//------------------------------// // Interspecies Introductions // Story: My Giant Robot: Friendship is Awesome // by shinigamisparda //------------------------------// “Commander, status report!” Gorrath bellowed as he stood up from the floor, having fallen out of his chair during the impact. The Commander groaned as he rose from the ground, turning to his small pad. He pressed a few buttons before turning to his leader. “Sir, it would appear we have suffered some minor damage as something from the portal crashed into us. There was a hull breach and it would appear…” the Commander trailed off as he reexamined his readings. “What is it?” the Warmaster demanded. “It seems that something has… boarded us.” The Commander answered. “’Boarded’? You mean there are intruders on the ship!?” “It would seem so. Also, there appears to be a strange energy source radiating from the beings.” “What kind of energy?” “Unknown, sir. It doesn’t match anything we have on record.” “What of the prototype?” “Its back on Earth, sir. Also, the portal it opened has been closed.” “Hm…” the Warmaster scratched his chin as he pondered his next move. “Take us back into null-space for repairs, and capture the intruders. I want us prepared to battle the earther and recapture the prototype. Find out if we can use the new energy source in any way.” The Commander simply stood there with a stunned look on his face. “What?” “N-Nothing, its just… I was little surprised. That may be the most sensible, intelligent order you’ve ever given me.” “COMMANDER!” Gorrath shouted back. “Y-Yes sir! At your command!” he said as he saluted, turning back towards the crew. “Pilots, take us into null-space.” he ordered, then pressed a button on his pad, activating the communications for the ship. “Guards, patrol the ship and capture the intruders.” As the portal to null-space opened the Commander looked own and saw a small red object on the floor. Curious, he picked it up and observed it for a moment. Without warning, a black beam of energy shot from the object and struck him between the eyes. He recoiled for a moment and dropped the object, catching Gorrath’s attention. “Commander?” he asked. His second-in-command made no response. “Commander!” he repeated more forcefully. “Apologies, Warmaster,” the Commander responded in an odd tone. “I just noticed something wrong with the main reactor. I’m going to go fix it.” “Hurry it up, Commander. I want everything ready for when we retake the prototype.” “Of course, Warmaster,” the Commander answered before reaching down and grabbing the object, which Gorrath missed as he was watching the Karajor enter null-space. He also missed the strange purple smoke at the edges of the Commander’s eyes as he walked by. “Whoa nelly,” Applejack groaned as she slowly stood up, her body still aching from the impact. “I haven’t felt this bad since I tried to finish Applebuck Season all by myself.” The farm mare looked around and found her Stetson hat, quickly putting it on as she observed her surrounding. Looking around she found herself in a metal hallway lit with artificial lights, illuminating the sickly green metal color of the walls and floor. “Applejack? Where are we?” The orange pony turned to see Spike rising up and observing his surroundings like her. Once his eyes fell on the unconscious white mare he gasped in a panic. “Rarity!” he shouted, rushing over and attempting to jostle her awake. “Rarity, wake up!” Rarity groaned. “Please Spike, don’t disturb a lady during her beauty sleep.” “I don’t really think it’s going to be good for your beauty to sleep on the floor,” he said with a smirk, happy to see she was ok for the most part. “On the floor?” she asked in a daze. A moment later her eyes shot open. “ON THE FLOOR!?” The white unicorn jumped and screamed, causing the young dragon to tumble backwards. “OH MY GOODNESS, WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME SOONER!? IS MY MANE OK!? WHAT ABOUT MY COAT, ARE THERE ANY SPOTS!? PLEASE TELL ME THERE AREN’T ANY SPOTS!” “Ugh, what the hay is with all the screaming?” said Rainbow Dash, finally waking from her slumber. She winced and began to stretch out her wings. “I feel like I just crashed into something again.” “That might not be too far off, sugarcube,” Applejack responded, pointing up towards the rather large hole in the ceiling. “Goodness gracious,” Rarity commented. “Yup. It looks like if Twi didn’t cast that barrier we would’ve-“ Applejack stop as her eyes widened with realization. “Twi! Pinkie! Fluttershy! Where are they!?” The three mares and baby dragon looked around, not seeing any sign of their friends in the vacant hallway. “It would seem we were all separated after being sucked into that dreadful portal, “ Rarity surmised. “We gotta find them! Twilights probably going nuts without me!” Spike exclaimed, remembering the violet mare’s infamous mental breakdowns. “Uh, I think we’ll have to