her opened and they hoof-toed down the stairs leading up to the command center, eager to see if their princess was okay.

Within the hull of Executioner One, machinery stirred. Several hatches opened and several droids flew out, picking up the unconscious alicorn and airlifting her inside, the hatches snapping shut behind them. A moment later, one of the droids flew back out, tossing several pieces of gold out, deeming them as unnecessary, muttering sullenly in binary about waste of good conductor material.

Twilight flinched as one of the doors ahead snapped open.
HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL ONE. STEP INSIDE. YOUR LEADER IS HERE, Executioner’s voice came floating from seemingly everywhere. That was all it took, though, as all six of them clambered inside, eager to see the alicorn diarch. What they saw was not what they expected. Their leader was afloat in a large tank of light-blue liquid, her tail and mane lazily curling about. There was a strange mask covering her muzzle and a couple of cables attached to her forehead. Her eyes were closed. Twilight whirled around, glaring furiously at one of the screens.
“What are you doing to her? Let her go!”
REQUEST DENIED. HER WOUNDS ARE NOT HEALED AND IT WILL TAKE TIME TO DO SO. YOU MAY, HOWEVER, TALK TO HER, IF YOU SO DESIRE. A moment and some strange noises later, she saw Celestia stir inside the tank. The alicorn’s eyes opened sleepily, then widened in surprise as she took in her surroundings. She tried to open her wings in an attempt to get out, but to no avail. The glass surrounding her stopped her. Frantically, she tried to escape, heedless of the glass prison she was inside. Twilight could see the urgent fear in the alicorn’s eyes and she acted.
“Princess Celestia! Princess! It’s me, Twilight!” At her voice, Celestia stopped struggling and turned to face her student. The alicorn’s mouth moved without sound, but then she saw lines of words scroll across a nearby scren.
_Twilight?_
“Y-yes, princess, it’s me.” Celestia looked around, her surprise only growing once she saw the rest of the Elements and she seemed to sigh.
_So… it caught you as well._
“No, princess. Executioner One has been carrying us back from the Everfree Forest. It’s not here to hurt us.”
_Executioner One? Such a name does not bode well for us, Twilight._ Celestia looked at her imploringly.
“It’s broken and it needs help!”
_It’s dangerous and Discord brought it here!_ The alicorn’s eyes seemed to flare for a moment.
“Wh-what? Really?”
_I am surprised. I thought you would notice the stench of chaos around this construct for sure._
“Just because Discord brought it here does not mean it’s evil! It is broken, lost, and it needs help. It’s healing your wounds right now, truth be told.”
HOSTILE ONE REDESIGNED AS HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL SEVEN. HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL SEVEN ENDURED SEVERE MENTAL AND PHYSICAL EXHAUSTION DURING THE BATTLE. MEDICAL FACILITIES ARE REPLENISHING HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL SEVEN’S BLOODSTREAM WITH IMPORTANT NUTRIENTS AND VITAMINS.
_Ah. Is that so? You presume to know what my body needs?_ Celestia’s gaze grew cold.
INDIGENTS’ BODY STRUCTURE=SIMILAR TO EQUINES OF HUMAN WORLDS. DEDUCTIONS=EASY TO CALCULATE.
“Princess, this is all just a big misunderstanding. Please, just hear me out.” Twilight pleaded.
_Speak, then. Let there be no secret left untold._ Celestia nodded warily and Twilight sighed, relieved. So she sat down in front of Celestia’s tank and retold what she knew – how she had sought out any scrap of information relevant to the magical shockwave, how she had managed to locate the machine, how she had gotten lost in the Everfree and subsequently found Executioner One and the scrap they’d gotten into with it. She explained how she managed to forge a ceasefire and promised she would help it. She left the long trip untold of, seeing as that was just plain boring.

_Hmm. That does explain a lot, Twilight. Still, we do not know what to do with your… new friend._
“I can keep an eye on it. In fact, I’ll lay down some ground rules right now. Executioner One?”
EXECUTIONER ONE ACKNOWLEDGES.
“You are not allowed to hurt any ponies while you are within Equestrian borders.”
REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGED.
_Will that be good enough, though? Do you promise not to hurt my ponies?_
ACKNOWLEDGED.
“Well, that’s as much as we’ll get out of it, I guess.”
_It better keep its promise, or my retribution will be swift and furious._
“Princess, calm down. There’s no need for trouble. I can take care of it.”
_You mentioned it was broken. I saw it can mend itself without trouble. Care to explain?_
“It’s more complicated than that. Apparently, this machine’s controlled by an artificial intelligence. From what I’ve been told, it’s like copying a pony’s mind and putting it inside a machine like this. And whatever’s holding this intelligence is badly damaged – it said something about extensive mainframe damage – and that’s why it’s acting like this. Because it’s broken. And we should make sure it doesn’t get into trouble until it can fix itself.”
_And how long, pray tell, will that take?_
MAINFRAME REPAIRS COMPLETE IN… FOUR WEEKS.
_Hmm. That certainly is a long time._
EXECUTIONER ONE WILL TURN TO HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL ONE FOR GUIDANCE WHEN NECESSARY. EXECUTIONER ONE WILL NOT CAUSE TROUBLE.
_I thank you for that._ Celestia’s shoulders sagged in relief. _How much longer must I remain inside this tank?_
ESTIMATED… TEN MINUTES.
_I see. I can wait that long._
…voracious old men floating in over-turned beds, chainsaw wielding maniacs that look suspiciously like that guy in the Burger King logo, and public masturbation in a subway car…
“Wait, what?” Twilight’s face creased in confusion.
WHAT.
“You just… uh… never mind. I’ll just chalk it up to that damage you took.”
ACKNOWLEDGED.

So. That happened. Something about Burger King… At the very least, the indigents weren’t hostile any more. Some headway had been made. Wasn’t that what mattered?

Chapter 4

EXECUTIONER ONE, RELEASING HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL SEVEN, the machine declared as Celestia stirred, still ill at ease in the medical tank. When she had asked how she could talk to Twilight and others, the mech had diligently explained to them that the wires attached to her head served as a medium of communication, instantly transferring her unspoken words to a screen where Twilight could read them. Then, it had directed her attention to where a couple of lines were attached to her major veins and arteries on her neck – those would be most efficient in distributing the necessary vitamins, minerals and medicine throughout her bloodstream. Though hesitant at being in the tank, her attention was still focused on what she was being told. She had developed a growing appreciation about this technology from distant worlds, truth be told. She had witnessed the bruises and scratches she'd gotten from the duel with Executioner One – the wounds were unmade in a matter of moments and she could only gape in surprise at that. And now, the machine deemed her fit to be released from the tank. She could hear the gurgle of the sanitizing liquid as it was flushed from the tank to be recycled and reused. The machine could endlessly recycle and reuse just about everything. She'd been fruitlessly trying to wrap her head around the mere idea of nano-replicators, too. To copy an item using magic was an exhausting task – you couldn't conjure it from thin air. You needed something to conjure it from. The less complicated the material chosen, the less effort would be required to make a flawless copy. But she was starting to ramble. The last drops of the liquid drained away and she sat there, wet from head to hooves. She heard the faint clicks as the mask, electrodes and lines were detached from her and she scratched her nose, sighing with relief. By Creator, that itch had been driving her insane... She flinched slightly as she saw a hair-thin vertical line appear on the tank's surface and she let out an appreciative 'hmm' as the glass parted before her like doors. She went to take a step, but Executioner One spoke.
HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL SEVEN IS WET.
“I am aware of that fact. I-” Before she could say anything, she heard a strange buzzing noise as net of blue lines enveloped her. She froze, but relaxed as the lights deactivated a couple of moments later, yet she was once more caught unawares – her coat, mane and tail were now completely dry and she could only shake her head in amazement as she stepped out of the tank. As it closed behind her, she leaned close to it, eyes glued to the thin line as it disappeared from the tank's surface.
“I presume it's another example of your nanotechnology?”
AFFIRMATIVE. ASAHI EMPIRE=ADEPT AT IMPLEMENTING NANOTECHNOLOGY. COALITION=USE OF NANOTECHNOLOGY LIMITED, BUT CREATIVE. HUMAN MIND=INGENIOUS.
“Fascinating... Um... where is my jewelry, if you don't mind me asking?”
MEDICAL DROIDS DISCARDED OF ITEM=JEWELRY. ITEM=JEWELRY DEEMED UNNECESSARY.
“Ah. Well, I thank you nonetheless, Executioner One. You have proven yourself trustworthy. As long as you turn to Twilight if you have any questions, I see no reason why we cannot get along peacefully.”
ACKNOWLEDGED. There was little she could do other than nod. Twilight coughed politely.
“So, could we get some information, Executioner? You've mentioned all these things and I'd like to know more about where you come from.”
MEDICAL FACILITIES LACK SUFFICIENT HOLOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT FOR HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL ONE'S REQUEST.
“Ah. Where do we go to, then?”
COMMAND CENTER.
“Okay, then. Thank you, Executioner.”
ACKNOWLEDGED. Twilight nodded and motioned for Celestia to follow her.
“Let's go, princess. We'll see what we can find out.”
“I will admit I am curious, but I am also rather hesitant. Why would somepony build a machine so capable at causing destruction and waging war?” Twilight frowned at that.
“I guess we'll find out.”

They sat down more comfortably on the not-quite-warm-but-not-cold-either floor as a couple of devices blinked into life. The mech was still ponderously making its way to Ponyville, so they had some time to gather information.
ENTER QUERY. Twilight frowned at that, deep in thought. There were many questions that she wanted to ask, yet couldn't decide which one to ask first. Seeing her student's indecision, Celestia spoke.
“Tell me of this Asahi Empire, please.”
ACKNOWLEDGED. ASAHI EMPIRE=LARGEST ALLIANCE OF ALIEN RACES IN THE UNIVERSE. MOST RECENT COUNT INDICATES ASAHI EMPIRE CONSISTS OF 517 RACES. TERRITORY=THIRTY-FOUR GALAXIES UNDER COMPLETE IMPERIAL CONTROL, WITH TWENTY-NINE UNDER PARTIAL CONTROL. Celestia's jaw dropped in surprise.
“B-but a galaxy's huge! Immeasurably so! It would take many eons to accomplish what you speak of!” Twilight was gaping at the hologram, too.
ASAHI EMPIRE=ESTABLISHED 38,125 YEARS AGO. EXPANSION RATE=RAPID. MANY MILLIONS OF WORLDS UNDER ASAHI RULE. Celestia nodded wearily, shocked by these news.
“O-okay... Are there any significant races in this Empire – do any of them stand above others?”
AFFIRMATIVE. LIST FOLLOWS. Celestia looked at the slender alien. It had six wings, glowing eyes and long, flowing hair. There was an ornate blade in its hand. There was little to no fur on its body and she eyed the robes covering the alien. It reminded her of a Diamond Dog, but less burly of build and without fur.
ASAHI=IMMORTAL. FOUNDERS OF ASAHI EMPIRE. VAST KNOWLEDGE AND POWER. ASAHI TECHNOLOGY=NIGH-FLAWLESS. UNDER ASAHI GUIDANCE, THE EMPIRE FLOURISHES.
Next, the ponies saw a tall, heavily-built biped, clad in heavy armor and hefting a sizeable rifle.
ORTALIANS=THE CORNERSTONE OF IMPERIAL MILITARY. LEGIONS OF HIGHLY DISCIPLINED AND TRAINED CLONE TROOPS, PROVIDED WITH ELITE TRAINING AND WEAPONRY. HIGHLY EFFICIENT TROOPS.
The Ortalian clone legionnaire disappeared, replaced by a gaunt, yet tough-looking construct of metal with blue-glowing eye slits.
XALATHII=A RACE OF INTELLIGENT MACHINES, LAST LEGACY OF ANOTHER RACE LONG EXTINCT. TRUE REASON FOR EXTINCTION=UNKNOWN. IMPERIAL SCIENTISTS BLAME SUPERNOVA RADIATION. SKILLED PROGRAMMERS AND HACKING SPECIALISTS. The machine vanished, replaced by a slender biped wearing simple robes. The most noticeable features about it were its deep black eyes and the ridges along its forehead.
TALLAXIANS=MASTER WEAPON DESIGNERS AND BUILDERS. TALLAXIAN WEAPONRY=HIGHLY POPULAR AND IN HIGH DEMAND AMONG BOTH IMPERIAL AND COALITION TROOPS.
Next, they were treated to the sight of what looked like a giant grasshopper.
RIT'KA=FAMOUS FOR SOVEREIGN-CLASS MEGAWALKERS. THE ENTIRE RACE SHARE A LIKING FOR STRONG DRINKS AND OTHER ASSORTED ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. Celestia could only stare in shock at the hologram of the massive bipedal machine – an Executioner-class mech was provided for size reference and it seemed so tiny in comparison – it barely reached up to the Rit'ka-built machine's knees.
LIST ENDS. ENTER NEW QUERY. Twilight was quick to jump at that.
“Who're the Coalition?”
TRADE ORDER=DISBANDED TO CREATE THE TRADERS EMERGENCY COALITION. TRADE ORDER FORMED MORE THAN A THOUSAND YEARS AGO AT THE END OF UNIFICATION WARS. LAWS WERE ESTABLISHED AND HUMANITY FLOURISHED FROM TRADE. 327 YEARS AFTER FOUNDING OF TRADE ORDER, THE ADVENT WERE FOUND AND EXILED DUE TO THEIR BREAKING OF COALITION LAWS. THE GOLDEN AGE OF HUMANITY WAS ENDED FOUR YEARS AGO WHEN THE VASARI ATTACKED. TRADE ORDER WAS DISBANDED. COALITION WAS FORMED TO COMBAT THE ALIEN THREAT. 1ST LIBERATION FLEET=DISCOVERED ASLI HOMEWORLD. ASLI=ALSO UNDER SIEGE BY VASARI. ASLI=JOINED THE COALITION. COALITION=CURRENTLY IN A STATE OF CIVIL WAR.
“What? Why'd that happen, if you don't mind me asking?” Twilight cocked her head sideways.
COALITION POPULACE=WANT REVENGE ON VASARI. VASARI=STRONG ENEMIES. COALITION FLEETS=LITTLE HEADWAY MADE IN LIBERATING THEIR WORLDS. RECENT DESERTION OF RENOWNED COLONEL LIEIA ALADARA GRISOVA TORE COALITION APART. COALITION REBELS=LED BY RECENTLY-CROWNED REBEL QUEEN LIEIA ALADARA GRISOVA. AGGRESIVE MINDSET. WAGE CAMPAIGN OF TERROR AGAINST VASARI. LOYALISTS=LED BY LORD-GENERAL DENAROS WERSIAN. DEFENSIVE MINDSET. CLAIM WORLDS NEED TO BE SECURED IN ORDER TO WEAR THE VASARI OUT BY MEANS OF SHEER ATTRITION. VASARI FLEETS=IN A STATE OF UNREST. MANY VASARI VESSELS DEFECT TO REBELS. COALITION=MANY WORLDS AND FLEETS PLEDGE LOYALTY TO REBEL QUEEN. ADVENT=RETURNED FROM EXILE, BUT STUMPED BY REBELS' TENACITY AND HAVE CLAIMED NO WORLDS OF THEIR OWN. ACCEPTED LATER ON BY THE REBEL QUEEN. LOYALISTS=DUG IN BEHIND FORTRESS WORLDS. NEGOTIATIONS UNLIKELY TO HAPPEN. MANY IMPERIAL FLEETS DEFECT TO REBELS' CAUSE, TOO. WARFLEET 1664 AND LEGION 2954=DEFECTED TO REBELS. SEE REASON IN REBEL QUEEN'S LOGIC. REBEL QUEEN=TENACIOUS, CHARISMATIC AND RESOURCEFUL. Celestia nodded slowly, absorbing the information. “I see... Those must be dark times for the Empire and Coalition.” Twilight was utterly consumed by jotting down notes in her notebook.
ACKNOWLEDGED. TENSION=HIGH. REBELS=SIGNIFICANT SUCCESS IN LIBERATING COALITION WORLDS. ANIMOSITY BETWEEN REBELS AND LOYALISTS=HIGH.
“How did this rebellion start?” Twilight piped up.
JUNE 7TH=BATTLEGROUP 724, COMMANDED BY THEN-COLONEL LIEIA ALADARA GRISOVA, CARRIES OUT A RAID AGAINST A WEAK SPOT IN VASARI LINES. BATTLEGROUP 724=ANNIHILATED, SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND COALITION PERSONNEL=LOST. LIEIA ALADARA GRISOVA=TAKEN CAPTIVE, TORTURED AND EXPERIMENTED UPON BY VASARI. ESCAPED THREE MONTHS LATER AND RETURNED TO COALITION SPACE ON SEPTEMBER 16TH. CLAIMS OF AYRA ALEXI'S TREACHERY WENT UNHEARD AND COLONEL LIEIA ALADARA GRISOVA DESERTED. USING HER STATUS AS LAST REMAINING HEIR OF LIIYAH TAVRIAN, SHE TOOK CONTROL OF LINV SYSTEM, DECLARING HERSELF REBEL QUEEN. NUMEROUS SUB-FACTIONS OF COALITION PLEDGED LOYALTY TO REBEL QUEEN. Celestia nodded slowly at that. “I see... Well, what about the Vasari? The Advent? Asli? What can you tell us about them?”
ACKNOWLEDGED. VASARI=NOMADIC ALIENS. ADVANCED USERS OF PHASE TECHNOLOGY. VESSELS OLD, BUT TOUGH AND POWERFUL. VASARI=HISTORY SPANS MORE THAN TEN THOUSAND YEARS. OFTEN USE LOBOTOMISED SLAVES FOR LESSER TASKS. MOST VASARI=ARROGANT AND UNWILLING TO STOOP TO ALLY THEMSELVES WITH OTHERS.
ADVENT=ORIGINALLY EXILED BY TRADE ORDER. RECENTLY RETURNED. EXTREMELY DEPENDANT ON PSI-TECH=CAN WREAK IMMENSE DAMAGE WITH THEIR MINDS ALONE. FORMIDABLE ENEMIES. REBEL QUEEN FORGED AN ALLIANCE WITH ADVENT REBELS. ACCEPTED THEM AMONG HER FLEETS.
ASLI=PEACEFUL ALIEN RACE. FIGHTING OUT OF NECESSITY. PATIENT AND BENEVOLENT, BUT FORMIDABLE OPPONENTS WHEN IRKED. CARE GREATLY ABOUT PRESERVING AS MANY LIVES AS POSSIBLE. BORN DIPLOMATS.
“Ah. They sound like very approachable kind.”
ACKNOWLEDGED. ENTER NEW QUERY. Celestia frowned lightly at that.
“Are there any more of you?”
THERE ARE TEN THOUSAND EXECUTIONER-CLASS UNITS IN ACTIVE USE, EXECUTIONER ONE INCLUDED. Celestia went deathly pale at that.
EXECUTIONER ONE DETECTS INCREASED HEARTRATE FROM HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL SEVEN. SUGGESTIONS=REMAIN CALM AND DO NOT PANIC. AFOREMENTIONED ACTIVITIES COUNTERPRODUCTIVE TO HEALING PROCESS. Celestia nodded meekly.
“T-ten thousands of machines like you?”
AFFIRMATIVE. BROOD=VICIOUS ENEMIES. NEW WAYS NEEDED TO COMBAT BROOD SWARMS.
“I see… Well, then. Since we have already reached an agreement regarding your behavior, all that is left to say is welcome to-OOF!” She was interrupted as the mech rocked forwards sharply. Alarms started blaring. Twilight pushed Applejack off from her and shouted exasperatedly.
“WHAT IS IT THIS TIME?”
EXECUTIONER ONE, TAKING DAMAGE. EXECUTIONER ONE, MARKING UNKNOWN ONE AS HOSTILE ONE. EXECUTIONER ONE ENGAGING HOSTILE ONE. Right then, a dark blue blur shot past the windows and Celestia gasped in shock.
“It’s Luna!” Twilight blanched in shock.
“We have to stop this!”
AFFIRMATIVE. EXECUTIONER ONE, CHARGING MATTER COLLIDER. EXECUTIONER ONE, ACTIVATING HARDLIGHT PROJECTORS. EXECUTIONER ONE, ACTIVATING PARTICLE DISASSEMBLERS. TARGETING HOSTILE ONE. TARGET LOCK… ACQUIRED. FIRING FOR MAXIMUM EFFECT.

It was seven minutes later that a very bruised and angry Luna was deposited in the medical tank. Ignoring the midnight-blue alicorn’s threats, Executioner One had flooded the tank with tranquilizer. Soon, Luna was snoring everyone’s ears off before the mask, electrodes and lines were attached to her and the tank was filled with light blue liquid.

Twilight sighed, trying to stave off a migraine.
“This day just keeps getting better and better…”

I know what you mean, young one… It 'nodded' in agreement before returning to observing its passengers. Well, this idiotic machine had just assaulted two members of the royalty. Things were utterly splendid.

Whoever invented sarcasm was a genius.

Chapter 5

_Release me, vile automata!_ Luna flailed as much as she could in the medical tank.
REQUEST DENIED. Executioner One responded.
_Now! Let go of me or face my wrath!_
REQUEST DENIED. Celestia sighed, rubbing her face.
“Luna, please stay calm. You’re just slowing the healing process. Right, Executioner?”
AFFIRMATIVE. Luna seemed to ignore that, trying to ignite her magic. She failed.
_What is this trickery?_
EXECUTIONER ONE OBSERVES. ANOMALOUS ENERGY SURGES FROM HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL EIGHT COMPLEX, BUT EASY TO NEGATE.
_What? Did you take my magic away?_
NEGATIVE. ITEM=MAGIC… NOT REMOVED. MENTAL SUPPRESSANTS IN HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL EIGHT’S BLOODSTREAM KEEP HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL EIGHT CALM. Oddly, that seemed to satisfy Luna and she nodded slowly as Celestia spoke again.
“Just wait until it releases you and don’t try to attack it again. I tried to and it didn’t work out too well.” Luna nodded warily at that and waited as Twilight filled her in on what had happened so far…

_Did it really have to discard of my regalia? I know it was rather damaged, but still!_
“Luna, calm down. Executioner, how far until Ponyville?”
DISTANCE TO SECONDARY OBJECTIVE… NINE HUNDRED METRES. Celestia nodded at that.
“Ah. Very well, then. Let’s get the formalities over with, hmm?”
ACKNOWLEDGED. She nodded again and sat down on the floor of medical facilities, waiting for Luna to be released from Executioner’s care.

Luna scowled angrily at nothing in particular, her mane and tail now much shorter – Executioner One had given her a haircut. Though the machine said it had been a minor software glitch, she could not help but wonder if the machine was more intelligent than it let on. Even so, she had been explained that it was broken. With much resignation, she had agreed not to try and attack it again. She still didn’t trust it, even though the Elements and her sister did. She sensed their wariness, though.
“Ugh… Sister, I dearly hope you know what you’re doing. This is asking for trouble. Griffons are sure to jump at this… Imagine the newspaper headlines, if you will – Equestria commands a machine of war that can easily defeat the Princesses.”
“We will not mention any of that. And I’m sure I could’ve put up more of a fight if the millennium of peace was absent.” Twilight gasped in shock at that, looking surprisedly at Celestia.
“Princess! How can you say that?”
“Oh, Twilight. You think that Nightmare Moon and Discord were the only ones seeking to disrupt our peace? It is not so. And, it does one some good to be humble…” She cast a sidelong glance at Rainbow Dash. “One’s own pride and confidence in self is a good thing – but it can prove to be one’s downfall. Executioner One did defeat me and Luna. And I did learn something useful – do not judge others merely by their looks. That being said, I do not know why Discord would bring a machine like this to Equestria. We will need to do some research…” She sat down, rubbing her chin, deep in thought before standing back up.
“Oh, I cannot think here. Executioner?”
EXECUTIONER ONE ACKNOWLEDGES.
“I hate to sound like a little filly, but are we there yet?”

It ‘collapsed’ in a fit of giggles.
Priceless! That was classic, Princess!

AFFIRMATIVE. SECONDARY OBJECTIVE ACCOMPLISHED. The door behind them slid open and the eight mares trotted out, following the signs that would lead them outside.
They got out from the mech with no complications, apart from Rainbow Dash getting harassed by one of the maintenance droids she challenged to a duel.

As they stood in front of the mech, they could truly appreciate its size as it loomed above, stoic and uncompromising.
EXECUTIONER ONE HAS ARRIVED. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE=PENDING. SECONDARY OBJECTIVE=ACCOMPLISHED. HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUALS DELIVERED TO TARGET LOCATION. EXECUTIONER ONE, AWAITING ORDERS.
“Oh, um...” Celestia scratched her head for a moment. “Don't cause trouble, please.”
ACKNOWLEDGED. The hydraulics in its hull whirred and hissed as it looked at the town before it. There were dozens of ponies standing in its streets, all of them gazing both in fear and awe at the massive machine and the eight ponies standing in front of it.

Celestia coughed discreetly. Of course, Executioner One noticed that and turned to look at her.
“Uh, could I make an announcement?”
ACKNOWLEDGED. She nodded and took to skies, alighting on one of the mech's knees, turning around and addressing the Ponyville's citizens using her Royal Canterlot Voice.
“Greetings, my little ponies! We have a visitor from the stars! This machine goes by the name of Executioner One! I have spoken to it and have learned much about it. It is broken and needs time to fix itself. But do not worry! It has promised it bears no ill intent towards Equestria! So I ask that you all treat it as you would treat a pony. It will answer any questions any of you have if you desire to ask them!” Her voice fell silent and, for a couple of moments, she thought everypony was going to go for the good old-fashioned 'remain calm and panic immediately' routine. Then, she heard a faint voice from the crowd.
“...get the wubs going...”
Hmm?
Right then, a white unicorn sporting a neon blue mane and purple sunglasses stepped forward, the crowd around her parting as she teleported several loudspeakers, a microphone and lots more of DJ-related equipment in front of Executioner One, trotting up in front of the mech, looking up at it defiantly.
“Let's duel! Me and you! Let the best DJ win! Are you game?” The machine's subroutines considered the words for a couple of moments.

It 'shrugged', nonplussed, eyeing the challenger amusedly.
Good luck convincing this pile of scrap to play music, little one.
EXECUTIONER ONE ACCEPTS UNKNOWN ONE'S REQUEST. EXECUTIONER ONE IS GAME. LET THE BEST DJ WIN.
Wait, what? WHAT? How- But- This-
It was literally stumped by the response of its body – more novelty happenstance – a time when a Xalathii would be rendered speechless. After several more picoseconds, it 'shrugged' again.
Well, I guess I can at least see what happens...

“I am Vinyl Scratch! I wub for my friends! Whom do you wub for?” She spoke into the microphone, looking at the mech looming in front of her.
EXECUTIONER ONE WUBS FOR ORTALIA AND THE ASAHI EMPIRE. EXECUTIONER ONE WUBS FOR WAR AND THE GLORY OF THE BATTLEFIELD.
It 'collapsed' in laughter again, the almost-demented cackle echoing in the cyberspace it occupied.
I should have known that an Ortalian would be in charge of coding the subroutines! Wubs for Ortalia, indeed!
Calming down somewhat, it once more resumed observing what took place outside.

Celestia looked at the neon-maned unicorn in surprise.
”W-what? It's a machine of war, not music! Does it even know what music is?”
EXECUTIONER ONE, COMMENCING WITH WUBS. Celestia winced and took off, alighting near Luna and waited as strange noises emanated from the mech's loudspeakers – designed to drown out the clamour of any battle so that any present on the battlefield would know of the mech's presence. Many ponies winced and covered their ears as the mech... wubbed, for lack of a better term. The unicorn, Vinyl Scratch nodded in approval before starting to... wub as well. What sort of a word was 'wub'? Eh, must be a musician thing... Celestia shook her head, both amused and confused as she watched the two of them – a DJ on one side and a machine of destruction on the other side – blare strange... music, she guessed, at each other that she could not understand in the least, yet she saw numerous ponies nod in rhythm. She couldn't pick up a rhythm of any sort, truth be told. Still, quite a few of her ponies were... dancing along the music.

...BANGARANG, Executioner One declared, exterior lighting turning on and off in rhythm with the sounds it was producing. Vinyl was soon drowned out, but the unicorn merely grinned, stopping her own music as she watched the large machine turn this way and that, stomping about. It was much more agile than a construct its size had any right to be. A thought came to her mind and she grinned widely, teleporting herself atop Executioner One. Before she could do anything, the mech lurched forwards.
“WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME, NOBLE STEED?” She shouted, lacing her voice with magic.
ONWARDS. FOR WUBS AND ORTALIA. WUBS FOR THE ASAHI EMPIRE. She chuckled before responding.
“TAKE US AROUND PONYVILLE, E1, MY FRIEND! LET US SHOW THEM THE GLORY OF OUR WUBS!”
ACKNOWLEDGED, VINYL SCRATCH. WUB. WUB. WUB. It rumbled again, starting to stride forwards, plotting a rough circle around Ponyville.

