Episode 107: The Ultimate Workout:
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THE STORY SO FAR...:
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In the year 20XX, in the peaceful land of Equestria, Princess Celestia, the country's benevolent ruler, unveiled a great secret to the ponies that she trusted most. A secret project meant for the better safety of Equestria and all of its citizens: Mega Pony; the first fully-robotic pony!
While Mega Pony was built for combatting dangers to Equestria and its citizens, he was also programmed to live as a normal pony as well. And since every pony needs a break from hard work every now and then, the robotic equine has decided to do just that. Today, Mega Pony is going on a trip to the seaside city of Baltimare. Joining him on this trip is Rainbow Dash, who is also taking a break from her usual duties in order to have some fun and cut loose.
However, for the two heroic ponies, they're going to find out that trouble has a way of finding them...And that they'll never know who will lend a helping hoof when trouble does rear its ugly head...
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CHARACTER SELECT:
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Mega Pony (PCN-001): The first robot pony and guardian of Equestria.
Rainbow Dash: Self-proclaimed fastest Pegasus in Equestria. Element of Loyalty.
Princess Celestia: One of the two rulers of Equestria. Mega Pony's creator and mother figure.
*** ??? ***
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It was another glorious day in the country of Equestria. It was warm outside, but not too hot that it was unbearable. And without a rain cloud in sight, it was the perfect day for a pony to go out and enjoy themself. This was even true for Mega Pony, the mechanical pony that was built to fight any and all threats to Equestria and its citizens. But today, he had no plans to do battle with ferocious monsters or petty troublemakers: This time, he planned to take a break from his usual duties and have fun with his friends for the whole day.
Today, Mega Pony was riding on a train that had left the Ponyville Train Station not too long ago. The train was bound for Baltimare, a portside city that was located on the eastern edge of Equestria. However, he wasn't taking the trip alone: Sitting on the seat next to him was Rainbow Dash, a cyan-coated, rainbow-maned Pegasus mare that the robot had known since the day he was activated. Like Mega Pony, she was taking a break from her usual work during the day; since the next few days of the week were scheduled to be bright and sunny, Dash, along with the other Pegasi that worked in the Cloudsdale Weather Factory got a few days off from work.
Rainbow Dash seemed pretty excited about the trip; she could hardly sit still in her seat, and her face showed an anxious, but happy, grin. "Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh, omigosh...! I can't believe it!" she said ecstatically, bouncing up and down on her seat. "We're actually gonna be there this year!! Ever since I first heard about it, I've always wanted to go see the annual Ponies for Fitness and Workouts Convention!!"
"You seem pretty excited to be going to this convention." Mega Pony said to her. "What's it all about?"
"Well, every year," the cyan mare began to explain, "famous athletes, fitness instructors, and all-around tough guys meet up to share all sorts of advice and tips about the latest trends involving workout regimens, sports - just about everything you can think of that involves moving around, and moving around a lot!"
"Sounds pretty interesting." the robot replied.
"Oh it is!" Rainbow Dash told him. "And best of all, the Wonderbolts are going to be showing up this year to tell everypony all about their training sessions! I've even heard that they're gonna be sharing a few of their workout secrets, too!" Getting herself even more excited, she then said, "Omigosh!! I can't wait to get there!!"
Mega Pony chuckled a little and said to her, "Well...if this convention is as good as you make it sound, then I'm really flattered that you decided to give me your other ticket."
"I still can't believe that I managed to win that contest on the radio last week that got me those two tickets!" the Pegasus noted. "Of all of the questions they could have asked me, what are the odds that it would be a quiz about the Daring Do books?" She then added, a bit smugly, "Then again, I'm not that surprised: When you're as awesome as me, good luck just tends to happen on a daily basis."
"Uh...I suppose that makes sense...I guess." the robot responded, not sure how else to reply to that. He then asked her, "So, just out of curiosity, why'd you decide to bring me with you? Didn't you ask any of our other friends?"
"Eh, they're not into fitness and sports as much as I am, Mega." the rainbow-maned pony answered him. "Well, except for Applejack...but you know her: Always has like, a million billion chores to do on her farm..."
"Uh, Rainbow...?" the robot began to tell her. "A million doesn't go before a billion in a descending numerical sequence."
"Would you mind not doing that?" Rainbow requested. "That's the exact reason I didn't want to bring Twilight with me to the convention."
"Oh...sorry about that." Mega Pony apologized.
"It's cool." the cyan mare replied. She then told him. "Anyway, the other reason I brought you along was...well, because I wanted to make it up to you for when I got mad at you...Y'know, back when you were helping me gather up those rain clouds a couple months ago?"
"Rainbow Dash, I already said that I forgave you for it." Mega Pony reminded her.
"I know, but even I felt that I got off too easy on that one." she admitted. "I'm not doing this because I feel I have to. I'm doing it because I WANT to."
The robot seemed pretty touched by what she told him. "Well, that's very nice of you to do that for me. Thank you very much." he said gratefully.
"No prob, Mega." She then said to him, "I have to ask though; is Princess Celestia okay with you shirking off work to come and go to Baltimare with me? I thought she needed you to fight bad guys and stuff."
"Well, actually, having me taking a break from my duties today was her idea." the mechanical pony informed her.
"Really? Why's that?"
"Well, yesterday," Mega Pony began to tell her, "after Mom and I got back to Canterlot Castle after the whole Cockatrice incedent..."
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...we made our way to the throne room, which was otherwise unoccupied at the moment. Mom then said to me, "Mega Pony, once again, I'm proud of your work today. And I'm also happy to see that you're okay, as well. I was starting to get worried when I hadn't heard from you for so long."
"Sorry about that, Mom." I apologized to her. "I didn't mean to worry you. Believe me, I would have contacted you much sooner if I was able to."
"I understand." she told me. "Besides, you're alright, and that's all that matters." She then put on a more serious expression and asked me, "Now...about your mission; these strange ponies that you told me about on the ride over here...What did they look like again?"
"Well, my memory's still not completely fixed yet," I told her, "but if I recall, they were wearing orange armor and had these really big shields to protect them."
"...I see." she responded with a sigh. "And you're sure about this, are you?"
I nodded yes to tell her that I was pretty sure that I saw what I saw. "Mom..." I began to ask, "you wouldn't happen to know what they were, do you?"
"I do, as a matter of fact." she said to me. "I apologize if what I'm about to tell you startles you, but...those ponies that you fought...are, in fact, your predecessors."
"My WHAT?!?" I asked her in shock.
Mom then told me, in a rather solemn tone, "When I was designing your body and weapon systems, I drew up several blueprints as to what you would look like on the outside. I went through several design changes, made all sorts of alterations, and corrected anything that I felt would not work with what I had envisioned..." As she spoke, she began heading in the direction of her secret laboratory where I was created and motioned me to follow her.
Once we were in the lab, my mom opened up a file cabinet, pulling out a large sheet of paper and setting it out flat on a nearby table. I was surprised to see that the pony-like figure drawn on the sheet looked almost exactly like the three weird ponies that I had fought that day. "That's it! That's what they looked like!" I told her.
My mom nodded and then began to explain, "This was one of the many designs for your body that I had drawn up. It was designed to have excellent offensive and defensive skills...However, I quickly dismissed this idea for your appearence; my goal when creating you was to make you more like a real pony, and not just simply as a tool for combat. This body design did not meet my wishes, so I stored it away forever. To put it simply, I never intended for these robots to ever be constructed."
"But if that's true," I started asking her, "then how did three of them show up and attack me like that?"
"That's what worries me the most." Mom answered. "So far, you're the only one that I have said anything to regarding these machines. Not even Luna knows about these blueprints...How anypony could have found out about these baffles me." She then asked me, "You mentioned on the trip over here that you had scanned one of them...Tell me, what information did you obtain regarding it?"
"Not much..." I said sadly. "All I got was their name. It was called an 'Equine Joe'. Is that what they are called?"
"I never gave them a name." she replied. "More than likely, the one who stole the blueprints and built them is also responsible for naming them as well. And we need to find out who it is that's behind all these sudden robot attacks before things REALLY get out of control."
"In that case, I think it would be a good idea to tell Twilight and the others about these Equine Joe things, just in case more of them start popping up." I suggested.
"Indeed." Mom replied. "And I suppose, since my sister is in charge of investigating these attacks, that I'll have to inform her as well..." She then said to me, "Luna and I will continue to look into the matter...As for you, though, I believe some time off from your guardian duties might do you some good. Once you're fully repaired, I would like you to spend the day tomorrow just enjoying yourself."
"Are you sure about that, Mom?" I asked.
She smiled and answered me, saying, "I am. Don't worry, Luna and I will keep an eye on things while you take the day off. Everything will be okay; I promise."
"I guess I could use a rest after all the crazy stuff that's happened so far..." I admitted to myself. I nodded and told Mom, "Okay...I'll do it. Tomorrow, I'll just go out there and have some fun with my friends!" My mom seemed pretty happy to hear that from me and gave me a hug before she began repairing the rest of my systems.
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"Wow..." said Rainbow Dash, pretty surprised at what she had heard. "What kinda sick jerk would be crazy enough to steal something from a Princess? And not only that, use it to build a bunch of death-bots and try to terrorize everypony??"
"I'm not sure." Mega Pony answered her. "But hopefully my Mom and Aunt Luna will figure it out soon..."
The cyan mare snickered a little. "Sorry, Mega...I just find it kinda funny that you call her 'Aunt Luna'." she told him.
"Yeah, she gets embarrased whenever I call her that." the robot responded. "I don't know why...I only call her my aunt because I care about her. Luna's one of the nicest ponies I know, and I'm proud to have her as my aunt." He then added, "Anyway, let's not think about stuff like stolen blueprints or anything like that...Today's our day to have fun and enjoy ourselves."
"You got that right!" Rainbow Dash said with a nod. Glancing out the window next to her, the cyan mare could see a city off in the distance. "There it is!" she exclaimed, pointing to the metropolis off in the distance. "That's the city of Baltimare!"
"Great!" Mega Pony responded. "Based on our current location, and the relative distance from the city, we should be there in about five or so minutes."
