Equestria: A Flux Tale

by Star Sage

The Help Menu

"Hmm, quite the advanced skill," said Radiance after a while, walking up the armors and inspecting them. You got the impression that beams came from his eyes, going up and down the constructs, studying the inner workings of the magic. After a few up and downs though, he seemed to stare right at the gems in the front, the places were the cockpits on the armors would have been had they been normal giant fighting robots.

"These jewels, they're the focus of the magic, the linchpins so to speak," he said, not a question, just a statement of fact. Of course, had he asked you how the things had somehow taken the positions they were in, you wouldn't have been able to answer him. That was Silver Hammer's part of this, you'd just provided some rough designs for the armor, that he'd refined, and then given him the magic to work with. The Smith was the artisan here, you were just manual labor.

"An interesting design. Was this one not the armor you fought Discord in?" asked DewPrism as she approached and pointed a hoof at the Jehuty armor.

"Yeah, it was," you admit.

"Quite powerful then. Why not simply create three sets of that armor, rather than the three different ones?" she asked you, as her eyes did that scan thing, boring into the armors and leaning closer, her hoof hovering over the metal, without ever touching it.

"I kinda figured that that would be predictable. Besides, I wanted a challenge, something that would show how far along I was coming," you told him, feeling a bit proud of yourself, despite nearly passing out before. The armors really did look cool.

"I would assume the armors have the same source then?" he asked, and you nodded.

"Yep, Zone of Enders. Good games," you said, walking closer feeling the magic throbbing inside the suits, waiting to be released unto their bearers.

"Yeah, impressive. So, who gets which?" asked Dash, flying close beside you, staring at the Jehuty armor greedily. Obviously she'd been waiting for something like this, real armors like what the guards wore. Sure she liked the Wonderbolts suit she had on, but those armors could do some amazing things, and she was already amazing. So it would be like, awesomeness squared or something.

"Well, Ms. Dash, I had figured that you get Viper, Soarin gets Anubis, and Spitfire gets Jehuty," you told her simply, as you walk up to the armors yourself, and put your palm on them. The smooth surface of the Vic Viper feels warm at your touch, and you can actually sense the vibration from within. Just sitting there seems to be irritating the thing, it wanted to fly, much like the one it was made for. Reaching out, you put your other hand on the Anubis, the raw strength of it made it feel like even if you put all your power into it, you couldn't have moved the thing. Walking around it, running you fingers along the edge, you move to Jehuty, and your touch reveals something now, a malleability the others lack, almost like the thing could change itself into something entirely different in the blink of an eye.

"Okay..." said Dash, as she flew towards the third suit in line, and then just stood there, staring at it. Finally she tapped her hoof on the thing, getting a nice metallic ringing sound, but doing little else, while the other two walked up to their own suits, facing them in much the same way.

"How does this thing work?" asked Dash after a while, and you grinning mischievously as you walked over to join the three, looking the armors up and down, as if inspecting them. In reality, you knew how the things worked, but just wanted to get a good view of the things, before they were put on.

"Put your hoof here," you say at last, holding your hand out towards the jewel in the center of the chest. Dash, Soarin, and Spitfire copy your motion, each shivering a little as they come in contact with the gem, a thrill of magic energy shooting up their spines.

"Now, the others recite their oaths, the loyalty oaths they signed up with when joining their respective guards. I...couldn't think of one of those, so I just want you guys to say, 'It's Morphing Time,' and the armor should do the rest," you tell them, stepping back amid the ranks of the others watching. Looking over, you see Deasly has drawn pictures of all three suits in his book, while DawnChaser is surreptitiously holding several devices at his side, trying to keep them from being too obvious, while everypony else just stares at the three.

"Ready?" asked Spitfire, the other two beside her nodding, Soarin a bit cautiously, while Dash is her usual overeager self. All three set their hooves on the gems.

"It's Morphing Time!" shouted the three as one, and within a heartbeat, a glow came from the suits in front of them. The glow started as a soft light, like a candle's flame, flickering, but there. Slowly it built though, becoming first a fire, then an inferno, one that forced everypony in the smith's chamber to cover their eyes. Three sets never wavered, Radiance, Dew, and Silver all stared unblinking into the three stars, and with a bit of a twist of your power you joined them.

The suits undid joints, coming apart and opening up, revealing the hollow insides to the suits. The jewels, meanwhile, floated free of their mountings, coming to rest on each pony's breast, burying themselves in their chest fur, before bits of the now open suit joined them. First the hooves, the bottoms of each leg detaching, flying behind each hoof of their owner, before slipping on like silk, clamping shut without a sound. Next, the upper legs came undone, an audible click reaching your ears with each one pulling free, and then locking into place on the legs of their knights.

