//------------------------------// // Hell in a Handbasket // Story: Technicalities // by BionicBrony //------------------------------//         Within the tower’s bedroom, all remained quiet save for the barely audible hum of the Exosuit and the light snoring coming from Alex. Rose remained stock still in the folding chair, her eyes staring at nothing while all her activity consisted of thoughts and orders traveling along photonic waves in space. As her internal clock neared seven, her body finally displayed movement as her eyes locked themselves upon Alex, sleeping on the other side of the bed from her. Without making so much sound as a light rustle of clothing, she stood up from her seat, moved towards the foot of the bed, and opened her mouth wide in anticipation for the clock.         Three.         Two.         One.         What followed from her mouth next could only be described as the unholy screech of a thousand wailing banshees in a meat grinder that was liberally sprinkling them on a standing army of airhorns.         As Rose fully expected, Alex woke with a start, his lungs pushing up a terrified scream as his body flailed around in the bed, getting his legs tangled in the sheets while his upper body fell over the side of the mattress. Satisfied with her work, Rose closed her mouth and smiled. “Good morning.”         “Mother fuck!” Alex yelled from his awkward position as he untangled his legs from the sheets, allowing himself to fully drop to the floor. “The fuck was that!?”         “Your seven o’clock wake up call,” Rose answered as the bedroom door opened, revealing her combat chassis holding a cup of coffee in its hands. The bronze colored Liandri made its way to him and held out the cup. “Your morning stimulants.”         Alex pushed himself off the floor. “Fuck, after that scare, I’m not sure I’ll need them… Thanks, though.” He graciously took the drink and took a generous gulp. Rose always remembered to add the extra stims to his morning coffee, and this time was no different. It only took a few seconds for his mind to clear and shake off the lingering drowsiness. “That’s good stuff…” Satisfied, he placed the cup down and began to get himself dressed. “Alright, bring me up to speed.”         “Unfortunately, I have yet to locate Twilight,” Rose began. “She never returned to her room at the castle last night, and Spike actually spent the night in Rarity’s room. In fact, all of her belongings are still there. I also had a unit drop by Celestia’s room to ask her where Twilight’s parents are currently residing. She was oddly reluctant to give up the information, but I managed to convince her.”         “And?” Alex asked, zipping up his pants.         Rose shook her head. “Her parents were present, but they claimed they hadn’t seen her. I didn’t push the issue. I looked into the hotels around the city, but none of the clerks claimed to have a guest going by her name. On the off chance that she had taken a late night train back to Ponyville, I queried Google on any information regarding her whereabouts. She hasn’t returned to the library, either.”         “So long story short, Twilight just straight up vanished,” Alex summed up as he finished buttoning his shirt.         “That is the current situation, yes,” Rose confirmed with a nod.         “And Cadence?”         “Nothing of interest to report, I’m afraid.”         After taking his coffee in hand again and downing the rest of it, Alex planted his hands on the dresser and stared into the wall. Alarming; worrisome; disconcerting; bad—all these words perfectly described the present situation under Rose’s information. It only left one course of action.         “Put the Reds on high alert,” Alex ordered with a mutter over his shoulder. “And let Shining Armor know his sister is missing, too.”         “Are you sure about that?” Rose asked, tilting her head slightly. “It is his wedding day. Telling him this will only add worry, which may not be necessary since we can handle this situation ourselves.”         Alex pushed himself up from the dresser and faced her. “After the shitstorm that went down last night, I’d say he more than deserves to know about this. For all we know, if Twilight did run away, then he’s the reason for it. Yeah, I want him to worry.”         Rose nodded. “I’ll let him know then.”         “Thank you.” Alex walked past her and opened the door to the balcony. The purple-tinted morning sun warmed his face and provided lovely illumination for the city below, though did little to ease his anxiety as a synthetic hand rubbed over his hairless head. “Is there anything else I need to know about?”         “Yes, but it’s more of a medical concern,” Rose said as she walked onto the balcony with him. “Lately, you’ve been experiencing odd spikes in your heart rate as you sleep, and your brain activity has been showing odd patterns during those times as well. I’m afraid it’s getting chronic. Do you feel alright?”         Alex sighed as he placed his hands along the marble guardrail. The light beeping of the nearby comm-dish provided a poor soundtrack. “Yeah, I’m fine. Think I’ve just been getting nightmares, lately—I guess. I don’t really know. Nothing for you to worry about.”         “If you insist,” was Rose’s response. “However, I will continue to monitor this phenomenon.”         Alex smiled, turning to give her a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Thanks, Rose. I can always rely on your for the little things.”         “You rely on me for everything,” Rose smirked. “It’s a wonder you managed to get anything done for the first twenty five years of your life.”         He copied her smirk and playfully slapped her shoulder. “Yeah yeah. Let’s get downstairs for breakfast. Not sure if everyone’s up yet, but the wedding starts in six hours, so something tells me they’re not going to dick around.”         On this morning of mornings, the dining hall demonstrated its capacity as one of the biggest bustling centers of activity within the whole palace. Guards stood at their posts as palace servants brought in trays of hot food, and even helped themselves to some. Being the big wedding day, even some of the nobles would partake in the grand breakfast that was taking place—later, though, since they seemed to deem it an ungodly hour to be awake, let alone a fitting time given the fact that it was the servants’ opportunity to eat. Their time to eat would be later.         