//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: Zero 
// Story: The Phantom Filly 
// by Lucar 
//------------------------------//

Celestia took in what Scootaloo said, supported by Twilight's readings, very seriously and immediately sent Royal Guards to search for this Dr. Eggman, and even distributed wanted posters with a drawing of the being based on the description given by the filly.

And it certainly worked during the following days. A couple of pegasi coming home from a late party spotted him lurking in an alley of the suburb of Manehattan from the sky. Of course, by the time guards came here, the guy was gone, but it confirmed the words of Scootaloo, and security was increased in the city. But for such a tall creature with an appearance easily identifiable, this Eggman was revealing to be very sneaky, because nopony spotted him anymore after that.

The truth was that Eggman was able to find a good hideout: an old abandoned factory near the port. He also hit the jackpot: a lot of metal and other materials left here. Thanks to some rummaging in the garbage during the night and a captured rat, he was able to get everything needed to build his first robot, giving the design of a big rat.

He then used the robot to continue to rummage through the garbage and other abandoned buildings in search of more materials while remaining hidden in the factory where he continued to capture rats, thus continuing to grow his small army of robot rats, the pace increasing with each robot built.

Soon enough, he had enough robots to start to focus on other tasks, starting with building a temporary HQ slash robot factory under the abandoned factory, and scouting the world to find information and resources. And more of all, find that filly who stole his ruby.



"So, what did you want to show us?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"I'll show you. Wait a moment," answered Scootaloo with a big smile.

A weekend some time after merging with the Phantom Ruby, Scootaloo told Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle that she wanted to show them something super secret, and so asked them to come to the clubhouse. A few minutes later, they were in the small tree-house, Scootaloo looking very excited.

"But before I show you, I want the both of you to Pinkie Promise that you will not tell anypony what you're about to see. I want this to remain between us. I don't want to think of what Twilight would do to me if she discovered," she said with a shiver.

The two other fillies looked at the pegasus in curiosity, but accepted and did the promise, becoming very excited too.

"Alright!" shouted happily Scootaloo. "Well then! Show time!"

Then, the pegasus filly spread her wings, and before Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle's amazed eyes, her wings suddenly glitched. The next instant, they looked like the wings a pegasus her age should have rather than the small foal wings that she usually had. Then, she flapped them, and she started flying, hovering just above the ground with the biggest smile ever.

"O... Oh my gosh!" shouted Sweetie Belle.

"Scootaloo! That's amazing!" shouted Apple Bloom. "But how?"

Scootaloo laughed. "Wait, this isn't over." At this, she stopped flapping her wings. And yet, she was still flying, forehooves proudly crossed.

The two other fillies were too flabbergasted at this to say anything, making Scootaloo laugh again.

"Scootaloo, what the heck's happening? How are ya flying like Discord?" asked Apple Bloom.

"And how did you make your wings grow?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"It's a long story, so you should sit," said Scootaloo before she proceeded to tell everything about the Phantom Ruby, from how she merged with it to its powers and how she trained during her sleep to control them. She told them too about Eggman and Infinite. They already knew about the existence of Eggman (all of Equestria knew about him by now), but learning that their friend now was stuck with a psycho in her head horrified them. Scootaloo quickly told them that it was alright, that as long as she was careful, Infinite was not a threat to her, but more like a weird, edgy, murderous, scary teacher.

"Okay, if ya say so..." said Apple Bloom. "So... Can ya show us more of those powers?"

"Of course. But first, do you want to eat anything?" asked Scootaloo.

"An apple."

"Chocolate ice cream."

"Okay, your commands will quickly come. But first..." She materialized two red cubes. "Touch these."

They nodded and did as she said. Upon touching the cubes, the world around them took on the weird color with that sound that Scootaloo now knew very well. Speaking of, the pegasus filly was now holding an apple and a chocolate ice cream that were not here before.

"And here are your commands," she said while giving the apple and ice cream to her friends.

"Thanks," said the two others before they started eating.

"Oh, my gosh! It's really as if I was eating a real ice cream! I can feel the cold, and all!" shouted Sweetie Belle.

"And the juice of the apple as I bite in it!" continued Apple Bloom.

But then, the world returned to normal, and the apple and the ice cream disappeared.

Scootaloo shrugged. "Yep, sorry, this was temporary."

I can't believe it. The Phantom Ruby, an all powerful artefact that can bend reality, used to serve food... she heard Infinite say.

