//------------------------------// // Beyond the new door // Story: Resistance of steel // by Valsion //------------------------------// (Important Note: The fanfic takes place before season 2 of FiM) Resistance of steel Prologue: Beyond the new door The Equestrian sky was shining in a bright orange light as the sun started to set. On a balcony of the Royal Castle, Princess Celestia was performing her age old duty of setting the sun and raising the moon. Normally, her sister, Princess Luna, would take that duty up again, but despite the fact that a few months have already passed since her return, the younger sister still has not recovered her former power. Even her appearance was still as if she had just been freed from the dark spirit that took hold of her soul, Nightmare Moon. Finally, the task was done. The sky has taken a dark blue color now that the sun was gone and replaced by the moon, no longer bearing the silhouette of the mare that was imprisoned there, not even a year ago. Celestia mused the fateful day the seal was broken. 'I wonder if they are still up there.' One of the guards mistook her thoughtfulness for a look of admiration. “It is indeed a beautiful night your majesty.” These words ripped Celestia right out of her thoughts, as she turned around and smiled at her guard. “Thank you... but this is nothing compared to what my sister could do.” The guard, however, remained silent, only nodding politely, causing an almost invisible frown to make it's way to Celestia's face. She knew why the guard was so silent all of a sudden. Even after months, there was still a large amount of mistrust for her sister, even in the royal guard. Making her way back inside, the princess already saw some of the new night guards that have been appointed after the return of her sister. Celestia deemed it appropriate; to have guards in the castle that reflected Luna and her night but those who have been chosen, even those who actually got a promotion in the process, almost saw it as a punishment having to abandon their golden armor for a purple set. The fact that the night guard's armor was enchanted to give pegasus wings the appearance of bat wings, and turn their eyes slitted like a cat's, did not help those who would have preferred to be associated with the day. Finally, Celestia arrived at her destination a room that mirrored her own bedchamber. Two of the newly appointed night guards dutifully stood guard in front of the door, only moving to bow down to the princess as she approached. Silently, the pearl-white alicorn stepped inside to see the occupant of the room; her little sister, Princess Luna. Celestia smiled again, as she found the sleeping form of her younger sister on the bed calm and peaceful. Carefully, the older alicorn princess laid down next to her sister, enjoying the feeling of finally having her younger sister back. Softly she hummed a song they have known ever since their foalhood, hoping it would bring her pleasant dreams. Celestia just finished humming the nostalgic tune as she suddenly felt her mind taken out of her body and pulled to a distand place; a place that was already well known to her. It was like floating in a dark, empty void... But Celestia knew better than to think she was the only one in this place. A dreadful feeling spread through her entire body as she felt three immensely powerful beings approaching her from the front. "Celestia, do you know why we have summoned you here?" spoke the first voice, cold and uncaring- a shiver went down Celestia's spine just hearing it. This voice belonged to the God of ice. God of Ice was the title this being gave itself and that title was more than justified. Celestia knew, if he wanted to, he could freeze over an entire world within days. “No, what is the reason you summoned me? I made sure that everything would be in order, as instructed by you.” Her heart was pounding wildly. The regular meetings with these beings was scary enough, being summoned out of the regular checkup already promised a tragedy. "It is about your sister, Luna." A second voice spoke up, old and cruel-sounding; the voice you would expect from an old warlord who has seen more battles than any mortal could ever imagine. He spoke with a tinge of anger in his voice. Celestia's heart skipped a beat as she heard this. “W-what about Luna?” the princess choked. The memories of a thousand years ago were still fresh in her mind. Not only the battle against Nightmare Moon but also the aftermath. These gods deemed the destruction of their old castle an appropriate punishment for the disturbance. What truly put the fear of these beings into Princess Celestia's heart however, was how their mere presence transformed the Everfree Forest into the most feared place in Equestria. That day, the malevolent energies changed many of the creatures living in the forest, transforming them from normal animals into monsters. The last voice was one of arrogance, of one who believed to be superior to everything else. 'When you banished her first, we assumed that Nightmare Moon would no longer be a problem. You know fully well how IT reacts to her. If the little monster realized this, we would have a problem.' Celestias thoughts went back to the moon, she knew what the third being meant by that, she had to assure them that Nightmare Moon was over and done. “The elements of harmony have purged Nightmare Moon from Luna's soul, that won't be a problem anymore.” She put all her confidence in this, she had to assure them that it was true. The second voice only huffed at this. 