Twilight mumbled to herself as she rolled over in bed, only to have sunlight stream across her face. After clenching her eyes to fend off the offending wakeup call, Twilight eventually relented and turned back over. Although it didn’t take much longer for the guilt of sleeping in to pry her eyes open and get her to sit up.
Three days.
It’d been three whole days since the changeling invasion of Canterlot, and yet all of it was still fresh in her mind. Both the day of and the day after the attack had been dedicated to cleanup, repair, and preparation for the actual wedding, which happened on the second day. Twilight and her friends had returned to Ponyville on the third day, and just as she had promised her brother, she paid a visit to the Liandri building to talk to Alex.
Unfortunately, that visit wasn’t very helpful. Just like the weeks before, Rose denied her entrance under the pretext that Alex was too busy for company. Rose, on the other hoof, didn’t mind entertaining her, but remained closed lipped about what they were doing beyond the fact that they were working with the changelings in mind.
When Twilight asked her if they were going to work with the Royal Guard or not, she responded with: “That decision ultimately depends on Alex, I’m afraid.”
Not a very hopeful prospect…
Twilight looked over at her alarm clock—the one she turned off who knows how long ago—and read the time: 10:35 AM.
Oh goodness… She planted her face in her hooves. Why did I do this to myself…?
After granting herself an extra minute of late morning guilt, Twilight pulled herself out of bed, and made straight for the bathroom for her morning routine. Everything taken care of and with her mane properly straightened out, she made her way downstairs for the kitchen.
“Spike?” she called out, hoping she’d at least find her assistant somewhere in the library; he hadn’t been in his bed when she woke up.
Not receiving an answer, Twilight figured that Spike was probably out and about and fixed herself a quick breakfast. The mere idea of having breakfast so late was enough to make her cringe. Spike hadn’t returned by the time she finished eating, so after giving her dishes a quick rinse in the sink, she trotted up to the observatory where Google stood by his lectern, reading as usual.
Now that she thought about it, he was almost always reading—and pretty quickly, too. Shouldn’t he have gone through the entire library by now? That, and she couldn’t ever really recall a time where he had actually picked up a different book, even if the books were different every time she saw him. Google always seemed to change books when she wasn’t looking…
“Google, do you know where Spike is?” she asked.
“Spike is currently located west of the schoolhouse, Ms. Sparkle,” Google answered, not bothering to look up from his book as he did.
Twilight raised a brow. “That’s… oddly specific…”
This information only added to Twilight’s confusion. There wasn’t much of anything west of the schoolhouse; it was just the edge of town. As far as she knew, the Liandri only ever stayed near the garage. Outside of a domestic bot occasionally being seen over by the marketplace, the Liandri didn’t have much of a reason to be anywhere else. What was Spike doing there? And why were there Liandri to spot him?
“Thanks, Google.” Twilight magicked her telescope over to herself and opened the balcony door. Maybe she’d be able to see what was going on from there.
Although, as she set up the telescope’s tripod, a strange blue glow off in the distance caught her attention. Letting her curiosity get the better of her, Twilight quickly swiveled the telescope in the eastern direction and gasped at the sight.
Axons, at least half a dozen of them accompanied by a Hellbender with large, post like-objects resting in the back were busy building something along the edge of town. It looked like they were planting the posts into the ground, with a fifty foot gap between them. Twilight couldn’t be sure, but from where she was watching, they appeared to be making them in an arc around the town, with some sort of structure connecting them, built into the ground.
What were they building? Was that happening on the other side of town too? Was Spike watching another group of Axons?
These questions and more flooded Twilight’s mind until her ears finally paid attention to the ambient sound around her. At this time of day, somepony would be able to listen to the sounds of birds happily chirping, as well as the relaxing drone of the collective conversations occurring all over town—especially from the marketplace. Today, though, it sounded like… shouting? A lot of it, actually. Twilight swivelled her ears until she could get a good idea of where the noise was coming from.
The garage… Of course… If she and Spike noticed the Axons, then there was a good chance the rest of the town did too. And from the sounds of things, they weren’t too happy about it…
Twilight needed to find out what was going on. Now.
“Google, I’m going to go see Alex, okay?” Twilight declared as she brought her telescope back inside and closed the balcony door. “Take over for me while I’m gone.”
“Affirmative,” was the Liandri’s response, still not looking up from his book.
After only walking a couple blocks, Twilight was met with a bizarre sight. On every street corner was a pair of Blues, mounting what looked like speakers onto the sides of buildings. Why were they doing that? Were they even allowed to? There’s no way the owners of those houses would tolerate something like this!
As Twilight approached the Liandri garage, the sound of shouting only grew louder. After rounding the final corner, she stopped dead in her tracks to pick her jaw back up off the floor. At least half the town had congregated in front of the garage and had been yelling all manner of things. At first, she thought Guy had been standing in front of the building as well, but a quick double take told her he wasn’t.
There was, however, another Liandri that looked a lot like him. It was just as tall as him, broadly built, and its face was even similar to guy’s in that there wasn’t one; instead having some sort of black screen as a replacement. Right now, its face displayed a green exclamation mark as it attempted speaking over the entire crowd to calm everypony down.
While this Liandri looked a lot like guy, it did have some stark differences. This one appeared more sleek in design, and its outside even appeared more armored. A surprising amount of heavy looking equipment was visible on its back, even from the front. The image of an apple that Guy had on his chest wasn’t present on this one, but the Liandri logo was clearly printed on each of its spaulders.
“There is no need to be alarmed,” the giant Liandri announced as it attempted to calm everypony down. “Current construction efforts are precautions for your protection. They will not interfere with your daily lives.”
“You’re hanging things from my house!” one stallion in the crowd yelled.
“Those things you’re building on the edge of town are uglifying everything!” a mare shouted.
“Stop destroying property that isn’t yours!”
“Where are the Royal Guard?! Why hasn’t anypony called them yet?!”
“We understand your frustrations,” the Liandri continued. “Please rest assured that our efforts are for your benefit.”
