Episode 2: The ESP-Equestrian Science Patrol
Rocket Blaze lifted a hammer and pounded a nail into two beams. Repairs for Ponyville have been going on for two weeks now, and he was one of the ponies repairing the main district. He was placing the final nail on the library until he noticed a few war vehicles rolling into the town.
"Hey, dude." Rocket said as he poked the back of another carpenter, "What're those guys doing here?"
"Princess' orders." the other pony replied, "There's a pretty high possibility that there'll be another attack, so soldiers are gonna be patrolling and hanging out here."
"How'd you know that?"
"The news, brick-head. Read the papers sometime."
"All I read is some junk about someone's coronation last week. Who is it, again?"
"TWILIGHT. Twilight Sparkle. She still kinda lives here, though. Either way, we gotta get this library done."
"Alrighty, then..."
Twilight Sparkle strolled down the massive halls of the palace with her friends and Spike behind her. The escort opened a door into the rather majestic throne room where Princess Celestia would be. She and he companions bowed before the princess.
Twilight cleared her throat, but before she can speak, Celestia interrupted.
"Its happening, Twilight." Celestia said.
"B-but Your Majesty," Twilight replied, "i-it can't be!"
"I know...but the milk delivery company kept sending in cheese, so there's no other thing to do other than-"
"Um...Your Majesty? I was talking about the new security measures..."
"You mean the war forces? You need them. I mean, we need them. I have a f-feeling there are...more a-aliens out there just w-waiting to strike..."
"Princess Celestia, are you okay?"
The princess lifted her head from a box of donuts. Her mouth was covered with crumbs and filling while her mane was a total mess. "Who? Me? Okay? YES! Yes, I'm okay! I'm not nervous! Who says I'm nervous?! NOPONY'S NERVOUS!!!"
"Um, you know, Your Majesty, we can just-"
"Uh...oh! Just look at the time! Looks like you...have to go now!'
"But, Princess Celestia-"
"Ta-taaaaaaaaaaaa~!" Princess Celestia nervously sang as she used her power to throw everyone else in the room into the hallway. She locked the door and called for Luna and Discord, who arrived rather early.
"It's happening again, just as he said..." Celestia started, her voice much more serious and grim. Luna gasped in surprise, while Discord rolled his eyes.
"Are you sure?" Discord asked, "This might be just like last year..."
"Discord," Luna said, "you mutated that lobster because you said it didn't taste right. It doesn't count."
"Oh." the embodiment of chaos replied. "So should we...?"
"No." Celestia said, "Its still early. And if that giant is the one..."
Celestia's thoughts were interrupted when the door flew open, showing an exhausted Twilight Sparkle and her companions.
"With all due respect, Princess Celestia..." she started, "I am also a princess...But I do have a plan."
The three gods discussed privately for a moment then Celestia cleared her throat. "We would like to hear it, Twilight."
Twilight smiled. "We would like to form a team, one dedicated to studying and counteracting these monsters. They aren't of our world, so there are a few factors we need to put in mind. Our own military might not be enough, so..."
The next day, in Ponyville...
Rocket Blaze fell hard on the ground. Royal Guards approached the giant robot animals and attempted to move them to Canterlot for reasons they didn't disclose. Rocket Blaze had been told to stay away from Cosmo Beak, and he needed more "convincing". The guards eventually had to call for more pegasi to help them transport the metal titans, but kept them secure for the time being.
One of the Royal Guards, one from Luna's division, approached the rather beat-up Rocket Blaze. "Sir, again, please leave the site. Her Majesty, Princess Celestia has already ordered for the possession of these machines. Now, we;d like you to go back and focus on repairs..."
"Fine, fine..." Rocket said, standing up "It's not like I helped that day..." It took the sheer presence of four heavily armed guards to make Rocket Blaze go away from the robot. Repairs were almost done, anyway, so Rocket Blaze returned to his job where much smaller things needed fixes. He only had a few customers, namely Derpy Whooves for a table that she accidentally destroyed during the ensued battle. After that, it seemed everyone just had to redecorated. Rocket Blaze did it immediately after the fight, so he was just there, bored, and had nothing to do. He looked again at the EnigBrace, the alien artifact that now resides on his front right leg. Something in it told him that there will be more...but he also knew he needed Cosmo Beak. So on he thought...
