//------------------------------// // Old Friends, And Memories // Story: Iron Heart: Age of Iron // by Adamverse //------------------------------// It was 3am when I dropped Fancy Pants of at the hospital, and then I went to where we were supposed to be staying; a penthouse apartment he’d bought for his trips to this city. I had to make up a story about how Iron Heart saved me and dropped me off there. Then it was time for an idea, and I knew Fancy’ wouldn’t like it; I had no choice, I had to wake up the one who knew these weapons better than anyone. Rarity approached one of Fancy Pants’ suitcases, she unzipped it and opened it; she didn’t really feel comfortable going through his stuff, but this was important. After going through most of his bags, she found what she was looking for. Inside was a little cardboard box, with a label on it; the label read, ‘Capper’. “Hello again.” She took the box out of the bag and took it over to the bed, and placed the box on it; she used both hands to remove the lid, there she saw the small drone device. Rarity took it out of the box, she then reached for the power button; and pressed it. The little drone flew into the air, once it got high enough, it projected the hologram of Capper underneath it; once the AI’s body was constructed, and he noticed Rarity in front of him, the cat man said, “What is up, Rarity; where’s the party.” Capper hadn’t changed that much; his look was still basically the same, except for the Hawaiian flower necklace he had around his neck. Wanting to break the news gently, Rarity started the talk with, “I’m afraid the party’s over.” Capper’s smile then went away. The AI turned around to see where he was, it wasn’t a place Fancy Pants or anyone had taken him before; while he was looking, Capper noticed something on the coffee table. “Wow, blast from the past.” He said. He walked over to the table, followed by his little drone; Rarity followed him and explained what it was, “It’s a power core, darling; pulled from a combat drone. Do you recognise it?” “Of course I recognise it, I built it.” Capper replied. “The power core for a Mark 4 Combat Drone; where’d you get it?” Suddenly, without warning, Coco Pommel appeared before them, “Miss Rarity, Master Fancy Pants has been moved to a secure location, but I don’t if he’ll…” the female AI stopped talking when she noticed the other hologram in the room. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realise we had company.” Capper put on a smile and replied, “I’m more like family.” He walked over to Coco and put his hand over her head, “Mind catching me up, sweetheart.” It was like he could absorb data, because ones and zeros were pulled from Coco and put into his hand. “Hey, I’m not a touch screen!” Coco cried. Rarity said to cat man, “Capper, show some respect.” But he wasn’t listen, he projected the data he absorbed onto the TV on the wall; the screen then showed a news report about Fancy Pants being in the hospital. Rarity notice dhow concerned he suddenly looked; she walked over to him and asked, “Are you okay?” All the cat could reply with was, “Fancy Pants…” he then turned to the two girls, “And the cowards who put him there.” Explaining everything, Rarity replied, “Still at large; I need you to help me find them.” “Oh we’ll find them, Rarity, and when we do.” In his hands, particles of code formed a tiny sphere; the sphere then exploded in his hands. Rarity got the basic understanding of what he meant by that; this was personal for him now. The next morning, after Rarity was able to get a good few hours of sleep, she was woken up by the sound of music coming from the other room. When the fashion girl got up, she discovered she’d fallen asleep in the clothes she was wearing yesterday; this wasn’t like her at all, so she quickly changed and tidied herself up a bit before leaving the bedroom. When Rarity walked into the main living room, she noticed something on the coffee table; still in its display case, was the revolver gun that belong to Fancy Pants’ father. Rarity asked, “Did Capper take this out of storage.” She remembered Fancy Pants telling her most of his old stuff was sent here to be put in storage. She then walked over to the kitchen for some breakfast, only it wasn’t a kitchen anymore; someone had filled it with lab equipment. Suddenly, Capper appeared next to Rarity, a simulated cup of coffee in his hand and a smile on his face, “Morning Rarity, you sleep okay?” “Yes, Capper; it was lovely.” Rarity replied. “What is all this?” she asked, gesturing to the lab equipment. Capper explained what this was for, “Well, we have no idea who we’re up against, all we know is that they’re using my drones; so I thought I’d even the odds. This is where we can make upgrades to your suit; make it faster, stronger, upgrade the weapons.” After he explained that, Coco appeared next to Rarity. The fashion girl realised something and had to ask the cat man, “How did you know about my suit?” “Well, when I hacked miss Smarts-sa-lot’s systems; I might have picked up some data on you being the superhero, Iron Heart.” Capper replied. Coco turned to him and said, “You hacked my systems?” she wrapped her arms around her