The chirping of the birds overhead would normally be enough to sooth any troubled pony's soul, but unfortunately for Flash Sentry he and three other guards had been given the task of watching over the CMC, fillies who were rarely, if ever, quiet. The three of them were yelling as loud as their lungs would allow as they talked about their day and all of the crusading they would do once they got to the treehouse.
"Maybe we should try parasailing again?" Sweetie Belle suggested with a shrug. "I mean, we never really got to do it last time since my sister found out where we were, but I'm sure if we try it again..."
"Don't even think about it. Applejack said she'd ground me till ah was granny's age if ah ever gave her a heart attack like that again," Applebloom responded with a shudder, never having seen her sister that terrifying before.
"Besides, parasailing's no fun anyway," Scootaloo said as she lazily drifted along besides her friends on her scooter. She then looked back at the blue maned guard escorting them to the treehouse. "How about you, mister protector of Twilight? What do you do for fun when you're not all guard duty and stuff?"
Flash thought about his answer for a moment before he shrugged at Scootaloo. "I really haven't had time for fun in a long time, but I think I used to play the guitar back in high school. Other than that though, most of my time is taken up by my work. Someponies got to protect the innocent of this land."
"And you're doing just a great job," one of the other guards snickered from behind Flash, the others joining in on the laugh when the Pegasus never heard them.
"So you work all the time too? Ugh, no wonder Twilight likes you." Scootaloo and the other giggled at how red Flash's face became, but he regained control of himself a moment later while smirking at the young Pegasus. The group continued to talk and joke until they got to the very edge of the town, where a large field was the only obstacle left between them.
"Are the four of ya still gonna stick around while we're crusading?" Applebloom asked Flash, who nodded. "Alright, but ya'll can't join in. Ya'll got yer cutie marks already, so ya'll can't come in." Flash laughed at that before a snarl caused him and the other ponies to instantly perk up, all eyes glancing around for the sound.
"Behind us!" one of the guards yelled as he leapt back from a massive claw that would have taken his head off had he not dodged it. All of the ponies gasped in unison as they saw the monstrous manticore that lumbered towards them, eyes a pure yellow and dark smoke coming from its mouth.
"What are one of these things doing so far out of the forest?" one of the guards asked before firing a bolt of magic into the creatures chest, only to find to his horror that the smoke absorbed the spell, rendering it useless. "And since when can they do that?!"
The beast sniffed the air a few times before its yellow eyes narrowed in on the three fillies that were hiding behind Flash Sentry. It then split the air with a roar before it lunged towards the three, claws outstretched as it prepared to tear through the pony before it. Flash managed to tackle the three out of the way as the creature's claws found only dirt, causing it to snarl as it rose back up.
"It's targeting the fillies! Don't let it near them!" he yelled to the other guards as he drew a short sword that rested at his side, snarling up at the monster before him. A guard attacked it from behind, leaping onto its back and driving a blade into its shoulder. The creature roared before reaching back and grabbing the guard, hurling him into the side of one of the few buildings that stood in the area.
"We have to hit it all at once! It's too powerful for us to take alone!" Flash instructed as he rolled out of the way of a swipe, driving his sword into the creatures paw. The manticore yanked its paw back in pain, taking the guards weapon with it. It snarled as it bit down on the hilt of the blade and yanked it from its paw, spitting it away as it turned back to face Flash with fire in its eyes. "I need back up over here!"
The guards all looked at each other as the manticore let loose another roar, fear in their eyes as they all silently agreed on the same thing. They all then turned at once and sprinted back into the town, running as fast as their hooves could carry them.
"Where are you all going?!" Flash yelled at them before a swipe from the paw knocked him across the grass, where he landed in a heap with a groan. The CMC stood frozen in place as the creature turned its yellow eyes towards them, slowly turning its body towards them as well before it began to slowly march toward them, its eyes telling them what would happen if they moved. It towered over the three of them as it reached down to pick them up before it roared as it felt a sharp pain in its back.
"Girls, RUN!" Flash yelled as he drove the blade into the creature’s side again, ramming into it with all of his might to push it away from the fillies. The manticore spun quickly and swatted him back down to the ground, placing a paw on his chest as it began to crush the life out of him. The CMC could only watch in horror as Flash fought for breath, desperately punching the creatures arm as he tried to escape.
'I can't win!' he thought with fear in his heart. 'I need to get away. B-but I can't just leave the fillies. But I don't want to die!'
"You are weak," the manticore said in a wicked voice with a smile. "Die." Flash cried out weakly as the beast pushed its paw down, but then a sound reached their ears. It sounded like footsteps, footsteps that sounded like metal hitting the dirt. The manticore lifted its head to see something that made it blink twice in confusion. A massive bi-pedal creature covered completely in armor was walking towards them, the ground shaking beneath his footsteps. It came to a stop ten feet away from the manticore, surveying the whole situation before it spoke.
"Alright creature, if you can understand me then this is your first and only warning. Step away from the ponies and place your claws over your head," Robocop instructed. The manticore narrowed its eyes before it let go of Flash, slowly turning its body to face the robotic officer. Then it unleashed a roar towards the man that shook the ground, but the roar was ripped apart by a sound so loud it caused the CMC to scream. The manticore howled as blood began to pour from its wings, where three small holes had appeared.
"That was your only warning shot," Robocop said to the creature, now pointing the auto 9 towards its head. "I will not hesitate to put you down. We can do this the easy way or the hard way." The manticore narrowed its eyes, carefully observing the weapon the unknown creature held within its hands. Then it opened its mouth wide and a blast of darkness shot from within, striking Robocop in the arm and knocking his gun to the side. The manticore then leapt into the air, claws outstretched as it prepared to rip him apart.
