AMAZO visits Equestria

by KingDogbertXIV

Chapter 11

The two Wonderbolts landed in Canterlot about twenty minutes later with their prisoner in tow. Celestia, hiding her surprise that the two Wonderbolts had captured AMAZO, was waiting for them.

“He came peacefully, but, in return, he wants a cell in Ponyville with visiting rights,” Soarin’ said as they landed. “We said we would do everything we can, your highness.”

“The most secure prison we have is the dungeon here. Ponyville’s jails aren’t secure enough to hold him,” Celestia said.

“Frankly, your highness, I doubt any prison can hold him. He’s too strong,” Spitfire said.

“Then how do we hold him?” Soarin’ asked.

“We can’t unless he wants to be imprisoned. He can teleport out of any cell at will and we don’t know how to stop him from doing it,” Celestia said. Turning to AMAZO, Celestia walked closer and asked, “If you promise to stay willingly, we’ll transfer you to Ponyville jail. You’ll have visiting rights, but you’ll also be monitored 24/7. If you try anything, we’ll attack on sight.”

“Right, ‘cause that went well last time,” Soarin’ muttered.

“We’ll equip his cell with magic nullifiers to dampen whatever magic he has. We’ll also handcuff him and blindfold him so he can’t use the mace, ring, or heat vision,” Celestia ordered. “The blindfold will be off only when he has a visitor.”

“Yes, your highness,” the Wonderbolts said in unison.

“I’ll escort you to the jail once I procure the equipment for his cell. I’ll return shortly.” Celestia said before flying away.

--

“I’m worried, Twilight” Derpy said as she poured herself some coffee. “I doubt AMAZO has ever been in jail before. I’m worried he’ll just decide enough is enough and escape, thus angering Princess Celestia.”

“He said he would cooperate with the authorities,” Twilight said hopefully. “Still, the question arises of how they intend to keep him there.”

“Can’t they just trust him not to leave?”

“He’s an extraterrestrial android that thinks most life as small and meaningless. What’s keeping him from just changing his mind and leaving his cell?”

“I’m the closest thing he has to a conscious. If he thinks that staying in jail will keep Dinky and me safe from constant surveillance and search warrants, then he’ll stay and serve his sentence.”

“Won’t he get bored?”

“He never complained about the night shift. Though, that was under his own power.”

“You have to wonder, though, if it’s really right to subject AMAZO, an outsider with no knowledge of boundaries, to Equestrian law.”

“I can’t answer that, Twilight. I just don’t know.”

“At any rate, you better go sleep. I’ll knock whenever I get tired.”

“Alright. See you in a few hours,” Derpy said before retreating into her bedroom. Sleep found her a few seconds after curling up in bed.

--

AMAZO now sat in his cell. Celestia had personally installed magic nullifiers, laser grid bars, motion detectors, and had personally performed a binding spell on his hands and feet as well as prepared a lead blindfold. Stationed outside his cell were six unicorn guards with shoot-first orders if the prisoner attempted anything.

“Why did you surrender to the Wonderbolts and not me?” Celestia asked. “Does it involve Derpy and her filly?”

“Yes,” AMAZO said.

“You wanted to keep them safe. That’s why you surrendered. You didn’t want them caught in the crossfire.”

“Yes.”

“On the way here, you may have heard Spitfire tell me that you were helping nurse Derpy’s filly back to health. Twilight Sparkle also vouched for you. Is this true?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me, AMAZO, could you escape if you wanted to?”

“Yes.”

“How do we fix that?”

“I do not know.”

“There’s one thing that might keep you there until you finish your time, but we won’t try it unless you try to escape.”

“The Elements of Harmony.”

“Yes. They’re a last resort. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must get back to Canterlot. Goodbye,” Celestia said before trotting away.

--

The sun slowly rose upon Equestria, signaling the end of the long and tiring night for Dinky’s caretakers. Derpy yawned as she tenderly put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Twilight, it’s 7:00. Want to trade off?”

Before Twilight could move in her makeshift bed on the couch, there was a soft knock on the front door.

“I’ll get it,” Derpy yawned before flying off to answer the door, leaving Twilight to bury her head under a pillow. “Fluttershy’s here,” Derpy called after about a minute. “She’s here to check on Dinky.”

“Fantastic,” Twilight mumbled, sitting up. “Does she mind watching her while we sleep?”

“It would be my pleasure,” Fluttershy said softly.

“Thank you,” both caretakers said before returning to their sleeping spots.

--

“So this android isn’t from around here? Where’s he from?” a gruff voice asked. AMAZO, blindfolded, could not see whom it belonged to. Removing the blindfold would just cause unneeded panic.

“Not sure, sir,” a second voice said.

“Does he talk?”

“Yes, Warden Penn, he talks. Though, he hasn’t moved or spoken since Princess Celestia left last night. It’s unnerving.”

“Yeah, it kind of is. We’re used to thieves and swindlers here, not prisoners with crimes against the crown.”

“What’s even more disturbing is that he beat Discord in raw combat, then fought Princess Celestia and nearly won. I even heard that Princess Celestia thinks the Elements of Harmony are the only way to make sure he doesn’t escape.”

“Wait, he can escape even though he was blindfolded on the way here? How?”