put that on hold for a second kid,” the cyan pegasus said, backing up towards them, low to the ground and wings flared, ready to pounce. The other three looked in the direction Rainbow Dash was facing to see creatures the likes none of them had ever seen before. There seemed to be a large variation between them, some possessing two legs and two arms, others moving on a mass of tentacles, but the one thing that seemed to be the same with all of them were two red reflective eyes, tentacles hanging from their faces, a slimy green or brown skin, and being clothed in metal suits of armor. They all appeared to be armed, some holding polearms while others were pointing some kind of devices at them which the four could only assume were deadly. Even worse, they were approaching from the other end of the hallway as well, surrounding the four friends. Rainbow Dash was still low to the ground, ready to sprint at a moment’s notice, while Applejack faced the same direction ready to do the same. Rarity was assuming a less offensive stance, backed into the other two facing the opposite direction, while Spike stood in front of her attempting look as intimidating as possible. “L-Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, darlings. It d-doesn’t pay to make assumptions b-based on ap-ppearances.” Rarity said nervously, still holding on to the slim hope that this could turn out in a way that wouldn’t end in violence. The guards finally closed in, twelve in total, stopping only a few short strides form the group. “Surrender or be destroyed!” one of them shouted. “So much for not judging,” Applejack muttered. “Ha! Let’s see you losers stop this!” Rainbow Dash shouted. In a multicolored blur she dashed through the air, zipping back and forth between the guards and bucking them in the face, knocking them out cold. She managed to take out seven of them within seconds before one of them fired a laser from its device that the cyan mare was barely able to dodge. A second blast, however, managed to skin her on her hind leg, causing her to scream out and fall to the ground, holding her singed wound. “RD!” Applejack shouted. “Ya’ll are gonna get it now!” The farm mare lunged at the one that fired the beam and knocked him out with an uppercut with her front hoof. Luckily that was the last one with a firearm, leaving the remaining four with melee weapons. The four remaining soldiers charged the group, their bladed halberds crackling with electricity. Applejack stood on her hind legs and thrust her forehooves into the chest of one of the guards, knocking him backwards and actually denting its armor. She followed this up by turning around and bucking him in the chest with enough force to send him into the wall, hitting the back of his head against it and blacking out. One of them charged at Rarity and swung, but the unicorn quickly used a levitation spell to wrench the weapon out of his claws. Confused, he realized too late what was happening and was struck in the back of his head with the blunt end of his own weapon, the impact and shock instantly knocking him out. Another one was nearly upon her but Spike jumped up and breathed fire onto his face, causing him to roar with pain and drop his weapon to cover his eyes. Applejack saw this and galloped towards him, ducking under the swing of the other soldier who she was currently fighting. She jumped up and nailed the screaming soldier in the back of the head with a haymaker that sent him to the ground, out cold. She turned around only for her eyes to widen in shock as she saw the electrical blade coming down right at her head. There was no time to dodge or even move. Suddenly the soldier was gone, only a rainbow trail as a hint where he might be. Applejack turned her head to see that Rainbow Dash had smashed the soldier’s head into the wall hard enough to leave and imprint in the metal, obviously having blasted forward at full force to save her friend. “RD!” Applejack shouted in both worry and relief. “Rainbow darling, are you alright?” Rarity asked as the group sprinted the short distance over to the cyan mare slowly descending to the floor. “Yeah, I’m ok,” she answered, a flinch upon touching ground betraying her condition. She raised her back leg, keeping it off the ground as she limped to face her friends. “Don’t worry, I think it feels a lot worse than it is. I can still move it, and it’s not bleeding,” she attempted to reassure them. “Luckily, I can still fly.” “Lucky or not, you’re hurt. We need ta get outta here and find the others,” Applejack said, tacking the reigns of leader in the group. “Saddle up, everypony, there’s sure to be more of them things acomin’!” Twilight stared in shock at the three bipedal creatures that stood not too far from her and her friends. They were of various sizes, not to mention girths, but all seemed to be wearing clothing on their upper and lower bodies, had manes of different