//------------------------------// // Arrival // Story: Rise of The Robopony // by Robobrony //------------------------------// Rise of The Robopony Chapter 1: Arrival It was a stormy night in Ponyville, the mane 6, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, were all gathered at Twilight’s house for a sleepover party. However, because of the storm that was raging outside, it was hard for them to enjoy themselves as the lightning flashed and the rain was pouring down. Spike was upstairs in the room he and Twilight shared sleeping. Twilight was a little amazed her little dragon brother could sleep through such a storm. “Rainbow Dash, why did you have to schedule such a fierce storm tonight?” Rarity complained. “Hey, don’t look at me, I just do what I’m told, I’m not the one in charge of the weather schedule!” Rainbow Dash retorted. Twilight chimed in to defend Rainbow. “She is right Rarity, Rainbow isn’t in charge of weather scheduling, besides, I know why they had this big storm tonight anyway. There was supposed to be a shower two days ago, but some pony messed up with the schedule, so they have this big storm going on tonight to make up for it.” “Well shoot, what bone head messed up with somthin like that?” Applejack asked looking back to Rainbow. Rainbow Dash sneered, “You can blame Thunder Lane for that, he fell asleep on the job and didn’t bring the rain clouds that day like he was supposed to. Lazy Thunder Lane.” She growled the last part in aggravation. While the storm raged, poor Fluttershy was hiding in a corner out of fear of the storm outside. Pinkie Pie was sitting next to her to try and comfort the timid Pegasus. “Awe, it’s ok Fluttershy, its only noise, loud noise, but still noise that can’t hurt you.” Fluttershy looked up at Pinkie with a weak smile, thankful that Pinkie was trying to help her. “Thanks Pinkie, but I still feel a little scared, thanks for trying to help me.” Pinkie smiled back. “You’re welcome, what are friends for?” Then, Pinkie’s Pinkie sense started to go off like crazy, first her tail started twitching, and she started to shudder greatly. “OH MY GOSH, my Pinkie sense is going off!” The girls all turned to Pinkie as Twilight asked her, “What is it Pinkie, what’s going on?” Pinkie looked to them and told them what she was sensing. “My Pinkie sense is telling me something unexpected is about to fall out of the sky, and it’s going to land in the Everfree forest. We need to get there now, quick!” Rarity tried to object. “Are you crazy, in this storm? My mane will get ruined, besides, we can’t just go out there in this storm.” Twilight agreed with Rarity. “Pinkie, the storm out there is really bad, whatever it is, I’m sure it can wait until the storm lets up tomorrow.” Pinkie continued to try and convince her friends. “But what if some pony needs help, I’m tellin ya that we gotta get out there and help!” Before any pony could object, Pinkie zipped over to the door and made her way out into the storm. The other’s became very concerned and decided to go ahead and follow her, just to make sure she would be ok. Minutes earlier, above Ponyville, a pony figure was flying above the clouds, looking for a way through the storm to try and come down to the ground. Seeing no way through, it made its descent through the clouds. As it breached them and made its way through, a bolt of lightning struck it directly, causing sparks and electricity to surge through its body. The figure lost all control over its descent and started to plummet to the ground at an angle, causing it to crash land in a big forest on the edge of Ponyville. Back down in Ponyville, the six friends raced through town as the storm raged on, lightning flashing in the sky. Pinkie lead the group, all worried about what this all could mean. They soon came to the edge and went into the forest with Pinkie still leading the way as she seemed to be the only pony that knew where the object they were looking for fell. It didn’t take them long to find a crater in the forest, the six ponies all gathered around the crater to look down and see what it was that set off Pinkie’s senses. Because of it being so dark, all they could tell was that it was a pony, but it seemed to be missing it’s mane and tail. Twilight asked Pinkie as she was the one who dragged them out here, “Well Pinkie, who is it?” Pinkie continued to look down in the crater with a worried expression on her face. “I don’t know, like I said, it’s something unexpected.” Rainbow Dash made an observation. “It doesn’t seem that unexpected, it looks like some poor pony was trying to fly in the weather, but where are its wings, and what happened to its tail and mane?” The girls all grew very concerned as it seemed that this pony before them may very well be seriously hurt, or worse. As they gazed upon the motionless form in the crater, they failed to notice a pack of timberwolves creeping up behind them. It wasn’t until one of them let out a growl that Applejack turned around and noticed that they were in big trouble. “Uh, gals, we got ourselves a problem.” Twilight turned to her friend and asked. “What is it Applejack?” Applejack pointed in the direction of the pack of five timberwolves and cried out. “TIMBERWOLVES!” The girls all turned around and saw the pack standing before them. They all screamed in terror. “AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!” This seemed to wake up the figure in the crater as it jumped up and placed itself between the girls and the timberwolves. The girls still couldn’t make out the figure as it was dark in the forest with the storm going. What they could make out was two cylindrical objects seemed to suddenly appear on the sides of the figure. The timberwolves charged at the figure, the strange objects floating next to the figure let out five quick red flashes and each of the timberwolves fell to pieces as they were struck with a red beam. With