"Have you lost your mind?" Pipp questioned, brow furrowed.
"Please," Zipp implored. "This might be our only chance."
After a long moment, Pipp groaned and rolled her eyes. "Fine! I know a way out. Come on." She gestured for the others to follow.
Sunny sighed with relief. She'd brought the pegasus crystal, and now she'd agreed to help bring back magic!
Carefully avoiding guards and passersby still reeling from the revelation that their royals couldn't fly, the five of them galloped their way out of the castle. By the time they made it onto one of Zephyr Heights' less-trafficked but no less gilded elevated streets, every pegasus in the city had heard the news from one of the myriad display billboards or their own cell phones.
As a result, they were all panicking, and didn't notice their group fleeing as they catastrophized amongst themselves. Sunny assumed the next thing she'd have to worry about was navigating to Bridlewood, or maybe smoothing out the fresh relationship between Hitch, Izzy, and the princesses.
Instead, she would have to contend with something much, much bigger. For meanwhile, all the way back in Maretime Bay, an anomalous outsider had appeared. Wreathed in smoke and sticking to the shadows unseen, the figure had been investigating these curious 'earth pony' creatures, so as to discover the best means of inflicting fear and pain. It didn't take long to locate a prime idea: a propaganda poster, with the caricature of a dark unicorn looming over two cowering foals, sharp horn crackling menacingly.
The invader raised a cloaked, emaciated limb and bellowed. "Instance... Abreaction!"
And in Zephyr Heights, the air suddenly split open.
Pipp, Zipp, Sunny, Hitch, and Izzy all scrambled to a halt, looking up, faces pale. An immense monster, taller than most of the surrounding buildings, crashed its four hooves into the public square right in front of them, kicking up waves of crumpled pavement. Pitch black save for its glowing red eyes, it bore superficial resemblance to a unicorn, albeit one unlike Izzy in every way, including its mannerisms. Instead of bubbly introducing themselves, the creature uttered a deafening screech, turned to a nearby kitchen gadget store, and blew it up with a bolt of crackling energy fired from its horn.
The screams of the pegasi instantly multiplied tenfold, stampeding away in all directions as fast as their hooves could carry them.
"What is that!?" Zipp exclaimed, taking a few steps back.
Izzy squinted up at it in confusion. "Looks kinda like my uncle Fizzy Tizzy after he's had three mugs of cider. Same deal, better avoid him until he's sleeping."
"It's a nice thought, but something tells me that won't work!" Sunny exclaimed, tail tucked between her legs.
"And here I thought my show went badly," Pipp chuckled, one eye twitching. Still, she managed to point her phone camera at the beast, though the picture quality was likely terrible given how her arm was shaking.
"That's an a-actual monster," Hitch uttered, his normal swagger gone, ears pinned to his head. "How am I supposed to protect us? No trap in the world is large enough!" As if proving his point, it chose that moment to crush another storefront underhoof, sending broken glass flying.
"We can't just do nothing!" Zipp insisted. "Ponies are getting hurt!"
"But what?" Sunny asked. Nothing in her dad's notes said anything about movie-scale kaiju!
Almost like a prompted response, strange multicolored lights suddenly flashed on the ground in front of them, in the shape of overlapping squares, rectangles, and other angular lines. When they vanished, four small metal objects rested in their place, glinting in the sunlight.
"Okay, now what is it?" Pipp pouted, shuffling to get a better angle.
"Whatever those are can't be as bad as that," Sunny noted, pointing to the eldritch unicorn continuing to rampage unopposed. "Anything to distract from the grim situation, right?"
Seeming on board with that, Hitch held out a hoof to hold the others back as he walked up to them. "They seem safe. Just some foals' action figures."
"Ooo, really? Let me see!" went Izzy, dashing up to them with a grin. Leaning down, she looked them over. "Hey, there's some kinda submarine thingy." She picked it up to show the others. It was indeed a submarine, black and grey, but with two hulls that met in the front.
Curious, Zipp went up to them as well, circling around Hitch. Her eyes lit up. "This one's pretty cool. It's a sci-fi airplane. Bright red, too."
"Not practical, though," Hitch noted. "It's all wings and no body. If I had a kid, I'd give them something low to the ground to play with, like this car."
It looked fast by Sunny's estimation, being a grey racecar, complete with red spoiler and a golden nose. That left only one, the hardest to describe. She reached for it. Turning it over in her hoof didn't help. It was some sort of red and gold bipedel creature or robot, a rarity, with a head like a lizard and claws to match.
That wasn't the only odd thing about it, though. "Huh, there's a paper note taped to the back," Sunny said, pulling it off and unfolding it.
"Huh, ours too," Zipp confirmed, opening her own as Izzy and Hitch did the same.
Sunny read hers aloud. "'To use: be in an open space, hold above your head and announce this Access Code: Dyna Soldier.'" She blinked, her brows furrowed. "Weird. But fancy. My old figures weren't voice-activated. But they were homemade, so..."
"Mine's the same, but the code is different," Izzy said. "Wanna try it?" she prodded, bouncing a little.
"Why not? We're all doomed, anyway," Hitch sighed.
Sunny nodded in agreement. Something in the back of her mind told her this would be useful, somehow.
"Alright!" Izzy cheered, thrusting her toy towards the clouds. "Access Code: Dyna Diver!"
Next went Zipp, her sister standing by her side, both mares baffled but going along. "Access Code: Dyna Wing!"
Then Hitch, in a projected timbre, arm high. "Access Code: Dyna Striker!"
And finally, Sunny herself. "Access Code: Dyna Soldier!"
Blinding light burst forth, accompanied by a building whooshing noise. After a long moment, Sunny shook off her disorientation. And gasped.
She was now standing in the middle of some sort of crazy futuristic control room with a panoramic viewscreen. It was high up, reaching nearly the same height as the giant unicorn monster still wreaking havoc on the city. More shocking to Sunny, though, were the three new titanic shapes. They looked exactly like the other toys they'd picked up, only way bigger. Izzy's Dyna Diver floated in the middle of a large decorative pond, blocking its fountain from view as it nearly filled the entire thing. Zipp's Dyna Wing hovered effortlessly the sky above like a dragon-sized dragonfly. And Hitch's Dyna Striker revved its engines from below, where it blocked every lane of a thoroughfare with its bulk.
