Mega Man: Operation Ponyville

by Captain L

Chapter 1: Super Fighting Robot

He opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the small, clean room that surrounded him. Looking around him, he noticed computers with their flashing lights and various other pieces of lab equipment. All of it was incredibly high-tech.

He attempted to stand up, trying to get his motor skills working. As soon as he was sitting upright, he began to examine his own body. He noticed his cyan colored coat and his hooves. So I’m a pony, he thought to himself. He attempted to get himself fully standing, wobbling a fair bit in the process. His control over his own movements was still somewhat disconnected.

Once he was standing steady, he began the daunting task of walking. Again, he struggled with putting himself in motion, but he got the hang of it pretty quick. He walked over to a nearby mirror to examine himself further. He saw that he had blue eyes, darker than his coat, and a dark brown mane. Coming out of his forehead was a long protrusion, which seemed to have a mind of its own. He could feel pure energy collecting behind it.

He attempted to use this energy on an empty beaker across the room, and was overjoyed when it was surrounded by a yellow aura and began to move. However, his excitement quickly turned to fear when the beaker flew towards him, seemingly out of his control. Faster than should have been possible, his head jerked out of the way, and the beaker shattered on the wall behind him.

Moving his head back to its original location, he noticed a symbol above his hind leg, depicting a beaker similar to the one that was now lying in pieces a few feet away. Just as he began to question it, the door to the room opened. He looked at the visitor, seeing a brown pony with a grayed mane and a long beard. Aside from the coat and hair, something about this stranger reminded him of himself, mostly due to the same head protrusion.

The old stallion began to speak. “I understand that you must have a lot of questions, so I’ll start by answering the most important ones. Your name is Rock, and I am Doctor Light. I am the one who designed and built you, my star creation.”

Rock was surprised. “I’m only a creation? I’m not a living pony?” It didn’t seem to add up. He knew that he wasn’t just a soulless machine, he could feel and think.

“You aren’t just a simple creation. I programmed you with a sort of emulated free will. You’re as close to organic as any robot that has ever been created. You can feel, make decisions, and have your own sense of right and wrong.” Doctor Light was pleased that his innovation was finally working correctly, after a few failed attempts.

Light walked to the door, beckoning for Rock to follow him. “Come. I have a lot to teach you, my son,” smiling as he said those final words. Rock eagerly followed his…father. Yeah, father, he thought, coming to terms with this revelation.

The two of them walked outside Light’s small cottage, where the sun was just beginning to set. Rock stared in wonderment at the sun’s rays spreading across the nearby city, reaching the few trees that surrounded them. I’ve never seen such beauty. Okay, I haven’t seen much at all, but this is amazing. Does the world get more beautiful than this? However, putting these thoughts into articulate words proved to be difficult. “It’s…amazing!”

Light chuckled. “Yes Rock. When Celestia’s sun hits that perfect spot across the horizon, there’s not a better feeling in the world. Except, of course, the feeling of finally having a son to call my own.”

Rock would have blushed if he was capable, and if his mind wasn’t racing with even more questions. It was time to get some answers. “You mentioned a ‘Celestia’. Who or what is that?”

Doctor Light went into a long discussion on the royal pony sisters, and how they were the ones who controlled the sun and the moon. It quickly turned into the world of Equestria, the various pony races, and their roles in society. Rock now understood that he was a unicorn, and how he moved/smashed the beaker earlier. He didn’t understand the physics on how unicorn magic could be accurately replicated inside a machine, but he had more pressing thoughts on his mind.

After hours of explanations, when Luna’s moon was high in the sky, Rock only had one last question that needed to be answered. “So what’s the reason for this beaker symbol on my flank? You’ve got the same one, what does it mean?”

“That is what’s known as a cutie mark. Bit of a silly name, I know. On normal ponies, it appears when they discover their special talent. When I was a young colt, I found my love for science, and knew what I wanted to do with my life. I gave you the same mark because I designed you to be a lab assistant.”

Rock was a little surprised. Not by his purpose, that made sense, but by the idea that everypony was pre-destined to do a certain job from the day they were born. Robots were the ones that weren’t supposed to have a free will, so what made them different from the ponies? But before he could ask this question, the front door to the cottage opened up, and a pegasus mare was standing in the frame.

“Doctor, what are you still doing out here? Do you have any idea what time it is,” she yelled. Turning her attention towards Rock, her attitude didn’t seem to get any softer. “And he’s already functional? When did you think it would be a good time to tell me my brother’s awake?”

I have a sister? How did that never come up in conversation? “Nice to meet you, I’m Rock. Or did you already know that? What’s your name?” He wanted to hopefully calm her down, but his words didn’t seem to have an effect on her.

