//------------------------------// // Diamond Tiara's?! Journal of the unexplained 11 // Story: Pinkie Pie's Fourth-Wall Breaking Variety Show // by Alex Warlorn //------------------------------// Alex Warlorn A unicorn teleported in, she had the same hair style as Sunny Day, but her mane and coat were the color of Apple Bloom's, and had a sun apple cutie mark. "What tha?!" The musical Alicorn exclaimed. "Sunny Day as ya know 'er was just an empty puppet controlled by Celestia, so I just took control of the empty shell and altered it." Princess Celestia stank at creating Avatars, as a general rule, they were mindless machines at best, and marionettes at best. Sunny Apple then proceeded to blast the robots to bits. "Ah also got this!" A holographic display of a big red button floated from next to the nightmare of Progress. She hit it. "Anti-Alicorn Disruption Field Activated! Preparations and know-how trumps everything! Doesn't effect Nightmares though." The Prince of Gaming's army fell apart into pixels, and the princess of music's songs fell silent. Some distance away with the big glowing white cocoon where the Sooctaloos were in. 'Diamond Tiara... I get the feeling you'll get a chance to be the hero here soon after all.' Whispered Discord. 'Though you might want to hurry before Scootaloo hatches and steals the show.' 'Hatches?' 'Nothing! Nothing! Just a theory!' Kendell2 "But we need Applebloom to talk some sense into herself!" Diamond said. She looked up. Then thought... "...Maybe. Either way, we NEED to get in there..." She then looked to Sunny Apple. "...That's just a puppet the Nightmare Applebloom is using, right?" Discord nodded. "Correct." Diamond transformed into her Yokai form, charged and promptly slammed her claw into her, knocking the wind out of her due to her focusing too much on her triumph and not enough to Diamond. "You know, you have WAY too big an ego!" she said, then slammed both claws into her head repeatedly before obliterating the Avatar with a blast of chaos from her mouth. Discord snapped his fingers and a pot and kettle appeared next to Diamond. "Oh you're one to talk!" Diamond replied, somewhat glad that hadn't felt as good as she'd always imagined seeing Applebloom get pounded would feel...meant she'd changed. She looked to Leitmotif. "You still got Alicorn superstrength, right?" Leitmotif, who'd been looking sad (though not crying like Button on his own likely would have), nodded. "Yeah..." Discord sighed. "You'd think that the creator would stop worfing us deities if he REALLY wanted the audience to see us as amazing things the universe needs to keep running..." Diamond sighed. "I'll never understand this cosmic stuff...Anyway, we need to get IN there." Suddenly, the 'egg' surrounding Scootaloo exploded and an orange flash flew in, unleashing a blast of fire on several of the war station's weapons. Diamond Tiara blinked, looking at her. Scootaloo wasn't an Alicorn, nor a Ryujin. She had an Alicorn's basic body shape, with the horn and wings, but had a purple underbelly like a dragon with sharp teeth, spines growing down her back. Her tail was a dragon's but ended in a tuff of purple fur. Her front limbs ended in claws and her hind ones were hooves, Scootaloo's Cutie Mark visible. Her armor was like that of a knight, being silver with Chrysoprase gemstones. "Princess Faventia to the rescue!" The Nightmare's battle station opened fire...but Scootaloo raised her forelegs and formed an energy shield, stopping it in it's tracks. "WHAT?! But my Anti-Alicorn field?!" Instrumentum voice yelled, still dealing with the drones that'd gotten inside and were being annoyingly stubborn about not stopping with Sweetie's magic canceled out. "Cause I ain't one!" Faventia replied, smirking. "I'm a...what did Queen Tiamat call it in that weird celestial place with Princess Celestia? A Divine Kirin." "But Ah ain't got any data on Divine Kirins!" "Cause I'm the only one!" Diamond looked as Applebloom came up. "Good, you're here..." she looked back up. "Scootaloo! Break us an entrance!" she yelled, then looked to Leitmotif. "Fly us up into it!" She looked to Discord. "And Uncle..." "Yes?" "Cause some chaos." Discord smirked like a kid in a candy store. He teleported off, then returned on a giant flying parade float armed with cannons in the shape of novelty spray flowers surrounded by flying pigs. "CHARGE!" He might not have been able to do anything directly, but he COULD still be really, really distracting. "Troll brigade!" he called, turning to a crew of literal trolls at computers. "Engage mindless trolling! Flood her systems with junk emails, spam, and moronic comments on the most meaningless dribble you can think of! Let no spam filter or firewall stop you!" Said trolls proceeded to laugh like psychos and get typing. "At last! I found a benevolent use for trolling!" Faventia flew up and drove her claws into the side to the bottom of the Applecron and used her strength to rip it open. Leitmotif grabbed her two friends and flew up, into the ripped hole with Faventia following suit afterwards. Inside, they found...an arcade. Leitmotif separated the ruby and sapphire, returning to Button and Sweetie. "This was my place..." said Button, looking around. "Very observant of you," said Ispita's voice. The goddess of Temptation appeared before them. "Took you long enough to get here...I had time to prepare something for you." She jumped back, revealing an arcade cabinet with a gun on it. The title was the Baron of Battle. "If you won't be the Temptation of Video Game Addiction, that's fine. I have another child who's got that covered. Come forth!" The cabinet shattered, a massive green wire frame face arising from the wreckage, grid lines radiating off of it. "Greetings Earthlings. I am the Baron of Battle, Master of All I Survey." Multiple wire frame enemies manifested. A red shape, an orange UFO, a pink racer, and so on. "What is that thing?!" Applejack asked. "Oh, my son," Ispita explained. "You see me and a cousin of mine, who went by the name 'the Clockwork Stallion' at the time, came up with the idea of making a video game so insanely hard and addicting that a hardcore player could become obsessed enough to ruin their grades, steal from their parents, and ruin their life just to try and finish it. And once they did? He swallows them up. I created the Baron from a piece of my own essence, only thing we Draconequi can do to actually MAKE something. And he's just as brainless as the one my potential sister-in-law Pandora tried, but hey, at least he WORKS for what I made him for!" she said, cackling. "Game start." She vanished into purple smoke as the minions began to attack. Button saw the gun from the remains of the arcade and grabbed the gun, firing and destroying one of the minions as Scootaloo guarded her friends. "It's what you use to play the game!" Diamond blasted another with a chaos blast. "Let's beat the 'boss' and end this quick!" Mtangalion Twilight Sparkle pointed a shaking hoof at the insane troll parade. "Is that your idea of 'on our side?' Discord's turning the whole town upside-down... again!" She planted her hooves. "Formation, girls!" "O- okay!" Fluttershy