“He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you.”
--Friedrich Nietzsche--
“I had a dream last night Luna…” Celestia whispered under her breath as she gazed at the night sky.
Luna looked up at her sister and placed a book that she had been recently been reading on a nearby table. The two sisters were on the castle’s balcony, not far from the top of the tower. The beautiful starry night sky shone overhead complemented by the glorious city of Canterlot below.
“I know, I was there.” replied Luna.
Celestia took her crown off her head and inspected the regal piece of jewelry. The gold crown shined brightly even at night, the purple jewel being the most luminous piece.
“I just don’t know sister, I look at myself in the mirror and... I have a hard time remembering who I am, I fear what I might become when all of this is finally over...”
Luna walked up to her sister and took the crown from her hoof.
“You know very well who you are, sister. I don’t know what happened in the past, but I do know that we will stand beside you to the very end, each and everyone one of us.”
Luna placed the crown on Celestia’s head, but her sister continued to frown.
“You say that, but I wonder if the rest of Equestria feels the same way.”
Celestia paused as she tried to gather her thoughts.
“I… I just don’t know if I am making the right decisions, sister… all the ponies who have lost their lives, died for me… this is all my fault, no pony should have to suffer for choices I made over a thousand years ago...”
Luna placed her hooves on the balcony railing and looked out at the glorious city of Canterlot.
“Whatever you did in the past I am sure you did it in order to protect Equestria. You have only done your best to provide us a peaceful life filled with friendship and love. We will not allow some monster to take you away from us so easily.”
Celestia began to smile after hearing her sister’s kind words.
“Thank you… It helps a lot to hear that, but I will always continue to worry… as long as he is still out there...I can never be sure tha-”
A royal guard barged into the room, the two princesses jumped alarmed by the stallion who couldn’t seem to stop tripping over his own hooves.
“Princess! The-”
Six ponies bursted through the door and interrupted the guard, the ponies were in such a hurry they nearly ran him over. Celestia and Luna looked at each other briefly before looking back at the six upset ponies. Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity, Apple, and Fluttershy were completely out of breath, but still tried to convey a message to the princess.
“Ajax...Danger!”
Celestia trotted over to the ponies, she knew that they wouldn’t have charged in here if something hadn’t gone horribly wrong.
“What, what?! What is it? Are you alright?”
The familiar voice of Discord answered all of the princesses’ questions.
“I believe she is trying to warn you that Ajax is on his way to Canterlot with an even bigger army than before”
The draconequus’ two yellow eyes appeared on a nearby wall as he stepped forward. Discord was painted to blend into the background scenery, he shook off the color before talking further.
“What’s the matter Celestia? Don’t believe me? Well I am sure they will tell you momentarily...”
Celestia stepped back in disbelief.
“Impossible! We just had a celebration the other night regarding Horizon Star’s victory over him.”
Discord shrugged and took a deep breath.
“What do you want me to say? I am only telling you what we saw.”
Discord spoke in an easy going manner, clearly he wasn’t afraid of Ajax or his new army.
Celestia began to pace back and forth with a worried look. Luna watched as her sister slowly began to grasp the situation. Celestia closed her eyes and placed a hoof on her forehead.
‘He’s going to attack Canterlot? That ...can’t be. His entire army was crushed only a week ago.’ thought the princess.
Celestia tried to figure out why Ajax was acting so boldly all of a sudden. After the last encounter she would have thought he would think twice before messing with Equestria. They crushed him with no contest after all.
But thinking “why?” wasn’t going to change anything now.
Celestia turned to her sister, she had a look on her face as if she was ready to take on the world.
“Luna! We must prepare for the worst. He wouldn’t be coming here if he didn’t have some sort of plan...”
“Chrysalis is with him!” shouted Twilight.
The six ponies had finally regained their strength, Celestia grit her teeth hearing the changeling queen’s name.
“I guess it was only a matter of time before we saw that witch again... This is bad, if Ajax and Chrysalis are working together then we’re in big trouble.”
Celestia looked at the royal guard who had just witnessed everything. The guard continued to lay on the ground, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Celestia walked past the six ponies and approached the stallion.
“Send a message across all of Equestria! ‘Canterlot is under attack.’ Evacuate as many as we can before the battle begins and prepare the shelters for the rest…”
The young stallion stared at the princess, he tried to move, but the princesses’ gaze froze every muscle in his body.
No…
The princess didn’t intimidate him. It was fear that held him tight. The fear of what was to come in the upcoming battle. Celestia saw the fear in the pony’s eyes. She placed a hoof on his shoulder. Her bold expression quickly was overcome with a sorrowful, grief-stricken tone.
“Don’t worry... I’m scared too…”
The guard’s eyes went wide hearing Celestia say something so heartfelt. The stallion blushed and saluted the princess before dashing out of the room.
Alarms began to rang across Canterlot waking up everypony. The calmful night had turned into a chaotic panic.
Each pony in Canterlot now had to choose between evacuation or warfare.
