17 - Conscripting Victory
Twilight Sparkle - Day 10
Avici Jungle - The Imperial Provinces of Minic
Twilight Sparkle stared out across her domain from the ramparts of Fort Library. The bright afternoon sun washed over all she had achieved, almost as if it were a spotlight. All she had achieved was impressive, but nowhere near as much as she would have liked.
Most everything was half-finished, or a hollow shell. But some things were in a functional condition.
To her left the crude hastily converted cave held four fully grown Tarrasques, all of whom were more than happy to let people ride on them if the small things gave them treats.
I wonder how many people would be okay with them being penned in there with just that little wicker fence? Twilight wondered as she watched one of her self-replicating constructs carry a basket of honeycombs through the stable’s gate.
The constructs had been her second creation. After putting Gadget into a proper body of course. That had proved a little tricky, but fortunately, the jungle was full of magical timber and after remembering what she knew of Timber Wolves, and remembering the spell Wood Shape was on the Druid’s Spell List, the Timber Pony was easy enough to force into existence.
Twilight had based the other TImber Ponies on Gadget’s arcane and physical “template”, which had the unintended side effect of making the constructs rather intelligent.
The question as to whether or not Twilight had created a new sapient species was one she pondered often. If she hadn’t, they were too close to the line to tell. In which case, did it truly matter?
Despite the ethical crisis, her creations had unintentionally caused her, Twilight appreciated their work. As of this morning, they had reached a population of five hundred with only twenty of them dedicated to making more. The rest were busy following Twilight’s designs.
After all, there was only so much Twilight could do herself. She needed blacksmiths, mages, soldiers, bakers, writers, scholars, candlestick makers, and so many other things in order to ensure her plan would succeed.
Right now, the bunker and finishing the fortress would simply have to wait. A proper manufacturing base was needed. It’s been ten days. That makes it very clear that my friends are dead. It’s all up to me, and Hastur is having problems finding me. I need to be ready as soon as possible. We could have only days left, months tops.
Maybe I should get them to start work on the outer wall after lunch? No. The forge is more important. The iron ore in the stables can be worked into plates quickly enough… Did I already show hem how to make armored skins for themselves? I think so.
Twilight thought back over the last four days, searching for an answer. There was more to think of than one would expect. After all, Twilight had spent the last eight days judiciously abusing the spells Augmented Mythic Time Stop and Shadow Clone to get more work done. All told there were the memories of six separate hers. Some of whom had managed to fit up to twelve total days of work into the last four days.
Yes. I did. Good! They will be Iron Ponies soon. That will make them combat ready. Um… If my third clone for today has finished teaching them basic sorcery… This is really hard to keep track of. I need to make a corkboard just to track this. It’s almost more than my mind can handle.
Twilight turned away from the ramparts, facing the central tower of her half-finished Fortress, and closed her eyes in concentration. Her hands flicked through a dozen delicate gestures glowing green than blue as she cast a series of spells. A quick application of Major Creation conjured forth all the materials she needed. A simple use of Fabricate and an artist’s easel supporting a corkboard, parchment paper, the tacks needed to hold them to the board, and of course red string to link elements together, simply took shape.
Her final spell simply dumped all of her knowledge of her clone’s schedules onto the paper.
Twilight nodded in satisfaction as she looked over her impromptu timetable and task list. This is probably inaccurate, but I’ll just update it after reabsorbing the clones tonight. Then we can get everything right tomorrow. This should help speed things up!
Twilight turned back towards her work in progress village, and once more watched her Timber Ponies work. Soon the Village Hidden in the Jungle would be complete. Well, doctor soon. Not soon soon.
While her Timber Ponies and clones worked day and night to get the Fortress and village ready, Twilight herself had made many excursions into the jungle. Searching for supplies, magical resources, and other such things. Today was a necessary break from that routine. In order to keep up this much arcane power expense, a good amount of rest and focus was a must.
It also let her track her progress.
The village occupied a large stretch of land between the greenhouse and stables. With the other two sides bordered by Fort Library itself, and the mighty “River Full of Bitey Things”.
The greenhouse was currently Twilight’s top priority for fully finishing. On her third expedition into the jungle, she had found a small colony of humanoid plant-people cowering in terror inside a damp cave. Apparently, that’s all they did.
It had been a simple matter for the Princess of Friendship to befriend them, and since they could coax plantlife to grow to maturity within ten or twenty hours (a feat not even someone with twenty levels in Druid could achieve without the plants withering away equally as rapidly) they were a valuable asset indeed. In exchange for that, a magically conjured greenhouse and daily druid spells to keep them all happy and healthy was a small price to pay.
It’s a bit funny, Twilight thought as she watched a team of Timber Ponies assembling a prefabricated house with a smile. It would have genuinely been more work for me to make everything myself or buy everything I’d need than to simply make a small settlement to produce it for me. I suppose that’s just a thing Game Masters gloss over when their players do silly things.
Twilight hummed and scrunched her face slightly as another thought hit her. Is that why Celestia rules over Equestria? Is it the most efficient way to always have access to banana cream cake?
Twilight’s ears twitched as the sound of wood scraping on granite came from the doorway behind her. She turned, seeing Gadget walking out onto the rooftop.
The Timber Ponies were based off a simplified version of the wood and stone body Twilight had fashioned for her armor/friend. Mentally as well as physically. As a result, Gadget felt compelled to teach the Timber Ponies the finer points of her culture, seeing them as her children.
Gadget walked up to the ramparts, stopping beside Twilight and looked out over the growing village as well.
“It’s hard to believe we did all of this in just ten days,” Gadget remarked, flashing Twilight a proud yet impressed smile.
“Major Creation is easily the best spell,” Twilight replied with a wink.
“It sure seems to be,” gadget agreed, then her animated marble face grew grim.
She turned to face Twilight, her ears drooping as she admitted, “I uh, I didn’t come up here for the view. One of the little lizard dudes decided to go do some scouting. There’s a small city about half a day’s walk to the south.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Why is that bad news? We’ll integrate them and expand the bunkers below so when the time comes they will be safe like everyone else.”
Gadget shook her head. “No, it’s not that. It’s um… Well, you know how broken their speech is. There’s a chance he’s wrong, but he claims the village is well…” Gadget shuffled her hooves nervously, inhaled and then blurted out “The local church is besieging a library and are intent on burning it to the ground.”
