//------------------------------// // The Day Canterlot Burned // Story: The Great Z Impact // by Agai_Lazen //------------------------------// Episode 1 Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were enjoying their second Grand Galloping Gala. Fluttershy had similar luck with the garden animals as she did last time, much like Rainbow Dash was given little attention among the Wonderbolts. Twilight was given no time to exchange pleasantries with her mentor, and Applejack's sales were predictably dismal only for the fact that they were apple products. Rarity wisely avoided Prince Blueblood, but it was not an easy task while she mingled with the upper-class, similar to Pinkie Pie's efforts to bring more life to the dance floor. However, each pony had companionship in the party. Fluttershy had joined Rainbow Dash when they were both unsuccessful at gaining attention. They were joined by Applejack, who decided to close up shop early. Rarity and Pinkie joined in after their social endeavors were unsuccessful once again. They all joined up with Twilight, who had finally finished greeting all of the guests. As they laughed and exchanged made fun of their failures, they were interrupted by a loud explosion, followed by a shockwave that knocked them off of their hooves. They looked out towards the windows, seeing all of the gold-armored royal guard pegusi fly off, while the grounded unicorn guards fired off magic bolts at an enemy that is yet to be seen. In a panic, they all rushed outside to hear a condescending, maniacal laughter coming from far away. At first they couldn't see where it was, but then large fires sprouted up from the far-end of the mountainside city. Illuminating the darkness, they saw the silhouettes of what they could only describe as the monsters of their nightmares. Fluttershy squeaked in fear, dashing behind the shaken Rarity, where the other four ponies looked on. In the middle of it all was a small figure standing atop a floating platform, into the platform was carved a face with a permanent grimace molded into it. The figure raised up a bejeweled, forked staff and declared with a booming voice that seemed to be both male and female at the same time. "Listen, you stupid animal-fodder!" The moon peeked out of the clouds to reveal the shapes of these monsters, each one having a metallic hide. "You are up against an immortal destroyer, and unbeatable weapons!" Each of these monsters had a different shape, some having long necks, others covered in spikes, and others too ugly to describe. "All of this is the power of the creative genius of the great Dr. Hell!" More monsters stepped forward, all of them dwarfing the towers of Canterlot. "Soon his mechanical monsters will rule, AND ALL OF THE WORLD WILL BE CONQUERED!!!" With that, the clouds cleared the sky, revealing an entire legion of these mechanical terrors. They tore through the concrete and granite of Canterlot like it was a sand castle, quickly turning much of the mountain-side city to rubble. The mane six watched in awe and horror at the futile attempts by the royal guard to repel these enemies. The the royal unicorn guard fired all of their magic at one of the monsters, engulfing it in flame. However, this seemed to just annoy the beast, because it quickly emerged from the torrent unharmed and shooting beams of light at its eyes that burned through everything they touched, as some of the less fortunate guards quickly found out. The royal pegasus guards started an airborne assault, gathering storm clouds and launching large blocks of hail at some of the monsters. One of the mechanical brutes pulled out a large scythe that was sticking out of its head, and threw it at the pegusi, knocking them out of the sky and scattering the storm clouds beyond recovery in one fell swoop. As the blade returned to the hand of its owner, the figure on the floating platform laughed mockingly at the royal guard's efforts. Twilight Sparkle felt a hoof on her shoulder, making her jump. She turned around to see her beloved brother and captain of the royal guard. "Shining Armor!" Twilight jumped into her older brother's embrace, the siblings exchanging a tight hug in this time of desparate need. However, their embrace was short lived, as Twilight broke off to inquire her brother. "What are you doing here?" "The returning troops told me you were still here," Shining Armor elaborated, "You have to evacuate now! These machine monsters have already taken an entire half of Canterlot, and my troops can't do a thing to hold them off!" "But where do we go, then?" Applejack inquired, "Half of tha place already went up in flames, and what's left ain't got much of a defense if the royal guard can't do a day's worth against those things." "They took us by surprise, that's why I couldn't put up the force field to prevent an attack," Shining Armor pointed a hoof towards the main castle of Canterlot, "The main castle is going to be our stronghold, the princesses are already there to make sure nothing evil gets through until I can get there to put up the shield," He started towards the main castle, "Now come on, there's no time to waste!" "Not so fast!" The seven ponies found themselves surrounded by humanoid soldiers wearing helmets that went over their eyes, all of them pointing either a gun or a sword at the ponies. "Thank you for giving us such vital intel," The soldier trained on Shining Armor said, a look of sadistic pleasure on his face, "So it's safe to say that if we killed you, Canterlot is as good as doomed?" Shining Armor's horn started to glow with a powerful magic aura, but the soldier talking to him was unfazed. