Sweetie Bot X: Cutie Mark Crusaders Maverick Hunters!

by Zytharros

Highway to Hell, Part Two

Highway to Hell, Part Two

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Ready…

“There is no way we should be alive right now.”

Scootaloo, armor pocked with nicks, cuts and dents, sat atop the bee they had just blown up not five minutes ago. She looked up at two columns of steel rising over five hundred hooves higher than where they were. Her friends Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, no worse for wear than her from the end of the fight save for a beautiful shiner where Apple Bloom had been hit with a laser bullet, were examining their surroundings as she looked up at the highway.

In addition to the purple sky above, the obliterated green and gray roadway beneath, and several steel pillars rising to their former adversary’s fore and aft, the fallen section of roadway was surrounded with a pulsing, golden mile-high force field. As they looked to the bee’s left and right, they realized they had landed on a second highway, meandering underneath the one they had first traveled on. It seemed closed that day, but the reason could not be discerned due to lack of signage. There was no traffic headed in either direction. They soon realized that if they hadn’t fallen in this exact place, they would’ve dropped down to the city’s streets. Those were far enough below the Crusaders couldn’t even see them. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, exploring the edges of their platform, shrunk back when they realized this. They had, once again, come within a hair’s breadth of dying.

Scootaloo swallowed and replayed the fall in her mind. She flinched as they landed, Sweetie Belle directly on her spine, Apple Bloom on her front hooves, then on her chin, and finally she herself daintily and squarely on all four hooves. Yet, the fall didn’t seem to damage them in the least. She counted them lucky – she didn’t know how far this armor could cushion their fall from, but she was certain it wasn’t completely impervious.
The adrenaline began to subside as the Crusaders communed near the bug’s head to try to formulate a plan to get out of the valley of metal. A few ideas were thrown around, but nothing was clearly outlined. Eventually, the Crusaders slinked down, backs to the large mech, and sighed a collective resignation to death by decomposition.

That is, until X broke in.

You guys can scale walls, you know.

The Crusaders traded looks of disbelief before Sweetie Belle voiced it: “Huh? How?”

“Excuse me for a second, my little pony…” X materialized again and lifted up one of Sweetie’s hind hooves. “See this switch?”

Sweetie Belle nodded. Her friends crowded around the young pony to learn themselves. The filly quickly found herself uncomfortable with so many living beings around her back end and blushed slightly, ears half-flattening.

X continued, “You kick this switch as you run. That turns on a special antigravity unit in your body that allows you to kick up walls. Every time you kick away from a wall, the unit ‘drags’ you back to the wall, allowing you to kick your way up or slide your way down.”

The trio looked at their hooves and noted the switches were all in the same place – the inside of their back pair. Scootaloo, ever the one to try new, daring moves first, smirked and bolted to the wall. She kicked the earth, bringing her flank high in the air, and clicked her rear hooves against each other, tripping the switch and activating her antigravity unit. Without a second’s hesitation and losing zero speed, she leapt upward and placed a hoof on the vertical plain. With the same sprint, she quickly carried herself up the wall and up to the surface. From her height, she shouted back down something indiscernible, though her friends were certain it had something to do with the climb being really cool. Shortly after, Axl and Scootaloo busied themselves with a minor celebration.

The other two fillies, however, looked at each other, scared to attempt the climb. Apple Bloom looked back up at the towering wall and kicked her back hoof. Sweetie Belle followed suit.

Don’t worry, fillies, X encouraged. If you get scared, just let yourselves slide back down slowly. The unit also catches that, too.

“S-so it ain’t gonna jus’ quit on us?” Apple Bloom asked.

Zero replied, Hasn’t for us yet, and we’ve only got two legs. You should be able to hold your own very well with four.

Sweetie Belle swallowed nervously. Every logical fibre of her being was saying this could not happen. Yet, she had managed to somehow go to a place she had never been, acquire the armor of a robot and subsequently obliterate a sea of other mechs without so much as a quick breather just before this giant bug, and then she had unloaded hundreds of rounds’ worth of ammo into the insect without flinching.

So what was the harm in trying something else that should’ve been impossible? Besides, didn’t Scootaloo just climb out mere seconds ago?

“Apple Bloom, let’s try this together,” she said, looking at her red-tailed compatriot.

They shared a nod before eyeing their next opponent – a solid steel wall. They recalled what Scootaloo did, leaping just before she got to the vertical surface, and landing at a dead run as she clamored up the post to eventual victory. Running through her leap several times, the remaining pit-bound Crusaders mentally practiced the jump for a few minutes before finally deciding it was time for a real-world attempt. It was with snorts of determination and focus they charged. Apple Bloom was quick to surmount the wall, but Sweetie Belle… well, she wound up with a face full of metal as she ran her head straight into the pole after leaping far too shallow for her hooves to grab the steel. She slid down to ground level and glared at her opponent. She pulled away and shook her head, then noticed she was the only one by the bug.

“Oh, COME ON!!!” she screeched, flailing her forelegs in the air.

