"Space. Dark, mysterious. Full of fantastic new worlds and new civilizations waiting to be found by intrepid space captains daring to boldly go to its farthest reaches.” A faceless voice began. Its every word caused a kaleidoscope of stars and whole galaxies to appear as if by sheer will alone. “Silent, and deadly. Cold vacuum where no one could hear you scream in horror at the myriad of hostile monsters hungering for each and every one of your molecules. But let's suppose that for a moment, you are able to hear the pangs of hunger of a creature whose appetite has never known bounds, end, or satisfaction... and its greedy laughter as it finds another source of that he exists to consume... "
"What do you want, Discord?" Celestia said while stepping into the middle of the myriad of floating galaxies surrounding her.
"Relax, Celestia. I'm not here to tell you about the newest fabric detergent with oxygen." Discord's disembodied head popped into view next to her before continuing. "It's your dream world after all. For all you know it could be the real me, trying to exact revenge for turning me into stone again, just after having some fun with the fabric of reality."
"I don't have any time for your games, Discord!" Celestia half-growled.
"However," Discord continued unabated at the white Alicorn's perceived impertinence. "If you've ever had a problem turning on or off a lamp in the corner because you didn't have a switch installed, let me tell you about the new Hoofy Switch, which... "
"DISCORD!" Celestia screamed.
"My, my. Impatient, aren't we?" Discord said with a slight grin as the rest of his body appeared in a puff of smoke. "Very well, I shall indulge you." He immediately started digging through a leather pouch, throwing totally random objects in various directions and causing Celestia to roll her eyes at the absurdity of it all. Eventually the Draconequus pulled out a piece of paper and took his time placing a pair of reading glasses above his snout before clearing his throat to read aloud. "Great destroyer coming to Equestria. Stop. Damage beyond control. Stop. Life as we know it ceases, and pony society gets set back at least five hundred years. Stop. Oh, and Luna will need braces. Stop." With that, the master of all chaos crumbled the piece of paper and tossed it into a mini-black hole behind him, where the unfortunate message got sucked in and disappeared from view.
Celestia only responded with a disbelieving glare.
"Ok, fine. How's this?" Discord huffed and folded his arms. "I wanted chaos and disorder. Not destruction. There is something worse than the utter state of disarray I could ever dream of achieving: Oblivion. Not two atoms remaining together to form a molecule. Even I fear such a terrible state. Oh, and last time I checked, your insurance policy doesn't cover against planet-obliterating destructive titans come from other dimensions."
Celestia's brow furrowed a bit in thought, though still finding the statement very hard to believe. Eventually her expression took on a more neutral diplomatic appearance as she addressed the chaotic being before her. "Very well then, if what you're saying is true, then I'm sure it's nothing that the Elements of Har-..."
"It won't work." Discord interrupted. "I assure you, it won't."
"What makes you so sure?" the Princess prodded. "You were just as positive when they sealed you away the last time you broke free."
"Well, you see, Celestia." Discord began again. "Nightmare Moon and myself were affected by the Elements of Harmony because we are from the same dimensional plane. Against this foe, your beloved elements would have no more effect than a piece of candy corn being tossed against a speeding train to divert its course." As if to illustrate his point, Discord flicked some of the confection at the White Alicorn Princess."
Celestia's brow furrowed again in thought once more. She paced around a bit, gazing around at the galaxy-filled dream scape. Eventually one particular milky white galaxy seemed to catch her eye and she stopped, and much like the sun in which she so coveted and controlled, an idea shone forward within her mind. Her eyes went wide as she turned to speak to Discord. "Assuming that everything you said thus far is true, then the only answer is to seek out a defender from another realm."
"Aaah, you learn fast! I'm proud of you, Celestia." A smug grin soon spread on Discord's fanged muzzle. "Indeed: you fight fire with fire." With that, Discord approached one of the smaller red galaxies, focusing on it with an intense gaze while musing aloud. "Hmm, I wonder what would happen if I did this?" He reached a talon towards the center of the small red galaxy, making it erupt in a bright fireball that quickly expanded to encompass everything in the cluster of galaxies that the two stood within.
* * *
Celestia awoke with a start, a cold sweat on her brow while panting heavily. A quick survey of her surroundings assured her that she was back in her own bedroom. With a sigh of relief, she quickly sank back down into the bed only to hear a loud squeak emanate from beneath the covers. She quickly dug beneath them and found a miniature doll of Discord. Annoyed, she grumbled and quickly tossed the offending doll across the room, causing it to impact against the wall by the door, squeaking repeatedly in protest as it bounced several times on the floor, before it finally came to a rest.
However, before Celestia could resume her blissful slumber, the doors to her bedroom chambers flung open and Luna came racing inside. "My dearest sister, I have terrible news that I must bequeath unto you..."
"Let me guess." Celestia sighed while climbing out of her bed. It had become increasingly clear that she would get no further sleep that night. "There is a giant titan with an army coming towards our planet with intentions of total destruction."
"Well... Yes." A moment of brief confusion crossed Luna's face as she regarded her sister. "How did you know?"
"I got a visit within my dreams by the Lord of Chaos himself." Celestia replied while she gazed at her reflection in the vanity. She used her magic to levitate a comb and brush it through her hair. "It seems he's just as averse to the impending destruction as we are."
Luna grumbled at this bit of news. "It seems even in stone he still proves quite a nuisance."
"Anyway." Celestia interrupted. "Please finish the rest of your report."
Luna quickly composed herself once more and resumed her earlier statements "A small group of this titan's soldiers touched down an hour earlier near Ponyville, but all they did was wander around flashing this light over any pony they saw and then left to return to the main group. No casualties reported, though there is extensive damage in some places."
"That was probably just a scout detachment." Celestia sighed. "No doubt collecting information on our threat level or something to that effect.
"I am sure that the element bearers will..." Luna began but was quickly cut off.
"I highly doubt that the Elements of Harmony will work." Celestia sighed turning to face her sister once more. "This being is not of our dimension like you, Discord, or myself. This is something with a power unlike anything we've ever seen or experienced before."
"Then what ever shall we do?" Luna asked while she wordily looked up to her sister.
Celestia walked outside of her room with Luna close behind. They continued on down the hallway towards a section of the castle that Luna wasn't entirely familiar with. She looked up at her sister whom continued their conversation. "I have been using various magical and technological items in the past to gaze across the dimensional planes.", the taller sister explained as they reached a section of stairs leading deeper into the castle's depths inside the mountainside. After a while, the stairs took them to a large hallway leading up to equally large doors that Celestia opened with her magic. Inside was a room with various magical items and scientific apparatuses that nearly filled the room to the brim. One instrument in the back, however, seemed to stick out. It looked to be a very large mirror or reflective device of some kind with a large console adorned with many buttons, knobs, and lights underneath it. As they approached the console Celestia went to work operating it. The reflective screen soon flickered to life, cycling between many images while Celestia resumed her explanation. "In that time I have had a chance to look at alternate versions of our own world. Many of them have worthy champions to defend their planet, however for something on this scale I can think of only one whom would fit the bill."
Luna stood slack-jawed for a moment as the images finally focused on one certain scene. In it was what appeared to be a giant blue metal titan, with a flaming paint job on the arms and legs. And for a head it seemed to have some kind of red horseless carriage that the midnight blue Alicorn had never seen the likes of. She watched in awe as it easily took down several other metal titans with relative ease before she finally spoke. "Oh yes, dear sister." a grin starting to spread on Luna's face. "I think that this one would make a truly worthy champion."
"Good." Celestia said with equal enthusiasm. "I need you to summon the bearers of the Elements of harmony. I shall be leaving after sunrise and I'd like our new champions to meet them first thing upon their arrival." Celestia glanced back at the image as the blue titan finished taking out the last of its opponents.
* * *
Heavy metal blared over the radio while Coop worked on the red convertible car that served as the head and central control unit for the giant robot located below the garage in which the vehicle currently sat. His lifelong friend Jamie leaned against the car door waiting for his friend to finish adding yet another modification to the mecha named Megas. Ever since Coop had bought the giant bot from under a trash pile at the junkyard for two dollars, their entire world had been turned upside down and inside out. Not a day went by when something either tried to fight them or his rotund friend Coop inadvertently got them into more trouble than it was initially worth.
Then there was Kiva. Shortly after Megas entered their lives, she had come from the future to recover the robot Coop had acquired. She claimed it was the only hope for Earth's future against an alien threat known as the Glorft and tried to steal it back, only to realize that with the new modifications the mecha was now nearly impossible for her to pilot. So the world's only hope was now in the hands of a proverbial baboon as she was sometimes liken to call him. Thus, she had taken it upon herself to train Coop and make sure he would be prepared for whatever threat that the Glorft would throw at them. Whom of which had also followed Kiva back into the past in an attempt to reclaim the prized mech. An attempt that was constantly thwarted time and time again by the wrestling-loving pilot.
Jamie sighed and looked over at his friend whom was still under the hood of the car. "So what exactly are you doing to Megas this time?" he asked more out of boredom than curiosity.
"Just a little surprise I've been working on for ole' squid face the next time he comes around." a nickname Coop reserved for the commander of the Glorft Empire.
"Oh, is that all?" Jamie said with another sigh, returning to his previous position. "Hey, when you're done do you think we could head down to the beach? A new line of bikinis came out and I wanna see how the local girls look in them."
"Is women and money all you ever think about?" Kiva asked as she approached.
With a simple shrug Jamie replied. "Well, what else is there?"
Kiva only rolled her eyes before turning her attention to Coop. "Hey, do you need any help there?"
"Yeah, Megas was feeling a little clunky after that last battle with squid face." Coop answered without looking up. "Can you head below and see if everything's alright?"
"Will do." Kiva said climbing into the car's back seat. A few seconds later, a holographic interface appeared. With a single touch the entire back seat lowered down into the blue mech's interior. As it descended, the giant robot's interior lights flickered to life allowing her to see. She tapped her right gauntlet and another holographic interface lit up; with it she scanned over the various sections inside Megas. Eventually her scanner located the source of her husky friend's concern. She double tapped her right gauntlet before speaking into it: "Looks like you were right to be cautious, Coop. The left gyroscopic stabilizer was knocked loose. Shouldn't take me too long to re-seat it." She didn't wait for a reply as she went right to work. Up top Coop only glanced at the dashboard monitor with Kiva's image before returning to his own work.
Jamie, on the other hand, figured that he wasn't going to get anywhere with those two and decided to go for a walk instead. He didn't get far before there was a bright booming flash that startled him off his feet. He watched as a bright ball of pure light hovered but a few inches in front of where he once stood. From this ball of light came several swirling colors that spewed from the white vortex and took a physical shape in the form of two pastel-colored horses. One was a small purple horse whose height would classify her as a pony. Her mane was a very dark blue with a purple streak in it, the same color pattern was seen in her tail. Poking through the mane on her head was a horn that matched her purple coat, which Jamie surmised would make that one a unicorn. On her haunch was a six-point star tattoo that struck Jamie as rather odd, but not as odd as the much taller horse next to the purple one.
The taller white horse not only had a horn on its head but a set of wings as well. Her mane and tail also had a soft-color rainbow pattern that flowed in the wind as if it wasn't really there. The thing that caught Jamie's attention the most about the taller horse was her adornment of various golden garments on her neck and legs, while on her head sat a golden three-point crown with a purple jewel set in the middle. Her haunch sported the tattoo of a sun. From what Jamie could tell they were no doubt looking for his friend as they had the expression of being totally lost, yet there was a clear urgency in their eyes.
"Let me guess." Jamie started in order to break the awkward silence. "You're here for my friend Coop who's the driver of Megas so that he might help you with some disaster plaguing your world?" The two horses only nodded in response to which Jamie quickly picked himself up off the ground and called to his friend at the top of his lungs. "Hey, Coop! Visitors!" As the two horses walked past, Jamie felt he should follow just to see what it was exactly that they needed his friends help for. He figured that based from the garments on the larger one, she must have been a figure of authority, and that usually meant big loads of cash or precious valuables weren't far behind.
