Megas CMC

by Tatsurou

Acclimation

Kiva did her best to relax in the festive atmosphere that surrounded her. From what she'd heard, Pinkie Pie had outdone herself with this party, going above and beyond to welcome the first human to arrive in Ponyville. For her part, Kiva was still trying to understand what a 'party' was beyond distressingly loud rhythmic thumping and noise, group vocalizations of various levels of harmonization, group movements of varying levels of skilled choreography, and various activities with obscure and inscrutable rules. Or, as Pinkie Pie had put it, music, singing, dancing, and games.

Kiva admitted to herself that Pinkie Pie made her incredibly nervous. When she had confessed to the pink pony that she had never been to a party - in fact, had no idea what a party was - the mare had gotten very intense, demanding to know how she could possibly have passed up on even the wonder of a birthday party. When Kiva had explained that she didn't actually know when her birthday was or even her age - beyond 'old enough to enlist' - the mare had looked to be on the verge of tears. Kiva had turned to a nearby rainbow-maned Pegasus for help, desperate for a diplomatic solution. A short time later, she learned that today was now her birthday - the logic being that arriving in Equestria had been a form of rebirth - and that future celebrations of her birthday would also celebrate the anniversary of her arrival in Ponyville...or 'Birthaversary' as they had termed it.

Kiva had accepted this to the best of her ability, even if she had no idea what half of it meant. Pinkie Pie wasn't crying, everyone seemed happy, and the entire town was welcoming her like an honored guest, despite her arrival heralding the destruction - and then rebuilding - of the town. The citizenry was still getting used to the new state of the town, especially with the discovery that new buildings could be programmed into the town and be fully constructed within the hour, rather than the laborious manual construction that had been before (apparently, the local construction union had considered striking over this until they realized they were completely unnecessary under the new system, at which point they entered negotiations to have Apple Bloom become a member of the local union and enforce heavily modified union prices on all automatic construction). Overall, though, everyone seemed happy with the change. One pony in particular, a lime green Unicorn by the name of Lyra Heartstrings, had been especially welcoming and affectionate, and Kiva found herself dragooned into constantly scratching the contentedly sighing unicorn behind one ear while sipping her drink with her other hand. She tried to ignore the jealous glare of the Earth Pony introduced to her as Bon Bon.

However, despite the overall joviality of the occasion, Kiva found herself assailed with dark thoughts. She was still stuck here on this alien world surrounded by primitive but friendly aliens who nonetheless seemed to be able to shape their world to their whims. The sight of Pegasi shaping the clouds into pretty pictures had been highly unnerving, as Kiva had immediately begun thinking about the military applications of such skill and found the result terrifying, especially after Rainbow Dash had created a miniature tornado all on her own to clear away the excess clouds. The demonstration of Unicorn 'magic' in setting up those party related matters that weren't crafted by Pinkie's 'Party Cannon' had also been terrifying when thought of in military terms, especially when one of the ponies spoke of how easily Twilight Sparkle had calmed and transported an Ursa Minor...after someone had explained to her that an Ursa Minor in this usage was a humongous bear like creature larger than most buildings in town that amplified its already immense strength by absorbing starlight, and not a constellation as she had first interpreted (she had no desire to encounter one, or the full grown variant dubbed an Ursa Major, which was apparently large enough to cradle the Minor in one forearm). The Party Cannon itself was somewhere between terrifying and confusing as well.

However, once she pushed everything about this world that unnerved or frightened her aside, she was confronted again with the dilemma of being trapped here. Without Megas' Time Flux Control Unit, she could never make it back to her own world or time, let alone to the time she needed to in order to save her world. She knew that it had been confiscated by the country's rulers, as time manipulation was apparently a restricted field. The implication from that that it was possible for these ponies to manipulate time in their own way was another thought she didn't want to explore too much. However, she was still a soldier, and as such felt a need to get back to the battlefield. Towards that end, she excused herself from Lyra and headed for the lavender pony she knew to have the most authority locally.

The pony in question looked up at her approach. "Are you having fun, Kiva?" she asked.

"I suppose I am, yes," Kiva replied, unsure exactly the definition of fun in this scenario, but knowing any response less than an affirmative would bring down the well meaning frenzy of a Pink Menace. "Your Highness-"

Twilight waved a hoof. "Please, just call me Twilight. I'm still getting used to the whole Princess thing, and would rather my friends - even new friends - just call me by name."

Kiva mulled that over as best she could, although she still didn't understand completely. However, obedience to the chain of command was too ingrained into her as a soldier to resist, and Twilight was the highest local authority. "Very well. Twilight, can we talk privately about something important?"