“Horse apples!”
Twilight carefully brought a hoof up to her head as she continued to watch the shouting match in front of her. “How did this even happen…?” she muttered.
“You tell me.”
Twilight lowered her hoof and looked next to her at the source of the voice. It was an earth pony mare she had never seen before, but her voice somehow sounded familiar. Her coat was white as driven snow, while her well kept mane was a delicate shade of celestial blue that paled only to the pools of liquid blue in her eyes that were staring straight ahead at the crowd, not bothering to look at Twilight.
Yet her cutie mark was quite possibly the most interesting thing about her appearance. It was the image of a silver wrench with a bright red rose obscuring the other end, overlaid atop an electric blue grid of hexagons. What truly caught Twilight’s attention, though, was the fact that her cutie mark was moving. The grid of hexagons was static, but its color pulsed; spreading out in a concentric wave that eventually disappeared, rendering the entire grid invisible for a brief moment before it soon reappeared from the center again.
Twilight’s eyes nearly jumped out of her skull. She’d never seen a cutiemark do something like that!
The mare turned her eyes towards Twilight. “Are you going to just stare at me all day?”
Twilight forced her eyes up to meet hers, but there was something off about them. She couldn’t quite put a hoof on it. And that voice… Wait…
“Rose…?” Twilight tentatively asked. “Is that you…?”
The mare smiled, though didn’t answer the question. “Follow me,” was all she said before she turned around and trotted off—away from the garage.
Twilight stole an extra glance back towards the crowd of angry ponies before she rushed to catch up with the white mare. She didn’t slow down to wait for Twilight, and despite being asked who she was or where she was going, the mare didn’t respond in the slightest.
After a fifteen minute walk, the white mare had led Twilight clear across town, and further out still. They only slowed down as they turned east and neared a large hill. “Not much further now,” she finally said.
“Not much further to where?” Twilight insisted.
“Another entrance.”
“Another entrance to what?”
The mare craned her head back and gave Twilight a dull stare. “To the facility. What else?”
So she is Rose!
…
Of course it’s Rose. Who else would it be?
Rose led Twilight around the side of the hill until the large mound of land completely obscured their vision of town. Eventually, she stopped and turned directly towards it. “Here.”
Twilight looked up and down the hill, noting exactly nothing out of the ordinary. It was all just grass and the occasional flower, with a lonely little tree sitting at the top. Was there something under it? And if this was supposed to be some kind of entrance to the Liandri facility, why was it so far away? How exactly was this an entrance, anyway?
The very ground beneath Twilight’s hooves suddenly began to hum and vibrate without any warning. Before she could ask Rose what was going on, her jaw decided to go on an extended vacation as the hillside itself sunk further into the ground for at least a meter, before splitting open down the middle.
Oh my gosh! They build a giant door into the hillside and exactly nopony noticed!
The split in the door didn’t open very wide, though. Just enough for a pony to comfortably slip through, which Rose did. Twilight followed after her, and once completely through, the titanic bulkhead closed and raised itself once again, leaving the outside perfectly disguised. Beyond the door, though, was a massive tunnel, wide enough to fit a hydra with room to spare, with lights lining the ceiling that provided more than adequate illumination.
A single Hellbender sat in the middle of the tunnel, facing away from Twilight. Rose promptly leapt into the vehicle’s bed and beckoned Twilight to do the same. When she did, the Hellbender immediately started up and began driving down the tunnel.
“What is all this?” Twilight asked as she gaped at the sheer size of the indoor space they were occupying.
“It’s a service tunnel designed to ferry some of our larger vehicle designs out of town,” Rose responded. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but some of Ponyville’s streets are rather narrow. They’re not meant for vehicles—not with pedestrian traffic, at any rate.”
“But this goes all the way out there!” Twilight stuck her head over the side of the truck and glanced in both directions of the curving tunnel. “It goes all the way under the entire town! This is unbelievable!”
“If you find this difficult to believe, then perhaps I should show you a map of the facility with relation to Ponyville. I think you’ll find this to be the proverbial ‘tip of the iceberg.’ ”
Twilight turned her head back towards Rose, her brows arched up. “How far have you expanded…?”
“Underneath the entire town and further,” was Rose’s answer, causing Twilight to blanche at the thought.
The Hellbender turned out of the tunnel and into another structure, though Twilight took note of the fact that it continued to extend in another direction. The truck took one of several different routes, eventually ending up in what looked like a storage area for vehicles. Most of them were other Hellbenders, with a number of empty spots, but Twilight took notice of several Mantas parked in their own separate section. What truly confused her, though, was the sheer number of either one of them. Why did they need so many?
The truck didn’t stop there though. Continuing along upward routes until it eventually ended up inside the garage proper, where the engine shut off. Twilight couldn’t help but blink at the sight in confusion. It was the same as it always ways, but the fact that she somehow ended up here through another way than through the front door made it that much more discombobulating. It definitely wasn’t a trick, though; Twilight could still hear the crowd faintly shouting from the other side of the garage door.
“Wow…” Twilight gasped as Rose hopped off the Hellbender’s bed. “It’s so weird how this whole place is just so interconnected…”
Rose glanced back at her, arching a brow. “How is that weird? It would be weird if it weren’t.”
Twilight jumped off after her. “Fair point… I guess I’m having a tough time wrapping my head around all of this. I mean, you guys have a massive underground network that’s even bigger than Ponyville is! I can’t say I’ve ever seen, heard of, or even imagined anything like this. I’m kind of afraid to ask just how deep it goes.”
“Some of the lower tunnels extend as far as one kilometer down,” said Rose as she walked towards the central elevator.
“WHAT!?” Twilight exclaimed as she gawked at the artificial pony. “When did that happen?!”
“We’ve been excavating and expanding since the facility’s initial construction,” Rose replied, shrugging off the tone of her question. “At lot of progress can be made in several months if you don’t waste time. Now, are you coming, or not?”
“Oh, uh… okay…” Twilight said, following Rose into the elevator, which immediately began its descent. “Where are you taking me, anyway?”