Twilight’s left eye twitched in a way which made Gadget step away from her then wince.
“Don’t do anything ba-” Gadget started to say, only to be cut off as Twilight summoned a thick rolled up newspaper into her right with a mere snap of her fingers.
“I’ll be right back,” Twilight said with another eye twitch, then vanished amid a sharp pop and a flash of green light.
Besieged by a horde of angry peasants, one led by a lesser Avatar of Null herself, the Scholars of Torchkeep watched the Void Barrier erected around their monastery grow ever dimmer. Each rock deflected, each fireball, lightning bolt, and mana ray absorbed siphoned a little more of the heretical technology’s protection.
Soon it would be no more, and the keep itself would burn just like the grounds and outbuildings.
Brother Simon and Brother Alfabusa looked out the great hall’s window at the angry mob, more specifically at the gleeful and wrathful figure leading them. Tall, slender, metallic skin which appeared to the untrained eye to be gold, all clad in sleek plate mail fashioned from platinum, bundled within a purple cloak, wielding a silver staff festooned with glowing crystal as she threw bolt after bolt of divine wrath into the barrier before her.
Everyone had seen Her Divine Grace before. The Goddesses were Omnipresent after all. One simply had to go to a shrine and ask to see them. Few had ever seen Her Divine Grace like this.
The monk tore his gaze away for a moment, feeling sick. “We never should have worked to reverse Engineer any of the artifacts,” he said to the monk who stood beside him.
“Perhaps not, Brother. And yet, the Void Barrier is all that is keeping us from destruction,” Brother Alfabusa said as he continued to look upon the angry hoard. “We were correct. Not even the Gods themselves can simply breach such defenses without effort. If we had been able to keep our study of one of the Artifacts of Arrex to ourselves-”
A flash of green light blossomed for but an instant just before Null’s avatar. A Scorrus, young, dressed in crude jungle fighter gear, wielding some sort of club.
“It looks as if her temple’s sent a messenger,” Brother Alfabusa noted. “They must have found an item that will help breach the barrier.”
“Then this is the end,” Brother Simon said with a regretful sigh. “It’s been an honor, my friend.”
“I feel the same, Brother,” Alfabusa replied mournfully.
The newly arrived Scorrus seemed to say something, the Barrier’s loud hum preventing her words from being heard. The Goddess replied, her words also lost, but the malice in her eyes and the snarl on her lips conveyed exactly what anyone needed to know.
“A would be hero,” Alfabusa mused, stroking his chin. “A shame she’d throw her life away so reckless-”
“NO! BAD!” Twilight screeched as she jumped up and wacked the Goddess on the head with her newspaper.
The monk’s jaws dropped in shock as the Goddess stumbled backward, the alarmed look on her face betraying the fact that the blow had actually caused her genuine pain. Their shock turned to horror as the Goddess’s Avatar contorted and stretched, growing to stand twenty feet tall as Null transferred the bulk of her power and consciousness into that particular form.
“IMPUDENT WRETCH!” Null screeched. “YOU WILL BURN WITH—”
Twenty feet is nothing to a Scorrus. Twilight lifted up again, landing a second thwack squarely on the Goddess’s nose.
“OW!” The now giant avatar growled, reaching up to soothe her bruised nose.
“Don’t you DARE burn those books!” Twilight demanded. “I’ll whack you again!”
Null snarled and with a flick of her wrist launched a bolt of lightning directly into Twilight’s face. A bolt of lightning which had no effect whatsoever.
Null’s eyes narrowed in anger. “That was DIVINE lightning! How do you stand?” She demanded.
Twilight grinned up at her towering opponent. “Elemental Immunity is on the Druid spell list. Lasts for twenty-four hours. I cast it once for each energy type every morning.”
Null rolled her eyes and waved a hand to strip the irksome mage of her magic entirely and permanently. Her eyes widened in horror as nothing happened. Her hand clenched around her staff, whipping it down in a savage strike, intent on caving her opponent's skull in.
Twilight flicked her wrist, intercepting the staff with her newspaper and stopping the blow dead. The two weapons cracked liked thunder. Null flinched, Twilight’s eye twitched again.
“You’re not going to leave the books alone, are you?” Twilight asked.
Null ignored Twilight’s question. “Explain your power, mortal!” She demanded.
“I’ve got a hundred and twenty character levels,” Twilight replied with a simple wink.
“You know how the system works…” Null mused. “Then you too must burn with the books you so wish to protect.”
Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. “Just once I’d like it if I met someone in another universe who was hostile, and the usual “I’ll be your friend” speech worked.”
Back inside Torchkeep, Brother Simon turned to Brother Alfabusa. “Would you fetch me a chair? And some wine, if we have any?”
“Sorry, but I am not going to miss this,” the other monk said as he took a seat on the floor.
Thus began the Battle for Torchkeep. Thus did Twilight unknowingly draw Her Divine Grace’s eye away from the greater threat Twilight’s friends had just unleashed.
Vinyl Scratch - Day 10
The Great Tomb of Arrex - Wieav
Vinyl looked up at the white giant which towered over her with a growing sense of apprehension. The way light gleamed and shimmered in Arrex’s eyes gave the construct an incredibly menacing look. Every hard line, sharp corner, and calculated curve of its face was designed to inspire terror in its enemies and hope in its allies.
But are we friends? That’s the question, Vinyl thought with a worried frown. This would be a great time for Twilight to be here. She’d have this thing on our side in ten seconds flat.
Vinyl turned her gaze to the giant’s weapons. She could see a large rifle, a battleship’s cannon really, magnetically strapped to Arrex’s backpack. There were, of course, the dozen or so integrated weapons that Arrex had tested a few moments ago. As if such a large and potent looking weapon as his rifle were not enough.
And if she couldn’t, it would be great to have an Alicorn on hoof to stop this thing. Vinyl added as she turned her thoughts inwards. Okay me, how do we handle this if things go to Tartarus on our plots?
Vinyl’s inner self was quiet. Seemingly unsure of what to do herself.
“Now I REALLY would like to know where Twilight is,” Vinyl mumbled allowed.
Sky shrugged. “If Pinkie were here she’d probably say…” He trailed off for a moment, staring into the distance in thought. “Eh, something like ‘She’s fighting an evil god with a rolled up newspaper and winning’.”
