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SPT Chapter 3

Super Pony Taisen
Chapter 3 Team M6

After the giant sand golem was defeated the ponies who fled slowly started to return to the camp. The damage was assessed and repair crews started to work. Thanks to Twilight nopony got hurt, and instead the pegasi flew towards the Gespenst MK II and got the still shaking Twilight back to the ground. While the pegasi still congratulated her for her victory, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash rushed over to Twilight. Fluttershy pulled her friend into a soft but firm hug.

“Thank you Twilight.” Fluttershy still had tears in her eyes. “I was so scared I thought I was going to die.”

Twilight returned the hug to comfort her friend. “Don't worry Fluttershy, the sand golem is gone, thanks to the Gespenst.”

Meanwhile Rainbow Dash's mood was completely different. “That was AWESOME Twilight, how those green disks slammed through that sand monster, and then you rushed forward and CRACK crushed that red core thing.” The awestruck pegasus kicked some sand and made a crushing motion with her hoofs to accompany her own retelling of the fight when she suddenly remembered what she actually wanted to say. Her voice became softer. “Thank you Twi, I really thought I was a goner.”

Twilight said nothing, she was just glad that her friends were safe. Then she saw Professor Digger and Spark rushing over together with the rest of her friends. Pinkie Pie immediately tackled Rainbow Dash down hugging her fiercely while Rarity went to Fluttershy asking her if she was alright. Spike was on Applejack’s back and his face showed deep admiration.

“That was amazing, Twilight. You totally smashed that thing to pieces.”

Twilight couldn't help but to blush at the praise she got, but her mind quickly began to form the core question.

“Thanks Spike, but who could have sent that golem?”

Every pony was confused at this.

“That what?”

Twilight explained to them that golems, beings made out of animated rock, sand, dirt and sometimes even gems and clouds were commonly used in oldern times to carry out menial tasks. Then some bandits found out how strong golems were and used them for their evil deeds, and not even the royal guards could stand up to the golems. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna saw how dangerous the golems were, and used the Elements of Harmony for the first time to dispel all golems and hide away the knowledge how to summon them.

“So, that was a golem that attacked us?” Rainbow Dash shot a nervous glance at the sand hill that was the only proof that there ever was a golem as if she was afraid the sand would form a giant monster and attack again.

Twilight just shook her head. “I don't really know; from what I've learned golems are supposed to be much smaller, just a bit taller than a pony. Who could have summoned a golem of THAT size?”

Spike meanwhile got out a scroll and a quill.

“We should report this to the Princess.”

“Good thinking Spike. Maybe she can help us to figure out who attacked us. Oh, and Spark?” The other unicorn who was inspecting the Gespenst turned his head towards Twilight. “I have a feeling that this wasn't the last attack, it would be better if we got the Gespenst ready to launch if that happens.”

Spark just nodded. “We are actually way ahead of you. While you were training we took careful data of the controls. I think we should be able to refit them for a pony now. After that we can try to repair and reactivate the other steel statues. But first we will test it with the training pods.”

“Calling dibs on Guarlion.”

Every head turned towards Rainbow Dash.

“You heard me, I'm going to pilot one of these. I will pay Twilight back for saving my life.”

Twilight wanted to protest first but then came the next surprise.

“I think I'll take a Schutzwald, I mean, if that is alright with you. I don't want to just sit there and be protected by everypony while I do nothing.”

Everypony stared at the yellow Pegasus with surprise bordering on shock, but Pinkie just grinned.

“Okie, dokie, lokie. I'll take a Gespenst just like Twilight.”

“Ahm helpin’ too! Give me one of dem Schusswalds, or however ya'll pronounce that.”

“And I guess that leaves one Gespenst for me. While I detest fighting, I will not allow some ruffians to hurt my friends.”

Twilight beamed with joy at the support of her friends. Spike already was an Twilight's back with an idea forming in his mind.

“Alright you guys can be team Mane Six!”

Every pony stared at Spike in confusion while he just shrugged.

“What, you never heard it? After you defeated Nightmare Moon and became friends, some ponies started to call you the Mane Six.”

Dash grinned at this. “That's awesome, sounds like a great name for a team of heroes. Any objections?” Dash looked at her friends who kept silent. They actually liked that name too, but were still surprised that they were famous enough that their group had its own nickname.

“It's decided then. We'll be team Mane Six, or M6 for short.”