"Awesome!" Rainbow then asked the mechanical pony, "You have our tickets to get into the convention, right?"
Mega Pony nodded and tapped the side of his body while telling her, "I put them inside my body compartment; they'll be perfectly safe in there." Rainbow Dash then smiled and looked out the window, anxious to get to the portside city as soon as possible.
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Not long after they left the Baltimare Train Station, Rainbow Dash and Mega Pony made their way to the large building that was the Baltimare Community Center, where the convention was being held. Already there was a long, LONG line stretching out from the building's entrance. "Woah...this line is huge..." the little robot said with a slight gasp. "It'll be hours before we can get in..."
"Not exactly, Mega." Rainbow told him. Showing him one of the two tickets, she explained to him, "These passes will allow us to get in right away; no waitin' in line required!"
"Really? That's great!" Mega Pony said cheerfully. "So...where do we go to present them if we're not going to wait in line?"
"We just hafta find the V.I.P. entrance." she answered him. "Then we just show the guy our tickets, and we should be allowed inside."
"V.I.P.? What's that?"
"You know; Very Important Pony."
"Oh...I see. Well then, let's go and find that other entrance, Rainbow." stated the robot. The cyan Pegasus nodded and they both walked around back to find the V.I.P. entrance. Eventually, they located it, and saw a male Unicorn security guard standing in front of it. He had a dark-brown coat and a spiky, black mane. He wore a pair of sunglasses over his eyes and wore a black suit. His cutie mark was a picture of a pair of sunglasses, much like the ones that he wore.
When the two walked up to him, the guard immediately got in their path and told them, "Hold it, you two. This is the V.I.P. entrance. The main entrance is around front."
"Yeah, we know that." Rainbow Dash told him. Clearing her throat, she then introduced herself, saying, "My name's Rainbow Dash. I'm the one who won the contest on the radio station? Y'know, station SRB-116? I should be on a list or somethin'..."
The security guard hummed a bit, slightly skeptical at the Pegasus's claims. "I dunno..." he told her. "I get a lot of ponies tellin' me stuff like that." The guard then used his magic to levitate a clipboard in front of him and began paging through it. "Let's see here..." He scanned through all of the names written down on the paper to try and locate Rainbow's name. After a while, he stopped and said, "Oh...wait, here you are...Rainbow Dash." He then looked up at the cyan mare and told her, "Looks good so far. I just need you to show me your cutie mark, just to make sure you are who you say you are."
"Yeah, sure." Rainbow then turned to show the side of her body, presenting her rainbow lightning bolt mark. She used her left front hoof to rub the mark, to show that it wasn't just painted on. "There ya go: One hundred percent real and all mine!" she told the guard with a smirk.
"Yes...I see; looks just like the one on this picture here." the guard said, referring back to his clipboard, which had both the names of ponies and their respective cutie marks (if they had any). He then put the clipboard away and told them, "Alright, that's good enough for me. I suppose I can let you in then."
"That's more like it." Dash responded with a slight smirk.
"There was also a note next to your name on my list that stated that you had won TWO tickets..." the guard then added. Looking at Mega Pony, he then asked, "I'm assuming that he is the one you brought with you today?"
"That's right." Rainbow then introduced him, telling the guard, "His name's Mega Pony."
"Um, pleased to meet you, sir..." the mechanical pony responded a bit meekly.
The guard gave a nod, finally convinced that the two of them were allowed to go inside right away. Using his magic, he unhooked a velvet rope that blocked acess to the special entrance. "Alright then...you two go on in and enjoy yourselves." he told them both. Mega Pony and Rainbow Dash nodded and walked into the Baltimare Community Center.
The pair wandered around the inside of the lobby, checking out all of the stands and booths that were set up, as well as all of the other ponies that were in attendance. There was so much activity going on, it seemed as though it would be impossible to see everything at the convention in just one day. "Woah...it's even better than I thought it would be...!" the cyan mare said in awe.
"Yeah, this looks like it could be really fun!" stated the robot. Glancing over to his left, he spotted something that interested him. Pointing, he asked, "Rainbow Dash, what's that over there?"
"Oh, that stand's for TreadMare." the cyan mare answered, pointing to the booth in question. "They sell treadmills for galloping and power-trotting." Sure enough, there were several ponies there, trying out the treadmill equipment and talking about them. Some had even decided to purchase some of exercise equipment.
"Wow..." Looking towards another booth, the robot then asked, "What about that?"
"That's for Gelding's Barbells." Rainbow then answered, glancing at the ponies trying out the heavy gym equipment. "They actually have their main HQ here in Baltimare, but they've got stores in most cities and towns. I've gotten a few barbells from them in the past; that's how I got as tough as I am now."
"Huh...if you have those things in your house, wouldn't they have fallen through the clouds by now?" asked Mega Pony.
"...Y'know, I've never thought about it." the Pegasus replied. "Does seem kinda weird." Glancing over to her right side, she then said, with some excitement, "Oh, cool! Look over there!"
Mega Pony glanced over in the same direction as Rainbow Dash, seeing a group of Pegasus stallions sitting in front of a table draped with a red-and-white banner that displayed a capital "A" in front of a picture of a large Manticore. "Who are those guys?" asked the robot.
"Those are the Appleloosian State Manticores." answered Dash. "They're the college basketball team that won the ECAA tournament this year." Pointing at the Pegasus stallion sitting in the center of the long table, she added, "And that guy in the middle is Trick Shot, their team captain." The stallion in question had an orange coat and a blond mane and tail. He had brown eyes and wore a white jacket with a red collar and cuffs. His cutie mark, appropriately, was a basketball net and backboard.
"Oh yeah...I remember that. I read about it in Canterlot's newspaper." Mega Pony mentioned. He then asked his friend, "So, what about the Wonderbolts? Didn't you say that they were showing up here?"
"Yeah, but not until 1 o' clock." Rainbow answered. "Right now, it's only 12:30." She then pointed to a clock nearby that was built onto a tall post to confirm her statement. Mega Pony nodded to say that he understood.
Just then, the two of them heard some commotion nearby. The pair glanced over and saw a large crowd of ponies gathered together in one place. "Huh? What's going on over there that's got everypony all huddled up?" asked the cyan mare.
"Not sure." said the robot. "Let's go and see." The two of them walked over to the crowd and nudged their way through, making their way to the front so that they could see what it was that had grabbed their attention.
The pair saw a small booth in front of the gathering of convention guests. The booth was covered with a small red tent, inside of which was what appeared to be a bucking bag game, like one that you would typically find in an arcade. The game was set up so that, when a pony kicked the bag with their hind legs, the machine would display a pair of numbers: One would show how powerful the kick was, and the other number determined the speed of the kick.
But it wasn't just the game itself that was causing everypony to stare in awe: It was the pony that was currently playing the game that was the main focus here. It was a female Earth Pony with a light-peach colored coat, along with a cyan-colored mane and tail. The mane was cut short and styled quite neatly, giving it a sort of wing-like appearence. She had light lavender eyes, and wore a small, blue T-shirt. Around each of her hooves was a white, fuzzy sweatband, and her cutie mark was a pair of white running shoes.
"Who's that?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"Not sure." said a green-coated Unicorn stallion standing next to her and Mega Pony. "I was walking by when I noticed her playing that bucking bag game. She's been at it for almost forty-five minutes."
"Really?" asked Mega Pony. "And how's she doing?"
"Amazing!" the stallion quickly answered. Before he could say anything else, the group then saw that the Earth Pony mare was ready for another round. "Hold on, she's about to buck it again...!"
The crowd watched as the peach-coated pony did a few leg stretches first, getting herself ready. She then turned around, lifted both of her back legs, and kicked the bag with a force so powerful, everypony expected to see the bag fly clean off the machine. But the bag stayed attahced, and the game then displayed incredibly high marks for the pony's kick.
"No way...that's amazing!!" said a dark-grey Pegasus stallion.
"That's the fifth time that she's beaten her own record!" added a pale-pink Earth Pony mare.
The peach-coated pony took a deep breath and used her left front hoof to wipe some sweat from her face. "Alright..." she said. "I think that'll do for now. Time to take a quick breather." She then walked over to a large gym bag that had her cutie mark emblazoned upon it and pulled out a bottle of water from it using her mouth. She then gripped it using her right front hoof and pulled the top off of the bottle with her teeth before drinking from it.
The mare then glanced behind her when she noticed that Mega Pony had walked up towards her. "That was pretty impressive, ma'am." he said to her. "I've never seen a kick that was THAT powerful before!"
"Oh, thanks." the mare responded. "But that last buck was nothing; I was holding back a little bit so as not to break the machine..."
"Oh...I see." the robot replied, chuckling weakly a bit. Rainbow Dash didn't respond; she just narrowed her eyes a little at the Earth Pony's remark.
After the peach-colored mare finished drinking from her water bottle and set it down next to her bag, she then turned to the mechanical pony and asked him, "If not mistaken, aren't you that Mega Pony kid everypony's been talking about?"
"Y-you know about me?" the robot asked meekly.
"You bet I do." the Earth Pony answered. "Word travels pretty fast around Equestria. I heard all about ya from the town newspaper, The Baltimare Times."
"Well, I'm...um, I'm happy to know that everypony gets to know about everything that I'm doing..." said Mega Pony, blushing a little. He then asked, "So...what's your name?"
"Oh! Yeah, sorry about that...I almost forgot to introduce myself." the mare responded with a chuckle. She then told them, "I'm Adrenaline Rush. But you can just call me Addie for short."
"Pleased to meet you, Ms. Addie." the mechanoid said politely. "Well, as you already know, My name's Mega Pony..." He then pointed over to his left and added, "And this is my friend, Rainbow Dash."
"Nice to meet you both, too." Addie replied.
"Uh, yeah...sure." Rainbow responded in a less-than-enthusiastic tone. "Same here."
Noticing her tone, Addie, putting on a slight smirk, then asked the cyan mare, "What's up with you? Intimidated by my skills on the bucking bag?"
"What? ME?? Intimidated by that?! No way!" the Pegasus replied. "I could do all that in my sleep!"
