"What?!"
"You heard me, Geo." his superior, Arthur C. Eos, or just Ace, repeated. "Mu's ruins disappeared a few hours ago, and it looks like Solo went chasing them."
"Any idea where they went?" a voice from Geo's Hunter-VG asked.
"None at all." a voice from Ace's own Hunter-VG replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
"I wasn't asking you, Acid!" a beast roared, emerging from Geo's Hunter, shaped similarly to Laplace; only, he was clad in armor and looked more like a wolverine.
"Omega-Xis, calm down!" Geo commanded as Acid, clad entirely in armor, appeared from Ace's Hunter. "This is no time to start a fight!"
Omega-Xis, or just Mega, just grumbled, crossing his arms. "Anyway, back to business." Ace restarted the conversation. "We've managed to trace how he left, and we've managed to find a way to copy it, method, destination and all. The only problem-"
"Is that you don't know where it leads." Mega interrupted. "For all we know it could dump us into the middle of a black hole."
"... That's true, yeah." Ace agreed. "And another problem is, the only person we can send is you, Geo."
"Why me?" Geo had to ask.
"Because you're the only one who's ever managed to defeat Rogue in a one-on-one match." Acid explained.
"Feeling weak?" Mega sneered at Acid, puffing up his chest in pride.
Geo gave him a glare. "One more problem is that using the portal device we've made attracts viruses." Ace continued. "So we want to keep it closed as long as we can while you're facing down Rogue."
"Can we keep in contact while the portal's closed?" Geo had to ask.
"No." Acid shook his head. "Communication waves can't make it through without the portal, so every day at exactly 12:00 we'll open the portal for an hour. That will give you time to contact us."
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Mega asked. "Let's go buck wild!"
Ace smiled. "Good luck, Mega Man."
"EM Wave Change! Geo Stelar, On Air!"
Green flame filled the room as Mega's power filled Geo, wrapping him in the famous blue armor he was known for. As the flame dispersed, Mega Man emerged, standing tall and proud. "Remember, get in, get Rogue, get out." Ace repeated. "Ready, Dr. Goodall?"
"I've been waiting to push this button all day." the elderly Dr. Goodall admitted, pressing a comically large button. "I just hope the stress of interuniversal travel won't be too much for old Meggers."
"Don't call me that!" Mega shouted, his voice shaking the whole building.
Almost immediately, the area in front of Geo began to spark with energy, forming a swirling portal. "It's open! Green light!" Ace commanded.
Then, the worst case scenario happened. "Metool!"
Geo turned around to see a Mettenna behind him. "... You're seriously concerned about Mettennas?" Mega had to ask.
"Mega...?" Geo returned his attention to the Mettenna.
Mega looked back to see that the one Mettenna had become two. Then another appeared. And another. Right before their eyes, an army of viruses was materializing. "Move!" Ace shouted as gunfire began to erupt, security Wizards appearing out of thin air.
Geo didn't think twice. He ran towards the portal, Mega's power giving him the strength to leap buildings. He dove in, wrapped in blue energy. "Good luck, Geo." Dr. Goodall prayed as the portal closed. "You're going to need it."
"Whoa... That's some strong Noise!" Mega said to himself.
The two were flying through the wormhole at breakneck speeds, keeping focused on the supposed exit ahead. As Mega said, there was an extreme amount of Noise around them. "Good thing we have an updated Ace Program." Geo noted. "I can still feel it, though... But it's benign. It almost feels warm."
"... I don't think I've ever heard of warm Noise." Mega admitted. "This isn't even a kind I've heard of, not even back on Planets AM or FM."
"Well, I guess Noise Change'll be useless wherever we're going."
The two felt a gust of wind as the wormhole's light red interior dispersed into what looked like the night sky. "Well, that's new." Mega noticed.
There were no Wave Roads anywhere, not a hint of wave technology. In fact, they were all alone up in the night sky, no Hertzes, no Wizards... nothing. They were the only EM beings they could see. Geo outstretched his hands, catching the air and slowing his descent, EM being or not. He kept his eyes pointed down as he flew across the night sky, looking for some hint of Rogue or any sort of civilization. "... Hey, Geo?" Mega asked.
"What?" Geo asked.
"Think it's odd that there's no Wave Roads around here? Natural waves exist in outer space, even without human technology. But here... This isn't even a dead zone. Radio waves just don't seem to exist here."
"Well, it makes mobility a problem." Geo admitted. "I can already feel our transmission speed slowing down."
"Slowing way down." Mega added. "Hey, that looks like a good place to land."