She backed up and growled, eyeing her opponent once again. She couldn’t believe she had miscalculated like that, but it happened, and she was now royally pissed off. “It. Is. On!”

She charged with a loud battle cry, then leapt at the wall. This time, she successfully landed on the wall. She gave a harder-than-normal buck, leaving two small hoof dents on the surface as she rappelled up to her friends. When she met them at the top, there was a loud, rambunctious cheer, followed by and angry raspberry meant for the pit they had just come from courtesy of Sweetie Belle. After they had cleared that hole, they began proceeding forward in the hopes of finding some answers. They surmounted a small hole in the walkway and walked on.

Unfortunately, karma cruelly felt like playing the role of bitch, and it decided to have a field day with these fillies.

A couple minor robots after this, they reached a second open space. The Crusaders had a feeling of foreboding, coupled with annoyance at the sight, which just so happened to be exactly the same as the space where they fought the first bee.

“Oh no…” Scootaloo said exasperatedly.

Apple Bloom applied hoof to forehead as Sweetie Belle groaned.

Oh, did we forget to mention there were two? Axl jeered, chuckling.

“Yes!” the Crusaders shouted.

Less than ten seconds later, another helicopter sound obliterated the silence of the air, and they were quickly engaged in another round of battle with the bug’s brother… sister… whatever. This one they dispatched with relative ease, taking all they had learned from the previous bug – the weak point being its’ helicopter blade and the fact that Apple Bloom could deflect its bullets with her sword – and forming a strategy that allowed them to utterly tear this one to pieces with minimal damage. They surmounted the resulting pit, Sweetie Belle in a mistake-less fashion, and continued onwards.

The terrain had progressively shown further signs of decay and destruction as the progressed. Now the road itself began proving unstable. After a slight incline, a rolling bot surrounded by spikes, and two small pests easily dispatched with a single charge beam, they stepped on a part of the road and leapt off. Apple Bloom was the last in the line, and felt the earth give way just as she left. She looked towards where the platform was and grimaced.

“Girls, stop,” she said.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were about to ask her why when suddenly the roadway beneath Sweetie shuddered. She shrieked and leapt back, landing near her pegasus friend on a pillar a little ways away from Apple Bloom, one of only three stable structures in the roadway ahead. The space Sweetie had just stopped standing on fell down into the city, cracking to pieces on some unseen object far below.

“The road’s unstable,” Scootaloo solemnly observed. “Apple Bloom! Try jumping across!”

“The distance’s too great!” she shouted. “Go on without me!”

Scootaloo smirked. “We’re not going anywhere without you, Apple Bloom!”

“Scale the wall on the other side if you have to!” Sweetie Belle offered.

Apple Bloom decided to go for it. She backed up until she felt a slight crumble from the roadway behind her. She looked back and swallowed, eyeing the pit behind her as it extended deeper into non-existence than some of the ones before. Certain she couldn’t back up any more if she tried, she ran for it. She leapt and nearly cleared it, but her hooves didn’t quite catch on the edge of the platform where her friends were. As she began her descent, she remembered Sweetie’s suggestion and hugged the wall. Her antigravity unit caught onto what was happening and switched on automatically. It slowed her descent, which allowed her to recover and prance up the wall to join her friends. After Sweetie Belle cleared the sky of two tiny insect-like bugs, they looked ahead.

The road immediately in front of them appeared stable at only four points. The rest of the surface was covered in tiny nicks and scratches, ready to collapse under their weight at any time. A few points had already crumbled away from damage. Beyond that, though, it didn’t look like there was too much treacherous territory. In fact, most of the holes and high points had already been passed. The edge of the city was in fact in view. A slow descent was all that remained for them to conquer.

“Well, that’s okay, I guess…” Sweetie Belle commented.

With that, they made their way across the chasms, not stopping for anything on the broken sections and safely crossing to the first stable road form they saw. The Crusaders made it to another pit, but before they could do anything about it, they were accosted by two flying mechs. They were triangular in shape, striped with purple and blue. The two points on the bottom were spiked, and the point on top was where the little helicopter blade rested. They weren’t terribly difficult, so the Crusaders dispatched them with relative ease. Shortly after the fifth one and another particularly wide chasm that Scootaloo had to help Sweetie Belle cross, a red and blue car-bot with a monolith cannon mounted to the hood hit Apple Bloom head-on, knocking her nearly back into the pit.

“Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo shouted. She set herself up and unloaded countless rounds into the car, causing the engine and the driver to blow up.

The little farmer pony grunted and got up. “Anyone get the model number of that bot?” She rubbed her head where a wheel had rolled over it.

That confirms it – your entire biology is now robotic. Zero said.

“What?” Scootaloo asked.

X continued explaining, Normally, when a biological creature like yourselves gets hit with a car or something, you simply splatter.

Scootaloo shouted “Gross!” as Apple Bloom gagged and Sweetie Belle gasped.

But since you survived that hit, we may have supplied you with more than just armor, Axl stated. It seems you guys have a bit of our reploid bodies in you as well, reinforcing your natural structure.

