In the year 2010 of the Imperial Calendar, the Holy Caballerian Empire declared war on the island nation of Nippony.

Nippony had the richest supply of a miraculous element called ‘sakuradite’, a resource that was integral to recent advancements in military technology. The country was a neutral party caught between three superpowers all vying for a monopoly over the sakuradite. Tired with the unending trade disputes, Caballeria seized the initiative and invaded the Nipponese Archipelago.

The Nipponese Defence Forces were no match for the Caballerian Army. It only took the innumerable soldiers of Caballeria only mere weeks to sweep through to the mainland. In the final, decisive battle of the war, the Caballerians employed a brand-new kind of war machine that used processed sakuradite, the Equine Autonomous Armoured Knight, known as the KnightMare Frame. Alongside the tanks and infantry, aircraft, battleships, and submarines, the KnightMare Frames annihilated the last of the Nipponese military.

Nippony became a dominion of the Caballerian Empire. The country lost it’s identity in blood and fire, it’s name stolen and replaced with a number. Nippony became ‘Area 11’ of the Holy Caballerian Empire. The ponies of this once proud, bastardized former nation had no rights, no power, and no hope, save for one unheard voice amongst the violence and betrayal.

“I swear, I will destroy Caballeria!”

2010 A.T.C.

On a hill, just outside a forest of cherry trees in full bloom, two colts were playing. The foals ran around chasing one another, lost in their imaginations, pretending they were knights slaying dragons. One of the colts was Pegasus with a tan-coat and a messy brown mane, whose cutie mark was a horseshoe with a downward-pointing sword overlain upon it. The other colt was an Alicorn with a black mane and a white coat; his cutie mark was a violet starburst shape with a checkerboard-patterned heart within it.

The foals suddenly stopped and looked to the horizon. The sky began to fill with all kinds of aircraft, and battleships came looming into view on the far-away sea. The two colts looked to one another in confusion, completely unaware of what was happening.

The invasion had begun.

Tokara. A sprawling metropolis that shielded millions of ponies from the Pegasus-administrated elements. Once, it was the capital of the valiant island nation of Nippony, rich in heritage and diverse in every aspect. Now it was the seat of Caballerian power in Area 11. The industrious center of the city was smothered by a massive metal fortress half a dozen layers thick, a giant hoof that stamped on the honour of the Nipponese.

The Tokara Settlement was a shining example of the Caballerian way of life. Caballeria was an empire built on the backs of other ponies. The emperor preached Social Darwinism to his subjects, both to ethnic Caballerians and to the ethnicities she oppressed. “The ponies from other nations are inherently inferior to those of Caballeria.” Social Darwinism penetrated every level of Caballerian society. “The Alicorn royalty are superior to the Unicorns and Pegasi, and they are superior to the magic-lacking, wingless Earth Ponies.”

And so the Tokara Settlement – populated by Caballerian nobility – prospered, and the ghettoes to the borders – overrun with Elevens – fell farther and farther into ruin and squalor. The only way an Eleven could live a privileged life inside the Settlement was to sell their soul and become an ‘Honorary Caballerian’, to abandon their kin and assist in their repression.

Caballeria kept its victor’s peace in the Tokara Settlement, propagating a regime that had no morals.

Well, it usually kept the peace…

“This is Alpha Three. The target is moving from Sector G to Sector H. Requesting backup to apprehend the vehicle.” A Pegasus in a military helicopter was yelling into a radio receiver and keeping an eye on the road below him. The pony was watching a steel-grey eighteen-wheeler barrelling down a steel-grey highway flanked by steel-grey skyscrapers, and it was a pain in the flank to keep track of.

“Reinforcements on the way, Alpha Three,” answered a pompous voice blaring back through the radio. “Orders from above are to follow the target and wait for the rest of the air units to arrive, then move in for the capture. HQ out.”

The pilot Pegasus nodded to himself and checked his radar. Two helicopters were already closing in from behind. The Pegasus grinned and watched the truck closely. Once the rest of the choppers showed up, they’d have this rebel scum trapped in less than a minute.

“Can’t this damn thing go any faster?!”

Sitting in the passenger seat of the eighteen-wheeler was a fiery Pegasus with a light blue coat and a spiky rainbow-coloured mane. She was yelling at the driver, a brown and black Earth Pony. They were both wearing janitors’ uniforms, disguises that enabled them to infiltrate a Caballerian barracks so that they could enter with the truck and load it up with a very dangerous cargo.

They were Nipponese rebels, terrorists.

“This thing isn’t built like you, Dash,” her comrade said as they swerved around a truck. “If we can’t get away, you’re going to have to fight them off.”

The blue mare grinned and punched the air. “Let’s hope the military is as skilled as ever then, huh?” She gave the driver a wink, and he rolled his eyes. Clearly he didn’t want to try their chances in a shoot-out with Caballeria. They were in a dangerous situation.

They had hijacked military property in order to strike out at the imperial regime. The back of the truck was divided into two compartments. The compartment behind the seats almost filled from wall to wall by a large capsule. It was big enough to contain just about anything. And anything included a biological weapon.

“…so I said, um, aren’t you listening, Check? Never mind then…”

“Hmm?”

Four ponies were sitting at a table in the middle of an office-like room. They were all wearing school uniforms; the mares were wearing yellow jackets; the one male was in a black one. Checkmate – a Unicorn stallion with a dishevelled black mane and a purple-tinged white coat – was in the middle of a daydream. He looked up from his daisy sandwich and directly at the mare mumbling at him from across the table.

“Um, it’s okay. It wasn’t really an interesting story anyway.” Fluttershy shifted her gaze from Checkmate and hid her face behind the long, pink curtain that was her mane. She was blushing furiously, the flush reddening her pale yellow coat. Another pony put a foreleg around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze, causing her to jump in surprise.

“Aw! Looks like your little chat put Checkmate to sleep. Again!” The profusely pink pony said, her frizzy, rose-coloured mane bouncing up and down as she moved. She had Fluttershy in a bear hug that could bend steel. “There ain’t nopony who’s easier to bore than our Checkie!”

Fluttershy mumbled into her own mane and tried to squirm away from the magenta menace. A glow of violet magic enveloped the pink mare and she was pulled away and was sat down at the table. Fluttershy sighed in relief and straightened out her school uniform.

“Pinkie was just kidding, Fluttershy,” said a violet Unicorn with pink streaks in her dark purple mane, Twilight Sparkle. “You’re not boring. Checkmate is just a lousy layabout with an attention deficit.” She shot a glare at Checkmate. She turned to Pinkie Pie again. “You need to be more careful with Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie. Emotionally and physically.”

“You’re such a party pooper, Twilight!” said Pinkie. She frowned for a second, then hopped over the table and landed next to Checkmate with a loud crash. Fluttershy winced and Twilight rolled her eyes. “Are we still gonna go gambling, huh?” Pinkie asked Checkmate as she resurfaced at the table.

“Yep,” Checkmate said between bites of his sandwich, levitating it with an aura of bright purple magic. “We’re gonna go during P.E.”

“You shouldn’t be skipping class to gamble…” Fluttershy said timidly.

“Yeah, you guys! You should stay in school! You need to attend class so you can learn things. That’s what school is for!” Twilight lectured, completely missing the issue of gambling.

“It’s P.E.,” Checkmate said after finishing his sandwich. “What are we going to learn from running around the campus?”

“Yeah! Why would we spend time doing that when we could be gambling? We get to learn what it’s like to see a duke lose a game of poker!” Pinkie yelled over at Twilight, predictably startling Fluttershy.

“You two shouldn’t be gambling though…” she said after recovering from her little scare. “You two are on the student council after all.”

It was true, but that had never stopped them before. They were always ignoring their duties and responsibilities as members of the Exmoor Academy Student council. As it were, they were currently procrastinating and leaving their work in a pile on top of the table and helping themselves to a plate of daisy sandwiches. They were hoping that Twilight, who was working through her paperwork like a draft horse, would accidentally do their papers by mistake and they would be rid of it.

“It’s okay, Fluttershy. That means we know exactly how many rules were breaking.” Checkmate gave Fluttershy a wink (which caused her to blush again), and then quickly left the room with an ever-energetic Pinkie Pie in tow.

Checkmate and Pinkie Pie were speeding down the highway on Pinkie’s motorized scooter, Checkmate sitting in the sidecar. They were on their way out of the Tokara Settlement and into the ghettoes at its edge. Today they were going to an illegal casino operated by Elevens instead of their usual fare of haughty, unskilled noblemen.