Hush you! I do what I want! And it was only to show them, she thought, annoyed

"So, it's nice for ya to have all those cool powers, but what'll ya do with them?" asked Apple Bloom.

"I'm still not sure," answered Scootaloo. "I know I will already use them to make it look like my wings are growing over time so others think that I have normal wings instead of... these," she said as she showed her wings without illusions. "Like this, I will be able to fly with Rainbow Dash and eventually join the Wonderbolts, like her. But other than that, I'm not sure. What I'm sure, however, is that I can use them for our crusading."

"Hey, you are right! Thanks to those powers, we could do many things that we couldn't before," said Sweetie Belle. "Like, uh..."

"Like being lumberjacks. Nopony would let us use an axe, and it's not allowed to cut trees from the Everfree Forest to not disturb it or something like that. But thanks to those powers, I can create an axe to use and a tree to cut! We will just need to get away enough so nopony will see us by accident," said Scootaloo.

They nodded, then each placed a hoof together. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS: LUMBERJACKS! YEAH!"

Infinite groaned.

Unknown to the fillies, a robotic bird spotted them as they left the clubhouse. The robot immediately turned around, flying back to Manehattan.



"Yes! I found her!" shouted Eggman. "Now, to capture her... Mmh... I first need to see how well she controls the ruby. Going with everything I have without knowledge of what I am up against is too risky. The horned ponies' magic may already be a big problem with my limited resources." He smirked. "Magic or not, my robots should be able to get the upper hand until the filly decides to come out and to fight them. Then, either they win and capture her, or she wins and I have a better idea of how much she controls the ruby. Then I will act accordingly."

The next instant, two dozens of the robot birds flew out of the factory one after another to not gain attention. Each were holding another robot. Half of them were robot rats while the other half were looking like giant ladybugs on a wheel. A dozen blue wasp-like robots also flew out of the factory.



The Cutie Mark Crusaders returned in Ponyville, exhausted after all the crusades they did with the help of Scootaloo's new powers. Again, none of them worked, and they even ended covered in sap once when trying to be lumberjacks. Thankfully, the sap was just an illusion, so it disappeared.

Best powers ever.

But now, they weren't sure what to do. They still had a few hours to pass before they had to return home.

"I'm wondering, Scootaloo, will you also show these powers to Rainbow Dash?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"I was thinking to do it, yes. I'm sure she won't mind keeping it from Twilight," answered Scootaloo. "Maybe tomorrow if I can."

"Is there anypony else ya're thinking to tell?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Maybe my aunts, but I fear that they may freak out. Outside of them, I have nopony else in mind."

"Hey! What is that?" they then heard somepony shout while pointing at the sky.

Everypony who heard her looked at where she pointed and saw a rather big group of weird animals approaching. At first glance, they looked like birds, but something was clearly wrong with them. Then, as they approached, they saw what was wrong: they weren't flapping their wings. They were actually metallic birds flying thanks to small reactors in their wings, and each of them were holding another metallic creature. Metallic wasps were also among them.

Then, as they reached Ponyville, the birds came down, and once close enough to the ground, they dropped the metallic rats and ladybugs they were holding with their claws. Everypony too close moved away from them, but seeing the robots not doing anything, remained to look in curiosity.

One of the rats then dropped some device on the ground, and the device projected the image of a being that everypony now recognized as Eggman.

The image started talking. "Greetings, inhabitants of this little peaceful town. By now, you probably know me, but alow me to present myself. I am the Dr. Ivo Robotnik, better known as Eggman, future ruler of this world."

While the image talked, Scootaloo quickly went to hide behind a nearby wall, followed by the other crusaders. "It's him," she whispered.

This is not the Eggman that I know, said Infinite.

"Really?"

They have some differences. This one looks more round, and his moustache is bigger. The clothes are also different, and Eggman never changes clothes. Probably an Eggman from a different dimension than the one I come from.

"I am here in search of a certain pony. That's right, there is, among you, a pony who took something very precious to me," continued Eggman. "What I ask is that this pony comes to me, or else..." He snapped his fingers, and cannons appeared out of the maws and beaks of the rats and birds while the wasps also revealed that they had cannons instead of stingers. Ponies immediately started panicking and ran away.