Spark trotted over from the Gespenst and couldn't help but smile at the girls energy even after such an event. “Very well then, the engineering team will refit six training pods to accommodate you while Twilight teaches you the basics.”

The girls nodded and Twilight stepped forward. “Alright, but first things first. Spike, take a letter to the Princess.”


Dear Princess Celestia,

I must inform you of an attack that has occurred during the test of the Gespenst MK II Type TT. A giant sand golem about 20 meters in height attacked our camp and even tried to kill Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.

Fortunately, I managed to defeat it using the Gespenst's secret weapon, the so called T-Link Ripper.

The one who summoned the giant sand golem might attack again, so we are taking steps to prepare ourselves; in fact as I am writing this letter we are getting ready to reactivate more of the steel statues to defend ourselves against any further attacks.

I hope that you are safe.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.

Princess Celestia read the letter again as she stood in front of her sister’s room. She dreaded the task ahead of her, but keeping it a secret from Luna would be even worse. Summoning giant golems was magic of such a high level that only alicorns were capable of performing the rituals. And the only other alicorn they knew of was Nightmare Moon.

“Keeping it from her would only make it worse.”

Celestia repeated that mantra in her head as she opened the door to her sister's room. The younger alicorn was lying on her bed and turned her head towards her sister.

“Oh, hello Celestia, is something wrong?”

Celestia swallowed a lump that has formed in her throat.

“Yes there is. While testing some of the technology found in the Kurogane, Twilight and the others have been attacked by a.... giant golem.”

Celestia didn't need to say anything else, as a terrible understanding showed in Luna's eyes, and tears started to form.

“But, the only other alicorn than us is.. Nightmare Moon.” The last part came out as a weak whisper as the tears started to flow freely.

“I'm afraid it's true little sister. It seems that the Elements of Harmony did not destroy Nightmare Moon, but merely separated her from you.”

Celestia waited for a reaction from her sister, any reaction, but Luna only sat there motionless with a haunted look on her tear stained face. Celestia edged closer to her little sister, and finally held her in a tight embrace. There was nothing she could say now. Telling her that everything would be alright would only sound hollow at this point. The only thing Celestia could do at this point was to hold her little sister tight.


At the same time, Nightmare Moon was standing in the middle of a magic circle. It was too soon for her to panic. The sand golem was defeated, but it was not like it didn't take that strange steel statue no effort to do so. All she had to do was to summon more golems and have them gang up on the enemy. After all, she planned to summon an entire army anyway. As the next golem core formed in front of her, she levitated it gently to an entire pile of cores. Soon she would be ready to crush the Elements of Harmony for good.


Shortly after warning the princess about the giant sand golems Spike burped up princess Celestia’s response. The letter stated clearly that those golems could have only been created by an alicorn. Even before Spike actually got to Nightmare Moon every pony already knew who it was. Between the shocked whispers Applejack was the first to speak up.

“Wait a darn minute there. Didn’t we ya know, destroy Nightmare Moon with the elements of Harmony.”

“Yeah, we kicked her flank.” Rainbow Dash accompanied this with a wild kicking gesture.

In the background Rarity was trying her best to calm Fluttershy down. The timid pegasus girl has been afraid of Nightmare Moon the first time she met her but now it was even worse, the evil alicorn not only has those giant golems at her disposal, she made it perfectly clear that she was after the elements of harmony. Fluttershy managed not to look to scared but on the inside she just wanted to hide somewhere safe until everything was over. She only hoped that her friends could protect her with the steel statues.

Finally Twilight spoke up.

“Calm down everypony. I know that this is really bad news but you forgot one thing.”

The whispers stopped as every pony looked at her with clear confusion on their faces. Twilight meanwhile just pointed a hoof at the Gespenst MK II.

“We have this powerful machine to back us up, with the Gespenst and the other steel statues we can fight and beat Nightmare Moon once and for all.”

Some ponies were still uneasy but the rest of them shared Twilights faith in the large machine. Nightmare Moon may have giant golems but they had their own giant protector and there are gonna be more of them, they will be ready.


Two days later the training pods were finally ready. Twilight already taught her friends the basics how to pilot a steel statue, and at least Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack were eager to get started. The engineering team just finished explaining the changes inside the cockpit, and Twilight was actually glad about this. She could use the old controls with her telekinesis, but it would be easier to focus if she didn't have to.