the Timberwolves dispatched, the two cylindrical objects disappeared. The figure then turned and made its way over to the girls as they just looked at it in awe as it was able to deal with timberwolves so easily. Twilight shook her head to regain her senses and spoke up first to give her thanks. “Wow, that was amazing, thank you so much for saving us. But how did you do that?” The figure then spoke, the voice sounding male with a metalic echo and a monotone way. “You are welcome, it is my purpose to serve.” Twilight looked at him with a bit of confusion. “Your purpose? What do you mean?” Before he could answer, Rarity spoke up. “Excuse me, we are most grateful for your help, but do you think we could do introductions outside this storm please, my mane is getting drenched.” The girls all agreed. The new pony then spoke up again. “Of course, allow me to assist you.” Then a light blue glow formed on the top of its head and the rain seemed to stop falling on the group. Twilight looked at him again with confusion. “Did you just make it stop raining?” Before he could answer, Pinkie saw what was going on. “Nope, look up, he made a magic force field above us, like a magic umbrella.” The girls all looked up, and above them was a clear white magic field just above their heads. Applejack was impressed. “Well tarnation, that’s mighty clever of ya. Twilight, how come yall never thought o doin somthin like that?” Twilight just looked at Applejack with a sheepish smile. "Hold on, if this pony crashed, that meant he was flying right? But here he's also doing magic now?" Rainbow pointed out. "Are you an alicorn?" She asked looking to the pony. Fluttershy’s fear of the storm urged her to speak up. “Uhm, girls, could we please head back to the library now, if…that’s ok.” She still said it rather low to where almost no pony heard her. Twilight did hear her though. “Right, let’s get back, you should come with us too, I would like to know who saved us.” The figure responded, still with the light blue glow above its head. “Of course, please lead the way.” The girls lead the new pony through town, shielded by his magic umbrella, protecting them from the storm’s rain. They finally made it back to Twilight’s library where the girls all filed in first with their new friend in tow. Once they were all in, the new pony dismissed his magic field and entered behind them. With every pony now safely inside, they were finally able to get a good look at the pony who saved them. Twilight started to give her thanks as she turned to face him. “Thank you again for saving us from...from“ Twilight trailed off as she looked upon the new pony, awe struck at what she was looking at, as was every other pony in the room. He seemed to stand at least five inches taller than them. His muzzle was squared, yet he appeared to have lips like them. He looked to be silver but no fur, mane, or tail. His eye’s looked digital and were a light blue coloring on a dark blue backing where it should be white. He appeared to be made completely out of metal. As they looked upon him, they saw two rods appear on his back. One was on the back of his head while the other came up on the base of his neck. Then a light blue strip of light appeared and connected the two. Then two more rods emerged from the back of his flanks. A long metal one curving down a bit and another below that that curved down as well but closer to the floor and longer than the one above it. Finally, another light blue strip of light appeared between the two, creating a kind of light tail. Pinkie couldn’t contain her excitement any longer as she started to hop around the room. “See, I told you something unexpected was going to fall! I told you, I told you, I told you! Hi I’m Pinkie pie, and I’m the one who knew you were coming, well sorta, I just knew something unexpected would fall and that’s why we were there to greet you!” Rainbow Dash then spoke up. “Whoa, cool, love the mane dude, but who or what are you?” The pony then responded. “Greetings, my designation is *BZZZZZT* Error, data not available.” The girls, except for Fluttershy, who went back to hiding in the corner, looked at him a little confused. Applejack then asked, “What kind o name is that?” The pony then answered, “Appologies, one moment while I perform a diagnostic scan on my systems.” Again, the girls looked at each other in confusion. Applejack asked again. “Diag- what now?” The pony then answered again. “I need to check and make sure all systems are functioning normally. One moment please.” The girls still had no idea what he was talking about as the pony closed his metallic eyelids. The girls just stood there staring at the metal pony for a minute before he finally opened his eyes again and spoke. “This is problematic, it seems that some of my memory banks have been damaged. I am unable to retrieve data on why I am here, who sent me or what my designation is.” Twilight stepped forward and spoke, thinking she might know what this metal pony was talking about. “Wait, are you saying that you have amnesia?” “I believe that is the term for it, yes.” Rainbow Dash then spoke. “So can you at least tell us WHAT you are, you’re obviously not an ordinary pony.” The metal pony turned to her and responded. “I am a robot pony. I was built for a purpose that is currently unavailable to me. I was made using advanced technology. I am made up of a strong metallic alloy, circuits, and wires. I was programmed to think and act for myself while on a mission. However, as I have stated, my mission has been erased from my memory banks.” Twilight’s eyes lit up at the mention of technology. She had a bit of that in her basement that she used once to try to understand Pinkie’s Pinkie sense, but that didn’t go over so well. “OH MY GOSH, that’s incredible, you simply must let me get a closer look at you! PLEASE!” The robot pony looked at her and stated simply, “Appologies, but that