Geo looked down to see where Mega was talking about. Below them was a town of sorts, but it looked fairly... fantastical. They all had unique, colorful exteriors, and some were even unique in their own right. One looked like it was built inside a tree, while another looked like a pile of sweets. "... Yeah, Rogue would do some serious damage to this place." Geo concluded.
Flipping in the air, Geo began to descend towards the town.
"I'm sorry, Twilight? What did you say, a monster?"
Twilight, Spike, and some of her friends, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy, were in the library, the place Twilight called home. "Yeah!" Twilight confirmed, panicking. "Two, actually! One of them transformed into some giant sword, and the one with the M on his chest tried to chop me in half with it! I'm only here because of my teleportation spell!"
"W-what did it look like?" Fluttershy asked, clearly worried. After all, her best friend was attacked by something that sounded even scarier than a full-grown dragon.
"Well, the one with the M had two arms and two legs, like a bear, but it was a lot thinner, and it had some sort of black skin..." Twilight began to describe. "The one that transformed into the sword looked like some hunchbacked ghost."
"... Ah'll be honest, sugarcube, ah've never heard of such a thing." Applejack admitted. "Sure you two weren't dreaming or something?"
"No way!" Spike denied. "Those things could be anywhere right now!"
"They've already been to Canterlot."
Twilight jumped as a blast of light filled the room. From it, Princess Celestia emerged. "Princess!" Twilight began to bow, but Celestia stopped her.
"We have no time for formalities." the Princess interrupted. The black-clad figure you have just described recently attacked Canterlot. Neither I nor the military could stop him."
With that, Fluttershy instantly fainted. Rarity quickly grabbed a towel from nearby and began to wave it over Fluttershy's head, trying to wake her up. "What was he after?" Twilight had to ask.
"... I am unsure if news has reached you, but across Equestria, strange meteorites have been landing, carrying what looked like pieces of a grand civilization." Celestia explained. "The figure calling himself Rogue fought his way past all of us, set on the meteorite. Even I was brushed aside. I feel we will need the Elements of Harmony again."
"Count on us!" Rainbow Dash volunteered, leaping into the air wings spread. "That Rogue thing'll be sucked up into my Blow-Dry Tornado and then we'll let him have it!"
"I would be careful." Celestia warned. "His aura is that of an unparalleled loneliness, which defends him from slight. He has also vanished, taking the meteorite with him. We have no idea where he will strike next."
"As you command, Princess." Twilight bowed. "We'll stop Rogue!"
"Hey, what's that?" Pinkie Pie asked, looking out an upstairs window. There was a blue glow across her face.
Nopony could resist the temptation to look out the window. Outside, a blue shooting star was falling towards Ponyville, similar to the one Rogue came down on. "Don't tell me there's two of them!" She prayed as the shooting star got ever so closer.
With a loud crash, it made impact right in the main street. Windows began to open as ponies checked out what happened. As the smoke cleared, a blue-clad figure similar to Rogue rose, clutching his head... or at least, the one that wasn't on his left arm. "Ouch..." he moaned. "Next time, we are doing a water crash, Mega."
"Hey, that pond looked pretty shallow." his left arm tried to justify.
"Yeah, well, I'd rather take a shallow pond than stone to the face."
Twilight immediately panicked. She quickly teleported outside, in a flash of light. The figure's second head noticed Twilight as she appeared, sparking horn pointed at Geo. "Hey, Geo..." his left arm got his attention.
Geo turned around to see Twilight and her sparking horn. "Whoa whoa whoa, I'm not looking for a fight!" Geo quickly raised his hands. That horn did look painful to touch; he didn't care that he was talking to a pony right now.
Confused a little, Twilight stopped sparking her horn, giving Geo a chance to process what he was seeing. "And no, you do not have a concussion." Mega added, disproving what Geo was thinking.
"... Who are you?" Twilight had to ask.
"I'm Mega Man." he introduced himself. "I'm looking for someone named Rogue."
Geo and the ponies were back in the library. He was sitting on the stairs; the rest were sitting around him, and the situation had recently been explained to him. "So Rogue's here..." Geo confirmed to himself.
"Sounds like he went buck wild as well." Mega continued, his head on Geo's lap so he could participate in the conversation. "Man, I can't wait to let him have it again."
"What do you know about Rogue?" Princess Celestia had to ask, making sure not to sound rude.
"He's the last of an ancient civilization that calls themselves Mu." Geo explained. "Rogue holds an unflinching loyalty to Mu, and is looking to revive it. It nearly was, but by the wrong people... I had to stop them, or things would have turned ugly."
