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Previously...
A Heroic Song That You'll Probably Recognize
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“Twilight! Kill the giant Zecoras!” Fluttershy ordered, running up to set her up with the Kritzkrieg once again.
Twilight covered the bots in jarate, and scoped up as Fluttershy used her last Ubercharge. Twilight aimed the crosshair, found her target, and fired the rifle.
…
She missed by a hair. Before she could get another shot out, the giant bots turned, fired some grenades, and blew up Fluttershy.
“No! No! No, no, no, no, no, no!!!” Twilight screamed. She pounded her hoof on the ground in agony.
…
Meanwhile, the giant Pinkie bot approached the hatch with the bomb perched on its back.
“Stop them from deploying the bomb! Stop them!” The announcer cried.
The giant bot folded up its arms, twisted its head around until it clicked into position, and jumped into the hatch with the bomb.
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Now...
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“No! We can’t lose! What will Red Sniper think?” Twilight cried.
“Twilight, get down! The base is going to explode!” Rarity ordered.
With a tear in her eye, Twilight ducked down to the ground, and covered her face with her hooves. She peeked up toward the hatch with one eye to see the robot jump into the hatch.
…
Suddenly, a split-second before the robot’s head entered the hatch, Rainbow Dash swooped in from the skies above. She swung her bat with ultimate strength, sending the robot’s head far across the map. The bomb detached from the robot, and fell onto the hatch.
Twilight gasped. “Rainbow Dash! You came back!”
Rainbow Dash turned to her, and winked. “I couldn’t leave my friends behind.”
They both smiled warmly at each other for a couple seconds. Then, Rainbow Dash pulled out the Force a Nature, and began shooting the last giant Zecora bots.
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The ponies got up off the ground one by one when they realized that they were still alive. Noticing Rainbow Dash’s return, a new spark of hope appeared within them. Along with it, a strong and determined will to fight.
The only remaining bots in the wave were right in front of them, so it was still anyone’s game.
Twilight consistently kept head-shooting the bot, dealing a couple-hundred damage at a time. While she was doing this, she waited patiently for her jarate to build back up.
Rarity planted an Electro-Sapper at the robot’s hoof, temporarily slowing it down enough for Big Mac and Spike to respawn. They headed right outside, and began letting loose on the giant bot.
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Just as the bot picked up the bomb and prepared to jump into the hatch, it was destroyed by Pinkie Pie’s flamethrower. The bomb dropped on the ground again.
Twilight quickly threw another jar of jarate at the last bot. Once it was covered, killing it was quick and easy with the mini-crit power of all nine ponies.
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If you want to continue listening, be my guest. But otherwise, stop the music.
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“Another wave done! But they’ll be back… Return to the UPGRADE stations, where a prize will be waiting for you.” The announcer stated.
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“Ooh, a prize! That sounds great.” Applejack chirped.
Once all the robots were gone, Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash, who was still flying in the air.
“Rainbow Dash, where have you been all this time?” She asked.
“I was off the map for a little while. I needed some time for myself.” Rainbow Dash replied.
“Time by yourself? We need all the forces we can get to fight off the robot army! We barely made it without you!”
“Yeah…sorry about that. While I was gone, I did realize that I was kind of a jerk to you guys.”
“You think?”
“And I’m sorry about that too. This war we’re in is called TEAM Fortress 2 for a reason. There is no ‘I’ in ‘team’.”
Twilight smiled. “It’s good to have you back.”
She leaned over, and hugged Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash hugged her back.
…
Applejack poked her head out the resupply door.
“Twilight! Rainbow Dash! Y’all need to come see this!”
Twilight and Rainbow Dash turned, running over to join Applejack and the others in the resupply locker.
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When they arrived, they were surprised to see all the other ponies crowded around a big box in the middle of the garage.
Twilight approached the box, and used her magic to cut the tape that held it shut. The ponies all gasped once they saw what was inside.
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In the box lay a pile of weapons with name tags on them. There was one addressed to each pony from their respective classes. They all agreed to let Rainbow Dash find hers first.
Rainbow Dash ravaged the box to find her weapon. After rummaging through all the weapons for a few seconds, she found hers lying at the bottom of the box.
