After the Medical Outpost exploded, Ratchet set course to land back on the ruins to pause and check on Twilight. Much to his despair if not surprise, Twilight stayed huddled in the back seat of the ship, shivering and whimpering. He and Clank both stroked her gently, trying to calm her down and comfort her.
As they tried, Phasta Thinyu pulled up behind them on his newly customized Skyboard. "Yo dudes! Fancy seeing you here. Isn't this, like, a totally sweet skyboard course?"
"If you say so," Ratchet muttered dryly, not turning around. "It's not our concern just now."
"Not your concern?" Phasta asked, surprised. "Well, I know one little lady who-" He froze as he spotted Twilight over Ratchet's shoulder. "Dude...what happened to her?"
"It was unpleasant," Clank replied. "Let us leave it at that."
Phasta frowned in concern. "Well...she seemed to really like getting that shrink ray. Think if I gave her a new gadget, she might cheer up? I got this Polarizer I found a while back. Thought about using it to supe up my board, but this is more important."
"It's worth a shot," Ratchet allowed desperately.
Reaching under his board, Phasta pulled off the Polarizer - which resembled a giant magnet with an attached control panel - and held it out to Twilight. "Here you go," he offered. "Got a new gadget for you. Don't you want to take a look?"
Twilight stirred briefly, examining the Polarizer for a moment, before huddling back up.
"Well, it helped a little?" Phasta whined, almost pleading with the universe for it to be true as he gave the Polarizer to Ratchet. "Let me know if she gets better?"
"Will do," Ratchet promised, hopping back into the ship along with Clank, setting course for Challax, where they knew Luna was headed.
As they came in for landing on Challax, they discovered a seemingly empty world, covered in desert. "Where the heck are they?" Ratchet demanded angrily. "Did they give false coordinates or something?"
"Alternatively," Clank offered, picking up what looked like a very tiny vehicle, "we are too large to see their facility."
"Then let's get small," Ratchet stated firmly, pulling out the shrink ray. "Stay with Twilight, alright?"
"It's better if we both stick together," Clank corrected. He pressed a few buttons on the ship's controls while tweaking his own systems. "There," he said, his voice coming from both him and the ship's comms. "Now we will both be in constant communication with the ship, and it will be as though we are constantly with Twilight."
"Good thinking," Ratchet agreed, getting ready to head to the Technomite city.
Twilight sat quietly in the ship, listening to the communications from Ratchet and Clank. They both kept up a running commentary of what they were doing when they weren't in combat, doing their best to give her something to listen to, but Twilight was only barely able to focus on it. It was enough to keep her from freaking out about them not being there, but not enough to draw her out.
And then there was battle, when all she heard was the sounds of weapons fire, flung objects, and things being smashed by Ratchet's Omniwrench as he yelled at the Technomites, fueled by his rage on her behalf. She shivered a bit each time she heard that. However, it also proved, in its own way, to be the key to her recovery.
"That's it!" Ratchet shouted, the sound of yet another Technomite soldier being smashed against something heavy echoing behind his voice. "Come get some! I'm not unconscious now, am I? I'm not helpless on your table! Can you take me on now, huh? Huh?"
Twilight shivered as she heard the swing of the Omniwrench. But then the combat noise stopped.
"Ratchet, that is enough!" Clank snapped. "Get a hold of yourself!"
"What are you talking about?" Ratchet demanded.
"I understand you are angry," Clank stated calmly. "But you cannot let your anger rule you like this!"
"What?" Ratchet shouted. "Do you think I'm going to just let them get away with what they did to Twilight?"
"Justice is all well and good, but you must not seek vengeance!" Clank snapped back. "For Twilight's sake."
"Where the hell do you get off talking about-"
"You are not the only one who cares so deeply for her!" Clank barked, overriding everything Ratchet was saying and punching deep into Twilight's tormented psyche. "We both have been enraged beyond reason by what the Technomites have done...but I purged that rage on my way to rescue you both, so I could help you keep yours under control. It is all well and good to make sure the Technomites do nothing like this to anyone else, to bring them to justice for their crimes. But if you continue to seek vengeance as you are, then you are a monster no better than they are, and no good at all to Twilight!"
The comms were silent for a time. "But...what they did to her-"
"Yes," Clank replied firmly. "To her. Your concern now must be about what's best for her, just as it was back on Umbris."
More silence. Finally, Ratchet responded. "Thanks, buddy. Sorry about...shouting at you like that-"
"I'd rather you assault me verbally to purge your anger than lose your soul smashing the Technomites."
Ratchet couldn't help but chuckle. "Sure thing, Clank. Thanks."
As Ratchet and Clank continued their way through the facility, Twilight thought about what she'd heard. Clank's words percolated far too easily to things she had heard and read in various fictions. All the tales of friends banding together to raise a child placed in one of their care, whether or not there was any sort of romance between the friends. More often than not in that fiction, there wasn't. She'd always liked those stories...but never thought to apply it to her own situation here.