colors on their heads, but no coats on their bodies, except for the arms of the largest one that seemed to have a little bit. Their bipedal stances made them tower above her and friends, making her feel a bit scared. From what she could tell the fat one and the skinny one were males while the more slender one was female. “Hey guys, what’s going on?” she heard a masculine voice call. She looked behind the three beings and saw a fourth climb its way onto the platform. Panicked, Twilight fired a warning shot of magic at the creature, hitting the floor just in front of it. Startled, it fell back and she could hear it yell before shouting in pain, sounding like it had fallen a short distance. “Hey! What was that for!?” the one with blonde mane asked in an upset tone. The one with the black mane and the strange blue hat hid behind the other’s massive girth, peeking out from behind him. “Go get it, Kiva!” he shouted in frightened tone. Even without him having asked the female had already taken some strange stance with her arms and legs. Judging by the threatening look in her eyes this was some sort of battle stance. “S-Stay back,” Twilight stuttered, gathering magic in her horn. “I’m warning you! Stay back or I will defend myself and my frie-!” “Twilight, don’t be such a meanie-mean-meanie-pants!” Pinkie Pie interrupted and then dashed over the fat one before anypony could stop her. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie, but you can call me Pinkie! What’s your name?” she asked in her usual bubbly tone while extending a hoof towards the taller being, standing on her hind legs to make the task easier. The red maned one looked surprised to see that Pinkie had managed to slip past her, while the skinny male looked just generally surprised. “That thing can talk?” he asked. “Of course I can talk, silly billy! See! I’m talking right now! I’m still talking! I’m doing it again! Should I keep talking?” The large male grasped Pinkie’s hoof in its… claw? She couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but after grabbing hold he shook the pink mare’s hoof in a greeting. “Uh, hey there Pinkie. My name’s Coop,” he answered, his face somewhat confused but ultimately friendly and nonthreatening. Pinkie giggled. “That’s a fun sounding name! I love funny sounding words and names! Coop! Coop! Coop! COOP!” she began saying the name in several different tones. Twilight was shocked at how this was going, but on the other hoof it was Pinkie Pie, the one mare that threw logic out the window down the side of cliff to have it sink to the bottom of the ocean whenever she felt like it. Realizing the creatures were not inherently antagonistic she decided it would be best to mend the bridge that she had damaged in her panic. “Ahem,” the alicorn began, causing all eyes to turn to her. “Um, I would like to apologize for my actions. I was trying to protect my friends from what I perceived as possible threat, and for that I am sorry,” she said, taking a tone with as much regal authority as she could muster, thinking back to both her lessons and watching how Princess Celestia and Luna both addressed other ambassadors. “Yeah! You better apologize!” said the being that she had scared off before, attempting to pull himself up again. As he shouted he began to lose his grip but Twilight quickly grabbed him with a levitation spell. The being was shocked as he was lifted up in the air, surrounded by her violet aura, as the other three beings looked on in surprise. She quickly brought him over to the others and gently set him down on the platform next to them. “Whoa,” the one called Coop muttered. “Who and what are you?” asked the female. Twilight stood up tall, flaring her wings and attempting to look as regal as possible. “I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, new royal of Eques-“ “Pfft.” The three males snickered and attempted to hold back their smiles. “Uh, what was your name again?’ the one with the hat asked through his snickering. “T-Twilight Sparkle?” The three of them held on as long as they could, that is to say a few seconds, before bursting out laughing, barely managing to keep themselves standing. “Its so girly!” the one with the hat managed to say through his laughs. “I know!” Coop responded, managing to squeeze out the response. “Wha? What’s wrong with my name!?” she shouted. It was then she noticed that a feminine giggling had joined them. The violet alicorn glared at the pink mare who had joined the three males in laughter. “Pinkie, what’re you laughing at!?” “I’m sorry Twilight, but I just like laughing!” Pinkie responded through her merriment. The female being sighed and walked over to Twilight, causing her to instinctively step back, but she bumped into something, or rather somepony. Twilight looked down at her hind legs to see that Fluttershy had been quivering there with her hooves over her eyes the whole time. Twilight