Harmony Brings Destruction

My Little XLR
By Alkem

Chapter 1: Harmony Brings Destruction.

Within the depths of a sealed chamber lay a dazzling jewel encrusted box. Set atop a stone slab, it was hidden away in darkness, behind the walls of Canterlot's royal castle. This chamber was the resting place to six sacred treasures. Legendary artifacts, essential in the defeat of many a great evils in the past. These five gem-encrusted necklaces, along with their matching crown are known as the Elements of Harmony. Each of them possessing powerful magic, only ponies deemed worthy representatives of the pillars of friendship they stood for could wield them.

Somehow, in the pitch blackness, one of those worthy few had managed to sneak her way inside. One of the six mares of legend, whose brave exploits helped restore the once corrupted princess of the night and defend Equestria from total chaos, approached the sacred jewel box.

Dressed from her neck down in a skin tight black body suit, a matching wool cap barely containing wild curls of her pink mane and black streaks of paint rubbed on her cheeks, she nimbly proceeded to the center of the room. Opening the box with utmost care, she took a moment to admire the collection of jewels inside. As if recognizing her, the jewels began to resonate with a light that illuminated the room. Wasting no time, the mare licked her lips and focused on the task at hand.

Pulling out a brown sack with the words "Element sack crudly written on it from seemingly nowhere, she proceeded to stuff the elements inside. With the last of the treasures stowed away into the bag, and with their light, only a distinct spring-like sound could be heard in the shadows. The only other sound that could be heard was that of a hat suddenly dropping.

The spring like noise suddenly stopped. "Silly hat, you can't stay here. Now let's go home. We've got some super yummy cupcakes to bake and eat." The springing recommenced, and as mysteriously as the intruder arrived, she vanished.

Elsewhere, on a far distant planet, in a mysterious land known as Jersey City, two individuals were standing in line that wrapped around a large brick building. A banner that read "Donny's Famous Dogs" was plastered across its front where people could be seen enjoying a meal behind its large windows. Another banner just above it read "Grand Opening", and scattered throughout the sidewalk as well as taped all over the windows were fliers telling people to "Try our custom order chili-dogs! Made to order as you ordered!"

One of two in line, a scrawny, pale young man dressed in blue jeans, a green hooded sweater with a black leather jacket worn over it, and a blue wool cap topped over his spiky black hair leaned against the brick wall and eyed some girls across the street. Meanwhile, the other; a young red haired woman dressed a white fully protective body suit was in the middle of a conversation with an image on the hologram projector she wore on her wrist.

"Coop, are you sure it was a good idea to have me and Jamie wait down here while you deal with the Glorft?"

On her wrist, the image of a very portly male with short blonde hair and goatee barely fit on the screen. He leaned back, revealing his attire of very large jeans, a white t-shirt with the number 12 on its pencil pocket, and a red checked vest worn over it. He appeared to be at the wheel of a car.

"Come on Kiva, I can handle these guys no sweat. I need you and Jamie just stay in line and save me a spot in line while I take care of these chumps."

"But I'd be more helpful up there."

"Yeah. But with two people saving me a spot, no ones going to try and argue that I cut in line. Plus I need you there in case Jamie gets distracted and loses our spot in line."

Kiva looked to her left and pulled Jamie, who was just about to make his way over to the pair of ladies he was watching earlier, and put him back against the call. "Point taken."

"Now relax, I'll be back faster than you can say chili chee--" The image on her wrist vanished, replaced by static.

Jamie, pegged against the wall again, tilted his head towards the sky. "Don't sweat it Kiva. Coop and I've beaten plenty of alien monsters and baddies. I'm sure he can handle the Glorft. Even without me there."

Kiva rolled her eye at him, crossing her arms. "Well, you're right about Coop at least.” She too looked up as well. “I just hope Coop doesn't end up damaging Megas too much this time."

Up above, miles above the Earth's orbit, a massive green battle ship idled in space. Swarming around the enormous cruiser, thousands of small humanoid-shaped robots were huddling together and surging towards a lone robot hovering before the front of the ship.

Facing the army of mechs headed its way, the Megas stood with its blue armor, accentuated with hot rod flames painted on its arms and legs. Its pilot, sitting inside the cherry red hot rod car that was the mech's head, was at the ready as the swarm quickly approached.

Inside of the lead Glorft mech, the cockpit's screen flicked and a slug like creature wearing a metallic suit covering its chest appeared onscreen. "Warmaster, we have the Earther completely outnumbered. All units are ready to attack on your order." The tentacles hanging off where the slug-like creature's mouth would be jostled with each word.

The pilot, who not unlike the slug on screen was encased from the neck down in the robotic like armor, grinned. "Excellent commander. Today is the day I finally take back the prototype and destroy this primitive mud heap once and for all." Standing at the forefront of his army, they took formation to form a giant wall. The pilot leading them, Warmaster Gorrath, pointed his mech's arm towards the lone robot standing against them. "All units, attack!"

On the opposite end, leisurely watching the Glorft advance while he tapped his hands against the steering wheel, Coop calmly reached for the video game controller lying next to the car's gearshift. As the impending forces came ever closer, he hit a series of buttons, and flicked a few the thousand switches located on the car's dashboard. All of a sudden, hidden compartments began springing up all over Megas's frame. All of them revealing hidden missile hatches. The arms, the legs, the shoulders, hands, fingers, and feet, every inch of the blue mech now had a missile hatch ready to launch. With the army still headed his way, he calmly reached his hand out to the endless sea of switches, knobs, and buttons and with one finger pressed down on the 'Fire All the Missiles' button.

A stream of rockets shot forth from Megas in rapid succession. Soon enough, a colossal wave of missiles appeared. One that dwarfed the the apposing army and started heading straight for them.

"All units stay in formation! Charge! Destroy that Earther!" Gorrath shouted, watching mech after mech being blown away by the onslaught of explosives. Trembling at the devastation brought about by the single machine, some of his soldiers started falling back. Seething with rage, Gorrath charged forward, skillfully dodging everything coming at him and rammed against Megas. As the two mechs locked arms and grappled against one another, their pilots exchanged some heated words.

"You annoying Earther filth. Give up now and perhaps I'll let you live long enough to see your planet's destruction," Gorrath growled, tightly gripping his controls.

With a big confident grin, Coop replied, "Oh yeah, squid, you and what army?"

Gorrath looked back and realized. Among the black abyss, all he could see were the decimated remains of his troops. In the distance he saw the rest fleeing in terror. "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Smashing his metal fist against his control panel he fought on, still locking arms with Megas, positioning it in front of his mothership's main cannon. "Commander what is the status of the cannon's charging sequence?"

The image of his second in command appeared on screen. "Sir, energy levels are at sixty five percent. As you've ordered, we shall fire as soon as it's reached maximum charge. But sir, won't this plan put you in the line of fire as well?"

Gorrath smashed his fist against the arm of his seat. "I'm well aware of my position commander, that is abundantly clear. I shall move away just before the main cannon fires. And if by some chance I don't manage to avoid the blast, which is highly unlikely, you'd best hope that the reinforced shielding you designed works as intended, for your sake. Now, alert me before the cannon is ready, I want to enjoy my final fight with this monkey."

Back in the peaceful village of Ponyville, it was a new day but, something was amiss. Ponies were running around, madly in search of something. One unicorn pony in particular by the name of Twilight Sparkle was on edge as she raced down the streets of the town where ponies were frantically searching high and low. Arriving at the local bakery known as Sugarcube Corner, she stepped inside waved at the mare at the counter. "Mrs. Cake, have you seen Pinkie Pie?"

The older, light cerulean earth pony faced her and waved back. "Why hello Twilight Sparkle. Yes I have If you're looking for her, she's been upstairs all morning," she said, pointing towards a flight of stairs..

"I need to see her; it's a matter of dire importance." Twilight said, making her way up.

"Oh, I know dear. The whole town's been bustling with worry ever since word got out about the Elements of Harmony being missing. You’d best go wake her up; this certainly isn't the time to still be napping."

Giving Mrs. Cake a nod, Twilight opened the door leading to Pinkie's and was hit by the scent of freshly baked goods. As she stepped inside she noticed a pile of ingredients stacked outside the kitchen door.."Pinkie Pie?" Twilight cautiously approached the door.

A high pitched "Eeep!" was quickly followed by the sounds of pots and pans crashing against the floor. The kitchen door cracked open a tad and Pinkie Pie stepped out, blotches of flour covering numerous parts of her body as she stared nervously at her friend. "Oh heya Twilight, how ya doing? I was just busy making some supper yummy cupcakes, You know its always good to start the day off with something yummy in your tummy." Pinkie said, her eyes quickly darting left and right.

Twilight, considering Pinkie's odd behavior as the norm for her, payed it no mind. "Pinkie, this is no time to be baking, the Elements of Harmony have been stolen. I already have the other girls out searching for it and we could use your help." A colorful twinkle of light suddenly caught Twilight’s eye as the kitchen door still swung slightly behind Pinkie. "Pinkie Pie, what are you doing in there?" she asked, growing more concerned by the second.

"Oh, you know me Twilight, just baking some cupcakes like I said." she answered back, beads of sweat began rolling down her face as she avoided eye.

Twilight, scrunching her eyes at her suspicious friend, walked around her and made her way towards the kitchen.

Pinkie moved in, Putting herself in between Twilight and the door, "Gee Twilight, don't you think we really should be heading out and looking for those missing elements?"

Twilight stood before the pink coated barricade. "Pinkie," she said, pushing against her friend. "What are you hiding in there?"

Twilight pushed as hard as she could while Pinkie braced herself on the edges of the doorway. Pinkie held on as long as she could, but eventually her grip started slipping. With one last shove, Twilight and Pinkie went tumbling through the doorway and into the kitchen.

Twilight got up. There before her, on top of the oven, was what she and the entire town was searching for. "Pinkie Pie! You? You're the one who took the Elements of Harmony! Why?"

Pinkie gave Twilight a saddened guilty look. "I was only borrowing them. I planned on returning them as soon as soon as I was done before anyone would notice. But I ran into a problem." she said, fiddling with her hooves.

After hearing out Pinkie's reason for taking them, Twilight summarized it in one short outburst. "You were trying to make a cupcake!"

"Not just any cupcake, Twilight. The most super delicious, extra special, absolutely delectable cupcake ever. And best of all, it'd never runs out,"

"Huh?" Twilight raised her eyebrow.

"You see Twilight, I was doing some studying in the library, where found two amazing spells. One that would make the world's most delicious cupcake, and the another was an endless regeneration spell. That's when I got an idea to make the most delicious cupcake that would last forever."

"But, Pinkie Pie, why did you need to steal the Elements of Harmony?"

"Not steal, borrow. And I was getting to that. You see, each spell needed a lot of magic to work. So in order to merge those two spells together, I'd need even more magic than that. More magic than even you have. So, what's the strongest source of magic we know of?"

"The Elements of Harmony," Twilight answered, understanding Pinkie's plan "But, Pinkie Pie, you can't just go and steal-"

"Borrow."

Twilight sighed. "Borrow the Elements of Harmony like that."

"Well I was going to return them when I finished and share my cupcake when I was all done," Pinkie said, smiling at Twilight.

"Pinkie, all of Equestria is in panic over the missing Elements. Everypony in Ponyville is out searching for them as I speak. I have to take them back." Twilight began walking over to the Elements but Pinkie leaped over and clutched onto her hind legs.

"Please Twilight, you can't! I'm so close. I just needed something to start up the Elements."

Twilight pulled her legs, trying to free herself. "I'm, uuh, sorry Pinkie, but I, nnngh, have to take them back."

Pinkie started breaking down. Her dream of the world's greatest never ending cupcake was about to be dashed. If only I could just activate the elements, I just need a spark of magic, She jerked her head back as a thought came to her A sparkle of magic, duh. Pinkie let go of Twilight's legs. "Ok Twilight, you can take back the Elements."

A little stunned at Pinkie's sudden change in demeanor, Twilight glanced at her for a second but thought nothing more of it. "Thank you, Pinkie Pie. Now, let's go return these to the princess. Maybe if I help explain, she won't be too mad."

She walked to the oven. The smell of something baking inside wafted out from the sides. There on top of it were the 6 elements, with the five necklaces circling around the crown. She looked over to Pinkie, who simply watched on as though she was anticipating something. Twilight began to pick up the Elements with her magic and they ascended, wrapped within her magic's aura.

Suddenly the aura vanished and the Elements dropped back on to of the stove. Reacting to Twilight's magic, the Elements began to glow. The light radiating off from them grew brighter and brighter. The two mare shielded their eyes as a large ray of light shot up from the stove. It tore through the ceiling and continued skyward, traveling far beyond the clouds and out of sight of anypony.

Back just outside Earth's orbit, two warriors were still pitched in fierce combat.

"This is the end Earther scum!" Gorrath proclaimed.

Both pilots, still entangled with each other, exchanged quick jabs with their mechs as they hovered just in front of the Glorft mother ship's main cannon.

"I've heard that plenty of times before, squid." Coop's robot kneed the Glorft mech, knocking it back. Gorrath now faced Megas and noticed the mother ship's main cannon was directly behind it.

Megas took a proud stance and pointed a finger at Gorrath. "Listen up squid! You attack Earth, make me chase your sorry butt up here..."

"Sir, the cannon's charge is at 97%. We will be ready to fire in 20 seconds."

"That's plenty of time commander. The Earther is off on one of his idiotic rants again; fire the cannon as soon as it reaches 100%."

"Yes Warmaster."

Coop, unaware of the gloft's plan, was wrapping up his speech. "And worst of all, you're making me miss my meal at a brand new restaurant. You're going down."

Gorrath pulled away and the Glorft mother ship cannon fired, sending a massive stream of energy straight towards Megas.

"Huh?" Coop said as he turned around. "Whaaa!" he yelled as Megas took a direct hit, remained intact and started pushing against it.

Inside the cockpit, a holographic screen displaying Kiva popped up in front of Coop. "Coop! What's happening? I'm getting a massive energy spike in Megas's shield output."

Jamie tapped at Kiva's shoulder. "Um Kiva. Look." Jamie pointed upward and Kiva saw it. The sky above Jersey City suddenly had two suns.

"Coop! What happened?"

"Oh, you know me, Kiva, just saving the world," Coop jested.

"Coop, Megas's shields won't be able to take much more of this. You have to get out of there."

"No can do Red. If I move, this laser's heading straight for Jersey City. if that happens, the city's toast. And if that happens, I won't get to taste those chili-dogs. I won't let that happen."

Coop began hitting various switches, and pressing random buttons on the control pads. The displays screens began to crack as the shields were reaching their limit.

Kiva looked on through the monitor. "Coop, what are you doing?"

Pressing one last button before hitting the gas pedal, Coop answered, "Everything I can".

A bright light then emerge between Megas and the energy beam.

Over in the Glorft Mother ship, a helmsman reported to Gorrath as he arrived on deck. "Sir, our scanners are picking up an anomaly emerging next to the prototype's position."

A vortex instantly appeared. And from it a giant beam of light pierced through. The energy blast from the Glorft mother ship began to meld with strange light. Both merged together with the vortex, causing it grow in size.

"Sir, our scanners are picking up energy readings coming from the anomaly, they're off the scale."

Gorrath sat quietly at his command chair and observed the monitors. "Commander, are there any sign of the prototype?"

"None Sir. We lost all contact when the anomaly appeared. Sir, it would be wise to fall back to a safe distance. The anomaly appears to be growing and pulling in objects within its proximity."

"Silence commander! I give the orders here. I want to be absolutely sure that the Earther has been destroyed."

"But Sir!" --Gorrath shot the commander a menacing glare.-- "Yes Sir." The commander turned, facing away from Gorrath. "This is almost like last time," he muttered to himself.

Alarms went off on the main deck, the displays began showing warning signals. and red light started flashing everywhere the bridge.

"What's happened?" Gorrath bellowed.

"Sir," the commander said with a sigh. "The anomaly is pulling us in."

"Quick then! Take the ship into null space."

"I'm afraid that isn't possible, sir. The ship is too low on energy after firing the main cannon to preform a null space jump.

“Then pull the ship out of range!"

"Too late, it's too strong."

Gorrath and the commander looked on through the monitors as they slowly moved towards the vortex.

"If I'm to go down, at least I have the satisfaction of finally vanquishing my greatest enemy."

"It only took destroying yourself, the ship, and all of the crew to do it," the commander muttered.

In a flash, the entire Glorft ship vanished with only the spiraling vortex remaining. The menacing figure rapidly doubled in size. It's suction grew so great that random objects down below in the city began floating away.

"Okay, so maybe we should have gone with Coop!" Jamie shouted, holding onto a fire hydrant for dear life as random debris started floating away..

People ran inside buildings and cars grabbing a hold of whatever was anchored to the ground. The suction lasted for a few seconds and ended abruptly as the vortex returned to its previous size before the Glorft ship was sucked in.

With the danger over and the vortex returned to its previous size, Kiva frantically tried contacting Coop, but the holographic receiver couldn't get a response. "Come on Jamie. We have to get back home and try to contact Coop."

"And lose our place in line?" Jamie answered, now standing at the front of the line. "Coop’s not gonna be too happy when he finds out you lost his spot."

Kiva grabbed Jamie by the hood of his jacket and dragged him behind her. "I think Coop has bigger problems than missing a meal."

"Knowing Coop, I doubt that."

Out in the middle of a mysterious green field, Megas was lying on its back. Coop, barely conscious, reached out for the wheel.

Everything still blurry to him, he felt something odd. "What's wrong with my hand?" Holding both hands in front of him, things cleared up and he got a good look at them. "Where are my fingers?"

A sudden alarming thought ran through Coop's head. Memories of days past spent enjoying playing his video games played like a flash back. Playing them with ten working fingers.

"No. Nooooooooooooooo!" Coop hollered. outstretching his finger-less hands towards the sky before passing out from exhaustion.

Do Mares Dig Giant Robots?

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My little XLR

Chapter 2: Do mares dig giant robots?

"No…no."

Lying on the floor, fading in and out of consciousness with words faintly coming out from him, Coop rolled around periodically, still struggling.with the thought of having no fingers.

Inside of Pinkie Pie's house, located above Sugarcube Corner, two mares were keeping an eye on the passed out mech pilot.

"What's wrong with him Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked, watching Coop rolling about.

"I think he's just in shock,"

Coop rolled onto his stomach. His eyes now slowly opened to the sight of a pink colored pony standing a few inches from his face, beaming at him with her pearly whites.

"Hi there, I'm Pinkie Pie."

Coop shut his eyes, convinced he was still dreaming. But when he opened them again, the pony was still in his face.

"Hi again."

Coop came to; he picked himself off the floor. Because he was still slightly in a daze he didn't realize the strange manner in which he was standing. Instead he focused on what was in front of him. "I must be dreaming; I could swear this pink colored horsey just talked."

"I did, I did talk. I said ‘hi there. I'm Pinkie Pie’, and I'm no horsey silly, I'm a pony. I’m so happy you’re finally awake." She grinned with glee.

Coop looked at Pinkie, zooming in to observe the stange creature. "A talking pink horse, usually I see talking cheeseburgers when I'm dreaming."

Coop looked around the room, he noticed the second odd-colored horse standing a few feet away, only that one had striaght hair and a horn on her head; he took notice of himself. "What happened to me?"

He looked over himself, noticing he now had a body similar to the talking horse in front of him, just not the same vibrant color. He had the same blonde hair and goatee he always did, but now he had a tail, and on the side of his butt was the image of a steering wheel with game controllers attached to it. His white tee shirt and red vest, the only clothes he had on his body, covered the upper half of his light brown earth pony figure.

"Man, I look like something outta a little girl’s TV show."

To Coop's great relief, he still retained his girth. He may look like a pony, but he could still feel his weight.

"Now Pinkie, give him room. He's still in shock over what just happened.” Twilight approached Coop and introduced herself. "Hi, my name is Twilight Sparkle."

Coop couldn't help but let out a chuckle after hearing the unicorn's name.

"And I'm Pinkie Pie.”

Twilight continued with her intro. "Now then, we found you in the outskirts of town just after that blast." Twilight looked over to Pinkie Pie who looked back with a awkward smile. "You were in the mouth of a giant metal monster."

Pinkie jumped figuratively and literally into the conversation, in between Twilight and Coop. "Yeah, you were passed out inside the monster's mouth, so we pulled you out and brought you here, and then you started rolling around saying weird stuff in your sleep, then you started to open your eyes and I said ‘Hi!’ but you went back to sleep, and then—"

"Thank you Pinkie," Twilight interrupted the pink chatterbox. "What I wanted to know is what was a pony doing fighting something like that, even more amazing is how did you manage to defeat it?"

Coop suddenly had a revalation.. "Wait, giant metal monster? That's MEGAS!" he yelled as he clasped his face. A second realization hit him. "Wait, I'm a pony?” he said as he turned his head, looking himself over once more.

"Duh," Pinkie Pie answered the colt's obvious question.

He slumped down and looked at one of his hooves. "Ah man, couldn't I've been something cooler? Like a lion, or wolf, or something better."

Pinkie and Twilight looked at each other, both completely confused over his nonsense he was spouting. "You mentioned something about that monster?" Twilight redirected.

"That's no monster, that's MEGAS. Wait, if MEGAS is here then that means…" He took a minute to ponder what that could mean. Coop's brain was practically audible as it processed all of the information, finally putting two and two together. "That means this ain't no dream then." After coming to that realization, he looked at himself once more. "Seriously, a pony."

"Meg-gus?" Twilight repeated, thrown off by the term.

"It's my robot car. I found it and fixed it up myself," Coop said, with a hint of pride in his voice.

"You mean you control that giant monster?" Twilight wondered.

"Robot. I control that giant robot," Coop corrected.

Pinkie Pie asked, "Really? That's amazing what does it do? What does it do?"

Coop smiled at the pony's interest. "How about I give you a demonstration."

Realizing where the conversation was heading, Twilight chimed in. "Oh dear, I wasn't aware it was yours. I'm afraid there might be a problem."

Coop quickly zipped over to Twilight, placing his new hooves on her shoulders. "Did something happen to MEGAS? Is it damaged? Did someone steal it? Please tell me no one scratched the paint job!"

"Well not exactly. You see...”

Upon hearing Twilight’s explanation, Coop shouted, "My Robot's been towed?!"

"To be frank, yes," Twilight answered.

Pinkie went up to Coop and explained, gesturing the events as she went on, "You should have seen it. Hundreds of unicorn and pegasus knights came to town. They wrapped up your monster, and then carried it away to Canterlot."

"Canter-lot?" Must be some sort of horsey impound lot, Coop thought to himself. "Alright then, I'll just have to get MEGAS from this Canter impound lot."

Coop made for the door, but stopped short of opening it. "Umm, how do I get there?"

"You'll need to talk to the princess in order to get your robot back. I can help you with that and since Pinkie Pie and I were planning on heading there anyway, we'll guide you there."

Suddenly, something of great urgency popped into Coop's head. "I won't need to go to some pony DMV, will I?"

Both Twilight and Pinkie stared at the strange pony. "DMV?" they both asked with one eyebrow raised on their puzzled looks.

"No DMV? Nice. Alright, this pony land thing is starting to look really good right now. Let's get going."

Arriving at Canterlot Castle's main gate, the trio began making their way inside.

"Coop, hurry up slowpoke!" Pinkie called as she waved her hoof over at him, who had stopped in front of the castle. He stood there for a moment not to admire the view, but to catch his breath from the surprisingly short walk from Pinkie Pie's balloon to the main gate.

"Coop, follow us. The princess is this way," said Twilight Sparkle, as she stepped inside with Pinkie Pie following right behind, holding her "Element sack" in her mouth. Coop soon followed.

Down the corridor, Coop saw various ponies standing guard around the castle. All of them stood tall at their posts, keeping a close eye on the three visitors. Coop couldn't help but admire the cool-looking solid gold armor the guards had on them. Something as awesome looking as that seemed out of place compared to all the fancy pants outfits he saw other ponies wear around the castle gate.

Inside the throne room Coop saw, aside from another pair of guards, 4 ponies. Each of the ponies differed in color. There was a light blue one and yellow one that had wings, a white one with a horn like Twilight and a regular orange one; the four of them stood before a set of stairs. At the top of the steps sat a larger pony-like figure.

The creature sitting on the throne looked similar in shape to the ponies, only taller. The large white pony had grand majestic wings, a horn bigger than any unicorn Coop had seen before on her head, a crown just above her horn, and a flowing multicolored mane and tail.
In Coop's eyes, she was one of the girliest things he had ever seen, but he could not look away. As the three of them approached, Pinkie and Twilight bowed. Coop's head suddenly went downward from the invisible force from Twilight’s magic.

"Princess Celestia, I've come with news," Twilight Sparkle said.

"Yes my star pupil, I have already received your letter." The princess rose from her throne and approached the three. She looked over to Coop and then looked out the window. She focused on a large object covered with a massive cloak. "Now then, let us start with the rather large issue at hoof."

While introductions and explanations were going on in the castle, far beyond the skies of Equestria, higher than any pegasus pony could ever hope to fly, was the familiar structure of the Glorft mothership.

"Commander! Status report on the ship."

"Yes Warmaster, it seems damage to the ship has been moderate; numerous units are offline, but our engineers should be able to repair most of the damage done. One thing to note is that our main cannon has suffered massive structural damage and is disabled. With all this taken into account I would say we are rather lucky considering what we just went through."

Gorrath reached out and grabbed the commander by the tentacles on his face, pulling him in close.
"We are lost in another dimension of a time zone we were already lost to begin with. We have no idea where we currently are, no clue how to return and have lost contact with my avatar prototype and its temporal device. What do you consider lucky about our situation?"

"Sir, considering what we just went through, the fact that none of the crew have perished is incredibly fortunate."

Gorrath relinquished his grip on the commander, who fell to the floor with a sharp metallic clang. Gorrath rose from his seat and took a few steps forward. He looked at the monitors; they all began to flicker on as power was restored to them. Gorrath made a comment to the commander as he started viewing the monitors. "You should consider yourself most fortunate for that commander."

The commander got up and begrudgingly answered, "Yes Warmaster." He then pointed up at the monitor. On it was the image of the swirling vortex. "Sir, about that anomaly; it seems to have stabilized, but its energy levels are too low to allow safe passage through. Our computers managed to pick up three sets of energy readings before we were sucked in, during our last encounter with the Earther."

"What is the point, commander?" Gorrath shouted, annoyed at the mention of his greatest enemy.

"I believe that third energy source is the trigger that caused the anomaly to expand causing our travel here. If we can find the source of that energy, maybe we can use it to return back to Earth's past at least."

"And where pray tell commander," Gorrath began, as he turned ready to strike the slug behind him. "Do you intend I start looking?"

The commander shielded his face behind the small monitor in his hands. "You see sir, I've tracked the energy reading; it leads to this planet close by."

The giant monitor in the center flashed and began to display a planet. The planet shared similar feature with that of the planet Earth, but aside from the similar colors of blue and green, the land masses were completely different.

The commander, controlling the projection with his handheld device, zoomed in on the image of the planet. "Pinpointing it, I believe that is where the source of the energy is located."

"Send down a probe, quickly! Find that energy source. I want to return back to Earth and destroy it once and for all." Gorrath bellowed.

Back in Canterlot Castle, Coop had finished explaining his story to the princess and the six ponies around him.

The princess looked on; she didn't seem surprised at Coop's story, or perhaps she had the world's greatest poker face. "So you truly are not from this world." The princess looked over at Coop. "I must say, you certainly are taking your change in appearance quite well."

"Yeah well, I've had lots of experience being other creatures." Memories of days past playing various RPGs flashed back in Coop's head.

"Princess, you don't seriously believe this pony," the light blue, rainbow maned pony with wings interjected as she flapped her wings, flying around Coop giving him a suspicious look.

The princess nodded. "I do my dear. His story may be a bit bizarre, but from what he has told us, it is clear that he is very familiar with that device." The princess looked back at the wrapped up MEGAS. "A device far more advanced than anything created by ponykind. A device forged for the purposes of combat, bathed in the fires of destruction."

"Yeah, the hot rod flames are pretty sweet," Coop responded, completely misunderstanding the comment. Everypony in the room gave Coop a look.

Shrugging off what Coop said, the princess went on. "Very well, since you intend on leaving this land to return to your home, I shall not impede you. I do not wish for such machinery to remain in my kingdom."

Coop, escorted by two guards, stepped out of the room and headed for the shrouded robot.

Meanwhile outside the castle, a small Glorft spy probe circled around the perimeters of the castle. Using a cloaking field, it freely moved around, avoiding detection as it searched for its objective.

"What primitive looking structures," Gorrath remarked as he looked at the probe's relay.

"Sir, the source of the energy should be inside that structure. There."

The commander maneuvered the probe to a window to look in. The image of the ponies inside appeared on the monitor.

"What are these disgusting creatures?" Gorrath pondered as he looked on at the absurdly colored beings.

"Unknown sir, but from what I can tell they seem to be the primary inhabitants of this planet." The commander then hit a switch on his control panel. The image on the monitor changed showing various colors of blue, red and oranges.

"Look here sir, the energy scanner shows where the source of the third energy came from."
The image showed four bright spots on screen that stood out from the mostly blue screen, clearly being sources of energy. Two of the sources, coming from the smaller creatures, scaled at medium energy output levels, the third one, coming from the largest creature in the room, scaled at very high levels, but the fourth scaled beyond the measures of the scanner.

"Sir, I've found the source." The commander swiped the energy reading display away, returning to a normal view of the throne room.

Gorrath looked at the image. "Element sack?" he said, unsure what to make of it. "Commander, prepare a squadron from the remaining working units for a recovery mission and have my mech prepped as well."

The commander looked a Gorrath, a little surprised at his statement. "Warmaster, you intend to go along as well?"

Gorrath began making his way to the hanger bay. "I am one sack away from returning to Earth and destroying it once and for all; I think ravaging this land will be a fun little warm up until then."

Back in the throne room, the six mares stood before their princess. Pinkie Pie, with her brown sack next to her, hung her head down in shame. The princess stood before her with a stern look upon her. "I believe you have some explaining to do."

Pinkie looked up; she wanted to face her princess as she told the truth. "Yes, your highness. You see, I was the one who took the Elements. I took them because–"

Pinkie Pie's speech was interrupted by a sudden crash; the shock was so powerful, it shook the entire castle. Then several more crashes occurred. The ponies in the throne room rushed to the window to see what caused them. Suddenly, something burst through the throne room wall above them. A giant arm swung down into the room, creating a hole in the wall. The ponies moved away, just avoiding the collapsing wall. A hideous metal face peered inside; colored green and grey with glowing red eyes, it looked around the room and found what it was looking for.

"Remember, don't destroy anything until that sack is secure," Gorrath's orders rang through the soldier's radio.

On the other side of the Castle, Coop had made his way inside MEGAS.

"Alright, time to head back home."

Coop reached for the ignition, his hand-turned-hoof had trouble turning the key. "Ah man, I knew I shouldn't have listened to Kiva. ‘Don't install a push start Coop, MEGAS will get stolen.’ Psshh, what does she know?"

Coop struggled for a bit but finally managed to turn the key, starting MEGAS up. The engine roared as though happy its master had returned as he stepped on the gas. Hand or hooves, there were just some parts of driving that didn't change. Coop looked back one last time to the castle. There he saw some familiar faces.

"The squids! Here?" A smile spread across Coop's face. "Guess I get to have some fun before I go."

Witnessing the Glorft mech smash into the castle wall, a sudden thought ran through Coop's head, the kindness of the girly ponies he met on this planet. He knew he had to repay them. For one thing they actually helped him instead of trying to kill him, like so many other creatures he’s met before. Plus fighting the Glorft was always fun.

Unexpectedly, his dashboard monitor turned on and Kiva appeared on screen. "Coop, are you alright? Is MEGAS damaged? I was worried something had happened… What happened?" Kiva's last question faltered as she got a look at who was at the driver's seat.

Coop answered back in a serious tone. "Kiva, I'm glad to see you but no time to explain, gotta save candy-colored ponies from a Glorft invasion."

Kiva paused for a moment, trying to register what she saw and heard just now. Then she remembered who it was she was talking to. "Okay Coop, I understand."

The large three-fingered metal claw of the Glorft mech reached in and grabbed the brown cloth sack with the Elements inside.

"Oh no you don't," Rainbow Dash stated as she flew over to the giant's hand and delivered two powerful kicks. A loud clang rang out, but the giant did not let go of the Elements. Its other arm busted in and gave the blue pegasus a swat.

Rainbow was sent flying across the room; her body was caught by the princess using her magic. "Are you alright, my pony?" the princess asked, concerned for her subject's safety.

Rainbow Dash rubbed her head. "I'm alright princess, but what about the Elements?"

Applejack lassoed her rope around the robot’s hand. Pinkie and Rarity charged at it, planting hoof kick after hoof kick while Fluttershy helped her friend hold the hand in place. Rainbow Dash joined in, she flew up and bucked the robot in its eye, shattering its eye lens. Its hand started denting from the pummeling it received. Twilight used her magic to grab the sack in its hand. Struggling against the five ponies fighting against it, the mech finally jerked it’s arm back. Freeing itself, falling over in the process.

"Sir, our soldiers have retrieved the energy source," the commander announced through Gorrath's monitor.

"Good." Gorrath sent out a message to his squadron. "All units prepare to lay waste to the area. Let us teach these feeble life forms to fear the Glorft."

Royal guards began attacking the intruders; pegasus knights rammed them, while unicorn knights hit the Glorft robots with magic. Unfazed by the pony defenses, they simply swatted the pegasi away and stomped the ground, sending the unicorns flying.

The ponies of legend and the princess were still in the throne room, trapped by fallen debris blocking the exit; the only other way out was the gaping hole currently being blocked by the metal monster. The creature lifted up its other arm and pointed it directly at the ponies. Its right arm was different from the other; it had no fingers, just several long hollow shafts that were pointing straight at the 7 ponies.

"Girls stay behind me and don't move. Twilight Sparkle, I'll need your assistance." the princess ordered.

Twilight stood next to her teacher and assisted her in creating a magic dome that covered all of them. Fluttershy faced away from the monster, covering her head with her hooves in fear of what was about to happen. Alongside her, Pinkie Pie was doing the same thing. Applejack and Rainbow Dash stood behind their princess and Twilight, staring down the giant, both ready to fight. Rarity placed herself at Twilight's side, assisting the princess and her with the barrier.

The mech's gatling arm rotated quickly, making sounds as though it was about to fire something. The ponies braced themselves.

*CLANK*

The similar sound that Rainbow Dash made when she kicked the Glorft mech rang louder this time. The mech and the massive cloaked figure that tackled it fell into the giant hedge maze. The element sack was sent flying from the impact.

Gorrath, surprised by the sudden interruption, looked over at the commotion. "What was that?" He looked over and saw a giant figure as tall as their mechs standing over the now disabled Glorft unit.

The commander came up on screen. "Sir, it appears to be a unit of some kind."

"Thank you commander, once again, your brilliant deduction skills have proved useful," Gorrath said sarcastically, clearly annoyed by his lackey's incompetence.

"But sir, from the scanner readings that mech is actually th–" The commander's image on the screen disappeared as Gorrath cut off communications.

"Attention squadron, focus on retrieving that sack; but take care not to destroy it. I shall take the pleasure of dealing with this obstruction myself." he said, looking to the cloaked figure.

The squadron followed orders and made their way to where the element sack had been dropped. Gorrath made his way to the mysterious mech.

Inside MEGAS's controls, Kiva appeared again on the dashboard monitor. "Coop, are you sure you can handle this?"

"It's only the squid heads Kiva, I've handed their sorry butts to them so much I could do it blind folded."

"What about with no hands?"

"Is that a challenge?"

"No Coop, I mean have you looked at yourself? You don't have hands."

Coop looked at his hooves, remembering what had happened to him. "No big deal. This will be like the time I entered that fighting tournament at the mall."

Off-screen on the monitor Jamie's voice could be heard. "Yeah Kiva, Coop did so much training that time to prepare, the doctors had to put casts on his hands to stop him from damaging them anymore."

"Hey, I still won the tournament," Coop added, pointing to a shelf on screen. The shelf in Coop's basement had a broken trophy on it with two photos next to it. One was of Coop raising the trophy up in victory, and the second was of the same trophy slipping from Coop's casted hands.

"Just be careful Coop, remember this is still the Glorft," said Kiva.

The two mechs charged at each other. They immediately began exchanging blows. MEGAS, still covered in the sheets the ponies placed on it, landed a vicious right hook to Gorrath's mech. The Glorft robot buckled under the impact. MEGAS then lifted it up, delivering a devastating backdrop.
Gorrath, highly acquainted with that move, skillfully maneuvered his mech to avoid taking high damage from the fall. "That move, it was so familiar."

"See, I tol you I coul do et wit no hans," Coop barely managed to say with his mouth currently on the wheel.

While Gorrath and Coop were going at it, the Glorft squadron began to move closer to the Elements. Just as one was about to pick the sack up, a rope landed on it. The brown bundle was quickly pulled away. Applejack, who lassoed it up, placed it on her back and made a run for it. The squadron stood still for a second, taken aback, but then began giving chase.

Applejack was making her way with the Elements, running to the rear of the castle when one Glorft mech cut her off. She quickly tossed the bag up and yelled out. "Rainbow Dash!"

The Glorft mech jumped up to catch the bag, but was beaten by a multicolored blur. The Glorft robot jumped right into the flight path of another mech that was chasing the flying pony and the two crashed in midair. The impact sent them crashing into the dining hall, exploding after a few seconds.

Rainbow Dash, with element bag in mouth, fled from the remaining mechs. They hardly could keep up with the surprisingly fast creature. Trying their best to catch up to her, they went flying around the castle.

Soaring with great agility above the castle, winding around the castle towers, Rainbow Dash widened the distance between them. The mechs tried following her through the winding trail, but a couple of them smashed into the castle towers.

As they continued to fly after her, Pinkie Pie dropped on the backs of one of them. She looked over to mechs flying behind her and began giving them faces. Insulted by the little ponies antics, they aimed their weapons and opened fire.

“Fluttershy!’ she called out as she jumped off the Glorft robots back just as it was fired upon.

Her friends flew by, snatching her as she fell. The two that had fired upon their own, continued their pursuit of the Elements.

"How are you letting these weak creatures best of you?" Gorrath shouted, watching his men get tricked by the girls.

One of the Glorft mechs took aim and fired a blast; it just barely missed Rainbow Dash. Startled by the close call, she dropped the bag.

"You fool! Don't fire! You could have destroyed our only way back." Gorrath's voice rang through the transmissions; he was still locked in combat with the shrouded MEGAS.

"Coop, whatever the Glorft are after, I think it may be the key to bringing you back to Earth," Kiva told Coop over the monitor.

"No sweat, just gotta take care of the squids attacking the girls then."
Megas turned around, about to head after the remaining mechs chasing after the ponies, when it was knocked to the ground by a powerful kick from behind. The force of the impact sent MEGAS skidding across the ground.

"Forgetting me?" said the Glorft leader as he stood across the rubble where MEGAS lay.

MEGAS bounced back up, kicking the enemy mech away in the process. Gorrath was knocked back but stayed on his feet. Now facing down the Glorft leader, Coop began revving his engines; flames shot out from MEGAS's exhaust.

On the screen Kiva appeared. "Coop, MEGAS's thermal readings are showing a sudden spike in heat, what's happening?"

On the outside of the blue mech, flames were spreading all over, as the cloak it still wore had caught fire. Coop, looking at the rear view mirror finally noticed the flames. "Whoops. So that's why you said MEGAS can't have a cape."

Coop removed the ignited robe, sending it skyward. MEGAS shined brightly in the moonlight as it faced down the Glorft mech.

Gorrath stood, shocked, realizing who he was fighting. "The prototype! here?" Gorrath quickly sent a message over the radio. "All units: disengage the current target. The prototype is here; focus on capturing it and the temporal device."

Back on the other side of the castle, the Glorft mechs had surrounded a pony with the bag in her possession. Fluttershy had nowhere to run. She cowered in fear, holding the bag in front of her, unable to even let out a squeak. Suddenly, the mechs ignored her and took off, flying over to where Coop and Gorrath were still fighting. The other ponies rushed in to see if she was okay.

"What do ya'll think got their attention like that?" Applejack asked.

"I think it was that," Rainbow Dash said, pointing over to where Coop and Gorrath were still fighting, the other mechs were making their way towards them.

An incoming signal came onto Coop's dashboard and an unwanted familiar face popped up on screen. "So you managed to survive Earther, you've saved me some trouble. now I'll take back my prototype and…." Gorrath suddenly paused as he looked at who was at the wheel of MEGAS.

"What the flarp happened to you?" the alien asked. Seeing what Coop had become, the Glorft Warmaster couldn't help but laugh.

"What happened to your… uh… face?" Coop replied, trying to give a witty comeback.
Gorrath's mech prepared to face off with MEGAS once more. "Today, I shall take great pleasure in destroying you Earther, in your pathetic state."

MEGAS faced the Glorft mech ready to fight back.

"Alright, you red-eyed, snot-looking squid, you attack my planet, get me sent to this weird pony world where I get changed into a kid show looking horsey, attack my new friends, and make fun of the way I look, which I'm starting to like by the way. You're going down."

The two mechs charged at each other once more. The two matched each other's punch. The force of the blows knocked them both back. Both mechs instantly begin firing at each other. A barrage of lasers began to hit MEGAS from behind; the squadron had caught up and was closing in to attack. Coop tried his best to shield himself on both sides, but at this rate, the shots from Gorrath's mech would tear him apart.

To Coop's fortune, a bright object suddenly fell from the sky. It landed right on top of one of the Glorft mechs charging towards him. Blinded by the still-burning cloak, the mech veered to the right, hitting another mech and knocking one unit into a castle tower, exploding on impact. The force of the explosion caused the top of the tower to fly off. The now airborne portion flew straight into 4 more Glorft mechs knocking them into the castle ball room, before exploding. The lone blinded mech was the only one left still charging.

MEGAS plucked it out of the air like a football and positioned it in front of him. MEGAS began running straight to Gorrath, who was still firing upon him. The shots were tearing into the Glorft mech Coop was using as a shield as he made his way closer.

Coop stomped his hind pony hoof down on the pedal. MEGAS's rockets ignited. The Glorft mech shield was turning into Swiss cheese as shot after shot from the Warmaster's weapon penetrated its armor. As Coop closed the gap, he chucked what remained of his shield at Gorrath, who knocked it away with one arm.

"YaaaaaaaH!" Coop yelled as MEGAS threw a punch to the enemy mech. Gorrath quickly threw a countering punch with the gatling gun arm of his mech. Both robots were pushing their fists against each others’, never letting up. Their rockets roared, the flames burning everything behind them, as they both tried their hardest to overpower the other. Gorrath let out a sinister grin as he pulled a trigger.

The ear piercing screech of metal scraping on metal could be heard. It got louder and faster as the barrels of Gorrath's gatling energy gun began to rotate quickly as it prepared to fire. Near the two battling mechs, Twilight Sparkle appeared in a flash of light. Her horn radiated with a bright purple aura. Just as Gorrath's mech was about to fire, warning signals began popping up all over his screens.
"What!"

Something had happened at the base of his robot's weapon. A purple glow enveloped around the trigger mechanism of its gun, causing it to jam. It began to crack as numerous sounds of explosions could be heard from within.

"No! Noooooo!" Gorrath yelled as the gun-arm began backfiring and exploding. It began to fall apart, and MEGAS's giant fist plowed through the remains of the Glorft mech's arm. MEGAS flew past, leaving Gorrath's robot standing there, amputated.

"Raaaaagh!" Gorrath’s mech fell onto its knees. His mech was heavily damaged and his squadron sprawled across the castle grounds, destroyed; he had not expected much resistance from the puny creatures, let alone for the prototype to be there. Taking these into consideration, he dreaded his next order. "All units. Fall back to the ship."

Glorft mechs, mostly the heads of them, began heading skyward, disappearing past the clouds. On Coop’s display, Gorrath appeared one last time.

"You caught me off guard this day Earther, but next time I'll be prepared. And when I return, I'll destroy you, this planet, and its weak pathetic inhabitants."

"Hey squid just so you know, they're ponies. You and your boys got whooped by cute little ponies."

Coop's hoof hit various buttons in front of the screen as he tried to disconnect. Managing to hit the right one, Gorrath disappeared from the screen.

"New planet, new look, same ugly squids."

Later in the morning in Canterlot Castle after the sun had risen, two sisters were having a discussion.

Princess Celestia was sitting on a couch, her attention focused elsewhere. "So that's what happened; Coop fended off those invaders and protected the Elements of Harmony and Canterlot."

"But sister, are you sure that was a good idea? I mean to place somepony like that and his giant in the care of the six of them?" Celestia's sister, Princess Luna, asked. Concerned over what had taken place as she looked over the damage around the castle grounds.

Celestia put down what she was fiddling with to address her younger sister. "You forget dear sister, they have saved us from disaster before, and this visitor has shown to me he wishes no harm onto us. So I have decided that until he can return to his world, he is free to stay here along with his ‘MEGAS’ as he calls it."

Luna looked back at her elder sister, still not convinced. "Sister, you're taking this situation too lightly; look at all the damage that pony's machine caused. I mean--"

*Clank*

Luna was interrupted by an object that flew past her head. The strange device missed her and lightly tapped the wall behind her, causing the last remaining portion of the castle wall to topple over.

The two royal sisters sat in the middle of the rubble of the throne room of what was once Canterlot Castle; around them hundreds of ponies were working hard rebuilding after what had happened the night before. Princess Celestia went on with what she was going to say.

"You worry too much, sister. I’m certain that Twilight Sparkle and her friends will be able to keep an eye on our guest. Now hurry up and pick up your controller," said Celestia as she refocused on the rather large television screen that somehow managed to survive the chaos.

Luna lifted up the control previously tossed at her and joined her elder sister. As Luna took a seat and was about to join in, a thought occurred to her. "Sister,. I've been meaning to ask you about something."

Although highly focused on what she was doing, Celestia already knew what her sister was about to ask.

"Oh this? Well, you see after what took place last night, Coop attempted to return home, but it seems for the time being he is unable to. I declared that until he can return, he is welcome to stay, and I am making arrangements for him to live in Ponyville. He was grateful, but still saddened because he could not play a new ‘video game’, as he called it, he currently had in his possession; and was depressed because he could not enjoy it in the manner he had planned. I asked for him to show me what exactly this ‘video game’ was. It was quite enjoyable. After his demonstration, I took it upon myself, in a gesture of gratitude, to repay him for his heroics by creating a replica of his "game system" he had on board his metal giant so he could play in the comfort of his home."
Celestia pointed a hoof over to the strange device next to the TV. "You see, I enjoyed it so much I'm having them mass produced so that all of Equestria can enjoy it. Now, hurry up and play."

Luna, satisfied with that answer, picked up the controller with her magic and joined in. "Alright big sister, maybe this time you'll end my winning streak."

"I'll stop you at 39." Celestia pouted.

As the two sisters became caught up in their game while around them ponies were hard at work, another thought came to Luna.

The idea of making a device like this available to all the ponies of Equestria. Something that can easily distract ponies from completing important tasks in their daily lives; just like it had with her sister for example, worried Luna. The thought that this might create a setback to pony productivity for years to come crept into her mind.

"I'm going to beat you this time," Celestia chanted.

