//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: It's Magic, I Don't Have to Explain It // Story: Mega Man: Operation Ponyville // by Captain L //------------------------------// Chapter 4: It’s Magic, I Don’t Have to Explain It After his battle with Fluttershy, Mega Stallion had to return to Doctor Light’s lab for some serious repairs. Despite the fact that he’d been back home for 10 minutes, Roll was still on the ground laughing. It’s not that she was happy that he was hurt, far from it, she just couldn’t get over how her warrior brother was hurt really badly by a tree that shot leaves. It isn’t funny when you’re in that situation, Roll. It hurt! Thankfully, the repairs weren’t supposed to last long. Doctor Light built a capsule, similar to the one he had been upgraded in, that healed his injuries far faster than a standard repair could. He had to admit, the process tickled a little as his gashes fused back together. But said gashes also prevented it from being amusing in the slightest. Before long, he was fully healed, and ready to head back into the fight. Roll had finally gotten back up, still giggling. “So, who are you going to be fighting next? Should I be worried that you’re going to be attacked by a deadly flower this time?” “I’ll have you know, Roll, that what I’m doing is dangerous work. This Robot Master just had…an odd choice of weapon, that’s all. I’m sure it won’t be the norm. The next one I fight is going to be an epic battle against a heavily armed opponent! Watch!” He pointed to a random dot on the map screen. “Doctor, what’s at that point?” “Unlike the last place you went, there’s actually something of note here. According to a cross reference with a standard Ponyville map, this point is located directly at the library.” Upon hearing this, Roll starting laughing again. “Epic battle, huh? I don’t know how heavily armed librarians are, but I’m sure it’ll be a challenge. Careful, you don’t want the fight to be too loud, or you’ll disturb the other patrons.” She was back on the ground, legs kicking in the air. Mega Stallion was starting to get a little irritated. “Shut up, Roll. Bring me to that point, Doctor Light.” Doctor Light nodded, and gestured back to the teleport spot. He entered the coordinates, and Mega Stallion was heading back into the warzone. He landed once again, and was instantly greeted by a communication. “Did you land safely? Are you alright?” Mega Stallion was confused. “I’m fine, Doctor Light. What’s the big deal? I teleported safely last time. What’s different?” “The computer seems to be suffering from some sort of glitch. It calculated the safe teleporting distance from your current objective, but didn’t acknowledge that it was right within another magnetic field. I worried that the teleport may have screwed up, and you could have rematerialized completely messed up. But according to the GPS system, you are…outside of both fields. Looks like it’ll just automatically bring you someplace safe.” Despite the fact that their communication had no video, Doctor Light could still feel Mega Stallion glaring. “But don’t worry, I’ll get to work on fixing the computer bug. Good luck!” Sighing, Mega Stallion cut the feed, and proceeded towards his new destination. Being in the center of town this time, he could very clearly see the damage and destruction caused by the Robot Masters. Buildings were destroyed, roads were in terrible condition, and there wasn’t a pony in sight. I really hope they’re just hiding. He began walking to the library, still thinking about how a librarian would fight him. Is it going to throw books at me? That sounds more annoying than dangerous. Why am I even worrying? I know how to fight properly now, this should be a breeze. Walking down the road, he suddenly fell without warning. Landing on the ground, he was thankful it wasn’t another hole, but still confused. Why did I fall? Examining the road, he realized it wasn’t stone as it should be. Soap? What? Why? This isn’t malicious, it’s just stupid. Am I fighting evil masterminds, or pranksters? Seizing the opportunity, three robots jumped from the roofs of surrounding houses, surrounding him. Unlike previous enemies, these ones looked like green unicorns, except with a single, creepy, glowing red eye. They were also carrying shields, which Mega Stallion quickly figured out reflected all shots he fired. Looks like I need to get rid of those shields. Reaching out with his magic, he attempted to rip it away, but their magic countered it. Then, one of them moved his shield to the side to fire a shot. Are they idiots? Who moves their invincible shield? Not bothering to question it any further, he fired a charge shot, which destroyed it. New strategy. This entire mission is all about pattern recognition. The other two robots formed a competent strategy, and both moved their shields to attack. Mega Stallion fired and destroyed one, but the other had enough time to throw a grenade before protecting itself once again. Too close to the grenade, Mega Stallion got caught in the explosion, throwing him into a wall. Too dizzy and disoriented to move, all he could do was look at the robot walking towards him, its red eye seemingly glowing brighter. Its shield moved, ready to fire its own plasma at the defenseless target. Both focused on Mega Stallion’s imminent destruction, they failed to notice a pony standing on a nearby roof, charging a shot. They only noticed when the robot was destroyed, as if Mega Stallion destroyed it himself. Looking around to find his savior, he couldn’t find anyone nearby. “Wait! Come back!” Realizing that it wasn’t coming back, he called “Thank you,” hoping that he would be heard. After taking a minute to recover and assess his relatively minimal damage, he resumed walking to the library. To his surprise, the rest of the journey was without interruption. Where are the enemies? Where’s the challenge? Am I walking into a trap? Cautiously watching his surroundings, his attention was caught by a gigantic tree, which a nearby sign identified as Ponyville Library. If I survive the day, I never want to see a tree again. “You won’t come any closer! Stop where you are, and I won’t have to hurt you!” Mega Stallion froze, attempting to locate whatever was talking to him. When he saw nothing, he asked, “Who are you? What are you? Where are you?” The voice chuckled. “So many questions. And I won’t let you into the library to find the answers!” Mega Stallion