//------------------------------// // To Make A Point // Story: Mega Man X: Forgotten Legend // by Blue Bomber //------------------------------// The last Friday of the month... ----- X stood at his post outside the throne room, his left forearm morphed into the X-Buster, his right hand holding the hilt of the Z-Saber, ready for anything that could happen. Next to him was a white unicorn clad in the armor of a Royal Guard, and wielding a spear and shield. The door to the throne room opened, and Princess Celestia stepped out. She looked at X and the unicorn and gave them a small nod before leaving to do whatever it was that needed to be done. When she had gone, X and the unicorn looked at each other and nodded. X disarmed his X-Buster and slid the Z-Saber back into its place on the side of X's left leg. The unicorn levitated her spear and shield and sheathed them on her back. The two of them began walking off into the hallway as two other ponies immediately shifted next to the door leading into the throne room. "So...you're my new partner now. Are you from around here?" the unicorn asked. X looked at her. "Do I look like I'm from around here?" The unicorn looked back. "I guess not." With that, the unicorn quickly gave up on asking this strange creature about his helmet, and pretty much every other question she would have liked to ask, which were along the lines of why he didn't wear Royal Guard armor, why his...hand? Why his hand transformed into a cylindrical object every time he was on duty, why he was blue, and a million other things. Soon they had arrived at the guards' barracks, where the unicorn took off her weapon and armor, and placed them down into a storage compartment. As soon as her armor came off, her coat became cream-colored. X had wandered off to a nearby desk and picked up some paper and a pen. He sat down and began writing. The unicorn noticed and went next to him and sat down. "Watcha doing?" "Nothing much. Just writing back to some friends in Ponyville." After he was placed into the Royal Guard with Shining Armor's approval, his friends had returned to Ponyville, and he had stayed behind in Canterlot. "Alright then. I'll just go now so I won't-" "All done!" The unicorn stared wide-eyed at the letter that X had composed in a matter of seconds. Dear Fluttershy, I'm doing quite well here, don't you worry. I'm getting used to this work, but it isn't too bad. I have to stand for several hours a day without moving, but that's not a problem since my legs can't get sore. Haha! And yes, I'm trying to make some friends, too. I guess the ponies here just need some time to get used to me, I can totally understand that. Maybe you should get out more often and meet new people. It's not good to hide in your cottage all the time. -X Don't forget to tell the animals I said hi! X sat patiently as the unicorn looked at his letter, wide-eyed. After a few moments, X said, "It's not very nice to read others personal letters." "Oh! I'm sorry!" she stammered. "I'm sorry...er..." "X." "I'm sorry, X. I didn't mean to do that! But your handwriting is so pretty!" She waved his letter in the air. It looked like it had been written in Times New Roman, 12 point font, single spaced. "Is that so?" He picked up another sheet of paper and wrote in perfectly measured Ariel font, What is your name? She looked surprised at this new handwriting, then picked up the paper and wrote, Bliss Windfall. "Nice to meet you, Miss Windfall." "No need for formalities. Just call me Bliss." "Nice to meet you...partner." X stuck out his hand. ----- Celestia's ears perked up as she thought she heard an explosion coming from Ponyville's general direction. Almost immediately a guard ran up to Celestia with a report. "Princess, there's been an explosion in Ponyville!" Celestia checked her calendar. "Hmm...today is the last Friday of the month. Does that ring a bell?" The guard's face brightened as the information sank into him. "That's right. I had almost forgotten. Well if that's the case, then I shall be off, Princess." Celestia smiled as the guard went back to whatever he had been guarding. She just hoped that the explosion hadn't woken her sister. ----- Twilight Sparkle was busy cleaning the library alongside Spike. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Spike! Could you go answer the door!" "Coming!" Spike opened the door, and Discord stepped in, his eyes glowing a strange shade of green. "Why hello there, Spike! How do you do today?" "I'm doing fine, Discord." The strange eyes made Spike feel uneasy. "Your eyes look a bit strange today." "Oh? Maybe...I just decided to have a little bit of change for today." he replied as he sidestepped Spike and entered the library. "Hello there. Are you Twilight Sparkle, by any chance?" "Discord! Did you need anyt-" her eyes suddenly widened in fear at his ominous green eyes. "So." He snapped his fingers a few times. "You're the leader, aren't you? If this spirit's memory is correct...I'll take you first, and then the others!" His hand reached for Twilight. "You're...not...Discord..." she