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// Episode 35: The Battle of Maretime Bay Pt 2 
// Story: My Little Pony: Sparkling Harmony: Future Incursion 
// by Captain_Cosmos 
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Sparkler and Night Shade continued to watch in utter disbelief as the giant mechapony and its Tartarus-spawn poninators began moving forward. They couldn’t believe what it was they were seeing.

Sprout laughed as he activated a loudspeaker. “Ahem. Attention all Pegasi and Unicorns. You will leave Earth Pony Territory immediately! Or face the consequences of invading our turf!” He growled as his pony bots swept through Maretime Bay

Ponies out and about ran for their lives as the ponybots started firing at Pegasi and Unicorns. From the house, Sunny and her friends watched the chaos. “Has Sprout lost it?!” Zipp asked.

“I think he legit has!” Pipp responded.

Sunny growled and flared her wings. “I’m going out there. Keep the kids safe.” She said as she flew off into the sky towards the town.

Sparkler at last snapped out of her shock and flared her wings angrily. “That punk is SO going down!” She growled.

“Careful! Remember we need all the magical signatures intact!” Night Shade called out as Sparkler took off.

Sparkler nodded as she flew up into the sky and stopped right in front of the giant mechapony’s head, which she could clearly tell was the command center. “SPROUT! I AM GIVING YOU ONE CHANCE TO STOP THIS PURE INSANITY!” She growled in the Royal Canterlot Voice. “PEGASI AND UNICORNS ARE NOT THE ENEMY! THEY NEVER HAVE BEEN!” She shouted.

Sprout just laughed. “Sure. That’s what you want us to think. But I know the truth!” He growled as he brought one of the mechapony’s forelegs. Before Sparkler could dodge, the leg swatted her away. Sparkler grunted at the impact and was sent flying uncontrollably. She quickly regained control just in time to NOT crash into Sunny, who came up beside her in a hover.

“Sparkler! You alright?” Sunny asked.

“Gah. Yes. I’m fine, but that little nut case won’t be! He’s powering that thing with the magical signatures my family needs to get home!” Sparkler told Sunny.

“Oh no.” Sunny responded.

Sprout meanwhile just smiled and powered up a laser cannon that was attached to his mechapony’s head. “And now I have targets for this bad boy. Say hello to the PegaCorn annihilator!” He growled as the cannon fired.

Sparkler and Sunny watched the cannon fire at them. “Look out!” Sunny and Sparkler took off and just barely dodged the beam.

“Oh yeah. Yep there’s no more doubt about it. SPROUT HAS GONE LEGITIMATELY INSANE!” Sparkler said as they dodged another shot.

Sunny noticed a pack of ponybots flying right at them and their eyes glowed. “Incoming!” She cried out.

Sparkler saw the bots coming and lit up her horn. “Let’s tear these buckets of bolts apart!” She said as she fired magical lasers at the bots.

Meanwhile, in Maretime Bay, Hitch just stared at the mechanical monstrosity that his former deputy and friend had constructed, as well as the littler ones terrorizing the town. “Sprout, what happened…” He asked idly.

“Sheriff!” Zipp called out as she landed in front of him. “Sheriff! We gotta get everypony outta here!”

Hitch blinked, before nodding. “Right!” He said as he turned to Apple Brittle. “Brittle, put out a call for reinforcements! I have a good feeling we’re gonna need them!”

“Roger Roger!” Apple Brittle responded before whipping out his phone.

Hitch nodded and turned to Zipp. “Zipp, we have to get everypony into the shelter. They’ll be safe there. Do a fly of the town perimeter for any stragglers and direct them to the shelter.” He said.

“Roger that.” Zipp responded, but before taking off. “Oh, and sheriff?” She asked.

“What?” Hitch asked in a hurry.

Zipp leaned in and locked lips with Hitch for a solid three seconds before pulling back and smiling, it looked like this was the best chance she was guaranteed. “That was just in case we don’t make it out of this alive.” She said with a wink as she took off, leaving Hitch very confused and flushed.

Back in the sky, Sparkler and Sunny had launched from their hovering position and were now essentially dogfighting Sprout’s mechanical army. “Whoa! Is this what it’s like in 1003?! Saving the world from evil maniacs?” Sunny asked as she passed by Sparkler.

Sparkler rolled her eyes as she blasted at robots. “This is my first save the world level crisis!” She said. “Figures it’d follow an accident.”

Sunny blasted at robots with her magic, before she noticed the big cannon powering up again. She bolted right for its target. “Sparkler! Behind you!” She crashed into Sparkler and moved her and herself out of the way of the cannon, which missed its shot. Sunny and Sparkler came crashing down into the streets of Maretime Bay. They both grunted at the impact and got back on their hooves.

“Thanks Sunny.” Sparkler said.

“Don’t mention it.” Sunny responded. The two Alicorns looked ahead and saw more of Sprout’s robots heading towards them.

“Destroy all Non Earth Ponies!” One of the lead robots said as their eyes lit up.

Sparkler and Sunny flared their wings and lit their horns, ready to fight, before magical laser blasts shot past them and slammed into the robots, destroying them. Sparkler glanced behind her and saw a sight that nearly made her jump for joy. Behind her she saw… “Twilight Sparkle?!” She asked.

The new Alicorn shook her, or rather, HIS head. “Nah. It’s me. Harmone.” The Alicorn’s head morphed into that of Harmone. “Thanks to a magic amplification Crystal, I think four Alicorns are better than three.” Harmone said.

Sunny’s expression fell. For a moment, she legit believed that TWILIGHT FREAKING SPARKLE had showed up. “Why did you choose to don Twilight’s look?” She asked.

“Insult to injury to Sprout. We’ll beat him, and he’ll see that he’s upsetting a legend.” Harmone said simply as he came up between the two genuine Alicorns.