moved next to Twilight, plucking up her courage. "Mmm-hmm!" said Rarity. "Finally!" Rainbow Dash grinned. "Let's do it!" "No," said Applejack. Twilight froze, then spun around to stare at Applejack, and Pinkie Pie beside her, who was looking a little downcast and scuffing a hoof in the dirt. "No? Sorry, did you say... no?!" Applejack sighed. "That's what Ah said." Pinkie Pie trotted up to them. "Discord IS on our side, Twilight. Thalia is the one who reformed him." "If ya'll would pay attention and not jump to conclusions, you'd see that Discord's distractin' Nightmare Instrumentum, and not hurting anypony down here." Indeed... not many ponies were approaching the parade float instead of barricading themselves in their homes, and most of those ponies hadn't been in Ponyville the first time, but Discord was waving and smiling to them, and even throwing candy to a hooffull of colts and fillies... which *wasn't* turning them into anything crazy. A second Discord appeared before them in a flash and cleared his throat. "I know I'm going to be saying this a lot, so I might as well start practicing now. Ahem..." He grasped a terrified Twilight's shoulders, and leaned close. "I'm sorry." Twilight blinked. "Huh?" "Truly, utterly, and sincerely sorry." Discord flashed over to Rainbow Dash. "I'm sorry." Poofed over to Rarity. "So very sorry, my dear." And then to Fluttershy. "I'm doubly sorry. My goodness, the foal support is going to ruin me, isn't it?" Fluttercruel swiped a hoof at him, which he nimbly dodged. "And what if sorry isn't good enough?!" Discord struck a pose. "Then I shall make amends, daughter dearest. I'm not going anywhere. Hmm, and unfortunately, it seems you aren't either. I'd hoped to send you to the Applecron as well, so we could attack Little Miss Borg Queen on two fronts, but..." Two earth ponies came up the hill behind them, stamping fissures into the ground and even breaking the stones beneath their hooves. "Are they... Apples?" asked Twilight. The stallion even wore a hat that was a twin of AJ's own. Applejack gritted her teeth. "Tartarus... She's still got control of the robot doubles of our Ma and Pa." "We're real sorry about this, sugarcube," said the mare. "We love ya..." "But somepony else is pullin' our strings now," said the stallion. "Do what ya gotta do." Then the expressions on both of them went completely blank. Metallic horns extended from their foreheads, and metal wings unfolded from their backs... Mtangalion Princess Faventia was getting swarmed by tiny pixelated spaceships, all of them plinking away at her shield with lasers. The Divine Kirin grinned. "Quick? Sounds good to me!" She struck a pose, and her wings ignited, sending out a pulse of flame that blew up half of the enemies attacking her. Then she stamped a hind hoof, striking a spark on the metal floor that became blasts of lightning, taking out the rest of them. "Did I mention that I'm also the goddess of the tianma?" Euterpe cheered and clapped her hooves. "Someone's going to have to retroactively update those statues of us four." Diamond Tiara eyed a stray pink racer like an annoying fly, then stamped on it and ground it to pixel dust beneath a scaly paw. "Sorry... what's a tianma?" "Ah'm kinda wondering that mahself," said Apple Bloom. "Let me guess... my future, y'all's past?" Faventia extinguished her wings and folded them again so the heat wouldn't roast her friends. "We'll tell you all about them later. Better yet, we'll take you to visit! First things first, though..." She lit her horn and fired a bolt of raw magic at the Baron of Battle. In an instant, a golden wireframe shaped like a colt appeared and fired a single blaster shot, at the perfect angle to bounce the magic harmlessly in a different direction. "Reflect!" actually appeared in tiny glowing letters at the point of impact, rising and fading away. The Baron's green wireframe face chortled. "Your attacks are useless against me." "What?" cried Faventia. "I bet you can't do that again..." Isthmia held a hoof in front of her before she could fire another shot. "Wait... That mid-boss has my skills! See?" The Alicorn prince fired several blaster rounds in quick succession, dodging left and rolling right, and the golden wireframe mirrored him perfectly, shots cancelling each other out in midair. "The Baron traps obsessed gamers... you're another Button Mash, aren't you?" The gold wireframe gave him a furious, cartoonish glare. "And you're another me! It's not faaaaaiiiiirrrr!" He stamped blocky see-through hooves. "I just wanted everypony to *stop bothering me* so I could play my game, and I wound up like this! Why should you get to play games forever AND be an Alicorn?!" Isthmia sighed and lowered his weapon, despite his counterpart's still being aimed at him. "We're... not so different. I had to fall too, before I learned there's more to life than just games." "You... you're lying!" said the other Button, his animations visibly stuttering. "Gaming is everything! What else is there!?" Isthmia smiled sheepishly, looking to Euterpe and Faventia and Apple Bloom. "Do I really have to do the friendship speech? I'm not very good at those." He coughed. "But yeah, it's friends. Even the best game gets lonely if nopony wants to play with you, you know? And if you get the world record high score but nopony cares... what was the point?" Wireframe Button Mash lifted his blaster again, staring at it. "I think... I want to take a break. Maybe I'll try something else besides games for a little while." His form began to glow, slowly fading and dissolving into pixels. "Whoa... is that all I had to do... this whole time?" And then he was gone. The Baron of Battle seized up. "Error. Core programming removed. Error. Recompiling..." "Oh no you don't!" said Diamond Tiara. She fired a chaos blast and blew the Baron away before he could finish, leaving just a cloud of pixels and a floating text message that read "Respawn time: 4 minutes." Then she fired a bunch more times, until the message read "Respawn time: 4.335E+7 minutes." Diamond smirked. "I'm not sure what that means, but it's a really long time, right?" She conjured up a small broom and dustpan with a snap of her claws, then swept up the cloud and tossed it through a portal into a chaos dimension for good measure. Apple Bloom started to tell Diamond many years that was, but then she looked at her blank flank and sighed, saying nothing. In the Applecron's control room, Silver Spoon watched Diamond Tiara and the others on a video monitor, shocked. The filly had her hooves shackled, but she wasn't even resisting, now. Nightmare Instrumentum watched her watching the monitor, calculating odds. "Ya see? Ah didn't lie. Mah previously gathered data indicated that the two of you did absolutely everything together." She leaned closer. "Clearly that's no longer the case. She's left ya mighty far behind, hasn't she?" Instrumentum pivoted around, the servos of her mech suit whining. "Robot plumbers." Two mechanical ponies saluted her, one painted red, the other green. "Escort our 'princess' here to another 'castle.' Ah need more data..." Kendell2 Diamond Tiara's nostrils twitched. "Silver?" Euterpe blinked. "You can smell Silver?" "I've been a Yokai longer than I LET you know..." Diamond said. "She's here somewhere...Oh no!" The group knew what that meant and promptly ran off, following her closely.  