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A giant army of human-like robots and buzzing changelings thundered across Equestria heading towards Canterlot. The giant robot that Ajax had found was at the head of the army. The colossi casted a shadow that nearly covered half of the infantry. The robot was so massive, that each step caused small tremors in the ground. Troops nearly tumbled over one another after each crushing step. J.A.X.-002: Pandora Prime left a twin trail of lingering black smog from it’s exhaust pipes as the pistons on it’s back roared loudly.
Ajax and the others were inside a massive box-shaped machine that was at the heart of the army. The huge steel box moved sluggishly on large chain-linked treads. Ajax loomed over a solid steel table with both of his arms firmly placed on top of a map of Canterlot.
“Whoever commanded the forces of Canterlot last time is going to be there again. We can’t take any chances despite how powerful our army is.”
Ajax began to draw his strategy on the map.
“Pandora Prime will easily clear the way for the rest of our soldiers to enter the city. Once most of our forces are behind their walls we will cease all of our artillery fire and began pressing our way deeper into Canterlot. Then...then we shall claim our prize...”
Ajax stood up straight and folded his arms with a grin. He looked around and saw that he was pretty much talking to himself. Trixie was busy reading another book she had found in the vault library, Chrysalis was sitting across the room staring out the window, and Lightning Dust was taking a nap on top of a nearby bookshelf. Ajax sighed as he began to roll up the map of Canterlot.
“I thought your strategy was flawless.” stated a robotic voice.
Ajax looked over at Jax-4. The robot had been standing on Ajax’s righthand side for the entire presentation. Ajax didn’t even bother to roll up the map, he scrunched up the large sheet of paper and shoved it into a folder.
“They all act like this is some sort of a damn game!”
Lightning Dust woke up to Ajax’s shouting.
“Game?! Wait, what? Are we there yet? blurted the confused pegasus.
Ajax began to seethe with anger, his back turned to the drowsy pony. The pegasus waited for a while, but decided to ask her question again since she never got an answer the first time.
“Hey, Ajax... Are we there yet?”
The man began to grind his teeth from side to side. Ajax snapped a pencil in his hand when he responded to the pegasus.
“No………”
He was using every ounce of willpower he had left to stop himself from strangling the oblivious pony.
“Oh, well keep it down a bit. Okay?” yawned Lightning Dust as she went back to sleep.
Before Ajax could commit murder, Jax-4 asked him a question that took his mind off of the dozing pegasus.
“So what do you plan on doing after you defeat Celestia?”
Ajax looked at the robot.
“Why exactly do you care?”
The robot paused for a moment as he processed a response.
“Well, I was just curious since it doesn’t seem like you have many hobbies.”
Jax-4 paused again for a brief moment, but suddenly he had an idea.
“Maybe you should try fishing. I have read reports that indicate fishing can provide a relaxing and enjoyable time.”
Ajax shook his head, while chuckling at the robot. He walked up next to Jax-4 and gave the robot a hard pat on the back.
“Nice joke.” said Ajax.
“Did you like it?”
The robot’s eyes brightened up hearing Ajax’s compliment.
“No...”
Ajax coldheartedly turned around and began to stretch his arms as he walked away from the robot.
“Let’s focus on one thing at a time. If we do manage to bring Celestia to justice then I honestly don’t care what happens to me or anyone else for that matter. Whatever happens after that is fine with me.”
Ajax waved his hand back at Jax-4 as he left the room.
“Since everyone is so nonchalant about all this I guess I might take a nap myself.” said Ajax.
Jax-4 watched as Ajax left the room. When the door had finally closed Jax-4 walked over to Trixie. The unicorn didn’t even look up from her book when she addressed the robot.
“What do you want?...” sighed Trixie.
Jax-4 stared at her without saying a word for a solid ten seconds. The robot’s empty eyes and straight slotted mouth started to make Trixie uneasy. The pony raised an eyebrow as she held up her book, covering the bottom half of her face.
“What are you doing?... You are creeping me out right now.”
Jax-4 looked around the room observing the other two ponies that were still here with them. Chrysalis still hadn’t moved from her spot. The changeling continued to stare out the window watching the soldiers as they marched by. She had a devious smile that sent shivers down Jax-4’s nonexistent spine.
Lightning Dust continued to snore so loudly that she was nearly covering up the booming march of Pandora Prime. Jax-4 figured that nothing could wake up that pony right now.
Trixie watched as the robot continued to scan the room with his empty eyes. This was her only opportunity to escape the weirdo. Trixie tried to slide off the chair like a stick of butter, but Jax-4 caught the pony before she could make her great escape.
Jax-4’s robotic face shoot towards the unicorn hovering only a few uncomfortable inches from her face. Trixie fell back shocked by the brash action.
“GhaaH!”
The unicorn fell out of her chair and knocked her hide against the hard steel floor.
“What the heck is wrong with you! you can’t just-”
“There is something you and I must discuss. ” interrupted the robot.
Trixie was surprised. Jax-4 never wanted to talk. He usually kept quiet, sticking to his own thing. They only talked when it concerned orders or something else just as important. Trixie was slightly curious about what the robot wished to discuss.
“Yea…ok...What do you want to talk about?” asked the hesitant unicorn.
Jax-4 sat down in a chair across from the pony.
“You see Trixie...I was programed to be a soldier...not a friend.”