"On no you don't sister," Luna said. That idea was quickly forgotten as she put her focus on not letting her sister win.

New Friends, New Tastes

View Online

My Little XLR

Chapter 3: New Friends, New Tastes.

Inside Sugar Cube Corner on the second floor, otherwise known as the home of Ponyville's resident party pony, the ponies were in the middle of a celebration. Drinks and various snacks were going round and numerous cakes were set all over the long rectangular table in the center of the room.

The banner hanging up above read "Welcome to Ponyville." They were having a welcoming party for the new pony in town, not to mention him saving of all of Equestria.

"Welcome to Ponyville, Coop!" the six mares shouted.

The light brown stallion managed to hear the ponies' cheers over the sounds of his face plowing through the cake in front of him. He lifted up his head and grinned. Around him were the welcoming smiles of his new friends as they raised a glass of punch to toast their new friendship.

"Thanks girls, I gotta say this is a great party," Coop said as bits of cake flung from his mouth.

"Please, Coop dear. While I understand you are our guest of honor, that's no excuse for such crude manners. Please do not speak with your mouth full. And please eat properly. Did you honestly eat like that where you come from? I mean take a look at us; do you see any of us eating in such a manner?"

Applejack butted in. "Ah lighten up, Rarity. Coop here just saved all of Equestria from aliens. I'm sure you can let it go this once."

"Yeah! Besides, it's a party." Pinkie added, before plowing her face into another cake, similar in fashion as Coop had.

Witnessing her pink pony friend take part in the same eating habit she had just protested against, Rarity places a hoof to her head. "I give up."

After celebrating, playing party games and eating lots of sweets, the party reached its conclusion. It was noon and the ponies headed back to their homes.

"Awesome party as always!" Rainbow Dash said as she made her way to the door.

"I had a wonderful time." Fluttershy said. Before heading out the door, she approached Coop. "Welcome to Ponyville Coop, and thank you again for saving us."

Coop was a little surprised seeing her open up like that. When they first met, Fluttershy merely uttered a simple, "Thank you." Then again, it was just after the Glorft attack and she was probably frightened since Coop was in MEGAS at the time.

The rest of the Ponies also gave their thanks and goodbyes then went off; only Coop, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle remained.

"Wow, this is probably the first time I didn't have any leftover cake," Pinkie said, astonished that another pony besides herself had finished all the treats.

Coop patted his stomach and belched, "Can't let good food go to waste."

"Alright Coop, we need to get going" Twilight said, trotting over to the door. "We have to go see how the princess's arrangements for your home are going."

"Aww, but it's almost lunch time," Coop pointed out, sticking one hoof towards the clock on the wall.

Twilight stared at him. "Don't you think you've had enough food for awhile, Coop?"

"All those sweets got me craving something different. I could sure go for a Philly cheesesteak right now," Coop groaned while rubbing his stomach, which grumbled at the mention of food.

In a familiar fashion, both mares gave Coop a confused look. Synchronized, they asked the same thing, "Philly cheesesteak?"

"How's about some hot wings then?"

The two girls looked at each other, clueless to what the colt was talking about.

"How have you two never heard of hot wings? Ah well how bout we go for some chicken?" Coop suggested.

"Chicken? You mean, eat a chicken?" Twilight said, shocked at the short haired pony's suggestion. "Uh Coop, we're ponies remember. We don't eat meat."

That last statement made by Twilight echoed inside Coop's mind. Its meaning tore at his very being; Coop felt his mind steadily slipping as he slowly realized what her words truly meant. His mind, working incredibly fast given the situation, came to a conclusion.

Ponies don't eat meat... I'm a pony now, I don't eat meat.

"Coop, are you alright?" Twilight asked, concerned over her friend's sudden silence.

Coop's vision became blurry then faded to black.

Over at Sweet Apple Acres, a hard working mare was busy collecting her next batch of apples.

"Phew, I still got lotsa apples to pick before the day's done," Applejack sighed, as she continued pulling a cart loaded with apples.

Twilight Sparkle, in a panic, rushed up to her. "Applejack, I need your help, it's an emergency! Coop has gone crazy!"

"Now hold on there Twi, what's this about Coop going crazy?" Applejack questioned, with a puzzeled look on her face..

"After everypony left, Coop wanted to get some lunch; He said he wanted to eat a chicken." Twilight said.

"Uh Twi, ponies don't eat meat."

"Exactly, but Coop didn't know that. Now he's gone mad and is going on a rampage through town. Thankfully I hid MEGAS with an invisibility spell, but it's only a matter of time before he discovers it." She trembled as a thought ran through her head. "I can only imagine what will happen if Coop manages to get in MEGAS in his present state."

"How're we supposed to stop em?"

"That's where you come in, Applejack; you can rope Coop down using your lasso. If we can just get Coop to hold still, maybe we can get him to try some food. I think that since he became a pony, maybe his taste in food has changed as well." Thank Celestia Coop didn't remain a human when he came here,she thought to herself.

Both ponies then ran off, heading towards Ponyville.

Back in town, ponies ran for shelter. Along the walkway, various stands were toppled over. Fruits and vegetables were scattered across the ground. In the distance, Twilight and Applejack saw the source of the chaos.

Observing what food was there, Coop eyed the cart, scanning it intently. Applejack and Twilight watched as he gave it a massive shove knocking it over. Daisies and tulips went flying, helpless before his meat deprived rage.

The cries of Pinkie Pie rang out as she chased after him. "Coop, Get back here!" She paused to catch her breath. "Wow, you're really fast when it comes to food," she panted.

Coop looked back. Noticing his pursuer, he took off again, continuing his search for meat.

"Coop, get back here and put these flowers back where they belong, and those carrots over there, and those cabbages over there," Pinkie hollered, pointing at each knocked over stand that Coop happened upon.

Twilight and Applejack ran over to their friend. "Pinkie Pie, Applejack's here to help capture Coop, now where did he go?"

Pinkie pointed down the pathway, "He went that way."

"Thats where Fluttershy's is," Applejack said.

"Come on girls!" Twilight said.

The three girls took off hoping to reach Coop before anything serious could happen.

They arrived at Fluttershy's cottage.

"Fluttershy!"

A little light yellow hoof popped out from a bush next to a large tree.

"Over here," said the owner of the hoof as it shook with fear.

The girls ran over to the talking bush. Pinkie Pie pulled on the waving hoof, yanking out the frightened pony from her hiding place.

Twilight reached out and gave her a helping hoof out of the shrub. "Fluttershy, what happened?"

Fluttershy, still shaken up, looked at her friends. "I was here, feeding my animal friends their lunch, when all of a sudden a big pony ran in. It tried eating the food I had for my animal friends, but when it took a look at the food, it started throwing a tantrum and thrashing about. It scared off the critters, and I jumped into the bush to hide."

"Did you see where he went?" Twilight asked.

Fluttershy pointed over to the shack.. "Just before you three showed up, I saw that pony run into my chicken coop. I'm so worried about my poor chickens."

Twilight gasped, both she and Applejack galloped over to the chicken coop. Pinkie Pie followed, pulling Fluttershy along with her. Twilight and Applejack peer into the coop and saw their friend.

He stood there, a chicken head sticking out of his mouth frantically trying to free itself. Both girls gasped at the sight. he grimaced in disgust at the taste of the bird in his mouth. He spat out the horrified chicken, which ran past the two girls and out the entrance. He then plopped down.

Twilight slowly approached Coop as Applejack stayed close behind her. "Coop?" she addressed the pony, in hopes that he still retained some sanity in order to acknowledge her.

Coop sat there, confused over the appalling taste of something he's eaten regularly back in his home world. Although it was an extremely raw version of what he normally eats, he could sense that the taste was off. His mind began to question whether the same was true for all meats he was accustom to eating.

Twilight came in close. "Coop, I know you can hear me. I want you to try something," she spoke softly as she pulled out a sandwich she had with her.

It looked just like like a normal sandwich, but in between the bread slices was something unfamiliar to Coop. Daisy petals stuck out from the sides of the sandwich. He reeled back in disgust, hissing as he looked at the travesty of cuisine his friend had in her hoof. He prepared to take off running.

Anticipating his move, Twilight shouted, "Applejack now!"

She twirled the rope and a lasso flew through the shed, wrapping around Coop's neck. He struggled to free himself but Applejack held strong. Twilight leaped at him in order to hold him down.

"Dog pile!" Pinkie shouted as she joined in to help hold Coop down.

Outside of the shed, Fluttershy watched as her friends scuffled with Coop. The entire shack shook from the force of their struggle. After the commotion had died down, Fluttershy opened her eyes, there she saw her friends standing next to a hogtied Coop lying on his back.

"Sorry there Coop, ya gave us no choice." Applejack apologized, as she and Pinkie held down Coop's head still as he lay on the ground.

Twilight, with the sandwich floating next to her, stood over Coop. "Now Coop, please just try this."

Coop tried with all his might. Wriggling around, trying to move his legs, but they wouldn't budge from the tightly wound knot.. Pinkie Pie and Applejack didn't give him an inch, placing their arms over his neck to hold his head in place. All he could do was close his lips shut. Suddenly, his mouth flew wide open; the invisible force of Twilight's magic forced his jaw open and the dreaded sandwich was jammed into his mouth.

Horror filled his face as the realization of what he had been forced to eat sunk in. "Ugguaahhaauughaaah!"

"Aww, come on. It can't be that bad." Pinkie Pie protested.

Afterwards, inside of Twilight Sparkle's home, Twilight and Applejack were enjoying a snack and conversation.

"I sure am glad that's all over," Applejack sighed. "But there's one thing I gotta know Twi, how did you know having Coop try that sandwich would work?"

"Honestly Applejack, I didn't. I thought if I could get Coop to just try some of our food maybe he would like it. I'm glad it worked. It's fortunate that Coop's physiological change into that of a pony also changed his taste in food."

"Physio-what?"

"Let's just say I'm glad Coop likes pony food."

"You're telling me Twi." Applejack said. "I reckon Fluttershy's chickens will be afraid of Coop from now on," she joked.

Both ponies shared a laugh.

Twilight's door opened and in hopped Pinkie Pie; right behind her Coop, with a sandwich in his mouth, and Fluttershy entered. All three of them were carrying bags filled with various flowers fruits and vegetables.

"Welcome back you three, how did everything go?" Twilight looked over to the trio and noticed their haul. "What's with all the food?"

"It went great, we just finished helping the ponies put back their knocked over stands and collect all the food that was scattered," Pinkie Pie stated.

"Yes, and Coop also gave everypony a sincere apology. Everypony was very understanding," Fluttershy added.

Twilight was happy to hear the good news, but something was still bugging her. "That's great you three. Now, what's with all those bags?"

Coop finished eating the last of a sandwich and answered her. "I got them." He went on to explain. "After I got a taste of that daisy sandwich you gave me earlier, I got an urge to try out every kind of flower," Coop explained, as he looked into his bag of goodies.

"Well, I'm glad you've taken a liking to pony cuisine Coop, but did you really need to get ten bags?"

"You might be right." Coop looked back over to Fluttershy. "I told you we should have gotten a few more." Coop and Twilight each gave her a distinctive look, each had different reasons behind them.

"Sorry." She nervously smiled apologetically for allowing him to buy so much food.

"Don't sweat it," the colt happily dismissed. "At least with this many, I can still try out a few different combinations. It'll be like when I first tried mixing different foods together." He drooled at the ideas he was coming up with.

Wiping the saliva from his chin, Coop turned and faced his new friends; his tone became serious. "Girls, I just want to say thanks for your help today. If you all didn't force me to try something new, I don't know where I would be right now."

"That's what friends do," Pinkie answered.

"Besides, it's the least we can do consider'n you saved all of Equestria earlier," Applejack added.

"It sounds like you learned something very important today Coop," Fluttershy pointed out.

A small scroll and quill lifted up from the nearby table and hovered in front of the large pony.

"I think this is a perfect time for you to write about what you've learned to the princess." Twilight announced. "Don't you agree girls?"

The other ponies nodded in agreement.

At the table, Coop sat down to begin his first ever report on the magic of friendship. He reached over to grab the quill with his hoof. He paused, pondering how he would go about doing that. Giving up on using his newly acquired hooves, he bit down on one end of the quill and began composing.

"Finished!" he blurted out, with quill still in mouth, taking pride in his masterpiece of literature. It being the first thing he's written in a long time that was at least longer than three sentences.

Twilight received the letter from him. "Alright then, Spike, would you please send this to the princess?"

Comming down the steps wasn't a pony but a baby dragon. Coop looked on with his mouth agape seeing him for the first time.

"Sure thing Twilight," Spike replied. He took Coop's letter in his claw, and set it aflame with his breath.

Coop would have been upset over the burning of his letter if he wasn't distracted over the green flames the young dragon breathed out.

"Cool," he uttered as his letter burned and the flames flew out the window.

Over at Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia was enjoying a brief moment of relaxation when a green flame flew in and stopped in front of her, reassembling into a scroll. She lifted up the letter, examining it.

"Luna dear, would you come join me? I've just received one of my star pupil's reports on friendship, and this one is from Coop."

The younger princess rushed into the room "This is something I must witness." She positioned herself next to her elder sister.

"Now you shall see, there is no need to worry about our new guest." Celestia reassured.

She opened the scroll; both sisters squinted as they attempted to read the mech pilot's mouth writing. After straining their eyes for a bit, they gave up trying to decipher Coop's message.

"Well, at least this means he's learned something about friendship, and that's what truly matters," Celestia resolved.

"Riiiiight," Luna skeptically agreed.

CMC Recipe of MEGAS Proportion

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My Little XLR

Chapter 4: CMC Recipe of MEGAS Proportion

"Mr. Cooplowski. Mr. Cooplowski."

Two fillies, a white unicorn and a light yellow Earth pony, were rapidly tapping their hooves on Coop’s shoulders who was sitting in between them.

"Coop wake up," the Earth pony whispered.

His eyes opened and his surroundings slowly began to come into focus. Rolling his eyes up, Coop noticed the magenta Earth pony with the pink mane. She was she was big, well not as big as her, but at least when compared to the young ponies sitting at their desks around the classroom.

She stared at the colt who was crammed into the tiny school chair, just barely squeezed in.

"Now Coop, I understand the princess has made a special arrangement for you to attend, but that's no excuse for sleeping during class."

Coop's eyes widened and he snapped to attention. He was trying his hardest to behave for Ms. Cheerilee, who, by his experience, was one of the nicest teachers he's ever had. Unfortunately, due to years of boring experiences with school back in his world, he could not help but doze off.

He turned he head up to her and looked her in the eye with a sincere look on his face. "I'm sorry about that Ms. Cheerilee.”

"It's alright Coop, just please don't do it again," she replied with a smile.

Cheerilee headed back to the board to resume her lesson. As she turned, almost as if by instinct, Coop began to nod off again. The fillies sitting to his left and right panicked as they saw his eyes shut and his head fall back. They both tapped his shoulders again, practically punching him, trying to be covert so not to attract Ms. Cheerilee's attention. Resorting to wailing on the colt, Coop's head still moved down towards his desk. They were out of ideas.

Coop's head instantly flew back up. The girls were shocked, jumping back at his sudden movment. He was still asleep. Looking behind him, they saw their friend. An orange pegasus was pulling on Coop's hair, literally hanging by the skin of her teeth. Dangling off the ground, she used her weight to keep his head up. The other two fillies quickly grabbed some tape and fasten it on his eyelids making it appear as though he was awake.

Cheerilee, reaching the front of the class, turned back and looked over to her newest student. His gaze and expression was that of a pony ready to learn; beside him were two fillies, smiling, and eager to learn as well. "Alright class, let's begin with the attendance. Apple Bloom.”

The Earth pony sitting to Coop’s right raised her hoof. “Here.”

“Sweetie Belle.”

The mare on his left raise her hoof in response. “Here.”

As she went through the list of names and students answered, the girls realized that soon their napping friend would be called.

"Harold Cooplowski," Cheerilee called out.

Still hanging onto Coop, the pegasus kicked Coop on his right arm forcing it to jerk upward.

Seeing what her friend did, Apple Bloom gave her best impersonation of Coop’s voice. "Here!"

It worked, Cheerilee went on calling other students' names. A wave of relief washed over the trio.

"Scootaloo," Cheerilee called out,

"Here," the little pegasus answered, forgetting her current situation as she let go of Coop’s hair.

Coop's head slammed onto his desk with a loud thud. Startled fillies jumped in their desks at the sound. Those in the classroom that had been watching the hijinks unfold since the beginning, burst into laughter. Cheerilee was not amused.

A few days earlier, over at Twilight Sparkle's house, Applejack and Rarity, along with their younger sisters, had come over at Twilight's request. They were having a discussion regarding their new friend.

"So the princess wants Coop to go to school? As in the same school Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle go to?"

"That's what the letter she sent to me said, Applejack. She wants Coop to learn more about Equestria and us ponies since he's going to be here for some time."

"But Twilight dear, why did you call for us?"

"You see Rarity, there's a favor I wanted to ask of you two, of your sisters to be exact. I wanted to ask if they can look after Coop while he attends class."

Rarity and Applejack didn’t know what to say. They each looked at their sisters, unsure how they would react to Twilight's request.

"Well sure thing, Twilight. Me and Sweetie Belle would love to help out this Coop fella," said Apple Bloom

"Yeah, we'll even get Scootaloo to help out. Together it will be easy for the Cutie Mark Crusaders," Sweetie Belle added.

"Now Sweetie Belle, are you sure you're up to this?" Rarity asked, concerned for her sister considering whom she was being asked to watch over.

"I'm sure they'll be fine. ‘sides, it'll be during school so I'm sure nothin' awful could happen." Applejack said as she nodded her head.

Twilight faced Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, "Thank you girls, I feel a lot better knowing that somepony can help Coop, as well as keep an eye on him. With the three of you watching him, I'm sure things will be okay."

The three older ponies continued their chat while the two fillies ran off to find their friend.

"Hey Sweetie Belle, don't you think they seemed a little too worried over this Coop fella? I guess I'd be worried bout a pony with something big like that too," Apple Bloom said.

"I'm sure they're just worried for their friend. I mean how much trouble can one pony be?" Sweetie Belle answered.

Back in school during a break period, four students sat around at their desks having a chat.

"I can't believe you fell asleep like that Coop," Sweetie Belle griped.

"Sorry. It's just that school was boring back in my world. Good thing Ms. Cheerilee is so nice."

"Aw, it's alright. What I can't believe is that somepony let go of you like that," Apple Bloom said as she glared at Scootaloo.

"Hey, I couldn't help answering when my name was called; It's like a reflex or something. Besides, it's not like you had any bright ideas at the time."

"That's cause I was busy thinking, unlike you."

Sweetie Belle cut in between them. "Girls that's enough arguing, we've got a more important matter to deal with. We got to hurry up and come up with an idea for the bake sale."

Ms. Cheerilee had announced a baking project to promote teamwork, and develop some cooking skills.

"We need to think of what to make. It has to be something that ponies would love. I think we should go with cupcakes. Everypony loves cupcakes, at least that's what Pinkie Pie always says," Sweetie Belle said.

"How's about we make a pie, I know the recipe for my family's famous apple pie,” said Apple Bloom

"Nah, let's make something easy, like muffins. I bet that grey pegasus will come and buy all of them,” said Scootaloo.

They started getting into an argument.

"Cupcakes!"

"Muffins!"

"Pie!"

They continued to argue, while Coop sat there with images of the three treats dancing in his head. A ping sound went off in his brain.

"I got it!" he shouted as he clasped his hooves.

The girls stopped their bickering and stared at him.

"How about we combine the three into one big super treat?"

The fillies tilted their heads as they lowered their brows. "How's that even supposed to work Coop?" Scootaloo wondered.

"It'll be easy; I've mixed plenty of foods together back home." In his head, Coop thought back to times when he experimented by mixing meals that no rational thinking person would. Like his deep-fired ice cream-cheeseburger-pizza taco. He may not remember how he managed to keep the ice cream frozen, but the taste still lingered on in his mouth.

The girls stood there, watching as Coop stared blankly into the distance. Busy reliving those moments in his head until he looked back at them, finally returning to reality.

Apple Bloom decided, "Alright Coop, since yer the expert at this, you can lead us in making this cupcake-muffin-pie thingy."

"Yeah, that's perfect!" Sweetie Belle nodded.

"Well, I guess we'll go with that. Besides, somepony with your expertise is bound to know plenty about making good food," Scootaloo said, pointing at Coop's round belly.

"Thanks," he replied while patting his gut.

The air around Sugar Cube Corner was rich with the aroma of baked sweets. Inside the bakery, Coop and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were in the rear kitchen, starting to make their confectionery combination.

"It's a good thing Mr. and Mrs. Cake let us borrow the kitchen so we can make our pie.”

"Cupcake!"

"Muffin!"

"Whatever!" Apple Bloom yelled, before another fight broke out between them.

A few feet away from the kitchen, just out of earshot of the three girls, Coop and Pinkie Pie were having a secret meeting. Both of them kept their voices to a whisper.

"Thanks Pinkie, for convincing the Cakes to let us borrow the kitchen."

"Sure thing, Coop. Just remember, I get to try a piece when it's done."

"No problem," he said. Coop raised a brow, looking over to her. "Uh Pinkie Pie, why are we whispering and being secretive again?"

"Cause sneaking around and pretending to do spy things like this is fun."

They nodded silently to each other in agreement, then they slipped back to their places as if nothing had happened.

Trotting back into the kitchen, Coop saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders hard at work preparing to cook. "So girls, how are things going with the uh muffin-cupcake-pie thing? Hmm, maybe we should start with a name."

"Well, we’re not sure where to start," Scootaloo pointed out. "We have all the ingredients but were not sure how were gonna put them together."

"You just leave that part to me," Coop reassured. "Let's get them baked first."

They each put on their cooking aprons and chef hats and started cooking. Each filly was hard a work, Apple Bloom was making her pie crust, Sweetie Belle was making a mess as she beat her eggs and Scootaloo was mixing the dough in a bowl. Coop observered them and helped out when he thought they needed it.

"It needs more pie crust, Apple Bloom. Scootaloo, you need to make more dough. Sweetie Belle, add more batter, it needs to be bigger."

"Umm, Coop. How big is this thing supposed to be?" Sweetie Belle wondered.

"Yeah, muffins aren't supposed to be this big."

"It'll be enough to share with everybody," he joyously replied.

After some time and a lot of baking, the team had finally finished. The girls each stood proudly beside their work; Scootaloo next to her muffin, Apple bloom, beside her pie, and Sweetie Belle with her slightly charred cupcake. Each of their treats were about three times their size.

"Perfect, now comes my part," Coop said, rubbing his hooves together. "You three are about to witness one of my specialties. Watch and learn."

Outside the pastry shop, MEGAS with the three pastries in hand positioned its other hand over the treats and proceeded to crush them.

"Coop! What the hay are you doing?!" Scootaloo shouted.

"Yeah, we worked so hard to make those," Apple Bloom added.

"Just because it was a little burnt didn't mean you had to crush it," said Sweetie Belle.

Coop remained calm, as he carefully, precisely and with all his skill continued to crush the heck out of the trio's baked goods.

"Relax girls. I know what I'm doing, just watch."

As MEGAS stopped its general mashing, it opened its palm, revealing in one hand a perfect square of what was once the three baked goods. They were astonished. It was just like Coop said, he did know what he was doing; it was just his unique method of kneading dough that threw them off. As they basked in the presences of Coop's work, a little chunk fell from it. The piece fell and was caught down below by Pinkie Pie, who then ran back inside the bakery to enjoy.

"Whoops. I guess it needs a little bit of cooking to keep it together."

A little hoof tapped Coop on the shoulder. "Coop, I don't think we'll have time to bake it again," said Sweetie Belle.

"We've got to get back to class soon," Apple Bloom added.

Scootaloo popped her head around the front seat, pointing her hoof at the cube. "Plus I don't think we'll find an oven big enough for that. We barely fit them in the oven individually."

"Hmm... I got it." Thinking quickly, Coop placed their pastry creation onto the ground and began to fiddle with some knobs on the radio controls.

"What ya planning on doing, Coop?" Apple Bloom nervously asked as she watched Coop's hoof moved through the various buttons throughout the dashboard, each with dangerous sounding labels posted on them.

"Just gonna give it a little heat."

"Heat?" the girls responded.

"Yeah, like a microwave. Since we need to cook it quick, I think this level will do." He turned a knob on his radio as the stick on the radio meter jumped to the right, passing "Gamma" levels and landing on "You're kidding!" levels. He pressed his hoof down on the knob, causing a ray of green light to shine from the car's headlights. The beam shone directly on the crumbly cube on the ground. "Now we just wait a bit."

A few minutes later...

"That should be enough," Coop said as he switched off the headlights and MEGAS lifted their masterpiece up.

The area on the ground that took the blast of light was burned to a crisp. Only a sliver of grass where the mushy box rested on remained untouched.

Apple Bloom observed the blackened soil. "Coop, you think you might have used to much power?"

He pointed over to their result. "Does that look like too much power?" The giant treat was cooked golden brown, it was literally glowing.

"Coop, is it supposed to glow like that?" Sweetie Belle wondered, concerning over the other worldly hue that shined off from it.

"That's just how it looks when it's cooked right."

"Is it also supposed to move around like that?" Scootaloo asked, pointing over to the baked muffin-pie-cake mixture that wobbled, jiggled and at one moment hopped.

"It's just settling. Trust me, everybody is going to love it"

"Coop, it’s ‘everypony.’ You mean ‘everypony is going to love this’," said Sweetie Belle.

"Sorry, still haven't gotten used to that," he said as he drove MEGAS back to school, with the freshly cooked pastry in its hand.

Back in class, Cheerilee watched as each group brought in their treats. Their bright smiles as they worked together warmed her heart. The team of Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Coop were last to arrive back to class.

"Oh my," Cheerilee said, stunned as she saw them cart in the giant dessert they made. "You four certainly have outdone yourselves."

They placed their work in the back of the class room with the rest of their classmates and took their seats. The lessons continued as normal; Coop finally got the hang of staying awake in class. Probably because he found it more interesting than his school days, or perhaps it was due to the constant whacks he received from his three guardians whenever he showed signs of dozing off.

Since he managed to stay awake, and without a car magazine to distract himself, Coop learned about the lives of ponies. About cutie marks, the role of the princesses, the three types of ponies, and how friendship is a source of power in this world. It was a rare moment where he actually learned what was being taught in class. Afterwards, the awaited bake sale started.

"All right class, please pack up. We need to start preparing for the bake sale."

All the fillies stored their belongings away and headed outside to help set up. They worked together; setting up tables, placing table cloths, making signs, putting up banners, and painting posters with Cheerilee proudly overseeing her students work.

A trio of young colts were making their way inside to bring out everyponies' baked goods.

"Hurry up Pipsqueak!" the short pudgy unicorn cried out.

"Commin' Snips," he replied, catching up with the two of them as he pulled a red wagon behind him.

At the back of the classroom, the three of them eyed the mouth watering collection cupcakes, sweetrolls, cakes, dumplings, and other sweets that covered every inch of the table. They couldn't help but notice the large square one that had been set on the floor next to the table.

The tallest of the trio approached the cake. "Has that thing gotten bigger?"

"Cakes don't grow, Snails, now come on. Let's start with ours first. That way everypony gets a good look at the best one."

They placed the their cake inside the wagon and took it outside. Traveling back and forth, bringing out treats one by one, they finally got to the last one. They entered the class room, with Snips resting atop the squeaky empty wagon as Pipsqueak pulled the cart inside.

Snails couldn’t help but notice the grand spongy cube as he entered the room. "Uh, Snips."

"Yes Snails?"

"You sure cakes don't grow?"

"I told you already, no they don't!"

Pipsqueak placed his shaky hoof on his leg and tugged. "Pardon me Snips, you may want to have a look at this."

"What is… it?" he said, eyes widening as he saw the menacing mass of rising dough.

Neglected, the mushy concoction quietly gained size until it took up a third of the classroom.

Curiosity beckoned Snips closer. "What's with this thing?" he said, prodding his hoof on the bouncy surface.

As if it were alive, the square reacted to his hoof prodding. Its steady rate of growth suddenly hastened.

"Let get outta here!" he hollered.

They ran out the door, yelling for dear life.

"Everypony run! The cake is alive!" Pipsqueak cried, while he and his friends ran through the crowd of students.

Everypony outside stood there dumbfounded over what the little colt had just said, unaware of what was about to happen.

What followed were the sounds of lumber snapping as the school started to inflate. They watched as the building expanded. The pastry inside had grown too big causing the school to pop like a balloon. Everypony gasped as the rising dough destroyed their school and continued increasing in size.

"That thing looks familiar," Coop said, looking on.

"Of course it looks familiar. That's the pastry we made," said Apple Bloom.

"Maybe I used too much power?”

"Gee Coop, you think?" Scootaloo answered.

Coop began making his way to MEGAS, the Cutie Mark Crusaders followed behind him. He turned to face them.

"Oh no. You three stay back where it's safe."

"But Coop, that's our creation, we made it together," said Apple Bloom.

"So we should stop it together," Sweetie Belle chimed in.

"Even if it was you who caused it to grow like that," Scootaloo added.

Apple Bloom took a step forward. "’Sides, while yer at school, we're yer Cutie Mark Crusader guardians.” She then looked at him with big, sad eyes. “Are ya gonna make us be lousy chaperons?"

Onboard MEGAS, Coop started up the engine and adjusted his rear view mirror. He turned his head to the back seats. "Alright girls, buckle up."

They cheerfully fastened their safety belts.

"One more thing, don't let your sisters find out about this."

The ground shook as MEGAS approached the still-growing snack; it was now bigger than the buildings surrounding it.

"How are you going to stop it?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Haven't I taught you girls earlier?” Sharp clanging sounds echoed as the giant bumped its fist together. “You gotta smash it just right."

A volley of steel crahsed onto their expanding creation. It lurched back in pain from the stream of fists. The onslaught of strikes chiped away at the pastry, bringing it down to size.

All the fillies, along with Cheerilee watched on, observing Coop's unique problem solving method. He prepared one final strike, hitting the two triggers on his controller. MEGAS's arms went up to deliver a hammer fist.

"YEAH!"

The mech's twin metal arms crashed down, carving halfway into thick mush before it came screeching to a halt.

"Huh?!"

MEGAS’s engines roared, but the dough’s vice like grip held its arm tight. The moist blob bloated back to its larger size and shoulder threw the bot. The ground shook violently as its metallic frame was planted on the into the soil. The stands Coop and his fellow classmates worked so hard to make wobbled slightly from the impact.

Gnashing his teeth, Coop turned the wheel, shifted a gear and stomped his hoof on the pedal. MEGAS kicked-up onto its feet, crushing two stands in the process. Classmates down below looked up with open frowns and furrowed brows.

A head popped out the car’s side window, waving at the group down below. "Sorry!"

Apple Bloom pointed over to their work. "Coop, look!"

The confection convulsed randomly, its body changed from a cube form, to a humanoid build. From the mound of squishy bread, two arms and a head popped out of the risen strand that made mound that made up its torso.

It started down at its newly formed hands, clenching and unclenching it, then began swinging its arms around. As its glared over to the metal giant, its fists began to shake. The mound that made up its feet, surged over to MEGAS, aiming its newly formed fists at the ponies on board.

Down below, panicked everypony fled as the two colossuses fought. Each punch from the bot in blue left an imprint on its soft body, but it quickly reformed and retaliated with an punch of its own.

Scootaloo frowned as she stared at the driver. "I thought you said you were good at smashing.”

Coop adjusted his rear view mirror, looking back at her. "How's about this?"

A torrent of jabs struck the monster in rapid succession. MEGAS grabbed hold of it, turning the beast’s world upside down before the bot’s twin set of metal legs guided its head onto the ground. The piledriver attack left the creature a heap of mush on the ground. Reforming itself after the attack, the beast got up only to be struck by a massive clothesline. The force behind it was so intense that the arm passing through bisected it.

Not letting up, Coop quickly turned the wheel. The blue fighting machine turned on a dime, not losing any momentum. Before the creature could even react, MEGAS leaped into the air, grabbing its head in its palms and plowing its face into into the ground

The blob's regeneration had slowed, it wobbled about as it regained itself. Before it could finish, it noticed a large shadow looming over it getting bigger and bigger. In the air, the robot’s metal body was plummeting towards its still reassembling mass. MEGAS’s engine revved wildly as it approached.

With its recovery stunted, the blob could do nothing but take the impact. The force from MEGAS's body slam burst the dough blob into tiny pieces. Globs of fragrant bread paste littered the town.

Coop grined, with a smug look upon his face as he looked again to his rearview mirror. "How do you like that smashing?"

Silent, Scootaloo’s eye were open wide and jaw hung agape from what she and her friends had witnessed. Over to her right, she noticed Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shared the same expression.

He looked over the spoils of food strewn before him and placed hoof on his stomach. "Now let's get back to school. I'm craving all those yummy treats."

"Sure thing Coop, lets go–" Apple Bloom was cut off by the sharp sound of something impacting MEGAS, sending it airborne. The sudden strike sent the metal giant landing atop a few buildings. The passengers checked themselves to see if they were alright.

"What hit us?" Coop asked as he started maneuvering MEGAS back on its feet.

Before anypony could answer, another hit sent the blue giant forward. As they flew, they got a look at a familiar creature, but something about it seemed different. The monstrosity up ahead winded up and gave the soaring MEGAS a powerful uppercut. The jarring sound of the blow echoed through its body as it was laid out on the ground.

Coop and the girls, lying flat on their backs as they tried to collect themselves, looked out the windshield. The girls gasped at the sight.

"No way!"

"No fair!"

"Uh oh!"

Surrounding them was not one monstrosity but three. The first of them was thin and narrow up to its waist. Above that it was thick, bumpy in texture and exuded the smell of muffins. The second one had in a layer of cream layered on the top portion of its spongy body with giant strawberries making up its eyes. Certain parts of its body appeared to be burned slightly. The last one was covered in head to toe in a thick layer of crust with mush oozing out from cracks around its body. Coop would've loved to take the time to bask in the sweet aroma the trio expelled, if they weren't about to kill him.

Apple Bloom’s eyes darted between the three beasts. "Now what are we gonna do?"

Coop casually cracked his fetlocks. "It's no big deal. This just means I get more things to smash.”

MEGAS jumped back into the fray, continuing to smash the baked golem trio one by one. While bits of the creatures chipped off with each strike, they just fell back to regenerate and came back for more.

Sweetie Belle noticed the monsters continually recovering. "I don't think smashing is working very well, Coop."

Coop payed her no mind as MEGAS grabbed hold onto one of the three dough brothers. Using it like a baseball bat, he swung it against the other two cutting a swath through them. The pastries splattered across Ponyville again, but they quickly reassembled and charged their attacker.

The one MEGAS held onto, dissolved and wrapped itself around the mech’s arms. Pinned and unable to protect itself, Megas could only struggle to free itself as the muffin and cupcake giant began pounding it. Their doughy fists repeatedly smacked against its metal chassis. The ponies were literally getting creamed.

A concerned Apple Bloom popped up from the back seat. She looked at Coop. "I agree with Sweetie Belle, smashing isn't working."

"Yeah, I second that," Scootaloo added from the back.

MEGAS's foot rockets ignited, sending it skyward. Leaning back, the metal behemoth fell down as the thrusters cut off, landing back first onto a few shops. Apple pie mush flew around as a result of his fall.

"You three might be right," he said as he got the now freed MEGAS back onto its feet.

The mech’s fists retracted into its arms and a set of gun barrels popped out in their place.

Coop took aim at the trio of gargantuan desserts. "It’s time we try something different,” he said as he opened fire.

The muffin and pie managed to dodge the beams of light, but the cupcake took the blast on the shoulder. It shrieked as the heat from the blast hardened its arm. Its pastry brethren looked back and realized the threat MEGAS's weapon posed. The cake creature's arm fell to the ground, cooked to perfection. It took it some time but it slowly reformed the lost limb.

Apple Bloom pointed over to it. "Look! It got smaller when its arm fell off after zappin’ it with that bright light thingy, Coop."

"I bet if you can keep hitting them with that, then we can beat em," said Scootaloo.

Coop glared at monsters and licked his lips. "Alright, it's time to fry some baked bads!"

MEGAS rained down a flurry of laser fire. The three monstrosities, now aware of the danger Coop's laser posed, scrambled. Coop started closing in on one of them.

Clutching its arm, the cupcake beast had nowhere to run. Just as Coop prepared to fire, something covered up his windshield. The smell of apple pie started to seep into the car.

His eyes widened as he leaned back in his seat. "What the?"

He switched on the windshield wipers, but they didn’t budge. Not sure if the cake was still in front of him, Coop fired anyway. The shots trailed off, hitting something.

"I'm okay!" said the shop owner of the the quills and sofa store, popping his head out from the new whole in his store.

Snorting as he gritted his teeth at their tactic, Coop prepared to open fire on the blob atop his mech.

Sweetie Belle reached her hoof on his shoulder. "Coop, don't! You'll hit us too.”

Groaning, Coop moved his hoof away from the “Fire” button and hit the “Grab” button. MEGAS reached up, pried the latched creature from its head, tossed it upward and took aim. Before the colt could fire, the muffin beast tackled it down. Another blast from MEGAS ripped through a row of house before blowing apart the spa.

Sweetie Belle watched the show of destruction, cringing as she saw the last building burst. "Big sis isn't going to be happy about that,” she said, shaking her head.

The pattern continued. One monster attacked Coop from a blind spot just as he was about to corner another. MEGAS was getting ravaged with each attack, not to mention more buildings around town were being hit by its misfires. The Cutie Mark Crusaders tried helping by advising where the dough men were about to strike, but the concoctions caught on quickly by having the third one also move in to strike as back up. With each failed attack another building in town met MEGAS's laser fire.

Apple Bloom looked over to the smoldering remains of a building. "At this rate the whole town'll be destroyed."

"That's mostly due to Coop," Scootaloo said tilting her head to the driver.

Sweetie Belle hung her head down. "If only we could help.”

A fizzle of genius briefly sparked in Coop's head. He bent down and bit on a handle pulling on it.

"Maybe you can Sweetie Belle."

The floor below the fillies' feet slid away and three controllers jumped up, landing on each of their laps. They were simple looking devices, a square with a single button on one corner, and a maneuverable stick protruding from the top.

Apple Bloom fumbled with the device. "What's this here doohickey?"

"It's a controller," Sweetie Belle answered.

Both her friends looked at her, tilting their heads and raising an eyebrow.

"What? I play a lot with my big sister."

Three holographic screens appeared before the girls. On them the words "Press Start" flickered. They pressed their hooves down on their controller button.

"Player two has entered the game. Player three has entered the game. Player four has entered the game," a voice announced through the car speakers. Outside, three maneuverable laser cannons popped out from MEGAS's shoulders.

Coop reveded his engine. "Alright girls, ready to help out."

"Yeah!"

"Okay, I'll deal with the one in front and you three watch my back.

"Roger!"

"Yup!"

"Okay!"

Once again, Coop closed in on one of the three baked monsters. He took aim and prepared to fire upon the muffin. The pie beast rushed Coop from behind.

"There he is!" Apple Bloom called out.

Scootaloo took aim. "I got em." she said as she mashed on the controller, quickly hitting the button over and over.

The shots ripped through the pie creature's body, sending pieces of it falling to the ground as they splattering on impact before turning solid. The cake beast also made its way towards MEGAS, but noticing what happened to its brother, turned tail and ran. Sweetie Belle licked her lips as she repeatedly pressed down on her controller button. The shots made contact with the fleeing cake, crying out in agony as the blast fried its body.

Apple Bloom bounced in her seat. "We got em!"

They continued to lay down fire on the creatures, their hooves furiously mashing down the button. On their screens, the girls focused on the eight bit images of the blobs being blasted apart as their scores on the top of the screen kept going up. The puddles of dough did their best to dodge but couldn’t get away.

While they finished off those two they noticed the smell of burnt muffins. They looked passed their screen to see a pile of toast. MEGAS stood alone with three piles of burnt bread around it.

"Alright!" they cheered.

Coop extended his hoof out and the trio responded by bumping their hooves against his. Coop then jolted his hoof as he tried to lift up his non-existent pinky and pointer finger.

"That's something I won't get used to," Coop said, staring at his hoof. He looked back as his partners. "Alright, let's head back to the bake sale. I'm up for some cupcakes, cookies, cakes, muffins, sweet rolls… "

MEGAS turned around and began to head back to school. Unbeknownst to them, three tiny globs of dough merged together, sticking themselves onto the back of one of MEGAS's mudflap behind its leg.

Arriving back at school, or where the school building once was, Coop and the girls, on board MEGAS stopped just before the table where all the classes' sweets sat.

"It's a shame we had to destroy our work," said Apple Bloom.

Coop looked out to the town, shedding a tear as he saw the burnt remains of their work. "All that delicious bread, a masterpiece of bakery, gone. Its truly a great tragedy.” After a brief pause he looked down at the table. “Oh well, at least there's still all these tasty looking snacks to pick from.”

Just as he was admiring the spread, a blob of dough jumped onto the table. Before Coop could even react, the blob began assimilating all the treats onto itself.

He leaned into the winshield. "No. Noooooo!" Coop could only cry out as the remnant of the dough monster absorbed all the pastries. Devouring all the confection, it rapidly grew larger than before; becoming twice the size of MEGAS.

The girls, wide eyed, looked up at the massive creature.

Apple Bloom slammed her hoof on the seat. "How!"

"I thought we finally beat that thing!" said Sweetie Belle, pointing up to it.

Scootaloo looked up at it. "We must've missed some of it."

Coop sat silent, still staring down to where the confections once were. He then looked up to the reformed monstrosity with a fire in his eyes.

He clenched the wheel and started revving the engine. "Alright you sweet smelling, oversized, easy bake oven disaster. You ruin my first day of class in Ponyville!"

"You ruined our hard work!" Apple bloom added.

"You break our school!" said Sweetie Belle.

"You destroy our town!" Scootaloo shouted. "Well that one was more Coop's fault, and so were the other two things, but whose keeping track?"

"You made be destroy perfectly good food!" And now you ate the all the snacks! I was planning on doing that!" Coop concluded.

The girls stared as him, thrown off by his last statement. "Huh?"

All together they pointed a hoof at the newly reformed pastry catastrophe. "You're going down!"

The girls opened fire on the massive collective dough. Unlike last time, the creature didn't instantly harden from the heat and crumble. Even with all three targeting the same spot in the center, it took a bit before the area on the monster finally hardened slightly.

It swiped down its massive hand, smacking away the annoying blue pest. Sent flying, warnings went off on the car's dashboard. Coop, expertly handling the wheel, aerially recovered MEGAS from the blow. With the mech back on its feet, the girls resumed firing, this time taking aim towards the mound making up dough giant's lower half.

Coop saw the area they were firing on start to harden slightly. "Keep that up girls I have a plan."

Following his orders, the Cutie Mark Crusaders continued firing as monster surged over to strike them down once more. Mashing the buttons as fast and hard as their little hooves could, their joint attack started taking effect. The mound that made up the mammoth beast feet hardened, spreading throughout its lower portion, slowing its charge until bringing it to a halt. Its lower half was golden brown, smelled incredible and was completely immobilized. .

Coop slammed his hoof on the gas. "Alright girls, no matter what, just keep firing!"

MEGAS, with its rockets ignited, flew towards the immobilized dough colossus. The force from the metal giant’s tackle broke the still mushy half of the monster from its hardened legs. The mech then turned skyward as the Cutie Mark Crusaders kept firing. The blasts from the trio's lasers hardened its stomach where MEGAS wrapped its arms around, making escape impossible. The non-stop blasts were slowly starting to heat it up, but it wasn’t fast enough to preventing it from striking back. The doughy beast violently thrashed out, bashing its fists onto the robot's back. Alarms and warning lights were going off inside the car.

Scootaloo looked back where the beast’s fists were smashing. "Coop whatever your plan is hurry up, I don't think MEGAS can take much more."

He tightened his grip on the wheel and tilted his head forward. "Here we go!”

Coop turned the wheel sharply. The girls jerked to the side from the quick spin as the robot began dive-bombing back down, holding tightly onto the monster. Unable to break free from MEGAS’s arms, the creature helplessly bashed on its captor. The endless fire from the lasers were slowly taking its toll. It tried stuffing its hand over top of MEGAS's thrusters. Noticing it through his mirror, Coop reached over to a button labeled "Nitrous".

Blue flames burst forth from the mech's rear thrusters, leaving a blue streak behind it as it flew down. The monster screeched as its hand was roasted. The Cutie Mark Crusaders fought against the g-forces. Their hooves being the only thing sticking outward as they continued to hit the fire button on their controllers. MEGAS’s exterior began to shine red. The monstrosity writhed in pain as fires engulfed its body. The bashing the passengers hear weakened, slowing in frequency until it came to an end

"Rooock on!" Coop yelled as MEGAS slammed into the ground. A tremendous flash of light flickered from the impact zone followed by an eerie silence just before a colossal explosion.

"Coooool," Snips, Snails, and Pipsqueak uttered as they along with the rest of their class watch the resulting blast from a safe distance.

After the ground had finished quaking, the residents of the Ponyville came out from their hiding places; They all looked up and were amazed. A deluge of perfectly baked bread crumbs was falling from the sky. The sent of sweet bread covered the town. Ponies, curious about the mysterious bite sized snack, tried a bite and were overwhelmed by a sense of euphoria. It was greatest thing anypony had ever tasted before. Pinkie Pie along with another pony, a grey pegasus with blonde hair, in particular were running around with their mouths open. Excitedly trying to catch as much of the falling flakes as they possibly could.

One large chunk, descending from the sky, made it way over to a certain building.

"Hey there everypony, we're here at E.D. radio. Bringing you nothing but our finest selection of dubstep around. That's right, nothing but your favorite sound effects repeatedly played to sound like music twenty-four hours a day–" The radio transmission was suddenly cut off due to a giant flying bread crumb that happened to fall upon the station.

Back over at the the crater, MEGAS stood over the cooked remains of the four ponies' creation. The girls were just finishing inputting their initials on the rankings chart, when Coop opened the convertible roof. As the bits of snacks rained on them, he turned to the girls.

"See, I told you it would be enough for everypony."

He stared into the sky and opened his mouth, catching a few bits. "You know this actually isn't that bad, we really should make it again someday." he said after gulping the crumbs down.

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle all furrowed their brows, glaring at him as bits of bakes treats continued to fall atop them.

The next morning, inside of the Ponyville library, Twilight Sparkle awoke bright and early. She took a moment to look outside her window before jumping out of bed. The sun was shining, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the town was covered in a layer of golden brown and the pleasant scent or warm apple pie graced her nose. Or was it muffins? Cupcakes maybe?

She trotted downstairs and over to her kitchen where she prepared herself breakfast. She sat on her chair, taking a bite out of a familiar looking piece of bread and picked up the newspaper on the table.

On the front page, the headlines read, "Recently destroyed school uses bake sale funds to rebuild." The picture accompanying the article showed Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom along with Cheerilee and the rest of their class, standing in front of a giant mound of dough. Behind them, Coop was feasting on a portion of the bread mound. Further back, behind everything in the shot stood MEGAS, striking the rock on symbol with its fingers.

Twilight read the caption below it.

"Best bake sale ever!"

16-Bit Monster and Manuals

View Online

My Little XLR

Chapter 5: 16-Bit Monster and Manuals.