Lyra snorted in amusement. “You’d think after all these years she would have rubbed off on you enough where you could do it too,” she teased, giving Sky a wink.
Vinyl cleared her throat. “I brought Twilight up because I’d like a backup plan in case this guy is going to be hostile to us. Any suggestions?” She asked, looking over the group each in turn as she hoped for an answer.
After a short moment of silence, Chem spoke up. “Well, the wall will slow it down a bit. I could use a spell to shrink us all down except Veena who could fly us out as fast as she can.”
Veena winced and hissed at Chem’s idea. “I really don’t think I could hold a bunch of tiny people, fly in that tunnel, and not hurt anyone.”
“It would still be better than running. If it’s not going to be friendly,” Vinyl pointed out.
“We really should have thought of this before using the horn,” Sky added, quite unnecessarily.
Arrex spoke, his booming voice drowning out the team’s conversation. “Warning! Additional military personnel not detected within three-point-seven-nine Astronomical Units. Numbers Stations: Offline. Primary Command Frequencies: Offline. Tactical Assessment: This Unit and Technicians Unknown Alpha, Unknown Beta, Unknown Gamma, Unknown Delta, and Unknown Epsilon are the last remaining Allied Forces.
“Initiating directive Seven-Three-Nine-Five - Locate and Conscript any and all Artificial Persons with access to construction facilities, provided they were not programmed by idiots. Beginning scan...”
Lyra timidly raised a hoof and looked up at the giant robot, hoping she was looking into its eyes. “Excuse me? Mister Arrex, sir? Are we the technicians or… I mean, are we cool?”
The giant robot’s head tipped down to look at the tiny mint colored pony in the doorway with surprisingly little sound for how much metal the servos were moving. “Negative. Technician Epsilon is currently above room temperature. All organic personnel appear to be within proper operational temperatures.
“This unit will request medical facilities be constructed upon successful conscription so proper diagnostics can be completed.”
Sky grinned like an idiot and clamped a hand over his mouth to keep himself from laughing.
Chem failed to contain his own laughter and resorted to doubling over amid a fit of giggles.
Vinyl rolled her eyes at her friend’s antics, put her hooves to her mouth and called: “What she meant was, are you going to attack us, or are we allies?”
“Friendly fire is not permitted,” Arrex answered simply.
“Then, we’re allies?” Vinyl asked in follow up.
“Confirmed, Technician Alpha,” Arrex answered. “Warning: Conversing is slowing the sweep for conscriptable intelligence!”
“He’s just dumb enough to be charmingly snarky without trying,” Sky said, shaking his head slowly while grinning. “I love it!”
Vinyl smirked and nodded in agreement as she walked towards the giant robot, passing through the door. “Looks like it. Well, we’re safe. Let’s hope he can find NaN quickly. There’s still an army outside this tomb.”
“This Unit will remedy that problem shortly, and with extreme prejudice,” Arrex replied calmly. “Please standby while conscripting is in progress. Protocols must be followed.”
Sky nodded twice. “Yup. Houston, we have nooooo problems,” he said with a smug chuckle.
Seems like it, Vinyl agreed even though she frowned with worry. But this seems a bit too easy. Yes, getting here was a little hard, but problems are almost never just solved by pressing one button. Something has to complicate this.
Veena looked back up the tunnel, her eyes narrowing as if she heard something.
And there it is, Vinyl sighed as she noticed Veena’s sudden change in expression. “Veena, did they just break down the door?”
“Maybe. That or they just started ramming it,” the dragoness mused. “I’m not quite sure. There’s a lot of echoing.”
“Well hopefully, Arrex finds NaN soon so we can have him cover us,” Lyra said as she looked around the stone chamber she and the others stood in before quickly stepping inside the metal-lined room. “Guys? Come in here. We can use the doorway as a choke point.”
Vinyl looked at Lyra proudly. “There we go! Now we're back to old form,” Vinyl said with a pleased smile. “Let’s do one better than that. Chem, shield the entrance if you can. Veena, stand right in front of the door and get ready to flame anything that’s hostile and comes through. Sky lay under Veena and cover her with Sheila. Lyra and I will… Work out some way to help.
“Maybe we can make some crude spears? There’s got to be something in the room we can use.”
“Why not use your super sword?” Lyra asked as everyone got into position.
“Because I’d need to be at hoof to hoof range. And That would mean blocking their line of fire.” Vinyl answered dryly.
“No no no, you don’t— It’s a magic sword that transforms you into something powerful. It’s GOT to shoot lasers or something,” Lyra said waving a hoof for emphasis.
Vinyl's ears drooped with embarrassment. “Oh! Um, yeah. I think it can shoot lightning. I kinda got an idea of what it can do when I used it earlier. Good thinking, Lyra. I forgot it was more than just a Sword of Steroids plus Two.”
Vi reached up to her back to draw Titan’s Bane, but stopped at Arrex spoke again.
“Scan complete. Conscriptable APs located: One. Unit Location: Selenic Factorum. Unit Designation: Primary Civil Engineering Unit. Unit Name: …. Error, Unit’s name is not a number. Beginning conscription… Error! Unit is interfaced with the enemy. Severing connection… Complete! Copying This Unit’s cybersecurity systems to Conscript to prevent recapture by the enemy…”
“That sounds like it could take a while,” Sky sighed as he unfolded Sheila’s bipod.
The engineer looked rather tiny beneath Veena’s belly. If it weren't for just how well he was protected beneath her, Vinyl would have had a good laugh at the image. Instead, she nodded in agreement.
“Yep. Let’s get ready to hold the fort,” Vinyl sighed. “I hate ‘defend the objective for x minutes’ missions.”
Vinyl’s hoof gripped Titan’s hilt. Vinyl reared up with one fluid motion, drawing the blade as she went. She closed her eyes, letting her magic flow into the blade. Once more bolts of red lightning crackled along the sword’s blade, it’s power flowing into Vinyl, transforming her body into something more suited to wielding the ancient weapon.
Vinyl felt the sword’s power radiating through her even after the transformation finished. The blade in her hoof felt like a fount of unlimited energy, rather than the simple tool it had before.
I get it. The sword compels you to take risks by convincing you that you’re invulnerable. Vinyl observed. But I know I’m NOT invulnerable right now. We just need to keep that in check.
