//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: AMAZO visits Equestria // by KingDogbertXIV //------------------------------// . “Twilight, am I glad to see you,” Dash exclaimed as Twilight teleported in. “We need your expert opinion on Dinky’s condition. Derpy said that a big, scary thing healed Dinky last night and now Fluttershy can’t find anything wrong with her.” “Hello to you too, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said, blinking at the verbal onslaught. “Hello, Twilight,” Fluttershy greeted from a seat by Dinky’s bed. “Hello, Fluttershy,” Twilight greeted back. “How’s Dinky? And where’s Derpy?” “Um...Derpy went to rest a few hours ago and...,” Fluttershy trailed off, looking away. “Fluttershy?” Twilight pressed. “How’s Dinky?” “She’s...um...great,” Fluttershy mumbled, hiding her face behind her long, pink mane. “Really?” Twilight questioned as she approached the bed. “Yes...,” Dash said sullenly. “Derpy mentioned something that stood on two legs curing Dinky. Fluttershy has been monitoring Dinky for the past few hours and has pronounced her cured. Dinky is well, Twilight,” She explained, both loving and hating that she was wrong about Derpy’s seemingly farfetched tale. “Let me check the patient,” Twilight said. “I need to see it myself. -- “So what did you do for this Ivo guy?” Spike finally asked after spending an awkward hour doing chores with the extraterrestrial android watching wordlessly. “He created me,” AMAZO started. “He needed someone to help him with his research and projects late in life. I spent years helping him, even after he became sick. A few months before he...died, he lost his job.” “It sounds like you two were close,” Spike said, putting away some of Twilight’s books. “Yes,” AMAZO said, his eyes turning up in sadness. “He was like a father to me. He called me amazing and said that my duplication program would let me evolve into something greater than just an assistant for an old man.” “What exactly happened to him, if I may ask?” Spike inquired. “Lung cancer,” AMAZO answered. “He was a heavy smoker.” “I’m sorry,” Spike said. “So how did you go from being Ivo’s assistant to landing in Applejack’s farm, Sweet Apple Acres?” “A few days after Ivo died, our home was broken into by a man named Lex Luthor,” AMAZO recalled. “Luthor, too, was dying and needed my help. He tricked me into stealing equipment and nearly killing his enemies, the Justice League. Right before he and I finished them off, I duplicated telepathy and read Luthor’s mind. I turned on him and tore his battle suit apart. I nearly killed him in rage after he tried to kill me.” “Sounds violent,” Spike said, horrified. “Then what?” “Disgusted with the pettiness of them all, I departed to the skies to find and duplicate powers beyond those of Earth,” AMAZO answered, contempt clear in its voice. “Is Equestria any better than Earth?” Spike asked, trying to calm AMAZO down. “Yes,” AMAZO said without hesitation. “The inhabitants here care for one another unconditionally. There is an overlaying air of peace here.” “Not everything is perfect here,” Spike said. “We may not be trying to kill each other all the time, but tensions can wear thin sometimes.” “For example?” AMAZO asked. “A goddess of the night tried to bring eternal night, a nearby town went to war with a buffalo tribe, Ponyville nearly got eaten by bugs, a chaos god nearly reclaimed his throne after a thousand or so years, Twilight caused a day-long riot over a doll, and a shape shifter queen nearly took over the royal city,” Spike rattled off. “I know I’m forgetting some.” AMAZO merely raised the closest thing it had to an eyebrow. Sighing, Spike turned towards Twilight’s room and said, “I’ll be right back with Twilight’s journal detailing her friendship reports. They detail those events better than I can.” “Fine,” AMAZO said simply. -- “Well, girls, I’ve reached a conclusion,” Twilight said, putting her medical examination tools back into her saddlebags. “What is it?” Derpy yawned as she emerged from the hallway leading from her bedroom. “Hello, Derpy,” Twilight greeted. “Anyway, I’m pleased to announce that, besides extreme exhaustion, Dinky is well. She’ll be fine after resting for a day or so.” “Yay!” Derpy squeaked before turning to Dash. “I knew AMAZO wasn’t a dream!” “Huh?” Dash asked. “AMAZO was the tall thing that healed Dinky,” Derpy answered. “What exactly was it?” Fluttershy asked, cowering a bit. “Was it scary?” “It was about ten feet tall, almost completely gold except for two red eyes in black slots, and it had no face otherwise,” Derpy explained. “It said it was a living machine. It got hurt by one of Dinky’s magical discharges.” “Why would it heal Dinky?” Dash asked as Fluttershy whimpered at the thought of such a being. “I’m not sure,” Derpy pondered, putting a hoof to her chin. “Twilight, any thoughts on this ‘AMAZO’ thing?” Dash asked “I’m just as in the dark as you three are,” Twilight said, stretching the truth a bit. “Oh well,” Derpy shrugged. “Now, who wants celebratory muffins?” -- “Spike, where are the Elements of Harmony?” AMAZO asked as it closed the journal that Spike had given it a few hours earlier. “I wish to see them and duplicate their powers.” A nervous bead of sweat trickled from Spike’s face as he turned towards the android. “The ponies or the artifacts?” he asked, dodging the question. “Which is stronger?” “The artifacts are. I don’t know how they work or even where they are exactly,” Spike said, stretching the truth more than he would have liked. “You’re lying,” AMAZO said as it looked towards the dragon. Its eyes furrowed in anger. “Huh?” “I can read your mind. You’re trying to protect Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.” “Yes,” Spike said, standing his ground. “I have no intention of hurting anyone. I can remain undetected,” AMAZO said, softening its demeanor. “They’re in Canterlot’s Royal Palace, behind a wall that only a Royal Sister can open.” “Where in the palace?” “I’m not sure.” “Then I shall find them myself.” Before the dragon could object, the android then disappeared in a purple flash. Spike blinked, shrugged, then returned to cleaning some dusty bookshelves.