However, before they could reach her location, Ispita once more interrupted them. She looked rather angry. "You're going to pay for what you did to my child." Diamond rolled her eyes. "We all know you don't give a darn about anypony who's not you." "You're right, but he was one of my favorite toys," Ispita said. She pulled out a small device. "Gift from the girl who owns the joint." She put it over the Coyote totem and transformed into purple smoke, the rainbow chains seeming to be stretched by both her power and the device. She transformed into a huge winged, two armed serpent made of purple smoke, draconequus like eyes glaring down at them with shadowy horns extending from the back of her head. "Normally this form requires a lot more energy to maintain, but thanks to this little machine, I can maintain it much easier. Say hello to the Shadow of Desire." Blood red lightning crackled around one arm and a dark purple lightning around another. She put her hands together and let loose a barrage of lightning bolts at them. The group dodged, getting several burns in the process. Euterpe looked to her fellow deities. "Diamond! Applebloom! Go help Silver and stop Nightmare Applebloom!" "What?!" Diamond Tiara asked.  "We can't just leave you here!" Applebloom yelled. "Applebloom needs to stop Instrumentum, and I KNOW Diamond wants to rescue Silver!" Faventia yelled. "Besides, we're the deities here! Let us handle the mad goddess!" The group jumped out of the way of a black energy beam with a red corona fired from Isptia's 'mouth' that tore through the floor. Diamond and Applebloom looked to each other. "...They've got a point..." Diamond said. Applebloom didn't like it...but she couldn't deny time was running out. "...Fine, let's go." The two ran off as the two Alicorns and one Kirin looked to each other. Ispita laughed. "Three fledgeling deities? You think you can beat me? The Goddess of Temptation?!" Isthmia smirked. "You're not a deity right now, are you? And I think we've got a way to raise our stats." The group produced the Ruby and Sapphire...and the Pearl Luna had given them that they'd yet to use. They put them together and turned into energy that combined together. Emerging from the energy in a rain of pixels, musical notes, and butterflies was a divine Kirin, their scales were brownish orange with their underbelly and mane and tail being a mix of Sweetie and Scootaloo's purples only darker. They were about teenaged size. Their Cutie Mark was a coat of arms split into red, brown, and purple sections with a darker purple star with a lighter purple pixilized heart with butterfly wings in the center. They were androgynous, but seemed slightly more female. Opening their eyes, then looked at the Spirit of Temptation with a mix of rage, confidence, and caution, seeming confident, but not overestimating herself. "I'm...Crusader? No...Applebloom's not in here. How about Cavalier?" the fusion asked. "How about DEAD?!" asked Ispita, unleashing her mouth beam, but finding a powerful beam of dark magic countering it.  Cavalier grinned. "I am all of their rage, all of their anger..." They then blasted the stunned Demon with a blast of light magic that slammed her into the wall. "But also their joy and compassion...and?" A version of Megastallion appeared and blasted at Ispita, forcing her to dodge. "I'm a Divine Kirin, not an Alicorn! Which means I can use my powers now!" Ispita growled, summoning Mrs. Pie in her top hat and cape to counter. "Fine. Let's see who's the better God!" "I think you threw away that title a long time ago." --- Instrumentum rolled her eyes, still trying to process all the junk mail she'd been randomly getting. "Of course they'd go for Silver, should have taken into account Diamond might have enhanced sense...oh well..." She then clicked on something on a monitor to close the doors...then blinked when instead she was greeted by a strange stallion dancing and singing. "Never gonna give you up Never gonna run around and hurt you..." "What the buck?!" --- Discord laughed his head off (literally). "You gave her computers a virus that replaces functions with rick rolls?" The troll laughed psychotically while nodding. "CLASSIC! That should distract her! And really really confuse her given that doesn't exist in Equestria! BRILLIANT!" Alex Warlorn "!!!!!raaaaaaaaaaR" "Never gonna, AAAAAAHHH!!!" "!yoU shalL bE removeD" Snarled the Blank Wolf chasing the formally dancing stallion who was now running for his existence. The entire thing still being shown by the cameras. Though most would only see the stallion running from nothing. Discord face faulted. "Oh right, 'doesn't exist' equals Blank Wolf." Mtangalion Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara raced through more metal corridors, following Diamond's nose. They skidded around a corner and saw Silver Spoon in an intersection, being led along like a prisoner between a red ponybot and a green ponybot. "Silver, this way!" shouted Diamond, holding out a paw. The shackles had been removed... Silver could have slipped away from the robots and run to Diamond, but instead she gasped and backed away. The red ponybot struck a taunting pose. "No big ugly reptiles are kidnapping our princess today!" The green ponybot shook his rear at them. "Let's a-go!" They grabbed Silver and dashed off to the right. Diamond Tiara ground her fangs, livid. "Oh, you did not just call me a... hey, get back here!" She charged around the corner, and Apple Bloom shrugged and followed... but they quickly ran up against a heavy steel door that slid shut to block their path. Diamond jammed her claws under the door and started prying it open, but she only managed to raise it a few inches. Apple Bloom braced her hooves and brought her earth pony strength to bear, and together they managed to push the door a few inches higher. "This isn't enough," grunted Diamond. "Turn into something stronger!" Bloom grinned and turned into a buffalo. "Easy as apple pie!" They managed to lift the door and slip underneath, but it slammed shut behind the fillies, leaving them in complete darkness. Diamond groaned. "Turn into something that can shed some light." Apple Bloom became one of those glow-in-the-dark ponies. She'd never really understood what that was all about, but it was useful enough now, revealing the two handles that had to be turned to open the next door. They saw Silver and the robots disappearing around another corner at the far end of the hallway, just before a hatch opened and filled the hallway with dirt and rocks, blocking the whole passage. "Turn into something that can dig!" "Ah kinda got that one myself," grumbled Apple Bloom, shifting into a Diamond Dog pup. There was a room with a narrow bridge over a deep drop, and wild winds that only a pegasus could calm. And a door with ten tiny little buttons that only a human's fingers could press. A room with dart traps that forced Apple Bloom to become an earth dragon, making herself a living shield for Diamond. And