whimpered. Suddenly, Spike ran into the library so see what was going on. "Discord! What do you think you're doing?!" "No, Spike! This isn't Discord! Run! Go get help!" "So this is her pet lizard, eh? Well, I suppose I should take you too." Discord levitated them both up and tossed them into an ominous looking portal. "Now, which one next...? ----- "Princess Celestia!" The nervous guard from earlier ran up to the princess. "Hmm?" Princess Celestia was sitting down, sipping her daily afternoon tea. "A train that was heading into Ponyville crashed! Apparently a magical barrier is surrounding the town and is cutting off all attempts to enter!" "What?!" Celestia spit out her tea. "Explain the situation!" she commanded. The guard looked around nervously. "I can't believe this...but the Element Bearers, they've taken control of Ponyville, and divided it into six areas. I would assume that each of them would control one-sixth of Ponyville." Suddenly, a loud CRASH rang out from the hallway outside and blew a large hole in the wall. The guard instinctively ducked down and raised his shield, as Celestia raised a barrier spell around the guard and herself. As the smoke cleared, some pony like forms stepped forward. They were similar to ponies in shape, but they appeared to have metallic bodies. Their eye optics glowed a deep shade of red. They advanced on Celestia and the guard. The guard struck at an earth pony with his spear, but it proved useless as it bounced off its hard, robotic coat. The earth pony counterattacked with a powerful weighted stomp, throwing the guard off balance as a pegasus slammed into him with its metallic wings, throwing him into the wall behind him. The guard tried to get up, then stopped as he caught sight of a unicorn aiming its horn at him. His eyes stared with dread. The shot never made it. Celestia herself had fired a powerful solar shot at the unicorn, stunning it, and threw it at the pegasus with her magic, creating yet another hole in the wall. Celestia then bucked the earth pony, sending it sliding across the ground. The ruckus had awakened Princess Luna from her slumber, and she had angrily torn through scattered forces of these strange robot ponies, helping the guards fight the ponies when she could, but ultimately her goal was to reach Celestia as soon as possible. Luna's eyes went wide as she entered Celestia's chamber. She saw the injured guard, and Celestia fighting three of those ponies. With a roar, she threw herself into the battle. Her horn fired off powerful shots of magic, although most of them missed because the metal ponies were incredibly agile. Celestia ran over to the fallen guard and quickly cast a powerful healing spell on him to reduce his injuries. As she did so, her eyes gave off a cold stare as she watched Luna attempt to fend off the three attackers. Luna finally got her break when the pegasus attempted to run into her at high speeds. Instead of dodging like it expected Luna to do, she instead blasted it with her voice. "BEGONE, VILE SCUM!" The attacking pegasus stopped dead in its tracks, and Luna slammed its head into the floor with her incredible strength. The other two ponies were also stunned by her voice, and Luna wasted no time in delivering two precisely aimed bolts at their head. The shots connected, and they fell down on the ground. When Luna went over to look at those ponies, they suddenly got up and ran off. Luna did not pursue them; checking on her sister and the guard was more important. She did notice that as they ran, their bodies didn't have much of even a scratch on them. Luna was slightly disturbed by this. She went over to Celestia and said, "This could be war, sister." ----- X and Bliss Windfall were spending their free time lounging around in the barracks, along with other guards that were off duty. Some were reading, some were playing board games, some were practicing their combat skills. And then there were some others that were catching up on much needed sleep. X sat down on a nearby cushion, and ran maintenance on his systems. Although he didn't really need it since he hadn't gotten into combat mode much nowadays, it was a good habit. AUTO REPAIR SYSTEM...PASS OPTIC CAMERA...PASS MOTOR FUNCTIONS...PASS MEMORY SYSTEM...PASS GYROSCOPIC STABILIZATION (FULL AUTO BALANCER)...PASS ESCAPE UNIT...PASS SUB-TANKS...0 READY (0% CHARGE) SOLAR POWER UNIT...PASS MICRO-FUSION REACTOR FUEL TANK...100% FULL SOLAR BATTERY: 100% ALL SYSTEMS: CODE GREEN Oh dear, X thought. My Sub-Tanks seem to have been left behind in the old world. X then ran maintenance on his combat systems. After all, being a guard meant that being combat-ready was a must. Auto-Repair- Pass VWS (Variable Weapons System)- Pass (2 weapons currently ready) X-Buster (Mega Buster Mk17)- Ready Energy- 100% Armor Upgrades Pegasus set- foot parts ready. This set is 25% complete. End Combat System quick maintenance. Looks good, X thought to himself. "Hello?" X suddenly saw a hoof waving at his face. "You've been staring at that wall for like, thirty minutes." Bliss said. "Oh, sorry. I was making sure that I was in