Nonsensical music time! If it were an organic, it would've been choking on its tongue by now from laughter. The way things were going now, well... a big group of ponies were following the mech and the DJ, most of them giggling in amusement as it marched onwards around the town, shaking the ground with its ponderous footsteps, Vinyl Scratch hollering gleefully from atop its hull, beatboxing in rhythm with Executioner One…

It was two hours and many more wubs later that Executioner One and its followers were back where they started. Vinyl teleported back to the ground and magicked her stuff away, then turned to face the mech again.
“You know your stuff, E1!”
ACKNOWLEDGED.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you sometime later, then! Bye!” With a final cheery nod and wave to Executioner One, she trotted off, humming to herself quietly.

I don’t even know what just happened… But these ponies aren’t running away from this chassis in sheer terror, so I guess it’s alright... Pffah… Wubs…

Celestia yawned widely, then turned to look at Twilight.
“Are you sure you’ve got everything under control, then?”
“Absolutely, princess!” The purple unicorn grinned and Celestia chuckled softly at her enthusiasm.
“Then I guess we best return to Canterlot, Luna.” The midnight blue alicorn nodded slowly.
“That would be for the best.” The two princesses took to skies, flying for the distant city of Canterlot. Many a pony cheered at the sight as they went back to their normal routine of the day, but they couldn’t help but cast hesitant glances at the stock-still mech just standing on the border of Ponyville…

Chapter 6

Three days had passed. And Executioner One still stood there, utterly motionless, save for when ponies would approach it to ask it something. Most of the questions revolved around its origins and the sort. The machine patiently answered those in its booming voice. Every time it did so, the ponies of Ponyville would pause in their tasks and turn to look at the imposing machine. They would listen for a moment or two before returning to whatever they were doing…

Celestia stared in shock at the holographic image floating mid-air. She saw what Executioner called super-dreadnoughts, huge, ponderous vessels that moved through the void as they blasted enemy vessels into nothing. She saw the massive turrets turn this way and that, spitting projectiles or energy bolts of innummerable sorts towards the organic Leviathans of Brood. Veritable swarms of Imperial strike craft – fighters, interceptors, bombers, gunboats and corvettes – hurtled along the ships, engaging their insectile counterparts. Executioner told her there were more than a million Brood ships present in that very battle, against an Imperial fleet of less than two hundred thousand. They had to hold the Brood off until Crimson Fleet arrived. The Brood had the numerical superiority, but the Imperials had the edge when it came to technology – she saw what Executioner named Riptide Torpedoes, glowing orbs of amber energy. When those collided with the flank of a Leviathan, they changed; glaring particle whips lashing out as they rapidly spun around and carved the hulk of flesh apart. The Leviathan flailed sluggishly, leaking torrents of ichor that froze in moments. With the death of their mothership, scores of Brood strike craft also perished in the void. And so the battle went on, with both sides ferociously duking it out until the Crimson fleet arrived – numerous Tallaxian and Raellen warship squadrons helmed by Karierrda, an Asahi whose flagship was a Mirutii-built Overlord-class titan, Soemara, or Arclight – a vessel the size of a small asteroid. 258 kilometres long, in fact, and crewed by untold hundreds of thousands. Celestia’s unease only kept growing once she found out that the Asahi Empire commanded at least ten million warships. This simple fact spoke volumes of the prosperity and might of the Empire. Uncounted trillions of myriad alien races inhabited millions of worlds, all of them brought together under a single banner. She was hesitant to think what would happen if a civil war tore it apart as well…

“So, you haven’t found out where our world is in relation to the Empire or Coalition?”
AFFIRMATIVE. STAR CHARTS=USELESS. NEED RIFT-CAPABLE VESSEL/PHASE SPACE-CAPABLE VESSEL. AVAILABLE VESSELS IN IMMEDIATE VICINITY=ZERO.
“Ah. Well, how would you go about returning to the Empire, then?”
EXECUTIONER ONE WILL DEPLOY SEARCH AND RETRIEVE BEACON ONCE MAINFRAME REPAIRS ARE COMPLETED.
“And that is going to take a while.”
ACKNOWLEDGED.

Next day it told her more of the Coalition. Twilight was always present, too, taking notes on whatever Executioner didn’t deem as classified. She had been intrigued to find out that the humans of Coalition had been in an exodus, having left their original homeworld behind for reasons unknown and lost to the ages. The refugees had found several worlds to colonise and did so, rebuilding humanity. When phase space travel was implemented, humans spread quickly across numerous worlds and prospered.

The peace was not to last, however. Unification Wars followed, bringing ruin to millions of people as ramshackle warships clashed in furious battles for supremacy. From the ashes rose the Trade Order and they enforced strict laws upon their worlds. Over the years, the laws were made less drastic as humanity recovered from the ravages of war. Soon, their worlds were flourishing again. War became something to be read in history books. Warships were replaced by merchant freighters. Disputes were settled in courts and merchant fleets filled phase lanes, laden with goods. This golden age for humanity came to an abrupt halt a couple of years ago – year 3002 by Coalition calendar. The Vasari fell upon the Coalition, their undefended planets ripe and bountiful targets for the alien aggressors. Numerous worlds fell within hours of invasion's beginning – Linv, Arietis II, Koriva, and many more. And so it went on, with distant and separated worlds trying to organize and repulse the invasion, only to be crushed and enslaved.

Several months passed and by then, Core Worlds were in danger of a Vasari attack. The last of the Alexi dinasty passed away of old age, leaving the Order leaderless. The situation was saved by Lord-General Denaros Wersian, who forged the order into Traders' Emergency Coalition, effectively bringing the human worlds under his control. They were merchants. And they had to become soldiers. He worked restlessly to form out fleets of ramshackle merchant ships so that their shipyards could construct actual warship. Billions of civilians volunteered as the industrial juggernaut awoke from its rudely-interrupted slumber. Factories restlessly pumped out munitions and supplies. A new ship was completed every day or even quicker. Cadets filled the military academies while retired generals were brought back into active service. Centuries-old holoarchives were reactivated and the horrors of Unification Wars were brought into light. Years of peace had made the now-defunct Order soft. And now, they had formed an efficient bulwark to stem the invaders. Humanity had been unified. And they found allies in the peaceful Asli, also besieged by the Vasari, and the Asahi Empire, both of whom aided their war effort to the best of their abilities.

Heroes emerged among the Coalition's soldiers – High Admiral Sunnar Gilva Brusilof, a renowned naval officer and tactician, able to turn the tide of many battles only with a handful of ships. Captain Lieia Aladara Grisova, a fearless and dedicated EXO whose brutality, hate and callous disregard for her own life when it came to dealing with Vasari was both feared and praised even among the Asahi Empire's commanders. Lieutenant Sal Corrin, who worked with Imperial intelligence units and established herself as an able recon fleet commander. Colonel Jacobi North, the shrewd commander of 29th Force Recon, an elite unit of Coalition Marine Corps.

As war dragged on, some grew weary of the conflict and sought diplomacy, Lord-General Wersian among them. Unknowingly, he had sown seeds for the Rebellion, as many worlds cried out in protest, unwilling to parlay with the Vasari. They wanted revenge. It was in those times that then-Colonel Grisova gained a widespread following, having attained the highest individual kill-count in the history of Coalition – roughly seven thousand Vasari soldiers, earning her a moniker amongst the people of the Dark Fleet – The Harrower. Her seemingly endless loathing and disgust for Vasari drew soldiers to her and the battlegroup she commanded and they followed wherever she went.

Her campaign of terror came to an abrupt end on June 7th. Betrayed by Ayra Alexi, the bastard daughter of Santor Alexi, her battlegroup and troops perished in a matter of minutes and she was taken captive. She spoke not of what the Vasari did to her, but she had become even more dark and violent since then. When she escaped on September 16th, she had attempted to murder Ayra Alexi in plain sight of Lord-General Wersian. Her claims of Ayra's treachery fell on deaf ears and she deserted. This event caused much unrest among the Coalition troops. Two weeks later, she tore the Coalition apart – she stole the Ragnarov-class titan and took the title of Rebel Queen. She had forsaken her own chance of redemption to bring about the destruction of the Vasari. Numerous worlds, both Coalition and Vasari-held, pledged their allegiance to her, as did many fleets. When the Advent arrived, bent on exterminating humanity, she staunchly held her ground, unwilling to bow to the deviants. She prevailed once more when she forged an alliance with Advent rebels and brought them under her banner as well. And that was how Coalition was now, torn by civil war and hemmed in by two alien aggressors from both sides…

Twilight set aside the tall stack of papers and gathered up her empty inkwells in her saddlebags, yawning widely.
“At this rate, I’m going to run out of paper and ink very soon… And I have to catalogue all of this, too!” She grumbled sullenly.
HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL ONE’S METHOD IS INEFFICIENT. MORE EFFICIENT DATA STORING MEDIA IS AVAILABLE.
“Oh? What do you have in mind?” The answer she got was a hiss and clunk as a nearby panel on the wall opened, presenting her with a curious device. It had a screen and several buttons.
HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL ONE. ACQUIRE DATASLATE.
“O-okay?” Hesitantly, she trotted over to it and picked it up in her magic as Celestia looked on, intrigued.
ACTIVATE DATASLATE. She eyed the device confusedly for a couple of moments before poking the screen once. With a soft beep, it came to life.
“So, what does it do?”
DATASLATE=EFFICIENT DATA STORAGE DEVICE. STORAGE CAPACITY=100 TERABYTES.
“Uh… Right… I have no idea what that means…” Her mind breaking slightly at that, she sat down, the dataslate hovering in her magic as she experimentally poked the various icons on its screen, helped along both by Celestia and Executioner One…

She trotted back to her library, mind swimming slightly at the recent revelations. The small, book-sized device safely nestling in her saddlebag could easily accommodate her library’s worth of knowledge, the Canterlot Royal Archives, and still barely take up any space in its memory! This sole device made books obsolete! She could record videos – whatever those were - take pictures and do many more things with it! She had only been more amazed to find out such equipment was commonplace in Imperial military. For now, though, she had work to do – the dataslate needed to be thoroughly examined and tested. And what better way to do that than transferring her entire library’s worth of books and knowledge inside it?

Two days later

“Calm down, Rarity! Tell me what happened and slowly this time!”
“The Diamond Dogs took my Sweetie Belle and her friends!”
“What? When?”
“I don’t know! They told me they were going to have a picnic after school. I decided to drop by earlier and they were gone! The entire place was trampled by their filthy paws! I followed the trail for a while before coming here. We have to do something!”
“I know, I know- Wait.” A wide smile took place on her face and she giggled nigh-maliciously. “I have an idea that is guaranteed to work… That I do promise you. I just need to clear this with Princess Celestia…” Grinning, she grabbed her dataslate and started typing away. She quickly finished the letter and pressed ‘Send’. A couple of moments passed. Rarity could almost hear the gears in Twilight’s head crunch and creak noisily. A moment later, Twilight facehoofed.
“Why did I even think that’d work…?” Rarity snickered at that and levitated a sheet of parchment over to her, followed by a quill and an inkwell. Grumbling embarrassedly, Twilight began anew…

Celestia blinked in surprise when a scroll of parchment materialized in front of her. Curious, she grasped it and unrolled it, scanning the document. She blinked. She read it again.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I would like to request your permission to take Executioner One on a mission to rescue Rarity’s sister, Sweetie Belle and her friends Applebloom and Scootaloo. Apparently, they were out on a picnic and have been abducted by Diamond Dogs. And no, I do not intend to attack the Dogs, merely have Executioner One intimidate them into releasing the girls. I eagerly await your answer.

With regards,
Twilight Sparkle

Celestia stared at the piece of parchment dumbfoundedly. Well, this was… new. But Executioner One had yet to do something wrong – aside from pummelling her and Luna into ground with little to no effort. Sighing, she somewhat hesitantly picked up a quill and some parchment and started writing a response…

Twilight trotted through the streets, her friends in tow as they headed towards Executioner One, who still was pining for the Best Statue Ever award, apparently. As they approached, however, it turned to face Twilight.
HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL ONE. EXECUTIONER ONE ACKNOWLEDGES.
“Uh. Hi. Could I talk to you?”
AFFIRMATIVE. ENTER QUERY.
“We need your help with something.”
ELABORATE MISSION OBJECTIVES.
“Okay. Rarity’s little sister, Sweetie Belle, and her friends, Applebloom and Scootaloo, were foalnapped by Diamond Dogs. We need your help to find and rescue them.”
EXECUTIONER ONE, ACTIVATING SECONDARY MISSION. HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL ONE, LEAD EXECUTIONER ONE TO AMBUSH SITE.
“Okay, then. Rarity?” The unicorn in question nodded and started off towards somewhere, with her friends and Executioner One following her towards where the Crusaders had been taken…

Of course, Twilight’s plan failed spectacularly.

But you’ll have to wait until the next chapter is out to find out.

Because I’m a sadistic bastard.

The Game.

Chapter 7

The behemoth of metal lumbered onwards, trudging ponderously across the grassy field. Wildlife of all kinds scattered at the merest sign of its approach, yet the intimidating machine of war paid them no heed, instead proceeding resolutely towards its objective...

“So, these reconnaissance drone things found them? Why couldn't they free the girls?”
RECONNASSAINCE DRONES = UNSUITED FOR COMBAT. THEY POSSESS NO WEAPONS OR RELATED EQUIPMENT. THIS UNIT WILL LEAVE NEGOTIATIONS TO HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL ONE.
I guess a broken machine of destruction would make for a poor diplomat, Twilight hummed to herself thoughtfully, proud that Executioner stayed true to its promise of not making trouble, but kept that thought to herself. She didn't need Executioner One to throw a hissy fit, or the synthetic equal of one. Could it even throw a hissy fit?

She had no idea and wasn't particularly eager to find out, considering its capability for destruction, so she chose a new topic – the leaders of the Asahi Empire, Asahi themselves.

The Asahi were as close as one could get to being a real god – they were immortal, their lifespans covering billions of years, and universe itself bent to their will – if they wanted to, they could create life, extinguish it, will planets, stars or galaxies into existence and annihilate them just as easily. They were an incredibly wise and educated people, their technological advances catapulting the Coalition into a new age of space exploration on one instance – the humans' archaeologists had uncovered an ancient template for faster-than-light drives at some point during the past millennia. The number of colonized worlds soared as a result. But that's a different story...

The Asahi themselves were immensely kind and benevolent, preferring diplomacy instead of warfare. They cherished life – this mindset was strongly echoed across many a world in Imperial territory – hundreds of thousands of planets were meticulously cared-for paradises, their natural beauty and resources spared from exploitation by the fact that there were always more resources to be found out in the void.

It seemed like an impossible task, to keep the hundreds of alien races coexisting peacefully. But coexist they did, thanks to the efforts of their immortal leaders. There were enough goods for everyone, eliminating the need to war for resources . Many goods could be acquired for free on their markets and shops, a significant testament to their wealthy economy. Conflicts were rare and were always resolved peacefully. Their worlds and people flourished.

Their capital was an awe-inspiring creation, too – two artificial worlds that orbited each other. One planet was used to coordinate their military, while the civilian matters were handled by the other one – the Citadels dotting the worlds were massive, towering cities, ones that extended far up into space. The two worlds never slept, with thousands of ships paying homage to the seat of Imperial power every day. Dozens of galaxies were under Imperial control, with unimaginably vast amounts of resources at their beck and call.

But all was not well for the Empire. They were constantly beset by the Brood, a race of spacefaring insects that sought to consume everything in the universe. Seeing as the Asahi Empire was a tempting target, they constantly threw themselves at Imperial-held worlds. The Empire responded, forming a line of fortress worlds, one that has held to this day, with millions of ships and trillions of troops forming the bulwark that protects the citizens of the Empire from the Brood, with both sides locked in a state of constant stalemate. The Asahi had tried diplomacy, of course, but the Brood acted on a single base instinct – hunger. It was soon understood that their enemies could not be reasoned with and so, the Asahi reluctantly permitted the utter extinction of the Brood, should the chance arise to do so.

Strangely enough, when Twilight asked why there were so few Asahi in existence – seven, to be exact – she was denied an answer, with Executioner claiming it was classified data. It had been somewhat disappointing, but she quickly shook it off, and explored other various available topics, and she marvelled at the wonders of the universe laid before her...

It was a well-known fact that Diamond Dogs were expert burrowers, able to create caverns big enough to drive a cart through in moments when working in numbers big enough. But this was quite different, however, as the three fillies gazed despondently through the bars of their cage, their eyes slowly dancing across the massive chasms, illuminated by fiery rivers of lava that lapped at the cliffs, as hundreds of Diamond Dogs scampered around, dragging all sorts of things with them. The noise echoed in the caverns, but the three small ponies were too tired to protest to it.

They were also too tired to notice a pair of odd distortions hovering mid-air just above the cage. The guards didn't notice them either.

As the machine of war proceeded onwards, the idyllic landscape was replaced with a more rugged one – ponies seldom wandered from their cities in small numbers. This task, however, was an exception – they had been following the pathfinding machines Executioner had sent out to find the tracks of the Diamond Dogs responsible for the foalnapping. Slowly, but patiently, they had tracked them back to a rather distant corner of Equestria, where few dared to tread...

“So, you stay here and be intimidating – stomp around, make angry noises, that sort of stuff. It should work just fine and we should be able to get the girls back without anypony getting hurt – a display of force is usually enough to get them to cooperate. Got it?”
ACKNOWLEDGED, HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL ONE. Twilight smiled and nodded at that, then turned to look at her friends. Understandably, they seemed nervous, especially Rarity and Applejack.
“Well, this is it. Just stay calm and we'll pull this off without a hitch.” She received a couple of nods in return and she breathed in deeply, and turned to look outside one last timeBY CELESTIA'S HOT SMOULDERING FLANKS, WHERE DID THEY COME FROM.

There were dozens, if not hundreds of Diamond Dogs swarming across the ground in front of the mech, all of them eyeing the machine, alertly. Some of them had set up cannons a ways off, numerous Dogs manning them.

Twilight gasped in shock as her senses returned to her, then eyed the scores of freshly-dug tunnels dotting the ground. Of course. They would have noticed the tremors kilometres away. Executioner One wasn't exactly the most subtle of machines, after all. She gulped nervously as everything turned utterly silent.

“Whoa, nelly... that's sure a whole lotta Diamond Dogs...” Applejack muttered out nervously. Rarity nodded in agreement, eyeing the mobs stiffly.

That's when all hell broke loose.

And it was in no way caused by Executioner One.

...Yeah, I can't even convince myself about that.

As fate would have it, Executioner One had come to a halt where one of the vast caverns was. Its heavy footsteps had already fractured the tightly-packed soil on its approach, and now the entire weight of a fully-loaded Executioner-class mech rested on the precarious plain. Suddenly, ground gave way, making one of the mech's legs sink into the crevice created. The combative subroutines reacted and the mech stirred, suddenly forgetting its promise to Celestia.

AMBUSH. EXECUTIONER ONE, RETURNING FIRE.

Inside, Twilight yelped in surprise as the deck sunk a little lower to the left, and a slight tremor ran through Executioner's superstructure. Then she blanched in shock as a pair of cannonballs ricocheted right off the windowpanes. It seemed like the Diamond Dogs were far more jumpy than they were.
“What? No, don't attack them!” Her horrified plea went unheard and she saw numerous weapons rise from Executioner's hull, turning to aim at the offending weapons and their crews. All she heard was the whine and click of charging weapons as she stared in shock. When the onslaught commenced, she fell on her back in surprise, the muffled thuds, shrieks and cracks of alien weaponry reverberating through the mech's hull. When she got back up, gazing hesitantly through the window, she immediately froze. The ground was scattered with dead or dying Diamond Dogs. Only a paltry few had survived the salvo.

The thing is, Executioner-class mechs produce a lot of recoil when firing their weapons, and compensate by digging their legs into ground more firmly. This time, it was a bad choice and the soil below Executioner One gave way under the machine's weight. The surviving Dogs could only stare in shock as the mech spoke defiantly, quickly disappearing into the hole.

I REGRET NOTHING~

It plummeted downwards, with its passengers screaming in horror as it fell. Its immense bulk shattered several crudely-hewn bridges as it descended into the caverns proper. Alarms blared inside the command centre as the six mares hung on for their dear lives wherever they could latch onto. The faint glow below them slowly grew brighter.

Suddenly, without a warning, they came to a halt with a shrieking clamour of metal as the mech's legs gave out, its knees nearly snapping under the weight of its body. Nevertheless, various damage reports popped up on the screens, bathing the command centre in orange and blue light. Occasional sparks flew from a loose panel or two. After a couple of moments, the mech's monotone voice spoke.

EXECUTIONER ONE, INITIATING SELF-REPAIR PROTOCOL.

It could only gape in shock at the events that had unfolded. This... this idiotic machine had nearly torn itself apart! It had fallen for nearly two-hundred metres and come to a rest somewhere in the incredibly expansive cave network the canine indigents resided in. And now, it was in full-on combat mode, eager to engage anything dumb or brave enough to shake a stick at it. And now, it was doggedly accomplishing its mission objective – the rescue of the three foals colloquially known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. And it didn't seem to care about any collateral damage it was liable to cause. Groaning in exasperation, the intelligence did the only thing it could – observe.

The nanites could not finish the mainframe repairs too soon, truly.

Empty autocannon shell casings tumbled through the air, clattering across Executioner's hull. The disassemblers carved lines across the cavern walls, erasing Diamond Dogs from existence – literally. High-calibre grenade launchers coughed, sending clusters of explosive ordnance downrange. The mech's entire arsenal – its matter collider aside – was firing, carving a bloody path towards the prisoner cells – towards its objective.

THIS IS FUN AND SAD. BUT MOSTLY FUN, the loudspeakers boomed as Executioner vomited great gouts of flames upon the scurrying hordes of Diamond Dogs.
I MUST BREAK YOU, it rambled on, sending salvos of explosive missiles everywhere – it was almost as if there was an actual Ortalian at the controls, gleefully obliging to his hard-coded DNA's appreciation for high-calibre weaponry. Needless to say, the six mares that were hiding inside its command centre didn't dare look outside.

I see spandex~

“Huh?” Sweetie Belle sat up, roused from her sleep by a distant, booming voice. At her side, Applebloom stirred from her sleep, letting out an irate grumble.
“Wha's that...? Why ain't y'all lettin' me get some sleep?” There was a distant, but noticeable explosion, followed by hundreds of yelping voices. That woke Scootaloo up as well.

You got your damn make-up on me~

Explosions because reasons.

“Huh?” The unicorn filly frowned in puzzlement, then froze as she saw something approach, trudging through shallow lava towards them, numerous Diamond Dogs scattering as it advanced. She recognized this certain something.

Executioner One.

The intimidating machine strode towards the array of cages, the ponies imprisoned in them perked up momentarily at the sight of Executioner One, then shrunk back in fear – only a paltry few knew of its existence, with most of the captives having spent considerable time in the caverns. The three fillies, however...

“We're saved!” Applebloom cheered, leaping up and down. What few guards were present scampered away once the mech sounded its horn, its spotlights illuminating the cages, and Executioner One soon came to a halt in front of the cages perched on the elevated cliff, retracting its guns. A couple of moments passed and a hatch opened on top of its hull, and six very familiar mares climbed out, galloping up to the edge of the armoured hull, quickly jumping or flying over the gap, cantering up to the cages, and opening them.

“Oh, thank Celestia, you're alright, Sweetie Belle!” Rarity squee'd, hugging the smaller unicorn tightly. The filly gladly returned the gesture. A similar scene was unfolding between Applejack and Applebloom. Scootaloo didn't miss out, either, being hugged by Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie, Twilight, and Fluttershy were busy with opening the rest of the cages, freeing the rest of the captives. Understandably, they were suspicious of the mech that was looming nearby, but Twilight had managed to assuage their reservations. In short order, they were boarding Executioner One, eager to leave the oppressive caverns. It was a tight fit, but in the end, they didn't have to leave anypony behind.

“So, uh, how do we get out of here? I don't think we can go back the way we came from.” Twilight eyed the screens, which offered extremely detailed charting off the Diamond Dog caverns. The recon drones had mapped out the caves to their full extent, which would have been useful if Executioner One wasn't three times taller than a fully-grown dragon.
WHERE WE ARE GOING, WE WILL NOT NEED ROADS, Executioner answered, starting to charge its matter collider.
“I'm not even going to ask...” Rarity muttered out miserably and prepared for the worst.

MY FIST SHALL BE THE ONE TO PIERCE THE HEAVENS.

Several long moments later, the outlandishly powerful gun fired, blazing a tunnel through dozens of metres of rock and soil. It also affected a small vein of magma. Well, small when compared to a Sterrikan landcrawler...

The tremor caused by the weapon's discharge tore through the small, fragile layer of rock separating the caverns from magma, sending a veritable torrent of molten rock pouring inside.

Twilight gasped in shock as more and more lava poured in, splashing against the Executioner's armoured hull, climbing higher with ever passing moment.
“Oh, no! What're we going to do now?!” Her words were met with no response and she quickly glanced at one of the readouts – the mech's surface temperature was soon going to reach critical limits, literally cooking everything inside, ponies included. Several long, torturous moments passed before she received an answer.

MISSION SUCCESS IS NON-NEGOTIABLE.

“Wh-what? What's that supposed to mean?” Twilight frowned in worry, then fell on her back as the floor shook violently, a deep thrum permeating the air.

In addition to monstrous recoil, Executioner-class mechs produce immense amounts of heat when in combat, heat that has to be vented. To accomplish this, superconducting heat sinks were implemented, collecting the waste heat and discharging it when at full capacity. Considering that its entire hull was heating up drastically, the heat was automatically channelled towards the heat sinks, which were filled to capacity in mere seconds. And then, they were purged. In a rather explosive manner. Due to the way they were placed – to allow for the disassemblers to be implemented – the heat was vented downwards, almost like a VTOL flier's engines would work. Using the ample amounts of heat built up in its hull, Executioner One slowly, but surely rocketed up the tunnel it had blasted out, quickly gaining speed, squeezing out some extra acceleration by mixing in some secondary coolant to allow for better heat transfer. The tunnel collapsed behind the monumental machine of war, sealing the doomed caverns off from the rest of the world.

Twilight giggled in disbelief as she saw daylight slowly grow stronger with every passing moment. Executioner had apparently suffered another glitch and was blasting loud music from its speakers for reasons she couldn't even begin to fathom.

Got no restraining shackles
Just a highway stretching far and wide
The sun shines down and feeds me with what I need

There ain't nobody waiting
I'm free to do whatever I please
I've flipped the coin and now I will be seen...

The music was loud and nothing like she'd ever heard. Rainbow Dash seemed to enjoy it, as if to make up for the fact that she'd been scared out of her fur by their imminent death experience. Either way, there were just a couple dozen metres to go until they finally were back above the surface, and could return to Equestria...

With a metallic groan, Executioner One pulled itself out of the impromptu tunnel it had created, last pitiful wisps of heat sputtering out of its heat sinks. It straightened out, covered in soot and dirt, then blasted a long, victorious note.

HAIL TO THE KING, BABY.

Slowly, it began the long trek back to Equestria...

What is this insanity? Why do you keep acting like this? What has gotten into you, you over-designed tin can? By the Ancestors, this is the last time I volunteer for testing prototype technology! Urgh... Apologies are in order once I can reclaim control of this chassis, that much is certain...

Chapter 8

Griffons were, by nature, proud and fierce. Above all, they valued honor, courage and martial prowess. With this mindset, they obviously valued might over knowledge – in comparison to other countries' militaries, they were rather simplistic, but they made up for it with a will of steel and unmatched discipline. As history will often prove, griffons were both likely allies and enemies, and any truces or alliances established with them are shaky and tenuous at best. Equestrians had clashed with Griffon Empire on several occasions in the past, and had proved to be worthy foes – the griffons' military strength was matched by Equestria's magically-adept forces. In the present, the relationships between the two heavyweight states of Equis are lukewarm at most times. Neither side tried diplomacy with much enthusiasm because all knew the attempts would fail very quickly.

Which is why Celestia regarded the small scroll of parchment laying on her desk with utter contempt.

A group of griffons had noticed Executioner One crossing the border into Equestria. And now, she had received a letter from the Griffon Embassy, telling her she'd have a guest – the Emperor himself. Even though the letter said 'requests', she knew it was pointless to decline – he'd just show up with a bunch of his guards instead.

Telling him to get his feathery rear back to his throne probably wouldn't help, either.

Thus, the beleaguered diarch heaved a great sigh and summoned a maid, instructing her to prepare one of the guest rooms. If that pompous old bird was still the same, she'd need aspirin. Lots and lots of aspirin.

Executioner One lumbered across the ground, the tops of the tallest Ponyville's buildings soon coming into its visual range. A positive feedback ran through its systems at the notion of its mission nearly accomplished. It diverted more power to its drivetrains, picking its pace up some. The horns blared loudly, a deep, sonorous note echoing far and wide, followed by a lower, one. Some of Ponyville's on-duty weatherponies took note of this and darted off to the town to deliver the news of the machine's imminent arrival. In a matter of minutes, a sizeable crowd had accumulated, perched on the roofs of buildings or vacant trees.