'We are the rulers of this land Celestia, we do not need one amongst us, who thinks she can rule alone. And don't be fooled by that excuse, it was her own greed and jealousy that caused the rise of Nightmare Moon in the first place.' Celestia had to keep herself from flinching. Deep down she knew, somewhat he was right, even though she herself had part of the blame for Luna's jealousy. Celestia had no time to feel sorry for not paying more attention to her sister a thousand years ago though, she needed to act fast. “The issues that caused her to turn into Nightmare Moon have also been resolved, as soon as our subjects get used to her, everything will be back to normal.” She assured them, hoping that this would be enough. 'No, we cannot risk it.' The first voice spoke up again. 'Since Luna has proven herself to be unstable, we will not tolerate her any longer.' Dread filled Celestia when he said these words, she knew what he was going to demand next. 'Since she is your sister you may choose how to carry out the sentence but you will either execute her or banish her permanently. And I mean for all eternity, not just another thousand years.' Tears formed in Celestias eyes, she opened her mouth but could not bring out any words anymore. 'You have one week, if Luna still exists in this world by then, we shall carry the sentence out ourselves and we will not be gentle with her.' Threatened the third voice again, giving her a horrible implication about what they would do with her. The three beings were done for now and Celestia barely even noticed that her mind was returning to her body, still laying next to her little sister. Celestias whole body started to shiver as she looked at the sleeping form, horrified at the fate that awaited her. She gently kissed her sisters forhead, before standing up and walking towards the balcony. Again, the solar princess looked at the night sky, deep in her thoughts. Luna was the only family she had, her beloved little sister and now, after being seperated for a thousand years, she was to lose her sister forever? Despair gripped Celestia as she started to weep openly, mourning the cruel fate that these monsters have chosen for her sister. She herself would have accepted any form of pain, as long as her sister would be safe but how would she do that? How could she save Luna? Suddenly, Celestia could swear she saw a gleam on the surface of the moon. “Are they still there?” She whispered. After a moment of silence, all sadness in Celestias heart was replaced by determination. “I will not let them harm my sister.” With that, Celestia spread her wings and took to the skies. As she was far up, far over the clouds, her horn glowed and with a flash of light, she was gone. The surface of the moon was cold and desolate, nothing but dust, stone and craters. A sphere of light appeared on the surface and a white alicorn emerged from this bubble. Ignoring the view of the stars she had on the moons surface, Celestia took off in search for some very special items. The next morning she would learn how a panic almost broke out because of her sudden disappearance but for now, Celestia searched the moon for what she believed was her sisters last hope. It almost took her the entire night but finally she found a crater which housed something foreign, something that Celestia would take back with her, hoping that they still worked. Three days have passed since that fateful night and six ponies plus a dragon were now walking towards the room, where the princess has summoned them. These ponies were Twilight Sparkle, personal student of the princess herself, a unicorn mare that loved nothing more than to learn new things. She came with the baby dragon she hatched as part of her entrance exam for Celestias school for gifted unicorns. There was also Rarity, another unicorn and a fashion designer in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash, a pegasus mare that loved to fly fast and dreamed of becoming a member of the wonderbolts and Fluttershy, a meek but very kind pegasus who took care of all kinds of animals were also with her. The two earth ponies of this group were Applejack, who ran an apple orchard with her family and Pinkie Pie, an energetic pony that loved nothing more than to make her friends smile. These mares were the bearers of the elements of harmony, magic, generosity, loyalty, kindness, honesty and laughter. This morning, all of them received a letter, telling them to come to the palace right away. Those mares and the baby dragon were confused that they would not meet the princess in the throne room but an old warehouse, that was not even used anymore and marked for demolition soon. The staff of the castle could only guess what was inside. Three days ago, just before dawn, Celestia returned from a night of absence, teleporting into that old warehouse and not letting anypony in. Magic charms prevented any curious ponies from entering or even taking a peek through any cracks or holes in the old walls. Only Celestia knew what was inside. “Maybe the princess wants to throw a surprise party for us, that would be fantastic.” Squeaked Pinkie Pie as she merrily hopped along the way. The others rolled their eyes, doubting that this was the actual reason they have been summoned but they could not help but laugh at their friends spirit. “I highly doubt it Pinkie, I bet it's an awesome, top secret mission with the highest importance. We're gonna be heroes, again.” Exclaimed Rainbow Dash, who always loved an opportunity to prove herself. This was more realistic but some of them still doubted that. No matter, their questions would be answered soon enough, as they stood in front of the warehouse. It was one of the largest and could easily store a large house inside. Twilight, who was well trained in the arcane arts, was stunned as she felt the large number of safety spells on this building. “Wow, this warehouse is almost better secured than the elements of harmony.” The others were impressed as they heard this, their curiosity increasing tenfold as they learned