When Alex entered the dining room, he was pleased to find one of the Reds already standing at attention near the entryway and keeping a sharp eye on the ponies coming in and out, its Link Gun drawn, but not raised. The servants and other ponies throughout the room couldn’t help but feed their curiosity by tossing glances towards it, but none of them seemed brave enough to even attempt getting too close. Rose followed next to Alex, with her combat chassis and the Exosuit close behind; the loud footsteps of the latter doing an excellent job of drawing attention to themselves.         Alex waved the Exo off to stand next to the Red as he made a beeline for the open breakfast buffet table. No sense in having that thing cause a commotion the entire time. As he picked up a plate, his eyes scanned the length of the entire room, populated by a staggering number of round tables capable of seating about a dozen individuals each, in the search for a specific set of familiar colors. Pinkie Pie and Applejack were already awake, and seemed to just be getting into their breakfasts at one of the center tables. The others were probably still getting themselves ready, or in Rainbow Dash’s case, probably still unconscious.         After collecting a pair of freshly made pancakes slathered in maple syrup with a newly brewed coffee, Alex made his way over to his two present pony friends. Thankfully, the palace used chairs instead of cushions. “You two sleep well?” Alex asked as he sat down next to Rose.         “Yup!” Pinkie cheered before she took a monster bite out of her titanic stack of pancakes, which were drowning in syrup and topped with a mountain of whipped cream—wherever she managed to find that much.         “Ah slept like Granny Smith on a Sunday afternoon,” said Applejack over her much more modest breakfast of blueberry waffles topped with apple slices. “How about you, Alex? Sleep well?”         Alex shrugged as he cut into his pancakes. “As much as drug-induced torpor can allow, I guess.”         As Alex swallowed his bite of syrup flavored fluff, a red exclamation mark appeared on the table next to his plate and began to flash. As soon as his eyes drifted towards it, the exclamation mark was replaced with a view window showing Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike talking amongst each other as they entered the dining room. Alex raised his head to look for himself, only confirming the alert provided by the standing Nova. “Oh, look who’s here.”         With a mouth stuffed full with pancakes, Pinkie’s head shot up as she looked for herself. Somehow managing to choke down her bite, Pinkie raised a hoof and waved it around frantically. “Spike! Girls! Over here!”         “Well that looks good, doesn’t it?” Rarity commented as she trotted up with the others.         “It isss,” Pinkie moaned as she squeezed two entire pancakes in her mouth at once, and then swallowed them whole like a python. “These are the best pancakes ever!”         “I’ll have to agree with you on that,” said Alex, vaguely waving a fork at her before turning to the new arrivals. “Go get yourselves something to eat. Rose and I have something important to tell you guys.”         Applejack quirked a brow. “What kind of important?”         “Bad important,” Alex responded with a frown         “Oh dear…” Fluttershy held a hoof a hoof up to her mouth. “Is everything alright?”         “I’ll let you know when you get back.”         “What about Rainbow Dash?” asked Applejack as the others left for the breakfast buffet.         Alex shrugged. “Five out of six ain’t bad.” When the others returned to the table with their morning meals, Alex took another sip of coffee before he cleared his throat. “Okay. So as I’m sure you’re all very much aware, a lot of drama happened last night.” “That’s putting it rather mildly, darling,” Rarity insinuated as she magicked a raspberry into her mouth. “Yeah…” Alex drawled, dragging his eyes over to her. “Look, I’m not going to beat around the bush: we’ve got a problem. Twilight’s missing.” Everypony immediately transitioned into a state of surprise, expressing their own forms of “oh my” and other questions as they attempted talking over each other. Alex simply turned his head down while holding a hand up, asking for silence, which he was eventually given. However, somepony seized upon the growing silence to get their question in. “Ya sure about that?” asked Applejack. “Maybe she’s just hidin’ in her room.” “Twilight never returned to her room,” Rose declared, promptly shutting everyone up. It was impressive how such a simple statement could be so powerful. After a few seconds of silence, Fluttershy suggested, “Maybe she spent the night somewhere else…?” “She hasn’t been to any of your rooms either,” Rose informed her, “nor has she spent the night at her parents’ house or any hotels around the city.” “Maybe she took a train back to Ponyville?” asked Spike, a spark of hope on his increasingly worried face. “Google reports that he’s the only one present in the library,” she replied. “Twilight hasn’t returned to Ponyville.” “Wow, you’re thorough,” Pinkie commented. “The point is,” Alex interjected as Rose tossed Pinkie a smug smile, “Twilight has just straight up vanished and we haven’t the slightest idea where she is. She’s just dropped off the radar.” “Dropped off the what now?” said AJ. “The map.” “Oh.” “Do you have any idea why she would’ve disappeared like this?” asked Rarity. “We have a hypothesis, but so far, only have suspicions as proof,” answered Rose. “And what is this hypothesis of yours?” “That Cadence is somehow involved,” said Alex, leaning on an elbow. Everyone’s curious looks turned to deadpan stares. “Don’t tell me y’all think Cadence is ‘evil’ too,” Applejack argued. “No,” was Rose’s blunt answer. “However, she did display some suspicious behavior last night.” “What suspicious behavior?” Rarity exclaimed, throwing her hooves in the air. “The poor mare was bawling her eyes out last night!” Alex leaned further over the table, staring Rarity dead in the eye. “I was the last one to leave the chapel. Approximately one minute after I left, I went back to go talk to Twilight. I didn’t find her in the chapel; I found Cadence, and she was most certainly not ‘bawling her eyes out.’ ” He leaned back in his chair, keeping his gaze locked with Rarity’s. “She also left in a hurry—less than a minute after I showed up. Think about that for a second. She runs out crying, then comes back after we all leave, gets in and out in under two minutes, and then you guys catch up to her and she’s suddenly a water fountain again?” The ponies shared looks of confusion with one another. If Alex was telling the truth, then it certainly broke the continuity of their memories of the previous night. In their minds, they each pieced together what they remembered from the previous night in an attempt to see if Cadence would have had the time to do what Alex claimed. Unfortunately, they had to admit to themselves that timing was one thing none of them kept track of. “That does seem really weird…” Pinkie Pie conceded, tapping a hoof against her chin. “Did she say what it was she was doing there?” asked Rarity. “She said she was looking for Twilight in order to ‘clear things up,’ ” Alex answered. “But, even if we grant her that, it still doesn’t explain the discrepancy of her emotions and the fact that she looked like I caught her in the middle of doing something she shouldn’t have been.” “Well when ya put it like that…” said Applejack as she scratched the back of her head. “When I put it like that, it’s cause for concern,” Alex maintained, briefly turning his gaze towards AJ before turning his attention at the rest of them. “Which is why I want the rest of you to be aware that the Liandri are currently on high alert. If you see Twilight at all, let us know. Same thing if Cadence does anything even remotely weird. The wedding will still go on as planned, but until then, keep your eyes open. And if anything happens at all at any time: Keep. Your. Head. Down.” He punctuated each word by forcefully tapping the table. “The last thing we need is someone accidentally getting shot. Trust me, none of you want fourth degree burns.” Fluttershy sunk in her seat. “O-o-oh dear…” “Wait, fourth degree burns?” Applejack inquired incredulously. “Ah thought third was the worst?” “Third degree burns burn your fur and every layer of skin underneath…” Fluttershy answered hesitantly. “Fourth degree burns are rare, but… they’re burns that affect m-muscles, tendons, a-and…” She gulped. “...bones…” “Plasma weaponry is not a joke,” Rose cautioned, seeing everypony’s wide eyes and pale faces at Fluttershy’s definition. “No, it’s not,” Alex added. “So if you see green balls of fire flying through the air, you get down, and you stay down. Got it?” Everypony quickly nodded in understanding, especially Fluttershy whose shivering eyes were barely peeking over the table at this point. “Good.” Alex downed the rest of his coffee. “Listen: this is just a ‘what if.’ I’m not saying something will happen, but just in case something does, you know what to do.” After quickly finishing off the last of his pancakes, Alex stood up with his plate in hand, sighing. “I’m going to go manage things for bit. If you guys see Dash, fill her in for me.” After dropping off his plate on one of the trolleys meant for dirty dishes, Alex went straight for the Exosuit. The wedding ceremony would be in five hours, and there were a lot of things that had to be taken care of.         “All units are in position,” came Rose’s voice through the Exosuit’s intercom.         “Good.” Alex’s eyes scanned over the chapel as the guests started slowly trickling in.         The past few hours had been hectic, to say the least. Palace workers and hired external help alike had been running themselves ragged in preparation for the wedding this afternoon—triple checking the most mundane details and the like. For Alex, however, it was five solid hours of tension and suspicion. Twilight still hadn’t surfaced, either in Canterlot or Ponyville, and as the time for the wedding drew nearer, the Liandri had to call off their search in order to perform the job that they were initially brought in to do. Alex refused to leave the safety of the armored Exosuit at all, except to change into his nanofibre dress suit at around noon. What would have been a stifling experience became pleasant thanks to the Exo’s internal thermal regulation, and discomfort and cramps became a non-issue due to his new limbs’ inability to cramp up in the first place. An extreme convenience which made it possible to remain inside his titanium shell for such an extended period of time. Despite Alex’s own tension, the Liandri performed their jobs as well as could be expected from them, even if Twilight still hadn’t been found. Rose sent a Red to Shining Armor’s house to inform him of the situation regarding his sister. However, as reported back to Rose, and subsequently Alex, Shining Armor appeared dull to the information and even seemed less talkative than the bot was. With the reported information, Rose gathered that he appeared to be in a perpetual state of inattentiveness—a bizarre behavior for the Captain of the Royal Guard, if nothing else. Cadence hadn’t been directly observed at all. To do so would have brought on too much attention. However, as Reds patrolled the palace along seemingly random routes, there was always at least one within earshot of her. Unfortunately, none of them recorded anything of interest except for a short conversation between her and Celestia where she openly admitted that the Liandri’s presence seemed to frighten her. Celestia affirmed that everything would be fine and that, if worst came to worst, she would protect her—almost as if the bride were a frightened child in need of reassurance. As Rose described it, the exchange was innocuous at best, and odd at worst. As guests entered the chapel, the nine foot tall Exosuit was one of the first things to draw their attention, surprising exactly no one as the unknown machine towered over even the largest of ponies. While he eyed each guest individually, Alex made no attempt to even bother explaining his presence, as Rose was doing that already. Rose wore what Alex could only assume was a royal blue cocktail dress, with the rear end of the skirt being extended and fluffed up to give the impression of plumage. With each gawker, Rose smiled to them with a light bow, briefly explaining that the Liandri were only there to act as extra security as requested by the Royal Guard. Oh, and welcome. Her combat