“Equestrian, please.” Scootaloo looked annoyed at all the big words.

Zero sighed. Our fusion made your bones and skin metal. You are now robots.

Apple Bloom gasped. “I’m… artificial now?” she asked.

Sweetie Belle looked at the ground. “And after all this time trying to stop those stupid Sweetie Bot rumours…”

“I’m a robot…” Scootaloo looked at the next car ahead of them and grinned wildly. “Come and get me, you motherbucker!!”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle gasped. The farm pony looked at her friend angrily. “Y’know ya shouldn’t use that language, Scoots! It ain’t polite!”

“Come on, A.B.! Loosen up!” Scootaloo said with a bit of an evil grin. “There aren’t any parents here. We can say anything we feathering want!” She bolted at the next robot.

“That don’t mean we should start…” the cherry-haired apple filly muttered.

“So, what should we call ourselves?” Sweetie Belle asked. “I guess for a while Sweetie Bot’s good enough for me. I’m still not letting the bullies at school get away with it when we get back, though.”

Scootaloo came charging back in a frightened fury. “Worry later, run now!”

The girls quickly looked back to see a car chasing their friend. They grew panicky, frantic and worried and turned tail to run after her, but they soon saw her returning… and firing a train of bullets from the top of a ruined car!

Sweetie Belle’s face contorted into a mass of confusion. “Huh?!”

“I stole this from a robot! Jump on and start shooting!” Scootaloo shouted as she passed by.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle snapped to attention and ran after the car. As soon as they landed, the unicorn began firing at whatever moved in front of them, like Scootaloo did. They destroyed another car, rode theirs to safety over a particularly long jump, and on the final straightaway obliterated another couple cars before their car’s engine simply blew out.

Scootaloo wasn’t done with forward motion, however. She fired up her wings, planted her hooves deeper into the car, and began trying to push the vehicle along with her wing power. However, that didn’t work. The car exploded and flung the three Crusaders forward. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo crashed into an invisible barrier while Sweetie Belle sailed right through it to land on the other side.

Apple Bloom stood up and looked around. Scootaloo was lying unconscious on the pavement, and Sweetie Belle was slowly getting up from the other side of the barrier. There were no other threats they could see, so after a short examination Scootaloo was confirmed to be still breathing and all points were secured. Apple Bloom then turned her attention to her friend behind the barrier.

“Sweetie Belle!” she shouted.

Her friend heard the shout and came back to them, but this time she didn’t pass through the barrier. She was blocked.

“What in tarnation?” Apple Bloom muttered. She tapped a couple times on the barrier.

Sweetie Belle swallowed. “What’s going on here?” she asked nervously. “I don’t like this…”

X spoke up. Sweetie Belle.

“What?” the unicorn asked, terror dripping from the word.

This battle you have to face alone. he said. I remember now – this was where I had my first confrontation with Vile.

“So we don’t get to help her?” Apple Bloom asked. “Why not?”

Axl shrugged as X replied, This battle is hers alone. She must fight Vile without help.

Sweetie Belle began tearing up. “But I’m scared…”

X materialized again. “It’s okay, Sweetie. I’ll tell you what to do. The faster you do as I say, the quicker it’ll be over.”

“What are you saying?” the farmer asked.

Just then, a monolith ship flew overhead. It slowed over the highway. The Crusaders swallowed nervously as the bay door opened. A platform descended, carrying a massive robot. This robot was a super-sized, navy blue bipedal monster, with fists and feet as large as Sweetie Belle herself. The robot was rolled off its platform and laid to rest about fifty feet away.

Rarity’s sister turned around fully and began charging a nervous blast. Apple Bloom stood behind the barrier, staring at her friend, wanting to protect her, yet knowing she had no choice but to let her do this alone. X and Zero looked on, wondering about the little pony and if her body would take what was coming to her. They knew what had happened. They knew what she was about to go through.

They knew she could very easily die.

Sweetie Belle spoke up as a second, smaller robot of purple descended into the larger one. “X?”

He looked at her and hummed an acknowledgement.

“What happened to you all those years ago?”

He fell silent as the purple robot with the giant cannon made himself comfortable. The robot awoke to the movements of the reploid within. The bipedal second armor stood, and the large ship slowly flew away. Slowly Vile began taking steps towards the tiny unicorn, who joined her Earth pony farmer friend in shuddering in fear.

“That bot’s huge…” Apple Bloom said, her words shaking like leaves in an autumn breeze.

Zero nodded at the robot, glaring at him with the ferocity of many battles of varying success rates in his memory. He growled and mumbled something that shot Sweetie Belle’s heart to her throat. No two words would scare her more ever again as these two did. They would nearly send her into a blind panic on the spot.

She realized what X’s silence meant.

She realized she was going to be hurt – and badly.

Before Zero spoke, she sobbed in absolute fear.

“That’s Vile.”

As if on cue, instinct kicked in and she lost all emotion as she prepared to fight for her life.

Three steps left.

Two.

One.

And the rout was on.