that this warehouse was currently the second most secure place in Equestria. “Well sugarcube, we should probably get in and find out what the princess wants.” Twilight nodded. “Good idea, I let her know we're here.” Twilights horn started to glow, sending out a special signal that the princess told her about in the letter. This signal would let her know when Twilight was ready. The seven of them expected the door to open but instead, they were engulfed in a white light and teleported into the dark warehouse. “What's going on?” Asked Fluttershy, scared at the sudden teleportation and complete darkness they were surrounded by. Finally, they heard the voice of their princess. “I am so glad you came, let me show you something.” A golden glow could be seen in the room, before a sphere of light appeared near the ceiling, illuminating the room. The pony mares and the baby dragon gasped and their eyes widened at the image that was presented to them. Four gigantic, bipedal beings, seemingly made of metal stood around them, in each corner of the room. Twilight and Rarity stood by the first one, white and blue in color, with a round, green gem surrounded by an outer golden ring on it's chest and some sort of golden ring adorning his forehead. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stood in front of a much sleeker looking steel giant, looking at it in awe. Fluttershy was scared, intimidated by the unknown being. It held another strange object in it's hand, looking a little like a long tube, connected to a fin with a small bow on it. Applejacks mouth hung open as she stared at the third giant, light purple in color. She could not see it precisely but something seemed to be attached to the back of it's lower arms. Pinkie however, seemed to have a sparkle of wonder in her eye, like a filly who found something new and exciting. Spike stood in front of the last one. It was white as the moon, decorated with some purple here and there. Like the biped in front of Rainbow and Fluttershy, it held some sort of tube in it's right hand, although this one looked larger than the other. It also had some sort of fin on it's head. From the mares, Twilight was the first to recover, approaching her teacher. “P-princess, what is going on and what are these?” Celestia first pointed to the one Rarity was still standing before. “This is Granteed.” She moved over to where Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were standing. “Bellzelute.” She pointed to where Pinkie Pie was knocking against the foot to see if the 'creature' was awake. “Coustwell.” Then she moved to the last one. “Vorlent.” “Those are some really awesome sounding names but WHAT ARE THEY?” Asked Rainbow Dash who, despite her confusion, still had to admire these steel giants. They just radiated an awesome power, Rainbow Dash really wanted to take a closer look but Celestia quickly dragged them all towards her. “These are called mechs, I want you to pilot them.” Twilight was shocked at how rough the princess was with her. First she wanted to say something but then she saw the look in Celestias face. Fear, sadness but also determination were etched into her eyes and even Pinkie became calm. “I have a mission of great importance to you, I will entrust you with something very close to me. I will give you all the details as soon as she comes.” Before any of them could ask who was coming Celetia felt something and teleported another pony inside. She was no normal pony though, this one was another alicorn, the second princess of Equestria. Princess Luna was confused at the sudden teleportation and even more as she saw the four giants. “T-tia, what is going on here?” “Luna, this is going to be very hard but I need all of you to listen.” All of them sat silent in anticipation of the tale Celestia was about to tell. “First of all I need you to know, that three gods rule Equestria from the shadows.” Her listeners were shocked at the revelation, most of all Luna. “TIA! We were never supposed to tell any of our subjects!” “Wait a darn minute, if they rule Equestria with you, why don't they ever show up?” Asked Applejack, who would not even believe this if she did not feel the honesty in these words. Celestia took a deep breath before she continued with her tale. It would not be easy to tell Luna this but she had to know what was at stake. “They feed of the faith the ponies have in me. Only rarely do they interact with this world. As king Sombra took over the crystal empire, one of them froze over the entire region, isolating it from the rest of Equestira.” Luna only winced at the memory of having wide, lush fields turned into a frozen wasteland while the others were shocked that he would do something like this. “But now they demand something I just can't give them.” She looked deeply into her sisters eyes. “They distrust Luna because of Nightmare Moon and demand that I banish her again, for eternity or... execute her.” All color left Lunas face and she started to tear up, while the other ponies in the room gasped. Fluttershy felt the distress of the princess and immediately went over to her to embrace her. “This is horrible, why would they want you to do that?” Twilight demanded to know, not understanding how anyone could possibly demand something so cruel. She looked back at the Granteed, would they fight back now. “Is this why you are giving us these? To fight back?” Twilight asked, gesturing at the mechs. Rainbow Dash smiled a little, pumped at the idea of fighting a group of evil gods with these cool looking toys. “I'm in, let's do this.” She proclaimed. Celestia and Luna recoiled at the suggestion. “That would be suicide, these robots have lost a lot of power when they freed Nightmare Moon, they are not strong enough to take on even one of them.” Said Celestia, inadvertently dropping