Then Sunny peeked down. Beyond various joysticks and levers, only some of which were labelled with the same sloppy writing as the note, was the torso, arms, and legs of Dyna Soldier. She was inside its head! This could only mean one thing: the 'action figures' were actual giant fighting robots, and Sunny was literally in the driver's seat!
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing, or have I gone insane from stress?" voiced Hitch.
Flinching, Sunny turned to the side, finding a window into Hitch's cockpit. Two more quickly popped up, displaying an unreasonably giddy Izzy, and a bewildered Zipp and Pipp respectively.
"If you're also inside a super duper huge version of your nifty doll behind a techno-wizardy button table, then yes!" Izzy replied.
"We're actually flying," Zipp uttered, in awe. "It's incredible."
"Okay, forget being wanted fugitives, my Pippsqueaks have to see this," Pipp declared, whipping out her smartphone and tapping like mad.
It was a lot to take in, but Sunny's mind latched onto an important realization. "Do you know what this means? With these, we can probably beat that monster!"
Zipp's eye's widened. "You're right. I can protect my home!"
"Wow, Sunny, maybe we can," Hitch added, taking a break from studying his controls. "While there's no user manual, some of these functions do appear to be defensive weapons."
"This is the second coolest thing that's ever happened behind meeting you guys!" Izzy said, beaming. "Now we're gonna be turbo battle pony friends! Is everyone ready?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm live!" Pipp answered, leaning over her sister's shoulder to point her phone camera outwards.
And not a moment too soon, as the unicorn kaiju had noticed their dramatic entrance, and was now trampling towards them, knocking apartment blocks aside as it did, letting out another ear-piercing shriek.
"Let's go!" Sunny cried, reaching for Dyna Soldier's interface.
With the eyes of onlookers on them, all four fresh pilots burst into motion. Steered by Sunny, Dyna Soldier took its first big, wobbly steps towards their shared foe, careful to avoid anything important.
But Zipp was faster. Once she had the plane oriented, Dyna Wing launched towards the monster's side at near supersonic speed, propelled by cyan rocket jets. "Hey, ugly, you're trespassing! Eat whatever this is!"
Twin lasers lanced out from its wing-mounted cannons, hitting home. The unicorn kaiju staggered from the pain, but was barely hurt, and twisted its head to try and zap Dyna Wing with a lightning bolt from its razor-sharp horn. But the bolt went wide as Zipp nimbly juked away.
"Nice!" cheered Hitch. "You'd make a fine peace officer with that aim. As for me, hmm, how about... woah!" His exclamation was due to Dyna Striker projecting a ramping holographic track in front of itself as it accelerated straight for the monster, clearing the ground and ramming right into its black muzzle. Both were thrown back from the collision, Dyna Striker catching itself out of a spinout with a second projected road as the devilish unicorn clenched its baleful eyes and howled, stepping back into a jumbo sized ad display for shampoo, which sparked and shut off.
"You're wide open! I've got a hoofmade present, just for you!" Izzy quipped, smashing a big red button on her console. The two rows of hatches on Dyna Diver's back flipped open in series, firing a volley of homing missiles. Arcing through the air, trailing smoke, they streamed towards the kaiju before it could recover, impacting one after another.
Now thoroughly incensed, the monster charged its horn again, the appendage crackling with power as it opened its eyes. But Sunny was there, Dyna Soldier now within arm's length, relatively speaking. "I'm not gonna stand by as you give unicorns a bad name!" She slammed a lever, and Dyna Soldier delivered a mighty uppercut to its chin. Sunny followed up with a spinning kick just as it tried to shoot Hitch, knocking it prone with a tremendous thud. Unfortunately, Dyna Soldier also fell over. It was hard to balance on two legs!
However, this didn't seem to matter to the bystanders, as cheers had erupted from all around them. Though they cowered behind cover, pegasi of all ages poked their heads out to watch the spectacle. Could they hear Sunny and company communicating, or just blindly rooting for the side not actively trying to level Zephyr Heights?
Pipp flashed a forced, toothy smile. "Thanks for the gift subs, FluffFeather54! Again, still don't really need the money since I'm royalty, and we might all die soon anyway, but whatever. This ride is wild. Everypony's all like 'whoosh bam pow'!"
Oh, duh. Regardless, their support bolstered Sunny's resolve. As Dyna Wing and Dyna Striker looped around, she quickly righted Dyna Soldier. Unfortunately, the kaiju did the same, barely injured. Instead, it mostly looked angrier, hot breath coming out of flared nostrils.
"Shoot, that thing is tough," Zipp noted with a frown. "At this rate the whole city will be gone even if we win."
"Oh, I know, I know!" Izzy interjected, waving a hoof rapidly. "How about we hit it really, really hard?"
Hitch groaned, rubbing his forehead. "That's what we've been doing."
"But not all at once," Sunny countered. "We're a team, that means we need teamwork! And I think I know just the thing," she added, glancing at a particular button. "Form up, guys!"
After a beat, Izzy, Hitch, and Zipp figured out what she meant. Mouths in determined lines, they nodded in unison. "Right!"
Avoiding a swipe from the monster, Sunny repositioned Dyna Soldier by Izzy before launching upwards. Hitch and Zipp flew over too, and even Dyna Diver catapulted itself out of the water.
Matching speed and trajectory, all four mechs began to reconfigure themselves. Dyna Wing's wings pulled inwards as it pointed towards the ground. Dyna Striker split in half down the middle, each symmetrical side elongating and flexing on hidden joints. So did Dyna Diver, bending into an inverted V, tips unfolding sideways. And Dyna Soldier pulled its limbs in on itself.