"So is it a bad thing if Mu is revived?" Twilight asked.
"... I don't know." Geo admitted. "All we came to do is get Rogue and the pieces of Mu back. Both Rogue and Mu are capable of doing a lot of damage; back in my world, I was the only one who could defeat Rogue and stop Mu."
Geo lowered his head a little. "Even then, I still needed help."
"Don't worry!" Pinkie Pie encouraged, somehow appearing right next to Geo and causing him to jump a little. "We'll help you stop Rogue! Oh, and that reminds me..."
Pinkie somehow pulled out a giant cannon, much to Geo and Mega's shock. "We still need to hold a welcome party for you!"
"No, no, wait!" Geo pleaded, unwilling to get blown to bits and unaware of what the cannon actually fired.
She was about to press the trigger when Twilight said, "Save it for tomorrow, Pinkie. He just survived crashing into cobblestone from the sky."
Geo sighed in relief softly, to which Mega couldn't help but laugh to himself silently. "This is going to be interesting..." Geo said to himself.
Celestia's sun fell across Twilight's face as it rose, waking her up. She let out a fatigued yawn; it was a late night, after all, what with Mega Man arriving. He and Celestia had also spent the night at Twilight's house; Celestia largely because her chancellor thought Canterlot was unsafe for her with Rogue out and about. Mega Man was sleeping in the guest bed, and Twilight had surrendered her bed to Celestia, instead opting to sleep on the carpet. "Ugh..." she moaned, her back hurting. "I should have taken that offer for Pinkie's jelly bed..."
She got to her hooves, where she immediately noticed Mega Man was still asleep... but he looked different. His helmet was missing, and his hair color had changed. "Mega Man?" Twilight asked, curious. Was this Mega Man?
"Hey, kid." Mega's muffled voice came out from under the covers. "Geo!"
Mega Man continued to sleep. "That's it... Where's that alarm clock function...?" Mega's voice continued.
A loud beeping sound suddenly began to ring out, waking up Mega Man with a shock and making Twilight jump. "Waah!" Mega Man yelped, falling out of bed.
His clothes had changed; instead of a blue skinsuit, he had changed to a red shirt and blue shorts. There was a device on his left arm, which was making all that noise. "What was that for, Mega?!" Geo shouted, taking off the device.
The alarm stopped, and a blue panel appeared with what looked like some sort of beast, which had Mega Man's second head. "Pony girl here's trying to wake you up, sleepyhead." Mega told him.
Geo looked up to see Twilight staring at him... or rather, his device. "Oh, sorry, Twilight. I overslept again..." he apologized, putting the blue device back on his arm.
"Um... what is that?" Twilight couldn't help but ask.
"Oh, this?" Geo asked, holding up the device on his left arm. It still had that blue panel above it, and it wasn't attached to the device. "This is my Hunter-VG, a wave terminal. It's got a variety of functions, but Mega mainly lives in here."
Twilight stared blankly. "Basically, it's a computer." Mega said.
Mega disappeared from the blue panel, and reappeared in front of Twilight, making her jump. "Guess you horses don't have Wizards, huh?" he asked.
"Wait, what happened to you, Mega Man?" Twilight tried to absorb everything she was seeing and hearing. It was almost scary for her, seeing all this new stuff.
"He de-Wave Changed." Mega explained. "And his name outside of Wave Change is Geo."
"Sorry, I should have explained earlier." Geo apologized, wiping his eyes.
"Here, let me show you." Mega suddenly volunteered.
Transforming into a green ball of light, he shot into the air, then right back at Geo. He didn't even flinch as green flame enveloped him, but it was enough to make Twilight fall over. When it dispersed, the Mega Man she knew was standing there... looking sleep-deprived. "That's basically it." Mega explained.
"Oh my..." Twilight gasped. "That... That's impossible... No magic can do that..."
Geo and Mega exchanged glances. "I'd better get the testing equipment ready!" Twilight gasped, running off.
She didn't make it to the door before Mega grabbed her tail with his mouth, dragging Geo with him. "Hey, hold it!" he shouted. "I've had enough of being picked apart, byte by byte!"
Twilight was about to ask what he meant when a rumbling sound suddenly came from Geo's stomach. "Oh, that's right..." he remembered, a goofy grin on his face. "I missed dinner last night coming here..."
"Oh, I'll get you something!" she volunteered, trotting down the staircase after flicking her tail free of Mega's grip.
It was a short walk down to her personal little kitchen, where she heard the sound of something frying, and smelled something burning. Twilight reached the bottom of the stairs to see Celestia at the stove of her little kitchen... trying to bring a frying pan on fire under control. "Oh my, oh my!" she was panicking, trying to put it out with a water bucket, to no avail.