"Oh really?" asked the peach-coated pony. Stepping over to the bucking bag game, she then said to Rainbow, "Then let's see just what you've got in those legs of yours. Go ahead and give the bag a kick; I'll even let you stay awake for it."
Dash grumbled a little, but decided to take her up on that offer. "Fine! I will!" she said, flying over to the arcade game.
"Um...Rainbow Dash? What are you doing?" asked Mega Pony, slightly confused. "What are you trying to prove?"
"What am I trying to prove?" the cyan mare repeated. "I'm proving that there's nothing that's too hard for me to do! Just watch, Mega Pony: I'm gonna blow away her high score on this game before she can realize it!" Rainbow Dash then prepped up her legs, lifted them high into the air and performed a very swift kick that delivered a heavy hit to the bucking bag.
Everypony watched as the display screens began to show just how powerful and how fast Rainbow Dash's kick was. Once the numbers came up, the cyan mare was shocked to see that her kick wasn't as strong as Addie's was. "What?! That can't be right!!" she complained. "That was the strongest kick I had!"
"Perhaps..." Addie replied a bit smugly, "but still not as strong as mine...Such a shame."
"Hey! Check it out!" said a pony in the crowd. "Check out the speed display!"
"Huh...?" Immediately, Adrenaline Rush looked at the machine, looking at the screen that displayed how fast the kick was. The Earth Pony was surprised when she saw that Rainbow Dash's kick was much, much faster than her last kick to the bag. (That's...that's nuts!) she thought to herself. (My buck was stronger...but hers was faster!)
Once Rainbow saw that the speed of her kick was better, she chuckled a bit and asked, "Well whad'ya know? It looks like I'm better than you at something after all, huh?"
"...Maybe." Addie replied. "But don't let it go to your head." Walking over to the Pegasus mare, she then added, "Now, Rainbow Dash was it? You might think you're pretty tough, but I've been working out and training myself ever since I was a filly."
"So have I." Dash responded.
"I've devoted nearly every waking moment of my life toughening myself up!" Addie then told her.
"So have I!"
"And most importantly," the Earth Pony stated, "I've never lost at any kind of physical challenge!"
The cyan Pegasus smirked and told her, "Neither have I..."
"...Seems as though we've reached an impasse." said the peach-coated mare. "What do you suppose we should do about it?"
"Simple: We figure out just who between the two of us is the toughest pony." Rainbow Dash suggested, "and I know the perfect kind of competition that will do just that..."
"Are you going to suggest what I think you're going to suggest?" asked Addie, smirking.
"I think you probably do..." The Pegasus then said to the Earth Pony, "I challenge you to an Iron Pony Competition!"
The second she made that statement, everypony in the crowd gave out a collective gasp. They began talking with one another, wondering what the Pegasus was thinking, challenging such a strong pony to a contest such as that.
"An Iron Pony Competition, huh?" asked Addie. "You sure about that...?"
"Totally sure." Dash said confidently. "If you're even half as tough as you say you are, then you should have no problem tryin' to prove it right here, right now!"
The Earth Pony chuckled a little and said to the cyan mare, "You've got a lots of guts, girl...I can respect that. Kinda reminds me of when I was a filly." She then nodded and added, "Alright then. I accept your challenge!"
"Heh, now you're startin' to make some sense..." Rainbow Dash replied. "Alright then, let's get this competition goin' right now!" She then glanced over at Mega Pony and asked him, "Hey, Mega; could you act as the referee for us?"
"Um...I suppose I could." the robot replied.
"Great!" After that exclamation of hers, the Pegasus pony then glared at Addie with a look of pure confidence. Of course, the Earth Pony had a similar look upon her face as well. Everypony that was watching them knew that what was going to take place next was going to be epic...
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Everypony in the Baltimare Community Center had now gathered together to witness what they all expected to be an epic contest: Rainbow Dash had challenged the Earth Pony named Adrenaline Rush to an Iron Pony Competition. The last time that the cyan Pegasus had issued such a challenge was sometime before last year's Running of the Leaves event. And just like before, the super-fast mare was determined to win it all.
Mega Pony had agreed to be the referee, as well as Rainbow Dash's coach. However, he was still a bit skeptical at the Pegasus' sudden challenege. "Rainbow, are you totally sure about going through with this?" he asked. "Not to try and talk you out of it, but are you sure you can beat this pony? After all, she's made it pretty clear that she's gonna give everything she's got..."
"Trust me, Mega. I'm sure. About twenty percent more sure-er than I was earlier!" the mare replied. The robot then opened his mouth to say something, but Dash interrupted him and added, "And yes, I know that 'sure-er' isn't a word. You don't have to tell me that!"
"I'm just making sure that you know what you're doing." he informed her. "It's just in my nature to be concerned about my friends, that's all."
"I know...and I appreciate it that you care that much." stated Rainbow Dash. "But if I'm gonna be the best that I can be, then I can't back down from this. That's the first rule in 'Rainbow Dash's Law': Never say 'no' to a tough challenge!"
"I understand." Mega Pony responded. "In that case, give it your best out there, Rainbow Dash. I'll be rooting for you!"
"Thanks, Mega." The cyan mare then walked towards Adrenaline Rush and asked her, "So...you ready to watch me win this competition?"
"Not really." Addie answered her. "After all, it's gonna be ME that comes out on top here. Just promise me that, if you lose, you don't start cryin', my little Dashie."
The Pegasus grumbled a little and thought, (We'll see who cries when I'm through with ya...)
Mega Pony then trotted between the two competitive ponies, and said, in a loud voice so that everypony could hear him, "Alright then, if everypony's ready...Then let us get this Iron Pony Competition underway!"
The crowd cheered in response.
"The rules of this competition are simple:" the robot explained. "This will be a series of up to nine physical challenges, and the first pony to win five of those challenges will be declared the overall winner. The rules for each individual challenge will be explained in full before it begins. To ensure fairness, once the first event is over, the next one will be revealed right away, and no sooner. As a result, neither of our competitors have any previous knowledge of the events that will occur."
"I get it..." said an Earth Pony stallion in the audience. "This way, they can't prepare for the events ahead of time, and neither of them could possibly have an unfair advantage over the other."
"With that said," the robot continued, "we will now begin the first event: The 100-Meter Dash!"
"Awesome! A race!" cheered Rainbow Dash. "This'll be so easy!" Addie simply hummed a bit in response, not intimidated at all.
After the two competitors took their places at the starting line of a long, long race track, Mega Pony then explained the rules to both them and the audience. "The rules for this event are simple: The first pony to cross the finish line at the end wins. The only other rule for the race is to stay on your own track at all times." the robot stated.
Rainbow Dash and Adrenaline Rush looked ahead at the long race track ahead of them. "Looks pretty tough, doesn't it?" asked the cyan mare with a smirk. "Want me to strap my wings down so that you have at least a SLIGHT chance at winning?"
"Heh...why?" asked Addie. "So that you have an excuse just in case you lose?"
Dash grumbled in response. "Why you..." She then huffed and said, "Fine, don't say I didn't warn ya!"
Once the two were ready, Mega Pony walked over beside the track, holding a checkered flag with his psuedo-magic. "Get ready..." he began. "get set..." He then waved the flag and shouted, "GO!"
Not much longer after he said that, Dash and Addie had already taken off, heading for the finish line ahead. The Pegasus was truely living up to her name, flying as fast as she could to get to the end first. "Heh...this is WAY too easy." she said smugly to herself. "Did she REALLY think she could keep up with somepony like-"
But her gloating was cut short when she saw something that caught her off-guard: It was none other than Adrenaline Rush, who was galloping as fast as she could and had managed to, despite the odds, keep up with the cyan mare. "What's wrong, Dashie?" she asked in a sly tone. "Were you expecting me to be behind you?"
Rainbow was shocked that this pony had not fallen behind since the race started. "What?? That can't be possible!" she protested. "How are you even moving that fast?!"
"Super-tough leg muscles." Addie answered her. "You tend to develop them when you don't have a pair of feathery crutches growing out of your back." She then began pulling ahead, and actually managed to pass the super-speedy Pegasus. "I'll see ya at my victory celebration!"
Rainbow Dash was shocked, but nowhere near ready to give up yet. "Oh, you wanna do this the hard way...?" she asked silently. "Then we'll do this the hard way!" The cyan pony then flapped her wings even faster, taking off like a bullet.
Before long, Dash had managed to catch up to Addie, and now the race was tied once again. "Well, looks like somepony got their second wind..." the Earth Pony told her.
"Look, Addie," the Pegasus began to say to her opponent, "up to now, I was goin' easy on ya...But now you've got my attention, and I ain't holdin' back!"
"Oh, is that so?" asked the peach-coated mare, unintimidated. "Then prove it, Dashie!"
That's exactly what Rainbow Dash intended to do: She flew as fast as she could, keeping the race close, as did Addie as she galloped down the track. The pair kept right on ahead, leaving behind a mutli-colored blur in their wake.
"Who's winning?" asked a pink Unicorn mare in the audience.
"I-I don't know..." said an orange female Pegasus. "They're moving so fast, it's impossible to tell!"
The two competitors kept right on racing, and before anypony knew it, they both crossed the finish line. However, they were moving so fast, nopony could tell who actually won. "Woah...that was awesome!" said a dark red Earth Pony stallion.
"It's a photo finish!" chimed an indigo Unicorn stallion.
"What did you say?" asked the red Earth Pony.
"Oh, I meant that it's a JOB for Photo Finish...Sorry about that." the male Unicorn corrected himself. "She was standing over there at the finish line." he then added, pointing to light-blue pony with a silver-white mane and tail. She wore a pair of black glasses with fuschia lenses and a stylish dress with black and white stripes on the top and a black skirt with bands of white and pink. Her long dress skirt covered her hind quarters, so her cutie mark wasn't visible, though it was assumed that she had one.
The audience, along with Mega Pony and the two competitors, approached the dress-wearing pony named Photo Finish, who had managed to snap a picture at the very moment that Dash and Addie crossed the finish line. Once the photograph developed out of the camera, Photo Finish took it out and began shaking it a little so that the picture would appear a bit faster. Finally, an image began to show up. "And the winner is..." she began to say, waiting for the image to fully appear. Once it did, she then finished her announcement, saying, "...Rainbow Dash!"
