Lyra hummed as she looked at some sort of hologram before her, rubbing her chin with an armored hoof. Eventually, she gave up thinking about it and asked her companions, “I give up, what is it?”
B-0n would gesture to one part of the hologram and state, “You are seeing the crystal tunnels beneath Canterlot. You would know this if you were paying attention.”
Lyra scoffed and pointed a hoof at Twilight in an accusatory manner, “Sorry, I would have been able to keep my eyes open if Twilight over there hadn’t gone on a tangent about freeform etherian resonance.”
Holo Twilight grinned sheepishly and said in a hurried tone, “Sorry. I was just so excited. The energy readings I am getting from there are positively electric!”
B-0n sighed and said, “I will just start from the beginning… So, as we all have established, Canterlot is protected against the outside world by a forcefield. There is currently no known way in, however! The caves beneath the city are not protected. If we are lucky, we will be able to sneak into the city from below.”
Lyra put a hoof on the table and stated bluntly, “Please tell me I don’t have to go down there…”
They both looked at her like she had just said something stupid, “Why not?”
The armored unicorn looked at Twilight, an exhausted expression on her face, “The wedding? I was put there to guard Cadance by Chrysalis?”
Twilight chuckled nervously and looked away, “Right… Sorry about the bouquet.”
“I take it you had trouble there?”
Lyra nodded angrily, throwing her hooves into the air, “Yes, very much so!”
B-0n was silent for a moment before saying flatly, “I regret to inform you that the Caves are guarded by a Chrysalis put there by C.A.D.A.N.C.E.”
Lyra groaned, facehoofing her nose into oblivion, “Oh come on!”
Twilight reached out to put a hoof on her friend's shoulder to comfort her, but pulled away. After all, she was just a hologram with no substance after all. Instead, she chose to use her words to do so, “It’s alright Lyra, we are here for you. Both of us. You are stronger now than you were then, stronger than her I am sure!”
Lyra looked away, “Thanks, but I am not sure I can do this.”
B-0n did what Twilight could not and placed an armored hoof on Lyra’s shoulder, “Lyra. You can do this! Look at all you have accomplished this far. You survived the frozen north and plunged into the great depths and came out alive. A little cave is not going to stop you now.”
Lyra shrugged off B-0n and sat there in her seat for a good five minutes before standing up again, “Alright, you convinced me… Where do I begin?”
B-0n gestured back to the hologram schematics of the cave, “We will teleport you to the cave entrance. From there you will need to head down the mine shaft, past the dig site, and up to the commissioner's chambers. Chrysalis should be there waiting for you, and beyond her a path into Canterlot.”
Lyra put on her helmet and adjusted the buster on her right arm and said, “Alright… I am ready!”
Her two friends waved her off as she vanished in a blinding light. Off she went into the familiar yet unknown territories of the Canterlot Caves.
As expected, there it was! A cave mouth on the side of the mountain, a little ways away from Canterlot. From here, LX was able to see the broken shell of a capital Canterlot had become under Maverick rule. What was expected to be a safe haven for pony kind had become as desolate a place as any other. Who knows if the answers she sought were even there anymore…
Clenching her teeth, the armored mare turned away from the decayed city on the side of the mountain and towards her goal. She can’t let herself get caught up in those thoughts just yet. S.M.I.L.E. trained her better than to get caught chasing the rabbit that hard. Even her apprehension of coming here was unbecoming of an agent. As she crossed the threshold of light into the darkness, LX resigned herself to the role of a Hunter.
Inside, she smiled slightly. A working elevator? Perfect! Perhaps this won't be as bad as she initially thought… Stepping inside, she pressed the down button and watched as the rusty door closed, locking her inside. Crossing her hooves, she waited for her to arrive at the bottom. That is, if the blasted thing didn't stop a little ways into the trek. Growing frustrated, she exclaim, “I knew I shouldn’t have come here…”
That was when things went from bad to worse. The whole elevator lurched briefly before something snapped! LX screamed the whole way down as the elevator plummeted down the shaft. Once again, she counted herself lucky that her suit had impact comepnsation, but she was still very much dazed by this whole ordeal.