"Easy way it is then." The ground splintered as twin ram bolts shot out of the soles of Robocop's feet, anchoring him in place as he caught the massive manticore...and never even budged as the huge beast slammed into him. Both the manticore and the ponies looked at him in disbelief as he pushed back against the creature that was larger than him without giving any ground. "Apparently you are not an intelligent creature. If you were, then you would have surrendered."
Robocop brought his fist back and drove it under the beast's jaw, snapping its head back and sending it staggering. With it stunned, he retracted the ram bolts back into his feet and marched up to the creature, driving his metal fist into its face again when it turned to look at him and blooding its face.
"Since you do not appear to be sentient, I do not need to read you your rights," Robocop explained as he walked towards the creature again, which was picking itself out of the dirt while trying to comprehend what had just hit it. Robocop grabbed hold of its shoulder and spun it around to face him, grabbing it by the throat with his other hand and pulling it to its feet. "But you are under arrest and shale be restrained. If you wish to continue this futile resistance, then do so now."
Faster than any of the ponies eyes could register the manticore's tail shout out from behind it and drove it's stinger into the exposed face of Robocop, the creature smiling as the ponies gasped in horror. But then to all of their surprises again Robocop never flinched from the impact and when the manticore withdrew its tail it found its stinger snapped in half, with the face it made getting a smile out of the officer.
"Sorry to inform you, but that is not skin for you to damage and there is no blood for your poison to course through," Robocop said before driving a knee into the creatures gut and dropping it to the ground. "You have nothing that can harm me." To prove his point even further the manticore spun and slashed with its claws, which failed to even scratch his armor. "And you do not learn." Another right hook sent the creature to the ground again, where it remained motionless. Robocop scanned it for a moment before he turned and walked over to the fillies and the wounded guard, all three of them looking at Robocop in disbelief as he walked over to them.
"Are you alright officer?" Robocop asked Flash.
"Um yeah, but I wouldn't be if you hadn't shown up," Flash weakly admitted with a grunt as Robocop offered him a hand, helping him back up to his hooves. "Not that I'm anything but grateful, but I thought Twilight ordered you to stay in the castle-"
"Unless I am with her or a guard. Those were her exact words," Robocop answered as he looked down at Flash. "And I am with a guard." Flash tilted his head at his answer as Robocop turned to the three fillies, who were still looking up at him with disbelief. "Are the three of you safe?"
"Uh, yeah. We're fine. Thanks Robocop," AB responded in a dumbfounded tone while Scootaloo managed to find her voice.
"How the heck did you do that?" she asked him as she gazed at the robotic officer with amazement. "You just beat no no no PUNCHED out a manticore!"
"Was that supposed to be difficult?" Robocop asked her in a monotone voice, getting a laugh out of the fillies. He prepared to escort them back to their homes when his sensors went off a second too late. A blast of darkness caught him in the back unaware, causing him to stumble. He regained his balance and spun around to see the manticore lung through the air at him, tackling him to the ground and causing the both of them to roll across the ground.
"You are a strange one," the manticore snarled at him, actually surprising the officer. "I have never seen such a beast as you. It makes me sad that I must kill you here."
"You are the strange one, if you believe this display is enough to prove that you can kill me," Robocop responded as he placed both his feet into the manticore's gut. He pushed off with all of his robotic might and hurled the creature back, where it landed on its feet and charged at him again as he rose back to vertical. The manticore swung at Robocop again and the officer brought his arm up to defend himself, hearing a metallic clang as the claws bounced off his arm.
"My turn." Robocop drove his right hand into the creatures gut, doubling it over. He then brought back his left arm to follow up the attack, but almost immediately he realized that something was wrong with his arm. He turned his head to look at his arm and his suspicions were confirmed as he saw sparks falling from his elbow. 'The motors must have been damaged by the attack just now. Punk got a lucky shot.'
Almost immediately the manticore picked up that something was wrong and it dove in for the kill, fastening its jaw around the elbow of Robocop's left arm. It then swung its head like a dog with a chew toy, Robocop have the bad misfortune of being that chew toy. The manticore took him off his feet and slammed him into the ground, where it pinned him with one of its paws before it pulled back with its neck, trying to tear Robocop's arm straight off.
"We need to help him!" Scootaloo cried out as the four ponies watched the battle continue, with Robocop struggling to push the manticore off of him again. Flash looked at the situation with bitter eyes, knowing that he was far too beaten up to help. Then his eyes rested upon a small black item that rested on the road next to the two battling. He raced over to the item, picking it up with his hooves as he looked at it with confusion.
'I don't know why he carried this, but it must be important.' He turned to see that Robocop had managed to fight back to his feet, but the manticore refused to let go of his elbow no matter how hard the officer beat upon the beasts face. "Robocop, catch!" Flash yelled as he tossed the gun to the officer. Robocop's sensors took note of the arc of the gun and how fast it was traveling, allowing him to catch it with ease.
"You want something to chew on?" Robocop asked as he spun the gun one before pointing it right between the manticore's eyes. "Chew on these."
The air was shattered by the sound of three shots tearing through the air, but that sound was quickly followed up the sound of the ponies screaming as the bullet's punched through the manticore's skull. Blood shot out of the back of the beasts head and plastered the wall behind it with blood and brains, while the corpse fell to the ground without another sound.
"Hmm, must not have liked the flavor." Robocop shook the beast off of his arms, which then fell limp at his side. He looked down at it with a frown as he saw the extent of the damage, knowing that he would need to repair it soon.
"W...what was that?" Robocop turned his head to see the three fillies looking towards him with fear in their eyes, but their eyes weren't focused on him. It was on his gun. "What did that thing just do?"
"It did as I told you," Robocop said as he spun the gun before holstering it. "It enforced the law."