As Celestia approached, she and Twilight both managed to get a good look at their hopefully soon-to-be warrior. The equine monarch wasn't too enthusiastic with what she saw: From the rather large gut, the double chin, plump cheeks, to the short uneven blond haircut she could only hope that his skills were far better than his appearance. "Greetings," she addressed him. "I am Princess Celestia, Ruler of Equestria." she turned her attention to the smaller purple unicorn next to her. "This is my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."
"How do you do." Twilight greeted simply nodding her head.
Coop could only stare for a moment in disbelief as his mind tried to process the scene before him. It was further compounded by the fact that they actually spoke to him. He was quickly stirred from this train of thought when he noticed Kiva rise from the depth of Megas. As she was climbing out Coop finally addressed the newcomers. "Uh, hi. So what brings you here all the way from this... Equestria?"
"Our world is under threat of a giant titan with a massive army not of our reality, currently on a direct route." Celestia began, her gaze wandering off in the distance. "I can only guess as to what ill fate this being intends for us." Her attention soon returned to Coop. "From gazing across the dimensional void utilizing many magical artifacts, I had found you and hope that you might be able to help us in our time of need.". Jamie silently requested Celestia's attention, and leaned in her ear to whisper something that earned a curious look from her. She shrugged after getting a nod from the fairly thin human before continuing. "We will gladly extend a feast in your honor if you would help us?"
"Your Highness." Coop's eyes were lit up with savory delight at the prospect. "You had me at 'feast'!" This only elicited a frustrated reaction from Kiva whom knew that this only meant yet another adventure to who-knows-where. Despite that, she was not the kind to turn down a request for help, and figured that it would be good practice for Coop regardless.
* * *
All seemed peaceful for Equestria, but for how long, Luna could only speculate. She paced the throne room floor with the remaining bearers of the Elements of Harmony, who were talking amongst themselves.
"I don't like it." Applejack sighed, she was an orange earth pony with the symbol of three apples on her haunches whom was rarely seen without her stetson hat. Luna in her mind referred to the pony as the bearer of the element of Honesty. "I didn't much appreciate those things, whatever they were, tromping through my apple orchard. Those giants knocked over a fourth of my crop which'll cost me a good deal of bits, then shone this light over me an' the family before leaving."
"What do you think they wanted?" Asked a rainbow-maned cyan pegasus identified by the name Rainbow Dash, on her haunch was a dark storm cloud with a rainbow jutting out below in the shape of a lightning bolt. Her Element was that of Loyalty.
"Celestia said that they may have just been a scout detachment." Luna spoke up next. "That light they showered you with was probably some method of detecting how much of a threat you were."
"That doesn't sound good." Fluttershy squeaked, a yellow pegasus with a bubblegum-pink mane and tail, three pink and blue butterflies adorning her flank. She was referenced as the Bearer of The Element of Kindness.
"They certainly weren't careful about what they were doing.", scoffed Rarity, the white unicorn fashionista of the group, with a cutie mark of three diamonds on her flank. She insisted on wearing her best diamond-encrusted gown once she heard she was to head to Celestia's castle. Yet despite the white unicorn's appearance, Luna knew that this fashonista bore the Element of Generosity, "The racket those metal titans made as they went skulking about the town at the early hours was enough to absolutely ruin my beauty sleep, not to mention my shop with the holes they punched in it."
"Oh, I know!" blurted an energetic bubblegum-pink earth pony with matching puffy cotton candy-like mane and tail known as Pinkie Pie. The only thing that all of Pinkie's friends referenced her with was that which showed in every aspect of her personality, laughter. Which also happened to be the bubblegum-pink pony's Element. "Maybe they were just stopping by to ask for directions on a great party place?"
The group looked at Pinkie Pie briefly in idle confusion before Applejack finally spoke up once more. "Whatever the reason they sure didn't seem too interested in talking to anyone about it."
A bright flash behind them cut off the conversation as the a white vortex appeared and a few seconds later Celestia and Twilight emerged with three humans in tow. Out in the court yard there was another bright flash followed by Megas landing feet-first in the royal garden below the throne room balcony. Only the car for a head could be seen just over the edge of the railing.
Luna immediately rushed up to Celestia's side, nuzzling fondly against the taller alicorn. She soon parted from her sister and looked up at her with a more serious expression. "It would seem that you were successful?" She inquired while glancing at the three humans behind them whom were busy observing their surroundings as well as each other.
"I look a little different than usual." Coop observed while looking at his hand. Though he had maintained much of his usual form he couldn't help but notice that his overall looks seemed a bit more simplistic. His body in some places seemed a bit angular like at the elbows or his legs and feet, though his gut and cheeks retained their usual roundness. He glanced out the balcony nearby to see that not even Megas was spared from the strange new appearance that this dimension seemed to facilitate.
"This is probably a result of our transitioning between dimensional barriers." Kiva explained. Though her own body now looked more simple she still managed to retain much of her original form and shape. "It's probably so this dimension could better facilitate our existence here."
"Meaning?" Jamie prodded while giving himself a once over. From his squarish fingers to his his shoulder, on down to his feet, the skinny human had nothing but a simplistic angular look about him save for the top of his head which was curved to facilitate the cotton wool cap there.
"Meaning." Kiva sighed. "That if we didn't go through these changes we probably would have died the second we set foot here."
"Oh." Jamie said nonchalantly. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?" This only earned another groaning eye roll from Kiva whom noticed the group of multicolored ponies approaching them.
"Hello, my name is Kiva." she greeted. "The large one behind me is Coop, pilot of the giant robot named Megas, which I see is sitting just outside your balcony there." The group of ponies looked over at the car just barely peeking over the balcony. "And this is Jamie." she finished the introduction as Jamie came up beside her. "He's mostly harmless, no need to worry about him."
"Hey!" Jamie exclaimed with a huff. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"And these are the Bearers of The Elements of Harmony." Celestia said while taking up stance along side the six elemental bearers, introducing each one in turn along with their elements. Once the introductions were finished the group immediately started mingling together while Coop wandered over to Megas, working under the hood once more. Jamie couldn't help but notice the lavish outfit that Rarity was sporting, not to mention the many encrusted diamonds covering it. A grin spread across his face as it was a clear sign to him that this unicorn was definitely loaded. Casually, the skinny human walked over towards Rarity who watched him with a cautious eye.
"Hey, what's up?" Jamie greeted. "That's an interesting dress you have there."
"Oh, you like it?" Rairity said while turning a bit to show it off. She could tell just from the look in his eye that he was up to something but couldn't tell what. "I pride myself in the wearing and making of garments of the highest quality."
"Not every day you see someone literally put diamonds into their work." Jamie observed. his eyes locked on the twinkling diamonds in a hungry stare.
With that, Rarity had her answer. The human wasn't interested in starting a conversation with her at all, but rather what she poured into her work. The purple aura of her magic started glowing around her horn. At the same time Rarity's magic aura soon encompassed Jamie whom only managed to exclaim. "Hey! What the..!" before collapsing onto the floor with his arms and legs bound behind him as if hogtied by some invisible rope. He could only manage to look up at the unicorn as she bared her glowing horn down on him.
"Please give me some credit." Rarity chided the skinny human on the floor. "You think that I wouldn't be able to see right through you? It's clear that all you're interested in is these diamonds on my dress. I am not such an easy target."
"Can't blame a guy for trying at least." Jamie grinned nervously.
"Well, at least you're honest." Rarity said nonchalantly while levitating with her magic a couple of extra diamonds from a purse she hid under her dress. "But if these are what interest you then I suppose I can part with a couple of them."
"Thanks!" Jamie said with a grin as the magic binding him wore off. He quickly snatched the diamonds and pocketed them.
"But of course." the white unicorn replied. "I am the bearer of the element of Generosity after all. But if you touch any of the ones on my dress, I will kill you." she paused for a moment in thought. "Metaphorically speaking of course."
"Noted." Jamie said with a nervous chuckle before picking himself off the floor. He glanced back over his shoulder to see both Kiva and Coop conversing with Celestia and the smaller purple unicorn referred to as Twilight Sparkle, bearer of the element of Magic. He wasn't sure what just happened but after seeing what Rarity had done to him with her horn, he figured that he might have to be a lot more cautious around all unicorns if the little scene with the white one was any indication. With a sigh he opted to join his friends since it was obvious he wasn't going to get anywhere with the denizens of this world.
"So what are we up against?" Kiva asked the celestial ruler of Equestria.
"A vast army of titans according to what my sister Luna has observed. " Celestia replied. Her horn began to glow a light yellow aura and immediately small transparent images of what could only be described as a metal goblin floated before them. "A majority of them are almost as tall as your colossus, and they number in the hundreds."
"Good!" Coop exclaimed while pounding one fist into an open hand. "I love a good challenge!" A comment that was soon interrupted when his stomach grumbled. "That reminds me. About that feast?"
Celestia smiled softly with a nod. "But of course. I shall have my chefs prepare the finest feast for you, our champion." With that she summoned one of her servants and had him take Coop to the dining area for a refreshing meal before the encroaching battle while she and Kiva discussed possible battle plans.
While Celestia was distracted with Kiva, Twilight had decided to rejoin her friends who were off to the side chatting amongst themselves. She had witnessed the scene between Jamie and Rarity and couldn't help but chuckle when when she realized what the skinny human was really after. Shaking that thought from her head, she could tell they were busy talking about the new arrivals to their world and from what she had seen first-hand, she figured she might as well compare notes with her friends on the current situation, and what they could possible do next.
In the dining hall, Coop was comfortably seated at the table awaiting the first course of his meal. He was practically salivating as the waiter pony slid a covered dish on the table in front of him. The waiter was just a simple gray earth pony with a slicked down white mane and a posh waiter's jacket over the front half of his body. On his haunch was the image of a wine glass balanced on what appeared to be a tray. The human licked his lips hungrily as he could practically smell the aroma of the soon-to-be consumed food causing his mouth to salivate even more with each passing second. "Your lunch is served." the gray earth pony said before reaching for the knob on the top of the dish cover. Coop could hardly wait as the cover was pulled away and his heart immediately sank upon seeing a simple sandwich with a row of neatly tucked daisies between them. He immediately glanced at the waiter then back at his sandwich. "I can't eat this."
"Is something wrong, sir?" the waiter asked while maintaining his usual cool demeanor.
"Yeah, where's the meat?" Coop asked peeling the top slice of bread up from the daisy sandwich. "I was expecting a feast, not a salad bar."
"Surely you jest!?" the waiter half-choked at the startling revelation as to what the human hungered for.
Upon seeing the waiter's reaction, Coop had to stop and think for a moment before the realization finally dawned on him. These were ponies. As such they wouldn't consume meat like humans do. He was hungry but he didn't want to risk further upsetting the waiter who was just simply doing his job. With a disarming smile, he said. "Hey, take it easy. I'm not looking to eat any ponies. We humans just require something with a lot more protein in it since I’m what you would call an omnivore."
With a sigh of relief, the waiter quickly regained his composure before speaking. "Well, in that case sir, might I suggest something along the lines of a tofu-burger."
Coop simply gave an understanding smile and a nod. "Sure, I'll try anything once." Though he didn't particularly care for the taste of the tofu in his world, he figured he might as well humor the waiter at least.
Within minutes the waiter returned with a different tray. The scent wafting from under the tray made Coop's mouth begin to water once more. The meld of aromas announced to his nose that this meal would be very different from the last one. As the waiter pulled the cover of his dish away, he was pleasantly surprised to see something that looked like an actual burger from his home and at the side were some freshly-cooked fries that only sent his salivary glands on overload. He picked the burger up tentatively to take another whiff, and was surprised that unlike the tofu of his world, this stuff did indeed have a smell and looked deceptively like a regular meat patty with lettuce, tomatoes, and the garnishes of mustard and ketchup to add a bit of flavor. Throwing caution to the wind, Coop took a small bite and his taste-buds were alight with the delectable flavor of what was indeed a true burger as far as his tongue was concerned. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" Coop exclaimed before devouring the rest of the burger and fries in seconds. He quickly turned to the waiter and asked. "Could you bring me a stack of these, I'm starving!"