Rose shook her head. “Alex won’t admit it, but we need help. As I’m sure you’ve already noticed, Liandri construction efforts above ground aren’t exactly being welcomed.”
“Yeah, no kidding. What are you guys doing, anyway?”
“We’re currently attempting to build a town-wide defensive grid,” said Rose. “It’s a shield dome, similar to that of your brother’s, though it feeds off a constant power source to prevent it from failing like his did.”
Twilight frowned in concern. “You’re really worried the changelings are going to come back, aren’t you?”
Rose nodded. “We are.”
The elevator slowed to a stop and let the two off at the level of the Prototype Lab, where Twilight could already hear Alex ranting to Rose about something. He wasn’t shouting at her, exactly. Just talking very loudly.
“How the fuck are we supposed to get a stable power matrix built on that relay when those idiots start chucking rocks into it?! For fuck’s sake, we’re trying to keep this town safe! What the fuck do they think we’re doing? Installing dildos everywhere?!”
Twilight followed Rose into the lab proper, cringing at Alex’s frustrations as she watched him pace back and forth while staring at a hologram being projected in front of him by a device wrapped around his left arm. It was plain to see from the get-go that he at least meant well, but if the crowd outside was any indication, he obviously didn’t get any sort of clearance or authorization from anypony.
“Clearly, we need outside help for this,” Rose announced using her omnipresent voice. “Thankfully, I’ve already brought some.”
Alex stared up at the hanging computer and the hologram before him vanished. “Outside help?! What the fuck are you even talking ab—” It was then that he noticed the splash of lavender against the white of everything else and turned his head towards Twilight, mouth hanging open. The two shared eye contact for about a second and a half before he proclaimed: “Oh god fucking dammit, Rose!”
“Oh shut up,” Rose snapped at him. “We need her help and you know it.”
Alex let out a loud groan as he planted his face in his hands and propped his elbows against the nearest terminal.
Twilight frowned at this. “Look, Alex, I’m willing to help with… I dunno—whatever it is that you’re doing. So long as you’re not doing anything crazy… Just tell me exactly what’s going on, and maybe I can make things easier.”
“Fuck it!” Alex shouted, throwing his arms up in the air. “Fine; sure; why not?” Alex pressed his hands against his face again and inhaled deeply. As he exhaled, his arms came down and hands rested against his hips. “Alright, come over here and I’ll bring you up to speed.”
Alex beckoned Twilight over to a large holographic terminal, which activated to display an image of Ponyville in yellow, with a large red circle around it, though small parts of the circle were colored bright green. A large red dot was also present at the center of the circle, which coincided with an empty spot in the middle of town.
“Voilà,” Alex stared, holding his hands out. “Ponyville. As I’m sure you’ve already guessed. What we’re trying to build is a defensive shield just like your brother’s. We’ve already managed to put together a small scale prototype using just a shield projector, and so far, it works beautifully. Problem is, if we want to build it on a larger scale, we need both a projector, and a perimeter in order to keep something of that size stable.” He pointed towards the dot in the middle and the circle respectively.
“I’m guessing the green parts represent sections that you’ve already finished?” Twilight asked.
“You’d be right,” Alex nodded to her. “Although as we’ve recently discovered, that’s subject to change. Just a few minutes ago, some jackass put the effort in and went and managed to lodge a rock inside one of the perimeter relays. That’s delicate equipment, Twilight! Now we have to haul it back in to get it repaired.”
“I see… And what about those speakers being put up everywhere?”
Alex sighed. “It’s a town wide announcement system. Early warnings and all that. If something is coming our way, I can guarantee that Rose is going to be the first one to know about it. If everyone needs to get to cover or something, she can tell the entire town at once.”
Twilight blinked at him. “That… sounds pretty convenient, actually… But did you get permission for this? Did you ask the mayor?”
“Of course I asked her!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up again, adopting a mocking voice. “But she was all, oh, I gotta send a letter to the Royal Guard and see if they think the changelings are a reasonable threat!” He slammed a fist into the terminal. “And guess what they told her!?”
“Umm…” Twilight glanced down at the point of impact, then up to his face. “No…?”
“Ding mother fucking ding!” Alex brought his hand up and waved it around, as if ringing a bell. “Somebody get the lady a fucking prize!”
“As much as I’d hate to stop your ranting and raving,” Rose announced, “it would seem we have a visitor.”
Alex dropped his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well then please tell them to fuck right off because we’re not taking visitors today.”
“It’s the Royal Guard,” Rose explained. “It seems they’ve arrived with a chariot for the express purpose of bringing you to Canterlot for an audience with Celestia.”
Alex almost immediately let his arms hang by his sides to groan at the ceiling. “Oh this day just keeps getting better and better. Fine. Tell them I’ll go. But I’m taking a Raven because fuck their chariot.”
“I’ll reword that and share your decision with them.”
“Why don’t I come with you?” Twilight offered as she trotted after him. “Maybe I’ll be able to get you some bonus points with my brother.”
“Can’t hurt,” Alex said as he made his way to the elevator. “Oh, and Rose, have a squad of Reds waiting for us in the hangar.”
Twilight clutched her seat as Alex piloted the Raven towards Canterlot. Thankfully it was a short flight, though it ended with several ponies diving for cover as the Raven approached its usual landing spot. Alex apparently didn’t have the patience to bother with his usual approach. Instead he practically swung the aircraft into position above the ground with the cargo door open, briefly treating Twilight to a disorientingly twisted view of the outside world before it properly righted itself and landed.
A few seconds later, Alex marched out of the cockpit. “Alright, Twilight, we’re here. Let’s go,” he said, not bothering to power down the aircraft—probably expecting a short visit.
Hopping to her hooves, Twilight trotted to his side. As did the half dozen Novas that had taken a ride with them, falling into line behind the two. They clearly weren’t the same Novas as the ones who had been present during the wedding, but she couldn’t help but glance back at them every now and again. They were just coming to talk to the princess! Was all this really necessary?