Trixie pushed herself off the hard ground and sat back in the chair that she had fallen out of.
“Ok?... And?”
Jax-4 took off his metallic hat and placed it on his lap. The robot’s face was unable to express emotion, but Trixie could feel something in the robot’s voice when he spoke. Jax-4 stared at his reflection in the metallic piece of headwear as he continued to talk.
“I am worried about Ajax… There are many stories about men who seek revenge. It is their world, their everything, but it consumes them, every single last one of them.”
Trixie couldn’t believe that the robot was talking to her on such a sincere level. She started to wonder if robots could have ...feelings? Jax-4 continued to talk as Trixie listened.
“Those who are not consumed by their revenge or die trying to achieve it realize that on their journey... they changed into something. Something that no longer belongs, they have lost their purpose…Unbeknownst to them, their hearts and souls were replaced with an unfillable hole, all consuming, all devouring...”
Jax-4 looked back up at the unicorn. Trixie was now sitting on the edge of her seat.
Jax-4 continued with his speech.
“Killing Celestia won’t bring back his friends, but I am sure he knows that… What he doesn’t know is that he will be no different than all the others who came before him. He too will have the unfillable void in his soul. Some men take their own lives, driven mad by it… but not Ajax… no, no, no… He fights until the bitter end. The problem with that is… he will fill that black hole with only thing that he has ever known.”
Jax-4 placed his hat back onto his head, the cone-like hat covered his eyes like it always did.
“He will try to fill that hole with only more rage and bloodshed… and he won't stop... not until every last creature in Equestria is dead.”
Trixie was speechless at first, the two of them never had a previous conversation like this ever before. She finally managed to blurt out a few words.
“So, what exactly do you want me to do about it?...”
Jax-4 nodded his head slowly understanding the unicorn’s confusion.
“As I said I can’t be his friend… He needs something...something that is...well, alive. We have known you for nearly two months now and I have a feeling that you are the best candidate for the job.”
Jax-4 continued talking not giving Trixie a second to respond.
“Look, you may not like me, you may not like him, none of that matters, there is one undeniable fact that you can’t disregard. If you don’t help him onto a better path he will become a force of chaos that tears apart all of Equestria. If I die today I need to know that there is someone who can hold him back from creating a giant war that kills everyone, including himself. My protocol places his safety above everything else…I couldn’t care less about the ones he hurts, but it is him I am worried about. If he continues on his destructive path all of Equestria will rain hell down upon him like they did in the past, but this time they will make sure he doesn’t live.”
Jax-4 paused for a moment. Trixie was confused about where the robot was exactly going with this. She was completely lost in the conversation.
“I have been programed to be a warmachine, but you… You can be the one person he needs now more than ever. So for the sake of Equestria you must become his friend.”
Trixie stared blankly at the robot for a while, but soon after a while she began to snort which eventually evolved into an uncontrollable laughter. She placed her hooves out and gestured for the robot to stop. The unicorn continued to laugh for another half-minute before calming down.
“Wait, wait, wait. So let me get this straight. You’re saying that the fate of Equestria relies on me and Ajax becoming friends?”
Jax-4 looked Trixie straight in the eye.
“Yes. I am not saying that you have to go on picnics or make macaroni art together, but you need to be there for him. As long as he has someone to remind him that he is still human. He won’t fall into the darkness that is trying so hard to consume him.”
Trixie stood up still having gigglish episodes. The unicorn tried to walk away casually, but found it difficult since she still was fighting against her laughter.
“You might want to go get all the parts you keep in your head checked out. Something must be busted up there!” giggled the unicorn as walked away.
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Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Twilight gathered in the war room of Canterlot. Celestia and Luna wore their regal battle armor, ready to fight at a moment’s notice. Cadence was busy reading off a stack of papers regarding proper protocol during times of war. While Cadence was busy reading the manuscript a guard entered the room unnoticed and silently closed the door behind him. He snuck up next to Celestia and whispered something in her ear. Celestia nodded at the guard and raised a hoof interrupting Cadence mid sentence.
“That will be all Cadence…we are out of time to prepare any further.”
Cadence looked back down at the page floating in front of her and placed it back on top of the pile. The four alicorns went their separate ways without saying a word to each other.
‘This is bad… our morale is so low...’ thought Twilight.
She entered a small room where Rainbow, Apple and Pinkie were getting ready for battle. The three ponies quietly prepared for the war, not even saying a word to Twilight when she had entered the room.
Rainbow Dash was stretching her wings and adjusting a pair of goggles to fit properly over her head.
Applejack was trying to find a way to fit her hat on top of her helmet.
Pinkie Pie, surprisingly, was also quiet, she sat in a nearby corner loading her Super Duper Mega-Awesome Party Cannon 5000.
Twilight walked over to a chest and began suiting up as well. She turned to Rainbow Dash as she finished strapping on her helmet.
“What about Spike, Fluttershy and Rarity?...” Rainbow looked up at Twilight while she continued to clean her goggles.
“Already evacuated... So no need to worry...”
Twilight nodded slowly, the room returned to the same atmosphere of misery and doom. Twilight couldn’t take it anymore, she couldn’t stand the mood everypony was in. She had something inside of her that everypony else had seemed to forgotten to bring.
