Twilight's Experiments: The War of Mann Co. 2

by MIKEANTHONY321

Mann vs. Machine Mode (Wave 1)

Final Battle Arena: Mannhattan (Mann vs. Machine)

“So, uh…what’s on our agenda here?” Applejack asked uncertainly as she leaned against her sentry gun.

“I’m not really sure. These bots are apparently new to Mann Co, so they’re not giving us any information on what they are or what they do. I hear that they look like us again, so we have that to bet on.” Twilight responded with mundane hoof gestures.

“Man, I’ll tell you one thing. That Gray Mann guy has some creepy tastes if he’s designing robots to look like us ponies.” Rainbow Dash cut in.

“Do you think they’ll have the same abilities that Fluttershy has?” Spike asked worriedly.

The four of them glanced down at the butter yellow pegasus in question. She stood in place below the ledge that they were standing on, healing Zecora and chatting. She didn’t notice that her nervous friends were glaring at her.

“Celestia, I hope not.” Applejack sighed. Being one of the designers of Fluttershy’s incredible gadgetry, the humble farmer hoped relentlessly that it wouldn’t cause them their tragic demise.

…

Rainbow Dash, deterred by the conversation, decided to change the subject. “So, Twilight, what do you think about that ledge up there? Think there’ll be Snipers?”

Twilight shook her head. “I can’t say. But judging by what I see, I think it’s very likely. Luckily their sniper rifles give off visible blue laser lines for us to track.”

“I’ll have to run all the way up there to grab money for you guys. What a hassle.” Rainbow Dash scoffed.

Spike raised a claw. “At least you’re not Fluttershy.”

“Hey, stop bringing her up. I’m trying to keep my mind off of death.” Rainbow Dash jeered in response.

………………………………………………….

Unexpectedly, Applejack’s hoof device gave a loud beep. The conversers glanced down in surprise at the orange pony’s hoof device and watched as it buzzed to life. In a matter of moments, Red Engineer’s face showed up on the small monitor.

His face and upper body were covered in small splatters of blood. Sweat poured down his forehead as he whacked frantically at his sentry gun. Deafening gunfire and metallic clanks could be heard in the background.

As the loud noises started to erupt from Applejack’s hoof device, the other ponies standing down below the ledge looked up in confusion. Applejack turned her wrist, and angled the device so that the surrounding observers could see the screen.

“Applejack? Can you hear me?” The Engineer practically yelled.

“Uh, yeah, partner. I can hear y’all loud and clear.” Applejack replied casually.

“Okay, perfect. As you can probably see, our invasion has already started. That means yours will probably be starting in a few minutes.” He informed.

…

The ponies who were listening gulped loudly as their nervous hearts skipped a beat. A few of them took deep breaths to calm their nerves, and continued to listen.

“Before your attack starts, I need to stress some things to you. Our Medic here is working his ass off to keep us on our feet. Luckily, the respawn algorithms reach our location here in Germany, so we’re not totally in the deep end.” Red Engineer continued.

“Oh, come on! How come they have it so lucky? I’m over here thinking this is our last day alive!” Rainbow Dash complained.

“Shut up and listen, Rainbow!” Twilight ordered.

Once it was quiet again, Red Engineer continued. “In order to keep this rodeo from happening to you guys, I need you to follow these directions. Applejack, do you have the Rescue Ranger and the Short Circuit?”

“Um…I think I should. I got them back at…”

“That doesn’t matter now. Use them. The Short Circuit will vaporize any bombs and rockets that come toward you and your sentry. The Rescue Ranger will allow you to repair your sentry from afar and move it from said distance if a Buster comes your way.” Red Engineer explained.

“Well…alright then. That sounds like a good idea.”

…

Right on cue, as if by coincidence, and startling announcement sounded in the background over Applejack’s hoof device. It was the Announcer telling Red Engineer and the mercenaries that a Sentry Buster was entering the battlefield.

“Shit! Alright partner, I think I have to shut this off for now. Before I go, though, tell the yellow one to use the Kritzkrieg!” Red Engineer stressed. A rocket started to fly towards him, and the signal cut off.

