Tale of a Mecha-Pegasus: Overworld

by Zaarlika

First published 12th of August, 2012

A mechanical Pegasus called X-55 is sent to the surface of Equestria.

A Mecha-Pegasus called X-55 is banished from his underground home of Magnafell, with his banishment disguised as 'research'. On the surface of Equestria X gets more than he bargained for, including pony society, 'friendship' and responsibilities, and even an impending war...

This is part 1 of a trilogy I am making about X, and involves him trying to fit in with pony society.

Next Chapter, Chapter 11, About The Thing, the ponies head once again to Canterlot to explain to Celestia what happened, and X tries to find the elusive pony watching him.

=Chapter 1-Banishment=

X stepped to avoid the downward attack made by his superior.
"Again, X-55! Why is it SO hard for you to follow the simplest orders?!?"Queen Jagged boomed
"I try, my Queen, but you of all should know that that sort of task is meant for a Mecha-Unicorn, not a Pegasus."X apologized.
"Then why did a Mecha-Pegasus manage to do it fine elsewhere?!?"Jagged roared.
"I....I am sorry, my Queen."X was all out of excuses. All his life he had failed in just about every task he'd been given, and it was obvious his superiors were getting sick and tired of him.

~~~

Before her stood the small, helpless form of X-55, probably the most utterly useless Mecha-Pony in the history of Magnafell. She tried to teach him how to operate properly in the streets of Magnafell and in the mines. Each time she failed. And she had given up. But she didn't just want to just throw him out without another word. After all, he was still a friend, he was fun to talk to, and he had more personality than the rest of her subjects, so he did not talk with the usual programmed, monotonous tone of the rest of them. She had to get him away, but give him a purpose. She was a little curious about the world outside the massive cave the metal city of Magnafell resided in. She could use him as a way of gathering information, so he would not only stop affecting the mine's efficiency, but he would also have a purpose to her, and maybe it would make him a tad more useful.
"X-55."she looked her subject in the eyes.
"Yes, my Queen?"X responded.
"I have a task for you."she stepped down from her throne, a relatively rare occurrence.
"I want you to leave Magnafell and research the world above us. Take notes if you have to. Research the world, the creatures there, their culture and society, everything. Draw sketches. And I mean EVERYTHING. Understood?"she explained. X merely nodded in understanding.

~~~

Well, it was an interesting day for X. The previous day the Queen herself assigned him a task; explore and research the world above. He was terrified and excited at the same time. He had read in a book of a 'sun' which lit the world like a giant candle. Of course he was used to the dim lighting of scattered candles throughout Magnafell. It was apparently bright, and that scared him. How bright was it? Where was it? Was it blinding? Of course, he also thought about the other things he might encounter on the surface. Creatures, maybe towns, like Magnafell! Maybe he could tell them of his city, maybe even bring them there some day and introduce them to his Queen! But how would she react to these strange creature just being casually led into her domain. X imagined she would not like that. Maybe he shouldn't bring them down. Maybe, he could make friends with them though! Yes, friends. Because of his clumsy and slightly stubborn nature no one in Magnafell could tolerate him much, let alone be friends with him. But, that was straying off-task. He was meant to RESEARCH everything on the surface, not mingle with their societies, ALTHOUGH that could give him an advantage in his research. He was snapped from his thoughts when he heard a knock on his door.
"Hello? Who is knocking on MY door?"X asked.
"It is your Queen, X-55."Immediately X rushed to his door, unlatched the lock and swung the door open.
"Hello, my Queen."X greeted.
"Please, call me Jagged. That IS my name, after all."the Queen smiled.
"Of course, my Que-I mean Jagged."X chuckled.
"Hm. Well, it is time for you to depart on your mission. Please, come with me." Queen Jagged signaled for him to follow. As they walked through the streets of Magnafell, pretty much every Mecha-Pony they passed stopped and stared, even Princess Sky, the ruler of the Pegasus District, confused as to why Queen Jagged was leading someone as pathetic and useless X-55 through the streets towards the Gate.
"So, anything in particular you want me to research?"X asked.
"Not really, although I'd like to know more about societies on the surface."Jagged suggested.
"I will make sure to do a little extra on them."X responded.
"Oh, and one last thing."
"Yes, Queen Jagged?"
"You must NOT allow anyone you meet on the surface to know of Magnafell."
"Why?"
"They may try to conquer us or interfere with our activities."
"I understand. I would hate for anything like that to happen. But what will I tell those who ask about my appearance?"
"Hahaha! Use your imagination! You have a rather strong one, after all."
"And you'd be the one to know?"
"Yes. After all, we do have regular talks, don't we? And you like to tell me your stories, when you can."
"Yeah..."
"Well, here we are, at the Gate."
"Yeah, well...see you...later."
"A fair while later."
"How long will I be on the surface?"
"Until I deem it necessary for you to return."
"Ok."
"Good luck."
"Thank you, Queen Jagged."X was just about to start walking when Jagged lay a hoof on his shoulder.
"Oh no, I'm not having you walk ALL that way to the exit. A carriage will take you there."
"Thank you. Anything else?"
"I have left a bag of things you will need in the carriage. Anything you need that you do not have you will likely find on the surface."Without another word Jagged signaled to a guard, who opened the carriage door, and Jagged ushered him into the carriage.
"Goodbye my Queen."X waved as the carriage started.
"Goodbye, little researcher."Jagged waved back. When the carriage disappeared, Jagged gave a sigh of relief.

=Chapter 2-A strange new world=

The carriage had been clunking along for a few minutes, and X was, above all else, bored. There were just a few trinkets in the bag Jagged gave him. No maps, no nothing. Although he did have a book in the bag which had what little information those of Magnafell knew about the surface world collected into one manual.
"Um, have either of you seen the surface?"X asked the two guards pulling the carriage.
"No. It is a new experience for us, actually."one of them answered.
"A shame we won't be staying up there."the other added. Darn. X wanted to ask them about the surface but they hadn't been there either. He decided to read a little of his book. He flipped it open.

'Supposedly the surface of our world is inhabited primarily by 'Ponies', much like us in Magnafell, but instead of being made of metal and wires, they are made of flesh, blood, and bone. And thus are inferior to us in almost every way, except for the 'Unicorns' who have more magic capabilities than us. Along with the Ponies, the two other most notable species are Zebras, similar to ponies but their colors are limited generally to black/grey and white, and the Changelings, pony-like bugs with the ability to shape shift and apparently feed off emotions.'

Interesting. He didn't like the sound of these 'Changelings', and hoped he wouldn't run into them. He liked the sounds of these Ponies though, and wanted to meet them as quickly as possible. He wanted to read more, but he saw a faint glimmer in the distance that came from the edges of the massive iron door that barred the way into the Magnafell cavern. A minute passed and the carriage ground to a stop in front of the gate. The guards unhooked themselves from the carriage and started turning a wheel which was slowly opening the massive gate. When it was opened enough, the guards came back.
"Is this where I stop?"X asked.
"No. We have been given certain coordinates. We'll be there in a few minutes. Just sit down."a guard answered when the guards re hooked themselves to the carriage, pulling themselves out. Of course the door was set to shut again after a certain amount of time, so there was no risk. The carriage was pulled along for a few minutes until it again came to a halt near a signpost.
"HERE is your stop, sir."one of the guards prompted. The other unhooked himself and opened the door, letting X out, before shutting it and re hooking himself. The two guards then pulled the carriage away, back to the distant gate to Magnafell.

~~~

This surface world was amazing! The 'sun', this massive glowing ball in the sky, was amazing in how it alone could light everything here up! There were these strange, small little pointy bits of green sticking out of the ground, which his responsive computer gave him a good feeling when he ate them. There were tall, hard brown things(obviously their toughness was no match for that of a Mecha-pony) with larger green things sticking out of their tops, and these small, hard rocks seemed to have been laid out, as they did not appear everywhere and seemed to be going somewhere. He followed it one way with his eyes. That way was nothing but trees and darkness. Although Magnafell was shrouded in darkness, this dark felt...evil. Looking the other way, he saw...buildings! Yes, buildings! Like Magnafell! But these were not the simple copper-like boxes Magnafell houses were, they were taller, had strange pointy tops, and had a multitude of colours. But first he had to make note of what was here. After all, Queen Jagged HAD asked him to research EVERYTHING.

~~~

After drawing some sketches and managing to guess the names of some from his book, he decided to head to the collection of buildings. It was not too far away; if anyone there had paid attention to that road they would have seen the carriage pull up. In fact, X was surprised the guards hadn't taken him to the town. After reaching the small town, he was immediately confronted by a small....ah! Yes. Pony. Yes. These small ones were apparently called 'fillies', and were relatively young. X had not been around too long. A year or two. Was he a 'filly'? This filly had a strong orange coat and a pink mane and tail.
"Mister? Why do you look so strange? I've never seen ANYPONY in Ponyville like you."the filly asked.
"Uuuuh, well, where I come from...uh...it's natural to look like this."X....didn't really lie, in fact.
"And where is that?"the filly asked. Now another filly, this one light yellow with a big red mane and tail and proportionally massive pink bow on her head, was walking up behind the first one.
"Uuuuh, it called...."X tried to think up a name. Queen Jagged had told him SPECIFICALLY not to mention Magnafell.
"Me'etar. Long way away from here."X finished.
"I guessed. I've never heard of it." the filly responded.
"Yeah! Ah've never heard of this Me'etar place either! Ya sure you're not rememberin' it wrong?"the second filly asked. Now a third, white with a pink and purple curly mane and tail was coming up to them.
"No, I am pretty sure I am not suffering from Amnesia."X reassured the three small ponies. All three laughed.
"You don't need amnesia to remember something wrong!"this third filly chuckled. That was a new concept to X. Back in Magnafell if you didn't remember something it was called a minor case of amnesia, and one was often punished for letting themselves acquire it.
"Oh, by the way, what's your name, Mister?" the first filly asked.
"I am X-55, but I prefer to be simply called X."X answered.
"Odd name. Is it unique to Me'etar too?" the second filly asked.
"Yes. In Me'etar we all have a unique name." X answered.
"Huh."the third filly responded.
"And what are you three called?"X asked.
"I'm Scootaloo."the first answered.
"Applebloom, nice to meet ya!"the second answered.
"And I'm Sweetie Bell!"the third answered.
"And we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" the three chanted in unison.
"Cutie Mark?"X asked. The three looked at him, before Applebloom leaned to the side to discover the fact X had no mark.
"Yeah, it's a mark on our flanks that represent our special talents."Sweetie Bell answered.
"We're trying to earn ours."Scootaloo added.
"Say, mister, you don't have one, yet you're an adult." Applebloom noted.
"Well, I am actually just a couple of years old, and, well, I'm not actually good at anything. It's why the others in Magna-ME'ETAR...call me....pathetic and useless."X responded.
"You mean you're always that size?"Scootaloo asked.
"Well, yes. Except out Princesses and Queen of course."X answered.
"Must be tough for your family, having a kid who's always the same size."Sweetie Bell commented.
"Family?"X asked.
"Yeah, y'know, your momma and papa."Scootaloo answered.
"I...never had a family. If I did...I never got to meet them."X responded.
"Wait a sec, ah think..." Applebloom walked up to X and tapped a hoof on his copper chest plate, resulting in an echoing clang.
"Mister, are you a robot?"Applebloom asked.
"Well sort of..."X answered, feeling this conversation may end up getting him in danger.
"Cool! Girls, we've found us a robot!" Scootaloo grinned.

~~~

It had been interesting talking to these 'Cutie Mark Crusaders', and they had sort-of accepted him as one of them, as he was actually a little younger than them and had no mark, but it was getting dark and X had nowhere to stay the night.
"Uuuuh..."X scratched his forehead with a hoof.
"What is it?"Sweetie Bell asked just as she was leaving.
"I...I have nowhere to stay."X answered. Sweetie Bell thought for a moment.
"You're welcome to stay in the clubhouse for tonight. Wait here." Sweetie Bell signaled for him to wait and left. A few minutes later Sweetie Bell came back with a blanket and a pillow.
"My sister Rarity didn't want me taking these out to lend to a 'stranger'."Sweetie Bell gave X the items.
"My thanks. Back home I slept on a solid metal block." X chuckled.
"Well, goodnight." Sweetie Bell waved and left. X dragged the pillow under his head and lay the blanket over him. Staring out the window, X thought. He had made progress today. First day and he had made three friends, learned a little about pony architecture AND pony society! X lay his head down on the pillow and set himself to Recharge for the night.

