Chapter 3: The Gundam (revised)
The lone horn on the white giant splits, turning into a gold V-shaped horn. It then grabs one of the handles on its wing and draws out an energy blade of some sort. The two closest dragons didn’t think about what happened for long as it suddenly charges at them, leaving behind a blue afterglow.
Before they even realized it, the giant is right on top of them. With a swift swipe of its blade, it cuts both dragons in half. Everypony looks on in shocked as they see the now lifeless bodies of the dragons plummet to the ground. With a burst of speed, it flew towards Tirek. The dragon he’s riding on quickly begins to fly upward in an attempt to avoid the giant. But before it could even finish its first flap, the giant reaches them.
Using its pink glowing blade, it slices off the dragon’s wing. The dragon cries out in pain as the flesh and bone that connects the wing to his body literally evaporates. Tirek, not wanting to risk his life just yet, jumps off the old dragon, right as the giant stabs the dragon in the back, right where Tirek was. Moving forward, the giant cuts the dragon’s neck and his head in two as it flew after Tirek.
The giant was moving so fast that it looked like it was teleporting from one spot to another. It was within feet of Tirek, soon it’ll be close enough to cut him in half with that glowing blade. But before the giant could get any closer, two dragons spewed fire at it. Some bugbears were with them, all eager to fight the giant.
But they obviously have never heard the phrase ‘be careful what you wish for’. Within seconds the giant was near them. With its blade, it cut one of the dragons in an instant. The other dragon and a bugbear move in to try and pin the giant down, but that quickly backfires as the giant simply bob and weaves around them before cutting them in half with its blade.
Tirek lands down on the ground and looks up. He sees that the giant has killed the bugbears and dragons. Another dragon tries to attack, but the giant once again bob and weaves before it kills the dragon. Tirek wasn't sure who or what that is, but he knows one thing; it was defiantly not using magic. At least not any magic he’s seen before.
Chrysalis looks intently at the Gundam as it decimates Tirek’s army. Knowing full well how powerful it is, she looks to the general next to her. “Have all Changelings retreat at once, including the ones guarding the Tree. Bring as many of the beasts with us as well.”
“But, Chrysalis, we’re so close to completing Phase 1. Why not continue? What can one Gundam possibly d-?”
“You know full well what just one Gundam is capable of!” Chrysalis snapped, causing the general to back away in fear. “If we stay we risk getting killed. In this situation, I’d rather face her wrath then deal with a Gundam. Call the order to retreat, now!”
In the Cave of the Tree of Harmony, the mane 6 were having difficulty with all of the changelings. Not only were they tougher than the ones they fight before, but they were also smarter and are cheating.
Hiding in the shadows before jumping on one of them, then changing into one of their friends to confuse them. It was total chaos. “Twi! Ah don’t think we can keep this up much longer.”
As much as she hated to admit it, Twilight knew that Applejack was right. They weren’t as young as they used to be, and they were all getting tired. Twilight’s spells were even beginning to fizzle out before she could finish casting them.
Rainbow was also beginning to tire out. One thing against her was that they were fighting in a cave. Caves and Pegasi don’t get along well. As for Fluttershy… she managed, somehow. Rarity wasn’t having much trouble, knowing enough about martial arts to keep up. As for Pinkie, she’s… Pinkie.
Suddenly, the changelings began to back off. Eventually, they all left the cave. “Yeah!” Rainbow said in-between deep breaths. “You better run!”
“Uh, Rainbow, I don’t think they ran away because of us,” Fluttershy said as she got up from tripping herself, and about 5 Changelings.
Twilight then gasped. “Oh, no! The Tree!” Twilight quickly galloped down into the cave, the others following upon realizing.
Fortunately when they arrived the Tree of Harmony was still in one piece. The Elements were all in place. Nothing was out of place. The six ponies all sighed in relief. “Thank Celestia! I almost had a heart attack.”
“Then let’s git the Rainbow Power and beat Tirek before ya have one.”
The each took their positions around the Tree, each eager for the surge of rainbow magic to come. “You girls ready?” Twilight asked.
“Bring it!”
They each nodded as an answer. “Alright.” They all took a deep breath and began to focus, before shouting one thing.
“FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC!!”
They stood there, waiting. Nothing happened. “Any second now.” Pinkie said, but she was unable to hide the worry in her voice.
They waited for about a minute, and still nothing. “Maybe we… didn’t do it right?” They tried again. And again. And again. After the fifth try, Pinkie did something unexpected.
“Please work! Pretty please with super double sugar coated whip cream and a dozen cherries on top!” she yelled as she began to bang her head against the crystalline structure of the tree. Understandably, it doesn’t work. Rainbow and Applejack dragged Pinkie away while Twilight walked up to the Tree.
“I don’t understand,” Twilight said out loud as placed a hoof on the Tree. She briefly felt a surge of magic, like when she touched that ice block earlier. “Before we were able to use the Elements of Harmony whenever we needed to. Even after we returned them to the Tree, we were still connected to them. So why? Why isn’t it working?”
