Hitch swings his blade at three robots, only for them to easily cage the sword within their staves’ prongs before driving it into the ground, allowing them to dogpile him. He struggles for a moment, but with newfound strength, he carries the entire bot-pile on his back and bucks them into a wall. “Where’d all this juice come from? I gained more strength than I did working out for six months!”
Sunny also tries to cut down as many robots as she could, but struggled to keep balanced while fighting on three hooves. Then, hearing a subtle change in the wind behind her, she cocks her head to the left as an aura-coated blade zooms past her from behind. “Super reflexes and super strength! These suits give us superpowers! If I wasn’t wearing this, goodbye head!” She sighed in relief when Izzy comes up to her.
“You mean like this?” Izzy asked as the flying blade cleanly bisects a robot’s head.
“Uh, yeah, like that.” Sunny stuttered, freaked out by Izzy’s accuracy.
Pipp bats her sword at the robots aimlessly; grazing them at most when she does hit and pathetically cuts down a precious piece of art when she doesn’t. “How do I use this thing?! I never took fencing classes!”
Then Zipp flies in with her blade strapped to her wings and twirls, chopping up the robot squad like a blender. “Consider this your first lesson, sis. Just thread your remiges through the grip.”
“What’s a rem- Zipp, watch out!” Pipp points to robots leaping up behind her sister.
In the blink of an eye, Zipp takes her sister’s sword, straps it to her other wing, and spins herself up, dicing three robots like a blender. “Just like that.”
The robots stop charging them and begin to defensively wall-up before their leader, charging up their staves and blasting electricity at the ponies. “Hit the deck!” Sunny shouted before they all hide behind statues and pillars, holding their breath as arcs narrowly blast the floors and walls around them.
“Anypony got ideas on how to get outta this?” Zipp asked her friends.
“Check your pockets or belts! Maybe the pirates have more tricks up their sleeves.” Sunny suggested as she feels up her new suit.
As Izzy rummaged through her arsenal, she finds a red stick marked with a silver Jolly Roger and a funnel at the end. “Ooh, I wonder what this does!” she levitates it over her shoulder, pointing towards the robots. Her magic pulls on every facet of the stick before pulling a trigger which causes a laser to blast from the funnel and strike the robots, creating an opening in the firing squad.
Everypony was awestruck at what they saw when Izzy pulls back the stick to show everypony. “Izzy…” Sunny stuttered. “That’s a—”
“A laser! I have a laser!” Izzy bounced in place giddily at this discovery. “Wait ‘til Sprout sees this!”
“I think he’d rather not.” Hitch gulped.
“If she has a laser, then we all do!” Sunny realized as she takes out her own laser blaster, followed by the rest of the team.
“Izzy, how’d you use this?” Hitch asked her as he fumbles it in his hooves.
“There’s a tiny little lever thing down here that makes the laser!” Izzy answered.
“I’m starting to think these weapons aren’t made with pony-ergonomics in mind. Our hooves can barely fit!” Pipp noted.
“Don’t worry, just leave it to me!” Izzy said before taking everyone’s blasters from their holsters and jumping back into the line of fire. “Hey, idiot boxes! Eat laser!” forming all five blasters in a circle, she spins them up to spraying blue bolts in rapid succession, hitting both the robots, cancelling their electric attacks, but unfortunately some stray blasts destroy nearby artworks.
“Izzy, don’t be so careless!” Sunny screamed.
“You’re breaking more things than the robots did!” Hitch added.
Barely hearing her friends behind her, Izzy stops and turns around to them. “What was that?” she lent her ear to them, turning away from the army.
Seeing an opening, a group of robot pile into a phalanx formation using their own number as shields. They charge immediately to blindside Izzy.
“Izzy! Watch out!” Zipp shouted, pointing behind her friend.
“Huh?” Izzy turns around to blast the phalanx, but were too late when they crash into her, swallowing her into the box. “Grr… move it! Move- ow! Aaah!” Inside, they cram her tightly with their legs kicking and wrapping her in before prodding her with high-intensity zaps from their staves.
The other ponies listen as their friend screams and yelps with every zap from within the pile of robots, each horrid sound accompanied by a quick flash of yellow light. “Oh my gosh! I can’t take it anymore!” Pipp whimpered.
“Get away from Izzy!” Sunny screamed before emerging from the team’s hiding place to charge towards the phalanx.