The ponies stared expressionless at the monitor, trying to process what had just happened. Applejack lowered her hoof, and stood motionless for a time.

“Do you think we should, uh…tell her?” Rainbow Dash whispered.

Twilight shook her head. “No. Although it would probably be a better choice, we shouldn’t burden Fluttershy any more than we already have.”

…………………………………………………….

“Alert! Our attack has started! Get into positions and defend our base!” The Announcer cried over the PA.

The ponies jumped. Out of absolute nowhere, the attack was already beginning. Applejack didn’t even switch out her weapons yet.

“Zecora, get those sticky bombs down! I need you fellas to hold down fort while I swap up!” Applejack commanded.

Zecora saluted with her right hoof, and began to follow Applejack’s orders. Applejack dropped her wrench, and took off in a full sprint toward the resupply garage. Pinkie Pie hung close to Applejack’s sentry gun in case of a Spy invasion. Everyone else jumped down low and prepared themselves for the worst.

…

“5…4…3…2…1…”

Without a “go”, the robots immediately started to appear outside of the ship entrance. From what the ponies could see, they looked like normal-sized Rainbow Dash bots.

“Easy pickings, guys. Not that bad of a start.” Spike announced while leaping into the air with a rocket blast.

Big Mac spun up his minigun, and the clash began. The bots fell down into the pit where the ponies were standing, and began to get flooded with heavy artillery. With 800 credits to start the wave, the defenders had just enough money to send the Dash wave packing. Unmeasurable clouds of bullets streamed into the bots as they awkwardly galloped into battle. Healing was literally unnecessary as the defenders stood their ground with almost perfect accuracy.

Although the first mass of them were gone, more bots were entering in a steady stream. Without a closely-packed group of them, no explosive could easily handle the job. The bomb, which sat on the ground, was continuously repeating a cycle of drop and pick up.

Applejack’s sentry, which sat on the ledge a little further back, stood stationary. Not a single bot got far enough to enter its range yet. Pinkie Pie stood next to it, waiting impatiently for a few bots to give her some action.

As Rainbow Dash bots steadily entered the battlefield, they were quickly shoved aside by Big Mac and Spike. Fluttershy crouched behind a crate, blindly pocketing Big Mac. Although she was not healing anyone else, the first part of the wave was relatively mild.

…

“Is everyone okay? Do they need health?” Twilight called from her camp spot.

All of the ponies shook their heads. Apparently, with their experience boosted since the last invasion, Rainbow Dash bots were a piece of cake.

Right as the last one was blown apart by Spike, Applejack entered the building with her new weapons. She took a quick survey of the scene, and whistled.

“I take it you guys had this one under control.” She remarked.

Zecora’s stickies were not even used yet. Surprisingly, neither was Applejack’s sentry gun. Astonishingly, neither was Fluttershy’s uber.

…

With only a few seconds to rest, more bots began to flood out of the ship. Twilight raised her rifle, and peered through the scope.

“Zecora bots! And they appear to be holding……swords?” She announced with hesitation.

Pinkie Pie scoffed. “Who would give Zecora a sword? Are they loco in the coco?”

Ignoring her comment, Twilight leaned down toward the edge of the ledge. “Rainbow Dash, you did collect all of the money so far, right?”

Rainbow Dash turned to look at Twilight like she was made of plastic. “Duh, Twilight. I’m me. Of course I got it all.”

To fortify her statement, the athletic flier was riding on a large overheal from her bountiful harvest. Twilight backed up from the ledge, and resumed her focus.

…

The bots fell into the field, and immediately started to get attacked. They marched on with their swords in hoof, seemingly undeterred by the damage they were receiving.

The bot picked up the bomb, stepped up to Big Mac, and started slicing him. He shot relentlessly at the massive bot, with the assistance of Spike. Another Zecora bot with the same sword fell into the battlefield from behind. The real Zecora kept her focus on the new one, shooting grenades at it in a constant pace.

In just a few moments, Fluttershy’s healing proved to be too slow compared to the damage of the robot’s giant blade. With one final swing, the bot actually managed to finish off Big Mac. At the same time, the second bot put on a charge, and slammed into Spike with a crit. Both of them were down and out.