Her eyes lit up as a startling conclusion filled her mind, pushing her despair back fully, if only for a time. As Ratchet and Clank returned from the Technomite facility and unshrank themselves, Twilight flung herself at Clank, hugging him tightly. "I love you too, Mommy!" she squealed happily, tears in her eyes.
"Mommy?" Clank asked in shock, causing Ratchet to burst into laughter.
"Forgot you left the communications open?" Ratchet joked.
"No, I remembered," Clank corrected, wrapping his arms gently around the weeping filly. "But I certainly did not expect this level of reaction."
"No more did I," Ratchet agreed. "Not gonna argue about it, though." He smiled down at Twilight. "So what do you say, Twi? Up to helping-" He snorted in amusement. "-Mommy and Daddy hunt down the big, bad Luna-bot that tricked us into this?"
"Luna-bot?" Twilight asked, confused.
"It turns out that Luna was in fact a Technomite mobile robotic warship," Clank explained.
Twilight tapped her hoof against her chin. "You mean...I won't face charges if I cave her skull in?"
"Nope!" Ratchet confirmed happily.
"Then let's go smash her!" Twilight shouted eagerly, leaping back into the ship.
"'Mommy and Daddy'?" Clank asked Ratchet quietly.
"She's talking again," Ratchet replied just as quietly. "If I thought it would keep her happy right now, I'd dress you up in a Victorian Gown and switch your voice box to one from a Wagnerian Opera Bot. Heck, if it made her happy right now, I'd adopt Captain Qwark. So if Mommy is what she needs, get used to it."
Clank shrugged his shoulders. "No arguments there. It's fitting though, I suppose. I am the only one of us who can cook at all."
"Hey!" Twilight shouted out. "I'm getting better! I didn't burn the salad last time!"
"No," Ratchet countered playfully, "you turned it into a slime monster that died from drinking the burnt juice."
Laughing, the trio took off for the Dayni Moon, in pursuit of the Luna-bot.
So, somehow, she's an even worse cook than Sweetie Belle. Eep.
So is Twilight worse or better at cooking than Sweetie Belle?
Oh my local deity that is hilarious!
Maybe... unicorns always start out as bad cooks in the worst sense?
Man her cooking is as bad as Sweetie Belle's.
At this point in the game i went for the Crystalex Armour set then the Mega Bomb armour set both were a pain to get
6451793 both are still better than the soldier from nine fathers
6451796 I want this to be canon with the show so bad
You are evil...sooo evil....how can you do such bad things to that poor helpless and weak Twilight honestly though glad to see ya letting her have some semblance of sanity back even if only for a chapter
I wonder if that's the reason Spike cooks every thing for both of them. Actually, this makes me wonder about how it compares to Genie from Aladdin. Does phenomenal cosmic power but tiny living space compare to phenomenal magic power but can't cook? Also, what does this mean for Sweetie Belle?
That'd be one hell of a family if both Clank and Ratchet have their own harems.
Well, if Clank gets one. Twi hasn't made any thoughts for him… yet?
6451863
Probably. Everyone has something that they aren't good at to balance out what they are. Not sure what it means for Sweetie; I think she just tries to hard to impress.
And I find it supremely ironic that you mentioned Genie from Aladdin, as I had just watched that movie yesterday. My favorite Disney movie, that is.
Feeeeaaaaaad mmmmeeeee........fffeeeeeeaaaaaaad meeeeeeeeee.
...salad monster sings:
Fead me Twilght fead me all night looong.
That's right girl!
You can do it. Fead me Twilght! Fead me aallll night looong! Ha ha ha. Because if you fead me twilght. I'll grow up. Big! And strong.
6451900
That's not irony buddy. That's just an amusing coincidence.
Irony, noun: The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
Synonyms: sarcasm, sardonicism, dryness, causticity, sharpness, acerbity, acid, bitterness, trenchancy, mordancy, cynicism; More a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often wryly amusing as a result.
6451927
Ah, okay. Thanks; I guess I've been using that phrase the wrong way.
6451900 i loved return of jafar myself.
6451927 neeeerrrrd! Just kidding.
Holy...cooking skill....of Twily...
Can they reprogram her to be friendly and a playmate for Twilight instead?????
If Clank starts doing sitcom mom stuff I'm going to laugh my butt off. Especially if he gets a Marge Simpson or other cartoon mom hair wig.
6452071
Luna-bot doesn't have AI. She's literally a ship shaped like a little girl. Like that one from the "Let's Kill Hitler" episode of Doctor Who, but without the shapeshifting or killer antibody bots inside.
That part made me think of Meet Dave.
6452084 Ah, that makes even more sense. I love how the Doctor used said machine as a way to cheat his own death.
Those technomites better suffer greatly, or it would feel like they got off easily after what they did to twilight.
