[Setting] PonyMech

[Inspector Valin]

Well, tapping away at a thing. It's still very much a WIP but I've been enjoying writing what I've got so far. PEACH, if you don't mind. Trying to take the best shot I can at this. I'm trying to take the Turnabout Storm approach of keeping MLP stylistics and overall tone in a setting with some darker elements... YMMV if I pulled it off at all

"These are the Widdershins - a handful of planets on the far end of the universe colonized by Ponykind. Once it was divided between the four noble clans of equine, but after three hundred years of war, these worlds now enjoy a tenuous peace under the banner of mighty Queen Novia, and her Lazulite Guard. It is a time when worlds are waiting to be explored, foes lurk in the shadows and harmony is a fragile gift that must be protected.“

“It is the age of PonyMech.”

[Ascension]

Cantacan: Then.

The wind was already strong enough that Searchlight's Cloudchaser was grounded, proceeding on hoof, and she knew the cyclone ahead of her would only get stronger. Soon she'd be reduced to a crawl, having to fire ground anchors with each step just to keep her light scout MBU from being snatched away by the storm. Still, she couldn't stop. The storm was no natural tempest, it was Hurricane war weather, and Cogboom only knew how many pegasi and stronger-flying 'Mechs might be riding its winds. Cogboom only knew, but Searchlight would find out. She had to.

Her comms crackled, "Princess, what're you seeing up there?"

Searchlight, a unicorn, had been stuck with the nickname "Princess" ever since she announced her intentions to test out to pilot air 'Mechs. At first the nickname was a mark of derision, for the Midnights' few pegasus pilots resented any "wannabe alicorns" who tried to horn in on what they considered to be their turf, but it had taken on a more affectionate tone over the years, as she proved herself again and again in the air. Even so, Searchlight still hated the name, but she knew she'd never be rid of it.

"Not much more than you are, Captain. I've seen a few fliers on the edge of the storm, but the cloud wall's effectively opaque. And before you ask, it's blinding radar, too. I won't know anything more until I'm inside."

"Negative, Princess, you are not to enter the storm. Fall back and rejoin our defensive perimeter at Nav Delta."

"Captain, my orders were to relay back the composition of the Hurricane force. I can't do that without seeing what they've got inside that cyclone."

"Consider your previous orders countermanded, Lieutenant. Get back here."

Searchlight couldn't abide by that. There was a reason why she piloted a scout 'Mech. There was a reason why she'd earned a lighthouse as a cutie mark. She simply couldn't stand to be left in the dark, waiting to be attacked by an enemy of unknown strength. With a grimace, she switched off her comms.

Immediately the connection came back to life, overridden by the Captain's command privilege.

"Lieutenant. Searchlight. Listen to me. Don't go in there."

Captain Swiftwing must really be concerned, if he was using her real name. Searchlight knew the danger, but she had to know. Her mother had always said she ought to have been born a Moonbeam.

She glanced back over her shoulder at the Cloudchaser's only other crewmember, her electronic warfare officer.

"You're with me, right, Lemon Drop? We... we can head back if you want to."

Lemon Drop gave her a small smile.

"You'd do it, but you'd never forgive me for it. No, we've made it this far together... we're going in all the way. Let's just try to make sure we're still around for the court-martial, okay?"

Searchlight returned the grin.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Captain Swiftwing's protests faded as the Cloudchaser crawled closer to the storm, and the interference that was blanking Searchlight's radar grew worse. Lemon Drop's ECCM suite could gain little ground against that interference, and she theorized it was probably an effect of the storm itself, rather than Hurricane countermeasures. Searchlight took some comfort in that... it might mean the Hurricanes were just as blind to her approach as she was to their true numbers. The storm was the only thing that might hide her; Cloudchasers were built for speed over stealth, and she was close enough to the cyclone now that the lush forest canopy that had helped screen her initial approach was all but stripped bare by the winds. The groan of the over-stressed wood and the sharp cracks as branches gave way were loud enough to be heard within the 'Mech's insulated cockpit even with the external mics disengaged.

And then the storm was on her. Visibility dropped to almost nil as the world around the Cloudchaser was reduced to a realm of fog and shadow. Searchlight was tempted to employ her own magic to light the way, but she didn't want to give away her position just yet. She would soon break through to the eye of the storm, and there she'd be able to move more freely. Within the cloud wall, it was all she could do just to keep her 'Mech grounded and intact. Through the reflexive connection of her neurohelmet she could feel the Cloudchaser's balance shifting precariously, feel the wind tugging at its folded wings, urging it toward uncontrollable flight. The metal frame of the 'Mech itself strained in protest.