As Applejack’s sentry immediately opened fire on the first Zecora bot, Fluttershy’s arm attachments began to beep and give off red lights. Fluttershy shrieked in surprise.

“Wh…what’s it doing?” She stammered.

Applejack worked tirelessly at her sentry gun while it fired brutally at the Zecora bot. “Fluttershy, that means you have teammates down! You need to revive them before they’re gone for good!”

Fluttershy looked around the corner of the crate at Big Mac’s dead body. Erected over it was an actual-size red hologram of his body shape. Fluttershy reluctantly aimed her Quick Fix at it, and opened healing.

Steadily, and almost creepily, Big Mac’s body actually began to repair itself. In about four seconds, he was alive and breathing once again.

“Whoa, Fluttershy, that’s pretty impressive.” Big Mac remarked, feeling his hooves on the ground again.

…

Applejack cut in loudly again. “Now hurry! You have to catch Spike!”

Finally breaking away from Big Mac, Fluttershy sprinted over to Spike’s corpse, and began to heal. Miraculously, the small dragon’s body was also completely revitalized.

Just in time for the first Zecora bot to be destroyed by Applejack’s sentry, the second one was also destroyed by a headshot from Twilight. With a few more frantic bullets and rockets, the third one was also finished off in a matter of time.

Fluttershy swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, and breathed deeply. Rarity approached her from behind the enemy lines, and put a hoof on her shoulder.

“Think you’re getting the hang of this?” She asked softly.

“Not really…” Fluttershy breathed.

“Well, just hang in there. Don’t do anything too bold. We can handle the bots. You just need to stay alive.” Rarity mentioned.

Fluttershy nodded quickly. She raised her Quick Fix, and overhealed Rarity.

…

As Rarity put on a disguise and rushed to the front lines, a loud rumble shook the defenders. Startled, they looked toward the ship, and squinted to see what was about to come out.

Before the next bot showed its face, Twilight shifted her scope upwards towards the high-rise. She lowered her rifle, and cupped her hooves around her mouth.

“Incoming, everyone! I see Snipers!” She warned.

“Well, snipe ‘em.” Applejack responded while repairing her sentry.

Before Twilight could raise her rifle again, about half a dozen Twilight bots were on the scene and hiding. It was going to take a good eye to spot them before lives could be taken. At the same time, the next main bots appeared through the ship entrance.

…

Rainbow Dash gasped. “Hey, guys, it’s a giant Spike bot! And it looks like he has a few companions!”

Sure enough, by the time the monster was fully visible, three Uber Fluttershy bots had appeared behind him with full charges. The real Spike landed a jump right next to Zecora, and leaned in toward her ear.

“Make sure those stickies are ready for the Fluttershy bots. You don’t want to use them on the giant ‘me’.” He instructed.

“Dear Spike, there is no need to warn. For those robots I will surely scorn.” Zecora replied with a roll of her eyes.

Just before the giant bot and its Medics reached the entrance ledge, two more sword-wielding Zecora bots fell in from behind. About two more Twilight bots entered through the high-rise, giving the real Twilight more work to do.

…

For the time being, Big Mac focused his bullet spread on the new incoming Zecora bots. He left the giant to Zecora, Spike, and Applejack’s sentry gun.

Pinkie Pie jumped down from the back ledge, and began to burn the Zecora bots. One of them lurched forward with a charge, and sent her flying back a few feet. Her flamethrower slid to the ground as her right arm was completely chopped off.

“Uh…Fluttershy? Old Pinkie could use a bit of help here!” She called.

The giant Spike bot fell into the battlefield, and immediately began spamming rockets across the building. Spike, Pinkie Pie, and Big Mac were hit by the first three projectiles, putting them in dire condition.

Applejack put down her wrench, and began to yell. “Fluttershy, put a shield up!”

“A what?”

“A shield! It can block all of these incoming rockets!” She yelled.

…

Fluttershy frantically searched the gear on her body, but couldn’t find the switch that activated the shield. More rockets flew through the battlefield, putting the defenders in great danger.

