Chapter 13: On The Road
It had been three hours since Sol and Luna had left their campsite. They hadn't talked much besides to plan where they were going: they would follow the train track until they reached the town of Dodge, where they would have a clear path to the Badlands.
Deciding to break the silence, Sol spoke: “So I have a couple questions I want ask.”
Luna was startled by the sudden noise. “Ask away.”
“You described your moon, ‘a desolate place’. I thought you loved the moon?”
Luna sighed. “I do love my moon, but 1000 years imprisonment on it can damper your opinion. Plus, I was thinking it from a mortal’s point of view.”
Sol scrunched his face under the helmet. “ ‘Mortal point of view?’ What do you mean?”
“Ponies don't like the moon or the night, so I assumed you didn't.”
Sol stopped, and turned to her. “Honey, if there is anything I hate, it definitely ain't moons or space. They are a part of a human’s everyday life. I spend most of my time on the MCS Vulcan, a SPACESHIP! Well, at least I used to…”
Luna was genuinely shocked by this. “Really? You… don't hate my moon?”
Sol smiled under his helmet. “It's the most beautiful moon I've seen. And I'm not joking. Might have something to do with it being magical, or the fact it doesn't have buildings spread over it.”
Luna stared at Sol with surprise, but slowly and surely, a grin spread across her face. “YES! Oh thank you!” She leapt towards Sol and entrapped him in a giant bear hug.
Sol allowed this for a moment, before prying the ethereal mare off.
Sol chuckled and shook his head. “So, I take it you don't get much compliments?”
“No, not really.”
Sol was saddened by this. Luna contributed so much to Equestria. The books he had read had also mentioned her being the sole cause most monsters now preside in Everfree forest. They used to be all over the land, preying on Ponies. Until Luna stepped in. Sol snorted, disgusted. ‘She does so much for them, yet they cast her away at the smallest hint of trouble.’ Sol cast his gaze to the ground before moving on to his next question,
“So when I broke out of Canterlot with you, I was only followed by Knights and Guards. Celestia didn't give chase herself, which I find very strange. Any idea why she didn’t?”
Luna looked unsettled, but spoke with a small voice. “Well, when I was subdued, Celestia came and used her magic on me as a surprise attack. Everything about her was the same. Her appearance, her voice, everything. Everything besides her magic.”
“What do you mean?” Sol looked to her.
“Her magic felt… strange… not off or corrupted, but just… different.”
“So you don't think it's her?” He put two and two together.
“Perhaps, but whatever it is, she has changed.”
Sol was silent for a minute, processing this. ‘I don't think she wants to talk about this,’ Sol thought, “We can investigate this further, but for now, let's just get to Dodge.”
Luna nodded. “Agreed.”
////\\\\
By the end of the day, they had gone past Ponyville, being very careful to go around, and were camped by the edge of Everfree. Sol heard his stomach grumble, and realised he hadn't eaten, or drunk, anything for a while.
“Luna?” Sol got her attention.
“Yes?” Luna looked down from the sky, having finished raising the moon.
“You hungry?” Sol heard a different grumble, “Guess that answers that.”
“What are we eating then?” Luna asked after she giggled.
“Well, I don't know about you, but I'm gonna cook me some meat!” Sol announced, excited for the prospect of cooked meat. And then he looked at Luna’s horrified expression, and mentally kicked himself.
“Yeah, forgot to mention this before, but humans are omnivorous. I realise that you Ponies aren't the biggest fan of eating the flesh of a living creature, and it is kind of disgusting, but man is chicken kiev good!” He saw Luna compose herself before replying.
“While I may not like it, as long as you don't eat a sentient creature, I can deal with it.” Luna said looking a bit green.
“Well that's good,” Sol picked up his R-201, “ ‘Cause I'm going Manticore hunting!”
“WHAT!” Luna stood right up and ran to his side, “Why would you hunt a Manticore!”