Glory to Caballeria, Checkmate thought sarcastically, the empire that raises itself above everypony else by stamping them into the ground.

“Look! The big talking head has something to say to us,” Pinkie shouted, pointing to the side of a building at the edge of the Settlement. Mounted upon the skyscraper was a colossal television that was constantly broadcasting the news.

“Today there was a terrorist attack carried out by terrorist Elevens,” announced a newscaster. Checkmate watched the TV with bored disinterest. More propaganda for the privileged, yet ignorant? “A group of twenty Elevens infiltrated a sovereign military base today and escaped after killing a dozen ponies. Two of the terrorists are now in possession of Caballerian military property and are southbound toward Tsushima.” Translation: a few Nipponese freedom fighters snuck into the base and there were no casualties.

“They’re going toward Tsushima? That’s where we’re going!” Pinkie Pie said. “Maybe if we’re lucky, they’ll come close, and the army will find them, and we’ll get to see some explosions which would be cool, and it would be all KABOOM and KABLOOIE and I know it’s all dangerous and stuff, but explosions are kinda just like really, really big fireworks and that totally would be totally super-doopery-dandy-rific!”

Checkmate shook his head and smiled. Pinkie Pie was incapable of looking at anything negatively. “It would be much better for us if nopony else drew any more attention to where we’re going.”

Pinkie Pie frowned. “Yeah…that would be bad…” Then she grinned again. “But all the danger makes illegal stuff more fun anyway!”

Checkmate couldn’t help but laugh; Pinkie Pie had that effect.

A few minutes later, they arrived at a run-down warehouse in one of the shadier parts of the already dubious Tsushima ghetto. Pinkie bounced off into the warehouse after parking her scooter, leaving Checkmate to canter in behind her.

Inside the warehouse was perhaps the dirtiest and grungiest casino in gambling history, legal or illegal. The room was filled with decrepit tables and destitute Elevens. This is the true Caballeria, not the settlement we just left. Caballeria spans a third of the planet, and this oppression is everywhere outside of the ‘Homeland’.

Checkmate spotted his game of choice – chess – and made his way over to the table, followed by his pink moral support pony. Checkmate sat down across from a wizened, grey Earth Pony, picking up the black king piece with his magic. “Care for a game?” Checkmate asked in fluent Nipponese, a skill he acquired in a past life. The Earth Pony nodded, both sides laid down money, and the game began.

Far away from the terrorists and the Tsushima ghetto, Duffer la Caballeria, 3rd Prince of the Royal Family, trotted down the hallways of an underground facility deep below the Viceroy’s Palace at the center of the Tokara Settlement. He, like every member of the Royal Family, was a Winged Unicorn, with a golden mane and a white coat tinged with yellow.

“What’s going on, general?” Duffer demanded from a bald and heavy-set brown-coated Pegasus who strode beside him, his monocle just barely staying on his face. “How could you have lost the capsule? That Gleipnir unit was supposed to have been moved here today! Where are you doing to retrieve it?”

General Forte did his best to keep up with the prince. “We’ve sent out a helicopter unit to monitor and track them.” Clearly, the general was going to ignore the question of how the military managed to lose the capsule in the first place. “We’re going to send in the Royal Guard to recapture it once we find their base. Then we can wipe them out as well.”

Thought the general thought this would have placated the prince, it only served to enrage him further.

“This is unacceptable!” Duffer shouted and broke into a gallop. “The Royal Guard needs to be sent out now. I’d be lucky to be disowned if the emperor ever learned of this. Those rebels could have opened the capsule already. If that happens, then all hell breaks loose.”

They reached an elevator and stepped inside it. They began speeding up toward the surface to board the G1-Stable, a mobile base for military engagements.

“The rebels can’t have opened the Gleipnir unit, could they? Those capsules can only be opened with Alicorn magic,” General Forte answered, hoping his response would satisfy the irritable royal. “You sealed it yourself. It should be impregnable.”

“It should!” Duffer trotted in place as the elevator ascended. “For all we know, they could have blasted the damn thing open.” He paused for a moment, then brought up another matter. “What’s the official story for this? What do those terrorists think they have?”

General Forte took a nervous breath. “The capsule was labelled as biological weapon, so that’s what we’re going with.”

Duffer snorted in a most un-princely manner. “That might have kept them from trying to force it open, but there’s no way to know for sure. At least the bio-weapon pretence will work as a good excuse.”

“A good excuse for what, your majesty?”

“An excuse for closing off the ghetto. And for everypony in there having been killed. If anypony saw our experiment, we’d be dead.” He moved a strand of hair out of his face with a hoof. “We’re going to liquidate the ghetto.”

“Uh, Rainbow,” the truck driver said to his accomplice, “I think we’ve got a bit of a problem.”

“This is the Royal Guard. Stop the vehicle now and surrender and you will be given a fair trial. If you don’t pull over now, we will open fire.” The order was blasting from a magical megaphone attached to the lead helicopter in a unit of ten. Another group of aircraft was bringing up the rear.

“Looks like it’s my time to shine,” the cyan Pegasus said, running a hoof through her rainbow mane, making it about twenty percent cooler. She hopped out of her chair and galloped past the stolen container and into the back compartment. In the back of the truck was another weapon, not stolen (well, not recently so), a more conventional weapon. Nippony’s last soldiers were about to take something back from their conquerors.

“Open fire!” yelled the Pegasus in the leading chopper, and the helicopters started blasting at the back of the truck. The truck’s back door opened and out from the darkness shot a pair of metal shapes. The objects collided with the front two helicopters and were drawn back toward the truck by thick, durable cables, bringing the choppers crashing down onto the highway. The blades disappeared back into the truck.

“Slash Horseshoes?!” another Pegasus pilot exclaimed over an open channel, staring at the truck in horror. “They have a KnightMare?!”

“That’s right! You pigs don’t have the advantage any more!” Rainbow Dash leaned forward on a pair of levers and fired the Slash Horseshoes again, taking out two more helicopters.

KnightMare Frames were the ultimate weapons. They consisted of a four to five meter-tall metal equine exoskeleton capable of not only quadrupedal, but bipedal movement. It was controlled by a cockpit module built into the back, between the shoulders, and could be ejected in an emergency. Visual data was collected by a Factsphere, a centralized bundle of sensor technology. Attached to the side of the back hooves was a bar with a large wheel on the end, a device known as a Landspinner, enabling the KnightMare to travel at incredible speeds. The weapon was powered by a miraculous energy source, the Yggdrasil Drive, based upon a device called the Core Luminous and powered by sakuradite.

The model Rainbow Dash was piloting was painted red and armed with retractable blades on tethers built into the shoulders, Slash Horseshoes, an anti-pony machine gun, and hardened front legs used for close-quarters combat. It was an outdated model, captured from the Caballerians a few months ago. However dated, this badass mother was enough to ruin somepony’s day.

“That relic isn’t enough to save you,” said a voice from the sky. A KnightMare was gliding above the highway, suspended by an aerial KnightMare carrier. The carrier released the KnightMare Frame and it landed behind the truck, spinning in place, before chasing after it. “Your old Norfolk isn’t a match for the new Dartmoors.”

The KnightMare was blue and black with bands of crimson on it, signifying its pilot as a member of the Purebreds. It was a Unicorn-based model, with a large magic-amplifying horn jutting out from above the Factsphere. The pilot took aim with the shoulder-mounted guns and shot at the truck, just narrowly missing a tire.

“You don’t have anywhere to run,” the pilot yelled over the open frequency. He deflected a Slash Horseshoe with a hoof and fired at Rainbow Dash’s KnightMare this time. “Once you run out of cleared roads, you’ll be done for.”

It was true. The truck was now entering the Tsushima ghetto. The streets were clogged with debris and refugees. Hopefully, but not likely, they would be able to shake off the military before they found themselves caught in a dead end with no chance of fighting their way out.

Checkmate grinned victoriously. He had won, as always. Admittedly, this old Nipponese pony had given him more of a challenge than he usually faced.

“See, Checkie! I told you going against an Eleven would be more fun!” Pinkie Pie said, bouncing around the table in a circle. Checkmate mentally facehoofed; referring to Nipponese ponies as ‘Elevens’ on their home turf wasn’t exactly advisable.

“Good game,” Checkmate said to his opponent. The match had been more entertaining than one against a Caballerian noble, though the winnings were much less. “Care for another game?”