Twilight sighed knowingly. "Alright. This way." Twilight stepped into a room just off the main chamber of the Crystal Tree Palace - something else Kiva was still getting used to just the concept of - where the party was being held. As soon as the door closed behind them, all sound from the party vanished, much to Kiva's amazement. Twilight walked to a desk and sat down behind it. "What can I do for you, Kiva?"

Kiva sat down in front of the desk. At first, she found the chair uncomfortably short for her frame, but was pleasantly surprised - if unnerved - as the apparently living crystal of the chair expanded until the dimensions were comfortable for her. Quickly pushing this amazing revelation aside, she got to the meat of her issue. "Twilight Sparkle, I'd like to request the return of both Megas and the Time Flux unit so that I can take it back to my world and the time in the war against the Glorft where I can use Megas to save Earth. Time is of the essence, and-"

She fell silent as Twilight raised her hoof. "I knew you'd make this request. Before I answer it, though, I'd like to ask a few questions and posit a few scenarios, at which point I'll give you a chance to resubmit your request, if you still want to at this time. Is that alright?"

Inwardly, Kiva seethed at the delay. However, she wasn't dealing with civilians or children, or even primitives at this point. This was a planetary leader with enough understanding of what she was asking to know how dangerous time travel was. Swallowing her anger at the delay, she nodded. "Alright."

Twilight smiled. "First, in its current state, can you pilot Megas?"

Kiva winced. "No, I can't."

Twilight nodded. "Would you be able - say, over the course of the next ten years - to repurpose the controls so you could?"

Kiva thought about that seriously for a time, then shook her head. "No. It would probably be easier to try and make sense of the current control scheme, and even that is a doubtful outcome, especially with the new systems based in magic."

Twilight smiled. "Over the ten years stipulated, do you think you could work with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo to the point where the four of you can master the control system?"

Kiva grimaced. "Working with Apple Bloom, I could probably figure out how each set of controls connects to Megas' systems, and at least figure out how to properly label some of the buttons."

Twilight nodded again. "Now I would like to posit a scenario. Say you get the Time Flux Control Unit back tomorrow, program it to take you back to your world in the year..." She waved her hoof to coax a year out of Kiva.

"3035," Kiva supplied.

"3035, to before the battle begins, when you can turn the tide of the battle. How many will die before you get there?"

Kiva frowned. "Only those who died before the battle began."

Twilight nodded. "And how many more will die if you wait 10 years before taking the trip?"

Kiva swallowed. "In ten years, humanity will be all but wiped out!"

"How?"

Kiva stared at Twilight, surprised such a brilliant mare could be so stupid. "In 3037, when I come from, we're already all but wiped out. By 3045-"

"But you'll be going to 3035," Twilight pointed out.

Kiva froze, not quite grasping what Twilight was saying.

Twilight smiled. "Kiva...in theory, when you program the Time Flux Control Unit to go to 3035...does it matter what the space time origin coordinates are when it comes to getting there? Or just what you program the end coordinates to be?"

Kiva thought for a time. "I...suppose not..." It was still difficult to wrap her mind around this. Time travel was still the cutting edge of cutting edge technology even in her time.

Twilight nodded. "That's right. It doesn't matter if you leave tomorrow or ten years from tomorrow. If you program the Control Unit for 3035, you will arrive in 3035, before the battle that lost humanity the war, and the Glorft will have exactly the force they had the first time the battle was fought."

As Kiva wrapped her mind around this, she felt her entire body relax, a tension she'd grown so used to she didn't even know she was feeling it anymore relaxed all at once. "But...but the Glorft that followed..."

"Are dealing with limited resources," Twilight pointed out. "They only have what they brought with them, and anything within reasonable range for resource harvesting is under Luna's direct magical control and would actively fight their attempts at mining. Megas has already countered one UMD - their ultimate weapon to your experience - with ease. How much easier will it be to deal with them as you and the CMC come to master Megas even further?" Twilight leaned back in her chair. "And how much more effective will Megas be if you wait to return to the Big Battle until after you have an expert pilot?"

Kiva lay back in her chair as these concepts slowly sank into her mind. For the first time since she joined the Earth Defense Force, time - and the Glorft - weren't snapping at her heels. She actually had time to relax.

Twilight smiled knowingly as she watched Kiva think. "So...do you have a request of me?"

Kiva thought for a bit, then nodded. "Yes. I would like permission to begin training Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo in the maintenance and piloting of the avatar unit Megas, and when they reach their majority I would like to request a return of the Time Flux Control Unit to Megas so we can save Earth from the Glorft."

