//------------------------------// // Nature's Fury // Story: Tales of the Battle Foals // by Sirdubya //------------------------------// Trees could be seen falling one by one as whatever behemoth was shredding through the forest approached. A strangely metallic noise that sounded like a sword slashing through the overgrowth could be heard as well as heavy footsteps. What finally emerged was about as shocking as when Shrapnel made his appearance. A dark violet colored battle mech that was about 5’-5” tore through the brush and walked into the clearing that was Zebota’s lawn. It had two legs with bird-like feet that had two ‘talons’ out front with one in the back. It's arms had large cannons in place of hands that each had a series of three lights side by side. The main torso was shaped almost like one of the taxi carriages that Fire Fight had seen in Manehatten just without the wheels and all that. The seat of its cockpit could be seen behind some reinforced glass, and in the cockpit…..was Quantum Tech!! “Quantum Tech!? Wha…..WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT!?!?” Fire Fight shouted. Quantum fixed her glasses and giggled. “Is it not quite obvious? This is the surprise! This is how I’ll be more effective in combat! Quite a beautiful array of science, am I right?” The other foals just gawked in shock and awe at the mechanical monstrosity that Quantum had built for herself. Zebota was equally shocked, but also angered even further. “So it seems we missed one! No matter, Shrapnel and I will defeat you just as easily!” he declared. Shrapnel roared at her. Quantum glared at the little zebra and his pet. “Nature vs. technology….an age old conflict indeed. Very well, may the weakest titan fall!” she declared. She pressed a series of buttons in her cockpit and some reticles and messages appeared on the glass cover of her mech. “All systems: online and ready for combat!” Zebota clutched his brooch as it glowed. “Roho ya misitu, ruzuku mtumishi huyo mnyenyekevu baraka yako! Unipe nguvu kuzima uovu huu!” he chanted. Shrapnel’s eyes gleamed with Zebota’s brooch as he roared a mighty howl. As he did, a large and bright green glyph appeared in the ground around them. It must have been some weird zebra symbol, because nopony could decipher it. That was the least of their problems as the glyph’s light seemed to rise up into the dynamic duo. Quantum tried to discern the nature of the energy, but her readings came up as ‘unknown’. Shrapnel finished his howl and locked his predatory glare onto Quantum’s mech. Zebota pulled out a small sling from the bag he was carrying and loaded a rock into. He then pointed at the mech. “GO, SHRAPNEL!” he ordered. Shrapnel leapt with graceful ferocity towards Quantum Tech ready to wreck her mech suit, but Quantum was ready as well. She raised one of her arm cannons and fired three consecutive blasts of some kind of energy. The foals noticed that each of the three lights on the cannon flicked off as a blast fired, so it must have been an indicator of each shot being charged and ready to fire. Said shots hit Shrapnel’s head and claws, causing the wooden beast to stagger mid-jump and tumble to the ground just in front of Quantum Tech. While it was struggling to its feet, Quantum used her other cannon to shoot out Fire Fight’s, Shadow Shroud’s and Spiral Galaxy’s restraints. “GUYS!” she shouted. They were startled at such quick blasts of energy bursting right above them, but it worked and they fell to the ground free of their restraints. Fire Fight and Spiral Galaxy ripped the magic inhibitors off of their horns and used their magic to free the others while Shadow Shroud went to fetch everypony’s gear. “NO!” Zebota shouted. He fired the rock from his sling at them and it exploded into a burst of the green energy that the glyph from before had emitted, staggering the foals. He then pulled out a bladed boomerang coated in the same light and threw it at them. “Miti ya msituni, tafadhali niazime mizizi yako!” he shouted. The boomerang passed over them quickly. It gleamed its light onto the ground around the foals and summoned a frenzy of trees roots from the ground and grabbed them! “WHOOOAAA NELLY!!” Kickback screamed as he and the other foals were restrained yet again by aggressive flora. Quantum gasped. “Nature magic….Zebras are not to be underestimated!” she said. Shrapnel quickly got back to his feet and pounced. “Engaging melee mode!” Quantum Tech pressed a series of buttons that caused her cannons to contact a little. “ I can do this… I can do this!!” Quantum Tech was beginning to panic. Having no experience as an actual combatant made this situation a little terrifying. Her contracted cannons recharged their power and instead of firing blasts of energy, they formed beam swords. “Have at me, mutt!” Shrapnel lunged at her with a swipe of his claw that she parried outward. She used her free blade to try and stab the beast, but Shrapnel moved his out of the way just in time. He clamped his jaws down onto said arm and jerked his head in such a way that it tossed Quantum’s mech a good few yards away, sending her off balance. “AIIIEEE!” Quantum screamed as her heavy tank was tossed like a toy. She managed to land it on its feet, but Shrapnel came back for more. “Activating head turrets!” From around the rim of the glass that protected her cockpit emerged four turrets that pointed forward at Shrapnel. They fired short but powerful magical blasts at the monster, forcing him to dodge left and right as Quantum reverted her beam swords back into cannons. “Fall to the might of electromagnetic energy!” Her mech’s targeting systems were going crazy with how big of a target Shrapnel was. Zebota suddenly pounced and landed on top of one of the arm cannons. “I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO HARM MY FRIEND!” he shouted. He had a small tomahawk imbued with the green light. He slammed it down into the cannon, breaking through the armored plating. Alarms went off inside the cockpit. “WARNING: RIGHT RAILGUN HAS SUSTAINED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE.” Her alert system said. “Why you little…!” Quantum began thrashing the arm that Zebota was on in an attempt to shake him off as her turrets