Alex and Twilight stopped in front of the guards standing by the courtyard entrance, with the former having one hand shoved into a pocket. “I hear the Princess wanted to see me.”
Twilight had been looking at the guard as Alex spoke, but looked up at him almost immediately after. His voice seemed cold; even distant, and his face reflected as such. He bore no smile, nor a frown. Completely emotionless.
The guard nodded at him regardless. “Yes, we’ve been expecting you. If you would be so kind, please leave your guards here and follow me.”
“Not gonna happen.”
The guard was already half-way turned around when he stopped. He and his partner shared a brief glance before they each looked back towards Alex. “I beg your pardon?”
“The Reds are coming with me,” Alex explained.
What is he doing…? Twilight glanced between Alex and the guards, the human still holding a stone cold expression. The tension between them was thick enough to pluck out of the air with bare hooves.
The two guards shared an extra look. “I’m… afraid we cannot allow that,” one of them said.
“Does this look like the face of someone who gives a fuck?” Alex stated matter of factly, remaining stock still as he did. Even the guards froze at his words. “Let me give you a little reminder: Celestia wanted to see me. Not the other way around. What may have been an order for you, is a request for me, and as far as I’m concerned, I’m humoring her. I am the one deeming her to be worth my time, which means if we’re going to play, we’re going to play by my rules. Otherwise, I’m gone—because I really don't give a fuck. Got that?”
For what seemed to be the umpteenth time that day alone, Twilight found herself scrambling to reattach her jaw, and it seemed the guards weren’t doing much better with words, either. The amount of ponies that had ever spoken about the Princess like that could be counted on… well, nothing! Nopony ever did! If the Princess requested an audience with somepony, they always came without question—humbly, too! If Alex was being this aggressive… Maybe now wasn’t the best time for him…
“A-a-alright…” the guard stumbled, clearly just as at a loss for words as anypony else. “Come this way, then…”
Using just his mouth, Alex cocked his head to the side and issued a sharp whistle, which beckoned the Liandri to follow as soon as he started moving. As for Twilight, she found herself having to shake her head to clear her disbelief before she ran to catch up.
“Alex, are you okay?” Twilight asked as they followed the guard through the palace.
Alex let out a short huff, though stared straight ahead as he spoke. “Honestly? Not really. I’m frustrated, angry, pissed… Not gonna lie, I’ve got a pretty short fuckin’ fuse right now.”
Twilight’s eyes peered up in thought. “Do you think maybe you should… Oh, I dunno… Calm down a bit before we see the Princess?”
“Nope. When you’re angry, you’re tough to work with. I want to be tough to work with.”
Twilight hung her head as she walked. “Can’t argue with that logic…”
“Exactly,” Alex punctuated with a snap of his fingers.
Eventually, the guard let them up to a large set of double doors, flanked by a quartet of guards on either side. Using their magic, the posted guards opened the doors for the arriving group, revealing a large and ornate throne room. Upon the dais were a pair of gilded thrones, on which sat both the solar and lunar princesses. Below them stood Captain Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, with spear-armed guards lining the entire room. Celestia and Luna looked to Alex with the most neutral expressions they could muster, while Cadence carried an understandably worried look that mirrored Twilight’s. Shining Armor, however, glared at Alex as he entered.
Although both Cadence and Shining Armor were quick to shift their focus from the human to the unicorn walking beside him. “Twilight?” Shining Armor exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
Twilight held a hoof up to her chest as she and Alex stopped before the dais. “I heard about everything and thought I’d come by to make sure it doesn’t get out of hoof. That’s all.”
“That about sums it up,” Alex announced without any regard for the use of an indoor voice. “So, Celestia! A little birdie told me you wanted to have a discussion. What about?”
Celestia narrowed her eyes. “You know very well what it is we must discuss, Alexander.”
“Oh, are you talking about my projects?” Alex beamed, cupping his hands together. “I’m so glad you’re interested in them! You really should come by someday! I’ll happily give you a tour of the place, maybe even explain some of the finer details, too!”
“Stop it with these games, Alexander,” Luna interjected, rapping her hoof against her throne. “Stars, you’re acting like Discord right now. You know very well why we have summoned you here.”
Alex brought up a hand to tap a finger against his chin in mock thought. “Do I? Oooohhhh, yeah, I do! It’s because I decided to go ahead and do what needed to be done while all of you decided to sit flat on your asses and twiddle yourselves!” Snapping his fingers, he summoned a smile to his face. “That’s it, right?”
Everypony save for Celestia recoiled at his words. For her part, Twilight clenched her eyes and nearly doubled over from the gut wrench of sympathetic embarrassment. Oh no, he did not just say that…
“Hey!” Shining Armor snapped, his face contorted in rage. “You do not talk to the Princesses like that!”
Alex scoffed and waved him off. “Can it, Captain America—the adults are talking.”
Steam almost bellowed from Shining Armor’s nostrils as he attempted to take a step forward, though was held back (with some difficulty) by Cadence who was tugging on him with both hooves. “Okay! Okay! Let’s everypony just calm down and talk like civilized individuals!”
Alex quietly chuckled to himself through a toothy grin as he dusted his hands off. “Alright, fine. I’m done having fun.” Composing himself, he cleared his throat and tucked his hands behind himself yet again. “So. I assume you have a problem with Liandri construction efforts in Ponyville, right?”
“That is correct,” Celestia nodded somehow having kept her composure throughout the entire previous debacle. “As Ponyville is technically still a settlement; anypony is permitted to construct their own home, provided that they can legally procure the resources to do so. Your current home already stretches the boundaries of how much land you are permitted to build upon. According to the reports I’ve read, you are currently attempting to build something around the town, as well as place devices on other ponies’ houses, which is not your place to do.”
“I see,” Alex drawled. “You have no idea what it is we’re trying to build, do you?”
Celestia raised a brow. “Care to enlighten us?”
