Trust Me

by Arctic Oak

1

His head hurt. The seats in Titans were made with long sessions in mind, but fuck were they uncomfortable to slam your skull into.

Trying to peel his eyes open, he realised he was definitely still within the confines of Effect's cockpit. He reached up with a limp, strengthless arm and somehow managed to pull the helmet off, throwing it to the floor as he groaned loudly.

"Pilot has regained consciousness. Welcome back to reality, Pilot Steele."

Kody groaned again when he realised he still hadn't managed to escape the slightly sassy humour of his AI, slapping the lever to open the cockpit so he could stretch his legs. It did as he requested, letting him slide out onto surprisingly luscious green fields. Or, they used to be, now decorated with a several meter deep hole where FX had obviously landed.

"How long was I out, FX?" Kody asked, turning to his Titan. Standing inside the hole, it was slightly closer to his height, so he didnt have to look up so far to make 'eye' contact.

"Only about five minutes." the eye pod of the machine looked down to him and focused. "I pumped you full of meds, so you'd wake up quicker."

"Nice. So I'm gonna' be wired for about three days."

"Probably longer."

"So where are we?" the pilot spun around, gesturing to the landscape, finally able to actually inspect it with his own eyes. Far to the left was a large mountain range, one with a surprisingly intricate looking structure built onto the side. It looked very specifically designed,and had a distinctive 'castle' kind of vibe to it. Below that and along a good while, sat a small town plopped directly beside a rather sinister looking forest. Besides that, most of the land around them was fields and woodland, a few bridges and some rivers.

Everything looked very rustic. The town looked like it was built up with cottages and some impressive looking architecture, and the bridges weren't the metal suspension ones Kody was used to. Stone archways stood proud over small running rivers.

"This cannot be in the Frontier." Kody exclaimed, a little surprised. "I taste a distinct lack of shit in the air. This is nowhere near IMC territory."

"Processing." FX answered, prompting the pilot to raise a brow. What was she doing?

"My results have come back mixed. I have run tests on this world's physical properties as well as it's location in the Milky Way and our knowledge of the local galactic cluster." FX answered. "Physically, this world is identical to Earth, and other similar planets. Gravity is of almost equal strength, and the air composition is sustainable."

"So? Where are we in relation to the Milky Way?" Kody continued, holding a hand out as he spoke, expecting an answer.

"We're not."

"Rig-excuse me?" he sputtered, looking up at the machine. "We're not...what?"

"We're not in the milky way." Effect answered, looking up towards the sky. "We are not even in the Virgo Supercluster. We have travelled an incomprehensible distance across the observable universe. How far is undeterminable."

Kody was silent. He looked up to the sky for a minute. While he was unable to see anything except some exceptionally poofy clouds and the blue sky, he felt something strange rush through his body. He should be concerned about leaving everything behind. He should be concerned about everyone he left who might be hurt or killed by the IMC troops. He should be concerned about losing the war. But he wasn't.

He felt relieved. Free.

He fell backwards. Effect immediately made to catch him, but faltered when he let out a relaxed sigh. The robot looked at him for a second; almost confused, in some strange Artifical Intelligence way.

"What are your orders, Pilot?" She asked, standing up once more.

"I don't know, Effect. Right now I'm happy that I'm not being shot at."

Effect stopped for a second, looking over towards the town in the distance. The air was almost silent; the sound of nothing but a breeze and the distant chirping of birds overhead.

"Not being shot at." the robot mused. "Funny."

They stopped speaking for a minute, seemingly taking in the serene nature around them, before Kody shot to his feet again. He brushed himself off, removing a few stray strands of grass, before looking up to FX. He quickly reached over his shoulder and drew his weapon, holding it lazily across his stomach as he looked down towards the town.

"We might as well get moving. Maybe we wont be attacked on sight." he suggested, already beginning to move at a slow pace. The whir of machinery told him that Effect had just pulled herself from the hole she was in, and was moving to catch up to him.

