16 - Autonomous Avenger
Lyra Heartstrings - Day 10
The Great Tomb of Arrex - Wieav
The difference in Vi is just huge. I haven’t seen her like this since… Just before the Tartarian Invasion, Lyra thought to herself as she followed Vi down the corkscrew-like path.
<What was that?> Veena asked, her telepathic voice echoing faintly in Lyra’s mind.
Deep down, Lyra was glad that her bond with the Dragoness depended on trust when it came to communication. Their scouting together had gone a little ways to improve their friendship and strengthen the bond, but there were some thoughts she simply wasn’t ready to share.
<I just realized how long it’s been since I’ve seen Vi like this,> Lyra said turning her head to look over the shoulder at her companion.
Veena looked small in the tunnel. A fact which settled upon everyone’s minds like a blanket woven from thin strands of anxiety.
The primal parts of their minds whimpered, whispering about what sort of predators might inhabit this dark place of stone, cold, and echos. The philosophical parts looked ahead, into the vast earthen maw into which they descended and remembered just how small and fragile they really were, and began to list the many ways the universe could crush them underfoot without any warning.
Together those two fragments of their minds formed a dense blanket of fear, which threatened to smother everything else. The calm logical parts of their minds did quite a bit to drag that blanket across their brains. After all, even a little child knew that while it was mandatory to dig a hole big enough to fit the thing you wished to bury, you didn’t leave a hole big enough for it to leave by.
Unless of course, whatever it was would inevitably arise from its grave and in so doing cause such utter devastation that leaving a spiral staircase for it to use was the logical choice.
Each smooth granite tile passing underfoot marked another five feet of the tunnel now behind them. Another five feet they would have to run if the monster attacked. No. When the monster attacked. Yet our heroes continued their decent, each footstep carrying them deeper and deeper into the abyss.
Their hearts kept their feet moving. The fate of Equestria weighed heavily on their minds. Ten days of running, hiding, and general incompetence when the whole world was counting on them and only them. Suddenly a chance at victory had appeared within reach.
Hope: The greatest source of courage since the very first creature took its first breath.
<She does seem to be a lot less panicked,> Veena agreed. <What exactly happened to her? I didn't ask and she never said.>
<She nearly got herself, my friends, and I killed by a pack of Timberwolves. And during that she DID get the child we were sent to rescue killed,> Lyra answered.
Veena frowned as she attempted to process what she had heard. <How exactly are wolves a threat to vampires?>
<Not timberwolves, Timberwolves. Capital T.> Lyra corrected with an audible snort of laughter and a grin. <House sized animated piles of dead wood that work as the immune system of a living forest near our hometown. They look like wolves. And we ponies name almost everything with a pun.>
<That’s pretty terrifying.> Veena said, her neck and tail shaking as she shivered.
Lyra nodded. <They are, yeah.>
<No, not the wolves. The puns,> Veena corrected. <I could just melt the wolves with atomic fire. But you can’t kill terrible puns.>
Lyra rolled her eyes and was about to reply when Vinyl raised her hoof, gesturing for the group to stop.
“What is it?” Sky asked from his position at the rear.
“Shhh!” Vinyl hissed, tilting her head to the left and rotating her ear, trying to focus on a sound. “Hoofsteps. Not Lyras… We’re being followed.”
Lyra spun around on her forehooves, pivoting with supernatural grace. Her vampiric eyes pierced the darkness effortlessly, but the curving pathway made seeing any more than a hundred meters quite impossible. Lyra didn’t have to see to pick up the sound of hooves quietly, but quickly, stepping on stone.
“I hear it too,” Lyra said quietly.
Veena tilted her head. “Mmm… Yeah, there might be something moving back there,” she agreed. “Lyra and I can wait here and counter-ambush them.”
“Or I can lay prone, wait for them to pop around the corner, and just shoot them,” Sky suggested.
“We’re going with Sky’s idea,” Vinyl said decisively. “If it’s the Elbez from earlier, she incapacitated me, meaning she can take Lyra out for sure. And if we lose you, Lyra, we lose Veena too.”
Lyra shrugged her shoulders. “Well, yeah, but we could also just melt whatever it is with atomic fire.”
Veena shook her head no. “Can’t right now. I’m in low power mode. Most of my mechanical parts are offline,” she explained sheepishly. “But I could use regular fire!”
Chem turned towards the dragon and raised one eyebrow skeptically. “Why?” He asked.
“Because I don’t want to be glowing really brightly, humming quietly, and hungry later,” Veena replied with a flick of her tail. “You don’t go all in if you don't have too when there isn’t a full-sized meal nearby.”
Vinyl sighed and shook her head hard enough to ruffle her mane. “Guys, move out. She’ll get suspicious if she hears we stopped for too long. Sky, set up an ambush. Everyone else, let’s go. Based on the echos I think we're getting near the end of this ramp.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. The best plans are not only the simplest but also the most risk free. Sky unfolded Sheila’s bipod, and layed down on the cold stone floor, immediately taking aim at the spot nearest the central pillar where their stalker would soon be.
The other four continued walking down the ramp, moving a little more cautiously than before.
Sky Trigger - Day 10
The Great Tomb of Arrex - Wieav
Sky lay against the cool granite floor, watching, waiting. It hadn’t taken more than three minutes for the hoofsteps to become audible to him. His hearing in this body was definitely not as good as a pegasi’s hearing, but he could tell that his target was almost into position.