With a snap, it attached to the underside of Dyna Wing. Dyna Striker joined from the back on both sides, becoming a pair of armored arms, with the rest of Dyna Wing as shoulderblades. Dyna Diver clamped into place below, turning into sturdy legs. A piece of Dyna Wing flew off, forming a three-pronged helmet for Dyna Soldier. Finally, Dyna Soldier's head unfolded, revealing a chiseled new face.
They landed with a crash, posed like a superhero with new fists clenched. "Combine! Dynazenon!"
"Alright, now we're talking!" Zipp cheered.
"So... cool..." Izzy uttered, eyes gleaming.
"Looks like we're really getting ready to rumble," Pipp said into her phone. "I know, I know, that catchphrase is like waaay out of fashion, but I couldn't resist."
"Okay, seriously, is this thing magic or what?" Hitch questioned. "Canterlogic's products aren't nearly—"
However, the unicorn monster wasn't about to stand idle, interrupting him by firing another hornbolt. Sunny barely juked Dynazenon out of the way, the electricity knocking a marble bridge support to rubble after grazing their shared shoulder. It would've been dead-on otherwise. "Stay alert, friends! We've got a job to finish."
"I've never had one of those, but I do know the three 'R's," Izzy noted. "So let's reduce this threat to compost!"
"You mares are nuts," Hitch said, shaking his head as he resumed a piloting stance alongside Sunny, Izzy, and Zipp. As one, they pushed Dynazenon into a jog, beelining for the kaiju with enormous strides.
With everypony now sharing the controls, it was actually easier to move Dynazenon. The four of them each instinctively took over a different part of the robot, working in sync to cover weaknesses and enhance strengths. Whenever a pony made a mistake, another could course correct, ensuring fluid running motion. The matter of figuring out exactly what to do, on the other hoof...
They'd reached the monster, but all had different ideas of what attack strategy to use. The result was Dynazenon flailing madly for a few seconds before falling on its butt, decimating a smoothie stand. Their foe seemed to grin wickedly, pinning them down on their back beneath a dark hoof and preparing another very dangerous beam. Pipp and Izzy screamed.
"Horseapples!" Sunny cursed. They needed a plan. Thinking quickly, she found one. "We have to buck if off of us! Then we'll unload everything we've got!"
"Right!" went the others after a beat, following her lead.
Dynazenon brought its knees in and braced itself with its forearms, digging in, actuators priming. Then it kicked vertically into the kaiju's gut, which bent from the contact before being chucked overhead, clearing the nearby towers and screeching in pain.
"Now!" Sunny shouted.
Rapidly standing on metal feet, they lined up Dynazenon, pointing the back of its wrists to the midair monster as it hung at the apex of its arc. "Dynazenon: Full Burst!"
Izzy and Zipp fired their weapons again. The missile hatches, now on Dynazenon's legs, launched a second, empowered barrage, accompanied by its shoulder-mounted laser cannons. Even Dyna Striker's wheels spun up, revealing that they doubled as huge gatling guns, firing a hail of bullets.
Everything hit the black unicorn at once, with tremendous force. It was sent hurtling over the edge of the city, its abominable visage utterly shell-shocked. When it reached the valley far below, it vanished in an enormous fiery explosion. Dynazenon pivoted to face the other way, arms crossed, illuminating its sweet silhouette.
Sunny collapsed to the floor of her cockpit with a long exhale of relief.
"We did it, we did it, we did it!" Izzy exclaimed, pronking about.
"Another crisis averted," Hitch declared, puffing up somewhat.
"Still don't know where that monster, or Dynazenon for that matter, even came from, but we'll worry about that later," Zipp noted, smiling from the thrill of victory.
"Totally, totally," Pipp replied automatically, scrolling through her social media feed. "Should probs still get going though. Like, half of the city wants to throw us a rave now, but the other half still wants you girls arrested, including Mom."
"Shoot," Sunny said, scratching her head. "Guess it's off to Bridlewood as planned, then."
The five mismatched ponies stowed Dynazenon away into its component toys and cantered to Izzy's hometown on hoof. While it would've been way faster, they agreed rolling up in a mecha would almost certainly freak out the locals. It did give them the opportunity for further bonding along the road, including the revelation that Izzy's impetus for her journey was Sunny's foalhood letter.
But the simple joy of building friendships was cut short when they neared the dense forest Bridlewood was nestled in, steps sliding to a halt. For a terribly familiar form was laying siege to the place: another pitch-black kaiju pony, this time a jagged-winged pegasus. Its red glare loomed high over the canopy as it flew with all the prowess actual pegasi currently lacked, and each flap of its feathers sent gales strong enough to rip houses and trees alike from the ground.
"Oh no! Now my neighbors will be even more down-in-the-dumps!" Izzy gasped.
Sunny widened her stance, mane billowing in defiance as she eyed the beast. "What're we waiting for?" Reaching into her saddlebags, she extracted Dyna Soldier. "We'll battle this one too!"
"That monster's flying, though," went Hitch, more doubtful. "Can Dynazenon even do that?"
"If not, we can just stay separated," Zipp countered, whipping out Dyna Wing. "Unicorns or no, I'm not about to let innocent ponies get hurt."
"Hurry up!" Izzy insisted, already balancing Dyna Diver on her horn. "Save the epic lines for the fighting!"
Nodding, Hitch, Zipp, and Sunny also prepared themselves before calling on their weapons. "Access Code: Dyna Diver!" "Access Code: Dyna Wing!" "Access Code: Dyna Soldier!" "Access Code: Dyna Striker!"
"And Pipp, with commentary!" chimed in Pipp at the end as she glomped her sister, already having started streaming again.
The four Dyna machines all appeared with a flare of light side by side at the edge of the forest, their presence looming large. Large enough that, as before, the pegasus kaiju took notice. Cawing like the world's loudest eagle, it stopped buffeting Bridlewood, ascended higher into the sky, and somehow extended wicked-sharp talons from its front hooves, each the length of a dozen ponies.
Sunny took this in with narrowed eyes as she settled in behind the control panel of Dyna Soldier, also as before, though now being more acquainted. However, something had changed. The button used to combine into Dynazenon was now lit up brilliantly, as if Dyna Soldier itself was somehow encouraging her to press it.
