//------------------------------// // Episode 111: The Sister Act: // Story: Mega Pony: Season One // by Monty Eggman //------------------------------// Episode 111: The Sister Act: --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE STORY SO FAR...: --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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! In addition to being a hero to those around him, Mega Pony has also been a very good friend to others, helping them out with various things or just simply being good company to them. Thanks to what he had learned from his creator, Princess Celestia, and his closest friends Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, the little robot is slowly beginning to understand what it means to be a "real" pony. But things aren't always happy-go-lucky with the mechanical pony: Whenever he is not on a mission or hanging out with his friends, Mega Pony spends many a lonely hour in Canterlot Castle. While Princesses Celestia and Luna are busy with their various duties, he is left all by his lonesome, with no one around to be with him. And his depressed state is felt by those around him, especially Celestia. She wants only the best for her "son", but she knows for a fact that she cannot be around him 24-7. So what is one to do about a problem as troubling as this...? --------------------------------------------------------------------- CHARACTER SELECT: --------------------------------------------------------------------- Mega Pony (PCN-001): The first robot pony. Built by Princess Celestia. Princesses Celestia and Luna: Alicorn sisters that rule over Equestria. Princess Cadance and Shining Armor: Married couple and rulers of the Crystal Empire. ***???*** --------------------------------------------------------------------- It was yet another pleasent day in the country of Equestria. The sun was just rising over the horizon, signalling the coming of morning. Its bright glow covered every inch of the peaceful country, including the royal city of Canterlot. Around that same time, a beeping sound was heard from inside a small room in the castle that was the home of Princesses Celestia and Luna. The beeping was coming from a device that had been installed behind a comfortable-looking bed. At that moment, there were signs of movement from underneath the sky-blue covers as a young pony pushed them aside and gave out a deep yawn. It was Mega Pony, the robot that Princess Celestia had built to protect Equestria from harm. He slowly opened his eyes and gave out a tired, but pleasent smile. He then activated his Unicorn horn and detached the cables that were hooked up to the back of his head; they were connected to a generator that would fully restore his energy every night when he went to sleep. After getting on all fours and off of his bed, Mega Pony strolled over to a nearby wall mirror and took a look at himself. He sighed as he looked at his short, brown mane, which had a small case of bed-hair. "Yeesh..." he said to himself, "my mane's all over the place...I think I've been wearing my helmet too much. I'd better straighten it out before I see Mom and Aunt Luna." He then used his psuedo-magic to open a nearby nightstand drawer, taking out a small comb. He then used it to fix up his mane hair, styling it the way he liked it, pushing most of the mane hair towards the back end of his head. "There, that should do it." Mega Pony told himself once he was comfortable about how his hair looked. Putting the comb down on his nightstand, he then said, "Well, let's go and see what Mom and Aunt Luna are up to." The blue robot then walked out of his bedroom and down the long staircase, heading for the dining room. When Mega Pony opened the double doors to the dining hall, he began looking around for his mother and aunt. But all that he saw in the spacious room were the various castle guards and servants, performing their usual duties. Once he figured out that Celestia and Luna weren't in the hall, he decided to ask somepony about their whereabouts. Tapping the shoulder of one of the guards, the robot then asked him, "Um, excuse me, sir...Can I ask you something?" The guard glanced over and replied with a smile, "Oh! Hey there, Mega Pony. What can I do for ya?" "I was just wondering where Mom and Aunt Luna are, that's all." the mechanical pony said to him. "Hmmmm...I believe that Princess Celestia's in the Throne Room right now, taking care of some important Princess-type stuff." the guard informed him. "And I think that Princess Luna's in her bedroom..." "Oh, okay. Thanks a lot." Mega Pony responded before heading off towards the Throne Room to see his creator first. "No prob, Mega Pony!" the guard said to him. "Have a good day!" The little blue robot trotted happily to the giant double doors to Canterlot Castle's Throne Room. After walking through the open doors, he then looked up towards the room's namesake and saw his mother, Princess Celestia, sitting there and using her Alicorn magic to manipulate a large, feathered quill. She used the item to sign several important papers that were sitting next to her throne. Walking up towards her, Mega Pony then greeted, "Good morning, Mom!" "Huh?" Celestia was a bit alarmed at first, as she wasn't expecting anypony to come in. Once she looked to her side and saw that it was her son, she responded, saying, "Oh, Mega Pony...you're awake. I wasn't expecting you to show up here so soon." "Oh, sorry Mom. I didn't mean to startle you." he apologized. "It's just that...since there doesn't seem to be any big crisis or anything right now for me to deal with...I was thinking that we could do something today. I heard that Canterlot Theater is putting on some interesting plays this week; you always said that you wanted to take me to see one someday." "Oh, I would love to do that, Mega Pony..." the white Alicorn told him in a solemn tone of voice, "but I am afraid that I can't; I'm going to be busy today...After I finish signing these documents, I need to look over the friendship reports that Twilight and her friends have sent me last week, and I have several important meetings scheduled for this afternoon...I'm sorry, but it's just not going to be possible today..." The little robot's facial expression changed to that of a less-than-cheerful one after hearing that his mother would not be able to spend any time with him. Letting out a sad sigh, he then told her, "I understand...Sorry if I bothered you..." He then slowly turned around and sadly left the room. As he did, Celestia looked over at him, feeling a bit sad as well. In her heart, she wished that she wasn't so busy all of the time so that she could spend some time with her son. The Princess sighed to herself as she continued her work. Minutes later, Mega Pony walked upstairs to where Princess Luna's bedroom was, hoping that he would have better luck with her. "Maybe Aunt Luna would like to do something with me..." he said to himself. "After all, she does most of her work at night, when I'm in Sleep Mode. I don't think she has much to do during the daytime." Trying his best to smile, he continued forward to his aunt's bedroom. But when he got to the door where the bedroom was, he saw two of Luna's personal guards standing there; Mega Pony could tell that because their coats were dark-grey instead of white, like the rest of the castle guards. He then carefully approached them and asked, "Um, excuse me...can I speak to Au-er, Princess Luna, please?" "Sorry, Megs." said one of them. "Princess Luna has requested not to be disturbed during her morning nap." "She...she has?" "I'm afraid so." the other guard replied. "She had a lot to do last night, and she's real tired n' stuff. So I'm afraid that we can't even let you in to see her." Mega Pony, disappointed, sighed and told them, "...I understand. Just tell her that I came by when she wakes up..." And with that, the robot sadly left the hall, heading back to his bedroom. Unbeknownst to either him, or the two guards, Luna hadn't yet begun her morning nap and overheard everything from the other side of the door. She felt a little bad that she wouldn't be able to spend time with her nephew. However, she was too tired to do anything of the sort right now; she gave out a deep yawn, climbed into her bed, and fell asleep. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Hours Later... --------------------------------------------------------------------- Princess Luna gave out a slight yawn after having just gotten up from her morning nap. Feeling refreshed and energized, she trotted her way over towards the Throne Room to meet up with her older sister, Princess Celestia. When she walked inside, Luna saw that her sister had finished signing the papers that she had to sign, and was now looking over the letters that Twilight and her friends had sent to her. Luna couldn't help but notice that her sister seemed to have a slightly downcast look upon her face. Concerned, the Night Princess asked her, "Sister? Can I speak with you for but a moment?" Celestia glanced over at the dark-blue Alicorn and replied, "Oh, sure...what is it?" "Well...earlier today; three hours ago to be precise," Luna began, "I overheard a conversation between two of my personal guards and Mega Pony. It seems as though he wished to do something with me, but they told him that it would not be possible." Sighing, she added, "Normally, I would have honored his request, but last night was so exhausting, I could barely stand on all four of my hooves..." Celestia sighed and told her younger sister, "I figured as much; he came to me for the same thing, but I had to turn him down..." Putting down the letter that she was reading, she then said, "I feel so bad about having to do that to Mega Pony...I only wish for him to enjoy his life as an ordinary pony and be happy..." "But what can we do, Sister?" asked Luna. "You know as well as I do that we cannot be around him at all times; we have so many important duties to perform every day and every night, that we cannot simply abandon said duties whenever we want to. And it's not like we have somepony employed here that can attend to him when he needs company..." Celestia said nothing at first, thinking about what her younger sister had said...and let out a slight gasp. "That's it!" she exclaimed. "Luna, you're a genius!" "I am...?" asked the Princess of the Night. "Why do you say that?" "I'll explain later." the Sun Princess replied, getting off of her throne for a moment. "For now, let us go and find where Mega Pony is." The two Alicorns left the Throne Room and headed up the staircase towards Mega Pony's bedroom. Once the two Royal Sisters got to the bedroom, Celestia opened the door slightly so that they could both take a peek inside. There, they saw Mega Pony, slumped down on his bed with a forlorn expression on his face. The two Princesses felt sad just looking at the lonely little pony. "Poor Mega Pony..." Luna stated to her older sibling. "He seems so depressed..." "I know..." Celestia chimed in. "But if my idea works, I believe that he will feel much better in future." "So what do you have planned?" inquired Luna. "Well, first things first," the white Alicorn began, "I want this to be a surprise for him; therefore, I do not want him to know about what I have planned before it's finished. So I'm going to send him away from the castle to perform some simple duties, which will leave plenty of time to prepare his surprise." "I see." the dark-blue Alicorn replied with a confirming nod. "In that case, what do you wish me to do?" "I want you to talk to my advisor, Kibitz, and tell him to cancel all of our other appointments for today." Celestia instructed her. "We'll need as much time as possible." She then looked over at Mega Pony and added, "While you do that, I'll talk to my son and give him his duties for the day." Celestia then gave her younger sister a small paper with writing on it and told her, "This is the password to my laboratory; once we're both done, I want you to meet up with me there. I've already taken the liberty of putting your information into the security system, so you will be able to enter the lab without my help." "As you wish." Luna responded before flying down the stairs. After she left, Celestia then took out an empty parchment and her quill and began writing a letter upon the sheet. After she was done, she then whistled into the air, summoning her pet phoenix, Philomena. She then gave the letter to the brightly-colored bird, who then flew off with it. With that taken care of, Celestia walked into Mega Pony's bedroom to speak to him. "Hello, Mega Pony." she greeted her robotic son. Mega Pony glanced up at his creator and responded, saying, "Oh, hi Mom...what is it?" "Well, I actually have a job for you to do, if you don't mind doing any work today." Celestia informed him. "Might as well..." the mechanoid replied with a sad sigh. "I've got nothing better to do today anyway...What is it?" "I'd like you to go to the Crystal Empire today and assist Princess Cadance and Shining Armor with their duties over there." the Alicorn instructed him. "I'll download the coordinates of the Crystal Empire into your teleportation unit from my lab's supercomputer, so that you can get there as quickly as possible." "Okay then." Mega Pony replied in a less-than-enthusiastic tone as he followed his creator to her secret lab. Once inside the laboratory, Celestia pulled out a long cord from her computer and plugged it into the USB drive on the back of Mega Pony's head. Afterwards, she then sent the exact location of the Crystal Empire straight into his systems, which would allow him to use his teleporter to go there, even though he had never been to the empire before. Once she was done, Celestia then told him, "There, you're all set to go. Good luck out there, as usual." "Thanks." Mega Pony simply replied as he materialized his blue helmet over his head. Without any further words, the robot then teleported himself out of Canterlot Castle for his next destination. Not long after he left, Luna arrived inside the laboratory to meet with her older sister. "Alright, Sister..." the dark-blue Alicorn began, "I've given the news to Mr. Kibitz. He wasn't exactly happy to hear what you asked of him, but he does plan to comply with your request." "Good." Celestia told her. "As for me, I've just sent Mega Pony to meet with Cadance and Shining at the Crystal Empire. I've already sent them a letter so that they will be expecting him to arrive. That should give us all the time we need to work on the idea that I came up with." "Sounds good," began the Princess of the Night, "but what sort of idea is it?" "Well earlier, you had mentioned that we couldn't be around Mega Pony at all times, and that nopony employed within the castle could attend to his needs, either..." the white Alicorn reminded her younger sister. "So we'll need to address that issue, and have a companion for my son that he can spend time