The Earth Pony was about to respond, but a rumbling started shaking the entire casino. With no further warning than that, an eighteen-wheeler crashed through the warehouse wall. The ponies galloped out of the way as the truck screeched to a stop.

“Hey, look, Checkmate,” Pinkie yelled, “it’s that terrorist truck!”

So it was. The back of the truck was open, and a slightly KnightMare Frame jumped out of it. It turned to the recently opened hole and stared out into the ghetto. Seeing nothing, it rolled over to the front of the truck and the pilot and exited the machine.

“The short-range communicator is busted up. Gimme a radio,” the Pegasus pilot shouted at the driver. The driver complied, and as the blue mare caught the walkie-talkie in her mouth, Checkmate was struck by a feeling of recognition. That rainbow mane… so familiar, yet…

“Pinkie Pie, isn’t that –” Checkmate was cut off by the blue mare yelling. “We’ve got company!”

No sooner had she finished than an explosive shell hit the casino’s roof. She climbed back into her KnightMare Frame and sped out of the building, firing at something Checkmate couldn’t see. What he could see, however, was a large container inside the truck as it turned around inside the warehouse. A large portion of the truck’s side was blasted off, revealing a closed off compartment and the object inside caught Checkmate’s attention instantly. He heard a wordless voice in his head, calling him toward it. For reasons he couldn’t explain, he galloped over to the truck and jumped into it just before it began to accelerate.

Checkmate was thrown about inside the eighteen-wheeler. Steadying himself, he allowed his mind to wander to the KnightMare pilot. I know that Pegasus, but from where?

Rainbow Dash dodged an enemy’s Slash Horseshoe and fired one of her own. “We need to split up,” she said into her radio. “I’ll hold them off, and you can get out of here with that weapon.”

“Roger that,” the driver said. “Good luck.” And he drove off deeper into the ghetto.

Time to kick some ass, she thought, and faced the three Dartmoor KnightMares that were chasing her. “Which one of you pampered punks wants take me on first?”

The first KnightMare that had attacked her stepped forward. “What makes you think a puny Eleven could ever defeat one of us, much less three?”

“I’m not an Eleven, I’m Nipponese!” She yelled. “Who do you think you are, Mr. Confident?”

“I am the Unicorn Iron Fealty, leader of the Purebreds! Prepare yourself, Eleven!” His KnightMare raised a hoof and motioned for his subordinates to pursue the truck. Before Rainbow could lash out at the KnightMares passing by her, Iron Fealty rushed at her, firing like a mad horse.

At the edge of the Tsushima Ghetto, a battalion of KnightMare frames had assembled, creating a perimeter in front of the G1-Stable. The G1 was a giant machine in the shape of a tank, the main difference being that the mobile base had an observation deck in place of a gun barrel.

“Move in,” shouted the Royal Guard’s commander. The KnightMares advanced into the ghetto, closely followed by the G1. “Exterminate everypony you see. Leave nopony alive.”

Ponies sparsely populated the streets. The Knightmares came sweeping down the crumbling roads and picked them off one by one. Bullets flew at the Elevens from every direction. The ghetto slowly became obscured in a thousand clouds of dust and bloody mist.

As the KnightMares cleared the streets, infantry ponies went through the buildings and continued the liquidation. The soldiers all wore identical grey suits with widely-spaced black armour plates and a matching helmet. They carried guns of all sorts: mouth-gripped guns, saddle-mounted rifles, machineguns levitated at their sides with Unicorn magic.

A voice shouted at them through the radio in every soldier’s helmet. “Honorary Caballerians, this is your time to prove yourself! We call you Caballerians now, but you were all once Elevens too. Recognize the stench of these inferior people, hunt them down, and wipe them out. All hail Caballeria!”

“All hail Caballeria!” each Honorary Caballerian repeated as they went from building to building and killed members of the race and nation they once abandoned, betraying their blood as they spilled that of others.

All hail Caballeria.

“Take that!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she drove her KnightMare’s front hoof at Iron Fealty. The Unicorn deflected it with a mechanical hoof of his own. The Dartmoor easily outmanoeuvred Rainbow’s older KnightMare Frame and went in for an attack of its own. Rainbow was deliberately keeping close to her enemy in order to keep him from using his guns, but Iron Fealty was perfectly capable fighting without them. He lashed back at Rainbow’s Norfolk, landing a devastating hit that left the right foreleg inoperable.

“You’ve made a valiant effort, Eleven, but you can’t best me in that piece of junk,” Iron Fealty boasted. He pulled away from his target and levelled his Dartmoor’s guns at her. “It’s time to end this little game of ours.”

“Fat chance!” The front right leg on Rainbow’s Norfolk was still damaged, but it still had one more use. In a move that surprised an experienced KnightMare pilot like Iron Fealty, Rainbow Dash jettisoned the damaged leg directly at Iron Fealty. The high-speed projectile hit him dead-on. It didn’t have enough force behind it to significantly damage the Dartmoor’s armour, but it was able to knock it off balance.

Seizing a life-saving opportunity, Rainbow Dash pulled off a seemingly impossible manoeuvre. Quickly pivoting around, she dropped all of the KnightMare’s weight onto its remaining foreleg, spreading the weight out by extending its Landspinner. Then she kicked out with both back legs, bucking Iron Fealty straight into next week.

His KnightMare tipped over backward and was left helpless in the dirt. “All fail Caballeria!” Rainbow called out as she did a front flip back onto her hooves. She sped away from Iron Fealty, escaping into the ghetto. Iron Fealty eventually got up again and shot at Rainbow’s back, but she was already far away.

Now where did that truck get off to? Rainbow thought as she whirled around a corner to dodge enemy fire.

“RD, you still hangin’ onto life there?” The radio came alive with the Nipponese voice that spoke with an accent native to Nippony’s Haykkaido region. “We got trouble mighty bad over on my end.”

“Roger that, AJ,” Rainbow responded. “I’ve lost track of the goods, so I’ll come back you up.”

“Much obliged,” AJ answered. The sound of explosions filtered through the radio between responses. “The truck’ll get here safe enough. We need to make sure there’ll still be a here fer it to come to.”

Checkmate almost immediately regretted his decision to jump inside the truck. The truck bounced up and down as the roads it traversed became more and more rough and unmanaged. Checkmate found himself launched back and forth in the back of the truck, knocking into the capsule that occupied most of the compartment.

We must be going deeper into the ghetto, he inferred while gingerly rubbing what would soon become a huge bruise. If the military doesn’t stop this truck soon, I may have trouble getting back home.

As if on cue, the truck was hit by a hail of bullets. Through the thud of the shells and other noise, Checkmate heard the sound of shattering glass. The truck began to swerve back and forth. Horseapples. They shot the driver.

With a resounding crash accompanied by a stomach-scrambling lurch, the truck came to a very improvised stop. It had collided with the corner of a building and ploughed through the weakened wall until it lost momentum.

Checkmate had hit his head in the crash and collapsed onto the floor. He stood up – almost slipping on a piece of paper that was knocked loose from the crash – and took a look at the capsule; the thing that had compelled him to hitch a ride in the first place. The container looked almost like an egg attached to a wide cylindrical base. The whole thing was made from smooth metal, and it only had one distinguishing feature: a circular socket at the top of the base. Checkmate instantly recognized the hole as a magical lock, the kind that could only be opened with a Unicorn’s horn.

Checkmate considered his options. The driver was probably dead, and the truck was ruined beyond repair. He could either run off, or he could try to open the capsule. Depending on what was inside it, it could make his mere presence near it a problem. If it were harmless, he could seek refuge from the military, but if not…

He decided to take his chances.

He lowered his head and inserted his horn into the lock, sorely hoping that he wasn’t mistaking it for some kind of electrical socket. He lit up his horn with a standard burst of magical energy and the lock whirred open. Checkmate stepped back and the capsule opened, the egg shape coming apart like a blooming flower. Steam, or some such vaporized fluid, issued from the pod and hid whatever was inside.

“What are you doing? Get away from that!” Checkmate heard the yell from his side and soon found himself being knocked away from the capsule. A hoof shoved a gasmask over his face. The one responsible for both actions stood over him; a Caballerian soldier with his helmet removed.

“…Ace?” Checkmate recognized the stallion’s tan coat and messy, brown mane.

“…Checkmate?” Ace Fighter responded, catching sight of his starburst and chequered heart cutie mark.

“Why are you in the Caballerian military?” He’s Nipponese, or rather, an Honorary Caballerian?

“Why are you with terrorists?” Ace rebutted, “And what’s that thing? Isn’t that a biological weapon?”