“Maybe we could only use the Rainbow Power once,” Rarity offered. “After all, the last time we actually relied on the Tree’s power was when we first defeated Tirek all those years ago. Other than that, we never had a situation that needed the Elements of Harmony.”
“Then why isn’t it working now?”
Rainbow made a good point. Even if they never had a reason to call upon the Elements of Harmony since their fight with Tirek, that wasn’t any reason they shouldn’t call upon them now. Twilight thought for a moment. Either the Changelings had done something that they haven’t noticed yet, or…
She shook her head, wiping away such a thought. “Quick! Check for anything out of place. It could be anything, a crack, a rock, something.”
In Canterlot, Celestia and the others looked on as the giant battles Tirek’s army. They had made their way to Canterlot’s outskirts, following the trail of destruction. Shining Armor asked. “What the hay is that thing?”
Discord took a moment to pull out his eyes, place them in a bowl of water, washed them, and placed them back into his eye sockets. “Now I’ve seen it all.”
Sunset looked at the giant and noticed the light coming from its wings. It looked like fire. Is that a machine? She thought.
Her thoughts were broken when Luna brought up a very important point that somehow escaped their minds. “What about Elatha and the others?!”
Shaking her head, Sunset, and the others quickly looked for the spheres that Tirek used to capture them. Eventually, she found them. They were a few dozen feet above Tirek, out of harm’s way as he dealt with the giant. They were safe for now, but it won’t be long before Tirek starts using them as shields.
“This is bad. We can’t get too close, or we’ll be caught in the crossfire.”
Discord puffed up his chest. “No problem. As soon as there’s a chance, I’ll teleport in and get them to safety.”
“Assuming there will be a chance.”
It was heading to where Tirek was at. Terrified out of his mind, the demon quickly sidestepped to his left, right as the giant swung its blade at him. While Tirek’s smaller size made him a very difficult target for the giant, it wasn’t much consolation. Even from a distance, the giant had some kind of advantage.
For example, it fired several, fast moving bullets from two holes on its head. The shots let out trails of light, and the visible laser-like fire charged right at him. He could barely dodge them due to their speed. One grazed his left arm and left a gaping flesh wound there. Tirek screamed in agony, but not for long when he noticed the giant moving in on him.
But for some reason, the glowing blade was returned to its slot. That didn’t change much as the giant grabbed Tirek by his horns. A bright light enveloped the two for a moment before Tirek managed to pull away. He stumbled back as a pack of Lupus, lead by a Lupus Major, assaulted the giant.
“What was that?” Tirek asked himself. It felt like a mind reading spell. Did that thing read his mind? And if that was true, then did he looked into the giants? Concentrating, Tirek tried to see if he had seen the giants mind. Indeed, he did, but it wasn’t what he was expecting. For a brief instance, he saw a two-legged being, like a Minotaur, only without ay horns and completely hairless except for the top of its head.
It was also small, about a couple of feet taller than the ponies. Tirek looked tot he giant. It was butchering the Lupus. Only the alpha remained standing, biting and clawing at the giant’s back. What is that thing? Was what I saw the giant’s original form, or… something else?
“Okay, I had enough of this.”
Ian had the Alicorn reach over and grab the giant star dog thing. With a swift throw, the beast flew into the ground. To ensure it won’t be getting back up Ian grabbed the katana and priced the beast in its head.
“You okay, pal. Controlling a whole mobile suit with just your thoughts and infiltrating that things mind at the same time can’t be good for your mental health.”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I don’t know who, or what, you are, but I intend to end this. Now!” Tirek said.
“At least I can understand that bastard now.”
“Mind if I look in your head so I can learn the language real quick. I want to know what that guy is saying while we’re beating the shit out of him.”
“Just make it quick.”
As he felt Bai look around in his head, Ian looked up at Tirek’s captives. They were all struggling to break free from the orange spheres. They were obviously a trump card should the monster get into an unfavorable situation.
The alarms suddenly sound. “Incoming!”
Looking back to Tirek, a ball of energy began to form in-between his horns. “That can’t be good.”
Tirek fires a giant blast at him. There wasn’t enough time to dodge it. But Ian instinctively lifts the shield to face the blast. An E-Field formed as the blast hit. It was deflected right in front of the shield, but the impact shook the machine before stopping.
“WHAT!?!?!?”
“Just like a beam cannon.” Ian smirked for a moment before he got an idea. One crazy enough that it might work. “What’s the ETA for the MS Carrier?”
“The ETA is a little over 5 minutes. Why?”
“Bai, I need you to control the Alicorn for a little while. I need to step out.”
“What?! Are you insane! Who knows what will happen of you step out! I’m talking about things like your body exploding, insanity, blindness, cancer-”
“I know the risks! Use a flash bomb to blind him.”
Tirek stared at the being before him. Whatever it was, it was powerful. If only he could get its magic, then he will be unstoppable. Suddenly, the giant’s right wing flared outward. A small orb flung out and explodes, creating a blinding flash of light.