Twilight blinked, but then burst into action. "Princess!" she shouted, quickly rushing to get a fire extinguisher.
"Battle Card, Wide Wave One!"
A gigantic blast of water suddenly came out of nowhere, putting out the fire and drenching Celestia. Geo was standing at the base of the stairs, with Mega's head in the shape of some sort of flat cannon. "Are you alright?" he asked, conveniently forgetting he was dealing with Princess Celestia... who he had just soaked.
"I'm... fine..." Celestia answered, throughoutly embarrassed. "I didn't think cooking would be that difficult..."
"Huh... Maybe I should have Ace send an Automeal." Mega joked, the cannon transforming back into his head.
"What's an auto-meal?" Celestia had to ask, unsure what exactly he was talking about. Twilight had no idea either.
"An Automeal is a device that uses wave technology to make food." Geo explained, his smart side beginning to show. "It's a fairly complex process involving energy-to-matter conversion. First, it-"
"Geo!" Mega snapped.
Geo flinched. "Oh, right... Wave technology doesn't exist here..." he remembered, scratching the back of his head.
Suddenly, Geo's armor broke down, surprising the ponies. It scattered off his body, forming into little cubes, then reforming back into Mega. "Oh my!" Celestia gasped.
A sweatdrop rolled down the now normal Geo's head. "I'm going to get that a lot, aren't I?"
Geo's rumbling stomach snapped them all back to the matter at hand. "Oh, I was, um..." Celestia began. "I was trying out cooking for myself. They really insist on the best chefs up in the castle; I hardly have the chance to try it myself."
Magically, she picked up the burned pan and held it out to display the cooking disaster. "I was making hay fries."
"Hay fries?" Geo wondered, taking a look. "Uh oh..."
"What?" Mega asked. "Don't humans eat plants?"
"Is something wrong?" Celestia asked, patient as ever. If she was insulted, she wasn't showing it.
"Humans can't eat hay." Geo admitted. "We have problems digesting it, and it doesn't give us the nutrients we need."
"Oh," both Mega and Celestia realized.
Geo's stomach rumbled again. "Ugh..." he moaned, holding his arms to his stomach. "I should have had that pie Mom made me..."
"Pie?" Twilight repeated. "You're in luck, then; Sugarcube Corner's just about to open. It's the shop that looks like a bunch of sweets."
"Yeah, we saw it on the way down." Mega noted. "Just don't tell me that pink cannon-firing horse lives there. I plan on being alive for a few more years."
"She does." Twilight admitted, guessing that humans weren't used to stuff like Pinkie Pie's presence. "Why not Sweet Apple Acres? It's further, though."
"Eh, distance was never a problem for EM beings like me." Mega brushed it off. "We'd go even faster if there were Wave Roads here."
"Mega!" Geo snapped.
This time, Mega flinched. "Oh, right... Wave technology doesn't exist here..."
Twilight and Celestia couldn't help but giggle. "Well, I'll be back." Geo said as he made his way for the door. "Do you want me to bring anything?"
"Um... no thanks." Twilight refused. "I think me and the Princess need some cooking lessons."
Geo closed the door behind him as Mega retreated back into his Hunter. Standing outside, he suddenly realized how out of place he was. Here he was, in a world filled with brightly colored horses. Or were they ponies? Either way, he realized how every single one of them was giving him a passing glance, almost fearful.. "Wanna Wave Change and scare all of 'em?" Mega suggested.
"I think I'd rather walk." Geo decided, starting a fast walk.
It wasn't long before he realized he had no idea where he was going. "I wonder if they have GPS?" Geo wondered as he took out his Hunter again.
"Nope, no signal whatsoever." Mega replied as the Hunter's Air Display came up.
He was right; the signal bars in the top-right corner were flashing with an X. "No wave tech whatsoever." he added. "I already miss seeing a TV screen. In fact, I'm gonna catch up on my favorite shows the second we get back to Echo Ridge."
Geo looked around. They were still on what looked like the main street. He spotted one pony with a horn and a bright teal coat, as well as an image of a harp on her hip. "Excuse me?" he decided to ask her; she had rather pronounced eyelashes, which was a dead giveaway.
"Huh? Can I help you?" she asked, turning towards him.
"Yes," Geo answered. "Do you know the way to Sweet Apple Acres?"
"Oh, yeah, sure, I'll take you there!" she replied, rather zealous all of a sudden. "I'm Lyra! What's your name?"