"At once, sir." The waiter replied, satisfied at his guest's reaction, and shuffled off to the kitchen. Upon return he was followed by a much-larger plate full of burgers that required two pegasus ponies to carry onto the table. The stack was almost half of Coop's height. The husky human simply rubbed his hands together before exclaiming "Down the hatch!" and chowed down on the piled up burgers. The staff could only watch in complete astonishment as he devoured the entire dish in mere seconds before asking if they had any more. The two pegasi who had previously carried the dish to the table promptly fainted. However, before the waiter could head to the kitchen to place the new order the entire room started to shake. The vibrations slowly intensified for a moment, causing even the chandelier in the ceiling to shake before the quaking finally stopped. "Looks like the rest of lunch will have to wait." Coop said as he rushed off towards the throne room.
"I take it they're here?" Coop asked as he arrived to find his friends and the two alicorns peering over another balcony that was overlooking the city. Off in the distance he saw what looked like hundreds upon hundreds of mechanized goblins. Some were nearly twice the size of an average house back on his world. Others appeared to be just as tall as Megas and possibly just as versatile. At the center in the back, a very large throne could be seen, on which sat a being that Coop could hazard a guess as being only slightly taller than Megas. The leader's body appeared to be a bulky bright orange with a set of bony wings, completely devoid of any flesh. His face appeared metallic and cold with what Coop could only guess was supposed to be a pointed beard poking out from the chin to match the equally cheesy-looking handlebar mustache. The crown on his head looked equally ridiculous as it covered nearly his entire head and had two inwardly-curved mechanical horns extending from either side and bent at a sharp angle towards the top. Coop was in awe as this obvious mechanical army slowly approached the city of Canterlot. It was in this instance that Coop noticed something else as he looked around. "Where are Twilight and her friends?"
"They went to see if they could try a more diplomatic approach in hopes of resolving the situation without the need for violence" Celestia explained. "Hopefully my faithful student will prevail."
As if in answer, there soon came a bright light near the ruler of the army followed by a rainbow extending at the edge of this shock-wave that washed over the entire army causing them to stop.
"What in the world?" Kiva exclaimed.
"The Elements of Harmony." Celestia sighed. She knew that for her student to even risk using them, it meant that her talks with the titan nearly at her city's doorsteps had failed. She was not surprised when the army resumed marching completely unfazed. For a few moments she stood there in reflection, hoping that her faithful student and her friends were alright. Coop and his friends stood watching in shock at the scene before Celestia finally turned to Coop. "You'd better get to your machine.", tears starting to form in Celestia's eyes. "You are our last hope, champion."
"I won't letcha down, Your Highness." Coop nodded before rushing to his mech at the balcony on the opposite side of the throne room with Kiva and Jamie right behind him. Within seconds the mech was primed and started before jumping clear over the castle and hastily making his way towards the oncoming army. As Megas passed the city limits it was there that the trio inside the mech's car head got a good view of the mechanized army they were up against. The army before them was massive, most of which stood as towering titans ranging in all shapes and sizes from about Megas' waist to maybe a couple of stories taller than the blue mech.
"Careful, Coop." Kiva called from the back seat as she waved her hands over the holographic interface that she regularly used when inside Megas. "We may still yet be able to salvage this before it gets ugly. He may have ignored Twilight and her friends because he didn't perceive them as a concern but we obviously got their attention."
"And how do you figure that?" Jamie asked while not taking his eyes off of the massive army of death now standing before Megas.
"They stopped moving." Coop answered in Kiva's stead before he turned to acknowledge her. "Alright Kiva, we'll try it your way first."
Both Kiva and Jamie looked at Coop with a bit of shock at how reasonable he was being about this situation. Normally he would have already taken a gung-ho method and decimated a few of the troops before finding themselves in even worse trouble, but for once he was willing to try a different approach.
"You feeling alright, Coop?" Jamie asked.
But before anything further could be said another voice cried out to get their attention.
"I am Unigalacticronus." declared the giant sitting on his highly-elaborate throne behind his army. "You obviously do not belong in this world, so I ask what your presence here means?"
"The name's Coop." the rotund pilot replied while preparing Megas for battle, just in case these negotiations didn’t work. "And I was asked by the ruler of Equestria to defend her kingdom against..." Coop's words were cut off when the river bank in which Megas was standing in front of had given way and sent the mech toppling backwards unceremoniously. The impact with the ground caused Coop to accidentally hit a button on the console opening up several panels on the front of the mech, firing missiles up and into the awaiting army. As they impacted, the resulting explosions took out a good chunk of the mechanized troops, leaving very few recognizable remains from those unfortunate enough to take the full brunt of the assault.
"I see." Unigalacticronus smirked. "So that's how it is." He looked down at his troops whom where all now looking up at him expectantly. With a wicked grin he stood and simply signaled with his hand, commanding his troops to attack.
"I just knew something like this was going to happen!" Jamie panicked.
"Hey, give me a little credit." Coop protested. "I was at least willing to try it Kiva's way."
"Too late to worry about that now." Kiva sighed, "Just do what you do best."
Coop didn't need any further encouragement as he quickly kicked Megas back onto his feet and immediately threw himself into the fray of the oncoming mechas that fired upon him as he approached. Megas grabbed the closest two short mecha and slammed them together, rendering them completely immobile before moving onto another, and another after that, knocking them down like dominoes. One of the smaller mechs tried to strike at Megas from behind, but Coop quickly pivoted the blue mech on its heels and promptly kicked the shorter mecha as if it were a soccer ball that promptly flew into several of the much-taller mechanized troops. While Megas dealt with the troops, Kiva remained busy studying the screens when she looked at the topographical map that Megas' scans brought forward.
"They're moving into the city!" kiva exclaimed. "Coop, you have to stop them!"
"On it!" Coop replied, and kicked in Megas' rockets, sending the mech flying back towards the city's outer limits, landing just in front of the troops about to enter. "And just where do you think you're going?", Coop inquired. The giant robots didn't hesitate as they immediately pounced on Megas one after another, hoping to restrain it. They didn't remain there for long, however, as the pile they had formed started to rumble and soon after Megas erupted from its center, throwing the metallic warriors in all directions, some even landing on a few of the buildings within the city. This only elicited another groan from Kiva as Coop immediately threw the giant robot back into battle, this time face-to-face with one of the other taller opponents.
This one was a tall green one with a humanoid-looking face and structure, though its plating was spiked and rather jagged all along its build: its broad shoulders, plated arms and body, knees and feet matched in their pointed, aggressive appearance. It mockingly cracked its knuckles before walking up to Megas and threw a punch, only to have the blue mech duck to the side and grapple the arm, whereas the blue titan soon picked the giant green robot up so its head was draped over Megas' back, and fell backwards, crushing the unfortunate assailant's head in the process. Its body twitched occasionally but otherwise remained inoperable.
For a moment the troops surrounding Megas stood still as if unsure of what to do. Then, one of the smaller ones let out a loud yell and the circle quickly enclosed around Megas. All of them intended on attacking at once, some firing on it while others struck the blue robot, bent on making it retreat. The trio inside got flung around as they felt every blow dealt. Warning sirens blared from the panels, reporting the condition of several components rapidly growing critical.
"Alright, you want some of this?!" Coop roared as he started punching buttons on the dashboard. All over Megas, panels and latches opened up as missile racks sprang out over the blue flaming mech's arms and legs which soon after fired into several more of the attackers, taking out a few of them, but plenty more appeared, willing to take up the slack as they once again surged forward. One of the titans managed to connect a hit with the blue robot, throwing Megas into one of the Canterlot buildings and reducing it to rubble in the process. Shakily, Coop managed to get his robot upright again. "I don't know how much more of this Megas can take." he said as he got ready for another attack.
* * *
"Pinkie, do you mind telling us what the plan is?" Twilight asked the pink earth pony as she and the rest of the Element Bearers made a straight run towards Ponyville after their failed attempt at diplomacy. The leader didn't even acknowledge them except to ask what the name of the city before them was, and if their leader was in the castle on the mountain. Once those questions were responded to, he dismissed them and continued on his march. They tried several times before the titan turned on them, forcing them to use the Elements of Harmony as a last resort. Unfortunately as her Celestial instructor had feared, it didn't even phase them. Their only hope now was Coop and his giant robot Megas, until Pinkie told them she had a backup plan already in place. It however required they all returned to Ponyville, providing them with a reason to hurry.
"No time to explain! It's better to just show you!" Pinkie huffed as they passed by Applejack's farm at a fast gallop. "Let's just say that I had been planning for just such an emergency."
"Ya mean ta tell me that you've had a plan for a giant metal titan army bent on the destruction of all Equestria?" Applejack asked, coming up alongside Pinkie whom only answered with a simple yes that prompted the orange earth pony to prod with yet another question. "How do ya plan fer something like that?"
"Lucky guess." Pinkie responded with a slight chuckle as the group finally reached the outskirts of Ponyville. They continued down the main road into the thicker part of town and eventually came to a stop right in front of Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie ushered them to get inside quickly. Once inside, Pinkie walked over to a bare corner of the store and tapped her front right hoof on the floor three times. A second later there was a low click followed by the floor sliding out of the way to reveal a hidden staircase. "Quickly now, we don't have much time." Pinkie urged once more, bringing up the rear as they descended down the staircase. Eventually they came to an open entryway at the end of which elicited an awestruck gasp from the entire group save for Pinkie Pie.
Twilight was the first to break out of her awestruck stupor, turning to face Pinkie Pie. "How in Equestria did you find the time to make all of this?"
"There's more than enough time between each episode, silly." Pinkie responded in her usual playful tone. "Now come on, we don't have much time so you'd better get suited up." Twilight had learned long ago to not even bother trying to make any sense of her friend's many quirks, and limited herself to simply follow behind the hyperactive pink pony.
* * *
Back in the battle, Coop was hard-pressed to keep Megas from getting hammered as the mechanized army kept the pressure on. Their ruler remained perched on his throne, watching in idle fascination over his armies' latest prey. The trio inside the blue mech's head could only manage to hold on for dear life as Megas took hit after hit, eventually getting sent into yet another building and reducing it to rubble. Megas' instruments screaming with warning sirens that the mecha was on the verge of total shut down.
Coop managed to get Megas back up to its feet once more, and clapped its hands together with a force strong enough to emit shock-waves at many of the troops, sending some of the smaller ones flying while the larger ones simply braced themselves until the waves had subsided. Once the attack had passed, the troops renewed their onslaught which the rotund pilot tried his best to avoid most of. It didn't take long however before the blue mech with the flaming paint job finally reached the breaking point and everything powered down, falling to its knees, rendered unable to heed its master's commands.
"Coop, do something!" Jamie cried from the passenger seat of the car.
"I'm trying, but Megas is overheated." Coop replied while messing with more buttons on the dashboard as well as a few on the steering wheel. "We're at total shut down until Megas cools off!"
"We're done for!" Jamie shrieked as the mechanized army started to close in on them once more.
As the mechs drew closer, each one in turn soon pulled out a laser-based weapon of varying style and look. Some the weapons simply popped out of a compartment on their arms. Others simply opened a compartment somewhere on their person and pulled out what looked like advanced hand guns. The occupants within Megas only waited and cringed as the mechanized opponents took aim. They braced themselves within the cockpit as the approaching soldier mechs pulled the triggers on their guns. The energy shots lanced from their gun barrels towards the giant blue robot, only to be deflected by a magic barrier that appeared just a mere half meter from the mecha, summoned into place by the unicorn dressed in Celestia's Royal Guard garb known as Shining Armor, after using a teleportation spell in the hopes of defending the mech. A few seconds later, Princess Luna popped in on Megas' shoulders via the same kind of teleportation spell and rushed up to the side of Megas' head.
"What doth seem to be the matter?" Princess Luna asked as Coop rolled down the window.
"Megas got overheated in the fight." Coop explained. "He won't budge until the reactor core finishes cooling down again."
"Maybe I might be able to provide you some assistance in that area." A smile crept on Luna's lips. "I know a few spells that hopefully should heed you aid."
"Alright, your highness." Coop replied as he opened the door to allow Luna to climb into the back seat. "If you say you can cool it down faster, I trust ya."