“The first thing is a town-wide shield,” Alex explained, keeping his voice loud and clear. “It’s similar to that of Shining Armor’s, but it’s one hundred percent less likely to fail epically.” He ignored the angry snort coming from the corner of his vision. “The second thing is an announcement system for emergencies. Now does either one of those things sound like a bad idea to you?”
Celestia allowed herself a sigh and rubbed her temple with a hoof. “Admittedly, no. However, I must insist that you cease this activity at once. There are laws that must be followed, and nopony, yourself included, is above them. While you may be permitted to build such things, you have not been granted that permission. I understand that you are concerned about the changelings, but I stand by my earlier position that they will not return to threaten Equestria—not after a defeat as severe as the one they have suffered here in Canterlot. Your intentions are good, I will admit this, but they do not permit you to break established laws. Do you understand?”
For the longest moment, nopony said anything, and all eyes were on Alex. Twilight’s eyes scanned his face carefully, looking for anything that could give any indication of how the gears in his head were turning. He was definitely thinking long and hard, but what conclusion would he ultimately come to? Was he actually about to concede, or would he persist?
Eventually, Alex simply closed his eyes and lowered his head ever so slightly, inhaling deeply through his nose. After he let that breath go, he raised his head back up towards the Princess. “You’re right,” he stated plainly. “I’ve broken the law. And you have every right to arrest me for it.” Alex brought his hands out in front of him and held his wrists together. “So go ahead. Do it. Arrest me.”
Wait what?
Everypony stared at each other in confusion. Was he really saying this? The human, who not mere moments ago was practically insulting everypony in the room was now saying that he wanted to be arrested? Understandably, everypony hesitated to so much as speak.
“Well?” Alex insisted, giving his wrists a shake. “You gonna do it, or what? I promise I’ll come quietly. No fuss, no muss. Slap some cuffs on me already.”
Shining Armor scoffed at him as he took a step forward with his magic surrounding a pair of hoof cuffs secured to his armor. “If you insist.”
Almost as soon as he did so, each of the Liandri standing behind Alex brought their arms around and swung their Link Guns forward, bringing them to bear on the Captain, voicing a multitude of unnatural screeches, clicks, and other horrifically hair raising sounds nopony had ever heard before. Everypony immediately stepped back, and the guards lining the walls brought their spears down and pointed them towards the group in the middle of the room. Even the two Princesses stood up straighter on their thrones.
Twilight bolted between the Liandri and her brother, holding a hoof out. “Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa! Okay! This is getting way out of hoof! Let’s just all calm down!”
“What’s the matter, Shiny?” Alex grinned, completely ignoring Twilight and continuing to wave his joined wrists. “I said I’d come quietly! You getting cold feet or something?”
“Come quietly my flank!” Shining Armor snapped back.
Alex pouted, though it was the most insincere pout to ever grace existence. “Aww, give me more credit than that! I’m a man of my word! I said I’d come quietly, and I will!” His pout morphed into a smirk and he nudged his head towards the Liandri. “I’m just not sure that they agree with it.”
“QUIET! BOTH OF YOU!” Twilight shouted, achieving the intended effect. After taking a few extra breaths to dispel her sudden lightheadedness, she continued, “You’re both acting like foals, and we’re getting nothing done. Why can’t you two just work together peacefully?”
Shining Armor continued to scowl at the human. “We can’t work together because he refuses to cooperate at all!”
Alex sneered back at him. “Maybe that’s because I’m too busy doing your own fucking job!”
“There is no job to be done!” Celestia interrupted, this time glaring down at Alex. “I’ve already told you this numerous times, Alexander. The changelings. Are. Not. A.—”
Celestia’s punctuated words were suddenly cut off by the throne room doors bursting open, and a white pegasus much too short on breath came partially galloping, partially stumbling in. “Your… Your highness! The…” The pegasus stumbled and fell past the Liandri and Alex, who each looked at the arrival with both interest and confusion.
After panting for a few more seconds, the newcomer finally managed to gasp out the phrase: “The changelings! They’ve… They’ve attacked Appleloosa!”
A chill ran over everypony in the room, though none more so than Princess Celestia. Suddenly, all eyes were on her, while her own wide gaze focused purely on the messenger. The Princess’ breath caught in her throat, barely allowing her to mutter, “What…?”
The pegasus panted out a few extra breaths. “The changelings attacked Appleloosa! There were s… so many of them… I… I came as… as quickly as…” He only managed to get those words out before exhaustion overtook him and he slumped against the floor.
Celestia continued to look upon the messenger, horror ever present on her features, and at a complete loss for words. Her wings, normally tucked up against her, wilted at her sides, and her mouth hung open with barely a shred of consciousness to keep it closed. In truth, Celestia’s mind had all but completely shattered, leaving her completely incapable of formulating her own thoughts, aside from replaying the same piece of news over and over again…
The changelings attacked Appleloosa.
After a pause, Alex finally spoke up, rubbing a hand against his chin. “I’m sorry, Celestia, what was that you were saying earlier? That the changelings weren’t going to come back? You know, I think you might have been on to something!”
Luna smashed her hoof down, eliciting a loud clack against her throne. “Enough with your joking, Alexander!” she shouted. “This is a very serious matter!”
“You’re goddamn right it is!” Alex snapped back, all sense of amusement completely gone. “Then again, considering the fact that you were passed out in your bedroom while Canterlot was busy getting the shaft because your fucking alarm or whatever didn't go off, I'm not so sure you're ready to deal with a serious situation. I—on the other hand—am, so here’s how we’re going to play: as of this moment, Ponyville is under my jurisdiction. I am going to build whatever I goddamn need to if it means keeping that town and its citizens safe, and if you’ve got a problem with that, well then tough shit! You can take that little problem of yours, roll it up sideways, and shove it right back up your ass where it belongs!” Alex immediately spun in place and began to march back out of the throne room, twirling his fingers in a rallying motion as he did so. “We’re done here.”