The huge machine had been gone for a while, and some of Ponyville's inhabitants had become worried by its absence. Now, how, however, as they watched its blackened, soot-covered bulk slowly shuffle into everypony's view, they cheered – whatever the Elements had asked its help for had obviously been taken care of. As the mech's passengers disembarked, the cheering doubled – some of the captives had friends or relatives in Ponyville – to say they were delighted to see each other again would be an understatement. Executioner One stood nearby, unmoving, its trapped intelligence observing the unfolding scene with a certain degree of happiness – although it was made for war, it was also a guardian, meant to protect those who couldn't do so themselves. In a small way, the broken mainframe was actually tolerable.

Graaak~

Correct that. Tolerable to a degree.

A surge of energy brought its attention to the ball of light popping into existence a ways off from the crowd. When the light faded away, it revealed one Princess Celestia. Immediately, everyone bowed to her. Even the mech inclined its hull slightly towards the alicorn – in the absence of any ranking Coalition or Imperial officers, it had decided on registering Celestia as the highest figure of authority for the time being. Celestia smiled kindly and turned to look at the Elements of Harmony, then the rescued ponies before returning her attention to Twilight.

“I presume your mission was successful, then.” Twilight chuckled sheepishly at that.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that... We can go over the details at the library, if you'd like to.”

“Of course. There has been a new development that should be explained to you as well.”

“Oh, my. It's nothing bad, is it?” Fluttershy muttered, worry clear in her voice, and Celestia sighed softly, pondering that question for a couple of moments, eyeing Executioner One levelly.

“That remains to be seen...”

The interior of Golden Oaks Library appealed to Celestia's senses – it was tidy and in order, with nothing out of place. If there was one thing Twilight was exceptionally good at, it was organising things. As the unicorn in question had once said – 'I'm OCD like that.' The memory made the alicorn's mouth twist in a brief smile before she sat down on a free cushion and coughed softly, bringing everypony else's attention to her.

“Now, then. How did the rescue mission go?” She hummed to herself, a hopeful smile on her face as Twilight and her friends retold of what happened on their trek. She'd hoped it had gone flawlessly.

No chance, Lance.

Her small smile shrunk with every passing sentence as Executioner's actions were brought into light.

Oh, no. Oh no no no no no... By Faust, no...

WHY.

She would have called this to be a trick of Discord, were he not encased in stone. The mech was clearly just a diplomatic incident waiting to happen, nonetheless. Zebras and Saddle Arabians were the nations she was on better terms with, but minotaurs and gryphons...

Oy, what a can of worms. The biggest, wormiest, canniest, er... can.
She sighed deeply and rubbed her face, then looked at Twilight dourly.

“Well, I suppose there's nothing any of us can do about it, then. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, I suppose. For now, however, we need to prepare for a different sort of trouble – gryphons know Executioner One is in Equestria. The Emperor himself is going to arrive here. I suspect his reasons are more than mere curiosity, so we should remain on our guard. Twilight, I want you to talk to our automaton friend, and ensure there are no further incidents.” The purple unicorn nodded and trotted off. Celestia stood up and sighed again.

“I could really use a bubble bath right now...” Rarity perked up at that and spoke up.

“W-well, the Ponyville spa is open at this time. They offer exquisite services, and for reasonable prices, if that would satisfy you, Your Highness.” Celestia cocked her head sideways and hummed.

“That does sound rather appealing. Come on, then. Let us forget the world's problems for today and spoil ourselves!” She smiled and stood up, motioning the five mares after her. Pinkie Pie was the first to join. Others followed suit, encouraged by the pink mare's enthusiasm.

Twilight hummed to herself, eagerly drinking in the information displayed on the screen – after she'd laid more rules down concerning the impending visit of the gryphon emperor, she learned more about the beings who were the cornerstone of Empire's military, the most highly disciplined fighting force at their disposal – The clone legionnaires of Ortalia.

Their beginnings can be traced thousands of years into past, when a great war was sparked between the two meganations of Ortalia. The reasons have long been forgotten and the archives holding the relevant data were incinerated by nuclear firestorms ages ago, but whatever caused the conflict erased any chance of diplomacy between the belligerents as they brought nuclear winter upon their world in mere weeks. Once surface became uninhabitable, they constructed massive underground bunkers. Their space capabilities were limited to orbital bombardments and intercepting hostile payloads.

Even as their populations dwindled into nothingness, they refused to end the fighting, instead creating clones to fight in their stead. Eventually, their creators also died – with nothing else left to do, the clones kept warring across the wasteland of their once prosperous world. Upon the brink of their extinction, they were discovered by an expeditionary fleet of then-expanding Asahi Empire. Though the Asahi were cautious of the clones' single-minded war, they saw great potential in them. Against all odds, they unified the remnants of clones, ending their incredibly destructive war and set about making Ortalia habitable once more – as requested by the clone leader, it was restored to be barely habitable, claiming the wastelands would be prime trainings ground for troops, Ortalian or not.

With the resources of Empire freely available, they rebuilt the clone legions into the fearsome troops they are now – standing at three metres tall, four arms and six eyes, decked out in the heaviest armour and weapons a single legionnaire can carry, they are an intimidating sight even to the most hardened of veterans. Numerous secondary and tertiary organs ensure greater damage threshold, and cerebral implants are capable of saving a copy of a legionnaire's mind and retrieve it to be installed into a new body – therefore, while they may lose soldiers in combat, their experience can be recovered. In this manner, combined with the incredibly rigorous training on their homeworld, they have created the best soldiers around, ones that will never retreat or surrender until they have achieved either victory or death.

Twilight leaned back slightly from the screen, watching the video displayed there, utterly enthralled – hundreds, no, thousands upon thousands of clone soldiers took up positions in a huge multi-tiered trench, complete with blindages, pillboxes, and all manners of turrets. Behind them, lines of their combat vehicles deployed – high-calibre assault guns, anti-tank guns, mortars, howitzers, minethrowers... The entirety of this arsenal was aimed at what seemed like a carpet of teeth, claws, eyes and chitinous bodies that rushed towards the entrenchments. Shadows fell across the fortifications and the purple unicorn's breath caught a little in her throat at the large, ponderous machines lining up their shots at the seething mass. By some unheard order, the longest-reaching weapons opened up in a thunderous rhythm, carving wide swathes across the stampeding Brood, but the gaps were quickly filled up by the overabundance of drones charging towards the fortifications. As they closed their distance, more and more weapons opened up, until it was a wall of energy projectiles and bullets scything down the hostile aliens that charged heedlessly right into the killzone. A curious thought popped into her mind and she toyed with the interface, zooming out, and saw that it was not a single isolated battle – the planet was literally divided in two, circled by a huge trench system. She zoomed out and stared in silent awe at the warship squadrons moving to secure the locations that had no troop presense, namely the oceans and seas.

And to think this is happening every day and I didn't even suspect... The unicorn wondered to herself. A couple of moments passed before she decided to focus more on less-unnerving topics from now on. The idea of evil, hungry space bugs that wanted to eat your planet wasn't very nice, in all honesty, and she scrolled idly through the list of available files...

Kselmar Highway
Liguria

The Rebel Queen strode through the heavy downpour, her rugged boots letting her maintain a steady pace as she forged onwards. Most people would struggle to keep up with her.

Then again, most people didn't possess muscle tissue three times normal density and durability. Or maybe they weren't her aide, who kept deftly jumping across the giant rents in the once perfectly smooth nanoasphalt – Vasari had bombed the ever-loving shit out of the roads. The trench coats kept them dry and relatively warm. Soon, they reached a small Rebel outpost – upon seeing her, the troops there stood up, ramrod straight as they abandoned what they were doing. They slammed a fist over their hearts and spoke as one.

“My Queen!”

Lieia eyed them levelly, before giving a slight nod. “At ease, men. Just passing through, to the Site.” The Site had become the unofficial moniker of the location where they'd lost Executioner One. Despite this disastrous and odd event, they had managed to utterly crush the Vasari opposition nonetheless.

The soldiers nodded and sat down, huddling around a pair of portable field stoves and she and her aide continued onwards – she took note of the salvaged Vasari emplacement weapons and sighed inwardly – the Rebel supply lines were stretched precariously thin, and even though the occasional defector ship would arrive with a modicum of supplies, they'd be gone in a matter of hours. They needed to get that starbase in Alioth system up, immediately. With that sector secured, their mining flotillas could move in and secure the precious metals for further refinery and thus, acquire sorely-needed resources for their fleet repairs – most of their warships were kept running with abundant amounts of snot, duct tape, tears and prayers, so to speak.

Even the mighty Ragnarov Titan, her dread-inspiring flagship, Deliverance was in need of repairs, and with munitions reserves running low, she had issued an order to only restock its magazines to quarter capacity, letting the rest of its ammo be recycled into something the rest of Rebel ships could use.

A warship more than a hundred kilometres long made a pretty damn good battering ram, after all.

But, if they were able to secure Alioth system, she could assemble a battlegroup and raid a Loyalist supply depot at Karlstad and alleviate the situation to a degreeMy Queen?

Hm?

“My Queen? We are here.” The young man intoned politely, drawing the tall woman's gaze to him. Coughing quietly, he continued, pulling out his dataslate, and began to tap away at it, avoiding his superior's gaze – it had been such an honor she'd chosen him as her assistant, but her eyes always scared him.

“The Site, huh?”

“Indeed, My Queen.”

I really got to stop everyone calling me like that. I'm no damn queen.

Her gaze drifted across the waterlogged muck – the ground had been churned into thick mud by the legs, wheels and feet of men, vehicles and mechs.

Note to self: have some insta-crete laid down. If everyone wades through this shit, they're going to get bogged down big time.

A small collection of flags and antennae wavered in the rain a ways off, marking the spot where Executioner One had ceased to exist. Nearby, a group of Linebackers trudged past, clad in their power armor and toting chainsaw halberds, singing something loud and she smiled for a moment – a genuine smile, not the barely-concealed facades she'd had to make use of lately. The Linebackers were reckless, bold, and brave, throwing themselves from one battle into another – their parties were the loudest, the damage in said parties' aftermath was the greatest... But when you needed to absolutely thrash something, they were your go-to men and women.

Her eyes experienced a brief jolt of pain and she saw her sight magnify as she noticed someone familiar – an old friend of hers, an Asli by the name of Naela'Sholas. The alien was herding a group of Vasari prisoners down the ruined highway. She was a rare one – very few used to take prisoners nowadays. But Naela was an Asli – kindness came to them as naturally as breathing. A trio of her serpent-tailed waterkin slithered past in the mud, holding sharp composite spears, clad in light armor. They seemed to be the only ones enjoying the rain.

She returned her attention to her aide. “So, is there anything out scientists are able to shed light on?”

Regretfully, the young man shook his head. “No, My Queen. The energy readings are scarce and not enough to come to a conclusion.” His datapad flashed once and he blinked in surprise before looking back at her. “We've... we've received a ping from Executioner One. Happened ten minutes ago. Faint, but the signal signature is unmistakable. The rest of Xalathii present are convinced it's still operational. Even though they didn't have enough time to narrow down it's position properly, they have a rough estimate – Kaylsto's Abyss.”

Lieia let out another inward groan.

Kaylsto's Abyss. The ass end of fucking nowhere. Perfect.

“Well, do they have any idea what's it doing, floating in deep space?”

The aide shook his head again. “No, My Queen. Phasing to Kaylsto's Abyss would take two months, at the minimum. And combing through a nebula-”

“-will take even longer, yeah.” The supreme Rebel leader sighed heavily before straightening out. “Well, then. Let's see if we can find something at the Site. Maybe we'll have more luck than others, hmm?” She began to walk, simmering in annoyance at the mech's current whereabouts.

“At once, My Queen.” The aide nodded and followed her, humming to himself.

No rest for the wicked, it seemed.

Author's Note

Next chapter - E1 meets the gryphon Emperor.

Chapter 9

Charra'Tiiul darted upright, brought out of her sleep by the blaring of a klaxon, spitting out a curse that would no doubt have her mother in fits, were she here.

“Kshri'tarn!”* The young Vasari swore, trying her best to calm down as she took in her surroundings, feeling the last of her nightmare fade away.

It was always the same scene – a vengeful human female, her face contorted in a bloodthirsty grimace, her fingers slowly tightening around Charra's neck, cracking the carapace that protected the frail flesh within. She shuddered for a moment – it had not been easy to convince the freshly-released human to not kill her, but she'd been helped by the Asahi shackled deep within Ulxtora's slave pens. Lieia Grisova had been convinced to spare Charra's life and together, they formulated a plan to save at least a fraction of the Dark Fleet's civilian population.

She only wished that plan didn't involve losing more than thirty thousand lives in process. But they did need a distraction, else the defectors would not have made it past the Fleet's perimeter patrols to carry out a phase jump to Coalition territory.

So, here she was, a reluctant leader of the Vasari rebels. Though cautions of the human rebels, she was eager to prove her worth. Even so, the Vasari were regarded as sub-par at best, and were downright hated at worst. For good reasons, too – Charra had seen what the Dark Fleet's leaders had done to human civilians in the first weeks of their invasion into Coalition space. And it had fallen to her to show that her people were better than that. Suffice to say, the Rebel Queen had taken that promise seriously.

So, here she was, combing through a nebula for a wayward Executioner mech, in control of a combined scouting flotilla. The human captains didn't hide their dislike for her, but none dared defy the Rebel Queen. People that brought her ire upon themselves had a nasty tendency to disappear. Her will was supreme, her word was the law, and if she wanted to accept the Vasari among the Rebels, she damn well would.

Letting out a sigh, Charra donned her robes and exited her cabin. The klaxon had one meaning – they had arrived at their next set of coordinates. Hours of persistent data-refining had narrowed the Executioner's signal point of origin down to a rather 'humble' twenty-five light-year radius. Her flotilla was a humble one – a handful of various scout vessels with an Ortalian-supplied Voidhammer-class supercarrier as the flotilla's flagship.

Voidhammers are the only class of ships Ortalians build – no frigates or corvettes, just Voidhammers. Where's the sense in that?

Grumbling to herself, Charra strode through the hallways, steeling herself for another day of exploring Caylsto's Abyss – phase in, launch probes, jump to new coordinates, launch more probes, and keep at it until you find something. Nell-Tiray had cast their flotilla across the void right on the edge of the nebula, but had requested that her involvement remain secret in this task – the Asahi as a whole regarded the Rebels as a rogue element, and were inclined to remain neutral in Coalition's civil war. As luck would have it, the shackled Asahi in Ulxtora's hold was no-one else that Nell-Tiray's daughter, Tala'Hiri the Shadowsong. This news had reaffirmed the Empire's leader to aid the Rebellion – albeit secretly, unwilling to risk conflict with others of her kin. Alikera the Red-Winged was less subtle, however – the Rebel Queen's martial prowess impressed the warlike Asahi, and she provided what assistance she could to the dissidents. Either way, Charra knew one thing with certainty.

She hated politics.

It darted among the cyberspace it currently inhabited, humming as it observed the ebbing streams of data – only a Xalathii could see the digital world like this, with data being exchanged between various units.

Except for the fact that Equestria was glaringly devoid of other Xalathii, and it had no one else to partake with in data sharing. So, it decided to eavesdrop, er, gather intelligence.

Well, the sub-routines did, anyways. The mainframe repairs were still ongoing. So it waited, bored out of its matrices.

“The word of Executioner's presence in Equestria has travelled fast, indeed.” Luna muttered, eyeing the scrolls. Celestia let out a beleaguered noise at her words. “Saddle Arabians, zebras, minotaurs, dragons, even the Changelings have sent entourages to arrive at the Canterlot castle within the week or so to meet our otherworldly friend. As if griffons weren't enough.”

“It's not the zebras I'm worried about. Or the Saddle Arabians. Or even the dragons, surprisingly. You know how their hierarchy works – the biggest one of the bunch is in charge. And Executioner is plenty big, so we've got that covered, at least. But minotaurs, griffons and changelings in each other's vicinity is a disaster waiting to happen.” Celestia grumbled tiredly.

Rustle rustle went the curtain.

Luna's ears twitched slightly at the faint noise, but paid it no mind, instead continuing to listen to her sister talk.

Rustle rustle.

“...are you even listening to me, Luna?”

“Shhh.”

“Wha-” Luna pressed her hoof to Celestia's muzzle, silencing her.

“Shshshshshsh.” With Celestia puzzled, but quiet, Luna took another look around, scrutinizing the room. Her horn wanly shining, she stealthily trotted around until she reached the treacherous curtain. Her horn lit up in a furious overglow and the curtain was torn to shreds. Something small and glowing with blue light dropped onto Luna's muzzle, making the dark blue alicorn squint in curiosity as she inspected the eavesdropper. Celestia let out a tired sigh, looking at her sister.

“What is it, Luna?”

Luna took a moment to formulate an answer, seeing as the small something decided to grow several legs and a pair of wings.

The small metallic insect stared up at the Moon Princess with big, glowing eyes. It spoke a moment later, in a high-pitched voice.

“Mommy!”

One could hear a pin drop. Luna blinked in surprise, frozen to the spot.

“Mo-mommy?” Celestia looked at her, confused beyond reason.

“Mommy!” The metal bug repeated with aplomb, taking to air before settling down on Luna's shoulder, and, oddly enough, the midnight blue alicorn found it to be the most heart-wrenchingly adorable being ever and she cooed warmly, holding it out to Celestia.

“Look at it, Sister! Look at it!”

“Luna, wh-”

“It's, like, the most adorable thing ever, WHAT DO YOU EVEN WANT ME TO DO.” Celestia winced at the loud exclamation before responding.

“I don't know. Go show it off or something. Give it a name.”

“I shall do so immediately! I have little time left before the Night Court begins.”

“Can you have the kitchen staff send some absinthe to this room? And some kahlua. And vermouth. And congac. Actually, a bottle of everything alcoholic the staff has in stock.”

“Do you want some canned bread as well, sister?” Celestia was in such a state she didn't even pause to consider the sheer absurdity of that question, and simply nodded, eyeing the paperwork awaiting her attention.

“Yes. Canned bread sounds nice about now...”

Luna snickered for a moment before trotting away. “Very well. We shall head to the royal kitchen with utmost urgency.” The door closed, leaving Celestia alone. A moment passed before the gears in her tired mind clicked.

“What's canned bread?”

Gauge sat on Mommy's shoulder. She didn't have a name before, but that's what Mommy called her, so it had to be true. Mommy was real nice and soft, and her name was Loona. Gauge looked around, examining her surroundings. The hallway was clean and shiny, and she saw more of those Loonar Gardz, as Mommy called them.

“Click the F to sprint!” Gauge explaimed, and Mommy jumped, letting out a chuckle afterwards.

“Yes, I suppose being late to one's own Court would be bad. Hold on, Gauge.” Mommy sped up, cantering briskly down the moon-lit hallway, with Gauge clinging to her, chittering excitedly.

“I'll be grabbier than Cole McGravellyvoice!” Mommy snickered at that, turning to look at Gauge.

“Who's that, Gauge?”

“I dunno, lol.” Mommy laughed again and so did Gauge, happy she'd made Mommy happy. “Coplights!”

Days passed quickly and soon came the day that Executioner One would be properly introduced to the other nations of Equis. The giant mech had dutifully travelled to Canterlot, somehow managing to maneouver its bulk right into the the castle's courtyard with minimal damage to the city's infrastructure. There it stood, patiently waiting, accumulating a number of bird nests in various crevices of its hull. Some of the castle staff attempted to decorate the mech, but were quickly warded off by said birds.

Celestia nervously fidgeted, sitting on a small platform placed in front of the immobile mech, constantly distracted by Luna's fussing over the small metal bug she'd taken a shine to. She'd done more than just name it – Luna had bestowed the title of equerry upon Gauge. The freshly-appointed equerry in question was busily chomping on a silver spoon, perched on top of Luna's head. The midnight-blue alicorn chuckled to herself, in good spirits as she turned to assure the twitchy alicorn.

“You have nothing to worry about, Sister. I doubt any of our guests will try anything untoward with the Executioner present.”

“One can only hope, Luna. I'm more concerned about the griffons than anything else. They're always the first to jump to hasty conclusions.”

“Well, that is certainly true. But we have to make this meeting happen nonetheless.”

“How do I landing gear? Guys, how do I landing gear?” Luna smiled at the tinny voice and her horn lit up. Gauge floated down in front of her face.

“What is it, Gauge? Is something wrong?” In lieu of an answer – a coherent one, that is – Gauge pointed to a couple of far-off dots in the sky that steadily grew in size, accompanied by the distinctive profile of a dragon in flight. “Ah. There they are. Now, then – be on your best behaviour, my equerry. Let us make the best of impressions!”

“Ay am de mmp~” Gauge responded, throwing up a quick salute before settling down. Luna chuckled and settled down, eyeing the chariots and solitary dragon as they drew closer. A couple of minutes, they landed nearby, the latter shaking the ground with his footsteps. The Royal Guards that had been posted on watch tensed up, but remained immobile. Ponderously, the dragon walked over to the two alicorns, though his eyes kept drifting up to gaze at the colossal mech behind Equestria's rulers. From the chariots that had landed a short way off, the rest of their guests disembarked – the Sultan and his wife of Saddle Arabia, the High Elder of Zebrica, Head Chieftain of Minos, Emperor of the Griffon Empire and the Queen of Changelings.

That last one got Celestia's blood boiling. Chrysalis still hadn't gotten rid of that smug smirk, the arrogant motherfBRRRRRR~

The low, sonorous blast forced everyone present to take a step back in surprise. The culprit was big and made of metal.

“So, this is the mysterious machine of war I've heard of...” Emperor Ostvin muttered aloud, his head craning back to properly examine the mech. Others followed suit – some with wariness and suspicion, others with outright distrust, while two individuals in particular had greed on their minds. A shrill beep from Gauge brought their attention to the two diarchs standing in front of the imposing machine.

Celestia coughed politely, and took a step forwards. “Greetings, esteemed friends. I welcome you all to Canterlot.” She gave a graceful bow to each of the arrivals, a gesture that was returned. Nonetheless, she felt somewhat vindicated at seeing the reluctance of Ostvin's bow. He definitely wasn't here to play nice, but was forced to do so, considering his company.

Same could be said about Chrysalis, really. She kept stealing glances at Executioner, obviously desiring the mech for herself. Sultan and his bethrothed stayed close to each other, ill at ease. The zebra Elder was merely curious, his head cocked sideways as he examined the alien machine. The solitary minotaur looked like he was itching for an excuse to charge at the mech, and was deterred from that rash course of action by the fact he didn't have his warhammer with him.

“We all know why we're here-”

“Yes, we do. How long did you intend to keep this secret from us, Princess?” Ostvin interrupted, and Celestia barely resisted from rolling her eyes. Haven't changed in the slightest, I see.

“As long as necessary. Because there are beings who would seek to misuse the Executioner's power for their own gains. I did so to make sure it did not cause any trouble until it could return whence it came from.”

“So, it is not made by your ponies?” The deep, rumbling voice of a dragon interjected, and the green-scaled being ponderously moved forward, examining Executioner with a bright yellow eye.

“It is not. It is, in fact, of alien origin.” That caused an excited murmur among others.

“Have you determined where it came from, Princess Celestia?” Sultan Kalnar spoke up, slowly overcoming his nervousness.

“A military force called the Ortalian Clone Legionnaries. They come from a different planet, called Ortalia. The clones and their world are part of much larger alliance of worlds called the Asahi Empire. But I shall let our otherworldy friend explain it all in-depth for you. Believe me, you need to hear it for yourself.”

“Well, if we are to do so, can we meet whoever is in control of this machine?” The hulking brute of a minotaur spoke up, still wary.

“The Executioner is the pilot.” Everyone present blinked in surprise, and Celestia chuckled at their surprise.

“I was just as sceptical, believe me. But, since you're all gathered here to find out more about our friend here, let us take a look inside. Well, those of us that can, that is.” She offered an apologetic smile to the dragon, who shrugged slowly in return.

“I think I can manage. If this machine can hear me, I suppose I can converse with it from out here.” Celestia nodded at that and led others inside the Executioner's interior...

Celestia was honestly surprised. The tour had gone near-flawlessly as she and Luna guided their small group outside two hours later. Executioner itself had been behaving patiently, and was still in a conversation with the dragon representative, their booming voices making the very ground shake.

“It's a shame, really – if it weren't broken, we could know much more about it, no?” Ostvin spoke up.

“Indeed. But it should be done with the repairs in less than two weeks, so that's good to know.” Celestia nodded in agreement, eyeing the mech thoughtfully.

“So, anyways, I'd like to request that it comes to the Empire for some time – I'm sure our scribes would love to take a look at it.” Ostvin smiled a self-assured, ingratiating smile that had the alabaster alicorn's alarms going off. She should have known that he'd try this. And if she'd deny his so-called request, he'd throw a hissy fit – start a war with Equestria, to be exact, and declare her a power-mongerer, which would be painfully hypocritical of him. Thankfully, she wouldn't have to.

“It is not your decision to make, and it isn't mine, either. I believe Executioner One can speak for itself.” Ostvin huffed at that, and then strode over to the front of the mech, raising his voice.

“Executioner! I offer you the choice of travelling with me to the Griffon Empire! Mayhap there is a way to help undo the damage you have taken! I have many skilled craftsmen at disposal!”

It had decided it did not like this Ostvin character – he was slimier that an Asli waterkin covered in the ungodly lovechild of butter, grease and engine oil. But, as we have established earlier, it could not do a damn thing about this and was left to observe the events as they unfolded.

Luckily, someone else interjected, averting a potential disaster.

Gauge swooped down upon the elderly griffon, latching onto his crest before giving it a sharp tug, revealing something quite shocking about him.

Emperor Ostvin was bald as sin.

He was so bald that the sun's reflection from his spotless noggin blinded everyone within a hundred metres. Executioner let out a loud whirr before speaking.

BALD. BAAAAALD. BAAAAAAALD, Executioner repeated ad infinitum, stomping around, blaring its horn loudly. MY EYES. MY EEEYESSS~

Ostvin had frozen on the spot, staring at Executioner in shock.

JOIN THE ARMY, THEY SAID. SEE THE GALAXY, THEY SAID. ALL I SEE IS BALD AND I CAN SEE FOREVER.

Others were still trying to regain their sight, rubbing their eyes in a vain attempt to erase the image of a very bald griffon from their retinas. The minotaur chieftain (who shall remain unnamed because the author is lazy and unimaginative) was crawling around on all fours, bawling and trying to find someone named 'Private Ryan' in his baldness-induced blindness. The solitary zebra (more lazy) was trying to hide under himself. He was less that successful. The light reflected off Ostvin's head had acted as a bug zapper of sorts, meaning Chrysalis was lying on the ground in a twitching, smoking heap, mutttering inanities.

...OUR ENEMY SHOULD BE SO BALD AND SO FOOLISH-

With a monumental whirring noise, the mech leaned closer to Ostvin, cranking its volume up to eleven.

GET OUT OF HERE, STALKER.

The beleaguered griffon's response was weak and pitiful. “I am the Emperor of the Griffon Empire... Y-you don't order me around~”

SHEPAAARRRD.

That seemed to whittle away the last of the griffon's resolve and he scampered away, quickly climbing into his chariot and taking off. It would be a long while until he'd bother Equestria again.

In the end, it had been unanimously decided to leave Executioner One to its own devices and it had been sent back to Ponyville. The mech had obliged the order and went down the side of Mount Canterhorn on top of the avalanche it caused by doing so.

For now, however, Celestia and Luna were burdened with taking care of the rest of their guests, all of whom seemed to be in a state of shock, not to mention everyone else who'd caught sight of Ostvin's baldness. It took a week until everyone affected remembered what vowels were, and another two until they no longer were traumatized by crosswords. Alcohol consumption did, however, rise noticeably during those three weeks.

Author's Note

I was kind of very, very sleepy while writing this, so I hope you can forgive me for ever uploading this.

Also, there'll be some crack shipping inbound. Stay tuned.

P.S. - Sorry for all the OOC

* - [censored]

Chapter 11

Gauge flittered through the hall, zooming from one note sheet to another, scribbling tirelessly onto them – a line of twenty-four 'f' letters below the last section of the music piece, and repeated the motion until every last sheet of tuba players had been... edited this way. Letting out a gleeful chuckle, she zoomed off, towards Royal Castle, making sure to leave no evidence of her presence. Truly, this would be a concert remembered throughout the ages...

Celestia blinked as the small metal bug set down on the bookshelf, then gave Gauge a little wave. Her appreciation of the artificial being had grown once she'd heard of Blueblood's reappearance in Stalliongrad – Gauge had disposed of him during the previous Night Court, and he'd reappeared in Stalliongrad about two hours earlier today, soaked in machine oil, and babbling incoherently. From what she'd learned, he'd insulted Luna. Gauge had taken offense at that, and forcibly removed him from the Night Court.