Kiva quickly tapped a few buttons that lowered the entire back seat down inside the mech. Once it came to a rest, she turned to face the Alicorn princess. "I would go with you but I have to manage Megas' systems while Coop is behind the wheel." Kiva said without looking up from her console. "However, I can guide you towards the reactor area from above over the internal comm systems so you won't get lost." She said before messing with the holographic interface once more to send the chair back up, pointing to the path for the dark blue alicorn to follow, receiving a nod in reply before Luna headed off in the indicated direction. Once topside again, Kiva did a quick comm test as the internal sensors fed back Luna's progress. When she received a confirmation from the Alicorn she continued directing Luna on where to go next, all the while Shining Armor strained to keep the barrier up.
It took Luna a bit to reach the reactor, but once there she couldn't help but look in awe. She could sense the aura of energy emanating from the internal chamber. The sensation of the raw power contained within ran through her body, making the fur of her coat stand on end. A low-pulsing green light emanated from the large glass tubes; the wires on the top and bottom caps trailed off into the walls that Luna surmised probably connected to various other parts of the titan. She could only fathom as to the true potential of the mech's power source. "What is this place?" The Alicorn of the night mused aloud. "Full of so many wonders..." her voice trailing off as her eyes drank in the complexities of the very large chamber she was standing in.
Overhearing Luna's comment over the comm, Kiva decided to break the Alicorn's train of thought for the more important task at hand. "Luna, I know it must be a marvelous sight for you down there, but I don't think your friend is going to be able to hold out for much longer against those blaster bolts." She glanced out the window at the visibly straining Shining Armor. "Whatever you're going to do, you need to do it now."
"You're right." Luna said while shaking her head clear. "Now is not the time for one such as I to be lost in flights of fantasy." With that, a cool purple aura surrounded Luna's horn that stretched out to encompass the energy core that made up Megas' reactor. Next the pony princess started reciting the incantation in a variant of Latin while a spell circle appeared beneath her hooves. As she recited the spell word for word, a low gust of wind picked up and grew in intensity with the Alicorn's voice. Upon reaching the final part of the incantation there was a brief blinding flash and a thin layer of ice crystals began to crawl up the sides of the cylinders. As the ice crystals spread the layers grew in thickness and started to fuse in into much-larger crystals of ice. Within seconds the entire reactor core and its harness were entirely encased within a frozen crystalline wall. The pulsing green glow of the reactor cores increased in pace with every passing second, soon becoming one long continuous glow that only got brighter in intensity.
Up top, the car's engine block throttle roared to life as all of Megas' systems came back on line in rapid succession. "I knew Megas wouldn't let us down." Coop cheered that he once again had control over the mech, getting it to stand upright, punching its fist into the other open hand as a sign that he was ready for more, giving them a battle hungry gaze. "Now... Where was I?" Coop waved down to Shining Armor as a signal that Megas was back in action. Once the barrier went down and the unicorn had teleported away, Coop revved the engine a few more times for good measure.
In the back Kiva went wide-eyed as she watched the power efficiency readout climb to levels she'd never seen Megas reach before. "Princess Luna, what exactly did you do?" she asked in complete astonishment as the levels continued to rise even further.
"It's an old ice spell I figured might come in handy here." Luna answered back. "It keeps whatever is encased inside at near-freezing temperatures for several hours on end." Her gaze turned up at the roof of the chamber. "Is that not good?"
"Not good?" Kiva replied though still in total disbelief. "To put it simply, you gave the reactor a massive heat sink that raises Megas beyond its original peak efficiency."
"Meaning?" Luna asked quizzically as she started her journey back to the control module.
"You super-charged Megas!" Kiva's fingers danced over the holographic image before her, as she noticed the very mischievous grin spreading on her rotund friend's face. "Find a place to secure yourself, now!"
Coop let out a low evil chuckle that quickly grew into a full-on demented laugh before gripping the steering wheel tightly. "Now we play by MY rules." With that, Coop stomped his foot on the gas pedal and Megas took off at a speed that would have made even Rainbow Dash's jaw drop. Luna could only hold on for dear life as the flame-painted mecha plowed through enemy after enemy while zig-zagging through the many mechanized troops like a metal ball in a pinball machine. Many of them were quickly knocked down in rapid succession. Some of the foot soldiers that were still standing tried to catch Megas but either missed or were thrown in the opposite direction upon impact. With hopes of grinding the speedy titan to a halt, a group of them stood in a triangle formation of ten in Mega's path only to get knocked over like pins in a bowling alley. "Steeeerike!" Coop cackled as he smashed through yet more enemy mechs, some of which went flying into more of Canterlot buildings, reducing them into a mess of concrete rubble and mechanized scrap metal.
Unigalacticronus scowled from his throne as the metal titan ran through the city streets, plowing through his troops as if they were nothing more than dots within the maze of some arcade game. He thought for sure that his four dome-shaped foot soldiers he sent would have had the mech, that was until it touched a rather large orb that somehow turned his own soldiers blue and scrambling for cover. The enemy titan leader only groaned and placed a disproving palm over his face as Megas streaked through the maze to close on them. One by one they were taken out in rapid succession.
"Enough!" Unigalacticronus roared. "I have grown very tired of your antics!" his expression quickly turned to a more sinister grin. "Let's see how you deal with my elite guard!" With that, he nodded to a soldier next to him that pulled up an odd little box that fit in its palm easily, though would be much too big for any normal-sized human to hold.
Kiva figured that the device must have been a form of communicator; she briefly turned her attention to on the Alicorn now occupying the seat next to her, who had made her way back from the depths of Megas to be there. She tapped a few areas on the holographic display that changed the image to a topographical view of the now three-fourths ruined city of Canterlot. "I don't like the looks of this, I'm getting energy spikes from all around us that appear and dissapear at random." her fingers danced over the image rapidly in an effort to get a lock on at least one of them. "Stay on your guard, Coop."
"I know the drill Ki- Urgh!" Coop started to reply before Megas was sucker-punched by one of the Elite guard that had just materialized in front of him. It was a tall all-white robot with blue eyes, that was just about Megas' height. Upon its shoulders rested a white cloak that flowed in the wind and shimmered in the light. While its head sported a large, pointed, almost oriental hat that shimmered much like the matching cape. Its gaze was fixed on the giant metal blue titan.
"They've got shroud cloaks!" Kiva cried.
"Noticed." Coop groaned.
"Here it comes!" Luna cried.
"Yeah, and he brought friends!" Jamie joined in the panic as more identical Elite Guards appeared around them.
"I think we're in trouble." Coop growled before stomping on the gas pedal sending Megas on a collision course for one of them.
* * *
"Is all this really necessary?" Twilight asked as the unicorn finished strapping on the uniform Pinkie had set aside for her. It looked to be a red-and-white one-piece spandex outfit with white diamonds around the waist and chest area, as well as around the lower legs just above the boots. It was complemented with a helmet that matched the suit's main color, sporting a visor coming down partway so that it only covered the eyes and not Twilight's mouth.
"Well, you're the leader, silly." Pinkie giggled in reply. "The leading hero always wears red. It's tradition!"
"Well, that kinda makes sense Ah' guess." Applejack spoke up after putting on the last boot of her uniform. Her suit was similar to Twilight's except that unlike the purple pony's outfit, the country mare's main uniform color matched her muted orange pelt. "But what Ah don't see is how these here fancy duds are gonna help us against those metal giants."
Pinkie quickly ran off to the side and came back wearing what appeared to be a scientist's overcoat, behind her she pulled a chalkboard attached to a rope held in her muzzle. Coming to a stop before the group, she pulled out a piece of chalk and started scribbling illustrations on the board to go along with her explanation. "You see, Applejack, the suits utilize an inverse-phase field that acts as a meta-morphic grid which connects to the suits' material. This grid detects the energy and strength of any foes you face, and helps balance the power in your favor so that you can put up a much better fight against them. This grid also connects to your weapons and increases their power in pretty much the exact same way."
"So let me get this straight." Twilight spoke up once more, "You've built a set of suits that get stronger based on the opponent we face?" To which she only got a very enthusiastic nod in reply from the bubblegum-pink pony.
"Well, I think they look simply marvelous." Rarity said while admiring her outfit. The main color of her suit was white with purple diamonds sewn around the chest and lower legs much like the others, however hers shimmered like the many gems she often sewn into her outfits. "However, I'm not too enthusiastic about this particular item you handed me." The white unicorn encompassed with her magic the weapon Pinkie had given her. "Are these really necessary?"
"Sure they are! Those walking tin cans shrugged off the power of the Elements as if we had thrown cotton candy at them." Rainbow Dash intervened, while hovering slightly above the floor, easily holding a trident spear in her hooves, and fully suited in her blue-and-white garment. "I say we get a little more physical. Up close and physical." She twirled the spear in one hoof momentarily, then held it firmly before making some thrusting motions in the air, visibly excited by the possibility of combat.
Rarity raised an eyebrow slightly at the dexterity the pegasus wielded her weapon with. "How can you hold the spear like that? It appears to be enchanted so that it sticks to your hooves."
Rainbow Dash raised the spear to her face to examine it further, realizing the implication of what Rarity had just said. "I don't know. It kinda just started doing it as soon as I picked it up. Care to explain, Pinkie?" The rainbow-haired pegasus said while turning her gaze to the pink cotton candy-colored pony in the lab coat.
"Oh, that was easy." Pinkie Pie chirped. "The suits and handles of the weapons are infused with Neuro-Reactive Nano-Magnetic Nodules. As long as you desire to hold the weapon, the nodules will detect the nervous signal and apply magnetism and Van Der Waals force to have the handle stay in place, just as if it was being gripped by a creature with fingers."
"Magnetic Noodles?" Applejack inquired, puzzled. "Is that one of the fancy mathematics they teach at the University of Fillydelphia?"
"Neuro-Reactive Nano-Magnetic Nodules." Twilight explained. "I read about them in an archeological report on a recently-discovered piece of technology of the Ancients. Essentially, it utilizes a form of electric pulses and the aforementioned force to manipulate particles in much the same way as running electricity through a conducting coil around a rod creates an electromagnet. This technology thus allows a pony to pick up any object with their hooves. However, all of this is extremely hard to replicate. How did you manage to get it to work in such a small scale and without using an external power source?"
"Well, you know Lyra Heartstrings, right? She's always talking about hands and humans." Pinkie replied. "One day she came to Sugarcube Corner reading one of those conspiracy-theory magazines that mentioned the report, and told me about it all while I delivered her order. We started talking, and during the weekend we put together one of those do-it-yourself electronic kits from Radio Stall, and applied her magic on it. We got it right by the fourth try. Oh, Steven the river serpent helped us, too."
"Impressive." Twilight's quipped while she cocked an eyebrow in idle curiosity.
"I gotta hand it to you, Pinkie." Rarity mused. "Combining that technology with these weapons in a simple and compact fashion is nothing short of amazing. They all feel so light and yet resilient. And I love how you used aromatic sandalwood for the highlights on this bow's body." Rarity expressed her admiration next. Twisting and turning her weapon from all angles in complete fascination. "Does it fire energy bolts?"
"You betcha!" Pinkie Pie beamed with pride. "Effective up to two-hundred meters."
"I'll take it!" Rarity enthusiastically squealed and quickly clipped the bow onto her back with her magic.
All further chatter was interrupted when the whole chamber quaked. The metal beams rattled but continued to hold firm as bits of dust fell through some of the crevices in the ceiling above. The minor quake only lasted a second but its violence was enough to silence everyone for a few moments.
"Ah guess that's our cue." Applejack said, breaking the silence while she hoisted the huge axe she had been assigned as her unique weapon on her shoulder, where it remained held by an invisible grip. "Are we all suited up?"
"I'll take point." Twilight spoke up, using her magic to put her helmet on and slide her blade into a scabbard fastened to her side. "I want to put into practice everything I've learned at the academy in terms of blade-based combat." With that she took off like a shot up the stairs they previously descended while she cried, "For Equestria!"
Rainbow Dash tucked the spear between an arm and her body and quickly flew after. "Right behind ya, egg-head!"
"I'll teach them to punch holes in my boutique!" Rarity growled and followed suit behind the other two.
Apple jack looked back at the final member of the suited group. "You alright, sugar cube?"
"I'm fine." Fluttershy said, already dressed in the uniform matching her canary-yellow coat, much like the others', with white diamonds in the same spots. "I'm not really sure about this. I'd prefer to stay out of the fighting."
