Part 3: Chapter 8: The P.O.R Suit
He could see nearly everything despite the speed he was at. It was so clear, so perfect; it nearly looked as if it was a picture.
He saw the bank wall, behind the mare, made of concrete bricks. The metallic door was welded shut quite recently as it was still slightly glowing from the crude work. The alleyways made from the space between the buildings were blocked. Barricades of corpses stacked high allowed none who could not use magic or fly to pass. The color in the mane, tail, skin, and eyes of those dead began to fade, growing into a dull grey. The cutie marks began to disappear and blood, both the normal red and the rainbow colored, painted the street and the walls.
She was thorough. Each building behind her was empty, void of life. She checked each and every room. She checked closets, bathrooms, cabinets, and under beds. She destroyed each building after searching it, turning it into nothing more than an enormous pile of rubble. The Alicorn was not going to let a single pony live, even if they didn't know the truth.
To either the Equine or Human Eye, it would make one vomit at the sight of what surrounded him. Killing never really justified anything. It did, however, make everything a lot quieter. And the quieter it is, the louder you seem to speak.
He saw the suit of pinkish-white metal standing with its flank facing him. He saw the smaller mare, her front legs open and wide, the biggest smile etched on her face with her eyes closed; embracing the fate that she knew for a fact was futile to escape forever.
He slammed his enemy with full force, denting the white armor. She tore through the wall as if it wasn't even there. It did not slow her down, nor did the two-meter-thick-solid-steel-vault door either. She crashed through the empty lobby that was seemingly glowing from the whitish-orange dull lightbulbs that were in fashion at the time and into the street, skidding as the metal had no grip on the black road.
The glowing blue carbon-grey suit helped the frightened DJ up before calmly walking in the bank vault and looked around. Whoever were hiding inside the bank vault had died, for there the gold bits and gold bars were drenched in blood. The smell of burnt flesh was revolting. Splinters of bone stuck into the walls, spiking the immediate vicinity
Alpha swore as he shook his head. He walked out of the dust cloud into the lobby and looked up to see the white armor stagger out of the demolished cake store.
His head twitched violently as he felt his own anger rise dramatically. Alpha's mane and tail began to glow.
He watched as she limp onto the road and, as if an idea had magically popped into his mind, turned around and walked back inside the bank vault.
Celestia saw stars in her vision and shook her head an attempt to shake them off. She had one hell of a head ache. Her mane whipped side to side as she shook the stun off. Looking left to right, she couldn't see the damn mutant. She heard the sound of metal ripping and ducked as the vault door soared above her head.
The mutant jumped out as her head was down and grabbed hold of her horn and had begun to yank it off when she brought her knee into his underbelly. The mutant let go of the horn and retreated a couple of steps. She was bleeding already. The liquid seeped out of the dented edges of her armor, specifically her flank.
Beta watched as the Elements of Harmony appeared behind her, becoming part of the armor and took over, bracing Alpha from the incredibly powerful beam of magic.
Alpha disagreed and dashed out of the way, flying into an empty building. He heard the sound of hooves close behind and flew as fast as he could, weaving in and out, left and right as he navigated through the abandoned city.
Celestia grinned as she galloped, close behind the fleeing colt. She had to admit, he was agile. He made perfect 90 degree turns without losing any speed.
She could hear him breathe, his breath getting faster and faster and laughed aloud as he made a fatal move, entering a dead end alley at nearly full speed. She knew he was weak; that he couldn't pull up in time or stop himself before hitting the wall.
"Magic has rotted her brain." Beta spoke as he destroyed the brick wall, letting Alpha fly straight through.
"We are playing a game of cat and mouse. Eventually I'm gonna tire out." Alpha replied, banking hard and flying through the city. "And she knows this. We never did learn if the Elements themselves can be broken, did we?"
"No sadly, and now we don't have the time to search for the answer."
Alpha sighed, disappointed with himself. "If we win, who will rule?"
"Us."
"No offense, but I don't wanna be king and neither should you."
"Why not?"
Alpha took a hard left and ducked under a metal beam.
"I consider myself, you included, as a lone wolf; making choices easier when we are the ones to get hurt, not others."
He spied a garage under an empty building whose windows were cracked and broken and the right side had collapsed. He took the risk and, for a quick second, was out in the open in plain sight as he crossed the road and into the garage.
He spun as he closed his left wing, his right scraping across the ceiling, taking out the lights, sending the underground parking lot in total darkness. With the darkness practically cloaking himself, he dimmed the blue light that outlined his head, wings, and body on his armor and flew to the lowest level and hunkered down in the right corner, waiting.
As his heart returned to a normal beat, his ears picked up the sounds around him. He heard what he thought was crying and whispering and looked around.
How the hell did he just notice them?
A group of ponies cowered on his right, hiding underneath the concrete ramp leading up to the next floor.
"A family, perhaps?"
The father's temple, an earth stallion, was bleeding quite badly, but had wrapped a piece of cloth around his head. Alpha looked up and listened for any sign that could signify Celestia. After five minutes of being perfectly still, he moved to the group, his head still looking up, listening.
They cowered as he came closer, afraid of the being that advanced towards them.