Applejack jumped off of the ledge, and pulled out her Short Circuit arm. She began to use its electric field, spending metal in exchange for projectile protection. All of the bot’s rockets were temporarily being vaporized.

“Just nevermind! Heal the others while I hold this thing off!” Applejack ordered.

Fluttershy ran away from Applejack’s electric field, and began to supply health to the teammates that were injured. One of them, of which, got their arm grown back.

…

Zecora muttered to herself in concentration as the giant bot pulled its Medics closer and closer to her sticky trap. As long as no one attacked the Fluttershy bots, she would be able to wreck them before they deployed their Ubercharge.

Suddenly, she dropped her sticky bomb launcher as a Sniper bullet pierced her skull. She crumpled to the ground, leaving behind a red halo of her form.

Fluttershy’s arm device began emitting alarms again, telling the overworked pegasus that a teammate was down. Zecora’s body was all the way atop the ledge, which meant that the Medic would have to run out around the back arc, up the ramp, and over to the death site. There was no time to lose.

Fluttershy abandoned Big Mac and the others at the front, and sprinted with all of her power to reach the site of Zecora’s headshot death. A stray bullet struck one of the Fluttershy bots during her absence, causing it to deploy its Ubercharge. The giant bot was now spamming rockets with full invincibility.

…

Applejack stepped far away from her sentry gun, and began to repair it using the Rescue Ranger instead of her wrench. This way, her sentry gun was receiving health without her having to stand behind it in harm’s way. Using this technique, her defense remained stable for more precious moments.

“Dang it, Twilight, I thought you had all of the Snipers taken care of!” Applejack sighed.

“I’m working hard over here! It’s pretty difficult when you have to aim carefully for every shot! Your sentry gun does that automatically!” Twilight exclaimed in response.

Not willing to start an argument, Applejack left the issue alone. She glanced deeper into the building and found Fluttershy reviving Zecora’s body moments before its departure. She grinned slightly.

…

The Ubercharged Spike bot was wreaking havoc on the ponies’ defense line. All of the teammates were completely scattered, trying with difficulty to keep the robots in check. The issue was putting strain on Rainbow Dash.

“Someone help me! Did anyone see five credits? I’m missing five credits! I can’t miss five credits!” She pleaded.

“Do you want to try hitting the giant Spike bot with your Fan O’ War instead? We could use the help!” Applejack called down over the ledge.

Rainbow Dash groaned loudly. Her missing credits were driving her up a wall. “Picky, aren’t we?”

She pulled out her Fan O’ War as instructed, sprinted up behind the giant Spike bot, and hit it once. It did a whopping three damage, but also managed to plunge it into the pit of mighty mini-crits. Damage cranked out by Applejack’s sentry gun, Big Mac, and Spike increased considerably.

…

As the giant Spike bot began to take loaded damage, Twilight turned quickly to the Fluttershy bots behind it. With only one or two misses, she managed to steadily pick off all three of the fatal healers. The Spike bot was on its own.

Right at that time, however, with its launcher reloaded, the bot responded to the loss of its Medics by spamming a second set of rockets at the defenders. Most of the defenders were very close to the bot for extra damage, and had absolutely nowhere to run. Fast-flying projectiles struck them repeatedly, causing heavy destruction. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Zecora were all down.

Fluttershy’s arm device set off again with frantic beeps and lights. She cried out again, and began to scurry in the direction of the fatalities.

Exasperated by Fluttershy’s incompetent shielding ability, Applejack leapt down below the ledge to start deflecting rockets with the Short Circuit. This bought Big Mac and Spike enough time to spam the bot with more mini-crits, as well as more space for Fluttershy to revive her teammates.

She started with Rainbow Dash, whose small amount of health had her back in seconds. She moved on to Rarity and Pinkie Pie next, taking advantage of their small amounts of health as well. She was lucky this time around that her teammates were in close proximity to each other.

…

With Zecora alive last, the giant Spike bot was finally destroyed by the heavy damage spray. The bomb was dropped on the ground again, though it was behind the arc where Applejack’s sentry couldn’t see it. The ponies all immediately shifted back to the front lines.

“Rarity, I need y’all to stay back by the bomb here. It might return to the ship if you keep robots from touchin’ it. Got it?” Applejack commanded.