She picked it up, and looked at the nametag. It said, “To Rainbow Dash. From Red Scout.”
It was the Flying Guillotine. Now, instead of a pistol, Rainbow Dash could throw a massive butcher’s knife at the robots to deal gradual damage.
“Aw yeah, get a look at this baby!” Rainbow Dash beamed. She held the weapon out toward Fluttershy, who cringed and hid behind her Medi-gun.
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Next, Spike rummaged around in the box in search of his weapon. Also at the very bottom, he found a very large futuristic-looking rocket-launcher-type…thing. He struggled to pick up the heavy weapon, and looked at the tag.
“To Spike. From Red Soldier. You’ve done me proud!” He read.
He studied the weapon. It was the Cow-Mangler 5000. It was an even stronger version of the Righteous Bison that would replace his rocket-launcher.
“Hey, Applejack! If you thought that other weapon was cool, check this thing out!” Spike said eagerly. He pulled back the lever, and fired a charged beam from the weapon. It flew through the air, and exploded on the wall.
“You’re lucky, Spike. I don’t get fancy stuff like that.” Applejack responded.
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Next up was Pinkie Pie. She reached in the box, and pulled out a small pistol-looking device. The nametag stated that it was to Pinkie Pie, from Red Pyro.
It was the Detonator. A flare-gun that shot small rounds that, when in contact with an enemy, would set them on fire. If they already were on fire, it would deal critical hits.
She giggled. “Wow, this thing is weird!”
She pointed it toward Fluttershy, who hid behind her Medi-gun again.
“Stop pointing weapons at me, okay?” She whispered shyly.
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Zecora was the next one to search the box, and got the Loch-n-Load from Red Demoman. A grenade launcher that was incredibly difficult to use, but dealt substantial damage if used correctly.
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When Big Mac checked the box, he found the Huo-Long Heater from Red Heavy. It was the biggest thing in the entire box. The nametag said, “Go kill little baby robots for me! Make Heavy proud!”
Now, when Big Mac spun up his minigun, he would be surrounded by a ring of flames that fended off from melee range.
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Applejack checked the box, and found the Pomson 6000 from Red Engineer. It was a particle-smasher very similar to Spike’s new Cow-Mangler.
“Hey Spike, guess who also got a cool new particle-thingy?” She taunted, holding up the weapon for him to see.
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After Applejack, Fluttershy timidly stepped up to retrieve her weapon. After searching around, she found the Ubersaw from Red Medic. She read the nametag, which said, “I vas going to give you a Medic-gun, but I figured zee Kritzkrieg vas good enough for MvM. So, I givez you zee Ubersaw!”
Whenever Fluttershy were to whack an enemy with the Ubersaw, she would gain 25% Ubercharge.
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Rarity stepped forward, and picked her weapon out of the box. What she found was the Eternal Reward from Red Spy.
“Yes! I’ve been waiting to get this knife ever since Blue Spy used it at Upward Mountain!” She beamed.
Whenever Rarity were to backstab someone with the Eternal Reward, she would automatically disguise as the victim. At the same time, it made absolutely no noise when killing. On top of that, the dead body would automatically disappear, leaving no evidence.
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Twilight was the last one to retrieve her weapon. However, there were two left in the box.
“What the…?” She stuttered.
She picked up both the weapons. One was a sniper rifle, and one was a long knife. She looked at the nametags, and found that they were both addressed to her from Red Sniper.
“Looks like you got lucky, darling!” Rarity said.
From Red Sniper, Twilight received the Hitman’s Heatmaker, and the Bushwacka. With the Heatmaker, Twilight was able to gain focus on enemies, and reload without unscoping. With the Bushwacka, she was able to deal crits instead of mini-crits.
The nametag on both of the weapons read, “Go get ‘em, mate! I believe in you!”
Twilight blushed slightly, and applied the weapons to her arsenal.
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“Alright, guys! Are we ready to do this?” Pinkie Pie yelled.
“Yeah, bring it on!” Everyone else yelled in reply.
The ponies all charged out of the resupply locker with their new weapons, ready for the most intense battle of their lives. On their way out, they received the scoop on the final wave.