“I don’t know. I know the military is after it but –” Checkmate stopped short. The air around the capsule had cleared, revealing what the pod had contained: a mare.

Her coat was pure white, and she had a long, flowing mane of straight green hair. She wore – most likely not by choice – a full-body straightjacket. Her forelegs and back legs were bound by straps and buckles, and the jacket reached halfway up her face, essentially gagging her. Also restrained were her large wings, strapping them to her side and keeping her grounded. She had a very distinctive mark on her forehead, just above her sorrowful, yellow eyes; it resembled an elaborate V-shape, like a seagull in flight. Almost as starkly apparent was the fact that, in addition to her wings, she had a long, pointed horn. She was an Alicorn.

“A Winged Unicorn… but…” Checkmate was stunned. The only Winged Unicorns are supposed to be royalty, and she isn’t one of the Caballerian Royal Family.

“I was told I was looking for a biological weapon, but this is…” Ace was just as speechless as Checkmate.

“What the hell is the military doing?” Checkmate said as he began undoing the straps constricting the mare.

“We’re cleaning up, that’s what.”

The Royal Guard had appeared. Twelve Pegasi had entered the dilapidated building, led by a Unicorn with a black beret. All of them were wearing the red uniform of the Royal Guard and were all armed to the teeth.

“Good job apprehending the terrorists, Private Ace Fighter,” said the Unicorn. “We’ll take it from here.”

Ace trotted over to the Royal Guard commander. “I don’t understand, sir. I thought we were searching for a prototype bio-weapon.”

“That is none of your concern, private,” the Unicorn answered. His face slowly broke into a sadistic grin. “We’ll take care of the prisoner, just as soon as you kill that terrorist.”

Ace blanched. “But he’s not a terrorist, sir. He’s just a civilian!”

The Unicorn held out a pistol with his magic, letting it hover it at Ace’s side. “I’ll hear none of this. Shoot that terrorist now.”

Ace turned his back on his superior. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. I won’t harm a civilian.”

“Oh? Well then…”

BANG

Ace staggered and fell like a leaf from a dying tree. The Unicorn had shot him in the side, and now he pointed the gun at Checkmate. “So I guess he was just an Eleven after all. Time for you to die too, terrorist.”

Suddenly, the driver stumbled out of the front of the truck. Everypony turned to look at the blood-soaked Earth Pony, and everypony saw the detonator as he dropped it on the ground. He coughed and gave a tremendous shout. “LONG LIVE NIPPON!”

Fortunately, Checkmate’s mind was one of the quickest-thinking ones in the entire Caballerian Empire. He picked up the white mare with his magic and hurled her out the side of the truck (which had been torn open in the crash) and leapt out after her with not a moment to lose. The front of the truck burst into a conflagration of orange plumes. A shockwave of pure kinetic energy sent him flying into another building and he landed hard on the ground, kicking up dust and dirt.

The Winged Unicorn dropped on the ground next to him, unaffected by the shockwave due to Checkmate’s magic. Checkmate shook his head erratically, clearing his head from the daze, and resumed unclipping the mare’s restraints. Once her legs were free, Checkmate lifted her up with his magic and set her on her feet.

“I don’t know who you are and what the military wants with you, but you’re going to answer to me for everything.” Checkmate’s voice was cold and commanding, but the mare – though no longer gagged – stayed utterly silent.

They galloped as far away as they could. The streets were filled with the remains of the ghetto’s ponies, foals and stallions and mares, Earth Ponies and Pegasi and Unicorns alike. It was still too early for putrefaction and decay, but the ghetto was nevertheless filled with the perfume of death. Checkmate and the mare ran into a half-collapsed building and hid behind a stack of crates while they caught their breath.

All too soon, Checkmate heard the military approaching. He briefly heard the sound of a foal crying before it was silenced by the crack of a gunshot.

Damn military, thought Checkmate, what the hell do they gain from this? This mindless violence is exactly why Caballeria needs to be destroyed.

The Royal Guard barged into the building and the leader shouted to search the building. They’re going to find us. We’re going to die. I’m going to die without doing a single thing with my life, without getting my revenge! I’ll never see Sansvoir again! Just then, interrupting Checkmate’s panicked mental rant, the mare raised a hoof and touched it to Checkmate’s forehead, just below his horn.

You still have a reason to live, said a voice – not his own – filling every corner of his mind. The Tsushima ghetto melted away and he saw himself soaring through a tunnel of pure, blue energy.

This will not be the end. I can grant you power so that you may live, so that you may escape death. The vision contorted, showing him two celestial objects floating in space, a light shining out from between their converging horizons. I propose a contract. In exchange for this power, you will fulfill my own wish.

Various images flashed through Checkmate’s mind: a stone temple lost in an ochre sky, a stone wall inscribed with the same mark as was on the white Alicorn’s forehead, a mass of Alicorns of all colours with the same sigil upon them. While living in the world of ponies, you will live unlike any other. The power of the king will condemn you to unfathomable solitude.

Everything went white. He found himself standing in front of the mare, both of them mere outlines of their proper forms. She held out a hoof. Do you accept?

Checkmate reached out with his own hoof and met hers with steely resolve. I accept the terms of your contract!

The dream blew apart in an inferno of colour and spider webbing patterns. One last sound rang through his head: the loudest roar of the mightiest beast, the whisper of the quietest wind, the crying of a lost soul, the victorious shout of the triumphant warrior: the word ‘GEASS’.

Checkmate woke from the daydream to find that not a single second had passed. The mare moved her hoof away from him, and Checkmate saw the slightest of smiles on her lips. However, the soldiers were still coming.

The Royal Guard galloped into the middle of the room, past Checkmate and the white mare, and spun around looking for them. Unsurprisingly, it only took them a few seconds. They surrounded their prisoners in a semi-circle, boxing them in.

“Looks like you can’t run, or hide,” the Royal Guard commander snipped. He raised his gun with a blood-red aura of magic and aimed for Checkmate’s head. He now recognized what Checkmate was wearing as a school uniform. “A traitorous schoolcolt, huh? You may be even worse than those dissident Elevens. Enjoy your death, scum.”

“NO!”

A flurry of green and white passed in front of Checkmate, and then the gun went off. The shot echoed throughout the building, quickly followed by the thud of a body hitting the floor. Checkmate looked down to see the white mare, dead, a bullet wound at the vertex of the sigil on her forehead.

“You… you shot her!” First Ace, and now this mare…

“Hmm…” the Unicorn seemed troubled, though only trivially so. “We were told to bring her back alive, if possible. I suppose we’ll have to blame it on the Elevens. No mention of you, I’m afraid. You’re going to be erased completely.”

“Oh really?”

Something in Checkmate had snapped. Ever since the hallucination ended, a dull ache had grown in Checkmate’s head. The pain was at its zenith, and then it suddenly disappeared.

When Checkmate had spoken up, his voice was pregnant with command and authority. His change in tone derailed the Royal Guard. Despite themselves, they stayed quiet and allowed Checkmate to continue.

“What’s wrong? Suddenly you’re shying away? I’m only a schoolcolt. Where’s your nerve.” He held a front hoof over his left eye, which was now enflamed with agony. Though it was closed, he could see bursts of red light through it. “Or have you finally realized that the only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed?” He lowered his hoof and opened his eye. The pain and the light stopped. Now, as he proceeded, the V-shaped mark appeared in his eye. His magic tore two slits in his school uniform and he spread his wings for the first time in years. “I, Checkmate vi Caballeria, command you. Now all of you… DIE!”

His eye met those of each of the Royal Guards and he felt his order manifest in their minds as he forced his consciousness on them. Neurons shifted and electrical impulses redirected themselves; his will was absolute.

“Yes, your Highness! All hail Caballeria!” The guards shouted and saluted him in unison, then turned their guns on themselves. With the release of thirteen bullets, this division of the Royal Guard was no more.

So this is my power. So this is Geass. The blood of the soldier ponies pooled on the ground, immersing his hooves and flowing toward a patch of light that shone through a shattered window. Checkmate smiled like the Devil stumbling upon a soul in doubt. It was time for Caballeria’s lost prince to return.

That was the turning point. Since that day, I’ve lived a lie, the lie of living. My name too was a lie. My personal history, a lie. Nothing but lies. I was sick to death of a world that couldn’t be changed. But even in my lies, I refused to give up and despair. And now this incredible power is mine.

---

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Constructive criticism IS appreciated!