"Well, that's new," Zipp noted. Apparently the same thing was happening for the others.
"Is everypony thinking what I'm thinking?" Izzy asked.
Pipp pursed her lips. "That you hope you won't lose any bars out here in the sticks?"
Hitch facehoofed. "Yes, Izzy, we'll try the combination again now."
Sunny would've giggled if not for the gigantic abomination preparing to divebomb them. "Okay, Dynazenon, show us what you can really do!"
When the four of them triggered this new, prompted combination sequence, it started the same is before, with Dyna Soldier, Dyna Striker, and Dyna Diver launching high to join Dyna Wing. But that was where the similarities ended. Instead of folding, Dyna Wing expanded, its wings extending to be longer and thinner. Dyna Soldier's legs flipped 120 degrees into front-facing claws as its head and arms retracted, making way for the rest of its entire body to open up into a larger head of a predatory dinosaur with golden fangs. Dyna Diver split into legs again, except backwards, thus appearing more animalistic and revealing crimson paint. Another set of gold claws dropped down to form feet.
These three parts fused together at their centers with booming clangs. Then, Dyna Striker snapped onto the back, cementing itself as a thick bludgeon of a tail. Lastly, its new wings flared to life, forming phoenix-esque feathers of cyan fire, and it let out a triumphant, primal roar. "Dragon Combine! Dyna Rex!"
Wasting no time, they immediately pushed Dyna Rex into the air to meet the monster pegasus. With immense momentum, it thrust its shadowy talons towards Dyna Rex's throat. But with a burst of motion, they managed to stall their flight, ascending out of the way, then slamming Dyna Rex's tail against its back.
As the kaiju avoided a crash landing, pulling up despite its injury, Sunny and company whooped with adrenaline. Banking Dyna Rex to the side, they circled the dread pegasus as it recovered, each combatant waiting for an opening.
Sunny couldn't help but marvel, not only at the awe-inspiring form of Dyna Rex, but also just how high up they were, and how well Izzy, Zipp, and Hitch were coordinating with her and with eachother.
"Haha, now this is flying," Zipp quipped.
"We're so in sync, you guys," Sunny noted with pride. "It's like we were meant to be together, saving the world!"
Izzy squee'd at that. "I totally agree, bestie!"
Even Hitch seemed invigorated. "Who needs traps when you have a giant robotic dinosaur?"
"Can Zipp and the rest of these ragtag rascals win against this mockery of pegasus-kind and go two-nothing? Let's keep watching and find out!" narrated Pipp.
Tired of waiting to continue its rampage, the kaiju flapped mightily, putting on a burst of speed, before pulling sideways at the last moment to slash diagonally at Dyna Rex's wing. However, they spun Dyna Rex out of the way with a barrel roll, raking its wide clawed feet across the monster's stomach. Unfortunately, it managed to counter by kicking out with a back hoof, which connected with Dyna Rex's chin.
Sunny got dizzy as they spun out, descending in a rough double helix opposite the pegasus kaiju. But working together, she and the others were able to recover first, jetting over with jaws wide. Dyna Rex bit down on one of its black wings before twisting hard, tearing it right down the middle. The monster cawed in rage, its red eyes contorted, as they flew past before spitting the wing out. The limb's insides were weird, with red, green, and yellow cables within the void of its body at the severed point. Sunny pondered if these monsters were even really alive at all.
Pipp winced. "That's gotta hurt! F's in the chat for the scary affront to nature."
Though the kaiju was able to stay aloft by moving its remaining half-a-wing twice as rapidly, it was clearly having trouble steering, forget about attacking back reliably. Still, it was trying, forming a ball of compressed wind pressure beneath its good wing.
"Now's out chance!" Zipp cried.
"It's over! Your song and dance number is done, the curtain falls!" Izzy added.
Turning square towards the monster pegasus, they readied Dyna Rex's finishing move. Mouth open wide, a pair of nozzles were visible, and they charged with burning energy before releasing it in an enormous cone of red-hot flames. "Blazing Inferno Rex Roar!"
The dark kaiju fired its own attack at the same time, meeting theirs, but it was instantly snuffed out, and the wave of flames engulfed its body. A second later and the monster exploded, only the smoke making it out in scattered clouds, as its body was completely vaporized by the might of Dyna Rex's blast.
"Booyah!" went Hitch and Sunny simultaneously. They would've hoofbumped had they been in the same room.
After posing with upturned claws, they brought Dyna Rex back down for a landing in the field of flowers.
Storing Dynazenon away once more, Izzy led Sunny, Zipp, Pipp, and Hitch into the windswept Bridlewood to see if everypony was okay, and to search for the unicorn crystal. They'd meant to put on unicorn disguises, just in case, but it turned out they weren't necessary, as they were ambushed by thankful townsponies before Izzy could even show them to her home. Escorted to the outside of a barely-standing teahouse, Sunny saw along the way that there was no serious damage to anything besides the buildings, which could be repaired.
Once there, a large stallion named Alphabittle emerged, and he insisted on treating them to his finest despite most of the group being hornless. But Sunny brought up her mission of restoring their magic first, and asked about the crystal. As it turned out, Alphabittle had it in his trophy collection, and was more than happy to give it to them if they could find it. So, they all tabled the tea for later and started digging through the debris of his establishment.
However, just as a keen-eyed Hitch found the blue gem, Queen Haven and a party of her guards stormed Bridlewood, demanding her daughters return home and igniting an argument with Alphabittle. Sunny managed to put it to a halt by shouting about the return of magic, she and Izzy carefully bringing the unicorn and pegasus crystals together.
When absolutely nothing happened, the crowd was disappointed, but Sunny was devastated. She'd thought for sure that would do it, cement a future of happiness amongst all ponykind, yet her hopes had been dashed. Head hung low, after returning the crystals to their owners, she began slowly trotting back to Maretime Bay along with Hitch. Somewhat surprisingly, Izzy, Zipp, and Pipp joined them. When Sunny asked why, Zipp had pointed out that there was a real possibility that a third monster might be attacking the earth pony city, and that the three of them wanted to stick together and check just in case.
