//------------------------------// // Dark Dragotron // Story: A Dragon and his Robot Friend // by Wildcard25 //------------------------------// In Ponyville one afternoon, Spike and the Doc were watching Dragotron fly around at max speed while doing aerial stunts. The two had to keep check on Dragotron every week to make sure he was functioning at full capacity and if he needed any tune ups or upgrades. When Dragotron came back around he landed on the ground. “Well done, Dragotron. Flight seems to be top notch.” Doc commended him. “That's good news.” Dragotron said in relief. “Your weapons check out, your body's all oiled up and chrome polished,” Spike looked over a check list, “Yeah. You pass another inspection.” Dragotron gave a thumb's up, “Hooray!” “I tell you, young dragon, it still astounds me to this day our combined efforts were able to create such a masterpiece.” Doc said, as he looked at Dragotron. “I know what you mean.” Spike smiled. Dragotron looked over at the clock tower and noticed the time, “Oh, dear. I'm afraid I have to go. I promised Zecora I'd help her gather ingredients in the Everfree Forest.” “I understand. Just remember to be careful in there.” Spike warned him. “Always.” Dragotron said, as he hurried off. As the robot dragon walked through the town, he waved at several of the towns citizens from Lyra, Bonbon, Derpy, the flower ponies, and more. He even stopped to greet the Cakes who were pushing their twins in a carriage. The robot dragon ruffled the twins heads who laughed. My name is Dragotron, and I am a robot built in the appearance of a dragon. My primary function upon my creation was to serve as a companion to my builder Spike. But as of late that prime directive has expanded to not just him, but to many others as well. Dragotron walked through the Ponyville market where he saw Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity getting supplies for their respective fields. Upon seeing their robot friend, the three ponies waved at him, and he returned the gesture. I have been active for several months now, and I'm pleased to say I have grown accustomed to living amongst the ponies here in Ponyville. They really have made me feel like I was one of them despite not being a pony, and for being artificially created. But Spike oldest friend Twilight Sparkle taught me that here in Ponyville it doesn't matter what you are. You could be a pony, a dragon, a changeling, or anything, but that doesn't mean you don't matter or are any different from others. As Dragotron walked he began flashing back to other events in his life. When he was invited to Canterlot to see the Royal Sisters and take in the scenery of the city. He made friends with such ponies as Sassy Saddles, Fancypants, and Fleur De Lis, while ignoring the snide and rude comments from such ponies as Jet Set and Uppercrust. I even got to see other kingdoms from Canterlot, and even the Crystal Empire. Princess Cadence and Shining Armor were glad to see me again, as was their daughter Flurryheart. I was intrigued to learn how Spike saved the Crystal Empire twice, the first by getting the Crystal Heart to Princess Cadence to use it to defeat King Sombra, and second during the Equestria Games where he melted an entire ice cloud from crashing onto the stadium. The statue they erected of him there really captured his good side. Dragotron walked past the Ponyville schoolhouse where he waved to the kids who're at recess. Among the little ones who greeted him was the CMC, Diamond Tiara, Silverspoon, Pipsqueak, Snips, and Snails. Dragotron waved back to the young ones and pressed on. But as entertaining as it was visiting such places as Canterlot, the Crystal Empire, and even Manehattan for Power Ponies Con, I always seem to find more to do in Ponyville. Be it going to Rarity's place to assist Spike in helping her in her various assortment of outfit designs, or to Applejack's to assist her and her family with apple picking or bucking as they prefer. I've even enjoyed some guys nights with Spike, Big Mac, and even Discord the Master of Chaos. Although Discord's twisted sense of humor and constant need to shoot pop culture references for examples is mind boggling even to me. Dragotron walked past Fluttershy's cottage where she saw the shy pegasus and Rainbow Dash who had just brought Tank with for a play date with Angel Bunny. When the two pegasi saw Dragotron they waved at him, who waved back before heading into the Everfree Forest. Still for as long as I've been active I'm proud to call Ponyville my home, and all those who live there as both friends and family. A concept I'm learning more about every day. Afterward, Dragotron was carrying baskets of ingredients to Zecora's place with the zebra carrying some baskets herself. When they entered, Dragotron gently sat the baskets down, “There. This should be enough for your newest concoction, Zecora.” “My many thanks, Dragotron. With all these ingredients I can finally get a move on.” she answered gratefully. “Well, since my work here is done, I'll leave you to it.” Dragotron said, as he exited Zecora's place and started his way back. As Dragotron walked along the path through the forest he made sure to keep a watchful eye out for any of the dangerous beasts that inhabit the forest. As the robot looked around he stopped as something through the thick trees caught his attention. Curiously, he diverted off the trail and into the forest. He stopped and saw standing alone amongst the trees was a black, dead, and dark looking tree, with pointed branches with no leaves, and bulging in the center of it. Dragotron still consumed by curiosity approached the tree before stopping before it and looked up at it, “In the words of Rainbow Dash, 'freaky'.” he told himself. He looked around the tree seeing no strange or unusual markings on it. He laid his metal claw onto the tree, while looking it up and down. Dragotron was snapped out of his trance by the sounds of crows cawing. “Oh, I best get back to town.” he told himself before walking away from the dead tree to get back on the trail. As he walked away he hadn't noticed the tree started moving and the shadow of the tree that was on the ground started taking shape, until it was no longer in the shape of a tree, but something else. Something familiar. Soon enough Dragotron returned to Twilight's castle, “Hello, everypony. I'm back.” the robot announced, as Spike, Twilight, and Starlight saw him. “Hi, Dragotron, welcome home.” Twilight greeted