The train stopped in Canterlot station, sending steam rolling up into the infinite night sky. Twilight’s head perked up the moment the train came to a stop. She got to her hooves and began to wake her friends. Most of the girls got up with minimal protest except for Rainbowdash, who took twice as long to wake as everypony else.
“Red, were here, you gotta’ get up.” Twilight gently rocked the metal man attempting to wake him.
“Hey Miller, I found a flamethrower, Jealous? Heh heh” Red mumbled in his sleep, rolling over to avoid waking up. Gravity however had other plans, hanging over the edge of the bench he fell face first on to the floor of the train. He opened his eyes and complained “Oh, good morning floor!”
Twilight then trotted over to Pinkie’s bunk, she placed her hoof on the body sized lump under the blanket only to watch it collapse. She pulled back the blanket and her face was assaulted with a blast of confetti.
“He he, Good morning Twi, whatcha’ doin’?” The pink party pony popped up from under the pillow, which by the way had zero signs of being moved.
“Well, you’re already up so I guess were all ready to go.” Twilight concluded as she started toward the door.
“Red, could you be a dear and assist me with my bags?” Rarity politely asked the metal man who was still a little groggy.
“Yeh I guess so, but I’m going back to sleep when we get to hotel.” Red complained.
“Ah still don’t understand why a robot needs to sleep.” Applejack questioned, slipping her hat over her bed-mane.
“I explained this; I don’t eat, so I sleep to recharge battery.” Red elaborated tiredly.
“Spose’ we ought’ to get the girls too.” Applejack changed the subject. The orange cowpony gathered up her little sister, still soundly sleeping and carried her on her back. Sweetiebelle was wide awake and walked excitedly next to her sister. Scootaloo was hitching a ride on Red’s back using his backpack as a pillow and his coat as a blanket warming herself with the heat emanating from his battery, and the presently warm air wafting from the vents on the back of his head cooling the vacuum tubes behind the vents them. The doors of the train stayed open until every passenger got exited regardless of how tired they were. Everypony sluggishly walked toward one of the carriages waiting for arriving passengers. Twilight gave the driver a location as the first half of the group got on. Knowing not everyone could get into one carriage the Applejack carrying Applebloom, Fluttershy, Rainbowdash, and Red, also carrying a sleeping filly boarded. Red placed the bags in the trunk, closed it and walked over to the door to get in.
“Hey, heavy luggage rides in the back.” The driver warned.
“It is.” Red responded confused.
“I was referring to you tin-head.” The driver smirked
“Ha ha, you made funny joke. Now is my turn.” Red made a noise as if clearing his throat. “Even if I drink all vodka in Russia, you stay ugly.” Though Red’s grin was obscured by his mustache, it was clear that he was pleased with his remark. The cab driver decided that he was fighting a losing battle and gave up trying to make fun of the Soviet machine. Red got into the cab making it lean to one side under his weight. Applejack and Rainbowdash shifted their gaze over to Red surprised by the shift in weight.
“What? I can’t help it. You try being made out of steel.” He defended himself against their silent criticism.
When the carriage finally came to a stop outside of an elaborate building with large pillars, the two parties once again began to mix. The cab driver shouted in the direction of the group, more accurately at Red.
“Hey, next time try a salad pal!” he shouted. Without turning around Red put his fingers up to his chin in thought.
“Whoa, what’d you do to him?” Rainbow asked.
“He started it. Hey, how do you thanks for the ride in idiot?” Red spoke jokingly about the driver. The group made their way inside the hotel. Luckily they all had rooms close together. Red, Fluttershy, Rainbowdash, and by extension, Scootaloo where all sharing a room; the door opened and they stepped inside, a few seconds later Red spoke up.
“It’s just like my first apartment, only less blood.” The metal man chuckled to himself attempting to lighten the tired mood. With little feedback everypony carelessly tossed their bags off to the side and collapsed onto the beds. Red placed the orange filly on the sofa, putting his coat over her like a blanket, and laid down on the floor. His eyes flicked shut and he once again fell asleep. The floor of the hotel was filled with nothing except for the gentle sound of breathing.