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you," The soldier nodded to the one standing next to him, who in turn brought a tied up earth pony that everypony recognized as Bon-Bon from behind him and put a sword to her throat, the earth pony whimpering at the cold feel of the blade. "If I see that horn glow anymore, my men will paint the walls with this mule's blood!" Shining Armor hesitantly stopped his spell, as his horn's magic aura visibly faded, his face wrinkling up in spite. The soldier pointed a rifle to Shining Armor's head, with that sadistic grin still plastered on his face. "That's better." "You shameless monsters..." Shining Armor muttered, his grimace still filled with anger. It didn't help that the soldiers laughed mockingly at the mention of the word 'demons.' One soldier approached Shining Armor and yanked his head so they could look each other in the eyes. "We are much worse than monsters, you ignorant horse," The soldier looked straight into Shining Armor's angry eyes and pulled off its mask-helmet. All of the ponies gasped, beholding the grotesque sight of a pulsing brain and a pair of disembodied eyes connected to circuitry that ran through the soldier's head, with transparent tubes flowing throughout filled with blood. "We are the soulless squadron of the merciless Dr. Hell, and from here onward you will learn to fear his power." The soldier put his helmet back on and pointed to the destructive rampage of the mechanical legion tearing through Canterlot, "Have the smallest taste of what Hell is like, as you watch your precious capital city burn to the ground!" The figure on the platform that was making announcements echoed it's laughter as Canterlot was flattened, seeing all of the failed attempts of resistance by the royal guard. "AHAHAHAHAHAH!!! Don't you see it? Are you blind to our invincible power!?" As the mysterious entity finished its last statement, another voice boomed out from the sky. "ROCKET PUNCH!!!" The youthful voiced roared out, as a giant black fist pierced through the clouds and smog in the sky. The mane six watched it fly through the air, seeing it was trailing flame behind it. The sound of ripping metal rang out through the night as the fist burrowed into several of the mechanized monsters, each one toppling over and exploding when the flying fist exited through its back. The fire it was trailing extinguished, as flames from its now-extended fingers propelled it back to where it came from, parting the smoke and reveling a giant shadow with glowing yellow eyes standing atop the mountain that Canterlot was built upon. The figure atop the floating platform visibly recoiled in hate and fear, it and its mechanical legion looking to behold their mightiest adversary standing on the mountain top. "Curses, it has followed us all the way here..." The moonlight now illuminated the new giant, revealing its shape to be smooth and humanoid, its black armor and red breastplates glistening in the moonlight. "The cursed robot, MAZINGER Z!!!" The black giant jumped from the top of the mountain onto an open area in Canterlot, upon landing it pointed its black metal finger at the opposition, calling out the figure on the floating platform. "Alright, Baron Ashura! It's about time you backed WAY off!!" "You, Koji Kabuto...!" The figure recoiled further at the mention of the name, "NEVER!! We will capture the capital of Canterlot, and we will make you and the rest of Equestria beg on their knees for mercy!! Go, mechanical monsters, MEET IRON WITH IRON!!!" Pointing its scepter at Mazinger Z, the remaining metal monstrosities charged at this new protector. "If you're not gonna listen, then it's on to the fight!" Mazinger Z raised its arms, the red panels of its breastplate glowing with a heat even the spectating pony hostages could feel. "BREAST FIRE!!!" a crimson energy blast burst from the red panels, submerging many of the mechanical brutes in a wave of hot energy that melted them in to steaming piles of scrap. The ponies looked at their captors to see them all grabbing their heads and scream in pain. The smell and hissing of cooking meat could be heard, as steam bellowed from every opening on the iron masks of Hell's soldiers. "The heat! It must be burning their exposed brains, with those metal helmets!" Twilight observed, taking all of her captor's weapons away from their reach with a levitation spell, Shining Armor catching them and crushing them into a ball of scrap with his own spell before chucking it out of reach. "Aw, yeah!" Rainbow Dash boasted, "Can't take the heat? Then get off the mountain, metal heads!" She bucked a soldier in the gut, sending him flying into all of the soldiers behind him and knocking them over like dominoes, clearing a way for the rest of the ponies as they brawled their way out of the crowd of soldiers. They rushed to the last citadel, greeted by the remaining royal guard. After guiding Bon-Bon to the more sheltered part of the castle with the rest of the evacuees, Shining Armor dashed to his post, immediately embracing his wife, Princess Cadence, and casting his force field spell, reinforced by his shared love