Each of his accompanying Liandri immediately lowered their weapons and fell into step around him. Twilight’s head spun around, glancing back between the passed out pegasus on the floor, her stunned teacher, her bewildered brother, and the angry human she had arrived with who was about to leave with her ride home. She tried and failed to process everything that had just happened as her lungs attempted to choke out some words—any words—that could make things better between everypony.
Instead, she only found herself galloping after Alex with restrained tears.
Alex dug into his pocket as he walked and fished out his earpiece. Making sure it was turned on, he secured it over his ear and spoke into it. “Rose—talk to me.” A pause. “Good. I got news for you. We were right: the changelings are back and they’ve already fucked over a place called Appleloosa. Initiate production protocol delta. I want every line up and running. I want bots; I want Cicadas; I want Goliaths; I want a goddamn Leviathan. These things may eat love, but by the time we’re done with them, the only thing they’ll be eating is a giant steaming pile of fucking regret!”
Twilight pinned her ears against her head as Alex spoke.
This is going to be bad…
“Oh, and one last thing,” said Alex, his face sneering as he spoke the words.
“Prep the BioMech three.”
The doors to Celestia’s bed chamber burst open, allowing the princess in question to come shambling through, then just as violently slammed shut the moment she was through them. With one hoof pressed up against the side of her head, Celestia continued to stumble across the floor until she eventually lost her balance and fell against the wall. The pain from the fall meant nothing to her. Not at a time like this.
How?
Why?
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
It never did.
Why was this time different?
Celestia’s eyes swiveled to stare up at her bookcase—the one hiding the biggest secret in the world.
There was only one way to figure this out…
Her horn glowed, and her magic went through the motions: door locked, curtains covered the windows, candle twisted. Celestia forced herself back to her hooves and heaved the bookcase to the side, revealing the otherwise unnoticeable hole in the wall that it normally obscured. After crawling inside, she magicked the bookcase back into place and pressed the button on her side of the hole, locking it.
Celestia’s hoof lingered on the button, her mind refusing, for a moment, to look at the monitor resting on the wall on the far side of the room. The device remained dead. Absolutely quiet. Though through it lay the source of her life’s torment. Fate itself.
Eventually, Celestia’s hoof slid down the wall, and her legs carried her to the screen. Even as she approached, it remained dormant; as she both expected, and hoped. A seldom used number pad rested along the bottom of the monitor. She had no idea how any part of this communication device worked—only that it did. Closing her eyes once more, she brought a number to memory, and with a careful hoof, entered into the number pad.
And then she waited.
The monitor continued to remain perfectly black, but after that moment of silence, a voice sounded from it.
“H-hello…?”
Celestia knew the voice well, though it was stained. “Chrysalis? Where are you?”
…
“I’m… in Appleloosa…” Her voice was slow. Tired. Hoarse. As if she spent the night crying herself to sleep. Celestia’s heart seized at its sound.
“What are you doing there…?” Celestia breathed, carefully resting her head against the monitor. “You’re not supposed to be there… It… It’s not a part of the cycle…”
The monitor suddenly exploded to life, and a booming voice echoed from it, startling Celestia and sending her scrambling back to a safe distance. “She’s there because I ordered her to be there.”
Celestia stumbled back and fell, barely managing to keep her barrel off the ground. Holding a hoof up to her chest and speaking through panted breaths, she cried, “Overseer…! What… Why?”
The masked figure on the screen barely moved, though his voice carried all the attention and authority he needed. “Chrysalis was given an order to remove Laythem during the wedding. She had him right there in front of her, completely exposed and unprotected, and she failed in this task. I am giving her a chance at redemption by finishing the job.”
“What?! No!” Celestia objected, getting back to her hooves. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?! Alexander was building defenses in Ponyville! He was expecting Chrysalis to return! I was in the middle of getting him to stop! I was telling him that the changelings were not a threat anymore! Now he knows she’s coming, and there’s nothing I can do to change that! Not without destroying my image as a Princess looking out for her ponies! He’s going to build all manner of machines and he’s going to kill her!”
By the time she was finished, Celestia stared back at the screen with wide, pleading eyes, just on the verge of tears. She hyperventilated through her mouth in large gulps, causing the barest hint of a whistle through her throat with every breath.
For the longest moment, neither one of them made any sound, and hope welled in Celestia’s chest; hope that the Overseer had seen reason, that he would have Chrysalis return the ponies of Appleloosa, that he would let her live.
“Then it will be her punishment,” the Overseer finally spoke, shattering Celestia’s spirit. His mask grew in size as he leaned further in, growling out his next sentence. “This is the price for insubordination.”
The screen promptly shut itself off, leaving Celestia and her tears gawking at it in abject terror. “Hello?” she choked, hoping for some form of answer. “Hello? Chrysalis?”
No response.
Celestia’s tears began to flow freely now. Her rubberized legs finally gave out from under her and she collapsed to the ground. Quiet sobs escaped Celestia’s lips as the reality of the situation lorded over her, like a shadow that refused to disappear in the light. She tapped a hoof repeatedly against the floor in a vain attempt to regain control of herself. Now was not the time for this. She wanted to talk to Chrysalis—nay—she needed to talk to Chrysalis. Goodness knows she needed more support right now.
After choking down her despair, Celestia finally forced herself to stand again, sniffling the entire time. Right now, there was little time to waste and a lot of ground to cover. Once she left the confines of her communication room and made sure the bookcase covering it was secured, Celestia took the time to clean herself up before she dumped her regalia on her bed, threw open her balcony door, and leapt out into the afternoon sun.
Appleloosa was a fifteen hour train ride away, but to an alicorn who knew the right tricks, that wouldn’t be a problem. Celestia continued to fly upwards, and further upwards still, until the layer of magic in the sky proved sufficiently dense enough for her. Orienting herself towards the southwestern town, Celestia’s horn glowed with the magic surrounding her, and a mere second later, she disappeared.
Of course, had somepony been truly paying attention, they would have realized that she hadn’t really disappeared, but had suddenly began moving extremely quickly—from zero to an immeasurable speed in an instant. A teleportation of that distance would have been impossible, even for her, but this open air alternative was much more sustainable. So long as the caster shielded themselves from the inevitable rush of oncoming air, lest the friction alone tear them apart.