~~~

The next day he was woken up by the nudging of Applebloom.
"Mister? I think y'all should get up."Applebloom helped X to his feet.
"Is there any particular reason?"X asked.
"Uuuh, it's just ah don't think you should be sleeping through the whole day, and we don't like new people in our clubhouse when we're at school." Applebloom answered.
"School?"X had never heard of that before.
"Yeah! It's where us fillies go to learn."Applebloom answered, gesturing to the hall-like building.
"I see." X nodded, observing several other fillies going inside the 'school'.
"Do ya wanna come?"Applebloom asked.
"Hm?"X snapped back to reality, having drifted into thought.
"Do ya wanna come? You're technically around our age, and I'm sure Miss Cherilee won't mind."Applebloom asked again. X pondered. This could be a useful way of learning! It would surely boost his research.
"Why not."X answered.

=Chapter 3-Settling into Ponyville I=

X froze at the door into the school when he noted everypony inside was staring at him.
"Uh, Applebloom? Who is this...strange fellow you've brought in today?"This 'Miss Cherilee' asked.
"He's my friend X. He's a robot, but he's smart and can think!"Applebloom answered, trying to pull the suddenly-heavier-than-a-bus X into the classroom, who remained frozen.
"Doesn't seem it, he's stiffer than a rock!"Diamond Tiara laughed. Immediately X moved again, staring with angered eyes at Diamond Tiara, who immediately stopped laughing and stared back at X, who's eyes were slowly turning red.
"That remark offends me, rude one."X snarled.
"So? Whatcha gonna do? Beep at me?" Diamond Tiara insulted, causing the class to laugh at X. Angered further, X stormed through the classroom, now ignoring the staring eyes of the class, and lifted Diamond Tiara off the floor by her neck.
"Do you really want to repeatedly insult a machine designed to smash solid rock with ease?" X threatened. The entire class shut up.
"Put me down! My dad will sue you at once!"Diamond Tiara threatened back.
"Shame." X sighed. He pulled Tiara closer to his face.
" Technically if you sue something it needs to be alive, sentient. If I am not sentient, how is your father supposed to sue me, eh?" X growled, dumping Diamond Tiara down hard, giving her one last stare, eyes blood red, before going back to his previous spot.
"Well, uh...X...why don't you take a seat?"Miss Cherilee suggested, gesturing to an empty seat next to Sweetie Bell. As he walked, he used a piston system throughout his entire body to shrink to the size of your average filly. It was normally used for situations like difficult, small tunnels, but here it had a use. X sat down and gave Sweetie Bell a short smile.
"Hello Sweetie Bell."X greeted.
"Hi."Sweetie Bell smiled.
"Today class, we will be..."Miss Cherilee started to talk.

~~~

X decided to follow his three friends when they left.
"Hey, X, why don't you go back to normal size?"Scootaloo suggested.
"Why?"X asked.
"It's fun to have an adult-sized friend who's as old as us."Scootaloo answered. Nodding, X returned to normal, 'adult' size. Applebloom ran over to what X knew as an old-tech form of transport, a simple wooden wagon-carriage, with the passenger area padded with hay.
"Hey guys, why don't we all go for a ride?"Applebloom suggested. The other two fillies nodded and hopped in.
"Hey X?"Sweetie Bell called.
"Yes?" X responded.
"You're a robot, so, shouldn't you be able to pull our taxi really fast?" Sweetie Bell asked.
"Probably, why?"X asked, walking over.
"We like taking people around town with it, but, with your help, we could help more people."Sweetie Bell answered.
"So will you?"Scootaloo asked.
" I suppose I will give it a try." X answered, hooking himself to the simple taxi.
"Let's see how fast you pull the cart first."Scootaloo watched X closely.
"Get us across town, fast!" Sweetie Bell grinned.
"Yeah!"Applebloom clapped her hooves. X lowered, preparing to sprint fast. He spotted his target, the other end of Ponyville. He launched off.

~~~

The Cutie Mark Crusaders in the back nearly had their faces torn off by wind as X launched himself through the air, taking the carriage with it. Ponies were nearly getting hit, X decided, so he opened his mouth and blasted a horn sound loudly. It seemed to help a bit. From the aspect of the three fillies the trip across Ponyville was over in seconds, and X didn't even need to grind to a stop, he simply increased his weight massively so he would stop dead, stopping the cart and nearly launching the three fillies further, out of town.
"Wow, that was amazing!"Scootaloo grinned.
"That sure was! How long was it?" Sweetie Bell asked.
"About....uh....three seconds."Applebloom answered.
"Uuuuh, girls, can you and your....copper friend help me?" a purple Unicorn mare with purple and....light purple? Or pink? Mane, with a pink star on her flank.
"What is it Twilight?"Applebloom responded.
"Well, I need to get to Canterlot to meet the Princess, but I'm so busy with all my things I cant use a Teleportation spell and I missed the train! Could you maybe get me there in your wagon, nice and quick?" this 'Twilight' asked.
"Well our friend here could!"Scootaloo answered, grinning and pointing to X.
"Awesome!" Twilight grinned, hopping into the back.
"Uuuh, I do not know where 'Canterlot' is. Do you have a map?" X asked. Twilight seemed to mutter something to herself and then a map floated I front of his face.
"I see. Thank you." X nodded, and the map floated away. X casually trotted to a road leading to Canterlot and got down, ready to, again, sprint.
"Hold on REAL tight, he goes REAL fast."Scootaloo advised Twilight. X set off, and he heard the jerk as three fillies and a mare shot back from the sudden acceleration. As he leapt, he saw in the distance a cliff city. He assumed this was Canterlot.
"A bit faster?" X asked.
"If you don't mind!"Twilight answered. X decided to go FULL speed. Instead of sprinting he decided to run, so he started. But his legs moved fast enough that they were blurs, even to the ponies in the back.
"If you lie down you don't feel the wind!" Scootaloo called, and the four in the back lay down in the hay. The train was now visible, and in a second it had shot past at hyperspeed. Canterlot was rapidly approaching, and X had to repeatedly move to dodge wagons and carriages going between Canterlot and Ponyville.

~~~

"This is probably the fastest anypony has gone without magic!" Twilight chuckled, watching the clouds shoot past.
"Unless he's powered by magic!" Sweetie Bell joked. Twilight peeked up at the metal pony.
"Doesn't look it to me."Twilight blinked.
"I want to see the Me'etar place he comes from! The place is apparently FULL of them!"Scootaloo grinned at the thought of seeing lots and lots of robot ponies.
"Me'etar? I know pretty much any significant settlement in almost anywhere and there's no Me'etar."Twilight squinted, thinking.
"Maybe it's just a small little town near the border."Applebloom suggested.
"Maybe. If so I'd like to see it."Twilight responded.
"Yeah. I wonder if they have Unicorn robots there!"Sweetie Bell grinned.
"He's a Pegasus, so, I wouldn't be surprised!"Scootaloo responded, gesturing to X's wings.
"If that's the case they'd probably have Earth robots too. Ah wonder how good they'd be at bucking' apples."Applebloom wondered aloud.
"I would imagine pretty good, considering they're robots."Twilight looked to the three fillies.
"Hey, look, Canterlot!" Sweetie Bell pointed to the now-visible points of the capital.
"Wow, faster than I expected! I wonder how fast he can get us to the castle?"Twilight wondered aloud.
"Hey, uuuuh...."Twilight started.
"I am X."X called back.
"Oh, uh, can you, maybe, take us to the castle at the top?" Twilight asked.
"Of course."X answered. X ran onto the track,. through the gap into Canterlot. He leapt off the tracks and under an arch. Twilight tried to wave to her brother Shining Armor, standing at his post, but they'd shot past in an instant. The ponies watched as fancy row of buildings after fancy row of buildings shot past at breakneck speed. Twilight looked up and saw the rapidly approaching castle.
"Ok, X, you can stop!" Twilight called. X attempted to brake, but he hadn't prepared for the brake, so he almost hit the guards guarding the gate to the castle and slammed the castle doors open, greatly surprising Princess Celestia.
"Oh, Twilight, earlier than planned!"This Princess was rather surprised.
"Yes, Celestia, thanks to my hyperspeed helper here!"Twilight grinned, gesturing to X, who was paying no attention and observing his slightly-singed golden hooves.
"Well, impressive work...copper...subject."Celestia struggled to find words. It took X a moment to realize the Princess was talking to him.
"Hm, oh, thank you. Sorry."X apologized, looking back to his hooves.
"You look strange. Come here."Celestia signaled to him. He unhooked himself from the cart and walked up to the Princess of the Sun.
"You are...metal? Why is your pelt metal?" Celestia asked.
"He's a robot!" Scootaloo called.
"A ROBOT?!?"Celestia was almost horrified.
"Yeah, he's our friend."Sweetie Bell grinned.
"Well, you and your...metal friend's assistance was useful, but you are not needed here anymore. You can go home now."Celestia still watched X with wide eyes. X walked back and rebooked himself to the cart, shooting off again.

=Chapter 4-Settling into Ponyville II=

X was pleased with himself. Although physically gaining no more than four singed golden hooves and a few strained pistons, X had made himself...somewhat more accepted in Ponyville, after helping lots of ponies. Again it was nighttime.
"Uuuh, so..."Scootaloo scratched her forehead.
"I could stay in this 'clubhouse'."X suggested.
"If you want to."Sweetie Bell shrugged.
"I don't mind." X smiled.
"Well, ok then, if you're good."Scootaloo nodded.
"C'mon, y'all, we gotta go home!" Applebloom called from outside.
"Well, cya, X."Scootaloo waved as she left.
"Cya."Sweetie Bell smiled.
"Goodbye." X smiled back.
"Remember if you need anything don't be afraid to ask." Sweetie Bell pointed to where she lived, the Carousel Boutique. X simply nodded in response. Sweetie Bell waved and left. X pulled the blanket and pillow out of the corner and lay down on the pillow. He thought for a moment.
"Hey, so today..."X was about to start talking when he remembered no one was there.
"Oh, right."X bapped himself in the side of the head. Looking out one of the windows, he saw Applebloom laughing and talking with her family, and then moved his eyes to Carousel Boutique, where he saw Sweetie Bell chatting and occasionally laughing. X wondered what it was like to have a family. He shook his head. He was getting off-task. He was here to RESEARCH, not make friends and waste time taking ponies about a town. He hadn't learnt much today, except for the location of three towns from Twilight's map, Ponyville, Canterlot and Cloudsdale, which apparently floated. He'd have to go there sometime. He lay his head down, pulled the blanket over him and set himself to Recharge.