As it turned out, this was a prudent decision. For as they trudged down the path towards Maretime Bay, tremendous, rhythmic quakes suddenly began to echo in the distance. The ponies' ears flattened to muffle the sound, but it barely did anything.
"Fantastic," Zipp said sarcastically. "I hate being right sometimes."
Over the horizon in front of them, a shape grew, its distant, hazy outline clearly that of another giant threat.
"Yeah, definitely another baddie," Izzy noted. Then, she reached over to lift Sunny's head all the way. "I know it's not ultra healthy to suppress your feelings, but you can get back to moping afterwards, Sunny."
"Okay..." Sunny sighed. Izzy did have a point. She and Hitch both gave her pensive looks as she pulled out Dyna Soldier one more time.
Preparing to face this next challenge, the four of them quickly activated Dynazenon, combining into its original fused form. From their elevated vantage point, and as it marched closer, more details of this third enemy became apparent. For one, it was nothing like the previous two kaiju. In fact, it looked more like Dynazenon, being a huge robotic equine. A metallic dark red, with a blonde helm and segmented tail, the machine had green eyes, and was protected by plates of sharp-edged silver armor all over. Hatches on its sides, back, and legs likely concealed a substantial arsenal, and its hooves were covered by thick black boots, probably heavy enough to crush mountainsides with a single swing. Moreover, it stood at the same height as Dynazenon.
Hitch squinted at it. "That looks like... Sprout!?"
Just as he said this, another window appeared on Sunny's viewscreen, corresponding with their new opponent. It was indeed Sprout behind the wheel of the earth pony mecha, except now he wore a high black collar and numerous medals. Sunny gaped at him.
Sprout must've been just as surprised, as he stopped his robot in its tracks, staring them down from about five lengths away.
"Huh? Hitch and Sunny? With two pegasi and a unicorn!? I didn't think you'd ever fall this far," Sprout noted, frowning with deep disapproval. "And where'd you even get that tacky robot? Eh, doesn't matter. For you see, my Sprouticus Maximus, enlarged and enhanced by the mysterious hoof of destiny, is unstoppable!" he declared, raising a hoof dramatically. "I don't need an army, or even mommy's approval anymore! I, the great Sprout, emperor of Maretime Bay, can destroy all threats to earth pony kind all on my own!"
Well, that was worrisome. Though they might never have magic together, Sunny couldn't just let her old friend become a monster himself, and her inner fire relit. "The pegasi and unicorns aren't threats!" she insisted, stomping a hoof. "They're ponies just like us!"
"Well, we're totally cuter, but other than that, yeah," Pipp confirmed.
"Don't do this, Sprout," Hitch intoned. "Didn't you want to be a hero?"
"I am the hero!" Sprout insisted. "And that makes you the villains!"
With that, Sprouticus Maximus charged, carving deep furrows into the ground as the huge robot broke into a gallop.
"Guess we have no choice," Zipp said, her mouth set in a grim line. "It's him or us."
Dropping into a crouch, Dynazenon braced for impact, hands outstretched. As Sprouticus Maximus leaned into a headbutt, they managed to catch its metal skull. For an instant, Sunny thought they were deflecting him. But she was mistaken. With a toss of its head, Sprouticus Maximus flung them aside like it was nothing, picking Dynazenon up and sending them sailing end-over-end. Pipp nearly dropped her phone as they pinwheeled about, crying out in surprise.
They managed to land Dynazenon on its feet, but Sprout wasn't letting up. "Take this, xenophilic scum: Chaos Catapult Cannon!"
"I didn't even know his vocabulary was that good," Hitch remarked, staring in focus.
With Sprout's proclamation, the side hatches on Sprouticus Maximus opened up, and two wide-barreled cannons slid out, each wrapped in a transparent coil of lime green fluid. They fired a repeating barrage of green energy orbs.
Dynazenon leapt to the side, the shots going wide. When the orbs struck the ground it disintegrated on the spot, forming a bunch of circular craters.
"Yikes!" went Zipp. "Wouldn't wanna be hit by one of those!"
"Too bad!" said Sprout, adjusting his aim.
Faced with such a hail of devastation, Sunny and the others could do nothing except frantically dodge, rolling, backpedaling, and performing jet-assisted leaps away. But Sprout was relentless, matching their pace as he chased them down.
"Please, just listen to us!" Izzy pleaded.
"I order you to stop, Sprout!" Hitch bellowed.
"You're not the boss of me!" Sprout rebuked, veins bulging on his forehead. "Nopony is!"
Soon, in their continued evasion, Dynazenon reached the ocean, flipping off the cliffside and landing in the shallow water with a tremendous splash. Taking cover, they pressed Dynazenon against the rock wall, hiding.
Sunny clenched her teeth. They were losing, overwhelmingly outclassed. And Dyna Rex wasn't forthcoming. Even if it was, she couldn't risk immolating Sprout along with his machine. There was still a semi-decent pony underneath all that rage. Though his growls of frustration as he close in didn't do him any favors.
Yet when Sunny remembered all the other ponies, young and old, newly met and long known, who Sprout was putting in danger, fresh resolve built in her breast. She couldn't let him win. Brows creased, she extended Dynazenon's fingers, flicking on a never-before-used system. "Dyna Saber!"
From Dynazenon's fingertips, dual blades of glowing light emerged, about the length of its forearms. And not a moment too soon, as Sprouticus Maximus cleared the cliff with a spinning leap, facing them. He'd retracted his cannons, instead brandishing a steel spear the length of a city block. Its point was serrated, and the teeth whirred around like a chainsaw.
Sprout wasted no time in trying to impale them with an overhead strike. But they crossed Dynazenon's arms, catching the weapon precariously between their own, the collision giving off sparks.
"You can't beat me! My power is MAXIMUMER!" Sprout shouted, leveraging even more of his mecha's weight to press down with his spear using both front hooves. Dynazenon was actually forced onto one knee.
