> Ratchet and Clank: The Equine World > by Richer19 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter One: A New Planet > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter One: A New Plant "Aphelion, are we still on approach to the source of that distress signal?" Ratchet says as he keeps his eyes focused on what is in front of him so as to avoid any sort of space debris. The nav-screen flashes a few times before a gentle voice replies "Affirmative. We should be arriving in a few more minutes." Ratchet nods in understanding before adding "Okay then let's make sure that our shields and weapon systems are online. We don't know what is waiting for us." Beside the furry creature known as a Lombax was a small robot who was monitoring the signal of the distress beacon. The robot takes his green eyes off the monitor before saying "But Ratchet, according to Talwyn this sector is actually known to be rather peaceful. I doubt that this is nothing more than engine troubles." Before Ratchet had a chance to counter that claim, the nav-screen flashes a few times before saying "Exiting from hyperspace in ten seconds." Ratchet tightens his grip on the flight sticks before saying "I hope you are right Clank." The two heroes exited from hyperspace and Ratchet lets out a small gasp of wonder before saying "Wow...would you look at that Clank." He enjoyed this moment, the feeling of wonder whenever he was out on an adventure and not knowing what he was going to discover. Clank looks out the window and replies "I see it...but I don't believe my optic sensors." In front of them was a plant that as far as the navi-computer was concern wasn't suppose to be there. It was an average size world that was filled with large green landmasses and large bodies of water. Even from this height they could just make out the mountain ranges and a few other landmasses. While Ratchet continues to look out at the planet, Clank manages to focus back on the distress signal. Looking at it, he eventually says "According to my readings, the signal appears to be originating from the plant's surface." Ratchet manages to remove his gaze from the window and focuses back on his partner before saying "Someone must have crashed on the planet and needs help." Truth be told, Ratchet was eager to explore the plant for himself. Clank gave his friend a curious look as if he knew what he was thinking but chose not to comment on it. Ratchet always did have that adventure side of him. Ratchet started tapping a few buttons on the screen before saying "Aphelion can you give us a scan of the plant and check for gravity level, atmosphere and anything else that comes up." Now Clank couldn't help but be a little proud of his friend. In the past he was more of a leap into action kind of Lombax but now he was becoming a little more cautious about his actions. The two were silent as they waited for Aphelion to complete her scan, the plant acting as a nice background to their view. A few minutes later there was a small beep before Aphelion says "Gravity is within normal level and atmosphere is breathable. Also I have detected a large amount of unidentified life forms on the plant's surface as well as an unknown energy signature." Ratchet and Clank look at each other before the former says "Unknown life forms and energy...why this could be the discovery of a life time buddy." "I agree." The robot replies before adding "Still I can't help but get the feeling that there was a reason as to why this planet has been undiscovered for so long. Perhaps we should..." Clank never got to finish his sentence before Ratchet says "Ah you worry too much partner. All we have to do is find the source of that distress signal and that is it." Ratchet then gets to work on preparing to land the ship though the eager expression on his face was enough for Clank to guess that this was now more than just the distress signal. Letting out a sigh, he gets to work on locating a suitable landing spot that is close to the source of the signal. The ship turns towards the planet before it's engines light up and they blast towards the planet. Meanwhile at Canterlot Castle "Sister are you sure this is a good idea?" Luna asks as she watches her sister. Celestia was currently hovering in mid-air, her horn glowing with magic and her eyes closed in concentration. After some time, her eyes open and she lowered herself back onto her feet before giving her sister a smile and replying "It will be for the best. We don't know what kind of danger lies ahead and I feel that in the case the Elements won't be enough that we have an alternative." "Still we have managed to avoid contact with other worlds for such a long time. Do you think our subjects will be ready to handle whoever responds to your call." Celestia lets out a sigh before saying "No Luna I don't and if there was another way I would have gladly taken it. However we don't have many options and sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the good of our subjects." Luna nods in agreement before the two sisters look out into the night sky. If anypony was staring out and looking, they would have notice a star appearing to flash across the sky before disappearing. Of course most ponies did wake up when they heard what could only be described as the sound of a dragon roaring when the actual truth was that it was nothing more then the roar of the engines. Back on Aphelion Ratchet was surprised to see that not only was this plant inhabited but that it was also civilized...to a degree of sorts. Various towns and cities littered the landscape and he was having a hard time trying to focus on finding a landing spot. Clank, realizing that his friend was distracted, took control of the ship just enough to land the ship on a hill next to a forest. Once that was taken care of, the two figured that since it was night; they might