The light from the morning sun shined its way through the window of the Ponyville library. It traveled down into the lower chamber where a human turned pony robot pilot from another world was sleeping. The big sleeping colt turned away, hiding his face from the light which was interrupting his desire for sleep.

Foiling his dream of sleeping till noon was a baby dragon, making his way down to where he was sleeping.

"Good morning Coop," the energized purple lizard greeted. "Twilight asked me to wake you up, since you promised you'd help her re-shelve the books today."

The pony responded with a loud snore.

The dragon started to nudg the slumbering equine to try and wake him, with little success. "Come on Coop, you have to wake up."

Again there was no positive response.

Frustrated, the young drake took a deep breath. Before he exhaled, he thought about the consequences of burning the sheets. And considering they wouldn't be his own this time, he reconsidered. Switching tactics, he took a few steps back, creating plenty space between him and the log sawing stallion. He poised himself, legs stretched, back arched and charged as fast as he could. As the dragon charged, Twilight popped her head in from the top of the stairs to see how things were going.

"Spike, is Coop awake yet?" she asked just as her young assistant's charge connected.

Spike's tackle forced Coop off the side of the bed. His massive build ended up hitting the floor with an impressive thud, causing the entirety of Twilight Sparkle's library home to shake. The resulting shake up caused the remaining books that lined the book shelves lining the walls of the home to fall. It all happened so quickly that Twilight couldn't react in time to stop it. Books scattered all over the floor, covering the still napping pony under layers of text.

Twilight Sparkle looked over the mess, her cheerful expression now flipped. "I was going to tell you two that breakfast was ready…"

A completely energized Coop quickly rose up, with books fell off his body as he stood up. "Alright, breakfast."

"I guess I'll have to re-shelve down here as well, again" a dismal Twilight sighed.

After a hearty breakfast, the trio commenced their re-shelving for what was now the fourth time in two days. Coop, the reason for all of them so far, had a history of misfortune when it came libraries. Twilight was unaware of that when she offered him a temporary place to stay. Upon his arrival and discovery of what her abode was, the overweight pony told her about his hex with book repositories. But the logic and science bound unicorn brushed his warning aside as what she called a "silly superstition".

Since then Coop had accidentally knocked over every book on Twilight's shelves for a total, including this morning, of twenty times. Each incident baffling the unicorn in how it occurred; according to her logic, it just didn't make sense. By the ninth time it happened, Twilight tossed science and logic aside and decided to try countering Coop's bad luck with a little help from her party loving friend's sensory alert system, better known as her Pinkie sense.

"Alright Pinkie Pie, when you start to feeling something tell me and I'll do what I can to make sure Coop doesn't knock anything over."

The pink Earth pony saluted in agreement, "Sure thing Twilight. With my Pinkie sense, Coop's book toppling days are over," she said as she kept her eyes intently on the colt. Within minutes her pink bushy tail began to twitch wildly.

Taking notice, Twilight quickly wrapped up Coop in an aura of her magic, preventing him from moving an inch. She looked over her library; not a book was out of place and everything appeared to be in order so far.

"It's working!" The excited unicorn turned to her friend. "Pinkie Pie, how's your Pinkie sense doing?"

"Twilight! It feels like it's getting worse!" she yelled out, as her tail shook harder than it usually did.

The invisible forces controlling the twitching had gone mad. The cotton candy like tail was jumping around with so much force it was pulling it owner with it. Pinkie Pie jumped on top of it, attempting to tame it.

"Now tail, stop going crazy right now!" Pinkie ordered. The rear extremity bucked its owner off, sending her crashing into the bookshelf lined wall.

Everyone gasped, staring at the shelves and anticipating the worst. A Single book popped out and landed on the wooden floor, just missing Pinkie's face. She picked herself off the ground, and placed the fallen novel back in its place. She then looked back at her tail.

"Oh hey looky, my tail stopped twitching."

Satisfied with the result, Twilight released Coop and breathed a triumphant sigh of relief and smiled contently over her victory. Afterwards, Coop and Spike headed outside, while Pinkie Pie had a word with her.

"Listen Twilight, my twitchy tail has never gone off as strong as it did like that. I think whatever was supposed to happen was gonna be a real doozy. But I guess since my tail stopped twitching that means you're in the clear." After her warning, she made her way out, hopping as she went, with Twilight escorting her out.

"Well Pinkie, I'm just glad I found a way to stop Coop's bad luck from happening."

"I dunno Twilight; these sorts of things always have a way of just happening. You may not want to fight it."

"Oh Pinkie Pie, Coop's not even in the library right now. There's no way he can possibly do anything anymore."

The pony they were talking about was over by MEGAS, standing proudly next to it while Spike circled around to admire the metal giant.

"This thing looks so awesome, and those flames look so real."

Coop patted he hoof on the side of Megas's foot. "You like it Spike, I painted those myself, it took me awhile but it turned out better than I thought in the end."

Back over by the library, the fluffy haired mare gently places a hoof on her snout.

"Uh Twilight, my nose is tingling." she said, looking over to the unicorn.

"Tingly nose? Doesn't that mean bees a incoming?" the lavender mare questioned.

"No, you're thinking of an itchy nose. I still haven't figured out what a tingly nose is for sure, but I think it's a good idea to duck right now." Pinkie replied as she jumped to the ground outside of the library. Twilight just stared at her friend, utterly confused.

Over by MEGAS, Coop's repeated hoof tapping triggered something. A hole opened up from the robot's foot, and a lone rocket was launched from it.

"Ahh!" Twilight cried, ducking to the floor, just dodging the flying explosive as it whizzed past her and Pinkie Pie and went through the doorway into the library. What followed was a small boom that shrouded the interior of the library in white smoke. The force of the blast caused vibrations that could be felt just outside the tree building.

As Pinkie Pie looked through the doorway, she came to a conclusion. "Ooooh! So that's what a tingly nose means!" Twilight looked over to her friend for an answer, still in absolute shock over what just happen. "It means something's about to go boom. I've been getting this new feeling ever since Coop arrived. At first I wasn't too sure, but after that I'm totally positive that's what it means."

Twilight, still too stunned to speak, went inside to see the extent of the damage. She entered with her eyes closed, hoping it was all just a dream and that things would be back to normal when she opened them. Back over by MEGAS, both Coop and Spike were absolutely dumbfounded over what had just happened.

As the smoke cleared, the librarian pony got a first look at the damage. Her books had been scattered all over the place, some were imbedded into the walls and ceiling. But miraculously, every single book was intact, not one was blown to bits or set aflame, While the mess was colossal, Twilight took solace in the fact that none of her precious novels had been harmed. It would take some time to clean up, but it was nothing a few hours and a little magic couldn't fix. Looking over the aftermath, the speechless pony looked out the doorway, past her pink friend and over to her housemate. She couldn't believe it, somehow even when having Pinkie Pie use her senses to anticipate it, Coop still managed to unintentionally wreck the library, somehow incorporating a missile this time. She could feel a twitch just above her eye as she thought about it.

Since then Twilight no longer tried fighting it. Having her books fall off the shelves is not so bad compared to having a missile explode in her home;

The three housemates took a spot on the wall and began placing books. As Coop awkwardly angled his hooves to pick up books one by one, he looked over at Twilight to see how she managed to pick up things. He realized she did not bend down to grab things with her mouth like the he'd seen many other ponies do. Nor was she trying to use her hooves like him, still not used to using his mouth to handle things aside from food.

The colt stared at the unicorn, amazed over how she levitated a book. "How do you do that Twilight?"

"Do what Coop?" she asked while continuing to put away books.

He pointed at a book currently being lifted up with magic. "Move stuff around like that."

"She's just using her unicorn powers Coop." Spike explained.

"I thought you already learned this when you attended school?" Twilight Sparkle wondered.

"Oh yeah, right, magic," the big pony recollected.

Considering the near destruction of the town caused by a pastry that he and the Cutie Mark Crusaders made that day, it's extraordinary that Coop had managed to remember what he was taught in school. That being said, it would be amazing for him to remember even if nothing at all happened that day.

"It must be so cool to be able to move things around like that all the time. I wish I had a horn." his mind began to drift, picturing what it would be like if his wish came true.

Coop imagined himself playing video games and using his magic to hold his controller to literally beat people with no hands or hooves. With magic, he'd never need to get up to get a snack or reach across a table for seconds or fifths, he would just levitate food towards himself. In fact, with unicorn powers, he would levitate himself to get around. Piloting MEGAS would be a snap. With magic, he'd be able to hit more buttons then ever before, meaning that he could pull off better more destructive attacks.

The last thing Coop picture was a giant explosion going off where MEGAS was standing. "That would be so cool"

Twilight Sparkle also thought of what it would be like if Coop had unicorn powers. But things panned out a little differently in her mind.

With unicorn magic, he'd be playing games without the use of his hooves, while levitating snacks into his mouth. With levitation eliminating any need for him to get up to get food, she pictured him getting bigger then he already was. MEGAS would need to be readjusted just to make room. While her concerns mostly revolved around him turning into a lazy blob of fat, what worried her most was the idea of Coop behind the wheel of MEGAS with unicorn abilities. He was already devastating enough piloting with two hooves, so the idea of the colt no longer physically restricted to piloting with only two hooves scared Twilight to her core.

The last thing she pictured was Coop turning the ignition, using his magic to turn the key. Then what followed was the clicking sound of every button on MEGAS being pressed at once. The next thing she saw was a colossal explosion that covered the majority of Equestria. The blast was so large; it could be seen from space.

She fell to her knees while stretching her hooves to the sky. "Nooooooooooo!"

The boys looked over to their kneeling friend, concerned over her sudden outburst.

Twilight, noticing them staring at her, let out a nervous chuckle. "I mean. Soooo cool".

Later, after they had finished, Coop, along with Twilight and Spike, made their way aboard MEGAS to a desolate area faraway from anyone.

The pony driver looked at the passenger in the back using his rearview mirror. "Thanks again for letting me show Spike what MEGAS can do Twilight."

"Well you and Spike always help me put every book back in its place when they fall so it's the least I could do. Plus Spike has been dying to got to ride along. Besides it's better I keep an eye on you two then letting you go off on your own."

The dragon youth sat in the front passenger seat alongside Coop, eager to see what was in store. Meanwhile Twilight was in the back talking with someone on the projection monitor.

"I'm glad to have an opportunity to speak with you again Ms. Sparkle."

"Likewise Ms. Andru, but please call me Twilight. There's no need to act so formal."

"Then please call me Kiva." The red haired woman on the screen let out a sigh of relief. "You have no idea what a relief it is to speak with you. Ever since Coop traveled to your world I've been worried about what sort damage he's been doing to MEGAS. Not to mention what kind of trouble he's been causing for your world"

"Damage? Hey I take good care of my robot. And I haven't caused any trouble. Right Twilight?"

The backseat unicorn only smiled awkwardly in agreement.

"Wow, been there that long and you still haven't gotten in trouble. That's a record for ya man," Jamie jested through the dashboard screen up front.

While being one of Coop's long time friends, it still took Jamie awhile to stop laughing every time he saw his buddy in his new pony form. But now he's finally able to hold a conversation with his human turned pony friend, with the occasional chuckle. "So Coop, how you holding up in the land of the candy colored horsies?"

"I gotta tell ya Jamie, it's not that bad. Sure, I had to get used to some foods, but I get to eat all the sweets I want. And with no hands. Plus there are tons of video games I've never played before."

After the introduction of video games into pony society, a flood of unique games followed. Creativity skyrocketed across Equestria, but in related news laziness and a decline in productivity had begun to increase as well.

"For a land I thought was going to be boring and girly, it's actually pretty fun, plus I've already fought three giant monsters already."

"Wait a second Coop, three? I thought you said he's fought two things Twilight," asked Kiva

Twilight laughed nervously, then began to tell the details of that event "Well….."

"He said it was right here," said Rainbow Dash

"This one?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"No, Coop said it's the one without a name."

Two ponies were inside MEGAS's muscle car cockpit, on a very important task to find a specific game. The duo of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie scavenged around the car. They searched high and they searched low; low and high, high and low. But they still could not find what they were looking for.

Pinkie Pie, sitting in the back seat, pointed over to the glove compartment. "What about in there."

Rainbow Dash, noticing the little latch on the front of it, tried her best to open it, but could not get a grip on the indented knob. It frustrated her as she tried with her hooves and then her mouth, but no success. Enraged, she slammed a hoof on the dashboard just above the compartment, causing the little door to pop open.

She tried to look calm, as though she did that on purpose. "Piece of cake."

They both searched around inside the compartment and each pulled out a cartridge.

"Got it!" the two ponies exclaimed.

Confused by the other pony's claim they showed each other the game in their possession.

"Mine doesn't have a name on it, see" Rainbow displayed.

"Mine neither." Pinkie said, looking a bit perplexed.

Rainbow Dash grabbed both games. "Alright I know how to solve this. We'll just use MEGAS's console to see which is the right game."

"Do you think that's a good idea Dashy?"

"Yeah it's nothing special; I've seen Coop do it all the time."

The screen on the dashboard flickered on. The girls looked at the display and read the title together. "Love those Lurps seven?"

"That's not the game Coop wanted. So that means I was right, it was this one. Come on Rainbow, let's go back inside." Said Pinkie Pie as she started making her way back into Twilight's house.

The rainbow haired pony stayed behind, distracted. She was busy enjoying the game she picked. Particularly the part in the game where the red lizard monster attacked an endless supply of ridiculous looking orange creatures wearing white shoes, shorts and, caps that kept saying "I lurp you" while offering the out of place reptile a flower. As she continued playing, she watched the red creature gradually become increasingly annoyed and grow in size slightly.

Pinky, now down below, called back up to her friend. "Rainbow Dash, hurry up! Coop and Twilight are waiting inside."

Upon hearing her friend's call, Rainbow put down the remote, hit the eject button and put the game back in the compartment. In her rush she had forgotten to turn off the console. As she left, the display screen just kept flashing the words "Ejection in progress".

As they stepped back inside Twilight Sparkle's home, the booming music coming from the game Coop was playing welcomed them. Waving the little square object as she hopped inside, the energetic earth pony announced her triumphant return.

"Coop, we got it! We got it!"

The colt took the game from her and moved over to the console. While he was making the switch, things had quieted down, So Twilight Sparkle took the opportunity to address something that had been troubling her.

"Hey Coop, don't you think the volume is a little loud?"

Blowing into the cartridge, Coop turned to see who was talking to him, "A little round? It's not round; it's a square, see," he said as he pointed a hoof to the cartridge.

Concerned for her friend's hearing, as well as everyone else's, Twilight slyly used her telekinesis to turn down the volume. After Coop finished setting up, the four ponies sat by the television and together started to play "Blaster Man".

Pinkie and Coop were fighting for first place, while Rainbow Dash was slowly catching up in points, and in dead last was Twilight. The four ponies were busy enjoying themselves. All the while outside, a bright light was firing from MEGAS's headlights as it finished its ejection process.

Now standing in front of the robot was the same lizard creature that was in the game Rainbow Dash had been playing earlier, only it was as tall as MEGAS. The creature was covered in red scales and sported a long tail. If it wasn't for the fact that the giant lizard was missing a pair of wings and had the physical build of a human from, ponies would easily mistake it for a dragon.

"Yes, yes! Finally, freedom from that insufferable prison! No longer shall I have to suffer those colorful annoyances."

The creature looked out to his new surroundings. His blood boiled as he noticed the bright and colorful world that surrounded him, complete with its own candy colored inhabitants. It was much like the world he was preciously confined in, but there was one difference. The lizard man placed his monstrous foot over a cart stand, the pony proprietor ran as the beast's foot crushed the cart and all its goods.

The monster smirked as he stared down at the demolished cart, "At least when I strike something down here it stays down." He clasped his scaly hands together, "Oh this shall be most amusing."

Back inside the four ponies were still playing, but something caught Twilight's attention.

"Did you ponies here that?" Twilight asked concerned over the crashing sound she heard outside. The others were too focused on the game to notice. The studious pony placed her controller down and went over to thet the window to investigate. "Uh guys…you need to see this. Now!"

"Sure thing Twilight" Coop said to humored her.

"We'll get right on it." Rainbow Dash added.

The three ponies continued playing, all teaming up against their absent friend's character.

A purple aura surrounded the gaming trio, lifting them away from the T.V., and moving them over to the window. Coop, with controller still in hand, continued to play even while looking outside as they all noticed the giant problem. The other two mares gasped as they saw the giant lizard wrecking the town that had the unicorn so worried.

"Coop we have to stop that thing" Twilight pleaded.

The T.V. screen displayed the message "Player 1 wins!"

"I'm on it" the victorious colt said, as he put the controller down and headed out to his ride.

Now aboard MEGAS; Coop, along with Rainbow Dash riding shotgun, with Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle in the back, made their way to the rampaging giant lizard.

"What is that thing?" ask Pinkie.

"Doesn't look like any dragon I've ever seen," said Rainbow.

"None of the books on Equestrian reptiles even mentions something like that. I wonder how it got here in the first place."

Coop drove MEGAS close to the reptile, which was in the process of tossing a building. Noticing the giant robot's presence, the beast turned around and slammed the building onto MEGAS. The sudden attack knocked the mech to the ground, causing the ponies inside to be rocked by the fall..

"Hey, that wasn't very nice!" Pinkie protest from the back seat.

Rainbow growled, glaring to he creature. "What was that for?"

The beast walked over to the fallen mech, crouching down to face it. "So you're here as well. I told you during our last encounter that no prison could hold me."

Hearing the monster reminisce, the girls looked over to the pony at the wheel. He looked back at them, oblivious.

"What?"

"Coop, what did you do?" Twilight interrogated.

"I didn't do nothing; I was inside the library playing games all morning. You were there so you know it couldn't have been me."

"But he recognizes MEGAS!" the backseat unicorn argued.

Coop went deep into his memories, trying hard to remember when he may have faced the monster standing in front of them. While the robot pilot was lost in thought, Pinkie and Rainbow suddenly remembered they had also seen the monster before. Twilight noticed the looks her friends were sharing with each other and glared suspiciously at them. The duo did their best to keep a straight face against Twilight's burning gaze, but unable to take the pressure any longer, the pony sitting beside Twilight cracked.

"She did it," Pinkie blabbed while pointing over to Rainbow Dash.

"Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash growled.

"Rainbow, you did this?" Twilight asked, surprised over the discovery. If it had been Coop's doing, then that would have been expected. But the loyalist of ponies, unthinkable.

"I just played a game I found inside MEGAS, how was I supposed to know something named "love those lurps seven" would be dangerous."

"You found it inside MEGAS, what part of that doesn't sound dangerous to you!" Twilight rebutted.

Upon hearing the embarrassing game title, Coop's memory came to him. "Oh yeah, now I remember. That ugly thing's named Gelchead. After I whooped its butt back in my world, I trapped him in that game...huh, guess I should have labeled that one or something."

The creature spoke again. "My name is Grrkek, Grrkek the planet killer. Seeing as you've forgotten, allow me to demonstrate why I'm called so by destroying this world!"

The trio of mares looked back over to the colt as the so called planet killer continued rampaging through the town.

"Ok Coop, since you fought it before, you know how to beat this thing, right?" asked Twilight.

"Uh…" the plump light brown stallion resumed searching deep in the back of his mind for the answer, all the while Grrkek continued to lay waste to the town.

The red scaled giant walked across ponies' homes, punching and kicking random buildings as he pleased. Coming upon a giant water fountain with a beautifully crafted pony statue in the center, Grrkek casually picked up another structure, and threw it into the fountain. A mix of debris and water scattered from the destruction, splashing water onto MEGAS's windshield.

Seeing the water against the windshield, Coop finally remembered, as he turned on the windshield wipers, "It had something to do with water."

"Water?" the backseat unicorn repeated.

"Yup, we just need water."

"If its water you need then leave that to me," said Rainbow Dash as she struggled a little opening the side window before flying up towards the clouds. Pinkie took the opportunity to occupy the newly opened passenger seat.

Seeing Rainbow take off to get water, Coop laid back and folded his front legs behind his head. "Alright then, we'll just wait for Rainbow to get back."

Twilight and Pinkie, looked out the front window to the big lizard that was still going about and making a mess of the town.

Pinkie Pie gently tapped on the driver's shoulder. "Uh, Coop, you may have overlooked one tiny detail," she said while pointing her hoof out where the planet killer continued to planet kill.

"Right, I guess I should stop him from wrecking the town first."

Placing a hoof on the custom eight ball gear shift, Coop switched to first gear and hit the gas. MEGAS stood back up and started making its way over to Grrkek. Ponies in the town ran in terror, as the red scaled menace continued smashing apart their homes.

The red behemoth relished in their cries. "Ah, the screams of terrified creatures running for their lives, it's truly been ages since I've heard them. Maybe I'll hold off killing this planet to enjoy it a bit longer."

A sudden crash of MEGAS landing nearby got the his attention. Standing behind the bipedal lizard, Megas took a stance and pointing its metallic finger over to the monster.

"Alright red, you bust out of my cartridge, you come into my Ponytown"

"Ville, Coop, It's Ponyville."

"Right. Thanks Pinkie." Coop said, refocusing back on Grrkek, "You wreck ponies's homes, you threw a building at me."

"And you ruined our game!"

Coop looks over to his passenger thinking that statement came from her, but the fluffy haired mare looked just as surprised as him. They both looked to the unicorn in the back seat.

"What? I was having fun," said Twilight. "And he ruined it! Get him Coop!" she yelled, using her magic to press the "Do something reckless Twilight!" button.

MEGAS winded back and delivered a devastating punch, sending the lizard across town, just missing Carousel Boutique and landing on the "Nasty Filly Vitamins" building.

A group of young ponies nearby, happened to witness the destruction. "Yay!"

Twilight's jaw opened wide as she saw the damage she had just done.

Coop looked to the backseat mare and gave her a praising look. "Nice."

"Way to go Twilight!" Pinkie complimented.

"Pinkie, Coop! I just destroyed that building! That's not something to compliment me on." She was shocked that her friends would approve such destruction.

"What, you're telling me you liked eating those vitamins when you were a filly?" The mare up front asked. Twilight didn't answer back.

Grrkek started getting back to his feet, brushing off bits of building and vitamins from his scales as if nothing happened. As the two hulking fighters prepared to go at it again, a large cloud formation began moving directly above them.

"Alright Coop, you wanted water, here's your water!" hollered the voice of the town's fastest pegasus. A grand grey cloud moved in, just above the two giants and a downpour of rain started falling.

The ponies inside MEGAS stuck their heads out into the rain and waved to the flying mare. "Ha-ha. Alright Rainbow Dash!" Coop shouted.

The returning pegasus flew down from the clouds and back towards her seat, but was surprised to see it was occupied. "Pinkie Pie, that's my seat!"

The earth pony refused to relinquish her spot, "Finders keeper's losers weepers.

With the threat of the red menace preventing her from arguing, Rainbow resigned to the back seat. The downpour continued, soaking MEGAS, the planet killer, and the general area of the town.

The 4 ponies inside watched the monster intently, expecting something to happen.

"Nothing's happening. Coop, what was supposed to happen anyway?" asked Rainbow.

"He was supposed to start shrinking. That's what happened when a tidal wave hit him the last time I fought him."

A swipe of the giant lizard's tail sent the quartet smashing into the town hall building. A banner strewn across it read, "Everyone's on vacation so building is currently empty".

"I thought water was going to stop him. Now what do we do?" a worried Pinkie asked.

"Anypony got an idea where we can get a tidal wave?" Rainbow Dash mockingly questioned.

Thinking fast, Twilight Sparkle came up with an idea. "I got it! The dam! Coop if we hit it with the water from the dam I'm sure that will be enough to cause him to shrink. Now I just need to think of how to safely release the water." While Twilight was busy formulating a plan, the pilot was already commencing a plan of his own.

The mech sprang back up and launched its counter attack. MEGAS charged over to Grrkek and landed a powerful uppercut on the beast's jaw that lifted it off its feet. As Grrkek's body went up from the punch, Coop had MEGAS grab it by the tail and began swinging it repeatedly down onto the ground. The town shook from each massive slam the beast's body made with the dirt. Inside the car, the colt was repeatedly turning the joystick on his game controller left and right, controlling which direction MEGAS slammed the planet killer. After one final slam, Coop placed the controller down and turned a hard right on the steering wheel, causing MEGAS to spin around in circles with Grrkek's tail still in its grip.

Pushing against the centrifugal force of the intense spinning, Twilight Sparkle tried reaching a hoof out to the driver's seat. "Coop! What the hay are you doing?" She struggled to ask.

"Just following your plan" he calmly replied.

She looked puzzled at her friend's response. "What plan? All I said was the dam--" Before she could finish, Coop let go of the wheel.

Releasing its grasp, MEGAS hammer threw the red scaled gargantuan. Flying over the town like a rag doll, Grrkek's body smashed into the Ponyville dam.

Elsewhere; A familiar light orange Earth pony sporting a Stetson hat was hard at work in her family's apple orchard. She was moving from tree to tree, holding a watering pail by the handle with her teeth, making sure each tree got its share.

Placing the pail down she looked up past the tree, into the clear skies. "Shoot I sure wish those weather patrol ponies would make it rain already, my poor darlin's are thirstin' something fierce."

The busy farm mare looked over to town and noticed the collection of storm clouds. The trees blocked her view of the town itself; otherwise she would have noticed the chaos going on at the moment.

Applejack stamped her hoof into the dirt. "Consarn it! The town's getting a whole heap a rain, while my poor babies are drying up! I'm gonna have a talkin' to those weather patrol pegasi."

As the angry mare started making her way out of the field, something big approached in the distance.

"Oh my…"

A giant wave of water came crashing through the orchard, soaking everything in the area. It came so fast Applejack was almost washed away, thankfully she managed to grab hold of a branch and stay safe on the tree tops. The rushing water passed through as quickly as it appeared. climbing down from her tree perch, she saw that every single tree had now been watered.

Applejack scratched her head, confused over what just happened. "Well I reckon that solves that problem, I guess."

Back over by the crumbled remains of the dam, MEGAS was holding a miniaturized version of the planet killer in its hands.

"Now what do we do with him Coop?" Pinkie Pie wondered.

In the backseat, Rainbow Dash held a game cartridge in her hoof. "We can always put him back in the cartridge."

"No, we have to put him somewhere nopony can accidentally release him again" Twilight said while looking over to the mare on her right.

"I said I was sorry Twilight."

The four of them thought hard about what to do with the lizard in custody. The monster in question, now about six feet tall, was desperately trying to wriggle free from the robot's giant vice grip.

"Anypony got any ideas?" asked the multicolor haired pony.

"I've got one, Rainbow" the unicorn pony replied.

Up in the skies above Ponyville, an unoccupied blimp with the E.D. Radio logo was promoting their station. It hovered over the competing local radio station, which relays a popular pony talk show. The advertising blimp was interfering with the station's signal until a screaming blue orb struck it. The round crying object flew right through the promotional balloon, causing air to spew out from the pair of new vents it received. With its air leaking out, the blimp flew wildly about until plummeting in the Everfree forest where it blew up a few seconds after crashing.

"So how did you deal with Grrkek?" Kiva asked.

"Well, I found a sealing spell in one of my old books, so I had him magically locked away inside a prison orb. Coop then threw him out into the ocean. And don't worry, the spell I used is fool proof. There's no chance that he will ever get out."

Hearing the female unicorn explain her safety measures, Kiva smiled and nodded. "Nice work Twilight, I feel better knowing there's someone with Coop who can plan things out instead of just doing things recklessly."

Up in the front seat, Coop was showing off MEGAS's fire power to his young draconic passenger, along with Jamie on the front dashboard display.

Coop handed Twilight's assistant the controller. "Here give it a shot Spike."

The young passenger gazed upon the device in his hands and slowly moved a claw down towards a button. "Ok, so I just press a button, like this?"

Reacting to Spike's input, MEGAS's arm rose up and its fist shot out, flying straight across the valley and hitting a small forest. The three of them watch the ensuing explosion in amazement. The young dragon couldn't help but utter something.

"Coooooollllll"

"I know," said Coop.

Twilight and Kiva looked over at the three boys; neither understanding what had them so fascinated about mindless destruction.

"Now Twilight there's something I wanted you to have. Since the spatial anomaly that brought Coop to your world isn't stable enough to support constant radio communication, I was worried about MEGAS's condition without me."

Coop turned his head to face the projection. "What about me?"

On screen, Keva let out a brief smile. "Yes Coop, I was worried about you too"

Twilight couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Seeing as I won't always be able to help and noticing what a quick thinking, level headed and responsible person, uh, pony you are, I want you to have this. I understand you like books so I think you'll enjoy this." Kiva said, as she pressed something on the device on her wrist.

A compartment opened up from the back of the passenger seat, revealing a book. Twilight levitated it before her; the title read "Mechanized Earth Guard Attack System Operations Manual". The book seemed rather aged, but it was unlike any the novel loving unicorn had ever seen before.

"That manual contains all the information regarding MEGAS's operating systems as well as the design specification. With it you can understand the warnings and advise Coop on MEGAS's condition, as well as use its features to help when you need them. Just don't bother with the weapons control systems. Thanks to Coop's "modifications" those no longer apply."

The unicorn's attention was completely absorbed by the book, her eyes shined with excitement. She was like a filly who got exactly what she wanted for her birthday. A book on technology from another world, she could hardly contain her desire to start reading right away,

Jamie on the dashboard screen pointed over to the manual. "Hey Coop there's one more."

The colt turned back and noticed the manual, "Hey Twilight, can I see that?"

She happily obliged, "Sure." handing over her new book for her friend to see.

"NO!" Kiva yelled out, reaching her hand out as if to try to stop her.

Coop opened a hatch and dropped the book inside.

"Pull!"

Spike pulled on a lever, causing the grill on the front of the car to open up and launch the book skyward. Holding a controller as though aiming a gun, Coop hit a button on the control. One of the front headlights opened up and launched a small missile that went straight for the book, hitting its mark. The blast caused pages to be scattered everywhere, set aflame as they gently fell to the ground.all over the valley.

"Nice!" the trio of boys shouted out.

Jamie, on screen and Spike prepared for a fist bump, Coop answered back by tuning his hoof down and hitting them with his joint. The duo with fingers and claws lifted their pinky and pointer upward, while Coop lifted his hoof up.

"Jamie!" an angry Kiva yelled out.

"Coop! Spike!" Twilight yelled, in similar manner.

Jamie disappeared off screen. The last thing that was seen before he vanished was a fist flying towards his face. The two on board MEGAS looked back to the saddened unicorn, guilt quickly washed over them. Twilight's precious new gift had been destroyed. She placed her hooves over her eyes, feeling them water up when she felt something place on her lap. She looked down and saw that it was another copy of the book..

"Don't worry Twilight; there are plenty of those lying around." Coop reassured. "But I'm sorry about upsetting you." He said in a solemn tone.

"Yeah me too Twilight" Spike joined in.

Twilight grasped her second gift firmly, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Alright you two, let's go home I'm up for teaching you guys a lesson in a game of "Blaster Man"."

"You're on!" Coop answered, smiling as looked at his delighted unicorn friend through the rearview mirror.

MEGAS flew off, leaving the now crater filled valley, flying past the trees and over the mountains and heading back to Ponyville.

Later that week, Coop and Spike were sitting, huddled together watching something on the television. Twilight Sparkle, having finished reading the entire manual for the third time, wandered over to see what type of show they were watching. On screen, a pony with a microphone appeared standing on a beach.

"We're back with Unsolved Equestrian Mysteries and today we revisit the myth of the sea ponies. Last time we told you about the mythical creatures that are half pony, half fish, that inhabit the great oceans far beyond the lands of Equestria. Stories tell us this pony race lives peacefully in the ocean depths and love to sing and dance all day long. Brave adventurer ponies have told tales of hearing the song of the sea ponies while traveling out to sea. Sadly on our last show, we failed to find conclusive evidence on the sea ponies existence, but recently there have been new developments around this myth."

Twilight moves in closer, intrigued to see what these "new developments" happened to be. Though the unicorn already had a clue as to what it might be.

The camera zooms in for a shot of the ocean. "New reports are coming in about strange new noises being heard from the ocean depths. Not of singing, but of cries. Cries as though something is being tortured or tormented. Could these cries be related to the myth of the sea ponies? Perhaps the sea ponies' singing is soothing the tortured soul under the waves, or it could be that their singing is the reason for its torment. Whatever the true reason, its mystery remains hidden in the deep blue.

Twilight thought for a moment, but shook her head. There's no such thing as Sea Ponies.

She left those two to enjoy their show. She then trotted over to her desk to write a letter to her teacher regarding what she had learned about friendship.

Over in Canterlot castle, Princess Celestia was making her way to the royal living quarters. She was searching for her younger sibling so they could read over the findings her star pupil had made regarding friendship.

She walked in and saw her younger sister Luna, sitting comfortably on the couch.

"Ah, there you are sister. I've just received a new letter from my star pupil, Twilight Sparkle, and thought we could read it together."

The younger winged unicorn hardly acknowledged the elder; her focus was drawn by something she was watching on the T.V.

"I'll join you just as soon as 'Unsolved Equestrian Mysteries' is done sister."

Dragon Cheer

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My Little XLR

Chapter 6: Dragon Cheer

Deep within the dense foliage of the Everfree Forest; Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, the three young members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, had gotten themselves lost after a botched attempted at getting their bug catcher cutie marks. The young mares were in the middle of a small clearing, having a discussion.

"I told ya goin' this far into the forest was a bad idea!" Apple Bloom yelled, pointing a hoof over to the orange pegasus.

"Well, where else were we gonna find lots of bugs to catch? Besides, it was up to Sweetie Belle to leave a trail for us to find our way back!" Scootaloo argued while pointing her hoof over to the white unicorn.

"And I did, I left a trail of snacks behind us. That way we can enjoy them when we started heading back."
The cream colored pony looked to her winged friend.
"Everything was going fine until somepony went chasing after a weird bug she saw and made me lose track of the trail. At least I made this second trail so we don't end up going in circles."
The unicorn pointed over to a trail of cookies that lead out of the clearing.

Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked to their puff haired unicorn companion, realizing the folly of her action.

Sweetie Belle looked back at her friends.
"What?" she stated, oblivious of what she'd unintentionally done.

"So, let me get this straight Sweetie Belle, you're saying there's a trail of snacks leading up to us, right?" Apple Bloom questioned her ivory colored friend.

"Yup"

Scootaloo rephrased the question, trying to be a more to the point. "So that means there's a trail of food leading up to us in a forest full of wild creature that would love to snack on three helpless little ponies?"

Sweetie Belle looked to the red maned farm mare for a hint to what the pegasus's point was.

"She means any creature in the forest can follow the trail and find us. An' they'll probably wanna chow down on three delicious ponies."

Finally understanding, the horned pony looked over to Apple Bloom. "But won't their bellies be full from eating all those snacks by the time they get to us?"

"I don't wanna find out Sweetie Belle. Now let's get outta her b'fore somethin' starts followin' that trial an' finds us." Apple Bloom suggested.

As the trio started making their way out of the clearing, they heard the distinct growls of a manticore approaching. The crusaders, jumping into a nearby bush, stayed quiet as the scorpion tailed winged lion pounced into the opening. The beast sniffed around, searching for more of the snacks that had led it there. The girls observed the cat through small openings in the shrub while it continued its search on the other edge of the clearing; the girls took the opportunity and slipped away.

After getting some distance between them and the manticore, the girls continued their single file march out of the forest.

"Phew, I sure am glad we managed to avoid that manticore," Apple Bloom whispered, as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.

"Yeah that was a close one," Scootaloo agreed.

Apple Bloom, not looking in front of her, unexpectedly bumped into something. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, who were walking right behind her, collided with the abruptly stopped Earth pony. The girls looked to see what caused their collision. In front of the Earth pony, were three manticores looking down at the trio. The winged lions raised their large claws up and swiped at the fillies. The girls ran for it, just avoiding the three sets of claws. The crusaders galloped through the bushes as fast as their hooves could go, running through leaves, branches, and brush. The three beasts gave chase after them. The girls kept going, not having a clue where they were heading, down a small path that led to a closing surround by a pile of tall rocks. It was a dead end, the only way out was back the way they came.

"Oh no, we're trapped!" Apple Bloom yelled, desperately looking around for any possible exit.

The fuchsia maned pegasus planted herself in front of the opening, taking an assertive stance. "Then we'll just have to fight them!"

"Are you crazy? We can't fight those things. We're just three little ponies and their three fully grown, vicious manticores," said Sweetie Belle, while she panicked over the approaching danger.

The red haired Earth pony jumped beside her orange coated friend, striking a fighting pose alongside her. "It looks like we don't have much of a choice Sweetie Belle. We're gonna have to fight our way through them."

The unicorn joined her friends as they waited to fight for their lives against the pack of wild beasts. Frightened, they watched the trees and bushes that lined the pathway move as the trio approached. The cats leaped out, lunging at the girls, roaring as they aimed their claws towards the fillies. The girls dropped their stances and hugged each other tightly, closing their eyes as the braced for their demise.

"Ahh!"

*THUNK*

The ground suddenly trembled as something massive landed next to the freighted trio. The girls, still holding onto each other, opened their eyes and saw a tinted blue reflection of themselves.

"You three alright?" called out the voice of a familiar colt aboard his giant robot. The metal giant had seemingly come out of nowhere, planting its arm down just in time to block the girls from the manticores. The girls were relieved to see the pudgy colt's face.

"Are we sure glad to see you Coop." Scootaloo affirmed, as she and her friends greeted their savior.

Assured of the girls' safety, the colt turned to his passenger. "Guess you were right about the girls being in the forest, Mac."

The large red colt sitting in the passenger seat simply nodded. "Eeyup."

Quickly running up the mechanical giant's arm, the girls boarded the back seat of MEGAS's red muscle car head. Coop turned his attention to the pack of manticores. The pilot, using the controller attached to the steering wheel, hit the downward button followed by the X button. The robot threw a punch into the soil in front of the three beasts, creating a crater with large cracks spreading out from it. Frightened by the mech's show of force, the pack retreated deeper into the forest.

Triumphant, the colt pilot stretched his arms out, cracking his knuckles; the robot, in a similar manner, did the same. "Well that was easy." He then turned his head back to look at the girls. "Now let get you three back to safety." With that, the big blue bot soared above the trees and into the sky; heading back to Ponyville.

Along their flight back, little Apple Bloom's curiosity peaked and she asked the pilot a question. "So Coop, I was wondering. How do you know my brother, Big Macintosh?"

The driver looked back to the filly through his rearview mirror. "What, Me and Mac? We met soon after I arrived here in Ponyville when Applejack and Twilight showed me around Sweet Apple Acres. Me and Mac got to talking about modding our rides and became fast friends after that." The driving colt looked over to the large red colt to his left. "Isn't that right Mac?"

"Eeyup," the blonde haired red colored colt nodded.

Sweetie Belle chimed into the conversation with a question of her own. "Coop, why do you keep calling Big Macintosh "Mac"?"

The driving colt simply pats his large belly. "I'm not so small myself so i don't see no sense in me calling him "Big". As for "Mac", I heard Applejack called him "Big Mac couple of times; so I started doing the same, minus the "Big" part. And Mac here hasn't minded me calling him that since, right Mac?"

"Nope," answered the red coated colt.

Scootaloo joined in the questioning, leaning over on the pilot's shoulder. "So Coop, how did you know where to find us? Did you use some sort of cool scanner on MEGAS or something?

The driver looked back to the curious orange pegasus. "Nah. Mac here came and asked me to help him search for you three, since Applejack wasn't available. He said you three were talking about going bug hunting earlier, so he figured we'd find you three here."

Sweetie hung her head low apologetically. "Sorry for the trouble we've caused."

"Ah it's no sweat. I cause trouble all the time. Besides, I was just getting ready to head over to Fluttershy's. After I drop you guys over at Sweet Apple Acres, I'm heading over to her cottage to see her. Looks like she wants some help improving her cheer but Rainbow Dash wasn't available for some reason, so she asked me for help.

Apple Bloom looked at the driver quizzically. "Fluttershy…cheer? Why would a quiet pony like her want to practice cheering?"

"Dunno, she mentioned something about wanting to be a better cheering section when Angle plays games or something."

As the five ponies headed back to town, back in the forest where MEGAS had left a crater earlier, the cracks in the soil started to widen. Nearby a shadowed figure observed the widening crack as some bizarre growls started coming out from it.

After dropping off Big Macintosh and the Cutie Mark Crusaders at Sweet Apple Acres, Coop headed over to Fluttershy's cottage to begin aiding the light yellow mare in the art of the cheer.

The shy and quiet pony had surprised the colt with her sudden request. With Coop still being fairly new to Ponyville, Fluttershy still hadn't fully opened up to the colt. Then again her reluctance may have had something with that one time Coop went on a food deprived rampage through town, or probably mostly due to the eighty foot tall robot the colt happened to possess.

While the mare did her best to welcome the him at the welcoming party following the Glorft attack, she still showed a hint of shyness whenever they got together. So when the colt got the sudden request for help, he considered this a perfect opportunity to strengthen their friendship and enthusiastically accepted. After all Fluttershy was one of the kindest ponies the human turned colt from another dimension had met. How hard could it be to help her improve her cheering anyway?

Inside the welcoming abode of the animal caretaker mare, the two ponies began their lesson.

"Okay Fluttershy, let's start by hearing your best cheer."

"Alright Coop, here goes." She took a deep breath, preparing to impress the stallion.

"Yay!"

She smiled afterwards, making a squeaking sound that was actually louder than her cheer. "How was that Coop?"

The colt stood there, astonished. "Uh…that was…really? Are you sure you practiced with Rainbow Dash before?" He stared at the happy little mare, realizing this would be a lot harder than he had anticipated. After a few hours of training, things started to wind down. "Ok Fluttershy that was good practice, let's wrap it up with one last cheer. Make it as loud as you can."

The winged mare faced her teacher and took a deep breath.

"Yay!"

Coop looked as astonished as when they first started. The pegasus had the enthusiasm, but for some reason that didn't seem to transfer over to her voice. The Earth pony, not wanting to discourage her effort, gave Fluttershy an accepting nod.

After their exhausting session, mostly exhausting on Coop's part, both ponies stepped out into the daylight. They squinted as the bright sunlight hit their faces as they walked out of Fluttershy's cottage.

"Maybe we practiced a little too much." Said the butterfly cutie marked mare, as she placed one hoof in front of her to shade herself from the light.

"Nah, I'd say that was good amount, especially considering the uh...progress we made. How's bout we grab us a treat after that session. I hear Sugar Cube Corner has a new bubblegum ice cream flavor."

Seeing how the Earth pony had given his all to help her, Fluttershy felt as though she had gotten to better know Coop and started to feeling closer to him as a friend. "Sure Coop, lets go."

Interrupting the moment were some bizarre sounding footsteps coming from the forest. Both ponies looked over to see what was approaching. The slushy sounding footsteps got louder until, they could see what was making it. By the forest's edge was a squishy sack of pale white skin that slowly moved forward. It was round, almost blob like. The creature's skin was soft and saggy, dragging behind it as it moved through the forest.

Fluttershy flew up in horror, recognizing the creature.
"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness. What is one of those doing out here like that." The distraught mare said, as she circled around, hovering in a panic. "I have to get help…I know. I'll get Twilight; she'll definitely know what to do."

Without a second thought the winged pony flew off heading for the library, leaving the colt alone with the weird creature that made the frantic pony run off.

"Hey Fluttershy. What about that thing?" Coop yelled out, pointing over to the blob. But the alarmed mare didn't hear him and continued flying off.

Flying faster than she probably ever had before, Fluttershy finally made it to the library. She landed by the entrance and politely tapped her hoof on the door, despite the situation. A lavender unicorn, with a dark indigo mane with a pink streak running down it, opened the door and greeted her.

"Oh, hello Fluttershy, it's good to see you," the unicorn welcomed. She then noticed the panicked look on her friend's face. "What's wrong Fluttershy?"

The alarmed pegasus stepped inside, catching her breath from the rush over. "Twilight...it's awful…just awful...If we don't stop it…something horrible...will happen." The frightened panting pony went on, explaining what she witnessed in the forest.

"What!" the unicorn cried out. She started pacing around in circles, a cold sweat began running down her spine. "This is seriously bad. You said you saw it at the edge of the forest right? Is anypony keeping an eye on it?"

"Well, I did leave Coop with it when I hurried over here."

"What!" the librarian pony cried louder. The cold sweat now became a river on her back as she paced around faster, thinking of how to handle this emergency.

"I'm sorry Twilight, was that a bad idea?" The pegasus sheepishly asked.

Twilight paused. "Okay, maybe this isn't as bad as it seems. As long as we make sure it stays out of the sunlight everything should be fine."

Back over by Fluttershy's home, the colt was examining the mysterious living pile of mush. With the aid of a branch he picked up, the wide bellied Earth pony proceeded to observe the creature's reaction as he jabbed it with the wooden tool in his mouth. The white blob slowly inched away from the colt with each poke, moving closer to the edge of the forest's shade and into the sunlight.

"Hmm," Coop pondered as he continued his prodding.

"Ok Fluttershy, let's go. We need to hurry and make sure it doesn't get into the sunlight." Twilight and Fluttershy made their way out of the library. "I just hope we aren't too late," The purple pony worried, as the two ponies galloped as fast as they could.

They arrived at the forest edge by the pegasus's home and saw that they were too late.

"Oh no…" the magenta mare gasped as she saw the pale blob creature basking in the sunlight.

The strange creature rolled around, convulsing and screeching in pain as the sun's rays burned its pale skin, setting it aflame. The fire that surrounded the creature's body charred its flesh, quickly changing its skin color from pale white to dark black. Its skin hardening as it burned, becoming a glossy black crystal finish. It cried out in agony as its newly hardened skin started to mold into shape, slowly taking the appearance of a dragon.

Over in the forest, a pony like figure walked out from the shadows.

"'Tis too late to stop this young one I see; now I fear we may all face catastrophe." A female zebra proclaimed as she step out from the woods. Twilight looked over, recognizing the striped figure.

"Zecora!" said Twilight, happy to see the rhyming zebra as she trotted over to her. "I'm glad you're here, we could really use your help. But how did you know this was here?"

"I happened to see this fellow emerge from a crack in the Earth, made by a machine driven by a pony with big girth. I ran to my hut in order to find a way to prevent this disaster. Though now I only wished I had arrived much faster. "

The purple unicorn thought for a moment about who this "pony with big girth" could be when the answer struck her as soon as she heard the loud sounds of an engine starting up.

She hoofpalmed herself. "Oh no, don't tell me…"

MEGAS made its way to the scene with Coop riding in the cockpit. The colt had gone to retrieve his mech after the white blob had made its way to the sunlight. Flutershy moved behind Twilight and Zecora, still a little frighten by the colt's giant ride.

Twilight looked up at the colt aboard the towering mech, she was furious. This was probably the worst thing he's done, at least so far. "Coop! How could you let a crystal drake loose?"

"I let a what loose?" the confused colt replied.

Down below, Zecora informed the pilot of what the white blob of flesh was. "Hear me Colt who rides the device of nuts and bolts. This crystal drake, as they are named, throughout Equestria are quite famed. These dragons sleep underground most of their lives. Living in darkness is where they thrive. They remain in the soil where they were sown, absorbing nutrients until fully grown. Once they mature, they take to the skies with their skin glowing white. Their gem covered scales shining so bright. But if these drakes' naps are ever disturbed, then it's their great wrath that shall be incurred."