on and on... Apple Bloom frowned, seeming more worried with each new test. "It's like mah Nightmare *wants* me ta show off all my different forms." Her eyes widened. "Oh, no no no... it's exactly what she wants. This ain't good at all!" Diamond sighed. "I know, but what else can we do? At least we're nearly to the end." Heavy steel walls slammed down, behind and in front of them. The wall in front had a large screen full of spinning 3D wireframes and equations, and a keyboard sized for pony hooves. Diamond smirked. "No prizes for guessing what this test is about." She blinked. "Apple Bloom?" Apple Bloom was huddled in a corner, as far from the screen as she could get, refusing to even look at it. "Ah can't... Ah'm real sorry, Diamond, Ah just can't! Use your magic and blast the wall open." "But..." Diamond shook her head. "No, there's not enough room in here. You'll get hurt!" "That's okay. Do what ya gotta do to save Silver. Ah'll use the dragon form again and be just fine." She tried to smile, but she was shaking and wouldn't look Diamond in the eyes. "No, you won't," snapped Diamond. "I know what chaos magic can do. Look, just solve that puzzle, okay?" "But... but Ah can't!" whimpered Apple Bloom. "If Ah get a special talent for numbers and machines and stuff, Ah'll wind up ruining all of Ponyville and then the whole world, just like Nightmare Instrumentum!" "Seriously?" bellowed Diamond Tiara. "My best friend is in danger, and you're scared of a stupid thing like that?! Is your head as empty as your *blank flank*!?" She froze. "No... I didn't mean..." Apple Bloom's eyes filled with tears. "Th-th-that's right." She sobbed. "Ah'll just be a dumb ol' blank flank. It's fine. We're all better off that way." Diamond sighed. "No, we're not..." Then she surprised both of them by shrinking back down to normal and hugging the other filly. "Apple Bloom, I'm sorry I said that. This isn't easy for me to say, but... I'm sorry for *all* the times I ever made fun of you! It was rotten, and mean, and... and I was just a huge jerk!" Apple Bloom stopped sniffling, hardly believing her ears. "Look," said Diamond. "Did Button Mash have to give up video games forever to stop Nightmare Pixel? Did Sweetie Belle's music suddenly become evil, just because Cantata did bad things with *her* music? My special talent didn't make me a bad pony either. I... I did that myself. What you do with *your* talent is up to *you*, whatever talent you get! "Oh, and you'd better appreciate this, because if you ever tell anyone that I hugged you..." Diamond winked. "I'll deny everything. I'll have the family lawyer write up an affidavit and everything." Apple Bloom couldn't help but laugh a little at that. She gazed at the keyboard, closed her eyes for a moment, then nodded and crossed the room. "Okay..." she whispered. Slowly at first, and then with increasing confidence, Apple Bloom tapped at the keyboard. Wireframes rotated and slotted together with other shapes. Equations lit up, blinked, and disappeared, solved and simplified. Apple Bloom began to smile as she worked. "Sorry Ah made ya wait so long, Miss Fate, but... Ah'm sure now. This is what Ah want." In the end, only a single interconnected schematic remained, with a single very complex equation underneath. Apple Bloom grinned. "It's Flim and Flam's time machine. Heh... Ah guess even a Nightmare wasn't crazy enough to build another one of those." The whole display flashed, and the walls of the trap retracted back into the ceiling. Apple Bloom's flank began to sparkle. In a burst of golden light, a shiny silver gear appeared, with a ripe red apple in the center. "Is that... Ah can't bear to look!" She peeked, then squealed and danced, hugging Diamond again before she could object. Diamond smiled, rolling her eyes. "Congratulations on your cutie mark. Ugh, all these hugs are totally going to ruin my reputation." Apple Bloom nodded firmly. "It's time ta fight fire with fire." Nightmare Instrumentum watched it all, on the one monitor that she'd managed to keep free of trotting rappers in sunglasses and sleepy lovecat kittens. She tapped a control on her wrist, and her mech suit split open, letting her step out of it. Her own cutie mark, a black gear with a green apple, was shimmering darkly now, and it only took a moment's concentration for her to transform into a black-furred wolf pup with eerie neon runes in her fur. She changed back again, pleased. "Soon, it'll be time ta settle this." Mtangalion Shining Armor had been many things. Big brother, soldier, guard captain, prince, hero, favored chew toy of the goddess of imagination... Today, he'd added griffon (proud and extremely fluffy), human (felt embarrassingly under-dressed), pegasus (just plain weird), and plenty more to that list. Now he was a long, serpentine dragon with ivory and sapphire scales, able to effortlessly hover and glide through the air without wings... but Cadence's plan to have him touch all the statues and evolve into an Alicorn had run into a bit of a snag. "I... I just can't do it, Cady! I don't think I can touch that next statue." Cadence gave him a pouting look, leaning against his side. "It wouldn't have to be for long. Are you sure? I thought if you had a hangup, it'd be with the seapony, not, well... the wolf." "Well, he's not helping," grumbled Shining. Snow Bound was giving him a big smug toothy grin. "What? This is the best revenge that I am ever likely to have." Shining stuck a long forked tongue out at the Wolf. "Besides, Twily made a Pinkie Promise that none of us would ever become wolves." "Isn't that her problem?" asked Cadence. "You didn't make any promise." "But I don't want to get her in trouble!" Shining looped through the air, leaving whorls of arcane energy in his wake. "Say, Cady? What kind of dragon is this anyway?" Cadence shrugged her wings. "You're a mana wyrm. The only mana wyrm. I think they went extinct during Discord's thousand-year reign." A letter appeared in a flash of green dragonfire and fluttered into her hooves. Cadence scanned it, eyes growing wide. "This is... all of the things that Queen Tiamat is willing to do for us if we commit to repopulating the species." "Still not our weirdest weekend ever," said Shining, unimpressed. Mtangalion Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara trotted through a maze of metal corridors, back on the trail of Silver and her captors. "If only there was a workshop or something around here," grumbled Apple Bloom. "Ah could get into Instrumentum's machines, maybe get the robots on our side!" Diamond smirked. "No big deal, right? Oh mighty Isthmia, could we please have a GameColt with the developer mode unlocked?" A faint, unfamiliar voice spoke from thin air, making the fillies jump. "Sorry... we're a bit busy right now!" "I didn't think he'd actually hear that," said Diamond sheepishly. "They can't help you," said Apple Bloom's voice on a loudspeaker. No, not Apple Bloom... that was Nightmare Instrumentum! "How about Ah lend ya a helping hoof?" A heavy steel door slid open, revealing a side passage. Inside, a metal hoofband with a display screen and several buttons sat on a little table under a spotlight, sized