Shaking the debris off herself and the stars from around her head, LX spotted something moving in the distance. Some flickering specter in the corner of her eye that vanished behind a cloud of darkness as she dared look their way. Rising to her hooves, buster at the ready, she entered the corridor leading deeper into the mine. It’s not like she could come out the same way she came in.
The last thing she would have expected was to see one of those familiar pony-like Mavericks from before. Sure, they did look slightly different, but it was hardly anything she dealt with before. She raised her buster and prepared to blast it to pieces, “You picked a bad place to stand…”
That was when she was pounced upon by the Maverick, causing her to miss her initial blast. It’s illusion faded away to reveal a more changeling-esk appearance. It dribbled some sort of fluid onto her right arm which ate away at the buster on her right arm. Acid? This thing spits acid on top of disguises?
LX let out a string of curses as she used her other buster to blow through the Maverick on top of her. Shoving her left arm through it, she yanked out its energy crystal heart and let her suit repair some of the damage dealt by the offending beast. However, it wouldn't be enough. For the time being, that Buster was fried.
Tossing the heap of parts aside, “Dang it… I was too careless.”
She tried to call back to HQ, but found no connection. Either this place was too deep to reach them, or the Mavericks were blocking her connection. Either way, she had to brave this on her own. Fantastic… At the very least, up until this point, she didn't need to use both busters and she already knew that the suit could repair itself with enough energy crystals fed into it. She just needed to shoot first and ask questions later.
The next changeling she saw, she didn't even let it have the chance to spring a trap on her. Unfortunately for her, the changeling was not alone. Just behind it was a turret of sorts it was most likely tinkering with. In a panic, LX hid behind a mine cart as the turret fired upon her position. Will her problems ever cease? She couldn’t even reach that energy crystal before its power would fizzle out on the ground.
Growling in frustration, LX jumped out of cover and pelted the turret with her lime colored shots. Tha turret wasn't the only thing that can fire quickly.
Huffing, she continued through the mine shaft until she reached a point where she would need to make another descent. Bravely, LX hung off the wall and slowly slid into the dark. The green lights of her armor and the dim, decaying lights left behind by the miners long gone were the only thing breaking through the darkness. Even then, they wouldn't protect her from that which lurked in the dark. This was changeling territory, and they made sure their presence was known.
Hitting the metal bottom of a new shaft, the smell of water and fish filled her nostrils. Something seemed odd about this place for sure. To be safe, Lyra turned on her rebreather and stepped forward. The sound of rushing water was prevalent as she looked out over a vast complex full of softly glowing purple crystals jutting out of the walls. It was be here that she was abe to see where the water was coming from. Large pipes were seen connected to the drilling equipment on the far side of the room, pipes that had long since burst and were spraying water all over the place.
When she turned on the refinery at White Tail Lake, did some of that water being sent out end up here? It made a bit of sense really. Underground, metal equipment tends to get very hot. Without any water, equipment was sure to fail and those pipes! They never stood a chance under the stress of machines trying to get water from something that didn’t have any.
Humming softly to herself, LX felt proud to come to this conclusion for herself rather than have to rely on anyone else to explain it to her. Judging from where she was, she needed to get to the other side of the room. To do that, she would need to jump across the crystals one by one and not fall in the water. Easy enough!
This assessment was a double edged sword as she found out, as she missed her jump and fell into the water below. Her hooves were assaulted by robot fish that traveled through here in the pipes as well as what she assumed were spikes, so she had to get out of there fast. However, as she swam back to a wall, she discovered that familiar resonance striking her. A capsule, here!?
Taking out the metal fish in front of her, she entered a forgotten tunnel that is only slightly flooded now. Hopping up onto the path, she found her trek a little more hazardous than normal, as she descended into the water to find the capsule she sought. Whatever this was, it better be worth it!
Opening up the capsule, she connected this capsule to her usual com link and said, “Hey Twilight, you there?”
A hologram of Twilight appeared within the capsule shortly after as the connection grew in strentgh. Her usual greeting was quickly intrrupted by shock upon seeing the state of Lyra, “What the-! What happened to you Lyra, and why are we under water?”
LX crossed her hooves and said, “A changeling drooled on me and fried one of my busters. As for the water, I blame the refinery. This place wasn't meant to be flooded, I am sure.”