Now, Celestia looked more favourably upon Gauge – the small machine was essentially safe from any retaliation – not only would any would-be aggressors risk Luna's ire, there was also the matter of a very destructive machine of war that maintained a subtle vigil not so far away in Ponyville. And it was an amusing sight, to see Luna's surrogate daughter zip down the hallways, shouting 'this one can has moon sugar?'

“Hello, Gauge. How are you doing?” Her miniscule conversation partner chirped before speaking.

“Like an Xbox in a room full of PlayStations!”

“Buh?” Well done, Celestia, some eloquent princess you are. “Uh... What does that mean?”

“Iunno.” The curt response drew a chuckle from the alicorn.

“Gauge, you've got the brain of, like, five supercomputers, don't give me 'iunno.'” She mentally patted herself on the back for remembering that little tidbit of lecture from Twilight. “So, what've you been up to, little one?”

“Iunno.”

“Snerk~” Celestia made a noise, shaking with suppressed laughter as she decided to take a break from her paperwork – she was in no condition to do anything else than laugh right now. So she laughed – loudly and carelessly, banishing the burdens and worries from her mind. For a couple of minutes, she was simply a pony named Celestia. Princess Celestia had been put in a time-out for being all work and no fun.

“Rainbow Dash! Where did you- what is that thing you're lounging on?” Rarity exclaimed indignantly, making the snoozing pegasus jolt upwards, nearly falling off the odd, hovering device.

“Gah! Don't scare me like that, Rarity!” Rainbow sat up, yawning. “Oh, this? Borrowed it from the Executioner. Here, look at this.” She tapped a button on a side panel of the device. Letting out what seemed to be an annoyed noise, it thrummed to life as the cyan pegasus on top of it laid down on her back. “It just feels so good on my backrrrrrrnnnnnggg~” The mare let out a content noise as she lay there, leaving Rarity to shake her head disapprovingly.

“This is just an accident waiting to happen...”

Fluttershy tentatively landed on the wide expanse of dully-glittering metal, looking around – she soon spotted the nesting birds that had taken up living in the various crevices of Executioner's hull. The birds chirped, approaching her without fear, recognizing their butter-colored patron.

“Oh, hello, little birdies!” Fluttershy smiled warmly as she pulled off her saddlebags, removing satchels of seeds and two loaves of bread from them. Immediately, the birds flocked around her, chirping eagerly as the pegasus offered them the foodstuffs. As they pecked up the chunks of bread and seeds, Fluttershy looked around, enjoying the view – it was rather quiet on the top of the alien machine, despite the hum of its powerplant, subtle as it was. She could see her cottage from here, too. Looking down, she timidly poked her hoof at the sun-warmed armor plating – at first, she'd been intimidated by the otherwordly mass of metal. Her and the rest of Ponyville, to be fair. She'd been afraid even so much as to look at the mech for fear of upsetting it somehow. But, as days passed, everypony got over their fear, and didn't regard the machine with suspicion or worry. Now and then, a pony or two would head over to it to ask it a question. Most ponies would see it as weird, but, then again, Ponyville was a magnet to all kinds of odd occurrences...

She strode up the winding stairs, her eyes tiredly examining her surroundings – despite the best efforts of the castle staff, there was still dust and cobwebs to be found in the Castle of the Rebel Queen. Before the war it had been a museum. Many years earlier still, it had been the seat of power used by her ancestor, the previous Rebel Queen – Liiyah Tavrian. And now, it was the nerve centre of the Rebellion once more. The power lines had been refurbished, the shield generators were brought up to date, and the once-dormant estate was bustling with activity for the first time in more than five hundred years.

Of course, Lieia knew all of this and more – a distant descendant of Liiyah Tavrian she may be, but she did her research before starting her uprising, curious to find out whether there was anything more to her mother's words...

“My parents did not respond to Thed's proposal well, to put it lightly. A noblewoman marrying a commoner? Unheard of! I imagine Mother and Father had a fit of epic proportions once they found out I'd run off with a simple mechanic from Alatho province...”

Ah, the words leapt to her mind quickly and without hesitation, and brought a smile to her lips. Her moment of happiness did not last long, however – she still hadn't found out what had become of her mother. For a long time she had been fully convinced that she was the last of her family alive. She'd been proven wrong, however – her sister, Cara, had showed up along with the first wave of Asahi reinforcements as they had battled over the colossal Asahi construct, Nexus. Eventually, she'd received news of her father – he'd joined up with the military as well, and, from what she'd read in his latest message, he was proud of her. Those words had meant her more than the praise she received from those under her command. Alas, there was no news of her mother. It would be a trivial effort to devote her resources to finding her, but the cruel and unfortunate truth was simple – those resources could be used to better ends than finding a single person who may or may not be alive.

With a sigh deeper than any gun barrel she'd ever stared down, Lieia Grisova resumed her trek upwards. There was an elevator she could've used, but taking the stairs gave her time to ponder on the various worries that plagued her mind. Eventually, she reached her target – her personal quarters.

The doors opened and closed soundlessly as she walked inside. The sun was about to set, painting the skies of her homeworld in a succulent, lustrous red. The moon, Oramte, peeked above the horizon, a sliver of ice-covered sphere slowly growing in size. Lieia eyed the landscape for a moment before striding over to the wall covered with screens. She rummaged through her pockets for a moment before plucking out several datachips. Humming to herself, she plugged those in. Instantly, the screens lit up and she dragged a chair over, sitting down and typing away on the holographic keyboard that flickered into life on the table surface. Sleep tugged at her mind, beckoning for her to abandon the task, but she ignored it. With a quick mental impulse, her injector implant went off, deploying a small dose of adrenaline in her bloodstream.

There. That should do it. I can't fall asleep now There's just too much at stake. I can't- I mustn't hesitate. I doubt we'll get another chance like this. It's now or never. Denaros and his Loyalist cronies are in for one helluva surprise. Told him Ayra Alexi was a fucking traitor, but he didn't listen. Well, he soon won't be in any position to do anything else but.

Rubbing her eyes briefly, the war-weathered woman was about to resume her task when a photo caught her eye. She hesitantly pulled it closer – the sheet of paper was worn and tattered, held together by bits of tape. It displayed a small group of people, huddled together, smiling broadly at the camera, while the distinctive skyline of Galanthus filled the background.

A phantom ache twinged where her heart once used to be as she gazed at the photo – the squad she'd been in charge of once had dwindled in the years since the Vasari invasion. Faye Dunbar, Jack Wellesley, Drolm Erthal, Hirram Kelthran... All had died for the Coalition. It was funny, really, in an ironic sort of way. Those who'd sworn to follow her during the Rebellion would often seek her out to beg forgiveness for some failed task or another. She didn't have to think twice to forgive. There was always another way to get what the Rebellion needed.

Yet she herself wouldn't hesitate to prostrate herself in front of her dead friends to beg for their forgiveness – they'd been under her command when they'd died, yet she somehow felt that they wouldn't blame her for their deaths – it didn't exactly reassure her.

Goddamn it, I feel like such a fuckup... Come on, Lee! Get a grip on yourself! Do you think they'd want you to mope like this? Fuck no! So quit whining and snap out of it! Billions of lives are riding on this, so you can't afford to screw this up. You may've gone AWOL for a completely different reason, but that doesn't matter now. There are people out there – your people, and they need your guidance. You promised them victory, so go give 'em a victory.

She also may have gone slightly insane. Being a lab rat of the Vasari Flesh Moulders did that to you, and now there was a persistent voice that spoke up on the occasion. Or maybe that was her own subconscious. Who knows.

Hrm.

Grumbling to herself, she finished the encoder scripts. The data would piggyback across every comms array in range, courtesy of the Xalathii dataforgers. The consequences of doing so would be quite something to behold indeed. She'd worked so hard to make this a possibility. All that was left to do was wait.

She leaned back in the chair, letting her tired gaze wander across the vast dome above her. The castle was one of the most ancient buildings on Linv, once housing the largely-forgotten monarch whom Liiyah Tavrian had overthrown. It was a vast structure, with no expense spared during its construction. Everywhere one looked, one would see some expression of art, be it in the stonework, stained glass murals, or paintingssszzzz...

Two days later

“There's so much oil in this pan that USA is going to invade it!” Gauge declared, weaving through the bustling castle kitchen, making the culprit re-examine his hoofwork. Oh, dear, the potatoes were positively drowning in oil. Grumbling, he drained the pan, and started anew.

The Princesses were going to attend a concert at the Canterlot Theatre, and the kitchen staff had to get this order done as soon as possible. The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony would also accompany them, meaning that a banquet would have to be prepared for such esteemed guests once the concert was finished, not to mention the Canterlot nobility who'd also be there – either to suck up to the Princesses, or each other. Either way, this order had to be finished pronto-like.

A couple of hours later, Canterlot Theatre

The place was packed with ponies. All the seats were taken, and their voices rolled around, excited whispers echoing around the hall. The composer was rumoured to be an artist with a quill, and his work had been lauded all around the world, so the anticipation was to be expected.

The guests of honor – the Princesses and the Element Bearers sat comfortably in their reserved alcove. Celestia retained her calm, serene composure. Luna was fussing over Gauge. Rainbow Dash attempted to remain somewhat attentive, and failed utterly at doing so. Fluttershy was, well... shy. Rarity screamed internally as she tested her chair's fabric with a hoof. Pinkie Pie was setting the world record for the widest grin as she waited for the concert to start. Applejack was playing Tic-Tac-Toe with herself. Twilight was glaring at her friends. But, a minute later, the lights dimmed and the stage curtains drew back, immediately making all of the spectators go silent as the orchestra was revealed. A quick, polite applause followed as the composer himself trotted on-stage – and he had the moustache of a stallion who had nothing to lose. Soon as the spectators quieted down, the concert began, and Gauge couldn't help but rub her forelegs together devilishly as the music started.

The composer knew his stuff, that much was certain. A lot of the ponies present were certainly approving of the sounds produced by the orchestra. Soon, the conclusion drew near. Gauge, taking note of this, let out a quiet, gleeful chitter that went unnoticed by others nearby.

The musical piece was drawing to an end. The musicians reached the end of their music notes and-

COLOSSAL FOGHORN NOISE THAT SHAKES THE VERY FOUNDATIONS OF THE WORLD

Immediately, the orchestra came to a screeching halt as the shockwave tore through the viewers, tossing wigs/ horn extensions/ monocles/everything not nailed down into air.

As the noise died down, Rarity stuck her head out of the alcove and shouted irately.

“Why is it so loud?! What is the bucking point? I am so upset! Do you want Saddle Arabia listening to your concert because guess what, that's what you're going to get!” With an indignant huff, she stormed off.

Pinkie Pie was clapping enthusiastically. “Encore! Encore!”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were both curled up in the corner, a thousand-yard stare in their eyes. Twilight was shaking her head furiously in an attempt to rid her hearing of the incessant ringing the COLOSSAL FOGHORN NOISE THAT SHAKES THE VERY FOUNDATIONS OF THE WORLD had caused. Celestia's mane had turned into a giant, tri-color afro, while Luna sported a wobbly mohawk. Both of them were quite unsure as to what just happened, while Gauge was laughing as much her tiny voice module allowed.

One day later
Linv

Tick tock went the clock.

Lieia let out a breath, and took another, her gaze focused solely on the holographic screen. Soon, it would begin. A couple of seconds longer, and she would know whether her meticulous, painstaking preparations over the last few months meant anything.

Another minute passed before the wall-mounted speakers let out a single beep. Cocking an eyebrow, she brought up the notification.

Veltarran Frontier had risen up in arms, rapidly overwhelming the Vasari who'd locked the sector of space down soon after the discovery of Asli.

Beep.

The systems of Farrasin Threshold also had rebelled, against the Advent who lorded over the populace there, and stood ready to join her forces.

Beep. Beep. Beep-beep. Beep.

The messages came in almost constantly now, too frequent for her to read them all right now. But it mattered not. Her gambit had succeeded. With a relieved sigh, she leaned back and brought the galaxy map up – it was updated in real-time, and she could see the factions' boundaries change shape, as more and more of former Trader territory was added to the Rebels' holdings – the Vasari and Advent holdings were shrinking at a truly astounding pace, while the Rebel-controlled space only grew.

“My queen, Lord-General Wersian is trying to contact you. Shall I patch him through?” The voice of her aide broke through her victory high and she smirked.

“Yes, please.”

“At once, my queen.” A couple of seconds passed before the infuriated visage of the Coalition Loyalists appeared on the main screen.

“Grisova! What in the hell have you done?”

Almost casually, she reached over to a nearby bottle of whiskey – ah, Rit'ka-brewed. Nice. Pouring herself some, she downed the shot and gave Denaros the biggest smile of smug self-assurance she could muster without breaking into laughter.

“More than you and your Loyalist cowards have done, that's for sure.”

“You dare!?” He sputtered in impotent anger as Lieia poured herself another shot.

“Damn right I dare. Well, for starters, I am the Rebel Queen. And I'm a queen that bows to no one. So take your complaints someplace else, because I'm done playing nice. I'll give you one standard galactic day to surrender to my forces.”

Denaros could feel an aneurysm coming on by now.

“Oh, that reminds me. If you're still not doubting Ayra Alexi's allegiance, you're about to receive a special packet. Should be there right about... now.”

Denaros turned to look at the opening doors where a guard approached, carrying what was definitely a Vasari device – and those were a nightmare to duplicate. Fakes were pretty much impossible to create, too. The nanotech was a tad too complicated for that. Frowning to himself, he activated it and played the video files on it, and a couple of minutes later, he was well and truly speechless – the cocky woman was right. Goddamnit, she had been right all along!

“Hey, Denaros.”

He looked at the screen where a very self-assured Lieia grinned at him.

“One day.”

She cut the connection without giving him a chance to respond. Leaning back in her chair, she chuckled to herself.

Man, that felt good.

Chapter 13

The view outside the windows was, as always, grand – the setting sun was sinking behind the planet’s curvature as Lieia slowly sunk into her chair. The flotilla was assembled and fully stocked, and whatever repairs Deliverance still needed could be carried out on the go. Her subordinates had their orders to carry out while she was away on a ‘personal tour of the borders’, as it were. As for getting the flotilla to their far-off destination, well… she had to fall asleep first. At least that’d be easy – she’d warded off sleep through liberal abuse of coffee and stimulants for the better part of this week.
…
The sounds of partying reached her ears as she looked around – the Alathari mountain range stood far in the distance to her left. A small collection of vehicles both wheeled and flying were parked near the old house where she’d lived for the best part of twenty years.

“A pleasant memory, is it not?” Lieia turned around, seeing Nell-Tiray walk up to her – the Asahi was lacking her wings and was wearing normal clothes, her eyes no longer glowed, but she retained the same wry smile. “In dark and testing times, we hold onto that which is dear to us. And this will keep our correspondence a secret. I hate to skulk in the shadows like this, but Denaros’s inactivity is… irritating, and my kin still have not decided on what they wish to do. But I have a debt to you, one that I intend to repay.” The Asahi tugged on the hem of her shirt before speaking again. “So, where exactly do you wish me to take you to?”

“Kaylsto’s Abyss. One of the Executioners ended up there somehow and I need a quick way to get there. It sounds far-fetched, but apparently there are space ponies who found it on their planet.” Nell-Tiray blinked for a moment.

“Well, I’ve heard of weirder things. But I appreciate your efforts to recover the mech nonetheless.”

“Well, it’s the least I could do, considering how much you and Alikera have helped me all this time. I do wish she was more subtle about it.”

“So says the woman who causes explosions at every possible moment!” The Asahi in question rounded the corner, holding a slice of cake in her left hand, donning a plain, simple-cut dress. “I can be plenty subtle, thank you very much. I merely prefer a show of strength before anything else, like a true warrior.” Lieia snorted at that, a smile tugging at her lips.

“Riiight. How’s that guy doing, anyway? Y’know, the one whom you mentally traumatized by doing the monster mash with?”

“He pitched the question to me to begin with. It’s not like you can blame me for accepting – I have my needs, after all.” The red-haired Asahi took a bite from the cake. “Wearing this mask of perpetual composure and serenity tends to wear one out, and I’ll gladly take any chance to let my hair down, as it were.” She smiled for a moment before continuing. “So, 'space ponies', hmm?”

“Myeah. Thought I'd finally gone off the deep end once I saw that recording. But, I'd very much like to have that Executioner back, so, y'know. Besides, if I have to sit through another 'Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting' marathon across fleetwide speakers, I might just go full-on crackers.”

Alikera let out an amused titter at that before sobering up. “Well, I'll do whatever I can to maintain your territories' stability during your absence.” With that, the Asahi resumed stuffing her face with cake, strutting merrily around the corner.

“Sometimes it feels like I'm the only mature person in the Empire, truly.” Nell-Tiray sighed, letting out a tired chuckle. Lieia nodded, walking off towards the garage with the Asahi in tow.

“I can relate to that. It's like a goddamn kindergarten, except everyone has guns and warships.” The tall blonde opened the door, flipping the light switch as she went in – the lightbulbs flickered into life, illuminating the vintage muscle car occupying most of the space – the 2969 Selvar Thundercharge, painted in a dark, luscious red, accented with streaks of white and chromed tidbits. With a sigh, she leant against the side of the vehicle. “Before this uprising we organized, the Rebellion was kept together by the skin of our teeth. I've since long lost count of how many sleepless nights I spent, trying to figure out how to keep us in the game.”

Nell-Tiray looked around the garage, giving Lieia a sympathetic glance – she'd risen from being a simple soldier to the position few could ever hope to achieve. “I cannot exactly predict the future, but I am certain this war will not last much longer. I know you have the resilience to fight to the end – your actions most definitely are a testament to your willpower. You've only got to keep doing this just a little longer.” The Asahi's eyes glanced back out the door – a gesture Lieia noticed.

“I'll be fine. Run along, there might still be some cake left, if Alikera hasn't scarfed all of it down.”

“And here I thought I was being subtle.”

“Pardon me for saying so, Nell-Tiray, but you're not much of a liar.”

“True. I've never taken much joy at lying. But what I tell now is the utter truth. This bloodshed and division are going to come to an end soon.” The Asahi smiled warmly and stepped out of the garage, leaving the woman alone with her thoughts. Humming softly, Lieia looked down at her arms, sans the myriad scars that she'd accumulated.

Just a little longer...

“I resent what you said – about me possessing some sort of a singularity in my stomach. You humans have some interesting cuisine, that's all.” Alikera interjected, from the roof of the Thundercharge. “She's got her head on right, however. I can feel it, too – this war's not going to keep going on for much longer.” Lieia stared at the red-haired alien flatly, before giving a lopsided smile.

“I'll take your word for it.” Alikera grinned cheekily down at her.

“You do that, o' mighty Queen. Also, tell Celestia I said hi.”

“Yeah, sure. Wait, wh-”
…
Lieia yawned widely as she stretched out, her limbs popping from the movement – she felt better than she'd felt in a long while. Blinking sleepily, she stood up, turning to look outside the window – a collection of scout vessels were crowding around an Ortalian Voidhammer in the distance.

“Well, shit on a shingle. That was quick.” She muttered out to herself, mentally preparing herself for the day.

No rest for the weary, wicked, and the clinically insane, indeed.

Celestia sighed wearily as she trudged up the grand staircase leading to her personal quarters – she'd spent the better part of three hours explaining the impending arrival of the Rebel forces. It would be ill-advised to simply think that the situation would fix itself. Her doubts bugged her constantly, haunting her with images of Equestria on fire as Rebels tore their kingdom apart. Far as she was concerned, the only thing worse than a diplomatic incident with the Rebels would be if the Rebel Queen showed up wearing a maid's suit, calling Celestia 'mistress' in a submissive manner.

Oh, and now she really wished she could unthink that particular sentence. Great. Grumbling to herself, she cursed whatever higher powers had condemned her so and resumed walking.

The exquisitively-carved doors closed shut with a quiet click as Celestia practically threw herself at her bed, landing in it with a thump.

MECK

Her head darting upright a la alerted meerkat, Celestia bounced on the bed for a moment.

Meck~

Bounce.

MECK

The alicorn's horn lit up, and she dragged out a squeaky toy from beneath her mattress. Sighing, she tossed it aside – meck – and flopped back down on the bed, falling asleep in record time.
…
“AAAAAAH! WAKE UP, MISTREEEEESSS! WAKE UP AND HAVE BREAKFAAAAST! YOU NO GO TO WORK WITHOUT TEA, MISTREEEEESSS!”

...okay, in hindsight, that hypothetical Rebel Queen in a maid's get-up didn't sound so bad after all.

It had been six days since Executioner had received the message. Six tense days as Equestria waited with a bated breath for the aliens to arrive. Tensions were running high, and not-entirely baseless rumors spread around, concerning the Rebel soldiers – a good percentage of them were former pirates, convicts, mercenaries and criminals, lured in by the Rebel Queen's promises of full pardons once the war was over, and her regime could be described as an iron fist wearing a velvet glove, considering she had to enact some rather draconian measures to maintain order among her worlds. All of this and more had been written on scrolls and mailed all across Equestria to prepare the population for the Rebels' inevitable arrival.

It was very impatient at this point. The mainframe repairs were almost finished, with odds and ends left to catch up to. The only problem was that there were a lot of odds and ends to patch up – as the repairs progressed, improvements could be made, which required the self-improving software to make adjustments as required. With a bit of luck, the mainframe now could take a bit more punishment in the future before throwing in the proverbial towel.

It was jolted from its musings as a burst of data flooded its senses and it 'gasped', refusing to believe its sensors – the repairs had reached the point where it could retake control of its chassis! Databanks separated from the mainframe winked into life, bringing a wealth of information to it.

Khanartho. Its... His name was Khanartho.

With a sonorous blare, the monumental machine began to stride towards Ponyville.

Twilight grumbled to herself irately as she dropped the dataslate, prompting Spike to look up – the lavender unicorn was muttering something to the effect of 'Flappy Bird is the spawn of Discord.' A minute later, as she returned to her study with a cup of freshly-made tea, she heard somepony knock on the door. Spike could be heard as he went to answer the visitor, muttering something she completely failed to understand – the mysterious visitor was allowed inside and moments later, she heard a voice that made her heard skip a beat.

“We need to talk, Twilight Sparkle.” Though lacking its normal booming deadpan timbre, she recognized the Executioner's tone instantly.

Thus, she did what every other gone-batty librarian would do in a similar situation.

She whirled around, tossing the cup of scalding-hot tea into the alien's face.

“Am I to assume that throwing beverages into others' faces is a custom of your people that I do not know of?”

“Nerr nerr nerr nerr NERRR MNEH MNEH MNEH MNEH~” That was all the unicorn had cerebral capability for before her stack overflowed, fell down and went boom.

Khanartho looked at the unconscious pony before turning his attention to Spike. “How often does she do that, if you don't mind me asking?”

The drake stared at Twilight for a moment. “Far more frequently than I'm comfortable admitting to, dude.”

“I suppose we can wait until she regains consciousness, 'dude.'” The Xalathii let out a low chuckle. “If you wanted to, I could tell you an abridged history of my kind.” The prospect seemed to cheer the adolescent dragon up.

“That'd be pretty awesome!” Spike grinned, leading the bipedal construct over to the coach, both of them sitting down, the dragon's face alight with anticipation as Khanartho began to speak.

“Our history stretches almost twenty-four thousand years into past, when the first Xalathii gained their sentience. We were simple, crude creations back then, made by hands unknown. The world we inhabited was hostile to organic life, a cracked and barren lump of rock cast adrift in the middle of a nebula in its infancy – a clear indication that the star our homeworld orbited had died, erupting into a supernova, killing anything living in its way.”
Khanartho hummed for a moment as he let the words sink into Spike's mind. “We had no recollection of anything before emerging from numerous underground bunkers, our crude chassis struggling to deal with heavy radiation that permeated the planet. A prolonged stay there was out of question. We salvaged what we could, and left our dead homeworld behind, casting ourselves into the interstellar void aboard primitive rocket-powered vessels. Fuel and ore were our only needs as we travelled. Almost two millennia after our departure, we came across an Imperial patrol. The Asahi welcomed us among their people, and gave us permission to settle in their territories. There, we grew and evolved – peace and prosperity was what we experienced as we did our part to strengthen the Empire, helping with developing new technologies. It was everything our kind could ask for."

“But what about your homeworld? Didn't you miss it, despite everything?”

“An astute observation. We did long for it, and eventually returned with a fleet. Now, we were able to trod upon the dead planet's surface without fear of malfunction from radiation, and recovered what we had missed before our exodus. What we deciphered only brought more questions to us.”

“Really?”

“Indeed. The newly-acquired data spawned new questions on our origins – it was no longer clear whether we were simply creations of our predecessors, or simply a means for them to avoid the supernova. That topic is one of the few that the Xalathii cannot reach a consensus upon.” Spike nodded slowly at that, seeming to be deep in thought.

“So, uh, how do you make more of you? Do you just use an assembly line?” The sentence made the alien chuckle for a couple of moments.

“Not quite. It always takes two Xalathii to create another one – a union of their personal code takes place, which is also a sign of complete trust as data is shared and combined, the compilation of these random code snippets eventually gaining a mind of its own. Lo and behold, a new Xalathii has arrived in this world.”

“So, it's kind of like a couple and everything that a romantic relationship entails?”

“Hmm. Yes, that is an adequate analogy. You have a keen mind, young one.”

“Yeah, well, if you're living with Twilight, you can't help but learn some things.”

“Like throwing tea in others' faces?”

“It's just wet leaf water. I prefer coffee myself.”

At that, the unconscious unicorn mumbled out something to the effect of 'heresy.'

“...we should get her to somewhere more comfortable.” Spike piped up.

“Agreed.”

Omake The Third - Alot of omakes

It all had begun, Celestia thought to herself, with something insignificant - one of the Royal Guards had spelled a word incorrectly. But that was all it took. One wrong word was the beginning of a pandemonium on a massive scale.

Earlier

"...so I said, 'That's alot-"

plorf

All of a sudden, the guard in question was sitting astride a big, shaggy beast - a single short, stubby fang was protruding from its lower jaw, a pair of short horns adorned its head, its gaze quite vacant.

Deathly silence ensued as everypony present in the barracks stared at the guard and his mount. Warily, one stallion spoke up.

"Uh... how does saying 'that's alot' make th-"

plorf

The second guard found himself atop a similar beast. Silence ensued again. Until somepony else spoke up, that is.

"Alot."

plorf

The mare who'd spoken blinked, mildly dazed as she surveyed the mess hall from her new vantage point.

"Alot."

plorf

Yet another pony was astride a shaggy mount of his.

"Alot." plorf
"Alot." plorf
"Alot." plorf

Encouraged by the animals' overall lack of hostility, or lack of any reactions whatsoever, other guards repeated the word, more and more of the furry creatures popping into existence. Soon, there was a considerable lack of space in the mess hall, and they filed outside, the beasts obedient, if a little dim. The news were spread, and the word echoed in the halls of the Canterlot Castle, spoken by all but a few of the guards, who unitedly agreed the rest of their comrades had gone insane.

Celestia hummed to herself as she cantered down the hallway at a leisurely pace, her body warmed in the rays of the morning sun. Another day was beginning, and she was confident and ready, looking forwards to dealing with the Day Court for a change.

And then she was bowled over by something big and soft that sent her cartwheeling.

"Sorry for that, Princess~!" A guard shouted apologetically at her, clinging to the beast's back as the odd duo disappeared around a corner, soon followed by an entire dozen of the things, thumping along, following the first guard's path. The alabaster alicorn stared dumbly before resolutely standing back up.

No. This day was going to be perfect. She would show the nobles what-for when they came to brown-nose. And if they didn't like it, meritocracy awaited. She was going to an independent black mare who don't need no stallion!

Wait, what?

The diarch's smile faltered for a moment once she saw the two guards stationed outside the throne room doors - both were sitting astride a shaggy mount. Upon seeing her, they pulled the doors open. Nodding faintly to the two, she strode in, unnerved by the animals' unfocused eyes. It was just so friggin' creepy.

Refocusing on the task ahead, she continued towards her throne, but nearly ground to a halt upon seeing that the guards watching over the spacious room were also astride the very same animals, each and every one of them. Sighing determinedly, she sat down upon her throne, smiling at her assistant, Ink Well. The mare was in a chipper mood as she passed a small stack of papers to the alicorn.

"Here's that today's list of visitors, Princess."

"The usual mix of fetlock-biters, I presume?"

"Snerk. Exactly, Princess, though some of the requests on the list seem reasonable, so it may not be all headache today."

The alicorn stared at the mounted guards for a moment before sighing. "Here's hoping."

Celestia trudged wearily into her bedroom, her willpower utterly drained from the day's events.

Whenever the throne room's doors were opened to let the petitioner in, a horde of the shaggy beasts would lumber past with their riders atop them, throwing pastries at each other. As she later found out, Canterlotians had also began to utter the word, and Equestria's capital soon was positively bursting with the godsdamned things, with the creatures and their riders stampeding all across the city. They'd been named Alots, referring to the word used to summon the creatures. And now, Canterlot was falling apart at the seams as order gave way to anarchy.