Several hours later the sun began to shine through the windows of the hotel rooms. Everypony and Red had woken up and where on their way down to the lobby so they could meet up for breakfast. Twilight was in such a big hurry to get to the princesses that she barely slept once settled into the hotel and almost skipped through breakfast to get on her way. However with some convincing from her friends and the protest from her stomach she went along with the group. The Crusaders spent most of their breakfast on coming up with ways to get their cutiemarks. Twilight went on and on about what the royal sisters could have summoned her for. Red sat on a wood bench just a few feet away from the outdoor table the rest of the group was eating at. He repetitively popped the magazine out of the handgun he brought with him sliding it back into the grip, getting faster and faster with each attempt. By the end of breakfast the Crusaders where itching to get to their next harebrained scheme that involved train cars, buckets of paint, pipe cleaners, a wood saw, and a pair of binoculars. Applejack set off after the fillies to make sure they didn’t get themselves into trouble, followed by Rainbowdash. Rarity and Fluttershy set their attention for the day to browse the current fashion trends of the Canterlot Upper-class.
“You know darling it would be nice for you to come with us. It’ll be a delightful taste of culture outside what you see every day in Ponyville.” Rarity offered for Red to join them.
“You realize you are asking Robotic Russian man to go cloths shopping right? I don’t even wear cloths outside of coat, boots and hat. Besides, Twilight said the princesses need to see me as well as her.” Red politely declined the offer. Remembering the instructions of the letter they nodded and parted ways. Red stood up sliding the TT-33 back into its holster just under his coat. Twilight, Red and Spike began to make their way toward the castle, Spike and Red where making small talk as they walked.
“So, you say you weren’t a fan of these human creatures. What where they, what was so bad about them?” Spike questioned.
“Well, not exactly it’s not like I hated them, I just didn’t like the way they behaved. They were violent when they didn’t need to be. You know they once sent entire country into war because they thought they could use each other like slaves?” Red complained. From a nearby bench a teal unicorn with a white streak in her mane sat upright watching in amazement at the retired Soviet as he walked down the street talking with a baby dragon. She got up and followed the trio as they headed toward the castle but kept a fair distance to not arouse suspicion. Twilight, Spike, and Red finally came up to the gates of the palace. Red’s hands where buried in his coat pockets as they waited for the gates to open.
“Hey, where is Pinkie?” Red wondered out loud. The helmet on his head lifted and soared upward; from under it Pinkie pie was once again smiling appearing out of nowhere.
“Surprise!” Pinkie cheered wearing the soldier’s helmet that weighed down her poofy mane.
“I will never understand how or why you are able to do that.” Red wrinkled his forehead as she hopped down onto the floor. Twilight followed by Red and Spike with the unexpected addition of Pinkie walked into the main hallway of the castle where Celestia was waiting for them.
“Good morning my student, Pinkie it’s good to see you, and you as well spike. Red, you’re looking well.” The princess greeted
“Hah, I might look like it but I my head hurts like I have magnet stuck to it.” Red laughed like a stereotypical drunk Russian, though he was incapable of actually consuming any kind of beverage. The princess took the joke literally, not seeing the humor. Celestia lead the four into a chamber where princess Luna was asleep, glasses halfway hanging off her face, the books sprawled across the desk, floor, and the one in front of her was a clear indication she had been puling one if not several all-night research binges. On the outside Twilight had the look of genuine concern; however on the inside the sight reminded her of her long nights of hitting the books. Spike had a look of ironic justice plastered on his face. So many times had the princesses left Twilight with so much book work he needed to remind her to blink, and now at least one of the princesses receive a taste of what they put Twilight through. He had never been the vengeful type and even felt a little bad for the night princess for being so distressed. Trying to step into the room Red tripped over one of the books, his foot landed on another and it slipped out from under him. He rammed into the floor with the force of a falling oak tree. The loud clang his body when it collided with the stone floor echoed through the great walls of the library waking Luna from her slumber.