~~~

X woke up alone today, instead of being poked by one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He was woken up by the sound of a chamber in his 'gut' seeming to echo a rather unhappy sound. He realized he was hungry. Despite being a robot, his kind still had to eat, and the energy in that food was used to help top up his power supply. He put the bedding items Sweetie Bell had given him in the corner and headed outside. Under a tree not too far away he spotted his three friends, and promptly trotted over.
"Hello." X smiled.
"Oh, hey X." Scootaloo greeted.
"Say, I need food. Are there any sources of food nearby?"X asked.
"A robot needing food?"Sweetie Bell squinted.
"Yes. We use food to keep up our power supply."X responded. The three fillies stared at him attempting to understand. X sighed.
"We eat to stop us running out of battery."X re-explained. The three nodded.
"Well, yeah, there's restaurants all over the place but you need money."Apple Bloom shrugged. X looked into his bag and lifted out the hefty bag.
"Is this 'money'?"X asked. The three ponies' jaws dropped.
"How'd you get that much? Are you a noble I. Your home or something?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Well, no, actually I'm-"X started.
"Don't worry, X, let's go look!"Sweetie Belle interrupted, heading off towards the buildings that made up Ponyville.
"Yeah, come on!"Scootaloo motioned for him to come, as she and Apple Bloom followed.

~~~

"Sir, is all of this REALLY necessary?"the shopkeeper asked.
"Yes."X answered, eyeing him.
"It's not just for me."X added.
"Oooh, okay. Hang on."the shopkeeper nodded. He walked off into another room and a minute later came out with a tray of food.
"That's 15 bits, sir."the shopkeeper put the tray on the counter. A little unsure of how currency worked in Ponyville, he picked 15 'bits' the coins, out of his sack and placed them on the counter.
"Thank you sir, have a nice day."the shopkeeper smiled, picking up the coins. X picked up the tray and carried it to the table him and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were at.
'So that's how currency works here. Simple enough.'X thought as he put the tray down.
"Wow, X, we weren't expecting THAT much."Scootaloo chuckled.
"Oh well, more to go around!"Sweetie Belle grinned, gorging on her sandwich. X was not curious about this; he ate things back home. He picked up a sandwich and sat it in his mouth, and bit down. This was unusual, it didnt just go into his mouth and roll down like food in Magnafell did, this sat in his mouth and needed to be chopped up in his mouth and swallowed. Odd. He bit a little harder, and a piece came off, sending the rest of the sandwich back onto his plate. The Cutie Mark Crusaders laughed.
"What?"X asked as he threw the lump of sandwich down his throat with his tongue.
"That's not how you eat!"Scootaloo answered. X thought. Instead he tried forcing the entire sandwich into his mouth and chewed on that. The three fillies watched as he casually chewed on a whole sandwich.
"That works, but isn't how you eat either."Sweetie Belle explained. X simply shrugged. Worked for him. He lifted his book from his bag and opened it.
'Supposedly the surface is full of towns, like how our home is a city. One particular town we know of is known as 'Ponyville', and is primarily home to Ponies. There are apparently two other 'main' cities, and supposedly a 'capital' but these are not known. There are also plenty of smaller towns scattered around.'Interesting. Maybe Canterlot was one of these 'main cities'.
"Oh, hey X! What are you reading?"X's ears pricked up when he heard the familiar voice. He swallowed his sandwich and lifted his head from his book to see Twilight smiling at him.
"Uuuuh, it's not much. Here, have a look."X handed the book to Twilight. She read the title, which was 'Our guide to the surface', and opened it.
"Interesting. You don't know too much, do you? And what does it mean by 'our guide to the surface'?"Twilight asked, handing it back.
"Oh, yes, Me'etar is in a cave."X answered.
"Hm. So, do you like reading?"Twilight asked.
"Quite a bit, yes. Do you?"X responded.
"Yes, heaps. I live in a Library. Do you want to see it sometime?"Twilight asked. X thought. This could boost his research.
"I would love to."X answered.

=Chapter 5-Settling into Ponyville III=

X wandered through Ponyville. Yes, multiple ponies stopped and watched as the copper stallion? Filly? Clunk past, but he'd learnt to ignore that. After eating some food with his friends he decided to visit Twilight, as he had a promise to keep. Was it a promise? My, pony society and everything related was so complex and confusing! Well, he had time. X was trying to find a Library. What did a Library look like? He decided to ask somepony. He put his hoof on a passing mare's shoulder.
"Excuse me, ma'am, I am not from here. Do you know where the Library is?"X asked.
"Uuuh, yes. Over there. See the treehouse? That's the Library."the mare answered.
"Thank you."X smiled warmly, taking his hoof off her shoulder. He walked away, towards the Library. He saw Twilight reading something in the top window. He approached the door and knocked. He heard footsteps and a small purple dragon with green spikes open the door. This dragon immediately cried in shock and leapt away in shock, the door slamming shut behind him.
"That was awfully rude."X said to himself. He, again, heard footsteps, coming towards the door, and a 'No, Twilight!', before she opened the door. Behind her X spotted the dragon running up the stairs in terror.
"Oh hey X, don't mind Spike. He's never seen a robot before."Twilight chuckled.
"Have you?"X asked.
"No, but Im used to unusual things. Come on in."Twilight moved aside to let X in. He promptly walked in and observed the bookshelves that lined the walls. Spike obviously heard X's whirring sound he made when he walked in as he heard Spike yell
"WHY ARE YOU LETTING THE SCARY ROBOT IN?".
"Spike, he's a friend, and you're being rude."Twilight sighed.

~~~

"I still don't like him."Spike grunted as he went about his daily chores, being careful as to give X a wide berth.
"Just because I am a machine does not mean I intend to harm anyone. Quite the opposite, in fact."X commented.
"And fully sentient! He's more or less alive, just made of metal!"Twilight added.
"Hmph. Whatever."Spike grunted. X looked back to the book 'Obscure Unicorn History'. Around him lay several more.
"Wow X, you read like a machine."Twilight chuckled as she read a book that she thought might have something about his mechanical race. X looked up.
"Really? Interesting. I wonder why."X joked. There was a pause before Twilight realized what she had said and burst into laughter. Even Spike chuckled a little.
"X, I think you've been here a while. It's starting to get dark. Don't you think you should go home?"Twilight asked. X simply blinked in response.
"Y'know, the place you live? Like this is my home?"Twilight added.
"Oh, right, I didn't tell you. I don't have one."X answered.
"Oh. Right. Uuuh..."Twilight scratched her head.
"Do you rust in water?"Twilight asked.
"Yes. Very badly. It's why water is not allowed in Me'etar and no-one is allowed outside when it rains."X answered.
"Well considering it's starting to rain I don't think you should leave."Twilight chuckled.
"Are you saying-"Spike started.
"You can stay down here the night."Twilight suggested. X simply smiled.

~~~

X read another page in Obscure Unicorn History. It was rather interesting. These unicorns had some amazing powers, some even surpassing Princess Glow, ruler of the Unicorn district in Magnafell. He decided he WAS getting a little bored of it though, so he flipped the book shut. Pushing it away, he looked at another book that had fallen out when he had pulled out a book on pony societies. Pulling it closer, he read it's title:'Pony relationships'. Maybe this could help him understand how pony minds work better and how to be a better friend. He flipped it open, curious already.

~~~

Twilight sat up and yawned. Looking across the room she saw a rather unsettled Spike, fast asleep on the opposite end of the room to the door. Probably because of her mechanical guest. She got up out of bed and brushed her messy hair with a comb, back into its usual style. She opened the door and trotted downstairs, and was completely surprised to see X cooking food in a surprisingly good manner, and the smell was delicious.
"Oh, hello Twilight! Up a bit earlier than I expected. I was just cooking some breakfast for you. If that's okay."X smiled.
"Uuuuh, that's fine with me."Twilight chuckled. The smell had obviously wafted upstairs as Spike was getting up, making sounds of fake eating. X took the pan off the cooker and poured it equally into three bowls.
"Who's the third?"Twilight asked. As an answer, X picked up the third bowl and lifted it, pouring its contents into his mouth. It quickly disappeared down his throat.
"Wait, you eat? You NEED to eat?"Twilight was utterly confused.
"Firstly, yes, didn't you see me eat at the restaurant? Secondly, yes. To keep our battery up."X answered. Spike walked downstairs and stopped dead when he spotted X.
"Good morning Spike. I made some breakfast. Here's yours."X pushed the bowl to Spike's side of the table. Attracted by the smell Spike carefully stepped over and ate some.
"Mmm! It's really good Twilight! Try it!"Spike licked his lips. Twilight lifted the bowl and ate some.
"Mmm! It really is! Good job X!"Twilight grinned.
"Thank you! I just thought I would return the favor for letting me stay the night."X grinned back. Twilight dropped the grin and instead looked curious.
"Say, how did you learn to act more like a normal pony?"Twilight asked.
"Uuuh..."X nervously pointed to the open book on relationships. Towards the end that had things on how ponies bred as well, which made him nervous.
"Oh, ok."Twilight's grin returned.