information is classified, unless you might be able to help repair my damaged memory banks.” Twilgiht was saddened at this, as she had no idea how she could help. Then she had a thought. “Well, I might not be able to help, but I’ll bet princess Celestia can, she is very knowlegable, and while she may not know about technology, she may be able to use her magic to fix you.” “Illogical, magic does not exist, such a feat cannot be possible as magic is just a myth and would break the laws of physics.” Rarity finally spoke up. “But didn’t you use magic yourself when you created that field over our heads to protect us from the rain? You do have a unicorn horn dear.” Then Twilight chimed in again. “Yeah, and besides, magic does exist. Maybe not where you’re from, but it does here.” The robot responded back. “The horn on my head that you are referring to is my matter manipulation device. It allows me to create energy based barriers for shielding from rain and other things, as well as allow me to move objects with a tractor beam, teleport, and many other functions. It may seem like magic, but thanks to the technology that made me, I am capable of performing tasks that could be viewed as magic.” Twilight decided to prove this machine wrong. “I’ll prove magic is real, watch this.” Twilight then caused one of her books to float off the shelf and moved it in front of the robot, it watched the book float around the room. Then she floated it back to its original place. Twilight gave the robot a smirk as she looked at him. “Fascinating, it would appear that my current data is now obsolete, you clearly do not have technology like I am made of, yet you were able to move the book without touching it. It seems that magic is indeed real. My apologies if I offended you.” Twilight gave a warm smile at the robot. “It’s ok. So, I suppose we should get on with introductions. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” The robot responded. “And what is your species?” “Oh, well, we are all ponies, but I’m also a unicorn, as is my friend Rarity there.” Twilight Pointed to Rarity with her hoof. Rarity smiled at the pony and said, “Charmed dear.” The robot then spoke again. “Twilight Sparkle: Species, pony. Subspecies: unicorn. Data saved. Rarity, Species: pony, Subspecies: unicorn. Data saved” Twilight got curious at why he was saying that. “Uhm, what are you doing?” “I am recording the data you are providing so I will remember it later.” Not sure what to make of it, Twilight continued to introduce her friends. “Well then, this is Rainbow dash. She’s a Pegasus.” Rainbow Dash said her greeting. “What’s up?” “Rainbow Dash: Species, pony. Subspecies: Pegasus. Data saved.” “That is Fluttershy. Also a pegasus.” “Fluttershy: Species, pony. Subspecies: Pegasus. Data saved.” “And those two are Applejack and Pinkie Pie, who you already met. They’re earth ponies.” “Applejack: Species, pony. Pinkie pie: Species, pony.” Pinkie seemed a little disappointed that she didn’t get a subspecies placement. “Awe, how come we don’t get classified as a subspecies.” “You are simple earth ponies. A second classification is not necessary.” Applejack came forward to greet him and shake his hoof. “It’s a real fine pleasure to make yer acquaintance fella. Thanks again fer helpin us with the timberwolves.” She stuck her hoof out for a hoof shake, but the robot just stared at it. “Yer supposed ta shake it. It’s how we greet one another here.” “Understood, proceeding with greeting.” The robot then raised his hoof to shake Applejack’s. Rainbow Dash then spoke up again. “So now that you know our names, we need to give you one, it’s gotta be something cool, since you look pretty cool yourself.” Pinkie had an idea for a name. “OH, OH, I know, how about robopony.” “Nah, not cool enough. How about…….Steele Mane. That TOTALLY works.” Rarity didn’t seem to think so. “But dear, his mane, or whatever it is, isn’t made of steel.” Twilight then got curious about it too. “Yeah, what is that light anyway?” The robot began to explain. “This is my solar energy collectors. They collect the light from the rays of the sun and provide me with the energy I need to operate. When the sun is not available, any extra energy I have collected is stored within a battery within me. The same with what you would call my tail.” Rainbow then asked, “So what do you think of your new name Steele Mane?” “I do not have an opinion, if that is what you wish to call me, I have no problem with it.” “Don’t you think it sounds even a little cool?” “I do not have emotions, therefore it does not bother me if you call me something else. I do not mind the new designation you have given me.” “Well then, Steele Mane it is. Welcome to Equestria Steel Mane.” “Is that the name of your country?” Twilight answered, “Yes, and the town you’re in is called Ponyville. In the morning, I’ll send a letter to the princess to ask for a meeting with her and tell her about you. I’m sure she can help you get your memories back.” “I am most grateful for your assistance Twilight Sparkle.” “Just Twilight is fine.” “As you wish.” With everything that had been going on, the girls failed to realize how late it was. “Well, I think it’s about time to get some sleep. Sorry Steele Mane, but I’m afraid I don’t have an extra bed.” “That is fine, I do not require sleep. I may decide to go through your books tonight while you sleep to learn more of your world if that is all right.” Twilight looked at him a little curiously but figured there was no harm in him going through her books. “All right, go ahead, just make sure to put each one back when you’re done, ok.” “Affirmative. I will do as you request.” And so, the girls all made their way up to Twilight’s room where their sleeping bags were to turn in for the night while the robot now named Steele Mane was left to go through the library. What could the appearance of such a strange pony mean for Equestria?