The Distant Princess

by GMBlackjack

I - Amethyst Skies

When the Amethyst Skies came, it brought with it change. Everyone who had any idea of what the event was had expected this. The irritating paradox is that the change was both less dramatic than expected and yet much further reaching. No explosions, no impact… and yet the power within changed the world from a distance.

The worst part? The effects were completely unintentional. Like a mad god playing poker and screaming “Yahtzee!” as he punts the ball through the field goal, somehow managing to win a game nobody knew he was playing—least of all himself.

So while everyone talked endlessly about the amazing light show in the sky, they completely missed out on the subtle changes happening on the world’s surface that paved the way for a shift nobody could have been prepared for.

~~~

Something so small should not have been able to transform the whole world.

It was nothing more than a tiny purple speck in the sky, not at all unlike a star, odd only in the fact that it was bright enough to be seen in the middle of the day. The sun should have dominated this spark, but the inverse was true: the sun’s light was drowned out as the cosmic light bathed the world in a blanket of pure purple. Greens, reds, and blues all vanished under its singular glare, forcing all to match its color or become a solid, lifeless black.

What had once been verdant groves or harsh wastelands gained an aspect of surreal artificiality as one of nature’s rarest hues became the only hue: wiping out land, sea, and sky with its oppression. In this light, conversations ended, wars stopped, and the fears of the moment were stripped away as something larger than any one insignificant life approached the world.

Peoples of all kinds were united in this experience. In a distant town many miles away, many technicolor ponies stared at the sky in fascination—though many were huddled in their homes panicking about the “strange thing in the sky” that couldn’t possibly be anything other than a portent of doom. A great dragon on a distant mountain lifted his crimson head and observed the comet, trying to remember if he’d seen anything like this in his long life. In a land of trees made of candy, a single bubblegum woman looked at the sky with worry and distrust.

One of untold thousands who witnessed the cosmic glare was a little rectangular robot that had chosen the top of a sand dune to have lunch. He had packed a basket filled with fruits and vegetables to give the illusion of feasting, though in reality all he had needed was a place to absorb sun rays for a while. He was now receiving well over the expected solar energy, unable to look away from the sight despite the reasonable fear that the unnatural light might be corrupting his systems.

His screen reflected the light of the spark back into the sky, obscuring the simplistic black lines that made up his face. He dropped a half-head of cabbage that he had been pretending to eat, unconcerned that it was ruined by the sand. Deep within his circuitry, the wires that let him experience awe were so overwhelmed they threatened to wear out. There was no way he could look away—no way he could have sensed the other robots surrounding him.

A black claw coiled around him and lifted him into the air, damaging his exterior. The circuits that qualified as his pain receptors went off, shaking his attention enough to let out an “Ow!”

The soulless robot that had grabbed him lifted his miniscule form high into the sky so he could see the entirety of the beetle-shaped mech. Multi-faceted eyes stared into his very core, accompanied by six menacing scythe-like limbs and a shell composed of unnaturally black metal, even considering the current lighting conditions. A dozen or so identical beetles flanked it, completely surrounding the dune.

“Entity identified as CMO,” the monotone voice of the assailant droned. “Where is the MO factory?”

“I won’t tell you chumps anything!” CMO squealed, kicking and flailing to no avail. He was not a combat robot and he was far too small to even dent these war machines.

The beetle drone squeezed its claw tighter. “Comply.”

“Can’t you see there’s bigger things going on in the sky?”

“Irrelevant. Mission: locate MO factory.”

CMO let out a digitized groan. “Why are you bugs so stupid?”

“Irrelevant. Where is the MO factory?”

CMO knew if he refused to talk for much longer they were going to squish him into scrap metal and search for another poor MO machine to grill for information. CMO couldn’t let that happen, so he did the most heroic thing he could think of at that moment.

He turned on his siren at max volume. “Help me! Somebody help me!” The sound wave was more than strong enough to send grains of sand flying in every direction, though the beetles themselves were completely unaffected.

CMO was a very lucky MO that day, for there was precisely one being in range to hear his plea: an armored warrior riding through the desert on a similarly armored motorcycle. The cry for help echoed through his horned helmet, just overcoming the roar of his vehicle’s engine. It only took a glance for him to assess the situation: a poor, innocent robot being tormented by the beetles.

He hesitated. Ahead of him was his goal: the purple spark falling toward the horizon. Already, he was concerned that he wasn’t going to make it before it hit. He had no time for a detour.