"I don't care, I'm going to keep trying! And I'm not alone!" Sunny declared, filled with conviction. "We'll reclaim the past, and build a better future! I choose to fight for friendship and love, not hate! No matter what, there will always be ponies like me, like us, who will join together, no matter what! Even moreso than these robots, that's the true magic!"
"Yeah!" cried Izzy, Hitch, Pipp, and Zipp in a resounding affirmation. With all of them working together, they were able to lever Sprout's spear to the side, rolling out of the way as it cut into the gravel beach beneath.
Suddenly, still heady with emotion after her speech, Sunny felt something stir. As Sprout fixed his stance, three small, gleaming objects flew towards Dynazenon. It was the crystals, she realized with awe. There was a third one! They began orbiting Dynazenon, and Sunny's body was picked up off the control room floor, buoyed by their magic.
There was booming sound, and a rainbow of light bloomed in a ring above them, spreading into waves of color across the evening heavens. It invigorated Sunny, and her senses expanded, making her aware of her new appendages. Wait, new appendages!?
Whipping around to the side, she saw she actually had wings now, made of shimmering golden magic. And a horn. Breaking out into laughter, she landed daintily back by her instrument panel.
"WOAH!" Izzy exclaimed, her own horn emitting motes that twirled around her. "You did it! You brought back the magic!"
Pipp took a few experimental flaps. When she actually rose into the air, she screamed with joy, optimal cinematography forgotten.
Zipp, eyes wide, joined her, indulging in a little spin. "Sunny, this is amazing!"
Beaming, Hitch took it all in. "Incredible. Even Dynazenon changed, look."
He was right. All of the areas on its combined form which had previously been bright red were now a warm orange, matching Sunny's coat.
"I... I almost can't believe it," Sunny whispered to herself, overcome with joy. Even her mane and tail had changed, with added streaks of blue and red.
However, not all were pleased. Opposite Dynazenon, Sprouticus Maximus' tail thrashed, and strange green gas began to leak out from its joints. "You brought magic back? So what!?" Sprout roared, extremely enraged, more so than any pony Sunny had ever met. "It changes nothing! The pegasi and unicorns will still be crushed beneath my hooves, starting with your friends!"
Hefting his spear, he hurled it at Dynazenon. Still preoccupied by the return of magic, none of its pilots were prepared to defend, and the weapon zoomed towards Dynazenon's chest! They flinched, bracing for the worst.
But out of nowhere, a triangular purple greatshield appeared in midair right in front of them in the nick of time, deflecting the spear.
"What?" went Pipp. "Where did—"
"Neo Superconductive Kick!"
Another newcomer, the source of the voice, slammed into Sprouticus Maximus's side with a dropkick, both feet wreathed in electricity. Sprout's robot was sent careening, splashing down into the ocean some distance away.
Sunny blinked owlishly as the figure stood. While just as massive as Dynazenon, and with the same bipedal posture, that was where the similarities ended. They were clearly alive, and judging by body shape and vocal timbre, a mare, or the equivalent. She wore a full lavender bodysuit, on top of which golden armor had been layered strategically. The design of her matching mask/helmet evoked a pair of glasses, and magenta lights glowed in the middle of her chest, on her forehead, and atop futuristic wrist gauntlets.
"Uh, thanks for the save," managed Hitch through his confusion. "But who are you?"
She peeked over at Dynazenon. However, she didn't answer. "Congratulations, Sunny Starscout. I'm very proud of you," she said, a smile in her motherly voice.
Then the purple shield still hovering in front of them suddenly unfolded itself into the shape of another robotic dragon, smaller than Dyna Rex but no less imposing and majestic. "You and your friends accomplished more than we'd ever expected," the dragon said, his voice deep and masculine, yet playful. "But this foe is one you were never meant to face."
"Now, we can assist directly you without regret," added the female warrior.
Sunny blinked at the two of them. There was something oddly... familiar about the pair. "Thanks?"
It was at this point when Sprouticus Maximus righted itself. "Now what!?" Sprout roared, exasperated. "More interference!? Who dares challenge Emperor Sprout!?"
Zipp flicked her tail. "Yeah, I was gonna say."
Turning to face Sprout, she replied, standing tall. "Twilight Sparkle, that's who."
"And Spike," added the dragon, flexing proudly.
Sunny's jaw dropped. "Wait, like, the Twilight Sparkle? Guardian of Harmony Twilight Sparkle, from the ancient stories? And her assistant? But she was an alicorn pony!" It would've been amazing to actually be able to meet them, but that was impossible.
"That's me," she confirmed, somewhat bashfully. "As for why we look like this, it's a long story, and I'll gladly explain later. The short answer is that I'm technically also a Hyper Agent now."
"That... doesn't really help any," Sunny said, still reeling from the revelation.
"True or not, they're still clearly veteran heroes!" Hitch pointed out, two hooves up.
Sprout, however, reacted differently. "Well it doesn't matter, you'll fall just the same!" he uttered, deploying Sprouticus Maximus' cannons again, the weapons humming with ominous power.
"Okay, let's save it," said Izzy, going with the flow. "First things first, let's teach this colt some manners. I mean wow, he's just extra impolite."
Spike barked out a belly laugh. "You said it."
"So, a three on one brawl? That'll be an even bigger spectacle," said Pipp.
Twilight shook her head, but kept a tone of encouragement. "There's something you're capable of that's much stronger than a numbers advantage."
"Friendship!" Izzy chirped.
That was part of it, but not the whole thing. Sunny picked up on what exactly Twilight was implying, and her heart hammered with excitement. "A combination?"
"I love a fast learner," Twilight confirmed. "Come on! Let's give Sprout a lesson he won't soon forget!"
Hitch, Zipp, Izzy, and Sunny got into position, faces brimming with courage.
Snarling, Sprout fired at them, but the group had already begun their transformation, Dynazenon, Spike, and Twilight ascending high above the fusillade towards the aurora-blanketed firmament. Dynazenon separated itself without returning to its individual vehicle forms, each of the four machines taking up a different position around Twilight, as well as Spike.
