//------------------------------// // Friendship Under Fire // Story: My Giant Robot: Friendship is Awesome // by shinigamisparda //------------------------------// “Girls! Spike! Are you ok!?” The drake and three mare’s vision adjusted, no longer focused on the metal giant lodged in the ceiling like a splinter but rather one spot in particular. “Twilight! Thank Celestia you’re ok!” Spike called, spotting the violet alicorn peeking her head out the window of the car. His joy was so great he almost jumped out of Rarity’s embrace to run over to her. Almost. “Of course! What’d you think?” Spike rolled his eyes in response. “Never mind that, darling! Free Rainbow and Applejack so we can get out of here!” Rarity called. “Right!” the Princess responded before jumping out of the machine flying down to the two bound mares. Her aura enveloped the chains holding them and the locks quickly opened, dropping them to the floor. “Yes!” Rainbow Dash shouted, immediately taking to the air. Applejack, however, immediately slumped to the floor. “Applejack! What’s wrong!” Twilight asked, holding her friend up with her hooves. “Sombra tortured her with a fear spell!” Spike answered from across the room. “Ah’m ok. Just need some rest,” the farm mare weakly assured her friend. Twilight wanted to complain but knew now wasn’t the time. “Spike, grab the Elements and let’s get out of here!” “Check!” Spike saluted before finally moving from Rarity’s grasp over to retrieve the jewels, only to halt as his eyes shrunk. “Oh no!” “What is it?” “The vent where I left the Elements!” the dragon exclaimed, pointing to the part of the wall where the giant hole now stood. Twilight whirled around to face the cockpit of M.E.G.A.S., her face contorted in anger. “COOP!” “What!? I didn’t know! How was I supposed to know!?” the blonde man responded indignantly, sticking his head out the window. Twilight growled and grit her teeth in frustration, her mane starting to unfurl as her eyes began to cross in anger. “Oh great, we’ve been in this dimension barely an hour and already she’s found somepony that can drive her crazy,” Spike muttered. “Uh, I mean, something,” he corrected, looking at the strange heavyset creature in the red box. Twilight took a deep breath to calm herself, but was still noticeably angry. She teleported herself and Applejack into the back seat of the car, startling the three humans inside, and gently set down the orange farmare on the seat cushion. “Fluttershy, take care of Applejack,” she ordered pointing to the yellow pegasus. “U-Um, yes!” “Coop, cause some kind of distraction.” “Blow up a bunch of stuff far away from you guys, got it.” “Uh, sure, that works I guess. Pinkie Pie, you’re with the rest of us. We’re going after the Elements.” “Rogeroonie!” the pink mare replied with a salute. “Jamie, go with them.” “What?!” everyone in the car asked, looking to Kiva with shock. “Me!?” “Him!?” Twilight and Coop asked. “Why me!?” “Because they could use all the help they could get, and I have to stay here with M.E.G.A.S.” “But why me!?” Jamie asked again in a more exasperated tone. “Admittedly you won’t be much help, but at least you won’t be completely useless like you would be if you stayed here,” the redhead answered with a smirk. “Hey, I’m useful! I come up with different ideas on what to do in deadly situations!” “You mean ‘complain.’” “Exactly!” “And more importantly,” Kiva continued, handing him a communication device, “you’ll be the only one who’ll be able to use this.” Jamie growled as he took the device and stuffed it into his sweater pocket before reaching under the seat and pulling out a wooden bat. “I’m risking my life to save magical talking ponies from aliens,” me muttered. “Just when I thought my life couldn’t get any weirder.” “We’ll leave the Elements here, just in case we get caught,” Twilight said, removing her crown as Pinkie took off her necklace. “Ready?” she asked Jamie. “I guess.” The princess held a hoof out to him while she linked forelegs with Pinkie. Jamie took it and in a flash all three were on the floor with the others. “Alright Coop, we’ll let you know we’ve got them!” the violet mare called to the pilot. “Check! See you on the other side!” he replied with a thumbs up before shifting into reverse. The robot began to beep as it removed itself from the hole and flew off. “Ok, is every-?” Twilight’s question was cut off by the sound of retching. She turned to see Jamie, hurling the contents of his stomach over the edge of the bottomless pit. “Well, that’s charming,” Rarity grimaced. “Oh yeah, first time teleportation disorientation,” she muttered. After a few moments the human pulled himself from the edged, looking even paler than usual. “Ugh. I’m ok,” he tried to assure them, failing