“Heh, good morning once again floor. We must stop running into each other like this.” Red joked. Pinkie laughed at and with Red at the same time.
“Sorry to disturb you Princess. But I got the letter you sent me and came over as soon as I could.” Twilight apologized for interrupting Luna’s slumber.
“No need to apologize, it is true, I requested the presence of you and the machine. I have found a dream of which I have seen before, though this time I fear your mechanical friend there wasn’t the one who recalled the incident.” The night princess began.
“So, what did you need me for?” Red was confused.
“Do you remember the dream you had a while back, the one that lead us to the knowledge of your being in ponyville?” Luna asked.
“Yes, the one with the snow, and the tanks.” Red confirmed.
“Did you happen to have that dream again?” Luna questioned the metal man further.
“I haven’t had any seriously intense war dream in several months. I’ve had dreams of being at base and shenanigans of my old squad. But I haven’t had any violent dreams. The humans in that dream would have died long ago, the Captain was literally destroyed, and I remember killing the German machine personally. I held his battery in hand.” The Soviet Machine responded in his sincerest voice.
“Then this is indeed worrying. Are you sure that nopo… nobody could have stuck around all this time?” Luna spoke with a grave look on her face.
“Are you saying that Panzer could still be alive?” Red was slightly hysterical. The princess did nothing but nod at the presumption.
Applejack and Ranbowdash where talking amongst themselves as the Crusaders ran around from place to place trying in vain to obtain their cutie marks. Dash’s eyes shifted over to an armor-clad guard positioned on the balcony of a large red bricked building overlooking the craft store near the main train station.
“Hey, AJ is it just me or does it seem like that guard is watching us, like, too closely?” Rainbow speculated. Applejack’s eyes shifted over to the guard.
“Ah, suppose he is acting a might strange. But he’s probly’ jus’ doin’ his job.” Applejack turned her attention over towards the children once again. Rainbow looked away, then back once more; but the guard had vanished. She shook her head thinking she was just a bit jumpy and moved on. Rainbow and AJ sat next to each other talking about various things; occasionally a laugh would interrupt the calm conversation. Several hours had passed before Rainbowdash stood up.
“Hey AJ, I’m getting a little hungry, I think I’ll go grab a bite, you want me to get you anything?” The blue Pegasus asked Applejack as she stood up and stretched her wings.
“Yeah, I could eat; should probably get something for the girls too.” Applejack handed Rainbow the bits to pay for both her and the Crusaders to pay for lunch. Dash sped off toward the nearest restaurant leaving the orange cowpony to look after the kids alone. Shortly after Dash left Applejack heard a voice behind her suddenly that frightened her.
“Excuse me miss, might I ask what it is that you’re doing here?” The voice surprisingly belonged to the guard that Applejack an Rainbowdash where looking at earlier.
“I’m mighty sorry, I, I didn’t know this area was restricted.” Applejack defended her presence. Then she took a second look at the guard’s eyes. She noticed that they had a green hue to them, a hue not natural in the eyes of any creature except a changeling. Applejack’s eyes grew wide, the guard jumped on the opportunity. The guard’s mouth began to bleed as two of the flat teeth in his mouth fell out, a pair of fangs lurching out in their place. He bit down on her shoulder injecting a paralyzing toxin that would immobilize her for at least an hour. From behind a bush across the dirt lot Scootaloo, Sweetiebelle, and Applebloom watched in horror as their chaperone was dragged off by an obyously fake guard. His fangs sunk back into his gums and wiped the crimson from his lip, slinging the paralyzed Applejack over his back he made his way toward an old looking train. The Crusaders followed him, jumping into the last car to avoid being seen. The train began to huff and pull away from the end of the line and head toward its new destination.
Rainbowdash stood where she had been sitting earlier holding the food she had just purchased wondering where her friend had wondered off to. She placed the bag down; looking at the ground she noticed something odd. A few small droplets of blood, fresh blood, she was no detective but it couldn’t have been more than only two minutes old.