Twilight's legs and arms slipped inside Dyna Diver and Dyna Striker respectively, wearing them like a suit of armor. Spike folded himself again, this time into a flared breastplate, snapping into place protectively over his sibling's torso. Dyna Wing, extended as with Dyna Rex before, attached to Twilight's back. Dyna Soldier shifted into a totally new shape, that of a giant gun, the end of its barrel the head of Dyna Rex. This gun came to clamp onto Twilight's right shoulder.
Overflowing with glorious magical and technological energy, a long cape of densely packed miniature stars unfurled from their back. Finally, a piece of Spike detached, planting itself on Twilight's head as a second helm atop the first, one with two sweeping horns. Suspended in the sky, they swept an arm out to the side in a climactic flourish. "Super Dragon Princess! Thunder Twilight!"
Despite how stupidly epic that sequence was, Sprout kept up the assault, arcing more cannon shots up at them.
"That's not going to work anymore," Sunny stated plainly. Gliding towards Sprouticus Maximus, Thunder Twilight rebuffed the orbs with a storm of magenta energy bullets fired from her palms, perfectly aimed to negate every single bolt as they accelerated.
For the first time, a hint of fear showed on Sprout's muzzle. "Y-You can't do that! Sprouticus Maximus is unstoppable!"
"Actually, that's us," quipped Spike. Soon within melee range, Thunder Twilight transferred her dive into a spinning roundhouse kick. Sprout got up a hoof to block at the last second, but the sheer force still sent the equine mech sliding backwards.
"Take this!" cried Zipp, as Thunder Twilight kept the pressure high, running up and throwing a mean right hook.
Sprout met it with a right hook of his own, their fists colliding with such force that the resulting shockwave pushed back the clouds above. However, Sprouticus Maximus' boot shattered as a result, the fragments sent flying. Sprout sputtered in disbelief at the sight.
"Your gooseberry pie is cooked!" declared Izzy as Thunder Twilight nimbly stepped around, grabbing their opponent by the tail.
Sprouticus Maximus heaved, trying to escape, but to no avail. "To probation with you!" added Hitch.
"Atone for your mistakes!" finished Twilight herself as they catapulted Sprout into the air in a single swing.
Sunny and the others raised Thunder Twilight's arm high, hand perpendicular, readying their decisive blow. The ray from a Dyna Saber flared outwards before extending and curving around to their wrist, completing a loop. Then, this loop rapidly and dramatically enlarged in size, to reach nearly ten times their combined height.
With victorious alacrity, they brought it down like a titanic axe. "Thunder Twilight Circular!"
The airborne Sprouticus Maximus was effortlessly decapitated by the move, which continued on to slice into the ocean floor with enough power to send up waves to either side that stretched as far as the eye could see.
As the energy ring deactivated, Thunder Twilight standing stately, the two pieces of Sprout's creation tumbled down into the water. Sprout himself was ejected in a life preserver, which bounced along the sea's surface towards Maretime Bay. Then the remains of the robot exploded, the resulting fireballs the largest Sunny had seen yet.
Whooping, Sunny beat her new wings. "Finally!"
"Super!" grinned Izzy as Hitch straightened his badge. Pipp and Zipp shared a sisterly embrace.
But Twilight put a damper on the revelry with a solemn intonation. "He was never the real source of this calamity. That is." She pointed Thunder Twilight's finger at the scrapped Sprouticus Maximus.
For from within it, green gas was spiraling up and coalescing into an intimidating figure as they watched. Soon, it had finished, taking on an unnatural presence. It looked like a manifestation of the pale pony of death, the grim reaper, if their bones were freakishly long, green, and made of too few polygons like out of an old video game. White smoke covered it like a shroud, and it shook with repressed fury, staring at them with an eyeless face.
Previously, such a fearful sight would've sent Hitch, Sunny, Pipp, Zipp, and Izzy running. But not anymore. They'd faced violence and hatred, and won. So instead, they geared up for one last fight.
"You've ruined everything!" the specter wailed. "I, Siro Kerib, claimed this world for my amusement, to fill with destruction and sorrow for my amusement. But now all of my pawns are lost to me! You shall pay dearly for this!"
"Your days of manipulating from the shadows are over, Siro," proclaimed Spike.
"You failed," continued Twilight. "Now we just have to lock you out for good."
So this guy was to blame for everything, huh? Very well, in that case, Sunny would close the book on this adventure in one shot! Lowering her horn, she channeled every ounce of her new magic into Thunder Twilight. The inside of her shoulder-gun's mouth began to fill with golden light.
Twilight must've had the same idea, as the jewel over the center of their shared heart shone brilliantly with her own powerful magic. Facing Siro Kerib, armored arms spread wide, they let the magic loose. "Twin Harmony Beam!"
Wide cones of yellow and pink went forth from Thunder Twilight, overlapping into a perfect rainbow as they raced for Siro. He had no chance, the concentrated harmonic magic cutting off his scream of anguish as he was erased completely. The beam then continued on, fanning out until it encompassed everything. When it finally faded, all signs of damage to the landscape had been repaired, probably including Bridlewood and Zephyr Heights too.
And so, there was tranquility.
Maretime Bay bustled with activity, merriment abound. Celebrating the end of the kaiju attacks and the return of magic, all three pony tribes laughed, ate, and danced the night away, any prejudice discarded for shared love anew. Even Queen Haven and Alphabittle participated, though Phillis had put Sprout in time-out for imposing martial law. He'd apologized to everypony for his behavior, insisting that he'd gone too far. Most of it he'd blamed on Siro's machinations, but still, it was better than nothing.
After a parade of thankful and congratulatory faces that went on for hours, Sunny and her friends at last had a moment to themselves. The five of them, exhausted in a good way, relaxed side by side on a bench in an otherwise vacant public park near the edge of the city, the sound of festive music faintly distant.