“We don’t know. According to Princess Celestia’s report, he can duplicate the abilities of anyone just by looking at them. He has Discord’s power as well as countless other powers, including Princess Celestia’s powers. He even duplicated the Elements of Harmony.”

“So this is just us waiting until he gets bored and leaves? That can’t end well. What’s stopping him from ruling Equestria? He’s a threat.”

“If he leaves, we have a search warrant for Derpy Hooves’s home. The Wonderbolts said they found them there helping Derpy’s filly.”

“I still don’t like this. I may be paranoid here, but have Fixit rig up an EMP field and have it placed behind him. That’ll disrupt whatever machinery he has. In fact, have him install laser grids that sound if he somehow vanishes.”

“But we need Princess Celestia’s order to do all that.”

“Then get it.”

“Yes, sir.”

--

“These samples all indicate that Dinky had something other than Horn Cell Disease. There’s no trace of any infection or virus here. For all intents and purposes, she’s well,” Dr. Bighorn said as he pulled away from a microscope. A culture of Dinky’s horn cells rest in the viewing compartment.

“Then what did she have?” Reigns asked.

“I can’t tell. These samples were taken after she was well.”

“But these samples were taken a few days before we arrived,” Annie said as she trotted up to the pair, her horn telekinetically holding test tubes and Petri dishes of various samples. “I got them from Nurse Redheart.”

“Let’s see,” Dr. Bighorn said as he traded samples. He then peered at newly obtained Petri dish through the microscope.”

“Well?” Reigns asked after a moment.

“Are you sure these are Dinky’s samples?” Dr. Bighorn asked.

“I’m sure and so is Nurse Redheart. Why? Is something wrong?” Annie replied.

“This one shows Horn Cell Disease. Pass me a test tube of her horn sample,” Dr. Bighorn said. Annie did so and Dr. Bighorn exchanged samples. “Unbelievable,” he said after a look. “This one also shows Horn Cell Disease.”

“What does this mean?” Reigns asked.

“It means Derpy omitted something big in her story. We’re heading back to her house once we pack up,” Dr. Bighorn said.

--

“Warden Penn, news from Princess Celestia. It says that you are permitted to upgrade AMAZO’s cell as long as you don’t hurt him. I’ll have Fixit rig up the adjustments,” a prison guard said as he trotted into the prison warden’s office.

“Excellent. Good work. We’ll contain this android yet,” Warden Penn said excitedly.

“If I may, sir, I doubt anything short of imprisonment in a heavenly body or the Elements of Harmony would contain him,” the guard said frankly.

“I’ll be honest here. I don’t feel right housing such a dangerous criminal.”

“But he doesn’t act dangerous. He hasn’t moved an inch since last night.”

“Alright... We’ll see how he reacts to his cell upgrades.”

“He shouldn’t mind one bit.”

--

“Oh my... And then what happened?” Fluttershy asked as she lightly sipped her tea.

“Then the Soarin’ and Spitfire escorted him out of the house. We haven’t seen him since,” Derpy said.

“He should be in the Ponyville jail by now. Derpy was planning on visiting him after lunch,” Twilight said.

Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a familiar buffalo voice calling from the ground outside Dinky’s room. “Ms. Hooves, it’s Dr. Bighorn and his team. May we come up and talk to out?”

“Sure. I’ll have Twilight levitate you up,” Derpy called back.

--

“Dr. Bighorn, Annie, Reigns, this is Fluttershy, another pony that’s been caring for Dinky,” Twilight introduced.

“Hello,” Fluttershy said meekly. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Dr. Bighorn said. Turning to Derpy, he said, “I’ll just out and out say it: Ms. Hooves, we found traces of Horn Cell Disease in the samples that Nurse Redheart gave us, but not in the ones we took yesterday.”

“We want the whole story. How did Dinky recover from an incurable and fatal illness?” Reigns asked sternly.

Glancing towards Twilight with a look of worry, Derpy asked her, “Should we tell them?”

Twilight nodded with a glum “Yes.”

Turning back to the trio, Derpy said, “You probably won’t believe this, but, a few nights ago, I was visited by a being called ‘AMAZO.’ He said he was an android with power duplication abilities and that he was from a distant planet. He healed Dinky using one of his powers.”

“...An android? An interstellar android just randomly visited you and healed Dinky?” Dr. Bighorn exclaimed in disbelief.

“Yes,” Derpy confirmed.

“May we see it?” Reigns asked.

“He got arrested last night. I was planning to visit him in jail after lunch. We can go now if you like,” Derpy said.

“Why did he get arrested?” Annie asked.

“He got arrested for temporarily freeing Discord, hurting him, putting him back in stone, and then fighting Princess Celestia,” Twilight explained.

At this, Fluttershy fainted and Dr. Bighorn and Annie stood there, mouth agape. Reigns was the only one to speak. “Impressive,” he muttered.

“Yes, well, we’d better hurry if you want to see him before lunch,” Derpy said as she poked Fluttershy awake. Turning to her, she asked, “Are you good to stay here while the doctors, Twilight, and I visit AMAZO?”

“Yes,” Fluttershy said.

“Thank you,” Derpy said. Turning to the group, she ordered, ”Come on, everypony...and buffalo, we’re going to visit AMAZO.”

Comments

[KingDogbertXIV]

Alright, I still have a duplicate section somewhere. Where? My Word file is 15,610 words. Here it says 16,138 words.