“Applejcak?! Applejack?!” Her eyes turned to pinpricks when she noticed the quiet. “Girls!?” She began to panic. Dash flew up high into the air thinking she would go chase down the ponies that took her friend but quickly realized she didn’t even know where to start looking. She only had one thought; Find Twilight. Soaring down corridors around buildings and under awnings it was a surprise he didn’t run into anything Rainbow sprinted through the air headed straight for the castle. The doors flew open and Dash flew in almost knocking Red down for a third time in one day. She was hysterical and barely making sense as she rambled on.
“Rainbow, slow down and tell me what happened!” Twilight shouted to get her multicolored friend to speak calmly.
“I think Applejack was taken by sompony wearing royal guard armor, and I think he took the girls too!” Dash spat out trying to keep somewhat calm. Everyone in the room was making a racket except for Red; sitting in contemplation he tried to put together the clues. Pinkie was yelling at Twilight pointing to the top-hat she had on her head which seemingly came from nowhere. Finally Red stood up to silence everyone so he could tell them what he had figured out. Though the room stayed loud; Red grabbed the Handgun from its holster, snapped back the top, chambering a round then fired it keeping the barrel pointed out a window at a dirt pile in the garden. The room fell deeply silent aside from Pinkie Pie.
“THAT’S WHY YOU CAN’T PUT TEDDY BEARS IN CAKES!!” Pinkie shouted to nobody in particular. Red just raised an eyebrow in confusion. He shook his head and began to speak.
“Look, I can’t believe I’m saying this but I can’t shake the feeling that this has Panzer Shriek all over written all over it.” Red began to describe how the actions and events turn by turn showed signs of being straight from Panzer’s playbook. From just outside a pair of guards walked talking quietly to one another, the unicorn guard caught a few sentences of the Red’s explanation. The second Pegasus guard looked over to the unicorn in confusion. The unicorn quickly turned his attention back to the other guard; he awkwardly excused himself and began to run in the direction of the main gates. He rounded several street corners bumping into several ponies during his run until he reached the old train station; it still stood but was never used. In fact its ability to stand at all was a miracle in its self. He ran inside the building shedding his armor he ran up to an old train car. The unicorn’s eyes began to glow green and change from that of a normal pony to something similar to a lizard. His back arched and his coat began to melt away revealing a pair of insect like wings, his horn began to grow dark and sharp. The solid form of the legs began to erode giving way to several holes. The changeling now stood in its true form orange back signifying its rank in the changeling swarm. It climbed aboard the train looking at two other of its orange comrades and a few drones. It then looked over to the three paralyzed prisoners being held on the seats of the train car. Though the outside of the car looked rusty, beaten, and outdated the inside had been well kept and refurbished. The first of the prisoners to attempt to speak was the Applejack, though the toxins wouldn’t allow her to form comprehendible words, weak grunts and huffs was all she could manage.
Red paced around outside the main castle gate trying to find more reasons to prove to everyone else that Panzer was behind everything, or prove to himself that he was being paranoid. Finally he broke his cycle and started down the street, thinking somehow that going for a walk could clear up the fog of the situation. From a short distance away a teal unicorn watched as the tin man made his way down the street. She sped up her pace to catch up with the Mechanical Soviet.
“Hey! Hey! Excuse me!” The unicorn attempted to catch Red’s attention. Red stopped looked over his shoulder, then turned completely to make eye contact with the pony in question.
“Hello, what can I do for you?” Red was never good at greetings.
“Are you, a human?” The unicorn jumped straight to the point. Red was confused; he was under the impression that there were no ponies left that even knew what a human was or could even identify something made by one.
“Niet, I was built by humans but I am not myself one. Who are you? And how do you know what humans are?” Red couldn’t resist the question.
“Sorry, hi I’m Lyra, Heartstrings. I’m a bit of what science calls an Anthropologist. I ask because I think you might have the one thing I need to unlock the secrets of a little something I found. You might actually recognize it or her by the looks of things.” The teal unicorn gestured Red to follow her. The Soviet Mechanical stood there stupidly for a few seconds before following . Lyra lead Red to a storage unit, she clicked the lock open and let the door swing revealing the contents of the locker. Red was speechless, inside the locker sitting on a table was another mechanical being. Its slim figure made it obvious that it was designed to be female, yet at the same time wasn’t vulgar or over exaggerated.
