XI. Revert (unedited)
“So where are we going then?” I asked the small pony now acting as both my guide and extremely fluffy backpack. She was trying her best to be taken seriously but her past experiences had made her a bit more needy for validation and I think love as well. She still had visible bruises that I nearly cringed when she faltered away when I attempted to pat her on her head. She was living in an utter paradox of wanting attention but circumstances making her question every gesture that I had no real idea how to actually help.
“Y-yeah. I ran this way a few nights ago. I thought I was being sneaky but… well you’ve seen what happened.” Concerto grimaced as she gripped my shoulders tighter.
I dealt with that. You will be fine.” I stated with an air of certainty and confidence.
‘X, there have been small pulses of activity every couple of seconds. I think pegasi have been buzzing around keeping an eye on us. Since last night they’ve been making passes to try and catch us off guard. Since you’ve made certain to not use sleep mode they’ve appeared to get sloppy.’ Nana informed me within the internal comm receiver.
“Hey Concerto. Mind getting on my chest instead of my back for right now?” I muttered as the unicorn mare looked over my shoulder to get a good look at my face.
“Uh… I guess? Is something wrong?” Concerto questioned with a bewildered look painted across her face.
“No. There’s nothing wrong but I feel like there might be some tougher moments coming up soon.” I answered back making certain to keep my gaze off the clouds… which I now realized weren’t moving fast or in the constant direction with the wind. They were really obvious as well, now that I was actually coming to terms with magic.
Magic for the most part seemed to be an aetherial concept of energy given another name to make it make sense. Even after having it performed and analyzed in a controlled experiment there were still some unanswered questions coming out of left field. The act of pegasi moving clouds was something I still didn’t get clearly since the ones who were teaching me magic were unicorns and had never manipulated clouds with their own four hooves. Magnus couldn’t answer me clearly either though it wasn’t because he was stupid. On the contrary, he was probably the most intelligent when it came to weather and wind currents spotting the difference between a cirrus and nimbus cloud at mere glance. He just couldn’t articulate those concepts well.
“You just put magic in your hooves and they go fwoosh!” Magnus explained as he gestured wildly about to my now blank stare.
“I’m still a golem…” I muttered as I merely tried to understand his explanation.
“Well… yeah but you're made of magic. C’mon, you may be a golem but you're not a golem.” Magnus chided me as he dismissively waved his hoof around.
“Well at least I have someone on my side for proving I'm more than a golem.” I dryly stated deadpanning everything I said as only a robot could. Even then my sarcasm cut through the air almost effortlessly.
“Ya know… you are just a ray of sunshine, aren't you?” Magnus growled out though it soon turned into a cocky grin.
“What can I say? You bring out the best of my dry wit… for a half wit.” I joked back.
It was only a moment… but I felt more alive then than I had since I woke up in this world. It was too bad that it didn't actually answer my question about pegasi moving clouds.
Concerto accepted my suggestion sheepishly inching over my back until she was almost cradled in my arms. For some reason she fidgeted even more though it wasn't from being cold, I had made sure my armor heating system was being regulated to be warm. It took me hours to actually figure out that it was part of my regulating heating system and how to manipulate it to my benefit. When Nana came into being she made certain to figure out the functions of my body and inform me about them.
“X… the clouds are following us…” Concerto cringed as she buried her face on my shoulder fidgeting even more.
“I know. I'm ignoring them until they make a move.” I whispered under my breath never taking my eyes off of the path. It was so soft that I was worried she didn't hear until i saw her ear twitch.
For the next hour I walked through the remnant of the path Concerto left from her escape. The clouds had multiplied during the trek and I was certain that cloud creatures weren't a thing except in a Mario game if I remember right. Concerto made weird squeaks whenever a new one appeared and I contemplated switching back to Storm Tornado and releasing its charged shot. It was tempting in all honesty but that might have caused problems. Even if my weapons I used did recharge during the night under the moonlight I didn't want to become so reliant on it that I ran out of ammo at a critical moment. There was also the fact I only had six to eight special weapon charged shots that kept me from going on a rampage… figuratively speaking, of course.
“They’re still there…” Concerto grimaced as more clouds started to circle us.