this new information on them. “What do you mean by that? There were four stars aiding in her escape.” Argued Twilight, wondering if the four mechas were really involved. “From a far distance, they really looked like stars didn't they? It took a long time until they focused enough power to break the seal but in the end, even when they had to sacrifice most of it they were successful.” Even Celestia did not know the details about where they came from. As far as she knew, Granteed, Bellzelute, Coustwell and Vorlent were there since the very beginning. “Now I want you to use them to escort my sister to a safe place.” Luna protested at these words, even if it meant her death, she did not want to leave her sister again. “But Tia, I don't wanna lose you again. I don't care what happens to me but what if they are angry when they find out that I still live.” She was devastated when she learned about the sentence but deep down she thought it was her own fault anyway. If she just had better self control, wouldn't any of this have happened in the first place? Why should her sister endanger herself for her own mistakes. Celestia wouldn't have any of that though. She shook her head and pulled Luna into a deep hug. “I have forced you to spend one thousand years alone, I will not let anything like this happen to you. I want nothing more than to know you safe and happy and even though I will miss you, at least I would know that you have found a place where you can live in peace.” She softly stroked her sisters back, both of them in tears by now. From that position, she looked at the element bearers and Spike, who also seemed to be saddened by what could be the last moments these two sisters would spend together. “I will not force you to do this but please, help my sister find a new home. Even though we can't be together anymore, I want her to be safe.” It was strange for the others to hear this, Celestia was almost begging them. For the first time, they saw their princess completely and utterly lose control of the situation. The decision was clear for them. “You can count on me princess, I will make sure princess Luna finds a safe place.” Twilights friends agreed with her. “We cannot let those ruffians harm her, not ever.” Rarity had to think about Sweetie Belle and what she would do in that situation. She would probably do the same. “Yeah, those meanie pants won't find her, I am the best hide and seek player ever, I will find a good hiding place for her.” Said Pinkie Pie, giving Celestia a salute. “And if they do, they will never catch me while I get her to a safe place.” Added Rainbow Dash. Even Fluttershy seemed determined to help. “Don't worry princess, Luna will be safe with us.” Applejack, who had a little sister herself, understood how Celestia was feeling right now. “Ah will do my best princess.” Even Spike was with them. “No worries, I will help too.” For the first time in these three days, Celestia felt truly happy. With the help of the elements of harmony and the four stars, her sister would live. Even though their seperation will hurt both of them, Luna would at least have a chance to live happily again. “I thank you very much. I will give you the elements of harmony as well. They will also help you to create a portal back, once you found a safe place for Luna.” Celestias horn lit up once more and a well decorated box appeared in front of her. As this box opened, the elements of harmony were revealed and floated over to their rightful bearer. “Each of these robots needs two pilots, one for moving and the other for weapons and other systems. Do not worry about learning how to control them. I am not sure how it works myself but these machines will tell you how they work” Twilight first wanted to ask how much time they had to learn the controls but this method intrigued her. “Do you mean they embed us with the necessary knowledge?” Celestia nodded in answer. “Yes Twilight, as soon as they start up with you inside, you will know what to do.” Her horn lit up once more and some sort of chute opened up on the chest of each of these robots. “Please enter now, I will help you inside. Choose which one you would like to pilot.” Rainbow Dash did not have to think about which one she wanted to pilot. “I will take control of Bellzelute, who's with me?” Fluttershy was still very nervous about the whole thing. Even though she wanted to do everything to help princess Luna, these robots and their mission still scared her. She knew Rainbow Dash ever since flight school, she was her oldest friend so she decided to stick with her. “I am coming with you Rainbow Dash.” She said and fluttered up to her friend. Together they went inside. Applejack looked up at the Coustwell. She felt a strange kinship with this machine, as if it was exactly the right one for her. As she looked at the entrance to the cockpit she saw Pinkies head poking out of it. “Come one AJ, let's take Cousty here.” Everypony wondered for a moment how Pinkie Pie got up there, Celestia hasn't helped her up, before remembering that this was Pinkie. Applejack looked towards the princess and was levitated up to the cockpit, where she sat down with Pinkie. “You know, I really like the design of this one.” Said Rarity, walking towards Granteed. Twilight accompanied her. “I will come with you Rarity, I just hope that these machines can really tell us how they work, otherwise I will need some time to figure out their controls.” They did not need help to get there however. Twilight has gotten better with teleportation and could easily teleport herself and Rarity up. This left Luna and Spike standing in front of the Vorlent. At first Spike was still a little scared of Luna because of Nightmare Moon but now he could see it clearly. Luna was just as much the victim as everypony else and now she