"Move." he heard her say, as he picked up the sound of her weapon being raised.

"Wh-"

Something, whatever it was had just barrelled into him at an immense speed, sending an intense pain through his chest as he fell almost a dozen meters backwards. His rifle flew from his hand, flying off to god knows where. He landed on his back and slid a few feet, before using his momentum to flip himself over in a backwards roll. His right hand shot to his sidearm, unlatching the holster and wrapping his hand around the pistol grip, finger on the trigger. He pulled and spun around, choosing to instead pistol-whip blindly at whatever stood behind him.

When his weapon connected with something slightly fleshy, he knew he'd hit his mark.

He heard a feminine yelp as he pulled through with his attack, letting the momentum continue to spin him around, stopping himself after a full three-sixty rotation in a crouching stance, pointing the barrell of his weapon at the contact.

It was a blue horse.

His expression didn't change beneath his helmet, but his mind immediately screamed at him. What was he seeing? What was this?

Whatever it was, it was laying on the floor, cradling it's bloody muzzle with clenched eyes. They peeked open for one second, looking him dead in the visor, before closing again. It bundled up tightly, almost afraid.

"Pilot."

It flinched when Effect spoke, but Kody just outstretched his right arm and opened his hand. The instant he felt something hit it, he closed his fingers around it, holstering his pistol. He pulled the rifle around to his primary hand, transitioning his active weapon in less than half a second.

Now peering at the target through his HCOG scope, he circled it slowly, keeping his finger trained on the trigger.

"What are you?" he spoke. While the helmet muffled his voice, he knew it heard him, because it's ears twitched.

"I'm..." a scratchy, female voice spoke. It, or rather 'she', swallowed hard and quivered through the pain. "I'm a pegasus pony..."

"What made you think it was a good idea to attack me?" Kody continued, gritting his teeth at the pain in his chest.

"Y-you scared the entire town." she answered immediately. "When you hit the ground, the explosion shattered almost all of the windows. We thought you were attacking us."

"No." Kody answered, hissing through his teeth. "Someone landing a little heavily doesn't justify attacking with prejudice. Someone trying to be a hero?"

"N-no..." the pony twitched and shook. "I just wanted...to protect everypony."

"Pilot. We have several approaching lifeforms, almost identical to this one." FX spoke, the robotic voice making the pony squeak in fear. "Suggest embarking for superior firepower if this all goes south."

Kody kept his barrel trained on the pony's head for one second longer before jumpjetting backwards, trusting FX to be there to catch him. True to his trust, she was, grabbing him and forcing the pilot into her cockpit. Just as the plates closed, Kody could see that they had turned towards another group of multicoloured horses, each one a different bright shade. He drew FX's railgun, yet stood down, prepared to move if he was attacked again.

---

"Rainbow!" Twilight Sparkle yelled, taking off into a gallop to reach her fallen comrade. Sliding to a stop, she immediately began to look over the injury on her friend's muzzle, while the two metal creatures that had fused to become one, stood back. The rest of her friends approached soon, each bearing a scowl of different intensity.

"Where the hell do you get off punchin' a mare in the face?" Applejack shouted, taking a few strong yet tentative steps towards the beast. "Ya'll better give me a good answer, or I'll buck ya' to kingdome come, ya hear?"

"Yes." Rarity responded, seething through her teeth. "A very good answer."

The beast stood still for a second, the small blue eye on it's 'face' moving around and focusing a few times. It was painted in a dirty white and gold scheme, colours and edges trimmed in golden strips that glistened in the sun, even through the mud and oil. It's thick armour plating was riddled with bullet-impacts from futile weaponry, and scorch marks from explosions and fires. In it's hands was a long, cubic object, with a slowly spinning cylinder attached to it's underside, gently glowing with orange light.

"Forgive me for responding in kind to blunt force." a masculine voice spoke from the beast. "Most don't take kindly to being slammed into at high speeds."

"Come off it. I saw nothing of the short." Rarity argued. "Rainbow Dash wouldn't do that."