“I talked with… a local Griffin,” Sol didn't want Luna to know he'd basically revealed most of his secrets to Friendship Incorporated, “He said that most non-sentient animals in Everfree are either really small, or gigantic. So either my weapons rip them to shreds, or they act like peashooters.”
“But why a Manticore?” Luna wanted to know why Sol had chosen one of the most deadly animals in that forest.
“Well, my guns won't rip a Manticore to shreds, and they will still be able to kill them!” Sol said with a strange smile.
“Well, alright,” Luna knew he's used to fighting opponents larger than him, so a Manticore shouldn't be too much of a problem.
“Well, see ya in an hour or two!” Sol put on his helmet, and walked into the forest.
Luna stared where he had gone and thought, ‘He's an idiot, sure. But he's an idiot who can take care of himself. He’ll be fine.’
‘I think’
////\\\\
Sol crept through the forest, searching for his prey. He hadn't startled a single animal yet, and he was aiming for the only animal to know of his existence be an unfortunate Manticore. His steps were silent, he blended in with the shadows, and when he couldn't, he cloaked.
‘Kinda cheating, but eh, who cares,’ Sol heard a roar not too far away, ‘That could be a Manticore.’
But as he ran, he thought: ‘Or a giant Hydra.’
He arrived at the source of the roar to no Hydras thankfully, but a rather large Manticore. It was feasting on the remains of a dozen or so rabbits.
Sol observed the creature. Big claws, big teeth, giant scorpion tail. Sol knew this thing could tear him in two with one bite.
‘It just has to catch me first,’ With that, Sol aimed with his R-201, and fired.
PHAT!
The Manticore flinched, and turned to his direction, looking completely pissed.
‘Shit,’ The Manticore charged him, eager to end this annoying creature.
But as the Manticore leapt for him, Sol slid under the Manticore, his Jump-kit propelling him along. As he travelled under it, he unloaded five rounds into the beast.
The Manticore didn't look pissed now. Now, it looked hurt. But then it turned to him again, and Sol realised, it’s still pissed.
This Manticore charged again, but stopped a good distance away from Sol, and struck with its tail. Sol dodged, but the tail knocked his rifle out of his hands.
‘Ah shit,’ Sol drew his B3, and charged.
The Manticore was surprised, obviously no sane animal would charge a Manticore.
Sol wasn't exactly sane.
Dodging a swipe from its claws, Sol punched the Manticore, dazing it. He then put his B3 against the beast’s head.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The B3’s high caliber rounds punched through it’s head and went right through the brain, finally killing the great monster. Sol moved before the body fell on him, and was deathly quiet. All that could be heard was his breathing.
“FUCK YEAH!” Sol put his hands up in victory, celebrating.
Pulling out his knife, he went to work.
////\\\\
Some time later, Sol had skinned the Manticore and was cooking what was edible over a fire.
Currently, he was sitting in front of the fire with his helmet off and licking his lips at the sight of the nearly cooked meat.
When suddenly, he heard the bushes rustling behind him. Twirling around, he faced the noise with his B3 drawn.
But then Luna stepped out of the bushes, and Sol sighed. “I could've shot you!”
“It would take more than that to kill me.”
Laughing, he put away his gun. “True.”
Sitting back down, he checked the meat again. ‘Not long now.’
Luna sat next to him, and noticed what he was cooking. “Is… is that… a Manticore?” Luna didn't turn green, which surprised Sol.
“Freshly killed, freshly skinned!” Sol checked the meat again, and decided it was done, “Want some?”
Luna shook her head with an awkward smile. “No thanks, I already ate.”
“More for me!” Sol tore off a bit of the meat, and dug in.
When the meat entered his mouth, Sol shivered. “It feels so long since I've had a proper meal!”
Now Luna turned green. Seeing Sol tear through the meat wasn't exactly the nicest sight.
“Now Luna, I've got a question that's been bugging me.”