He knew they could only see the blue outline of the armor and his glowing mane and tail. He, very slowly, raised the brightness until they could realize he wasn't her. They still cowered, but were curious as they looked at him, not away from him.
He reached out a hoof towards the stallion but brought it back as he cowered again. Alpha sighed and took off his helmet, revealing his face before trying again, and this time, the stallion allowed Alpha to touch him. Alpha moved his brown mane away from the wound and untied the cloth to see the gaping hole.
"It isn't good, but it isn't fatal, not yet." Alpha whispered. "Your blood has already started to clot, beginning to cease the blood loss." He moved his head as he examined it. "Don't remove the cloth until you are CERTAIN that she," Alpha nodded upward. "Is defeated."
The stallion slowly nodded his head, but continued to stare at Alpha and reached out, grabbing his tail and pulling him back as he turned to leave. "You can't leave. It isn't safe!"
"I'll be fine."
"No you won't! You guards never are! It goes after you guards first! After the guards are dead, it resumes searching for us."
Alpha huffed in amusement. The father had erroneously mistook him as a guard.
"At this time, considering the fear and horror that they must be feeling, even I would mistake us as a guard." Beta told Alpha.
"I'm not a guard, and I'll be fine."
A colt's head, no older than fourteen, popped out from the group. "If you aren't a guard, where did you get that armor?!"
Alpha looked at himself then to the colt. "Family Heirloom." He answered, half-lying.
"Doubt it." The brown colt replied.
"Button Mash!" The father spoke out, ridiculing his son. "I'm sorry. Do you know what is happening!?"
Alpha looked up, listening. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"I have a family!" He spoke out, his voice echoing in the underground garage. "You got to help us!"
Alpha instinctively cloaked himself and the family and listened for Celestia.
It was dead quiet, except for the five heartbeats, excluding his own. His adrenaline combined with fear enhanced his hearing and he was certain he could hear the heart beat echo in the dark room.
He could almost feel the echo.
He uncloaked only the father and himself, muffling the other four. "I got a place…a safe haven from her. How-"
"We'll go." He said, cutting him off.
"I'm not done talking. There will be changelings there."
His eyes widened with fear.
"Don't worry; they are allies in this war. Are you ready?"
He nodded his head and they both disappeared in a blinding flash of blue light.
The mountain was practically swarmed with changelings, some chirping, others in the air, most teleporting. It all fell silent as they looked at the family of ponies with the company of a metallic glowing blue suit. Alpha shook his head to see more than 500 identical copies of himself, all staring at him.
"Where is our Queen?" "Where is Chrysalis?" "Where you successful?" "Did you win?" "Is Celestia Dead?" The questions were overwhelming and Alpha felt a strong urge to cover his ears and teleport away. Instead, he took a deep breath and relaxed his fast-beating heart.
"Beta, how many suits of armor are in your vault?" He asked once he was calm enough to think on other things.
"There is literally a factory below us. The rock beneath us is littered with iron and coal. Technically, the factory, composed of empty suits, has been making suits since we came here four years ago."
"Can you un-bond with me and bond with a suit?"
"Yeah, why?"
Alpha pushed through the crowd and galloped towards the opened vault. "Get the suits to equip themselves on the changelings, all of them. Make a password or fail-safe so we can control and stop the changelings if they go against us."
The suits came to life as their creator entered. Beta left Alpha and bonded with his suit, the glowing outline changing red while another suit's wing came apart and replaced the damaged metallic feathers on Alpha's brace with its own. The skylights above let the light of the sun enter the room, which caught the dust and lit up the room.
The suits activated one by one, their heads raising and straightening. They looked at the crowd of changelings and flew towards them. Each suit picked a changeling and there was a flurry of flying pieces of metal as the suits armored the changelings.
"Estefani, change failsafe protocols." Beta spoke out as he appeared next to Alpha.
"Error. Authorization failure. Identify your Species, Mutant type, First name, Number, and Date of birth." The suit's mechanical voice spoke out.
"Does it hurt? Your wing?"
Alpha glanced at the newly replaced feathers. "Not really. Born on a leap year?"
"Mhm. The other colts used to tease me when I was 16 by telling me I was actually four and I should go back to pre-school where I belong."
"That doesn't seem that bad."
"It wasn't. It was just fucking annoying after the 50th fucking time."
"Authorization accepted." The tone seemed cheerful. "Welcome Back, Beta." His suit began to pulsate Red and Black.
"Estefani, go to Library of Known Species."
"Changing source, stand by. Source is now: Library of Known Species."
"Species Changeling is in the Library, Correct?"
"Correct."
"Edit Failsafe Protocol for Species Armor."
"Acknowledged, Accessing failsafe protocol. Protocol accessed, please speak changes."
"If Species Changeling attacks Innocent Species of Earth Pony, Pegasus Pony, Unicorn Pony, or Mutant pony, lockdown suit. Authorization codes no longer active. Unlock only to Brain Pattern, Magic pattern and Mutant Brain and Blood Pattern of Suit designated Alpha and Suit designated Beta if next to Locked suit. Do not unlock if Brain Pattern, Magic Pattern, and Mutant Brain Pattern of Pegasus Mutant designated Alpha or Earth Pony Mutant designated Beta is inside Locked Suit. Confirm Change."