=Chapter 6-Some things you shouldn't read=

X looked about. He knew how to be a better friend, although his skills had already gained him 4. Wandering through Ponyville, X observed several ponies talking to each other. It would be rude to just walk up and say hi. He saw noone alone he could talk to. Wow, this was harder than he thought. Looking away from the buildings and cafes, X spotted a lone orange mare, with a cowboy hat, bucking apple trees.
'She's alone, maybe she'd like some company.'X thought.

~~~

Twilight was looking about her shelves. Most of the books X had taken out were back where they were, except for a couple, including the open one in which he had learned to act better around ponies. What book was it? Twilight walked over and lifted the book to her face:
'After some ponies have been friends for long enough, if certain personality characteristics are similar, this friendship may strengthen, and eventually they may feel love for each other, and this may strengthen too. They may go on dates, among other things.'Twilight squinted, closing it to read the cover. A second later and she dropped the book, jaw agape.
'No, he didn't read THIS book.'Twilight thought.
'I have to confront him. See what he knows.'Twilight decided, hurrying out the door.

~~~

Applejack decided she'd buck a few more trees and then have a rest. She'd spent half the day doing it, after all. She was distracted by the sound of whirring coming towards her. Turning to see, she saw a copper Pegasus walking up to her, a warm smile on his face.
"Hello! I am X. And who might you be?"X asked.
"Uuuuh, I'm Applejack."Applejack answered.
"I'm X. Nice too meet you Applejack!"X smiled, holding out a hoof. Promptly, she shook it, and was a little surprised to feel cold hard metal instead of fur.
"And what are you doing?"X asked. Applejack's initial weariness from a random stranger approaching her faded a bit. He was rather friendly.
"Uuuh, bucking apples for mah family. We run Sweet Apple Acres."Applejack answered.
"Would you like some help?"X asked.
"Well, sure, if you're strong eno-"Applejack started before X kicked a tree. It bent and hit the next tree's canopy hard enough to make them both drop their apples.
"Wow, mister, impressive!"Applejack grinned. X grinned back.
"Say, ah've been buckin' apples all day and I wanted to have a rest. Why don't ya come along and we can chat."Applejack suggested.
"Wonderful idea."X stood up on his hind hooves to clap his front ones.

~~~

Twilight kept an eye out for X. It would be pretty easy to spot him, he made a whirring sound when he walked and he was obviously made of metal, especially as he shined in the sun. She stopped a mare who was going about her shopping.
"Excuse me, but have you seen a copper stallion who shines in the sun?"Twilight asked.
"It's odd, everypony's been asking me if I've seen something recently! First a stallion asking where the Library is, now this! But, not in the last few minutes. Sorry."the mare answered, tapping her chin.
"Oh okay. Thanks!"Twilight smiled slightly, moving on? Where WAS he? She decided to look about the square. Walking into the town square, she caught a glimpse as she scanned for the metal pony. Her head snapped to make sure this wasn't X. Indeed, it was. He was walking about, laughing and chatting with Applejack.

~~~

"So I was giving breaking this rock a go in the mine, but of course from someone accidentally spitting their drink at me, my teeth were wet, so the pickaxe slipped from my mouth and hit my instructor in the face!"X smiled. Applejack laughed in response.
"Oh, X, you have done some silly things in your time!"Applejack chuckled.
"Indeed. Shame it got me called pathetic."X sighed.
"From what mah friends have told me you are good at LOTS of things."Applejack complimented.
"Thanks AJ."X smiled.
"X! I need to talk to you!"the pair heard. Turning, they saw Twilight galloping towards them. She skidded to a halt in front of them.
"X, you could've told me you read THAT book." Twilight gasped.
"What book, Twi?" Applejack asked.
"That one I have on pony relationships. The one that makes everyone uncomfortable." Twilight answered.
"Oh. Ah'm guessing it helped him act more pony-like though." Applejack looked to the metal pony.
"Yeah, it did. I just wanted to ask him what he knows about...that."Twilight also looked at X.
"We do not have anything like that. I did not understand most of it. Only what reproduction is."X responded.
"Are you sure?"Twilight asked.
"...yes." X hesitated. In truth he understood it all, he just didn't want to admit to his new friends that he knew all about how ponies had babies.
"Ah'm gonna say he's tellin' the truth, Twi. Can ya stop askin' now? It's an uncomfortable subject."Applejack suggested. Mentally, X gave a huge sigh of relief and a 'Thanks AJ'.
"Alright then. What were you talking about before?" Twilight asked.

~~~

Twilight and Applejack watched closely as X raised the large mug of alcohol. They both knew he ate, but they wanted to see if he could tolerate liquids. Why alcohol, was because they wanted to see if robots could get drunk. X drank the entire mug empty in one go and slammed it down, pushing it towards them. There was a suspenseful moment, before he blinked. A moment later and a blue spark rocketed up his arm, contorting his face into a look of shock for an instant before returning to the 'deer in headlights' look and making his arm raise up and slam down in a flash. Lights in his nose, mouth and ears started flashing red. The two mares started laughing like they were going to split in two.
"That's actually not a good thing." X said in a relatively monotonous tone. It had no effect on the laughing mares.
"I have to go." X added. Standing up and casually walking off, still with the 'deer-in-headlights' look, X left the two laughing mares sitting there like mad animals.

Author's Notes:

It took so long for this chapter to be finished as I've been distracted by other things (namely Team Fortress 2)and also ran out of ideas on how to write this Chapter.

=Chapter 7- A Letter from the Princess=

Twilight walked into her home, still chuckling from her 'experiment' with X. X was sitting at the table, staring at his hooves.
"That was actually rather unpleasant." X blinks.
"Sorry, just the face twitch and the arm was what was funny." Twilight chuckled.
"I know."X nodded, a small smile on his face.
"Say, why are you in my house? You don't really live here. And why do you look so...thoughtful?" Twilight asked.
"I have been. I'm trying to figure out why so many ostracize me."X tapped his hoof on a piece of paper with various pictures and sentences.
"Because you're a robot?" Twilight suggested.
"Is it fair to do that to someone who is polite to everyone they meet? Even if they are a machine?" X asked, finally looking up at her.
"I guess not." Twilight shrugged.
"Speaking of which I made food again." X looked a little less blank and pointed to a pot on the cooling oven. Twilight walked over and sniffed it.
"Smells nice." Twilight smiled, pouring some of the soup into a bowl.
"Spike! X made food!" Twilight called. After a few dull thumps, a crash and a 'darn it' from upstairs the upstairs door opened and the purple dragon walked down. X got up and gave some to Spike too.

~~~

Twilight looked out her window at the setting sun. At times life in Ponyville was hard, but at times it was preferable to Canterlot. There was that memorable whirring behind her again. Turning, she faced the metal stallion flattening out some pages in a book, holding it out to her.
"You left this downstairs." X put it down by her.
"Thanks." Twilight put the book on her bedside table.
"Uh, may I stay here again? I have yet to find a place to stay." X asked.
"How long are you staying?" Twilight asked.
"Until Queen Jagged calls me back." X answered. He looked at his hooves.
"I'm starting to wonder wether I want to go back at all." he added.
"Well, you can stay here. We share a love for books and you make good food." Twilight shrugged.
"Thanks Twi." X smiled. Twilight chuckled.
"Never heard you call me that before." Twilight smiled.
"Got it from AJ." X shrugged.
"Say, where IS your home....Me'etar, was it?" Twilight asked.
"My Queen Jagged asked me not to tell anyone that." X answered, lying down.
"We live in a very...isolated society. She does not want it disturbed." X added.
"Oh, I wouldn't disturb it, I would just obser-"Twilight started.
"At all." X interrupted. Twilight paused for a moment and then nodded.
"You're researching pony society, yes?" Twilight asked.
"Yes. Why?" X answered.
"Could you tell me a little about YOUR society?" Twilight asked.
"As long as its not where Me'etar is, then yes." X answered.
"Okay. Tell me about Me'etar itself." Twilight smiled, giving a little room for X to sit next to her. Guessing that, he did so.
"Well, it's in a giant circular wall. About five meters thick the entire way around. Save for the gate..."X started.

~~~

X woke still next to Twilight. 'cept snuggled up. Blinking, his computer simply said 'Unexpected'. She'd fallen asleep while he was talking about the Tower in the center of Magnafell/Me'etar. For reasons neither he nor his computer could think of, he had kept talking for about half an hour. Wait, his thoughts were separate to his computer's? Huh. He stood up and, for the first time, actually looked at the book he had handed her last night.
-Bygone Civilisations and What They Left Behind-
X's eyes widened. If this had anything on the location of Magnafell and the Mecha Ponies he could not let anyone read it. He opened it and sat down in a chair. It said about various primitive, and often savage or just plain dull civilisations. His attention was caught by the page about a civilisation that lived in a cave.
'The Cave People had the best armor and weapons they could make. However they knew this was not enough to protect them during the coming battle with Discord. With a masterful knowledge of mechanics and metal they started building metal ponies designed to unleash destruction upon whom their masters wish gone. However, before the Metal Army was complete the two Princesses Luna and Celestia defeated Discord. With no more reason to stay in the dark cave with their metal armada, the Cave People left their city of Magnafell, and the Metal Ponies with it, and became the majority of what is today Ponyville. Supposedly they left the Mecha Ponies running, and what they have done in Magnafell since then is unknown.'
Yep. This book had to go missing.

