Cold Scales

by Konatra

The First Wave

Dusk Shine shuddered at the words he read before him. The letter came into his chamber only moments ago through magic teleportation and he read it over almost ten times already. What was written confirmed his fears and proved he wasn't insane but thinking about it now he really wished he was.

To my star pupil and best friend Dusk Shine, I write this letter to you warning you of a grave threat that has loomed over our once peaceful lands. It is as you said, invasion from mysterious creatures that bleed from the Everfree is now forming together to destroy our lands with overwhelming numbers.
However the unknown metal warrior you called Carbon has met with me in person and together we have brokered a deal for our benefit. We will meet very soon on the details but right now this letter is reaching you before our new allies 'Unity' appear in the skies of Ponyville. You already know what they look like and the Queen herself will be overseeing construction on Ponyville's defenses. Her forces will arrive within the hour with massive tools of construction to make Ponyville into the first stronghold point in this Equestrian campaign, forgive me for the sudden announcement but all of this has transpired very swiftly and I had to make the decision due to the severity of our situation.
While I do trust Carbon not to take advantage of us I do want you to prepare your citizens about the occupation while overseeing the nature of our new allies. I'll need a report by the end of the day of her progress and how the people are reacting to the change. Now I will be heading over to you in three days once I finish sorting out the nobles and re-manage the Royal Guard, I wish the best of luck to you Dusk.
Solaris

The prince did one more take, anymore and he would be wasting major time on the task set for him. "Okay so how do I go about this." His sleep-deprived brain was going overdrive to the point where steam may have been radiating off his forehead. The people were going to think he's gone mad especially after he forcefully built a makeshift barrier over Ponyville overnight using dirt and wood. He started stepping frantically in place. "Oh dear oh dear oh jeez!" Thinking on impulse he dashed through his room while toppling over his stacked notes and books on leads to Spines's whereabouts, which had to be on hold for just today unfortunately but once this was all settled it was back to what really mattered.

___

Dopey Hoof was taking a casual stroll near the castle delivering mail only to jump back a few feet in fear when the massive doors were forced open with a powerful push spell which was followed by the Prince himself flying through outside looking slightly crazed from his baggy eyes and twitching face. It was apparently one of 'those' days today. "...I should go home now." Whatever was about to happen would probably call for a day off.

On the other side of town, Dusk was already at the town hall, Mayor Mustang worked on a great works project on building a new bigger performance stage...it would appear all the requests came from that rather annoying performer Tristen. He considered doing it mainly because the old thing was running on its last legs due to wear and tear but on the other hoof th-
*FWOOOSH*
The Mayor stared blankly as piles of papers violently flew all over the room and in front of him was the crazed Alicorn taking rule over his little town. His eyes were wild as if he stared at the void of the abyss itself. 'First that dam wall and now this.' Mustang thought tiredly. That massive wall completely destroyed the image of Ponyville, it was making this town look like an internment camp with only two exits with a border patrol...well frankly it was insane and all because he saw some unknown creatures outside...the loss of Spines must be really getting to him the poor bastard. He inhaled silently and pulled on his best 'business' face.

"So Prince Shine, how can I help you?"

He prayed to every available deity that he wasn't going to ask for something that would make him want to end it all. "We gotta get all the residents of Ponyville gathered at the meeting center in the next half hour!" Mustang inhaled more audibly this time. He was keeping it together for the most part.

Without explaining why that would be almost impossible to achieve and the damage it would do to the economy he just had to know first. "...why?" The twitch in the Prince's eyes sent a tingle down his spine.

"Remember those shadow creatures from before? Well, that mysterious black warrior has made a deal with Solaris to work together and fortify Ponyville from those creatures, and this robot Queen is coming over right now with her armies of androids as we speak. We need to get every pony together right now to introduce them as to not cause a panic also we need to take note of their actions to decide if or if not they are just using us to have world domination over us all if that is the case we will need the guard and our best mages together to take them down!"