chassis, across the entrance from the Exosuit and where the AI was really grounded, scanned each guest with much greater scrutiny than Alex was capable of doing. Sitting against the wall behind the door was an unmarked, bronze colored box that held no indication of what its contents were, or even how to possibly open it. Of course, only a Liandri could open it via a wireless signal. Alex’s eyes hovered over the growing crowd as the wedding hour approached, his fingers tapping along the triggers for the Exo’s arms. In theory, it was all supposed to be for show, and yet, as the clock ticked on, a nagging thought whispered that all that was probably going to change. “Run another systems diagnostic,” Alex muttered. “Acknowledged,” the Exosuit’s heavily synthetic monotone voice growled in response, and a flurry of smaller windows appeared around the edges of suit’s HUD. “The BioMech Two is running fine,” came Rose’s voice. “I understand you’re nervous, but running a dozen full system diagnostics for half an hour is nothing short of ridiculous.” Alex gave a short sigh. “Yeah, I know. Just need something to keep myself busy.” “I’m afraid I don’t have any other suggestions for you other than to just wait.” “Diagnostic complete,” the Exosuit announced. “All systems operating normally.” Eventually, all of the invited guests had arrived and had taken their spots, standing in masses on either side of the aisle. Even without pews or other forms of seating, they somehow managed to make themselves orderly while remaining on their hooves. It didn’t take much longer until the ceremony itself finally began. An organ player in the corner of the room began playing the traditional marriage tune, announcing the arrival of the groom, led by his groomsmen. Or was it grooms-stallions? Groomscolts? A quartet of four stallions Alex didn’t recognize nor cared to preceded Shining Armor. However, as the groom traveled down the aisle, Alex scanned over the room another time and noted one thing in particular… “Wait, where the fuck is Luna?” Alex asked, his voice self contained within the Exo. Of all the places Luna could have been, he thought this would’ve been the event to attend, especially since her sister was presiding over the ceremony. “You just noticed?” said Rose. “I’ve been wondering this entire time. Although, we’re not exactly in a position to answer that question yet.” As Shining Armor took his place next to Celestia, the bridesmaids followed down the aisle next. Like the night before, the five girls walked on with their heads held high and dresses proudly worn—each flavored in their own style. Alex didn’t much care for it all, though, since the silent fact that Twilight wasn’t among them stuck out more than a light in a dark room. Although what no one noticed were their eyes, darting between the Liandri scattered around the room with their weapons drawn. Once the girls had taken their spots opposite those of the stallions that came in with Shining Armor, trumpet players standing at attention next to the door started tooting their horns in earnest, following the tune of the organ and accompanied by Fluttershy's orchestra of birds. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza strode out through the doors and into the chapel, led by a trio of fillies tossing rose petals down the aisle, and with every set of eyes locked on her. Truth be told, Alex hadn’t been paying much attention to the wedding ceremony up until now. Clearly, every string had been pulled to make Cadence look the way she did. A gilded, flowing white dress trailed behind her in a way that made it appear just that much more impressive, even to those who were unfamiliar with pony dress styles. By comparison, Shining Armor in what could only be assumed to be his captain uniform in no way stood out like his bride. It was then that Alex truly came to grips with the fact that the entire ceremony was centered around giving the bride, and only the bride, as much positive attention as possible. And by the smirk on her face, she was lapping it all up. When Cadence finally stood next to Shining Armor, Celestia began, “Mares and gentlecolts. We are gathered here today to witness the union of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Captain Shining Armor…” The Princess’ words became muted, drowned out by Alex’s inability to give a fuck about any of what she was saying; a trend that continued even as the bride and groom segwayed into their vows. Alex didn’t have to listen to it to categorize it as the typical wedding spiel: “I vow to stay with you through sickness and health” and all that jazz. Besides, there were other things to worry about, even if Rose and the Liandri were already keeping tabs on them. However, one thing that caught Alex’s attention was Shining Armor’s vows. Not necessarily their contents, but the way in which they were delivered. His voice was monotone; even… unenthused. For someone who was getting married and who was definitely capable of showing more emotion than a potato—unlike now—it seemed odd that he would suddenly be so unexcited when just last night he was practically bursting at the seams. But why…? “Captain Shining Armor,” Celestia announced. “Do you take Princess Mi Amore Cadenza to be your lawfully wedded wife?” “I do,” he responded, about as excited as a dial tone. Celestia turned to the bride. “And do you, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, take Captain Shining Armor to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Cadence smiled towards Shining Armor, her eyes almost on the verge of tears. “I do.” Celestia smiled in turn and held her head up to allow her voice to travel as clearly as possible. “Then as a Royal Princess of Equestria and by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you—” “STOOOOOOOOP!” The sudden voice pierced the air like a gunshot, drawing attention from everyone in the room, including the fact that it’s familiarity was not lost on any of them. Holy shit, Twilight! Alex turned the Exosuit towards the doorway, almost unbelieving of his friend’s reappearance. But there she stood, as defiant as ever! Although her return didn’t answer questions, and instead only posed more. Shocked and awed mumbles throughout the room soundtracked her return from wherever she was, though none stood out as loudly as Cadence’s teary voice. “Why