miserably. “Um, right. Let’s go everypony!” Twilight ordered. “Pfft. ‘Everpony’,” Jamie snickered as they all ran off. The four mares, one dragon, and one human cautiously snuck by the armies running through the hallways, doing their best to check the halls and rooms that had massive holes in them. It was around their sixth time checking when Spike spotted Applejack’s hat. “Hey, I think I found them!” he exclaimed in glee before rushing towards it. “Spike wait!” Twilight and Rarity both called. A laser blast struck the floor right in front of his feet, causing him to hop back. Several more followed, causing him to almost dance backwards to regroup with his friends. A group of twenty Glorft soldiers followed, turning the corner to face the group. “Surrender or be destroyed!” A high pitched, ear-piercing scream rang out in response. “Dang, Rarity, what happened to all the confidence you had when you fought Sombra!?” Rainbow Dash asked, rubbing her ears. “That wasn’t me, darling,” “Then who-?” The scream rang out again, farther away this time. Everypony turned to see Jamie running down the hall before dashing into a room to hide. “Wow, big help,” Twilight deadpanned before turning back to their aggressors, magic gathered in her horn as she flared her wings. “Take them down every pony!” “Ah. Great tea.” Discord, master of Disharmony, creator of Chaos, was sitting in Fluttershy’s cottage, drinking tea… and nothing else. The strangeness of the incident was not lost on the animals, which were even more nervous than when he was actively up to something. Then again, the draconequus was up to something. He had been for a whole week now, but it wasn’t until Fluttershy and her friends left for Canterlot that he was sure something was coming soon. He just needed to kick back and wait for results. “And here they come,” he muttered, feeling a teleportation spell outside the cottage. “DISCORD!” the Princess of the Sun bellowed as she threw open the door to cottage with her magic, somehow managing not to break it. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?” “I made some tea,” he responded simply. “Want some? It’s a special brand Zecora made Fluttershy, and I have to say it’s magnificent!” “THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEAN! WHERE IS MY STUDENT AND HER FRIENDS!? I KNOW YOU HAD SOMETHING TO-MMPH!?” Celestia found herself unable to speak, Discord’s paw clamping her muzzle shut. She was about to shake him off before she noticed the serious look in his eyes. “What as that last part? Sparkle and her friends are missing?” asked Discord, his voice disturbingly calm. Celestia nodded. “Fluttershy is missing?” Another nod. “Tell me everything,” he ordered, releasing her. “About an hour ago, I felt a large amount of reality warping magic inside the royal palace,” Celestia began, her curiosity and Discord’s odd behavior calming her. “I had thought it was you and was going to confront you myself when I remembered that Twilight had called her friends up the previous night. I had assumed you had come to see Fluttershy and pull some harmless pranks, but when I tried to find them to ask they were all missing.” “Where did the magic originate from?” “I didn’t bother to get an exact location when it happened. That was my mistake.” “Something went wrong,” Discord muttered. “Pardon?” “No time. We’re leaving now,” he said, and both deities disappeared with a snap of his claw. “Uh, sugarcube, you sure ya know what yer doin’?” Applejack asked, looking ahead at the army of mechs in front of her nervously. “Hey relax, this’ll be fun,” Coop assured her, turning to the back seat with a smile. “Just buckle up and enjoy the show.” “Just make sure not to take too much damage,” Kiva cautioned. “We still need to pick up Twilight and make it out of here.” “Hey I got it covered. These guys are gonna be easy pickings, like always. Alright Applejacks-“ “Applejack, but you can call me AJ if it makes it easier.” “AJ then. You dealt with a bunch of evil dudes back home with magic and friendship and a bunch of mushy stuff huh?” the gearhead asked, his smile turning threatening. “Uh, pretty much, yeah.” “Well, time for you to see how we deal with bad guy chumps in Jersey,” he proclaimed turning back to face his enemies. “IT’S TIME TO GET LOUD!” Coop clapped his hands together, with M.E.G.A.S. mimicking his actions unleashing a massive shockwave of sound that forced back the Glorft mechs. He then quickly grasped a joystick and pushed forward, causing the blue titan to jump forwards, sailing above the green robots below. “You’re going to want to put these on,” Kiva explained, buckling the two ponies’ seatbelts moments before M.E.G.A.S. belly flopped into the enemy forces, sending smoke, fire and debris in