Time for last minute checks, Sky thought to himself as he slightly adjusted his position. Safety off? Check. Active camouflage cloak on? Check. Night vision enabled? Check. Sheila's power setting at maximum? Check. Alright… Let’s go.
Sky took a deep breath and adjusted his sights. Sheila’s bipod creaked slightly as the psi-rifle’s point of aim adjusted.
Please let them not have heard that. Sky pleaded with fate as the hoofsteps grew even louder, and the tunnel grew brighter.
A pale yellow light slowly brightened the dark tunnel, casting shadows every which way as the light caught on the imperfections in the ancient stone walls. The light was steady, it didn’t flicker. This wasn’t a torch. It must be some sort of magical light.
Hopefully they don’t have shields, Sky worried.
They were right on top of him now. Any second now and they would round the cor—
A shadow slid across the floor. Human! No, four legs. Centaur? Deer person! She had a friend. Probably was an advanced scout, Sky thought to himself.
Another step, then another. The Elbez began to emerge from behind the central pillar. Sky raised Sheila’s barrel upwards, quickly taking aim at where he hoped to Luna an Elbez’s heart was, and fired.
Sheila’s sharp crack echoed through the tunnel, warping the sound into something akin to the roar of a great beast. Her fiery bolt of psychic energy shot up the ramp, purple flames crackling as the shot burned the very air itself before hitting the Elbez in her upper torso’s guts.
A female cry of pain reached Sky’s ears even over Sheila’s still echoing shot. A familiar cry of pain.
No frickin’ way! Sky scoffed as he closed the eye looking into his scope to get a better view of his entire target.
She was young. A girl, perhaps a young woman. Slightly toned. Dressed in red. Reacting to being shot by drawing a broken sword from a scabbard on her hip rather than any of the reasonable or more expected reactions to suddenly having a soda can sized hole punched through one’s abdomen.
The light from the yellow crystal floating behind her cast the rest of her features in shadow, but they weren't needed for Sky to Identify her.
“W— WHAT?” Sky exclaimed, genuine shock preventing him from firing again in the hopes of killing his target.
Sky stared at the wounded Elbez in shock. The one he had wounded before.
He'd blown her arm off merely a half hour ago, and yet she had both arms. Despite him having collected her arm, put it in his bag in case they found her and could try to reattach it, and most of all, her arm was still in his bag. Sky could feel its weight pulling at his shoulder bag even as he lay prone thanks to the ramps’ rather steep slope.
That simple fact shocked him more than the fact she was still moving despite the hole he'd just blasted through her upper torso.
"How... How are you-- Where did your arm--" Sky stammered incredibly before standing up and pointing at the hole in his anomalous opponent's torso. "I JUST SHOT YOU!"
Irien smiled as her opponent honorably revealed himself and curled her left hand a fist. Magic crackled around her fist as she pumped it upwards, reshaping the rocks in front of her into a crude barricade. "It’s okay. I got my good friend Chest High Wall. I’ll just sit here and in a couple of seconds, I will be fully recovered. Then we can fight fairly!"
Sky’s jaw dropped as he attempted to process this woman’s thoughts. She thinks I'm apologizing for attacking her from stealth? Like I did something dishonorable? What in the actual—
Then Irien ducked down slightly behind her magical barricade, leaving enough of her upper body exposed to provide Sky with a clear view of her, and a clean shot. Sky swept his rifle up to his shoulder, took aim at Irien’s head, and fired.
Sheila’s crosshair was dead centered when Sky pulled the trigger. His hands did not shake. He did not sneeze, twitch or cough. The shot should have been perfect. Instead, the purple energy bolt left Sheila’s barrel at a thirteen-degree angle and hit the ramp some distance behind the crouching deertaur.
“Oh no! Sky? She’s got some kind of psionic defenses,” Sheila warned, urgency seeming to leak from the spirit’s voice.
“Yeah, you can’t hit me behind this,” Irien said in agreement, nodding calmly. “Go ahead and try again if you want too! Do you have a sword? Or one of those little knife things to make a gun into a spear?”
Sky watched in horror, at first as he realized fighting her would be a truly royal pain in his plot, then with renewed terror as the wound in Irien guts began to slowly knit itself shut.
Oh sweet Luna no! He thought as his eyes went wide. I have to warn the others!
"RUN! FUCKING RUN! SHE HAS THIRD PERSON SHOOTER POWERS! WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Sky screamed as loud as he could.
Sky dropped Sheila, letting her strap guide her back to his side as he drew his pistol and fired over his shoulder, boots slamming against the stone floor as he sprinted away.
“Hey! Come back, you coward!” Irien yelled angrily after him as bullets ricocheted all around her, none of which even came close to hitting her.
“Buck you, and your stupid-ass psychic powers!” Sky replied as he continued to run.
Sky’s pistol clicked loudly, running dry after spraying its leaden load across everywhere that didn't matter. BUCK! No time to reload, Sky yelped to himself in panic. Not that it would matter. How do you stop a player in a third person shooter? Uhhh… Boss fight! Yeah! But how?
The answer eluded Sky for another few seconds. For another 400 frantic heartbeats. Then…
Duh! There’s a literal cyborg dragon at the end of the hallway. That will work!
Sky was about to devote his full attention towards sprinting to his teammates when a loud crack of hoof on stone echoed down the corridor.
“She’s no longer in cover!” Sheila informed.
And she can’t make it if she doesn't move. And I can blow off her arms! Sky realized.
A sudden surge of hope filled his chest. And then just as suddenly left. But she has actual hit points. She just ignored getting shot.