“I know. They won’t attack. There are too few troops for them to waste on this kind of vendetta. I’m pretty sure if I step off the path they’ll do something. They’re trying to herd us where they want us to go. Who’s in charge of this unit in particular?” I whispered as I noted that our path had started to get larger… with far less cover as well. My concern was growing with every step. I would be fine… but Concerto might not. As time went on several scenarios played through my mine.
They were all similar in that Concerto was the prize they were after. Every scenario gave the enemy a ten percent chance of success… which meant that my paranoia was causing some discrepancies. There goal was only to capture Concerto which meant if they managed to distract me long enough they could get her out of my reach. My dash function made me speedy but if a pegasus flew her away… well I would potentially be out of luck. There was no easy way to say it but I was walking into something dangerous.
“His name is Ruby Geode… that utter slimeball of a general. He’s some flank kisser who sold out my family to Corundum in order to get a lofty position. He’s a nopony to be sure. It’s Captain Flint you have to watch out for.” Concerto confided in me resting her head on my shoulder to hide her mouth’s movements.
“That earth pony that thought sending ponies to fight me was the smartest thing to do?” I muttered though I was genuinely surprised that foolish was in such a high position.
“To be fair… he probably underestimated you because you looked to just be another golem. I’m sorry… of course, it’s just - you are the first golem I’ve ever seen act so pony like. You feel, you smile and there’s actual emotion behind it. If he had taken you seriously it would have ended with him sending wave after wave of ponies after you. He’s a butcher of his enemies and his soldiers.Though he’s always been subtle about it.” Concerto hissed out as a stray lightning strike hit nearby when I started to turn to the left.
It was an obvious trap though it was something that needed to be done. If need be I would use my body as a shield. With the sun out I could probably regenerate fast enough that the wounds would mean nothing. That opened the problem of being found out that I heal in the sunlight.
Discord was usually watching. During the night though he left to handle other business most likely. The fact I never slept more than likely irked him because I never left myself vulnerable long enough to deal with. The archived memories of him showed him snapping his digits on his paw in less than two seconds for his magical focus to take effect. That accounted for one hand and the speed at which he could cast spells. I couldn’t tell what he was going to do but I knew how fast it would take him to do it. It didn’t help much if he decided to take me seriously… which he seemed to be doing. If all the observation he was performing was obvious enough to actually identify him as taking me seriously.
“X… we’ll reach the forward base in less than half an hour. I just don’t think that they’ll be letting us get out of it so easily.” Concerto gave me an uneasy smile though the fear in her eyes was getting much, much worse.
“It’s a shame I’ve never really used the entirety of my power just yet. They don’t know what they’re getting into huh, Concerto?” I cheekily stated though if she knew how I actually felt that teary smile would be lost all the same.
I seemed confident. At this point only one thing hurt me and that seemed to be modified through Discord’s power but it felt like more. There had been something else within but I didn’t have the thaumic sensor even in mind or the idea that magic actually existed. There was more than just a chimeric entity floating around this world messing with the foundation of reality. Though that was just me grasping at straws that I didn't know whether they existed or not.
“Concerto… when it starts keep close. No matter what just stay close.” I muttered as my gaze drifted to a number of shoddy looking tents. It was probably the forwarding base that they created.
The world was weird. Medieval architecture and dark age weaponry was the norm but the tents… they looked to be made of plastic instead of cloth. It was a schizophrenic mixture of technology that confused me but with magic it could be explained away by the tired phrase of ‘a wizard did it.’ The answer I really wanted would have to wait until I had more time.
The clouds had formed into one over the tents and I could see that same earth pony who commanded his troops against me waiting in the center of the encampment. Flint, his first name I presumed, watched as I came into view snarling for some reason though I could tell it wasn't us. His eyes trailed to the left at that moment… meaning there was somepony else here in charge of things.
“Welcome golem! We shall give you one chance! Surrender the mare and you may walk out of here with your life!” Flint cried out and I noted the darkness of the clouds getting worse. I shifted to the pink color and made certain I was charged up.
I hated that I had to use another of my cards now but Concerto’s safety came first. Concerto gripped tighter even though she gasped when I turned pink.
“Look at that. It turned pink from the embarrassment that its about to go through!” One of the guards that had slunk out of their tent guffawed like the jackass that he appeared to be even though he was an earth pony. ‘Was that racist?’ I pondered keeping my charge up.
“Such a scrawny looking thing beat the others? Now it turns pink… what is this? A joke or something?” Another of the guards growled out as he joined the idiot.