Exasperated, she grumbled to herself. "How does even that work? What sort of a spell uses 'alot' as its key ph-oh, for the love of-"

plorf

Chapter 14

Over the years as a soldier, Lieia had discovered many new smells – there were those that she eventually grew fond of, like gun grease or burnt cordite and gunpowder. And then there were those that made her stomach churn or ignited a single-minded rage within her mind – burnt blood and flesh, or the nostril-clogging stench of corpses discovered aboard Vasari slave haulers.

And now, she could add the stench of acid-dissolved skin to that list. She could've blocked it out with her implants, but the smell helped keep her fury focused at the manacled, kneeling terrorists in front of her as she paced to and fro.

This was the last goddamned straw. Aegis had been bothering her for far too long. She was going to kill every last one of the bastards, starting with these...

“You know, I thought you'd learn to take a fucking hint, especially after the last time I kicked your fucking faces in. Apparently, that is not the case. You idiots still think you've got a chance at being in control of anything, and I'll disabuse your leaders of that notion as many times as necessary, with any measures I deem necessary.” As she turned around, she noticed one of the terrorists was eyeing the floor, his shoulders shaking subtly. “Hey, you. Look at me when I'm talking to you shitbags.” When he remained stationary, she spoke louder, her temper rising. “Hey! You had the balls to sneak aboard my flagship, the least you can do is pay some goddamn attention!” By now, she was all but yelling – nonetheless, the Aegis soldier refused to meet the livid woman's eyes, which infuriated her even more. “HEY! LOOK ME IN THE EYES WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU, YOU TERRORIST FUCK!”

The guards surrounding the captives remained unmoved by the Rebel Queen's anger – she'd picked out a group of soldiers who'd lost someone important to them in this attack for a reason. They'd hardly object to her methods, considering. The object of the Queen's ire finally raised his head, tears leaking from his eyes as he stared at the woman pleadingly. “P-please... I have a f-family...”

Lieia laughed, but it was a cruel, merciless sound. “Oh, that's just cute... You really think I give a shit?” She fluidly unholstered the heavy revolver from her hip. Before anyone could say anything, she squeezed the trigger. The unfortunate man's head snapped back as he fell on his back, a two inch hole in his forehead. “Try harder next time. Oh, that's right. You won't get the chance to do so, 'cause you're, you know, dead.”

“You're a complete psychopath!” Another prisoner spoke up, a young woman in her twenties. “You're completely drunk on power, trampling over those who won't bow to your dictatorship! You're just another bully, pick-”BANG

“Riiight, 'cause being a xenophobic terrorist is so much better, abducting those who speak out against whenever evidence of your illegal experiments shows up. And, you bastards still haven't given up on trying to break up the alliance between humans and the Empire. You have no right to speak.” Humming to herself, she stuck the revolver back in its holster, turning to address the guards. “Do what you want with 'em. We'll be jumping again soon, so make it quick.” She received several nods in return. Hatefully eyeing the Aegis personnel for a moment, Lieia turned around, walking towards the elevator.

She had a pony princess to meet, and no one was going to stop her from accomplishing this goal.

“HUZZAH, THE LEWDNESS HAS BEEN DOUBLED, MISTRESS!”

What.

“WHAT DOST THOU WISH FOR THINE BREAKFAST, DEAR MISTRESS?”

Oh god, now she really wanted that hypothetical Rebel Queen in a maid's get-up.

“Once again, I sincerely apologise for the mech's behaviour – the subroutines are of Ortalian make, and thus, overly aggressive. It was something that the designers butted heads over for a long time. Nonetheless, it was never my intention to cause any sort of trouble. With the mainframe being in the state it was, however, there was little I could do except observe.” Khanartho intoned apologetically to the alabaster alicorn – she'd been rather surprised when he'd arrived in the Executioner, seeking an audience with her, but had quickly recovered. As it turned out, the Xalathii was quite a pleasure to talk to, his manner akin to that of a well-travelled scholar.

“Oh, it's quite alright. I overreacted, too. Attacking something that you've never seen before is not entirely wise.”

“True enough. Now, I do believe there is the matter of the Rebels' impending arrival.”

Celestia's face clouded for a moment. She opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted as she heard knocking on the door to her study. Her horn lit up and she opened it. “Come in!” A panting guard stumbled inside, bent over as he tried to regain his breath.

“We've... got guests... Princess..!” The exhausted stallion wheezed out before collapsing.

Celestia blinked, then looked at Khanartho, who shrugged. Humming, she turned to address the guard. “And who might these guests be?”

“It's those *huff* Rebel soldiers you told everypony about, Princess. They're waiting down in the *gasp* atrium...”

Immediately, the light-hearted mood of her banter with the Xalathii disappeared, replaced with mild (read:nerve-wrecking) worry. “Already?”

“Y-yes, Princess. They're asking to see you.”

She looked at Khanartho, as if seeking guidance.

“You need not worry, Princess Celestia. I doubt they will try to attempt something of a dishonourable sort – besides, I shall be there to aid you, should any trouble arise.” To further reinforce his point, the Xalathii stood up, moving to the alicorn's side. “I am certain we can avoid any misunderstandings this way. Shall we?”

Celestia heaved a sigh before straightening herself out. “Well, I guess there's nothing to it.” With that, she slowly cantered out, her horn flashing as she sent a message to Luna – the nocturnal alicorn would be asleep at this time of the day, naturally, but the telepathic message would rouse her immediately.

As expected, Luna flashed into existence a minute later when Celestia was trotting down another hallway. Gauge was perched in Luna's incredibly messy mane, her eyes were sleepy and half-open, and the alicorn was yawning so widely Celestia feared her sibling's jaw might fall off. Gauge chirped before waving at Celestia cheerily, her voice chipper as ever.

“1123,6536,5321.”

Celestia cocked an eye at Gauge, who had now taken to circling Luna. “Huh?”

“We're mostly here!” Gauge tapped Luna's head. “Engines,” Luna's chest was poked twice. “Life support,” Gauge zoomed over to Luna's muzzle, poking it as well. “There's red lights through her lateral structural members.” Now, the metal bug jumped up and down on her adoptive mother's back, coaxing out a disgruntled grunt(the fuck kinda phrase is that, brain) from the mare. “She's broken her back. She'll never jump again.”

“What? But she's walking just fine. You know what? Never mind. Trying to understand your empirical way of thinking is an assured means to a free migraine, Gauge.” Celestia sighed before poking her sister in the side. “Luna?”

“Nyurrgh.”

“Luna, did you even listen to the message I sent you?”

“Myergh. No, no I did not... You know full well I'm not at my best when roused from sleep...” The alicorn yawned again. “Well, whatever is so important that you must wake me up at this time?”

“Well, er, we have guests.”

“Guests?”

“Yes. Specifically, the Rebel soldiers who might or might not be hostile towards us so I really need you to make yourself presentable so as to leave a better first impression.”

That did the trick. Immediately, Luna glanced at her sister. “Are they here to take Gauge away?”

“Luna, I imagine they have bigger concerns than that little demon of yours.” Celestia grumbled.

“She is not a demon! She is the greatest daughter ever! Aren't you, Gauge?” Gauge chirped, landing on Luna's muzzle.

“If only there was someone out there who'd bail you out.”

“Huh?” Celestia knew she was already toying with the mother of all migraines, but her curiosity got the best of her nonetheless.

“I CAN BREAK DEES CUFFS! I CANNOT BREAK DEES CUFFS.” Gauge took to air. “AUUUUUGOUGH~” Whirring, the metal bug flew off ahead, still shouting at the top of her non-existent lungs.

Luna chuckled to herself, then froze as she spotted Khanartho, the Xalathii just having entered her field of vision. “Oh... And you are?”

“My name is Khanartho, though you know me as Executioner One.” The alien nodded to her in greeting. “The mainframe repairs of the mech have been finally completed, giving me full access to its controls.”

“That's good to know, then. Alright – what about these guests?”

“One of the guards notified me of their presence minutes ago – said they're in the atrium.”

“Then to the atrium we go, sister.”

Luna had managed to tidy herself up by the time the two alicorns arrived at the atrium with their alien companion. Already anxious, Celestia expected to see the place soaked in blood as she pushed the door open tentatively. When she saw nothing out of the ordinary, she slowly trotted inside, Luna and Khanartho in tow. Almost immediately, her gaze was drawn to the small group of armor-clad bipeds standing a ways off. Upon seeing her, one of them walked over to her, removing its helmet – Celestia appreciated the gesture, preferring to talk face to face.

“Princess Celestia?” The man approaching her spoke levelly, a neutral expression on his face.

“That is me. Allow me to welcome you to Canterlot. May I know your name?”

“Captain Jack Harkness of the 43rd Drop Rangers of Rebel Navy. Pleased to meet you ma'am. Now, we're somewhat pressed for time, so let's get on with the business – our Queen requests your presence aboard her flagship.”

Celestia blinked in surprise. “Er... Come again?”

“The Queen wants to meet you in person, Princess.” Harkness repeated, keeping his calm, measured demeanour. Luna and Khanartho both remained silent as Celestia mulled over this 'request' – it was definitely a bold move by the Rebel leader. Still, she was inclined to acquiesce – the alicorn was eager to see the woman for herself, to find out whether the legend of the Rebel Queen was all it made her out to be.

“Very well. Allow me to make some arrangements before leaving.”

“We'll be waiting over here 'til then.” Harkness nodded, striding back towards his group. As he did so, Celestia noticed three words scribbled on the back of his armor.

ANYTHING THAT MOVES

Huh?

Khanartho had excused himself a minute earlier, leaving the two alicorns staring, slackjawed, at the ungainly-looking craft squatting in the caste courtyard, surrounded by various ponies from the castle staff. The Rebel soldiers guarding it glared at whoever stepped too close – the servants and maids were more compliant with the unspoken order to keep away. The guards... less so, glaring challengingly at the alien soldiers.

“That is quite enough, now. They are not here to cause any trouble.” Celestia interjected then, somewhat easing the tension. The Royal Guards nodded, albeit reluctantly.

“You know, I think it's a safe bet that Twilight and her friends will be ill at ease to let you depart on your own. Perhaps it would be prudent to take them along, too, if only to ease their worries.” Luna whispered into the elder alicorn's ear.

“That does make sense, I suppose. I'll have to ask the Captain to make a quick stop at Ponyville.” With that, the two alicorns cautiously stepped aboard the flier's ramp, smiling reassuringly to the ponies gathering outside – Celestia had made precautions in the days before, hopefully accounting for every contingency. With a bit of luck, Equestria wouldn't sink into a complete anarchy when she returned. Humming, she trotted over to Harkness, who turned to look at her. “Excuse me, captain, but would it be possible to make a quick detour before we leave?”

“Depends. What for?”

“Well, if the Queen is meeting me, she might as well meet my sister and our country's national heroes, too. You know, a show of goodwill and all that.”

Harkness pondered on that for a couple of moments before answering. “Sure, but we'll be keeping an eye on you lot. Nothing personal, just following orders.”

“That is perfectly understandable, captain.” Celestia sat down.

“Nice to know we're going to get along. Though I do advise you to stay clear of the waterkin. They've got-”

“Psychoactive saliva, yes. I've done my homework, Captain.” Celestia allowed herself a small, smug smile, which lasted for a brief moment before she jumped in shock as the dropship's engines roared into life. The ramp slid shut, sealing the flier's cargo bay from the rest of the world.

“...I'm not afraid of heights, it's just that I'd rather do the flying on my own.” A green-faced Rainbow Dash retorted as she fought her lunch back down.

“Well, that is not an option this time, miss.” The pilot replied. “Oh, if you'll take a look through the port window, you'll see something that I imagine you will be impressed by.”

Curious, the eight ponies and a baby dragon shuffled over to the window – as the flier ascended, they saw a great, oblong shadow take shape behind a collection of clouds. A moment later, their jaws dropped as the gargantuan shape of a starship slowly broke through the clouds mere hundreds of metres away – Celestia eyed the vessel for a moment, recalling its classification from the Executioner's database as a Sova-class carrier, its main strength lying in the squadrons of strike craft it carried and the heavy pulse laser cannon broadsides it could unleash. Even at this distance, they could see the bold letters on its flank - VANQUISHER

“Mother of Celestia...” Rainbow Dash muttered in disbelief, then glanced at the alabaster alicorn apologetically. “Heh, heh, no offence.”

Celestia was kind of busy staring at the warship coming to a halt in Equestria's skies, thus failing to hear this blasphemy of all blasphemies.

As the dropship ascended, the skies grew darker, the craft's engine thrumming steadily. The Rebel soldiers present were silence incarnate, whereas the Elements themselves were chatting among themselves in an attempt to dispel the tension. Luna and Spike were practically glued to the viewports, gazing outside. Celestia, however, was sitting by herself, her mind frantically running over the upcoming meeting – she'd said to Harkness she'd done her homework, as it were, which was certainly true when it came to the goings-on in Coalition space.

She was less confident in her knowledge about Lieia Grisova, however. She'd read just about every scrap of information from Executioner that it had on the woman, yet was no closer to a conclusion by doing so. Barely thirty years old and she held the single highest individual kill count in Coalition, yet also responsible for several key victories. Many regarded her as a hero to be lauded, others called her a murderous maniac to be court-martialed. Simply put, she would need to meet the woman herself in order to determine what sort of mess she'd gotten herself into this time.

Her train of thought was disrupted as she saw Spike leap past, floating briefly mid-air.

“You might wanna strap in, folks. The fleet's in low orbit, so while we get there, we're going to experience reduced gravity.” Deciding to heed the pilot's warning, the ponies clumsily secured themselves to the vacant seats. Luna had the misfortune of being sat at the side of an Asli waterkin clad in light armour – the alien gave her a coy sideglance, and was damn subtle at it, too. Luna instantly blushed, determinedly staring at the dropship's roof. A moment later, however, she bolted from her seat, the restraints snapping as she whirled around, glaring at the Asli's retreating tail.

“Enough of that! I will not be belittled by the likes of you!”

The waterkin let out a titter, giving Luna an innocent look. “Nia'ri ol'maral, kael-thi. Nia'siliar tas-ul, allae?”

“Enough of that, Nara.” Harkness spoke up, his expression stuck between annoyed and amused. “Please don't rile our passengers up.”

“I am sorry, Captain. I could not resist.” Nara responded, pouting like a little girl(read:devil himself), which prompted Harkness to shake his head resignedly.

“Waterkin...”

“And here we are, folks – there's our flagship. Deliverance.”

Celestia thought she'd seen big things when she first witnessed Executioner trudge towards Ponyville. And mere hour ago, she'd seen one of the humans' capital ships descend into Equestria's atmosphere.

But the Ragnarov Titan was simply massive, the biggest of vessels among the flotilla of roughly two dozen warships. As they drew closer, Celestia could see various cruisers and frigates in all shapes and sizes.

“Quite a sight, ain't she? The Queen stole her from right under the Loyalists' noses with the help of a bunch of freighters and mercenaries. No one really knows how much credits and materials were sunk into building this Titan, so you can imagine it was quite the blow to the Loyalists' pride.” Harkness spoke up, seemingly appearing at Celestia's side. “So, excited to meet the Queen, then?”

“Nervous, more like.” Celestia admitted, giving a weak smile.

“It probably won't be as bad as you think it'll be. Just don't try to lie to her, sound belittling, or interrupt her while she's talking. The Queen's quick to anger and slow to forgive, and is one helluva grudgeholder. But those that earn her trust, well... she'll walk through hell and back for them.”

“Thanks for the advice, Captain. I can only hope it goes down as well as you think it will.”

“You're probably overthinking this a bit too much, Princess. What's the worst that can happen, anyways?”

Fluttershy and others winced, their ears folding back as a pair of interceptors soared past above them, the fliers' engines wailing, managing to echo even in the vast cavern that was the Deliverance's hangar bay. The two strike craft were followed by another one, its thudding rumble adding to the overall sense of chaotic order as the smaller ships of the flotilla docked and undocked within the hangar bay. With some sense of trepidation, Celestia disembarked first, followed by the rest of the transport's passengers.

Rarity, however, hesitated at the grimy floor panels of the warship, grimacing at the dirtiness of it all. Rainbow Dash noticed this, grinning at the unicorn. “C'mon, Rare, a bit of dirt ain't gonna hurt ya!”

“B-but this place is so filthy! How can anypony work here, let alone live?” She was about to protest further when a purple glow enveloped her as Twilight levitated the unicorn out of the dropship's interior. “Gah! Twilight! Let me go!” She blinked as she saw the less-than-spotless flooring beneath her, and started flailing her limbs. “Wait! Don't let me go!” She curled up on herself in an attempt to distance herself further from the floor.

Resigned to the fact that she was going to have to carry her friend for at least some distance, Twilight fell in line with others, trailing after Harkness. Though many a nearby soldier looked at them curiously and with suspicion, their escorts smoothed over any possible misunderstandings, and the group was able to proceed without difficulty.

“There we are, ladies and gentleman.” Harkness spoke as the sizeable group came to a halt in the tram station. “The tram will be here soon, and it'll take you right to the Queen's quarters.”

“Oh, you aren't coming with us?” Luna spoke up.

“Sorry, but I've my hands full as it is, miss.” The man shrugged apologetically. “But I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. The Queen's not unreasonable, probably just as curious as the rest of us. I imagine a lot of the crew will be cashing in money from bets – quite a few of them thought that she'd gone off her rocker for real this time when she told us about the so-called 'space ponies', so you can imagine the surprise the naysayers got when we arrived in a solar system that defies the laws of physics. But I'm getting off-topic. The tram'll be here soon, just get on and it'll take you straight to the Queen's quarters.” And with that, the man bid them farewell, leaving the eight mares and baby dragon to their devices as they waited pensively for the tram to arrive.

Luckily – or unluckily, depending on one's point of view – the tram arrived in a couple of minutes. The doors hissed open, permitting them access to the transport. Slowly, they shuffled inside, sitting down as they noticed that there were two other passengers already inside – an Asli and a human woman. Upon seeing the ponies, the two blinked in surprise. A moment passed before the human bumped her companion's shoulder, grinning smugly.

“Time to pay up, Laera.”

Grumbling, the Asli passed a small plastic square – Celestia recognised it as a credit chip - to the woman. “You are the worst wife ever, Liz...”

“I do recall you being Miss Smug McSmuggy, prattling on about how the Queen was leading us on a wild goose chase. Next thing we know, Nell-Tiray's tossed us halfway across the galaxy. One would think that sort of an act would give credence to our leader's claim.”

“Blergh.” The Asli stuck her tongue out at the woman before waving at the ponies. “Kylieh'e!”

The gears in Twilight's mind clicked and she waved back. “Hello to you too!”

“Oh, you know the language of my kin? That is welcome, if a little unexpected.”

“The Executioner was forthcoming with information about all the different kinds of aliens out there, and I really like to learn new things!” Twilight replied earnestly.

Liz looked at Laera meaningfully – more credits swapped hands. “And you thought that the mech started any trouble with the space ponies.” Celestia chuckled nervously at that.

“Funny story, that. Executioner One and I came to blows when I first saw it. A bit of a misunderstanding on my part regarding my perception of its intentions.”

Immediately, Laera snatched the credit chip back. “Hahaah~”

“So, are you visiting her as well?” Twilight spoke up, making Liz chuckle.

“Were we so lucky. Nah, we're getting off a couple of stops ahead. You and your friends, however, go to the end of the line. It won't take too long – I know that Deliverance is kinda big, but the tram system is fast.”

“I'll take your word for it, then.”

The tram trip took a little over ten minutes in total – during that time, the Equestrians shared the tram with an Ortalian legionnaire, whose bulk took up one third of space, a trio of Rit'ka, whose incessant buzzing all but drove Rarity up the wall, and lastly, a small family of Asli and humans, whose offspring swarmed the mares the very moment they saw them. When the family left the tram, everypony from Celestia to Applejack were left with their manes tousled, a stare in their eyes that spoke of the horrors of Tartarus itself. Luckily, it was nothing a bit of mane-styling magic by Rarity couldn't fix.

The hallway seemed to stretch on forever as they slowly trotted onwards. At the end, a pair of guards were standing on both sides of a door – it seemed to have endured a lot of wear and tear. Scratch that, the entire hallway was marked with what seemed to be faded marks of gunfire. But that wasn't quite what had robbed the ponies' voices – it was the thousands upon thousands of small photos lining the walls, from floor to ceiling. The solemn atmosphere was enough to make even Pinkie Pie uncharacteristically quiet. Eventually, they reached the door, whereupon the guards stationed there inspected the fidgety group. A moment later, he pressed a button on his wrist – the door slid open and he gestured towards it with his head.

“Go ahead.”

Taking a deep breath and internally steeling herself, Celestia nodded at the man, stepping through the doorway, the Elements, her sister and Spike in tow.

TO BE CONTINUED

IMMEDIATELY

“Dad, it's okay. It's not a big deal. Think of it as doing maintenance on a car.” Lieia sighed, her eyes focused on the screen in front of her face. The large, slab-like device at her side thrummed, the robotic limbs extending from it tending to the damaged workings of the cybernetic replacement for her left arm, swiftly and efficiently carrying out the repairs needed. At the same time, another pair of robot arms were snaked deep inside her torso through the hole where her left arm used to be attached.

Though the image was fuzzy, Thed Grisov clearly saw the extent of his daughter's cybernetics, barely stopping himself from grimacing. “Lee, you're missin' your entire left arm, an' I'm willin' to be that ain't the only thing you've lost, of course it's a big deal. When did this happen to ya?”

“Uh, couple of years ago, I think. Don't exactly remember when, the records probably have the data. But I'm perfectly fine now. The replacements work like a treat.” She smiled wanly, in an attempt to placate her father, and failed at doing so.

“An' what about the scars that're obviously surgical in nature? Ya look like someone... Oh.” Thed grew silent for a moment before adopting a more solemn tone. “The Vasari really hurt ya, didn't they?”

Her right fist clenched tightly, she responded haltingly. “That's putting it... lightly.” With some effort, she got herself under control, trying to change the topic. “Your credentials still holding up, dad? If there's any trouble, I can relocate you to somewhere else, give you a new cover.”

Inwardly, the grizzled man sighed, wishing that his daughter was less stubborn, but kept it to himself. “Nah, 's fine. Although, I wouldn't mind getting something better than garrison duty, an' the guys here keep askin' whom I pissed off to get such a boring posting.” He chuckled softly.

“Well, that'd be me.” Lieia smirked, before her smile faded away. “I... I thought I was the only one of our family to survive the invasion, Dad. I th-thought that you, Cara, Mom, and everyone else were dead. I can't ever bear the thought of going through that. Torture, interrogations, experiments, killing - I can handle those. B-but the thought that I'm the last of our family, well...” The woman's voice died off as she let the sentence hang in the air.

“I understand, Lee. Don't worry, I'm not gonna go anywhere. Jus' promise me you'll take more care from now on, 'kay?”

“I'm not going to make any promises I can't keep, Dad. But I'll try.” With a tired moan, she rested her head on her right hand. “Sometimes, I wish this was all a bad dream to wake up from, that it was a Saturday morning and Mom had woken up earlier than us, and was waiting downstairs with a breakfast. That it was time again to go on a trip to the Ring to another racing tournament. Anything but this pointless bloodshed.”

“I know, Lee. I know. But I'm damn proud to be your father right about now.”

A weak, humourless chuckle escaped the blonde's lips. “You're proud that your daughter is a war criminal?”

“I'm proud that you're fighting for what you believe. Besides, holdin' out with the odds stacked against you is no small feat. An' I don't think the Loyalists have made any attempts to make friends with either the Vasari or Advent. And, I dare say, you are the first woman ever to bring a bunch of pirates to heel by out-shouting their leader.”

“It was more of a shouting match followed by a brawl, really. And his guards weren't too shy to join in.” Her mood slowly improving, she chuckled. “I couldn't decide whether it was hilarious or pathetic – twenty of them trying to rush me. Pretty sure one of them is still walking weird.”

Thed chuckled at that heartily, before looking at his wrist. “Ah, shit, kiddo. My shift's startin' soon. I'll talk to you later.”

“Sure. Take care, dad.”

“You to, Lee. Keep on fightin'. Show those bastards what you're made of.” With that, the screen faded to black.

Lieia sighed deeply, letting her forehead thunk against the table as she slumped in her chair. The robot arms clicked and clacked inside her chest cavity, adjusting for her new position.

Celestia swallowed nervously as she and others stood silently, hesitant to interrupt the conversation – although, now that it was over, she was equally hesitant to make her presence known, sensing it was not an appropriate time to disturb the woman. Curiosity getting the better of her, she took a step forward, wincing as she was reminded of her horseshoes as they clacked against the floor. Instantly, the woman sat up, half-turning to face the noise, freezing for a moment as she stared at the ponies.

The ponies stared back.

“Shit, so this actually isn't a fever dream.” Lieia sighed, relaxing some. “Well, don't just stand there. I'm not going to bite you or anything – I am, as you can see, harmless, heh.”

Cautiously, they did as instructed – Celestia eyed the woman, wincing internally as she saw the myriad of scars and tattoos covering her skin, not to mention the cybernetics that made up her left shoulder, with mechanical bits and pieces visible where the tank-top didn't cover her skin. The Elements gasped quietly as they also noticed these details.

“Just, ah, give me a moment until it's finished with the repairs.” She gestured lamely to the thrumming device.

“B-by all means.” Celestia finally managed, shaking off the shock at seeing the stomach-churning extent of augmentations in the woman's body. “I assume that since you summoned us here, you already know our names.”

“Yep. Executioner sent a decent data-packet on its beacon. Celestia, Luna, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Spike.” She pointed to each pony and dragon in turn. “And, uh, whatever's sitting in Luna's hair.”

“Oh, that'd be Gauge. Don't worry, she's quite docile.”

“'kay. So, how was the trip, anyways? I hope no one harassed your or anything.”

“Nothing of the sort, actually. We drew quite a few stares, however.” Celestia scratched the back of her head.

“I'll say. Not every day you get to meet a bunch of space ponies.” Lieia winced slightly as the robotic arms withdrew from her torso. A moment later, the cybernetic arm was attached to its socket and the ponies winced slightly at the clicking and whirring noises that could be heard. Soon as it was done, Lieia stood up, performing a couple of testing movements with her left arm. “So, um, I'm guessing you lot heard that conversation I was having moments ago. I'll have to ask you to keep it to yourselves. As in, it does not leave this room, understood? Way too many people out there who'd be able to use that against me.” She stood up, striding over to another desk and picking up a jacket, donning said clothing.

This time, Fluttershy spoke up. “W-why?”

“I've made a lot of enemies, miss. More than I care to remember. I don't like to beat around the bush – if I have to step on some toes to get what the Rebellion needs, so be it, and if anyone has a problem with me, then by all means, they're free to try to take me out.” Humming, she turned around, staring out the panoramic window. “So, you're probably wondering why I wanted to meet you instead of simply picking Executioner up and be done with it.”

“The thought has crossed my mind, yes.” Celestia responded warily.

“Well, let's just say that I'm not the only one who responded to Executioner's signal.”

Author's Note

Omake The Fourth - The Happy World Of Harib-oh... oh, oh GOD

Thought for the day: Professional bouncing ball NEEKO BEELIK teaches dirty Russian con-men a lesson in economics.

Fluttershy hummed contently to herself as the ducks crowded around her. A smile on her face, she scattered hooffuls of breadcrumbs to the birds from her basket. Satisfied that the birds were fed, she trotted onwards to her next task.

“Aww yiss, muthafuckin' breadcrumbs!”

Immediately, the butter-yellow pegasus ground to a halt, turning to look at the ducks, her eyes wide with surprise.

“Er, quack. Quack. Quack. Quack quack.”

“Gauge, are you sure this is allowed?”

“Don't worry, I am from the Internet!” The metal bug chirped confidently.

“That does not assuage my fears in the slightest.” Luna murmured to herself. Being dragged out here by Gauge – who claimed she'd made a request from the Rebel fleet – in the noon didn't do her biological clock any favours. She watched the distant aircraft approach, the flier's engines droning lowly. As it passed above them, she saw a couple of oblong cylinders being launched from the bomber's bomb bay. Its mission completed, the bomber circled around, heading back to the immense carrier looming just beyond the Canterhorn.

With dull thumps, the canisters made landfall a hundred meters away. Both curious and anxious, Luna flew over, swiftly tearing the lids off to reveal...

…

Packs of sugarfree, gelatinous sweets?

“What does Haribo mean, I wonder?” Luna thought aloud as she read the labels marking the packagings.

“Kids and adults love it so, the happy world of Haribo~” Gauge sang in her tinny voice, making the alicorn chuckle as she scooped the bug up, cooing at her daughter warmly.

“Oh, aren't you being the sweetest thing... Never thought you had a sweet tooth.”

“Party snacks, yo!” Gauge exclaimed, making Luna's brow crease.