Then the hope came back. But that just means I need to shoot until the HP is gone.
Sky skidded to a halt, his boots rubber souls leaving black marks on the floor as he turned, shouldered Sheila smoothly, and fired. His shot streaked through the air and found its mark, ripping through Irien’s flesh and bone. The Elbez woman screamed in pain as her arm fell to the floor.
YES! I can do it! I just panicked. Maybe she only has power behind cover. Sky said as he grit his teeth with determination and shifted his point of aim towards Irien’s other arm.
But as he saw the look of pain on Irien’s young face, a pang of Mercy tugged at Sky’s heart.
“Back off, kid,” Sky ordered, keeping Sheila aimed at Irien’s other arm.
Irien adjusted her remaining hand’s grip, flicking her broken sword into an icepick grip. “No! I’ll stop you. The seer said so!” She insisted.
Sky snorted. “You might be invulnerable behind cover, but you're not right now. I can kill you if I want,” he reminded. “And seriously, I shot your arm off. Again!”
Irien grinned at Sky, her smile holding a manic glee behind it which would have made even Pinkie shiver in terror.
“No you didn’t,” she said, sticking her tongue out mockingly.
Sky’s brow furrowed. “What’s that then?” He demanded, taking his hand off Sheila’s barrel to point at the Elbez’s severed arm.
Irien glanced down, then shrugged at Sky. “I’ve had worse,” she said with a determined look in her eyes.
“You—” Sky began to yell, only for his lips to purse in confusion midway through as he became confused. “Liar?”
I mean… That’s possible? She can regen—
“FIght me, coward!” Irien shouted, raising her broken sword high as she surged forwards, all four of her legs pushing against the floor as she launched herself at Sky with a shallow yet lightning quick leap.
Sky jumped left. Irien soared past him, her blade hissing as it sliced into Sky’s hood, ripping a small hole in the fabric. Sky spun, knelt and fired a shot reflexively. The purple bolt blasted forth, striking Irien just above her elbow.
Once more the Irien cried in pain. Once more her arm fell to the floor, this time with a clatter of steel in addition to the thunk of wet meat.
“Ha!” Sky exclaimed mockingly. “Victory is mine!”
Irien growled angrily and turned around, glaring at Sky intently. Though heavens knew what she intended to do.
Sky raised Sheila once more to finish his opponent off, and once more that pang of mercy tugged at his heart.
... This had better not be some kind of psi attack she can do… Sky thought bitterly as she lowered Shila yet again.
“Okay… Look. If you let my friends and I finish up here without trying anything stupid, maybe Chem will reattach your ar—”
Sky was cut off as Irien’s left forehoof struck him in the jaw, knocking him over. He hadn’t even seen her gallop towards him.
“OW!” Sky cried, doing his best to jump back up, and just barely managing to land successfully.
Irien skidded to a halt slightly up the ramp and turned around to face Sky, lowering her upper body in preparation for another charge. “Come on then!” She taunted with a mocking gleam in her eyes.
Sky’s jaw dropped as he took in the sight of the bleeding, dismembered young woman, still clearly intent on fighting him.
“You stupid bitch! You’re done! Surrender before you bleed out,” Sky demanded.
“Pfff, why would I do that?” Irien asked then blew a raspberry at Sky.
Ohhhh, you little—
“BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO ARMS LEFT!” Sky shouted back, his left eye twitching.
“Yes, I do!” Irien mocked, her tail flicking a she got ready to charge.
Sky nodded towards Irien’s stumps. “The buck are those the—”
Sky only barely managed to duck out of the way as Irien short forwards with the same insane speed she had before. Her hoof whistled past his head with the same sound as a fastball as the attack only just narrowly missed.
Knowing where Irien would most likely land, Sky pointed Sheila over his shoulder and fired. The sharp crack was rewarded with a third cry of pain as his shot connected.
Sky turned, the squeak of his boots painfully sharp. Irien’s left hind leg had been blown off at the knee, and her front left leg had a large burn on it where the psionic bolt had grazed her after passing through.
Okay, that took off one of her legs. We’re done here… I hope. Sky thought with a mental sigh.
“I’ll kill you for that!” Irien growled angrily, turning around only slightly awkwardly, her head lowered for yet another charge.
“Are you BUCKING kidding me?!” Sky demanded, his eye twitching again.
Vinyl Scratch - Day 10
The Great Tomb of Arrex - Wieav
Vinyl sprinted up the ramp, moving towards the sounds of gunfire. The supernatural speed lent to her by her vampiric blood carried her up the ramp nearly as fast as Veena could fly.
I hope we’re in time! Stupid, stupid, stupid decision. I should have realized there could be multiple attackers! Vinyl growled at herself as she galloped.
She didn’t hate herself for her mistake. Not this time. This time Vinyl knew she simply had to correct it.
Had begun to charge back up the ramp the moment the pistol shots had echoed down from above, leaving Lyra and Chem to work on getting past the magical lock on the door they had found. Veena had wordlessly decided to come with Vinyl, and she was grateful for the backup.
He’s shooting so many times. We’re up to five shots with Sheila and what had to be a whole magazine of pistol rounds. Hold on Sky, we’re coming! Vinyl thought, a determined gleam in her eyes as she rounded the final corner.
And skidded to a halt as she saw a now one-legged Elbez who was laying in a pool of her own blood contort her spine to bend enough to allow her to land a feeble kick on Sky’s lower back with her last remaining leg.
“Wait, what?” Vi asked herself.