In the battle to end all battles, the ponies would face 8 giant Soldiers, 4 tanks, 8 giant Demos, 8 Uber-Medics, 60 Pyros, 25 Deflector-Heavies, 20 Steel Gauntlets, 45 Demo-Knights, as well as Sydney-Snipers and Spies for support.
By the time Applejack got her sentry gun and dispenser set up, and everypony was in position, the countdown for the last wave began.
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The Final Wave!
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“This is the final wave! Protect the facility at all costs!” The announcer ordered.
The ponies all exchanged determined glances, and raised their weapons. They stared at the ledge, ready to defend Mann Co one last time.
“5…4…3…2…1…”
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The beginning of the last of the robots appeared over the ledge. For the first time, the ponies actually let out battle cries.
Two giant Spike bots marched over the hill, being healed by a Fluttershy bot each. They were assisted by a mess of Pinkie Pie bots.
The moment they touched down on the ground, Big Mac opened fire on the Pinkie bots with Fluttershy healing him.
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Super Mario Galaxy: Boomsday
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Twilight scoped up with the Hitman’s Heatmaker, and headshot the assisting Fluttershy bot. The damage traveled over to the nearby giants and the other Fluttershy bot, killing the Fluttershy bots and damaging the giant bots.
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Right after Twilight’s killing of the Medics, Big Mac left the Pyros in the hooves of the other ponies. He turned his attention to the giant Spike bots, which were now without Medics, and firing rapid rockets at his teammates.
“Charge me, Flutters! Let’s finish these things off early!” Big Mac ordered.
Fluttershy activated Ubercharge, and Big Mac peppered the first giant bot with critical hits. Coupled with Applejack’s sentry gun, it was quickly destroyed.
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The bomb was dropped to the ground, where it was intercepted by the other giant Spike bot.
Big Mac still had Ubercharge left, so he turned it over to the other bot. He continued firing constant critical shots at the bot, determined to finish it off as quickly as the first one. However, his gun suddenly stopped firing.
“Uh…Big Mac? What’s going on?” Fluttershy asked.
“I think I’m out of ammo! The ring of flames from this weapon is eating up my ammo!” Big Mac replied.
The giant Spike bot turned toward Big Mac and Fluttershy, fired three rockets, and finished them off instantly. Then it turned toward Applejack’s sentry gun, and fired rockets at a pace too fast for Applejack to keep up. Her sentry gun was destroyed.
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“The giant bot must be a special rapid-fire Spike model…” Twilight whispered to herself.
She retreated, running quickly to a battlement further back. Once she made it up the steps, she scoped up to try and kill the robot.
She noticed that it was on very low health. The crits from Fluttershy’s Ubercharge must’ve worn it down.
Twilight waited for the charge on her rifle to build. Once it was ready, she pulled the trigger on the bot’s head. The critical hit was just enough to finally finish it off.
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Just as she was turning around to leave the battlement, she was attacked by a swarm of Pinkie bots.
“Hey, wait a minute…!” She interjected.
She was quickly burned alive before she could say another word.
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Rainbow Dash flew around in the air, shooting Pinkie bots from out of their reach. Once they were dead, she would swoop down and pick up the credits. Although it was the final wave, credits could still be used to buy quick-respawns.
As she was doing this, she noticed two more giant Spike bots and their Fluttershy bots marching toward the ledge.
“Hmm…I wonder…” She whispered to herself.
She pulled out the Flying Guillotine, and hurled it at the giant Spike bot. It flew down, and hit the bot right in the neck. However, instead of cutting the bot’s head right off, a flash of blue covered the robot, and the cleaver bounced right off. The bot continued on, and fell off the ledge and into the battlefield.
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“Hey, what the hay?! That’s cheating!” She whined.
She heard a voice calling her attention from the ground. She looked, and saw Rarity waving at her. She flew down to her.
“What is it?” Rainbow Dash asked impatiently.
“In case you were wondering, I don’t think you can damage the robots before they jump off the starting ledge.” Rarity explained.
“What? That’s stupid!”
Rarity shrugged. “It’s just the way it works.”
