On the way to the Temple of Zon, Twilight spotted a Grummel-net vendor, and decided to see if they had anything new. She and Ratchet each acquired one of the new 'Sonic Eruptor' weapons. Twilight wasn't sure how to feel about the weapon.
"A...genetically engineered creature, designed to only function as a weapon?" she asked, feeling a little iffy about it. "And...it looks like someone cut the front half off a giant bull frog and stuck it to the front of a gun."
"It's...pretty effective, though," Ratchet pointed out, equally weirded out by the weapon.
"I think it's kinda cute and squishy," Qwark offered helpfully, only to get weird looks. "What?"
Deciding to set that aside for the moment, the trio headed for the Temple where Alphius was waiting for them. "Your starship is not beyond repair," he explained to them, his voice serious. "But fixing it will take powers beyond anything this universe has ever seen, powers not to be taken lightly. Can you keep a secret?"
Twilight stepped forward with a smile. "Cross my heart," she began, making the motions, "hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, we will reveal this secret to no one who isn't already aware of it."
Alphius gasped and shivered. "Truly you can be trusted. Never would any of us who know the power of time have demanded of you invoking the Pink One. She is terrifying."
Ratchet glanced down at Twilight, a thoughtful frown on his face. He was beginning to get a few ideas about exactly how Twilight had found her way to him...and what might have happened to her in the process. When I keep my promise to her...things are likely to be awkward. He shivered. Especially if that 'Pink One' is there.
Getting himself under control, Alphius continued. "The Zoni are powerful creatures, capable of almost anything. But they are also hive-minds, and must be kept together for their energy to work. Inside the Temple is a vessel that will allow you to rescue lost Zoni and harness their bio energy. Follow me, and don't touch anything!"
Turning, Alphius opened the doorway to the temple. Much to Ratchet and Qwark's surprise, the pair found themselves levitated in Twilight's magic as she spread her wings, flapping to hover two feet off the ground.
Noticing this, Alphius rolled his eyes. "You may touch the floor," he corrected. "If that was a misconstrued attempt at respect, it is most appreciated. If it was an attempt at humor, it was not."
Chuckling nervously, Twilight returned all three to the ground before following Alphius into the Temple of Zon.
Inside was a room with three switches, followed by a sealed door. "We have to seal you inside until you recover the vessel," Alphius explained. "So...who's going in?"
"I'll go," Twilight offered. "I'm the most versatile." She moved up to the door, not waiting for anyone to countermand her.
Ratchet sighed. "Alright. Connect nav-units so we can stay in contact."
"I'll call you if I need any help!" Twilight promised as she stepped through the door once it opened.
"20 bolts says she doesn't call until she's got the vessel!" Qwark shouted as the door closed behind her.
Chuckling, Twilight made her way in.
The puzzles within the Temple were nothing Twilight hadn't faced before. It was relatively easy to evade the lasers of the first door to press the switch, and her wings made crossing the next chamber - more lasers aimed at the ground, rotating gears, and ground level flame throwers - an almost literal breeze. Beyond that was an open air chamber containing the vessel itself.
As she collected the vessel, two Zoni floated in, looking lost and forlorn. While at first Twilight grew angry, seeing the ones who had taken her Mommy, she let that feeling subside. Opening the vessel, she examined it, and discovered it emitted a signal of some sort on a very weak wavelength. "...it's a Zoni lifeboat," she murmured, focusing her magic on amplifying the signal.
As she gathered her magic for the spell, however, one of the Zoni kicked up some dust that got into her nostrils. Unable to stop herself, she sneezed, the reaction causing her to put a great deal more magical power into the spell than she'd intended.
A blaze of incandescent light focused in on the vessel from all across the known universe, blazing for a full five minutes until it ended, just before Twilight's spell fizzled. As the vessel sealed itself, Twilight examined it, her eyes wide.
"Twilight, what happened?" Ratchet called out through the nav-units.
"Uh...I found the vessel," Twilight began nervously. "And...I saw two Zoni. I...tried to guide them into the vessel magically...but I sneezed. The 'safety signal' amplification spell was...more powerful than I meant it to be, and...I've got a lot more than two Zoni safe inside here."
"How many more?" Qwark asked curiously.
"...according to the readout...117,000."
There was silence over the comms. "Twilight, I think you should get back here, now. Alphius just shouted something about 'the broken clock, the end of days' before fainting dead away."
Twilight nodded. "...right. The room's open air. I'll fly out."
"Also, the settlement appears to be under attack by someone," Qwark commented. "Might want to be careful."
"Then I'll go get Aphelion first to help!" Twilight proclaimed firmly, taking to the sky.
Ratchet and Qwark readied themselves for battle against the invading force. "Ready to let those stallions out of the stable?" he asked.
Qwark grinned widely, flexing his muscles. "I was born ready!"
A creature that appeared to be a green head inside a dome anchored to floating red armor teleported in behind Qwark. "Azimuth!" the creature barked.
"YAAAUGGGH!" Qwark screamed out in fear, spinning and nearly punching the creature's head off, only missing because it ducked under the swing before grabbing him in a manipulator arm and tossing him aside.
The creature then moved up towards Ratchet. "I believe Dr. Nefarious was clear as to the repercussions of leaving your hovel. The clock is ours."
Ratchet blinked a few times. "Three questions. One, who's Azimuth? Two, what Clock are you talking about? And three-" Reaching into his bag, Ratchet pulled out Twilight's RYNO-IV-EVER. "Tell me where Dr. Nefarious took Clank before I reduce you and everything under your command to slag."
The being blinked a few times. "...you are not Azimuth," it muttered, backing away slowly. "And that last...wasn't a question."
"That's because I don't do requests," Ratchet growled before pulling the trigger.
