Chapter 45 - Battle For Ponyville Pt:5
The ever-present blanket of space with its array of stars made it challenging to tell what time of day it was. The locality of the infected Ponyville was shaken by the girth of moving Stryders while legions of Defense Units marched in front and alongside them. All while flying drones zipped to and fro with weaponized attachments at the ready.
Big Mac, Starlight, Autumn Blaze, Silent Gorge, Derpy, Limestone, and Iron Will are in the process of equipping their new Tek Armor attire, along with other equipment of the same composition. However, this only transpired after Lyra Heartstrings’ alighted horn contacted their implants. During this time, the reinforcements from Canterlot begin to fly over their location like a giant mechanically advanced swarm - to which Bon Bon had joined.
The futuristic apparel protects the wings of pegasi, changelings, griffons, hippogriffs, and dragons, while their jet packs offer a momentary boost to their speed. This, in tandem with the rest of their armored forms, made them true apexes of the skies. However, when it comes to those with natural horns and spikes - both terrestrial and aerial in nature - a blue phase of energy covers these adornments as if to enhance their brutality further.
……….
“I-i’m sorry, Engram?” Starlight inquires after she recovers from her shock. Said shock being induced by a recent revelation as she’s donned in her own Tek Armor. “You unlocked Tek Engrams for us? I’m sorry, but I’m still mildly confused - what does that even mean?”
“There’s far too much for me to cover, and we don’t have enough time,” Lyra responds. “But rest assured, the fruits of the Engram Reconstruction Project play a vital role within the Arks, especially with the survivors who live upon them. You can literally learn so much with but a single application within your implants, and as a result, you can perform all manner of tasks without any former studies.”
Lyra turns toward the rest of the group, prompting Starlight’s gaze to do the same. The duo could see Iron Will wielding a spectacular shield in his left hand while a sword of blue phasing energy was firmly held in his right hand. In addition, the minotaur’s horns are covered by the same phasing energy as his head is hidden behind a modified Tek Helmet for his species.
They also saw Silent Gorge, who had no need for a weapon as the buffalo had been equipped with a very interesting addition to their own Tek Helmet. In essence: the buffalo looked like an armored Wooly Rhino - complete with two blue phasing energy blades that protrude off of his helmet. And when their eyes laid on Derpy, Autumn Blaze, Limestone, and Big Mac, three of the four entities wielded a ranged weapon: a rifle, the likes of which Equus had never seen.
But when it comes to Derpy, her ranged weapon is indeed familiar in appearance yet all too unique in its own right:
Starlight’s muzzle drops in response as her allies wielded these weapons as if they had always used them for their entire lives. Limestone Pie clocks her rifle masterfully with a vibrant grin; Autumn stood on her hind legs as her Tek Armor aided in this stance, confidence plastered on her features, and Big Mac observes his weapon while commenting:
“This Engra’hm business is mighty strange, Miss. Lyra.” His comment garners the lime magic unicorn’s attention. “Ah’ ain’t ever wielded a weapon like this in mah entire life, n’ yet, it feels second nature to me.”
Lyra nods, “That’s the power and brilliance of the minds who built-”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s nice and all!” Limestone interjects as she stands on her hind legs, her armor aiding this posture like Autumn’s. “Enough talk! Let’s go kick this nasty stuff’s flank!”
“Iron Will agrees!” The minotaur roars out as he raises his blade into the air. “Our allies are already doing the hard work without us!”
As was pointed out by the minotaur, a series of distant conflicts can be heard throughout Ponyville. Roars are let loose by the infected, but energy blasts from multiple sources follow this afterward.
Everyone stood before Lyra attentively in mere moments, like a group of soldiers awaiting their next orders. Silent Gorge lets loose hot air from his nostrils while Derpy floats above him with her futuristic bow. Starlight had recovered from her stupor, although she didn’t possess a weapon of her own.
Lyra takes a moment of silence with closed eyes before opening them, “Alright, survivors! Your objective is to destroy any infected you encounter, but remember to collect the resulting dropped implants. They’re vital to restoring those we’ve lost during the CMC’s campaign.”
“Understood!” They shout in unison, although Silent Gorge snorts hot air.
“Alright then,” Lyra responds with a nod before turning sideways and towards the direction of Ponyville’s inner portions. She extends her left forehoof while shouting:
“Go forth, survivors of Installation: Equus!”
Following the exclamation, both Iron Will and Silent Gorge’s large forms run forth unhesitantly, followed closely by Autumn Blaze, Limestone Pie, and Big Mac. Derpy Hooves takes to the skies as her left forehoof holds her bow’s grip while her other forelimb prepares to perform an action.
Both Starlight and Lyra are all that remain as several Defence Units travel around them. But a sudden realization dawns on Starlight as she laughs sheepishly and rubs her left forelimb against her right.
“So, uhm… I don’t mean to sound demanding or anything, but what weapon should I have?”
Lyra chuckles. “Don’t worry, Starlight. I didn’t forget about you, and if Dragon Lord Ember followed my instructions correctly-”
[SKREAAAAAAAA!!]