"Ah know, Fluttershy." the orange pony twanged. "But Coop needs our help, and if we don't help, then Ah recon there might not be much left of Equestria if Megas fails."
"Bad news!" Pinkie Pie popped in between the two. "I just checked with my Zardon Industries Threat-O-Meter Computer, and those meanie robots have destroyed the Canterlot veterinary hospital!"
"What!?" Fluttershy exclaimed. "They hurt those helpless little animals!?" The canary-yellow pegasus' expression quickly changed to a cold angry stare. "How dare they? How dare they!? Oh, it's on like that barrel-throwing gorilla and the carpenter!" With uncanny speed and accuracy, the formerly-mellow pony put on her helmet, adjusted the strap, and slid into their sheaths the twin Power Daggers Pinkie Pie had built, before taking off towards the exit and letting out in a lower voice what sounded to the two earth ponies like a curse. "Lets go buck some bots!"
Applejack stared slack-jawed at her friend's sudden change in attitude before shaking herself out of the stupor and chasing after. "Hey y'all! Wait for me!"
Pinkie Pie stood alone in the basement, her eyes half-lidded and a satisfied mischevious grin while she rubbed her front hooves together. "All according to plan, heh, heh." Her eyes soon lit up almost immediately after, as she just remembered another task yet to be completed, and trotted up the stairs with a lively steps. "Silly me! I can't leave the best part out now, can I? Tee-hee!"
Devoid of all activity after its last occupant had left, the basement remained silent for a few moments, before Pinkie Pie appeared at the top of the stairs again and clapped her hooves twice together to make the light turn off. With a satisfied nod, the spry mare exited and slid the trap door back in place.
* * *
Megas slammed into another building once more sending shock-waves in all directions upon impact. The giant blue mecha's occupants were a little worse for wear but no severe damage. The same could not be said for the building they impacted into as it came crumbling around the flame-painted mech, half-burying it in rubble. The four stealth soldiers under Unigalacticronus' command were bearing down on them with their weapons drawn. Each was carrying a different melee-based weapon: one had a morning-star in which it twirled the spiked ball around as it approached, another had a spear poised and ready, the third had in its hands a simple staff, and the fourth one was dual-wielding what could only be described as laser-based whips.
High above them Celestia watched the fight with a mix of dread and uncertainty. Her heart sank with each building that was decimated in the fight. Now it seemed that only a few of those buildings closest to the castle remained standing. Her thoughts wandered as her gaze shifted to the skies briefly and thanked the heavens for having the insight to start evacuating the city before the fight began; Shining Armor had reported to her moments ago that the last of the citizens were secure in the reinforced bunkers below the mountain and a head count was in the process. Now all she could do was sit and wait, hoping that one way or another the fight would be over soon and she and her beloved ponies could get back to rebuilding their lives.
It didn't take her mind long to wander on the consequences of her champion's possible defeat. Of how, if Unigalacticronus won, he would have complete control of this planet and there wasn't a thing in her arsenal that could even remotely stop him. That is unless... Her eyes wandered up to the floating ball of gas in the sky. She quickly dismissed the thought and mentally chastised herself for even considering it. To use the very thing she coveted and controlled would probably eliminate her opponent but it would also destroy all of Equestria in the process. Something she in all good conscience refused do no matter how desperate things would get.
A bright flash in her mind's eye and a bubbling surge of energy suddenly broke her form her contemplation. Her eyes wandering to the source which happened to be smack dab in the middle of her hedge maze. Her eyes grew wide as she witnessed the statue of Discord trembling. Without a moment's hesitation Celestia conjured a spell and closed her eyes. In her mind's eye she pictured her sister Luna, sitting inside of Megas' cockpit. Once the image was clear she spoke to Luna through a form of magic-induced telepathy.
"Luna, it has become urgent that you return from the battlefield." She watched as the image of her sister turned to look back towards the castle where Celestia stood. "All this chaos has awoken Discord once more. I need you to return to the palace immediately."
In the cab of Megas' car-for-a-head Luna quickly excused herself and teleported out to reappear next to her sister on the balcony. She gazed down at the visibly trembling statue as cracks formed and light poured form the growing chips as if in defiance to Discord's imprisonment. "This is the last thing that we need." Luna grumbled. "We should have known that all this chaos would be too much for him to not want to take advantage of."
Upon hearing Luna utter those words Celestia's eyes lit up as an idea formed in her head. She may have not be able to stop him from awakening but maybe this was what she had been looking for. Perhaps she might be able to convince him to redirect his chaotic powers for the moment and possibly assist the champion. Given the circumstances she was almost positive that he might agree. She glanced down at her sister and nodded while saying. "Be ready for anything."
Luna looked up at her sister with a mix of concern. "What are you planning, dear sister?"
Without replying Celestia teleported down to her garden right next to the statue. She stood and waited as the glow and the statue's rattling intensified until the energy had reached it zenith. There was a loud, roaring boom as bits of rocky debris and a heavy burst of wind that threatened to knock the princess off her hooves, yet she stood firm and resolute. She waited for the dust to clear as she could only hear the Draconequus coughing and hacking through the cloud. After a few instants, the Sun Princess could see Discord quite clearly.
Once Discord had finished clearing his throat of the obnoxious dust cloud his attention soon turned to the garden's only other occupant, and with a fanged smile he threw up his arms and exclaimed. "Celestia, baby! My, how time flies. It feels great to be able to stretch the legs." Discord hopped down from the pedestal and approached the white Alicorn while massaging the back of his neck. "Being trapped inside a statue can cause such a crick in the neck, and I’ve been dying to work it out for the longest time." His demeanor quickly changed when he noted that Celestia's eyes didn't appear to have their usual disproving gaze. No; instead there was something different, something longing and sorrowful. Whatever it was it was ruining his mood. He hovered in front of her, meeting her gaze at eye level. "Okay, I'll bite. You want something from me, don't you?"
"Discord, have you forgotten the message you sent me last night in that dream?" Celestia deadpanned.
Discord stared a bit in brief confusion before his eyes lit up. A sinister sneer spread across his single-fanged lips. "Oh, now this is a treat. You mean to tell me that your champion isn't cutting it so now you must make a deal with me, The Lord Of All Chaos to come in and save the day?" The glee running through him was almost too much to stand. The great and powerful Sun Goddess was now without so much hope that she had resigned to ask him for a favor. "Oh, this is almost simply too much for me to handle."
"Discord." Celestia regained her more diplomatic composure. "If you do this I will not seal you in stone again. Instead I will give you the Everfree Forest as your own personal domain with which to reign chaos in, but make no mistake that if your chaos spreads beyond its borders then our deal here will be forfeit."
"Now that's the Celestia I remember." Discord said while he relished in the irony of the situation. "Very well, I shall agree to your terms, if only to avoid another fate as your permanent lawn decoration. Now, where might your champion be at this time?"
"You need only look over your shoulder." Celestia indicated with her horn.
Discord turned his gaze in the indicated direction where Megas and one of the titans were currently grappled tightly with one another. Behind them sat Unigalacticronus, observing with an annoyed scowl on his face. The Draconequus' eyes grew wide in sheer terror. His irises shrank to tiny dots as he clasped his clawed hands to either side of his head and screamed: "Oh, no! No, no, no, no! We don't have a prayer! It's the end of the world as we know it, and I don't feel fine! Abandon all hope! Everyone for themselves: mares, foals, and chaotic divine entities first!", all while the Sun Princess looked on, puzzled as she hadn't been in centuries. She surely hadn't expected that reaction from the one who once had made life for all ponykind an insufferable exercise in chaos.
"Oh my, just look at the time!" Discord turned and said in a hurry as a suitcase appeared before him. He grabbed at various places in the air and started stuffing in various garments and heavy objects that materialized from nowhere. "I just forgot that I am seriously, seriously overdue for a vacation in quiet, peaceful Silent Hill and I really must be going; doctor's orders. Sorry, princess. You're on your own!" and with that, he whistled for a pony-pulled cab that speedily arrived out of nowhere to let its passenger board, and just as suddenly vanished in a bright flash and a puff of smoke.
The princess stood there with her mouth agape for a few moments before Luna materialized next to her after having teleported. The purple alicorn nuzzled against her sister in an effort to console her. "Well, t'was a valiant effort but ye shouldn't have expected anything less from that fool."
Discord's disembodied head reappeared before Luna in response. "If I were a fool I would still be here with The Great Destroyer. You have no idea how bad the situation is or just how much destruction he'll bring to this land. Now if you'll excuse me, I have more running for my life to do." Another puff of smoke, and the God of Lies was gone again, leaving the two sisters to sit and try to think of an explanation for the scene they had just bared witness to.
Luna looked up to Celestia with worry in her eyes. "Well, now what shall we do?"
Celestia simply sighed before looking towards the titans already engaged for battle. Her gaze soon wandered to a few stray buildings out among the titans that seemed to have survived. She puzzled for a moment in wonderment as to how those buildings still stood when all others had collapsed. She searched the depths of her mind till the answer came forth, another idea forming in her mind once more. "If we can't help them in their fight, then we can at least keep them contained so that no more of Canterlot suffers."
"And how would you plan to do that?" Luna queried turning to face her sister.
"I have a spell for just such an occasion." The taller Alicorn winked.
"You came up with a magic spell meant to keep giant monster titans contained in certain areas of the city?" The younger sibling stared at Celestia in disbelief. "How would one even begin to plan for something like that?"
"Lucky guess." Celestia giggled before heading back into the castle. "Now we have much preparation to do and very little time in which to do it."
Luna only rolled her eyes. "You have been spending too much time with the bearer of the Element of Laughter, Miss Pinkamena Diane Pie, have you not?"
"Not telling." Celestia giggled once more as she made her way back into the castle with Luna in tow, whom couldn't help but giggle a little herself. Both of them now determined to get this new plan going as soon as possible.
* * *
Back on the battlefield Megas was getting tossed around by the orange tyrant's elite guard. He made many attempts to avoid their onslaught but given he was up against multiple opponents at once, the rotund pilot was unable to account for all of their moves at once. Things continued to get worse as giant mechanical spheres descended from orbit and made touch down, from which even more of the giant mechanical soldiers poured out.
"Where are these guys coming from?" Coop said while ducking and rolling his own mech to avoid a swing from one of the titans.
"The troops he brought down must have only been his advanced guard." Kiva replied while her fingers danced over the holographic display in front of her. "He probably held a majority of his army back in orbit and is only calling upon them now."
"So what you're telling me is that we haven't even scratched the surface yet?" Jamie asked glancing in the back seat at Kiva.
"In a word, no." Kiva said without even looking up from the holographic display. Her gaze transfixed on the growing number of blips on the radar screen before her. "And it looks like he's puling out all the stops for this one."
"Fan-frickin'-tastic." Jamie rolled his eyes before turning to face forward again. Any further words he was going to say were cut off when Megas suffered another blow that knocked the blue colossus off its feet and into a nearby large rubble pile.
A siren blared while an image of Megas appeared on the small monitor on Coop's dashboard. The left arm was flashing red, indicating that it was on the verge of imminent failure and had to shut down. Coop didn't have time to worry about it however, as he threw Megas into an immediate roll to avoid incoming laser fire. More sirens went off as other areas of the mech started turning red.
"There's too many of them now!" Coop screamed in frustration. "All systems are going critical and the auto repair isn't responding."
"I'm on it!" Kiva replied while tapping the screen one last time before closing the holographic interface. "I'm going to head below, do your best to keep avoiding their shots."
"I'll try!" Coop answered Kiva before she descended into the mech. His attention returning to the battlefield before him.
"We're going to need a miracle to get out of this one." Jamie whined before looking at his friend to see that he was gazing off in the distance. "Now's not the time to get distracted, Coop!"
"I see it, but I don't believe it..." was the only response Coop gave.
Curious now, Jaymie turned to meet what Coop was referring to and his expression quickly turned from fright to that of confused curiosity. "No... it can't be. Is that..?" Jaymie's words trailed off as several explosions ripped through the new onslaught of troops, and at the head of those explosions were five ponies dressed in bright spandex uniforms that all but one matched their pelt colors. A canary-yellow pegasus flew up to Megas nearly frothing at the mouth.