Sky took a deep breath the moment the kick connected with him, and with an irritated flick of his wrist blasted the deertaur’s final limb off her body.
“There,” he said with extreme annoyance. “The battle is over.”
Vinyl’s jaw dropped in horror as she looked on. “S-Sky! I didn’t think— How can you be so cruel?!”
Sky turned around with a surprised look on his face. “I’m not being cruel she— AAAAA!”
The moment Sky had turned his back Irien undulated, using her upper and lower bodies as a lever to move into position and bite Sky’s left shin savagely enough to puncture both his boot and his flesh.
Sky kicked out with his left foot, catching Irien under her chin, sending her head snapping backward as she popped free of his leg.
“Luna’s FUCKING mane! Give the fuck up already?! What the fuck is the fucking matter with you?” Sky roared before swinging Sheila into position and putting two bolts through Irien’s upper chest.
Oh… Vinyl said to herself as she realized what was actually going on.
The deertaur grunted in annoyance as she was shot and rolled over, beginning to wiggle her way back into position to bite Sky again.
“Why won’t you die?!” Sky demanded angrily.
“Someone didn’t read Brass Paladin number two-fifty-three!” Irien teased, sticking her tongue out at Sky once more.
Vinyl shook her head. She wasn’t about to deal with an immortal yet destructible would-be-hero. Not today.
“Veena? Fly her to the top and put her… Anywhere. Then get back here and let us know if the army’s breached the doors yet,” Vinyl ordered with a shake of her head.
“Right,” Veena sighed.
The Dragoness stepped over to Irien, wrapped one talon around her lower spine, then opened her wings and took off, quickly flying up the winding corridor and vanishing from sight.
“Put me down! We were having a fair and honorable duel!” Irien shouted at Veena before beginning to yell at Sky. “COWARD! I’LL BE BACK! YOUR DRAGON CAN’T FLY ME FAR ENOUGH AWAY! AND YEAH, I KNOW THEY CAN GO INTO SPACE! I WILL FIND YOU!”
Vinyl shook her head once more than looked up at Sky. “That seems like it was really really irritating,” she said apologetically.
“It’s fine,” Sky grumbled, rubbing his bleeding leg. “You didn’t know we were facing a supernatural Elbez with fucking Shooter Guy powers…”
“Wait, explain that,” Vinyl demanded, her face scrunching up.
“She can make chest high walls, regenerates health when behind them, including growing back limbs. You can’t hit her while she’s in cover, and she has actual HP. Or did you not see how I put holes in her but she kept, you know, being alive?” Sky grumbled.
Vinyl sighed. “Suddenly I don’t feel so bad about getting staked by her,” she said before turning to run back down the rest of the ramp. “Come on. We need to get to Lyra so I can have her tell Veena to ensure she can’t regenerate and come after us again. Who knows how long we will be down here.”
“I wonder if her bite will give me Shooter Guy powers too?” Sky asked himself jokingly as he slid Sheila into place on his back and turned to follow Vinyl down the ramp.
“Well, stranger things have happened. Like being alive because you’re hosting a dead Old One,” Vinyl said as she began to run.
“How is that working out for you now that you know?” Sky asked, flinching slightly with each step as a pulse of pain shot up his injured leg.
“Surprisingly well,” Vinyl said after a moment spent thinking it over. “I’m her, she’s me. There’s no difference. I guess it’s best to think of me as a gestalt of a pony who never lived, and a god who died.”
“Too bad it doesn't give you any perks,” Sky said with a wince. “Like crazy deer girl bite healing power. How the fuck did she bite through an armored boot?”
Vinyl giggled as Sky cursed.
“What?” The engineer demanded.
“Well, it’s just… I’ve been meaning to ask. Why do you still swear like a foal?” Vinyl asked with a grin.
Sky snorted. “I don’t swear like a foal. I swear like everyone from Phoenix. Cuz I swear in English. Yeah, Equestrian foals will say fuck instead of buck, but that’s a nonsense word in Equish. In English, Fuck is a crass way to say sex. Or to say hitting something. Or in place of any noun, adjective, verb, or preposition in a sentence. Or as nearly every word in a sentence.
“It’s one of that kind of curse words that just snowballs into something bi— “
Sky’s bitten leg decided to move a bit slower than he would have liked, and he tripped. Falling head over heels down the ramp for several meters.
Vinyl ran over to his side, holding out a hoof to help him back up. “You okay? We’ll run slower,” she asked.
“Ow…” Sky groaned as he took Vinyl’s hoof and pulled himself back up to his feet. “Okay, so as an example…”
Sky took a deep breath.
“Fuck this fucking ramp with a motherfucking anchor!” He roared angrily.
Vinyl couldn't help but snicker at what to her was still a small child’s attempt to sound like an adult. “It’s okay, there’s only another hundred meters or so to go,” she promised with a smile.
“We’ve been walking for half an hour… It had better be almost done,” Sky mumbled under his breath.
The two made it to the bottom of the ramp in but a few minutes, Sky only stumbling another three times. The bite had done more damage than immediately apparent, but a few small nudges from Vinyl’s Telekinesis was enough to allow Sky to continue safely down the admittedly steep ramp.
When the two reached the bottom, two things were immediately obvious. First, despite the ramp, a barrier had been installed to keep Arrex from returning. The ramp ended with a mere ten feet of flat floor before a solid metal wall blocked all further progress.