The suit was silent as Alpha stared at Beta. For Alpha, it sounded as if Beta was speaking in an unknown language. "What?"
"Just watchin' the owner of Estefani configure the rules of the legendary armor." Alpha replied with a smile.
Beta's metallic helmet nodded in response.
"Change Confirmed. Species Changeling Suit will now lock down, restricting all types of movement if previous attack is against any innocent pony or mutant pony species. Unlock suit only if Brain, Magic, and Mutant Brain Pattern of Suit and Pegasus Mutant Pony designated Alpha and Brain, Magic, and Mutant Pattern of Suit and Earth Mutant Pony designated Beta are next to locked suit. Confirm?"
"Confirmed."
"Failsafe Protocol for Suit Species Changeling overridden and accepted. Anything else?"
Beta looked at Alpha and watched as Alpha turned around and examined an un-active suit's armored horn. He stared at it and began to feel the empty horn brace on his forehead. "Can I remove this?" He asked, looking at Beta
"The Horn?"
He nodded.
"Yeah, you just need authorization from your suit."
"How do I gain that?"
Beta fell silent, thinking.
"Creator Beta, would you like anything else or shall I log out?" The robotic monotone voice of the suit spoke out.
"Estefani, what is the status of the POR suit?"
"The suit was destroyed when you were defeated but was rebuilt in year 289 of the Lunar Calendar. Status is Green. The suit is ready for active usage."
"What is POR?"
"Pony of Rage."
Alpha lifted an eyebrow.
The suit appeared beside Beta. Unlike the Estefanias Alpha have seen, this one was scratched and dented. It had two metallic wings that sprouted outwards on the back. They were made with precision and accuracy, but exposure to time and natural elements had taken its toll on the suit. The metal was rusty and there was a faint tinge of maroon that stained the orange rust. The wings were ragged instead of the sharp curved metal it once was.
Beta's suit deactivated as he left and bonded with the POR suit. It did not glow like the others nor activate but instead came to life. The metal moved and the rust chipped off, piling underneath the armor.
With the rust coming off, Alpha made out the glowing red eye sockets and heard an eerie exhale. He heard the suit inhale, the rust falling off of the moving metal, and heard it exhale again. It breathed in and out loudly, the metal slightly creaking as they began to move.
"Beta?" Alpha asked out, hesitantly.
The rusty suit nodded.
"Are you alright?"
It nodded again and extended its front legs then its hind legs then its wings; stretching. The wings struggled for a moment before the metallic feathers broke free of the rust and extending to full length. They were easily as big as Alpha's and he watched with both fear and awe as the helmet tilted left then right before turning to face him.
"It's been a long time since I've been in this suit." Beta spoke. His voice sounded nearly identical to his Estefania's. He shook violently as he shook off the remaining rust.
"I thought you said that Celestia salvaged the left over parts."
"She did but she used them as a model as she created her own version. The suit re-activated and, realizing I was dead, escaped and ran off."
Alpha was silent as he processed what he was witnessing. "So that's the suit you used when you were alive."
Beta nodded.
"Why use it now?"
Beta walked past his deactivated Estefania and Alpha and walked to the wall of Changelings, all watching and listening.
"Your Queen is dead, slaughtered by the so called 'Princess of Equestria'. Princess Luna, King Shining Armor, and Queen Candance have also been slaughtered by this Princess." He paused as he walked into the crowd. "I know you do not like me, that you hate and despise me. You have the right to do so, but currently Celestia is trying to restart history, reset it. To do this, she is going to the populated cities scattered across Equestria and is actively hunting and killing all she finds."
"All I need from you is one simple favor. Go to the remaining cities and search for any survivors and bring them here!" He stomped his hoof on the ground for emphasis. "This is our kingdom. This is our home. We all have been living here for four years and know this mountain as if it were our cutie marks. This place is the only safe haven against Celestia. She cannot penetrate this mountain; she cannot enter nor destroy this place." He took a deep breath. "If you want to be treated like the pony you used to be before your incident and not the monsters that have no soul, then this is the only time to prove that you deserve to be treated as such."
The changelings glanced at each other. They nodded their heads in agreement before ten changelings rose into the air. They pointed hooves and barked orders in high pitched squeaks that reminded Alpha of the bats he would listen to at night after he escaped from the factory.
Beta glanced to his side to see Alpha nodding. "Well spoken."
"It sounded too cliché."
"It probably was, but then again, it was needed to be said."
Beta extended his new wings and aligned the feathers into a smooth, slick curve. "I'm an earth pony. I am not meant to fly." Alpha nodded as he watched the wings turn into wing-like knives. Once done, Beta relaxed his 'wings' and joined Alpha as he watched the changelings order others. "Estefani, armor them up."
Alpha glanced at Beta, confused to what he said. Beta tilted his head and shrugged in response. He was about to respond when he heard the changelings gasp as the metal from the tomb flew out and equipped themselves on them. Alpha smiled within his helmet.
"Let's go find us a princess."