Hope.
The purple pony had hope for a better tomorrow and a brighter future. Even though everything seemed bleak at this very moment she knew that their friendship would see them through.
“Alright, Listen up! I don’t want to see another frown. We have faced Chrysalis before, but were we discouraged then? No! When Tirek stole nearly all magic from Equestria, it was our friendship that saw us through. Today will be no different! So save your frowns for a gloomy future that will never exist, because today... We will win!”
Twilight stood on her hind legs with a single hoof pointed upwards. She was standing proudly in her polished standard issued silver battle-armor. Twilight’s friends also stood up, their spirits were uplifted by Twilight’s confidence. Applejack tipped her hat at the armored alicorn.
“You always manage to pull through for everyone… don’t cha, Twilight.” said Applejack with a smile.
Rainbow Dash flew up next to Twilight and placed a hoof around her.
“Course she does! Twilight is the greatest! Well, next to me of course.”
Pinkie Pie slammed a hoof down on a nearby table, she had used facepaint to color the entire right side of her face blue. The pink energetic pony began to shout at the top of her lungs in a scottish accent.
“Aye! Today we shall fight to protect our way of life! They shall never take our freedom!!!”
The four ponies cheered and charged outside ready to take on any challenge. They immediately froze and looked up to see that the entire sky was now a makeshift forcefield of blue and pink swirls of magic. The two colors intertwined beautifully as both Shining Armor and Cadence used their magic to create a shield stronger than ever before.
Canterlot was guarded like never before. Throughout the entire city there was a guard wherever you looked. They were on every street and rallied atop every wall. Not a single post unguarded, not a single post unponied.
Celestia and Luna were a top an inner city wall looking out into the distance waiting…watching… but everything remained calm. Everypony waited anxiously, but it was a perfect day except for a few grey clouds in the sky.
Twilight and her friends decided to split up and group up with the teams they had been assigned to. Twilight grouped up with Celestia, Luna, and Horizon Star on top of the inner wall. Cadence and Shining Armor were also with them, but found it difficult to speak since they were dedicating their entire energy to the force field. The two ponies sat next to each other, their horns glowing brightly holding each other's hoof.
Horizon Star was wearing his usual gold plated white armor. Although no opposing army was in sight the white stallion wasn’t going to waste a second. The earth pony began to spit out orders at lightning speed.
“Don’t let your guard down for even for a second! Our scout will return momentarily with information regarding the enemy’s position!” Horizon Star pointed at a military captain.
“You, move your squad behind the portcullis at the front gate! Make sure that you hold your position even if the magical barrier breaks.”
Horizon only stopped shouting orders when a nearby soldier hollered.
“Look! In the distance!” yelled the soldier.
A lone pegasus scout slowly flew out the distance. She eventually made it to Canterlot and crashed down in front of Horizon. Everypony gathered around eagerly waiting to hear the scout’s report. The mare was covered in black soot, with cuts running up and down her entire body. The pegasus shook uncontrollably, it was if she had already returned from a horrible war. She struggled to remove her goggles as nearby guards helped her up to her hooves. The pony coughed a bit before speaking.
“H-he’s nearly here...just over the horizon…So many...Gia-”
The pony went silent as she collapsed, all of her energy had suddenly vanished from her body. The adrenaline that had pushed her to bring back her final message finally ran out. The mare went limp in the guard’s hooves. Her eyes rolled off to the side as her chest heaved one last time. Everything was silent… The ponies quietly mourned the loss of their sister.
The grey clouds in the sky grew larger and darker as the ground beneath Canterlot began to shake. Without any warning, a booming blast of sound crashed into the city and resonated off every building. The small earthquake grew more violent as a massive body of steel came into view over the horizon. The same shockwave of sound hit the city once more striking fear into the hearts of pony. Horizon Star couldn’t believe his eyes.
“What in the world is that…” he muttered.
Horizon looked back at Celestia and Luna, but he could clearly see that they also had no idea what they were looking at. Pandora Prime had the privilege of introducing the robot/changeling army, and it did an excellent job. The robot’s deafening horn crushed all remaining hope in his enemies. It sounded as if every trumpet in the history of Equestria had been combined to form a single ear-crushing blast of sound.
Legions of changelings and robots followed behind the behemoth, their eyes fixated on Canterlot. The horde of villains came to a stop only a few miles away from the pony capital of the world. The skies had turned completely grey when Ajax emerged from a hatch on top of the giant armored warmchanie followed by his companions.
“About time…” uttered Lightning Dust as she began to stretch her wings.
Chrysalis giggled with delight when she saw Canterlot.
“Looks like they were expecting us...Oh dear, I just can’t help but get a little excited. I just want to sink my teeth into a pony already!”
The changeling’s tongue slithered across her sharp fangs.
Ajax stepped forward and waited for everyone to settle down. He grabbed a microphone from a pylon of steel protruding out of the giant armored war machine. Ajax’s eyes peered through the colorful shield and saw all the ponies who had gathered to stand between him and Celestia. He held down a red button on the side of the microphone as he addressed the entire city of Canterlot.