Soon the rest of the guards joined making certain to show off their supposed strength. A few broke some nearby stones with their hooves while the pegasi twirled their weapons, which consisted of halberds or tridents, for show. They all looked very well made from my viewpoint.
As a blacksmith the weapons seemed to be well maintained and whatever forging techniques they used for them looked sound. The problem was that most of the non metallic parts of their weapons were made of crystal. Always crystal and nothing else. There were structural flaws in the grips mostly from seeing that the crystals had minute fractures hidden wherever they bit down to grip. It was disgraceful to look at.
“So X? A deal or death, it's your choice!” Flint yelled out causing all the guards to cheer. I did notice the few that had escaped from their first ambush of me wanted to bolt out of there. The fear in their eyes was that apparent even from a distance.
In response I lifted my buster towards them. Concerto scurried onto my back from my chest and I kept my eyes glued on Flint.
“So be it… Strike!” Flint called out as several hooves struck the darkened clouds in tandem.
From Magnus’s talks I gleaned that clouds could only hold so much electrical discharge. At the very least over ten thousand volts of electricity could be stored as long as the cloud in question were a decent size. It would take one the size of their fortress to hold it and would be unruly unless the clouds came from Cloudsdale apparently. This cloud looked unruly and seemed to discharge in all directions shocking the pegasi that were corralling it down. Still their job was done if Flint’s gleeful smirk was anything to go by.
The main lightning bolt zipped straight for me as I released the trigger of my weapon. It didn't appear to be the full ten thousand from what the thaumic sensor was giving me at the time. The shield formed around me just as Rolling Shield activated. A sphere surrounding the two of us. The blast of lightning charged into the shield but held… barely. At eight thousand volts the shield cracked all over making it very apparent that even as powerful as my weapons were there were still limits to its effectiveness. Had it not been an energy attack it most likely would have fallen in one hit.
The lightning strike curved down the shield breaking the ground beneath my feet sending a plume of smoke and dust flying up obscuring me from their sight. Concerto held a breath she didn't realize she was holding gasping in fright finally after the large explosion of light.
“Am I dead? Elysium looks so much worse… oh, X you're here too? Did we just die?” Concerto muttered out peeking at her surroundings looking incredulously at the destruction and the light blue field around us.
“No. Still alive here, as are you. Still that was pretty scary. Too bad they wasted their only shot and most of their pegasi troops to that lightning strike. I think there are only two dozen troops left from all that but I didn't really count them out.” I mentioned nonchalantly waiting for the smoke to settle or them to charge.
In truth I had kept track of them all through the motion sensor Nana was operating. I had captured fifteen of Flint’s troops from the original twenty I had fought not including Flint. There were forty five other blips with another just over the hill waiting for some reason still not including Flint. So forty seven still waited. About twenty two were taken out when they had corralled that cloud and used it like a stationary turret. I couldn't tell which were taken out but the lack of pegasi intervention on the smoke made me certain I took out their air superiority.
“Grab the body already and let’s get out of here!” Flint ordered out as the clip clop of hooves got closer.
Switching to the X Buster I shot the first couple of hapless guards that got too close stunning them on the spot causing several more to panic and gain some distance. As the smoke cleared there were several stunned gasps as I stood proudly in the center of the blast zone. Flint was especially disturbed since his jaw dropped further than I thought possible. The shimmering shield around me warbled around before fading away revealing me standing with my buster still up.
“Sorry. Somebody’s still in here. Please come again when you aren’t going to be assholes.” I growled out before firing on the few ponies that were still trying to charge at me. The shots were powerful enough to stun any pony for at the very least thirty minutes if the calculations Nana was feeding me were right.
The ponies who had laughed about me being pink were now scrawled out on the ground twitching from the stunning effects of my buster. The pegasi who were shocked had crashed into bruised piles of ponies. Flint’s small battalion, if it could be called that, was diminished from the forty six ponies down to twelve all in the matter of seconds. Still… I shouldn’t take them lightly since it was obvious that they hadn’t brought out their golems yet… right?
“So… Flint. Care to surrender? I promise to just let you be captured. I don’t know what the Principality will do to you though.” I called out from my position as Flint took a step back.