"I did, Rarity."

"Why'd you punch her, huh?" Pinkie Pie yelled, her hair falling straight over her shoulders. "Why are you being a meaniepants?"

---

Kody took another step back, the machine's joints creaking slightly as he did so. He kept his weapon ready, despite it feeling like overkill against such small fleshy subjects. From his screen, he could see that a particular yellow horse picked up on his movements, taking off by flapping her wings and floating over to him. She hovered in place next to FX, looking back at her companions.

"Fluttershy, no! What on Equus are you doing? You're going to get hurt!"

"No, I'm not." a timid voice replied, coming from the small yellow pegasus. "If you'd listened, you'd have heard that Rainbow admitted she did wrong. You're threatening this poor thing for no reason."

It turned to FX, and by extension him, and placed a hoof upon the Titan's arm, a gentle smile on her face.

"It's okay. They're not going to hurt you. Don't be afraid."

FX took control for a second, her optic spinning around and making eye contact, blinking once.

"I am a machine. I do not feel fear."

The horse sputtered for a moment, confused.

"But...the creature that climbed inside of you isn't?" it asked, looking to her party for confirmation.

"Are you kidding?" the same southern horse exclaimed. "Did ya' see what it was dressed in? That thing's gotta be a machine, too."

"Enough." the purple one exclaimed, rising from the horse Kody had decked, looking at FX. "Let's stop this. Sir, Ma'am, whatever you are inside there. I apologise on behalf of all of us. I'd like for you to come out and speak to us."

Kody held his breath for a second, looking up at the roof of his cockpit.

"Yes or no?" he asked, waiting for his companion's answer.

"Yes." Effect responded. "This is an opportunity to learn about a sentient alien race. We clearly have superior firepower here. I will keep alert."

---

All six ponies could faintly hear communication from within the metal beast, and before long, a hiss of escaping air accompanied the machine's entire torso opening like some kind of mouth. Out of it slid a bipedal creature, dressed in a tan suit adorned in pouches and metal devices. It's head was encased in a helmet, a t-shape visor glowing a light blue. On his back and right hip were two devices distantly similar to crossbows, and he kept his hands at the ready at all times.

The machine behind him sealed back up, leaving him out in the open. They saw him look towards Rainbow Dash quickly, before moving his head back in the direction of the rest of the group.

"Alright." he spoke, the same slightly gritty voice emerging from his helmet, noticeably clearer. "Let's talk."

Author's Note:

Not sure how often this is going to be updated. There's no schedule, they'll just be put up when they're done. Which could take any length of time. Sorry, I have my reasons.

Also, holler if you catch any typos or errors that I missed.
Constructive criticism is most welcome

Comments

[Cuber Snuggles]

Sweet. I'm working on a similar story. Can't wait to see how someone else's take on the "Titan in Equestria" scenario!

Liked and followed!

[OrcaBrony]

This is a .... Pretty good story...and I mean really good...so far... I haven't even found a spelling mistake.... Keep up this good work man, because it really hard to find a good Titanfall story

[Nonameknight]

Im intrigued so far. Cant wait for the next chapter!

[Arctic Oak]

7758898
Thank you! I'm also curious as to how you might approach this crossover. I look forward to reading your story, once it's released.

7758910
Thank you very much! This is the first of many stories I've allowed myself to upload; I'm incredibly self-critical so it's somewhat miraculous that this particular story made it through. I must've gotten lucky so far, I don't actually spellcheck that much. Glad you're enjoying it though!

7759719
Hopefully it lives up to your expectations.

[Zenai]

Seems like a unique crossover with good writing. Will read more once released.

[Ruse Spark]

i know next to nothing about titanfall 2, but this is perfection.

[Empty Shelf]

"Someone landing a little heavily doesn't justify attacking with prejudice."

Landing "a little heavily" just outside of a town, and then approaching with weapon drawn and a mech at your back? Assuming you were up to no good isn't unreasonable here.

[icantthinkofausername123]

7763053
watch a playthrough and u good