every direction. There was a moment wait before M.E.G.A.S. came charging out of the smoke and proceeded to destroy its opponents, easily breaking off heads, arms and legs with brutal punches and kicks. After finally clearing some room Coop began to use more elaborate and brutal techniques. M.E.G.A.S. lifted one mech and ripped it in half. Another had its arms torn from its sockets before being used to beat their owner into submission. The blue behemoth then grabbed two by the heads before smashing them into each other. “Oh… my!” Fluttershy stuttered, on the verge of fainting. “You think that’s cool? Watch this!” Coop exclaimed, completely oblivious to her reaction. After entering left, down, right, X on his controller, M.E.G.A.S. punched straight into a mech’s chest before quickly ripping out its main reactor. The blonde man let loose with a victorious cry as the robot held aloft its trophy before crushing it, it’s owner exploding almost immediately afterwards. Before the pony passenger could even process the brutal action Coop drove the blue mech at a wall. At the last moment he pressed up and triangle on his controller causing the robot to jump at the wall before kicking off it, launching itself back at the crowd before elbow dropping into it, destroying several more enemies. M.E.G.A.S. came charging out from the smoke and debris before grabbing another mech and swinging it around, smacking any nearby enemies away, before grabbing it by the shoulders and ripping it apart vertically. The blue robot then leaped forward, spinning with one of its legs extended, smacking more of the enemy forces away. Upon landing it attacked another opponent with a jumping uppercut with enough strength to send it flying, and before even landing the blue mech extended both its legs for a double drop kick, smashing two unlucky enemies back into an equally unlucky group behind it. Applejack could only look on in shock at the ease of which this fat pilot and his weapon destroyed what at first appeared to be a formidable army, but now looked bowling pins to be knocked over. “Is it always like this?” she asked the redhead in the back seat. “Just wait. He’s barely gotten started,” she answered, a smirk appearing on her face despite the exasperated tone of her voice. M.E.G.A.S. shoved its hands into the torsos of two more mechs before firing it’s hands, sending the two enemies further into the crowd like missiles before exploding. As two new hands emerged from the empty sockets the robot turned to backhand a charging mech to the ground before leaping up to stomp on its head. Coop let loose a battle cry as he commanded his robot to charge forward and tackle another enemy before quickly lifting it and throwing into a group mechs, exploding on impact. M.E.G.A.S. raised its hand and caught one of the many pieces of debris that flew out from the explosion, one of the robot’s legs, before proceeding to charge into another group of enemies, brandishing the leg like a club. Coop moved a joystick back and forth, causing the blue titan to swing its improvised weapon, mangling anything unlucky enough to be within its reach. Enemy mechs were being flung left and right, smashing into their allies and blowing up along with them. M.E.G.A.S. leaped up and brought down its weapon on a poor victim, smashing it to the floor, before swinging at the midsection of another and splitting it in half. The blue behemoth kicked out the leg of another and as it fell swung its weapon upwards, sending the Glorft mech’s head flying. Another mech fired a short burst from its gatling cannon, but Coop managed to skillfully deflect the blasts away using the leg club. Just then his previous victim’s head fell to the floor and M.E.G.A.S. quickly struck it with a slapshot, launching the head into the Glorft fighter that just fired at him and taking off its own head. Another enemy charged at the blue robot from behind, throwing a punch with its galting arm, only to have it quickly ripped off and attacked with it. Armed with a leg in one hand and an arm in the other, Coop charged further into the army, creating an explosion filled swath with each swing. Three Glorft mechs launched missiles at M.E.G.A.S., only for it to jump up to avoid them. Coop threw his nearly destroyed improvised weapons while still in the air, destroying two of the ones who attacked him before landing in front of the third. The man quickly entered right, down, right, and square on his controller, causing M.E.G.A.S. to grab the unfortunate mech’s neck and rip it, along with a large portion of what could be thought of as its spine, out. As it collapsed to the floor the blue mech tossed its trophy briefly before getting a better handle on it and began to swing it like a flail, hitting