does she have to ruin my special day?” “Because it’s not your special day!” a different, though eerily familiar voice cried out. “It’s mine!” That’s when the newcomer in question moved in front of Twilight, exposing herself for everyone to see as… Cadence…? For a brief moment, Alex’s mind blanked. The wings, the horn, the color scheme… Her mane was disheveled and her fur ragged, but it was unquestionably the… the… exact same pony who was standing further down the aisle…? "What the fuck...?" “Well then. I wasn’t expecting this…” Rose silently commented to him. “Me neither…” Alex mumbled as his eyes darted back and forth between the two identical alicorns. The HUD outline around each of their bodies changed from green to yellow as Rose updated the friendly fire contacts. The Reds throughout the room raised their Link Guns to shoulder height, and alternated their aim between the two potential targets. “Ah-Ah don’t understand!” Applejack said, her voice carrying out nicely as she rubbed the side of her head. “How can there be two of ‘em?” “Her name is Chrysalis, and she’s a changeling!” the second Cadence yelled, her look turning towards the crowd as she pointed a hoof towards her double. “She takes the form of somepony you love and gains power by feeding off your love for them!” Alex’s attention directed itself towards the Cadence by the floral archway, expecting some form verbal retort. Instead, her horn began to glow a sickly green color as she arched her back dangerously. A ring of green fire formed around herself and, when complete, erupted around her as a massive green geyser. The wedding dress she wore tore itself free from her body and was nearly instantly incinerated. The entire chapel looked on as her very shape molded itself into a new form. Her frame became taller, horn and hoofs warped, and feathers rotted into nothingness until only a pony-shaped creature with membranous wings remained in its place. “Holy shit…” Alex muttered, reinforcing his grip on the Exosuit’s triggers. “Hold positions and fire on my mark…” The changeling cackled to the ponies before her as the magic died away, allowing her “hair” to droop down her head, as if it hadn’t been washed in over a decade. On the Exo’s HUD, her outline changed to a vibrant red, and every Liandri in the room aimed their weapon directly at her, though held their fire as ordered. “Right you are, princess! And as queen of the changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects.” Chrysalis sauntered down the steps towards Cadence. “Equestria has more love than any place we have ever encountered. My changelings will be able to devour so much of it that we will become more powerful than we have ever dreamed of!” “Why the fuck isn’t Celestia doing anything?!” Alex growled between grit teeth, and not without reason. The entire time that the changeling queen had been parading around, the solar princess remained still, doing nothing more menacing than projecting a frown. “She’s letting her talk,” said Rose. The entire time, her combat chassis had been holding up a pair of Enforcers, each focused squarely on Chrysalis’ head, while her civilian body crouched and took shelter behind a pillar. “It’s not an interrogation, but with the amount of information this changeling is divulging, it might as well be.” “They’ll never get the chance!” Cadence retorted to the queen standing before her. “Shining Armor’s protection spell will keep them from ever reaching us!” Chrysalis chuckled back at her. “Oh, I doubt that. Isn’t that right, dear?” she turned back to look at Shining Armor, her horn glowing. As she did, his head flopped in a half-conscious nod, causing her to chuckle yet again and walk back over to him. “Ever since I took your place, I’ve been feeding off Shining Armor’s love for you.  He grows weaker with every passing moment, and so does his spell. Even now, my minions are chipping away at it!” Another cackle. “He may not be my husband, but he is under my control, and—I’m sorry to say—unable to perform his duties as Captain of the Royal Guard! Soon, my changeling army will break through! First, we take Canterlot, and then, all of Equestria!” “No… You won’t.” Just as Alex’s trigger finger was at its itchiest, Princess Celestia finally decided to speak up, drawing the queen’s attention. Pacing around the side of the altar area, Celestia kept her gaze locked with Chrysalis. “You may be able to keep Shining Armor from performing his spell, but now that you have so foolishly revealed both yourself and your plans, now I can defend my little ponies from you.” Without as much as an extra breath, Celestia reared up, her horn glowing a golden yellow, before slamming her hooves back down, unleashing a stream of magic at the changeling queen who quickly responded in kind. A beam of green magic erupted from Chrysalis’ twisted horn and intercepted Celestia’s midair, creating a flashy, magical tug of war between the two. The convergence of their magic shook the room: two streams of coherent energy clashing into a searing ball of power. Celestia delivered her attack with nothing more than a stern glare towards her opponent, as if the changeling had been nothing more than a misbehaving child, whereas Chrysalis grit her teeth in an attempt to focus her retaliation. The magical point of contact inched its way towards the queen, until, suddenly, it stopped and reversed direction.  Before the Princess could do so much as flinch, the glowing ball of combined magic accelerated towards her and detonated in her face, launching the now ragdolled Celestia across the floor and into a crumpled heap against the wall. “Princess Celestia!” Twilight screamed, rushing to her mentor’s side among the shocked gasps of the crowd. Chrysalis stared at the sight before her with wide eyes, until she grinned and glanced down at a hoof she held out. “Ah, Shining Armor’s love for you is more powerful than I thought! Consuming it has made me even more powerful than Celestia!” “Hey, bitch! Remember me?!” The words boomed across the chapel and tore Chrysalis from her glee, drawing her attention to the back of the room and towards the only thing capable of making such noise. The towering Exosuit spread its stance by lifting a heavy metal foot and slamming it down to create a loud boom that cracked the floor beneath it and sent a shiver running up