"Fluttershy smash!" The manic little pegasus huffed between breaths. "YOU NO HURT CUTE FURRY ANIMALS!"
A shrill whistle soon caught Fluttershy's attention. The canary-yellow pegasus turned her gaze to meet Applejack who brandished the weapon Pinkie had given her earlier. "That one's on our side, go get the rest of 'em!"
With that, the now single-minded pegasus turned to face another wave of assailants, plowing into them. The results of which rendered them to scrap before she quickly moved onto the next one in rapid succession. Inside Megas, Coop and Jaymie couldn't help cringe at Fluttershy's rather efficient destruction.
"Remind me not to get that one mad." Jamie quipped.
Coop on the other hand chose this opportunity to stick his head out the window and spoke down to the one in red. "Twilight, is that you?"
"We've come to back you up." Twilight explained while using her magic to wield the sword she was given. The young mare was drawing from the combat training received while she was under Celestia's tutelage as a filly.
"And none too soon." Coop called back. "Megas is near red line. Can you buy us some time while we initiate repairs?"
Kiva pushed her own head out, after having made her way back to the cockpit. "The reactor may be super cooled-but the systems connected to it are having trouble processing all that energy. We need time to initiate repairs and effect a few bypasses to handle the reactor output load."
"How much time do you need?" The purple unicorn asked before parrying the charge of an enemy soldier. She then performed a backwards somersault aided by her magic, her sword mimicking the movement half a second later, cutting a vertical gash on the unfortunate mech's chest plate. She landed briefly on the back of another mech, and bounded off again.
"Nice!" Coop cheered. "We can use at least five minutes."
"Just leave it to us!" A split-second later, Rainbow Dash swooped in with her lance towards the next wave of robots, twirling like a drill and piercing through a particularly large enemy, then exited through the other side. The mech, now with a hole clean through it, promptly exploded into shrapnel a few instants later. Rainbow Dash stopped for a moment, turned around in the air, and lifted her visor to admire the results. "Mess with the best, blow up like the rest! Oh, yeah! Who's awesome? I'm -woah!" A bolt of searing orange energy whizzed by her right side, missing her head by a feather's length.
"Rainbow Dash, one can't afford to get distracted like that in the battlefield. Save the gloating, and put a little bit more finesse in your performance, would you?" Rarity scolded her friend, and turned to face the charging army, the ornate bow held aloft in her magic grip. "That gunner would have hit you squarely had I not intercepted him on time. Be more mindful of your surroundings. Watch and learn." With admirable precision, the white unicorn took aim, pulled on the energy string of her weapon and readied another bolt, then released. Without needing to confirm the projectile had hit its mark, she glanced at another target, and fired again. One by one, the approaching titans were impeded from advancing further or even preparing their weapons, as Rarity's energy arrows pierced their joints, effectively turning them into obstacles for their following teammates.
"Yeah, yeah. I hear you." Rainbow Dash replied, and adjusted her visor before looking for another platoon to attack. "Showoff."
Rarity rolled her eyes at her friend's remark, and took aim once more, only to hear a whizzing sound above her, followed by the cacophony of metal being rent by a familiar black axe, now embedded vertically in the chest of a bulldozer-sized mecha.
"Make sure to follow your own advice, sugarcube!" Applejack landed by Rarity's right, and grasped the handle of her weapon. "Though, to be fair, this guy could'a snuck up on me even if we were in a library."
"You do have my thanks, Applejack. If you're about to charge on ahead, I'll be glad to cover you."
"Charge on ahead? Heh. Take a look at this!" Right away, the orange earth pony gripped and hefted her ax along with the still-impaled mech, spun around, and flung the inanimate enemy into the advancing hordes with great force, knocking them down like dominoes. Applejack took a few moments to admire her hoofwork, and smirked while dusting off her shoulder. "Remind me to thank Pinkie for getting us these duds." She lowered her visor next, struck the air repeatedly with her front legs, and hollered happily before clenching the axe between her teeth and charged at the troops that had regrouped and continued advancing at that moment. "Yeeee-haaaw!"
Rainbow Dash fumed after witnessing from above the effectiveness her friends used their weapons and suits with, and threw her arms into the air. "Oh, come on! Is everypony out to upstage me today? Me? Rainbow 'Mech-Smasher' Dash?" She swooped down, dodging some devastated mechs that were being flung high into the air by Applejack's mighty axe strikes, and accelerated her descent.
Applejack found herself struggling meanwhile against a robotic behemoth, trying to push it back with the broad side of her axe, unaware of the lumbering attacker that had silently risen from a pile of dismantled mechs behind her, plasma axe in hand and poised to strike...
... only for it to get beheaded by a cyan-blue streak. The body fell gracelessly backwards, while Rainbow Dash remained still on the ground, imitating a cool pose she had recently seen in a martial arts movie. After pausing a few seconds for dramatic effect, she turned around to evaluate the results of her attack.
"Now, that's what I call pure 'Twenty Percent More Awesome'!"
Applejack shifted her axe upwards, stunning her opponent with a firm blow to the face, and used the recoil to move closer to Rainbow Dash, both mares standing back-to-back. "What are you doin' here, Rainbow? I thought you were supposed to cover us from the air."
"Oh, come on! That's what I just did by saving your sorry flank. You didn't even see him coming!" The cyan pegasus smugly retorted with a smirk.
Applejack growled. "I was about to leap out of the way so that he'd smash his comrade."
"Sure you were. How about we settle this, then: I bet I can destroy more mechs than you by the time Megas is up and running."
The farmer pony rested the head of her axe on the ground and tossed a hoof in Rainbow's direction. "You're on, and the count starts from right now!"
Letting out a battlecry, both ponies took off towards the retreating mechanized platoons.
* * *
"Are you really sure you want to do this? We're not entirely sure how safe the Photonic Energy Reactor is." Mr. Cake warned as he watched Pinkie dash about her room grabbing at various garments before disappearing behind a folding screen with them.
"Well, there's no better time than now." Pinkie replied from behind the shade. "Besides, when are we going to get another chance to test a giant construct like ours in battle?" She said as she stepped out from behind the screen in a uniform that was completely different in design from the ones she had given to her friends. This was comprised of a crimson one-piece body suit and vest with orange trim, black shorts, and a yellow-colored belt; segmented peach colored bracelet-like guards on all four legs complemented the attire. On the head, she sported a white helmet with pointed fins angled aerodynamically to the back and a black visor that hid her eyes completely. She turned a bit to give Mr. Cake a look at her entire outfit.
"Why so much red?" he asked in slight confusion as he briefly observed the suit.
"Because the hero always wears red in some fashion." Pinkie giggled in her usual bubbly manner while glancing in a mirror. "It's tradition, just look at most comic book heroes in Japan."
"What's Japan?" Mr. Cake blinked, and shook his head a moment later. "Never mind. Is it really necessary to put yourself in this danger?" He was visibly worried for her. The pink pony was like one of the family and Mr. Cake couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to her. He was somewhat relieved when she placed a hoof on his shoulder in reassurance.
"Trust me, I know exactly what I'm doing." she said with a much softer, yet very understanding smile. "Now, you'd better get back to the shelter with Mrs. Cake and the kids." The carrot-topped earth pony nodded and hurried off to leave Pinkie alone in the shop.
Once Pinkie was positive he was gone, she quickly ran to the wall of her room where a portrait of her parents hung. Their faces were rather sour in appearance as they stood in front of her old rickety wooden house. Her father held a pitchfork and her mother just stared out with a grim look on her face. The pink pony slid it aside to reveal a button hidden behind, which she pressed. A panel on the floor slid away, and she quickly jumped down into the chute below. It twisted and turned underground for quite a ways until it deposited the pink pony in the chair of what looked like a strange red bubble-shaped craft, with foldable wings at either side ending on disc-like protrusions that contained a set of propellers each. Once she was fully seated, she pressed a button on the console that slid down the glass canopy and started the propellers on the vehicle. Speedily, the unusual craft took off at high speed out of a tunnel not far from Ponyville, towards Crystal Lake.
As Pinkie arrived, she circled above the pristine water body and called out loud: "Pinkaisa-P, GO!". The smooth surface of the lake jostled only to be parted by an opening that cut through the water like a knife through a cake. The water quickly rushed in to fill the empty space as it grew wider. Once the formerly-concealed doors had opened fully, a giant mechanized pony emerged. Its shoulders sported black vaulted guards, with the upper torso and lower limbs matching the color. The rest of the body was an almost-white shade of pink. Bright, red angular wings were mounted on its back, and at the top of the equine head a concavity served as the docking station for Pinkie's craft. It looked like a stylized, giant armored knight-looking version of Pinkie Pie.
With a nod, Pinkie slowed the craft over the mech's head where she carefully lowered it in place, and flipped another switch that folded the propellers up to either side. With a gleeful grin she uttered another command before clamping the craft firmly in place. "Powaa, ON!" The mech's eyes lit up and it reared up on its hind legs, thrusting the forelimbs repeatedly into the air. "Retro Thrusters, FAIAR!" With Pinkie's final command, the mech lurched up into the air and rocketed off in the direction of Canterlot, the lake closing up behind it.
Pinkie Pie adjusted her dark glasses, and chuckled smugly. "A new challenger has appeared!"
* * *
Twilight huffed nearly out of breath as she ducked, parried, and countered her opponents' attacks, for all her training in battle magic she had never once thought she would actually get the chance to use it. With a fresh magic charge infused in her blade, she performed a wide circular cut around her, critically damaging the mechanic warriors who were foolish enough to try and surround her. A couple seconds later, she targeted a mech who appeared to be a squad leader, and just as the titan drew and raised a heavy mace charged with electricity, Twilight leapt and brought her sword down, cleaving the commander from the shoulder down. The second her hooves touched the ground she rolled away to avoid the soon-ensuing explosion. She took a few moments to catch her breath and look to the skies, noticing with satisfaction the trajectory followed by some parts of the enemy she had just downed.
Applejack's warning and the heavy crash of another defeated mecha some meters by her side broke her out of her reverie. As she turned, a whirling tornado dissolved, revealing a cyan pegasus wielding half a trident spear on each front hoof. "Don't get distracted now, Twilight." Rainbow Dash smirked.
"Yeah, I'd hate to see anything happen to ya at this point, sugarcube." Applejack yelled as she charged at one of the elite white mecha that had attacked Megas much earlier. She tossed her axe into the air towards him, distracting the giant robot just enough for the orange pony to leap after her weapon, clutching between her two front hooves, and spun around, connecting squarely with her opponent's side, and causing him to fly backwards stunned. Without wasting any time or momentum, Applejack started hacking away at the downed colossus upon landing, and with three powerful strikes his armor had been breached, energy core damaged, and body thrown into the approaching platoons, taking some of them out in a considerably-sized explosion.
Rarity on the other hand opted to remain at a Megas' feet, effectively providing cover for her friends, each energy bolt fired from her bow igniting the enemies in a giant fireball explosion upon each successful hit. She couldn't help but notice there was no shortage of enemies despite how many they had managed to destroy thus far. "Where are all these constructs coming from?" she asked aloud through the communicator.
"If I had to guess," Twilight answered without looking up from her next opponent. "I'd say that the troops he originally brought with him were only a small advance guard. He probably had the rest of a vast army waiting in orbit just in case anything went wrong."
"Makes sense." Applejack replied after hacking into another nearby mecha with her axe, and kicking it away. "Question is, how many more of them troops does he have left?"
"Doesn't matter, we just keep destroying them as they come." Rainbow Dash replied while dodging and weaving between more bots, getting in hits wherever she could but otherwise avoiding being struck herself. Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind that caused her to stop briefly and look around for a familiar canary-yellow pegasus. "Hey. Where's Fluttershy?"
As if in answer, several explosions ripped through dozens upon dozens of troops in the distance, Rainbow sighed hearing the half-crazed shouts coming from her pegasus friend. "You want piece of Fluttershy!? FLUTTERSHY TEAR YOU TO PIECES!" She shrieked while bucking and slicing any who dared to approach her. Many of these mecha were either ejected from the battle area as she approached them or frantically tried to escape the rampaging pony's wrath, some of them finding how in vain their efforts were.