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Suddenly, the newly-entered giant Spike bots rapid-fired rockets at them as they were talking, blowing them both to pieces.
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As soon as Applejack respawned, she headed up the stairs, and onto a battlement that was further back. When she got there, she noticed Twilight’s burning corpse lying on the ground.
She shrugged, and began working on another sentry gun. She noticed that a duo of giant Spike bots and their Medics were heading down the path in which she was building.
She whacked it with her wrench, making it build faster. By the time she got it upgraded to level 2, the robots were close enough for it to start shooting.
The sentry gun fired constant bullets at the unsuspecting-robot-duo. After just a couple shots, the Fluttershy bots noticed the attack, and activated their Ubercharge on the giant bots. In response, the giant bots began shooting at Applejack and her sentry gun.
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“Whoa, nelly!”
She packed up the sentry gun in her toolbox, and took off with it toward the hatch. Once there, she placed it down, and waited for the Ubercharge to wear off.
The sentry gun began shooting the giant bots again once they were in range. The giant Spike bots noticed her again, and started shooting rockets at her sentry gun. She frantically whacked it with her wrench, trying to keep it intact while it slowly wore away at the bots.
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As she was rapidly repairing, she noticed Rarity uncloak from behind the robots. She was disguised as a Fluttershy bot.
She attached a level 3 sapper to one of the Fluttershy bots, which applied the electro-suction effect to all four of the robots. The Fluttershy bots lowered their heads, completely disabled. The Spike bots were slowed down dramatically, making awkward steps as they tried to totter forward.
She then backstabbed both of the Fluttershy bots, ran forward, and jammed her knife into the first giant bot’s metallic, scaly foot. The whole thing exploded, and the broken parts turned invisible. If some random pony were to walk onto the scene, it would look like nothing happened.
Rarity was now disguised as a Spike bot.
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As the other giant Spike bot teetered along slowly from its energy being drained out, Applejack’s sentry gun sprayed it with bullets until it also exploded. The bomb was dropped on the ground.
Applejack looked up at Rarity.
“How did you destroy that metal beast with just one stab in the foot?”
“I guess he was jus-s-s-st low on health.” She replied. Her voice was masculine and computerized; just like a Spike bot.
“Also, how did you respawn so fast?”
“I used a qui-i-i-ick respawn. It costs fi-i-i-ive credits per second.”
“Oh, I guess that makes sense.”
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All of the other dead ponies used the quick respawn to get back into the fight. They left the resupply locker, ran past the hatch, turned the first corner, and saw the bomb sitting in front of Applejack’s sentry gun.
“What…how the hay did the bomb get all the way back here?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Don’t ask me! You were dead the whole time! I tried my best!” Applejack defiantly replied.
Rainbow Dash was about to say something else, but held her tongue. More robots were coming over the ledge, so there was no time for discussion.
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Applejack left her sentry gun in front of the bomb to keep it guarded while the rest of the ponies ran up front to continue fighting. One giant Zecora bot was approaching the ledge, followed by a ton of Pinkie Pie and Big Mac bots.
“Watch out, there! I think those Big Mac bots are Deflectors, just like the last ones!” Twilight warned.
Spike wasn’t sure, but to be safe, he took out the Cow-Mangler 5000. Applejack ran forward to help him with the Pomson 6000, leaving her sentry gun behind to defend the bomb.
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Spike and Applejack worked together to destroy the Deflector-Mac bots with the ion beams from their particle-smashers, while the rest of the ponies assisted with killing the Pinkie bots. Big Mac and Fluttershy attacked the giant Zecora bot, waiting for an Ubercharge so they could finish it off.
A few ponies dropped here and there from fire and bullets from the Big Mac bots. However, they were back in the fight quickly using earned credits to buy themselves back from the dead.
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“Alert! There are multiple tanks!” The announcer warned.
Just as Big Mac and Fluttershy killed the giant Zecora bot, two tanks rolled out of the twin gates at the front of the battlefield. At the same time, another giant Zecora bot and some Sydney-Twilight bots appeared over the ledge.
