An Alloyed Hope

by computerneek


Chapter 6

“Princess?”

Princess Luna turns towards the guard returning from the front; they had completed their mass teleport to the pad in the back of Fort Dash just eight seconds ago.  “What is it?”

“The walls have not been breached, so much as removed.  Something- my guess is a very powerful magical weapon- made a crater half the size of the fort, right where the gate once stood.”

“Say what now?”


That was a fairly risky, yet easy, battle.  Our target is wearing a necklace, similar to the yellow pegasus’, that she donned immediately after my mortar bombardment; she has a good strong kick, as well.  Radio- my current nickname for the aforementioned pegasus- then landed nearby, galloping up; it is clear they recognized one another, even through the armor.  This is good; I colored the armor to allow for maximum recognizability without making it look weird.  After our target- nickname ‘Apple’- dodged an enemy sword strike, Radio put her armor’s strength assist to use and started kicking hostiles.  She also started using her wings as weapons; I observed wingless hostiles flying as high as 93.41 meters.

Next, Sergeant- my nickname for the surviving soldier; if the pony ranking system is similar to the Concordiat’s and I have correlated the emblems on soldiers in the fort correctly, that is his rank.  He landed shortly after Radio began her show, and immediately offered the hostiles a practical demonstration of the killing power of the MK IV Magnetic Pulse Rifle (Modified).  My modification to the weapon is only in the firing gear, such as to make it suitable for a pony to use; function and power remain unchanged.  Apple watched him for a couple shots and took a position between the two, striking at any hostiles that attempted to slip in an attack at Radio & Sergeant’s “unprotected” rears.

After Apple had taken out two more hostiles, I finally made my decision.  Radio has previously shown shyness, possibly to a fault; while this conflicts with her angry charge during that battle, she showed no inclination to use any of the weapons I provided- even the laser stun guns built into her faceplate.  Additionally, Apple had demonstrated the strength to absorb the kickback of the MPR(M)- alongside enough brainpower to use it safely, even without the instructional material I provided Radio and Sergeant.  Thus, I remotely disengaged the maglocks holding Radio’s MPR(M); as intended, as Radio ignored this event, Apple retrieved it, studied Sergeant’s stance briefly, and took aim.

I cringed inside at her initial stance; she had first assumed one similar to Sergeant’s, but she lacks the mass of the MK XIV Hostile Environment Exoskeletal Armor (Modified) I have provided him.  Without that mass, the weapon would likely knock her over, possibly hurting her.  She aims and fires- and, as expected, it knocked her over.  She demonstrated a greater level of resilience than expected, though, and hopped right back up, apparently unharmed; she then demonstrated an understanding of physics in her new stance, which allowed her to transfer the kickback into the ground at her hooves with minimal difficulty.  My tactical cores cannot devise a stance that would offer more than 3.39% greater dissipation.

Apple’s aim could use some work- but is far more accurate than I expected.  Perhaps she participated in military exercises at some point?  Her aim is approximately 4.17% better than Sergeant’s would be without his HEEA(M)’s aim assist.

The MPR(M) has deep magazine capacity, but it’s not infinite.  Sergeant managed to deplete the 200-round magazine in 2.31 minutes- or approximately one round every 0.693 seconds.  He averaged 7.49 kills per shot; this beats Apple’s 4.72 average quite handily- not to mention Apple’s 372.41% slower fire rate.  He pulled the trigger on his empty weapon exactly twice after his last shot; he may have suspected a misfire, but evidently flagged it as unusable, returning it to storage position.  Apple offered hers to him, but he declined, switching to his MK VII Gravitic Pulser (Modified).  This weapon possesses only 37.91% the raw killing power of the MPR(M), and a smaller 50-round magazine, but he has two of them- and demonstrated a willingness to utilize two weapons at once.  Apple resumed her fire- and he had a dozen shots or so left in each weapon when I rose over the hill.

Rose is one way to say it, I suppose.  It might be more appropriate to say I took off from the hill at 793.41km/h1.  I had cast some warnings onto Radio’s and Sergeant’s HUDs, alerting them to my fire plans; Sergeant responded as any soldier might, moving quickly to cover Apple against any possible missed shots- and probably assuming Radio’s armor would protect her.  My first tertiary Hellbore fired just 0.731 seconds after takeoff; hardly 1.683 seconds after takeoff, one of my antipersonnel flak cannons released the last low-yield volley, and the last hostile met its end.  So, easy.  All three ponies then looked around the battlefield as I landed and decelerated towards them.  My countergravs remained offline through the entire jump, lasting almost 18.491 seconds.  Had I used regular yield ammo in the flak cannons, they would have torn through the HEEA(M)s like tissue paper.