tip-top condition." Bliss gave him an odd look. "Okay then. I can't wait till tomorrow!" she smiled. "Nothing ever happens on the last Friday of the month." X laughed. "That's funny. Where I'm from, something always happens on the last Friday of the month." Suddenly, a loud CRASH rang out from outside the barracks. X and the other guards ran outside to see what was going on. Everypony's eyes went wide as they saw strange, gray, metal ponies attacking randomly and causing utter chaos. All the guards ran at the ponies, including X, and attacked them. As X charged at a nearby earth pony that was attacking, it looked up and made eye contact with him. What he saw made his coolant run cold. Red, glowing eyes. X staggered backwards in a terrible mix of fear and anger. No..! It can't be! "You...Maverick!" Meanwhile, the guards were being driven back by the coming onslaught of the robots, the attacks of the guards proving to be useless. There was no way a simple spear could punch through a robotic chassis. "X, help!" X snapped out of his stupor as some guards that had learned his name cried out for help. They had gotten themselves surrounded, with the robots quickly closing in. X dashed at the Maverick ponies and knocked them out of formation, scattering them. He would retire those bots, but defending his team was more important. "Everypony, get behind me!" X waved his arms, and the guards did not hesitate as they all gathered tightly behind him. X armed his X-Buster as the Maverick ponies began getting into formation. A pegasus flew at X, but he caught it and slammed it into the ground, before firing a shot down into its body. The other guards looked aghast, but X ignored them and continued his Maverick hunting onslaught. He gathered solar energy and aimed a fully charged shot at the Maverick crowd, the energy blast tearing through the ponies. The shot kept traveling until it hit the opposite wall, where it smashed it open and revealed even more Mavericks behind it. "Listen up, team!" X's experience as a commander was beginning to kick in. "We're going to make our way to the Princesses! Rule number one! Don't split up from the group! Rule number two! Don't engage the Maverick bots! I'll handle them. Rule number three! Watch each others backs! Rule number four!" X looked at his squad. "Don't die." X and his squad marched boldly into the castle, X taking out any Maverick bots that might be in the way, and his pony squad keeping an eye out for any that were hiding or were missed. They made their way to the throne room, where he hoped the Princesses would be. It was empty, the walls mostly wrecked, and signs of a scuffle were everywhere. "We're going to try the courtyard this time," X said to his pony squad, "and we will find where all these Maverick bots are coming from." X took a deep breath before marching off with the ponies in tow. They had no idea what a "Maverick bot" was, although they were getting quite the demonstration of what a Maverick could do. ----- After much fighting and buster shooting, they tore their way to the courtyard, where the two princesses faced Discord and the Element Bearers. "What is the meaning of this, ordering an attack on the castle?!" Celestia shouted. "I'm just waiting for an old friend to show up, Celestia. Just wai- oh, there he comes." X approached Discord, and was shocked. "You! I've seen you...no, that's not right. I've seen your body before, but your eyes, they've changed...Sigma. Tell me what you've done to Discord!" "X! I've waited so long to be free! Do you know how long I've drifted out there in the open after the world was destroyed? Thanks to you, when you opened the space between worlds, I was able to jump from our own world to this one!" X looked angrily. "So you'll try to destroy this world too." "I won't be so easily foiled this time, X. I have them." Discord-Sigma motioned to the Harmony Bearers. "And I also have these." He snapped his fingers, and the Elements of Harmony appeared around him. "No!" Celestia cried. "Do you have what it takes to save this little world alone, without your friends, X? I- they will be waiting for you in Ponyville." With that, Discord-Sigma disappeared, along with the Element Bearers and their Elements of Harmony. Even the Maverick ponybots seemed to be disappearing. X looked around at the damaged palace, and shook his head. "I won't let him get away with this." He turned around and looked at his pony squad, and gave them a sad smile. "I'll leave for Ponyville in two days. During that time I'll try to restore the palace, at least somewhat, then I'll go and fight Sigma." X turned around to the Princesses. "I'll come with you!" "What?" X turned around to see that Bliss Windfall had raised her hoof up in proclamation. "I said, I'll come with you. What are friends for?" "I'll come too!" X turned to see that another one of his squad had raised his hoof, followed by another, and another, and another. "My, my, X. You seem to have made quite a name for yourself." Luna smiled. X turned to face his squad. "Get yourselves ready, team." "We have a war to win."