The clueless pilot looked at the Zebra as she explained, trying hard to understand the words coming out of her mouth.
"Huh?"

Twilight Sparkle, seeing Coop had no clue what Zecora was telling him, did her best to explain. "She means you let a crystal drake out before it matured, and now everypony is in danger."

Hearing the translation, the red checkered vest wearing pony looked over to the dragon that still thrashed about in pain. "You mean that little thing." Coop couldn't help but laugh, "How's that little guy a threat to anypony? I've fought plenty of things bigger than him and they weren't much of a threat." As he continued cracking up, Zecora went on explaining.

"You should not underestimate this little creature, for it comes with one terrible feature. If one of them were to wake up too soon, you'd best hope it's under the moon. For when the sunlight shines upon them, their skin ignites into a black gem. Constant pain then fills their heart. They'll seek to tear our world apart."

"Huh?" the colt replied again.

While Coop tried his best to decipher the multi neck ring totting zebra, the fires surrounding the drake died down as it finished its transformation. Fully encased in ebony colored gem armor, it focused its attention on MEGAS. The black crystal dragon lunged at the blue bot, landing right on its chest. Although being only a fourth the size of the blue metal giant, the dragon still hit with enough force to knock the mech off its feet.

The three mares below watched as MEGAS fell flat on its back, just inches away from Fluttershy's home. The rumble from the fall scared all the critters around the home into hiding. Coop, inside the knocked over mech, quickly grabbed the controls. MEGAS grabbed hold of the lizard and contain it within its grip. The colt maneuvered his bot back onto its feet, never letting go of the living dragon ornament.

Looking over to the girls from the robot's car head, the colt reassured them. "See, it's not so tough. Aw, he's actually kinda cute," he said, playfully wagging one hoof while looking at the dragon that was stretching its neck, desperately trying to bite its captor. The colt looked back down to the girls. "So, what do we do with it?"

Both Twilight and Zecora were at a loss for words. Being an ancient creature of immense power, no pony in history had ever managed to best an ignited crystal drake, let alone contain one.

The zebra looked over to the unicorn. "This is something I had not expected. We should take this opportunity to research from the books you've collected."

The unicorn nodded in agreement. Twilight looked up to MEGAS's pilot. "Coop, I need you to keep holding the dragon, can you handle that?"

"Can do." The pony driver said, waving a hoof to her.

"Ok then." The unicorn turned to her pegasus friend. "Fluttershy, I need you to stay here with Coop while Zecora and I head to the library to figure out a way to deal with the dragon. We just may be able to help it go back to normal."

The winged pony suddenly became nervous after hearing her friend's request. "Leaving me here with that thing? I don't think I can Twilight," she said while she looked over to MEGAS

"I know your still a little scared of dragons Fluttershy, but don't worry. I trust Coop can handle holding it till we get back."

"Oh, right...the dragon."

The purple haired unicorn leaned in closer to her friend. "Plus with you here, you can make sure Coop doesn't accidentally do anything to make things worse."

Fluttershy was very hesitant. While she may have gotten used to Coop, MEGAS was something different. But she didn't want to let her friends down, especially at this most dire moment. She knew she would have had to face her fear of being inside that metal monster someday, but why so soon? Why couldn't it have been a year or two, she would have been ready then...maybe. Realizing this was not the situation to back out; Fluttershy swallowed her fear and accepted. "Alright...I'll do my best Twilight. Just please hurry back okay." Her voice cracked a little as she spoke

With Fluttershy's shaky words, Twilight and Zecora galloped to the unicorn's library home to search for something to help with their major problem.

Now left behind with Coop and MEGAS, it took Fluttershy a bit to get herself inside. Flying up to the machine's cockpit, she got a full look at the mech, catching an eyeful of the flames that appeared on giants arms, legs and center of its body. The burning eyeball located on its right arm only helped to frighten her more as she reached the top.

The colt opened the passenger door, waving to the winged scaredy pony to come join him. Fluttershy was breathing heavily; she was on the verge of clamping her wings shut which at that height would have been a bad idea. She took a deep breath and looked at the colt, remembering that he was her friend and that she was entrusted by Twilight to keep an eye on him. She finally started making her way inside chanting in her mind so she wouldn't lose her cool.

Ok Fluttershy, you're doing this for your friends. They're counting on you. Coop is one your friend and he controls MEGAS, so that means MEGAS isn't going to hurt you. Be brave…Be brave.

The pegasus sat quietly, laying on the passenger seat trying to keep calm, while the colt sat in the driver's seat struggling to cope with the boring tranquility. MEGAS simply stood there, facing the pegasus's home, all the while the captured drake continued thrashing about. A good while had past, but for Fluttershy this moment of silence had helped her relax and forget her fears a little.

The bored colt looked over at the blackened jeweled lizard and sighed. "Why don't I just smash it?" he pondered. "That would solve everything."

Fluttershy, forgetting all about her fears, quickly opposed the idea.
"What? You can't hurt him Coop. It's not his fault he's like this. Besides, Twilight told you to hold the dragon while she and Zecora find a way to help him."

Coop looked at the wriggling dragon and then back to Fluttershy. The mare was giving him a stern but gentle look. The colt pouted, but then resigned his suggestion.
"Fine, I'll wait for them. In the meantime let's hear some music to pass the time. This silence is making me tired."

The Earth pony reached a hoof to the radio dial. Fiddling with the knob, he changed frequencies over to Equestria's most popular rock and roll station. The ear splitting sound of rock music started blaring out from the speakers. Fluttershy started covering her ears from the music while the colt sat there, enjoying the tune.

"Umm, excuse me. Coop, don't you think it's a little too loud?" the pink haired pegasus's question was rendered inaudible against the booming jam that was playing. Fluttershy crouched down in her seat, cringing from the ear splitting sounds as she tried her best to get the colt to lower the volume. Coop couldn't notice since he was busy head banging to the hardcore melody.

Outside of the cockpit, trapped between MEGAS's metal hands, the ensnared dragon lashed out in pain. The sounds coming from the mech's speakers were reverberating through its crystal body, causing it more pain. It thrashed about harder, slowly managing to make its way out of the giant's grip. The two ponies didn't notice; one was crouched down in her seat, shielding her ears from the deafening rock music that the other pony was busy jamming out to.

Standing on top of MEGAS's hands, enraged and still suffering, the dragon leapt towards the source of its pain landing on the hood of the muscle car. The dark colored drake peered through the windshield and saw the rocking out driver and the cowering passenger. Fluttershy was the first to notice it,

"Ahhhhh!"

The mare's scream was loud enough for the colt to notice. He stopped swinging his head and opened his eyes to see the yellow eyed charcoal colored lizard looking straight at him. The gem covered dragon furiously roared at the two ponies. Grabbing hold of one of his controllers, Coop hit the "Grab" command causing MEGAS to reach up for the drake.

Seeing the giant hand approaching, the black colored reptile took to the skies and evading the robot's clutches. It then struck back by dive bombing back down, hitting MEGAS straight in the chest. The harsh impact pushed the mech back a few feet into the forest, while inside the car alarms and warning lights started going off.

Fluttershy popped her head up to see through the windshield, her shaking hooves tapped rapidly on the dashboard.
"What do we do Coop? Twilight and Zecora haven't gotten back yet. We can't let the crystal dragon fly free."

Coop looked over to his passenger and calmly replied,
"It's simple, we just beat this guy down till it stays down."

"You can't! He doesn't mean to be so mean." While the pegasus protested the suggestion, the gem covered drake continued its fly by assaults on MEGAS. Each hit pushed the mech further and further.

"Fluttershy, he really isn't giving me much of a choice right now." The colt driver said as he did his best to block the slew of hits.

The animal loving pony took a look at their situation. Her friend had a point.
"You're right Coop. We need to keep it from flying away so it won't hurt anypony else. Ok Coop, stop him, just…be gentle, please."

"Right…gentle."

Coop looked around the dashboard controls, reading through the various buttons. Each button was labeled an attack that sounded worse than the last. His hoof hovered over each of them, passing over the "Rip arms out of sockets", "Head Butt", "General Pummel", "Set on fire", "Pounding" and "More Pounding" buttons. He came across one and gently pressed his hoof on the unlabeled button.
"How's about this one."

MEGAS's right arm lifted up, its hand retracted into it and a narrow gun barrel popped out in its place. The brief sound of something charging up in the arm was followed by a laser blast from the mech's arm.

Fluttershy looked on in horror as the laser Coop fired went directly for the flying drake.
"Coop, no!" She yelled, concerned for the dragon's safety.

The laser hit its mark, but bounced off the dragon's mirror like scales. The dragon hardly felt a thing, while the laser was reflected back to the blue bot. The blast hit MEGAS in the right shoulder, shaking up the two ponies in the car. Coop, checking for damages, swung MEGAS's arm in a windmill fashion to check if it was still working properly. Seeing that everything was in working order he looked over to the flying sun fried dragon.

"Hmm…That little guy's a lot tougher than he looks."
The driver turned to face his animal loving passenger.
"Sorry Fluttershy but I'm going to have to try something a little rougher if I wanna bring this guy down."

The blonde haired colt pulled on a handle, located next to the emergency break, and hit the button placed on the side of it. A hatch on the right of the robot's forearm opened up and a large missile popped out. The pilot took a second for the missile to lock onto its target.

Fluttershy looked on, growing more concerned as she watched.
"Coop…That isn't going to hurt him is it?"

Ignoring the overly concerned mare, the driver opened fire. The missile launched, rocketing over to the drake flying over the forest and striking its target. The blast that followed was so big the colt needed to brace MEGAS from the force of the explosion. The dragon, taking the full impact of the blast, was knocked out of the sky and back into the forest. It got back up, as though nothing was wrong, only slightly annoyed.

Fluttershy, observing the fallen drake, was relieved seeing that the creature was unharmed; unfortunately the driver didn't share her sentiment.

"What's with this thing," he said as he pounded his hoof on the wheel. "I didn't even make a scratch."

Before the colt could try another attack, the screen on the dashboard went on; the image of a rather peeved violet colored unicorn was looking straight at him.

"Coop, what happened? I heard a blast and I can only assume it would be your doing. Has something happen to the dragon?"

"Oh no Twilight, he is perfectly fine," Fluttershy commented.

"Yeah…fine, except it got away," Coop added.

"I was afraid that was going to happen. Fortunately Zecora and I have some good news, we've figured out a way to stop the crystal drake's rampage."

"What is it Twilight?" the light yellow mare in the passenger seat wondered.

"First, Coop, you need to bring the dragon into the forest where the sun can't reach it."

The robot piloting colt looked over to the recently grounded dragon. It thrashed about under the trees but didn't appear as though it was going to fly off soon.
"Done."

"Good. You'll probably like this next part Coop. I need you shatter its crystal scales. Once it shatters, its mushy pale skin will be exposed again. That's why you need it to be in the shade; otherwise it will just burn and harden in the sun. Once you break its armor, we can put it back in the hole it came from. If we bury it, it should go right back to sleep."

Coop cracked his two knuckles. "Finally! I get to have some real fun, and I think I got the perfect move to get this thing outta his shell."

MEGAS leaped above the trees, flying towards the black gem wrapped drake.
"Alright Fluttershy, watch carefully. I'm about to show you a move that's a personal favorite of mine."

Fluttershy looked over to the driver, curious of what the colt was about to do.
"It won't hurt him will it?"

Coop kept his eye on the drake as the mech dropped in, calling out the name of his attack "The Double Duce!"

MEGAS lands in front of the dark gemstone dragon, and with its full weight plus the force of the fall delivers two massive hammer fists down onto the drake. The dragon's crystal armor cracked from the impact. MEGAS then followed up the hits by lifting the drake up, preparing to rip the gem armor off of it.

"Wait!" Fluttershy yelled out, stopping the colt from finishing his attack. "Coop, Twilight said you have to break his armor in the shade."

"Hehe…whoops. Sorry, forgot about that. Thanks for the reminder Fluttershy."

Adjusting his tactic, Coop finished the dragon off with back breaker down below the tree tops. The combo of powerful moves caused the lizard's black glass like shell to shatter into pieces, leaving it a pale mush of skin once more. Both Coop and Fluttershy looked at the formerly gem husked drake as it slowly moved around as it did before, like nothing had happened.

"Great job Coop," the pegasus complimented, happy to see no harm had befallen the dragon.

Over on the monitor, Twilight Sparkle let Coop know where to place the mushy lizard.

Making their way along the forest, the colt made sure MEGAS held the soft skinned dragon, careful not to lift it above the trees tops.

After the delicate walk that seemed to take forever, the two ponies finally arrived at the crevice where the creature had come from.

The colt took a moment to figure out how to go about placing the dragon back in its hole.
"Guess I should just toss this guy in."

Fluttershy stopped the pilot before he could hit the release button.
"Coop, wait. You need to put him back gently. How would you feel if someone just tossed you into your bed?" she said while giving the pilot a discerning look. The colt, unable to resist that trance like stare of hers, obliged to the mares request.

MEGAS slowly crouched down, leaning into the crevice in order to carefully release the sagging pale skinned mythological lizard back in its resting spot. Coop placed one hoof on the wheel and carefully turned it until MEGAS was right in position.

"Alright, just gotta put it down carefully…"

The colt switched to a joystick controller that looked like one used to operate a prize grabber game. With surgical precision, he tilted the stick causing the bot to move its wrist slightly, adjusting where the mushy creature was about to be set down.

"Carefully…"

Finding the perfect spot, all the colt had to do was hit the release button on the central control panel. His hoof carefully lowered down, inching closer to the "Go exactly as planned" button that would end this ordeal. The colt's flat broad hoof made contact.

*BZZT* the computer responded, but it didn't let go of the drake.

Confused, Coop lifted up his hoof to see what happened.
"Uh oh."

The Earth pony's broad hoof had accidentally hit the oddly named "Make things worse" button that was right next to the desired button the colt meant to press. By sheer misfortune the button happened to stick out further then the release button.

Coop looked at his hoof.
"I really should adjust my button layout to work better for hooves."

"Mmm." The high pitched pegasus frighteningly whimpered.

Four sets of missile popped out from openings around MEGAS's forearms and launched, flying straight into the crevice. Each explosion caused the crack in the ground to grow larger. The blasts also knocked away all the trees around the area that shaded the land.

From the newly expanded crack in the ground, more of the same looking creature as the one in the robot's hand began to emerge. The two ponies inside the car looked on in a daze, completely stunned over what had just happened. With the trees blown away, the bright rays of the sun shined upon the gaping crack and the emerging drakes.

"uh, Twilight…We might have a small problem." Coop relayed over the monitor.

"What happened? Can you two find the spot the dragon came out of?"

"No, we managed to find it." Fluttershy's shaky voice answered.

The colt looked to the unicorn, attempting to break the news carefully.
"Say Twilight, suppose…I dunno. There was more than just one of these dragon things."

The pony on the monitor looked at Coop; she had a very bad feeling she knew where the colt's question was going. She glared at the driver, emphasizing every word in her next question.
"Coop. What did you do?"

"I may have uh...woken up more of them, but it was accident. Right Fluttershy?"

Twilight looked over to the yellow pegasus who only let out a nervous smile as her terrified eyes were more focused on something else. Overhearing the eerily familiar cry she heard the one dragon make earlier, only in mass, she turned back to the colt.

"All you needed to do was put one dragon back in its resting spot…How was that so hard?" The annoyed unicorn ranted.

"Relax Twilight. It's no big deal, I can handle them just like I did with this one." The driver looked to the mech's hand and noticed the dragon blob had caught fire. He tossed the burning sack of flesh over with the others.

Hearing the fat pony's nonchalant answer, Zecora appeared on screen.
"There's one thing Coop you do not understand. It would be bad for these creatures to remain above land. When the sun sets, their scales shall permanently harden. Then consumed by rage, nopony shall be given pardon. So you see Coop, it is a very big deal. We must hurry and find a way to overcome this ordeal."

The driver looked intently at the screen, focusing on the words the zebra spoke.
"Um, Twilight?"

"Uuuh," the unicorn standing behind the zebra on the monitor groaned.
"She means if we don't find a way to put them back in the ground before sunset, their skin will permanently be enclosed in those black crystals and nothing will be able remove them. At that point they'll be unstoppable."
Twilight struggled to think of any possible way to stop this disaster from happening. "I just don't know what we can do…"

"Just leave it to me then. I'll take em down one by one." The colt replied.

"Coop you don't understand, even if you break their scales they'll just grow back when the sun hits them again. Even if that did work there isn't enough time." Twilight looked out the library window and saw that sundown was approaching. Seeing how dire their situation was, Twilight started to lose hope. "It's hopeless…Equestria is doomed!"

"Now wait just a minute Twilight…please," Fluttershy blurted out, as she looked to her saddened unicorn friend. "Coop says that he can handle this…and… and I believe him. He's our friend! You should know by now that we should always trust in our friends. Coop has never let us down before, so when he says he can handle it I know he will."

Fluttershy's words reached Twilight. After hearing the normally soft spoken light yellow pegasus's pep talk, Twilight started to regain her composure. The colt sitting next to the pegasus sniffed a little, as he wiped away something in his eye.

Zecora placed her arm over the unicorn's shoulder. "What young Fluttershy speaks is true. Now's not the time for feeling blue. Trust in your friends is what you must do, if you wish for us all to pull through. Now you and I must devise a plan, to give brave Coop a helping hand."

Twilight, now reinvigorated, looked over to the pony pilot on the T.V. monitor. "Alright Coop I'm counting on you. Do your best, while Zecora and I try to find some information that can help you."

"Rock on Twilight," the colt said as he, Twilight, Zecora and Fluttershy knuckle bump and lifter their hooves up.

MEGAS's engines roared as its rocket launched it into the sky. From above, the two ponies looked over the cleared out portion of the forest. They saw hundreds of soft skinned crystal drakes igniting under the sun's rays. Their flesh sizzled until it hardened into their onyx tinted crystal shells.

Fluttershy looked on, watching the painful expression of the soft skinned lizards as they burned into their rage engulfed dark forms. "Those poor dragons; we've got to save them Coop."

MEGAS boosted over to a swarm that had taken flight. Winding up, the bot throws a punch, plowing through four of them as it flew past. Their crystal shell shattered from the blow and the drakes, now blobs of flesh again, fell back to the ground.

"Ha ha, they're not so tough when their still fresh." Coop commented.

Fluttershy, tugging the colt's shirt, pointed down to the where the dragons had fallen. "Coop, look."

Down below, the mushy skin drakes that had fallen were burning once more. They cried out again as their skin reformed exactly the way it was before.

"Hmm…This might be trickier than I thought," the driver realized.

More black dragons took to the sky and started charging towards the mech. Coop, turning the wheel, managed to maneuver MEGAS to dodge two that came at him, but a third one struck the robot from behind. Caught off balance, the pilot couldn't avoid four more tackling drakes. They hit the blue metal giant on its chest and back, with last hit sending the mech hurdling to the ground.

"AHHH" The two ponies aboard MEGAS yelled as they plummeted down.

Coop managed to stop the free fall, landing on the missile wrecked barren land. Recovering from the fall, the duo looked out in front of them. They were surrounded by numerous fully gem covered dragons.

"Alright, let's see how you chumps like this!"

One of the gem covered lizards jumped towards MEGAS, but the blue fighting machine quickly grabbed it and shoved the attacking reptile forcibly into the ground. The colt licked his lip as he pulled the trigger on his steering wheel controller. MEGAS opened fire from the hand still buried in the soil. The ground rumbled from the rapid blasts coming from the robot's still buried arm, continuing to fire until a few dark crystal shards emerged from the soil. The creature, stripped of it crystal shell, was now peacefully asleep underneath the soil.

"There, Now I just need to do that…" Coop looked out to the sight of hundreds of drakes circling around his robot, his enthusiasm dropped slightly. "A few hundred more times."

MEGAS continues the offense, charging to a group of the charcoal colored dragons on the ground. Coop, hitting a combo on his gamepad, had his robot grab four drakes together and gave them an Earth embedding power slam. The dragons' crystal shells shattered as their body were slammed. Their armor stripped off before the weight of the metal giant forced them to sink underground. MEGAS flexed after that show of strength, shining as the setting sun shined upon it, before it moved on to the next set of dragons.

On Coop's display screen, he controlled an eight bit image of MEGAS that jumped on the backs of black eight bit shells of some turtles; Meanwhile outside, the blue mech was hopping on the backs of drakes still on the ground. Their shells burst from the metal giant's stomps before being forced into the ground.

Looking on, Fluttershy took notice of the drakes that had been buried.
"Coop its working, they're staying underground. If you keep this up, you may be able to save them all before the sun sets."

With that good news Coop continued to send dragon after dragon underground, breaking their shells, just before they were buried. The robot punched down on one with enough strength that it instantly sank underground. The soil where the beast had been punched into rose up a little as its crystal shell shattered and popped off underground.

Grabbing a drake by the tail, the bot began swinging it around like a fail, using his new crystal weapon to strike numerous drakes into the Earth. The ponies could hear the popping sounds of their crystal scales crack after they went under. After a couple dozen strikes Coop noticed the makeshift flail was cracking up from the constant strikes upon its brethren. The bot, no longer needing its services, shoved the dragon down into the ground where its cracked armor shattered right after.

Coop now focused his attention to the remaining drakes still roaming the skies above. MEGAS grabbed hold of the last lizards still on the ground and tossed it like a football. The airborne drake hit one of its brothers in the air, ricocheting off like a pin ball hitting numerous others before plummeted back to the ground. With the airborne drakes' attention now on the robot, the colt pilot pulled on the eight ball gear shift causing a twin set of Gatling guns to pop up from the top of MEGAS's forearms. The pilot took aim on the flying mass and stomped his hoof on the gas.

"Yeah!" The colt yelled as a barrage of bullets flew wildly across the sky. The stallion then turned a hard left on the wheel.

MEGAS spun around in a full cirlce by the waist to lay down fire all around it. Bullets flew like mad, hitting the drakes and wreaking havoc on their shining armor, sending them back to the ground. As the dragons hit the barren earth, bits of their heavily damaged gem armor chipped off. Coop drove over as quickly as he could to send them into the soil, but some had already begun to catch fire again, regenerating their lost armor. Numerous dragons screeched in agony as they endured a second searing. As the reptiles cried out, the ground below MEGAS's feet began shaking violently.

"Coop, are you doing that?" Fluttershy asked, hoping it was nothing to worry about.

Coop looked back at her, shaking his head left and right as the vibration continued, becoming stronger as time went on. He turned to the dashboard monitor.
"Twilight, got any clue why the ground's shaking so much?"

"I don't know Coop. It may just be that the dragons are burrowing themselves further into the soil after you placed them back. After all, you did just put a lot of them back down. But I can't be too sure."

Now that all the drakes remaining were on the ground, the pony driver pointed MEGAS over the group, and hit the large red button labeled "NITROUS". In a flash the robot rushed past the group of drakes, plowing them into the ground. The mech traveled so fast only a blue streak could be seen as it ripped through the crowd of drakes, forcing them to go underground. The mech skid across the forest as it slowed to a stop. The sound of the drake's armors cracking underground sounded like popcorn kernels popping.

"I could go for some popcorn right about now," said the colt as he faced his bot over to the final remaining dragon. "Alright, last one!"

Grabbing the dragon, MEGAS leaped into the air and started to rotate quickly with the dragon in between the robots legs. As the two fell back down to the ground, spinning like a top; the mech pile drove the dragon into the dirt, sending it spinning into the Earth like a drill. MEGAS struck a pose, sticking one hand up as it pointed a finger to the sky in victory.

"Coop you did it. You saved all the crystal dragons." Fluttershy said in amazement.

With the last of the dragons back where it belonged, the colt dusted his hooves in accomplishment with MEGAS mimicking its driver. Coop then looked to the monitor. "See Twilight, I told you I could handle this. And I did it with plenty of time before sundown. There was nothing to worry about." The ground started to shack even worse than before, cutting into what the pony was saying. "One of these days Twilight, you'll learn…to…trust...old...Coop?"

The quaking soil was so intense; Coop could hardly keep MEGAS on its feet.

Twilight's voice crackled through the speakers. "Coop! Something big is heading your way!"

The robot flew up just in time to avoid falling into the large opening that formed below them. The ground began to rise and crumble as clouds of dirt spouted out through cracks in the land. Then the risen ground quickly sank back down as something huge began to emerge from it. Another one of those pale soft skinned dragons emerged; only this one was far larger.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me!" Coop gripped, as he and Fluttershy watched the immense mushy scaled drake emerged from the crater.

"That must be their mother." Fluttershy informed. "Mother crystal dragons tend to lay with their hatchlings, but I didn't know they got so big. I didn't think she was with them since she never show up all this time. She must be upset after hearing so many of her babies cry out from being exposed to the sun."

Coop looked to the unicorn on the monitor in hopes of getting some good news. "Yo Twilight, if you or Zecora found anything about dealing with these things, now would really be a good time to let me know."

The cloud of dust surrounding them cleared and the bright sunlight hit the dragon matriarch, creating an enormous fire that surround her colossal body. The giant drake didn't cry out or thrash about in pain like her children; she merely flinched slightly as her skin burned until it hardened into a solid black diamond armor that surrounded her entire body.

Fully encased in raven colored diamonds, it stood far larger than the blue bot. A single one of its claw was about five times the size of MEGAS. The dragon rose up on her hind legs, spreading its massive set of dark crystal laced wings, let out a deafening roar.

"Oh no! Coop! look!" A panicking Fluttershy shouted as she pointed down to the ground below.

On the ground, the smaller flesh blobs that Coop had previously returned to the soil started to come back up. Beckoned by their mother's call, the younger dragons dug their way out of the soil and began to burn once more.

"Please Stop mother dragon! You're hurting your babies!" Fluttershy pleaded to the mother drake, but the beast didn't listen. "Oh Coop all those cries from her kids earlier must have driven her crazy. She won't listen to reason. We need to find a way to save them all."

Coop and Fluttershy, inside MEGAS's cockpit, watched as the massive dragon's children sizzled in the daylight. Sun scorched, they rose up to the sky once more, joining their mother. Coop aimed MEGAS towards the dragon matriarch and stepped on the gas. The mech soared past the smaller drakes and with its rockets flaring, flew straight towards the largest crystal dragon with both its fist pointed straight at her. The matriarch saw the blue robot heading towards her and lifted one of her massive hands up.

*Chink*

With a simple flick of her claw, the dragon mother sent the robot flying clear to the edge of the forest.

"Whaaaaa!"

"Ahhhhhh!"

The ponies cried out as the bot flew helplessly over the trees, bouncing over and over as MEGAS hit the ground, skidding on the soil and hitting numerous trees until finally stopping at the very edge of the forest. Getting up the two ponies saw they were right behind FLuttershy's cottage. Both, recovering from the blow, looked back to the center of the forest.

Coop sat their rubbing his head. "Ok, so maybe flying straight towards that thing wasn't such a good idea. I'm open to suggestions."

Over on the monitor, Zecora popped up with an urgent message. "Coop, I've found some helpful news. Let us hope with this you do not lose. The key to defeating them is sound. Then we can place them in the ground."

"Twilight, translation please?" Coop requested.

"She means the dragon's crystal skin is weak to sonic vibrations. If you can hit them with a strong enough blast their crystal armor should crack off easy.

The Earth pony looked at the unicorn in the same manner he had been staring as Zecora when she spoke to him. "Huh?"

"Sound Coop! Sound! You need to hit them with sound. Does MEGAS have anything that attacks using sound?"

The chubby pony looked at the monitor, hesitant to answer. "I do, but Kiva told me I should only use in emergencies."

"Coop, all of Equestrian is about to be overrun by a massive colony of out of control, unstoppable dragons. This would constitute an emergency!" Twilight hollered back

Understanding the mare's point, Coop reached under his shirt and pulled out a small red key attached to a little chain wrapped around the colt's neck. He then inserted the key into a slot on a panel located just to the left of the steering wheel. The panel had two latches in the center, a small green button at the top right, a scanner at the bottom right and a small L.E.D. display screen that read in red letters "Thumb print ID".

"Uhhh…" The colt paused, remembering he no longer had thumbs

Looking out to the massive swarm of drakes fast approaching, with the much larger one slowly following behind, Coop smashed his hoof on the panel in frustration. The little display flicked from the hit and the words "Accepted" popped up. Smiling at his fortune the blonde maned pony continued the activation process.

Fluttershy, who was watching the activation procedure this entire time, grew more and more worried after seeing all the precautionary steps it took simply to prepare whatever it was Coop was going to do.

Finishing the activation process, all that was left to do was press on little red button. Up on the display the red lettering simply read "The Jammer."

The Earth pony took one last look at the purple unicorn on the monitor. "Don't say I didn't warn you earlier Twilight. Now putting all power to the Jammer"

The Earth pony's hoof was just inches away from the final button when he was interrupted by a few of the charging dragons. A wave of drakes had reached MEGAS, with the matriarch only a few hundred feet behind.

"With these guys on me I can't use the Jammer." The colt began firing missile towards the attacking drakes with the blast only serving to temporarily knock the beasts away from MEGAS. "I gotta keep these guys off me."

The unicorn on the monitor called out. "Coop you have to hurry, the sun is about to set!"

Fluttershy looked over to her struggling friends. She wanted to help out, but how?
"Coop is there anything I can do to help?"

"I don't think there's anything you can do Futtershy…" Coop thought for a second. He looked over to the pegasus and got a crazy idea. "Wait! There is one thing you can do, but are you up for it?"

"Yes."

"You want to help these dragons, right?"

"Yes."

"And save all of Equestria, right?"

"Yes."

"Alright then, just follow my instructions."

Coop fired off a few more missiles, sending the remaining nearby drakes back. The Colt pressed the final red button on the small panel causing the seat the pink haired yellow pegasus was seated in to sink down, descending into MEGAS.

"Eeep!" the mare managed to squeak as she vanished below. Suddenly all her fears about MEGAS resurfaced as she started going further into the center of mech.

As Coop watched his frightened friend descend, a little bit of doubt began to build in his head.
"Twilight, do you think Fluttershy will be able to do this?"

"Don't worry Coop. As long as I've know her, Fluttershy's never let her friends down when they needed it. Whatever it is you need her to do I'm sure she'll come through. It's just that sometimes she need a little encouragement." The unicorn on monitor reassured. "Don't you remember what she said, friends trust each other. Just like she trusted you earlier, it's time for you to trust her."

MEGAS's chest panel opened up, revealing a platform that moved forward to jut out of the mech's body. A series of giant speakers popped out from inside the machine, surrounding the platform where a lone microphone stood on the edge with a lone disco ball spinning just above it.

In the very back of the platform, quivering in the shadows, was the shy winged pony who was already regretting her decision to help.

From up above in the robot's head the pilot called out the terrified mare.
"Ok Fluttershy, all you need to do is yell into that microphone."

"Ahhhh!" she cried, but the frightened pink maned pony's soft shout didn't reach the microphone.

"That was good Fluttershy, but you're gonna to have to move a lot closer and be a little louder for the mic to hear you."

Twilight watched on, realizing what the colt's "Jammer" was going to do. "Coop is Fluttershy's voice going to be strong enough for this "Jammer" of yours to even work?"

"Don't worry I got that part covered. After all I spent today helping her improve. All she needs to do now is yell into the mic."

Fluttershy bravely started making her way over the microphone stand. Crawling forward with her eyes shut, she was trying to not think about the fact that she was inside of a giant metal monster about the be attacked by a swarm of angry crystal dragons and that everyponies' lives were depended on her. Her nose hit the stand and the pony picked herself up, opening her eyes to see the army of drakes fast approaching. Fear stricken, her mind suddenly drew a blank.

She looked up to the colt in the car. "Coop what should I say?"

"Anything Fluttershy, just yell it into the mic!" Coop yelled back as he watched the drakes approaching.

"I just don't know what to yell."

"Coop! The sun is about to set!" A hysteric Twilight on the monitor hollered.

Practically on the verge of fainting Fluttershy's mind was racing.

What do I do! Everypony is counting on me.

I'm so scared. Those dragons are going to eat me.

Why did I say i wanted to help? I'm going to let every pony down...

...NO. I can't let my friends down. I just need to yell into the mic, but what do I say. What if I say something and nothing comes out.

The Colt yelled as loud as he could. "Fluttershy! Let's hear your best cheer!"

That's it!

Fluttershy took a deep breath. "Haaaaaaah."

Inside the muscle car cockpit, Coop placed a hoof on the volume dial and turned the knob past level "10", taking it up to his modified level of "11,000,000".

"Yay!" the pegasus shouted as best as she could.

On the monitor the lavender unicorn called out to the driver. "Coop, what happened did Flutter-" Twilight's voice suddenly went silent.

It wasn't just the unicorn on the monitor that want quiet, everything around them suddenly went ominously silent. Even the roars of the approach dragons suddenly cut. The air itself seemed to bend surrounding MEGAS, fanning out like a ripple. Silence had fallen.

Over in Ponyville, ponies around town were confused. Their mouths moved but no sound came fourth, in fact nothing made any sound at all. For those few brief moments, it appeared that all sound had ceased to exist. Twilight and Zecora looked to the colt on the T.V. screen who only placed his arms behind his head, laid back and waited for what was about to happen.

"Yay!" The shout made by Fluttershy earlier rang out from the speakers, only several million decibels louder.

What followed was a sonic boom that traveled in a massive wave in front of the blue robot, ripping through the forest. The force was so great it forced a layer of the Earth itself the rise up, forming a massive wave that began traveling through the entire Everfree Forest. It was the worlds first sonic yayboom

Ponyville wasn't unaffected either; the massive sound wave also went through town causing various forms of havoc.

Over at Carousel Boutique, a very busy, purple maned, white coated, unicorn pony was hard at work creating her next masterpiece. She had been working all week on a new dress order made by a famous performer in Canterlot. Fully concentrated on her work the mare did not notice that noise had suddenly vanished. She spoke to herself.

"This is going to be absolutely fabulous. It may have taken me days of constant work, but this is probably one of my best designs." The unicorn said to herself, praising her fashionable dress made of a delicate gem laced gown.

Adding the last bit of lacy diamond encrusted ribbons to the shoulders of the dress, the unicorn took a step back to observe her finished work.

It was at that moment that a voice rang through the shop.

"Yay!"

The mysterious echoing voice shattered every window as it passed through the boutique. The unicorn watched as window after window broke into pieces in the wake of the voice. The pattern of broken glass was leading down a path to the dress she had just finished. The poor unicorn could only watch the dress shake as the voiced passed through it. The force of the passing vocal vibrations cracked the gems on the dress into dust. The unicorn, unable to comprehend what had just happened, looked out the window and yelled out something incomprehensible; due to the fact that all sound had been rendered mute, it was probably a good thing nopony could hear what she yelled out.

Back in the forest, trees, rocks and everything within was being thrown into the air as the traveling wave of risen land, caused by Fluttershy's sonic yayboom, hit them. The blast of sound soon made its way through the hundreds of drakes. Their dark armor shattered instantly from the intense vibrations created by the powerful sonic blast, causing them to fall to the ground. The follow up wave of dirt fell on top of the fallen divested drakes, burying them all back underground.

The dragon matriarch was all the remained, she stood firm ready to face Fluttershy's vocal onslaught. The sound wave struck the diamond armor that encased the massive mother drake and it didn't hold out long before it started to crack. Passing through the dragon's body, the sonic attack ravaged her protective shell but it still remained on her body, barely holding together. The gem armor was completely shattered all over and looked as though it was about to fall apart at any second when the traveling wave of the forest struck her. The wave whipped the dragon's body into the sky. Her cracked dark armor shined beautifully like a disco ball one last time as the setting sun shined upon her, casting a beautiful light all over the forest. Just seconds before the sun vanished over the horizon, the dragon matriarch's crystal shell shattered into dust leaving her a pile of soft fleshed mush that started to fall to the ground.

Fluttershy watched the helpless drake plummet to the ground. She quickly flew back inside the car. "Coop we have to help her!" the pegasus pleaded as she pointed over to the falling pale blob.

The colt quickly flew MEGAS under the drake, where he used all the propulsion his robot had to save the huge matriarch from the fall. Managing to slow her decent, Coop placed the dragon mother gently to the ground where Fluttershy then flew over to her.

"Excuse me! I'm terribly sorry for all the trouble Ms. dragon; we weren't trying to harm your babies. We were only trying to help send them back home."

The blob of pale white smooth skin turned what appeared to be her face over to the flying mare. A soft, elegant voice that felt nice to the two ponies' ears loudly rang out.

"I thank you little one. Please forgive my actions; I was unaware of your intentions and had thought the worst was happening to my children."

"It's ok. You were just worried that your children were being hurt." The pegasus replied back.

"It is thanks to you, little pony, and the power of your voice, that my children and I were spared a lifetime of eternal pain. This is something no creature had ever managed to do. We shall never forget your kindness this day."

Fluttershy blushed from the matriarch's kind words. "It wasn't just me. My friend Coop did most of the work." She said, pointing a hoof over to MEGAS. The blob turned to face the colt that waved at her from inside the mech's red colored head.

"Ah yes, the one who first awoke my children from their slumber. When I first saw you, I mistook your actions as hostile. I'm sorry but after hearing so many of my children cry out in pain I lost myself. I could not see your true intentions. I was too far into my madness to stop myself, but you stood firm, facing me and my children down. You are truly a brave hero, even if at first your actions can be misleading."

"Thanks. And sorry for…well everything," the colt answered back.

"Farewell heroes, I must return to my children, to protect their slumber. Once again thank you two." With those words, the crystal drake mother dove into the soil and vanished, leaving a massive crater where she dug down. Fluttershy flew back into the cockpit where the colt turned to ask her Twilight and Zecora something that was on his mind since before this whole event had even started.

"Now that that's settled, who's up for some ice cream with the little chunks of bubble gum in it?"

"What?" Fluttershy yelled back, putting a hoof to her ear.

The next day, after the clean up following the events that unfolded, ponies throughout the town went about their peaceful lives unscathed after all the chaos, except everypony was sporting a strange set of small brass horns that stuck out from their ears.

Over at the outdoor restaurant, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy and Coop were sitting at one of the tables, enjoying a meal.

"I'm so glad everything managed to turn out alright in the end. You two managed to save all of Equestria together. This time you actually managed not to destroy the town Coop, you only had to flip Everfree Forest upside down."

Over in the Everfree Forest Zecora was hard at work, cleaning up her upside down hut that was left in a disastrous state. Potions, herbs, clay pots, and decorations were scatter all over the house. "I cannot believe to reckless colt, destroying my home, that dolt."

"What'd you say Twilight?" The colt yelled back, putting his hoof to his ear.

"Coop, put your hearing aid on."

"What?"

With her magic, the unicorn placed a set of brass funnels into the light brown colt's ears. "There, now can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," the Earth pony replied.

Twilight looked around to all the ponies wearing the same horns and then adjusted the set she had sticking out of her ears.
"Good thing the doctor said everyponies' hearing loss is temporary; I don't think I could get used to always wearing this." She then turned over to look to her mare friend sitting quietly beside her. "It's a good thing you stayed behind to help Coop. I'm proud of you Fluttershy, doing that while you were scared of MEGAS.

After taking a sip of her tea Fluttershy placed her cup down. "It's ok Twilight, besides after everything that happened I've learned not to be scared of MEGAS. Even if it's something that looks scary, knowing that our friend is the one behind it, I know it would never harm me or any of us.

Twilight nodded in agreement.
"It's a good thing you stayed with Coop. If you didn't yell as loud as you did I don't want to imagine how things would have turned out."

Fluttershy thought for a second then looked over to the big bellied red checked vest wearing colt.
"I'm just glad he is a good teacher."

The colt noticed the pegasus looking at him with her lips moving.
"What?" He yelled back.

Twilight saw that the t-shirt wearing Earth pony had somehow lost his set of horns again.
"Coop! How come your hearing aids keep falling off?" she reprimanded.

Fluttershy laughed as she watched her friends, taking another sip from her cup

The Super Speedy Grand Prix

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My Little Megas XLR

Chapter 7: The Super Speedy Grand Prix

The Cacti littered among the rugged slopes of the desert prairie swayed a little as a light blue pegasus soared over. Tumbleweeds rolled along behind her as Rainbowdash flew along over the lone set of train tracks stretching through the plains. Rolling along besides her was the roar of a ten cylinders engine. Coop, enjoying the breeze with the top down, was sitting back in his car as Applejack sat behind the wheel.

Swooping down alongside the two Earth ponies, Rainbow Dash lowered her head beside the driver. "What's the matter A.J., You afraid of going fast or something?" she said with a confident smirk.

Narrowing her eyes at her, Applejack tilted her hat down and planted her hoof on the gas. Speeding down the open desert, exchanging glances, they raced along the barren stretch of land.

Speeding down an embankment, they spotted a set of rock formations in the distance. One in particular, a corkscrew loop, caught their attention. Nodding at each other, Applejack and Rainbow Dash made their way towards rocky loop. The engine roared with a boost of nitrous as the muscle car advanced up the ramp. At the halfway point, Coop and Applejack looked up towards the ground, sticking their hooves out into the air. Coop reached over to the cup holder, grabbing his quadruple extra large cup of soda as he licked his lips. Before the bendy straw ever touched his lips, the lid flung open, drenching him as the liquid fell to the ground above. Rainbow Dash, witnessing Coop's accident, couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Bwahahahaha!" she laughed, holding her sides, as he and Applejack made their way down.

Safely on the other side of the formation, she looks over to her soggy passenger and patted him on the back. "Ah cheer up Coop, we're almost there. You can get more soda once we've arrived."

He sighed, looking into his empty container as a drop fell off his chin, landing inside. "Where are we going again?"

Still flying above them, Rainbow Dash poked her head in. "Appleloosa."

"So why are we headed there again?" he asked, turning up towards her.

"Well because Twilight asked me and Applejack to get you out of Ponyville for awhile, so they can take a break—" a swat of Applejack's hat cut her off.

"What Rainbow means is that I'm going to visit my cousin over in Appleloosa, and she going to visit a friend, so we thought you'd enjoy coming along with us. You know, to take a break from Ponyville." She said, not looking at Coop directly as she focused on her driving. Rainbow Dash, with Stetson still covering her mouth, nodded quietly in agreement.

Passing over the next hill, they finally saw the outlines of the town coming up. Applejack started slowing down as drove into town, stopping just by the Salt Lick. A stranger, leaning against the fence post, saw them arrive and made his way over to them.

"Well now that there's one fancy lookin' carriage you got there missy. Thing moves without anypony even pulling it. Talk about fancy." The dark blue colt said, tilting his hat to her.

Hopping out of the car, she took her hat off to him. "Why thank ya kindly stranger, but truth is it ain't mine."

Scurrying around the car, Coop popped up beside her. "It's mine," he said, pointing a hoof to his puffed out chest.

The old colt simply nodded, causing his ten gallon hat to fall over his eyes "Well one thing's, for sure that there's the second fastest carriage I'd ever lay eyes on around these here parts." He said, readjusting his hat.

Coop raised a brow at the local pony. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What do you mean second fastest?"

"Hmm? You three must be new round here. Why I'm talkin' bout them there brother's over by the orchard what came to town a few days back, with their newfangled cider doohickey."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash rushed over to him, pushing Coop aside. "What brothers?" they said simultaneously.

The Appleloosen tilted his hat up, darting his eyes between the two mares. "So much for being world famous. I figured everypony's heard of the Flim Flam brothers, countin' the way they flapped the gums bout it and all."

"The Flim Flam brothers!" Applejack and Rainbow gasped.

"Ah so you do know them," the older pony replied.

"The Who Whaty brothers?" Coop asked, scratching his head, still sitting on the ground.

"That's the Flim Flam brothers, sonny. Them and that Super Cider machine of theirs. They came to town a few days ago and impressed us locals with their fancy singing and that cider making contraption. I still can't get that jingle outta my head. But I tell you one thing, that machine of theirs could not only make a quick batch o' cider, it's also the fastest moving thing on four wheels I've ever done seen in my life."

Coop rolled his eyes are him. "Pssssh, there's no way some cider wagon could be faster than my car."

"Whatever you say sunny, but if you wanna see for yourselves they should be over at the orchard. Last I heard they were trying to strike a deal with the ponies over there," he replied, making his way inside the Salt Lick. Seeing him go, Coop turned to the girls, his eyes closed, disregarding the elder pony's tale.

"Coop, hop on already," Rainbow Dash called out from the passenger seat.

"Huh?" he said, turning to see the girls already back in the car. Coop hopped into the back seat as Applejack took off. "So where we headed?"

"To go see my cousin, and figure out what those brothers are up to."

"So let me get this straight, these guys showed up in Ponyville before tried to run you outta business and then almost tricked you outta Sweet Apple Acres?"

"Yup," Applejack answered.

"And now you think they might be trying to do the same thing here in Appleloosa to your cousin?"

"That's what we're gonna find out." Rainbow replied.

"Alright everypony we're here," said Applejack, stopping at the edge of a cliff.

Coop and Rainbow Dash stood up from their seats, the ocean of trees before them went on for miles, decorated with plump juicy apples hanging off its branches. Cutting through the forest was a dirt trail that winded through the field. Looking closer into the trail, they noticed something rolling quickly along the path with a trail of dirt behind it. With their eyes on the field, they didn't notice who approached them from behind.

"Who are you ponies?"

Surprised by the voice calling out, the tree of them slowly turned to see who was talking to them.

"Braeburn?"

"Cousin Applejack?" his eyes started to wander away from his cousin, focusing on the shiny red set of wheels she and her friends were riding in. "Fancy ride you got yourself cousin."

Happy to see a familiar face, Applejack walked over to him. "Braeburn, It's so good seeing you again. Now, I gotta ask yo—"

"It's good to see you and your friends again too," he said waving to Coop and Rainbow as they walked up. Coop caught his attention in particular. "Hmm I don't recall meeting you last time." He stretched out his hoof and gave him a hoofshake. "Pleasure to meet ya, my name's Braeburn. Welcome to Appleloosa!"

"Braeburn," said Applejack.

"You must be a new friend of Applejack. Well any friend of cousin Applejack is a friend of mine."

"Braeburn."

"Ya'll must hungry after your trip here. Well we've got plenty of fresh tasty apples down below in our fields ya'll are welcome to. Down below is our entire orchard, where we grow the apple we need to live. If you look closely you can see the trail the local buffalo use for their stampede, but right now you can see that cider machine belonging to Flim and Flam running around it."

"Braeburn!"

"Yes cousin Applejack?"

"It's those two I needed to talk to you about," she said pointing to the trail.

"Those two?" he said, looking out towards the field. "Oh you must be talkin' bout Flim and Flam down there." Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Coop suddenly rushed him.

"Are they trying to run you outta business?" asked Rainbow.

"Have they tricked you out of the orchard?" Applejack wondered.

"Did they sing a catchy song?" Coop said.

"Uh… Well, no they haven't done any of that stuff, cept for the last one," said Braeburn, stepping back from the three of them.

"Aww, I wanted to hear that song," Coop said as he kicked the dirt.

"Truth is, they came to town a few days ago spoutin' about how great their cider makin' machine is. Thing is we're a town of settler ponies, so we don't really have much need for somethin' like that. But they're still hangin' around. I figure they must be tryin' to find another way to impress us with that machine of theirs. Since they haven't caused us any trouble, we don't mind them stayin'. But if you wanna have a look for yourself come on down. Who knows, maybe if you ask em they'll perform that song again for ya Coop."