“I don’t know what it is you wanted me to do,” Checkmate muttered, half to himself, half to the white mare’s corpse in front of him. “I don’t understand why you gave me this power…”

Checkmate still stood over the corpses of the Royal Guard members and the white mare when a Caballerian KnightMare Frame crashed through the wall.

“What, what happened here? ” The pilot spotted Checkmate and his blood-soaked hooves. “Schoolcolt! What happened here?” The pilot shouted, her voice broadcasted by the KnightMare’s external loudspeaker.

Checkmate grinned, his Geass activating again. “I command you to come out of your KnightMare.”

“And who the hell do you think you are?” The KnightMare pilot seemed rather unimpressed. She fired her KnightMare’s shoulder-cannons over Checkmate’s head, blowing away the crates behind him. “Now identify yourself!”

Checkmate was confused. Maybe it only works with direct eye contact. Thinking quick, he raised his hooves and lied. “I’m the son of a diplomat. I can show you my credentials.”

The pilot knew enough to test Checkmate’s story rather than simply shoot or imprison him, lest she caused an international incident. Anyway, the highschooler could hardly pose a threat to a Caballerian knight, right? The pilot, a midnight black Unicorn, disengaged his KnightMare and dismounted. “Let’s see these credentials of yours then,” she said as she trotted toward Checkmate, gun floating at her side, ready in case of trouble.

Too easy. He activated his Geass, this time feeling it successfully take hold of his victim. The soldier froze, eyes glazed over with a red gleam, awaiting Checkmate’s order.

“Give me your KnightMare,” he repeated.

The Unicorn nodded passively and used her magic to give him the key to her Dartmoor unit. “There you go.”

Checkmate grabbed the key with his own magic. He walked past her, but then stopped. “I think I’ll take your gun too.” The Unicorn nodded again and allowed him to take her gun away.

He climbed into the KnightMare and activated it. Screens and lights came to life, displaying information and showering Checkmate with rainbows of colour. The FactSphere atop the KnightMare’s head opened, collected information on the surroundings, and covered the walls of the cockpit with it, giving Checkmate a normal view of the outside. More importantly, a screen in the center of the command interface showed the placement of every other one of Cabballeria’s KnightMares relative to his own.

Checkmate’s brained jumped into action. The beginnings of a plan was forming in his head. Time to give Caballeria the toughest fight it’s ever had, he thought as he drove the KnightMare out of the building. He stopped suddenly after something caught his eye, something infinitely valuable, lying next to a dead Nipponese Unicorn.

Once again, Checkmate found himself smiling with the glee of someone whose day kept getting better and better.

Forming a plan, but still unsure of certain important details, Checkmate decided to make a call. He took out his cell phone and selected Fluttershy from his contacts list. She was a completely innocent and unsuspecting source he could use, and she could also help resolve another matter of importance.

The call connected. “Um… hello, Checkmate?” She spoke with some kind of inhibitive emotion he couldn’t identify. Surprise? Timidity?

“Hi, Fluttershy. Could you do something for me? Are you near a TV right now?”

“Um, yes.” A curious moment of silence. “What channel?”

“The news.” Checkmate listened closely and heard her quietly ask to change the channel of the nearby TV. “Is there anything on there about the Tsushima ghetto?” he asked when she put the phone back to her ear.

“Um… no… sorry…” she apologized unnecessarily. “Um… why do ask? I don’t mean to be, um, nosy.”

“It’s nothing,” he said dismissively, not expecting any further inquiry from always-shy Fluttershy. “Thanks. Oh, and could you tell my little sister that I’m going to be late tonight? Thanks.”

“Sure. Um, bye,” she murmured just as he hung up the phone. Good thing I remembered to make sure Sansvoir knows I’m going to be late. I wouldn’t want a repeat of last week… He sighed aloud.

So the military is suppressing information? He thought, considering the situation. They’re going to manipulate the information after the fact to make it favourable to them. I’m guessing that mare’s existence was a closely-guarded secret, even among the military. Though, if they’re trying to control the situation in the media, they shouldn’t be able to bring in more reinforcements without drawing unwanted attention. So all the pieces are on the board now, I suppose.

Checkmate put his cell phone back in his pocket and picked up the rebel communicator he had found in the rubble earlier. Time to make some interesting calls…

“Retreat! Retreat!” Applejack yelled across the rebel’s closed radio channel. “Everypony fall to the subway station and we’ll make our escape.” The Nipponese rebels were being decimated. Not even Rainbow Dash’s arrival could turn the battle in their favour. The Caballerians vastly outnumbered the rebels, and whereas the rebels had one three-legged KnightMare, the Caballerians had deployed almost two hundred superior models.

“These Caballerians…” Rainbow muttered to herself as she got the jump on an enemy KnightMare. She crushed its head with her own KnightMare’s hooves – blinding it – and jumping off as the cockpit ejected. Unless we get a miracle, Rainbow thought, we’re all gonna die some pretty horrible deaths. She outmanoeuvred another KnightMare and smashed its cockpit in. Spitfire wouldn’t have got everypony in this mess. I’ve let down everypony down.

“RD, how’re things down on yer end?” Applejack asked. In the background Rainbow could hear screaming and the sound of rocket launchers bringing down helicopter gunships. “We might just be able to squeeze outta here.”

Rainbow grimaced. She looked at her KnightMare’s monitors and spotted no less than six Caballerian KnightMare Frames. “As hopeful as a three-legged horse,” she answered, referencing the lamentable state of her machine. She realized there was no way AJ and the rest of the rebels would be able to get away if these KnightMares got past her. “I’ll hold these guys off. You get everypony out.”

“Wha- what’re you sayin’?” Applejack sputtered. “Ah ain’t leaving nopony to die! You get yer behind back here with the rest of us!”

“You guys won’t make it if I keep these guys off you.” Rainbow reasoned, narrowly avoiding being shot. “You’ll have a hard time as it is without these punks on your backs.” She rushed at the KnightMare that had fired at her and took out one of its forelegs with a Slash Horseshoe. “Just let me do this. It’s what Spitfire would have done.”

Applejack whinnied in distress. “Yer sister was a great leader and all, but she got herself killed doing reckless stuff like this! Ah’m the leader now, so listen to me and come back here!”

“No can do, Applejack. Make sure everypony else is safe for me, kay?” Rainbow sped away deep into the ghetto, drawing all of the KnightMares to herself and far from her comrades.

“Rainbow, no!” Applejack shouted to no avail.

Rainbow didn’t make it far before she reacquainted herself with an old friend.

“Well isn’t it our Norfolk friend. You’ll pay for what you did to me, Eleven!” Iron Fealty declared, appearing along with two other Purebreds in their red-branded Dartmoors.

“Horseapples!” Rainbow swore. The newcomers fired on her, but she evaded their attack. She fired a Slash Horseshoe at Iron Fealty, but he launched his own, slicing through her Horseshoe’s tether. With the loss of one of her weapons, Rainbow Dash evaluated that it was about time for her to leave. She hopped away, narrowly avoiding her KnightMare’s destruction by the Caballerians.

The Caballerians followed, led by Iron Fealty and the other Purebreds. “There’s no escape for you, rebel!” Iron Fealty shouted.

“That’s what you said before, but it didn’t stop me before, did it!” Rainbow laughed over her shoulder. She turned around to taunt her pursuers, but quickly turned back after a shot nearly took off her KnightMare’s head.

“Looks like you need some assistance,” said an unknown voice over Rainbow’s radio.

“Who the hell are you?!” The rebels’ radios were set on a secured channel that was only accessible to these radios. “How did you get on this frequency?!”

“That’s irrelevant,” the voice not-so-answered. “Do you want to win?”

Rainbow almost stopped her KnightMare in surprise. Win?

“Win? I’d be happy if I could just get out of here alive!” Her point was punctuated by an explosion just behind her.

“Why not both?” the mysterious voice said. “Prepare to fight for your life.”

Rainbow scoffed. “What do you think I came out to do?” she said with an air of confidence.

“That’s just I wanted to hear,” the voice said.

“Stop running, Eleven!” Iron Fealty yelled behind her. The Purebreds were on the verge of catching up to her. “There’s no sport in hunting you if you don’t fight back!”

“They’re going to catch me!” Rainbow said to her radio in a panic. “What do I do?!” Rainbow was beginning to think she was going crazy. Why am I listening to some random voice?

“Don’t worry,” the voice reassured, “let them. Their orders are to capture and interrogate you. Allow them to circle you and get ready to fight.”

“What?!” The voice sounded even crazier than her now. Oh hell, what do I have to lose? “Alright then, you better know what you’re doing.”