Rarity sighed while she signaled Rainbow Dash. "She's going to burn out if she continues like that. I have a plan. Can you distract her?" She asked.
"You got it!" Rainbow called back before taking off like a shot in the yellow pegasus' direction, careening in her side just before she destroyed another fleeing mech. "Woah there, Fluttershy! I think you need to settle down."
"They destroy animal shelters!" the berserk Fluttershy raged. "THEY MUST BE DESTROYED!!!" Her expression quickly changed however to one of shock and surprise as a white-hooved limb quickly stabbed into the base of her neck, just above the shoulder. A split-second later she collapsed on the floor.
A proud-looking Rarity used magic to put on the hoof-boot she had to take off in order to contain Fluttershy. "Don't worry deary, she's fine, just unconscious is all."
"Where did you learn that?" asked an astonished rainbow-haired pegasus.
"Self-defense classes, dear." Rarity grinned while aiming her bow and resuming her assault against the few straggling enemy mechs still in the immediate area. "I figured it would be good to take some after that diamond dog incident."
"You go, girl." Rainbow called back to Rarity before zipping away, carrying Fluttershy on her back. She decided it might be best to head to Celestia so her unconscious friend could be safely tended to. Upon her arrival the guards carefully lifted the canary-yellow pegasus and carried her to the shelter below. Rainbow was about to return to the battle when Celestia approached her.
"Rainbow Dash, I have an important message for Coop. You must deliver these instructions exactly as I give them to you." The white sun princess said with a sense of urgency.
"You can count on me, Your Highness." Rainbow Dash nodded with a salute in reply.
"Good, now listen closely, we don't have much time..."
* * *
Jamie peered out the windows of the car nervously at the resulting chaos around a deactivated Megas, letting out a girly scream as an explosion occurred nearby. "How's it coming down there, guys?" He inquired, then sighed with relief as both the back and driver's seat rose from Megas' depth.
"Alright, recalibrations are done." Coop answered while he tried to smack the grime off of his hands.
"I never knew how useful duct tape was until now." Kiva mused while observing the monitoring displays. "All systems are back in the green."
"Then let's not waste any more time." Coop grinned with a vicious hunger in his eyes for battle.
"Hey, guys! Hold on a second!" Rainbow Dash cried as she flew in front of the windshield. "I have a message from Celestia."
Coop rolled down the window and stuck his head out. "I'm listening."
Rainbow took a deep breath, taking a moment to make absolutely sure she remembered the message word for word. "You see those four buildings behind you in the distance?" the rainbow-haired mare indicated with her left front leg.
Coop looked in the indicated direction. "Uh, huh. I see them."
"Good." Rainbow continued. "Princess Celestia has a plan to contain him there if you can get him between those. She also would prefer it if you decided to remain inside that area so that what little is left of Canterlot can remain intact."
"Leave it to me." Coop grinned before he returned his grip to the steering wheel, a sadistic grin adorning his lips. "But first we need to clear a path!"
"Piece of cake." Rainbow Dash adjusted her visor and headed to the battlefront, eager to resume battle. She pressed a button on the side of her helmet and images of her friends appeared before her eyes. "Twilight, we need to clear a path for Coop! If you have any ideas, now's the time to share!"
"Ooh, hey there, Rainbow Dash!" The face of a pink pony in a white helmet and black visor appeared on the display.
"Pinkie Pie, where have you been?" Twilight asked while dodging a few more enemy attacks.
"Hi, Twilight." the bubbly pink pony answered. "I had to pick up a few things at the lab, but now I’m on my way. I’ll be there shortly." she was about to cut the transmission before a thought crossed her mind, prompting her to continue. "By the way, girls, I forgot to mention that over the course of the battle the meta-morphic grid will build up energy that once activated, will super-charge your weapons, allowing you to perform your ultimate attack. When it's unlocked, your helmet will give you further instructions on what to do next. Over and out!"
As if on cue, all of their weapons emitted an eerie red glow before panels or small sections would unfold or pop open to indicate their super-powered state. Twilight was the first to speak up. "Very well, girls. I have a plan, just follow my lead." She started charging her magic into the sword which intensified the bright red glow. Once her helmet signaled that the charge was ready she planted her hooves firmly and with a mighty sweep of her sword, a wave of pure red colored electricity lanced out in an arc that grew and spread over a wide area, knocking down several of the mecha in a wide cone, but otherwise not severely damaging them. "Rainbow, you're up!" Twilight said while re-sheathing her sword.
Rainbow Dash swooped up, watching her HUD carefully. Once she was in position, the cyan pegasus reconnected the two halves of her lance together, held it ready in one hoof, and called out loud, "Hey, metal-heads! CATCH!" before throwing the spear to the ground with great force and speed. The mass of droids parted as several of them rolled or dove out of the lance's path, having seen what the suited ponies were capable of.
The trident spear remained firmly planted in the place it had landed, inert. The mechanized warriors looked at each other, before laughing and turning at the airborne pegasus, who simply hovered beside a gray cloud. One of them pointed at her, mockingly.
"Is that the best you got?"
With a chuckle, Rainbow Dash replied. "Nope. Try this!" Quickly, Rainbow delivered a mighty buck to the cloud, causing it to discharge a bolt of lightning straight at the spear, which released a shockwave of pure electricity expanding over a wide radius, followed by arching bolts that razed the ground in several directions. The area below her was now covered by the disabled bodies of the mechs, having been blown away by the discharge or overloaded by the subsequent voltaic tendrils. Rainbow Dash admired her hoofwork and mused, "Let's see Applejack match those numbers." and snatched her spear from the ground, starting to retreat.
Rarity had in the meanwhile spent the time bought by her friends charging her bow with magic, still at the feet of Megas, and looked up as the kneeling blue colossus started to show signs of activity. "Coop darling, would you be so kind as to give a lady a lift?"
"Sure thing, Mademoiselle Rarité." Coop acknowledged while lowering the giant robot's hand and later depositing the white unicorn right next to the car.
Once in position, Rarity magically held aloft the charged-up bow, purple energy running all through it as she reared up. Taking it in her hooves, she aimed upwards and pulled the string firmly, increasing the stored charge to the maximum level. Positive everything would work as it should, she let loose a large, incandescent energy bolt which quickly climbed towards the sky, its trail marked by the ionized particles left behind. As it began a descending arc, the searing projectile splintered into hundreds of smaller bolts, raining destructively on their targets, cleanly piercing some, incinerating others on impact, and producing dome-shaped explosions upon reaching the ground. The attack had effectively cleared the area of many combat-ready opponents.
"Eat your heart out, Michael Bay!" Coop cheered, and gave Rarity a thumbs-up. "Nice one, Rarity!"
Rarity turned at the robust pilot, and bowed her head gracefully. "Thank you, Coop. There can be beauty even in mechanized combat."
"Now it's mah turn!" Applejack proclaimed behind them, having climbed onto Megas while Rarity unleashed her special move. She made a running start using the car as a platform, leaping carelessly into the air. With her hooves she gripped the handle of her axe and broght it up in mid flight. Once her jumping arc had reached its impressive zenith she brought the weapon down to bare. Within seconds the axe careened with the ground and in all directions around her the ground seemed to bend out in a shock-wave that soon buckled and turned to jagged rocks that spread out amoung the scattered mechanized troops that had managed to remain standing, bits of rock and debrise shattering cores and tearing off limbs from the devistating attack only to be covered by a dust cloud mere seconds later. Once the dust settled again Applejack was the only thing still standing in the center of all of the destruction.
"The way is clear, Coop." Twilight said through the monitor on Coop's dashboard. "Now all that remains is to get his attention and trick him into going over there."
"Leave that to us." Kiva said. "You four get clear, we'll handle the rest."
"You heard her girls," Twilight said. "Lets get to the shelter."
"Wait for me!" Rarity pleaded after Megas had set her back down on the ground.
At the start of this fight Unigalacticronus had been enraged after such a humiliating turnout from just a single giant blue mecha, but as the battle continued his fury soon turned to awe at how truly an impressive resistance Megas and those five indigenous soldiers managed to present. A grin spread across his mechanical face as he reflected on the sheer tenacity and skill of his opponents. It was quite clear now that none of his forces were going to cut it against these ponies and the prized champion he had greatly underestimated.
The mech next to him whom had previously remained inert after summoning the reserve troops returned to life once more. "My lord, I know that look in your eye. Just say the word and I will end him."
Unigalacticronus held his hand up to stop his personally-trained bodyguard from taking any further action. "I wish to deal with this one myself."
"As you wish, sire." His servant bowed.
Unigalacticronus' grin turned into a full on smile as he finally stood from his chair. The battle quickly died down as all eyes were now on him. He reveled inwardly at the attention for a moment before pointing directly at Megas, and calling out in a thunderous voice. "You have put up quite a fight, Champion, I must commend you and your companions for fighting so bravely." The crew inside Megas could only stare in astonishment prompting the titanic leader to continue unabated. "I wish to see your skill for myself. What say you?"
"Bring it!" Coop answered back. "But I pick the spot for our battle." He quickly corrected himself.
"Don't forget about me!" came a high pitched cry from above, prompting everyone's gaze to look up just in time to see a red and black pony-like mech. "I want a piece of this fight too!"
"Pinkie Pie?" Coop asked in confusion. The pink pony's face soon appeared on the dashboard monitor after she gently landed her mech.
"Sorry I'm late, Coop. I had to get everything for my mech ready." The pink pony giggled, her eyes hidden by the black visor of her helmet.
"Better late than never." Coop smiled back. "Glad you could make it."
"Two against one is hardly fair." Unigalacticronus smiled. "If she joins the fight then lets make it two-on-two." With that he waved for his right hand mecha to join them.
"You have a deal." Coop smiled as he slammed the knuckles of his left hand into the open palm of his right, Megas mimicking the pilot's movement. With that, Coop led the group to the indicated area. He glanced in the distance to see both Luna and Celestia standing in wait as they approached the four buildings. Once they were all within the square blocks Coop gave Celestia a thumbs up to indicate he was ready. A few seconds later Celestia horn glowed and a blue beam of light shot out and connected with one corner of the four buildings. The indicated building was thus engulfed and from it sprang three beams of light on two opposite sides that connected with two other buildings south and west of it, and from those two three beams shot out to connect the with the last building.
Coop's eyes lit up with curiosity as his mind tried to process the scene before him. He approached one of the beams of light and with Mega's arm reached out to touch it. He was further perplexed when it didn't shock Megas but rather stretched in the area where Megas was pushing against it. The rotund pilot soon pushed the rope-like beam of light out further to see it stretch out taunt in his grip. The same sadistic grin from before returned to his lips. It was at that moment he noticed that the crowd of mechs had followed the group of four and were taking a seat around the rather large wrestling ring. He also couldn't help but smirk at the fact that ponies were also now mingling around, mixed among the metal titans cheering Megas on. A few seconds later another beam leaped out but this one reached a point dead center above the ring, the source coming from Luna who stood north of the ring, a giant magic mesh-like fence of pure energy soon surrounded the ring. The grin only growing with each addition to this match.
"So that was your plan, Champion?" Unigalacticronus taunted. "Trap yourself and me inside an arena to protect this pitiful city? How noble. Foolish but noble."
"Whatch your tongue, Uni-G." Coop barked back. "You came to this planet with a massive army, creating havok and disarray, and you expected them to just roll over?" Coop reveled in the roar of the crowd of ponies as they cheered, letting the sounds feed his already-inflated ego as he continued with his speech. "I aim to take you down once and for all, and I assure you I'm going to be standing in the winners' circle as the Undisputed Champion!" This brought forth an even louder roar of cheers from the crowd of ponies, mixed with the heckling and booing from the surviving troops of Unigalacticronus' army.
One pony seemed to be cheering much louder than the others. Jaymie only smirked at the antics as the mint-colored unicorn stood on her hind legs cheering "Humans rock! Robots suck!", while on one front hoof she held up a giant foam hand printed with a number sign and a one.
"Lyra, would you please sit down?" said a creme-colored pony with a curly mane of navy blue and bubble-gum pink, who sat next to the mint unicorn. "Others are staring at us."
"So let 'em look, Bon Bon." Lyra said without looking down at the embarrassed earth pony. "Beat that metal titan overlord and send him packing, Coop! Whoo!"