Arriving at the center of the orchard, Applejack immediately started scanning around, searching for signs of anything suspicious. While she was busy playing detective, the ground started rumbling. Braeburn pointed down the trail to an object fast approaching. "That must be them."

Chugging down the dirt road was a large red vehicle. Its two largest wheels rolled as steam puffed out from its set of pipe stacks popping out from its rear. It squealed as its breaks brought the four wheel locomotive to a halt.

Walking over to the whimsical looking machine, the Applejack along with Rainbow Dash and Coop noticed two slim unicorns wearing matching blue and white striped vests and boater hats sitting on the couch seat behind the podium at the front of the car. The two atop the machine leaned out from their cushion seat, noticing Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

"Oh my, oh my. Do my eyes deceive me Flam, or are those the same ponies from Ponyville?"

"You're right Flim, and it looks like they brought along a friend of theirs, a rather round one at that."

A ray of light shining off Coop's car attracted their attention. "Looky there brother, they've even brought along a machine of their own. What's the matter little Apple, you realized you needed our machine and tried making one yourself?" Flim said as they both shared a laugh.

"Just look at the pathetic looking machine. It looks like it could hardly make one barrel of cider let alone even move. Nyahahahahaha," Flam added.

With his face turning red, Coop marched right up to the laughing duo, stopping right in front of their machine as he glared up at the two of them. "Nopony, and I mean nopony calls my car pathetic. Especially not some goofy looking chumps, riding some steam powered hunk of junk. It may not make any cider, but I know I can run circles around what you call a machine," he said, kicking his hoof against Super Speedy Cider Squeezy's pilot plow.

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash chimed in.

"Is that so?" said Flim as he and Flam leaned in closer to him.

"That little kart of yours probably couldn't even keep up with ours for a second," Flam added.

"Oh yeah!" Coop shouted eyeing the two them with a raised brow.

"Yeah!" they replied, jumping down. Shoving against one another, their quarrel started drawing in a crowd. Even a passing herd of buffalo stopped to see what the commotion was about.

"How's about we have a race to find out?" said Coop.

"You honestly think you stand a chance against us?"

"Yup."

Flim and Flam backed away and started talking between themselves.

"What do you think Flam? Should we go along with this?"

"I don't see why not Flim. We've got nothing to lose and, by winning we can impress the townsfolk even more, maybe enough to boost our sale of cider."

The rallying group of ponies and buffalos were getting excited over the prospect of a race. A large buffalo stepped forth from the crowd, walking up to the three colts. "If you three intend to hold a race then might I offer our stampeding trail as a track."

Recognizing the figure, Rainbow Dash quickly flew over, landing beside the buffalo. "Chief Thunderhooves! It's so good to see you again."

"Why Rainbow Dash, what a delightful surprise to see you again. What brings you to Appleloosa?"

She tilts her head, pointing towards Coop. "I'm visiting with a friend of mine."

"I see. So I take it you'll be taking part in this race too?"

"Heck yeah, I'm always up for a race, plus he's a friend. But are you sure it's okay to lend your sacred stampeding ground for a race?"

A young female buffalo jumped out from the crowd, landing beside the Chief. "Are you kidding Rainbow Dash, we buffalo always love a good race."

Applejack, making her way through the crowd, saw who Rainbow Dash was talking to. "Little Strongheart!" she shouted, rushing over to join Rainbow in hugging their friend.

"Rainbow Dash, Applejack. It's been awhile."

While they were having a happy reunion, Flim, Flam, and Coop were still exchanging vicious scowls. "Well then it looks like we have a race," said Flim.

"What do you say we start at noon tomorrow?" Flam said as he and his brother extended their hooves out.

Without hesitation, Coop swatted his hoof down on the pair before him. "You're on!"

"Excellent! Then it's agreed." Flim said as the two of them hopped aboard their machine. "We'll have a race here at the Appleloosa trail at noon tomorrow. Until then, my brother and I bid you—"

"Adieu," Flam concluded, both of them bowing as their contraption sped away, vanishing in the distance.

With the Flim Flam brothers gone, everypony went back to their routine, still buzzing about what was going to take place the next day. Braeburn, jittering with excitement, trotted over to Coop,.

"Hoo boy, a good ol' fashioned carriage race. I haven't seen one in years. Supposin' this ones gonna be extra special considerin' this'll be the first time the carriages won't have ponies pulling it."

Rainbow Dash flew over to them, with Applejack, Little Strongheart and Chief Thunderhooves following behind. "This is gonna be so awesome! I can't wait till we beat those creeps tomorrow." Landing beside Little Strongheart, she placed a hoof around her shoulder. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Coop, I'd like to introduce you to my friends, Little Strongheart and Chief Thunderhooves."

After a night of introductions and pleasantries, the time for the big race had come. Over at the Appleloosa orchard, both teams were preparing themselves at the starting line. On the edge of the track, where the crowd stood watching, Rainbow Dash was having a chat with Chief Thunderhooves and Little Strongheart.

"Wish me and my friends luck you two."

Little Strongheart vigorously nodded her head. "Oh course Rainbow Dash, best of luck to all three of you. Though I'm a little worried about Coop. I've never seen anypony each as much as he did last night. I think the stress may be getting to him."

Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck as she flashed a small grin. "Actually that's how much he normally eats."

Chief Thunderhooves' eyes instantly widened. "That's normal?"

"Well I better get back now, the race is about to start." The two buffalos waved her off as she flew back to her friends at the starting line.

Both vehicles were at the starting line. Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Coop looked over to their right, receiving a casual wave by Flim and Flam as they leisurely sat in their couch. Each side of the track was lined with an assortment of ponies and buffalo. Their cheers got louder as Braeburn and Sheriff Silverstar trotted over to the front of the racer's karts.

"Alright everypony, Sheriff Silverstar here'll go over the rules for the race."

The blue vest wearing colt cleared his throat. "Alright then. The rules are simple. First team to make three laps around the track is the winner."

Braeburn leaned over to him. "That's it?"

"Oh right. It's been awhile since we'd had a good race, so make it exciting," the sheriff said as he started walked back out of the track, leaving Braeburn holding the checkered flag.

"Uh, well, you heard him." With checkered flag in mouth, Braeburn raised it as high as he could. "Ok ya'll! Best of luck. On your marks. Get set. Go!"

Down went the flag and the two teams were off, leaving twin trials of dust beside Braeburn. Making the first lap, both teams kept even with each other, slowly getting a feel for each other as they navigated through the windy course. Now heading down the straight away, nearing the starting line and the second lap, both teams started picking up speed. Coop tightened his grip on the wheel as they entered the second lap.

"Ok girls, this is where things get serious."

Gaining a big lead on the two brothers, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but poke her head out the right side. "So much for them beating us," she said, looking back to see Flim and Flam falling further and further behind.

"I know, they actually thought that wagon of theirs could keep up." As Coop and Rainbow Dash shared a laugh, something on the road ahead caught Applejack's eye.

"Look out!" she hollered, lunging over to the wheel, turning the car just in time to avoid hitting a barrel in the middle of the road. The sudden turn forced Rainbow Dash to the other side. Shaking off the shock, she looked back, noticing lone keg.

"Where the hay did that thing come from?"

"I get a feelin' it came from behind us, Rainbow," Applejack said as she stared, wide eyed, towards the sky behind them. "Uh guys look."

Turning around, the images of wooden barrels reflected off her bright rose eyes as they soared past the open convertible. "Whoa! Good thing those things aren't headed straight for us."

"I don't think they were supposed to" Coop replied.

Landing on the race track ahead, Coop swerved to avoid the wooden road hazards. As she watched Coop dodge the oncoming barrels, holding onto her hat, Applejack heard troubling noises coming from their rear. "We've got trouble coming from behind!"

"What the?" Coop said, making a hard left, just in time to avoid the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy as it chugged past them. Plowing right through any barrel in its path, shattering them with its pilot plow, the Flim Flam brother moved ahead while Coop and the girls fell behind, still dodging the wooden kegs.

Applejack slammed a hoof on the dashboard watching them get away. "Those no good cheats! They can't do that!"

"Well they just did. Come on Coop, we gotta catch up to them," answered Rainbow Dash.

Making it through the obstacles and with his hoof firmly on the gas, Coop closed in on Flim and Flam. Spotting the hot rod gaining on them, Flam signaled over to his brother. "Ok Flim, they're in position."

With a scheming grin, Flim reached over to a lever on his right. "Let's give those Ponyville ponies a taste of our world famous cider." Pulling on the lever, the rear door on their machine opened, releasing its cargo.

"Augh, more barrels." he groaned, swerving again to avoid the rolling drums.

Getting through unscathed, they caught up to the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy. Racing along besides one another, they exchanged dirty looks as their roaring engines pushed them onward. In the hot rod, the ponies on board were shaken up as Flim and Flam rammed their kart into them. Forcing their machine against them, Flim and Flam were pushing them off the track. Coop fought against them, both hooves on the steering wheel, turning with all his might, but they were still slowly heading off track.

"Oh no you don't! Come on A.J., If they're gonna shove, we'll just shove right back." Rainbow Dash hollered, positioning her back legs.

"On it R.D.," Applejack answered, joining her.

Together they gave the brother's car their best kick, knocking it to the other edge of the track. Grinding against the fence post, the Flim Flam brothers fell behind as Coop, Applejack and Rainbow Dash sped off.

As they past, Rainbow Dash looked back. "Those cheats!" she growled. "I oughta fly over there and teach them a lesson!" she said, flapping her wings.

"No!" Applejack yelled, catching Rainbow as she took off, yanking her to the back seat. "It won't do us any good to stoop to their level."

Now trailing behind, Flim and Flam watched as they sped away. "Hmm, it appears as though those ponies might pose a problem. You all set to use that Flam?"

"All set Flim," he answered, his horn glowing as the two of them began laughing.

Making their way past the curvy portion of the track, the team of Coop, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were headed down a long narrow trail.

Rainbow Dash poked her head back. "Hahah, those brothers were all talk."

"So much for 'super speedy'," Coop said as he and Rainbow laughed.

"Guys I don't think we should celebrate just yet."

"What do you mean Applejack? Were in the lead, and those two are so far behind I can't even see them. What's to worry about?" Rainbow asked, casually waving her hoof.

"Well fer starters, we've stopped moving."

"What?" Both Coop and Rainbow Dash said, looking over the sides. The tires were spinning against the ground but they weren't moving. Stranger still was that the wind still seemed like it was blowing past them. They all turned back to see what's going on.

"Oh come on!" shouted Rainbow Dash.

Behind them was a giant vacuum, holding them in place with its powerful suction. Planting his hoof on the gas, trying to break free, Coop's efforts were unsuccessful. As he continued, Applejack and Rainbow Dash could hear the chugging engine sounds belonging to Flim and Flam's machine slowly approaching.

"Floor it Coop! We've gotta break free from that thing," said Applejack as she wrapped her hoof over her head, protecting her hat from being sucked up.

"I got it! Be right back." Rainbow Dash flew around the massive hose and gave it a good tackle, knocking it away and freeing the car from its pull. With nothing holding them back anymore, they recuperated their lost distance. As she fixed her hat, Applejack noticed familiar looking objects flying towards them.

"We've got more barrels incomin'. R.D., see what you can do about stoppin' em."

"Leave it to me!" she saluted. With a flap of her wings she flew up to the horde of kegs. Bucking one, it shattered against her hooves, splashing sticky cider on her wings. She moved on to the others, smashing barrel after barrel. With each destroyed barrel more cider drenched her wings. "I can't keep this up. With all this cider making my wings sticky!" she said to herself. Flying up towards one of the nearby clouds, Rainbow Dash glided right through it. Spreading her wings as she soared through, the waters inside washed her wings clean.

One lone barrel remained, heading straight for the two Earth ponies. Applejack, seeing it, pulled out her lasso. "I've got this one!" Twirling her rope overhead, she roped the barrel and swung it back where it came from. "Let's see how those two like a taste of their own medicine."

"I think they're catching on to us brother," said Flam, wiping cider off his moustache.

"Then we'll have to show them that the name SuperSpeedy isn't only about cider making."

A twin set of lights hit the narrow spouts at the top of the machine. The giant electric tube behind the couch flickered wildly in reaction to the magical boost. The chugging engine's tempo picked up speed as it started moving faster down the track.

Reaching the end of the second lap, Rainbow Dash waved to the cheering crowd as they sped by. She turned to her partners in the front seats. "Just one more lap to go guys. We've totally got this!"

Just as a sense of confidence was washing over them, a laughing blur whizzed past them, leaving the three ponies choking in a cloud of dirt.

"Was that, cough, who I think It was?" asked Applejack as she fanned the dirt away.

"I guess they're pulling out all the stops this time," Coop said. A confident smile widened on his face as he accelerated.

"I don't believe this! They're catching up to us." Flam panicked. peering over his seat.

"Worry not brother, we just need to give them another taste of our sweet, sweet cider."

"But we've run out."

Flim, with his hoof on his chin, looked over to the hundreds of trees that lined the track. "Not to worry, we'll just borrow some apples from the locals."

Using his magic to prop up their vacuum hose, he started sucking up apple after apple from the trees. As they rushed down the road, countless trees were robbed of their fruit, all to refill the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy's cider tanks.

Catching up, Coop noticed something painfully familiar heading their way. "More barrels," he groaned. "Don't these guys ever quit?"

This time it was a perfectly lined row coming at them, none of them could see a way to avoid them. Hitting the roof button, the top came back up just in time as they crashed head on with one of the barrels. its juices splattered all over the car's red exterior, quickly becoming sticky gunk.

"Great this stuff is slowing us down. Rainbow Dash, you think you can give us a quick cloud wash?"

"You got it Coop, one cloud wash coming up."

Flying out the window and up to the clouds once more, Rainbow pushed one over the sluggish hot rod. Hopping on it repeatedly, rain started falling, showering the car until it was squeaky clean. With the roof opening up again, Rainbow dove back down to take her seat. "Alright Coop, hoof that gas!"

Up ahead Flim and Flam, wallowed in their confidence. "Mwahaha. We've got them now Flam. There's no way those ponies can catch up to us."

Still laughing, Flam took a peek behind them and started tapping Flim's shoulder. "Brother I'm afraid we may have spoke too soon."

Flim gasped as he saw they trio quickly catching up. "Quickly brother, we got to launch more barrels!"

"We're out of cider again!" Flam shouted, tugging on the brim of his hat.

Flim's horn started glowing again. "Then we'll need to get more."

"It's too late!" Flam interrupted. Roaring past them, Rainbow leaned out of the side and crossed her eyes as she stuck her tongue out at them.

Flim gnashed his teeth, watching them drive away. "Double the power! We can't let them get away!" Launching a beam of magic from their horns, their contraption rattled more then ever. Gears inside gyrated wildly, the wheels spun faster. Blasting forward, Flim and Flam were forced back into their couch.

Nearing a to a sharp turn, Coop slowed a little.

"Coop,you may not want to slow down!" Rainbow Dash yelled, keeping a watch behind them.

"What, more lousy barrels?"

"I wish."

Applejack tilted her head to the side mirror to see what had Rainbow so worried. "Whoa Nelly…"

Checking his rear view, Coop saw what had the girls so worried. Behind them was the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy. Headed like a missile towards them, its pilot plow carved into the trail, leaving path of destruction behind it as it blasted by.

"Coop, whatever you do don't slow down!" Applejack said as she looked over to apple tree on the inside corner of the turn. "Just keep going Coop, I've got an Idea."

Pulling out her lasso again, she expertly lassoed it around the tree. Biting down on the rope, she held on as tight as she could as they made the turn. Still biting down, she grabbed the bottom of her seat, but the pull was too strong and it yanked her away.

"Applejack!" Coop yelled, grabbing her before she was pulled away. Barely clutching onto the wheel with his hind legs, he didn't let go of A.J., who was still holding onto the rope.

Rainbow Dash, seeing her friends in peril, lunged, catching Coop just as his legs slipped. With her back legs now wrapped as she wrapped around the wheel, she flapped her wings trying desperately to pull the two of them back in.

"Ahhh!" They cried, dangling over the ground as they started swing the car around the tree. Making the turn, Applejack let go of the rope, flinging the three of them back into the car.

"Yaaaah!" "Whoa!" "Waaa—oof"

Rainbow managed to land back in her seat, but Applejack and Coop had swapped. Applejack took control of the wheel, while Coop struggled to flip himself right side up

"That was awesome!" Rainbow shouted flinging her hooves in to the sky, with a giant smile stretched from cheek to cheek. "There's no way those Flim Flam jerks can make that turn. We've totally got this th—" Her smile flipped as the sudden sound of a train horn caused a bead of sweat to run down her cheek.

Slowly turning her head to the source of the sound, she noticed tree after tree being tossed upward, the sound of cracking as they were flung was getting closer. Whatever was carving its way through the orchard was heading straight for them, and it was heading fast. She gulped as the last layer of trees blocking her sight was decimated. "Guys we've got trouble!"

"Make that double!" said Flam, stroking his moustache as their machine burst through the trees and back onto the track.

"You ponies have sure given us a run for our bits!" Flim said as his horn began to glow.

"But now it's time we show you what our machine can really do!" Flam added as his horn began to glow aswell.

Together they maneuvered their vacuum right behind the hot rod. The apples from the nearby trees were helplessly plucked by the force of their machine's suction power. Applejack put the pedal to the floor, but they were still being pulled in.

"Rainbow, anyway you can stop that thing?"

Clinging onto her seat for dear life, she gave a sullen stare to her. "You joking right?"

"I didn't think so. Darn it there's gotta be somethin' we can do." Looking around she suddenly noticed a knob by her knee.

Still upside down, Coop's eyes widen, noticing her reaching for the knob. "Wait Applejack, you're not about to do what I think you're about to do," he said, reaching a hoof out as if to stop her. She only looked down at him and nodded as she pulled.

"Noooo!" he cried as the trunk door flew open, letting loose a torrent of various foods. "My snacks!" he yelled as a surge of edibles emptied out from the back of the car. Rainbow Dash watched as the stream of food just kept going.

"Geez Coop, how much food did you bring along?"

"It was just enough to last me the trip. But now, it's all gone," he wailed, flailing his feet about.

Applejack looked over to the upset colt. "I terribly sorry bout that Coop, but it's the only way. I'll make it up to ya later, I promise."

Sucking down the near endless river of food, the giant vacuum jammed. Free and clear, Applejack continued driving, but the brothers were still on their tail and gaining.

"Okay you two, hold on tight!" Applejack shouted as she slammed her hoof on the bright red nitrous button. Blue flames burst forth from the tail pipe, as they started distancing themselves from the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy, leaving both brothers to watch as their competition sped away.

"Flim, they're still getting away."

"We've got to double the power Flam!"

"But we already did."

"Then do it again! We are not going to lose to them."

Making the final turn Applejack breathed a sigh of relief. "Ok ya'll, just a straight path to the finish. We got this in the—" Shadows from above instantly grabbed her attention. "Aw nuts."

Barrel after barrel flew past them, partially blocking out the sun as landing along the track. Applejack focused on the road ahead and continued forward. Finally turning himself right side up, Coop did it just in time for his belly to provide a cushion for a barrel as it landed in his lap.

"Aren't you gonna toss that away?" Rainbow wondered as she watched him examine the container.

"Do you remember what the last thing they sucked up was?" he asked.

She tilted her head. "Yeah, a bunch of apples along all of your food in the trunk—" Rainbow gagged slightly, as she and Applejack realized what he was after.

"Yuck!"

"Nasty!"

As they struggled to hold down their lunches, Flim and Flam were ramming their way through the field of barrels. The various liquids splattered all over them as they smashed into each keg. With the finish line only a distance away, Flim and Flam had caught up with Applejack, and were making their way past her.

"See you ponies at the finish line," Flam taunted, as he and his brother casually waved at them.

Applejack hit the wheel as she watched the two of them pull away. "Consarn it, I'm already goin' as fast as we can go. Can't we do somethin' to stop em?"

Coop reached his hoof under his seat, scrounging around for something. His head suddenly jostled as he felt something unfamiliar, something moving. Yanking out the mystery item, he held whatever it was in front of him.

"Huh? A turtle shell?"

Recognizing the little reptile in his hooves, Rainbow Dash quickly grabbed it away. "Tank! What are you doing here?"

"Aww, well ain't that sweet. The little guy must've snuck aboard to tag along for the trip," said Applejack

Coop turned back, looking over to the two of them, specifically the tortoise. "Rainbow Dash, I've got an idea, but I'm going to have to barrow Tank," he said, extending his hoof out.

Rainbow stared at him with a raised a brow. "What are you up to?"

Pressing a button on the dashboard, the center of the car hood slid open, letting a long metal cylinder that pop out. A square compartment then rose up in the space between him and Rainbow Dash, and the hatch at the top swung open.

"Tank is about to win us the race."

Rainbow and Tank looked at the cannon on the hood of the car, then to the hatch in front of them. She leaned back into her seat, tightening her grip on Tank as she vigorously shook her head. "No way! There's no way I'm going to do that to Tank."

As she continued shaking, she felt something press against her chin, she stopped and looked do to see Tank's beady black eyes looking up at her. She recognized that look of his and sighed.

"You're one crazy little tortoise, you know that right?" Tank slowly nodded at her. "Well, good thing you've got an owner who's just as crazy, because you're not doing this alone." With Tank in hoof, Rainbow Dash flew over to the front of the car and placed Tank and herself inside the barrel of the cannon.

"And I thought the whole turtle launchin' thing was a crazy idea. Rainbow Dash, get outta there." said Applejack

"Well, we're outta ideas, so we might as well try something crazy." Rainbow said as she finished position herself. "All set Coop!"

With her in position, Coop looked over to Applejack who was frantically shaking her head in opposition. "Go get em you two," he said, saluting them, as his hoof press the oddly sticky note labeled "Fire Rainbow Dash" button.

"No problem, you're talking to the fastest pegasus and best pet in all Equestriaaaaaaah!" The cannon fired, launching the two living bullets forward.

Over in the final stretch, Flim and Flam were taking it easy. "This time there's no way they can catch up, right Flim?"

"You said it Flam. In fact, let's see just how far we left those ponies in our dust."

Looking over the back of their seat, they noticed something unusual rapidly approaching.

"What is that thing Flim?"

"I don't know. It looked like a green turtle shell. Or maybe it's blue."

"Are those wings on it?"

"Whatever it is, it's heading straight for us. Brace for impact!"

"Yaaaaaaaaah!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she and Tank crash right into them, causing a blast that sent them all into the air.

Applejack drove by, managing to safely catch Tank and Rainbow Dash as they fell from the sky.

"Nice!" Coop complimented as he, Rainbow and Tank hoof bumped each other.

"Almost there you guy!" Applejack shouted, focusing on the finish line just ahead.

"Not so Fast!" a voice cried out from above.

"You didn't really think our machine would be taken out that easily?" a second voice added.

Landing right beside them, with an Earth shacking thump, was the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. Dented, scratched, burnt and misshapen, it still was managing to keep up with Applejack and friends.

"Man these guys don't quit. Gotta admire that," said Coop.

"Well neither does an Apple family pony," Applejack sated as she opened up the throttle.

The two were neck and neck, coming up to the finish line. The roar of the crowd grew louder as they got closer. The racers was leaning forward; pushing their machines to the limit as they finally passed the finish line.

Screeching to a halt both teams jumped out of their karts and looked over to the screaming crowd, anxious to hear the results. They made their way over to Baeburn, who appeared to be having a heated discussion with Sheriff Silverstar and Chief Thunderhooves.

"We won!" shouted Rainbow Dash.

"No, we won!" Flim protested.

"Nuh uh!" Coop replied.

"Will somepony just tell us who won the race already?" Applejack asked, looking over to the three still discussing.

"Who cares!" The mob cried back.

Hearing that, the teams realized that everypony was giving angry looks and booing and hissing them, specifically Flim and Flam.

"You two and your newfangled machine, you've ruined our fields!" Silverstar hollered.

"You destroyed our sacred stampeding grounds," Chief Thunderhooves bellowed.

"Ya'll done uprooted a whole mess a trees, stripped the apples from dozens more and left another bunch buried under piles of dirt!" Braeburn shouted, stomping his hoof down.

"Yeah!" the crowd yelled, stomping their hoof down in unison.

Flim and Flam, cowering from the mob's outrage, slowly backed away, hopping aboard their banged up machine. "It looks as though we may have overstayed out welcome here in Appleloosa, right Flam?"

"Right Flim. Bail?"

"Bail," Flim nodded as they drove away with a group of Appleloosens giving chase. As they sped away the two of them looked over to Applejack and her friends. "This isn't over little Apple!" Flim said, shaking his hoof at them.

"We'll make sure we beat you next time!" Flam added, shaking his hoof as well as they both ran off in the distance.

A few days later, flying across the prairie, Megas was making its way towards Appleloosa, both arms loaded with apple trees.

"Is this the last one?" Coop groaned.

Applejack looked out the window, counting the trees. "Yup. With these last trees, it should be enough to make up for all the ones lost. Good thing we got Megas here to help us bring these trees quick."

"After all the trouble we caused it the least we could do." Rainbow dash added as she sat behind the wheel with Tank standing on the steering wheel. "Thanks again Coop for letting me drive Megas."

No sweat. This way I get to enjoy all the snacks I want," he said, patting the keg he had beside him as he sipped on the straw poking out of the top. "Ah! You two wanna try? It's really good."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked back. Recognizing the barrel, both ponies placed their hooves over their mouths, fighting the urge to gag again.

"More for me then," Coop said, continuing to drink as they continued heading to Appleloosa. "You girls think we could visit Little Strongheart and Chief Thunderhooves? I could go for more of the mushy stuff. Who's with me?"

Pranking level: G-1

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My Little Megas XLR

Chapter 7.5: Pranking level: G-1.

"Huh? Where am I?"

Rising out of bed, Coop looked around to find he was somewhere different from Twilight Sparkle's guest bedroom. Observing his surroundings, he found the room rather empty. Except for the bed, the window and the door, there really wasn't anything notable. Making his way to the door, he poked his head out.

"Twilight?"

"I'm over her Coop." called out her familiar voice at the other end of a hallway.

He walked down the empty corridor that led to the main chamber and a sight he couldn't believe. "Twilight Sparkle? Is that you?" he said looking at an unfamiliar unicorn.

"Twilight Sparkle? Who's that Coop?" the pink unicorn said, furrowing her brows as she stared at him.

The pony had the same voice as Twilight Sparkle, but other than that she was completely different. She was thicker and had white hair with a purple streak going through her mane and tail. Even her cutie mark was different. "You're not Twilight."

She jerked her head back. "What? Oh course I'm Twilight, that's my name. What's the matter with you silly?" she said as she started to giggle.

"Ok… This is weird," he says, looking at the foreign mare. "What in Ponyville is going on?"

She suddenly tilts her head at him. "Ponyville? Where's that? I've never heard of a place like that in Ponyland before."

"Ponyland? Wait, I thought this was Equestrian? Ok something is definitely going on."

Coop ran past her, going out the door. What he saw was not the familiar sight of the town he'd gotten use to, but of a lush hillside where more of the chunky looking ponies were playing about. "Where am I?" he said as his eyes darted all over, failing to find one shred of familiarity.

"Coop, this is Ponyland remember? Their no such thing as Equestria," said Twilight as she caught up to him. She looked out and saw the other ponies frolicking in the fields "It sure is a beautiful day today. Come on Coop lets go play with everypony."

Still confused over what was going on, Coop decided to follow her along. He trotted behind her, trying to find any clues about the strange place he's woken up to. Reaching the other ponies, Twilight ran off to join them. Coop sat down, placing his hoof to his chin as he tried figuring out just what was going on.

"Excuse me Coop, are you okay? You look rather upset about something," said a familiar voice behind him.

He turned to face her. "Oh hey Fluttershy."

The pony tilted her head, giving him the same look the unicorn named Twilight had just a few minutes earlier. "Fluttershy? Who's that? My name is Posey, remember Coop."

His eye twitched slightly. "What! But you look just like Fluttershy. Your mane, your coat, your wings… Where are your wings?" He cried, looking over her back.

"I've never had wings. You know I'm not a pegasus pony." She looked down at the colt, who was now in a fetal position. "You must not be feeling well Coop." She reached into a basket she was carrying and pulled out a Posey. "Here, maybe this will help you feel better."

staring at the flower placed before him, Coop rolled over on his back, looking up at the sky. Suddenly a flash of light appeared by the two of them. Posey, frightened by the flash dropped her basket.

"Oh, Twilight, you scared me," she said looking at the pony who popped up.

"Sorry Posey, I guess I should be more careful where I wink in." Twilight looked over to the colt who was still on his back. "Are you feeling better Coop?"

Up above them a pegasus pony, soaring in the sky, looked down towards the three of them and flew down. "Hey everypony what's up?"

Coop covered his eyes upon hearing Rainbow Dash's voice come from the pink coated, blue haired pony's mouth.

"Firefly, something is wrong with Coop."

The three girls leaned in, observing him.

"What are you all doing?" called out another familiar voice.

Coop moved his hooves to catch a glimpse of which pony had Rarity's voice. Coop started to rising up as he saw the voices owner appeared to look just like her.

"Oh, hello Sparkler."

Hearing Twilight say the mystery mare's name, he plopped back to the ground and pressed his hooves against his eyes. With his mind utterly befuddled, Coop remained motionless as the ponies surrounding him were discussing what was wrong. Suddenly a new voice joined in.

"Surprise!" the unmistakable voice exuberantly yelled, cutting into the conversation as it startled everyone.

Hearing her voice, he saw a ray of hope. Coop slowly moved his hooves away to see if it was who he thought it was. He rose up and opened his eyes.

"Oh Surprise, you always get us," said Firefly.

Seeing the white pegasus, Coop snapped.

"What is going on!" he cried, stretching his hooves into the air.

"Hahahaha. This is just too rich."

"I think that's enough Rainbow."

"Yeah, you're probably right Twilight. This definitely makes up for that time he crashed Megas into my home. I still can't believe you went along with me on this prank."

"Well I read a book before about dreams and how to manipulate them, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to practice what I've learned. Plus this is payback for the time Coop launched a missile into the library."

Inside Twilight Sparkle's guest bedroom, she and Rainbow Dash quietly laughed between themselves as Coop tussled in his bed, struggling with a very bizarre dream.

The Doctor's Visit

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My Little Megas XLR.

Chapter 8: A Doctor Visit.

Down, beneath the dense leafy rooftops of the Everfree Forest. A small, insignificant piece of scrap metal was lying alone in the darkness. The black device, a fusion of circuits and metal, seemed out of place surrounded by the forest's lush flora. Whatever it once was apart of, it now remained silent, motionless; hidden away from the warm rays of the sun, hopefully never to be disturbed.

Interrupting that silence was an odd grinding noise. A sort of metal screeching sound that proceeded to fade in and out in volume. Accompanying the noise was a blue wooden booth that materialized in the woods out of nowhere. Each of its sides were decorated with white shaded windows and at it top was a label that read "Police Public Call Box". The screeching died down, finally coming to a halt and the booth's doors slowly creaked open to reveal an earth pony step outside. Walking upright on his back hooves the mysterious stallion circled around to take in his surroundings.

"Ah, finally arrived. The warm waters, the crystal reefs, the endless sea of trees blocking out all sunlight. Now hold on a second. This isn't the warm crystal beaches of Nal Verasef Three."

He looked out to the forest, scratching hoof against his dark amber mane. He then turned back and walked towards the booth he came from and placed his right hoof on it. "Now why'd you bring me to this place?" he asked, looking up towards the top of the box. Moving his head back down, he became aware of his hoof.

"Oh, fancy that," he said to himself, amused by the sight as he held his hoof in front of him.

His eyes trailed up his leg, soon realizing that the rest of his body had also been changed. "Let's see now; brown fur, mane, long face, four legs with hooves at the end, a bushy tail, aaaaaannnnnnd…" he turned his head to look over his shoulder and checked his backside, "yes, the hour glass crest on my rump. So then, I'm a pony... again. Meaning I must be in Equestria." He put his attention to the trees that surrounded him. "And by the looks of it, I'd say smack dab in the middle of the Everfree Forest. So then, why was I—" He was unexpectedly interrupted by a nearby crash that rocked the area. "Ahah! That must be why I was brought here."

Galloping over rocks and roots to investigate the origin of the crash, his expectations were dulled by what he discovered. "Oh come now, a hydra? That's it? Well that's just, boring," he said, annoyed over the four headed beast laying on the ground. "I'm missing out on getting a tan under the three suns of the Pelokti system for this. Fine, If that's all it is let me just—" As he walked away, making his way back to his booth, another crash caused him to pause.

"Alright, two hydras. Maybe this won't be so boring after all," he said, turning to what he expected was a second four headed beast. He turned his head up, surprised to see the second crash belonged to a metal blue giant. "Well, that's something new."

The hydra sprang back to life and attack the giant. Circling around the two dueling colossi, being careful not to alert them of his presence, the stallion noticed that the head of the giant was actually a car. He managed to get a peek inside and noticed that two ponies were inside who appeared to be in the middle of a discussion.

"Coop! I told you to be careful." said Twilight Sparkle, her head bobbing back and forth as Megas wrestled with the creature.

The colt at the wheel looked over to her in the passenger seat and shrugged at her. "What's the big deal Twilight? It's only a bunch of trees. It not like a hit any buildings or anyone."

Shooting him a sullen look, Twilight Sparkle pointed to the rear window. "What about that?"

Adjusting his rearview mirror to get a look, Coop noticed an E.D. radio station billboard behind them, or at least what was left of it. Thanks to the modifications a hydra made when it was hurled through it, the sign now had a hydra sized hole in its center.

"Ah it looks better that why anyhow. Besides, who's gonna read that thing way out here." he replied, waving his hoof in disregard. He then grabbed his game controller and tapped a button to grab the hydra by its tail. "Just give me one more try, please?"

Twilight stared at him Coop who was shooting her a pair of puppy dog eyes. "Fine," she sighed. "Just one more try."

"I'll make it into the bog for sure this time," Coop said, grabbing hold and turning the steering wheel.

Megas began spinning, Twilight dug her hooves into her seat they began rotating faster and faster. The force from the intensifying speed now locked her in place as everything out the window now appeared like a giant blur. "I sure hope so," she hardly managed to say.

Over in the newly created gap in the trees, sunlight shined on the soil for the first time in ages. Its warm rays cast down upon the lonely little device lying in the dark and, reacting to the sun's warmth, began to come to life. A red speck of light shimmered on a small circular lens in the center of it and blue lights shined from its circuitry. The cherry colored illumination scrambled about the boundaries of its lens, surveying its surroundings. It's lights flashed for when it came upon the blue box in the distance. Fixated on the wooden structure, its wires moved out of its casing like tentacles and slowly began pulling itself over. The device made significant progress, reached the end of the sunlit area, but paused before the shadows of the trees. Its target, just a few feet away, was in the dark shaded region of the forest.

The lone stallion, to which the booth belonged to, continued to watch as a spinning Megas finally released the hydra, hammer throwing the beast into the wild blue yonder before its rear rockets ignited and it flew off as well.

"Well, there's something you don't see every day, especially not 'round here." he commented, left standing at the edge where the action had taken place. "What is a bipedal machine like that doing in a land of quadrupedal equine? Certainly far too advanced for this planets inhabitants to have made themselves. Let alone even have the need for such a destructive thing." He stood there, looking at the direction the mech flew off towards. "One thing's for sure, I recognized that girl aboard. And if things haven't changed too much since my last trip there, I think it'd be best to pay Ponyville another visit."

As he made his way back inside his phone booth, shutting the door behind him, the little device was now a mere inches away. While the box began to make its grinding sounds again, the small contraption swiped its cable, missing it as the box vanished before it. With its target gone, the little device was now stuck alone in the dark once again. It's circuit lights began to fade in the shadows. Sensing it was shutting down, the scrap desperately tried crawling back towards the sunlight. But, with its energy depleted, it slumped on the dirt and fell silent once more.

While everything fell back to its usual tranquility, a light suddenly appeared, hovering in midair before the shutdown device exactly where the blue box had just vanished, it expanded, forming a crack in the air. The mysterious glowing rupture opened wider and an eerie growl could be heard coming from inside it. Whatever was on the other side was getting closer. Down below the phenomenon, the lights of the deactivated device began to come to life once more, in reaction to the mysterious entity headed its way.

Ponyville was tranquil as always. Everyone went on with their daily lives, shopping, working, chatting, whatever else ponies would do. It was a routine day as always. Something which struck an earth pony who was strolling about as odd

"A town inhabited by hundreds of peaceful rural ponies. A giant robot comes flying over in this direction and they all seem as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Am I missing something?"

Continuing his walk, trying and find any clues that would lead him to the mysterious robot, he finally spotted the two ponies he saw from earlier. He quickly hid behind some wooden wagons and watched the two of them. "There they are. Now, maybe I can find out what's going on around here."

Twilight and Coop making their way back to the library. They both were enjoying some ice cream as they carried saddlebags full of sweets.

"I can't believe we're bringing so much back with us. Don't you think you've eaten plenty back there with Pinkie Pie while we were at Sugarcube Corner?" Twilight asked as the weight of her bags started to overcome her.

"What can I say; I always get hunger after fighting off giant monsters." Coop replied, finishing off the rest of his ice cream in one gulp.

Twilight sighed. "Still, I feel bad for the Cakes. They always have to restock their shelves every time you stop by."

"But they tell me I'm their favorite customer."

A short distance away, hiding behind some fruit stands lining the pathway; the colt was tailing the two of them. Sticking behind carts, a group of barrels and then the back of a house in order to stay hidden. "Hmm, no sign of anything odd just yet." Too busy with his spying, he didn't notice a mare came up behind him.

"Ummm, what are you doing Doctor?"

He didn't turn, too focused on what he was doing. "I'm trying to find out what the connection is between those two and that giant robot I saw earlier."

"What giant robot?"

He turned to face the pegasus speaking to him. "The one I saw in the Everfree Forest. Now please Ditzy, I need to stay focused so I don't miss anything important," he said as he turned back to his spying.

She stood there for a few second before it finally hit him. The Doctor turned to face the pegasus standing behind him. "You're Ditzy."

"Yeah."

"Ditzy 'Derpy' Doo?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Oh, well then… Ditzy!" he shouted, standing on his back hooves to give her a hug. "It's so good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too Doctor!" she said while he embraced her.

The Doctor then snapped back to focus, leaning back against the house, pulling Ditzy with him and placing a hoof over her mouth. "Keep quite."

"Mhm?" voice muffled behind his hoof.

The Doctor poked his head out of the corner and pointed to Coop and Twilight. "Because. I'm following those two over there."

"Mmm, mmm?"

"I'm trying to—oh," he removed his hoof from her lips. "I'm trying to find out about that giant blue robot I saw earlier."

"Giant blue robot? You mean that one?" she asked, pointing towards the town library, where Megas was parked behind it, towering over the tree house.

The Doctor was left scratching his head, amazed that the eighty foot tall giant he was searching for was standing next to the tree house that barely reached its knee and towered over the rest of the town. "How did I miss that thing? It's enormous!" He cleared his throat to regain his composure. "Well anyway, now that I found it—"

"I found it," she cut in.

"Now you're just splitting hairs now. Anyways, I just need find out how those two got their hooves on such a machine."

"Uh, Doctor? Couldn't you just, oh I dunno, go over and ask them?" she asked, watching her friend peering over some barrels.

He stayed focused on the pair walking home. "Ask them? Come on Ditzy, where your sense of adventure. Haven't you ever played detective before? Investigating and finding clues makes it more fun. You should try it sometime. Just be careful, you don't want to wind up getting yourself arrested for peeping. Trust me it's hard to convince people otherwise after that."

With his pair of light grayish azure eyes trained on the two in the distance, The Doctor noticed a third pony approach them. "Look Ditzy, there's someone joining them. Maybe if we can get her alone we can interrogate her for some answers. Hmmm, that's funny. She kind of looks like you." He turned his head to see that he was talking to himself. "Ditzy?"

Standing by Coop and Twilight, she waved to him. "Over here Doctor!"

See her blow his perfect hiding spot, he sighed and moved out from behind the barrels he was crouching behind. He waved to them as he trotted over with a smile. "Hello there."

Ditzy placed a hoof over his shoulder as he stopped by her side. "This here is my friend, The Doctor."

"Thank you Ditzy," he said with a pinch of agitation in his voiced. He took a step forward and shook hooves with Twilight Sparkle. "Twilight Sparkle I presume, I've read about what you and your friend did. Might I say it is truly an honor to meet one of the legendary heroes of Equestria in person." He then turned to the colt beside her and shook his hoof as well. "Pleasure to meet you, My name is The Doctor."

"The Doctor? Doctor who? Is there more to your name or is it just The Doctor?" Twilight asked.

"It's just The Doctor. Everyone calls me The Doctor. I quite don't know why. But I call me The Doctor too. Still don't know why. Anyways that isn't important. Right now though there is something I wish to speak with the two of you about." He stared at Coop as a little grin appeared under his nose. "Let's have a talk about giant robots."

Inside Twilight Sparkle's abode, Twilight, Ditzy, Coop and The Doctor were sitting in the living room where Coop had just finished explaining his story. Needless to say, The Doctor was a little taken back by what he and Ditzy just heard.

"So you're telling me that you were originally a human from another world?"

"Yup."

"And in your world you just happened to get your hands on a colossal war machine that you happened to find in the middle of a junkyard?"

"Hey, I didn't just find it. I paid two bucks for it."

"Right, a human happens to get acquire a destructive weapon, winds up traveling through dimensions to this planet where he is turned into a pony. And now you're living here in Ponyville, where you just happen to get into situations where you have to protect the town from all sorts of dangers."

"Pretty much," Coop replied, nodding his head to him.

"This all sounds like the sort of thing you'd see in a Saturday morning cartoon. But then again here we are, So what do I know. What I do want to know is, if you've been living here for this long already and nothing has gone wrong. And by that I mean nothing you apparently can't handle, then why did I wind up here? Why now? Why this exact moment in time? When I arrived and saw you fight against that hydra today."

Coop jerked his head back slightly. "Hydra? I didn't fight a hydra. The last time I dealt with one was two weeks ago."

The Doctor stared blankly back at him. "Two weeks? No. After I saw you in the forest, I popped into my ship and... No. So then if two weeks had already passed since then, it mustn't be you then. I was brought to this time for another reason."

"Excuse me, Doctor. What do you mean when you say 'brought back to this time'?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

Still a little concerned over his discovery, he shook his head and spoke. "Well, seeing as you and Coop have plenty of experience with otherworldly thing and have been so open to me and my assistant, I suppose it won't do any harm to tell you about myself. I'm an alien, who's done quite a bit of traveling. By a lot of traveling I mean in time. I'm a time traveler. An alien with a time machine."

"A time traveling alien? But you look like a regular pony," said Twilight.

"Yeah, It's a rather complicated story. Let's just say that I'm also like our friend Coop here. Just a traveler who happened to find his way into your dimension." He leaned forward on his wooden chair and looked over to the colt sitting to his right. "So, Coop, interesting name by the way, is it short for something?"

"Cooplowski."

"Right, sorry I asked. I can see why you prefer the nickname. Anyway, what say you giving me a guided tour of your ride eh?"

Now outside, The Doctor circled around and examined Megas. "I like your choice in color, and the flames are a nice touch. Judging by the look of it, I'd say you did it yourself."

"You've got a good eye on you Doc. It took me days but it turned out just perfect." Digging his muzzle into his red vest pocket, he pulled out his keys and dangled them in his mouth. "Sho, wanna take a look inshide?" Coop asked with the keys still in his mouth.

Inside hotrod cockpit, with hundreds of switches before him, The Doctor was absolutely fixated on the little dashboard ornament. "Look at the little thing, and she dances." he chuckled, prodding the little hula girl figure's skirt to make it sway.

"So Doc, what do you think?"

He took his eyes off the ornament and looked around the car. "It's a lot smaller on the inside then I imagined it would be. Especially for how big it is on the outside."

"Hey I don't see you with a giant robot of your own," Coop grumbled.

"Oh course not. Why would I need something so big and bulky when I have this," said The Doctor as he pulled out a little device from his mane.

"What's that, your ride?" Coop mockingly asked, staring at the little pen shaped device he held in his mouth.

"No." he said, placing the object into his hooves. "This is just a sonic screwdriver. Small portable and probably more useful than anything on this giant thing." Holding it carefully in his hooves, he pointing it out the window and shined a green light from it. Something suddenly crashed down to the right of them. The Doctor pointed over to the blue box that landed on Megas's shoulder. "Now that would be my ride."

Something on Megas's dashboard screen flickered in reaction to the box's appearance. The Doctor noticed it and leaned in to read what it said while Coop was busy trying to hold back from laughing at the blue phone booth. "What this, 'time drive'? Wait a minute, time drive! You mean this thing is capable of time travel?!"

Coop coughed, getting rid of any urge he had to laugh. "Well sorta. The time control device needed was broken beyond repair." His eyes started to shift left and right. "I had nothing to do with it. With it broken, I never ended up using it."

"Seeing what you can do in this thing, that's probably for the best," The Doctor whispered to himself.

Opening the car doors, they stepped out of the car, and headed over to The Doctor's ship. "Coop, allow me to introduce you to my ride, the Tardis."

"Fan of blue yourself I see. But, it's a phone booth. Kinda small for a ship."

Unlocking and opening the door, The Doctor let Coop step inside. "It may not be as big as your Megas on the outside, but on the inside… "

After taking a moment to look inside, Coop quickly stepped back outside. He circled around the Tardis and took one more look inside before he stepped out again. "Okay, now that's really cool. But I still think my Megas is still better."

"Is that so?" The Doctor asked with a gleam in his light grayish azure eyes.

What followed was a series of competitions between the two stallions. Both trying to one up the other's machine by showing off their abilities. Coop won when it came to camouflage with its wide array of various color schemes. But The Doctor took the time travel competition hands down. Megas's stereo system was unmatched, but was no match when it came to interior space compared to the Tardis. Not about to let himself be shown up, Coop prepared to launch some missiles for a display of firepower. A voice called out to the two of them, stopping Coop before he could hit the button to fire.

"Would you boys stop showing off your toys already?!" Twilight yelled from down below, with Ditzy standing beside her. "Overkill much Coop!" she shouted, as Megas had its arms raise and ready to fire.

"Maybe we should stop." The Doctor suggested, standing besides Coop as they looked down at one angry unicorn. He reached his hoof out to him. "Truce?"

"Truce," Coop answered, shaking his hoof. "Now let's get down there before she kills us."

"Just one moment, I need to get dressed, With all the craziness today I totally forgot I show up here with no clothes on." He quickly popped back inside and reappeared with a red bow tie around his neck. "There we are much better."

"That's it a bow tie?"

"Yes, that's it. Not like you have much on either," he said, point to Coop's red vest.

He looked down at his only scrap of clothes, and then looked back at The Doctor. "Point taken."

After rejoining with the girls below, The Doctor and Ditzy were saying their goodbyes and preparing to depart.

"Well it was nice to meet you two, but Ditzy and I must get going. We got loads to catch up on, and trouble to find, get into and possibly solve."

"It was nice of you visit," said Twilight as she walked them to the door.

