//------------------------------// // A titan fallen. A man reborn. // Story: Of giants. Of ponies. // by Steel Heart //------------------------------// What is love? Is it merely a chemical process in our brain and body that urges us to seek out a mate and keep others away? Or is it our heart and soul urging us to find the perfect somebody and protect them from harm? Or is it that urge we get to find someone to hold? To feel important, to keep the chills of winter and bad things at bay? To be wanted. Needed.  The warm closeness of a loved one is the best thing in the world, because it makes you feel like you're appreciated in a way that nothing else can replicate, it has the ability to slow time to a crawl just so you can gaze into their mind and soul. And when two are made one, that is when you both truly feel as one. Like nothing in the universe can separate you. Not for anything. It's a magic that cannot be ever explained. "I love you". ------ It's a strange thing war. It drives good men into committing unforgivable crimes. And yet, it's in our nature. To kill and conquer for seemingly no reason. The year is 2034. And the planet is ravaged by nuclear war. The surviving nations mainly consist of America, Eastern Asia, Australia and a small patch of western Europe. We've been fighting for nearly ten years. And it's a free for all. Nobody knows who started it all, there was just one systematic strike. Leveling all major city centers, minor countries and states. Russia and Eastern Europe where hit first, followed by Africa, the Arab countries, India... Virtually everywhere. Because of the now intolerable levels of radiation in the atmosphere, battles between the surviving nations are fought in massive suits of battle armor. The lightest can weigh as much as a few hundred kilograms, the heaviest can exceed 20 tonnes. Without them, battles couldn't be fought and we would succumb to radiation poisoning.  About a week ago, I woke from unconsciousness as a result of taking on an artillery cannon. The cannon came out worse, thankfully the round was a dud. After waking, I made my way back to the base Red Glory, home of the ANZAC Avengers, only to find it a smoking hole in the ground. Over the next few days I walked from the remains of the base, towards my old home in the southwest of Western Australia. I just wanted to go and see what had happened to my old way of life, as I was once a care free farm kid, dairy to be exact. My old hometown of Northcliffe, once a quiet town of a thousand or so denizens was now devoid of all life. The old pub where I had my first legal beer was covered in nuclear snow, the old shop and post office were stripped bare of all essentials. Then I reached my old home. The corpses of the cattle I once fed, milked and cared for littered the padocks. Their irradiated bones almost glowing a ghostly pale white. The house had seen better days, considering it looked like someone had used it as a fort. As I stomped past the house, I took note of the old metal tractor seat strung from a tree via some old rope. God I loved that swing, I had my first kiss on it. My old cubby house was missing its roof and half the slats from the walls, and my sand pit just continued to bring forth my childhood memories. With a sigh I steered my 18 tonne Goliath battle armor further up the driveway towards the dairy.  As I plodded past the tractors I once called home for some seasons, I brushed my Goliath's unforgiving steel fingers against the bonnets of the once powerful workhorses. My battle suit's four meter height advantage made the old agricultural beasts look like small toys, then I moved to our oldest machine, a Fordson Dexter. This was the first machine I learned to drive on, the first tractor I worked with. I suppressed some painful tears as I gently picked up the old rust colored antique, brushing off the ash that had accumulated on it before gently placing it in its original spot. The dairy had all the useful salvage taken from it, mostly plastics and steel with the computers used to run it, this included the vacuum pumps, vats and power generators. A sudden sound caught my attention, bringing my 30mm rotary cannon from its hatch on the right arm and bringing the six barreled monster up to speed, while sliding the three meter telescopic titanium blade from the left wrist. Pirouetting the massive war machine on its giant heel to bring my weapons to bear on a most unusual sight. A small cobalt blue horse sporting a horn sprouting from the center of it head and wings splayed in a defensive manner. After what I determined what I was looking at, I brought my weapons back into their respective housings, trying to soften the behemoths presence to the small being. To be honest, through all the radiation, through all the warfare, through EVERYTHING that's happened over the past five years, I'm honestly stumped as to how this little creature has survived. I'm amazed as to how ANYTHING has survived longer than a few months in the radioactive soup, humans have only just BARELY survived as is. Nothing should be able to survive without a suit of some sort. "Greetings warrior". Never in my life have I ever been so terrified. Drawing my titanium sword with a wave of my suits gigantic arm, I held it menacingly in front of me. "Be calm, I do not intend to harm you. Instead, I offer you salvation. An escape from this world, but for a price". This had me intrigued, so I brought the sword back into its housing and relaxed the machine once more, and activated the external speaker. "What price?", my voice all but boomed out into the dead expanse. "Protect my world. Protect it from all evil". After a seconds thinking, I had made up my mind. "Do it, I have no family or friends anymore". "Prepare...".  ------ Applejack had just finished her days work. She was currently dragging a cart laden with apples back to the barn. Her body burned, and her muscles ached. But it was a good ache, an ache which can only be brought on by hard work. Hard, satisfying work. She had worked from before dawn, and it was now quickly becoming dark. As she was making her way back, a small globe of blue light sprouted from thin air, and quickly became bigger and bigger. So big it could swallow the barn with more to spare. "Ah don't like the looks of this," she quietly mused to herself. And when the orb had grown to its zenith, there was an ear splitting bang. And as she brought her hoof from her face, she saw a titan.  More than 15 feet tall, made of black metal with flames painted on its giant metal fists, blue glowing eyes on its small domed head with bright yellow lights flowing in trails from its neck to the rest of its body like arteries. On its broad chest stenciled in white where five stars. The four biggest where painted in the shape of a loose diamond, and the smallest was placed off center above the lowest star. And in the center of the diamond, was an elaborate picture of a rising sun with a crown sited inside said sun. Applejack started to slowly back away, but as she did, the beast slumped over as if in pain and steam began to pour out of unseen cracks in its chest.  Then slowly, the entire top of the chest and head split away, revealing a much smaller thing inside. The creatures skin was almost pure white, it had no fur apart from a short mane on its head, and had long arms that ended in appendages that looked the part of claws though more rounded and dexterous. The creature then lifted its head to the twilight  sky, and took in a deep breath, as if it had never breathed before. Then it started to laugh, first a chuckle, then a good natured, then to a hysterical level where it was trying to cheer at the same time. Then it leaped out of its gigantic suit, making the newcomer more along the lines of over five feet tall instead of 15.  The creature then knelt on the ground and started to cry, it wasn't a sorrowful cry, but a joyous one. Then it laid its small beady eyes on her, then began to run towards her. Applejack started to panic, what if it's dangerous? I can't run with this cart on!, then it skidded to her and grabbed her in a big hug.  "Uh... Howdy ther'?". The creature just continued to cry into her shoulder, and Applejack just stood there not knowing what to do. But as she was coming to an idea of what to do, the creature then just let go and started running wildly around the orchid screaming like a young foal.  "AIR! FRESH AIR! NO RADIATION!", and as soon as this now obvious male shouted at nopony in particular, it  came to a rest on his knees with his head skyward and arms splayed. And it simply yelled in joy of its obvious new freedom. Just how long was he in that thing? And so Applejack unhitched the cart, and slowly made her way over to the unknown ape like creature who just sat there with as smile so big, it would make a certain pink mare look tame, "Can ah help ya mister?".  The creature just smiled at her, "My names Jake. What's yours?".