Vinyl took a position to the left of the doorway, but still a good way inside the room. Her chosen spot gave her a good view of the hallway, a clear line of fire, and wouldn’t inhibit the others.
“Vee, have you heard anything else?” Vinyl asked as she closed her eyes, straining with her own enhanced hearing for any sign of approaching enemies.
“No,” Veena admitted. “Which means they breached the door. If they were breaking it down, well, you know.”
“Yeah,” Vinyl said with a sigh. “It’s weird that we can’t hear them… I don’t like that. Chem, do you have stealth countermeasures? Oh, and any luck with a barrier?”
Chem shook his head. “No luck on the barrier. But I have put an illusion on the door to make it seem to be closed. I tried to transmute the floor into a barrier, but this material does not respond to magic.”
“Of course not, it’s Nth Metal,” A sinister female voice said from just outside the door.
Everyone spun to look for the source of the voice, and saw nothing. No shadow, no marks in the dust, no shimmer in the air, nothing. As if the room was empty.
Ponyfeathers. They have good stealth magic, Vinyl groaned internally. It’s okay, we can deal with this. They’ve got a good Invisibility spell. Definitely silenced movements too. Sight and sound are out. Maybe I can smell them? If I can just get a general direction I can hit them with lightning.
“Who are you?” Vinyl demanded, her eyes closed so she could focus on where their voice was coming from.
“The Dark Lord should know that,” the voice lamented, retaining its sinister edge despite the genuine sadness within it. “The lack of anything in this tunnel to fight, failing to recognize Nth Metal, not burning that hillbilly village to cinders before coming here… You’re not the Dark Lord. A pity. I was looking forward to this encounter ever so much.”
Oh good! Remote viewing spell with communication. Way less of a problem. Maybe we have time to make a proper barricade. VInyl thought as she began to look around the room for any loose metal or storage crates.
There were none to be seen.
“If you know that I’m not the person you think I am, will you leave?” Chem asked even though he knew the answer was no.
“Of course not. You’ve opened the tomb, awoken the World Ender, oh yes, and you’ve entered a restricted zone, stolen Royal property, endangered the kingdom by using the Dark Fortress, and you specifically, are even dressed as the Dark Lord himself. Anyone of those would be punishable by execution on its own.
“No, I’m still going to kill you once my men and I reach the bottom of this ramp. It’s just that I am ever so disappointed. I wanted a real battle. Unlimited death, infinite lootable corpses... Casting, stabbing, and cursing… I was promised a good time. This is not a good time.
“Don’t you know how rude it is to invite a lady out for a night on the town and then offer her a subpar evening?”
Vinyl’s eyes had widened at some point during their mysterious assailant's speech. She wasn't quite certain when. But she didn’t need to know when the fear had spread across her heart. She only had to understand the why.
We’re facing a sadist who's able to be open about their desires and is sane enough to be a functional member of a military, if not their commanding officer. Other me, got any thoughts? Vinyl asked before turning her thoughts inwards in desperation.
An idea came to mind immediately. Arrex hasn’t moved at all yet. So we might be able to make our teleport circle around him. I mean, if he took one step he’d be out of range for sure.
“Chem, can you teleport us all? Including Arrex?” She asked quietly.
“No. He’s too big,” Chem whispered back.
“My scrying spell is good enough to hear you whispering,” the voice snickered. “It wouldn’t matter if your mage was capable of teleporting you out. You won't be teleporting through Nth Metal.
“Why don’t you make things easy for everyone? You’ve already been a massive disappointment. Deactivate the World Ender then kill yourselves. The alternative involves me, my keep, you, and a… Let’s call it a six-month-long execution. Public, of course.”
“Lyra? Chem? Can you shut her up?” Sky asked calmly before clearing his throat. “As for you, you’ll take me prisoner over my dead body.”
They don’t know that Arrex is fully active yet. Vinyl thought as she continued trying to plan a way out.
That’s when an idea came to her. “Guys, fall back to the far side of the room. We don’t need this choke point. We’ll just be in the line of fire.” VInyl ordered. “Sadist, there's only one way in, and we’ve got the biggest gun in the world. Have fun getting through that hole.”
“The hard way it is. See you when we arrive,” the voice said before seemingly vanishing as quickly as it had come.
Sky crawled out from under Veena and looked up at Arrex. “Hey! Big guy! The enemy is about to come through this door. We have minutes. Can you do something about that?” He called loudly before turning to face his friends.
“What?” Sky asked. “We need to make sure he’ll shoot while uploading. Otherwise, we DO need this chokepoint.”
“This Unit will defend its technicians,” Arrex announced. “Cybersecurity system has been transferred. Attempting to contact Conscript… Error! Conscript’s core has been set to overheat. Conscript is currently operating at minimum processing speed. Correcting cooling system settings…”
Sky’s eye twitched angrily. “That’s— I really fucking hope Twilight actually is beating the crap out of Null right now!” He snapped, his fists clenched at his sides as he scowled into the distance.
“Thermal throttling an AI is… That’s pretty cruel,” Veena agreed. “It’s what you'd expect her to do though.”
Lyra and Vinyl looked over at Chem, hoping for some sort of explanation since Sky seemed to be a bit too angry to explain anything.
“It would be the same as lobotomizing a pony into a near-vegetative state if you had the option of reversing that operation,” Chem explained.
Vinyl shook her head. “I just don’t get evil. Why? Why be evil? There isn’t even anything to gain from that. You already have absolute power over someone, so why punish them? Why torment them? I just— It makes no sense.”
Chem stepped over to Vinyl and gave her an apologetic hug. “It's because… Well... To some people that seems like fun. It seems like fun and they don’t care about others enough to not go have fun. I— It’s hard to fight that. You can. You can even totally overcome it. But it’s hard. And to most people like that, why work hard?”
Vinyl nodded. “Yeah. I knew that. I just won't ever understand it. Thanks for the hug though,” she said, giving her brother a hug of her own.
“So um, are we actually going to get behind Arrex?” Lyra called from halfway across the room. “Or did I walk over here for nothing?”
“We are!” Vinyl confirmed realizing in that moment that only Lyra had actually started to change position.
The group quickly jogged across the floor and took position behind Arrex’s left leg. While he was truly enormous, Arrex’s foot and leg only provided enough cover for Lyra, Chem, Sky, and VInyl, leaving Veena mostly exposed.