with." Realizing where she was going with this, Luna then asked Celestia, "Sister, are you saying that-" "Yes..." the Sun Princess then said to her, "Luna...I would like you to help me build a sister for Mega Pony!" --------------------------------------------------------------------- Far away from Equestria's captial city, towards the northern edge of the country, was one of the most brilliant and beautiful places you could ever lay eyes upon; It was the Crystal Empire, so called because just about every building in the city was made out of shimmering crystal. Even the residents of the city shined and sparkled like crystal as well. Though the city seemed quite pleasent, it had a bit of a dark past: Long ago, a tyrannical Unicorn named Sombra had enslaved the empire for his own evil purposes. However, his plans had been thawrted not just in the past, but also in the present day, ensuring that the sparkling city would have everlasting peace. In the center of the city was a gigantic castle; where the current rulers of the Crystal Empire took up residence. It was called, appropriately enough, the Crystal Castle, and it was there that Princess Cadance and Shining Armor were currently busy with their usual duties in the kingdom. At a shiny round table in one of the castle's many rooms, Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle's older brother, was looking over some documents. They consisted of either matters regarding the Crystal Empire, or things involving the Royal Guard; besides being one of the two rulers of the empire, he was also Captain of the Royal Guard as well. As one can imagine, he was often pretty busy, but he didn't mind the extra work. As he was looking over the many documents on the table, Shining suddenly felt something brush up against him. When he glanced over to his right, he saw the warm smile of his wife, Princess Cadance, right there to brighten his day. "Good morning, Shining..." she said to him in a pleasent tone of voice. "Uh, morning Cadance..." the Unicorn stallion replied, blushing a bit. "What'cha doin'...?" the pink Alicorn then asked him in a bit of a lovey-dovey tone. "Just, uh...just lookin' over some stuff here." he answered her. Taking one of the papers that he was reading, he then said, "I was mostly glancing at this thing here; it's about a possibility that the Crystal Empire could host this year's Equestria Games...It would be great if we could get that kind of opportunity, but it might not be easy; I've heard that the inspector for the games is pretty judgemental over the smallest details." "I'm sure we'll have a good chance, Shining." Cadance assured him. "As long as we can look presentable for the inspector, I don't think we'll have much of a problem." At that moment, the pair heard a loud noise from outside of the castle. When the couple turned to see what it was, they saw a large column of light off in the distance. "What's that thing??" asked Shining Armor. "That must be Mega Pony." Cadance figured. "Celestia's letter said that he'd arrive here by teleporting." "Oh, okay then." the male pony replied. "Now all we have t' do is keep him busy for a while until Princesses Celestia and Luna are finished with whatever they're working on. Maybe I might have him help me look over these papers; he'd probably have them all sorted out in a couple of seconds." "We'll see." the pink Alicorn said. Heading for the door, she then told him, "Well, we'd better go downstairs and see him, then. Let's go." Shining nodded and followed his wife out of the room. Mega Pony strolled down the sparkling road to the Crystal Castle, taking in all of the sights around him. "Wow, Twilight was right..." he said to himself, "this place IS pretty beautiful..." The shining buildings, streets, and ponies helped a little to take his mind off of his earlier depression that morning. That, and the friendly hellos from the cityfolk helped him feel a bit better. Once he finally arrived at the castle, he immediately saw Princess Cadance and Shining Armor waiting for him. "Hello, Mega Pony!" Cadance called over to him. "Good to see you again!" "Same here." the robot told her, trying his best to look happy. "I haven't seen you both since the day Mom activated me. How have you two been?" "Kinda busy." Shining responded. "The Crystal Empire was recently nominated as a potential host for the Equestria Games, and we're doin' whatever we can to try and make the place presentable for when the inspector comes by." "I see..." Mega Pony then inquired, "Anyway, Mom told me that you needed me for something important; what was it?" Cadance gulped a bit; she hadn't yet thought of anything that would help to occupy Mega Pony's time so that Celestia and Luna could finish their work in secrecy. Luckily, she came up with a solution that would at least buy them some time. "Um, we'll discuss those matters a little bit later..." she told him. "First, I'd like to give you a complete and detailed tour of the castle, while Shining here takes care of some - ahem...some important matters, isn't that right?" The pink Alicorn then nudged her left front leg against the side of her husband's body after she made her statement. Realizing what she was getting at, Shining then responded, saying, "Oh, yeah! VERY important matters...You two'll probably be done with your tour by the time I'm finished...You two have fun!" And with that, the older brother of Twilight ran off into the city, looking for a place in which he could think to himself in private. Princess Cadance then said to the little blue robot, "Alright, let's go and start the tour...I'm sure you'll come to appreciate it once you've seen the castle on the inside, as well as from the outside." "I guess that I could enjoy doing something like that..." Mega Pony replied. "I don't have much else to do, anyway...I have to admit, this might be one of the few times that I actually would LIKE to see some crisis or something going on that would require my help in fixing..." "Trust me, I know how you feel." Cadance said to him. "I'd like to see something interesting going on in this city, too...But after the whole incident with Sombra, there's not much excitement here these days, other than the Equestria Games coming over here, that is..." She then told Mega Pony, "Anyway, let's get going." The robot nodded and followed the Crystal Empire's ruler into the giant crystal building. Elsewhere, in a dark alleyway far away from the Crystal Castle, a shadowy figure glanced around at all of the sights while staying concealed in the shadows. Everypony in the area was so busy, no one even thought of glancing over into the alley. "I have to admit..." it said with a male voice, "this country's got a lot of interesting sights here, especially this city...Kinda reminds me of that cave I was in back home..." "Well, we aren't here to sightsee, remember?" said another male voice nearby, coming from a second figure. "We're here because the boss wants us to take care of some stuff here, and I'd like to do it as quickly and efficiently as possible." "Ugh, would you calm down already?" the first figure said with a slight whine in his voice. "I didn't forget about what we were sent to do." He then glanced over towards a nearby building, which happened to be a stadium of some sort, before tapping the side of his head. "Alright..." he then appeared to say to himself, "we're good to go. Send them in..." After saying that, the first figure then asked the second one, "There, I've