The wall was white in hue and glowed like the frosted glass in a lampshade. The way the glow crackled and fizzed within the metal suggested the wall was reinforced with some form of energy field. Blasting through it would not be an option. The only way through the wall was a small door, just big enough for a human to enter through.
Second, Lyra and Chem had managed to get the door open. Revealing the wall to be around three meters thick. But more importantly also showing the room beyond the wall, into which Lyra and Chem were staring in awe.
“What is it?” Vinyl asked, trotting up to stand next to Lyra.
“Just… Look,” Lyra said, pointing into the room with a hoof.
The room, if one could call such a large space a room, was truly something to marvel at.
It reminded Vinyl of the time Bonbon had taken her and her other friends to see an in-progress Megaspell Resistant Fortress. Everypony knew no mage would be foolish enough to use such magic ever again. Yet with how many disasters had struck Equestria in the recent past, it was little wonder why some wealthy ponies would like to live in as close to absolute safety as they could possibly be.
The chamber in front of them was a metal box. Everything solid. Walls. Floor. Ceiling. No gaps. Just the one entry point. Everything most likely three meters thick. Everything reinforced with bracing thicker than three points standing atop one another. Everything properly jointed to allow for the movement of the earth to not crush the box.
The floor had mounting points for colossal springs which held up a secondary floor, accessible by ramps, upon which a fortress could be constructed to make the building earthquake proof. Nothing would harm something built upon that platform.
Everything in the room was white and unpainted. Everything was clean and well lit. Not a speck of dust, dirt, or grime to be seen. The room had been sealed airtight for who knows how many millennia.
None of that was even remotely awe-inspiring. That was merely interesting, perhaps even impressive if one was architecturally inclined. No, the truly incredible thing was how the “body” of Arrex was interred within its high tech coffin. For that’s what the room was.
The tremor proof floor was marked out in a hexagonal pattern, and each hex held a single component. Some hexes were subdivided into more hexes, each holding a smaller part. There were thousands of hexes and thousands of parts. Brightly painted white, blue, red, gold, and black metal cut and formed into complex shapes, precision made PCBs, miles of hydraulic lines, and half a dozen things no one recognized rested in an orderly disassembled state within that room. There was no body.
Everything was evenly spaced. Perfectly centered within its hex. There was a logical arrangement. Electronics in the rear left, hydraulics in the rear right, fasteners in the middle left, and so on. Looking into the room was exactly like looking at the desk of a fastidious model building enthusiast who ritualistically laid each and every tiny component out on their desk before building a new model.
“It’s like a giant’s workbench,” Sky murmured quietly.
“Think you can find the eye in that?” Chem asked.
“I think the eye is most definitely in pieces. NaN’s instructions didn't say anything about this,” Sky said uncertainty. “I think she would know about this.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. She’s basically enslaved. Why would she know anything she didn’t need to know?” Lyra asked as she looked down at a small silver horn in her left hoof.
Vinyl caught sight of the silver instrument as it sparkled in the bright light which spilled out of the doorway. It didn’t look like it belonged in this world. It wasn’t organic looking at all. This was the sort of trumpet a robot might make, all angles and geometry. Yet it still looked as if it would comfortably sit within a hand, and also appeared very much playable.
“Where did you get that trumpet, Ly?” She asked curiously.
“OH!” Lyra exclaimed, her ears standing on end. “RIght! I forgot because, well, you know why. Over here.”
Lyra nodded towards the far left wall and walked over to it with Vinyl following along behind. “Chem and I thought there might be a lever or something along the wall. So we walked along and found this,” she explained, gesturing to a small shrine cut into the stonework of the left-hand wall with a hoof.
Vinyl stepped forward and inspected the shrine. An open glass case rested in the center of the small cut out, and that rested atop a small stone column decorated with engraved thorny vines which seemed to drip poison. A carving at the top of the shrine depicted the trumpet in Lyra’s hoof being blown, with an image of the world crumbling to dust beneath the player.
Okay, so the idea is this thing could cause the apocalypse. At least it was behind the “worthiness test”. Without my sword to lock this away, we’d have another Rings of Talacon on our hooves. Vinyl thought with a sigh.
“So you see a trumpet in a case with a warning carved in pictures so everyone can understand it no matter what language they speak, and even if they don’t read at all, and you just take it out and play it?” Vinyl asked Lyra dryly.
Lyra shook her head and pointed again, this time to the left of the shrine. “That’s not what this is or does. Null made this place, that picture is a lie. Read that.”
Vinyl turned her head towards the faint scratchings on the wall. It took her a moment to realize they were indeed words. Someone had plastered over them in an attempt to hide them.
Odd they didn’t just smash the stone to prevent anyone from reading… No, wait, this was done to hide the words by whoever made it, VInyl realized as she slowly read the text.
Hero,
I am sorry to have lied to you. Whatever I held out to you on a silver platter to persuade you to retrieve the Eye of Arrex, it was a partial lie. The Eye will not solve your problem. It is not the solution you seek. It is the solution I seek.
I assure you that I will do whatever is necessary to give you what I promised you. I got you to come here by trickery because if I spoke aloud the real quest, Her Divine Grace would hear my words and know I plotted to escape her grasp. You now hold the power to free not only me but our entire world from her. If you do, I will give you all I promised the Eye would do for you and more.
Anything you desire will be yours. My creators lived in an age where the need to work no longer existed. They lived in a world where there was no such thing as scarcity. The power to draw upon infinite resources without the need for a single worker is something I can do once I am free of my sister’s shackles.