Tirek covers his eyes in pain. The light was so intense that it lit up the entire battlefield. Even after the light stopped, everything was just a bunch of blurs to Tirek. He didn’t even see the giant coming.
The giant’s fist powered into Tirek’s gut, the blow powerful enough to cause him to vomit. Tirek fell to the ground, breathing weakly the contents of his stomach made a comeback. Some monsters, a few Bugbears and a Star Beast, specifically a Serpens, come to his aid.
The Bugbears distracted it while the Serpens coiled itself around one of its legs, all while Tirek recovers from the blow. If the magic he’d stolen hadn’t made him incredibly strong, he’d have a hole through him right now.
Elsewhere in a small clearing, Tirek’s captives looked on in shock and horror. Some of them passed out from the carnage below, while other still tried to break free. Mostly Lighting. “Come on! Break already you stupid ball!” Lighting yelled as he bucked the bubble as hard as he can.
Discord had tried to simply teleport them out, but Tirek had apparently set up a field where he couldn’t do that. How he could cast such a spell was beyond any of them. Discord couldn’t get near any of them without getting set on fire. Normally he would be fine with being on fire, but this fire was different. It was the kind that burns away the most important part of your being, your soul.
The Spirit of Chaos had to back off, otherwise, he could've died. It would appear that Tirek had not taken any chances this time. Right now he was likely with Celestia and the others, trying to find some way to penetrate that field.
While Aria had every reason to believe that they will succeed, she wasn’t counting on it anytime soon. She looked to her friends. Some of them had simply stopped trying to break out, waiting - or rather hoping - for when their mothers will free them when they get back with the Rainbow Power. She, however, was looking to the giant below to help them. She always could tell if someone was a good person, even if she hadn’t seen their aura.
And she can tell that this giant was helping them, even if its means of doing so were questionable at best. The fact that it dragged Tirek away to the outskirts of the city told her that it didn’t want to cause any unnecessary damage.
It wasn’t afraid to fight dirty, either. If that flash from just a minute ago was anything to go by. It not only blinded Tirek, it gave him a pretty powerful punch to the gut after. Aria then looked to her flank. It was blank. Tirek had taken away her magic, and now she could no longer see someone’s aura now.
She just wished there was some way she could help. A knocking from outside her prison got her attention. Looking out, she was hoping to see her mother or Discord, thinking they found a way to destroy the field. Instead, she saw a biped of some sort. It was wearing an entirely white suit with blue highlights.
Aria gasped. She recognized the creature. That’s… how is that possible? she thought. It was human! The same creatures that Princesses Twilight and Sunset told her about. The ones in the world located inside the mirror in Twilight’s castle; a polar opposite world filled with creatures like these. Although, despite the faceplate obstructing the color a little, she can tell that this particular human did not share the colorful skin and hair tones that she heard they had.
Then it spoke to her.
“You okay?” the voice told her it was a colt.
It took a second for Aria to respond. “Yes. I’m fine. It’s just…”
“I look a little weird?”
“…That’s not what I was going to say, but…”
“I’m gonna try something, so stand back.”
Aria did as told and took a few steps back. The human took its right appendage… an arm? Was that what it was called? An arm? Yes, like what the Minotaurs call them. Anyway, it took its right arm and placed it on the barrier. Within seconds the shield began to break.
Aria was stunned. Not only did this human get into the field without being sent on fire, he was also breaking through her prison. No. He wasn’t breaking it. He was taking control of it. She had heard rumors about Unicorns who can take over someone else’s spell after it been cast, but she never thought it could be done.
The bubble then broke into thousands of pieces, before those pieces disappeared. “How… how did you do that?”
“I simply used my aura to take control.”
Aura?! He knows what an aura is, and knows how to use it? The human then began to walk up to her, making her nervous. “Wha… what are you going to do now?”
“Just trust me.”
The human placed her hand on her chest and another on her head. “Close your eyes.” He ordered. Aria complied. By now the others had taken notice of the human’s presence. Some were worried that he was going to hurt Aria, but that wasn’t a concern for Aria. She could feel her own aura, which was cold to her after Tirek stole her magic earlier, flicker to life again.
When Aria opened her eyes, they had returned to their original color. Aria felt a small amount of magic energy within her again.
She looked to her flank and saw a colorful aurora. Though it was a little weak, she had her magic back. She opened her mouth to say something, only for the human to place a hand on it. “Don’t get too excited just yet, otherwise you might attract unwanted attention.” he said.
The human was breathing heavily. Whatever he had done had taken a toll on him. He then walked over to Elatha, and freed her as well before placing a hand on her chest and forehead. The human’s body glowed a light blue for a moment before Elatha’s body glowed aquamarine. Now that she had her magic back, Aria could see what was happening now.
Somehow Elatha and everyone else’s auras were cold. Locked. The human was using his own aura to free theirs. She was told that a pony’s aura was the source of their magic, but what she was seeing disproved that. As the aura was freed, magical energy returned to the body from outside it.