Once I pulled up and dropped a loading ramp, some words were exchanged.  I have not yet gathered enough samples- or assembled enough algorithms- for any understanding beyond that which Radio likes saying when I give her stuff, which appears to be an expression of gratitude, similar to ‘thank you’.  I have taken to responding ‘you’re welcome’ in Concordiat Standard, whenever she uses those words.  Even so, with the addition of Apple, not only have I needed to apply nicknames to them- not numbers, those are boring- but I expect there will be an increase in conversation- thence, lingual samples.  Once all three are inside, I retract the ramp once again and set out, scanning the ground around.  I also delay Fusion 11’s ignition by another 1.42 minutes by replenishing their spent ammunition and assembling a third suit of armor for Apple.  She will be able to control its wings effortlessly, through the powerful neural hardware built into the backplate, as if she were a pegasus.


Applejack had returned the weapon to Fluttershy before they started their journey up the ramp.  Fluttershy hadn’t realized it had fallen, of course- and they trot gently up to the top.  Before they even reach the top, though, spiders are already showing up- only a couple, though, carrying a couple little metal blocks, not unlike the ones she and Sergeant Stone had inserted into their weapons.  Sergeant Stone cringes, but forces himself to remain calm- even if he has to stop walking to do so.  He watches as one spider reaches up to the depleted weapon on the outside of his foreleg, popping out the rectangle thing- and he notices the end that pointed into the weapon had changed in appearance as it slips in a new one.

Another thing- that little bar that had slowly shrunk to nothing as he fired that weapon snaps back to full.  He’d wondered what arrows it was using- but could those tiny little rods, hardly a centimeter in diameter, have possibly punched through so many centaurs on their own?  Perhaps that’s why the weapon doesn’t look anything like a bow, he guesses.  He watches as they perform a similar operation on the smaller ones he’d switched to, restoring those quarter-full indicators to full.

Applejack, having watched the whole thing- the same had been done on Fluttershy’s big weapon- then speaks up.  “What are they doing?” she asks.

Sergeant Stone answers verbally while Fluttershy shrugs; it would seem his experience as a soldier is offering him insight into the matter.  “It’s some kind of quiver,” he answers, “for whatever it is these things shoot.  I’d guess there’s a reason they swapped them out for new ones instead of refilling.”  He shrugs; the spiders have disappeared- and besides, he’s well on his way to curing his arachnophobia, what with spiders giving him this magic armor and weapons.  “We were headed inside- unless there’s somepony else nearby?”

Applejack’s hoof rises to touch her Element, and it glows gently when she does so.  Silence holds for a second, and she shakes her head as the glow fades.  “Nope.”  They then finish their journey, stepping through the door to the room inside it- where the two armored faceplates slide open automatically.

Fluttershy does notice when it begins moving again, though the motion holds to a soft undulation, only noticeable if she looks for it.  “We’re moving again,” she mutters, glancing back out at the door.

Applejack nods.  “We’ll probably want to check every so often, just in case.”


“This wasn’t a minotaur weapon,” the general states.

Princess Luna nods.  “I was thinking the same.”

Rainbow drops back down out of the sky.  “Something huge left tracks across the foothills, too.”

Luna raises an eyebrow.  “Follow them.”


Sixty seconds later, the ruined Fort Dash lies abandoned once again.


She huddles under the tree.  It’s a good hiding place, clear of prying eyes and hidden from passing wildlife.  Here, she keeps a constant watch while she rests.  She’d run out of magic earlier, in a spell to locate all the Elements of Harmony; she’d been able to confirm they were all alive, despite being scattered half across Equestria.  She’d been startled to discover Fluttershy’s condition- but her friend had been reunited with her Element, despite having the lifeforce drained out of her, so she must have pulled off a better escape than her own.

She’d been tempted to run in that direction, but her strength simply would not hold up- besides, Applejack was with her, no lifeforce lost and equipped with her Element.  She can only hope this is still the case; the shy mare has difficulty fighting to protect herself, while her farmer friend might even be too good at that for her own good.  She shudders, thinking once again of her own escape.

They had come upon her almost as soon as she’d run out of magic.  She hadn’t the power left to evade capture, so they had caught her- and, apparently, a nearby unicorn guard that had also recently run out of power.  They had taken her crown, beaten her up.  Worst, they had used their evil lifeforce-draining spell.

The unicorn had saved her, at the cost of his own life.  He had spent his lifeforce- rather than his magic- to teleport her to safety.  She didn’t even know his name, but he had willingly given his life to protect hers.  Now, she’s attempting to survive in this forest while she gathers her strength.  She doesn’t know where in the world she is.  She doesn’t know if she can survive to find the nearest fort.  Score, she doesn’t know why the ground is shaking.