He wanted to kill him, Mustang closed his eyes while keeping his straight face. There was a sizable pair of scissors right next to him he couldn't help but notice. What if...how fast did he have to be? Or maybe he could toss a book right at his horn and knock him out... "Yes, that's a good idea." He muttered absentmindedly.

"So you agree!?" The shout startled the Mayor. "Great! I'll round up everyone." His wings unfurled so fast that loose feathers shot around the room.

"Huh?!" Mustang recollected himself and gasped in horror at what this maniac was about to do. "No wait! you can't jus-" The Prince bolted out his window creating an air vacuum that took a good few stacks of paper flying all over Ponyville. Mustang once again stared at the once organized mess of a room he had now littered with paper and feathers. "It's time to cash in all my vacation days."

___

For the next half hour the purple Alicorn would use his royal shout to announce an important emergency meeting all must attend, then he would go into every business and practically forced them out. After a hectic round-up Dusk managed to do everything he set out to do nearing the deadline. He flew down onto the stage to see below the disheveled hundreds of tired ponies looking back at him. "I am glad you all decided to come here today." He began while speaking into the microphone.

"You forced us to come here!" A voice that sounded kinda similar to Applebuck rang out. Others couldn't help but murmur in agreement.

The words just couldn't find a way to register into the poor Alicorn's head. "Yes now to explain the meaning of all of this." Now everyone started to listen, despite everything recently going on with Dusk he was sensible enough to know what is a valid emergency to call everyone out for. "Ponyville is about to be put under the supervision of alien metallic creatures and we need to prepare for this right now!" About 20 people were already leaving. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!!" Those about to leave looked back in horrified shock as well as the rest of the crowd seeing the (usually) level-headed Prince look like he was about to go on a rampage of unknown proportions.

Thankfully before anything could escalate a roaring hum began to radiate across the town. Everyone stopped what they were doing and felt the heavy reverberation beating in their chests. "Look!" A citizen announced pointing at the sky in the direction of Canterlot.

The Prince felt his heart sink at the sight of dozens of small black figures flying right at them. Some were massive in comparison to the rest and were hauling black cubes double their size with them. The hum of their engines could be felt miles away like hundreds of Wonderbolts flying in one unison. "I thought I had more time!" They were coming in at speeds impossible for something living and somehow the large ones holding up massive cubes matched that speed.

By now everyone present began to notice the unidentified flying objects and some began to appear visibly panicked. "It's OK everypony! Everything is under control, as decreed by Solaris himself we are to give these foreigners a warm old-fashioned Ponyville style welcome!" Were it any other day Dusk would seem quite reasonable but that cheek-splitting smile of his made it seem like the apocalypse was upon him. Luckily a Wildcard appeared to save the day.

"Alrighty Party Ponies!" Bubble Berry arose from the crowd atop of a light blue cannon. "This is a Category 5 party emergency so we gotta get experimental, MAKE A PATH!" Dusk stopped trying to use his head, any more input had a high likelihood of actually making his head burst. Ponies charged out fearfully at the Party Pony's scheme, whatever it was it was going to be ridiculous.

____

The disguised Spines and her flying entourage were only moments away from their destination, throughout the entire flight Spines was trying her hardest to figure out what to say to her friends and neighbors through a mask. What was she going to tell Dusk? According to Solaris, he sent a letter over to the Prince about an hour ago so they won't be caught off guard in the very least. She sighed woefully, she had to tell him the truth after construction was done. He was coming undone by the looks of it and by Solaris he didn't deserve to suffer anymore because of her. "Lady Spines, we are about to reach our destination. How do we proceed?" Bek brought her back from her thoughts. It was odd just how easily she could put her mind on hold while her suit flew at dangerous speeds across the skies.