and destroying more enemies. After several strikes the blue titan swung its weapon overhead before hurling it at another enemy. Coop yelled as he slammed his fist on a button causing M.E.G.A.S. to thrust both its arms forward, firing a beam from its palms that punched a whole clean through anything unlucky enough to be in its way. M.E.G.A.S. punched and kicked its way further into the army before jumping up and belly flopping even further into it. Coop switched his hands from the steering wheel and controller to two joysticks with red buttons and began firing laser discs at his enemies, slicing them to pieces. After several shots he quickly pressed a red button causing the silver part of M.E.G.A.S.’ chest to open and fire a beam of energy that exploded and annihilated around half the remaining forces. Applejack and Fluttershy could only look on with grim fascination as Coop tore through the remaining enemies, punches, kicks and throws all seeming to blend into one massive clip show of destruction. Coop let loose a battle cry as he entered down, down, down and simultaneously pressed square and triangle, causing M.E.G.A.S. to raise one fist into the air before it began radiating energy and slamming it into the floor, unleashing a massive explosion of power. When the smoke cleared, not a single Glorft mech was left standing. “How’s that?” Coop asked his equine passengers with a smirk. Both of them held their gazes with him for a moment before Fluttershy fainted. “’How’s that’!? That was the most vile, violent, terrifyn’ thing ah’ve ever seen in mah life!” Applejack screamed back in an frantic tone. “I know! Ain’t it great? Let’s find more bad guys to smash!” Applejack was about to speak when she noticed something about his words. “’Bad guys’?” “Yeah.” “You mean you only do this ‘bad guys’?” “Believe me, I know how this looks, but Coop really is one of the good guys,” Kiva explained, fanning Fluttershy as she tried to wake her. “He’s saved the Earth, other planets, and even the entire universe before. Even if he does cause as many problems as he fixes.” “Hey, come on, I’m not that bad!” Coop complained. “Coop, you blew up half the moon.” “WHAT!?” the orange mare shouted. “Hey, it was an accident! And I fixed it!” Applejack looked to the blonde for a moment before facehoofing. “Twi, just what kinda creatures did you get us involved with?” she muttered. “Phew. Good work, everypony!” Twilight congratulated her friends on managing to defeat the group of Glorft soldiers who now lay unconscious on the ground. “Indeed! Way to give those brutes a lesson!” Rarity added. Spike walked over to Applejack’s hat and looked inside, finding the three remaining Elements where he left them despite being knocked away from Coop’s attack against Sombra. “They’re all here! Now we just-!” “FREEZE!” The group turned to see one of the Glorft soldiers holding a blaster inches from Rarity’s face. “If I see anyone move or any horns lighting up the white one loses her head!” “Why you little-!” Rainbow Dash growled, desperately trying to restrain herself for her friend’s sake. Spike was shaking in fear for his crush while Twilight was almost on the verge of panicking. Pinkie Pie, by contrast, was remarkably calm, though with a neutral face that would get strange looks from those who knew her. However, that straight face soon turned into a grin. “Hey ugly,” she said, catching the alien’s attention. “Bonk!” “What?” BONK! The soldier’s eye’s rolled back into his head as he collapsed to the floor, revealing a bat-wielding Jamie behind him. The man looked down at his victim, seemingly astonished by what he himself had done. There was a moment of silence before Rainbow Dash spoke up. “Not bad.” “Uh… thanks.” “Gracious, that was a frightening experience. Thank you dear, that was quite heroic of you,” Rarity complimented catching. “Uh, y-yeah. It was,” the man responded, still shaken. A moment later a smile stretched across his face. “And you should, like, totally build a statue to my awesomeness. Like me on motorcycle or something! Made of gold!” The others rolled their eyes except for Pinkie, who gasped excitedly. “Oh! Twilight’s a Princess now, so maybe she could do that! Oh, and I want a statue of me too! Made of chocolate!” “Ugh, you had to get her started,” Twilight groaned. “Rarity, Rainbow, your Elements,” Spike called, handing them out to them. The two mares put on their necklaces, feeling comfortable with having them back. “And I’ll hold onto these,” the dragon declared, putting on his friend’s hat and holding the remaining necklace in his claws. “Jamie, contact Kiva so we can get out of here,” Twilight ordered. “Yeah, good idea,” he agreed pulling out the small device. With a bit of fiddling he got it to work. “Kiva, you there?” “Jamie, is everything alright?” “Yeah, the ponies got their jewelry. Can ya get us out of here?” “Roger. We’ll be there soon.” With a button press, Jamie deactivated the device. “Well, they’re on their way,” he said as the others gathered around him. Within seconds the familiar sound of an engine approaching became noticeable. “Uh, Jamie, I just realized, how is Coop going to get to us?” Twilight asked, looking at the hallway they were in. “Knowing Coop he’ll probably-“ he began, only for his eyes to widen in realization. “Uh oh.” From outside the wall came a custom horn playing “La Cucaracha” as the sound of the engine got louder. “Oh hey, I know this song!