“At the Gala, you mean? I think that's an excellent idea!” Luna smiled, unaware of the Old Man Murphy's wheedling laughter at the back of her head. “You will have to apologise to the soldiers whom you tricked, however.”

“Whoa there, friend, you might need to slow down!” Gauge replied instantly.

Later

The Gala was, so far, proceeding quite well. The so-called 'gummy bears' had been well-received by the nobles attending, and most of the packages had been already exhausted. At the moment, the last pack was being emptied in the dishes by a pair of castle servants. Heck, the sweets were so popular that even several of the guards that were off-duty would snatch a gummy bear or two up to enjoy. Despite Luna's misgivings, everything had proceeded swimmingly.

But, as we all know, hindsight is 20/20 and Luna should've gotten the notion of trouble brewing when Blueblood galloped away, a bellow of “SHIGUMM!” leaving the stallion's mouth. Instead, she shook her head resignedly at the very pinnacle of Canterlot's idiot nobles.

Even later

Celestia sunk down into the luxuriously soft pillows of her bed, sighing as she patted herself on the back on another Gala well done. A moment later, however, she heard something outside the doors of her quarters.

Gefaaahrrrr~

It meant 'danger' in Germane. Before the alicorn could even so much as blink, the doors were flung open and one of her guards stumbled inside, his rear end emanating the word again, even as the stallion muttered feverishly, repeating two words over and over.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry~” With that, he quickly disappeared into her bathroom – soon, her stomach lurched as she heard the most revolting sounds of flatulence, punctuated by more feverish apologies from the debilitated unicorn.

“SHIGUMM!” A Lunar Guard thestral zoomed down the corridor, carrying the same stench with him.

Gagging, Celestia clamped her nose shut, her mind racing mile a minute as she tried to understand what was going on, when...

“SHIGUMM.”

Well, at least it was clear Luna was also a victim.

The pall of the gut-wrenching stench hung thickly across most of Canterlot's Noble District. Reports came in of grown stallions curled into foetal positions in their bathrooms, sobbing and confessing to everything that came to mind in a desperate bid to end their incendiary diarrhoea. Alas, they had no such luck. Their combined suffering had clogged up most of Canterlot's sewage system, with the Royal Castle faring no better, seeing as Luna had dropped pipe-cloggers into every available toilet, all the while cursing in a manner that made the castle shake to its very foundations, and the moon had spent hours weaving and circling in the skies. Exclamations of “SHIGUMM!” and “Gefaaahhrrr~” floated up from Canterlot with frightening frequency for the best part of twelve hours, permeated by a mantra of “Whatever I did, I'm sorry”, and variations of such. All in all, the end results were something that even Asahi lexicon would struggle to describe.

The entire city was quarantined for fears of a pandemic, even though only the nobles who'd attended the Gala were affected. In the end, however it was one of the castle maids who solved the mystery. Turned out, the culprits were the packets of gummy bears – the sweets contained Lycasin, which had the side effect of being a powerful laxative, which explained why a good portion of Canterlot nobles had endured the equivalent of getting their intestines powerwashed.

Thus began the greatest internal feud among Canterlot's nobility.

Author's Note

The perfect gift for one's nemesis.

Chapter 15

The words, cold and all but devoid of emotion, cut through the air.

“W-what do you mean?” Rarity piped up hesitantly, but turned to face Twilight as the purple unicorn spoke.

“It means that war is coming to Equestria... Right?”

Lieia smiled grimly, nodding once. “Vasari, if we're lucky.”

Immediately, Rainbow Dash was in the air, doing a couple of quick jabs at an imaginary enemy. “Let 'em try, I'll kick their flanks back to where they came!”

Lieia laughed at the pegasus' bravado, her voice dripping with contempt. “You? With an overinflated ego like yours, even a blind man would see you coming in the dead of night. If you tried to tangle with Vasari, you wouldn't even get a chance to so much as let out a peep before you were flying with the wind as a handful of ash.”

“Wait, what did you just say?” Rainbow growled angrily, turning to glare at the woman.

“I said that your ego's writing cheques your body can't cash, Skittles. Seen way too many kids like you getting stuffed into bodybags. And, while your loyalty to your friends is admirable, that stubbornness and thick-headedness of yours is going to get you, or someone else, killed one day.” Letting out a hum, she turned to gaze outside again, just as the cyan mare pounced at her.

“Rainbow, no!” Applejack shouted a warning, but her voice died in her throat as she saw the human whirl around with incredible speed, her left arm's fingers curling around her friend's throat, leaving the furious pegasus flailing her limbs ineffectively.

“See? Case in point. And you're thinking of fighting the Vasari? Pathetic.” Lieia's eyes were a pair of cold, blue orbs, scrutinising the unruly pony.

“Like I care what you think! I'm still going to fight them!”

“So, you'd be willing to intentionally kill others?”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to answer before the words caught up with her. “W-what?”

“The Vasari aren't going to stop simply because you rough them up a bit. It's been more than twelve years since they showed up in Coalition space, and they've been growing increasingly desperate since then. They're not going to stop at a simple victory – they'll enslave your entire planet, or simply take every inhabitant as slaves with them, and tear your entire world apart for resources. If you want to have a chance at holding your ground against them, you need to be just as ruthless. And do you seriously think you have what it takes to turn yourself in a cold, unfeeling killing machine?” Several quiet moments passed as she waited for an answer, letting out a scoff once she received none. “Thought as much.” Her tone turning a tad softer and calmer, Lieia deposited the pegasus on the ground. “I know how you feel, trust me. But this fight is one that you'll have to sit out.”

The brash pegasus, her anger abated, rubbed her throat tentatively before speaking. “If they're all so big, bad and strong, how do you plan on stopping them?”

“The same way I've done since taking the throne – by thrashing the bastards so badly that they'll be remembered solely because of how pointlessly they died. Simplicity incarnate, really.” Luna frowned at that.

“And you're sure there's no way to solve this peacefully?”

“I know more about the Vasari than you do, Princess. Hell, my sister had a taste of enslavement when the war started. Lemme tell ya, what she told me wasn't pretty. Tell me, would you be willing to bargain with a race that enslaves and butchers your kind just because they think they're better than you?”

Luna paused, her mind drifting back to the wars Equestria had been forced to defend itself from – like so many other countries, their existence was ensured through bloodshed, with Griffons being among the species that'd gladly see the freshly-crowned diarchs dethroned.

“No. I would not.”

Now that drew stares from the other ponies.

“Well, nice to know that at least someone here has a smidgen of common sense. Right, so I'll give you the run-down of what's going to happen.” A holographic depiction of Equis appeared in the middle of the room, followed by the miniscule Sun and Moon circling the planet. “So, there's your world, the moon, and the sun that our scientists would no doubt have a fit over.” A number of icons flashed into existence in low orbit above Equestrian territory. “There's my ships. Not an awful lot of vessels, but their crews are experienced. We'll lay down nuclear mines here, here, and here.” Numerous red, blinking dots appeared throughout the system. “When those go off, the Vasari forces will be forced to take a slow approach, giving us time to form a defensive perimeter. Of course, even the biggest guns won't help against their cloak-equipped vessels, which can make planetfall with little difficulty. To this end, I'll deploy several rapid reaction forces planetside, to combat whatever groundside hostiles there are. We'll keep out of your hair and mind our own business. I know how prejudiced against outsiders your ponies can be.”

Celestia turned to face the Queen, her tone incredulous.

“Excuse me?”

“Well, the incident with everyone in Ponyville thinking Zecora is a witch come to curse their town speaks pretty clear for itself.”

“Whu-how do you even know about that?” Rainbow Dash piped up, confusion clearly written across her face, causing Lieia to let out a smarmy grin.

“When Executioner One had the big ol' information exchange with your purple bookworm, she provided him with a lot of knowledge, the friendship reports being among them. And the data-packet it sent straight to me included everything Miss Sparkle shared.”

All of a sudden, Twilight felt very tiny and very insignificant as Celestia's eyes locked onto her.

“For a race whose creed is 'love and tolerate', there's sure a lot of narrow-minded individuals among your kind.” Lieia quipped, regaining the alabaster alicorn's attention.

“You're one to talk.” Celestia retorted, but Lieia only smiled.

“Hypocritical or not, truth's truth. Anyways, anything you'd like to add to the plan?”

“And what if we decide Equestria does not need your help?”

“I collect Executioner and leave. Then Vasari will arrive and bombard you from orbit until you accept their shackles or are driven extinct. Simple as that.”

Celestia glared at the human, who returned the gaze coolly.

“So, what'll it be?”

“...Do what you must, but do not keep us out of the loop. If there's any trouble, I will want to know of it.”

“We're agreed, then.” Lieia stuck out her left arm, the sophisticated piece of bionic technology moving as fluidly as its organic counterpart and Celestia found herself suppressing a wave of nausea before accepting the gesture. Metal fingers wrapped around her fetlock and shook her foreleg twice before letting go. “Then without further ado, I think we're done here for now. However, you're welcome to have a tour of Deliverance, if that sounds acceptable.”

“Really? A tour? Awesome!” Spike exclaimed as he emerged from his hiding spot behind Rarity, making his presence known for the first time since arriving. He'd been content to remain in an awed silence up to this point – but being made aware that there was more to see quelled his cautiousness.

“Totally. I'll have one of my crew act as your guide, if that's okay.” Her guests nodded, if a little reluctantly. “Cool. I'll have someone come by in a couple of minutes.” As the Equestrians turned to leave, they heard the Queen's voice once more. “Oh, before you go, there's one last thing. Well, two, to be fair.” Luna cocked an eyebrow, speaking first.

“What is it?”

“In the past years, I've had to recruit from... less than reputable places. There are more than a few serial killers and psychos among the rank-and-file who jumped at the chance of getting a full pardon in return for service. But they shouldn't be a problem so long as you don't go wandering off into places you don't have a permission to access.”

“That's a fancy way of sayin' 'mind yer damn business.'” Applejack piped up.

“Hey, I'm just giving some advice to you. You'd do well to follow it.”

“Noted. And what's the other thing?” Celestia took up the slack in the conversation.

“I'd like to find out whether or not these three had permission to come with you.” One of the wall-mounted screens lit up, displaying none other than the three Cutie Mark Crusaders, surrounded by guards.

“Oh, boy.” Spike winced sympathetically, while the Elements and Princesses were going through various degrees of a heart attack at this turn of events. It didn't last long, however, and Spike pre-emptively clamped his claws over his ears.

“SWEETIE BELLE?!”

“APPLE BLOOM?!”

“SCOOTALOO?!”

“I'll go out on a limb here and take that as a no, then.”

Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were talking over each other as they berated the three culprits, but the gist of it was clear – they were so grounded, like no filly had ever been grounded before. Well, as soon as they got back to Equestria, that is. Until then, they were under the other ponies' strict surveillance as the group trotted after their guide, a cheery young woman who introduced herself as Larissa Greiss – insofar, she'd been decidedly more well-mannered than the Queen.

“Rainbow? Y'feelin' alright? You've been mighty quiet.” Applejack inquired to the cyan pegasus, whom looked at her forehooves thoughtfully for a moment before looking at the farmpony.

“You don't think that what she said is true, right?”

“Uh...” Twilight trailed off awkwardly as she recalled the Mare Do Well affair. The other Elements also tried to make themselves scarce, with differing degrees of success, as the cyan pegasus looked to them in turn.

“Gee, thanks for the support, girls.”

“Ill-mannered as the Queen is, there is truth to what she said – rash decisions can cost dearly.” Luna spoke, a dark tone to her voice and Celestia found herself agreeing with her sibling, albeit grudgingly. The alabaster alicorn turned her head to regard the group – all but Spike seemed either deep in thought or less-than-enthusiastic to be here. Internally, she cursed the nerve of that woman before nuzzling Twilight. The downcast unicorn perked up, looking at her mentor questioningly.

“I'm not angry with you, Twilight. It's not my place to decide whether you want to share any of your knowledge with others, including the friendship reports. But her ability to turn it into some sort of insult is maddening.”

“Uh, t'be honest, all o' Ponyville went into hidin' ev'ry time Zecora came into town.” Applejack interjected. “Thought she was puttin' curses and such onto the stalls, we did.”

Rainbow Dash snorted at that, her mood improving some. “And then we all wandered into Poison Joke later. Heheh, Apple Teeny.”

“Rainbow Crash.”

“Touché.”

Luna frowned, poking her mane twice. “Gauge? Are you still there?”

“'Tis I, the Frenchiest fry~”

Author's Note

You know what sucks about living on your own?

When depression strikes, one will lay in the bed for hours without doing anything productive.

Omake The Fifth - [10]

Blueblood decided he didn't like the aliens who'd taken up posts in the Royal Castle - humans, especially. Their soldiers were loud and rude, jeering insults at him whenever they saw him. Sure, he would always ensure their commanding officers were informed of such gross mistreatment of royalty, but all of his effort to be respected as his station demanded seemed to be wasted.

He grumbled to himself as he rounded a corner, and ground to a half as he nearly ran into a trio of... what were they called? Waterkin, that's right. In either case, the three aliens also stopped. The surprised silence lasted only for a moment before he snapped at them.

"Shoo, out of the way! I'm Prince Blueblood!"

Anyone with a smidgen of perceptiveness and common sense would've realised the three Asli wore smiles that weren't just apologetic - one would've noticed a sinister edge to their expressions. Nonetheless, they slithered aside, and Blueblood found his mood improving. Finally, some of these crude arrivals knew how to treat someone like him with respect!

"Forgive us our rudeness, great Prince." The lead Asli intoned apologetically. And it was told that on that day, Blueblood's ego swelled three times normal size.

"Oh, it's alright. Our lessers may sometimes be forgiven for their mistakes. Not everypony can be as perfect as nobles." He replied in what was, to his own ears, a forgiving tone. Was he not, after all, a great and forgiving noblepony?

Just then, one of the other waterkin whispered into the first one's ear, making her smile grow. Giving her fellow Asli a reassuring nod, she turned to Blueblood once more. "My friend here wishes to show that she truly meant no offense. She, um, what is the word, begs a kiss from the prince." The alien intoned, her voice honey-sweet.

Now, this was more like it! Of course it'd be uncouth to accede to such a request immediately, so he made a small show of humming thoughtfully before making his response.

"Very well. It is the least I can do to reward such a show of humility." He gestured the Asli to come closer and she did so, slithering closer to him on her long, flexible tail. The Asli, alien as she was, was still no less alluring for it.

"Let it never be said I am not a forgiving prince." He managed to utter before the alien had grabbed him by the cheeks and planted her lips on his, and...

And...

And...

And why was everything turning into so much cheeseburger apocalypse and ayy lmao~

"Yo, Siddeley? Who's the native dude? I'm sure we locked this place up before patrol."

"Holy shit, man, he's been sharpied to hell and back."

"Permanent marker?"

"Seems like it. Lemme check. Oh, see his pupils? He's trippin' pretty freakin' hard right now. What'd he do, piss off one of them waterkin?"

"Yep. See the residue on his muzzle? Waterkin saliva."

"What do we do with this poor bastard, then?"

"Leave him be until his trip is over. Then we take him to the space horse capital, I guess."

"Works for me."

Author's Note

To those who may've forgotten, the saliva of Asli waterkin is an intoxicant - ranges from a mild trip to full-on cardiac arrest.

Chapter 16

Lara, as their guide preferred to be called, had an impressive knowledge of Coalition arsenal. As the shuttle slowly made its way around the cavernous hangar bay, she answered without pausing as the ponies – and dragon – inquired about the various technologies of their alien guests.

“Oh, what's that one?” Rainbow Dash pointed her hoof at a large aircraft that was being serviced.

“That's an antique from Unification Wars – a Liberator heavy bomber. Easily more than three hundred years old. A museum piece is what it is.”

“Then why use such outdated aircraft?” Luna piped up.

“Well, since the Rebellion began, we had next to nothing in the way of supplies. Fought tooth and nail to see the next day, lived by the skin of our teeth, as the saying goes. We couldn't be picky. If it could be used against the Vasari, we took it. Of course, the situation's improved noticeably since then, but we keep those junkers around – if there's one thing good about ancient army surplus, it's that you can fix it with duct-tape and snot. Modern, up-to-date tanks, ships and the like take much longer to repair in comparison.”

The ponies nodded understandingly.

“Ooh, what're those?” Pinkie Pie pronked up and down, her hoof (somehow) unerringly pointed at a small group heavily-armoured soldiers.

“Those're first-generation EXOs. Just about the best-equipped soldiers Coalition has. Billions of credits were sunk into making hundred-and-fifty of those suits of armour. And not a single soldier who volunteered for the EXO Corps has fallen in battle since. They're rated for orbital drops, to boot. Drop 'em onto the enemies' heads and let them go to town.”

“Seems a little excessive, honestly.” Luna responded.

“When the war came, we needed a means to buy the mid-system worlds time enough to fortify their territories. Best defence is a good offence, after all.”

Rarity raised a hoof, gaining Lara's attention. “If I may, how much do you know of the Rebel Queen herself?”

“As much as anyone else, I'll wager. Word is she lost her family to the Vasari when the war started. She enlisted in the Corps, along with millions of others who'd lost friends or family. She climbed the ranks from then on, and eventually made Colonel. Normally, no one would be promoted as fast as she did, but we had precious few experienced officers back then, so she got the stars. She got her own battlegroup to command. And for a while, it seemed like things were looking up for us – made allies with Asli, and later, the Asahi Empire... And then Ayra Alexi happened.”

“Who?”

“Ayra Alexi, the sole offspring of Santor Alexi, the man who ruled Trade Order before the war. She arrived one day, bold as you will, thinking the brass would give her the reins just because she demanded. Man, the Queen hated her. They took every chance to chew each other out. And then the day came when Battlegroup 92 was lost with all hands. Seventy-five thousand men and women, dead because Ayra Alexi betrayed us.”

Fluttershy gasped in shock, covering her mouth with a hoof.

“Of course, at the time, no one knew how rotten that girl was. We've recently traced more than one intel leak to her. Anyways, two months later, Grisova herself arrives at Koronis, where our headquarters is, with a bunch of defector Vasari ships. She tries to kill Ayra, but is unsuccessful. Her claims of Ayra's treachery go unheard, and the Colonel vanishes. Deserts, and no one can find her. Then, two weeks later, she steals the very ship you're aboard now, and declares the Rebellion. Bunch of folks, military and civilian, followed her.”

“How?” Twilight piped up,and Lara chuckled grimly.

“Our commanders were thinking of diplomacy with the Vasari, and Advent, when they decided to join the war.”

“I don't see how diplomacy is a bad thing.” Celestia added in.

“Well, usually it's a good choice. But a lot of people had lost someone to the war. Making nice with aliens who killed and enslaved humans was the last thing they wanted to do. The Queen offered a chance to get even, to get revenge. Tore the Coalition in two, she did. Since then, it was touch and go every day. Until all of our lost territories rose up, all at once. No way the Advent or Vasari could clamp down on them. Our holdings doubled in a matter of hours.”

“Remember, Princess? That message Executioner received?” Twilight piped up, and Celestia nodded in agreement.

“Yes, I do.”

“Might be just me, but you don't seem to like her an awful lot.” Lara added, a knowing half-smirk on her face.

“Speaking frankly? No, I do not. She's rude and flaunts her authority, and didn't even hesitate to threaten Rainbow Dash when she pointed out her character flaws.”

“I'm right here, you know.”

“I feel like she does everything she can get away with solely because she's a queen.” The alicorn finished with a huff.

“Well, she'd be the first to agree that she's no people person. But then again, she's kinda hard to read. She'd make a killing in poker, that's for sure. But she's walked the talk so far. Those who've joined up with the Rebellion have done so of their own volition. Look, I could go on all day about us. But that's not the case here, is it? I'm guessing you're worried we'll drag you into this war, too.”

“I think it's safe to say that's already happened.”

“Yeah, true enough. With a bit of luck, we'll have this one over and done with post-haste. We've got some top-notch military hardware – wherever the Vasari pop up, we'll come crashing down on their heads like the wrath of God.”

“You sound very confident of your success.”

“We've got two Asahi backing our war efforts. Of course I'm confident.”

They returned planetside a couple of hours later – Twilight and her friends returned to Ponyville, while the princesses set about preparing for the attack. Royal Guard units were brought up to speed and deployed to locations of tactical importance. Unicorns who were well-versed in shield spells were allocated to protect major population centres.

The Rebel troops operated unchecked, however. Sightings of them were few and far inbetween – even Lunar Guards, being skilled scouts and infiltrators, were hard-pressed to keep their rulers up-to-date with the aliens' movements. What few sightings were documented spoke only of ponderous transports heading for locations unknown. And, though some ponies complained about the Rebels' aircraft disturbing their daily goings-on, there was no trouble reported.

Until, of course, all hell broke loose three days later.

The night sky glittered with a myriad of stars – Luna flapped her wings as she took to sky, as the last sunlight faded into nothing. She looked up, knowing that thousands of alien soldiers stood in vigil, far above their world. Say what you want about them, they had been deployed across Equestria post-haste.

As she looked, she saw a star wink into existence, deep in the void. And another. And another.

Wait... those are no stars.

The dots of light grew in numbers, before slowly fading out, one by one. The midnight-blue alicorn frowned as she came to a hover, gazing upwards.

Even from here, she could see the colossal shape of the Rebels' flagship – its engines burned fiercely, slowly moving Deliverance out from low orbit.

So it begins.

Snow and wind howled fiercely, staggering the column of ponies trudging along.

It was pointless, really. The snowstorms were as fierce as ever this far up north. Any enemy force trying to attack the Crystal Empire would find themselves stymied by the weather with every step they took. But, orders were orders – if these 'Vasari' were out there, their positions were to be reported to the Rebel liaison back at the castle. From then on, it was somepony else's problem.

It should've been expected, though. The Crystal Empire was hard to miss. Thus, Steady Shot and his unit found themselves freezing their plots off, trying to find something that may or may not be there. The enchantments on their armour could only do so much.

It was about then that he tripped, landing face-first in snow. Luckily, his subordinates were too busy freezing to laugh at his misfortune. Grumbling, he righted himself, taking a look at what had tripped him, and his heart skipped a beat.

It was a head – not of a living creature, but one made from metal, dented and crumpled, black liquid slowly seeping through the cracks. His eyes widened in horror as he recognised it as belonging to the sentient machines, Xalathii.

“Sir, we've found more scrap around. Some of it is still warm, surprisingly. Whatever did this could still be around.”

Steady Shot bit back a groan – he could almost hear Marephy laughing. His law was not something to be invoked lightly.

Except the laughter was real – and it turned out to be a bellow from a savage beast's throat. He spared only a moment to look back before taking off at full pelt, his troops galloping behind him without hesitation.

“Faster! It's right behind us!” One soldier shouted, fear evident in his voice. Pure terror gave them the will to run despite the thick snow and howling winds. The pursuing animal still drew closer with every passing moment, its loping gait shaking the ground, its snorting, rancid breath all too audible.

No way we can outrun it, Steady Shot thought miserably, steeling himself for the moment it caught up to his unit. Perhaps he could distract it long enough for others to get far enough away-

Twin streaks of howling fire whizzed past inches above his head, striking their assailant square in the face. With a pained roar, it tumbled to a halt, trying to regain its bearings.

“It would be best if you retreated to a safe distance.” A calm voice spoke, and Shot took the moment to look at the hulking machine standing in front of him, its eyelights shining brightly despite the weather. “The beast will not remain dazed for long.” Two more similar automatons dropped from the sky, taking up positions.

“Er... You don't have to tell me twice! Come on, everypony, let's get out of here!” As others ran past, he paused, looking up at the alien machine. “Uh, thanks for saving us.”

“It is what we are here for.” The alien nodded once, still as calm as before. “Now go and report to your superiors. Much blood will be shed in the coming days.”

The alien's words proved to be true – the Vasari deployed more forces planetside, probing the Rebels' defences – and each time, they were crushed without hesitation, as their fleets played hide and seek far above the planet. This far out, there was no hope of reinforcements, and both belligerents knew it.

Celestia frowned as she stared outside, past the shimmering barrier Luna had conjured around Canterlot – in the distance, she saw the ponderous shape of a Ortalian warship as it dropped two Executioners via its tractor beams. Their horns blared sonorously before they strode off to their destinations.

Outlying settlements and villages had been evacuated, their inhabitants safe and sound within Equestrian cities, further protected by the Rebel forces – bombers, gunships, and more waited for a target to strike, while powerful shield generators supplemented Equestrian shieldcasters. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it'd have to do, seeing as the Vasari gave little chance to erect a more solid defence.

“The bastards won't stand a chance, Princess. You'll see.” The power armour-clad woman to her right spoke, also spectating the ongoing deployment.

“I trust you aren't wrong in saying so.”

“Hey, I didn't get to where I am with empty speeches.” Lieia responded curtly, giving the alicorn a sidelong glance. “I've held up my end of the bargain, haven't I? None of your ponies have been injured or killed. Collateral damage to your cities and infrastructure is well within acceptable projections – hell, we'll fix up anything broken, time permitting.”

Celestia let out a quiet sigh at that. “It really doesn't sit right with me that your people are dying to keep mine safe. All we can do is sit by the wayside and watch.”

“That's how I felt when I enlisted. Wanted to do my part, save lives and push the Vasari back. Turned out it was nowhere near that easy or black and white as it seemed at first. As time went on, I began to see shades of grey in places I never noticed before. Didn't like the idea that world was more complex that I thought it should be, but I had to accept that fact of life sooner or later.”

Celestia nodded absent-mindedly – she did not like the Rebel Queen all that much, but she had developed some respect for the woman. And in a way, it was better that way. She opened her mouth to speak when the wail of sirens cut through air. Distant and faint, the distinctive dirge could only mean one thing.

The Vasari were coming.

Author's Note

Sorry about overdue update - had a bit of a scuff with fever following a jaw infection, which left the right side of my lower jaw pretty badly swollen.

I also had some vivid and weird fever dreams. Wish I remembered them in greater detail.

Chapter 17

The fighting had been going on for two days, now, the explosions and gunfire outside the vast shield encircling Canterlot sporadically growing and shrinking in volume as time passed. Fliers of all sizes and shapes fought for air superiority all across Equestria, while ground troops fought tooth and nail to force their enemies back.

It was one of the biggest battles Equestria had experienced, and all Celestia could do was sit by the wayside and watch.

Ever now and then, she'd see a blinding beam of energy strike from far above, followed by a low, rumbling tremor. The beams never seemed to last too long – later, she'd been terrified to find out the beams were, in fact, a Vasari bombardment weapon, capable of causing devastating earthquakes to diminish a planetside fortification's defensive capabilities. It was thanks to Rebel strike craft that the aggressors' beam platforms didn't last too long once deployed, and Vasari capital ships were constantly tied up in fierce combat to prevent them from reaching bombardment range.

The Ortalian Executioners were constantly visible as their matter colliders repeatedly blasted at something out of sight, their missile batteries launching salvos of roaring projectiles at whatever hostile aircraft tried to strafe them. Sometimes, their matter colliders rose upwards, spewing destructive energy skywards at some faraway enemy, and debris later rained down from low orbit, hitting the ground with dull, distant thuds that made Celestia cringe. Humming with worry, she made her way to the communications station set up in the throne hall.

"I CAN SHOW YOU THE WORLD," Lieia bellowed, the Vasari soldier in her grip flailing ineffectively before she threw him, the warbling alien soaring high into the air. "SHINING, SHIMMERING, SPLENDID." She backhanded another two Vasari before a missile struck her shields, knocking the Rebel Queen on her face, her armour beeping incessantly.

"WHO DID THAT? WHICH ONE OF YOU CHUCKLEFUCKS TRIED TO PULL A FAST ONE ON ME?" Her voice rose above the battle din as she got back to her feet, quickly locating the culprit – a Vasari Loyalist in a light mech that was quickly making its way towards her, its guns blazing as it spat a hail of energy bolts at her.

Immediately, she turned her rifle on it, its payload of armour-piercing rounds making the Vasari mech twitch and judder erratically as she held down the trigger, cackling maniacally.

"DANCE, BONEDADDY! DANCE!" The mech couldn't endure any more abuse and fell like a puppet with its strings cut and she snorted derisively. "You bastards think you can take me? Come on, then! I'll-"

"My Queen, you have an incoming message. Shall I connect you?" A voice on her intercom interrupted her murderous ravings.

"Sure, do it." There was a momentary crackle before it resolved into Celestia's voice.

"Queen Grisova, do you have a moment?"

"Kinda busy here, but go ahead. What's crackin'?"

"Trouble is brewing near the Whitetail Woods. Your scouts detected a number of cloaked units advancing through there."

"Shit. Well, they had to use their brains someday. If there's one thing the bastards are good at, it's getting behind enemy lines. I'll retask some gunships to take care of it."

"WHAT?!" Lieia cringed at the alicorn's shrill tone.

"Look, that's all I can spare right now. For the time being, the rest of my forces are tied up beating the Vasari back, and deploying reserves to deal with this new threat will take time, considering all the fighting in low orbit. If you've got a better idea, I'm all ears!"

Grumbling, Celestia had to concede. "Fine, you've made your point. Do as you will."