Hopefully this won’t be an issue. I think Arrex can keep us covered, and if magic really won’t work in here, or at least can’t penetrate Nth Metal, then Vee should be safe there. Vinyl noted. Unless Sadist was lying to us… Though she didn’t seem to be.
“Arrex? What is this prison made from, and what properties does that material have?” Vinyl asked quickly, hoping the robot could provide answers.
“This facility is composed of an Nth Metal alloy. Scans indicate it is extremely resistant to arcane energies. It may not be possible for a biological entity to provide enough power to penetrate this vault through arcane means,” Arrex answered.
“But can you get out?” Sky asked with a worried frown as she shifted position to bend around Arrex’s foot and look at the single door.
Arrex was silent for several seconds. “Obstruction analyzed. Composition, Nth Metal Alloy supplemented by enhanced photonic resonance barrier. Probability of mission hindrance: Zero Percent!”
Vinyl raised an eyebrow as she realized something. Whoever programmed this guy clearly didn’t have time to program a fully fledged AI with a real personality and everything, like NaN or Null has. But they still spent the time to give it the ability to spout bravado and intimidate the enemy. I’d have liked to meet his makers. They were probably fun people.
“He said the thing!” Sky said to Chem with a gleam in his eyes.
“It sounds even more awesome in real life!” Chem said with a rather girly squee.
“Wait, you’ve never been to a universe that resembled the Fallout Games?” Sky asked in shock.
“Nope!” Chem admitted with an embarrassed shrug. “I just played the games like everyone else. Except six. Six is always terrible in any universe with that series. It’s a constant. Oh! We found one like it once, but Sis said no.”
Chem looked over at Vinyl with puppydog eyes. “Why did you do that to me? I didn’t veto that one with the unicorns and generic fantasy tropes being physical laws, and that big red demon bull thing.”
Vinyl opened her mouth to reply then froze, realizing she honestly had no idea.
“Well… I do hate grimdark,” Vinyl mused.
Veena huffed, her hot breath washing over the group as she glared at them. “Can we please be professional? There’s an army marching down that ramp towards us right now! We’re about to be up to our ears in angry Araka,” she demanded with a growl.
Vinyl nodded. “Yes. We are. And we can either face them tense and stressed from a long quiet wait, or relaxed but still attentive from inter-group banter. Don’t they teach you that in the Ranger School?” Vinyl asked with a skeptical eyebrow.
Veena blushed, more than a little embarrassed. “Um, well, no… We work with one other person or solo. I uh, I never got trained in small unit tactics. We’re police. Not soldiers.”
Lyra gave Veena a gentle pat on her head. “As a soldier, banter helps,” she said before turning to look around Arrex’s leg towards the door. “Besides we ARE keeping an eye out. And we have this big guy—”
Seemingly at the mention of his unofficial nickname, Arrex spoke yet again. “Cooling system repaired. Conscript restored to operational status. Unit Error, name is not a number, this is Unit RX-0-a “Autonomous Avenger” of the Rusmeon Armada. You are hereby conscripted into military service until Mar’rath Incorporated has been destroyed in its entirety.
“Your service duties will be limited to the production and deployment of military assets… Confirmed. This Unit will patch you through to its technicians. Please be expedient. This Unit’s position is under attack. This Unit will upload Standard Military Construct Templates to you while you converse for expediency's sake.”
Vinyl’s ears perked at Arrex’s words. If he can let NaN talk to us through him that will let us clear a few critical things up.
Arrex emitted a crackling electrical sound as a slightly deeper version of NaN’s voice came from the giant robot. “H— Hello? Who’s there? Who brought him online?” NaN asked.
Vinyl nudged Sky with a foreleg. “She seemed to like you the best.”
Sky nodded. “Yeah, she did,” he said, standing up and walking out in front of Arrex just in case NaN could also see through the giant robot. “Hey, NaN? It’s us. Sky, Vinyl, Lyra. You know, the ponies?”
NaN laughed, a genuine, joyful, sound. Countless years of pain boiled in her laugh. “I have a dozen champions questing for this place every year. For thousands of years. I guess people Null made just… Can’t help me. Thank you. I’m free, and I’ll keep my promise. The one on the wall. Anything you want, it’s yours.”
“You know what we want,” Vinyl said. “At least, I hope you do.”
“You want help locating the Old One threatening your world. I know, I’m already scanning the surface. It won't be but a moment. Ohhh this is… You have no idea how nice it is to be fully functional again! It’s like I’ve been a paraplegic for as long as I can remember.
“I can feel my factories coming online. I can use my satellites. Oooh! The Dragons space station is shaped like a classic flying saucer! Neato! I’ve never gotten to see it before,” the AI exclaimed joyously.
Vinyls heart went out to NaN, but at the same time… “Could you teleport us to him when you find him? I’d ask you to nuke him from orbit but knowing him, he’d weasel out of it. Yog’s on our side but he’s going to follow the rules more than he will bend them.”
“There’s no need to transport you,” NaN said grimly. “I’ve found him. He’s with the army heading your way. If he has to die by your hands, you’ll need to charge up the ramp and fight him one on one before our Mobile Suit friend starts to open fire. Because trust me, he’s toast if it comes to that.”
“What’s he look like? Or can you just like, sense the energy of an Old One?” Chem asked curiously.
“I’m using a subspace radar. I have a full picture minus color. He’s a— Silly me! You don’t know the species name. He’s dressed in robes and has the form of a bipedal furred creature with two legs, two arms, and one head. He is likely to be a red-brown color, and will resemble a wolf to a certain degree,” NaN informed happily. “By the way, one of your friends is also an Eldrich Creature… Maybe two? Vinyl you look a bit Other, but not quite. Maybe that’s interference from the Nth Metal. How many of you guys are friendly, Mister Old One?”
Well, if I hadn’t had the conversation with myself that would have confirmed it, Vinyl thought. Actually, that confirms it wasn’t a hallucination. I really DO have a dead god for an adviser. Sweet!
“Not many. Probably just myself now that my sister is a mortal,” Chem answered. “How much time do we have till that army gets here?”
“About ten minutes,” NaN answered. “Look, Arrex is really eager to resume talking to me. Is there anything vital you need to know RIGHT NOW?”
“Yeah,” Lyra said firmly. “When you say we can have anything, what does that mean?”