Sure enough, the picture clearly showed that Rainbow had crossed the finish line first, though Addie was not far behind. In fact, the difference between their finishing distances was quite thin, as the Earth Pony mare appeared to be only an inch behind Dash.
"Aw yeah!!" cheered the cyan Pegasus. "That's what I'm talkin' about!!" She then flew over to Addie and told her, "See that? Nopony can beat me in a race!"
But Addie didn't seem worried at all, even though she lost the first event. "Calm down, Dashie." she told her. "That was just the first challenge. We've still got a long ways to go before this is all over...And when it IS over, you'll see just who the real champ will be."
"Yeah, and it'll be me!" stated Rainbow Dash, super-confident that she would take the crown in this Iron Pony Competition.
Elsewhere, far away from all of the commotion, hoofsteps could be heard...or, they WOULD have been heard, if anypony was around to hear them. Almost every single attendee at the convention was watching the Iron Pony Competiton between Rainbow and Addie. But it appeared that not EVERYPONY was there to see it. A shadowy figure was making its way to the back of the community center, heading for a door that had a sign saying, "DO NOT ENTER: Authorized Personnel Only".
The figure brushed its head hair aside, revealing a Unicorn horn. Using magic, the figure levitated a pair of lock picks towards the door's keyhole and began fiddling with it, trying to unlock the entrance. Eventually, a small clicking sound came out of the hole, signalling that the door was now unlocked. Once it was, the figure put away the lock picks, turned its head around and made a motioning gesture using its right foreleg; this caused three more figures to approach it from behind.
Once they all gathered together, the group of four wandered into the now-open room before them. They immediately began scanning the area around them, apparently in search of something. The room seemed to be an office of some sort; there was a large wooden desk located in the center, there were file cabinets standing up against the leftmost wall, and the right wall had several motivational posters hung up, which included one that read, "Keep Calm and Flutter On", and it showed a picture of a pony wearing a fancy green dress that looked suspiciously like Fluttershy.
Just then, one of the four ponies that went into the office suddenly shouted, "Hey, boss!! I think I've found it!!"
"Would you keep it down, you imbecile...?!" grumbled the apparent leader of the small group. "The last thing we need right now are security guards showing up while we're in here...!" It was the Unicorn that had picked the lock earlier. It was a male Unicorn with a navy blue-colored coat, along with a silver grey mane and tail, both of which were a little messy. Unlike most Unicorns' horns, which often had slightly rounded tips, his had a very sharp tip, giving it more of a spike-like appearence. He had bright yellow eyes and was wearing a black sweater with all sorts of burglary tools hidden inside of it. He was also wearing a pair of black shorts, which hid his cutie mark.
"Relax, boss...I doubt that anypony's gonna hear us all the way over here." said another member of the group. "All of 'em are watchin' that Iron Pony Competition between the blue Pegasus and the peach Earth Pony. By the time they're done, we'll be long gone!"
"That fact aside," the navy-blue Unicorn rebutted, "we can't afford to take any chances...If even one of them gets a whiff of our plan, it might compromise the whole job!" Turning his attention to the first pony that had spoken up, he then asked him, "Alright, so what did ya find?"
"Just see for yourself, boss..." the other pony responded, shuffling aside to reveal a metallic, medium-sized, combination lock safe, sitting underneath the large desk.
"Heheheh...just as I thought..." said the devious Unicorn stallion. "This is the safe that belongs the owner of the convention hall, and it's bound to be filled to the brim with more bits than you can count!" Looking at the tumbler dial on the front of the safe, the crook grinned and added, "Now it's just a matter of figuring out the combination; something that, to me, is mere foal's play..." He then put his ear next to the safe as he used his magic to manipulate the tumblers. It took some time, but the Unicorn figured out the combination and opened the safe.
Just as he predicted, there was a ton of money inside; Several gold bit coins of varying amounts were stuffed in the safe, and the pile of money gave off a shimmering golden glow that could almost blind anypony who stared at it for too long. "Wo-o-o-oah!! Look at all of that loot!" said one of the other burglars.
"There must be five thousand bits in there, no doubt!" said another crook.
"And it's all ours." stated the male Unicorn. He then ordered his underlings, "Alright, get the sacks out and start stuffin' the coins inside. We don't have all day..."
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Meanwhile, back at the convention's main hall, the Iron Pony Competition between Rainbow Dash and Adrenaline Rush was still going on. After Rainbow got her first victory in the 100-Meter Dash event, the competition immediately moved on to the next challenege: A wrestling match. Unfortunately for the cyan Pegasus, she quickly found out that the event was rather one-sided, as Addie proved to be too much for her to overcome. Once the bell rung, the Earth Pony leapt straight towards Rainbow Dash and pinned her down in mere seconds, winning the event.
Next was a weight-lifting contest, in which both opponents had to lift more weight than the other in order to win. Luckily, the Gelding's Barbells stand was generous enough to loan some of their heavy equipment for the contest. Rainbow Dash was able to pick up a pair of 100-pound weights and hefted it over her head. Then, all of a sudden, the Pegasus found herself in the air, but she wasn't flying or hovering at all. She looked down and saw that Addie had picked HER up while she was still carrying the heavy barbells, meaning that she was now carrying her weight in addition to the two 100-pound weights that Dash was already holding. Needless to say, Addie won that event as well, putting the score at 2 to 1 in the Earth Pony's favor.
The next event was the Long Jump, in which whoever jumped the farthest was the winner. Addie went first, and made an impressive thirty-foot leap onto the long sand pit in front of her. However, Rainbow Dash, who was more aerodynamically designed (at least that's what she claimed), was able to jump much further, landing at the 41-foot mark and evening the score between them.
With the score tied once more, the competition moved on to the High Dive, which, of course, took place at a large swimming pool that was set up in the center of the hall. The winner was the pony who made a more impressive dive. Rainbow went first, leaping off of the diving board and doing several mid-air spins before spreading her wings and forelegs wide and going into a swan dive. The cyan mare's dive caused a large wave to form, which splashed over many of the ponies watching. Addie then went next, jumping off of the board and doing a few somersaults that gradually got faster and faster. She then impacted the surface of the water, creating a geyser-like splash that easily towered over twelve feet into the air. It was impressive, but the judges had determined that Rainbow's dive was just slightly better, so she won that event.
After that, several more events followed, inculding shotput throwing, a military-style obstacle course race, and even caber tossing. After all of that, the score was tied, with each competitor having won four of the eight events so far. Everypony watching wondered who would end up the overall winner; it looked like that it could go either way.
"Filles and Gentlecolts," Mega Pony began. "we are nearly ready to end this Iron Pony Competition. So far, the score is tied, with both Rainbow Dash and Adrenaline Rush having won four events each. This next event, the last event, will determine who will be the overall champion!"
Both opponents seemed to be pretty exhausted as they panted heavily after going through eight different physical challeneges so far. But they both still had that look in their eyes that told the other only one thing: They were not about to give up now. "Y'know," began Addie, "a part of me is actually kinda glad that I met you, Rainbow Dash...It's been a really long time since I competed against somepony that's actually at my level..."
"I could say the same thing about you..." Dash responded. "But let's be realistic here, Addie...You ain't gonna win this contest; that honor'll go to me!"
"...We'll see about that, Dashie." the Earth Pony mare replied with a smirk.
Mega Pony then annouced to everypony, "The final event will be the Javelin Toss." He then asked the audience, "Will somepony go and gather some javelins from the equipment booth nearby?"
"I'll do it!" said a Pegasus mare in the crowd. She had a pure white coat, with small freckles underneath her baby-blue eyes. Her mane looked strikingly similar to Twilight Sparkle's mane, in that it was styled very straight. The only real difference was the color scheme; instead of Twilight's purple hair with pink streaks, she had red mane hair with green streaks. Finally, her cutie mark was a small flower with five pink petals. She immediately took flight, in search of a convention booth that sold and displayed the sharp spears that Mega Pony asked for.
Around that same time, the Unicorn stallion and his three cohorts that had broken into a back office safe were making their way out of the community center...rather slowly. The bags that they were carrying were stuffed with bits; perhaps too much, because the bags were weighing them down and making their movements much slower than they would have been without the heavy sacks. "Urrrrgh!! URRRRRGH!!!" grunted one of the burglars, trying to drag his bag of bits across the linoleum floor.
"I told you to keep it down...!" the Unicorn male silently scolded his accomplice. "We can't allow anypony to see us, let alone know what we're doing...!"
"But this bag's too heavy...!" complained the crook.
"Well so is mine, but you don't hear me complaining...!" grumbled the navy-blue stallion. However, he too, let out a grunt that essentially contraditced his earlier statement. The gang passed by another booth, nearly reaching a back exit leading to their freedom. Then, all of a sudden, when the male Unicorn tried to take a step, something tugged him back, preventing him from moving. "Wha-huh?" he let out when he felt the slight tug.
"What's wrong, boss?" asked one of the other ponies in the group.
"Darn it...I think my shorts caught on something!" he answered. He then glanced back and saw that something did grab a hold of his black shorts, something spiky. The Unicorn and his gang glanced up and saw that the booth they were standing next to was a stand that sold...
"Javelins...javelins...Where the hay is that stand that sells javelins here...?" asked the white Pegasus mare, who was trying to locate the booth to get the needed supplies for the last Iron Pony Competition event. She flew around for a bit, but couldn't find it. She then took a deep breath and said to herself, "Alright, Blossomforth...just concentrate...You passed by the stand earlier...You just have to try and remember where you were when you saw it..." The Pegasus then rubbed her temples with her front hooves to try and relax her mind and focus on retrieving the information she needed.
She then let out a gasp and said, "Oh yeah! I remember now! The javelin stand was near the community center's rear exit!" Once she knew where she was going, the Pegasus, known as Blossomforth, flew towards the back of the building.