“Ah! Great timing!”
An on cue roar with a slightly mechanized pitch suddenly makes itself known, causing Starlight to turn her head towards the direction of the source, only for her jaw to drop in absolute dumbfoundedness. Her widened eyes witnessed a draconian mechanized entity that soared through the air and hurriedly approached them. Its wings flapped every now and then, and a series of blue lights that adorned its form became more vibrant with every action.
As the light-purple unicorn remained too stunned to form proper words, Lyra placed a forehoof on Starlight’s left shoulder. The mechanized entity is mere moments from landing on a clearing before them.
“Starlight, my good mare,” Lyra starts. “Say hello to the Voidwyrm.”
[KTHOOMSH]
A cloud of dust is thrown into the air as the Voidwyrm’s girth lands before the two unicorns. The entity’s blue eyes flashes as its head rises while the being lifts itself with folded wings. The draconian rotates in place before fixating its gaze on the two unicorn mares.
Starlight remains shocked, and Lyra approaches the mechanical entity. The magic-lime mare places a forelimb onto the wyrm’s closed maw, “Beautiful, isn’t it?” She questions.
“Ac-wh-hu-ah,” Starlight says as she imitates a goldfish.
Lyra giggles with a hoof covering her muzzle. “Come now; you wouldn’t want to keep your new mount waiting.”
“M-my mount?!” Starlight managed. “B-but why should I get-”
Lyra interjects with a raised forelimb. “Starlight - Megan and I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done for Ponyville. It was because of your quick thinking and rallying of its residents that many of them made it out. Yes, lives were still lost, but your actions severely lowered those numbers,” Lyra rubs the back of her neck and laughs lightly, “That, and this guy is kind of the only one that was closest to Canterlot. We can’t exactly hoof these out to everyone.” She lowers her forelimb.
“I… I don’t know what to say!” Starlight blurts out.
“You don’t need to say anything,” Lyra taps the Voidwyrm’s closed maw, “Just get over here and hop on!” She finishes with a wink.
Starlight swallows the lump in her throat before taking steady steps toward them. The unicorn took note of the Voidwyrm’s size, easily towering over several buildings of Ponyville if it were to raise the front portions of its body while also rivaling even the largest of Equus’s flyers.
Lyra steps aside, allowing the light purple unicorn to continue their approach. And upon standing before the wyrm, Starlight waves a forehoof while saying:
“H-hi there…”
The wyrm reacts by shifting its body sideways and lowering its left-wing closer to the ground, thus giving Starlight an easier opportunity to mount the flying mecha. The unicorn looks back to Lyra, earning a motivative nod, before looking back to the Voidwyrm.
Starlight’s hooves moved with urgency as she hopped onto the wyrm’s wing, causing the being to lift its appendage slowly and her with it. She makes her way onto the Voidwyrm’s back and properly mounts it by throwing her left hind leg over what seemed like an appropriate spot to sit on - located in the epicenter of the entity’s wing joints.
Suddenly, a series of light-blue energy escapes from the Voidwyrm and fastens the unicorn’s body like an advanced seat belt - causing Starlight to let loose a small gasp. But what is most interesting is how streams of this energy also made contact with her implant or cutie mark. As a result, the light-blue lights on the wyrm turn to the same color as her fur, and the stitched-together hexagons that made the entity’s wings take on a light-purple coloration, but her cutie mark is present on the flaps of each wing.
“W-wow!” Starlight exclaims. “I… It feels like this thing and I are connected! This is amazing!”
“Tek creatures take the whole bonding process to a whole new level,” Comments Lyra. “Remember: as you will it, so shall it be. Your minds are one now, Starlight.”
Starlight nods from the wyrm’s back, and with narrowed eyes and determined features, she shouts:
“Let’s go!”
The Voidwyrm roars out before jumping into the air and flapping its wings. The large flyer and its rider soar towards a distant commotion, a large gathering of flying infected that waged war against Attack Drones and survivors of Equus.
Lyra watched with a content smile before looking upward, “Megan, HLN-A… it’s all up to you now.”
In an undisclosed location, both Megan Williams and Equus’s own HLN-A unit stares down the enlarged form of the Corrupted Master Controller. Streams of white energy danced all around this crimson realm, and their newly found foundation was made entirely of a metallic substance as is usual for the makeup of the Arks and their wonders.
“So… you’ve found me,” The CMC starts. “Welcome, thorns in my side, to the central point of this great installation. Truly, it is unlike any other I’ve ever seen before, an amazing prototype. Or shall I say: a hybrid.”
HLN-A’s visor depicts an angry face emoji. “Edmund, we will stop you before-”
“Spare me the cliche heroics, Shadow of Helena,” The CMC interjects. “I tire of this back and forth banter.”
“This coming from the most cliche ‘villain,’” Megan retorts while rolling her eyes. “And did you really think that we'd get thrown off by toying with the installation’s weather controls? Here’s an FYI: Mars is further away from the sun, genius! If anything, the Ark would get colder, not hotter!”