“Oh you better believe she WOULD be upset by all this.” Sparkler responded as she saw MORE robots coming right at them. “Sweet bananas how many of these buckets of bolts does that lunatic have?” She asked.

“Don’t worry. Help is on the way.” Harmone said. “We just need to hold the line until it gets here.”

Sunny and Sparkler nodded. “Right!” They said as the three of them watched as the robots swarmed them.

And so they lit their horns ablaze and started fighting back against the robots. Hitch, Apple Brittle, and Zipp herded the civilians into the shelter for protection, and Sprout’s Mechapony just kept on walking. Sparkler noticed its course, and gasped when she realized what was in the way. “He’s headed for the house that the kids are in!” Knowing that Sprout knew Alicorns occupied that house, and knowing he called his main weapon the Pegacorn Annihilator, Sparkler took off for the house, with Sunny and Harmone close behind her.

At the house, Pipp and Izzy had gotten the kids into the basement. They saw the chaos outside. “Good thing we get cell reception down here.” Pipp commented.

“Can somepony please tell me what Sprout’s problem is?” Spike asked as Flurry was whimpering, scared.

“Sprout HATES non Earth Ponies.” Pipp responded.

“So much that he’s willing to go this far apparently.” Izzy responded. “But hey. At least this will be an AWESOME story to tell.” She added.

At that moment, Sprinkle, Pedal, and Mystic all got a mental link message from their mom. They gasped as they processed it. “We need to get out of here.” Sprinkle said. “We need to evac the house! Sprout’s gonna destroy it!” She cried.

“What?!” Everypony responded. “Why?”

Pipp blinked. “Because we’re in here. The only one of us who’s safe from that maniac is Pedal!” She exclaimed.

“Evacuate!” Mystic cried.

Outside, Sparkler and her two friends beat their wings as hard as they could, trying to get to the house. Sparkler ascended into the air and blasted at the robot’s head, trying to knock it off course. “Sprout! There are KIDS in that house! Are you seriously ok with putting CHILDREN in danger?!” She growled.

“They’re still non-earth ponies!” Sprout growled as the main weapon charged up.

Sparkler put herself in front of the house and formed a shield around it and her. “Sprout! Don’t do—gah!” Sparkler cried out when a few robots bucked her in the side and sent her flying to the side. She rolled on the ground to a stop and lifted her head just in time to see the weapon fire. “NO!” She cried as she watched the house get destroyed. Sparkler watched the explosion in horror, knowing that her kids were still in there.

Sunny and Harmone gasped as the house went up in a ball of fire. For the moment, nopony said a word. However, Sparkler and her friends noticed when several streaks cut through the smoke and soar into the air. Their brains processed what the streaks were and they all sighed in relief. “Oh thank Faust!” Sparkler said.

Pip carried Izzy on her back and Melody and Crystal carried Mystic and Pedal as they escaped destruction by mere seconds. Spike glanced back down. “Good thing we didn’t need that house for much longer—whoa!” He was cut off when lasers started flying at them.

The group panicked and evaded the incoming shots. Sparkler and her friends growled and launched into the air. “Hang on guys!“ Sparkler said.

Sprout saw the escape and growled. “Oh come on!“ He exasperated. “That’s SO cheating!” He activated another feature of his Mechapony.

Outside, the flyers not named Sparkler, Sunny, or Harmone suddenly halted in the air, and began moving towards the Mechapony. “W-what’s happening?!” Mystic cried.

“Oh no. We’re getting sucked in!” Pipp realized as she flapped her wings hard. As did everypony else.

It was a lost cause, because they near immediately were completely sucked into the mechapony’s snout and were dumped into a glass containment bubble resembling a gem on chest.

Sparkler saw this happen and this sent her into a rage. “Oh for CRYING OUT LOUD!” She growled as she charged for the Mechapony. “That was SO the wrong move!” She roared as she tried to get at the prison.

Sprout just had his mechapony smack Sparkler away, sending her crashing down into the ground. He laughed evilly as he aimed his weapon right at her. “Say goodbye You menace!” He growled as the weapon fired.

Sparkler opened her eyes and looked up just in time to see the shot flying right at her. She braced herself for impact, but while she heard the impact sound, she felt no more pain. She opened her eyes to see a sight she couldn’t believe. A pony with a shield that was actually holding the blast back! The pony angled his shield up and the blast was deflected high into the air, where it exploded, causing no death or damage. Sparkler slowly got up as the pony turned his head to reveal. “Magnus Sentry!” Sparkler exclaimed.

“Yep.” Magnus responded. “In the flesh.”

“Magnus?” Harmone asked as he and Sunny landed next to them.

“How did you just DO that?” Sunny asked.

“I can’t say much without causing a time paradox, but I will say it’s a family heirloom handed down for generations.” Magnus responded. “We received a call for assistance. So the Pegasus Royal Air Force is here to help.”

All around the area, Pegasi joined the battle and began to fight the robots. Sunny smiled. “This is exactly what the magic of friendship is all about!” She said.

Magnus chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah. Friendship is magic. Now, Winter wants me to bring the three of you to the Medley Deli. We’re gonna plan a counterattack.” He said.

“That thing just ate my kids and Sunny’s lovers! What we need to do is get them back!” Sparkler said panicky.

“We will.” Magnus responded. “But we need a coordinated plan of attack, otherwise the odds of failing are great.” He told Sparkler.

Sparkler glanced around at her friends, then at the mechapony, before reluctantly nodding. “Fine. we’ll fall back.” She said.

Magnus nodded and the four ran off towards the Medley Deli. Sparkler nearly in tears. If ANYPONY is the menace it’s definitely that pinbrain Sprout! She thought angrily.

To be continued…