//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: A Joking Matter/Quick and the Blue // Story: Mega Man: Operation Ponyville // by Captain L //------------------------------// Chapter 7: A Joking Matter/Quick and the Blue Mega Stallion was now walking towards the next Robot Master, which was right in the center of town. He was quickly reminded how much destruction Ponyville was facing, compared to the relatively tame terror on the outskirts. It’s as if they only want to destroy populated areas. Well, they’re probably going for shock and terror. It makes sense, actually. Streets were still deserted, curtains closed, and doors locked. Garbage littered the roads, with pieces of food, chunks of building, and…robot parts? Examining further, he noticed that destroyed robots were all over the place, each one with a hole shot through it. Plasma shot. But how? I didn’t do this. He thought back to the last time he had been through town, before fighting Twilight. The pony that saved me from the shielded robots, he used a buster! But how? Is he a robot? Is he an enemy? As he was thinking, he could swear he heard a whistle in the distance, before everything went silent again. Deciding that this wasn’t the most important thing he had to worry about, he continued onward, towards a building close to the center of town. Considering what he’d seen during his mission, nothing should have been surprising him. However, he was not prepared for his next arena. A building shaped like a giant cupcake, with a sign reading “Sugarcube Corner”. Shouting at nothing in particular, he looked up at the sky and screamed “Is this entire town crazy?” He was beginning to get fed up with everything, but walked into the building anyway. Once again, he wasn’t prepared for what he was about to see. The Robot Master was standing in front of the display counter, but she was also next to two young foals, entertaining them. She made silly faces and noises, making the children laugh. She looked up at Mega Stallion, and her smile grew impossibly big. “Hello! I’ve never seen you before! Are you new?” She gasped, and began talking far faster than should have been possible. “Then I need to throw you a party! Where are you from? Have you met anypony yet? Of course, it’s hard to make friends when nopony wants to come out of their houses. They’re all being such spoilsports. How rude is it to not greet the new pony? I’m Pinkie Pie, what’s your name?” She stared expectantly, waiting for an answer. He was taken aback by this pony’s forwardness. Suddenly, her clown outfit doesn’t seem so strange. It’s surprisingly fitting. There’s no way a fight can come from this. “I’m Mega Stallion. You seem nice, so just give me your weapon and I’ll be on my way. Save the party for when my mission is done.” All of the happiness in Pinkie Pie’s face seemed to drain as her colors dimmed and her mane straightened. “Are you the bad robot that’s been hurting my friends? What kind of mean pony would do something like that?” She sniffled, close to tears. “How…how did you do that? Are you sure you’re an earth pony?” He was more than a little confused. Instantly, her mane poofed back up and she became her bright pink colors once again. “Of course I’m an earth pony, silly! Do you see wings or a horn? I mean, duh! How could I be a pegasus or unicorn without wings or a horn? I’d like to be a pegasus, though, but I’d ditch these colors! I imagine myself with a yellow mane and white coat! But how could I be Pinkie Pie if I wasn’t pink?” She continued to talk as Mega Stallion tuned her out. Call me crazy, but I think I prefer the manic depressive. At least she makes sense in that state of mind. Missing what was apparently a crucial part of the conversation, Pinkie Pie appeared right next to him, saying “…and that’s why I think my name would be SURPRISE!” She somehow shot confetti out of nowhere. Taken aback by the surprise, Mega Stallion jumped back, shooting Pinkie out of pure instinct, who landed beside a display of cupcakes. She didn’t get depressed again, instead becoming angry, eyes now a bright yellow, and body glowing the slightest bit red. Tripolar? Is that a real thing? Pinkie reached out one of her front hooves, which extended to grab the foals, and put them inside another room. Turning her attention back to Mega Stallion, she reached behind her to grab a cupcake and threw it. He didn’t even attempt to move as the cupcake hit the center of his horn, where it remained stuck. “Who throws cupcakes? Honestly?” Retaliating, he fired a shot of his own, which actually did damage, also burning the cupcake. Pinkie was only getting angrier. “That’s it! No more nice pony!” He could see a hint of madness in her eyes as she yelled “Thunder Claw!” Both of her front hooves extended, grabbing Mega Stallion. She smiled in an insane way before shocking him with high voltage electricity. He could feel the electricity messing up his circuits and capacitors. Much more of this and she’ll completely shut down my systems. Examining the way the voltage was coursing through his body, he realized that by rerouting some signals inside, he could redirect the electricity. Freeing one of his front hooves, he pointed at Pinkie and focused. The electricity shot out in a burst, striking Pinkie in the chest. I hope that doesn’t count as a Master Weapon. Mega Stallion’s minimal auto repair functions activated, fixing his insides from the electric damage. It worked quickly, finishing just as Pinkie Pie stood up again. She attempted a variety of lightning based attacks, but he redirected every one of them, starting to do it with style. In what seemed like a last act, she jumped behind the sales counter, where Mega Stallion jumped to follow her. When he saw that she wasn’t back there, he started looking for a hidden door or some means of escape she could have taken. Being so busy looking, he didn’t notice Pinkie pop up behind some bags of flour halfway across the room. Taking advantage of her stealth, she silently stuck her hooves into the floor, sending them to attack Mega Stallion. Hearing something strange beneath the floorboards, he jumped away to see two hooves reach out and grab where he was. A quick search of the room revealed Pinkie manipulating them. How did she get over there? A shot hitting her got her attention. She ducked below the bags of flower and quickly came out from a door on the other side of the room. What is happening here? Is she teleporting? Is logic breaking more than it already has? He decided the only way to get her to stay still was to make her. He leaped towards her, slid under her hooves as they extended towards him, and performed an uppercut punch coming out from his slide. Briefly stunned by the punch, Pinkie was