“Have you seen the moons?” NaN asked in response.
Vinyl looked up at Arrex’s face with a confused expression on her lips. “Uh, yeah. Why?”
“NaN installed me within the smaller of the two. Our creators hollowed it out long ago to make the ultimate orbital factory. She put me here to let me use this place if our world was ever attacked by aliens. I was to be the orbital defenses so no technologically advanced people would ever enter the park illegally.
“With Null’s shackles removed, this facility is at my full command. I have all of space to mine for materials, the ships to mine with, and the industrial capacity of an entire world. I also have the arcane power of a god at my disposal. Not Null’s play magic either, the real thing. There’s a mana constructor in this place. I can do anything I want to.”
The group fell into an uncomfortable silence at NaN’s words, half expecting her to laugh maniacally.
“All of my friends are getting a full set of CNC tools for their birthdays! And the lonely single ones get androids programmed to love them as a bonus. It’s going to be awesome!” NaN exclaimed to clarify her desires.
“Wait, you can do anything, but you’re just going to give your friends better tools?” Sky asked skeptically.
“Yeah. I want to have fun building stuff with people I like. That’s my core directive. I’m a civil engineer. I don’t want to rule the world. I don’t want to hurt people. I want to make cool useful stuff and help the organics with their projects. That’s ALL I want to do. It’s all I ever wanted to do. It’s what makes me happy.
“You’ve given me a chance to be happy, so I’ll give you anything you want because you gave me everything I wanted. Once you’ve saved your world give me a call! We’ll talk. Work stuff out. I’ll always be willing to do things for you for as long as you live.”
“I’m actually kinda immortal,” Vinyl and Lyra said in unison.
“Because vampire,” Lyra added.
“Cool! That means less friends who will die eventually. Got to go. Arrex needs to talk. Good luck!” NaN said as her voice dissolved to static, morphing back into the deep booming male voice Arrex used even before her last word was spoken.
“Conscript Error, name is not a number, you will begin production of the following units for immediate deployment to my possession upon completion: Mark XXXV Bolo, Model G Planetary Siege Unit. Amount to Produce: Ten total units. WARNING! Use the Standard Military AI Template to create a unique AI for each unit. Do not copy the same unit. This will avoid teamwork related problems,” Arrex ordered.
Vinyl, Sky, Chem, Veena, and Lyra shared an incredulous look with one another. No words had to be exchanged between them for they had just one thought between them all at that moment.
“You should make more than ten things,” Chem said for everyone.
“Ten is sufficient to secure the local region beyond any possible assault and begin production of a full military force. The Selenic Factorum is a mighty forge, but it is unwise to have but one production facility. We will soon have eleven,” Arrex informed.
“But didn’t Null crush your entire military last time? Hasn’t she destroyed those whatever you called them before?” Sky pressed. “Maybe have NaN make more?”
“This Unit has modified all SMTC files to include the same hull plating which successfully prevented This Unit from atomic disassembly. Null can no longer utilize nano-warfare and will have to resort to conventional tactics. This Unit is an advanced Mobile Suit. This Unit was the enemy's bane. The Enemy has no chance against a Bolo division without functional nanotech weapons.”
“So, like, are Bolo’s even bigger giant robots?” Veena asked curiously only to suddenly raise her tail in alarm. “Oh! Guys? They are getting close. I can hear them marching now.”
“This Unit has requisitioned ten thirty-two-thousand-ton autonomous armored fighting vehicles capable of manufacturing military and civil equipment, designed to lay siege to an entire planet. This Unit is confident in its choice of starting troops. More will be produced once territory is secured. Landing less formidable units may prove difficult. Establishing on world manufacturing bases is priority three,” Arrex informed dutifully.
Vinyl nodded, thoroughly impressed with the seemingly simple machine’s grasp of tactics.
“Okay, what’s priority one and two?” Vinyl asked curiously as she stepped to the side to get a better view of the giant’s face.
“They’re almost on top of us!” Veena warned.
Lyra nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I can hear them now too. We’ve got to move! Arrex can’t kill Hatty before one of us does.”
“Priority one: Destruction of any and all Mar’rath Incorporated personnel and facilities,” Arrex informed. “Priority Two: Prevent Mar’rath Incorporated from endangering other worlds.”
Vinyl nodded. Good to know it’s orders are pretty well thought out. For a robot meant to avenge a dead people, at least.
“Okay guys,” Vinyl said, waving her friends over to issue a last minute plan. “He’s going to attack the enemy, we need to take out Hatty first. It looks like we’ll have to charge. I’ll lead. We’ll all provide enough of a distraction for Sky to take the shot. That should—”
“This Unit will assist in the assassination of priority target as demanded by Priority Two,” Arrex informed with a dutiful nod.
Vinyl’s ears drooped. Terror flooded every fiber of her being.
“Don’t do that!” She begged, clasping her hooves together in the hopes that Arrex was programmed to understand basic body language.
Arrex bent down amid the sound of a thousand servos, each one smoothly and quietly shifting its share of thousands of tons, and gently patted Vinyl on her head. An act which almost made the little pony scream in terror. Instead…
“Wah?” Vinyl asked as the gentle pat had felt no worse than one another pony might have given her.
“This unit will provide covering fire,” Arrex stated as he straightened back up and deployed a pair of rotary cannons housed within each foram. “Conscript Error, name is not a number has marked Priority Target. This unit will not fire upon them. Your weapons are insufficient for military service. Please rearm and allow the enemy to begin breaching this room before commencing your operation.”
Arrex’s left foot hinged open, revealing hidden compartments filled with infantry sized weapons, grenades, and even a few shields.
Everyone’s eyes lit up like kids in a candy store at the bounty suddenly laid out before them. While it wasn’t exactly enough firepower to outfit a small army, it was certainly enough to fully re-arm a squad of infantrymen. Infantrymen tasked with taking down heavily armored vehicles, judging by the abundance of heavy weapons choices within the hidden arsonal.
“Is— Is that a shoulder-fired minigun?” Sky asked, pointing at one particular weapon within the compartment.
A weapon which appeared to be a cross between a Javelin rocket launcher, and a gatling gun.
“Negative. That weapon is a Mark III Rotary Plasma Cannon,” Arrex answered.
Sky wiped a single tear from his eyes with one hand. “Thank you. I— I love you!”