At the very stand that the white Pegasus was searching for, the Unicorn thief pulled his body as much as he could to try and free himself from the javelin that had caught ahold of his shorts and prevented him from moving. "Come on, already..." he said while pulling himself. "Let go...Let go!!" Getting frustrated, he then shouted at his cohorts, "Well, don't just stand there lookin' stupid! Get over here and help me!!"
"Uh, right boss!" said the trio of crooks in unison, running over to him.
Not far away, Blossomforth landed back on the floor once she felt that she was closeby the booth that she was looking for. "Okay...I think the booth is to the right of here..." she said to herself, walking in that direction.
At the javelin stand, the three other crooks had grabbed onto their Unicorn boss and were trying their best to pull him loose from the spiky spear that had stuck itself into the navy-blue stallion's shorts. "Pull harder...!!" said the Unicorn. "We have to get out of here before anypony sees-"
RRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPP!!!
The four crooked ponies immediately froze up and stopped what they were doing upon hearing that deafening sound. "...Tell me that isn't what I think it is..." the Unicorn stallion told his minions.
At that very moment, Blossomforth had just approached the javelin stand, unaware that somepony was already nearby it. "Aha! Here's the booth where they sell the javelins!" she said to herself. "Now I just need to get a few of them and-" But at that moment, when her gaze shifted in the direction of the four crooks, she let out a horrified gasp.
She saw the Unicorn stallion, who had finally been freed from the spear that had caught onto his shorts. However, the force of the pulling by his cohorts had ripped a large hole on the small piece of clothing. This revealed the Unicorn's cutie mark: It was a picture a small, silver-colored safe.
Blossomforth just stood there, jaw dropped, irises the size of dots, and occasionally trembling a little. "...Ah...ah...ah..." she stuttered, trying to say something, but the sudden fear that had overcome her prevented the words from coming out.
The Unicorn crook and his accomplices just stood there, also unsure of what to do in this awkward moment. All the navy-blue stallion could get out was, "Uh..."
"AHHHHHH!!!!" the Pegasus mare screamed. "It's Lockpicker!! Run for your lives!!! Lockpicker the safe robber is in the building!!!!" Blossomforth then flew as fast as she could to warn everypony in the community center.
"Wha-what're we gonna do now, Lockpicker sir?!" asked one of the other thieves in a worried tone. "She's gonna tell everypony we're here! The cops are sure to find us now!!"
"Would you clam it already?!" yelled the Unicorn, named Lockpicker. "We'll just have to go to Plan B! Lock up all the exits and make sure nopony else gets out of here!!"
Back in the main area, Rainbow Dash, Adrenaline Rush, Mega Pony, and the audience watching the Iron Pony Competition were sitting around, waiting for Blossomforth to return with the needed equipment. "Yeesh...what's takin' her so long...?" asked the cyan mare impatiently. "She should've got back here by now..."
"Maybe she got lost?" asked Mega Pony. "This convention is pretty big, after all, so I wouldn't be surprised."
Just then, everypony heard the sounds of someone screaming. "...AHHHHHHHHHH...!!!" sounded the shrill voice as it echoed throughout the halls.
"What the-...What was that??" asked Addie.
Everypony looked around in order to try and locate the source of the loud screaming. Just then, Mega Pony pointed up in the air and shouted, "Up there! Look!!" The rest of the convention guests glanced upwards in the direction that the little robot was pointing. The source of the screaming was none other than Blossomforth, who was still in a state of terror after her encounter with the Unicorn burglar and his minions.
"That's the pony that was supposed to get the javelins..." noted Rainbow Dash. "What's got her so freaked out?"
"Let's go and see." Mega Pony suggested. Once the white-coated Pegasus touched ground, the robot rushed over to her and asked, "What's wrong? Did something happen to you??"
"It's horrible!!" Blossomforth told him. "I was on my way to get the javelins you needed, when I saw somepony standing next to the booth! When I went over to look, I saw..." She then began to tremble as she spoke. "I saw...I saw..."
"Saw what?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"...I-I saw him! It's Lockpicker! Lockpicker's here in the community center!!" the white Pegasus screamed hysterically.
Everypony gasped upon hearing the name of the Unicorn thief. "Did I hear her right??" asked another Pegasus mare in the audience. "That guy's really here?!"
"I don't believe it!" said an Earth Pony stallion. "What's he doing here, of all places?!"
Mega Pony and Rainbow Dash were slightly confused about what was going on. "What're they talking about?" asked the cyan Pegasus. "Who's Lockpicker??"
"A crook, that's what." answered Addie. She then went on to explain, "Lockpicker is one of Baltimare's most notorious thieves, and his specialty is cracking safes."
"Cracking safes?" asked Mega Pony.
"Yep." The Earth Pony then told them, "Back a long time ago, he used to work as locksmith; he built and designed all kinds of complex lock systems, as well as ways of opening them. But when he lost his job at some point, he began using his special talent to rob safes and other secure areas. He's been in and out of jail ever since..."
"That's horrible..." Mega Pony commented.
"I'll say..." Rainbow Dash agreed. "We'd better get ourselves and everypony else outta here before-"
"Nopony's going anywhere..." interrupted a low, mean-sounding voice. Everypony else turned around and was shocked to see who was behind them, standing not far away from the community center's main entrance. It was Lockpicker and his three accomplices, blocking the only way out of the building. "All of you are to stay put right here, and nopony'll get hurt...Understand?"
"You must be Lockpicker, then..." said Rainbow Dash with a snarl.
"Indeed I am..." the Unicorn crook told the cyan Pegasus. "My accomplices and I snuck into the convention hall earlier in the day to do a bit of...shall we say, 'spring cleaning'?"
"Yeah, as in 'cleaning out the main safe'!" said one of the other burglars.
Lockpicker growled and shouted at his cohort, telling him, "You moron! We weren't going to tell them that!!"
The crook chuckled weakly, saying, "Uh...whoopsie...?"
The navy-blue stallion sighed and said to all of the other ponies in the building, "Unfortunately, one of the guests found out we were in here before we could make our escape...But when I say, 'unfortunately', I mean that towards all of you." He then announced to them all, "Until we are allowed to leave this hall with what we came here for, everypony here can expect to be staying in this place for a VERY long time..."
"You mean you're going to hold all these ponies hostage?!" asked Mega Pony in shock.
"That ain't gonna happen!" said Rainbow Dash angrily. "Nopony holds me for ransom! And you're gonna find out why!!" The Pegasus then recklessly started flying towards them in an attempt to attack the crooks.
But Lockpicker snickered to himself and thought, (We'll just see about that...) He then charged up his horn, which first began to radiate in a bright yellow light before turning light blue. He then fired a bright blue beam at Rainbow Dash, aiming for her wings specifically. When the beam hit her, it caused her wings to freeze up, preventing them working properly.
"Huh? What the-?!? My wings!!!" the Pegasus shouted. Once the realization that her wings were frozen solid had hit her, she immediately began plummeting to the floor. "Ahhhhhhhhh!!!"
Luckily, Mega Pony was quick to react and swiftly ran underneath Rainbow Dash so that he could catch her on his back. "Are you okay?" he asked her.
"I'm fine, Mega...but my wings aren't lookin' too good right now..." she answered, looking her frozen wings.
"Quick, let's get outta here, you two!" Adrenaline Rush suggested to them. The trio began running as fast as they could to get away from Lockpicker and his minions.
"After them, you dolts!" shouted the Unicorn thief. "Don't let 'em get away!!" The three other crooks nodded and began chasing after the runaways. In all of the confusion, nopony noticed Blossomforth had also managed to escape from the area, making her way into an air duct...
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Minutes later, Lockpicker's accomplices were still searching for Mega Pony, Rainbow Dash, and Adrenaline Rush. However, despite having covered nearly every square-inch of the community center, they weren't able to find them anywhere. "Where d'ya think they went??" asked one of them.
"They couldn't have gotten too far!" said another of the crooks. "There's no way outta this place!"
"Keep lookin' around!" said the third one. "We have t' find them, or the boss'll have a fit about it!" The three of them then split up and left the area they were in. However, not a single one of them was aware that the gym apparel booth that they were standing in front of just so happened to be where the three runaway ponies were hiding. Addie poked her head up once she heard that the three burglars had left and looked around to make certain that they were gone.
"Okay..." said the tough Earth Pony, "I think we're safe for now..."
Mega Pony was busy rubbing Rainbow Dash's wings with his front hooves, warming them up and trying to undo the effects of the freezing spell that she had been hit with. Once he was done he told her, "There, I think your wings are good to go again."
"Good, 'cause I'm not finished teaching that burglar jerk a lesson!" said the Pegasus, ready to take off again.
"And what the hay do you think you'll do once you get there?" asked Addie. "You couldn't even touch the guy earlier, so do you really think doing the same exact thing is gonna help you one bit?"
Rainbow sneered and inquried her, "Oh, and I suppose YOU could do any better??"
The Earth Pony crossed her forelegs in front of herself and answered, saying, "Of course I would...If it had been me going after him earlier, this crisis would've been over quick."
"How do you know that?!" asked Dash. "How do you know that he wouldn't have frozen you up like he did my wings??"
"Um...guys...?" began Mega Pony, trying to get a word in.
"Because I'M the toughest pony in Equestria, not you!" argued Addie angrily. "You're nothing but second-rate compared to me!"
"...SECOND-RATE?!?" shouted Rainbow Dash. "I dare you to say that again to my face!"
"Guys...please..."
"Second-rate, second-rate, second-rate, second-rate!" the Earth Pony repeated.
"If I'm 'second-rate', then you're LAST-RATE!!" yelled the Pegasus.
"That's ENOUGH!!" shouted Mega Pony, stepping inbetween the two. "This isn't the time to be arguing with each other! At a time like this, that's the last thing you two should be doing right now!"
The two competitive ponies tried to say something back, but the words couldn't come to them.
"Right now, we have a crisis on our hooves, and we need to figure out what to do about it!" he told them both. "Not one of us will be able to take on that guy and his gang all by themself, so we have to come with a sensible plan and work together!"