with Cadence. The pale-pink mare looked up to see the Mane 6 and rushed to them as soon as the casting was finished. "Oh my goodness, Twilight!" Cadence quickly hugged Twilight in worry, dusting her off with a wave of magic after breaking off her hug. "Are you okay?!" "I'm alright," Twilight looked out into a balcony, watching Mazinger Z fight off the mechanical monsters that remained in amazement. "Do you know anything about what's going on here?" Twilight beckoned, looking back to the worried eyes of her former foal-sitter. "I'm sorry, I don't know what's going on. All I saw was this enormous flying monster, as big as Canterlot, and all of a sudden a third of Canterlot goes up in flames!" Cadence looked at the ensuing destruction that was happening outside of the barrier. "Make that two thirds," Shining Armor corrected, "The last of the pegasus scouts arrived and just gave me a report. Everypony in Canterlot is either evacuated or here at the main castle, guards included, thankfully." He watched Mazinger Z as it fought against the legions of mechanical monsters, "Did the guy on the platform call the black one Mazinger Z?" He watched the battle continue. To dodge Mazinger Z's fatal fire blast, the surviving machine monsters took to the air, still charging at Mazinger Z without relent. "RUST HURRICANE!!!" Gale-force winds burst from the grill on Mazinger Z's face, engulfing the mechanical beasts in rust while blowing them away. As they fell to the ground, they disintegrated into dust. "Ya see that, Baron Ashura? This is the power to defeat you, and anything else Dr. Hell has in store!" Mazinger Z pointed a challenging finger at The floating platform. With its mechanical legion wiped out, it seemed that Baron Ashura was defeated. However, the evil entity had one more trump card up its sleeve, calling out to the shadows behind it. "Go, DaiGaizer W-5!!" Seemingly out of nowhere, a giant among giants emerged from the smoke and smog of burning Canterlot, towering over the once-thought titanic Mazinger Z. It's giant wings blackened the night sky as its gigantic spiked legs shook the ground, shaking the very foundation of Canterlot. "Meet your fate, Koji Kabuto!!" The Platform that carried Baron Ashura plugged into the giant of giants' hideous head, as tentacles slithered out of its abdomen and grabbed Mazinger Z by the legs, "We will drag you to the bowels of hell!" "You wish, ugly!" Flames burst from Mazinger Z's feet, boosting it away from the titan of titans that had it bonded. However, DaiGaizer refused to let go. The voice coming from Mazinger Z cursed at his failed efforts, "Damn, so that's how it's gonna be, huh!? BREAST FIRE!!!" Mazinger's red breastplates began to glow with that familiar heat that wiped out a large number of monsters minutes before. However, the monster holding Mazinger Z sprouted more tentacles and used them to grab Mazinger Z by the shoulders, turning its chest away from the intended target. "Ah, crap!" The blast of concentrated heat fired off into the night sky as more tentacles sprouted from the last monster like a viscous flesh-eating plant, all of the tendrils wrapping around Mazinger Z to restrain it from every angle. Baron Ashura laughed mockingly, watching Mazinger Z's futile attempts to escape. "What's the matter, Koji Kabuto? Can't fight while your back is turned!?" The DaiGaizer's chest opened up, revealing several large cannons concealed within, all trained on Mazinger Z. "Fight me face to face like a man!" The voice coming from Mazinger Z retorted, "Or did you realize you could only win by fighting like the coward you are!?" Mazinger Z constantly struggled against the tendrils, but it was useless when the tentacles holding Mazinger's legs suspended it in the air. "It doesn't matter, so long as we win!" All of the cannons aimed at one singular point on Mazinger Z's back, "Fire, for the glory of Dr. Hell!!" Several loud bangs rang out as explosions erupted on Mazinger Z's back. "AHAHAHA!!! Do you see? Not even the great and powerful Mazinger Z can-huh!?" The smoke and debris from the explosions cleared, revealing that Mazinger Z was completely unharmed. "Tch, no matter! I'll just have to bring you to Dr. Hell in once piece, so I can rip your body to pieces right in front of him!" All of a sudden, two beams of light streaked from the sky and in between Mazinger Z and DaiGaizer, cutting all of the tendrils that bonded Mazinger.One was a deep blue, trailing a azure pattern that resembled the night sky. The other was a shining white, trailing behind it what looked like sunlight. Twilight Sparkle's eyes lit up, as she immediately recognized them. "Princess Celestia!" She excitedly exclaimed, the white ball of light bursting open to reveal the pure princess of the day, "and Princess Luna, too!" The deep blue ball of light exploded to unveil the younger princess of the night. Twilight's confidence faded when DaiGaizer turned its head towards her, Baron Ashura had apparently heard her cry. "Now isn't this wonderful?" the two-faced hermaphrodite said, DaiGaizer facing the princesses, "I can kill everything that stands in my way all at once, now that they're all in the same place!" DaiGaizer charged at the three protectors, firing a black energy beam from its eyes at the princesses in a motion that was almost instant. They saw the darkness in front of them, but had no time to cast a shielding