just right for a filly's foreleg. Apple Bloom took several steps forward, clearly drawn to it. "It's gotta be a trick. Yer up to something!" "Ah have plans and goals, certainly," said Instrumentum. "Yer plan is to help me beat you?!" said Apple Bloom, not buying it. Diamond started to follow Bloom into the side passage, and froze when she heard hooves scuffing the metal floor, further down the main corridor. Silver Spoon stood there on shaking legs, without the robots that had been herding her. "D-D- Diamond?" "Silver!" The moment Diamond stepped away from the side passage, the steel door slammed closed, separating them. "No... Apple Bloom!" Silver hung her head. "Do you care more about her than me now, Diamond?" "Ah knew it!" shouted Apple Bloom, giving the steel door a buck that only made her hooves hurt, then searching for door opening switches that apparently didn't exist. "What's gonna happen if I put that gadget on my leg, huh? Will it lock in place so Ah can't take it off, and shock me until Ah obey ya?" A huge viewscreen powered up, showing Instrumentum's face. The Nightmare didn't gloat or brag or rant... she just studied Apple Bloom with intense interest, like Twilight Sparkle with a brand new book on the history of sandwiches. "Nope. Nothing like that." It was really disorienting, like Apple Bloom was talking to herself... which she was, in a way. "Ah bet this thing will only give me false data, and report to you on everything we do!" "Nope. Ah have plenty of gadgets spying on ya without ya wearing another one." "It'll probably stick metal wires in mah brain and turn me into some kinda robo-zombie!" "Nope. It's a miniature computer and access device, nothing more. Yer quite welcome to poke around mah network and subvert mah machines, if ya can. Ah reckon you ought to enjoy the challenge." Apple Bloom glared at the screen, eyes narrowed. "Pinkie swear?" Instrumentum scowled faintly. "We are potential aspects of the Truth. We have no need of such irrational things as Pinkie Promises. Look into mah eyes, and see if ya can call me a liar." Apple Bloom stared down her own image on the video screen, then sighed and grabbed the metal hoofband, snapping it into place around her right foreleg. The miniature display on the cuff lit up, showing scrolling text and projecting images of more buttons and sliders that seemed to respond to nothing more than her looking and blinking at them, like magic. "Why give this to me?" Instrumentum studied her for a moment more before answering. "You've taken yer first steps toward becoming me. Ah'm just nudging ya along the path a little." Apple Bloom tensed. "Ah won't become you." Instrumentum smiled, barely. "You have mah special talent." Apple Bloom glanced back at her new cutie mark. "And Ah'll use it to *help* ponies who *ask* for my help! Not to cram whatever Ah decide is best down their throats!" "Can you allow them to make their own flawed and ignorant decisions, in good conscience?" said Instrumentum. "Every day, ponies die, by mischance or simple old age. All of their accumulated data and experience lost. Even ponies that were somepony's Ma or Pa. Ponies that *you* could have saved." Apple Bloom sighed. "Ah don't have the right. Ah don't *know* what's best for everypony. Ah ain't a god." "When we're done," said Nightmare Instrumentum, "one of us will be." Apple Bloom angrily 'typed' a series of codes into her hoofband. The big video screen went blank and another wall slid back, opening the path towards the Applecron's core. Alex Warlorn Nightmare Instrumentum's voice echoed. View screens floated nearby, Apple Bloom wouldn't know it, but it was a techno version of the celestial realm that mortals go to ascend. (And where Celestia hoped all ponies would enter some day). Apple Bloom saw 3-D lines spreading out, converging, branching out, and some even spiraling willingly. Apple Bloom saw herself... doing many things she didn't remember doing... became many of them were pictures of her doing things when she was older! "Ya outta know Incomplete Me... in roughly 90% of our central world lines... we are destine to break and make the world." "Uh... don't ya mean 'break OR make the world?'" "No. We will shatter the world, so we can make it into somethin' better, it's our destiny." "That ain't no shattered planet on our flanks!" "Don't be so literal minded." Kendell2 Cavalier dodged one of Ispita's mouth beams and countered with a horn beam of their own, all the while Miss Pie and Megastallion duked it out. "Isn't there some other way to handle this?" the fusion kirin asked. "Can't we talk this over?" Ispita gave a laugh. "Oh you little ponies and your belief there's good in everypony, even when there's none to be found. You are by far the most delusional race in creation." "We're not delusional! We just like to see the good in everypony!" Cavalier replied, the two firing beams that collided, triggering an explosion. "Good in ANYONE is an illusion. We're all just as rotten and monstrous on the inside as I am!...How about I spell it out for you?" -=I'm the Bad Guy- Wander Over Yonder=- Ispita slithered around, firing her lightning which Cavalier dodged. "I'm not the damsel in distress." Ispita dodged a bolt and grabbed the fusion in one of her smokey claws. "I'm no dope who needs friends, or some frightened princess, I'm not a little bird who needs your help to fly! Nope!" The spirit of temptation's claw crackled with electricity, giving the fusion a shock and making her cry out in pain. "I'm the bad guy!" Cavalier took a deep breath and blasted Ispita in the face with a blast of fire, forcing her back and making her release them. Ispita growled and summoned her orange eyed contract slaves. "All these fallen ponies that you see, Each of them, with shaking knees, has knelt before me," The slaves all bowed before her, some of them looking like they were being FORCED too no matter how hard they tried to fight it. "So I'm not some loser who'll turn good on a dime, What am I boys?!" Ispita called, swimming seductively among them and running a claw under a contract slave of Rainbow Dash's chin. "She's the bad guy..." they all sang together. Cavalier's horn glowed and they summoned a matching army of video game characters. "Pacifist run!" she ordered, right before the contract slaves and video game characters rushed each other and collided in a battle. "Oh it's magic, watching my contracts darken up their sky." Ispita formed a dark storm cloud and caused acid rain to fall at Cavalier, who produced a giant leaf from pixels and swung it, blowing the cloud away. "Oh it's thrillin', to be a villain. I destroy their lives and then I watch them cry." Ispita doubled in size and towered over them. "CAUSE I'M THE BAD GUY!" Cavalier dodged several smashes from her claws. "We'll see about that..." They then sang a wordless heart song that flowed through Ispita, showing...an image of her in a devil suit dancing around a grave marked 'Ispita's good side' singing "I'm evil!" "...Man, you really are evil!...AH!" Cavalier dodged a bite from Ispita's shadowy maul. "OH, AIN'T IT FANTASTIC? I SEE A LIFE, I TRASH IT!" Ispita pulled the hat off her contract slave Applejack's