The enemy pony was wearing what had to be the most ridiculous-looking set of armor Coconut had ever seen. Strapped to one of her forelegs was a firing mechanism for the bladed grapple hook. She snapped the hook that she had fired earlier into the contraption, and the trailing cord was wound into a receiver on her shoulder. On her other foreleg was a similar mechanism, and as Coconut watched, the earthpony reached back to where several short blades were strapped to her back. One of the blades clicked into the contraption, and with another click it was extended to point outward from the pony’s foreleg.

Beyond her foreleg armaments, the pony’s outfit became even stranger. Small tubing ran from each of the contraptions to several canisters of what Coconut assumed was compressed gas harnessed to the pony’s back. Pouches and containers sat alongside the canisters, and a few flaps of fabric hung down from between the gear. Atop her head sat a strange set of goggles that appeared to have several lenses each. She wasn’t wearing the goggles over her eyes, but rather had them sitting askew, partially obscured by her wild mane.

What was more, every single piece of the outfit was painted a bright color, and no two pieces shared the same shade. The pony looked more like a circus performer than one of Luna’s terrifyingly effective elites.

Despite her silly appearance, Coconut still had to swallow her fear at the sight of the pony. She was fairly certain her squad could take the mare down, but if one of Luna’s elites was around, more could appear at any moment. If that happened, she would need air support.

She couldn’t let her troops see her be afraid, even if only six of them were real ponies capable of sentient thought. She cleared her throat, and was surprised when the newly arrived enemy did not rush them or run away.

“Pinkamena Diane Pie,” Coconut said, managing to keep her voice clear and steady.

“Yep!” The pink earthpony beamed at the sound of her name.