“I’ll take your word for it… Want me to skip the pleasantries and just play the holo file?”
LX nodded, “Yeah. I just wanna get this over with and leave as soon as I can.”
Twilight nodded and play the holo file, letting her own hologram be replaced by that of a blue earth pony. Strangely enough, they bore a striking resemblance to one of her friends back home. It was bizarre at first, but she had to remember this was not the home she knew.
“Hey Twilight, it’s me Vivid. I hope you get this soon. I need to talk to you about Project Cygnus. I understand work has had you pretty stressed out, but don’t give up just yet. I was talking with (redacted) and B-0n and together we figured out a way to improve upon that Buster Design you were working on. I know the military wanted you to mass produce them to help with the crisis, but I figured you would want them to do a little more than what was asked. Some tweaking with the design here and there and we created what is dubbed as the Overcharge system. With it, your buster should be able to turn normal fire into more versatile forms. It’s a far cry from the peaceful approach we have built up this far, but if it means more ponies get to live, I will keep doing my best to ensure Project Cygnus is ready for the public.”
LX hummed in approval, a buster upgrade and replacement sounds just what she needed right now. Perhaps she can try out that overcharge feature on Chrysalis. After all, she did have a few new toys to play with. That's when the recording took a surprising turn.
“And Lyra, if you hear this, you are doing an amazing job. B-0n just goes on and on about you when she visits the lab here in Canterlot. She must have really taken a shine to you Lyra.”
She giggled, “Or should I say Maverick Hunter Mega Mare VII. Stay safe out there! We love you!”
Those words there hit her like a ton of bricks with a collapsing tunnel for good measure. Lyra? As in… This world’s Lyra? This was wrong on so many levels. Just thinking about it made her blood pressure rise. Not only was there another Lyra somewhere out there, but B-0n knew about it! Why didn’t we say anything?
Many thoughts were spinning through her head as she accepted the Buster upgrade, but she had to cast them aside for now… B-0n, they will have a talk later. With these hooves she will ensure it. With her new white and gold busters, she left the flooded pocket chamber behind and return to the large crystal room.
The path forward was a dangerous one, but all this water did give her an idea. She may not remember everything from school, but she did remember that things that are really hot can become incredibly brittle if they are cooled fast. And with that new ice power she got from Sombra, she was more than equipped to give these hot changelings a run for their money.
She had a new goal… Even if this excursion into the mines ended up as a bust, she was going to destroy Chrysalis! Anything to vent the rising frustration building in her chest.
It was touch and go a little bit as she crossed the room, as flying changelings sought to knock her off the crystal platforms and into the water below, but she was undeterred. Finding safe footing on the other end, she would shout back at them, “Quit bugging me, I am walking here.”
A little further into the cave and she found the bubble-like shield impeding her progress. A bust it was, but at the very least she still had a goal remaining… Calling her friends back at HQ, she would leave a message, “Guys, it seems the barrier extends all the way into the ground itself. We can’t get in through here.”
After terminating the call herself before they could recall her, she dove headlong into another mineshaft weaving through changelings and their bioluminescent spit as she made her way deeper into the Hive. They weren't going to stop her. None of them will.
Down she went, blasting everything in her way with reckless abandon. Even as her armor integrity petered out, she kept fighting until eventually she found the queen’s chamber. All the twists and turns lead up to this…
LX thought to herself as she took just a moment to catch her breath as she entered the doors leading through to Chrysalis, ‘Now please for the love of Celestia do not make Chrysalis say anything redeemable.’
Upon entering the room, she saw Chrysalis resting inside a green, slimy cocoon. Redeemable? Not looking likely... Upon seeing LX, Chrysalis broke free of her ‘bed’ and hisses loudly before coughing up some of that oh so lovely acid. No banter, no pleasantries, thank Celestia! The battle began.
Shifting to the Sonic Buster, LX overcharges it and fires out a veritable wall of sound to smash her foe up against the wall. It worked, but it did not seem all that effective. No, instead Chrysalis shruged it off and flew into the air, prompting LX to hug the wall and prepare for her attack.