However, they were not totally alone. Twilight Sparkle and Spike stepped out from their hiding place behind a nearby house, having been avoiding attention - with difficulty - throughout the party. Both of them had shed their combat forms a while ago, but still majorly stood out. Twilight's regal alicorn body towered at twice the height of most ponies, and her mane of billowing nebulae was distinctive, to say the least. Spike was even worse, his flesh dragon frame being nearly as massive as the dwellings around him, still all points and scales, only rounder.
Sunny's ears perked up at their arrival. "Oh, Princess Twilight, Spike, hi!"
"Hello, my little ponies," Twilight replied, walking up to them. Spike followed, and the two of them sat down in the grass, folding their legs underneath themselves.
"Can I braid your mane?" Izzy blurted. "It's so swooshy. I deserve that much, after everything we've been through."
"Uh-huh. I'm glad you didn't make us go find you," Zipp admitted, crossing her arms as she reclined. "Because you still owe us one heck of an explanation for all this."
Twilight's expression sobered. "And you shall have it. That's why we're here."
"Fair warning, though," Spike began, frowning. "You might not like some of what you hear."
Sunny hummed at that. "Well, then. Girls, what do you think?" she asked, turning to each of her friends in turn.
Izzy shrugged, carefree. Hitch nodded, slowly pushing down Pipp's phone before she could wake it up and start recording.
"Tell us," said Zipp, staring at Twilight and Spike.
After a pregnant pause, Twilight took a deep breath and started. "First off: the topic of how Spike and I are still around, and how we came here. You see, this world in which you reside is, in fact, one iteration of an extremely advanced computer simulation created as part of an experiment on friendship theory. We wanted to test the hypothesis that the three tribes would unite in a shared bond regardless of the initial societal conditions."
Sunny froze up, reeling from the news. Pipp, Hitch, Zipp, and Izzy had similar reactions. They couldn't just be artificial intelligences... could they?
"You're still just as real as Twilight and I, still fully people, don't worry," Spike insisted. "It's just that the laws of your universe work differently, since they were coded instead of born."
"That's why I reached out to a new comrade of ours for help when I saw that an alien computer virus - Siro Kerib - had found its way here somehow," Twilight continued. "He's had experience dealing with such things, and he loaned me Dynazenon, which I then passed on to you five. This is your world, so I only thought it right that you should be the ones to defend it. That way, we wouldn't have robbed you of your destiny." Here, Twilight smiled. "I must say, you surpassed my wildest expectations."
"I'm... grateful?" Hitch managed, blinking over and over.
"Actually, this doesn't change much for me," Pipp noted, handling the bombshell well. "I've basically been living digitally 24/7 already."
"Wait, wait, wait," Sunny objected, thoughts racing. "How can this be a simulation when everything is so, so real!? Besides, what about you two?"
"These are merely our avatars," Twilight explained, gesturing to herself. "Like a character in a VR game."
Spike cleared his throat, which was a considerable sound, coming from an adult dragon. "As for the simulation part, you wouldn't be expected to notice any of the inconsistencies that resulted from this particular setup, given it's all you've experienced." He held up his claws to count. "For instance, we've got a tiny overall size of only three settlements combined with post-industrial technology like semiconductors and wireless data transmission. Nopony even has any mines or refineries to harvest materials, let alone a spaceport to launch the satellites necessary for cell phones. There are troves of historical artifacts scattered everywhere, but no books with concrete written evidence. And most telling of all, without trade relations, Zephyr Heights has literally nowhere to get food, situated on a completely urbanized, barren plateau!"
Zipp's mouth opened to reply, but as she mulled it over, it hinged shut, eyes widening like saucers. "Horsefeathers, it never occurred to me to even ask."
Spike smirked knowingly. "Yup. But hey, it's not all bad or incomplete. I gave half the animals in here wings for you. Better than the deal pet owners where me and Twi live got!" he laughed.
"Did you also make them clingy towards sheriffs?" Hitch abruptly asked.
"No, that's all you, dude," Spike confirmed, leading Hitch to grumble.
After a beat, Izzy whistled. "Wow, that was a whole mess of crazy to dump on us. But I'm glad you did."
"Same," went Zipp, ruffling her feathers. "And I can accept not getting any answers to my eight million new questions. A smart mare can uncover the truth on her own, ya know?"
Indeed. Now that they'd laid everything on the table, Sunny mulled over their words. She supposed that her world being in a fancy computer really did connect all the dots. It was still a lot to wrap her head around though, and definitely not something worth spreading around. Layponies would likely freak out.
"I suppose that's that, then," Twilight said, rising to four hooves. "All that's left is for you to return Dynazenon. It can't stay here, not when those in other worlds beyond even my reach may have need of its power."
"We were only borrowing it, after all," reminded Spike, stretching a hand towards them, palm up.
"Then, we can go, and you can enjoy the rest of your lives with eachother in friendship, continuing to guide and support your communities," Twilight added.
There was silence as the five local ponies exchanged looks. Hitch, Izzy, and Zipp fished out their pieces of Dynazenon, carefully hoofing them over.
Struck by a bittersweet melancholy, Sunny forced herself to stay positive as she passed Dyna Soldier, still marked in her orange like the others, to Spike. "So, I guess this is goodbye?"
"We just met!" protested Izzy.
"I'm truly sorry, but I have many responsibilities to attend to. The master checklist waits for nopony," Twilight said apologetically.
"Not even for a single group selfie?" begged Pipp. But Twilight shook her head.
Sunny could empathize, also dearly wishing Twilight could stay. She still had so much more she wanted to ask the living legend! But deep down, Sunny knew she and Spike had their own home to get back to. Exhaling, she faced Twilight with dignity. "All right. Take care, Princess."
"You too, Princess," Twilight replied, winking impishly. After ruffling Sunny's mane affectionately, she stepped back with a soft smile. "Be well, my faithful student."
Spike waved goodbye. Without fanfare, he and Twilight vanished without a trace before their eyes.
Blinking back tears, Sunny pulled Hitch, Zipp, Pipp, and Izzy into a warm hug. The world, full of magic, was theirs, now and forevermore.
SSSS#2.5 - End