“Dear small equines of Equestria… I come here today to ask you to do a simple task... I know you are afraid… that is completely understandable...I assure you. Standing before you is a numberless army made up of war machines and changelings ready to tear you limb from limb...Standing behind them is a wave of J.A.X.-011 68 cm artillery, loaded with explosive shells. You also ‘might’ have noticed the giant robot I brought… J.A.X.-002 AKA: Pandora Prime is the latest addition to my arsenal and I would love to see it in action.”
A crack of thunder shot across the sky followed by light rainfall. As Ajax continued on the storm grew more severe.
“No one else has to die...This war doesn’t need to be fought...The only thing I ask of you is that you turn Celestia over to me...”
Everything was now dark, the sky had been completely blocked out by grey clouds. A bolt of lightning struck in the distance illuminating the statue-like robot soldiers for a second. They stood motionless with their arms at their sides waiting for a command. The hissing of changelings and rain pattering on steel filled the silence as Ajax waited for Canterlot’s response.
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Celestia looked around and saw that everypony was now looking at her. The sound of rain crashing against the magical dome above became white noise to the princess. She felt as if she was surrounded by thousands of eyes watching her every move… which she was.
All the ponies were waiting for her to respond to Ajax. The silence was like a dagger being slowly being pressed into her back. Celestia knew that Ajax wasn’t lying… The only thing he desired was revenge on her. If she gave herself up right here, right now, she could possibly save the life of everypony in Canterlot.
“Horizon Star!” shouted the princess.
The earth pegasus was standing in front of a vintage megaphone. He looked back at Celestia.
“Yes… princess?” Celestia was hesitant at first, but finally built up the courage to speak.
“Tell him… That we will accept his offer...”
Lightning struck once more as the ponies stood still, no one was surprised by the princess’ order. Celestia looked at the ground as she waited for Horizon Star to relay the message, but Equestria’s general didn’t move an inch.
“Well?! What are you waiting for?! I gave you an order didn’t I?!” Celestia’s voice cracked a little when she yelled at the pony.
Horizon Star stood motionless unmoved by the level of her voice. Horizon Star’s emotionless expression began to fluster the princess.
“What’s wrong with you?! Are you deaf?!” cried Celestia.
“No...I heard you, but I have chosen… to disobey your order.”
Celestia’s eyes went wide.
“I know that you want to give yourself up to protect Canterlot, but we didn’t gather here today to protect ourselves. We gathered here today to protect you!”
The soldiers shouted a cheer that startled the princess. She looked around at all the ponies who gather here to protect their beloved princess. At that moment all doubt she had about what Luna had told her vanished. They didn’t care if it put them in harms way, Canterlot wasn’t going to let Ajax take her away, not without a fight. Horizon Star stepped up to the microphone and looked back at Celestia one last time.
“Please, princess…. have faith in us. We will protect you!” Horizon Star grabbed the megaphone and shouted at the army in front of him.
“COME AND GET HER!... Sincerely! Small equines of Equestria!…”
Every soldier cheered ratified by their general’s words. Luna walked up to her sister and whispered in her ear.
“Told ya…”
Celestia was overcome with emotion, the princess bit her lip as she tried to fight back her tears.
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“Dammit! Fine, if Celestia wishes to live in her own egocentric world I don’t care! I will kill her and every last one of her subjects as well!”
Ajax threw the microphone onto the ground. He pushed back his rain soaked long white hair and began to type on a small device attached to his wrist. Robot soldiers began to load artillery shells into massive cannons while the first wave of robot soldiers moved out.
“Everyone prepare for battle!” roared Ajax.
He drew his sword and pointed it towards Canterlot.
“This...this is for everybody...Today I avenge every last one of you…”
Pandora Prime took an earth shattering step forward as it headed its master’s call. The monstrosity sounded its ear-splitting siren as it took another step forward. The robot’s heavy steps quickly turned into a stride and then into a dashing sprint. The giant pistons on the robot’s back rumbled as they tried to keep up with the monster.
“Wow…” murmured Trixie.
Ajax smiled seeing the weapon run rampant, even he was impressed by the sheer power of Pandora Prime.
He looked at Trixie with a devilish grin.
“Heh… Old robot...young heart…”
The giant machine held its forearm out in front of itself as it continued to charge towards the city. The ponies grew nervous, their faith in the magical barrier began to waver. Ponies began to run away, abandoning their post. Pandora Prime was only a mile away from the city when nearly every soldier had evacuated the outer wall.
They were smart to do so.
Pandora Prime slammed his thick, steel, arm into the magic barrier shattering it in a single blow. Shards of pink and blue magic danced in the air as the torrential rain began to pour down upon Canterlot. The ponies realised exactly how large Pandora Prime was when they finally saw it up close.
Horizon Star for once in his life was at a loss for words…
Pandora Prime stepped on the outer wall, as if it were a welcoming mat. The robot looked at the fleeing ponies as it prepared for the slaughter.
“J.a.x.-002: Pandora Prime atlas series weapon, engaging opposition.”
The robot spoke with a modulated and heavy tone that was far different from Jax-4.
