//------------------------------// // Team Rockets, second Robot // Story: Team Rocket // by Silver Butcher //------------------------------// the Barn was full of movement, Braeburn had a nice selection of toy robots and was taking a few apart and combining them with others for their next mech, Spike was cataloging all of the weather balls and setting them up for later use, and Cheerilee was using an old pot to brew enlargement potions, she had only made one batch so far but it had been enough for three potion bottles to be filled, making a total of 5 counting the two leftovers from their first robot. Spike was the first to finish his task and took a step back to admire the wardrobe full of bags of different variations of weather balls. "Our final count if 54," He called out as he shut the door and smiled "Should last us a while but we'll probably have to find a way to get more later," His counting done Spike made his way to Braeburn and looked at his newest robot design, it was a lot bigger than the first one had been and had far more buttons on its controller, it was almost done as all Braeburn needed to do was finish installing the link between the robot and the controller. Their new robot was a lot sturdier than the first one and even had a tail, It's torso was shaped like a pentagon, with a flat bottom, and slanted sides that, once they reached the arms slanted back in a short way before reading the cockpit. Its chest jutted out in an edge and the tail started on the middle of its back. it had a midsection separating the top from the bottom that allowed the top to turn 360 degrees, The Legs were rather generic in design but were a lot less stiff than the original robot's had been, The Arms were a lot thicker than the first ones had been and the laser had been disabled on one hand and replaced with a system designed to shoot small plastic balls that would now be shooting weather balls. Spike waited patiently as, with a cheer, Braeburn snapped the casing to the arm on and moved to the controller, and made the robot move. "Alright Spike your up," Braeburn declared as he picked up the Robot and placed it on a second table with a lot of paint and plastic pieces for decorations. "Oh heck yeah I am," Spike said happily as he set to work painting the robot, he added a set of horns around the dome that was the cockpit and a few spikes to the end of the tail along with giving one of the shoulders a pad, by the time had finished attaching the new parts Cheerilee had finished her brew and poured it into more bottle for a total of 8 potions. She looked to her companions and found Spike decorating their new robot while Braeburn was already working on another model. "Hey I have an idea," She called, both of them looked to her and pointed to themselves "Braeburn," She clarified and Spike went back to decorating while Braeburn moved the bot he had started working on and gave her the table to tell him what she wanted him to craft. Her idea was fairly simple, a tiny robot that was mostly cockpit, it had treads instead of feet and had large grappling hands, it's a simple design meant that its controller was also simple and it was done before Spike's addition to the other robot were even done setting into place, They set it in front of him and he gave it a once over before nodding and opening a drawer next to them with a few Red R stickers in it that Chrysalis had made for them, he got one and put it on the Robot's chest with a smile. "And it's already done," he said happily "If this works we can make multiples in the event this one...explodes on its maiden voyage," Spike picked it up and Braeburn ran to grab a bottle. "Let's do this outside," Cheerilee decided before they enlarged it "That way the boss doesn't have to teleport us out again," the trio head out the front door with Cheerilee locking it behind them, they placed the small bot on the ground and handed the potion bottle to Cheerilee who shook it for a moment before popping the top. "Wait won't this make the grass huge?" Braeburn asked with concern. "This doesn't do anything to organic matter, glass, or metal," Cheerilee replied "so the grass will be fine," She tipped the potion and dumped it over the tiny mech before turning on the spot, Spike and Braeburn did the same as the toy rapidly grew in size, once they were sure they were far enough away they watched as the toy turned into a glowing white light and grew in size, once it was done it was smaller than the original robot but still big enough for them all to fit in it. They opened the dome and climbed in. Cheerilee was given the controller and Spike was presented with a pair of gloves that moved the arms, the controller had a lever to go forward or backward, a wheel for steering, and two triggers to fire the hand's, Cheerilee moved the lever forward and they speed off far faster than any of them could actually run. Cheerilee looked out the window as they made their way to the road, they could see Applelossa in the distance but headed away from it and towards Ponyville, They made it to Ponyville in less than 40 minutes. "Oh yeah!" Spike cheered, the arms moving with him "We own the roads!" they rode into Ponyville, ready to do their introduction, and proceeded to roll down the road unopposed. "Hu," Braeburn said as he looked out the down and scratched