It took a few minutes, but the human had freed them all, and restore their magic. “How did you do this?” Stella asked as the human restored Lightning’s magic. “I thought that the only way for our magic to return was for Tirek to be drained of the magic he stole.”
The human scoffed at that when he was done. “Do you really think that?”
An explosion in the distance reminded them of the current situation. “Sorry, but there isn’t any time to explain. You guys just focus on getting as far away as possible,” the human then turned around and ran to the giant.
“Wait, what’s your name?” Enigma called out.
The human stopped and turned around. He put a hand on his helmet and the faceplate retracted, showing he had light skin, as well as what looked like yellow hair. His eyes were a deep, dark blue and there was a long scar over his left eye.
“It’s Ian. Ian O’Connell.”
“Okay, this is getting dumb.”
Bai had the Alicorn Gundam grab the giant star snake behind its head as it wrapped itself around the waist. The snake hissed as the Alicorn slowly pulled it away. The bug… bear-things tried their best to sting the Alicorn, but understandably, it doesn’t even faze it.
Suddenly, the giant star snakes head was blown off. Taking his chance, Bai had the Alicorn Gundam fly up into the air as fast as it could.
“About time it showed up.”
Tirek looked up to the sky, looking for the thing that killed his pet. He soon spotted it. It had some resemblance to a bird, but it was far larger. And its wings weren’t flapping like any normal bird.
It was blocky and is white with some gray areas. There was a yellow, box-shaped area at its front. A clear, blue fire roared from the back of its wings. The bottom of the wings had two guns on it. One of them must’ve shot at the Serpens. The other gun was-
Tirek’s eyes widened in horror. “No!” He moved as fast as he could, just barely avoiding a bullet through his skull. The rock behind him wasn’t as lucky, a big portion of it blown off.
“Wow, you’re fast for a big guy.”
Tirek blinked. He somehow knows that voice. Looking up a small hill, he saw a bipedal creature standing there, wearing an entirely white suit with blue highlights.
“You!” Tirek hissed. He recognized the small being. “You are the one who entered my mind. The one who controls the giant machine.”
“Yeah, that would be me.”
Suddenly a monster jumped in between them. It looked like a lion, only larger. It also had a tail like that of a scorpions.
“Bring me its head, my pet!” Tirek commanded the beast. It growled in anticipation, eager to tear the Human apart. But the human just simply stood there.
Calmly he looked to Tirek. “A giant lion with a scorpion tail. Is that all you got?” the Manticore lunged at the human, but he sidestepped to the left. Before it could react, the human kicked the beast in the gut. The Manticore growled in agony, stumbling to the side as Ian took a few steps back. The Manticore managed to recover somewhat, regaining its footing.
Angry, the manticore raised its stinger above its head. The beast brought its tail down, intent on impaling its prey… only for the human to sidestep again, then grabbed the tail and jumped over the beast. Landing on its back, the human pulled on the stinger.
It didn’t take long for the manticore’s tail to be ripped off. The Human jumped off as the Manticore screamed, leaping back in pain.
“Bite him, you stupid beast!” Tirek commanded.
It was charging at him, and it was too late to stop it. Tirek smiled as the manticore bit the Human’s arm. But… there wasn’t any sound of broken bones or torn flesh. Tirek looked on and saw that the Manticore was having trouble with the human’s right arm.
“Whats the matter, kitty?” Ian asked as he lifted his arm, with the Manticore still biting into it. “Can’t get a good taste?” Ian kicked the beast in the gut, stunning the beast. Suddenly, a long blade lurched forward from Ian’s right arm, impaling the beast before gutting it.
The manticore’s body fell to the ground, it’s entrails spilled upon the ground where it landed. Tirek was shocked. Not only had the Human defeated the beast, he killed it as well. Not even these pathetic ponies were capable of such a thing.
It took a moment for Tirek to process what he just saw. A manticore, an animal very capable of tearing apart most creatures, was just killed by a Human! His attention then focused on the Human’s arm. After the last attack, the clothing had been largely ripped off. But instead of flesh and blood, as one would expect, the Human’s arm was artificial.
It seems to be made of some sort of metal, painted white. The mechanical limb reaches all the way up to about halfway between the elbow and the shoulder. “You… Your arm is a machine. Are you a cyborg?”
“Not really. Just my right arm. But how do you know about cyborgs, Tirek?” the human asked. “Is it because you’re one yourself? I saw how your wounds healed not long after you got hit. I recognize when nanomachines repair someone’s body.”
Further away, Celestia and the others watched in shock and some confusion. Some of them do know of cyborgs, but they should only exist in fiction. Plus the term was coined about 30 years ago. There was no way Tirek could’ve known what a cyborg was. Sure he spent several months in hiding when Tirek escaped Tartarus the first time, but it’s doubtful that he spent that time reading comic books.
There’s also the fact that the human had a mechanical arm. Such a thing was being developed, but the basics behind it weren't even proven yet. Even the humans in the alternate dimension weren’t as advanced as this one. Just what is going on? Celestia thought.