"Work together? With HER?" asked Rainbow Dash, pointing to Addie. "Not gonna happen." She then asked the robot, "Besides, you could probably take those dorks on single-hoofed!"
"For once, I agree with her." Addie chimed in. "You're probably the strongest one out of all three of us. So what's stopping you from going out there right now and fighting those crooks?"
Mega Pony put on a sad face, sighed, and told them, "...It's not that simple...I'm powerless to fight them myself."
"Huh? Whad'ya mean?" asked the cyan mare. "I've seen you in action; you're a buncha times stronger than those wimps!"
"That's not the problem, Rainbow Dash..." the mechanoid informed her. "It's not that I don't think I can beat them, it's that I can't fight them at all...My mom programmed me to help other ponies, not hurt them. I'm not allowed to cause harm to another living pony, even if it's totally justified..."
"Are you serious??" asked Rainbow Dash, surprised.
Mega Pony nodded yes to answer her question. He then said as his voice began to break up a little, "There's nothing that I can do on my own to stop those thieves...At the rate we're going...we might never be able to leave...We might never see our friends and familes again...I might never see Mom or Aunt Luna again..." He then began sniffling a little as tears leaked out of his eyes.
Seeing the little robot crying was enough to dispell the anger between Addie and Rainbow. The Earth Pony, feeling sorry for him, said to him, "Hey...take it easy, kid...We didn't mean to upset you that much..." Addie then sighed and asked her rival, "Dash, do you think we took this whole competition thing a little bit too far just now...?"
"You took it too far." the Pegasus said with a huff. "I was being perfectly reasonable."
"Excuse me...?" the Earth Pony mare said, giving Rainbow a look.
The cyan mare glanced at her and groaned, finally admitting, "Okay, okay...fine. I agree: We took it too far." She then added, "Besides, Mega's right; we have a problem right now, and arguing with each other isn't gonna solve a thing. We have to do what he said and cooperate with each other if we're gonna get out with our flanks in one piece."
"You're absolutely right, Dash." said Addie, agreeing. "If we put our heads together and come up with something, not even Lockpicker would stand a chance against us!" She then told Rainbow, "It's time we put our rivalry aside for now and put our talents to better use."
"But what about Mega Pony?" asked the cyan Pegasus. "He just told us that he can't attack those guys, so how's he gonna be able to help?"
"Don't worry about that." the robot spoke up, wiping away the last of his tears. "I might not be able to fight them directly, but that doesn't mean I can't do a thing to help."
"You sure you're up for it, kid?" asked Addie. "You seemed pretty upset earlier..."
"...I'll be fine." he told the peach-coated pony. "I'm still a bit worried about it all, but I'll do whatever I can to end this problem as quickly as possible. That's my job, after all."
"Good to hear, Mega." Dash responded. She then asked, "So, what's our plan then?"
"I think I might have an idea that could work, but only if you're truely ready to work together..." the robot said to the pair. When they nodded to say that they would, Mega Pony then huddled them together and told them his plan...
Back in the main area, all of the other convention guests were still huddled together in one place by the nefarious burglar, Lockpicker. The navy-blue Unicorn paced back and forth, slightly on edge after he and his plan had been discovered. Knowing that the three ponies that had run away earlier could be a hitch in his plans, he desperately wanted to hear any new information regarding them. Using his magic, Lockpicker pulled out a walkie-talkie and turned it on before saying, "Progress report: Have any of you found the ponies that escaped earlier?"
"Not yet..." came a voice from the device. "We've literally been looking all over, but we haven't spotted them yet."
"Well, keep looking!" said the criminal. "We can't let them get away! Although the exits are all sealed, we can't afford to take any chances!"
As Lockpicker and most of the hostages were distracted by the conversation that the Unicorn was having with his cohort, not one of them noticed that Rainbow Dash had returned, approaching the crowd of ponies from behind. She approached a male Pegasus and tapped a few times on his shoulder. It turned out to be Trick Shot, the captain of the visiting college basketball team. When he saw Rainbow Dash, he was about to say something, but the cyan mare covered his mouth and shook her head no to tell him not to make a sound. She then whispered something into his ear; after she finished, Trick Shot gave a nod, telling her that he was willing to help out. The two then silently crept away while the others weren't paying any attention to them.
Rainbow Dash then tapped a device on the side of her head; she was wearing one of Mega Pony's mobile communicators, and switched it on so that she could talk to him. "Okay, Mega. I got that Trick Shot guy to come and help us with the plan." she said, speaking into the device.
"Good." the robot responded. He then asked, "What about you, Addie? Did you find somepony to help us out?"
"Yeah, I found some help on my end." the Earth Pony answered. "I got that Photo Finish chick here with me. She actually insisted on participating with the plan."
"Indeed." stated the fashionable photographer. "I'll gladly do whatever I can to remove these heathens for good! I have got more important things to do than to be held hostage for hours at a convention hall."
"Uh, yeah...sure. Whatever..." Addie said, sweating a little. She then spoke into her communicator and told Mega Pony, "Anyway, we're ready on our end."
"Good. Then let's get started." Mega Pony then thought to himself, (The first thing I'll have to do is to disrupt the link between Lockpicker and his minions...I picked up some sort of radio waves in the area just a few seconds ago, so they obviously have some sort of device that lets them talk to each other. But if I jam the signal, I can prevent them from talking to their leader, thus preventing him from knowing about our plan.) The robot then charged up energy into his horn, causing several small sparks to jump out of it. The energy was then released into a small shockwave that spread over the area completely unnoticed. His job done, Mega Pony then left the area that he was in.
Elsewhere, Lockpicker's cohorts had met up with each other as they continued to search the area for the runaways. "Rrrrgh...where are those brats?" asked one of them. "This is a total waste of time...It's not like they can get out of this place..."
"You heard what the boss said..." responded one of the other crooks. "If he said, 'go after them', we've gotta go after them."
"But they could be anywhere by now!" shouted the first crook. "This place is humongous, and there's plenty of places for them t' hide!"
"Who's hiding?!" shouted a voice in front of them. The three henchponies turned to face the direction in which the voice came from. There, standing in front of them, was Mega Pony, who had a confident smile on his face.
"That's one of the brats right there!" said one of them. He then turned and said to another, "Quick, tell the boss!"
"Got it." the other minion responded. He pulled out the walkie-talkie and spoke into it, saying, "Hey, boss! We've found one of 'em!" However, the crook heard nothing but static on the other end. "Hello? Hello?!" the crook responded, trying to get his device to work, but to no avail. "Guys, there's somethin' wrong with this thing! I can't get the boss!"
"What?!" asked the other two.
(Good...that jamming wave I released earlier worked.) Mega Pony thought to himself. (Now that Lockpicker can't hear what's going on, there's no way that they can warn him of what we're doing...)
Try as they might, Lockpicker's accomplices couldn't get the walkie-talkie to work properly. In the end, one of them simply said, "Oh, forget contacting the boss! Let's just grab him and take him there ourselves!" The thief then said to Mega Pony, "Alright, you brat...get your flank over here this instant, and we won't hafta hurt ya."
But the robot wasn't intimidated. He smirked and told them, "If you want me, you'll have to catch me first!" And with that remark, the armored pony bolted away, galloping as fast as possible.
"That little..." grumbled one of the criminals. He then shouted to his partners, "After him!!" The trio then gave chase, pursuing Mega Pony in an attempt to capture him. Unfortunately for the three crooks, the robot was just slightly faster than they were. In fact, he was running a bit slower than usual so that they could keep up with him; he wanted them to follow him so that the next part of the plan could get underway.
As soon as Mega Pony approached an intersection between convention booths, he said to himself, "Alright, let's hope this works..." The robot then made a sudden left turn, heading between two booths; one of which had a sign that read "UFP Energy Drinks: Boosts your energy faster than you can say, 'sand'!".
"There! He went that way!" said one of the minions, pointing towards the area where Mega Pony made his sharp turn. But when they approached the intersection to make their turn, they suddenly stopped, as somepony else was now in their path.
It was Photo Finish, who had already set up her camera to take a picture. She smiled and asked them all, "Did anypony ever tell you that you ought to be in magazines?"
The three were a bit stunned, not sure what to say or do.
The photographer then added, "Why don't I get a good head shot of all of you, and see what happens?" She then pressed a button on her camera, which not only snapped a photo of them, but also let out an incredibly bright flash that temporarily blinded them all.
"AAAACKKK!!! My EYES!!!" shouted one of crooks.
"I can't see a thing!!!" yelled another of them.
"That light...too bright...!!" groaned the last of the trio.
Photo Finish then pulled out the photograph that she took and looked at it. On the photo were the shocked expressions of Lockpicker's minions. "Ugh...Perhaps I was a bit hasty when I said that you ought to be in magazines..." she said with some disgust. "I doubt this would look good even on the funny papers..."
The criminals vigorously rubbed their eyes, trying to get their sight back. Eventually, they were able to see once more...just in time to see a pair of back legs come into contact with them. The trio were bucked high up into the air, courtesy of Adrenaline Rush. "WAAAAAUUUUUGGHHHH!!!!!" they screamed as they were sent flying. As they did, one of them dropped their walkie-talkie, their only way of contacting their boss, onto the floor below.
At that moment, Rainbow Dash and Trick Shot took to the air themselves, each one carrying one side of a replacement soccer net (which they had borrowed from a booth that sold soccer equipment). "Here they come!" said the cyan mare as she spotted the three criminals, still screaming hysterically. On cue, the two Pegasi stretched out the net as wide as they possibly could. The henchponies then soared right into the trap and got caught in the large net. Without wasting another moment, Rainbow Dash and Trick Shot brought the net up and tied it onto a large chandelier, forming it into a bag-like shape, trapping the crooks for good.
"Alright! Way to go, everypony!" cheered Mega Pony. "We got them!"
"Heh, we sure did!" said Addie, quite pleased with how things went. She then complimented to Photo Finish, "I've gotta say, using the flash from your camera to blind them was pure genius!"
"Hmmm...yes, I suppose it was." the photographer pony replied. "A pity that I had to waste a frame from my roll of film on their absolutely distasteful appearences."