"Geo." Geo introduced himself. "Geo Stelar."
"And I'm Omega-Xis." Mega's voice came out from his Hunter; Geo twisted the Air Display to show Lyra. "But most people just call me Mega, it's less of a mouthful and easier to pronounce."
"Nice to meet you, Geo!" she held out her hoof.
Geo was a little lost on what to do. He figured that she was trying to shake hands with him, which he did. "Come on, this way!" she said, trotting off.
"W-wait up!" Geo called, breaking into a fast jog to keep up.
Lyra, however, kept her eyes on Geo, as if curious. Eventually she slowed down to a comfortable walk, which Geo was grateful for; he may have been the savior of Earth three times over, but he was no runner... except when a truck was chasing him, then he ran for all things good and holy. Lyra was examining him, and eventually asked, "How do you walk like that?"
"What, like I normally do?" Geo had to confirm.
"Yeah, it looks pretty interesting."
"... I guess it's just a human thing to do." Geo could only respond. "Though it's nice and useful having a pair of hands."
"A pair of hands..." she said to herself wistfully.
"Looks like you got one more fan, hero." Mega teased.
Lyra then did something Geo didn't expect at all. She got up on her two back legs, trying to balance. "Whoa whoa whoa!" she flailed her front legs in circles; something normally only humans could do.
Geo quickly moved in to catch her before she fell flat on her face... but she simply fell the other way. A crunch was heard as the (relatively) heavy Lyra fell on the young, academic Geo. "Ouch..." Geo breathed, in a lot of pain.
"So this is Sweet Apple Acres, huh?"
"Looks like it." Geo answered, looking up at the sign.
The two were standing at the gate. Just past it was what looked like a pavilion, with a lot of ponies gathered. "Looks like market day." Mega commented.
Behind them, Lyra was still trying to stand and walk on two hooves, which Geo decided to ignore. "Thanks, Lyra." Geo said as he made his way into the estate.
"No problem- whoa!" Lyra called back, in time to fall flat on her face.
"She's crazy." Mega commented as soon as they were out of earshot.
"I think she's just curious." Geo said.
As they approached the pavilion, they quickly realized this was hardly a market day, more like a feast. "Think we're intruding?" Geo asked Mega, keeping his voice down.
"Something tells me no." Mega answered. "Look up."
Geo looked up from the Hunter's screen to discover that he had already attracted a fair amount of attention. Some of the ponies had caught sight of him, unsure who they were looking at. "... uh, hi." Geo said, trying to make the situation less awkward.
"That you, Mega Man?" a familiar voice asked.
Out of the crowd came Applejack. "Shucks, it is you!" she exclaimed. "Hard to miss that spiky mane of yours."
"Mane?" Geo had to wonder.
Then he realized what Applejack meant. "Oh, you mean my hair." he said, running a hand through it. It simply snapped right back into its upright form.
"... Right..." Applejack exchanged glances with the other ponies. "Anyway, come on, join the Apple family reunion!"
"Um, sure..." Geo agreed, in spite of the fact that he wasn't the most social of people.
Geo stepped up to the pavilion. "Lemme introduce you to the family." Applejack volunteered.
She immediately began pointing out individual ponies. "This 'ere's Apple Fritter, that's Apple Bumpkin, here's Red Gala, he's Red Delicious and he's Golden Delicious..."
Geo's eyes widened as the list of apple-related names grew, unable to process a family that large. "... and that's my grandma, Granny Smith." she finished, introducing an old, green-coated pony.
The poor human, even with all his smarts, was overwhelmed. "Um... hi there, all of you..." he greeted them awkwardly. "I'm Geo Stelar, and this is Mega."
Mega popped out of the Hunter, much to everyone's surprise. "Hey there." he greeted as well in his usual gruff but tough love manner. "Sorry, but I didn't catch half of your names."
Gentle laughter filled the pavilion. "Yep, sonny, we get that a lot." Granny Smith said. "Yer one of the unlucky ones, though."
"What's wrong?" Geo had to ask.
"The Apple family's gathering until Rogue goes away." Applejack explained, stepping up. "We figure it's safer in sheer numbers."
"Oh, don't worry." Geo tried to reassure them. "I've taken on Rogue multiple times and won."
"You have?" a young, red-maned and yellow-coated pony (who Geo thought was equivalent to a little girl) confirmed, hopping up and down. "You must be really strong!"
"Oh yeah we are!" Mega roared in pride, flexing his muscles. "We're unstoppable!"
Then Geo's stomach rumbled again. "Urgh... I keep forgetting..." Geo mumbled, leaning back a little.