“Ask away.”
“Why can't you just teleport us?”
“My magic hasn't fully recovered yet.”
Sol raised an eyebrow at this. “But I saw you raise the moon.”
Luna facehoofed. “Look at my cutie mark, what is it?”
Sol stared at her flank, ‘Heh’, and saw a moon on a black background.
“So, raising the moon is your special talent?” Luna nodded, “So it doesn't drain you that much?” Another nod.
After that, Luna returned to camp, and left Sol to eat his food.
////\\\\
A couple days later, they were at Dodge. Luna was nearly at full strength, but not quite enough to teleport.
They went around Dodge, they had been careful to avoid entering large settlements, and were on a path straight to the Badlands.
They had entered the Badlands when Luna decided to talk. “Why do you help the Changelings?”
Sol thought on this for awhile, he hadn't told Luna the history of the Frontier yet. “Well, where I come from, I am part of the Frontier Militia. The Frontier Militia aims to free the Frontier, a collection of solar systems, from the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation, or IMC.”
Luna frowned at this. “So… you’re a rebel?”
“I guess so, but the IMC isn't the government in power. It's a company invading established colonies.”
“But how does this relate to the Changelings?”
“The Changelings are fighting against a force much more powerful than themselves. They live in constant terror. They are reduced to ONE safe haven. ONE!” He yelled that last bit, “I can't stand idly by while such atrocities are carried out against them.”
Luna nodded, pleased with his answer. “Now, how abou-”
Sol placed a finger to her muzzle. “Shhh, do you hear that?”
When Luna paid attention, she heard the stamping of hundreds of hooves. “What is that?”
BANG!
A steel clad Pegasus fell out of the sky. Luna looked to Sol to see him with his B3 pointed to the sky. “See that rock face?” Luna nodded, ‘Fly, NOW!
Luna took to the skies, heading for the rock face. Looking back, she saw Sol sprinting as fast as he could, dodging diving Pegasus after Pegasus. Looking back even further, she saw a Solar Knight come over a sand dune. Followed by another, and another.
Altogether, she could could see hundreds of Knights, heading right for them!
Sol pulled out his R-201 and fired at two Pegasi. He saw Luna was nearly at the rock face. He also saw, he should be within range by now. Focusing his mind, he spoke.
“BECK! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!” Sol screamed.
‘You’re back?’ The voice of his partner spread through his mind.
“YES! NOW PLEASE COME OUT AND HELP! THERE’S HUNDREDS OF SOLAR KNIGHTS OUT HERE!”
‘I'm on my way.’
Continuing to the rock face, he saw a beam of light speed out of the cave entrance and incinerate a Pegasus.
Not long after, the giant shape of Beck exited, firing her Splitter Rifle and Laser Shot. Beck sprinted for him, closing the gap quickly. Firing a grapple, he attached it to Beck and when it pulled him close, Beck grabbed him, opened the cockpit and placed him inside.
Now according to popular belief, the Pilot controls the Titan. That is completely wrong. When a Pilot is linked to a Titan, neither of them is in control of the other. They become one.
So when Sol settled in his seat, his neural implant connected to Beck and their minds and bodies joined. Sol always loved linking with Beck, sharing a mind with an advanced AI was indescribable.
The optics came online, and Sol saw hundreds of Solar Knights ready to fight. No, they weren't ready to fight.
They were ready to die.
Dashing into the midst, they deployed a Tripwire, incinerating a dozen. A barrage of spells were launched, but they dissipated against their Vortex Shield. Squashing Earth Ponies underfoot, they charged straight for the Unicorns.
Reaching them, they deployed another Tripwire. After the explosion, they used the Splitter Rifle to mow down the dazed Unicorns. Continuing the massacre, they attached the Splitter Rifle to their back and charged in with their fists. Sweeping their arm through the mass, they knocked aside and squished Unicorns. With each punch and kick, an enemy was turned into red mist.