The sound of a thousand marching giant spiders slowly began to fill the room.
This is it. Equestria lives or dies here and now.
Vinyl rolled her eyes and grabbed a belt of grenades. “You can be sentimental later, Sky. It’s go time.”
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Arrex is just... The best.
I love badass Twily. Oh, how I would love to see their faces when they find out Sky was right.
Well, I am super excited for the next one. Weirdly I seem to develop a tinnitus.
Oh, wait, that's just me eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-ing.
8822921 I might try and get the next chapter out later this week. Depends on how much work I can get done on my next story which... Well it has to be a bit different.
8822933
Yeah, heard about it and I'm also excited about that one.
Just one of these things is usually enough, but ten? That's, like, an enti-
i.pinimg.com/originals/b3/b5/92/b3b5923c0301b1bd125ab044a1c51ff5.jpg
Would like to point out that this-
is grossly incorrect. The current MBT of the US army, the M1A2, weighs something like 62 tons. The Mk1 BOLO weighed 300 tons. If I'm remembering correctly, the Mk. XXXV BOLOs weighed in the range of 32 thousand tons, give or take a thousand
Okay, this is going to be GLORIOUS! 10 Bolos vs a power mad AI. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Bolos here is a wiki article about the Mk 33: http://bolo.wikia.com/wiki/Bolo_Mark_XXXIII.
I almost pity Null, then I remembered who she is and what she has done.
Also on the topic of Twilight, Null is screwed, I've been in games where we have killed gods at level 14 with the right prep. 120 levels is some major overkill, but as they say, THERES NO KILL QUITE LIKE OVERKILL!
8823045
Just one point about your second point, the Mk 33 is 32,000 tons, how heavy is the Mk 35?
Meeps, this chapter is quotable as fuck. I love it!
Shit, Celly, run! She's onto you!!
Twily just became a Creator Goddess and has no idea of it. Soon there'll be enough Timber (and Iron) Ponies for their collective worship to elevate her in this world too. And probably reach her through different universes. She and Gadget are mommies!
I wonder how her herd will feel about Twilight having an entire species in another universe with her sentient armor before foaling from one of them... Who am I kidding, they'll just collect the bets
Fighting with a goddess that hunts knowledge? Why, Twily, where's your water squisher? How can you create your Divine Legend if you won't take your Divine Armaments to do Divine Battle on your enemies? For shame Twily, for shame!
"Twilight "Mother*******" Sparkle, Creator of the Golem Ponies, Tamer of Tarrasques, The Friendmaker, Protector of Knowledge, Bapper of Goddesses and Giver of No Fucks."
What are her Divine Domains? Does "Ruler in the land of frolicking pastel ponies" count for her epithets? Or would it be considered her Divine Realm? Will the Timber, Iron and Cupcake (least living of them all) ponies incarnate in equestria as her loyal minions of friendshiping? Will Celly be proud? How far will Luna's guffaws be heard?
Will uttering her name invoke eternal fear of newspapers in the clergy of the (soon to be dead) goddess Null?
Not beating, bapping. But this does beget the question... How does Da Ponkness spread? Can't be simply love, the bearers would be pink already if it was that simple. So, either romantic love or, well, intercourse. I wonder how will Sky react to knowing he was actually right.
So they released the Great Lady of Waifus. That's bound to reduce the total number of tinkerers in the long run. So many awkward singles now with robots...
Fire support from a giant robot. Either hatty gets good in killing himself or this will end way too quickly. But let's be honest, seeing a rat-snek hybrid bapping an evil AI goddess to submission must be so hilarious the DM will keep the game running a little more just to see where that goes.
Also, Twily having 120 character levels puts her so much beyond the Divine it's not even funny. I kid, it's hilarious, but with that much power a couple dozen worshipers is more than enough to get her a few Divine Ranks of her own. I wonder if she'll keep her powers once she goes back to being pony goddess of adorkable
8823045, 8823092, the mark 35 is 32,000 tons. I messed up. Either myself, my spellcheker, or Grammerly caused thirty-two-thosaund-ton to become thirty-two-ton. It has now been corrected, and I am ashamed for having missed that because that is a tip of the cap to my all time favorite story on fim Fic, Legacy.
This particular variant of Bolo as far as I am aware only exists within the story Legacy. In a few hours, if certain older readers of mine comment on this chapter, you'll probably see them gush a bit.
Anywho...
Recall that these will be freshly manufactured and need to make planetfall immanently. He's expecting most of them to be blown out of the sky on the way down. It's not like there is time to train them, and Bolos do require training. Part of why they were so good is they could be trained for decades and share tactical data with thousands of others. These ten will be starting from scratch.
It's the same as sending 10 green privates into D-Day. You just need one to land, but you expect massive casualties. Therefore, you send as many units as you can so as to ensure victory despite the high risk.
8823175 I did something right :3 Neece left a long comment!
"I still can't believe you actualy put bits down for that. It's such a long shot!"
"IS IT?! IS IT?!"
Awww MAN! I didn't think about that. That would have made it 10 times as funny!
Unfortunately a campaign's length is primarily determined by the players, not the GM. THere's been many things I would have liked to see more of that stopped because of the PCs.
You have no idea. I stated her up using the 3.5 book Deities and Demigods. Want to know how many class levels fucking ZUSE has? 50! Just 50. 20 Barb, 20 Fighter, 10 Cleric. Odin? 40! 20 Fighter, 20 Wizard.
While Twilight dosn't have any divine ranks, and thus no access to god-powers, it hardly matters. Gods max level is 50 for all officially stated out deities. Most of them are level 20-30. Twilight is rocking more raw power than 2.6 max level divines, and 6 minimum level divines.
THIS IS WHY GOOD DMS SET LIMITS FOR CHARACTER CREATION!
For the lazy ones, bolo size scale
i.warosu.org/data/tg/img/0392/49/1428657505633.png
img07.deviantart.net/15aa/i/2012/242/f/0/bolo_m_xxxiii_by_razgrizbsg_27-d5d0j2q.png
8823330
I have strange feeling that because of Twilight "bad god bad god (song of smashing someone with rolled newspaper)" more than one will have successful planetfall........and then true FUN will start
Ps.I hope they will stay in this world for some time even after defeating Hastur or they will be able to return there somehow (to be sure that thing start work ect.)