given the order to the boss, and he's sending in the new troops as we speak. Happy now?" "I suppose it's good enough." the other figure replied. "Now let's get out of here before anybody spots us..." Elsewhere, Shining Armor was sitting at a table in a donut shop. About an hour ago, he had entered the store and had bought a box containing a dozen donuts to munch on while he tried to think of something to preoccupy Mega Pony. Try as he might, nothing came to him. Sighing, he said to himself, "It's no use...I've been thinkin' for a good long while, but I can't come up with any ideas to distract Mega Pony at all...Rrrgh...why'd Twilight have to be the smart one in the family? If she were here, she'd think of a great idea to keep Mr. Metal-Pants occupied in a flash." Just then, Shining heard something outside of the tiny restaurant that he was in. "Hm?" He got up out of his seat and glanced out the window. There, he saw several ponies running in large crowds, seemingly trying their best to get away from something. "What're they running around for like that?" he asked himself. He then looked behind where the crowds were to try and find out what it was...and his irises shrunk to the sizes of peas. "Sweet Celestia!! Where did THOSE things come from?!?" Back in the Crystal Castle, Princess Cadance continued taking Mega Pony around to tour the beautiful building. The tour was rather lengthy, lasting almost an hour; the point was to try and stall for time while Shining Armor thought of some sort of task for the robotic pony to perform. The pair entered the rather long dining room, where several of the guards and castle staff were strolling around, performing their daily duties. "So, what do you think of the Crystal Castle so far?" Cadance asked the little robot. "It's nice and all," Mega Pony answered, "but I'd rather just take care of what I was sent here to do, if it's alright with you." "Um...well..." The pink Alicorn sweated a little, trying to think of some sort of assignment to give to the robot. She was hoping that her husband would return, having thought of something by now, but he was nowhere in sight. "Well...yes, your uh...your mission!" She said to him, trying her hardest to stall for time. "Yes, a VERY important one at that too! And difficult! So difficult, even I couldn't hope to take care of it all single-hoofed...!" "...So what is it?" Mega Pony then asked her. "Um, what is it...?" she inquired back, sweating even more. "Well...it's, uh...it's..." "Cadance!! Cadance!!" shouted the voice of Shining Armor from outside. (Oh, thank Celestia...) thought the Alicorn, relieved that he had come back. After letting him in, she then asked her husband, "So, how are those...'matters' of yours that you were attending to?" "No time for that!" he said to his wife. "We've got trouble!" "Trouble?" asked Mega Pony. "What kind of trouble?" Cadance also seemed to be surprised a little, based on her facial expression. However, the robot didn't notice it. "While I was in the Donu- er, I mean...when I was walking around in the city, I saw a bunch of ponies running away in terror..." Shining explained. "And when I saw what it was chasing them, I couldn't believe it! There's a pair of giant Manticores in the Crystal Empire!" "Giant Manticores?!?" asked Cadance in surprise. "But how-" She then stopped herself and glanced over at Mega Pony, getting an idea. "I mean...of course, Shining Armor; I knew well in advance that there were two Manticores on their way here! That's why I asked Princess Celestia to send Mega Pony over here to help us take care of it!" She then gave a wink to her husband. "Huh? What are you talking about?" the Unicorn stallion then asked. Just then, he gasped, realizing that his wife had made up what she said to convince Mega Pony that he was sent to the Crystal Empire to deal with the attack. "Uh, I mean...Oh! I see! That was some very smart thinking of you, calling in for help BEFORE the attack happened! Very smart!" "Oh...I see now..." Mega Pony then spoke up. "So that's what Mom sent me here for..." He then asked Princess Cadance, "But, how did you know they were coming?" The pink Alicorn began to sweat again; she hadn't thought about that. "Er...well..." However, the mechanical pony then shook his head and told her, "On second thought, never mind...It's not important. Let's just go and confront those creatures before they hurt somepony!" The little robot then ran as fast he could towards the castle's exit. After Mega Pony left the room, Shining then said to his wife, "Good call on that, Honey...This will DEFINITELY keep him here in the city for a while." "Perhaps, but I wish the situation wasn't so dire." Cadance admitted. "We'll have to go out there and help him; it's our duty to protect the citizens of the Crystal Empire, and we need to fulfill that!" Shining Armor nodded and the married couple left their home to assist the blue robot. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, back in Canterlot Castle, Celestia and Luna were working as hard as they could in the castle's lab to prepare their surprise for Mega Pony. So far, in the past few hours, things were going very well, as they had managed to complete the robot's body. Wiping off some sweat from her forehead, Celestia smiled and said, "Not bad so far...the body frame is complete. We just need to paint it and add some artifical mane and tail hair, which we'll get to a bit later." Looking at the new robot so far, Luna told her older sister, "I must say, this is turning out to be quite an enjoyable experience, assisting you in the creation of this new robot." She then noted, "It is also surprising that you were able to make this much progress so quickly, considering the fact that it took you years to complete Mega Pony." "Well, he was...a bit more complex in terms of his functions and programming." the white Alicorn informed her younger sister. "Not to mention that he was the first robot that I ever made, and I had to do all of the work on my own." She then smiled and added, "This time, however, things are much different." "How so?" "Well, now that I've had lots of experience in this type of science from building my first robot," Celestia explained, "it should be much easier for me to construct another one, now that I know what to do...In addition, this robot's programming will be a bit simpler, or at least, simpler compared to Mega Pony's. It will still have feelings and a personality like he does, but its programming will not be as complex, since it will only have one real directive." "Oh, I see now." Luna replied. "I suppose that sounds plausible..." The Sun Princess then glanced towards her sister and added, "But the most important difference from back then and now...is that you're here to help me. And I know that with you here, we can make this robot as close to perfect as possible." Luna blushed a little after hearing Celestia say that to her. "I don't know if I'll be of THAT much help, Sister..." she told her. "I mean, getting the supplies that you need, when you need them is one thing, but actually building and programming a robot is something that I have no experience in whatsoever..." Celestia put down the tools that she had been holding with her magic, walked over to her younger sister and said to her, "Of course you'll be a big help, Luna...especially right now. I'm going to begin writing up the programming to be downloaded into the robot's I.C. Chip, and I'll need your assistance now more than ever to do it." "But how?" asked Luna. "I just told you that-" "I know what you said, but that doesn't matter." the white Alicorn told her. "If I'm going to build a suitable sister for my son...I'll need the help of the best sister that I know to inspire me." The dark-blue Alicorn was touched when she heard that from her older sister. "You really mean that?" she asked, smiling even as tears began to form in her eyes. Celestia nodded to say that she did. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Luna then told her older sister, "Very well, then...I shall do naught but my absolute best!" Celestia giggled a little and said, "I know you will, Luna." Moving over to her supercomputer, she then told her, "Now let's get back to work right away. I'm not sure how much longer Cadance and Shining Armor will be able to stall Mega Pony, so we must work fast." "I agree. Let us make haste and complete his surprise as quickly as possible." the Night Princess replied. The two of them then began discussing ideas as to what kind of programming the new robot should have... Back in the Crystal Empire, Mega Pony, Princess Cadance, and Shining Armor rushed through the sparkling city, in search of the Manticores that were supposedly tearing the place up and scaring everypony. Try as they might, they found dodging the crowds of hysteric ponies difficult. Still, the three of them were determined to get past them all in order to deal with the creatures that were scaring the Empire's citizens away in the first place. Once the crowds finally cleared up enough for them to move faster, Cadance then asked Mega Pony, "So you say that you've dealt with Manticores before, right?" "Yep." the robot answered her. "I fought a bunch of them that were attacking a schoolhouse back in Ponyville. Of course the only reason that they attacked in the first place was because they were disturbed from their sleep..." He then added to his thoughts, saying, "The thing that bugs me is what a pair of Manticores are doing this far up north; I didn't think any lived around here..." "Well, they don't." the pink Alicorn informed him. "That's what still puzzles me..." "Well, all I care about is getting them out of the Crystal Empire as soon as possible!" Shining Armor chimed in. "This place only just recently came back from wherever Sombra sent it, and I'm not just gonna let those oversized kittens smash it all apart!" "I'm with you there, Shining." agreed Cadance. Mega Pony nodded to say that he shared the same feeling as well. It wasn't long before the heroic trio encountered a few more crowds of scared ponies, galloping for their lives. After getting past the hysteric equines, Mega Pony, Cadance, and Shining Armor continued forward, only to suddenly screech to a stop. Their eyes widened when they finally encountered what the cityfolk were trying to run away from: Right in front of them were the two Manticores that Shining had told his wife and Mega Pony about. But now that they got a closer look at them, they saw that the creatures were unusually large, just slightly taller than most of the Crystal Empire's buildings. "Sweet Celestia..." gasped the white-coated stallion. "I...I don't believe it...!" added Cadance, also shocked. "Th-those things are huMONGOUS!!" noted Mega Pony in a startled tone of voice. "How's that possible?! The last ones I fought weren't even as large as Cheerilee's schoolhouse!" "This is bad..." began the pink Alicorn. "We might outnumber them two to three, but we're nowhere NEAR their size!!" Before another word could be said, the two gigantic Manticores went on the attack, swiping at all three of them with their razor-sharp claws. Luckily, their attack just missed when the ponies leapt out of the way. The creatures let out a roar as they began to charge at their foes. Mega Pony and the others dove out of the way quickly, knowing that they wouldn't be able to survive getting trampled by them. Once they got out of the way, Cadance glanced over at her husband and nodded to him, asking, "Are you ready to do this, Shining?" "You bet I am." Shining Armor answered, nodding his head as well. The two of them quickly ran over to each other and tapped their horns together, both charging up a spell at the same time. (They're combining their powers...) Mega Pony noted to himself. (Twilight told me that her brother and Princess Cadance are more than twice as strong together...I just hope it'll be enough to at least give us an edge...) Once they had fully charged their magic, the married pair let out a powerful blast of violet-colored energy, sending it straight towards the two giant Manticores. The creatures turned around, only to get a faceful of magical energy, which exploded on contact. "Yeah!! Bullseye!!" cheered Shining Armor. "We did it!!" added Cadance. But Mega Pony watched on, just to make sure that the blast did its job. Once the dust settled, however, the three were shocked to see that the massive creatures had survived the blast, and even managed a super-loud roar in their direction. "No! They're still standing!" the robot said in despair. "But that was the best shot we had!" protested Shining. "Not even Queen Chrysalis could stand up to that one!" "There's something strange about those Manticores..." the pink Alicorn stated, "and it's not just their size. I can't quite put my hoof on it, but this seems to look like more than just a random attack." "Well, whatever the case," Mega Pony began to tell them, "we have to stop them before they hurt any innocent ponies! You have to fire another of those large blasts at them!" The two of them prepared to do just that, tapping their horns together. But Cadance and Shining gasped when they saw both of the super-sized behemoths exhaling streams of fire their way. This sudden attack forced the two to seperate and dive for cover. Just as they got up, they soon had to dodge another pair of flame streams. "Rrrrgh...it's no good!" growled the white stallion. "They won't give us time to combine our powers again!" He then dodged another shot of flames and added, "It's like they're purposely trying to prevent us from using that combo spell!" "Great, just our luck..." grumbled the pink Alicorn, who had to continue to avoid the Manticores' flame attacks while returning fire by shooting blasts of pink energy from her horn. "Not only are they tough, they're also smart! But how could they have thought to do that so quickly??" Mega Pony began to wonder that himself. Acting on a hunch, he then began to scan one of the two Manticores, trying to obtain any useful information about them. What he found out surprised him greatly: "Cadance!! Shining Armor!!" he called out to them both. "I figured it all out!! Those two aren't real Manticores!! They're both robotic!!" "Wait, they're robots?!" asked the white Unicorn male. "Now it makes sense..." the pink Alicorn spoke up. "I just knew there was something unusual about all this!" She then asked Mega Pony, "But now that we know that, what do we do?" "Well," the blue robot began, "from what I was able to scan, these robots were designed to cause massive damage to any area they are sent to. I have no doubt that whomever sent them here intends to have them purposely destroy the city..." Sighing, he then told both of his comrades, "If they keep up their attack, there's only a 2.25% chance that anypony nearby will survive it...We have no choice but to destroy them." "So be it, then." Cadance then called over to her husband and told him, "Shining!! Mega