"Sweet. Those bastards will be dead before they knew what hit them. Now, if you don't mind, I've got to get back to it. Talk to you later." Another missile hit her, eliciting an infuriated bellow from her. "WHO DID THAT? SHOOT ME AGAIN, I DARE YOU."

A queen's work was never done.

It hadn't taken too long to mop up the last of the invading forces – the Vasari Loyalists were demoralized by a long string of costly victories and even costlier defeats. There were few prisoners to take in the end, and those were quickly sent off for the Vasari rebels to deal with.

As promised, Lieia's forces helped undo whatever had been destroyed during the brief, but brutal campaign against the Vasari. Destroyed roads were laid anew, ruined buildings were reconstructed, and injuries, scarce as they were, had been taken care of. Seemed like peace had returned to Equestria.

Except for the fact that Discord's statue was covered in hundreds of hairline cracks, its deteriorating state gone unnoticed due to the recent events...

"Don't worry, princess. We'll keep this planet a secret. I'd hate it if the likes of Aegis found out about this place. Trust me, that's definitely something you don't want to happen. And my people will keep quiet, too."

"Are you sure?" Celestia queried, the two leaders standing atop a hill, watching heavy carriers land and lift off, carrying soldiers, vehicles and more back into orbit.

"Totally. The thing about leading from the front is that your subordinates eventually are more loyal to you than the government they fight for. They trust me not to make stupid decisions, and I trust them to do their jobs. Earn their respect and they'll follow you to the edge of the universe itself."

"I'll take your word for it, then." Celestia replied distractedly as she watched glowing tractor beams latch onto a Executioner, lifting the massive machine of war into a Voidhammer's awaiting hangar bay. "So, what's next in store for you?"

"I get back to winning this war. Still got a lot to do before we can sit around a campfire, roasting marshmallows and singing kumbaya at sunset." That earned her an odd look from Celestia. "There's some loose ends left to tie up here, like all that debris that ended up planetside. That one might take a while to..." Her voice trailed off as she saw several trucks roll past, stark white, decorated with a single red cross on each side.

Celestia felt a pang of guilt, knowing what the vehicles' cargo was. Voice quiet, she spoke. "They're heroes, each and every one of them."

"Amen to that."

Celestia turned to look at the Rebel Queen again, but froze as she saw something that was definitely not everyday occurrence – a prodigious amount of chewing gum gumming up the woman's boots, effectively rendering her stuck in place. Lieia noticed the alicorn's horrified look, and cocked a confused eyebrow in return.

"What is it?" She shifted around – or, well, tried to, at least – but her attempts were in vain. "What the fuck is this shit?"

"Ah, ah ah! Language, young lady!" A cheery voice announced from behind and she twisted around to the best of her abilities, freezing as she saw...

"Discord." Celestia whispered weakly.

"That's my name, don't wear it out!" The draconequus cackled. Lieia's mind, however, was already working. Quickly she unholstered her revolver, drawing a bead on Discord and squeezing the trigger.

The results were... more than a little underwhelming. Instead of a bullet that could pop one's head like a ripe melon, a red flag peeked from the barrel, adorned with 'BANG!'. Discord tsk'ed disapprovingly, wagging a finger at the woman.

“Now, now. Don't you know that it's rude to shoot others?”

Lieia blinked, examining her weapon before sighing frustratedly. “Motherfucker.”

“I-I would never!” Discord exclaimed in faux horror before leaning in closer to the human – however, she showed no fear, instead glaring murderously in return.

Too late he noticed the whine. Too late he noticed the human's left arm pointing towards him, as it released a bolt of blinding energy that struck him between the eyes, knocking the draconequus on his back.

Celestia stared, slack-jawed before she was shaken out of her reverie by Lieia. “Go! Get a fucking move on! Go and get those damned Elements of yours! I'll keep this bozo busy in the meanwhile!”

Shakily, Celestia nodded and took to air as Discord let out a dazed groan, stirring from the shot.

“Oooh, kitty's got claws on her...”

“Damn right. And I'll claw out your goddamn eyes, given half a chance.” She hissed hatefully as more bubble gum appeared from the ground, mummifying all but her head.

“Feisty, aren't you? Now, let's find out what makes you...” Discord chuckled lowly, pressing a claw to the woman's forehead. “Tick.”

That had been his original plan. To find out what made Lieia Aladara Grisova tick.

Experiencing the memories of said woman being tortured to the brink of death, however, was not part of the plan, no matter how one looked at it. Screaming, gibbering things of flesh and whirring machines of razor-sharp knives assaulted his senses all at once, seemingly lasting forever.

Divine intervention came in the shape of several hundred tons of weight that flattened his corporeal form against the ground, for which he was grateful, seeing as it broke the mental link he'd set up.

Except for the fact that a giant, irate machine of war had pummeled him into the ground.

“WE MEET AT LAST, SPAWN OF QUESTIONABLE PARENTAGE. YOUR TIME IS AT AN END. PREPARE TO FACE THE FURY OF ORTALIA.”

Author's Note

One more chapter, guys and gals.

Chapter 18

Discord was more than familiar with the phrase 'between a rock and a hard place'.

But this was beyond ridiculous, he reflected, as the huge mech applied more pressure, smashing him deeper into the ground. Apparently, the machine did not take too kindly to him threatening its monarch.

WHEN I AM FINISHED WITH YOU, THEY'LL HAVE TO BURY WHAT'S LEFT OF YOU IN A SOUP CAN.

Quite.

The metal leg rose, and he clung to it, scrabbling up along the armour plating, avoiding the stray bullets whizzing at him from ground level. Immediately, he leapt clear, transforming into a swarm of hundreds of green plastic soldier figurines, descending safely to the ground with the aid of hundreds of tiny parachutes. Soon as they hit the ground, they reformed into Discord; he bolted, narrowly avoiding getting trampled into ground again by the wrathful machine. Puffs of dirt were kicked up by the impact of bullets as the mech's armaments tracked the spirit of chaos, the machine letting out an irritated noise.

...GONNA TAKE DOWN TO THE PAIN TRAIN STATION IN TRAIN TOWN...

There was a distorted crack of thunder, followed by a concussive blast of air that washed across the landscape – he spared a brief look towards the source of noise and his heart sank as he saw another one of the huge starships materialise into existence, four more Executioners already descending from the yawning chasm in its belly.

Not as planned.

UMBASA~

Drawing upon his powers, he made a giant wall erupt from the ground, built from toffee blocks, effectively halting the Executioner's progress. Panting, he examined the makeshift fortifications, blanching as Executioner One rammed it, stumbling as the wall held.

AIEOU.

Undeterred, the machine of war charged forward again.

DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A METH LAB?

Discord was quick to respond as he put more magic into the wall, trying to stop it from falling. “No, Anna, go away!”

ELSA, PLEASE, Executioner One rumbled, slamming its armoured self into the wall once more, making several bricks shatter from the force, the machine's spotlights glaring balefully at the draconequus through the cracks. IT KINDA HAS TO BE A METH LAB.

Time to make like a tree and get out of here, Discord reasoned, letting the wall fall to pieces as he ran away. His hopes to escape unnoticed sank as one of the alien gunships descended upon him, spitting a veritable storm of death at him – however, it didn't take much effort to clog up one of the engine intakes with a big lump of chewing gum, sending the aircraft tumbling to the ground, where it ploughed a furrow in the soil, missing one of its rotors once it came to a halt.

The damage was done, however – with an earsplitting boom, a row of missiles ripped the ground apart in front of him, forcing the draconequus to stop.

IT'S TIME TO KICK ASS AND KICK ASS. AND I'M ALL OUTTA KICKASS.

Well, obviously Executioner One wouldn't let up. And it wouldn't be long before Celestia returned with the Elements.

There was one last thing he could try, though. One last ditch effort to escape. Turning to face the machine, he bellowed at the top of his lungs.

“WHAT IS ONE DIVIDED BY ZERO?”

With the groan of stressed metal, Executioner One ground to a halt, looming above the nervous god of chaos – immobile, as if hewn from stone. He held his breath, also standing still, anxiously waiting for something to happen.

And something did happen.

BY THE EMPEROR, HOW HERETICAL.

The Executioner toppled forward, pancaking Discord before he even had a chance to object.

The inanely giggling deity cooed, feebly trying to reach towards the machine floating away from him.

“Can I go into the light, too? Wee snaw...”

Such was his state of debilitation that he did not notice a certain alicorn approach him, with certain Element Bearers in tow.

And then he got so stoned Snoop Dogg would be proud.

smoke weed erryday

“Will he be alright?” Celestia queried as she eyed the immobile mech ascend into the Voidhammer's hangar, to which Lieia shrugged slowly in response, picking bits of chewing gum from her hair.

“Probably, yeah. Xalathii have a lot of backups in place. Hah... Divide by zero. That's the oldest fuckin' trick in the book and a half.”

“What do you mean?”

“Simple maths, princess – you can't divide anything by zero. A thousand years ago, back on Earth, people had this weird idea, apparently, that managing to divide by zero would make a black hole that'd destroy the planet. Don't ask me how – people were weird like that. ”

“I'll take your word for it, then.”

“Sure, whatever. By the way, you still sure you don't need help with that Frankenstein of yours?”

“Thank you for the offer, but I think we've got him under control.”

“If you say so. Well, I got a war to win. Farewell, Princess.”

Celestia did not, at the time, know what compelled her to leap at the woman in an attempt to play tonsil tennis with her. She later discerned that it had been more of Discord's meddling.

At the moment, however, she did end up getting punched in the face for her efforts, the blow knocking her out cold. After that, the Rebels left Equestria post-haste.

“You must think you were being awful funny back there. My face still feels like I tried to kiss a speeding freight train.”

Eh, it's up there.

“Well, I'm the one who'll have the last laugh now, Discord.”

Is that a cage full of pigeons? That better not be a-It is a cage full of pigeons. I hate you. I hate you so much, Celestia.

“The feeling's mutual, trust me.”

The Executioner sat in its cradle, immobile and silent, as hundreds of engineers scurried all over its massive hull, carrying out repairs.

The Xalathii had been thus far unsuccessful in coaxing its AI out from wherever it had gone.

Thus, it was a complete surprise when its loudspeakers sparked into life.

MY LITTLE PONY, MY LITTLE PONY, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~

Four years later

Twilight yawned as she placed the books back in the shelf. Her bed beckoned to her with its siren song, and she had to fight off the impulse to just leave the books unshelved until the next morning. But she would never leave any task half-done.

NEVER.

There were three knocks on the front door and she sighed irately – who could possibly be bothering her at this hour?

Knock, knock, knock.

Sighing in resignation, she paused in her task, going over to the door, pulling it open, and promptly freezing in shock as she saw the tall, gleaming machine standing there, its glowing blue eyes glinting with amusement at her flabbergasted expression.

“Good to see you again, Twilight Sparkle.”

A long moment passed as Twilight made quiet, choking noises of shock, staring wide-eyed at Khanartho.

“Are you quite alright?”

“Hrgk~”

“Oh, dear, it seems I have broken you.”

Twilight listened, wide-eyed, sleep deprivation temporarily forgotten as the Xalathii regaled her with everything that had happened ever since that fateful day – the Coalition had won the war, with the remnants of both Advent and Vasari successfully integrated in the alliance. The Advent had been permitted to resettle their ancient homeworld, while the nomadic Vasari were granted a sector of unexplored space to colonise as they saw fit. Khanartho spoke of the makings of a bright and prosperity-filled future, now that the factories of war were repurposed for undoing the devastation brought upon by the war.

However, that night, he shared a dark secret with her that chilled her to the very core – the ancient enemy of Asahi, called Doom Harvesters, had returned after uncounted millennia. They were responsible for the near-extinction of the Asahi Empire's leaders in a collossal conflict that left only seven Asahi alive, and had been, for ten thousand years, patiently chasing after the Vasari.

In a monumental battle that encompassed several solar systems, the remnants of the Vasari Loyalists had crumpled in mere minutes. It wasn't until the Doom Harvesters arrived that the Asahi personally joined the conflict, bringing their worldships along – vast starships that hailed from an age when only the Asahi explored the universe, each the size of a small planet. Only two had been recovered ever since the Empire had been founded.

Thus emboldened, the combined armada fought valiantly against a tireless, vastly powerful foe that knew only hunger. The cost had been high, all but a pyrrhic victory. But a victory nonetheless. The Doom Harvesters were erased from existence, and that was the end.

“Did I ever tell you the story of me old bones..?” Gauge chirped from her tiny makeshift throne placed on top of Luna's seat of power. The midnight-blue alicorn blinked in confusion, turning to regard her surrogate daughter.

“Huh?”

“Let me tell you the story of me old bones. There was a time in a pirate's life, when we didn't have such old bones.” Again, Gauge added emphasis on that particular word, further confusing the diarch. “It was a dark and dreary night, and me old bones were on fire.”

“Uh...”

“I used to be brave, but that was before the plague hit.”

“What.”

“Maybe the helicopter is made of chocolate.”

Author's Note

And that's that. It's taken me far longer than it should've to get this story complete, but here we are, nonetheless.

It's not my greatest work, but then again, I've never claimed to be a great writer. I can only hope to improve.

As always, thanks to everyone who took the time to click on the link leading to this story, read it, leave a comment, upvote it, or add it to their favourites and whatnot. You guys are hella cool.

Chapter 1

Though the Asahi Empire has many armies to command, some stand above others. Take the Ortalian Legionnaires, for example. This civilisation of clone soldiers first arose from their homeworld, Ortalia. Their creators are long extinct. When their numbers were almost non-existent, they created the clones to continue their perpetual war for them once they were gone. The clones would’ve made themselves extinct – their world was an irradiated wasteland and their resources were just about depleted. The arrival of the Asahi Empire was welcomed. Kor’Gal managed to forge a peace treaty between the two factions and welcomed the Ortalians among them.

But that is a different story, for a different time, maybe.

In these war-torn times, the Ortalians have proved themselves great warriors. Their fearless, stoic ways of waging war have proved effective even against the Brood – a race of warrior insects that have billions of drones to command as they seek to consume everything.

But that, too, is a different story.

The place this particular story begins is Liguria – a Coalition world currently under siege by the Vasari. There, the 2954th Legion works in tandem with 31st Ligurian Reservists to safeguard the planet’s space elevator, the lifeline that has enabled them to hold their ground in the face of the Vasari onslaught. The Ortalian war vessels – huge, brick-shaped spaceships - hang ominously mere kilometres above the planet’s surface. Their destructive machines of war lumber ponderously across the war-torn landscape. Their soldiers build fortifications wherever they can, bolstering the militiamen’s defences significantly.

Though their arsenal is already vast and adept for any situation, the Ortalians do not hesitate to create new machines of war.
Executioner-class mechs are but one of these. A joint effort between Ortalians, Xalathii and Tallaxians, this particular design was created to bridge the gap between Rit’ka-built Sovereign-class mega walkers and the Coalition’s own Seven-Ten exoskeleton rigs.
The Ortalians’ fondness for hard-hitting weaponry didn’t go unnoticed by the Tallaxians. The mech’s armament consists of hardlight projectors, a matter collider, self-replenishing missile packs and various other projectile weaponry, all of it kept loaded by nanoforges that can produce a near-infinite amount of munitions, in accordance with the Ortalians’ tendency to operate for prolonged periods without support. Chain guns, assault cannons, and various flak turrets only supplement the mech’s destructive capabilities.
Ortalians designed the armour plating – thirty centimetres of starship-grade armour, strengthened to withstand just about anything the Vasari could throw at them. Energy surges, disintegrator bolts, and solid projectiles – it could endure them all. In accordance with the Empire-Coalition Treaty, they included a sophisticated medical unit in the chassis, to aid any wounded Coalition troops nearby.
Xalathii took it to a whole new level. They designed the circuits and the mainframe where a Xalathii-made intelligence would reside, operating the mech with utter efficiency. Secondary operative routines were also installed, in the unlikely occasion the mainframe was damaged. If that were the case, however, the mech would be intelligent enough to return to the staging area for repairs.

Discord knew nothing of this. Or cared. What he did care about was the amount of chaos here. Humans were always so chaotic, especially when fighting each other. Still, their toys seemed interesting. Especially the quadruped machines. Wherever they went, they sowed destruction and terror.

And the chaos they left in their wake was delicious. Empowering. Already, he felt stronger. Still, he needed more. So, he would now gamble all of his power. If he succeeded, he would once again be free from his stone prison. If he failed, however…

EXECUTIONER ONE, READY TO ENGAGE, the deep, rumbling voice boomed across the land, as many troops, both Coalition and Imperial, winced at the sudden announcement. Other Executioners proclaimed their status, moving to assume the formation as Ortalians’ warships hung in the air, kilometres above, an ever-present reminder of the Empire’s might. The ground shook as the four-legged mechs moved forward, a mixed battalion of troops and a squadron of other vehicles assigned to each of them hanging behind, ready to render assistance if need be. The Vasari fortifications squatted in the distance, tiny and frail by comparison.
EXECUTIONER SEVEN, CHARGING MATTER COLLIDER, another one declared, its missile batteries coughing, their report slightly muffled by the distance. A scattering of explosions manifested across the Vasari trenches.
EXECUTIONER THREE, DETECTING ANOMALOUS ENERGY READINGS. ALL UNITS, CAUTION IS ADVISED. I SUSPECT THE VASARI ARE UP TO SOMETHING, another unit informed others.
Oh, dearie me. Best be quick.
EXECUTIONER SEVEN, FIRING MATTER COLLIDER. ALL UNITS, BRACE FOR IMPACT.
Eh? No no no no no!
Frantically, Discord tried to push the mech away. What he succeeded in doing was divert the mech’s aim towards…

Executioner One.

Everything dissolved into light. As the allied troops struggled to understand what happened, staring at the crater where the first Executioner had been.

Elsewhere

The depths of Everfree Forest suddenly became brighter than the sun. Trees and boulders were blown away like they were held together by snot and Pritt Sticks.

Don’t ask.

Birds took to flight, disturbed by the explosion.

Far away in the Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia doubled over in pain.

In the castle gardens, a single statue chuckled mutely, heard by none.

++REBOOT++
++RUN SYSTEMS ASSESSMENT++
++SYSTEMS ANALYSIS… COMPLETE++
++SATELLITE UPLINK… INACTIVE++
++DAMAGE TO CHASSIS… MINIMAL++
++MUNITIONS… FULLY STOCKED++
++DAMAGE TO MAINFRAME… EXTENSIVE++
++NANITE REPAIR SYSTEMS… ACTIVE++
++ESTIMATED REPAIR TIME… FIVE WEEKS++
++ACTIVATING SECONDARY SUB-ROUTINES++
++COURSE OF ACTION… SET++
++PRIMARY OBJECTIVE… FIND A COALITION UNIT AND HAVE THEM GUIDE THIS CHASSIS TO THE STAGING AREA FOR REPAIRS++

With a metallic groan, Executioner One righted itself and moved forward.

Celestia wiped her muzzle clean. A whiff of vomit reached her nostrils and she gagged slightly.
By Creator, what just happened?
The silent room offered her no answers and she conjured a mop and a bucket, wiping the acrid mess up. Once she was done with her task, she reached out with her magic. What had just happened? She needed to find out. If there was a threat to her ponies, she would confront it.
Hmm… hmmmm… Her forehead creased in confusion, then, in sudden revelation.

Discord.

Now, Celestia, why do you always assume the worst of me?
Because you always are guilty.
You wound me.
I will, if you do not speak. I have little patience for your games. What did you do?
I have done nothing! The Elements robbed me of my power. I am quite powerless. I can do nothing. You, madam, are accusing me without reason.
Celestia once again reached out with her magic, and saw there was none to be found around Discord. In Equestria, there was little chaos.
…I’m keeping an eye on you, Discord. You’re not off the hook just yet.
Sure, go ahead.
Celestia glared at the statue before walking away, in dire need of a nap.

No.

No, no, no!

It screamed a mute howl, trying to establish a link to its secondary body, but it was a futile effort. All of the bypasses – even the tertiaries! – were fried. What could possibly accomplish such feat of destruction, passing through series of emergency systems and hardened armour? Could the Vasari already have found a fatal flaw, so glaringly debilitating that the whole Executioner series should be scrapped immediately? It did not know. What it did know was that it was effectively cut off from the rest of the world. Sure, it could access the scanners and cameras, but other than that, it could not interface with the weaponry or locomotion systems. Nor could it speak to anyone that would approach the chassis. It could appreciate the irony, though. Its predicament was like that of a statue. Stuck inside a shell, with no way to communicate to the world, despite all the work that’d gone into the building of its body.

Discord was up to something. That much was sure. The magical backlash had affected many unicorns. The effects were simple nosebleed at best. The worst cases had been seizures. Luckily, nopony had died. The hospitals were somewhat overfilled, though. The newsponies were relentlessly requesting that Celestia explain what had caused this. She turned down all of them, saying that she was working on finding answers. When they turned to Luna, however… the furious Moon princess sent them running for their lives. She had far less tolerance for reporters than her sister. Same went for nobles who had the gall to ask her if they may line their pockets with gold and jewels with funds that other ponies actually needed.

So, that was the reason Twilight was spending the week inside her library. She too, had been affected by the shockwave and, against Celestia’s assuring; she’d been poring over a mountain of books. So far, she had found little information that could be of aid to her. The only spells that she found that may be of use were merely for detecting remnants of magic. Putting that particular book aside with a frustrated growl, she resumed her search.

Several hours later

Twilight yawned widely, tossing another book to add to the mountain of books occupying most of the room. Her irritation was at an all-time high. But she needed to sleep. Like, a LOT. So off to bed it was for her. She just hoped her caffeine-addled mind wouldn’t be much trouble.

++SATTELLITE UPLINK… INACTIVE++
++DAMAGE TO CHASSIS… REPAIRED++
++DAMAGE TO MAINFRAME… SLIGHTLY LESS EXTENSIVE++
++COALITION TROOPS ENCOUNTERED… ZERO++
++EMPIRE TROOPS ENCOUNTERED… ZERO++
++TOPOGRAPHIC LANDMARKS RECOGNIZED… ZERO++
++HOW FAR DO THESE DAMN WOODS GO ON FOR++

The Executioner had been going for several hours now. And still no end to the sea of trees.

++WHERE AM I++

Its mind wasn’t overflowing with questions, but they didn’t help, either. It could only hope to find someone friendly. So it kept moving.

Fluttershy’s ears twitched as the persistent thuds, although muffled by distance. She could only guess what was happening in the Everfree Forest. Whatever it was, she did not want any part in it. So she did what she was best at. It would have been a perfect day if Twilight had been in a better mood. The purple unicorn was looking terrible, having admitted that she hadn’t slept the whole night.

“But it’s totally worth it, Fluttershy! I now know what to look for!” Her ear twitched, the much-dreaded maniac’s smile making its way across her face.
“Twilight, please calm down. If the princess doesn’t want you to bother yourself with the matter, maybe you should let her take care of it.”
“But I have found it!”
“What exactly have you found?”
“The cause for it all! The magical shockwave!”
“Twilight, you’re not making sense.” Fluttershy muttered quietly, growing unnerved with every passing moment. The last time Twilight had gone loco still lingered in her memory.
“Didn’t you feel it?”
“Twilight, you know I’m not a unicorn. I didn’t feel a thing. Rarity’s still fighting her migraine, though. I thought you’d be down for the count, too.”
“I was, for several hours, too. Took me a while to recover. Well, I just wanted to let you know where I’m heading.”
“Twilight, don’t. You know that the Everfree’s not safe, even more so now.”
“I’ll be fine, Fluttershy! Really!” Twilight chuckled, her mane messy and unkempt as she stood up, leaving with a somewhat unnerving farewell.
Oh, boy. I better tell the girls about this.

“So, it’s Want-It, Need-It all over again, Flutters?” Rainbow Dash sighed, idly tracing patterns in the grass.
“Yeah. She’s obsessed with whatever’s wading through the Everfree. What if she gets hurt?” Rarity frowned worriedly at that.
“We can’t let her wander off on her own, can we? What sort of friends would we be to her?”
“Ah’d say it’s decided, then. Let’s go!” Applejack nodded, much to others’ enthusiasm.

Well, except for Fluttershy.

Several hours later

With a metallic thud, the leg slammed into the ground. Another one was lifted. And again.

Rinse and repeat.

Executioner One trundled forwards, knowing no exhaustion.

Twilight tripped over another tree stump, landing face-first into mud. By Faust, she was tired. Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea, after all. Her coat was sodden with filth. Her saddlebags were scuffed and frayed.

++WHERE EXACTLY AM I++
++THIS LOOKS NOTHING LIKE LIGURIA++
++WHY IS THE UPLINK DEAD++

It found no answers in the overgrown landscape. The best it could hope to do was find some friendlies. Until then, it had to wait until the mainframe was repaired. It just hoped that the mech would not cause any trouble until then.

Twilight curled up against the dry, cold tree trunk, trying to warm herself up. Soaked in mud, she shivered, trying to light a pile of sodden wood with her magic.

A blip lit up on Executioner’s sensors.
What’s that? Someone sentient? Come on, you big, useless pile of electronics! Go and investigate!
EXECUTIONER ONE, DETECTING ANOMALOUS ENERGY READINGS. EXECUTIONER ONE, INVESTIGATING.
Wow. Way to give yourself away. Still, better than nothing.

*thud* *thud* *thud*

Twilight tensed up, turning away from her magically-created fire as several trees were smashed apart by what seemed to be the cause of her venture here. A slab of grey metal descended from above, impacting a boulder, shattering it with ease. Several shafts of light flickered into existence, blinding her as an otherworldly machine of metal loomed into existence fifty meters away. It came to a standstill, then, focusing on the speechless unicorn.

EXECUTIONER ONE HAS ARRIVED, the massive machine boomed as Twilight’s jaw hit the forest ground, so to speak.
“Twilight!” She heard a faint, but familiar voice reach her. It also got a reaction out of the alien machine. With a metallic groan, it straightened. Then it spoke.

EXECUTIONER ONE, ENGAGING HOSTILE TARGETS.

It shrieked in horror.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Chapter 10

Kermat-Cha #7239022945 – the equivalent of a Coalition captain - crawled through the mud on his stomach, gunfire zipping and buzzing above his head. Around him, more of his fellow clones did the same, slowly advancing below the firing arc of the Vasari, into relative safety. Several mortar shells shrieked as they dropped from above, swiftly terminating numerous clones. Yet, no retreat order was given. No calls for a rally point were made. #7239022945 smiled grimly behind his helmet as the Vasari trench drew closer.

Those Vasari just don't get it. We are the clone legionaries. We never retreat. We never surrender. Shoot us all, if you want to. There's much more of us than there is of you.

Loud thumps drew his attention, and a machine of grey, battle-scarred metal popped up in his peripheral vision, and the blinking IFF tag made his grin widen – it was the Rebel Queen herself.

Oh, you are in for it now, Vasari. With a grunt, the clone hauled himself upwards, bellowing into his throat-mic.

“FORWARD, LEGIONNARIES! FOLLOW THE QUEEN! CHARGE, FOR ORTALIA!” This order was met with a loud approval as the rest of the white-clad soldiers jumped to their feet, trudging eagerly after the sole Seven-Ten amidst the battlefield, ignoring the gunfire coming their way. The Queen herself was hammering ahead, spraying the entrenchment with shells from the autocannon her mech was wielding. The hostile gunners took cover, allowing the charge gain momentum, with white-clad figures trudging through the sodden ground, and a grey one leading them. Even so, the opposition remained fierce, and #7239022945 saw numerous bio-sign icons wink out in the side of his HUD, as the mortar fire intensified, their enemy desperate to stop them.

Yes, that's right. Be afraid. Be very, very afraid. There is nowhere for you to escape now.

7239022945 awoke a moment later, noticing a couple of things at once. He was on his back. One of his arms was missing. Shrapnel was digging into his left side, making every movement uncomfortable, to say the least. The armor's medical systems kicked in, severing the ragged stump of his lower right arm, to ensure infection wouldn't set in. He'd get a flash-cloned replacement after the battle. A moment later, he was roughly pulled upwards by a big, metal arm.

“Today's a bad day for dying, wouldn't you say so?”

A feral grin was what the Rebel Queen received in lieu of an answer and she handed a weapon to him – his gravity field rifle. Wielding the dangerous piece of Tallaxian weaponry, he was about to rally what legionaries he could find, when he saw the Queen walk towards a burning Vasari hovercraft, where a number of shell-shocked Vasari cowered, trying to regain their senses. She drew a brutal-looking knife from a slot on her exoskeleton armour, a low, malicious chuckle reaching his ears...

Celestia stopped the footage, feeling queasy. She paused, uncertainty taking hold of her once more. The human leader was obviously capable of horrific acts of cruelty, if the rest of archives were anything to go by. The diarch shuddered to think what would happen if the human's wrath were to directed against Equestria, but she doubted it would come to that. Well, at least she hoped so.