“I found her while exploring a cave just outside of Fillydelphia, she was obviously old but I had her shipped back here. I’ve been working on her for a few years and I think I can get her working but I don’t know anything about the wiring. When I saw you I figured you’d know what to do.” Lyra explained. Red examined the Mechanical on the table. Her face was like his, painted only in places necessary for aesthetics only more feminine. The rest of her was made out of some kind of stainless steel, not one piece of her was made of wood. She had a desert camouflage paint job covering her from her neck to her shins where the tan faded to black of boots. She like him, had pockets built into the armor plating covering the more fragile and vital systems necessary for survival, yet she had a tactical look to her.
“I don’t know her, but I think I can get her working again.” Red walked over to the body inspecting the pieces, checking that everything was in working order. He turned his attention to the head removing the skull cap he found the problem, a pair of wires where plugged into the wrong places, some were missing, and though she didn’t have vacuum tubes in the back of her head like him she did have something similar. She was far more advanced than the likes of the Soviet but he knew the layout well enough to solve a wiring problem. He clicked the last wire into place, her eyes shot open with a light click. She sat up quick, one of the wires in her head was still stuck to Red’s finger disconnecting it from the mainframe again, and she fell back to the table hard. Red froze for a second before a smile exploded across his face. Lyra looked at him a little shocked that he would laugh at the misfortune of his own kind.
“Heh, what that was kind of funny.” Red once again connected the wire making sure his hands where clear. The mechanical woman sat up again. She jumped off the table into a fighting stance, balling her hands into fists, from the knuckles of each fist jutted a blade which she pointed at the two onlookers. Red noticed that she was very quiet, unlike his model she didn’t make any buzzing noises, strange ticking, even his hydraulics where noisier than hers. She didn’t run on a hydraulic system at all she ran on a very quick responding cable system allowing for quick, precise, and quiet movements, shedding a significant amount of weight.
“Who are you? Where am I?” She demanded.
“Relax nobody here is going to hurt you.” Lyra was the first to respond, she had a smile plastered on her face from getting her human analog working. Pixel stared at the teal unicorn in shock.
“Did that horse just talk? Why is it blue?” Her head exploded with questions none of which where getting any answers.
“Actually, pony and I’m a unicorn and I can do much more than just talk. How do you think you’re alive right now? Red here helped a little with the more complicated wiring problems.” Lyra explained still smiling
She looked at Red’s chest plate seeing a stamp in the steel. It was a gear cog with a pair of wings opening behind it.
“You’re built by The Alpha Project? But you’re Russian.” She questioned. Red looked at his stamp and nodded.
“I am Beta 0012 of Beta squad. My name is Red.” The Soviet tried to talk down the metal woman.
“Wait, Beta squad. Did you know a Beta 0007, goes by Snips?” She retracted her blade in favor of the conversation. Red’s eyes light up.
“Yes, he was our squad’s sniper a bit of a cowboy, even tried wearing the hat for a while. He had his life saved by Garand rifle and refused to get rid of it.” Red informed.
“That’s him, he was in my squad. So you’re the Russian badass he was always talking about. I was his new squad leader. I’m Gamma 45 but the guys call me Pixel.” The female machine identified herself. Lyra listened with intrigue as the two machines conversed with one another.
“Wait, Snips died a few weeks before I got here. And I know you didn’t exist before that happened, plus you said you’re from Gamma squad. Last I checked Beta was the latest model. How could you know him?” Red was confused and didn’t hide it.
“Oh he didn’t die, he stepped on a mine it’s not like what happened to, what was that poor fella’s name? Beta 0010 he was your squad leader, Marine, uhg what was his name? Anyway he was hurt, not dead.” She resolved to belay remembering the name.