6452290
...how is that creepy?
How do you even BURN salad? It is literally grass in a bowl, no fire needed. You just put plants in a bucket and eat it. That is the very definition of a salad, uncooked plants in a bowl. In no situation should burning a salad ever be possible. That's Sweetie Belle levels of terrible cooking right there.
Wait up, Twi! I'm a bringing an arsenal and a posse with me! Ain't that right?
Tigger: "I get to drive the Hulkbuster! I get to drive the Hulkbuster!"
images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/23900000/Kitty-Pryde-X-men-Evolution-kitty-pryde-23988845-259-194.jpg "Don't rub it in."
serebii.net/art/th/491.png "I am ready"
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/9b/49/a5/9b49a55a1ea5713e390a11385007ff60.jpg "ARMING WAR PRO-TO-CALS! EX-TER-MIN-ATE ALL TECH-NO-MITES! EX-TER-MIN-ATE EX-TER-MIN-ATE EX-TER-MIN-ATE!!!"
fbcdn-photos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-0/p206x206/10636300_765530246837162_8889715307834186151_n.png?oh=b8d65ca1a9e4d580d88a78f1383a97f2&oe=56604984&__gda__=1449920866_2be5be4cb1f589d731c7304dd423a1ad "Keelah Se-lai, little angry one."
3dsbuzz.com/forum/data/avatars/l/3/3376.jpg?1434492264 "It's-a time to CRUSH the little punks."
christopherpitts.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/leonardo-300x233.jpg "Indeed. No one harms a child on our watch."
6452399
Handling the ingredients in a magical field and something goes wrong.
6452301
Trying to make a joke. But I guess I failed miserably
I was trying to poke fun at the implied marriage of Squishy and Robot. In real life, that would be pretty disturbing.
Don't worry though, I'll still read the fic. It's still really good. and it's yours so you can do what you want with it.
6451819
"I Teleported bread."
"For how long,"
"A Week."
Suffice to say that is crazy.
I also like that Twilight is better.
6452552
Oh.
But it doesn't imply marriage.
It implies "friends raise infant" sitcom.
6452570
Two-way-street, brah. It can be taken multiple ways.
Also that comment from Ratchet about putting Clank in a dress didn't really help the case either. Sorry.
So, Twiley's been reading Tatsurou's other stories, huh? Well, I think I'll go get my psycho (his words, not mine)Super Saiyan 4 OC after the technomites.
Ahhahahaha I'm gonna reealllly enjoy this.
I almost fell sorry for em. Almost.
6451940
You're welcome. I do hope I wasn't coming across too pushy with that. Anyway don't worry about it, many people on the internet have used that word incorrectly, so it's actual meaning has gotten a bit muddied for anyone that hasn't bothered to look it up.
6452002
Wut u say to me boi?!
How dare you insinuate that I am anything other than a big nerd!
6452690
6452690
6452565
If by better you mean psychotic goddess of destruction hell-bent on getting vengence.
Kinda like this
6452933 Oh, you don't even know the half of it. Also unhinged main characters are usually the ones you should avoid most as a foe.
6452084 .... so can they dismantle her and put her shell on a robot?????
6453002
...why would they want to use a face associated with Twilight's trauma for that?
I want a fanart piece done of Twilight's "caving in her skull" scene, please!!
6453025 Good point.... so put it on a target dummy.
That sounds eerily familiar.
she cooks like raritys family
6453180 Clank shrugged his shoulders. "No arguments there. It's fitting though, I suppose. I am the only one of us who can cook at all."
"Hey!" Twilight shouted out. "I'm getting better! I didn't burn the salad last time!"
"No," Ratchet countered playfully, "you turned it into a slime monster that died from drinking the burnt juice."
Laughing, the trio took off for the Dayni Moon, in pursuit of the Luna-bot.
agreed but soo funny
6451922 Why hello Audrey II
Ha ha ha yes some one got it lol
6454107 you my friend have just made my day
6452399 That is assuming Twilight knows how you're supposed to prepare a salad, as opposed to starting out from the outlook that "You cook things by frying them, right?" and working (mad-sciency) from there.
And I'm fairly sure you could fry salad and make it taste good, if you figure out how to do it. Perhaps sauteing in oil. Cooking demands experimentation, after all. Last week I had the idea that you could add sweet and sour sauce to the pot before you pop popcorn, and get sweet-and-sour flavored popcorn. Turns out, it just makes them burned and those that aren't still tastes vile. And now I've learned that. Cooking is basically applied chemistry.
Adopt... Captain...
... Ratchet, Murphy is listening, and he is getting ideas...
6454505 nah, hes just doing the evil- finger- tap- thing while he waits for his plans to come to fruition
6453202 no, just Sweetiebelle...Rarity is actually a very good cook,