everypony’s spines. Its miniguns raised up, their chrome plating catching a rogue ray of sunlight that made the end of the barrels glitter. “I saved something for ya!” Alex bellowed from the suit’s sound system. With a single thought, Alex assigned the hole-riddled creature as a target to kill to every unit on the network. The very next second erupted into chaos. Rose’s combat chassis brought its weapons to bear on the target, then an ear piercing screech—designed from its very inception with Rose’s first encounter with the lunar princess to be intolerable to equines. Everypony yelped at the unbearable noise, bringing their hooves up to cover their ears and, consequently, ducking in the process. With the likelihood for collateral minimized, the Novas opened fire, releasing a torrent of searing hot bolts of ionized plasma that sailed over the crowd towards their intended target. The changeling queen, seemingly unaffected by Rose’s sonic incapacitation, quickly swept her horn from one side to the next, erecting a translucent wall of green magic between her and the offending machines. Unfortunately for her, a lone bolt of plasma managed to race ahead of her reflexes and caught her square in the left shoulder. Chrysalis howled in pain as the super-hot projectile melted through her chitinous skin and even boiled the edges of the impact wound. More bolts of plasma flew into her shield and dissipated against the magical barrier as she stumbled to regain balance. Alex, hearing nothing but a light buzz from Rose, repositioned the Exosuit towards the the aisle. “We’ve gotta get these civilians out of here! Can you manage it?” “Leave it to me,” Rose responded, before she halted her ear-piercing screech and her voice boomed out from the Exo. “Everypony keep your head down!” Her combat chassis sprang over to one of the royal guards squirming next to the door, pulling him up by the collar of his armor with one hand and giving his head a firm shake with the other. “Get them out of here! Now!” she ordered as she pointed towards the wedding guests, reasonably satisfied that he was paying attention. The guard nodded before shouting at his double on the other side of the door to help him. Meanwhile, Alex stared down the changeling queen from the confines of his mechanized armor, matching her pained grimace with a gleeful baring of teeth. “Fifty cal fun time!” At those words, the weapons on either side of the suit took aim, the targeting reticle on the HUD lined up with black figure before him, sporting a vivid red outline. With a thought, the barrels of each minigun began to spin, Chrysalis’ eyes never leaving his own. Using steady hands, Alex pulled back on the safety triggers. A torrent of fire and noise instantly erupted from the Exosuit, as if the largest and angriest of all bee swarms had suddenly manifested into existence. Panicked and screaming ponies raced for the exit, keeping their heads down as green balls of fire and sharp metal projectiles zipped over them, accompanied by the pelting of seemingly endless brass casings being ejected from the Exosuit as it spat a constant stream of metal and fire. Chrysalis grit her teeth even further and her horn glowed brighter with an increase in magical output. Large copper plated lead projectiles cascaded upon her conjured shield in an unrelenting assault, causing innumerable ripples to appear upon the barrier in their bid to tear through it. Despite the constant hail of fire and metal, the queen’s shield held fast, even as the last of the guests evacuated. Alex’s grin morphed into a snarl, before his attention was taken by a beeping alert on the bottom of his HUD, which was confirmed by glancing at the red hot ends of the miniguns. “Fuck!” Alex released the triggers, instantly stopping the stream of bullets. “Rose, the guns are overheating! God damn, how much of this can she take?” “You know, when I said I wanted to bring the AVRiL, I was mostly joking,” Rose began, apparently ignorant of his problem. “The likelihood of actually having to use it was so laughably infinitesimal that the only real reason I wanted to bring it was to help keep myself entertained.” Alex frowned as the Exosuit took a step back to more easily angle himself towards Rose while the Reds continued to keep the queen pinned behind her shield, timing their automatic shots in such a way that at least four of them were firing at any given time while the others reloaded. Rose, on the other hand, sauntered towards the unmarked bronze box, whose top popped loose, seemingly of its own accord as a gentle white mist seeped from the opening. Slipping her fingers under the lid, Rose threw the box open, reached with both arms, and heaved out the Anti-Vehicle Rocket Launcher stored within, placing it square on her right shoulder. “It seems bringing this thing was actually a good idea.” Alex grinned as she carried the AVRiL back to the aisle to give herself a clear line of sight of the defiant invader, and backed away to give her the room she needed. Rose dropped down to her right knee and centered the targeting reticle on the changeling queen, which beeped red after a couple of seconds when the weapon’s optical targeting system locked on. At that same instant, all six Reds ceased fire, and dead silence dominated the chapel as Chrysalis’ slit pupils narrowed even further. One heart beat. Screaming filled the room as the AVRiL’s solid fuel rocket tore through the air, roaring towards its target at delirious speeds and leaving nothing but a faint trail of smoke in its wake. However, the discord of the rocket could not hold a candle to the veritable thunder clap of its shaped change detonating against the magical barrier, creating a small, though instant fireball. Much to everyone’s shock, however, the shield remained intact as the fire and smoke billowed around it, and the Reds resumed their plasma barrage. “Mother fucker!” Alex exclaimed, slack jawed at the heavy weapon’s ineffectiveness. “Alex! Rose!” screamed Twilight from somewhere below him. He turned the Exosuit in the direction of her voice, finding not only her, but their other five friends who had each shed their dresses. “Come on! We need to go get the Elements of Harmony! It’s the only way we’ll be able to beat her!” Alex glanced back over at the changeling who had not yet yielded a single step despite the merciless