“Tell you what though, that stubborn bastard wouldn’t give up that piece of crap Garand he had. I told him time and time again he had the collective aim of a storm trooper. Couldn’t hit the brad side of a 747. It took a while before we finally got him to use a new rifle, still kept the M1 but at that point it was more of a trophy, we got him to try an M110 and he fell in love with it after he first pulled the trigger. Damn near shot Rat with that thing.” Pixel recalled the events of her old squad.
“So, what was your relation to him, how did he end up in your squad?” The soviet curiously asked.
“Oh, our original sniper Optic was caught by a junkyard magnet, his memory was fried and then he was melted down while still functional. Snips was the pretty much an outcast, being used for warehouse inventory upkeep. Once he heard there was an opening he jumped on the opportunity. He and kind of had a thing, well he had a crush on me and I guess I kind of fell for him too.” Pixel explained. Red now knew that if these events where in fact brought about by Panzer Shriek he would now have a chance at fighting the Fascist menace and the army he surly had backing him up. Pixel, Red and Lyra casually walked down the path between the storage lockers, Red had spent several months of his service with the Red Army cooking for the soldiers, he himself couldn’t eat but he could smell. Red could have been a famous chef if it hadn’t been for the war, he cooked by smell, his nose had never steered him wrong as far as the soldiers who ate his cooking told him. His metal nostrils where assaulted by a sour stench. He covered his nose with his bronze hands attempting in vain to block the offensive odor. Lyra and Pixel looked at him in confusion for a few seconds before they too were attacked by the stench. Red followed his nose to the source, leading him to one of the lockers, he placed his hand on the door and attempted to open it but the pad-lock held the door firmly in place.
“Let me see that.” Pixel reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of thin metal sticks. She slid both sticks into the lock and fiddled around until the lock clicked open. She opened the door. Inside where the bodies of several ponies, all but one where male all with the physic of royal guards and the cutie marks to match the look. They were all bound in some kind of green pods that slowly rotted around them. An AC unit sat in the corner of the room it seemed to have broken and shut down at least a day ago, leaving the combined body heat of the ponies to rot away at the festering pods. From down the hall hoof steps could be heard, getting closer with every passing second. Red, Pixel, and Lyra knew they couldn’t get caught with this sight. Lyra was thinking on her hooves and jumped into the pile of rotting pods concealing her under them. Pixel was quick enough to dash around a corner out of sight, red quickly closed the door and acted as if he hadn’t seen anything and pretended to be walking the other way. The pony looked up from the ground; it was a Gold clad guard. Seeing Red he jumped threw off his helmet and saluted.
“Sir! I wasn’t expecting you to be here.” The guard stuttered.
“I’m sorry I don’t think we’ve met.” Red responded innocently, he knew something was up once he saw that the guard before him was identical to one that was suspended in one of the pods. Inside the locker Lyra pushed on one of the pods breaking its surface tension. Outside, the guard’s skeleton began to shift under his skin, pieces of it lopped off exposing an insect like exoskeleton. The guard’s look finally gave way to his true form; a commando changeling complete with orange back. Red was mortified by the transformation. The changeling had finally gotten a good look at the mechanical man only to realize that the machine was not General Panzer. The changeling’s eyes shrank to pinheads and attempted to run, red quickly drew his pistol and fired twice at the bug’s legs adding two fresh holes and stopping him dead in his tracks. Pixel burst from around the corner, hand blades drawn and at the ready. She stopped to examine the struggling changeling, Lyra came out of the locker and looked at the scene, Red was standing over a struggling commando changeling his handgun still smoking as blood seeped from the changeling’s wounds.
“What, the hell, is that?” Pixel kept her blades at the ready.
“That’s it! That explains it! It’s a changing, and those pods are incubation chambers they allow them to hold the form of any pony of their choosing for prolonged periods of time.” Lyra explained ignoring the fact that she now smelled like the putrid pods.
“It looks like a god damned Geonosian.” Pixel once again referenced a movie neither of the others had seen.
“I think we have all the answers we need now.” Red holstered the pistol, knocked out the changeling and slung it over his shoulder. Its blood dripped down and stained the brown paint of his back.