As they stepped outside, Ditzy leaned closed to The Doctor and whispered to him. "Doctor, do you think it's a good Idea to leave that thing with him? I mean Twilight's told you about all the things that have happened since he came."

"Equestria has been put on the brink of destruction dozens of times. And yet you and all of Ponyville are still here, alive and well. He may not be the most competent human, well pony now. But I don't see any harm in him keeping that thing. That and I already tried maneuvering the bloody thing. Almost accidentally fired a rocket into town hall. Only he can fully control it. And besides Twilight and the other five heroes are also keeping an eye on him, so I'm sure it'll all be fine. Well then enough about that. Considering we're here and there doesn't appear to be any sign of trouble, what say we get something to eat."

Walking beside him, Ditzy's wings flapped with excitement. "Yeah! I could go for some muffins!"

"I knew you would be. Alright then, off to Sugarcube Corner."

The two of them headed off, with Coop and Twilight waving them off.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Ditzy and the Doctor as well as Coop and Twilight turned to the direction of the scream. Along the pathway leading to the marketplace, they heard more screams and saw ponies flee from the area.

The Doctor started running to where the screams were coming from. "Come on Ditzy!"

"Let's go Coop!" Twilight shouted, galloping off to join the other two.

Arriving at the marketplace, nothing but the dozens of empty wooden sprawled throughout the place greeted them. Twilight and Ditzy couldn't shake the eerie feeling something was nearby as they watch drapes hanging from the shops sway in the wind. While the girls worried over something jumping out at any second, both colts couldn't hide the excited expression they wore on their faces. The Doctor moved further in, approaching a lump covered by a large mat.

He inched closer to it. "Now, what could possibly… be… here!" he yelled, yanking away the tarp. Twilight and Coop gasped as he unveiled a bucket of apples. "Ah, apples. It's alright everyone; it's only a bushel of apples,"

"Doctor!" Ditzy called out from across the shops.

Hearing his assistant, The Doctor along with Twilight and Coop galloped as fast as they could to find her.

"Over here!" Coop hollered, spotting Ditzy standing next to another pony.

Running up to her, The Doctor placed his hooves on her cheeks. "Ditzy are you hurt? Are you alright?" he asked, checking her forehead, eyes and mouth.

"I'm fine Doctor." She tilted her head to the left. "But I'm not the one you should be worrying about."

With their eyes still on Ditzy, the three in front of her slowly turned their heads to the direction she was pointing to. Coop and Twilight gasped, seeing that standing next to her was a pony made of stone with a terrified expression on its face.

The Doctor approached the statue. "Okay. This is odd." He started examining the rock pony; tapping his hoof against it, pulling out a stethoscope from his mane to check its pulse. He then pulled out his sonic screwdriver and shined its green light on the petrified pony. "Aha!" he said, looking at the top of his device. "She's fine."

Twilight raise her brow at his diagnosis. "Fine? Doctor, that doesn't look fine to me."

"Well not fine like you or me, but she's still alive. We need to figure out what did this to her if we want to help her."

"Well judging from the fact that this pony has been turned to stone, I'd say it was the work of a cockatrice." Twilight said, standing close to the statue to examine it.

"Guys, she wasn't the only one," said Coop.

The others turned and looked behind him to the dozens more of the grey stone ponies. They were sprawled throughout the marketplace; all of them had the same terrified expression. As they all looked out at the statues, something smashed through one of the stalls behind them.

"Grrruuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Monster!" Ditzy screamed, pointing to the creature that shattered the wooden stall. It stood there for a second, with bits of lumber bouncing off its solid stone body, before it started smashing through more of them.

"What is that thing? Is that a cockatrice?" Coop asked as they all watched the four legged beast run amok.

"No, I dunno what that thing is. Doctor, do you?" Ditzy asked, flinching from the deafening sound it made as it broke through the vendor stalls.

The Doctor gazed upon the rampaging creature with captivated eye. "That's impossible. It can't be. It's a Canis lupis macadam, otherwise known as a—"

"A Rockdog!" Twilight interrupted.

"A what?" Coop asked as he and Ditzy turned to her while The Doctor flashed a smile at her.

"Exactly! Well done Twilight, good to know a pony who knows her historical creatures."

She smiled back at him. "I'm just well learned, thank you very much Doctor. But what in Equestria is a Rockdog doing here? I mean how can one even be here? That's impossible." While they focused on the stone dog smashing through the stalls, the sounds of rumbling stones could be heard coming from behind them.

Coop turned and noticed a second Rockdog bashing through more stalls. "Uh Twilight, there's more than just one of those things."

The beast behind them noticed the four ponies. It hunched its back and it aimed its head towards them. They quickly leaped into one of the stalls, dodging the monster just as it came charging towards them. Dusting off his fur coat and fixing his bow, The Doctor and the others poked their heads over the top of the stall's shelf.

"You three stay here." He turned to the lavender unicorn. "Twilight, since you know about these creatures I'll leave it to you to fill these two in."

"That's fine Doctor, but where are you going?" she asked watching him hop over the counter.

"I'm going to have a closer look."

While The Doctor was out admiring the vicious beasts while they tore apart the market district, Coop and Ditzy were huddled in the stall while Twilight gave them a brief lesson on Rockdogs.

"Okay you two. Long ago, before Equestria was founded, Rockdogs packs roamed across the land. Big doglike creatures made of stone; they were feared for their ability to turn anything they touched into stone to feed off of the victim's energy. One day a mysterious illness wiped out the entire species and their fallen bodies ended up forming the mountains we see today. At least that's what the history books say about them."

Ditzy raised her hoof. "So if they are supposed to be extinct, what are they doing here?"

The doctor watched one of the creatures grab a petrified pony in its mouth and run off. He then made his way back to the stall. "No clue!" he shouted, jumping over the counter to join the two mares. "But the good news is these Rockdogs are only infants. Babies, just newly formed."

Ditzy watched one of the beasts, bigger than four ponies put together, smash into a building. "That's a baby?!"

"Well they tend to vary in size of course, but yes. And that's good news."

"Not that I doubt you Doctor, but how is that good news?" Twilight asked, joining him in watching the beasts as they continued to attack the town. He then backed away from the counter and started pacing around the small stall, with Ditzy following behind him.

"It means there's a mother out there, a momma Rockdog. One that will lead us to answers. Now all we need to do is find a way to get them to lead us to her." He turned, facing the girls. "And why are there only three of us in here?" Finishing his question, they felt a big crash outside.

"Take this you oversized garden statues!" Coop bellowed as Megas slammed down, picking up one of the creatures and punting it into the Everfree Forest. The Doctor stood below with Twilight and Ditzy, watching helplessly as the Rockdog pups were sent flying across the sky.

"No, no, no!" He frantically waved his hooves up the colt in the mech. "What are you doing?!"

Megas turned to face him, smashing up more shop stalls with its feet than the Rockdogs have. "Me? I'm stopping these things from wrecking the town."

"We can stop them without resorting to violence. Now shut that thing down before you cause anymore damage."

Coop looked down at him and paused. "Just a sec." Megas turned and launched a hail of laser fire down on the remaining Rockdogs. The blasts ripped holes through the soil, scaring them off while some carried off petrified ponies with them. "There. Now I just need to go save those ponies and—"

Coop stepped on the gas, but to his surprise Megas powered down. "Huh? What's going on?" He turned the ignition, but nothing happened. Sticking his head out the side, he noticed the tiny brown frame belonging to The Doctor standing on his robot's foot with a small green light shining close to his mouth. "What did you do?"

The Doctor spat his sonic screwdriver onto his hoof and looked up to him. "Sleep mode. Can't have you causing anymore damage." He jumped off the mech's foot, landing on the ground and started making his way out of town. "Even though it wasn't how I would have liked it, the Rockdogs are fleeing back home. Now let's see where they came from, shall we?" he said to Ditzy and Twilight.

"What about me?" Coop asked, still sitting up top.

"You? You can just wait here, take a breather. Let Megas's engines cool down while I go and figure out what's going on and how to fix it. And don't worry; sooner or later its main systems will be good as new. When it does start up, I'll need you to run a little errand for me."

Twilight, along with The Doctor and Ditzy, was carefully tracking the fleeing pack. Fortunately it wasn't hard, since they happened to leave a trail of giant paw prints in the soil. Still following the trail of prints and broken trees, The Doctor stopped for a moments to surveyed their surroundings.

"Everfree Forest, a lush, harsh wilderness. Uncontrolled by ponies and home to many mysterious, not to mention dangerous creatures."

"Uh huh," a rattling Ditzy answered, constantly looking over her shoulder.

Twilight was also looking around the trees, but unlike Ditzy, she was concerned with something else. "Yeah… you're right Doctor."

"You noticed it too Twilight Sparkle."

"No-no-noticed what, Doctor?" asked a teeth chattering Ditzy.

"Everfree Forest, a place where ponies fear to tread because of all the dangerous creatures inside, so… Where are all the creatures?" After scanning around the forest, he focused back onto the trail. "It seems the Rockdogs have been very busy."

Finally reaching a clearing, the band of ponies hid themselves behind a set of bushes and poked their heads through to see a lone Rockdog standing guard at the entrance to a cave. Others of its kind were constantly coming in and out. Those coming in were bringing their captured solidified prey. As The Doctor stared at the entrance, a ray of bright light a short distance away caught his attention.

Ditzy noticed him staring off in a daze. "Doctor, what's wrong?"

"Oh, Ditzy. It's, nothing. I just… I thought I saw something is all," he replied, shifting his attention back to the cave. "Right, they've led us to their cave as expected. We just need to find a way in without alerting them to our presence."

"I think I've got just the thing," said Twilight as her horn shined with a purple hue.

The Rockdog keeping guard noticed a bright flash of light coming from the bushes nearby. It growled as it made its way over, causing the ground to shake with each intimidating step of its paws. It snarled as it shoved its head through the shrub. Turning its head left and right, it found nothing. Snorting in disappointment, it turned around and headed back to its post by the cave entrance. Back behind the bush, The Doctor and Twilight breathed a sigh of relief while a small thud could be heard between them.

"That was close. But it looks like your invisibility spell worked brilliantly. Great job Twilight."

"Thank you Doctor. Now we just need to stay together. This spell is hard enough to do on just myself so having it cast on three ponies at the same time makes it harder to concentrate. We can't split too far apart from each other or it will wear off. Now where's Ditzy?"

"I distinctly remember hearing a thud as the Rockdog left, so my best guess is she's right…" He started checking the ground with his transparent hooves until he bumped into something. "Ah here we are." He started shaking the passed out see through pegasus. "Ditzy, Ditzy, wake up, we've got to keep moving."

"Am I a stone statue?" she asked in a daze.

"Not yet. You're still my cute, adorable, muffin loving assistant you've always been." He grunted, trying to get her back onto her feet. "Although judging by your weight, you had me doubting it for a bit. You really should think about cutting down on the muffins."

"Never!" she adamantly replied, quickly getting back onto her hooves.

"Guys, hurry up and let's go," said Twilight.

Tiptoeing across the opening, sticking close to each other, the three of them cautiously made their way inside. Twilight and Ditzy paused, standing a few feet away from the guard. The Doctor tugged Twilight onward which pulled Ditzy as well who was surprised by the sudden yank.

"Yeeep."

Hearing the small, high pitched cry, the Rockdog tilted its head down. Seeing nothing, it bent down to sniff. Frozen with fear, Ditzy dared not move. She held still as the creature's nose was just a few inches away. A second tug, this one more forceful, pulled her away from the creature and inside the cave where she landed and let out a long but silent sigh of relief. Twilight and Ditzy look back and saw that the Rockdog didn't notice them.

"Wow, I thought for sure that Rockdog was going to pick up you scent," Twilight whispered, helping her back onto her hooves.

"I know right? Since they're dogs, you'd think they have good noses," Ditzy murmured.

"That is a common misconception." The Doctor whispered as they continued making their way further inside. "Since you lot haven't seen a Rockdog in thousands of years and because they look like and them and have dog in their name, you assume they have the same anatomy and behavioral traits a dog would."

Twilight's ears perked up. "And how would you know they don't, Doctor?"

"Well, I've seen them before. And aside from the infants that do behave like dogs, which probably led to the misconceptions, Rockdogs are actually intelligent creatures. I had the not so pleasant pleasure of meeting one. A rather troublesome fellow who went by the name of Crunch." He couldn't help but smile as his mind briefly remember something in his past. "Oh that takes me back. How Luna and I ran for our lives. We had such a laugh."

Although no one could see it, Twilight stared at him with both eye brows narrowed. "But Doctor, Rockdogs existed thousands of years ago."

"I've got a very good memory."

"So Rockdogs aren't dogs at all?" Ditzy asked.

"Nope. In reality Rockdogs share nothing in common with actual dogs aside from appearance, well just not made of rocks. It's quite fascinating really, they're stone on the outside but inside their internal structure is—"

"Excuse me, Doctor."

"Yes, what? What is it Ditzy?" he said, slightly annoyed by his assistants interruption.

"I think we're here," she said, standing at the edge of an opening that led into a giant circular chamber.

He stepped inside and gazed upon the room. "Oh." Down below, he noticed hundreds of statues littering the base of the chamber. A thin layer of fog blanketed the floor, where hundreds of manticores, bears, timber wolves and various other forest creatures along with ponies stood frozen in stone. "This would explain why the forest was so vacant."

Twilight looked over to a pillar standing in the center of the room, gasping at what she saw on top. "Doctor, look over there, on the pillar. What is that?"

He scrunched his eyes to get a look, seeing a mass of black metal that stretched down from the top of the chamber to the top of the pillar, where the mass collected itself. The Doctor noticed something that sparked his interest.

"Come on you two. We need to get up there."

While the three of them were making their way through the field of statues, over in a different part of the Everfree Forest, the ground trembled as two earth ponies made their way through the trees aboard Megas.

"So this weird pony asked you to go to Zecora's?" asked Pinkie Pie.

Casually driving through the woods, Coop nodded to her. "Yup. He said to tell her about those rock dog thingies that attacked earlier."

Pinkie started rocking back in forth in the passenger seat. "I still can't believe I missed all that. I wonder what kind of rocks they were. I hope its rock candy."

"I wish. Anyways Pinkie, we're here."

Disembarking from the mech, Pinkie and Coop stepped towards the tree with tribal masks decorations hanging on it, clay pots hanging from vines on the branches and a door at the base of it. Pinkie began rapidly tapping on it.

"Zecora, hey Zecora are you home!"

The door opened and there stood the zebra they were looking for. "Oh Ms. Pie, it is just you. From those rumbles I thought it was…" She paused, noticing Coop standing behind her. "You!"

Coop stared back at the now agitated mare, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "Hey Zecora. You still mad about the whole flipping your hut thing." There was an awkward silence between them. "I said I was sorry."

"As you should be, the cleanup took ages for me."

"I'm really sorry for that Zecora. But right now we need your help. There's this pony, he's called The Doctor and—"

"Oh no, not that colt! He's caused me more trouble then you have you dolt," she said with a huff as she walking back inside.

Coop and Pinkie followed her. "Please Zecora, I don't know what happened with you and him before, but Rockdogs have appeared and we need your help."

Hearing him mention the beasts, she stopped for a moment then strolled over to her shelves at the other end of her living room. "So what has that pony done, to make such dangerous creatures come? Turned to stone their victims will be, so he'll probably want me to make the remedy."

Pinkie and Coop stood back and watched as Zecora took one ingredients after another from her shelves. They observed her fast moving hooves, becoming dizzy as they moved lighting quick at work. With a plume of smoke rising from the bottle she poured her mixture in, Zecora tossed her finished work at them.

Catching it, Pinkie popped the cork and took a whiff. "Mmm, chocolate."

Zecora turned and pointed to the door. "Now go and use that on those turned to stone. While you go to The Doctor. I shall be making more of the cure here alone."

"Thank you Zecora," Pinkie said as she and Coop headed out the door.

Coop popped his head in through the doorway one last time. "And sorry again."

With their task completed and both of them back inside Megas, Pinkie and Coop strapped in and were about to head back to Ponyville. Before they took off, something brushing through the trees got their attention.

Pinkie Pie pressed her face against the window to see what it was. "Is that one of those rock doggy things you were talking about?"

"We'd better hurry back to town." Coop said as Megas took to the sky.

Down in the underground chamber, nothing but the sound of a pair of invisible wings belonging to Ditzy Doo could be heard flapped vigorously as she carried both The Doctor and Twilight up to the top of the pillar. Almost out of breath, she finally reached the top where her two passengers swung from her hooves and onto the platform.

As she landed alongside them, The Doctor extended one hoof to point towards a figure in front of them. "Ditzy, Twilight. Allow me to introduce you two to momma Rockdog."

What laid before them was the largest Rockdog yet, but something was wrong. The ominous looking metal was surrounding her body, causing her to moan in pain. The Doctor's eyes widened as he saw the creature's condition and how the mishmash of black circuitry was gripping her. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, shining its green light to scan the creature then looked at the results. "This isn't right. This is terribly wrong."

"What is it Doctor? What's happening?" Twilight wondered, growing more concerned as she watched him run around the creature, continuing to scan her.

Over by the pillar's precipice, Ditzy peered down to see Rockdogs coming in. Each of them dropping off more petrified victims before running back out. The matriarch began to howl loudly in reaction to the newly brought statues. To their surprise, a Rockdog pup began to form from her stomach. Twilight and The Doctor watched in awe as it happened.

"Doctor, is she doing what I think she's doing."

Quickly making his way next to Twilight, he couldn't help but smile at the sight. "That is exactly what she's doing."

"What? What is she doing?" Ditzy asked trotting over to join them. Poking her head over The Doctor and Twilight's shoulders, she blushed at what she saw and lowered her head to hide behind the two of them.

The Doctor looked back to his assistant. "Oh come on Ditzy, you're old enough to know about this sort of thing."

"That doesn't mean I don't get embarrassed about it."

As the newborn's body finished forming, it jumped away from its mother and started frolicking a few feet away from her. The three ponies watched on as the infant clumsily ran about, admiring the innocent new life. Suddenly interrupting the peaceful moment was a pair of black cables that shot out of the mass encompassing the pup's mother. They reached out and ensnared the pup, which yelped and whined in terror as the coils tightened around its small body and started pulling the newborn into itself.

Ditzy ran over, grabbing hold of the Rockdog pup by its front paws and pulled as hard as she could. "Guys, help!"

Twilight and The Doctor joined in, grabbing hold of her by the waist and pulling as hard as they could. They pulled with everything they had, but no matter how hard they tugged, the puppy slipped further and further towards the mound of metal. One big yank from the cables caused Ditzy to lose her grip. With one last yelp the young creature vanished within the mass of scrap. The three watched in horror, hearing crunching noises coming from inside and then seeing a group of rocks being tossed out of it.

They watched as the group of stones, which only a few seconds ago was happily running about and so full of life, now plummeted lifelessly to the bottom of the chamber.

"Doctor, what just happened?" Twilight asked, turning to the colt that was scanning the pile of metal.

"It's this thing. It's has a bunch of tiny regenerative nanomachines living inside its highly adaptable alloy."

"What does that mean?" Ditzy asked with tear running down from her eye.

"Whatever this thing is, it's using the Rockdog matriarch. Force feeding her in order to create more Rockdogs." He turned, heading over to the edge of the pillar to look over to the collection of statues down below, where more Rockdogs could be seen dropping off additional victims. He then looked back to the two girls and pointed to the mass of metal. "In other words, that thing is farming Rockdogs. Now I just need to figure out why."

Now in Ponyville, Coop and Pinkie had their hooves full protecting the town from more of the stone clad pooches that had made their way there. Bashing away one that leapt up towards the cockpit, Megas was kicking and punching all over the place. Sending the invading creatures flying one after the other.

They came dropping down all over the place, crashing into houses, trees, wagons and shops. Trying not to hurt them as The Doctor wanted, and trying not to wreck the town as Twilight wanted, Coop was doing his best to send them all back into the forest.

"Watch your left! Punch your right, kick, jump, duck!"

With Pinkie as his navigator, Coop was effortlessly smacking away the seemingly endless horde. "I could do this all day. Come on, you guys got anything bigger I can smash?"

The duo continued making short work of the invading canines, preventing them from getting into town and gathering anymore ponies. While Coop focused on all the Rockdogs at Megas's feet, Pinkie Pie noticed something in the distance and pointed to it.

"What's that thing?"

Over by a large collection of the pack, a black colored pool arose from the soil. It expanded around the dogs, swallowing all of them within its reach inside of itself. Hundreds of rocks fell from the collection of metal as it grew in size and began form a body.

Recognizing the machine forming in the distance, Coop fell back into his chair. "That! No! It can't be!"

Pinkie looked over to her friend and noticed the distress in his expression caused by the thing in front of them. "Coop what is it? What is that thing?"

Coop just sat there. Silently watching the object take shape before them. Piinkie started to shake him.

"Coop, Coop! Come on; tell me what that thing is."

"It's, it's—"

The mass finished shaping itself. It now had a torso, a head, a set of arms, and a bug-like lower body with six legs. It stood as tall as Megas and its red eyes stared right at them.

"I am the R.E.G.I.S. Mark 5."

Still Inside the Rockdog cavern, the three ponies stepped back from the Rockdog matriarch as they heard the voice announce itself. With Ditzy and Twilight standing behind him, The Doctor stepped up to the collection of scrap that held the beast captive.

"Tell me, R.E.G.I.S. Does the stand for something?

"I am the Replicant Engineered for Galactic Infiltration and Sabotage Mark 5."

"What is it that you're doing here? Though judging by your name I already have a good guess as to what your purpose is."

"R.E.G.I.S. will destroy all."

Coop stared down the robot standing in front of him as it stated its purpose "Yeah, yeah. You said that the last time a faced you and I still whooped you're sorry butt. Though you still give me nightmares about all the Mega Slush machines being eaten. Thanks to them though I remember what stopped you last time." Coop looked over to his passenger. "Pinkie, know a way we can reach Rainbow Dash."

"I'm on it!" she shouted with a salute.

She reached up to the sun shield and flipped it open, revealing a button in the back. Pressing it, the dashboard compartment opened up and from it she picked out the microphone that was inside. Her voice echoed through Megas's speakers as she yelled into it. "Hey Rainbow Dash, we could really use your help over here!"

Coop couldn't help but stare at her. "Pinkie Pie, how'd you know that button would do that?"

She looked down at the microphone in her hooves then back at him. "I dunno. I just pressed it and hoped for the best."

"Works for me." Coop said, tightening his grip on the wheel and focusing on the robot in front of him. "Okay, while we wait for RD, I say we have some fun smacking this guy around."

He charged in, knocking away the dozens of Rockdogs at his feet as Megas ran over and punched R.E.G.I.S's face, knocking its head off. Megas kept up the offensive by landing more crumpling blows against it. Each attack dented and crumpled the robot down in size.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Coop cried, losing himself in his barrage of attacks. Tossing R.E.G.I.S. into the bell tower.

Pinkie tapped on his shoulder, trying to get his attention. "Uh Coop."

"Huuwaaaah!" he hollered as Megas elbow dropped onto the crumbled up scrap ball. flattening it and a bunch of nearby wagons. A laser blaster popped out from Megas's arms and Coop started to open fire with it. A number of shots missed the stationary ball, hitting a couple of heavily worn down homes that were gated off and labeled, "Scheduled for demolished anyways".

"Coop!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

The colt turned his head to the back seat and noticed the rainbow maned pegasus lying back across the cushioned chairs. "Rainbow Dash, when'd you get here?"

"Oh just before you landed the first punch, by the way that was awesome. So I thought I'd let you have some fun." She's got up and pointed over to the R.E.G.I.S. ball. "So, that big thing is what you needed help with. Seeing how you just thrashed the heck out of it, I don't think you need me anymore."

"Actually Rainbow, what I need is enough clouds to cover up sky."

She got up on her hooves and stretched her wings. "Seriously? Is that all? This is just like last time. Okay, one cloudy day coming right up." Coop opened the sun roof and Rainbow Dash flew off.

As the sunroof closed back up Pinkie looked over to the colt at the wheel. "Hey Coop, why do we need the clouds if you already beat the bad guy?"

As Pinkie and Coop watched Rainbow fly off, an arm reached out from the mashed up ball to try and catch her. Missing the pony, it reached out and grabbed hold of a Rockdog. Pulling the beast inside, it grew in size and then reached out for more.

"Oh, that's why."

As the ball reformed itself, standing to face Megas, another one formed behind it. From the new copy, one another after another emerged until Coop and Pinkie were now facing an army of the black machines.

Its voice echoed from all the copies of itself. "Foolish life forms, there is no stopping the R.E.G.I.S. Mark 5. You and this entire insignificant planet shall be vaporized by R.E.G.I.S., which will destroy all."

The Doctor faced the R.E.G.I.S. blob before him. "So, you're just Mr. big bad robot wanting to eliminate all life, is that it? An evil machine and all it wants to do is destroy? A bit cliché, don't you thing? If you're so powerful like you keep saying say, why all this then? Why hide down here to farm Rockdogs? I can't Imagine your just doing it to try and bring back the species."

A glass orb appeared in the mass above the capture Rockdog and a red light shining from it, looking down at The Doctor. "The R.E.G.I.S. hides from no one."

"'Hides from no one', right. What do you all call this then? Seems to me like you're harvesting these creatures, why? Why Rockdogs. And why are you staring straight at me." He turned to face the unicorn and pegasus behind him. "Uh Twilight, can you and Ditzy see me?"

Both girls turned the heads down to him and slowly nodded. "Yes Doctor."

"And I can see the two of you just fine. So that means… " He slowly rotated back to R.E.G.I.S. who continued to stare straight at them. The red light flashed as small bug like creatures emerged from its body. "Yes, well you can see us, just simple ponies. Probably nothing for you to fear right? But if you're as smart as you say you are powerful, I have one suggestion." He noticed the drone advancing towards them. "Run!" He turned and started galloping. "I meant us girls, run!" he said in a squeaky voice as he grabbed the girls by their hooves, leading them to the edge of the pillar and jumped. They started plummeting down. "Ditzy, spread your wings, fly!"

"What? Oh right. Okay Doctor!" Her feathery grey wings opened up; halting their vertical decent and gliding them across the giant clearing towards the opening they came from.

Holding on tightly to The Doctor's back hooves as he dangled onto Ditzy's, Twilight looked back to see the group of little R.E.G.I.S. bugs crawling down the rock-face and headed for them. Clearing the forest of statues below, they crashed landed at the tunnel entrance.

"Go, go, go!" The Doctor shouted as they got back on their hooves and made their escape up the tunnel. The clicking metallic footsteps echoed behind them as they galloped towards the surface. While they fled from crawling creatures, hundreds of Rockdogs were also making their way out of the tunnels and ran alongside them.

"Doctor, where are they all going?" asked Ditzy.

Twilight, noticed something odd as they ran alongside the heard. "And why aren't they going after us?

"I dunno. Maybe they're being called somewhere." He looked back and saw a straggling Rockdog get engulfed by the swarm of creatures. "Or maybe they're just running too."

Reaching the end of the tunnel, Twilight turned to face the entrance while the other kept on running.

The Doctor noticed the unicorn, and stopped a few feet away from her. "Twilight, what are you doing?!"

"We can't let those things get outside." Her horn glowed as a purple aura of magic appeared around the rim of the cave entrance. "Ngggh! It won't budge." Still trying her best to shut the entrance, the drones reached the opening.

"Twilight, get out of there!"

Making their way out, one of the creatures lunged at her.

"Aaaaaaaah!" she screamed, shielding her face.

Twilight was suddenly knocked back into Ditzy and The Doctor as a metal blue arm came crashing down, crushing every drone in front of them and burying the tunnel entrance.

"Coop?" Twilight said, rushing over to the head of the bot, with the other behind her to see the smiling face of a pink pony greet them.

"Hey Twilight, hey Ditzy. Who's you're friend?"

Rainbow Dash shoved her head in front of Pinkie's from the backseat. "Never mind that, just get in!"

It was a tight squeeze as Twilight, Ditzy, Rainbow and The Doctor now sat in the back seat. Pinkie Pie, sitting in the passenger seat, turned to face them.

"So what have you guys been up to?"

The Doctor pushed his ways through the sets of heads to talk. "Oh just discovering a psychotic computer menace bent on destroying the planet and all life on it. So same old, same old. How bout you two?"

"Huh, that's funny. We were doing the same thing," Coop said, looking back at him.

As Megas sat up and back onto its feet, Twilight, Ditzy and The Doctor gazed out the windshield and got a look at a massive version of the bugs that were after them, only it had an upper torso and was a lot bigger. They looked behind it and noticed more of the giants, slowly making their way towards them.

The Doctor patted his hoof against the front seats. "Right then. If we want to stop the R.E.G.I.S. I'll need to know everything we know about it. So, what do we know about it."

"They eat Rockdogs."

"Right Twilight, anything else?"

"Their tough."

"Good Rainbow, what else?"

"Their creepy look," Ditzy and Pinkie said together.

"Okay."

"Their solar powered."

"Right, solar… powered?" The Doctor slowly looked to the colt up front. "Coop how'd you figured that out."

"Oh right, I forgot to mention. I've fought this chump before."

Twilight closed her eyes, rubbed her face and sighed. "Why am I not surprised."

The Doctor poked his head out the open window to see a cloudy sky with not a ray of sunshine anywhere. "If those things are powered by sunlight, why aren't they shutting down then? I mean it's completely cloudy, you can't even see the sun."

"Nice job by the way," Coop said to Rainbow in the back who nodded her head down to him in response. The Doctor continued.

"Yes well, as I was saying. They may have some reserve energy, but what they're doing now should be eating right through it all. So why haven't they shut down already."

"Yeah, you see the thing about that…" Rainbow said, pointing her hoof to the one standing in front of them.

Jutting out of its shoulders were two Rockdog heads. The creatures howled and barked, living fixtures on the robot's body. The R.E.G.I.S. copies making their way over also had Rockdog embedded in them. With their head barking and howling, poking out like warts all over their bodies.

"Why do they have those things sticking out of them? I thought they ate them." asked Ditzy.

The Doctor looked on as the robot in front of them swung its fist. Grabbing the wheel and his controller, Coop managed to block in time. The Doctor continued observing, focusing on the snarling beasts on its shoulder. Then an Idea came to him.

"That's it!" he shouted.

All the mares on board turned their heads to him.

"What's it?" asked Twilight.

"Now Twilight, Ditzy. Do you two remember what I told you about Rockdog anatomy while we were traveling down the cave?"

"Nope." Ditzy bluntly answered.

"Oh that's right. You don't because I never got the chance to tell you. But if I had, I'd have told you that a Rockdog's anatomy is nothing like that of a regular dog. Underneath its hard rock exterior shell aren't any muscles, bones or organs, but instead is a very precious metal. That would explain why the R.E.G.I.S. is farming Rockdogs for itself. To use the metal in their bodies so the nanites can rebuild its own." He looked over to the stallion still turning the wheel, holding back the attacking machine. "Now Coop, you mentioned that the R.E.G.I.S. is solar powered."

"Yeah," he grunted, the steering wheel shaking in his hooves as Megas was rocked with each blocked punch.

"That precious metal inside the Rockdogs exudes a weak form of electromagnetic radiation, similar to that of the sun. That's why they preferred living near volcanoes, or other places with extremely hot temperatures. So that means—"

"The R.E.G.I.S. is using Rockdogs as an alternative energy source!" Twilight concluded. The Doctor looked over to her and gave her an acknowledging wink.

"Always good to see a pony who's quick on the uptake."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at her. "Psssh, egghead."

"Oy! Now be nice, I happen to like a good egghead." The Doctor replied. Twilight couldn't help but smile at him for that.

Ditzy pushed her head forward to join in on the conversation. "So what can we do now?"

They looked out the front window, seeing Coop clashing fists with R.E.G.I.S. while the others were closing in. Then they looked back to The Doctor.

"Okay, I have two Ideas, one you probably won't like and the other isn't my personal favorite."

"Well hurry up and tell us already! If you hadn't noticed, we don't have much time!" Rainbow shouted.

"First option, we fall back and think of a strategy."

Rainbow furrowed her brow at him. "You mean run away?"

"Yes, but it sound bad when you say it like that. Now, the second option…" He lowered his head down.

The ponies around him leaned in close, waiting for the second option. "Yes Doctor? What is it?" asked Ditzy.

He sighed, rubbing his hooves across his face. "The second option is we go back to the nest where the mother is and destroy her. Newborn Rockdog pups are telepathically linked to their mother. The energy in their bodies is still too weak to survive on their own so they remain linked to their mother until they're strong enough to live on their own. If something happens to her, then they won't survive."

Everyone went silent, only the sounds of Megas's engine revving and the crunches of metal slamming could be heard. Still fighting, Coop peered to the depressed group through his rearview mirror.

"Yo Doc, you said something about those things being use for energy. Sorta like a battery, right?"

A smile suddenly came across The Doctor's face. He lifted his head and looked at Coop. "That's right. Just like a battery inside of something that doesn't want to come out. And how do most people take a battery out of a device?"

Coop, with both hooves on the wheel, stepped on the gas. Megas's fists went hurtling forwards smashing into R.E.G.I.S.'s shoulders. "Sometimes you just gotta smack em loose!"

There was a loud clang from the two Rockdogs inside being knocked out. With two gaping holes where its shoulders would be, the machine stood there for a few seconds before crumpling to pieces on the ground. Everyone poked their heads out the windows and stared down, waiting to see if it would regenerate.

Coop turned and gave a little smirk to The Doctor. "And you say I'd only cause more damage."

"That's only because we're miles away from the town. Anyway, if we can keep knocking the Rockdogs out of them, we just may be able to disable the R.E.G.I.S."

Still looking down at the pile of metal, Ditzy Doo noticed a couple of Rockdogs jumping into the collection of scrap. "Uh everypony…" she said, trying to get their attention. But the others were too busy listening to The Doctor.

"Right then, Coop you just aim for the Rockdogs and that should take care of it."

"Guys!" Ditzy yelled, spreading her wings as she stared at them.

They all faced her, but the large figure that started rising behind her drew their attention more. Before she said a word, judging by the looks in their eyes and where they were staring at, it was obvious they already knew what she was going to say. The reformed R.E.G.I.S.'s uppercut decked Megas. Everyone on board, now lying on their back, groaned from the jolt caused by the punch and subsequent fall.

"Everyone alright?"

They all answered Rainbow Dash with simple nods and affirming hums.

In the passenger seat, Pinkie Pie was rubbing her head. "What happened? I thought that thing fell to pieces and didn't get back up."

Ditzy leaned up from her horizontal seat. "I saw some Rockdogs jumping back into the pile. After that, it started to grow again."

"So if we knock them out of those monsters and they'll just run back in? How the hay are we gonna stop them then?!" Rainbow shouted.

"Doctor, you said that the Rockdog pups are telepathically connected with their mother. So doesn't that mean she can send messages to her children?"

He stared at Twilight and a big grin emerged on his face. "So we just need to interrupt the signal or, if that's not possible, have her direct her children elsewhere. Twilight, that's brilliant." He pushed his way through the mares in the back as he went and opened the car door.

Ditzy, refocusing her eye, looked to the disembarking colt. "Doctor, where are you going?"

"Didn't we just go over this? We need something to interrupt the Rockdog mother's telepathic link with her children. That way they won't keep going back into the R.E.G.I.S."

She made her way out as well. "I'm coming with you."

"Me too," Twilight said, joining her. "But how do we get back in? The entrance was closed when Megas fell on it."

"Need an entrance?" Megas turned around and with the simple push of a button, Coop punched through, reopening the tunnel. "There you go."

The three of them made their way down Megas's arm and into the cave. Rainbow also got out of the car and flew alongside them.

"I'm coming too!"

Twilight shook her head."No Rainbow Dash, I need you to stay up here with Pinkie Pie and Coop. We need someone up here who can keep the cloud layer intact just in case."

Running by her side, The Doctor nodded in agreement. "Twilight's right. While we're making our way down, Coop'll be fighting against R.E.G.S. And with the Rockdogs still jumping in and reviving the fallen, he'll need all the help he can get. And what greater pony to help then the fastest, toughest and bravest pony in Ponyville?"

"More like all of Equestria," she said, turning her nose up.

"Perfect then, you stay here and help."

She flashed them both a confident smile and nodded before she flew back up. With the trio making their way safely inside, the three ponies outside readied themselves to fight. Megas stood waiting as the whole forest rumbled more and more from the titanic footsteps of the swarm that was approaching.

The army all said the same thing. "There's no hope. Your vehicle shall be destroyed and your planet converted to atoms."

Coop glared back at them. "Yeah, 'destroyed', I got it. We'll just see about that."

Megas charged, tackling its way through mob. Chunks of metal as well as Rockdogs bounced off the waxed metal coat of Megas's chassis as it bulldozed through. Under the grey skies, it seemed as though it was raining metal as every robot they ran into shattered into tiny pieces that littered the area. Making their way to the center of the crowd, Megas stuck its arms out. The tip of its fingers opened up and rained down laser fire in every direction.

Seeing one of them grab his bot's hand, Coop hit the back trigger on his controller which caused Megas to twist its wrist, grabbing onto the bot and swing it round in circles. They spun around, lopping off the upper half of any R.E.G.I.S. copies nearby, freeing more of the pebble pups.

Rockdogs, knocked out of their prisons, were making their way back. But before they could leap into the heaps of metal, a streak of colors flew by and bashed them away. The force that struck them stopped and hovered just above their heads.

"Hey Rock mutts, betcha can't catch me!" Rainbow Dash hollered, sticking her tongue out while making googly eyes at them. The dogs growled and started chasing after her. "I'll keep these guys busy. Coop, you just keep tearing those things apart!"

Seeing the rainbow streak leading the Rockdogs away, Coop put his focus on the army surrounding Pinkie and him. A group jumped at them and came crashing on top of them like a black wave. Buried underneath all of them, with his engine working overtime, Coop hoisted them above his head and tossed them away. Inside the cockpit, the two earth ponies were going crazy, pressing dozens of buttons around them.

"Hit this one and this one here and that one over there and this."

With each new button being pressed inside, dozens of weapons were being aimed for the legion of R.E.G.I.S.s. Hatch after hatch opened and from them more cannon, lasers, blaster and guns popped out and were ready to fire. Pointing to a big red button in the middle of them, Coop looked over to his co-pilot.

"All yours Pinkie."

"Yeah!" she shouted as her pink hoof slammed down, scattering a barrage of projectiles everywhere. Explosions were going off all around them. The R.E.G.I.S. clones were blowing up left and right with Rockdogs dropping to the ground.

"Whoa!" Rainbow cried out, swerving left and right to avoiding the oncoming rockets, bullets and other things that Megas fired. "Hey I'm down here too you know!" she hollered out as chunks of the menacing army dropped all around her along with the stone pups she was collecting. "Alright Rainbow, let's walk some more dogs!" She sped by, smacking Rockdogs as the landed and drew their attention.

While the rumble from the chaotic battle progressed outside, back inside the cave, The Doctor and company had infiltrated the inner chamber once again.

With her wings working over time, Ditzy landed them atop the pillar where the Rockdog mother lay. "So what do we do now?" she asked as her two passenger hopped onto the platform.

Heading over to the incapacitated Rockdog, The Doctor placed his hoof on her chest, feeling it slowly rise and fall as she took gradual breaths. He looked into her eyes.

"You poor beauty, you've been through so much. Can you even understand what I'm saying anymore?"

Twilight watched on as he spoke to the creature. "Doctor, what are you—"

"Yes…" a soft but raspy voice faintly replied.

"What?" Twilight said, stepping back in shock and staring at the creature the just spoke. "It can talk?"

"Of course it can talk." The Doctor calmly replied. "What did you expect? They aren't dogs after all. Remember how I told you about Crush, nasty fellow, but he could talk. Besides lots of creature talk in Equestria, why is this so surprising?"

"Well it wasn't mentioned in any books I've ever read, so I just assumed they couldn't."

The Doctor couldn't help but chuckle to himself. "Heh, That kinda thinking reminds me of the humans." he moved next to the Rockdog's head and knelt down to her eye level. "Tell me, what is your name?"

"Ginafang" she weakly responded.

He gently patted her head. "Hello Ginafang, that's a very lovely name by the way. I'm The Doctor."

"Doctor? Are you here to help me?" she asked, trying to lift her head up.

He placed his hoof on her cheek and softly pushed her head back down. "No, no, no. Don't force yourself. Yes, I'm here to help you Ginafang. Do you mind if I call you Gina for short?"

She closed her eyes and softly shook her head.

"Good. Now Gina, could you tell me what happened? Could you tell me how you wound up here?"

Her rocky body cracked and rumbled as she breathed deeply to sigh. "I don't remember much."

"There's got to be something, anything at all." He said rubbing her cheek. "The slightest bit of information can help me help you."

"I remember hunting; chasing after my prey. I ran after it through the desert plains of my home. And that's when I came upon a crack."

Twilight Sparkle stepped up, joining The Doctor's side. "You mean like a hole in the ground? Did you fall into it?"

Gina shook her head. "No. The crack was not on the ground, but in the air."

"What? What do you mean in the air?" she asked leaning her head in closer.

"I… I don't know. It was just there in midair. A big crack of light."

The Doctor's ears perked up upon hearing her say that. "A crack of light in the air…" He furrowed his brows and placed a hoof on his chin. "So, what did you do after you found it?"

"I was curious; I had never seen anything like it in my life, so I walked up close to investigate. All I can remember about that is everything went white."

Ditzy, who was keeping lookout over the edge of the pillar, joined the others, intrigued by Gina's story. Twilight, struggling to understand what she was hearing, turned her head to the stallion on her right who appeared to be deep in thought with his eye closed. He opened them, placing his hoof back on the ground.

"Is that all you remember?"

Gina stared blankly into the distance. "No, I do remember. I remember what happened after I fought my way out of the light. I was in a strange forest, with trees and leaves I had never seen before. I started to check my surrounding." She tilted her head to point at the mass of metal surrounding her body. "And that's when this thing latched itself onto me. It was tiny, so I didn't pay it any attention and went off to explore. After capturing some strange creatures to feed on, I felt this strange presence inside me." She started to shiver. "I was scared. I tried to fight it, but there was nothing I could do. I lost control of my body and then everything went black. When I woke up, I found myself where I am now, trapped inside this strange black rock."

The Doctor embraced her. "I'm sorry, I truly am. You were never supposed to be here. You've traveled very far from home. That crack you mentioned, well it is a crack. But, it's a crack in time. One that linked your time and this one together. Normally anything that slips into one is lost forever, never to be seen again." He smiled, rubbing her head. "But you, Gina. Incredible Gina. You actually fought it and came out the other side. Unfortunately what awaited you on the other side was a parasite, one that latched on to you. And instead of simply feeding off of you, it used you. Controlling you to create more to for it to feed on." He looked up to the hanging piece of metal holding Gina in place. "And now it has enough to do what it wants."

Ginafang's terror stricken eyes up to the thing possessing her. "And what is that, Doctor?"

R.E.G.I.S.'s voice echoed throughout the cave. "To destroy all!"

The three ponies stepped back and stared up at the metal stalactite. The Doctor turned his head back to the ensnared creature. "Now Gina, listen to me. I want to rescue you, but I need you to fight."

She groaned in pain. "I can't. Doctor, it hurts too much."

"Yes you can! You can help with your children. You're still connected to them! Send them a message! Tell them to stop jumping back into R.E.G.I.S.; to stop jumping back into the darkness. Without your kids it can't do anything!"

The cave rumbled from explosions going off outside.

"Do you hear that? Those are my friends outside, fighting to stop this thing. But we need your help. We can save you and your children, but you've got to try and fight."

She nodded, closing her rock laced eyelids tightly and focusing on what she needed to do.

The surrounding forest was now a warzone. Flying her way through the ruins of the forest below the brawling titans, Rainbow Dash dodged uprooted or burning trees, risen portions of earth, and the occasion falling Megas or R.E.G.I.S. Using all her speed and agility, she pummeled Rockdogs left and right, with the thundering paw steps of the beasts staying right behind her and wreaking everything in their path.

Up above her, the clangs and crunches of steel echoed as her friends continued facing off against the endless horde.

"Man, there's no end to these guys!"

"We've got to keep going, Coop. Twilight and the others need us to keep these guys busy. Who knows, they might be doing something right now that will stop all this."

Just as Pinkie Pie finished saying that, something was happening to the R.E.G.I.S. duplicates. They started to fall apart as their Rockdogs broke free from their bodies.

"See."

They watched as silhouettes in the distance were vanishing. Some of the R.E.G.I.S. clones reached out; catching their escaping batteries and forced them back inside. The mass of fleeing canine boulders flowed like a river down the battlefield, weaving their way around the dark scrap piles and doing their best to dodge the claws of the former keeper.

"Hey! Where are you all going?!" Rainbow yelled, seeing her heard break away from her to join the others in heading to the cave. "I guess they must have done something down there."

In the damp, dark cavern, the ponies were struggling to keep their footing from the rumbling. Clumps of rocks and dirt fell from the ceiling as the hundreds of paws steps headed their way.

"Gina! What's happening? What did you do?" The Doctor asked as he and the two mares with him stared towards the tunnel.

"I did it Doctor, My children have heard me. They are coming to me."

Ditzy stared down to see the creatures file in, filling in the gaps of the forest of statues.

"Fools! Your attempt to remove my energy supply will prove futile. R.E.G.I.S. can not be stopped."

Ginafang howled in agony as the metal imprisoning her tightened its grip.

"You shall all be turned to dust as R.E.G.I.S. razes this world. I will devour the very essence of this planet. All will fall before the—"

The green light from The Doctor's sonic screwdriver shined brightly as he pointed it with his mouth towards the talkative clump, muting it.

"Oh shut it you."

Behind him, Twilight and Ditzy were covering their ears from the ear splitting whine coming from the little device. The pile of metal began to fluctuate widely from his device.

"What's the matter? Do those little nanites of yours not like my sonic screwdriver?"

Weakened by The Doctor's tool and its power already strained from controlling the army outside, its grip on Gina weakened. Feeling her binds loosening, she fought against it. She crawled her way out and positioned herself behind the Twilight, Ditzy and The Doctor.

The Doctor walked up to the scrap heap that now resembled a puddle. "What's that matter, not going to shape yourself into something? Or are you trying to conserve what little energy you have left?"

"So is that it? It's over?" Twilight asked.

"Pathetic life forms, to feeble minded to realize your folly." R.E.G.I.S. said, slowly slithering its way to the edge of the pillar."

"What's that?" Twilight asked, growling at the puddle of metal. Her eyes widened, seeing the puddle leaning over the edge of the pillar. She and The Doctor both lunged to try and stop it as it dropped over the edge.

"I have all the energy I require down here."

Ditzy swooped down, catching it on her hooves. But the R.E.G.I.S. puddle slipped through them like water and fell down to the sea of Rockdogs below. With Ditzy flying back up to join them, the four on the pillar looked over the edge. Down where the thousands of dogs were, a black liquid like entity emerged and started to quickly expand.

Gina fell back in pain, convulsing wildly. Her violent movements made it impossible for the others to get anywhere near her.

"Doctor! My children! They cry out to me!"

The floor below was soon covered in charcoal colored liquid metal. The barks and howls of the thousands of Rockdogs below fell silent, all that remained was an ocean of metal that surrounded the pillar.

"Now you understand. Nothing can stop the glory that is the R.E.G.I.S. Mark 5!"