his chin "I guess we are a lot more conspicuous now," They rolled on in silence for a moment before Spike spoke up. "Anyone have some bits I kind of want a cold Drink," After a quick cheek, they all sighed. "I left all my money back at base," Braeburn sighed. "money was the main reason I wanted to be hired by Twilight," Cheerilee added with a sigh "being the only teacher in Ponyville for younger ponies doesn't pay well as it should," "And I'm broke," Spike groaned as the Robot slowed down and parked in front of Sugar Cube Corner. "I guess we could steal something," He said as he looked at the sweet shop. "But what if Pinkie's inside?" Braeburn whispered "She'll have the town on us before we can even start driving away," The Trio sat in silence before Cheerilee hit her fist and declared. "I got it, I left my purse under my desk at the schoolhouse, Lets just go grab it, I should have enough for us to at least get some water if nothing else," Their path laid out Cheerilee started the Robot and they made their way towards the schoolhouse, the town residents cleared out of their way as they drove past. Once the school came into sight they slowed to a crawl as they made their way up the path, they could see three little fillies looking at a note on the front door. "I can't believe she's still gone," Scootaloo said as she read the note on the door. "She must be having a blast on her vacation," "Scootaloo she quit," Sweetie said as she pointed to the sign that said quite clearly that the school was closed till further notice due to the only teacher quitting. "She's not on vacation," "But her house is empty, and getting a little dusty," Scootaloo shot back "I'm sure she just forgot to tell anypony she left," "My Sister said she, cousin Braeburn, and Spike all became robot building super villains," the two crusaders looked at Applebloom then each other then back at her. "What?" Scootaloo asked in confusion when the ground began shaking, they turned around and watched Team Rocket's Robot approach them, coming to a stop not too far from them. The Three Crusaders look at the robot in awe as the dome to the cockpit opened up and Team Rocket jumped out, Cheerilee looked down at her old students and smiled. "Prepare for Trouble!" The Crusaders frowned at that as Braeburn joined it. "And Make it double!" "To protect the world from Devastation!" Cheerilee said as she jumped out of the cockpit and struck a pose "To unite all ponies within our nation!" Braeburn added while jumping out and mimicking Cheerilee's pose, Spike held up his hands and the Robot copied him "To Denounce the Evils of Truth and Love," Cheerilee said changing to a new pose and adding a few stomps to it. "To extend our reach to the stars above" Braeburn added as he pulled out a rose. "Cheerilee!" She cried out changing position and showing the palm of her hands to the Crusaders. "Braeburn!" He added as he threw the Rose up, Spike managed to catch it with the robot's hand. "Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!" Cheerilee stomped her left hoof into the ground and slide the other across it, string up a fair amount of dirt as she did so and holding up her right arm and placing the left behind her head. "Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" Braeburn added mimicking her pose and causing dust to stir as well, their hooves touching each other as they did this. "Yeah, that's right!" Spike cried as he jumped up and landed on their leg's the Robot mimicked him and struck the ground next to it stirring up a large cloud and leaving its hands imprinted in the ground. the rose fluttered down and landed on Braeburn's hat. "That is so cool," Scootaloo muttered before turning to her friends "Why don't we have an entrance moto?" "I never thought about it," Sweetie said with a shrug. "Hi Cousin," Applebloom called to Braeburn "Are you really the reason I don't have any chores for like a month?" "Well I did knock down half of the apple orchard," Braeburn replied as he removed the rose from his head. The Crusaders approached Team Rocket while Cheerilee made her way to the school and attempted to open the door. "This is way cooler than being a Teacher," Scootaloo cried out to her as she pulled on the handle and found it locked "You're like a super Hero now!" "Something like that," Cheerilee replied happily. "What's this?" Sweetie asked as she poked the charm around Spike's neck. "A good luck charm," He said happily, "I think it works pretty well, at the very least none of us have died form all the exploding," "If it makes you feel better I was really excited that you were gonna move in," Applebloom said as Braeburn backed away from the swinging arms of the Robot. "I was gonna make you a toy robot and offer to give you the parts to make one if you found any foals who wanted to do it, Cutie mark or not, Mines in harvesting apples but I've never felt a rush quite like making Robots and weather changing orbs!" "Hey guys," Cheerilee called getting their attention "The door is locked and I lost my key during one of our blast off's, can we just take down the entire wall," "Sure," Spike and Braeburn replied simply with a shrug that the robot mimicked, the CMC moved away and watched. "Is she actually gonna destroy the school?" Scootaloo asked, "Because" Scootaloo stood up straight with a shine