The Caballerian KnightMares caught up to Rainbow and circled around her. “Good choice, Eleven. Now come with us quietly and you might just make it back to these slums in one piece.” They’re looking for the capsule. I hope to every god there is that it’s lost forever, Rainbow thought spitefully.

“Uh, not to be a nag, but it would be kinda great if you did something right about now,” Rainbow said. “Just saying.”

“How about this?”

Suddenly, one of the KnightMares turned their gun on the Purebreds and opened fire. “What?!” the pilot yelled as his KnightMare was ripped apart. The Caballerian’s KnightMare exploded, burning its pilot to death along with it.

“What the– a terrorist?!” Iron Fealty sputtered. He shot at the rogue KnightMare, but it dodged the bullet and returned fire. Its horn lit up – magnifying its pilot’s magic – and emitted a burst of magic that sent Iron Fealty flying through a building, ejecting from his KnightMare as he exited the other side.

I think I just found where that voice is coming from. “Uh, that was awesome,” Rainbow said, stunned. “How’d you hijack one of those and sneak into the Purebreds?”

“You’d be surprised,” the voice replied, continuing its tradition of not answering her properly. “Another group of KnightMares is coming. Follow me.”

“Yes sir,” Rainbow said somewhat patronizingly, though only to hide her near-complete trust in her saviour. She closely followed behind the hijacked KnightMare as it approached the railroad. Sure enough, the predicted KnightMare squad came around the corner. Their path chasing Rainbow led them into a narrow alley where the rebels were waiting for them. Rainbow’s saviour shot out the corners of the roof at the far end, scattering rubble and preventing any retreat. Rainbow herself came at the four KnightMares at full speed, taking advantage of their temporary confusion at the rogue’s manoeuvre. She jumped over the closest one, landed, and bucked it into the air for her partner like a skeet shoot. The next two found their forelegs taken out by the combination of other legs and a Slash Horseshoe. They crashed head-first into the ground, and those heads were promptly crushed by Rainbow’s machine. While she ducked down to dispatch the two Caballerian Dartmoors, the rogue reached over her with his magic and grabbed the last enemy and swung him overhead. The Caballerian flew over the railroad and was promptly hit by a train. The KnightMare was destroyed in an instant, and the train slowed to a stop.

“Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh! We rock!” Rainbow cheered. She raised her KnightMare’s remaining foreleg for a brohoof. After a moment of hesitation, the voice’s KnightMare reciprocated and they bumped their mechanical hooves. “That was awesome! How did you know that train was coming?”

As usual, the voice refused to answer. It moved behind her in its captured Dartmoor and provided her with different information. “For your unfaltering faith, I give to you the tools for victory. If you still want to defeat the Holy Caballerian Empire, check the train and wait for further orders.”

Confused, Rainbow approached the train and pried open its cargo hold, revealing a load of weapons, munitions, and about a dozen KnightMares. “Huh?!” Rainbow looked back to where the captured Dartmoor had been standing before, but discovered that it had disappeared. “What’s going on?” she asked herself, not really expecting a response from anyone.

She got one, however, from another unsuspected arrival. “You get one of them radio messages?” Applejack asked as she walked up to the train with the rest of her resistance group. “He save your butt too?”

“Uh-huh,” Rainbow answered, squirming nervously thinking about the terms on which they had last spoken. “I totally could have made it out by myself though…”

Applejack shook her head and chuckled at Rainbow’s overconfidence. “So we gonna keep listening to this guy? He seems to know what he’s doing.”

Rainbow shrugged. “I suppose so. I think we might really have a chance of getting out of here and sticking it to Caballeria.”

A member of Applejack’s group – a brown-coated, red-maned Earth Pony named Hot Head – spoke up indignantly. “How do we know this isn’t all some kind of elaborate trap?”

“Caballeria’s got all the advantages here anyway,” Applejack said gravely, “they ain’t got a need for traps.”

Much to his surprise, Ace Fighter woke up.

“Looks like you’ve been having a bad day, hmm?”

Ace found himself lying down on a hospital bed in some place that was not a hospital. Leaning over him was an all-white, male Unicorn wearing a lab coat and a pair of large, round-lens glasses. The Unicorn closely observed him with his intelligent, blue eyes, as if collecting data on his every movement. Ace caught a glimpse of his cutie mark, a trio of screws.

“You’ve missed a chance to go to the next world, Private Ace Fighter,” the Unicorn said. Ace suddenly noticed the pressure from a slew of bandages wrapped around his chest. He sat up and felt a slight pain in his side as he extended his wings.

Another Unicorn stepped around the white Unicorn. This mare had a short, purple mane and a pale orange coat, and her cutie mark depicted an incandescent bulb with glow around it, like the classical image of an idea. She wore a darker orange uniform, which Ace inferred to be of Caballerian military issue, but Ace – though part of the military – couldn’t identify the division the uniform represented. She brought an object forward with her magic, an antique pocket watch wrapped in a white cloth. The watch’s face was shattered from some sort of impact, and the hands were stuck in place.

“This deflected the bullet,” she said as he accepted the watch and looked at it in a daze. “Thank goodness you had it there under your uniform.”

“What happened to Check–” Wait. I’ll find out about him and the mare later when I can. “What’s the situation in the ghetto?” he asked.

“The terrorists released the stolen bio-weapon, resulting in massive Eleven casualties,” the stallion replied. There was an uneasy tension in the air, giving Ace the impression that they all knew what was really going on.

Ace was struck with a sudden burst of curiosity. “Where am I right now?”

The mare smiled at him. “Right now we’re near the G1-Stable. We’re close to Prince Duffer, which is probably the safest place to be.”

The male Unicorn grinned and spread his forelegs out. “Welcome to the Special Corps, the brilliant scientific minds behind the latest in pony-killing technology!” The mare sighed and facehoofed. “I’m the chief researcher, Screwdriver.” He waved a hoof at the mare. “And this is my head assistant, the darling Light Bulb. We’re in charge of making all kinds of weapons and machines. Speaking of which,” he added, his grin widening, “how well can you pilot a KnightMare Frame?”

“But only a knight can pilot a KnightMare Frame!” Ace was half trotting, half limping behind Screwdriver, leaning up against a very supportive Light Bulb. The group had left the truck Ace had woken up in and were now going to some sort of modified KnightMare dispatch trailer.

“You said you received top scoring on all of your simulator tests. You’re a natural!” Screwdriver said, elated and excited. He pulled out an electronic device that opened the back door of the trailer. It slid up slowly, showing a tall KnightMare Frame covered in a heavy, black tarp.

“Nopony will let an Eleven like me pilot a KnightMare!” Ace objected again.

“Well you’re in luck, because we’re nopony in the military’s eyes!” Screwdriver retorted. “And we don’t want somepony like you, we want you!”

Ace sighed in resignation. “I guess there’s no changing your mind.” Light Bulb turned her head, but Ace could still see her roll her eyes at that remark.

“Congratulations!” Screwdriver exclaimed. He stood in front of the cloaked KnightMare, flamboyantly bouncing on his hooves. “When you take control of this bad girl, everything will change, you and your world!”

“Whether you want it too or not,” Light Bulb chimed in.

Ace mulled over the context of these remarks and the situation in general. Change? For better or for worse? Ace thought, considering the last time KnightMare Frames changed his life, seven long years ago…

Aboard the G1-Stable, Prince Duffer watched over the battle. He sat in a throne-like chair as his officers analyzed the situation on a screen embedded in the top of a table, showing a simplified layout of the ghetto, the Caballerian perimeter, and a blue dot representing each of their many KnightMares. General Forte and his supporting officers directed the troops while Duffer announced their strategies.

“The terrorists are putting up a minor resistance,” Forte informed the prince. “We’ve lost a few KnightMares, but our superior army will crush them in no time.”

“The loss of a few paltry KnightMares is irrelevant,” Duffer said. “My only concern is containing the situation. The media has been handled, right?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“What about the mare? The Gleipnir capsule…”

“We’ll find her, my lord,” Forte assured him. “Once we’ve wiped out the Elevens, we’ll do a thorough search.”

Duffer couldn’t help feeling anxious. He hadn’t had this much trouble since he coordinated capturing the mare in the first place. He felt that there was something monumental that he was missing, a feeling reminiscent of something he had felt often in his youth, but couldn’t quite remember where.

Checkmate switched his radio back on and commenced the execution of his plans. He had already gone over preliminary strategy with the Nipponese resistance group, getting them into position within the ghetto and designating each member with a codename.