If you want a billion lovers, I shall custom grow them for you to exact specifications. If you want your dead family members back, I shall make new bodies for them and transfer their minds out of the network Her Divine Grace stores them all in. If you want to live in a city made entirely of gold I shall construct it. If you wish for ultimate knowledge, I can provide you with a link to my very mind, and all that I know will be yours. Do you wish to study the creatures who live in the void beyond the stars? I will create equipment for you to do so safely. A universe of your own? Not a problem.
You made it this far, you are beyond my sister’s reach in this place. If she knows you are here, she cannot stop you. Our “magic” doesn't work in this place. We can’t sense it anymore. She got suspicious when I began to inspect the coffin for any spot I could beam a signal through. There are none.
This is the last time I can ever be here, and as a creature of light, I can not blow the trumpet myself. Nor can any machine I can devise. An organic being must do it.
It will not end the world. It was made into the key for the coffin. Play the first song I have transcribed below and the door will open.
The second song is the Warsong of a long dead people. My creators. Her Divine Grace’s creators. It is their call to war, ceremonially played upon each march into battle. My sister used it as the key to unlock a curse she put upon Arrex which prevents him from healing. Play it and the curse will break.
She believed the song would be lost. She didn't know I knew it. She doesn't know it is written here, next to where she chose to place the key to his prison as a final bit of mockery.
There is no time to write my full plan down, nor would you be likely to understand it. But it will work. Arrex cannot defeat her on his own, but with my help, it will be trivial. When he fought Her Divine Grace long ago, she used her “magic” to prevent him from sensing my existence. Her magic will not exist in this spot because I can go anywhere she can. To keep me out, she cannot be able to go to a spot herself. He will know I exist if he is returned to life, and that will be that.
Play the song. Save the world. Get whatever rewards you want. There is no price too steep for freeing us all from her prison.
-Not a Number
We’ve been played. Vinyl thought the instant she finished reading the message.
She grit her teeth, milliseconds away from flying into a rage beyond anything she had ever felt before. Then Lyra set a hoof on Vinyl’s shoulder.
“Vi. I was angry too. But think for a minute. Is this really screwing us over?” Lyra asked as she looked into Vinyl's eyes.
Vinyl nodded. “It damn well is! All of this was for noth—”
Vinyl’s angry tirade was cut short by an idea suddenly arising in the back of her mind. She’s not screwing us. She’s protecting herself. We are people not a part of Null’s network. NaN could trust us to not betray her. But Null really can hear everything NaN does, even if she can't react to it instantly.
Besides, we wouldn't have helped her. We would have focused in on finding Hastur. Which if her promise of a reward for helping her with this is true, we will get. And why wouldn’t it be? She’s an AI made to engineer advanced technology, and we need a piece of advanced technology. She’d probably want to make it anyways.
Worst case scenario, we help this world escape the rule of a mad tyrant. That’s a good thing. Even if we fail, even if NaN truly screws us over, one world will be saved. Because really, there’s two at stake here. There’s no way the Dragons won’t just glass the whole planet to ensure that Null has no other cores on the planet besides the one they know about.
We’ve been so focused on saving our world, we didn’t think about this one. We may not know it well, and its danger is further away, but we’re heroes, and saving the world is actually in our job description.
Thank you, Light. I wouldn’t have put that together before I did something really… Stupid.
Vinyl nodded once. “Right. I get it now. Thanks, Lyra. Is Chem up to speed?”
Lyra nodded. “Yes. And so is Veena, but she doesn't want me to activate Arrex before she can inspect it to try and see what it is. Personally… I don’t care. I want our world to be safe, and I trust NaN to deliver the unlimited bounty she promised in her message here. She’s got everything to gain from this.”
Vinyl nodded again. “Yeah. That leaves just Sky then,” Vinyl said as she turned to face the group and wave them over. “Sky! There’s something you should know. Come over here and read this message NaN cut into the wall.”
Sky frowned, but walked over to the two ponies, his eyes flicking over the wall for a few moments before Vinyl pointed the message out to him.
“Ah! Thank you. That’s pretty well hidden,” he said as he began to read the message.
His eyes narrowed angrily as he read the first half but slowly softened as he reached the end. Then he reached up to stroke his chin thoughtfully.
“Okay. We know her sister listens to everything NaN does. I can understand why she would try to deceive people into helping her. But what if we just trade one paperclip maximizer for another? She is REALLY focused on building things,” Sky cautioning as he looked off into the nothingness between himself and the wall in thought.
“It would be a paperclip maximizer who owes us a favor,” Lyra reminded.
“True. But she did promise a universe as a possible reward. I’m not certain you can build those,” Vinyl said with a shrug, deciding to play devil’s advocate.
“Well, theoretically you could make a small pocket of independent spacetime with any sort of physics you like which would be large enough for a person to enter, and once inside of it you could make them perceive anything you liked, including infinite space.” Sky mused. “My sister Ayna made such a device to try and prove the hypothesis that an inherent property of a true Vacuum is to create something.
“She did it, but the miniverse she created was only a few nanometers across. If NaN’s creators were, oh... Say, a thousand years more advanced than we are, then yeah. She probably can make you a custom universe. Or she could be trying to use words a primitive might understand, and what she would really do is plug them into a Virtual Reality via a mind-link.”
Chem walked over while Sky spoke, and nodded in agreement as he arrived. “Lyra and I talked about it for a bit before deciding to try opening the door just to see what was inside. We both think we can trust NaN to deliver on her promise.”