was getting annoyed. “Really? That’s the best you could come up with? Just come out here if you want to fight, or stop talking if you don’t. I’m in a hurry, so let’s make this quick.” “Very well, then. Prepare to face the wrath of…MAGMA DRAGOON!” The leaves at the top of the tree library rustled, and a tiny dragon, about half as tall as Mega Stallion, dropped down. No armor, no weapons, just a little dragon that could probably barely breath fire. And I was hoping for a fight against a really cool dragon. “Do you like the name? I came up with it myself. Threatening, yet cool.” “I’ll admit, with a name like that, I was expecting something a little more…challenging. Look, I’ve got business, move.” Mega Stallion was getting really bored and impatient. “Make me! My mission is to protect this fortress, and I won’t fail! Prepare yourself!” The dragon charged, claws bared, ready to rip Mega Stallion to shreds. The claws connected, and did absolutely nothing. He picked the dragon up with magic, watching it swing its arms, attempting to fight. “Fortress? It’s a library.” The dragon gave up its pitiful fight, and just sat enveloped in the levitation spell. “Nothing against you, but stop bothering me.” He gently moved the dragon to the side of the door, dropping him. As he opened the door and walked inside, he stopped, looked at his tiny assailant, smirked, and said “Thank you for cooperating.” Inside the library, Mega Stallion found lots of books. Well, what did I expect? There were hoofsteps coming from upstairs, and a voice called out. “Spike, what are you doing back inside? Are you done being my little protector?” Female. Is everypony I fight going to be a mare? “I have reason to suspect that you are working against Equestria. Come down, and I might not have to fight you.” Upon hearing the unfamiliar voice, the mare raced downstairs. “Who are you?! What did you do with Spike?!” “Your little dragon friend is fine. He’s just been locked outside. Now, cooperate, and there won’t have to be a fight. Surrender your…” He paused as he got his first good look at her armor. It consisted of a top hat, and very flashy playing cards for flank pieces. She was also wearing very big red goggles and a bow tie. That’s not armor, that’s a showmare’s outfit. “Alright, from this point onwards, should I be constantly prepared for the silliest opponents?” The mare seemed offended. “I’ll have you know that this is very powerful armor, given to me by the Princess. And besides, I don’t care what it looks like, it’s good at what it does.” Mega Stallion pointed an accusing hoof. “So you are working for the Princess! Prepare to be defeated!” Without even giving the mare a chance to speak, he charged his shot, firing it. She was more prepared for a fight, putting up a magical force field, absorbing the plasma. “I forgot to mention, this armor increases my already powerful magic. You don’t stand a chance!” Retaliating, she pulled out magic cards to throw. Her magic threw them at incredible speeds, making them deadly weapons. Doctor Light said I can only use my Buster to defeat the Robot Masters. Doesn’t mean I can’t shield myself. He pulled up the Leaf Shield, perfectly blocking the cards. He also noticed that using different weapons changed his body color, his coat now green. “Illusion magic and shielding, impressive. There aren’t many unicorns that could do both.” “Well, I’m not most unicorns. I figured a pony that lives in a library would have noticed that.” “Oh, believe me, I did. We seem like we perfectly counter each other. But I need to confirm this hypothesis, so counter this!” She began charging her magic the same way he would charge his. After both fighters charged their attacks fully, they released, shots colliding in the middle of the room, filling the library with a blinding light. The mare charged towards him, goggles protecting her eyes from the brightness. Mega Stallion’s eyes were also protected, so he could see her coming, punching her out of the way. “Hypothesis confirmed. We’re too evenly matched.” “Surrender yourself, and I won’t have to continue this fight. I’m here to save Equestria, so get out of my way!” “Save Equestria? So why are you fighting me? My goal is the same is yours!” Despite her attempt at reasoning, the mare was still pumped for a fight. “Your ideals are messed up, and I’m going to make sure you don’t do anything worse than what’s happened here.” Her horn began glowing again, and she blinked out of the room. So she can teleport too? How much magical talent does she have? Her voice began coming from everywhere in the room, and yet nowhere at the same time. “My ideals are wrong? Who are you to judge? You just march into my house and challenge me! Not only are you wrong, you have no manners!” Without seeing, he could sense that she would appear nearby. “Why should manners matter? I’ve got more important things to do!” He grabbed a nice large book off the shelf behind him, throwing it, colliding with the mare just as she reappeared. Stunned by the book, he charged, fired, and hit her head directly. She flew back, hitting the wall, a few books coming loose and hitting her limp body. After a few seconds, her armor began to glow, and exploded. When the smoke cleared, all that remained was a purple unicorn, and a few burning books. Hope she doesn’t need those. After verifying that he received the Magic Card, he called up the communicator. “Doctor Light, another Robot Master has been neutralized.” “Excellent work, Rock. Bringing you back to the lab.” “No, don’t. I’m not hurt enough to need repairs. Just tell me where the next Robot Master is, I can walk there.” “Very well, your next objective is the jewel mines outside of town. Transmitting the coordinates now.” Mega Stallion received the location of his next destination. “I’m ready, Doctor Light. Leaving the library now.” He walked out of the building, passing the dragon he had left outside. “Spike, was it? Listen, sorry about earlier. You’ve got a good heart, and good values, defending the building like that. You just need to work on your skills.” Spike’s head perked up. “You really think so? If I train, I could become an awesome hero, stopping evil and winning the hearts of women?” “Don’t get carried away, being a hero isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. But you’ve got imagination. I like that.” With that, he walked away, leaving Spike sitting outside, thinking over what he had just been told.