turned back to see the female was sitting down right in front of her. “Princess Twilight Sparkle, was it?” she asked. The friendly smile on her face made Twilight realize this being was sitting as way to seem less intimidating, despite still being taller than the pony. The violet alicorn relaxed before answering. “Just Twilight will be fine. And you are?” “My name is Kiva Andru. You can just call me Kiva,” she said and turned towards the other three who were finally starting to settle down from their laughing fit. “He’s Jamie, that’s Goat, and you’ve already been introduced to Coop,” she explained, pointing to the one with the black mane and brown mane, respectively. “Ok. Well, you’ve already met Pinkie Pie, and this,” she said moving aside a step revealing the yellow pegasus pony, “is Fluttershy.” The terrified mare moved its hooves away from its eyes long enough to see Kiva’s smiling face. She squeaked and immediately covered them again. “Um, don’t mind her, Fluttershy isn’t the most sociable of ponies.” “’Ponies’?” It dawned on her that these beings had yet to explain their respective species to each other. “Um, yes. I am an alicorn, as you can see. Pinkie Pie is an earth pony, and Fluttershy here is a pegasus.” “Don’t you mean ‘unicorn’?” the one called Jamie asked. “No, alicorn. I used to be a unicorn, but then I ascended and got these,” she explained flaring her wings. “Still getting used to them though. So, what are all of you?” “Uh… humans?” Coop said as though the answer was obvious. “’Humans’? I feel like of hear of that before,” she muttered placing a hoof to her chin. Her eyes widened after a moment, then she almost immediately facehoofed. “Oh by Luna’s starry mane, they’re real.” “What?” “Oh! Um, n-nothing! I just… remembered something an acquaintance of mine said.” “Hm?” A teal coated unicorn perked up and flopped her ears. “Lyra, what is it?” a yellow coated earth pony asked, looking up from her newspaper. “My ears are burning… I think someone’s talking about me,” she said. Suddenly an excited smile spread across her face. “And I think they’re talking about humans!” Bob-Bon simply looked back with an unamused expression. “Shut up and eat your hay fries.” “Um, ok. If you don’t mind me asking, how did you get here?” Kiva asked. “Well, I was working on a spell meant to view other worlds when-“ she began before cutting herself off, her eyes widening in realization. “Oh no! My friends!” “W-What’s wrong?” “I-I don’t know where they are!” she said while trotting in pace in a panic, whipping her head back and forth hoping to see them somewhere nearby. “Uh, aren’t your friends here?” the one named Goat asked, pointing to Pinkie Pie. “No, I mean there’s four more of them! They didn’t get sucked into the portal the same time we did and they could be-!” “Wait a moment,” Kiva interrupted the increasingly panicked pony. “Did they come through in a pink pall of energy, like you did?” Twilight turned to Kiva, a brief glint of hope in her eyes. “Yes! That was the barrier spell I cast around them to keep them from getting hurt! You saw it!?” Twilight’s heart began to drop into her stomach when she saw the worried look on Kiva’s face. The three mares and young drake panted as they came to a stop. “Ugh. I’m going to need a trip to the spa to get all this sweat out of my coat,” Rarity complained through her panting. “Jeez Rarity. A little sweat or being caught by those things, what sounds better to you?” Rainbow Dash asked angrily. “I’m still running aren’t I?” “Can it, you two,” Applejack ordered. “This ain’t the time ta be fightin’.” “S-Sorry,” they both said. Applejack knew it was best to get those two to be quiet, but she was also pretty frustrated. They had been running away from their pursuers nearly non-stop, and it was starting to wear on their nerves, especially due to not knowing anything. Luckily, they had found some peace, if only for a moment. “We really need to find the exit and leave this terribly drab and dangerous place,” Rarity commented. “What!? But Fluttershy, Twilight, and Pinkie are still here!” Rainbow shouted. “Correction, we’re assuming they’re here. For all we know they’re thousands of miles away. I say we get out of this dreadful place, find some way to get our bearings and some information, and if it does turn out they’re here then we’ll march back in and get them out!” Rarity declared heroically. “That might be a problem,” Spike commented from a few yards away, looking out a window he had found the others followed suit and looked on in shock. Outside they saw black, nothing but endless blackness. No ground, no sky, nothing to indicate that there was even a world outside this… whatever it was. “We’re not getting’ outta here,” Applejack muttered. “Even if we found an exit we’d have nowhere ta go.” “So what do we do!?” Spike asked anxiously. Applejack looked around, hoping to see something that would help, and noticed