as well get some sleep in before setting out for the signal in the morning. > Chapter 2: First Contact > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Two: First Contact Like every day before, the sun in Equestria rises in the sky just as the moon begins to set. All around, ponies are waking up to begin the day wither it will be going to work, attending school, or some other tasks that needed to be done. Rainbow Dash, who was one of the best weather ponies in Ponyville was currently clearing the skies around the small town. Today was to be clear skies and while the pegasus would have liked to have kept a cloud to nap on; she knew that her duty was more important than catching up on some sleep. As she was clearing the skies though, she notices something appearing in the corner of her vision. Turning her head to get a better look; her eyes widen at the sight. To be honest, she wasn't sure what she was looking at. It appeared to be in the shape of a bird yet it was larger and the morning sun was reflecting off it. There were also no visible signs of fur or feather or even any kind of natural material. Curious, she hovers towards the creature to get a closer look. Upon getting a few feet from it, she noticed that there was a glass bubble on top of it and inside of that bubble was what looked like the sleeping form of some creature. There was also what looked like a metal box resting next to it. Now Rainbow Dash wouldn't have anything to fear from what she was seeing but there was something...otherworldly about this that made her feel hesitant. She first thought about bringing Fluttershy but her friend would most likely faint from seeing this strange metal bird thing. So instead she angled herself towards the Crystal Tree Library where she knew Twilight would be at this time. After some time explaining, Rainbow Dash was leading a curious Twilight Sparkle and a tired Spike towards the location of the metal bird. Sure enough it was there, towering over them like a monolith. While Dash had more or less gotten use to it to a point; Twilight was in awe at the sight and she couldn't help but let out a small ooh of delight. Her magic summoning quill, ink and parchment; she got to work on studying the strange object that was in front of her. Spike was awake at this point and while he was a little curious about the strange object; he also wanted to stay as far away from it as possible. So he instead assisted Twilight with her note taking as she moved around the strange object and mostly talking to herself. "Hmm...whatever this is; it seems to be made entirely out of metal yet I have no idea what it is suppose to do." Twilight eventually concluded as she makes her way back to where her friends are. Pondering the dilemma, she eventually says "Perhaps if I was to take a closer look at what is inside..." Concentrating her magic, her horn lights up and it doesn't take long before an aura of purple magic surrounds the object. Inside Aphelion, Ratchet and Clank were just starting to wake up when the nav-screen starts beeping before Aphelion says "Warning. Warning. Unknown energy detected." Ratchet was quick to spring into action and starts punching in some buttons on the touch screen. However no matter what he input, he was unable to figure out where the source of the energy was coming from. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Ratchet leans back into the seat for a moment before saying "Clank can you trace the source of the energy?" Clank nods his head before remaining silent. The seconds past before Clank finally said "Now that can't be right. According to my readings the energy seems to be coming from...somewhere nearby." Clank looked back at his friend and saw that look that he knew all too well. That kind of silent determination that meant that he was going to stop whatever was causing this and basically anything and everything that was in between. The Lombax grabbed his constructo pistol before saying "Wait here. I'll go take care of this." A simple button push releases the hatch and Ratchet wasted no time in jumping out and just barely hearing his partner say "Oh dear, here we go again." Rainbow Dash watched as the strange object was surrounded by the aura of magic coming from Twilight. While she wasn't entirely sure what kind of spell her friend was using, she knew that it was probably something to help get a better understanding of what the thing was. The pegasus was slowly lowering herself on the comfy grass to get some sleep as there was nothing else that she needed to do. "Look. Something is happening." Spike said causing both ponies to become alert and aware of what was going on. Sure enough that glass part that Rainbow notice before was opening and quickly popping out was that strange furry creature that she also notice. However this time said creature was holding some sort of strange metal object in its hand. Rainbow didn't have much time to get any more details as she saw the creature do something which caused the object to shot a orange beam at them. Reacting quickly, she dodged out of the way and was prepared to do so again when she notice that the creature had turned its attention on Twilight who remained rooted on the spot. Once again there was that familiar action and Rainbow Dash quickly pushed her friend out of the way but was unable to completely dodge the beam herself. She let out a cry of pain as the beam grazed her back and she slumped on the ground. Twilight could only look in horror before she turned to face the strange creature with anger in her eyes. Her gaze was met by a similar determined expression. Spike was quick to make sure that Rainbow Dash was away from what was going to happened and all he could do was watch as his caretaker faced off against what he could only describe as an alien. > Chapter 3: Robot Peacemaker > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 3: Robot Peacemaker Twilight and Ratchet were staring each other down; waiting for the other to make a move. Spike was tending to Rainbow Dash who was still dazed from the shot. He could see the line where it had burned her fur and perhaps even the skin underneath yet what the dragon found interesting was that he wound did not appear to fester. It was almost as if the shot itself was somehow preventing the wound from becoming infected. The dragon was about to turn and tell his friend though the words died on his throat as he saw the scene play out in front of him. Twilight was shooting magical beams at that alien and yet it was somehow able to dodge all of them using a series of flips. Considering that Twilight was actually firing those beam at a remarkable speed only serve to almost show off how agile it was. There were times when it had only just enough time on the ground to perform another flip to dodge the attack. Yet despite all the crazy maneuvering, the strange creature didn't appear tired. It seem totally relaxed and focused despite the barrage of magic beams going at him. For Ratchet, he was having a hard time lining up a shot at the strange creature that was shooting at him. Normally he would have been more then fine with just unloading a lot of ammo even while dodging but he guess that an unexplored planet wouldn't have a weapon vendor or even those helpful ammo boxes. So instead he hoped that the purple creature that was shooting at him would tire herself (he guess it was a female by the sound of her voice) and he would be free to land a shot. Eventually Twilight was unable to keep up with her barrage of attacks and had to pause to catch her breath. Looking up, she was shocked to find that the strange creature appeared to not only be unaffected by her attacks but also acting like nothing had happened. She began to focus her magic to try and create a shield to protect herself and the others while she watched him bring that strange device up and pointed at her. She could feel the seconds tick by as she watched him before a strange voice shouted "That will be quite enough Ratchet. I think you better calm down right now." Both Twilight and Ratchet turned to the source of the noise and what Twilight saw was a strange...metal thing that hops out of that other metal thing and makes its way over to the creature that apparently was called Ratchet. The small metal thing had a rather stern look on its face as it approached Ratchet before saying "I just had Aphelion run a diagnostic and there doesn't appear to be any damage to the ship from whatever that unknown energy was." Ratchet looks at his friend in disbelief and lowers his weapon before asking "Are you sure Clank?" Clank simply nods his head and that was enough for Ratchet to now realize a few things. One, he acted completely out of line even though he believed he was defending his ship. Two, he had attacked sentient creatures without any warning which violated some serious galactic laws. Third, and perhaps the most important, he had injured one of them and was in no doubt need of help. All of this came to the Lombax in a matter of seconds and he quickly put away his pistol before saying in an apologetic tone towards the life forms "Oh man, I'm so sorry for attacking you all. I was just worried that you were trying to destroy my ship and...well I'm sorry." Twilight, to be honest with herself, was rather stumped right now. One moment this 'Ratchet' seen set on hurting her and now he was apologizing. It was a sudden change in behavior that the purple alicorn was having a rather hard time processing. In fact she would have stayed in that dumbfounded state if it wasn't for the fact that a groan emanated from behind her. The noise was enough to make her realize that Rainbow Dash was still in pain and she decided to ignore the aliens for the moment and focus on her friend. Rainbow Dash was still lying on the ground though while she didn't appear to be recovering, her condition had not worsen during the struggle. Twilight's first thought was to get the daredevil to the hospital but after looking at the wound and the manner in how she got it made her think that they wouldn't know how to properly treat it. Magic was her second thought but without knowing what she was doing; she could run the risk of causing her friend further harm. Feeling a sense of frustration, she became aware of another next to her and turned her head to see that it was that strange metal alien. While she didn't trust it or the other one, the metal one hadn't attacked them and had been the one to calm things down so she at least didn't voice any objections. The metal thing appear to be focused on the would before turning to face her and saying "It appears that she has only suffered from some mild scaring. I would recommend giving her some Nanotech to help that wound heal." The thing spoke in a casual manner as if Twilight was suppose to know what it was talking about but all she could say was "What is Nanotech?" The thing looked at her for a few moments, those green 'eyes' blinking a few times before he said "Oh right...sorry miss I forgot that given the situation you would be unfamiliar with what I am talking about. If you will permit my friend, he can get some Nanotech from our ship." Twilight looked at the metal thing then back at 'Ratchet' who was standing off in the distance. She watched him for a bit, noticing his rather apologetic expression on his face and the fact that he wasn't carrying anything that looked to be dangerous. She was about to form the question in her mind when Spike beat her to the punch "Will this Nano...thing really heal Rainbow Dash." The metal alien gives Spike and Twilight a nod "I'm one hundred percent positive." Twilight gave it some more thought and even looked to Spike for his opinion as well. The