Twilight took a few deep breaths as she came in for a landing beside the column of frozen time in which Aphelion was trapped. She then opened the vessel. "Please...help her," she begged.
The massed Zoni swarmed out in a continuous stream to flow around Aphelion before flowing back into the vessel, completely obscuring Aphelion from view in the process. The entire time, they were chiming out different things in their high pitched voices.
"Save the ship!"
"Help her!"
"Do it!"
"We can make it!"
"Better!"
"Faster!"
"Stronger!"
As the Zoni all returned to the vessel, Aphelion was changed. Her wings had been restored, as had her canopy and engines...but all to a level Twilight could only begin to comprehend. The red metal had been replaced with a bright blue material that looked more like reactive energy than an actual substance. Weapons of all sorts could be seen barely hidden within the ship's superstructure. The canopy itself now contained a space that looked like it held its own pocket dimension somehow. And to top it off, Twilight could hear the hum of a self-contained quantum singularity powering the ship.
"...I am...online?" Aphelion asked, confused, her voice far clearer than before as she floated easily out of the time beam.
"Aunt Aphelion!" Twilight gasped happily, leaping into the cockpit. "I'm so glad you're all better...you have a swimming pool in here now?"
"I appear to have been upgraded...massively," Aphelion murmured softly. "Where is Ratchet?"
"He's trying to help the Fongoids!" Twilight began, only to lurch back as Aphelion gunned the engines. "Whoa! I'm not-"
All sense of movement faded within the cockpit. "I have engaged the inertial dampeners," Aphelion commented as she blazed towards one of the landing crafts.
Staring out the window, Twilight let out a startled gasp. "Aphelion! You're going to crash-"
A distinctive sound filled the air around and inside Aphelion as the nosecone unfolded into two arms, the wings into legs, armor surrounding the cockpit and a head at the front. An energy blade erupted from the right wrist of the ship-turned-mecha as it plunged straight through the landing craft, tearing it apart from the inside out as the other craft fled the planet.
When Twilight finally finished processing what had just happened, all she could do was squee.
You turned Aphelion... Into a Transformer...
Welp. Let's see how much of the army is left by the time Twilight and Aphelion gets there
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
I knew what the first sound was before I even clicked it.
6779680
And possibly also a TARDIS.
Guess they don't have to go through the whole 40 zoni thing then...
Uhhh... This chapter is insane and absurd... I love it!
Oooh! Can we have artwork?
So... Aphelion is now a TARDIS and a Transformer?
following Alphius into the Temple of Zod
1. Umm... Isn't it Zon? Like what you said in the previous chapter?
Hmm... Why do I think of the Little Green Men from Buzz Lightyear when they fixed Aphelion? Was that the reference or am I off for that one?
Okay now I really wish the Aphelion was real
6779801 KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!
Somehow, I KNOW who THE PINK ONE is. Aphelion is a Transformer now?
I called I bloody called she turned into a transformer now ratchet has a real reason to call her big sister
Pinkie's influence is very strong, indeed
Also, that small TFS reference.
Twilight collecting all those Zoni was just hilarious.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good work.
I see I'm not the only Daft Punk fan.
6779801 as 6779893 has mentioned, it was most likely a Daft Punk reference
which is awesome
Meanwhile, Clank is talking to the plumber. NO MORE THAN SIX MINUTES!!!
I think.....
Well to me the lyrics that I thought of was from the Sweetie bot song myself.
6779893 Dangit you beat me to it.
Edit: Something else, though...
Yes... I have no shame.
I know Aphelion is supposed to be a Transformer, but I couldn't think of anything other than an Elite with an Energy Sword right after it used the Evade armor ability. Like in Halo: Reach.
A pool? Well, looks like Twiley's spell has blown things off the rails and turned Aphelion into a TaRDiS... or at least an RDiS, since time is less likely to be involved.
I look forward to seeing what you do with this.
makes me think of (skip to 1:52)
Am I the only one who thought of the TARDIS when reading this part?
Ratchet, you are NOT Frieza.
calling it now, theres gonna be a timey wimey speech at some point.
Is it just me or does it seem pinkie pie pops up in almost ever fic tatsuru has made (did i spell your name right)
6779680 agrees good sir or miss and why do i think of optimus with that descripthion
When I saw it was a link, I really hoped for it to be this instead. I believe it could have fit real nice with the whole, time: time: time: feel.
But I do recognize how much of a headache it would have been to include it into the story.
That was fun, may I have another? Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Merry Christmas!
6779738
cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/61797129.jpg
6781097 No, no you are not.
I didn't hear any squee from that last sound-effect link.
The important part of this chapter, Never Break A Pinkie Promise, even at the other end of time and space you can't get away.
6779680 I love fanfiction
That ending actually had my jaw hanging open
6780061 Wasn't it five?
Oh... my... God... My inner Whovian is currently doing cartwheels.
Oh... Oh wait.
Please... pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasePLEASE tell me you will NOT introduce time-locked statues soon... I think I just might cry if you do.
Ratchet and Clank Prime A Crack in Hasbro
so i can see this kinda happening.
orvus: sopnots (or however the hell you spellt that) assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but *actually* from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff.
clank: ...stuff.
orvus: yes, stuff
6786922
Sophonts.
6786930 yeah, that
Will you write a pony being raised by Megatron or something?
...EEEEEEEEEEE
Holy shit, I'd KILL to see Aphelibot.
Aphelion is also a TARDIS! SQ-MOTHER BUCKING-EE!
*stares at screen*
You cheating motherfu-
You... you... You turned Alphelion into a TARDIS and a Transformer?! This is awesome!
Oh my word Alphelion is so amazing now. Provided Daleks don't show up.....