~~~

"Uh, Apple Bloom? Our clubhouse is on your land, right?" Scootaloo asked, eyeing the blue book jammed between one of the beams supporting the floor, and the floor.
"Yeah, why?" Applebloom asked, walking over.
"Do you remember a blue book being stuck in it?" Scootaloo asked.
"No. Let's get it out and have a read!" Applebloom grinned. The two fillies grabbed the book and pulled with all their might. It budged a little, then a little more, and finally came free and flew out. The two fillies toppled over.
"What's it called?" Applebloom asked, standing up. The orange filly got up and read the cover.
"Uh, it's called 'Bygone Civilisations and What They Left Behind'."Scootaloo read.

~~~

X prodded Twilight again with the stick he'd grabbed on the way back from Sweet Apple Acres. She moaned and sleepily tried to push the stick away. He prodded her again.
"Twi, it's midday, you have to get up at some time. I've already made breakfast." No response. A moment later and the bedroom door slammed open. Twilight was awake in an instant. As X guessed when he heard the sound of a hand touching a door the instant before it was opened, it was Spike.
"Twilight! I got a letter from Celestia!" Spike half-sprinted over and handed her the scroll, which was drenched in the breakfast X had made for Spike. Twilight unravelled it, and X opened his mouth, using a fan to blast the food off. Onto her face. Which he then blasted it off too. Onto Spike. At which point he gave up and sat down.
"It says to gather my friends and to come to Canterlot immediately. It also says you should come too, X, if you can." Twilight read.
"I have nothing better to do." X smiled.
"Why is there a stick on my floor?"
"I was trying to wake you up with it." X answered. There was a long pause.
"Oh."

~~~

The guards opened the gates and let the carriage come through. They were a little off-put when a metal Pegasus making a whirring sound as he walked. The pony stopped and looked to the closer guard.
"Gentlemen."
The carriage started again and this time Twilight managed to wave to Shining Armor. Although he seemed a little reluctant to look at X.
"Why are we being taken there by a robot?" Rainbow asked.
"He's a sentient robot. And if he heard that he'd probably be upset and STOP pulling us." Twilight blinked.
"Yeah. Twi's right. He's sentient, also smart. He can buck two trees at once too. He helped me at Sweet Apple Acres a couple days ago." Applejack added.
"But if he's sentient and smart, and he's new here that means he doesn't have any FRIENDS, and that means he's ALONE! Twilight, we HAVE to throw him a welcome party!" Pinkie clapped her hooves.
"He's already friends with me and AJ, but, I don't see why not." Twilight smiled.
"It's a-"Rainbow started.
"He." Applejack interrupted. Rainbow sighed.
"He's a Pegasus right, like me and Fluttershy?"Rainbow asked.
"Yeah." Everypony else in the wagon and X himself from outside answered.
"I wonder how good a flyer he is." Rainbow asked.
"I wonder how good he is with animals."Fluttershy wondered.
"He's polite an' gentle, when he wants to be. I'm sure he'd be fine." Applejack smiled.
"I wonder if he has a good sense of fashion." Rarity peeked her head out the window at the metal pony.
"Rarity..." Rainbow gave Rarity a look of 'are-you-serious'.
"He makes great food." Twilight blinked.
"Does he? Wait, how do you know?" Pinkie asked.
"He's been living with me for the last couple of days. He doesn't actually have his own home." Twilight answered. The carriage slowed to a stop and a moment later the door opened.
"We are at the gates to the Palace." X blinked. The ponies stepped off.
"Say...X, was it? What do you like to wear?" Rarity asked. X merely blinked at her.
"Hey X, how good a flyer are you?" Rainbow asked.
"I would imagine at least moderate." X shrugged.
"Let's see, shall we?" Rainbow grinned.
"Not now. Let's see what Celestia wants first." X smiled.
"Eh, good enough for me." Rainbow moved away. When they were all of a Guard took the carriage to a different place.
"Hey X, want a welcome party?" Pinkie asked.
"I've already been in Ponyville a few days, but, I don't see why not." X smiled.
"Yay!" Pinkie grinned, bouncing at a speed X did not think possible around him as they walked up to the palace.

~~~

"I see your metal friend did make it then." Celestia eyed X again, this time more acceptingly though and not with utter horror.
"Yeah, he doesn't do all too much though, so he's free most of the day." Twilight answered.
"Come here again. What is your name?"Celestia asked as X approached.
"My name is X-55, but most people call me X." he answered.
"And I am led to believe you are all machines where you come from, no?" Celestia asked.
"What you have been led to believe is correct." X answered.
"Then who built you?" Celestia asked. X simply shrugged.
"Supposedly our first ancestors were built millennia ago." X answered.
"I see. Anyway, onto the proper reason I brought you all here. There have been reports of kidnappings in Manehattan. I would like you all to go there and try to find out who is behind the kidnappings and stop them. I get the feeling it is not an ordinary kidnapper." Celestia informed.
"Of course, Princess." The six mares nodded. There was a silent pause before X went wide-eyed and lowered his head slightly, backing off.
"Of course." X nodded. Everyone except him chuckled.

=Chapter 8-Detectives I=

"So we're leaving tomorrow right?" Rainbow asked.
"Yep. There's no train to Manehattan until then." Twilight answered. X chuckled.
"X, we ain't gonna have ya strainin' yer legs gettin' us everywhere." Applejack gave him a slightly annoyed look. X just looked back to his book on ancient pony history.
"Right. So X, NOW do you wanna see who's a better flyer?"Rainbow asked.
"Sure." X got up and flipped the book shut, following the blue Pegasus out the door.
"So girls, How are we going to deal with a kidnapper?" Twilight asked.
"Ask very very nicely?" Fluttershy suggested.
"Fluttershy, I doubt a kidnapper is just going to say "Yes I am a kidnapper." if you ask them."Rarity mocked her just a little.
"Then what do you suggest, Rarity?" Applejack asked.
"Well, I think we should..."Rarity started.

~~~

Rainbow laughed as she flew around several clouds. From what she could tell, she was way ahead of X. She cut her laugh short when she heard a buzzing behind her. Looking over her shoulder she spotted X approaching fast. A moment later and he had passed her.
"You wanna play it that way? We'll play it THAT way!" Rainbow shot off and quickly caught up to X again.
"You ain't that bad, but let's see if you can catch up when I'm doing a sonic rainboom." Rainbow chuckled, firing off at a tremendous speed. X's hind hooves opened and rocket engines slid out, before firing him off in pursuit of his friend. Soon enough he was next to her as they approached the sound barrier.
"It's called the Sonic Rainboom for a reason. Watch!" Rainbow yelled, picking up just a little bit of speed and hitting the sound barrier, giving off her trademark rainbow-colored sonic wave. Doing the same, X managed to create his own, a copper, cog-shaped sonic wave.
"Huh. Pretty good."

~~~

When the two ponies walked back in, they were met by Twilight.
"Hello you two. How'd it go?" Twilight asked.
"He's just as fast as me! He even pulled off a Sonic Rainboom, although it was more of a gear-boom."Rainbow answered. The three of them chuckled.
"That's awesome! Anyways, we figured out a plan, read this." Twilight handed them a scroll. Unrolling it, X read the text while Rainbow observed the map.
'First, we will ask about the kidnappings and try to find out anything about the people kidnapped. If enough of them have a talent for something, like art, we will have someone like Rarity be bait until a kidnapper comes, but we will jump them and interrogate them. If there are more we will find out where and let Celestia know.' the text read. Simple enough. Celestia probably wanted him to go because he'd be good at intimidating them. His attention was caught by Twilight, and he noticed Rainbow had walked off.
"X, come here! I wanna show you something." Twilight gestured for him to come over. Following him up the stairs he noticed the lights were off. Before he could say anything the lights snapped on.

~~~

"Welcome to Ponyville!" the six mares called loudly. X was caught off guard and fell over, to the amusement of his friends. Getting up, he shook some streamers off of him and looked at his friends with a look of confusion.
"Whaa-aaa?" X muttered quietly.
"You're new to Ponyville still and not many people know you so me and the others set up a welcome party!" Pinkie explained.
"Ah, yes, you said you would. Thank you everyone." X smiled.
"Here, drink this!" Pinkie handed him a glass of lemonade.
"Oh, no. No,no,noooo..." X, Twilight and AJ all backed away.
"What's wrong? Can't he drink?" Pinkie turned to Twilight.
"Nah, makes him go all funny and red lights in his ears flash." Applejack explained.
"Yes, well, anyway, let's enjoy ourselves." X smiled.

~~~

X woke up draped over the table in Twilight's house. The heck happened last night? He wasn't drunk, he was physically incapable of becoming so, yet his memory of the previous night was fuzzy. He stood up to smell food being made downstairs and looked around to observe the room. Rainbow was sleeping on the balcony and Applejack on a bookshelf, with the books strewn all over the floor. He could hear Pinkie Pie talking outside. X woke up Applejack.
"Do you know what happened last night?" X asked.
"Nah, only there was a party. Why am I in a bookcase?" she answered, banging her head on the shelf above her. X merely shrugged. Walking downstairs, Spike was making food and Twilight was packing some bags.
"Huh?" was X's response.
"Oh, morning X, I was just packing for the trip to Manehattan." Twilight smiled.
"Ah, yes, the kidnappings. I was just wondering what happened last night. Do you want me to help?" X offered.
"If you don't mind."
"By the way, AJ and Rainbow are still upstairs."

~~~

X watched sleepily as the train approached the station. Twilight had gotten everyone to come to the station early just so they didn't miss it, but it was due two hours later. The train slowed as it grinded into the station and wheezed as it halted. The carriage doors were opened and the conductor stepped onto the platform.
"All aboard to Manehattan!" the conductor called. X stepped on and moved to the side to allow his friends on, before following them to a carriage. He sat down on one of the seats closest to the back of the carriage and stared out the window.
"My, we're ACTUALLY going to Manehattan! Why, I've heard it is such a nice place to go!" Rarity grinned at the thought.
"Yeah, but remember why we're going there. But, still, that doesn't mean we can't enjoy ourselves while we're there." Twilight tapped the letter, which she kept for some reason.
"Yes, we know Twilight, but really, loosen up a bit. It won't hurt." Fluttershy smiled at her friend.
"What do you think, X?" Rainbow flew to the seat next to him.
"Kidnappings are serious. In Me'etar doing so would result in exile. Very few ever last long after exile." X scowled.
"It is fine to enjoy oneself but we should always keep the task in mind." X added.
"X is right. We should always look out for signs of-wait. Exile?" Applejack tapped her chin in confusion.

~~~

"You said that your home was a very isolated community. Were you exiled X?" Twilight asked.
"In a sense, yes, but my Queen can call me back whenever she feels she wants me to go back." X answered.
"But she exiled you! Why would she just call you back whenever she feels it?" Rarity asked.
"Yeah, that seems kinda...almost like she uses your kind like toys. Do you want to go back?" Twilight asked.
"I have been thinking about it, and the more I do the less I want to go back. But all Mecha-Ponies have a duty to our Queen, and we cannot deny her orders." X answered.
"What would happen if you refused? You're already exiled." Rainbow asked him.
"In a sense, I said. She told me to leave Me'etar, but she also told me to research the surface world, so she could learn about it. She would likely send soldiers to hunt me down and bring me back by force." X answered.
"That's horrible! Why would you even THINK about going back?" Rarity looked at X with horror.
"We should go back to the topic we were discussing earlier. Manehattan. Kidnappings." X suggested.
"Yeah, I think that's best."