dragon gave an expression that she knew was along the lines of 'what other choice do we have'. In truth there were a lot of choices but all of them required time and came with risks involved; neither of which the alicorn wanted to deal with right now. Letting out a small sigh she looks at the alien and says "Alright...but you better be right or else." The metal robot seems to have understood her and turns towards Ratchet before shouting "Ratchet, can you get that crate of Nanotech in storage?" "Sure thing buddy." came his reply as he makes his way to the back of that metal ship. Twilight couldn't see what was going on but a few seconds later Ratchet was coming back carrying something in his grip. What it was looked to be like a glass container of some kind. Inside of it was what looked to be a swirling blue ball with a few white balls spinning around it. Ratchet places the crate down before saying "Okay...now all I have to do is break it and the Nanotech should flow straight into your friend there." Twilight nodded her head, thankful that he was explaining what was going to happen so she was aware. Ratchet steps back a bit before taking out what looks like an oversized wrench. With a quick swing, he breaks the create open and releases the Nanotech. For a few moments the ball just hovers there unmoving. Twilight was close to asking why it wasn't working before the blue ball seems to collapses upon itself. Now in a more vapor like form, it flows straight at Rainbow Dash and covers her in a soft blue glow. The alicorn and dragon watch in surprise as the wound on her back is restored right in front of their eyes to the point where Twilight could have sworn it looked better then it was before. Thankful that her friend was now safe, she lets out a sigh of relief before turning to face the two aliens and saying "I think we might have gotten off on the wrong hoof. How about we start over and have a more civilized conversation." The two aliens look at each other before the metal one says "I think that would be most adequate miss." > Chapter 4: Intro and New Mission > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So let me get this straight." Twilight asked as she looked at the robot "You two are some kind of intergalactic heroes who saved the galaxy on multiple occasions." "That is correct Miss Sparkle." Clank responded. He was a little curious as to where the conversation was going to go after they introduce each other and he recounted some of their adventures. To his mild surprise, he saw Twilight shaking her head as if confused before saying "I'm sorry. I just have a hard time believing that you all came from another planet or that, or that there are hundreds of other life out there. I do have to wonder why none of us have heard about this until now though." Ratchet, who was currently doing some work on Aphelion said "Well to be fair, we wouldn't have discovered your planet without that distress signal you were broadcasting." He looked over at the Alicorn and found that she still had a confused look on her face. He waited for a bit before adding in a questioning tone "You do know what a distress signal is...right?" When she shook her head, the lombax felt his own confusion and curiosity starting to rise as well. If she didn't know about a distress signal...then who on this planet did. Looking back at the ship, he said "Aphelion is the distress signal still active." Twilight and Spike let out a gasp when they heard a female voice from out of nowhere respond "Affirmative." Nodding his head, he placed one of his hands on his Nav-Unit before saying "Good. Triangulate the signal and key it into my Nav-Unit. Best way we are going to find some answers is to find the source of this signal." There were a series of beeps before the green triangle on his belt flashes three times indicating that he got a lock on the signal. All of this happened in the spam of a few seconds and while Twilight was bursting with questions; her attention was focused on Rainbow Dash who was starting to stir after hearing those beeping sounds. Looking around, she saw Twilight and Spike looking at her with a concern expression before her gaze traveled to what looked like a furry creature and a metal...thing. Looking back at Twilight, she said in a soft voice "What happened." Twilight explained to Dash the events that had happened while Spike helped the daredevil back onto her hooves. Once Twilight was finished, Dash looked over at Ratchet and Clank before saying "Look because you attacked me and my friends I don't trust you; but considering that you did heal me...I guess I can give you a second chance. Just know that I will be keeping a close eye on you two." The duo nodded their heads in understanding. Ratchet then started to stretch before saying "Whelp I think it's about time we got started. Ready Clank?" Clank nods his head and moves back to the lombax. The Equestrians watched as the robot jumps up before folding himself into a box before attaching himself on the back of Ratchet. Satisfied that Clank was secure, Ratchet starts to make his way towards the source of the signal. However they didn't get very far before Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Spike all came in front of them. Curious as to what was going on, Ratchet pauses for a moment with a questioning gaze on his face. It didn't take long before Twilight said "And where do you think you are going?" Ratchet pondered wither or not to answer the question. It wasn't really that difficult to figure out considering they were on an unexplored world with not a lot of means to help them. Coming to a decision, he points out in a direction before saying "Well we came to this planet tracking a signal and according to our computers the source is coming from that direction." Ratchet looks in that direction and sees that it was pointing towards