Bon Bon sighed in aggravation while she attempted to force her friend to sit. "Where did you get that thing for your hoof, anyway?"
"I got it from the three filly concessions vendors." She pointed at the indicated ponies whom Bon Bon identified as the troublesome Cutie Mark Crusaders, no doubt trying in yet another futile attempt to get their cutie marks.
Soon the audience hushed as another pony entered the ring. He was a royal blue stallion with thinning light gray mane and tail, wearing a white and black stripped shirt of which the stripes streaked straight down the body of the shirt and long sleeves. It was clearly evident that this pony was going to serve as the referee. As he approached the center a boom mic lowered down and the pony took it firmly in one hoof before speaking. "Mares, gentlecolts, and alien armada, Have we got a fight for you tonight!" He waited for the cheer of the crowd to die down before continuing. "Tonight we will be featuring a two on two battle between Equestrias finest, and an alien armada own champions." He turned to face coop and Pinkie pie. "In this corner, we have a champion from another dimension, his impressive record of victories and rampant destructive force speak for itself. Coop from Earth dimension sixtey three!" His attention then turned to the pony mech beside him. "And with him is Equestria's own Element of Laughter bearer, queen of smiles, Pinkie Pie!" This brought on a roar of cheers and heckles from the audience gathered. Once it died down again he turned his attention to the opposite corner. "And in this corner, I give you the Challengers, Conqueror of a thousand worlds, Unigalacticronus, and his right-hand General!" When all was quiet once more the referee summoned the fighters to the center of the ring before speaking. "I would try to ask for a good clean fight but given the circumstances, just as long as you don't destroy the ring we're golden. Now at the bell, let's get it on!" And with all that said, the referee booked it out of the ring as fast as his wings could carry him.
As if on cue the bell rang and Galacticronus threw an unexpected uppercut, throwing Megas backwards into the energy ropes which he rebounded off of in a flying leap that connected with Unigalacticronus' chest causing him to stumble backwards for a moment. His second started to close in on Coop but was intercepted by Pinkie Pies Mech.
"Did you forget about me?" Pinkie said through the external speaker on her mecha's head. She charged headlong at him and leaped into the air only to be deflected and tossed aside into the ropes upside down. As her opponent closed on her she waited until the last possible second before unleashing a hard buck sending her opponent flying, landing on his back with a thud. Not wasting any time the Pinkizer-P climbed the corner ropes and performed a flying flip backwards, landing a leg squarely across the mech's chest before rolling away and up-righting. The audience let out a loud, “Oh!” in uniscen, some even cringing.
"Pinkie Pie may have had a rough start but she made quite the rebound wouldn't you say Flim" Said an orange unicorn wearing a blue-and-white pinstripe shirt and matching straw hat to his twin brother, both of whom were acting as commentators for the fight.
"You can say that again, Flam." Flim quickly shoved a hoof in his brothers mouth before his twin could do just that. "As for Megas, it seems he and Uni-G are locked in hand to hand."
In the ring Megas and Unigalacticronus had their hands locked with one another, both pushing back as hard as they could to try and force the other opponent into their back. Their mechanized bodies creaking and groaning at the strain as neither one was willing to back down. Coop stomped the gas pedal of his mech as hard as he could causing the engine to roar and the mech's exhaust ports shuddered at it's higher output, Megas now leaning in, pushing Uni-G back. His expression turning to one of worry as he strained to regain his footing but to little avail. As a last ditch effort he swept one leg out knocking the footing out form under Megas sending the blue mech crashing to the floor.
"Hey no fair! That was a cheap move!" Coop screamed as he Megas barely managed to roll out of the way foot Unigalacticronus foot that came crashing down where the giant blue robot had previously occupied. The towering orange titan continued his onslaught pulling out a couple of energy whips from the pack on it's back and gave one a loud energetic crack that sparked when it snapped in the air.
"Aw c'mon ref!" Jamie cried out. "That can't be legal!"
"I'll allow it!" The ref pony cried back a safe distance from the ring unaffected by Jamies complaint.
"So that's how you want to play?" Coop growled as he slapped Megas hands together. "Two can play that game!" As Coop parted the mech's hands a ball of flame appeared between them that grew bigger as they parted. He positioned the hands behind the mech while the ball of energy grew. "Let's see how hot you are after this!" And with that he lunged both hands forward, opening them up and releasing the glowing ball of fire that went streaking towards Unigalacticronus but the titan stood firm and unabated as he swung the whip around and with a loud crack he snapped the attack into a puff of smoke.
"OK, that was pretty good." Coop said in worried aw before his expression changed to one of determination. "Lets see how you deal with this!" and he reached back pulling a sword from a hidden compartment on his own mechs back that glowed with a bright energy. Megas soon leapoing up into the air with sword poised. His opponent swinging one of the whips which Coop deftly sliced in half as he neared the orange mechanized foe whom barely managed to dodge out of the way.
Without waisting a second Coop landed and lunged at Unigalacticronus and was surprised with the orange titan clutched it in his hands, holding the blade in a solid grip that stopped the blade inches from connecting. The blade sparked and crackled just seconds before Uni-G snapped the blade in half and tossed it aside much to the surprise of everyone within Megas.
"I think i've toyed with you long enough." the titanic leader of the mecha army said taking a moment to crack his neck and his mechanized fingers. "Now it's time to really cut loose!" As he took up a fighters stance his actions were interrupted when there came a loud cry.
"Rocket Punch!" Pinkie cried and her front hooves fired off from her mech's front forelimbs and careened into the chest of her opponent, sending him flying to the other corner. Her mech running on it's hind legs to careen head first into the mech knocking it's head clean off and rendering the body inoperable. The alien pilot inside ejecting and flying off a safe distance from the ring.
Unigalacticronus growled before his expression quickly changed to one of delight. Then without further prompt he cracked his whip at the inoperable corpse of his seconds mech and yanked ot towards him. As it collided with him there was a bright flash of light that blinded all within the area for a few brief moments. As the light faded, there stood at the source a much bulkier form of Unigalacticronus. His plating had many thorns along the shoulder pads, knees and elbow joints while the rest of his armor was much more curved and form fitting as opposed to his previous blocky and smooth surface. Now it all appeared as if it were armor being adorned on the body of a giant human. The orang titans face no longer had seams or a blocky chin but it was now much more smooth though and the horns on his head had been replaced with what almost looked liked real hair with a metallic sheen to them. His beard still portruded from the much more human looking chin along with a matching handlebar mustache, his eyes however retained their former appearance of all red. "Behold! My ultimate form!"
"I think we're in trouble." Jamie worried.
"Oh yeah!" Pinkie cried. "Two can play that game!" and with that she came up behind Megas and grappled her mech with his and in an instant her mech started to contort and change, fusing with Megas and before long the two were now one. Pinkies limbs had fit nicely over Megas as if they were designed for it, The former head of Pinkies neck now operated as the chest piece for Megas' new form. The shoulder pants also fit over Megas' snugly giving them a much more curved look with the rest of the meck folded around Mega's waist, giving it a pink and red overlay that complimented the blue primary color of Megas. A portion of the back seat next to Kiva soon lowerd and raised back up with the still costumed Pinkie Pie. "Now the stakes are even!" the bubble-gum pink pony cried in triumph.
"Impressive." Unigalacticronus sneered. "But is it enough to save these pathetic pastel colored ponies? I bet their food even tastes lousy."
"Alright, that does it!" Coop growled back. "You can come here with your army, attacking innocents, Wrecklessly destroy an entire city, but you dare insult the delectible taste of food which I have tasted? It... Is.. ON!" With that he flipped open a plastic covered and hammered his fist on a button with a label that read. "Emergency Use Only"
Megas' arms soon collided together and the hands retreated into the arms to be replaced with a firey red glow. Next to coop in the cockpit a handle appeared next to him where the gearshift had previously occupied and he nudged it forward slowly, to the fifty percent mark. The firely glow from the hands soon burst out to collide with Unigalacticronus whom barely managed to bring up a shield from his back to defend against it.
"I don't think so, pal!" Coop dried as he shoved the handle all the way past one-hundred percent, two-hundred, five hundred, all the way to a lable that read 'Super nova'. The beam growing in intensity in response, shattering Unigalacticronus' shield and engulfing him. The beam soon broke though the containing barrier, the thick solid red beam headding straight for the castle, blasting a hole straight through the side between it and the moutain before the beam subsided. A few seconds later there was a rumble and the rest of the castle came tumbling down the maintain side, wrecking the remainder of the city of Canterlot.
Coop padded his hands at his work and the decimated body of Unigalacticronus whom twitched and smiled through his mechanical remains before the light in his eyes went dead. A panel in the side popped open and out stepped a rather handsome looking humanoid with green skin and long flowing blond hair. He was wearing a royal blue military uniform with gold trim. He clapped his hands with a proud smile. "Well done!" the man called. "To think I was bested by such a worthy opponent. In all my years of inter-dimensional conquest I have never come across such a challenging foe."
A couple of seconds later A skeletal pony ran up attached to a yellow carriage that had a white and black checkered stripe painted all along the side. Out of the side stepped Discord with a happy smile and arms full of cash. He looked over at the green humanoid alien and smoked, depositing the cash into a small bag and went to greet the individual. "Harlock! There you are! Sorry you couldn't join us at the annual thousand year poker game in Silent Hill but I saw that your hands were quite clearly busy, what with the great destroyer and all. Thanks to your absence, it allowed me to win a few hands for once!"
"WHAT!?" Celestia cried in utter outrage. "You mean to tell me that you tricked me into bringing recruiting a critical threat to combat against someone who wasn't even going to attack my city in the first place, all so you could win at a POKER GAME!?"
Discord's eyes soon grew wide with fright as he turned to face Celestia. "N-now I know this may look bad but I... I can explain..."
"Twilight." Celestia barked back at her faithful student. "Get the elements of Harmony ready." she turned to face Discord once more. "But not till after i'm done with him.."
"Oh my look at the time! Think I might extend my stay at good ole Silent Hill!" The Draconequus cried running off in the distance with Celestia giving chase.
"Discord when I get done with you, you'll wish you had never been born!" Celestia cried in utter rage.
As the two ran off into the distance the rest of the part stared in utter silence with disbelieving stares over what they had just witnessed.
Coop was the first to break the silence as he rubbed the back of his neck "Sorry about this obvious misunderstanding and all."
"Think nothing of it." Harlock smiled. "To fight such a worthy champion as yourself was well worth it. Though to be honest I only came here originally to ask directions, I had no intentions of starting a fight. Since the way to enter Silent Hill is always different and Discord seems to always be able to enter it at will I actually came here to retrieve him."
"I see." Luna said stepping forward, while turning to face Coop. "Well since my sister is otherwise busy I guess that leaves me to help with the cleanup and send you home."
"We would appreciate that very much your highness." Kiva acknowledged. "And sorry about your city."
"The blame lies not just with you but us as well. " Luna sighed. "Had we seen through Discord's deception none of this would have ever happened. Now hold still whilest I conjure the spell to send thee home."
* * *
In the streets of Jersey all was calm and screen as the people went about their daily lives, Well as far as a city constantly plagued by giant monster attacks can consider normal. That scene was soon interrupted when there came a flash of blue swirling energy that spread wide and a familiar blue mech with a flaming paintjob and a car for a head emerged. Megas had finally returned home and none too soon as another Glorft Mecha landed just in front of them. It's paint job alternated between segments with colores of Yellow and green. It looked bulky in apperance from its blocky arms and legs to it's squid-like head that imitated the alien denizens whom piloted them. On the screen on Megas' dashboard appeared a squid faced alien whom Coop recognized.
"Hey Squid face!" Coop called back. "Nice of you to drop by, I've got a whole new arsenal i've just been dieing to try!"
"We'll just see about that!" The commander of the Glorft cried. "I'll have Megas from you soon enough and then we can conquer this planet, preventing you humans from ever posing a threat in the first place!"
"When are you ever going to learn!" Coop cried as he stomped on the gas, launching his mech into the air and coming down with an elbow drop. "It's my world so I get to wreck it!"
"It's good to be home." Jamie smiled from the passenger seat next to coop. "Kick his flank Coop!"