It wasn't long until the Unicorn lines were decimated, and were all dead or unable to fight. Running back to the Earth Ponies, they dashed into the crowd, squishing even more. For this, they pulled their Rifle off their back. They shot Pegasi out of the sky, pulverised Earth Ponies with their fist, and blew up anyone unfortunate to be caught by their Tripwires.
To give the Solar Knights credit, their sheer numbers did allow them to bring Beck’s and Sol’s shields down to about half way. But without the Unicorns, there was no way they could hope to beat the Pilot and Titan.
Eventually, the once great Solar Knights were reduced to bodies and red splotches. Sol disembarked and observed the carnage. A part of him hated the sight, a part of him hated himself for doing it. But mostly, he felt goddamn glorious. War on the Frontier had taught him to observe the aftermath of every fight and evaluate it as to improve. They couldn't have done better on this.
Turning to Beck, he gave a thumbs up. Beck gave a thumb up back. “It's good to be back Beck.”
Beck’s optic lit up in brightness. “It's good to have you back.”
Looking around, he saw Luna with her jaw dropped and her eyes wide.
“Yeah, this is Beck, she’s a Titan.”
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8453646
Nice comment you got there, really filled with content
8453694
I'm happy it's not just "first"
8453713
True
8453718
FIRST!!!
kek...
8453736
I was thinking on doing that myself.
SO Celestia isn't really herself, huh? I get the feeling she's being controlled somehow.
;)
uhhh wink wink?
nice chapter by the way
8453772
Damn, now I realise how that looks.
8453746
I knew you'd take notice of that
8453694 i was wondering what you were talking about. i must have clicked on it without noticing XD. btw nice profile pic 👍
8453772
I see what you did there
Great chapter as usual. Also you know that you can just write the title of the song in the story (like I do). Greetings from your good ole Ronin Ace
Who knows this feeling
*Studies for German test next day at 10pm German time*
*Sees update of favourite story*
*Throws German book aside and thinks:This shit is more important than studding for my mother language*
You should do another nightmare but this time he is a rookie pilot and faces a reaper and like even the best pilots, gets destroyed. good chapter by the way!
Daybreaker?
I'm expecting a War of the Sun and Moon...one of them is gonna have a huge advantage however xD.
"So...another Pilot working with the changelings hm?"
Tyler, get the fuck out of here! Anyhoo...great chapter!!!
8454212
Thanks, found it on the Titanfall subreddit
8454300
This is so much more important
I didn't really want to just include the title, I wanted to have Luna react to the song as they go.
8455029
I am now so tempted to do that
8455046
Tyler get out! But Daybreak? You shall see when the time comes my friend.
8455109
Can't speak my own mother language 
Best thing is : I'm sitting on a 4 in German
Also think you meant the warrior song am I right?
8455939
Nope, sorry
Meat!
I bet he likes 'linking' with her. *wink wink nudge nudge*
To be fair, there's only so much you can write about a one versus many curb stomp battle without making it boring, better conserve the words for more meaningful battles.
8456345
*wink wink nudge nudge*
Yeah, not much I could really do with the fight. And did you mean neat?
8457563 Nope, meat! I know life wouldn't be worth living without meat.
8457862
Sol would agree with you!
...And now I see why you said meat
👏👏👏👏👏👏😐😐😐😐😐
Hey. Update already.
I would like more you beautiful bastard
8497371
8498052
Don't you guys worry, new chapter soon.
GUYS! It's a miracle, Reapers have been nerfed!
8536494
But their health was increased and they are better against Titans. RIP me in Frontier Defence
8536923
I also get one-shotted (is that a word?) a lot because their aim is amazing
8537673
Yep. Tried to test that 2x AT damage on them... didn't end well
Love this book
Great story can't wait for more
8454300
I get ya
When da next wun cum out
moar?
please continue the story! I would love to read more!
goosebumbs