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Look out!” Jamie screamed as he grabbed Spike and ran. The others looked in confusion only to be knocked off their hooves as the wall next to them burst open, with M.E.G.A.S. filling the hole from the shoulders up. “Hey guys!” called the fat man. “ARE YOU INSANE!? YOU COULD’VE KILLED US!” Rarity screamed as she got up, taking the words right out of Twilight’s mouth. “Could’ve. Didn’t.” Everypony was too shocked at that flippant response to make one of their own. The Barracuda separated itself from its position on the robot’s neck and drove the short distance to the floor, surprising everypony. “Everyone in! Quick!” Kiva shouted as she threw open the back door. The others were too stunned to respond until they saw Jamie, still carrying Spike, enter through the passenger side and quickly close the door behind him. The others wasted no time jumping in the back, Kiva closing the door behind them. “I guess you’ll want these back, huh Applejack?” Spike asked with a smirk, handing her the hat and Element of Honesty. The orange mare smiled as she took them. “Thank ya kindly, partner,” she responded as she put both accessories on, their weight comforting her. The other mares put on their respective jewelry as well. “Let’s get the hay out of here!” Rainbow Dash shouted, holding onto the back of Coop’s seat. “Buckle up everypony, this goin’ ta be one hay of a rodeo!” Applejack and a no longer unconscious Fluttershy tightened their belts as Kiva buckled hers around herself and Rarity, Jamie doing the same with his own seat and Spike. Twilight held on to Kiva’s shoulders as Pinkie Pie gripped the back of Jamie’s seat, mimicking Rainbow. Coop reversed the car and drove back until it locked back into place. Now in control of the robot he turned the blue titan around before shifting the gears to “Epic Escape Sequence.” As Coop stepped on the gas M.E.G.A.S. took flight and rocketed through the Glorft mothership. The force of takeoff was enough the cause everyone to shift back before forcfully pulling themselves back to their original positions. Twilight noticed a sound and turned to see Glorft mechs pursuing them from behind. “Coop!” The blonde looked into the rearview mirror and saw the threat, quickly moving his hands from the steering wheel to two joysticks. He pressed the buttons on top of them, causing missiles to fire from M.E.G.A.S.’ feet. The missiles hit their marks and Coop smirked, switching back to the steering wheel. As they approached a wall he sped up. “Uh, Coop?” Twilight asked in concern. She got no response. “Coop?” They were seconds away from impact. “COOP!” the alicorn cried, holding on to Kiva for dear life while Rarity did the same, screaming at the top of her lungs. The sound of a collision rang though out the Karajor. And then another. And another. Twilight opened her eyes to see that not only had the blue robot smashed through the wall but was continuing to do the same with any obstacle in its way, wall or otherwise. It wasn’t until the tenth wall had a M.E.G.A.S. sized hole in it that they were stopped by a Glorft mech sending the robot flying with an uppercut. As everyone else inside the cockpit screamed Coop pressed up, X, and R1 on his controller, causing the blue giant to spring off its hands before landing on its feet, ready for battle. “You’re not getting away, Earther!” Gorrath shouted through the communication device before pressing a button and launching six missiles. Coop let loose a battle cry that would’ve given a manticore pause before slamming his head on a large red button, causing M.E.G.A.S.’ chest to open and fire three times as many missiles. “He has a button for his head!?” Twilight asked in disbelief. The missiles collided in midair, exploding before they could reach their target. However, as M.E.G.A.S. had fired more, those that remained continued to fly towards Gorrath’s mech. The Glorft leader responded by firing his gatling cannon, blowing the remaining missiles out of the air. Coop yelled as M.E.G.A.S. rocketed out of the