Chrysalis, for lack of a better term, hacked up a slime ball and threw it at LX. It bounced around the room, leaving trails of acid behind as it went until it exploded in a shower of acid rain. That looked deadly in so many ways. The same went with a spray of acid Chrysalis used when LX was distracted by that ball to pepper her with specks of pain causing goo.
With that, LX could stand it no longer. Her armor had given out and the last of her energy was put into that initial attack and all the dodging she had done. She burned brightly getting here, but burnt out quickly. As she drifted off into unconsciousness, she heard, “Over already, Pathetic! And here my subjects were worried about me...”
That phrase. That one phrase from Chrysalis. Despite it being the only one she has said thus far, it was enough to prompt LX to catch herself from falling completely. LX’s eyes narrowed as she asked, “What did you just say?”
The queen of the hive indulged her, repeating herself and elaborating upon it further, “I called you pathetic, you weakling… Couldn’t even handle one attack. Look at you, groveling on the ground like a mewling grub. I should have engaged in witty banter with you, it would have been more enjoyable than this fight!”
LX’s horn sparked wildly as she got to her hooves. Despite her armor being practically useless right now, she still fought with everything she had left in that beaten body of hers! Rushing forward, she dashed through the puddle of acid to plant a sucker punch on the Queen, punctuated by a fully charged buster shot to the face. She went flying into the wall, and this time she stayed there.
Not done yet, Lyra fired off two more shots, one from each buster. They would combine mid air to create one more powerful blast to shatter the wall where the Queen resides and her along with it. However, fate would not allow this battle to end so quickly.
Queen Chrysalis escapeed from the wall and hid with a flash of light. As her vision returned, LX found herself surrounded by crystals each reflecting the bug like maverick and a mob of Changelings as well coming to support their queen. They all wanted a piece of her... Chrysalis taunted her, “What a nice fireworks display, but alas, you won’t hit me again. Now my subjects, tear her apart!”
Now was the time to put her theory to the test… Equipping the Ice shield, LX would overcharge it next, flash freezing the area around her and summoning a protective wall of snowballs around her. Couple that with her apparent magic surge, the balls were more massive and easily overtaking the attacking changelings. Letting go of the attack, the balls exploded, throwing ice and cold air everywhere.
With all the changelings frozen, that left only Chrysalis remaining, stuck to one of the crystals she was desperately clinging too. With a huff, Lyra walked over to the frozen Queen and said, “You know, I should have engaged in witty banter with you. It would have been more enjoyable than this fight! But, oh well. Looks like we needed to chill out anyway.”
“Sayonara!”
LX shattered Chrysalis with a blast from her buster and took the machine that created the now frozen acid within her. She figured she might as well get something nice out of this for all the wasted time spent looking for a way into Canterlot.
Warping back to HQ, she was be greeted by a panicked looking Twilight, “Oh thank goodness! I was so worried when my scanners said your armor had been destroyed… Are you okay?”
Lyra triumphantly placed the strange device on the workbench and said in a singsong tone, “Peechy actually. Kicking Chrysalis’ tail was just what I needed to calm down and… Well, relax.”
Twilight look at the acid creating device and said, “Good… Because B-0n and I were confused when you called in to tell us about the shield and didn't return. It’s good to see you overcome your fears and come out better for it.”
The armored unicorn looked around the lab briefly before asking, “Yeah… About that. Where is B-0n anyway? I have stuff I need to talk to her about.”
Twilight pointed in some seemingly random direction and state bluntly, “It’s about the recording, isn’t it? I understand. Try not to be too hard on her, she seemed very torn up about it too. Oh! And don't forget to ask about repairing the armor, you look terrible."
She did, did she? Well then… That’s another thing to talk about. Leaving the lab, she found B-0n at the usual spot watching the sun go down. Lyra had a seat beside her and waited for B-0n to make the first move. She wanted to see just how torn up B-0n was…
As dusk gave way to the night, B-0n would finally ask, “Are you okay?”
Lyra would raise an eyebrow at her, looking rather confused by that question, “You sit here in silence for an hour and ask me if I am okay?”
“I expected you to speak first.”
Oh great, one of these conversations… Lyra cut this short and cut right to the chase, “Very well, I am okay. I am just wondering when you were going to tell me about Lyra.”