"I know this sounds crazy, Storm, but I have to do this..." Rocket spoke into the EnigBrace, "I'm gonna...Break...In..."
"And HOW do you suppose to do that?" Storm replied from the EnigBrace.
"Though you claim to be a champion of light..." Rocket said, opening a cabinet with a ninja suit, "We must lurk in the shadows..."
Security in Canterlot Castle seemed to tighten, as well. Guards were practically everywhere; from the gates to the pathways to the actual entrance to the castle. Luckily, though, his ninja suit made sneaking past them easy.Now he was in the castle. After ducking and hiding behind almost every piece of furniture, he now found himself at the first corner of the hall. Now he had to know where they kept Cosmo Beak. He looked around carefully until he caught sight of a guard holding a piece of metal. But Rocket knew it wasn't some ordinary piece of metal, it was some sort of replica...a small replication of Cosmo Beak's weapon! He began following the guard down the halls and corridors and stairs, up until he entered some secret, high-tech facility.
"This is...weird..." Rocket thought. The large room looked like a hangar from a sci-fi movie. He saw scientists on computers, running around and looking at the Cosmo robots. He saw the mane 6 and the rulers of Equestria studying the robots along with the scientists. Rocket crawled to Cosmo Beak, but was suddenly caught by a tractor beam! He looked around him, and saw scientists, guards, the mane 6, and the gods, all looking at him. The tractor beam deactivated, and Rocket dropped to the floor. Rocket stood up and lances and arrows were all pointed at him. Celestia waved her hoof, and all the weapons were withdrawn. Celestia's magic levitated Rocket to her and the other gods.
"We..." Celestia started, "shall discuss somewhere more..."
"...Private." Discord interrupted. With a snap of his claws, they were transported to this empty space where only he and the others existed. Rocket Blaze was placed down, and his mask and ninja suit taken away.
"Who are you?" Luna asked. Her gaze turned to the EnigBrace. The gods all looked at it, the artifact seemed familiar to them.
"I..." Rocket Blaze started, but the EnigBrace glew green and projected a life-sized image of Storm.
"He is Rocket Blaze of Ponyville." Storm said, "I am Enigman Storm of the E-70 Nebula."
"The E-70 Nebula..." Celestia thought, the name was familiar to her, but she couldn't get her hoof on it. "Why are you here, Enigman?"
Rocket watched as Storm explained his mission. He said the same things he told Rocket when they first met, and the three rulers seem to accept it. "So...you're here to...fight these...Galactic Beasts?" Luna said when Storm finished.
Storm nodded. "They have terrorized this system for some time now. I have been assigned to stop them and find the reason of it all.
"I have reason to believe that it involves this specific planet...Equos. Legends of it have reached other galaxies, and even my home cluster. Whatever the Beasts are looking for, it must be rare and powerful..."
"Something rare...something powerful..." Discord spoke in thought, "Perhaps the-"
"Elements of Harmony?" Celestia finished.
"Wait, Elements of Harmony?" Rocket said, "Those crystal things that symbolize some friendship stuff?"
"Yes," Celestia replied, "I'm not sure about it, but from what I've seen about the beasts, they're...not really 'Harmony' material."
"But the issue remains," Luna said, "You have seen the facility, you can't tell anyone else, understand?"
"Yes, Your Highness." Rocket said, bowing down.
Storm bowed as well, and presented some sort of...symbol. Celestia gasped and privately discussed with the other rulers. After some time, they approached Rocket Blaze.
"Luna is correct, you cannot tell everyone about it." Celestia said, "What you saw is the headquarters of the newly created task force aimed at protecting Equestria from these...Kaiju."
"'Kaiju'..." Storm said, his voice sounding rather curious, "...some other worlds call them by that name...but I guess it'll do."
Celestia ignored Storm's comment and nodded at Discord, who deactivated the private realm. The space around them faded and they were once again in the facility. Luna commanded the guards to lower their weapons and basically told everypony that everything's okay. The image of Storm, Rocket observed, disappeared, and no one else seemed to notice it, which made him relieved.
Rocket was given some sort of badge. It was in the shape of some star and had the cutie marks of Celestia, Luna, and what seemed to be a symbol for Discord, all partially covered by the initials "E.S.P.".
"Everypony, this is Rocket Blaze." Celestia said, "Rocket Blaze, Welcome to the Equestria Science Patrol."