cloud of smoke formed from the explosions, tackling the green mech before the pilot could respond. With its arms tightened around the enemy’s midsection M.E.G.A.S. continued to fly forward, crashing Gorrath through wall after wall. After recovering from the initial shock Gorrath’s mech began to bang its elbow on the blue robot. After three hits Coop had had enough and pushed forward on a joystick, causing M.E.G.A.S. to grab the other mech by the head and slam into the ground, grinding against the floor as it continued to burst through wall after wall. M.E.G.A.S. then proceeded to hammer on the enemy mech with its other fist, Coop’s angry voice punctuating each hit. “DON’T. DING. MY. CHROME.” After several more crashes the two robots finally burst out of the mothership, M.E.G.A.S. delivering one final punch to send the enemy mech flying. Coop smiled as he aimed at the helpless target, only for the t.v. screen to flash the words “BEHIND YOU, BUDDY.” Everyone turned to see a massive swarm of missiles coming from inside the ship. “WHOA!” Jamie and Spike both screamed as Coop rocketed off into the sky, the missiles following him. The fat man swerved, trying to shake off the projectiles, but they followed him well. “Everyone hang on!” he shouted as turned M.E.G.A.S. completely around while simultaneously putting the robot in reverse. He then moved his hands from the wheel to a joystick, picking it up and repeatedly pressing a red button at the base, causing a gatling cannon to appear from both arms and fire lasers at the projectiles. After a few seconds all the explosives had been dealt with. M.E.G.A.S.’ radar detected a large mass of enemies right below them, and Coop proceeded to turn the robot back around while simultaneously shifting gears to “Stomp.” M.E.G.A.S. began to plummet towards the enemy forces, assisted by both propulsion and gravity. Jamie and Kiva tensed, used to this sort of thing, while Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity screamed in terror. Fluttershy was too scared to utter more than a squeak as tears of fear formed around her eyes. “WHEE!’ Pinkie shouted in glee, raising her hooves. “WHOO HOO!” Spike shouted, griping onto the seatbelt. “THIS IS AWESOME!” Rainbow shouted enthusiastically. The blue titan landed, unleashing a massive shockwave that crushed a handful of Glorft mechs and and sent dozens of others flying. Wasting no time, Coop shifted gears into “Fight” and then yanked on the chord labeled “Power Saw”, causing M.E.G.A.S.’ right hand to be replaced by a chainsaw with energy blades. The robot rushed forward and began to slice up the still recovering enemies until it was hit in the back by several missiles, knocking it flat. “EARTHER!” Gorrath bellowed as his mech flew towards them, firing his gatling cannon as he went. M.E.G.A.S. stood before Coop turned a dial, retracting the chainsaw and forming and energy disc from its right arm that deflected the laser blasts. The Glorft leader responded by using his momentum to hit the prototype with a devastating kick, sending it tumbling backwards. “TAKE HIM!” he shouted, as the mechs that managed to recover dog piled on the blue bot. Within moments there was a pile of dozens of Glorft mechs. “Now what!?” Twilight asked. “Oh ho, they wanna play? We’ll play!” Coop boasted, shifting gears to “AWESOME” and stomping on the gas pedal. As the RPM gauge shot up to “GOOD CRIPES!” a brilliant light began to shine from under the pile of robots before a massive wave of energy sent them all flying, with Coop shouting with enough ferocity that a fully grown dragon would’ve cowered. He faced down Gorrath and entered square, square, right, X, and R1. M.E.G.A.S. quickly threw out two jabs and a short kick before taking a crouching battles stance. The t.v. screen flashed the words “RAGING DEMON” before the blue robot glided towards his opponent and grabbed the enemy mech. With flashes of light quicker than the eye could see M.E.G.A.S. now stood with its back to the crumpled heap of metal on the ground that was Gorrath’s mech. Flames in the shape of a flaming eight ball appeared around the blue mech before disappearing. “What was that!?” Twilight shouted in confusion, after moment of shock. “I’LL TELL YOU WHAT THAT WAS, THAT WAS CELESTIA-DAMN-AWESOME, THAT’S WHAT THAT WAS!” “Rainbow!” Rarity shouted. “Watch your lang- are you crying?” Everyone turned to the top of Coop’s seat to see an extremely rare sight, a crying Rainbow Dash. Despite her tears and her sobs, she was smiling. “It’s so awesome. It’s even cooler than me. But I’m not mad because it’s so awesome.” “Looks like you got a fan, Coop,” Jamie commented with a smirk. “Hey, Rainbow was it?” Coop asked. “Uh, Rainbow Dash, actually. But you can call me Rainbow, or