Soon enough, the endless trees and forests gave way to grasslands, and then to desert. Although Appleloosa never came into view. Where the settlement should have been was instead a massive black cloud, extending high above the ground. Celestia ceased her spell, creating a thunderclap as her magic brought her to an instant stop. Only now could she tell that the cloud wasn’t smoke, but a massive collection of changelings—several times more of them than there ever were in Canterlot—swirling around in random patterns.
Celestia glided down and set hoof upon the ground, just outside of the storm of constant buzzing and chittering. It was all so loud, she couldn’t even hear herself think. She sat there, simply staring at the wall of drones until one of them broke off and landed in front of her, sneering up at her without so much as a word.
“I’ve come to see Chrysalis!” Celestia yelled over the tempest, hoping this changeling could hear her.
For a moment, the changeling didn’t respond, instead continuing to eye her with some measure of distrust. Once it was finished suspecting her, the changeling turned around and walked into the swarm, pausing only once to look behind himself and beckon Celestia to follow.
And she did. To say that the experience was unpleasant would have been a gross understatement. With the sheer number of changelings swirling above and around her, the sun was virtually blocked out, forcing her to illuminate her horn just to make sure she didn’t lose track of her guide. The turbulence caused by the seemingly endless number of buzzing wings whipped her mane and tail back and forth, picking a new direction with every step she took, on top of kicking up all manner of dust and debris that forced her to squint her eyes.
Deeper and deeper into the swarm she followed, losing all sense of time and space. She briefly considered the idea that she had condemned herself to this existence, to forever wander this hellscape in search of a sister.
Thankfully, the swarm gave way, revealing the actual town itself. The changelings weren’t flying through the buildings and into the streets, but rather above them, giving the impression that the entire thing had been sunken into a living cavern—a great, writhing space the sun could not reach.
Celestia gasped and froze in her steps shortly after flowing more magic into her horn. The town’s buildings remained perfectly intact, but the Princess had come face to face with a true monster. No other words could do it justice. A beast of enormous size slumbered in the middle of the road, rivaling the size of even some of the largest buildings around it. Giant tusks projected from the corners of its mouth, curling upwards in great arcs. Their thickness was comparable to that of a tree; a normal pony wouldn’t have been able to wrap their legs around them, no matter how hard they tried.
A row of large, pointed teeth lined the top and bottom of the creature’s lipless mouth, visible to all unfortunate enough to gaze upon it. The creature had almost no neck to speak of, its comparatively small head instead connected directly into its massive, naturally armored body. Instead of hooves, as Celestia had been expecting, the beast had claws adorning its short, though abnormally muscular legs.
The Princess choked on her breath as the changeling drone guided her past the gargantuan monstrosity. Even with the incessant buzzing of the swarm above her, Celestia could still hear and feel the beast’s labored breathing through her hooves. Much to her relief, the creature didn’t stir as she walked past it. It probably would have done nothing, but the mere thought of being within that creature’s gaze twisted Celestia’s guts into knots.
Finally, the changeling led Celestia up to the door of the saloon, giving her a slight bow before it took to the air again and joined its brethren. Without the need for her guide any longer, Celestia pushed open the saloon doors and entered. The first thing to catch her attention was the fact that the building was deathly quiet. Not even sounds of the swarm just outside penetrated its walls. Celestia could only assume that Chrysalis found it just as annoying as she did and cast a sound dampening spell.
The second thing to catch her attention was the changeling queen herself, sitting by the counter with her head slumped over. As Celestia approached, Chrysalis raised her head up, looking over towards the Princess with a broken smile. “Hi, Tia. Come to join me for a drink…?” She held up a bottle of… something in her hoof. Probably hard alcohol from under the counter that had she helped herself to.
Celestia sat next to her long time friend, lowering the bottle with her own hoof. “I’m fine, thank you.” Her voice was low, barely a whisper.
“More for me, then,” said Chrysalis before she upturned the bottle and took a large swig.
For a moment, neither of them said anything, simply allowing the silence to speak for them. Eventually, Celestia spoke up. “Are the ponies… safe…?”
Chrysalis inhaled deeply through her nose. “Yeah... They’re safe…”
“I’m sorry, Chrys…” Celestia lowered her head, “It… It wasn’t supposed to be this way…”
Chrysalis flashed a smile. “Figures, right? Of course our own plan went this bad this quickly…” She scoffed. “He basically ordered me to die… Didn’t he?”
Celestia leaned further over the counter to get her head into Chrysalis’ vision. “It doesn’t have to be this way. We can figure a way out of this!”
“How?” Chrysalis screamed, tears forming as she locked eyes with Celestia. “I’m dead either way! He’s fate incarnate, Celestia! We’re trying to fight fate and we have no idea what we’re doing!” A quiet sob escaped from her and the tears came freely. “You… You can’t fight fate…”
As Chrysalis dissolved into uncontrollable sobs, and the bottle of alcohol she held in her hooves rolled out of her grasp and shattered on the floor. Celestia held her friend’s head in her forelegs and slowly ran a hoof through her mane, doing her very best to keep her own tears back.
Though she failed even that.
Back in Ponyville, the entire Liandri facility hummed with activity—literally. Twilight could feel it in her hooves, and no doubt everypony else above ground could feel something similar. After the Raven landed in the hangar, Alex offered Twilight the option of sticking around, which she accepted. Although she wasn’t quite sure why. Impulse, she reasoned.
The two of them left the squad of Novas in the hangar and entered the elevator which raised itself up to the level of the Prototype Lab, where Alex instructed Twilight to wait since he needed to go up to his quarters to prepare something. Prepare what, he didn’t say.
In the meantime, though, Twilight contented herself with waiting with Rose, even taking the opportunity to ask her what exactly the so called “production protocol delta” was. The AI described is as a mass production protocol, though didn’t elaborate on what exactly that entailed.