“B1,” he said, addressing the group’s leader, a familiar-sounding mare with a Haykkaido accent. Another mystery, he thought, brooding over the appearance of another familiar mare. “Is everypony in position?”

“Yessiree,” she answered. “But seriously, why can’t you just tell us who you are? Even just your name? ‘K1’ is just kinda obscure, y’know?”

“I can’t risk it,” he said. “What if these transmissions are being intercepted?” Checkmate was pretty sure that the transmissions were safe, but there was no way he’d let them know who he is.

“Q1,” he said, shifting his attention to the mare in the Norfolk, “you’ll be running decoy. We need you to draw out their KnightMares. Your energy filler is full, right?”

“Uh-huh,” Q1 quickly responded. The train had only enough Dartmoors to accommodate the rest of the group, but she had outfitted her Norfolk with spare parts for the better models. Her KnightMare was even better than back to full operating capacity; the Dartmoor forelegs were stronger and faster, and she had a shoulder-mounted gun to replace her lost Slash Horseshoe. She was ready and raring to go ruin some Caballerians.

“P5, is your group ready?” Checkmate asked another one of the Elevens.

“Yeah, sure,” he replied irritably. “But quit calling me that!”

Checkmate breathed, collecting his thoughts. He surveyed the screen in front of him, keeping track of the enemy KnightMares. He had removed the IFF locaters from the machines he had delivered to the rebels, so they were invisible to the Caballerians. This also meant that Checkmate couldn’t see them digitally, but he could see their current location from his lookout point atop a skyscraper. He watched the screen and saw a group of four Dartmoors approaching the area where the rebels were. Alert and prepared, he spoke into the radio.

“B1, get your group to fire through the wall in front of you when I give you my signal.”

“Uh, you sure?” B1 asked uncertainly.

“Absolutely. Fire in three… two… one… now!”

Spiting her conflictions, B1 blasted the wall with her KnightMare’s shoulder guns. The rest of her group followed suit, reducing the concrete wall to dust and perforating the four enemy KnightMares. The Dartmoors exploded and left columns of smoke that all combined into one dark grey pillar.

“Yee-haw!” B1 cheered. Though Checkmate was quite unaware, this triumph had confirmed his legitimacy as a leader to the rebels. “Take that, ya Caballerian yahoos! Y’all will think twice about pickin’ a fight with Nippon again!”

Checkmate smiled. These rebels might just be able to get me out of here. Duffer won’t know what hit him.

Back in the G1, the officers were sweating over the loss of four more KnightMares.

“There- there must have been some kind of ambush!” one of them stuttered.

“No matter,” Forte said, though he was also fearing the princes wrath for these continued losses. “We’ll have them soon enough.”

Then a report of an enemy sighting came in via radio. Duffer listened and gave his response to Forte. “A Norfolk, eh? Their pedestrian little feint will have no effect. Have Sir Thunder and Dame Spark hunt it down.” The orders went out, but they soon saw the knights’ respective lights blink out of the screen’s display.

“What?!” the officers said collectively.

Duffer scowled. There was something going very, very wrong here. The uncomfortable feeling from earlier was getting stronger, and he still had no idea what was causing it.

“P1, P2, P4, P7, move a hundred meters to the right and fire your Slash Horseshoes toward 3 o’ clock.”

“You heard him!” B1 said, urging on her terrorist group. “Do what the voice says!” She tried to ignore how crazy that sounded.

Far away, the group fired their Slash Horseshoes according to Checkmate’s orders. The metal arches hammered through another group of Caballerian KnightMare Frames, smashing them to bits.

“R1,” Checkmate said, “take down that gunship.” In reply, the terrorist fired a Slash Horseshoe at the helicopter and dragged it down into a building.

“B2, use anti-tank ordinance.” A tank was then incinerated by a magic rifle, its outer armour melting like warm chocolate.

“Q1, bring in that group of Dartmoors, and watch for the one around the corner.”

“By watch, do you mean smash?” The Norfolk rounded the corner and – instead of avoiding the KnightMare – delivered a surprise knockout punch to the Dartmoor, shattering its FactSphere and bowling it over.

Checkmate grinned. Everything was going according to plan. “P5, continue your group’s advance.”

Down on the battlefield, P5’s group of six KnightMares rushed a Caballerian four-pony group. The Caballerians haphazardly fired while retreating in reverse, but their pot shots had no effect and the Nipponese rebels took them out.

“This failure is unacceptable!” Prince Duffer cried out as yet another team was lost. Almost half of their KnightMares were gone now. “Bring in Cloud Team to close off the breach. Use more of the units guarding me.”

“But my lord, that will break the perimeter!” Forte objected.

“Irrelevant!” Duffer yelled, his temper rising. “We need to crush these pigs now!”

Checkmate observed the follow-through of Duffer’s orders and chuckled. An array of blue dots began to surround the area around the rebels.

“Q1, do you have a map of the old city?” he asked.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t have any current landmarks on it. Is that okay?”

“It’ll do. I can see everything else I need from up here.”

Q1 nodded, shaking her rainbow mane. She wondered what their guardian in the sky had planned for them. She could see enemy KnightMares beginning to circle them and hoped the plan involved getting the rebels out safe and sound.

Checkmate watched the Caballerian Dartmoors clump together around a red dot on the screen. The dot indicated where they had last seen a rebel. Q1 had deliberately let herself be seen at the top of a bent and decaying skyscraper so that they’d all come together at this one place. Checkmate could almost hear their surprise as they ascended the full height of the tower and found nothing. He grinned, imagining the look on Duffer’s face.

That’s what you get for such an idiotic manoeuvre, he thought. It’s time to show you exactly what you’re up against.

“Everypony, resurface and convene at point A,” he commanded. To escape the Caballerian encirclement, the rebels had all escaped into the tunnels underground the Tsushima ghetto, and now they were re-emerging at strategic points far away from the tower.

“Q1, detonate the explosives now.”

“Roger that, K1!” she said excitedly. She slammed her hoof on the detonator. Above the ground, the base of the rusted skyscraper disappeared in a flash of ignited C4.

The crux of Checkmate’s strategy was unfolding exactly as planned. The tower began to sink in a semi-controlled demolition, bringing the Caballerians down with it. The building shattered and about fifty KnightMare Frames were flattened almost instantly.

Checkmate laughed as the mass of blue dots vanished from his screen, leaving only a corona of KnightMares around this area of the Tsushima ghetto. Check. Your move, Duffer.

Duffer stepped back from the display screen. Fifty KnightMares had disappeared into thin air without a trace. Who in the hell is leading those rebels? He’s even better than Shining Warrior! His anxiety from before was on the rise, and now it was mixed with a much more recognizable feeling: fear.

Forte and the other officers were scrambling and shouting orders to the remaining knights. Just then, a wall-mounted monitor lit up, initiating a video conference call. The pony on the other side was Screwdriver, head of the R&D team.

“Why hello there, your majesty? Everything alright?”

“It most certainly is not!” Duffer shouted through the cloud of noise his officers were making. He silenced them with a wave of his hoof. “I don’t have time for you and your games?”

“If not games, do you have time for a toy at least?” Screwdriver said unabashed at his prince’s anger. “I believe we’ve spoken about the specs on this new model.”

Duffer sighed and turned around, his hoof pressed against his face. “He have a pilot now, you know,” Screwdriver said, taking opportunity from the prince’s silence. Duffer turned back with another sigh. “Can that thing of yours win?”

“Absolutely, your Highness!” Screwdriver said with that signature screwy grin of his. “Oh, and won’t you be as kind as to call it by it’s name. The Llamrei will solve all these problems for you, you know.”

Gleeful from the prince’s authorization of the Llamrei, Screwdriver spun around and grasped Ace Fighter with his forelegs.

“It’s your time to shine, my boy. Now let’s see what you and the Llamrei can do!”

“Z0-1 Llamrei, standby for activation,” Light Bulb said. She released the KnightMare from the trailer and the tarp was removed. Ace stared at the revolutionary KnightMare Frame; it was unlike anything he had ever seen. The Llamrei was taller than the average KnightMare, but it was sleeker, more streamlined. Its armour plating was white and gold, and its head actually looked like a pony’s head, unlike the bulky ones other models had to accommodate their FactSpheres. The Llamrei had discreet FactSpheres at various points all over it. The forelegs were equipped with shield-like plates that the Llamrei’s manual had said contained a new shield-projection system. Though the KnightMare was unarmed, it had large, bladed wings that protruded from the shoulders, and its armour was reinforced for extended close-combat. It was faster and stronger than any other KnightMare before it; it was the world’s first seventh-generation KnightMare Frame.