him. “So how was your job with Zecora?” Spike inquired. “It went very well, although on my way back I found something rather odd in the Everfree Forest.” “What isn't odd about anything in that place?” Spike asked rhetorically. “While that's true, I happened upon something that looked out of place even in that forest.” “What do you mean?” Starlight asked. “I happened upon this strange looking tree very different among all the other ones that make up the forest.” Dragotron explained. “A tree?” Twilight wondered, until the group heard loud screaming coming from outside. They raced out and heard their cries for help coming from town, “Come on!” Twilight ordered, as the group headed off. When they arrived in Ponyville, they saw ponies running and hiding in fright, while the town looked like a mess. “Twilight!” the rest of the girls called as they headed over to her. “What's going on?” Twilight asked in concern. “We don't know.” Rarity answered. “All we've been hearing is some folks claim Dragotron is going crazy.” Applejack answered. “Dragotron?” Spike asked in confusion, as they looked to the robot. “But if Dragotron is here...” Fluttershy began. “Then what could be causing the damage?” Rarity asked. “Only one way to find out.” Rainbow said with determination. “Let's go!” Pinkie announced while trumpeting charge. So they hurried further into town before stopping in place, as something was destroying several of the booths at the market. “There it is.” Applejack noticed. They got closer, as Rainbow announced, “Hold it right there, bub!” The creature stopped before turning around and to every pony present's shock the figure causing the damage looked like Dragotron, only his body was colored black, with red eyes and spines. “No way!” Rainbow gasped. Pinkie reached aside for a glass of water. She drank it and spat it out in shock, “Holy moly!” “Spike?” Twilight asked, as she looked to him. “Don't look at me, I don't know what this thing is.” the young dragon said in defense. Twilight taking her assistant's word for it, spoke up to the intruder, “Who are you and what do you want?” The dark looking robot dragon answered in a dull tone that sounded like Dagotron's voice, “My name is Dragotron.” “What?” the ponies asked. Dragotron approached, “I'm afraid you are mistaken. I am Dragotron.” “Yeah, this town ain't big enough for the two of you.” Rainbow said. “I agree, so one of us must go.” the dark robot dragon said, as he flew at Dragotron as the two rolled across the ground. The other ponies once again took cover, as the two robots got up and started fighting each other. The dark robot threw a punch, only for Dragotron to intercept it, and throw his dark counterpart over his shoulder and onto the ground. The dark robot got back up and started fighting the original head on without holding back. “Ok, what is happening here?” Rainbow asked. “I wish I knew.” Spike said. “Well, we got our Dragotron fighting some dark version of him who thinks he's Dragotron and now wants to destroy our Dragotron.” Pinkie spelled it out. “We get that, but where did this other Dragotron come from?” Twilight wondered. “And why does it look so ghastly?” Rarity asked. No pony knew how to answer, as they watched the two robots continued to fight it out. The two unleashed fire breath before Dragotron tackled the fake and they once again crashed onto the ground only for the dark robot to kick Dragotron off. “For a fraud you fight surprisingly well.” Dragotron admitted. “We'll see who is the fraud.” the dark robot said, as the two continued to fight. “This is bad,” Twilight feared, “If this keeps up they'll destroy the town.” “We need to get that fake out of here.” Spike said. Pinkie smirked, “Leave this to me,” she zipped away and came back with a party cannon, “Dragotron, toss him in!” Dragotron quickly grabbed the dark robot and threw him right into the Party Cannon. Pinkie pulled the cord and shot the dark robot right out sending him flying off into the distance. “Whew, that was close.” Applejack said in relief. “But we still have no idea what that was all about.” Rarity noted. “Yes, I too wonder,” Doc Whooves said, as he approached, “If Spike didn't build another Dragotron, and I sure didn't then where did it come from?” “And why was it so keen on destroying him?” Spike wondered. Dragotron spoke up, “I think I know what that thing was.” “What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked. “That was the tree I saw.” “Tree?” Fluttershy asked. “What tree you talkin' about?” Applejack wondered. “Dragotron said he found a strange looking tree in the Everfree Forest,” Twilight asked, before turning to the robot, “What did this tree look like?” Dragotron looked to the group, “Anyone have a paper and pencil?” Pinkie reached into her mane and pulled out the items he requested. Dragotron started doing a sketch, before turning the paper over to reveal a perfectly detailed sketch of the tree. Applejack whistled, “I know the Everfree Forest has weird stuff, but that kinda tree looks too weird even for that place.” Twilight looked at it, and grew worried, “Oh, dear.” “Twilight?” “I've seen that tree somewhere before.” the ponies looked at her in concern. Later back at her castle, Twilight brought out a book and opened it to a page displaying said tree to her pony friends, Doc, Spike, and Dragotron. “The Symbiotree.” Twilight explained. “Symbiotree?” Rainbow asked in confusion. “A very rare and dangerous type of plant that grows once every thousand years and at anyplace,” the princess of Friendship explained, “It takes the form of anything that touches it and slowly starts to take on the subjects memories and everything to the point it thinks it's the individual.” “Dragotron, did you touch the tree?” Starlight asked, as the others looked nervous. Dragotron looked down in guilt, “Unfortunately, I have.” “So what? Pinkie blew that guy right out of here.” Rainbow reminded them. “Don't count it out so soon, Rainbow.” Twilight said. Doc nodded, “If that thing is truly becoming like Dragotron, you can be sure it won't go down so easily.” “It's only a matter of time before it comes back here to finish its job of replacing the subject that it took the form of.” Twilight added. “In other words, it's coming back for me.” Dragotron deduced, as every pony and Spike looked worried. “So we may be having another fight against Dark Dragotron?” Pinkie asked. “It looks that way.” Spike said in worry, as he looked at Dragotron fearing for his robot friend.