Pony told us that we have to destroy these Manticore robots quickly! So don't hold anything back!!" "I'll do my best, Cadance..." he told her as he fired a dark-blue shot of magic from his horn before dodging another claw attack. "But these things were clearly built to take a lot of punishment! My shots don't seem to be doing much damage at all!" The pink Alicorn became worried as she said to Mega Pony, "It's no good...at this rate, we won't be able to make much progress at all...And if Shining and I try to merge our powers again, those creatures will stop us before we can unleash it! We need something more to tilt the odds in our favor, and fast!" Mega Pony did his best to think of something...and when he got a look at Cadance's Crystal Heart cutie mark, he then exclaimed, "Of course! I think I know what to do! I can try and obtain a power from you to help fight them off!" The pink Alicorn gasped when she realized that. "Of course! I almost forgot about that!" She then quickly showed the mechanical pony her mark and told him, "Hurry! We don't have much time!" The blue robot nodded and tapped his left front hoof on Princess Cadance's cutie mark, triggering his Copy Chip. Once the process and resulting light show were finished, Mega Pony quickly adopted the Alicorn's color scheme and mark and ran towards Shining Armor, all the while charging up a great amount of energy into his horn. "Shining Armor!!" he called out to him. The white Unicorn glanced over and thought that his wife was running over to him. But once he realized it was Mega Pony, he then asked, "Mega? What's the deal? Why d'ya look like-" "No time! Just listen!" the mechanoid interrupted him. "Keep them both busy and don't stop for a second!" "Uh...sure!" Shining responded. He then kept on firing his magic blasts at the two giant Manticores, preventing them from paying attention to anyone else but him. As he did, Mega Pony had just finished up gathering the energy he needed. Once he did, the robotic pony then unleashed the energy he had charged into it, releasing it in the form of three, heart-shaped lasers that flew towards one of the two Manticore robots, striking it hard and causing it to reel back. *** WEAPON GET! *** Heart Laser *** Before the creature could srike back against the Equine Bomber, it got a face full of rapidly-firing shots from Mega Pony's new weapon. Because it was getting hit so much by the heart-shaped rays, the Manticore was unable to move much, let alone fight back, and it was taking lots of damage to boot. The big brute let out a loud roar, but that was all it could muster before it finally toppled over in defeat. "Woah! Nice work!!" complimented Shining Armor. "You hammered that thing!!" "Don't start celebrating just yet..." Cadance reminded her husband. "There's still one of those Manticore robots left to deal with. Let's try our combo spell one more time!" "But...what if it tries to stop us from using it, just like before?" the stallion asked his wife. "Don't worry about that." Mega Pony assured him with a smirk on his face. "I'll make sure it doesn't get the chance to interrupt you two! You two just worry about charging up the best spells you can muster!" The married couple nodded and tapped their horns together once more, preparing their super-powerful combo spell. The remaining Manticore robot noticed the pair combining their powers again, and was ready to stop it. The mechanical beast prepared to breathe fire on them once more in order to halt their attack. But before it could, Mega Pony fired his new Heart Laser weapon at its face, causing the creature to reel back and lose its focus. It glanced over at Mega Pony and swiped at him angrily, forgetting all about Cadance and Shining for the moment. But the robot swiftly dodged it and returned fire. Though each individual shot didn't do much damage, it kept the creature stalled, which was Mega Pony's real goal. Eventually, however, the little robot exhausted all of the weapon's energy and ran out of ammo. "Uh oh..." he said to himself, switching back to his normal colors. The Manticore then growled ferociously as it prepared another claw attack. But by this point, both Princess Cadance and Shining Armor had gathered up more than enough magical energy for a combo attack. Once they saw that Mega Pony had swapped back to his standard Friendship Buster, that was their cue to unleash their combo spell. Unlike the first one, however, this blast was several times more powerful; when it struck the Manticore robot, it let out a much more powerful explosion that indicated that a lot of damage had been done. In fact, it was so strong, that after the dust settled, much of the mechanical beast's outer shell had been obliterated, revealing its inner workings. "Woah..." noted Shining Armor. "THAT...was awesome..." "Well, we certainly did a good job on that thing just now..." Cadance added. "But it still seems to be standing; this isn't over yet..." "By the looks of it," Mega Pony observed, "the Manticore robot is indeed still functioning, but just barely...One more good attack, and this will all be over..." "Well, I'm not sure that I can muster enough energy for another blast like that last one we fired..." stated the white Unicorn Stallion. "Then I think it should be Mega Pony himself to deliver that last strike." the pink Alicorn suggested. She then pointed at his cutie mark and told her husband, "Let him copy your power like he did with me earlier." "Got it, Cadance." Shining said with a nod. He then presented his mark to Mega Pony, and the little robot tapped his hoof against it, triggering his Copy Chip a second time. After getting Shining's power, the mechanoid quickly swapped to the stallion's color scheme and mark. "Alright, now all I need is to get close enough to that thing's face;" Mega Pony informed them both, "I have to damage its CPU in order to completely shut it down for good." He then turned to Shining Armor and asked him, "Twilight told me that you're pretty good at throwing stuff, right?" "Uh...yeah, a little bit." the white Unicorn male answered. "He is." Cadance added. "I should know." "Okay then..." Mega Pony then pointed towards the robot beast and told Shining, "I need you to throw me straight towards the Manticore as hard as you can; I'll handle the rest." "Um...okay. Whatever you say there..." Shining Armor then stood on his hind legs and picked up the robot with his front ones. Though he found the task initially difficult, the white stallion was able to lift Mega Pony over his head before tossing him forward and into the air as hard as possible. Once he was in the air, the blue robot triggered his Emergency Wings to give himself even more speed as he sailed towards his target. He then outstretched his left foreleg and pointed straight it towards the Manticore. After he did so, the hoof at the end of that leg folded over forwards, and a stream of bright white energy came out of it, forming into the shape of a sword. At that point, Mega Pony was only a few feet away from the beast as he slashed the energy sword across its face. The mechanical creature's head was sliced apart, and a shower of sparks jumped out of the Manticore robot from where it had been struck, seconds before it exploded into a firey blast. *** WEAPON GET! *** Shining Sword *** After making his attack, Mega Pony retracted his new sword weapon and deactivated his wings before landing back on the ground below. Looking back at the remains of the Manticore robot, he