body. “Uh, I feel so violated.” Rarity cut in and said, “Calm down, both of you; did you find anything out from that power core I gave you, Capper?” The cat AI brought them both over to a video screen, he showed them what he had learnt; he began the explanation, “Well, I discovered that these drones were made from the original design; the original blueprints were used, the design is an exact match.” “But all the blueprints for the combat drones were erased from our servers; how did this person get them?” Coco Pommel asked. “I was getting to that.” Capper replied. “Right here in Las Pegasus, in Fancy Pants’ company building; they have backups of all the blueprints the company have ever designed. They keep record of them on the off chance they ever become useful again; that’s where our mystery friend got the designs.” After the little presentation, Rarity said, “It’s also the best place to start looking for clues to who this person is.” She then walked over to the case on the kitchen counter, she pushed a button on its side, causing the case to transform into the Iron Heart suit. Before she could put the suit on, Coco said to her, “Before you go racing of to be a superhero; I should remind you that your little sister and her friends are arriving today. You need to pick them up from the airport. “Oh, that’s right, darling.” She walked over to the front door, she took one of the many car keys on the hooks by the window. “I’m sure Fancy Pants won’t mind if I borrow one of his cars.” “And while you’re gone, I take a look at your suit and see if I can make some improvements.” Capper explained. With that said, Rarity left the penthouse and went to the airport. Later that day, Rarity and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were driving in the back of Fancy Pants’ automated limo; with Coco Pommel driving, all the girls had to do was sit back and relax while the car took them back to the apartment. Scootaloo was the first one to talk, “I can’t wait to see where we’re going to be staying.” “Yeah, I bet it’s going to be amazing.” Sweetie Bell said. Applebloom said next, “Yeah, I want to see the bedrooms, the bathrooms, the kitchen.” Suddenly, as Applebloom said that, Rarity realised something; the moment the CMCs walk into the apartment, they’ll see Rarity’s suit. She couldn’t let the girl find out her secret, so she had to work fast. Rarity used her phone to call Capper at the penthouse, when he answered, Rarity said, “Capper, you need to move all the Iron Heart stuff out of the kitchen and put it somewhere else.” “Oh right, your sister and her friends; can’t have them seeing all this stuff.” The cat AI replied. He then asked her, “So where should I put it?” The fashion girl thought fast, she just said the first room that came to her head, “My bedroom.” Capper quickly replied, “Done and done.” He then hanged up the phone; all Rarity had to do was trust him not to mess this up. When the girls arrived at the penthouse, they were amazed at the size and décor of it all; Sweetie looked at the art on the wall, Applebloom could smell the delicious food coming from the fridge and Scootaloo could imagine living in a place like this as a world famous scooter stunt person. Once they were inside, Rarity glanced at the kitchen; she sighed in relief when she saw Capper had successfully moved all the lab equipment and the suit out of the kitchen. “Wow, Fancy Pants’ living room is as big as the entire bottom floor of our house.” Applebloom stated. Rarity then said to the girls, “Why don’t you let Coco show you to your rooms, I’m just going to freshen up in mine.” Rarity walked away as Coco appeared in front of the girls; this was the first time they’d actually seen her. Scootaloo said, “Wow, a real life hologram person; I can’t wait to tell Rainbow Dash.” The three girls followed the AI to their rooms, while Rarity entered hers a saw the cat man work hard. Capper had just uploaded something to the Iron Heart suit; the armour lifted its arm up and opened a small compartment behind the wrist. When the compartment opened, the suit equipped five small missiles. The cat turned to Rarity and asked, “What do you think, I call them smart missiles; once you lock them onto a target, they won’t stop until the targets destroyed.” “I thought you didn’t make weapons anymore, Capper.” Rarity replied. “That was before you took me out of retirement.” Coco then appeared before the two of them, she explained, “The girls are relaxing in their rooms, you are now free to carry out your investigation at the office building, miss Rarity.” The hero then said, “Then what are we waiting for, darlings?” Rarity stepped over to her armour; the suit opened up automatically, she stepped inside and the suit closed around her. Once she was suited up, Rarity walked over to the window; before she left, she gave instructions to Coco. “Just tell the girls that I’ve gone out to the store, they’ll understand; if they learn anything about this, they’ll be in danger.” Iron Heart explained. Without making too much noise, Rarity jumped out of the large window and activated her thrusters; she then flew towards the office building, hoping and praying she could end this tonight.