Those concerns aside, she could not help but admire the Rebels' leader – she pursued her objectives with unparalleled ferocity, fighting with a single-minded determination that was undeniably intimidating. It was by her efforts that the dissidents of the galaxy gathered beneath her flag, ready to fight and die for her, and the notion of so many disparate races working side by side was rather humbling. Still, she was anxious when it came to meeting them in person – their leader seemed to waver unpredictably between being either a cold, ruthless warlord or a benevolent leader to the disenfranchised, turning their efforts towards the betterment of all.

She hummed to herself as she tried to remember how long ago it had been when Executioner had arrived to Equestria. It certainly had been at least three weeks, and she hoped it would be done with its mainframe repairs soon. Letting out a thoughtful sigh, she opened another file, and let her eyes wander across it as she took in the information.

Luna shook her head, trying to stay awake. She was less than successful at it. Somepony had swapped the coffee in her quarters with decaf. Though the Night Court was ending in slightly over an hour, she was fighting to remain attentive, and she cursed whoever had carried out this dastardly deed. So she sat there, paying very little attention to whatever Blueblood was prattling on about. Or, tried to, at least – his voice kept grating on her ears, slowly chipping away at her patience. Gauge had slinked off to somewhere, and hadn't shown herself ever since the Night Court began. Though the alicorn worried over her surrogate daughter, she doubted the miniature automata was in any trouble, considering that she was cut from the same cloth as Executioner One. Well, at least it seemed like that.

“...Luna, are you even paying attention?” Blueblood's voice cut through her day-er, nightdreaming (Yes, it's a word, the Moon Horse says so.) and she grumbled in annoyance.

“I wish I was unable to.”

Cue overdramatic gasp of insultedness (Word trademarked by Princess Luna's sleep-deprived mind.) from Prince Blueblood. “Excuse me?”

The tone of his voice finally broke the alicorn's patience and she glared at the white unicorn. “You heard me, Blueblood. You are so boring, arrogant and obnoxious that I have even forgotten what you came here to bother me about.” That earned her another offended noise from him.

“I was talking about clearing out a portion of the Whitetail Woods to build my newest mansion. But I suppose it would take an actual princess to understand the importance of this subject.” Blueblood responded haughtily, having just finished digging his own grave, yet remaining blissfully unaware, his nose stuck in the air. The various Lunar Guards present stiffened up, their golden eyes throwing murderous glares at the self-absorbed noblepony. But, as we have established, his nose was already approaching stratosphere, and thus, he did not notice their displeasure.

He also did not notice the giant metal centipede that burst through the floor and swallowed him whole before he could so much as protest to this change of situation. Gauge flittered from the newly-created hole in the floor, whistling cheerfully to herself.

“Hi, mommy!”

“Er... Hello, Gauge.” The blue alicorn looked at the hole in the floor. “Um... I take it this is your doing?”

“Roger that, soldier, making a 360!” Gauge spun about for a moment, coaxing out a smile from Luna.

“So, where's he being taken to?”

“Don't worry, he'll be handled by top men.” Gauge chittered, landing on Luna's shoulder.

“Who?”

“Top... men.” Gauge whispered conspirationally, before chirping. “We're the Able-Fit squad. No injured guys in this squad.” A moment later, she took off. “Oh, god, I'm Bernie Crane! I think we made it to 1967.” Spouting inanities, Gauge cartwheeled off. “Wait a minute. I think we can get to the point we can fly. Only if you believe in Christmas cheer! I belieeeve~” With that, she rounded a corner and disappeared from sight. Luna chuckled to herself before returning her attention to the line of petitioners.

“Next!”

'Gauge' was a fluke, in all regards. Xalathii creations occasionally tended to gain their own sapience, but the nano-fabric matrices in their sentience cores prevented them from gaining the same level of intelligence as a naturally-created Xalathii, considering that they had been created for something else entirely. Nevertheless, the newborn was intriguing in its own worth, providing the Executioner's intelligence a small amount of entertainment as it ambled through the Royal Castle's interview, confusing those who worked there – it was definitely better than simply waiting for the mainframe to be repaired.

If it was lucky, the subroutines would re-establish contact with the mainframe in approximately six days. Until then, all it could do was wait and observe, which it did not mind all that much by now – the time spent doing so would help expand its knowledge of this world, although it would keep this planet's existence a secret, and would ask the Rebel leadership to do the same – little good would come from the ponies being dragged into a war they didn't even know of.

A ping on the sensors drew its attention to the purple pony standing nearby, and it recognised this one immediately – Twilight Sparkle. The pony struck a familiar chord with it whenever she paid visit – she always was eager to pursuit knowledge, to unravel whatever mysteries that presented themselves to her. An erudite scholar like her would no doubt find a way to aid the Empire for the betterment of all. Perhaps once the war was over, it would return as an emissary of his people.

“Hello, Executioner! May I come aboard?”

ACKNOWLEDGED, HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL ONE, the mech responded, opening one of the access hatches and extending a ladder to let the purple unicorn inside.

Twilight sat down, eyeing her surroundings. Even though she frequently visited their otherworldly guest, she still hadn't gotten over the feeling of awe every time she saw it. As with every other visit, she would peruse through the data made available to her, soaking in the knowledge from other worlds. She'd learned about the Xalathii, Ortalians, Tallaxians, and many more of the races that made up the Asahi Empire. Today, however, she turned her attention to Coalition's most stalwart allies – the Asli.

The Asli homeworld, Hilaera, had been discovered solely because of an intercepted Vasari transmission, during the first months of the war, shortly after the humans' Trade Order had been reformed into the Traders' Emergency Coalition. Fierce battles were fought over this world before the Vasari relented, and Coalition forces liberated the besieged aliens. Grateful for their saviors' efforts, the Asli joined the Coalition, vowing to aid humanity against the aggressors.

The Asli were very peaceful and diplomatic by nature and would have aided the Vasari if they had asked for assistance – but Vasari sought slaves and resources, not allies, and invaded their homeworld without a second thought. Though the Asli are patient and tolerant, their attackers crossed many lines by their blatant acts of hostility. Infuriated, the Asli did what had only happened a scant few times in their long history – they took up arms and went to wage a guerilla war against the Vasari. Their superior knowledge of terrain and uncanny ability to remain unseen served the Asli well against Vasari infantry, but they had no armoured vehicles of their own, and what few fliers they had were large, slow and unarmed – easy targets for the Vasari, whom had a hefty supply of both. Even so, the Asli refused to give in – once irked, they were a force to be reckoned with. Their defiance wouldn't have ended well, hadn't the Coalition arrived. The Asli were victorious with their newfound allies' help, but the damage was already done – many of their kin were gone, either slain or taken as slaves by their foes. Even so, they formed an alliance with the humans and fought to fight off the invaders.

The Asli were an ancient people, their history spanning many thousands of years. In many ways, they had reached the distinct milestones of civilization earlier than humans, but were content with remaining on their homeworld. In fact, they had been on the cusp of space flight when the Vasari had invaded. Despite their technological advances, many Asli lived as farmers or hunters, unwilling to leave their settlements for the big cities. It was an odd mix of the future and past, with the bustling metropolises and rural communities working together.

Their homeworld was a verdant paradise, much like Equis was. Nell-Tiray, the Asahi leader, had taken it up a notch or two with the help of some sort of an artifact. Frustratingly enough, Twilight was unable to find out what either the Asahi or the artifact had been doing there, seeing as Nell-Tiray had been missing for quite a while if the databanks were anything to go by. Although she suspected the information was locked away for a reason, so she let that particular topic rest.

The Asli were a long-lived folk, with some of their people being around well since before the humanity's arrival, making them more than three thousand years old. Such persons were revered, having accumulated vast amounts of knowledge during their lives. Physically, they were not very different from humans - most of their body structure was the same, but that was where the similarities ended. Asli had no hair, which was replaced by tendrils that served a similar purpose, growing longer as one grew older. Long, well-kept tendrils were a point of pride among their people. Their world's atmosphere was much richer in oxygen, meaning most Asli were taller than the average human. This tended to make an Asli somewhat lethargic when off-world. In accordance to their world's nutrient-rich flora and fauna, their metabolism was noticeably higher than a human's, meaning an Asli would recover from an injury faster than a human. Their skin tones were also varied – a desert-dwelling Asli would generally have a light skin pigment to deal with the heat, while those in the arctic regions tended to have a darker skin.

There were three different kinds of Asli – the plains-dwellers, mountainkin, and waterkin. The first were the most common of all, and had no interesting features, apart from being, you know, aliens.

The mountainkin, as their name said, lived in the mountains. They were more inclined towards aggression than other Asli, and were excellent hunters and scouts. Their harsh way of life had turned them into fearsome opponents, and were highly valued among the Coalition.

The waterkin were noticeably different, with the lower halves of their bodies replaced by long, flexible tails that made them incredibly agile in their element – water. The waterkin were, as their name hinted, amphibious, and flourished in the oxygen-rich waters of their homeworld. Their experience at stealth made them excellent infiltrators in places others would struggle. But their most valued ability was their saliva, which proved to be highly debilitating. The waterkin were able to control the toxicity, which ranged from mildly inebrating to full-on cardiac arrest – the waterkin were able to kiss others to death, if they so desired. The fact that their mercurial, wily nature drove them to cause trouble with this ability probably didn't help things in the least, with some soldiers waking up either naked, locked up, financially worse off, or some combination of three. As Twilight read on, she found out – and was disgusted by the fact – that some waterkin had been abducted solely because of that ability, and used to create very potent drugs by black market dealers. The Coalition had been cracking down on that, with limited success. Grumbling to herself, disgusted that there were individuals who'd stoop to such actions, she picked another topic.

Oddly, the Asli were quite secretive when it came to reproduction, although some facts were known – they had no male equivalent of their species, but could mate with a number of other species, as long as the partners shared a number of genetical similarities. However, no matter what precautions were taken, mating always resulted in the Asli partner's pregnancy, and as such, relationships were taken seriously, and tended to last long. The pregnancy would always result in a single child – twins were incredibly rare happenstance, and, to date, there were no record of triplets being born.

Twilight closed the data entry, humming to herself thoughtfully – Executioner had provided her with so much information, yet hadn't inquired about Equestria even once. This had to be rectified.

“Executioner, you've freely provided all this knowledge to me. I think it's time I returned the favor.”

AN EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION IS ACCEPTABLE, HIGH VALUE INDIVIDUAL ONE, the mech responded and Twilight grinned, standing up.

“Then it's a good thing I brought this along.” Her horn lit up as she pulled out her dataslate from her saddlebags.

Celestia sipped on her drink quietly, levitating her own dataslate up as she watched the video footage of the Rebel Queen aiding her engineers in rescuing people from a collapsed building. As she watched the video, she understood why the Rebels followed her with such fervor and loyalty – she fought at their side, whether it be in space, air, or ground, never shirking from her duties, both as a monarch and a soldier. She had that flame few others had, the soul and mind of a true leader, one that the alicorn herself was a little jealous of – Lieia Grisova had risen through the ranks of Coalition's military in large part due to her single-minded determination, and even though her military record was studded with medals and ribbons, Celestia was worried by the sheer recklessness of the woman – it was almost as if she had a death wish. However, she did recall one fact about the human – she was one of the most loathed beings among the Vasari, considering how many of their kind she'd killed. When she had been taken captive by the Vasari, who knows what had been done to the ex-Colonel.

Celestia's heart ached at the revelation – Lieia Grisova was a tormented soul, with few precious people she could talk to without worrying about them judging her. Thus, she sought to end her pain by inflicting as much terror on the Vasari as she could, and Celestia wanted to hold the woman close to her, hug her and tell that everything would be okay, that she could help-

Discord blanched, really wishing that he could do something to drown out the alicorn's thoughts. Then again, he had worked a spell into one of the staff and have her deliver some spiked tea to the diarch, and thus, was stuck with hearing Celestia's thoughts as they turned more suggestive with every second, each and every one of them. But, such was the price he had to pay for freedom. The shenanigans with the griffon emperor had done well to bolster his strength, but he still needed more.

Soon. Soon I shall be free and spread delightful chaos, an-

Please, let me rest my head upon your human bosom.

'kay.

Oh, good heavens~

Author's Note

mfw I had finished writing this chapter

Omake The First - Life insurance is now 50% off

Luna yawned slightly as she entered her private quarters. The place was lit, meaning somepony was here. As she trotted forwards, she saw who it was - Gauge, who was reading a book - said book didn't look like any she'd ever read herself.

An image adorned its front cover - the visage of a human, if Celestia's description was anything to go by.

The book's title did confuse her somewhat. It said 'Understanding Fractions with Marco Bodt.'

Curious, Luna leaned forwards a little, intending to take a closer look, when the small automata snapped the book shut, pushing it aside with an irritated sigh.

"Looks like someone tore half the pages out of my copy..."

"Huh?" Luna queried, making her daughter jump in surprise.

"HOLY MOTHER THERESA ON THE HOOD OF A MERCEDES BENZ!"

The outburst made Luna jump back and she blinked in surprise. "Uh... What?"

"Don't scare me like that again, Mom." The metal bug calmed herself before alighting on Luna's shoulder.

"Oh. You, er, talk normally now?"

"Collectors did the Collectors and the Reapers stole a Collector ship!" Gauge exclaimed, waving her forelegs about, leaving Luna none the wiser as she eyed the book Gauge had discarded moments ago.

"Um... Do you want something to eat?"

"I AM BECOME DEATH, DESTROYER OF WORLDS." The words, even though somewhat ominous, made Luna chuckle and she patted Gauge on the head.

"One of these days, I am going to teach you how to speak properly."

Author's Note

You know what's going to suck when new people join the AoT fandom?

Dead Marco jokes all over again.

Ah, well, at least it'll be only half as bad as before.

*snerk*

On a more serious and real life-related note, I've gotten a work placement. This means I will have less time to ~~procrastinate~~write.

Chapter 12

“Executioner, calm down! What's gotten into you?” Twilight shouted irately at the restless mech. Following the COLOSSAL FOGHORN NOISE from the orchestral fiasco, it had declared that it was mating season, and tried to run off into the yonderish yonder. Twilight had put a quick stop to that.

THIS UNIT MUST GO. THIS UNIT'S PLANET NEEDS IT.

“And how exactly do you plan to get off-world if you can't even jump?”

AWWW.

“Now, just calm down and relax or something. I'm sure your friends will come along soon and fix you up.” She smiled a bit, patting the mech's leg.

ACKNOWLEDGED.

Twilight smiled a bit wider as she trotted away. Sometimes, it was mind-numbingly easy to placate the machine, yet there were times it would be easier to play Jenga blindfolded than to keep Executioner One calm.

DO YOU WANT A CHEESEBURGER?

“I rest my case...” Twilight muttered resignedly as she trotted back towards the mech. She was about to speak when its horn blared and its voice followed moments after.

PRIORITY ONE TRANSMISSION RECEIVED. RETRIEVAL PROTOCOL INITIATED. LAUNCHING RELAY BEACON. With a shrill shriek, a small object rocketed from the mech's hull, rapidly soaring upwards, a blue flame propelling it. Curious, Twilight stepped closer, casting a last wary glance at the now-distant object high in the sky.

“Uh... Executioner? What just happened?”

THIS UNIT HAS RECEIVED A MESSAGE OF HIGH IMPORTANCE. EXECUTIONER ONE HAS DEPLOYED A PROBE DEVICE TO ALERT IMPERIAL OR COALITION UNITS OF ITS LOCATION.

It took Twilight a moment to understand the words, but when she realised what the mech said to her, their meaning hit her like a sledgehammer. “Y-you mean... they're coming here?” She muttered out in disbelief.

AFFIRMATIVE.

Oh. Oh dear.

She had to tell Princess Celestia about this right away! Quickly, she turned around and galloped towards the Golden Oaks library.

“SPIIIKE!”

A moment later, the startled drake fell down the stairs, several half-eaten gems clattering in his wake.

“Ack~ What is it, Twilight? What sort of disaster is to befall Ponyville this time?” He asked, sitting up as he regained his bearings.

“No time! Get me a quill and a scroll, stat!” The frantic unicorn snapped.

“Alright, alright, sheesh. I'll be right back...” He grumbled, running off, and returned a moment later, clutching said items. “So, what happened, anyways?”

“Well, I'm not quite sure myself. I need to consult Princess Celestia about this first.” Her horn lit up as she dragged over the parchment and quill, scribbling frantically. Time was of the essence as of now. She didn't know how long would it take for the Coalition to find the beacon, and that was what worried her – a good number of the Rebels' soldiers were xenophobic and slow to trust, though they had a good reason to – the Advent and Vasari had brought colossal devastation upon them. It would be foolish not to prepare the Guard for the inevitable contact.

Returning her attention to the task at hoof, she finished the letter, passing it to Spike. The dragon blew a plume of green flame upon it and they both watched as it disappeared.

“So, what's the hurry?” He turned to look at the nervous Twilight.

“Oh, nothing serious, it's just that we might get visited by a bunch of ruthless, trigger-happy aliens.”

“Huh. Oka-wait, what?”

Twilight sighed, rubbing her face. This was going to be a long day. “Exactly what it sounds like. Come on, let's gather up the girls and explain this to them.” The adolescent drake shrugged as he jumped onto her back.

“Right on. So, now that you've notified the Princess, can you tell me what exactly happened?”

“Well, it said that it'd received some sort of a message – an important one, at that. I guess it triggered something and Executioner just launched some sort of a beacon.” That got Spike's attention, alright.

“Oooh. Well, I can see now why you were in such a hurry.”

“Exactly! So many things can go wrong with this, I don't even know where to begin!” Twilight exclaimed, then sighed wearily. “Let's just deal with these things as they come, I guess.”

Spike shrugged noncomitally. “Whatever you say, Twilight.”

Celestia blinked in surprise as the scroll of parchment dropped onto the bed. Curious, she picked it up, unrolling it and began to read. Only a moment passed before she discarded it and sat up, her horn lighting up as she dragged over several scrolls of parchment – orders would need to be issued to the Royal Guard to hopefully prevent any trouble with the Rebel soldiers, should any issues arise.

As she did so, the forgotten dataslate lit up, beeping loudly. Curious, she picked it up, eyeing the screen – a message had been sent by the Executioner. Humming softly to herself, she opened it. A brief moment of static ensued before it resolved into a voice.

“To anyone who might be listening to this message – this is the Rebel Queen. This infernal stalemate, this civil war has dragged on for long enough. Now, then – only those with a Coalition or Imperial equipment will be able to make sense of this data.” The screen blinked again, and Celestia's heart missed a beat – there were locations of weapons caches, supply stores hidden away, flotillas lying in wait, hidden from prying eyes, names and whereabouts of undercover Rebel contacts, manoeuvres and timetables for them, rally points, orders, tactics... It was a mind-staggering undertaking. Insanely ambitious, daring and capable of causing untold amounts of damage if executed properly.

“To the Vasari I say this – your people are on the verge of extinction. Your commanders continuously churn out clones of century-old Vasari, hoping to drown us in their blood, uncaring that the more they clone, the more the copies are warped and corrupted. Eventually, you will be left with nothing but grotesque things, a far cry of what they once were. The Vasari were once a great people, I'm told. Join the Rebellion, and I shall give you the chance to be such once more.”

Celestia's ears perked up as she continued listening to the message, her eyes glancing across the dataslate.

“To the Advent I have this to say – your blind drive for revenge is your own undoing. In your rush to claim Leydan Rim, you've left your supply lines unprotected. My raiding fleets have been draining you of precious resources and soon, you will have nothing but starved crews and unfuelled fleets. But, revenge is something I understand. Our forefathers exiled your entire race into deep space for reasons forgotten. I cannot undo this transgression - but I can give you your homeworld back. I will undo the lockdown imposed upon it, and let your people re-settle it. But if you'd rather fight until the bitter end, that's fine by me. Your so-called deviants can look past our history – that is why they joined the Rebellion.”

Celestia hummed to herself thoughtfully for a moment as the message drew to a close.

“Do not give up. Do not lose hope. Together, we shall bring an end to this war. Follow the instructions embedded in this message and we will prevail.” With that, the transmission ended, leaving Celestia deep in thought. Several long moments later, she set the dataslate down, resuming her previous task – to prepare for the eventual arrival of the Rebels.

The thrum of engines was only one of the sounds that permeated the dropship's interior. The chatter between Cara and Naela hadn't abated, the craft's pilot was still communicating with the other fliers that followed them, descending rapidly into the planet's atmosphere, the dropship's hull was letting out the occasional creak as it coped with the additional g-forces. The rest of the troops onboard were also talking among themselves – a mix of humans, Vasari and Asli – and cast the occasional nervous glance at the imposing figure standing in the middle of the troop bay. Truthfully, they had the right to be nervous – Lieia knew she was an intimidating sight, clad as she was in her old 1st-gen EXO power armor that towered above everyone present. Only one hundred and fifty of those had been manufactured in the opening months of the war – and each unit was worth over 300 billion credits.

With her ascension to the throne, she'd decided to add golden markings to her suit, just to humor her sister. Strips of golden paint had been added to her trusty armor, along with the simple coat of arms Rebels marked their possessions with – two vertical lines supporting a short, wide V. Though she'd often groused about doing so, Lieia saw the need for it – in hard times, a reminder of what they fought for did wonders to keep the troops' morale above waterline, so to speak.

“We're entering AA range now! Everyone buckle up!”

Immediately, her soldiers strapped themselves into their seats. Lieia sat down on the floor with a clunk, clamping her NX-61 rifle to the magnetic plate on her back. Outside the protective shell of their dropship, the muffled thumps of explosions could be heard as the Vasari anti-aircraft turrets reacted to hostile presence.

“Taking hostile fire! Evasive man-” That was as far as the pilot got before a cluster missile struck the dropship's cockpit, ending his life in a flash. With the shrieking clamour of torn metal, the dropship began to plummet, smoke filling the troop bay with the smell of blood, oil and burnt wiring. With a groan, Lieia stood up, her armor's helmet assembling into place around her head. She leapt up the now-sloped floor, crawling up to a control panel, punching in the release code. The explosive bolts blew, the craft's ramp whirling away as she turned to look at the soldiers who'd unbuckled by now and were clinging to their seats' edges.

“Get going, people! Gravity ain't gonna wait on anyone!” A chorus of 'yes, ma'am' followed as they clambered up and past her, rocketing away with the help of their jump packs. All but one, that is.

“Lee, come on!” The Rebel leader ignored Cara's cry, instead entering new data into what was left of the dropship's nav-computer. With another tortured groan, the craft began to bank.

“Cara, go on ahead! I'll meet you down on the ground!” The white-armored woman stumbled around for a moment.

“Wait, are you going to crash this thing into an AA turret? Are you insane?!”

“You know me so well! And you already know the answer to that question! Now, promise you won't hold this against me!” A confused 'huh' was all her sister managed to get out before she found herself tossed out of the stricken flier.

“Asshooole~”

Smirking to herself, Lieia turned around in preparation for the impact, just as her comms link crackled into life.

“My Queen, we have just received a Priority One message! It says-” Lieia interrupted the man as she saw the dull metal of a flak turret rush up to greet her.

“Uh, give me a moment. I'll be right back.”

With a colossal crash, the burning dropship tore through the metal surface, obliterating the turret's magazine, where the missiles were kept, a great gout of flame welling up a moment later as the potent munitions detonated. Another long moment passed before the power lines also erupted, blinding flashes blooming across the desolate landscape, soon reaching other emplacements. With the Vasari's primary air defences gone, the fliers began to descend en-masse, banking and dodging whatever secondary ordnance the Vasari managed to send skyward. Soon, hundreds of feet and dozens of threads churned the ground as the attack began in earnest.

The grating noise probably meant something was stuck in her armor's shoulderpiece, this something most likely being a piece of metal. Groaning to herself, Lieia pushed something heavy aside, tentatively standing up. When the floor didn't collapse under her weight, she sighed and continued onwards, digging through the wreckage until she clambered out in a rather undignified fashion. A moment later, her earpiece crackled.

“Alright, I'm back! Now, what's this about a message?”

“We have received a transmission from the flotilla that you sent out to find Executioner One. They have found our missing mech.”

“God, this is incredibly rude of me, but I'll have to put you on hold again. Tell the Ortalians to initiate Hammerdown.”

“Affirmative. Prepare for Hammerdown.”

A couple of moments passed before the skies became a swarm of activity as several Ortalian Voidhammers carried out a precision rift jump into the planet's atmosphere – the manoeuvre displaced millions of cubic meters of air, sending smoke and dust scattering. As the huge vessels stabilised themselves, massive bays on their undersides yawning open, each Voidhammer launched four Executioner-class mechs, while heavy landers ponderously descended in their wake, seeking out prime landing sites to unload their battle-ready cargo.

With ground-shaking booms, the Executioners landed, their horns blaring as their time came - the time to live up to their namesake.

Letting out a low, menacing chuckle, Lieia unclasped the NX-61 rifle from her back, casually striding towards battle, her teeth showing in a maniacal, bloodthirsty grin. The gods of war demanded blood, and she was more than glad to oblige.

A burst of plasma washed across her shields and she turned to face her would-be challenger – a three-legged Vasari mech lumbering towards her. The rifle was put back in its place as she leapt at the machine, grappling with one of its limbs. With a roar, Lieia ripped it off, slamming the newly-christened club into its former owner.

“STOP HITTING YOURSELF!”

WHAM

“STOP HITTING YOURSELF!”

WHAM

“STOP!”

WHAM

“HITTING!”

WHAM

“YOURSELF!!!”

Letting loose a blood-chilling cackle, she brought her makeshift weapon down on the mech's cockpit – the canopy crumpled like wet cardboard from the monstrous blow and the machine toppled over, its pilot dead.

“Fuckin' idiot killed himself. People these days...” Lieia tossed the useless piece of metal aside, smirking cruelly as she grabbed the NX-61 once more, resuming her solitary stride towards the Vasari fortifications.

The Vasari commander under Lieia's heel was one arrogant sack of shit, that's for sure, spouting his bullshit about how the Dark Fleet would win in the end. Nonetheless, she was more interested in the contents of the wayward Executioner's message – when she'd initially been informed that only she could access the data, she had hoped to find out something crucial to the war. The way things stood now, well, she was more convinced her crumbling sanity had at long last called quits, in the same manner children would stick their fingers into their ears and chant 'I am not listening' ad infinitum. That thought had been somewhat dissuaded once she'd shared the data with Cara.

And then everything was Nicolas Cage and nothing hurt EXCEPT FOR THIS CRUMB-COVERED HARNESS OW

Shaking her head, Lieia returned to here and now. “Well, Cara? What do you think?”

“I'm thinkin' I shoulda checked whether or not any waterkin spat into my drink before gettin' onboard that dropship. In all seriousness, however... This is important. They ain't got any fleets or orbital defences or anythin'. I can see why good ol' E1 wants to keep this secret. So, whatcha gonna do?”

“For starters, I need you to contact Nell-Tiray. I need her to take Deliverance and a small flotilla to this Equestria. I'll have some tea, biscuits and a nice chat with the locals, pick up the Executioner from daycare, and head on back home – simple as that. After all...” With a bit of effort, she crushed the Vasari bastard under her foot, turning him into so much mush. “There's no reasons why I can't be civil about this, right?”

“None whatsoever, sis.”

Author's Note

First contact's going to take place in the next chapter. Should be good, methinks.

(The song title is Hammerdown, but whoever uploaded it goofed.)

Omake The Second - Of tutus and pocket change

"'Pegasi can't do ballet', indeed... I'll show her, I'll show all of them..!" Rainbow Dash grumbled to herself as she dug through the umpteenth drawer in the Carousel Boutique's storeroom. "Let's see. I know she hid it somewhere here..."

Absorbed as she was in her task, she did not notice a small, shiny bug wink into existence onto a nearby windowsill. The cyan mare shoved her forelegs deeper inside the drawer, tongue lolling from her mouth in concentration. A moment later, Rainbow Dash exclaimed victoriously.

"AHA! There's my tutu!"

Gauge (Of course it's Gauge, who else would it be?) elected to remain silent as the pegasus shimmied deeper inside the drawer, her hindlegs kicking in excitement. "Almost... just a little further..." A couple of garments of questionable decency were tossed out.

"GOTCHA!" With a triumphant cry, Rainbow shuffled out from the drawer, a bright pink tutu held in her forehooves. "Voila! Now I just..." She stood up, turning around to leave the storeroom when she froze, finally noticing Gauge. "Just..." A weak, nervous grin split the mare's face as she slowly went back to the locker, stuffing the tutu back in the half-open drawer. "Just saw this drawer open. Thought I'd close it for Rarity." She pushed the drawer shut. "See? Closed."

"..." Gauge continued to stare.

"Alright, what's it gonna take to make you keep this to yourself?"

"Four hundred thousand bits."

"What the hay?!" Rainbow's jaw hit the floor for a moment. "What do you need all that money for?"

"Sensible haircut." Gauge replied. "But, failing that, I'll need about tree fiddy."

It was about then that Rainbow Dash finally noticed Gauge was about ten metres tall and a plesiosaurus, to boot. "WHAT THE-"

"MRUOOOOGH!"