then sighed to himself, wishing that he didn't have to resort to using violence in order to stop it. "That was amazing, Mega Pony!" cheered Princess Cadance as she and Shining Armor ran over to congratulate him. "Yeah, you sure sent that brute packing!" added the white Unicorn stallion. "Thanks..." the little robot responded with a sigh. "I just wish that I didn't have to go and destroy it...I would've preferred to try and reason with it, if it was possible...But I guess some things just can't be helped, I suppose." "Hey, don't feel so sad or angry at yourself for doing what you did." the pink Alicorn told him. "If it weren't for you, the Crystal Empire might not have survived this attack." "Besides," Shining added, "if you have to be mad at anyone, be mad at the jerk who built those things and sent them here to cause damage in the first place...whoever they are." "...I suppose you're right." Mega Pony stated, managing a smile. "Well, let's get all of this cleaned up and head back to the castle." Cadance suggested. "We could all use a rest after what's happened today." "Sounds good to me." agreed the mechanical pony. As the three of them walked back to the place that Cadance and Shining called home, he then said to the pink Alicorn, "By the way...about the thing that I said earlier, about wishing that there was some sort of crisis for me to resolve...?" "Yeah? What about it?" "...I totally take it back." he then finished. Cadance and Shining chuckled a little bit to each other at his comment as they all walked to the Crystal Castle together. --------------------------------------------------------------------- About a few hours later, the cleaning crews employed within the Crystal Empire finished their work in gathering up all of the remains of the two Manticore robots that had attacked earlier. Fortunately, thanks to the quick intervention of Mega Pony, Princess Cadance, and Shining Armor, the city sustained very little damage, and nopony was injured as a result of the attack. Many of the citizens came to greet the little robot and their rulers at the Crystal Castle in order to personally thank them for saving them and the city. "Okay...it looks like they've gotten the last of it." noted Cadance as she watched the cleaning crews from a window in the castle. She then turned to Mega Pony and told him, "And by your request, I have ordered the crews down there to have all of the debris delivered straight to Celestia and Luna." "Thanks." Mega Pony replied. "Hopefully, my mom and Aunt Luna can examine the remains of those robots and figure out where they came from...And perhaps they can salvage anything that still works from out of those two Manticore robots." He then sighed a little and softly added, "...Which means that they'll be busier than ever..." Noticing that he seemed sad, Cadance then asked Mega Pony, "Are you feeling okay...?" "Just a little down, that's all..." the robot answered her. "It...it feels like my mom and aunt are too busy to pay attention to me lately...Signing papers, going to meetings, looking over reports...It's like they care about all of that more than they care about me..." "That's not true, dude." Shining Armor told him. "Just 'cause your folks are busy with their jobs, doesn't mean that they like doing all of that more than they like you." "In fact," Cadance chimed in, "I believe that, if given the choice, they'd much rather spend their time with you than do all of that work." She then smiled and told Mega Pony, "Even if Celestia and Luna can't be with you all the time, that doesn't mean that they don't WANT to be around you at all. And it DEFINITELY doesn't mean that they'll love you any less than they already do." "Y-you mean it...?" asked the blue robot, a hopeful expression upon his face. "Of course I mean it." the pink Alicorn guaranteed him. "I've known Celestia for a very long time, and I'm sure that, no matter what, she'll still care about you more than anything else in the world. You're very lucky that you get to be HER son, Mega Pony." The mechanical equine smiled after hearing all of that from Princess Cadance. Wiping a happy tear out of his eye, he then stated, "You're right, Princess Cadance. I should have known that Mom and Aunt Luna would always care about me, even if they're aren't right next to me...Even if it isn't much, I'll always appreciate whatever time that I do get to spend with them." Nodding his head, he then told the pink Alicorn, "Thank you so much, Princess Cadance. I won't forget what you've told me." "My pleasure, Mega Pony." she said to the little robot, patting him on the head with her right front hoof. "And I promise you that, in the end, your family will always come through for you." Mega Pony nodded to say he understood. "Letter for Princess Cadance!!" called out somepony outside. "Letter for Princess Cadance!!" "Oh! I'll be right there!!" she called back. Mega Pony and Shining Armor watched as she left the room for a moment to retrieve the letter. She ran outside and met with a young, grey Pegasus with a lazy eye carrying a mail bag; it was none other than Derpy Hooves, who worked as a mailmare when not performing her usual duties at the Weather Factory. The little Pegasus gave the letter to the pink Alicorn before slowly flying away. After unfurling the letter, Cadance then read it silently to herself right there. It was from Princess Celestia, stating that they were finished with what they were working on, and that it was okay for them to send Mega Pony back to Canterlot Castle. Smiling, the pink Alicorn re-tied the ribbon on the letter and took it with back her into the castle, walking back into the room where her husband and Mega Pony were. "What did the letter say?" asked Shining Armor, curious. "That was from Celestia." she answered him. "She said that, if Mega Pony is done with his work here at the Crystal Empire, that she would like him to return to Canterlot Castle's Throne Room immediately." "So, I guess this is goodbye for now, huh Mega?" asked Shining. "Yeah, for now." the robot responded. Waving to them both, he then said, "Goodbye, Princess Cadance! Goodbye, Shining Armor! Thanks for everything!" "Same here, Mega Pony." said Cadance as she and her husband waved goodbye back to him. "Have a safe trip!" The little robot nodded with a smile before using his teleporter to leave the Crystal Empire and head home to Canterlot. After he left, Shining Armor then said to his wife, "That Mega Pony's a real good kid...Makes me wish that we had somepony like him living here with us, too." "...Hmmm, yes it would, wouldn't it?" hummed Cadance, thinking about what he said as she scratched her chin. Back in Canterlot Castle, Mega Pony had just reappeared in the Throne Room to meet with Princesses Celestia and Luna. "Mom? Aunt Luna?" he called out. "I'm home! Where are you?" "Welcome back, Mega Pony." said the sweet-natured voice of Celestia as she and her sister walked over to meet him. "How did things go over at the Crystal Empire?" "Um, let's just say for now that I won't be forgetting my time over there anytime soon." the robot answered. Going over to both his mother and his aunt, he hugged them and said, "It's always good to see you, Mom...and you too, Aunt Luna." Both of the Royal Sisters were happy to see that Mega Pony was in a much better mood than he was earlier in the morning. The Princess of the Night then cleared her throat and said to the robot, "Listen, Mega Pony...? My sister and I wish to apologize