"... Okay, maybe he's stoppable." Mega joked, correcting himself.
"Sonny, you sound like you've been stuck in a barn for three days!" Granny Smith exclaimed. "Come on, have some of our famous pies!"
The red-maned pony quickly brought over a tray on her back, piled high with all sorts of baked goods. "Oh, um, thank you..." Geo said, taking one and sitting down on one of the benches, taking a much-awaited bite into it. Immediately, his eyes widened as the flavor filled his mouth. He'd had good apple pie before, but this? This was heaven. "Thing is, we've heard Rogue's got some really strong force field around him." Applejack asked, sitting down next to him. "How do you get past that thing?"
"That's his Rejection barrier." Geo replied, swallowing his pie while Mega was impressing the others. "It's a barrier formed out of loneliness. As far as I know, I'm the only one who's ever managed to break it."
Applejack was instantly grabbing Geo by the shirt... somehow. "How?" she asked, her tone of voice suddenly desperate.
"With a well-aimed Cannon to the face."
Geo and Applejack looked up to see Mega. "Trust me, there's no need to worry." he grinned. "We could crush Rogue like one of these trees."
"Sounds like a stallion I know." Applejack mumbled.
"Hey! Is Mega Man down there?!"
Applejack got off of Geo as Rainbow Dash flew towards the party... albeit staying quite high in the air. "Rogue's on his way to Cloudsdale! Where are you?!"
"Right here!" Mega shouted.
He dashed into the air as an arrow of energy, then arced back down. "Oh, come on, I haven't even finished my pie yet!" Geo complained.
Putting it down on the table, Geo raised his hand, with the Hunter-VG on his arm, to the sky. "EM Wave Change! Geo Stelar, On Air!" he shouted.
Mega came crashing down, enveloping Geo in green flame and causing everyone there to freak out. "Geo!" Applejack called, apparently thinking Mega had just killed him.
Her fears were assuaged when Geo came out of the flame, wrapped in his famous blue armor, but her awe was not. "Whoa..." her jaw dropped.
Rainbow Dash floated down. "That... was awesome..." she could only breathe.
"I know, right?" Mega confirmed jokingly.
Geo simply got to the point. "How can we get to Cloudsdale?" he asked.
"It's this way!" Rainbow Dash called, flying upwards.
Geo simply stood there. "... Wish we still had the Star Force." he complained. "Then I could actually fly."
Applejack put a hoof to her face. "Dash here thinks everypony can fly. Cloudsdale's a cloud city, so there's no way you're getting up there by hoof."
"A cloud city?" Geo had to ask. "What's th-"
Before Geo could finish, Rainbow Dash swooped down and grabbed them both. "Wait!" Geo called. "I didn't finish my pie!"
"Sorry, grazing time is over!" Rainbow Dash replied.
Geo opened his eyes to see them flying straight towards a purple balloon, decorated with lavender stars. "We're gonna crash!" he shouted. "Slow down!"
Rainbow Dash didn't slow down. She stopped, letting Geo continue. "Whooooaaaaaa!" he screamed as he flew right towards the basket.
With a loud crash, he landed on his head. Luckily, he had missed its two occupants; Twilight and Spike. "Are you alright?" she asked as Rainbow Dash quickly grabbed a rope from underneath the basket.
"Just give me a few minutes..." Geo answered, holding his head as he got up. Apparently his helmet did nothing to protect him.
A beeping sound suddenly came from behind Mega's head, as if it was coming from Geo's arm. "Oh... Browse!" Geo called into the air.
Immediately, the Hunter's Air Display came up. Ace's face was displayed on it. "How're things on your end, Geo?" he asked.
"Call me back in a couple of hours, we just found Rogue." Geo quickly reported.
Gunfire began to go off in the background of the call. "Gotcha. Ace out." the call ended.
"Who was that?" Spike asked, after breathing another blast of fire into the balloon.
"Ace, my commander." Geo explained. "He's- Whoa!"
Rainbow Dash had begun to pull on the rope, moving the whole balloon at a pretty fast speed. Poor Geo was nearly thrown out of the balloon, had he not grabbed onto one of the ropes holding the basket.
It wasn't long before Geo found himself gasping at the sight in front of the balloon. It wasn't just the fact that he saw a city made of clouds, which he assumed was Cloudsdale. It also wasn't the fact that there were winged ponies all around the area, pulling carriages as if they were on the ground. It was the fact that in one of the biggest clouds was embedded a gigantic black rock. "No mistaking it." Mega reported. "That's a piece of Mu."
"Can you walk on clouds?" Twilight suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Geo replied. "Um... no..."