a mountain range. However a surprised gasp from the three locals gave him a moment to take a closer look. What he saw was that situated on the side of a mountain was a city that even had what looked like a castle inside of the walls. Tilting his head, and wondering how such a thing was possible, he at least knew that there was a strong chance that the signal was coming from the city and not somewhere in the mountains. Looking back at the locals, he asked "Is there a transport or a shuttle that could take me to that city?" The three of them looked at each other, perhaps discussing what to do before Spike says "Do you promise not to hurt anypony else?" Ratchet nods his head and that seems to calm the three down a bit before Twilight adds "Well there is a train that goes from Ponyville to Canterlot. That is probably your best chance." While Ratchet was trying to makes sense of the strange names, Clank says "Thank you Miss. May we by chance ask that you assist us in leading us to where the train station is located?" Twilight and the others nod their heads and soon the three were making their way towards Ponyville. > Chapter 5: Speed run through Ponyvile > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the four were walking into town, it was becoming more obvious that things...were not as normal as the ponies were use to. For starters, for some odd reason or another random crates started to materialize into existence almost spawning from some pocket dimension or from the resident party pony. While the simple wooden crates were the more common; there were some that contained that strange Nanotech to ones that would explode if you touched them. One mail pony was currently in the hospital after discovering those types though it was by luck that she was going to recover. Those crates couple with the arrival of two aliens was more than enough to cause the rather superstitious residents to clear the streets and bare their doors. Looking around as mares dragged what no doubt were foals into homes; Ratchet made the comment "This town usually like this?" Twilight gives an apologetic smile before saying "Kind of, I would have hoped that after the whole Zecora thing they would have at least been more welcoming. Then again Ponyville has been known as the source of all sorts of crazy stuff." Ratchet could only nod in understanding even though he had no idea who or what a 'Zecora' is. Never the less it didn't take long for them to reach the town center only to find some strange creatures were harassing a few other ponies. One of them was an orange pony with no wings or a horn. She was wearing a brown hat and was currently trying to kick one of those creatures only for it to clamp down on her leg. She would have started to freak out had not the other non wing non horn pony with a more pink coloration stepped in and knocked the creature off with...both Ratchet and Clank had to tilt their head as for a moment they thought they saw said pony holding the old Walloper. Shaking their head, they saw that the last two ponies, one that had wings like Rainbow and was in a yellow pink color scheme and the other having a horn but no wings and having a color scheme of white and purple. They were doing their best to help any of the other ponies into that large building where they hoped it would be safer. The creatures as Ratchet also quickly identified as the toads that were native to his home world of Veldin turn their sights on them. Letting out an almost unified croak; they begin to hop their way over. Still while Twilight seemed a bit nervous and Rainbow more than eager to get into a brawl; Ratchet wasn't willing to let them get into danger on his watch. Sure the toads were more of an annoyance then anything but there was always the chance one of them could get lucky. So with that in mind, he quickly shouted "I got this." before running head long towards them; his wrench already tight in hand. Coming up to the first one, he uses his momentum to deliver a front-hand swing knocking the toad out and causing it to dissolve into mini-nanotech and bolts. The mini-nanotech flowed into his armor just as he delivers a back-hand swing on another repeating the same effect. The third got the final hit of Ratchet's simple try and true combo as he grips the wrench with both hands to deliver a stronger swing. The last two who were bringing up the rear both were in a surprise as Ratchet brings his arm back before throwing his wrench towards them. The throwing weapons knocks the two toads on their back and using the inbuilt magnetic grip to return the wrench back to his hand. Seeing that was the last of them; the Lombax let out a sigh before relaxing his grip and saying "That seems to be all of them." Twilight had seen how athletic he was so it wasn't too much of a surprise for her. However the other girls were slack jawed at not only how efficient he was but also how skilled he appear. After all while those toads were an annoyance they seemed to be a challenge for ponies to handle. Rainbow, in her usual headfirst manner quickly flew up to Ratchet and said "That was so awesome. You like totally kick their flanks like it was nothing." Ratchet rubs the back of his head and replies "Aw it was nothing really. All part of being a hero." He didn't wanted to mentioned that he had faced much worse than a couple of toads. Still the fact that they were here was off putting to say the least. Looking over at Clank, he asks "Clank could you do a quick scan of the area for signs of temporal disruption. " Clank nodded his head and began sensing to see if he could pick up anything that would imply a temporal disturbance. While he was doing so, Ratchet felt it was a good idea to meet with the other ponies. Of course the moment he thought of that; he found that his vision was suddenly overwhelmed by pink as a high pitch voice says "Hi