for not being able to spend any time with you today like you wanted to...It's just that-" "It's okay...you don't need to apologize for anything." Mega Pony told her. "I understand that you're both very busy every day, and that you can't always be there with me whenever you want." He then closed his eyes, still keeping his smile and added, "But that's okay; as long as I know that you both still care about me...that's all I need." The two were surprised to hear him say something like that, but they were also happy to hear that from the little robot. Celestia smiled and told him, "It seems that you have learned a very important lesson today, Mega Pony. We're both very proud of you." She then told him, "Even so, we still feel bad about turning you down earlier, and we want to make it up to you...so we have a very special surprise for you." "A...surprise?" Mega Pony asked, perplexed. "What kind of surprise...?" Celestia and Luna glanced at each other, smiled, and nodded. The dark-blue Alicorn then glanced over towards the Throne Room's double doors and shouted, "Okay! Come on in!" The three of them watched as the doors to the room slowly opened wide. Once they did, there was a small figure standing there at the entrance; it was a pony, specifically a filly. She was small, with a pale-yellow coat and a short Unicorn horn on her head, which was nestled in her bright yellow mane hair. She had bright blue eyes over her youthful smile and a short tail that was, of course, the same color as her mane. The other notable thing was that her flank currently lacked a cutie mark. Mega Pony just stood there, not sure what was going on, or who this young filly was; he simply just stood there, staring at the young pony. The little filly giggled a little, waved to the blue robot and said to him, "Hi! Nice to meet you!" "Um...Hello..." Mega Pony responded, waving back. He then turned to Princess Celestia and asked her, "Um, Mom? Who is this pony?" The Sun Princess chuckled a little and answered her son, saying, "Mega Pony, allow me to introduce her to you: This is my newest creation, PCN-002. Also known as...Midi." "Midi?" asked the robot. Celestia nodded and continued, saying, "As for who she is...She is going to be your little sister." Mega Pony gasped a little when he heard that. "S-S-SISTER?!" he exclaimed. "You...you made a sister for me?" Luna nodded yes and explained to him, "After my sister sent you away to the Crystal Empire, she and I decided to work on this new robot together. Since we cannot always be there to spend time with you, it made sense to us both that we should build somepony for you that can." "Midi was designed to be fully compatible with you, so that she can always be there for you when you need her." Celestia then informed her son. "As long as she is around, you will never, ever have to worry about being lonely again." The little blue robot was at a loss for words after seeing just what his creator and his aunt had done for him. He then asked the new robot, "Is that true...? You'll always be around to spend time with me?" Midi giggled a little and answered him, saying, "You bet I will, big brother! I can hardly wait to start spending time with you and have all sorts of fun!" Mega Pony was touched by how kind Celestia and Luna were to do this for him. Remembering what Princess Cadance had told him earlier, he then thought, (She was right...they DID come through for me in the end. I guess that means they really DO care about me after all.) Smiling, he then hugged his new sister and said to her, "In that case...welcome to the family, Midi. And I promise to be the best big brother I can be." "And I promise to be the best little sister that I can be, too." Midi replied. The blue robot then said to the Princesses, "Mom...Aunt Luna...thank you so much. I don't know how I could ever repay you for doing this for me..." "It was our pleasure, Mega Pony." Celestia told him. "We only wish to make you as happy as you can be." And that certainly seemed so, judging by the fact that the blue robot was smiling as he and his new sister, Midi, continued to hug each other, laughing happily. After a while, Luna then hummed a bit, pondering about something. She then looked over at her sister and asked her, "So...what do we do now?" "Hmmmm...that's actually a good question, Luna." Celestia responded. "I've already had all of our other appointments for the day canceled so that we could work on constructing Midi together...But it took far less time than even I thought it would." Just then, she smiled as she got an idea. "Mega Pony?" she then spoke to her son. "I think now is perfect time to honor that request that you made to me this morning: How would you like it if you and your new sister would come to see a play over at Canterlot Theater tonight?" "You mean it?!" exclaimed Mega Pony. "That's great!" He then asked Midi, "Would you like to see a play with us?" "What's a play?" asked the little filly-bot. "Is it something fun?" "Yeah, I think you'd like it very much!" Mega Pony told her. "Then sure! I'd love to come and see one, big brother!" Midi happily replied. The two of them shared another laugh as they continued to talk and get to know each other better. Celestia and Luna smiled as they watched the heartwarming scene in front of them. The Night Princess then said, "Well, it seems like we are one big, happy family again, dear Sister." "Indeed." the white Alicorn replied. She then sighed and added, "And it also seems that Mega Pony is growing up quite fast...Perhaps too fast; for the first time in my life, I actually feel as though I'm getting older." "Oh, worry not, Sister." Luna told her. "I'm fairly certain that you still have plenty a millenia left in you." She then glanced back over at Mega Pony and Midi and added, "Which means that you'll have more than enough time to spend with your son...and your daughter." "I suppose you are right, Luna." Celestia agreed. She then gave her younger sister a hug and told her, "Thanks for being a great sister...If it weren't for you, I don't think I would have ever been able to make such a good sister for Mega Pony." "Anytime, Sister...anytime." Luna responded, returning the hug. --------------------------------------------------------------------- [Unknown Location / Time: 23:07 [a.k.a. 11:07 p.m.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Well...so much for those big, bad Manticore robots the boss made..." said one of two figures in dark room. "You would think that they'd last a little longer than that..." "Well, luckily for him," the other figure responded, "he had the right mind to make those machines impossible to trace back to him. At the very least, he'll have a chance to come up with a new plan for this place..." "In the meantime...I think we'd better learn everything we can about that blue pony that keeps interfering with the boss's plans." the first figure suggested. "At this rate, our chances of effeciently taking over this region will be rather low." "We'll figure out what to do about him later on, Brother." the second one said. "For now, we'd better tend to things here at the base and assist with the next plan." The first figure nodded and they left the room, which was still dark as night...save for the slight gleam of light that reflected of the top of the second figure's head... --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEXT EPISODE: "New 'Bot on the Block" ---------------------------------------------------------------------