There was so much anxiety at this point on his face that I was worried I might have broken him. That fear though… made a complete one eighty into a twisted smirk as three of his own ponies ruptured apart revealing their crystalline skin and several unnatural growths coming out of their orifices. Concerto immediately puked on my back… I was so glad I couldn’t feel anything otherwise I would have been sick as well. Whether from blood or the gunk sliding off my back I couldn’t be sure.
What had been three regular earth ponies were now crystalline equines made of a purple crystal with green crystal growths jutting out of their holes… mostly eyes and ears. Their mouths were full of black crystals with each looking as though they had been purposely serrated within the last couple seconds. The growths in their eyes exploded outward revealing glowing blue pearls for eyes… which confused me on how there were pearls here… I was really hoping that the mundane explanations would distract me long enough not to think of the ponies that burst apart into ludicrous gibs.
It wasn’t good for my sanity at all.
“Oh golem. You poor misbegotten fool. Did you really think I would lay down and die without a plan to deal with you. Thankfully we’ve prepared a few things ahead of schedule before we came. Units CR45-1, 2 and 3, destroy X!” Flint commanded with all the bravado a military leader could muster and gleefully watched at the three former ponies immediately charged at me. No worry on their face.
The other ponies that saw this - the last nine - ran off before they could suffer the same fate their terror building up through their bodies. I couldn’t waste time though. I immediately dashed away firing my buster whenever I had a clear shot. The golems they sent after me were much better than the former ones I faced. The regular plasma shot was absorbed into them allowing them small speed boosts though it was incapable of keeping up with me when I stopped firing on them.
Switching to the Electric Spark I fired at the closest one. The electricity actually halted them for a moment but there was no structural damage visible. Unfortunately the projectiles were slow that after the first few barrages they got smart enough to dodge the purple sphere of electricity. I briefly thought of switching to Rolling Shield but quashed that since it was meant for defense more. The same went for Chameleon Sting.
I changed purple and fired a large vortex towards my stalkers which merely flung them backwards into one of the abandoned tents. It gave me enough time to get further away and check on Concerto. She was weeping heavily begging me for forgiveness for puking on my back. I merely petted her on the head whispering that it was ok. I wanted to do more but the golems that were in the tent tore off the tarps that were holding them back and continued their chase.
“Do you see this X! This is the ultimate strike force. The very future of ponykind. Everything will be under King Corundum and we shall see a glorious age! The Age of Harmony shall begin in his name! This is his age!” Flint screamed out looking completely content at the carnage around him. He had taken a few steps near the bloody remnants of his former soldiers and with a maniacal chuckle glared me down with that twisted smile of his.
“Ok… I’ve had enough now.” I barked back and faced my three foes.
I took up that same stance that I tried against Discord. I was a poor fighter but I was made of metal. Concerto gripped tightly in order to not get in the way though her cringing at feeling the mess she made on her barrel most likely made her regret holding on so tight.
The first pony golem jumped at me charging ahead of its brethren forcing its hoof wo elongate and sharpen into a point. Instead of dodging I arched my arm back and tossed out a right straight directly into its face. Using the momentum from the jump it performed I had actually managed to cross counter it snapping the head off and shattering the body.
“What!? That’s… impossible!” Flint cried out. I imagined that he was more than likely shitting bricks at this point and the smugness on his face drained almost immediately.
I jumped back to see that the other two were now cautiously approaching me. They were smart enough not to get in range but… from their actions I realized that they didn’t actually have any ranged weaponry. The second one shook its head and charged forward while the third stayed back and started to circle me. As I pulled back for another punch the second came too low and nearly stabbed one of its front hooves into me. The small ding sound when the point touched my body and glanced off allowed me the few precious seconds to thrust my foot up shattering the crystal body once again though the head remained relatively intact.
The third charged at me from behind surprising Concerto. With great concern I fell forward and lifted my right leg up behind me smacking the last pony golem in the barrel knocking it back. My back kicks were not as strong allowing the golem to remain stable enough to reorient back on to its hooves. Spinning around I took up my stance again favoring my left hand.
While I wasn't a very good boxer I did learn enough to become a switch hitter. In X’s body I was made of metal and incredibly fast allowing me to switch between an outboxer mindset to a swarmer mindset if needed. With a quick step of my left foot I charged into the third crystal golem throwing out several light jabs into what used to be a pony’s face.
The golem crumbled after the fifth swing leaving behind the body which flailed to the ground then went silent forever more. Flint had backed up several meters from where I was standing as I focused my eyes on him.
