B-0n hummed a tune softly to herself as she waited for Lyra to awaken from her nap. All things considered, she seemed hopeful today, more so than usual. This was because for once, she had some good news to deliver. After what felt like hours, Lyra awoke and begin her usual routine of eating then brushing her teeth then doing mane. Then she stretch to get herself limbered up for the rest of the day. That was when she finally noticed B-0n standing in the corner and asked, “Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to join me?”
B-0n chuckled softly and said, “Stretching? One could say I have been doing that for too long… The time for action has come,”
“Oh?”
At that, Lyra stopped and stood up to her full height. Well, not without one back bend before she approached the robot, “What do you mean B-0n?”
B-0n looked up at her friend and answered, “Due to your findings at the Mines, I have reasoned that a shield so powerful as to that it would penetrate the ground so deep to cover any rear entrances would require an immense amount of power, more than the Generators around ERI could possibly out out.”
Immediately, Lyra came to the same conclusion, “Wait, you mean that there are multiple generators around the shield to cover all angles?”
B-0n nodded, “Yes, exactly! And I had the perfect idea how to slip by them…”
Putting a hoof on her friend’s shoulder, Lyra said, “Lay it on me… Wait, we should tell Twilight too!”
B-0n gently shrugged off Lyra’s hoof and nodded in agreement, “Exactly. Let’s head to the briefing room, I can explain the plan there.”
The robot turned about and lead Lyra to that familiar place where Twilight was already be waiting for them. Seeing her, the armored unicorn asked coyly, “Why am I not surprised to see you here?”
Twilight grinned sheepishly, “I never really left after you came back from your last mission. I was thinking a lot about the shield too.”
Lyra rolled her eyes with a wry smile and said, “I am surrounded by worry warts and heavy thinkers… So, what is the plan?”
B-0n stated thusly, “My plan is simple. There are a few locations where the shield generators nearly overlap. It is here where they would be at thier weakest, and one such location is beside the trainstation in Canterlot. With a sufficient enough impact, we should be able to punch a hole through the barrier temproraily and allow us in. But to do that, we will need to borrow a working train and… Ram it into the shield.”
The two ponies were shocked by this, naturally, “What!”
“A sufficient enough impact to the shield in one spot will force the shield generators to reboot. The window to enter will be small, so we will need to move quickly. Once inside, we can take out the shield as a whole by destroying the main generator located near ERI.”
Honestly, this plan sounded like suicide, and Lyra's tone suggested as much, “Is this the only foreseeable way in?”
B-0n reluctantly nodded, “Indeed.”
Twilight protested, “Surely there is some other way. Crashing a train into the city sounds-”
Lyra cut her off and gave her a confident smile, “Alright, I trust you Bonnie. When do we begin?”
The two looked at her, bewildered, “You wish to go? Are you sure?”
The unicorn nodded resolutely, “Of course. You’ve been fighting the Mavericks alone for too long. I can't just sit back and let you throw yourself into danger like this. Let me join you!”
Twilight was going to protest once more, but B-0n softly stated first, “She would have said the same thing… As you wish, but once we are inside, allow me to be your distraction so you can approach ERI. The Maverick’s likely made that place their stronghold. If we can divide their attention we will have a chance of getting the Generator and lowering the shield.”
Now it was Lyra's turn to protest instead of Twilight, “Why not let me be the distraction. I can take it!”
“I do not wish for unnecessary harm upon you. The train is simple compared to what you are asking.”
Twilight shouts, snapping thier attention form eachother and onto her, “Girls? Are you two forgetting you are talking about crashing a train into Canterlot? That sounds insane!”
Lyra stated, “Twilight… Having seen what is out there, I think this plan is the least insane thing we can do. It is straightforward and to the point. No fancy drills, no rockets, just us riding a train into a massive shield.”
She paused before reluctantly agreeing, “Okay, not the least insane thing when you put it like that, but definitely not completely insane. Looking at our other nonexistent options, what choice do we have?”
B-0n added, “This choice is regrettable, but not choosing would only cause further stagnation. We either move now, or risk losing the opportunity to strike. As soon as someone like C.A.D.A.N.C.E. figures out our plan, we will never get in…”
Twilight relented after all this, “I… I suppose you are right. If they buff any of the generators in any way, Canterlot may as well be sealed off forever along with its secrets… We need to get in.”
Turning to Lyra, she asked, “How is the Lightning Bit?”
Lyra snorts and japed, “Shocking. I didn’t understand it as quick as a flash, but those balls hit Mavericks like rolling thunder once I got a grip on them.”
Even B-0n seemed to laugh at that, “Your word play is clever.”
Sighing, Twilight reluctantly said, “If you feel you are ready to go, head to the Trainstation.”
They all knew what needed to be done...
