//------------------------------// // Made of Wood // Story: Let's Rock! // by MetalJrock //------------------------------// "Are you sure you wanna stay behind this time, Spike?" asked Rock. The gang had returned to Ponyville to prepare to face the remaining Robot Masters located around Equestria. Twilight and her friends all gathered at the outskirts of Ponyville at this point while the blue robot went back to the castle with Proto-Man to grab any E-Tanks that they still had. Spike had decided that he was going to stay for this battle for one specific reason. "I gotta go watch some hoofball with Big Mac. I'm still trying to get my claws on his trading cards." explained Spike, wearing a soda drinking hat with a '#1' inscribed on top in the center. He had taken a sip from the straws connected to the bottles. Rock laughed lightly at the idea. "Alright then. Tell me how it goes." Rock said, grabbing the E-Tank sitting on the table. 'Alright. Time for a triple check... My weapon system is recharged, my systems are prepped and I feel good as new. Luckily the battle against Dark Man did nothing to hurt the ponies or myself. But I should check on my systems when I get back home.' he thought, feeling as though something was amiss within his programming. Proto-Man faced the door, "Are you ready, Rock? There are still three Robot Masters. Are you sure you can handle them in one day?" Rock turned into Mega Man and answered his brother's question, "Yes. We need to stop them before they do more damage than we can stop. Once they're gone and out of our way, we can take the fight to Wily himself." he said, petting Rush's head while speaking to his brother. Mega Man and Proto-Man made it to where the six mares awaited them far away from the quiet town that they resided in. "It's about time ya showed up!" shouted Rainbow Dash, "We were about to fight them without you!" "Heh. Good luck with that." Proto-Man mocked. "Besides that. Are you ready?" asked Twilight. She had a bag strapped around her barrel. Mega Man wondered what she could've brought, but figured out that it was most likely refreshments for her and her friends, since the only thing the robots need are the E-Tanks they stored. Mega Man counted at least four more filled tanks from Proto-Man and the ones he found before ending up in Equestria. Luckily for him the battles weren't too difficult to warrant drinking an entire can at once. The brothers nodded, "Yeah. I may have an idea as to who's already there waiting for us." "Wily was never clever in his designations." Proto-Man agreed. "So, do you know what makes this forest so special that Wily sould send someone here?" Mega Man asked the ponies. "This is where we do the Running of the Leaves. Every year in Ponyville, we'd gather around and race, bringing down the leaves in the trees." explained Rainbow Dash. "Oh..." said a surprised Mega Man. "Um... A-Are you sure you can handle him, Mega Man?" Fluttershy questioned. The robot boy spoke, "Yeah. I'm still feeling fine. I'm just hoping you're okay to go after fighting Dark Man." "We are, thank you for asking." said Rarity, "We just want to make sure you won't run into anymore... Issues." she trailed off. Mega Man nodded, knowing exactly what she was talking about. Proto-Man raised an eyebrow underneath his visors, thinking that he has gotten over this earlier. "I-I'll be okay." studdered Mega Man, feeling unsure himself, "Let's just find the Robot Master in the forest." Rush looked up at him in confusion and worry. "Like I said, boy. It'll be alright." he assured his dog. The nine wandered into the forest, to begin the search for the Robot Master. The first sign that something was off was the fact that there were different robots scattered around the forest. Mega Man and Proto-Man spotted the Sniper Joes and Shield Joes standing in the way as well as the various types of Mets that lie all over the place while covered in their hardhats. "Heh. Wily actually set up territory here. That's... not good." Mega Man noticed, readying his Mega Buster for battle. Proto-Man prepared his Proto Buster while the ponies got themselves ready to fight the small army lying in their way. Proto-Man was the first to shoot, hitting the Sniper Joes. The green gun-wielding robots aimed their weapons at the red robot, but Proto-Man deflected them with his shield. He slid down from three more pellets, charging his cannon all the while. Once ready, he released the charge shot at once and destroyed the Sniper Joes standing in a line. He got back up and placed his shield on his back for now and tried to catch up with the others.. Twilight used her magic to lift up the Mets hiding on the ground. Pinkie looked at them in awe, "Aw. They look so cute!" she cooed, looking at the scared small robot in the eyes. The alicorn threw them into the air, and Rainbow Dash caught it before slamming them to the ground. "Woo!" she cheered with satisfaction, seeing it collide hard with the grassy floor. Meanwhile, Fluttershy tripped on a Met bot while walking. The pegasus saw it stand up, "Oh, I'm so sorry..." she apologized to the tiny robot on the ground, bending down to face it. The Met scowled, seeing a target in front of it. Fluttershy squeaked, moving back away from the pellets that shot out in three directions. Rarity saw this