The rumps came off next, each one flipping end over end, and seeming to impact the three hard enough that you were surprised they could stand. Not a one faltered however, instead each standing firm in the face of the assault. The back and wings came next, the back coming off in three pieces, two sides and a top, that flew over and around, the sides clamping in place, forming the chest pieces as well as the flanks, before the top part settled gently between the wings. The wings themselves came on like gloves, pushing against the feathers, forcing them flat, but then letting them loose again as they hit home.

Finally came the helms, each sculpted with a different head, and all three faced their knights like judges, the eyes of red, blue, and green staring at Soarin, Spitfire, and Dash respectively, before they spun in place, the back of their heads coming open, and then moving slowly forward. Each engulfed the head of one pony, and you could hear the hum of the armor's power systems as each did a quick adjustment, finally complete and whole on each knight, before finally their light faded, only a few breaths passing the lips of any of the observers, who now stared at the Flux Guard in awe.

They looked...interesting. The other guards studied them with an eye towards their armors, while the three alicorns seemed more interested in the jewels on their chests. The others though just seemed awed, as the three floated there, just a little off the ground. Not one of their hooves was touching the stone beneath them, instead each having an inch or two of space as they bobbed in the air. Their faces, covered in metal, had glowing eyes, which hid where they were looking, until they turned towards each other, their gaze moving up and down their forms.

"This is so....AWESOME!" said Dash, floating a bit higher in the air. rather than flap her wings, however, the feathers' tips just seemed to glow brighter, allowing her to do an end over end flip. More, her voice, despite seeming like it should sound metallic or robotic, came out normal. She came down lightly, only disturbing the dust a bit, as she settled once more into her floating position.

"They are impressive su-huh?" said Spitfire, cutting herself off as she raised a hoof to her face.

"What is it?" asked Soarin, coming closer to her, as she eyed her hoof.

"I can see words, and there's a voice in my....I don't want self destruct, no. Why would I ever want that? Really? Hmm, well, keep it as a last resort then...yes, that help menu on," she said, waving her hoof in front of her, and poking it forward, as if she were pressing buttons only she could see, while talking to a voice only she could hear. The other two, looking at each other, turned towards you, and you smirked as you made a motion for them to raise their hooves like she had done. The two turned back towards each other, before doing as you instruct, each stopping mid-motion.

"Squad command, mute external speakers," said Spitfire, and before either of the other two could say anything, silence fell over the scene, as each began the process of going through their internal menus.

"What, may I ask, is happening?" said Silver, at last, as she came up beside you, and you chuckled.

"They've now met their assistant AI. ADA. Advanced Defense Algorithm. She monitors the suits internal systems, as well as provides combat assistance, suggesting strategies and such," you explain, as each one seems to be going through motions. Suddenly a glow comes over Spitfire's suit, and both the others stop as they turn to her, finding her suit now has a shield in front of it, hovering in front of her outstretched hoof. The shield, the Mummy system, glowed with the rest of the suit, and little sparkles seemed to go from it into her, making the lines of light on her suit glow brighter.

"That's the subweapon system. Spitfire's suit has a variety of them, allowing her to do things, from the defensive shield there, to various weapons, and even a teleportation system. Soarin's has a similar teleport system, but also," you gesture, and then are rewarded as Soarin's suit flashes, and now a scythe, almost twice his height, with a blade as long as he is, comes to float in front of him.

"The Anubis Blade Scythe. Made of the same Metatron material as the suit, it gets harder, sharper, and all around better as the suit pumps more energy into it. Better, it's mag locked to the suit, meaning that Soarin can control it basically with his thoughts," you explain, as Soarin's hoof moves a little, the scythe following it for a moment, and then spinning in place, creating a nice breeze in front of him for a moment, before he puts it away, the thing seeming to just fade out of existence as he resumes his menu diving.

"Finally, Dash's suit has a speed form transformation, that should make her even faster than the other two, but she also has a variety of helpers she can summon. Options, Bits, and Funnels," Dash isn't being helpful in summoning her weapons, but you can do it yourself, snapping your finger and causing an example of each to appear in the air in front of you.

"The Option is a forward facing weapon. It will fire in the direction Dash is facing, and has as much power as her personal weapon system" you explain, pointing towards a floating rectangle. The thing looks flat on all but one face, with two prongs sticking out of it, a yellow glow suffusing the thing, making it look like a tiny sun.