continued to hold back Shrapnel, but Zebota was a stubborn little fella and used his lodged tomahawk to hang on for dear life. Meanwhile, Fire Fight and Spiral Galaxy used their magic to carefully free themselves and their comrades from the confines of the summoned roots. Fire Fight didn’t want to risk starting a forest fire, nor did Spiral want to overexert her power and potentially summon a star storm. Once they were all free, they caught their breaths. “We’ve gotta help Quantum!” Spiral said. “I tell ya what we gotta do: we gotta get our damn gear first!” Turf War said. “Then let’s get it already!” Shroud said. They all rushed to the shed that they presumed Zebota used as a shelter for Shrapnel and retrieved their gear. They had to quickly put on their armor before things got hairy, but Shadow Shroud had difficulty reassuming her cloak and storing all of her weapons properly in a given few seconds. Shrapnel suddenly began charging towards them roaring viciously. “NUH UH, SON!!” Turf War shouted. Shrapnel swiped his claw at Turf War, but he blocked it with his shield. True to its new nature, it reflected the shock of the blow back at the wooden beast. Shrapnel yelped in pain as he recoiled back. He then looked at Turf War and snarled before leaping over him. “MAH BOY!” He tried to hit him with his hammer, but the timberwolf was just too high for him to reach. “SNUGGLE WITH THE PUPPYYYYYY!!!” Crazylocks screamed as she leapt towards Shrapnel while he was still airborne. She struck him in the chest, knocking him out of the air and onto the ground where she beat down on him with her reinforced mane. “BAD DOGGIE! BAAAAAAAAD!!!” Shrapnel suddenly clamped his jaws onto her and violently thrashed her around before chucking her into the brush. “CRAZYLOCKS!!” Fire Fight shouted. He shot a quick fireball at the beast before rushing into the brush to check on her. The small blast of heat barely made Shrapnel flinch as he just brushed it off and charged the foals once more. He was then suddenly overcome by an overwhelming heaviness all around him and dropped to his belly. “I’ve got your leash for ya, Fido!” Spiral said. She focused her gravity on the ravenous wooden sentinel, but because he was so big, she had to focus more than usual. “Nrgh!....Go take care of Zebota! I’ll keep his pet here in time out!” They all nodded and ran towards Zebota and Quantum Tech. Meanwhile, Fire Fight located Crazylocks, who was panting heavily. “Crazylocks!” He ran over to her. “You okay?” “….Fire Fight……there’s…….there’s something I need to tell you…..before I pass….” Crazylocks muttered. Fire Fight’s eyes widened in horror upon hearing that. “What!? No!! Crazylocks, stay with me!!” He could feel tears begin to well up. Was this the untimely end for the manic filly that he had befriended? Would she be freed from all of her suffering? She leaned in to whisper. “I….….I……I’ve always wanted splinters in my back…..now I feel whole…..” Despite her insanity sticking with her to the end, Fire Fight’s tears only paid heed to his helpless friend. This would be goodbye……until he heard her let out a long fart….She got up as if nothing happened and brushed her legs off. “Phew! Finally passed that one! Okay, I’m ready. WAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!!!!” She leapt viciously out of the brush and back into the fray. Fire Fight just stood there completely dumbfounded. He wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or furious. He just….facehooved and sighed heavily. “Damn you, Gene Splice….” he whispered to himself. Back in the clearing, Zebota was furiously duking it out with the metal monster that Quantum Tech controlled. He continued to use his nature-powered rocks flung by his sling after Quantum finally managed to shake him off of her railgun. Quantum herself fired back with her turrets. “Had enough you striped cretin?” she taunted. Zebota pulled out his boomerang. “Never! I will not fall to the likes of you!” He tossed his boomerang upward and it continued to spin as it hovered over Quantum’s mech. “kutolewa dhoruba yako makuu!” he shouted. His boomerang suddenly began sparking and released a barrage of small lightning bolts that lasted for only about three seconds before returning to him. “WAAAAHHHH!!” Quantum’s alert system went crazy over the unexpected assault and she was freaking out, but she managed to calm everything down after initiating system reboots. Zebota smirked. “Hehe…fools!” he sneered. He suddenly sensed something coming up from behind him and reacted. He pulled out his tomahawk just in time for Shadow Shroud to attack him with her kunai. The two locked each other in both their weapons and their glares. “Hmph! Impressive reflexes! Now I see how you might have managed to best us!” Shroud said. “I must admit that your perseverance too is praiseworthy! But it will not be enough!” Zebota said. The two forced each other back and Zebota once again pulled out his boomerang. He was shocked when a small bang went off and seemed to knock his boomerang out of his hoof. He looked over to see Kickback pointing one of his guns at him. “Sorry, partner, but ya wanted to play dirty.” Kickback said. Air Slash and Shadow Shroud had their blades pointed towards him. “We wish you no harm, zebra. So let us lay down our arms and be civil.” Air Slash said. “We’ll keep fighting you if you want, but know that it will only create more conflict.” Shroud added. Zebota clenched his teeth in frustration. He had only so much blessing left and Shrapnel was compromised. Against his better judgment, he put his weapons away and conceited. “Very well….” He muttered. “I vow to becalm my friend if you release him.” “Hear that, Spiral?” Fire Fight called. Spiral nodded. “Yeah!” She released her gravity field over Shrapnel and the wooden titan rose back to his feet. He just….stared at her, lowly growling as if to admit defeat. Spiral suddenly felt a little guilty about putting such a strain on a wild animal. Shrapnel walked back to his master and gently nuzzled him. “Are you alright, my friend?” Zebota asked him as he stroked the beast’s jaw. Shrapnel only answered him with a few low whimpers. “I see….good.” He then glanced back at the Battle Foals and sighed. “Forgive me, ponyfolk….”