“You are correct,” Tirek answered, recollecting to when Chrysalis broke into Tartarus, and when he first meet her.
Several days earlier…
Tirek had just finished stealing the magic from the last of the Unicorn guards. It felt good. Taking their magic, and then placing them into the very cells that used to hold him and the other monsters here.
Tirek looked around him. In the span of a few hours, the once proud and ‘inescapable’ Tartarus was now in ruins. While most of the monsters were still in their cells, some of the more tame beasts were freed.
The Changelings were searching for any remaining guards. They each carried weapons that they called ‘guns’ and wore special armor, all of which Tirek had never see before. How they got their hooves on such things didn’t cross his mind, though. He looked to his hands.
He may have taken the magic from about a dozen Unicorns just now, but he still needed more. There were surprisingly few Unicorn guards here, but Tirek’s best guess as to why is because they all had incredibly skill with magic. More skill than the average Unicorn who could simply levitate things at most. He was just powerful enough to hold his own against Discord, but he doubted that he’ll beat the chaos bringer. He also doubted he could fool Discord for a second time.
“Enjoying your freedom, Tirek?”
Tirek turns around and saw Chrysalis, still wearing that strong suit, walking toward him.
“Indeed,” he replied. “Before I wasn’t able to steal the guards magic. Now, I can hold my own against any one of the Alicorns,”
“And yet you were defeated after becoming a god by some lowly mares.”
Tirek turned around when he heard the new voice. Walking up to them from behind Chrysalis was a light gray colored Unicorn mare. Though she seems to be a normal pony, there was something about her that was… different.
Tirek ignored that, however. “It was an error in judgment,” he retorted. “And who are you?”
The mare smirked. She flicked her blush gray mane aside before she answered in a calm, seductive voice. “I have several names, but you may call me Platinum.”
“She’s our… benefactor, Tirek,” Chrysalis added. She almost strained when she said ‘benefactor’, for some reason. “And a word to the wise, do not cross her.”
Tirek just simply ignored her warning and walked up to the mare in question. “Why? Why do this? What’s in it for you, Platinum?”
Platinum just smirked. That, combined with her cold, cobalt eyes, sent a chill down Tirek’s spine. “That is on a need to know basis, and right now, you don’t need to know,” she replied. “If you wish to leave, you may do so. But if you chose to stay, then you’ll gain what you want when we attack Canterlot.”
“Canterlot?”
“Yes. The Summer Sun Celebration is in a few days. That is when we’ll attack with our armies. If you are willing to join us, we can give you power.”
Tirek thought for a moment. If she was telling the truth, then he’ll gain more power. If not, then she will pay. “Very well. I’ll join you.”
Platinum smiled. “Good,” he horn glowed a dark, cobalt blue as a small portal opened next to her. From it emerged a silver box before the portal closed. Platinum opened it, and a rather large metallic tube floated out. On one end was a pointed needle.
Through a small slate on the side of the tube, Tirek could see something moving inside. It wasn’t like anything he saw before. It resembled pond scum, yet it was giving off a faint reddish glow. Tirek knew this wasn’t magic because he would have sensed it. Just what is it?
“Give me your arm.”
Tirek complied. He wasn’t sure what she was doing, but off it meant taking his revenge and getting what he desires, then he’ll do it. Carefully, Platinum positioned the needle over his arm.
“This will only hurt a little…” the needle pressed against Tirek’s skin before penetrating. It stings a little as the material within the device was injected into him. “What comes next…” she said as she removed the syringe. Soon Tirek could feel his body begin to burn. “…More so!”
Tirek doubled over in pain.
A high-pitched oscillating whine filled his ears.
He screamed. It felt like his whole body was splitting open and was on fire. He curled up in a whimpering ball on the floor as his body began to change.
It felt like an eternity had passed when the pain and noise finally stopped. Either that or he had simply gotten used to it. He groaned and cursed as he got up intent on making the mare pay, when he noticed that he seemed stronger.
Looking himself over, Tirek saw that he was now just as strong as when he confronted Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence all those years ago. And he hadn’t even stolen a single Edea of magic energy either.
“What… happened to me?”
“I injected you with nanomachines,” Platinum answered as she placed the box back into her pocket dimension.
“Nano… what?”
“Nanomachines. Think of them as billions of tiny laborers, each one far smaller than a grain of sand, constantly working to keep your body in top shape.”
Tirek nodded in understanding. He was still unsure whether these ‘nanomachines’ were some kind of magic or not, but he understood nonetheless. Eagerly he telekinetically grabbed one of the captured guards and brought him over. It was an Earth Pony stallion.
Tirek grasped the stallion by the neck and began to steal the pony’s magic. He was shocked at first, having needed to steal the magic from at least two dozen Unicorns. Yet here he was, stealing the magic from an Earth Pony. Once the deed was done, Tirek cast the guard aside, where several Changelings took him back to his cell.