in her eye and her hand in a fist "if so I am in every way down with Robot Warrior Cheerilee!" They watched as the Robot put its hands up. "Braeburn I can't aim and fire," Spike said, "Can you press the buttons?" Braeburn picked up the controller and pressed both triggers making both of the hands shot out and dug into the wall, Braeburn recalled the hands and they proceed to take the entire wall down as they returned. The cockpit opened and Cheerilee walked in through the rubble that had once been a wall. Braeburn's head popped out and he looked at the crusaders. "You guys should probably scatter before we leave, you might get blamed for this," "Oh no, he's right!" Applebloom said in alarm "Crusaders RUN!" Applebloom and Sweetie high tailed it while Scootaloo just stood there in awe. "This is so cool!" she managed to say before her friends came back and dragged her away from the crime scene. Spike and Braeburn smiled as the Crusaders ran for it, but they both jumped when they heard Cheerilee scream out. "Who does she think she is!" They watched her angrily stomp back to the robot and climb in, a note crumbled in her hands that she handed to Braeburn, who read it aloud while Cheerilee shut the dome. "Dear Cheerilee," Braeburn read "I see you left your purse at the schoolhouse, I have personally delivered it to the royal guard for safekeeping, all of the bits you had inside were taken to help for repairs you and Braeburn caused to the Apple orchard, furthermore your home and all property within has been actioned off to help pay for this as well, Have a good day and maybe learn your place in the future, From Princess Twilight," Braeburn looked at the letter, then back to Cheerilee who was sitting in her chair fuming, before he could say anything, his face was pushed by Spike who looked at the letter looking just as mad as Cheerilee. "She didn't even mention me in passing!" He said angrily "She could have just said the damage Team Rocket caused but she went out of her way to not mention me!" Braeburn removed himself from Spike and looked at his Companions, both of them were seething with rage. He tapped his chin for a moment before pointing back towards Ponyville. "You guys wanna go steal some paint and graphite her castle?" both of their eyes instantly snapped onto him. "YES!" Twilight sighed as she got off the train, she had spent most of the day in Manehattan helping Rarity with her newest lineup, She had asked for Spike but no one had actually told her about the Team Rocket thing yet and Twilight didn't want to be the one to tell her that Spike had turned evil for little reason past attention. As she walked onto the train platform she could see her castle and she instantly froze in place, Hundreds of Team Rocket R's had been painted all around the base of it, She lit her horn and teleported to it. The small robot that housed Team Rocket was in front of the Door, they were using the Robot to finishing up the Larges R above the door. "I think this one looks pretty nice," Spike said as he pulled the paint covered hands of the Robot back in and they looked at the R. "Oh, I have an Idea! Let's pain the Window!" Braeburn declared his idea happily. "Oh, that's a great idea!" Cheerilee agreed, before they could move Twilight lit her horn and enveloped the Robot and lifted it up, Team Rocket blinked in a moment of Confusion before realizing they where being picked up by Twilight "Oh hey we get to do our Motto again," Braeburn managed to say before Twilight turned the robot upward and threw them into the event horizon. "What just happened?" Braeburn Cried out. "I think we just got removed from the premise," Spike replied "But our Motto," Braeburn whined. "Well we'll be back," Cheerilee said angrily "But until then," "It looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" the trio all cried out as they flew away. As they began gaining more and more height they looked around. "I wonder if this will hurt more or less than usual," Cheerilee pondered as they watched the world fly by, they could see the mountain approaching and were passing by the top of it when they saw Chrysalis, who looked to have just woken up as she was sitting in front of the cave with what seemed to be her breakfast, enjoying the air while she ate. "Hi Boss," They called to her, She looked at the robot and yawned, "Hi," She muttered as she was about to take a bite of her food before blinking and looking over to see the Robot fly away, she lit her horn and in a flash, the Robot lay in front of her, and Team Rocket blinked before popping open the dome and standing in salute. "Hi Boss," They Repeated as she looked at them in silence. "I must have overslept," She said with a yawn as she waved their salutes away and packed up her half-finished breakfast "You lot don't usually blow up till noon," "This Robot got us to Ponyville like 20 minutes faster," Braeburn said happily before adding, "That said the Second Twilight saw us she just kind of yeeted us away," he sighed "We graffitied the heck out of her Castle though," Cheerilee said happily "So many Team Rocket R's," "That explains your Robot's red hands," Chrysalis said "Well I'm glad you're here, come inside I think It's time for your first official assignment," The Three happily jumped out of the Robot and Followed Chrysalis into her cave.