hellfire thrown at her. “Fuck it—You lead the way, we’ll follow. The Reds will keep her busy.” “What about the AVRiL?” asked Rose, still holding the massive launcher on her shoulder. “Ditch it!” he responded as he shifted the Exo into gear to follow after the ponies. “It’s not like that bitch will be able to use it anyway.” “I hope you’re right about that,” she said as she set the launcher down and sprinted after them. However, it didn’t take very long for the ponies galloping at full speed to create an increasingly wider gap between them and Alex, whose suit was not built to go anywhere near the speed that they were going. As they approached the Palace entrance, Rose yelled,  “Girls! You need to slow down!” Instead of slowing down, they all stopped entirely in the doorway, where a set of guards huddled around the interior and cuddled their spears like the lifesavers they imagined them to be. “What? Why?!” Twilight shouted back. “We can’t wait around! We have to hurry!” “I can keep up with you; Alex can’t,” Rose explained as she stuck her head out of the door and directed her gaze skyward. Innumerable black pony shaped figures hovered in the sky, repeatedly bouncing themselves against the outside of Shining Armor’s shield that was now beginning to visibly crack like a pane of glass. “Unless you want to deal with all of that on your own, I’d recommend sticking close to us.” The six ponies looked up to the sky and paled at the sight. “Whoa nelly…” Applejack muttered. “That’s a lot of them…” said Pinkie Pie. The stomping of the Exosuit grew louder as Alex finally caught up to them. Without slowing down, and curious to see what they were all looking at, Alex marched past them and turned his eyes to the sky as well. He let out a short whistle. “Ho. Lee. Shit. That’s not good.” “No it’s not,” Rose answered before looking back towards the ponies. “Get going, but stay close.” “Alright, it’s this way,” Twilight said, taking the lead. She didn’t need to look back to make sure Alex was keeping up; the sound of the Exosuit’s stomps was more than enough to tell if she was starting to outpace it or not. Just as they left the safety of the palace grounds for the streets, the entire city itself seemed to quake against the mountain it was rooted to. It didn’t take very long to discover the source of the problem, since the purple screen that was Shining Armor’s city-wide shield had finally shattered and caved in, exposing Canterlot to the outside word and the countless changelings that were kept at bay. “Okay, that’s bad!” said Alex. “We have to keep moving!” Twilight yelled as she regained her footing. With the barrier gone, the changelings began their assault in earnest, dive bombing straight down onto Canterlot streets. Sickly green auras encased their fronts as they all came down like a hailstorm of meteors, shattering the cobblestone and creating miniature craters. Changelings crashed down all around them as the group moved as quickly as they could. Rose, with a pair of Enforcers in hand, wasted no time in executing the insectile equines as they reared their heads. Alex, on the other hand, wasn’t as trigger happy. While the miniguns remained spinning as they moved, he seldom fired even a single shot unless the changeling he was attacking was out in the open. As much as he would have liked to be alone in the streets with them, that wasn’t a possibility: civilians panicked left and right, while Royal Guards also fought off the invaders in close combat. While Rose’s hand was delicate enough to pick off a changeling wrestling with someone across the street, he didn’t trust himself to be able to do the same, even with the friendly fire algorithms. The Exosuit wasn’t designed to be surgical in operation, but to have a massive presence; to tackle larger obstacles and survive harsh trials through heavy armor alone. His armor met its first real trial when a meteoric changeling came careening down straight onto the front of the Exosuit, even reflecting off of it and smashing into the street before it, no worse for wear. Alex, however, was jolted inside the suit from the sudden impact which managed to shove the Exo back a step while throwing his head forward with a gasp. The violent impact even managed to distort Alex’s view through the machine’s HUD, creating static across the image that took a few seconds to recover from. At the same time, the Exosuit’s deep voice droned into Alex’s ear: “Warning: minor system failure.” Since the impact was loud enough for everypony to hear, their hooves as well as their hearts all stopped to make sure something really bad didn’t happen. Rose herself whipped an Enforcer in the direction of the changeling that was now snarling up at Alex, though held her shot when the Exosuit raised up its foot. The changeling that had hit him had ceased its snarling and instead looked up at the underside of the Exo’s boot with wide eyes. Everypony immediately looked away in revulsion as that exact same boot came down, followed by a loud squish. “Yegh… How… macabre…” Rarity commented. “Fuck you, asshole!” Alex yelled at the sticky mass underfoot before putting the other leg in gear. “Come on, keep going!” “This way!” said Twilight as she bounded up a set of stairs. “The treasury is right up here!” The six ponies and Rose rocketed up the steps in short order, though came to an abrupt halt when their next challenge faced them down: atop the plateau that served as the entryway for the Canterlot treasury, where the Elements of Harmony were secured, was an army of changelings. It was as if every changeling that had been hovering above the city had decided to congregate into a semicircle on that one platform with the intent on staring them all down and intimidating them into submission with sheer numbers. With the endless sea of fanged snarling, clicking of onyx hooves, and buzzing of membranous wings, it wouldn’t have been difficult to believe exactly that. Heavy steps from behind them awoke them from their stupor, and they carefully moved aside to allow the Exosuit to lumber between them. A small, though ragged gash in its armor ran down its front as it painted the floor green with every other step. “I don’t have time for your bullshit,” Alex growled as he halted in the clearing, pointing his miniguns at the changeling standing directly in front of him and completely