Chapter 12
Exercise
It had been a week since the changelings problem. I had continued my work on the farm although I did get some odd looks from ponies and heard some, admittedly funny, rumours about me. Rumours including that I was an alien, a secret race that has only just appeared to a monster waiting to eat them all. One was true but the rest I found funny. They would even come up to me and ask about the rumours.
I was finishing the final trees of the summer as DB pulled the apple filled carts. The other farm ponies were storing their apples while I saw Twilight spying on the mech, not aware of the radar that could detect her before she detected me. I ignored it and carried on as DB reached the barn.
“Hey! Applejack! Got the last of the apples. “ I called through the mic. She turned around and saw DB with carts full of apples.
“Alrighty, I'll packs these up and ya can go. Thanks for ya the help on the farm. “ Applejack said back.
I got out of the cockpit and DB lowered me to the ground like so many times before. DB went to the edge of the forest to scan wildlife and record them. He had been doing that for a while and had got a decent amount of data. He couldn't handle magic, though, so he put that in a separate folder for later reasoning. But the excuse “it's magic” fitted for now for me.
I walked through town. While DB got information by scanning, I got information out of Twilight. It was easy. Say I would like to know about something or someone and turn on a recorder I attached to my clothes. She would start a lecture which I zoned out off. I would then give the recorder to the mech and he would store it.
What I did learn is that they had their own dictators and use the power of magic and magical artifacts to defeat them. Nightmare moon, Sombra, discord and others. I told her about our dictators like Hitler and Stalin. She was horrified to say the least.
I got to and entered the library. I picked up a book that seemed interesting and sat down. Usually, back home, I would watch YouTube or listen to audio stories. My favourite topics were HFY's and things like that. This book was like them but had totally different aliens and no humans.
I sat and read for around an hour and a half before leaving for food. I headed for sugar cube corner and looked around the streets as I passed shops and houses. Ponies were walking around, some with suspicious cloaks or some with saddlebags on their backs.
The stalls lined the street with different products and snacks. He walked up the a stall that seemed to sell some fruits and vegetables. I'll have some fruit. Can't get fat now. I saw the sign and picked the banana on the shelf. I paid and went to walk off.
“Hey! Get back here with that! “ She said.
“Yes? “ I questioned.
“That's worth more than 3 bits. Pay up or I'll get the guards on you. “ said the stall mare.
“No. The sign CLEARLY states 3 bits a banana. I paided 3 bits so take it or leave it. “ I continued to walk off.
Behind me I could heard her move from the stall, then come and charge me. I turned and saw her nearly a meter away. Her closed in, turned and went to buck. I dashed right and caught the leg, then tugged to pull the remaining legs from under her as she went down.
I turned around again and sped walked off. Around me I saw ponies moving. I was almost to the path straight to the farm till some hooded ponies blocked my path. I didn't bother checking the other directions as I heard the paths fill with hoof steps. The ones in front parted and let three more important cloaked ponies pass.
One had a evil violet colour which shimmered in the light. It looked smooth and silky. The pony underneath was slim and agile from his reasoning. The fur that was exposed on the legs was blood red.
The other was the opposite. A blood red cloak made of a sturdy fabric judging from the carelessness of the wearer. Speaking of which, this pony was a tank compared to other ponies, he even put Big Mac to shame with the amount of raw strength he possibly had. The fur of this pony was a dark purple colour.
The last one was a medium of the two. It had a pale purple colour fur under a black and gold cloak. The pony was of a average size and had a bow and arrow set under the cloak, well covered but still seeable. There was a dagger strapped to its left foreleg and the protution in the cloak head area gave that the pony was a unicorn.
“This seems to be our true masters, the titans, tamer. Seems a pity it is so frail. “ said the feminine pony in with the red fur.
“Such a pitiful this thing holds such power. “ the masculine male said.
“Well, if it is compliant, it shouldn't be a problem. “ said what I guest was the leader.
“Mind telling me why you are surrounding me? Do any of you have a problem? “ I said, remaining neutral. I had secretly unclipped my gun so it was ready for a quick draw. I only had this mag though, so it would need to be used sparingly.
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Twilight sparkle, library.
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She had got back to her library and was filing in her research. She had been secretly gathering data on the mech without Connor Irons noticing. She had nearly got caught but it was a fluke. Twilight had calculated that the mech could lift a less than a tonne due to observations. But without proper testing, she couldn't confirm it.
It was nearly mid-day when there was a racket outside. Twilight trotted down the stairs and looked outside. Ponies were walking or running away from a crowd of cloaked ponies on the border of town. She looked harder and saw Connor as his height made it so he stood over everyone. He had his casual clothes on.
Twilight sparkle went outside to get a closer look at what was going on. She closed the tree house behind her and walked around the crowd. At the front, she could make out three ponies that stood out due to their coloured cloaks.
She was now in range of hearing of the conversation.
“Give us you titan. “ demanded a mare.
“First, he's called a mech. Secondly, no way am I giving him to you. “ Connor replied. He appeared to be calm although surrounded.
“Comply or be killed. Your choice. “ a stallion said.
“Neither, you are going to get out of my way or I will show you how I tamed the mech. “ he threatened.