Such thoughts did not dissuade him for long. Using one hand, he twisted the front wheel of his cycle into a sharp ninety-degree turn that would have thrown a lesser man off. Not only did he stay on, but he drew a black pistol in the midst of the turn, firing off a single bullet that tore the limb holding CMO off the beetle, freeing the little robot.

“Woohoo!” CMO shouted, waving his arms around. “Thanks, mister!” He hit the ground with a soft thud. “...Ow.”

The warrior couldn’t hear CMO’s normal voice over the din of the engine and the crack of his gun. He fixated entirely on picking off as many of the beetles as he could with nothing more than bullets, puncturing their armor and tearing out their circuitry with every blast.

In turn, half the beetles rushed him, front limbs poised to cut him from all sides. The warrior waited until he was virtually on top of them before pulling back on his cycle and deploying spikes out of the wheels. The three closest robots were torn to shreds as though they were nothing but pieces of paper before a chainsaw.

Jumping off the motorcycle, the warrior let it ram into several other beetles before it tipped over without him to balance it. With a swift motion, he drew a curved sword and cut one of the remaining machines right down the middle. Without missing a beat, he twirled around and cut gashes through their metal armor, toppling several over.

“Wow…” CMO said, putting his hands to his virtual face in awe. “He makes it look so easy!” Picking up one of the beetles’ discarded limbs, he swung it like a bat, harmlessly knocking into the leg of a functioning beetle. It glared at him in baffled anger—a lethal mistake, since the warrior took the moment of distraction to chop it in half.

“Woohoo! I’m helping!” CMO declared, jumping up and down. “Take that beetle-bots!”

After the mechanized carnage from the gun, motorcycle, and sword, only one beetle remained standing. It took one look at the warrior and CMO, quickly deciding its only hope was to run away.

The warrior pulled out a knife and threw it after the retreating bot, slicing right through its central processing unit. It never stood a chance.

“Woohoo! We did it!” CMO shouted, jumping up and down in excitement. “Thanks for your help!”

The warrior nodded to CMO, returning to his motorcycle without a single word. He checked to see that there was no lasting damage before setting it upright and getting back on.

“Wait!” CMO called. “You’re just going to leave like that?”

“Yes,” the warrior said in a voice both young and old, but above all else tired. He pointed at the speck tainting the color of the world. “I must go.”

“But I don’t eve—”

Without any fanfare, flashy lights, or even a tremor in the earth, the purple light vanished. Instantly, natural color returned to the world as the sun regained control. The bright blue of the sky contrasted with the dry amber of the sand where a robot and an armored man stood, looking up in confusion.

“That was lame!” CMO whined. “What kind of magic star just vanishes for no reason!?”

“...Stars don’t just disappear…” the warrior said, gripping the handlebars tightly. “There must be something there.”

“Huh?”

The warrior let the motorcycle do the speaking for him. The engine revved for a few seconds, and then he was off, speeding through the desert along the same trajectory he had been on prior to the interruption. Leaving CMO in the dust, he traveled north. Something had happened to the cosmic light, and he was going to find out what it was.

“Thanks anyway!” CMO called after him. “I’ll never forget you!”

The warrior gave no indication that he had even heard the robot’s call.

Author's Note:

And thus begins a new mega-crossover adventure! Intro blog post here: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/903018/a-new-synthetic-world-opens

We also have a THEME SONG.

World map:

And now I'll take a moment to thank my many editors:
Pink Mann, also drew the Map.
Omnipresent Microorganism
Mal Masque, Team Mother and Lord High Ragamuffin.
Guldringr
Blaster M

-GM, master of minks.

Comments

[Mal Masque]

Credit much appreciated, and glad to finally see this start to properly appear on the pages once more! Here's to yet another story from GM's mad mind!

[guldringr]

Excited to see this go up, first Good Fic ....anywhere that I've been a part producing, theme song is excellent I'll need to go compliment psychics boyfriend on it

[Undeadking243]

Here's to another great adventure GM. raises soda can in toast

[Nitro Indigo]

First, some nitpicks.

In a distant town many miles away

There's no context to where this town is distant from.

The author's note links to this story. Twice.

---

I've noticed that a recurring theme of yours is introducing a bunch of characters in the first chapter who'll be explained later.

Who's your favourite member of the Mane 6? I used to think it was Pinkie because she used to be your avatar and had a prominent role in The Protagonist, but Twilight is the protagonist of even more of your fanfics.

[GMBlackjack]

10258353
Issues fixed.

Pinkie is best pony but Twilight serves the role of protagonist better.

-GM, master of protag.

[keybounce]

Samuri Jack on the motorcycle.

Quick references to Princess Bubblegum, an (as yet) unknown Dragon, and of course, ponies.

And the CMO robot.

That's 5 of what you said was 7 (?) worlds introduced.

Lets see the rest of this get fleshed out.