The armored dragon peered down at her home with her enhanced sight and saw something ridiculous. Streamers, cake, balloons, etc, etc. Yes the meeting center looked like a clown vomited in mass. It was obviously Bubble Berry brand madness but slightly sloppy as hell. Looked rushed which was understandable given the circumstances. Dusk really was going insane if he actually let Bubbles handle the meeting space for a bunch of unknown entities. The funniest thing would be the several massive banners depicting a rather generic black-eyed grey-faced alien see in many B-List Sci-Fi flicks with the words "WELCOME ALIENS" Embolden in bright red. "...okay well I want you and two Elites by my side as we make a soft landing on that wooden stage right there." She pointed. "The rest of you all I want to remain on standby and await my orders up here." She received multiple pings of confirmation. She nodded. "Remember to do your best to not scare anyone alright."

"Understood, going into 'Humanitarian' mode."

'Cool...didn't know they had that...what's a human?' A thought that would become quite relevant in the near future.

___

Carbon and her entourage hovered over the clearly bewildered crowd, Bek floated behind her while her two Elites, Zinc and TP-Z who was named 'Topaz' by Carbon, stayed near her side. The group lowered themselves slowly as to not cause any more fright.

Once Carbon landed her metallic wings retreated into her back. Her eyes glowed through the mask as she peered over her town, every single face looked at her in fear. A part of her really wanted to unmask right here right now and such a thing would be simple to do were it not for Dusk. She eyed the crazed Prince while her visor did an anomaly scan on mentality, the suit read his rapid eye movements, erratic heart-rate, and even brain waves to confirm what pretty much everyone guessed, Dusk was at a breaking point to where even another stresses could cause a cataclysmic breakdown of unknown proportions, best case scenario would be he simply goes unconscious, the worst-case showed an 87% probability of a violent psychotic breakdown. She shivered at her brother's broken state. This had to be handled with great care.

"People of Ponyville...it is truly an honor to be in front of you all today." She gave a deep respectful bow. This act seemed to settle a large portion of the crowd thankfully. "I do apologize for the suddenness of our arrival and I wish we could meet on safer terms but it must be known to you all that your peaceful world is under attack from a deep-rooted evil hiding in wait for the past few millennia!" Just as before her Elites tossed up metal balls in the air that displayed holographic images of the enemy. The reaction the ponies made were different than that of Canterlot, they seemed more shocked than horrified.

"Are you saying Dusk hasn't gone batshit crazy!?" Applebuck called out.

"HEY!" The mentioned Prince shot back.

...ah she understood now. "That is correct, the threat I present is all too real and must be taken into high priority! The fate of Equestria depends on our unity and cooperation." The chatter among her friends began to rise. "Prince Dusk Shine!" She called to his surprise. "Come up to the stage if you will." He nodded and teleported to her side. She had to suppress her urge to hug him. 'I never realized just how much I could miss someone like this.' She just had to hold back a little longer. "The enemy looms a grave shadow over your land every day, while my forces have done an admirable job at holding them back we are limited in numbers, the Spawn could be seen as limitless in your eyes to where some can slip through our limited power, Ponyville is in need of major defensive upgrades that no simple dirt wall could protect." She held out her hand to her brother. "Do I have your permission to become this land's shield?"

Dusk looked at the alien before him, why was he reminded so much of Spines? Well, they do have a similar figure but the words, it reminded him so much of her. A tear ran down his eye, something inside him said he could trust this creature with his life. Shakily he grasped her hand. "...Yes, please protect us...I don't want to lose anyone else...plesss..." She smiled as the tired Prince fell into her arms, out like a light. She felt bad for tricking her dear brother but this was for his own good. In her metallic hand stood thousands of microscopic needles when injected would pump powerful anesthetics that could put...well a horse to sleep in seconds.