Doctor Light stepped forward to explain himself. “I’m sorry, Roll, you were busy cleaning up, and I guess I put you out of mind for the time being. But can you blame me? Rock seems to be fully functional, including the emulated free will unit and magic energy capsule. It’s like all of my wildest dreams are finally a reality.”

Roll’s harsh expression faded, replaced by one of comfort. “I’m proud of you, Doctor, but you didn’t have to leave me out of this. Just come inside, you need your rest after a successful day.”

All three of them walked inside, and Rock got a better look at his sister in the light. She was a pink pegasus, with long blond hair and a red dress that extended past her flank, hiding her cutie mark. She’s a bit temperamental, but she’s got a good heart. I hope she warms up to me at some point, Rock thought as he closed the front door and the house fell asleep.

“Rock and Roll, could you please come in here,” Doctor Light called. His two children were quick to show, ready to help the good doctor.

“Yes Doctor Light, what is it,” Rock asked. In the week that he had been active, he had gotten settled into his role as a lab assistant. He spent most of his time working, helping with any odds and ends that arose in the lab. He hadn’t gotten to do any important work yet, but with the Doctor’s dream realized, he wasn’t sure if that day would ever come.

“I don’t seem to have some of the parts I need for the experiment I’m working on. Could you two go into Maresteropolis and get them for me?”

Rock was excited, more so than he should have been for a simple errand. It was his first time going into the city, going into normal pony society. Roll, on the other hand, wasn’t as pleased. This was the sort of work she was used to doing. After receiving a list of what they needed to get, and the bits to do so, they left the cottage and walked towards the city.

Trotting (or, in Roll’s case, hovering) towards civilization, Rock took a good look at his sister. He had been right when he first saw her; she was an incredibly kind pony beneath her titanium shell. She was nice, caring, and willing to help however she could. In a short week’s time, the two of them developed the same bond that any brother and sister share. Still, there were a few things about her he didn’t know, and this seemed like a good time to ask. They had a long trip ahead of them.

Looking at her wings flapping above him, it made sense to start there. “Why do you think that Doctor Light made you a pegasus, but me a unicorn?”

“We aren’t his first attempts at creating life from inside a machine, you know. Back then, he didn’t fully understand how he could replicate wings or magic inside a robot, so he started with earth ponies. Once he figured out how to achieve liftoff with a metal body, he made me. Emulating magic took more work, and you’re the first success in that field.” Rock cringed, thinking about what could have happened to the failures.

“So what were you created for? I’ve never seen you do weather work, like most pegasi do.” Despite their relative closeness, Rock still had no idea what Roll’s special talent was.

“Being a pegasus has nothing to do with my talent. I was just created to help around the lab, mostly cleanup work. Doctor Light just figured he could make me a pegasus and kill two birds with one stone.” She slightly lifted her dress, revealing her cutie mark, a broom.

The two of them made it to town, bought the items they needed, and started to head back. Along the way, they made casual greetings with the ponies they passed. Rock was expecting some sort of acknowledgement of his robotic state from the strangers, but it never came. Am I really indistinguishable from all the normal ponies? Is my programming that good? They stopped on a bridge overlooking the river that passed through town, Rock still lost in thought.

Roll noticed her brother looking lazily off in the distance. “Are you okay, Rock? You don’t seem to be focused on…anything, actually.”

“I was just thinking, Roll. When I came into the city, I was expecting to be recognized as just a robot, but it never happened. Am I really that close to being organic?” He only hoped that she could provide some sort of answer.

Roll looked at him, in serious wonderment on how he seemed so…perfect. “You know that you’re special, Rock. You aren’t just Doctor Light’s first success in making a robot that acts like a living pony. You’re the first in all of Equestria. You represent how far the field of robotics has come.”

Rock honestly didn’t know how important he was. “Why didn’t Doctor Light tell me, then? Why didn’t he tell me I was a serious advancement?”

“Doctor Light is a modest stallion. He appreciates the work he does, but he doesn’t need recognition for it. He’s perfectly happy just knowing that’s he done a good job.” The two of them resumed their walk back to the cottage as the sun hung directly above them. “You could be so much more than a lab assistant, Rock. You’re capable of being pretty much anything. You’re destined for greatness in the future, and Doctor Light knows it.”

Around the same time, far away in Canterlot, Celestia’s gardens seemed to shake under a sudden presence of raw power. It all emanated from a statue that stood in the center of a hedge maze. It began to glow and crack as it released an evil laugh, letting Equestria know it was finally free once again.