~~~

The group stepped off the train. Manehattan. Indeed it was a nice place. But, while the six mares were admiring the scenery, X was scanning for anything of use.
"Alright gang, let's go look around."Twilight stepped forward.
"Where should we go first?" Applejack asked.
"We could go looking for a market. There are often people at a market." Rarity suggested.
"Me and X could go scan the area from above for something." Rainbow suggested.
"I have detected a city square not too far North. We should head there." X suggested, pointing down a road.
"Good idea. Still, though, Rainbow and X should go scan above." Fluttershy pointed upwards.
"Yeah, let's go, X!" Rainbow leapt into the air.
"Okay, sure." X simply shrugged before taking off.

It had been a hard day trying to find out something. The various mares and the copper stallion had been talking to almost anyone who would pay attention to them. Only a few would actually talk to them. It was getting dark, so the crew gathered at the square X had initially scouted out.
"Okay, girls. And boy. What have we got?" Twilight asked.
"Not much. One lady said a confectioner that arrived recently has stopped her work. New, but very talented, apparently."Rarity shrugged.
"Yeah, I heard the same." Applejack nodded.
"Uh, who's got something different?" Twilight raised an eyebrow.
"I have something." X blinked. There was a pause as everyone stared at him inquisitively.
"After asking six people I concluded doing so was a waste of time. I instead performed a survey and partial investigation to activity in nearby shops." He explained.
"Indeed, the confectioner has stopped activity entirely. Most nearby shops have had no change in effect. A grocers has, however, moved locations recently, and upon investigating the previous location found many signs of tunneling."
"Tunneling? What?" Rainbow cocked her head to the side.
"Indeed. Three shops have also vanished entirely, or rather, their keeper has vanished too, but with explained reasons for absence-They were invited to a 'party' of sorts. I have found three letters inviting all three to the location of the missing confectioner, all signed Madame La Vienna'." X explained.
"That wasn't the name of the confectioner, she was called Madame La Mosique! Whatever that means." Rarity looked in the direction of the building. Everyone else was staring at X at the fact he had effectively rendered everyone else's investigations for naught. Save for Rarity's.
"Well, this is certainly suspicious. Maybe bait isn't necessary at all. Shall we go now, or wait?" Twilight asked.
"Let's go tomorrow, we don't want to be caught out in the dark." Fluttershy looked around her cautiously.
"Good point. We should find a hotel or something." Rainbow nodded, yawning.
"Okay, let's move, gang." Twilight set off towards the nearest hotel.

The six mares all headed off into their three rooms. They had rented out the hotel's last three rooms, so they had two each, but X instead had to sleep out in the corridor. After an hour or so Twilight's door opened.
"X, you wanna come share my room?"
"I thought Fluttershy was using the other bed." X blinked, raising his head.
"No, she felt a little uncomfortable with some scratching noises under her floorboards so she went to share Rainbow and Applejack's." Twilight shook her head. X thought. He had dosed off for a while before, apparently she had changed rooms then. At least he'd have company.
"Of course." He smiled, standing up and following her back in. He felt a tad uncomfortable as he followed the purple mare into her room. As she flopped back into her bed, he cautiously got into his, watching Twilight to make sure she wasn't up to what he thought she was. When she rolled over and eyed him, his computer went from 'Wary' to 'Cautious'. He decided 'Cautious' didn't work so he created a sub-routine called 'Oh Lord No'. His computer immediately switched to that. He began to retreat back into his sheets.
"C'mon, X, two days ago you were fine snuggling up to me, what's the issue now?" She asked, noticing his uncomfortable look and wide, cautious eyes. After a moment of thought, he realised he had no idea what his problem was, and that he indeed had no issues with how others reacted to him. Sliding back out of his covers, his computer switched to 'Calm'. After a moment of silent staring, his bed was encased in a purple aura and slid over next to hers. Still apart, but close, before the aura vanished.
"Twilight."
"Yes?"
"Stop confusing me." His comment was met with a giggle.

Author's Notes:

Lol, X is so confuse.
But yes! I am back! Sorry I haven't updated this in forever, I forgot about this completely and got on with my life for a while.

=Chapter 9-Detectives II=

The next day, X was woken by Twilight.
"Looks like 1I'm the one poking you this time." She smiled. After a huff he got up, stretching the pistons in his legs. He had no actual muscles, this is what they did instead. Following her he looked out the windows as the seven ponies checked out the hotel.
"So, straight to the building?" Pinkie asked.
"Yeah, no time to lose." Rainbow responded, checking around the corner.
"Uh, guys? How are we going to deal with the guards?" She asked. Looking around, they saw a trio of guards posted around the building.
"We tell them Princess Celestia sent us and...hope for the best?" Twilight suggested, setting off.
"And if that doesn't work?" Rarity asked.
"Then we find another way in." X blinked. The seven ponies headed down the street towards the guarded building.

As they approached, the guards, who had prior been lazing around, stood and grabbed their spears.
"Halt. No civilians are to enter the building." The one in the middle stated.
"Why are you guarding it?" Fluttershy asked.
"An investigator is on his way to here to look into the disappearance of Madame La Mosique. We are here to prevent disturbance before and while he does so." The guard answered.
"We were sent here to investigate the kidnappings." Twilight blinked. The guard off to their right looked at a clipboard.
"Ah, yes, it seems we have made a mistake. Proceed inside." He said. The guards moved aside, and one unlocked and opened the door. The ponies headed inside and, seeing nothing of worth in the lower floor, headed upstairs. The upper floor was dusty and full of webs, but had seen recent use.
"X, did you find out when the confectioner vanished?" Rarity asked. Since she and X had came to the conclusion of investigating the confectioner, she had been taking this in her stride. Sort of, anyway.
"About five days ago. However, activity was seen on this floor only two days ago, but nobody could make out who was up here." X answered, looking over a desk of drawers. The group moved around, investigating the room.
"Hey, guys, look at this." Twilight called. She had found a number of other, as of yet unused invitations to a number of others, not all of which were shopkeepers.
"Guys! I can't open this!" Applejack called. She had found a locked door behind a tall cupboard, and it was locked. Twilight's horn lit up as she attempted to open it, but the lock did not budge.
"Well, our only option here is to find the key. Okay, gang, let's look." Twilight turned back to what she had been doing before.

The seven had been searching the rooms for about half an hour, and while they had found three keys, all were old and dusty and none fit.
"Well, what do we do? We can't kick it down." Rainbow asked.
"Can't we?" Twilight asked, looking to X." He stared blankly for a moment as the other six ponies turned to look at him, before realizing he was a mechanical horse who could kick down trees if he wanted.
"I could, if you see it worth it." X looked to the door.
"Yeah, go ahead, we've searched everywhere else a dozen times." Pinkie smiled. X walked over, turned his back to the door, and bucked it, his hind legs firing out, and the door didn't just budge, it flew off the hinges and hit the far wall. Politely, he stood to the side, letting the six mares pass before following. It was another room, full of crates and chests. When X had kicked the door off, it had smashed one open. It was full of ice, with cupcakes sat neatly in them.
"So, who's been doing this? Keeping these things in chests in an abandoned house? Why?" Twilight asked.
"To keep them cool?" Pinkie suggested.
"To keep up a ruse." X picked up one, putting it near his nostrils. Scent detection was automatic. It was spiked. He turned and chucked it into the far wall.
"Hey, why did you do that?" Pinkie asked.
"They are tainted. Don't touch them." X closed the lid to the smashed chest as much as he could. The ponies investigated the room for a while, but it didn't take them long to notice the numerous floorboards out of place.
"X, think y'all could crack this?" Applejack asked, tapping on the loose boards. He sighed.
"I'm not a workhorse, you know."
"No, you're reliable." Twilight smiled. Rearing his front hooves, he smashed the floorboards and almost, almost fell down the hole beneath as the boards tumbled down. There was a green light deep down underneath, and after a distance it opened to a chamber, but they couldn't see anything down there.
"Unless one of us can walk on walls, ah don't think we're gettin' down there." Applejack blinked, raising a hoof to stop her hat falling off.
"Yeah, no, I'm no help this time. I could theoretically fly down, but I don't see how that would help." X looked over his wings. After a pause, the floorboards hit the bottom with a quieted clank. Another moment passed. And another. Rarity looked up.
"Well, it doesn't seem like there's anything down there, does it?" she asked.
"No. Maybe we've got a cold lead. Or whatever they call it." Fluttershy suggested.
"It seems too...close. Almost like they're waiting for us." Twilight stroked her chin.
"Who?" X asked.
"From the looks of it, this looks like a tunnel to a changeling cavern, of some description." She answered. He backed off. He remembered what he read about Changelings, and certainly didn't want to meet them.
"What's wrong, X?" Rainbow asked. The six turned to him.
"I don't know what they are, and they don't sound friendly." He answered.
"We defeated them once, didn't we girls? What, are these some rag-tag survivors?" Rainbow chuckled.
"With Cadence's help, yeah." Applejack shrugged.
"Don't worry, X, we've done enough for now, let's just leave and-" Twilight started to head for the exit, before something screeched deep down in the cavern. It was followed by another, and another, and more joined until they couldn't tell just how many were down there. After a moment, a black, chitinous creature with wings and a short, smooth horn came out, with long fangs, blue eyes, and strangest of all, multiple holes in its legs. Immediately, X's programmed defensive mechanism kicked in and he charged forward, ramming it in the gut with his head, and most importantly, spiky metal mane. It screeched as its turquoise blood spurted briefly from its wounds and it thumped on the floor, before tumbling back down the hole.
"Lets, uh, get out while we can!" Applejack started for the door, the rest of them in hot pursuit. However, less than five seconds later and a swarm of changelings came out, blocking their exit.
"Alright, if they want to fight, let us fight." X growled, stepping forward.