"Here, then this will help."
Twilight's horn began to glow, as if she was charging something. "What're you-" Geo was about to ask, but he was cut off by an orb of light leaping off Twilight's horn towards him.
Suddenly, it split into two and flew right at Geo's boots. They began to glow, then change shape. "Eh?" Twilight wondered. "It shouldn't have worked like that..."
Geo's boots stopped glowing. They were originally cyan blue boots. Now, they were a deeper blue with a wing motif. "Data Acquired." an Air Display reported, popping up in front of Geo. "Pegasus Boots add-on installed."
"... Hope that works." Twilight admitted. "I cast a spell that would let you walk on clouds..."
"There's Rogue!" Spike suddenly shouted.
Geo looked down to see Rogue holding a pony hostage with the Laplace Blade as he rode a carriage up to the piece of Mu. "Let's go, Mega." Geo resolved.
"Oh yeah!" Mega roared.
Geo immediately leaped out of the basket. "Wave Battle! Ride On!!" he shouted, falling towards another carriage.
Rogue looked up to see the falling Geo. "Tch... You're here too." he cursed.
Geo landed with a loud thump on another carriage, surprising its driver. "Mega Buster!" he shouted, loosing a quick series of shots.
Rogue simply did nothing. He knew the shots wouldn't hurt him. They simply bounced off his Rejection barrier... or at least, so Rogue thought. He didn't know that a charge shot was hidden behind them. With a loud crash, Rogue's Rejection shattered. "Battle Card, LongSword!" Geo shouted as he leaped off the carriage.
Mega's head quickly transformed into the LongSword in question as Geo flew through the air. He brought the sword crashing down onto Rogue, but Rogue quickly parried the blow with the Laplace Blade. "Beast Slap!" Mega shouted, appearing behind Rogue.
With one mighty swipe of his claws, Mega knocked Rogue off the carriage... knocking Geo off with him. With one mighty kick, Rogue kicked Geo off of him as they fell. Reaching out with his free hand, Geo grabbed an unfortunate wall-eyed pony's hoof, flipping her around and around as he gained the velocity to leap back up to Rogue. "Sorry!" Geo shouted as he let go, flying right at the lonely soldier.
"Wow... That was fun..." the yellow-maned pony didn't even seem to recognize that she had been used as an asymmetric bar.
"Battle Card, FlickerKick1!" he shouted, thrusting one of his boots at Rogue.
By now his Rejection barrier had recharged, and Rogue simply swatted Geo away. This time, he managed to land on a cloud with a soft thump. "Oof!" he gasped as the breath was knocked out of him unexpectedly.
He got up, realizing he was standing on said cloud. "Whoa... This is cool." he said to himself.
"Heads up!" Mega shouted.
Geo quickly leaped out of the way as Rogue barely missed with his Rogue Break. Fortunately, Rogue didn't have Geo's Pegasus Boots, and kept going, tearing through the cloud. Geo looked down to see Rogue's blade miss a carriage. Rogue's body hit it instead, with the crunch of wood being crushed. "Ooh... Even for an EM being, that's gotta hurt." Mega commented.
Rogue got back up, scornful, and pointed his blade at the pony pulling the carriage. Fearful, it quickly began to ascend towards the piece of Mu. "Stop him!" Geo shouted, leaping towards another cloud.
Then, Rainbow Dash flew down, holding out her hooves. "Hold on!" she called out.
Geo grabbed Rainbow Dash, holding on tight to her leg. Rainbow was diving at Rogue, but Geo had other ideas. "Wait... Let him go for it." Geo decided.
"What?!" Rainbow Dash had to ask.
"It'll be easier to fight him on solid ground, without hostages."
"Won't he take it away?"
"He's strong, but he's not that strong." Mega explained. "We can't even lift something that big. He's gotta find some way to teleport it away, same way he got rid of the one in, what was that place, Camelot?"
"Canterlot?"
"Yeah, that place."
"Okay, sure, but we're sticking close to him if he tries anything funny!" Rainbow Dash agreed.
She ran parallel to Rogue, who quickly took notice. He swung the Laplace Blade, creating an energy wave that flew towards them. "Defend!" Geo shouted, pulling up a shield.
His shield shattered, not doing anything to the attack. Geo was blown off of Rainbow Dash, who went spiraling away, screaming. Geo landed with a crash on another carriage as Rogue flew towards Mu. "Ow..." Geo grumbled.
He looked up at the driver. "Hey, can you get me to that black rock? I'm trying to stop Rogue."
"Sure thing!" the pegasus agreed, kicking up the pace.