Somewhere near the moon of Equos, an invisible flagship faces the planet. Inside, a massive eight-headed monster looked at Equos, its eyes were like those of a starving beast.
A cloaked figure, not as large as the multi-headed creature, entered the massive room and bowed before it. The giant beast snarled.
"You're late..."
"I know, my lord, space travel is rather....hectic this time of the cycle."
"I don't care. Is it ready?"
"Yes, it's on its way...now"
The two beings looked at the great viewing screen and watched as a meteor flew across the stars and into the planet's surface.
"We shall see if they are...ready..."
"Come on! Let me see~" Rainbow Dash said. Rocket Blaze emerged from the facility's restroom. He was wearing a pilot's suit. It was orange and had gray stripes for zippers and pocket holes. Rainbow Dash laughed.
"You...you look SOOOO silly!" she said, laughing some more.
"You're wearing one right now." Rocket replied, his voice sounding unhappy.
"At least I look AWESOME." Rainbow Dash replied, showing off her own suit. Rocket shook his head and headed for the hangar. He beheld a repaired Cosmo Beak and two other robots. Twilight Sparkle approached him from the tiger-like robot where Fluttershy and Apple Jack were sitting in. Pinkie Pie and Rarity were trying out the smaller, ship-like blue-bird robot.
"Hi, how are you?" Twilight asked.
"I'm fine....Your Highness." Rocket replied.
"Come on, let's get you into YOUR ride." Twilight used her magic to move herself and Rocket onto a platform near Cosmo Beak's cockpit. "I'll be in Cosmo Roar...Pinkie, Rarity and Dashie will be in Cosmo Fang."
"Cosmo Fang...Cosmo Roar?" Rocket asked.
"You'll see..." Twilight said, "but can I ask you something?"
"Ask me something?"
"Are you related to the silver giant?!"
Rocket Blaze's eyes widened. "What...makes you think so?"
"I eavesdropped on Princess Celestia and Luna."
"Isn't that bad-manners?"
"Don't change the subject!"
Princess Luna coughed. The two ponies stopped talking and looked at her. "If you girls are done kissing, we've got some monster-killing to do!"
Rocket looked at the screen and saw that a meteor crashed near Canterlot. Some blue glow shined through the cracks on it, and Rocket knew it isn't good.
"Get going, now!"
Rocket jumped into Cosmo Beak and nearly lost her balance. The machine was raised to the launching bay.
"Ready, Rocket?" someone asked.
"Ready!" he replied, "Rocket Blaze, Cosmo Beak, Launching!"
Cosmo Beak flew out of the tunnel at high speed and darted across the city skies. Rocket slowed the machine down and saw that the smaller blue robot and the tiger robot caught up, along with numerous military transport ships. He saw something slimy and blue coming out of the meteor, and it was attacking some military war machines on ground.
"Rocket, can you see that?" Twilight said through the cockpit communication system.
"Yep." he replied, "Am I..?"
"Fire!" Rainbow Dash shouted. Cosmo Fang shot pellets of laser energy at the blue slime. Cosmo Roar and Cosmo Beak proceeded to fire their own weapons. The slime-like being seemed to absorb the lasers and fired it at Cosmo Fang, who dodged it thanks to Rainbow Dash's crammed piloting skills.
"Looks like we're facing a sponge!" Applejack said.
The leader of the troop facing the beast showed up on the communicator. "Looks like we need to be more on the offensive. All units, open fire!"
Lasers, rocks, spears, arrows, and missiles bombarded the being until it was covered in a veil of smoke. They kept firing until the creature unleashed a loud roar...then nothing. The ground unit began to celebrate, but when the smoke cleared out...
"Oh buck." Rocket said. The blue alien absorbed their attacks and also the destroyed machinery, and somewhat morphed into some mechanical monster with some exposed spots of plasma. "Not good at all..."
Celestia appeared on Rocket's communicator. "Do it now!"
Rocket nodded. "Cosmo Beak," he said, "activate Automatic Pilot! Pursue target with aggression!" Rocket Blaze raised the Enigbrace. "EEEENIIIIIIIGMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"
After a flash of green light, Enigman Storm appeared on the battle ground, facing the mechanical monstrosity. He assumed a fighting stance and the two giants charged at each other.
To be continued...