To Protect And Serve

by Onomonopia

Unbreakable Chains

The gun began to shake slightly as Robocop fought against the very directives that had defined most of his robotic life, once again trying to figure out a way around hurting the pony and bringing down Sombra at the same time. Sombra smirked with Big Mac's mouth as he began to advance towards the group, Robocop standing his ground as best he could while static began to form over his eyes.

"While I know I said that I'd have to go through you to get the key, we both know that that isn't going to happen," Sombra chuckled with victory, knowing that this battle was already his. "I can tell just by looking at you, you're struggling just to stand much less point that weapon at my face. Just give me the key Robo and I promise that I'll make your demise quick."

"I don't make deals with criminals," he replied as he felt his left knee go, but through sheer willpower he managed to keep himself from falling over.

'Directive: Uphold the law.'

'Directive: Protect the innocent.'

'Directive: Serve the public trust.'

'Not now!' he roared into the recesses of his mind, trying to find solace from the bombardment of directives while Sombra let out a laugh at the struggling officer.

"Really, we both know that this is a futile resistance," Sombra chuckled as dark magic filled Big Mac's eyes and he began to advance towards Robocop with a sinister smile on his face. "You can't so much as touch me, let alone harm me enough to stop me from getting to that key. Or maybe you can shoot at me again like you did in Canterlot and kill another innocent pony. Better make your choice, because there won't be much of you left when I'm done with you."

Robocop's face fell as Sombra's words pierced through his armor and for a brief moment he hung his head. But he forced himself to shun the revelation of what had happened to the pony away as he focused on the task at hand.

"Then how about I deal with you first!" Sombra let out a cry more of shock then pain as a blast of magic struck at his hooves and tossed the big, red stallion through the air, where he crashed into a hay bale face first. Robocop felt the static begin to clear as Twilight descended next to him, Flash and Applejack running up beside her with fire in their eyes. "Thank you for distracting him Robocop, I managed to get a few spells in place before attacking."

"What kind of spells?"

"A barrier spell so that he couldn't escape and a protection spell that will prevent him from trying what he pulled back in Canterlot," Twilight said with a smirk as he horn glowed with magical might while Sombra pulled himself out of the hay bale. "You hear that Sombra? You're not escaping us this time!"

"Oh dearie me, it seems that I have been outwitted by a princess," he said as he placed a hoof on his head and let out a defeated sigh. "If only I knew magic that hasn't been seen or heard of in nearly a thousand years...oh wait," he began as dark magic began to form all along Big Mac's body, "I do."

He cackled as dark tendrils of magic burst forth from his body and tore through the air towards the ponies, Twilight creating a shield for her and the ponies closest to her while Robocop shielded the CMC with his own body. Despite his inability to take action against Sombra, Sombra's magic still was unable to hurt his armored form. The tendrils of dark magic shattered against without leaving a scratch, Sombra snarling in frustration as the darkness returned to him.

"How did you know that Robocop had the key Sombra?" Twilight interrogated as she took to the skies and fired bursts of purple magic at Sombra-Mac, who slipped into the shadows to avoid the blasts of magic while his laughter filled the air.

"Do you fools think that a plan thought up by the two dumbest leaders in Equestria history would be able to fool the pony who overtook the crystal empire in less than a day?" Sombra asked from the darkness, retaliating with pillars of darkness that tried to impale Twilight out of the air. She dodged and weaved to avoid the pillars, her eyes locked on the ground in an attempt to locate Sombra.

"He is behind you!" Twilight spun in the air and shot a burst of magic behind her, catching Sombra as he emerged from the darkness and blasted Big Mac back, his coat sizzling a bit as he skidded to a stop in the dirt. Twilight looked down at Robocop as Big Mac vanished again and found that Robocop was still following the invisible movements. "My scanners can still locate him even if he is in the darkness. I may not be able to fight, but I can still aid you. Left!"

With a smirk Twilight turned and caught Sombra once again, blasting him out of the darkness and sending him sprawling across the ground. To both her and Robocop's shock, his form began to flicker and they saw both Big Mac and Sombra side by side for a brief instance.