“Okay…we need to split up the jobs. Pinkie Pie, you and me will attack the Twilight bots, as well as any incoming Big Mac bots. Big Mac, I want you and Fluttershy to attack any incoming giant bots. You two are the only ones who have the power to kill off the biggest brute force! Everyone else, attack the tanks!” Twilight ordered.
Although she knew that everypony had a job for a reason, there were some moments where it simply wasn’t enough. Every team needs a strong leader, and that’s where she felt she fit into place.
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The ponies cheered, and began to do their jobs. It was time to carry out Operation Botslaughter!
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Just as planned, Rainbow Dash, Spike, Zecora, Applejack, and Rarity split up, and began attacking both of the tanks. Before any of the Twilight bots could stop them, they would be killed by the real Twilight.
As more Big Mac bots entered, Pinkie Pie would run forward and burn them. As she did so, she ran around them in circles, preventing them from locking onto her. She would get injured a couple times from the giant Zecora bots’ grenades, yet they were being depleted by Big Mac and Fluttershy.
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Slowly but surely, the giant Zecora bots were being drained by Big Mac’s bullet-spray. Once Fluttershy built up and used her Ubercharge, the resulting crits quickly and efficiently finished them off. With their remaining Ubercharge power, they assisted Rainbow Dash and Spike with one of the tanks, waiting for another giant bot to climb the ledge.
While the tanks were being attacked, a large mob of more Big Mac bots appeared over the ledge. However, not only were they huge, they didn’t have miniguns. Instead, they had large metal gloves for boxing.
They were surprisingly easy to kill. Twilight immediately threw a jar of jarate at them, which covered about a third of them. Then Pinkie used her circle technique to burn them with mini-crits until they exploded.
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During the commotion, the tanks continued on, taking dangerously miniscule damage. They were already halfway through the map, and they weren’t even down to two-thirds damage yet.
Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Big Mac and Fluttershy were patiently waiting for more robots at the front lines when they heard a call from Rainbow Dash.
“Guys, we need some help back here! The tanks are going to make it to the hatch!” She called desperately.
Twilight and the others ran back to aid the rest of the team in destroying the tanks. They needed to be terminated before they bombed the hatch.
Twilight began to whack the tank with her Kukri while Pinkie Pie opened flame on it from a different angle. Big Mac and Fluttershy headed for the other tank to help the other half of the team.
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Fluttershy didn’t say anything to Big Mac. As he peppered the tank with bullets, she opened Ubercharge the second she was ready.
An endless shower of critical hits pounded into the tank, reducing its durability considerably. It quickly became beaten up to the point of combustion.
Big Mac turned around, and spent the rest of his crits on the other tank. The first one blew up from being shot by Rarity’s Ambassador.
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“Alert! More tanks have entered the area!” The announcer yelled.
“What? Are you kidding me?” Rainbow Dash complained in exasperation. She flew high up in the sky to get a better view, and saw two more tanks entering the arena at the same time.
Right as she flew back down to warn her teammates, she witnessed the other tank’s explosion from the remainder of Big Mac’s crit-boost.
“Don’t cheer yet, guys. More tanks are on their way. I think I also saw some giant Spike bots coming over the ledge.” Rainbow Dash mentioned.
“We’re on it!” Applejack replied confidently.
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On their way back up to the front lines, the announcer broadcasted a Spy warning. More Rarity bots were now on the loose.
Applejack and Pinkie Pie made their way up the battlement while the rest of the ponies headed into the battlefield to destroy the incoming tanks. Pinkie Pie guarded Applejack’s back from Spies while Applejack worked on a sentry gun to take out the last giant bots.
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While Twilight was attacking one of the tanks with her teammates, she turned around, and threw a jar of jarate at the giant Spike bot. Once it was drenched, she continued whacking the tank.
Applejack’s new sentry gun took full advantage of the mini-crit boost. Bullets flew at the bot with rapid speed. The bot fired rockets back at the gun with the exact same speed. However, Applejack’s super-upgraded construction speed kept the sentry gun alive under fire.
Zecora turned her attention from the tank for just a second to fire one grenade at the giant bot. The mini-crit explosion coupled with Applejack’s sentry gun and the bot’s low health was enough to finally destroy it. At the same time, Pinkie Pie burned one more Rarity bot.