“And they have other uses as well,” Platinum conjured up a small danger and handed it over to Tirek. “Cut yourself. See what happens.”
Tirek was a little skeptical. For all he knew this blade had a deadly poison. But his curiosity got the best of him. Taking the blade, he made a small gash in his arm. Blood did bleed, but then it just stopped. Much to his surprise, the blood began to seep back into the wound, which began to close.
“Well?”
“It burns a little, but…” Tirek looked to his arm. A moment ago there was a small wound. Now, not even a scar remained. “It’s amazing! I’ve never felt such power before. This is incredible!”
“As expected of a newly created cyborg.”
Wait, what?
Tirek looked to the mare, confusion on his face. “A what?”
“Cybernetic organism, better known as a cyborg. They’re basically beings who have several mechanical implants, such as artificial limbs. How much of their body is the machine is often used to determine whether or not one should be considered a cyborg.”
“And I’m one?”
“Yes. The nanomachines I injected you with have infused with your tissue, your very being, making you half machine on a cellular level.”
Tirek looked to the mare in slight shock. He was half machine now. But he doesn't feel any different. And yet he felt he could conjure all of Equestria all by himself now.
“Now then, Chrysalis,” Tirek looked on in shock as the infamous Changeling Queen hurriedly replied with a ‘yes’. “Have the Changelings begin injecting the monsters with nanomachines. Be sure they’re all ready by the Summer Sun Celebration.”
“You’re giving the beasts nanomachines as well?”
“Yes, so you can control them without effort,” Platinum then began to walk away with Chrysalis following behind, leaving Tirek. Control over the beasts with little effort? He liked the sound of that.
“I am half machine on a cellular level. Not only do the nanomachines repair my body, they also give me more than enough strength to steal magic from multiple beings at once.”
The human looked at Tirek. After a moment he removed his helmet, revealing his light skin, blond hair, and dark blue eyes, with his left being scared. “How did you get nanomachines, Tirek?”
Tirek smirked. “Defeat me, and I’ll tell you.”
Tirek fired a beam at the human. But the creature had realized what he was going to do and jumped to the side. In an instant, the human reached the White Giant. It’s abdomen opened and a wire was lowered out. When the human grabbed it the wire pulled it up. When the human reached the abdomen he jumped in, with the abdomen closing in response.
“I had a feeling he was going to say that,” Ian said as he grabbed the joysticks. “Bai!”
“Already on it.”
The Alicorn Gundam launched up into the air, where the MS Carrier was waiting. The carrier began to transform. The main body split horizontally, followed by the wings retracting inward. The bottom half split in two while what looked like arms folded outward from the upper half.
A linear laser from the MS Carrier helped Ian get the Alicorn Gundam into position as the two machines docked. The Alicorn Gundam docked with a loud ‘clank’ as the MS Carrier turned MS Armament locked with the Alicorn Gundam’s arms and legs.
Dropping to the ground, a small crater was formed as the Armored Alicorn Gundam landed. The left arm now had a large shield-shaped component attached while the right had a giant blade. The legs now had additional thrusters and armor on while the main body of the MS Armament was now a backpack with additional thrusters as well as several guns.
“Uh, I think we should get further back,” Starlight suggested. That was a good idea. For all they know the entire mountain could crumble down soon.
Celestia nodded in agreement. “As soon as we rescue Aria and the others, we need to evacuate Canterlot.”
“No need to worry about us!”
Celestia gasped. She looked down the hill and saw that Aria and the others are running up to them. Tempest was even flying! Forgoing any thoughts for the moment, Celestia just simply ran to her daughter and son and gave them both a hug. She cried as she cradled them.
Luna did the same for her daughter, as did the other parents. It took a minute before Celestia could say anything. “How… How did you…?”
“We’ll explain later,” said Enigma. “Right now we need to evacuate Canterlot.”
Celestia, though still confused, nodded in agreement. “Discord, can I trust you to keep an eye on things here?”
“Oh-ho-ho-ho, Celly, have I ever lead you astray? Don’t answer that, I just realized what I said.”
Try as he might, Tirek couldn’t land a single hit on the Gundam. He realized a while ago that it had a strong resemblance to an old story that his mother use to tell him, about how a bipedal being, using a large, black armor called, ended a terrible war plaguing his homeland millennia ago.
It was called ‘Gundam, the Black Devil’. Aside from the coloring, the machine he was fighting and the Black Devil from the story had a remarkable resemblance to one another. It didn’t matter, though. Right now the Gundam was an obstacle in his goals. One he needed to overcome.
But the Gundam was flying around him at incredible speed. No matter where he aimed or how many shots he fired, Tirek couldn’t land a single hit. Whenever he fired a large beam, the Gundam simply kept moving, sometimes going up or down to avoid it.
When Tirek fired many consecutive blasts, the Gundam avoided them with the grace of a Pegasus. Right now Tirek was firing many consecutive blasts at the machine. He was confident that at least one beam will hit it.