"Uh, try to think of it as a sacrifice for the greater good." Mega Pony told her.
Rainbow Dash looked up at the three crooks that they had caught and asked the little robot, "Say, Mega...We only got three of them...I thought that there were four burglars that broke in."
"There were." Mega Pony stated. "I felt that it would be too risky to try and get all of them at once, especially after I saw how powerful Lockpicker's magic was. But now that his accomplices are out of the way, he should be considerably weaker."
"He's right." said Addie. "Since his little cronies can't help him anymore, he won't be able to take us all on at once."
"That's the idea." the robot confirmed. "Still, we'd better be careful...Even though the odds aren't in his favor anymore, he could still try something out of desperation."
"Yeah, he seemed pretty crazy..." Dash noted. "Kinda like when Pinkie Pie thought that we were avoiding her and she started talking to a pile of rocks, a ball of lint, and a buncha other weird things..."
"Wait, really?" asked Mega Pony.
"Yeah...Long story short, we all agreed to be EXTRA cautious if her mane and tail got all straight and droopy." the cyan mare. "It's generally never a good sign."
"Well, no matter how crazy he is, we've still gotta confront him and put an end to his plans." Addie told them all. "You all ready to go and kick some flank?" she then asked. The others nodded to say that they were ready to do what they needed to do, and with that, they all headed for the main area where everypony else was.
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Back in the main area of the community center, Lockpicker kept his eyes on all of the convention guests that he and his gang had held hostage, making sure that nopony made any sudden movements. It had been several minutes since he had heard from his accomplices, so the Unicorn criminal took out his walkie-talkie and tried to contact them. "Progress report... What's the situation so far?" he spoke into the device. However, he got no answer, as the crooks had lost their walkie-talkie after they were caught. Confused, he then said, "Progress report, come in!"
Again, no answer.
The trapped ponies watched Lockpicker as he desperately tried to contact his cohorts. He then started slamming the walkie-talkie against a pillar as he asked himself, "What's wrong with this stupid thing?!" He then began to get worked up as he spoke into the device again. "Come in! COME IN!! Somepony!! ANYPONY!!!" he shouted, becoming fearful as beads of sweat rolled down his face. But no one spoke on the other end. Lockpicker then, in total frustration, chucked the walkie-talkie across the room using his magic. The device hit the ground hard, causing it to break and cease functioning altogether.
"What's going on here...?!" the now-fearful crook asked himself. "Why aren't the others contacting me?? What happened?!?" The hostages watched the Unicorn freaking out, wondering what could have gotten him so jumpy all of a sudden. More importantly, they wondered if what was going on would affect them in any way.
Just then, a sudden realization came to Lockpicker. "It was them...!" he said to himself. "It was that blue Pegasus brat and the other two!! They had something to do with it, didn't they?!" Getting angrier (and slightly crazy), he added, "Those little pests had better hope I never find them, or else I'll-"
"You'll what, exactly?" interrupted the voice of Rainbow Dash nearby. The criminal suddenly froze up and turned around, coming face-to-face with the cyan Pegasus, as well as Mega Pony, Adrenaline Rush, Photo Finish, and Trick Shot.
Immediately, Lockpicker took a defensive stance and began charging up a spell. "B-b-b-back off!!" he said, trembling. "Don't make me come after you...!!"
"Give it up, Lockpicker." Mega Pony ordered him. "Your plans of robbing this building are finished!"
"We already took care of your cronies, so they can't save your flank anymore!" Addie told the Unicorn thief. "You've got nothin' left up your sweaty sleeves."
"Oh, is that so?" asked the crook. He then turned towards the hostages, pointing his horn at them and making them all gasp. "I've still got all these other ponies right where I want them!" With a demented look on his face, he then delcared, "Either the five of you all back off now, or you'll be responsible for what happens to them!!"
Mega Pony and the others gasped when they heard Lockpicker say that. "You wouldn't dare...!" said Addie, not believing what she and the others had just heard.
"You coward!!" Rainbow Dash said insultingly. "You can't just use innocent ponies as a shield! That's beyond low!"
"I don't care! That's exactly what I'm doing!!" shouted the crook. "You either do what I say, or somepony's gonna get hurt!"
Now Mega Pony and the others weren't sure what to do now. "Now what...?" asked the robot. "If we try to stop him, he might harm the hostages..."
"That jerk..." Addie commented. "He knows he's finished; all he's doing right now is trying to hold off the inevitable..."
But in his mind, Lockpicker thought that he was in complete control. (They think they have me...) he said in his warped mind, (but I'M the one who has THEM! As long as I've got the rest of them held here, they can't touch me!! Nothing will stop me! Nothing!!) But all of a sudden, his crazed thoughts were immdiately halted when everypony in the room heard the sounds of sirens nearby.
"What's that??" asked Rainbow Dash, looking around for the source of the sudden noise. Everypony else glanced around, trying to figure out what was going on now.
Just then, a loud voice was soon heard: "Lockpicker! This is the Baltimare Police Department! We know you're in there! Come out quitely or we will use force against you!"
"...Th-th-the cops?!?" asked the navy-blue Unicorn, getting scared. "H-h-h-how'd they know I was in here?!?" In his angry, crazed, and fearful state, he immdiately turned towards his hostages and yelled, "YOU!! One of you must have brought them here!!!" Then, on impulse and fueled by his uneasy thoughts, Lockpicker suddenly fired a blast of yellow energy at the crowd. The hostages dove quickly to avoid getting hit.
"Hey!! Wha'd ya do that for, you big jerk?!" asked Rainbow Dash. "They didn't do anything to you!!"
Mega Pony, after seeing Lockpicker's sudden attack on the other ponies in the room, began getting angry himself. So angry, that he let out a powerful charged shot from his Friendship Buster, aiming it right at the dangerous criminal. Lockpicker heard the shot and looked behind himself, but it was too late; the shot made contact and sent him flying a short distance away. "AACK!!" he shouted as he took the hit from the robot's main weapon.
Taking deep breaths, Mega Pony then scolded the crook, saying, "Don't EVER do that again!!"
Rainbow Dash and Adrenaline Rush were shocked when they saw what the mechanical pony had just done. "You...you attacked him..." the cyan mare stuttered.
"I thought you said that you couldn't attack other ponies..." the Earth Pony reminded him.
"Well actually, that's only partially true." the robot explained. "Normally, my programming does not allow me to attack any living pony. However, if NOT attacking would result in causing more harm to an innocent or innocents, then that rule is temporarily waived until I feel that nopony is in any more danger."
"Uh, what do you mean?" asked Rainbow, slightly confused.
"It means that since Lockpicker went and attacked one of the ponies over there," Addie explained in simpler terms, "it gave Mega Pony all the excuse he needed to fight back."
"Oh, I get it now!" Dash then asked the little robot, "Did you know he was going to do that?"
"I was hoping that he wouldn't..." Mega Pony admitted. "But now that he's shown himself to be a danger to everypony here, he's left me with no other choice."
"Urrrrgh..." groaned Lockpicker as he got back up after getting hit so hard. "What happened...?"
"Not so tough now, are ya?" asked Rainbow Dash in a smug voice. "You might have gotten this far, but let's see how well you do once Mega Pony here gets through with ya!"
Lockpicker's eyes grew to the size of volleyballs upon hearing that. "Wait...Mega Pony?!" he asked, getting scared again. Taking a closer look at the trio, he then realized that the robot built by Princess Celestia was right there in front of him. "No...! How could this be?! I didn't even realize it was him over there!!" Becoming more terrified by the second, the crook bolted away from the area in a futile attempt at an escape.
"He's getting away!" said Addie in alarm.
"Don't worry, he won't get far." Mega Pony assured her. He then turned towards Photo Finish and Trick Shot and told them, "You two unblock the main entrance and get everypony else out of here. Leave Lockpicker to us." The two of them nodded and ran over towards the crowd of convention guests.
Once that matter was taken care of, Rainbow Dash prepped up her wings and said, "Alright, time to teach that coward what we do to thugs like him!"
"Not so fast..." said Mega Pony. "Before we go after him, I'd better copy your powers first." The Pegasus nodded and presented her cutie mark so that Mega Pony could touch it and gain her special power.
*** WEAPON GET! *** Sonic Rainboom ***
After the light show, Addie then asked, "What did you just do there?"
Mega Pony and Dash looked up at her and realized that they didn't tell her about the robot's copying ability. The cyan Pegasus then explained, "Well, Mega here has the ability to get special powers from other ponies by touching their cutie marks. He just used that ability to get a power from me."
"Really? That sounds interesting." The Earth Pony then turned around and suggested to the robot, "In that case, see what you can get from me. Couldn't hurt to try, right?"
"Makes sense to me." the mechanical pony replied. He then brought his hoof to Addie's shoe cutie mark and tapped it, triggering his Copy Chip a second time. Once he was done, he deployed his Emergency Wings power-up and switched his color sceme to Rainbow Dash's. "Alright, Dash and I will look for him from above; once we find him, we'll tell you where he is. Then it'll be up to you to lead him back to the main hall and keep him there."
"No problem." the Earth Pony replied before running off. Soon after, Mega Pony and Rainbow Dash took flight to search for Lockpicker.
Lockpicker, on the other hoof, was panicking as he desperately tried to run away, searching for any way out. Unfortunately, because of what he and his cohorts had done earlier, there were no open exits in the entire building. Still, the crook searched for any possible way out of his own trap. He was so focused on trying to escape, that he didn't even notice Mega Pony and Rainbow Dash in the air directly above him.
"There he is!" the cyan Pegasus announced, pointing straight down towards the crook.
Mega Pony tapped his helmet to trigger his communicator. "Okay, Addie...we found him." he said. "He just ran past the Hoof Locker booth. Based on your current location, he'll be coming towards you in about 7.4 seconds."
"Got it!" the Earth Pony responded. "Then I'll take him by surprise and get him to where you need him." She then ducked behind one of the other booths and waited for Lockpicker to pass by. Once he did, she immediately gave chase, which naturally spooked the criminal.