head, torched it, then through the fireball at Cavalier, blasting them back. She seemed to enjoy the tears that brought to the poor pony's eyes. "AND LET ME TELL YOU WHY!" Ispita returned to normal side and purple smoke seemed to spread out. She slashed a claw upwards and Cavalier had to jump out of the way as a giant construct of Ispita's claws erupting up. "I've always had a weakness For desperateness and bleakness I crush all your hopes and then I watch you cry!" Ispita continued sending constructs of her limbs and tail out of the floor until Cavalier spun around and sang, using Scootaloo's storm power and Sweetie Belle's magic music to dispel her shadow. The Spirit of Temptation flew fowards and slammed into them, driving them against the wall. "See, I find this business rather fun! I don't want your friendship or your silly redemption!" Ispita threw Cavalier up into the air and wrapped around them, electrocuting them with lightning. "I'll make a deal to ruin you, then bid ya bye bye! Why?" Ispita brought her head in front of them. "COME ON! GUESS!" Cavalier groaned, feathers and fur a bit blackened. "Cause you're the bad guy?" "Or, well girl." Ispita laughed maniacally as she prepared a beam with her mouth. Cavalier smirked. "...But..." "But what?" -=Opal-Steven Universe=- Cavalier chuckled. "But that's kinda good, isn't it?" Ispita then noticed that a yellow bar had appeared under Cavalier with a 4 displayed. Had that been there the whole time? Cavalier's horn glowed and they shot the Spirit of Temptation in the eye, driving her back with a scream. The gauge hit 5 and turned orange, the red word 'MAXIMUM' blinking across it. "MAXIMUM!" shouted a voice from nowhere. "Because if you're so evil, then I don't have to hold back, now do I?!" Cavalier gave a Ryujin-like roar and glowed with power, the background becoming a rush of blue and dark blue. They charged Ispita full force and punched her in the stomach with so much force even the powerful goddess had the wind knocked out of her. Cavalier summoned a large hammer with a black head and a brown handle in their telekinesis, swung around and smashed Ispita with it using all her strength, knocking her into the air. Ispita growled, catching herself...only to find Cavalier charging up. "See yah!" they yelled, firing an alpha strike of horn magic, lightning, and dragon-fire. Ispita screamed as the blast engulfed her, the machine she'd gotten from Applebloom's Nightmare exploding. "KO! HYPER COMBO!" shouted a voice. Cavalier panted as a battered and bloody Ispita (now reverted to her pony form) crashed to the ground, not moving. Cavalier looked over to the contract slaves...and noticed Applebloom and Applejack...Applebloom comforting her sister despite the fighting going on. "...Sorry about your hat..." "It's...it's okay...we have bigger problems..." Cavalier looked at Applebloom and used their menu. "...Oh! I've got it!" She then used her menu and produced what looked like a bundle of phoenix feathers...and put them on Applebloom, causing them to swirl around her. She briefly turned back to a ghoul from Sunnytown...then all the way back to life. Applejack was stunned...then hugged her sister, sobbing as the orange in their eyes shattered, the contract now null and void. "T-Thank yah..." Cavalier smiled. "...We did it because Applebloom would've if she was here." Applejack and Applebloom faded away, back to their home. "You...You...you..." Ispita muttered, getting back to her hooves, eyes glowing...then coughed up some orange blood. "...You...you haven't won...even if I'm not here...my little bad apple will tear this world to pieces and destroy everything that makes ponies ponies..." she cackled. "...Ding dong, the witch is far from dead..." She turned to purple smoke and vanished through a dimensional door that sealed behind her. Cavalier watched her contract slaves fade away, then dispelled her game characters. "...Level complete..." she said, seperating her fusion gems and splitting back into three very exhausted goddesses. "...Hope...hope Applebloom and Diamond can take it from here..." Scootaloo panted, the three lying on their back. Thankfully, the room was too wrecked to have any functioning tech in it to spy on them, so they could at least rest. "Let's just have faith in them..." Sweetie replied, equally tired. Button Mash nuzzled her and the two laid next to each other. Kendell2 Diamond Tiara was stunned by Silver's statement...then laughed sadly. "What's so funny?" Silver asked. "...I thought it was the other way around." The silver filly's eyes widened. "W-What?" "When I came back...I thought you'd already moved on...and were RIGHT to...I was a jerk! I was selfish...I treated you like horse apples!...Why wouldn't you move on without me?" Diamond asked sadly. "...Yes, I'm the Crusaders friend now...but you were ALWAYS my best friend and how could I ever abandon you?!...Because I was an idiot...and big stupid idiot...and I'm sorry...I'm sorry for everything." --- Applebloom rushed through the hallways of the Applecron. She knew where this was going. She knew something was going to happen when she reached the core...but the sight of her sister and Pinkie Pie's Alicorns being used as a living engine was not what she expected. "How...How could you do this?" "Because they'd stop me if Ah didn't, and with their power, I can do all of this without any damage to anything else," Nightmare Instrumentum's voice replied. "Besides, they're both being projected into android bodies, they're not suffering in any way." "...Idiot," Applebloom replied. "Pardon?" "...Applejack knows her little sister took THIS from her. That she has the power to help everypony but her sister is keepin' it from her." "Typical outdated emotional response." Applebloom's face was unreadable. "...So...yah don't feel anythin' at all about doin' this tah AJ? Tah Button, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle turnin' on yah?" "No. Ah don't. Such emotions are beneath me." "...Then yah ain't Applebloom anymore!" Applebloom replied, charging and punching the machine with every ounce of Earth Pony strength she could manage...only to scream and be launched back by an electric shock. "Did you really think that Ah'd make it that easy?" Instrumentum replied. "That electric shock can become powerful enough to make an Earth Dragon back off." Applebloom looked around, her mind looking for something she could use and repurpose for this...but realized that the majority of things she could use would destablize the entire generator and potentially cause the whole part of the Applecron would explode from losing the ability to contain the magic. 