The Gundam avoided them beams and hide behind a large cloud. “Got you!” Tirek fired several beams. They destroyed the could, yet the Gundam wasn’t there. Realizing his folly, Tirek looked to the side and saw the Gundam speeding record him, the large sword ready to slice him in half.
Tirek instinctively produced a shield to protect himself, but it shattered on impact. Fortunately, the gigantic blade missed him. Just barely. But then a cannon on the Gundam’s shoulder aimed at him.
“Oh, son of a b-!”
BANG!
Taking this chance, Ian aims the Armored Alicorn Gundam’s main cannon and fires. Tirek was sent flying, landing several hundred meters away, smoke coming off of his body.
“You got him!”
A shockwave rang out. The smoke dispersed in an instant and Tirek stood there. He was bleeding in some places, his front-left leg seemed to be broken, and half of his face was on fire, but he was still alive. And pissed off.
“Okay seriously, what the fuck?”
Tirek put out the flames on his head. He looked to the Gundam, rage completely filling his mind. He no longer cared to gain its power. He only cared to destroy it! “Playtime’s over,” green flames suddenly engulfed Tirek.
The fire eventually manifested into what looked like a backpack, with two wires connected to guns in his hands. From the sides of the backpack spread two, enormous mechanical wings, each as long as Tirek was tall.
“Ian, is that what I think it is?”
“It… It’s mobile suit armament!” Ian exclaimed. Suddenly, the pistol in Tirek’s right-hand changes shape and a beam saber appears from it. Tirek roars and charges, swinging the beam saber down upon the Armored Alicorn Gundam. Acting quickly, Ian had the beam shield deployed and blocked Tirek’s attack.
“I must admit, your machine is truly impressive. To have caused me so much trouble, even if a lowly human is controlling it.”
“Tirek, what is it that you want?!” Ian yelled.
“Simple: destruction and rebirth!” Tirek answered.
“What?”
“I’ve waited so long for this. For the day I become a god! Once I steal the magic from the ponies of Equestria, there will be next to nothing to stop me!”
“Oh, yes!” Tirek continued. “After I become a god, I will destroy the word and then recreate it in my image!” Tirek kicks the Armored Alicorn Gundam back and begins to fire. But Ian easily dodges the beams.
“This guy is batshit insane!”
“So you want to rule the world. Is that what you’re saying?” Ian asked.
“No. What I’m saying is that I’ll guide it properly. But…” The mechanical wings move to where the wingtips were directly in front of Tirek’s horns. “In that new world, there’s no place for something like you!” Black bolts or what appear to be electricity surge between the wingtips as Tirek prepared to fire a magic blast, aiming at the Dusk Shine. “You’ll be swept away like dust! DIE GUNDAM!!” He fires, and when the blast hits where the black electricity is at, it’s magnified tenfold. In an instant, a dark red beam of light 50 meters wide is fired directly at them.
At Canterlot Station, the princesses had just begun loading the train cars. Everypony was terrified, but they all calmed down when Celestia appeared. After calmly explaining the reason, they all eagerly crammed into the train cars.
The nobles were harder to persuade, insisting on taking their possessions with them, some of which included priceless statues and paintings. Unfortunately, that meant the nobles possessions took up the majority of the space in each car, sometimes filling the cars up completely.
It took a Royal Canterlot Voice Luna just to persuade the nobles to leave some of their possessions at the station. Then they saw it. A gigantic, dark red blast of Dark Magic. It came from the battle.
It lasted for a few seconds before dissipating. As soon as it did, the ponies began to do everything they can to get onto the train cars. “Everypony, please, remain calm!” Luna called out, but it was no use. They were terrified, and for good reason.
Luna looked over to Princess Candace and Princess Hope. They were doing their best to calm everypony down, but it wasn't easy. Cadence’s husband and Hope’s father, Shining Armor, along with Flash Sentry, and her own husband had gone back to assist Discord should the worst happened. Sir Fancy Pants had accompanied them, refusing to leave the city while there were still ponies in danger here.
She wanted to go back as well, but Kujira insisted that she leave. He made a point that if Tirek were to get his hands on any of the Alicorn’s magic, then things would spiral downward quickly. Luna, somewhat reluctantly, agreed with this sentiment. After all, the Changelings and any of the monsters could attack the station any second now, and, as one of Equestria’s Princesses, it was her duty to protect the-
Luna was suddenly struck by an epiphany. Up until now, she hadn’t noticed a single Changeling since the White Giant appeared. And many of the monsters were missing as well. Luna had just assumed that they were assisting Tirek, but if they were then why haven’t they appeared at all during the fight. And why haven’t they attacked the station yet? Flicking on her magic and covering her eyes with a spell meant to detect changeling disguises, she replaced her vision of everypony in front of her with an imprint of their auras. All of the ponies before her are real ponies.
She then broadens the spells range to encompass nearly the entire city. Luna quickly cut the spell off, eyes wide. She rushed over to her sister. “Sister!” she called, gaining the Solar Diarch’s attention for a moment. “Chrysalis, the Changelings, and all the monsters are no longer in Canterlot!”