“You have destroyed all Spy bots!” The announcer broadcasted.
…
All of the ponies’ attention was now focused on the tanks. Zecora went back to firing grenades at it, while Applejack’s sentry gun focused on it.
Its durability was draining at an average speed. By the time it was a third of the way through the map, its durability was halfway gone.
“Fluttershy, don’t you have an Ubercharge?” Big Mac asked.
“No. I’m only at 55%!” She replied anxiously.
Twilight was also out of jarate. It didn’t matter though, considering it had no effect on tanks.
“Isn’t there anything we can do to make this go faster? We can’t afford to waste any more time!” Twilight asked.
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Spike stepped in. “Well…Red Soldier gave me this thing a while back called the Buff Banner, but I don’t exactly know what it’s supposed to do…”
“Who cares? Just use it!” Twilight ordered.
Spike put the pack on his back, and blew into the trumpet that came with it. Immediately, all of the ponies’ weapons began to glow a blinding gold, and were charged with mini-crits.
The mini-crit damage from every single pony depleted the first tank’s durability at an incredible rate. By the time it was two-thirds through the map, it was completely destroyed.
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The ponies now had to take out the other one. However, since all of their attention was on the first one, the second one got a big head-start without receiving any damage.
“Come on, move! We need to get this thing destroyed!” Rainbow Dash ordered.
The ponies fired everything they had at the fourth and final tank of the wave. While they were doing so, they didn’t notice the giant Spike bot, giant Zecora bot, Sydney-Sniper bots, and barrage of Deflector Big Mac bots that were appearing over the ledge for a last-ditch effort.
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The ponies never stopped firing at the tank. As it was being attacked, it turned the corner, and was traveling its last few yards before reaching the hatch.
“The tank is almost to the hatch! Stop it!” The announcer cried out.
The tank rolled up the ramp, and over to the hatch. As its compartment opened up to release the bomb, it became more and more banged up. Finally, just before successfully bombing the base, it was destroyed by a sticky bomb that Zecora had placed beneath it.
“Yes! We did it! We actually did it!” Rainbow Dash cheered.
“Um…I don’t think so, Rainbow Dash. Look up ahead.” Applejack stated.
Rainbow Dash did as Applejack had said, and gasped. The ponies were closed in by one final sub-wave of robots. It was now time to fight off the last of the army right in front of the hatch.
“We’re not down quite yet. Who’s ready for one last game of Tower Defense?” Twilight asked.
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Duty Calls for 162bpm
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Rarity cloaked, and headed up the stairs to eliminate the Twilight bots before they could jarate her teammates. Much to her dismay, they were wearing Razorbacks.
“Oh, trying to make things more difficult, I see?” She smirked.
She pulled out her Ambassador, and headshot them a couple of times to finish them off. As she was doing this, the rest of her teammates were attacking the Deflector Big Mac bots.
…
The giant Spike bot had the bomb, and had reached the hatch while the ponies were attacking the smaller bots. Just before jumping in to secure victory, the bot was slowed down when Pinkie Pie dove in to air-blast it away. Once it was a little farther away from the hatch, the ponies had more time to try and kill it.
“Big Mac, I’m at full charge now!” Fluttershy announced.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Do it!” He replied.
When Fluttershy deployed her last Ubercharge on Big Mac, he turned his direction toward the giant Zecora bot instead of the Spike bot. The rest of the ponies were going to destroy it while it tried to deploy the bomb, so he needed to give them a head-start with the giant Zecora bot.
…
All the while, the Deflector Big Mac bots continued to fire at the ponies. Spike kept them under control by using the Cow-Mangler to finish them off one by one.
After a while, the giant Spike bot was finally destroyed after being air-blasted away from the hatch over and over again. All that remained was the giant Zecora bot.
It was massively damaged from Big Mac’s critical bullet-spray. Just before jumping into the hatch, one rocket from Applejack’s sentry gun finished it off.
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“The robots have been defeated! I can’t believe you actually did it.” The announcer exclaimed in surprise.
The ponies had defeated Operation Mannslaughter.
To be Continued…