He looked utterly horrified as he stuttered out several words I couldn't understand. Then I took one step towards him and he bolted as fast as his legs could carry him. Raising my buster I fired a few shots at his legs which he deftly dodged making certain that he serpentine through the volley of shots.
“Well at least I know he's a fast galloper I guess. Concerto are you okay?” I looked over my shoulder finding the small mare completely elated and in utter awe.
“That was amazing! You fought off some of the toughest assassin golems that Corundum made with your bare hooves or was it hands? Anyways that was amazing!” Concerto gushed almost too much for my heart to take, had I had an actual heart. Still no beats to find here.
“Okay calm down. We need to keep moving… and probably restrain the guards that were left behind. Also what do you mean by assassin golem?” I started to drag any of the stunned ponies together and used any of their metal equipment to make rudimentary restraints to keep them contained. A few crystals gave off thaumic signatures which I placed on unicorn horns mostly as an experiment. Whenever they tried to focus their magic the Crystal would absorb the charge making it harder to focus their magic.
‘Interesting. These are merely quartz crystals but their thaumic signature is actually radiating a negative charge. Though we can’t be safe to assume that this is the case with all quartz. More likely than not the quartz gems of the Crystal Empire hold this special property. Until I can gain topographical information of the area I can only make premature guesses. I am detecting the influx of cold coming soon. I would suggest gaining clothing for Concerto before we go too far ahead.’ Nana informed me as I finally captured the last unicorn they had.
Aside from the nine that ran away, the three that were used as test subjects and Flint himself every single pony was captured and detained. I didn’t exactly tell any of the leaders of Equestria where I was going so the bonds that I created were shoddy enough that with enough work they could break them. I didn’t want to be a monster about it. The ones that were knocked out by the lightning were badly bruised and in some cases actually bleeding heavily. Using some of their medical supplies I patched them up as best I could. Concerto would help out though her own telekinesis was fragile from the cracks that still stained her horn. She could at the very least adjust the gauze in the right places and keep ponies still while I did so.
The ones who did wake back up noticed the remnants of three pony corpses and the crystal golems that were shattered into shards. There was heavy amounts of dissent on their face and anger… none radiated towards me. Instead fear came my way. The fight had been completely drained out of their faces. The two ponies who had mocked me scowled in anger whenever I turned my head… albeit only when I wasn’t looking at them. When our eyes met they paled and shot their heads down if it was the only way to escape my gaze. I left all the prisoners in the middle of the camp and decided that if Concerto was going to come with me… well, she needed gear of any kind to get through the snow.
“Let’s look for clues then Concerto.” I motioned to her to follow since she insisted on walking on her own power which I only agreed to after I had captured all the guards of the outpost and kept them in irons.
“Clues? What kind of clues do we need to find when we know that we’re going to head north.” Concerto quirked her head at me the confusion quietly spreading across her face. I placed my palm against my face and sighed, though whether out of exacerbation or relief I couldn’t tell.
“Just follow me.” I stoically muttered which got her to stick close by as we looked through all the tents that managed to stay up.
The first few tents were spartan-esque consisting of rolling mats to sleep on and small canteens to gather water from. The further we got in the more things we found. The tents surrounding the grand tent actually had saddlebags to carry things in and after a small bit of searching I placed one of the smaller ones on Concerto. While she pouted slightly the moment I started to place food in it she immediately clammed up. She knew I didn’t eat… the same couldn’t be said for her. Most of the food was of a strange subtype of a radish with a crystalline tint. In fact most of the vegetables had a strange crystalline tint in them. I mean, I got that it was the Crystal Empire… but did everything have to be a crystal of some type.
When we finally entered the grand tent we found actual useful items within. A map rested on the table… most likely belonging to Ruby Geode. I supposed Concerto’s profile of him was on the money for being a blithering fool of a pony. The map detailed several security checkpoints which seemed to be along a path that led straight for the Crystal Empire. That seemed far too convenient and made me question the authenticity of said map. Still… it gave the topographical data of the lands leading towards the Crystal Empire which was the most useful part to allow Nana to gather data about the surrounding lands.