The next couple minutes were chaotic. He knew fighting, it was one of the things he could do, but in tight quarters like these? He didn't know how they could hold up. Nonetheless he was dropping them like sacks of potatoes. He bucked one, flinging it into the opposite wall. The next he ended by swinging on his front legs, bringing his hind ones into its face, probably smashing whatever it had in place of a skull. The third he grabbed by the face, knocking a fang free and smashing it back into its head using his other hoof. He back flipped, throwing yet another into the wall, before bringing his front hoof into its face. It didn't retaliate. Turning, he punched another one in the eye, sending it tumbling. Another jumped on his back, so he opened his razor-sharp copper wings and sliced its hind legs off, before throwing his weight around and threw it off, stamping on the dying creature's abdomen. It was then he noticed that the continuing swarm of changelings had already overwhelmed and pinned down the other six mares, and were dragging them back to the hole. He couldn't tell who was talking, but he heard an 'X! Help!' From them. He responded immediately. Bucking one for a start, he charged through the SRAM, smashing several down and either giving them lethal incisions or lethal organ rupture, as he tackled one holding Applejack's hind legs, slamming it into the ground, breaking whatever was inside. Applejack promptly bucked one, knocking it into a crowd. However, the changelings had responded by literally filling the room with themselves. He only managed to smash one more's head in before he too was overwhelmed.

X awoke what felt like hours later, inside a green, slightly slimy pod. Indeed, his internal clock said three hours had passed. Of course, the need for air didn't apply to him, much like a lot of other things, so he barely noticed it. Looking around, the room was also illuminated green. Changeling cavern. Of course. He saw several of them some distance away in a deep depression in the bottom of the chamber. One was bigger than the rest, and appeared to be giving the rest orders. None of them could see him or were paying attention. Turning to his right, he saw seven other pods. He couldn't see inside them, but he guessed six of them contained his friends. Testing the pod's fleshy material, he noted it wasn't particularly tough, just enough to hold them. It was actually straining under his added weight. Sighing, he decided using his wings to cut himself free was a waste of time, and just flicked his tail, cutting an incision big enough for him to climb through, but not enough to give his escape away. He climbed out and opened his wings, hovering behind the pod. Carefully drifting around, he saw that the others indeed contain his friends, and another stallion who appeared to be a cook of some description. Looking down, he saw the changelings hadn't noticed him still. Looking back, he saw one open her eyes. Twilight, or at least he thought as much. It was hard to tell through the pod. He may have been a mechanical Pegasus, but he was only built to carry his own weight. If he were to divert more power to his wings to carry them away, he might give them away, and he really did not like the idea of having another one sided fight with these Changelings. He could do so and possibly save his friends, or go and sneak out. He was, really, here to study, and these friends had, at least originally, become friends to help him do this. Slowly, he glided away towards an obscure tunnel leading away.

X quietly walked down the path, evading being noticed by the Changeling guards that prowled. His feet were stained bluey-green, he had to smash three of them to pulp to avoid further danger. As he sat behind a tunnel wall as some more of the blasted creatures passed, he thought. Yes, those six ponies had served to help his core goal on the surface, but then, they had helped him in other ways. Pinkie had thrown him the party, he had the race with Rainbow, all of them had acted kind to him and been the few up here that welcomed him to the surface when everyone else gave him terrified stares. And this is how he repaid them? By abandoning them in a Changeling cavern and leaving them to a horrible fate they, by no means, deserved? And they had questioned the same things he did, did he want to go home? To Magnafell? There he was ridiculed and kicked out, punished for everything he did. Here, in Equestria, he was welcomed, valued, considered reliable and trustworthy. Princess Celestia had sent him to assist these six mares in this, and in doing this he had betrayed not only them, but her as well. He was snapped from thought by the sound of startled Changelings behind him. Slowly, almost dramatically, he turned. No, he didn't want to go home. He was nothing there. He was something here. Even if it left him to die rusty and broken, he was worth more here, and would die happily here. If he did die. Facing these three angry creatures, the last they saw before the tunnels echoed with the dying screams of the three abominations was his grin.

Twilight struggled more in her pod. Why had X abandoned her? Them? They were friends, but he had just left them! She thought he had cared about them, valued them as much as they valued him, but apparently a machine cannot have such thoughts. As she looked to her right, she saw a Changeling rip one of the pods off the ceiling. Trying her hardest to seem she saw it was a cook, an unfortunate stallion. Another Changeling flew up and grabbed the other end of his slimy prison, and they lowered it to the far tunnel, where a Changeling reminiscent of a smaller Queen Chrysalis stood, ordering her minions around. The two Changelings were surrounded by a troop of them, and the pod began thrashing around as the stallion awoke. Her gut was filled with dread and sympathy as the creatures dragged his pod away. Soon, he was out of sight. After a pause to think of how she could die down here, she was snapped out of her thoughts by a mangled, bloody Changeling flying across the chamber, smacking this pseudo-Queen in the back. Looking beyond rage she turned to face this disruption. Looking to where the corpse had come from, she saw a familiar copper stallion. And he did not look happy.

X charged the guard troop. There were six of them, this wouldn't be hard. The first he grabbed and bashed with his face to stun it, before letting go and spinning, slicing up its abdomen with his wings, before kicking it the second, who tumbled over its dying comrade. Into his fist. Four. The third, he grabbed by the front hooves, pressing his hind hooves against its chest and essentially bucking, breaking its back into pieces and ripping its stomach open. It was dead before he let go. Three. These last lot were terrified, but dedicated to protecting their master. He charged them, ramming one and flailing his head, ripping apart its chest and dropping it like all the rest. Two. The second last went to attack him, while the last went to grab him. Last became second last. He spun, bringing his hind hooves into its chest and caving it in, before finishing the creature with a hard punch to said chest. His hoof went right through. He chucked it down in disgust. Before the last could stop itself, he rotated his wings and clapped the sharp pointed ends together, running the creature through at least twelve times, before beating his wings together. It was literally torn to shreds. Zero. She was defenseless. Going in for the kill, he beat her down in four hits. She stopped trying after the first smash to the face.

X stood, imitating panting, among the pile of corpses, body bit and blood. He knew he was a war machine, and these melee attacks were apparently the least effective of his abilities, but he had torn them apart like they weren't even trying to defend themselves. Turning, he saw, thankfully, his friend's six pods were there. The seventh had vanished. Opening his wings once more, he took off, approaching them. He came up to Twilight.
"When I catch you, you need to hold on tight, I'm not meant to carry more than my own weight, okay?" He instructed in a loud voice. She just nodded. He dug his hooves into her pod and tore it open, catching the purple mare, carrying her over to the tunnel he had exited, and then arrived through, before turning. One by one he freed his friends, carrying them over. Fluttershy and Rainbow didn't need help, and helped carry Rarity over. Soon the seven of them were free. Sort of. Twilight hadn't forgotten his temporary betrayal.
"What in Celestia's name is wrong with you?" She growled. He immediately backed off.
"Whaddya mean, Twi? He just saved us." Applejack asked, confused.
"Yeah, after leaving us to die."
"What? Why? What did we do?" Rarity asked, turning to X. He hung his head and lowered his ears as much as possible.
"I...I don't know. I wanted to get out, away from these...things, back to my original objective. I'm not meant to be here bonding with people, I'm here to research." X sighed.
"You said you didn't want to go home." Fluttershy cocked her head slightly.
"I know, but, if I didn't return to the surface safely, it would be putting your entire kingdom at risk."
"What? How?"
"You know how I said if I refused or hid they would come and take me by force? By that, I meant my society's army would rise to the surface and attack everything in sight until they found me." X explained. The eyes of all six mares went wide.
"You mean unless we can get back nice and happy everybody?..."Pinkie started, unsure how to finish.
"Dies. Yes. And your guards cannot stop these soldiers. They have full Me'etar military training. Your armies would fall before they knew just what they were up against. They have guns, ranged weapons that shoot small bits of hot metal into at high speed. I would be impressed if one of your soldiers was standing after three shots. Our soldiers can shoot beams of superheated light. Our soldiers have weapons and armor your soldiers cannot hope to fight. So unless I, or we, get back to the surface and safely, and I go back without resistance, you, and your entire kingdom, neigh, your species, would fall and die." X explained, his voice grim and stammering. He looked up, straight at Twilight, who looked confused more than anything.
"Can you forgive my actions? I only had best interests at heart. Just my thoughts were...not straight. I am sorry." He asked. She looked up. Her friends had decided already.
"He has his reasons. And he did come back, didn't he?" Fluttershy turned to Twilight.
"Yeah, I mean, as far as he was thinking, it was us or Equestria." Rainbow added. Twilight looked up. At this moment her thoughts were most important, last thing they needed was an angry mare while they tried to escape.
"Yeah. Lets...let's save the emotional stuff for later. We need to get out." She sighed, looking down the tunnel.
"What's down there?"
"Some dead Changelings and our best hope at escape."

Author's Notes:

Welp, the story got changed from Everyone to Teen in this chapter, because X slaughtered some things.

=Chapter 10-Escapade Grandeur=

X led the six ponies down the tunnel. Not far ahead was the opening to another cavern, a chance at escape. He had no idea if the exit was down the other tunnel they had taken the cook down, but he didn't feel like risking it, really. Applejack came up to him.
"You okay? You look a little cold."
"That was terrible, AJ."
"I didn't mean it like that."
"Of course not. I'm fine, its...I think I speak for everyone when I say its been a long day."
"Too long." She sighed. Ponies and their lungs. They came out into the cavern. This opened to a bridge leading across a large, chasm-like cavern. Peering over the edge, they saw below was hundreds and hundreds of burrows and Changelings.
"They have an army down here." Fluttershy observed the mass of chitinous creature.
"How do they keep themselves fed?" Pinkie asked.
"From the looks of it, they don't." X answered.
"That makes sense, looking at how savage and seemingly uncoordinated this lot are." Twilight sighed.
"I'm not sure what anyone could do to stop this, even if we did escape." Rarity added.
"Lock them in here?" Rainbow suggested.
"How?" The other six asked.
"I dunno."
"We could collapse this cavern. Kill the lot down there and trap the rest." Applejack shrugged.
"Perhaps. Provided this is the exit." X stroked his chin, observing the chamber. Indeed, there was a tunnel above the suspended path leading straight upwards. Looking down, he saw the same broken floorboards he had smashed some time ago.