and held down the robot, and Applejack tied it up, pushing it toward her oncoming hooves to buck it down. "This ain't time to be apologizin' to killer robots, Fluttershy." Applejack said. "I-I'm sorry." Rarity frowned, "We're not mad at you, it's just... we have to be careful out here. Mega Man has said that these robots are dangerous and we can't bring our guard down." the unicorn added, knowing of Fluttershy's resistance of wanting to fight. The yellow pegasus slowly nodded, understanding their pleas. "Hey. If it helps. We can handle the fightin' for ya, Flutters." Rainbow Dash offered, punching a Sniper Joe with her forehooves while in middair. She looked up to see more green robots of the same variety and some with shields standing on top of the tree branches. "Thank you..." Mega Man saw that as well and aimed his Mega Buster upward, "I got this, guys!" he announced. Mega Man shot at two of the Shield Joes standing, making them fall onto the ground. The Blue Bomber noticed that the area was clear and they moved on. The nine ran through the large forest, and Mega Man was enjoying the scenery, 'This would be such a peaceful place to be, but of course Wily had to ruin it. Again... I'll make him pay for what's he doing to Equestria.' The gang stopped once they heard a noise. A robot stood in front of them. A smirk on his face. He appeared to be made of the same material as the wood. "Huh. I was right. I must say I'm not surprised to see you here, Wood Man." Mega Man introduced in an angered tone. "Mega Man. And Proto-Man I see. Oh, and you brought some ponies with you. Like they can stand a chance against my powers." Wood Man boasted. "I already took your powers, Wood Man!" Mega Man shouted. Wood Man chuckled, "Starlight Glimmer has told me of this place. She and Wily mentioned that this would be the perfect place to test myself against you." "You're a joke, Wood Man. Just give up now." Proto-Man threatened. Wood Man raised his hands and a large swarm of leaves surrounded his body, "Go ahead, Blue Bomber. Take your shot." Mega Man did as he said and shot some pellets at Wood Man, but the shots bounced off his leaf shield, hitting some surrounding trees instead, "His Leaf Shield is more powerful now with the trees. We need to find a way to get them away long enough for us to hit him while he's open." Rainbow Dash nodded and began to fly around Wood Man, trying to use her speed to blow away the leaves that covered his wooden robot body. Wood Man saw this counter coming and aimed a barrage of leaves at the team. Twilight closed her eyes, and focused her energy on her horn. She created a force field large enough to cover her and her friends. The leaves bounced off her force field and scattered all over the field. "Thanks, Twilight." said Mega Man, scowling at Wood Man. Proto-Man and Mega Man charged their busters at the same time, and because Rainbow Dash blew off the leaves and distracted Wood Man, they landed a hit on Wood Man, making him stagger in his spot. "Grr... I forgot how persistent you were, Mega Man." he groaned as he readied another shield. Rarity turned ehr head and saw a few stones lying on the ground, "As uncouth as it is..." she sighed, and used her magic to levitate the rocks. She tossed them one by one at Wood Man, hitting him each time and stalling him from creating a shield. Mega Man noticed that Rainbow Dash remained in the air just in case Wood Man somehow created another Leaf Shield for her to remove. The Robot Master grumbled in his spot, feeling the small rocks hit his already damaged system. He lifted his arms and threw more leaves in the heroes' way. "I don't remember him doing all this!" Mega Man shouted, sliding his way underneath the leaves. He changed his weapon to that of the Metal Blades and threw one once he got back to his feet. The round blade sliced through the leaf barrage sent his way. He then changed his weapon back to the Mega Buster to hit Wood Man once more. Proto-Man lifted his shield in front of him, covering himself and the ponies from the remaining leaves that Mega Man never got to cut in time. Rainbow Dash flew downward spinning the leaves around. Wood Man tried to counter, but Mega Man shot him, stunning him long enough to be hit by his own attack. Sparks began to fly out of his body and exposed circuits before Mega Man ended the battle with one last charged shot. Wood Man collapsed, the ponies looking at him and making sure he was shut down. Mega Man placed his hand on the Robot Master's body. Once he got the data he needed, he looked away from Wood Man to the ponies. "Guys... I got an update. According to Wood Man, the next Robot Master is here." "What?" the six shouted in disbelief. Proto-Man crossed his arms, "Wily's changing things up. He wanted to catch us off guard here, giving us the sense of peace here." "Makes sense. Wily was always tricky like that." After saying this, the team noticed that something sliced a tree with three marks seen on the bark of the tree. Rush barked at the sight of another Robot Master standing on top of the trees. He was a green and blue robot with yellow hair spiky like that of a porcupine and three metal claws sticking out of his knuckles and his feet. "Who the heck is that?" asked Rainbow Dash. Mega Man frowned at the sight, "That's Slash Man."