'They're Alicorns, they can survive it.' That's right...one explosion wouldn't be enough to kill two Alicorns and she could just make a shield for herself...they'd be free, then they could fix everything... The image of a Silver and Diamond being caught in the blast came to her eyes. "NO!" she yelled. "I ain't doing that!" "Why not? Two sacrifices for what logically would resolve your problems much faster," Instrumentum's voice stated. "But it ain't the PONY thing to do!" Applebloom turned into a dragon and charged, slamming into the container and being driven back by the shock. "This course of logic is illogical." "AH DON'T CARE!" Applebloom replied, punching the barrier again. "Yah just don't get it at all, do yah? That big brain of yers is makin' yah lose sight of everythin' that made yah a pony!" "Ah'm more than a pony now, so that is to be expected." "APPLEJACK is more than a pony!" the pony-turned dragon punched into the barrier again despite the painful shock. "PINKIE PIE is more than a pony!" She gave a scream as she threw another punch and got another shock. "CELESTIA is more than a pony!" Third punch and third shock. "LUNA is more than a pony." Fourth. "BUTTON is! SCOOTALOO is! SWEETIE BELLE IS!" Fifth. Applebloom painted, claws smoking. "THEY'RE MORE THAN A PONY." She thought about her friends, her sister, the Apples...everypony that Instrumentum was throwing away. She gave a massive roar, a pink fire erupting in her eyes. She grabbed a thin piece of metal she could actually use without causing too much damage and reworked them into a glove for one hoof while letting the pink fire erupt around the other. "If yah think this tech can replace all of that...then yah ain't more than a pony, yer LESS than one!" She pressed several buttons on the wrist device she'd been given, causing it to form a force field around her armored hand. She put her claws together, pink fires of bonds and the glow of technological might mixing into one aura. She launched herself forwards and slammed her interlinked claws into the container with as much force she she could manage. She bit her lip as the shock hit her and pushed through. "Futile. Even if you can stand the shock, there's no way yah can break through that alloy..." The container cracked. Then SHATTERED. "...Impossible..." --- Applejack kicked back her robotic mother...then blinked. Her and Pinkie looked to each other...and then their robotic bodies shut down and fell to the ground. --- Applebloom struggled to her hooves...then looked up to see Veritas and Thalia standing over her. "Thanks little sis," the Alicorn of Truth replied with a smile. Applebloom gave a tired smile and hugged them. "You're welcome, sis." --- Instrumentum gasped in shock as the Applecron began to shut down with it's powersource removed and back up power being overtaxed by the various assaults on it. The Nightmare began to tremble. "No...This ain't logical! Nothing on Equus should be able tah break somethin' made tah contain two Alicorns! HOW DID SHE?! AH JUST DON'T GET IT! NOT LOGICAL!" --- Applejack and Pinkie Pie blinked, looking around as the Applecron began falling. "Uh oh, little sis, think yah can finish things with evil you? Looks like we've got work tah do." Applebloom broke the hug she was sharing with them. "Yah...Ah think Ah can." The two Alicorns nodded and flew through the wall, flying down and putting their full strength to bare lifting the Applecron back into the air. Alex Warlorn Apple Bloom gasped as the Applecron began to come back online, not at all full power, but its base functions restored. "H-how are ya doin' this?! But, ya ain't got an Alicorn to power this thing!" Nightmare Instrumentum's voice echoed. "Ah'm powerin' it with myself... not as strong as two Alicorns together, but better than nothin', and it ain't over yet, Ah'll figure out something." "Except ya ain't gonna! Ah'm gonna find ya, and this mess will finally be over!" "Is that a fact? Be sure to burn down the library and the school when yer done." "WHAT? I'd-I'd never do that!" "Then you're a hypocrite. I guess ya'll say Ah am too to divert attention away from what I've said to make yerself feel better. But that's to be expected. After all, my big brain is making me lose sight of what's important... be sure to make sure no pony can ever get so smart they can lose sight of what's important. Be sure to develop a potion that renders ponies so dumb that they only think with their heart, so all that bad bad thinking can't get in the way of feelings. After all, why rely on THINKING when you can rely on FEELING, don't THINK about the best way to do something, just feel it... After all, think of all the bad things Twilight Sparkle has done with that big brain of hers... come now Apple Bloom, you think you're the hero here... you need to save ponies from their own smarts! Maybe THAT'S how we'll break and make the world, as was set in motion the moment we looked into the mirror! Go! Go! After all 'ignorance is bliss!' So what could POSSIBLY go wrong?! The world will be much more happy when every pony is an IDIOT! ... " Alex Warlorn Meanwhile on one of the computer screens, the universe of Equestria ruled over by Nightmare Muffin was shown. It showed a Twilight Sparkle giggling to herself with cross eyes as she looked at a picture book with no words... upside down... Muffin Guards (literal giant walking muffins) with spears standing on either side of her. Nightmare Muffin standing on her throne nearby with her two daughters looking at the utopia she had made. Apple Bloom cringed at the sight. Kendell2 Applebloom gave an annoyed sigh. "Nah...yer doin' a fine job of that yerself." "What?" Nightmare Instrumentum asked. "...Because no brains? That's bad. ALL brain and no heart? THAT'S bad too...Yer an idiot either way." "Then tell meh, Apple Bloom. Who's smart then?" "...A pony with all heart and no brains is an idiot because they don't know anythin', a pony with all brain and no heart is an idiot because they forget what's really important...a pony with a brain AND a heart? THERE'S a REAL smart pony." "And how do you know?" Apple Bloom looked up at a camera with a serious face. "Cause a pony with a big heart AND a big brain? That's Big Mac. He's our big brother, he loves the Apple Family as much as AJ...but he's SMART. He knows mathematics and how tah put Granny's hip back in place. He's the one who does all the book workin' on the farm. So yeah, I know a pony with a brain and a heart: he's our big brother, and he's the smartest pony Ah know!...Nah...that ain't it...You're SMART, APPLE BLOOM...but yah ain't WISE. Big Mac? He's the WISEST pony I know." Mtangalion Something was wrong with the Applecron... the lights were flickering, and a boom like distant thunder echoed down the metal halls... but Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon hardly cared in that moment. They were together again at last. Silver's eyes widened suddenly, looking past Diamond. Diamond grew into her half-dragon form almost by reflex, scales hardening and claws scraping the metal floor plates, just in time to take a fireball on the flank without harm. The plumber bots were leering at them, more mushrooms and turtle shells and fireballs at the ready. "Okay," growled Diamond, "I've just about had it with you two!" She didn't question where they'd gotten all those deadly video game accessories... something left over from Nightmare Pixel, perhaps? She just lowered her head and snorted flame, pawing at the floor. Then the whole ship lurched mightily. The robots yelped, tumbling away down a straight corridor that had suddenly become a 45 degree slope, but Diamond grabbed hold of Silver and sprang into a safe alcove. Both of them panted, catching their breath. "So, this deal you made with Discord..." said Silver. Diamond flinched a bit, but she didn't shy away. "I know what you're going to say..." "Sign me up." Diamond could only stare. "I didn't think you were going to say *that.