Rarity nodded, and applied another disguise. She kept her Dead Ringer secure and her sapper ready to deploy.

Being the designer of the technology, as well as the intel-bearer on the robots’ behavior, Applejack did a remarkable job leading the team through the wave. That sort of honor was usually assigned to Twilight or Big Mac, but they were just as oblivious as civilians to this kind of invasion.

…

With these tactics set aside, the more frontal fighters sprinted back to the bot entrance in preparation for the next sub-wave of metal attackers. They didn’t have to wait long before the clanks of ferric footsteps began to rattle through their eardrums again.

“Is everyone ready?” Twilight called down from the ledge.

The rifle-bearing unicorn did not receive a reply. None of her teammates bothered to respond to her roll call. Sighing, she raised her rifle to her face once again.

“Alert! Their Spies are coming!” The Announcer warned.

Applejack shifted her wrench to the other hoof, and used the former to point down the edge of the ledge. She waved her wrench back and forth.

“Somepony watch Fluttershy! One stab, and our goose is cooked!” She ordered to the fighters down below.

Rainbow Dash glided down from the upper platform, and began to push and shove at Fluttershy. The flustered healer stumbled backwards in surprise.

“Hey!”

“Get against the wall, Flutters! It’ll keep the Spies from backstabbing you!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

…

Just as the blue halos of the stealthy bots began to appear, two giant Spike bots stepped out from the hatch of the robot ship. Roughly a dozen Fluttershy bots were latched onto one of them. At the same time, a cluster of smaller, swifter Spike bots swarmed out from the entrance.

Rarity hesitated a little bit, but decided to stick with Applejack’s plan and guard the bomb. After all, even a simple Spike bot could bust through with its launcher and devastate the operation. While debating thoughts ran through her head, the sound of loud explosions and gunfire vibrated past her ears. Applejack’s sentry gun, planted on the platform directly above the unicorn’s head, started shooting as it detected robots.

“Alert; a Sentry Buster has entered the area!” The Announcer broadcasted.

Rarity fiddled with her sapper as she heard Applejack interject above her. Thus far, no robots were entering her area.

“Well, I don’t think it’ll do my team harm if I move up a notch…” Rarity muttered to herself, shrugging her shoulders.

Keeping her sapper out, the disguised assassin equipped the Dead Ringer, and charged out into the front lines. Immediately upon entering the field of battle, she planted the sapper on the giant Spike bot with the Medics.

…

The bot started shuttering as the device sucked electrical energy out of its circuits. It turned with great effort toward the ground, where it saw what appeared to be a friendly Fluttershy bot holding its syringe gun. The Fluttershy bot looked up into the scanning eye cameras of the giant bot, and began to scurry away.

After a few mundane security checks, the giant Spike bot concluded that that Fluttershy bot was definitely a fraud. With more substantial effort, it turned around, and started shooting its rockets at it.

Rarity, noticed by the giant bot, immediately held out her Dead Ringer. When struck by one of the rockets, her cloak activated. Fooled, the giant bot turned back around, and returned its focus to the other fighters.

By then, though, its sapped energy was beginning to take a toll on its health. Added to the damage dealt by Spike, Big Mac, Twilight, Zecora, and Applejack, it was getting incredibly close to premature destruction.

Just as the ponies were preparing to sigh in relief, the few remaining Fluttershy bots behind the giant deployed their Ubercharge. In a discouraging stream of blue light, the bots entered invulnerability.

…

“Retreat! Don’t shoot, or you’ll waste your bullets!” Spike yelled.

Listening to orders, the ponies stopped shooting their guns. Applejack’s sentry wasn’t even present, because it was being hauled away by Applejack to the safety of the outdoors to be attacked by the Sentry Buster. Without a shield or the Short Circuit, the defenders dodged hopelessly in an attempt to phase the giant’s rockets.

Once the bot was underneath the arc, it picked up the bomb, and continued to carry it away from the defenders. Zecora jogged up the ledge, aimed her sticky launcher, and set a trap about twenty paces in front of the advancing bot.