“Alright, after some fidgeting with the controls back here, I think we figured most of this out.”

Cogwheel was quickly promoted after it got apparent that he was the best pony to figure out how everything inside the Kurogane worked, and right now he was at the controls of the training room while Team M6 were already sitting in the training pods, and took a look at the new controls.

The pedals were now positioned at their hooves, while the control sticks on the arm-rests now have 'cups' in which a pony could stick her hoof in, and only had to bend it a little to get to the buttons. The seat itself had a few cushions and a hole for the tail added to make sitting in there a little more comfortable.

“I figured out how to change the steel statue assigned to each pod and how to give you simulated weapons to test.”

The girls were a little uneasy at this. Weapons were almost unheard of in Equestria; even the royal guards relied on their strength and magic, and now they would learn how to use weapons, even if it was just a simulation.

“Twilight will have her Gespenst MK II Type TT equipped with a beam sword and a megabeam rifle. Rarity gets a Type TT too, but with a 'divine blade' and a machine gun. Pinkie Pie's regular Gespenst, the one with the steel stakes sticking out of one hand, will be equipped with a steel knife and a boosted rifle. Applejack's Schutzwald will have a M16 shotgun and a steel knife, while Fluttershy will have a repair module for on-field repairs, and lastly Rainbow Dash has a Guarlion with a burst railgun and an assault blade.”

Twilight and her friends made a mental note of the names of the weapons they will learn to use.

“There are also weapons built into the steel statues. The Type TT has the T-Link Ripper and a gatling gun a little below the neck, the regular Gespenst has a gatling gun and a jet magnum, which we guess are the steel stakes on its hand. The Schutzwald also has a Gatling gun, and the triple tubes on each arm are so called auto-cannons, the large tubes on the shoulders are called 'Twin-beam cannon', and the Guarlion has auto-cannons built into it's chest, and something called the sonic breaker. Very well then, if you are ready we can begin.”

With this words the pods closed and an artificial landscape showed on each screen. One thing that was different about the desert shown on the screen were the goal posts marking a racing track.

“We will start with movements. All of you are in 'separated areas', so you don't bump into each other. Just move through the goal posts. Ready? Go!”

The girls moved swiftly between the goal posts, only occasionally missing one when Pinkie was being too jittery or Rainbow Dash flying too fast to get a curve right, but otherwise the test went really well.

“Very good girls. We now move on to target practice. You should soon see red crystals floating around, these are your targets. I will have the training pods highlight the buttons you need to push for selecting each weapon, and you use the hoof controls to aim and fire. Ready? Go!”

As soon as Cogwheel was finished the red crystals were appearing in front of them.

Twilight professionally picked one after another, the megabeam rifle's red beam breaking through every target. Occasionally one of the buttons on the controls in front of her would light up indicating a change in weapons. Next were close combat weapons. The controls for them were a little different. Instead of aiming and pushing a button, they had to use the 'cups' to swing the weapon.

Applejack had a quick transition. It seemed like the shotgun was designed for close combat, so she already was near the targets anyway, and somehow it just felt proper to fight up close and personal. She was in range of the first target and swung the steel knife against it, cutting neatly through the fake enemy. After a few more another button was lighting up, indicating another change of weapons.

Rainbow Dash was actually having fun. First there was a race, and there just was something cathartic about shooting and slicing up those red crystals. As she pressed the next button a blue field appeared in front of her. The cyan pegasus was a little unsure what to do now until Cogwheel gave some instructions.

“The sonic breaker seems to be a force field designed for ramming attacks.”

Rainbow Dash just grinned and faced the next targets while pushing the pedals all the way down. The Guarlion flew at speeds that amazed even her while effortlessly smashing through the targets.

Fluttershy meanwhile got a little special training with the repair module instead of close combat training. In front of her was a very beat-up looking Gespenst. Cogwheel told her that the torch of the repair module needed to be used very carefully, or else she could accidentally disable the steel statue she was supposed to repair. Fortunately, being careful was second nature to the timid pegasus, and the Gespenst soon looked as good as new, after she welded the torn hull shut.

After a few more weapon switches they decided to call it a day and move to performance reviews.

“Alright everypony this test went actually really well. Twilight, you performed best in terms of accuracy, but to be honest, you could use a little more 'feeling'. Your movements seemed a bit too artificial.”

“Applejack, your close combat performance was top notch but your movements were a little stiff. Try to move a little smoother.”