It smashed its colossal fists together simulating a thunderclap with steel. Before Pandora Prime could begin its murderous spree, a thick fog rolled out of nowhere and spread across all of Canterlot. Pandora Prime activated dozens of lights that were spread across its shoulders. The robot caught sight of a long lizard like tail retreating back into the thick fog. While the robot was distracted, a massive claw crashed into its thick plated armor knocking it backwards. The fog suddenly dispersed to reveal a massive sized draconequus standing in the middle of Canterlot rivaling the size of the giant robot. Booth Ajax and Celestia’s jaws dropped seeing the massive draconequus. Discord cracked his knuckles as he glared at Pandora Prime.
“Since I made sure that Fluttershy and her friends made it safely back to Ponyville I think I should be allowed to create a little chaos…”
Ajax clenched his fists, glaring at the giant Discord in the distance.
“Damn draconequus, why must they always cause me trouble!” Ajax turned back towards Chrysalis.
“Well? Are you going to just stand there?!” shouted Ajax.
Chrysalis hissed at the human.
“Don’t you dare raise your voice at me, human! It’s no wonder no one likes your kind.”
Chrysalis flew in front of her army and began to lead her changelings upon Canterlot. The massive hive of black monstrous equines buzzed across the battlefield towards the golden city. Chrysalis looked back at Ajax as she flew away.
“You’ll get what’s coming to you soon enough…human…”
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Discord and Pandora Prime began to trade blows with one another. Discord swiped at Pandora Prime with his sharp claws, but barely scratched the robot’s thick steel. Pandora Prime drove its right fist straight into Discord’s jaw, knocking the draconequus backwards. The robot stood in a boxing stance waiting for its opponents next move. Discord wiped a little blood from his bottom lip before tauning the robot.
“Impressive… I might not have to hold back… I hope you can still make this interesting.”
Pandora Prime answered by extending rows of studs across its knuckles. Discord flew up into the air and dived straight down towards the robotic titan.
“You think you can withstand the power of true chaos!?”
Discord felt as if he crashed into a metal wall. The robot took the blow directly to the chest, but didn’t budge an inch.
“I guess you might be able to...withstand-”
Discord felt a sharp pain on the back of his head. Pandora Prime had driven its dwarven steel elbow directly into the back of his head.Discord shot straight down to the ground. The merciless robot picked up the draconequus and tossed him across Canterlot.
Horizon star barely avoid being flattened by Discord. The two colossi had already destroyed nearly half of Canterlot. The pony dashed through the streets of the ruined city trying to make his way to the front wall.
“All troops to the main gate! Don’t let their forces into the city! All pegasus ponies protect the skies!”
He locked eyes with Chrysalis from a distance, she was only a few yards from the massive hole left behind by Pandora Prime. Luckily, a battalion of canterlot soldiers had filled the gap before her and the changelings could make it through the wall. The guards were equipped with long spears attached to the sides, they pointed it at the changelings as the invasion stopped in front of the blockade.
“I suggest you turn around and go back to where you came from, changeling!” shouted Horizon Star as he made his way the front of the guards blocking Chrysalis’ path.
He drew his sword and glared at the changeling queen, clenching the sword in his mouth. The alicorn queen laughed at the pony, unthreatened by him or his sword.
“Foolish pony… that’s no way to address royalty. You should be taught a lesson!”
All the ponies behind Horizon Star suddenly turned into changelings. Throughout Canterlot guards began to reveal their true identity. Horizon Star couldn’t believe it, Chrysalis’ changelings had been inside Canterlot from the start! Horizon Star now found himself in between a rock and a hard place.
“No…” whispered Horizon in disbelief.
Changelings swarmed the earth pony and pushed him down to the ground holding him in place. Chrysalis sauntered over to the helpless pony. She placed a hoof under his chin as she gave him a fiendish smile.
“I always did have a thing for a pony in uniform…”
Chrysalis’ eyes glowed green, but a pink pony stopped her before she could do whatever she had in mind to the stallion. Pinkie Pie bounced into the air, over all the changelings, landing behind Chrysalis. The joyous pony pulled out two large black bombs from behind her back and and tossed one in front of her and one behind her.
“What are you doing!?!” exclaimed Horizon seeing the bomb slowly roll up to his face.
Twilight teleported in just in nick of time and took Pinkie Pie and Horizon Star with her when she teleported out. Just as the three ponies disappeared a massive explosion of pink fluff shot into the sky. Horizon Star held out a hoof and caught a piece of whatever the bomb was made out of. Despite it being wet from the rain he took a bite of it and couldn’t believe…
“Cotton candy?... You made a bomb with using candy?!”
Pinkie Pie snatched the sugary dessert from his hoof and ate it in a single bite.
“Yup!”
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Chrysalis and her changelings found themselves trapped under a pile of cotton candy. The colorful treat was far too sticky for the changelings to struggle out of. The rain had caused the pink fluff to run into some sort of sticky pink goo. Chrysalis heard the noise of a samurai blade slicing effortlessly through the colorful slime. Jax-4 and Trixie were cutting a path through the giant sugary mess. Jax-4 saw Chrysalis, but continued to only cut a path towards the city.