apathetic to the scale of their presence. The red outline around the invader and his partners made them prime targets for the Exosuit’s wrath, and the machine had zero qualms with spinning its barrels to complete this task. But before the Exo’s fury could be delivered, a burst of neon green flame erupted from around the changeling’s hooves, surrounding it and dissipating in a fraction of a second, leaving in its place… … Pinkie Pie…? “What the…?” Alex’s heart missed a beat as the red outline around the creature’s body immediately changed to green. A green X appeared over the HUD’s crosshairs, followed by the miniguns automatically spinning down to avoid shooting an ally. A chill ran down Alex’s spine as, one after the other, every changeling around them erupted into flame and turned into a copy of one of the six ponies standing behind him. What was a ocean of black and red targets became a sea of polychromatic fakes trimmed with untouchable green. “Oh shit…” “That’s not good…” said Rose, barely low enough for the ponies to hear. The disguised changelings took a menacing step forward, grinning madly with the faces of friends, and Alex took an appropriate step backwards. “Fuck—Rose, I gotta turn friendly fire off!” “Do it,” Rose told him wirelessly as she turned her voice outward to the ponies around her. “Girls, I want you listen to me very closely. No matter what happens, stay behind Alex. Do not under any circumstances get in front of him.” “W-w-why…?” Fluttershy whimpered. Rose stood tall, pointing an Enforcer at either side of them to different sets of imposters. “He might accidentally kill you,” was her blunt response. Rainbow Dash gulped, the chill in her bones letting her know she was that much more afraid for her life than she was a few seconds ago. “Th-that’s as good a reason as any…” At that moment, the green outline around the changelings vanished from Alex’s HUD, having been replaced by small white circles to point out individuals. Retaking his step forward, Alex grit his teeth with renewed vigor as the miniguns once again spun up. “Bring it on, mother fuckers!” The Exosuit immediately began to advance, releasing its first volley of fire and lead. The unlucky changelings who made the mistake of standing in front of the Exosuit were cut down instantly, their disguises evaporating as holes were bored straight through their bodies, some to the point of nearly being cut in half. However, Alex was still heavily outnumbered. While many of the attackers were killed before they could move, the rest surged onto the Exosuit in a tidal wave of bodies. Alex only had time to widen his eyes and suck in a breath before they all impacted at once, slamming into the giant metal construct with enough force to shove back its advance. Thrown off balance, the Exosuit’s arms flailed as hellfire continued to pour forth from them: the left going upwards to shatter the windows of the treasury, while the right went down, shredding the tiles of the plateau. The six ponies shrieked and bolted to the side as the Exo was almost shoved into their original huddle. “Get the fuck off me!” Alex roared at a rabid Fluttershy, who foamed at the mouth while she fervently pounded her hooves against his faceplate. Ceasing the miniguns’ fire, the Exosuit’s bloodied foot finally found purchase against the ground and Alex used his leverage to push himself forward and swing his weaponized right arm like a giant metal club. Disguised changelings scattered at the swing, either thrown off or bludgeoned by it, but it wasn’t long before replacements swarmed yet again and latched onto the limb. “Someone get these fucking things off of me!” “I’m doing what I can!” said Rose, though to no effect that Alex could notice. Either there were too many for her to clear off of him, or she was too busy dealing with her own problems at the same time. Probably both. Alarms inside the suit started to blare as Alex’s attention was drawn down to the corner of his HUD—to the visual representation of the BioMech. Alex’s heart rate spiked as the image’s right arm glowed bright red, with a small exclamation mark hovering next to it. Fuck! They took out the hydraulics in my right arm! They’re doing actual fucking damage! The ceaselessly deafening banging of hooves and teeth against metal assaulted Alex’s ears as he swung his other arm in an attempt to rid himself from the offenders. Another alarm sounded as the ammunition feed connecting the left arm to the storage unit on his back was ripped free from that limb. Whole bullets liberally spilled out from the casing protecting the ammo belt and onto the ground. Alex continued to blindly swing that impotent arm while firing the useless one, moving his legs whichever way he could to kick or squish any members of the swarm. “No! No! No!” he hyperventilated, until a sudden burst of sparks inside the suit drew a yelp from him, followed by the horrifying scent of burning circuitry. The Fluttershy that had been beating on his faceplate earlier was gone, instead replaced by savage duplicates of Pinkie Pie and Rarity who were splashed with amber hydraulic fluid. The image before his eyes was in a permanent state of irrecoverable static and distortion. “Fucking help me!” Alex screamed, just as another alarm of the many announced that the hydraulics in his left leg, providing most of his support between his foot and knee, had been repeatedly bucked into oblivion. The Exosuit tilted and crashed to the ground in short order. Alex instinctively stuck out his arm to catch himself, and the Exo repeated his instinct. However, the minigun arm, never designed to withstand such an impact, twisted at an odd angle upon hitting the ground, damaging the hydraulics within it while flipping the suit onto its back. “Get off of me! Get off of me!” Alex cried as he attempted to flail whatever leaking limbs he could against the endless swarm of feral ponies mercilessly beating at his metal shell. His breathing quickened back into terrified hyperventilation as blaring alarms mixed with the flashing red warnings all over his HUD and the shrieking of his bloodthirsty attackers who, in reality, were mere inches from him. That is, until the Exosuit's deep synthetic voice relayed one final warning… “Critical failure. Occupant death imminent.” His face instantly paled. “Somebody get me out of THIS FUCKING THING!”