a small ventilation shaft. A thought entered her mind, but she grimaced. “Applejack, what’s wrong darling?” Rarity asked. “Yeah AJ, what’s up?” Rainbow Dash added. Applejack closed her eyes for moment then sighed. “Ah got an idea, but ya’ll ain’t gonna like it,” she answered. “What do you mean?” Rarity asked. “Spike, can ya pull out that there vent there?” she asked point to covered hole. “Huh? Uh, sure, I guess so,” Spike answered, confused. “Do it,” she ordered. “Uh, ok,” he said, a little taken aback by how forceful she commanded. He grabbed the panel and, with some effort, managed to yank it off. “Ok, now what?” “You’re gonna go in there and hide. Don’t make a sound, don’t come out, and try to see if you can find some kinda info on where the hay we are.” “But AJ, we all can’t fit in there,” Rainbow Dash stated, noting how small the ventilation shaft was. “I didn’t say ‘we’re gonna go in there’,” the orange mare explained while taking off her element necklace. “Only him.” “WHAT!?” The other three screamed simultaneously. “You can’t be serious!” Rainbow shouted. “Ya said it yourself, RD, the rest a us can’t fit in there. Spike has ta go alone.” “B-But why do I have to leave at all!? I should stay and help you!” Spike complained. “Spike, listen ta me, we ain’t got any way ta leave, and we have no idea where we’re goin’. Sooner or later, we’re all gonna be tuckered out, and then we’re gonna get captured.” “So you’re just going to let me escape by myself!? No way! I’m not leaving you guys!” Spike yelled back, tears in his eyes. “No Spike, I’m afraid she’s right,” Rarity butt in, opening her eyes after contemplating the issue for a moment. “We will get caught eventually, especially considering we can’t leave, and we can’t put our faith in the others showing up to help us escape before then. Also, if we allow ourselves to get caught, we might finally get some information. Surely they won’t give us much, but anything is better than running around completely blind.” “Right. And we’ll leave the Elements of Harmony with Spike, that way them creatures won’t mess wit’ ‘em, or worse break ‘em,” Applejack added. “That’s probably a good idea,” agreed Rarity, using magic to remove her own necklace. “B-But Rarity, you can’t-!” Spike began. “Now listen dear, and listen good,” Rarity interrupted, gently holding Spike’s face. “This is very important, and we’re going to need you be the brave and reliable drake I know you are. Please, can you do this for me Spikey-Wikey?” The purple dragon looked back to the white mare, tears still forming in his eyes, unable to respond. “Rainbow Dash, I know you can’t be ok with just quitting like this!” Spike said, turning to the cyan pegasus. Rainbow merely stayed quiet for moment then sighed taking off her own necklace. “I could totally stay away from those creeps as long as I needed to, but to do that I’d have to leave the rest of you behind, and I won’t do that,” she said before walking over to Spike and placing a hoof on his shoulder. “Listen kid, this isn’t gonna be easy, but we need you to do this. Whatever those creeps are gonna do to us, we’ll be able to stick through it as long as we know you’re safe. And remember, don’t be a hero. That’s probably the only time you’ll ever hear me say that. Can you stay strong, kid?” Before he could answer Applejack took off her hat and put it on Spike’s head. “Take care of this too, will ya? I don’t want those ninnys messin’ it up,” she said with smile. Spike lowered his head and rubbed his eyes before sniffling for a moment. We he raised his head he looked back at them with a determined look in his eye before saluting them. “You can count on me, everypony!” he proudly declared. They all smiled and nodded back. A moment latter they heard the approaching sound of stomping. “Hurry! Get in there and close it up, and don’t make a sound, ya hear!?” Applejack ordered. “G-Got it!” Spike answered, carefully ducking into the ventilation shaft along with the Elements and Applejack’s hat before pulling the grate back in place. Moments later the creatures arrived, surrounding the three mares on all sides, backing them up towards the shaft and helping them hide it’s presence from them. “Surrender or be destroyed!” one of them bellowed. The three mares looked to each other for a moment before raising up their forelegs. “We surrender,” Applejack said. There was a moment of silence some exchanging of glances between the creatures, apparently not expecting them to give up after having run all this time. “Set blasters to stun,” one of them ordered, finally recovering from shock. They all pressed a button on their weapons then fired upon the three ponies. They all yelped in pain before collapsing. Spike was barely able to cover his mouth and keep himself from calling out to them. “Restrain them and take them to the Warmaster,” ordered one of the things. Others stepped forward grabbed the helpless