"His control over Big Mac is weakening!" Sentry said with a smile as Sombra had to fight to regain control over his captive again. "Keep it up Twilight!" Twilight nodded before barraging the pony again, forcing Sombra to throw up a shield to defend himself instead of slipping into the shadows. Sombra's mind raced with possible ways that he could get himself out of the situation while still taking the key. Once again his brain pulled through and an evil smile crossed his face as he slipped into the shadows once again.

"Murphy, where is he?" Twilight asked as she stopped her bombardment, but Robocop threw up both of his hands as Sombra-Mac erupted from the darkness and tackled into him. The moment his hands touched the pony his systems started going haywire, with his directives all flashing across the screen at once.

"Now for the best part!" Sombra yelled as he slipped past Robocop and tackled Applebloom, appearing across the yard from the ponies with her grasped in her brother’s incredible strength, Sombra forcing Big Mac to wear an evil smile that would never normally cross his face as he tightened his grip. "And here we are again Robocop! Same situation with similar consequences! Not only am I giving you the same ultimatum, but this time if you pull the trigger you'll be kill a pony that you actually somewhat know. And again, if any of you interfere," he began as he created a sphere of darkness in his hoof. "They both die."

"No! We'll hand over the key, just let them go!" Applejack cried out in desperation, but all she got in return was a laugh from Sombra as he glared at AJ with her brother's eyes.

"I will have the key in time, but right now I want to see you all suffer," he chuckled as he held the sphere close to Applebloom's face, the poor filly terrified out of her mind. "You and your friends are responsible for blowing me up after all and I haven't forgotten how painful that was. I want you to experience the pain, a hundred fold. Don't bother trying to stop me, because if I or anypony else so much as touches this sphere it'll explode. But by all means, go ahead."

Once again the decision was placed onto Robocop's shoulders and he aimed his gun again right between the pony's eyes, yet as soon as he did this the directives began to wage war within his system, causing his gun to shake as Sombra laughed.

"That's right, you won't do anything without proper motivation," He chuckled as he lifted the sphere over Applebloom's head, the filly whimpering with fear as he placed the sphere next to her head. "Thirty, twenty nine, twenty eight..." Robocop could feel his systems beginning to crash again as he tried to force himself to make a choice, as he was the only one that could. Or so he thought.

Faster than any of the ponies knew possible, a flash of green ran over to Sombra-Mac and leapt through the air at him. The green pony grabbed hold of the arm that held the sphere, wrapping her own body around it before the villain could react. Applejack and Applebloom both let out a cry of fear as they realized who the pony was, but Sombra was more confused than anything.

"And just what are you doing, old lady?" he asked Granny Smith, who had a death grip on the hoof with the sphere in it. Granny looked up at him with such a fierce look of determination that even Sombra had concern on his face as she tightened her grip. Then he realized what she had just landed on and fear took his eyes.

"Ah'm protecting mah family." The sphere in his hoof exploded with dark magic, nearly all of which was channeled into the old mare that was using her body to shield her grandchildren. Yet Sombra, who was still holding onto the sphere, did not escape the blast unscathed. The blast from the magic collided with Big Mac's body, forcing the dark king from his host and tossing him off into the distance, right through the shield that Twilight had created.

But nopony was thinking about the shield or the defeated dark king. All of the rushed over to the old mare who was lying motionlessly on the ground, her body burned by the dark magic. Applebloom and Jack both rushed to their family, relieved to see that only Big Mac's hoof was burned, but horrified at how Granny Smith looked.

"She's badly hurt, but alive," Robocop said quickly as he did a scan of her body. "But she will not be for much longer unless she is given medical aid!" Twilight nodded and quickly started up a teleportation spell, all of the ponies so concerned about Granny Smith that none of them paid second mind to Sombra, who was pulling himself out of a crater his body had made.

"Welp...that backfired," he groaned with a smile on his face. "But that should be just enough motivation for Robocop to come find me. Let's make his job a little easier."

DPD

'Failure.' That was all Robocop could think to himself as he stared down at the floor from a chair outside of the room to intensive care, his scanners and auditory systems lowered so that he did not have to hear the crying that took place in the other room. He was alone in the hallway, for the ponies had gone to support their friends as they mourned. Mourned because Granny Smith had done what he was programmed to do...what he had failed to do. She had given her life to protect others.