"Hey!" suddenly yelled somepony before Eggman could order the robots to fire. The next instant, one of the birds was destroyed by a rainbow maned cyan pegasus mare ramming it. A real rat was dropped from the explosion, and it quickly escaped. The mare, seeing this, became even more angry. "Oh! So, not only you threaten innocents, but you also use animals to power those things? Wait until I get my hooves on you!"

Eggman smirked. "Eh. As I thought. Badniks! Attack! Fire at anything that move! Destroy this town!" he yelled before the image disappeared.

Immediately, the robots fired at everypony still present, most of them focusing on Rainbow Dash who flew around to escape the projectiles. The ladybugs, the only ones not armed, charged at ponies, ramming them head first.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie quickly joined the battle to try to protect ponies, but there were so much robots, it was just impossible, and before long, ponies dropped badly injured. Applejack herself rapidly got hurt by a projectile hitting her leg, but she still managed to buck a ladybug, freeing another rat.

Twilight then appeared, her magic working better at protecting the last ponies escaping the area, but the birds and the wasps started to spread all over Ponyville, firing at everything they could. Many of them were destroyed by Rainbow Dash, but despite all her speed, more ponies were getting injured. The robots were just too many, and the flying ones were rather fast.

As Scootaloo watched, she knew that she had to intervene. She didn't want to reveal herself to Twilight, but Eggman is leaving her no choice. The robots are too many for Rainbow Dash and the others. The mares will probably be able to destroy all of them, but ponies may be killed before that. Once she showed up, the robots would probably stop firing on ponies and focus on her.

But... maybe she could reveal herself, but not as Scootaloo.

So, using the power of the Phantom Ruby, she changed her body. Her fur became black with some white strips at her sides. Her mane became white. Her forelegs turned into arms with black-gloved hands. Feet with shoes appeared instead of her hooves on her back legs. And a silver-colored mask with a left red visor and a black piece covering the right eye appeared on her head.

Now looking like Infinite, she said with his voice "I'm going!" before she ran.

Only to fall on her face. She could hear Infinite facepalm in her head.

Groaning, she said. "Darn it. I forgot I don't know how to walk on two legs. And I can't see anything with this mask!" she yelled before taking off the mask. "Okay. If I can't run, then I will just fly."

So she flew toward the sky, making sure that all the robots could see her. "Hey! You moving pieces of junk!" she yelled, not only gaining the attention of the robots but also of the ponies. Then, she expelled a wave of energy, getting all the robots under the power of the ruby, as well as the ponies.

Darn. I don't know how to avoid hitting allies with it. That's okay, I will just be careful and not accidentally attack them.

"I'm the one you're looking for! Come get me!"

The flying robots immediately started flying toward her while firing, but she moved out of the way as a glitching cloud before she moved from robot to robot, destroying them one after another with either a punch or a kick. All the flying robots were rapidly destroyed, and she landed to deal with the rats and ladybugs that remained. To rapidly destroy them, she decided to drop spikes on them. One of the ladybugs was able to avoid the spike destined to it, only to have its head grabbed and crushed by her.

With all the robots destroyed, she deactivated the power of the ruby, returning the world to normal. The fight lasted ten seconds.

All the ponies looked at her in awe, not believing what they saw. Pinkie Pie was the first to recover.

"Woah! That was super duper awesome! Thank you for the save! I feared that we wouldn't be able to stop those meanybots from killing somepony! Who are you? Are you new to Ponyville? If yes, then I must throw you a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party as well as a 'Thank you for saving Ponyville' party! Or you are somepony we already know who's disguised, then I will just need to throw the second! Come on! Tell us your name!"

Scootaloo started thinking. "Just call me..."

Zero.

She raised an eyebrow at Infinite's proposition, but quickly smiled. Floating up, she crossed her arms, smirking at the ponies while taking a cool pose. "Just call me Zero."

And with this, she teleported away.



Eggman rubbed his head at what he saw.

"Mmh... She's better controlling the ruby than I thought. How did she progress so quickly? I probably can not attack her before I have a proper stronghold with a real army. If only I could find a way to harness the magic of this world."

"Maybe I could help with this," said an unknown voice from behind him.

"What? Who's here?" asked Eggman as he turned around, spotting a cloaked being approaching him. "Who are you? How did you find me?"

"I just followed the rats. As for who I am..." The being took off his cloak, revealing himself to be an old frail centaur. "Call me Tirek." He gave the doctor a smirk. "If you need magic, I can give you some."