there. My name is Pinkie Pie. What's your name mister strange lynx." Ratchet took a step back; his eyes widen a bit as he tried to make sense of what the pink pony had just said. However, it would seem that she wasn't the only one who was eager to meet him as the yellow pegasus flew up to him and said in a quiet but just as eager voice "Oh my. I don't think I've ever seen a lynx like you before. I mean I've taken care of a few of them a while back but none of them were able to do what you could do." Ratchet felt himself get more embarrassed before saying "I'm not a lynx. I'm a lombax and my name is Ratchet." Before he could have a chance to explain himself further, he felt Clank hopping back onto his back. Turning his head, he asks "So what did you find out buddy?" Clank paused for a moment before replying "Temporal Disruption appears to be much higher than standard acceptable parameters. I have just contacted Sigmund for a more through scan and perhaps to begin temporal repairs but he seems to be having a hard time locating this planet. We may have to find another way to restore temporal balance here." Ratchet nods his head in understanding before saying "Then going to find the source of that signal is our best bet." He looks back at Twilight and asks "Since things seems to have calmed down enough, do you mind leading us to the train station so we can be on our way." He felt a bit bad that he couldn't spend more time here with the ponies which was a feeling the other mares seem to agree upon but his training demanded that he figure out the source of the problem and fix it. Then he could relax without having to worry about any unexpected danger. Twilight, more or less understanding why he was in a rush, nodded in agreement before pointing in a direction and saying "If you just keep going straight then you should be at the station. I believe that the next train to Canterlot will be arriving in a couple of minutes." Ratchet nodded his head and with a simple flex of his feet activated his Hover boots. He heard a collective gasp of surprised as he was suddenly suspended into the air and he gives them a final wave before speeding off. He could over hear the pink pony shouting "Wait but what about your 'Saving Ponyvile Party?!" While a party did sound nice, he was more focused on the source of this beacon and getting to the bottom of this temporal distortion. When we arrived at the train station, he saw the train was already starting to leave. While a bit put off at first, he then noticed the swing shot target that was hovering at the end of the caboose. Smiling, he activated his gadget and fired it watching the green energy line move at sonic speed. He feels it attach to the target but he lets out a gasp as he feels himself being tugged by the train before he could have a chance to activate the retractor. Letting out a small scream, he activated the grind function of his hover boots and landed on the rails. Now that scream turned into one of joy, with still a mild bit of panic from Clank, as he began to ride the rails while the train pulled him onwards. > Chapter 6: Train Battle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Ratchet I do not think that this is a good idea." Clank remark as they are grinding along the rail line being pulled by the train. "Ah you worry too much Clank. Can't a Lombax have a bit of fun?" Ratchet reply, a grin on his face as he let out a cheer of delight. It had been sometime since he just let loose with a bit of reckless behavior and he could feel the stress leaving his body. Still he knew that Clank wasn't comfortable with him performing such high risk actions especially when the only thing keeping him in place was a magnetic anchor. When the train got to a straight part of the rail, he looks back and says "But we are on important business." He hums a bit as he fiddles with his Swingshot. He jumps up and feels the Swingshot pulling him towards the target. Once close enough, he activated his Hover Boots and uses the propulsion to hop over the Swingshot target; disengaging the line at the same time and coming to land right on top of the train. He bent his knees and put a hand to the roof of the car to stabilize himself as he activates his Magnetic Boots to anchor himself onto the metal car. The moment that Ratchet stood up, he saw a massive blue wave of energy moving towards him. He brings his wrench up to block it just as the wave hits him. To his surprise, he doesn't feel any effects and was confused as to what happened before Clank suddenly shouts "WARNING. HIGH TEMPORAL DISRUBTION DETECTED." "Clank what is going on?" Ratchet asks before his senses, honed from years of hero work and commando training, alerted him of something. Quickly ducking behind a large piece of metal that he swore wasn't there before. He saw to his shock a force of Blarg and DreadZone bots were on and around the train; their weapons pointing at him. Letting out a growl, Ratchet pulled out his Omega Dual Omniblasters and starts shooting back. He took his time, making sure to shoot just enough shots to destroy his target before moving onto the next one. However time was not on his side as he saw the cover he was using being eaten away by the second. Looking around, he spies another solid piece of cover and makes a dive for it just as the first cover was destroyed. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he looks back at Clank and yells "You mind telling me what Blarg and DreadZone troops are doing here!" Clank reply "That blue wave was some kind of temporal disruption wave. However I do not know how it was able to pull enemies from our past." Looking over the cover, Ratchet takes out his Mega B-11 Vaporizer and fires a bomb that destroyed a large group of approaching enemies. Ducking back into cover he asks "Do you think this world could be having an effect?" "It is entirely possible." Clank remark "Sigmund told me that this planet was suffering from high temporal abnormalities yet he was unable to discover the cause of it." "Guess we will find out soon enough once we get to the castle." Ratchet replied as he shoots another bomb to destroy another group of enemies. A quick glance shows that the numbers were thinning but he couldn't stay behind this cover for long and there wasn't another piece of cover close by. Letting out a sigh he adds "Any ideas Clank?" Clank went silent for a few moments giving Ratchet time to switch to his Omega Dual Omniblasters and pick off some more troops. After a few seconds he says "I am detecting some kind of energy field around those enemies Ratchet." "What kind of energy field? It can't be a defensive one since they take the same amount of shots as in the past." "I think the energy field is keeping these enemies on this planet. There is a device on the front of the train that my scans indicated is generating that energy." "So if we take out the device it should force them back to their own time period?" "That is correct though I am only 70% sure that will happen. There is a 30% chance that by destroying the device will cause a feedback and possibly kill us." Ratchet smiles and pulls out his Mega Duel Raptors saying "Well that is better odds the we usually have. Come on Clank." With that he hops over the wall and trades hard cover for speed to avoid enemy attacks. This caught them off guard for a few moments, giving Ratchet time to pour a burst of heated laser fire at a few of them. He hops over the gap between each car as he uses his agility to dodge what fire he could. Still it was a bit of a slog as the limited ground meant Ratchet couldn't dodge all of the fire. He let out a grunt as he feels his Nanotech being drained to patch up the wounds that his armor didn't fully absorb. When he got to the middle of the train, Ratchet hears the sounds of blades chopping through the air. Not a second later, three attack helicopters appear from behind the mountain their guns already spinning and trained onto the Lombax. While the sight would have given some pause Ratchet smiled as he quickly pulls out his Omega Judicator and fires. The helicopters were close enough that the they were all hit by the rockets. Unable to stabilize themselves after taking such a hit, they crash into each other and ended up exploding in mid air. However one of the pieces landed on top of the train. Looking at the wreckage, Ratchet let out a sigh before saying "Looks like we are going to have to continue through the train." Hopping down, he uses his wrench to pry open the door. Inside, he saw that most of the ponies were in full armor. However, they were not moving which giving it some thought made sense to the Lombax. After all if that blue wave was some kind of temporal disruption then it would make sense that those who didn't have temporal immunity like himself and Clank would be frozen in time. "Still why is the train still moving if everyone on board is stuck in time?" "Perhaps the temporal distributor was modify to only work on organic beings." Clank offer as a theory. "But why do that..." Ratchet was about to ask before he felt the train suddenly pick up speed. The question he was about to ask answered as he shouted "They're going to crash this train into the city!" Getting back on his feet, Ratchet sprinted his way through the train cars. Due to the limited space and ponies, he was force to use less destructive weaponry like Omega Dual Omniblasters and Omega Mag-Net Cannon. His opposition consisted of some more DreadZone robots but were now supported by robot ninjas. After blasting his way to the front of the train, he saw a robot pirate working on what appeared to be small comms tower that was glowing with that same blue color that the temporal wave had. Before the pirate could react, Ratchet put a Omniblaster shot into its head causing it to disappear. Moving quickly, he starts working the controls on the train to slow it down while Clank went to work disabling the device. Ratchet was able to find the brakes and pulled on it as hard as he could just as Clank finished rerouting the systems into a feedback loop causing the device to overload and shut down. Both of those happen just as the train was about to crash into the station and the two heroes let out a breath of relief as the felt the train slow down to come to a safe stop. Clank did a quick scan before saying "Temporal disruption seems to have been lowered Ratchet but I'm detecting more of them inside the city." Ratchet smiles as he moves to the compartment door saying "Aw come on Clank what's the worst that could happen." Opening the door, Ratchet learned to pick his words carefully as he saw the state Canterlot was in. > Chapter 7: Battle for Canterlot > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canterlot was a mess. All around were destroyed buildings and fire everywhere. The only place that didn’t seem to be a war zone was the castle itself, which had a large yellow shield covering it. All over the skies were dropships that were from a variety of Ratchet and Clank’s past. Lasers were firing out of the shield towards them as well as on the ground. “The city needs help. Let’s go and see if we can find the per...pony in charge,” Ratchet remarked as he followed the guards that were on the train. He figured they would go to whoever was in command for orders. To both the Lombax and the robot’s surprise, the ponies were handling themselves quite well. At first they thought that they were like the Fungoids in terms of technology yet the forces they were following were able to handle most of the enemies in their way. Eventually the group reached what could only be described as organized chaos. A large black dome was above them with four beams appearing to power the