A doctor had told them that Big Mac was going to make it and that the damage to his hoof would eventually heal, but that the emotional damage from the guilt he might feel would never go away. Robocop knew what he was feeling, as his own guilt for failing to even act was weighing heavily on his mind, so much so that he didn't hear the door open.

"Need to talk?" Robocop snapped out of his thoughts and slightly turned his head to look up at Flash Sentry, who looked strong despite the pain that he must be feeling. "Don't worry about me, in boot camp they teach you how to...cope with death. But I figured that after what happened, you would be feeling...bad."

"That is an understatement," Robocop said with bitter guilt as he looked down at his hands, hands that had been responsible for bringing down countless criminals and corrupted people with ease. But always within the guidelines set by the OCP. Even in this new land, he was still their product. "All of the time I have spent as Robocop, I always followed the directives, always believed that they would always keep me on the right path to being a good police officer, never needing to question them. But today...I needed to make my own choice and I was incapable of doing so. And another lost their life."

"Yeah...I guess that is what happened," Flash agreed, knowing that nothing he said would make Murphy feel better. "So why didn't you choose to simply...choose?"

"Because despite being in Equestria, as far away from my home as I can think of, I am still a puppet of the people who built me, always to dance and move as their strings demand me to," Robocop said with absolute hatred in his voice as he clenched his fists in rage, Flash turning slightly to see a single tear fall down his face. "But I am not held by strings, I am held by chains. Chains that I cannot break, chains that choke me whenever I try to move in a way the puppeteer doesn't like. Chains that keep me a slave to the desires of others."

"I can't imagine what that must feel like," Flash admitted as he looked at the floor. "To be unable to choose what you wish to do, to know that...if I made the wrong choice I would go to sleep against my will. I don't know how you deal with it." Flash then lifted his head and gently placed a wing on Robocop's shoulder. "But I want you to know that I don't think any less of you because of it. Even with the directives fighting against you and the struggles you go through, you are still the greatest defender of the law I have ever known."

"I am not a defender. I am a puppet and the directives are my chains," Robocop repeated before lifting his head quickly and turning to his left, drawing his firearm as he did so and taking on a look of rage. Flash looked to the side of him to see what had turned him angry, but when he saw what Robocop was looking at his own anger surface as well. It was a small strand of darkness that slithered in place on the floor, a stand of darkness that they knew well.

"What the hell do you want?" Flash snarled.

'Come with me, come with me. And then the pony you hate you will see,' the shadows whispered in a rhyme, giggling slightly as it began to move towards the exit. 'But come alone Robocop. Or all your efforts will be for naught. Sombra promises he is alone as well, he just wants you to visit for a spell.'

"This has to be a trap," Flash said as Robocop stood up and began to follow the strand, stopping for a moment when he heard Flash's words and he turned to look back at him.

"I know it is. But this might be my only chance to stop him without any of you being in danger," he said with determination in his voice as he turned and held his pistol vertical next to his head. "And it will be the best chance for me to carry out my directives. If I do not come back, tell the ponies what happened. But I must go. Because today, Sombra answers for his crimes."

Comments

[Crepusculo]

DUN DUN DUN!! EPIC SHOWDOWN!

[daniboyi]

NOO!
Not Granny Smith!
Sombra will die a horrible death! Like he deserves!

[lebowski42]

Hot Damm.

Sobra really kicked the puppy there. I'm preemptively listening to the theme again on a loop.

Go kick his ass you big slow metal bastard you.

[Lightoller]

gifsforum.com/images/gif/rage/grand/83745987.gif

[Loki777]

Granny Smith died a heroic death.....RIP lady.....

Time for Sombra to die a horrible death and stay dead for good!!!!

That monster has already signed his death warrant and just did it again for he deserves neither pity nor mercy!

[Nightingalehound]

Why don't they just do what we would do to starscream, intrap him in a unbreakable box or orb for the rest of eternity, forcing him to watch the peace and harmony he hates so much.