B-0n seemed to shift about uncomfortably in her spot before saying, “I did not know how to tell you. It might impact the mission if you knew your predecessors have fallen, especially you.”
Lyra snorted, “Did you consider it would impact the mission if I did not know how they failed? Gotta avoid it somehow.”
That logic seemed to break B-0n, who resumed silence for about five minutes before she could speak again, “I did not… I did not consider the possibility of you remaining so calm either.”
The armored unicorn playfully punched B-0n’s metal arm and said, “I was mad at first, but then I got the chance to vent my frustrations of Chrysalis. That and the time spent in silence gave me a chance to remember that someone else close to me held a pretty hefty secret, and we turned out better than okay. I figured that you had a reason for not telling me yet, and that you would eventually.”
B-0n looked rather unsure of herself before responding with a punch of her own. This one actually hurt, but Lyra shrugged it off with only a slight whimper, “I am sorry… I shall tell you now, if you wish.”
Lyra rubbed her arm and said, “Yeah, I would like that… What was she like, the other me?”
B-0n smiled softly and said, “Lyra, also known as Mega Mare II, VI, VII, and IX, was one of the best test subjects that the Doctor had ever known. While most unicorns have strayed from arcane Magics long ago in favor of technomancy and geomancy, arcane Magics were still very much present in her. As such, she was a rather gifted individual, but instead of flaunting her talents like others of her class, she instead used her gifts to help uplift others with music via street performances.
When Project Cygnus began, Lyra was selected by the Doctor personally to supply the arcane power needed for testing her more exotic devices. As such, she spent much time in the lab with me discussing magic theories and the like. Though, if I were to be honest, it was more like me talking to a rubber duck explaining how things should go, and her serenading the Doctor and I with music. We hung out a lot, and I very much considered her to be my best friend. I had many acquaintances, but none really broke me out of my shell like she did.
When testing of the suit began, she volunteered to be the first test subject. Not wanting to put her through the rigors of an untested machine, The Doctor used it herself, becoming number I. Lyra had her chance at being II, as it didn't bond well with the Doctor. The suit did not react to her well either, so it was passed on in favor of a few others. More testing began and Lyra stood by me through it all, until one day she had the chance to wear the suit again. By this point, it was starting to look a lot like what you wear now, but bigger. We were overjoyed when the suit actually worked properly.
To celebrate, we had ice cream together. That was when the second outbreak occurred. She jumped into the frey and saved three ponies from a collapsing building. That was when she was officially dubbed by the public as Mega Mare. Taking the initiative, she joined the Maverick Hunters and had the suit upgraded for combat capability, becoming Mega Mare VII. With me at her side, we rose through the ranks together. Unfortunately, a crippling injury on the job rendered her unable to walk, and the Doctor took the armor back. In an attempt to save face, the government put another mare in the armor.
When the third outbreak came, that mare perished, and Lyra put the armor on again for the last time, unwilling to allow another to die in her place. She fought valiantly, but perished when C.A.D.A.N.C.E. went Maverick and shot her from behind. I took the armor back to the lab and buried my friend… The Doctor spent all the remaining time she had on the run, scattering her research and the armor itself before vanishing. I do not know where she went. You are reclaiming her research and putting the armor back together. Most of it…”
She loosely gestured to the spotty patchwork of the armor as it tried to fix itself from the acid shower among other damages, “I worried about you too. Worried that I may lose you. I promise you that I won't stand by next time and let you die.”
Lyra's gaze softened as she reached out to hug B-0n, “Wow… Well… I appreciate it, but I don’t need you to babysit me. I need you to trust me. Believe in me… That is where my magic comes from. Can you do that?”
B-0n was silent before leaning into the hug, “I promise I won't jump in to save you...”
“Ah, Don’t make a mare a promise if you know you can't keep it.”
The robot would laugh, “You are right, I can’t promise that. But I do promise to always believe in you.”
Lyra would suddenly point up at the sky and said, “L-Look! A shooting star, make a wish!”
The armored mare would close her eyes and silently make a wish. B-0n was reluctant to do the same, but… She did so too. Just this once, she will believe.