//------------------------------// // Bonding Time // Story: Let's Rock! // by MetalJrock //------------------------------// "Oh, he's such a cute dog!" Fluttershy complimented, lowering herself to get a better look at Rush, who barked happily at the pegasus's excitement. "Ha, thanks," Rock said while petting Rush. "Sorry about running off like that, but Rush is someone I was talking about earlier. Now, if only I could find Blues..." "Oh, I know. It's just... Nopony goes running into the Everfree Forest like that... Except for when we had to face Nightmare Moon and stop the plundervines." Fluttershy mumbled. "Huh? You went in there?" Rock questioned, the pegasus nodding in response. "Um... Yes... It's kind of hard to explain..." she muttered. "It was to help my friends..." "Ah, it's fine if you don't want to talk about it. Hearing that you went in there just to help your friends means that it was a good enough reason to go in." Rock complimented to Fluttershy. "That's nice of you to say..." "So, who are your friends?" "Oh, I was just about to take you to meet them. If you don't mind, anyway." Fluttershy answered. Rock shrugged, "Okay. I hope that they don't mind my... Appearance." "It doesn't matter Rock," Fluttershy assured. "No matter what you look like, you are still you." the robot managed a smile upon hearing his new friend's words. "Thanks, Fluttershy." "Huh. Pretty big castle." Rock managed to say, looking at the large crystal castle in front of him. He moved his head upward to see that it towered greatly and was even able to get a good view of Ponyville from the top balcony if possible. Fluttershy quietly knocked on the door. When nopony answered, Rock decided to knock for her, louder this time. For a while, no noise was heard coming from the other side, but eventually, the giant twin doors opened themselves, allowing access. Behind the doors was a different creature, not a pony. Rock took a good look at its green and purple scales, 'It looks like a small dragon. Huh. An organic one at that according to my sensors.' he noted to himself. "Uh..." the dragon started to say, "What are you, exactly?" he managed to question. "Me? Well, it's kind of hard to explain," Rock answered to the best of his ability. "It's nice to meet you..." he trailed off, not getting the dragon's name. "Spike." "Right. Nice to meet you, Spike. I'm Rock," the robot extended his hand, to which the dragon grabbed and shook it. "And this is my dog, Rush. Say hi, boy!" the robot dog barked upon his order. "Okay, Rock. You seem pretty cool." Spike admitted. "Thanks, Spike. So, you're a dragon, huh? What's it like here anyhow?" Rock questioned. "Should I be worried about what the other ponies think of me?" "It's nice. You shouldn't really think about that too much. Ponyville's a really nice place and everypony here is nice once you get to know them. Just don't do anything that'll get you on their bad side." the young dragon explained to the robot. "Alright." Rock nodded. Soon, a purple horse with wings and a horn walked into the room with Fluttershy where Rock and Spike were next to the now closed doors, "Woah. You have wings and a horn!" Rock shouted, 'My data's never had any mythological records of such a creature.' Twilight chuckled at Rock's enthusiasm, "Twilight's an alicorn, Rock." Fluttershy told him. "Alicorn? I've never heard of that." the robot boy told the purple pony, rubbing his hair. "An alicorn is usually considered royalty. So they're pretty rare, Rock. By the way, I'm Twilight Sparkle. Fluttershy told me about you. You're pretty brave if you're willing to go into the Everfree Forest just to rescue your pet dog." "I'm always willing to help my friends no matter what, Princess Twilight. You said alicorns are royalty, right?" he questioned upon learning of what Twilight said. "Please. Just call me Twilight. If Fluttershy can trust you, then I can too." she said with a wave of her hoof. Rock nodded in understanding, "Okay, Twilight. Glad to meet you. If you couldn't tell by my appearance, then you can pretty much guess that I'm not from Equestria. In fact, I woke up next to Fluttershy's house and she welcomed me. I can't thank you enough for that." he added to the pegasus. "Where are you from, Rock?" Twilight asked, "I think we could help you find a way home." she offered. Putting a hand on his chin, Rock thought to himself. After a moment, the robot decided to speak, "Alright. I think I can explain in a way you understand." "What do you mean?" Twilight wondered. The robot paused, his optics and sensors at work once more, "What I mean is that I'm not like you." "Of course you're not," Spike told Rock, "You don't look like a pony, dragon or griffon." "That's... Not what I meant. No... Actually, I'm not an organic creature at all," he revealed to the three listening to him. Fluttershy and Twilight gasped upon hearing this. "And how I got here is a pretty crazy story in of itself." "So, are you made of magic?" the alicorn questioned. "No. By science. You see where I'm from, robots have been living in unity with humans. The species populating my world. I was built by Dr. Light as a helper robot with my sister Roll. My creator, Dr. Light once worked with a colleague, Dr. Albert Wily, to advance robotics. But Wily's credentials were lost after he was discovered to create weapons with nuclear chemicals, deeming such a thing too dangerous." "But Wily at this point helped Dr. Light create a new line of robots after giving up building military weapons, the Robot Masters Line, which would help continue how the world perceives robots as helpers and not weapons. But Wily grew jealous and bitter over the fact he wouldn't be remembered as the man who advanced robotics. So, in his jealousy, he hijacked the Robot Masters and used them to conquer the world." "Oh my... That's horrible..." Fluttershy gasped, placing her hooves over her mouth in shock. "Wow... That's crazy." said Spike. "Yeah, but anyway. Dr. Light learned of this the day after. Our military wasn't prepared to face such an attack. The Robot Masters were destroying everything and Wily was having his way. So after some thinking, I decided to step in and help. Since I am a helper robot. After some modifications I was no longer the lab assistant, Rock..." after saying that, Rock started to transform himself, showing them what he was talking about. "...And I became the Super Fighting Robot, Mega Man." revealed Mega Man. "That is so cool!" Spike cheered. "So... You're a hero in your world?" Twilight asked, "A heroic robot fighting other robots... How did you do it?" "Yeah, it wasn't easy. Since I'm a robot too, I had difficulty accepting that I had to fight other robots. It took a lot of convincing from Dr. Light and Roll for me to go on." "That must be tough to do..." Fluttershy sighed. "It is... But I managed to defeat the Robot Masters and stop Wily and get them reprogrammed back on our side. But Wily didn't stop there. He continued to threaten our world. And each time he did, I would go and stop his Robot Masters before foiling his plans." Mega Man paused before continuing, "And that's why I'm here. Wily created a device from the remains of an alien called Ra Moon to send me here. And he's on his way with an army of old Robot Masters that I fought before. I need to find my brother, Proto-Man and stop Wily should he come here himself." "You have a brother?" Spike asked. "And you need all the help you can get in stopping Wily..." Twilight trailed off. "So, we'll help you. Fluttershy, the rest of my friends, and I were once the Elements of Harmony. We know this world better than anypony else and can help you with anything you need." "Thank you, Twilight. In fact. How about I meet your friends so they can get to know me better? That way we can start off on the right foot-er-hoof in this case?" Mega Man suggested. "That's a good idea, Rock!" Twilight perked up, "I'll go tell them immediately!" she dashed out the door, "Oh, and you can stay here if you wish." the princess added before running out of the castle once more to explain everything to her friends. "So, I guess we're roommates." Spike joked. "Heh. I guess we are," Mega Man agreed. 'I think I'm going to like it here. It's so peaceful here. It's like everything I've fought to have for Earth lives within this world. Such a shame Wily's taking that away, but I'll stop him again.'