A spine-rippling explosion tore through the ponies’ heads as the Sentry Buster ruptured outside of the building. They turned their heads in shock to the site of the explosion. There, amidst the endless clouds of smoke and ash, was Applejack, holding her sentry gun in its toolbox. Her breathing was heavy, but her face was confident.

“Good thing ‘mah legs are still good.” She panted.

The sweating farm mare dropped her sentry gun back on the ground above the arc. Just in time for its replacement, the giant Spike bot marched out from the back side of the ledge next to the leading ramp. It, along with its Medics, was now in view of the turret.

After a few more seconds, the bot’s Ubercharge was gone. Applejack’s sentry gun opened fire, peppering the bot with bullets. With great, laborious effort, it shot rockets in retaliation while continuing to move forward. Its helpless Fluttershy bots scampered forward in pursuit, and toppled right onto Zecora’s sticky trap. Zecora bowed her head down, waved her hoof in the air, and detonated the explosives.

…

The Fluttershy bots were violently mangled into oblivion. Pieces of circuitry and red-hot metal blasted through the air with skin-tearing force. Their medi-guns were tossed in the air alongside the fire-pillar that launched them. The giant Spike bot flinched to the side, damaged immensely.

Twilight, viewing the carnage from many yards away, chuckled softly. Memories awoke within her from their last robot battle at Mannworks. She couldn’t really explain why, but she almost felt at home fighting with her friends. Being flank-deep in robot shards and bullets just seemed to make her feel…content. She enjoyed it more than her battles against team BLU.

Smiling warmly, she raised her rifle to her face, gazed down the scope at the giant bot, and pulled the trigger. An air-piercing bullet shot out of her rifle, traveling at a deadly 3,000 feet per second. No, this was not the bullet that was going to end the battle for the ponies. This was the bullet that was going to spell new beginnings for Twilight’s relationship with her friends, her human mercenary companions, and Red Sniper. It was the bullet that would kick-start her second robot-defense experience.

…

The bullet crashed into the giant Spike bot’s head, blowing it up instantly. The ponies down by the kill-zone flinched backwards while holding their hooves up to their heads. A wave of heat and metal shrapnel flew by their faces as the giant bot’s fate was sealed. The first wave was complete.

“Well done! Return to the UPGRADE stations, and prepare for the next wave!” The Announcer ordered.

Twilight lowered her rifle, and hopped off of the ledge that she was standing on. Her frazzled friends began to flock up the ramp to join her once they were able to catch their breath. Applejack was the first one to walk by the lavender unicorn.

“Nice shot there, partner. Great way to start this defense mission!” She acknowledged, patting Twilight’s back.

Rainbow Dash flew by her next. Twilight looked up at her with a grin.

“Doing good so far, Dashie?” She asked.

Rainbow Dash’s face was buried in her hooves. She shook her head in annoyed exasperation. “Five credits… I missed FIVE CREDITS!”

Twilight laughed. “Hang in there. No one blames you.”

…

As each pony walked casually by Twilight in pursuit of the UPGRADE stations, the humble sniper modestly took in multiple compliments on her kill-shot. The last one to walk by her was Fluttershy. She was separated considerably from the rest of the crowd.

“Are you okay, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked nervously.

Fluttershy lowered her head and closed her eyes before letting tears fall to the ground for the umpteenth time that week. She shook her head.

To be Continued…

Author's Note:

I'm getting pretty lazy, ain't I?

Well, it turns out I wasn't able to wrap this baby up before End of the Line came out. I'm not too worried about it, though. I never really stood a chance. This story WILL be finished, though, regardless of how slow I am to do it!

(By the way, I will not include all of the waves into this story. I will have this chapter for the first wave, the next chapter for the third wave, and the last chapter for the final wave.)

Comments

[Sputnikmann]

This is good! Can't wait for the next chapter!

[MIKEANTHONY321]

5719219
Could you tell me where I mentioned three years? I'd like to buff out the kinks.

[MIKEANTHONY321]

5719435
Also, I'm over halfway done with the second MvM chapter. One more after that, and then possibly a conclusion if I don't decide to wrap it up then. School is pressing a weight on me, so the updates are sluggish.