needed help. “Well princess, shall we enter?” He asked while gesturing at the large robot. Luna however was still silent in the embrace of her sister. Spike decided to give them a moment together. Both sisters cried into each others shoulders, wanting to take in as much warmth and sisterly love as possible before what would be the last time they see each other. “I promise Luna, I will try everything in my power to convince them to drop the sentence, then I will bring you back.” It was a nice thought, although Celestia knew that it would be nearly impossible. “Thank you sister, I will always think about you. I just hope that we will see each other again. I love you sister.” She cried. The two of them stood there for a good while until Celestia finally broke her embrace and gave her sister a sad smile. “Go now, you are a strong mare, I am sure you will be fine in that other world.” Luna returned this smile and nodded. She levitated Spike onto her back, before flying up to the cockpit of the Vorlent. “I will promise you sister, I will try to live my life to the fullest, so you can rest at ease.” She swore. Even if she never saw her sister again, she wanted to make sure she won't have to worry. Celestia could feel the pride for her sister swell up in her chest. “I love you too Luna, let no one take you happiness away.” As all the ponies sat down in the cockpit, the main pilot was in front, separated from the secondary pilot by a large console behind them. The secondary pilot was also slightly elevated, to allow them a better view. All the ponies and the baby dragon were at first confused at the mass of buttons, switches and levers in front of them, as well as the still blank screens. Celestia knew she had to start them up for the first time. Luckily they were all still operable, so the others could do it themselves once the knowledge filled them. The pumped energy into the machines, whose eyes started to glow as they came to life. Small vents that were at some parts of the body hissed and let out a strange, green glowing steam that looked like it was made of tiny emeralds. Inside of the mechs, the pilots heads were buzzing with new information. It was a strange feeling, almost as if they suddenly remembered something they have forgotten a long time ago. Pinkie noted, that it felt similar to some of the warnings of her Pinkie-sense. The confusing mass of controls suddenly became clear for them. The screens flickered to live, showing them all kinds of information while the big screen in front showed them the mechs point of view. Celestia was glad that everything was in order but now it was time. She connected her power to the elements of harmony, worn by their bearers and focused on the necessary spell. “One more thing. The spell I use is not entirely stable, you may not arrive at the same place or even at the same time but you will arrive at the some world and ideally at the same day, give or take a few hours. Good luck.” After she wished them this, the four mechas and their pilots were ingulfed in some sort of green cloud. As these clouds shrunk again, they left behind empty space where the mechs used to stand. All alone now, Celestia laid down on the ground and allowed herself to weep but despite her sadness, she was full of hope, hope that her sister would be fine from now. Celestia was also sure that, wherever she went, Luna would do great deeds that will earn her friendship and love, just like she always wanted for her sister. After War 0015 Years after their establishment, a group of colonies have declared themselved indipendent from earth and started a war to secure this indipendence. In the long war, several combat Mechs, called Gundams were developed as a countermeasure. In a last ditch effort, the colony forces used several colonies as ammunition against the earth, letting them crash into the earth to cause wide devestation. Due to the Gundams, as well as the appearance of a strange, lion-like UFO which cause confusion amongst the battlefield, most of the dropping colonies could be shot down, before entering the atmosphere. Only very few managed to land in parts of europe and asia, causing devestation. The environment also took a large deal of damage, forcing the people of Russia to move into large, domes cities that would cut them off of the outer world as a means of letting nature heal itself. In addition to the devestation that already happened, a new threat emerged for mankind in the form of the Heterodyne. The Heterodyne were mysterious monsters, that appeared seemingly at random. To counteract those, the 21st Century Security Sevice Company, under order of the japanese government, created the giant robot Dai-Guard, to defeat those. Before it could be deployed however, the Heterodynes vanished, leaving no trace but the trail of destuction, caused by their rampage and the desperate countermeasures used to defeat them. During the chaos that followed after the war, the Britannian Empire, with the help of the organization OZ, managed to take control of some of the colonies that still orbit earth as well as Japan. The rule of Britannia in Japan however, was not complete. The Photon Power Labs and Saotome Labs, created an impenetrable barrier, through which half of Japan retained their autonomy. Even though the guradians of the free Japan could not abandon their posts, various rebel groups have started their fight against the Britannian tyrants. The scars of the war were still fresh and there were always those who sought to profit from the still raging chaos by gaining more power or selling weapons. There were rumors however, that an organization of mercenaries called Mythril, were trying to bring peace back, while other sources suggest an attempt of the colonies to use their own Gundams in order to fight Britannia on earth.