"The Bits are a bit less powerful, but add a bit of versatility to them. Like the options, they'll float around Dash, but where the options float in a circle vertically, the Bits do it in a ring horizontally, and can hit targets on all sides of her," the second type are small round spheres, but like the Options, a small point mars the otherwise flat surface, giving them an almost turnip shape.

"Last, but certainly not least, are the Funnels. These are completely independent drones, able to fly away from Dash, going in all directions, and able to provide her with fire support whenever she needs them," you point towards something that looks like a flat propeller at first, but then the ends fold inward, leaving a small space between the edges, with tiny bolts of yellow lightning playing between the two haves, crackling with power.

"Hmm, how many of each can she make?" asked DewPrism, poking at the ones you made, causing them to pop like soap bubbles into tiny drops of light, that faded into nothing.

"I don't actually know. ADA would keep her from making more than she could control," you explain, as Dash apparently finds the options in her menu, selecting the bits first in a ring of six that float around her for a moment, before vanishing. This leaves everypony in silence for a while, as the three finish up their preparations, and then turn to you.

"Awaiting your command, Marquis," says Spitfire at last, and you get a big grin on your face, as you gesture to the still open door to the garden outside.

"Then who's up for a little race. I want to see how fast you are in those things," you tell them, everypony joining you as you walk out into the light. Oddly, you note that the three are still floating, even as they walk, their hooves never touching the ground, yet somehow they still find traction, moving normally. You wonder if ADA is assisting with that, but shake it out of your head as you breath fresh air, and stare into the open sky again.

Comments

[Chocolote12]

First! :D

Having awesome pony armor implies that the ponies are going to need it at some point in the future, what with the Law of Conservation of Detail and all. I call the new villain somehow focusing more on mental attacks, because at this point there isn't really anything that I can see succeeding in the "Beating-them-up" type villain category.

[Booster Spice]

Given the described items s far of these suits, remiinds me of the local game arcade, Gradius, Defender, R-Type etc, with the Options, Bits and such.

The teleport system can be used in all sorts of ways, port away, grab item, accelerate, port in and release, port out? but depends what the energy requirements and basis you are looking at are.A really nasty one is where you can use pre placed beacons to drop porting energy effectively to zero, as far as I understand.

Wish I could remember how I built my old Airfix Robotech Transformer thing. Always had trouble with the glue.

[Star Sage]

5497895

Hmm, a battle? Perhaps one is brewing. Though you do lack one part of vision. I have created gods, demigods, and their servants. There are those things that challenge the gods, though the heavens might wield spear, bow, blade, there are things that cannot be so easily defeated.

5498333

You had one of those? Gods I'm jealous. Robotech was my favorite anime, loved the premise, and I loved the designs. One of the few box sets I own too. The extra's on Dash's suit are the Options of Vic Viper, which tended in game to appear as lines that fired when you did, Bits, launched by most Gundams, though I was thinking more the one's launched by the Elmeth from Mobile Suit Gundam, and the Funnels are the other Gundam weapons, most famously Amuro's last Gundam, the Nu Gundam.

Oh, and the Teleport system is Zero Shift, from the Zone of Enders games themselves. It's a space fold sort of thing, that can allow the suit to move between Phoboes and Mars in seconds in the Manga, and according to the ZoE anime i, Dolores, could have been used to get between Jupiter and Mars in the blink of an eye, though it likely would have killed the pilot in the process. Spitfire and Soarin will be restricted to line of sight, though considering their training, they should be able to make good use of it. Dash doesn't have it, but she's in a suit fast enough to simulate it at least.

[Blink the Paradox]

You sir are an absolutely AMAZING writer. Far better than I could ever dream of doing. I've been reading this story since about chapter 20. You have made references to everything I know and love. Just amazing. You are the only reason I came back to Fim fiction. Favorite story by far. Keep up the good work.

[pokemonfirer]

just wondering but is there any news on when this fic will continue because this is amazing and i honestly cant wait to hear more

[Star Sage]

6529042

Honest answer, I really have no idea. I have at least half the next chapter written, and I do know where this will eventually end, but it's hard to keep going, you know?

[pokemonfirer]

6529227
ya i understand that the fact i got a reply to soon is enough for me at least that way i know it has not been dropped all together

[Star Sage]

6668479

Yep, though it takes a lot longer to go the other way.

[Star Sage]

6669827

Heh, yep. I'm actually still rather impressed with that little bit of censor ship, as they really worked that as a nice gag in the DBZ dub. Mind, you'll find little references like that throughout the story.