It wasn’t difficult to guess.
Eventually, Alex returned to the prototype lab, wearing only a tight fitting pair of shorts that only covered his waist and groin, leaving everything else bare.
“Alright, let’s get this show on the road!” Alex announced with a snap of his synthetic fingers, marching up to an empty platform with a multitude of robotic arms flanking it.
Turning around, Alex planted both feet on foot-shaped outlines on the platform and held out his arms. A second later, and the robotic appendages around him came to life. A large arm behind him, holding some cushioned frame, clamped down around Alex’s torso. Others took hold of his arms and legs, and all at once separated his limbs from his body. Twilight yelped at his dismemberment, before she had to consciously remind herself that that was meant to happen.
With Alex’s limbless body suspended in the air, the platform he was standing on broke up into dozens of separate pieces, folding inwards and revealing a much more complicated mechanism underneath with at least a dozen more robotic arms. The metallic limbs swarmed over Alex’s body, his stone cold face staring straight ahead.
A new set of legs were moved into position underneath him, and promptly locked into place. They were significantly bigger than what he previously had there, with green armor plating. They honestly looked like they would have been more appropriate on a Liandri. More and more pieces were attached to Alex’s body at a frightening pace, and some were even connected to the ports in Alex’s midsection.
Before Twilight could fully comprehend what she was witnessing, the finishing touches were made as green plates of armor were secured to the freshly constructed frame. As most of the machines working on Alex receded, more approached, holding his new pair of arms which were then carefully inserted into their sockets. Now complete, the platform folded itself back up again.
Twilight gawked at the sight before her. Save for Alex’s head, his entire body had become encased in green armor. Angular, though shockingly smooth and symmetrical at the same time. Black and orange hazard stripes accentuated the metal on his shins and knees, and a stip of the pattern could even be seen on the armor’s collar, next to the symbol: MK3. His arms seemed much too bulky, but it was probably fine. On each of his rounded pauldrons was a pair of short cylindrical protrusions, though Twilight couldn’t imagine what their purpose would be.
“Are you ready for synchronisation?” Rose asked, her human body walking up next to Twilight.
Alex glanced at her. “Just get it over with.”
Rose nodded. “Beginning synchronisation in three. Two. One.”
Almost immediately, Alex’s head jerked back and he let out a continuous howl of pain, the source of which was completely unknown to Twilight. Her hoof shot up and covered her mouth, while her eyes looked on in horror as Alex’s head continued to thrash in every direction.
“No, stop!” Twilight cried. “You’re hurting him!”
Rose placed a hand over the unicorn’s head and spoke calmly through the human’s yelling. “Severe pain is entirely expected during synchronisation with an exocortex. He will be fine.”
Despite Rose’s words, doubt seeped into Twilight’s mind as Alex’s screams only grew louder. When Rose announced that it was only fifty percent done, an eternity in Twilight’s eyes, the hands of Alex’s new arms clenched shut. His extended body, still restrained by a multitude of robotic arms, began to jerk as he made some form of effort to free himself from their grasp.
Alex’s screams eventually quieted, though only because he had clenched his teeth and forced his head down. Twilight’s eyes only grew wider as Alex’s met them. Above the pulsing veins in his neck and his bared teeth, his eyes glowed with an intensity Twilight had never seen from them. Twilight backed up a step, the grip on her heart letting her know that she was very thankful Alex was restrained. Had she not known his enraged face and thrashing were caused by pain, she would have believed Alex were attempting to break free and maul her.
Ninety percent.
Alex reared his head back and let out a final, inhuman scream as he thrashed even more violently against his restraints. Twilight’s very blood curdled at the noise; not just at the howl he released from his lungs, but of the simultaneous screech of the machine that was now a part of him.
Just as quickly as it began, the horror show was over. Alex ceased trashing, and his head slumped down, seemingly unresponsive.
“Synchronisation complete,” Rose quietly announced.
“A… Alex…?” Twilight tentatively asked, inching her way towards him. His arms remained outstretched and restrained, just as his head and the rest of his body remained motionless. “Are… Are you okay…?”
Before Twilight could even react, several loud pops sounded, and Rose’s robotic arms let go of Alex and allowed his newly armored body to fall over. Twilight jumped to catch him, but fell short. It didn’t matter, though, since his arms shot out and to catch himself, causing a series of loud metallic clangs as he landed. Now on his hands and knees, Alex appeared to be awake, though heaved several heavy breaths. Subconsciously, Twilight wanted to admire the construction of the machine built around her friend, but consciously, that very same friend took priority.
Twilight placed a hoof on his metallic shoulder, idly rubbing it as she lowered her head to get a better look at his face. “Alex? Are you alright?”
Alex’s heavy panting continued, completely ignoring her question. Twilight simply listened, believing that he was just recovering his breath. That is, until she heard… laughing? It was faint, at first, disguising itself with his breaths, but soon became more obvious, until it slowly evolved into a full on guffaw.
Alex’s arm pulled itself up, pushing Twilight’s hoof away, only to form a fist and punch the floor, eliciting a short metallic ring. Only then did he bring a foot under to push himself back to his full height. Twilight backed up to allow him some room, and though she wasn’t entirely sure, she could swear Alex was just that much taller now.
A manic grin adorned his face, coupled by his continuously glowing eyes that examined his newfound figure, turning his arms over and over again in fascination of them, chuckling to himself the entire time. Eventually, his eyes landed on Twilight and he ceased his laughing altogether.
“Oh, I feel more than alright, Twilight,” he told her. “In fact…” Large pieces of metal emerged from underneath his collar, first covering his mouth, and then folding around to cover each side of the top of his head. As the pieces of his helmet locked into place, the visor before his eyes burst to life, stretching from one side of his head to the next in a strip of neon green. Even beneath that, the glow of his eyes was still visible, and pierced straight through her, sending a chill throughout Twilight’s body.
He spoke again, but his voice was only a simile of the original, sounding as if it were coming from a machine disguised as him instead.
“...I’ve never felt better.”