“Don’t worry, Izzy! We’re coming!” Hitch shouts before galloping towards the robots.
The two earth ponies wind up their hindlegs and kick a hole in the shell, sending robots flying. As the robots catch air, the pegasi chop them to bits. When they find Izzy surging with electricity, Sunny and Hitch pry the staves out of the robots’ hands before using their own weapons to zap them.
“Thanks, you two.” Izzy thanked them as Sunny helps her up.
“Fire, man!” shouted the robot leader before his army resumes the surge attack on the ponies.
Izzy quickly builds a wall made of the robots they busted up to protect her friends and herself from incoming surges. When the surges land, the wall thankfully protected them, although with each jolt a robot in the wall is briefly jumpstarted before dying down. “Why don’t we give these guys a taste of their own medicine?” Izzy smugly suggested to her friends as the glittery aura keeping the wall together intensifies.
With a massive blast of magic, Izzy rockets the wall towards the army, and the robots could do nothing but uselessly zap it. “Whoa, look at the time, man! I gotta dash, man!” the robot leader then scurries off, narrowly escaping Izzy’s wrath when the wall strikes his army and explodes into robot parts.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Sunny dashes after the leader, hopping atop the heads of the surviving robots just to reach him, even bucking one when it tries to grab her. Just when she was about to close in, she bumps into Posey. “Posey, what are you doing here?! I thought you evacuated!”
“Who are you? Why are you messing up my art gallery?!” Posey screamed. “If I don’t get answers, I’m calling the sheriff!”
“Posey, it’s me: Su—” then, the robot leader grabs Posey by the neck and lifts her up high.
“Aw, score, man! She looks soft, man! I wonder if she can survive a squish test, man!” the robot leader taunted as he puts his other hand on Posey’s scalp, ready to squash her.
“Let her go, robot!” Sunny demanded as she brandishes her laser blaster.
“How about you step aside, or I’ll do something you’ll regret, man.”
“Do what it says! Do what it says! I can’t go out like this!” Posey panicked.
“I won’t let you get hurt, Posey! I’m putting my weapons down.” Sunny backs away, lowering both blade and blaster onto the floor. “Now, let her go.”
“Sure thing, man. Go long, man!” the robot leader then tosses far behind Sunny like a baseball, throttling her with all his strength.
“Posey!” Sunny screamed to the terrified Posey before hearing a high-pitched whistle behind her. To her horror, the robot leader’s eyes radiate green light before shooting a beam at Posey, right as she is caught by a red curtain that shrouds her when she falls to the floor.
Just as they finished off whatever brawl they were in, the rest of Sunny’s friends witness this horrifying development and gather at Posey’s cloaked body. “Is… is she okay?” Pipp whimpered.
“Smell ya later, man!” the robot leader taunted before disappearing into a hole in the wall, followed by what’s left of his army.
In her frustration, Zipp takes off her helmet and throws it at the robots, only to miss and hit a vase. The rest of the team remove their helmets and stare at the fallen velvet curtain. “Hitch, whatever happens, call somepony for Posey.” Sunny requested to the sheriff solemnly.
“The hospital or the morgue?” Hitch gulped, fearing the worst.
Izzy magically throws the curtains off Posey, and they were all shocked at what was underneath. Instead of a yellow mare lying unconscious, it was… some strange yellow creature unfamiliar to ponykind. Its body was larger than even two ponies; slender legs and a set of upper limbs terminating in five digits, an alien appendage to ponies, and a flat-faced head closely resembling Posey in that it has her long, tied-up pink mane. The creature is also wearing not only Posey’s flower necklace, but also a pink boho dress with frilly trim and her Cutie Mark on the skirt’s bottom left.
“Uh, uh, w-what is that?!” Pipp panicked.
“Where’s Posey?!” Zipp added
After Sunny laid eyes on this alien creature, she looks back to the altered portraits, recognizing the creature as kin to the subjects of the paintings. “That robot didn’t vandalize the art, it changed them with its beam! This is Posey!” she realized.
Izzy curiously lifts Posey’s let upper limb, wiggling it to let the terminating digits flop around to her amusement. “This is a weird-looking hoof. It’s got thin thingies!”
“I think they’re called hands. Other creatures like Orthinians and Minotaurs had them.” Sunny explained.
“Minotaurs were real?” Pipp raised her eyebrow.