“Sticky Situation?” said Jax-4 jokingly.
Trixie stood behind the robot as she followed the path he was creating.
“Nice one. You are getting a lot better.” said the unicorn.
Jax-4 looked back at Trixie.
“Thank you…”
Chrysalis snarled at the pony and robot.
“Cut me out you fools! Or I will kill you both!”
The changeling thrashed and struggled against the the sticky sweet goo, but it changed nothing. Jax-4 and Trixie had already created a path to Canterlot, ignoring Chrysalis as they passed by. The changelings had no choice but to begin chewing their way out of the wet cotton candy.
Jax-4 and Trixie easily snuck deep into Canterlot since the entire city was occupied with the changeling/robot invasion. Jax-4 watched as Pandora Prime drove its right fist into Discord’s Jaw for the second time. The giant draconequus fell backwards destroying half of a neighborhood. Jax-4 swelled with pride seeing a fellow robot display such power.
“Look at us Jack… I hope you are proud of each and every one of us…”
Jax-4’s day-dreaming was cut short by a hoof punch to the leg. He turned to Trixie, it looked like the unicorn was staring at the grim reaper himself. Jax-4 followed Trixie’s gaze, it would have been better if it was the grim reaper…
She wore glowing violet armor adorned with jagged edges. A velvet long drape trailed behind her. A helmet that projected darkness covered her face, but they could easily tell who the pony was. Luna, princess of Equestria and sister to Celestia, stood in front of the robot and pony. Neither of the three said anything… each understood that any word spoken would just be wasted. They prepared for battle and waited for someone to make the first move.
Jax-4 dashed forward propelled by rockets on his legs and swung wildly at the pony. Each strike bounced off an invisible barrier until finally the robot’s assault created a crack in the shield. Luna’s horn glowed with magic as the robot shot backwards into a brick wall.
“Don’t insult me with your pitiful attacks… Surrender now and you just might get out this alive…”
Luna took a step forward and spread her wings releasing a gust of wind that nearly blew off Trixie’s hat. The unicorn narrowed her eyes as she readjusted her hat. Trixie began to dash forward, her horn glowing with magic. Jax-4 reappeared beside her and began to charge with her. The robot and unicorn began to serpentine as blasts of white energy began to shoot down from above. Jax-4 and Trixie leapt up into the air and swung with all their might. Jax-4’s sword crashed into the same barrier as before, Trixie’s light blue blast bounced of the invisible shield.
Luna spun around sweeping her long, steel encased, serrated wings at her enemies. Trixie barely escaped by teleporting to a safer distance while Jax-4 slid under the bladed wings. The robot’s arm opened up and began to fire rounds of explosive shells into the cracked part of the princess’ shield. Luna shot up into the sky and used her magic to create a barrier from the robot’s attack. Trixie took advantage of the storm and redirected a nearby bolt of lightning towards the princess with her magic. Luna took the blast of lightning head on, but not without some injury. The princess steamed as every last drop of rain in her coat was instantly vaporized by the superheated blast of energy.
Luna looked over at Trixie and began to gather all of her magic in the tip of her horn.
Trixie knew that she was in trouble.
The alicorn began to create a massive ball of crackling shadow energy on the tip of her horn. The sphere of magic suddenly condensed into a tiny black ball no larger than a marble. Luna pointed her horn towards Trixie as the black ball shot out a thin beam of purple magic making a clean cut through anything it touched. Trixie tried to run, but her hoof slipped on the smooth wet pavement. The pony looked back at the deathray that was quickly flying towards her. Suddenly the laserbeam stopped for no apparent reason. Trixie opened her eyes and saw that Jax-4 had grabbed Luna by her horn in an attempt to wrangle the alicorn.
The robot was strong, but he had underestimated the physical strength of the princess. Luna began to swing the robot side to side, but Jax-4 refused to let go of her. She slammed the robot into a nearby wall and drove her horn into his chest. Jax-4 retaliated by kneeing the pony in the neck. Luna stepped back coughing, dropping the robot on the ground.
Trixie’s eyes glowed white as sparks of arcane magic appeared around her. The tiny star like lights began to shoot into hers horn. Luna couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She managed to force out a few words despite the blow she had just taken to the neck.
“Impossible… only Star Swirl could…” Trixie looked up at the princess with a victorious smile.
“Don’t you know who I am?!...” The unicorn eyes shot wide as she shouted one last time before firing the blast of white magic.
“I’M TRIXIE...BITCH!”
Trixie’s hooves dug into the ground as she shot the arcane blast of magic. The cosmic beam crashed into Luna sending the princess through several buildings. Trixie stumbled around for a while blinded by the brightness of her own attack. Jax-4 jumped down and landed next to Trixie, despite having a hole in his chest the robot seemed perfectly fine.
“Impressive… Looks like all the books Ajax lent you finally paid off…” Trixie wiped her forehead with a hoof.
“It was nothing… I already knew that spell before reading those books, since I am…”
“Over here Trixie.”
The unicorn was facing the wrong way.
Trixie rubbed her eyes with her hooves and turned around to face the robot.