Concerto immediately froze and shivered uncontrollably on the ground paralyzed by fear… I brought her back to where she was held…
I immediately went over to her and picked her up. She flinched and thrashed about until I stopped her legs with my left arm. Her eyes widened until she noticed that I was still there. It took me an hour to calm her down as she began bawling into my shoulder once again. I moved a bit too fast there for her own peace of mind. I could have made excuses but I didn’t… I was in the wrong for this. There were reasons but they could all be misconstrued as excuses… at least in my mind.
‘There could be enemies in the area, we could handle the scavenging while Concerto remained on lookout outside, even the act of surprising her with things could work out.’ I bitterly thought up but none of them felt like good options in the first place. After that hour I kept her in my arms as I looked through the satchels for anything we could use.
It took a bit of finesse but I managed to kick open several of the crates that had been left behind finding supplies within… which didn’t help at all. By ‘kick open’ I actually kicked whatever constituted a lid into splinters in one strike. Most of its content were weapons and armor and all of it was too oversized for Concerto in the first place. The other crates held tarps and cloth for the beddings. It took me twenty crates before I found something that personally belonged to Geode.
“Well, well, well… what do we have here?” I mused aloud as the last crate revealed several items that I could only surmise as contraband since it all held crests marking it as property of the Equestrian Principality. Sweets and weaponry covered the innards of said box but my eye was trained on something in particular which was more important to me than the other things.
It was a large white fur trimmed purple cloak with several runes etched into the inner lining. Concerto’s eyes were instantly drawn to it since it was pony sized. I placed her on her hooves and wrapped the cloak around her making certain the clasp around her neck wasn’t too tight. Once again she started to tear up… luckily more from gratitude if the readings that the Suffering Circuit was giving me were true. I picked her up again and stepped out of the tent now with a clearer path to travel while Concerto silently beamed and snuggled into her new cloak.
Out on the horizons, the storm clouds were gathering and snow seemed to be in the forecast. I wasn’t too worried if the cloak was actually magical which the thaumic signature it was giving off was true. In one day Ruby Geode lost his entire squad. In one day Flint Shard had been utterly humiliated and forced to abandon his guards to save his own flank. In one day I managed to keep a mare smiling even through the trauma of their unfortunate path… although with some hiccups along the way. Today had been a good day.
It had been a horrible day. Flint Shard had raced away as fast as his legs would carry him. The loss he had suffered had been worse than dealing with Ruby Geode… they had been utterly beaten into pulp in one of, in his opinion, the worst military blunders he had ever had the displeasure of leading in the first place.
It had been simple at first. Get Ruby Geode to lead the troops on a Quixote styled crusade against the Equestrian forces and then arrange his death either through battle or misfortune. Once dealt with take over the team and lead them on his own goals…
… Then X appeared!
Flint grounded his teeth in fury as he looked back on the battle. It should have been flawless. The lightning strike would have been fatal… then that weird shield popped into being and everything started to fall apart.
‘It must have been that stupid excuse of a mare. She had to have created that blasted shield at the last minute!’ Flint growled aloud at the thought and spat away his hatred into the dirt road he was now following.
There had been no possible way for the golem being capable of generating a shield that strong. It was an absurd notion he discarded the first second that he had. His rage enveloping his senses he didn’t notice the large red stallion standing over him until his muzzle hit said stallion’s chest sending Flint sprawling backwards.
“Flint report!” Geode snarled out noting the lack of extra troops and the defeated look on his face.
“Routed, sir. The golem managed to destroy the three assassin golems that King Corundum had given us. All our troops were captured except for nine who more than likely escaped into the wastes. The fifteen that were left behind haven’t returned either. We’re the last two left, sir.” Flint answered solemnly. They had lost almost everything.
It was quiet for a few moments before Geode finally lost it. In a flurry of rage his body returned back to the butterball form he originally had and attempted to lunge for Flint. Flint didn’t take it standing making certain the dodge and weave around his misguided attempts of issuing punishment.
“You bucking waste of crap! What the buck happened to having everything under control!” Geode foamed at the mouth trying everything he could to hurt Flint in any way. “All my bucking guards and you waste them in one attack! Now he’s getting closer to hurting me!” Geode cried out the fury slowly ebbing into despair.
“Calm down, Sir!” Flint smacked Geode across the cheek with the back of his hoof.
There were a few tense moments before Geode slowly placed the lid on his boiling anger. His body slowly shifted back to the beautiful form he had before… but the magic no longer worked on his face which had reverted due to the sheer anger that was present. Geode was not a nice pony, in fact, he was a downright twisted one. His treatment of the princess of the Crystal Empire was more than enough for those that knew him.