mares. Before dragging them away Spike caught a glimpse of a barely conscious Applejack giving him a smile before being pulled away. Within a few moments, all of them were gone. Spike finally began to breath and wiped his eyes, sniffling for a moment. After taking a deep breath and steeling his resolve, he crawled further into the vent, intent on finding out where they were and also finding a way to save his friends. “THEY’RE WHAT!?” Twilight Sparkle screamed, having been explained where they saw her friends land and what the Glorft were. “Ohnoohnoohnoohno-“ “Twilight, calm down, you’re doing it again!” Pinkie Pie screamed as she violently shook her friend. “Um, P-Pinkie Pie, I don’t think-“ Fluttershy attempted to interject. “Hey, just chill. We’ll rescue your girly pony friends,” Coop stated calmly. “W-What?” Twilight asked, almost not believing what she heard. “Coop?” Kiva asked. “Well, it’s not like we were gonna leave them hanging, were we?” Coop clarified. “We get there, rescue the candied colored ponies, and come back here for some philly cheese steaks.” “’Philly cheese steaks’?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Oh man, you don’t have philly cheese steaks where you’re from!? Boy are you in for a treat!” “What are they?” Pinkie asked excitedly. “Uh, Coop?” Jamie began. “They’re hot sandwiches with cheese, beef, and few other things,” Coop explained. “What’s ‘beef’?” Pinkie asked. “Coop, I don’t think-“ Kiva tried to interrupt. “Uh… cow?” Coop answered simply. The three mares recoiled in shock and disgust. “’C-Cow’?!” Twilight stuttered. “A-As in m-meat!?” “Yeah?’ Coop answered, not knowing what the big deal was. “You eat other creatures!?” “You don’t?” “Coop, if they’re anything like the horses here on Earth, that means they’re herbivores,” Kiva explained. Coop thought for moment then looked back to Kiva. “What’s that mean again?” “It means they don’t eat meat.” “Isn’t that vegetarian?” “No Coop, I don’t mean they refuse to eat meat, I mean their bodies aren’t made to eat meat.” Coop’s eyes widened in shock. “You mean… they can’t eat meat?” he asked with a horrified expression. “For lack of a better explanation, yes,” Kiva answered in a frustrated tone. Coop simply stood there for a moment before walking over to the three ponies who were now too terrified to move. Once he stood directly in front of them he kneeled down and gripped them all in his massive arms. Just as it finally came to Twilight that she might want to struggle and escape, she noticed that Coop was sobbing. “You poor, poor things. D-Don’t you w-worry, I’m here f-for you-ou-ou,” he blubbered. “He still doesn’t get it,” Jamie commented. “Ugh, Coop we have important things to worry about than whether or not they eat meat,” Kiva complained. “O-Ok,” he stuttered, rising and wiping his eyes. The three mares simply stared back at him like he was crazy, which in Pinkie Pie’s case meant a lot. Twilight shook herself out of her stupor. “So, hold on, you really intend on helping us?” she asked. Coop simply nodded in response. “Not to question your skill, but how are you going to do that? You’re only four humans, and it sounds like you’re going against a well fortified army.” “Make that three humans,” Goat chimed in. “No hot space chicks, no junk planet, I’m out,” he declared while walking off the platform. “Meh, it’s no problem. Coop and M.E.G.A.S. beat the squids all the time,” Jamie explained calmly. “’M.E.G.A.S.’? Who’s that?” Pinkie Pie giggled. “That’s another funny sounding name!” “This is M.E.G.A.S.,” Coop explained, tapping the platform they were standing on. “You know, the robot you hit when you fell out of that portal?” “What are you talking about? We didn’t really see what we hit when we fell out,” Twilight explained. Coop opened his mouth to explain, but stopped. He then simply smiled and said, “Just step off and we’ll show you what I mean.” He then turned and entered the red box he had been in when they first met. Jamie entered the box with him while Kiva jumped off the side of the platform, landing gracefully on the ground. Twilight and Fluttershy flew down to the bottom. “Ok Pinkie! Jump down and I’ll catch-!” Twilight called up to the platform. “Hi Twilight!” “Gah!” Twilight flinched as she saw the pink mare had seemingly warped next to her. She then simply shook her head, realizing she should’ve been used to this by now. “So, what’re they going to show us?” she asked Kiva. “Just give it a minute,” she answered, turning back to face the platform, the three mares doing the same. Then, without warning, the platform began to rise. Not only was it much bigger than they had thought, but it was not merely a platform but some kind of metal giant. It had two legs, two arms, was colored blue and silver and had flames and the number twelve painted on it. On it’s back was some kind of engine, out of its shoulders came two fins, and on top of it all was the red box that Coop and Jamie had entered. It was so tall it seemed like if it was any taller it would block out the sun. Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie simply looked up in awe, their mouths open wide enough that it seemed a train could’ve easily gone through. “Oh… my,” Fluttershy squeaked out. “Dashie is gonna flip when she sees this!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Come on,” Kiva said, walking towards the metal golem. “Let’s see if we can find a way to rescue your friends.” “Keep moving!” the soldier ordered. “Hey, give me a break! My leg’s hurt and you won’t let me use my wings!” Gorrath turned to face his prisoners and grimaced at their bright colors and naked bodies. “Repulsive,” he muttered. One of them was white and purple with a horn on its head, the other multicolored with blue being dominant and possessing wings, while the third was orange with yellow hair. All three of them had collard around their necks and blasters and polearms pointed at them. “Welcome to the Karajor,” the Warmaster began. “Did you enjoy having a look around?” “Ugh, this place is awful!” the white one replied. “And I’m not talking about how your guards treated us. I mean this atrocious décor! Everything is this drab shade of green, there are no pictures or furniture of any kind to liven up the place, no accents at all! And don’t get me started on your outfits! All those angles and haphazard designs! The only positive things I can say are at the very least there are no clashing colors, and I must admit your uniforms do bring out the color in your eyes.” “SILENCE!” Gorrath bellowed, both enraged and shocked at just how much this pathetic lifeform could talk. “Well, I see some creatures just can’t take constructive criticism,” the white one huffed indignantly. Gorrath wrenched a blaster out of one of his guard’s hand and pointed it at the white creature. “SHUT UP OR I’LL BLAST THAT HAIR OFF YOUR STUPID HEAD!” The creature flinched, holding it’s two front appendages above its head defensively. “You. Wouldn’t. Dare,” it responded in both anger and shock. “ENOUGH OF THIS! YOU WILL TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ENERGY SOURCE YOU BROUGHT WITH YOU ONTO MY SHIP!” “’Energy source?’ What’s he talking about?” the blue one whispered. “Don’t try and play dumb with me! The entire time we’ve been tracking you you’ve been radiating an unknown energy from your position, and then just before your capture it disappeared! I want to know what happened!” The three creatures looked at each other, confused. Then the orange one’s eyes widened with realization. She looked to the others and tapped her neck, the other two seeming to realize what she was talking about. “So you do know! Tell me now!” “And why would ah do that?” the orange one asked defiantly. “Because if you don’t I’ll destroy you!” The orange one smirked. “If you really wanna use that power, that’d be a big mistake.” “And why is that?” The orange one kept quiet. Enraged Gorrath pointed the blaster at the blue one instead. “Talk!” he ordered. The blue creature blew a raspberry at him. “Yeah right! I’m not the Element of Loyalty for nothing, but!” The Glorft learder was about to yell again when he remembered the white one. He pointed his blaster at her purple hair. “Speak now, or your precious hair will be incinerated!” The white one squeaked for a moment before gathering herself and huffing and defiantly. “Do your worst! It’ll grow back, you ruffian!” “Why you-!” Gorrath seethed, aiming the blaster between her eyes. “NO!” The orange one jumped up and hit the blaster out of his hand. He responded by grabbing her head and squeezing. “TALK!” “Make… me,” the orange one struggled. “Gladly,” he responded, dropping her to the floor. “Commander! Take, this-“ he began, only to turn around and see his second-in command was still missing. He growled, and turned to the group of guards. “Take this one to the interrogation room,” he said pointing to the orange creature. “And throw the other two into the prison cells!” As the guards obeyed their orders the Warmaster activated his communicator. “Commander, where are you!?” he bellowed. “Apologies, Warmaster, but I’m still fixing the reactor,” the voice answered. “Hurry it up already! I’m going to be processing one of the prisoners, you had better be done before I’m finished with her or I’ll have your jhorblochs!” “By your command, Warmaster,” the Commander answered calmly before cutting communications. “Hm… The Commander is a bit less snarky today, “ he muttered to himself before heading towards the interrogation room. The Commander looked back at two guards behind him, frozen and encased in black crystals and chuckled before turning back to the reactor, the tube of light and energy, seeing the black energy building around the red horn inside. “I’ll be with you in a moment, Warmaster,” he said to himself in a sinister tone.