The entire Alicorn shook violently. Instruments blaring alarms while the screen blacked out, likely due to the bright light caused by the beam. Ian wasn’t sure how long it lasted, but he knows an opportunity when he sees one.
“Bai…!”
“Oh for God’s sake, not again. You’re a crazy son of a bitch, you know that?”
Tirek let up. Thanks to technology, his magic power has increased tenfold! He can easily destroy mountains now. Where the Gundam once was there stood a cloud of smoke. But as the smoke cleared, Tirek saw that, much to his shock, the machine was still standing. In fact, other than a few scorch marks, it was complete intact. Suddenly the Gundam flew toward him at high speed.
“Not this time…”
Casting a spell he learned from Platinum, giant black crystals materialized from the ground and grew rapidly. Before the Gundam could react the crystals had enveloped its legs.
“What the hell? What is this?!”
Tirek smirked. He had captured the Gundam. But then he noticed that it was no longer glowing blue, and it had changed backed to resemble an Alicorn again. And then he realized. The voice he heard coming from the Gundam. It didn’t belong to the human!
“Where is the-”
BANG!
Tirek cried out in pain. Something happened to his left eye. His eye began to turn red before it went dark altogether. Soon he couldn’t feel his eye anymore.
Tirek realized that he’d been shot, and knew who had done it. “You!” Tirek hissed as he glared at the human with his good eye.
The human smirked as he aimed his gun at Tirek, likely to shoot out his other eye. But Tirek won't allow that. With a wave of his hand, a portal of green fire appeared behind the human. It leads to Tartarus.
“What the hell!?” the human screamed as he was pulled into the portal.
“IAN!!”
“Man, this sucks! I wasn’t expecting something like this at all,” Ian groaned as he exited the portal. Wherever he was, it wasn’t a friendly place. Dark, and full of granite pillars. Ian landed on one such pillar.
Ian looked up and saw that the entryway begin to close. It was a good 15 meters above him, there was no way he could get back up to it in time. What was he going to do? He could teleport or something like that, but his only experience with magic was a little telepathy and some mind manipulation. He had nothing that could help him get out. What should I do? What should I…?
“Come on, Ian. You can do better than that.”
Ian gasped. He recognized that voice. It was Roman! Everything went black for a moment before Ian recalled what Roman told him.
“Watch how I do it.” Roman, a fellow pilot, showed Ian his magic. Around his hand, tendrils of shadows formed. Some of the tendrils grabbed objects around them, acting like hands.
“Amazing!” a slightly younger Ian said.
“Yeah, it kinda is.” Roman chuckled a little as he used his free hand to grab a cup from the shadows. “I still don’t have a name for it yet, but I can use any shadow anyway I chose. From picking things up like this to controlling people.”
“I’m so jealous. How come you can do that, yet I can barely use my magic?”
“Because you can’t force your magic to do anything. I find that the best way to control your magic is for your heart to guide you.”
“My heart? How?”
“That’s something you’ll have to figure out on your own.”
Tirek panted as he watched the portal to Tartarus slowly close. It had taken more effort than he had intended, but he had finally gotten rid of the human. And the crystals will keep the Gundam at bay for the time being. Tirek placed a hand over his left eye. It was bleeding, a sign that it was beyond saving. The human will pay.
For now, though, he can return his focus to his real objective. He glanced over to Discord, who returned the glare. Behind the Chaos Bringer was the burning city of Canterlot. Tirek wasn’t sure how the children escaped, or how they regained their magic. Or where they and their parents had run off to. But he can get those answers from Discord. “Now, where were we?” Tirek asked.
Discord braced himself, ready to fight Tirek. Even if the human and the machine weakened him, he was still extremely dangerous.
CREAK!
Tirek stopped. He turned around and saw that the portal, while now the size of a dinner plate, the space around it was beginning to crack somehow. “No!” Tirek gasped, unable to hide the fear in his voice as the cracks grew. “No! It can’t be!”
The portal was forced to widen as a giant pillar of light, half white and half dark, shot up into the sky. Tirek’s mouth opened wide as he tried to process what was happening. The pillar soon formed into a hand and grabbed onto the ground.
With a vengeance, the human pulled himself out of the portal as it finally closed into nothingness. The light, which came from his mechanical right arm, vanished as he landed on the ground.
“Ian!” Bai cheered.
“Phew… That was close…” Ian breathed. He looked to his robotic hand and smiled. So this was what you meant. Roman, thank you.
Tirek couldn't believe what he'd just seen. He stared slack-jawed. The human before him had somehow escaped Tartarus. By all rights, he should have been trapped. And he did it without taking so much as a scratch. “…That’s… impossible…!” he muttered.
“Bai.”
“Yeah?”
“You focus on getting the Alicorn free. I’ll handle Lord Ugly.”
Tirek stared as the human took a few steps toward him, still shocked that he managed to escape. “Ready for round two?”
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