RD if you want.” Coop smiled and held out his to her. The pegasus stared for a moment before smiling and bumping him back. Coop then spread his fingers in a sign familiar to rockers everywhere. “Uh, I can’t do that part,” Rainbow chuckled. “Aw, no biggie.” “I can!” Spike said, hold his fist to Jamie. The man responded, both of them doing the same hand sign, minus one claw digit in Spike’s case. “I like this guy already,” Jamie quipped. “Don’t think this is over, Earther! I’ll destroy you if I have to-!” “Heard it,” Coop said and turned off the communicator. “Ok, let’s ditch this joint!” he declared revving the engine. None of them noticed the stallion appearing from the tower next to them. “You will not escape,” he uttered before assuming his shadow form and merging with the engine on M.E.G.A.S.; back and began to spread. By the time the robot had flown far enough to no longer have the Karajor under it, the engines cut out. There was a moment of confusion before all the passengers began to scream, suddenly finding themselves plummeting to Earth. “What the heck’s goin’ on!?” Jamie screeched. “We’ve lost engine functions!” Kiva answered, typing on her holo-screen. “How!? We barely got damaged in that fight!” Coop complained. “Something’s interfering with the systems! And it’s spreading!” “Oh! Maybe its that stuff!” Pinkie suggesting pointing out the driver’s side window, her voice remarkably calm. Everyone looked to see that something was spreading across the robot’s left arm, turning everything it touched into a much darker shade of the color it was. It soon encased the entire arm and its fist clenched. “Horseapples,” Applejack muttered just before the fist attempted to smash the car, Twilight managing to cast a barrier spell just in time. “I can't take too many hits like that!” she warned, the strain clearly visible on her face as the pummeling continued. “Got it!” Coop shouted as he managed to grab the possessed arm with the other, straining to hold it in place. A dark blob then stretched from arm to a few yards in front of the car. It quickly took form as King Sombra, his hair still ethereal and connected to the rest of the shadow. “You will serve me,” he stated in a voice somehow calm yet booming at the same time as he glared at the passengers. Twilight dispelled her barrier before casting a spell on herself, causing her hooves to glow with a light the same color as her aura, before teleporting herself out of the car and onto the robot’s surface. Despite the rushing winds whipping her mane in every direction and the force of gravity she remained firmly planted on the metal. “Gravity spells. Impressive. Now, SUBMIT!” the stallion shouted before firing a beam of dark energy at the Princess, who dodged to the side while firing her own. The evil King ducked before turning ethereal and rushing at her, only to be stopped by a barrier spell. “We gotta help her!” Spike shouted. “C-Coop! P-Please!” Fluttershy pleaded with the large man. “Can’t! Too busy with the arms!” he explained, gripping a joystick tightly as the possessed arm fought to free itself from the other. “I’ve got an idea! Open this thing up!” Rainbow shouted. Coop managed to divert his attention from the joystick long enough to press a button labeled “Shields”, causing the convertible roof to open. All the passengers were instantly met with rushing winds. “Buy me time!” Rainbow shouted before rocketing straight up, leaving her signature multicolored trail as she left. Sombra continued to cast spells at Twilight, from beams of energy to crystal javelins. Twilight dodged by hopping or teleporting out of the way while retaliating with her own beams, which Sombra either sidestepped away from or magically redirected. “Hi!” “What?” Sombra turned to see the pink earth pony inexplicably standing next to him as easily as he or Twilight were, and also with a cannon pointed right at him. “How-?” “SURPRISEPARTYCANNONATTACK!” The cannon fired balloons, confetti, and streamers with such force that Sombra was knocked into the air. He managed to recover himself, turning ethereal and seeming to use his connection to M.E.G.A.S.’ arm for support as held himself aloft. “ENOUGH FOOLISHNESS!” he shouted, enveloping the cannon in his aura before tossing it over the side. “NO! THAT’ MY LATEST MODEL!” “DIE!” he shouted, firing an orb of energy at her. “Pinkie!” Twilight shouted. She teleported over to the pink mare and quickly teleported back, just before the orb hit and exploded in green light. “HEY! WATCH THE PAINT!” Coop shouted. “Pinkie, are you ok?!” Twilight asked the party pony. Seeing her concern over her friend gave Sombra an idea. He smirked as he turned his gaze to the other earth pony. Applejack was too busy trying to keep her hat on