Lyra nodded as the three went their separate ways. B-0n headed for the train in the Ponyville station to get it up and running. Twilight monitors their progress remotely and offers a few tidbits of advice. And Lyra, of course, follows B-0n to the station to help out. She was no engineer, but she wanted to support her friend regardless of the job.
Stepping inside a train compartment, B-0n urged her to follow, stating, “Lets go. Before Twilight gets cold hooves.”
Over their coms, they heard Twilight shout, “I heard that!”
Of course, this prompts Lyra to laugh, “Alright~ Let’s get going…”
Stepping inside, she sat down beside B-0n in the middle of the train. As the sun rose overhead, the train began moving as it used to. It wasn’t until then that the finality of it all hit the armored mare, “Huh. I guess once this is over, it’ll be time for goodbyes. Twilight will get that teleporter up and running, and you will…”
She trailed off, giving B-0n the opportunity to respond, “I will fight like I always have, Lyra. 120%! Don’t you worry about me.”
That was reassuring in some ways, but Lyra had other ideas, “I was thinking… Once this is over, why don’t you come with me?”
Shocked, B-0n questioned her, “Come with you? What do you mean?”
Lyra elaborates, stating further, “Well, it’s just that you seemed so lonely before I arrived. And here I am, heading home soon. It doesn’t feel right leaving you alone here in a world with such an unknown fate. No mare or robot left behind!”
B-0n sighed, gently placing a hoof on Lyra’s shoulder, “Oh Lyra… Don’t make a mare a promise if you know you can’t keep it.”
Lyra reached out and grasped B-0n’s hoof, “I will keep it! Just you see, we’ll both make it out of here alive. I pinkie promise.”
“Pinkie… Promise?”
Lyra responded in the only way she knew how, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a Cupcake in my eye.”
The gesture honestly hurt a bit by the end with her own armored hooves, but the intent was definitely there. When she said it, she meant it. B-0n could see how serious she was in her eyes. It honestly touched her robotic heart. Sighing, she stated, “I had honestly forgotten how amazing you were Lyra.”
The armored unicorn wrapped a hoof around her robot friend and said, “Don’t you dare forget it now.”
To them, this felt like it could be the last time they share a laugh before this is all over, so while they still had a half hour to get to Canterlot, they would enjoy the time they had remaining before they would be thrown from a frying pan and into the fire.
As the city grew much closer, their merriment and talk of home would draw to a close. B-0n was actually reluctant to stop, but they had to get ready for what was about to happen. Lyra didn’t seem to notice… Sighing, B-0n asked, “Do you know why I had us sit in the middle of the train?”
“No… Why?”
She explained, “If we were to be sitting up front, we would both be crushed by the force of the train slamming into the shield. If we were too far back, those cars would likely go flying off the track and miss our target. I calculated that here will be the safest place for me to lock your armor.”
Lyra cocked her head to the side, clearly not understanding what she was saying to some degree. Perhaps it was the final part? It was definitely the final part…
B-0n elaborated for the last time, “By now you have probably noticed that when your armor takes damage it toughens to prevent further harm briefly at the cost of mobility. If I were to, say… Hit your breastplate really hard and damage you before impact, your armor’s I-protocol will activate and shield you from the crash.”
Lyra’s eyes widened in surprise, “Seriously, that is genius!”
“But how brief is this period?”
B-0n leered over her, seemingly prepared to strike her, “Long enough!”
As the crunch of heavy metal sounded, B-0n quickly slammed her hoof into Lyra’s chest and knocked the wind out of her. Compared to the force that could have been hitting her, a high powered punch to the chest was minor. All Lyra had to do was pry herself out of the wall she crashed into once on the other side, “Oww…”
Being the friend that she is, B-0n helped her up, then use what appeared to be a laser sword, to cut open a hole in the side of the train. Just as B-0n had predicted, the cars ahead of them did indeed make it in, but were destroyed beyond all recognition after they crashed into the shield and the train station soon after, and only a single car behind them was able to make it through with the others seemingly gone from the tracks. The pink shield surrounding the station’s entrance was broken, shattered but it was quickly reforming. Once again, B-0n was right about their window being short.
If Lyra hadn’t come with her, B-0n would have been all alone in the city until the shield was put down… She loathed to imagine what would have happened had that been the case.
Drawing up all of her courage, Lyra asked, “Which way to ERI?”
B-0n gestured to some nondescript building off in the distance, “Over there. I already uploaded it’s coordinates to your HUD. Get moving and don’t stop, I will meet you there.”
As Mavericks started to take notice of their sudden presence, Lyra states, “You better… Or I will have to drag you home.”
B-0n chuckleed softly as she trotted off, “I will hold you to that.”
It was here and now that her final mission would truly begin...