X had found a small, empty cavern at the far side of the path, and the six were hiding there. There had to be a way to collapse this cavern. He flew up the wall, feeling it for weaknesses. Nothing. Solid rock. Nothing he had could cause a cave in. He flew up higher and felt the cavern ceiling. It didn't feel so solid, but was still one giant hunk of rock. Flying back down to the path, he thought. What did this remind him of? Ponyville? No, not at all. Canterlot? No. Magnafell? Not exactl-Wait. Maybe. The mines. The mines, of course! The tunnels used poles at the sides to suspend the ceiling. This was like a giant mine tunnel. Backing up near the far end of the path, he looked around. Indeed, some parts of the walls, hard to distinguish from the rest, stuck out. He flew over to the nearest one, doing his best to avoid being noticed by the Changeling army beneath him. He could hear a ruckus from the cavern they left earlier. It wouldn't be long before they found him, and then the army would be on their hind parts. He felt it. It felt weighed down, and when he tried to pull some rock out, it came with ease. The ceiling made a faint crumbling noise and a little dust came off. He had a plan.

Using some wires in his abdomen, originally for use for things like grappling hooks or pulling yourself through low mine tunnels, X had connected the pillars to him, and the six mares surrounded him. He was going to pull the cavern down while getting his friends out.
"Hold on tight." Was all he said.
"You're nuts." Twilight grunted.
"You wanna get eaten by Changelings?"
"Okay, okay." She said, holding on tight.
"Fluttershy, Rainbow, I'd appreciate if you gave me a bit of a boost with this." He asked. They nodded and opened their wings too. Some Changelings entered through the tunnel. Out of time. They screeched, and the army beneath them went into an uproar. He took off, and the power of a mechanical Pegasus and two normal Pegasi sent the seven ponies roaring upwards in their bid to escape. The wires tightened and strained as they hit full length, and X strained to pull harder, devoting more and more energy to his wing power. The pillars began to crumble as the seven slowly rose, and it seemed futile, as the army was climbing up at a terrifying speed, before the pillars gave way, X's wires flung back to him at high speed, and the seven were flung out. The speed was a little too high, and the mass of pony flew out the front window, landing on the street outside, sparks flying from X as he came to a halt. The guards had moved on, possibly to get help. There was a moment where all the city folk could hear was a loud crumbling roar, before the confectioner's building, and the ones either side of it, fell down, the road breaking as they sunk. They stopped, the roof just above the street line. The loud sound of rock breaking and falling stopped, and the ponies could breathe again. The Changelings had been crushed,and the threat thwarted. For now, at least.

Twilight slowly hauled herself upright. It had been a hard fall. Looking around, she saw her friends slowly getting up, recovering from the ordeal. Except for X. Getting up she hurried over to her metal friend, who lay motionless on the ground, his bright, yellow eyes a dud grey.
"X, what's wrong? X?" She asked, her voice full of panic, tapping on his head. No response. Around her her friends started to get up and came over to see what was wrong, and a number of city folk had begun to form a crowd. She tapped on his head again, harder.
"Come on, I haven't had the chance to yell at you yet! Come on!" She cried in desperation, trying to wake him up. He made no response.
"Twi, I think..."
"No, he can't be dead, why would he be dead? Don't you remember what he said, he needed to get out alive, and I'm gonna make sure he is getting out of this alive!"
"Twilight, he's a robot, he was never alive in the first place." Rainbow came over, lying next to the motionless machine.
"He was more alive than some." She muttered, lowering her head,
"Come on X, don't be dead, you don't want us to die too, do you? What's wrong? Say something!" She banged her hoof on his chest, and came the familiar echoing clang. Nothing happened. Stricken, she lay her head on his shoulder.
"Don't go, X..."she muttered quietly, barely audible. Applejack lay a hoof on her shoulder. The street went silent. There was a long silence. She faintly heard something clinking in his chest, but she dismissed it as nothing. After a pause, she heard movement from right next to her. Looking, he had raised his head, if just.
"X?"
"When did you plan on yelling at me?" He groaned quietly. The red lights in his ears were blinking faintly, and his eyes were just flickering. She grinned, but the tears that had welled in her eyes didn't stop.
"You're not dead, you pile of rusty gears!" She laughed, throwing her arms around him, now crying with joy. Her friends joined in, and there was little he could really do about it.
"I need to lie down. My battery is at 10."
"Ten?"
"Ten percent. Low." He groaned, lying his head down.
"Did we do it?" He asked.
"Collapse the cavern? Yeah, we did! We did it, X." They responded. He smiled.
"At least we got that going for us." X sighed. The three guards came running over.
"Excuse me, what happened? Where did you go, what happened to the building?"
"Changeling caverns. Our metal friend here just saved the entire city, and if you'll excuse us, we need to make sure he's okay." Rainbow answered.
"I...see. We will leave you to it, for now." The apparent head responded, before leaving.

They had gone back to the same hotel, and within half an hour X was now lying in a bed, chowing down a sandwich, Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow next to him. The others had left to sort out business they needed to take care of, mostly with the guards.
"Thanks, guys." He smiled.
"We should be thanking you. You got us out of there."
"I'm not a hero, I was just trying to make sure those things didn't hurt anyone else."
"And you're a hero in the process."
"Please, stop."he sighed. They backed off slightly. There was a moment where all that was heard was X eating his sandwich.
"When's the next train?" He asked, breaking the silence.
"Tomorrow. We'll sleep here tonight, then head home. The Princess will want to hear what happened."
"Right. You three can go, take care of yourselves, I'm okay." He assured.
"We're fine."
"You haven't eaten since we came here." He pointed out. There was a pause as the three mares looked at each other.
"True enough. Okay, we'll be back soon. Cya X!" They waved. After about 20 minutes, Pinkie came in, strangely not being very bouncy.
"Hiya X! Thanks for gettin' us out of that doozy."
"I'm not sure 'doozy' works, but you're welcome."
"Its a friendlier word."
"True."
"When we get back to Ponyville-"
"You wanna throw me a party?"
"When don't I want to throw a party? But yeah! A super-duper-fantastic one! For saving us and Manehattan!" She grinned, throwing her arms in the air.
"Thanks Pinkie. Weren't you and the others sorting out the business with the guards?"
"Were, Rarity's cleaning the last little bits up and Fluttershy's coming now."
"Yeah. If you'll excuse me, I wanna go to sleep for a while." X sunk into his sheets. Pinkie smiled and nodded.
"Okie-dokie, cya later!" She grinned, bouncing out of the room. X swallowed the last bite of his sandwich and, lying down, fell asleep in a moment.

Waking up tomorrow, he found he was actually on his side of the room, Twilight, asleep in the opposite bed, had not dragged him over. He rose out of bed and checked his power. 100%. Good. He slowly walked over. As he sat next to her she slowly woke up.
"Hmm? Hello." She murmured sleepily.
"Morning, are you okay today?"
"Yeah, I'm good, how about you?"
"All better. In some respects. I'm not about to die anymore."
"That wasn't funny."
"I know..."
"We need to catch the train home."
"Indeed we do. Need any help?"
"No, I'm good."
"Okay, I would've thought you'd have dragged my bed over."
"I decided to let you sleep in peace." To this, he just smiled.

The ponies stepped onboard the train and sat down. Thankfully, they had politely stopped showering him with praise when he said it made him feel uncomfortable, so now things had gone back to relatively normal. He turned to his purple friend.
"Say, Twilight, you write the letters to Princess Celestia, yes?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I was just wondering what you would say."
"That the kidnappers were Changelings, that we almost got eaten and that you got us out and collapsed the caverns they were living in."
"Oh, okay." He shrugged, turning away. Applejack came and sat behind him.
"Dontcha think collapsing their home on them was a bit harsh?"
"How so?" Rainbow asked.
"Well, we, or, X, just killed several hundred Changelings."
"They were eating innocent city folk and were likely raising that army for a reason." X blinked.
"Yeah, do you want Manehattan to be overrun with Changelings?"
"No, 'course not, I just think...crushing all of them was taking it a bit too far."
"What has been done has been done, there is no changing it now." X stared out the window.
"...maybe. Maybe." She looked down.
"Say, X, you said you had to return after a while, yes?" Rarity asked.
"Yes?"
"What would happen once you went home?"
"I don't know, actually. Tell Queen Jagged my findings, and I would guess life would resume as normal from there."
"Could you come back?"
"Afraid not, it is taboo to leave our home, unless our Queen gives her express permission to certain exceptions, such as myself."
"Have there been any others let out?"
"No."
"What if you snuck out?"
"In theory, I could come back for a while, but then the guards would notice I was gone. They could assume almost immediately what happened. It would not end well."
"It seems you don't have a way out of going home, do you?"
"Afraid not."
"Unless someone put a stop to these mecha-ponies." Twilight said.
"What?"
"If someone stopped the mecha-ponies. Got rid of them, sealed their gate, whatever, if they did that they couldn't come to get you." She explained.
"In theory. Sealing their gate would not stop them forever, though." Was all X said.

The rest of the trip had been somewhat dull. The ponies talked little, especially after a stop during which a couple had gotten onto their carriage. When they finally reached Ponyville, they were all relieved. Some of them hurried off to check on their families, Pinkie bouncing off into Sugarcube corner to do...whatever it was she did in there. X followed Twilight back to her house, but this time felt a little uncomfortable following her in. Noticing this, she turned to him.
"X, what's wrong?"
"I'm not sure, just I don't feel right staying here anymore."
"You're always welcome here, I said that."
"I know, just..." He looked to the floor.
"You feel bad about leaving us in those caverns?"
"Something like that..." After a pause, she came over, standing right in front of him.
"Yeah. That was bad. But you did come back, didn't you? And you had your reasons. Not only that but you got us all out of there, and then collapsed the cavern on them. As we said, you single-handedly saved Manehattan. I think that makes up for it."
"I might have saved Manehattan. They may have had more than one exit."
"Yeah, but I doubt they have the numbers to deal any real damage now, even if they do."
"Maybe, maybe."
"Speaking of which, I need to write a letter to the Princess." She looked up, turning and walking up the stairs. He looked around. Maybe he was still welcome, but something still felt off. As he walked over and sat on a chair, he realised it wasn't coming into her home that felt off, he felt watched.

Author's Notes:

Oh dang this robot jokes