"Now what do we do?" Ditzy asked.

Twilight looked to the stallion at her side."Got any ideas Doctor?"

"Just one," he said, turning his head in the air with his sonic screwdriver in mouth. The tip began to flicker and the familiar grinding sound of his Tardis could be heard appearing above their heads.

"There it is!" the R.E.G.I.S. stated.

The ponies on the pillar gasped in horror as an arm reached from the sea of metal. Just a few feet away from the blue phone booth, the dark claw was suddenly knocked away when a large blue frame crashed through the ceiling and smashed it into pieces. Twilight couldn't help but smile as she recognized Megas's paintjob poking through the hole in the ceiling.

The Doctor turned his head to the unicorn. "Twilight, does he always show up like that?"

"Yeah, but mostly it's just luck."

"Well lucky for us then," said Ditzy

Megas's open palm dropped down on the pillar. Pinkie Pie poked her head out the side window and waved to them. "Hop on!"

As they were being lifted away, rising from out of the chamber, they saw the pillar they were just on destroyed by the ocean of metal surround it. Inside his car, Coop noticed the extra passenger and pointed towards Ginafang.

"Who's that?"

"A friend," Twilight answered.

With the group safely above the surface, Megas jumped back just in time as the collection of metal shot out from the hole like a geyser. As they moved back, The Doctor noticed the familiar glistening light he saw earlier by the cave's entrance in the distance

"Coop, bring us down over there," he said, pointing to a spot in the distance.

Ditzy squinted over to where he was pointing to. "What's over there Doctor?"

"I'm not sure yet. But If my guess is right, it may be related to all of this."

While they went to his requested location, the stream of metal slithered its way around the forest, collecting the scraps of its fallen copies to grow in size.

Ungracefully landing with a crash that blew away the nearby trees. Megas landed with The Tardis following right behind it. Coop winced, seeing his friends on his robot's palm fall over from the rough landing.

Knocked on her stomach from the rough landing Twilight looked up at the red hotrod. "You could at least try to land gently Coop.

"Sorry bout that guys. At least I got us here, right?" he said, carefully lowering them to the ground

First to disembark, The Doctor quickly ran around and started investigating the area with his screwdriver in mouth, which made varying degrees of sound as he pointed it everywhere.

"Where is here anyway?" Twilight asked, jumping off the metal palm to join Ditzy and Gina in watching him. "Excuse me Doctor, what are you doing?"

He never looked back at her; he simply kept running from damaged trees, to rocks and other pieces of rubble that were scattered around. "There's something here, something in this spot that shouldn't be here." He turned and looked at Ginafang. "That something is probably what brought you here."

While he continued searching, a loud crash went off behind them. Startled by the boom, they looked behind them to see a larger R.E.G.I.S than before trying to crush Megas with a fist that was twice the size of it.

"The R.E.G.I.S. Mark 5 cannot be stopped! You can not hope to stand up against the superior abilities of R.E.G.I.S."

While the two mares and Rockdog watched Coop, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash struggle against the behemoth, The Doctor picked up something on his device. The pinging his tool made increased in pitch and volume. He stopped at a point where the device made the loudest noise, pointed his tool directly at it and shined its light. A faint glimmer of light appeared before him. Soon the illumination split open into a crack.

"So that's where you were hiding." he said to himself, staring at the rupture. "Now the question is, how did you get here?"

"Doctor, watch out!"

He stood there, too focused on the anomaly before him to hear the girls yelling at him from behind. The force from Megas as it fell right in front of him knocked The Doctor back a few feet and laying him on his back.

Ditzy ran ahead of everyone. "Doctor, Doctor are you alright?" she asked, helping him get back up.

Sitting up, The Doctor noticed his screwdriver on the ground, reacting to something that wasn't the crack in the air. Following the tip of his device, he saw that it was pointing to Megas.

He suddenly remembered something from earlier, when he was aboard the fallen mech. "What this, 'time drive'? Wait a minute, time drive! You mean this thing is capable of time travel?" He looked past the crack, towards Megas. "That's it!"

The girls stared at him, tilting their heads. "What's it?" They asked simultaneously.

He looked at them, pointing to the crack. "Gina, this is the crack of light you came out of!"

The girls watched on as a confident grin emerged on his face. He then pointed a hoof to Twilight.

"Ms. Sparkle, about two weeks ago you and our robot piloting friend back there," he said, jerking his head to point to Megas who was still grappling with R.E.G.I.S. "fought off a hydra in this exact spot."

Twilight looked over the area and noticed a familiar bulletin board that was worse for wear then she remembered. "Yes, it was right here. But wait, how did you know that?"

"I was there." His eyes shifted to Ditzy Doo. "After seeing that, I decided to head to Ponyville to investigate. Unfortunately I arrived two weeks late." His eyes shifted again, this time looking at Gina. "Somewhere during that time, you arrived and subsequently captured. Since then you were forced to provide the R.E.G.I.S. with the supplies it needed. Back during my little visit with Twilight and Coop, I learned that the Megas can also time travel. Except that it's missing its control unit. Without that, it's just spewing temporal residue all over the place."

"Are we in danger?"

"Not to worry Twilight, it's perfectly harmless. Unless there happens to be something around that can tear into the time stream to react with it."

"What does that mean?"

"Okay, imagine a frozen lake with a crack in it. If left alone, nothing will happen. But if you hit it again with the right force it'll shatter, opening a path into the water."

"So that's what this is? A crack in thin ice?" said Ditzy.

"Not at all. But if it helps you understand, then yes, think of it like that. And the thing that caused the ice to crack is—"

"The Tardis," Ditzy commented.

He pointed his hoof at her. "Correct,"

"That's great and all, but how does that help us stop R.E.G.I.S.?" asked Twilight Sparkle, watching the two brawling giants.

"Right I was getting to that part. Now that I know what we're dealing with, I can fix it."

While the explosive fight was still going on in the background, The Doctor stepped up to Ginafang. gently smiling at her while he rubbed her head. "It's time for you to go home."

The Rockdog stared into his eyes, then to the crack of light, then up towards the R.E.G.I.S. "But Doctor, what about my children? They are still in that monster."

Seeing Megas land a left and right hook, The Doctor looked up to the grey skies. "He's absorbed most of them to build up his body. But you're right. There's still some of your children trapped inside, being used to power it. That's why I need you to go back. With you gone, their link to you will be broken and their energy will weaken."

"But then my children will parish!"

He frowned. "You're right; after the link is broken they'll only last about a few minutes on their own." His expression suddenly changed as he smiled at her. "That's why we're going to make those minute counts," he said, winking at her. The Doctor looked over to Twilight and Ditzy. "Alright you two, here's the plan."

Up aboard the Megas, the radio turned on.

"Attention, Coop. Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear Doc, but I'm kinda busy."

On the ground The Doctor moved his sonic screwdriver away from his mouth and looked over to Twilight. "Is he always going to call that?"

Twilight waved her hooves at him to continue talking.

He went back to talking into his tool. "Sorry but I need you to listen. I've got a plan."

Thanks to Twilight's teleportation magic, everyone was now in position and waiting. The girls were standing outside with Gina just a few feet away from the crack, while Coop and The Doctor were aboard Megas.

"I thought you didn't like machines like this, Doc?" Coop asked while he blocked another of R.E.G.I.S.'s punches.

"That's rubbish, I never said that. It not the machine I hate, it's what their pilots and creators do with them that makes me hate them so much."

"So…What do you think about me then?"

He stared at colt to his left for a moment. "You may be a walking wreaking ball inside this thing. But, you've still managed to save everyone time and again. And I like you for it. Plus, I always wanted to get a chance to drive one of these things."

Coop looked back at him with a grin. "Well then here's your chance."

Still holding R.E.G.I.S.'s fist, Coop pushed it away. He then pulled a lever underneath his chair that caused the seats they were sitting in to swap. The Doctor, shocked by the sudden motion of the chairs, nervously grabbed hold of the wheel and looked to the colt now on his right.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Well you said you always wanted to drive, so I figure now or never."

The Doctor licked his lips, looking straight ahead. "Okay, first time piloting and with no initial training. The fate of the entire world is at stake. As you would say, let's rock and roll!" he shouted, with all the enthusiasm he could muster. He looked over to his right to see the colt shaking his head at him with a look of disapproval. "Right, guess that's another phrase I won't ever use again."

Megas's tachometer dial jumped, as its engines roared. Staring down the pylon of scrap, Coop took a deep breath. "Alright you—" He was cut off by the colt to his left.

"Listen to me you recycling center nightmare! I'm giving you one opportunity to release those creatures you've captured and to deactivate yourself."

R.E.G.I.S.'s glowing red eyes stare blankly at them. "The R.E.G.I.S. Mark 5 laughs at your feeble attempt to negotiate. R.E.G.I.S. shall will show no mercy, annihilating all and leave your world a ball of ash."

The Doctor sighed. "Figure I'd give peace it a shot. Well that proved pointless." He then pressed his hoof on the gas pedal. Clumsily running forward, Megas bumped into R.E.G.I.S., toppling over.

Seeing Megas crash, Twilight waved to Ginafang. "That's the signal, I think. Anyways go!"

The Rockdog looked to the four mares standing beside her. There was a nervous look on her face. "Are you sure this will work? What if it doesn't send me back home? What if they can't send my children back?"

On her right, Ditzy placed her hoof on Gina's shoulder. "Don't worry; As long as I've known The Doctor, he's never let anypony down. I trust him, so you should trust him too."

Feeling another hoof on her shoulder, Gina looked over to Twilight on her left. "And as long as I've known him, Coop has always managed to save everypony. So I know he'll be able to free all of your kids." Flying behind her, Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement with Pinkie Pie doing likewise below her.

With a weak smile, she nodded back at them and then focused on the crack of light. "Thank you."

Running with all her might, kicking up dirt with her jagged paws pushing against the soil, Ginafang was just a few feet away from the opening when she leaped into the air. Watching her go, the girls closed their eyes from the blinding light that flashed as she disappeared into the crack.

Twilight turned to face her friends. "Ok girls, we know what we have to do."

"Yeah!" they shouted back with their hooves held high.

"R.E.G.I.S. cannot be stopped. Your attempt to thwart R.E.G.I.S. is futile."

"Oh shut up with that. You're like a broken record," The Doctor groaned as Megas, with its arms flailing wildly, bumped into the bot again and fell over once more.

R.E.G.I.S. stood over the fallen mech and prepared to strike. "Prepare to be destroyed. R.E.G.I.S. shall be merciful. Your pain will only be ex-ex-ex-excruciating." As its fist came thrusting towards them it stopped and began twitching wildly.

Coop stared up, surprised by the robots twitching and stuttering. Seeing it spasm, The Doctor went for another attack. "I think we"re going to like the results this next one."

A chunk of R.E.G.I.S.'s chest came flying off from punch The Doctor delivered. The piece of metal that fell splattered on the ground, scattering metal and Rockdog pups everywhere. Although he completely expected that, The Doctor was still ecstatic over what he just did.

"Did you see that?! I hit it. Pow, right in the kisser! I'm starting to see why you like riding this thing."

While he was exciting over his actions, the girls were getting ready to move. Seeing the pups that fell with the dislodged clump, Twilight Sparkle turned to the two pegasi and earth pony. "Okay girls, let's round them up!"

"Bet'ya I get the most!" Rainbow Dash yelled, flying off first, with the other following behind.

Turning the steering wheel wildly left and right, The Doctor did his best to whack R.E.G.I.S. Megas wobbled forward, arms windmilling as it slammed into the machine.

"How do you work the weapons?" he asked, pressing a random button from the collection of buttons on the panel on the dashboard.

He and Coop looked to their right, noticing a hatch open up on Megas's shoulder. A large cannon elevated from the hatch that took aim and fired a bright green laser, ripping a hole through R.E.G.I.S.'s chest. The beam kept going until it erupted into a giant mushroom cloud very far away in the distance.

While he stared, mouth hanging open, at the mass destruction he just did with the simple push of a button, the chubby colt on his right nodded at him. "Not bad Doc. You may just get the hang of this."

Still shaken by the explosion he could see through the hole in R.E.G.I.S. who was still standing still, The Doctor looked down at the vast array of buttons sprawled out on the dashboard and gulped.

"Is every button here some sort of weapon capable of taking out an entire city?"

"Well, not every button." Coop replied, pointing to several buttons. "This one over here controls the windows, this one the light, this one the sunroof, and this one over here turns on the radio."

"How'd you ever learn to drive this thing?"

"Years of practice on lots of consoles. Plus it was sorta a learn by failing thing."

"Fair enough, I sorta learned the same way. But, how will I know what I'm doing?"

"Well Pinkie Pie just presses random buttons and it works for her, so give it a try."

Gazing down to the dashboard, The Doctor's eyes scanned over the various buttons. A bead of seat dripped down the side of his face. "Well if it works for Pinkie I might as well give it a try."

Eyes closed, he slowly moved his hoof down and heard a click. The two of them tilted their heads up as the sun roof opened up. "Oh great, of the hundreds of buttons all over the place, I manage to get the one that opens the sunroof."

With the cloudy skies above their heads they noticed R.E.G.I.S. starting to move again.

"Quick, try another one!" Coop yelled.

The Doctor slammed his hoof hard, hitting various buttons. They rattled in the seats as Megas's front panels slid open to revealing an array of missiles. They all fired, embedding themselves deep within the metal behemoth. Going off, the explosions expand the robot like a balloon. It slowly reformed itself, but lost a lot of Rockdogs from the attack.

The ground was littered with more Rockdogs as they fell from the sky. Making craters where they landed before they fled, with the girls right behind. They all looked up, rooting The Doctor and Coop on while they led the frightened creatures into the portal.

Coop grabbed hold of his controller and tilted his head to the pony at his side. "Ok Doc, you take the wheel I'll take the controller. Now let's bring this sucka down!"

With both arms raised, Megas vaulted up high to reach R.E.G.I.S.'s chest and came crashing down, cleaving its clenched fists through the dark monstrosity's chest as it dropped back down. Megas landed at the foot of the towering bot and dashed for its legs. Stopping at the first of R.E.G.I.S.'s long black leg stalks, Megas wrapped its arms around and twisted it off.

Wobbling from is lost limb, R.E.G.I.S. grew hands on its underside. The Doctor veered left and right, dodging the onyx fist as they dropped towards the two of them. Still headed towards the other legs they went tackling and smashing, snapping the others like twigs. With its legs broken off, R.E.G.I.S.'s lower body fell to the ground as Megas reached the other end of it.

Megas crouched with its hand against the ground as it made a sliding spin against the soil. Getting the hang of being behind the wheel as he made the sharp turn, The Doctor grinned from cheek to cheek. Together, the colts faced the back end of fallen machine and silently nodded to each other as The Doctor hit the gas.

More hands emerged from the black mass, heading for them. Coop held the controller in one hoof and started mashing on a single button. "Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" he cried as Megas's arms moved back and forth like pistons, shattering the hands that came towards them with its fists.

With his co-pilot button mashing on his controller, The Doctor drove Megas while it launched a flurry of punches straight into the back of R.E.G.I.S.. With its fists jackhammering away, Megas sent metal flying every which way as it bore its way into the cluster of steel.

"Hey Twilight, do you see that?" Rainbow asked, pointing to the bug like body as sparks of light shined out from the middle of it.

In the distance, Twilight and the other girls looked on as dozens of Rockdogs went scurrying out the back of black colossus. They turned and headed for the new collection of puppies that emerged.

Over at the front of the giant, R.E.G.I.S.'s stomach protruded out, with the sound of an engine coming from it. Megas broke through with Rockdogs following right behind it. Leaping into the air with its hand beginning to spin like a drill, they took aim for R.E.G.I.S's face.

"Okay Doc, let's make this last one count!" Coop shouted as they ascended towards the head.

"Futile. You will now be destroyed." The machine said as it stared at them.

Megas was instantly stopped as an arm shot out from the top of R.E.G.I.S.'s chest. It clamped itself around the mech and squeezed. The girls stopped in their tracks, seeing their only hope captured. All they could do was watch on as they heard the sound of metal crumpling.

Inside the car, every single alarm was going off. The sound of metal bending was all around them. Both colts were desperately doing everything they could to break free. The windshield shattered and the black ooze made its way inside.

"Coop!"

"Doctor!"

The girls watched Megas be engulfed by the monster and cried out in horror. The mass covered the mech but soon released it, letting it fall to the ground. The girls made their way to the fallen bot, climbing their way to its demolished car head and opened the doors. They fell silent. Their two friends were sitting perfectly still in their seats, solid as rocks.

"Now do you see, there is nothing you can do to save yourselves. Now R.E.G.I.S. shall stop you from further delaying your planets demise." Its arms stretched out, going for the Twilight and Ditzy, who were pulling out their petrified friends.

"Ahh!" Twilight shouted as the vine of metal smothered her.

Rainbow sped towards the pegasus on the other side. "Derpy, watch out!"

Knocked down to Pinkie's side by Rainbow Dash, Ditzy and Pinkie witnessed the two mares sink into the black mesh and drop out of it as statues. Falling to the ground with Coop and The Doctor. The two girls ran under Megas, avoiding detection.

"Now R.E.G.I.S. cannot be stopped. Even when R.E.G.I.S.'s emergency energy is depleted, it will only be a matter of time before the clouds clear and R.E.G.I.S. shall commence the destruction of all."

The two remaining mare looked down at their petrified friends laying before them. Without a word they made their way up towards Megas's heavily damaged cockpit. Ditzy flew up, holding Pinkie underneath her. As rose up, they looked down to the ruined forest and watched as hundreds of fleeing Rockdogs were recaptured. Now aboard, with Ditzy sitting in the passenger seat, Pinkie Pie turned the ignition. Sputtering to life Megas slowly rose up.

Pinkie tossed a little glass bottle to Ditzy. "Here, sprinkle this on them."

Leaning out the window, she dumped the liquid on the four stone ponies down below and nodded back at Pinkie. Megas towards the portal of light and wrapped its hands on the edges of it. Pinkie went to first gear and stepped on the gas while Ditzy picked up a battered control and started pressing random buttons.

The potion started taking effect on the quartet lying on the ground. Their heads were the first thing that was brought back to normal.

"Uh, what just happened? Wait why can't I move?" Rainbow Dash asked, stretching her neck as she tried her hardest to move.

Across from her, The Doctor turned his head up to look at her. "I believe we were turned to stone. Man that does a number to the spine," he said, cracking his neck as he stretched it. Looks like the potion is taking effect but it's still not finished, were still mostly petrified, but who did this.

"I think they did it," said Twilight, laying a few feet across from them and pointing her head to Megas.

"Is that Coop?" Rainbow asked.

"Nope, I'm over here!" he replied, on the ground just as they were. He looked over to the mech. "So who's driving my robot?"

They looked at each other, realizing who was missing and looked up to the blue machine grabbing onto the edges of the crack. Wide eyed, The Doctor couldn't believe what he was witnessing.

"No, no! That's impossible, how are they doing that!" he yelled, watching the two mares opening up the rip in time.

"What are they doing Doc?" Coop asked watching on as the sounds of shattering glass started echoing out from everywhere.

While Pinkie and Ditzy continued spreading the hole bigger and wider, visual images of various colored glass shattered around them. Everything was being distorted, focalizing on the robot in front of the rupture.

"Don't you hear that, the thing that sounds of glass breaking? Do you see those walls falling apart? Those two up there are physically expanding the rupture in time. Touching time itself and shaping it. That's not supposed to be possible, but they're doing it. They are literally breaking the walls of reality in doing so. All the rules and laws of the universe, stuff that should be preventing this sort of thing from happening, all of it is being obliterated."

Still petrified, with only down to their chest no longer solidified, they could only watch as the crack became half the size of R.E.G.I.S. The massive structure without legs, now looking like a slug, slowly crawled towards them. With Its power dwindling, it fell forward as a last ditch effort to body slam the blue robot.

Pinkie turned, flying to dodge. while Ditzy hit the triggers of the controllers to fire some shots at it as it came crashing to the ground with such force it could be felt all the way over in Ponyville. With R.E.G.I.S. now facing the stretched out portal Ditzy and Pinkie flew round to the back of it. Megas placed its hands on the rear and started to push. Inside, the two of them were shouting as Megas's rear rockets flare up to five time the mech's size.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

"Yaaaaaaaah!"

With its arms cracking from the immense pressure, Megas slowly shoved R.E.G.I.S. into the temporal rift. The immense flames on Megas's back pushed it further and further. A safe distance away, with their legs still petrified, the four ponies left behind could only watch as the girls kept going. Megas's engines never faltered, never sputtered. Its frame massively damaged with cracks forming all around it, but it kept on going step by step.

Only a quarter of the metal monster remained. Watching Megas still shoving with all its might, they realizing what those two were about to do. Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Coop and The Doctor hollered as loud as they could for them to stop, unable to do much else with the weight of their stone legs holding them down. With one last outcry from the mech's engines, R.E.G.I.S. and Megas vanished into the portal.

Inside the crack, all Ditzy and Pinkie could see was a stream of endless colors all around them with bright streaks of multicolored light flying past them as they fell downward. Ahead of them they watched as the R.E.G.I.S.'s broke apart into pieces, scattering into dust and vanishing into the streams of light that surrounding them.

"What do we do now?" Pinkie Pie asked. Her eyes captivated by the sights surrounding them.

"I dunno, we didn't really think this one through. This just felt like something The Doctor would've done." Ditzy said, looking at the thousands of Rockdogs free falling along with them.

"Or Coop." Pinkie answered, joining her in watching the pups descend with them. "The Doctor said this thing would take Gina along with her kids back to their home, so I'm guessing that's where headed, right?"

Ditzy was silent for a second, then turned to the pink mare. "She going to be in for a big surprise when we show up."

"Yeah," Pinkie, chuckled.

They both held each other's hooves, staring down the long tunnel as Megas continued to plummet.

The Everfree forest was silent once more. The battle scars were heavy but the worst was finally over. In the sky, Rainbow Dash was clearing out the gloomy grey rooftop that filtered out the sun. Everything seemed to be returned to a tranquil state. Except for one particular spot. Fully restored from their petrified condition. Coop, Twilight and The Doctor finished making preparations. Popping out of the Tardis, Coop waved down the high flying pegasus.

"Yo Rainbow, we're all set!"

Making a beeline for the blue box, she stopped just inches off the ground and ran past him inside. At first Twilight and Rainbow couldn't believe their eyes at the inside of the small wooden box, but they threw their curiosity aside, They had more important things on their mind.

"We all sight right, so let's go already!" she shouted looking at the numerous buttons laid out in the circular panel around a series of glass tubes in the center of the room. "Wow, so many buttons, kinda reminds me of Megas."

"Please, all these buttons are far more complicated than anything on that wrecking ball," said the Doctor as he circled around the panel, pressing and pulling various knobs and switches.

"What you say about my robot?" Coop asked, closing the door behind him as he stepped inside.

"Nothing," the colt by the panel said as he flipped a lever.

The room started to shake and the recognizable grinding sound could be heard as the glass tube in the middle dipped up and down. Coop walked up to the panel and while The Doctor was on the other side not looking, he flipped a switch that stopped the grinding.

The Doctor leaned his head to the side to see him. "Coop, did you touch something?"

"Nope," he said quickly shaking his head. When The Doctor went back to his panel, Coop leaned close to Rainbow and Twilight. "Parking breke, that noise was driving me nuts."

Coming back around the panel, The Doctor addressed the three of them. "Alright, all set. Now let's go and get our missing friends. If everything worked out accordingly, They, along with Megas, Gina and her children should be right..."

With the pull of a lever, the entire room rattled violently. They all held onto the railings surrounding the platform. The rumbling finally came to a quick stop and The Doctor ran to the door. "Here." he said poking his head out as he opened it. The other followed him to meet with three friendly faces.

"Hey guys, what took you so long?"

Back inside Twilight's library, everyone sat exhausted but very relieved. Coop, Ditzy, Pinkie, Rainbow and Twilight were having a feast of sandwiches. While they were celebrating, Coop heard a distinct sound coming from outside.

"Doctor's finally back guys."

"How can you tell?" Twilight asked.

"He's one of the few ponies I know who has a ride. And the only one who drives with the parking break always on."

Ditzy looked at him."I've been meaning to ask. How do you know it is the breaks?"

"When you've worked around cars as much as I have, you learn to recognize those kinds of things. Plus, even if he won't admit it, the layout is sorta like how it is on Megas," he said as the grinding noise got louder and finally stopped.

The front door swung open and there stood the colt they were speaking of. "Hello everyone, I'm back. Miss me?"

"See, what'd I tell ya Twilight?"

With their final member joining them, they all sat in the living room to hear The Doctor.

"Well everything's back to normal. You've all done your part using Zecora's potion to restore all the victims to normal and I've just finished closing up the portals and mending the breaks in reality." he stared at the pink and grey mares. "By the way, Pinkie, Ditzy, you two were absolutely brilliant. Just don't ever do that again. I don't think the universe can take it."

"I'm just glad we managed to get Gina and her kids safely back to her time. It was incredible getting to see Rockdogs in their natural habitat," said Twilight.

Rainbow place her cup on the table after taking a sip. "So what happened to that R.E.G.I.S. creep after he went inside the portal? Why didn't he go where the other went to?"

The Doctor leaned back against his chair and placed his hoofs on top of the table. "Not to worry Rainbow. Unlike the Rockdog pups that seem to posses the ability to travel through the time stream unharmed, or Megas that was built to hand that sort of thin. The R.E.G.I.S. wasn't designed to handle the tremendous strain that come with traveling through it. Even if some of it managed to survive it's now stuck, forever trapped. So no need to worry." He turned to the colt who was just finishing his fifth lily and daisy sandwich and was about to wolf down his sixth.

"Coop would you mind sparing that poor thing and meet me outside for a bit?"

The setting sun was casting a beautiful orange hue over the town. The shadows belonging to the trees and buildings stretched forward, decorating the ground with a checkers like pattern of orange and black. It was sight to behold for the colts sitting atop Megas's hood.

"Amazing isn't it? She's been doing this over and over for centuries, but she still always finds a way to take your breath away." The Doctor said, staring off to the setting sun. "Sometimes you forget the sun doesn't set on its own around here. I mean you'd understand, being a fellow dimensional traveler."

Coop stared out to that same outstretch of land. "Yeah, I forgot all about that. Even after all I've been through, it keeps slipping my mind."

The Doctor pats his hoof against the red plate of metal they were sitting on. "So, what do you think of the repair job I did? Not bad right?"

Coop laid back against the hood and looked to the inside of his car. "No complaints."

"It's the least I could. After all if it hadn't been for you showing up like you did back there inside the chamber, we'd of been as R.E.G.I.S. would put it, 'destroyed'. By the way, how'd you know where we were?"

The colt on lying on the hood shrugged. "I didn't. I just happened to be knocked down and it was lucky that Megas broke through and found you guys."

"And that's what bothers me. You somehow showed up just in time to save us. Not just then, but when Twilight was almost attack by the miniature R.E.G.I.S.'s. You can't honestly tell me that was just good fortune. It couldn't have just been that, could it?"

"It's not all luck, most of it is skill."

The Doctor beamed at him. "Yeah, skill. That word sounds better. I like that word. Let's call it that. Speaking of, I have to say you were brilliant out there, well for a wrecking ball operator."

"Well thanks. That means a lot coming from a phone booth operator. And you weren't too bad yourself," he answered, sitting back up to stare at him with a smile.

"One more thing Coop. Let's have a look inside inside." Following him in the car, Coop waited for him to say something. "So, what do you think?"

"Think of what?" Coop asked, looking about his controls. "I don't see anything different."

"Well of course not, I wouldn't dream of doing anything up front. Might end up destroying the cosmos doing so. Look behind you."

Doing as he was told, Coop turned his head. His eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped as he realized what was different about his back seat.

"It's..."

"Yeah."

"You..."

"Uhuh."

He got out of his car and stared into the back through the window. He then jumped back inside, laughing as he sat. "It's bigger on the inside."

"I figure you could use the extra space. I decided not to do it up front, figured you'd just fill it up with more buttons to cause more destruction with. So I made the back a little roomier. Now you won't be getting any complaints."

While Coop was still admiring the improvement on his car, The Doctor got out and made his way for the Tardis parked atop Megas's shoulder. With a simple tap of his hoof, he caused its wooden doors to swing open. He turned to face Coop as he stepped away, raising his brows to show off.

Coop stepped out of the car, closed the door and replied by grabbing Megas's keys from his vest pocket and, after struggling a bit, hit a button to cause it to beep as it locked.

Nodding, The Doctor pulled out a key of his own and likewise, after struggling as well, managed to lock his Tardis in the same manner. The two of them couldn't help but laugh at each other.

"So Doc, where are you headed now?" Coop asked, watching him walk backwards to his ship.

"Oh I dunno, just doing a little sightseeing here and there. The universe is a great big place after all. There's a billion places I could wind up visiting."

"What about Ditzy Doo? I thought you two were a couple or something?"

He stopped back stepping and choked slightly. "What? She and I are just mates, good pals is all. Nothing else."

"Yeah, so isn't she going with you?"

He peered down towards Twilight library. "She'll be okay. Perfectly fine. After all I just came by for a quick visit. She's busy now, living her life. Probably too busy to join a daft old man like me for some adventures again."

Coop pointed his hoof over to the Tardis. "Oh really? Maybe you should ask her."

About-facing, The Doctor felt a combination of joy and puzzlement at the mare standing in front of the open Tardis. "Ditzy? What are you? I mean when did you? How did you get the door opened? I just locked it."

The blonde haired pegasus standing in the Tardis's doorway held a little key in her hooves. "I used this spare key you gave me awhile ago. I've been holding on to it ever since the last time I saw you. After some time going back to my old life, I started to miss going on adventures with you. So I decided. The next time I see you I would go traveling with you again." She beamed at him and ran inside.

"Have fun you two," Coop's voice rang out behind The Doctor.

As he walked to his time machine with Ditzy already inside, The Doctor made it to the doorway and turned to face the mech piloting colt.

"Good luck Coop. Knowing what I've learned about you, you definitely need all that skill you posses."

"Maybe we'll run into each other sometime Doc."

"It better be in this time period. I don't want to find out you've been using that thing to time travel. I don't think the wall between the dimensions can take it."

"Yeah I remember. No time travel. So, till next time?"

"Yeah. Until next time."

"Hey wait," Coop yelled. He reached into his car and pulled something out. He then tossed it over to The Doctor. "Here. A little souvenir."

Catching the item, he looked down and laughed seeing it was the little hula girl ornament. "I'll take good care of her."

As The Doctor closed the doors to his booth, Coop leaned against his car. He chuckled, shaking his head as he heard the Tardis grinding as it took off.

"Heh, still driving with the parking brake on."

The Radio Tower Defense

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My Little Megas XLR

Chapter 10: Radio Tower Defense.

Far above Equestria's vast fields, lush forests, and highest peaks, a steady stream of pegasus ponies could be seen flying to and from Cloudsdale. The cotton like metropolis in the sky, where the winged ponies calmly fluttered about, was bustling with the stream of flyers winding its way around the city to its famous weather factory. As the flowing river of feathered equines made its way inside, another stream made its way out. Those outgoing pulled along darkened clouds with them as they left.

The busy factory churned away with an orchestra of venting steam pipes and thunderous roars throughout its fluffy white walls. Ponies were hard at work assembling cloud formations and loading them to the brim with lightning bolts until they were plum and grey. Workers trotted along elevated platforms, following cumulus pipes and static tubing that overlooked the factory as it led to the exit where ponies lined up down below, waiting to receive a darkened cloud along with their orders.

It was in line, dressed in her white factory uniform along with yellow safety hat, that Rainbow Dash waited. Keeping her head down as a conversation sparked by two mare quickly spread throughout the line.

"Can you believe this? Having to remake all those storm clouds. That's twice now!"

"I know," another replied. "The first time it happened was bad enough, but twice? Who'd use up all those clouds like that anyhow?"

Wiping away the sweat building on her forehead, Rainbow lowered her hat to hide as more ponies join in on the conversation.

"Maybe it's that monster ponies have been talking about? You know, the one they say eats rainbows,"

"That thing's not real," a pony sharply retorted. "Besides the second time the clouds disappeared was back when all those missing ponies from Ponyville suddenly returned, and that was before the monster rumors started."

"Hey, who's to say the monster wasn't around before then? Maybe it was it just trying to eat the clouds?"

"Get real."

With the topic of discussion changing from missing clouds to monsters, Rainbow Dash let out a relived sigh, forgetting she was surrounded by her coworkers and catching the eyes of the two standing beside her who started to stare at her suspiciously.

Realizing she was being watched, Rainbow smiled nervously at them. "Heh heh. Just, uh…" She then started to stretch. "You know, tired from all the hard work we've been pulling." She then yawned, attempting to play it off casually. The two next mares at her sides shrugged at each other and went back to waiting in line while she continued her to stretch. She then leaned back and caught a glance at the large map of Equestria posted on the wall they were line up against.

While Rainbow kept her eyes on the chart, taking note of the big cities with clouds drawn over them, a pony flew down next to the line with a radio held in his hoof. The green furred stallion set the little device onto the floor and turned a dial. All of a sudden a booming mare's voice blared out from the radio's speakers.

"Good morning everypony!"

"Aaaah!" Rainbow Dash yelled, surprised by the sudden outburst as her main and wings becoming rustled in the process. Taking a moment to fold her wings and fix herself up, she spun round to see what caught her by surprise.

"What's up mares and colts," the radio continued. "This is your favorite pair of mares. Coming to you through the airwaves with those jams you know and love. Today we're kickin' it in scenic Ponyville where things are about to go wild."

Hearing mare's voice, the line turned their heads to listened in. "Well at least we've got something good to listen to while we're stuck her," said one of the workers.

"Yeah," another replied, with a slightly downed tone. "It's too bad we got to be here. I was really looking forward to visiting Ponyville today."

"Yeah, me too."

"Same here."

"I can't believe we're all missing it."

Feeling the tone of her fellow weather ponies, Rainbow ducked her head once more, saddened about what she too was missing out on back home.

Down on the ground, some distance away from the ever busy factory, an energizing breeze whisked its way across Ponyville. Traveling through its oddly empty streets, past shops and homes, finally making its way to town hall where a massive gathering stood outside before a wooden stage. The large group of mares and colts look on upon the stage as a collection of ponies sat before a rectangular table that spanned the length of the stage.

Opposite of the platform, settled behind the anxious crowd, two mares sat together in a booth. With two microphones placed on the table set in front of them, speakers positioned at their feet aimed towards the crowd and a device with a series of dials and knobs on another table nearby, one of the two, a white unicorn with a striped cobalt blue and cyan mane, grabbed hold of her mic.

"Take a good look at our contestants everypony, cuz one of em's gonna be this year's champ!" The mare's voice shot forth the speakers, echoing through the crowed who cheered in response. Waving a bit to the ponies, she then turned to her colleague beside her. "So Octavia, who do you thinks gonna win?"

With a dismayed looking in her set of mulberry eyes, the dark gray earth pony stared back at her. "Vinyl, what makes you think I'd know anything about this sort of thing? Before today I had no Idea ponies did this competitively, let alone that it's an annual event."

Tilting her sunglasses up from her eyes, a reflection of Octavia appeared on Vinyl's half opened plum colored eyes. "You seriously need to get out more Octy. I mean really, Ponyville's annual competition is legendary." She put her attention towards the audience, slowly waving a hoof over therm. "Just look at that crowd. Ponies come from all over Equestria to watch and compete every year."

"Well sorry for not knowing. I usually don't follow such uh… extreme activities," Octavia commented, her eyes rolling slightly.

Still waving at the crowd, Vinyl went up announcing. "Well everypony, this is your favorite tune slinging unicorn, Vinyl Scratch, a.k.a. DJ Pon-3; And with me as always is the one, the only, that ever classy and ever clueless cellist, Octavia!"

"Hey!" Octavia shouted. "Just because I don't know anything about this competition like you do, doesn't make clueless." She glared at the unicorn that still waved to the ponies in the crowd. "Vinyl? Hey Vinyl, are you listening to me?"

Caught up in the excitement, Vinyl scratch kept on commentating. "Now I know who I'm placing my bets on to win this year, but what about you Octy? Being a newbie and all, who do you think is going to win?"

Know the futility in trying to argue with the zealous unicorn next to her, Octavia sighed quietly, giving up the notion of having her partner listen, and stood up to get a look at the contestants onstage. "Hmm..." She painstakingly observed each of them. Judging which one she'd choose, until she came to a decision. "Well considering what sort of competition this is, I'll go with contestant number seven."

Vinyl reached over for a nearby clipboard and began flipping through its pages. "Okay, let's see here. Number seven, number seven, aha!" she exclaimed stopping her hoof on a page. "So you're picking the newcomer huh? How fitting. Well judging by looks, I'd say he may give the champ a run for her money this year. Then again, the champ's shown us time and again that size doesn't matter so who knows." As she took her eyes off the pages and back to the stage, she spotted a certain pony heading to the front. "Alright everypony, Mayor Mare is headed onstage so that means things are about ready to get started."

The mayor walked down the platform, her hooves clonking against the wood as she waved to the slowly silencing audience. Now standing at the stage's edge, she cleared her throat and looked out upon the crowd.

"Ahem. Fillies and gentlecolts, it is my esteemed honor to welcome you all once again to our beloved Ponyville. I see we have a batch of fresh faces this year that I'm sure are as eager as the rest of us to make this year's competition the best yet!"

Ponies erupted in jovially cheers stomping their hooves in excitement. While the mayor went on riling up the crowd, a team of unicorns quickly went to work setting the tables behind her. They skillfully set down plates and napkins in front of each ponies at the table. Then, needing two to hold the next item with their magic, placed down a massive covered platter that shook the stage slightly. Finished with their duty, they quickly moved offstage, single file as they had arrived, just as the Mayor was wrapping her speech up.

"Now without further delay, let us begin." A hush fell among the gathering as they watched her turn to face the twelve contestants seated behind her. "Contestants, are you ready?"

With a simple nod followed by the thump of their hooves, they affirmed their eagerness to start. Nodding back with a calm smile on her face, Mayor Mare then raised a hoof over her white mane and high into the air.

"On your marks."

With all eyes focused upon the mayor's light gray amber hoof, the contestants took those brief seconds to glance among one other. Staring down one another, they signaled their intent to win.

"Get set."

All of them except for two seated a few chairs away from each other. Intense glares were swapped for smiles shared between each other. After their brief gauging of their rivals, the twelve looked back upon the Mayor's hoof, just as it arced towards the floor..

"GO!"

With the crowd's cheers rocking the town Vinyl sat wide eyed and on the edge of her seat. Likewise, Octavia watched with wide eyes but instead being at the front, she was on the back edge of hers.

"And Ponyville's annual Cupcake Chow Down Show Down has officially started!" Vinyl shouted with her hoof firm wrapped around her mic. "As our contestants begin taking their first bites, we'd like to take a moment and thank the awesome couple who delicious cupcakes make this all possible. Let's hear it for Ponyville's own Mr. and Mrs. Cake, you two rock."

With excitement booming, the twelve plowed into the mounds of desserts piled before them. Within minutes, the entire stage was coated in layers of frosting as the group eagerly munched, chewed, gobbled, and wolfed down every moist treat they got their hooves on. Globs of creamy frosting flew everywhere in the process.

In the booth, with her eyes glued to the action, Vinyl managed to pry them away to see her partner cringing. "Uh... So Octy, what do you think?"

"What do I think?" she reiterated, cowering in her chair, putting her forelegs over her eyes. "You call this a competition?"

Focusing back onto the stage, Vinyl smiled. "I know. Isn't it awesome?"

Octavia dared to move her hooves away, catching the sight of pink goop landing upon the cheering crowd. Their once colorful coat now smeared, slowly turned red as it dried, giving it a more disturbing look then what it really was. "It looks more like a horror show," her trembling voice replied as she shielded her eyes again.

"What?" Vinyl asked, looking over to her terrified friend. "Oh come on Octy. It's nothing like that. You're over exaggerating."

"Oh yeah?" Octavia said, pointing one hoof onstage while she shielded her eyes with the other. "Take a good look and think about it for a sec."

Skeptic of her partner's gross misconception, Vinyl turned her head back to the stage and lifted her shades up from over her eyes. What was once a purple tinted scene of a friendly eating competition between ponies, transformed before her eyes into that of twelve foul demonic beasts sinking their fangs into their helpless prey. Globs of the goo hurled wildly from the poor victims ghastly wounds as the savage creatures viciously clutched and ripped apart more of the poor spongy creatures. Their fluids spilt over the table, spreading through the floor and coating it in a pink glaze that slowly darkened into.

While the stage itself was a sight to behold, what really sent a chill up her spine were the creatures themselves. Covered in their victim's shredded remains, their coats now resembled the smeared floor; their eyes gleaming with ravenous hunger as they continued to maul everything in sight.

Unable to bear anymore, Vinyl quickly placed her lenses back over her eyes. "Okay," she muttered, quivering as she quietly leaned back in her chair, her expression now resembling that of Octavia. "So maybe it can sorta look like that if you think about it. Next year they definitely should change the frosting to blue or something." Shooing away the last disturbing image from before in her head, Octavia pushed herself forward and resumed commentating. "With that thought outta the way, let get back on track. Vinyl Scratch here…" Vinyl waited, seeing a shaky hoof on her right reach for the second mic.

"With Octavia," Octavia added, still a little shaken up.

"And we're here in Ponyville where the annual Cupcake Chow Down Show Down is well underway. Everypony's started off strong and till now no one's dropped out yet. But as our contestants reach their twentieth cupcakes, I bet we'll start seeing ponies drop soon."

Looking on along with Vinyl, Octavia noticed a pony onstage begin to sway. "Oh dear. Vinyl, you may want to have look over there."

Vinyl turned her head and spotted the wobbling stallion. "It looks like we may have our first down."

With a lone cupcake sitting atop his dark grey hoof, the stallion in question swayed back and forth with a glazed look in his eyes as sweat dribbled down from his mane. Fending off his fatigue as well as gurgling feeling in the pit of his stomach, he stared down the little morsel. It pulsated in his eyes, tormenting him as the only thing in focus, with a blurry background of screaming onlookers. He inched the daunting dessert towards his lips and slowly opened his mouth.

Another wave of fatigue swept in, far stronger than before. The stallion did his best to endure, but felt the last of his strength fade just as he sensed the creamy little snack caress the tip of his tongue. He leaned back, dropping hard onto the floor. The piles of crème cream cushioned his fall with a mushy thud as the treat that tormented poured salt in the now passed out pony by landing smack dab between his eyes. Witnessing the colt's collapse, the crowd was in an uproar as the remaining eleven kept on going.

"And contestant number three, uh…"

"Baritone," Octavia blurted, holding onto the clipboard of contestants.

"Thanks Octy. It looks like contestant number three; Baritone's stomach couldn't take anymore and called it quits. That's one pony down, eleven to go. While cheer on our remaining ponies, let's play some music in honor of our first down."

Back in Cloudsdale, the factory seemed to move at a faster pace thanks to the music playing on the radio. Still, the energetic tunes could stop an anxious Rainbow Dash from sighing as she looked out towards the open sky. As last song ended, her ears perked up to hear the coverage of the competition. She gnawed at her hooves, listening in as more names were called as they dropped out. She stared out towards home, with two friends in mind. "Come on you two, don't lose," she whispered as the radio continued reporting the action.

"And down goes another one," Vinyl's voice rang out. "Things are really getting intense now. With only four ponies left and well over fifty cupcakes munched, were nearing the end and my champ's still going strong."

"Don't get ahead of yourself Vinyl," Octavia interrupted. "My pick's still in the competition too and looking just as strong."

"It's only a matter of time Octy. It's only a matter of time."

Hearing the two on the radio go on, Rainbow Dash bit her lip in anxiety. "Oh man, I can't believe I'm missing those two."

"Boy, I'd sure hate to be the pony that's missing this."

"Rrrrrr!" Rainbow growled, glaring at the little device. Too busy staring daggers, she didn't notice a pegasus above her head drop a cloud.

"Heads up!" the gray pegasus called out, watching the cloud head straight down for the rainbow maned mare below.

Still having a staring contest with the radio, Rainbow Dash didn't hear the mare calling out to her. "Ooof!"

Sandwiched between the fluffy floor under her and cloud above, Rainbow Dash pried herself free and wiped away bits of cloud still caught in her wings before looking up to notice a mare flying down towards her.

"You okay Rainbow Dash! I thought you heard me and would move away in time. My bad," said the blond haired pegasus with a concerned look.

"I'm fine Derpy. I just wasn't paying attention. Don't worry about it." Flying around the back of the fallen cloud Rainbow gazed out past the front gate and sighed. "Well, I'm off." Her wings began to flap and she made her way out. "Next stop Fillydelphia," she said in a slight halfhearted voice as she exited the gates and flew out of earshot of the radio. While she no longer could hear about the action going on back home, she wondered.

I hope those two make it to the final round. She shook her head at the thought. What am I talking about? It's those two. Of course they'll make it. Maybe if I can get this sent ahead of schedule I can sneak a visit. Her wings flapped fast, pushing her across the wild blue yonder while her mind stayed focused on Ponyville and two ponies she was rooting for.

The once clean stage located in the center of town now resembled a hardened battlefield. Dried frosting riddled the floor with ponies lying passed throughout the stage. Their conquerors loomed over them, bits of them held within their hooves and mouths. The crowd hopped and hollering madly while both commentators in the back cheered along with them as two ponies continued eating away.

"Well everypony, we're down to the wire now. With only two ponies left, who's gonna be our champ?! Will it be our undefeated champ, Ponyville's Pinkamina Diane Pie, otherwise known as Pinkie Pie?"

The crowd began to chant, waving their hooves wildly. "Pinkie, Pinkie, Pinkie!"

"Or will the mysterious newcomer, Harold Cooploski. A.K.A. Coop, make us a stunning upset?"

The crowd chanted again with the same amount of energy. "Coop, Coop, Coop, Coop!"

"By the way Octy, great call on picking Coop to—"

"Go Coop go! Yeah!" Octavia interrupted, absolutely absorbed with all the excitement.

"I knew you'd love this sort of thing," Vinyl smiled as she watched her usually uptight friend enjoying herself. "Alright everyone let's focus back on stage where—" she paused noticing both competitors suddenly stop eating. "What's this? It looks like both contestants have stopped all of a sudden. Have they both thrown in the towel?"

Seated upon messy passed out pony ridden stage, Pinkie and Coop took a moment from eating more of the delectable pastries strewn before them to have a little chat.

Licking away the frosting beard she'd developed throughout the course of the competition, Pinkie smiled at Coop. "Well Coop, looks like it's down to just you and me."

Liking off an equally large deliciously sweet beard, Coop smiled back at her. "You knew it would it'd end up like this, didn't you Pinkie."

"Of course silly," she chuckled. "Since getting to know you and become friends, I wasn't surprised it would turn out this way. Especially since I've seen that you can eat almost as much as me."

"Almost as much?" he answered, raising a brow. "We'll see about that." He then started patting his stomach. "After all I'm still hungry."

"You and me both brother," Pinkie replied with a rub of her belly. "Let's both do our best and may the best pony win."

With smile and a nod being all that was left to say, they resumed their consumption, tearing into the rapidly diminishing mounds of treats while the crowd watched on and cheered louder than ever. Their battle raged on, exceeding expectations to become one of the most exciting competitions in its history.