[JakeAndDollars]

5374401 My thoughts exactly.

~Dollars.

[Quasar4000]

It's time.

[StarChaser01]

If he really is alone, and the key is in his bomb compartments... then he can "give" him the key but at the last minute throw him a bomb instead! Bonus points if Sombra doesn't know what the key looks like so Robocop hands over the "key" only for it to do a level 10 blast to Sombra's dark face!

[The dragon hunter]

Great chapter anyway

[Mother3Forever]

DAYUM. Granny Smith has some serious huevos, don't she?

[dukesofhazzardftw]

5374573 YES

[Grahf]

During the part where Robocop was talking about being a puppet all I could hear was the song from the Age of Ultron trailer.

[Onomonopia]

5374747
All I heard for days after seeing that trailer was the distorted I have no strings. So excited.

[Kenshinryuu]

Sad ending, but now Robocop has a shot at Sombra. Not that I'm counting on Sombra to show up alone, he could easily bring a monster or something.
5374573 Sadly I think Sombra is to smart for this, he did see the Lumber Wolf attack from first person view.

[King Leoric]

Sombra....you.....will... die.

[Luna Secret Stallion]

Why do you hate Sombra so much? He like always the evil guy in your stories.

[Onomonopia]

5375283
He's a blank slate. Since he had so little character in the show I can write him almost any way I like as long as he's evil and laughs.

[JDPrime22]

Now I'm free... There are...no strings on me.

Loved this chapter.

[ArchAngelGundam]

Now taking bets on how small Sombra's remains will be after Murphy is done with him.

[icecoldbite]

5375297 So true

[Thoth-Amon]

5369218

Ah well. When it comes to out of character... You are dealing with a massively armored, incredibly dangerous, alien entity which feels that it has some sort of obligation or right to assault your guards and kill your subjects to enforce "laws" created by and for an alien species, it has usurped royal authority (which is high treason in itself) in claiming to be enforcing the law, and is subject to unidentified programmed imperatives (and bugs). It claims that it is wrong to treat "people" differently depending on what they look like - but has just killed some "people" and let others go because it looked at them and treated them differently on the basis of their appearance (after all... "Narcotics" is NOT a magic word; for all Murphy knows, the place was making the local equivalent of codeine cough syrup, morphine, or any of the many, MANY, narcotic medical preparations).

You'd have to be both insane and utterly irresponsible to take this monstrosities word for it that it is willing to obey your orders - and even crazier to grant it authority. Now - just maybe - sending it off to some beleagured outpost to see how it performed there under close supervision might be worthwhile.

Really, some exploration of how Murphy's computerized directives define "the public" (after all, no programmer on Earth would normally include nonhumans), and "Innocents" (does it use some instrument? Comparison criteria? Consulting the (locally unavailable) online police records?), and how Murphy reconciles those directives and his human mind (which has "common sense", unlike a computer), would be very interesting. I doubt that that is going to happen though.

[Operatorchan]

BA grandmother though.

[Supergumgum]

Robocop said with absolute hatred in his voice as he clenched his fists in rage, Flash turning slightly to see a single tear fall down his face.

Robocop's face? Because if that's a tear rolling down Robocop's face I have to wonder how it got there as Robocop didn't list tear ducts among his human parts.

[RadPony]

NOOOOOOOOOO GRANNY SMIIIIIIITH!

YOU WENT OUT LIKE A BADASS AND THE GREATEST PROTECTOR, BUT IT STILL HURTS INSIDE

[Endlessshadow]

As soon it says granny smith i was like "GO GRANNY SMITH" then I realized NO GRANNY SMITH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO after she takcles mac n sombra

[Shadowstorm15]

5380375 ya I was wondering the same thing super...strange.....maybe he just didn't list everything?

Also.....GRANNY SMITH NUUUUUUHHHHH YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

[NexusFrost]

5432668 I saluted through that entire thing. poor soldiers and Miss Smith...

[bendude10]

"Welp...that backfired," he groaned

... YEAH IT DID, BASTERED DIE SOMBRA!!!! YEAHHHHH!!!!!

[Lovecraftia]

7238627

Sombra is the helicopter.