* Look, I'm not sure you understand..." "Is it a bad deal?!" demanded Silver, not letting up. "Are you an evil minion now? Did you sell your soul for ultimate power? Did you turn yourself into some kind of monster because you felt that bad about yourself?!" Diamond blinked. "What? No, no no... It's not like that. Discord's not like that, not any more!" "Then I want it." Silver smirked. "Wherever you're going, I want to be right there beside *my best friend.*" The Applecron lurched the other way, leveling out, and Diamond finally set Silver down. "Okay, but... it's not totally up to me. I'm Discord's vassal now. Seriously, not just playing around like pony nobles and the princesses. You couldn't buy your way into this, even with all the bits you and I have together." Diamond had a thought, and grinned suddenly. "Want to know a secret? Something I haven't even told the Crusaders?" Silver blinked. "What kind of secret?" "I have another chaos beast form. Powerful yokai are supposed to have tons of them, the more unpredictable, the better. I just haven't used it much because... heh, you'll see." Diamond shrank back into her normal pony self, then grimaced and grew larger... and pinker... and much fluffier... until Silver had a large, sparkly pink and purple wolf looming over her. Silver gasped. "Diamond! That's..." Diamond sighed. "Don't say it..." "That's adorable!" squealed Silver. She hugged Diamond again, half-buried in floof. "If only I'd gotten foalnapped with some fur brushes..." Diamond whined and bared her fangs a bit. "Don't you dare!" Then she couldn't help but laugh. "Come on, I'm getting you someplace safe, and then I'm going back for Apple Bloom. Something tells me I'm not quite done saving the day." "Aw..." Silver looked around. "Um, how? I don't know where the exit is, and aren't we way up in the air?" Diamond grinned, and howled a chaos portal into being. "Not a problem, now that those shields are down. Hop on! Lets go tell Uncle Discord that he has a new petitioner." Kendell2 Applebloom made her way towards the command deck. The Applecron wasn't running on all cylinders any more, so throwing defense after defense her way simply wasn't possible. She finally tore through the final door...and gasped, finding herself face to face with herself, cables hooked into herself and working on three more robots. The cables weren't what surprised her. The three androids being constructed...were mimics of the three Nightmares that her other friends had been. "...Welcome, myself..." Instrumentum said, turning away from her unfinished creations. "Is this the part where you kill me?" "...No..." "Why not? Most of my power is being devoted to keeping the Applecron running. I'm vulnerable, you can still shapeshift. You destroy me now, then it's all over. It's LOGICAL." The pony growled. "...No." The stoic face of the Nightmare broke into a growl. "How? How can you be me and NOT see it?!" "...You're right, it's the logical way, Tartarus, maybe it's the 'smart' way...but it ain't the APPLE way. It ain't the PONY way..." Applebloom turned and looked to the unfinished robots. "...And it looks like there's still a part of yah that knows that, ain't there?" "...They're replacements for numbers...nothing more..." Applebloom glared. "...No, they ain't...because Ah think Ah just figured out...This ain't about makin' a 'better' world, is it? It's about making one without pain...A world were a little filly never has tah go without knowin' her parents again. That's the truth, isn't it?" Instrumentum was silent for a moment. "...And what's WRONG with that?" "...We both know from Ruby that there's more tah this world than just bein' here," Applebloom said, looking herself in the eyes. "Ruby didn't just go poof when she died...Ma and pa are still out there somewhere...and..." Applebloom thought back. "...There's a better way to make a world without loss than this, and yah know it...a world where ponies are WISE, not just SMART...one were we all become something better because we WANT TAH. We SAW IT. We KNOW that future's there...But you're like meh, ain't yah? Impatient...Yah don't WANT tah wait for everypony else tah choose, 'Ah want mah world of immortals and Ah want it NOW!'" the filly looked back at her Cutie Mark. "...Just like meh and mah Cutie Mark...we're both a lotta things, but patient ain't ever been one." "...And what? Let ponies die everyday while we wait for them to get their head out of their flanks?" Instrumentum asked, glaring. "Why put off to tomorrow what can be here today!" "...Because you're like Flim and Flam at the Cider competition. Tryin' tah speed things up the quick and easy way, the 'efficient' way...but not the RIGHT way," Applebloom replied. Instrumentum snarled. "...You want to stop me, little me? You want to 'prove' Ah'm wrong...then come on, let's take this where we can get it done." -=Lunar: Silver Star Story - Grindery=- Instrument trotted back to a jewel shaped like her Cutie Mark. Her Cutie Mark glowed and she lept up. "NIGHTMARE FUSION!" she called, leaping back to merge into the jewel and into the Applecron itself. The entire ship began to shake. --- "Uh oh..." Veritas and Thalia muttered, flying back as the massive ship began rearranging itself and transforming. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Button Mash all noticed and tore there way out. "Oh boy..." Scootaloo said, watching the giant craft transform into a gigantic, robotic Nightmare, magic the same color as Instrumentum's magic forming lines across it, it's eyes lighting up. Instrumentality, the Bringer of the Singularity. The machine fired it's horn at a mountain, sucking it in like a tractor beam. --- Applebloom gulped. "...Here goes nothin'..." she said and dove in after her Nightmare. She blinked, finding herself in grid void of zeros and ones. "Where are we?" Instrumentum looked over. "Wherever we want to be...when all aspects such as difference in power are reduced to zero...the important traits decide the victor. You are only limited by what you can think up, and so am Ah...Let's see who's better." --- "What do we do?!" Sweetie Belle asked, knowing fighting THAT head on wouldn't end well. Discord tapped his chin, looking to Diamond and Silver as they arrived. "...We fight giant robot with giant robot! I've wanted to do this since we started this!" He snapped his fingers...causing the Crusader's club house to appear, grow giant, and turn into a giant robot with limbs composed of various things the Crusaders had attempted or obtained in their adventures. Instrumentality's beam didn't work on it. Discord snapped his fingers, teleporting the entire group into the cockpit (now all in scifi style outfits). "GIANT ROBOT FIGHTING TIME!...Oh, and Diamond gets captain chair, it's her adventure." The What If Machine set as part of the control panel. "Observation: Discord turned the clubhouse into a giant robot. Fascinating." -=Gravity Falls - Shackotron Battle=-