Ace himself was dressed in a special suit that matched the colours of the Llamrei. He climbed into its cockpit and got comfortable in the seat. He placed his hooves over the controls. “I’m ready.”

“Good, now let’s begin the start-up procedure,” Screwdriver said, all business.

“Equipping energy filler,” Light Bulb said, listing of the different steps of the procedure “thirty seconds to reach critical voltage, Core Luminous shifting phase, Yggdrasil Drive initializing, confirming devicer-machine interface, all readings normal.”

The Llamrei hummed as it reached full activation. Cables detached from the back and the Landspinners hit the ground. “Llamrei, activate ME boost!” And the Llamrei accelerated off of its platform.

“Llamrei, launch!” Light Bulb said, and the Llamrei sped off into the ghetto like a bat out of hell.

Even knowing what to expect, Ace was amazed at the Llamrei’s speed. It took him less than half a minute to reach the center of the battleground. It’s way better than the manual made it sound. With this, I can stop this fight from getting any worse!

“Make sure you don’t do anything reckless,” Light Bulb advised. “The unit hasn’t been outfitted with an ejection mechanism yet, so be careful.”

“I will,” he said. He came across another KnightMare. He checked his digital map, but couldn’t see an ID signal in front of him. A rebel, then. He came at the Dartmoor at full-throttle, swiping at it with a mechanical hoof before it could even react. His strike split the KnightMare horizontally, and its pilot ejected unharmed. With more work to do, Ace continued into the ghetto. Hopefully, I’ll be able to find Checkmate and that mare before somepony else does.

Another blue light vanished from Checkmate’s screen. So few left. Soon Duffer will be exposed and out of options.

“Enemy spotted,” announced one of the rebels. “I think they’ve brought in reinforcements! We’ve lost all of P5’s group. They all ejected!”

Checkmate hadn’t expected them to bring in new units. “Very well, what are their numbers?”

“Just one! It must be some kind of new model! It- arrrgh!” The transmission was cut off as the pilot ejected.

Checkmate frowned. What’s this new development?

A pair of rebel Dartmoors had spotted the reported reinforcement unit. They described it to Checkmate as they attacked, immediately following with a report on its new energy shields.

“It deflects bullets?” Checkmate asked. He was about to receive an answer, but it was lost in the static as yet another unit ejected. Useless so-called-terrorists. With all the resources I’ve given them, they’re being beaten by a single unit?

The Llamrei cut through another rebel KnightMare, causing it to eject its pilot as well. This unit may be able to fix everything after all, Ace thought.

Not after long, a group of rebel Dartmoors surrounded him, clearly coordinating to pin him down in one place. They opened fire, but he jumped. A fired his Slash Horseshoes and crushed two of the KnightMares. He landed between the remaining two and smashed in their heads, leaving the cockpits undamaged.

He moved on, clotheslining one more KnightMare as he left the area. All I have to do is find the leader and capture them, then it’ll all be over. I’ll save Checkmate and that mare!

Checkmate was still in his eye-in-the-sky position on the skyscraper when the Llamrei came for him. It came up the side of the building and delivered a spin-kick, which Checkmate blocked with his KnightMare’s forelegs.

So this is the thing that’s been ruining my plans? He pushed the white KnightMare away, but it came back and slammed him into a wall. Nothing but a damn pilot?!

Checkmate’s impact against the wall caused the floor beneath the two KnightMares to crumble, sending them falling through the many floors until they hit ground level. The white KnightMare recovered before Checkmate’s Dartmoor, and it jumped in the air to strike him yet again.

Suddenly, the Norfolk appeared, intercepting the enemy. “I’m returning the favour, K1,” came Q1’s voice. “Get out of here.” Checkmate took her advice and sped off. Soon after he did, the newer Caballerian model overpowered the Norfolk, and Q1 ejected to safety.

I’ll need to remember that, Checkmate thought to himself as he made his escape. The most important element in battle is the pony one.

Ace followed the rebel leader, quickly catching up with it. The enemy fired at him as it went, but the pilot’s inexperienced shooting was no match for Ace’s skill and the Llamrei’s manoeuvrability. He easily dodged the bullets, but when his first attacks did nothing, the rebel leader instead shot at the buildings nearby, sending shrapnel and rubble flying toward him. Ace dodged to concrete too, flying through the clouds of dust and persevering in his pursuit.

All this needless destruction, Ace thought as he jumped over another falling structure. Then he saw a Nipponese mare falling from one of the destabilized buildings, a mother holding a foal. Ace aborted the chase and leapt through the air and caught the ponies. He safely let them down on the ground, and the mother quickly galloped away afterward.

“Ace, are you getting tired?” Light Bulb asked via video messaging. “We can stop now if you want. We suspect the threat has been neutralized.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll help wrap up the operation.” Now let’s see if I can find Checkmate and that mystery mare the military was searching for.

Saving somepony in the middle of battle? Admirable. Checkmate thought to himself as he observed the white KnightMare. I’ll concede your tactical victory here. It won’t happen again. He ejected himself from his damaged KnightMare, disappearing into the ghetto. I’ve fought this battle to a stalemate, but I still have one more move to make for the endgame.

Checkmate trotted up toward the G1-Stable. He was disguised in a standard military uniform, hiding his wings. He walked up to a Unicorn soldier, who immediately raised his gun and addressed him.

“Halt! Show me your ID. This is Prince Duffer’s personal transport.”

“Ah, the checkpoint at last, and barely guarded, as I planned?” Checkmate said as he came closer.

“You what?” the soldier asked.

“You don’t need to see my identification,” Checkmate said, employing his Geass.

“You’re right, sir. Understood.”

Back in the recesses of the ghetto, Rainbow Dash ran past fires and piles of debris, searching for the rest of the rebels. Applejack found her first and led her off to a warehouse their comrades were hiding.

The rebels were mixed in with the other Nipponese who had survived the Caballerians’ purge. The ponies were cowering in fear and panic, wondering when the Caballerians would come for them too.

“This is what happens when you oppose Caballeria!” one of the ponies said.

“Shut up, you coward!” Hot Head shouted at him.

“How many ponies are dead because of this?” screamed another.

“Do you know how many of us were killed or captured?” Hot Head yelled back.

“Any idea who that voice was?” Rainbow asked Applejack over the crying of dozens of ponies.

“Damned if I know,” Applejack said with a shrug. She sat down, exhausted. “He doesn’t answer when I call him, so maybe he’s dead…”

Rainbow’s ear twitched. She heard the sound of an approaching tank. Maybe if I… But it was too late to do anything. The warehouse doors were blown apart and a battalion of infantry filed in.

“So this is where you vermin scurried off to,” said the unit’s commander from the tank’s hatch. “Prepare to fire!”

Before a single trigger was pulled, a message from Prince Duffer filled the airwaves. “Attention all forces, cease fire at once! I, Prince Duffer, Viceroy of Area 11, command you to cease all hostilities at once! You will also cease destruction of any buildings and property! All casualties, whether Caballerian or Eleven, will be treated equally and without prejudice! In the name of Duffer la Caballeria, I hereby command you to cease fire! I will have no further fighting!”

The message confused both Caballerians and Elevens. Nevertheless, the Caballerians lowered their weapons.

What in the hell is going on here? Rainbow thought.

“Are you satisfied?” Prince Duffer asked as the lights in the G1-Stable went out.

“Very,” Checkmate answered, standing in the shadows, keeping a gun levelled at Duffer’s head. “Well done.”

“And what shall we do now? Sing a few songs? Or perhaps a game of chess?” Duffer really had idea what was going to happen to him. Keeping his gun pointed at him, Checkmate stood forward.

“Now that has a familiar ring.” Duffer didn’t respond. Checkmate removed his helmet and let it drop to the ground. “Don’t you remember? We used to play chess all the time when we were colts. I always won, of course.”

“Huh?”

“Remember? At the Aries Villa?”

“Who- who are you?”

“It’s been a long time, cousin,” Checkmate said as he stepped out of the dark. He unfurled his wings for the second time that day, making recognition easier for Duffer. “Checkmate vi Caballeria, Eleventh Prince of the Royal Family, at your service,” he said ironically with a matching bow.

“Checkmate? I thought you were dead.” Duffer articulated with some difficulty.

“I have returned, and I’ve come back to change everything.”