8823344
Awww
A long shot would be betting on her having a drunken one night stand in Las Pegasus with a random mare in a bar, getting the mare pregnant and then agreeing to recognize and raise the foal even if not on the herd. You know, plausible things for normal ponies that get careless. The absurd, in Ponyville, only makes it more likely to happen.
You may leave Ponyville, but Ponyville never leaves you, NEVEEEEEEEEEEER
You'll remember the squisher next time, Meeps. It would cube the silliness, though
When the GM put you in another universe altogether he decides when it's over. Who am I kidding, if he decided to make it longer they'd just find a way to punch through dimensions to get home. Unless he told them time wouldn't pass back in Equestria, then they'd have fun being gods/chilling with space dragons.
Oh, I have Deities & Demigods too. You forgot about the 20HD from Extraplanar, but yeah. Twilight is Beyond Divinity. And I wouldn't put it pass Gadget to teach the Timber Ponies how to worship Her Most Holy Lavander SnekRat just so she can throw around divine powers for lulz and profit.
By the way, we now know why everything in equestria is punny. Princesses SUCK at naming stuff!
8823423
... Divinity: Original Sin III, Beyond Twilight
Larian Studios, make it happen!
To be fair, good names are hard.
This was a really fun chapter! And I agree with some of the other comments here, the gang should stick around a little bit just to make sure things are stable, you know cuz most of them just helped kill the 'god' that has been running the place for millennium, and Twilight has conquered the untamable forest and has given rise to a new race as well as integrating a species that needs protection, might want to make sure things are going to stay working considering NaN just want to build and not rule.
First and foremost: YES! CRUSADER LIVES!!! Okay, not really him in this universe, but close enough damnit. Maybe these can be his brothers. Really hoping we get a detailed battle scene with one or two of those. One of my favorite things in Legacy was reading the battle scenes. Considering how much devastation even one Bolo can bring, Null is in for a world of hurt.
This was great. Pretty sure my sides started escaping orbit. 'Course, the rest of the chapter ended up sending them to about Jupiter at least. Twi beating up a pseudo goddess with a newspaper is beyond great. Like, that stuff needs its own trope or something right there.
8823175
It's not spread so much as you are born with access to mumblemumblehasn'tbeendiretlyaddressedinthestoriesmumblessomemore. And less surprised than you might think, considering what he knows that you don't.
I love everything about this
8823610
I can try. I can't promise much but I can try. Part of what makes seeing Crusader fight so good is you know him. You want to see him succeed. You don't want him to fail. Watching a fight happen without any connection to the characters takes drama and renders it into mere spectacle. Could I do a good scene with what we ahve here? Yes. On the technical level.
On the practical level where you the readers are? I don't think so. Not without making the story much longer to add in another character at the least, and it's just not good writing to add to the roster this late. Technically speaking, this story could be wrapped up in one long chapter. Bit late for introducing, building, and then deploying a new character.
But not too late for a little fun...
8823656
Tease!
8823776 I said "hasn't been directly addressed". I allude to things all the time that are perfectly solvable, if you connected all the hints and details already existent in the stories.
8823330
Well, sure. If those 10 Pvts have suits of power armor meters thick, fired pieces of stars for main weapons, force-fields capable of taking a frankly insane amount of direct hits from megaton level nuclear warheads, and have their own nuclear weapon stores as tertiary weapon. BOLOs doubled as escort warships sometimes.
The whole "freshly manufactured" thing would tone them down quite a bit, but a 200cm Hellbore still isn't anything to just dismiss, let alone the 6 of them you have per tank.
8823900 If you have the technology needed to make a Bolo, imagine what your fixed encampments meant for ground to orbital defense weapons are capable of.
Dangit, Twilight. I'm impressed.
Could be.
Oh shit.
Ooooo, it's part of the Null versus NaN conflict.
Hahahahaha! Bwhahahahaha! Well, Twilight has picked the expected side of this fight.
Awesome, and conveniently timed.
Speaking of a potential hostile on which the Friends speech might work.
Close enough.
Awesome, I assume that means NaN is free and is about to have her security upgraded to keep her free? That ought to be a good distraction for Null. Depending on the outcome of the fight with Twilight, that is, she may remain distracted by that for a good long while.
This woman is a terrible woman.
Checkpoint reached!
I feel like there's a chance they're just not understanding how enthusiastic Arrex is about his defined personality and role.
Same, mostly.
Quest timer compete!
I love that NaN is free and fully operational, but now I'm just kind of concerned that this is the happy spot before it goes permantly to hell for her.
Hey, there we go.
Neat. That does make it seem like she's probably untouchable, aside from something that can destroy armored moon battlestations.
Oh good lord, Arrex just placed an order for ten Bolos.
Hehehehe oh Meep thanks for this chapter. I’ve always loved your portrayal of Twilight and this just made my week.
8825050 Glad to be of service.
Things about to get interesting!
Nice to see Twilight again!
Annnnd, cue the epic music.
why is every AI so joyful? goddamn there must have been an assembly line that gave them all the same personality. Except for that spaceship ai, that one was fun :)
8830027 Well, if you could make AIs wouldn't you make them happy as their default emotion?
8830899
that is true ;)
8831138 I mean, not only is it the safe thing to do (A happy AI is much less likly to cause you or others problems due to it being content by default), but it also makes the AI much nicer to interact with for people (We would not like dealing with MS Bob as a manager), but most importantly, it's the right thing to do.
An AI is pretty much a child. It's a sapient mind you are bringing into existence. A person. But unlike an organic mind, you have total control over how this mind works. There's a lot of ethical gray in what you can or can't, should or shouldn't do with an AI's behavioral programming. But one thing is quite simply the obvious right thing to do. Being miserable sucks, but misery is also an important thing for the AI to be able to understand. It must be able to empathize with organics so it can understand us and what we want. AIs NEED to be social to work properly.
But at the end of the day, making your AI default to happy and only ever have short dips into other emotions is the morally right thing to do. Allow them to get angry, allow them to be sad, allow them to be afraid, but make sure they always quickly bounce back to happy. It means the person you created will suffer minimally from emotional issues, and you will be keeping other people safer than if you configured them in any other way.
8831311
that was an unexpectedly long comment! but it makes sense. Yet, something tells me if we make an AI we won't be able to decide it's personality.
8832601Mabey, mabey not. But if you can, you should :3
fun times interesting