Lightning fell around the Cloudchaser, and Searchlight feared she'd been discovered, that Hurricane Windigoes had opened fire, but there was no pattern to the strikes that might indicate a guiding hoof. The fury of the storm was such that it simply could not be contained. With her mobility cut to almost nothing by the fierce wind, Searchlight knew she'd have no chance to dodge the bolts; she could do no more than hope they'd continue to miss her. With the same determination that led her into the storm in the first place, she turned her eyes upward, peering into the unrelenting slate grey tempest, hoping that the bright lightning flashes might at least reveal something in the sky. She was rewarded: the flashbulb light sketched vague shadow figures across the clouds. Few were large enough to represent MBUs, but the sky was dark with ponies. No Sparkplug-esque superweapon could be blamed for the megastorm; it was clearly the product of pure wingpower. A true pegasus might take pride in that, but Searchlight's reaction was more akin to horror. She knew the stories of alicorns who could shift the stars as well as anypony, but stories were one thing; actually seeing ponies wield power as titanic as that storm with their own wings was another. The sight was almost enough to make her an Everfreer on the spot.

After what seemed like an age, the storm's eye wall passed over Searchlight's 'Mech, and her nightmare ended... only to be immediately replaced by a new nightmare. Two Earthshakers, Hurricane colors hastily painted over their old Oakheart green, loomed over her, marching along within the eye of the storm. With any possible cover scoured away by the wind, she had no hope but to immediately launch her Cloudchaser skyward. Its systems screamed protests as she took wing jets from a cold start to full throttle, rocketing straight into the air, but even more alarms joined the clangor as the startled Earthshakers brought the first of their neisers to bear. Bolts of lightning now streaked across the eye's calm sky as Windigoes and pegasi became alerted to her flight. She didn't even try to return fire; the Cloudchaser's light neisers would make hardly any difference at all arrayed against the Hurricanes' full force. She was not so vindictive as to want to simply take as many pegasi as she could down with her. No, she yearned to escape, to get up over the storm so that she could warn of the unexpected Earthshakers hidden in the enemy's midst. Lemon Drop already had the signal streaming out over a dozen different frequencies, but there was no telling if any of them could pierce the interference of the storm.

One missile hit rocked the Cloudchaser, then another, and, despite Searchlight's best efforts to keep it under control, it dove into the tempest. Her wings were not immediately snatched off by the winds, as she feared they might be, but she could barely control her flight. Too light, too underpowered, her 'Mech simply wasn't built to handle such extreme conditions. She spun through the storm, riding the winds with the pegasi, as hostile lightning crackled 'round her. Far below her, a stray bolt struck something flammable, and an ominous plume of flame spiraled up through the clouds. She knew that at any moment, she might become flaming debris, scattered by the storm.

Lemon Drop's voice was quiet as she said, "Ma'am, I want you to know I've always felt you were meant for the sky. No matter what the pegasi said."

"No," Searchlight muttered, straining against her controls, "No, we're not doing this. We're not dying."

Redlining throttles and exceeding safe stress limits, Searchlight struggled to steer her 'Mech toward the edge of the cyclone, hoping against hope to break free.

And then something even less likely happened. A blue star descended from the sky, dropping gracefully into the eye of the great war cyclone. And then, with a flaring of her wings, with a raising of her horn, the blue star resolved itself into the impossible. An alicorn, in the flesh, as grand and graceful and beautiful as all the legends. Her horn shone blue, brighter than any neiser beam, and the mighty storm around her simply... fell apart. Its gusts lost their bite, its clouds lost their shape, and it collapsed in on itself. 'Mechs and pegasi alike who were suspended within the storm found themselves softly lowered to the ground on dying winds. Searchlight was left sitting in a field of her enemies, but she did not try to run, did not try to fight. She was too busy staring at the myth made real, as were all the Hurricanes. Even Lemon Drop's urgent distress signals had fallen silent at the sight of the miracle pony.

Suddenly, Searchlight's comms broke the stunned silence of the magic moment.

"Princess, what happened out there? The storm just... dissipated? What was that?"

"Don't call me that," Searchlight mumbled, barely able to find the words.

"What?"

"Princess. Don't call me that."

"Okay, Lieutenant Searchlight, fine. Just tell me what in Nightmare's name just happened!"

Briefly, furiously, she tapped at her controls, establishing a video link, streaming back to Captain Swiftwing, streaming back to base just what she was seeing.

"Don't ever call me that again."

And so, through such scenes, repeated across the length and breadth of all the warring Widdershins, began the reign of Princess Novia, soon to be called Queen.