“That was your final warning. “ said a deep voice. The crowd tightened and the three cloaked ponies took off their clothes.
The bright red pony dashed across the distance to catch the human by surprise. In fact the human dashed to the side almost like his mech but without the rockets on the back. He landed and kicked her as if kicking a door. She went backwards as he then turned to face both the armed and muscular stallions.
The one with a bow and arrow shot but missed due to the humans odd proportions. The muscled pony charged him while the armed pony reloaded. Connor stood there, waiting. When the dark purple stallion was almost a two hoofs away, Connor, from a quick crouch, jumped up and over the charging pony. As the armed stallion was aiming, he charged him.
He seemed to notice the red mare now sprinting at him. She jumped to tackle him. Connor suddenly dropped down and to his side to slid under her. He rolled over, got up, and headed for the archer. He fired but missed by a fraction, but the sharp edge did catch his cheek. This didn't even phase him as he neared. Connor used more of his unique martial art and brought his leg over his head and down upon it.
This made the archer step back which only gave more space for him to move as he did so. He brought his right leg round and caught the archer in the face. To confirm knock out, he kicked the pony hard in the genital area then kicked his head again. He turned to see the two other ponies looking at him challengingly. The look on the humans face wasn't viewable from where Twilight stood. The human lifted his hand to wipe his cheek, and looked at the blood.
The two ponies charged him and Connor charged them. The two ponies had faster max speed but the acceleration of the human was surprisingly quick. His two legs acted like a spring every time he put them down, one after another in a constant rhythm. As they were about to collide, the red mare jumped to tackle while the dark stallion piled on more speed. Connor dived to the side and rolled up, turned and fired the horrible black 'L’ shaped block.
BANG!
The loud crack of the weapon shocked everyone. The sound was so loud that the crowd forgot the two other arena fighters. The dark muscled stallions right hind leg was crippled with a hole lodged in it. He cried in agony and rage as he ignored his leg to pounce on Connor. But Connor sidestepped and whacked the pony on the back of the head with a THUD which knocked him out cold.
Only the agile red mare was left. They circled each other and glared. The red mare had focused, cold and angry eyes. Twilight could now see Connor's face. It wasn't anger or cold or in anyway evil. The look in his eyes was a mix of predator and planning, which to Twilight, was worse.
Connor charged first. He shouted no battle cry, or threat. He just bolted. This shocked the mare, but not enough as she dodged him. She lifted her right foreleg and swing to hit him in the stomach area. The human deflexed it and threw a punch of his own. The punch went straight down to strike at the back of the head for a knockout. It missed as the mare moved as fast as the leaves in the wind. But if she was that, Connor was its shadow, almost perfectly blocking and dodging skills. What damage he did take, he show no sign of pain other than a single, quick grunt.
But, as if the sun was now blocked by the clouds, then all the ground in a shadow. Connor was tripped up by the mare as she swept his legs from under him. He landed on his back with a THUD while the mare went to try and strangle him. Connor saw this, rolled and jumped her. Now she was caught off guard and fell. The human wasted no time knocking her out with a firm whack to the head.
He raised his weapon to the sky and fired two shots. The crowd silenced as Connor spoke with a voice with enough authority to rival the princesses. The look on his face, which was bruised by a sneaky punch and the cut still showing a line off blood red liquid, showed nothing but the stare that froze hearts to death.
“Surrender or I will kill you just as fast. Those gunshots were to call my mech here. So surrender or face a quick, painless, messy death. “ Connor said with no emotion. A child that became a constant visitor to the library, helped the farm and held a smile almost all the time was now a focused, dangerous and commanding creature.
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DB, farm edge
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DB was running to the gunshots. The leg motors hardly showed sign of strain and the mech was plowing across the field to his rider. He turned and saw a crowd surrounding Connor. They looked likely to attack.
Hostiles surrounding friendly
Machine gun ammo: 100%
Rocket ammo: 100%
Thruster fuel: 100%
Logic core: 98%
R-core: 34%
Announcing warning
“Warning, rider in hostile position. Surrender immediately. “ said DB. All the ponies looked at him in awe and fear. All the unicorns lit up their horns and tried to cast a spell on the mech. He was covered in multiple glows of magic.
Hostile actions
Priority:
Retrieve rider for safety
Eliminate hostiles
Protect civilians
Record data
DB took a step forwards, making the ponies in the way jump and move to avoid getting squashed. He picked up Connor and placed him on the hull. He climbed in and gripped the controls. The cloaked ponies now pulled off the cloaks and presented weapons.
Spears tried to stab and wound but some of them just snapped on impact. The archers shot arrows at the hull that bounced off the metal. The unicorns had their horns glowing and firing everything they had. The mech lifted his leg and gave a hard stomp to the ground.
Nearly all the ponies lost balance, which made them easy targets. He fired one missile pod and then thustered backwards. The explosives landed and blew up. This turned all but a few into red mush. DB tuned to them but did not fire.
Connor exited the cockpit with his minigun in hand. DB lifted him back down. Connor walked up to them and spoke.
“Do you surrender? “ he asked.
They both sat there, shaking, and nodded. Neither one wanting to disturb the human in fear of their lives.
End of chapter 12