dome. Ratchet followed the beams to find four unicorns wearing black armor were sitting. They unicorns were sitting on cushions and their faces were deep in concentration. Off to the left were the sounds of groans and moans as medics were working to patch up some of the injured forces. Again Ratchet was impressed to find that the infirmary wasn’t as full as he had thought. On the right was a tunnel that the troops they were following went to. Standing nearby was a pony who was different from the others. He, for his physical features marked him as a stallion, was wearing armor similar to the rest. On his back was a large scythe that was humming a bit. What was strangest of all was that where there should have been a leg that was covered in fur; there was an arm that had black scales and a paw where there should have been a hoof. The stallion pointed to the tunnel and shouted some words. The force saluted before charging into the tunnel and most likely into the fray. The stallion finally noticed them and started to walk towards the two. “Heard what you two did on the supply train. I thank you for making sure it got here in one piece. We are pressed thin as is.” “Who might you be?” Clank remarked The stallion gave a soft nod “Apologize. A war zone shouldn’t mean that introductions aren’t in order. My name is Captain Moonsaber. I’m the one in charge of our forward base.” “What is the situation, captain?” Ratchet asked as they followed Moonsaber towards the table where there was a large sheet of parchment resting on top. A closer look revealed it to be a map of what Ratchet assumed to be Canterlot. Moonsaber lifted up his scale arm to point at two spots. “Right now we have enemies trying to assault us from these locations. Now we have been able to hold them off, since we discovered they are quite vulnerable to magic. However given that they seem content to shoot at us, we are unable to get in close with our warriors. Now the castle itself is still protected, and that is where all the civilians are located. We also need to hold this position so we can continue to receive supplies and reinforcements.” Moonsaber took off a necklace that he was wearing. Giving it to Ratchet he continued, “This will let the others know you are friendly. It is also the key to activating our defense grind. I need you two to get to the castle and find Captain Solarshield. She should be the one in charge. Activate the defense grid and we will be able to clean up the rest.” “So how should we get to the castle?” “Fastest way is through the city streets. Also, it goes without saying, but anything you can do to reduce their strength will be a benefit to us. I’ll leave it up to your discretion.” “You can count on us,” Clank said as the two made their way towards the front lines. “Wait. Before you go, also take this.” Moonsaber presented a small odd looking device. Ratchet took it, and following Moonsaber’s gesture placing it inside his ear. Moonsaber continued, “That is a communicator. It will allow me to relay intel as well as help guide you to the castle.” The Lombax nodded. While he was more used to intel being delivered via his Nav-Unit, he noted that the ponies were still a long way behind the rest of the galaxy. The heroes once again made their way through the passageways towards the front lines. As they were traveling, they saw ponies running back and forth through the streets, yelling and screaming as they were being shot at. Ratchet was keeping himself low to the ground to dodge under the fire. However there were a few close calls. Once he got to the front, he saw several makeshift barriers that the ponies had constructed. The unicorns were firing at the advancing Dreadzone robots while the earth ponies covered them. Pegasus ponies flying above them working to get air superiority from the flyers. They watched two pegasus striking one of the helicopters and forcing it to the ground. Ratchet took out his Warmonger and started to shoot at the robots advancing. His aim was true, as he avoided hitting any of the ponies in the back, and each rocket took out several robots at once. Once the wave cleared, the two advance forward. The guards would have joined, but their orders were to hold the line. With nothing shooting in front, the unicorns turned their fire towards the sky providing some decent anti-air cover. A bit farther ahead, Ratchet noticed a bolt crank. Normally something that he wouldn’t give a thought about, he now found it odd to be here of all places. Placing a finger to the communicator, he said, “Hay Moonsaber I found a bolt crank here. Any idea what its for?” There is a bit of static before his voice came in clear “Hold on let me get a visual on what you are looking at.” The Lombax looked around and saw in the sky a pegasus fly towards them. The pony was staying low to the ground to avoid most of the fire coming from the sky. The two watched as the pony circles around them, glancing back and forth between the bolt crank and the enemies in the sky. After a few moments the pony flew back towards the direction they came from. There was a minute or two of waiting before Moonsaber said “Is that what those things are called? I’ve gotten reports about them right before we were attacked. They appeared to have connected to our defense grid. If you can unlock them, parts of the grid should come online and allow us to regain control of the skies.” Ratchet nodded as he attached his wench to the crank. Spinning around it, he saw part of the street start to open up. Once fully open, a spherical object on a cylinder emerged. The sphere had small circles all over it, and he watched as more magic started to shoot out of it. Unlike the others, the shots homed in on their targets. Several enemy filers got hit and crashed into the ground. Smiling at a job done, Ratchet moved deeper into the city towards the castle.