Lyra nodded twice. “She did give us the blueprints to make everything we need for the radar, except for the eye, which she said is some kind of subspace scanner, right? And Sky, you did say you think you could build it from those plans given enough time and materials, right?”
Sky nodded. “Yes. It would take a month or two, but yes.”
Vinyl brought a hoof up to her chin to think. “Then the worst case scenario, we cause mass chaos across the world, plunging it into absolute madness as a new “God” takes it over and reshapes it in mere hours. But we can scavenge materials to save our own world and we can trust that this world won't be destroyed by the Dragons because the threat to them is dead.
“Most likely scenario, we help someone escape slavery, who in turn brings the world into the future via a slow transition, who rewards us for our help. Or if they don't, we can still scavenge materials to save our own world.
“Best case scenario, NaN really WILL give us anything we want, farts out a kinetic bombardment platform for us, and we use it along with the Radar to find Hatty and nuke him from orbit.”
The four looked at each other, searching the other’s faces for any sign of objection to Vinyl’s logic. They found none.
Vinyl nodded once. “Okay… Lyra, where’s Vee?”
“She’s two minutes away,” Lyra reported immediately.
“Have you told her what’s in the room?” Vinyl asked. “Is that enough for her?”
Lyra shook her head. “I did, but it wasn’t.”
Vinyl closed her eyes and sighed. “She’s a member of the team. We’ll wait.”
The four walked back to the door and waited until their draconic companion returned. Fortunately wasn’t long until the white dragoness winged her way around the final bend in the ramp and slammed into the ground, panting heavily from the exertion of her rapid flight.
“Sorry! It’s hard, to fly, fast, in narrow, spaces, and yeah, thirty meters, is narrow, for something, with my…” She trailed off, pausing to inhale deeply. “Wingspan. Okay, so, room, lots of parts. Tech things. We need to know we’re not making a subspace bomb!”
Sky facepalmed immediately. “Vee, given the parts in there I could make anything I wanted to, including all kinds of WMDs and Doomsday devices. It’s a treasure trove of high tech components. It could be anything. But according to the story, it’s a giant robot. I believe the story because there’s no need for Null to deny having once fought “a giant in a suit of armor”. But hey, look for yourself. It’s a huge pile of parts. You’ll see any number of machines in it.”
Veena craned her neck around to look through the open doorway into the room. Her eyes scanned over each and every component, the digital part of her mind cataloging each and every one of them while comparing them to parts she had seen before. All while her organic mind went to task to find out how they could fit together, what these separate entities might achieve as one cohesive mechanism.
Her thought process was beyond the understanding of an organic mind, but also inorganic minds. The union of flesh and steel on such an intimate level created its own rules. It’s own ways. Unknowable to anything or anyone outside of the realm they created.
And yet all roads do eventually lead to the same place.
Veena blushed a bright pink as she saw how to build everything from a city killing death ray to the world’s greatest sex toy in the pile of parts.
“Uhhhh, good point, Sky,” she admitted awkwardly. “I um… I just didn’t want to… It could have obviously been parts of a planet-busting bomb, you know?”
Sky smiled for a moment and shook his head. “Newbies… Leave the assessing to the Engineers next time.”
Vinyl shook her head slowly as well. Silly Dragon. At least she only cost us a few minutes.
“Lyra, play the song,” Vinyl ordered.
Lyra raised the horn to her lips, pressed two of the keys down with her hoof, looked over at Veena and said, “All ponies have telekinesis in their hooves. That’s how I can press two keys with one hoof at the same time without pressing the third key.”
“Ohhhhh!” Veena exclaimed the perplexed look which had formed melting away. “You know you could have just said that telepathically.”
“Can’t. Trying to remember the music,” Lyra said with a smirk.
Then she put the trumpet back up to her lips and began to play. The slow almost threatening melody filled the air. It spoke of power, of grandeur, of triumph, and oddly enough, it spoke of regret.
The song washed over the assorted parts in the room beyond the doorway. Flowing around and over each and every part. The first few seconds of the song went by, the music slowly building on itself. Everyone aside from Lyra stared into the room, watching intently, unsure of what might happen.
Then, as Lyra reached the song’s first crescendo, it happened. A bright bronze colored light flowed outwards from a small black box on the far side of the room. The light ran across each and every part slowly but surely casting them in its bronze glow, making each part luminous.
The brightness grew and grew with the music until at last all parts shone like miniature suns. Everyone but Lyra turned away from the bright light. Lyra continued to play, seemingly entranced.
Vinyl’s ears twitched and flicked as the sound of thousands of metal parts scraping against the flooring all in unison filled the air, rising above the song for a few short moments as the parts began to move.
The light dimmed, each part having been infused with the necessary amount of arcane energy for its respective task. Sensing the light change even with her eyes closed, Vinyl turned her head and peeked back into the room. The individual parts were moving of their own will, flying slowly but steadily through their air to meet up with partners and join together into components, which in turn moved in concert to link up with one another almost as if they were dancing.
A humanoid shape began to emerge from the component's dance. First feet, then legs. Hips, and a torso, arms, and then the head. The parts were separated no more
A truly giant, mostly white, mech of an angular design featuring elements of iron age wargear stood within the room. It’s look was bold, but understated. It was clearly designed for war with it’s angular plating, large arm mounted shield, flight-pack, and its many integrated weapons, but care had been put into its design to also make it look noble. A fusion of a tank, an ancient knight, and a modern soldier.