Already the Mane 5, marched up together to attend to the fallen Dusk. She kept her ignorance. "It would appear your Prince is suffering from severe fatigue, I suggest he be placed in a bed and given liquids high in energy." Butterscotch cowered at the massive form of the black titans around him, Blitz seemed interested in her metal wings, Applebuck seemed to try to give a hard stare at Bek but of course, found no emotion. "Ah guessed Dusk was at his breaking point...but if I find out ya gone and done any fishy business to my friend I won't hesitate ta knock yer tin behind back to whatever planet you came from." The farmer noted taking the Prince off her hands. Spines couldn't help but grin at her friend's boldness...in all honesty that was pretty foolish of him to say, all things considered, were it someone else behind the mask it wouldn't be too hard to believe the heard headed farmer would be... 'eliminated' right then and there. Well, it sure was a good thing Spines understood that Applebuck was just being his usual brand of honesty...although being honest and knowing when to shut up are two different things but she digressed.

"I assure you, kind citizen, your dear Prince will be fine after a healthy eight hours of rest." She held her hands up in a surrendering manner. This seemed to satisfy the Element of Honesty...for now.

Bubble came up to her and placed a cupcake in her open palm. "Welcome to Ponyville!" He gleamed. She nodded coolly. Applebuck began dragging Dusk back to what appeared to be the castle. The others followed behind Applebuck to attend to their friend except for Elusive who seemed to want to speak more, but first, she must address the crowd.

"With the sudden collapse of your head authority I will end today's meeting. Rest assured Ponyville is now under the protection of Unity, construction will begin momentarily on the improved barriers but before that, I give a very important warning." Everyone present stood to attention. "Stay away from the Everfree, the source of this threat is stationed deep within and while the forest was always a hazard it is now a certain death trap for any non-combative. If you had certain business in the Everfree speak with us by tomorrow once we have set up the station and we will see how we can assist you. You may now go about your day normally but I suggest staying away from the walls due to immediate construction." She bowed. "Have a wonderful day all of you!" She felt happy with this, it was finally time to save her home.

She turned back to Elusive ready to hear her old friend's concerns. Well...Elusive seemed much more interested in Zinc oddly enough. "I must say dear the textures on this cape are absolutely breathtaking, truly something fit for royal guards of such a grand presence...is it at all possible I could sample such materials for my next suit. You see I'm a tailor by craft and such things could be the next big thing for the upper crust to wear...am I overstepping some lines here?" The slight worry in his eyes almost made the masked Queen burst in a fit of laughter, just hearing him talk made the day feel that much better.

"I'll take your request into consideration, once we have our units set up bases and the current threat down to a minimum then we can discuss fashion all you like."

The crowd around him began to disperse. Which was fine now that she had the Prince's permission to operate freely. "Oh well that just sounds marvelous your Highness, now may I ask what your next task is? Perhaps I may be of assistance."

The Queen hummed clutching her chin. "The work about to be done is far too dangerous for an organic being to be part of I would love to show you the efficiency of our workforce if you wish." It was important for the Elements to trust her forces, once they did the rest would surely follow.

"I believe I must take you up on that offer your Highness, it's not every day you get to see such an event." Elusive wasn't doing this out of curiosity, of course, now that Dusk was currently indisposed and the other was preoccupied with his condition, someone had to watch over these extraterrestrials. While it wasn't the fashion pony's style he would surely not allow them to operate freely and in the event, something suspicious was to be discovered he would report back to Dusk once his condition improves.

Spines just felt happy to be with her dear friend again. "Let us be off then."

___

In front of Carbon and Elusive as well as the three androids stood the improvised dirt barrier. It could certainly keep out a few Timberwolves and maybe even a Manticore but against the Spawn, this could be considered made of thin glass. "So exactly how will you create an appropriate defense in such a short span of time?"

Carbon nodded while looking up to her Elite Zinc. Zinc held up a massive black cube hauled over from Home Base. "That cube is full of compacted walls, stations and the tools needed to build up a respectable defense within an hour's time." She snapped her fingers, Zinc dropped the cube gently. "Alright Bek, let us begin." While she may have been the leading head commander of her forces, Bek was made for the intricate unit formation and was relied upon to perfectly order around hundreds of units at an instant notice.

'I have this covered your Highness.' Bek signaled the units on standby in the air to come on down. Like swarms of bees the construction crew came around the cube and unveiled their weapons, but instead of firing the guns were set to absorb the black chunks in the cube into their guns.