Lockpicker galloped as fast as he could, but he was unable to shake off his pursuer. Of course, there was no way he could; after all, Adrenaline Rush had pretty much proven that she could keep up with even the fastest of ponies. "G-get away from me!!" he cried out, getting even more worried by the second.
Back in the main area, up towards the ceiling, Mega Pony and Rainbow Dash hovered nearby another chandelier. This lighting fixture was dome-like in appearence, and it hung directly above a large circular design on the floor below. The robot glanced to his side and saw Addie chasing down Lockpicker not far away from where they were. "Here they come now..." he said to Dash.
"So what now?" asked the cyan mare.
"Once they get here, I need you and Addie to get him standing on that circle below..." Mega Pony instructed her. "Once you do, I'll drop this chandelier down to the floor, trapping him and putting an end to his escape."
"Drop this thing?" asked Rainbow. "You sure you can? This thing seems too heavy, even for you."
"Not to worry...The special power I got from Addie will help me out here." he explained to her. "Just focus on keeping Lockpicker from leaving the area, and let me worry about the chandelier."
"Got ya. Good luck, then." the Pegasus said before zipping down to the floor below.
She reached the main area's floor just as Adrenaline Rush and Lockpicker got there. "Ack! You!!" the thief responded once Rainbow Dash confronted him.
"Yeah, it's me alright!" the Pegasus told him. "And you ain't goin' anywhere!"
The Unicorn crook tried to turn around, but Adrenaline blocked his path. "Don't even try anything, buddy..." she warned him. "It's just like she said: You're not leaving here on our watch..."
The burglar backed up as much as he could to put some distance between him and the two courageous ponies. As he did, he eventually stopped right in the middle of the large floor design, just as they had planned.
Once Mega Pony saw that Lockpicker was right where he wanted him, he then immediately swapped his body color, changing to Adrenaline Rush's color scheme and cutie mark. He then wrapped his forelegs around the chain that the chandelier hung from and began pulling with all of his might...
*** WEAPON GET! *** Iron Hoof ***
Thanks to the new weapon that he got from Addie, the robot's physical strength was increased dramatically. In but a few seconds, the chain finally snapped apart, and the chandelier was no longer attached to the ceiling, instead hanging from inbetween Mega Pony's front hooves. He then moved around in the air, aiming for the large design on the floor that Lockpicker was now standing on. Once he felt that he was in the right spot, the robot let go of the light fixture and let it drop down below.
"I've dropped the chandelier, guys!" the mechanoid informed his friends. "Get out of there, and fast!"
Once the message was recieved, the two ponies immediately sped out of the way. Lockpicker wasn't sure what was going on...until he heard a sound coming from above. He then looked up, only to see the giant, cage-like chandelier coming right towards him. He screamed hysterically, but it was too late: The fixture hit the ground and trapped the criminal underneath it. The Unicorn crook's jaw dropped in complete shock, as his brain wasn't yet able to register what had just happened. "What...what...just happened...?" he said in a low tone.
At that moment, Rainbow Dash, Adrenaline Rush, and Mega Pony (now back to his normal color scheme and minus his wings) approached the now-imprisoned Lockpicker. "You wanna know what happened?" asked the Pegasus. "You just got beat, that's what happened."
"You...you little..." the crook snarled. "You're gonna pay for this...!"
"Oh, save the empty threats for somepony who cares." Addie told him. "Just face the facts: You're finished."
Mega Pony then told him in a stern voice, "Look, Lockpicker...there was no other way that this would have turned out. Forgive me for saying this, but you deserve everything that just happened to you. You used to be a good pony, doing honest work...But when things didn't go the way you wanted, you decided to abuse your special talents for your own personal gain...And you didn't care who got hurt, as long you benefited from it. Until you realize that your path as a criminal will only lead you to a dead end, you will never be happy again...And deep down, you know that."
Lockpicker was still angry at first, but after listening to what Mega Pony said to him, he finally cracked and hung his head in shame. "Oh...who am I kidding...?" he said in a sad and pathetic tone. "I'm a horrible thief...It's the truth..."
The trio of heroic ponies looked at one another and gave confiming nods, knowing that they did a great job in stopping Lockpicker's robbery attmept.
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Several minutes later, the cops were finally able to enter the community center. They then proceeded to escort Lockpicker and his cohorts into a large-sized paddy wagon. In addition to each of them having restraints placed around their legs, a metal band was also placed around Lockpicker's horn, which was designed to surpress his magical abilities. Once all the crooks were accounted for, the police left the area and headed back to the station.
"Well, that takes care of that." said Rainbow Dash in a proud tone.
"The cops should be able to handle things from here." said Adrenaline Rush. "After we took care of the hard part for them."
"That's good to know..." Mega Pony chimed in. He then hummed and asked the others, "But...how did the police get here so fast? How did they about what was going on?"
"Um...that would be because of me." said a voice coming from beside the group. The three of them looked over towards the right and saw the white-coated Pegasus Blossomforth standing there, rubbing the back of her head with her left foreleg.
"Hey, aren't you the one that warned us about Lockpicker and his crew earlier?" asked Addie.
"Mhmm." the white mare hummed, nodding her head yes. "I managed to escape through an air duct before those bad guys could close up all of the exits." she the explained. "As soon as I was outside, I flew as fast as I could to get to the police station. After I told the police what had happened, they immediately came out in full force and headed for the community center."
"That was very nice of you to do that." Mega Pony complimented. "Thank you so much!"
"Aw, it was nothing..." said Blossomforth, blushing a little. "I was just doing what anypony else would have done."
"Well, it means a whole lot to us and everypony else here." the robot then told her. "We're all very grateful for what you did for us." Rainbow Dash and Addie nodded to say that they agreed with him. Blossomforth smiled and flew back into the building. After the white Pegasus left, the mechanoid then asked the others, "Y'know, I just remembered; we still haven't finished the Iron Pony Competition yet...Why don't we go and get back to it, now that everything's alright again?"
"Actually..." began Rainbow, "Addie and I were just talking to each other about it while the cops were doing their thing...And, well...we both agreed to call it a draw."
"Really?" asked Mega Pony. "How come?"
"Nothing much, really." the Earth Pony responded. "We just didn't feel like finishing it anymore after everything that just happened. And to be honest, it was acutally a lot more enjoyable working together with each other than competeing against each other...Not that it wasn't fun facing Rainbow here as an opponent, mind you."
"Same here." stated the cyan mare. She then said the peach-coated pony, "I respect ya, Addie. You're one of the toughest ponies I've ever seen, and you did pretty well out there when we took down that burglar."
"Same to you, Dash." Addie replied. "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm really glad that I got to meet you. It's great to know that there's another pony out there that takes fitness and working out as seriously as I do."
"Heh, seems kinda weird, though..." the Pegasus then told her. "To think that after all this, we were actually able to become friends in the end."
"It's not really that weird, actually..." Mega Pony chimed in. "The two of you share a lot of similar interests, after all, so I'm more surprised you two didn't hit it off sooner."
"We might have, but I guess our egos really didn't let us see it that way." Adrenaline admitted. "We just didn't think that we could get along because of our sudden rivalry."
"Maybe..." the robot began, "but I don't think that something like that really should prevent you from making a new friend. I mean, think about it: The two of you might compete against each other a lot, but when it comes right down it, in the end, your rivalry with each other is something that might actually benefit both of you."
"Whad'ya mean?" asked Dash.
"Well, as long as you two don't take things too far, your constant competitions with each other will help you both to become even stronger ponies, both inside and out." he explained to them. "From what I was able to observe, I actually believe that a rival can be a pony's best and most treasured friend. Because, whether you realize it or not, the two of you are helping each bring out the best in each other. And if that isn't a friendly gesture, I don't know what is."
Rainbow Dash and Addie smiled upon hearing that, knowing that the little robot made a good point. "Y'know, Mega? When you're right, you're right." Dash told him. Turning to her new friend, she then said to her, "Listen...I wanna apologize for the jerky things I said to you earlier...It's just that when I get competitive, I-"
"You don't have to apologize, Dash. I know the feeling." Addie informed her. "Besides, I said a few things that I shouldn't have either...Why don't we just forget about all that, and start off fresh?"
"Deal." the cyan mare replied, and two performed a hoof-bump to cement their newfound friendship.
"Well, I'm glad that everything's all good between the two of you now." Mega Pony commented.
"Yeah, I think we'll be fine from now on." stated Rainbow. She then added, "I kinda feel sorry for ya though, Mega...Y'know, with your day off ending up being the exact opposite, and all."
"It's okay...There will be other times for fun in the future." said the mechanical pony. "Besides, we've still got some time left to enjoy the rest of the convention. So why don't we all go back in and have the best time we can?"
"Sounds good to me." said Addie.
"Same here." added Dash. "I'm still psyched to get to the Wonderbolts' booth once they finally show up! I can't wait to hear about what they have to say!"
"So, is it true what you told me earlier?" the Earth Pony then asked Rainbow Dash. "Y'know, about how you got into the Wonderbolts Reserve?"
"Yeah, pretty crazy story, actually." the Pegasus answered. "See, it all started when I met this pony named Lightning Dust...She was a bit of a jerk, really. So, anyway, as I was saying, we all got to the academy when all of a sudden..."
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"Dear Mom...Even though my day off today didn't exactly go as we planned it, I still had a great time with Rainbow Dash at the convention in Baltimare. While we were there, we met a really nice pony named Adrenaline Rush. Although she and Rainbow didn't exactly get along with each other at first, they eventually were able to respect each other in the end. After everything was said and done, we all learned a very important lesson: Even if you consider somepony else to be your rival at something that you're good at, that doesn't mean that you can't be friends with them. In fact, a rival can actually end up becoming one of the best friends that you can make. Two ponies that are rivals can help bring out the best of each others' abilities and help them to become even better at what they do, whether they're competing against each other, or cooperating with each other to take care of a difficult task.
"In the end, a rival is not somepony that's trying to be better than you...Instead, they are somepony that, in their own competitive way, wants to help you become the best that you can be. And as far as I'm concerned, that's something that only a true friend would do...Your loving son, Mega Pony."
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NEXT EPISODE: "Honey, I Shrunk the Ponies"
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