“Pinkie Pie I'm actually surprised at your accuracy with the boosted rifle. I think you should be on long range support.”

“Rarity, while you showed a good overall performance, you were a little too focused on moving elegantly, and sacrificed efficiency.”

“Rainbow Dash was definitely the fastest, but the problem is that you tend to overshoot your targets, so try to slow down at least a bit.”

“Lastly Fluttershy, I'm sorry to say that but you are too insecure. You moved through the goal posts too slowly and hesitated at every target, but your repair performance was flawless.”

“That concludes the performance review, I think you all did well today, and should be able to defend the dig site without a problem when we get attacked again. Alright, you're dismissed for today.”

Twilight and her friends nodded and made their way outside where they chatted.

“Oh I can't wait for the bad guys to show up now. Guarlion is gonna smash them all.” Rainbow Dash punched a wall to emphasize her point while Rarity just rolled her eyes.

“Oh please, I would be very glad if we never saw one of these golems again,” she said.

Fluttershy remained quite. She felt a little nauseous after training. Not only because of the harsh movements of the pod, but because she started to realize that volunteering to pilot one of the steel statues might be more than she can handle. On the other hoof, with her on repair duty she might not even really have to fight, she only had to make sure her friends could continue fighting. The thought made her feel a little easier. After an hour or so they decided that they should get a little rest. Tomorrow they would practice moving through narrow corridors. The camp had been moved, and a tunnel is being dug out so that they could drive the steel statues directly out of the Kurogane and outside, so they could avoid being attacked before they were ready to fight.


Three days of hard work later everything was ready for the first field test of Team Mane 6.
Everypony was in their steel statue, and they already reached the surface. The steel statues have been repainted in the main color of each girl. The feelings were mixed; while Twilight, Rarity and Applejack were a little nervous, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were more excited. Fluttershy on the other hoof was a nervous wreck.

“No reason to worry Fluttershy, we're not being atta...”

Before Fluttershy could finish reassuring herself, they saw something approaching from the distance. This time there was not only one giant sand golem, but eight of them. Now even Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were getting nervous, but Twilight remained calm and gave them the battle plan through the communication system.

“Alright girls, here's the plan.”

“Applejack will move in first. After that Rarity and I will join you. Rainbow Dash, you bombard them with the burst railgun from above. Pinkie, you stay back and shoot any exposed core you see while Fluttershy stays with you. Anypony whose steel statue gets damaged goes to Fluttershy for repairs. Get ready, here they come.”

Like planned, Applejack went first, shotgun held before her, ready to shoot as soon as the golems got in range, while Twilight, Rarity and Rainbow Dash followed closely behind her. As the first golem came into range, she shot a burst from the shotgun at it, and while she missed the core it was quickly pierced by a bullet coming from Pinkie Pies. Applejack was quite frankly impressed at the accuracy and reflexes of the pink party pony. Unfortunately, these thoughts distracted her just long enough for one of the sand golems to get close to her. In the last moment, she threw the Schutzwald arms in front of her to stop the giant fist from slamming into her chest.

Rainbow Dash saw Applejack defending herself from one of the golems. She flew over to her, while also shooting at another golem that was about to attack Twilight. She didn't quite hit the target, but still managed to do some damage to the golem. Twilight saw her chance and shot the megabeam rifle into the sand golems chest. The sand around the impact area started to melt down, and the golem started to crumble as Twilight apparently managed to hit the core. With that problem solved, Rainbow Dash took aim and shot the arms of the golem that was currently holding Applejack's Schutzwald off. Applejack took the chance and activated the auto-cannons, sending volley of bullets into the chest of the golem until she found the core and destroyed it.

Rarity in the meantime used the machine gun to shoot the sand away from the golems core so that Pinkie could finish it off with her own rifle. As the golem crumbled, she shot a quick look to Twilight, who sliced through another golem with her plasma cutter, when she suddenly noticed something. Three of the golems were missing. Rainbow Dash seemed to have noticed it too.

“Hey what happened to the other golems?”

Before anypony could answer the question of the cyan pegasus a large blast of sand shot out of the ground behind her, hitting her straight in the back. Rainbow Dash let out a startled scream as she lost control of the Guarlion and plummeted to the ground. As she crashed, she hit her head on the display and lost consciousness.