“Hey, everypony! I’m back!” announced Sprout as he trots in with Sparky on his back. “As you can see, your scaly green baby is safe and sound, thanks to me.” He greeted them as he presents the baby dragon to them. “Nice digs, by the way. Where’d you get them?” he admires their suits for a moment just when the altered Posey groggily wakes up.
“What the… what in Equestria happ…?” Posey sits up with her hand on her head, then realizes she has a hand, then raises her other; eyes dilating in shock.
“Aaah!” Sprout screams at Posey at the top of his lungs.
“Aaah!” Posey, too, screams back at Sprout before raising her fingers to her face.
“Aaah!” Sprout screams at her fingers.
“Aaah!” Posey screams back as her fingers wiggle around.
“AAAH!” with one more huff, they both scream at each other’s’ faces at the same time before they both faint onto the floor.
Sparky leaps off Sprout’s body and waddles back into Hitch’s loving embrace. “What… what even is she now?” Hitch wondered as he stares at Posey while comforting Sparky.
“A human.” answered a scratchy, high-pitched voice behind the team. Turning around, they find a bird’s shadow flap towards them before perching atop a vacant pedestal, revealing itself as a brass robot parrot with golden trim and yellow orbs for eyes.
“Ah! Another robot!” Izzy squeaked before firing her blaster, only for the bird to quickly zip from where it stood. “Hey, hey! I’m not with them!” the robot squawked as it dodges her blasts.
“Wait, I think it’s telling the truth! Look at its collar!” Sunny points to the robot parrot’s neck, where the ship’s unique Jolly Roger is pressed onto a gold circle. “You must be the bird the captain mentioned!”
“Well, you don’t see any other pirate birds around, do ya?” The Bird perches back onto the pedestal once Izzy holsters her blaster. “As far as I know, I’m the last member of that ship you trespassed in.”
“Thank hoofness, somepony- I mean, someone who knows what’s going on.” Zipp wipes her brow in relief.
“Before I can explain, we need to get them medical attention.” The Bird advised as it turns its head to the now-human Posey and the unconscious Sprout.
At the hospital, doctors tend to Posey’s unconscious body on a bed too small for her new frame; legs and arms hanging off the edges. “How is she, doctor?” Sunny asked one of the attending physicians.
“She’s stable… I think. Her anatomy is vastly different from ponies, but we’re able to adapt our equipment to it as best we could. It seems like she’s in complete shock from whatever transformed her into… this.” The doctor informed them.
“And Sprout?” Hitch eyes his friend lying on the bed beside Posey.
“He’s also in shock, but plain emotional shock. He’ll wake up soon, but we can’t say the same for Posey.”
“Thank you, doctor. We’ll try to find a way to reverse her condition.” Sunny assured.
“I hope you do. This is way beyond our field of knowledge.” The doctor sighed as the ponies leave the room, and into the hallway.
“What a mess we got ourselves into.” Hitch sighed.
“We handled a giant robo-pony, out-of-control plants, and unifying ponykind, but fighting an entire robot army? That’s waaay past our skillset!” Sunny groaned.
“Let’s find that robot bird. It said it’ll explain everything after we take Posey to the hospital.” Zipp said before their superpowered flip phones ring simultaneously.
Hitch tries to find his, but notices Sparky chewing on it and takes it from his mouth.
They all pick up, and receive a call from The Bird. “How is the victim?”
“She’s fine, just sleeping for a while.” Hitch answered.
“You owe us an explanation, or rather, several.” Zipp demanded.
“First off: what is she? You called her a human, but I’ve never heard of such a creature.” Sunny asked.
“And where were you when the ship crashed? The captain mentioned a bird, but you weren’t there.” Zipp added.
“And why do sky pirates put their superpowers in phones, really old flip phones?” Pipp wondered.
“Come to the ship. I’ll explain everything there, everything you need to know, at least.” The Bird answered before dropping the call.
“The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can turn Posey normal again.” Sunny told her friends before they trot away.
Unaware to them, somepony is spying them from the shadows, or rather within a laundry cart: Misty; minion of the dark Alicorn Opaline. “Opaline, did you get all that?” she whispers into her spying amulet.
“Indeed.” Answered Opaline’s eager voice emanating from the amulet.