Days had passed since the battle of epic portions came to its conclusion and Ponyville had returned to it quaint status. Twilight Sparkle was home preparing herself breakfast in the kitchen while Spike, in living room next door, was seated on the floor listening in to radio placed atop a small wooden stand. With his tail wagging, he leaned to his right and look through the doorway into the kitchen. "Hey Twilight come on. It's about to start."

Twilight paid her assistant's enthusiasm no mind and continued to set the table with her magic. "Relax Spike, it's a radio. I can hear it just fine from here. Besides, it's not like I need to see it to enjoy it." Levitating a slice of toasted bread, she took a bite and took her seat. "Just turn it up a little please."

"Okay," he replied, turning the radio up as she requested. "Sorry for sounding pushy but I'm just so excited about today's show since Coop is actually going to be a guest!"

A second passed before Twilight could process the news and she jerked her head back, leaning to see her assistant through the doorway. "Wait a second; Coop is on the radio?"

"Well not yet, but soon." Spike answered, rocking back and forth with anticipation. "Why are you so surprised? Don't you remember Coop came and telling us about it?" Looking on at the unicorn, he could see she had trouble remembering. "A few days ago. When you were reading that book for the hundredth time."

"Uhhh…" Twilight pondered as a flashback played in her head.

She sat cozily in her favorite reading chair with Megas's operating manual in her hooves. It was quiet, the perfect condition to read in. At least it was until Coop came running in. Twilight, determined to enjoy her reading time, continued while he mentioned something to her and Spike. While the details of what he said escaped her memory, everything she read back then, even down to the page number she was on, she envisioned clearly in her head.

As Spike looked on, he saw an awkward looking smile grown on Twilight's face as she clearly had no clue what happened outside her book that day. "Let me guess. You were too into your reading and didn't pay attention to what Coop said?" Her quite grin all buy denied his accusation. "I knew it."

Hiding away that very book she had sitting in front of her plate on the table, Twilight looked back to her assistant. "So anyways Spike, why is Coop being interviewed? Is it about the time when he saved Ponyville last week?

"No," Spike answered with a roll of his eyes.

"Then is it for that race he, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were in?"

"No."

"Hmm… What about that time we first met and saved Canterlot together with the others?"

"No! It's got nothing to do with saving anything. Sheesh Twilight, didn't you hear anything Coop said that day."

Twilight only answered back with another weak smile. "So then tell me. Why is Coop getting interviewed?"

"Uhhhg… If you'd just pay attention this time and listen to the radio, you'll hear why." Leaning back into position with a huff, Spike focused back onto the radio with Twilight silently listening as the show he was waiting for began.

"Good morning Equestria! DJ Pon3 here, and with me as always is my co-host, my friend, and all around nag of a mare, Octavia!"

"Thank you Vinyl and good morning every—wait a second, I'm not a nag!"

"Just kidding Octy. Only making sure you're on your toes this morning."

"We don't have toes Vinyl."

"We don't? Then where'd that saying even come from? Oh well. Today we've got ourselves a special guest. Now if any of happened to visit Ponyville a few days back for their annual Cupcake Chow Down Show Down, then you probably have an idea of who this colt I'm talking about is. Speaking of them show down, this year's was hooves down one of the best and that was thanks to our guest who did the unthinkable. Competing against the reigning champ, Pinkie Pie, this pony managed to keep up and tie with her. The only reason those two tied was cause they managed to eat the entire stock of cupcakes available."

"A disturbing, yet at the same time impressive feat." Octavia added.

Listing to the radio, Spike suddenly heard the sound of a unicorn choking slightly in the kitchen. "That's what this is about? An eating competition?"

"Twilight please," Spike scowled. "I'm trying to listen here!"

After sipping some juice to clear her throat, Twilight poked her head through the doorway. "Sorry Spike. It's just that I find it surprising that Coop's getting interviewed for such a silly reason. I mean really, an eating competition. I thought they'd want to hear him talk to him about Megas." She walked in joining her assistant seated in front of the radio. "Well since they didn't want to talk about Megas, I suppose Coop didn't take it with him."

"Uh no, Coop still took Megas with him. He left early—"

Suddenly a frightful sensation overcame Spike. A sense of doom and horror permeated his scales, shooting up his spine and making him tremble with fear. Before he could even muster the courage to peek over his shoulder, he felt the cold hoof of death touch his shoulder and instantly spin him around.

"What!" Twilight shouted, her bloodshot violet eyes staring deep into her terror stricken aide's. She then vanished before him, teleporting to the window where she pressed her face against the glass and peered outside. "Why? We're not even that far away from the station." Her eyes darted left and right in search of the metallic colossus, but to no avail. "Why did Coop take Megas with him?!"

Still panting from his near death encounter, Spike took a deep breath and approached her. "Come on Twilight, don't you think your overreacting a bit? Coop's not going to cause any trouble. After all he's just gone to do a simple interview. You gotta relax."

Pulling her flattened face off the glass, Twilight dashed towards him and stood face to face against the young dragon. "Relax? Relax! How can you tell me to relax when you've seen the damage Coop can do. Not to mention that our friends and I have been tasked by Princess Celestia herself to watch over Coop until he can return back to his home."

"Yeah Twilight, I remember. I just think you may be blowing things out of proportion."

"Out of proportions? Don't you remember what happened that time when Coop tried to help Applejack harvest apples?

"Uhh…" Scratching his chin, Spike thought back, forming a cloud by his head that played back a memory from awhile back.

At the far end of one of the vast tree fields of Sweet Apple acres, Applejack stood next to a row of wagons line up along the field edge. "Alrighty Coop, the wagons are all lined up and ready to catch em all!" As she looked down through the orchard and then to the lined up wagons, a nagging though tugged at her. "Now are ya sure ya know what yer doing?!"
On the other side of the orchid, looking past his car hood out over the sea of trees, Coop yelled out to her. "Of course I do! All I gotta do is just give the ground one of these!" With a gentle tap on his video game control, Megas leaped high into the air and came down with a stomp that caused a ripple effect on the soil, sending a wave of land that spread through the field. "See, now all the apples'll get shaken loose and—" As wave reached the first set of trees, Coop realized that maybe his planned wasn't that well thought out. "Heh… Oh boy," he said, watching what unfolded.
Applejack galloped as fast as she could, making her way out of the earth wave's path and watched as her trees were whipped out of the soil and into the air where they dropped like fruit bearing arrows around the town.

"Oh yeah… I forgot about that part." Spike said, scratching his chin. "Well everypony did end up getting a bunch of free apples that day."

"And what about the time Pinkie and Coop decided to fly up to Cloudsdale at night to sneak a taste of fresh rainbow?"

"Right," he answered with a snap his claws. "Coop tried to land Megas on a clouds and ended falling through and scaring a bunch of ponies. That ended up starting that whole monster in Cloudsdale rumor."

"Exactly Spike. Now do you see now why I'm worried?"

"Okay Twilight, you made your point." Spike walked passed Twilight and stood at the window. "Still, Coop's our friend. Don't you think we should trust in him. Besides, he's always does everything he can to help us. And no pony's ever gotten hurt no matter what he's done. "

"I suppose you're right Spike. While Coop may seem to find trouble all the time without even trying, he's our friend and we should give him the benefit of the doubt."

"Glad to hear it Twi." Spike nodded. "Now let's sit down and enjoy the—" Static suddenly began to play through the radio speakers and Spiked made his way to investigate the problem. "Come on you lousy…" he said, tapping his palm against the device, unaware that the interruption was coming from something far above his and Twilight's head.

Floating in its usual position, far above Equestria's atmosphere, Warmaster Gorrath impatiently pounded the armrest of his warship's command seat.

"Commander! What's taking so long?" he bellowed, pounding his fist again. "You said this plan of yours would result in my quick victory over these creatures, yet here I am still waiting."

Down below next to the bridge's consoles, finishing giving order to the technicians, the commander fidgeted with a small electronic chart in his hands he held over his face before slowly turning his head up to the Warmaster. "Sir, we're just about finished our final test and are preparing to transmit the broadcast. Once ready, we will use the inhabitant's primitive relay systems to transmit our broadcast, brainwashing the planet into become our slaves." Looking on at Gorrath, the commander noticed his disdaining gaze. "I mean your slaves sir."

Nodding in approval, the Glorft leader rose from his seat and began walking away. "Excellent. Inform me the when everything's ready. In the meantime I'll be prepping my mech, In case it will be needed."

"You shall have your results sir. Once the broadcast is sent, the creatures will gladly hand over their planet, along with the earther and prototype." Seeing Gorrath exit, the commander turned his attention back to the crew. "Ready the signal and prepare to transmit."

Meanwhile, back down below, a certain dragon wasn't the only one having signal issues. Static continually belted out through the speaker inside the K-colt studio as Vinyl Scratch frantically trotted about; fiddling with the boards and wires of the record lined studio room until it finally it finally came to an end.

"There, that should do it." Content with her handywork, she returned to her seat, alongside Octavia, and spoke into her mic. "Sorry about that everypony, looks like we're experiencing some signal interference." She turned her head to the window on her left; leering out towards the E.D. Radio building she spotted a field away. "Thanks to our new neighbor that is."

"Now Vinyl, show some professional courtesy." Octavia chimed in. "We should welcome our fellow ponies in the radio business—" Octavia winced as static cut into her headphone. "Even if they are the cause of the trouble on our end. Just relax. After all, we have a guest with us."

Vinyl faced Octavia and Coop and sighed. "Sorry guys. It's just that that station's been bugging ever since they built one around here. Why'd they have to make one so close? You'd think with all those stations they have all over Equestria they'd have enough coverage already. I mean we've got only one station and we manage to broadcast across every corner of the kingdom."

Seated across from the disc jockey duo, Coop eyed the building in question from the window and then looked over to Megas parked just outside. "You know… If they're causing you guys so much trouble, then maybe I can help you do something about it," he said, tilting his head to point at the robot outside.

Vinyl rose from her seat with a shade piercing gleam in her eye. "I'm in!"

Coop reached into his vest pocket and dug around. "Just let me grab my keys and—"

Far from the station, a unicorn librarian's outcry echoed throughout Ponyville. "Noooooo!"

Inside the home of the earsplitting wail, Spike removed his claws from his ears and narrowed his eyes at the unicorn beside him. "Jeez Twilight! You don't have to yell like that? It's not like they can hear you anyway, though I think everyone in town probably did. But come one, you don't really think Coop's going to go through with it? He's probably joking."

With a twitchy eye and jerking hoof, Twilight reached over and clamped the radio in between her hooves. Spike looked on, concerning over her mental state, unknowing of the terrifying scenes that played out in her head. As a eerie smile started to form under her nose, Twilight overheard Octavia speak.

"Thank you Coop for that kind offer, but I don't think Vinyl and I will need to resort to such tactics. Right Vinyl?"

"Horseradish," Vinyl blurted out in opposition. "I'm wanna go smash me a building."

"Viiiinyyyyyyl!" Ocatvia said, staring down her partner.

Vinyl grumbled, but against the imposing gaze of the mare at her side slumped back in her seat with her forelegs crossed. "Fiiiiiiiine. And I was looking forward to it."

"For the sake of both our jobs, I'll take that as a joke."

With the demolition proposal trounced by her stick in the mud colleague, Vinyl went on with their interview. "So Coop, going back to the competition, I still can't believe you came out of nowhere to tie with Pinkie like that. I've seen her win every year since I first got into the competition and no one's even come close to her before. At least until you showed up."

"It's a shame they ran outta cupcakes before me and Pinkie could finished. We were still hungry."

After a brief moment of astonished silence, Octavia spoke. "Yes, I remember. It still shocks me when I think back to it. Moving off that note, I have to say, despite my initial hesitation, I really enjoyed my first experience there. The energy, the excitement, it was so much fun that I can't wait to go back next year. From now on, I'll be cheering with Vinyl for you and Pinkie's to win."

"Hey Octy, speaking of rooting for, since Pinkie and Coop tied, which of us won our little bet?"

"Really Vinyl, you'd bring that up?"

"Hey a bet's a bet Octy, even if we tied."

"I guess you're right. But since they tied, I guess neither of us w—"

Static interrupted again, cutting Octavia off. Frustrated, Vinyl slammed her hooves against the table. "Again! This is really getting on my nerves now. It's time I deal with this." She pointed to the colt across from her "Coop, get your keys."

"Vinyl please," said Octavia, pulling down Vinyl's hoof. "I don't want you saying, or worse, doing something rash that'll get us in trouble again. Let's just overlook these brief—" Another round of static rang out, causing her to twitch. "If not slightly annoying Interruptions and stay on track with the show, alright?"

"Aaaaaaaah!" Frustrated, Vinyl rustled her hooves through her already wild mane. "Fine!"

While the show continued at a slightly tenser pace, the commander's plan had completed its final test and was getting set to put things in motion as the Warmaster made his returned.

From his console at the front of the bridge he looked back to his commander. "Sir, we've established a link with their system and on you order will begin transmitting the broadcast."

A hologram projection displaying Equestria hovered over Gorrath and he waved his hand forward with a sinister snarl. "Begin the broadcast!"

"Yes sir." The commander nodded as he signaled to his men who hit a switch. A faint ray of light shot out from the ship's hull, heading towards the planet below. "Soon, this world's inhabitants will belong to the Glorft."

"Commander, show me a close up of the planet. I want to relish in these creatures' subjugation."

"Zooming in now sir."

The entire ship watched quietly as a lone circular building came into focus on the projection and purple maned unicorn stepped out from it. The mare took a few steps forward then knelt down with her front legs stretched forward. The army watched with bated breath as she opened her mouth.

The mare yawned, stretching her legs as far as she could. "Oh Rarity, staying up all night working on your latest fashion certainly has taken its toll on you. Just listen to yourself; you're so overworked you're yawning in public. A lady should never act in such an ungraceful manner. This calls for a trip to the spa for a morning wakeup special."

The ship remained silent, aside from a few awkward coughs, as Rarity hummed while she trotted her way off screen. The video panned over to another house nearby, spotting more ponies calmly walking about. The commander began building a steadily building cold sweat. Progressively become more terrified as a low audible growl coming from Gorrath rapidly grew in volume.

"Rrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh! I thought you said they'd be bowing to me? Tell me commander, does that look like bowing to you?!" he shouted, pointing to the screen where three little mares could be seen frolicking peacefully.

"I-I-i-I don't know what went wrong sir." The commander trembled, punching away at his console and staring into its screen stared. "The readings show our broadcast is transmitting efficiently and aside from a lone isolated signal, ours should be the only other broadcast on the entire planet."

"Another signal?" Gorrath scowled. "Quickly patch it through."

"But sir, it's just a single station on the planet. I doubt their broadcast signal is strong enough to even reach us."

"I said patch them through. That's an order!"

"Yes sir," The commander sighed. He worked on his computer until music began playing through the ships speakers.

"Welcome back everypony. Glad to see you're all tuning in—"

"What is that?!" Gorrath bellowed, covering his ears.

Shocked at his findings, he reluctantly answered with a whimper. "It seems to be music from that lone station."

As the music continued playing clear as a bell, Gorrath looked down at the Glorft commander and snarled. "Not strong enough?!"

Cowering in his seat, the commander quickly typed away, and scanned the K-colt station's data. "It seems that the station's signal strength far exceeded what we expected. According to the readings…" His eyes widened and he stuttered to say what he discovered next. "It also appears that… the entire planet is… tuned in to their broadcast."

Gritting his teeth at the new information while he slammed his fist repeatedly on his armrest, Gorrath pushed himself up against his brutally assaulted chair and approached the commander.

"Commander, Do you mean to tell me that of the two broadcast station located on that primitive heap of a planet…" His voice elevated in intensive rage as he approached. "You've manage to pick the signal no one listens to!"

"Not the face!" the commander instinctually blurted out, raising his arms up in defense.

Seeing the pathetic state of his lackey, Gorrath lowered his fist and turned away. "Divert our signal onto that station's, now!"

As ordered, the commander went to work along with his fellow Glorft soldiers, redirecting the path the light headed down below.

Down in the K-colt station a strong blast of static screeched through the speakers around the room, causing Vinyl, Octavia, and Coop crouch down in pain as they all covered their ears.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!" they shouted, dropping to the ground as the ear piercing sound kept on ringing.

"What's happening?!" Vinyl called out, staring at the others on the ground with her.

Octavia, grinding her teeth as she too shielded her ears, lurched over to the control board. "This can't be normal signal interference! Something must be trying to tamper with the signal!"

"Well stop it already!" Vinyl shouted.

"I'm trying!" Octavia yelled back, quickly fiddling with the board switches until the noise finally cut off. "There. That should do it. Whatever was trying to tap into our broadcast, I made sure they can't try again."

Vinyl looked over to her colleague with an impressed look on her face. "Since when did you learn how to work the boards like that?"

"Well what did you expect Vinyl? I work here too after all. It's only natural that I'd learn how to handle radio equipment."

Back inside the Glorft cruiser, the commander hit his palms against his computer as his plan crumbled before his eyes. "No! The signal's been blocked. We can't transmit our broadcast from the ship."

"Then your plan has failed miserably Commander. All squadrons prepare to launch. We're doing things my way now."

"Wait sir!" the commander called out. "There's still a way we can broadcast the signal using their relay. If we can just attach a beacon onto their broadcast tower, we can force our broadcast into their transmission."

Hearing out the plan, Gorrath considered the option. "Hmmm, head down and do it by force. That's more my style. Very well, where exactly is this station?"

The commander went to work, clicking away on his console. "Calculating coordinates and putting it on screen now sir." The image came into focus and what appeared on the massive left the two of them in shock. "It's, it's the prototype."

"The prototype? my prototype, there?" Gazing at the screen, he realized what that meant and smiled. "Excellent. Now I'll get enslave those puny creatures and rid myself of that fat ape all at once. Prepare for launch, today we take back our destiny! Guehehahahahaha!"

Inside the studio, recovering from their momentary deafness with only a hint of ringing still left in their ears; Octavia, Coop and Vinyl Scratch had taken their seats and were putting their headphones back on to continue the show.

Vinyl, still rubbed her ear as she adjusted her seat. "Man, today sure has been one crazy show. I just hope that's the last of it."

"Me too." Octavia commented, adjusting her headphones. "I don't think I can take any more craziness." As though that phrase was a cue for it, the entire building began to shake. She sighed, "What now," joining Coop and Vinyl who were already at the window to see what was happening.

In the field outside the building numerous giant landed down with enough force to cause the ground to quake. Vinyl noticed that the giant's bore a resemblance to a certain blue giant parked outside and turned her head over to the portly colt standing next to her. "Hey Coop, are these guys friends of yours or something?"

"Nope," he replied, looking out the window with a sullen look on his face. "But I'm sure I know what their after." He then turned and made his way to the exit. "Give me a sec you two, just gonna bash me some squids."

"Wait up," Vinyl spoke up, trotting after him "I'm coming too."

"You're doing what?"

Vinyl stopped at the doorway and looked back at Octavia who stared at her with disbelief. "There's a group of giant monsters falling from the sky and Coop's about to fight them all with a giant of his own. You expected me to just stay in here? Besides, Coop's our guest and we're technically still doing our interview."

"Well what about me?"

"Do you wanna come too?"

"Of course not! Do you see those things? I'd be crazy to step out there."

"That's cool, cuz somepony's got to stay here and make sure we're still on the air, and who better then somepony who know how to run the boards." With that she ran out, leaving Vinyl to watch the fort. "Yo Coop, wait up."

Alone in the rumbling room, Octavia stumbled her way back to the desk and spoke into the mic. "Sorry about that mares and gentlecolts, we're experiencing some minor technical difficulties as it seems some uninvited guests have arrived. But don't worry, our guest Coop along with Vinyl have stepped out to resolve the issue and will return momentarily… I hope," she said, muttering that last part as records hung on the walls around her began to fall and shatter.

Still tuned in, Spike and Twilight listened in with mouths agape as constant crashing noises could be heard in the background of Octavia's announcement.

"This is bad; this is so, so bad. What are we gonna do Spike? What can we do?" Twilight could feel her nerves twitching as she paced around the room in contemplation. "We've got to get over there."

The little dragon watched as she walked left and right around the living room. "Uh Twilight. While I completely agree that the situation is bad, Just how are we supposed get there?"

"It's easy Spike. I'll just send us there with a teleportation spell." Though her calm and controlled tone gave him the impression that she was fine, the deranged look in her eye as she answered told Spike otherwise.

"But Twilight, you've never been to the K-colt station before. How do you even know where to send us?"

"I don't, but we don't have time to worry about small details. Now hold still Spike."

By the time he noticed the ominous smile emerge on Twilight, Spike found it too late to make a run for it. He tried backing away, but she followed after him with her horn becoming aglow. Further and further he step back, the familiar bone chilling sensation returning as he stared into those eyes again. Just as he was about to turn round and go into a full sprint, Spike felt the familiar texture of the bookshelf wall at his back. He was pinned.

"Wait Twilight," he pleaded, waving his arms up as if to halt her. "I'm sure Coop can handle it on his own. Just like how you told me he did when he first got here and those things showed up in Canterlot, remember?"

"I know Spike, I remember. But it's not those things that I'm worried about."

"It isn't?" he said perplexingly. "Then what—" He dropped his arms as the answer came to him. "Oh yeah, Coop."

"Exactly! Now don't move. This might hurt if you do."

"Eeyah!"

As Twilight's shining horn hovered inches away from a cringing Spike, Octavia's voice on the radio caught her attention. "Is this thing on? Ahem, attention everypony!" With Twilight distracted, Spike took the opportunity to escape as Octavia kept going.

"To recap for everyone, Vinyl and I were in the middle of our interview with Coop, who tied this year's Cupcake Chow Down Show Down with Pinkie Pie, when all of a sudden a large group of metal giant came crashing out of the sky. I've just managed to get in touch with Vinyl, who's gone out with our guest in order to help deal with these creatures. Vinyl, come in Vinyl Scratch can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear Octavia, a little too loud actually. Hey Coop, how do you turn down the volume on this thing? Is this it?"

Suddenly the sound of several explosions was all Twilight heard, an unpleasantly familiar noise soon followed after by a colt's voice that she wished didn't accompany it.

"Nice shooting Vinyl." The next phrase she heard didn't give her much to quell her worried over her friend.

"That was… awesome!" Vinyl voice shouted. "As you ponies can hear, Coop and I are just outside the station and we're kicking some serious giant tail."

With Megas ready to go, Coop began pummeling, pounding and blasting mech after mech that came rushing at it. Vinyl Scratch was having the time of her life riding shot gun, helping out by hitting any button she could reach. While his men were getting trounced on the other side of the ongoing battlefield, Gorrath along with the commander's mechs stood right in front of the E.D. Radio building and watched the carnage.

"Sir at this rate the prototype will prevent us from reaching the tower."

Gorrath looked on as Megas landed a punch to one of his men. "Knowing exactly where we'd strike. That earther may not be as stupid as he looks."

"Not to worry sir. If I can manage to bypass him and attach the beacon, we can still transmit the signal."

"Very well. All units. Press forward against the prototype, but avoid damaging that structure behind it at all costs."

With the massive group of bots headed their way, Coop wrapped his hooves around the steering wheel and stomped on the gas. "Hey Vinyl, you may want to buckle up. Thing are about to get a little rocky."

Hearing the click of her seatbelt, Coop drove Megas forward, slamming into the first group of mechs. Grabbing hold of one he hoisted it up and power bombed it in to the soil, leaving only its legs stick topside. Using the set of imbedded legs, he leaped up and scissor kicked the heads off of two others. Another poor mech was simply grabbed by its arms and slammed onto the ground, shattering to pieces on impact.

While the brutal show of physical carnage continued, Vinyl sat back in her seat with her hooves held up high. "Yeeaaaah!" she yelled out, her body jerking left and right as though on a rollercoaster while Coop dodged, punched, body slammed and blasted his way through the army.

With another pair downed, Coop took a look at his rear view and spotted something. "What the?"

Making their way past the blue wrecking ball, five Glorft mechs made their move on the K-colt station where inside, Octavia was still struggling to make sense of the insanity going on. Spotting the monstrous brutes headed her way through the window, she ducked under her desk with mic in hoof. "Vinyl, Coop, I thought you two said you'd handle these things. They're right outside!"

Their thunderous footsteps got closer, each stomp causing the room to shake that much more. As she felt that the stomps were now right on the other side of the wall, she felt one final impact, this one being far louder but had a metallic crushing sound to it. The crunch was followed by another, then another, and another. Curious as to why she wasn't buried in a pile of rubble yet, she poked her head out from under the table you looked to the window to spot Megas standing outside.

"What the heck do you creeps think you're doing to my station?!" Vinyl shouted, staring down at the crushed hunks of metal below.

Relieved to see her friends, Octavia opened the window and stuck her head out to greet them. "What do you mean 'your station'?"

"Sorry Octy." Vinyl waved at the mare in the window. "I meant our station. Be right back we've still got one more to deal with."

The tower was only a few steps away. With the beacon clutched tightly in his mech's grip, the Glorft commander pushed his machine onward and reached out for his target. A metallic he had first assumed was the sound of him reaching his target clarified its self as the sound of an overwhelming uppercut against him. Feeling the exhilarating sensation of weightlessness, it donned upon him that Coop had cut him off and sent him soaring across the battlefield. This realization was further amplified by the crash landing he made, just a few feet away from his Warmaster.

"Did you guys see that?" Octavia asked through Coop's radio.

"Heck yeah we did. Did you see how far that thing flew." Coop replied.

"No not that, Did you guys see what it had in its hand? When it got close to touching the tower, it looked like it was trying to attach what it held onto it."

"Attach something to the tower? Wait a second. You don't think these guys might be the reason why we've been getting so much signal interferences?

"Yes Vinyl. Seeing how someone tried tampering with our signal earlier and how these guys are trying to do something with our tower, I think they are exactly the reason why."

Vinyl sat there, Octavia's words sinking in as she looked out intensely to the still oncoming army. Her hooves shook furiously. "That's the most sickest thing I've ever seen in my life. This desecration stops now!" Looking down at the vast array of buttons in between her and Coop, she slammed her hoof upon the 'You show em Vinyl' button.

Megas's arms rose up in response fired both its fists, detaching from its arms and shooting out like rockets. The twin knuckle missiles made their way through the hoard of oncoming foes, running through every mech in their path, leaving a trail of bots collapsing with a Megas fist sized hole in them. The pair finally reached the center of the field when their rockets gave out, leaving them to drop with a thud against the soil. With the fists no longer a nuisance, the army continued its course, completely unaware that the fists they were walking over began to emit a high pitched hum as it building up for something. The humming reached critical levels and went off, covering the field under a massive dome of flames that not only engulfed a good portion of the field along with a vast number of Glorft, but turned the sky dark as it outshined the sun momentarily.

A safe enough distance away from the blast she'd created, Vinyl looked on at her work, stilled riled up and ready to fight. "There's no way I'm letting some giant green metal suit wearing creeps try and take over my show and get away with it."

"Our show?" Octavia mentioned through the radio.

"You know what I mean Octy." Looking down at the station's rooftop, Vinyl kept her eyes at the base of the tower. "Coop, could you put me down on the roof."

"The roof?" he questioned. "You sure about that?" As he asked the smoke in front of them cleared to reveal the remaining forces still approaching.

"Heck yeah. These guys are trying to take over my—."

"Our!"

"Alright already, 'our' show. The point is these guys are trying to mess with it, so now I'm gonna teach em why not to." Stepping out of the car and onto Megas's shoulders, Vinyl hoped aboard its hand.

"How?" Coop asked, staring down at her as she elevated down and hopped onto the roof.

"You just leave that to me. Keep em busy for a bit while I get things ready."

"No sweat," said Coop, with a wave his hoof. "Fighting these chumps is ea—"

The calamitous crash of more Glorft mechs ramming against Megas cut Coop off as they toppled him over. Vinyl turned back to see additional soldiers join the fight and dog pile her friend, each addition to the mounting pile shaking the building as she watched. "Hang in there Coop I'm on the way." Running as fast and as carefully her hooves could carry her over the quaking rooftop, Vinyl made her way to the back of the giant guitar ornament resting on the side of the tower and made use of a little radio stored behind it. "Octy, can you hear me?"

"Vinyl? What are you doing on the emergency line? I thought you were with Coop."

"I am, but I'm on the roof right now to give him some back up."

"'Back up'? Vinyl, in case you haven't noticed. They're an army of monstrous metal giants and you're just one little unicorn. How are you going to help Coop fight from the roof?"

One ear listening in to Octavia, Vinyl made walked over to the central pillar of the tower and pushed on a conveniently placed little red button. "Like this!"

The building rumbled far worse than before. Speakers, records, and whatever wasn't fastened down dropped all around Octavia. "Vinyl? What did you do?" With object dropping all over the place, Octavia stumbled her way to the stairs and up to the roof. Hearing the constant pounding from all the fighting on the other side of the door, she hesitated slightly as another noise she heard had her wondering what she'd find on the other side. "What in Equestria is that?!"

The first thing that caught her eye, aside from a mountain of green and grey a little ways from the building, was something she spotted headed it way up the radio tower. Casting a shadow over her, the hauntingly familiar sight of a turn table, with its set of speakers, climbed it way upward. With a hoof on her face, Octavia let out a long sigh, waiting to hear the voice belonging to the mare responsible for what exactly she was looking at.

"Isn't it great?" Vinyl energetically announced, poking her head out from the edge of her table to looking down below. "It's a DJ booth."

"I figured as much," Octavia groaned, sliding her hoof down across her face.

While her platform still rose, Vinyl took the time her to give Octavia a little tour. "This baby comes complete with a twin megaphonic ear shatter speaker audio system, high powered intensity strobe lights, hydraulics to lifts me up to the top of the tower, and last but not least dual sonic cannon defense systems built into the speakers."

With Vinyl's booth now at the top of the tower, Octavia strained her neck to keep her eye on her. "Why would you even need something so ridiculous?"

"Why not? I'm a DJ after all. You might be right though, setting it up so I can play at the top of the tower might be a bit much."

"I wasn't talking about that part, although that one also raises some questions. What I was talking about is why does that thing have sonic cannons?!"

"Well I gotta have those to defend us from attacks."

Octavia could feel a twitch under her eye, staring up at the mare above her. "Attacks? Attacks from what? Asides from today we've never been under attack, so what could you use that for?"

"Oh you know, traveling salesponies, dragons." She coughed, trying to slyly sneak in the last part. "Our competition."

The little twitch under her eye worsened. "I'll ignore that last part. So, putting aside why you got something so crazy like that to begin with, how did you manage to afford it? I get paid just as much as you do for the show, so I know you couldn't possibly afford something so elaborate like that, so how?"

With Octavia's glare digging into her. Vinyl pulled her head back slightly from the edge of her table. "Yeah, about that." Hesitant to say, she pulled her head in a little more. "Do you remember a while back when we were supposed to get a promotion?" Vinyl moved even further out of Octavia's sight.

"Yes."

"The one that got mysteriously canceled for no apparent reason," Vinyl went on, her horn now the only thing visible from below.

Octavia brows raised and her twitch acted up stronger than before as she started to understand where the conversation was headed but waited to see if perhaps she was wrong. "Yeeeessss."

"Well… I sort of… umm… Traded them in exchange for this," she finally blurted out as she hid under her table.

A massive crash shook up the tower, almost knocking Vinyl off her booth. Though the danger of a invading alien army slowly making its way towards them while Coop was buried underneath a mountain of robots playing of in the background, she was far more terrified of what loomed down below. A frighteningly red eyed savage creature that looked unmistakably like Octavia, snarled and roared as it slammed against the tower.

"Viiiiiiinyl!" The monster once known as Octavia hollered while she continued kicking away. "You traded my promotion!" Her kicks pounded louder than the Glorft still leaping atop Coop. "When I get my hooves on you for spending my pay on something so, so… Aaaaaaaaah!"

Now second stage to Octavia's rampage, the pile up of alien mechs began to rumble as the sound of an engine revved underneath it. It rose up, some of the mechs toppling over as it rose. Holding the mountain over its hands with its engine roaring almost as loud as Octavia was, Megas lobbed the pile across the field.

"Is that all you squids got?" Coop mocked, looking over the now wreckage riddled field and cracking Megas's knuckles in the process.

The opposing army let loose with their guns, sending an onslaught of lasers slamming against Megas, each shot knocking it back as it pelted its chassis. Coop did all he could on the controller and steering wheel, but couldn't avoid the wall of beams headed for him. Smoke began rising from the dents as he took the enemy's fire.

Still gripping the wheel tightly, Coop turned left and right, noticing it was starting to feel unresponsive. He lifted Megas's arms up to block the continuing rain of lasers when a set of blue colored beams flew past him from behind. The lights streaked their way across the field and found their marks against the attacking forces.

"What the?!" Gorrath yelled, spotting one of the shots headed his way. He maneuvered his bot to dive, managing to evade as the beam struck one of his soldiers. "Who's firing?!" He on his cockpits display to see more of his troops drop to the ground, large gaps in their armor spurted out jolts of electricity as his men jettisoned in their escape pods before disabled robots burst into flames and exploded.

Coop, just as surprised as the rest of them, turned Megas around and spotted a unicorn waving at him from the top of the K-colt station's tower. Then he heard her voice on the radio. "So Coop, what do you think about my bass cannon, Not too shabby right?"

Before he could reply, a powerful blow from behind toppled Megas over, rattling Coop as it dropped. Coop groaned as he pushed himself up from the steering wheel and quickly flipped Megas onto its back. Standing over him, dozens of Glorft stood over him with their weapons drawn. Coop grabbed hold of the gear shift and changed to first as he stomped on the gas, but the engine stall out as warning signals on the dashboard began to go off. Desperately turning the key to start Megas up again, the sound of a struggling engine was all he could hear as his foes' armaments prepared to fire. With the sound of their weapons powering up to fire, Coop closed his eyes and turned the key one more time.

Just then the sound of a record scratching echoed through the field, distracting the group standing over him and caused them all to look to the direction of the K-colt tower. Then music began to play.

"Octavia. Of all the songs we've got, you go play that one?"

"Hey for your information Vinyl, all our records are scattered all over the floor and we're in a rush. So I picked the best one I could find."

"Well what about any of my records?"

"Like I said Vinyl, the best one I could find. Besides, I'm still mad at you."

"Fine, I'll make do with what I've got." With her set of speakers now rattling, Vinyl aimed her station towards the huddled group of machines surrounding her friend. "Alright you show stopping creeps, have a taste of this!"

A twin set of lights flew by Coop, taking out the Glorft soldiers around him, Relieved, he turned the key once more, greeted by the sounds of his engine starting up along with Vinyl's voice on his radio. "Alright Coop, you beat em up while I watch your back."

Standing Megas back up, Coop stuck his head out the window and waved back at her. "You got it." Putting his attention back on the Glorft, he stomped his hoof on the gas and sent Megas charging standing. Dozens of lights zoomed past as he swerved through the field. Tearing through the dirt as Vinyl's well placed shots ripped through the hordes as Megas slammed into their ranks and hurled them skyward.

Taking aim, Vinyl carefully shot the airborne mechs out of the sky. "Hey Octy, did you see that one? This thing's already paying off for itself."

Ducking under a desk from the ever falling debris around the studio room, Octavia clutched onto her mic. "Don't think that'll get you out of trouble. I still want my raise back after this!"

The music began to fade, leaving the sounds of metal clanging and crunching to echo through the field as Coop wailed upon one Glorft bot after another. Vinyl looked over the carnage from her roost, hooves on her turn table ready to open fire again. "Octy, put on one of my songs this time. Something that matches the mood."

Octavia sighed as she rummaged through the records scattered throughout the floor. "Fits the mood, right…" She looked out the window and caught a view of Megas tear apart another bot. "There's an army of giant metallic monsters fighting outside. What kind of music could possible fit this sort of mood!" Her hoof stopped at one disc and picked it up. "Hmm, how about this one."

From her post, Vinyl Scratch felt the floor shack at her hooves as the music started to play. "Oh yeah! That one's perfect!" Taking aim and going to work on her turn tables, the little DJ booth recommenced its rain of hellfire upon the poor victims caught in Vinyl's sights.

Standing behind his men, who he saw getting decimated, Gorrath leered at the cowering robot belonging to the commander at his side. "Your plan has failed us miserably commander."

"Sir wait. If we can just slip through their defenses, we—" Gorrath shoved him, toppling the commander's bot onto the ground.

"Enough! I no longer care for the enslavement of this planet. The prototype is all that matters. All squadrons, break away from the target and provide cover fire. I'll deal with that monkey myself."

Just finishing ripping another Glorft bot by its sockets, Coop looked around and noticed the enemy flying back towards the E.D. station. "Aww what the matter, too scared to keep fighting?" As he watched them all retreat behind the station on the other side, he spotted Gorrath's mech standing next to it grabbing hold of the guitar fixture on top of the building.

"Scared, of you? Hah!" Yanking the giant instrument off the structure, Gorrath handled it by the neck and wielded it like an ax. "I just wish to have as much possible room to defeat you in."

Coop raised as he watched the Warmaster swing the hefty ax around. "Is that so?" He turned around and headed towards where he reached for something on the roof. "Hey girls, mind of I borrow these."

From her roost Vinyl watched as Coop maneuvered Megas's hands towards the large cello and vinyl record ornaments that graced the station's rooftops. "Do you promise you'll put them back when you're all done Coop?"

Curious as to the exchange going on outside, Octavia poked her head out the window to witness the two decorations being carried away by the hands of the metal behemoth. "Now wait a second."

"I promise," Coop said looking at Vinyl with one hoof held up.

Seeing the station sincerely promising as well as his opponent waiting further behind, Vinyl happily nodded her head. "Okay then."

"Hey don't I get a say in this?" Octavia mentioned as she watched Megas walk away, carrying the two objects in its hands like a sword and shield.

Both warriors now faced each other and wasted no time charging towards one another with their weapons raised. Megas raised its left hand, blocking Gorrath's attack, the guitar bouncing off the record as Coop found an opening and struck. A swift thrust of his cello grazed his foes shoulder, screeching as the tailspike carved its way through. Spotting an opening, Vinyl took aim and fired but Gorrath skillfully dodged, leaving the blast of sound to go slamming into his men behind him.

"You imbeciles! Don't just let the enemy fire at you! Open fire and strike back!"

Opening fire in retaliation, the Glorft forces struck Megas hard and send it sliding back from the force of the collective blasts. With his makeshift shield raised and taking most of the hits, Coop maintained Megas's footing although he kept moving back. He then came to a stop when he felt something hit him from behind.

"Coop, are you sure you can still handle this?" Octavia asked, staring at him from her window.

He answered with a stern look on his face. "Does it look like I'm down and out yet?"

"I hate to say it, but from here… yeah, it kind of does."

"Just watch, I'm still warming up."

Pushing Megas off the wall, Coop drove to attack, but the hail of gun fire had him pinned. He blocked every possible shot he could, hardly able to prepare as Gorrath ran in and pummeled him with a powerful swing.

"Hang on Coop!" Vinyl cried out, seeing her friend take the brutal blow to the side. "I'll put a stop to them!" Working her magic on the turntable, she returned fire on the foe across the battlefield, dropping green mechs left and right. With many of their own dropping like flies, the army changed it focus off the battling bot and took aim at the top of the tower.

Spotting his fellow soldiers change targets, the commander moved his mech to stand in their way. "No! Do not target the tower! It's still useful to us, so stay focused on the prototype and avoid the enemy's ' firepower!"

With Vinyl Scratch preoccupying the Glorft as music played across the whole of the battleground, Coop could finally go all out on his nemesis. Shielding the repetitive swings of Gorrath's guitar, Coop grabbed hold of his controller and, inputting a command, shield charged into Gorrath who rolled back from the surprise blow.

"So you still have some fight in you. But do you really think that sort of trick will work on me?"

Standing tall, facing the green alien machine, Megas held its cello in front of it, focusing its tailspike straight at Gorrath. "I dunno squid; it kinda looked like it did to me."

The two ran in and clashed weapons once more, their instruments echoing their respective sounds as they collided over and over. They ran parallel to one another, exchanging swipes amongst themselves as a lightshow of deadly lasers were exchanged between Vinyl and the Glorft army. "Octy, put on the next song!"

Inside the station, Octavia quickly prepared the next record. "Vinyl, considering our situation, do you really think playing music will really help out?"

Up above, adjusting her set up, Vinyl Scratch took aim as she awaited the next song to start. "Considering this baby uses music to fire, yeah, I think it will."

With the music starting up the streams of sound resumed flying over the battlefield, flying past and barely missing the two dueling giants in the center who continued their stalemate as they exchanged clashes of their weapons.

Gorrath pushed his palms forward on his controls, pushing his mech to its limits as it swung down its guitar onto Coop who rolled out of harm's way. Lifting his weapon out of the newly formed crater, he kept his eye on the nimble blue bot. "Avoid me whilst you can Earther, but my victory will not be denied this day."

Megas answered back with a swipe of its cello, slamming hard against Gorrath's guitar, a chord of each wind instrument belted out with each clash. "Sorry squid, ain't no way I'm losing this or any other day ya hear!"

They battle raged on with neither side showing signs of stopping. Clashing and slamming they weapons against one another with each strike, they maneuvered their way throughout the field as lasers blitzed in between them. With each shot that found its mark, both duelist's mechs began to falter.

"Hah!" Gorrath sneered, noticing Megas's attacks feel weaker as they brushed wind instruments against one another. "Face it Earther, this is the end for you and this miserable planet."

"Oh yeah?" Coop cried out, realizing the damage Megas had taken so far was starting to have effect. "Well…" Coop struggled to think of a witty come back as Megas struggled to push the cello against the guitar. "Face this!"

Megas launched its fist forward, but was stopped as Gorrath caught Megas by the arm. "Predictable." With his machine firmly holding onto Megas, Gorrath tightened his grip as he quickly countered with a slam of his weapon. "Did you think that after all our battles together I wouldn't learn your technique? Pathetic!" Another swing of his guitar crunched against Megas. "I'm going to enjoy finally ripping you out of there and destroying you once and for all."

In the battered and dented cockpit, Coop did his best to free himself from Gorrath's grip as he continued his pummeling. The warning signals around him were slowly shutting off one after another with each blow Megas took. His bot hung limp. Its arms the only things left responding. But with its right arm caught in a vice grip, all Coop had in control was Megas's left arm. To his surprise, the radio also seemed to be working as he heard a voice come through over the sounds of metal crunching a cracking.

"Coop, you gotta move!" Vinyl yelled out as she turned up the volume on her console and prepared to fire. "Hit it Octy!"

Uncertain what the mare had in store, Coop raised Megas's free limb up and fired another rocket fist. Taken off guard by the surprise attack, Gorrath released Megas which landed flat on the ground. Annoyed by the surprise attack, Gorrath stood over the blue bot and raised his weapon up for a final blow. "This is the end Earther, nothing will save you no—What's happening?" Gorrath said as he suddenly felt the entire field began to shake at his feet.

Music blared out from the K-colt station, accompanied by a massive blast of light from Vinyl's twin bass cannons. It quickly made its way through the field, headed straight for Gorrath.

Spotting the massive blast barreling towards, all Gorrath could do was look on with wide eyes as it closed in. "No, no, no, no, no, no, raaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Still flat on his back, Coop watched as the beam flew over him, carrying Gorrath with it as it traveled across the field and plastered him against the E.D. Radio tower on the other side. Pinned on the wall with energy from the blast coursing through it, the Glorft mech twitched and flailed wildly as the blast's energy surged its way through the building, destroying every object related to the station. The energy then made its way up to the tip of the radio tower, blowing it up in a ripple of electricity that shot outward.

The passing wave made its way through each remaining ranks of the Glorft army, wrecking havoc upon their controls and disabling them. Fortunately for Coop, who was still inside his fallen robot, it was too low to be affected by the passing wave. Watching as the wave of blue lighting passed, he noticed it turned each cloud is moved through grey with lightning.

Vinyl Scratch braced herself as she watch the approaching wave but to her surprise it left their station unscathed. After seeing that she had been untouched, she looked back to see the electrical waves continue its path. From the skies above, the ripple could be seen making its way throughout the Equestria, reaching the numerous E.D. stations. From Tall Tale to Manehatten, the wave bizarrely targeted only those things related to E.D. Radio.

Back at ground zero where thousands of Glorft war machines lay on the ground, their heads began detaching as they rocketed their way up towards the sky. Inside the charred and battered remains of Gorrath's machine, the image of the commander barely appeared on his shattered screen.

"Sir," he muttered, terrified to give his report. "All our units have been disabled. Our men are making a full retreat."

Gorrath gnashed his teeth. His victory now dashed before him, he threw his fist at the screen. "Graaaaaaaah!" With his cockpit silent, he too detached from his mech and made his retreat. "So close! I was so close!" he hollered as his escape pod soared pasted the some of the lightning spewing clouds in the sky.

A few days had passed after the mysterious phenomenon now known as the thunder wave flew over the skies and were as calm as ever. Inside Twilight Sparkle's home, a tune accompanied by a pair of familiar voices graced the living room from the radio.

"Hey everypony! It's your favorite D.J. hosts—"

"You mean only D.J. hosts," Octavia interrupted condescendingly. "Considering there aren't any other radio stations ever since that mysterious light show a few days back. You wouldn't happen to have any idea how that happened Vinyl?"

"Aww Octy, are you still bent outta shape about that? Everything turned out alright in the end. After all, you and I totally saved Equestria. It can't be helped that somehow all the E.D. Radio stations were destroyed as a result."

"Yeah, and I'm sure it was all just a coincidence."

"The important thing is nopony go hurt"

"Well I'm sure you're all choked up about their losses. Aren't you Vinyl?"

"Nah, not really. Those buildings pop up so fast you'll hardly notice they were gone."

"You may be right about that but I'm still mad about that whole raise thing. I was planning on using the extra income for my vacation."

"Come on Octy. It practically paid for itself in one day. We helped out Coop, fought off invading aliens and got rid of our only competition all in one show. Not bad if you ask me. Plus with the E.D. station temporarily off the air, I bet more ponies are listening to us."

"I suppose your right about that. Maybe I can still get my raise after all."

"That's the spirit Octy. Oh, speaking of, I wanna give a shout out to our new buddy Coop, who's always welcome to stop by. How bout next time you let me and Octy take a drive in that crazy machine of yours."

Overhearing the broadcast from her reading chambers, Twilight turned away from her book and looked down the doorway into the living room. "No!"

Quietly sitting in front of the little radio, Spike turned his head towards the source of his friend's protest. "Sheesh Twilight for a pony who runs a library you sure do make a lot of noise. Now can I please watch in peace."

"Don't you mean listen in peace," Twilight ask, stepping into the room and joining him.

He looked on at her with narrowed eyes before turning his head back. "You know what I meant."

"Hey Spike, have you seen Coop? I thought he'd be listening in along with you."

"Oh, he's hanging out with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Said something about having a little race."

"Rainbow Dash? Wasn't she still busy in Cloudsdale working on that cloud short… Oh wait." Twilight stepped over to the window where she looked out upon the town covered under dark thunderous clouds and let out a sigh. "I almost forgot."

While she stared off into the darkened skies, a sudden rumbling occurred. One accompanied by the familiar sounds of Megas's rockets. Still gazing outside, she watched as Coop aboard Megas along with Pinkie soar overhead with Rainbow Dash flying at his side. Together tearing through the clouds and letting in the sun as they zoomed by.