“DASH!” Applejack was on her way to help her friend as something grabbed her from below, and caused her to fall down too. The remaining sand golems then rose from the ground behind Applejack's Schutzwald and the Type TT's, and before Rarity or Twilight could react, they were thrown flat onto the ground.

Fluttershy yelped and covered her eyes with her hooves. This wasn't happening, her friends couldn't be... even Pinkie Pie started panicking as she fired blindly at the golems, as they rose their arms to strike her friends down. Fluttershy's whole body was shaking.

“Why won't they stand up? How could this happen? How...”

Suddenly a strange feeling surged through Fluttershy.

“How.. HOW DARE THEY HURT MY FRIENDS!”



Rarity closed her eyes, not wanting to see her end coming at her, when she suddenly heard a strange howling sound. As she opened her eyes the sand golem was crumbling with most of its chest missing.

Pinkie Pie meanwhile was staring in shock at the Schutzwald that was piloted by the normally timid Fluttershy. Two large beams of brilliant blue energy shot out of the big tubes that were mounted on each shoulder. Then another set of beams shot out, hitting the golem that stood behind Twilight. That golem, too, was crumbling. The second the beams vanished, leaving behind a large hole in its chest.

Finally Fluttershy turned towards Applejack.

“I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU HURT JACKIE!”

With that furious scream, she charged the twin beam cannons one more time and two beams of energy effortlessly blasted through the last remaining enemy, until it crumbled into a large pile of sand.

Fluttershy was panting heavily as she finally calmed down. She couldn't believe what she just did. Her friends opened communication channels, and their relieved faces were shown at the side of her screen. Even Rainbow Dash seemed to have regained consciousness, and was groggily asking what happened. Twilight answered her question.

“The sand golems almost got us, but Fluttershy saved us and destroyed the golems.”

“Wow, great job Fluttershy. You really got it in you when things get rough.”

Applejack and Rarity could only agree with Rainbow Dash. After all, this wasn't the first time that their friend showed surprising toughness. Pinkie Pie seemed to remember too.

“That was super fantastic Shy, I was already panicking and all like 'oh noes what should I do now', but you just aimed at those meanies and BAM BAM BAM, shot them all down. Just like when you actually made that mean full grown dragon that threatened to cover the entire sky with his smoke cry, or when you won a staring contest against a cockatrice.”

The others ignored the hyperactive ponies motormouthing, and congratulated Fluttershy on her victory.

The yellow pegasus had a calm smile on her face. Just moments ago these steel statues were so frightening to her, horrible weapons of destruction, but now she knew better. They were shields made to protect the loved ones of their pilot.





Authors note: And chapter three is finished too. Sorry for the late update, but I am a little tardy. Don't worry though, unless I say otherwise the story will be updated. Personally I think this characterization for Fluttershy fits perfectly. Normally shy and scared, but may Celestia have mercy on your soul if you hurt one of her friends.

As for the ponies calling the PT's steel statues, they're going to learn what they are really called later, but until then I think steel statue would be a good description for anyone who doesn't know what a robot is.

Special thanks to my new proofreader Midnight Moon.









Silly little Omake #1:

(Takes place during Twilight's test drive)

The large sand monster was closing in on Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, who were knocked onto the ground. There was no way Twilight could reach them in time. Suddenly Twilight felt strange. It was like her blood was boiling inside of her veins, and words were lighting up on the Gespenst's screen.

Ultimate Gespenst Kick.
Shout Now!

Normally golems were mindless piles of whatever material the summoner chose, but even the golem felt a sense of dread behind it, so it turned around to see what could cause that fear.

The Gespenst flew high into the air until it stopped and arcs of lighting were sizzling all over its body.

“ULTIMATE!”

The shout of the purple unicorn could be heard far and wide as some of the ponies that were hiding and fleeing turned to see whats happening.

“GESPENST!”

With the next shout the Gespenst started to spin wildly, and the tip of its right 'boot' started to radiate a bright blue light.

“KIIIIIIIIIICK!”

The last shout almost deafened some of the ponies that were too close to the scene, as the Gespenst flew straight at the sand golem with its leg outstretched. The creature was too scared to move despite supposedly being a mindless slave to its summoner, and so it could do nothing as the kick connected.

An enormous explosion shot tons of sand high into the air, burying almost the entire camp. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy managed to dig themselves out, and as their heads peaked out of the desert sand Rainbow Dash could only think of one thing to say.

“That was the best thing I've seen in my entire life.”