“Like I was saying. I would have figured it out eventually without the book since-”
Trixie froze when she sensed the massive amount of magic.
The ground began to rumble, but it wasn’t Pandora Prime or Discord causing the earthquake this time. A blast of energy sent Jax-4 and Trixie rolling, the two crashed into a nearby food cart. A swirl of raw purple magic emerged from under a pile of rubble. Princess Luna stepped forward in her war-torn armor fixated on Trixie.
“IMPRESSIVE! I WILL NOT FORGET THE NAME TRIXIE AS LONG AS I LIVE! TOO BAD THIS IS THE LAST TIME YOU SHALL EVER HEAR YOUR NAME!”
Trixie was terrified… she knew that alicorns were powerful, but this… This was just insane! Luna was an unstoppable force of destructive energy. Despite her armor being destroyed, the alicorn didn’t have a single scratch on her. Trixie began to channel more arcane magic into her horn again.
“Jax! You need to buy me some time to finish the spell!”
The robot nodded as he stepped forward. He fearlessly charged at the alicorn sword in hand. Jax-4 began to fire everything that was still loaded in his arm. Dozens of canisters filled with different types of magic crashed into the princess. Through poison clouds, ice, shrapnel and fire Luna continued to press forward disregarding the robot’s attack. Jax-4 swung his sword at the juggernaut, but Luna cast him aside with a single blow. Trixie’s horn grew brighter and brighter as magic runes began to appear beneath her.
“Just...a little...more...” grunted Trixie.
Luna began to charge forward, her eyes fixated on the pony. She raised both of her wings and swung them like scissors at Trixie. A magical circle appeared above the princess and scanned through her before she could decapitate the unicorn. Luna disappeared without a trace, no blast or explosion was left behind. Trixie let out a massive sigh as she fell backwards. The pony made a huge splash in a puddle when she hit the ground.
“I used too much...arcane… magic…” panted Trixie.
The exhausted unicorn continued to lay on her back as she watched the rainfall. Jax-4 stepped into her line of sight looming over her.
“You did good...Trixie.”
Trixie looked over at the robot standing over her.
“Heh, Thanks… You did a good job as well...”
The unicorn had to struggle to even move an inch, eventually the pony gave up and accepted laying on the ground. Jax-4 looked at where Luna had vanished, he crouched over the site and inspected the ground.
“Did you kill her?” asked Jax-4.
Trixie quickly responded.
“HAH! No way! Nothing can kill that monster… I banished her to a different plane, but its not going to last long…She’s gonna come back within the hour...”
Jax-4 stood walked over and sat down next to the unicorn. Rain continued to pour down on them as Pandora Prime and Discord continued to fight in the background, but Trixie and Jax-4 didn’t seem to mind.
Amidst the chaos they had found one moment of peace.
The two sat quietly resting from their encounter with the princess of the night. Trixie closed her eyes and listened to the rainfall, she had found the sound of rainfall soothing ever since she was a filly. Then the rain suddenly stopped, Trixie opened her eyes and saw a board hovering over her. Jax-4 had taken a piece of debris from nearby and was using it to protect her from the rain. She used her remaining strength to turn her head towards Jax-4.
“Are you really a robot?” asked Trixie.
Jax-4 looked down at the pony as he continued to hold the board over her.
“Of course I am, why else would I be made out of metal.”
“I mean, you seem to have emotions… Aren’t robots supposed to be void of all feelings?”
Jax-4 looked out at the ruined city thinking about what Trixie had just said.
“Jack didn’t make robot’s with feelings if that is what you are asking.”
Trixie sighed.
“Nevermind…”
The two sat quietly for a while enjoying their moment of peace. Jax-4 looked over at Trixie, the unicorn had shut her eyes again.
“Can I tell you something that I have never told anyone before?” asked the robot.
Trixie opened one eye.
“Alright, what is it?” Jax-4 took off his hat and stared up at the cloudy sky.
“When my master, Jack, created the J.A.X. series, he assigned every creation a number regarding to the level of power, a series type, and a name… Do you want to know what he named me, Trixie?”
The unicorn had a smirk on her face.
“What’s your name Jax...?”
Jax-4 looked around to make sure that they weren’t being watched.
“Don’t tell anyone, but my name is Yamamoto”
Trixie gave the robot a wide smile.
“I like that name, Yamamoto…”
Jax-4 would have smiled if he could.
“You know… We never got to meet our master… He made each one of us with his own two hands, but… not a single one of us ever got to meet him… I wonder if he didn’t like us or he just wanted to move onto something else after creating us…”
The rain had begun to fill up the robot’s empty eye sockets. When he looked back down at Trixie two tiny streams of water flowed down from his eyes. Trixie pushed herself up with her hooves.
“Yamamoto… you’re crying…” The robot touched the rain pouring out of his eyes and looked up at the pony. The two said nothing for a while, for once Trixie didn’t think she was talking to a machine…
Jax-4 stood up still holding the piece of debris over Trixie.
“I am going to move on ahead… Will you be alright?”
Trixie nodded as she laid back down. Jax-4 walked away from the unicorn and looked back one last time.
“Don’t get killed.” She looked up at the robot one last time.
“You too.”