“What is it Flint…?” Geode sneered through his teeth.
“We have a chance now. We’ve exposed more and more of what it can do and with that information we can make X pay for interfering in our plans. The more we know the more a chance we have to destroy him. Let’s travel back to our closest checkpoint near the Crystal Empire and we can get the golems ready. While he did destroy the assassin golems he couldn’t do so very easily. We just overwhelm him and bam… dead golem.” Flint smirked as a dangerous glint appeared in his eye.
“Fine. Let’s get to it.” Geode muttered. “We will recapture Concerto as well.”
“Yes sir.” Flint agreed allowing the stallion to take the lead.
‘Soon you insufferable waste of a stallion. When X gets there I’m make sure you get the glory you deserve…’ Flint glared at the back of Geode’s head attempting to melt it with the power of his mind… only to remember he wasn’t a unicorn.
“There it is Hurricane. Did you notice that giant explosion of lightning out there.” Platinum pointed at the darkened skies out in the distance.
“Yeah. He’s probably there then. All troops move out we have a direction to head now!” Hurricane ordered as the three battalions finally gave chase out for the anomaly.
“You think he’s okay out there. Star Swirl said that he was tough but a lightning strike of that caliber… well, I don’t know.” Puddinghead muttered noting that the clouds were now dispersing.
The three leaders looked at one another uncertain of the odds but nopony wanted to doubt that he would be fine. As the vanguard of the strike force, which X was the only one, they could mop the rest of the enemies out and keep them captured until Corundum could be dealt with more efficiently.
“Let’s trust in Star Swirl until he does something boneheaded.” Hurricane muttered under his breath.
“Wasn’t introducing coffee enough though?” Platinum quipped back to Puddinghead’s grimace.
“Never again…” Puddinghead groaned as she held a hoof against her eyes to keep the horrible memories from surfacing once again.
Discord wasn’t happy. He wasn’t happy at all.
Three ponies had been killed in front of him. Three sources of potential chaos had been snuffed out and turned into monstrosities before his very eyes…
Now that the cards were on the table he calmly noted that he lost that hand. X had been better prepared and still seemed to be hiding more tricks than he should be allowed. It was unfair… yet so chaotic that it made him overlook the inherent unfairness… after all where would be the fun of not stacking your own deck to win.
The position where X’s hand flipped over revealing The Pillars, The Founders, Concerto, the X Buster, and a card of several weapons that were still being filled out. These five cards gave him the high road and the attention of other ponies. An overblown hand to be sure but respect was given for knowing how to play the game.
His scowl returned as he turned to Corundum’s hand which was simulated on his right. They revealed Flint Shard, Ruby Geode, The Crystal Empire and the golems. An underutilized hand which didn’t help at all since everything that was thrown at X was either humiliated or destroyed almost effortlessly.
Discord eyed his own hand and instead of playing it tossed the cards over his back annoyed at the lack luster spread. The Shadow pony, Ruby Geode, Queen Chrysalis, and his own chaotic power was all he had at this point.
“Well… this is fine for now… I suppose. After all I need him better. Maybe I should… lend a paw whenever it suits my need. This game needs to be more interesting.” Discord mused as his grin curled upwards almost unnaturally spreading his face in ways that didn’t make sense at all.
Stygian kept walking back through the jungle. There had been several problems of finding darkness for his shadow. There was one further off from the ocean in a volcanic island that dragons used. The Shadow didn’t care and immediately took off into the clear skies zooming straight for said island.
More power was always needed.
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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So... Which Megaman X voice does our MC get?
Your X doesn't have the neutral armor dose he? The one from MMX8. Never liked how that one looked and worked.
8700758
It was always pretty thick Azure.
8700915
Mark Gatha is my favorite right now but if you think he's speaking in japanese and everyone else is as well and its only being translated to english for convenience then it would be Takahiro Sakurai
8701486
No right now he's equipped with the First Armor. Neutral Armor might be in story but it would work better since MC will be able to mix and match several dozen armor pieces since I won't be forgetting them
Ah but my hopes are that soon, it will get painfully thick.
9704231
`Glad to hear that you like it.
This story is interesting and I curious on how weapons like kuwangers or stings would work