Twilight nodded. "Since Megas legally belongs to them now, they're bound to pilot it will we or nill we. Their families will feel better if someone who knows how it works is teaching them how to do so safely. Once they reach their majority and are legally responsible for their own actions, you may ask for their aid in saving Earth. If they agree, I will see to it the Time Flux Control Unit is repaired and returned to you."

Kiva stood and bowed. "Thank you, Your Highness."

Twilight giggled. "I thought I told you to call me Twilight!" she complained jokingly. She then smiled at Kiva. "How about we head back out to the party? Pinkie's bound to be wondering where the guest of honor's gotten to."

Kiva nodded. "Alright," she said, heading for the door. She realized that she had agreed to basically be a glorified babysitter for three pre-teens who controlled the greatest war machine to ever be created...but she found she was actually looking forward to it...and to learning about this 'fun' Pinkie was so eager to teach.

As Twilight stepped through the door, she froze. "...What did you do to my castle?" she shouted at the top of her voice.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo smiled sheepishly from the cockpit of Megas. "Apparently, Megas doesn't have a party cannon function," Apple Bloom admitted sheepishly.

"It was her idea!" Sweetie Belle accused, pointing at Scootaloo.

"Whoops!" Scootaloo said nervously.

Kiva put her hand to her forehead. She was no longer looking forward to this. "This is going to be such a headache..."

Comments

[Sylif Daring Doo]

4993080 is it on netflix?

[AliCentaur Br0ny]

4993677 i think that you may be able to find some episodes on YouTube.

[Crepusculo]

I miss Megas XLR

[ziizo]

time travel is confusing but easy of understand if you manage to make not paradoxical time travel like in its about time to give a MLP example.

[ChromeRegios]

YOU. Dig, Giant robots I! Dig. giant robots. We Dig. Giant Robots. MARES! Dig. Giant Robots....................... Nice........

[the other sans]

Since Megas legally belongs to them now, they're bound to pilot it will we or nill we

Uhh... I think you meant They're bound to pilot it willingly or will be. I think that's what you were trying to say but I can't be too sure... And yes, Megas was going to be upgraded with a party cannon... But not this chapter apparently

[Minevera]

4993677 You'd have better luck with youtube or torrenting. The maggot responsible to pulling "Megas XLR" off the air wrote it off as a loss to the IRS. That means Cartoon Network (or whatever parent company) won't be getting a dime off of it, lest they get fined.

[Tatsurou]

4993864
"Will we or nill we" is an archaic phrasing meaning roughly "whether we like it or not".

[Kenshinryuu]

Twilight is a freaking genius!!!!! I mean, she calmed Kiva down and made her realize she can get a much better situation that rushing back to fight the battle half ready!!!!! I can totally see Kiva getting numerous headaches from the CMC actions, but over all I can see her becoming another big sister figure to all of them.

[Tatsurou]

4994005
Actually, Twilight's talk was the one gripe I had with the original series. Kiva was always bound and determined to take Megas back to the future ASAP, when once she was in another time period it didn't matter when she left. Megas' time travel method took them to a specific date. Basically, she was in a video game scenario where the main plot wouldn't move forward without her, but she was too blind to see all the sidequests!

[Kenshinryuu]

4994037 As Doc Brown said: "You're not thinking 4th dimensionally!" I'm glad Twilight is able to think in multiple dimensions and clue Kiva in.

[Tatsurou]

4994157
It was either her or Pinkie...and do you really think Kiva would listen to Pinkie?

[Kenshinryuu]

4994205 Pinkie thinks Party dimensionally. Or in the 5 to 100 dimension... so no, I can't see Kiva listening to Pinkie about time travel.

[the other sans]

4993973 Huh... That's more archaic than Luna's speech... The more you know

[Tatsurou]

5004484
I was actually hoping you'd help me out with something regarding how I was going to write further in future, and that would certainly earn you a place in the description.

[The_Whovian16]

5004542
Wow. Thanks. The "Description" .... XD
Loads of fun. (THANK YOU MASTER)

[RvB-DESTROYER]

Ah time. So much wibbley wobbley that even future soldiers can't understand it.

[Evan]

Nicely Done. Now what you need to do is have comedic one-liners pop up when a certain button is pressed. Or better yet, have Pinkie Pie say them randomly.

[The_Whovian16]

5020591
...... Wait for it.....

[Pinklestia]

Yeah, but at least is Equestria, not Earth, so she can just keep saying "They are aliens, this is normal for them."

[Valiant Spiral]

Kiva mulled that over as best she could, although she still didn't understand completely. However, obedience to the chain of command was too ingrained into her as a soldier to resist, and Twilight was the highest local authority. "Very well. Twilight, can we talk privately about something important?"

Which does explain Cyborg Kiva in Rearview Mirror, Mirror…