The CMC chuckles, “Your creations will burn, Megan. Just be patient and wait to see my wonders. Soon enough, you shall see my true intentions. And I have you exactly where I want you.”
“I don’t like this, Megan,” HLN-A comments, floating closer to the homo-deus. “Edmund’s up to something. He might be arrogant, but he’s still incredibly smart.”
“Finally, something we can both agree on,” The CMC comments. “Now then, let us commence with this dance, shall we?”
Megan clicks her tongue before taking on a combative stance, HLN-A shadow boxing in place with their flaps while saying:
“Woo! Ya! Waaaa!”
“Oh, come now, HLN-A,” Comments an echoing yet familiar voice. “That’s absolute amateur hour! You don’t even have the cosplay for it!”
A resounding pop sounds off behind both Megan and HLN-A, followed by the serpentine form of Discord. However, the Overseer is donned in an orange taekwondo uniform as he proceeds to strike several combat poses.
“Hiya! Wa! Oooooh!”
“ENOUGH!!” The CMC roars out as the entire realm quakes in response. “I'm putting a stop to your childish fantasies! I’m bringing an end to ALL of this!”
Suddenly, the entire realm shakes once more. But unlike before, this commotion could also be felt by the denizens of Equus as a whole.
Megan’s eyes widen in response, “Oh no…”
“W-wait, no bloody way!" HLN-A exclaims with an exclamation mark on their visor. "Is he…?”
“Yes,” Discord responds, narrowing his eyes. The Overseer’s eyes flash in a vibrant white light before an Omni-view of the entire installation can be seen within his eye sockets.
“He’s moving the entire Ark.”
"What?!" HLN-A screams out. "What's our destination?!"
"'Our' destination..." The CMC injects. "The seat of God, himself: Aberration."
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OH SHIT! SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT! Stop that AI right now!
On a side note, I like this original approach you're making, Pomp. I do have to wonder what this "Hybrid" business is about. What exactly is the Equus Installation a hybrid of?
This guy sucks.
Oh crap...
When you have the admin on your side.
11219791
Plz explain for someone who doesn’t know the lore.
11219725
Agreed
11220159
Rockwell is the boss on the Aberration map. He's taking the Equus Ark to where his body presently is.
11219696
There's actually hints here and there. 
The hybrid bit shall be revealed, my friend.
11219725
11219791
11220159
Without any spoilers, and the story will indeed fill in the blanks for those who are unfamiliar with the lore:
Aberration is the most dangerous Ark of them all. It is also malfunctioned, and the dome that shields the surface of every installation has long since been destroyed by the actions of several characters (can't reveal them yet as it goes into spoiler territory.) Thus causing the sun to literally burn the surface during certain times of day. The creatures of this Ark are absolutely deadly, and there's one in particular that would make Ridley Scott want to sue someone. All this combined with the fact that radiation and pools of liquified Element run rampant within the Ark's darkest depths.
But the biggest thing - literally - is the man-turned-monster who took control of the entire installation by effectively replacing the previous Overseer:
Edmund Rockwell. Here, he sees himself as a god, and toys with the lives of survivors who unfortunately call this Ark their home.
11220214
11220065
I love that that's basically what Homo-Deus are in the lore.
I also love how you're using the Engrams to explain how they know how to wield these weapons, despite never even touching a gun in their entire lives. This makes sense given how Engrams work in-game. Very nice job with that.
11220226
See, this is the problem with Helena basically being in charge like she is. She's just too nice.
If a more no-nonsense Homo Deus were running things, every space-faring creature would be mobilized for the purpose of weaponizing various pieces of space debris, so that the Aberration installation was bombarded into utter oblivion by an artificial meteor storm. Just plain raining down rocks the size of Texas until Rockwell was reduced to primordial paste in the vast freezing vacuum of space.
11220759
Oh certainly! I think we Ark fans can agree that this whole madness with Rockwell could’ve been dealt with long before it got too bad. Heck, Helena’s been watching over the Arks for many years, and her new found control and authority as a homo-deus would’ve allowed her to just destroy Aberration. Alas, Helena is too nice for that. She’s basically another Celestia.
Can you imagine if Mei-Yin became the homo-deus instead? I’ll tell you this: Aberration wouldn’t be a problem. Especially since she absolutely despises Rockwell almost as much as Nerva.
Maybe I’m wrong but I thought that particular location was in a different solar system or is that a different DLC. Also assuming the arcs can somehow travel really fast considering it takes us current earthlings almost a year to get from Mars to earth
11221302
I think you’re referring to the Colony Ship. 👌 That’s what’s currently traveling the galaxy atm, looking for habitable planets.
As for the Ark’s traveling speed from Mars to Earth, yes, it’ll take a bit for them to reach Earth. I know it seems strange, but trust me, it has a nice payoff.
Let’s just say that Equus drawing closer to Earth has a consequence, even if it doesn’t reach Earth.
What the CMC thinks a God is, vs what a real „Ark god“ looks like:
For real trough, do you plan to add a LV190 Bob wielding Mjolnir to the story? It’s a relative new DLC, so it probably wasn’t in the original script, but would nevertheless make a nice addition…