spell. The two princesses heard a loud bang, but they opened their eyes to see a giant black hand in front of them, belonging to Mazinger Z. "I don't know what you are, but thanks for the save!" The princesses of night and day looked to where the youthful voice was coming from, and beholden the face of Mazinger Z. "Now it's my turn, and I've got something special for you this time!" Mazinger Z turned to face DaiGaizer, batting away the dark force with its hand. "Reitou Beam!!" The spikes on the sides of Mazinger Z's head glowed blue, suddenly letting out a blue beam from the tips. DaiGaizer tried to block it with its gigantic left arm, but it was soon enveloped in ice when the beam touched it, "Rocket Punch!!" Mazinger Z's fists flew out, breaking DaiGaizer's frozen arm by burrowing large holes into it's bulk, "Breast Fire!!" Mazinger Z's breastplates let out another fiery blast. DaiGaizer's remaining arm blocked it, folding out into a large shield, but the arm quickly melted away into another steaming lump of scrap. "Rust Hurricane!!" Mazinger Z blew out gale-force winds that launched DaiGaizer up in the air, carried by the winds against its giant wings while corroding its armor at the same time. "And finally..." The grimacing platform ejected from DaiGaizer's head, as Mazinger Z's eyes lit up, it's body hissing with the golden energy bursting from every seam. "PHOTON BEAM!!!" In an instant a white tower of light burst from Mazinger Z's eyes, lighting up the night as if it was day and blasting DaiGaizer into oblivion. Cadence and the mane 6 cheered as they watched the final blow be dealt to the monstrous attacker, its ashes falling onto the ground as Baron Ashura called out from the floating platform. "We'll get you for this, Koji Kabuto! YOU'LL SEE!!!" Baron Ashura screeched with all the malice it could muster as it descended into the totem. The scowling platform quickly sprouted wings and flew out of sight. "Just TRY IT, Baron Ashura!" Mazinger Z pointed in the direction that the totem had fled, "Mazinger Z and I will be waiting, and each time will turn out just like today, and just as it always has!" Princess Celestia looked at the black iron giant. "Just what is Mazinger Z...?" She saw Mazinger Z take a step forward, and saw that the foundation there was not going to hold. "WAIT!!" She flew after Mazinger Z and tried to cast a levitation spell, but it was too late. "...Huh? Oh-CRAP!!" As Celestia foresaw, the floor crumbled underneath the black robot, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" The voice coming from Mazinger Z screamed as it fell below Canterlot, heading all the way to the base of the mountain. Princess Cadence and Princess Luna heard the call, and immediately rushed to where Mazinger Z fell, trying to combine their levitation spells with Celestia's as all three princesses followed Mazinger Z's fall. Unfortunately, Mazinger Z was much heavier than they imagined, and they could only slow its fall. The mane 6, Shining Armor, and every royal guard not in the hospital gathered around the large hole that Mazinger Z had made, frantic in seeing the giant surrounded by three magical auras as it fell to the ground. Hearing a loud crash, all they could see of it and the princesses was a large cloud of debris. ----- "So, you've failed me yet again, Baron Ashura." An elderly man said, lying atop his throne in the darkest of dungeons. His hair and beard have grown long and grey, a testament to his labor. His crimson cape and bejeweled scepter a show of his rank, genius, and power. Standing before him was a kneeling Baron Ashura, a testament to his defeats. "What pitiful excuse would you have this time? Did the colorful, magical ponies defeat you!?" He rose up, anger flowing through his being, "Were you defeated by the magic of love, or the Elements of Harmony!?!?" The bottom of his scepter slammed against the floor, making Baron Ashura cower with fear as he stepped down along the crimson carpet that bisected the room and walking towards Baron Ashura. "No, my lord! It was something else entirely!" the two-faced hermaphrodite pleaded, "It is the wretched grandson of Juuzo Kabuto, and the horrid robot, Mazinger Z!!" The old man paused, his mouth agape at what had been conveyed to him. "The legacy of Juuzo Kabuto threatens me again!?" The bottom of the elder's scepter met the floor once more, a louder noise reverberating throughout the room, and the whole building. "That is it, we will no longer hold back. Come fourth, my Equestrian general!!" He pointed his scepter to the shadows that encompassed the room. Baron Ashura looked around, hearing the clop of hoof-falls on the granite floor. The commander of hell's army beheld something that made him shiver with fright. It's slime-green hair and tail strewn about its head and back like seaweed, its fangs sharp and yellowed by age, its limbs filled with holes like that of rotting flesh, its wings like that of the most hideous of insects, its horn like the disfigured branch of a poisonous tree, and its eyes, those wide, sickly-green, peircing eyes... "Oh, how can I help my future co-ruler?" The queen said, her voice distorted by an aura of malice. "Queen Chrysalis, my Equestrian General, how would you like to exact the most foul of revenge against those that have defeated you?" -To Be Continued- NEXT TIME Episode 2 Aphrodite Samurai: Don't piss off your girlfriend!