At the ship, the ponies and Sparky climb from the top deck to see that The Bird is picking up the furniture back in their places with strength betraying its small size, from an overturned sofa to a fallen cabinet. “Woah, he’s strong for a little bird.” Hitch commented on The Bird pushing the sofa against the wall.
“Ahoy, birdie!” Izzy announced their arrival.
“Please don’t call me birdie.” The Bird sighed as it perches atop the treasure chest beside the mast column. “Take a seat. This is gonna be a lot to take in.”
The ponies gather around The Bird, sitting on the couch and armchairs in the corner. “Let’s introduce ourselves. My name is Sunny Starscout. I’m a humble smoothie vendor born and raised here in Maretime Bay.” Sunny extended her hoof to The Bird.
“Don’t sell yourself short, Miss New Alicorn.” Zipp chuckled at her humbleness. “I’m Zipp, princess of Zephyr Heights and amateur private investigator.”
“And I’m her sister Pipp: the number one influencer in Equestria. My ats are—”
“I’m Izzy, master unicycler! Give me trash, and I’ll turn it into treasure!”
“Sheriff Hitch Trailblazer, at your service.” Then he presents Sparky to The Bird. “And this is Sparky Sparkeroni, my little dragon buddy.”
“Do you have a name?” Sunny asked The Bird.
“That’s not important. All you need to know about me is that I’m not a pet, I’m this ship’s first mate and navigator. You will respect me as such.” The Bird commanded them with a tone to match.
“How did a ship like this end up here?” Hitch asked.
“And what’s a human? That creature that Posey turned into? Why and how could that robot do that to her?” Zipp added.
“This ship was crewed by brave sailors who travel from planet-to-planet, helping people, fighting bad guys, and correcting injustices.” The Bird began to explain.
“So, they’re superheroes? Oh, I’ve always wanted to be a superhero!” Hitch twitches giddily in his seat.
“Among the planets that reached their protection was a world called Earth populated by humans: a form of evolved primate with similar cultures to you ponies, minus all the magic.”
“Primates? You’re telling us the robot turned Posey into a monkey?” Zipp said in disbelief.
“I’d more equate them to chimps.”
“But why? I don’t get it.”
“That robot is a World; a super soldier from the Tojitendo Dynasty of Kikaitopia: a world where robots are dominant. Tojitendo have the technology to compartmentalize worlds to empower their army, giving them abilities based on conceptual constants present in those respective worlds.” The Bird explained.
“The what Dynasty of huh-Topia? Constants?” Izzy repeated, trying to understand what The Bird’s saying.
The Bird lets out an impatient, annoyed groan. “If they capture a world where mushrooms are the main thing there, then the robot will have mushroom powers.” The Bird elaborated in a bored tone.
“Oooh, sounds delish!” Izzy’s eyes sparkled at such a thought.
“You mean we’re looking at a robot alien invasion? Like Trotformers kinda robot alien invasion?!” Pipp asked in shock.
“Relax, their empire was defeated years ago. The World you fought was a rogue hold-out. Without orders, it’s doing what it’s doing because it was programmed to do so.” The Bird assured.
“If your team was experienced as you say they were, how did Human World defeat them?” Sunny inquired.
Upon hearing that, The Bird didn’t answer first, just lower its head slightly. “We thought we were prepared against a World. We fought scallywags bigger and badder more times than a human has fingers, but we didn’t know what this world would do to us.” The Bird’s tone growing more solemn. “The moment we entered Equestria, the crew turned into ponies aside from me. They tried fighting the World as ponies, but they flopped hard just like you did. Because of that, they easily blew us out of the sky.” Then, he produces a scorched eyepatch from behind him, holding it with his beak. “As far as I know, I’m the only survivor.”
“I’m sorry what happened to your team.” Izzy shared her grief.
“We promise we’ll carry on their duty in their stead.” Sunny declared proudly.
“Since there’s five of you, discounting your scaly baby, I need the silver phone back.” The Bird extended its metal wings to them.
“There’s a silver phone? We only found five.” Hitch questioned as he presents his own phone.
“It’s all we found when the ship crashed. You mean there’s more?” Sunny added.
“There were six phones; one silver with a big display. You didn’t see it?”
“Nope!” Izzy answered with her usual idle smile.
“Oh, this is bad!” The Bird panicked. “We’re going out there to find that phone! If someone unsavoury finds it, who knows what they’ll do with it!”
