//------------------------------// // Attack of the Rynocs - Malfunctioning Robot // Story: Filly amongst dragons // by RobtheMorpherPony //------------------------------// "So you mentioned a robot butler. One of the professor's inventions I'm guessing." Twilight said. "Got it right on the money there, Friendship. A few days after the ending of the Year of the Dragon festival, the Professor wanted to show me, Spryo, Cozy Glow, and Sparx a couple of things he has been working on. One of which was a peephole machine that locked onto Ripto's current location." Cynder said. "Okay that is actually pretty smart: Creating something to spy on your greatest enemy." Rainbow Dash said. "But you said that an accident led to a fifth round against Ripto. Exactly what occurred that could've caused that? Does this have to do with the robot butler you mentioned?" Gallus asked. "I was just wondering that myself..." Diamond Tiara said. "Actually it does. After doing a session in the Professor's training machine, he unveiled this robot butler unoriginally named Butler. The proffessor had asked Butler to make us some milk and cookies. At least, that was the intention." Cozy Glow said. "The buck? How do you go from that to a accident that causes a fifth fight against Ripto?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Oh trust me Rainbow Dash, when I said that that accident was more of a malfuntion, I wasn't kidding. Bulter suddenly malfunctioned on the spot and we had to lure it into an electrical device to short curcuit the darn thing. The problem was that by doing that, it made the peephole machine suddenly expand and it brought Ripto and his Rynoc army to us." Cynder said. "Are you bucking kidding me? Because of a malfunctioning robot that was asked to make milk and cookies for you guys, Ripto was able to make his third take over attempt in a row?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Yes. Sadly that is the case. Before Ripto had warped us out of the lab, the professor tasked us with gathering the Hearts of Land scattered throughout the world. This involved us going around the world and finding those who had the Hearts who would then task us with having to collect a specific set of items for the most part. We did find some vents Sparx could use to go to areas where Sargent Byrd and Agent 9 were located in some areas. We did also encounter Ripto in the library where he merged three Rynocs into a caterpillar Rynoc we had to destroy." Cozy Glow said. "Of course that wasn't the only time he found Ripto wondering about. As we went about every area collecting various items, at one point we passed by a stormy area, which we would have to go back to after doing what we could in the wintery areas. However, as soon as we reentered the stormy area, that malfuntioning Butler robot showed up out of nowhere. This time we had to lure it into the storm clouds to short curcuit it. The only good news is that the Butler robot had opened up a path to the Theives Guild." Spryo said. "Wait...you were on good terms with the thieves now?" Twilight asked. "Well we did have to clear out their den of Rynoc Wizards during our baby dragonfly hunt, so it was more of a 'mutal respect' situation. Besides, we didn't get a free pass with the heart as it was locked in a safe the master theif needed his tools to open. Still, the theives for the most part weren't really stealing anything. They would do so again in our next adventure however. That's for later though." Cozy Glow said. "I see. And what about moneybags?" Rarity asked. "We encountered him a couple of times and we had to bribe him for specific items again. At once point, we even came across the dude's own mansion." Spyro said. "On the way there, we did have to lob bombs at Ripto and while Moneybags initially wanted us to bribe him for entrance to his mansion, you would never believe what showed up at the last second that made that bribe null and void." Cozy Glow said. "Uh...was it Crush? Maybe Gulp? I wonder what happened to those two guys..." Rainbow Dash said. "Honestly...I'd probably bribe money bags to tell us. As the answer is neither of those two. Instead, the malfunctioning Butler showed up. This time we had to lure him into some water sprays around the entrance area to short curuit him. After that, while we no longer had to bribe money bags to get into his mansion, Butler had disabled the mansion's power grid so we had to turn that back on to get inside. And unlike the others who had the Hearts, Moneybags wanted us to bribe him 3500 gems for his heart. Which ended up being the last heart we nabbed because of it." Spyro said. "God I really hate Moneybags now..." Rainbow Dash said. "Oh he gets worse. Anyways, eventually we had enough stuff to get back into the Professor's lab, where we did some exploring but only really found some gems and some items we were after. So, with that, we went through the vortex that was created when we first battled Butler due to the peephole device breaking apart. With that, we made our way to wherre Ripto had stationed himself and eventually came across another caterpillar boss Rynoc. Once we dealt with that, we were free to fight Ripto for the fifth time. This time Spyro had to use the super powered versions of his three breath powers he had access to for this adventure; flame, ice, and thunder the latter two of which were given to him through various items we collected; and eventually we defeated Ripto. However, he was about to threaten the Professor when who else would show up but that malfunctioing robot again." Cozy Glow said. "Wait again?! So what did you have to do this time?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Actually, the Professor took advantage of Butler's malfunctioing nature and told the robot to give Ripto a hug. Once Ripto was firmly in Butler's grasp, Spyro used the Warp device Ripto snagged from the professor to warp Ripto and Butler far, far away. We have not seen either of them since then. And that's probably for the best." Cynder said. "Yeah, I SO do not want milk and cookies anymore..." Spyro said. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the nearby wall was broken through by a robot butler. "Milk and cookies for Spyro...must make Spryo milk and cookies..." The robot said. "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME, IT'S BUTLER!" Cozy Glow shouted. "No! I do NOT want milk and cookies!" Spryo said. One very short tag team of all those present later, and Butler was nothing more than scrap heap. "Yeah that robot had nothing on the lot of us together." Applejack said. "That's not what concerns me the most." Spyro admitted. "...Come again?" Applejack asked. "If Butler is here...then where in the world is Ripto?" Spyro asked. "I don't see him..." Cynder said. "He's not inside the robot that's for sure..." Cozy Glow noted. "Then...we suddenly have a problem, if Butler is here and Ritpo isn't, then we have a concern on our hands." Spyro said. "Chill out, I'm sure wherever Ripto is, he's still far, far away. I mean come on. You said this thing was malfunctioning a lot." Rainbow Dash said. "Rainbow Dash is right. Let's not worry about where Ripto is right now." Twilight said.