Elusive was amazed to see the Androids with filled weapons go over to the shabby dirt wall and spray a black liquid-like substance over it. Quickly the spray seemed to connect with the other portions of the substance and lock together tightly. "What is all this?" He asked.

"These are nano-machines, very tiny robots that can form into any shape when enough group together. All over this town, my soldiers will turn this wall into an intelligent barrier capable of defending the ground and sky."

Elusive was impressed with this. "Very interesting, but how will we get in or out when the whole area is encompassed like this?"

"I'm glad you asked, there will be four dedicated entrances located near each major zone of the congregation but in the event of-" Before she could continue Bek pushed his way into the conversation.

'Forgive me for the intrusion my Queen but we have a major situation that requires your attention.' Carbon froze, this was the first time she ever heard of anything like this. Elusive too felt worried at the idea of something horrid unfolding.

"W-what is the situation Bek?" She couldn't help her stutter.

' It would be best if you saw this yourself.' The battle commander tossed out a small ball onto the ground that displayed various holograms, some showed maps of the Everfree and other smaller ones showed first-person views of what seemed to be soldiers fighting against the Spawn. The map of Everfree showed a massive amount of red dots overwhelming fifty green dots. 'I want a report AT-79!'

Over the coms, a static voice responded. 'Commander, it isn't looking good-augh!' Blaster fire could be heard as well as numerous monstrous shouts. 'Their numbers are overwhelming us, they won't stop coming! We might have the strength to handle this but our batteries are running low and our ammunition is nearly depleted.' A massive explosion echoed over the radio. 'We just used up our last ordinance volley, we have nothing left but our own power supply...we will gladly fight to the last while taking out as many as possible but you need to get that defensive network operation ASAP because a flood is headed your way. We have ten minutes of fighting power left, after that, it's up to you. It has been an honor-'

Carbon pushed herself forward to the floating ball. "Now hold on soldier! Did I give you permission to die?" She understood what they were trying to do, in the event of the catastrophic shutdown and no civilian life is detected in a ten-mile radius the unit would self-destruct, fifty units self-destructing all at once would surely cause significant damage to the enemy but that alone would deal a crippling blow to her fighting strength. Those fifty were well armored and equipped with the best weapons designed to deal with Spawn hordes. Losing them would mean a weakened defense...and she didn't want those loyal Androids to die either. Even if they were metal and electricity she saw their lives just as valuable as any other.

'Forgive us, Queen Carbon, we were out of line. What would you have a do?' It put Ponyville at a higher risk but the pros outweighed the cons and were invaluable in long-term operations. The wall would be complete within 57 minutes. According to the map, the horde will reach Ponyville in approximately 22. ...That meant 35 minutes of certain battle...Her brain and helmet calculated the odds.

"Fight until you hit critical energy reserves, then escape back to Base for refueling. Sort up with us at Ponyville as soon as possible. Is that clear?"

She came to the conclusion that she and her loyal Androids could win. 'Loud and clear your Highness. Goodluck!' The signal ended, Bek reclaimed his hologram sphere.

The Queen let out a breath, this was going to be Hell...but she knew somehow she would pull through. "Bek!" She ordered. "Call in every available unit here on the double and I need you to create an unpenetrable force facing the enemy. I don't want one of those monsters anywhere near this town." Bek knew that may very well be impossible but he saluted anyway. It was up to him to create the best shield possible with his limited fighting power.

She looked down to Elusive who looked frozen in place with the situation unfolding in front of him. "You need to get back there and warn everyone to stay away from the walls. Get everyone inside and hide until we give the all-clear. GO!" This shot the stallion out of his stupor, with a quick nod he galloped back home preparing to shout his lungs out.

It was going to be a mess but she was prepared for this...her second mask clasped around her face as she revealed her sword and pistol. The Androids around her scattered around in preparation for the nightmare about to meet them. "Alright Tendrix...let's do this."