At Opaline’s castle, she and Misty review the recording of the heroes’ conversation at the hospital through a magical screen in the centre of the throne room, rewinding just after they trot away into the hall. “Humans. I’ve only heard of such beings from Twilight Sparkle’s secret texts. She described them as beings not naturally adept in magic, but can be in the right circumstances. When they are, their prowess can rival, or even exceed that of ponies!” Opaline said with an air of curiosity. “If I can get my hands on that walking, talking machine that turns ponies into humans and then empower them, I can raise an army to take what’s mine!”
“And you want me to find it?” Misty asked meekly.
“Of course! Get to it, before those powered ponies do!” Opaline demanded.
“That won’t be necessary.” Said a gruff, Spanish-accented voice from behind Opaline.
“Who dares infiltrate my castle?!” Opaline growls as she ignites her horn.
Emerging from the dark corners of the room is a tall, imposing creature standing on two feet, clad in leathery red-and-black armour decorated with gold skulls, wearing a red beak-mask and a bicorne-like helmet; red eyes peering towards Opaline. It wasn’t like the humans they saw before, more like a large, predatory bird. “I mean ya no harm, yer excellency.”
“Your excellency? I’m starting to tolerate you.” Opaline smirked, impressed at this creature’s demeanour. “Who are you, and what do you want from me?” she asked sternly, still unimpressed by the stranger’s menacing getup.
“My name needs no introducing to a fine mare such as yourself. I approach ye with a proposition. I want them phones those little ponies found themselves with, an’ fer that I need yer help.”
“I don’t care much for doing dirty work, and I don’t believe Misty is capable of such a task.” Opaline scowled.
“Oh, I believe she can with this. Sally, bring him in.” the pirate side-steps out of the way of the door to reveal a grey monkey wearing jagged armour and navy pantaloons escorting into the room the same robot that attacked the Houvre.
“Woah, nice digs, man.” The robot amusingly looks around the arcane tower’s interior, impressed by her magical trinkets. Then, it turns its attention to a crystal ball on the other side of the room. “Woah, a crystal ball, man! My neighbour had a crystal ball, man!” it proceeds to amuse itself by waving its hands over the crystal ball.
“I see, so you were responsible for sending this machine to terrify the ponies. If I had a minion half as menacing, I’d use them any chance I’d get.” Opaline smirked before side-eying Misty with an unimpressed look.
“For yer services, I offer this magnificent contraption: Human World! Not only is it a formidable opponent with its army of Kudakks, but as you might’ve seen in his demonstration, he can transmute ponies, and pony-adjacent things, into humans in the blink of an eye!” the pirate pitched the robot’s functions like a salesman.
“Hmmm…” Opaline hummed in thought, rubbing her chin with the back of her hoof. “I—”
“But wait! There’s more!” the pirate blurted as soon as Opaline’s breath left her lungs. “I’ll loan ya yer very own transformation cell phone! Perfect fer fightin’ them pirates everypony’s talkin’ ‘bout!”
Waddling towards Opaline, Sally presents a gilded bar-type cell phone which the alicorn telekinetically grabs and examines it. “You had power like theirs already? Why not use it yourself?” Opaline asked.
“Why do it yerself when ye can make someone else do it?” the pirate chuckled.
Further impressed by his philosophy, Opaline chuckles along with him. “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful…” she struggled to find the right words for this situation.
“Friendship?” Misty suggested.
“Partnership.” Opaline coldly corrected before holding her hoof to the pirate.
“Then we have a deal.” The pirate takes Opaline’s hoof and gives it a few gentle shakes.
After the friendly exchange, Opaline glances at Misty, still frightened by this development. “Why don’t you give me an in-pony demonstration? Just to make sure he’s not broken.”
“It’d be me pleasure.” The pirate said before kicking Human World’s butt towards Misty.
“Alright, man! I got the idea, man.” Human World grumbled before laying eyes on Misty; his green glow intensifying.
“Wait! Wait! I need to emotionally prepare for this! You saw what he did to Posey!” Misty pleaded to everyone else in the room, just before being restrained by Opaline’s magic.
“Is that any way to treat a new friend?” Opaline mockingly suggested to Misty before forcing her to look straight into the robot’s eyes. “Now say hi.”
Misty breaks into a sweat as her heart pounds, staring at the robot before nothing but a bright green flash fills her eyes.
To be continued…