to notice the green aura around her belt buckle. The farm mare screamed as she found herself rising from her seat, Kiva grabbing her foreleg just before she fell out of reach, only to slip out of her grasp. Applejack screamed again only for Jamie of all people to unbuckle his belt and grab her, holding onto his seat for dear life as Spike did the same with his jacket. As Kiva helped pull the orange pony down Sombra launched another orb of dark magic, this time at the car. “NO!” Twilight screamed. Rarity saw this and through great concentration managed to form a barrier around them all. It was destroyed the moment it was struck but it did the trick, no one was hurt. The white unicorn panted from exhaustion. Twilight sighed in relief, only to remind herself that danger was still imminent. She looked at the arm connect to the evil stallion and braced herself for what was no doubt a crazy and stupid idea. “SOMBRA, YOUR FIGHT IS WITH ME!” the Princess shouted, her eyes turning green while smoke rose from their sides, her horn crackling with dark energy. “You would challenge me with the dark arts? Ha! Very well then. SHOW ME WHAT YOU CAN DO, PRINCESS!” Sombra gloated as he gathered energy in his own horn. The two ponies fired back bolts of energy at each other, Sombra’s clearly being stronger and pushing back Twilight’s. “Pathetic! What did you think would happen? Time to put you in your place, little foal!” Sombra’s beam was moments away from completely overtaking Twilight’s when she enacted her plan. She stopped casting her spell and Sombra’s beam hit her horn, but rather than being blown back the spell seemed to be funneled to the tip instead. “Absorption? Impressive, foal, BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH!” Sombra amped up his attack, causing Twilight to begin to fall to her knees as tears streamed from her eyes. “FACE IT! YOU CANNOT COMPETE! SUBMIT NOW OR-!” Suddenly the rushing winds stopped. Everyone looked to see they were no longer falling and M.E.G.A.S.’ engines were firing again. “What? But how?” Sombra asked, only to see his control over M.E.G.A.S. body receding. The King was stunned, Twilight was actually absorbing his dark power, at great pains to herself, and wrenching his control of the mech from him. “You dare? YOU DARE MAKE A MOCKERY OF ME!? I WILL-!” Sombra was cut off by a loud noise in the distance, seeing an expanding ring of rainbow color. It was enough of a distraction for Twilight to absorb the rest of the dark magic controlling M.E.G.A.S., and even knock Sombra out of his ethereal form. Twilight collapsed, her spell done, while Sombra fell towards her. Making the most of the situation Sombra gathered his magic for another attack as he fell. “LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE!” Sombra felt the wind knocked out of him, seeing feeling the wind rush past him as he noticed the cyan pegasus with her forelegs wrapped around him, carrying away from the mech. Before he could make a move she let go and turned back, managing to unleash another Sonic Rainboom right in his face. Rainbow Dash landed in front of the car within seconds. “HIT HIM!” she shouted. Coop pulled out his Jamco light gun from its holster, M.E.G.A.S.’ right hand retracting as he did and taking aim at the reeling pony in sync with the pilot. “Time to buy the farm, pony,” he said before pulling the trigger, firing a laser blast that hit the dark king dead on. Sombra continued to plummet, only to stop when changed into his ethereal form again. He glared at the mech and its passengers before flying back towards the Karajor. “Twilight, are you ok!?” Pinkie asked, gently jostling her friend. The others began to run towards her. “Stay back! All of you, stay back!” the Princess shouted, stopping her friends from approaching. “Twilight?” Spike asked in concern. The alicorn stood, tears in her still green eyes as dark magic crackled from her horn. She aimed her pointed appendage skywards before screaming in pain, firing a large beam of black energy straight up. After a few seconds of this the pony’s eyes returned to normal, only to roll back into her head as she fell over, her tiara falling of as she hit metal. “TWILIGHT!” they all screamed and raced towards her. “What happened?” Jamie asked. “I don’t know, but she’s out for now,” Kiva said. “Let’s head back so we can make repairs and give her a chance to recover.” “Got it,” Coop nodded. The other ponies and dragon carefully carried their friend back to the car. Once inside Coop put the roof back up before turning to fly back home. “This is Pop TV with a very special episode! This time we’ve got special guest-!” The announcer began only, to be taken off the air when a cannon fell on the van, cutting out the T.V. signal.