"Yeah, I'll stick to using them as little as possible. I don't need to be taunted by ghosts of the past," Dawn continued, bluntly. "Okay, where's the next one...?"
Weapons.
Starlight sat to the side of an outdoor firing range, nestled at the bottom of a grassy valley. The sky was overcast, but not in the way Dawn was used to. The clouds were light and thin, only providing a screen to hide the sky from the ground below instead of darkening it. A creek burbled somewhere nearby.
The Twilight crouched down at one end. Cement blocks of various sizes made up its targets, ranging from about as big as a pony to that of a tank. An assortment of weapons were laid out neatly beside the mech, with a mixed team of mechanics ready to hot swap when needed. The first was almost done being installed- a pair of shoulder mounted guns that looked like they'd be on the upper end of any infantry-usable calibers.
"Starlight Glimmer again," she began, sounding like she had her ears plugged. "Welcome to the weapons demonstration orb. We'll be showing you what types of targets demand which guns, as well as the limitations we're aware you'll experience. As much as Sunset would argue otherwise, there is no such thing as a perfect weapon."
She cleared her throat, then yelled, "Begin when ready!"
A minute passed by as the mechanics cleared the scene, which she filled with a little more talk. "Vulcan cannons. You'll want to use these against infantry at range to avoid using larger, limited munitions. For anything close, just step on it."
The guns opened fire a few moments later. The roar was muffled and still incredibly loud, echoing through the entire valley. The smaller, pony-sized concrete formation was blasted to rough chunks front to back over the next few seconds, and when the Twilight was finished, all that was left was a stump. The cannons smoked and retracted down.
Mechanics leapt to action, the next weapon being attached to the Twilight's arm- a rack of missiles, each only half the size of a pony. "The next one is for when there's a small army in need of routing. Vulcan cannons are really only good for skirmishes. Cluster rockets are for the larger battles against a more conventional mixed force."
A salvo of three shrieking missiles burst over a grid of concrete and dropped a carpet of explosives over it.
"Use them well. The opening volley is the most important. Catch them
before they spread out. Next weapon!"
A long, two-pronged barrel reared over the Twilight's shoulder. An electrical charge started building up with a high pitched whine. "The railgun. General purpose high-priority sniper. Standing still to aim will get you better results with any weapon, but it is especially felt with this. The actual slug is small, but..."
Recoil caused the Twilight to flex back and the railgun to jerk. A perfectly straight line of heated, warped air was made at the same time a tank-sized block was obliterated and a colossal
crack resounded well beyond the confines of the valley. Most of the chunked concrete went directly backwards into a dirt cone, but a few flew astray and bounced off a shield that had been invisible until just now.
"...I don't think you can frown at the results. Next!"
An oversized rifle was given to the Twilight, lined with five lights on the barrel. This one simply needed to be carried like an actual firearm. "Beam rifle. The cells ended up being too massive to simply integrate with any Paladin, not even the Daylight, so we went with the next best option. This is your go-to for anything shaped like a dragon."
One beam as thick as a carriage shot from the tip for one second, draining one of the lights completely. Three concrete blocks were bored through and cracked outwards from a superheated expansion. The valley behind it was turned into a charred pile of dirt and molten, quickly-cooling bedrock. What grass hadn't been carbonized around the hole was now on fire. A pegasus flew a cloud over to start dousing.
"One clean shot will put anything we know is fielded against us out of commission, provided it doesn't have shields on par with the Paladin itself. You will
not get more shots with this out in the field, hence, you should be using this primarily against dragons. Next!"
The Twilight's other shoulder raised a wide, stubby-barreled turret that aimed for the sky. It fired once with a distinctly hollow-sounding
thunk, and then the sky was filled with sooty smoke and high-speed, trailing fragments.
"Flak cannon. As you may know, the zebras have alchemy to grant them temporary flight to combat our pegasi. This is your aerial counterpart to the vulcan cannon to clear out the skies. Be
very careful you aren't using this in mixed airspace, it does not discriminate. Next!"
The Twilight gripped a cylinder barely longer than its hand, topped on one end with an inset gem. It depressed a button on the side, and a short beam of energy extended from it. One swing, and it cleanly cleaved a tank block from corner to corner.
"Beam saber. Similar to the beam rifle, but potentially usable for longer and easier to use up close. Battery charge is still limited so don't keep it on all the time."
A technological sphere a little larger than the Twilight's head was wheeled out on a large metal cart, but Starlight made a cutting motion across her throat and shook her head. "Not that!" Then, quieter, "It's not finalized yet. While my earlier description of a Paladin being a precise megaspell was meant more as a description of their capabilities, we
did develop portable megaspells for them to connect their reactor to to power. A computer would handle the actual spellcasting."
She shuddered. "Twilight's work terrifies me on a fundamental level even moreso than Sunset's and Fluttershy's.
"Next orb."
- - - - -
@Sablonus,
@Asmodemus,
@Dalek Ix,
@triumph8w
The rain subsided to nothing over the next few hours of memory orb watching, though the sky remained eternally overcast. It didn't get any brighter either- the sun was beginning to set, giving the clouds a muted, reddish-purple hue that faded to a deep, royal navy.
"Are you in. Need of some. Emergency medical assistance?" announced Buddy from the surface, its voice sounding extra tinny when coming through the hole. "Healing potions for. Sale! Down at the. Pharmacy. Get right back into. The fight!"
Who was it talking to?
The protect-buck's head then loomed over the hole, partially blocking the dim skylight. "Identified. Ministry of Peace. Medic. Your assistance is. Urgently needed."
Morning airlifted Sawbone up and out of the hole. Both saw somepony extremely relevant to them, trudging forward from the northern tracks like a zombie.
For Morning, the figure was a pegasus. His Enclave armor had been battered and broken, parts of the stallion's matted, mud-caked fur and mane sticking out- but even then, there was no mistaking the sea-green and sapphire curls.
Ocean Breeze. The rookie who ended up far too in over his head. He looked like he'd barely crawled away from death.
And for Sawbone, he saw a patient in critical condition. How he managed to shamble along without ghoulhood was nothing short of a miracle. He'd bled profusely, his exposed parts encrusted with scabs and the edges of his armor looking like they'd
rusted. Black crystal had emerged from his left foreleg, and he walked exceptionally rigidly on it. His left wing's joints had been forcibly folded in with a sheath of the stuff.
His eyes, glazed as they were, briefly focused on the three in front of him before he collapsed. "H-h-heeelllllp," he moaned, voice dry and weak. "H-he's... my
heeeaaaad!"