It kinda looks like Neighponese armor, Vinyl noted as she looked at the mech’s head. Especially with that long unicorn horn thingy its got. That’s almost exactly the same as those helmets with the spearing thingie that fits over your horn… No one ever explained to me how you can use those and not have it hurt really bad.
The shock-resistant floor creaked and groaned with Arrex’s bulk. The colossal warmachine stood still for several long moments as if waiting for something. Then it came to life. Armor plates all over the mech hinged open for a moment, revealing bright red crystal components along with maneuvering thrusters for brief instants, only to shut the very next moment. Hatches in the limbs and on the shoulders opened to briefly deploy internal weapons, which immediately retracted. The robot’s limbs moved, each individual joint making precise simple motions as it went through its boot up diagnostics.
Then just as suddenly as it started, it stopped, falling still one more.
Arrex remained still for several minutes, long enough for Sky to let out the squee he had been holding in. “Please need a pilot, please need a pilot, please need a pilot!” He chanted, hopping excitedly from foot to foot.
Lyra rolled her eyes and put the trumpet aside. “Sky, you own like six giant robots. What’s so special about this one?” She asked dryly.
Sky shot Lyra a hurt look and pointed to the text on the front of Arrex’s left and right pauldrons. “Do you see that? Anaheim Electronics! It’s a— “
Arrex’s eyes lit up with an audible click, interrupting Sky mid-sentence as it proclaimed in a deep synthetic voice which shook the very ground beneath it: “RESTARTUS Protocol: Complete. RX-0-a “Autonomous Avenger” is back online. All systems: Nominal. Weapons: Hot. Mission: The Liberation of Rusmeon from Mar’rath Incorporated. Attempting to locate allied forces…”
Chem inhaled, producing the sound of a fanboy in awe. “It’s got the personality and voiceprint of Liberty Prime!” He said with a childish smile.
Vinyl, Lyra, and Veena shared a look between them.
“I feel like we non-mecha nerds are missing out,” Veena said for the three of them.
Sky nodded. “Yes. Yes, you are,” he said insistently before going back to grinning like a dork.
“We get to watch this thing rip the army outside to shreds!” Chem exclaimed gleefully. “This is SOOOO much better than an illusion spell.”
Vinyl nodded to herself. “Yep, we are.”
“This is the BEST day!” Chem and Sky exclaimed in unison.
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The only thing missing from that fight was for Irien to say "It's only a flesh wound"
Alright the stage is set, the players are ready, TIME FOR A SHOW DOWN!!!
[Woooo first comment]
You know, I kinda expected you to put a Black-Knight-Reference in there. And then you did. Thank you.
Liberty Prime, eh? Alright, then. Though I can't rightly say if your description of the mechs looks are a reference, too.
8808213 I only added an A to it's name to designate it as an autonomous version... *sighs*
On one hand I am sad that Sky didn't get to finish that phrase, on the other hand I'm happy because Everytime someone shouts "It's a Gundam!" they explode.
8808220
Ah, okay.
...Gundam Unicorn...no questions there.
8808228 The RX-0 Is referred to as Gundam Unicorn due to the single antennae on it's helmet and because it is basically a giant psi-amp. I have regretted not using it for something sooner. Cuz Unicorn.
Irien could teach some tricks to the Black Knight. Also third person shooter powers are so much bullshit. Considering were they are, though, I wouldn't be surprised if sky actually got them from that bite.
I so want to see Null's face when they get the robot out there. It will be hilarious.
Chem and Sky fangasming is hilariously cute
Shout out to Veena's idea of creating the greatest sex toy ever from the body of a giant robot savior
8808310
For all we know, that just meant "fix the robot".
You magnificent bastard. I remember watching this when I was a kid
...
Our victory comes onliiiiine...
8810231 10/10! Recognizing foreshadowing is rare XD
That's some serious regeneration.
That might well be true.
Try a leg next time, Sky.
That's a good point.
Oooo, a Trumpet of Freeing NaN? That could be useful. Turns this quest into one with the aim of saving two worlds instead of just one.
That says interesting things about how Null is running this world. Is everyone constantly hooked up to her network? Some sort of system that catches everyone at the moment of death? That seems like it wouldn't be entirely reliable depending on the death circumstances in question.
Before releasing her, they should double check with Veena what the dragon opinion of NaN is.
That's pretty great.
Wooooooooo Finally caught up!!!!!
no long long comment here (will try to do one next chapter) but I do have this:
Now why didn't I think of that?
heh could take the same concept for how ponies can play things like penny whistles for my little Shiny, hehehe. Thanks for the idea!
Quite enjoying this so far, (even if it took me forever to catch up...) and I'm looking forward to the next chapter!
8811016
This is a mechanic I came up with for this world when it was my homebrew D&D setting. Null has everyone soul trapped, literately, and using her creator's technology keeps those souls in an artificial univerce known as Haven. While people are alive, a window is opened through which their soul interacts with their body and everything works exactly the same as things would naturally. But when the body is damaged beyond a certain point, the system closes the window and the person now exists purly within the realm of Haven. It's how Null got an afterlife to exist because the hero returning from the grave and seeing the ghosts of loved ones is a fantasy trope she needed to replicate.
As a result everyone who ever died and wasn't a visitor to Mar'rath is still alive and well.
8811307
Yay! I've been missing you :3
8811822
*hugs* and I've missed commenting and chatting with you!
8810507
Now, if I could only figure out who NaN is going to wind up with... Maybe Grogar? There's some parallels there...
Well...that was just awesome
Really? Yes I laughed, but still..