unable to defend herself as Mega Stallion grabbed her and fired at her head at point-blank range. She flew back into the displays, shattering the glass and falling to the floor. Please don’t count as a Master Weapon, lightning. The armor exploded, and Pinkie Pie remained, still coursing with redirected electricity. That won’t cause lasting damage, I’m sure. Ready to leave, Mega Stallion noticed the extensive damage done to the store. Baked goods were splattered on the walls, glass was shattered, burn marks littered the room, and there were holes in the floor. I feel bad for whoever needs to fix all of this. Just before leaving, he decided to check on the babies to make sure they were okay. Looking in the room where Pinkie had put them, the two of them were sitting on the floor, doing nothing in particular. Now sure they were okay, he trotted out of the building. Nighttime had fallen, though the bright light from the moon kept it from being dark. Storm clouds hovered in the sky, and small droplets of rain began to fall. Thunder boomed in the distance, and bolts of lightning briefly illuminated Ponyville, mostly in ruins. Mega Stallion was moving to fight the final Robot Master, and then he’d be able to put an end to this battle. A boomerang came flying towards him, narrowly missing his head, and sticking itself in the dirt. Examining it closer, he noticed the silver boomerang was sleek and sharp. Its origin jumped down from a cloud, landing with a smash that obscured Mega Stallion’s view of his attacker. It was a pegasus mare, wearing sleek red armor with a large yellow boomerang on her forehead. The rest of the armor was highlighted with spots of yellow and black. He was honestly impressed. “It only figures that I end up getting the best for last. Most dangerous weapon, coolest armor, and a fight in the middle of a rainstorm. Everything’s going well for this. But you seem to have forgotten one thing.” He grabbed the boomerang she had already thrown with his magic. “Boomerangs are supposed to return to the thrower. If they don’t, what’s the point?” The mare laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ve got that covered.” She held out her hoof, and the boomerang broke free from his magic and returned to her. She smirked in the most arrogant way. “I already know you’re here to fight me. I’m the last one standing, and I’ll show you what I can do!” She got into a fighting stance. Mega Stallion also readied himself. “Are you absolutely sure we can’t just come to a peaceful agreement? You can just give me your weapon, and we can walk away.” She materialized two boomerangs, ready to throw. “That’s a no. Alright, just tell me your name, so that I’ll know the last Robot Master to fall at my hooves!” She leapt into the air. “I am…Quick Mare!” No real names. It’ll do, I suppose. He fired, while she moved too fast to hit. Boomerangs came from what seemed like every direction at once. He managed to dodge all of them with slides, jumps, and rolls. He was also careful to move out of the way whenever she attracted the boomerangs back. When she had realized that neither of them was making progress attacking from a distance, she flew towards him at supersonic speeds to tackle him. As the two connected, Mega Stallion performed a backwards roll, slamming Quick Mare onto the ground, where he promptly shot her. Surprisingly, it seemed to hurt her a lot more than any other Robot Master he had fought. She sacrificed durability for speed. That’s my advantage. While still on the ground, Quick Mare sliced him up and performed an uppercut of her own, dashing back into the air. And so they fought. The clash of metal and grinding gears echoed across the night sky. Quick Mare was covered in plasma burns, and Mega Stallion riddled with deep gashes. Before long, both were beaten within an inch of their lives. Mega Stallion knew that if he could hit her one more time, the fight would be over. However, Quick Mare was in the exact same position, and she held the upper hoof. He needed to do something, and fast. She’s just too quick. If I could slow her down somehow…I can! With Time Slow! But…I’d have to kill her to do it. If I kill her, I might possibly save Equestria, with her forever on my conscience. If I lose, Equestria is doomed. Is it worth it? He couldn’t decide what to do as he laid on the ground, Quick Mare standing over him. She began to taunt him. “How did a weakling like you defeat seven of us? I know you could beat me, so why don’t you do it? Come on, do something! Show me you were worthy of this fight!” He cringed as his coat turned purple, Time Slow ready and armed. It’s for the greater good. But before he could fire, another blue stallion came from the side and tackled Quick Mare, pinning her to the ground. He lifted a hoof, pointed it at her face, and fired a blast of plasma, winning the fight. As her armor exploded, the stranger looked at Mega Stallion and nodded, when Mega Stallion felt the Quick Boomerang being added to his arsenal. All three ponies were silent, as Mega Stallion examined his savior. While all three had blue coats, the stranger’s was the darkest, with an even darker blue mane. His eyes were hidden by a pair of sunglasses, and his long yellow scarf blew in the wind. He wanted to thank the stranger, but couldn’t find the energy to do so. Using what he had left, he teleported back to Doctor Light’s lab, where he arrived unconscious. After reawakening inside the repair capsule, Mega Stallion decided to stay at the lab for a little to rest. He told Doctor Light and Roll all about what he had encountered, as he didn’t have the time to go into detail before. Both were impressed with what he had managed to accomplish in less than a day of combat. Surprisingly, when he mentioned the stranger that saved him twice (after piecing together that it must have been the same pony both times), both him and Roll felt that Doctor Light was hiding something. “Well, good news, Rock. The electromagnetic shield around Canterlot is down, so you can do in whenever you want. There’s still a magical shield protecting the city, but your teleport won’t be affected. I recommend you go in soon, and put an end to all of this as quickly as you can.” “I will, Doctor Light. I think I’m ready to head in now. Get the teleport system ready.” Doctor Light nodded and got to work as Roll came up next to her brother. “You know that once you go in there, there’s no coming back until you’ve won.” “That’s been the case for every fight of mine. I won’t lose. I’ll finish this right now. I promise.” He stepped into the teleport system. As he felt the process beginning, there was only one thought going through his mind. I’ll end this, right here, right now. I will defeat you, Celestia!