Rogue had quickly gotten to the piece of Mu first, though. He was making his way towards what looked like a temple structure, when Geo managed to fly over him and leap down. "Battle Card, Cannon!" Geo shouted as he fell, Mega's head transforming into said cannon.
He landed with a soft tap in front of Rogue, keeping him away from the structure. "Stay where you are!" he commanded.
Rogue readied the Laplace Blade. "I have no interest in dealing with you." he growled. "Get out of my way!"
"Look, I'm just here to take you and the pieces of Mu back!" Geo tried to reason.
"Do you think I'll bow to you?!" Rogue roared.
An evil aura began to grow at the base of his feet. "I call upon ye..." Rogue shouted, "The power of the Indie Darkness!"
Geo was suddenly pushed back by a powerful dark force. Rogue's Rejection barrier appeared, then appeared to thicken. "Whoa... He just got a lot stronger..." Mega gasped.
"Fire!" Geo shouted, loosing shot after shot from his cannon.
Rogue didn't even blink as every shot bounced off. He raised the Laplace Blade, then brought it crashing down, sending a massive energy wave at Geo, even larger than any EM being had ever used. Geo couldn't get out of the way in time, and was thrown into the arch of the temple with a loud crash. "Oof!" he grunted, the breath knocked out of him.
He fell down to the floor, on his face, but quickly got back up. Rogue was approaching menacingly. "Galaxy Advance!" Geo shouted, Mega's head glowing and changing shape. "Impact Cannon!"
Mega's head finally transformed into a rather large, purple cannon. Geo let off one mighty shot at Rogue, the burst of energy flying right at him. As the attack connected, a bright light shone out, then a giant explosion rocked the piece of Mu. Twilight, Spike, and Rainbow Dash were nearly knocked out of the sky from the mere shockwave; the only thing that kept Rainbow Dash in the air was that she was holding onto the balloon. When the smoke cleared, there was a gigantic crater where Rogue was standing... and Rogue still stood, his Rejection barrier having protected him. "What?!" Mega shouted. "No way! A Galaxy Advance should have smashed both his shield and his skull!"
Rogue suddenly disappeared. "Where'd he go?!" Geo wondered, looking around.
He turned to find Rogue behind him. "Rogue Fist!" he shouted, giving Geo a haymaker to the face... a mighty one.
Geo was blown off of Mu. "Aaaaaagh!" he screamed, in immense pain.
Geo and Mega were forcibly separated, their Wave Change canceled out. Mega was caught by Twilight, but Geo continued to plummet. He looked down to see the ground quickly race towards him. He could swear, his life was flashing before his eyes as the world fell silent around him. His birth, his childhood, the loss of his father, meeting Mega, stopping Andromeda, stopping Mu, stopping Meteor G, getting his father back... He saw Ace, he saw Zack, he saw Bud, he saw Pat, he saw Luna... and Sonia flashed before his eyes. He closed them.
... Nothing happened. He felt nothing, except the rush of wind... and a wedgie. Opening his eyes, Rainbow Dash had grabbed onto Geo's pants with her teeth. He looked back at Mu to see it disappear, the same way Rogue did. "I... lost?" Geo breathed.
Twilight's balloon and Rainbow Dash landed in the fields below, dropping off the wounded warriors. "I thought you could beat Rogue barehanded!" Rainbow Dash shouted at him. "What, were you lying to us?!"
"... I don't know... He was so powerful... Even more powerful than before..." Geo gasped, still recovering from getting punched in the face.
"That I can back up." Mega offered, floating out of the basket. "He was strong when we last fought him... But now that I think about it, did he get stronger, or did we get weaker?"
"Why say that?" Geo asked, finally getting the strength to at least kneel up.
"I didn't feel any of our usual Link Power, especially when Rogue pulled out the Indie Darkness." Mega explained. "I didn't notice it at first, though..."
Geo pulled out his Hunter. "Link Power?" Twilight had to ask, leaping out of the basket with Spike on her back.
"Basically, the power of friendship quantified." Mega explained as Geo tapped away on the Hunter's Air Display. "Yeah, I don't understand it either."
Geo gasped as he accessed his BrotherBand records. "Oh my god..." he breathed.
His BrotherBand was empty, as if he never had Brothers. Luna wasn't there, Bud wasn't there, Zack wasn't there, neither was Pat, Sonia, or Ace. He was all alone again. But the number under the only portrait, his portrait, scared him the most.
Link Power. Zero.
"My lord, I have brought you another."
"Yes... young... soldier... go... collect more..."
"... Yes, my lord."